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The Chickenology Encyclopedia is a compilation of answers to the question "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The name Chickenology Encyclopedia as well as the Chicken Today and Chicken of the Week columns are original creations of Ervin Nemeth. An ever growing proportion of the quotes -- currently (as of 2005) somewhat over 70% -- has been created by Ervin Nemeth. Many were, though, contributed by members of a former Chickenology mailing list and visitors, and very few of them were pulled from the "public domain." Although many misconceive these entries as pure humor, or jokes, they are designed to educate. They tell very important information about certain persons, their lives and ways of understanding our world. The "Chickenology Encyclopedia" term was invented in 1998, when the first version of the complete encyclopedia was published on a CD ROM by a Hungarian computer magazine. Another edition was published in 1999 and the book version is due to come out later 2005.

External link: The official Chickenology Encyclopedia site. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Chickenology Encyclopedia". Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

Emysphilia (or Turtle Fetish) is a rare sexual fetish in which the practitioner experiences sexual arousal from visual and tactile stimuli relating to turtles and tortoises. It was first discovered by Dr. Daniel Schechner of the University of Hawaii in 1959. Dr. Schechner dedicated a brief portion of his monograph The Varieties of Sexual Experience to this fetish. In the book, he mentions a native Hawaiian islander, known to the reader as “Mr. Gor,” who confesses “a strong sexual attraction to creatures belonging to the order Testudines” (2 Schechner 387). Dr. Schechner’s encounter with “Mr. Gor” also finds a brief place in his autobiography No Dull Flesh (1 Schechner 261). Since Dr. Schechner’s discovery, little research has been done on this disorder. As of yet, the American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), has not recognized the turtle fetish as a legitimate disorder.

References: Schechner, Daniel, M.D. No Dull Flesh. Honolulu: UH Press, 1974; Schechner, Daniel, M.D. The Varieties of Sexual Experience.Honolulu: UH Press, 1959. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Emysphilia". This Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

The following is a list of people who are alleged to have died in the bathroom, or in places (bath houses) or taking actions (taking a bath) that are associated with a modern day bathroom. In the case of earlier people, the legends may be inaccurate.

- Eglon, King of Moab, Old Testament, killed by Ehud (stabbed in the bowels) while relieving himself in his private chamber. Judges 3:1-31
- Agamemnon, distinguished hero of Greek mythology during the Trojan War, slain by his wife Clytemnestra alone in a bath, a piece of cloth or a net having first been thrown over him to prevent resistance.
- Seneca the Younger (ca. 4 BC – AD 65) committed suicide in his bath, according to Tacitus.
- Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (August 31, 161 – December 31, 192) strangled in his bath, by the wrestler Narcissus.
- Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome (203 - 222), murdered by the Praetorian Guard, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, in the Emperor's latrine, where the pair had gone to hide
- Arius of Alexandria, founder of Arianism (256 - 336), died of a flux of his bowels, possibly as the result of poisoning
- James I, King of Scotland (1394 - 1437), murdered while trying to flee through his bathroom into the sewers. A lady-in-waiting, Lady Catherine Douglas, attempted to keep the door closed to protect the King, but the killers smashed down the door and broke her arm.

- Lenny Bruce, American comedian (1925 - 1966), died of a morphine overdose in the bathroom of his home in Beverly Hills, California
- Charles Chaplin Jr., American actor (1925 - 1968), died of a brain embolism on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom
- Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk and author (1915 – 1968), died by being accidentally electrocuted in his bathtub in a hotel in Bangkok.
- Judy Garland, American actress and singer (1922 - 1969), died of a drug overdose in the bathroom of her London house
- Jim Morrison, American singer (1943 - 1971), died in the bathtub of his hotel in Paris, reason of death, unknown.
- Elvis Presley, American singer (1935 - 1977), died of a heart attack in the bathroom of his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee

In addition Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1729 - 1796), is rumored to have died while sitting on the toilet. In reality, she was found unconscious in a closet and died of a cerebral hemorrhage in her bedroom the next day.

See also Toilet-related injury ; This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of people who died in the bathroom". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

Marija Pavlovic (April 1, 1965 -) was one of the six visionaries at Medjugorje who saw the Virgin Mary. On 24 June 1981, at about 6 pm, along with five other young parishioners from Medjugorje she saw on the hill Crnica (on the place called Podbrdo) an apparition, a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach. The next day at the same time, 25 June 1981, four of them returned, and were later joined by the other two. Thereafter they had daily apparitions of Our Lady.
At the time of the first apparition, she was 16 years old. During the apparitions she was given nine secrets. Her visions relate her to the Italian writer and mystic Maria Valtorta in that Our Lady recommended Valtorta’s book to Marija in her visions. She is married now, lives in Italy and has four children.

External Links: Gospa: http://www.gospa.com/pages/vision.htm, Medjugorje: http://www.medjugorje.org/avip.htm. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Marija Pavlović". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

Some Jews and Christians believe that dinosaurs appear in the Old Testament, and regard this as evidence that the animals were still alive during early human history. As it is a modern coinage derived from Greek, the Bible does not use the word "dinosaur", but the Hebrew word tanniyn may be interpreted as referring to them[citation needed]. In English translations, tanniyn may be translated as “sea monster” or “serpent”, but it is usually translated as “dragon”. These creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and are found both on land and in the water. At another point, the Bible describes a huge creature called a "behemoth" (Job 40:15-24) whose "tail sways like a cedar"; the behemoth is described as ranking "first among the works of God" and as impossible to capture (vs. 24). Some Biblical scholars identify the behemoth as either an elephant or a hippopotamus, but these animals have very thin tails that are not comparable to a cedar tree. Creationists therefore identify the behemoth with dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus, and most commonly the Apatosaurus which has a huge, cedar-like tail. Critics point out that the tail is described as swaying like a cedar, not being as large as a cedar.
The Leviathan is another creature referred to in the Bible's Old Testament; it is described as having a variety of dinosaur, dragon, and water-serpent-like characteristics. Many scholars identify the Leviathan in Job c. 41 with the crocodile. Some Bible readers, however, have tried to connect the creature with the dinosaurs.

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The Black Smoke Monster is a mythological element on the TV series, Lost. Often referred to as "The Monster", it appears to roam the island and is known to test, follow and murder the crash survivors. It also seems to make a sound often described as a "mechanical" noise. It takes the form of what appears to be black smoke and when moving, shows a resemblance to the movement of a snake or an elephant trunk.

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A number of famous mathematicians have made comments about mathematics and various notions of God. These mathematicians span different religions and conceptions of deity, including none at all.

Many mathematicians have expressed the view that God is in some way responsible for the rational order described so successfully by mathematics. This often involves likening God to a mathematician. The ancient Greek study of mathematics was closely related to that of religion. Plato is quoted as saying "God ever geometrizes" and Pythagoras as saying "numbers rule the Universe". Johannes Kepler stated that "The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics." Leopold Kronecker is quoted as saying "God made the natural numbers, all the rest is the work of man." However, this was intended more in the Kantian sense that they are given to us in intuition than in the literal sense that God created them. James Jeans said "From the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe begins to appear as a pure mathematician". According to Henri Poincaré, "If God speaks to man, he undoubtedly uses the language of mathematics." Georg Cantor equated what he called the Absolute Infinite with God. He held that the Absolute Infinite had various mathematical properties, including that every property of the Absolute Infinite is also held by some smaller object. According to Srinivasa Ramanujan, "an equation is meaningless to me unless it expresses a thought of God." He often said that in Mathematics alone, one can have a concrete realisation of God. 0/0, he used to ask, "what is its value?" It may be anything. "The zero of the numerator may be several times the zero of denominator and vice versa. The value cannot be determined. In the same way 2^n − 1 will denote the primordial God and several divinities. When n is zero the expression denotes zero, there is nothing; when n is 1, the expression denotes unity, the Infinite God. When n is 2, the expression denotes Trinity; when n is 3, the expression denotes 7, the Saptha Rishis (Seven Sages of Ursa Major) and so on.[1] Paul Erdős, though agnostic, jokingly called God the Supreme Fascist. He claimed that the SF had a transfinite tome called "The Book", in which all provable theorems were demonstrated in the most elegant possible way, the best ones being kept secret.

Paul Halmos, in a 1990 interview, says "What's the best part of being a mathematician? I'm not a religious man, but it's almost like being in touch with God when you're thinking about mathematics. God is keeping secrets from us, and it's fun to try to learn some of the secrets."

Mathematical "proofs" of the existence of God: Saint Anselm's ontological argument sought to use logic to prove the existence of God. A ore elaborate version was given by Gottfried Leibniz. Kurt Gödel created a formalization of Leibniz' version, known as Gödel's ontological proof. René Descartes, in his Meditations on First Philosophy, attempted to carefully ascertain what he really knew to be true, which led to a supposed proof of God's existence. Pascal's Wager (also known as Pascal's Gambit) is Blaise Pascal's application of decision theory to the belief in God. Recently, Stephen D. Unwin employed Bayesian probabilities, a statistical method devised by 18th-century Presbyterian minister and mathematician Reverend Thomas Bayes, to compute the probability of God's existence.

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Scheherazade or Shahrazada (Persian:‎ Šahrzād) is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The frame tale goes that every day Shahryar (Persian: "king") would marry a new virgin, and every day he would send yesterday's wife to be beheaded. This was done in anger, having found out that his first wife was betraying him.

He had killed three thousand virgins by the time he was introduced to Scheherazade, the vizier's daughter.

Against her father's protestations, Scheherazade volunteered to spend one night with the King. Once in the King's chambers, Scheherazade asked if she might bid one last farewell to her beloved sister, Dunyazad, who had secretly been prepared to ask Scheherazade to tell a story during the long night. The King lay awake and listened with awe to Scheherazade's first story and asked for another, but Scheherazade said there wasn't time as dawn was breaking, and regretfully so, as the next story was even more exciting. And so the King kept Scheherazade alive as he eagerly anticipated each new story, until, one thousand and one adventurous nights, and three sons later, the King had not only been entertained but wisely educated in morality and kindness by Scheherazade who became his Queen. The nucleus of these stories is formed by an old Persian book called Hezar-afsana or the "Thousand Myths." The earliest forms of Scheherazade's name include Šīrāzād in Masudi and Šahrāzād in Ibn al-Nadim, the latter meaning "she whose realm or dominion (šahr) is noble āzād)". Harun al-Rashid's mother, Al-Khayzuran, is also said to have influenced the character of Scheherazade. Scheherezade was identified, confused with, or partly derived from the legendary queen Homāy, daughter of Bahman, who has the epithet Čehrzād or Čehrāzād "she whose appearance is noble".

References: The Arabian Nights Entertainments Project Gutenberg
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Quinn's Law is a 'corollary' to Godwin's Law, the popular Internet culture adage. It was first proposed on the Slashdot website on Friday, May 26, 2006 by someone using the screen name Kluenitou. Quinn's Law can be stated:

As a Slashdot discussion grows longer, the probability of a Microsoft bashing [post] approaches one.[1]

This corollary was issued in response to a humorous post[2] that bemoaned the numerous Slashdot posts criticizing Microsoft. Slashdot has been criticized[3] for having a collective bias against some companies (mostly Microsoft). Microsoft has been criticized for ease-of-use, reliability, and security problems[4] with its flagship operating system Windows. Microsoft has also been criticized for its business practices[5], such as the "embrace, extend and extinguish" strategy, special price-breaks given to hardware vendors who only sold computers with Microsoft Windows, its several acquisitions, and its alleged spread of fear, uncertainty and doubt regarding the rival Linux operating system.

See also: Godwin's Law - the Internet culture adage to which Quinn's Law is a corollary; Criticism of Microsoft;

References:^ Quin, Victor J. (2006-05-26). The 25 Worst Tech Products of . Slashdot. Retrieved on 2006-05-28.; ^ RapmasterT (2006-05-26). The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. Slashdot. Retrieved on 2006-05-28.;^ Criticism section of the Wikipedia page about Slashdot; ^ Products section of Wikipedia's 'Criticism of Microsoft' article; ^ Business Practices section of Wikipedia's Criticism of Microsoft article

External links: Slashdot post where Quinn's Law is first mentioned

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Novelty theory attempts to predict the ebb and flow of novelty in the universe as an inherent quality of time. It is an idea conceived of and discussed at length by Terence McKenna from the early 1970s until his death in the year 2000. Novelty theory involves ontology, morphogenesis, and eschatology. Novelty, in this context, can be thought of as newness, density of complexification, and dynamic change as opposed to static habituation. According to McKenna, when "novelty" is graphed over time, a fractal waveform known as timewave zero or simply the timewave results. The graph shows at what times, but never at what locations, novelty is increasing or decreasing. The theory lacks any credible basis in peer-reviewed science and is generally dismissed as pseudoscience at best.

The timewave itself is a combination of numerology and mathematics. It is formed out of McKenna's interpretation and analysis of numerical patterns in the King Wen sequence of the I Ching (the ancient Chinese Book of Changes). This concept first took root in his entheogenic experiences shared by him and his brother Dennis McKenna as documented in the book True Hallucinations. The theory is clearly based in numerology and takes shape out of McKenna's belief that the sequence is artificially arranged as such purposely. Mathematically, the sequence is graphed according to a set of mathematical ratios, and displays a fractal nature as well as resonances, although it was not captured in a true formula until criticism from mathematician Matthew Watkins (see below). McKenna interpreted the fractal nature and resonances of the wave, as well as his theory of the I Ching's artificial arrangement, to show that the events of any given time are recursively related to the events of other times.

The theory was never published in a peer-reviewed journal and McKenna's sources and reasoning were primarily what would be considered numerological rather than mathematical by professional mathematicians and scientists, the theory has failed to gain any (scientific) credulity or much recognition. However, McKenna was highly critical of such fields for adhering to what he saw as a flawed Western dominated paradigm, and did not seek to create a theory acceptable to the mathematical community. The theory was, however, revised by nuclear physicist John Sheliak after a flaw was discovered by Matthew Watkins. The new revision is often referred to as Timewave One, but is also inclusive in the set of alternate waves in the Timewave Zero software. This new version is also acclaimed to match history more accurately. Timewave Zero received a great deal of its public attention through the publications of R. U. Sirius, particularly the cyberculture magazine Mondo 2000.

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Centaurs were reportedly seen in the Roman Empire era, for example, during the reign of Claudius (AD 41-54). One of them was even captured and moved to Egypt as a gift for the Roman emperor. After it died, its corpse was embalmed and shipped by sea to Rome where it was exhibited in Claudius's palace. The centaur completely submerged in honey was witnessed by Pliny the Elder. The natural historian Aelian (AD 200) was also interested in these creatures. Around AD 50 the emperor Claudius received a message from the authorities in Greece about the birth of a baby centaur in Thessaly." [1]

Historical Evidence of Human-Animal Sexual Contacts: There are many historical records about the use of sheep or goats by warriors for eating and for having sex. Bestiality was common among ancient Greeks and Romans. According to a legend, Greek scholar Thales warned his master Periandros not to hire unmarried shepherds in order to stop creating more centaurs. Roman satirist Juvenalius mentioned that "Roman women often exposed their naked buttocks to tempt donkeys into sex contacts." Similar contacts were caused by fertility cults in Egypt. According to Danish anatomist Thomas Bartholin, he saw a woman who had a baby with a feline head after a copulation with a cat. [2]

Reports of Modern-Day Centaur Sightings: Alleged sigtings of Centaurs continue to this day. Reports come from many different places, as far away as Florida [3] and Nigeria [4].

Unorthodox Scientific Opinions: Some modern-day Australian and British anthropologists suggest that hybrids such as centaurs could have co-existed side by side with early humans, if we look at 32,000-year-old rock paintings in Australia and South Africa. [5]

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Centaurs in antiquity". Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

This is a list of bands and artist whose names begin with the word "lemon": Lemon Demon, The Lemonheads, Lemon Hill, Lemon Jelly, Lemon Juju, Lemon Kittens, LEMON (band), Lemon Lime Lights, Lemon Pipers, Lemon Wheel.

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Ego depletion refers to the idea that mental activity that requires self-control (i.e., the ego) relies on an energy that can be used up. When that energy is low, mental activity that requires self-control is impaired. In other words, using one's self-control impairs the ability to control himself or herself later on. In this sense, the idea of willpower is correct. In an illustrative experiment on ego depletion, participants who controlled themselves by trying not to laugh while watching a comedian did worse on a later task that required self-control compared to participants who did not have to control themselves while watching the video, such that they did not try to control their laughter but rather watched the comedian without trying to control their laughter.

References: Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M. & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego Depletion: Is the Active Self a Limited Resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252-1265; Muraven, M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle? Psychological Bulletin, 126, 247-259; Muraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 774-789.

External links: Resources and Articles on Ego Depletion; Ego Depletion and Alcoholism;


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Personal reality is a New Age conceptual framework espoused by the spirit medium, Jane Roberts. Within the range of people who subscribe to the philosophy of idealism, some believe we each create our own version of reality; that there isn't one single reality for each of us to become aware of in our own particular way. The physicist Amit Goswami explains his monistic idealism in terms of quantum mechanics and Eastern spiritual teachings, while Seth, a non-physical entity channeled by Jane Roberts, says that each person is basically a "unit of consciousness" (CU), that each CU is a part of "All That Is" (as in the holographic principle), and that we individually and collectively dreamt up the reality which we experience.

In this worldview, the basic framework for physical reality is determined by the fundamental laws of the universe established by "root assumptions" which are agreed upon by all CUs that chose to participate in physical reality, while each person creates their own personal reality by adopting "core beliefs" and values and selecting probabilities from amongst the possibilities available to them in each instant. Thus, God is part of the reality of someone who has a core belief in the existence of God, while evolution is real for someone who believes that the theory of evolution explains the appearance on Earth of the wide variety of species. Likewise, life is fragile and uncertain for the person who believes life is fragile and uncertain, while heaven, hell and the devil are real for people who believe in their existence.

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The color watermelon is displayed at left. The first recorded use of watermelon as a color name in English was in 1926.... This color is identical with the Crayola color wild watermelon (see the List of Crayola crayon colors). The color name wild watermelon has been in use for this color since 1990 by Crayola (see the List of Crayola crayon colors).

— Color coordinates of Watermelon: Hex triplet: #D8424F; RGB: (r, g, b)(216, 66, 79); HSV (h, s, v): (0°, 95%, 84%)

Reference: Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 207; Color Sample of Watermelon: Page 25 Plate 1 Color Sample K9

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The lightbulb joke is an example of an endless-variations joke and has possibly thousands of versions covering every imaginable culture, belief, occupation and special-interest group. Generally the punchline is not complimentary to the group providing the subject of the joke. The generally acknowledged "original" goes as follows:

Q: How many [insert chosen group here] does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Ten — one to hold the lightbulb and nine to turn the ladder around.

The common pattern for a light bulb joke could be formulated as follows:

Q: How many members of a (given demographic group) does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: 'N+1 (where N is a positive whole number)' — one to hold the lightbulb and N to behave in a fashion generally associated with a negative stereotype of that group.

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The Mermaid Problem is an observation occasionally mentioned in literature, concerning the difficulty of having sexual intercourse with a mermaid. Although mermaids are commonly depicted as beautiful, variably nude, and enticing, a man attempting hypothetical sex with one would be thwarted by the typical portrayal of the creature: a fish from the waist down, with no vagina. Some fiction, aware of the long running question, deliberately avoids the question for humorous effect. More generally, it can also be a joking reference to the unusual sexual interest many non-human characters seem to have with humans in fantasy or science fiction, and potential physical issues therein.

Theoretically a mermaid would reproduce as most aquatic animals do, by external fertilization, requiring a human male to deposit his seed underwater onto her eggs. (The confusion is further compounded by the fact that mermaids are usually depicted with a navel, which would suggest placental vivipary rather than ovipary.) In some fantasy erotica, however, this situation is sometimes rectified by portraying mermaids as having genitalia more similar to dolphins than fish, or having the ability to change into human form.
Interestingly this was not always an issue. In the past it was not uncommon for a mermaid to be portrayed as having a split tail, with a vagina located (or merely inferred to be) between the two parts. The well-known Starbucks logo is one example of this. In the original version the mermaid is shown spreading her tail apart up to her head. While this has been cropped out, and the drawing in general slightly reworked over the years, her tails are still visible around the edges.

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Jews in apostasy are those Jews who have abandoned Judaism and have joined another religion. The term apostasy is derived from Greek, meaning "political rebel", as applied to rebellion against God, its law and the faith of Israel. Other expressions for apostate as used by rabbinical scholars are "mumar" (literally "the one that changes") and "poshea israel" (literally, "transgressor of Israel"), or simply "kofer" (literally "denier").
Other terms used are meshumad, meaning one who has abandoned his faith, or min and apikorus which denote the "negation" of God and Judaism implying atheism.

The first recorded case of apostasy in Judaism is referred to in the words of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. xxxii, 23,24), thought to be prophetic of the High Priests Jason and Menelaus who deserted their religion and their nation to the horror and hatred of their contemporaries.

In the Talmud, Elisha Ben Abuyah is singled out as an apostate and epicurean by the Pharisees. In Medieval Spain, a systematic conversion of Jews to Christianity took place, some of which under threats and force. The cases of apostasy of these Conversos provoked the indignation of the Jewish communities in Spain. Several notorious Inquisitors in the later Spanish Inquisition, such as Tomás de Torquemada, and Don Francisco the archbishop of Coria, are suspected to be descendants of apostate Jews. Other apostates, that made their mark in history by attempting the conversion of other Jews in the 1300s, include Juan de Valladolid and Astruc Remoch. Some Spanish Jews, however, were compelled to convert to Christianity, and remained "hidden" Jews (see Anusim). They are called Marranos. Sabbatai Zevi presented himself as the Jewish Messiah. Under the threat of death by the Ottoman Sultan, he and many of his followers converted to Islam. However, many of these conversions were insincere and the Donmeh (Turkish for "converse") remained rendering cult to Zvi while externally being Muslims. Jacob Frank presented himself as the successor of Zevi and attracted many followers in Poland. He was later baptized as a Catholic in the presence of the king of Poland. His Frankists also simulated being Catholics while adoring Frank.

References: Joseph Jacobs and Meyer Kayserling. "MARANO." Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com.

See also: Heresy, Schisms among the Jews, Who is a Jew?, Halakha
Ger tzedek, Muslim Jew, Religious disaffiliation. Kaufmann Kohler and Richard Gottheil. "APOSTASY AND APOSTATES FROM JUDAISM." Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com.

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Hlade's Law states that:

"If you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy person; they will find an easier way to do it."

See also: Finagle's law, Murphy's law, Second law of thermodynamics, Adages named after people

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Starfleet Security is an agency of the Starfleet in the science fiction universe of Star Trek. Starfleet Security is first introduced in the original Star Trek with the USS Enterprise's compliment of security guards, many of whom meet quick deaths at the hands of an enemy alien.
Starfleet Security is later explored with the characters of Worf and Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Starfleet Security has also been discussed at length in Pocket Books novels and numerous Star trek technicial manuals. The most recent Star Trek incarnation, Star Trek Enterprise, deals with the origins of Starfleet Security with the weapons and tactical personnel of the Earth Starfleet....

In the 23rd century, Starfleet Security had become an established corps of the Starfleet, apparetly an entirely separate career path from regular (or "Line") personnel of the Starfleet. During this time, most of Starfleet Security was assigned as security guards onboard Starfleet vessels and space stations. The divisional uniform color of such persnnel was red, leading Starfleet Security personnel to be commonly deemed by the phrase "redshirts" (this term became obsolete in the 24th century, when Starfleet Security adopted gold as thier divisional color). The task of Starfleet Security was also extremely dangerous, especially when providing security to landing parties on unexplored planets. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), for instance, racked up a noticable number of security guards killed in the line of duty during the ship's five year mission under James T. Kirk....

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The term "wikiturfing" refers to the efforts of an individual or (rarely) a formal public relations company to create the impression that a particular meme, company, or concept has gained social clout by simply placing the item in Wikipedia. Because of its wide use and high ranking amongst top search engines, Wikipedia allows for easy and free exposure to a large community of users. Those who would engage in wikiturfing do so in the hopes that their item will "catch on" and gain legitimacy. Such activities would be classified as vandalism or, in the least, an inappropriate use of Wikpedia’s terms of use.

The origin of the term is uncertain. One example was in 2006 by an anonymous commenter on a web site discussing wikipedia who said "I see corporations paying for wikiturf to be even more of a problem than the astroturfing in forums and blog comments because so many people link to Wikipedia."

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This is a list of animal sounds, sounds made by animals. First verbs used to label animal sounds are listed, followed by figures of speech that imitate those sounds.

Verbs: Below is a list of appropriate verbs corresponding to the sounds made by various animals.
Apes gibber Bears growl: Grrr Bees hum and buzz Beetles drone Birds chirrup, tweet, and sing: Bird song Bitterns boom Blackbirds whistle Bulls bellow Calves bleat Cats mew, purr, meow and caterwaul Cattle low Chaffinches fink Chicks cheep Chickens buck Cocks crow Cows moo Crows caw Cuckoos cuckoo Deer bell Dogs bark, bay, howl, whine, and yap Dolphins click Donkeys bray Doves coo Ducks quack Eagles scream Elephants trumpet Falcons chant Ferrets dook Flies buzz Foxes bark and yelp Frogs croak Giant pandas bleat Goats bleat Geese cackle and hiss Grasshoppers chirp: Stridulation Guinea pigs squeak Hares squeak Hawks scream Hens cluck Horses neigh or whinney Humans brouhaha and prattle Hyenas laugh Jays chatter Kittens mewl Lambs bleat Linnets chuckle Lions roar Magpies chatter Mice squeak and squeal Monkeys gibber Nightingales pipe and warble Owls screech, shriek, and hoot Oxen low Parrots talk Peacocks scream Pigs grunt and squeal Pigeons coo Raccoons chitter Ravens croak Rooks caw Sheep bleat Snakes hiss Sparrows chirp Stags bellow and call Swallows twitter Swans cry (also sing just before dying: swan song) Tigers growl Thrushes whistle Turkeys gobble Vultures scream Walruses ort Whales sing: Whale song. Wolves howl

Onomatopoeia: In addition there are several onomatopoeic verbal phrases which relate to specific animals (strictly it is incorrect to use the onomatopoiec terms as verbs. e.g. "Dogs woofing" is linguistically incorrect): Cats go "meow", Chicks go "peep" Cocks go "cock-a-doodle-doo" Cows go "moo" Crows go "caaw" Dogs go "arf", "bow-wow", or "woof" Donkeys go "hee-haw" Frogs go "ribbit" in the US and "crrrk" in Britain and other noises elsewhere, according to species. Goats go "maa" Horses go "neigh" Monkeys go "eek" Nightingales go "jug-jug" in Britain and "mug-mug" in North America Owls go "who who", "hoot hoot" or less commonly "Too-wit-too-woo" Pigs go "oink", "hunc", or "whee" Sheep go "baa"

See also: Animal communication Animal echolocation Animal song
Bioacoustics Cat communication Oink Woof Zoomusicology

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of Animal Sounds". Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

This is a list of [notable] people who were adopted:

Aileen Wuornos, Albertine Sarrazin, Anthony A. Williams, A. M. Homes, Aristotle, Art Linkletter, Baby Richard Case, Bo Diddley, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Chesa Boudin, Christina Crawford, Christopher Price, Corina Knoll, Curtis Joseph, Dana Plato, Dan O'Brien, Daunte Culpepper, Dave Thomas, David Berkowitz, Debbie Harry, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, Edward Albee, Eric Dickerson, Faith Hill, Freddie Bartholomew, George Washington Carver, Georges Perec, Gerald Stano, Gerald Ford, Greg Louganis, Hsu Yun, Ian Smith, Ibrahim Pasha, James MacArthur, James Michener, Jean Genet, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Jeanette Winterson, Jeff Bates, Jennylyn Mercado, Jesse Jackson, Jett Williams, Jillian Barberie
Jim Palmer, Joel Rifkin, Jody Dean, John James Audubon, Jon Fishman, Jürgen Bartsch, Kate Adie, Kenneth Bianchi, Kitty Carruthers, Kiri Te Kanawa, Langston Hughes, Larry Ellison, Larry Foyt, Laurel Rose Willson, Lee Majors, Leo Tolstoy, Les Brown, Leslie Lemke, Liz Phair, L. Ron Hubbard, Luigi Chiatti, Lynnette Cole, Malcolm X, Marcel Desailly, Mark Acres, Masha Allen, Matthew Laborteaux, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Bay, Michael Caines, Michael Franti, Michael Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Nelson Mandela, Newt Gingrich, Nicky Campbell, Olive Risley Seward
Patrick Labyorteaux, Paul McGrath, Paull Shin, Peter Carruthers, Priscilla Presley, Ray Liotta, Richard Burton, Sabiha Gökçen, Sarah McLachlan,
Scott Hamilton, Ric Flair, Robert Byrd, Scott Sherrin, Shinken Taira, Sonny Moore, Steve Jobs, Surya Bonaly, Tammy Layne Winslow, Taylor Parkes, Tim Green, Tim McGraw, Tom Monaghan, Tommy Davidson, Victoria Rowell, William Clinton

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of adoptees". Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

Thanks for making WikiDumper a success. Started less than a month ago, when the word “WikiDumper” had zero Google hits, we now find over 25,000 Google pages with this term. The site has received over 70,000 visits.

Press in Germany, Italy, and the US have been favorable, and the site has been warmly reviewed in web sites associated with The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, Fortune, Der Spiegel, CNET, Gawker, Boing Boing, and more. Radio shows have shown interest. Thanks again for all your support, and please give me suggestions for improvement.

In an interesting turn of events, I stumbled upon a WikiDumper article that has been added to the Wikipedia. Amusingly, it is currently being considered for deletion. The following is a snapshot of the latest reasons for deletion of WikiDumper from Wikipedia. Enjoy!

[Wikidumper.org is]:

- Non-notable. Although mentioned by the Associated Press, the site doesn't have multiple non-trivial sources.

- Weak Delete - Wow. Talk about irony. Anyway, the AP story linked to in the article is actually about another website. The Alexa page rank of 244,798 doesn't exactly impress either. I'm still kind of torn since I like the idea of a blog that keeps a record of deleted WP content. However, in the end it clearly doesn't satisfy WP:WEB.

- Delete; As I see it, it's just a blog someone created earlier this month. Right now, it fails WP:WEB. One mention at the end of a newspaper article (often where less important details are placed) doesn't quite cut it, and as above, the Alexa rank is weak. Perhaps later this will meet the inclusion guidelines, but it doesn't now.

- Delete bloggish, and fails WP:WEB.- Delete per nom. Sounds like an interesting idea. -Merge to Clifford A. Pickover. Seems more proper to be there.

From the AP article: "Archive.org isn't the only site trying to save the ever-changing Web. Wikipedia.com, which constantly regurgitates itself with user-inputted data, is now being watched by wikidumper.blogsot.com. Any information not truthful enough to make it into Wikipedia is probably dubious twice over, but Wikidumper helps provide some oversight to the editors of Wikipedia, who can take down an entry for any number of reasons."
- Delete per nom. - Merge per Yanksox - Delete per Bobby and Crystallina.
- Delete, even when I like the idea a lot (and already subscribe to their RSS feed). This is more of project space material, regrettably, likely not famous enough yet to warrant an article space article. I don't mind it if someone recreates it later when there's no question about this thing's notability, but I'm sceptical on whether or not it ever will get there.
- Merge as above, the last thing we need is someone having a proof that we are biased against our critics

-Comment - Wikipedia's numerous critics will find bias no matter what, because that critics do. We should be concerned with enforcing Wikipedia's consensus-built policies consistently, rather than with allowing external criticisms to dictate the actions of the community. IMO, this is a very weak arguement against deletion.

- And what exactly is "critical" about Wikidumper anyway? It's not like they have an agenda of "look at all these valid and well-sourced articles that they've unjustly deleted"; they publish just about everything that may be deleted later (ranging from blatant BJAODN material to little-known topics). I'd be a little bit hesitant to lump them among critical sites; at best they're doing a service to the community, at worst they're just making people say "look at that ridiculous stuff they published - but good thing it looks like they deleted it."

- Comment: How can it be said that WikiDumper is non-notable if it has 24,600 Google hits and 39 articles in Google news? Isn't this objective evidence that it is notable?

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia discussion "Articles_for_deletion/Wikidumper ". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.