Miscellaneous desk
< December 1	<< Nov \| December \| Jan >>	December 3 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

December 2

Drum Throne Assembly

Today I bought a drum throne for my first drum kit. It came in 3 pieces, a tripod base, the actually seat, and a metal tube that connects the two and allows the height to be adjusted. As it came with no instructions, I do not know which side of the tube goes into the base, the open side or the closed, heavier side. I assume its the heavier side, but I am not sure. Thanks in advance. QWERTY | Dvorak 00:47, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You'd probably get a better answer at a drummer forum - this is probably a bit specific to get an answer here. Exxolon 16:12, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Heavier side down. I don't think it really matters, though - if it did, it wouldn't allow it to go either way. Neil ☎ 16:02, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Userboxes

How do you post Userboxes on your own Userpage?--Leamarie411x2 03:51, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:USERBOX. Also, questions about using Wikipedia are generally asked at the Help desk, not the Reference desk. Dismas|^(talk) 04:06, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Golf

Why are golf courses immune to natural disasters? 124.176.152.82 08:28, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What would lead you to believe they are immune? Dismas|^(talk) 08:43, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The golf course at Plymouth, Montserrat was covered by lava in the 1995 eruption. Manning 09:35, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

At least 23 people have been killed by lightning strikes on golf courses in the past few years.[1]--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:02, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In case you're serious, any place without Tall buildings Will be immune to some disasters. For example after an earthquake you could probably Just pick up any flags that fell over and be ready to golf. --APL 16:46, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You'd want to stay away from the trees which line the fairways, though. Corvus cornix_talk 21:07, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In some cases even flat land can be a dangerous place in an earthquake. Besides the possibility of inundation due to a tsunami, the quake could suddenly form a sinkhole or a sandblow. Of course all of these would depend on the local geology and the configuration of nearby coastline. --Anon, 23:32 UTC, Dec. 2, 2007.

Skin treatment

I started using melanotan for those who know what it is, and theres freckles and flat moles appearing on my face, what would I need to do to get rid of them? Do I have to laser them or microderm abrasion or chemical peel or what? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.106.34.15 (talk) 10:12, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Best see a dermatologist. Nobody here can advise on medical questions.81.145.240.116 12:45, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cisco Company: Why Cisco is getting away from Linksys:

I have googled "Linksys" and I have got these:

Linksys is shit
Linksys is prone to overheat, due to a design(er) flaw
Linksys is prone to overheat, terminating Internet connection

This only gets worse. One guy said that Linksys is so bad that he wants to mail it back to the company , with DOG SHIT, to emphasize his satisfaction with the Linksys unit.

Did you know that this may be why the Cisco company wants to get rid of this product line ?

The Linksys article here should reflect this. 65.163.112.205 10:20, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Damn typos. 65.163.112.205 10:26, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You have to realise the systematic bias from user responses from the internet. A happy customer won't go on forums praising the product, but an unhappy customer will do all he/she can to discourage other people from falling for the same "trap". Also, the reference desk is not a place for debates, and if you can find reliable sources for you claims, you can add them to the article yourself. --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:47, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A Linksys what? Linksys make a bazillion different things and I don't believe they all have overheating problems. The one that is routing the connection I'm typing this on right now has been running flawlessly for years. So it's certainly not universally true.

If a very specific product is considered to be poorly designed or manufactured - and if this fact can be verifiably sourced (ie you can find reputable sources that you can quote and reference in the article) - then this may be mentioned. However, you can't just use some random blog or rant by an individual user. Every product that's made in any kind of large quantity WILL have an occasional msnufacturing error - the person who happens to buy that one bad one out of every hundred thousand will be outraged and will sometimes cover the internet with rants just like the ones you list above. This tells you nothing whatever about the percentage of product with that fault.

If 50% of them are faulty (maybe like the Xbox360's "Red ring of Death" problem) - then there is a case to be made for adding it into the article. If 1% of them have the problem (like the steering column circuit board failure that struck my '07 MINI Cooper a couple of weeks ago) then it's just a matter of "that's life" and it's not worthy of reporting. Because the people who have the problem are VASTLY more vocal than those who are perfectly satified, you're going to get a skewed perspective from just doing a Google search.

Cisco's motives for "getting away from Linksys" are likely to be more complex than just one specific product overheating. You certainly can't speculate on that without very definite evidence - and again, it has to be copiously sourced from reliable sources. Speculation doesn't belong in the encyclopedia.

SteveBaker 15:09, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's certainly something behind LinkSys's terrible reputaion --⁪ffroth 20:56, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That may be - but it doesn't alter what we should and shouldn't write in the encyclopedia. SteveBaker 03:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

movie side arms

What was the side arm used by bruce willis in live free die hard?207.119.82.245 12:53, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You will probably have better luck asking this at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:24, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why not check out the Internet Movie Firearms Database? Dismas|^(talk) 13:50, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ha! What a cool Wiki! :) Corvus cornix_talk 21:08, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, thanks for the link to that Wiki. Dureo 07:25, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra"

Are government ads required to say this at the end of their TV ads. During the election campaign, they also seemed to be required to be used for campaign advertising for specific parties ("Authorised B. Loughnane, Liberal Party, Canberra" off the top of my head for the Liberal Party). The Chaser have mocked this often times, especially for way it is said so fast. Does any one have any info on these "disclaimers" of sorts? Is this practised in other countries too? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.208.109.169 (talk) 13:07, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In the US, prescription only medication can be advertised, and there is a disclaimer muttered on those adverts. In the UK there are adverts for some financial products which have to have a disclaimer such as "Investments can go up as well as down". SaundersW 13:18, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is common for US political ads as well. So common that "I'm Xxxx Yxxx and I endorse this message", (sometimes said at the end of an ad), has become a bit of a punch line. ++Lar: t/c 13:48, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also car commercials. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 18:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes they are required to say it. In the vicinity of an election campaign, especially, but even other times, any political advertising must be authorised by a party official and the electoral commission, even if it's by the government of the time. This is, in theory, to stop people advertising false or misleading ads for their opposition. There are, of course, ways around it, as you might have seen in the recent campaign. Steewi 01:17, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's a requirement under section 328 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 [2]. The act does not require the authorisation to be spoken so fast that it's almost incomprehensible, which practice is, at least to me, incomprehensible in itself. It has the (presumably) unintended effect of drawing attention to itself, and away from whatever the ad itself is saying. To all those parties out there who may be reading this - just stop it, d'you hear. -- JackofOz 01:24, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Authorisation also has to appear on printed material, even if it's made to appear to be from another source. This seems to be the main charge the distributors of some fake pamphlets are facing. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 04:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

We recieved a pamphlet this election that on the outside looked like the Greens' advertising, but inside was a fiercly anti-Greens tirade. A careful search found tiny print on the back in a similar colour to the background listing an authorisation name. The name (Andrew Heath) didn't mention a party, but investigation revealed his connection to a party. The local press made some harsh criticism of it. Steewi 05:30, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

banana seats

why is it that banana seats r used in bicycles if they're so uncomfortable?

--Dlo2012 22:12, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have any data that would back up the claim that they're uncomfortable or is this just your personal opinion? I had a banana seat on my first bike and I don't remember it being uncomfortable. Dismas|^(talk) 01:10, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, most people that i ask hate banana seats, riding on them for just a half-hour can really be a pain in the butt. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dlo2012 (talk • contribs) 02:46, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]