User talk:The Transhumanist

Talk archives (including previous accounts)

Another Tip of the moment... The lead section The lead section is the text before the first heading. In the source text (the text in the edit window), a heading looks like this: ==This is a heading== The lead section is a very important part of every article. The length should correspond to the overall length of the article: an article of 50,000 characters might well have a three paragraph lead, while one of 15,000 or less should limit itself to one or two paragraphs. The text itself should give a good overview of the article, but it should also get the reader hooked and interested in learning more. Take a look at some featured articles for inspiration. It's often a good idea to align a representative image with the lead by placing [[Image:Filename.jpg|thumb]] just before the section. (Where Filename is the name of the desired file). Read more: Wikipedia:Guide to writing better articles#Lead section Prior tip - Next tip To add this template to your user page, use {{Totd-random}}. Become a Wikipedia tipster

[edit] name changes

thanks! I've been thinking about it for a while; decided it would be nice to have a simple, easy (and real) name. -- phoebe(brassratgirl)/talk) 18:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You've got a cool name. I really like it. The Transhumanist   19:23, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Special links

Where are all the "Special pages" links, like "My page", documented?

I don't have a clue where to find the syntax for those.

And I've been here over a year!

(sheepish grin)

The Transhumanist   22:23, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There's a list of all special pages at Special:Specialpages; this includes Special:Watchlist, Special:Contributions and Special:Preferences but oddly not Special:Mypage and Special:Mytalk. These point to the userpage and user talk page, respectively, of the user viewing the page. These two special pages accept subpage paths too, so for example Special:Mypage/monobook.css points to the user's CSS (assuming they're using the default skin), and Special:Mytalk/Archive 1 points to a subpage of their talk page called "Archive 1". Note that, like all Special: pages, the link is always blue even if the page doesn't exist, and sadly #ifexist: doesn't work with them. Thanks – Qxz 19:55, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm looking for the link syntax for those commands. Are they listed anywhere? The Transhumanist   04:19, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I need some serious off-line time

Dweller,

I've been going strong on Wikipedia all month.

Now that the new lesson is up at the VC and the (sidebar) proposals I was working on have run their course, I need a wikibreak.

I would really appreciate it if you and Anthony would watch over the VC while I'm gone, and coach the other participants there. You guys have plenty of experience to pass along, so I have every confidence in you.

The key to coaching is to keep things interesting. You guys are very creative, and you'll do just fine.

I should be back in a couple of weeks or so.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist   19:17, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Replied below. --Dweller 19:18, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S. Since people will continue to post to my talk page even if I put up Wiki-break signs, I'd also appreciate it if you would answer messages there for me. There may be requests for help, info, etc.

P.P.S.: The Rambling Man could help too, if he wants. The Transhumanist   19:21, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Roger, wilco. TRM is a pretty helpful bloke... I'm sure he will do. I'll be offline a bit around Easter time, but I can keep an eye on things. --Dweller 19:23, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wow

OK. I'm honoured. I'll do my very best. Have a terrific break. And when you come back, would you co-nom User:The Rambling Man for admin with me? --Dweller 19:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Absolutely. The Transhumanist   19:22, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S. If you could set up my comments about FA as a lesson, I'll get folks working on it. In fact, contributing to FAC debates or even (as I started) at FARC (!) is quite a good task for the coachees. --Dweller 19:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

It's set up at User:The Transhumanist/Virtual classroom/Dweller, on Featured Article Candidates. Feel free to change the name if you come up with something better. The Transhumanist   19:49, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

On the lesson, shoot for the 7th of April or right around there. Don't forget to post a notice on the Community Bulletin Board when it's done, and add it to the template "VC lessons". I also post a notice as a message to the Help desk (that's also a great place to ask for proofreading/copy-editing assistance. {{helpme}} is also useful for finding copy editors, and since you'll be helping users learn the ropes with the lesson, someone will generally respond to lend a hand. I hope that helps. Good luck. And have fun. The Transhumanist   19:57, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, man. The Transhumanist, signing out. 20:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Will do. Not sure what you meant by "shoot for the 7th of April", but never mind! --Dweller 20:14, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I need some serious off-line time

Anthony,

I've been going strong on Wikipedia all month.

Now that the new lesson is up at the VC and the (sidebar) proposals I was working on have run their course, I need a wikibreak.

I would really appreciate it if you and Dweller would watch over the VC while I'm gone, and coach the other participants there. You guys have plenty of experience to pass along, so I have every confidence in you.

The key to coaching is to keep things interesting. You guys are very creative, and you'll do just fine.

I should be back in a couple of weeks or so.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist   19:16, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S.: I've asked Dweller to answer my messages for me. I'd appreciate it if you'd watch my other pages (User Page Design Center, tools page, etc.). Good luck to you guys with the VC. The Transhumanist   19:29, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Not a problem at all, my friend. Have a great WikiBreak, and as much as it pains me to say it, don't hurry back. We all burn out at some point or another, and it's actually expected that a key contributor such as yourself who pledges as much of their time as you do to the project needs a break. Enjoy yourself, and don't you dare come back until you're fully rested :) until then..

Kind regards,
anthony^[cfc] 20:16, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Paytakaran

When I decided to go on my Wikibreak, I had failed to take into account that I'm a mediator for a dispute over the article about Paytakaran (Armenian province). I've stuck around a little longer to make some new posts on the talk page there to help move things along while I'm gone, but in case those do not resolve the matter, I've posted a notice on the talk page there referring them to my substitutes (you guys), and advised them to contact you here on this talk page if they need further assistance.

The main issues revolve around the scope of the article and sources. Your FAC experience should help you immensely in helping to resolve this dispute. I've been maintaining neutrality, and have been restricting my input for the most part to policy clarifications, observations, suggestions, and editing the article according to the prevailing consensus (the participants are restricting their input primarily to the talk page leaving me to do the edits). I have restrained from voting, so please don't take sides, unless you can take both sides to smooth things out. Good luck, and sorry I didn't mention this before. I totally spaced it. Have fun. I'm outa here! The Transhumanist   08:41, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S.: The proposals and supporting evidence of each side is on a subpage of the talk page there. --TT

[edit] Alert

Popped in to handle another loose-end I forgot and made my usual rounds I was here - I noticed something:

Someone has been moving some of the following pages without discussion:

(Overviews, Academia, Basic, Glossaries, and Tables.)

Please watch all the above pages until I get back. Thanks.

The Transhumanist   04:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belated reply

Thanks for the questions at my editor review. I have answered them and I look forward to any suggestions you may have for me. Let me know if you would like me to expand my answers; I realize they are a bit short. Cheers, Dar-Ape 02:09, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I've replied to this user. --Dweller 15:44, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Images

What are the smilies for? - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 20:32, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Replied to user. --Dweller 13:47, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

This answer is not what I'm looking for. What are they for? - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 22:12, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Smilies are emoticons. They are used in the body of messages to express emotion or add emotional impact. They can be very useful, such as for ensuring that the person to which you are communicating knows when you are joking or not. The Transhumanist   03:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S.: The reason I have them displayed and numbered in my footer, is so that I can easily look them up by number and copy them from my wikicode list in the "comments" at the top of my talk page (in edit mode). The Transhumanist   08:33, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, this was the answer I was looking for. - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 11:21, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

May I use them in my messages too? - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 11:23, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

They also annoy a large number of editors, which is why the templates that added them were all deleted. Use at your own risk. --Quiddity 19:00, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I'm not going to use them it stuff like that happened to them. - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 19:39, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gotcha!

Your Gotcha! page has been changed to an autograph book. I suggest moving the page to a different name. A•N•N•Afoxlover hello! 13:43, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Replied to user. --Dweller 13:47, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The New Guy

Hello,

I am the new guy, well really I'm The Random Editor, but you get my point. Since you appear to be a rather important wikipedian, I decided to ask you for some advice. Any advice at all, would be welcome. Thanks for your time.

--The Random Editor 03:02, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

From your name I'm guessing you like to edit random articles. Well, here's a very fast way to navigate random articles. If you don't use Firefox yet, you'll need to install it for this trick. Middle-click on random article about 40 to 80 times. This will load a different random article into that many tabs (windows internal to Firefox). Then look over the first article to see if it is one you want to work on or that needs work. Once you are done browsing/editing/saving that article, press Ctrl-F4, and that tab will instantly close and jump you to the next tab/article. You can look over articles very fast this way, pressing Ctrl-F4 to rapidly cycle through them and close each one as you go. I like to describe this method of browsing as BLAM BLAM, BLAM BLAM BLAM! And as User:Interiot once told me: if you're not using tabs and middle-click a lot, you're not moving fast enough. I hope you find this method useful. The Transhumanist   04:01, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eliminating the backlog

I am interested in eliminating the Wikipedia:backlog. I would be quite happy with myself doing that :) I don't think I can do it all by myself, so what project, or group is together that is working on that as a whole, or are we stuck with just each of the sections? Thanks! [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 20:05, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The team you are looking for is the Wikipedia:Cleanup Taskforce. Keep in mind that Wikipedia's backlog is huge, and since it is much larger than our current human resources can handle, it calls for a strategic approach. The three most sensible approaches are 1) Recruit more help. 2) Prioritize the cleanup chores. 3) Jump in and help on the most important articles that need it. Anything you can do to implement these strategies would be most helpful.

Recruiting can be done by regularly posting provocative notices and calls for help to the various notice boards and forums, and on Wikipedia's IRC channels. My suggestion for the highest priority pages are Wikipedia's core articles, and articles with a high importance rating as designated by the Wikiprojects the articles belong to. Or plain old common sense: pick the most important subjects you can think of, and dive in. And remember, have fun. The Transhumanist   03:41, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hi.

Hi. Not sure if you're back or not, but I'm going to be around rather less for the next few days. Sorry if our wikibreaks are overlapping. RL interferes too much. --Dweller 18:38, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Problem is, I haven't really left yet. But I have a big project in the real world looming, and as I get into it, I won't be able to devote much time here for awhile. It may last a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. But I'll pop-in when I can, and I'll definitely be back. Thanks for agreeing to fill-in for me. I really appreciate it. The Transhumanist   03:16, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Menu

Hi, I fixed an HTML tag for one of your menus. And I stole it and modified it for my own page :) Thanks for your user page design section; it's been helpful. --Kshieh 21:39, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the fix. And I'm glad you found the UPDC useful. I like how you made use of the menu. Nice user page. The Transhumanist   03:14, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Qxz

No. I'm sorry, but I protected that page for a reason. I regard Qxz's repeatedly stated wish not to be pestered as primary to your desire to post a message. I will gladly unprotect the talk page if Qxz makes a request. Please don't take this personally. ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 04:44, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Please direct me to the policy or precedent on protecting talk pages. As far as I know, talk pages are not supposed to be protected. It circumvents their very purpose. I look forward to your reply. The Transhumanist   04:56, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps the most relevant pages are meta:Right to vanish & meatball:RightToLeave. I am not inclined to enter an argument about the philosophy behind talk pages, although there is an ongoing discussion here. If you are looking for some way to contest this protection, I suggest you make a request at WP:RPP. ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 05:09, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia provides a way to vanish. One can cancel his user account and have it deleted at anytime. There is no precedent that I know of for blocking a talk page, except in the case of vandalism, and then only as a last resort. See WP:UP#Use of page protection for user pages. The Transhumanist   05:24, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

That is your interpretation, and I respect that. This administrative action was made after some deliberation, and I believe that I followed the spirit of Wikipedia policy by respecting Qxz's request to be left alone. My actions are, of course, subject to the review of other users and may be overruled by any administrator. I have no desire to engage in any sort of wheel-war. However I do wish that you would consider whether your actions are in Qxz's best interests, or merely your own. ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 05:31, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

My interest is to reach out to Qxz. The Transhumanist   05:39, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Just wondering, how many pages do you intend to copy this to? Must be a matter of vital importance that demands everybody's immediate attention... ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 06:25, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I posted it to the village pump for the community to discuss it, so we might have a consensus to go by for future cases. You don't object do you? The Transhumanist   06:30, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

No, but I have stopped beating my wife. Anyway, User talk:Qxz was unprotected by an admin in response to the WP:RPP request, I'm sure you can go ahead and post your comment to Qxz now. ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 06:46, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't understand your comment. All my posts preceded the unprotection. And the unprotection was only part of my request. Both ANB and VPP are better places for getting clarification on a policy, don't you agree? I'm still interested in reading what others have to say about the user talk page protection issue, in case it ever comes up again. The Transhumanist   07:59, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S.: Would you have stopped beating your wife if she hadn't left you? -TT

Are you still beating your wife? ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 21:36, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New potd userbox

Hi, The Transhumanist, you are a member of User:GeorgeMoney/potd. I would like to interest you in this userbox:

Code	Result
{{User:Patricknoddy/Userboxes/User potd}}	Pic This user contributes to the random picture of the day.

I hope you enjoy it.

- PatricknoddyTALK (reply here)|HISTORY 14:50, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Userpage design updating

Hello, I'm honoured that you picked my userpage as one of many that are well-designed or at least interesting. I just wanted to point out that I've changed accounts, from User:Tachikoma to User:Kyoko, because I'm not used to being called "Tachikoma" and it began to irritate me. I suggest looking at my more recent page revisions, which I think are much better than the one you have featured. While you're at it, User:Kyo cat (who is also listed in your gallery) is now User:Tohru Honda13, so you might check her page for updates too. Thanks again. --Kyoko 19:56, 8 April 2007 (UTC)