Bluegills

Please help me figure out this question, and explain it if possible. Thanks!

The southernmost star in the famous Southern Cross constellation lies approximately 65 degrees south of the celestial equator. What is the northernmost latitude in the US from which the entire Southern Cross is visible?

Here is the question and I CANNOT figure it out, even though it is pretty basic. So please explain how to arrive at the answer!

"If we represent the Sun as a volleyball (diameter=65cm), how far away would we find earth in this model? Note: The Sun's actual diameter is 1.4 x 10^9

answer in meters

What would the diameter of Earth be in this model?

answer in mm

I really need to order a pair of baskeball shoes, and the only website I can find them on is not a major seller.

The website is Shoes-4you.com

I have no idea if they are legit, but if they aren't can I get my money back?

I have been looking DESPERATELY for a pair of shoes, I've even resorted to Ebay without any luck. I found this website that is selling the shoe in the size and color I need, but I'm not sure if they are legit.

I noticed some weird things, such as misspellings and poor product descriptions. However, when you go to check out, it says they accept Western Union Speed Pay or Pay Pal, but I don't know if that necessarily means they are legit or not.

The website is- nbahatsjerseys.com

Their are customer reviews, but I feel those are easy enough to fake. I'm not saying I'm going to trust it, but if I were to order the shoes and it turned out not to be legit, what would happen? Would I get my money back? Would WU or PayPal do anything about it?

Thanks for the help!

So my parents and I are buying me a new laptop for school. I was going to get a Toshiba, but it ended up selling out online. SO, I found the Lenovo IdeaPad U510 at a discounted price online (I can get it for $599), but my mom is unsure.

Basically, she hasn't heard a lot about Lenovo, so she is thinking it might not be good. I haven't really heard anything about them either, so does anyone know if they are generally good laptops? ( the screen is 15.6, so it might be classified as a notebook)

I'm not a computer expert, but here are some of the specs-

-6gb RAM

-500gb 5400 RPM

-3rd Gen Intel Core i7 processor

The list price is $999 on sale for $599.

Any help is appreciated!

Okay, so I know perigee occurs once every month, or even 13 times a year, but I have a question- What is the CLOSEST perigee called?

Is there a name for the closest perigee? When it is closer, even barely, then any other time during the year?

So I'm writing a fantasy story and one of the main components is potion making, or brewing as I call it. My story has a lot allusions to ancient myths/legends about magic, including Merlin, etc. I guess it also references Pagan beliefs, mainly concerning the magical properties of plants and herbs.

I'm wondering if there are any plants or herbs that aid in concentration, focus, or clearing of the mind. Not for psychic/ fortune telling reasons, but just as a way for them to focus their magic and make it stronger.

Any help much appreciated!

I am *attempting* to write what would be considered a young adult novel. I'm currently on the second revision, and the story has already evolved and grown so much. Consequently, the word-count has as well.

At the rate I am going, the story will most likely finish around 160k (its at 145k right now, and I'm just over halfway through the second revision.)

Now, I've read that an unfavorable word-count can really hinder a book when it comes to publishing, especially for the first book in a series. (I have read that several times, but specifically in an interview with Stephanie Meyer on getting Twilight published)

After my first revision, I was at 135k. I was pretty happy with that, but I just don't think it's possible for me to fit the whole story in less that 160-170k. This would put my book at the same length as (or even longer than) the third and fourth books in other prominent YA series.

Now, I wouldn't consider mine your typical YA story. It does revolve around magic and the fantasy theme, but not in the typical light. The story is set in a small, Victorian era town that is secluded from today's mundane/mortal world. (Note- I don't actually use the term "mundane" or "mortal" in my story, I'm just using it to give clear description. Too cliche.)

My story has strong Gothic and macabre influences, touching upon more sensitive subjects than those usually found in YA books- Strict social and historical stigmas, gender roles, insanity and the maltreatment of the insane, torture and rape, just to name a few.

It does have slight a Harry Potter feel, but definitely with a Tim Burton/ Edgar Allen Poe twist that sets it apart from anything I've read.

So, again, do you think my estimated word-count is too long? Thanks for any input, tips or advice!

Previously I was using the name Argent, which I really liked, but it doesn't seem too practical.

Argent means silver in a different language, I think french. Which, personally, I feel would make an allusion to Werewolves, which my story doesn't. Maybe I only got that idea after watching Teen Wolf, idk.

Any ideas?

Little bit of explanation-

The character speaking is speaking to another character (named Stetson.) She is sick of him always being the center of attention. In this paragraph she is saying how she is finally going to upstage him.

"Yep," Lea sighed. "After today it isn't going to be *Stetson this* or *Stetson that*. Hope you can handle it."

Okay, should the words between the asterisks be italicized, quotes ("~"), single quotes ('~') or something different?

THANK YOU!

So the story starts out introducing the protagonist, Stetson Turner. He is your every day, run of the mill teenager. He doesn't stand out in a good way or a bad way; he is "perfectly forgettable."

Within the first few chapters you see how he is sort of the black sheep in his family. He has one sister, who is one year younger, but is much more popular, plays varsity sports, etc. She is basically the golden child. Stetson, however, is very smart. That is just his thing, but his family really could care less.

The story starts out at a volleyball game, where his sister scores the winning point and sends their The first chapter starts out with Stetson and his best (and only) friend walking to his house. On the way, Stetson keeps noticing weird things, but just brushes them off.

Later that night while the rest of his family is still out, Stetson hears footsteps down the hallway and sees a shadow pass by his door. By this point he is paranoid, so he sneaks downstairs with a baseball bat in hand. He peers around the corner and sees a shadow on the wall. He jumps into the room, ready to warn the intruder, when the power to the house suddenly shuts off, leaving him in complete darkness. In panic, he swings the bat around wildly, and in the process manages to shatter a window. Suddenly, the power comes back on and the security alarm goes off.

When the cops arrive, he tries to explain that their was someone in the house, but they don't believe him. They inspect the house and find that every window and door was locked, and there was simply no way somebody was in there. The cops call his parents, who basically flip out when they get home. The night ends in a giant screaming match where Stetson ends up saying that he hates his entire family.

Stetson wakes up late the next morning, panicking that he slept in and missed an exam. When he asks his parents what is going on, they inform him that they have called the school and had him excused because they are going to see his Uncle Mort. Stetson is highly confused, because everyone is acting EXTREMELY strange, but mainly because he has never heard of this "Uncle."

Shortly after he and his family load into the car, he drifts back to sleep. Several hours later, he wakes to find the car pulled off the road in the middle of nowhere; Thick woods line both sides of the road, blocking Stetson from seeing any sort of landmarks that would give him a clue as to where they are.

When he climbs out of the car and moves to the trunk, he finds it is only filled with his stuff. Practically everything that he owns. Before he can ask what is going on, the car peels off, hitting the highway and leaving him in the middle of nowhere with his suitcases. Thinking it is some sort of cruel joke, he pulls out his cellphone only to find that he has no reception.

He turns around and suddenly there is a giant arched path leading into the forest that hadn't been there before. Next to the tunnel of trees is a sign that reads "Incantor." In confusion, he follows the path into the woods. After a lengthy hike, he comes across a set of intricate, wrought iron gates.

Inside is the oddest, creepiest thing he has ever seen. It is an old fashioned town, something that looks like its out of the 19th century. The streets are paved with cobblestone, there are lamp posts and large, almost gothic type buildings. In the center is an ENORMOUS clock tower that is so tall he has to tilt his head all the way back to see its face. Imagine a town straight out of a Tim Burton movie.

Anyways, a creepy old woman appears, dressed in an odd, dated dress. She points him past the clock tower to a giant building, saying that "his mansion awaits."

Long story short, he discovers he is a magician, also known as wizard, caster, etc. This mansion belonged to his ancestors who lived nearly 200 years before and actually founded Incantor. The town was founded in the midst of a dark era for magic, when people were forced to practice it in secret in fear of retribution from those who can't perform magic (Expires). His ancestors had packed up and moved from the east towards the west in hopes of settling a safe haven for magicians. In the midst of a devastating storm, a large owl appears to Asis, the leader of this group. The bird leads them into a nearby forest clearing, where they come across this odd, freestanding door. Behind it lays an odd sort of dimension filled with magical oddities, ranging from plants to powerful ores and minerals. They quickly built the town around this door, using it to their advantage. Following suit, other "magical safe havens" start to appear around the world although Incantor quickly becomes the "capitol" of the magical world and a powerful trading empire.

Say you are in the bathroom and you just got out of the tub/shower. The entire room is filled with steam and is very humid.

You open the bathroom door into a very cold room (maybe a bedroom that has a window open) and a cold breeze sweeps into the room.

When the cold air meets the steam/vapor, it would turn back into it's liquid state right? So, eventually, all of the steam would revert to water, coating most of the surfaces in the bathroom in liquid?

If so, how long does the conversion take. If the two temperatures were pretty drastic (boiling water/steam meets single digit temperatures), would the process happen almost instantaneously?

I realize you probably wouldn't actually be able to see the transformation, but I'm just wondering. Thanks!

I'm in the process of writing a story (not a paper) and there is a part where the scientific name of a plant comes into discussion. I was wondering if it should be italicized?

Here is the excerpt-

"The primary ingredient of a mitigating mixture?"

"Oh, um- aloe."

Alameda raised her eyebrows, a coy expression on her face.

"I mean aloe..." Winter trailed off, squinting her eyes in concentration and tapping her fingers against the table. "Aloe Barbadensis."

Alameda nodded. "Yes, the species Aloe Barbadensis, or as it is more commonly known, Aloe Vera."

So do the words "Aloe Barbadensis" and "Aloe Vera" need to be capitalized and/or italicized?

Just a little back story- the character is thinking of his family, whose memories of him have been completely wiped. His mom, dad and sister have absolutely no recollection of him, so they are going on with their life as if there is nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the character has been taken away to live with his uncle, and is plagued by thoughts of his family.

So these are the two ways I think it might be written, but there might be a different way completely, so feel free to explain it a different way!

#1- He had never missed anything so much, and the fact that no one was missing him in return, the fact that he never even crossed their minds, it made it that much harder to bear.

#2- He had never missed anything so much, and the fact that no one was missing him in return- that he never even crossed their minds- it made it that much harder to bear.

It might also make more sense if I removed that word "it" in the last piece of the sentence, but I'm not sure.

Like I said, I don't know if either of the above options are correct, so if not, please let me know! Thanks!

In the books, does Rowling ever explain why wizards and witches dress so weird? Not the students, but more the adults, and not the robes/cloaks they wear, but their "normal clothes."

For example, professor slughorn seems to wear a dated suit, and many of the dresses seem to have victorian/edwardian influences. Was that ever explained?

I guess I just never got why they don't dress normal. I mean, I'm sure those who live in the muggle world do (students for example) but the others don't. Thanks guys!

So almost a year and half ago (December 07, 2011) I was involved in an auto accident. I failed to yield while turning left and basically destroyed mine and another drivers cars. It was in Utah, and I was borrowing my mother's car, which was registered in Idaho, and only had liability coverage.

After it was all said and done, I got all of my medical bills payed for by her insurance, and I was only left with the ticket to pay. The other guy involved had all of his medical bills payed by her insurance as well and I never heard anything about it.

Now, a year and a half later, my mom calls me sobbing saying she is getting sued for $100,000. Apparently, this guy is "unable to enjoy family activities like he was before the wreck."

Now, I went to the emergency room the night of the accident, got xrays and everything, and my medical bills were just under $4,000. In the letter, it shows he his medical bills have exceeded $20,000 dollars. He has visited well over a dozen doctors and physical therapists.

I had a bruised sternum and various other injuries that kept me from work, but luckily I was living with my sister at the time.

My mothers insurance policy covers each person in the other car, up to $50,000 per person, with a maximum of $100,000 (He was the only one in the car.)

I'm only 19, and I am freaking out and about to have a nervous breakdown. I feel horrible. My mother was a single parent and is now a janitor; everything that she owns can't add up to more than $20,000. I am living paycheck to paycheck, hoping to scrape enough money to go to school this fall

This guy was only 27, and in perfectly good health and I know he is just trying to milk us for everything (and more) than we are worth.

Does anybody have any experience or know anybody who went through a case like this? I'm hoping i this has to go to court the judge will see that what the guy is up to. Please help me!

So I have to write this story for creative writing and I need help naming the monster/things that are basically the slaves of the antagonist, Mercer.

Mercer manages to basically capture a group of opposing sorcerers and tortures them for information. They are forced to drink potions that burn their throat and erode the vocal chords. Their eyes are pecked out by the ravens (his symbol). He starves and abuses them until he has everything he wants from them, and then kills them. However, they are still his slaves, and must heed his call and commands.

Their bodies are withering, their skin a clammy, dead grey, barely containing the swollen and fractured joints. Their eyes are but empty sockets and their mouths devoid off all teeth (having been ripped out). Their fingers are crooked and deformed from being repeatedly broken as a form of torture.

They travel in a pack, hidden from the waist down in an ethereal fog. They cannot talk, but communicate with a sort of rapid yet hushed whisper noise that fills the ears of the victim, driving them to insanity when exposed for extended times. They are not able to perform magic and are impervious to most types of it.

Their scratch can infect you and turn you into one of them, which is a rather excruciating process.

Originally, I called them the "Venatore" which is the latin word for hunters. But, due to a change of plot line, I've decided not to rely so much on latin words, especially since these "creatures" arent an ancient breed.

I was thinking of "Wraiths" but I thought that might be too similar to the ringwraiths from LOTR.

HELP PLEASE!

So for an upcoming college assignment in creative writing I'm writing a story that has to do with the moonand lunar perigee and I have some questions.

First off, I know perigee happens every month but there is always one perigee throughout the year that is closer to earth than the others. In a nutshell a "true perigee"

So would that " true perigee" ever happen in march? In all of the tables I can find it usually happens between may and September if I'm reading them right.

My story is centered around this so I just really want to know since we are requiredto use factual evidence, which is why I chose the moon.

Also, in my story perigee occurs on the full moon of that matters at all.

POINTS TO NEST ANSWER!

If 300 jellybeans cost you x dollars, how many jellybeans can you purchase for 50 cents at the same rate?

Please explain how to do this. I hate math with a burning passion and I cant even do the simplest problems like this :/

So, my antagonist is a sorcerer named Mercer. He is the ancestor of the protagonist, Stetson.

Mercer was part of "The Great Four," a group of wizards and witches (2 boys, 2 girls, all siblings) who upon their father's death acquired a fragment of his weapon. His weapon is called the Reaper, and it was a 3 bladed scythe.

The reaper allowed you to "reap" a victim, and gain his "focus." Now, "focus" is like attention span or imagination. To perform magic, you must use your focus to clearly envision the magic you want to happen and channel it. Since it essentially uses brain power, it is a deplete-able source.

Anyways, he thinks that since they have the fragments (which even alone are very powerful) they should be treated like royalty. He thinks they are above the rules and that everyone should do what they say.

The other siblings don't agree. They believe they are simply peacekeepers among the people. Ones who were granted power in order to help benefit the world. Mercer eventually creates a new form of magic called will bending, which allows a person to completely control another. When his siblings find out, they are furious and banish him from the *town they live in.

Anyways, he finally comes back with a sort of army of followers, and attempts to steal the other pieces of the Reaper from his brother and sisters. Along the way, he kills anybody who stands in his way, even the most innocent.

He is completely mad and is bent on reassembling the Reaper. Anyways, he finally comes back and engages in a war with his siblings. They aren't able to defeat him, but they are able to send him to the Other Realm.

The Other Realm is a place where one does not live or die, they merely exist. The laws of magic and time are completely skewed, meaning his magic is almost useless and time is about 20X's slower than normal.

Knowing that he will not be held for long, they each sacrifice themselves to seal him away and save the world. In doing so, they each create a portal to the Other Realm. The portals are hidden away so that no one will ever find them. Also, each piece of the Reaper is hidden as well.

Anyways, in present day, Stetson ends up getting dropped off in this town by his family. It is named Incantor, and it is actually thousands of years old. Imagine a town that Tim Burton would imagine- Skewed windows, creepily amazing architecture, everything. Anyways, he finds out that he is actually a relative of the Great Four, actually the other brother who defeated Mercer.

He finds out that he has magical powers. Mercer and his followers have found the portal out of the Other Realm, and they are using it to slowly escape back into the real world. Eventually Mercer will return to reassemble the Reaper and take over.

Him and his two cousins (also descendants) must find and unravel the clues to help them each find their pieces of the Reaper as well as the portal that the evil is escaping from.

Okay, here is the thing. Mercer's only goal is to come back and reassemble the Reaper so that he will be all powerful. He plans on killing anyone who gets in his way and transforming the world into a place where those who have magical powers basically enslave those who don't. He, of course, will be on top.

So, my main concern is- Do his motives sound too similar to Voldemort's? Like, I'm trying to create a character that is creepy and ruthless, but I feel he is too similar to Voldemort.

Could he have other motives? How can I make him more different? PLEASE HELP ME!

I REALLY don't want people to feel I'm trying to rip off Voldemort or Harry Potter. So again...PLEASE HELP ME!

POINTS AND FAVORITE TO BEST ANSWER!