Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 April 24

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April 24

Some Sudanese phrases

Hi, I am making a poster and I would like to know how to say the following in Sudanese:

• "God help me!"
• "Please don't hurt me!"
• "Please! Please! Please!"
• "I don't want to die!"

If anyone knows those phrases, it would be much appreciated. Thank you very much. EDIT: I just realized that Sudan spoke Arabic and English. Does anyone know how to say these phrases in Arabic instead (with english letters)?64.230.92.226 01:34, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually, in Sudan, many languages are spoken. Arabic is an official language, but classical (standard) Arabic is in fact not spoken by Sudanese outside of formal occasions. Sudanese Arabic is spoken in northern Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum. However, if your poster is concerning Darfur, Sudanese Arabic is spoken only by some, including the Janjaweed militias, who have been accused of genocide. Their victims are most likely to speak Fur. Marco polo 01:47, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

And if you're likely to find anyone on the reference desk who speaks Fur they'll probably be at the language desk. --24.147.86.187 01:51, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

On second thought, Sudanese Arabic might be appropriate. Even ethnic Fur would probably know some words of it, and they would probably use Sudanese Arabic (to the extent they were able) to plead with ethnic Arabs attacking them. Marco polo 02:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Your poster sounds terrifying. --Dweller 13:03, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Please Help

Can someone name an African-American woman who is of large body size, but is also repsected by the public. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by TahomaBobby (talk • contribs) 03:55, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

Queen Latifah. zafiroblue05 | Talk 04:02, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Oprah --ChesterMarcol 04:04, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Toni Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Maya Angelou, Big Momma --TotoBaggins 04:51, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Barbara Jordan, Phylicia Rashād, Farai Chideya, Eddie Murphy, Aunt Jemima, [1]. dr.ef.tymac 05:19, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Does Phylicia Rashād have a large body size ? She was always thin on TV. StuRat 16:40, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

In case she's a WP contributor and protected under WP:NPA, I will defer to Stu's analysis. The road to hell is paved with conversations about women and body size. dr.ef.tymac 03:37, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Della Reese. Dismas|^(talk) 06:43, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hattie McDaniel, if you don't confine yourself to live people. JackofOz 06:46, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Loretta Devine Nil Einne 10:22, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Star Jones, though she doesn't have much respect from this member of the public. Dismas|^(talk) 10:51, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

That lady who didn't win American Idol. - AMP'd 17:12, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

When I think of "large" and "black" I think Michael Clarke Duncan. That's a big guy. [Mαc Δαvιs] ❖ 02:43, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Not that it has anything to do with "African-American Woman" ... but whatever gets you through the night. dr.ef.tymac 03:28, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Expecting tornado outbreak.....................

Expecting a tornado outbreak in the E. Texas area, Oklahoma area, Louisiana area, Arkansas area. Tornadoes, LARGE hail, a massive lightning event is expected. Can this be placed in the appropriate articles ? All weather services, incl. the Weather Channel has stated this today. See the Servere Weather maps, so that pixes could be used in the articles. 205.240.146.156 05:16, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

What makes this any more special than something that happens relatively frequently? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:33, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

The weather gets worse every year. 205.240.146.156 06:40, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Every year lots of slab-on-grade and mobile homes go up in those areas. Many more people get exposed to death. --Zeizmic 12:41, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Coverage of current events is more appropriate on Wikinews than here. StuRat 16:28, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

DDR error

Hi Wikipedia,

What is DDR SDRAM at DIMM (s):1 error means? My computer sometimes shows this message when i try to boot in. When this happens , i usually click the DEL tab to set up then everything will be fine but most of the time i cannot use my PC because of that error- DDR SDRAM at DIMM (s):1 Please help...

Thanks!—Keilah Reyes 06:44, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

You'd probably get a better response if you posted this on the Computing Reference Desk. Dismas|^(talk) 06:45, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

And you might get a better answer if you call up your computer manufacturer. That error just means that something is wrong with the DDR SDRAM at DIMM slot 1. You probably need to have the memory replaced. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:05, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Islamic laws

Dear Sir,

I know of a couple (a man and his niece but they are both adults) who are having sex and living together. The woman has 4 kids who are all minor under 15. She is having sex with their knowledge. He is sleeping in her bed and the kids know it. Is this legal in Islam specially in the Allawi religion?

Kindly let me know as i am worried about the psychological effect on the kids.

A Concerned —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.182.253.175 (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

Under Islamic law, they all can be executed for adultery and worse. Had to study it after 9-11 happened. 205.240.146.156 07:59, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Neither of them is stated by the questioner to be married. Does Islam classify two unmarried people having sex as "adultery"? --Dweller 13:02, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Let's remember that Wikipedia does not give legal opinions and that acting on the basis of an unsourced assertion of any kind is unsafe. Gandalf61 09:15, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

This doesn't sound like a legal question per se, but rather a question of religion, even though they use the term "Islamic law". An exception would be if they are in a country with Sharia law, like Iran, where the civil laws may actually correspond with Islamic law. In many other Muslim countries, like Turkey, the two do not correspond. In non-Muslim countries, of course, they don't correspond either. StuRat 16:25, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hey - come on people - here we have a clear case of incest - with children looking on. What the hell if it is Shia or Sharia - it is still an incestuous sexual relationship in any language, culture or religion. He should have his balls cut off. And she should be stoned to death after Friday prayers. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.145.240.139 (talk) 22:57, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

According to the incest article, the above ("any language, culture or religion") is not true. (Search for "uncle" in the article.) Personally, I wouldn't know. --Anon, April 24, 2007, 23:36 (UTC).

Dear me, is anyone actually going to offer the querent some reliable sources, rather than weigh in with personal prejudices? According to Akrami et al 2006 "there seems to be no encouragement of consanguineous marriage in the Islamic context; it is merely mentioned as a traditional and common custom." While Bittles 1998, in Empirical Estimates of the Global Prevalence of Cosanguineous Marriage in Contemporary Societies, suggests "uncle-niece unions are ... forbidden by the Koran, even though double first cousin marriages, which have the same coefficient of inbreeding (F = 0.125), are recognized within Islam." Therefore it would appear that Sharia Law - that based on the Koran - would not favour uncle/niece marriage. It would not favor a sexual relationship outside of marriage either (see Zina (Arabic)). Rockpocket 00:04, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Islamic jurisprudence. And also, ask an imam.--Kirby♥time 13:27, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

website name

hello, i'm looking for a website where you enter the name of a book or movie or CD and gives you a list of recommendations that are similar to it. thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.210.64.121 (talk) 09:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

• LibraryThing has such a feature for books. I am not familiar with such sites for films and CDs although I'm pretty sure they exist. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:53, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Amazon does that, kind of. Any page on there, whether for a book, CD or DVD, has links to other similar products. For music, I like Music Map. Type in an artist name and it gives you a bunch of similar artists, floating around on the screen. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:55, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

IMDb does that for movies. Anchoress 10:03, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Sites involved in the Music Genome Project do that for music. Though they don't simply list the music, they play it for you. Pandora.com is one. You enter a band you like and the program finds other music that is similar that you might like as well.

Also, Netflix does a similar recommendation sort of thing for movies. Dismas|^(talk) 10:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

hello again, i'm looking for a website where you can meet users with the same tastes in books and films and music. i've seen it before but i can't remember the name.

Last.fm provides a service like this. It monitors what you listen to (through a software download/add-on for players) and then matches you with people who have similar taste. This one is just for music however.gorffy 19:37, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Penis size by race

Can someone please find me a chart showing average penis size (length) by race and also by age? Thanks. --124.180.205.114 10:51, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Have you read our article on Human penis size or seen the links in that article? Dismas|^(talk) 13:34, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes I have but I couldn't find what I was looking for. --124.180.205.114 01:57, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

The problem with this request is that different studies produce different information. Our article states "there has been no conclusive evidence that race and penis size are at all correlated" therefore one might expect that there is no reputable data that shows any statistically significant difference in averages between races. You will be able to find data (using which you can plot your own chart) on length vs age in: Schonfeld, W. A. (1943). Primary and secondary sexual characteristics: Study of their development in males from birth through maturity, with biometric study of penis and testes. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 65, 535. Rockpocket 02:08, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

A simple chart based purely on sterotype is this: African > European > Asian other wise see above.-Czmtzc 13:56, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

^Well everyone knows that! ;) I was just looking for scientific studies to back it up! --124.181.20.152 10:16, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Username

hello everyone, i've been editing wikipedia for a while now and decided its time to make a account. Can anyone sugest a good username for me? 195.194.74.154 10:52, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

'releasethehounds!'(mr burns, the simpsons)

'davethemuse'(see 'unseen people')

'i'mnewheremyself'

'iblametheparents'(nicked from iain m banks, culture books) Perry-mankster 11:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Or just your name, or any random word you've created off the top of your head, or even '195.194.xxx.xxx' --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:18, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Speaking from experience, 195.194.xxx.xxx will definitely get you {{usernameblock}}ed, I should know, I used to be 71-247-243-173 (talk · contribs) --VectorPotential^Talk 15:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

You could always create a username that reflects your actual name; some of use have done that, and it'll help prepare you for Citizendium where there isn't any anonymous editing. One downside is you would need to be better-behaved in your editing than are many editors here on Wikipedia. You know, accurate, polite, accommodating of others' opinions, etc.

Please do remember that you need to choose a username that can't be construed as offensive, combative, etc. And I'd strongly urge you to avoid '195.194.xxx.xxx'; even if the Wikimedia software will allow that, I'm sure that would cause no end of trouble down the road.

Atlant 11:53, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I like them. I think I'll go for any random word though. Thanks 195.194.74.154 12:06, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hey, and I wasn't joking when I said any random word! Any random word 12:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I should have thought to cite this earlier, but for anyone else reading this thread, a good reference on all of this is WP:U, the official usernames policy.

Atlant 14:14, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I'll bet that any username can be construed as offensive, or confusable with a real-world person or organization, or too similar to an existing username, or too much a random collection of letters, which is somehow construed as likely to do vandalism. Names have been rejected for amazing reasons. It seems like a mistake to choose a name much like your real one, given the habit of anti-Wikipedia sites to 'out' editors they don't like. Similarly, articles are labelled as having conflict of interest (formerly called vanity) issues if the creator's username sounds like the name of the article subject. There has even been criticism when an editor using the name "Edison" wished to edit an article about Nikola Tesla. Edison 15:16, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, as you'll recall, Tom Lehrer did claim (in his famous song Smut) that, "when correctly viewed, everything is lewd", but we usually apply a slightly-stricter standard here when assessing the offensiveness of usernames.

Atlant 15:37, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

If you want to get a good idea of what names are or aren't allowed, you might want to go through the history of WP:RFCN, some interpretations of WP:U are pretty close to random so there's no sure way to avoid a usernameblock, just choose carefully--VectorPotential^Talk 15:54, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Bizzare thin person question

i dont know about you, but do you tend to find that thin people have huge bulging eyes?? so does anyone know why they have huge eyes? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.36.54.161 (talk) 11:20, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

If you shink the world to the size of an ant the ant would have looked big is well. It's all about proportions. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:30, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

could be that you are encountering a lot of people with the symptons of Graves Disease some of these include; Exophthalmos - bulging of the eye(s) and Hyperthyroidism - overactive metabolism. Perry-mankster 13:24, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

The less fat cells covering your zygomatic and frontal bone, the more hollowed the appearance, and the less light falls into the concave surrounding of your eyes. The resulting contrast might make the reflective eyes look brighter, similarly, perhaps, to one of the eyeliner's effects. (unreferenced) ---Sluzzelin talk 13:38, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps we should look at why the eyes on a skinny person don't shrink in proportion to the rest of them. The distance from the lens to the retina needs to be kept constant or vision would decline rapidly. Thus, animals whose eyes shrank when they went hungry would likely suffer a serious vision loss and die as a result of not being able to hunt, forage, or escape predators. This would leave only those animals which retained their full eye size and shape during periods of starvation to pass on their genes. People, having evolved from these animals, retain this characteristic. StuRat 16:15, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

How do I cite footnoted text?

In the article I'm working on, 2 Peter, I'd like to relocate some explanatory text to footnotes, which I believe will make the article less biased. The problem is, some of the comments I wish to move have citations of their own. What is the protocol for footnoting footnoted material?

You cite the source as normal but then note the notes as n5 or n6 instead of (or along with) a page number. Unless I've misunderstood your question. Generally speaking you don't have multiple levels of footnotes, if that is what you are asking. If you need to cite something in a footnote, you just put it at the end of a footnote. e.g. "This is an interpretation of X, following Y. Book That I Got This From, p. 5". --24.147.86.187 21:39, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I think the question is about footnotes within Wikipedia, the problem being that <ref> ... </ref> constructs don't nest. A reasonably practical solution might be to convert the "inner" footnote into a separate footnote to the original statement, but someone on the Help Desk might have a better idea. --Anonymous, April 24, 2007, 23:43 (UTC).

Putting out fires

If there was a fire in a room could it be put out by freezing temperatures or air?

probably not air, as it contains oxygen, which a fire needs. A fire will apparently go out if you remove either Heat, Fuel or Oxygen.

I would say yes, if you had enough air at a low enough temperature (near absolute zero, for example), and could dump it all on the fire quickly enough, it would absorb enough heat from the fire to bring it below the combustion temperature. This said, there are many disadvantages to this method. This would also likely kill anyone hit by the super cold air, and the volume of the air would be huge, as would the energy needed to lower the temp of such a large volume. For these reasons, pouring water on a fire is usually a much less expensive and safer say to extinguish it, unless you are dealing with some special cases, like an oil fire or electrical fire, where water can actually make things worse. Then methods like foam or halon gas are used, which primarily extinguish fires by depriving them of oxygen. Remember, a fire needs three things to propagate: fuel, oxygen, and a temperature above the combustion temp for that fuel and oxygen level. StuRat 16:06, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

If you had air "near absolute zero" it would be frozen solid, but would tend to melt and then evaporate in the heat of the fire, releasing more oxygen. However, in doing so, it would absorb heat from the flame. The results would depend on the size of the flame, the amount of frozen or cold air introduced, and the type of fuel.

As a practical method of extinguishing a room fire, though, it's pretty obvious that this would not be effective for the reasons given above.

--Anon, April 24, 2007, 23:50 (UTC).

So when I blow out a candle, does that work because there's not enough oxygen in my breath? --Dweller 10:41, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I assume that works because you're blowing the oxygen out of the way before it can heat up enough to form part of the flame - you are continuously pushing cold air into the flame, which doesnt have time to heat up and become part of the plasma, and so the flame eventually dies due to the cooling.

I think there is plenty enough oxygen in your breath to keep a flame burning 213.48.15.234 11:19, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

So then the original questioner was right, that pushing a sufficient quantity of air over a fire will put it out, even if there's oxygen in it? --Dweller 11:21, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm not so sure about that... see the article on firestorms for what can happen with wind and fire. I would guess that once a fire is beyond a certain size, the additional fuel provided by the oxygen would compensate for the cooling effect. As Peter Gabriel says, "You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire." (Not sure that he's a Reliable Source, but it's a good line.) - Eron ^Talk 11:48, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I would say that wind of sufficient velocity would always blow out a fire. However, for a forest fire you might need a sustained thousand mile per hour wind, which obviously isn't going to happen. StuRat 19:06, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I think this is right. The most spectacular situation of blowing out a fire is an oil-well fire, where a continuous stream of liquid fuel is flowing out of a narrow borehole and burning as it meets the air. But because the combustion happens in a small space, it is possible to blow it out with a sudden blast of air -- I imagine the mechanism involves not only cooling the burning fuel but also separating the incoming fuel from it. This has been done in at least two ways: (1) a small explosive charge, and (2) jet engines, as seen in the documentary Fires of Kuwait (1992). --Anonymous, April 25, 2007, 22:25 (UTC).

miscellany

a list of seemingly unconected questions that I couldn't be bothered to ask separately. —172.203.94.150 (talk) 14:56, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

dismemberment

1 If I wanted to tear someones arm off, which parts would break, and how much force would this require?

This depends on the person, of course. You would probably be unable to tear off a weight lifter's arm, while a baby's arm is relatively easy to snap off. The toughest part is the tendons, which make even a simple thing like pulling the drumstick apart from the thigh of a chicken very difficult without twisting it. This would probably be easier on a baby or young child, since you could get your boot in for leverage. --TotoBaggins 16:13, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

1a would the tendon be torn away from the bone, or just snap?

In chickens, it's torn away from the bone. You should go buy a ham or a turkey and tear it apart with your bare hands to get an idea of just how tough flesh and bone really is. --TotoBaggins 22:32, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

muscle strength

2 Is a longer muscle stronger than a shorter muscle of the same thickness? What ebout of the same volume?

I don't believe it will be "stronger" as such, but the longer muscle will have more leverage. FiggyBee 20:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

tough rocks

3 What is the toughest rock, (other than things like diamonds) actual stones such as sandstone or granite?

You'll have to be more specific. Diamonds are not particularly tough (whack one with a hammer to see that), though they are very hard. "Tough" isn't really a geological term. --TotoBaggins 16:18, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah. I remember hearing that when the tunnels for the MAX Light Rail line under the Sunset Hills in Portland were being dug, surveys revealed that the tunnel would be through mostly granite, with a relatively thin layer of basalt at the beginning. So the tunnel boring machine was optimized for drilling through granite. Unfortunately, the survey was inaccurate, and instead of having to drill just a few feet through basalt, they had to drill through hundreds. Now, granite is quite a bit harder than basalt, but basalt is in a way tougher -- it doesn't fracture as cleanly, and it ended up gumming up the TBM badly, significantly increasing the time and cost of the project. —Steve Summit (talk) 03:40, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

3a If I were to build, say, a castle out of each type of rock, and then shot it with cannons, tanks, battering rams, which would take the longest to collapse?

I'd take a guess at Pumice. FiggyBee 20:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

How about Tuff? Edison 16:40, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

handheld computers

4 where could I but a very small computer, small enough to hold in one hand, preferably one that one has a singly writing program on, such as Microsoft Word or Notepad, and nothing else, and how much is it likely to cost?

See Gumstix and Ultra-Mobile PC for a couple of answers. dr.ef.tymac 16:29, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

writing about real people

5 Would I be legally alowed to write a book about true stories other people had told me without asking everyone's permission first? If not, would I be able to if I avoided using any names, or anything else that could show who the stories were about?

Sure, it happens all the time. See unauthorized biography, memoir, and roman a clef. --TotoBaggins 16:18, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

But if it is deducable who the stories are about, make sure you can prove any potentially defamatory statements. FiggyBee 20:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

See Slander and libel [Mαc Δαvιs] ❖ 02:41, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm reminded of one of A. P. Herbert's Misleading Cases, in which Albert Haddock published a series of crossword puzzles in which some of the solutions were names of persons who claimed defamation by the clues. Given that the solutions (containing the names) were not published, was it libel? —Tamfang 21:27, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

cleaning glass

6 How can I clean glass so that it doesn't becaome attracted to dust and get even dirtyer than before? A way that I can use whilst out. and without any expencive equipment would be useful.

Wadded up newspaper and white vinegar. dr.ef.tymac 16:26, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

sick people looking green

7 Why is it that people who are ill apparently look green, even though they don't actually change colour? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.203.94.150 (talk) 14:56, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

Probably as a result of pallor. Rockpocket 22:29, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Popular question lately! Asked just five days ago, check other answer(s) there. —Steve Summit (talk) 01:53, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Kayaking

I joined a kayak club about a year ago. recently I persuaded a friend to come along with me, however he hated it as he couldn't balance in his boat. He is a fairly well built guy (not fat, just muscular), I then noticed that everyone else in the club is very tinn, some are tall, but they are still tinn. I was wondering is there a reason for this or is it just coincidence, do well built people fond it harder to kayak? Ken 11:53, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I would expect someone with a lot of upper body muscles would be top-heavy, causing the kayak to become unsteady. Leg muscles would have less of an effect, since they are near the waterline, not well below it, unlike the upper body muscles, which are well above the waterline. Perhaps a kayak with dual outriggers would work for him, although they would seem like training wheels, I suppose. StuRat 18:09, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm no kayak expert, but I can imagine just weighing more would be a disadvantage. You'd have to paddle harder and that might cause some instability as well. Recury 17:22, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Music

What is the name of the music box that makes the circus music? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.203.94.150 (talk • contribs) 14:57, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hmm... calliope? - Eron ^Talk 18:58, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

sweet man ... I have been looking for hours but I geuss my serches weren't the right questions.

Horses

I've read an article on Isabella Bird Foundation saving wild mustangs from slaughter. They are placed on property owned or leased by the Bird Foundation,are trained, and are put in service to allow terminally ill children to visit the camp and participate in leisure activities. Perhaps, a form of therapy?I would like to know more on this subject. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.235.165.12 (talk) 19:31, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

I don't know about that specific organization, but I do know that horses are used in a variety of therapeutic programs. The article on Therapeutic horseback riding should be able to give you more information. - Eron ^Talk 20:13, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hawaiian kitchens

What are the Hawaii State requirements for a certified kitchen?

I'm sure food will have to be involved somewhere, but apart from that...

My guess is that you are referring to the requirements set set by the Hawaiian Department of Health for certified commercial kitchen operation. A quick Google search turned up this, the "Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 11 Department of Health Chapter 12 Food Establishment Sanitation" on the state website. —WAvegetarian (talk) 00:07, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I've been told by relatives that all of us rats are required to wear tiny grass skirts and coconut bras. :-) StuRat 18:42, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah! Nasty image in my head!!! Get it out! --Zeizmic 21:04, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Barnstars

how do you award barnstars? Sethy-boy 22:12, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

You just copy the appropriate text found a WP:BARNSTAR to the awardee's talkpage. For example, for the Original Barnstar, you would type:

• {{subst:The Original Barnstar|message ~~~~}}

Rockpocket 22:26, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Are you gonna give one to Rockpocket for a fast and good reply? =) →EdGl 02:10, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Gee, I've never seen one. Edison 16:32, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

MyNetworkTV's schedules

How long is this schedule for reality shows? and when are we going to see those English-language telenovelas again on the schedule on MyNetworkTV?

TV ratings

Sorry to be bothering you guys again, but I got something to ask you about TV ratings.

What does it take for a television series like Desire (TV series) to get excellent ratings like Ugly Betty, Lost (TV series), or Grey's Anatomy?

Well, it has to obtain as many viewers as they do. Ratings are a measure of how many people are watching, after all. (An imperfect measure, but still...) - Eron ^Talk 23:21, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

A hell of a lot more viewers. Desire had around 1.16 million viewers [2] Lost has somewhere around 15 million (in the US). Rockpocket 23:26, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

There are many factors, some obvious, some less so:

1) It has to be an entertaining show. Notice that this isn't the same as a "critically acclaimed" show. People must like it, not critics.

2) It has to be in a good time slot. Very few people will start watching a show on at 4 AM. A few, but not many, might follow a show (to which they are already addicted) wherever it gets moved, using recording devices, as necessary.

3) It needs to be advertised. If nobody knows about the new show, nobody will tune it to give it a chance in the first place.

4) It needs to "stand out from the pack". A perfectly good CSI-type show probably won't do well if it's no better than the many existing CSI-type shows and is run against them. If you run your CSI-type show when others are playing the news, however, you may have a chance.

5) Big name stars help, mainly to get people to give it a chance, but they still won't stay if the show is bad.

6) Patience helps. Many shows that go on to be huge hits start out with a small audience, like Star Trek, which has now has had 5 TV series, a cartoon version, and ten films. StuRat 18:08, 25 April 2007 (UTC)