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March 28

Chess variants, mating material

On a chessboard that is made into a torus, klein bottle, or projective plane, how much mating material is needed against a lone king? For example, is 2 rooks with the king enough? Or 2 queens, or more?Rich (talk) 07:00, 28 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If there are no "walls," two rook and a queen will do the trick. Think of mate near the center of the board. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 01:46, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Before (not a stalemate as the king could move to a1 or h2)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Qb2 (a8 is now threatened, and as is every square the king could reach: a1, a7, b1, b7, b8, h1, h2, h8)

A diagonal moving piece will have some weird behaviour on a klein bottle - a bishop will threaten both black and white squares. I believe it should be possible to set up a mate with just a queen as shown. (We're assuming the twisted edge is the vertical one, so a diagonal piece that moves northeast from h8 pops out in a8). Unless I've made a mistake, the king begins trapped in a small space, but it's not a stalemate since he can move over the "edge" of the board. However, just moving the queen one square collapses that space completely: the king is directly threatened on the main diagonal, but every square around him is also denied to him, and the queen is still too far away to capture. Smurrayinchester 14:20, 3 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Rook and king mate on a klein bottle

(By the way, 1 rook and a king would also be enough on a klein bottle. Imagine a starting situation with the black king on the fourth rank, white king on the second rank in the same file, and a white rook somewhere on the third rank. When the rook advances one square, it threatens the king, and every other square around the king is also threatened.) Smurrayinchester 08:33, 4 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Finding pages in the wayback machine

Hello friends. A website called projectrungay.blogspot.com used to review the American TV show Project Runway. In the wayback machine, I can see reviews made August 3 to August 7 2010, for Season 8. How do I find posts made for the following episodes in the rest of August, Sept and October? The next list I can find is only for Oct 13 to 17. Didn't know where to ask this so asked it here but feel free to move if there is a better desk. And thank you for your help. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 18:57, 28 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Here you can see all dates in 2010 when the Wayback Machine archived a copy of webpage http://www.projectrungay.blogspot.com/. As you can see, it was not archived from August 8 to October 17. ‑‑Lambiam 21:23, 28 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

March 29

Forward flight booking

[1] What is a forward flight booking? Is the same as "onward"? I.e. would a forward booking from Canada to the US mean the final destination is someplace like Europe or Asia? I think the point of the tweet is that Canadians are trying to avoid the US because of US shenanigans scaring foreign potential visitors. The tweet shows the number of such bookings dropping drastically between March 2024 and March 2025. Thanks. 2601:644:8581:75B0:B745:42AD:D0FF:174 (talk) 19:46, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It means: securing a booking in advance, for a known price. The entity doing the booking may be a travel agency, wanting to hedge against a possible future price increase, for example because they want to advertize a travel package with a stated price and need to know its cost price to be certain of a reasonable profit. ‑‑Lambiam 22:47, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Futures trading. 2A00:23C7:C9B7:A01:68B1:562A:5DCE:A157 (talk) 09:39, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps even more to the point: Forward contract. ‑‑Lambiam 11:45, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel compelled to add that Sleep is a powerfully addictive drug, because it keeps me from starting my job in the morning and earning $200+/day, but how do I add that fact without making it sound vandalistic?

As a Doordash driver (AKA Dasher), I could start as early as I feel like, so if I start early in the morning, and work 'til after sundown, I could make over $200/day.

But sleep feels more powerful and addicting than Meth (though I've never had meth in my life) so that's why I only woke up at around 3:30 PM. Now I'll be lucky to only make $100 today.

So even though the prospect of making over $200 day is pretty alluring, that's if I get up early, but since sleep overpowers me into continuing to sleep and therefore make less money in the day, I'd say it's THE most powerfully addicting drug that I've ever had the misfortune to get, whether I wanted it or not.

So how can that fact get on the Sleep article without seeming like vandalism to regular editors? And could this fact be added to the Doordash and/or Dasher articles as well? --2600:8803:1D13:7100:D796:EF69:D100:A98E (talk) 21:40, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

All material in Wikipedia must be verifiable. Your testimonial to the effect of sleep does not meet this essential criterion. Apart from that, I see several other serious problems. (1) Abstaining from sleep will cause your early demise. Sleep, just like oxygen, is essential to human life; neither qualifies as being "addictive", or even as a drug. (2) Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Anecdotal evidence is in general not encyclopedic material. (3) A connection to DoorDash or other similarly operating companies is accidental and tenuous – similar sleep problems will get one in much more serious problems in regular jobs. BTW, have you tried going to bed earlier? If you go to bed at midnight and then sleep till 3:30 PM, this could indicate a serious medical condition – go and see a doctor. ‑‑Lambiam 22:39, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Disclaimer: Self-anecdotal reply – Delete post if thought appropriate.

It's easy to disrupt normal sleep patterns. Mine are, but it doesn't hugely matter since I'm retired and live alone, and continue an interest in astronomy, which being semi-nocturnal helps.

Nevertheless, disrupted sleep is (I am well aware) harmful to long-term mental and physical health.

It might be helpful to you to re-train your sleep rhythms (as I am currently doing). Wake yourself up an hour before dawn, and go outside for an hour (maybe take a brisk walk) – the blue-rich natural light will create an anchor point for your circadian rhythm; then eat breakfast, if you habitually do.

Carry out your chosen daily activities, and aim to go to bed about eight hours before the next dawn. (You may wake half-way through the night needing to urinate – do so and go back to bed, you may not even remember doing so the next day.)

Rinse and repeat. Trying to go without less than 7 hours sleep per 24 (individuals vary somewhat with their personal requirements, and with age) is a recipe for disaster.

[Edited to add] Driving while sleep-deprived is extremely dangerous. It's very easy to fall half-asleep in your comfy car seat and fail to steer correctly or brake, etc., when you need to – I did it myself once (40 years ago) when I had had to finish a job overnight and then deliver the results by car, and came very close to crashing. Never again. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.64.108 (talk) 08:43, 30 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's especially true when driving at night. Driving during the day, you've got the sunlight to kind of keep you awake. Not at night. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:38, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you're too tired, even sunlight doesn't help when you slip into a 'waking dream' state (as happened to me). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.64.108 (talk) 06:12, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

True. If you don't want to stay the night somewhere, you can pull over at a gas station or rest stop and walk around for a while. And maybe also buy a large bag of chips / crisps to munch on while driving. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:27, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you think that's tough just wait until you try kicking the oxygen habit! Think of all that time you spend inhaling and exhaling! --Slowking Man (talk) 05:35, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 2

Short shoelaces

I've noticed that at least a third pair of my newly bought semi-sports shoes (different brands) comes with quite short laces that loose up frequently during walking. After tying a tight knot both their free ends become just 14-15 cm long, at EU size 45 not enough to tie the shoes robustly - not to mention double knots that are impossible. Seemingly, the lace length should increase with the shoe size, but it's not. Googling reveals other netizens with this issue too. Is it conclusively known why laces are made that short? Heavier footwear like winter boots doesn't appear to have this issue from my experience. Brandmeister^talk 18:44, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Penny-pinching by the manufacturers. They will supply laces as short (read: cheap) as they can get away with. DuncanHill (talk) 18:46, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think this is the main reason, shoelaces only make up a small part of the overall manufacturing cost of a pair of shoes. Also, manufacturers need to follow specifications defined by the brand owner. They can't simply shorten the length of the shoelaces. Stanleykswong (talk) 19:50, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The length of shoelaces depends on how many pairs of eyelets the shoe has. For example, if your shoe has 5 pairs of eyelets, each pair of laces will be 91cm long. Stanleykswong (talk) 20:00, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think manufacturer should still allow reasonable length for any number of eyelets, because consumers usually tie through all eyelets for the best fit. So the laces should have reasonable length anyway. Brandmeister^talk 21:50, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you are using a lacing pattern that requires a greater than average length of lace. You might explore other patterns: here is one site that describes some; other such sites doubtless exist.

It may be that manufacturers/vendors in your part of the world deliberately supply shoes laced so as to use as much length as possible simply to keep the laces tidier before sale. Your problem is not one I have ever encountered in the UK.

You could also just buy some longer laces and apply them; they're not expensive (at least, where I live). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.64.108 (talk) 06:56, 3 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The length of laces you need depends on the lacing pattern, the number of eyelets and the separation between the eyelets, in turn depending on the design of the shoe, the size of the shoe and the height of the arch of your foot. The more efficient pattern also has less tendency to creep, making one end longer over time and the other shorter.

After making the first half-knot, I like to have about 18 cm left on both sides, but I can do with 12 cm. I never tried double knots; single knots never come loose, unless the laces are exceptionally slippery or way too long. But many people don't pay attention to their knots and there's a right way and a wrong way to tie them, and the wrong way is far more likely to come loose. You can see the difference from the orientation of the loose ends and the loops: transverse is right, vertical is wrong. If you weren't aware of this, check your knots and maybe mirror the first half-knot. PiusImpavidus (talk) 18:50, 3 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I’m glad someone started this discussion. Not only are laces shorter, but I’ve found that since the beginning of the year, for the first time in my entire life, the laces become undone with new shoes. I’ve never had this problem before. I’m guessing that the material used in the laces itself is responsible? This is all very strange. Viriditas (talk) 19:58, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have this problem too, the laces come undone easily. I suspect this is because of the nylon material used in today's shoelaces. Stanleykswong (talk) 20:20, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I just did an inventory of six pairs of shoes bought within the last two years. The cheaper models (less than $100) have laces that easily come untied. The more expensive models (more than $100) have no such problems. Viriditas (talk) 23:04, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 4

hair care

Acidic shampoos are the most common type used and maintain or improve the condition of the hair as they do not swell the hairshaft and do not strip the natural oils. What do they mean by acidic? Hair care#Hair cleaning 58.161.131.180 (talk) 09:02, 4 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It means that (in solution in water) they have a pH less than 7 – which means there are more hydrogen ions in the solution than in pure water. This is also characteristic of acids, such as lemon juice and vinegar (and much stronger acids). ‑‑Lambiam 21:45, 4 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Acidic shampoos have a pH range of 3.0 to just under 7.0. Stanleykswong (talk) 20:27, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 5

British Columbia and California

Question is too poorly defined to be answered with anything but an opinion

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

How alike are British Columbia and California? From what I've found, they both have a city with strong connections to the movie industry. Also, they both have sushi, mountains, and a long coast. TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 01:52, 5 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Everybody has sushi. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:22, 5 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Faithless electors laws in State of Florida

Hi. Little curiosity: what happens if a presidential elector does not vote as promised? Is his or her vote voided? Are there laws about faithless electors, in the Sunshine State about this? Thank you. 93.150.82.21 (talk) 09:38, 5 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The rules vary by state. See Faithless elector. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:18, 5 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Florida Statute § 103.021:

(6) A presidential elector’s refusal or failure to vote for the candidates for President and Vice President of the party the presidential elector was nominated to represent constitutes his or her resignation of the position. The vote he or she cast may not be recorded, and his or her position as a presidential elector must be filled as provided in subsection (5).

‑‑Lambiam 19:22, 5 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 6

Pigeons as food

I was just having a strange discussion with ChatGPT as I'm wont when it reminded me of the following unusual statement: "In New York City during the Great Depression, the police had to deal with flocks of pigeons that people raised secretly on rooftops for food." I don't recall hearing this before, but something about it rings true. I remember reading that squab was considered a delicacy in the 1930s and served in fine restaurants, but I'm also told that pigeons raised by hobos don't taste the same as pigeons raised for restaurants; no idea if that is even true. So did people eat pigeon during the Great Depression, and why were police involved? And finally, is there a taste difference? Would it be the same difference between, let's say, wild feral chicken meat and those bred for mass consumption? Viriditas (talk) 09:48, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

When you find out, you can improve utility pigeons, currently a stub. -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 16:31, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Pigeon is a popular (and tasty!) food in Asia.DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 17:05, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Also in France.^[2] ‑‑Lambiam 19:28, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Roasted squab and stewed pigeon, pigeon pie, pigeon rôti, are all famous dishes. Stanleykswong (talk) 20:34, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Viriditas: Found this: https://www.popsci.com/eat-pigeons-squab/ - not about thirties of the 20th century, but it may be of some interest for you. Also, google for 'squab'. --CiaPan (talk) 20:16, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Viriditas (talk) 22:05, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Pigeon pie. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:22, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Dovecote. -- Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:40, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

How did they effectively utilize the guano as fertilizer? The article doesn't say. Would they just scrape it into a bucket of some kind, and then spread it on the fields? Viriditas (talk) 10:19, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have seen dung (not guano) worked directly into the soil during the tilling process. With guano, I've seen it dried to powder form or composted into a thinner liquid that could be sprayed. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 10:39, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That makes sense. I've read books about the history of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands where there used to be a guano industry of sorts. They would dry it in the sun. Viriditas (talk) 10:41, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Pigeon dung should be well-composted before use as a fertiliser. It's too strong and alkali to apply neat. Some advice here. DuncanHill (talk) 21:47, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't find much about the specifics on Newspapers.com, but I got the vibe that there was concern about pigeons not being held under controlled conditions, as a farm would be. This was a matter for the Health Department in New York, and if the cops got involved, that could be the reason. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:55, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"The primary non-genetic factors affecting pigeon meat quality include feed composition, stocking density, storage condition, and cooking methods." Influencing factors and quality traits of pigeon meat: A systematic review, Poultry Science Volume 104, Issue 4, April 2025. I would imagine that feed composition, stocking density and storage condition would be significantly different for birds raised on rooftops in the city compared to those on a farm, especially if the rooftop farmers are relying on the birds finding their own food around the city.

"Breed is a crucial factor that impacts pigeon meat quality. Variations in genetic characteristics, muscle types, and protein and fat content among different pigeon breeds directly influence meat quality."[ibid] The American King Club states that the breed was developed in the early 1900s. So specially-bred utility pigeons had been around for decades before the Depression and I expect they had better flavour than feral pigeons would. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 12:09, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 7

Ideon

I was recently on a work trip to Lund. My actual destination was an office building on Mobilvägen in northeastern Lund. There were signs everywhere that the area I was in was called "Ideon". But what actually is Ideon? Is it a district or neighbourhood of Lund? Or is it the name of a science park located inside a district or neighbourhood, or what is it? JIP | Talk 12:20, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Most probably it's the name of Ideon Science Park. The word itself possibly of Greek origin - see Peri ideon. --CiaPan (talk) 12:56, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The name was possibly created as a blend of idea + Odeon. ‑‑Lambiam 22:36, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In Swedish, iden means "the idea." Then, ide by itself is just "idea." So, it is very likely that they were purposely intending the word idea in the title. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 01:18, 8 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Polish zloty vs Belarusian ruble

How it came that Polish zloty has a lower exchange rate for Belarusian ruble (currently 1 PLN=0,83 BYN) and even compared to USD, zloty fares slightly lower than Belarusian ruble? Did Belarus somehow offset the financial advantages of a European country? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 18:57, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You cannot compare the strength of currencies by their exchange rates. It is like asking, "how come the kilometre has a lower conversion factor for the mile (1 km = 0.62 mi)?" ‑‑Lambiam 22:24, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That is what measurements like the Big Mac Index are for. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 02:55, 8 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In 2016, Belarus redenominated the Belarusian ruble at 10000 old rubles for one new. They had previously done so in 2000, at a ratio of 1000. A Belarusian ruble is now 100 million Soviet rubles of 1990. The Polish złoty hasn't been redenominated since 1995; a modern złoty is 1000 złoties of 1990. Also, Belarusian rubles don't always float very freely.

To compare the strengths of currencies, look at the development of exchange rates, not at the current rate. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:14, 8 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

April 9

License plates without numbers

When a car's license plate, instead of usual numbers and letters, bears some name, like the name of a car dealer here, is it still called a license plate or by some other name (since technically it's not an proper identifiable license plate anymore)? Thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 10:28, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Why wouldn't it be? Keep in mind this is merely an advertisement illustration. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:36, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It is clearly not a vehicle registration plate, and in the US "license plate" is the term used for vehicle registration plates. Still, I think most people will not say, "this is not a license plate" but instead, "this is not a valid license plate". ‑‑Lambiam 12:20, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen boxes of them delivered and the label called them "Custom Placards." However, I found many online stores that call them "Custom (...description...) License Plates." It is correct that they are not license plates in the legal sense. They are license plates in the locus sense. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 13:34, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]