User talk:PuckSmith

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[edit] Diagrams

From AnonMoos' talk page:

I'm curious about the creation of these images. What software did you use? I do similar things, but with a very Goldbergesque collection of tools. Oh, and I appreciate your comments my Kabbalah question. Odd that such an apparently committed Christian should know about the Rose Cross Lamen.--◀Pucktalk▶ 21:04, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I have an interest in symbols; I did all those on the Triple Goddess page. Shield of the Trinity is the only "big" article which I did completely from scratch. The diagrams in "Shield of the Trinity" were done in vector format, which can then be rendered to an image of any size desired. Occasionally I use vector editor software, but for diagrams composed mostly of simple abstract geometric shapes (with little "drawing" involved as such), I often do hand-written PostScript code. On some Wikipedia image pages I include the PostScript source, such as at Image:St-Faith-Arms.png. PostScript can be converted to PDF, and rendered to a raster image in a number of ways.

By the way, due to the nature of Hebrew orthography and morphological structure (see Triconsonantal root), a significant percentage of sequences of three random Hebrew letters will be meaningful Hebrew words. AnonMoos 03:11, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the pointer. I had no idea PostScript editable as plain text. I've had experience writing DXF files by hand and generating graphics with routines in Basic and C so this looks like a promising tool. What is a good general purpose application for importing and exporting PostScript? I have CadStd Lite. It will export PostScript, but not import it.
Thanks for Triliteral, too. It explains a lot. And here I was thinking it was because God speaks Hebrew. ;-)--◀Pucktalk▶ 14:41, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

On a whim I just went looking for Gimp for a Windows platform. I found it and it seems it may do the trick.--◀Pucktalk▶ 15:31, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User:69.246.97.12

This seems more of a content dispute than vandalism. Using my admin powers for that would be wrong, unless there's a clear case of WP:3RR. Owen× ☎ 20:24, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Offering of friendship

I wanted to add to my recent comments at Talk:Wicca#Citation of sources that I look forward to further discussions with you - you seem well established here as a regular, and I think I may have caught the wikipedia bug too, so we should run into each other a bit. I value and appreciate your contributions to wikipedia - you seem thorough and knowledgable, and people who have these qualities as well as the motivation to actually do something with their knowledge are rare as hens' teeth. I'm sure at times we'll disagree on various points (though I don't actually think we have yet), but when that happens let it not be us who are in conflict, let it be but our references and our supporting authors who roll up their shirt-sleeves and bare their teeth at each other, while we sit at the ring-side and exchange bets on who'll win over a pint of beer. And hey, I never mind losing a game well played. We have much to share: Blessed Be. Fuzzypeg 00:50, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I appreciate your kind words. When I first started editing Wikipedia I told myself I was going to avoid the Wicca article like the plague. I knew from my experience on various Pagan Usenet groups, like alt.religion.wicca and alt.witchcraft, and from real life experiences with various Pagan groups in the Washington, D.C. area that it could be a minefield. As a friend of mine once said, “Christians don't need to attack us, we do a fine job of that ourselves.”

you seem well established here as a regular

Well, it looks like my first contribution was only about three days before yours.

I think I may have caught the wikipedia bug too

Yeah, it's definitely an addiction. It's especially bad for me because I'm currently unemployed and I have way too much time to spend at it.

you seem thorough and knowledgable, and people who have these qualities as well as the motivation to actually do something with their knowledge are rare as hens' teeth.

Stop it, I'm blushing.
I have discovered the combination of having people metaphorically looking over my shoulder with me not wanting to look like an idiot has caused me to be very careful about being able to back up what I say. It's a good source of discipline in the best sense of the word. I'm currently working on an biographical article about Christian Knorr Von Rosenroth—he did the Latin translation of the Zohar that S.L. MacGregor used for the Kabbalah Unveiled. You can see what I've done so far here. I've run into a wall for now because most of the source material is in German[1] [2], a language I don't speak or read. I've been using Google's translation service, but it is a bit limited [3] [4]. I've asked my bother-in-law, who does speak German, to help a bit and I've been in contact via e-mail with an organization in Germany dedicated to Knorr. They are trying to get me connected to members who speak English. It is slow work. That I know of the is very little information about him in English, either online or in the real world. If I pull this one off it will be a real contribution, not just to Wikipedia, but to the English speaking world in general—especially students of the occult. That's a heady feeling.
If you've looked at my contributions you've see my interests run more toward Qabalah and Thelema. My introduction to Paganism was through Wicca and I still identify myself that way, but I find myself more and more drawn to ceremonialism and the Western mysteries in the Golden Dawn tradition. Wicca is very satisfying on an emotional level, but the depth and breadth of ceremonial magick, and my own hunger for spiritual transformation is leading me inevitably to journey across the Abyss. The people who have charted that path before me all seem to come out of the Hermetic tradition. Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie in particular seem to have been writing with me in mind. At least it seems that way to me.

I'm sure we'll run across each other as we fritter away our time here. The opportunity for cataloging information about the Pagan tradition on Wikipedia is fantastic. It's nice to have a friendly companion on the way.--◀Pucktalk▶ 06:04, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, if you're not a regular, you've certainly been putting in a lot of unemployment hours in the last few weeks.

Have you come across many other translations of the Zohar to English? I've been trying to track down an English translation from one of the Hebrew versions by a man named Michael Freedman (Michael Tyne Corbold). Probably a long shot.

I have a couple of big projects on my plate too. I'm trying to write this critique of Hutton, which, to do it any justice, requires quite a lot of reading. I'm also trying to put together a booklet that collects material relating to European Goddess-worship from antiquity to modern day (mostly in modern folklore) and traces some of the points of connection. It's quite different from what you read about in books on Wicca. That's a project that's been going for a few years now, actually... grrr... And I'm setting up a temple - it's been consecrated for 6 months now, but the preparation began two years ago. I'm currently oscillating between the computer, the fridge, the shower and the temple (where I've been painting a wall-size rose cross). My oscillations are about to slow down now though, and settle me into bed. Work in the morning for me (sigh). Fuzzypeg 10:48, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wicca, Winston Churchill, and Acts of Parliament

my response to your comments at my talk page

From P.MacUidhir's talk page and my response:

Witchcraft Act

I'm not exactly sure what you meant by pointing the first paragraph of Wicca to something more specific than the generic Wikipedia page.

I meant that I want to reference the relevant Acts of Parliament to which it is referring rather than the rather odd Witchcraft Act page.
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 20:25, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps if it were just reworded to say something like after the repeal of the last British Witchcraft Act, but I wasn't sure if that was what you were getting at. So, I went looking for any information I could find and I stumbled across this. I don't think it is really useful in the current context, but I found it amusing to say the least. I thought you might as well. I never really knew the story behind why the Witchcraft act was repealed and I especially didn't know who we have to thank.--◀Pucktalk▶ 12:51, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Seems like there is a lot of speculation and otherwise unverified/unverifiable information at that link... but if it is all true, then I agree, it is a rather hilarious way of getting that Act tossed into the wastebin of history!
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 20:25, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
According to Ronald Hutton (Triumph of the Moon, p. 107), the Witchcraft act of 1736 was reinforced by the Vagrancy Act of 1824 and replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951.
I found the text of the 1736 act here, here and here.
The Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 is here: here
I have not been able to find the text of the Vagrancy Act of 1824, but I did find some links to recent UK legislation that amended it here. I hope this helps.--◀Pucktalk▶ 23:36, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
Interesting, yes- but we have to use reliable sources for cites in articles. Most of those links are not authoritative as far as Acts of Parliament are concerned. I can find the 1951 act in dozens of places using Google, but all of them are on unreliable websites in the sense of accurate reproduction of the text of British laws. The last link, though, on the amending of the Vagrancy Act of 1824- that may prove useful in itself, yes. Good find there. If you can figure a way to use it as a cite in the main Wicca article, I say go for it.
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 23:43, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] John S.

The citation you give about that case is awfully true. I wonder what should I do if I discovered that everyone knows that I am in the papers. --Harvestman

Which cite? the one to John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy or one of my Yahoo message board posts? And I don't really understand the second part at all. Are you actually asking me for a response or is it just a rhetorical question? I'm not criticizing you or anything, I'm just confused.--◀Pucktalk▶ 13:47, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for that confusion, answer about your reactions on such a case if you find it fit. I read that text and my reaction was emotional as well as rhetorical as you say. The text on your page is : "nobody changed it because nobody read it because nobody gave a rat's ass about an obscure nobody", concerning the John S. problem. --Harvestman
Well, my overall reaction to the case was summed up in the rest of my message on Yahoo: "He is now more well known for that offending article and his whining about it than for anything he might have accomplished in his otherwise unremarkable life." [5] I suspect that at least part of his motivation for raising such a fuss in the first place was that the error went so long without being detected. He may have felt a bit stung by the fact that nobody noticed. If he were actually an important historical figure, rather than a footnote, someone would have noticed almost immediately. The fact that no one did is an indication that no one was interested in him. Now, however, he is famous, which is why I think that was part of his motivation.--◀Pucktalk▶ 23:40, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Edit of the day candidate

You're right, it's hilarious! I added it to my list. Thanks! Owen× ☎ 00:52, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] That was fun... <copied from Talk:Wicca

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wicca&diff=34415245&oldid=34399432

I have to admit that I laughed for a good five minutes in reading the vandal's additions and changes. They *were* rather offensive... but still fun to read.

→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 23:30, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

  • --postscript: in reading over the anon.editor's other contributions, I see that Wicca was not an isolated incident:
  •  ::still laughing::
  • → P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 23:34, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
OM frikin' G, I almost peed my pants. This person should be writing for The Onion. The Handfasting picture reminds me of FSG. OwenX keeps a collection he calls Edit of the Day. I'm nominating this one. I've e-mailed the link to a bunch of my Thelemite friends. They'll be laughing for a week. I know I will.--◀Pucktalk▶ 00:50, 9 January 2006 (UTC)
I almost did not even post a comment on it, since some Wiccans here might have a thin skin and been offended by the vandal's comments... but everyone should be able to laugh at theirselves once in a while. I might have a skewed perspective on the matter, though, not being Wiccan myself. ::shrug::
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 01:45, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reference desk

Hahahaha! Thanks for this. I want to say it every time I read the page. Kudos Natgoo 19:01, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm usually a pretty easy going guy, but that one caught me at a bad time. It was just too good to pass up. I feel so evil, in a good kind of way.--◀Pucktalk▶ 19:30, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Image:WikiThanks.png I would also like to thank you for that. I want to answer half of the questions with Don't be dense. WAvegetarian (talk) (email) (contribs) 20:48, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

That's my first Wiki doodad. You have no idea what it means to me.--◀Pucktalk▶ 22:20, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chef Clover

Hi You look like you're having fun.--◀Pucktalk▶ 05:07, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

hey puck!

I am having fun! But now I am addicted to editing my user page!  :::sweatdrop::: I hope I have enough user boxes! Haha!

so, whassup? Chef Clover 22:53, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

You need this one ;-)

ubx-5 This user uses entirely too many userboxes.

Wikipedia is definitely an addiction.--◀Pucktalk▶ 23:56, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

oops! forgot one!

Hahahahahahaha! thanks, man. I really need that one! Hahahahaha!

say, you don't seem to use user boxes. How come? Chef Clover 00:01, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Why?

I'm actually working on a few designs of my own. I'm just having a little trouble figuring out exactly how to build a template. I want to make some really weird or satirical ones. I just haven't figured out how yet. Also I've been busy working on some articles and recently I've started chasing down vandals so I don't really have the time to work on my boxes.--◀Pucktalk▶ 00:06, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

BTW, a couple that I'm worming on are here User:PuckSmith/Holding_area. I'm keeping them there for now becuase I'm trying to fix a problem on my user page that I think is in some of the code. I'm moving everything off of it to that holding area till I found out what is causing the problem

Poor Puck!

Awwwwww! You poor thing!  :(

But I think you should use userboxes because they are fun, cool, and in style now! Chef Clover 00:26, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

But I guess the "Puck" stops here! haha! ;-D  ;-P

Yea! You fixed it!

Hi! Wow! it looks like you fixed your user page (sort of). I wish you luck on finishing up the repairs!

How's everything going? Happy Friday the 13th! Hee, hee! Chef Clover 00:29, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I fixed it

Sort of. I'm slowly moving stuff back. I've been kind of busy trying to stop an edit war here and here. It's has been a mess.

What's up with you?--◀Pucktalk▶ 04:36, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

everythings okay. My semester finals are coming up (my school runs on block scheduling, where one set of classes are held for the first semester, and then we switch to another set of classes for the second semester). I'm sure I can wing an 80 or better!

Everything's hectic now, because after the semester change, I might not see my 6 crushes again for the rest of my life!!!!!  :-( But the best thing is that I get to learn French curse words! Hee,hee,hee!

What's up? Chef Clover 14:56, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] uh, help?

hi!, what's up? i hope you're not too busy! 'cause what happened to my "immortal" userbox on my userpage? please, tell me if my page or the userbox was changed!

hope everything's cool with you!

Chef Clover 00:04, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] erm, question?

how do I link an external link to a page? TT_TT

I have been trying to do something . . . . .

later!

Chef Clover 15:00, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thx!

Thanks for your support! "alyosha" (talk) 17:53, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reverts

Ah, yes, the gentle pleasures of RC patrol; I think a lot of us get addicted to it, trying to see how quickly we can "zap" vandals. Best, Antandrus (talk) 06:12, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Aston Villa F.C.

It was ok; you just missed this. The vandalism has appeared to stop.

Once a user has been warned that they will be blocked if they continue to vandalize, and then they do so again, you can use Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism to let us know. I've left a warning at User talk:195.93.21.10 about today's blanking. Thanks. Jkelly 19:04, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] HoF

Hilarious! - Ta bu shi da yu 10:36, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how do they do that?--userboxes

Hey, Puck! I was wondering how people could put their userboxes into columns. can you tell me how that happens (in plain English)?

see ya! Chef Clover 20:44, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

never mind! I fixed it by adding.....the box. Yes, the box! the best invention since wikipedia! It's easier than 1,2,3! all you have to do is add it while editing your userpage, and my spyware and computer viruses will do the rest! Just call this number for instructions for adding the box to your userpage! ---- ha, ha, ha! never mind about that. I fixed it! yea! thanks anyways! what's up, man? Chef Clover 21:00, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] dude, i meant, 'sup?'

I am sorry i asked. I didn't know that you were obsessed with the Sepher Yetzirah.

say, what is the Sepher Yetzirah? Chef Clover 21:33, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] almost neutral point of view on religious beliefs

I'm not holding i against you but i oppose cults and stuff like that, and disagree with their beliefs. I, myself, am perfectly fine with being part of a non-occult Roman Catholic Church and believing that aliens created crop circles (seriously, i do! I'm not being a fool!). But hey! Everyone can believe what they want to believe,like the Roman Catholic Church, or Sufism, or Raëlism, or whatever. Each to his/her own. That's what makes lives more interesting and gives us a reason to live. It's not a problem for me, unless the cult is extremely radical. Chef Clover 22:43, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Hebrew questions

1. If the basic form of a Hebrew word is prefixed by bet it means at,with,in, etc., sort of a generic preposition, such as the Spanish en.

True.

2. If it is prefixed with he it is the definite article

True.

שיח - tree השיח - the tree

Not quite. I would translate it as "bush" or "shrub".

3. If a word is prefixed with vau it means and.

True.

4. If it is prefixed by lamed it is the verbial, or infinitive form.

True, but also means "to" as destination, or as purpose.

5. The sufix yod mem is the plural form of a word.

Yes, but so is the suffix vau-tau, depending on the gender of the plural form.

I have notice some words end with yod or yod tau. What is the significance of that? It appears to be the adjective and adverbial form, but I am not certain because sometimes it also seem like its plural.

These endings have different functions. When appended to a noun, yod-tau is often a diminuative form, so:

כף - table spoon, כפית - teaspoon. I think translating the "Sefer Yetzirah" as your first major translation project may be a bit too ambitious... Owen× ☎ 16:11, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moon River Wicca

Hi, My name is Amethyst TygerMoon and I am the Co-Founder of Moon River Wicca. Yes, we are baced in Winchester but I do not see this as a reason to not be note worthy, we are a tradition of wicca, we offer training to those who would otherwise be stuck reading books and learning on their own and this is a valuable service. we are also about to publish the first of 5 books in the summer, the first 3 books will accompany the 3 levels of initiation which we teach, and the other 2 books will be a complete guide to correspondances and a book of pagan poetry. If you still feel that we are not worthy of wikipedia then that is fine, but I do feel that every body needs to start somewhere. as to our web site, we are in the process of building it at the moment which is why there is nothing there, as we own the name but have not gone live yet. Please do contact me either at info@moonriver.co.uk or at info@thegaiatree.co.uk if you have any further questions.

as to this being the only artical we have submitted to Wikipedia that is becasue I only just figured out how to add stuff, I have been using and recommending this site for ages and would like to add more in the future.

Brightest Blessings

AmethystTygerMoon

Co Founder The Moon River Wicca Tradition

my own response on the matter is found here
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 18:09, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Response

Please stop trying to re-write the truth. All we are doing is making sure the truth about the Golden Dawn is not skewed.

[edit] Attn

"Someone" has obfuscated the external link to the OSOGD at the GD Tradition to "Open Sores Order of the Golden Dawn".
Here is a link to the diff. The spoof page was last modified on 02/06/2006 at 11:31 AM. The link was added to wikipedia on 02/06/2006 at 11:45 AM. This is the only contribution from User:209.160.73.26.
Cyberdenizen 21:32, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Palestinian to Israel

Listen, u were underreacting and to the wrong thing. All that i was doing was showing people the truth that palestine never really existed and never should exist. it is just a dam cherade made by those F*@#%$ers in Israel who want to get rid of Israel and the Jewish state that should and will exist. you r just part of the establishment of anti-semitisim who are just perpetuating the lies and the myths of the evils of Jews. According to Wikipedia, Wikipedia stands for truth, thank u for being a shmuck and ruining that truth.

Sincerly, The unkown IP address

P.s. nice job jack@$$

An anti-semitic Thelemite Wiccan?
<pauses to laugh for... oh, at least a week... >
Someone seriously needs to keep trying to fire those two half-baked neurons. This is pretty funny stuff. Did you piss in his Cheerios, Puck? It appears that you antagonised a unusually bored and ill-educated pre-teen... ah... 'shmuck' (sic). I would love to see where you, of all people, are being anti-semitic. Pfffft. Send me a link to the nonsense in question if you have a moment. I could use a chuckle or three.
→ P.MacUidhir (t) (c) 17:56, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Transtopianism

Ive been here a while, but havent done much - so still a noob. The article got deleted before i could have a proper go at fixing it (I thought it always took 5 days). I wasnt advertising, honest (I guess i was just lazy). I had been reading about transhumanism (which I'm quite interested in), came across this group, was supprised i hadnt found them when researching transhumanism on wikipedia, and thought they should have a page -they are bigger than many things which get one. Btw, how can i get it back, so i can improve it in my user space as you recomended & then resubmit it? Crippled Sloth 22:41, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Golden Dawn Edit War... Again!

Care Frater:

The edit war has flared up again, and an administrator has locked down the article "Golden Dawn tradition". Since you were involved in the previous dust-up, could you stop by and look at what's happening and offer your two cents worth? It's pretty appalling, actually. Any help you could contribute would be appreciated. JMax555 23:13, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Holy <bleep>! I <bleep>ing can't believe it! There's this giant picture that someone did to the whole wikipedia data base!!!!! I logged in in another window, and there was this picture of something and it had the words "Encyclopedia My a**!!!!!" TToTT It's gotta be a vandal!!!!! I don't know who but this dude(tte) is really messed up!!!!! I mean, holy <bleep>!!!!!

Please help! I'm scared!!!!! And really emo, and totally not going to be the same again, and . . . . .

Chef Clover 13:44, 7 May 2007 (UTC) MyTalk

[edit] Orphaned non-free media (Image:Ames ad ron paul 140dpi.jpg)

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