Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2006 December 23

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December 23

Requests

I was searching for an article that is not in your data base (information on Marie Leveaux). Is there a way that I can find out if anyone knows enough or has resources to create a page on a subject that is not here? 24.196.2.198 07:06, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Start by looking at the following pages:

• Marie Laveau
• Marie Laveau (1977), a novel by Francine Prose

If these aren't pertinent, perhaps you can provide some more details on the subject you seek. --

Furthermore, if this is the correct spelling, you'll find information by searching Google on "Marie Laveau" ... -- HTH, Deborahjay 12:55, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

pharrell's ethnicity

what is Pharrell Williams' ethnicity?

Hmmm... it doesn't seem to be on the article. --Proficient 08:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Just guessing but isn't he truly hispanic/amerindian? isn't that mestizo - apologies in advance when I'm shown to be wrong...87.102.4.34 11:03, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

His parents' family names Williams and Hoggard clearly sounds anglo-saxon, anyway. Are you certain he just isn't Afro-American (i.e. black, possibly mixed)? 惑乱 分からん 13:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

He has an article in Contemporary Black Biography, Vol. 47. It gives his ethnicity as "African American."--67.165.216.16 13:32, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Current Biography (2004--via the Biographies Plus Illustrated database), gives his ethnicity as simply "African-American," as well.--67.165.216.16 14:01, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

• As long as he's doing a good job at his music, I really don't care about his ethnicity. It doesn't have a bearing on any of the important bits of life. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:43, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Limited entries for word

I looked up 'Branch', and the entry was limited to trees. Yesterday it included many other subject areas using the same word. Today it doesn't and I can't see any way of expanding the focus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_%28disambiguation%29

Try clicking on the disambiguation link at the top of the page. --Proficient 08:44, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Wedding Reception Schedule.

I can find plenty of advice on the web about different cultures and customs at weddings, but none about the order of play, and wondered could someone advise what happens and when during a UK after-church, wedding reception? I am thinking of Toasts, eating a plated meal, the Bride's Father's speech, the Best Man's speech, the Groom's speech, perhaps the Minister's speech if he chooses to attend the reception, the formal dances, and any other considerations. Quite simply, what is the correct order of events? Needless to say, competing family views are beginning to emerge with 6 months to go before the wedding, and I would like to set matters straight in early course with some reliable advice before trenches start to be dug. Thanks.

Try some of the links in this google search. Looking at several of the top results, they seem to address your question (albeit not in a completely straightforward, 'Here's the list of when,' type of way), but the absence of multiple examples of strict rules indicates to me that it is somewhat flexible. Do you have a wedding planner? If so, s/he can undoubtedly advise you; possibly the booking agent for your reception venue can also help. But do check some of the links I provided; they seem very helpful. Anchoress 16:22, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

This link is also very useful. Warning: it's the cached version of a BBC article that seems to be gone now; it took FOREVER to load, so be patient. Anchoress 16:43, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

In Great Britain and in my experiance the speaches are generally done whilst the meal is cooking and toasts aren done as the food is being served just before people start to eat. The top table will of course be served first. Then once the meal is eaten it is popular but not customary for the Bride's father to tell people about what is going to happen next I.E. "We are now going to cut the cake" or "Please feel free to enjoy the bar." although the cake is sometimes cut before seating and not many people need encouragement to enjoy a bar at a wedding. Photos, if you have a pro photographer, if not done at the church will be done before everybody sits down. I don't think that there is any 'set in stone' order of happenings, it vearies so much family to family, area to area. Its what the happy couple want, its their day so its best to follow their wishes.AMX 20:27, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm amazed at AMX's comments! Speeches and toasts are after the meal, nobody wants to listen to speeches on an empty stomach, let alone champagne toasts! this link covers the traditional schedule succintly. Having said this, it's more trendy these days to do your own thing - decide with your fiance(e) what you want to do, then present your decision to the families as a fait accompli! --Auximines 22:48, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Crossover kard set

When I was young,me and my bro went shopping in Target once.In the games section,I saw a box that had a picture of Tai and Greymon from Digimon and Ash with Charizard from Pokemon.I did'nt know exactly what this meant because the cover was Japanese and the only English words I saw was "A great CROSS of the battling kard fighting with the Pocket and Digital monster serie!Holy Zone of the Monster Battle!!"Exactly what the hell is this?Thanks,Ken

I don't know exactly what this means either. Have you tried the Double Dutch wiki? --Auximines 22:51, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Are you sure it was Japanese and not Chinese? Because that sounds more like an illegal Chinese sort of product. But that's not Target's style of merchandise so I'm not sure what to think. Of course, non-English packaging, legal or not, isn't really Target's style either. I assume this was during the depths of the Pokemon fad? Are you sure it was at Target?

Well actually I think it was either Target or Sears.It was in the Trading Card Section by the cashier line.I was young so I don't really know if it was illegal or not.But it looked like a closed box set of cards.

Fundamentals of Marketing

Are the fundamentals used in the marketing of services the same as the fundamentals used in the marketing of goods? Explain your answer please. Thanks, Amanda.

Hi, Amanda. This is a very broad question, and you will probably not find too many Wikipedia editors willing to tackle it in its present form. Why don't you read up on marketing and the relevant articles in the 'see also' and 'external links' sections (edit: plus the navigating box to the right of the article text), and come back with more specific questions? Good luck. Anchoress 17:56, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

You will also find the following articles useful:

• • List of marketing topics
  • Sales techniques

--Anchoress 17:59, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Let's take a specific example: Would you consider the marketing for a product, say, your finished homework, to be the same as a service, say, doing your homework for you ? StuRat 18:07, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Bear in mind that what one is marketing is always a consumer benefit. Product or service - it is what that p or s will do, whether its promise is worth its price.petitmichel86.211.239.238 14:53, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

The short answer is yes! Marketing has several major components. 1. Find out what your market wants. Say you are running a small botique restaurant. The job is to figure out what kind of foods your patrons prefer. But is that really all? In fact, do restaurants sell products, or services, or some mix of the two? So yes you have to figure out what your patrons like, but it includes far more than food, ambiance, service, etc.

2. Develop your product/service to meet the needs of your market, what, how, when, and at what price. If you have done a good job on #1, #2 should fall out of it.

3. Figure out a way to let your market know what you have, and why they should obtain (buy) it from you. Why is you produce/service better that what your competition offers, and how can you communicate this information.

Ah yes, all this suggests that you have to be very aware of the competitive forces that may interfere with your offer. So competitive analysis is also a marketing function.

Given the specifics of different markets you may even want to disguise what it is you are selling, portraying what is really a service as a product or visa versa.

Tom

Harrassment

It is clear that a user is harrassing me because I am writing an article on a touchy historical subject -- a bloody siege in 1948 -- that a certain racist school of thought believes should be forgotten. Most comments don't even like the name of the article and use a term that I regard, in this context, as racist.

While his messages are not obscene, they are quite annoying, accusatory, and unctuous. Just today, he accused me of removing comments from the comment page. I did not. (Possibly there was an overlap in the edit window -- two people commenting at the same time. My comments also disappeared.)

I am now thinking that this individual is colluding with those writing hostile comments. I believe his goal is to prevent this article from being written by nitpicking me, and formulating various accusations.

Frankly, I would like him to leave me alone and not send me any messages. If he wants to contribute to the article, fine, but by the tone of the comments, I don't think he wants the article written.

What can I do? I don't want to talk to him any more. And I don't want him to talk to me. 20:01, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

You can request that he not leave comments on your talk page and you can do the same. There has been a problem in the last few days with messed up edits, which can show up as deletions by users who've had edits at about the same time. This could easily be mistaken for vandalism on your part, so try to understand his POV. If you do decide to talk with him, you might want to refer him to these discussions, which will prove that similar things have been happening to others, myself included: [1], [2]. StuRat 20:13, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Japanese games

why arent all Japnese videogames made into English ones?Thanks.

It costs money to do such a thing, so only the games deemed most likely to succeed will be ported. Also, Japanese gamers have a different sensibilities & aesthetics, so not everything that is popular in Japan will be popular in North America, and vice versa. ←Vranak—

~ You can always do like me, learn japanese and buy them over the internet. Joneleth 04:44, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

If a game doesn't sell well in Japan, it's unlikely that it'll be translated into any foreign language. Sometimes games sell well in Japan, and still aren't translated, because they have a distinctly Japanese style that European or American publishers don't think will sell. It also depends on how much effort would be required for translation and distribution: if a game has minimal text/acting, often it'll be released anyway, and once in a while it really takes off -- see Katamari Damacy, Kuru Kuru Kururin and La Pucelle Tactics. Pesapluvo 03:16, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia's lettering

Why isn't Wikipedia in it's normal lettering for everything written as of now? Heegoop, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

I've had that happen on my Firefox browser. It's not Wikipedia, it's the browser, you need to shut it down and restart at a minimum, and quite possible reboot, to boot. BTW, this would have been an excellent question for the Computer Ref Desk. StuRat 22:02, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

But only if Heegop had known it was a browser thing... Skarioffszky 22:05, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

If it was a Wikipedia question it should've gone on the help desk. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:39, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

In any case it is probably a stylesheet problem. Clear your cache, close the browser, try it again. --24.147.86.187 15:05, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I particularly have this problem whenever I play DragonFable [3], which, I assume, means it has some serious memory leaks. StuRat 14:31, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

CoroCoro Comics

Will CoroCoro Comic issues ever come to North America?Like Shonen Jump?

Your best bet would be to email the firm who make the magazine/comic. If they feel there is a big enough market for distribution the US they will (i'm sure) sell the comic there. I would be surprised if in the whole of the US there isn't somewhere that imports this (unless it is a very small-time comic). I am guessing that the comic doesn't contain anything that is illegal in the US which would prohibit its selling. Try looking for a specialist comic book store and see if they will import copies for you. In borders the store in my city there are many many magazines that are imported from various nations so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that a similar store may have what you want. ny156uk 23:18, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Shonen Jump does have an English edition [4], now celebrating its fourth birthday. You can pick it up from any decent sized newsstand and I have been surprised to see how many public libraries offer it as well. For the Japanese edition you would probably need to buy it from either an on-line retailer or a comics and/or manga shop. It might also be possible to find Japanese editions at newsstands in the Japanese parts of town in large cities with large Japanese populations.