Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 May 19

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May 19

Massively

Why are MMOs massively multiplayer? my friend says it doesn't make sense to say it's massively multiplayer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.242.34.177 (talk) 00:26, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Your usual multiplayer game can only handle a small number of players (4, 8, 16, etc.) because the tracking of each player is usually performed by the fastest connected computer. MMOs, on the other hand, are massive because they use dedicated servers to manage player locations and statistics, and can handle thousands of players in the game at one time. --Canley (talk) 00:42, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Not so, a good number of games use dedicated servers, particularly just about every PC FPS. However, their player counts are, at most, 128 players. MMOs, on the other hand, have only a very small handful of servers (or even just one), usually handled by the company itself and not run by other people. 206.126.163.20 (talk) 00:09, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

well, why is it massively but not massive? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.242.34.177 (talk) 01:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

I guess it's a language thing: massively is describing multiplayer, not game. That is, it's a massively multiplayer game, not a massive (multiplayer) game. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.129.137.85 (talk) 02:03, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

This is exactly correct. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 13:34, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

United States Media Ownership

Hi, I remember seeing a chart similar to this one [1] showing what corporations own what television networks in the United States. Can anyone help me find it? --Shniken1 (talk) 03:40, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not as simply presented - but I found this one [2] through a link on our Concentration of media ownership article. Rmhermen (talk) 14:35, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Thick As A Brick (CD)

Hello,

I am wondering if you might be able to tell me the year or tell me where I might find the year the "Thick As A Brick" CD was first released? "Thick As A Brick" LP was released in 1972. (Jethro Tull).

Thanks in advance, Racepointblue (talk) 10:08, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

According to Amazon it was either June 16, 1997 or June 30, 1998. Dismas|^(talk) 10:18, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

(ec) Thick as a Brick refers to a 25th anniversary reissue, which would presumably have been in 1997 since the original album came out in 1972. This probably wasn't the first time it came out on CD, however. Allmusic lists a 1990 CD release, but the only way to be sure is to look at the dates on the CD. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 10:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Another source lists simply "1998" without giving an exact date. And the only two releases listed are the original in '72 and the remaster, which as I said, they list as 1998. And yes, that is strange considering it would be 26 years after the original and not 25. Dismas|^(talk) 10:26, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

And here are two more, both of which go back to 1985! I'd be very surprised if the 25th anniversary remaster was the first ever CD issue. When CDs first came out, the major record labels hurriedly made much of their back catalogue available on CD, as poor quality transfers from the original masters. For a fairly well known group like Tull, this would have happened early on. The digital remasters with bonus tracks etc. etc. would have come later. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 10:36, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

100 meter sprints

Can someone please tell me if you have a specific number of sprinters to run in the 100 meter Olympic races or can they place as many competitors in these races as they like ?Kiddyanpykey (talk) 11:04, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Competitors usually have to meet a Olympic qualifying time as well as be chosen by their countries' Olympic team. I also believe that there is a limit to entries allowed per country. Rmhermen (talk) 14:15, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

A country can enter 3 athletes per event if the athletes all meet the "A" standard, or 1 per event if they only meet the more lax "B" standard - or try to get 1 athlete in on an exemption if no one in the country meets either standard. The relay race is limited to 16 total entries but no mention of a limit on entries for the 100m in this source [3] Rmhermen (talk) 14:24, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

As to how they choose the entries, the "A" standard to get into the Olympic 100m is 10.21 sec but to get into, for example, the U.S. Olympic Qualifier, you need a 10.07 (or 10.28 only if there aren't enough entries). Rmhermen (talk) 14:29, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure, but I think the question is not about how many entrants a country can have, but how many people can run in a race.

An Olympic-standard running track has 8 lanes (some tracks have more, but only 8 lanes would be used in the Olympics). There may, therefore, be as many as 8 athletes in a race (the "field size"). There can be less, but races must be competitive, so never less than 2 runners in a race. Usually, in the Olympics, you would never get that few, but in some of the early heats (as the total number of entrants is never an exact multiple of 8), there may be 5, 6 or 7 runners in a race. This goes for all events where the athletes start from blocks (so, not just 100m, but also 100m/110m hurdles, 200m, and 400m).

In Olympic races longer than 400m (ie, 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, 10000m), a standing start is used, and more than 8 runners can take part in a single race. Neıl 龱 10:22, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Mario Kart Wii online icons

After an WFC online race is completed, I notice on the leaderboard that some racers have a white steering wheel icon, some have a gold one, while others (like me) have none at all. I can't find any reference to them in the owners manual. Anyone know what they signify? --69.151.29.16 (talk) 12:27, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

People who use the Wii Wheel get white icons and if they use it for a longer period of time it turns gold. people not using the Wii Wheel get no icon. According to this link [4] - X201 (talk) 14:02, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Looking for a melody

There is a little melody to be heard right in the beginning of the intro movie of FIFA 2000 (no, I am not talking about Robbie Williams' "It's Only Us". Can one identify it? You may look it up at Youtube. Thanks!91.97.78.246 (talk) 18:44, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

It sounds like a warped and embellished version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," though it could just as easily be "The Anacreontic Song" given the context. WDavis1911 (talk) 08:49, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd have gone with the first one. Bed-Head-HairUser:BedHeadHairGirl13:49, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Hunting Techniques

I want to request an article on the hunting technique by constructing a 'machan'. This is a hindi word . It is a sort of platform on a tree to shoot the animals. I want more information on this type of hunting technique and the construction of a machan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Talha sayed (talk • contribs) 20:14, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

The hunting article mentions blind and stand hunting, but there is no page for the latter, yet. Sounds like that would be what your hindi word describes. It's also called a "raised blind" or "blind stand" [5]. Lisa4edit (talk) 20:44, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

My grandfather called it a 'tree stand' and used them almost exclusively; I found techniques and safety tips by searching under that name; it seems reasonable to think that the machan hunting techniques would be similar. I couldn't find any specific information abult building a machan, and don't know how different they are from grandpa's tree stand. Important safety tip: try not to fall out. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 11:10, 21 May 2008 (UTC)