Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 July 17

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July 17

Weather question

There is going to be an outdoor parade event in Tampere, Finland, in the afternoon of August 3, that I really need to see and photograph.

Everything else is sorted out, but I'm still worried about the weather. AccuWeather has had varying forecasts for the day in the last two weeks. Currently it is showing cloudy weather, with a bit of morning rain: [1].

However, I've also checked the weather forecast of MTV3 at [2] (it looks like this page uses JavaScript only for navigation, so I can't provide a direct link), which goes up to July 30 at the present, and the forecasts only agree up to July 25. After that, MTV3 generally forecasts sunnier weather than AccuWeather.

I have found some pages on the web claiming AccuWeather's long-range forecasts are inaccurate: [3], [4], [5]. Even Wikipedia's article on AccuWeather mentions inaccuracy in its criticism section.

How soon am I likely to get a reliable forecast for August 3 in Tampere, Finland? At the moment it looks like I'll have to wait until Sunday, and even then it's only going to be a first guess. JIP | Talk 04:31, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Here is the perfect answer for you. Takes lots of skill for 3 day forcast, with decreasing skill level out to 7. 7-14 days very little skill, and 14 days no skill. CTF83! 10:21, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

A guess is all you will get for a date two weeks away. Forecasts are usually fairly reliable no more than two days in advance in my part of the world (northeastern United States), and I doubt that Finland is very different. Three days in advance is still pretty reliable, though the forecast is more likely to be wrong than a forecast closer to the date. As Kristen's source indicates, forecasts 7 days in advance are better than a random guess, but only slightly so. If an event like this really interests you, you should just plan to attend. Two or three days before the event, you can decide whether to pack rain gear (or whether to skip the event if rain makes it impossible and there is a greater than 50% chance of rain). 159.182.1.4 (talk) 16:01, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I'm attending all right, no matter what. My tickets to Tampere and back are already paid for and non-refundable. The event itself is free of charge, and I get back home for the night. So there's really nothing I could gain by staying at home. My only problem is that if there is lots of rain, it could make photographing the event very difficult. This event has become so important to me that I fear that if I miss it, I'll lose sleep over it until next June. JIP | Talk 17:17, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Twitter mentions

How do I view everyone who mentions say, @BarrackObama in a tweet? I tried searching that on the page and it only shows what he tweeted and retweeted. Coworker said http://tweetdeck.com/ has a "mentions" tab, but I see nothing similar on Twitter.com and the Android mobile app. CTF83! 10:24, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Hootsuite allows you to search for a phrase or user and save that search as a stream. --TammyMoet (talk) 11:02, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Is it not possible to do on the website or android app? CTF83! 12:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

On twitter.com, if you type Barack Obama into the search space and click the icon, you will get results for this search: on mine, the top result is Obama's own Twitter account, and underneath is Tweets containing Barack Obama: both tweets addressing that account and tweets mentioning that name. If you click the icon that looks like a cog wheel, you get the option to save the search. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:45, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! Exactly what I wanted, with Obama it has constantly updated tweets about him. CTF83! 21:06, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Kiwi: Remixes for Propaganda

Is that an actual and official U2 album? I cannot find anything on it anywhere. Miss Bono ^[zootalk]☆ 14:39, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

According to Discogs, it wasn't an official release. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:41, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

What it was, then? Miss Bono ^[zootalk]☆ 14:43, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Have a look at our article Melon: Remixes for Propaganda. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:46, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Yeas, I have seen that article before, that's why I asked about Kiwi. But there doesn't says what kiwi is? Miss Bono ^[zootalk]☆ 14:52, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

The article says: "Melon spawned numerous bootleg imitations and was widely bootlegged itself. Various releases, known as "fruitlegs" or "fruitboots", have been released as compilations of official and unofficial remixes of various U2 songs.[4] Although they claim to be official with the "Remixed for Propaganda" subtitle and a fake copyright, only Melon was approved by the band and released through the fan club." As Kiwi is a fruit, I believe it is one of these unofficial releases. --TammyMoet (talk) 17:12, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Oh, thanks TammyMoet. Miss Bono ^[zootalk]☆ 12:40, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

How to launch a sequential manual gearbox without Launch Control

I asked this question a few years ago, but didn't receive a solid answer.

How does one launch (starting from a standstill as quickly as possible) a car equipped with a modern sequential manual gearbox (like BMW's SMG or the gearbox on all the new Ferraris) without using the Launch Control assistance found on models such as the Nissan GT-R? I seem to recall Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear making fun of people using Launch Control, but how else can you launch your car as quickly as possible without using Launch Control when you don't have a clutch pedal?

I believe Formula One cars (who also have sequential manual gearboxes) have a small, hand-operated clutch near the steering wheel to mediate this process. Do production cars with sequential manual gearboxes start moving the moment you take your foot off the brake pedal (like on an automatic)? Acceptable (talk) 21:39, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

How does the Tesla Model S get by with just one gear?

The Tesla Model S only has a single fixed gear. Is there something inherently different about cars with electric motors that allow them to function successfully with just a single gear? Acceptable (talk) 21:41, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Electric car#Transmission notes "because the torque of an electric motor is a function of current, not rotational speed, electric vehicles have a high torque over a larger range of speeds during acceleration" - that is they have very wide power bands. It's very common for electric locomotives to have only a fixed ratio gear set. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:06, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Tesla's own page, comparing the torque curves of their engine and IC engines, is here. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:17, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Does electronic traction control slow cars down?

On cars that allow you to switch into a special "race" mode such as Ferraris, often times the traction control system is switched off during these race modes. Why is that? Is it because traction control slows down the car in the hands of a competent driver? For a novice driver, is it better to keep the traction control on even if you are trying to got around a track as quickly as possible? Acceptable (talk) 22:21, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

It can slow the car down (as traction control system shows, all the ways it works will do that to some extent). I used to have an old Mazda with very conservative traction control, which seemed to kill all the acceleration dead if it detected the tiniest amount of wheelspin. The system available in a Ferrari is naturally much better than an ancient Mazda and can feather the power much more subtly, such that I'd be surprised if you felt it working in most practical circumstances. Some drivers may feel that they're better than the machine (or that they can handle a moderate loss of adhesion); F1 banned TC (again) in 2008, so clearly teams (with drivers of great skill and limitless ego) felt it useful. A car might allow TC to be disengaged a) for the "authentic" feel (if you've paid so much for a Ferrari, you might not want all the bells and whistles driving it for you); b) to comply with race meet regulations; c) to allow drifting, burnouts and the like (anyone who goes drifting in a Ferrari probably owns Pirelli stock). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:41, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

A good traction control system can do better than an average driver - and a good driver can do better than an average traction control system. For a novice...you might get the car around the track faster with traction control turned on - but if you want to learn to be an experienced driver, I think you should turn it off. You have to learn to be "one with the car" - you need to understand the forces on those little patches of rubber on the ground. The traction control hides that from you - and that's a bad thing. Once you're no longer a novice, you can decide for yourself whether the traction control is good or bad for you - but you need to understand the car first. SteveBaker (talk) 02:15, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

Motorcycle model

What motorcycle model is this one? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLh6BMFdaAo/UPTzuZMM4rI/AAAAAAAAAtA/_jWyUQ6qVxQ/s1600/akira-kaneda-bike+wallpaper+HD.jpg

It's not a "real" bike. It's from the cartoon/manga/movie Akira - several people have made replicas of it - some are functional. But I don't think it has a "model" name per-se. SteveBaker (talk) 23:04, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes, that's Kaneda's bike, see the cover art at Akira_(film). SemanticMantis (talk) 13:11, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

Chinese water dragons and crickets

I have a Chinese water dragon and last night i caught the crickets eating the tail of him is that normal will it kill him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.55.178.41 (talk) 22:53, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

According to our Chinese water dragon article, crickets are appropriate food for these lizards. It's surprising that he'd sit still and not attempt to eat the crickets. Perhaps you're feeding him too many live crickets at one time? Our article suggests that he'll only eat 3 to 5 of them per day. If he's not eating them and the crickets have no food of their own, then I could imagine this kind of weird behavior. SteveBaker (talk) 23:00, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

I've heard of this happening to snakes who don't immediately eat live mice in their enclosures. Dismas|^(talk) 02:25, 18 July 2013 (UTC)