yodadoe

Wow, that subject line is esoteric.... It has been too long since my statistics classes in college, and I didn't save any textbooks. I am trying to figure out a standard deviation or margin of error for a set of data:

I have 100 boxes. 7 of those boxes have an item in them, the remaining boxes are empty. So the probability of opening a box and finding an item is 7%. How do you figure out and express the variability in that?

I was hoping I could find a function in Excel, to make it easy to set up, as this is an ongoing set of data. I will be adding more "boxes" and "item" to the data set a little bit every day. If I could set it up in Excel, I wouldn't have to recalculate everything. Thanks for the help!

I'm planning a long road trip. There is interstate highway going in my direction up until I get to West Virginia. I need to travel from Charleston, WV to Huntington, IN (near Ft. Wayne, in the northeast corner of Indiana). I can either choose to zig-zag on interstate highways, or cut straight across Ohio diagonally on US 33. Is anyone familiar with this route and whether it is going to be 9 million small towns with stoplights all the way? I know some parts of Ohio are relatively quiet and you can zip through, but sometimes not... Any advice?

I have some smoked fish I plan to set out as an hors d'ouvres for some of our Christmas guests. I don't plan to have this as an entree. I was thinking of something like cheese, crackers, capers, or something, but I have little experience with smoked fish. The fish is hybrid striped bass, a milder white fish. It is also less oily that things like salmon, so it is a bit drier than smoked salmon. I'm assuming some kind of milder cheese would be good?

(P.S. I asked this before but didn't get a chance to read but a few responses because it was deleted for violating the community guidelines... uh.... yeah... apparently smoked fish is taboo on this site... or maybe it's the cheese? Is Yahoo Answers lactose intolerant?)

Okay... I posted a question two days ago asking... okay... hold onto your seats, because this could be shocking and ugly...

... are you ready?

What kinds of foods go well with smoked fish?

*gasp!*

And this was deleted because it violated the community guidelines. Um... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Okay... I posted a question two days ago asking... okay... hold onto your seats, because this could be shocking and ugly...

... are you ready?

What kinds of foods go well with smoked fish?

*gasp!*

And this was deleted because it violated the community guidelines. Um... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

For a long time, I've been opposed to what the Religious Right is trying to do in politics, but I haven't been able to explain exactly why I thought it was so wrong. Oddly enough, a conservative columnist with whom I would usually disagree (Cal Thomas) has explained it completely and concisely. I was curious to see what some of you think about this. Maybe Christianity can return to "look what you can be!" instead of "Look, you can't do that!" Thoughts?

http://www.calthomas.com/index.php?news=2419

I've been reading and laughing at all of the crazy political rant posts on this forum for a while and I honestly don't understand why people do it. It never goes well for the poster, because political rants on either side always seem to be full of opinionated garbage and silly lies they got from some TV ad or extremist website. So they get shot down or made fun of... I guess they're just looking for confirmation or to pick a fight?

I'm an intelligent person, so I never pay attention to political TV commercials. But since NC is a swing state this year, you just can't help but be exposed to SOME of it... So there's one I just saw about our incumbent Senator, Elizabeth Dole (wife of Bob Dole) saying that she is "An absentee senator" and "Ineffective" and some other things. Each time, the source listed at the bottom of the screen is The Charlotte Observer or the Raleigh News & Observer, or one of the other major newspapers in the state.

When you see that, does this mean that a regular writer for the newspaper has actually made a such statement in a regular article? Or can a political commercial take statements from some editorial on the back page, where all kinds of biased opinions appear, and put it up there with a "The Charlotte Observer called Senator Dole 'Ineffective!'?" I wouldn't put it past them.. anyone have any idea?

I know that papers will come out and officially endorse a candidate. I'm just wondering if this is comparable to that.

Okay, so you meet a stranger somewhere who has a lot of good ideas about how you should live your life and how our society as a whole should live to become a more loving and mature group. You listen to them and maybe agree with them. What they are saying makes logical sense, even if the implementation of said ideas would probably be kinda hard. So you endeavor to follow his teachings in your personal life, since they make you feel like you are a better person for it.

That same person then starts talking about mystical beliefs and invisible creators. All of a sudden, you either dismiss them as a lunatic and walk away, completely ignoring EVERYthing they have to say (maybe stone/crucify/lynch/drive-by them for good measure) or you figure that, since this guy seems smart and his ideas make a lot of sense, his theories on metaphysical ideas and the Great Beyond must be true to. So you decide to dedicate your life to following his ideas... only concentrating mostly on the mystical and unprovable parts of what he said, mixed in with violet hatred and persecution of any other person (and their followers) who may have been saying the same great things about how to live life, but slightly different things and names for all the mystical ideas and creator theories.

What makes sense to you?

Note: I am NOT trying to call into question the existence of a creator. I'm trying to call into question the intense hatred people have for those of another religion that, save for a few details, is mostly the same thing.

I've been perusing this forum laughing at all the people on the far left and far right blathering on. Something I keep seeing is the assertion that Barrack Obama was not born in the USA. Can someone comment on that? I know he was raised in Hawaii, but all the sources I could find say he grew up there and didn't specify that he was actually BORN there.

The funniest part about this is that far-right people seem to think Obama being born outside the USA is something to criticize when it's a known fact that John McCain was actually born in Panama. It was at a naval base, and the canal zone was a US Territory at the time, so this does not disqualify him from the presidency. But it does make that argument laughable.

I've been thinking a lot about presidential elections the past 10 years. And the "American Voter" baffles me, frankly. Here's how I see it:

First you have all of the intelligent, conscientious voters out there that study what the candidates stand for and make an informed decision about what they think is best for our country at this time. Second, you have those people who have one or two issues that are very important to them, and they pick their candidate accordingly (even if the rest of their platform might be flawed...sigh). Third, you have those that support one party or another blindly, like presidential elections are the same as a college football rivalry.

The remaining voters are those that are either too lazy or too stupid to actually evaluate the candidates. These are the people who actually pay attention to political adds on TV and take them at face value. These are the people who pick whom they like best based on how folksy they are, or on the color of their skin, or if they have the right facial expressions and catch phrases. These are the people, who in a close election, are the ones deciding who will win the presidency... based on which team got in the best "burns" on TV adds that are so misleading and silly, that they are essentially lies.

I'm interested (and a bit apprehensive) to see what YOU people think about this, because it seems there are a lot of people here that are spouting the same garbage I see in the political adds.

I am a longtime fan of the band, Phish. I was primarily a fan of the music. I was only partially a fan of the people and the "scene." When I first started seeing shows in 1994, they were still playing theaters (at least in the Southeast). The "scene" was actually a very fun place to be for a good 3 or 4 years. After that, there was less of a community feel and more of a dirty, selfish, drug-using feel. About that same time, the music began to suffer. Losing the feeling of a community of friends was unfortunate. But when the music they were playing went downhill, the entire Phish experience became the cliche we had, for so long, tried to deny: that it was nothing more than vapid music played for a bunch of dirty, drugged-out neo-hippies and trustafarians. My mantra was, "If I have to get stoned to enjoy it, then it's not worth it anymore." I kept going to shows, on and off, but they never seemed to get it going again.

So I'm looking for thoughts from discerning fans of Phish music, like myself. Is Phish's 3-day return to the Cupcake Mothership in Hampton in March something we should mostly ignore, leaving it to the newer fans to experience? I have a hard time getting too excited. I must admit, my expectations are low. There were rumors of drug use hampering the band's musical ability back in the late 90's. But that's what the first Hiatus was supposed to fix, right? I think they just got older and bored with what they could do with the Phish vehicle... and they quit practicing the more complex songs! :P

At best, I expect these three shows to be a nice reunion, with a few good jams, and a lot of silly fun because of the carnival atmosphere. Heck, Hampton is always a party. I was lucky enough to see the shows there in Fall of '97. But at worst... I don't know... they don't gel on any jam, they make a lot of mistakes, and it just comes off as lame and contrived. I expect that many people would be happy with whatever, either because they missed the Phish experience before, or because they will be on drugs. Good for them! They're gonna have a great time at a Phish show, much like I did on Summer Tour '96, when most of the more experienced fans were saying, "These shows are kinda mediocre, you guys." (Oh, but 1997... sigh...). Anyway, looking for the thoughts of other older fans... thanks

Back in 1999-2001, I collected a few hundred Magic cards. I like the game alright, but never found people to play with. I found all the cards in my closet recently and am trying to figure out what to do with them. I'm pretty sure they're mostly garbage, but maybe since they are 6 or 7 years old, there may be a few in there worth a couple of bucks? I looked on eBay, and there's WAY too many auctions on there... seems like the supply far outweighs the demand for a mess of mixed cards... Anyone have a comment or advice?

I'm pretty new to all this crap. If I choose to take a higher number of "mortgage points," I reduce my interest rate. But I have to pay for that at closing, which reduces the amount I can put down. So what's the difference between paying for "points" and simply putting more cash into the down payment?

Some friends and I are coming to the UNC Football game this weekend. Can anyone tell me if the Manning lot would be a place to hang out, grill, have a few beers, etc. ? I'm not a student, so am not looking for the usually UNC student places. I'm coming to see the visiting team (South Carolina).

The Manning lot seems to be the only real public parking lot at all. The rest of the public parking is either parking garages or peripheral park and ride places. Also, anyone know how quickly this lot fills up?

I need one WR from this bunch

Jacoby Jones

Braylon Edwards

Wes Welker

Edwards is the easy choice, but Wes Welker has been pretty consistent so far. And Jacoby Jones could have a great week with Andre Johnson out of the picture. I have Reggie Brown, too, but I'm not making that mistake again.

I've been playing around on this site for a year or two, now. And I'm ever curious as to who uses this site. What groups do you think are over- or under-represented here?

I'm assuming most people here are American. I'm sure there are some Brits and a few others, but let's just assume we're talking about only Americans for now....

I get the feeling that, across the board, only the most vocal and opinionated people in our culture actually participate here... makes for some colorful rhetoric, that's for sure!

(Bored Moderate)

I have a pair of Keen sport sandals with a rubbery sole and canvas and fake-leather straps. After wearing them around on hot days and sweating in them, they are a bit funky. Washing them in mild soap makes the funk go away for about a day. Anyone have a recommendation for some kind of disinfecting solution I could soak them in that won't discolor the fabrics? (i.e., bleach is out of the question).

Within your party, do you support the best man (or woman) for the job, or do you pick the best CANDIDATE, who will have the best chance of beating the other party?

It seems to me that the Republicans have figured out that, in the primaries, you pick the candidate who will win the election, not the better man for the job. I think most everyone will agree that George W. Bush was great at running for president and pretty poor at running the country. On the other side, the Democrats, in their idealistic wonderland, seem to pick whomever they think is the best, with no regard to whether that person can win. John Kerry comes to mind... might have been a fine president, but has the mass appeal of a bag of cement.

So this year: Democrats have Obama and Clinton at the top. Obama is too ethnic/new, Clinton is too Clinton/female. (I like Bill Richardson, but he's too unknown) Republicans: Romney is too Mormon, Giulliani is too crazy. McCain I like, but he manages to shoot himself in the foot...

I need to test the calibration of our conductivity/salinity meter and don't have any of the standard solutions. So I'd like to create a solution of known salinity by adding NaCl to a volume of water. How do you convert the grams of salt per liter of water into parts per thousand or practical salinity units?

I also need to figure out how to raise a known volume of water from, say, 3 psu to 4 psu just by adding NaCl by weight...