User talk:DavidWBrooks/2013 archive

Wheat and chessboard problem

Thank you Mr. Brooks. As I am obviously new to the community and you are obviously well learned and a longtime member and in the interests of moving forward, how best would you deem the alternative view of the rice on the chessboard as a moral fable be presented? Should a new article be created? A link added in the article presenting it as a math problem? To be honest, I was flabbergasted when I read the wiki article as I was introduced to this story many years ago and had never experienced it presented as a math problem. In fact, I expressed an interest the first time I was told the fable in knowing how many grains of rice would be on the last square and was told specifically this was not the point nor the reason for the fable. The true importance of the story is not the actual amount but rather the knowledge that regardless of the actual amount, it cannot be acheived. To draw a current comparison, while it would be a fun mathematical lark to calculate how many cubic metres (or feet or yards depending on your preference) of water inundated the eastern seaboard during Hurricane Sandy, it is definitely not a worthwhile pursuit for the first responders nor should it supercede the final knowledge that it was a heck of a lot and and caused damage that must be fixed and suffering that must be alleviated. To whit, once again, the actual amount does not matter near as much as the actual result. I thank you for your time and would appreciate any and all assistance that you could provide to aid in presenting the moral fable aspect of the Rice on the Chessboard story. Feedtherightwolf (talk) 15:47, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David - Rice/Wheat on a Chessboard

I thank you very kindly for your response and aid. I apologize for 'adopting' you for help in creating this edit or page and sincerely appreciate your time and advice. Please let me know if I am occupying too much of your time. I have created the article in my sandbox but am not happy with the formatting and am not certain how to reference links. Rather than proceed further in my learning on how to do so, I thought I would first provide you a copy of the 'article' I have created so I can take advantage of any recommendations or advice you can provide regarding the article. Rather than take the time now to correct the formatting and referencing myself, I figured this is a more practical solution as any recommendations or corrections to the actual article you can make might change what requires referencing and formatting. Below is the 'first draft'

 A further aspect of the Wheat on the Chessboard (also referred to as Rice on the

Chessboard) mathematical problem is its presentation as a moral fable on sustainability. Its origin being claimed as both Indian and Persian has served to muddy the original intentions of the fable, but in doing so have provided a duality that furthers its purpose rather than limits. The fable appears to have sustained through history on it's mathematical basis demonstrating exponential growth through basic arithmetic and multiplication as well as more involved geometric progression and formulaic construction.

 As a moral fable, the problem of Rice on a Chessboard is presented to warn of the dangers 

of treating the finite as infinite. While Rice on a Chessboard deals specifically with a finite, time and again it demonstrates that while the number of squares on the chessboard and the amount of rice or wheat are both finite, the end result will always be unacheivable. The path cannot be sustained. To 'pass the halfway point on the chessboard' would reference a specific choice by an individual or society that is no longer sustainable and requires immediate correction. Or as Carl Sagan said when referencing the fable, "Exponentials can't go on forever,because they will gobble up everything."1

 The usage of Rice on a Chessboard as a moral fable about sustainability was re-ignited with the release in 1972 of "The Limits To Growth"2 where the story is referenced to present the unintended consequences of exponential growth.  "Exponential growth never can go on very long in a finite space with finite resources"3

In "The Limits To Growth" the fable of Rice on a Chessboard is used in conjunction with the French Riddle 'The Lily On the Pond" to warn of response delays when faced with exponential growth resulting in a problem that is unmanageable. Both fables deal with exact math in set equations that should indicate eventual problems based on the chosen path, yet both speak to the surprise and suddeness when the problem is recognized, hence the reference to 'the halfway point'. This re-ignition of Rice on a Chessboard as a moral fable on sustainability and unintended consequences has resulted in usage of the fable to illustrate current issues like population growth, climate change, natural resource usage and even to connect all three, referencing the unsustainability of the chosen path.

1 (Thoughts On Life And Death At the Brink Of The Millenium)Copyright © 1997 by The Estate of Carl Sagan) </ref>http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/jksadegh/A%20Good%20Atheist%20Secularist%20Skeptical%20Book%20Collection/carl%20sagan%20-%20billions%20and%20billions.pdf

2 Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. (1972) The Limits to Growth. New York: University Books. ISBN 0-87663-165-0
3 Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. (1972) The Limits to Growth. New York: University Books. ISBN 0-87663-165-0 Pg 24

Feed the Right Wolf (talk) 17:14, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Tenth anniversary on wikipedia

Today is the 10th anniversary of my first Wikipedia edit (creating Gerald Durrell).

Boy, do I need to get a life. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 11:45, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Congratulations!

As a result, I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Ten Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for ten years or more.

Best wishes, — Hex (❝?!❞) 12:30, 28 January 2013 (UTC).

"indigenous", "non-European" and other terminology

Hi, I saw the revert/revision you made. The primary reason for my choice of words in the replacement was to align with the sentence that came next, the sentence mentioning the encounter with people who had traveled from Europe. Your objection to the use of "non-European" seems equally valid, but I failed to anticipate that reaction ahead of time. Because the term indigenous is also used to refer to plant species native to an area, for example, it seems to imply that local peoples, simply by virtue of being located in another land, are different and somehow of that foreign earth. I still can't think of a way to discuss that a people located in Maine at the time had ancestors that probably immigrated via Beringia long ago without the sentence coming out awkward, but what I am really going for is something that doesn't run afoul of the fact that Maine is a state in a nation of immigrants, with all of us equal. Additionally, I had sought to avoid offending the first known immigrants by avoiding discussion of the issue of their origins entirely, other than to point out it was not the same as that of the peoples who they were about to encounter. My reasoning for this is that science and religion are often in conflict on such matters, with many strong feelings involved. So, any other ideas, or is this just one of those things that time will have to sort out? I haven't edited the article again yet; I would like to know more. Zaphraud (talk) 03:32, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Invitation to WikiProject Breakfast

Hello, DavidWBrooks. You are invited to join WikiProject Breakfast, a WikiProject and resource dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of breakfast-related topics. To join the project, just add your name to the member list. Northamerica1000(talk) 05:51, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

May 2013

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Old Man of the Mountain may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "[]"s and 1 "{}"s likely mistaking one for another. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 11:14, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Pareidolia

Your recent edit at Pareidolia is understandable. Evidently, Mars rats do require a certain degree of squinting...particularly when the image is just a thumbnail. Just for the record, here is a larger image, and the original article on the subject. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/05/29/mars-rat-spied-by-nasa-curiosity-rover/ Cheers. Gulbenk (talk) 22:47, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Ford Model A

Hi David, I have a question regarding Ford Model A. You have written: Typical fuel consumption was between 20 and 30 mpg (US) (9 and 12 L/100 km) using a Zenith one-barrel carburetor, with a top speed of around 65 mph (104 km/h). (The statement is now to find in Ford Model A (1927–1931).) Are you sure fuel consumption at top speed has been that low? Even modern cars fail to achieve such a low level of fuel consumption at top speed. Do you maybe habe a source? --217.227.106.154 (talk) 16:28, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I didn't write that; you've confused the edit trail. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 16:41, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

keep Wikipedia ribald

Thanks for your continued vigilance over "The Man From Nantucket". You are, indeed, The Man.

Ghosts&Empties (talk) 14:16, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Another variation on Eenie Meenie count ryhmes

In the 1950's, when I was a baby, my father taught me this one that he knew when he was a young boy before 1920. He told me his father taught it to him. (His father was an immigrant from England. And goes like this:

Inta Minta Tibbida Fib, Dillia Dallia Domma Nig, I-chee PI-chee Domma NI-chee uggoola buggoola Boo, And Out Goes Y. O. U. HarwinL (talk) 04:53, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

New Hampshire

Hi David, I noticed a couple of things after your edit on the NewHampshire page... The mention of the NH coastline length is in two places in the article and maybe should be condensed (nothing to do with your edit, but maybe you can consolidate if you have time... I don't right now but can come back to it later.). And you raise an interesting point about the difficulty of measuring "twisty" coastlines like ours. That's probably a whole article in and of itself... wonder ifyou should discuss the reasons for the discrepancy between the two numbers? Finally, I think you may want to add descriptions to your linked PDFs as they appear in the refs. I don't have time today to do any of this so thought I'd raise it with you to see what you thought. — Preceding unsigned comment added by InTheTrees (talk • contribs) 01:19, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting

You are invited to the 2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting, on 20 July 2013 in Boston! We will be talking about the future of the chapter, including GLAM, Wiki Loves Monuments, and where we want to take our chapter in the future! EdwardsBot (talk) 09:40, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

/* Oc, OK, Okay, Okie dokie dude*/

You claim that you need "a reputable source in english".. Find it by yourself, David Brooks, you self-righteous reporter of New Hampshire, and do not be content with the dubious, devious or plainly ludicrous authority (and reasoning) of the existing etymologies. మీరు ఫక్ David

Steliokardam (talk) 12:22, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Singular?

Hi DavidWBrooks. Re this, so if her father's name had been Johnson, he'd have been "from a line of Johnson"? Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me today, but that sounds wrong. Rivertorch (talk) 16:02, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Quick question

Why was the edit I made to List of gravity hills reverted? The rest of the headings with two ='s were all other countries. And I'm pretty sure Minnesota's not a separate country. Booyahhayoob (talk) 18:47, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

November 2013

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Moon rabbit may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "[]"s. If you have, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.

List of unpaired brackets remaining on the page:

• in December 2013 will be called "Jade Rabbit" or "Yutu", a name selected in an online poll. <ref>[http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/china-to-send-jade-rabbit-rover-to-the-moon/#more-
• *In the [[Dragon Ball]] episode "Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch" ("Usagi Oyabun no Tokui Waza" (うさぎオヤブンの得意技), [[Goku]] exiles Monster Carrot and his henchmen to the

Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 16:20, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

Tintin (character)

Hello DavidWBrooks, I come to respectfully ask if you would please review the Tintin (character) article that I have submitted for FA. You are one of the only obvious choices to ask, as you once played a major hand in this and other Tintin articles. Thank-you for considering it; I would be most honoured if you could stop by. The review is here: Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Tintin (character)/archive1. Prhartcom (talk) 06:13, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for stopping by and tightening the article! In fact, your edit seems to have solved two issues that were recommended by the "Peer Review" script, as it no longer reports them! I respectfully hope you can go to the link above and support the article for FA. Cheers. Prhartcom (talk) 20:31, 30 December 2013 (UTC)