Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 July 8

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July 8

Airliner Names

The first A380 purchased by Qantas is about to be named after a famous Australian pioneer aviatrix. Are there any other commercial aircraft in the world named after a woman?Govgirl (talk) 01:06, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Virgin America has an airliner named Jane (as in Plane Jane) [1] and pretty much the entire Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Blue fleet have women's names. According to Virgin, "Very few of our aircraft have been named after [real] people, however in 1993 Princess Diana had an aircraft named after her which was called Lady in Red. In 2002 Claudia Schiffer named an aircraft Claudia Nine. HRH Queen Elizabeth II named one of our A340-600 aircraft Queen of the Skies". [2] Rockpocket 01:58, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

How much power is required for the Internet?

Excluding all PCs/modems/instruments that end users use to connect to the Internet, is there any estimated figure of world wide power consumption by Networking hardware which keeps the Internet functional? - manya (talk) 04:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

This guy http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2007/10/how_much_power.php has a guess at it..87.102.86.73 (talk) 13:58, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Post World war 2

I would like to find out some history of the reason that C.A.R.E parcels were issued to some of the poorer families after the second world war.

From our article CARE Package - "In 1945, the newly-formed CARE (then the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) initiated a program to send food relief to Europe, where large numbers of people were at risk of starvation in the wake of World War II. " There is also a link in CARE (relief) to a brief history of the organization on the CARE website, which gives a little more detail. --LarryMac | Talk 14:35, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

An Austrian website has the following: The US CARE relief scheme, which was set up in Austria after 1946 to support individuals, kindergartens, hostels, schools and hospitals (CARE parcels) served as a model to the organisation. In terms of 1998 money, the CARE donations made available between 1946 and 1957 reached a value of ATS 1.2 billion.

The ATS (Austrian Shilling) is, of course, long obsolete and has been replaced by the Euro. The 1:1 equivalent would be some 87 million EUR, but it is not obvious what area they are referencing. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:38, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Russia II

Thanks for the previous answers, and further more... Why are there more Russians all over Siberia than native peoples eg Tatars, also, why is there such a large percentage of Ukranians in Russia? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:20, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

To start with the first part of your question, there are in fact some rural pockets of Siberia where non-Russian ethnic groups form a majority. However, it is true that, across Siberia as a whole, ethnic Russians form a large majority of the population. The reason for this is that there was a large migration of Russians from European Russia into Siberia from around 1600 to maybe 1950. These Russians either moved voluntarily seeking land to farm, were stationed there for military or political duties and ended up settling there, or were moved to Siberia forcibly by the state for political reasons and ended up making their permanent homes there. The Russian imperial state encouraged peasant farmers to migrate to Siberia by granting them freedom from serfdom upon their migration. Most of the indigenous peoples of Siberia did not practice agriculture but lived instead by hunting and foraging or by herding livestock. These methods of sustenance cannot support high population densities. By contrast, the agriculture practiced by Russian peasants could support much higher populations in a given area. With the backing of the Russian state, Russian migrants occupied the most fertile areas, and their population in areas where they settled soon outnumbered that of the indigenous inhabitants. As for the second part of your question, on Ukrainians: until 1991, Ukraine was part, first, of the imperial Russian, then, of the Soviet state. Like ethnic Russians, Ukrainians were compelled or induced to settle in Siberia. Also, many Ukrainians in imperial or Soviet times were assigned to work or other duties outside the Ukraine in regions, including European Russia, that are now part of the Russian Federation. Therefore, when Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, many ethnic Ukrainians found themselves on the Russian side of the border. (Likewise, many ethnic Russians now live in Ukraine.) Marco polo (talk) 18:12, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Abducted by the Daleks

Where can I buy "Abducted by the Daleks" on DVD? 86.136.7.234 (talk) 16:54, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

There are two copies on eBay (UK) at the moment.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:02, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

The online retailer "xploited cinema" stock it. Be quick though as they are winding down operations.--80.176.225.249 (talk) 19:35, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

A very chunky bottle of wine:

I've got a bottle of 1970 Chateau Beau-Rivage, in the bottom of the bottle is a large clump of something, (I'm not sure what it is). If the bottle is disturbed the clump will break up into smaller chunks and darken the wine. My question is....Is it safe to drink the wine after the particles have settled to the bottom, and what are the particles? Derulk (talk) 18:08, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Possibly lees. --LarryMac | Talk 18:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

This is not uncommon in old red wines. In fact, some kinds of port are commonly decanted to remove the dregs.[3] Rmhermen (talk) 18:20, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Wine is normally taken off its lees before bottling; what forms in the bottle during aging is more often called "sediment", and its formation is normal (and copious in ports, as Rmhermen points out). It is not harmful, but if it's poured into the glass, the texture is unpleasant. Thus the sediment is normally allowed to settle over a period of days (either with the bottle upright, so that it settles to the bottom, or with the bottle in a decanting cradle, so it can be poured without disturbing the sediment). The wine is then carefully poured into a decanter, stopping before the sediment pours out. A candle (or, in modern times, a flashlight) is useful for observing the shoulder and neck of the bottle, to know when to stop. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:39, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Sediments are common in aged red wines. The presence of sediment does not mean that there is anything wrong with the wine. Plasticup ^T/C 19:46, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Quote

I need a good quote for a particular situation. As it goes, there is a person/acquaintance/friend I will never see again. Not in a tragic sort of way, she and I are just moving to different places and we're not close enough to exchange e-mails/phone numbers. I want a good quote acknowledging that even that we will probably never cross paths again, I wish them luck/will always remember them.--Endless Dan 19:45, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

"Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it." Don't tell her it's from Southpark. Plasticup ^T/C 19:50, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Though we'll probably never cross paths again, I wish you luck and I'll always remember you. -Endless Dan (I thought it was pretty good). -LambaJan (talk) 20:00, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Kinda reminds me of We May Never Pass This Way Again -LambaJan (talk) 20:04, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

LOL - LambaJan, I suppose my own words could work. --Endless Dan 20:09, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi. How is it possible to live too far away to exchange e-mails? Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 18:52, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

I think EndlessDan meant that it was not a close relationship. Nothing to do with geography. --LarryMac | Talk 19:06, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

From Homer Simpson,the fount of tactful emotion-'Six words.I'm not gay,but I'll learn'. Lemon martini (talk) 15:11, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Human Resource Implications of Outsourcing in Developing Nations

Detailed explanation of Human Resource Outsourcing, Outsourcing and also the implications of human resource implications of outsourcing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.205.167.156 (talk) 20:13, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

You may want to look at our articles on Human resources and Outsourcing (particularly the criticisms) if you haven't already. —Pie4all88 (talk) 20:58, 8 July 2008 (UTC)