Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 October 30

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October 30

Paul Wellstone

Which of the candidates would former US Senator Paul Wellstone support in the current presidential election if he were alive today, and why? 75.174.159.100 (talk) 01:44, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

We don't really do speculative stuff here. Our guidelines (above) say: "The reference desk does not answer requests for opinions...". Sorry. SteveBaker (talk) 01:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Ah, sorry. Allow me to rephrase the question; which one of the presidential candidates has views that line up closest with those of the late Senator Wellstone? 75.174.159.100 (talk) 01:57, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

He describes himself as a "Liberal with a conscience" here[1] an informative section covering his activism in our article Paul Wellstone. You can make the (time consuming) comparisons unless you need further help or a political history buff comes along. :) Julia Rossi (talk) 08:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

He was a Democrat, and according to our article, the Green Party had considerable sympathy with his views, so I'd suggest that a comparison of his views with those of Barack Obama, Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney would be the best place to start. Warofdreams talk 10:44, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

sexual question

I was thinking of shaving my pubic hair for my boyfriend, but I wondered if anyone else could offer insight as to whether or not men enjoy seeing a girl with no pubic hair and whether I would notice any difference in sexual intercourse if I did shave my pubic hair off. Can anyone offer me some suggestions about this? 76.243.164.199 (talk) 01:56, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Ask 4chan's /r9k/. I believe the answer is 'most people do, but some like it with hair'. I guess your boyfriend would like it, but I dunno. Not sure if this is the kind of question for RD. As I said, ask on 4chan. Avnas Ishtaroth _{drop me a line} 04:06, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a question of personal preference, and there is no arguing with taste. See Landing strip and Bikini waxing. Edison (talk) 04:22, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

It's easy enough to try...it does grow back! SteveBaker (talk) 04:25, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm reminded of an observation that Peter Mayle made in one of his books, that a man who smokes cigars should select a cigar that fits the size of his face. Churchill would have looked ridiculous smoking a panatella. I guess that's a little oblique, but any decision like this should be made in light of your overall look/attitude. Darkspots (talk) 05:28, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

If I were your bf I'd say: don't do it for me. —Tamfang (talk) 06:08, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

• It would of course be nice to surprise him with something he likes, but the only one who really knows is your boyfriend. Why not ask him? - Mgm|^(talk) 08:04, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

To answer the second part of your question, there is less chafing and rubbing this way, and one tends to not get hairs in your mouth. I like it half way between the two, shaved at the bottom and round the sided and neatly trimmed on top.

There's no answering the first question; it just comes down to taste (ahem), though pubic hair will obviously trap some of the odours associated with any part of the body not routinely allowed to air out. Pubic hair that's shaved off will grow back. That's a good thing, in that any choice you make is quite temporary, but it's less of a nice thing when the stubble appears (complete with white heads, etc.). He may think the clean-shaven look is sexy, but how will he like the pimply "5 o'clock shadow" stage that shows up after a couple of days? Matt Deres (talk) 12:59, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

That assumes that the OP would shave once and then never do it again. If the shaving is kept up with on a daily basis, then the "pimply 5 o'clock shadow stage" will never be an issue. Dismas|^(talk) 19:37, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

In theory, but the pubic area would likely be more difficult to keep clean-shaven. I've never tried it myself (no OR!) but my face couldn't take getting shaved every day and I imagine that a woman's pubic area would be at least as sensitive as my face... though how we go about testing that would likely be a good candidate for the Journal of Irreproducible Results ;-). I have no clue whether shaving alternatives like sugaring and waxing would be recommended for a complete removal of pubic hair (I know "bikini lines" get done), though again that doesn't get done every day. Matt Deres (talk) 20:15, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

OR here, but I've known several women who shaved daily. As for a complete removal by waxing, that would be referred to as a Brazilian waxing. (Caution, the image at that article may not be work safe depending on how liberal your workplace is) Dismas|^(talk) 20:22, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I like long hair on a girl. Short hair can be like sandpaper on the lips (*ahem*). If you do want to remove the hair, get waxed. It lasts far longer and you won't have the fuss of poking around with a blade in a sensitive area. -- _{Escape Artist Swyer} ^Talk _{Contributions} 00:41, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

google images

hi,are all the images which are put on google free of copyright?can we use them as we like?

No. Absolutely not. They are in the main copyrighted. Google uses them under a fair use doctrine. That fair use would not extend to us or, in general, to anyone's use of them. --Tagishsimon (talk) 10:31, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Agreed! Google only acts as a search engine for images - there is most certainly no way you can use 99% of them. For free-to-use photos - check out our very own WikiCommons. Every single photo there is OK to use (although technically - they aren't copyright-free - they are licensed in such a way that you can use them with almost no restrictions. SteveBaker (talk) 00:21, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

What is Rose Pepper?

I see it listed as an ingredient in perfumes.... --Emyn ned (talk) 13:40, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Schinus terebinthifolius. --Sean 14:26, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

European community

I am trying to find a picture of a European comunity that I found on Wiki a few months back. I cannot remember which country it was in or anything like that, but heres what I can remember. It seemed like a very small town that is directly on the coast, it is very mountainous, and the community's buildings are on cliffs that fall directly into the sea. It seemed like a place for very rich people. very green place, very lush. any ideas? I have trolled through the articles on every city mentioned on all the articles on all the provinces on the coastlines of Italy and France, but to no avail Please help. Thanks

Sounds like Positano in Italy to me.

File:IMG 1004.JPG

Santorini, Greece

Maybe Greece - there are a bazillion little islands that fit that description. Santorini is utterly amazing - I went on honeymoon there. If you want mountainous and on the coast - that's the place. WOW! SteveBaker (talk) 00:18, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Ah, so now we know what was responsible for the apocalyptic and cataclysmic eruption on Santorini.  :) -- JackofOz (talk) 04:29, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

cartoons

why are cartoons dipicted with only four fingers on each hand? when did this start and why?

I have no source for this but what I was told long ago was that it's simply easier to draw figures with three fingers and a thumb. And after giving it a try, I agree. Dismas|^(talk) 17:32, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes - that's it exactly. Also, you'll see that in early cartoons, the characters often wear white gloves - and that's because the animators wore white gloves to avoid smudging the images with their hands - when they needed to draw a character's hand in a particular pose - they'd look at their own hands...and (for some bizarre reason) they'd draw the same white gloves on most of their creations! SteveBaker (talk) 00:10, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

The article Mickey Mouse explains Mickey's first gloved appearance in 1929[2]] to distinguish the character's hands from his body and were designed with three darts in the fashion of kid gloves at the time. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:52, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

The three 'darts' (and sometimes two black buttons) were common on animator gloves at the time. SteveBaker (talk) 16:46, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Especially bizarre when Bugs uses a nail-file on his gloved hand (as in one toon with Yosemite Sam as a Confederate irredentist). —Tamfang (talk) 00:53, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Interestingly enough, God is always depicted on The Simpsons as having four fingers and a thumnb. - Akamad (talk) 02:34, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Not always. In Homer the Heretic, he is depicted both ways. Matt Deres (talk) 14:39, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Bugs has a nail-file!? Now that's bizarre. Julia Rossi (talk) 05:02, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Sat Nav Ambulance Misdirection.

This morning I had to call for an ambulance (Scotland UK) for my mother-in-law who is 84 and who was suffering chest pains - I DO NOT WANT MEDICAL ADVICE. Two ambulances were dispatched, the first with a solo paramedic, the second a full blown emergency vehicle. Both were quite delayed by their SatNav systems which directed them to a country lane at the rear of my back-garden that passes my house but which has no access to the street I live on. In fact, the lane eventually meets up with a cross-Scotland canal and low vehicles pass beneath the canal through a low tunnel. The ambulances however were too high and had no option other than to reverse about 2 miles as the lane has no passing places or turning places. I don't know who supplies the ambulance service with their SatNav systems but clearly, someone should be told of the potential for a serious emergency not being attended on time (police, fire, ambulance etc.). But who should I tell? Neighbours have told me of similar situations wherein parcels and other delivery vehicles have been mis-directed so it is not just an ambulance problem. Any advice greatly appreciated - and Thanks. Friend92. 92.22.195.63 (talk) 17:27, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

I imagine the best way to get the maps fixed would be to contact the main manufacturers of SatNav systems, e.g. TomTom or Garmin. It may be also be advisable to contact your local emergency services so that at least they know that SatNav maps in your area are unreliable. -- Arwel Parry _(talk) 17:45, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

And you could raise it with Scottish Ambulance Trust since it must be of material importance to them, and they might have slightly better contacts with their GIS supplier. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Along with your neighbours, try asking your parish council to erect a "Do not follow Sat Nav" sign or something similar. The problem is not unusual, and several communities have had to do this, as you will see if you Google the phrase.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 18:14, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the problem is probably not a SatNav (aka GPS) problem, really. The road is really there, and compact cars can fit down the tunnel. Its the low clearence of the tunnel that was the problem. Rather than erect a "Down with SatNav! They Suck" sign, you could get your community to erect a "Tunnel Ahead, and its only 2 meters tall!" sign at the head of that road. While SatNav systems are not perfect, they are certainly better than no system at all! Imagine what ambulance drivers used to do when they depended on print maps (which were likely MORE inaccurate and out of date) or had to rely on memory of the local road system. Its not that SatNav is perfect, or even meant to be, but these errors in judgement aren't the fault of the system. If the system wasn't being used at all, the ambulance drivers would have likely made the same mistake. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 18:33, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

I found a street which is incorrectly mapped in my town, and had no success gettin gthe online map companies to correct their maps. The error would lead to emergency vehicles or anyone else being directed to the wrong street. There does not seem to be any accountability for landbase GIS companies who put errors in their maps, which are then used by all the mapping services. No contact person, and no willingness to correct errors. You can sens an email to MapQuest or Google Maps, but they rely on computerized maps created by others. Edison (talk) 19:20, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Ordnance Survey have always included deliberate errors in their maps so that they can prove other parties have breached their copyright. Kittybrewster ☎ 20:30, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

And we have an article; Trap street. The references suggest that the OS doesn't do this, although other publishers do. FiggyBee (talk) 21:26, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Regardless of the height of the tunnel, that road didn't lead to the OP's house. That is a problem. I could give you many other examples of Sat Nav causing chaos on UK roads: sending cars through fords, lorries down country lanes and light vehicles over farm tracks. Of course, Sat Nav systems are based on printed maps, so it's not that they're exclusively wrong: I think people just blindly follow instructions rather than making critical judgement on the colour and wiggliness of the roads on a printed map. In the case of ambulance drivers, they shouldn't be relying on maps. There's no reason why they can't learn their patch. London cabbies have to sit tests, as do other corporate taxi/cab companies around the world. If I can expect my cab driver to know every back street, traffic island and alleyway, then it's surely not too much to expect an ambulance driver to know such things as well? Gwinva (talk) 22:24, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

And in my area they certainly have the time! -hydnjo talk 23:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to all above - but especially Gwinva who plainly understood the problem as I described it. I have contacted the ambulance service and they are to address the problem - I have contacted the other emergency services who DO NOT rely on SatNavs instead using a central despatcher who uses radio contact to direct traffic from online mapping systems - I have contacted my local council who immediately sent an officer to drive along the access roads and surrounding area and he agrees the seriousness of the situation and has undertaken to improve signage. But I am worried that other respondents above have failed in their attempts to have SatNav companies address reported problems. So thanks again to all. But I can't help wondering if - God Forbid, my mother-in-law had died as a result of the ambulances being misdirected, would I be suing either the ambulance service or their SatNav providers? No legal advice required. But thanks again. Friend92 92.23.17.196 (talk) 11:35, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

If you have enough helpful people you can station them out on the street to guide emergency vehicles. I realise that this isn't much help in very dense urban areas. Also, getting access to the lane by making gates in the neighbors fences and talking to them about access could help. Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 20:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Seeking a recipient of a high decoration of the United States military who was an African American

I'm looking for a African American soldier who was awarded a high decoration of the United States military without citation. That was a long time ago... What's the name of that soldier? --77.4.61.143 (talk) 18:40, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here to not do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems. Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. Thank you. [ roux ] [x] 09:20, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Doesn't sound like a homework question to me. There are plenty of African American medal recipients, see list of African American Medal of Honor recipients for example. What do you mean by "without citation"? — jwillbur 16:42, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, that is difficult to find. The soldier was so brave according to his commandant, that he wrote to the HQ that a formal announcement for awarding (detailled list of reasons, thus the motivation for awarding a medal) would not be necessary. The soldier was awarded without an explanation as it is commonly done. --77.4.126.69 (talk) 09:40, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

So you're saying the CO wrote to his superiors and said "Hey, this guy is really brave, let's give him a medal for no particular reason"? It doesn't strike me as particularly likely. Even the lowest "high decoration of the United States military" awarded for bravery, the Bronze Star, requires a citation for a particular action. FiggyBee (talk) 01:14, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Where is this?

File:PIC 0019.JPG

This image was uploaded to Commons about 2yrs ago but lacks any information about where it is. Since someone wants to delete it as a useless image, I figured I'd see if anyone knew where it was first. So... anyone got an idea? -mattbuck (Talk) 19:18, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

No idea. But I'd hesitate to use it unless the time stamp were cropped out of it. With the time stamp, it looks unprofessional. Dismas|^(talk) 19:30, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

True, but I figure that unless we know where it is, the timestamp is the least of the worries regarding usability. -mattbuck (Talk) 20:04, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

The odds of figuring it out are very slim indeed - and the picture isn't used in any articles - so what's the great loss? An uncategorized, unidentified image is useless to use - so I agree that it should be deleted. (The date-stamp thing could easily be fixed if we wanted to...but why bother?). If it actually mattered - I think I'd start by figuring out what species of tree is in the foreground - that seems an unusual foliage pattern - so it might narrow things down to a reasonably small area. Then, we can see that the lake in the background has a dead-straight line to it in the top-center of the image - which suggests it's a man-made lake such as a reservoir. That puts it someplace with sufficient technology to do that - and a need to store drinking water for some reason or other. Perhaps you could look at maps of the areas where that tree is native - and try to find a lake that would be a match for the shape of the shore that we can see. There appears to be some kind of a walled area - maybe a ruin just behind the big tree - that would be confirmation. Typically - you can just look to see who uploaded the picture - and go to their talk: page and ask them - but the 'claimed' uploader "Alexander86" only made a single contribution - which was this very image...so after two years, the odds are not good that this account is still being used. Ordinarily - this would be an interesting challenge - but to be honest, it would be quicker to drive to the lake near where I live and take a replacement photo that we could identify! Meh - delete the darned thing. SteveBaker (talk) 23:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Save the picture ! Q: If deleted is it gone for good from the wikiservers ? If it is - don't delete ! Boomshanka (talk) 04:27, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes - if deleted, it would be gone forever (unless the OP reloaded it) - but why worry? It's of no conceivable use to anyone. It doesn't have useful keywords and it's not used anywhere - why would anyone ever want it (or even find it) in the future? We're better off deleting those things to make the indexability of the WikiCommons servers improve gradually over time. SteveBaker (talk) 16:44, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

I know it would never happen, but if a checkuser would find the uploader's country of origin that would really narrow things down. Short of that, I agree that the foliage is a good place to start. If you look at the higher part of the "lake" you can see two shape sticking oddly out of the water - possibly submerged trees from when the lake was created. Plasticup ^T/C 15:38, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm - trees sticking out of the water - good catch! That just reinforces the theory that it's an artificial lake. But it may not tell you much about when the lake was created. The lake near where I used to live has been there for over 20 years now - and there are STILL a lot of tree limbs sticking up out of the water - trees can evidently stay standing (although dead) for decades underwater. SteveBaker (talk) 16:44, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

But those trees don't look dead. . . I would guess mangrove trees. --S.dedalus (talk) 23:19, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Maybe somewhere in Indonesia, probably Sulawesi, presuming it's the same person [3]? Incidentally I do have a Friendster account and so contacted the person. I'll let people know if he responds presuming he doesn't respond here/on the image page. There are a whole bunch of other Google results you could look if it's not him. E.g. [4] Nil Einne (talk) 13:51, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

linguinine

what is the actual meaning of this word

Well, linguine means "little tongues". Linguinine seems to be a double diminuitive, and I don't ever recall hearing it, but I suppose they'd be tongues even smaller than linguine. --Trovatore (talk) 19:53, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

"-ine" as an ending usually means "like", so if something is linguinine, it could be akin to linguine in some respect. Fribbler (talk) 18:03, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

The World's Dozen or So Great Cuisines

"TO OUTSIDERS, Latin American food may conjure up not much more than the smell of Mexican tacos. But Peru can lay claim to one of the world's dozen or so great cuisines." -- The Economist

Assuming the oracle (The Economist) is correct. What would these great 12 probably be?

Hotcheetos (talk) 21:04, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm not an haute-cuisine afficionado, but I can without a doubt claim that French would be one of them. I have a guess that the magazine was intentionally being vague and not listing the others. Personally, I would throw Thai, Italian, Japanese, and Mexican food into the mix. The Jade Knight (talk) 21:41, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

German? Dismas|^(talk) 21:51, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Too meat-based and heavy for my taste (like most cuisines from cold countries), but de gustibus.... --Trovatore (talk) 21:53, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Indian, definitely. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:59, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

My picks (in no particular order): Cantonese, Szechuan, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, German, Basque, Arab. —D. Monack ^talk 23:03, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

"...the world's dozen or so great cuisines". Hmm, how about the top twenty or so? -hydnjo talk 23:34, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

For brevity's sake, how about the top one or so? —Tamfang (talk) 00:50, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Haggis, neeps and tatties, ye cannae beat it! Titch Tucker (talk) 01:15, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Tatties come from Peru! Graeme Bartlett (talk) 05:44, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Sure, you must have heard of the great Scottish/Swedish/Peruvian dish. Titch Tucker (talk) 09:42, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

To get back to the original question, Turkish cuisine would definitely be in the top 12, but there is no such thing as "Arab cuisine"; both Moroccan and Lebanese cuisines would be candidates however, and are very different from one another. I have doubts about German and Basque cuisines qualifying; Russian cuisine might, although a lot of culinary knowledge was lost because of communism. --Xuxl (talk) 13:38, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Then there's Hungarian cuisine! Julia Rossi (talk) 06:07, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Greek too, of course. So.. French (which should probably be subdivided into at least haute cuisine and Provençal), Italian (which is really many microcuisines), Greek, Japanese, Thai, Indian (which is also really several cuisines), Szechuan, Cantonese, Lebanese, Moroccan, German... [ roux ] [x] 09:18, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Hang on here - the north/south split in Indian and Italian food are notable (curries and pizzas(+the butter/olive oil split)). But you're missing some. Any cuisine that can stink out the whole restaurant when it's served is worthy of note, and it has northern and southern variants too. What about them fondue nationals too? Four languages ~= four cuisines, so maybe Swiss should make the list.

And the big missing factor here is the Nordic approach, has anyone sat through a Smørrebrød? You take the rye bread, put butter on it 'til you can't see the bread, put food on 'til you can't see the butter, then put toppings on 'til you can't see the food. It's such a simple rule. Or take the ferry to Finland, where you're eating reindeer and moose with wild herbs, berries and mushrooms. Writers for The Economist don't sign their articles for good reasons - among others, that we'll hunt them down over this food issue. :) Franamax (talk) 09:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

It is not a case of looking for individually intriguing dishes, but of a complex and significant cuisine. Two such that have not been mentioned are Iranian and Vietnamese. BrainyBabe (talk) 16:31, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

How could we omit Thai? ៛ Bielle (talk) 03:31, 3 November 2008 (UTC) (Ooops, we didn't! Sorry, D. Monack. ៛ Bielle (talk) 03:33, 3 November 2008 (UTC))

Traditional poor peoples cooking as opposed to restaurant stuff from the UK and all the superb regional specialities.hotclaws 07:21, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Nescessity of putting quotes

What is the necessity of putting quotes while finding something in the google and when is it that we should put the search with the quotes? 220.227.88.91 (talk) 21:55, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

The quotes make it search for the string of whatever's in the quotes, otherwise it just searches for the words individually. -mattbuck (Talk) 22:03, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

To reinforce what Mattbuck wrote, the quotes make it search for exactly for whatever's in in the quotes (without case sensitivity) so an extra or missing word might overlook something. -hydnjo talk 23:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

If you'we worried about that, you can use * inside the quotes to represent "a small number of other words". So for example if you search for "big * man" (with the quotes) you will get hits like "big boss man", "big burly man", "big strong man", "big cat injures man", etc.; if you want "big man" as well, you would have to specify that separately ("big * man" OR "big man"). --Anonymous, 23:36 UTC, October 30, 2008.

Most of the time, you get the best results without using quotes - but there are some searches where the number of false hits with (for example) the words in a different order to what you asked for overwhelm you so badly that you can't find what you want. In those cases, putting the words in quotes to force Google to find that EXACT thing can help. But most of the time, you can leave them out. SteveBaker (talk) 23:32, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Instead of quotes you can also replace the spaces with dots or hyphens. With hyphens, rail-road will match railroad and rail road – an advantage if you're uncertain. —Tamfang (talk) 00:44, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Using quotes is handy when you're trying to find the title/artist of a song if you have a snippet of the lyrics. With the lyrics in quotes, you should get pretty good results on the first page. Dismas|^(talk) 02:41, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

IP address

I have this 92.2.210.94 IP address, can you tell me where it's from? Thanks92.2.210.94 (talk) 23:33, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Carphone Warehouse Broadband Service. [5] --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Sure, the United Kingdom . -hydnjo talk 23:42, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

That's wierd. I'm with AOL and according to your link the country for my IP address is the UK, but when I try to use BBC iPlayer it says my address is foreign!92.2.210.94 (talk) 23:43, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Carphone warehouse bought AOL UK in 2006 [6]. Can't explain the beeb - does it affect what you can do with the iPlayer? If so contact them & find out why you;re being denied access. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

And this beeb page is probably worth a visit - they're suggesting you'll need to talk to your ISP. That'll be fun for you. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:50, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Ah. Possibly better news. This beeb page recommends you use something other than the AOL-version of Internet Explorer, such as the version of Internent Explorer that comes with Windows, or Firefox. Firefox is available here.

I've been living without iPlayer for over a month now. Thanks to you guys 'THE PROBLEM IS FIXED. Thanks.92.2.210.94 (talk) 00:07, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Well that rocks. Well done! --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

What fascinates me Tagishsimon is just how you can determine an address from an IP number. I'd love to know please.--89.168.224.110 (talk) 08:58, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Whois and Reverse DNS are your friends here. Theresa Knott | token threats 09:00, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

So for example, this would be you (89.168.224.110 from Tiscali UK  :) -hydnjo talk 14:14, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Those services are decreasingly useful though - more and more people with static IP's lie to the DNS providers - others are shared (via DHCP) over such a wide geographical area as to be almost useless for telling you very much of use. However, sometimes you find something useful. SteveBaker (talk) 16:37, 31 October 2008 (UTC)