Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 November 1

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 1

Share a ride (for goods)

Hi all!

I've checked Google but I couldn't find anything. Is there any website about people asking other people to deliver stuff for them? Like, let's say, I'm going from NYC to LA with a half empty bag and I could carry something for someone else to make extra money.

Thanks a lot for your replies. 92.97.194.122 (talk) 08:31, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

You can supposedly act as a courier on behalf of various companies. There may be ways to make more informal arrangements, but I think most people would be very wary of entrusting goods to a random stranger, and perhaps even more wary of carrying something for someone else. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 10:43, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

What is green and hairy and goes up and down

This discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Please tell me what is green and hairy and goes up and down 2.126.156.229 (talk) 09:00, 1 November 2013 (UTC) The traditional schoolboy answer is a gooseberry in a lift (or elevator). (No doubt other green hairy things exist.)--Shantavira|feed me 09:53, 1 November 2013 (UTC) Perhaps the Phillie Phanatic or Oscar the Grouch?    → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 10:35, 1 November 2013 (UTC) My mom. --Onorem (talk) 10:44, 1 November 2013 (UTC) TMI. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:30, 1 November 2013 (UTC) Shrek on a pogo stick. StuRat (talk) 21:18, 1 November 2013 (UTC) Aha, I've got it: The US dollar on the world market. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:23, 2 November 2013 (UTC) Am I the only one that wonders why this is on a Ref Desk? Jus' sayin' Market St.⧏ ⧐ Diamond Way 12:46, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

What is the dog feeling?

We got a dog a few months ago. Initially we were worried he might not get along with the 17-year-old cat, but they seemed to get along pretty well up until a few days ago, when the dog suddenly got angry and thrashed the cat. The cat had no external injuries, but he was clearly in a lot of pain. We set up a vet appointment for today, but he died yesterday.

Today we buried the cat. My dad, being drunk, insisted that the dog watch the burial. He had the dog sniff at the dead cat first, then placed the cat in the hole, and started shoveling dirt in on top of it. With every new shovelful, the dog trembled violently. He kept pulling on his leash in the direction of the grave.

I remember a experiment on dogs. People think that their dogs are expressing guilt when they hunch down with their tails between their legs, and look up at their owners, but the experiment showed that the dogs were just demonstrating that they were submissive -- they would assume this position whether they had done something wrong or not.

So we have trouble interpreting canine emotions at times. My dog looked like he was experiencing guilt for killing the cat, or maybe grief for the loss of a friend. But what was he really experiencing? Was he aware that the cat was dead? Did he think were were burying the cat alive? Was he upset that we were burying potential food? Or was it really grief?

67.142.167.27 (talk) 20:31, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Dogs are capable of displaying "grief" in the context of a sense of loss. But trying to make the dog feel guilty will not likely work. Jackson Galaxy, a cat psychologist, has said that trying to punish cats for something they just did, is useless. Cats (and I would think dogs also) don't understand that they're being "taught a lesson" - you can't explain that to them like you can with a child. Animals live in the moment. They just understand that they're being made very uncomfortable by their owner's behavior. It would be worthwhile to take that dog to a vet (which is what Jackson Galaxy would recommend) and have the dog given a thorough physical, blood tests, etc., to see if there's any organic basis for whatever mood swing might have caused him to attack the cat... and to try to mitigate the abuse that the owner laid on him. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:07, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

I don't think that's giving them quite enough credit. When a dog or cat has made a mess on the floor, for which they will be punished, they seem to know this and make themselves scarce when the owner comes home. So, they are able to think about the past and future to some extent. Guilt is a fairly complex emotion, though, so they might not be capable of that. StuRat (talk) 21:16, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

I wouldn't call that "guilt", just "trying to avoid pain", i.e. trying to avoid getting swatted. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:23, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Did I just read, "Jackson Galaxy, a cat psychologist"? 00:16, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Yes, you did. See Jackson Galaxy. He has a television show, which if you've seen one episode, you've seen them all since they're really repetitive. Dismas|^(talk) 01:38, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

That name's going straight on my list. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:25, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

wow, and wow again. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 04:56, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

Is there room for Anil Gupta ? StuRat (talk) 05:02, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

Why, of course. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 06:33, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

Fascinating list. I think you left out Ima Hogg. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:45, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

It's there now. Tks. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:03, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

And it would be a cardinal sin to leave out Cardinal Sin. StuRat (talk) 03:57, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

There have been at least two Bishop Bishops. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 07:20, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Basically all you did was show the dog that he did "something wrong". That may be guilt or an emotion closer to fear of the consequences from their owner. The death of the cat is not the guilt factor but the actions of the owner when trying to "shame" the animal. He was fearing for what would happen to him due to the manner in which he was being treated at the moment.--Mark Miller (talk) 00:30, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

"Jackson Galaxy" is a self-taught cat behavior expert with a TV show in which he helps owners of cats-from-hell. He legally changed his name while in his 20's from a birth name he keeps secret, per "Jackson Galaxy, the 'Cat Whisperer' of Animal Planet's My Cat From Hell". Edison (talk) 01:39, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Cat "psychologist" is probably an overstatement, yes. The typical My Cat from Hell episode contains footage of a very badly behaving cat or cats, with the owner's plea for help, a la Dr. Phil. Jackson then goes to the home and studies the cat... and also studies the dynamic in the home. Because it is often the owners who need treatment as much or more than the cat does. After each session he gives homework to the owners, who video their efforts and he checks back in two-week intervals. Miraculously, within about three visits every cat is doing well, as are the owners. Realistically, it could well take a lot longer, but it's only a half-hour show. Presumably any failed efforts don't make it to TV. However, certain common themes recur frequently. Given the large number of dogs kept as pets, and given dogs' higher-maintenance nature (as opposed to cats), I would think there's any number of dog-training sources. But back to the issue of "guilt", that's a human concept, a facet of morality. Animals don't have "morals", they just do what they do. They're a lot like children who haven't grasped the whys and wherefores of "morality". Rather, they just know that certain behavior can lead to pain. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:31, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Not enough food

In what areas of the world is food in short supply today?--98.88.145.182 (talk) 22:34, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

See [1]. That's 2012, but it probably hasn't changed much since then. StuRat (talk) 22:41, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks.--98.88.145.182 (talk) 23:49, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

You're quite welcome. StuRat (talk) 15:50, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Area of all world's cities

How much surface is taken up by all the world's cities? Alternatively, what % of the total Earth's land mass is that surface? Thanks 93.139.51.60 (talk) 23:21, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Define "city". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:02, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Bugs is right, that said a site I used to use a ton is Demographia.com, they have global stats here, they tend to have some really detailed and even esoteric stats (the site is filled with internal links) but I don't see anything on land area, a google search does return a few UN and CIA factbook projections about % of human population in urban areas but nothing on overall land. Again, how does one define "city"? Stats are out there but they tend to do an "apples to apples" by determining urbanized area or metropolitan area etc. since depending on the nation and even the city actual city boundaries can include vast amounts of glaciers in the case of the super large cities of Alaska (yet tiny on population) and China, even Jacksonville Florida is one of the world's largest land mass cities but includes undeveloped and underdeveloped rural and wilderness. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 09:43, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps a more answerable question is, "What percentage of the Earth's surface is concealed by human constructions?" Someguy1221 (talk) 10:12, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

That's the problem - the IP has not specified whether he's looking for the full extent of the human footprint on earth, or merely the collective footprint of cities of some minimum size. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:29, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

The working definition used by Demographia.com is: "An urban area is best thought of as the “urban footprint” - the lighted area that can be observed from an airplane (or satellite) on a clear night. National census authorities in Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States designate urban areas. Except in Australia, the authorities use a minimum urban density definition of 400 persons per square kilometer (or the nearly identical 1,000 per square mile in the United States)." Here it does give areas for over 1500 of the largest cities, and in the final table it gives their total populations and population densities - from which it can be calculated that those cities cover a total of 143,000 square miles (370,000 km²), which on my calculation is 0.07% of total global land area. Those cities contain just over 2 billion people, which is probably less than half of the total urban population of the world. So, if you multiply the area by a factor of, say, 10, (as smaller cities will generally be at lower densities than larger ones), you still end up with a figure of less than 1% of global land area. However, my calculations are wholly unreliable.  :-) Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:42, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Glad you like my link Ghmyrtle, and agreed that if you make some stipulations as far as "apples to apples" you can after a very long time calculate a rough number, it is surprising no website has done this yet, especially as one as detailed as Demographia. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 11:58, 2 November 2013 (UTC)