User talk:Casliber/Archive 30

Whitlam

Would you mind taking a look at the article to see if concerns have been addressed, and comment at FAC?--Wehwalt (talk) 15:36, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your participation in the April 2010 GAN backlog elimination drive

GAN backlog elimination drives chart up to 1 May On behalf of my co-coordinator Wizardman, I'd like to especially thank you for your efforts over this past month's GAN backlog elimination drive. It has been nothing short of a complete success, which hopefully results in more expedient good article reviews, increasing users' confidence in the good article nomination processes. Even if you made just a small contribution, it still helped contribute to the success of this drive. Here is what we have accomplished this last month in this drive. 661 total nominations were reviewed. 541 of them passed (~81.8%), 97 (~14.7%) failed, and 23 (~3.5%) ended on hold. The WP:GAN page started at 110,126 bytes length on 1 April and ended at 43,387 bytes length at the end of 30 April (a 66,739 byte reduction in the page, about 60.6% less). Excluding extremes, the longest wait for someone's GAN to be review was about 11.5 weeks at the beginning. (I mistook the figure when I reported to the Signpost that it was 13.) At the end, with the exception of one that was relisted, the longest wait is now at 10 days. 63 different users participated, each having completed at least one GAN, with others also having helped out behind-the-scenes in making the drive a success. The drive started with 463 GA nominations remaining and 388 unreviewed. At the end of the month, we ended with 89 remaining (374 or about 80.8% less) and 47 unreviewed (341 or about 87.9% less). For those who have accomplished certain objectives in the drive, awards will be coming shortly. Again, thank you for your help in the drive, and I hope you continue to help review GA nominations and overall improve the quality of articles here on Wikipedia.

–MuZemike delivered by MuZebot 17:41, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Cordyline australis

Thanks for the GA review and the editing you did. And thanks for the pass Kahuroa (talk) 21:15, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Illegal logging in Madagascar

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier (that section fell off on my user talk page), but I'll try and take a look at the article starting today. I feel that it does still need some work, but given that I think did something similar which you described with Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, it may be possible to get it up there. –MuZemike 16:33, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

GAN backlog elimination drive award

	The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
	For reviewing 6 good article nominations during the April 2010 GAN backlog elimination drive, I hereby present you The Working Man's Barnstar. Nice job! Wizardman Operation Big Bear 23:34, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Astroloma pinifolium

Materialscientist (talk) 08:02, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Mulga Parrot

The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Scarlet-chested Parrot

The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Elegant Parrot

The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Canberra and Australia

Help :( YellowMonkey (bananabucket!) 06:27, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm demoralised and need a break YellowMonkey (bananabucket!) 06:28, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay. I find editing articles like these a bit like eating your greens or something, but surely Australia is nearly there..not looked at Canberra to date. Casliber (talk · contribs) 13:07, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

There'll be a half-dozen rusted old Oz animal FARs from 2005-06 for you soon....to quote the great Kumar Sangakkara: [1] YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 01:17, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

RfC/Lar

I just added your standard signature to your latest comment to Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/Lar, as I think you had one too many tildes there. Feel free to revert or whatever you please, of course. ta, - 2/0 (cont.) 23:14, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Nah, that's cool. Thanks. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:22, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Naultinus

Hey there. How's your on-going work here going? I see you've been busy! myself, I'm just kicking back into gear after a 18 month wikibreak after returning from 4 and a half months in South America - feels good! Today I'd been chipping away at Naultinus, which has languished as barely more than a stub for about 7 years - all kiwi herp articles are pretty basic at this stage actually.. with the one notable exception of Tuatara. I did some work on Naultinus about 4 years ago but other than that no one has really touched it.. I just wanted to pick your brain as to what will be needed to get this article up to GA..or at least bump it up the ladder a few rungs from "start class". thoughts? Cheers, Kotare (talk) 10:37, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Cool choice - we got stacks o' birds so good to see some cold blooded vertebrates get a guenrsey. Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:53, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Hey man. My assault of information on the ramparts of the article Naultinus's present low quality scale rating continues. So, I'm still chasing up some info in regards to some of the tips you gave (trying to get a cladogram and phylogenetic study - I'll start splitting genetics/taxonomy and distributon/habitat once I make a start on that), will try again to track down solid dates for codfish naultinus - this american researcher I e-mailed didn't know when people first recognized that it's different. I'm about to launch a major new phase of additions when it occurred to me.. you mentioned on the Huia discussion page a while back that page numbers for references are now quite important if one is gunning for GA or even FA.. I will be using some individual references (mostly books) many times each but this is a lot of extra effort to go to - I just wanted to know if you think it is justified in terms of how it will help the article improve..(?) and how do you do them?? If you think it is I have no problem going ahead with it..Couple of other things.. I'm thinking of creating some images for the article in the future - a cladogram based on a major study about 10 years ago and a distribution map of NZ of all 10 species in the genus with different coloured areas covering the geographic range of each species. I have no clue as how to do this though -got any ideas??/ know anyone who could help?Cheers, Kotare (talk) 09:10, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Kotare, if you have maps in digital form send them to me and I will try to make a composite one. I just did the map for Grey Currawong and was pleased with how it turned out. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:46, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks man! I'll take you up on that kind offer..I don't have any maps right now but I don't think it will be a problem to get some.. The Grey Currawong map looks awesome! but what do you think about my page number inline citation queries? Also, where can I find your e-mail address? There is a need for me (as pointed out by this local herpetologist I'm making gecko traps for tommorow) to be very careful, ie: not at all specific when posting distribution/habitat info for naultinus because of the serious poaching problem and there is a question I'd like to ask you privately (ie: not on a talk page, preferably by e-mail) with regards to said info. Cheers,Kotare (talk) 07:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Just sent you an e-mail, cheers, Kotare (talk) 08:29, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Gahnia aspera

The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Howdy, thanks for looking at the Gahnia aspera page. Today I photographed Atractocarpus benthamianus. I believe you wrote the original article.

If you wish to enlarge and improve an article. Try Syzygium smithii. It's a horrid little article, it needs a real lot of work. This very significant plant is found in eastern Australian rainforests. The photos is OK. But hundreds of people read this ordinary Wikipedia article every month. And they get almost nothing from it. It is a disgrace and it needs improvement. You are very good at these things. So, please help. Poyt448 (talk) 09:08, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Wow! I had no idea that lillipilli was so rudimentary. Okay, an easy-peasy five-fold expansion. How was Atractocarpus benthamianus growing in Pennant Hills ?! Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:40, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Banksia lemanniana

The DYK project (nominate) 08:02, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Banksia caleyi

The DYK project (nominate) 08:02, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Banksia elderiana

The DYK project (nominate) 08:02, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

== help me i have error 16 wikipedia block me --

Nocturnal goings-on

Hi - I saw your latest DYK and thought you might be interested in this diff about Skuas hunting at night. Ben MacDui 18:57, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

Haha, interesting. 'Bonxie' is such a cutesy word for the critter. Featherdale Wildlife Park in subruban Sydney has a Great Skua in an enclosure. I got a surprise when I realised what it was, this big dark fierce looknig seagull-thing...I must uplaod some pix. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:58, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the triple crown

Hey just wanted to say thanks, I know this award is voluntarily run and is intended for the betterment of the project so thanks for doing it. H1nkles (talk) _{citius altius fortius} 18:38, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Hah, no worries. My pleasure :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:09, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

request for peer review

I've nominated Role-playing video game for peer review. At your leisure we would appreciate your feedback... even just a brief comment will help... (The peer review page is here. Shooterwalker (talk) 04:08, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Four Award

		Four Award
		Congratulations! You have been awarded the Four Award for your work from beginning to end on Grey Currawong.

Great work! (And thanks for the triple crown, too. :) ) LittleMountain5 14:27, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Heh, no worries :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:32, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Forgot to sign

Just letting you know that you didn't sign this post. Cla68 (talk) 01:45, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Oops. fixed now. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:50, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Cabbage tree

Hi Casliber. Just wanting a bit of quick advice on what to do next with Cordyline australis towards FAC. Should sending it to peer review be next step? Also re Huia, there is another source: HANZAB vol 7A (2006) which has five pages, and I have started adding material from there. I guess there must be something else on Huia in HANZAB 6, which is referenced in the article already. Not sure how that works! Kahuroa (talk) 02:47, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

A-N

Cas, do you actually believe this guy is fit to participate at Wikipedia at this point or anytime in the foreseeable future? Imho, that satisfies Skarka's Law. I understand that DGG and you don't want to "let him down" or some such, but there are limits to what can reasonably be defended. --78.34.204.26 (talk) 06:37, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah well, speaking of escalating train wrecks leading to an indefblock. I recall the same happening to you and if you want to address that then we can look at that too, if you wanna hand with that. Casliber (talk · contribs) 07:57, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Absolutely and positively no, but thanks. As Doug Stanhope might say: Being a registered Wikipedian is like animal porn, it's not for everybody. I have no interest in ever being a registered Wikipedian again, especially not as long as [Before this is misconstrued, I'd rather retract the semantic connection I made there. I have no interest in editing via a registered account ever again, period.] WP:CIVILITY doesn't even mention the sort of intellectual dishonesty and underhanded behaviour which A-N has indulged in over all these years -- unabated, thanks in no small part to people like you who would defend him no matter what simply because he's superficially "polite" and has very low content standards. --78.34.204.26 (talk) 09:13, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Also, please spare me normative terms like "trainwreck". I prefer editing via IP. I wish I had never created an account in the first place, or at least had given it up much sooner. This way, when someone or something pisses me off, I can usually let go much quicker.

Honestly, why the heck would I want to edit via an account again? What's the supposed benefit? Because, I see a lot of downsides to playing this community game, and no upsides beyond very shallow gratification.

The only scenario in which I could remotely imagine asking for the Everyme account to be unblocked is a purely procedural one: so that some Turing test-failures like A-N don't report/block me from time to time. --78.34.204.26 (talk) 09:44, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Turing test-failures (chuckle) that's a funny one. Well, whatever, if you want to play Professor Chaos so be it. Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:37, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

National Debt Clock, my first GA. By contrast, this looks much more like a psychotic Butters. Goes to demonstrate the neutrality and accuracy of your perception. (Actually, it may just be friendly loyalty.) --78.34.204.26 (talk) 11:42, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Never said I was non-impartial did I? I have prefaced that elsewhere. Hmmm, that was a good good article. Casliber (talk · contribs) 18:59, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. --87.79.174.59 (talk) 19:24, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Look. If you're happy doing what you're doing in the way you're doing it all well and good. If not, the offer still stands. Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:26, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your support at my RfA

Thank you for voting in my RfA, which passed with 99 supports, 9 opposes, and 2 neutrals. Your support was much appreciated.

Regards -- Александр Дмитрий (Alexandr Dmitri) (talk) 19:05, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Ta

For the 2 80s tunes; you might like this[2]. Its a bit unsophisticated, but 'lovely' and charming. Ceoil (talk) 22:38, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, nice and mellow...somewaht...introspective. Timely as it is a grey and rainy saturday morning here. Supposed to be gardening but all my excavated soil is turning to mounds of mud. Oh well...Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:05, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Christ; have I sent you over the edge?[3] I only wanted to take you to the edge. Please don't block me. Ceoil (talk) 23:06, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Why, have you been bad? Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:09, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

He. Much as I want to choke Bono, they did have a few good tunes at least. 30 years ago. Ceoil (talk) 23:17, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

As I have said previously, they are vanilla, but at times a quite nice-tasting vanilla - like an organic deluxe vanilla bean type-homemade flavour. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:20, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Thats true, and you have. More 80s Aus electro pop please though. Severed Heads have taken my fancy, they are like Visage, except they know what they are doing and have a 2nd trick. IOW, I like. I presume you know these foxes[4]. I dont know what Bardot is singing, but I presume it is dirty. Ceoil (talk) 23:34, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Man, that was insanely captivating! this was another good Severed Heads song. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:45, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

more information Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:46, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Greater Reward is a good track too. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:47, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Annoying as wiki is, sometimes it givith. Ta for links and new band, I dont say this in a bad way, but Wesley has a highly tuned nose for Kisch, he'll like these. Have you noticed The Thick of It[5]? Malleus has nothing on these guys. Ceoil (talk) 00:03, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Ooh, never saw that here. Will get it on DVD or something. Also - I did see SPK in the 80s. They were fun with a metal grinder on stage - "Metal dance" was the song I recall...Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:37, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Think torrents. [6] Its Armando Iannucci writing, so better than it might seem from clips. Ceoil (talk) 01:14, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Hello, Casliber. Thank you very much for awarding me the Geography Barnstar a few days ago (for my work on the abyssal plain article). This is the first time I have received any sort of award from the Wikipedia project, and it really means a lot to me. I have been working hard on this project, and it is nice to be noticed. Your vote of confidence in my abilities provides me with a modicum of reassurance that my efforts to date are actually helping to improve the Wikipedia project. Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance to you in some way. DiverDave (talk) 02:28, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for the Geography Barnstar!

Hello, Casliber. Thank you very much for awarding me the Geography Barnstar a few days ago (for my work on the abyssal plain article). This is the first time I have received any sort of award from the Wikipedia project, and it really means a lot to me. I have been working hard on this project, and it is nice to be noticed. Your vote of confidence in my abilities provides me with a modicum of reassurance that my efforts to date are actually helping to improve the Wikipedia project. Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance to you in some way. DiverDave (talk) 02:28, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Hakea denticulata

The DYK project (nominate) 06:03, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Confused

Can you elaborate on this? I don't see what redaction criteria it falls under, and I'm not even sure why it was removed in the first place. Just curious. --Shirik (Questions or Comments?) 22:23, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

It is a group of threatened species of gecko, highly vulnerable to poaching. The main author, Kotare, who had added information (some of which was not easily publicly accessible) which may facilitate these activities (i.e. poaching of geckos), felt uneasy about its presence and requested I delete edits which contain the information. He works and studies in the field and a senior colleague suggested it better gone too. I felt it a good idea and asked on the functionaries mailing list and others agreed. Hope this clears things up. You are right to double check on deletions. Casliber (talk · contribs) 22:27, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

OK, thanks :) --Shirik (Questions or Comments?) 22:31, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Conservation management in Australia

Thought you might be interested to know that there's a picture of a Telopea on the cover of the latest issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.[7] Let me know if you want a copy of that article. Guettarda (talk) 02:09, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Looks cool. Yes, I am interested :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:19, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Sent. Guettarda (talk) 14:30, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

CU/OS Elections

Heya, Cas.

I'm sorry, but I had to strike your votes in the elections: our current suffrage rules exclude editors who have been arbitrators within the past year. There's talk of changing that rule for future elections since we now use SecurePoll and the reason past arbs were excluded was simply one of possible undue influence (which is moot with a secret ballot) but it would have been unfair to change that rule at the 23rd hour or during the vote itself. — Coren ^(talk) 15:16, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

No problem. I completely forgot about the one year bit so my bad. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:29, 14 May 2010 (UTC).

Louis Cottrell, Jr.

Hello, I expanded this article 5x hoping to quality it for DYK consideration, however the DYKCheck reports that it was NOT expanded. It's my first attempt at this and any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! Lionelt (talk) 19:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

tweat, tweat

What teh fuck you doing up so early? See here and my talk. Cheers, Jack Merridew 19:56, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
bottom of Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Salvation, Texas, too ;)

The dog woke me up - it is still dark and I cannot sleep. The Grey Currawong boxes look great, thank you. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:04, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I was awoken, too, but not by a dog. The table for the legend works, but it's a heap of messy markup that should be centralised into something, if there are many articles with that issue. Cheers, Jack Merridew 20:10, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

The more I think about it, the more I am surprised there isn't some succinct coding, as surely it is not an uncommon situation to come across (i.e. a map requiring a legend with several color codes)??? Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:12, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I thought I posted another reply here hours ago; must have previewed wo/saving. Anyway, ya, there are likely other solutions to this sort of thing, and there must be thousands of places it would apply. I'd have to go nose around and find stuff. Will-do, as time permits. fyi, tables are a clumsy and outdated method of laying out pages, but are favored by wiki-markup (as opposed to raw html/css). List are actually a much better approach, but you need more css to style them. I've done a lot of this in real life. Cheers, Jack Merridew 00:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay. There are a great many critters with a bunch of subspecies we can try it out on anyway. I'll try them myself and let you know. The GIMP program is a straightforward enough thingy to make .png maps from. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:11, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd not realised you did the map, too; you see I tweaked the colours in the legend to match it? I don't use GIMP but am sure it's pretty robust and powerful; I use Photoshop. Poke me with links to related stuff and I'll fiddle. Once I get the lay of the land, I'll better understand what sort of common solution will work best. The heap of table markup in the infobox of Grey Currawong is nasty; it's the same issue I have with snotting-up actor bios with too much code. When patterns of html/css/parser-fn markup start appearing in wikitext, it is appropriate to find a means of encapsulating it. This is the core reason I'd like a bit; the site css is key to a lot of such efforts and most high traffic templates are protected. Too many view it as a delete/block bit.

Large swaths of the project are mellow. Nobody much seeks to delete birds or plants as non-notable; few edits wars, I expect. This got me thinking about birds; I don't care for them as pets (prefer cats), but most are cool; most other animals, too. They know this world better than we do, are a better fit. Agent Smith was right about us.

Cheers, Jack Merridew 19:57, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Armillaria luteobubalina

Hi Cas, the above just got passed as GA. Any interest in collaborating in a push for FAC? There are a number of references in Australian Plant Pathology and Australian Forestry that would need to be checked out and added to meet 1.b/c requirements, and I don't have easy access to these journals. Other than that, the article's not too far off. In other news, I got that Lactarius book, and will start buffing Lactarius deliciosus once I'm done prepping a 15-species Lactarius DYK hook. Sasata (talk) 17:57, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

I'll take a look. I should be able to access Australian Plant Pathology readily via University of NSW this week. Other will be trickier but yeah, I'm in. Also uploaded photo of bisected milkcap to commons. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:04, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Psychology articles

Hi Cas. There's been a bit of a discussion going on on the project talkpage with someone about the APS wanting to get involved in editing. They're asking for advice on what to put in a publicity article suggesting more academic psychologists get involved. You probably have a better idea of this than me. Fainites ^barleyscribs 22:28, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Boronia imlayensis

The DYK project (nominate) 16:02, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Congratulations on the fine work you did on Syzygium smithii. Previously it was an embarrassment to Wikipedia. Now this significant Australian rainforest tree is far better described. The Lilly Pilly is more suitably presented to the world. Poyt448 (talk) 07:13, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I wonder if more people will look at it now. Any other well-known species that are rudimentary let me know. Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:23, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi, I found an e-mail in the "junk" folder from the Royal Botanic Gardens regarding Boronia imlayensis, dated May 10th.

Dear Peter, Boronia imlayensis is not scheduled under the NSW Threatened Species Act, so you are correct in that currently there is no official rarity status for this species.

B. imlayensis certainly is a rare species with a very narrow and restricted distribution. It is known from a handful of collections all of which are from the same locality, ie. confined to and near the upper part of Mt Imlay.

When the species was published in 2003 (in Muelleria Vol. 17, pg.69) the author thought a ROTAP conservation code of 2VC-t was appropriate. He also made reference to another Mt Imlay endemic species (Eucalyptus imlayensis) which is also only known from a single population on Mt Imlay. E. imlayensis is currently recognised under the TSC Act and is scheduled as ‘Critically Endangered’. B. imlayensis shares some of the same threats and pressures as E. imlayensis, and probably warrants recognition under the TSC Act also. This is a matter for the NSW Scientific Committee to decide.

Yours sincerely, Andrew Orme Poyt448 (talk) 04:57, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Sometimes I hate those 'junk' folders....well done for getting them to take notice :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:54, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi, after reading the article. The Royal Botanic Gardens have added 2 of my photos of the Imlay Boronia on their Plant Net website: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Boronia~imlayensis

You made the article much better. And I told the Royal Botanic Gardens of your excellent contribution. No doubt you are a busy person, but if you ever have a couple of days free. And are fit enough. I need a companion to climb Mount Imlay. I want a better look at the rainforest to the south of the summit. (Too dangerous to go alone again). Imlay is a wonder of the botanical world, and I'd like to photograph the Imlay Mallee, as it is on the road to extinction. cheers, Pete Poyt448 (talk) 07:19, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

How long is the drive from Sydney? and how close can you get by car? and how long is the walk from whereever you can drive to to the top? I can walk a bit ok. My free time is abysmally non-existent though for the short term. I have done little of the south coast. There are some cool banksias and I really want to get to Shipwreck Ck in East Gippsland sometime to see the new species of Banksia Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:22, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Possible travel times: 6 hours drive from Sydney to Eden. (There is a flight from Sydney to nearby Merimbula). One hour drive from Eden to the mountain car park. 2 hour (steep difficult) walk to the summit. Half an hour walk from the summit to the rainforest (unless I get totally lost as I did last November). Double all these numbers for a return trip. The winter months may be too short for such a big day's exploration. It might be preferable to return in October when the Boronia is flowering and the days are longer. For me, the greatest thing about Imlay is the seldom seen rainforest and the nearly extinct Mount Imlay Mallee. Poyt448 (talk) 06:23, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi, you may wish to look at Olea paniculata. If you have time, it needs expansion. I added a photo and a category. Yesterday I arrived home from visiting the northern jungles such as Victoria Park Nature Reserve and Davis Scrub Nature Reserve. Tree identification in the sub tropics is a lot harder than down south! Poyt448 (talk) 09:23, 2 June 2010 (UTC) Great work from you to improve Olea paniculata. Thanks so much. I have a particular interest in the flora of Lord Howe Island.Poyt448 (talk) 07:04, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Thoughts on the GA symbol debate

I have a few thoughts on the GA symbol debate that I wanted to bat around with you. I agree with your view that should make make things more transparent to the readers, and that's why I would support the adding of a small GA icon much like the FA star. But such a change would only be minor and would do little to further that cause. You might have seen my previous comment at the top of the "Other comments" section. I still favor making the interface gadget "Display an assessment of an article's quality as part of the page header for each article" a default for all users. From experience, since introducing my girlfriend to it, she's been a lot more keen about assessing the quality of the information for herself, and there have even been a few times where she's taken the time to point out to me that an article has been assessed badly (usually rated too highly). Though she still hasn't bravely stepped into the world of editing, she has developed a much better understanding of how Wiki works and how to look at the articles... probably even more so than from watching me re-write articles and push through GACs and FACs. (I don't mess with Stub through B-class. For me, it's either GA, FA, or needs major revision. The fact that she can discern the difference between Start-class and B-class tells me that she's learning this either from WP:ASSESS or from seeing every article's assessment every time she visits.)

Setting that option as default has a couple of advantages, in my opinion. It makes the entire class system more visible to the readers—even more so than a tiny star or green plus icon in the top right corner of an article. People are far more likely to notice the color of the article title and see the linked article class directly underneath it. Furthermore, although WP:GA and WP:FA are informative pages by themselves, WP:ASSESS is or could be far more informative about the entire assessment system to a very broad audience. It currently explains what we look at during article assessments, and could easily be tweaked to further detail the GAC and FAC processes, as well as provide more prominent links to WP:GA and WP:FA.

Another related idea I just thought of is to replace the gold star with a small graphic of connected circles representing each of the common article classes, starting with Stub on the left, moving to FA on the right. This could be based on the icons already selected to represent these classes on {{icon}}: -----

In the image, all ranks other than its current rank would be empty, gray circles. The FA star would probably also be encased in a small gold circle. If the article is rated between Stub and B-class, the graphic would link to WP:ASSESS. If it's rated GA, it would link to WP:GA, and then WP:FA for FA articles. Yet another idea is to show a small semi-circular scale, much like a speedometer.

Either way, I agree that we need to do more to reach out to readers and show them a simple, but informative view of how Wiki works while also demonstrating our need for constructive editing. WP:GAC and WP:FAC may be informative links to provide, I feel all readers need to also have a much better understanding of the broader picture of assessment, even for the under-developed articles, on which they are more likely to make their first edits. I think the more people know about Wiki and the state of our articles, I think more people are likely to try getting their feet wet. – VisionHolder « talk » 23:21, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Wow, I like the grid idea alot actually as above (with the half-eaten pie for stub etc. etc.) Why not make this an alternate proposal on the page? Also highlights the problems with the A-class rank and where it sits in the overall scheme of things. Unless we rename GA A-class....Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:33, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! I wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic reply. Tomorrow night I'll work on creating the progress icons, and once they're made, I'll make a formal proposal. I definitely agree with the need to rename GA and A-class... possibly even merge them. Distinguishing between the two is senseless. If anything, I'd prefer to follow the pattern of our existing rating system, and merge GA into A so that we have a scale that looks like:

-----

Personally, I feel it would make more sense, especially to non-Wikipedians. My that's just my opinion... – VisionHolder « talk » 00:15, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Can't remember why this page is on my watchlist, but it is, so ... I love the grid idea, but I hate with a passion the idea of merging GA and A class. That just won't fly. Malleus Fatuorum 00:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

@VH - Yes, make sure you post up as an alternate idea while everbody's there and thinking and talking about it. @Malleus - I just threw that off the top of my head when I saw the grid as A class just looks odd when one tries to think of how/where to put it. What do you think we should do with A class? I had a vague idea of some mega-push to review all of them to get to FA so we could empty out the A-class category and make it redundant. Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:37, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, since you ask, I've always thought that A-class was redundant, and I don't think it should be part of any ranking scheme, just as peer review isn't. Malleus Fatuorum 00:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for the additional support. As promised, I will work on the graphics and the proposal later this afternoon, after work. Where, in your opinion, should the proposal be posted? on the talk page for WP:ASSESS, or underneath the current GA proposal? I feel it's generally more relevant to WP:ASSESS, so I favor posting it there, with a quick post on the talk pages for both GA and FA to help bring attention there.

Also, I will probably not add an option for A-class in the graphics... although last night I did think of yet another way to (literally) squeeze it in—the three circles on the right overlapping slightly, while the others just connect with a small gray bar. Lastly, what do you think about an additional tweak, where the circles for GA and FA are very slightly enlarged to give emphasis? Or are we better off with a balanced progress bar? – VisionHolder « talk » 12:06, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

My vote would be for all the same size - keep it like an informative grid-thing. And to leave off A-class altogether. My opinion is that A-class is becoming (if not already) redundant in the bigger scheme of things. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:09, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

And location of the proposal? – VisionHolder « talk » 12:18, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

(outdent) I am not sure that it is hugely important. Given it is referring to the Assessment process in general, I guess the talk page there. As lnog as there are plenty of links from WT:FAC, WT:GA etc. and Temp:Cent should be all good. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:22, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

The proposal has been posted, along with some sample graphics. I hope you still approve! – VisionHolder « talk » 01:50, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Headlice

I noticed you've volunteered to work on head-louse infestation. I'd be glad to help out on that article with copyediting, or anything else -- I don't have good access to sources but for anything that the reviewer indicates can be done with easily available sources I'll see if I can help. Let me know what I can do. Mike Christie (talk) 11:25, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I am juggling a few things. The column looked sorta lonely but just watch the page and we can start playing with it soon :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:44, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Hakea petiolaris

I think your piccie needs removing File:H_petiolaris4_keilor_bg_email.jpg - are you gonna be offended if i add one of mine instead? Please say - as I would like to start expanding the crappy little article as well - SatuSuro 07:06, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

You bast- no, that's fine. I am no great shakes as a photographer so swap away :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 07:10, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

my parentage has been verified thanks... as for my photos - well who knows? SatuSuro 07:16, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Cas's picture shows the distinctive leaves as well - ideally it would be good to show both.Melburnian (talk) 07:36, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Hopesless edit conflict withmy own reply and lagging computer - will return later SatuSuro 07:44, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Nah cleared - they come in the commons set - - that is one way of looking at it - and so many eds have confused laurina and petiolaris in the past in relation to the flower - you have a good point matt - the leaf thing is explored in images at commons as well http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hakea_petiolaris...

now where was I ah yes my perception of outsiders is they love cos its got dangly bits and insects and things but they get a bit icckie about as it is a little too gynaelogical for them :( SatuSuro 07:53, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Wow, interesting prionotes photos Satusoro! re petiolaris, no worries I'll 5 x expand for dyk then we can fit 'em all in. Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:49, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Sassafras pics

Hi Cas, how are you? I took two photos of Sassafras albidum, File:Sassafras albidum 3 lobe variations A.JPG, File:Sassafras albidum 3 lobe variations B.JPG. I like the darker color of one but the other show more vein lines. Which one is better and should be added to Sassafras albidum? I took these and a few others on a camping trip this weekend and will be uploading a few more. Maybe you could help me ID the species in those when I upload them. Might either Sassafras photo make Quality Image on Commons? — Rlevse • Talk • 22:01, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

(As Rlevse asked me to comment), I like version A, as the Sassafras stands out a lot more clearly in it. The light in version B almost negates the usefulness of having additional vein lines shown. NW (Talk) 22:07, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Aesthetically I sorta like version B but my adult/botanical/encyclopedic brain says version A is clearly better as it shows up the venation. I am pretty lousy on northern hemisphere trees but am happy to help what/how I can. I had not thrown up any photos for review until yesterday actually, so am very unfamiliar with the process. If I get a chance will take a look but a little time-limited today. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:11, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Did you get A and B backwards? B shows venation better. — Rlevse • Talk • 00:13, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay - this one makes big veins more contrasty, but this one shows up some finer venation actually. What I would do is try playing with the sharpness filter a bit maybe. Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:47, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. I don't know how to mess with filters. I just push the shutter ;-) — Rlevse • Talk • 01:05, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

There might be a clue the way i did the Hakea petiolaris vein issue - is you have direct sunlight - you can take a photo with the leaf between you and the sun, rather than with the sun behind you SatuSuro 01:08, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I will try that next time I am there but it's a long way from here and I'm sure when I'll be there again. — Rlevse • Talk • 01:12, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I just saved these and tried Photoshop's sharpen filter on them and it seemed to improve both images re 'venation' (an unfamiliar word, but I guessed right; DYK… that innovate is an anagram? wikt's got a bot adding them). Would you like the tweaked images? I could overwrite or upload to alt names. If you want serious 'shopin' ask Durova. Cheers, Jack Merridew 01:47, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

(goddam ec) It sucks when you get home and realise you're a little unhappy with the photos taken. At least it is better than the bad old days...The light-thru-the-leaf is a great way to highlight this. You wond't wanna know how many photos I took to land the taxobox image of this little critter, and then the other image was the best of a whole lotta lousy ones.....sigh (and that was a good 5000 km from home for me) Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

That's a very nice image ;) Cheers, Jack Merridew 02:35, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Cas - yea. Jack: Pls upload under alt names ...A1 and ...B1 to Commons. Thanks. — Rlevse • Talk • 02:01, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

They're at A1 and B1. I tried more aggressive sharpening than the 'Sharpen more' filter, and things got all grainy. I'll probably fiddle a bit more tomorrow and will let you know if I have anything better. If you think these too grainy as-is, I can re-upload with the lighter-touch ordinary 'sharpen' filter (I tried it first and thought the differences from the originals minimal). They're really large because I selected max quality. R, you have ".raw" files (Raw image format) available? (if not, your camera probably directly produced the JPGs). Sorry for the ec; Cas. Cheers, Jack Merridew 02:33, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that improves the A1 more than the B1 to the point where finer veins are now seen on the A1. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:43, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Wanna see A2 and B2? They're done and saved... 10mb; I think we've the disk space, I've been cleaning up for years (sorry; it's too easy;). (be sure to view at 100%) Cheers, Jack Merridew 02:54, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

can you link? I am having insanely slow reload times so page jumping is (expletive deleted) untimely. Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:03, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

feckin' (edit conflict). A2 and B2; ordinary sharpen; when I posted above, they were saved locally, but are now on Commons. You should look at both 100% and preview the others at Infobox-size. As Chooky likes to say, 'Up to you, Boss'. (he was my driver). Cheers, Jack Merridew 03:16, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

All-I can see more venation in both sets of "1" and "2" photos, as for the A1 vs A2 and B1 vs B2 I can't tell a difference in venation but do see that the "2"s are darker, richer in color and hence have more contrast, ie, nice work Jack! — Rlevse • Talk • 00:37, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Thank the Photoshop developers, really, and whomever developed the sharpening algorithms it offers. I see you went with 2; After having re-reviewed at %100, it think that the best choice. At gallery size it all matters little, but there are grainy bits in the 1 versions. If you care to delete the 1 versions, go for it; or ask me to tag them for proper procedure. Cheers, Jack Merridew 02:09, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Species identification help

Can you help, or point me to someone that can help, me identify (all on Commons) the species in File:UnknownInsect.jpg, File:UnknownBeetle.jpg, File:UnknownLizardA.jpg, and , File:UnknownLizardB.jpg? — Rlevse • Talk • 00:43, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

The lizard is some small type of skink - we have millions of very similar looking tiny skinks in the garden. Will hunt around for a guide. I'd post links to the insects on a wikiproject insect talk page - the other thing I have done is email an entomologist at a local university. They are often really chuffed when members of the public ask questions like this and very helpful. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:03, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm - looking for some sort of key of guide to skinks of the central united states - the Coal Skink looks like a likely candidate. My connection is frustratingly slow but having a look at some images on google images would be good. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:18, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Posted on WP:Insects and emailed an entomologist at a local uni--never thought of that one! — Rlevse • Talk • 01:19, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

FYI - I was walking near my house and saw this monster, a fly whose body seemed like it was 1-1.5 in long (!!) and a n entolomogist weas kind enough to help :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:24, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Holy flying insect Batman! — Rlevse • Talk • 01:30, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

I got a fright too. Had a weird deep loud buzzing. But seriously, insects are only covered piecemeal by popular books and there is a huge gap in knowledge wikipedia can fill in by bridging technical and lay knowledge bases. I really need to get me a macro lens.... Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:49, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Springtail

Watchlist the above for a while? A swarm of IP-gnats has been at it messing with the flavour of English used and it's semi'd for 3 days. They're hitting a lot more but this one seemed in your area, so handing it off. I've picked the bits of lint out of there. Says it's not an insect ;) Cheers, Jack Merridew 01:12, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Chlorophyll, iron

Hi there. I am pretty sure you've made mistake in your edit in iron. It's magnesium in chlorophyll, not iron. --Rifleman 82 (talk) 04:29, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Gah! You're right. I was confusing the causes of chlorosis. Still, iron is essential for something in plants...time to look it up. Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:57, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

William Tecumseh Sherman

Casliber: Thank you for your quick and decisive action on my request for semi-protection for the Sherman article. Previous semi-protections have been for limited periods, and then the vandalism starts right over again and becomes worse as time goes on. It makes sense that the article have the same protection as do the Lincoln and Grant articles, and I am glad that you have acted as you have. Hartfelt (talk) 00:56, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

No worries. My pleasure. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:38, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Syzygium smithii

The DYK project (nominate) 18:03, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Letter-winged Kite

The DYK project (nominate) 18:02, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Problems with a disruptive rollbacker

Hi! I would like to evidence you the continuous rollbacks by user:Colin Gleen of my wikification of Ferrol. My editings consisted in adding a standard infobox, removing all POV parts, purging some sections which had no role in an encyclopedia, and other format adds. The article is now decent and in the same path of most other Spanish cities ones, while this guy continues to restore his versions full of errors, unsourced statements, questions, unencyclopedical details etc. Thanks and good work. --'''Attilios''' (talk) 12:40, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Ciao! It seems that user:Colin Gleen is now using a sockpuppet identity, user:Michael Peer, to restore his horrendous, antiwikipedic version of Ferrol. Can you stop him? By the way, this user is easily recognizable for he's dedicating himself only to Ferrol, with articles full of useful stuff but full of POV and amateurish digressions (for example, in an article about a journal published in that Spanish city, 75% of the text spoke about Ferrol's economic crisis...). Let me know and thanks in advance for help... --'''Attilios''' (talk) 13:13, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

I would notice that user:Colin Gleen is keeping reverting Ferrol, Spain to his horrendous, unwikipedic version, now using another sockpuppet (see Ferrol:History for the new one). Is there any chance to block this crazy guy? Thanks and good work. --'''Attilios''' (talk) 09:18, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Check what he wrote in my talk page with his new sockpuppet identity, user:Gladys Tuffnell. --'''Attilios''' (talk) 20:47, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

The best place to start would be WP:SPI, as that is a dedicated place for listing these type of issues. I will have a look at the article a little later today (Australian time). Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:27, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Your edit summary caught my eye. Looked at it, and I'm on the fence. Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Gladys Tuffnell has been opened.—Kww(talk) 00:17, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Great. Thanks for doing that as I am on and off all day. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:10, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Beta Cassiopeiae

The DYK project (nominate) 06:03, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Musca vetustissima

See:

• Template talk:Did you know#Amanita bisporigera

It's on your user page as a potential DYK... and User:Joe Chill took it there. Looks good to me; dip an oar in if you see anything. Cheers, Jack Merridew 23:30, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, Sasata took it there. Joe Chill (talk) 23:33, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

it==article ;) Cheers, Jack Merridew 23:59, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I think you mean Template talk:Did you know#Musca vetustissima. Joe Chill (talk) 23:37, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

maaf; I've refactored. Copypasta-goof, I think. Cheers, Jack Merridew 23:59, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Great. The more that are harvested off that page the better. Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:42, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Welcome Nugget

The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Our own bug expert

See User_talk:Dyanega#Beetle_ID. This guy has a PHD in entomology and is a long time wiki user. Someone at Commons pointed me to him. — Rlevse • Talk • 18:48, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Fantastic. A good resource to know about :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:11, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Hakea lorea

BorgQueen (talk) 00:03, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Hakea chordophylla

BorgQueen (talk) 00:04, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

User:Casliber/DYK

Looking at that list, I'm very impressed. Nice work. Joe Chill (talk) 12:10, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

thx :) - plants are easy as they have been massively overlooked on the 'pedia thus far...ditto invertebrates. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:22, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Alanqa

The DYK project (nominate) 00:04, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Article created

Heya Cas,

Any tips on getting Soxred's page created tool working properly? It seems to truncate for me after the last 87 articles created, but I'd like to see the full list. I suspect it's between 500 and 600, but the tool always times out, and the list on my userpage isn't all of them. Is there an alternate tool you're using to keep track of the articles you've created? Firsfron of Ronchester 03:09, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Appears to be working it returned 561 articles that you've created I've put the raw list at User:Firsfron/rawlist Gnangarra 03:19, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

(ec)Funny, when I did it just then it gave me 561, and gives me 432 (??). Funny as it doesn't catch ones made from redirects either. Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:24, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

OK, it does load for me now (albeit very, very slowly). Maybe it was a temporary outage. Thanks Gnangarra, thanks Cas. Firsfron of Ronchester 03:59, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks!

Thanks for the medal! Dr. Blofeld ^{White cat} 12:47, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Heh, my pleasure. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:59, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

WikiCup 2010 May newsletter

We are half way through round 3, with a little under a month to go. The current overall leader is Sasata (submissions), who has 570 points. He leads pool C. Pools A, B and D are led by Hunter Kahn (submissions), Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) and White Shadows (submissions) respectively. Anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Two of last year's final 8, Theleftorium (submissions) and Scorpion0422 (submissions), have dropped out of the competition, saying they would rather their place went to someone who will have more time on their hands than them next round. On a related note, a special thank you goes to White Shadows (submissions) for his help behind the scenes once again. There is currently a problem with the poster, perhaps caused by the new skin- take a look at this discussion and see if you can help. The competition has continued to tick over well with minimal need for judge intervention, so thank you to everyone making that possible. Good luck to all! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 20:46, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

How do you make an article a DYK?

Hello! I found your name listed at Wikipedia:List_of_Wikipedians_by_number_of_DYKs and of the names I quickly looked at there, you seem to be someone with a lot of contributions there who has contributed biology types of articles. Could you help me to make Hyphessobrycon ulreyi (Boulenger), which I just started, a DYK? It gets a bunch of Google Book hits also under its alternate name. Anywho, I see these DYKs always listed at Main_Page and think it would be cool for some fish to get some love there! I started the article and would appreciate if someone with experience could show me how to take it to the next level!  :) Thank you! A Pocket Full of Sunshine (talk) 13:55, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Fancy a good read?

See here Sasata (talk) 17:17, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

??? - you think that is one of the harvested wikibooks then? weird.....Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:26, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Format in bird lists

I have no particular objections to you reverting the tables on the Tasmanian list, but I think that you could have rolled back my edit as a GFE with TW. It is interesting that two bird lists are at FLC at the same time and the two have gone different ways with the list format. Snowman (talk) 18:51, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I was wondering about that. I rarely use twinkle and thanks for leting me know. Do you think it is worth discussing on the wikiporject talk page to get all the lists looking alike and using standard abbreviations etc. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:25, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I have started a discussion on the Bird Talk page. Snowman (talk) 00:33, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Talk:Illegal logging in Madagascar/GA1

Why is this nomination still on hold? –– Jezhotwells (talk) 18:58, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Long story - read the GA review if you wish. I am going to ask someone about it now and we can come to a decision today. Casliber (talk · contribs) 22:03, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

• I finally got around to looking at this, apologies for the delay. I've left a few thoughts at the review, but to cut a long story short I've got three major problems with this article: its scope, its neutrality, and what appears to be excesssive detail in places, probably related to the imprecise scope. I don't see these problems being sorted out in the short term, so it's a fail for me I'm afraid. Malleus Fatuorum 15:17, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

  As posted at the GAC, I agree. Just go ahead and fail it. I would like to resolve the scope issue, since that's the one issue I don't fully grasp. – VisionHolder « talk » 20:50, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Delta Canis Majoris

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:04, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Hello, I am also seeking Adoption/Mentorship

Hello, I am Kelidimari. I am new to writing Wikipedia articles and honestly I'm not a very good writer. However, I am trying to improve. I have not written any large article in Wikipedia yet because I'm uncertain on how to do it well. So, mostly all I've done are little edits on pre-existing pages here and there, and adding images sometimes. I am more of a Wikipedia reader than a writer, but on occasion I find something kind of cool and wish to share it with others, but because I'm unfamiliar with how to use all of the formatting, it is difficult. I would like to learn how to write things in a way that they are coherent and in the wiki-accepted format. The formatting bit drives me crazy.

I am currently learning a lot about beryllium exposure and public health and radioactive waste, because that is what I do right now. Most likely, when I write things, it will be in human health, public health, environmental health, or laws related to those areas in the U.S. I do walk-throughs and assessments and reviews of worker safety and health plans, and have a bit of a medical background. So, I'm guessing that in the future, my contributions would be very public health or chemical exposure related. I want to contribute to Wikipedia, but am not ready to do so and don't want to until I know how to do things correctly.

I would very much appreciate if you could be my mentor, because you had listed in your "adopter" section that you were interested in biology and medicine. My interest is in those areas also.Kelidimari (talk) 20:06, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

E-mail

Hi,

I sent you an email, could you check your Gmail or alternatively send me an email through the wiki so I can send it to another address?

--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 12:51, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Got that one/replied. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 13:21, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for being a voice of common sense and reason at Talk:Criticism of Judaism, and at the related WP:AN/I thread. Jayjg ^(talk) 00:10, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

(sigh) - I wish I had more time or energy..but I just look at a wall of text and think, "Life's just too short for this..." (I just hope other folks have more energy than me - I will try and look in when I can...) cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:13, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Neil Brooks

Thanks. Do you remember this guy on TV or anything? And I've responded too. YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 03:02, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, not too much. I am more of an NRL/AFL follower (and cricket from time to time...). Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:11, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

AFL follower, and you're from Sydney? Well, there's a shock :) Aaroncrick ^TALK 03:36, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

many sydney folk supported an AFL team, even before South Melbourne (who I barracked for) moved up here. Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:40, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Replied YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 03:47, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

And again...your FAs have dried up, lol YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 05:43, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Banksia aemula

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:02, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:03, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Athertonia diversifolia

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:03, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Gout

Thank you for taking the time to review the page on gout. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 15:01, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Belated thanks

For the very large crown that is now residing on my talk page and looking quite nice. Giants2008 (27 and counting) 18:40, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Verifiability - in practice not everything need actually be attributed?

Could you offer some sort of independent opinon about this discussion[8]? --Gavin Collins (talk|contribs) 19:00, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Holy god what a wall of text. I need some time to digest...Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:43, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Coffee

Excuse me, Casliber. Tom B gave me permission to demote Coffee from its GA status. Before I do, are you still willing to continue working on it? GamerPro64 (talk) 21:32, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Olea paniculata

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:01, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Hi, do you think the article on Pararistolochia praevenosa might be worthy of a DYK? The association with the pretty butterflies might make particularly appealing to the average reader. I added so many references to it lately, and this might have made it more confusing. Your editorial skill could be handy in making the article better. Kind regards Poyt448 (talk) 02:13, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Allow me to throw in two cents. Yes it could. It's new, long enough and interesting. The hook could be the part about "main food species for the Richmond Birdwing butterfly". Cas can help make it better I'm sure. One thing you need to do is properly format the refs so they're not open URLs. — Rlevse • Talk • 02:25, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Poyt448 - I meant to tell you yesterday - if you look at suggestions page - hint: search for your name with Cntrl-F, you'll note I have nominated a few of yours already :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:11, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Xylocopa bombylans

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:03, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Birds from Tasmania

• There is quite a lot in this set of photos. I have already uploaded the parrots, but I do not know the identity of many of the others. If you make a list of the ones that are useful with the identity (including male, female, or juvenile), then I will see if I can upload them. There is not any semi-automatic software for uploads from Picasa Web Albums yet, so uploading from Picasa can be rather slow. Also, it will take some time to remove the watermarks. I have put some of the best ones in the list for birds to be identified. Snowman (talk) 17:50, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

• Do you have any specific requests to upload any photographs of birds that you can identify from this Picasa photo set? Alternatively, you could add a few to the birds for identification series, and I will endeavour to upload them when identified, if there are not too many. Snowman (talk) 22:55, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Endiandra introrsa query

Hello! Your submission of Endiandra introrsa at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Ericoides (talk) 20:09, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Mycena interrupta

A cute little Australian mushroom that could do with some love, if you have the time. We've just had a featured picture candidate, so it will hopefully get some attention because of it. Contacting you because I know Australasian mushrooms are more your domain :) J Milburn (talk) 21:39, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Gaga GA

Hey Casliber. Are you done with the review so that I can start addressing them? If not, I will wait. :) --Legolas ^(talk2me) 05:56, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

I am busy for a while so get cracking :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:16, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Coocumbac Island Nature Reserve

Wizardman _{Operation Big Bear} 18:06, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Manchester United F.C.

Having finally addressed the issues in the previous peer review, would you mind giving this a glance again when you get a chance?

Cheers, Tomlock01 (talk) 19:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Randia moorei

Wizardman _{Operation Big Bear} 00:02, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Congratulations with all the fine work you've been doing lately. Recently I took plenty of photos at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden at Coffs Habour. However, photos of at least 6 species were out of focus and are no good for Wikipedia. If there is any rare plant you would like photographed, please let me know. When I get the chance I'll return up there and try to keep the camera still! I might even meet up with A.G. Floyd, as he lives nearby and the garden is his pet project.

Also, in a few weeks time, I'm returning to the giant Woodford tree in the Blue Mountains with the photographer "Black Diamond" from Black Diamond images. You are welcome to come along if you have any free time. As yet I haven't purchased any gadget that could assist in measurement of the tree. The tree is monstrous in size, 2.6 metres diameter at breast height. Measured in 1978 at 78 metres. However, who knows if this is correct. It could be between 70 and 90 metres in height. I've seen Tallowwood back of Kempsey that are about as big, and they all appear taller than "The Grandis" near Bulahdelah.

When I run out of photos for new articles I get annoyed. So, I hope to keep busy for a while yet. Thanks for your support. Pete Poyt448 (talk) 04:42, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate change

An Arbitration request in which you are involved has been opened, and is located here. Please add any evidence you wish the Arbitrators to consider to the evidence sub-page, Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate change/Evidence. You may also contribute to the case on the workshop sub-page, Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate change/Workshop.

Additionally, please note that for this case specific procedural guidelines have been stipulated; if you have any questions please ask. The full outline is listed on the Evidence and Workshop pages, but please adhere to the basics:

• The issues raised in the "Sock Puppet Standards of Evidence" and "Stephen Schultz and Lar" requests may be raised and addressed in evidence in this case if (but only if) they have not been resolved by other means.
• Preparation of a formal list of "parties to the case" will not be required.
• Within five days from the opening of the case, participants are asked to provide a listing of the sub-issues that they believe should be addressed in the committee's decision. This should be done in a section of the Workshop page designated for that purpose. Each issue should be set forth as a one-sentence, neutrally worded question—for example:
  • "Should User:X be sanctioned for tendentious editing on Article:Y"?
  • "Has User:Foo made personal attacks on editors of Article:Z?"
  • "Did Administrator:Bar violate the ABC policy on (date)?"
  • "Should the current community probation on Global Warming articles by modified by (suggested change)?"

The committee will not be obliged to address all the identified sub-issues in its decision, but having the questions identified should help focus the evidence and workshop proposals.

• All evidence should be posted within 15 days from the opening of the case. The drafters will seek to move the case to arbitrator workshop proposals and/or a proposed decision within a reasonable time thereafter, bearing in mind the need for the committee to examine what will presumably be a very considerable body of evidence.
• Participants are urgently requested to keep their evidence and workshop proposals as concise as reasonably possible.
• The length limitation on evidence submissions is to be enforced in a flexible manner to maximize the value of each user's evidence to the arbitrators. Users who submit overlength diatribes or repetitious presentations will be asked by the clerks to pare them. On the other hand, the word limit should preferably not be enforced in a way that hampers the reader's ability to evaluate the evidence.
• All participants are expected to abide by the general guideline for Conduct on arbitration pages, which states:
• Incivility, personal attacks, and strident rhetoric should be avoided in Arbitration as in all other areas of Wikipedia.
• Until this case is decided, the existing community sanctions and procedures for Climate change and Global warming articles remain in full effect, and editors on these articles are expected to be on their best behavior.
• Any arbitrator, clerk, or other uninvolved administrator is authorized to block, page-ban, or otherwise appropriately sanction any participant in this case whose conduct on the case pages departs repeatedly or severely from appropriate standards of decorum. Except in truly egregious cases, a warning will first be given with a citation to this notice. (Hopefully, it will never be necessary to invoke this paragraph.)

On behalf of the Arbitration Committee, ~ Amory (u • t • c) 00:35, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Grab some glory, and a barnstar

Hi, I'd like to invite you to participate in the Guild of Copy Editors July 2010 Backlog Elimination Drive. In May, about 30 editors helped remove the {{copyedit}} tag from 1175 articles. The backlog is still over 7500 articles, and extends back to the beginning of 2008! We really need your help to reduce it. Copyediting just a couple articles can qualify you for a barnstar. Serious copyeditors can win prestigious and exclusive rewards. See the event page for more information. And thanks for your consideration. monosock 18:07, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Why am I getting this message? Mono's delivery method is random, so you probably showed up somewhere Mono went. :)

Thank you very much for signing up for the July Backlog Elimination Drive! The copyedit backlog stretches back two and a half years, all the way back to the beginning of 2008! We're really going to need all the help we can muster to get it down to a manageable number. We've ambitiously set a goal of clearing all of 2008 from the backlog this month. In order to do that, we're going to need more participants. Is there anyone that you can invite or ask to participate with you? If so, we're offering an award to the person who brings in the most referrals. Just notify ɳorɑfʈ ^Talk! or Diannaa ^TALK of who your referrals are. Once again, thanks for your support! Diannaa ^TALK 15:00, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Wellington, Somerset GAN review

Thanks for your comments so far about Wellington, Somerset for its GA review. I wondered if you had any further thoughts yet? and wanted to let you know I will be away (at Glastonbury Festival) from Tues 22nd June - Mon 28th so will not be able to respond to any comments during that time.— Rod ^talk 16:58, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks.— Rod ^talk 08:11, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the other stuff is pretty minor. Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:13, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Pararistolochia praevenosa

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:02, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Hi, you did a great job editing this article. Thanks again. It's got quite a few viewers, that's a surprise. I'm used to hardly anyone being interested in what I write about. (By the way, I'm trying to figure out how to do Wikipedia references better. It is not my strong point in Wikipedia).

Who can tell what the general public likes? Some things I like are ignored by almost everyone. And other things that I like are popular. Trying to comprehend the human mind and their likes and dislikes is quite a challenge. Soon I hope to drive up north to the sub-tropics and take more photos. My particular goal this time is sub tropical rainforest trees of the Big Scrub in northern NSW. I know where one of this Richmond Bird Wing Vine is growing. It's signposted in a reserve north of Lismore. regards, Pete Poyt448 (talk) 07:19, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

It is indeed hard to think of a hook for Pseudoweinmannia lachnocarpa. However, it is a very impressive large jungle like tree with huge buttresses. Being a from the ancient Cunoniaceae family. When coming across such a huge tree in the rainforest, it's almost impossible to identify it unless there are fallen leaves nearby. By the way, that story of the orchid is fascinating. Banks would may have had no idea that it was growing off the east coast of Australia which he visited in 1770. Lady Emma's plant was from China. John Fothergill, Joseph Banks, and Lady Emma Tankerville plus Phaius tancarvilleae is good enough for a romantic novel. Change a few details, add some romance to it. Jane Austen missed out on that opportunity! Poyt448 (talk) 13:40, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Endiandra introrsa

— Rlevse • Talk • 12:02, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Eastern Great Egret

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:03, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Userrights

Hi, Cas;

I see you bumped me up today. There'll be no living with me now! ;) J. Spencer (talk) 03:06, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

user rights

too much honor! HMallison (talk) 07:10, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Fruit Dove

Hi, can you move Fruit Dove to Fruit dove for a collective term. It needs a page deleted, and I can not do that. Snowman (talk) 14:56, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Done. I realised we'd just never got round to finishing off all the IOC name conversions. I spent some time today doing all the Pachycephalidae and now all the fruit doves. I felt it better to complete and update the Wikipedia:WikiProject Birds/IOC names. I need to go to bed now. I would be grateful if you did Cuckooshrikes overnight and doublechecked the IOC names, but if you don't I can do sometime tomorrow. It is 1 am and I have a cold. goodnight. Casliber (talk · contribs) 15:04, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Can you move Cuckoo-shrike to Cuckooshrike, and Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, and Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike, White-rumped Cuckoo-shrike, Large Cuckoo-shrike, Reunion Cuckoo-shrike. Snowman (talk) 21:09, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Done now. Gotta run. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:51, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Casliber. You have new messages at A Pocket Full of Sunshine's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

DYK nomination of Tetratheca hirsuta

Hello! Your submission of Tetratheca hirsuta at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 22:06, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Huia and Kiwi collabs - THIS SHIT JUST GOT REAL!

Hey man. I was thinking today that all I really do is talk about collabs and that I should hurry up and just do one. I will have lots of free time from saturday the 3rd of july onwards. I was thinking a group of us - me, you, kahuroa and sabine's sunbird - could agree on a suitable time period and then start ripping into a couple of articles. I'm thinking Huia first because it is so close to FA already and then "Kiwi" - because it is so lacking presently and yet so important; I mean for crying out loud, it gets like 2k views a day. What do you think? when suits for you? and how do collabs work/is there anything I need to know? Cheers, Kotare (talk) 08:25, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Start with easy. Let's all look at Huia for last niggles before chucking it into the snake pit. I'll take a squiz at Kiwi bit later. Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:34, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

I've cleaned up the refs at Huia as best as I can for yez. Have fun! --RexxS (talk) 17:49, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Righto, so I visited the library yesterday and collected some more sources other than HANZAB and I have just finished a major expansion to Huia - I've increased the article in size by almost 50% (46,000 bytes up from 31,000) and I really can't see how it can be too far off FA now... check out my comments on the huia talk page (like I say, there's very little left to write about) - do you agree with the image ideas? Cheers, Kotare (talk) 08:34, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh crud, I knew there was something else to do...on it later tonight. Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:41, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Gout

Have attempted to address your concerns brought up at GA. I am unsure what to do with the prophylaxis section / prevention section. IMO prophylaxis should be part of prevention as the lay public considers gout only the acute episodes of inflammation and would see taking medication to decrease future attacks as prevention. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 09:57, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Photo IDs

I started a list of wiki users who can help ID things in photos such as plants and animals. See User:Rlevse/Tools#Photo_IDs. Feel free to use/add to it. — Rlevse • Talk • 18:50, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Tetratheca hirsuta

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:02, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Tetratheca thymifolia

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:02, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

ANI discussion

I am placing this notice because you left a comment on the prior discussion on this user. You may wish to contribute to the new discussion. I am simply inviting you to participate. I am not seeking to influence any content of your contribution. Fiddle Faddle (talk) 17:21, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

an image on commons

Howdy. If you are willing and able, could you please provide a better source link for this image? The current source link only shows a base url.--Rockfang (talk) 05:51, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Fixed. Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:56, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

FYI: [9] Also, I think something on this page is making it a tad laggy when I scroll. I'm not sure what it is though.--Rockfang (talk) 07:54, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Gaga GA

Ahh thanks for passing the article. I promise one day you will see the article at FA, like Madonna. Well, party time! Beers free for everyone --Legolas ^(talk2me) 04:11, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Re: Grey Currawong

No (good) photos yet, as the sun had gone down and it was pretty dark, but I think I've found a good place for them, so you might end up with your request being satisfied eventually :). Noodle snacks (talk) 06:45, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Cool - look forward to seeing some good clinker photos. Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:49, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Pteridium esculentum

Hello! Your submission of Pteridium esculentum at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Stemonitis (talk) 17:16, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Krill FAR

Hi Cas! I am just stopping by to ask if you would like to visit the featured article review for Krill (the review page can be found at Wikipedia:Featured article review/Krill/archive1)? An editor has done quite a bit of work on the article, but I would like to get the opinions of a couple of biology people who are active at FAC before I close the review. Thanks in advance if you have the time and interest; if not, no biggie! Dana boomer (talk) 01:18, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments, Cas...great turn-around time :) I kind of had a feeling that there were going to be comprehensiveness issues, but other than for horses, I'm a little out of my depth on biology articles. Dana boomer (talk) 14:29, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

No worries. Will revisit later too. There is plenty to go on with. Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:34, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Flindersia xanthoxyla

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:02, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

thanks for promoting the Long Jack. I photographed it yesterday. The main purpose of the trip north was to photograph Endiandra hayesii. However, it was not growing at Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens, (apparently it died there). So I planned to walk down to the bottom of Minyon Falls and photograph it there. However, the rain was far too heavy. I hoped then to photograph the rainforest below Minyon Falls, but it was too foggy. I returned to the Botanic Gardens, and had access to Floyd's herbarium and took a photo of the dead leaves. Poyt448 (talk) 02:06, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I forgot to mention, I saw a large butterfly at Booyong Flora Reserve, it was drab in colour, flying in the rain. Very likely to be a female Richmond Birdwing. Poyt448 (talk) 02:14, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I remember the Minyon Falls walk being quite muddy even in good weather, so yeah, would have been a problem in the rain..but very atmospheric. I just got a macro lens (yippee...insect pix soon :))))) Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:33, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I just got a macro lens too... good luck getting the insects to stay still for ya! Maybe it'll be a FPC head-to-head in the final round of the WikiCup? :) Sasata (talk) 03:43, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

It is winter here so not many insects...apart from slaters (woodlice).... :( Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:14, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I might try my luck with some pictures of fossil rice rats at FPC—I got some nice ones, and I'm sure it'll be something new there. Ucucha 16:12, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Speaking of rats, I saw this, and thought you might find it amusing, or abhorrent. Sasata (talk) 16:51, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Certainly—interesting. At the end, it speaks about "a more humane attitude to the canine race" causing the decline of the sport; from the article, it would seem another race was in more need of such an attitude. It's just one of the blood sports, though, and probably not the most bizarre. Ucucha 19:51, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

If we could only stick to non blood sports the world would be a better place...Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:57, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

And if we would stick to another non-blood sport, the world would be a less hasty place. Ucucha 19:59, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

(snaps fingers) that's it! Something I can take a macro lens photo of...snails....(not many insects around in winter...) Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:01, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

• Update: oh well, I found a jumping spider. Now to find out what it is. Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:36, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

  

  unknown jumping spider, my garden

DYK for Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:02, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

It's all Greek to me!

Hiya Cas: Wondering if I can get you to have a gander at the scientific name reference you seem to have lying about somewhere. I'm working on "Blue Mockingbird" and need a reference for Melanotis caerulescens. I think the genus means something like "Black-eared" in Greek (presumably a reference to its dark mask), but verification would be good! As for the specific name, I haven't a clue! Thanks, MeegsC | Talk 21:23, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Can you help?

--Swarm^Talk 06:11, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Good article nominee: Abyssal plain

Hello Casliber. I just wanted to touch base with you to let you know I have been working very hard on the Abyssal plain article. I knew this process would be difficult, which is why I was hoping to avoid it altogether. :) It has taken me 3 weeks and some 300 edits thus far since the GA nomination, which I suppose is a long time, but I feel the article is very close now, and possibly already there. I understand you are very busy, but I would appreciate it if you could give the article another look when you can find the time. Regards, DiverDave (talk) 17:15, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Phaius tancarvilleae

-- Cirt (talk) 18:04, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Howdy,

Today I received an e-mail from an orchid expert. He said the picture at Dresden Botanic Gardens Phaius tancarvilleae is wrong and it is a different species. So, I'm sad to say I've had a Did You Know with a photo which is not correct. (I thought that would happen from my own camera). Apparently Phaius is a very difficult genus to identify. There's a Phaius australis at the pyramid glasshouse at the Sydney Botanic Gardens about to come into flower. Maybe that sign by the flower is wrong, as is the one at Dresden Botanic Gardens. As suggested by the orchid expert when looking at our article: Phaius tancarvilleae. He said the other flowers attributed to Phaius australis on my article are also wrong.

Today I walked into the local forest, and tried to take as many fern photos as possible in the local bushland. Perhaps, Calochlaena dubia is one of the local ferns. And there appear to be many more. I have a plant species list from the local council, but it is anything but comprehensive. There's so many things missing.

At least three of us will be at the Woodford tree next Thursday. I need to try to get fitter. Black Diamond asked me if I was a photographer or a botanist? The reply is, "I'm a bushwalker". That's what I want to do, and I'll be there on Thursday after the gigantic Woodford Tree.

Pete Poyt448 (talk) 06:36, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah well, the fern photos are great - I am expanding calochlaenia. Maybe getting every local species from Fairley and Moore (i.e. all Sydney basin plants) having articles is a goal :) ...so is the old drawing on P australis wrong? Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:40, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Can you pass Abyssal plain a Good article with {{citation needed}} tags?

You passed Abyssal plain with {{citation needed}} tags in the article. Could you fix please, so the quality of GAs can remain high? Thanks, MacDaid (talk) 21:29, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Woops. missed that. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:31, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I have located and added appropriate inline citations for both of the items in question, and accordingly removed the two {{citation needed}} tags. Thank you very much for passing the article. As my first time going through the GA review process, I consider this to be a very important achievement. I intend to do my best to improve the overall quality of Wikipedia and its articles to the best of my abilities. I would like to continue to improve this article (for example, I intend to rewrite the lead section), but am in need of a bit of guidance here. From GA, is the next step in the continuum to seek A-class approval? If so, then how do I go about this? DiverDave (talk) 23:18, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Nah, I'd get an opinion from a copyeditor and go to FAC. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:00, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Cyrus Cylinder

Thanks for your comments at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Cyrus Cylinder/archive1#Casliber. I've now addressed all of the issues you raised - I'd be grateful for feedback. -- ChrisO (talk) 23:01, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Cordyline australis

I've asked you this before but I think it got lost in the flood of messages people leave on your page. Cordyline australis is pretty stable now and so I was wondering about taking it to FA. What do you think. The only thing that I hope doesn't happen is they say to chop it up into smaller articles. Kahuroa (talk) 01:57, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I'll post some notes on the talk page. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:41, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Fauna of Australia and the other FA animals

Were you going to have a look beyond the literal sense? :P YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 05:08, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

yes. Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:49, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Pteridium esculentum

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:03, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Race?

It's no contest, already gold-starred!. If you meant Birds of Leicestershire and Rutland that's still under construction in a sandbox, ground to a halt a bit because

• Hot weather!
• World cup until our dismal exit — your lot have much more to be proud of
• Three-day trip to Madeira (a few island and Macronesian endemics plus seabirds - Zino's Petrels Fea's Petrels and Bulwer's Petrels). Great, included a night walk to the Zino's colony 1850 m up a mountain, and a night on Grande Deserta with Cory's Shearwaters, Bulwer's Petrels and Madeiran Storm-petrels calling and flying around our heads. We slept in a tent, but Cory's screaming within inches made sleep difficult.
• ‎Trying to get this through

Let me know what the race target is Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:46, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Duh, just noticed the wikilink on "I". OK, you are on, it might take my mind off football Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Haha, the Socceroos were nicknamed the 'Shockeroos" after our 4-0 drubbing by Germany...worse than 4-12 ...and it is freezing here. all of 5 C in Sydney and no central heating.....Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:57, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, what do you expect when you have winter during the summer ;-) — Rlevse • Talk • 10:28, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Progress ground to a halt due to the loss of my phone line and internet access for three days — how did you manage that (: Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:22, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh dear, well I'll work on my other critters towards a FT --> Black Currawong which'd eat yer swallows for breakfast if they could catch them...Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:27, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Manchester United F.C.

Hi Casliber. I know you've helped out with this article in the past, but I really need someone to copy edit it and you come highly recommended. Do you think you have the time to ce it? I think everything is there in terms of content now, I've actioned most of the things that came up at FAC and everything that needs referencing is referenced (with the exception of the first paragraph of the ownership section). Cheers, Tom Tomlock01 (talk) 09:34, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Flattery will get you everywhere... :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Hehe. :P I see you've already made a start thanks. I also meant to say if you have any more general comments, there is another peer review open, if you haven't already seen it. Tomlock01 (talk) 16:43, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

festival...

I wasn't anywhere near that stage - but did have lots of fun in the sun.— Rod ^talk 09:54, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

thanks

thanks for FTC comment and support. I'll take you up on the FAC offer at some stage, but I can't do it now, or take a breather, because I'm in a race (: Jimfbleak - talk to me? 17:02, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Zduhać

Hi Casliber! I've nominated that folkloric article for GA status some 20 days ago, but it seems that there is not too much activity at WP:GAN#MYTH. I think that you have some interest in such subjects, and I would very much appreciate if you reviewed the article. Of course, if you have time for that. Vladimir (talk) 17:51, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I do like folklore articles..funny as I have never edited much on WP on folklore. Will take a look a bit later today. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:39, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK issue

Hello! Your submission of Pteridium aquilinum at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Crum375 (talk) 19:03, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

They don't have them one already!?

Dude.. I was just looking at the article for Billy Corgan while listening to the smashing pumpkins on my ipod and apparently he has struggled with OCD throughout his life - like a surprisingly large number of famous people, I thought there would be a list for this he was on but there isn't; I feel very strongly that wikipedia needs a list of well known people who have suffered from OCD - apart from anything else, this would do wonders for promoting awareness of this potentially miserable and crippling condition. You're a shrink (according to your userbox -and good one too I'd wager), you know how bad it can be and I see you did a lot of work on major depressive disorder.. what do you think? We could do a similar list for clinical depression..Kotare (talk) 04:12, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I haven't looked at that yet. The whole area of famous people with mental conditions is a dicey one to say the least. I am skeptical of many claims I have seen so caution is advised. Will take a look at what is around re OCD. Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:21, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Lol, I should have known... I guess there isn't exactly the same plethora of resources for the health of celebrities as there is for information on NZ bird species :p Thanks for your feedback though, and for looking into it. I have lots of free time for the rest of this week so I have no excuse not to make a final push for Huia before we throw it into the snake pit! Cheers,Kotare (talk)

WikiCup 2010 June newsletter

We're half way through 2010, and the end of the WikiCup is in sight! Round 3 is over, and we're down to our final 16. Our pool winners were Ian Rose (submissions) (A), Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) (B, and the round's overall leader), ThinkBlue (submissions) (C) Casliber (submissions) and TonyTheTiger (submissions) (D, joint), but, with the scores reset, everything is to play for in our last pooled round. The pools will be up before midnight tonight, and have been selected randomly by J Milburn. This will be the toughest round yet, and so, as ever, anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Though unaffiliated with the WikiCup, July sees the third Great Wikipedia Dramaout- a project with not dissimilar goals to the WikiCup. Everyone is welcome to take part and do their bit to contribute to the encyclopedia itself.

If you're interested in the scores for the last round of the Cup, please take a look at Wikipedia:WikiCup/History/2010/Round 3 and Wikipedia:WikiCup/History/2010/Full/Round 3. Our thanks go to Stone (submissions) for compiling these. As was predicted, Group C ended up the "Group of Death", with 670 points required for second place, and, therefore, automatic promotion. This round will probably be even tougher- again, the top two from each of the two groups will make it through, while the twelve remaining participants will compete for four wildcard places- good luck everyone! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17

Backlog Elimination Drive Has Begun

Hello, I just wanted to take a moment and announce that the July 2010 Backlog Elimination Drive has started, and will run for a month. Thanks for signing up. There's a special prize for most edits on the first day, in case you've got high ambitions. Enjoy! ɳorɑfʈ ^Talk! 04:09, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for gape

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Black Currawong

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:02, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Leviathan melvillei

This is interesting.

How about {{unblock}}ing me and recasting me as a legit-alt account?^{we'd have to ask, of course}

Compare these: [10] [11]

Cheers, Moby Dick 08:26, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Hah, funny. I was just looking at the story and wondering whether an article had been started....and it has...Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:01, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

I was doing the same... and looked. If no one had started it, I thought you might jump in. Read In the Heart of the Sea. Cheers, Jack Merridew 11:16, 3 July 2010 (UTC), who wasn't joking 'bouh the other

I am amazed at how quick palaeontology articles on new discoveries are started. I am just about always beaten to the punch...Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:23, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

It was found two years ago, but published in Nature three days ago. It's the readers, not the professionals jumping in. Prolly the Jurassic Park set ;) No offense to the actual starter or others intended ;) *coughs*, Jack Merridew 11:37, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Acronychia laevis

— Rlevse • Talk • 12:02, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for looking at this article on the Acronychia. Conditions for photography could not be better that day. It was interesting to see the flower & fruit on the tree at the same time. That entire section of the botanic gardens was replete with the scent of Mallotus claoxyloides. Some say it smells like a skunk, I reckon it's a wonderful scent. Yesterday I met up with "Black Diamond", the photographer. We'll be visiting the Woodford Tree in the Blue Mountains on Thursday, July 15th. Unfortunately, that's the only day he's free. You are welcome to come along if you have the spare time. Poyt448 (talk) 00:58, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm. how far off a carpark is the tree? (did I ask this before?) I might be able to free up some time but it will be quite fiddly. Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:00, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Tasmanian restricted-range endemic species that only occur on Tasmania

I just passed the Black Currawong, but I noticed it is in a Category:Tasmanian restricted-range endemic bird species. Isn't the "restricted-range" bit redundant there? Ucucha 16:14, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Also, if you have time, could you have a look at List of parasites of the marsh rice rat? It's up at FLC, but hasn't gotten any comments yet. It'll finish the Oryzomys featured topic, so it would be a shame if it would fail for lack of reviews. Ucucha 16:30, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

No worries. Everyone has been great at reviewing my stuff recently but lean periods can be frustrating. Will take a look today. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:18, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Strong-billed Honeyeater

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Pteridium aquilinum

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:03, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Copyedit request

I won't call you in for another GAC after what I put you through with Illegal logging in Madagascar. But if you have some time, I would appreciate your assistance with a copyedit of the relatively new Subfossil lemur article. It will eventually become my next FAC, and basic text clean-up seems to be what my FAC candidates seem to have the most problems with lately. It would be nice if I could have the text up to par before submitting. There's no huge rush. If you have time, I'd appreciate it. Best, – VisionHolder « talk » 16:01, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

No worries. I still feel bad about the logging article - happy to help. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:14, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Don't feel bad about the logging article. Your assessment was ultimately correct. It was also plagued by political circumstances (which left it lacking in terms of quality references), a lack of an "official" title in the literature (though "illegal logging" is starting to emerge even in the news media now), and my own issues with NPOV, which I didn't notice while writing. Anyway, I'll be watching your copyedits, and I appreciate your feedback! – VisionHolder « talk » 20:37, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

I feel I've answered most of Ucucha's comments (for now). I would love to hear your feedback and see your copy-edits. If anything needs work, just let me know. – VisionHolder « talk » 05:38, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Timer?

Hi Casliber,

There is a question on the Talk:Magnolia grandiflora page regarding what is meant by the word "timer" as used in the article. Since I didn't know either, I traced the addition back to the one you had made using the term. If you have a moment, please answer on the M. grandiflora talk page. Thanks, Hamamelis (talk) 18:52, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

So that's what it is... thanks for adding the missing "b"! Hamamelis (talk) 21:35, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks re: Confirmation bias

Thanks for your constructive comments and support vote in the FAC for Confirmation bias. I'm mindful that the consequences section might be further improved, and have been looking for relevant academic sources. I'm quite pumped to have achieved my first FA! MartinPoulter (talk) 10:57, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Psychology and med articles are a great achievement. My only effort so far at FAC was major depressive disorder which was a challenge to say the least....Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:13, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Four Award

		Four Award
		Congratulations! You have been awarded the Four Award for your work from beginning to end on Banksia aemula.

Great job yet again! LittleMountain5 14:44, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Evans

Thanks again. I've replied YellowMonkey (vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 01:57, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Royal Gold Cup

Thanks for the comments on the Signpost, as well as the review! Johnbod (talk) 02:50, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Confirmation bias

Damn, sorry, it's already been archived. It's a fascinating article, and I'll read tomorrow. Thanks for drawing my attention to it. Tony (talk) 16:50, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Phaius australis

Hello! Your submission of Phaius australis at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Nsk92 (talk) 16:03, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Calochlaena dubia

Hello! Your submission of Calochlaena dubia at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Smartse (talk) 15:07, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Viminaria

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Depression and suicide

Wee have many good references which show that medication for depression do not decrease suicide risk and may in fact increase it in certain patient populations. Not sure why this was removed. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 07:22, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

replied there. Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:48, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Phaius australis

The DYK project (nominate) 00:03, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Howdy,

Thanks for looking at this orchid article. I'm still after a real photo of this orchid. Last time we had a Phaius DYK, the photo was WRONG. We put a Did You Know on Wikipedia. And the photo was WRONG. Perhaps we can blame the Dresden Botanic Gardens. It's terrible to make a public error like this.

Today, me and three other guys walked to the gigantic Woodford Tree in the Blue Mountains. Here's a picture: http://picasaweb.google.com/poyt448/WoodfordTree#5494051776217407314

I invited you to come along, but you didn't give me a yes or no answer. Why not? Say yes, or say no. So, I assumed you were a "no" but you didn't want to say "no".

One of the companions on the walk is a Wikipedia editor. He's written 270+ Wikipedia articles.

His IQ is 170. I've seldom met anyone smarter than me. But this guy has an intellect of phenomenal and astronomical talent. His brain is of an outrageous perspicacity. I kept asking him difficult questions, but his answers were deliberate and easy to understand. Not only he is an intellectual prodigy, but he explained complex things so easily.

As for Phaius australis, soon I hope to return to the Royal Botanic gardens and photograph this plant in flower. It should take a week or two.

Being in the wilderness was OK today. Actually, better than OK. Leg strength was good. I'm breathing well. Crawling up cliffs and identifying plants at the same time. Some of the guys had trouble crawling up the cliffs. We had to hold sticks and drag the other guy up. Or in my case, one guy used my leg to hold onto, to crawl up a sandstone mini cliff. His entire weight was on my knee, as he crawled up the cliff.

As previously answered to questions about my intentions. "Are you a botanist, are you a photographer?" No, I'm a bushwalker, and today's experience confirmed that nothing can be better than this. To be an Australian in the Australian wilderness, like it was today. Poyt448 (talk) 12:23, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

(sigh) sounds like you had a great time. I didn't answer yes or no as I would have loved to have gone but have alot of things on my plate. We often go up to the mountains and visit people up there so there was an outside chance I could chisel out some time and sneak off but in the end there was no way it was going to happen. Sorry I didn't spell it out before the event (that it was less and less likely I could find time to go). I am a bit of an optimist at times. I can relate to how you feel in the bush - I love it too, just insanely hard to get there for a whole stack of reasons. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:22, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Another deadly mushroom

Check out the link just added to the article Trogia... very interesting. I will investigate further. Sasata (talk) 17:07, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Ack! I got woken up...checked this...fascinating! Need to go back to be and look into tomorrow more....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Casliber (talk · contribs) 18:43, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I was too lazy to figure out ITN, so just submitted this for DYK here. Sasata (talk) 22:36, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

P.S. There's a possibility of a double with Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome, but am not sure that these shouldn't be merged. What do you think? Sasata (talk) 22:39, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I think a merge would be a good idea on the balance of things, but not fussed if others think otherwise. ITN would be fun for a change and I think both qualify....I have had things rejected for DYK on the basis of them being line up for ITN. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:36, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Armillaria luteobubalina

OK I'm going to put this one up next with you as co-nom, after a final copyedit and check... any objections? Figured it'd be better to do it now then next round when we will be in the same pool ;) Sasata (talk) 02:58, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Sounds good. Been meaning to review the one last article on the page but got sidetracked x 2. Will definitely be at library to check last ref on Friday. By my looking at it it looks pretty good to go. Wil see if any copyediting to do but this can be alongside listing at FAC as they are often slow to start off. Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:01, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Judging from the speed of your last two FACs, they're not that slow for everybody :) Sasata (talk) 03:07, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the last couple were speedy thankfully. I meant usually there's about 12-24 hours before folks start weighing in. But yeah, let's do it :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 03:44, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Do you have Field Guide to Australian Fungi (2005) by Fuhrer? If so could you extract and add a few words about the diffs between A. luteobubalina, and the other Armillaria species (esp. A. pallidula, I can't seem to find any description of it on the net)? If not, I think I can get to the library tomorrow to retrieve Kile & Watling's (1988) "Identification and occurrence of Australian Armillaria species, including A. pallidula sp. nov. and comparative studies between them and non-Australian tropical and Indian Armillaria" Trans Br Mycol Soc 91:305. Sasata (talk) 20:26, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

hang on a minute...(squeaking sound of old wood as gets off chair to fetch book...) Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:28, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

PS: got it. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:30, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Swans

Have you seen Swans[12] are back touring. It always strikes me that for such an easygoing person, you seem to like very evil music. Ceoil (talk) 09:23, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

You mean this band? Wow, I am intrigued. I have never heard of them....wait, evil!? what's evil about the stuff I like...an' I never even mentioned Trent Reznor.... :/ Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:12, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Word on the street is Trent Reznor lives with his mother. No I mean late 70s early 80s punk and post punk. Take a compliment; your links are always grand, so more please. Ceoil (talk) 11:47, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

We-ell, the next act i am seeing in a couple of weeks is Bill Bailey (again - Isaw him two tours of Oz ago). Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:50, 16 July 2010 (UTC) I've never seen but listen and his Kraftwerk and NY minimulaist (plink pink plonk) stuff is just great. [13] - random evil lk. Ceoil (talk) 11:53, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Funniest comedian I've ever seen...and not a swearword or people-observation skit in sight. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:53, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Manchester United F.C.

Just to let you know this article is at FAC again in case you wanted to leave any comments. Best, Tom (talk) 13:52, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Atalaya multiflora

The DYK project (nominate) 06:02, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for looking at Atalaya multiflora. I took the photo when waiting for "Black Diamond" to arrive, when at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney. We later met up on Thursday with two other guys to see the gigantic Woodford Tree in Blue Mountains. Too bad you couldn't come along. Weather was perfect, conditions ideal. Scenery good too. It would be great to meet you.

My area of expertise is the rainforest trees of the Illawarra. I constantly made errors of identification with other plants, I was made to look very foolish!

You know, it's a great thing being in a group of men in the wilderness. It brings back those atavistic "hunting in the wilderness" type impulses. We've been doing this sort of thing for thousands of years. Instead of a bow and arrow, we had camera each as our "weapon", and the quarry was wonderful botanical sights. Sorry you couldn't come along.

But thanks for your support. Poyt448 (talk) 06:28, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Chlorpromazine

Hey Cas. I've had a go at the lead of chlorpromazine—here's the diff, let me know what you think. Some opinions (let me know if you agree :):

• No need to mention molecular structure, it's right there in the drugbox

• "Synthesized on December 11, 1950..." CPZ is probably synthesized every day in factories around the world; need to mention "First synthesized..."

• Added some context on importance of CPZ to birth of psychopharmachology and, consequently, change in psychiatric care paradigms

• Removed bit on clathrin-mediated endocytosis as it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere else in the article (WP:LEAD).

• The MOA passage needs some serious attention: mixing adverse and treatment effects is probably a bad idea unless you phrase it logically (e.g. "its anticholinergic properties cause constipation, sedation, and hypotension, but also help relieve nausea" is worded logically; the current phrasing isn't). By the way, are you sure that's right? Aren't the antiemetic effects due to the antidopaminergic/antihistamine effect??? :)

• Reworked the ROA bit for clarity (lay readers probably won't know IM)

Again, let me know what you think. I know you're just reviewing this one, so I don't want to step on the nominator's toes :) Cheers! Fvasconcellos (t·c) 15:21, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the lead buff is good. Agree on the other points. Now to it. I think you're right on the origin of the antiemetic effects (hence why we use haloperidol in cancer...) Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:35, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Calochlaena dubia

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi, one of my colleagues happily eats the fruit of Solanum aviculare, with no apparent ill effect. I walked through the local forest yesterday. Found two great orchid species in flower, including Acianthus fornicatus. Also yet another type of fern Lindsaea linearis. Great to see the Bolwarra there too, I've not seen them here before. I can't find Bats Wing fern here. There appears to be another type of bracken here. With a fine delicate foliage. As yet, I can't identify it.

Your two plants mentioned are unknown to me, but they look very interesting. The stubs you wrote look great.

The ferns at Adelina falls at Lawson were diverse and remarkable. Identifying them was near impossible. Though I couldn't see any fork ferns, which undoubtedly were present. On the drive to Woodford on Thursday there was a mallee growing up on the ridge. We didn't stop, but I'd like to return and try to figure out which type it is. Poyt448 (talk) 23:47, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Sigh - am no good at ferns. Was at Alan Fairley's house and then in Oatley Park on weekend - and there was bracken and I think it was Pteridium but am not too hot on ferns yet...I transplanted a bunch of Doodia aspera from my old to new house last week. The mallee might be burgessiana (??) :) Casliber (talk · contribs)

PS: While I think of it, this book is fantastic. Parallel's Floyd's book in detail. ihad a copy but it seems to have sprouted legs and vanished so I think I will have to buy another. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:59, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Howdy,

I was wondering the other day, how about we do a "Featured Article" on a prominent Australian plant. No doubt this is a tortuous and difficult process on Wikipedia. But after seeing some of the Featured Articles, some of our Australian plants are far more interesting and far more beautiful. My article on the Blackbutt might be suitable. It needs a lot of work from an expert editor. (and it needs a flower photo). But it's a magnificent tree, and the world ought to know about it. Blackbutt is one of the great trees of Australia. What do you think? Poyt448 (talk) 07:44, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Aha, I am glad you asked - basically compare layout with something like Telopea speciosissima or Banksia integrifolia, Banksia spinulosa or Banksia ericifolia. I'll get it going in the right direction tomorrow and develop a game plan on the talk page. Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:05, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi,

Thanks for all your support, it's much appreciated.

Lately I've been looking at the local ferns. It is a very difficult job to try to identify them. Yesterday I looked at the (excellent) article: Pteridium esculentum.

The Soft Bracken (Calochlaena dubia) is a pale green colour with soft dense, lacy fronds not opposite the main stem. Usually found in relatively shady areas.

The common bracken (Pteridium esculentum) is a darker green, with red/brown stems. And stiffer, more open fronds opposite the main stem. Often seen growing in sunnier situations.

The ferns pictured above:

Como

appear to resemble the Soft Bracken as the fronds are not opposite the main stem. This morning I photographed what may be Common Bracken. Note the darker green fronds opposite the stem, more open foliage and dark coloured stem.

Chatswood West

. Perhaps the above photo is not the common bracken as per the article, and a photo swap may be indicated.

By the way, this morning I came across a huge area of Podocarpus spinulosus on the forest floor.

cheers Poyt448 (talk) 00:19, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Oh god, these ferns are going to do my head in - I need to read again and digest, but if you're confident then make the switch - there is a patch of very short Podocarpus spinulosus in Oatley Park - the fruit is supposed to taste quite nice, hopefully unlike [[Podocarpus elatus which I found tasted like ear wax (yuk). Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:28, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Rulingia dasyphylla

Hello! Your submission of Rulingia dasyphylla at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Smartse (talk) 18:04, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

GOCE Newsletter

GOCE July 2010 backlog elimination drive chart Greetings from the Guild of Copy Editors Backlog Elimination Drive! We have now passed the halfway point, so here's an update. Progress Report - Progress toward the targets has been good. 751 articles out of the approximately 1,600 we would like to get completed by the end of the month were done by July 15, so we will be very close to meeting the target for volume. However, we would like to clear all of the 2008 articles from the backlog, and there are still 892 left to do. Please consider choosing one of these older articles when looking for something to copy edit. If we focus our firepower we can completely wipe out 2008 from the queue. Participation Report - 95 people signed up for the July drive. This is a great result compared to May, when we had 36. However, in May only one person that signed up didn't do any copy edits, and in July only 59 of the 95 have posted any copy edits on the big board. The task may seem insurmountable but please remember that if all 95 participants copy edit just one article a day from now until the end of the month, we will eliminate 1,300 more articles from the backlog. So please consider participating at whatever level you can! All contributions are appreciated. This newsletter was prepared for the GOCE by Diannaa (Talk), S Masters (talk), and The Raptor Let's talk.

Quick review

Since you've already looked over Subfossil lemur during its GAC and encouraged its FAC, would you mind giving it a look over for FAC? If you want, I'll gladly return the favor for looking over a GAC or FAC you have posted. Just let me know which article to look at and I'll try to look it over tonight or tomorrow night. – VisionHolder « talk » 01:49, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

I'll take a look sometime today. Don't feel obliged to look over mine currently, best thing is just review other candidates to try and keep things moving. Been a bit snowed under and now picked up a bit of a head cold - chilly here. :( Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:43, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Where in NSW are you? Blue Mountains? Aaroncrick ^TALK 06:47, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Inner suburbs of Sydney, but we have friends up in the mountians so go up there a bit. To visionholder, tonight maybe. Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:50, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Merge discussion for Foot odor

I have proposed that Smelly socks be merged to Foot odor. Since you contributed to the recent AfD on Smelly socks, you might be interested in participating in the discussion to merge at Talk:Foot odor#Merger proposal. SnottyWong ^confer 05:20, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Pteris tremula

Hello! Your submission of Pteris tremula at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Stemonitis (talk) 10:17, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Dusky Robin

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:02, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Little Thetford (FAC)

Thank you for your comments at Little Thetford (FAC). Much appreciated. I have worked through them. I would welcome your advise on how to handle those I have not marked yet as agreed --Senra (talk) 09:57, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Trogia

— Rlevse • Talk • 12:02, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Cymbonotus lawsonianus

Hello! Your submission of Cymbonotus lawsonianus at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Nsk92 (talk) 16:57, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Battle of the Arges

Yo Casliber! What seemed to be the problem with that? I don't really want to look through the dyk archives, so could you help me out? Buggie111 (talk) 03:12, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Sorry Buggie111, it needed another 150 words or so, it was only a 3.5x expand. Next time :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:19, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Too bad. I could have done that if I had a computer. Buggie111 (talk) 13:49, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of File:Img 3706 email.jpg

A tag has been placed on File:Img 3706 email.jpg requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section F9 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the image appears to be a blatant copyright infringement. For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted images or text borrowed from other web sites or printed material, and as a consequence, your addition will most likely be deleted.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hangon}} to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag - if no such tag exists then the page is no longer a speedy delete candidate and adding a hangon tag is unnecessary), coupled with adding a note on the talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the page meets the criterion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the page that would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. —innotata 19:47, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Gosh, Forgotten about that. I deleted it myself. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:09, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Solanum vescum

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:04, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Chlorpromazine

Hi Casliber, hope all is well with you. I had FV's talk page watch listed from when he was active and noticed the discussion about chlorpromazine and had a skim through the article and noticed a problem. The below text from, here,Chlorpromazine#Tolerance_and_Withdrawal is inaccurate.

"Physical dependence, if it occurs at all, is rare due to compliance problems and the subjective experience of antipsychotics being never described as pleasant."

A physical dependence is by definition physiological but yet this sentence defines it as abuse potential and drug liking terms. It makes the article look amateurishly written. I have not read the source but even if it is correctly sourced I would suggest it is deleted or at least changed to "psychological dependence", if the article is being aimed for GA status.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 00:40, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that it is not sourced the more I think about it, it says that physical dependence is rare due to compliance problems, this would imply that the vast majority of patients do not comply with taking the drug regularly for it to make a side effect "rare". I have no idea though what the literature says about the rate or degree of physical dependence for chlorpromazine. What are your thoughts?--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 00:44, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

You're right. I think we should delete the sentence the more I think about it. These drugs are generally held as unpleasant to take and hence not taken recreationally, and are not tolerance-forming - hence the sentence as is is misleading. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:39, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

I have deleted the sentence and added a sentence cited to the British National Formulary. There is a paragraph in that section which contradicts itself by saying tolerance does not occur to antipsychotic effect, but then says tolerance can occur to antipsychotic effect, but is debatable. I would imagine that tolerance not occuring to antipsychotic effects is the accurate one but I can't access the book online. The citation needs checking to see what it actually says.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 00:23, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

I have resolved the contradiction problem. Looks like someone changed neuroleptic to antipsychotic without realising the confusion they were introducing.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 01:28, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Rulingia dasyphylla

I asked smartse, who had queried your DYK nom, to okay the hook after I added refs to satisfy him, but he has not responded. Also, I would be more comfortable if you would either okay the alt2 hook yourself, or rewrite it. In any case, since nobody seems to be moviong on it I have marked it okay so far as I am concerned, even if you can't really call me a disinterested party at this point.μηδείς (talk) 04:29, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

I think someone has pinched it for a queue already as it is not on the suggestions page anymore..or else it has gone to the wastebin of expired noms...Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:59, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

I just saw it still on the Template talk:Did you know nom page, all the way at the very bottom, under the July 17 heading.μηδείς (talk) 05:37, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Dang, now why didn't Cntrl-F work? Never mind. i tweaked the alt hook. Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:51, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

North Island map for Huia

What about this? File:New Zealand North Island outline.png. Any good? Kahuroa (talk) 07:24, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I can work with that. Kotare, you want the yellow stripey area darker green and the other side paler? Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:29, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

I prob should have saved it as a jpg though. Never mind Kahuroa (talk) 04:48, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

No, png is what I need. Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:50, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi Cas. Thanks for doing the map and the template just now for Huia - they look great!! However, I must advise you that there is one major issue with the map and two major issues with the template; please read my detail below as to what these are carefully, it's a long explanation but the detail is important:

Issue # 1 - The former distribution map: Dude it looks good but at present there is no explanation as to why there are two different shades of green/people don't know what those different colours mean(!!) Now, this is where it gets a bit complicated.. Traditionally on wikipedia a lighter colour is used to denote former range and a darker colour to denote present range or range by a certain date (see Tiger) in such maps. But in these cases the present range is usually nested within the former range like little islands - it's obvious that the species was also found in the areas where colour denotes it is presently found because of this arrangement. But with the Huia map there is a confusing dichotomy of north and south in the distribution change. What's the significance of this? I have thought about it and if we say "pre human range light green and pre 1840 range dark green" people will get confused.. you need to be able to show, visually, that the Huia was also found in the southern bit before humans arrived - so that people don't think they all lived in the north part of the NI in pre human times and all in the southern bit after humans arrived and before 1840 - see what I mean? My suggestion is that you modify the map and put diagonal bars of the same light green used in the northern part (sloping downwards to the right - which will look better in my opinion that if they were sloping the other way) through the southern portion of the north island (south of the line I e-mailed you) which is presently all dark green. Then, modify the caption to say something like this:

Former range; all green areas -striped area denotes range by the year 1840

Issue # 2 - The template looks great and I am very grateful for you for creating one based on my design :) There's just one little problem in that you currently have a link to Wattlebird in the blue header bar of the template when instead you should it should be an internal link to New Zealand Wattlebird - the name "New Zealand Wattlebird" was actually coined to avoid exactly this type of confusion. The second thing regarding the template is that you didn't include the second element I talked about in my email to you here;

"The key features of this template are that the generic names for each of the 3 species are in bold and that a small crucifix on the top right of the word "Huia" is used to denote that this species is extinct, then there is a key to explain what it means"..

Example: http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Template:Strigopidae

I will work on the article tonight and make those last changes to the text that I had talked about, as well as doing some more tweaks that I have thought about lately. If would be awesome if you could make the changes I have suggested - alternatively, if you disagree with them, please discuss your thoughts with me. I will email Kahuroa the photos tonight as he seems keen to help. Once we have these 3 visual elements in place (Map, deforestation photos, template) and I have done the last additions to the text I think we will be ready to submit Huia as a FAC. Cheers, Kotare (talk) 05:57, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Argh, sorry, have run out of time tonight and I need sleep for work tommorow - but I should get those text additions done in the next few days.Kotare (talk) 10:33, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Ditto me. My tax is looming.. :(. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:48, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

PS:Fixed template now - is consensus that Kokako is two species or two subspecies...? Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:52, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

ah yes.. that time of year, jejej. Heather and Robinson (standard NZ ornithological society endorsed filed guide) has it as one species, 2 sub species - pretty sure HANZAB says the same thing, as this version is quite new and there is no way they would disagree. Kotare (talk) 08:03, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Melithreptus, Black-headed Honeyeater, Western White-naped Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Brown-headed Honeyeater

Hello! Your submission of Melithreptus, Black-headed Honeyeater, Western White-naped Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Brown-headed Honeyeater at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 00:14, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Gout

I have added to the page on gout and think I have addressed most of your points. Added a couple thousand more bits of text and a few more recent reviews. Cochrane did not have a great deal.Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 09:32, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Little Thetford FA

Hello, Casliber. You have new messages at Senra's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

DYK for Adiantum formosum

The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Adiantum aethiopicum

The DYK project (nominate) 00:03, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi, thanks again. I feel so silly. I forgot to say that the Maidenhair fern is named after Joseph Maiden. The recent attempts at finding and identifying ferns has been somewhat easier than expected. Mind you, there ought to be a law against an ignoramus like me writing such ferny articles. Recent reading of A.G. Floyd suggest there are rare and wonderful ferns to be seen at the gullies at Mount Wilson. Particularly at Happy Valley and Waterfall Reserve. So, I soon hope to travel there and take useful photos. My favourite plant is listed at Mount Wilson, but after a couple of dozen attempts, I've never found the Atherosperma there. Photographing moss and ferns in a cool wet mountain rainforest gully is an appealing prospect in the dead of winter. And I can't wait to get there. cheers Poyt448 (talk) 08:42, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

I like Mt Wilson alot - long way to go.....what does decaspermum taste like I wonder... Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:40, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Good luck with the garden. Today I thought of my prejudice against psychiatrists. Mainly because I knew too many bad doctors. One of whom was an associate of the mass rapist and mass murderer Harry Bailey. I may well have been dead in the 1980s if I stuck with vermin doctors like them. "Do no harm" is the medical desideratum. But these qualified medical people thought they were better than all that. However, today I was happy in a rainforest, great to see terrific plants and a jumping humpback whale. Here's today's photo and blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/4851925601/ Poyt448 (talk) 08:48, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Howdy,

Today I took a photo of a really impressive rainforest tree, Blush Condoo. I've seen big ones of these up north. They are majestic trees. The taxonomy of these trees is totally confusing for me. So much so that I couldn't attempt to write out the synonyms. If you have the time, please assist. Poyt448 (talk) 07:49, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Rulingia dasyphylla

The DYK project (nominate) 06:03, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Adiantum hispidulum

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:02, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Pteris tremula

— Rlevse • Talk • 06:02, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK query

Hello! Your submission of Decaspermum humile at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Smartse (talk) 16:20, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

In a similar vein, the first paragraph of Litsea bindoniana needs a reference. Smartse (talk) 21:53, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Sorry to be so repetitive, but Petalostigma_triloculare#Flowers_and_fruit lacks references. Smartse (talk) 11:50, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Melithreptus

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Black-headed Honeyeater

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Western White-naped Honeyeater

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Black-chinned Honeyeater

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:04, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Brown-headed Honeyeater

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:04, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Dominican Anole

I'm currently reviewing Dominican Anole for GA. Apart from a few minor things, its main problem is that the lead doesn't adequately summarize the article. However, the author is apparently unable to write a more MOS-consistent lead. Would you be willing to have a look and improve things? (As I'm the GA reviewer, I think I'd get a little too much involved in the article if I'd do it myself.) Thanks, Ucucha 12:43, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

How's that? Do you think it needs to be any bigger than that? Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:59, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I think there's still room for some more (like reproduction, and a little more behavior, or some elements from the description). The lead's main problem was that it placed too much weight on the variation and the subspecies, which are an important aspect of the species, but not so important that they should dominate the whole lead. It's better now, but perhaps not enough yet. Ucucha 13:04, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Rejigged a bit more...Casliber (talk · contribs) 22:59, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

WikiCup 2010 July newsletter

We are half-way through our penultimate round, and nothing is yet certain. Pool A, currently led by Sasata (submissions) has ended up the more competitive, with three contestants ( Sasata (submissions), Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) and TonyTheTiger (submissions)) scoring over 500 points already. Pool B is led by Casliber (submissions), who has also scored well over 500. The top two from each pool, as well as the next four highest scorers regardless of pool, will make it through to our final eight. As ever, anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Planning has begun for the 2011 WikiCup, with open discussions concerning scoring and flags for next year's competition. Contributions to those discussions would be appreciated, especially concerning the flags, as next year's signups cannot begin until the flag issue has been resolved. Signups will hopefully open at some point in this round, with discussion about possible changing in the scoring/process opening some time afterwards.

Earlier this round, we said goodbye to Hunter Kahn (submissions), who has bowed out to spend more time on the book he is authoring with his wife. We wish him all the best. In other news, the start of this round also saw some WikiCup awards sent out by Suomi Finland 2009 (submissions). We appreciate his enthusiasm, and contestants are of course welcome to award each other prizes as they see fit, but rest assured that we will be sending out "official" awards at the end of the competition. If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 22:31, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Collaboration?

Thanks for the welcome note. I'm still figuring my way around this place. Pretty overwhelming!

I do have a few articles I've been working on that I need help with, but haven't figured out how or with whom to collaborate...except for the "Throw it against the wall and see what sticks approach" (i.e. post it anyway and see if it reeks!!!???). Needless to say, I haven't posted these articles as they never seem to get past the "Work in Progress" stage. Your thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Also, I went to the Help page looking for any collaboration tips that might be offered, but nothing was found. I then clicked on The Wikipedia community link thinking that I would surely find something there. Tucked amidst all the other links was the Keeping informed section and underneath it Wikipedia:Community portal, but that too was pretty overwhelming. Anyway, as you scroll down, you finally get to a section on collaborations, but that too takes you in a million directions. Finally if you simply enter "collaboration" into the search box in Wikipedia, you are directed here: Collaboration — another dead end.

For those wanting to collaborate more effectively, perhaps a Collaboration or Collaboration Tips page could be created to help new contributors get oriented. Also I notice that the word "collaboration" itself, in Wikipedia, is virtually synonymous with "immensity" and "overwhelm" — given that its focus is a global community. Turning the word upside down and looking at it from the standpoint of the "New Wikipedian" trying to figure out the most effective way to interface with others in the community might make this section useful.

Anyway, just a few thoughts on helping new contributors get up to speed.

Sadalsuud (talk) 16:02, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the insights on navigating as a neophyte. There is/was also Wikipedia:Article Collaboration and Improvement Drive but it is not active at present. Active collaborations are generally run by the wikiprojects themselves, like Wikipedia:WikiProject Birds/Collaboration and Wikipedia:WikiProject Mammals/Collaboration - they are generally active for anywhere for a few months to a couple of years. Wikipedia:WikiProject Astronomy has not had one that I am aware of, and there'd be some folks interested. I did have an idea about buffing up Betelgeuse but am not good on astrophysics. I also view Good Articles and Featured Articles as good things to aim for, as they represent 'stable points' that one can refer back to once/if articles degrade or change. Anyway, I will think of how we can tweak the above. If yuo want to start an astronomy collaboration I am happy to help (collaborate) :) Casliber (talk • contribs) 20:52, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

PS:Hold the fort, I did find Wikipedia:WikiProject Space/Collaboration...now why do we have separate Space and Astronomy wikiprojects I don't know....Casliber (talk • contribs) 20:55, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick reply. Given your suggestion, I'm willing to step "to the plate" and start a collaboration page... if that's the most effective approach. To me it's a question of what works and what doesn't work. And given that I'm new here, your insights would be very useful.

Oddly, I'm no astrophysicist either. So I don't know if I qualify to manage a group on this topic. My background the last 30 years has been banking and finance — specifically launching new ventures. I just wanted to learn something about astronomy, starting reading articles, got hooked, and very quickly saw that articles could be radically improved with not too much effort.

Given my training, I tend to take a "bottom-up" versus "top-down" approach. So when I think of "collaboration", I think of 2-5 people max teaming up to achieve a specific objective. In this respect I could see dozens of small teams like this working on different goals. Whether that would work or not in the context of Wikipedia is another question. Your insights here, once again, would be valuable.

In my own case, where I saw that I could contribute was simply taking Stub-Class, Low or Mid-Importance articles and get them up to Start or even C or B Class. The recent article Pleione (star) is probably the best I've done. From there, I've gone on to create articles like Iota Herculis. Nothing major, right? I'm just "throwing stuff against the wall to see if it sticks". But here's the rub. I don't know if either of these contributions have any merit. So this is where the concept of "collaboration" comes into play for me. I would be good if I could simply "hand the ball off" to someone else and say "I've taken it as far as I can take it, what do you think?

Why I'm going into this level of detail is I looked at the Wikipedia:WikiProject Astronomy#Members section and I found it intimidating. There are 117 names on that list. As a manager, the first thing that pops into my head is "OK, so what? Who's in charge? Who's assigning what to whom? Who's taken on what assignments? What is expected of members? Is there a minimum level of contribution required? Can I post questions on their talk page and elicit their support? Is that not presumptuous? And who has time for this stuff anyway? Is there a "white flag" that Wikipedians can raise on their talk page that says "Hey, I'm busy this month, don't bug me"? ...etc. It's often been said that if everybody is responsible, nobody is responsible. This is often the downside of "big teams", and so that's why I'm seeing perhaps a different module to get neophytes like me fully plugged in, making useful rather than superfluous contributions.

I did look at what you proposed above at Wikipedia:WikiProject Space/Collaboration. Not a bad idea, but it seems to have failed for lack of interest. I looked at Observing the Moon to see that it was originally flagged in 2008 for improvement from C to FA class. Result? It's still C-Class. That's scary! Maybe there are very few out there that actually want to collaborate. Or maybe it was a failure in how the project was originally designed. Is there by chance a Designing an Effective WikiProject page that takes the best from the best? I also looked at Wikipedia:WikiProject Astronomy/Constellations Task Force. Great idea! I might in fact join. What's missing for me here is focus and results — a section which basically reads: After 3 years, this is our conclusion. Follow this format: A, B, C, D... But I don't see that. Hmmm! Maybe Wikipedia works because it's so open-ended. People just do what they do when they do it. So once again, the underlying inquiry for me is simply "What works?".

In conclusion, if I were to be the catalyst for a new collaboration, it would be something like this. Let's take one constellation per month and get the 10 most important stars and other deep sky objects in that constellation up to C class or better. There's a lot of Stub-Class articles out there with few or no references. It's a bit of a "grunt job" frankly, but if you're working on a team, there's a sense of accomplishment, and clearly it raises the overall quality of the encyclopedia. Maybe there's an astrophysicist in the group that can guide the effort and from there, we hand the ball off to another team. I don't know. Does any of this make sense? Would it even work?

Sadalsuud (talk) 13:52, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

P.S. I did after all discover this page: Wikipedia:Collaborations It's sort of what I was looking for (though buried), but not quite. I think the page I'd ultimately like to see created is Help:Contents/Getting Plugged In. It encompasses collaboration, but has more to do with how you can most effectively contribute, collaboration being but a subset. Are you interested in helping me draft that page to submit for approval later on? I'm already getting ideas as to its design.

Okay I understand. I started off similar, by just editing and watching articles grow, then read somewhere about not contributing if you mind your contributions getting edited mercilessly by someone else. This got me wondering how to go from there a bit like you describe above. One of the reasons for 'declining' ratings is actually wholesale upscaling of the classes as wikipedia adopted inline referencing a couple of years ago. You can look in the history and compare an old version of those articles and see. Although pages list alot of editors, often only a handful are active. Luckily for me there have been a few folks interested in what I write about. Right now I generally concentrate editing on getting results - that is, editing to get to a stable point. My suggestions are (a) list Pleione (star) at Wikipedia:Good article nominations - have a look at the Wikipedia:Good article criteria and see if you feel it qualifies. Here you will get automatic feedback. Once it passes there, then have a look at WP:FAC. You will quickly find a group of interested editors helping out. This is a much better directed way of finding interested editors. I'll post a note at the astronomy wikiproject. I'd leave Help:Contents/Getting Plugged In until you get a feel for the best way of finding interested editors. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:56, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your time and focused feedback. "Finding interested editors"... Hmmm! That was the missing distinction! I will follow your suggestions and see where it leads. Also, thanks for your contributions in the Pleione (star) article. Sadalsuud (talk) 12:19, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

You could ask User:RJHall and User:Spacepotato directly. These are two editors who are specifically interested in star articles. Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:10, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks again. I'll do that. Can you also say something more regarding the "wholesale upscaling of the classes" reducing the overall quality of Wikipedia? If I understand you correctly, it looks like my idea for a "collaboration" would have headed in this direction, and would have therefore been counterproductive. When I look at the Astronomy ratings section what I see are 19,238 stub articles and 3,040 start articles, the sum of which comes to roughly 97% of all the Astronomy articles written. I'm vaguely aware of the fact that Wikipedia is very interested in editors creating more quality content. What's the strategy to achieve that objective? Sadalsuud (talk) 12:19, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Did you know - expand an article fivefold in five days and get it on the front page..is one way.Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:26, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

It's amazing how much you don't know when you start asking questions, right? I'll take some time to read the DYK article. What I see, however with your discerning comments is that a focused and interested contributor can get "plugged in" pretty quick. This dialogue has been very useful. Let's see what happens next?

Butterfly IDs

I just wrote Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory (been approved for DYK) and have ID'd 20 photos of their butterflies [14], but still need to ID 12 more: [15]. Can you or someone you know help ID those 12? Some pics have more than one butterfly. Thanks. — Rlevse • Talk • 23:02, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh god. Um...have they a website to double check....they could come from anywhere which makes it tricky...I'll take a look later. NB:There is a lepidoptera wikiproject that is semi-active. Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:47, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Hope you can help. Posted on that project's talk page. — Rlevse • Talk • 00:41, 28 July 2010 (UTC)