Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 February 23

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February 23

Female-dominated occupations

Are there any jobs that aren't male dominated other than nurses and secretaries? Not counting crap jobs like working at a clothing store or something.--Charmpiano (talk) 00:14, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

In todays modern society, men and women can get any job they want as long as they have the appropriate know how, the willingness and desire, not to mention the tenasity and dinamic aproach of wanting to work and make someone else rich. We are all equal and can do any job we want. Many Nurses are men and many secrateries too, not to mention(or to mention if you will)many builders being women and many miners too. However, to answer you question to a more complete degree,a seemstres, not a [taylor]]. Prostitute, physiotherepist, house wife, which is work too! perhaps wiki has a list, I would be interested to see that. other links of interest inclued. List of banned bookscheers and beers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.34.51 (talk) 00:35, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

A few more female-dominated occupations off the top of my head are teaching (especially of young children), gynecology, obstetrics, day care provider, modeling, and porn. MrRedact (talk) 00:40, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Textbook editing. Marco polo (talk) 01:19, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

A few more occupations consisting of more women than men: travel agent, librarian, veterinarian, human resources administrator, occupational therapist, accounting/bookkeeping, legal services.

There are some female-dominated entrepreneurial occupations that might be counted as a “crap job” if you’re at the entry level, but I don’t think ought to count as a crap job if you own the business. Some of these are beauty salon owner, nail salon owner, dry cleaner, gift shop owner, sewing store owner, florist.

I’m getting all of the above in this post, paraphrasing at times, from a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics document.[ http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-table14-2007.pdf] See [1] for other related documents about women in the workforce.

I disagree that dry cleaner owners are largely women. At least in the parts of California that I'm familiar with, dry cleaners tend to be owned by immigrant families, typically from South Asia or Southeast Asia. Corvus cornix_talk 23:55, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Well, according to the above referenced Bureau of Labor Statistics document, 60.6% of people employed in the “dry cleaning and laundry services” industry are women. I agree with your observation about dry cleaning businesses frequently being owned by Asian immigrants, but being an Asian immigrant and being a woman aren’t mutually exclusive things to be. Charmpiano’s question was about female-dominated occupations in general, not necessarily about occupations dominated by women whose ancestors came from Europe generations ago. MrRedact (talk) 01:38, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

I said families. They tend to be owned by husbands and wives, not just women. And employed doesn't mean owned. And I resent your implication of racism. Corvus cornix_talk 02:33, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Sorry. MrRedact (talk) 04:17, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not actually sure about veterinarian per se. 79.5% of the workforce in the veterinary services industry is female as per the above document, but I don't know what fraction of those are veterinarians vs. veterinary technicians. MrRedact (talk) 01:22, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I read something a while back that women are going to veterinary school at much higher rates than men. Corvus cornix_talk 23:55, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Men make very inferior mother superiors. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:20, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

In Russia doctors have been historically female (I read this somewhere in Wikipedia) and, at least in my country, most medicine students are now women. I'd say that nowadays only the engineering and computer science fields are clearly male-dominated (damn...). --Taraborn (talk) 09:52, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Dominatrixes tend to dominate in their field. Edison (talk) 20:29, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

The whole library industry, and plant tissue technicians. Really.Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 21:39, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Soul Reaver

A bit of a weird one, I want to know if there in an actual weapon which is wielded like the Soul Reaver in the game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver i.e. a sword where the hilt is attached to the forearm and the blade extends in line with the arm. Thanks for any answers, DTWATKINS (talk) 01:04, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

make one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.34.51 (talk) 02:09, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not an expert, but it doesn't strikes me as an effective weapon. You lose the ability to use your wrist to direct the sword and have to move your whole arm instead. Also, I'd expect the impact of striking the opponent's weapon and/or shield would be not be cushioned by your wrist's flexibility. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:18, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Can't say for sure, obviously, but I doubt it. What if you forgot you had it on and went to pick your nose? You'd cut your own head off. Also, it would be less maneuverable that way than if you were holding it like a normal sword, and you couldn't drop it and use that hand for something else if the situation demanded it. Either you'd have to wear it all the time, or put it on for fighting, and it would take longer to get into action than a regular sword. The mounting part would constitute extra weight. I see nothing but drawbacks and no advantage to such a weapon. --Milkbreath (talk) 03:24, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Using swords that limit your movements was one of the reasons (among other ways that restricted maneuverability) Boudica's campaign struggled and er, failed.[2]. I'm with Milkbreath about trying to find your hanky. Julia Rossi (talk) 07:59, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

You wouldn't be thinking of a spring-loaded sliding type Switchblade knife? except it's not a sword and operates with a button. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:19, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

It sounds similar to the "orchids" described in Samuel Delany's book Dhalgren, which are also fictional. Steewi (talk) 04:12, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

pushing it further, see also the weapons used in Frisky Dingo episode where Killface fights Xander Crews in lieu of the scheduled killer rabbit bout (you had to be there); the weapons used are a helmet with three kitchen knives sticking out, and another with a cleaver attached. not really good weapons, for the reasons described above. Gzuckier (talk) 18:54, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Welfare

Hi, I am going to graduate from college soon; and I am thinking about going on welfare. Can anyone familiar with it tell me what is the procedure for going on welfare in California? Thanks. --131.215.220.112 (talk) 02:42, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

The California Department of Social Services web site should have all the information that you'll need as well as office locations or telephone numbers. Dismas|^(talk) 03:06, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Welfare in California is handled at the county level. To investigate further, go to the appropriate county human services agency on this list. There’s also a county welfare department list here. Also, here’s how to apply for food stamps in California. MrRedact (talk) 03:17, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you get a job, you {expletives self-censored}?—Nricardo (talk) 04:02, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

nokia cheat code!

I already asked this question but i got insufficient answers...may be silly answers...i need correct, precise answers for my question now! do any one know any cheat codes for other games than bounce(787898)...i need exactly the codes...not the links for that codes! Wikipedia is such a website that it keep up to it's expectations & wikipedians also..so plz let me know the codes directly...no further comments plz >>(requst only) Temuzion (talk) 06:14, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you check GameFAQs, as you've got what seems to be a very general question (similar to "please list all codes for GBA games") and you can sort by platform. Nobody here is obligated to help you so I'd be a bit more conciliatory in your attitude as well. - Carbon ^[Nyan?] 11:13, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

U suggested GameFAQs, but u r not clear whether the FAQs are to be referred from Wikipedia or from google or any other search engine! Ok! I hope u'll be more clear by the next time u edit this section! Try to understand me. I'm very eager to know the codes. I hope I'll get the sure answer by the next communication! Temuzion (talk) 04:01, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Carbon is talking about the website http://www.gamefaqs.com. —Lowellian (reply) 22:58, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I should add that if you search on wikipedia, or Google, or Live Search or Yahoo or AltaVista for 'gamefaqs' or 'GameFAQs' you get the same website as the first result, so instead of complaining about a lack of clarity, you may have found it helpful to just search yourself... Nil Einne (talk) 13:12, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

transcribers

am a 21 year old IT student and i just got hired in a call centre to do transcribing.am a fast typer(not thaaat fast) 21 wpm.i have no previous experience but i still landed the interview i wanted to know if transcribing is a skill or a gift.can one read books and online tutorials and become clever in it or is it just practice or if u dont have it u just dont have it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.92.218 (talk) 06:53, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Not wishing to be too harsh but 21wpm is not really very fast. Transcribing appears to be similar to being an audio-typist, whereby you are listening to audio/video and typing the words that are said. It appears that speeds of around 60wpm+ are desired for audio-typing. I average around 80-90wpm myself with limited formal training. If you learn to touch-type you can improve that speed significantly. Additionally there are a lot of online resources that should help you. It is certainly a skill that is within the abilities of most people - though as with anything that uses your hands some people's hands will be better suited to it than others (I would expect long-thin fingers are best). ny156uk (talk) 10:29, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

You definitely must improve your typing speed (original poster's). --Taraborn (talk) 18:07, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

You might also want to practice using correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (Said in all seriousness - your boss at the call centre would probably not appreciate you accidentally using 'u' instead of 'you' when you are formally transcribing something.) -- 128.104.112.47 (talk) 21:42, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

It's a skill, not a gift. Anyone can learn to type fast and accurately with practice. Surely there are some people who will be naturally better at it than others, but it's not a very hard skill in any case, it just takes practice so that your brain learns better how to move your hands and fingers without having to consciously think about the motor skills involved. --98.217.18.109 (talk) 00:34, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Memory

I am a person who analyses the human mind power and memory power through non medical methods based on observation and hypothesis.I recently discovered that I am losing my own mind power by this over analysis.My college grades are sucking please help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.210.52.154 (talk) 07:44, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Hmm... if you're asking for medical advice, sorry but we can't give it. If your college grades have dropped, I guess the most probable reason is that now you're not studying as much as you used to. -Taraborn (talk) 09:55, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

or the work has increased in complexity/difficulty as you have progressed through the course and you are finding that good grades are harder to achieve. The best way to improve your grades is: A) Focus on achieving the aims of the subject of any essays/assignments you write B) Study more frequently and C) Make notes, read your notes. Writing down/summarizing what you read in a short paragraph seems to help a lot of people remember things more. ny156uk (talk) 10:22, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry - what was the question? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.145.240.230 (talk) 12:27, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

This is simply called paralysis due to analysis.Dont think I am being rude but I am telling this as a friend.I am concerned about your future because you have a bright one ahead.You have a taste and curiosity for learning things apply it to your main stream academics.It will be difficult and unsurmountable but you will do it.You have that blaze in yourself.All the best:-):-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.214.104.112 (talk) 09:41, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Huh? --Taraborn (talk) 17:28, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

social science

where can i get cbse solved papers of social science of cbse-class X 2008 ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.245.143 (talk) 13:38, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

You can get some 2008 CBSE class X sample papers here. MrRedact (talk) 16:03, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Modern dockers

From stevedore '"Docker" is the usual general term used in the UK for a man who loads or unloads ships and performs various other jobs required at a sea port.'

What are the particular names of the jobs though? I guess one of them would be 'crane operator', and another could be 'driver'. What other specialized jobs are there? Is 'lineman' a job in a port? Keria (talk) 16:19, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes, Lineman, (takes and secures securing lines from the vessel). Straddle Driver, (drives the straddle carrier that takes containers 'off' the crane driver to the storage area on the dockside). Must be more though!--Johnluckie (talk) 19:42, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

..and I have thought of more.Lots of specialist drivers like Fork Lift drivers, Port bus drivers taking crew and passengers to port gates, (generally walking not allowed in dock areas, unsafe. There will be Security Police at the dock gates and often just circling the port area.

Vehicle drivers, taking cars or commercial vehicles from RoRo vessels to Quality Inspectors, before driving to car park, and returning to ship by their dedicated bus. On the middle east there will be a dedicated Police Man or Security Officer manning the bottom of the gangway at all times. Drug Inspection Officers with Dogs will check each vessel before it's departure, esp. in the US and South America. When loading bananas ships take on specialist packers who work non stop for a long as it takes to fill the vessel. Agents for the shipping company will be on the dockside, with offices off or on dock. Immigration Officers too. Yet more probably !--Johnluckie (talk) 20:13, 23 February 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnluckie (talk • contribs) 20:12, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

It varies depending on what kind of cargo and on the location. Sometimes, things will be very chaotic/informal, as in this photo. The U.S. Navy enumerates a number of functions (but not actual job titles) in this document. Some of the items are "operation of barge derricks, gantries, cranes, forklifts, and other materiel handling equipment," "loading and unloading railcars and trucks; packing, repacking, crating, warehousing, and storage of cargo moving through the terminal; and, stuffing and unstuffing containers," " maintenance of barge derricks, gantries, and fixed cranes," and "egregation of reclaimable lumber from dunnage removed from ships, railcars, and trucks; removal of nails; evening of lengths; inspection; and, return of the lumber to inventory for reuse."

In all, I don't think specialized job titles are used on the shore-side as much as they are onboard ships, but that's just the view from the other side of the gangway. Cheers. Haus^Talk 22:08, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

The long defunct Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union included these tasks: "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing, cleaning, working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work" – is it still the case that painters are included with dockers? Julia Rossi (talk) 07:21, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Pronounciation

I want to put a reference on how to pronounce a village name on a page - but am not sure how to go about it - help please!! The name is Navenby and it is prounced like the nave of a church - rather than like a navvie. But I don't know the correct little character thingys to use. --Seahamlass 17:22, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

The people at the linguistics reference desk are brilliant about this sort of thing, and Help:Pronunciation has some good info. But I will try to help. I suggest /ˈneɪvənbiː/ if we're using IPA.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 17:31, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

By the way, the "IPA" to which The Fat Man referred is the International Phonetic Alphabet - a standard way of writing pronunciations which is used frequently on Wikipedia. -- 128.104.112.47 (talk) 21:37, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Heliolithic

I have heard references to the Heliolithic period of prehistory, but cannot find anything about it. What is this period of prehistory, and what defines it from the Neolithic? 144.32.126.16 (talk) 18:45, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

"Heliolithic" is not a period of prehistory but a type of culture characterised by "megaliths and sun worship". You might be thinking of "paleolithic". --Milkbreath (talk) 19:18, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

You may have run across something describing the theory of Elliot Smith published in Ancient Egyptians and their Influence upon the Civilization of Europe (1911) which posited a copper and megalith culture which spread from Egypt throughout the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas in the tenth century BC.—eric 20:52, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks!! 144.32.126.15 (talk) 21:52, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Measuring TV viewership

I often hear that, for example, the World Cup final attracted X-million viewers, or that this year's Superbowl had Y-million viewers, etc. How are these numbers obtained? Are they true counts or just estimates? Thanks. -- Slacker (talk) 20:47, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Only a very small part of the viewers is measured, the rest is just statistics. See Nielsen ratings#Measuring ratings for more information on how it is done. - Dammit (talk) 20:53, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I know what Nielsen ratings are, but I'm asking about world-wide viewership (like the World Cup final or the Olympics). Is it done the same way as with Nielsen ratings in the US? -- Slacker (talk) 03:10, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

In the past, they've just totaled the number with TVs in all of the countries getting the game, which is how they wound up with ridiculous numbers of Super Bowl viewers (like 1 billion). Any estimates of international viewership are generally guesses and should be taken with many grains of salt. See [3]. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 12:34, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Second-hand smoke and pets

If second hand smoke is so deadly, how many pets of smokers have died of lung cancer? Certainly they would be the first to go.69.248.11.6 (talk) 21:57, 23 February 2008 (UTC)raa

Interesting question. I would imagine that pets would not receive the brunt of the second-hand smoke because they're breathing air that is down by our feet instead of up in the middle of the room where the smoke is blown. Useight (talk) 22:31, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

It's also the case that most pets don't live all that long. Lung cancer takes quite a long time to develop, especially from a source like second-hand smoke. Most humans don't develop it until at least the middle of their life (three or four decades); that's considerably longer than the life of most house pets. Pets of course do get cancer quite frequently (my own dog is a cancer survivor, though not lung cancer), and I'd be surprised if as detailed studies had been made as to the sources of those as have been done in humans. --98.217.18.109 (talk) 00:31, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Smoke from cigarettes actually tends to settle towards the ground (and everything in between). My friend's father is a chain smoker and although he keeps his PC on the floor it smells strongly like cigarette smoke when he brings it to a non-smoking house (mine) and turns it on. Their dog is also literally insane (she barks at one spot of the wall all day unless you pet her), but I doubt it is the smoke that made her that way. However, she does seem to have breathing problems, but nothing like cancer. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 14:20, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

It's been shown that lymphoma in cats is associated with second-hand smoke.[4] --Joelmills (talk) 01:51, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

NaturalNews.com recently had an article on secondhand smoke and pets: www.naturalnews.com/022721.html Guroadrunner (talk) 18:09, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Google earth etc and governments

Have any governments or other political bodeis complained about satelite (apologies on poor spelling) images being made widely available through things like Google earth or Wikimapia? Surely all of those satelite photos of military and government installations would annoy them? Surely it compromises state security etc 144.32.126.15 (talk) 22:08, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes, various governments have complained. The US government has had some areas blacked out or blurred over (many nuclear power plants, for example, show up as blurry, though I'm fairly sure that's a state-by-state sort of issue, not a federal one); I believe the Indian government has also complained. See Google_Earth#National_security_and_privacy_issues. As for whether it compromises security, sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes it depends who you ask. Usually if there's valuable information that can be learned from the top of a building then it is not hard to get anyway to someone who really wants it, certainly not out of bounds for a rival intelligence service. --98.217.18.109 (talk) 00:24, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Dick Cheney's house is blurred out, according to You Don't Know Dick! -mattbuck (Talk) 00:53, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't have access to Google Earth right now, but the last time I looked, all of Israel was missing -- just solid gray. BrainyBabe (talk) 22:48, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Not from where I'm looking (GE 4.2.0198.2451 (beta)/Mac OS 10.4.11/IP address in the UK). Israel's there, along with the Gaza strip. Tonywalton ^Talk 22:59, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

The last time I looked was in early December, when there was a spike in bombing from the Gaza Strip. Bombers were said to be using GE, and I would imagine that Israel lodged a protest, either with the company or the US government. BrainyBabe (talk) 06:23, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

The Economist[5] gives a nice run-down from governments to being caught scaling a fence by the Google van, to Barbra Streisand suing to keep her 17 roofs private. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:45, 25 February 2008 (UTC)