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Contents 1 Archives 2 Editing Experiments 2.1 Sig experiments 2.2 Experiments 2.2.1 Progress Indicator 2.2.2 Another Progress Indicator 2.2.3 Pseudo-template for MOS violation (seasonal reference) 3 Countering Hemispheric Bias in Wikipedia 3.1 Hemispheric Ignorance In SF 3.2 Northern bias 3.3 Global perspectives task force 4 Specific Contributions 4.1 Indus 4.2 Wikipedia:WikiProject Constellations 4.3 Gull 4.4 Articles you might like to edit, from SuggestBot 4.5 Vague or ambiguous times 5 New Material 5.1 Kingdom Hearts II FAC 5.2 Made suggested changes at Plymouth Colony 5.3 Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope 5.4 Resolving the "date format" problem for Battle of Normandy 5.5 [when?] 5.6 Ebola 5.7 Vega

[edit] Archives

Outdated stuff has been moved to the Archives. Other content on these pages has been rearranged by topic.

[edit] Editing Experiments

[edit] Sig experiments

My new sig, as I join the fashion for obnoxious sigs....

--  B.d.mills  (Talk) 07:38, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

• Obnoxious?!!! (angry face)!!! j/k -- BD2412 ^thimk 03:10, 2005 May 10 (UTC)

LOL ... I like your sig too. ;) --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 03:15, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

Thanks - I just added yours to my tribute collection. -- BD2412 ^thimk 03:35, 2005 May 10 (UTC)

This one works better. It's about 30% smaller because I combined the border properties into a single CSS tag. --  B.D.Mills  (Talk)

Here's the current sig. Need to add a contributions link. --  B.d.mills  (Talk)

Aha. So *that's* how to do the contributions link. Maybe the classic red border will also work so it's not too washed out. --  B.d.mills  (T, C)

How about a flag? --  B.D.Mills  (☎T, ✍C)

Test -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 03:26, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Experiments

Editing experiments go here.

[edit] Progress Indicator

87/88

Almost done

[edit] Another Progress Indicator

6/88

A lot of work is needed here

This article or section contains no SI units of measurement. Please help improve this article by adding international units, preferably from the references cited in the article. (talk)

[edit] Pseudo-template for MOS violation (seasonal reference)

Paste into talk pages as needed:

The above excerpt violates the chronological guidelines for seasonal references in the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS). Please correct this with neutral wordings. Some examples of more suitable wordings may be found in the MOS.

The above excerpts violate the chronological guidelines for seasonal references in the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS). Please correct these with neutral wordings. Some examples of more suitable wordings may be found in the MOS.

[edit] Countering Hemispheric Bias in Wikipedia

[edit] Hemispheric Ignorance In SF

No strictly relevent to your bias quotes, but I can't resist quoting the standard example of sloppy SF: "He climbed to the top of the ruined Empire State building and gazed sadly at the sky, where Alpha Centauri shone, the nearest outpost of human civilization". New York, I'm told, is too far north to see Alpha Centauri. ---Isaac R 16:30, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

That was very funny, I must admit I laughed when I read that one. Yes, it's true that Alpha Centauri is too far north to see Alpha Centauri. Where did you get it from? --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 01:32, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

To butt in here for a moment - it might be too far north now, but with precession it may be possible one day...? Every month I receive an email science fiction newsletter which lists bits of sloppy SF research and mangled writing under the heading "Thog's masterclass". Recent beauties have included :... she could see nothing but the old moon with a lost star drifting between its horns. (Patricia A. McKillip, _Heir of Sea and Fire_, 1980), and "The laboratory covers a dozen floors," the general said, "and in it we have every kind of equipment known. We can produce temperatures of minus 900 degrees Kelvin..." (Silas Water, _The Man with Absolute Motion_, 1955) Grutness...wha? 02:51, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

The correct answer to your question depends strongly on the time period when the story was set. The description included "the ruined Empire State building". The lifespan of the Empire State building would likely be measured in centuries, whereas precession and proper motion are effects that occur over longer timescales. My best guess is that by the time precession or proper motion allow Alpha Centauri to be visible from the skies of New York, the Empire State Building would long have passed into memory.

I have made the low-temperature mistake once in fiction myself. I was only eight or nine years old; I didn't know enough science at the time to know any better. --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 03:19, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure where I saw this first, but I believe the quote is generally attributed to John W. Campbell, who must have read a lot of bad SF during his many years as an editor. Operating out of New York, of course! ----Isaac R 03:28, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Northern bias

Hi BD, I note your interest in boreocentric bias, boreal chauvinism or hemispheric ignorance, whatever you want to call it. One area it is rife is the field of interhemispheric bird migration, where birds (notably migratory waders) which breed in high northern latitudes and migrate to Australia, South America and Africa are said to move between their breeding grounds and their 'wintering' grounds, or are said to 'winter' in the southern hemisphere. I have already edited a couple of Wikipedia articles to mitigate this, but I am sure that there are plenty of other examples around. Maias 01:43, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

This article or section deals primarily with the Northern Hemisphere and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Thanks for that, I found it very interesting. I was editing the talk page for systemic bias when you dropped me a line, so your message was unusually well timed. Maybe a quotation illustrating the problem for migrating birds should be added to the list (go and have a look). --B.d.mills 01:48, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, a typical example is the following, taken from the article Red-necked Stint:

The Red-necked Stint, Calidris or Erolia ruficollis, is a small wader. This stint's breeding habitat is tundra in arctic north east Siberia. It nests on the ground. The Red-necked Stint is strongly migratory, wintering in south east Asia and Australasia as far south as Tasmania.

I would tend to replace 'wintering' with 'spending the non-breeding season', but it would be nice to find a less clunky term for it. Maias 03:37, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Global perspectives task force

Hi B.d.mills! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countering_systemic_bias/Global_perspective We've a rudimentary task force page up]. If you'd like to sign up, even if only to indicate your support for the effort, that would be appreciated. Regardless, keep up the fine work. Benzocane 19:54, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Specific Contributions

[edit] Indus

ah, I didn't really have a permanent layout in mind for Indus. I just wanted to tidy up a little to see that it didn't get too out of hand. Fell free to undo everything I did to it. I didin't know that I was actually taking it out of order. I do have one sugesstion--put the huge 88 constellation table at the very bottom of the headings. Jaberwocky6669 15:37, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

• oh yes and you are right about that stub notice. You gave me an idea. When an article reaches the point where a stub notice will get lost then should we consider the aricle to be a stub? I wonder what standard exists that determines whteher or not an article is a stub? Jaberwocky6669 15:39, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure there is a stub standard as such. I feel that the stub is needed on those articles with blank sections. When a constellation has good information already, like Orion (constellation), then the stub is not needed. Where a constellation article lacks information about deep sky objects then the stub is definitely needed.

I'm not sure what you mean by the location of the large constellation table. Can you demonstrate by editing the Indus (constellation) article? --  B.d.mills  (T, C) 03:03, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I thought you hade edited the article? Jaberwocky6669 05:18, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

I've edited the article recently, but you made the most recent edits. I think the article already conforms to your idea of putting the constellation tables at the bottom. I think they do look better placed right at the bottom just above the category section. —  B.d.mills  (T, C) 06:12, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I think that when most people come to a huge table in the article they may assume that they are at the end of the article and go elsewhere. I will move the stub notice to its previous location... Jaberwocky6669 06:18, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:WikiProject Constellations

For the good people in this project whom I have just contacted, you may reply in this section or on your user page. I am watching both locations. --  B.d.mills  (T, C)

I've noticed your contact notice about it. BTW we still didn't started similar project on Slovene WP, basically because of the lack of images in local language. I've seen that pl:WP has nice images, like this one for Dorado. --xJaM 11:29, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Gull

Hi, lists of species are normally in taxonomic order to show relationships. I've reformatted gull to avoid future confusion. jimfbleak 06:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I did feel that the list was jumbled as it was. However, as it did have a reason for the order as you pointed out, I accept your revision. --B.d.mills 08:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Articles you might like to edit, from SuggestBot

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[edit] Vague or ambiguous times

This is in the article space and not the category space. You know that to create a category you type 'Category:<name of category>' and not simply '<name of category>', yes? Would you like this deleted so you can create it in the proper namespace? (aeropagitica) 07:19, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I forgot to put "category" at the start when I created it. I have since tagged it with "speedy". --B.d.mills 07:21, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Done! (aeropagitica) 07:43, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New Material

New contributions from other Wikipedians can go here. Alternatively, new material can be added to the end of one of the other sections if it fits better there. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 01:49, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Kingdom Hearts II FAC

The offending sentence has been changed. Do you have any other suggestions? Please leave comments at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Kingdom Hearts II. Thanks. Axem Titanium 03:07, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Axem Titanium 04:37, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Made suggested changes at Plymouth Colony

Per your suggestion, I have done my best to remove every reference to seasons from the article. However, I am stuck on the following sentances, as I am not sure of a good way to remove the seasonal references:

• • "With winter approaching and provisions running dangerously low, the passengers decided to return north and abandon their original landing plans.[11]" In this case, do you have a better way to refer to the cold and snowy months that occur in the northern hemisphere during the months of December, January, and February?
  • "The first structure, a "common house" of wattle and daub, took two weeks to complete in the harsh New England winter." Again, I am not sure how to remove the problem from this sentance. Could you help suggest how to remove the word winter from it?
  • "Thus, only seven residences (of a planned nineteen) and four common houses were constructed during the first winter.[22]" Again, help please?
  • "Nearly half of the original 102 passengers died during the first winter.[31] " Same problem as above. Any suggestions?
  • "Standish also organized the able-bodied men into military orders in February of the first winter. During the second winter, he helped design and organize the construction of a large palisade wall surrounding the settlement. " Argh. Unfortunately, the phrase "second winter" is the best I can use, since all references don't list exact dates, only using the phrase "winter".
  • "each of who lost their spouses during the harsh winter of 1620–1621, " again here, should I say something like "harsh snowy months of December, January, and February of 1620-1621"

Every other use of the words "Spring" "summer" or "autumn" has been removed from the article. Could you please tell me how to fix these sentances to remove the word "winter" from them? Please respond at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Plymouth Colony--Jayron32|talk|contribs 03:26, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope

I have fixed your issue with this page. Do you have any further problems with the article? It was the only instance of season bias that i could find. Thanks for your review. Woodym555 18:00, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Resolving the "date format" problem for Battle of Normandy

Just to let you know that I have not decided not address your concern about the date format in the Talk:Battle of Normandy, as per User:Caranorn's argument. If you feel this was in error, please feel free to add back the tag and discuss it at Talk:Battle of Normandy. --Oshah 13:07, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] [when?]

Hello, something wrong happend with your template:when. In Greenland Ice Sheet Project and Insulin it ad few wrong iw. Lovecz (talk) 15:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ebola

Thank you for your suggestion regarding Ebola. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to).

[edit] Vega

Hi,

I noticed your addition to the Vega article concerning the future magnitude of the star. By any chance would you happen to have the name of the article and author from your reference? I know it's volume 95, but there is no contents listing available on the net (and I have long since disposed of my collection of S&T issues) so I can't properly complete the reference. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.—RJH (talk) 19:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I obtained this information from Sky and Telescope magazine, April 1998 edition. The author of the article used the then-recent HIPPARCOS results along with known proper motion information to determine the past and future brightest stars, and Vega was one of the stars covered because it will be the brightest star in the sky in the future.

I don't have the magazine with me right now so I cannot look up detailed information on the author and the like. I have it easily accessible at home and will consult it when I get home. I will provide volume and number, author, page numbers and article title. Is that sufficient? I have also provided similar information in another article (see: Epsilon Canis Majoris), and I will also need to provide a more detailed reference there.

I copied the table to the Talk page of List of brightest stars here: Historical brightest stars. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 23:40, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Reference: Jocelyn Tomkin, Sky and Telescope, Volume 95 Number 4, April 1998, pp. 59-63. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 11:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! Your addition corrected an error I made on the original article, so I appreciate the addition.—RJH (talk) 18:23, 30 January 2008 (UTC)