User talk:Decumanus/archive4

Archive 1-March 20, 2004 | Archive 2-May 31, 2004 | Archive 3-February 27, 2005

Question: Where does this positron come from?

Hi. I've just posted a question in the discussion section of Talk:Proton-proton chain reaction about where the postitron comes from. (Same question at reference desk too). I was wondering if you might take a shot at answering it please. Thanks. --Dino 11 Aug 2005.

OK

I've have changed the redirect to a sockpuppet tag. Borderer or whatshisface certainly seems to be an odd individual. - Ta bu shi da yu 04:25, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

That's cool. Not a problem. - Ta bu shi da yu 05:00, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know about Borderer's ban, and that it was an alias for someone else I had never heard of. That was thoughtful of you, and I appreciate it. Wesley 04:27, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Rivers

You might want ot check out the naming debate that has arisen again there. Rmhermen 00:58, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)

New York

I see you are adding a lot to History of New York City, which is great. Judging by the nature of what you are adding, you probably have some citable sources. Could you possibly start a "References" section on that page? -- Jmabel | Talk 05:59, Mar 23, 2005 (UTC)

lenape

You're of course right; it's Herb Kraft, not Bob. Brainless typing.

My source is Ray Whritenour, the authority on the Munsee language. I have notes of our conversation somewhere, although I think for Wiki purposes we can find a middle ground. Whritenour says that 'Lenapehoking' is a constructed, although perfectly grammatical inflected term, whereas 'Scheyischbi' is historical. I can see that 'Lenapehoking' might have been a word that gained currency sometime in the mid-1700s -- like 'Unalachtigo.' Auto movil 04:16, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Whritenour and David Zeisberger wrote The Delaware-English Lexicon, which is as far as I understand the standard text on the Lenape language. But it's true that one runs into blind alleys and confusing dilemmas with Lenape. Whritenour gave me a pronunciation of manhattan that's nearly identical to the way the word is pronounced today, while another credible source insisted it was pronounced, 'mannathan.' It's possible to be quite wrong with Lenape, even with the best intentions. Auto movil 05:08, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Saugatuck

Would you mind if I referred to or copied some of the text from your Saugatuck River article to add to the Westport, Connecticut article?--Nkrosse 00:30, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks--Nkrosse 16:45, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

Hey

Whats this about? Cheers, (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 16:32, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

See my reply. Cheers, (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 18:16, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've found this, suggesting there is such a (apparently ridiculous looking) creature. (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 20:10, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I guess the question I'd want to know is, should it be a redirect to something like Botswana Antelope, or a redirect to Antelope population of Botwsana? -- Decumanus 21:47, 2005 Apr 2 (UTC)

Well, it probably shouldn't redirect anywhere until theres an article. I'm willing to help write an article on Botswanan_Antelopes, but I wouldn't know where to start... Myabe we need help from a zoologist? (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 21:49, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I think so too. -- Decumanus 00:13, 2005 Apr 3 (UTC)

I redirected to antelope for the time being, cheers, (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 10:59, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

baseball franchises

You made New York Giants (baseball) into a redirect to San Francisco Giants. This is a decision I fully support. I think it is the correct protocol for MLB teams. There is currently a debate raging at Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Montréal Expos, and so far the redirect solution is losing. I think it is because some of the users don't fully understand how franchises work in MLB. If you have the time, maybe you could chime in on the conversation there. Kingturtle 04:28, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

good grief!

[1]

You've got some quickness in you. :P --Kross 06:14, Apr 30, 2005 (UTC)

vandalism

Is there a way to get vandals banned like User:Wikipediagirlforever and User:Maingate.

Renaming

Hey. I didn't actually consult with anyone before starting the changes, but I did search around to checkout what the standard title formatting is for geographic articles. It seems that in cases where there is a need for disambiguation the preferred format is to extend the address by adding extra qualifiers separated by commas. I sort of see it as the natural extension of using County of Essex, Ontario rather than County of Essex (Ontario). If you prefer the other format, let me know and we can work something out. I should probably get some sleep for now. :-) --NormanEinstein 04:08, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Ah. I can live with that. Thanks for catching me before I'd done too many. I'll see what I can do to fix my previous edits and tag the others for admin moving. btw, I love your collection of maps and photographs. --NormanEinstein 12:48, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Vermont Republic

That's fine. It was removed from the list without comment, so I had no idea of the rationale. -- Jmabel | Talk 16:30, May 13, 2005 (UTC)

Starbuck

It would be rather peculiar if he was a Shaker, wouldn't it? He would spend his time making furniture, and so forth. I wonder how that got in there. john k 23:32, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

Vail Pass

Hi Matthew. When processing your deletion request for Image:DSCN2091 vailpassrestarea e 600.jpg, I noticed it was different from Commons:Image:DSCN2091 vailpassrestarea e 600.jpg. I presume the version I just deleted here was the original? Anyway, I uploaded it at the Commons, and then reverted. dbenbenn | talk 23:46, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

The version I uploaded to the Commons is the one to be used. I adjusted the brightness/contrast to my liking when I uploaded the Commons image. The one currently that was in Wikipedia should be deleted entirely. I'm curious why you overrode the one in the Commons? -- Decumanus 00:12, 2005 May 31 (UTC)

Note that the brighter one is still the current version, so it's the one that appears at Vail Pass. I uploaded the non-brightened version because I think it's good to keep the original image whenever possible. What if someone else wants to see how you adjusted the image, or wants to make their own changes? dbenbenn | talk 00:17, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

I'm flattered that you think that anyone would be interested in such a minor image change! -- Decumanus 00:22, 2005 May 31 (UTC)

The Last Temptation of Christ

Thanks for correcting my mistake(s), I just saw one reference and assumed the other Matthew articles were missing it. 19:20, Jun 4, 2005 (UTC)

Fort Fun, huh?

I suspected you were in the Fort Collins area when I saw that you were responsible for Virginia Dale, Colorado. I swung by the library myself the other day and saw that there was a local history section, but it was closed off when I was there. You've done an excellent job on local history; I intend to take on Colorado politics and government topics as part of getting acquainted with the area... Anyhow, drop me an email or catch me on IM and maybe I can figure out what's interesting around here. -- Seth Ilys 02:56, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hey thanks for stopping by!!

I may sound a little callow, but this wikipedia stuff is exciting! I'm having trouble being patient with the tutorials and such. It'd be great to have a newbies page where people could sign up to stalk a havoc causer like myself.

In any case I'm off to look in on some stuff and see if I can repair any of the damage I've done without causing more - see you on the flip side. Joseph Buchanan

gallery

I've seen your page of photos before and looked at several, but I recently came across Wikipedia:Gallery, so I thought I'd see what it would do for your page of photos. It was nice enough that I saved the result, then reverted it. So unless you already know about it and don't use it for reasons of your own, check out the edit history. Nice work! Mwanner 23:19, Jun 6, 2005 (UTC)

Marys/Mary's River

Actually, I had momentarily moved it to Marys River when I noticed that was how it was spelled on a local map. I was actually also aware of the apostrophe rule (the Pike's/Pikes Peak debate made the rounds) but I reversed it simply because I didn't know for certain if the apostrophe rule applied for rivers as well as mountains, and I noticed a number of other official sources used the apostrophe (including the city of Corvallis' webpage [2]). I don't honestly care one way or the other, I'd just like to have the official spelling. Sarge Baldy 06:44, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)

I think that's a good idea, and I just noticed I also provided a link there to "Mary's Peak", which is of course the only way I've ever seen it spelled, although invalid under the suppression rule. Sarge Baldy 06:59, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)

opinion needed

Does ScapegoatVandal (talk · contribs) remind you of someone? This edit to Anglo-American relations in particular made me suspicious, but I'd like a second opinion before I take any action. —Charles P. (Mirv) 15:41, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

categories

Good eye on those awful "Pro-blank" categories--I think they only lasted a few minutes before getting listed. I supported deletion for all four. I'm not sure what to do about Category:LGBT rights opposition and its subcategory, Anti-gay rights legislation. The same user put the deletion template on them but didn't actually list them on the deletions page, so now they're in limbo. The names are POV, but there isn't really a better name, and the rights opposition one has already been through an inconclusive vote.

Since you're an admin, I thought you might know what to do.

Dave (talk) 02:41, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)

PS your user page is really interesting, especially the part about not editing physics articles. There is a typo, though: "overwhelming" should be "overwhelmingly." I thought you'd want to know.

We will see whether both of you are pushing a POV -- which seems to me pretty obvious -- or have the interests of Wiki in mind. Let's see your comments on the Request for Deletion, chum.--Noitall 05:00, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)

Go away, you stupid little menace. I have no intention of participating in your little game to prove points by creating POV categories. Your categories stink of POV and should be flushed, regardless of the categories others have created. I have no intention of doing anything at your bidding, chum, and you'll have to fight your battles on your own. The fact that you tried to delete a "cfd" tag means that you don't even know the rules of the game here. Your proposition is that even though your categories contributions are POV, anyone who doesn't also condemn the articles you think are POV must be a POV pusher. Good god what sophistry! Yes, yes, by all means go whimper and moan about how unfairly you got treated. And to think you think you are a political whiz. You are hack. Ironically I was actually considering voting on those other categories you added to cfd, and was weighing in my mind how I might vote, but your worst-ever tactics at rounding up support for your position from other editors pretty much turned me off from that. Think of me what you want: I give your opinion of me the weight of gnat's shadow in my mind. I apologize. I see you were just looking for my opinion, which I hereby give to you. -- Decumanus 07:02, 2005 Jun 19 (UTC)

This is duplicated at User:Decumanus/How to decide if a political position category is NPOV -- Decumanus 08:25, 2005 Jun 19 (UTC)

Rule for deciding if a political-position category is NPOV

For a category regarding a political position to be NPOV, it is necessary that:

1. a person in that category must agree that he/she belongs in that category and that his/her opponents do not belong in that category.
2. furthermore the political opponents of the person in the category must agree that the person in the category does indeed belong in that category, and that they (the opponents) do not belong in that category.

Let's apply this to the categories in question

1. Consider Gary Bauer, a person currently in the category Category:LGBT rights opposition. Imagine going to him and asking him, "Do you consider yourself to be in the category of a person who is opposed to LGBT rights?" Although I don't know what his reply would be, I could easily imagine that it might be something like, "If by LGBT rights, you mean the right to free speech, as well as have, then no, I am not opposed. But if by right, you mean the special and previously unlawful privilege to desecrate God's convenant and the institution of marriage, then by all means, I am opposed. So yes, in the way you probably mean that question, I guess you could put me in that category."
2. Now go to someone who on the other side of the fence than him, someone who considers himself/herself "in favor of LGBT rights" and ask them "would you consider Gary Bauer to be in the category of opposition to LGBT rights, and furthermore would you be confortable with his being included and your not being included in that category?" They would almost certainly answer, "Of course!".
3. Thus, as I imagine it, both Gary Bauer and his opponents would comfortably considering Gary Bauer to be in the category Category:LGBT rights opposition, and would probably both be comfortable with Gary's opponent not being included in that category. Conclusion: as I imagine the response of people concerned with the issue at hand, the category Category:LGBT rights opposition stands a good chance of being NPOV as written.

1. Now consider Ken Blackwell, a person currently in the categories Category:Pro-U.S. Constitution and Category:Pro-Family, etc. Imagine going to him and asking him: "Do you consider yourself to be in the category of someone who is Pro-United States Constitution and Pro-Family?" I imagine his answer would most certainly be "Of course!" So far so good.
2. Now go to one of his political opponents, and ask: "Do you consider Ken Blackwell to be in the category of someone who is Pro-U.S. Constitution and Pro-Family, and furthermore are you confortable with his being included and your not being included in those categories? The answer I imagine you might get is something along the lines of "You gotta f-ing kidding me. It's Ken Blackwell who wants to shit on the Constitution! And the nerve of him, claiming to be 'Pro-Family'! If anything, he's Anti-Constitution and Anti-Family!"
3. Thus, as I imagine it, although Ken Blackwell may be confortable with the categorization of himself and not his opponents as Pro-U.S. Constitution and Pro-Family, this categorization would almost certainly be disputed with great vigor by his opponents. Conclusion: as they are currently defined, the categories Category:Pro-U.S. Constitution, Category:Pro-Family are definitely POV. To make these categories NPOV, it would be necessary to redefine them to allow inclusion of both Ken Blackwell and his political opponents.

historical articles on Wikipedia

Hello,

I’m an historian working at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University (http://chnm.gmu.edu/) and we are very interested in digital, peer-produced works of history, including people writing history on Wikipedia. In connection with a larger project on the free and open source software movement, we’d like to talk to people about their experiences working on historical articles in Wikipedia. Another Wikipedian recommended you as someone to contact. Would you be willing to talk with us about your involvement, either by phone, a/v chat, IM, or email? This could be as lengthy or brief a conversation as you wish.

Thanks for your consideration.

Joan Fragaszy

jfragasz at gmu dot edu

Relief map sources

I'm interested in adding a physical map (of southern Nevada) to several articles, and I've long been impressed by the maps (such as Image:Wpdms shdrlfi020l death valley.jpg) that you've added to various articles. Did you generate these using some GIS software, or are they based on images supplied by some third party? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:33, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Maps

If you're interested, do not hesitate to create some maps for the few articles I have created...they can be linked to off my user page...or, give me a link to a map creator you may be willing to share...thanks!--MONGO 01:09, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

Re: Native American Leaders

Are you Native American and would you be interested in some positive input about some of my ancsetors?