User talk:Atsme

Push to post or take your time and enjoy the scroll.

The lovely little island of Bonaire, BES Islands in the Dutch Caribbean.

DS AWARE NOTICE

If you came here to alert me to DS for post-1932 American Politics (AP2), climate change, BLP, GMO, or anything else included in the WP:Arbitration enforcement log, please be aware that I am PERMANENTLY AWARE - awareness is tattooed on my - so there is no need to post another DS alert.

Point to this notice to CYA.
Get your own Ds aware filter here!

Wikipedia:How many Wikipedians does it take to change a lightbulb?

Atsme has been cited or quoted in the following media outlets:

Fast Company, Slate, the WGBH (FM) podcast during WikiCon2019 at MIT where a few Wikipedians were interviewed, and Innovation Hub.

Extremist Rhetoric

"What is the lure of extremist rhetoric in democratic controversy? After all, most citizens are not extremists. Part of the lure lies in the fact that it is easier to believe passionately in a value or cause without regard to subtlety, reasoned argument, probabilistic evidence, and vigorously tested scientific theory or fact. Expressions of single-minded visions for solving problems and changing society can make complexity and uncertainty, frustration and regret, all appear to evaporate. Another part of the lure is that having comrades-in-argument is comforting." ~Amy Gutman (excerpt from The Lure & Dangers of Extremist Rhetoric)

Reach for the stars, and become one!

The Optimist

If you see your glass as half-empty, pour it into a smaller glass and stop bitching!

Power of Media

“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” ~Malcolm X (1963)

"ALGORITHM-RANKED search results and social media news feeds have contributed to the creation of ‘echo chambers’ and ‘filter bubbles’, where people reinforce their beliefs rather than dialogue across differences." ~ World trends in freedom of expression and media development, global report 2017/2018 pg 67 UNESCO.

Have you no sense of decency?

We must wear our critical thinking caps, and try not to repeat history as a single incident may parallel various incidents throughout the wide spectrum of politics.

Getting an editor blocked or t-banned

If you get an editor blocked or t-banned for expressing their opinion, then you're not helping to build the encyclopedia. You're destroying it. Atsme 💬 📧 15:18, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

From expressed opinions giant encyclopedias grow..."Ball of Fire" (the link originated in a post by Softlavender shared by EEng in 2019.) 11:01, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

When a few words speak volumes

ARCA: As a separate issue, anything that relies on DS will fail. The only way forward is for arb com to directly regulate conduct by removing prejudiced editors and admins, either from an area or from WP, not trying to adopt rules about just how disruptive they can be. ~DGG

Signpost News from the WMF: Our role is to accurately describe the real world, with the hoped-for result that those wishing to improve it will use the information wisely. Our job is not direct action, except in defense of our right to freely publish. ~DGG

Mental Force and the Volitional Brain

In fact, the belief that our thoughts can influence our actions is so basic to our entire idea of ourselves and our place in nature, and is so essential to our actual functioning in this world, that any suggestion that this idea is false would become plausible only under extremely coercive conditions, such as its incompatibility with basic physics. But no such coercion exists. Contemporary physical theory does allow our experiences, per se, to be truly efficacious and non-reducible: our experiences are elements of the causal structure that do necessary things that nothing else in the theory can do. Thus science, if pursued with sufficient care, demands no cloistering of disciplines, or interpretation as user illusions of the apparent causal effects of our conscious thoughts upon our physical actions. ~ Henry P. Stapp, (May 1999), Physics Division, Berkeley National Laboratory, title="Attention, Intention, and Will in Quantum Physics", published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies, .

We are never sure
if a friend's heart is pure
because trust is earned
and I am concerned
that what we know
isn't always so.
Burma-shave

^{~ Atsme}

Archives for It Will Soon Pass

Do not disturb. I'm in the middle of important research.

Useful Hodgepodge

"It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do."

– Steve Jobs

Watch it here.

PD download links

Following are a few links to freely download CC0 (PD) images:

• Rawpixel various images
• Rawpixel Audubon images
• Boston College Libraries

Relaxation

I'm leaving this link for any editor who may be feeling a little stressed on the job. It has a very calming effect. Relax - enjoy - and once your blood pressure is back where it should be, resume editing.

Making this page mobile friendly outweighs user friendly, or so I'm told.

“Scientific results are always provisional, susceptible to being overturned by some future experiment or observation. Scientists rarely proclaim an absolute truth or absolute certainty. Uncertainty is inevitable at the frontiers of knowledge.” ~ National Geographic Magazine

Atsme's contribution to science:
Life is all about having fun so if you're not living, you're not having any fun. ^Atsme _Talk 📧

The most useful used skill I've discovered for Alexa - Alexa, call me.
Now, if I can only get it to work with my keys.

Autocorrect has become my worst enema.

On a sign at a restaurant in Texas:
Treat your Mom to a Margarita! You're probably the reason she drinks.

Research reveals that people who drink heavily are much more likely to experience retrospective memory loss.
Isn't that why we drink?

I can fix stupid, but it's gonna hurt.

I have never faked a sarcasm in my life!

I'm not insulting you, I’m describing you.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
(attributed to Mark Twain, but could have been Grant Allen)

Atsme is not just a writer, she's award winning...she won a place in the psycho ward.

Ah, the effect of being affected while being affected by the effectiveness of the effect of the affectation of the effector's effective affecting effect. Infective, no? jc37

RfA candidate S O N S% Ending (UTC) Time left Dups? Report Voorts 79 2 4 98 21:06, 8 November 2024 5 days, 19 hours no report RfB candidate S O N S% Ending (UTC) Time left Dups? Report Last updated by cyberbot ITalk to my owner:Online at 01:06, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

Hodgepodge Central

Check the Label

Make sure your Viagra prescription says Made In the USA
You don't want Russia meddling in your erections.

The Remodel

Shortly after a complete remodel of the master bathroom, a sign hung on the door:

DO NOT DISTURB

I am busy masterbathing in my new tub.

The Wisest Man Who Ever Lived

Dr. Rick Rigsby’s commencement address. I hope you will listen to it.

When You're Dead

When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. All the pain is felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid.

How Do I Know?

I don’t know how much I don’t know because there’s no way to gage how much I don’t know when I don’t know what it is I don’t know, so stop telling me I should've known.
There has to be some merit to "ignorance is bliss" ^{Atsme✍🏻📧}

Words

People who confuse the words "burro" and "burrow" don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

Racism

Vir Das on racism

Realization

And then comes the time when you finally realize that you don't know shit.

Snake in the Bullpen

"I come from an environment where, if you see a snake, you kill it. At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is -- nothing. You figure, the snake hasn't bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it." ~Ross Perot

Terms We Use

We need to rethink some of the terms we use in the English language.

JB's 5-Step Protocol

Awaken with JB, episode #88, he is woke.

You Look Like Rookies

"I'm sorry, but you two appear to be: treating each other civilly accepting the possibility that your own actions might not have been correct trying to work out the best thing to do for the project without concern for you[r] own egos. I don't know where you people think you are, but you definitely don't understand how WP:AN is supposed to work. Where's the disrespect? The attacking of each other's characters and motives? The entertaining temper tantrums? Please immediately review other threads on this noticeboard, so you can better participate in WP:AN. Right now you look like rookies. I don't do AFD, so I have no opinion on whether to relist or not (couldn't hurt, tho, right?), but that's a good example of what should be going on here; useless babble without any helpful outcome. --barneca (talk) 9:57 pm, 16 September 2008, Tuesday (10 years, 8 months, 12 days ago) (UTC−5)[1]

Carrots may be good for your eyes, but booze will double your vision.

To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.

Useful quotes relative to WP:PAG

To say it in WikiVoice, or not?

While this list of sources is really good and does establish "commonly used by reliable sources" I think we should additionally ask ourselves - what added benefit is there to Wikipedia saying it "in our own voice" as against simply reporting in a neutral manner that it is common for his comments to be described as racist. As of this moment, we are engaging in what I think is admirable short-term restraint. We say in the lede "He has a history of making controversial [weasel words] comments." That's fine as far as it goes, because 'controversial comments' is true, and is neither positive nor negative as an evaluation. Sometimes controversial comments are good, sometimes they are bad. Fine. But we are at the same time here being too cautious, I think, in that we fail to inform the reader as to why the comments are controversial. Is he saying things that might be controversial in Iowa like "Gay marriage should be legal" or "Marijuana prohibition has done more harm than good"? No, actually. So I think we should cautiously say something like "He has a history of making comments that have commonly been referred to as racist.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]" Well, maybe 9 footnotes is excessive, but you see my point. We have more than enough to make the point that the reader needs to know, and I think the point is stronger than if we simply say, in our own voice, that he has a history of making racist comments.
~Jimbo Wales (talk) 9:57 am, 19 June 2018, Tuesday (19 days ago) (UTC−5)

To include it in a BLP, or not?

BLPs wherein a subject's work, beliefs or ideologies are perhaps more controversial than the actual subject, should not become focused on bolstering and subsequently refuting the subject's views or theories rather than actually defining the subject. In many cases this may in fact be due to the subject trying to push their own ideas, while others work diligently to refute them, but many such cases involve editors who have no affiliation with the subject other than a personal belief/disbelief in their work. A person's biography is not a good place to debate scientific theory or ideological beliefs; such debates belong in the articles that focus on those topics. For BLPs, it is enough to simply state what their views are and link to the articles which expand on those views. ~ (quote by Zaereth edited for brevity; Jimbo Wales agreed with Zaereth’s explanation.)

Politics, presidents and NPOV

I'd like to add that I don't mind a little bit of personal chit-chat here about politics, I'd like to always seek to tie it back to Wikipedia. We have chosen a very tough job: NPOV. Dislike for the President, fear about things that are happening in the world, may make it emotionally harder to remain neutral, but remain neutral we must. I happen to personally think that given the decline in quality of the media across the board (there are still fantastic journalists out there, but overall the landscape isn't great) the best way for us to help the world heal is neutrality.
--[2] Jimbo Wales (talk)] 3:12 pm, 8 January 2019, Tuesday (UTC−6)

Deprecated sources & when to IAR

Jimbo's response to an editor's statement to not cite The Daily Mail as a source in articles because it has been deprecated.
"No, that is not true. It is true that the Daily Mail is generally prohibited as a source, but in Wikipedia terminology that does not mean an absolute ban. Exceptions to the general rule can and do exist, per WP:IAR as well as general common sense in specific circumstances."
[3]--Jimbo Wales

Free thought isn't free anymore

“I have no beef with my colleagues, many of whom I admire and are friends,” Sullivan tweeted. “The underlying reasons for the split are pretty self-evident.” But he expressed solidarity with Weiss: “The mob bullied and harassed a young woman for thoughtcrimes. And her editors stood by and watched.” (Excerpt from NYTimes)

Writing for the opponent

"Writing for the opponent is an important trait of good editors. They must be able to divorce themselves from their own POV so much that they can bend over backwards to aid in the writing of content which documents views they do not like. They must never block the inclusion of content which opposes their own POV or political positions. If they cannot do this, they should recuse themselves from the topic and edit in other areas. Editors who are unwilling or unable to write for the opponent are incapable of truly understanding or abiding by the NPOV policy. As such they will always cause problems." (see WP:NPOV means neutral editors, not neutral content)

Volunteering

Please be aware that you are legally responsible for all of your contributions, edits, and re-use of Wikimedia content under the laws of the United States of America and other applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view or edit content). This means it is important that you use caution when posting content. In light of this responsibility, we have some rules about what you cannot post, most of which is either for your own protection or for the protection of other users like yourself. Please keep in mind that the content we host is for general informational purposes only, so if you need expert advice for a particular question (such as medical, legal, or financial issues), you should seek the help of a licensed or qualified professional. We also include other important notices and disclaimers, so please read these Terms of Use in their entirety. WMF Terms of Use

When to turn in the bit

My views on this are quite simple. An admin telling a user to "grow the fuck up" is absolutely unacceptable under any circumstances and is ground for immediate desysopping. If we care about having a serious, thoughtful, kind, adult and mature community (which I assume was the sentiment behind that unseemly outburst) then we have to model that behavior ourselves as admins. There's a bit of sad irony in behaving in a juvenile and bullying fashion in an attempt to get others to behave better. Bwilkins, I recommend that you turn in your bit and take a break from being an admin for 6 months and then return if you feel you can handle the job in a more responsible fashion.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 13:49, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

What Am I Doing Here...

Sometimes the first step toward forgiveness is realizing the other person was born an idiot.

Did you ever stop to consider that being equal may hold you back?

Do you want to make money from Wikipedia? It's easy! Log out and go to work!

For a lesson in the proper English application of the F-word see: this video

Is "group think" the academic version of "mob mentality"? Conformity!

Wikipedia: where anyone can edit and enjoy the benefits of income equality.

Pile-ons can be painful and unattractive, especially at noticeboards.

At the end of every rainbow is a capitalist with a pot of gold.

Back in my day, when athletes took a knee, they took a knee.

RfA archives

Sharing health tips with a friend:

• For better digestion, I drink beer.
• For appetite loss, I drink white wine.
• If my blood pressure is too low, I drink red wine.
• For high blood pressure, I drink scotch.
• When I have a cold, I drink schnapps.”
  

My friend asked, “When do you drink water?”

I replied, “I’ve never been that sick.”

My medical entrance exam:

When I was young, I decided to enroll in medical school.
On the entrance exam, we were asked to unscramble the letters...

PNEIS

...to form the name of an important human body part that is most useful when erect. The students who answered SPINE are doctors today, and the rest of us are editing Wikipedia.

Four Worms

Four worms were placed in 4 separate test tubes:

• 1st in beer
• 2nd in wine
• 3rd in whiskey
• 4th in mineral water
  

The next day, the teacher shows the results:

• The 1st worm in beer - dead.
• The 2nd in wine - dead.
• The 3rd in whiskey - dead.
• The 4th in mineral water - alive and in good health.
  

The teacher asks the class:

• What did you learn from this experience?
  

A student responds:

• Whoever drinks beer, wine and whiskey does not have worms.

Wait! There’s more!

• I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

• I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

• This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

Atsme's Education

I was educated at MIT, then went to Harvard. After that, things got fishy.

If only...

• ...sarcasm burned calories.
• ...you knew, you would know.
• ...closed minds came with closed mouths.
• ...mosquitos sucked fat instead of blood.
• ...the good died young, we'd be here forever.
• ...my teeth were as white as my legs.
• ...more people were fluent in silence.

When A Grizzly Attacks

Hiker to park ranger, "Ranger, how does one survive a bear attack?"

Ranger replies, Easy...remove the "f" from the word "way".

Hiker responds, "There's no "f" in "way".

Ranger replies, "Exactly."

Thought Grenades...

• It is much easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going. ~Abraham Lincoln

• It gets late early out there. ~Yogi Bera

• There comes a time on Wikipedia when it's important to know when to stop arguing with editors, and simply let them be wrong. ^{Atsme📞📧}

• Nodding the head does not row the boat. — Irish Proverb

• Make haste slowly. —Kikkoman

• Be who you are, say what you mean, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. — Bernard Baruch

• Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." —Randy Pausch

• I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short. ~ Blaise Pascal

• Patience is a virtue. Give karma a chance.

• I may not be young enough to know everything, but I'm old enough to not believe everything.

• A tip for longevity: Never believe the impossible can't happen to you.

• “It is well known that human choices are affected by the way in which a question is phrased.” ~ Benedetto de Martino

Dear Karma,
I have a list of people you missed.
Don't sweat it!
Karma's only a bitch if you're one first.

How Woke Are We?

”The encyclopedia’s reliance on outside sources, primarily newspapers, means it will be only as diverse as the rest of the media—which is to say, not very.”

• Re: the above Bloomberg article, "not very" is quite accurate, but I remain cautiously optimistic that once RECENTISM dies down, things will greatly improve.
  

"Since decisions are by those who participate in a localized discussion, leaving cedes the decision-making power to those willing to engage in the least logical and sane response. This incentivizes not just obsessive but also belligerent behavior and even harassment, and empowers those privileged with the time and resources to engage in this behavior. Minor quibbles about grammar is one thing, but these techniques are frequently used by political ideologues, ethnic nationalists, and conspiracy theorists. Professor Bryce Peake called this the “hegemony of the asshole consensus.”

• No need to elaborate further on that particular quote. Some will be able to relate, whereas others will find it insulting. For more info, see Wikipedia @ 20. You may decide to submit your own essay. ^Atsme _Talk 📧 14:03, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

Putting things in perspective

I was reading Wikipedia:FRAMBAN in an attempt to improve my understanding of what happened. Lo and behold, nestled quietly in one of the comments was a wikilink to the essay, Wikipedia:Wikipedia does not need you. The following paragraph drew my undivided attention:

Should it happen that a cabal of admins, operating on the talk page of an article or the lion's den of AN/I, manage to block you on an invented charge, the world will continue to turn. The grass will grow, the birds will lay eggs, the number of Pokémon-related articles will still double every 1.7 weeks, and articles on weathermen will be brought to AfD. Sure, it won't be done as smoothly and as elegantly as when you did it, but it will be done. This encyclopedic project will continue to turn. Sad, but true.

^Atsme _Talk 📧 05:47, November 30, 2019

Darn it. Is nothing sacred?? ... and have we got nooooooos for you!!Martinevans123 (talk) 12:23, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Sources

Atsme's Photo Gallery

• 
  Life's lessons supported by empirical evidence.
• 
  Spread the love.
• 
  Moonlit night at Fiery Furnace, a labyrinth of sandstone towers. This picture won 3rd place in the June 2019 Geology Photo challenge.
• 
  All's fair in love and war.

Feedback request: Wikipedia policies and guidelines request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy) on a "Wikipedia policies and guidelines" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 04:31, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

September thanks

story · music · places

Thank you for improving article quality in September, adding new images! - Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost, BWV 114, is one of the pieces in my topic of this year. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:57, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Wikipedia policies and guidelines request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Images on a "Wikipedia policies and guidelines" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 22:32, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Wikipedia policies and guidelines request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Wikipedia talk:Redirects are costly on a "Wikipedia policies and guidelines" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 05:30, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Reliable Source Noticeboard

Hey Atsme, hope all is well. There is a discussion about using sources outside the topic of dogs/animals to cite information about dogs/animals at the WP:RSN here[4]. As a member of the WP:DOGS I figured your input may be valuable to the community given that it has the potential to impact other breed's pages.Unbiased6969 (talk) 04:21, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Unbiased6969,I do miss my wikifriends, and teaching at NPP School, but I don't miss the advocacy editors, POV pushers, ANI, drama boards, and all the "meanies" I've had the displeasure of encountering. I appreciate diverse views, but not the POV warriors. Anyway, Justapedia keeps me busy with little time to contribute here. I hope all my wiki colleagues will take the initiative to email me if I don't respond right away to a ping, or comment here on my UTP. Warmest regards! Atsme 💬 📧 14:37, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

Styling your user/talk pages

Hey @Atsme, I see above that you're busy with life off-wiki of late, I'll try not to take up too much of your time. I was wondering if you'd consider removing the explicit color: black / text-color: black and equivalent styles from the various <div>...</div>s on User:Atsme and User talk:Atsme — they're really messing with the dark-mode chi of the pages. (Lots of black-on-dark-gray text.) Or, if you don't have the time/interest, would you be open to someone else (me) doing so on your behalf? No changes except to preserve the default theme color for foreground text wherever it doesn't need to be explicitly set. (Meaning, anywhere the background color keeps its default theme style.) If you've got everything just how you like it and don't want anyone touching it, that's cool — forget I said anything, and sorry for the interruption! FeRDNYC (talk) 16:13, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

Hey, FeRDNYC - be my guest! And thank you! Atsme 💬 📧 18:51, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

AfD discussion

Saw your post in the Trump fascism deletion discussion. Were you or somebody with the rights to likewise nominate Age and health concerns about Donald Trump, I’d vote on that. Hyperbolick (talk) 19:51, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi, Hyperbolick - anyone can nominate an article for deletion, so my suggestion is to seek guidance at the WP:Teahouse if needed. There's a great group of editors willing to help over there. I pretty much steer clear of politically motivated articles beyond commenting in the occasional WP:AfC or iVoting in an WP:AfD. I also participate at WP:NPP if time permits. I do my best (which isn't perfect) to avoid venting my frustrations about contentious topics and/or politically biased articles here on WP; see systemic bias. If you're still curious, just click on "Email this user" in the left side margin under tools so as not to disturb anyone, & send me an email. Atsme 💬 📧 20:45, 31 October 2024 (UTC)