User talk:Asbestos

——————————————— ASBESTOS: TALK ———————————————	Please, add new entries to the bottom and don't forget to sign your name by typing four tildes: ~~~~. If you would like to make comments on my Wikipediaing in general (positive or negative), feel free to do so on my own Request For Comments page.
Archive1 Archive 2 Archive 3 Archive 4 Archive 5

Picture of the Day

POTD

Hi Asbestos,

Just to let you know that your photo Image:Corncobs.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on the 17th January. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Wikipedia:Picture of the day/January 17, 2006. -- Solipsist 22:04, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

list of drug taking wikipedians

If you only need my permission to delete this page, then by all means go ahead. It started as a joke, and at one stage i did plan to develop it into a portal (wishful thinking), we even got 6 legitimate members! But you're right, I don't care about this page, you may do what you want to it. And I'm very glad the other page was removed, it was very inciteful and nasty and User:Cognition is quite obviously a closet stoner. Peace out. --Ballchef 00:50, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Mediation

Hi Asbestos! I'm glad and honoured to be part of the Mediation Committee, and have written my e-mail on the MedCom template. I'll also join the mailing list. Thanks! Ronline ✉ 07:32, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Please Take This Case

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_mediation&action=purge#phpBB_entry_dispute.

It looks like it's already been taken by User:Stevertigo. — Asbestos | Talk (RFC) 19:59, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

1.0 Collaboration of the Week

Hi, I noticed you signed up as a member of the Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team, which is looking to identify quality articles in Wikipedia for future publication on CD or paper. Recently, a 1.0 Collaboration of the Week was created to work on essential topics that are in need of improvement, which will ultimately go in a release version of Wikipedia. You can help by voting, contributing to an article, or simply making a comment. Thank you for your support. :) Gflores ^Talk 08:02, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Thank You

I never said I was leaving, i'll still be around in one form or another, but thank you for the concern. The best way to help me out now is to speak out against authoritarianism on Wikipedia, if we don't have rules...rules for everyone... we will have chaos, and this project will eventually collapse. Karmafist 17:38, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Question

Thank you for the barnstar, i'm beginning to believe working with Jimbo under current conditions is impossible, although I won't give up hope at least for a few more days. (Still awaiting a reply from the e-mail I sent him). In any case, I won't be uncivil, but I was wondering your opinion on two things...

1. A Wikiproject/Grassroots movement against authoritarianism and for the rule of law on here for all.
2. Advocating for a position similiar to the Roman Tribune, an advocate of non-administrators who has power only in keeping an eye on administrators/bureaucrats/arbitrators/etc. and making sure they follow policy. Karmafist 17:54, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Reply to Your Reply

I'm in complete agreement with you there that we need authority. However, the authority should come from our beliefs(a free encyclopedia for all, built by a kind and diverse community) and our policies, not a cult of personality. Karmafist 18:51, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Branching Databases

I,ve been ill with a nasty case of gastric flu and have been off work all week. I will hopefully be back at work tomorrow and will look up the name of the program for you then. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 12:37, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The program is called flexitree. It's not freeware but it's not6 very expensive. See their website to see if it suits your needs. http://www.flexible.co.uk/FlexiTREE.html Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 12:57, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Help on NPOV interpretation

Hi Asbestos, you were the first one to welcome me here some time ago. And I'd like to thank you again for your hospitality. I need some help.

You can find the problem where I need some help here: NPOV policy on representation, the meaning of the conjunction "or"

I think those who answered me are not official administrators. And nobody has been able to answer my latest question on how my interpretation links up with NOR -- as these policies are supposed to be mutually linked. (I also posted this in the village pump and there was no response from any official. [1] Same thing happened at the help page.

I am quite convinced that my interpretation is the right one knowing the need for expertise in Wikipedia.

Anyway, I hope you can do something and clarify this issue. Thanks. Lafem 10:12, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks so much for the immediate response, Asbestos. I needed that assurance that I am not alone here. And thanks also for the example on the common cold. That was enlightening. May I copy your response to the other pages (Help Desk and Village Pump) so others can share from your response? Thanks. Lafem 00:45, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Users from 144.173.6.76 vandalising

I see you blocked this IP in late Jan. Similar vandelism is also being done on 144.173.6.77 which was blocked for 24 hours by an admin who is on Wikibreak. See University of Exeter Halls of Residence for examples. I have been reverting this mess for a while. The comments he/she has added and the stuff on the talk pages suggesting these IPs are a shared proxy leads me to suggest that they are probably on the University of Exeter system so it is difficult. There are some good edits from these IPs, but there is a lot of nonsense. Would another block be a good idea? --Bduke 02:36, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Spot-check my style?

Hi, Asbestos! Hope you've been well.

While meandering about looking for stars in Saggitarius, I came across the 'pages requested for over a year' and decided I could handle writing up Caerlanrig. Could you spare me a moment or two and doublecheck that I formatted everything appropriately, please?

Thanks!

Corgi 01:29, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Shpayce Lane

Oh, well, I expressly got his permission... I don't know, it's a great image, but if the Wiki wants it, then ok. -MasTer of Puppets ^Peek! 19:22, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

It's ok, I'll just make an image and post it up. --MasTer of Puppets ^Peek! 19:27, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

RfM

Would you look over and consider taking Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Fethullah Gulen? No special reason I picked you, just going down the list, trying to get cases assigned. If you're agreeable, would you leave me a note on my talk page? Thanks! Essjay ^{Talk • Contact} 00:17, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Please vote

Hi. You voted in support of Alex Bakharev his previous RfA, and I just wanted to let you know that there's a second one at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Alex Bakharev 2. --Khoikhoi 03:11, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Universism DRV

Hi, Abestos, you voted to undelete the Universism article last year. The outcome of that VFD shelved the article until March 2006. However, the issue has come up again just shy of that date, the article is again undergoing a DRV. Since last year, Universism has been featured in many media outlets, including the LA Times and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. Would you please vote again in favor of undeleting the article? --Mindbender 20:53, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Copyvio

Yes, I cut and pasted and did some edits..so what? Like 10% of what I read at wikipedia has sections of articles that are copied verbatim from somewhere else. Wikipedia is about as pure as a backalley whore. If you hadn't have tagged it or I would have just reworded some of the headers, no one would have noticed, and therefore there would be no problem. Furthermore, by rendering the article uneditable, you are preventing changes from being made that would make it more to your liking. There shoud be no academic honor system in wikipedia because wikipedia is not even close to an astute academic foundation. Anyway just my opinion.--Hypergeometric2F1(a,b,c,x) 05:12, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Popular culture

Hello Asbestos! Thanks for the feedback on popular culture. A little explanation. I guess when I see "references in popular culture" in an article I get a bit prickly because popular culture is different in different parts of the world, and the phrasing doesn't seem to recognize that - I guess it seems like assumes that there IS only one kind of popular culture, because the references are pretty much always Anglo-Western. The way things are at the moment, it betrays that Wikipedia is less international than we'd all like. I guess by changing the phrasing I'm trying to recognize the slant rather than leave it as implicit. In fact the idea of including such references at all could possibly be seen as ethnocentric because I suspect they are a concern particular to Anglo-Americans. I had a debate with someone on the Lake Titicaca page about whether such references should be included at all in an encyclopedia article, but I gave up on that one because there seems to be a general consensus that it is. That debate is probably still there if you want to have a look. I guess because the vast majority of these references are American it gives the encyclopedia an American slant, and also makes it seem like such references are truly relevant to the subject being addressed in the article, and I personally think they aren't, fun though they may be for people who are familiar with the references. Also by including them in the article it implies that they are somehow as important as the real facts about the subject, and I think that can come across as patronizing, such as on the Lake Titicaca page, which might discourage non-Anglo-American contributors who hit a page on their area or culture, see a good portion of it devoted to American trivia and get turned off.

However - you are an administrator which means you understand Wikipedia policies way better than me, and I accept what you have told me, so I will stop changing that when I see it. That being said, do you have a page you could point me to where I could read something about Wikipedia's policies or approach on a) ethnocentrism, and b) (in)appropriate article content?

Also you don't need to go through my history - I've only changed it occasionally when I happened upon it, and haven't been at all systematic about it. You've probably hit upon them all already.

Thanks for the advice. You've made me look at it from a different point of view. Mona-Lynn 20:21, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

I just had another idea - would you object to "references in international popular culture"? At least then that would recognize that there is also a local version of popular culture. Mona-Lynn 20:23, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Featured Sounds

Second all your comments on the talk page, how can we constructively get this moving, it's at a stalemate at present! --PopUpPirate 23:48, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Wiktionary links

Wiktionary is a work in progress and can be improved on. Since the entries already exist in the Wiktionary, my hope is that knowledgeable editors will add content to them, such as etymology, usage and so on. I have done this for certain non-English words as well. Shawnc 20:16, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Merging two accounts

Hi Asbestos - As an administrator I wonder whether you could give me a hand. When i first joined Wikipedia I created an account called Mona-lynn and made a few changes under that name, but then created another account, Mona-Lynn, to reflect the way I spell my name. That's the one I have been using ever since. Would you be able to put the "my contributions" history from Mona-lynn into Mona-Lynn, then delete Mona-lynn? i.e. merge the two accounts. Thanks! Mona-Lynn 01:42, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

RfA thanks!

Hi Asbestos! Thank you for supporting my RfA. It passed at 105/1/0, putting me in WP:100 - I'm delighted and surprised! I'm always happy to help out, so if you need anything, please drop me a line. Cheers! ➨ ❝REDVERS❞ 20:37, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Kula

Hi Asbestos - would you mind having a look at the Kula disambiguation page? I think the last four items on the list are not appropriate. Do you know what the policy is? Thank you! Mona-Lynn 05:28, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Prime Numbers in Nature

thanks with the afd help! JianLi 23:55, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Request

Hi Asbestos,

My name is Fernanda Viégas and I have been studying Wikipedia for a while now (you can see a paper I published on the subject here). I would like to ask you a few questions about your activities as a Wikipedia "photographer" and "illustrator." I am fascinated by the pictorial side of Wikipedia and it would be great to hear about this community from one of its members. Would you be available for an email interview? Thanks, — Fernanda 00:23, 4 April 2006 (UTC) | talk

Version 1.0 "Release Version Qualifying"

Hi, I'm interested in your feedback on Wikipedia talk:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Release Version Qualifying. It's essentially an idea to use a process similar to WP:FAC to identify and handle articles and lists that would go in a release version. Maurreen 19:37, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

WP 1.0

I thought since you are interested in this project you might be interested to see a CD version of en now exists see Wikipedia:Wikipedia-CD/Download & 2006 WP CD Selection. This is being discussed on the 1.0 project pages but progress breeds enthusiasm so I thought I would let you know. --BozMo talk 09:10, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

I could use some help, not sure if you want to help

I'm not the most experienced user but you seem to have some good vibes around here when it comes to disputes. May I ask if you could look over at the Randal McCloy talk page and the new edit war that appears to be developing under the "Hyperbaric section". An unsigned editer is inserting inappropriate and unsubstantiated information that is ruining the article. I'm not experienced enough to know the exact method for resolving this, but I can see when a issue is over the edge as this one is! Thanks in advance J Shultz 06:45, 13 April 2006 (UTC)