User talk:Dr. Dan

This talk page is automatically archived by Werdnabot. Any sections older than 90 days are automatically archived to User talk:Dr. Dan/Archive 4. Sections without timestamps are not archived.

Archives

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• December 2005 - March 2006
• March 2006 - July 2006
• July 2006 - December 2006
• January 2007 +

Happy New Year!

File:1953 S Novym Godom.jpg

Happy New Year! (Ukrainian: З Новим Роком!, Russian: С Новым Годом!). I wish you in 2007 to be spared of the real life troubles so that you will continue to care about Wikipedia. We will all make it a better encyclopedia! I also wish things here run smoothly enough to have our involvement in Wikipedia space at minimum, so that we can spend more time at Main. --Irpen

24 hour block

You have been blocked from editing for 24 hours for persistent violations of WP:CIVIL. I discuss the block at the WP:RFI thread here.[1] Due to your busy schedule this is unlikely to interfere very much with your participation at Wikipedia. When you return please continue topical contributions and discussions without the behavior that prompted the complaint and its response. Durova^Charge! 21:22, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Contributors raised questions about this event here. M.K. 23:00, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Revisiting: that block was controversial. Dan, if you'd like me to review it please post what you want me to consider. If I change my mind it would still be in your block log, but I could strikethrough the above notice and post a retraction that you may cite in future discussions as needed. Durova^Charge! 19:13, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

History of Lithuania (1219–1295)

Sorry, I don't agree with your edit. The section is a preview of what is going to happen next so of course it is a little outside its strict scope (1219-1295). But history is not cut into unrelated periods that could be taken apart. Therefore I reverted. Renata 12:19, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Fine with me. Dr. Dan 16:05, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Jogaila again

The Mediation Committee has received a request for formal mediation of the dispute relating to Example. As an editor concerned in this dispute, you are invited to participate in the mediation. The process of mediation is voluntary and focuses exclusively on the content issues over which there is disagreement. Please review the request page and the guide to formal mediation, and then indicate in the "party agreement" section whether you agree to participate. Discussion relating to the mediation request is welcome at the case talk page. Thank you, [signature]

You're not listed, but you can add yourself if you like. Hope the "investigation" thing didn't get you down. All the best, Angus McLellan (Talk) 01:08, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello Dr. Dan. I don't mean to be picky, but you didn't "sign" at the bottom of the Jogaila mediation. Please read the small print carefully before signing! Full terms and conditions available on request. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. Your mileage may vary. Thanks! Angus McLellan (Talk) 15:23, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi Dr. Dan, I'm pleased to see you in the mediation! When you get a chance, please "sign" the bottom of Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Jogaila with the word "Agree"? Thanks, and I look forward to the debate!  :) --Elonka 20:37, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Ah, the Jogaila reunion (personally, i prefer W2J reunion). Sadly, I wasn't invited, but I think I'll show up anyway. :-) Appleseed (Talk) 20:49, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments

I appreciated your comments in the WP:RFI discussion regarding "censorship, witch hunts, inquisitions, and the like." This is what I have been facing. No administrator seems to be willing to do anything that is effective in controlling this problem. The article in question is Free Republic. I thought you might like to take a look. Dino 16:28, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Origin?

Are you of Polish/Lithuanian origin? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kowalmistrz (talk • contribs) -- Matthead ^discuß!     O       03:14, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for noting

I did simply choose to ignore idiots and all other breed of trolls, for the sake not to spoil my mood. You know, I'm busy as a journalist in my everyday life, and I think I do have more than enough material for a good article in a magazine, with perfect categorization of various kind of patriots and simple victims of state propaganda and patriotic belles lettres. Now i know, that Vilnius was occupied by Lithuania in 1942, annexed by the same Lithuania in 1991 (sic!), that Latvia was a part of Poland, and another spectacular things, like choosing books to reference something, you are supposed to know before editing, using google search. In my opinion it's google generation of mostly ignorant people, who did self-appoint themselves to be experts. Maybe that's why they do hate your provocative questions destroying their self-image as "an expert". And the main problem is that they do not know a single thing without google search. I don't want to evaluate where this will lead humankind, although it scares me a lot and leads to misanthropy.

You may visit one of forced out to leave Wikipedia editors User:Encyclopaedia Editing Dude user page. It's quite refreshing view on the subject:)--Lokyz 21:41, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Be civil please.

Dan, can I ask you again to consider refraining from making "useful" contributions like this one. Is anyone paying you for disrupting wikipedia ? --Lysy^talk 08:11, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Lysy, please do not try to sneak in another attempt to "censor" me under the guise of my being uncivil. Please re-read the entire talk at Vilnius University concerning the comparison between the fates of the University of Breslau and Stefan Batory University (which I believe is not only relevant, but hardly off topic), since November, and apply your concerns to all participants equally. BTW are you also of the opinion that Lithuania occupied Vilnius in 1991? Dr. Dan 14:24, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Indeed. Dan, you promised to be civil. Please stick to that promise.-- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk}  00:54, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Piotrus, and you promissed to stick to the issues rather than invoke the policies and |complain at various places endlessly all the time.

I suggested many times that we should all concentrate on the content disputes themselves and avoid using civility issues as a weapon against the content opponents. Unless something that is said is horrifically offensive, one should just ignore it and move on.

Deflecting the content discussions into the discussion of the civility issues is even less productive for what we are doing here (writing content) than the occasional outbursts caused by one's frustration. Whether WP:CIV is used as a weapon to intimidate Ghirla, Dr Dan, Lysy or Hali, I say this is all equally unproductive. Save WP:CIV warnings for dealing with real full-time trolls. The list above certainly does not include any. --Irpen 02:35, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Request for Mediation

A Request for Mediation to which you are a party was not accepted and has been delisted. You can find more information on the mediation subpage, Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Jogaila. For the Mediation Committee, Essjay (Talk) This message delivered by MediationBot, an automated bot account operated by the Mediation Committee to perform case management. If you have questions about this bot, please contact the Mediation Committee directly.

This message delivered: 16:16, 8 February 2007 (UTC).

Dr. Dan, as you probably know the mediation was rejected because you didn't sign. A number of users reminded you to do so, so it couldn't have been unintentional. I have to say I'm disappointed with this maneuver. Appleseed (Talk) 16:44, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

What? Dan did sign here. M.K. 17:55, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

That's just the list of involved parties. As several users pointed out here, you also have to sign Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Jogaila#Parties' agreement to mediate. Appleseed (Talk) 18:19, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Although I don't completely understand your remark, I do understand your disapointment with the long time "maneuvering" concerning the Jogaila article, as well as on a "plethora" of other articles. Regarding these "maneuvers", I also share your disappointment. Dr. Dan 16:58, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Which part don't you understand? Appleseed (Talk) 17:54, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

As you probably know and it couldn't have been unintentional. Did you understand my general dissapointment, BTW? Dr. Dan 18:43, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

As you probably know: right above my first comment is a message from a bot stating that the mediation has been rejected. it couldn't have been unintentional because two editors reminded you to sign here. Hope that clears things up. Appleseed (Talk) 18:49, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Appleseed, please AGF. My own opinion is that Dr. Dan was busy with other matters, and it just escaped his notice. For example, he and I have been corresponding about a routine archiving question, and he hasn't had a chance to reply to that yet either. So I think that this was probably just an oversight. Dan, to be clear, you did agree to mediation, you just forgot to post the "agree" signature, right? In that case, let's just start another mediation, and make sure that we check all the boxes this time.  :) Or, if Dan posts a personal message to User talk:Essjay and admits "Oops!" that might be enough to just re-open the existing one. --Elonka 18:55, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Elonka, I try very hard to AGF. I assumed Dr. Dan saw the reminders to sign the mediation because I checked to see that he made edits to WP after those reminders were posted on his talk page. I also assumed that he saw the bot message (the one with the giant letter "i") stating that mediation has been rejected; it was, after all, right above my message. But since Dr. Dan seems so surprised/confused by what I've said, I will allow that he may have somehow forgotten to sign. If that's the case, I apologise. Did you forget, Dr. Dan? Appleseed (Talk) 19:11, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Appleseed, my personal relations with you have been more respectful than not, so I am happy that Elonka's above comments, caused a "edit conflict", and prevented a rather terse reply to you from me. I also received an e-mail further explaining my error, and that I should ensure those interested that I was not filibustering. Now that the damage has been done, I prefer that whatever needs to be done again, be done again. In other words everyone can re-state their viewpoints (in case there have been changes of heart, or sock-puppeteers have decided to recuse themselves, or others might now want to join the mediation). Dr. Dan 19:28, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

I am happy that you thought better of your terse remark. I am satisfied with your denial of filibustering (the "maneuver" I was referring to), and I hope I've made it clear why I jumped to that conclusion. By the way, I don't see any known socks among those who signed up for mediation, so there's no need to worry. Appleseed (Talk) 19:44, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

I said sockpuppeteers. Are you sure? Dr. Dan 19:47, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

If you are referring to Logologist, he is not on the list. And no, as a regular editor I can't be sure who the socks and their masters are. Appleseed (Talk) 19:51, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Well keep an eye open, just in case. Dr. Dan 19:54, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Dan, can I please ask you to post an "agree" message on the mediation right away? If you can do that quickly, I'll go plead the case with Essjay and see if he'll re-open the existing mediation, rather than us having to start a new one. Simply go here and add the word "Agree" with your signature, thanks. --Elonka 21:36, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Archive

Dan, per our earlier discussions in Email, even though you hadn't formally given me the "go ahead and do this" message, I took the liberty of archiving your talk page. If I jumped the gun on this, I do apologize, and can easily restore things to their earlier state. However, I think that this will make communication much easier. I'll also go ahead and set up a Werdnabot for you as well, unless you tell me to hold off. --Elonka 21:49, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Okay, archives are all setup, including Werdnabot. It's configured so that once each day, it'll check your talkpage for old discussions. If it finds anything that's a month old (or older), it'll automatically archive it. If you'd like me to configure it to archive faster or slower, let me know, and I'll tweak accordingly! --Elonka 22:08, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. Dr. Dan 14:00, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Request

Dr. Dan, when you have five minutes could you take a quick look at hyperglycemia and see if there are any glaring errors? (Not that it couldn't use more improvements). Am worried about a relative. Sincerely, Novickas 19:16, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Novickas, I recommend caution when using WP for medical advice. It's a good place to start your research, but I wouldn't trust it with my life. Try something like WebMD. Appleseed (Talk) 22:30, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Dr. Dan, I'm not sure why my remark provoked such a hostile response from you, but it certainly showed your true colors. That's all I have to say on this matter. Appleseed (Talk) 01:39, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

True colors? A response to a serious medical question, eleven days later? On an inapropriate talk page to boot? Hostile? Dr. Dan 01:46, 22 February 2007 (UTC) P.S. I'll take you at your word, That's all I have to say on this matter. Likewise.

It was just a friendly tip, not medical advice. And I don't see a "serious medical question", just a request to check an article for errors. As for being "eleven days late", you can't be serious that someone would fire up their browser and request a peer review of an article in a medical emergency, when every second counts? I think you need to loosen up a bit. Novickas, sorry for getting involved in this. I see I shouldn't have bothered. Appleseed (Talk) 02:43, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

That's all I have to say on this matter. Right. Please convey your "friendly tips" and apologies to Novickas on her talk page, or write her an e-mail. Dr. Dan 02:49, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Don't worry - she is seen by competent medical professionals on a monthly basis, and we have no intention of trying to usurp their role. She is, however, what the professionals call "noncompliant" with regard to taking medication, and I wanted to expand the article with some info about the consequences. Maybe someone will benefit from the knowledge - people who can't or won't see their doctors, and don't realize how serious the consequences of hyperglycemia are. The few things I've done to medical articles all involve info taken from the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic, and similar sources. Thanks for your concern, but please don't think that we would use WP for medical advice!!! (much as I like WP). (But Dr. Dan really is a doctor). Sincerely, Novickas 01:34, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

And a friend. Dr. Dan 02:39, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Glad to hear that. Also, your Goethe quote set me to thinking about the situation in poetic terms - e.g. Do not go gentle into that good night. Thanks for that. Novickas 00:37, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and let us all, Rage, rage, against the dying of the light! Dr. Dan 02:37, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Interesting reading

Please take a look at Essjay, User talk:Essjay and User talk:Jimbo Wales. Since you are one of the Wikipedians who does not hesitate to proclaim his professional credentials (in your user name, no less, and in discussions with others, where you have even offered medical advice to people you encountered on Wikipedia), you might have something interesting to contribute to the current controversy. Balcer 19:44, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the information, unfortunately I have nothing interesting to contribute to the current controversy. I hope I didn't dissapoint you. Dr. Dan 20:57, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

For the record, Dr. Dan did not dispense any medical advice to me, either on Wikipedia or in the email he sent me. I should have expanded my question to read "Because I have a relative with this disease, I am anxious to know whether its WP article is reasonably accurate". Novickas 13:21, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I was wrong to conclude that he did. My apologies to both of you. Balcer 21:04, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Question

What was the point of this? Yes, Żydokomuna is an ugly, pejorative concept, but trying to imply that Piotrus acted in any way incorrectly by creating an article about it, as your edit seems to suggest to people unfamiliar with Piotrus' work, is hitting below the belt. We have plenty of articles in Category:Pejorative terms for people. If you get a kick out of blackening people's names, why don't you go and practice your character assassination on people who created some of those? The poor guy who started the N-word article should be a particularly easy target. Balcer 02:18, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

For the record, I do not oppose the existence of the Zydokomuna article. What I do oppose is that when those disgusting theories make it to other articles that are certainly watchlisted and actively edited further. Check this edit by some anon or this (note the edit and the summary) by a known troll. Why was not that removed either on the spot or for another year while our friends continue to edit the article? Is it because it was added by a troll who is known to generally be useful elsewhere?

I recently removed a whole bunch of antisemitic rants from the History of Jews in Poland article like the unspeakable nonsense about "Jewish complicity (!) in crimes against Poles (!!!) during the WW2" [2] or Zydokomuna conspiracy theories presented passingly as not even needing a reference[3]. Why was that stuff allowed to stay for over a year until my first edit? Should I have asked then? --Irpen

I am asking Dr. Dan about his recent edit. If you have something to say about it, go ahead, but please try not to sidetrack us from the issue here. Your concerns listed above belong on Talk:Żydokomuna, and possibly on Portal talk:Poland/Poland-related Wikipedia notice board. Obviously, no Wikipedia editor is personally responsible for the content of any article, including the one he created. I will let Piotrus speak for himself, but to illustrate the point, quite often when I get disenchanted with an article, I simply stop working on it or reverting changes put in by idiots, which clearly does not imply I endorse them. Everyone here has a right to walk away.

I think it should be noted that Dr. Dan's edit count on Żydokomuna and Talk:Żydokomuna is precisely zero at this point, so whatever problem he has with that article, he has not taken any direct action to correct it. Balcer 03:29, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Hey, Thanks

I noticed you lent a hand to help correct the grammatical errors in the Kraków pogrom article. It was one of my suggestions that they get a native English speaker to add back in all the articles - it seems like the word 'the' had fled the article. lol Thanks for helping out - I am sure they will thank you, too, but I appreciate you helping them out. :) Cheers! Arcayne 22:42, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Their inability to appropriately use "articles" like the and so forth, are the biggest problem to correct. But remembering the speech patterns of Natasha Fatale and Boris Badenov helps. A bigger problem is when they think the copy-edit changes their "meaning" altogether (usually it does not), and I try to be respectful to the "essence" of the original editors whenever I can. Just the same, I'm impressed by the non-native English speaking contributors to the Encyclopedia. Thanks, back! Dr. Dan 23:15, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Reply

... And I am wishing you the same on this very special day: Happy Easter! Str1977 ^{(smile back)} 12:51, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Me too. And I owe you an e-mail. Musical Linguist 14:05, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Check your e-mail. :-) Musical Linguist 17:31, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Христосъ Воскресе!

File:Eastereggs.jpg

Happy Easter!

Ура! :) --Irpen

Hope?

If you continue to write and create articles, like you just began with Jan Piłsudski and Proclamation to the inhabitants of the former Grand-Duchy of Lithuania, you will do much to improve your reputation in the eyes of your critics. In the end, we are here to create content, not to quarrel about which variant of a city's name is the correct one.-- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk}  21:47, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

What, and I suppose Louis J. Weichmann, and Henry Reed Rathbone, are chopped liver? Dr. Dan 22:35, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah, so you are writing 2 articles every odd year? I hope that's not it...-- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk}  02:06, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

For a brief moment, I thought, Hope?, was a conciliatory gesture on your part. But it's clear that your subsequent mocking of my efforts, is more representative of who and what you are about. But don't worry, I won't ask Durova to censor or block you. We all contribute in ways that we see fit (and there is a lot of copy-editing to do, concerning articles out of Eastern Europe, including your above note to me). Better to write "two" informative articles every odd year, than a daily plethora of propagandistic nonsense, constantly infused with a great dose of original research. Dr. Dan 02:24, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Where do I have the impression from that the original and the follow up posts in this thread are aimed at generating annoyance? At the first sight it seems like a word of encouragement but something ticks from the inside. At the second sight and with the context of the prior exchanges the post looks somewhat... uhm, "less than friendly". If the owner of the page also has this impression, may I suggest an advise of not allowing oneself to be baited? Because, you know, an obvious answer, however tempting, may prompt a "report" as it has been threatened just hours ago. So, I suggest not responding is as good an alternative. --Irpen 02:32, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Some Copy edit

Hello, knowing your skills of this area, could I ask you to make a summary of this part of article, summary should be placed in the spot which starts with words "The elderate of Žirmūnai embraces three historical suburbs". Currently it is a little bit small summary to article's history part. Thanks in advance. M.K. 11:42, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Lithuanian translation help please?

Hi there - I noticed you're a speaker of Lithuanian. I'm currently contributing articles on a few Lithuanian aircraft. These were built in the 1930s and were designated with the prefix ANBO, which Lithuanian wikipedia says is an acronym for "Antanas Nori Būti Ore". Could you please let me know what this means? Antanas was the aircrafts' designer.... --Rlandmann 13:39, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks for your speedy reply! --Rlandmann 13:45, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

ArbCom/Piotrus

Case has been started, probably you will be interested: [4] M.K. 10:20, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Krakau

I would be distinctly opposed to Krakau, except as a bargaining position. It is not, and as far as I know, never has been English usage, even historic English usage. I support Cracow, which is, I believe, Latin Cracovia, not Krakau; and if it is made an issue, I will !vote accordingly; but it won't be accepted, in all likelihood - so I'm not going to bother to raise it. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 15:54, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

...but it won't be accepted, in all likeihood - so you are not going to bother to raise it (the question). Is this how things work on this project? Is that how you personally relate to these kinds of questions? Dr. Dan 18:00, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

If you want to raise it, I will support you. I believe, however, in getting as much effect as I can for my time. This includes picking my battles. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 22:30, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

Personally I'd like to think of Wikipedia as a source of information, not a battleground, nor a place to place mind games. A place where concise and non-confusing information can be found. That's my spin on it. Not a place where someone can twist and turn information (sourced from totalitarian newspaper articles, and skewed statistics), to satisfy some fantastic fantasy, and then award barnstars to each other. Oh, and it's hopefully not a place where "one can or should bargain" a position either. Best Dr. Dan 16:46, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Small note, PMAnderson, am I understand you correctly do you suggest that Krakau is not historical name to the city? In my digital "archives" i had some nice images with Krakau and/or Cracovia. Sadly there are no volunteers to changes particular city name in articles such as this, because in this time frame city name Kraków was not invented yet. M.K. 10:09, 29 April 2007 (UTC)