Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2023 September 7

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September 7

What's the furthest possible domestic call?

By great circle distance. Can landlines or cellphones in say France call ~10,000 miles away parts of France with basic plans and no extra charges or minute limits? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:54, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

What parts of France are 10,000 miles away from France? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:15, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

French Polynesia? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 04:33, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

To enlarge; what other countries might call colonies or overseas territories, France deems parts of itself with equal administrative status to regions of Metropolitan France (the part in Europe). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.194.81.165 (talk) 05:04, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Yes, but it is also hardly unique in that regard. The United States grants equal status to Hawaii and Alaska as it does to the lower 48. --Jayron32 13:24, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

The length of the shorter great circle segment from Paris to French Polynesia (which passes through Dublin and Los Angeles) is about 9,770 miles (15,720 km). By definition of "domestic", a call from Paris to Papeete is a domestic call.  --Lambiam 05:25, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

The question was about calls that can be made with basic plans and no extra surcharges. Can such a call be made from Paris to Papeete? DuncanHill (talk) 10:53, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

I strongly expect this to be a special purpose line. As an example, I grew up in farmland. The area served by our school covered three domestic calling zones. So, some students could call home at no charge. Other students were charged long distance. To avoid this, the school had special lines installed that were considered local for the other two calling zones. If you used them, it wasn't long distance. It basically extended the distance you could call without using long distance because the carrier ran one extra very long line to the school. Consider that scenario for, as an example, a call box in the middle of the Mojave at some research shack. That would be an extra long distance to call without a long distance surcharge. The problem is that it isn't in any of our "world record" books that I can find and searching online turns up nothing more than sales sites trying to separate me from my cash. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 11:28, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

In France nowadays, most people have a phone plan that comes through their internet provider and includes free calls to a large number of countries around the world. So there's nothing exceptional about calling French Polynesia for free when you can also dial up someone in Australia or Argentina as if it were a local call. Xuxl (talk) 13:38, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

I just read that it is including cell phones. With my plan, I can travel to the northern-most cell tower in Canada and call someone at the southernmost cell tower in Mexico and call at no extra charge. It is unlimited to Canada, U.S., and Mexico. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 15:49, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

When automatic long distance dialling first came in students at Oxford University devised a 10-digit dialling code enabling them to call London numbers at the local rate. When they found out about it the Post Office disabled it. It was always on the cards because instead of dialling one of the national codes you could dial into a nearby exchange which had its own local codes, and from there to another exchange which again had its own local codes and so ad infinitum. 2A00:23D0:C32:2601:998F:A7BF:6379:214 (talk) 16:35, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Does New Zealand count? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:58, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

It goes "tishhh"

What is the name of the percussion instrument that is essentially a series of chains of varying size and length that makes a nice "tishhh" sound when stroked? I scanned the images in List of percussion instruments -- no luck. -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 20:25, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Cabasa? Or do you mean hanging chains? --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:42, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Hanging chains -- is that what they're called? (Too obvious). -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 20:53, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

This is the closest that I could find: Musical Bead Chains, but is described as an "enabling device" that "increases sensory awareness". -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 21:01, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Mark tree? --Error (talk) 09:18, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

The mark tree should not be confused with two similar instruments:

* Wind chimes are mounted in a circle with a hanging striker strung in the center; they may be solid or hollow and made of many types of material, whereas the mark tree is mounted in a linear fashion and normally has solid metal bars.

* The bell tree is a set of graduated cup-shaped bells mounted vertically along a center post.

--Error (talk) 09:21, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

Aha! A trip down memory lane led me to Eclectic Mouse,^[1] which led me to Steve Forman (percussionist) which led me to this webpage which led me to his instrument inventory -- wherein lies: Chains | Metal Chain | various lengths of misc. chain | USA -- So, it doesn't really have a proper name. -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 14:45, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

Thanks Error, for your erroneous effort (sorry, couldn't help myself); let's mark this thread...

Resolved

 – 136.54.106.120 (talk) 14:55, 8 September 2023 (UTC)