Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 April 26

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April 26

destitute

I have a friend in accra who badly wants to come back to australia.the unibank ghana ltd is holding money for him and says they will transfer his money to australia but because he has no cash for the hotel and airfair i want to know why they cant give him some cash and send the rest home,he is destitute barbie — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.223.94.7 (talk) 00:41, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Your friend will need to ask the bank for its reasons. Beware of 419 scams.RudolfRed (talk) 01:08, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Beware of scams in general, if the proposed solution to this problem involves you sending some money somewhere or giving access to your bank account. Looie496 (talk) 02:45, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Looie is on the money. How do you know he is your friend; how much of a friend; an internet friend (sound of alarm bells ringing)? Maybe he is, or is a fraud who wants to get into your handbag. Have you heard of your alleged friend's problem via a third party? Your query is well founded, Barbie. (Hope you dont mind me using capital letters - they are free, you know, and help people with reading). Benyoch^{...Don't panic! Don't panic!...} (talk) 03:13, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I got an e-mail some years ago in a similar-sounding scenario. Someone hijacked the e-mail addresses of an internet acquaintance, and sent me (and probably everyone else) a similar plea to send money, as they were supposedly stranded in London with no money, no credit cards, and maybe most importantly, no cellphone (to discourage calls). Miraculously, they supposedly still had their passport, and they were supposed to catch a plane soon. One telltale clue was that these were Americans and the e-mail used the British term "car park" to refer to where they had gotten mugged and lost everything. I know someone else who got an e-mail in the classic scam about sending money to get money. My friend responded that he had no money, and could he borrow some up front. In short, turning the tables. That was amusing for awhile. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:03, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree. It sounds like a scam. Try calling your friend directly, to see where he really is. If you can't get hold of him, try calling this friend's parents, etc., and see if any of them know where he is. My guess is that he isn't in Accra. StuRat (talk) 04:19, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Stories about someone being stranded overseas unable to afford the ticket home are almost always scams. If that really happens, then you just go to the nearest consulate of your home country and they will put you on a flight home (they'll usually bill you for it, but you can pay once you get home). This is the website for the Australian High Commission in Ghana. Near the bottom of that page is a phone number for consular emergences. Tell your friend to ring that. --Tango (talk) 12:24, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

World hunger advertisement

Sorry the heading is a bit strange, and sorry if this is the wrong desk. But I remember seeing some ads on Hulu (or YouTube, can't remember) and it consisted of at least two women speaking to the camera about world hunger. It ran along the lines of world hunger isn't about food, it's about power and inequality, and that the world produces enough food to feed everyone. I wanted to find this video if I could, but I'm having no luck. I believe that one of the women in the spot has an article on here, because I read it once. Any help? Thanks! 67.164.156.42 (talk) 04:47, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Have a look among these videos starting with Global Hunger Report 2011 (right hand margin) Benyoch^{...Don't panic! Don't panic!...} (talk) 11:38, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I saw that ad, too, and was impressed that they actually told the truth. Most such ads just blame a drought or some "act of God", when famines are very much a result of the actions of man. The reason they do this is that it seems pointless to donate to a charity to deliver food, knowing that the government and/or rebels in that nation will prevent delivery, and probably steal the food for themselves, perhaps selling it to buy more weapons.

However, that ad didn't propose any solution to this problem, as I recall. StuRat (talk) 13:59, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Bump. 67.164.156.42 (talk) 19:55, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Please help me solve this code

I've been sent a message by a lecturer who likes playing games. He says the key is Matthew 22:21 and the message is:

IU ZAWN OPQZAJPO,

TJP CVQZ WZZI RJMFDIB QZMT CVMY OCDN NZHZNOZM VIY D NPKKJNZ OCVO D XVI JAAZM TJP V BGVNN OJ XZGZWMVOZ OCZ ZIY JA HT XJPMNZ. GZOUN HZZO OCDN HJIYVT, OCZ OCDMOT JA VKMDG, VO AJPM JUXGJXF VO JIZ JA HT AVQJPMDOZ KGVXZ VMJPIY OCZ XVHKPN: NVIYWVM.

EB UKQ YWJ BKQJZ IA, E SEHH KBBAN UKQ PDA CHWOO KB UKQN YDKEYA...

BJJY GPXF,

ALC

The last three letters are 'EPG' which are his initials. Can someone either solve this, show me how or show me where a website will solve it for me? Please help, apparently the message decodes to the location of the revision session for our exam (yes, really). 130.88.172.34 (talk) 12:44, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Well, Matthew 22:21 seems to be talking about Caesar, so presumably this is a Caesar cipher. 130.88.73.65 (talk) 13:05, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Maybe, but if ALC is EPG and BJJY GPXF is 'Good luck' then the word JA in the message means OE. Alternatively, if JA means ME then there is a word with a double MM. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.88.172.34 (talk) 13:08, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Too much effort in that solution. Per the above suggestion, this is indeed a Caesar cipher, and knowing that "ALC" becomes "EPG" gives you the offset thrice over. There is no need to guess at what ciphered words may represent; simply apply the appropriate offset. (also there are no double-Ms in this plaintext) — Lomn 13:11, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

You're right, it's half +4 half +5. Many thanks. 130.88.172.34 (talk) 13:12, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

No, a Caesar cipher uses only a single offset. There may be occasional transcription errors, but it is not half of one offset and half of another. — Lomn 13:13, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Well if you use +4 for half the message and +5 for the others it makes sense, if not half remains coded. The message actually refers to a nearby bar where he wants to meet us for drinks to celebrate ending the course, by the way. 130.88.172.34 (talk) 13:15, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

As a working example of how to solve these puzzles (in general, I mean, not just when you have an offset scheme available), I wrote down my full thought-process for dealing with the first long sentence. (Which makes it take ten times longer - these things are best solved without a pen)

D, V: one must be "A", one must be "I". Two D's close together - probably "A". There's also an "E" below though... for now, I'll assume a different sentence is a different cipher.

VO, OCVO: "IT, IS, IN, IF probably not ID, IO, IQ, IV ; T?IT, S?IS, N?IN, F?IF. Feif, Nein possible but not likely.

VO, OCVO: "AD, AH, AI, AM, AN, AS, AT, AU, AW, AX..." But the likely one is AT/THAT.

VIY D NPKKJNZ OCVO D XVI = "A?? I ??????? THAT I ?A?". Guessing "AYE I ??????? THAT I MAY" (starting with "may").

(C=>H, D =>I, I=>Y, V=>A, X=>M, Y=>E)

CVMY = HA?E - might be on the right track. HAVE?

ZIY = ?YE. Maybe "bye"? Iffy. JIZ="?Y?". Also iffy. Could be that "MAY" is wrong and it's really "MAN"/"AND" or a lot of other things.

Try VIY = AND, ZIY = END, JIZ = ONE.

(C=>H, D=>I, I=>N, V=>A, X=>?, Y=>D, Z=>E)

Here CVMY = HA?D, must be HARD. (M=>R)

QZMT OCDN = ?ER? ?HI?. Hmmm. Thinking "Ship". (_At this point in time I have a very strong feeling that this sentence is about something naval, about 18th century. But there's no logic to that, now is there._)

CVQZ = HA?E. What do you know, we're back to "have", new code (Q=V). Stunner: no other Q's in the code sentence.

WZZI = ?EEN. W = B, S, could be T for that matter. Double down with NVIYWVM = ?AND*AR. SANDBAR. (N=>S, W=>B). Even though "Ship" above doesn't fit.

(C=>H, D=>I, I=>N, M=>R, N=>S, Q=>V, V=>A, W=>B, X=>?, Y=>D, Z=>E)

TJP have been RJrFinB verT (T=>Y, J=>O, P=>U). _I should have mentioned at the beginning that posting coded messages about yourself can be embarrassing_

you have been RorFinB very hard (R=>W, F=>K, B=>G).

you have been working very hard Ohis (O=>T)

you have been working very hard this seHester (H=>M)

(B=>G, C=>H, D=>I, F=>K, H=>M, I=>N, J=>O, M=>R, N=>S, P=>U, R=>W, O=>T Q=>V, T=>Y, V=>A, W=>B, X=>?, Y=>D, Z=>E)

you have been working very hard this semester and I suKKose (K=>P)

you have been working very hard this semester and I suppose that I Xan oAAer (X=>C, A=>F)

(A=>F, B=>G, C=>H, D=>I, F=>K, H=>M, I=>N, J=>O, K=>P, M=>R, N=>S, P=>U, R=>W, O=>T Q=>V, T=>Y, V=>A, W=>B, X=>C, Y=>D, Z=>E)

you have been working very hard this semester and I suppose that I can offer you a gGass to ceGebrate the end of my course. (G=>L)

letUs meet this monday, the thirty of april, at four oUclock (Oddly, U=>[apostrophe] - not something I've seen in the usual codes)

at one of my favourite place around the campus: sandbar.

Wnt (talk) 17:27, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Bravo! Edison (talk) 05:18, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Message terminates: @if you can found[sic] me, I will offer you the glass of your choice@. Yard of ale! Brammers (talk/c) 12:51, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Addendum: for what it's worth, I used frequency analysis. There are plenty of websites out there, but I use a script that I wrote in Python (a nice exercise really). It managed to get good results despite the ciphertext not being fantastically long. If you're interested in classical cryptography and cryptanalysis, I heartily recommend The Code Book by Simon Singh. It's accessible with a good narrative, but doesn't scrimp on details. Brammers (talk/c) 12:56, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Getting from Wien Meidling station to Vienna airport

I'm planning my summer trip in advance, and currently it looks like I would be arriving in Vienna at Wien Meidling station at about 11:30, and would have to board a flight that leaves from Vienna airport (VIE) at 13:40. That would give me about two hours to get from the railway station to the airport and get checked in to the flight. Is this possible, or is the schedule too tight? JIP | Talk 18:29, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Google maps calls it 19 minutes by car, so take a taxi and you should be fine. I'd be a bit nervous to cut it so close. Looking at bahn.de, there's a train connection that gets you to the airport at 1242. The rest is between you and your airline.--Wehwalt (talk) 18:45, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Or at 1133 there is this:

Wien Meidling Fr, 27.04.12 dep 11:33 1 S 2 S-Bahn Direction: Wien Floridsdorf
Number of bicycles conveyed limited, 2nd class only, It is mandatory to purchase a valid ticket before boarding local lines
Wien Rennweg Fr, 27.04.12 arr 11:42 1

Transfer time 7 min.

Wien Rennweg Fr, 27.04.12 dep 11:49 2 S 7 S-Bahn Direction: Flughafen Wien
Number of bicycles conveyed limited, 2nd class only, It is mandatory to purchase a valid ticket before boarding local lines
Flughafen Wien Fr, 27.04.12 arr 12:12 2

Wien Meidling Fr, 27.04.12 dep 12:03 2 S 2 S-Bahn Direction: Mistelbach
Number of bicycles conveyed limited, 2nd class only, It is mandatory to purchase a valid ticket before boarding local lines
Wien Rennweg Fr, 27.04.12 arr 12:12 1
Transfer time 7 min.
Wien Rennweg Fr, 27.04.12 dep 12:19 2 S 7 S-Bahn Direction: Wolfsthal
Number of bicycles conveyed limited, 2nd class only, It is mandatory to purchase a valid ticket before boarding local lines
Flughafen Wien Fr, 27.04.12 arr 12:42 1

Note I pulled a weekday schedule, tomorrow in fact, you should re-run the search for the date you will be doing this if you want to go by S-Bahn. If you are using a railpass, it may be good for Vienna's S-Bahn system. The "1" and "2" are platform numbers.

--Wehwalt (talk) 18:47, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

There is a bus from Meidling to the airport (see here), which leaves at 11:45 and arrives at 12:15. The ticket is €7.00 This seems simpler than taking the urban transit to Wien-Mitte and switching there to the CAT (city airport train), as the latter station is currently a building site. Here is the web site of the air port. It seems you can check in online.

The only departure I can find for 13:40 is a flight to Riga, which may either be Austrian Arlines / terminal 1 or Air Baltic / terminal 2. If you miss that, there is a Finnair flight to Helsinki at 19:20. Good fun. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:19, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I am going on that flight to Riga, and in Riga I'm switching to a flight to Tallinn. My family is having a big family party in Estonia, so I'm going straight there. I'm only going back to Helsinki the following day. JIP | Talk 19:37, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Hotel in Tallinn

Continuing from the above question, are there any hotels in Tallinn, Estonia, reasonably near the airport? My flight from Riga arrives in Tallinn at 20:30, and I'd like to go straight to the hotel to sleep. Are there any hotels I can check in to at such a late time? I'd of course book the hotel in advance on the Internet. http://www.booking.com says the cheapest hostels/hotels in Tallinn are in the order of €20 - €30 per night, which is way cheaper than what I've become accustomed to in the Nordic countries and central Europe. JIP | Talk 19:45, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I know that this kind of non-response can be annoying, but Tallinn's airport is so close to the center of the city that if this were me, I would just get a hotel that is convenient for my final destination and go straight there. I have not had a problem checking into to major hotels in Tallinn in the late evening. Have fun, Orange Suede Sofa (talk) 19:51, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Without looking, I would fully expect a city like Tallinn to have many hotels at all kinds of prices. In my experience, arriving in the late evening is OK so long as the hotel knows you are coming (and has your credit card number in the event you don't actually show up). Of course, showing up past midnight probably won't work unless the hotel has a 24 hour lobby. Your biggest challenge might be finding something decent for dinner once you have checked in to the hotel at maybe 21:30. Astronaut (talk) 00:57, 1 May 2012 (UTC)