Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 February 14

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February 14

Identifying wine labels?

Is there any website that has exhaustive lists of cover art for wine labels, or a forum where such things are discussed? Ideally, a graphic index like Symbols.com but for label colors/shapes. I'm trying to identify a bottle of wine from a photograph, and it is not possible to read any text; can make out only a flower and a swatch of color on a black label. If it helps, I think it's a California wine or possibly Canadian. Squidfryerchef (talk) 01:19, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Upload a pic to photobucket and ask about it. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 14:53, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

The History Channels Top Shot

How do you sign up to be a contestant on the History Channel's Top Shot? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.74.92.157 (talk) 04:23, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately it appears that the casting application deadline for season three ended at the beginning of February 2011. Nanonic (talk) 05:04, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Tire tread wear indicators

I always did want to know what those needle-like things sticking out of mountain bike wheels were, I'm guessing they're indicators of wear? The article on Tread doesn't seem to say specifically what these are for. -- œ^™ 06:07, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I never thought of them as wear indicators since they wear off so quickly. If you used them as an indication of wear, you'd be replacing tires every few weeks. Dismas|^(talk) 06:09, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Just look like sprues to me. Nanonic (talk) 07:09, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I think the metal ones in the picture are functional for grip (like cleats) rather than wear indicators. Roberto75780 (talk) 08:28, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

the metal ones I'm not sure about, but the rubber "spikes" are the remains of the injection molding process I am 95% certain. 65.29.47.55 (talk) 08:31, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)The metal studs that you see are... well... studs. They are for grip or traction. See snow tires. I was under the impression that he was referring to the rubber "needle-like" things. Dismas|^(talk) 08:33, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, the rubber needle-like things are, as Nanonic said, sprues, which is what 65 said too. Sort of thing you used to see explained on Blue Peter when they visited a tyre factory. DuncanHill (talk) 09:49, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

You'll find tread wear indicators within the grooves of the tread, generally in the form of a bar of rubber joining the two walls of the groove. When the tread has worn down such that the indicator is flush with the top of the groove, your tyre is shot. (Actually, it's probably shot before this ... in the UK you're allowed just 1.6mm of tread. In Germany, 3mm is the minimum.) --Tagishsimon (talk) 09:57, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I somehow doubt they would be sprues in the sense of "place where material was injected", as there are a rather large number of them. My understanding is that they are wear indicators, but not in the sense of informing the user of the tire when to replace it, but informing the retailer if the tires have been used. Someone coming back with most of them rubbed off, saying "you sold me a defective tire" would be asked if it was defective before they managed to ride ten miles on it. -- 174.21.250.120 (talk) 15:56, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

They are spews. See Step 4 and this. Oda Mari (talk) 16:20, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Hmm.. I don't think so.. that link reads: "After molding, tires are cooled down. Small knobs, called spew, appear on the exterior of the tire. They are created by purpose – allowing steam and air to escape. Before final inspection, most of the spew gets removed.". That doesn't sound like a fit because they are not exactly "knobs" and they are clearly not removed. In any case, I'm surprised Wikipedia doesn't have a mention in any article on this. -- œ^™ 17:16, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

And again, the article on "sprues" reads "the sprue will solidify and need to be removed from the finished part". These needle-like things are never removed, they're on every mountain bike tire i've ever seen. -- œ^™ 17:18, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

See these too. [1], [2], and [3]. Oda Mari (talk) 18:41, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I've always assumed that those "hair-like" projections had something to do with the tire molding process, and those links confirm it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:43, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Well then, that confirms it, they are sprues. Thanks for finding those links. -- œ^™ 22:01, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

On a some-what related note, I see these on everthing from wheelbarrows to go karts to a Ford 7500 Backhoe.Sumsum2010·T·C·Review me! 00:57, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Wet sponges

I bought a pack of dishwashing sponges, and when I opened the package, I found that they were all damp. What's up with that? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 06:54, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

That's to keep them from being dry and brittle before you start using them. Corvus cornix_talk 07:06, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

-- Jack of Oz [your turn] 08:26, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

That's weird. Normally the sponges I buy are dry but perfectly flexible. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 08:27, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

My experience squares with 24.189's, but maybe they are packaged differently in different countries. But if I opened a pack of sponges, and they were wet, I would take them right back to the store and get a refund or exchange, as I would be very suspicious of their sanitary condition. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:58, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Never was a truer word spoken. Never. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 09:08, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I've refrained from using them until I got a proper opinion on the matter, and good thing I did. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 09:18, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

There's nothing wrong with your sponges. Manufacturer Glocos claims "Our PVA sponges, flannels and towels are offered moist in air tight packaging ensuring a soft, smooth, refreshing feel and hygienic finish."[4] Sponges are moistened before packaging so they look better in the packet and to ensure they don't dry out and crack, as Corvus cornix said, rather than giving you a dry brittle unattractive product. [5]--Colapeninsula (talk) 12:53, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

• I bought a mop over the Internet with a sponge head that could be squeezed by moving a lever attached to rollers. When teh mop was delevered, the sponge was damp. I'm thiking, who used this? When the sponge dried, I realized that the lever could not be moved because the dry sponge head could not be compressed. The company likely kept the sponge head moist so people would not think that the lever was broken when trying to squeeze a dry sponge head. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 14:50, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Moisture does not equal contamination. There are even foods that are packaged with significant amounts of moisture. The trick is to kill pathogens after closing the package. 88.112.59.31 (talk) 16:27, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Does it matter much if I bought my sponges at a 99-cent store instead of a supermarket? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 12:14, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

I've been buying these pre-dampened sponges for awhile. I have always been suspicious of them—consequently I always rinse them out before using. I assumed there was something soapy in them, to help with average household cleaning chores. But I guess it's just water. I'll probably continue to rinse them before using. "Paranoia strikes deep; Into your life it will creep; It starts when you're always afraid; You step out of line, the man come and take you away." (lyrics from For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield song)) Bus stop (talk) 15:07, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Custom made diamond jewelery

Why is purchasing quality diamonds loose more expensive than buying jewelery, plucking the diamonds out, and then throwing the gold in the garbage? I want to buy loose diamonds for custom made-to-order artisan diamond setting rings, and I realized that it's cheaper to actually buy diamond solitaire rings or studs, pluck the diamond out, and throw gold in the garbage. I'm shopped around at a few sources, and even compared diamonds that had the exact same GIA or EGL grading reports on all the Four C's (clarity, cut, color, clarity) and very very similar dimension ratios. All of these diamonds are natural, not-enhanced diamonds and none are from a different better source (i.e. non-"blood diamonds"). Am I missing something here? Why would it be consistently cheaper to buy identical diamonds set in jewelery and then throw away (or better yet, of course pawn/scrap the precious metal)? Roberto75780 (talk) 08:24, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

This does defy reason, so I think there might be something wrong with your methodology. Have you tried a comparison of two pieces with exactly the same GIA certs? (As exact as possible, I guess.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:41, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I have no special knowledge of the gem trade, but from other commercial buying experience, I can proffer a possible reason. The makers of the finished jewellery are likely to be buying their diamonds in much larger quantities than an artisanal maker, and may therefore be able to negotiate a lower price/larger trade discount from the suppliers, one which more than offsets the cost to them (and hence the price to their customers) of the associated settings. Similar price structures apply in many sectors: for instance, a large supermarket company which buys a book for sale by its entire chain - probably tens of thousands of copies in one order - pays so much less per copy than an independent bookstore pays for its order of a few tens of copies that it can sell those books for a lower price than the independent pays for its copies, and still makes a profit on them. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 18:16, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

De Beers might explain something. They cornered most of the Diamond gemstone market ages ago, and more-or-less provide their partners with good deals (to maintain help maintain the monopoly). Everybody else will get a much worse deal. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:08, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Jewelers will probably have got a discount for a bulk purchase.Try second hand rings for really cheap diamonds.Hotclaws (talk) 15:41, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Is the gold really being thrown away? Gold is selling for $1,371 for 1 ounce([6]) with this you money you could easily buy many more dimonds. Sumsum2010·T·C·Review me! 00:43, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Mixing up classes

My son's primary school classes are being mixed up at the start of the next school year. That is to say, the four classes in his year will be broken up and the children will be mixed up into new classes, as opposed to keeping the same children together year on year. How prevalent is this practice in the West? And what arguments have been put forward by educationalists for and against it? --Viennese Waltz 09:42, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

It was the standard *every* year at my (public) elementary school, in Wisconsin, USA. 65.29.47.55 (talk) 09:44, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Four classes per year at primary school? Are the classes tiny, or is the school huge? DuncanHill (talk) 09:52, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

There's about 80 kids in each year, 20 per class. I don't know whether that constitutes tiny or huge or what. --Viennese Waltz 09:56, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

It's not that large - the infants school I went to had six to eight classes of thirty, per year. Warofdreams talk 17:43, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I had 550 people in my graduating class by the time we got to high school, so that's what? 22 classes spread over 5 elementary schools, 4-5 classes each school. Every year we had different classmates, they didn't keep us in static groupings year-to-year. 65.29.47.55 (talk) 22:23, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

At the large UK primary where I'm a governor we have an annual intake of 90 (3 classes of 30). 20 per class would be regarded as a pretty good ratio and our teachers would love it. Classes are not remixed each year as a matter of principle, but I have known this done for practial reasons (timetabling issues, for instance, so that certain pupils receiving targeted interventions all end up in one registration form, or so that a particular group of pupils are taught a core subject by a specialist in that subject. It's also been done where one class lost a significant number of pupils in the year due to families moving away, and the year as a whole needed to be rebalanced. In my daughters' secondary (small class sizes) it also happened once when personality clashes in one of the form groups caused continual conflict. There was a great deal of disquiet and protest from the pupils in the other form group when the move was announced, but in fact the new arrangements proved very successful. Karenjc 10:27, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

This was standard practice every year at my Catholic grade school as a kid. We had two classes (as you're calling them) per year. Dismas|^(talk) 11:55, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Just a guess: This may be done in conjunction with the plans of the current city administration to expand the concept of the Gesamtschule (= a united system of secondary education) form the current 10% to, ideally, 100%. For those who are not familiar with it: the Austrian educational system until recently has split children at the age of 10 essentially into two groups according to their aptitude. Basically, at 10 you are prematurely (and possibly unjustly) put into the box of blue collar workers or the box of white collar (potential) academics. Shuffling kids around in primary school may be done with the aim to prepare pupils for mutal competition, but also for mutual support. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 11:58, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Oh! And one more thing. Some friends of mine have a daughter who attends a Waldorf school. They stay in the same class with the same teacher through all 8 years of their elementary education. Dismas|^(talk) 12:00, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

In most parts of the United States, classes are re-formed every year in the public (i.e., state) schools. Marco polo (talk) 15:37, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

That was standard when I went to school and it's still standard now here in Ontario. Each year, the grade/cohort would be mixed so that the three or four individual classes would have a different make-up from the year before. The one kind-of caveat is in the French Immersion classes where there really aren't enough kids in the program - even so, the two classes do not stay the same year after year. Hmm, I see now that we don't have a proper article for my use of cohort. Here in Ontario (and the rest of Canada, I think), "cohort" is used to describe a particular "year" of kids, so that all the kids at a particular level/grade/year would be part of a single "cohort". The other terms "grade", "year", etc. have too many other commonly used meanings in the education system. Matt Deres (talk) 14:41, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Standard in the western US. My WP:OR is that the principal gets a list of all the kids who have been enrolled in school for the next year and I believe the #1 priority is to distribute the "problem" kids evenly so that one teacher isn't burdened with all of them. There are other priorities but I believe they all get in line behind that one. There is teacher input, but it's the principal who makes the decisions. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:38, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

When I was in grade school we had a different group and a different "home room" teacher every year. Presumably that was so the kids would experience some diversity. In junior high and high school the home rooms were grouped pretty much alphabetically, so the home rooms tended to be similar from year to year, but of course you would go from teacher to teacher during the course of the day, rather than staying in one room all day as was done in elementary school. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:25, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

I went to an elementary school that tracked students by "ability," and most kids stayed at the same level each year. In other words, the kids with the most-active parents (usually the wealthier ones) made sure their kids were in the "top" group each year. Once in high school, there were regular, "college-prep" and "honors/Advanced Placement" classes all along the way, so again, you tended to have the same peers through the years. The exception was in stuff like health class and gym that wasn't tracked, in which case you'd get more of a random mix of kids. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:32, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

It's rather sad to think of kids being pigeonholed so early. As I recall, we took a standard achievement test of some kind, around 6th grade, and based on the results we were either placed in the standard classes or the "accelerated" classes, although the homerooms remained alphabetically grouped. And you're right, the only other time we saw the "other type" of kids was in P.E. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:03, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

I too went to a partially tracked school system (just to clarify it was in the U.S. Midwest in the 70's and 80's.) Some subjects (math and language) were tracked, others were homeroom-based (social studies, gym) Don't remember which group science fell into. Rmhermen (talk) 13:34, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

I recently took a test that said it was to find out what career path would be a good choice for me; turns out that in fact it was the Myers-Briggs test. While I did attend a psychology class back in school, I had never heard of that test before. Looking it up on Wikipedia made me wonder if it's more of an "esoteric" approach, like blood types in Japanese culture or astrological signs.

To me, it seems to be rather unknown on the European side of the big pond. Is that so, or am I mistaken?

Also, assuming that it is more serious than astrological signs, I am curious if there are any "perfect match" suggestions for the different personality types.  ;-)

Any insights? -- 78.43.71.225 (talk) 15:53, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

The article you link to explains it quite thoroughly. MB is very common in the west with human resources professionals, careers counsellors, and many others who are not trained psychologists. It is not scientifically justified - psychologists seem to prefer Big Five personality traits though even they are not universally considered valid. There are more criticisms here:[7][8][9][10].

There are also many websites with information on what careers supposedly are good for different types: google Myers Briggs careers or something similar. But while it may be fun or offer ideas for careers you hadn't though of, they should be regarded with caution, as you suspect. --Colapeninsula (talk) 16:33, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

While I did read the article I linked to, I had a hard time understanding it, as English is not my native language, and aside from average, everyday conversations and the occasional novel I'm only used to technical documentation in English, not Psychology. Later (after asking my question here) I had the idea of checking out the "Simple English" copy of it, which was a lot easier to understand. -- 78.43.71.225 (talk) 22:41, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Well I took a battery of tests like that at work once and it indicated I was totally unsuited for the work I was happily doing and very well too I might add. I wouldn't place much reliance on them if there is something which you do like doing. On the other hand if there isn't anything like that then it is probably reasonable enough to start of on some random path indicated by them and being told that it's just for you :) Dmcq (talk) 11:01, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

The best career path is something you really enjoy doing. Tests are of doubtful use. One day back around 1970 I did two tests in one day with two major IT companies of the day. One said "Look elsewhere". The other offered me a job. I worked happily in IT for over thirty years. (Didn't actually accept that job offer though.) HiLo48 (talk) 11:18, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

When I did my requisite "what will I do with my life" floundering in college, at the college career center I took the MBTI along with other career interest tests. Having gone through the process, I would say the main benefit of such tests is to open you up to possible suggestions. (hypothetical dialog:) "This test says that you have a personality suited for a career as an accountant, zookeeper, landscape architect, ..." - "Hmm ... now that you mention it, being a zookeeper always sounded like an interesting job. I should learn more about it." They shouldn't be taken as definite, but act more to focus your thoughts and get you to think more about the topic. ("There may be a number of introverts working customer relations, but are you sure *you* are going to be happy with the level of social interaction typical of the job?") -- 174.21.250.120 (talk) 17:52, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi, OP here. Thanks for all of your insights. The thing is, I've spent more than 13 years in various IT jobs (and liked it, most of the time), but was wondering if it wasn't time for something completely different. One of the jobs suggested by the test was optician - and I must say, while I would never have come up with the idea myself, it does seem quite interesting. The other suggestions the test came up with were interesting in theory, but would require a university degree, which, at my age, is pretty much out of the question (by the time I would finish university and the required training for the job suggested, it would be rather unlikely that any employer would hire me, due to age and missing experience). That is why I was looking for more suggestions for my type. Oh, and of course, if there's a perfect match, personality-wise, between two different Myers-Briggs types, that would be interesting to know, too. ;-) -- 78.43.71.225 (talk) 22:41, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

International beneficiary funding schemes

Dear Sir or Madam,

Do you know of any international beneficiary funding schemes that cover all costs,please?16:51, 14 February 2011 (UTC)212.219.142.118 (talk)

Date: 14/2/2011

What is it that you want funded? --Tango (talk) 20:03, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Many college football scholarships pay for everything, but you gotta be good at playing football. Are you looking for an artist in residence program that will pay all costs through, for example, a non-repayable monetary grant? -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 14:50, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Schengen banned Travellers

Within the Schengen countries for persons barred from travelling outside of their own borders because of for example court orders or parole conditions how are they stopped from gaining entry into any of the Schengen states when border controls are almost non exsistent? Does each country supply the other with lists of banned travellers? Is this done electronically, paper based? or is it simply the luck of the draw whether or not the individual is pulled over randomly for checking? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oceanted (talk • contribs) 21:50, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

There are several Schengen-related articles in the disambiguation page. Do any of those articles answer your question? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:01, 15 February 2011 (UTC)Thanks for that. Yes my questions have been answered.