User talk:DuncanHill/Archives/2007/December

Megullia Dotata

Your input would be appreciated on the article Megullia Dotata.--Doug ^talk 16:08, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Transhumanist

Sorry to have alarmed you. I the reason for this will come clear tomorrow. Don't read to much into it. I have to review all the answers before formulating the rationale for my next edit. Won't have time till tomorrow. Dlohcierekim 15:51, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your apology, however I do not find your response satisfactory. DuncanHill 15:53, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

But I see you've change to a "support" - which shews that you are willing to listen to other editors and to reconsider your opinions, which are both good qualities in any editor, and especially welcome in an admin. You may now consider me gruntled again! DuncanHill 16:12, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

I went back and forth on this RfA. Couldn't decide. Sorry I had to come across as rude and boorish. He did not lash out and scream and holler under provocation. That's what I was looking for. This is too complex an RfA for a simple answer. I'll prepare a fuller rationale tomorrow. Dlohcierekim 16:36, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Saltash Tunnel

The entire content of what was deleted was {{Cornwall-stub}} {{Template:Cornwall}}. No content but a few templates, this is not an acceptable article, WP:CSD#A1 and WP:CSD#A3, and as you have re-created it there are still no sources indicating notability - there are many road tunnels, bridges, etc. that are not notable what makes this one notable? Please add that to the article, and sourcing showing that or it will likely be nominated for deletion as not notable. Carlossuarez46 18:38, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

creating an article with no content other than some templates is nothing approaching high standards; from context do we know it was a tunnel, a person's name, a public house, a town, a farm, or a joke? It is not incumbent upon anyone to notify anyone about a speedy deletion, first; second, just because a wikiproject "claims" an article, it does not WP:OWN it; and third, if wikiproject Cornwall is in habit of filling in its missing spaces by adding articles that consist of nothing but two templates as above it is seriously amiss and way out of line of other wikiprojects. Carlossuarez46 18:51, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Strawman arguments, nothing WP:BITEy about it. If the wikiproject cornwall believes that what was deleted does not violate the WP:CSDs cited above, then why shouldn't it populate the encyclopedia with articles that it views as similarly worthy? If not, then it concedes that deletion applied and assertions of BITE are seriously misplaced. You cannot have it both ways. Carlossuarez46 19:04, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

What comment could be made other than the rewrite following deletion that you've already done. So we're at the same place only because you cared enough to rewrite it. WikiProjects are not informed of speedies; the bots notify authors sometimes, but no guarantee of that. If you don't like that situation, discuss it at Wikipedia talk:Criteria for speedy deletion. Carlossuarez46 20:09, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

It wasn't tagged; it was speedied by me patrolling the short articles list. Carlossuarez46 20:14, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Merger

OK, thanks for that. Mammal4 already knows but you may have already seen that. I will probably wait a couple days then go ahead. Do you think then i could have help with the merge as merging both may possibly be big in itself. Simply south (talk) 15:29, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I'll set up MiszaBot for the talk page archiving. Simply south (talk) 15:41, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Presidents of RGSC

Howard Fox was one of the children of Alfred Fox, who founded Glendurgan. He married a non-Friend. One of his children was Charles Masson Fox, I believe. I think Howard Fox succeeded his father as Chair of Falmouth Docks (check this!).

He was also active in the Poly, although he is not mentioned in the WP article; Howard Spring the mid-twentieth century novelist is mentioned.

The Royal Society website gives:

Smyth, Sir Warington Wilkinson 26 August 1817 - 19 June 1890 Fellow 03/06/1858 (http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1727] (accessed 8 December 2007)

so the WP article is Warington Wilkinson Smyth

Your message to me, saying that you had found him, caused me an edit conflict Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 23:48, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm meddling with Charles Lemon now.Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 23:58, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Robert Were Fox the Younger

I've about exhausted my US-based knowledge of Robert Were Fox the Younger, so you more-local guys will have to make up for my ignorance. Perhaps I can work on the format of the references or keep snooping for a public-domain photograph. Fox was certainly an interesting fellow. -- Astrochemist (talk) 15:38, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Petrockstow(e)

The station was called Petrockstow, though the village (usually) has an e on the end. Presumably an economy measure! Johnlp (talk) 23:22, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Very strange - but then, small railways have always been a law unto themselves! DuncanHill (talk) 23:34, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the note: several of the other stations on this line seem to have some slightly wayward text. I'll get around to them in a day or so. Johnlp (talk) 10:06, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Miss Fox visits Montreal

DH said: Researching Howard Fox (I'm sure the Falmouth one is the Geological one), I found this piece on Project Gutenburg - it mentions HF and a "Miss Fox" (Caroline's sister) - "upwards of eighty and a wonderful fossil". [2] Thought it might interest you. DuncanHill (talk) 01:27, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for this. I have added the quote to the Anna Maria Fox article and will draw it to the attention of the man organising the Poly 175th anniversary events. Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 08:16, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Articles in The Times indicate that it was regarded as a very important initiative, not just a jolly. The WP article on John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh doesn't ention his presidency of BAAS! Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 23:57, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

That's the thing though - I think we have lost some of the ability to combine serious pursuits with enjoyment that the Victorians had. I often feel, reading of 19th century scientific endeavours, that everyone seems to have been having a wonderful time, as well as achieving great things. I'm reading a biography of Tom Huxley at the moment, and he seems to have taken his science hugley seriously at the same time as making the utmost of the social contacts and opportunities for fun that it offered. DuncanHill (talk) 00:02, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Victorian Jolliness

I wonder if this is the case. The only first class scientist, with whom I am acquainted, is good at "jolly", too. I suppose that many Eminent Victorians were in large families and were related, so the cousinage had a family feel. The Bloomsburies were like that too, although they tended to despise the previous generation. Reading Barclay Fox, I am just amazed at his energy. Returning to T H Huxley, I see listed in the References to the WP article Jensen, J Vernon (1970), "The X Club: fraternity of Victorian scientists", British Journal of the History of Science (no. 5): 63-72 - maybe that has some clues. Which biography are you reading? Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 08:50, 11 December 2007 (UTC) Vernon White ^{. . . Talk} 08:50, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Adrian Desmond's (The Devil's Disciple & Evolution's High Priest). DuncanHill (talk) 17:15, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Sappho

Your input would be appreciated on the article Sappho and the debate on its Talk page. I am trying to add a Music section to this article since it is an important part of Sappho's life. Presently there is nothing mentioned as her being associated with music. I put in my edits yesterday on a complete section about Music, however they have been totally removed as being inappropriate. In the Talk page I have given my reasons why I believe these are appropriate with many references showing each point of the 10 sentences - written in bold. Any additions, improvements, or comments would be helpful. Thanks.----Doug ^talk 21:15, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Cornwall and RGS! DYK nomination

• ...that John Rogers who translated the Bible, helped to introduce the man engine, an important reform in Cornish mining? by DuncanHill OK? If you could add extra refs so its more than DNB then this would be even better Victuallers (talk) 23:39, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks - and good find for the arms! I'll have a dig about in my books to see what more I can find (I'm sure I have more on man engines and Tresavean, which was one of the richest copper-mines in Cornwall). DuncanHill (talk) 01:45, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Brilliant! looks like a proper wike article. I found the arms by putting "John Rogers" and the names of some of the villages into Google books. Well done Victuallers (talk) 10:39, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Urination problem

I didn't point the OP to the talk page because I figured that a discussion about the RD denizen's foibles wasn't likely to help him with his problem.

I suspect that he's confused about his question disappearing from RD/Misc because it was actually someone else – not him – who blanked the thread. I missed that when I look at the matter the first time; the new thread on RD/Sci points the OP to our policy links in the page header. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:49, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

DYK

On 18 December, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article John Rogers (divine), which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Cheers, Daniel 07:21, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Help!

You were kind enough to post on my discussion page that you'd be pleased to assist if needs be. Well I have a question. I am fairly sure that User:Lil'Khan is the same person as User:99.234.129.56. I have only noticed this as she falsely accused me of vandalism a while ago and I sometimes pop by her page now to be nosey! The anonymous IP address seems to be amending the named user page, giving it awards etc, and this frankly doesn't seem right? Is there anything we can do?Thanks.Paste (talk) 14:41, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Probably best to ask at The administrators' notice board. DuncanHill (talk) 14:43, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Talk to User:DuncanHill about the RfC

I'd pitch in where I can (especially given JzG's latest response), but I just don't have the juice to be the driving force behind the RfC. I think DH might be willing, though. Mr Which??? 01:20, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

An RfC of this magnitude will be a lot of work because of the amount of evidence to be collected, and the intense and tremendous response that it might attract. That's why we would need several people to help out. Cla68 (talk) 01:22, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I could help out a bit. But I don't want to become the focus of the thing. As long as you and a couple of others would be willing to run point, I'd be willing to help out. Mr Which??? 01:26, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, if a couple more people agree to join in, and at least one other person can legitimately certify it, we can proceed. Cla68 (talk) 01:29, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(copied from my talk page)

I am not going to be able to devote much time to Wikipedia until January because of family commitments - and will be somewhat limited after that for other reasons. There is a record of some of my interactions with Guy in my archives, which had to do with a thread at ANI. I also tried talking to him on his talk page, but I know he blanked that (there were other editors in the conversation too). DuncanHill (talk) 01:29, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I understand. It may be we'll need to wait on this until after the holiday season. Your interactions with JzG should still be there, buried in the page history because, fortunately, Jayjg's misuse of the oversight function to hide abuse by his friends appears to have ended. Cla68 (talk) 01:34, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

M Scott Peck

Hi Duncan, and yuletide felicitations.

I'm intrigued why you were "hoping to get through life without reading a single word of M. Scott Peck's". I have no brief for Peck, and as I said, I read the first sentence "Life is difficult", got extremely scared about what might come next, shut the book and have never returned to it, or any of his other books. But I have no issue in principle with him - his books might be fabulous for all I know; I've just never got around to reading any of them. By definition, your objection to Peck can't have anything to do with anything he's ever written ... because you've never read even a single word of them. So, I'm curious as to what your objection to him might be. Cheers. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I have what Americans might call "issues" with pretty much any "inspirational" writing, and also with the way some books are marketed as "must haves" - actually most marketing turns me off. Also, In Peck's case, I had a manager once who was more-than-usually incompetent and something of a proselytizer for his work. Do you know the song "Ain't going to Goa" by the Alabama 3? It articulates my feelings rather well. DuncanHill (talk) 02:37, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know it but I checked the lyrics out on google, and I can see what you mean. I went through a phase of reading that sort of stuff - some was OK, some was just crap. I don't read any of it anymore - not because I hate it all on sight, but because I don't even have the time to read the stuff I actually want to read, let alone the stuff that might happen to be ok if I ever had the time or interest to give it the chance. It's easy to be put off by proselytising incompetents, and by over-the-top marketing, but the book they're on about might be good anyway (or it might not). I keep an open mind about things like this and I like to make up my own mind and not let anyone make it up for me. I'm influenced to a degree by well-written criticism, but if the subject is of sufficient interest to me, I'll read the book anyway even if the critics lambaste it - at least up to the point where I start to agree with the critics. The same with movies: there are movies I just love which were panned by the critics and did badly at the box-office. And there are movies I detest, despite being extremely popular with critics and at the box-office. And some I would never even consider seeing, no matter what anyone says. So, we all have our lines in the sand in our own ways. Cheers. -- JackofOz (talk) 03:03, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

DYK

On 20 December, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Jonathan Couch, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

--EncycloPetey (talk) 14:45, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks! DuncanHill (talk) 14:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Your're welcome. The child in me always likes articles to have pictures anyway!! I just happened to read the new article on the main page -congrats! It would be great if you continue with adding articles from the Dictionary of National Biography -there must be thousands of notable english people to add -I for one aimed to start going through the Australian one but got rather sidtracked. I myself have edited everything from Hong Kong films of 1971 to Maltese architectureLorenzo Gafa and the 1693 earthquake today!! Keep up the good work. and merry christmas from The Bald One ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 20:10, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd imagine there is an Encyclopedia of Cornwall somewhere which alone as a huge amount of content. Paste (food) -is an interesting one - the Cornish influence in Mexico! ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 20:13, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I found one for John Ralfs although it the same poor quality image available on most sites apparantly. I couldn't find another ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 20:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I tell you what I'll do I'll crop it to cut out the streaks OK? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 20:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Go ahead - I ought to do an infobox for it to go in at some point, but I must shop & then eat now! DuncanHill (talk) 20:25, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Done! -he kind of looks like a cross between Roger Daltrey, Michael Parkinson and Jack Straw lol don't ya think. Good luck shopping!! ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 20:26, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you, Happy Christmas to you

Thanks for your kind note Duncan. Whenever our paths cross, it's a pleasure. If you ever need my help on sprucing up an article or discussing a point, don't hesitate to drop me a line. Nick mallory (talk) 05:06, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

DYK nomination of John Ralfs

Hi. I've nominated John Ralfs, an article you worked on, for consideration to appear on the Main Page as part of Wikipedia:Did you know. You can see the hook for the article at Template talk:Did you know#Articles created/expanded on December 20, where you can improve it if you see fit. Black Falcon ^(Talk) 06:39, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

On 26 December, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article John Ralfs, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Happy Boxing Day! --PFHLai (talk) 19:26, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Your excellent post on WP:AN

You probably have no interest in the job (and rightly so), but Wikipedia could use an admin like you. I have seen your content and comments, and your always spot on. Jeffpw (talk) 23:01, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks - I'll reply at yours. DuncanHill (talk) 23:02, 23 December 2007 (UTC)