Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 August 10

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August 10[edit]

Canadian Serviceman in WW1[edit]

How can I determine if my Father-in-law, Ernest Leadbeater, served in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps in WW1? John Everingham24.235.239.48 (talk) 02:33, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My initial suggestion is to contact the Canadian Ministry of Defence, here,[1] and ask your question, perhaps with some evidence of who you are. Looking around the site it seems they supply this sort of info. Richard Avery (talk) 07:08, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Squash[edit]

This is a request for generic medical information, not advice. What research has been conducted on the advisability of people older than 40 playing squash? Our article states: "Some studies have implicated squash as a cause of possible fatal cardiac arrhythmia and argued that squash is an inappropriate form of exercise for older men with heart disease", and cites this article as a reference. Fair enough, but the abstract (which is all that is available for free viewing) only talks about "veteran players" and "older men". So firstly, if anyone has access to the full version of that article and can tell me how it defines "veteran" and "older" that would be great (in the meantime I will put in a request for the full article at the resource request page). Secondly, pointers to any other research would also be welcome. Update: someone already provided me with the full text of the article, which studied a group of men aged between 46 and 57. So, nothing there to suggest squash should not be played by those older than 40. --Viennese Waltz talk 08:00, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Looking for Kurdish person[edit]

I am loking for a kurdish person in Instambul. His name is Bulent,he is 33/35 years old . He was working in hotel konuk in streat lalely Hy was work as a reseptionist but it was in1994/1995 i dont know if it stil exists Because i dont finde the hotel no more. If i find the owner then it wil help because then i can get mutch information because they were verry good friends.

please send a mesage back to this mail: <email removed>—Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.168.119.116 (talk) 10:04, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(Your question messed up the Squash question above, so I put your question in its own section.) 93.95.251.162 (talk) 11:38, 10 August 2010 (UTC) Martin.[reply]
And I've removed the email - we don't reply to emails. If we can answer your question, qw reply here.--Phil Holmes (talk) 11:48, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Glider identification[edit]

I know this may be a very challenging task, and quite possibly error prone, but if possible, I would like to identify the manufacturer and model of the glider in the photo accompanying this BBC article [2]. I have reason to believe (independent of the photo) that some possibilities are a Schleicher ASK 13, Grob G-102 Astir, or Discus T19, but it may also be none of these. moink (talk) 11:19, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not much immediate help but the Air Accident Investigation Unit [3] issue monthly bulletins listing the accidents they have investigated. Each entry contains the make and model of aircraft, time, place etc. So if all else fails it will appear in the August bulletin, probably in the first week of September. Richard Avery (talk) 14:31, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm. Thanks, but I'll likely know through other channels by then. moink (talk) 14:48, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
And your Wiki link is to the Irish authorities. I think you mean the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. moink (talk) 15:30, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The followup story (BBC News) identifies it as a Foka 4. -- 1.46.50.115 (talk) 13:38, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. I'm not sure how to put the big RESOLVED checkmark on, but that is indeed a complete and sourced answer. moink (talk) 13:51, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Photo ID in the EU/UK?[edit]

What forms of photo ID other than a driver's license can someone in the UK get? Are there any EU photo ID schemes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.220.46.47 (talk) 12:13, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The two widely accepted ones in the UK (when I was working in such areas) were Driving Licence and Passport. There are a number of other cards, but there is always a chance that they won't be accepted. -- WORMMЯOW  12:15, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It depends on what you need the photo ID for - for proof of age any card which falls under the PASS scheme should be accepted in most (but not all) places in the UK (the wikipedia page has some examples of cards). The EU appears to have a policy of accepting national ID cards across all member states for travel purposes (See identity document#Europe), but given that the UK no longer has an ID card scheme your only international option is probably a passport. Equisetum (talk | email | contributions) 13:04, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
In theory, any of those cards will be accepted. In practice, many (perhaps even most) places require either a driving license or passport. --Tango (talk) 14:08, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Re: UK ID card scheme - the UK does still have such a scheme, but not for much longer; it will be scrapped as soon as the Identity Documents Bill 2010 received royal assent. I don't believe that it is still possible to obtain an ID card, and it would be pretty pointless, as they will become invalid very soon. Warofdreams talk 14:58, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
You ask what other forms of photo ID. A firearms certificate serves the purpose, but this will probably not be a useful answer because they are considerably more difficult to obtain than a passports and a driver's licences, and are probably not recognised elsewhere in the EU. Dbfirs 05:49, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Many firms have a photo ID card, and some of these act as a pass key for the door or the computer system, or both. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:22, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
So if I don't drive, I'm SOL for getting a photo ID that I can carry in my wallet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.220.46.47 (talk) 19:43, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Assuming that you don't have a passport, or a Student Union or other college ID card, and the proof-of-age cards under the aforementioned PASS scheme do not meet your purpose. Are you able/willing to tell us why you do need such a card? Speaking as a middle-aged UK resident myself, I've hardly ever needed photo ID outside of security-conscious workplaces that produce their own (except that British Rail used to issue photo ID cards to commuters with long-term season tickets, but I no longer need them and that may no longer be the case), and as my driving licence is pre-photo, on the rare occasions I might I've carried my passport, something I became used to when living for a spell in Germany. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 21:30, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In my experience (I live here) you will almost never need a photo ID in the UK, except on the rare occasions when you have to produce your passport (and nothing else will do). You will sometimes need to show something to prove ID, but an old fashioned driver's licence (with no photo) will do fine, or sometimes credit cards. When people really want you to prove who you are, you're more likely to be asked for one or two utility bills showing your name and address. Public opinion here is generally anti-ID, as the Labour government found. --Dweller (talk) 21:47, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You may find this article illuminating: National identity card (United Kingdom) --Dweller (talk) 22:02, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

categorization[edit]

If I am uploading a jpeg file that contains the bio of a lawyer from Atlanta Georgia is there a certain category that I should use? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MarketSpice (talkcontribs) 12:18, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Where did you get the image? Is it a picture of the lawyer with the bio on it as well? Enter CBW, waits for audience applause, not a sausage. 12:37, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If it's somebody else's work (perhaps a scan of a document?), we can only take it if it is in the public domain, or otherwise freely licensed - see Wikipedia:Copyrights. If it is your own work, then it's unlikely that a scanned bio would be very useful - if the lawyer is notable and the work is referenced, then you can contribute it as ordinary text. Warofdreams talk 14:54, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How can I research the asking and answering of questions?[edit]

I would like to investigate the asking and answering of questions, especially between parties who do not know each other.


When someone wants to know something, they have many options.

They can: (a) ask someone else who might happen to know, (b) ask a clever or knowledgeable person, (c) ask an expert in the subject, (d) ask a librarian or knowledge expert, (e) consult books or magazines, perhaps in a reference library, (f) search Wikipedia, (g) ask in an online forum, ....

The asker's choice of action would depend upon: (1) the nature of the question, (2) the knowledge and skills of the asker, (3) facilities and time available, (3) urgency and importance of getting an answer, ....


Where another person offers a reply, especially in an online forum, questions arise such as: (i) who bothers to answer and why, (ii) how does the asker decide how much to trust the answerer, (iii) what leads to good answers (e.g. well-framed questions, understanding of centext), ....


I would like to read about how askers and answerers make these choices - their mental processes, motivations, and so on.

Clearly, there is no simple answer. But what sources or areas of study should I be investigating - some part of psychology perhaps, or something called communication theory, or what? All suggestions welcome!

Wignoramus1954 (talk) 12:47, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wasn't there some academic study that discussed this issue in the context of this reference desk? I seem to remember it coming up here a few months ago. Maybe someone here will recall it. --Viennese Waltz talk 12:52, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
There was a study comparing the quality of service provided by this reference desk to that provided by library reference desks. That's the only one I'm aware of and I don't think it is particularly relevant to the OP's question. --Tango (talk) 13:19, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
That's the one and I would have thought it was very much relevant to the question. --Viennese Waltz talk 13:26, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The question is about how people decide to ask/answer questions in certain ways, not about the quality of the answers people get. --Tango (talk) 14:09, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The question is also about where to ask. The quality of the answers people get is a factor in deciding where to ask. --Viennese Waltz talk 14:16, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
You're taking for granted exactly the question the OP is asking about. "Quality of the answers" might have nothing to do with it — it might be a whole host of other factors that are more predominant. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:24, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I interpreted the question in the spirit in which it was asked. I think a very open-ended question was asked. It was loosely defined. I think it is a question about thinking about a wide variety of problems. I'm somewhat of a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and I think he addresses things related to this. I think he might say in relation to this that you have to get off your butt (my words, not his) and do something — if you hope to tackle the problem. But I should wait for the OP to provide feedback on whether or not I am addressing his/her question. Bus stop (talk) 22:43, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
A related area of study might be the choice of communication medium when a customer wants to contact a business (i.e. do they call into a shop, make a phone call, send an email, use a chatbot, search the website, ...) The preference of the customer and the preference of the business may vary depending on the nature of the enquiry. --Frumpo (talk) 13:10, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It depends on how motivated one is in wanting to ascertain something. If their thinking is lazy they will probably merely allow the thought to drift across their mind and not act on it very effectively. Researching something depends on motivation. A motivated person leaves no avenues un-investigated. Bus stop (talk) 22:00, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Here are some links.
Online Social Reference: A Research Agenda Through a STIN Framework
(Post scriptum. To edit this section, I had to click the edit button beside the heading "Squash".)
Wavelength (talk) 02:08, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you all, I can confirm that users Bus stop and Tango have correctly interpreted my question but I will look at all the references offered. You can see why searching for the words question and answer have got me nowhere! I hope to find references to: why askers might fail to make enquiries in obvious places (e.g. a place name in an atlas, a book title in Amazon books category) - how they decide when to trust a given answer - why some answerers bother to reply, while some experts ignore the question - do people think they can find everything just by using search engines - that sort of thing. Yes, it's a vague question, and if anyone can even tell me the name of a relevant field or author, that will certainly help. Wignoramus1954 (talk) 21:18, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have a very general answer, but I do know that computer scientists have done some basic work on this as part of trying to design automated question-answering systems. You can tap into the literature by doing a Google Scholar search for "question answering". Looie496 (talk) 04:20, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Newspaper Article by Ralph Gleason[edit]

Hi, I'm doing research for a book and need a copy of, or comment on, a newspaper article written by Ralph Gleason at an opening that took place in 1967 or 1968 in Ghirardelli Square. The band that played for the event was Neighb'rhood Childr'n and it is about them that the article was written. I'd really appreciate your help with this. Thank you, Bobbie Sorich —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.185.13.170 (talk) 16:54, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies if this seems over-obvious, but have you tried searching the websites of (or directly contacting) whatever newspapers or magazines are (and were then) published covering the San Francisco area, in order to search (or have their archivists search) for the relevant article(s)?
(NB: You gave no clue as to what country in the World you were talking about, but Wikipedia has an article on Ghirardelli Square (hitherto unknown to me as I'm on another continent), which I'm guessing is the location in question as it seems an unusual name unlikely to be duplicated elsewhere, in contrast to, say, Victoria Square.) 87.81.230.195 (talk) 09:56, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see any hope of finding this other than manually checking the archives of the San Francisco newspapers, which are probably on microfilm. Looie496 (talk) 04:16, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
At the time, Ralph Gleason was the regular jazz columnist of The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as host of "Jazz Casual" on National Educational Television (now PBS). As part of a complicated deal under which the Hearst Corporation's San Francisco Examiner simultaneously merged into and absorbed the Chronicle about ten years ago, both newspapers' archives of issues before the merger were taken over by the publishers of a new Examiner (the Fangs), who later sold the Examiner to yet another owner. More recent archives of the Chronicle can be found at http://www.sfgate.com ; but no longer living in the Bay Area, I'm not sure what's happened to the earlier on-line archives. However, an article that old will probably not have been digitized and thus be found only in paper or microfilm copies of the Chronicle or of the jointly-published San Francisco Sunday Chronicle and Examiner. —— Shakescene (talk) 03:26, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
¶ OK, after a little light research on Google and Wikipedia. The old Examiner archives (presumably corporate ones, but maybe old newspaper clippings, too) were donated to the University of California, Berkeley library in 2006, at the time of the second handover. See The San Francisco Examiner. Also see the English, French and Portuguese language Wikipedia articles on the San Francisco Sound, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Sound, http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Sound for some useful links and references. —— Shakescene (talk) 03:59, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
¶ Not the column you were seeking, but I'm still surprised I could find a Ralph J. Gleason column from May 1967, here, THE CITY THAT MEANS LOVE TO ALL at the Chronicle's on-line archive, since those don't go farther back than 1995, or 20 years after Gleason's much-regretted death. You can search through a hundred Chronicle articles that mention Ralph J. Gleason here: SF Gate Search Results for Ralph J. Gleason (1995-2010). But a similar search for "Neighb'rhood Childr'n" yields nothing, and one for "Ghirardelli Square" would be pointless. Probably better to look through Ralph Gleason's published books and anthologies. —— Shakescene (talk) 04:32, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Deli Select Ham Nutritional Facts[edit]

Today for lunch, I ate a ham and cheese sandwich. The ham container was a plastic tupperware-like container that it was bought in. This container had no nutritional facts on it and no indication as to where I might find the nutritional facts. Even actual deli ham that comes in ziploc bags has a nutritional facts sticker on it.

I was wondering how this Hillshire Farms company could simply leave no nutritional information, or even where to get it. My question isn't necessarily what the nutritional facts are or where to find them; I thought it was required by law to leave some kind of trail as to where to find the facts or put them on the food packaging. Thank you, The Reader who Writes (talk) 21:10, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Where did you buy it? Some items that are "not labeled for individual sale" have all the nutritional labeling required by law on the "big pack" that holds all 12 sandwiches, or whatever. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:46, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If I were to take a wild guess, the simplest explanation is that the container is supposed to have a nutritional info/ingredients label on the bottom of the tub, but that it was lost/detached/never stuck on properly somewhere between the factory and your lunch. The next time you're in the store, check the bottoms of some of the other tubs. Poking around a bit more, I found this picture; was this the style of packaging you encountered? (And if so, has anyone else bought deli meats in these containers?) To be clear -- is this a sandwich that you made for yourself from scratch, using ham from a larger container, or was the ham part of some prepackaged sandwich 'kit'? I'm assuming the former, but in the latter case Tuttle's comment may apply.
For the full gory details on when labels are required in the United States, try the FDA's Food Labeling Gude. There is an exemption for small packages (just an address or phone number is sufficient if the total available label area is less than 12 square inches), but I don't think it would apply here. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:57, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If I remember correctly, in these types of containers, the Nutrition Facts label is sometimes printed on the inner plastic around the ham. (For example, in the picture linked above, you can see some small print and the net weight printed on the inner plastic. I think the Nutrition Facts may be on it, too.) Perhaps someone else in your household who already opened the container threw the inner plastic away. We'll have to double-check if I remembered correctly the next time we open a container like this. --Bavi H (talk) 23:56, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, I was wondering that from the picture as well -- but it would seem to be a violation of the labelling rules, which require the nutritional information to be visible on the outside of the package before purchase. It could be that this one 'slipped through the cracks', as the outer plasticware container seems to be a promotional 'gift'. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:15, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your help, but I found the answer. TenOfAllTrades, that is the exact packaging of this deli select ham. I found another tub of ham in the basement. Inside the tub was a plastic bag with the ham inside of that. The nutritional facts were clearly printed, albeit in white ink, on the bottom of the plastic. It was centered so that you could clearly read it through the plastic of the tub if you turned the container upside down. Question resolved, thanks again, The Reader who Writes (talk) 01:21, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(I was just about to suggest the same thing: This picture shows a thick border on the bottom of the inner plastic that looks like the Nutrition Facts label.) --Bavi H (talk) 01:27, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Roth IRA maximum contribution for Married Couple[edit]

In your article for Roth IRA, you explain that the maximum contribution for a 50+ age single man who earned $10,000 in 2008 was $5,000. For a man who earned $2,000 the max was $2,000. You also stated that a married couple, the wife could also contribute the same amount. Does that mean that if the wife did not work, the couple could match her husband's contribution, meaning their combined contribution could be $12,000 for the family's total earnings of $12,000. What about the husband who earned $2,000 and the wife who earned zero; can the family contribute $4,000 into 2 Roth IRAs? Jicgee (talk) 22:05, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you rely on advice you receive here, you run the risk that we're wrong, and the IRS penalizes you. But, here goes: US tax law discriminates in favor of married couples, so it is most likely that any benefit that is available to a married couple is available regardless of whether both are earning incomes, or only one. The best advice is to consult a tax professional (mine saved me much more than his actual fee!) DOR (HK) (talk) 09:43, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]