Welcome to the miscellaneous section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

Select a section:

WP:RD/M

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

How can I get my question answered?

Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

January 27

Contacting Jimmy Wales

wp:deny

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

What are all of the ways for one to contact Jimmy Wales? There's a specific e-mail address for him and I used it but so far I don't think that he has ever actually responded to my e-mail. 172.56.182.234 (talk) 01:12, 27 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Asked and answered on the Humanities desk. Please do not cross post. Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:23, 27 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

January 30

List of all government COI editing

Not appropriate for the reference desk, and carries a risk of editors being outed

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Any individual that works at the government that has edited wikipedia, please list them here. SimpleSubCubicGraph (talk) 00:44, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Which government? HiLo48 (talk) 01:01, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 1

"Muankengap" in German East Africa

I was introgued by a query on the Taxacom mailing list (for discussion for biological taxonomy), asking for the modern name or coordinates of a place called Muankengap:

This was a collecting locality for aquatic invertebrates appearing in several places in a 1910 publication by von Daday on Rotifera and once in a 1911 work by Tollinger and Annunziata on diaptomid copepods. The place seems to have been at a swampy area on the shore of the Nyassa See (Lake Malawi), most likely (?) in what is now Tanzania.

My own searches have proved fruitless. Can anyone do better? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:15, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not yet. I have just found out that the 1911 publication is by Maria Annunziata Tollinger (so not "and"), Ursuline canoness in Innsbruck, cf. this article on her father. Her 1911 work on diaptomids is here, "Muankengap" is referenced on p.46. Of the other places mentioned there, "Wiedhafen" is Manda (Tanzanian ward). I haven't been able to find "Muasik" yet, nor any of the rivers. Tollinger references Eugen von Daday (1908, p.37, 49 and 214), which can be found here, in Hungarian, and apparently not helping much further. It seems that Daday did not travel to German East Africa either, but received samples from correspondents. There are numbers following the localities (21 or 22 for Muankengap), but I couldn't find an explanation for these. --Wrongfilter (talk) 14:13, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not easy. My best guess so far (based on looking around the lake on some maps) is Mwamgongo, but I couldn't find any actual evidence. —Kusma (talk) 14:44, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Mwangongo is phonetically promising, but on the map it lies on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. ‑‑Lambiam 20:26, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oops, the lakes look too similar when you don't know them. —Kusma (talk) 20:45, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Daday's 1910 magnum opus, Untersuchungen über die Süßwasser-Mikrofauna Deutsch-Ost-Afrikas (E. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart), mentions Muankengap 32 times, but all after the first one refer to the first, in a list of sites: "90. Sumpf nahe dem Nyassa bei Muankengap. 1899, 25. Apr."^[1] The next item is the only site sampled on the same date: "91. Sumpf nahe dem Nyassa bei Muasik. 1899, 25. Apr.", so it is reasonable to think that Muankengap and Muasik are not far apart. I think Nyassa refers to Lake Malawi, aka Lake Nyassa, but I see no other clues for the precise location. ‑‑Lambiam 20:21, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(ec)The Hungarian source says "tócsa a Nyassa-tó közelében", google translates that as "puddle near Lake Nyassa". DuncanHill (talk) 20:23, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This apparently refers to the same water sample as Daday (although dated 24 April) and calls the locality "Muankenya". This in turn leads me to this which refers to a census of huts near Muankenya im Bezirke des unteren Lufirio (in the district of the lower Lufirio). That should be the Lufilyo River which enters Lake Malawi/Nyassa at its northernmost tip (actually marked Lufirio on this map. --Wrongfilter (talk) 22:12, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Finally, the first map in this blog entry, hand-drawn by a missionary, shows a place named "Mankendyas" near the mouth of the Lufira. Obviously there was a lot of variation in the transcription of local place names. --Wrongfilter (talk) 23:09, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, all. Excellent work! I have made a Wikidata item, Muankenya (Q132032147), capturing the scant information we have on the place, including estimated coordinates; please feel free to add to it Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:55, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have a question about the fantasy movie called Legend_(1985_film)

In the 1985 fantasy Tom Cruise movie called Legend_(1985_film), were real White_horses used on set with the scenes with the Unicorns? 173.180.228.11 (talk) 20:26, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As anyone who ever sat a horse knows, they are called greys, so technically, no. MinorProphet (talk)

And as anyone who ever read our article knows, there really are white horses. However, the ones used in the film are indeed "greys": their skin is clearly dark rather than pinkish. Matt Deres (talk) 17:37, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I believe the question is asking if it is computer effects or real horses. It is real horses with rubber horns. The horns visibly wobble as the horses move. It is rather unconvincing. There are many other poor special effects, such as the flying fairy which is clearly a light bulb on a string. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 14:12, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 2

Airports in Europe gateway to different continents

Miami International Airport has been dubbed as gateway to Latin America for American Airlines. What about airports in Europe? Have they been dubbed as gateway to Africa, Asia or Atlantic Ocean? --Donmust90-- Donmust90 (talk) 02:53, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Geography would seem to dictate no. There are too many European airports for too much Africa. Ditto for Asia. As for the Atlantic, there aren't a lot of people booking flights to Atlantis. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:21, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Istanbul Airport (and its recently closed predecessor) is the main airport for the western end of Asiatic Turkey, including the Asian parts of Istanbul itself. It's also a transit hub for many Europeans wanting to reach parts of Asia and Africa. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:51, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"[ Croydon Airport ] was once the gateway to Europe" ^[1] -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 19:37, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Best of luck trying to buy a ticket to get you to the Atlantic Ocean. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:44, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Now you've got me thinking of this incident. Or for that matter this journey, which was not a passenger flight but did involve multiple landings on the Atlantic. --142.112.149.206 (talk) 21:55, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Shannon Airport on the west coast of Ireland was once Europe's gateway to America (and vice versa), in an era when aircraft didn't have as much range and needed to stop to refuel before crossing the Atlantic. As a neutral, non-NATO nation, it was also a place during the Cold War where both Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc planes could land and passengers could transfer. If a Russian got permission to visit America or vice versa, it would probably involve a change at Shannon. Both concerns are long gone, and Shannon is struggling for a purpose now, although it still has US customs pre-clearance and a dedicated US Border Protection presence. Smurrayinchester 11:11, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I heard once that flights from Heathrow and/or Gatwick to America would refuel at Shannon because, if they carried enough fuel for America, they were too heavy for London's shorter runways. —Tamfang (talk) 21:41, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Gateways to some continent, not really, although some hub airports are better connected to some continents than other hubs. For both geographical and linguistic reasons, Madrid has always been pretty big on routes to South America. As Congo was a Belgian colony, Brussels developed into a kind of gateway to Central Africa, despite being a smaller airport. Thanks to an open skies treaty between the US and the Netherlands, Amsterdam became for a while a gateway to North America. It's still one the main hubs in Europe and well connected to the US. For geographical reasons, Helsinki tried to become a gateway to East Asia and Keflavík to North America, but those weren't very successful. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:26, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

According to AENA, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport is a true bridge rather than a mere gateway:

The airport has been consolidated as a hub airport where airlines can increase connectivity between Latin American, domestic and European markets. Making it a true bridge between Europe and Latin America.

--Error (talk) 17:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not an airport, but still allegedly a gateway. Chuntuk (talk) 12:02, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, yes. "An age-old city, half as gold as green". {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.7.205.116 (talk) 03:41, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"A rose-red city, ...".^[2] ‑‑Lambiam 05:34, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Noble, Will (4 September 2024). "This airport was once the gateway to Europe. Now no one's heard of it". CNN Travel. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

I think the problem is the comparison in the question. It states that Miami is the gateway for American Airlines. It didn't state that Miami is the gateway for all airlines. The comparison must be an airline/city combination in Europe, for which there are many. If you are flying Finnair, the gateway is surely Helsinki Airport. If you are flying British Airways, it would be London-Heathrow. KLM would be Amsterdam. But, there is more to it. American Airlines, like most airlines, uses a hub and spoke system. They have a major hub in Dallas-Fort Worth and a minor hub in Charlotte. Miami is a secondary hub (or a tertiary one after Charlotte). So, it is noted that it is a hub primarily for Central and South American flights. Using that information, do any European airlines have a secondary hub specifically for another continent (ignoring that Central America is the same continent as Miami). That gets hard because an airline like KLM has a secondary hub in Frankfurt, but that hub doesn't service anything that the main hub in Amsterdam doesn't service. It is just an extra hub. So, this question quickly becomes very difficult to answer and, once answered, the airline will probably close the extra hub to consolidate and save money. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 19:05, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well... Most airlines in Europe are either cheap airlines for holiday traffic, using a point-to-point model, or charters, so no real hubs, or they are the traditional flag carriers, with strong ties to one country (some exceptions, like Scandinavian Airlines), giving very limited opportunities for multiple hubs. Many countries only have one big airport. That changes when you don't consider individual airlines, operating under one brand, but airline conglomerates, like Air France-KLM-Hop-Transavia (I may forget some) or International Airlines Group, or even entire alliances. PiusImpavidus (talk) 21:05, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 4

Mary McNeil Fenollosa

Our article on Mary McNeil Fenollosa is currently located at Sidney McCall. This is because she was involved in a controversy in the late 19th, early 20th century that led her to use a pseudonym for her fictional work, but it became known who she was fairly soon. Over time, she would switch back between the two names. For whatever reason that I can tell, modern scholarship now refers to her as Mary McNeill Fenollosa and to her pseudonym secondarily, which appears to be a reversal of how she was referred to a century ago. How should Wikipedia name her article? Viriditas (talk) 01:26, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Given that she started as Mary McNeill, dropped an 'l', then became Mary McNeil (not McNeill) Fenollosa, and that the name Sydney McCall is likely the only one known to many laypersons (our primary readership?), I think it would be simplest to keep the title plus the three redirects (Mary McNeill, Mary McNeil Fenollosa and Mary McNeill Fenollosa) and one hatnote (on the article for the politician Mary McNeil) as they are.

If we switch to her final name, we might need to elaborate the hatnote on the politician's article for those who don't know it.

Thank goodness she didn't use her first husband's name Scott professionally as well! (Or did she? This refers to her as both Mary McNeil Scott and Mary McNeil Scott Fellonosa!) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.7.205.116 (talk) 03:44, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for considering my proposal. Viriditas (talk) 01:06, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 8

Trump's sanctions on the ICC

While I understand US sanctions against some countries, I wonder is it even legal to sanction International Criminal Court and enforce such sanctioning orders? What framework in the US formally allows to sanction the global institutions of such magnitude? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 18:55, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The executive order signed by Trump cites the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, as the legal basis of his authority.^[3] An appeal to the National Emergencies Act requires that the President declares a national emergency with respect to the "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States" posed by actions of the ICC targeting America and Israel. (As far as I'm aware, the court has only targeted Israeli individuals.) In the executive order, the President has actually declared such a national emergency. Whether the actions of the ICC truly pose an unusual and extraordinary threat cannot be objectively decided. Although there is at least an effort to create the appearance of legality, something tells me that legality is not a prime consideration of this administration. The Trump administration is perhaps not that exceptional in this respect; countless wars have been initiated by presidential order,^[4] circumventing the War Powers Clause simply by not calling the war a "war". The US is also not exceptional in this respect; many other countries have used a fancy name like "special police action" for waging war on foreign soil.

Apart from legality within the legal framework of the US, there is also the question of the legality of sanctions in the framework of international law, for which I refer to this article. ‑‑Lambiam 20:06, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(ec)Trump taking any kind of action against anything is not guaranteed to stand up in the US court system. As to the ICC, one thing he could try to do is stop any US funding of that court. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:08, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Still, I hope the Wikimedia Foundation has a plan in place for the contingency that all Wikimedia operations (including the servers) in the US are ~~seized~~ ceased, in addition to relying on the US court system. ‑‑Lambiam 07:56, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Might have to resort to smoke signals. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:26, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We would have to persuade the native Americans to teach them to the immigrants first. Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:17, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Somber thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 10:57, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The United States has never recognized the ICC and does not fund the ICC. So, how would it be a threat to stop funding that does not exist? Further, how is a santion to refuse entry to the United States to an organization that has never been recognized as an authority by the United States suddenly a threat to Wikipedia? This is supposed to be an intelligent reference desk, not a Facebook echo chamber. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 21:08, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have no Facebook account and am not aware of discussions there, but cannot shake off the feeling that recent developments have some obvious precedents, like the methods used by the Orbán administration, much of which aimed to achieve Gleichschaltung. ‑‑Lambiam 21:53, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Your answer was a good attempt to answer the question. That wasn't the issue. After your answer, there is a claim that Trump will block US funding for the ICC, but the US does not and never has funded the ICC. So, would the author have the guts to step up and correct the answer? Of course not. Then, there is the claim that refusing to allow the ICC to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel on U.S. soil is somehow going to shut down Wikipedia. That makes no sense. Would that author be willing to correct that answer? Of course not. Then, when called out on such blatant nonsense, there is a rush to Godwin's law. I find it very disappointing. Perhaps we need to change the header on the Reference Desk. We do not make predictions except we will answer every question, regardless of the topic, with the claim that it will somehow result in Trump shutting down Wikipedia because Hitler. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 11:35, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 9

Is displaying phase information on an audio spectrum analyzer useful?

Like this and this where phase information is displayed as different colors. 2001:448A:3070:E573:5D44:3301:1481:FE0F (talk) 14:56, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There is audio phase modulation to consider; see OOPS (stereo) for example. --136.56.165.118 (talk) 15:59, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yep but it is not related to phase part of FFT algorithm, which is necessary for reconstruction of audio signals from spectrogram but I'm curious about displaying the phase part of FFT spectrum. 2001:448A:3070:E573:5D44:3301:1481:FE0F (talk) 18:31, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That FFT article mentions its inverse (IDFT), presumably its inverse phase. —136.56.165.118 (talk) 19:01, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's true but what I meant is visualizing the phase information actually useful and not give you a photosensitive epilepsy? As the inverse FFT is only used on audio processing in terms of spectral processing not analysis. 2001:448A:3070:E573:5D44:3301:1481:FE0F (talk) 07:31, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Let's say you mixed two or more audio signals and it doesn't sound right; you might want to analyze the phase relationships. Phase information also helps identify time-domain issues like misaligned crossovers or reflections that cannot be corrected with EQ alone. It can be useful for aligning loudspeakers or optimizing PA systems. See also: Sine waves, phase and interference. Also see also: Bode phase plot. --136.56.165.118 (talk) 08:48, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The phase information obtained by DFT or FFT analysis of sound is essential information for modelling an audio band communication channel or for analyzing room acoustics. Without phase information one cannot distinguish between amplitude-frequency nonlinearity caused by a time-invariant transfer function or caused by time delayed reflection(s) that are a subject for audio time delay reflectometry. Important requirements for the recording hardware that collects data for these analyses later are adequate dynamic range shown by input amplification/attenuation and the effective number of bits analog-to-digital conversion, adequate sampling rate and adequate time sequence memory. There may be no more need for real-time display than a minimum display to show when recording is in progress. However the OP who may not be interested in objective analysis asks about usefulness of phase in a real-time spectrogram display. There is subjective "educational" value in a phase visualisation because our hearing responds with well known characteristic to sound amplitude but is almost "blind" to phase in isolation. Smoothness or roughness of phase variation with frequency serves a qualitative hint at the kind of distortion occurring; this might prove helpful when positioning a microphone in a hall. We cannot speculate on this desk about usefulness of spectrograms as entertainment in video games, nor advise about deliberate or accidental triggering of epileptic seizure (PSE). Philvoids (talk) 12:18, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

West Indies Policing

After fourteen seasons, it has just emerged that Selwyn Patterson, the Commissioner of Police on the fictional island of Ste Marie, in the series Death in Paradise, has a superior, a Chief Commissoner, who is based in Jamaica. I see that Jamaica has its own police force, as do British dependencies such as Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. So is there in reality a pan-British West Indies police administration, that can order the appointment or dismissal of local police personnel?- Rojomoke (talk) 22:05, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The country Jamaica consists of a main island, also named "Jamaica", and several small islands and islets, such as Pigeon Island, Salt Island, Dolphin Island, Long Island, Great Goat Island, Little Goat Island, Lime Cay, Morant Cays, Pedro Cays, and Port Royal Cays. (Some of these are actually themselves an island group.) Of these, Lime Cay has a popular beach; the islet is said to be a regular hotspot for post-party-goers and often swarmed with boats, music and socialites during holiday season (Summer and Christmas) weekends. Perhaps Ste Marie is a similar island in the Jamaica island group. ‑‑Lambiam 11:22, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

February 10

Pseudophedrine packaging

Question is about pill packaging, not medical per se. OTC seasonal allergy med. Does anyone know whether this stuff is sold as loose pills in a bottle? I've been getting it in those foil packs where each pill is sealed in plastic and it's a nuisance to do that, especially since I like to have a few pills on hand wherever, just in case. If the pills are sold in bottles then I guess it is safe to take them out of the foil packs, if I can't find a place to buy the bottles. Thanks. 2601:644:8581:75B0:0:0:0:2D6 (talk) 04:54, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Have you asked your pharmacist? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:06, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I see this. (They state they are "licensed to ship nationwide", but forgot to state which nation.) ‑‑Lambiam 09:36, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If purchasing without a prescription in the United States, the maximum quantity you can legally purchase is so low that it is not viable to use bottle-based packaging. (This describes why it isn't available.) If you have a prescription, you can get a 30-day supply at higher dose. However, none of the NDC codes currently in use for pseudophedrine that I examined indicate bottle-based packaging. All that I examined are box-based, which would include the foil-sided sheet of pills. I did find two liquid forms that do come in a bottle, but it appears you want pills, not liquid. There are 475 NDC listings and I did not examine all of them. Further, having an NDC code does not mean that the pill, in that packaging, is available without a prescription. You can search all available legal United States packagings here. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 13:17, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Noble, Will (4 September 2024). "This airport was once the gateway to Europe. Now no one's heard of it". CNN Travel. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

[1]