User talk:UW

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Welcome!

Hello UW, and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~~. Four tildes (~~~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! --Courtkittie (talk) July 30, 2005 (UTC)

Hello and thanks for your welcome. As I've already been active in the German Wikipedia for a couple of months now I feel familiar with most technical and other issues. Since English is not my native language, I expect that most of my contributions in the English Wikipedia will be minor edits. --UW 02:28, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Great

It probably could certainly become a featured article, and I'm sure being so on the German Wikipedia would ease its selection. However, I know next to nothing about the process. Of course, the style standards are different from the German Wikipedia and I will try to fix the ellipsis issue. (This was something I never learned properly in college and even professional authors seem to make it up as they go...)

However, I think you are right about the English Wikipedia's problem about consistent standards, which apparently even exists in the feature articles. One thing I admire about the German Wiki is its attempt to create standard templates, style rules, and article formatting. The English Wikipedia seems to feel that this will all be resolved someday, but I think that it is equally likely that the amount of information will expand at a greater rate than the efforts to fix these problems.

I also did some work on the Red Cross movement article this afternoon before I even noticed your message. Best, Tfine80 20:34, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Hiroshima

I wonder if we could write to the Hiroshima museum/memorial in Japan to take or license a picture of the monument. Might be a nice touch to the article. Tfine80 03:07, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

A while ago I tried to contact two or three Japanese websites which had nice pics but to no avail. It would certainly add a lot to the article. If you know how to contact them, go ahead - you have my full support for that idea. Best Regards, --Uwe 03:11, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
Have you gotten some sleep, I hope? :) A few more thoughts...

Can we mention a list of places he travelled during World War II? It seems like he was all over.

Also I saw on another website that he was the fifth of six children. [1] Seven is correct, though? Tfine80 03:23, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

Well, I should definitively find the way to my bed now :). Anyway, I took the information about the number of children from the website http://www.junod.ch/en/marcel_junod_eng.shtml. As it features a family picture with seven kids, I assumed this information to be correct. I wondered about the same question when I researched the information for the article and stumbled across the ICRC page. But to me, the picture is pretty convincing. One can even easily recognize the small Marcel among them :). As for the list of places he travelled during the second world war, I would have to check his book to compile one and to put it into some meaningful sentences. I will hopefully find some time tomorrow to do that. Best Regards, --Uwe 03:31, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Good

That's nice to hear about the Junod article. Fingers crossed.

I actually read the quotation on the der Spiegel website so I'm not sure what it is in English. I will say that I have been amazed at the degree of coverage this conference is receiving in Germany and Europe. Wikipedia really does seem to be hitting critical mass around the world. Tfine80 19:13, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Certainly

What's happening there is incredible. And yet New Orleans was still spared the direct hit at the last minute. I did see something about the German minister saying something about global warming. But then there was also that pretty severe flooding in Germany and Switzerland the week before. (Uncanny - unheimlich - how Schroeder's reelection campaign is full of deja-vu from 2002) Global warming may be connected to these apparent increases in storm activity, but you can't really say that Kyoto would have solved this. I'm sure some Americans will complain that the UN and the rest of the world doesn't really seem to be rushing to help the US, but I'm not so sure that it would be so easy or smooth to give much help to the US anyway. But if Germany or the EU would like to donate some gasoline that would be nice. :)

I've been a bit aloof from Wikipedia for a few weeks for personal reasons, but I will definitely help out on those articles. Sad to see that the Junod article didn't win an award, but we still have more red cross stuff to do, including that translation. I actually gave a little money to the American Red Cross at the grocery store this afternoon. Best, Tfine80 20:21, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

No problem about the article... Hopefully I can do some more red cross stuff in the coming days. BTW, I read on one of the websites that the arch itself was made of steel -- you changed it to bronze, so you might want to check that. Tfine80 00:39, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

Yes, I see. I've never used the Commons, so I'm not sure how it works. Should get around to learning it.

I also read that the Red Cross announced it may have a new conference about their symbol. Perhaps we should add something about it. What exactly is the design that other user had posted? Tfine80 21:22, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dunant

Hello - I have completed a draft of the Dunant article in English, but was wondering if you had English transcriptions of the various quotations used from your books. I also see that you are continually making changes and I will try to incorporate these. Best, Tfine80 23:21, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Right now, I don't have "original" English translations of the quotes (the text of the telegram from the Nobel Committee and Dunants last will). I have to look up the two English books which I have when I'm back home. If they don't contain these quotes, I think we have to use own translations or leave them out. I'm glad that you're making such good progress with the translation! By the way, yesterday I received the 1897 book about the history of the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention written by Rudolf Müller (as mentioned in the Dunant article). Considering that it's 108 years old, the condition is almost as new. I'm totally happy that I spent 50 Euro on that book. And I will try to take a picture of the front page by digicam or scanner to add it to the article. Best Regards, --Uwe 13:11, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Howdy

Sure, I can try to paraphrase that article, shouldn't be too difficult. And you've written more on the German Wiki it seems. I'm not sure how to remove it from the history though--there doesn't seem to be a simple mechanism for that. I guess I would have to ask an admin. Best, Tfine80 14:35, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I never did a single edit on the German article about Passy. Removing a "contaminated" version from the history is definitively a task for an admin. Hope you know a couple of them here :o). Best Regards, --Uwe 15:22, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Just got back from my extra-long Thanksgiving vacation in Chicago. Sure I can translated that--it's an interesting story. This is being discussed because of some anniversary coming up? I actually recently read about this guy because of some rant that was being forwarded around on the Internet after the tsunami last year. It's a bit childish and probably not even true, but you might be interested in seeing it. [2] Another modified version on Snopes [3]. Take care, Tfine80 21:07, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

I did see that excellent Junod picture but figured that you had found it somehow. Funny it was there all this time. Had the taker read one of the articles? Tfine80 23:36, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Guess what? The translation of the Gail Halvorsen article made the "Did you know?" template on the front page. Considering the traffic Wikipedia is getting these days this is a nice little honor and attention for the old man. Tfine80 05:26, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

That's great and also some small but nice recognition of your work. "My" article about the Geneva Conventions was yesterday's "Artikel des Tages" in the German Wikipedia, shameless self-nomination because of the diplomatic conference which is happening from yesterday until today in Geneva to introduce the third additional protocol for a new neutral symbol (the red crystal). Hope the protocol will pass today either by consensus or by a sound majority. The Swiss seem to be determined to finally resolve this issue, which is surely a good thing. Magen David Adom deserves to be a full member of the movement. --Uwe 09:36, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] WP:FAC

Apologies - I should have let you know that I was going to nominate International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement at WP:FAC. In retrospect, perhaps I should have gone to WP:PR first, and waited a little time after the Third Symbol decision, but it is such a great page I could not hold myself back :) I suspect that splitting it up is going to be the only way for it to become featured, though. -- ALoan (Talk) 10:16, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Henry Dunant

Looks like an anonymous user translated the entire Henry Dunant article into Danish, apparently using the English... That wasn't you, was it? Actually it looks like it was translated into Norwegian or something... and then they are changing it into Danish -- But no one transferred the other version! Maybe some Scandanavian expert on the de wiki can sort it out. Tfine80 20:36, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Wow. That really made my day! Awesome. And no, it wasn't me - the only foreign language I can actually (sort of) use is English. I admire people like you who are so multilingual. My Russian from school escaped my mind due to disuse. To me, the comment "10. dec 2005 kl. 03:45 80.164.2.190 (Oversættes - artiklen er på norsk)" in the history of the Danish article looks like "Translation from the Norwegian article" or something similar. Furthermore, it looks like user Mount73 from the Norwegian Wikipedia started the Norwegian translation the day before - see the following item in the history: "9. des 2005 kl.18:12 Mount73 (Oversettelse fra engelsk versjon)" (and be sure to check his Babel information!). Again, I'm flattered. Actually I never intended to become sort of a biographer for Henry Dunant :o). Hopefully we can meet on IRC in the near future. Best Regards & have a nice weekend, --Uwe 21:53, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
Addendum: the Anonymous who did the Danish translation also did a Swedish translation. I strongly guess that user Mount73 from the Norwegian Wikipedia is responsible for all three translations. December 9 and December 10 is too close :o). --Uwe 22:25, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
Second Addendum: it seems like user Mount73 nominated the article for FAC in the Norwegian Wikipedia :o). Last but not least, it would be nice if you could match the German and the English articles in the near future to add a couple of small additions I made to the German version. --Uwe 22:35, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
That's cool. Whenever we can coordinate it... BTW, there was some controversy with the American Red Cross last week. The President, Marsha J. Evans, resigned because of problems with their Katrina relief. A lot of bad press for the Red Cross in general as well. Tfine80 03:35, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
From my own experiences in disaster relief, there is no way for the Red Cross and other relief organizations to make everybody happy. There is no such thing as a perfect or even a sufficient response to a disaster, but people somehow expect it. People want a better disaster response? They should inform themself about options for preparing themself, and they should consider to volunteer for their local FD or Red Cross chapter. That's one of my central reasons why I chose to join the Red Cross - today, it's some people I don't know but tomorrow it could be me or my friends or relatives. And my position is that I can only expect from society what, in one way or the other and depending on my potential, I'm willing to give to society. Another aspect about Katrina and its aftermath was its sheer size and power. There is no reasonable way to "perfectly" prepare for a disaster of that magnitude, like a city the size of New Orleans being 80% flooded. That's going to happen once in a century.
By the way, was Marsha J. Evans the same president that stopped payment of the ARC annual membership fees to the International Federation to press them regarding admittance of Magen David Adom? If yes, I cannot help but feel a bit happy about her resignation because contrary to what some people in the US or Israel believe, this semi-extortion did in no way help to further the cause of MDA, but on the other hand it brought the Federation into some trouble.
Okay, I look forward to a nice weekend with some fellow Wikipedians. Unfortunately the weather dropped to snow so it might be a bit more difficult and stressful to go to Hamburg later this day. Have a nice weekend, --Uwe 08:51, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
Sounds good. I will try to look at a copy from the library if I have the chance. I don't know if you heard about the transportation strike in New York. It's a mess, but sort of fun. Tfine80 21:36, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] MSF in Rwanda sources

Thank you very much for the articles. From just skimming through them I can find some good information to put in the MSF article. Now all I need is a couple hours of free time.... Thanks again, I really appreciate it. --CDN99 13:57, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I do have FA status in mind, but the article may not reach it for a couple more weeks at least. I'm thinking of adding more history (thanks for your references) and maybe a short section on field mission locations, maybe a part about media/political relations... I'm kind of glad MSF doesn't have as extensive a history as ICRC does. Your help is greatly appreciated --CDN99 16:45, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
I just find the work that MSF does fascinating. I'm interested in the group because of Bernard Kouchner's original idea for starting it (medical aid should be given to anyone, anywhere, anytime regardless of politics), even though he turned out to be somewhat of a media hound. I hope to volunteer with them, or another aid group, in the future as a doctor (provided I get into med school). On that note, have you volunteered with the German Red Cross in the past? --CDN99 03:04, 6 January 2006 (UTC)


I've referenced the online articles you provided me, but what information is from the book (The Humanitarians. The International Committee of the Red Cross)? It may already be covered by the articles, but I'm just making sure. --CDN99 20:22, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] MSF peer review

Hey, I've just submitted MSF for peer review (last step before FA status nomination!), and I'd like to know what you think of it. --CDN99 19:33, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree, it really does need some photos to break up the text. I'm currently looking for some public domain photos of anything related to MSF (I just discovered Wikipedia Commons). Maybe the next time you go to Geneva you could snap a photo of MSF International HQ (it's at MSF - rue de Lausanne 78 - Postfach 116 - 1211 Genf 21) :P . --CDN99 03:14, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hey

I received your first email a while back. There was no attachment, but I did respond. Then I emailed again using the Wikipedia feature... Maybe it didn't work. You were trying to send me this guy's comments, right? Send them to tfine80 at yahoo.com. Hope it will work this time. :) Tfine80 23:14, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Catalan

Neat... very nice. It does impress on me, however, the importance of accuracy in our research and in our translations. Even if we could correct little inaccuracies or make improvements in the English and German versions, how could one possibility communicate the issues to all of these other languages? I think Wikipedia needs a feature where one can make template alerts (perhaps written in the quasi-international language English--but prompted for translation) that would attach to all of the different international Wikipedia articles on a subject. That way possible issues that might languish in translated articles could be more easily addressed. Tfine80 03:23, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Interestingly, I had much the same thoughts after the Norwegian translation appeared. Sort of a project or something similar to better cooperate work between Wikipedians from different language versions who work on the same articles. Another equally interesting aspect of that cooperation might be the availability of sources. Let's say I find an article about a specific topic on a website in Norwegian, or somebody from Spain finds a book or newspaper article in German about the topic. It would be great if there would be some efficient way to manage cooperation on an article. Not only would all language versions of the article be coherent and on the same level, all versions would also benefit from a research result of a single user or a single source which might not be available due to language problems. I guess the English version should serve as sort of reference in such a system. Maybe we should try to get other Wikipedians interested in this issue to come up with a solution? As it is now, we can always "alert" the main authors of the translations via their talk page. That should work, at least. --Uwe 08:43, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] MSF general info

Thanks for the information, I'm incorporating it right now. I don't know where I got the idea that Geneva was the headquarters... Did it say in The Humanitarians approximately how many volunteers they send out each year (I'd like to have a concrete source for that number). I had actually read all the things you mentioned, but I had just neglected to put them in the article, so thanks for that as well.--CDN99 18:05, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

  • One more thing: is that $400 million figure in USD? --CDN99 18:17, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks for all of your help! I updated the article using all of your comments, and tonight I'm going to add another photo you provided (from Hobotraveller). I think all the article needs now is a few more pictures, some more copyediting and then it will be ready for an FA nomination. --CDN99 19:33, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I just nominated the article for Featured Article status: Wikipedia:Featured_article_candidates#M.C3.A9decins_Sans_Fronti.C3.A8res. --CDN99 18:19, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
Thanks again for your help. --CDN99 17:41, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Red Crystal and Red Star of David SVG's

As you requested, I have now converted commons:Image:ICRC Logo.png, commons:Image:IFRC_Logo.png and commons:Image:Red Lion with Sun.png to SVG versions.  Denelson83  05:51, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Done.  Denelson83  09:12, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kennedy

I will certainly look at the article. I've been traveling a lot lately and haven't had much time to work on the Red Cross. Will try soon. Best, Tfine80 16:04, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

The biography section looks in fact much better than the English version. There are a number of elements in the decisions section, however, that mostly reflect the biases and interests of the public and Wikipedia editors. For example, calling a court justice "tough on crime" is too simplistic, although he has upheld the interests of law enforcement in a number of cases. The issues regarding "gay rights" could also be regarded as less a concern about gays specifically than dealing with other constitutional questions that align with these questions. I also would say that the issue regarding the referencing of international norms and decisions is a relatively recent question and mostly applies to those two recent decisions. I wouldn't mention it earlier in the article as if it were a central element of the evaluation of his tenure as justice. Tfine80 16:18, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. I was actually in Atlanta last weekend with some students of mine. (I've been teaching debate at a high school for the last several months) The changes look much better. Although I'm not sure if there are only two cases where this issue of international norms came up, but I think they were the two prominent ones involving Kennedy. It's an interesting question. Except for treaties, international law has no real legal standing in the US so these parts have been very controversial. If you are interested, you should read the decision in the sodomy (anal sex) case, but especially Scalia's harsh and brutal dissent. Check the bottom of this: [4] Tfine80 00:39, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moynier

Will look into this at some point. Sorry I'm so behind with the Red Cross stuff. :( Hope all is well. Tfine80 19:16, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 1929 Geneva Conventions

I am not aware of the other 1929 Geneva Conventions. What were they and do you have an online source. I not sure what is the best thing to do yet, I need more information to make an informed decision. --Philip Baird Shearer 18:31, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Adequate? --Philip Baird Shearer 23:09, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: BASICODE

Thanks, I actually didn't notice that the article was, in fact, mostly written by you - if I had known that, I'd have notified you. Now, the next thing would be getting the article featured on en as well... -- grm_wnr Esc 21:50, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Red Cross article split

Greeting Uwe, I came across the Red Cross article recently and was shocked to realize we have only one huge article to describe the whole Movement. You and the other editors have done a great job, the article is terrific, but I think it should be split -- or maybe "create subsidiaries" is a better term.

We can certainly keep one unified article that discusses the broader Movement and the relationship between all of its parts. But, we should also have subsidiary main articles as well. Users shouldn't have to comb through the huge Movement article to glean bits of information about, say, the ICRC. I think the ICRC in particular screams for a separate article, plus probably the Red Cross Federation and even some national chapters if some industrious editors are willing to write it. I've only read Forsythe's two books about the ICRC, and I don't have your command of German which would greatly expand my access to the relevant literature, but I'd like to start the subsidiary articles and hopefully get your help. If you know anyone else who's passionate about the subject, sign them up as well. Thanks - Draeco 01:19, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments. Actually I'm still skeptical about splitting the article. But I've realized by now that there is sort of a a cultural difference between the English and the German Wikipedia regarding this matter. The respective article in the German Wikipedia, of which the English is a translation, passed its FA candidature with flying colors. Splitting it was proposed, but rejected by a large margin. So splitting topics into smaller pieces seems to be a special feature of the English Wikipedia. I still think that even a larger article like this can provide easy access to specific information as long as it's clearly arranged. Which I tried for this article by separating the ICRC and the Federation. In my humble opinion, it's pretty easy to find specific information for each part of the movement by using the table of contents at the beginning of the article. The problem is that (from my personal experience) most people outside of the Red Cross don't even know that there is no such thing like an "International Red Cross" but actually two organizations distinct from but also related with each other.
The bottom line is that I strongly believe that each article should be able to provide all relevant information on its own. Keep in mind that there are ways and methods to use Wikipedia content outside of the Wikipedia, and specifically offline from Internet access. How about printing an article to reading stuff for your next flight? Also, the German Wikipedia goes to print in a book series. Hypertext is only a wonderful invention as long as you have all content available. If the aim is to provide articles which can stand on their own, then separate articles create unnecessary overlapping. In the case of the Red Cross that would mean for example to duplicate part of the history information in separate articles about the ICRC and the Federation because Solferino was primarily the reason why the ICRC came into existence, but somehow the Federation also wouldn't exist without Solferino (or without the ICRC, for that matter - the creation of the Federation was a try to disempower the ICRC).
Now, as said I'm still skeptical. But on the other hand, the article failed FA in the English Wikipedia precisely because most people who voted felt that it was to long. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort, so I'm prepared to accept whatever is seen as being the best solution, no matter whether I personally agree with that decision. The article is not mine, I merely created most of its current content and provided it to be used and modified by others. I suggest that you start to write the subsidiary articles as "working versions" under your user page so they can be made round & ready before moving them to the main namespace. --Uwe 08:57, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
It's always a pleasure to work with a civil editor like yourself Uwe, and I know that can be tough when you've done so much work on the article. However, I do disagree with you, and I'll try to address your points in order. First, I don't know about the German wikipedia. Second, the fact that most people don't know that two distinct organizations exist is precisely the reason we should have separate articles delineating the Federation and ICRC clearly; they are separate entities and deserve individual articles. Third, I have a practical objection to your complete-article philosophy because articles naturally split and evolve independently as they grow on Wikipedia: History of the United States was once once a basically stand-alone article but has since divided and grown. There is simply too much good info on the separate parts of the Red Cross Movement to contain within one article, especially when it comes to intra-organizational dynamics that don't belong in the Movement article. We need subsidiaries. Fourth, Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia, and we can't keep articles long and comprehensive for the sake of hard-copy readers. Fifth, you have an excellent point about the overlapping histories of the Movement/ICRC/Federation/national societies, and I haven't yet figured out how to resolve it. Sixth, after an abortive attempt to start the ICRC article here, I have in fact moved a working ICRC article to this section of my namespace. Feel free to contribute there, keep the conversation going here, and here's to a civilized resolution. - Draeco 06:24, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Move to split again

Hello again Uwe, at long last I'm satisfied with my work on a new International Committee of the Red Cross article. It's still far from perfect, but it's a start. That article is at User:Draeco/ICRC, and I've proposed a move here. I hope you can take the time to give your opinion, you've done a lot of valuable work in the area. - Draeco 18:00, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Red Cross article

Just saw the article... It seems the problems were solved by a new wording, no? I just back from Dallas where I was for the last week. Enjoying the World Cup? Shame about the US, huh? :) Tfine80 03:19, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Hi there, nice to see that you're still alive. The problem with the article seems to be solved. At least it did not evolve into an edit-war as the other user who was involved seems to have lost his interest in the matter. By the way, the German articles about Dunant and Moynier have grown considerably recently, so there is plenty of stuff waiting for translation if you get bored :). The World Cup has be a great success so far for Germany, both in terms of sports and in terms of organizing the event. Let's see how far they can go - if they manage to win against Argentina, then I'm convinced that everything is possible. How is your, (let me say for privacy reasons) change in life working for you? And did you find some time to read the Junod book? --Uwe 21:37, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jeune genevois

Hi. I removed the interwiki to de that you added to the article. Jeune genevois is a distinct holiday to Eidgenössischer Dank-, Buss- und Bettag, which occurs a couple weeks after Jeune genevois. Eidgenössischer Dank-, Buss- und Bettag is "Jeune fédérale" in French, and if you see on frWiki, they have separate articles. Cheers --Storkk 10:01, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm aware of that, but "Jeune genevois" has no separate article in the German Wikipedia, it is a redirect to "Eidgenössischer Dank-, Buss- und Bettag". The specific nature of Jeune genevois is mentioned in that article. So until the redirect is replaced by a newly written article about Jeune genevois, I would consider this Interwiki link to be an appropriate solution. --Uwe 13:08, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
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