A place for factual questions and Ask the Expert threads.
I refer, of course, to deliberative assembly such as the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. Anybody know a specific term for a member of that body?
"I resemble that remark". Is this a joke I just don't get?
I will be visiting Canada soon, and I'm wondering whether UK debit/credit cards can be used in their chip-and-pin capacity in Canada? Are Canadian pins four digits in length, like the UK's? (My card has the Visa logo, so it should be no problem to...
Are cameramen at sporting events told to sweep the crowd looking for good looking women? I imagine it's quite popular with viewers, so they may get told specifically to do it (after all, they're pointing away from where the real attraction is, when...
This should be a very short thread. The only thing I can think of is bastard, and that still refers to the aftermath of a bodily function.
Yesterday at the self-service car wash I heard someone shout "Excuse Me!" and when I looked over, she was waving some sort of sign from her car. She turned it over and I only saw one side of it. All it said was "Thanks," with a smiley face. Then...
I will be holidaying with my family this summer in Orlando, we have been before but this time we are in self catering accommodation. I like Weetabix for breakfast, will I be able to get some and where should I shop for it ? I will accept similar...
After reading one of the other threads on this board, I had the following questions, I thought this knowledge would be useful before jumping into a debate (or planning my summer vacation - j/k :tongue: :tongue: ) What is the youngest age of...
The NSFW tag works like the spoiler and Image tags together. So NSFW images are hidden until manually revealed. Here is the problem, the Image itself still downloads automatically to the computer by default and could cause issues for some people...
I do love me some deco. I've a massive breakfront. Made in the early 1930's in Germany by my grandparents, soon after they wed. I've other Deco pieces as well. Forget the veneers, shaping them is easy. But a lot of these are quite thick wooden...
I'm currently halfway through reading The Three Musketeers. Dumas seems to imply that dueling was extremely common as an activity, and all gentlemen were perpetually on guard against attacks on their honour by being easily provoked into drawing...
There's a yardstick people toss out periodically, which states an approximation of the doubling of human knowledge over time. It lumps together all books written prior to, I think, 1 AD and calls that "one." Based on their metrics, it didn't...
Or, well, they're not, I don't think - I'm having sinus trouble and sinus headaches, but my job makes it a lot worse. I'm a librarian, I stare at a screen all day. There's really not a way to not stare at a screen all day and remain employed. Is...
I have a feeling that I have seen a product where a sheet of 'special' perspex which is illuminated along an edge, can then illuminate the contact surface of an object placed on the sheet. For example this perspex sheet could be lying...
I'm not looking to make meth. I'm not looking to avoid getting busted for scoring Sudafed. I'm looking for some behaviors that would make a pharmacist or pharm taech say, "Holy Zeus! That dude's obviously got a meth lab at home and he lives next...
This news report seems to indicate that all the European neo-fascist parties that have gained seats in the parliament are seated together. Is this true? How is seating allocated? The article mentions that UKIP are seated "a few rows forward and...
I have to use IE7 on several computers and I cannot use Google Toolbar. What are some other options? Yes, I really have not bothered to block ads.
So, last night, the BBC decided to clear down the schedules to show the Murray/Wawrinka tennis match in it's entirity moving some programs to BBC2 and delaying the news until it was all over. Do any other TV channels outside the UK do this when...
My knowledge of ancient history is woefully inadequate. I mean, I had the tenth grade "Ancient World" class and another similar course in college, but I guess all the gay porn has pushed those facts out of my mind. I think what I want is information...
So, my sleazebag father died. My brother said it was from old age, but he was 67. I'm curious what the actual cause of death was since if it was anything else, I doubt I'd be told. Brief back story: My father was a child molester extraordinaire,...
I'm off to Canada at the end of this month. My flight isn't direct, and there's a stop in New Jersey. There's quite a large gap between the two flights. As I've always flown direct before, I'm wondering whether travelers always stay in the area...
Why is the main fuel tank on the space shuttle painted the colour that it is? Everything else is white, apart from the large brown external tank. Looking at footage from the shuttle's test space flight, the tank was originally much lighter, almost...
What's the maximal radius it can have? I found a solution larger than the trivial .5, but I can't prove it's optimal.
What is the advantage of a multiplier reel over a spool reel, and why are multiplier reels so often seen in sea fishing? Presumably multiplier reels are somehow better for larger and more powerful fish, but how exactly (this probably ties into why...
Not sure if this'd go here or in JIbba Jabba (since there's no "IMHO" type forum any more). My garbage disposal just gave up the ghost. It's deaddeaddead. Does anyone know of a good brand/model to replace it?
In this image, what kind of hat is the boy in the red shirt wearing? It looks laughably impossible, like someone wearing a crown made out of a blown-out tire, but as a kid I remember seeing it more than occasionally in old syndicated comics and...
A friend of mine was going to volunteer at the local crisis center. So she went through the training - it was quite rigorous. I've never received that much for training for any paying job I've held, never mind volunteer work. But in the end she...
I've seen t-shirts with a character on them I'd love to have identified for me. It's a cartoon, brown, I'm assuming an animal of some sort. It has a huge grin and a square-ish mouth. It looks insanely pleased. It isn't Domo. ?
Has any one tried wi-max ? How good is the service ? Does weather affect service ? Clear is offering unlimited home service at 6 Mbps down and 500 kbps up, for $40.00 a month. And home and mobile for $55.00 a month. Seems comparable to cable.
What the heck are those things? The ball-shaped lead-colored thingies with the bold sized wick on one end. Ah, here's a good example: They seem like an enormous liability since every time I've seen one used on The Tom and Jerry show the bombs...
Work with me here. There's a finite number of notes. Most songs aren't very long and almost all of them repeat sequences of notes. The vast majority of possible sequences of notes aren't aesthetically pleasing. Why, with the long time humanity has...
Pretty simple one too - What is the effect of Viagra on someone who doesn't need it. Say you're able to get a hard on at will, and you're an otherwise regular healthy virile guy named Whisky and Ryan and you decided to pop one. Would (ha) I end up...
I should probably just call the IRS and ask, but that's scary. At my previous job, my boss stopped withholding when he stopped using a paycheck service. I was receiving my checks (when I was getting them) direct from the business account. I'm...
Other than being transparent, that is. For instance, could you look at the molecular arrangement, or similar, of a material and infer that it is transparent? If so, what is this property? Is there a single reason why some materials are opaque and...
I just read this in a memorial thread on some other board. Is there anything to it?
There seems to be some controversy over this. Is London or New York the world's financial capital, in terms of number of shares etc. traded, as well as the number of types of different markets? (I presume this has a factual answer at heart.)
I'm too lazy to look up how to compute probability. Say there is an event that has a 40% probability of occurring in a single instance. The previous occurrence has no bearing on future occurrences. What is the probability that this event...
For those who don't know dram queen attention whore and all around scum Perez Hilton was reportedly assaulted and got the shit semi-punched out of him by the Black Eyed Peas Wil I Am at some Hollywood club after Hilton called Mr. Am a "faggot" and a...
I know nearly next to nothing about DNA and biology, so this may be a ridiculous question. From what I understand, features of humans, such as whether we have dark hair, or green eyes are encoded via certain genes on a DNA string being "on" or...
Basically, can I walk in to a glasses shop in Barcelona, hand them my American eyeglass prescription, and get the right prescription lenses? I may have vision insurance cover me there--if so, would it be better for me to just get my eyes examined...
I ran across a scent last weekend that I want to try to make into a customized perfume - a mixture of peppermint, vanilla, and bergamot. It smelled like perfection to me. My question to WhyNot (or anyone else who has done something like this), is...
Really, this one is pretty self-explanatory. I've been Googling and can't find anything helpful. I don't want to waste my luggage space on food that's going to get thrown out at customs.
First, a disclaimer: This OP will consist of a hodgepodge collection of questions and comments on tachyons. Tachyons being hypothetical particles which travel at superluminal speeds, and are restricted from crossing the light speed threshold from...
Assuming the Ministry of Defense, your local equivalent or some MIT boffins perfect an invisibility cloak. A device that bends light round an object. Does it have it anymore practical uses than just hiding something ? My real question is: am I...
Is the US the only country in the world to have an eight-sided traffic sign? (The Stop sign)
In my line of work I'm quite familiar with protecting intellectual property, although I can't get my head round someone owning a game show format. How can a game show have watertight protection ? Protection measures I can think of are:...
Somewhere yesterday I read about people on the no-fly list who can still buy guns. One of these people even bought "100 pounds of high explosive." That got me thinking. Where does one buy high explosives? What sort of permits would a person in the...
...so that instead of attracting metal, it was deflected instead? * Is it called a "charge", whatever it is that creates a magnetic field?
Anyone know what this bug is? It's sitting on a 3-hole punched piece of paper; punch hole included for size reference. It was just found in our house, and SugarPlum is worried that it might be a flea. I don't think it is, but I could certainly be...
No, I'm not talking about a conspiracy wherein the governments of the world are concealing openings at the poles where lizard people fly Nazis to their secret bases in the Earth. Suppose that scientists drilling through the continental plates...
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