Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2006 December 12

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December 12

Album

I'm looking for the title of an album I have, I'm pretty sure its a store-bought, not a mix

the songs, in order, are 1. Presidential Speech Montage - Various Presidents 2. The Pledge of Allegiance - Children of America 3. America the Beautiful - United We Sing Chorus 4. Amazing Grace - Lee Greenwood 5. God Bless the USA - Lee Greenwood 6. Made in the USA - The Wright Brothers 7. America - The Wright Brothers 8. The Star Spangled Banner - Sarah Austin 9. God Bless America - Hope's Temple 10. Alleluia - The Wright Brothers

--Omnipotence407 00:27, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

An American Collection [1] or God Bless The USA. [2] Are these homemade compilations? --Justanother 00:33, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Crumpers

Just tell me this if you know. Why do the big crumping farts leave more impression on the underwaer than the silent emissions.

Umm...maybe this is regional slang, but would you mind explaining what "crumping" is? bibliomaniac15 01:27, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Its like Kerrr- ummpp sound Tair

Is it like "hydrated flatualation" on this list: [3]? That's the way I understood it but apparently there is some confusion. -THB 03:47, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. -THB 02:55, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

This would be the kind of fart you associate with the standard fart "sound." And it probably has something to do with the fact that there may be little bits of fecal matter in your...uh...fart gas. I don't know; IANAD. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 16:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Easy access songs on the Internet

After reading this article, I became hooked by its easy access over a funny website [4]. Now, whenever I'm editing, I play this song in another tab and I get all hyped up. Is there any other equally easily accesible songs from Trans-Siberian Orchestra and others out there? --JDitto 01:40, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The i-Tunes store has plenty of their stuff. -THB 10:37, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

That's the thing...I don't HAVE an mp3 player. I was hoping someone would direct me to a site with easy access music. Thanks anyways, THB. --JDitto 03:19, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

www.pandora.com is lovely, although you do have to have an open mind about the music you listen to, as you do not have song-specific choice in the matter. --Randall00 10:24, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Sharing Weed pipes

Are there any risks of contracting diseases, infections, illnesses by sharing metal/wood marijuana smoking pipes with someone else? Jamesino 01:40, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

All these lovely diseases. Anchoress 01:43, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

No more so than french kissing everyone you're sharing them with. -THB 02:38, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Some pastors/priests and altar guild ladies in churches believe that wiping a communion chalice with a linen napkin between people sipping wine from it reduces the chance of catching the previous 100 persons' colds or other pathogens. Seems like it would operate on much the same basis and with as little efficacy with respect to spreading disease. Edison 06:43, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

That would be considered quite rude unless you made a big joke about someone slobbering all over the shared drug delivery device. -THB 10:31, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Design question - Looking for a specific typeface

I am trying to recreate a screen from an old vector-based videogame. Does anyone know of a typeface that replicates the look of text in Asteroids or Tempest? --72.202.150.92 02:39, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Could you provide us with links to examples of the fonts you listed? Anchoress 02:41, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Try here (actually, try "Alien" there too) or continue from google. --Justanother 02:43, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

One problem you'll encounter is that the old vector-generated typefaces tended to not be "constant brightness". That is, near the end of the strokes, the electon beam often moved more slowly, creating a higher intensity of light on that portion of the stroke. To truly replicate the effect, you'd probably need fonts that are not just black/white but include grey-scale effects. Noise on the deflection systems also tended to make the strokes of the characters wander a little bit. And, of course, the entire image flickered based on how quickly the vector system was able to refresh the entire image. For these reasons and more, true vector graphics are still very distinguishable from all but the very best raster-graphics simulations of vector graphics.

Atlant 15:21, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I'd recommend simply drawing them by hand, providing you only have to write the odd "1UP" or "GAME OVER". Alternatively, the font OCR A Extended looks vectorish in capital letters, although you would need to tweak the odd letter pixel by pixel. Laïka 16:38, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Here's an example I found. [5] I'm not looking for pixel perfection, just something close. --24.249.108.133 17:25, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, no can see image (work cybernanny says no games). --Justanother 17:49, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

You'd almost certainly have to add the bright spots by hand; I don't know of any fonts with those sorts of corners. Laïka 19:54, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Smurrayinchester raises a good point above. OCR A extended (and its monospaced friends OCR A and OCR B) all make good sort of 80's computer game font simulations like you're looking for. Using the right options in a program like Photoshop, you could easily get them to look like something from Asteroids; try varying your font width and height. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 13:54, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Courbet

Why is there an image of a famous Courbet painting at the articles on Susan Sarandon and Jake Gyllenhall? It seems out of place. -THB 04:20, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Follow-up: Would that be considered to be pornography even if the original painting is not considered to be pornography? -THB 04:22, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

There's been some problem over the past few days with sneaky vandalism to templates; nudie pics etc. If it's not gone very soon you should report it to WP:AN/I or the help desk. Anchoress 04:56, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism of this type is intellectual pornography. JackofOz 05:19, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

No vandalism is intellectual, in my opinion (no acronyms for me!). bibliomaniac15 05:25, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, Susan Sarandon is my favorite actress so it seemed an appropriate homage there but on Jake Gyllenhall the pic of him in the article has him with a sort of beard and mustache so it looked a bit like him and was humorous in a disturbing way. Of course, I'm sure none of that was intended by the vandal. -THB 10:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Repairing Damaged Cash

I have a Canadian 5 dollar bill with some tears here and there. I used some tape to fix it up a bit. I wondered if this was even legal? I'm going to try to see, just for fun, whether someone will accept it tommorow. It's not in horrible condition or anything but you can see the tears and you'll see the tape keeping things together with just a second of investigation. - Pyro19 05:59, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

• The US government, anyway, is extremely liberal about accepting damaged currency. I remember some story about a cow eating hundreds or thousands of dollars, and the farmer recovering it from the cow's stomach to mail it in to the Mint. Amazing, he was compensated in crisp new bills.--Pharos 06:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

If nothing else, you can take it to a bank and they'll trade you for a nice one. As long as it's legal tender (and not a half a bill), the government will buy it from the bank and recycle it. Go Canada! Anchoress 06:46, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Like the first respondant, I'm not aware of the Canadian laws but I would think that the U.S. laws are similar. In the U.S., as long as you have the serial number portion of the bill, I think a bank is required to give you a new bill. I know someone who cut the grass for my town's parks. He sometimes would see bills as they exited the mower. He'd grab the biggest parts he could find and turn them into the bank for a new bill. Didn't happen often but it did happen. Dismas|^(talk) 08:38, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

You might contact the Bank of Canada for more info. The page they have on mutiliated currency:[6] doesn't specify, but in the U.S., you must have over 50% of the bill to redeem it. Even if repairing a bill is a crime, I think it unlikely that you are charged. -THB 10:29, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The U.S. law concerning the tearing or whatever of bills and coins can be found here [7]. Dismas|^(talk) 10:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Under Canadian law, there's actually no specific reference to defacing notes. Instead, the law (as written) refers only to 'coins', the defacing of which is illegal: [8]. (Mind you, the Bank of Canada appreciates it if you don't deface banknotes, just because it shortens the notes' lifespan and makes more frequent replacement necessary: [9].) In any event, making an effort to maintain or repair a damaged note certainly shouldn't be a problem. Wherever you spend the note, the merchant will deposit it with their bank; the bank will then pull the note from circulation for replacement with a fresh one from the Bank of Canada. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 13:20, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I would reccomend taking it to a bank and asking the cashier. In the UK its still legal so long as you have both serial numbers IN FULL and the queens face with the number attached to one or more of these bits. As Canada is ex-empire I would hope that it is the same. HTH AMX 18:54, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

preseason football 1966

you'd think it would be on the web somewhere but i'm drawing a blank... need a site with preseason results for NFL and AFL games 1966, preferably with dates the games were played...thanx ---stolf

I don’t know of any one site that has preseason scores. But if you go to individual teams’ websites, you might be able to find them. I looked up 1966 for you. (For regular season scores, go to {link removed}.) — Michael J 06:59, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

National Football League

Monday, August 1

Philadelphia Eagles 9, Atlanta Falcons 7 (at Atlanta)

Wednesday, August 3

Baltimore Colts 35, Washington Redskins 0 (at Washington)

Friday, August 5

Green Bay Packers 38, College All-Stars 0 (at Chicago)

Saturday, August 6

New York Giants 16, Pittsburgh Steelers 14 (at Ithaca, N.Y.)

Philadelphia Eagles 40, Chicago Bears 21 (at Chicago)

Minnesota Vikings 6, Detroit Lions 6 (at New Orleans)

St. Louis Cardinals 20, Atlanta Falcons 10 (at St. Louis)

Los Angeles Rams 16, Cleveland Browns 6 (at Los Angeles)

Sunday, August 7

Dallas Cowboys 24, San Francisco 49ers 13 (at San Francisco)

Thursday, August 11

St. Louis Cardinals 28, Detroit Lions 14 (at Detroit)

Friday, August 12

Chicago Bears 13, Green Bay Packers 10 (at Milwaukee)

Saturday, August 13

New York Giants 14, Atlanta Falcons 7 (at Nashville)

Dallas Cowboys 20, Los Angeles Rams 10 (at Los Angeles)

Baltimore Colts 31, Philadelphia Eagles 17 (at New Orleans)

Minnesota Vikings 35, Pittsburgh Steelers 6 (at Portland, Oregon)

Sunday, August 14

Cleveland Browns 28, San Francisco 49ers 17 (at San Francisco)

Friday, August 19

Baltimore Colts 33, St. Louis Cardinals 17 (at St. Louis)

Saturday, August 20

Chicago Bears 24, Washington Redskins 10 (at Norfolk, Va.)

New York Jets 31, Miami Dolphins 14 (at Jacksonville)

Dallas Cowboys 21, Green Bay Packers 3 (at Dallas)

Kansas City Chiefs 31, San Diego Chargers 21 (at Anaheim, Calif.)

Minnesota Vikings 24, Los Angeles Rams 10 (at Minnesota)

Pittsburgh Steelers 34, San Francisco 49ers 17 (at Portland, Oregon)

Cleveland Browns 42, Atlanta Falcons 3 (at Atlanta)

Sunday, August 21

New York Giants 17, Detroit Lions 7 (at New Haven, Conn.)

Friday, August 26

Minnesota Vikings 30, Washington Redskins 27 (at Cleveland)

Baltimore Colts 24, Cleveland Browns 17 (at Cleveland)

Saturday, August 27

Philadelphia Eagles 24, New York Giants 23 (at Princeton, N.J.)

Dallas Cowboys 20, Detroit Lions 10 (at Tulsa, Okla.)

Green Bay Packers 17, Pittsburgh Steelers 6 (at Green Bay)

Los Angeles Rams 32, St. Louis Cardinals 14 (at Los Angeles)

Atlanta Falcons 24, San Francisco 49ers 17 (at Columbia, S.C.)

Thursday, September 1

Baltimore Colts 20, Detroit Lions 10 (at Detroit)

Friday, September 2

Dallas Cowboys 28, Minnesota Vikings 24 (at Dallas)

Chicago Bears 22, St. Louis Cardinals 20 (at Chicago)

Saturday, September 3

Green Bay Packers 37, New York Giants 10 (at Milwaukee)

Washington Redskins 35, Philadelphia Eagles 20 (at Washington)

Los Angeles Rams 29, San Francisco 49ers 9 (at Los Angeles)

Cleveland Browns 14, Pittsburgh Steelers 10 (at Birmingham, Ala.)

American Football League

Tuesday, August 2

Houston Oilers 26, Oakland Raiders 17 (at Houston)

Saturday, August 6

San Diego Chargers 38, Miami Dolphins 10 (at San Diego)

Kansas City Chiefs 32, Denver Broncos 30 (at Denver)

Sunday, August 7

Buffalo Bills 19, Boston Patriots 13 (at Boston)

Friday, August 12

Kansas City Chiefs 33, Miami Dolphins 0 (at Miami)

Buffalo Bills 25, Denver Broncos 3 (at Buffalo)

Saturday, August 13

New York Jets 16, Houston Oilers 10 (at Birmingham, Ala.)

Oakland Raiders 17, San Diego Chargers 7 (at San Diego)

Saturday, August 20

Boston Patriots 21, Oakland Raiders 10 (at Anaheim, Calif.)

New York Jets 31, Miami Dolphins 14 (at Jacksonville)

Kansas City Chiefs 31, San Diego Chargers 21 (at Anaheim, Calif.)

Buffalo Bills 28, Houston Oilers 16 (at Little Rock, Ark.)

Wednesday, August 24

Denver Broncos 28, Miami Dolphins 16 (at Memphis)

Saturday, August 27

San Diego Chargers 31, Boston Patriots 13 (at San Diego)

New York Jets 34, Buffalo Bills 17 (at Allentown, Pa.)

Kansas City Chiefs 31, Houston Oilers 20 (at Kansas City)

Sunday, August 28

Oakland Raiders 52, Denver Broncos 21 (at Denver)

Thursday September 1

New York Jets 41, Boston Patriots 3 (at Mobile, Ala.)

Crabs

I think i have crabs, butdo not want to go to the doctor. further more there are no pictures of them along with the article, so i cant be sure so... 1 is there an easier way to get rid of them other than going to the doctor and 2 wether the answer to question 1 or by going to the doctor, will the treatment damage the hair? 3 if i have it in underarm hair, and dont seem to have it anywhere else, does that mean it is only underarms or that it is everywhere and i just cant see it

Please review our article on Crab louse Hipocrite - «Talk» 16:21, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

You can do a Google image search for "crab lice" : [10] but remember that they are very small and best seen with a magnifying glass. Most people don't go to a doctor for treatment and use over-the-counter medication. However, some lice are resistant to treatment and in that case there are indeed prescription medications available. You would have to read the label to see if the medication damages hair. If you have hair anywhere else on your body including your eyebrows and head you might have lice there as well. The over-the-counter medication usually comes with a comb to remove the eggs which are attached to the base of the individual hairs as well as instructions on cleaning bedding, etc. -THB 16:30, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

If this is a recent question...why is it archived? Someone needs to go kick the archive bot in the arse. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 16:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Archive bot has nothing to do with it, that was User:Hipocrite's addition. --Maelwys 16:37, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Then, for the love of sanity, it shall be User:Cernen's omission. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:08, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much, that is much appreciated, and how much would it cost? Uk prices? :-)

Sorry, someone from the UK will have to answer, in the US, no more than the equivalent of 7 or 8 pounds. -16:41, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

If you go to the article sucking louse, you will find that there are (at least) three species of lice that infest humans. If you really have crabs, or pubic lice, they are unlikely to live in the hair on your scalp. Pubic lice tend to stick to the pubic area, where they tend to arrive via sex with an infected partner. They may also live in armpits, beards, and eyebrows, however. Other kinds of lice are more wide-ranging. Marco polo 17:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Frank Zappa used to recommend Gentian Violet. But he was a musician, not a doctor. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Why not just shave? Or is that too simple a solution? Anchoress 22:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I thought that was supposed to not work... Cbrown1023 23:11, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Maybe. What do I know, I've never had them, lol. It just seems logical that if you have bugs living in your armpit hair, shave your armpits. Anchoress 00:17, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

They burrow and live below the surface of the skin, so washing or shaving won't help. Instead, apply neat whisky which makes them drunk, happy, and careless and they will fall off as a result. It's called killing with kindnes.

Home made

Are there any narcotics that can be made easily at home?

Coffee --Justanother 16:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, please. Coffee is not a narcotic. The answer is no, unless you can get your hands on some marijuana seeds and a couple of fluorescent lights. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 16:35, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, if you look at narcotic that refers to opium derivatives or, less formally, any illegal drug. Since we will not address illegal drugs (I hope) we are "converting" the question to one on legal drugs and in that context caffeine is most definitely a drug - a stimulant. So set me up, Joe. I got my works right here. --Justanother 17:00, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Touché. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Papaver somniferum is perfectly legal to grow in most countries. The seeds are frequently found on bagels and other baked goods. -THB 16:37, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Overall, if you want to know which drugs are easiest to grow or make, simply look at the price. Generally, the lower the price, the easier to make or grow, and the higher the price, the more difficult it is to make. Economics can answer many questions not asked of it. -THB 17:05, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Please do not provide innacurate information on the Reference Desk, as you have done above. Econometric studies have made it very clear that the major driving factor in the price of drugs is the cost of capture. Review "Economic Aspects of Illicit Drug Markets and Drug Enforcement Policies," ADAM WAGSTAFF, Addiction Volume 84 Issue 10 Page 1173 - October 1989, among numerous others. Hipocrite - «Talk» 17:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

A friend once gave what he thought was chemistry ebook. It turned about to be a guide how to make recreational drugs. I read the introduction, but I didn't have the chemistry background to understand the rest (hence I need a real chemistry ebook). The author basically said that you shouldn't try to make drugs unless you have a strong chemistry background and a few thousand dollars to spend on quality lab equipment. So to answer you question - NO, you can make drugs at home but it is costly and difficult. Jon513 17:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Chloroform, which is an anesthetic, can be made using ordinary kitchen and laundry chemicals. –mysid☎ 19:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Maybe its a bad idea to be taking drugs, anyway... Taking drugs can kill you. They're a bad idea. Anyone agree with me? Ilikefood 21:30, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Ilikefood, please note that "The Reference desk is not a soapbox" (see the guide to answering questions above). - CHAIRBOY (☎) 22:31, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Please note: the questioner did not ask about narcotics that could be made legally or economically. The question said easily. (I don't have an answer, but some of the answers above did not relate to the question.) — Michael J 22:45, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The answer to the original post is is that the only "easy" drug to produce would be opium and papaveretum, as per THB. Anything more would require a very good knowledge of chemistry. Poppies grown for flowers are not the type used for opium production, but some do still contain it. The cost of the product is low (in my country less than 1$ per gram for morphine powder), due to the relative ease of production, no development or patent expenses, and no illicitness. Codeine is synthesised from morphine, so it works out to be more expensive, though less controlled and considered "safer". Eating a few poppy seed rolls can cause qualitative blood tests for opioids to turn up positive. THB's point is well made, scientific and valid. --Seejyb 22:55, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Salvia divinorum is legal in some places, was made illegal in Australia and some states of the US, there is a list in the above article. I've had it and enjoyed the experience, if it isn't illegal where you are I recommend you try it before it is made illegal.. If you are into that kind of thing;). Vespine 23:49, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I've known of a bunch of idiots who made Methamphetamine in their homes without high priced lab equipment. This satisfies the low technical knowledge and "at home" standards. Dismas|^(talk) 01:37, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Acutally, I agree with User: Ilikefood. I don't think we should be answering questions like this. A little "WP: soapbox" rule does not preclude common sense. Providing people with information on which drugs they can grow the most easily is irresponsible. By the same argument you could say that we should be giving people advice on what the most painless way is to commit suicide. BenC7 02:24, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Rope tied to a tree, then around the neck, then you stomp on the gas and start driving as fast as possible. Wait, was that a question? "Common sense" is anything but common, and it sounds like you're advocating censorship. Wikipedia is international, so if you're concerned about legalities, then perhaps you should keep in mind that there are other countries than where you reside. If it's a moral issue, then I look forward to reading your explanation on why you know The One True Way. Please provide references. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 02:31, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh I'm sorry! You're right, let's contribute to an international problem. How silly of me. BenC7 11:05, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I suggest any people following the legality thread here take a look at the Paladin Press lawsuit Rice v. Paladin in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and the book Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors which sparked it. The full text is easily found with a google search or through the link from our article on the publisher. This came up in one of my university courses titled The (U.S.) First Amendment and the Internet. —WAvegetarian•(talk) 03:31, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I looked, but I didn't understand. Could you summarise it or link to a news item? Anchoress 03:35, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Guy writes book "How to be a hit man"; another guy follows instructions and kills three; family of victims sues publisher and publisher settles for millions. Implication being, I imagine, that we should not give advice that can get wikipedia in trouble. --Justanother 05:49, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Is the further implication of that that you should not have mentioned that book? --Justanother 05:52, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Grow shrooms. Cheap, little specialized knowledge required, legal in many countries, (and best of all) plenty of info available on Wikipedia. I think the encyclopedia itself has sidestepped the issue of Reference Desk gatekeepers. Lowerarchy 17:56, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Grow beans. Cheap, little specialized knowledge required, legal in many countries, (and best of all) plenty of info available on Wikipedia. :-P 64.90.198.6 23:56, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Supermarket/Retail psychology

I'm looking for resources that explain shop design/retail science, ideally free online content but if not some links to good books. I remember reading somewhere about how supermarkets organise the layout of their stores, or how many shops do not put clocks in-store as it is a trigger for people to think 'oh i must go'. I also heard that most stores organise their layout to make it easy to get 'deep' into the store where the high-profit produce is and much harder to leave. Anything that looks at things like this in greater detail would be very welcomed. ny156uk 17:37, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

You may wish to review Supermarket which links to "Henry Petroski, Shopping By Design: Supermarkets, like other inventions, didn't just happen; they were designed, developed—and patented., American Scientist Volume: 93 Number: 6 Page: 491" - http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/47364 Hipocrite - «Talk» 17:46, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Try this Google: [11]. -THB 17:48, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

An aside: like all things, reading a book is not going to help you much in becoming an expert in store layout design. It's a matter of good sense; a book cannot confer good sense, no matter how well-written it may be. Vranak 18:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Most large stores have instore bakeries, the smell of freshly baked bread makes you hungry and thus buy more or atleast thats the idea, this is probrably done deliberatly but I can't prove it.AMX 19:22, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks the responses, proving most valuable. ny156uk 19:41, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

If you've ever been to Ikea, you'll know just what a nightmare this psychology can be: the main route through the store is long and windy, taking you through every showroom whether you want to go there or not; the short cuts are always behind so they seem like long cuts, the lack of natural light and twisty path disorientates you, and by the time you get to the tills, you are exhausted/disoriented that you'll buy some extra stuff at the tills (sweets, light bulbs, screws, meatballs) just as a "reward" to yourself for succeeding. And yet people will stampede their way into the shops to experience this! Now that's psychology! Laïka 19:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

N156uk, you might also look briefly at casino design. It has some overlapping characteristics and some of them are taken to extremes. -THB 20:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Using your web site on a work cited page

I am writing a paper on Gian Lorenzo Bernini and I used your web site as one of my sources. I am having trouble finding the name of the editor of the page I viewed, the electronic publication and the name of the sponsoring institution. Do you have that information?

See WP:CW. Pay particular attention to the cautionary statements. -THB 21:29, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

For the newer folks who may be reading this, WP:CW is a shortcut for Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia --hydnjo talk 21:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Best way to eat a lot

After Christmas, on the 26^th, my friends and I go out to eat. We always hold a little contest to see who can eat the most buffalo wings, or something like that. I am curious--is there a way to prepare for this, without radically changing my diet? Can I use a stratedgy while eating to maximize the amount of wings I can eat? Thanks for any suggestions. --71.98.10.52 23:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Competitive eating mentions training with water but I would also imagine that you would want to start training by eating large quantities of food too. --Justanother 23:12, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm... 2 weeks? I don't think there's enough time for that. I think the best you could do would be to just not eat for a day or so before the contest. I doubt there's any stomach stretching training you could do to practice. What I understand is that competitive eaters have an advantage partly because they lack fatty layers between their organs, so their stomachs can stretch more. So maybe instead of practicing by overeating, you should go on a diet. Anchoress 23:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Ahhh. I've always been surprised at how trim and fit champion eaters are. That always struck me as counter-intuitive. --Justanother 23:46, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

As disgusting as it may sound, if you are serious about competitive eating, you need to learn to prevent yourself from expelling vomitus. Competitive eating has been a topic here before. If you allow vomitus to escape your mouth, you're disqualified. -THB 23:26, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Well thats pretty clear othervise bulimics would be the worlds best super eaters. Joneleth 23:31, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I think skipping a day of eating is a bit extreme, depends how serious you are taking it I guess! I used to have these types of contests with my friends too and I think skipping one meal before is almost as good as skipping any longer amount of time. Your stomach will be practically empty just from skipping one meal. Also, if there is no time limit, pace your self, do not eat quickly even more importantly CHEW very well. Chew until you think you have chewed enough and then chew a little more, literally until you can feel the food as paste in your mouth. That way you'll get the biggest amount of food in the least volume into your stomach. Vespine 23:43, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I think that if you started stuffing yourself with one large meal each day from now to Christmas and then just a light breakfast on the big day, that you will have conditioned yourself as much as you can in that period. --Justanother 23:48, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

@Vespine: You might be right about the time of not eating, but I disagree with you about eating slowly. After 20 minutes of eating your brain gives the signal to stop being hungry, so it's better to try to beat that clock. That's why they tell people on reducing diets to eat slowly. Ditto on the chewing thing; you feel fuller when you really chew your food. Anchoress 23:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for all of your responses! This has really been enlightening. This isn't too serious, just a little contest my buddies and I have, mainly for bragging rights and a free meal. Again, thanks a bunch. --71.98.10.52 23:55, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

What you're hungry for will depend on what your body wants. If you crave turkey, it's because you want turkey enzymes and proteins and so on. Really, the best way to binge would be to binge on something you haven't had in a long long time. Vranak 00:52, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Do you really want to skip Christmas dinner just to win the day-after contest? Sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face. User:Zoe|(talk) 19:11, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Just eat as much as you can, as quickly as you can. The hard part is keeping it in afterwards... | AndonicO ^{Talk | Sign Here} 19:39, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Every time I've eaten an incredible amount of food, I've noticed that it has been after a few days of excessive eating. People who go to three or four Christmas dinners with the extended family might have noticed the same thing. I can't think of a solid reason, but it seems that my stomach is all stretched out and ready for a huge meal... so my advice: eat more, not less, for a few days beforehand. Lowerarchy 20:17, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I find that if I'm really hungry, I can't eat much before I get full. Maybe the stomach shrinks when it's empty? I wouldn't go for more than a day beforehand without eating --froth^{T C} 20:32, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

To train for competitave eating, try to eat very little for about a week ahead of time. eat mostly simple carbohydrates and stay away from large amounts of fatty or protein rich foods as these are more difficult to digest. then the night before a competition, eat as much simple carbs as you can. i suggest about 3 or 4 pounds of mashed potatoes, about a quart of chicken broth, about 2 or 3 pounds of spaghetti and meatless sauce.and plenty of room temperature water. this will stretch the stomach out without bogging you down with the digestion of proteins and complex fats. on the day of the competition, refrain from eating anything and drink only water. avoid sugars of any sort.

i hope you do well in your little competition with your friends. i too enjoy competitive eating with friends. --Simon

I watched some documentary about a competitive eater. He would prepare the day before by eating as many grapes as he could (to stretch out his stomach, I suppose), and the day of the competition would not eat anything (only drinking water) six hours before the actual event. In my own experience, my stomach shrinks if I just don't eat anything for a while. Lowerarchy has it right. 64.90.198.6 00:05, 15 December 2006 (UTC)