In recent years I have definitely noticed an upswing in parents who have natural births, home-school and breast-feed their children, practice baby-wearing and co-sleeping, do lots of organic gardening and don't believe in spanking. Allowing a child to decide when he is finished with pacifiers instead of forcing him to stop when the parent thinks he should naturally fits into these new parenting styles. Also, why is it that pacifiers and breast-feeding seem to be two parenting choices that other people insist on voicing their opinions on?146.235.130.59 (talk) 15:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Puzzle solution

What is the solution to this puzzle? There are six pieces of double-sided wood which need to be arranged into a light of dark square. Th4n3r (talk) 17:47, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Not sure if this link will work but here's what appears to be the solution: http://www.puzzlemaster.ca/solutions.php?dl=b894a09c4827bf6d0fade2d93afe02c1 ~Helicopter Llama~ 22:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Melchior!

This week's Economist has an article about the Biblical Magi, with this sentence:

So they were called Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar (or Caspar), names that never really caught on, except in northern Europe in the high Middle Ages and in posher parts of west London in the late 20th century (“Melchior, give me that phone at once”).

The parenthesis puzzles me. Is it simply meant to suggest what kind of parent would call a child Melchior, or is it a line from a well-known sitcom or something? —Tamfang (talk) 20:21, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

The former is correct. It's a ridiculous statement unless it's backed up with facts about the number of children christened Melchior in that time and place, which I bet they haven't got. --Viennese Waltz 21:10, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes, they are mocking the stereotype of upwardly-mobile, upper-middle-class parents who would choose such a name. Dbfirs 21:28, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Rare enough, but there is Caspar Weinberger of the Reagan Administration. μηδείς (talk) 01:40, 25 December 2014 (UTC)

As for the other names, perhaps not surprising but Balthazar and Baltazar manage to appear in England and Wales some times although neither appear in Ireland 1997-2013 and Scotland 2013. (Didn't see any Baltasar/Balthasar.) Caspar is actually relatively common compared to what we've been looking at so far. For example, there are some in Ireland and in Scotland (same details as before). And England and Wales has up to 63 in some years, with an apparent upward trend . Gaspar even managed to appear in England and Wales once in 2006 and I also saw one in Scotland 2013. Nil Einne (talk) 04:52, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Interesting site. Note that the name Jasper, another form of Caspar/Gaspar, is much commoner and with a still more marked rising trend. Personally I only associate it with the villains in 19th century melodramas ("Unhand that maiden, Sir Jasper"), but I'm way behind the curve. --Antiquary (talk) 11:45, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

I associate Caspar with Casper (which according to our article it's another variant), and so Casper the Friendly Ghost so not so much with villians. For some reason I forgot to search for this but it is more common than Caspar albeit not as common as Jasper and shows whats arguably and even more marked trend. I wonder if this has more to do with the character although it has existed for a long time so perhaps more indirectly. Also as for Balthazar, the numbers are small enough that it may not actually be that different fron Melchior. While not related to the UK, or London per se, if you compared Balthazar (given name) and Melchior it doesn't seem that different. I was probably influence by the fact I had heard of Balthazar Getty, as well as as well as the fact I'm fairly sure I've heard of the name from fiction, probably computer games but I don't recognise Melchior that well but both obviously do appear so I don't know if there's a clear trend (although for some reason I do associate Balthazar with villians). Nil Einne (talk) 12:37, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Balthazar is the middle name of the main character in The Neverending Story. Rmhermen (talk) 13:59, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

To me Jasper conjures only this: "And the next thing you know your son is playing for money in a pinch back suit and listening to some big out-of-town jasper here to talk about horse race gamblin'." — I assume that French Gaspard is another variant. —Tamfang (talk) 21:56, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Note that I don't think such people would necessarily baptise their children, but may still give that name. In terms of stats, it does seem unsupported. doesn't have the name for between 1996 and 2013 in England and Wales although doesn't include names only given to one or two babies in a year so there may be an average of 1 or 2 each year and it just never managed to reach 3. For a perhaps similarly unusual biblical name, it does include Melchizedek for a few years but I don't know if you can say there's a clear trend in that short period, there are a few more recently but the numbers are small enough that it could be random chance (and perhaps higher number of total births). I'm not seeing either name in Scotland 2013 (think actual period is sometime 2013-2014) although there were 3 "A" which I presume is a part of a non hyponated, non combined compound given name. (Speaking of compound names, there is also a Aaronarthur and Aaronjames.) Same for 1997-2013 Ireland although I (and others ) did notice a Ziggy and a Princess-rozara. Nil Einne (talk) 04:32, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

December 25

Tou Tajiri, Mutsuju Yamawaki, and Hama Takebayshi all no recent confirmation alive

Respect for the Aged Day reports were tou tajiri was last confirmed alive on January 25 or somewhere around then, but what about Mutsuji Yamawaki and Hama Takebayshi? I know one of the two passed away, but can't find out which one. Do you know which one passed away or if all three are still alive? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 19:26, 25 December 2014 (UTC)

First that article makes no mention of the claims you assert, and unless you can show these people are otherwise notable you are asking us to violate WP:BLP regarding private, non-notable individuals. If this continues I will take it to ANI. μηδείς (talk) 05:15, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

I mostly agree with μηδείς here. In particular, I don't see why you'll think we can do better than specialised sites. Such sites don't have to worry about BLP and other limitations here and also are full of people with strong interest in this sort of thing and with the experience to track such things. I presume given you're own interest and the fact you're referring to details only covered there (like one of the people possibly having died because there's only one person of that age listed in recent Kyōto records) that you know of such sites. Nil Einne (talk) 12:18, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

December 26

survival post nuclear war event

Assuming you survive the initial event, it seems to be virtually impossible to manage long term in this type of scenario from what I gather. With predictions of a dramatic cooling event and loss of sun light the odds of survivors eeeking out a living seem unlikely. So would there be any hope. Would it be possible to accumulate enough food for up to 15 years or more and remain healthy. What about water or would this be hopelessly contaminated in the absence of powered water decontamination. Are there any documents that explain how a post apocalyptic society would function at all. Seems the odds are so nigh few bother to ponder such things...

Science fiction writers have been exploring this for years, some with care to get the science right (at the time they wrote) and others more concerned with the social structure. There is some discussion at Nuclear winter. I'm sure there must be an existing article more closely aligned to your question, though I haven't found it. --ColinFine (talk) 11:13, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

The very term "post apocalyptic" suggests there would be little hope of full recovery - and yet we've already had a nuclear war and have managed to keep going. In the days of the full Cold War, there was a good deal of thought about a possible nuclear holocaust in fiction - but, if anything, the non-fiction material was even more speculative. There were just too many variables involved; from timing to weather to the specific targets selected. If a large nuclear exchange were to take place, it would be terrible, but the effects would likely vary hugely from place to place, especially depending on the belligerents involved. Even a full scale exchange between the US and the then-USSR was not expected to kill everyone or destroy everything (see refs here) - they wanted to destroy each other, not ruin the world for the entire species. I don't think it's the case that the odds are so high, few bother to study it, it's that it's so highly variable and chaotic that few bother to try figuring anything out - there's too much guesswork involved. If or when it happens, people will do what they can to try to carry on. Matt Deres (talk) 15:35, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

The two atomic bombs we dropped on Japan don't really constitute a "nuclear war". WWII was otherwise totally conventional weaponry. In any case, the amount of stuff they put into the upper atmosphere was much less than what Mount Pinatubo put there a couple of decades ago - whose effect in the upper atmosphere was plainly visible for many months. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 15:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

I would suggest that the Japanese view that differently. The point of course is that the area is perfectly livable. No "Mad Max" types or anything; just folks getting on with their day. Matt Deres (talk) 00:28, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

How many died from conventional bombs as opposed to atomic bombs? ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 01:22, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

See This. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 17:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Cash Dispenser Queues.

Why do people waiting their turn to use a wall-mounted cash dispenser adjacent to a pavement, ALWAYS queue across the pavement thus forcing passers-by to walk around the queue and sometimes onto the road, rather than queue in line with the building itself? And God forbid that anyone should ever dare to break through the queue to continue their journey directly. Is there some perverse psychology going on here? 77.97.208.118 (talk) 12:44, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

• Personally I do it to allow the current user privacy... It's harder to see someone's PIN and the amount of cash they are taking through their back than from alongside them, so they can feel less on edge while entering their PIN and taking their cash out... Plus they are (in the UK) often next to doors etc so you'd be blocking a doorway... I've never seen anyone take offence at anyone moving through the queue, unless they think you're trying to jump the queue... gazhiley 13:14, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

• • Here in the UK there is some odd behaviour at cash points. The only time that I go into Birmingham city centre is Saturdays and there is always a long line at the cash point at my bank. The branch is open and there are three machines inside and it is rare to have to wait to use one. Also, the tellers are on duty and there is never a queue to see them. Guess where I go? I haven't encountered any problems walking through a queue, but Brits are usually quite polite. They may tut but they will allow you to pass. --TrogWoolley (talk) 15:12, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

I've often wondered the same thing as grocery store registers, where, given a choice of forming the line in a direction that does or doesn't block the aisle, most people seem to prefer to block traffic. I've even actively asked people to move the line to unblock the aisle, with only limited success. StuRat (talk) 07:04, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

I think it to do with queuing tradition. In a standard queue, you wait behind the person before you in the queue, rather than to the side. So folk just do that. At a local (to me) Post Office sorting office, there are 3 counters and a large area with a small entrance area separated from the main area by a low wall. As folk arrive, they walk forward to the end of the entrance area, and if all the counters are busy, they stop. Subsequent folk stop behind them etc, including going out the door into the cold and rain. If you make a fuss, the queue will partially shuffle snakelike into the main area, but as the front people are dealt with, it slowly straightens out until it is again counter-entrance-door-outside. I've often wondered why the P.O. don't put those posts with chains on to guide folk (See Shrek movie...) -- SGBailey (talk) 19:15, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Name that hole

Is there a name for the hole in the top of a travel mug that allows air in while you're drinking? 2600:1000:B12F:32C3:1014:3396:CA79:31AA (talk) 14:47, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

"Air hole", as far as I can tell. --jpgordon 17:13, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

I'd always just considered it a vent. Not sure it has a proper name. --Onorem (talk) 17:15, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Googling the subject suggests "vent" is conventional. However, some of these holes are intended for sipping, i.e. they're not necessarily just vents. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:23, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

For what it's worth, in this article on liquor pourer, the term "breather" is used to refer to a hole (or tube) that allows air into a bottle while its content is being poured out. --98.114.98.174 (talk) 01:48, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

What kind of plastic are these dog collars made of?

http://www.amazon.com/KONG-E1-PS-E-Collar-Size-Large/dp/B004ZU0FHY — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.83.184.207 (talk) 19:56, 26 December 2014 (UTC) http://en.wikipedia.org/Elizabethan_collar — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.83.184.207 (talk) 20:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Wonder if the OP asks with Tongue-in-cheek? Polyethylene terephthalate is often used and better known as P.E.T.--Aspro (talk) 01:34, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

What is the origin for male or female symbols?

213.57.97.151 (talk) 09:58, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

If you're asking about the symbol which is a circle with a cross joined to it at the bottom, and the circle with an arrow pointing upwards and to the right, they are the astrological glyphs for Venus and Mars respectively. Did those symbols predate the religious system which gave us those deities? --TammyMoet (talk) 10:06, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

According to Stearn, Carl Linneus first used them for male and female in 1751 but as symbols for Venus and Mars they go back to the Ancient Greeks. Stearn, William T. (May 1962). "The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology". Taxon. 11 (4): 109–113. doi:10.2307/1217734. -- Thincat (talk) 20:54, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Also Gender symbol.Naraht (talk) 20:55, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Spear and shield is the way I've heard it, for Mars. And the mirror, for Venus. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 23:03, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Surely I'm not the only one who recognized the arrow pointing up as symbolic of something more typically male than a spear! 124.148.198.165 (talk) 07:42, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Long and pointy weapons of war have long been satirized as "phallic symbols". And don't call us "Surely". ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 19:10, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Ribbed blanket

So there's this kind of a ribbed blanket that we call "lysumphee" (but it also sounds like "lysungfee"/"loshing fee" in places) and I'm told it's actually an English word but I can't find it on Google anywhere. Obviously I've gotten the spelling wrong, and maybe we don't pronounce the thing correctly (We're Bengalis). Anyone know what it might be called? Thanks in advance! 202.153.41.162 (talk) 16:56, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Can you find a picture of it and upload it here please? --TammyMoet (talk) 22:00, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

The OP would do well simply to google "ribbed blanket" and then click on images and see if he finds something similar. If he still doesn't know what to call it he can at least post a link to the image. In the meantime there is quilt and he can also google images of quilted blanket, not all of which are "quilts". μηδείς (talk) 22:25, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Maybe some type of fleece? Igor the facetious xmas bunny (talk) 16:46, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Question

Is there any article with over 490 references? 177.182.52.101 (talk) 17:22, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Deaths in August 2014 has over 490 references, 522 to be exact. Deaths in 2013 (talk) 17:47, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

But aside lists and schedules (appendix), is an article like this? 177.182.52.101 (talk) 19:54, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Articles with the most references shows War in Donbass may have the most. Rmhermen (talk) 15:07, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

December 27

Question (2) (Most accessed Misplaced Pages article ?)

What was the most accessed article on this site in history? If so, when? 177.182.52.101 (talk) 21:25, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

I changed your title to actually be useful. StuRat (talk) 21:53, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Statistics can link you to some statistics.--Aspro (talk) 23:36, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

That particular statistic (which you'd think a lot of people would wonder about) doesn't seem to be collected anyplace that I could find. There are lots of lists of the most popular today, this week, this month or for any particular page...but none for all time. So rather than give you a single answer, I'll point out the trends...

Technically the Main Page article is by far the most visited...but I'm sure that's not what you wanted to know!

For most individual years, the most popular articles come from a disappointing set of likely user errors:

• Wiki
• Searching
• 404 error/
• 404 error
• Favicon.ico
• %s

...then articles like the following come up often - and are probably the most popular actual, for real, articles:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• United States
• The Beatles
• Misplaced Pages
• Google
• Adolf Hitler

...then a bunch of them rise in popularity for a year or two - then fade:

• Barack Obama
• Michael Jackson
• Sarah Palin
• The Dark Knight (film)

An alarming number of popular searches are for various sex topics: sex, vagina, penis, masterbation and List of sex positions...there are at least two dozen of these in the top 100 list for most years!

Sadly none of this illuminates much...beyond that there a lot of small kids who want to find naughty pictures. SteveBaker (talk) 20:35, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

I have to ask - does masterbation really outrank masturbation? Tevildo (talk) 22:46, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

December 28

"Bunching Table" is not defined anywhere

... and yet online searches find that stores have ads for such tables, and the Post Office has "gazettes" that describe their specific use. I can't find an actual definition of the phrase anywhere, though there seems to be an implication of either a worktable where things are brought together, OR tables that can be brought together for a bigger workspace. But for Interior Design references, I don't see anything that really makes sense, yet it appears all interior designers would "know one if they saw one".

Any ideas? Or a definitive source?

Thanks, Starmusic3 (talk) 01:14, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Could it be another name for a sorting table ? Those are used in various places, like the post office, to divide up items into bins, like by ZIP code: . StuRat (talk) 01:26, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

This appears to be a term for tables that can be "bunched" together, for aesthetic appeal. Try googling "Bunching table", and include the quotation marks. Fiddlersmouth (talk) 02:08, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Oldest living person in Ireland

Anyone know who the oldest living person in Ireland is since Margaret O'Connell has died on 20 December? There is no listed oldest living person on "Chronological list of the oldest living person in Ireland" in the list of Irish supercentenarians. Deaths in 2013 (talk) 02:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

You can ask on the talk page of Misplaced Pages:WikiProject World's Oldest People.

—Wavelength (talk) 03:28, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

There are some serious problems with that article. In the first place, more than half of it isn't about supercentenarians. In the second, the claim for Margaret O'Connell is not well sourced at all; the Irish Independent says the latest oldest Irish person was Luke Dolan, who died on November 10, 2014, aged 108. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:19, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

List of world's largest airlines

Hi, I am searching for information about the worlds largest airlines. I found a very complete article from Misplaced Pages but the lists only shows the top 10 in each category. Is there a way I can find at least the top 20 in each category?

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.114.104.65 (talk) 11:17, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Google?

Simply copy-pasting your heading of "List of world's largest airlines" showed me things such as REVEALED: The world's 50 biggest airlines by capacity.

Of course, "largest" is a debatable term - there are a lot of ways to measure 'largest' such as the number of flights, number of passengers, weight of freight carried, etc. Igor the facetious xmas bunny (talk) 16:33, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

December 29

Hickman High School, Columbia, MO

I was reading the history of Hickman. I graduated in 1964 and saw in the history that a swimming pool was built there in 1955. When my sisters and I went to school there from 1962-1966, there was NO swimming pool. When my brother attended Hickman from 1969-1972, they had a swimming pool. So apparently the pool was built sometime between 1966 and 1969. Could you please find out when it was REALLY built and correct that? Thanks.

Connie Sommer Class of 1964 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cdsommer (talk • contribs) 17:22, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Using dried poo poos as fuel

Would it be either feasible or practical to collect your own poo or that of your family to dry, and then use as a fuel for heating and cooking. Minus the obvious taboos, it sounds like an awesome idea. But I also wonder if human poos are worth the outlay. Maybe we don't produce enough to make this practical. However if this was the case, how about a high output diet with the sole purpose to produce as much as humanly possible? Flushing all that stuff down the toilet seems like a terrible waste.