Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 March 26

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March 26

Billion dollar trials, expensive lawyers, but couldn't find the CEO?

"Mr. Apotheker did not testify at the trial because Oracle’s lawyers were unable to find him to serve him with a subpoena."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/24oracle.html

Can anyone explain how in a trial of this magnitude, the lawyers couldn't "find" the CEO of SAP?

Loginskeptic (talk) 09:10, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

He was not in the United States at the time, nor was he or HP (who he was working for then) a party to the litigation. So even if you get him served overseas, he can ignore it. There is a procedure for service of process overseas, but it is not simple and obviously they didn't get it done (not terribly surprising as apparently HP and Apotheker weren't cooperating).--Wehwalt (talk) 09:33, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

28 U.S.C. § 1783 specifically. Shadowjams (talk) 19:27, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Process servers don't have rights of entry or arrest. Even if a process server knows where a guy is, there is no law that says he has to be given access to the guy. He can't enter a home or nonpublic place without permission. Serving subpoenas to people who don't want them often requires an element of sneakiness. Looie496 (talk) 23:00, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Notable residents

Moved to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk#Notable_residents_.28moved_from_reference_desk.29 Fasttimes68 (talk) 16:27, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Seychelles

Please note that the Seychelles' most northern island is Bird Island, not Aride, as stated in your Seychelles information page. It is to the northwest of Mahe Island, approximately 70 miles.

Thank you,

Annie McDonnell African Gems Travel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.254.109.27 (talk) 17:14, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

The article titled Bird Island, Seychelles correctly states that Bird Island is the northernmost island in the Seychelles. The article titled Aride Island also correctly states that Aride is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles. The Seychelles contain islands of several different geological composition, and Bird Island is a coral island while Aride is a granitic island. Thus, while Bird is the northernmost overall, Aride is the northernmost to be made of granite. So, all articles which discuss the organization of the Seychelles are correct. The article titled Seychelles doesn't have any information on the geographical organization of the islands specifically. The article titled Geography of Seychelles does not name the northernmost island of any type, but does broadly discuss the different types of islands. Does this help with your confusion? --Jayron32 17:27, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

That's a useful clarification, should it be included in the relevant articles ? StuRat (talk) 17:35, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

As I note, the article already makes those clarifications: the Bird Island article uses the word "northernmost" in an unqualified way; while the Aride Island article uses the words "northernmost granitic island" to make clear that it is the northernmost of the granitic-type islands. I'm not sure what additional clarification is needed, unless you see a way to make it better, in which case I will not stop you. --Jayron32 17:51, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

The phrase "northernmost granitic island" does not make it clear whether there are other types of islands, and whether they are farther north. The "granitic" could simply be a description, rather than a qualification. I have fixed it. StuRat (talk) 18:03, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

If there were no other types of islands farther north, there would be no need to qualify it by specifying its geology. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:27, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, but there might still be a need to describe it's geology. StuRat (talk) 03:05, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Apparently there is or the OP wouldn't have posted here. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 01:45, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

What he said. Lay off Stu. He made a Wikipedia article better. He should be commended for doing so. --Jayron32 03:16, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You know for a bunch of people who are trying to write an encyclopaedia we sure seem to have a problem with making ourselves understood. Does Jayron32 mean that we should stop picking on StuRat or that StuRat should stop something. It's almost clear but not completely clear. It's actually a problem throughout Wikipedia. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 04:54, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

If he had said "Lay off, Stu" then he would be talking to Stu. Since he said "Lay off Stu", I took it to mean that he was talking to Bugs. Dismas|^(talk) 05:07, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

What he said. My statement was perfectly clear. We're supposed to stop bothering Stu because Stu made something better, which is more than I do around here. You'd have known that, CBW, had you not tried to insert a phantom comma I had no intention to write, which is why I didn't. --Jayron32 05:37, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Your statement told the rest of us to lay off Stu, i.e. to be nice to Stu. That was clear. :) And between Stu and Jack, the articles were improved. That's clear. :) And the statement "northernmost granitic island" automatically carries the assumption that there's another type of island farther north. The other article doesn't say "northernmost coral island", because if it did, that would automatically imply that there's another type of island farther north. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:18, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Not sure about that assumption. If somebody asked "How old is your oldest child ?" and they answered "My oldest son is 12", would that imply that they have an older daughter ? StuRat (talk) 17:23, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

It wouldn't imply it, but it would leave open the possibility (though it would be an evasive answer in that case). --Trovatore (talk) 22:58, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I believe in some patriarchal cultures, the daughters don't much matter, so would be ignored in the response to such a question. StuRat (talk) 23:24, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

But consider this: "Halle Berry was the first African-American actress to win the Best Actress Oscar". Does that tell you she was the first person ever to win that award, and she just happened to be A-A? That is, "African-American" is simply a descriptor? Or do you treat "first African-American" as a whole? I think any reasonable person reading that sentence would do the latter. Same with "northernmost granitic island". If it really was the northernmost island, you'd write just that, and the fact that it happened to be granitic would be mentioned somewhere else in the article. But because it's not the northernmost of all the islands, but just the northernmost of the ones that are granitic, we write "northernmost granitic island". It's not wrong to add information (as you did and I improved the wording) that says which is the northernmost of all the islands, but it was not strictly necessary for an immediate understanding of the statement as it stood. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 19:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Everybody has assumed that all readers of Wikipedia will have the same command of English as those writing it. For someone who does not have the same command, and the don't have to be ESL speakers, may have some confusion with the phrase "Lay off Stu" or "Lay off, Stu". Not only do we tend to assume that we all to a certain extent think that others can understand our cant/slang/jargon. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 18:46, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Those folks need to read Eats Shoots and Leaves. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:35, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Ironically, that book is actually named Eats, Shoots & Leaves. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 11:34, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

That being the point, of course - the comma totally changes the meaning of the sentence. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:45, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Which is why I included it. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 07:35, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Split screen

How do you create split screen using Game Maker 8.0 lite?74.163.16.20 (talk) 21:42, 26 March 2012 (UTC)