Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 September 30

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September 30

Solanum

The Solanum Virus, [1] Was made up by I think Max Brooks. Is it Copyrighted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.130.162.137 (talk) 03:59, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

The Zombie Survival Guide was written by Max Brooks which is copyrighted. Don't know if the virus itself is but I would imagin so. JessicaThunderbolt 11:18, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

While the reference desk cannot provide legal advice, a look at our article on copyright may be enlightening. We note that Mickey Mouse's copyright does not prohibit the creation of cartoons about anthropomorphic mice so long as they are sufficiently dissimilar to Disney's original. In the same vein, there's no copyright on a zombie-causing virus -- but a virus with the same name, symptoms, and/or transmission characteristics as Brooks' likely violates his copyright. If a high-level view such as this is insufficient, consult a lawyer. — Lomn 12:59, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

45 million viewers

in the 90s this drew over 45 million viewers..using only google and wikipedia for research i need to get the answer..my 1st gooogle hit gave me monica lewsinsky's interview conducted by Barbara Walters...help me and on googling 45 million viewers is the key word.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.89.64 (talk) 13:05, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Super Bowl XXV? Nielsen ratings at 41.8 means 41.8 * 1% of the population, but I don't know what the population in the 90s was; using today's population it comes out at just over 47 mil, though. AllynJ (talk | contribs) 13:16, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

That 41.8 is the percentage of households, not viewers. 47 million households would be far higher than 47 million people. As such, likely every Super Bowl of the 1990s was seen by over 45 million people. Note that the US' top nine post-2000 telecasts were the nine post-2000 Super Bowls. Nielsen is estimating slightly over two people per household, so anything with a rating of 25 or better would correctly answer a poorly-phrased pub quiz question. — Lomn 15:17, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

America is not the world. The answer is the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. 80.254.147.52 (talk) 16:42, 30 September 2008 UTC)

The point is still valid - the question is invalid. By using the word "this", it is implying that only one event drew over 45 million viewers. It has been shown that more than one event drew over 45 million viewers. So, the valid question would be "In the 90's, what is one of the events that drew over 45 million viewers?" -- kainaw™ 17:01, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

According to the article you link, Diana's funeral was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people. So, while you could technically say that 45 million people watched it, the number was actually much higher. Your example just further highlights the problem with the question.Tomdobb (talk) 17:39, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I find claims that 2.5 billion people watched anything on television to be spurious in the extreme. The world population in 1997 was only around the 6 billion mark. Take away the billions of people who do not even have access to electricity, as well as those who live in countries (eg China) where the funeral was not televised, and you are left with approximately 100% of the remainder watching the funeral. Clearly this is not the case.

The (grossly inaccurate) 2.5 billion figure must have been arrived at by totting up the total population of the countries which broadcast the funeral, without taking into account the fact that many (quite possibly the majority) of the people in those countries would not necessarily have been watching it. This article [2] suggests that Diana's funeral was watched by "more than half" the population of Britain; if nearly half the British public were not watching it, I find it hard to credit that some 2.47 billion other people worldwide were tuning in. Malcolm XIV (talk) 19:03, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I figured that figure was probably BS, but it still seems entirely likely that the worldwide audience was significantly higher than 45 million people. Tomdobb (talk) 19:35, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Our article on the O. J. Simpson murder case states that " Estimates were that 150 million people watched the delivery of verdict on TV". cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 17:17, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

why did centigrate turn into celcius?

i need help with my homework its due in tommorrow please help me . my question is :why did centigrate turn into celcius —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.73.2.2 (talk) 20:06, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Not really an Entertainment question (Science would have been more appropriate), but here goes: have you read our article on the Celcius temperature scale? It should prove enlightening. — Lomn 20:13, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

And as a bonus, you might learn how to spell Celsius. --Anon, 05:27 UTC, October 1, 2008.

And centigrade --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:29, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

And tomorrow. You might like to take a look at question mark, for that matter. And apostrophe. And capital letters. Malcolm XIV (talk) 08:14, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Did anyone mention run-on sentences? -- JackofOz (talk) 13:21, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

and the disclaimer, do your own home work that is at the top of the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:12, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Name the tune, please.

Thanks, as always. [3] Imagine Reason (talk) 20:48, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Nothing plays for me but wouldn't that be the name of the song, artist, and album there on the page that you gave us the link for? None of them sound familiar, so I'm not sure which is the artist, song title, and album title, though I'm sure it won't be too much work for you and Google. Dismas|^(talk) 20:57, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

The song title is "Hillside Mansion"; the album, Nymphs & Weavers / Graveyard; the group, Burning Saviours (who, it was decided, aren't notable enough for Wikipedia). Deor (talk) 01:55, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

That's the song, but the tune can't be new. Imagine Reason (talk) 23:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Pandora doesn't go beyond the US. Can you give it to us in a different way? -- JackofOz (talk) 23:33, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Horror films rated PG-13

How many horror films have been rated PG-13 in the U.S.? David Pro (talk) 23:31, 30 September 2008 (UTC)