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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 December 14

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December 14

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Pre-order deposit

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In most places, when you pay a company a pre-order deposit, the money goes into their general operations.

Is there any jurisdiction where consumer protection laws ensure that the deposit stays in an escrow account and is only used when the consumer chooses to purchase the product? Mũeller (talk) 03:24, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That is exactly what an e-tailer that I worked for in the UK did, but I don't know if it is a legal requirement. --TrogWoolley (talk) 11:34, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Tenancy deposits are handled in this fashion. This is a legal requirement. I believe that if the landlord does not follow the rules he may be unable to serve a valid notice to quit. Most professionals are required to place client monies in ring - fenced client accounts. 82.13.208.70 (talk) 11:52, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • In the US, if you make an offer to buy a house and the offer is accepted, the sale is not final because you have not yet had the chance to have the house inspected. So you give the real estate agent earnest money, which goes into an escrow account. Loraof (talk) 19:35, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
With the introduction on 3 January of the "Markets in Financial Instruments Directive" and "Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation" (MiFID II) some professionals are engaging in sharp practice. They are changing their Terms of Business to force their customers to explicitly consent (without saying anything) to their inadvertently using client money for improper purposes. Their excuse is that since they are going concerns they will pay the money back. Shouldn't the EU close this loophole? After all, from next May websites will not be able to snoop on their customers unless they actively do something to allow it. 92.8.223.3 (talk) 13:33, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
As a nerdy person I am obligated to point out that: "from next May websites will not be able to snoop on their customers unless they actively do something to allow it. " is not true. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 13:39, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Would you like to weigh in at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Fundraising campaign? 92.8.223.3 (talk) 13:48, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
In my country there is a law against jaywalking, but the introduction of this law has not affected my ability to jaywalk. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 14:03, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
But if you do jaywalk, is the ability of the authorities to throw you into jail for doing it affected? 92.8.223.3 (talk) 14:12, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
This runs rather counter to what The Quixotic Potato is expounding here: User talk:WWB Too#Are you breaking the law? 92.8.223.3 (talk) 15:05, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

List of scriptures based on age

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Is there any list of global scriptures based on their age of publication or writing? Like which is the oldest known scripture or literature we have discovered? It can include extinct literatures also as well as the ones that are present now in original or modified ways. Please answer. 14.141.141.26 (talk) 06:23, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on what you consider a scripture, and how you approach various methods of transmission. Among major religions still practiced, the Rig Veda has often been considered to date to about 1,500 B.C., but it was transmitted almost purely orally before roughly about 500 A.D... AnonMoos (talk) 07:20, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
According to the article: Kesh temple hymn (Liturgy to Nintud on the creation of man and woman) — "a Sumerian tablet, written on clay tablets as early as 2600 BC. Along with the Instructions of Shuruppak, it is the oldest surviving literature in the world."
107.15.152.93 (talk) 08:47, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The Pyramid Texts are another candidate. They do seem to be the longest religious texts of their time. In an old discussion on the talk page, some other editors and I discussed the Pyramid Texts, a smattering of shorter Egyptian texts, the Kesh temple hymn, and a smattering of Sumerian god lists and offering lists are among the oldest religious texts in the world. But we can't know how much older a text is than the earliest surviving copy, as Wymspen says. We can't even be sure about whether the earliest Egyptian or earliest Sumerian copies are older, because the relative chronology of Egypt and Sumeria is somewhat unclear. A. Parrot (talk) 00:41, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Always bear in mind that the medium used to record a text has a major influence on its survival. Texts written on clay tablets or engraved on stone have generally survived - but there could have been a much older text written on bark or leaves that we would know nothing about. Wymspen (talk) 22:31, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
And related to that, are you meaning the oldest manuscripts, or the oldest text? If text X were composed in 2000 BC and its oldest surviving manuscript dated from 1500 BC, while text Y were composed in 1500 BC and we still had the autograph, which one would interest you? Nyttend backup (talk) 13:24, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Post fordism Third Italy regions make up

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Which regions of Italy make up the "Third Italy"? Donmust90 (talk) 22:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)Donmust90Donmust90 (talk) 22:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Our article on Post fordism has an examples section that answers your question. Blueboar (talk) 23:50, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Rust Belts in other parts of the world

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The article Rust Belt already mentioned Southern Ontario, Northern England, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Ruhr area in Germany as the counterparts of Rust Belt in US. What about other parts of the world like Italy, Iran or Australia? Donmust90 (talk) 23:00, 14 December 2017 (UTC)Donmust90Donmust90 (talk) 23:00, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

See List of industrial regions. The list is far from complete tho. --Kharon (talk)
And it's not the same thing. See Rust Belt. --69.159.60.147 (talk) 02:57, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I notice there's one in Sweden. Did the workers get new jobs so only the mines and stuff died? Cause if Sweden couldn't stop ex-miners from becoming poor Michigan has no hope. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 04:38, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]