User talk:David Eppstein

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by David Eppstein (talk | contribs) at 04:56, 27 May 2021 (→‎Question: r). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Hi, and welcome to my User Talk page! For new discussions, I prefer you add your comments at the very bottom and use a section heading (e.g., by using the "New section" tab at the top of this page). I will respond on this page unless specifically requested otherwise. For discussions concerning specific Wikipedia articles, please include a link to the article, and also a link to any specific edits you wish to discuss. (You can find links for edits by using the "compare selected revisions" button on the history tab for any article.)

Noam Elkies

Hi David, concerning my edit:https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noam_Elkies&oldid=1015190057

I saw Noam Elkin's name listed in this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_mathematicians and clicked through to his page, only to find nothing was mentioned about him being Jewish or was he categorized as such. I found it odd that his being Jewish was relevant enough to be on the list, but not to be mentioned on his Wikipedia page. So, I added the information and used the citation that was given on the aforementioned list. It appeared to me as though the source was reliable, although I did not fully check it. Here is a primary source http://people.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/mp1.txt that supports my edit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.126.167 (talk • contribs) 01:07, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Per WP:BLPCAT, to categorize living people as having a specific religion, we need two things: (1) a personal attestation of faith from the subject, and (2) relevance of that faith to the subject's public life notability. I have already explained the problem with your earlier edit: the source merely lists Elkies as having composed musical works on Jewish themes, which is not the same thing as saying he is Jewish (and not a personal attestation of faith). The primary link you list above has similar problems. It talks about Jews, but never talks about Elkies himself being a Jew. Neither of these sources satisfies either of the two BLPCAT requirements. Probably whoever wrote List of Jewish mathematicians was being as sloppy as you and probably that list needs trimming. We need to be very careful here to avoid making leaps of reasoning and going beyond what the sources themselves say. Look for what reliable sources say about the subject and write that in their biographies here; do not write what you think might be true without sources and then go looking for sources that sort-of-match-but-not-really and pretending that they say things they don't say. —David Eppstein (talk) 01:14, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]


Did you even read the primary source I linked? "To give a more personal example, and then I'll be done: When I was a child in Israel, I knew little of Christians beyond some vague notions -- they believe in Yeshu; they have a Scripture called a New Covenant; there's a Pope. I studied music, so I also knew a bit about Gregorian chant and Masses and church organs. When I came back here, I experienced some of the wealth of great art and music that Christian belief has inspired. But I also learned that Christian belief includes some notions that are most shocking from a Jewish perspective. "Yeshu", Jesus, seems to be variously God, the Son of God(!), one-third of God(!?), or all three at once; he said that no one -- not just "no Christian", no one at all -- comes unto God except through Him [John 14:6]. There's more: this Jesus-God is claimed to be the same Lord Adonai of the Hebrew scriptures, scriptures whose prophecies are put forth as predictions of the life of Jesus. That's even harder for a Jew to stomach. So, education and diversity made me much better informed."

I am not 'pretending' the source is saying something it doesn't say; you are either acting in bad faith or being purposefully obtuse by suggesting so. In his own words, Elkies gives a "personal example" in which he describes growing up in Israel and learning about Christianity for the first time stating: "I also learned that Christian belief includes some notions that are most shocking from a Jewish perspective" and "That's even harder for a Jew to stomach.". In both cases, it is clear he is contrasting his new knowledge of Christianity with his being Jewish and views from it. Immediately after saying a specific Christian idea was hard for 'a Jew to stomach' he says it "made me much better informed"obviously referring to himself as the aforementioned Jew. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.126.167 (talk) 02:00, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

None of the things you quoted are statements of his own religion. What he says about himself is that he grew up in Israel. One can infer that when he talks about a "Jewish perspective", he is talking about his own perspective, but that is an inference, not something he says. This is not a context in which we are allowed to draw inferences. —David Eppstein (talk) 06:23, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox mountain pass

David, Thanks for the heads up on {{Infobox mountain pass}}. Jrcrin001 (talk) 21:15, 5 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome! —David Eppstein (talk) 00:34, 6 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Nomination of Katherine J. Thompson for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Katherine J. Thompson is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Katherine J. Thompson until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article.

Rogermx (talk) 21:22, 5 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Pythagorean triple

Hi David,

I want to discuss my edits on Pythagorean triple which you reverted here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pythagorean_triple&oldid=prev&diff=1016618837

My edits were meant to make it easier to read, not harder to read, and also to clean up the formatting. Can you explain exactly why you think it makes it harder to read? In the mean time, I'm going to fix the (hopefully uncontroversial) explanatory and formatting issues.

Also, just as a general matter, I'm sure people would like it a lot more if you edited to improve instead of wholesale reverting a series of edits.

Cheers, --LK (talk) 06:49, 8 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You added an extra formula in the middle of a simple English sentence, turning it into something only readable by people who like reading formulas. That is not an improvement in readability. It then added a distracting "note that" sentence allowing short-attention-span readers to forget what the main point was. The formula you added does not actually explain the sentence you added it to (because it describes Pythagorean triples in general, not the primitive ones), and is mathematically incoherent (because a, b, and c are unbound variables — although this criticism applies also to the previous version). And just as a general matter, I'm sure people would like it a lot more if you took constructive criticism to heart instead of making passive-aggressive and inaccurate generalizations about what other editors do. —David Eppstein (talk) 07:09, 8 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I'm going to add a definition section, including the definition of a primitive Pythagorean triple, since the example section introduces the concept without actually explaining it. I believe MOS states that important content should not be in the lead alone, instead the lead should summarize the content in the body. To be honest, I started editing the page because I found it hard to read. I'm trying to make it easier to read for non-mathematicians such as myself. Please feel free to edit. thnks --LK (talk) 03:22, 9 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Not really appreciating your disparaging my motives there. And yes, I was reverted, so I started a RfC. I do not see how that is improper at all. And of course, the editor who reverted me jumped on the statement you made disparaging my motives. Would really appreciate it if you would amend your comment to be more in-line with "Assume good faith". LK (talk) 03:03, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I did assume good faith. For instance, I ascribed no motive for the inaccuracy of your RFC. —David Eppstein (talk) 06:37, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Dual Graph

Thank you for your input, Professor Eppstein. I wasn't a fan of the forced-simplicity definition from Trudeau's introductory book either. In hindsight, given its highly-nonstandard nature, omitting this alternate definition is best for the article's continuity. I made a small edit, replacing "The dual graph has an edge whenever two faces of G are separated from each other by an edge" with "The dual graph has an edge for each pair of faces in G that are separated from each other by an edge." This edit makes it clear to the novice that the dual might contain parallel edges (as does the quality figure at the page's top right). What are your thoughts? -LG — Preceding unsigned comment added by LDGraham (talk • contribs) 14:41, 10 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Delete page Shirley Luckhart

David, This is Shirley Luckhart at Univ Idaho. I would like to request again (as I did on Twitter) to have this page on me that I did not contribute to and that is full of errors deleted as soon as possible. I do not want to contribute to or edit this page and I don't want this misinformation circulating on the internet about me at all. Shirley Luckhart PhD — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1998Virginia (talk • contribs) 20:43, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Shirley Luckhart does look headed towards deletion. However, please see WP:CANVASS — once the deletion discussion has been started, it is frowned on to seek out other editors and encourage them to participate on one side of the discussion. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:47, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Photo Uploads

Hi User:David Eppstein. I would like to add a photo to the page of Sonja Petrović. Illinois Institute of Technology paid a photographer to take the photo and believes they own the copyright. I'm not so sure. Who needs to upload the photo?Mvitulli (talk) 20:21, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The owner of the copyright either needs to upload it or to provide WP:OTRS with permission to release it under an open license. By default that would be the photographer, but depending on the terms of the contract under which the photographer was hired it is possible that the photograph is a work for hire and that IIT owns it. It is almost certainly not Petrović herself, and photos from web sites can only be used if they are clearly and credibly marked with an appropriate open source license. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:23, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Request to remove semi-protected for Dr. A. A. Mamun's page

Hi, My name is Dr. Mahbubul Alam (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahbubul-alam/). I am the nephew of Dr. A. A. Mamun. I would like to downgrade the semi-protected for Dr. A. A. Mamun's page. He gave me the permission to edit his wikipedia page. The current page is full of wrong information. As he is one of the top 2% scientist in the whole world, it is very important that the information on his page are correct and current. Therefore, timely edits are necessary for his page. Please see these links for his current affiliations and research credentials:

Personal information: https://www.juniv.edu/teachers/mamun_phys Research profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uOLQ_SkAAAAJ&hl=en

I would really appreciate if you could remove his page from semi-protected so that it can be edited by me or his students as needed. Please let me know if you need anything from my side.

Best, Mahbubul Alam, PhD

You have a conflict of interest. You should not be editing the article. The semi-protection is there specifically to prevent you or other associates of Mamun from editing the article. If you are trying to edit the article and are being blocked by the semi-protection, then it is working correctly and should not be lifted. —David Eppstein (talk) 19:33, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Thanks for your response. I understand that I have a conflict of interest. But some of the information in the website are incorrect and some are missing. Is it possible to make someone who is not a relative of Dr. A. A. Mamun as the responsible person for the page? Also, please let me know how we can keep his wikipedia page updated and error free.

Thanks, Mahbubul Alam, PhD

— Preceding unsigned comment added by M Alam PhD (talk • contribs) 20:43, 26 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Concern regarding Draft:Kasia Rejzner

Information icon Hello, David Eppstein. This is a bot-delivered message letting you know that Draft:Kasia Rejzner, a page you created, has not been edited in at least 5 months. Draft space is not an indefinite storage location for content that is not appropriate for article space.

If your submission is not edited soon, it could be nominated for deletion under CSD G13. If you would like to attempt to save it, you will need to improve it. You may request userfication of the content if it meets requirements.

If the deletion has already occured, instructions on how you may be able to retrieve it are available here.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 07:02, 18 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Question regarding your AsicMath undo of April 2

I was wondering if there was any way you should show me the revision you deleted from that article. This revision was made by a student in my class as part of an assignment, and without seeing the revision, it is impossible for me to assess the effort the student put into it.

Thanks you for your consideration. SurlyNotFurious

Ok, I've made it visible again at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AsciiMath&oldid=1015693368 —David Eppstein (talk) 20:07, 19 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Theresa M. Korn

On 20 April 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Theresa M. Korn, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Theresa M. Korn turned down a scholarship to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in order to become the institute's first female engineer? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Theresa M. Korn. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Theresa M. Korn), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

 — Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations (despite the DYK ending in not "an acceptable level of new review." Could you reconsider that debate?) Thanks for the contribution. Victuallers (talk) 09:09, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Reconsider what? That was the worst treatment any of my roughly 200 DYK nominations has ever received. I was very close to withdrawing my nomination and permanently withdrawing my participation in DYK. Thanks for rescuing it, though. —David Eppstein (talk) 16:28, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Theresa M. Korn

A civil edit summary from you would make a lovely change tbh... GiantSnowman 17:05, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have told you over and over and over not to reformat those dates. You keep doing it. At some point being deferent and timid loses its value. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:07, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Except of course you are displaying OWNership and ignoring DATEVAR. GiantSnowman 17:09, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I am the one ignoring DATEVAR? Really?? When I am using an established date style, clearly marking that style in a template at the top of the article, and you are the one gratuitously changing it? Take a look in a mirror. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:22, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The style is MDY. Your numerical format does not follow that, and so the dates used across the article are inconsistent. GiantSnowman 17:48, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The style is MDY cs1=ly, as clearly stated in the template. This is so well-established a style that it is listed in our MOS as acceptable, supported by the date style templates, and supported by the citation templates. The cs1=ly part means that publication dates of references (and in-article-text dates) should be spelled out in mdy format, but that access-dates and archive-dates should be numeric. That is exactly the style I have been using (for articles about Americans; for most other nationalities I use DMY cs1=ly). This may be an obscure detail of date format to most editors but it is clearly stated in the date format template documentation, you have been told over and over that this is an acceptable format, and it is the sort of thing you need to know if you are going to be running date-formatting scripts. So your continued claims of ignorance on this are heading towards WP:IDIDNTHEARTHAT territory. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:18, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Now you've mentioned it I have a vague memory of previous discussion - when, 18 months ago, if not longer? Apologies for forgetting. The script obviously needs to change so that pages tagged cs1=ly won't be changed from numerical format. I'll leave that with you. GiantSnowman 19:09, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
You'll make me responsible for changing your script? That seems unlikely. Yes, it may have been 18 months. I also got into similar arguments with TheRamblingMan longer ago for behavior indistinguishable from yours. Anyway, I'm glad to learn that this discussion has been enlightening. —David Eppstein (talk) 19:14, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Err it's not my script. GiantSnowman 19:15, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Well, not mine, either, obvs. —David Eppstein (talk) 19:18, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Keller's conjecture

On 25 April 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Keller's conjecture, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that a mathematical conjecture about tiling space by cubes was transformed into a problem in graph theory that became a benchmark for clique-finding algorithms? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Keller's conjecture. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Keller's conjecture), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:01, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

That damn Levivich

He didn't ask but NPP would benefit if User:Levivich had autopatrol. EEng 07:28, 28 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

May 2021 at Women in Red

Women in Red | May 2021, Volume 7, Issue 5, Numbers 184, 188, 197, 198


Online events:


See also:


Other ways to participate:

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

--Rosiestep (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging[reply]

Polite/trapezoidal numbers

Hi! You reverted my change about the definition of a trapezoidal number. As it stands now, it disagrees with the definition of a trapezoidal number in perfect number, and it also disagrees with the source that I gave, that specifically defines non-trapezoidal numbers as those that "cannot be expressed as the sum of two or more consecutive whole numbers greater than one". And even if your (unsourced) definition was right, naming that section "trapezoidal numbers" would be pointless and misleading if it was just a synonym for "polite numbers", because the section specifically talks about those numbers in which the only polite representation is triangular. --Ngfsmg (talk) 23:04, 29 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Formal Language revert

Hello. You recently reverted an edit on the 'History' section of Formal language, with the message:

"Web sites based on Joseph are not really good enough for this sort of claim. Cite real and peer-reviewed scholarship, please."

Could I ask exactly which claim you were referring to (it was a fairly long edit), and what 'Web sites based on Joseph' are?

Many thanks, Anshul Cole Jakaro (talk) 18:24, 1 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The claim that Pingala invented the mathematical study of formal languages, sourced to a web site that in turn appeared to be primarily based on Joseph's Crest of the Peacock. The study of grammar and syntax in natural language is of course very old and a significant thread of it goes back to ancient India. But the point of this article is to study syntax entirely divorced from natural language, as a mathematical object, a very different topic. It is plausible that this was done in ancient India, but the sourcing you used for these claims was very far from reliable on these matters. It needs proper scholarship, not web sites. —David Eppstein (talk) 05:27, 2 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Misinformation

Why do you put misinformation in Derangement? 2A01:119F:31B:5D00:710C:F9E1:C187:D792 (talk) 17:51, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have semiprotected the article because of your continued disruptive editing there. Please stop your vandalism. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:51, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
This is in no way vandalism. I was reverting misinformation. 2A01:119F:31B:5D00:710C:F9E1:C187:D792 (talk) 17:52, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Untrue. You were adding the obviously-false claim that computing the nearest integer to n!/e is NP-complete. It is obviously false both because that computation can easily be done in polynomial time (if n is in unary) or has an output of exponential size (if n is in binary), either landing well below or well above NP in complexity depending on how you define the problem, and because it's not even of the correct syntactic form to be NP-complete. It is so far from being valid that I can only conclude you are committing vandalism deliberately. You need to stop and find something more constructive to do with your time. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:55, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
No, this is definitely NP-complete. And it is obviously not 'equal' to the 'nearest' integer to 'n!÷e'. It doesn't even have the right form not to be NP-complete. You are the one who is doing vandalism and need to stop. I am constructive. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that it is entirely correct that hat-checks/derangement is NP-complete. It is your claims that are far from valid and you need to stop doing this vandalism. 79.185.231.25 (talk) 18:03, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The under penalty of perjury bit is a good gag, it almost makes your incompetence entertaining. --JBL (talk) 18:08, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I have no incompetence. It's literally legally binding. This is serious, and if I were to be sued, David Eppstein would obviously lose. 79.185.231.25 (talk) 18:10, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with JBL, but you should perhaps be warned that invoking legality is likely to get yourself blocked. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:12, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

No, you will be blocked for misinformation. 79.185.231.25 (talk) 18:14, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It kind of reminds me of Sovereign_citizen_movement#Legal_status_of_theories -- like, maybe if you randomly capitalize the right words then the 16th amendment was never ratified and also computing D_n is NP-complete? --JBL (talk) 18:17, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Please disambiguate D and n. Your 'D_n' function is undefined. 2A01:119F:31B:5D00:710C:F9E1:C187:D792 (talk) 18:22, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

RfC on racial hereditarianism at the R&I talk-page

An RfC at Talk:Race and intelligence revisits the question, considered last year at WP:FTN, of whether or not the theory that a genetic link exists between race and intelligence is a fringe theory. This RfC supercedes the recent RfC on this topic at WP:RSN that was closed as improperly formulated.

Your participation is welcome. Thank you. NightHeron (talk) 20:52, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

X

If you have a moment and are so inclined, X is back as Special:Contributions/36.235.152.111 and Special:Contributions/2402:7500:46B:8AE3:25D0:E1EA:BF4E:DE91. --JBL (talk) 14:29, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, both blocked. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:17, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Request for your perspective on confusion matrix orientation

Hi Dr Eppstein, I wonder if I could bother you for your opinion on Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Mathematics#Orientation_of_confusion_matrix. Thanks, cmɢʟee⎆τaʟκ 15:20, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Ruth Stokes

On 7 May 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Ruth Stokes, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that when Ruth Stokes defended her dissertation on the theory of linear programming in 1931, she became the first person to earn a doctorate in mathematics from Duke University? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Ruth Stokes. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Ruth Stokes), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

DanCherek (talk) 01:39, 7 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Dot planimeter

On 8 May 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Dot planimeter, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that one can accurately estimate the area of irregular objects such as plant leaves using only a transparent sheet printed with a grid of dots? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Dot planimeter. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Dot planimeter), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:03, 8 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Your reversion of my latest edit on Dual polyhedron article

Why you reverted my latest edit:

  • "Cosmetic changes".
    • But there were many little changes...
  • "Gratuitous change of citation style".
    • I used the citation wizard's automatic generator!
  • "There is no evidence that the added source is in any way reliable".
    • The author of this website was a "professeur agrégé de mathématiques": he passed a national competitive exam, at a rather high level, which enables teaching to future math highschool teachers (& he did so); also, he won a math prize: the B.H. Neumann (an Australian math Professor of university) award (in 2001).

But anyway, as usual: why removing the whole edit, instead of just removing the <ref ... ref>s in question?

RavBol (talk) 22:03, 8 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

"I used the Wikipedia Visual Editor citation wizard!" is not an excuse for not following the existing citation style in the article. It is like getting caught drunk driving but then saying "but I was driving a Yaris!" Yes it will get you places but not very well. If a source is not reliable, the claims in that source should not have been added. And yes, you made many little pointless changes, which I didn't consider to be important collateral damage in reverting your badly sourced addition. —David Eppstein (talk) 06:46, 9 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • This website is hosted by the official "académie de Nouvelle-Calédonie", the local branch of the official "Éducation nationale" administration. Is a PhD required to be cited on Wikipedia?
  • Actually, i made no change of citation style: my 4 ref numbers are the same, because my 4 sources are the same, without varying other sources!

RavBol (talk) 13:36, 9 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The article uses a citation style in which citations are formatted as Citation Style 2 (the {{citation}} series of templates), at the end of the article (inside the Bibliography section), called out in footnotes within the article using short footnotes. You used a citation style in which your citation was formatted as Citation Style 1 (the {{cite journal}} series of templates), directly within the footnote. In addition, your citation incorrectly gave the hostname from the url (maths.ac-noumea.nc) as the name of the website of the source (should have been "a ride through the polyhedra world"). So you changed the style in multiple ways. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:31, 9 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • About "maths.ac-noumea.nc" instead of "a ride through the polyhedra world": i didn't know that the citation wizard's automatic generator made such an error of citation parameter.
  • About Citation Style 1 instead of 2: it's a little breach of source code homogeneity, but it's invisible to readers.
  • You didn't answer the most important (real) question: is a PhD required to be cited on Wikipedia, please?

RavBol (talk) 13:59, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't answer your "most important (real) question" because I thought it was rhetorical and coy. Of course not. BUT, the citation should be to a reliable publication, a journal or magazine or newspaper that exerts some editorial control rather than something self-published like a blog or web site or preprint. As for "invisible to readers": incorrect. That's why they're different styles, not merely different templates for producing the same style. And as for "the citation wizard's automatic generator made such an error": Yes. That's why I compared it to a bad car earlier: something that sort-of works, but not very well. —David Eppstein (talk) 15:34, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Is a Style 1 citation different from a Style 2 citation, for readers too, because it does not appear in the Bibliography (sub)section?
  • "Is a PhD required to be cited on Wikipedia" was a real question, for several reasons:
    • It would have provided a possibility to cite some (serious) websites about polyhedra. Published editions of paper books cannot be fixed, whereas websites can be fixed.
    • MathWorld seems to be written by 1 high graduate mathematician, without external editorial control because it contains many "little" errors; but it can be cited on Wikipedia.
    • I know several math books, each written by 1 (different) high graduate mathematician, containing many "little" errors; but they are published, and thus can be cited on Wikipedia.

RavBol (talk) 23:50, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Citation Styles 1 and 2 are different for readers, as I have now repeated for you multiple times. The. Most. Obvious. Difference. Is. That. Citation Style 1. Has. Lots. Of. Periods. Breaking up. The citation. Into little pieces. Citation 2, on the other hand, uses commas to separate things. Yes, Wikipedia's citation standards are not perfect, but they are what they are, and they're much better than allowing random web pages to be used as sources. MathWorld falls on the allowable side of what can be cited, but it is not usually a good source — it has a lot of mistakes and idiosyncracies. So it is not a good example to use for arguing why you should be allowed to cite something else that is even more dubious. —David Eppstein (talk) 23:55, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

My many little phrasing/specification changes are not useless to averagely gifted at mathematics readers... On the condition, which i must write in my Edit summary, that i remove my 4 citations, can i undo your reversion? Please, don't make me type everything else, again...

RavBol (talk) 15:37, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Saying nothing is agreeing...

RavBol (talk) 08:22, 12 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

No. Saying nothing is making the statement that this discussion has become pointless, because you keep replying and arguing rather than accepting anything I have to say, so if you want to have the last word and re-revising your replies here you can go ahead and talk to yourself in public if that's what you think you want to do. —David Eppstein (talk) 16:14, 12 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Josephine M. Mitchell

On 10 May 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Josephine M. Mitchell, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that when mathematician Josephine M. Mitchell married another University of Illinois faculty member, the university revoked her tenured position so her husband could keep his untenured one? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Josephine M. Mitchell. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Josephine M. Mitchell), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:03, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Draft:Julia Schmale

Hi @David Eppstein: How goes it? What is you view on this lassie? It states in the article, that she is a full professor at the EFPL, but this reference, in an academic news release, No 2 in the list, states that when she was recruited she is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Extreme Environments. I think it is very possible a very early career move and she is currently not notable. It is far too early. scope_creepTalk 12:21, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not call professional women "lassie". It can come across as demeaning and offensive. Anyway, her precise rank is less important than her accomplishments, which look likely to become significant enough for WP:PROF#C1 but maybe have not yet reached that point. —David Eppstein (talk) 16:50, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It is a traditional Scots word meaning women and is entirely appropriate. scope_creepTalk 23:40, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It is a word for a little girl and it is offensive and misogynist to use it for grown women. Your usage of it calls your good faith on this issue into question. Stop or face likely escalating consequences. —David Eppstein (talk) 23:42, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Aye, Lassie!
"Scotty: Sexist or just Scottish?" EEng 00:14, 12 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
In searching for a less-glib reply than "why not both?" I was saddened to discover that Scotty (disambiguation) did not link me to one of Lassie's fans. I fixed it. —David Eppstein (talk) 00:52, 12 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Twin primes. An exact formula

Hi here. You reverted my last edit. But if you need a proof, it's here and is trivial. What kind of paper do you want? Whether one need to prove in a paper that "2×2=2+2"? --Tamtam90 (talk) 19:43, 13 May 2021 (UTC) Other sections of the sequence page contain more details (in particular, Example and Formula). --Tamtam90 (talk) 20:38, 13 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Group formatting

Hi David, I wanted to thank you for your formatting work on the groups article! I take back my idea that having Latex all over the place makes the reading flow much worse -- in fact I quite like the look now. Keep it up! Jakob.scholbach (talk) 19:02, 14 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Please remove the Wikipedia page for Aidong Zhang.

This article is full of wrong information about me. If you don't allow me to edit it, I request you to remove it immediately. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aidongzhang (talk • contribs) 17:08, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does not allow anyone to edit articles about themselves. As I already noted, see WP:AUTOBIO. I have no power to make an exception in this for you even if I thought it was a good idea. There is a process for requesting the article's deletion, WP:BLPREQDEL, for people who are borderline for notability (Wikipedia's inclusion standards). My judgement is that according to Wikipedia's standards for academic notability, your case is not borderline. With a named professorship, founding editor-in-chief role, IEEE Fellow and ACM Fellow, and highly cited papers, you meet these standards at least five times over. In particular, it would create a significant gap in our coverage if the article were removed: you would be the only female ACM Fellow not to be covered. If there is incorrect information in the article, then (again as I have already told you) the article talk page, Talk:Aidong Zhang, is the place for requesting those corrections. You would need to be specific about what should be changed and why, and provide reliable sources for new information. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:29, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Re: page for Aidong Zhang

It does not matter, I request you to remove my page. I don't want you to randomly generate my page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aidongzhang (talk • contribs) 20:15, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I will initiate the process. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:26, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Possible typo to fix

Please verify the word 'wajor' in Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Aidong Zhang - shouldn't it read 'major'? --CiaPan (talk) 20:38, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, just an obvious typo. Fixed. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:39, 18 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Stop -

This is for David Eppstein. If you want me to stop editing my page, you got to remove the page because I don't want people to see the wrong information about me. It is irresponsible for Wekipedia to randomly generate people's articles without their approval. Aidong Zhang

Sally C Morton Wiki

Hi, I work for Sally C Morton of ASU Knowledge Enterprise. We are editing her page and have not completed it. I received a message that you removed the content due to citations. We are not done editing the page and several hours of content where removed by you. How can we have that info placed back into Sally's Wiki?

We appreciate your help.

Mario Diaz ASU Knowledge Enterprise — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.228.200.68 (talk • contribs) 20:15, 24 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

If you work for Morton you are REQUIRED by Wikipedia and Wikimedia policy to disclose that as part of your edits (see WP:PAID) and should not be editing her page (see WP:AUTOBIO and WP:COI). If there are inaccuracies in her article, use the article's talk page to request that another Wikipedia editor make the changes. However, the edits you were making were promotionally worded, in many cases stating opinions rather than facts about Morton, and did not cite their content to publications written and published by other people independently of Morton and her employers. Please see Wikipedia's requirements for biographies of living people, which require all content to be factual and cited to published sources. Requests for changes that do not comply with those requirements are unlikely to lead to changes to the article. Attempts to change the article yourself in the promotional way you have been doing are likely to lead to the article being tagged with a big warning visible to all readers that the article has been the subject of COI editing, and to all edits to Wikipedia from your range of IP addresses being blocked. To put it bluntly: Wikipedia is not a venue for paid publicity, is hostile to attempts at using it in this way, and will defend itself against such attempts. —David Eppstein (talk) 20:34, 24 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Question

Hi. I know you probably have a lot on your plate already as an admin, but you are the editor who I consider my go-to editor on Academic articles. Rather than me sending those types of articles to AfD, would you mind me pinging you to have a look prior to me doing that? I am loathe to increase your workload, but I'm not sure how much it would, since you tend to !vote on almost all the AfD's I submit regarding Academics. Thanks for your thoughts. Onel5969 TT me 01:20, 27 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

If you want my occasional opinion, sure, but I wouldn't guarantee that it's going to match the sense of any future discussion (obviously), and I'd be a bit uncomfortable if you called it out as an endorsement in a deletion rationale. —David Eppstein (talk) 04:56, 27 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
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