What is a nom de guerre? How does one get one? Are there rules? What are the rules? How can I get one?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It’s often used almost synonymously with “pseudonym,” although technically is more specific. I’ve never heard of any rules, but I think the idea is to choose something that sounds cool, yet hides your identity. Although obviously originating in the area of war and other such violent activities (Carlos the Jackal; Subcomandante Marcos; Mr. T), it’s sometimes used more broadly today to conceal one’s identity in other endeavors, like entertainment (i.e., a stage name) or other professions. Henri Donat Mathieu became the designer Yves Saint-Laurent. With writers, you usually say nom de plume, or pen name. You’re free to use your imagination, and that of your agent, but since there isn’t a registry like with internet addresses, you’ll have to check around to make sure your name isn’t taken, and I don’t recommend becoming a famous assassin just so you can adopt such a name. If you broaden the definition, some noms de guerre are given by the media (e.g., the Boston Strangler), not by the individual.

Why are inspirations non-existant when seeked, yet they sneak out unexpectedly when unrequested?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: You wouldn’t call it an inspiration if you knew how you could get it, if it were a mechanical process, if you were staying inside the box. True inspirations must be serendipitous. Unexpected things can be the most satisfying.

What is the difference between pay roll and income tax. Is the former just the weekly form of the latter or are there differing rates, measurements, etc? Which is least regressive?

Cheers!

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: This looks familiar. In fact, I’d recommend that you look back to a question submitted on September 20, 2004, which appears to be the same question. AP provided an answer back then.

What is the coolest thing to see in Japan, the absolute don’t-miss-it sight in the country? While you are at it, aside from Perkins Library, what is the absolute, don’t-miss-it sight in the United States? In North Carolina? At Duke?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The Ramen Museum in Yokohama.
The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA. There are other mystery spots in the USA, but this one gives you the opportunity to travel to California and see them all on the way, along with a few snake farms.
World’s largest chair in Thomasville. It’s big.
The elevator that goes up the Chapel tower. Unfortunately, it’s now closed to visitors.
Or, to be more boring, Mt. Fuji, the Grand Canyon, Stone Mountain, and the Chapel sanctuary.

Who benefited more from the “mash-up” between LP and JZ? My friends and I are trying to figure out why the “mash-up” happened.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Why it happened?! There’s a lot of publicity and money flowing, enough so that everyone’s happy and it’s a moot point who benefited more. MTV certainly didn’t walk away empty handed, and neither did Jay-Z or Linkin Park. They found something that’ll sell to fans of both.

dear answer person – I stumbled upon this link the other day while surfing. Thought you might want to modernize your style and maybe incorporate with interesting “ask” responses. See the following… http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/ask_the_librarian/

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I’ll pass the suggestion along to the Answerperson technical support unit. It looks spiffy and perhaps the AP online interface is a little bland. It’s been suggested by others that we move to more of a blog type of interface. When you say “‘ask’ responses,” I assume you’re talking about the comments that readers can leave, such as under the topic “Where Are Chicago’s Poets?”

This website seems to be a little different than what we’re doing in that there’s only one featured topic per week and they often emanate from the librarian, not as a reply to a query. Then, the answers are very long, often with bibliographies. It’s very much more like a weekly newspaper column. We recommend that if you have a genuine reference or research question, you contact a reference desk at one of the Duke libraries. This personal contact approach will get you a speedier reply and better allow both you and the librarian to understand exactly what you need and how you need to find it.

Do the Jewish faith believe in hell?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: See preceding answer.

Is homosexuality prohibited by Judaism?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: See preceding answer.

Besides homosexuality, what are some other things prohibited by the Christian Bible? Certainly the 10 Commandments come to mind, but my friend said that cutting one’s hair is not allowed. Is he right and are there other obscure things that the Bible forbids?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person, like other librarians, must defer from answering questions that involve medical and legal (including tax) advice. AP extends this same principle to questions involving religious interpretation.

I can help point you in the right direction, and can perhaps say a little more regarding more cut-and-dry questions (like the recent one about the Jewish calendar), but will, in general, have to point you in the direction of religious experts, reference works, or catalog searches. Also, a question involving judgment is a major research project, not something that can be answered in a few sentences. Religious experts certainly don’t agree on issues like this–prohibitions may be subtly stated, who is being prohibited from doing something can be debated, etc.

The bottom line is that I recommend you visit the fine folks at the Divinity School Library to direct you to sources that will help you answer your questions. Since you’ll no doubt find conflicting opinions or incomplete answers, you might just want to closely read all of the Bible yourself. The more translations the better, and perhaps in the original Hebrew and Greek. I would avoid a Google search for such topics; you’ll find that there are a lot of crackpots out there.

Is there an “Internet 2”?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Yes, really an outgrowth of the current Internet, referring to technologies intended to expand bandwidth on the current Internet. See for instance http://www.internet2.edu/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet2 .