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January 19

Cyber Spying

Cyber spying is becoming more and more frequent these days. I believe it is done over the internet. Why don't the respective governments use a separate system for their communications and storage of information, completely cut off from the internet? Then, if anything needs to be shared by governments, use the internet (email) to do it, after first using something like TruCrypt to encrypt the files and messages? KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 11:03, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

A whole lot of cyber spying is accomplished by exploiting the one weakness that no technological solution can cover up - the human factor. Basically, what you describe is (more or less) what does happen. You keep your top secret documents locked up behind a super secure firewall, no way anyone can see them except the government employee with the right decryption password, who needs to work on them... and then one day they decide to bring a flash drive to work and... whoops, your secrets just walked out the door riding in someone's pocket.

Duomillia (talk) 02:08, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

One obvious solution is that secure info should be on standalone computers with no USB ports, CD burner, internet connection, printer, or any other way to remove data from the computer. When they need to copy it to another computer, it should be taken to a secure lab to do so, then returned. A lot of inconvenience, but it should be far more secure like that. StuRat (talk) 05:21, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

A less obvious solution requires the Allied Powers try to succesfully attack each other's financial systems later this year, in addition to continuing to record and decrypt every single thing from everywhere. Then again, it's never quite obvious what "security" means from those two. Clarification itself is probably a security risk. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:36, January 20, 2015 (UTC)

Air gap (networking) is the article. -- BenRG (talk) 02:09, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

And air gap malware is the problem. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:54, January 21, 2015 (UTC)

Truck full of concentrated diamond ore worth millions of dollars

This is related to the kimberlite v. diamond ore question. What is the diamond ore referred to in the article about a diamond ore truck robbery in Zimbabwe? Another article refers to the stolen goods as concentrated diamond ore.

http://www.theafricareport.com/Southern-Africa/mystery-surrounds-diamond-ore-theft-in-zimbabwe.html

The 400 kg of concentrated diamond ore couldn't be rough diamonds because that would mean at $60 per carat, the truck was carrying over 100 million dollars of goods. But the article does say it carried millions of presumably US dollars of concentrated diamond ore. It's hard to imagine extracting millions of US dollars of diamonds from 400 kg of diamond bearing kimberlite. So what is the substance that this article refers to as diamond ore?

Muzzleflash (talk) 11:13, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Presumably the kimberlite has been sorted, discarding the chunks that are very unlikely to contain diamond. Perhaps they have already crushed the chunks of rock to check. The material described as ore is presumably the bits of kimberlite sorted from the waste on the basis that it shows signs of containing diamonds. Do we have any South African experts who can confirm the process? Dbfirs 12:39, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Some info at Diamond#Mining confirms your reasoning. Looks like there are several stages of sorting (crushing, Xray, hand sort), so that "ore" could be anything between very low diamond density and relatively high. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:39, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

• The source you link to speaks of an inside job at a state owned diamond mine. You'll probably get a much better idea of what's going on by reading Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, and Robert Mugabe than you will by reading ore, which is still of interest. In all most all cases, ore means a parent mineral like Hematite from which a pure element, like lead can be smelted. Diamonds are obviously not chemically bonded carbon, extracted by smelting, but gem mineral inclusions. Think of a (big) needle in a (small) haystack, not a silo of wheat that will be fermented to produce whiskey. μηδείς (talk) 18:44, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

• Note that a price per carat just doesn't work for diamonds, or precious stones in general, as larger stones have a higher price per carat than small stones. Diamond dust is virtually worthless, no matter ho many carats you have. StuRat (talk) 06:06, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Diamond dust is highly used and fairly valuable for Diamond_tool. I haven't shopped for one recently but I recall my father spending up to ~$500 for a good saw blade. You are right that the price of dust per weight is far less than the price of a large diamond of the same weight, but the small stuff is still far more valuable than most other dusts/sands/minerals. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:05, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

I did a Google search, and found them for as low as $10 each. Also note that the diamond dust is only a small portion of the cost of the blades. StuRat (talk) 15:27, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

@StuRat: since you didn't include a link I have no idea what you're talking about. I was talking about a blade like this , which, sure enough, retails for $568. I can assure you that you won't find a $10 blade that can perform the same. Yes, the diamond is not the main cost, but diamond blades cost much more than similar non-diamond blades. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:45, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

You didn't include your link either, on your first post. shows a 3 pack for $31.39, so about $10 each. StuRat (talk) 19:03, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Ah yes, those are a tiny 4.5", compared to the 24" I was thinking of. I wonder why they use man-made diamonds, rather than naturally occurring diamond dust... It's easy to think it might be because cause is an issue, but that's just speculation :) SemanticMantis (talk) 21:06, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Yea, a 24" blade is a huge thing for industrial uses, so I can see why that's expensive, with or without diamond dust. StuRat (talk) 21:30, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Banned from Stock Market

When you are banned from the stock market for securities fraud does that mean you are banned even from investing in stock personally, for your own self? Or even banned from investing in a mutual fund for yourself? Zombiesturm (talk) 18:44, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Generally it means you are banned from being a stock trader. But a judge can impose all sorts of different restrictions, or they could be part of a plea bargain. You'd have to specify a specific case. μηδείς (talk) 18:49, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Yep, and particular exchanges might refuse to do business with you, depending on the nature of the ban. It will likely also vary between jurisdictions, so specifying a country might help. St★lwart 10:07, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

January 20

How many admins does it take to change a light bulb?

How many admins does it take to change a light bulb? A8v (talk) 00:17, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

LED or incandescent? ―Mandruss ☎ 00:42, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

It depends. Are they hanging from the street lamps? μηδείς (talk) 01:09, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

I haven't a clue, I'm not the OP. ―Mandruss ☎ 01:26, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

We don't give opinions. Besides, it's working just fine. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:46, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

It's not working fine though - it's on the blink. Mitch Ames (talk) 13:32, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Not sure about admins, but it takes 61 general Wikipedians. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:09, January 20, 2015 (UTC)

In other words, the average wikipedian shines at .984 watts? μηδείς (talk) 20:50, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Not as many as it takes to change a heavy bulb. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 04:09, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Nice! I can't believe I'd never heard or thought of that before. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:14, January 20, 2015 (UTC)

Shouldn't this be hatted as a medical or perhaps legal question? --jpgordon 16:40, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Sure. What's stopping you? ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:17, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

• 'Fraid I can't answer this question. I just do speedy deletions and so on. I leave technical stuff like that to the experts. Pete "I can't believe he's a sysop" AU aka --Shirt58 (talk) 07:16, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Is Shingo Kitamura male or female?

In the GRG pending cases, Shingo Kitamura is listed as female. But in the list of living supercentenarians, Shingo is listed as male. Which is correct? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 04:33, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

It's a guy's name, so I'd lean toward male. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:17, January 20, 2015 (UTC)

Check z3.invisionfree.com/The_110_Club/index.php?showtopic=9975. Looks like a male to me. Google is your friend. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 14:47, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Based on what I have read on the 110 Club forum, Mr. Kitamura is a male. Futurist110 (talk) 07:27, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

January 21

Qur'an translation different language MP3 free download

Is there a website where I can download Qur'an recitation with translation in different languages for free and with no virus? The languages that I want to hear for translation are Bengali, Albanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Bosnian, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Baloch, Kurdish, Somali, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Malay, Indonesian, Turkmen, Tajik, Kazakh, and Turkish, Azeri, Lur, Gilaki, Mazandarani and Qashqai. I am sorry if it is too much. Please take your time to answer. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.31.17.253 (talk) 01:27, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

First, do you actually want a recitation, which implies it is spoken, rather than just a translation? For that you might try youtube, there won't be any better source. As for translations in the written text, try "Qur'an Bengali text +pdf" as a search term at google--use +pdf to indicate you want pdf files, which are easily read and downloadable. If the pdf is available, such a search will find the text for you. That will be a lot quicker than anything else. μηδείς (talk) 01:51, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

(Actually, do an advanced search and put the laguage name in the language field if the above method doesn't work. μηδείς (talk) 03:27, 21 January 2015 (UTC))

Further, if you only want MP3 (not sure how that comes with a translation, though--maybe I am misunderstanding you, files downloaded from youtube with the free and reliable RealDownloader can be converted to MP3 files using the free and reliable FormatFactory. μηδείς (talk) 17:45, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

No "translation" of the Quran is "proper" - it is intrinsically and absolutely restricted to the classical Arabic in which it was first given. There exist "translations" into many languages, none of which is then the Quran. Collect (talk) 20:54, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

That's an in-universe opinion of certain players, Collect, not an objective fact. And I suspect that being from Ontario, the OP was already aware of the caveat. μηδείς (talk) 22:33, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Actually, I'm an agnostic Jew and was going to say the same thing, but Collect beat me to it. Those of merely considered interpretations of the Qu'ran and I suspect a lot is lost in translation as it were. As for location, it doesn't mean a lot. I've met New Yorkers who don't recognise Hebrew or know the difference between a Jew and a Muslim. Being a fellow New Yorker, I think you can imagine how much facepalming this has resulted in. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 3 Shevat 5775 00:40, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm no fan of Vatican II, either, and as a tutor I know just how shockingly horrible translations can be. Especially of literary fiction, like Shakespeare, Hugo, and Tolkien, or of prose artists like Nietzsche, Chesterton, Orwell, Ortega y Gasset and the like. (At least Screwtape becomes Escrútopo in Spanish--not bad) But if someone asked about the Rankin and Bass The Hobbit (1977) my last response would be that the only art is in the original. I do read the Greek New Testament to check the English, and I don't read Arabic. But if the option is between the vernacular or total incomprehension? The OP didn't come here asking to be told to learn Arabic, and if he's a Muslim, he already knows what's been thrown in his face. In any case, the Qur'an doesn't "mean what it means" in vacuo, no text is uninterpreted--that's the Lutheran fallacy. μηδείς (talk) 02:28, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

And I've known people who lived in California their whole life, and probably fancy themselves cosmopolitan, without learning how to pronounce Spanish words. —Tamfang (talk) 06:54, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Names - First, Nick, or otherwise

I just finished watching the first episode of Whites (which leads me to believe that the British have the same problem with good shows being canceled as much as us Americans) and wondered about a couple of the characters' names. Are 'Skoose' and 'Bib' common names in England? Are they short for something or nicknames or the like? Various Google searches for 'skoose' don't turn up much other than references to the show. And 'bib', well, there's quite a bit about baby bibs to weed out. Thanks, Dismas| 02:29, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I've done some searches for the name "Skoose" both as a nickname and otherwise, and I think you're likely correct that that name is an invention of the show; I'm not finding it anywhere as a common enough nickname to stand out beyond the show itself. --Jayron32 03:07, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Those are not names that this British editor recognises, either as names or as nicknames. --ColinFine (talk) 11:31, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Does Skoose have a Scouse accent, as a person from Liverpool/Merseyside?
Sleigh (talk) 12:58, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

As your average American, I wouldn't be able to tell it from a London or any other English accent. He just sounds English to me. So, maybe one or our British editors who has seen the program can answer that for you. Dismas| 13:01, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

If the character "Bib" were corpulent (which he unfortunately isn't), then it might have referred to Bibendum who is also sometimes nicknamed "Bib". I did find a couple of non-English people nicknamed "Bib" such as Bernard Heuvelmans (not even English-speaking) or Joseph Darling Ibbotson (with whom Ezra Pound had studied Old English, but he was American). ---Sluzzelin talk 13:03, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm reminded of the Radio 1 DJ from the 60s Keith Skues, which might sound like "Skoose", so I'd say yes it is an English name, albeit uncommon. --TammyMoet (talk) 21:01, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Maximum number of stents placed in the heart of a man as per limca book of records

I want to know maximum how many stents have been placed in the heart of a man as per Limca Book of Records. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.98.33.146 (talk) 07:02, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Limca doesn't have that information, but it does give this.--Shantavira| 15:12, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

And note that stents aren't placed in the heart, but rather in blood vessels, etc. A coronary stent is placed in the blood vessels that supply the heart, so perhaps that caused the confusion. StuRat (talk) 16:45, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Stents are used in Percutaneous aortic valve replacement (and I believe there's a similar procedure for the tricuspid, although we don't appear to have an article on it). However, I agree that the OP is probably asking about coronary stents. Tevildo (talk) 21:01, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

What is this bird please?

First time asking a question so please be gentle! (Although I thoroughly enjoy reading the reference desk)

I am an expat living in the UAE, specifically on the North Coast in the Western region. Around this time of year white birds with a short orange beak are noticed in the local park. They don't appear as far as anyone knows all year round so are probably migratory (especially given that searching images for Middle East/UAE birds brings up nothing similar).

I have a photo (taken by a friend which I don't think violates your copyright rules) but I'm not quite sure how to upload it, assuming I'm allowed (especially as Imageshack seems to now be preventing me uploading there unless I pay!)

Can anyone help? 2.51.134.244 (talk) 13:50, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Have you looked at birds in Google Images to see if there's one or more that fit the description? ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 14:12, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

At the risk of stating the obvious you would of course need to Google white bird orange beak, though that isn't much to go on. Can you give us a more detailed description? We have an article on List of birds of the United Arab Emirates which might give you some ideas. Have you tried uploading the photo to a free site such as Flickr?--Shantavira| 15:01, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

imgur is by far the easiest light-weight way to share photos - no user account is needed on either end. Another possibility would be to upload to wikimedia commons, but that's not as easy, and not really the purpose. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:51, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Good birders can ID a bird from a good description. E.g. "Large (goose sized), white bird, standing upright, with small orange beak, in small group, foraging on the grass in an open park" is very different from "Small (sparrow sized) white bird, rounded, in flock of over 30 birds, twittering in trees" - get the idea? Behavior, shape, size, any non-white colors, sounds, all of these will be clues in addition to the photo. Actually, in many situations a good description in words is even better than a photo! SemanticMantis (talk) 15:51, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

The RSPB has an identifier facility on its website. No idea how good it is for sightings outside the UK, but it's helped me here in Scotland. Dalliance (talk) 00:44, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Problem with my link, so repeated - http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdidentifier/ Dalliance (talk) 00:48, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

• Stab-in-the-dark, but the Caspian tern is fairly prolific and would be migratory to the region in question (I think). St★lwart 03:46, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

January 23

Add ability to post articles on facebook-twitter etc...

I use your website a lot to educate people about very important topics-I would like to see if you can add the ability to be able to share links to the pages & info to places used as educational forums such as facebook-Thank You-Ginger VassyGinger Vassy (talk) 02:48, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

AddThis will do what you want as an add in to Firefox and/or Chrome. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 03:20, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Or just copy and paste the link into to Facebook - it automatically allocates a thumbnail when you post a link to that site... gazhiley 10:20, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

On most desktop browsers, pressing Alt-D, Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C will move the cursor to the URL bar, select the full URL, and then copy it to the clip board. The Ctrl-A may be optional. LongHairedFop (talk) 11:24, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Things like AddThis seem to be more helpful for copying things to many sites at once. Keep in mind that AddThis is a notorious data aggregator first and a friend second. If you don't want them following you around, copying and pasting is better. InedibleHulk (talk) 15:34, January 23, 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Ginger Vassy. This has been suggested many times, and consensus has been that it is not appropriate for Misplaced Pages. See the summary at WP:PERENNIAL#Share pages on Facebook, Twitter etc. and the many individual discussions linked from there. --ColinFine (talk) 11:54, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Since you have an account, you can also add User:TheDJ/Sharebox. Dismas| 13:18, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Do humans have a mating season?

I can't help but notice that most people tend to be born around december certainly where I am based in the northern hemisphere. Why is this.

Given that human gestation is around 9 months, that would mean most breeding occurs around early spring.

Who else has noticed this and is there some sort of explanation. Maybe Feb and march are the horny months for women. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.236.100.51 (talk) 18:24, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Happy reading. People will be along shortly to banter with you about horny months for women. ―Mandruss ☎ 18:34, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

(EC) An alternative hypothesis would be that human female (or possibly male, or both) levels of fertility exhibit an annual periodicity. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 18:37, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

This page (open "Characteristics of Birth 2, England and Wales, 2013", and select the tab "Table 2b") has a table numbers of live births in England and Wales between 1992 and 2003. As far as I can see the numbers areas fairly consistent across the years, and don't vary much between months, taking into account the different numbers of days in the months. The only exception is December, which tends to have rather low numbers. The questioner's IP geolocates also to the UK, so he/she may be experiencing confirmation bias. Remember that most people in developed countries can to some extent decide when to conceive a child: maybe they tend to aim at months other than December to avoid clashing with Christmas. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:31, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

The lull in December births is two-fold in cause. No one plans to have a child on Christmas. And weddings shouldn't be scheduled during lousy Smarch weather. μηδείς (talk) 19:41, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

That would imply that children born of wedding night (and honeymoon) nookie represent a statistically significant number of births, compared to children born from nookie at other times of the year. People fuck in March whether or not they are married. They may not plan to have children in December, and so may choose to not go off whatever form of birth control they are using at the time, but it has nothing really to do with weddings. --Jayron32 20:25, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Your answer seems oddly hostile, Jayron. The difference is rather small, so the two OR factors I mentioned could be at play. I was conceived on my parents' honeymoon, and my younger sister was conceived on my parents' anniversary, so I do think weddings dates are relevant. μηδείς (talk) 20:36, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

My Mom was born exactly 9 months after the repeal of Prohibition. :-) StuRat (talk) 22:58, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Jayron32's response seemed fine to me. The anecdotes weren't mentioned before, your answer seemed to imply this was definitely the case, rather than just one possibility your were suggesting which you now say. Anyway, more to the point, better OR suggests your second claim in still highly misleading as presented, anecdotes aside.

The earlier discussion concerned the England & Wales, so I'm going to ignore the US (feel free to research it yourself and present it here, I'm just saying this is related to the earlier stats). These stats show the month which the least marriages was January. Even if these were mostly late January (there may be some bias, but it seems likely there would still be a fair few early in the month), it's fairly unlikely many chilren conceived during the honeymoon or anniversary of a January wedding are going to be born in December. In fact, the rate is fairly low from November to March.

February is the next lowest after January, it's possible some February honeymoon (and a smaller number of anniversary) conceptions will be born in December. Notably if is to believe, it looks like more births are after the due date than before, although that would include due dates calculated from estimated time of conception which may not always be that reliable I suspect and I think may be more biased in terms of a later estimated conception than reality.

Anyway I would suggest we'd still expect more in November and taken with the other stats, the wedding factor would seem to bias births towards being low in August to December, with the peak low probably in the October-November period (and lowest in October probably being a fair bit lower than December).

Ultimately none of these actual statistics (instead of random new anecdotes) suggest wedding dates are in itself a reason for there to be a lower rate in December than in other dates. Of course, wedding dates could contribute along with other factors to a lower rate in December. And similar the rates aren't as low in October or November etc as would be expected because the other factors are far more significant. But none of this was properly explained in your first post.

It's worth remembering that stress in either partner is also likely a factor against successful conception, so it may not be just planning (although I'm not sure anyone was intending to suggest it was only planning). AFAIK, there's decent evidence that the pre Christmas time can be quite stressful for people. (Wasn't thinking straight, this would explain lower conceptions, not lower birth. Ultimately coming up with 2 random factors and saying "this is the reason" is always going to be very poorly thoughtof on the RD or anywhere else which expect decent sourcing or at least reasoning.

I would also note that things have likely changed significantly from either conception you mentioned which I'm guessing may be at least 30+ years ago. Probably even more so in modern day E&W when compared to the situation in the US those 30+ years ago. While it's difficult to get good stats because of the sensitivity of the issue, it does appear that the rates of pre-marital or non-marital sex, including among those engaged have gone up. Definitely the rates of living together before marriage is far higher. Similarly, there's far less controversy over a conception before or without marriage and likewise far more children born to unmarried parents. (In fact, while an unexpected pregnancy may have very often been in the past a reason to bring a wedding forward, which can still be the case, nowadays seems it's not also uncommon for it to instead be a reason to postpone.) It also appears there's greater thought given to family planning than in the past (and more availability and possibily knowledge of different options). All these factors and more suggest that even if in the US wedding dates were a significant factor 30+ years ago, which 2 anecdotes doesn't establish anyway, they are not necessarily so nowadays in England & Wales.

Of course, we do have to consider the influence of those who are more "traditional" (for lack of a better word), who may be more likely to have kids even if they're a smaller percentage of the population in modern day E&W than the past US. Incidentally since we're discussing anecdotes. While you mentioned both honeymoons and anniversarys rather than wedding nights, I can think of at least 2 cases when I'm not sure there even was sex on the wedding night. Too much else going on. That said, in neither of these was kids a realistic possibility.

Ultimately I get back 2 my first point. Jayron32 had a good reason to challenge your statement presenting these 2 factors as the definite answer, despite you presenting little to actually support it. While we can't rule out wedding dates being a factor, the evidence doesn't suggest it's a big factor.

Edit: Note the stats for above live births are from the period 1992-2013 as you may guess from the title, not 1992-2003 which I think was a typo. I had quick look at the data and it appears to me that November is a bit lower on average too. So is February, but I think this may be because it of fewer days. I don't think there's a clear lower rate in October or August-October though, but there may be in April. I do agree that there doesn't appear to be a clear difference in trend over the years. In other words, the social changes mentioned earlier, while may not be that much from 1992-2013 and just within E&W, don't appear to have have had a clear cut change. How much of this is because wedding dates was never a big factor, I can't say. I may do a more careful analysis later.

Nil Einne (talk) 04:07, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

For quick analysis here's a spreadsheet with births per day in the month (starting from AF) derived from the above data. . I've removed everything else exept the new and original data (to make checking my work easy) for copyright reasons. So you'd need to check the above original data if there's anything unclear. I've added an overall total, as well as a total over 5 year period to try and make determing trends easy. Graphing would probably be useful, but may be another time. The dip around December seems definite and consistent but it isn't always the lowest. In fact in recent years, it seems January - March tends to be lower. November which I suggested above is less clear or consistent although it is seemingly always lower than October. September also seems to be a consistent peak. Interesting that August seems consistently lower than July and oviously September (or alternatively you could say there is a mini peak around July time although it's less clear). You could probably also say there's an overall lower rate in the October-May or even June (whether to include October or even November is perhaps also questionable) period which is similar to the wedding data above (perhaps a bit later) which doesn't seem consistent with the idea conceptions may often happen soon after the wedding unless a lot of people are having a ~12 month pregnancy. Perhaps instead, the factors which result in fewer weddings in those months also result in fewer planned birth in these months and/or the conceptions happen ~4 months or so after the wedding and/or other factors are at play. (Although in any case, the actual difference in births is far lower than in weddings, not even 10%.) Nil Einne (talk) 06:39, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

This phenomenon has been noticed for centuries: nearly 200 years ago Tennyson wrote "In the Spring a young man's fancy/Lightly turns to thoughts of love" (Locksley Hall, 1835 pub 1842).--TammyMoet (talk) 20:34, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Humans actually have four mating seasons: summer, fall, winter, spring. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 22:32, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Not much good if you live a country that doesn't have four seasons. Hack (talk) 13:03, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

• Scientifically, the only thing I can think of other than the calendar is that lactating women don't tend to menstruate while they are breast feeding. μηδείς (talk) 06:38, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Suicide by bridge jumping

I fail to understand how jumping off a bridge into water would kill someone. You can fall through water, like we see when people dive into pools and such. How does jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge (for example) kill people? --Callimpolosī (talk) 21:34, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

You can jump into a swimming pool because the water basically gets out of your way as you go through the surface. When you add height, you add speed. When the speed is high enough, the water becomes more and more like solid ground. So it's like falling onto concrete. I'm sure someone will be able to point you to the appropriate articles here. Dismas| 21:42, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

This Quora discussion spells it out in clear, if grisly detail. Marco polo (talk) 22:32, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps the most relevant Misplaced Pages article is Equations for a falling body. Marco polo (talk) 22:40, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Note that there have been a few survivors, who happened to hit feet-first. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook has a theory on optimizing your chance for survival. I don't know if the text is available online. When Nik Wallenda walked across the Chicago River a few months ago, a writeup I saw said that at some 50 or 60 stories up, a fall into the water would be fatal - no chance. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 22:41, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Even if you managed to survive striking the water, you would be seriously injured and unconscious, so would drown immediately, unless someone just happened to be right there to fish you out. StuRat (talk) 22:45, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

I recall seeing one of those news programs like 20/20 a few years ago, in which a couple of survivors of jumps off the Golden Gate told of their experiences. I don't recall the extent of their injuries, but I do recall the most important thing: As soon as they let go, they wished they hadn't. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 22:49, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Possibly thinking of The Bridge (2006 documentary film). ―Mandruss ☎ 23:01, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

In a BBC documentary about the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit in London, an officer said that you can always tell when somebody is going to jump off a bridge, because they always take their shoes off first. Strange but true, apparently. Alansplodge (talk) 23:29, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Update - they do the same thing in America and Japan according to Barefoot To The End. Alansplodge (talk) 23:33, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Interesting! I would never have thought of that. Is it so they can swim ashore if they don't die instantly? μηδείς (talk) 19:54, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Mythbusters did an episode exactly about this, and they used their crash test dummy to see what would happen if they dropped it from the Golden Gate Bridge. Two of its limbs came off. As said above, from certain heights (i.e. when at terminal velocity) hitting the water without breaking the surface tension beforehand with perfect timing will be like hitting concrete. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 00:06, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Few bridges in London are high enough to cause serious impact injury; I think people probably hope that they're going to drown fairly fast. In Victorian times, Waterloo Bridge had an attached first aid hut manned by a doctor, who would attempt to resuscitate suicides who were pulled from the river. Tower Bridge, then the furthest downstream, had a mortuary built into one of the piers for any corpses that came floating by. Alansplodge (talk) 11:17, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Or, jumping from a low bridge could be like slitting your wrists just a little. A cry for help, no actual desire to die. ―Mandruss ☎ 20:01, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Mandruss. Never dismiss someone's suicide as a 'cry for help', as that is humiliating. People do it for reasons, and very often such attempts are genuine. Simply dismissing a failed attempt as 'a cry for help' is not ever going to help their mental state in any way. I would appreciate it if you struck out that remark. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 20:42, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

January 24

Robert Young no email response

I emailed Robert Young two days ago asking when he would put up the September edition of pending cases, but he never responded. Is there a particular reason why he did not respond? Perhaps it is because he is busy working on putting up the September update? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 03:21, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't think this is a question for the Reference Desks. Please be more careful about where you post in the future! Thanks. SteveBaker (talk) 03:40, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Is the rise of obesity in women going to reduce birthrates?

We all know people are getting bigger here in the west, not just fat but morbidly obese. Does this mean we are heading towards a birth rate crisis like we see in Japan.

As a heterosexual man, I have no physical attraction to large individuals of the opposit gender. I think that many men are similar. And also, I would suspect large women are less able to concieve than healthier ones.

So are we heading for a serious food induced demographic problem. Could rising obesity potentially wipe out a nation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.236.100.51 (talk) 08:46, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

I think 'wipe out a nation' is a bit excessive. Remember three things: there are also obese men; there are men who are attracted to obese women; and there are men who don't mind either way. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 10:55, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

WHAAAE: see Fat fetishism. Alansplodge (talk) 11:04, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Human net reproductive success, at least in developed countries, is largely decoupled from biological constraints and instead limited by artificial constraints like artificial birth control. So no, if we manage to wipe ourselves out, it will not be by lack to reproduce. Moreover, attraction to particular body types is significantly affected by cultural indoctrination. See e.g. The Judgement of Paris (Rubens) for how Rubens in the 17th century imagined the three most beautiful goddesses of ancient mythology. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:45, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Venus of Willendorf shows that fat women were attractive to prehistoric men, too. StuRat (talk) 18:00, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

• Study: Curvy Women Live Longer, Give Birth to Smarter Children. μηδείς (talk) 16:57, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Being athletic actually decreases fertility, though after a certain point being obese hurts it. It's goes back to the same mechanisms behind how exercise makes menstrual cycles less severe: a woman who regularly works out has (as far as nature can tell) the body of a hunter who can't afford to be pregnant too often. A woman who's overweight has the body of someone with a lot of well-providing mates hunting for her. Nature can't tell that the relationship between fitness and wealth has almost completely reversed. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:18, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Being overweight also causes girls to start their periods sooner. StuRat (talk) 17:54, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Cheap digital camera vs cheap digital camcorder

Is there any advantage of a cheap camcorder like this over a similarly-priced digital camera (about £20 now)? I've found lots of pros and cons of cameras and camcorders on the web, but only concerning higher-quality hardware.--Leon (talk) 13:59, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

The digital camera probably has better resolution, and the camcorder probably has a higher frame rate. The digital camera may also lack video capability entirely, or just lack audio. StuRat (talk) 17:56, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Aesthetic open-ceiling design for residential space

I like the concept of an open (i.e. un-covered) ceiling, which allows plumbing, wires, and structural members to be accessed easily for inspection and repair. (I'm aware that dropped ceilings provide the same benefits, but the ones I've seen look "cheap", office-like, and generally unattractive.) What are some visually-pleasing designs that allow the ceiling of a residential space to remain uncovered? I've seen one design, in commercial settings, in which the ceiling (painted black) is visually "shielded" by rows of painted, regularly-spaced, parallel planks suspended from the ceiling (or maybe rails). I thought that was clever. I wonder what other designs people have come up with that accomplish the same goals. --108.36.120.196 (talk) 21:56, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Handheld electronic game

Hallo everybody, please could you tell me, how did you call the ″handheld electronic game″ when you were a kid (or how you call it now)? I am interested especially in English, German and Czech/Slovak names. Plase do it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/Talk:Handheld_electronic_game. Thank you! --Jiří Janíček (talk) 22:02, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

You deleted my question

I done a question about anal to oral irrigation. How comes it got deleted an removed?

Free cake for good answers. Free trout for bad ones

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