Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 December 11

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December 11

Please help me book a flight to Seoul? _{Takeoff date: 12-22-2012}

Whereas I already know how to book a ticket in general, the problem is, I can't seem to book one for December 22, 2012. December 2012 is when I plan to graduate college and have my first ever overseas Christmas (since 1989) with my family in Korea.

I know that generally, flights booked quite far in advance have a lower rate. (Exceptions I know of are last-minute efforts to fill all seats on a flight in order for the airline to maximize profits, but I wouldn't like to count on that.) However, since it appears difficult to book one for December 2012, would you kindly lend me some assistance? Thanks. --129.130.99.85 (talk) 00:16, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm not aware of any airlines that books flights that far out in advance. While it is generally true that booking early gets you lower rates, airlines do not book an infinite time in advance. The best you can usually get is 6-12 months in advance. --Jayron32 00:17, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

If you invest the money into something until 2012, you'll be better off than if you were allowed to book the flight now. Also consider that the airline company could go bankrupt in the meantime, you could not graduate, Korea could be at war... I know, these are very scary scenarios, but it's realistic to consider all these risk in such an early booking.Quest09 (talk) 01:05, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Isn't that the day after the world is supposed to end? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:24, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

2012 phenomenon: It looks like 21 Dec is the date being batted around, so you might want to wait on the airline ticket until you're confident you'll be around to use it. Buddy431 (talk) 18:01, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Although that being the case, more likely by the time you realise you won't it may not matter since you won't care about the money you spent. Nil Einne (talk) 21:58, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Although it is cheaper to book flights early, the trend doesn't continue indefinitely. As I understand it, it levels off at about 2-3 months out (depending on airline, time of year, etc.) That is, a trip booked 6 months in advance is usually no cheaper than one booked 4 months in advance. Even if you *could* book a flight 2 years in advance, it would likely be no cheaper than one booked 3 months in advance. - Your best bet is to set up a price alert/price monitor for your desired route at flight booking website. This way you can get a sense of what the standard price for the flight is, and what's a good deal. Then, starting around July 2012, you can start monitoring flight bookings, and when a deal for that flight comes through (which might not be until October or November 2012), you can book it then. -- 174.31.218.235 (talk) 19:23, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Doesn't airlines generally have a 18-month limit on booking flights? --Soman (talk) 20:29, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

It is unlikely that an airline will have fixed its timetables (more than) two years in advance; it's quite likely not possible to book a flight for December 2012 because the airlines themselves won't be certain of when they're going to be flying. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:28, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

In my experience, booking more than about 6 months ahead for a regular flight is typically not done, and probably for the reasons you state. Even scheduled flights have been known to have their times subjected to change. The best bet is to call the airlines and find out their particular policy, and see if a trend emerges. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:35, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

tech news

can anyone give me a good site for catching up on the latest technology news, and which also has the option to register so that i can get the news in my inbox instead of going to the site everytime? i googled a little and all the sites i found don't have that register option. so... please help me. i would appreciate it a lot. thanx —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.232.40 (talk) 08:39, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

If you don't just want to use a standard an RSS] Feed, then this site (http://www.feedmyinbox.com/) lets you setup the feed to go to you as email. If it's tech products you want then I find that feed://www.engadget.com/rss.xml is a good site for news. ny156uk (talk) 10:04, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

I regularly check slashdot.org. A good balance of all tech tastes and between seriousness and comedy. schyler (talk) 14:55, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

My father uses Design News... 70.241.19.66 (talk) 14:06, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

What can the recent railgun test destroy?

Recently, the US military test fired a railgun that launches a projectile at Mach 7 with a muzzle energy of 33 Megajoules. Could someone provide me with an estimate of the destructive power of this projectile? For example, could it destroy a tank? Sink a ship? Knock down a building?

Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 21:05, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Our Railgun article cites this ref about the Dec. 10 test. The system is being designed to damage-or-destroy a modern warship. WikiDao ☯ (talk) 21:11, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

33 MegaJoules is equivalent to about 7.5kg of TNT. Granted the damage profile for an impact event would not be identical to a simple explosion, it is a reasonable approximation that something you could destroy with 5-10kg of TNT could be destroyed by a hit from this kinetic energy impactor (assuming that you are close enough to not lose a lot of your energy from air friction before the projectile arrives). It looks to be about 3x as powerful as an RPG-7 warhead, so it would have a shot at disabling or destroying a tank. Googlemeister (talk) 16:02, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

But what you're doing is throwing Kinetic energy penetrators at them (see the Armour-piercing discarding sabot for example). It's going to deliver its kinetic energy mostly inside the target, which can have a very different impact on its subsequent functionality than detonating an equivalent amount of energy outside the target's armor. WikiDao ☯ (talk) 23:28, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

How to ask for help

I'm not asking for medical advice from Wikipedia, I just need advice on how to seek medical advice from a professional. My balls hurt but I'm embarrassed to get it checked out. I'm 18 and live with my parents, and the nearest doctors in miles away so they would have to drive me there, no bus or trains here only a community hopper into town. What to I tell my parents? I've never talked to them about sexual stuff before. And how to I talk to the doctor? Do I just say "my balls hurt" wouldn't they find that odd? 90.210.203.252 (talk) 21:35, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Can't think of a solution to the "getting there" problem right now, but please don't worry about what to say to the doctor. They really have heard it all before. And the more straightforward you are, the better. "My balls hurt" would be great. Simple and clear. HiLo48 (talk) 22:17, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Good parents will always jump to help an offspring who has a medical condition, no matter how intimate it is. Unless the family is used to vulgar terms like "balls", I recommend keeping it medical-sounding, i.e. "testicles" or even start with "groin". And if they recoil in horror, you might need to find new parents. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:32, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

If you're in the UK (as your IP suggests) and registered with a GP, you just phone up the surgery/health centre/whatever and say "I'd like an appointment to see Dr ____", and you don't need to say why. They'll probably ask if it's an emergency and offer an appointment. Most will also see you this way, even if you aren't registered with them. Mornings, especially Monday mornings, are a good time to phone to make an appointment :) Alternatively, you can show up at your nearest A&E department, and be ready to wait: I've been lucky before, but I've known people wait for hours! No need to talk about sexual stuff to your parents: just say you have a pain in an embarrasing place and you need to see a doctor. The doctor won't care how you bring it up, and probably sees this sort of thing every day: be direct! 86.161.208.185 (talk) 00:15, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

See http://www.askdoctorforfree.com/ask.php. -- Wavelength (talk) 00:54, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

This is just my personal opinion, but I think if you REALLY don't want your parent to know "your balls hurt" just tell them you have stomach pain and want a ride/drop off to the doctor. Don't worry about the being odd talking about sexual stuff to your doctor since they probably seen and heard them all. You can be discreet booking the appointment (follow 86's advise) but when you are alone with your doctor just be direct ("your balls hurt" is fine) and answer any follow up questions truthfully and candidly. Your secret is safe - Physician–patient privilege and all that. Royor (talk) 08:47, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

It could be something as simple as your underpants being too tight. 92.30.235.250 (talk) 11:55, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

It could, but it could also be something serious, which is why the OP shouldn't let embarrassment get in the way of getting treatment. Making up some other medical condition to tell your parents is one way around it, although they are likely to ask what the doctor said and you may struggle to be convincing at that point. You could just tell your parents that you want to see a doctor and don't want to tell them why - some parents will respect their children's privacy, some will try to find out what is wrong so they can help. I don't know what kind of parents you have. Is there anything else near the doctors that you could tell your parents you wanted to go to in order to get a lift? --Tango (talk) 15:11, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

You are 18. Why do you need to tell your parents anything about why you need a lift into town? Failing that, get a friend to give you a lift (I assume you have some friends who have access to a car); again you don't have to explain why you need a lift. Astronaut (talk) 19:12, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

One easy place to start might be NHS Direct. If you phone 0845 46 47 you can explain stuff to a nurse and they can give you some suggestions. Marnanel (talk) 22:12, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucharest

Someone has posted or edited a bunch of garbage on this page about Bucharest - Started by Brontosauruses... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vewcaere (talk • contribs) 21:38, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

You could ask for page protection, but because there has only been ONE vandalistic edit in the last week, it would likely be declined. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:46, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Whoever it was, it got reverted from the article by User:Finlay McWalter about two hours later. I have warned them about doing that sort of thing. You could do both those things, too, Vewcaere, if you want to, when you see something like that. Thanks for mentioning it here, though. WikiDao ☯ (talk) 00:57, 12 December 2010 (UTC)