Wikiversity:Help desk/Archive 7

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What actually happens in radioactive disintegration?

--61.1.93.74 16:04, 4 January 2008 (UTC) What actually happens in radioactive disintegration?[reply]

There are two types of "radioactive disintegration":

Radioactive decay:

Decay cause: According to w:Radioactivity#Explanation, radioactive decay is caused by "quantum vacuum fluctuations".

Decay result: The atom is changed to one with a lower atomic mass (in some cases it can actually have a higher atomic number, though, since some of the heavier isotopes of one atom may have a higher mass than the lighter isotopes of an atom with a higher atomic number). One or more particles are also emitted, such as a beta particle in beta decay.

Nuclear reactions (fission and fusion are both nuclear reactions, but only fission could be called "disintegration"):

Fission cause: The atom is struck by another atom or particle.

Fission result: The atom is split into atoms with lower atomic masses, possibly with one or more particle also emitted. StuRat 17:05, 4 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.particleadventure.org/Eadthem 14:45, 22 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Free CD Ripping software

Does anyone know of a free CD ripping software that will rip the songs from a CD into MP3 format? Or alternatively is there a software that can convert wma to mp3. --Devourer09 02:23, 11 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I believe Nero Ultra will perform the first task. Nero comes free with many products (I got it with my CD-RW drive), but I don't think it's free in general. StuRat 05:12, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a place where I can download it? --Devourer09 21:53, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another option is to use an internet search engine - you might specify in the keywords also the operating system you wish the software to work. ----Erkan Yilmaz (Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog) 22:06, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I found my answer. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CDRipping --Devourer09 22:21, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Which Photoshop tool?

Which Photoshop tool do I see people using to sketch manga in these videos? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI-HkDklwU0&feature=related I want to learn to draw manga in Photoshop but none of them ever tell me which tool and what setting to use it at and so forth. --Devourer09 03:07, 11 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What song?

What song is played in this video and by who? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRMn1tj5-Nc --Devourer09 07:20, 13 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Def Beat - Junkie XL Countrymike 06:45, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Programming, IPO Chart: What are Processes?

I'm just about at my wit's end. Other than a mathematical computations, what else qualifies as a process? I've been trying to get this question answered for weeks (not here, obviously) and cannot find a list of processes. I know this is as fundamental as it gets and, yet, I have been unable to find the answer. Are the following considered processes:

Get User Input

Declare Variable as String, Real, or Integer

Echo-printing

Searching

--Filaminae 06:36, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I looked at a tutorial here: [1]. According to that, it's all about subroutines/functions/modules for a program. That is, any input to the subroutine is called an I, any output is called an O, and whatever the subroutine actually does is a P (process). So, looking through your examples:

"Get User Input" would be a process, yes, if you call a subroutine to do that. It's not listed as an I, because what the user inputs isn't actually sent to the subroutine as an input when it's first called.

"Declare Variable as String, Real, or Integer" would be part of a process, but probably not the entire process. It would be unusual to call a subroutine just to do that. An exception might be defining a string in C, where it's difficult enough to actually justify a subroutine just to do that (as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of C).

"Echo-printing" would be part of a process, at the least. You could have a subroutine set to read input from a file and then print it out. You could also have a subroutine set up just to do print outs of input variables sent to the subroutine.

"Searching" would be a process, yes. Searching a database, file structure, etc., is complex enough that you would normally want to have a subroutine dedicated to just that. StuRat 16:57, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If this is wikiversity, cAN I GET A DEGREE HERE

user got a response on User talk:68.224.117.152, ----Erkan Yilmaz (Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog) 19:25, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And here is the link. StuRat 21:48, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clinic in India

Hi I'm a Pediatrician from India and am a part of a team of doctors setting up a 'not-for-profit' hematology care centre. Initially we plan to start off services for hemophiliacs and thalassemics in Karnataka, India. Any suggestions on how to sustain and expand our services? --Drsim 16:52, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

W:Karnataka is one of the wealthier states in India, so many people, but likely not all, should be able to afford treatment. I'm not familiar with the degree to which the government provides funding for the uninsured in India, but hopefully they can pick up the slack.

You might want to research other clinics like yours, especially those that failed, to find out what they would do differently if they had to do it all over again. I would think that it would be important to define precisely which services your clinic will and won't provide, to prevent "creep", where the clinic gradually takes on more and more and eventually becomes overwhelmed. StuRat 03:43, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

almost totally confused

--196.38.218.25 10:18, 15 February 2008 (UTC) I'm a 76-year-old grandpa, trying to write short stories and learn "computers".There's so much to learn and screens are sooo cluttered and unappealling and uninviting I think my name is Edward Tennant, Cape Town. wots a cookie?[reply]

As for cluttered screens, think of them like the dashboard of a car. There's lots of controls there, but most of them you rarely need to use, like the treble dial on the radio. You just need to find a few common items that you will actually use on a regular basis, and memorize those.

A cookie stores some info about your computer settings on your computer. For example, if you are playing a game, it might save your player name, password, level, equipment, etc., for the next time you play the game, so it doesn't have to start over at the beginning. If you are browsing a medical web site, it might save your user name, password, medical conditions you've asked about, and medications you've asked about, so the next time you use the site they can provide info pertinent to your interests. In this case, cookies could provide a potential privacy concern. See w:cookie (computers) for more info. StuRat 14:04, 15 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

morphological neural networks for face recognition

--Krishna405 12:58, 16 February 2008 (UTC) my question is how morphology related to neural networks ?[reply]

what are thr applications of above named project?

what are the basic operations of neural networks?

what is meant by training in neural networks?

what is meant by testing in neural network?

there are two blocks in this type face reognition one isfeature extraction and feature classification. what is purpose of classification?

Posted by anonymous ip

What businesses were near ancient roman farms? -anonymous ip

If the farms grew grain, I imagine it might be useful to have a mill nearby to grind the grain into flour. If they were dairy farms, they might want a facility nearby where they could churn the milk into butter. If they were grape farms, they might want wine cellars nearby where they could bottle and age the grape juice. If they were olive farms, they might want a facility nearby to press the olives to produce olive oil. StuRat 22:14, 19 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What is there?

I'm a new comer to Wikiversity could anyone explain what can i do, on wikipedia, i'm known as Terra. --Terra 18:00, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome, you have on your talk page some info. Would be nice, if you have a look there and tell us what you would like to do here then. Please don't misunderstand the short answer ----Erkan Yilmaz (Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog) 18:34, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I can say through the Browse page i'm good with IT, but however i'm hoping i could help out with maintenance tasks such as reverting vandalism, new page patrol or patrol the recent changes those are what i'm strong with doing, adding info or other content to articles i'm a bit cautious about doing that's why i've never created articles on wikipedia. Terra 19:03, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A helping hand is always welcome. About being cautious: it is a wiki, so just be bold - if something would go wrong it can be repaired. Have fun around here, ----Erkan Yilmaz (Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog) 20:48, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just out of interest is there any user scripts which i could use, because over on wikipedia, on my user which is User:Terra there was a selection of different types of scripts like warning tabs, New pages being uploaded and others is there any over on wikiversity. Terra ^{What do you want?} 19:44, 24 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Astronomy question

When did Olympus Mons last erupt? Thanks, --Laleena 23:34, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

w:Olympus_Mons#Volcanism says it last erupted more than 2 million years ago, which would make it an extinct volcano (at least by Earth standards). StuRat 01:51, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]