User talk:Greg L

Userboxes

 This user believes fuzzballs likely exist. (Infinite curvature sucks.)

This user runs macOS.

This user believes date-autoformatting is like lipstick on a pig.

PC-0This user is politically incorrect.

Welcome!

You can leave messages here for me.
Greg L 17:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

{{talkback|Greg L}}

Featured picture candidate

An animation uploaded by you has been promoted to featured picture status Your image, Image:Translational motion.gif, was nominated on Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates, gained a consensus of support, and has been promoted. If you would like to nominate an image, please do so at Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates. Thank you for your contribution! 28 January 2007 (UTC)

POTD

Hi Greg,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Translational_motion.gif is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on May 14, 2007. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2007-05-14. howcheng {chat} 18:42, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Featured Picture Candidate

I nominated one of your animations (Image:Translational motion.gif) to be featured. See Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Translational Motion. —EdGl 02:05, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I wrote back on your personal discussion page. Greg L 20:45, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

(concerning your last post on my talk page) You should definitely speak out and state your case on the featured picture candidates page! —EdGl 21:27, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

I left a note on Antilived's talk page concerning his vote, directing him to my talk page. —EdGl 01:36, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

There are two users who voted neutral but clearly like it and lean support, voting neutral only because of minor issues. In this case it's not really a bad thing, since there are a few support votes and no oppose votes. Only a few more days left. —EdGl 04:47, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

That's the way I see it. Thanks. Greg L 05:13, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Woohoo, the animation is now featured! →EdGl 00:26, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

It says on the picture-of-the-day page that "featured images are currently selected in the order they were promoted". So, it won't be on the main page in a while. They have already selected pics up to March 1st. →EdGl 01:00, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

• Of course, that's fine. I only picked Temperature because it was the first. Regards. Trebor 07:26, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar

		The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
		For your herculean efforts at Kilogram and for your wonderful CG image of the IPK. Enuja (talk) 23:31, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

User:Greg L/Sewer cover in front of Greg L’s house

Thanks, that is funny and makes an excellent point. --John (talk) 13:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• Thank you for dropping me a note. I’m glad you liked it. I noted before that you had linked to it. Greg L (talk) 05:19, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

		Home-Made Barnstar
		I made this barnstar myself. I think you qualify for it for your creation of the sewer cover barnstar, and for your tireless efforts to focus linking on targets that are useful to our readers. John (talk) 19:17, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

A kilobyte of thanks

		The Kilobyte Barnstar
		For your efforts in restoring the industry standard terms for memory size to the Manual of Style (dates and numbers). The IC is an Intel 2708, a 1 kilobyte EPROM made in 1976. SWTPC6800 (talk) 03:50, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

• Why, thank you very much. That certainly was a joint effort. I hope you give yourself  one! Greg L (talk) 04:17, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Re: Sewer cover in front of Greg L’s house

		The Barnstar of Good Humor
		I must admit I had an audible chuckle whilst reading this humour page. Nicely done. –xeno (talk) 13:10, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Awesome. Not only is this quite funny, but it makes an important point quite well. Great work and thanks for making my day! --The Fiddly Leprechaun · Catch Me! 18:17, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

• Thank you both, for taking the time to leave your comments here (and your barnstar, Xeno). I’m copying this to my talk page. Greg L (talk) 00:43, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

Moved my Post

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		For maintaining my vote on the Wikipedia:Date formatting and linking poll with vigilance, an abundance of Tact, and an entirely calm point of view, I hereby bestow Greg L with the Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar! Fightin' Phillie (talk) 18:55, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

That’s very kind of you. Thanks. Greg L (talk) 18:57, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

You’re Welcome sir. It would appear that your Son knows the value of voting; be sure to tell him this story sometime - and that an Air Force ROTC cadet wants him to keep goin'. Fightin' Phillie (talk) 19:01, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

• Rest assured; I will. Greg L (talk) 19:03, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

You deserve this

		The Special Barnstar
		I just spent the last 55 minutes reading through your entire userpage. What I found there was really great; from your son's journey in the Navy to your brother's...interesting activities to the humor and seriousness throughout, well, I'm not really sure how else to describe it. Thanks for making the world, or perhaps just my own little world, a better place. NuclearWarfare (Talk) 21:15, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

• Thank you very much for your words of encouragement. What you wrote means a great deal to me. Greg L (talk) 01:28, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Archival System

Hi there. Would it possible for you to set up an archive system? Your page is very hard to open on a mobile browser, or even a slower computer. If you can't be bothered to do it yourself (like me), try bots like User:Cluebot III.

Regards, NuclearWarfare _(Talk) 03:29, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Seconded. Greg, if setting up a bot is a burden, I can do it for you. Or, you can just delete all the older stuff from your Talk page – nothing wrong with that.--Goodmorningworld (talk) 18:52, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

All: I’ll get this done in the next 48 hours. Greg L (talk) 18:53, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

• Done. Greg L (talk) 21:31, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Something that might interest you

Hello Greg. If you take a look here, you'll see a suggestion I've made in regards to your original proposal on the workshop. Your comments would be appreciated. Regards, Ryan Postlethwaite^{See the mess I've created or let's have banter} 00:05, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Measurement

This one is made for you :P. Headbomb {^ταλκ_{κοντριβς} – WP Physics} 00:46, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

• Does one just add their name and they are a “member”? Besides putting my name there, how could I be of assistance? Any suggestions for a specific task for me to do? Does that page need to be expanded with proposed “to-do’s’? Greg L (talk) 00:56, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't know exactly, I just found out about it the other day. The goals seems to be improving the coverage about units of measurements. Since you were involved with Kilogram, and at the MOSNUM, I'm sure you can contribute to that project in some way. Edit articles, assess, comment, increase compliance with MOSNUM, pick your poison.Headbomb {^ταλκ_{κοντριβς} – WP Physics} 01:44, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Welcome back!

your timing is impeccable: looks like fun and games have resumed at the same time as your re-emergence. Glad to have you back. Greg L's #1 fanboy ;-) (talk) 04:39, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks Ohconfucius. I’m happy to be back. Greg L (talk) 05:09, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

• Indeed, your other "fanboy" (as branded in an amusing incident) welcomes back your technical expertise and straightforward thinking about a number of difficult issues. Tony (talk) 13:02, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
  • And here is a rousing chorus of applause from your third fanboy! Dabomb87 (talk) 13:52, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks again, gents. Greg L (talk) 20:45, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Advisory/Disclaimer:

The thoughts and opinions expressed above on this user page are not intended to be offensive to any particular minority group (based on race, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, gender identification, disAbility, occupation, meat-eating/vegetable-eating practices, and hobbies—even hunting). Note too that parenthetically mentioning “even hunting” in the preceding sentence was not intended to signal any disapproval of the sport; the author does not wish to disparage the legal, safe, and most humane-possible methods of hunting. This preceding statement should not however, be construed as an endorsement of the sport; the author values all the biodiversity of earth and no animal should suffer at the hand of a human. However, that preceding sentence should not be construed that the author is indifferent to the plight of workers displaced by environmental issues; the author is mindful of the plight of timber workers vs. the plight of spotted owls. The preceding sentence should not be construed that the author thinks there is only one group of workers who have been financially harmed by environmental issues; there are others and not mentioning these others by name should not be construed as suggesting they are any less important than another. The author wishes to ensure all who review this communication that he values diversity and has the utmost respect for the law, government officials, the institutions of the United States, the wide variety of social customs and diversity of its peoples, and the civil treatment of other Wikipedians, even if the come across as assholes. This statement should not however, be construed as being intolerant of others who have contrary or differing values or who might hold the U.S. in disdain. The author embraces the wholesome notion that no person’s or group's values are any more meritorious or valid than another’s, and the author does not wish to suggest that by stating an admiration for America and the U.S. Government, that this ought to be construed as deprecating the many other fine systems of government throughout the world and the social practices of its peoples. Notwithstanding that the author wrote the word "he" three sentences ago, (the author happens to be “anatomically male” by birth) this should not be construed as diminishing in any way, the existence of the word "she" nor does it signal that the author is adverse to the use of the gender-neutral "he/she" where appropriate. Furthermore, the words "he" and "she" should not be construed as being exclusionary or diminishing to the transgendered. This paragraph was not intended to be understood by blondes.

Hecho en China

The Last Conversation

Thank you.--Goodmorningworld (talk) 20:27, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

• It had been on my mind for a long time. Thanks for dropping me a line that you liked it. Greg L (talk) 21:26, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

• • See [1] Dabomb87 (talk) 22:27, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism

Please stop calling things which clearly are not vandalism by that name (your reverts, your message on my talk page, and elsewhere). Doing so is a personal attack, and you should be well aware that personal attacks have no place on Wikipedia by now. —Locke Cole • t • c 17:41, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

• Stop Wikilawyering. Your disruption is tedious. Greg L (talk) 17:42, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Re:mask appreciation

Another Hood Canal diving victim.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/mar/23/oregon-woman-dies-after-diving-accident-near/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Westockwell (talk • contribs) 23:01, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

• I spoke with the county coroner over there a month ago. They have about one death a year at that spot. In the case you cited, it was two recreational divers. What I have a problem with is deaths of trainees while under professional supervision. In each case, there is a lack of a dive buddy to render assistance. There is no excuse for such a thing. Greg L (talk) 23:11, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

29 April 2007

Disruption at RfC

I agree with you, except that I removed his strike, all the subsequent exchanges, and the 'oppose' votes he put into the votes section. I felt that not to remove them would create confusion which will then be used to discredit the poll. Ohconfucius (talk) 02:13, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks. PMAnderson has been warned here on the ANI not to make any changes to the structure of the RfC. Greg L (talk) 02:15, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Offensive?

Hi. Listen, I noticed you left a comment on my talk page. I don't particularly enjoy people who seem to think I'm an imbecile. I do not agree with some aspects of your "take-you-by-the-hand essay", and that is to be expected with differing viewpoints.

My point is, help articles should be understandable for those who need the points straight, not complex explanations. And that I felt your usage of "take-you-by-the-hand" was an insult to my intelligence.

I will say this - if you did not mean to insult me through the usage of that phrase, I humbly apologize. Daniel Benfield (talk) 02:23, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

• Holy smokes! My response here on your talk page. Greg L (talk) 02:32, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

• • Well, then I humbly apologize. I understand your point now. Sorry. DX Daniel Benfield (talk) 03:05, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks for taking the time to let me know there’s no hard feelings. I much appreciate that. No problemo. Greg L (talk) 03:07, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Redundancy exercises

Thanks. Yes, I hope they attract people to become editors at WP. I recommend a lot of academics and students visit them. Tony (talk) 08:55, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

AfD of JEDEC memory standards

Hello,

You haven't edited the article in question, but since you are or have been actively involved in the IEC prefix discussion (sorry to remind you of it if you, like me, got tired of the uncivil discussion and wanted to have nothing to do with the issue anymore), I invite you to consider the nomination for deletion of the article JEDEC memory standards, which I believe can fairly be said to have been created only as a hammer for the discussion.

I beg you to try to keep your sentiments about the actual IEC prefix on Wikipedia question out of the deletion discussion and consider the merits of the deletion proposal, namely, notability in the Wikipedia sense (WP:N), regardless of which units you believe Wikipedia should use.

The deletion discussion is at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/JEDEC memory standards. --SLi (talk) 22:23, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks for the heads-up. You raised an important point. As you can see, my 2¢ was to “conditionally keep”. I would need more information about the full scope of JEDEC Standard 21 to know whether or not the article is misleading or not. Compared to other, profoundly trivial stuff on Wikipedia, the article clearly seems sufficiently notable. But, notable or not, the article can’t be misleading by focusing overly intently on a small portion of the standard to the exclusion of other parts that are just as important. Greg L (talk) 23:08, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

I tried...

[2] Don't waste your time on it, just forget and move on. If he raises any more trouble, just bring it up with a clerk or whatever. Dabomb87 (talk) 02:05, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

• Just giving him a taste of his own medicine to see if he is galactically clueless or just a dick. I don’t really give a rat’s ass. Greg L (talk) 02:39, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

• P.S. I figured it out. He is just a WP:DICK. See here on TE’s talk page. I instructed him that he is not welcome to edit my userspace. Greg L (talk) 03:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

I removed some undesirable additions to your links article. I'm also watching, but don't expect any more interference there because of the number of eyeballs on it now.

BTW, I find 375°F is a perfect temperature for roasting. Don't forget to baste frequently. Ohconfucius (talk) 06:39, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

User:Greg L/Delinking links

While I disagree with the MfD and have opted for keep, I think you should moderate the language of "brain explosions" as that is uncivil to the users concerned. I'm also concerned about the "fuck tards" comment, especially as (so far as I can see) it's actually you yourself that coined the phrase. I'm sure you'll find an appropriate way to address these comments, as you're a reasonable person. Thanks. --Dweller (talk) 12:23, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

• “Brain explosions” is a term coined by one of my Wikifriends. It translates to “Epiphanies”. “Fucktards” is a self-deprecating, internal joke. I don’t need to justify any of this; the page is for the benefit of a particular group of editors who find it useful. Tennis expert’s malicious edits were just that: malicious. The page is a resource for relevant links pertaining the the date delinking and autoformatting issue and the related ArbCom. All the links are there for the benefit of our group. If Tennis expert doesn’t like looking at a list of links that are of benefit to us, he doesn’t have to look at it. Tennis expert’s nominating my own page in my userspace for deletion is now the subject of an ANI here. Greg L (talk) 18:39, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Idle question

Why do you quote people in green versus well.. the other ways out there?— Dædαlus ^Contribs 02:39, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

• Another editor and I were the lead proponents of the {{xt}} template. The virtue is when quoting someone who has quoted text within the passage; you don’t have to go back and change double-quotes to single-quotes. The {xt} template also sets off the quoted text better. I used to use italics to help set off quoted text, but then that would neuter quoted text that used italics on selected words for emphasis. The {xt} template preserves all this. You just copy the code, paste it into the {xt} template, and you get well-set-off text with all formatting preserved and you don’t have to mess with quotes. The {xt} template is particularly valuable whenever you are discussing the structure and style of text. That’s why it is now used on WP:MOS. Greg L (talk) 02:51, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Oh interesting. Thank you for the explanation... I might just start using it if I can remember to do so, and congrats of the MOS inclusion.— Dædαlus ^Contribs 02:59, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Lightbot

I have been watching your debate but I can't reply on that page. Here are some comments:

• Lightbot is does not currently have authority to delink autoformatted dates. That permission would have to be granted.
• I am aware of some of the issues that you mention (e.g. commas). But because Lightbot has never had the authority, I have never invested any time in programming Lightbot to fix them. However, I have solved some (but not all) of the issues with the monobook script that delinks autoformatted dates.
• If you created a test page with the critical examples, I could run Lightbot over it. It would not take long to work out which problems remain and whether they can be fixed with code changes.

Regards Lightmouse (talk) 21:11, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

• Hmm… I’m working on the fact that you can’t reply on that page and am trying to address you first bullet point too. Greg L (talk) 21:51, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Email

It's quite important. Please read it before you next make an edit. Ryan Postlethwaite^{See the mess I've created or let's have banter} 17:16, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Excellent comments

In the course of reading the ongoing Arb case about the date delinking drama, I came across some comments of yours that were attacked as intemperate. I'd like to offer my congratulations on stating the matter so succinctly, and also my best wishes for the case. I've been delinking on a non-automated basis for years now, and I can't wait until the idiocy of datelinking is fully and finally deprecated...and if it isn't, I plan to submit a formal proposal to simply change the default color of wikitext to blue. 65.190.95.73 (talk) 08:12, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

• Thanks for your words of encouragement, I.P. editor from Virginia. You should know that the wishes of the community—which we understood perfectly well before we were dragged into an ArbCom by just one malcontent—prevailed. The formal ArbCom decision is expected any day now.

  Wikipedia’s official manual of style (here on WP:MOSNUM) requires that dates not be linked to semi-random lists of irrelevant trivia like they used to. The guideline states that dates should not be linked unless their content is germane and topical to the subject … [and] … should share an important connection other than merely that they occurred in the same year.

  Editors who were not parties to the ArbCom need not worry about that ruling; they may continue to improve Wikipedia by manually making its articles MOSNUM‑compliant. In case you haven’t seen it, I wrote an essay on this subject, which clearly explains this whole issue; it is Wikipedia:Why dates should not be linked. Greg L (talk) 15:11, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Who's this excellent IP editor? Should be encouraged to log in. Tony (talk) 03:24, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

barnstar

		The Original Barnstar
		I award Greg L the original barnstar for the professional, high quality of his writing, content contributions and thorough sourcing in articles such as Fuzzball (string theory). Gwen Gale (talk) 23:26, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

• Thank you Gwen. Coming from an experienced admin, that means a lot to me. Greg L (talk) 16:28, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Sewer Cover - do I need to read the lists of references

In reference to the Sewer Cover Barnstar - do I also need to read the lists of references to qualify? I think the answer is either "obviously yes" or "obviously no", but I cannot determine which. Thank you.

If you read both the October 1, 2008 articles too in their entirety (the date this article’s photograph was taken), Greg L will award you your very own “Sewer Cover Barnstar”  to show off on your talk page. Your Sewer Cover Barnstar  will show the world that you can read anything, don’t even know the meaning of attention deficit disorder, laugh in the face of boredom, and are wasting your talents if you don’t become a patent examiner.

Uncle uncle uncle 17:43, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

• U³, to qualify for your very own Sewer Cover Barnstar, you must read everything written in these four articles: Oct. 1, Oct. 16, 1925, and 2008. Mind you of course, that you don’t have to read all the linked articles, just read aloud what is in all four of the required articles and completely understand what is in each. If you actually read all four, let tell me of your accomplishment and tell me why in the world you did so.

  If you get through one article (thoroughly now, no cheating) and just can’t stand the prospect of reading three more, let me know and I’ll give award you an “honorable mention” Sewer Cover Barnstar (same picture; just worded differently). Greg L (talk) 01:42, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

About toxic environments

My position, which I have held for quite some time, is that when we are excessively tolerant of toxic behaviors, we poison the environment and push good people to join in the bad behaviors - they end up with no other choice. This is one of the theoretical underpinnings of the wiki model, in fact. In unmoderated usenet groups, for example, the worst elements tended to dominate because users with behavioral problems could not be excluded, which meant that the only tool left for others was to yell at them. It's an unfortunate and all too common dynamic.

I stand by this theoretical analysis, and I think it is an apt description - even under Bishonen's own description of the events - of what happened. A good user - Bishonen - end up at the end of her rope and did something quite unseemly - and this is a direct consequence of our being too tolerant, for too long, of bad behaviors.

I regret very much that I didn't explain this all in a single breath when I first said it. I assumed - incorrectly - that people would know my general position and interpret my words correctly. I was wrong, and that's my fault. However, the block was a good block, 100% within policy, and it was not a symbolic block. It was exactly what we should be doing more of, more often.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 03:56, 21 July 2009 (UTC)