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Oxford Wikimania 2010 and Wikimedia UK v2.0 Notice

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Hi,

As a regularly contributing UK Wikipedian, we were wondering if you wanted to contribute to the Oxford bid to host the 2010 Wikimania conference. Please see here for details of how to get involved, we need all the help we can get if we are to put in a compelling bid.

We are also in the process of forming a new UK Wikimedia chapter to replace the soon to be folded old one. If you are interested in helping shape our plans, showing your support or becoming a future member or board member, please head over to the Wikimedia UK v2.0 page and let us know. We plan on holding an election in the next month to find the initial board, who will oversee the process of founding the company and accepting membership applications. They will then call an AGM to formally elect a new board who after obtaining charitable status will start the fund raising, promotion and active support for the UK Wikimedian community for which the chapter is being founded.

You may also wish to attend the next London meet-up at which both of these issues will be discussed. If you can't attend this meetup, you may want to watch Wikipedia:Meetup, for updates on future meets.

We look forward to hearing from you soon, and we send our apologies for this automated intrusion onto your talk page!

Addbot (talk) 23:00, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Modulo operation

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Thanks for your improvements to the modulo operation article. Can you please fix this sentence you added, though? IEEE 754 defines a remainder function where the quotient according to IEEE standards. The sentence itself doesn't make sense (something is missing after the word "quotient"), and the link should be rewritten to avoid a redirect: [[IEEE 754-1985|IEEE 754]]. Thanks! —mjb (talk) 17:17, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi

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Hi Richard... Yeah, we did meet last year. I hope you're well. I shall take a look at WikiProject Mathematics now. Thanks for the tip. Declan Davis (talk) 20:36, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Quadric Ellipsoid.jpg.

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No problem. It was a judgement call on my part (perhaps a bad one) and should be reviewed. -Regards Nv8200p talk 19:39, 10 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References

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Richard, could you help me with David Trotman's page? There are lots of external links in the text which need to be removed and replaced with references to external links. I don't know how these work. I've added the command line to get an automatically reference list from the exisiting references and it's not turned out quite right. I guess the in text references, as they stand, are incorrect. Let me know if you can help, and if you have any tips for referencing. Declan Davis (talk) 19:15, 19 September 2008 (UTC) p.s. have a read of the talk page too. Cheers.[reply]

Thanks for clearing those things up. I'll get the hang of it in time, I'm sure. When you suggested I join the maths Wikipedia project, is there something to actually 'join', or is it just a page that I should read often? I had a look at it, but I couldn't see anything to actually join. What's the deal?  Declan Davis   (talk)  14:38, 21 September 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Declan Davis (talkcontribs) [reply]

infraneologism

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Hi, the article inframetric is a good candidate for deletion, I would not waste time on edits there. Katzmik (talk) 11:25, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. I was was doing a mass fixing of redirect, and quite a few questionalble articles came up. Separoid is another likely AfD candidate. --Salix alba (talk) 11:58, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The latter may be justifiable. Their '02 paper (involving numerous authors and not just the creator of the page) already drew 7 cites in mathscinet. Ten years ago this would have been a neologism but it certainly gained a wider acceptance than inframetrics. Katzmik (talk) 14:01, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Plant Math

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Hi, Salix. I saw your singular edit over at mathematical proof (where I responded to it) and thought I would come over here and tell you what your name meant, but saw your user page and you beat me to it. I am writing the Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains contrib, and I am in up to my ears in a project to restore the LA River right now, where Salix still is king (at Glendale Narrows), with some nasty non natives trying to depose him, and I recently explained the etymology of a little plant named Chamaesyce albomarginata to a kid in the part. I like your pre Feb 06 Pfarfetched name, too. EricDiesel (talk) 23:42, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

List of edible flowers

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Hey, on the list of edible flowers you forgot the tastiest edible flower of them all, Feijoa sellowiana! I fixed it. And they forgot to write this fact in the main article, so I fixed it, but may have violated NPOV in my description there. EricDiesel (talk) 00:04, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ship of Theseus

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I helped to build an EXACT COPY [1] of the Ship of Theseus, with the Extra Action Marching Band, later altered, modernized and renamed to La Contessa, out in the Blackrock Desert. I contributed the hemp silk lining and the authentic lanterns (OK, they were from India, but still hundreds of years old), and helped do the soundtrack. I was one of the drummers and dancers for the associated Extra Action Marching Band, but I quit prior to the 2005 Hollywood Bowl gig, too mainstream (the main stream it sailed up was the Blackrock desert).

This would be a different paradox. To what extent could an exact copy be considered as being the same object? --Salix alba (talk) 08:56, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
"Note to [your]self: keep clear of philosophy." - user page of the White Willow EricDiesel (talk) 13:50, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]


Indra's Pearle's and New Sections in "Mathematical Proof"

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What, have you hacked into my life? I co-choreographed anopera about Indra, with "pearls", in 1998. It had 2,000 performers and an audience of 30,000 people. It, too, was in the desert, performed during a night time eclipse of the moon, during a violent storm (a perfect storm, in fact). The interesting thing was that I was pulled in to help with the choreography, as a Butoh dance teacher for the Melancholic Sect at first, but more importantly, as a probabilist, as the choreography degenerated due to shuffling problems, as the dance rehearsed with a small group of people in SF, was enlarged to include 2,000 people. The opera was called "Temple of Rudra", and I am the guy in the vintage vaudville top hat at the very end of the "documentary" of the same name, by Dean Mermell. EricDiesel (talk) 21:18, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • More seriously and to the point,
I included the Indra's Pearls quote you provided in a new section, "Heuristic and Experimental Mathematics without Proof", but did so without reading the source context. Did I do so correctly?
Also, I added a number of sections, which User:Gandalf61 first objected to without merit ("'Statistical' Proof is covered in 'Probablilistic proof'", "These multiple new sectoins should not be included"), then with merit ("original reasearch", "essay-like", "too long"). I am new at Wiki, so would like another opinion, if time, as to the appropriateness of the sections, and the content therein. Thnx EricDiesel (talk) 19:18, 23 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think I'm taking a mid ground between you and Gandalf. I'm guessing we will see many iterations before we get to an article most people are happy with. I would say it is one of the more difficult maths articles as it is so wide and open to many different views.
It takes some time to get use to the way of wikipedia and the sort of content which is really appreciated Wikipedia:Writing better articles might be worth a read. There is a big difference between an essay and an encylopedia article. The ideal is to acheive a Neutral Point of View which is almost the opposite of trying to make a case for something. --Salix alba 21:37, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
thanks, will do EricDiesel (talk) 22:57, 23 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Mathematics

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Hello... FYI, I've restored the conversation at Talk:Mathematics as it should remain for future reference. However, to help facilitate the discussion, I've removed the quote from the web site. (As explained at Wikipedia:Editor_assistance/Requests#Please_Remove_Copyrighted_material_from_Wikipedia.27s_servers, it was in no way a "copyright infringement".) Thanks. --Ckatzchatspy 08:10, 23 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Peter Giblin's Page

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I was trying to put together a Wikipedia page for Peter... he has seven published books and over 100 articles! I've tried to do it the best I can but there seem to be problems with my refs. I've got the hang of making refs, but now there's 'link rot'. The refs are the the British National Library, but some user doesn't think that that's good enough. PLEASE HELP!  Declan Davis   (talk)  02:44, 26 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

p.s. Just help me with the links. I want to do the article. Cheers.  Declan Davis   (talk)  02:44, 26 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Declan Davis and friend

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Dragons? You think? [2]. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 14:41, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fairly good evidence indeed. Declan is fairly new here, so has not learned the ropes yet, but could be a useful editor. I don't really know why he would want a sock, it seems that its mainly a username switch as there is only overlap for a few days. --Salix (talk): 15:28, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Richard, I'm sorry that this has caused you problems. Josh has come to a natural conclussion. Both Dharma6662000 and I use the same PC: we share the same flat. He was the one that got me into Wikipedia to start with. As I said to Josh on his discussions page we can agree to not comment on each other's work in the future. I think that proposing a block for one or both users on the first mention was a bit heavy. A polite note about Wikipedia policy may have been more in order. But anyway, point taken: it looks a bit dodgy.  Declan Davis   (talk)  22:53, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No problem. Getting use to wikipedia ways takes some time, and it can be a rough ride. --Salix (talk): 23:00, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I suggest that the Dharma6662000 account be deleted and the Raul start a new account for himself. This account was original opened under my name and as such does provide a conflict of interest. Could you please block the account now so that no-one can suspect any foul play? I'd rather you did it than anyone else. Once again, I'm sorry that I caused you any problems.  Declan Davis   (talk)  23:04, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK done. --Salix (talk): 23:08, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Talk Pages

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Sorry... I didn't know. I didn't want people to read that on my talk page and get the wrong idea about me. I seem to spend more of my time getting told off that I do editing. I'll get there in the end.  Declan Davis   (talk)  00:38, 28 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

mathematical software

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Hello there. Can you tell me the name of the mathematical software/programming language you were using in trying out the various graph colorings in regard to my question yesterday. I think it might be useful for me too. Thanks a lot. Regards--Shahab (talk) 05:29, 28 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

import java.util.Arrays;

/*
Created 27 Sep 2008 - Richard Morris
 */

public class GraphCount {
    int n; // no of vert
    int min = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
    enum Colours { NULL,RED,BLUE };
    boolean[][] cols;
    /**
     * @param args
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
	(new GraphCount()).run();
    }

    private void run() {
	for(int i=3;;++i){
	    n=i;
	    cols = new boolean[n][n];
	    min = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
	    
	    cols[0][1] = true;
	    generate(0,2);
	    System.out.println("i "+i+"\t"+min);
	}
	
    }

    private void generate(int i,int j) {
	if(i==n-2 && j==n-1) {
	    cols[i][j] = true;
	    count();
	    cols[i][j] = false;
	    count();
	}
	else if(j==n-1) {
	    cols[i][j] = true;
	    generate(i+1,i+2);
	    cols[i][j] = false;
	    generate(i+1,i+2);
	}
	else {
	    cols[i][j] = true;
	    generate(i,j+1);
	    cols[i][j] = false;
	    generate(i,j+1);
	}
   }
    
    void count() {
	    //System.out.println(Arrays.deepToString(cols));
	    int nred = 0;
	    int nblue = 0;
	    for(int i=0;i<n;++i) 
		for(int j=i+1;j<n;++j)
		    for(int k=j+1;k<n;++k) {
			if(cols[i][j]==true && cols[i][k]==true && cols[j][k]==true) ++nred;
			if(cols[i][j]==false && cols[i][k]==false && cols[j][k]==false) ++nblue;
		    }
	    //System.out.println("red "+nred+" blue "+nblue);
	    if(nred+nblue<min)
		min=nred+nblue;
    }

}

It gets extreamly slow after n=8, I ran it for most of the day and it did not calculate n=9. --Salix (talk): 06:45, 28 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. --Shahab (talk) 06:49, 28 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

ISBN Numbers

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Hi Richard. Where did you get the ISBN numbers for Peter G's article? Do you know a good site? All the Google searches want to find a book given the ISBN or, worse still, sell me something!  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  17:40, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I often use amazon, their sales pages have ISBN's on. Most library catalogues have this info also. --Salix (talk): 23:19, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Julia Sets

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How does one link to a difference page? Before you'd made your comment I had worked out how to find the user, and had found the difference page showing my changes, it was http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_set&diff=prev&oldid=242767998 but how do you make that into an internal Wikipedia link?  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  16:12, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid you can't make it an internal link which have the [[Julia set]] format. You can however use single square brackets for external links and include an alternate title [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_set&diff=prev&oldid=242767998 diff] which makes diff. --Salix (talk): 16:22, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
p.s. I love that new tool you recommended. Wikipedia just gets better and better ;o)  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  16:32, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...named after George Direction (1492–1686)?

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Is there a reason to capitalize the initial "d" in "direction cosine"? Michael Hardy (talk) 17:56, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, no reason. It was a very quick page creation after realising that WP didn't have any info on these. Article is leaving much to be desired. --Salix (talk): 21:20, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Available energy

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I noticed your comment, "It would be interesting to see data which showed the energy it would be technically possible to extract from each source." and had tried to consider this, but with no reliable source available, which seems credible, it really seemed impossible to do this without doing a lot of synthesis. For example, it is easy to find estimates of how much wind energy is available, and how much solar energy is needed, and if you look at the numbers it is interesting to note that we already are extracting I believe about half of the available hydropower, although that seems implausible. Anyway, like I said, I thought about it, but the best I could find is how much we are currently using (shown in Image:Ren2006.png), and how much the total is, shown in the Available energy diagram. It also seems that economics is a bigger factor in determining how much can be extracted than any other factor. By the way, the person who originally created the diagram has left Wikipedia. I have updated and improved it only because of a desire to display the relative sizes of the data in a meaningful format. All data was carefully taken from a single source to avoid complaints of synthesis, although it was meaningful to provide a separate reference for consumption. Delphi234 (talk) 20:55, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed it is a big ask and porobably not possible. I'am a little worried that the image could overemphesis the potential for solar power. --Salix (talk): 21:12, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia guidelines

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Hi Richard, sorry to bother you again. I have a question about UK and US spellings. I have read somewhere in the WP guidelines that if an article relates to the UK then the UK spellings are prefered, and if it relates to the US then the US spellings are prefered. I can't seem to track it down anymore. All the guidelines that I can find on the UK and US spellings seem to be quite neutral; but I know I've seen it somewhere!  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  11:09, 6 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To de-bother Richard: It's in the subsection "Strong national ties to a topic" under WP:ENGVAR. --Hans Adler (talk) 12:45, 6 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
:o) Thanks.  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  12:55, 6 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Salix alba. You have new messages at Plasticup's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

RE: Coins

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Hi,
Thank you for the help!
So what I need it's only somebody to look if everything is ok in the COinS in a template. The template is fr:Modèle:Article (is the same one as Template:Cite journal in english). I took the text from the english template and only translate the parameters to fit with those in french. For now, the template don't have COinS, but I have a page were the template is exactly the same, with the COinS (it's here : fr:Utilisateur:Riba/Périodique,the COinS are at the end). I have also a sand box were I am doing tests when I working on the template (fr:Utilisateur:Riba/Bac à sable). The only problem is that I'm not able to know if the COinS are working! Can you?
You can modify any pages you want. I don't know if you understand french, so if you need help, don't hesitate. Thank you! --Riba-- (talk) 13:40, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The following script may help, you can use it with greasemonkey on firefox or include it your monobook.js. It finds and parses the tags produced in the coins data and dispalays they one per line

// ==UserScript==
// @name           Coins
// @namespace      wikipedia
// @description    display Coins information
// @include        http://*.wikipedia.org/*
// ==/UserScript==

var tags = document.getElementsByTagName("span");
for(var i=0;i<tags.length;++i) {
 var tag=tags[i];
 if(tag.getAttribute('class') == "Z3988") {
  var title = tag.getAttribute('title').replace(/\+/g," ");
  var parts = title.split("&");
  var res=""; //<br/>" + title + "<br/>";
  var o = new Object();
  for(var j=0;j<parts.length;++j) {
   var keyval = parts[j].split("=");
   var decoded = decodeURIComponent(keyval[1]);
   var replaced = decoded.replace(/[\[]http(\S+) ([^\]]*)[\]]/g,"<a href=\"http$1\">$2</a>");
   //res += keyval[0] + "=[" + keyval[1] + "]<br/>\n" + decoded + "<br/>\n" + replaced + "<br/>\n";
   //res += "["+parts[j]+"]";
   res += keyval[0] + "=" + replaced + "<br/>\n";
   if(keyval[0].substring(0,4) == "rft.")
	o[keyval[0].substring(4)]=replaced;
  }
  tag.innerHTML = "<br/>" + res;
 }
}
/*
var cites = document.getElementsByTagName("cite");
for(var i=0;i<cites.length;++i) {
 cites[i].style.display="none";
}
*/

Ok. And after that were I'm supposed to see these COinS? --Riba-- (talk) 00:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You should see a list of the COinS parameters one per line directly after the reference.

For example

Viollet B; Andreelli F; Jørgensen SB; et al. (2003). "The AMP-activated protein kinase alpha2 catalytic subunit controls whole-body insulin sensitivity". J. Clin. Invest. 111 (1): 91–8. doi:10.1172/JCI16567. PMC 151837. PMID 12511592. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Should render as

Viollet B; Andreelli F; Jørgensen SB et al (January 2003). "The AMP-activated protein kinase alpha2 catalytic subunit controls whole-body insulin sensitivity". J. Clin. Invest. 111 (1): 91–8. doi:10.1172/JCI16567. PMID 12511592. PMC:151837.
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004
rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal
rft.genre=article
rft.atitle=The AMP-activated protein kinase alpha2 catalytic subunit controls whole-body insulin sensitivity
rft.jtitle=J. Clin. Invest.
rft.date=2003
rft.volume=111
rft.issue=1
rft.au=Viollet B; Andreelli F; Jørgensen SB ''et al''
rft.pages=91–8
rft_id=info:pmid/12511592
rft_id=info:pmc/151837
rft_id=info:doi/10.1172/JCI16567
rft_id=http://www.jci.org/articles/view/16567

--Salix (talk): 08:03, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it's not working. I don't if it is the COinS or my monobook... --Riba-- (talk) 20:19, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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PMID links in Cite journal aren't working, and I saw this change; any connection? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:22, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Update, no, don't think it's related to cite journal, because they're also not working at Tourette syndrome, and I didn't use cite journal there. So that's not it. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:23, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
They seem to be working fine for me both in the live version and also the sandbox version
--Salix (talk): 08:07, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Correct; PubMed was down yesterday, now it's back. Thanks for looking (someone was tagging PMIDs as faulty when in fact the problem was with PubMed). SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:51, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I added the references based on what he suggested on my talk page and also the fact that you said the information was no big deal to get. Guilt trip for me! It looked reasonable, but my brain is fried. Maybe you could give it a glance. Thanks, —Mattisse (Talk) 22:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

citation punctuation

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(copied over from TT:Citation:) Can we have this returned to previous punctuation? Both moves here are moves backwards, in my view. Thanks. --jbmurray (talkcontribs) 09:18, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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This may be a bit trivial... Your uncatagorised maths page User:Salix alba/maths/uncategorised maths#1101 section 1101 links to Benjamin Franklin Medal This is the Royal Society of the Arts page. There is no "math" on either page. Did you want your link on 1101 directed to the Franklin Institute page? I was planning on moving Benjamin Franklin Medal and providing a Benjamin Franklin Medal (disambiguation) page. Thanks! Jim1138 (talk) 09:52, 19 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That page is very out of date and no longer in use. Ive commented out the Benjamin Franklin Medal link. --Salix (talk): 12:31, 19 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Triangle topics

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I see that you created the article titled Viviani's theorem a year-and-a-half ago. I just added it to the list of triangle topics today. If you know of others that should be there but are not, could you add those too? Thanks. Michael Hardy (talk) 17:28, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Larry West page

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Hello. I wanted to write to thank you for the constant cleaning of the Larry West article and locking it when needed. The lock came off and I already had a ton of vandalism on the page (someone added date of death, for example). If you can give any more help or put it on your watch list or something, I would be grateful. Thanks! LuvataciousSkull (talk) 03:13, 6 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry to be a bother, but a user by the name of Spinecraft has been trying to nominate the page for deletion despite not being a moderator of Wikipedia. I need help in intervening in this. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by LuvataciousSkull (talkcontribs) 00:27, 7 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

AfD nomination of List of edible flowers

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An article that you have been involved in editing, List of edible flowers, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of edible flowers. Thank you. Rkitko (talk) 17:43, 28 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Paul Jaworski

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Please comment on the request for merger for Paul Jaworski Pustelnik (talk) 15:44, 10 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Template for journal

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Hi,
I did your modifications on the template. Are you available to look on the the test page to see if it's working (the script on my monobook is still not working). Thank you very much! --Riba-- (talk) 22:09, 11 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi,
I tried your script on my sock puppet. The user name is Riba test and the password is isatest. If you are able to make this work, I would let you alone for the verification of the COinS . Thanks again. --Riba-- (talk) 13:35, 12 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Jo Self

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See Talk:Jo Self. If it were in the News of the World I'd agree, but airbrushing out something heading a Times article is another matter. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 01:20, 12 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But it is very inconsequential and going to cause grief. Note the Times Online article was written by Jonathan Self and it also states that Jo and Jonathan Self had quite an acrimonious divorce, and the article reeds a bit like ex hubby trying to put the boot in. --Salix (talk): 01:26, 12 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That's not our interpretation to make.
BTW, what you "think" about The Times via Times Online is pretty irrelevant. I have NewsBank (UK newspaper archive) access, and can confirm they're the same. From NewsBank:
Visions of loveliness - Interview
Times, The (London, England) - Saturday, November 19, 2005
Author: Jonathan Self
When artist Jo Self was invited to stay with the Dalai Lama and paint his garden, she had no idea what a powerful impact it would have on her work.
Jonathan Self describes the trip, and reflects on his ex-wife's transformation from Playboy bunny girl to acclaimed artist
So there we were, Jo, my ex-wife; Nat, our son; Alex, Jo's then boyfriend; I and the Dalai Lama (with whom I was holding hands), gathered in a small group outside the front door of His Holiness's home in Dharamsala, India, admiring one of Jo's new flower paintings. Jo, who had been living next door to His Holiness and working in his private garden for several months, appeared perfectly at ease, but I was in a state of mental turmoil. This was partly from the general strain of meeting someone I admire as much as I admire His Holiness and partly because I was racking my brain for a good question to ask him. Everyone I had told that I would be spending time with the Dalai Lama (and my life isn't so exciting that I didn't tell everyone) advised me to prepare at least one Big Philosophical Question beforehand, but, as usual, I had decided to wing it.
and so on. I don't just invent this stuff. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 12:31, 12 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Suspension bridges

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Hi. Thanks for your input to the AfD discussion re Suspended deck bridge. You suggest moving the article to Suspension bridge, and I do appreciate why, but have you seen my proposal to move Suspension bridge types to Suspension bridge? --Una Smith (talk) 14:45, 30 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Closing afds

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Before closing any further xfds, please make sure you understand the entirety of the closing procedure. Thanks. Hipocrite (talk) 21:49, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hope I've got everything right now. Just taking my time. --Salix (talk): 21:55, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wonderful

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Hi, I just wanted to say I was impressed with the gentleness and sensitivity you showed in this comment. I've never seen anything but the best from you. Coppertwig (talk) 22:13, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Button pushing mess

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Yes, the edit you referenced was an mistake. Huggle usually tells me when I'm about to revert someone on the whitelist. I know...no automated tools excuses. Let me know if there's more to be done besides taking more care of my actions. Thanks for the heads up. Tiderolls 01:15, 9 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mentor

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Are you still willing to act as one of my mentors for my Arbcom proposal? I am working on a plan

There is also another plan:

I would really appreciate your feedback, as I have no idea what ArbCom wants, as indicated in their proposed decision. Thank you so much. Regards, —Mattisse (Talk) 23:32, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes I am willing to act as a mentor. Yes the final decision has not been made but the idea of a mentoring plan does seem to be the most favoured option. --Salix (talk): 05:58, 4 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Importing Pictures

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How could I import pictures stored on the Spanish Wikipeida pages? I've been correcting some Texas Hold'em hand combinations on the Spanish site, and think that the same table would look good on the English Texas Hold'em page. SEE HERE I was going to cut and paste, the translate, the table, but here's the result (without translation):

Jugada Jugada en inglés Descripción Ejemplo Combinaciones Posibles Image on EN
1 Escalera real o Flor Imperial Royal flush Cinco cartas seguidas del mismo palo del 10 al As. es:Imagen:Royal_Flush.png 4
2 Escalera de color o flor corrida Straight flush Cinco cartas seguidas del mismo palo, pero que no tiene As como carta alta. es:Imagen:Straight_Flush.png 36
3 Póquer Four of a kind Cuatro cartas iguales en su valor. es:Imagen:Poker.png 624
4 Full Full house Tres cartas iguales (trío), más otras dos iguales (par). es:Imagen:Full.png 3744
5 Color Flush Cinco cartas del mismo palo sin ser seguidas. es:Imagen:Flush.png 5.108
6 Escalera Straight Cinco cartas seguidas de palos diferentes. es:Imagen:Straight.png 9.180
7 Trío, Tercio, Pierna o Trucha Three of a kind Tres cartas iguales en su valor. es:Imagen:Three_of_a_kind.png 54.912
8 Doble par Two pair Dos pares de cartas. es:Imagen:Two_Pairs.png 123.552
9 Par Pair Dos cartas iguales y tres diferentes. es:Imagen:One_Pair.png 1.098.240
10 Carta alta o "Carta Mayor" High card Gana quien tiene la carta más alta. es:Imagen:No_Pair.png 1.303.560

Hi Declan. I think the way to do it is move the images to common. See Wikipedia:Moving images to the Commons Commons:Commons:First steps/File transfer and tools. Once there in commons they should be easy to use in en.wikipedia. You do need to check that the images are open content to host them on commons. I've not really done this though.

Ah I see that some of the images are already on commons and hence on en.--Salix (talk): 21:25, 21 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent! Thank you very much.  Δεκλαν Δαφισ   (talk)  16:22, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You are requested to confirm!

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Hi Salix alba,

I have developed a mentor/adviser plan (User:Mattisse/Plan) for which others have also provided input at User talk:Mattisse/Plan, Arbitration Workshop and Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Mattisse/Proposed_decision. Previously, you said you were willing to be one of my mentors/advisers.

I think this plan will work. I have learned a great deal from this arbitration and feel comfortable with my panel of mentors/advisers and trust their judgment.

Currently the ArbCom is in the process of rendering decision and have requested that my mentors/advisers confirm that they are aware of the plan and agree with their role in it. See Moving towards closure of the case. If you are still willing to serve as one of my mentors/advisers, and I fervently hope you are, I ask you to indicate your willingness by posting on the Proposed decision talk page.

Thank you so much. Regards, —Mattisse (Talk) 16:28, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Signatures

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Hi Richard, I hope you're well. I fancy changing my signature, and thought I'd sign myself as Dr Dec. But this, of course, isn't my user name, and the user name is still available. What do you recommend? This is my new signature as it stands: ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 16:27, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  • I've opened an account with the user name Dr Dec and set the user page to redirect (using #REDIRECT[[user:Declan Davis]]) to my own page, and likewise with the user talk page. Is that acceptable? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 19:25, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Also, I've made some major changes to the cusp article. Let me know what you think. ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 19:17, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There is a process where you can get your main account and username changed. Wikipedia:Changing username I would recommend against it as it is easy to get board of a username but not your real name and folks will not want to keep chnaging you account name so much. I think what you have done is fine.
Changes to cusp look fine, much work is needed on article related to singularity theory.--Salix (talk): 21:01, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Which article exactly? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 22:11, 29 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a lot more on how to recognise Ak singularities, and so how to recognise different kinds of cusp. Have look and tell me what you think. ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 11:44, 30 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite sure all of this should go into the cusp article as we should really have swallowtail and butterful articles. The Catastrophe theory is quite good for thom's classification but there is really so much which is not covered. I'd like to see lips and beak plus a heep more images. I did some stuff a while back at A parade of surfaces maybe something from there could be worked in?--Salix (talk): 20:46, 30 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As it stands the article gives some real idea of how to classify these curves. I've also writen a more technical article. ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 20:59, 30 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Formatting

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Hello Richard, it's me again! I hope you're doing well. I'm not sure how to line users boxes up on my page. Take a look at my user page. As you can see, there's a big blank bit at the top right. I would quite like to fill that space with the welcome banner: [[Image:welcomebanner.gif]] and maybe some user boxes. The problem is that they all seem to allign themselves, and I've no clue how to fix it. I've tried to cut and paste some code from your user page but it all ended in tears. ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 15:08, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've used {{Boxboxtop}} and {{Boxboxbottom}} around my useboxes. This seems to do a good job of formatting them. Name seems to have changed since I used it, so you probably want to use that name. --Salix (talk): 15:35, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Spot on! I knew you wouldn't let me down. Thanks a lot. ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 16:26, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Saving Pages

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Let's say I wanted to save an edit history, or a given page. How would I do that? I've been granted roll-back status and have been reverting a lot of vandalism. I have been working on a page for when, in the very distant future, I apply for sys-op status. You know, basic problems I've come across that could have been avoided, if I were to have had sys-op status. One example was a 5 hour back log on the Request for page protection. I've copied the URL for the page, but I'm sure it will change as the edits happen. Is there any way I can link to fixed pages in the past, almost like an archived URL? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 22:19, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can link a particular revision of a page say http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Salix_alba&oldid=311359878 is my talk page at the time of your last edit. --Salix (talk): 16:46, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
But how did you get a URL with those numbers? Say I wanted to do it right now, what exactly would I need to do? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 19:49, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

...and moreover, how do I link back to old edit histories? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 20:01, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can get these by looking at a page history. Just click on History tab select the revision you want and copy the url from that. You can also compare versions and get the url from that. --Salix (talk): 22:02, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks!

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I will be better and think more clearly. Sounds stupid to say I didn't get it, but I didn't. Very stupid. I am a stupid person. —Mattisse (Talk) 21:04, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No not stupid, you'd not be high on the list of contributors if you were, maybe a tendency to get a little too involved that's all. What I think is important is being able to spot the problems early and take action then. If you spot a bit of trouble drop me a note and I'll see what I can do. --Salix (talk): 21:52, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I allowed myself to get irritated about some sockpuppets. Disinfoboxman and friends who have harassed me ... I need to detect irritation before I allow it to build up and impulsively act on it. To tell you the truth, I surprise myself that I could do that. I may be smart about some things, but not the stuff that goes on here at Wikipedia. I see people using sockpuppets, issuing joke blocks, being pointy and outright abusive and nothing happens to them. But I guess those are things I shouldn't try at home. Sometimes it is hard to see the line. But I know that I crossed it. The only solution I can see is to avoid certain people and their articles. —Mattisse (Talk) 22:12, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I think looking for a strict line is tricky on Wikipedia, each case is looked at individually, probably by different people. WP is inherently inconsistent. Trying to be a cop is not the right role for you. If there is such a problem post it on WP:AN/I and let others deal with it.--Salix (talk): 22:38, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Because I brought up the issue at an Arbcom, I doubt that particular sock will be used to harass me again. If I avoid articles by always checking who the main author might be first, I can avoid much of this. It is when I stray unaware into dangerous territory of "owned" articles ... —Mattisse (Talk) 22:46, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, I just now figured out how to clean up my signature, by adding the " — " instead of using html. —Mattisse (Talk) 22:48, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Monitoring page

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If you could watchlist User:Mattisse/Monitoring' you could help me in dealing with future problems. Thanks! —Mattisse (Talk) 23:12, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Surform

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I saw your note on Talk:Surform and worked it into the article. Thanks. --Una Smith (talk) 16:16, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Nice one for following this up and working the info in.--Salix (talk): 17:29, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Do you have a photo of that old Simmonds surform? It would be a nice addition to the article. --Una Smith (talk) 18:33, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes! --Una Smith (talk) 23:34, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom clarification on Mattisse's Plan

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Request opened by Moni3 here. --Moni3 (talk) 16:25, 14 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please watchlist this page!

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This is the new page for editors who are not my mentors/advisers to make editorial comments on: User talk:Mattisse/Monitoring/Editorial comments. Please watch list this page. However, I would prefer that dissatisfied editors contact a mentor/adviser individual, to prevent a battleground or attack mentality from developing on that page. Please let me know if you object to this. Thanks! Regards, —Mattisse (Talk) 19:15, 14 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

OK will do.--Salix (talk): 21:38, 14 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A start on the ArbCom report

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Here. SilkTork *YES! 10:38, 18 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Huh?

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Is this directed at me or Mattisse? In what way is the conversation heated that it might need to be cooled? Or is any communication with the user prohibited? Mattisse appears to have a somewhat revisionist attitude to her own history - I'd rather hoped you guys might suggest to her that is part of the problem. --Joopercoopers (talk) 14:41, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It was intended for you. Part of the Mattisse problem is that she can be sensitive to attacks, so special care is needed from those contributing. This is one of the reasons why the monotoring page is being constructed in the way it is. I found the comment
Notwithstanding which, you fell out with him, and then claimed he was never a mentor in the first place, despite the evidence to the contrary.
displayed many of the trigger points. It it was an assertion as to the reasons behind someone else's actions, contained no supporting references, and was worded in what I felt was a rather confrontational manner. I'm not disputing the accuracy of what you say just trying to keep the wiki as calm as possible. It may be appropiate to include details of why User:Malleus Fatuorum and User:Fowler&fowler are no longer mentors in the report. --Salix (talk): 15:58, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  1. This wasn't an attack. I was on one of her mentor's pages making I hope, balanced and reasonable representations about things I believe should be in the report. I take it you've read this bit with the diffs?
  2. Mattisse pops up on the mentor's subpage and decides to comment - I did not seek her out.
  3. I point out that 'Malleus asked to be removed from the mentors/advisers list and I accommodated him' was somewhat glossing over the evidence
  4. I am them warned off because apparently my comments to mentors might be a trigger for Mattisse's short temper......sigh.
This isn't cooling discussion Salix, it's actively preventing it. I'm trying to have a conversation with mentors and if Mattisse chooses to pop up, it gets shut down. I'm keen to see this report is a full and frank appraisal of the situation, not a rubber stamp exercise. If we can't get a decent analysis, the mentoring project is all it's detractors say it is. Perhaps a better response would have been for a mentor to politely ask Mattisse to duck out of a conversation to which she was not invited. --Joopercoopers (talk) 16:21, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The mentors/advisers and I need to have a conversation and decide what to do, as prescribed by arbcom. The problem with the monitoring page before is that it was a free for all. People jumping in all over the place, attacking each other and the mentors/advisers. As SandyGeorgia said, it "spiraled out of control" repeatedly and nothing constructive resulted. Arbcom says that mentors/advisers and I have until Friday to present a structured plan. We all agreed, including Moni3 and SandyGeorgia, that the free for all, with everyone saying whatever they wanted to whomever, did not work. That is why we are working on structure now, not specific complaints before Friday. Regards, —Mattisse (Talk) 20:09, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Ok - but I think you'll find charc was actually asking for a report on the efficacy of the current arrangements - not just a shiny new bit of bureaucracy. Silk has just posted something which might actually work on the page. I'll withdraw. god bless. --Joopercoopers (talk) 20:17, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I fear this is the end

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Thank you so much for sticking by me all this time. You were the first, and for a long time only, glimmer of hope for me here. But it is too much of an uphill battle. My contributions are not valued, and that is all I have to offer. I feel internally deep grief. I am sorry to lose the pleasure of editing. Though now that I have been indoctrinated into internet posting, undoubtedly I will find other outlets for my energy. You have been wonderful throughout, and somehow you understood that my intentions were not to be evil or disruptive. Ironically, I believed in the ideals of wikipedia. Again, I thank you for giving so freely to me. You are a thoroughly kind person. I will never forget our connection and that you helped me and continued to believe in me. My deepest thanks to you. —Mattisse (Talk) 01:14, 23 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I do think there is hope. But it will require great restraint from you. The first thing to do would be to keep well clear of all battle. Right now its the monitoring pages which are the most problematic. You do not need to do anything here the mentors will take care of everything on the pages. I think is becoming apparent to the mentors that much of the problem come from a number of users who seem more keen on attacking than working towards a solution, and I'm sure this will be apparent to the arbitration committee as well. --Salix (talk): 07:10, 23 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mattisse report

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Would you please read over User:SilkTork/Report#Draft_Final_Report and confirm (or otherwise) that you are content for this to be given as the requested report to ArbCom. SilkTork *YES! 20:47, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for commenting and sticking by me. You have known me the longest, my frailties and weakness, as well as the steep learning curve I have had in becoming familiar with this internet culture at Wikipedia. I think I have a firmer handle on what I need to do for the future. In other words, I am still capable of learning. I fully intend to do the right thing and not embarrass my advisers. Regards, —Mattisse (Talk) 23:48, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Motion to reopen ArbCom case "Mattisse"

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ArbCom courtesy notice: You have received this notice because you particpated in some way on the Mattisse case or the associated clarification discussion.

A motion has recently been proposed to reopen the ArbCom case concerning Mattisse. ArbCom is inviting editor comment on this proposed motion.

For the Arbitration Committee, Manning (talk) 03:47, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mattisse

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Hi Salix I have given Mattisse a warning not to post any form of comment on another Wikipedia editor without first getting advice to make such a comment. I have started a discussion on G guy's talk page. Your views are welcome and requested. SilkTork *YES! 09:43, 16 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Arbitration Motion's regarding Mattisse

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The Arbitration Committee has passed a motion amending Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Mattisse The full voting and discussion for the original clarification and motions can be found here

  • Mattisse (talk · contribs) is placed under a conduct probation for one year. Any of Mattisse's mentors may impose sanctions on his or her own discretion if, despite being warned or otherwise advised, Mattisse repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to any expected standards of behavior and decorum.
  • Editors are reminded that baiting, antagonistic comments, and other such behavior is disruptive. Uninvolved administrators are encouraged to handle such circumstances as they would any other disruptive conduct, including appropriate warnings and advice, short page bans, as well as escalating blocks for repeated or egregious misconduct.
  • Editing of the the page User:Mattisse/Monitoring, as well as its talk page and any other pages created for the purposes of carrying out the mentorship, shall be limited to Mattisse (talk · contribs) and her mentors for the duration of the mentorship. Users wishing to comment upon any aspect of the mentorship may contact the mentors directly, or on a subpage designated for such a purpose. Modified by next two motions.
  • "Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Mattisse/Alerts" will be set up for the community to report issues to the mentors.
  • User:Mattisse/Monitoring is moved to "Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Mattisse/Monitoring".

For the Arbitration Committee,

Seddon talk|WikimediaUK 01:17, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Original Annoucement