User talk:Hephaestos

(For earlier discussions please see User_talk:Hephaestos/Archive20030407)

Hiya, on the Bethel, Maine page, I've added some links. Did I do it appropriately? Thanks! Mkrose

Thanks for the formating on the John Denver page. I'm new at this, so I thought I'd start by filling in some info. Mkrose

Set forth with pride, and do your work. Let not the hardship of it kill your will. Take not pride in what you can do. Take pride in what you do.

Let the holy spirit of Hephaestos fill your heart. Let his joys take you. Divine smith and lord of the fire. Bringer of the tools that make us men.

If you meant that you were before your time, then I'd say you were spot on. But were you also not, However, Vulcan, indeed the Master Smith, and a preacher of personal ability as personal value? Syllogis would then move me to think that perhaps you inspired their actions, what with being all but their patron saint, hm? Bluedovich

I'm sorry, I seem to be a little down on my history. Exactly what did Hephaestos contribute to the boys of iron and bronze? Bluedovich

Nothing; that was before my time. - Hephaestos

You're out of line. If you have a problem with me, we can discuss it, but to go around making accusations and calling me names is not acceptable. -- Zoe

Excuse me, what "name" did I call you? Hephaestos

Why did you get rid of that Fungible article? it just needed reformatting. LittleDan

I guess we're just seeing things differently, and I can't say for sure which of us is right. It still looks like a dictionary def to me; I'm not aware of any commodities that aren't tradable. - Hephaestos

Hi, you have made very sensible edits in the past and wonder if you would mind looking at the Abortion page. I have gotten into an edit war with JTDIRL and would appreciate your take on it. The war is primarily about style -- I have tried to make the article less wordy and better organized. But I think there is an underlying NPOV issue -- not concerning the matter of abortion (pro vs. con) but concerning the role of wikipedia (to educate people about ongoing public debates over certain issues, or to provide logical arguments meant to provoke people's thoughts). Right now there is an extensive account in the Talk page; if you look at the article make sure to find out whose reversion it is. Well, I hope you are having a good holiday, if you celebrate it. Slrubenstein

Abortion, eh? As they say of New York, if I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. ;) But sure, I'll give it a look. Plenty of free time at the moment. As to the role of Wikipedia, as I see it it's more the former as a rule; of course I haven't had a look at the article yet though...

(Ostara, Easter, Passover, decent weather in Minnesota for a change, everybody celebrates this one. *grin* Likewise.) - Hephaestos

Thanks for pointing out the addition of the exact date of death on G. I. Gurdjieff being new here I only saw a few biographies and they all had only years but I see that the recommended style in Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) is to put the full date if known and also to link the date and the year to their respective pages. Alex

I'm adding January 13/ January 14 as the days of Gurdjieff's birth. I think he states in Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am' that he was born on the strike of midnight between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 on the Julian Calendar. Which makes it January 13/January 14. I found the reference to 1966 as his year of birth from an article written by his son. Alex

I'm impressed with your ability to find dates of birth and death for such obscure people - and so quickly! Deb 20:09 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks. :-) Combination of what I guess one might call "Google-fu" along with a recollection of where I've found good stuff before. Those dates were from http://www.hostultra.com/~thepeerage/. Hephaestos 20:14 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)

Please explain what Elizabeth Smart has to do with either capitalization or plurals. -- Zoe

Nothing. It has to do with moving pages and creating automatic redirects (as well as bringing talk pages along with the article). - Hephaestos

I couldn't do the move because the article was already in place. The redirect was the only way to do it without deleting, and I didn't want to do that because I didn't want to lose the talk history. That was not a general rule thing, it was a specific case because of what was already in place there. -- Zoe

The article was not already in place, or you wouldn't be the only one listed in the edit history. There is currently no talk history for Elizabeth Smart (kidnap victim). - Hephaestos

Fine. I'm a complete fraud. I go around making up things, and lying all the time. I'm just a horrible person. Something like you. -- Zoe

I don't think either of us is a "horrible person," although our approach to edits would seem to differ substantially. - Hephaestos

Hi. nice work merging Baron Haussmann. :-) -- Tarquin 08:17 Apr 26, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks. :-) I only just found the Wikipedia:Duplicate articles page recently; I'll probably be working on it a good bit, since the copyedits I'd been doing before were dependent on the search function being operational. - Hephaestos 17:56 Apr 26, 2003 (UTC)

Hi, H. You must have been waiting for days for me to finish the halfpenny article! Thanks for the picture. -- Arwel 01:30 Apr 29, 2003 (UTC)

In the common image with or without caption, I see no technical or other reason in favour of explicitly adding pixel widths to diversions. It only promotes errors (esp. so when images are modified), does not help at the Wikipedia end a bit, and really not much at the client end either, because the client needs to find the diversion height anyway. Oh yes, it also causes extra load on W. by having to support corrections and notes like this ;-) -- Egil 06:13 Apr 29, 2003 (UTC)

It's a concession for some browsers; here are a couple of example screenshots screenshots with the tag [1] and without [2]. I agree though if the pixel width isn't specifically known for some reason (when replacing with a new image, for example) the tag would be better left out. As long as the dimensions are correct, though, it shouldn't hurt to have them in. - Hephaestos 06:21 Apr 29, 2003 (UTC)

That behaviour I would treat as an outright browser bug, and it sort of seems a shame to compensate for bugs by adding features that makes maintenance harder. -- Egil 15:58 Apr 29, 2003 (UTC)

I wouldn't want to see some sort of Wikipedia policy saying "you must add widths" or anything like that. Each browser has its own idiosyncracies and it's probably impossible to compensate for all of them (or, if possible, at least much more difficult as you noted).

There are three possibilities for any image:

Incorrect width specification. This is the worst of the three, as it skews many browsers (but not all browsers; the images at John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry, for example, looked fine on my end the way Zoe originally had them).
No width specification. Better, but throws off some browsers (like Omniweb). I think this is fine for most articles, because as you said it's a bug. However, folks who have this bug often find articles literally unreadable without a fix (for example, Hanno before I inserted widths [3]).
Correct width specification. Best in a perfect world, but as you said, in practice it's a pain to put into every article. I don't think most articles need it. On the other hand, if the width is correct, it doesn't hurt anything until someone updates the image with one of a different size. It seems to me that when this occurs, viewers of that article (which must have attracted some attention or the upload wouldn't have occurred; at least it will be on recent changes for a bit) can fix it on the fly as you did by taking the width tag out altogether. I think most articles with images will keep them almost indefinitely anyway; I don't see anyone coming up with "better" images for the Hanno article any time soon, for example, nor for the many national flags.

I've discussed this quite a bit earlier (it's in my talk archive if you're really bored *grin*) and am beginning to think it rates its own article in the Wikipedia namespace. - Hephaestos 17:00 Apr 29, 2003 (UTC)

As many have before me, I was guilty of confounding Duns Scotus and John Scotus Eriugena. (They come up all the time at my house.) I corrected myself at Eriugena, but apparently not before you had added him to Duns. It looks like you caught it too, so I guess it's OK now. --- IHCOYC 19:26 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

Most of my edits today seem to have focused on style over substance. It may be a voice telling me to go work on my other article instead. <g> - Hephaestos 19:34 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

Heh, thanks for fixing the confusion re Mary Queen of Scots et al. -- Evercat 00:57 May 4, 2003 (UTC)

Hello. Next time you remove a copyright violation, could you please you use the boilerplate text and then list it on votes for deletion (Oprichinicks, in this case)? Thanks, Notheruser 17:28 May 4, 2003 (UTC)

Hmmmm, I thought that sort of deletion was frowned upon. I also thought the whole idea was to let the user who placed the infringing text know that they can still contribute original text in spite of their inappropriate action. I haven't seen many (if any) on-the-fly deletions for copyright infringements, but you've been here longer than I have. -- Notheruser 17:41 May 4, 2003 (UTC)

I tend to agree with your assessment; a newbie dumping copyrighted text into an article doesn't require a week long wait for deletion (IMO, at least). However, I think the prevailing ideal around here is to encourage contributions through a forgiving virtual slap on the wrist via the boilerplate text. I, too, haven't seen a discussion on it; I guess most are inclined to stick with the existing all-inclusive standard. -- Notheruser 17:58 May 4, 2003 (UTC)

--- Re: moving Theodore Bilbo to Theodore G. Bilbo. Sure, sounds like a good idea, especially since I have been using the middle initial of other Mississippi governors

No prob about the X-15 pic, I knew I was taking too long looking for one :-). Philosophically, I think it's more user-appealing to have a color pic be the first one seen at the top of the article, so I'll put my in-flight image at the top and yours further down, take a look when it's done and see if you like it. Stan 21:18 May 4, 2003 (UTC)

You're a trier, I'll say that for you. Actually, I was guessing when I described John Gilpin as 18th century. That's the implication of what I read, but he could have been earlier. Deb 17:45 May 5, 2003 (UTC)

That was quick work with Una and the Lion! What other coin illo's have you got ready? :-) I'm working on the two guineas next... It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people improve on articles, and jump on vandalism on Wiki. Arwel 14:17 May 11, 2003 (UTC)

We are trying to increase the number of people who are Wikipedia Administrators. Until now, we've been relying on users to take the initiative to ask for this access themselves but this has resulted in a slow rate Admin rank expansion. So we've gone ahead and nominated and approved you and several other long-time users for the account upgrade. This means that your fellow Wikipedians feel that you are a responsible, well-known, and fair-minded user.

Agreeing to be an Administrator does not mean that you are expected to do any additional work above and beyond what you do now ; It just means that we trust you to to have certain privileges and responsibilities that can't be entrusted to random users (such as editing the Main Page, protected policy pages, or banning the IPs of vandals).

All we need from you now is your consent. You can either send an email to WikiEN-L (preferred) or simply state "I agree" on the bottom of this page.

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)

Congratulations, you are now a sysop! Please see Wikipedia:Administrators for our sysop guidelines before using your new and amazing powers. --Eloquence 03:02 May 13, 2003 (UTC)

Will do; thanks! Hephaestos

That image of Samuel J. Tilden isn't working on my machine, which is a shame, because i have never seen his image, and i am quite curious. Is it my system that is at fault, or the image itself? Kingturtle 00:02 May 16, 2003 (UTC)

In Netscape 7.01, the article actually just shows the text: SamuelJTilden.jpeg. In Explorer 6.0, the image works fine. Kingturtle 00:22 May 16, 2003 (UTC)

Where are you getting all those neat EC images? The source should be stated in the upload summary so that it becomes part of the image's description page. --mav

Thanks for the page fix Hephaestos :) -- sannse 06:52 17 May 2003 (UTC)

Good day Hephaestos. There are ramifications regarding two redirects you made late-April. It is not serious but the subjects are mixed up and I'd like to know your opinion before a move. See Talk:Pali_canon. Be well. Usedbook 17:44 26 May 2003 (UTC)

The Hallucinogen edit seems legit: [4]. -- Notheruser 06:46 1 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Oops! Looks like you noticed, sorry. -- Notheruser 06:48 1 Jun 2003 (UTC)

no problem :)

Heh. Multiple refreshes gave me the impression that you had reverted it a few times (not many posts this time of day/night) :)

The Style Manual for Biological Journals as "Prepared by the Committee on Form and Style of the Conference of Biological Editors of the American Institute of Biological Sciences" states at page 68, "Generic names used as vernacular names are neither italicized nor capitalized"

Since an other authoritative source has indicated that capitalization is usually done among ornithologists (though it is not a rule) I will leave birds alone ... for now. ☮ Eclecticology 05:37 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

By "generic name" do they mean "bear", "American black bear", or both? Stan 06:02 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I would guess that by "generic name" they mean Ursus, if it were used as a vernacular name. As, for instance, Gorilla is. And Galago, sometimes. And so forth. john 06:07 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

He just doesn't get it, does he? Koyaanis Qatsi 23:42 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

*sigh* did you used to go through this? I can see why you "turned in your badge." - Hephaestos 23:46 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Sometimes, yes. It's frustrating. Given some of his edit summaries, I've been tempted to write AOL to try to get them to cancel his account. Koyaanis Qatsi 23:49 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

The thought's crossed my mind too, but I haven't had time to compose a nice letter. <g> - Hephaestos 23:51 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

WOW, you certainly made a lot of edits within the last few minutes! What's up? Are you being really productive, or saving them up? :) MB 02:13 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I thought you were a bot! Because your coverage and speed is lightening-like! --Menchi 16:27 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

<g> partly practice, but in this case mostly that I know what I'm going to change in each article ahead of time (although I do need to scan to make sure I'm not messing up the formatting. I might try my hand at a bot someday, but not today. - Hephaestos 16:36 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Great shirt on your user page! 172

The four-digit quotation mark character codes (e.g. “) are the correct ones. The three digit codes like  are non-standard and only work in Windows. — Paul A 08:50 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hello Hephaestos.
Gaea is not a spelling mistake. That is another spelling for Gaïa (or Gaia) :-). Ant

Then, it is probably for the best :-) Thanks for your interest. Ant

Well, also, Jimbo is I guess the person he needs to talk to if he's ever going to be allowed to edit again, so it seemed perverse not to let him edit Jimbo's talk page. But yes, I thought it was funny too. :-) Koyaanis Qatsi

In case you didn't already know, I've created a group watchlist of sorts at Wikipedia:Favorite pages of banned users to help with tracking when Michael is vandalizing (and any future vandals like him). So feel free too use it, I have already found it helpful, and please add to it when he vandalizes more. Thanks. MB 22:11 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I'm going to have to research all those bands and albums to put up a stub on them so maybe Michael will go away. I do think he's mentally ill, though, so I'm not sure it will work. Koyaanis Qatsi 01:32 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I'm dubious; the "years in music" pages would still be open for his misinformation. *shrug* - Hephaestos 01:34 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Good point. A problem without a solution. Koyaanis Qatsi

Ed was around earlier today--I think it was today--but probably isn't any more. Koyaanis Qatsi

Magnus? Now him I haven't seen in months. I wonder if he's well. Koyaanis Qatsi 01:59 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Somehow I imagined Leadbeater's Possum to be a famous Leadbelly song. :-/ the uncultured, Koyaanis Qatsi 00:56 12 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I often don't know what they are until I get in there and copyedit. :)

Hephaestos 01:14 12 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hey, Thanks for fixing up my bad spelling on the Seven habits page .. Karl Wick

Are you a trekker or a trekkie? *G* Mick 07:10 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Some, but not as much as I used to be. I'm also fascinated with small towns and their antics; see the picture at Rothsay, Minnesota. *grin* - Hephaestos 07:13 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hey, that's nothing compared to the world's biggest ball of twine! Yuk, yuk... Mick 08:10 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

By the way, Kirk never said he was from Riverside, just that he was from Iowa. The people of Riverside took it upon themselves to declare their town his birthplace, and it just kind of became accepted by fans :) Adam Bishop 07:17 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I created a hidden cell on top of the normal text box cell on the Current Events page. Edit the 'height' property (shouldn't take more than a few pixels) untill the body and text box text is staggered and you can easily tell them apart. It might not be the best solution for you, but it solves you very rare problem without affecting anyone else and keeping the sytle consistent (well, it will set everyone elses down by a few pixels too, but I doubt anyone will notice). -- stewacide 17:50 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

It was a .gif with an incorrect extension. The other photos I moved during that period should be checked too, but I don't know what they were. I moved it as a result of a change in the software disallowing the display of off-site images as a result of the goatse vandal. Koyaanis Qatsi 18:19 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

It works for me on Moz 1.3 and IE 5.0 for win2000 (and IE is very picky about its .pngs). Have you refreshed your browser cache? It may be pulling up the old, incorrect image. Koyaanis Qatsi 18:41 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

The jpeg looks fine. I'm surprised photoshop said the png was still a .gif--I used photoshop to convert it to PNG-8 with a custom pallet of 18 colors. Hm. Koyaanis Qatsi 19:07 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

You're still doing an amazing job with those dates. Deb 18:32 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Thanks for adding the correct quotes etc to the Town Musicians of Bremen page. I added the full fable but didn't correct the strange way the quotes came out. Thanks, it must have taken quite a while.
Adrian Pingstone 20:42 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Jay-SUHS! You set a hard target for "wikify" :-D -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo stick 06:52 17 Jun 2003 (UTC)

You're too quick! Ingo Swan had gone by the time I opened it. jimfbleak 07:03 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)

You changed sodium bicarbonate to have a "see also: sodium bicarbonate." Is that what you meant to do? Koyaanis Qatsi 07:24 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Ahem. never mind, I see you took care of it already. As you were. ^_^ Koyaanis Qatsi

I get it: when you're tired, you function on a level that I do when well-rested. ;-) Koyaanis Qatsi 08:17 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Unfortunately Hep, the PP comments fit a pattern, as does their behaviour. (See something left on my page). Taken together it bares all the hallmarks of a particular multiple banned user, albeit a variation on a well worn theme. :-( FearÉIREANN