If you leave a message for me here, I'll respond here. If I leave a message on your talk page, I'll look there for a response (but of course you can respond here if you want to).
FWIW while I have no complaints about you deleting Tomjohnson357's question it probably would have been best to just leave the question be. While it's not exactly a great RD question it isn't clearly against the rules and importantly even if RD/Misc may arguably be better they've finally moved on from asking all questions on WP:RD/S (with an occasional question on RD/E) Nil Einne (talk) 07:34, 12 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for helping with the Palenque Island page! If you have any advice for me on how to further prevent defamatory efforts by this very smart and resourceful vandal, please let me know. My guess is that he'll come back with a new user name soon - but until then I'm a happy user! Thanks again.
Flimoncelli (talk) 01:40, 13 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
More Palenque Island Trouble
Hi, again. Sorry to bother you, but our vandal, Factorx1983, now is sockpuppeting as MRAgentOrange. That's not a problem here on English Wikipedia, because of your protection of our page, but he has posted all the same vandalism on the Spanish Wikipedia page here: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Palenque
Do you know how I can get him blocked there? Do you have any admin powers on the Spanish site, or any advice for me? And we should be on the lookout for MRAgentOrange on this site as well. Should I post about him on the administrator's page?
Thanks for any help you can give me,
Flimoncelli (talk) 17:49, 14 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not even an administrator on English Wikipedia, just somebody more or less familiar with procedures. But I can tell you that there is no communication between Wikipedias for different languages -- nobody on the English Wikipedia will be able to help you except by chance. Looie496 (talk) 22:18, 14 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure why you say "fine", but I removed the question because it was not seeking information, it was only trying to provoke a discussion. That's not what the reference desks are for. Regards, Looie496 (talk) 03:05, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If you don't object I would like to add your signature to this list. Regular doesn't mean frequent on a daily basis, nor does it mean with a fixed pattern (in other words, it doesn't mean regular). It just means editors who, time and again, help out at the desks. Please comment here If you object or not to being on that list. If you want to be on the list but prefer to add yourself please feel free to do so. The presence of your signature on the list does not put you into any category. hydnjo (talk) 02:50, 30 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I've seen your message here [1].
Štambuk's message [2] was from September 3.
Here's the history of edits in Talk:Croatian language [3].
My messages after his message were these [4] (Sep 18) and (restoring of deleted message) [5] (Sep 28).
Where did I used the phrases like "sod off" "nazi-pedia" (Štambuk used that term before, not in this particular case) and equalized opponents' sources with Stormfront?
I was polite, he was rude.
Please, don't equalize me with him "but your own response was so belligerent that you have equalized the sin.".
Man, you've hurted me with this. "I've equalized the sin"???? Are you serious?
I never use the expressions he uses. This is not the first time he used very heavy words.
What does it mean "be less calm" in that case? To not to react at all?
Looie496, not reacting to violence means approving it. Non reacting encourages the bully.
BTW, I see that you're not an admin ([6]). How come that you've appeared on that WQA? Bye, Kubura (talk) 03:36, 4 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
WQA is not a place to ask for help from admins, the place for that is WP:ANI. As it is explained at the top of the page, WQA is a place to ask people to give advice to editors who are behaving badly but are capable of changing. Your message to Ivan seemed very angry to me. You could simply have said, "that message was offensive, please don't say things like that." You are doing it again in this message to me -- I perceive it as very angry. Looie496 (talk) 03:54, 4 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I disagree.
The page WP:ANI has the line "here to start a new discussion thread".
When the window opens, there's a box above the editbox. It says: "If your request falls in one of the following categories, please click to go to the appropriate noticeboard.". And there, there's a link Civility problems. Final box at the right says "Other incidents that need administrator intervention."
Therefore, admins were supposed to sanction that "sod off" (strangely, page WQA says "this is non-binding..."). So, don't blame me. Someone else wrote those boxes and established the procedures. I've just tried to follow the procedure. I intended to post that directly to WP:ANI, but the links turned me to the other path.
That means that WQA must discourage any "sod off" and etiquetting the opponents with Stormfront.
But anyway, how can you equalize the "sod off" with this?
And you're candidating for adminship?
Man, you've failed. Instead of discouraging attacks like "sod off", you're encouraging it with that.
As far as I see, [7], currently it's 59:2 for you. Congratulations if you become an admin. Please, have my notification in mind.
Please, please, please. I'm begging you. Don't allow the behaviour like Štambuk's (case "sod off") and don't equalize his attacks with the reports of the opponents' that were insulted with such messages. Equalizing the attacker with the victim is not good as an way of approaching this problem, it is like saying that a victim deserves his/her treatment from the bully. Bullies never get satisfied with one victim, they always want more, their "greed" grows with every victim. Don't give in to a bully. Only proper sanction stops them.
Otherwise, you're putting a nail in the Wikipedia's coffin.
I hope that my message helped you to understand me.
If you find my message "too angry", always have in mind "how would I feel if someone told me or to my "side" "sod off".
Wikipedia is an encyclopedic project. It requires scientific approach and dialogue.
I believe that in the neuroscientists' conventions opponents never say "sod off" to each other, nor they criticize the works of others in the magazines with the "Yada, yada. Your shaming language doesn't work here. Either provide evidence for your numerous statements which have been repeatedly refuted, or sod off back to Acta (your science), Stormfront (Your Homeland) or wherever your ilk congregates. BTW, I suggest that you read ..., which dispels many of the myths that you believe in." [8].
Thank You for your previous quick reply and for your patience for reading my long message. Greetings, Kubura (talk) 02:08, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Additional optional question
I'll put this here instead of on your RfA, as it's not directly related to your candidacy, but I'm curious - what do you dislike about the FAC process? And do you dislike it from the perspective of a nominator or reviewer? Cheers, Nikkimaria (talk) 03:16, 5 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The gist of the problem is that the FA process focuses on dotting i's and crossing t's rather than on the accuracy and comprehensiveness of content. Even if a reviewer comes along who cares about content, the structure of the process doesn't allow issues to be explored in sufficient depth. Also the sourcing rules make it nearly impossible to create an FA about a broad topic for which much of the information is found in textbooks. For example I would love to make Brain into an FA, but the idea of finding the right page of the right textbook for every statement in the article is too much for me. I personally have found the GA process to be more useful, if you have the luck to get a good reviewer -- and most of the people who review scientific topics seem to be pretty good. Regards, Looie496 (talk) 03:42, 5 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Looie,
Thank you for the response. I would certainly like to contribute to the articles you mentioned (after I have researched and grasped the basics), if you think such a visual aid would help in understanding the subject matter. Please give a brief (and - at least at the moment - simple) outline of the ideas / concepts you want to visualise (aka visualize) in these clips.
--Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:22, 5 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Well, one thing where an animation can really help is to show the process of synaptic transmission as a series of events: (1) voltage rises in axon terminal (2) calcium ions flow into axon terminal (3) synaptic vesicles attach to the membrane and release their contents (4) neurotransmitter particles from vesicles move across the membrane and bind to receptor channels (5) receptor channels open (6) ions flow into postsynaptic area through open channels (7) particles break away from receptors and channels close (8) particles get reabsorbed into axon terminal via reuptake pumps. This is something that seems very complicated if you read a description (as you can probably tell) but seems much simpler if you watch it happen. And it's the fundamental operation of the nervous system -- the single most important thing that students need to understand. Looie496 (talk) 00:27, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Looie. I will check the relevant articles (plus links) and engage in some brain storming. In case of local synaptic malfunctions I may aks for help in understanding some detail. When available, I will post some screenshots / a quickie video clip, so you can evaluate the content and the visual treatment for a feedback. Cheers from Vienna and have a pleasant day. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 08:14, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Cool. If it's helpful, here is a link to an existing animation that shows most of the process, just leaving out the last two steps I mentioned. It isn't usable on Wikipedia because of copyright, and there is plenty of room for varying the appearance of things. Looie496 (talk) 16:31, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Tanks, very useful. Question: Chemical elements (in ball & stick models, etc) seem to have standardised colours (grey for C, red for O, etc). Are there any "normal" colours for Ca++ and Na+ ions which should be used in the model? Oops and good morning, I forgot to sign. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 11:01, 7 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, that's a tremendous amount to have accomplished in such a short time! I've done some basic animations myself and know how much work it is. Anyway, I think it would get out of hand to try to deal with everything at once, so let me start with the initial state. At the beginning, there are two things that the viewer needs to notice: first, there should be at least a dozen small holes in the membrane that the calcium ions will later move through. Second, there should be several vesicles, quite a bit smaller that the one you show, with at least one of them sitting right next to the membrane at the bottom. Each vesicle should be full of little particles, or at least have a granular appearance. I don't think it matters what color is used for the calcium ions -- I would probably use blue, but not for any particular reason. In the animation I pointed you to, the arrival of the action potential is indicated by a line moving across the presynaptic terminal, but I think it could equally well -- more accurately in fact -- be depicted by a brightening of the color of the presynaptic terminal. Another thing is that I thought your vocals in the examples you showed at the Ref Desk were actually very effective -- they sound a bit unusual to an American, but in a nice way, and are very easy to understand. I think that vocals would work better than scrolling text, which distracts the viewer's attention from the other visuals. But this aspect could be left until the end, I think. Looie496 (talk) 19:04, 7 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Last version with some tweaks as per your suggestions above. I have overwritten the old file, so the link above gets you to the current version. The Ca++ gates ("holes") in the axon terminal will have to be improved, but I ran out of time. I guess the vesicle which carries the action in the Na+ ion flow should also include more acetylcholine molecules, but they would just sit there and block the view. Maybe I get some ideas after a snooze. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:07, 7 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I have also added a voice over. If I get into trouble tomorrow (well, today, we are 2 hours ahead of GMT / UTC), for practising the pronunciation of "acetylcholine" in the subway I will give your name and address :) --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:27, 7 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
FYI about the blocking policy
So, I noticed that an editor brought up this edit of yours from a month ago. You may wish to take a look at a few sentences from Wikipedia:Blocking policy#Education and warnings: "However, note that warnings are not a prerequisite for blocking....On the other hand, users acting in bad faith, whose main or only use is forbidden activity (sockpuppetry, vandalism, and so on), do not require any warning and may be blocked immediately." Just as an FYI for when you pass RFA (hopefully :)) Best, NW(Talk)21:26, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
My experience at AIV has been that in cases like that one, if there hasn't been a final warning, the editor doesn't get blocked. But thanks for the pointer. Looie496 (talk) 21:33, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, it is very ridiculous how bureaucratic some administrators are. But remember, you don't have to be that way after your RFA passes! NW(Talk)14:27, 7 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
disclosure
In scientific journals, authors and speakers (at meetings) make disclosures, like if they are on the speaker's bureau of a company or if they received grant money.
I made a similar suggestion that editors disclose conflict of interests, perhaps on the talk page of an article. This was violently opposed.
Your opinion? I don't like the fact that I can write about my employer and engage in conflicts of interest. Therefore, I don't but could easily do so.
I think the reason is that people do want to have conflicts of interest (some people) and others don't want Wikipedia to be ugly and have anything that comes close to a disclaimer. However, those who are completely honest and have transparency are the better ones and Wikipedia would be better if this were the case. Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 01:02, 8 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
