Crows and ravens are well known for attacking the eyes of live lambs and incapacitated sheep - Farmer forced to kill newborn lambs after horror attacks by crows was the first of many references that I found. Alansplodge (talk) 23:09, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

That seems more to do with the winds of winter than a regular feast for crows. If they were dying from heatstroke, would we blame the flies? InedibleHulk (talk) 23:20, January 28, 2015 (UTC)

Seeing is believing - Ravens Attack Newborn Lamb. Alansplodge (talk) 02:03, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I believe I saw one of four ravens peck a lamb's ass a couple of times. It might have been two. Hardly terrifying, especially by creature of darkness standards. That saintly white momma sheep was about as aggresive, but nobody went blind. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:06, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

Why did a lamb have a donkey? KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 06:23, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Backup. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:21, January 30, 2015 (UTC)

In the "got your back" sense, not like this. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:25, January 30, 2015 (UTC)

Would someone know where I could buy a online statue of the nymph Callisto_(mythology)?

Which brings me to the reason of how this question is related to my question up top about Kirra Greece, :The reason is because Callisto in Xena Warrior Princess is from there and I'm going to a Xena Conventrion in four weeks and I wanna show people a postcard of the real Kirra and a statue of the real Callisto. Venustar84 (talk) 21:46, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Come, on Venustar84, you know how to google. Search for "kallisto/callisto statue reproduction/sale" and see what you find. (A hint, there's plenty.) This is not the sort of research you need us for. (Good luck, in any case.) μηδείς (talk) 01:27, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Also, neither representation is really of the real Callisto. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:55, January 28, 2015 (UTC)

January 28

Nosebleeds

Is it only children that get nosebleeds 'apparently' for no reason? I haven't had a spontaneous nosebleed since I was a child, and I've never seen an adult have one . Is there a reason for this? KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 10:05, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

I can't recall ever having one except after getting socked in the nose. Awhile back I took my 85-yr-old mom to the ER with a bad one, resulting from high BP and low humidity. Beyond that, I have nothing to contribute except this: Nosebleed. ―Mandruss ☎ 10:12, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. That link almost answers my question. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 10:21, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) According to this source they are "Common in kids ages 3 to 10 years" and this one says the ages are 2 to 10 which suggests that the occurrences drop off after 10 years of age. But then the second source says that they're also common in adults from 50 to 80. The second source goes on to say that they're more common amongst those on blood thinners or those with high blood pressure which many people in that 50 to 80 range deal with. Dismas| 10:23, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

That's actually what I was thinking. Thanks! My father is on blood thinners and has high BP, causing him to be anaemic, essentially, and occasionally he breaks out in subcutaneous heamorrhages, as well as the occasional nosebleed. Thanks! KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 10:37, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

OR, perhaps, but I get two or three "spontaneous" nosebleeds a year and am neither a child, nor 50+ nor on any blood thinning medication and my BP is usually noticeably low. Lol. My take is that the human body is wonderfully complex and inconsistent and we'll only ever get generalisations about this kind of thing at best. Now, I'm off to find some lunch. --Dweller (talk) 10:44, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

You should stop banging your face against trees, mate :) KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 11:00, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

I think young children get nosebleeds for several reasons. They have thinner blood vessels, are more likely to "rough house" and they pick their noses often. StuRat (talk) 19:22, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Cocaine users often get nosebleeds, and are rarely children. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:59, January 28, 2015 (UTC)

But on the other hand some people say that nose picking causes nosebleeds and did you ever see a young kid that didn't pick their nose. Richard Avery (talk) 08:25, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Classic British joke. Q. What's the difference between bogeys and Brussells sprouts? A. Kids won't eat Brussells sprouts. Like all great jokes, it's the truth behind it that makes it funny. And I think I just found my all-time favourite Misplaced Pages article title. --Dweller (talk) 09:29, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

You may think that's the funniest article title, but it snot. StuRat (talk) 13:12, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I haven't read that article, so I don't know if what I am going to say is in it, but I did once read that eating snot was a natural way for children to boost their immune system, as they are taking in the unwanted germs and bacteria in small quantities, and the immune system can learn how to deal with them. This is off-topic a little, but still interesting. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 19:06, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Why doesn't Ukraine default on its Russian debt?

Article on the issue of Russian debt default:

Ukraine wants to avoid a default because it would have consequences. But why is that the case? If Ukraine defaulted on Russian debt citing the invasion by Russia and continued to pay other creditors, would the international debt market view Ukraine as more risky? If the default was viewed as just retaliation against the Russian invasion, why would it raise interest rates or have some other adverse consequence for Ukraine?

Muzzleflash (talk) 19:13, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Russia might use that as an excuse to invade all of Ukraine and "take what is theirs". StuRat (talk) 19:19, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Indeed, if Ukraine does have to lose any more territory, the leaders apparently just want to shave off some of the more Russian areas, not lose the whole country (though those same areas have a good deal of Ukraine's industry). That's what I got from discussions with Kievan friends anyway. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 8 Shevat 5775 21:26, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Ukraine may default on its debt anyway, precipitating a bailout. And as the EU has underwritten about $2B of that debt, that's going to add come from the European government debt market. Business Insider tends to being rather excitable (one might say linkbaitey), and in this case they're saying what Russia could do, not what anyone thinks they're likely to do (despite what they may say). With a pro-western government in place, that bailout would surely come from the IMF and the EU (per the Bloomberg article). And Russian's #1 geopolitical concern about Ukraine is whether the country is aligned to them or to the EU (e.g. Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement#Russia). Economically, it's in the interest of neither country to escalate a trade war between them. Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russian gas , but Russia is dependent on Ukraine both as a major customer of that gas, and for transit to western European countries (as most of its pipeline network, and 80% of its capacity, runs through Ukraine ). Russia–Ukraine gas disputes notes the recent unhappy history between the two countries; a great chunk of that debt is for gas. In the longer term, unease about Russia's using gas supply for political leverage is driving expansion of alternate supplies to Western and Central Europe, especially the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline - which erodes Russia's strength in the European market (diminishing both its economic and political bargaining power). Russia's in serious economic trouble, and really would like that debt paid down; Ukraine is too (worse), and is heavily dependent on a country it's almost at war with. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 23:05, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Cleggmania

In UK politics, What is 'Cleggmania' and does it still exist? --Coístingad (talk) 19:46, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Very first hit on Google: Cleggmania spreads across Britain . And no, it most definitely doesn't exist any more, the opposite in fact. 82.21.7.184 (talk) 22:39, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Agreed, see Popularity of Miliband and Clegg falls to lowest levels recorded... from July 2014. See also our Nick Clegg article. Alansplodge (talk) 23:03, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

I have added a brief note to our article, so it should appear on any future searches. Alansplodge (talk) 01:40, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

In case you're wondering why, it's a combination of the formation of a coalition government with the Tories and the fact that student tuition was hiked as a result of the coalition government. (Ask any UK student especially international ones like I was...) Students made up a large portion of the LibDem's voter base, you see. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 9 Shevat 5775 03:08, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Added to the fact that the LibDems had promised in their manifesto NOT to raise tuition fees (of course, the LibDems didn't actually win the election, so those promises aren't binding). Also, the LibDems have by necessity been associated with other aspects of the Conservatives' austerity programme, which is never popular. Alansplodge (talk) 10:35, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

It wasn't a manifesto promise conditional on winning the election. Nick Clegg signed the Vote for Students pledge, the text of which is “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative.". He then voted for the government's plans to increase fees. I think it's worth noting that, as a member of the cabinet, Nick Clegg has to vote with the government or resign; he can't be in the government and oppose it, because of Cabinet collective responsibility. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 11:16, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I stand corrected. Alansplodge (talk) 17:59, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Why does....

Semen smell like fish. There's definitely a fishy odor about it. Seems odd that there should be any smell at all as the prostate gland and gonads are a sterile area? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 126.62.121.217 (talk) 20:01, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Mine doesn't, but Google suggests it's common. Answers range from fishy diets to pH changes to not washing properly to trichomoniasis. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:06, January 28, 2015 (UTC)

I don't know about you two, but I have never actually taken the liberty of smelling my own (or anyone else's) semen (I'm not really into that kind of thing), so I wouldn't know. Girls have never remarked on the smell, either. As for taste, apparently, what you eat can affect it, so this may be relevant. KägeTorä - (_虎) (Chin Wag) 08:29, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I've tried my own. If that makes me gayer than giving myself a handjob, so be it. And if trying it a few times to know if it gets better and worse (it does) makes me a scientist, I guess I'm a scientist. Like Stephen Baldwin. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:50, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

Not to be confused with Stephen Baldwin. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:52, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

A scientist would keep detailed records. Have you? ―Mandruss ☎ 08:54, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm not Hans Christian Andersen or anything. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:56, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

Speaking of science, here are some psychological nutrition facts. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:55, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

January 29

Mystery Object

What is the thing on the left? --Viennese Waltz 08:04, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Spork and a melon baller, I'd say. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:19, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

I like the melon baller but I'm not sure about the spork. Those aren't fork tines at the top end, they don't stick out. They're like grooves or ridges, it's a corrugated effect. --Viennese Waltz 08:51, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

"Melon spoon" gets similar Google Images. Not sure why you'd need a baller and a spoon, but then, I'd use a fork. InedibleHulk (talk) 09:11, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

I believe that it produces fluted curls of melon, rather than balls (sorry, I couldn't find a picture). There's a similar widget for butter - see File:Butter curls.jpg. Alansplodge (talk) 10:29, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

There's also the butter spreader. If anyone ever needed one. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:32, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

What's the point of a nine thousand year lease?

I'm currently sorting out my late mother's estate, and have been looking through the deeds of her house. The parcel of land the house was built on was leased to the man who built it in 1932, for a period of nine thousand five hundred years, with an annual ground rent of £10. Every time the house has been sold, the lease has been assigned to the new owner. The ground rent has not increased in that time (£10 a year would have been a significant sum of money in 1932, but is a peppercorn now), and I've found no record of my mum ever paying it, or even who it would be paid to after all this time. But why on earth would anyone find it necessary to set a lease length of nine and a half thousand years? --Nicknack009 (talk) 11:48, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm no lawyer, but I think I've heard that sometimes some kind of restrictive covenant prevents freehold sales of land. --Dweller (talk) 12:09, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

If you don't pay the nickel each month (or whatever the lease says), the landlord (or his grandkid) can repossess the land, which, conveniently enough, now has a house (or large brewery) on it. And now we're talking future dollars. At least that's how I understand things work in Baltimore, per ground rent. Here's the UK legislation on that sort of thing. Lots of rules about needing notice, seems unlikely you'll be swooped down upon. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:26, January 29, 2015 (UTC)

The land was effectively sold sans "freehold rights". In some places, the right to vote was restricted to freeholders. All I can think of quickly <g>. Collect (talk) 12:35, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Don't think that was relevant in 1932. A landowner collecting £10 a year ground rent in 1932 was assuring himself of some income. If the lease is long enough he can collect it indefinitely, and so can his children (unless they've failed to account for inflation). But does anybody really need to guarantee that income for nine thousand years? Surely a few hundred would be more than enough. --Nicknack009 (talk) 13:39, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Enough for the current generation. No harm in doing something nice for the descendants you'll never meet. They're still family.

And there are still many breakthroughs to be made regarding immortality. Wouldn't you feel a bit stupid if you thawed out (or whatever) just to find you'd lost prime land (or all your land) through shortsightedness? Better to err on the side of caution, if someone's willing to sign. InedibleHulk (talk) 10:25, January 30, 2015 (UTC)

It's sort of like how social media data agreements give firms dibs on anything you upload "irrevocably" and "perpetually". They probably won't need it forever, but maybe. InedibleHulk (talk) 10:29, January 30, 2015 (UTC)

I'm not certain, but I think the following is probably relevant. Centuries ago, the legal mechanisms associated with real property became some cumbersome that the practice grew up of inventing a fictitious owner and a lease from that owner, so that the title (which was in practice to the freehold) could be treated in law as a lease: see ejectment. I believe it was the Common Law Procedure Act 1852 that changed this, but leases were not necessarily converted to freehold until much later: I own a property that was leased in 1707 for 500 years, and changed hands several times after 1852 before being converted by a Deed of Enlargement into an estate of fee simple in 1919. My guess would be that the 9500 years was the remainder of a previous lease that dated to before 1852. --ColinFine (talk) 17:42, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

References

1. Megarry, Robert; Wade, William. The Law of Real Property., section 4-024

(edit conflict) The Thousand-Year Lease tries to explain the puzzle, but I'm not sure that I really understand the answer. It seems to hinge on the landlord and his/her descendants being able to keep some control of how the land is used. R.I.P. Ultra-Long Leases mentions the town of Paisley in Scotland, which "can boast (if that term be apt) 11 leases granted for a million years".

The article lists the disadvantages (presumably for the tenant, which may be advantages for the landlord!) of ultra-long leases as follows: (i) they tend to beget subleases which can become needlessly complex; (ii) they may be vulnerable to the landlord terminating them without the tenant’s consent for a breach of the terms of the lease – such as non-payment of rent; (iii) they may allow for an inappropriate degree of control by the landlord in relation to things like permitted uses of the property; and (iv) they may allow a landlord to extract a payment from the tenant in exchange for the landlord’s not insisting on particular conditions in the lease. Just as important perhaps as those practical reasons is the fact that ownership of land in Scotland was, until 2000, largely “feudal”: in other words land tenure was, essentially, hierarchical. That was swept away by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure (Scotland) Act 2000 ". In other words, people just want to keep the land in the family for prestige purpose, even if they have no direct control over it.

The article goes on to say that "Since 2000 it has no longer been possible to grant any type of lease for more than 175 years" (in Scotland that is). Alansplodge (talk) 17:49, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Depending on where it is, a rule against perpetuities may eventually kick in, typically after 120 years or so. 50.0.205.75 (talk) 02:45, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

Could someone explain the math behind this musical concept ?

Someone once told me: "The circle of fifths - C increased by a fifth is G; G increased by a fifth is D; D increased by a fifth is A; A increased by a fifth is E; E increased by a fifth is B; B increased by a fifth is F#; F# inceased by a fifth is C#; C# increased by a fifth is G#; G# increased by a fifth is D#; D# increased by a fifth is A#; A# increased by a fifth is F; F increased by a fifth is C - produces the 12 notes of the octave."

How is this expressed with math, how is this exactly found?
PS: I already know the formula to 12 tone equal temperament. 440*2^(2/12). The fact that octave (on our 12tet) is 2x.
Posting this here on miscellaneous because its a mix or math and music subject. 201.78.189.0 (talk) 14:50, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

A Perfect fifth is a frequency ratio of 3:2 This means that the frequency is increased by 50% going from C to G, and another 50% going from G to D and so on. The complete circle has twelve such increases. Now 1.5 to the power of 12 is 129.7463 so a complete circle of perfect fifths would represent an increase in frequency of almost 12,975%. An octave represents a doubling of the frequency, so seven octaves (from almost the lowest note to nearly the highest on a piano) represents an increase of 2 to the power of 7 which is 128 (i.e. 12,800%). A perfect circle of fifths would give slightly more than seven octaves (1.36% too much) so piano tuners slightly flatten the fifths to give perfect octaves. There is a much better explanation at Circle of fifths. Dbfirs 14:10, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Start with Musical_tuning#Systems_for_the_twelve-note_chromatic_scale which explains some of the math involved. Technically speaking, the circle of fifths only works under systems of Musical temperament which adjust perfect just intonation so that the notes of the octave cycle back properly. You can read any of those articles, or follow links, to see how the math works. --Jayron32 14:14, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I am reading those articles and still not finding or not understanding the math. Lets imagine we hade 3 tone equal temperament and instead of perfect fifith we have 1.618. What would be the note symbol order?201.78.189.0 (talk) 16:27, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Sorry, your last question doesn't make any sense to me. The twelfth power of 1.5 is very close to the seventh power of 2, and if you divide each member of the finite series 1.5, 2.25, 3.375 ... by a suitable power of 2 to bring it within the range (in musical terms, move them to the fundamental octave) they are all reasonably close to the powers of 2 ^ (1/12), though some are closer than others. What is it you don't understand? --ColinFine (talk) 17:50, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Its not miscalculation, the number 1.5 is used to make the 12 tone equal temperament (at least to select the note order number, what will have flat or not, how many letters without flats or sharps we will have...). I was just asking how the thing would work if we had 3 tones instead of 12 and 1.618 instead of 1.5. I made that expecting people to answer what the note order would be in this case, by showing how they calculated it to this alternate tuning I would be able to discover how it is done.

(edit conflict)In the normal equal tempered scale, an octave is divided into twelve intervals, so each semitone represents a frequency ratio of the twelfth root of two (that's 1.0594630943593 or about a 6% increase in frequency). When you ask about a 3-tone equal temperament, do you mean just three notes in an octave? If so, then the ratio would be the cube root of two (about a 26% increase for each interval). Alternatively, do you mean tuning in Major thirds? That's four semitones, so the sequence would be C to E to G♯ to B♯. There is the same problem here of a mismatch because a perfect third is a ratio of 5:4 (a 25% increase) whereas the equal tempered third is almost 26%. Dbfirs 17:52, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict)I am asking/mean the tuning: 3 tones equal temperament, that uses still use octave (2x), but instead of using 1.5 to do the maths, it use 1.618

201.78.189.0 (talk) 18:01, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the OP is wondering what the note symbols would be if we used slightly different systems? The answer is: the same systems. The 12 notes are still the same 12 notes (A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G#), the distinction is the exact relationship between the 12 notes. Under any two intonation/temperament systems, the notes other than the root will be a tiny bit different from each other from one system to the other. --Jayron32 17:57, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Where are you getting 1.618 (the Golden Ratio)? We have an article on Musical tuning. For tuning in fifths, you might like to read Pythagorean tuning. Dbfirs 18:03, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I said 1.618 (with 3 tone equal temperament and octave), just as a different way to ask the question, since I was not able to find the math concept, on the said articles (or didnt understood them), I was expecting, that if people answered hwhat the symbols of 3 tones equal temperament with octave and 1.618 instead of 1.5 are, I would be able to find the math by myself (or people would post it while solving the problem). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.78.151.47 (talk) 18:53, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

... but why choose 1.618 ? It wouldn't sound tuneful, and you couldn't get an octave, so the tuning wouldn't work. Only simple ratios such as 2:1 , 3:2 , 5:4 etc are considered to be pleasant intervals in Western music, so early instruments were tuned this way. Perhaps if you study all the articles that people have linked above, you might grasp the maths of tuning, but come back and ask again if there are some bits that you don't understand. Dbfirs 19:19, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry, IP user, but I don't think anybody understands what you're asking. The trouble for me is that I haven't the slightest idea what you mean by "3 tones equal temperament" or what "symbols" you are talking about. I get that you're asking about a "dominant" ratio of 1.618 instead of 1.5, but I don't know why. I observe that the cube of 1.618 is somewhere near 4 (but not very close), so is that what you mean by a "3 tones equal temperament"? --ColinFine (talk) 21:08, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

If there were a musical culture whose most important intervals are 1:2 and 5:8 (rather than 1:2 and 2:3), their tempered scale could indeed have three notes to the octave; log(8/5) is a bit more than two-thirds of log(2). If the notes were named (in order of pitch) P Q R, then the "circle of minor sixths" would go P R Q. —Tamfang (talk) 00:53, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if the OP meant the ratio 1.681825665441... which would give an equal-tempered version of that scale. Dbfirs 12:30, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

While the OP does mention that they understands the ratios, it seems to me that the original question is not actually about the frequency ratios, but about the fact that we get back to C after completing 12 steps. What matters in this case are only two facts:

1. You have 12 steps, which you call C, C#, D, .... B.
2. The next step, after B, gives you a C again. (You may say that this would be an octave above the original C, but since we want to use this for comparing keys, not notes, the octave doesn't matter. A key of C is a key of C, regardless the octave.) Mathematically, this circular behavior is expressed with the modulo operation. Just use 0 for C, 1 for C#, and so on.

Now we can combine the two facts, and get what's called modulo 12. Conveniently, most of us have a device in our homes that does that operation every day - twice: A clock. A jump of a musical fifth corresponds to a clockwise move of the hour hand of 7 hours, or, which is the same thing, a counterclockwise move of 5 hours. You can easily try for yourself that if you repeat these jumps often enough, you will end up where you started. In this case, you have to do 12 such jumps. — Sebastian 05:46, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I agree that's what the OP seems to be asking, but it is impossible to do this with a ratio of 1.618. The OP has never explained whether this is just a miscalculation, or some attempt to link music with the Golden ratio. Dbfirs 08:26, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

The ratios between individual notes don't matter for the question why we get back to C; they only distract from the underlying mathematics. You can use any tuning system for the twelve-note chromatic scale and even some idiosyncratic system based on the golden ratio, and the above two facts still apply. — Sebastian 20:36, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

That's not true. Try your clock analogy with a jump of ${\displaystyle \pi }$ minutes. I agree that you can approximate the octave, but 1.618 doesn't get close within the range of human hearing. Dbfirs 11:15, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

• Howard Goodall's "Big Bangs" series has an excellent 45 minute episode on Equal Temperament. Unfortunately the best link I can find is a very low--audio-quality version at youtube. If you can find this somewhere, it's well worth watching. μηδείς (talk) 22:41, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Or you can read corresponding chapter in the spin-off book . AndrewWTaylor (talk) 18:49, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

35 Battery Royal Artillery

Hello I am a former member of 35 Bty when it was with 25 Regiment. As you will be aware it is the 250th anniversary of the Bty this year. I am told it was formed from the 1stMadras Artillery and a re-organization was ordered in the February of 1765 Unfortunately I cannot find a date that the Bty was formed. Not being very good with computers and researching I was wondering if you could be of any assistance as myself and former 35 Bty members of 25 Regt would like to have a get together and celebrate the 250th Birthday.

Many Thanks

Tony Pearson ( 35 Bty 1971-1978) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.149.229.246 (talk) 20:03, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

I had a good go at it, but couldn't get closer than the year. Perhaps you might try the National Army Museum; it seems to be fairly easy, see their Research Enquiries page and click on "online contact form". You could also try the Royal Artillery Museum; see their page Our Research Policy which has an email address for the librarian at the bottom of the page that you can click. Good luck. Alansplodge (talk) 22:45, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

January 30

Locations listed in background of WWI VAD recruitment poster

Our Voluntary Aid Detachment article includes a WWI recruitment poster File:VAD_poster.jpg. (It's non-free, so I won't embed it here.) In the background of the poster there is a list of locations, presumably where service is needed. On the right I can make out Egypt, Mesopotamia, Holland, Switzerland, and Russia, and on the left France, Italy, Malta, Gibraltar, and then one that starts "Salon...". What is that last location? -- ToE 13:54, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Salonica spring to mind. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 14:09, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Ah! And I see we have the article Salonican Front, a redirect to and alternate name for Macedonian Front. Thanks! -- ToE 14:45, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

(Restored section)

uncontrollably grinding my teeth

Super Collapse 2

Is there world record for highest scores in Super Collapse 2? If there are, can you tell me the world record for TRADITIONAL, RELAPSE, and STRATEGY? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 19:38, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

I think what you want is HERE...but I don't see it broken out by those three modes. SteveBaker (talk) 05:40, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

January 31

How do you set up an office at a new location?

A business sometimes needs to set up an office at a new location where it didn't have a presence before. It'll probably be someone in upper management who is given the task. I've never been involved in a project like that (and I'm not involved in one), but I imagine that quite a varied bit of expertise and local knowledge is involved. Among the tasks I can think of:

• finding a suitable office space at a good location
• finding providers for various supplies and services (telecom, cleaning, coffee, office supplies, ...; maybe banking, legal, & accounting as well)
• coming up with floor plan(s) for the office space, and hire contractors to build/modify the space according to the plans
• furnishing/equipping the office
• complying with applicable laws (permits, inspections, registrations, certifications, various filings)
• staffing the office by recruiting from the local labor market

On top of doing all these, the project probably needs to be done reasonably quickly.

If the company is large, I can imagine hiring all kinds of consultants to help with the project. But if the company is not very big, how can the executive tasked with the project know how to do all those things? Do business schools teach how to handle practical matters like the above? Is there a kind of consultants that specialize in this kind of projects? Am I imagining it to be more complicated than it really is? How is it usually done? -173.49.17.60 (talk) 14:29, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

Facilities management is the appropriate discipline, and there are consultants which specialize in it. That being said, the tasks you list shouldn't really be beyond the competence of anyone in a management position, and a smaller move probably wouldn't justify getting in a specialist contractor to supervise it. Tevildo (talk) 16:36, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

One shortcut is to rent an office that's more of a turn-key operation. That is, it's already provided with furniture, cubicles, utilities, security, etc. Then, instead of hiring all new staff, you can move some over from other offices. Some of those moves may be permanent, while others are only until the new office is up and running. This gets past the problem of trying to start an office with all new staff. In some cases, there may be enough laid-off employees from previous cut-backs to fully supply the new office from that pool. Presumably those employees would need less training. StuRat (talk) 16:42, 31 January 2015 (UTC)