Posts for Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Question #47315 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

I am wondering about the origins of the phrase "making love"--but before you get worried, let me explain. I definitely know what it means in our day and time(!), but this phrase shows up in a lot of older movies and books and songs. For example, in "It's a Wonderful Life," when her mother asks her what she is doing, Mary Hatch yells that George Bailey is "making violent love to [her]". Also, in the book "I Capture the Castle", Cassandra says she makes love with Stephen. Given the historical context as well as the physical setting in both of these cases, it doesn't seem likely that they are engaging in anything more than kissing or making out. But maybe I am wrong? I have always wondered about this when things like this come up. If it really was referring to kissing, when did the phrase "making love" come to mean, er, what it does today?

-maisie

A: Dear Maisie,

The OED lists the following for the etymology of the phrase to make love: "after Old Occitan far amor (13th cent.), Middle French, French faire l'amour (16th cent.; 1622 with reference to sexual intercourse), or Italian far l'amore."

The OED then goes on to list several definitions, two of which apply to your question. The first is "To pay amorous attention; to court, woo. Freq. with to. Also in extended use. Now somewhat arch." It lists frequent examples starting in 1567 all the way up until the 20th century. This definition doesn't even mean kissing or making out; it just means courting someone.

The second definition is "orig. U.S. To engage in sexual intercourse, esp. considered as an act of love. Freq. with to, with." The first example given is from 1927, and they continue to the present time.

From what I can tell, the French phrase referred to sex as early as 1622, but the English phrase meant courtship up until the 1920s or so, when it began taking on sexual connotations.

—Laser Jock

Question #47309 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

LDS - Church History

LDS - Scriptures

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

In the Doctrine & Covenants, there are often references to a History of the Church. Usually the reference is given with an "HC", and a lot of them seem to be quotes from the Prophet Joseph Smith. My question is, which History of the Church is this referring to, and how can you tell? Looking in the library catalog and online, there are quite a few different versions. What are the differences between all these histories? (ie, the Documentary History of the Church, the Comprehensive, etc.)

- maisie

A: Dear Maisie,

Which History of the Church is this referring to . . .

The references refer to the 2nd edition of "History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" by Joseph Smith, with notes and an introduction by B.H. Roberts, which was first published in 1948.

. . . and how can you tell?

After fruitlessly searching scriptures.lds.org, I finally did a site search for "History Church" at byu.edu and found this site, which is a digital version of the above edition. I checked it against the D&C references and the page numbers matched up.

What are the differences between all these histories? (ie, the Documentary History of the Church, the Comprehensive, etc.)

It looks like these are all different editions of the same thing. B.H. Roberts first published this work as a series of articles, then they were collected and published in 1930 in a 6-volume set called "Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

The 1948 edition was called "History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and this is considered the "standard" title for the work, even though the title of other editions may vary. (This is the kind of bibliographical puzzle I spend my days unraveling, by the way.)

Regardless, all of these editions should contain basically the same information, but the D&C citations match the page numbers in the 1948 edition, which, as I said, is now available online through BYU Studies.

- Katya the librarian

Question #47306 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Science - Meteorology/Climatology

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

What is the earliest way to find out if a hurricane name will or won't be retired?

Bumblebee

A: Dear Bumblebee,

The lists of hurricane names are created by the World Meterological Organization, an agency of the United Nations. If a storm is destructive enough to merit retiring its name, the decision will be made at an annual meeting of the WMO Tropical Cyclone Committees. So, if you want to find out if a hurricane's name has been retired, you can check the Regional Association IV - Hurricane Committee's website to see when the next meeting is (assuming the storm in question is an Atlantic Ocean hurricane). Shortly after the meeting, the name lists should be updated.

~Hermia

Question #47305 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

BYU - Academics

Food & Drink - Cooking

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

Is there a culinary arts program at BYU? Or are there any cooking courses?

- 12345

A: Dear 12345,

We don't have a culinary arts program, per se, but Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science 374 is the class which runs the Pendulum Court in the Eyring Science Center.

Of course, that class has 3 prerequisites, one of which has 2 other prerequisites, one of which is OChem. You might do better to take a cooking class through community education.

- Katya

A: Dear numbers:

I would recommend SFL 110: "Food Preparation in the Home." It does not have any prereqs.

---Portia

Question #47303 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Health

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

What kinds of Anti-Perspirant (if any) do not turn shirts yellow?

- In headlights

A: Dear Ethel,

It helps to understand why your shirts are turning yellow in the first place. According to this article, your sweat by itself is what discolors your clothing. Although sweat is mostly water, it does contain some salts and various other bacteria and stuff. Some antiperspirants/deodorants can worsen the effect, but even if you stopped using all deodorants (not recommended) you would still see discoloration.

You can try a natural deodorant, perhaps something with rock salt, which can be found at organic stores or all over online. They work by killing the bacteria in your armpits. Some places I looked said Gillette Gel works well without discoloring, but it's really all about body chemistry; what works well for someone may not help you at all.

Or you might try experimenting with your diet (perhaps cutting out garlic, onions and spicy foods) as this can have an effect on how much discoloration your sweat can cause.

-Polly Esther

A: Dear deer,

For the last four years, I've avoided antiperspirants and used only deodorants. As my (still-white) shirts attest, I am happily free of yellow stains, even for white clothing that I've had the whole time and worn regularly. Before switching, I got quite noticeable armpit stains.

My sister similarly was bothered by yellow stains, and started using an antiperspirant that is aluminum-free. So far she hasn't noticed any yellow stains either. A quick search on the brand she uses (Adidas with "CottonTech," their particular formulation) has quite a few people saying it works as well as normal antiperspirants, but without yellow stains. I know it's kind of hard to find, so you may have to look around, and possibly even get it online.

Although I know that sweat by itself can discolor your clothing (as Polly pointed out), in my experience it's the antiperspirant that plays the biggest role in permanent stains. Try switching to either a deodorant that's not an antiperspirant, or an aluminum-free antiperspirant. Good luck!

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Delcross,

The kinds you don't wear will also not turn your shirts yellow, but that's slightly disgusting. But, hey, your sweat, your prerogative.

-Azriel

Question #47302 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Health - Diets

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

Can you survive off of intravenously injected nutrients indefinitely?

What impact would this have on your health should you live an active lifestyle?

- "I don't like food anymore!"

A: Dear Ethel,

You will certainly be able to survive, there are people who rely solely on intravenous nutrition. Of course, there are some long-term complications associated with it, like it's kind of hard on your liver and the bacteria from your gut can move into your blood and make you really sick but you'd still be alive, right?

I would think the main problem with an active lifestyle would be being hooked up to the nutrients, so to speak. I imagine it's harder to do all the things you want to do as you have to carry your food bag around with you all the time (and if you decide you never want to go to the bathroom again you can go the extra mile and carry both bags around). You'd also need to get regular blood work to monitor your TPN (total parenteral nutrition), so that might cramp your busy lifestyle.

If you just don't like food, I would suggest a g tube that will feed formula directly into your stomach, which would be better than getting nutrients through your veins. Apparently there is a saying, "if the gut works, use it."

You know, you could just down like eight cans of Boost a day and get roughly the same effect without all the things being attached to you (not entirely recommended, but better than your suggestion).

The interesting news is, if you decide to just stop eating for awhile and lose a significant amount of weight, you can be admitted to a psych unit for treatment. Now wouldn't that be an adventure?

-Polly Esther

A: Dear Gron Sad,

No one survives indefinitely. Leaving your digestive system out of an active lifestyle is likely to have side effects that are less than healthy. But hey, if you're feeling low on energy, it'd be an easy way to get a quick dose of caffeine.

The people are hungry.(LXXV,1)

-Tao

Question #47301 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Health - Pregnancy

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

This might be a weird question. oh well. I have one major fear from having a baby-- post pardom (sp?) depression. It's actually my #1 fear. So here are my questions. Is it really that common? How do you know if you have it? Is it really that serious? Like I said, weird question, but please help ease my fears!

- ahhh!

A: Dear Ahhh!

Is it really that common?

According to WebMD, postpartum depression affects around 12% of women. According to Wikipedia, between 5 and 25% of women are affected, depending on the diagnostic criteria.

How do you know if you have it?

Symptoms are similar to standard depression symptoms, such as feeling hopeless or empty, not having pleasure in everyday things, changes in appetite and loss of weight, and trouble sleeping and concentrating.

A woman is also more likely to experience postpartum depression if she has a history of other types of depression, if she's under a lot of stress, or if her partner is unsupportive.

Is it really that serious?

In rare cases, a woman may experience postpartum psychosis, the symptoms of which can include hallucinations or paranoia. If a woman experiences any of these symptoms or the desire to harm herself or her baby, she or someone else needs to call 911 immediately.

However, this type of severe reaction is very rare. As for regular postpartum depression, it should be treated so that the woman can regain her joy in life, but it isn't life-threatening.

- Katya

Question #47293 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Products

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

On Netflix, is there a way to suggest a movie to the company on a movie they should have in their collection that they presently do not have?

-YourMom

A: Dear Mom,

Yes! Go to the 'Contact Us' page. The third link down on the page is 'Title Request'. You can even submit your own films for distribution.

-habiba

A: Dear Robert Dearheart,

The archives is also a good place to look for answers. Then you don't have to wait 100 hours. Just sayin'.

-Azriel

Question #47283 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Health - Pregnancy

Health - Wellness/Exercise

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

I'd like to take a dance or exercise science or intermural aerobics class this semester to get some exercise, but I'm pregnant. Are there any classes that a pregnant person can realistically do, or do I need to wait until after our little munchkin comes?

- whoa momma

A: Dear whoa,

As per Board Question #1634, we recommend water aerobics (ExSc 179) and flexibility (ExSc 125). If you have trouble getting in to the class, I'd recommend speaking with the teacher about your situation. He or she may be willing to sign an add card even if the class is full, due to your lack of options. There's also a section of Dance 130 (aerobic dance) which is designed for "those with special needs, such as pregnancy."

- Katya

A: Dear Momma,

There was a pregnant girl in my weightlifting class once. The teacher helped her design her own workout that was conducive to being pregnant and that helped her strengthen her lower abdomen muscles for an easier birth.

-habiba

A: Dear habiba,

Nice! Although one assumes she was exempt from the situps test . . .

- Katya

A: Dear Whom Omma,

A friend of mine took Dance 180 with her husband when she was pregnant. She did just fine, except that by the time the semester was almost over, she was about seven months pregnant and the tall posture that wasn't a problem for her earlier on made her back ache somewhat. The teacher was understanding of this and she still did fine. I think it depends on how preggers you're going to be when finals roll around.

- Rating Pending (who thinks you should try habiba's suggestion, but wanted to throw this one out there too)

Question #47280 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Computers - Browsers

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

I've just been trying out Google Chrome and I like it a lot. It's simplicity really appeals to me. (plus the fact that if one tab freaks out it won't take the others with it, among other things described here: http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/)What do you guys think of it?

- Quinnton

A: Dear Quinnton

I just thought I'd throw out there that the comic book you linked to was created by Scott McCloud, the author of Understanding Comics (and Making Comics and Reinventing Comics). A fantastic read. I discuss his other work some here (see #1 on my list).

-Humble Master

A: Dear Quinnton ~

I was just discussing this the other day with Laser Jock, thus, you can just read our conversation.

me: Also, I'm really liking Chrome, for the record
I mean, I haven't used it extensively... but I like it so far
Laser Jock: Yeah? Why do you like it?
me: Lots of reasons... I like the feature with your most commonly visited sites in thumbnails that opens with every new tab
I like that the base url is dark while the rest is greyed out
Also your search and URL bar are the same
You can type in a URL or search... from the same bar
And you tell it your default search engine... it doesn't even have to be google!
I like the simplicity of it
You can do incognito mode, which doesn't save cookies, etc (So if I wanted to buy Yellow a Christmas present, but not leave any trail for him to find out what I did...)
Laser Jock: Yeah? I just use the search box in Firefox, and use keyboard shortcuts to jump to that or the address bar.
That is kind of a cool feature.
Well, you'd have to get to the address bar anyway.
And I can hit Tab once once I'm there. :)
me: but now you don't have to!
Laser Jock: (Also, Firefox also searches from the address bar...though it does take about ten seconds to first decide that it's not a real website you typed in.)
me: I like that even when I'm in a window with Flash, I can still do a ctrl-tab and open a new window (Doesn't work in my firefox and that's lame )
It also lists your recent bookmarkes and recently closed tabs on all new tabs
Laser Jock: I like the idea that one tab crashing won't bring the rest of Chrome down.
me: you can also search your history
Yeah! There's also that! Which is awesome, too
Laser Jock: Not sure if the not crashing thing is fully working yet, though.
me: well, I haven't tested it yet
Like I said, I haven't used it a whole lot
But so far, I've liked it
Laser Jock: Try typing :% in the address bar. :)
me: I need to try using it more... see if I continue to like it
next reason I like it, awesome google error messages: "Whoa! Google Chrome has crashed. Restart now?"
Laser Jock: Hehe.
Heartless just said the same thing about loving their error messages. :)
me: well, sure, it closes everything. But when you reopen, you can restore your tabs back to where they were before
Laser Jock: (I demonstrated the crash for her.)
Well, yeah. Firefox does that too.
me: blah, blah
;)
(Also, I love firefox)
anyway, I MUST SLEEP
so late....
Laser Jock: My main beef with Chrome is that it's a huge resource hog.
And that for now, I just don't see a need to switch.
me: you're a resource hog... :P
Laser Jock: (Plus, I use a couple extensions that I have to have, and Chrome has none.)
Hey!
me: hehehehee
Laser Jock: Was I insulting your mother?
Anyway, I'll let you sleep now.

~ Dragon Lady

A: Dear Quinnton,

Things I like about Google Chrome:

It runs each tab in its own process, effectively isolating them from each other. This means that it's great for running web applications, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, etc. It's not such a bonus for simple static-content pages such as Wikipedia.
It uses the WebKit rendering engine, the first rendering engine to pass the Acid3 standards test. I believe, though, that they've somewhat modified it from the standard version. The WebKit rendering engine is also used in Apple's Safari, as well as the iPhone. Its increased use will further encourage Web Developers to support open standards (and not just the version of those standards supported by any one browser.)
The start page, which tracks commonly-used pages.

Things I don't like about Google Chrome:

They don't have a version for OS X yet, so in order to try it out for your question, I had to boot my Windows virtual machine.
The increased resource usage is unnecessary for many tasks, such as the research that I often do for the Board.

Other discussion:
I've often thought that it would be nice if developers didn't have to write separate applications for Windows, OS X, and Linux. It seems a shame that a single developer cannot easily deploy an application across multiple operating systems. At the same time, though, I strongly believe that competition in the operating system market produces much better results for the consumers. Hence, the interests of operating system designers and developers are somewhat at odds. Increasingly, I see internet-based applications as a viable solution; the same HTML or JavaScript code will work essentially the same regardless of the platform. Hence, for web applications that dynamically change content without reloading static data (see, for example, 280 slides), Google Chrome is great. It runs each web application in its own process. There's no reason why Gmail should crash if 280 slides goes down, any more than a crash in The Sims should cause Microsoft Word to die. Separate applications should operate independently.

The other end of this compatibility debate, though, is that such websites only work as the user's browser supports it. Whereas the developer of a desktop application may only have to worry about users on two or three versions of an operating system and can easily confine operation to only the latest version of the operating system, web applications can be used by any number of users on any number of browsers. Nobody likes the website that only works in a single browser. Hence, web application developers are somewhat constrained to target the lowest common denominator. The rate of innovation is necessarily restrained somewhat by the variety of user platforms, even though those platforms are much more similar than are varying operating systems.

Well, you asked. I told you.

-Yellow

Question #47264 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

High School

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

Did you go to your high school reunion? Should I go to mine?

-Anonymous

A: Dear Annie:

I've been out of high school for only three years (and am currently in the "sweet mercy, get me out of college" stage of my education), so my first "official" high school reunion is in 2010.

That being said, my high school has many events aimed at alumni, and I did go to a Christmas dinner, but that was a while ago.

Sure, go for it.

---Portia

A: Dear anon,

I guess my five-year reunion would have happened by now, but I didn't hear anything about it. Even if I had, though, I doubt I would have gone. For one thing, it's rather far to travel; and for another, I wasn't actually all that close to most of the other students in my high school. I'm not likely to go to any future reunions either.

Should you go? I think that depends on how much you want to re-connect with your former classmates, and on how it works with your schedule. If you had a lot of close friendships, and have a little cash to burn (for travel), then go for it.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Anon.,

My five year reunion is this next Aprilish and I don't think I'm going to go. My husband and I graduated together, from the same high school, the same year (some people still can't believe we ended up together) and he doesn't have any desire to go. All I've ever heard about high school reunions, especially the 5 and 10 year reunions, is that it's all about who has the most money, who's married (and in my Utah Valley high school...who has the most kids, I know of several with three. So tell me I'm a failure for actually getting my BA in something I'm actually working in instead of having 3 kids before I'm 23). I keep in touch with the people I care to and that's enough for me. Besides, many of our class officers haven't been able to get over high school even 5 years later.

Should you go? Don't let me sway you too far in the no. If you have good friends that you won't see in any other situation or time, why not go? Have fun with your friends no matter what you do that day.

- steen

A: Dear Anonymous ~

I did not go. Granted, that could be largely due to the fact that my class is kind of lame and never even put one together. Knowing the class officers, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if we never had one. This doesn't sadden me greatly. I mean, sure, it could be fun to go to a reunion many years down the road, just to see what's happened to everyone... but right now? 7 years after graduation? Yeah... I don't really care all that much. I already have a good idea as to what's happening with all the people I was friends with.

Would I have gone had they hosted a 5-year reunion? Ummm... perhaps. It would have been 4 hours away, but it also would have been a trip home. So, I suppose it would have rested largely on timing. If something else exciting were happening down here, I would have stayed. Had it been just a normal weekend, I may have gone.

My mom is horrified of the opinions of her children on class reunions. She just hosted her 40-year class reunion... hasn't missed one yet.

Should you go? Do you want to?

~ Dragon Lady

A: Dear Anon

I went to my five-year, but I had to travel all of five minutes to get there. Now that there would be a plane flight involved, I'm not sure I would go.

But it was a lot of fun to connect with those friends...of course this was pre-facebook days, so perhaps you're already virtually connected to your high school friends.

-Humble Master

A: Dear Adora Belle Dearheart,

You will never ever ever see me at a class reunion. Ever. I don't care how much you want me to go, you can't make me!

-Azriel

Question #47253 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

Business

Telephones

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

I have a few questions about telemarketing, specifically recorded messages. Why are certain companies still using this archaic method of marketing? Do they really envision people mindlessly listening to a recording over the phone? This can't possibly be effectual, even when they ask you not to hang up (ironically this makes me all the more enthusiastic about hanging up) at the beginning of the message. I can see that there might still be a small margin of success from telemarketing with actual live bodies because some people might be interested in talking with them or just plain too non-confrontational to hang up, but come on, a recording?

- confused and tired of all forms of telemarketing

A: Dear dazed and confused-

I've actually wondered the same thing, but this article makes a good point: if you're on the phone with a real person, you can ask to be put on the Do Not Call list. If you aren't, you'll have to wait through the entire recording to make an attempt to get your number off their list of contacts. Perhaps there are other reasons (fewer employees on the payroll, etc.), but that seems like a pretty plausible one, for starters.

-Foreman

A: Dear Ethel,

And then this article conveniently popped up on msn.com. Apparently there was a loophole that allows people on the Do Not Call list to get recorded messages, but that will soon come to an end.

-Polly Esther

Question #47111 posted on 09/09/2008 3:01 a.m.

LDS - Doctrine

Q:

Dear 100 Hour Board,

Just curious, do you have to be married to receive the Second Comforter?

Texas Ranger

A: Dear Ethel,

The two comforters, as spoken of in John 14, reference first Christ and second the Holy Ghost.

I'll assume you know that you are capable of having the companionship of the Holy Ghost and even would go out on a limb to say you've recognized it at some point in your life. There are conditions of course, but those are things like living worthily and obeying promptings you receive. Thankfully, one of those requirements is not being married.

See also Board Question #47251.

-Polly Esther