Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 August 12

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August 12

Nation which doesn't value economy...

Long ago, I read an account of a country (modern-day, recognized state) which did not care much about its economy, and rejected economic statistics such as the HDI and related grading systems, and focused on the happiness of its people. I seem to recall that it was an island nation. This also sounds like something I might make up to ridicule someone, so I'm trying to figure out whether I just invented it to prove a point. Thanks. 71.41.39.2 (talk) 02:46, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

See Gross national happiness#Origins and meaning (version of 14:06, 6 August 2013).

—Wavelength (talk) 02:56, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

The country is Bhutan, which is not an island nation. My guess is that you've confused it with Bahrain or Brunei. Howicus (talk) 03:03, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Not the exact country the OP is thinking of, but the question reminded me of the economic and social policies of Julius Nyerere as leader of Tanzania. It is widely regarded as not going well. --Jayron32 11:16, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

See also our article on the Bhutanese measure of Gross national happiness. To be fair, their economy is based on subsistence agriculture and selling hydro-electricity to India, to whose currency theirs is directly pegged; therefore limiting the action their government can take to change things even if they wanted to. However, theirs is the second fastest growing economy in the world, so maybe there's something to be said for it. See Economy of Bhutan. Alansplodge (talk) 14:43, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Restaurant in san Francisco

Does anyone knows about a low profile restaurant in SF, with good food and good service, where one can enjoy a peaceful lunch time with no one disturbing even if you are Madonna or Beyoncé or Jay-Z? Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 12:46, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

It's called "Home" if you live there. ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble ☯ 13:18, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Good joke. But, I mean a real restaurant. Seriously, there is no restaurant with such characteristics? Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 13:21, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Well seriously if you were a celebrity like Jay-Z the media would be impossible to shake off. This makes a good find. ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble ☯ 13:30, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Sorry Bonkers, but I cannot follow the link. Do you think you can tell me at least one name? Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 13:48, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

You can ask a local at http://sanfrancisco.askalo.com/Dining-Out/506/.

—Wavelength (talk) 14:50, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

As Miss Bono has often explained, she has access to almost none of the Internet, except from Wikipedia, so giving her external links is almost always useless. --ColinFine (talk) 17:20, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Colin Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 17:26, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

any name? *cricket singing "Beautiful Day'* Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 20:54, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Oh I see. Why the access limit? I know, ask Jay-Z. ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble ☯ 08:15, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

hi, Bonkers. Everything is blocked din my work except for Wikipedia. Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 12:46, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Unless you work for the WMF or something, isn't that a bit unusual for a computer scientist? ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble ☯ 10:40, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Miss Bono mentions (below) that she's in Cuba - the rules there are probably...um...strange...by US & European standards. SteveBaker (talk) 11:46, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Fixing Ornaments

My mother has a prized set of ornaments depicting ballerinas, and I inadvertently broke the leg off one of them. She has tried to fix it using super glue, but to no avail. They are made by Lladro in Spain, and I am told they are porcelain. What is the best way to reaffix the leg? They are hollow, by the way. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 14:59, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Superglue may not be quite right for this. These people [1] recommend a two-part clear epoxy. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:39, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

My #1 "go-to" site for glue questions is http://www.thistothat.com - and that holy bible of adhesives says that ceramic-to-ceramic is definitely a job for super-glue. I agree. The very last thing you want is a glue that has lots of bulk. The two broken edges of a broken ceramic fit together with superb exactness - you want a glue that doesn't upset that perfect lock - so something very runny. That's what cyanoacrylate ("super-glue") does best. With epoxy, the volume of the epoxy itself is likely to force the two parts apart and make a much more noticable line than cyanoacrylate. I don't know why it didn't work when your mom tried it - but I recommend reading the instructions for the glue carefully and trying again.

If you must use epoxy, you might want to put it in a microwave oven for a few seconds before applying it. Hot epoxy has a much lower viscosity than when it's cold - and that's good for this kind of job.

SteveBaker (talk) 17:50, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Yes, a good quality Cyanoacrylate is normally best for ceramics, as Steve says above, unless the broken surfaces are very smooth and glassy. Sometimes it helps to dampen the surfaces with clean water first. If there is old dried super-glue on the surfaces from a previous attempt, this should be very carefully removed before retrying. Dbfirs 20:43, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Maybe your superglue needs a little help... as the leg is hollow, could you glue a support inside (I'm thinking something similar to a medical stent)? It probably wouldn't need to be too big Astronaut (talk) 20:57, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

I had a similar thought, but was thinking of a pipe cleaner. StuRat (talk) 09:42, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

This specialist restorer gives a step-by-step description of repairing a badly damaged Lladro figure - he names Fynebond epoxy as the adhesive he uses. He does mention using an insert in one part of the repair for added strength. - Karenjc 21:01, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Squier Strat by Fender

I heard that some electric guitars have the distortion effect incorporated inside of them or something like that, and you don't have to buy a guitar effect pedal. I was wondering if this model has the effect incorporated. Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 15:21, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

I have a Squier Strat, and there is no distortion effect built into it. But it came with a Fender Frontman amplifier, which does have a distortion button. It's not very convenient if you want to switch to distortion in the middle of a song! I don't think the distortion can come from the guitar itself, can it? It needs to be distorted at the output I suppose, at the amp (or at a pedal connected to the amp). (I have no idea actually, now that I think of it.) Adam Bishop (talk) 21:24, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

It depends on the guitar. With digital effects modding, it is quite possible to build such effects directly into the guitar itself. Having played around with a Variax a bit, there really is no limit to where you put the switches to activate any particular effect, as the effect itself exists as a bit of programming on a computer chip. Stomp boxes are convenient as they can be activated with the feet, but many players have forgone the complex (though purists insist better) combinations of analogue effects pedals for digital stomp boxes with a near infinite combination of effects; many impossible or impractical to achieve the old fashioned way. But again, these effects can be built into the amp, the effects pedal, or the guitar with no practical difference except to how the effect is activated. I don't mean to promote one company over any other, but Line 6 is somewhat of an industry leader in digital effects equipment; they offer guitars, amps, and pedals that do all of these and more. --Jayron32 22:26, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

The Line6 boxes go even further - modifying the audio to make it sound like it's going through various antique amps and mixers - setting the "sound" to be just like the setups used by various notable guitarists. SteveBaker (talk) 22:41, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Does that mean that if I have the amp and the guitar I can play this song and it is going to sound like the original? Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 12:44, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

That would obviously depend strongly on your skill with the guitar - and presumably there are a lot more sounds than just the guitar in that song...but if the particular amp and effects setup is in the library that the Line6 box has, then it would certainly sound very much like the guitar part. My son uses a Line6 box and he played a beach-boys song for me that sounded right on the money. SteveBaker (talk) 16:43, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

@StevenBaker: What I was trying to ask is that I just need the amp (pretty much like the one on this pic File:Gibson_sg_Custom_1963.jpg) to have certain effects, or I need a pedal. For instance, I have the guitar and the amp, does the guitar will be still sounding like an acoustic one if I don't have an effect pedal? (I've never had an electric guitar, too expensive here and now I got a new one with and amp, that's why all my questions) Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 18:43, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

OK, hold on a minute. You're talking about using an acoustic guitar, with some kind of electric pickup jacked into an effects pedal and then into a modern amp - and wanting it to sound like an older electric guitar plugged into an antique amp? Do I have that right?

If so, then I think it all depends on the kind of pickup you use on the acoustic guitar...I'd be more happy to say that this would work with an electric guitar...but it might maybe be OK with steel strings and an electric pickup.

Maybe you could spell out EXACTLY what you want to do...I'm confused!

Either way, a good music store will let you try out various combinations of guitar, effects and amp before you buy - and I 'STRONGLY recommend that you do that. Here in the USA, the "Guitar Center" stores are pretty good - they are generally happy to spend an hour fritzing around with stuff like that if you go there when they aren't too busy and if you're clearly a serious buyer.

IMHO, even if you can get an amp (or a guitar, for that matter) with all the right effects built into it - I wouldn't do it. The reason is that these effects boxes are getting better and better every year - and they aren't all that expensive compared to a fancy guitar or an up-market amp. But if you have it built into your amp or your guitar - then you can't upgrade the effects gadget when you feel like it in a year or three. So buying the effects separately as a "pedal" or an "effects box" makes much more sense.

The "pedal" (well, more like an "effects box") that I know and liked is the Line6 Pod: [2]...but there are many more like it at different price points and capabilities.

SteveBaker (talk) 20:25, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

SteveBaker No. I have an electric guitar now. A Squier Strat. In Cuba we don't have that sort of stores.

This is exactly what I want to do: I want my electric guitar sounds as an electric guitar. My boss -who knows a bit about music- told me that I won't be able to get an electric sound from an electric guitar if I don't get an effect pedal, not even if I have the amp. I want to know if that's right or not. Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 20:33, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

(unindent)

OH! OK - that's much clearer. So forget everything we said so far.

Your boss is wrong. Plug an electric guitar into an amp and it sounds like an electric guitar. Play an electric guitar WITHOUT an amp - and it sounds very quiet and kinda annoyingly twangy...nothing like as good as an acoustic guitar.

BUT: Electric guitars are often played by rock musicians through who-knows-what kinds of electronics. So if you want to get some of the rich effects that you hear those guys play - then you need some special effects. The most basic of all is a "Fuzz box". You plug your guitar into the fuzz box and the fuzz box into the amp - turn it on - and the sound from the guitar changes dramatically. Our Fuzz box article has some sound samples for you to listen to that will show you exactly what I mean.

So - to sound like a typical rock guitarist, you'll want at least one or two effects pedals. To play classical music or blues or country on an electric guitar - you just need the amp.

Now - the confusion earlier. We thought you wanted to sound like a very specific musician in a very specific piece of music. Now it gets more complicated. With older music, a lot of the sound "effects" were unintentional - they came about because the amplifier electronics were pretty awful. Even the "Fuzz box" sound is really about what happens when you try to drive an old-fashioned "tube" amplifier at louder volume than it was designed to cope with...it distorted...badly! However, musicians of that era learned to like that distortion - to make music that actually relied on the faults in their systems! So nowadays, if you want to make something that sounds like that - then you need to bring in special effects in the form of fuzz boxes and so forth.

Worse still - some musicians from "way back then" had amps with particular sounds - due to their design and construction. If you want to truly, really, sound like a 1950's musician - to the degree that his/her fans will be unable to tell - then you need effects boxes that can recreate all of the little nuances of that ancient piece of junk. That's what the "Line6" box does. (It can actually do much more than that).

Fast forward to the 1970's and 1980's and these "Fuzz boxes" caught on in a big way - and other special effects were added. The "Wah-wah pedal" for example. It doesn't simulate anything that a real amplifier does - it's pure electronics. But the expression it allows people to add to their music is very valuable...so now people would plug their guitars into a fuzz box, then plug the fuzz box into the wah-wah and then plug THAT into the amp.

Before you know it, you have five or six of these gizmo's plugged into a string of wires from your guitar to the amp - and it soon degenerates into chaos. Too much to go wrong on-stage - batteries going dead, wires pulling out, electrical interference between pedals - it was a total nightmare.

So...in recent years, all of that junk has been swept aside and incorporated into "effects boxes". These use computer software to manipulate the sound - and they are MUCH easier to work with...one box can do stuff like fuzz and wah-wah - as well as making your guitar sound exactly like it's being played through a 1960's Vox amp with the volume cranked up to 11...even though you're using a clean, modern amplifier with near-perfect sound reproduction and you're listening on headphones!

The very latest (like the later revisions of the Line6 Pod) are actually software-programmable. You can download new goodies for them from the Line6 website...if you're a computer programmer, you can even make your own effects.

This is something of a revolution.

But, at the end of it all - an unsophisticated guitar plugged into a basic amplifier still sounds like an electric guitar...unless you're expecting it to sound like some very specific rock musician.

Does that answer all of your questions? SteveBaker (talk) 20:57, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

SteveBaker Wao! Thank you so much! Really. You know a bunch about music.

It does answer all of my question.But a new one came to my mind, have you heard about Fruity Loops? Can I do what you say in this So...in recent years, all of that junk has been swept.... with that program? and...

Do you think that I can use this documentary: "It Might Get Loud" for future references?

That's all I won't bother again :) Thanks so so so so much! You are awesome. Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 12:25, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with Fruity Loops - but programs like that typically don't work in "real time" - you can't plug your guitar into it, strum a chord and instantly hear the results with a bunch of effects added. What those programs do is let you record your performance without those effects and add them in afterwards. So they aren't useful for live performance - and they are quite hard to play with because you can't time your playing to the reverberation or echoes of your previous notes - or provide the expression you want as you play the instrument. These are really "post-production" tools. That said, there are lots of free packages with many of the features of Fruity Loops that you can download and mess with for free. (One that I use is Audacity - which is a free download). It's possible that some of these tools also have "real time" capabilities...but I don't know of any.

Things like the Line6 Pod can apply audio effects AS YOU PLAY - so they work great in live performances.

I have no idea about that documentary.

SteveBaker (talk) 11:43, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

I have that one Audacity. Miss Bono ^[zootalk] 16:41, 15 August 2013 (UTC)