Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 September 28

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September 28

Popular Opera Songs

What are some popular Opera songs? For example: "Memory" from Cats, "Phantom of the Opera" from Phantom of the Opera, Nessun Dorma, etc... Thanks. Acceptable 00:11, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Toreador, don't spit upon the floor! Use the cuspidor, that's what it's for! springs to mind. DuncanHill 00:15, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

As does Your Tiny Hands are Frozen, from La bohème. DuncanHill 00:19, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Usually translated as "Your tiny hand is frozen" (literally it would be something like "How cold your little hand is"; the Italian is "Che gelida manina"). -- JackofOz 02:05, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Cats and Phantom are not traditionally considered operas, though. Other opera songs can be found in Category:Opera excerpts and Category:Arias. From an American opera, you have "Summertime" but the somewhat similar "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from a musical isn't opera. Go, figure. Rmhermen 00:45, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

When a felon's not engaged in his employment from The Pirates of Penzance is jolly good fun. DuncanHill 01:49, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

"La donna è mobile" (Woman is fickle) from Verdi's Rigoletto and "Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso" (Now your days of philandering are over) from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro spring to mind. -- JackofOz 02:05, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

The Flower Duet and Un bel di from Madame Butterfly spring to mind.--hotclaws 09:36, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

The drinking song from la traviata. Algebraist 10:18, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Give Mozart his due. You can't forget Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (often called the Queen of the Night aria) from The Magic Flute; it's very recognizable and technically demanding. My old flatmate – a tenor – used to single it a couple of octaves lower in the shower. Perhaps slightly less familiar (but still quite catchy) is the so-called Champagne Aria from Don Giovanni. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:44, 28 September 2007 (UTC).

Vesti la giubba, as featured in It's a Hard Life by Queen among others. 79.65.119.193 18:46, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

ABC Classic FM radio in Australia ran a competion last year to find voters' top 100 favourite operatic “moments”. Number 1 surprised me, I must say – it was “In the depths of the temple”, a duet for tenor and baritone from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”. "Va, pensiero" (the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) came second. "Nessun dorma" was only 12th. The full results are here. -- JackofOz 23:47, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Not really an opera, but "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" has to be up there. Aaadddaaammm 05:03, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

1960s spinning toy by Parker?

Anyone remember this? It was a flat thing that you spun around and a coin would be held in place by centrifugal force. I can't find anything about it on Google. The commercials had a chimp in them. 172.159.25.218 00:54, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps Euler's disk? Google will find you sites that sell them. 88.112.51.254 05:47, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

gmail

With gmail, can you check if the receiver of your sent email read it? Kaiilaiqualyn 01:24, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

No. Lauren^whisper 01:42, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

SUPPLEMENTARY question: Can you do that with any mail programme does anyone know please?--88.109.183.227 08:42, 28 September 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.109.183.227 (talk) 08:41, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes (in a way) - with Outlook Express you can make the email send asking for a receipt. If the receiver of the email is using Outlook Express, he/she is asked with a dialogue box if they would like to send a receipt to say they have read the email to the sender. If they allow it, a receipt in the form of an email is sent back to the sender. I have not used Outlook Express in a long while and only tested this feature once, so the details might differ a little bit to how I remember them. 203.208.110.207 09:25, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, with Outlook the sender can request a read receipt, but the reader can instruct Outlook not to send a read receipt (either globally or for a specific message). So if you receive a read receipt you know your message has been read (well, to be precise, it has been opened), but if you don't receive a read receipt you don't know anything. (Sorry, no idea about Gmail). Gandalf61 13:45, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

It's not just Outlook. Most email programs are able to send a request for a receipt. However, it is up to the recipient of the email to set up his email program to either send a receipt when the mail arrives at their computer - or when it is read - or not at all. Because of the rise of spam, and the strong desire not to let the spammers know whether people actually read that junk or not - or even made it through the spam filters for that matter, most systems come configured (by default) with the receipt mechanism set to NONE. That being the case, it's 99% pointless to ask for a receipt since nobody is likely to give you one - so the receipt requesting feature is almost never used. SteveBaker 14:23, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

If you're sending HTML email, you could embed a web bug in the message, such that when the message is rendered, you would see a request for that web bug appear in your webserver logs. In practice, however, web bugs are often in the same boat as return-receipts. Due to spam, many email programs will block the loading of external content. --Mdwyer 00:45, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

If it`s AOL mail, can`t you just click on 'Status'?...You might have to be an AOL member for this...not sure. Also, there was another program 'offered' not long ago that could let you verify whether or not your e-mail was opened/read. If I remember well, it was called, "Didyouopenyet", or something close to that. It gave you 10 free 'checks'. Not sure if that still exists. Thinking about it again for a minute, it might have been 'Didyoureadityet'. Something close to that. Anyone else remember something like this?

I hope that helped, although I didn`t answer your g-mail question. Just trying to help. Dave 64.230.233.222 02:42, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

None of those mechanisms can possibly work without the cooperation of the mail recipient's email program. That's the only part of the system that knows whether the message was read or not. It doesn't matter how the mail was sent or which company transmitted it. If the email reader software doesn't send a reply when the mail is read - then the sender can't possibly know. I would be very surprised if any of those software packages come set up with "Yes, send a return reciept when the mail is read" enabled by default...that would be madness in a world full of Spammers. Web-bugs might or might not work - but they are a very flakey mechanism. Firstly, HTML mail or automatic image loading may have very well have been disabled by the recipient - in which case you won't know when the email was read. Secondly, they'll fail if (as in many cases) the recipient's email system caches images or automatically filters junk mail for him. In that case, the 'thing' that reads the web bug is some server en-route to the user and the fact that the web bug was read proves nothing about whether the mail was delivered or read. Thirdly, some people read their email 'offline' - and again, all of the images have to be cached onto the local machine in order for that to happen - so again, the sender gets a false impression that the email was read when it was not. So web-bugs are unreliable - at best. To repeat my original answer to this question: NO! There is absolutely no way to know whether your email was read by the recipient unless they have return receipts enabled - which is exceedingly unlikely. SteveBaker 13:59, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

That`s twice now that I post something and it comes-out in a 'box' like that. What did I do to cause that? Did I 'click' on something wrong? Sorry for posting that right HERE, just now. I just want to know. Thanks. Dave 64.230.233.222 02:46, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

That happens if you start your line with a space. :) I've fixed it now with the proper indentation. --Masamage ♫ 02:57, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. Dave 64.230.233.222 04:07, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

refrigerator costs

how can I find out what the electricity cost per day of my refrigerator is? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.195.89 (talk) 03:09, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Turn off all circuits in the house at the breaker panel or fuse box except the refrigerator. Check to make sure the hot water heater is not on same circuit as fridge. If it is see if there is a switch to turn it off. Take a reading off the electric meter. Go on vacation for a few days or weeks. When you get back take the electric reading again. Get the kilowatt-hour rate off your electric bill. Divide the electricty consumed by the number of hours between readings and multiply by 24 hours and price per kilowatthour. The longer the reading period the more accurate your estimate will be. Do not do this during winter or expect frozen and burst water pipes. If you have natural gas DO NOT turn off the circuits to the gas appliances without having the gas turned off first. Alternatively you may be able to buy or rent an inexpensive inline meter and plug your fridge into it for measurements.[1] Lazyquasar 04:36, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Check with your local power company. They may rent or lend you a meter as part of an energy conservation project. You might also check with the EPA. Not only may they have the original yellow efficiency tag for your fridge on file, but they also have a lot of educational programs. this link might be what you need. --Mdwyer 05:38, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Or more generally browse using an appropriate google search. There look to be useful links in that list. --Tagishsimon (talk) 06:21, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Surely if you went off on holiday this would only give you a resting figure, not general use. Lanfear's Bane 08:47, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Right, I have on occasion wondered how much effect the opening of the fridge has and what makes the biggest difference - opening and closing it (which creates an air current and an exchange of the hot and cold air) or leaving it open unnecessarily for, say, half a minute, as I sometimes see people do. When I have to take out several things to the sink a few metres away, should I open and close it each time or leave it open? And does it matter if I open and close it fast or slow? Or is that irrelevant to the temperature-setting, another important factor? Or how old the fridge is (a factor often mentioned). If people don't know these kinds of things, then how can they save energy, even if they want to? There should really be an authoritative site that shows what the major sources of energy use and waste in households are. Of course, all these variables make that not as simple as the questioneer apparently thought it was. But there should at least be some indication. DirkvdM 09:08, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

I doubt that it matters much - the cold air in the refrigerator is a lot denser than the warm air in your kitchen - as soon as you open the door, that cold air will flow out of the bottom and be replaced by warm air coming in from above - that'll happen in a matter of seconds. Now your fridge is full of warm air and it's going to take a while to cool it back down again. Whether you repeatedly open and shut it over a short period isn't going to make much difference (although there will be some - I think it's going to be negligable). I'd bet the biggest difference is that all the time the door is open, the light is on. But I very much doubt that air currents caused by turbulance in actually opening the door are as significant as the dense, cold air flowing out of the bottom. I think you should do an experiment. Listen to the motor in your fridge turning on and off (because of the thermostat). When it turns off (so you know the fridge is as cold as it ever is), open the door for 30 seconds and when the motor kicks on again, measure how long it stays on for. That's the amount of time it takes the fridge to get back to the right temperature and will be a reasonably good estimate for the amount of electricity used. Now repeat the experiment only instead of leaving the door open for 30 seconds, open and shut it a few times over a total period of 30 seconds. Compare the two times and you'll know the answer. You should probably repeat the test a few times for statistical reasons - and you might want to do it when your kitchen is hot (eg after you've been doing a lot of cooking) and when it's at its coldest (early in the morning perhaps). Let us know how that goes! SteveBaker 13:31, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

The cold air flowing out instantly makes sense. However, at the bottom of my fridge are two 'drawers' - containers with the opening at the top. Cold air won't fly out of those that easily. Now I also understand why deep freezers open at the top. But then, why aren't all fridges constructed like that? Ok, that's not very practical for everyday use. But then what about drawers such as I have at the bottom of my fridge, but at all 'levels'. That would also make the goods more easily accessible. Concerning your last remark, I don't know what kind of kitchen you have, but mine doesn't heat up from cooking. If the whole room would heat up noticeably, then that would mean the stove is very inefficient. Or you use it inefficiently, such as leaving the flame high when the water is already boiling, or not having lids on the pans. Steve, really, I expected more energy-friendly behaviour from you! DirkvdM 18:31, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree that having drawers in your fridge helps - and chest freezers are certainly more efficient than the upright sort - and indeed they aren't found in kitchens because they are a poor use of 'vertical' space and you can't put counter-tops over them. My kitchen doesn't get outrageously hot - but even you have a lot of things in there that are leaking heat - your kitchen absolutely MUST be getting hotter when you cook - the laws of thermodynamics guarantee it! Perhaps your A/C works harder, perhaps the room is large enough that the heat averages out over a larger volume, perhaps you simply don't notice the temperature rise - but you can't deny that heat is being produced. Worse still, as your refrigerator chills things down when you open the door - so the coils at the back of the thing get hotter. SteveBaker 02:09, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Airco? What airco? Steve, you disappoint me once again.

The fridge is indeed a good heat generator, but cooling the 1 m³ or so inside down 20 C will heat the 60 m³ of the kitchen up only 0.5 C (counting in inefficiency of the fridge), and a lot of that will be lost to the walls and the rest of the house when the door is open. I'm not counting the solids inside the fridge (the food), but that cold will not be lost when the fridge is opened (unless it is left open after the cold air has moved out).

As for the cooking, that's a little more complicated, but keeping water at a boil requires just a tiny flame if there is a lid on the pot. Most of the heat is used to get it to a boil and it's tempting to put the flame too high. But nowadays I boil my potatoes in the microwave (much tastier result, but requires some experimenting) and that is a whole lot more efficient (I heard this tip from an energy saving consultant). I buy all my veggies (except for the carrots) in a form that only requires reheating, and that also only requires a very small flame for about 10 minutes. I suppose I lose most heat through the frying pan because I am constantly stirring in it, so I don't have a lid on it - that flame is a fair bit higher, and on for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you have an electric stove you are probably not aware of these things. And more importantly (I know this because my mother has one) it is very tempting to not turn it down soon enough, so when you stop cooking, the plate will still be hot and that heat will be lost. DirkvdM 19:08, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm a book source

I'm UFO Headquarters, written by Susan Wright, ISBN is 0-312-97181-8. This even claims that Gene Roddenberry got his Star Trek ideas from attending UFO conferences. Where can this be placed ? 65.163.112.187 07:29, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

You're a book?? I've heard of "talking books" but this takes the cake :)

Seriously, though. if you want to add some material about Gene Roddenberry or Star Trek, try the links, follow the instructions about editing articles, and go for your life. Welcome to Wikipedia. -- JackofOz 07:42, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

So do people call you UFO Headquarters or 0-312-97181-8? Is one more formal than the other? Lanfear's Bane 09:08, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

I think that the OP is asking whether the claim that "Gene Roddenberry got his Star Trek ideas from attending UFO conferences." in "'UFO Headquarters', written by Susan Wright, ISBN is 0-312-97181-8." can be referenced. Can we find a ref for them? SaundersW 09:30, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Only one, so far is in that book, page 236. 65.163.112.187 00:45, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Income to Installment Ratio

Who can please explain me what is Income to Installment Ratio and how can it be calculated —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gireesh.puthumana (talk • contribs) 08:38, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Urination

In the colder weather I need to pee more than in moderate or warm weather but I sweat less. In warm weather I sweat more but I need to pee less that in moderate or cold weather. In moderate weather everything sort of averages out - I pee and sweat a little. It feels that in the cold weather I lose a greater volume of liquid than in the warm weather. Does the body lose more liquid in cold weather than warm? Could I die of dehydration more quickly in a cold, dry environment (i.e. no snow about to get liquid from) than a warm, dry environment? Difficulty: No urine puns. Lanfear's Bane 13:03, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Your body loses the same amount of water that you drink, in round figures. However there is a phenomenon that causes you to pee more if you are cold, which you may also have noticed when you swim in cold water. If the skin gets cold the capillaries close to the skin contract so that there is less circulation of blood close to the body surface, to try to reduce heat loss through the skin. This means that there is a slightly smaller volume of blood needed and the excess fluid is removed from the blood through the kidneys, and passed as urine. Thus, you probably won't dehydrate faster in dry cold than in dry heat. SaundersW 17:10, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Strange, as you probably drink more in warm weather Think outside the box 14:34, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

The SAT in the 1970s

Can anyone point me in the direction of the histiry of the SAT throughout the 1970s? Thanks. 24.39.182.101 13:50, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

There's some good history at [2]. -GTBacchus^(talk) 19:14, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

United Nations general assembly

How long the United Nations general assembly has been gathering for? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.164.149 (talk) 14:56, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Our article on the United Nations General Assembly has the date of its first session (10 January 1946) as well as a whole lot of other interesting information. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:10, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

That's approximately 22550 days ago! Lanfear's Bane 15:44, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

How much of a human body is edible?

Just something I've been wondering.

-- _{Escape Artist Swyer} ^{Talk to me} _{Articles touched by my noodly appendage} 15:49, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

All of it. How much nutrition you get out of a toenail vs. a thigh muscle will be different though. Also, I'm assuming that you're not counting the urine and fecal matter given that they aren't really parts of the body per se. Stomach acids can be diluted but are still edible. Dismas|^(talk) 15:52, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

If you look at the same tissues in another mammal (a cow, say) then anything that's edible in it will very likely be edible in us. (How you choose to define 'edible' is up to you; some people are pickier eaters than others. Dismas also correctly notes that there are tissues that you can cansume that probably won't cause you harm but which don't have much or any nutritional value.) Consider as well that certain diseases are more likely to be transmitted when consuming human tissue; there's no species barrier. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:55, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

In particular re that last point, note kuru.

Atlant 16:01, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

There was a guy on the radio a while back talking about how he'd eaten an entire pig - all of it. He's written a cookery book with recipies for all of the various parts[3]. I would imagine the same thing would work with a human. But as Ten and Atlant point out, if a human is doing the eating - there are some rather nasty health implications. Cannibalism is taboo in most societies and in many animal species too. That's no accident - there must be some really good evolutionary drives behind that - because otherwise this source of protein would be more widely exploited.

SteveBaker 16:58, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

See also kuru.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:53, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Look two responses above yours.  ;-) Dismas|^(talk) 18:09, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

I suspect the teeth might be somewhat indegistible. DuncanHill 18:11, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Depends on what you mean by 'digestible'. I assume preparation is allowed, so grinding them up will make them edible. DirkvdM 18:42, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Steve, are you sure that cannibalism is 'taboo' with many animals? of course it is with herbivores, but carnivores eat their own kind quite often, I believe. Not quite as a rule, but I don't believe it's all that uncommon either. With humans, I suppose much of the taboo lies in the notion that the body is needed in the afterlife. I, for one, didn't understand the hesitation of the people in the crashed plane in Alive to eat the dead. Ok, the guy's sister is another thing, but I wouldn't hesitate to eat a dead stranger if I would starve otherwise. I think. Of course one never knows until it actually happens. I mean, I once witnessed the slaughtering of a goat I was going to eat and that affected me more than I thought it would. DirkvdM 18:42, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Carnivores will resort to cannibalism only if there's no other food source available. As noted above, there's a very strong evolutionary pressure against it: the lack of a species barrier means that any communicable disease that your meal has, you will get. --Carnildo 21:35, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, the human digestive system can manage to destroy some diseases. StuRat 01:11, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

That's not really true. Lots of carnivorous bugs eat each other just for kicks or as part of the mating process. And some apes eat members of enemy tribes. --Masamage ♫ 02:59, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

I did say "many animal species" - I specifically didn't say "all" or even "most" - there are certainly exceptions. Also, it's only a taboo - it's likely that all carnivores will eat members of their own species if they are starving to death and there is nothing else available. After all, evolution has designed these animals to avoid cannibalism because of the disease risks - but if the alternative is dying of starvation then clearly that takes precedence over a disease risk. Evolution is clearly going to favor those who avoid disease by avoiding routine cannibalism but who can also overcome that taboo in times of extreme pressure. By 'evolution', in this case we must include 'cultural evolution' (via memes or whatever) as well as genetic evolution - there isn't necessarily an 'anti-cannibalism' gene in humans. SteveBaker 13:44, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

I would think that teeth and bones would be slightly indigestible unless ground up. In that case, they may provide a source of calcium. Also, tendons may be a bit chewy unless cooked right! Hair and toenails fingernails are not digestible and maybe cartilage isnt either.

With regard to cartilage, "Watch it quiver, see it shiver..." -- c'mon, sing along with me! Atlant 19:22, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

If only I knew the tune. Or the brand, for that matter. DirkvdM 08:53, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Ubiquitous in the US, though nobody eats it. Hmm --froth^t 18:24, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Somewhat sickening, no? bibliomaniac15 03:33, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

• Tendons are a delicious part of Vietnamese cuisine. They're great in soup. --Sean 22:12, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Cannibalism is an instinctive part of some mouse species; they eat their own young if the nest is under attack so that all the energy they have expended in raising the young will not be waisted (ie, eaten by the predator). Also, according to this site, rats and mice may become cannibals when their colony population rises rapidly, and their naturally high reproductive rate results in a high mortality of young. Think outside the box 14:41, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Presumably, the health risks are much smaller when the mother eats her own newborns because any diseases they have are likely to have come from the mother anyway. SteveBaker 15:17, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Dweller's thread of the week. It's an 'out of the box' idea.

Congratulations to all contributing here. This anthropoculinarianism debate wins the sixth User:Dweller/Dweller's Ref Desk thread of the week award. Good job. --Dweller 22:07, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Music from flash animations?

Good evening wikipedians! Can someone tell me what music plays at the begining of this flash animation: http://pown.alluc.org/?uid=239 thanks alot, 88.110.203.63 19:10, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

The very start is No Surprises by Radiohead. DuncanHill 19:29, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Duncan Hill :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertsZ (talk • contribs) 19:38, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

California Driver's License

I'm a resident of California and have a California Driver's License. It expired on May 10, 2007. When I attempted to use it for identification purposes at an airport in early July, it was flagged as being invalid. How come when my license expires, it ceases to be valid as a means of identification? It's still a picture of me with my name on it issued by the state. I thought that I simply couldn't drive with it. I don't think it has to do with the picture on the card needing to be current, as Californians can renew on-line now using the same picture. - Zepheus <ゼィフィアス> 20:33, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

• Probably for the same reason they want to see a printed-out email for a boarding pass, rather than just a handwritten note with the same information: to give the public the illusion of security. --Sean 22:14, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

• If it's good for ID when it's expired, and you can get a new one without turning the old one in, you can have two (or more) people with one identity. Not the most secure state of affairs.... - Nunh-huh 00:03, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

You're supposed to get rid of expired identification in general, I believe. If it is not officially up to date then the state has not officially vouched for its accuracy. Its value as official identification comes from the state vouching for its accuracy (hence you cannot use non-state issued IDs either). --24.147.86.187 15:50, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

keep your expired DL!.. I was mugged this year and they stole my wallet with my CA ID and bank cards. I had no cash and no ATM or credit card. But with an expired CA ID had in my apartment I was able to get cash out from the bank and get into my safe deposit box. But don't expect a bar (ever heard of someone using thier sister's ID at a bar) or the TSA to let you in with an expired license. It would not suprise me if before long some people will need passports to fly between states because states will not adopt licenses that meet the REAL ID Act. ~~