Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 April 22

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April 22

Help with signature please

When I type four tildes I get the following Benyoch ^{Don't panic! Don't panic!} 07:31, 22 April 2012 (UTC) and then Sinebot comes along and adds — Preceding unsigned comment added by Benyoch (talk • contribs) as you will soon see. My question is, what am I doing wrong to cause Sinebot to keep appending its unsigned signature status?

So, signing off now with four tildes ... Benyoch ^{Don't panic! Don't panic!} 07:31, 22 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Benyoch (talk • contribs)

Your signature should link to your user page or talk page. See Wikipedia:Signatures. 128.232.241.211 (talk) 08:55, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

See also User:SineBot#What it looks for for why your signature specifically upsets SineBot. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 09:00, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Just add a link to your existing signature, then SineBot will ignore it. e.g. [[User:Benyoch|Benyoch ^{''Don't panic! Don't panic!''}]] Dbfirs 09:09, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll work on it. Benyoch ^{Don't panic! Don't panic!} 12:28, 22 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Benyoch (talk • contribs) Let's see how this one goes Benyoch^{Don't panic! Don't panic!} (talk) 23:47, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

You're in the neighborhood. Rendering yours similar to mine:

Benyoch ^{Don't panic! Don't panic!} (contribs)

←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:08, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

John Lewis Partnership and Jessops

John Lewis (department store) used to run a number of stores operating under their original names - I particularly remember Trewins of Watford. One of these was Jessops of Nottingham, which, according to our article, was only rebranded as John Lewis in 2002. Was there any connection between this Jessops and Jessops the photographic retailer? I can't find a reference either way, but the fact that Jessops photographic started in Leicester at least puts them in the right locality. Maybe there's a family connection? See what you can tell me. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 10:26, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

I don't think there's a link between the two, but I'm not sure. This page on the history of JL Nottingham mentions that John Lewis publish a history of the branch for £10, maybe they have a display copy/etc that can be looked through without purchasing? davidprior ^t/_c 17:30, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

drivng licence

would like to renew my driving license,its old?advice — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.74.163 (talk) 11:17, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

How old is it? Or more importantly, where do you live? (Your IP suggests Kenya.) Adam Bishop (talk) 11:23, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

You need to contact whoever issues driving licenses in your country. There isn't much advice we can offer... --Tango (talk) 11:48, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

You typically must renew in person at the office which manages those in your country. Some places also allow renewal by mail. You may have to take a test, whether written, oral, or driving. The old license is often used as proof of identification, but not always. If not, you may need to bring a birth certificate or other proof of identity. Finally, you will money, as renewal is an opportunity for them to tax you. This page has the rates: [1]. I suggest contacting them to find out what is needed, so you have everything when you appear. StuRat (talk) 14:21, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I see the problem. Apparently you need to pay a bribe to get a renewal: [2]. (They claim their printing office is just slow, but this seems to be a cover story.) This best you can hope for, without a bribe, is a stamp good for 3 months. StuRat (talk) 14:30, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Does Kenya recognise the driver licences of [m]any other countries? If so, is it practical for you to cross the border and get a licence in another country, perhaps across a land border? --Dweller (talk) 19:48, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Normally only tourists and other visitors are allowed to drive with a foreign license. XPPaul (talk) 21:13, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Arab and Axis relationship during 1933-1945

I've read that some of the Arab leaders (like Haj Amin al-Husseini) had close relationships with the Nazi party during WW2 and about some massacres of Jews by Arabs (Farhud, 1929_Safed_pogrom,1929_Hebron_massacre and 1945 Tripoli pogrom) but was there any mechanized plan like the final solution ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.226.14.184 (talk) 13:37, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Most of the Arab Middle East and North Africa was under European control throughout during the war, so the wishes of Arab leaders didn't count for much. This page has info about Jews in French north Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco): there were anti-Jewish laws and discrimination following the defeat of France, as in European France, but no mention of mass deportations or killings, and North Africa was captured by the Allies in 1942-3, before the worst of the Final Solution. I'm not quite sure about Italian-control Libya, but since mainland Italy didn't have much of an organised anti-Jewish program, I don't imagine there was significant killing, and again it was liberated before the Germans took over Italy. The Arab regions of SW Asia (Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan) remained under Allied control, although Britain did deport a lot of Jews (see Middle East Theatre of World War II). --Colapeninsula (talk) 22:39, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.226.14.184 (talk) 08:07, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Barrett M99 in civilian hands?

Is it true that civilians can buy a Barrett M99 legally in the US? If yes, what for? That's definitely not a defense weapons... XPPaul (talk) 21:00, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

We can't give legal advice, but weapon ownership in the US is not limited to "defense" weapons. Whether that partitular gun is legal will depend on state law in addition to federal law. The article on Federal Firearms License has some details, and links to other articles on federal gun laws. RudolfRed (talk) 21:29, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

At the risk of mission-creeping your question into unrelated territory, it may surprise to you know that single-shot rifles in massive calibres (like .50 BMG and .338 Lapua Magnum) are legal for civilians (with the appropriate firearms license) in the restrictive and rather firearm-averse UK. Here is the website, for example, of the Fifty Cal Shooters Association UK, which has some info about how UK folks can get 50 cal firearms and the ammunition for them. There really aren't many civilian applications for 50 cal sniper rifles (there really aren't that many military applications for them either - mostly special stuff like anti-materiel and ordinance disposal). They're not of the calibres used for common shooting competitions, the guns and ammunition are both exceedingly expensive, and the bullet's energy is so great that it's excessive for anything anyone is likely to hunt. All shooters have to be conscious of the background, and the great range of such high-velocity bullets means it's difficult to find somewhere one can safely fire a 50 cal without risking a stray striking someone miles away - that's why the FCSA-UK shoot at the British Army range at Warcop (where all they'll hit is a tank). There doesn't seem to be any civilian use beyond such super-long-range target shooting. You might think this massive firepower would make the guns attractive to criminals and terrorists, but they're fairly impractical for many of their applications too: the gun is huge and heavy, with massive recoil; the flash and report are so great that they give away the shooter's location; and criminals and terrorists can rarely invest the time and effort to train someone to fire such a specialised firearm effectively. The Provisional IRA's South Armagh Brigade employed a few Barrett 50 cal rifles (see South Armagh Sniper (1990–1997)) but with 6 kills in 7 years of operation, their snipers were more effective in restricting their enemies' freedom of movement than in inflicting large-scale casualties. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:50, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Tennis Movies

I honestly cannot think of any tennis movies? Are there any, google has not been a great help... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.96.170.44 (talk) 22:42, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

There's a fair amount of tennis in Wimbledon (film); despite its name Match Point doesn't have much. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:50, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

We have a Category:Tennis films. (er, anyone know how to link to the category directly instead of adding this page to it?) AlexTiefling (talk) 22:53, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Put a colon in front Category:Tennis films -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:56, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Ah, I found this, which lists a lot of films which have at least a tennis scene in them. From a brief perusal, it looks like there are very few of them in which tennis is at the centre of the action. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:55, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Tennis plays a sizable (but not central) part in School for Scoundrels. There's also a fair amount of the sport in Pat and Mike. And Sigmund Freud plays a match in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:33, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Players — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.2.166.39 (talk) 10:17, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

By which I guess you mean this Ali McGraw movie -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 10:25, 23 April 2012 (UTC)