Northfox

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Richard Dawkins

Hi, you made an edit to Richard Dawkins which appeared to me to suggest that the outcome of a vote was the opposite of that reported, so I've amended the entry to clarify what the source says. It would be appreciated if you could try to take care to avoid any misleading ambiguity in edits, though of course this can easily happen inadvertently. Thanks, .. dave souza, talk 11:05, 4 May 2007 (UTC).

Sorry for the inadvertent mistake. Northfox 02:41, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

No problem, even the AAAS seem to have got muddled up about that vote! .. dave souza, talk 12:33, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

A_Scientific_Dissent_From_Darwinism

Northfox, I just want you to know that I admire your good will, patience, and persistence at that page. Good luck with your appeals to reason---they're good for Wikipedia. Here's some free, unsolicited advice: if you find your frustration growing, just take a long break from the page instead of de-elevating your side of the conversation. None of the important things in life depend much on the quality of any given Wikiepedia article during June 2007. Best regards, Gnixon 23:12, 18 June 2007 (UTC).

thanks for the encouragement and the advice. Continuing the good work, as iron sharpens iron. I still love wikipedia and the other side has (not yet?) made me leave. I liked Hrafn42's comment on Talk:A_Scientific_Dissent_From_Darwinism on June 22nd: Sternberg affiliation was listed as "Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute" when in fact he was never employed by the Smithsonian, but merely had access to their collections for research as a 'Research Associate'. . Turns out, when I checked the Discovery Institute list (last updated in february ) Sternberg is listed with his two PhD's. Northfox 14:36, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Gnixon, seems that one of the other editors has lost his good will, patience and persistence:

1. <undent>I see no particular reason to "give you a break". This list is indeed an "appeal to authority", as many of the previous similar creationist lists going back decades have been. This does not mean that the scientific community has not countered with similar "appeals to authority", but I do not think that the PBS series falls in that category, compared to the lists of Nobel Prize Winners, National Academy members, endorsements by dozens of scientific organizations with millions of members worldwide, etc that establish completely convincingly where the dominant scientific consensus is. The difficulty is that this list gives a completely misleading impression of where the dominant scientific understanding lies. If a tiny fraction of 0.1% of the relevant fields sign a vaguely worded and purposely misleading petition, does this really mean anything? What it means to me is that the sponsors of the petition are basically crooks and dishonest jerks, little better than their hate-filled huckster televangelist cousins, in the same category as glossolalia, demon possession, snake-handling, and thrashing seizures of religious fervor exhibited by the faithful writhing in the dirt while the preacher screams damnation and threats to all and sundry and flies into a religious tantrum. This sort of list needs to be revealed for what it is. Why are we protecting the DI? WP is not a religious tract to help them recruit. --Filll 00:58, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

I will do what wikipedia suggests in such a situation: de-escalate and leave! Northfox 05:59, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

There's a group of editors who have gotten worked up to the point of insanity (in my opinion) over the evolution/creationism debate, and I think it'll be awhile before Wikipedia articles related to that issue can be reasonably edited. Someday things will surely improve, but until that time, other parts of Wikipedia could probably use your help. Good luck. Gnixon 22:32, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

There is indeed a lot of unreasonable debate. Partly because there are mutual misunderstandings (like from opponents if ID that science would become obsolete when invoking a designer/creator, or from creationists that religious faith depends on that issue). What makes it so explosive is that it very well may have personal consequences. Acknowledging/denying a creator is more than about knowledge or a lifestyle decision.

Anyway, those articles are still on my watchlist, but I refrain from editing for a while. Northfox 00:33, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

That cat

Yes, I'm aware. Unfortunately this is one of those matters that will get you immediately tarred and feathered by the people who like the category, despite it being inappropriate categorization. >Radiant< 08:26, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

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Aurel Stodola

Hello, please reconsider Aurel Stodola. Thanks. --Turbojet (talk) 14:31, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Germany Invitation

Hello, Northfox! I'd like to call your attention to the WikiProject Germany and the German-speaking Wikipedians' notice board. I hope their links, sub-projects and discussions are interesting and even helpful to you. If not, I hope that new ones will be. Wikipedia:WikiProject Germany | watch Wikipedia:German-speaking Wikipedians' notice board | watch

--Zeitgespenst (talk) 03:04, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Hey I changed your edit

I edited your change here . I thought yours was a little confusing but I'm looking at my own attempt to improve it and it seems clumsy too. Feel free to fix or better or revert my change. I can't think of anything right now. Maybe it needs two more precise and short sentences instead of wrapping it all into one? Angry Christian (talk) 03:57, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

is the evoinfo site back up on the Baylor server? Your sentence structure indicates it. The references are all for subscription only or for-money pages (something I don't want to do). A quick look on Marks' homepage had no Baylor-intern link. I am in a hurry, so I don't have time to search further. Northfox (talk) 08:33, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Please consider taking the AGF Challenge

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thanks for the invitation, but I am too busy right now to spend much time with Wikipdia. Northfox (talk) 13:47, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

ATIC

Hi, what do you think, should we bring Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter to Did You Know? Cheers, AxelBoldt (talk) 19:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Alright, I'll go for it. AxelBoldt (talk) 13:55, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

DYK for Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter

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Speedy deletion of Center around

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• You appear to be a lost lexicographer, wandering the encyclopaedia in a vain search for a dictionary. The dictionary is over there, and its articles such as d:center#English will take all of the usage notes (about the appropriate prepositions to use with a verb and otherwise) that editors have to offer. Lexicographers are welcomed with open arms at Wiktionary. Uncle G (talk) 16:38, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

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Gregory S. Paul

Hallo Northfox! I noticed that you removed the bibliography section in the Gregory S. Paul article. You motivated this by pointing out that such sections are unusual. Now, the articles of many writers and scientists in fact do have a section containing a list of their publications. I assume what caused your rejection is the length of this particular one;

you were right

it is more or less complete as regards his biological papers. This is indeed unusual. But not, I feel, in the sense of "not fitting in the Wikipedia format". It is unusual simply because completing such sections requires a certain time investment most users are incapable of making.

this is your interpretation. I have a different one: it is not encyclopedic.

It is not an ideal to be striven for. If a small section would be all-right, would a complete section not be better? What makes scientists worthy of notice is their scientific work — and therefore to indicate to the reader what their written works actually consisted of, seems a primary encyclopedic task. In the case of G.S. Paul such a list is also particularly functional for Wikipedia itself as many of his biological papers are still relevant for many subjects and having a readily accessible list of them considerably facilitates the process of adding citations — my personal motive in adding the section.

but the people who have access to the biological papers are scientists. To order a an article from a scientific publisher costs in the range of 20-100 USD per article. Not many non-scientists would be willing to invest that. And scientists have other means (databeses, etc) to get a complete publication list.

Greetings, --MWAK (talk) 12:27, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Northfox (talk) 12:19, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

But "unencyclopedic" is only a valid argument when it judges the content of information. Can length at itself be unencyclopedic too? Of course, if it were to expand the article to an excessive size, a publication list might bring it outside the scope of an encyclopedia, but this one had a length of 5,4 kb. Could you indicate why my "If a small section would be all-right, would a complete section not be better?" argument is incorrect? It seems so cogent to me ;o).

As regards my "citation" argument, I fear I gave the wrong impression. I didn't mean to suggest that people might be stimulated to order these articles from scientific publishers (which would very costly indeed...) but that when adding references to Wikipedia articles we Wikipedians could more easily find the citations and copy-and-past them.--MWAK (talk) 15:19, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Please have a look at other biographies. They also do not contain a complete publication list. A publication can be used to verify and substantiate a fact in a wikiarticle, but indeed a complete list IS unencyclopedic. Northfox (talk) 12:29, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Huxley Memorial Debate

User:Northfox#Huxley Memorial Debate violates WP:UP#COPIES. Please remove it. Hrafn^Talk_Stalk^(P) 07:39, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

not necessary to delete. Northfox (talk) 11:49, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes it is "necessary to delete". WP:UP#COPIES clearly states "this space is not intended to indefinitely archive your preferred version of disputed or previously deleted content". User:Northfox#Huxley Memorial Debate is clearly a copy of material that was previously at Huxley Memorial Debate that was removed when the article was redirected after its AfD. Hrafn^Talk_Stalk^(P) 13:01, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

WP:UP#COPIES says that material may be deleted. It also says in the header that It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Furthermore, WP:UP#COPIES does not indicate who should do this deletion and when (after discussion and after reaching a consensus, etc., etc). Northfox (talk) 14:25, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

You have presented no "common sense" reason for an "exception". As a WP:MFD (which would delete the whole page) would seem inappropriate when the copy in question is only part of the page, I have taken the liberty of removing it myself. Hrafn^Talk_Stalk^(P) 15:33, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

revert. If you are proactive, you have to give a reason for (and show that you are allowed to) removing contents from a user page. The user him/herself does not have to. Northfox (talk) 16:14, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Stalking

This page might help. Totnesmartin (talk) 12:30, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

January 2013

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Proposed deletion of Kathleen Morikawa

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Huxley Memorial Debate (2)

I was reading the history of the above article (while researching my own article), including the argument over evidence of what it was actually called. It's too late now, but I thought you might be interested to know that the Oxford Union web-site itself now make reference to the debate by that name![2]. Philip J. Rayment (talk) 13:19, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

thanks for letting me know and your research on this. Great that even the Oxford Union themselves call it the Huxley Memorial Debate. Keep up the good fight. Northfox (talk) 05:38, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

September 2013

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