Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 April 15

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April 15

1950 $100 Bill

Hi. I recently came across a U.S. 1950 Series B $100 bill and I was wondering if it's worth anything more than face value. It is circulated but it is still in really good condition. Any insights would be awesome. Ginogrz (talk) 01:01, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I found this reference, which says that it may be worth a bit more than $100, but only if you can find a collector willing to pay for it. Since it is not in mint condition, you may not find any collectors willing to pay a premium. Marco polo (talk) 01:13, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Ah well. Thanks for the info though. Ginogrz (talk) 01:33, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Project

I have to choose a project to do at school, and i am not sure how to go about it. we pretty much can do whatever we want, but it has to be good. i am not sure what to do. help would be nice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mybestfriendrox (talk • contribs) 01:50, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

That sounds like a rather broad decision to make. One thought would be to relate a project to the decision making process itself. Check out the Neuropsychology-related articles on: Decision making, Emotions in Decision Making, Groupthink and Situation awareness. --Gwguffey (talk) 02:33, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Knights

How many knights (w/ the king) does it take to checkmate a king and queen? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.99.22 (talk) 02:21, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White wins

Two knight, but only if the other player is dumb. (Or do you mean checkmate the king and simultaneously check the queen?) --S.dedalus (talk) 02:43, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Three knights can force mate against a bare king - it's perhaps the first and most useless mate given in Reuben Fine's endgame book. Surely you'd need at least 4 have to some starting positions where you can mate a king and queen; my guess is 5 to (almost) always do it.John Z (talk) 11:32, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, Dedalus, I meant how many to force checkmate against a king and queen from most starting positions. Thanks John for your guess. Does anyone know for sure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.185.142.16 (talk) 16:29, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

If the other player has a queen, your king would have to be completely shielded by knights to prevent a repeating check by the opponent. Unless you have that already in the starting position, you would need a huge number of knights to make that possible by moving knights into position as you are checked. I'd guess you'd need more than 10, the most you could possibly have. Then, to go on the attack, you'd need to first take the queen. Getting a queen/king split with a knight might be the only way, and the opponent can prevent that by just keeping them far apart. StuRat (talk) 18:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

It's impossible to FORCE checkmate with a king and two knights even against a lone king, the other player must make an error. Exxolon (talk) 19:09, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

“To err is human, to forgive divine;” Alexander Pope, so just don’t play chess against a god. :) --S.dedalus (talk) 01:17, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White wins

The queen containment devise! There is no possible move which will save the queen. (My own design, at least as far as I know.) --S.dedalus (talk) 01:25, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Wow, I never realised you could play chess on Wikipedia. Beat that, Encyclopædia Britannica! Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 03:00, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it just me or does that resembles the swastika? --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:03, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Umm, yes, it's just you. It's more like a Brigid's cross. --S.dedalus (talk) 07:16, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Actually there was even a chess championship on wikipedia once, but it died some of the players stopped playing, and the person in charge didn't do anything about forcing it to go on. I believe it was either deleted or achived. I wouldn't recommend you try to start anything like that again, it's liable to be deleted Nil Einne (talk) 16:06, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

It could be done in user space though. . . --S.dedalus (talk) 20:01, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Can banned things be stolen?

If there is something that can't legally be owned (ie it's banned) is it still possible for some one to steal it? By this I mean, if someone breaks into someone's house, steals all the drugs and banned weapons, etc, can that person be charged with theft? (In addition to possessing banned things)

Duomillia (talk) 04:11, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

If the person holding the illegal goods were to inexplicably report the theft to the authorities I should think that everyone involved in the mess would be charged. The idea of law is to discourage anti-social behaviour, and since two wrongs don't make a right the thieves would likely be in trouble too. Vranak (talk) 04:50, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but the question of whether they would be charged with theft specifically is likely up to the federal/state/county/city prosecutor's office. The thief could be prosecuted for possession of illicit materials but whether the office wants to go through the trouble of prosecuting for theft as well is up to them. Banned materials can be owned which, by some interpretation, the theif is depriving the owner of the possession of those materials if they are stolen. Dismas|^(talk) 04:56, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Plus, regardless of the property exchange, there's still that 'breaking and entering' part. --Mdwyer (talk) 05:08, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

It's an age-old trick to commit a crime against someone who has committed a crime, because the likelihood of being reported is low, as reporting the crime would incriminate the victim. It's one of the many extortive situations one can get into when dealing with contraband products, much beloved by writers of pulp novels. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 14:04, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, exactly. This is one of the well-known effects of prohibition of various goods or services that people want to buy. The providers of these good and services have effectively little or no recourse through the law. Thus, you get organized crime stepping in to fill the void and provide some "law and order" for those who otherwise cannot get it. Friday (talk) 14:22, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

As one of the characters in Lock Stock said, "They can't report they've had their drugs and money nicked." I'd imagine that if the person who was orginally in possession of the contraband did report it to the police, and the police solved the case, both parties would be arrested for possession of whatever illegal thing they had. But it does seem incredibly unlikely that someone who had somehting that was illegal would report its theft to the police. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 14:45, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

When I was in high school, I had some friends who worked as valets. According to a few people I knew that worked at the same place, they actually had a customer call the police to report the theft of drugs from his glove compartment. The police came, couldn't find anything illegal on any of the employees, and charged the man for possession. (or at least that was the story being told...{{cn}}) --Onorem♠Dil 14:51, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Per Dismas, above, it is worth noting that public prosecutors will tend to use public interest as a criterion for mounting a prosecution. There would not appear to be a public interest involved in protecting these specific interests of the losing party. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:04, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

It always seemed bizarre that the prosecutor can just decline to prosecute even when there is strong evidence that a crime occurred. This allowed things like public lynchings to occur with no subsequent prosecution. StuRat (talk) 17:54, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

There are cases where it can save the tax payers some money though. If you have someone who's going to trial, and will likely be convicted, for an offense that will put him into prison for 100+ years, it's kind of pointless to tack on a shoplifting charge or something of that ilk. Why spend time on that charge when he's not going to see daylight again for the rest of his life? Dismas|^(talk) 18:01, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

This is a good argument to reduce the number of illegal items (by making them legal). The more people have illegal items, the more reluctant they are to call police, and this leads to them "handling enforcement themselves", resulting in a high rate of violence. One approach that is sometimes taken is for authorities to say "we will put aside the crime you admit to and help you with the new crime". This is particularly important when dealing with millions of illegal aliens. If they know they will be deported if they ever report a crime, you create a whole class of people who need to join gangs for protection, since they won't get any protection from police. StuRat (talk) 17:59, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah that's my argument for the legalisation of drugs. If gangs don'tcontrol drugs, there will automatically be less violence because of drugs. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 19:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I suspect your wrong. If someone breaks into someone's house and steals the drugs/money/weapons/whatever and the offender is found and there is sufficient evidence for a case then the public prosecutor probably will in decide there's a public interest. Why? It's not that they want to protect the stolen but illegal good, but punish the offender. It's in the public interest to prosecute people who steal, and even more in the public interest to prosecute people who steal banned items. Unless the thiefs are some sort of vigilantes, then they're probably up to no good by stealing these banned goods. Of course, presuming the stolen goods are found on the offender, then they could be charged with possesion of illegal goods. And perhaps there will be other charges arising out of what is found in the possesion of the offender. So perhaps in the end the theft charge will be so minor as to be not worth it. But particularly if it's the only charge (say the offender had already sold the goods), it would seem to be it's likely the prosecutor would choose to prosecute it. Of course it does depend on what we're talking about here. Police are probably not going to look into a small quantity of stolen goods and the public prosector may decide it's pointless to persue an offender who simply stole a small quantity of illegal goods if that's all they've done. In any case, it's rather unlikely the offender will be charged without the 'victim' also being charged Nil Einne (talk) 21:34, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

N.B. There have definitely been cases when people have reported stolen goods, e.g. [1] [2]. Nil Einne (talk) 21:34, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Notorious Sleeping habits

I have always had weird sleeping habits (including sleep walking and talking). Recently, however, I have been experiencing something which I would describe as an intermediate state between consciousness and dreaming, and entirely different from any sleep walking I have experienced before. I will randomly shoot up out of bed, as if I have something to do. I never quite fully understand what this something is, but I always have this feeling of urgency. What is probably even stranger for most people is that I often find myself fixated on certain objects in the room, and I have even been convinced of people being with me in my room (there aren't). I am beginning to wonder if I am possessed, in which case I may have to call Bill Murray to get his professional advice. Also, when this happens it never has any relevance to how I am feeling or what I have done before sleeping, it seems completely random. Anyways, are these sleeping experiences normal? Thanks.Balloon boi (talk) 09:26, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Does anything in the articles on hypnagogia, hypnic jerk or exploding head syndrome apply to your experience? ---Sluzzelin talk 10:19, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Are you getting up and sleepwalking? The article will affirm you're typical and you're not in need of Bill Murray (who looks desperately in need of sleep himself). Julia Rossi (talk) 10:31, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

You are male, I am thinking, boi? I have had those exact wake-up experiences, but accompanied by hot flashes. I attribute them to menopause, but probably not a possibility for you? Catrionak (talk) 15:18, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

The American federal government debt in comparison to heavier borrowing countries

The US public debt stands at 36.5% of GDP. There's much alarm about how we live on financially unsustainable habits. But there are three industrialized countries with ~100%+ of their GDP (List of countries by public debt) sunk in debt. Do these comparative figures show alarmism over American debt? Or are Singapore, Italy, and Japan WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more fucked? How do they cope?

Lotsofissues 10:20, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

A high debt/GDP ratio is not necessarily a bad thing as long as a government can afford to pay the future interest on its debt without increasing taxes and so shrinking its economy. A high debt/GDP ratio can be sustained if (i) the economy is growing and (ii) domestic interest rates, driven in turn by inflation, stay low. Other factors in play are (i) how the government spends that money that it raises - is it being invested in infrastructure that will enable future growth; (ii) how much of the debt is held by domestic investors as opposed to external investors. See our article on United States public debt for more background.

Singapore has high growth (7.5%) and low inflation (1%) - its economy is not in any danger. Japan has moderate growth (2.8%) but very low inflation (0.3%) - its economy is looking a little rocky, but it is not in crisis. |Italy has low growth (1.9%) and moderate inflation (2.3%) - its economy is vulnerable if interest rates increase. Gandalf61 (talk) 13:21, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't quite agree with looking at current growth and inflation rates, as national debt is a long term problem and those stats change quite a bit from year to year. Also, even if the economies of those nations don't collapse, they certainly could do far better without that debt burden. StuRat (talk) 17:46, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Though I agree with what you say, Japan seems to be charmed in this area, with consistent low interest rates and deflation -- Q Chris (talk) 13:00, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

The problem is that the world economy is dependent on the US economy, so if a depression starts in the US, it would quickly spread worldwide, as in the Great Depression, but to a greater extent, as economies were less codependent back then. StuRat (talk) 17:46, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes but, as we learned from the Great Depression, the debt was created in the first place by over-confidence in the future value of stocks and shares based on past performance. So, the apparent value of the market didn't go away - it never really existed in the first place, and when the confidence bubble burst, so did the markets. And the way the US eventually recovered, as well as those economies such as the UK, was to spend its/their way out of trouble, using bonds, gilts, and futures, and work-creation programmes such as the Hoover Dam. Of course, what really got the Western economies going again was World War II, and let's not forget that if the current Sub-prime cum Credit Crunch plus world food shortages and ever-increasing fuel prices force the US economy(and those of other countries too) into recession/depression, another major war would be the US preferred way out of it. Any offers of which country would/will be the target? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.27.19 (talk) 18:11, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Parable of the broken window. 79.66.125.86 (talk) 18:24, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

That would be Iran, for their support of terrorism against Israel, supplying militants with weapons to use against US troops in Iraq, and developing their own nuclear fuel cycle. StuRat (talk) 18:33, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

mechanical/chainblock

dear all, My question is: how a chain blocks or a chain fall or a chain hoist works I mean the mechanism of it or the idea how it works and lefts huge weights comparing to its small volume and base on which physics formula it applies? thanks,

esma7ly

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Esma7ly (talk • contribs) 10:54, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Check out Block and tackle and then come back with follow-up questions. --Tagishsimon (talk) 11:24, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Chain falls tend to use internal gear sets to provide the mechanical advantage.

Atlant (talk) 12:26, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

thanks Tagishsimon and Atlant for guiding me i really appriciate it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Esma7ly (talk • contribs) 05:25, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

2 in 1

1 if you go on the doll, as a single male in the uk, how much do you get per week, and do they pay our rent for you too, or does this need to be taken out of the money they give you

2 before cars, when people rode horses, was there a speed limit, eg you can only trot in town.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

On (1), in case anyone else was wondering, the questioner is asking about the dole, i.e. what used to be called unemployment benefit and is now Newspeak-termed Jobseeker's Allowance. You should speak to your local Jobcentre Plus office about how much you might receive. Your local Citizens Advice Bureau might also be worth a visit. Rent is covered by housing benefit, this is a different thing and is administered by your local council, so speak to them (and to the CAB again, as well).

On (2), I have no idea. Good question though. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:58, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm glad you explained number 1. Here I was thinking he was asking about the salary of a porn worker who does scenes with blow-up dolls. StuRat (talk) 17:39, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

In answer to your 2nd question: in London in the eighteenth-century horses were not supposed to gallop when in the city. However, moving faster than a trot was often difficult due to traffic. Yours, Lord Foppington (talk) 16:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Unemployment benefit (Job Seekers Allowance) is £59.15 per week. Housing benefit is paid by the local council, who administer it on behalf of the government. On JSA, a claimant should receive full rent; however, it seems that even this is subject to an upper limit.Samilong (talk) 09:38, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

The amount people receive in benefits does vary hugely though, depending on a lot of factors, and is also affected by tax credits. In order to know how much an actual individual will receive, they really need to talk to the CAB and the Jobcentre. (Even though it's the Jobcentre that sorts benefits out, it's always worth going to the CAB to make sure you're doing everything you should, speaking to all the people you should, and applying to the right things. They tend to help more with the overall picture.) 130.88.140.121 (talk) 11:33, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Jobseeker's Allowance is actually £60.50 since 7 April. This is the rate for single people aged 25 or over. Those under 25 now receive £47.95. From the same date Housing Benefit is being phased out and replaced by Local Housing Allowance [3]. Valiantis (talk) 23:40, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Where is this building? (NY/NJ)

This building, according to its somewhat non-sensical description and categorization on Commons, is likely in the New Jersey/Manhattan area. Does someone know where exactly it is? Could you correct the description & categorization? Thanks, Ibn Battuta (talk) 18:26, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Apparently, it's in Liberty State Park, New Jersey. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:35, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, perfect! The missing "State" threw me off. --Ibn Battuta (talk) 19:19, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Help me remember the name of animated short

About two years ago I saw a series of animated short features on the internet. They were dark and hysterical and fairly well known (at least I got emailed some links by a few different people, separately). I remember that the creator has a Jewish name--(Rosen____ Finkel____, etc.). The one I remember most clearly (it was priceless) is a metaphor for dating or relationships--a man (stick-figurish I think ) is spurned over an over by women, they chop him up, set him on fire etc., its sets to music and I think there is no dialogue. It sounds stupid in my retelling here, but It was very funny and well done. I think at the time I remember having looked him up and that he had won some awards. But I cant remember the name of any of the clips or his. Does any of this ring a bell?--71.249.110.175 (talk) 18:48, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Maybe yer thinking of Don Hertzfeldt? The video being referred possibly Ah, l'Amour Boomshanka (talk) 22:20, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Mummenschanz? Though they kind of used muppet-like things. Adam Bishop (talk) 08:31, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

is it me?

There is, or there was a guy, he is 6 years older than me, and believe me, he has had a lot more experience. He tried to get to know me about a year ago but I was already in som kind of relationship. So I kind of just blew him of. Then 7 months ago I saw him again, and we started talking. He has been writing to me all the time, and I kind of started to develop feeling for him. 2 months ago, right before I was going away for a month, I found out that he had a girlfriend, so I stopped writing to him. Even though he kept telling me that I should have taken him when I had the chance. We didn't talk the month I was away, but started talking as soon as I got back home. He said that he had broken it off with the girl, and it was true, cuz one of my friends knows the girl. So at one party we hooked up, we only kissed, nothing else. He told me that he hoped somthing good would come out of this and that he had been trying to get my attention for over a year. That was all good, BUT he didn't tell me that he had straightened things out with the girlfriend and that they got back together right before we hooked up!! She was even at that party!! I didn't know what to do, and she was/is of course pissed of, but I really didn't know. I never spoke to him again.. hmm.. UNTIL two weeks later I met both of them at another party. Not together. Obviousley. On my way home he made a weird comment which made me angry, cuz I had not really realized that they were not together. So the day after I called and told him everything I thougt of him. I don't want anyone to disrespect me, no matter how much older they are. But we figured it out. I got to know him a bit better the next couple of weeks. He was really sweet and I really believed the guy liked me. The reason I am writing this is that I haven't heard from him for 5 days. He does not answer my messages or anything. He has been talking abou that he doesn't want all these girls, he just wanted a serious relationship now. Was I a fool for falling for it? The last thing he said to me was that he was afraid to fall in love... What?? Who isn't?? hmm... well I dont know what to think of it anymore. Have I done something? Said something? Is he back with her? Has he ever really liked me?? Or what is up with all that, I truely don't get it... I swore that I would not fall for him, cuz he IS older than me, he HAS been with a lot of girls and he IS good looking... But guess what, I did fall... This is the worst part... I can't get him out of my mind right now... This might seem weird... But I honestly dont know what to do... What should I do?? Everybody's saying forget him, but it just isn't that easy... Plz Plz give me some answers.. I'm lost right now.. I just need some comments from people I don't know... Thanks guys... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hoppin' bonkers (talk • contribs) 19:29, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Here's a comment - Dear Abby is not working at the ref desk. --LarryMac | Talk 19:44, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Maybe she is. How would you know? --S.dedalus (talk) 01:08, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

I read the whole thing, and, there isn't anything we know to answer your questions considering we don't know the people in real life. The answers we can provide go to the "appeal to unqualified authority." If there is anything we can give you, you shouldn't believe us or take it for our word. That's pretty redundant. 5 days.. try giving it some more time. It could be you are simply too good for him - so you don't need him. Neal (talk) 19:50, 15 April 2008 (UTC).

The guy is obviously a player. Really, you should just try your efforts with someone else. This man obviously doesn't respect you and I don't know how you don't get that.(If you let someone disrespect you it means you don't respect yourself enough and don't think you deserve someone better.) I don't know what to tell you anymore. I don't know how to help you, but you should make yourself available to someone who is worth your time, your respect, and values you, unlike the man you fell for. I'm sorry if this isn't very helpful and more base on my opinion. Generally, you aren't suppose to ask these kinda questions because this isn't a forum.

Always

Cardinal Raven

71.142.208.226 (talk) 19:50, 15 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

There are relationship forums out there you might find useful. Here's an example; I don't know if it's any good or not, but at least it's a way to hear feedback from people you don't know. (Try Googling "relationship forum".) --Allen (talk) 19:53, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I do not want to sound unkind, Ms H Bonkers, but this is an online encyclopedia.

One of your contributions (WP:Local embassy, 19:32, 15 April 2008) "You nol good langlish, no? You fuckin frog eaten prick, come back when you can write." indicates that an alternative forum may be a better choice in answering your problem.

--Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:48, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Please someone tell me this

While I was searching wikipedia for.. er.. images, I fount a particularly weird and disturbing one. The article Hirsuties papillaris genitalis describes this as a "harmless skin condition", but my god if I were to whip that out in front of a friend they probably scream. "On my god! Jesus Christ can't be harmless!" Stirling spinner (talk) 19:37, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Urgh. That's some scary stuff. Although I'm fairly certain Jesus Christ is perfectly capable of being harmless. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 19:54, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

What's wrong? It seems perfectly normal to me. My best friend has one of those. Its a stylish fashion, don't cha think?Cardinal Raven (talk) 19:56, 15 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Yeah after reading the article I guess it can't be that bad, apparently a lot of men have it. But the "extreme sensitivity" could be unpleasant. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 20:54, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems to be harmless so that is ok. Besides you don't wave your penis to the public so they wouldn't find out. If your sexual partner complains then you could tell your partner to read the article.--Lenticel ^(talk) 22:14, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Is this kind of awareness possible?

Are there people out there with the kind of awareness that if they look at the indention in your coat, they can tell you were at table 3 in Benigans? When you meet fifty miles away? Or look at a curtain, with no apparant movement for weeks, and tell you who was in the room, what time, and for how long? Even if no one touches it? In short, is there a person on this planet who can see every single impression , on every single person and object (as all things do when they interact), no matter how subtle?--Sam Science (talk) 22:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Perceptual awareness varies greatly, but I doubt anyone's quite as good as that. Milton Erickson was renowned for his visual acuity and could detect minute changes in skin tone and eye aperture in his patients, and was able to interpret them as non-verbal responses in the context of his therapy. He was always aware when his wife was pregnant before she was, for example, and he was always right. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:02, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Whatever Erickson had, I'll have some of that, please – but not to go through the physical restrictions he had when he must have developed it. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:05, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Btw, Sherlock Holmes was based on a real person, Dr Joseph Bell. Seems there's the talent and alot of hard work goes into it as well. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:10, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

There has been some study on people who claim to be able to tell when others are lying with a high degree of accuracy. This story from NPR [4] describes microexpressions, which most people won't see, but some use to detect a twitch that implies deceit of some sort. The same observational skills apply to professional poker players, who train to notice the small signs that show bluffing, good hands, etc. Steewi (talk) 02:22, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Some NLP people claim to read poker players' body language, but I'd think poker players would have worked that one out between them, from experience (theirs not mine). Julia Rossi (talk) 06:34, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali describes in her memoir Infidel that her grandmother, a Somali who had spent most of her life in the desert, could smell when a woman was pregnant. Those indigenous cultures that sailed or paddled for days over open sea out of sight of land (e.g. in the South Pacific) had acute sensitivity to changes in the water and air that told them when and in what direction to find an island. I am sure many more examples abound. BrainyBabe (talk) 18:44, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

"Hillmount Drum Kits"

Does anyone know of any cheap large drum kits which are sold online and abroad? (Think of it as the type of drum kits the drummers used on the Genesis tours, although I'm not sure what type of drum kits they actually are) --Writer Cartoonist (talk) 22:54, 15 April 2008 (UTC)