Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2006 August 27

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Does beer have alcohol in it?

Does anyone know?

"Beer is one of the world's oldest alcoholic beverages." This is first line in Beer. Please use Search before asking questions. Shinhan 09:44, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

BC, AD, BCE

In reguards to time lines I know what BC and AD are. What is BCE?

Before the Christian Era - a politically correct way of saying BC. --Richardrj 01:04, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Before Common Era, see Common Era. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 01:33, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Nothing politically correct about it. It is still based on christianity. The name is just changed. But even if you'd use the alleged birthyear of Jesus as a reference, it would make more scientific sense to make that the year zero (which is now odddly lacking) and referring to other years as, say, -42 and +42 (the latter could also be simply '42'). To make clear you're talking about years, you could make that y-42 and y42 (as in y2k for the year 2000). So this year would then be y2006. The unit time is a real mess - for more examples see the 'time' section on my talk page. DirkvdM 09:12, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Our article states that one of the arguments for using the BCE/CE system cited by its supporters is that the calendar "should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity", which sounds like political correctness to me. --Richardrj 09:50, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

• Dirk's point is that changing the name makes no difference if the point of reference is still Christ's birthday. And that's basically my beef with the CE/BCE reference. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:16, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Except that the connection to Christ's birthday has been lost. The Christian Era was set up based on the supposed year of his birth. They got it wrong, but that doesn't matter anymore. It's now called the Common Era because it's the era that has de facto come to be accepted and it's the system widely used throughout the world, regardless of religious belief. Whatever its historical origin may have been, and whether it was correct or not in pinpointing JC's birth year, are now irrelevant. Hence the name change from Christian Era to Common Era. JackofOz 01:48, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

But the abbreviation is still 'CE'. Is that a coincidence? And why use two different abbreviatons? Why not CE or whatever for the years after and before the year zero? Anyway, if this is about worldwide adoption, then which abbreviation is used in English is fairly irrelevant. Not even the Dutch will be likely to adopt that. Something more international has to be chosen. Maybe 'A' for annum (Latin)? So something like A-42. (Of course one shouldn't confuse the year four with a paper size, but that is not likely to happen). DirkvdM 07:11, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I think you're confusing world-wide adoption of a system (which is a fait accompli) with the names for that system in various languages. Eg. the International Date Line is recognised throughout the world, but its name varies depending on which language you happen to be speaking. JackofOz 04:42, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

The same goes for the word 'table'. But not for units (at least not SI units). It's a simple abbreviation and while it is not strictly necessary to use the same one wordlwide, it would be something to strive for. DirkvdM 05:19, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Citing in MLA format

I have a book on CD. Do I cite this as a book, or as a CD? Danke. ¡70.56.173.52 02:36, 27 August 2006 (UTC)!

You cite it like a normal book but add a description of the publication media:

Braunmuller, A. R., ed. Macbeth. By William Shakespeare. CD-ROM. New York: Voyager, 1994. —Wayward ^Talk 03:05, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Classics In Nonwestern Universities?

Are there Classics in nonwestern universities? If so, would, say, Chinese universities study Confuncious's writings & his students, like for example, Mencius, instead? An answer on my talk page would nice, thanks!100110100 03:23, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Alsao posted at the Humanities desk (which may be more suitable). --Lambiam^Talk 10:41, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Work at home websites

Iam told that there are several websites which offer you money if you do their jobs. I have very basic skills in computers though I would be able to handle research related work. Can anyone tell me whether thare are any Indian web sites which offer such work and pay reasonably for the work done? sumal 05:46, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Minimal age to start a business in Australia

Could anyone tell me what is the minimal age to start a business in Australia. I'm 15 and wish to start a computer fixing business. I don't wona do anything against the law so will someone please help me! Thanks for any help given. jeremy

I once saw a series about millionaires on the BBC. One kid of also around 15 did all his business through the phone and his parents kept his money in safekeeping for him, saying he hadn't a clue how rich he was. So he did do business. I just don't know the legal construct. Now this was about the UK, but I can imagine that in most places there will be laws about the age of employees. But if you work for yourself there will probably be no problem. I suppose the best place to ask would be the chamber of commerce. DirkvdM 09:51, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi Jeremy, congrats on your plan. I'm from Canada and we may do some things differently than in Australia, but I'll tell you what you'd need if you were here in Canada, and it'll give you a start anyways.

• First, know this; if your business is small you might be able to do without any documentation, kind of like babysitting or mowing people's lawns. Just declare the income under 'other income' at tax time.
• A lot of independent business operators need business licenses. There is probably an age restriction on that, but I don't know if you'd need one for your type of business. In Canada, you apply to your municipality (city hall) for business licenses.
• In Canada, if you are providing a particular service in excess of $20,000 a year, you need to register with the Goods and Services Tax department, and get a tax number. I don't know if Australia has something similar? It's like the European VAT. I don't think there's a minimum age, but you'd need a Social Insurance Number in order to register.
• If you are selling computer parts, in Canada you'd need to apply for a Provincial Sales Tax number, which covers manufactured goods. I don't know if there's an age limit for that, but I doubt it. In Canada, we have two separate sales taxes, don't know if it's the same in Australia.
• Larger businesses need to register as companies. There are different ways of doing it depending on the size of the business. Sole proprietorship is for small, home-based businesses like computer servicing, accounting services, etc. It's for self-employed people. Limited partnerships and incorporation are for larger enterprises, I wouldn't worry about those yet. For a sole proprietorship, there might not be a minimum age, but if there is it's probably 16.
• If people are coming to your home to drop off or pick up computers, you will need to check with your parents with regards to their house insurance, because they may need extra coverage.

Hope that helps. Anchoress 17:17, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, don't accept any Dell laptops! --Zeizmic 22:19, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

You may want to start by placing an advert on [[1]], offering to fix PCs for a price. People will generally bring their PCs to you, and you can see if you're genuinely interested in starting. Pesapluvo

Ancient women

Did they shave? -Wjlkgnsfb 16:09, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Undoubtedly. Some of them still do. See shaving#history. --Shantavira 16:53, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

If they still do, they must be really ancient by now. --Lambiam^Talk 22:02, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure some did and most didn't. Shaving is a cultural thing, so the answer varies from culture to culture and time period to time period. I think the modern Western trend to remove all armpit and leg hair peaked in the 1950's but is still very common, and in maybe the last ten years there seems to be a substantial proportion of Western (especially US) women who remove most or all of their pubic hair. I think this would have been very unusual in earlier generations.-gadfium 22:23, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Where? And where? (I mean both geographically and bodily). DirkvdM 07:15, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I would imagine in the bathroom, but again the location probably varies according to culture.-gadfium 08:56, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

How ancient are we talking about here? Did the people in the stone age shave? =D Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 11:12, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes the barber worked with a little flint and plenty of band aids. -- DLL ^{.. T} 19:01, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Don't joke - I did a night class in prehistory, and when we discussed microliths I asked if you could shave with one, and the teacher confirmed you could. Flint apparently can take a sharper blade than steel - steel's big advantage is its lightness and shapeability. --Nicknack009 22:30, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

YTV Airing Pokemon this fall 2006?

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've been trying to find this out for the past month, and so far, i've found nothing. Can anyone tell me if YTV will be airing the new Season 9 of Pokemon "Pokemon Battle Frontier"? Please I would be very grateful for this to be answer! Thank you

Sense

I noticed the Sense article only has 9 senses on it that humans have. Stephen Fry in an episode of QI said that it was more in the region of 33 after the guests had all answered in the common mistruth that there are five, some of the ones he noted that arent on the list are a sense of hunger, and a sense of tiredness. Does anyone know where there is a complete list. Philc _T^E_C^I 21:31, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

The article points out that: "There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to exactly how many senses there are, because of differing definitions of a sense." And: "depending on the chosen method of classification, somewhere between 9 and 21 human senses have been identified. In addition, there are some other candidate physiological experiences which may or may not fall within the above classification (for example the sensory awareness of hunger and thirst)." (my emphasis) So the question is: In what sense would such a list be complete? Many of the senses mentioned in the article can be differentiated, split into further refinements. Under "Sight" the article mentions that neuroanatomists generally regard it as two senses. The article gives several further examples. An example not given: the sensation of being touched is difference from itching. Does that mean "Itching" should be listed as a sense? If you stretch the definition enough, you can probably come up with even more than 33 "senses", but what is the point? --Lambiam^Talk 21:58, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I was not meaning to dig at the article like that, but do you (or does anyone) know where there is a list covering all of the sense including things like hunger etc. but without splitting them and becoming pinickity (so it covers all sense but not necesarily individually). Cheers. Philc _T^E_C^I 22:53, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Song in Kill Bill

What is the name of that last song played in the movie Kill Bill Volume 1, when The Bride was riding on the airplane, drawing up the list of people she will kill? Thanks Jamesino 22:41, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure, but here's a link to the list of songs used in Kill Bill vol. 1 -- it will be one of these. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/soundtrack Pesapluvo 01:03, 28 August 2006 (UTC)