Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 June 13

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June 13

satellite photos of rural areas

Are there satellite photos of rural areas in the US available that are of higher resolution than Google Earth, even if they cost some money? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 01:53, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

You might get better resolution from aerial photos. Does the US Geological Survey sell copies of theirs ? StuRat (talk) 02:47, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

All of the US is imaged every single day by commercial satellites. It gets expensive if you want very recent images, and unavailable if you want sensitive locations. Keyword "Remote Sensing".Hayttom (talk) 03:34, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

They don't need to be very recent or very high resolution. I would like to have several square miles of an area that is mostly forest, but in high enough resolution to easily see dirt roads and structures as small as a shed. The current Google Earth photos of that area do not have enough resolution. I can pay a reasonable amount of money for them. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 17:57, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

It surprises me that your area does not have that kind of resolution. I live in a very rural area, and on Google Earth there is a quite clear view of my car parked in my driveway. (I was tempted to list the coordinates to show you, but that probably isn't a good idea.)    → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 07:47, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

My house is in a city, and I can see my mailbox, windows on the side of the house, and even pipes sticking up from the roof. On the forest area I'm interested in, I can't even spot a house where I know there is one. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:39, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Have you checked whether Bing has better coverage? --Tagishsimon (talk) 13:21, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

I didn't know about Bing, but I look there. Based on the shadows, it seems to be a different photo, but it isn't any sharper. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:28, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Irish property prices

I recently saw an episode of Australian Story - at least I think it was Australian Story, but it was about Ireland, so maybe not. It was on the ABC at any rate. Anyway, it was about the Irish property crash and at one point a group of investors purchased a 55-bedroom seaside hotel for something in the vicinity of $500,000 AUD - which would buy you a two bedroom unit in inner-city Sydney. So it stands to reason that one-bedroom flats or units should be selling for something like $20,000, right? But on Irish real estate websites the cheapest places I can find are still about 50,00 euros, even in the cheapest towns in the cheapest counties. What gives? (I ask because I have Irish citizenship, so I presume I'm allowed to buy property there, and buying investment property in Australia is flat out impossible for young people of my generation, since we have the most inflated market in the world.) 60.241.84.118 (talk) 12:13, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

"So it stands to reason that one-bedroom flats or units should be selling for something like $20,000, right?" No, that line of reasoning is flawed. You're comparing retail with wholesale. Furthermore it was a distressed property auction, which may not reflect market prices.Anonymous.translator (talk) 15:31, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Prices are determined by supply and demand. There's more demand for houses and apartments than for hotels especially in a recession: people need homes, but if a hotel has no customers then you either keep it going and lose a ton of money, or you try and convert it to something else which will cost lots of money to do and may fall foul of planning laws, or you sell it for whatever you can get. --Colapeninsula (talk) 16:52, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

How to find my Created a Book

I'm logged in but I can't find the book I have created here on Wikipedia. When I am able to find "Create a Book" in the left side menu index it is not very easy to actually get to my book initially. Is there a consistently easy way to get to my book? Thank You Artboccuti (talk) 12:43, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

You should see a banner at the top of each page with Book options, e.g. Add this page, show book, etc. If you are not seeing the banner, you might have hit "disable", which will delete any book you have been creating and will turn off the banner. If you are still having trouble, you can probably get better assistance with the Help Desk. --LarryMac | Talk 15:30, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

African Frogs Fredericksburg, VA

Okay, so I live in King George County, Virginia, USA (I think that's general enough to not count as an address) and the pet stores in the area have been having a supply problem with those little "African" frogs that live solely underwater (can't remember the exact name of them).

I really want one for my fish tank, but apparently nobody can find them :(. I've searcked every pet store I can find in the Fredericksburg (Maru, Petsmart, Wal-Mart, PetsR'Us, etc), Colonial Beach, Stafford, Southpoint, Falmouth, Lee Hill, Spotsylvania, well...basically every pet store in the area has none.

They say this problem has been going on for 4 months or so, please tell me where the nearest Pet Store that still stocks them is :). I promise i'll take care of it, i've got Siamese fighting fish to live as long as 3 and a half years.

Tkyvm Some Guy197 (talk) 18:01, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Our article about the critters is at African dwarf frog. If you Google for that name (or for Hymenochirus, the name of the species), you can find mail-order places that sell them. (Someone once gave me one as a gag, and the little bugger ended up living for 10 years.) Deor (talk) 19:42, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

:Thank you, I googled it, and found them for $3.40 at a site called aquariumfish.net. I also found out that the brown and spotted varieties are illegal in the state of Virginia because apparently, back in the early 1900's, people used to think they could use them to test for pregnancy. They then released them back into the wild, depleting the local frog population. This is unverified and contained in a customer letter on the site. Luckily though, the Albino ones apparently are legal and sold for the same price. Apparently you have to specify the color in your order form or something.

Link to the website: Aquariumfish.net
Link to the letter: Frogs Illegal In VA Letter Some Guy197 (talk) 20:41, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

BTW, the illegality of these frogs in Virginia, once verified, may be a good thing to add to your article

a bad smell n house while a/c is running

i bought the house in 2007 .the house was built 1976.before i bought it, it was leased out and not cared for very well, in all aspects..I started running low on freon. so i call for a a/c man. after coming out serval times. he eventual re-routed the main line to a other side of the house because i had links from the drain pan and the line was clogged at some point. but discovered along the way that the main line which was suppose to be down in the sewer was not.and is still not, sometimes i get a sewer smile i my house is this harmful? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jacque4u (talk • contribs) 21:49, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

If you mean smells from the sanitary sewer, then yes, that could be harmful. Among other things, the gases may contain methane, which is explosive in certain concentrations. I believe a sewer in Mexico City exploded because of this. A trap (plumbing) is commonly used to prevent sewer gases from backing up into the house. What I'm not clear on from your Q, however, is exactly where the condensate water is draining. I'm also not clear on how it having been low on Freon at one point is relevant. StuRat (talk) 22:01, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Please consult a professional, we do not have an article that will detail exactly how quickly you will be killed by shoddy venting of your ducts. μηδείς (talk) 22:05, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Just one thing to look at is whether you have a little used bath or shower where the water trap may have dried out That can lead to bad smells. Itsmejudith (talk) 22:16, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

It could literally be any number of a hundred different causes, which no one here can assess, because no one here has the means to actually smell what the OP is smelling, nor can we visually inspect her HVAC system, nor would many of us be trained to do so. The answer is to get another HVAC repairperson to come out and look at it. If the first guy didn't fix it, find another respectable one. Some people use Angie's List for this purpose, some people ask friends or neighbors for recommendations. --Jayron32 22:31, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Who voiced the character "Finger" Bruce Willis' boss in The Fifth Element?

Ok I've looked here in the The Fifth Element main article & I've searched the IMDB as well. I tried the reference desk here & I've had no luck at all. I know that there is no "Finger" in the credits for the movie & so now I'm resorting to submitting an article. So any help is greatly appreciated. Later! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.254.31.231 (talk) 22:51, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

This question can be found in many online forums, and basically the answer is that the role is not credited and nobody knows the answer for sure. Many say that it sounds like Vin Diesel, but the name Jerry Houser has also been mentioned. Looie496 (talk) 23:27, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Always makes me laugh to listen to Bruce Willis and Vin Diesel having phone sex. Great movie. μηδείς (talk) 16:51, 14 June 2012 (UTC)