User talk:Dave souza/Archive 2

Congratulations!
Congratulations! It's my pleasure to let you know that, consensus being reached, you are now an administrator. You should read the relevant policies and other pages linked to from the administrators' reading list before carrying out tasks like deletion, protection, banning users, and editing protected pages such as the Main Page. Most of what you do is easily reversible by other sysops, apart from page history merges and image deletion, so please be especially careful with those. You might find the new administrators' how-to guide helpful. Cheers! -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 02:42, 13 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Congratulations, and good luck as an admin! Andre ( talk ) 00:25, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Popups tool
Lupin|talk|popups 02:43, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Congrats & Philip K Dick
Congrats on being made an admin! I'm sure you'll be an excellent asset to the project.

John Dowland and Linda Fox appear in quite a few of Dick's novels, at least Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said and The Divine Invasion. There's at least one short story as well with the setting you described, but I can't quite remember which one. And a quick browse through my 'collection' didn't help at all. :( - ulayiti (talk)  08:19, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Journalist's RFA
I want to thank you very much for your vote on my RFA. Greatly apperciated, I owe you one! Jo urna list |  huh?

Public school
Hi. Heads-up re vote on name change at public school. A couple of us have switched our vote to back the new consensus: a merge with Independent school. I wondered if you would consider reviewing that Talk page and maybe switching support too, so that we can wrap this debate up and move on to improving new article?--Mais oui! 06:43, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Darwin tweaks
Great tweaks on the Darwin page - The article is looking far more encylopaedic due to your edits. I'd appreciate it if you could lend your critical thought to an article I have rewritten - Devolution (biology) to see if it can be improved. Cheers --Majts 20:28, 28 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Flattery will get you everywhere, though it's evident that my writing skills are limited. Despite a lack of knowledge of biology I'll give it a go and try out some revisions for you to consider....dave souza 23:45, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

Evolution
Hello. Just to say that I'm afraid I reverted your recent changes to the evolution article. I thought they were good, but would be better placed in the pages dedicated to the "controversy". The page is supposed to be a straight science one (he says, betraying his background). Anyway, I hope you don't mind. --Plumbago 09:40, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Evolution Creation Controversy
Thank you for your thoughtful edits to Creation Evolution Controversy: UK schools. I appreciate your corrections. --Nowa 02:41, 2 December 2005 (UTC)


 * My pleasure. There are many cases where the meaning or implication of words differs greatly between the U.S. and the UK, or even between England and Scotland as was exemplified by the recent argument that public school (UK) was out, because it means a private school in England, but often a state school in Scotland, which was eventually resolved by moving the article to independent school (UK), It's great if everyone can get the intended meaning. ...dave souza 10:18, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Requested move
As an Admin, could you review the Requested move at Talk:Scottish_ethnicity and move the article, re consensus? Or if any other Admins out there are reading this... Ta.--Mais oui! 12:02, 3 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Seems a sound idea, I'll give it a couple more days in case anyone objects then should be able to sort it...dave souza 18:50, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Monty Python
I couldda sworn that they introduced in as Sir Gallahad the Pure. Anyways there same thing, still funny.

Gallahad:Your gay arent you?

Lancelot:No no im not. :)


 * Just remembered we have the book with the script in the house:
 * ZOOT - What is your name, handsome knight"
 * GALAHAD - Er ... Sir Galahad ... the chaste
 * (and later) No, No, this cannot be. I am sworn to chastity
 * and so on. ...dave souza 02:31, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
 * found the intro you're thinking of: THE BOOK OF THE FILM where a hand turns pages as a voice over introduces the knights after Belvedere: Sir Gallahad the Pure (hand turns page) And Sir Robin the not-quite-so-pure.....etc...dave souza 11:03, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm an admin now!!
Thanks a ton for your support on my rfa, the final tally was 50-0-0; I'll try and live up to the expectations of you and others and do my best in maintaining the integrity of Wikipedia. --Gurubrahma 13:17, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Your comment to me
Sorry to get back to you so late. On my talk page you said in part, "Hoping that your efforts to make RfA a saner operation will soon bear fruit". Sadly, I don't see that happening. I'm not going to give up, but I don't see my efforts coming to any benefit any time in the near term future. I may return to doing edit count analysis charts. My analysis so far suggests that admin nominees for whom I do charts (which are people who have <2000 edits at time of RfA) have a 10% greater chance of passing. This is precisely the effect I was hoping for. 12 of the 23 RfAs currently up are for nominees with <2000 edits. I'm curious to see how those turnout. --Durin 19:40, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * All is not lost: as you'll have noted, I've tried reminding people of the need for WP:GRFA on RfA talk and the village pump..dave souza 09:35, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I haven't visited WP:GRFA in quite a while now. I gave up hope on it when Tony and Ambi took it over and refused any consideration of opposing views. Early on in the discussion, before things devolved, I noted that there were two opposing views as to what GRFA should be, that of what RFA *should* be and what RFA *is*. Tony and Ambi most definitely want it to be a reflection of what they think RFA should be. The reality of RFA is very different. The guide can't realistically be both. Especially with Ambi's attitude and willingness to revert war everything that went against his view, further progress became difficult to achieve. So, I gave up. Eventually, some day, somebody will put forth a coherent GRFA. I don't think that will happen any time soon. --Durin 13:32, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Well, I've reviewed them and after a few minor edits they seemed OK to my admittedly inexperienced eyes. The cat's amongst the pigeons now, as I've proposed on RfA talk that a sentence be added to the intro recommending a link to the miniguide. If you don't like the current form of the guides, let me know. ...dave souza 13:45, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I don't like the current form of the guides :) But, I'm not willing to fight the battles that would ensue if I tried to change things. --Durin 14:32, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Re: Intelligent Archive
You said that I "appear to have deleted a large and mostly tedious lump from Talk:Intelligent design to move to Talk:Intelligent design/Archive 22, which seems to be somewhat missing. Any problem?" However, I didn't delete anything from the talk page, nor did I attempt to create the archive. Here are my last three edits on the page (the most recent is listed first):, ,. As you can see, the first one on that list was made after FM archived. It was almost a half hour after FM's edit, so I assume there wasn't any edit conflict -- so I dunno what happened. However, Archive 22 appears to be intact now. Am I missing something? I might have messed up, but I don't think so... and if I did, it was by accident! -Parallel or Together ? 00:16, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * My error in misidentifying whodunnit. Apology posted to User talk:Parallel or Together?.....dave souza 08:36, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Brython
Hello. Would you have a source for this statement: Please note that Brythonic territory extended north of the Forth and Clyde: which is how Dumbarton got its name, as well as the Manaw Gododdin being up in the Stirling area? Mais oui keeps changing the Brython/Briton articles' definitions to exclude Scotland/Picts (and inserting that north of the Forth/Clyde was not British/Brythonic). I have asked him for some references but he has not produced any. It would be nice to have some sort of reference for this as it's getting ammended regularly now. Alun 05:46, 11 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Some clarification of both POVs is needed, will try to improve the Brython article. ...dave souza 11:01, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall
Hi Dave, I just noticed that you were the original author of this article. I hope you don't mind me "wikifying the shit out of it". I've been adding quite a few images to Scottish related articles recently and came across this one today. After adding the image, I saw that it needed a few links, so I let rip :) -- Cactus.man   &#9997;  16:02, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Woops, sorry, wrong page, ignore the above - I was referring to Crookston Castle instead :) -- Cactus.man   &#9997;  16:35, 11 December 2005 (UTC)


 * No problem, improvements to articles I start are always welcome. These are good photos, and the one of the Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall is particularly excellent. By the way, got any of Newark Castle, Port Glasgow? ...dave souza 18:39, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Not the greatest of photos, but it does the job I think. I have added it to the article. -- Cactus.man  &#9997;  09:09, 12 December 2005 (UTC) 


 * Excellent, thanks a lot. I'll try to find a better pic or get along there and take something showing the wider view, but this is grand for now..dave souza 13:26, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks again!!
Hi Dave, thanks a ton for the heads up about the rave and rant on Slashdot. That user has e-mailed me saying that he'll complain to other neutral admins. I've pointed out to him in my reply that I blocked User:Astriolok for 24 hours and User:Peyna for 3 hours (benefit of doubt). I tried replying on slashdot but there seems to be some problem with the account creation. if you think it is necessary, you may want to reply on slashdot with the fact abt others getting blocked. Sorry if I'm causing you additional work. --Gurubrahma 08:18, 12 December 2005 (UTC)


 * No bother, I'll have a go but my slashdot account hasn't been logging in properly lately. ...dave souza 14:14, 12 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Thanks again!! Though he accuses me that I've blocked others after he threatened to complain, it is further from truth as all three users were blocked within 20 minutes duration of each block - I needed to establish beyond doubt that the other users were also violators - the times can be checked from the blocklogs. --Gurubrahma 14:17, 12 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. I've not tried to get into the gory details, and think that's enough feeding the troll for now...dave souza 14:40, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Theistic evolution redirect
arrrgh, I saw a double redirect and did a "what links here', and I started cleaning up, as you guessed. Thanks for the heads-up, I scanned the talk page but my quick look wasn't enough, apparently. Well, I can always do it back the other way if that's how it pans out. Thanks again. :)

22:26, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Atlantic Roundhouses
With reference to your edit concerning duns on the Atlantic Roundhouse page, I was referring specifically to the kind of dun that's extremely common in, for example, the Isle Of Lewis - often occupying small loch islets (such as Dun Bharabhat). When referenced, as in this case, as a particular kind of construction the term could probably use some disambiguation from the generic term used to describe pretty much any sort of fort - dun? Thanks for correcting my wikilink, a careless mistake on my part. Lianachan 11:06, 22 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Good stuff, there's plenty to do about Scottish archaeology. The dun article needs a bit of clarification since there are probably more rectangular duns than round ones, and further information like the above could help that article. I think it's probably best to explain the variations on that article, and not disambiguate into sub articles unless it gets really big. ...dave souza 20:05, 22 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I tend to only use the term dun when talking about the broch-like constructions. The rectangular ones and suchlike I usually refer to as forts.  Maybe a description of the topoynm dún would be a good way to distinguish between the roundhouse and non-roundhouse duns?  Of course, that toponym is also used to describe brochs and related structures... It's a confusing mess, really. Believe it or not, the Atlantic Roundhouse terminology has been introduced to simplify these matters and to reduce the tendancy to classify these structures into ridgid groups (brochs, broch towers, semi-brochs, duns, etc...) It does work, but it's going to take time to come into common useage.  Most widely held knowledge about broch related matters is at least 20 years out of date. Most importantly though - have a cool Jul. Lianachan 09:50, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Merry Christmas
I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Guettarda 17:09, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks Dave
Thanks for the note, Dave, I appreciate it. You've been a valuable contributor to the effort, and your diligent collaboration in both the easy and difficult times exemplifies the best of Wikipedia, in my view. Were all editors as fair and open-minded as you've been... Thanks for contributing, and enjoy the holidays. FeloniousMonk 17:49, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks so much
When I think of all of us who worked together so hard for so long, I think of the line from Henry V We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...

It was a fun ride, wasn't it? So thanks you guys, that meant a lot to me.

Who did the Thelonious with a mop artwork? Brilliant! FeloniousMonk 08:18, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I think you've got talent
I'm very impressed with your Thelonious Monk artwork; you captured his essence, I think. I also think you've got some talent there. Thanks for taking the time to create it. FeloniousMonk 16:38, 28 December 2005 (UTC)


 * What can I say, KC gave me the idea, I looked at the pic of TM in Wickipedia and did a back of the envelope sketch. I've been cartooning for a long time, as the mood takes, and often the first rough draft catches the character which can't be recaptured by overworking it. Glad you liked it, ...dave souza 00:08, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Barnstar templates
Work continues on further templates. - RoyBoy 800 03:22, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Bullying
Dave, you might want to take a look at this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Benapgar/Bullying Jim62sch 11:11, 17 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Wish I hadn't. Feeling the need to give Ben a fair appraisal I spent some time looking through a strange mixture of boring screeds, insults, complaints about being insulted, repetitive attempts to get alterations that a general consensus had rejected, humourless complaints about frivolity and occasional relatively reasonable comments, I sadly came to the conclusion that it was appropriate to add my sig and had an edit conflict just as Ben removed all the bits on the page he doesn't like. Well, at lest that's reasonable research done should the issue resurface. Late revision: tried again and the antipetition petition's back: got through that time ...dave souza 23:22, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

how do i unstub an article
dear dave

you have been helpful in the past. how do i get the stub designation removed from an article? I have substantially rewritten "Scone Palace" and know this subject. thanks Anlace 06:47, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
 * See Stub: anyone can remove a stub tag once the stub's been enlarged into an article, and someone already has with "Scone Palace". All good stuff. ...dave souza 11:57, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Request for comment
Could you have a look at the Cfd discussion linked to from Category:Transport in England (cfd 20 Jan log) and the related comments which have been deposited at my Talk page. I have requested Admin input, and none has been forthcoming. I must admit that I am at a bit of a loss what to do about this. My initial reaction was not to take part in the CFD debate at all, because each time I vote on one of these things I am subjected to abuse, but I'll be damned if I am going to be intimidated into silence. If you don't wish to get involved, fair enough, but I will have to request other Admin advice elsewhere.

I asked you because I know for a fact that you do not share my political affiliations: not of course that that should make the blindest bit of difference, but it seems that anyone who sticks their nose in is likely to get it bitten off, so maybe you will be more immune.--Mais oui! 12:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Had a look, thought it worth supporting keeping the category which could help people find area related transport articles regardless of the organisational structure of the country. I'll have a friendly word with CalJW as his reaction to you seems non-productive, though I can appreciate his concern about political motivations behind categorisation which, in this case, seems to be unwarranted. ....dave souza 17:57, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. If you have a look at User talk:CalJW you'll see that I think there are also some points in this which you could take to heart, and it doesn't seem to me to be a matter for admin action. ....dave souza 18:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't accept that an intervention by an acquaintance of one party is neutral. You were likely to be predisposed to support Mais oui!. You failed to disclose your prior acquaintance in your comments. I am taking a break from wikipedia as their are too many contributors who are pursuing political agendas and I have no condidence in the administrators (despite recently being asked to put myself forward for nomination as an administator) or in Jimbo Wales. CalJW 20:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry you have these concerns: if you can be bothered with the RfA archives you'll find that my acquaintance with Mais Oui does not predispose me to supporting him/her. Were it not for this addiction I'd probably have the sense to take more breaks from this myself, hope it refreshes. ...dave souza 00:22, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Charles Darwin
Hi Dave. Thanks for your fixes to my changes! About the following sentence:

"On February 17, 1837, Lyell used his presidential address at the Geographical Society to present Owen's findings to date on Darwin's fossils, and pointed out the implication that extinct species were related to current species in the same locality."

Don't you think "the implication" reads awkwardly with "pointed out"? I see why you've put it back in and agree something like it needs to be included but my style antennae quiver at the sight of the sentence! :). How about

"On February 17, 1837, Lyell used his presidential address at the Geographical Society to present Owen's findings to date on Darwin's fossils, and pointed out one could infer extinct species were related to current species in the same locality."

That’s still not quite right but I can’t think of anything better (“highlighted” instead of “pointed out” maybe). Let me know what you think, Mikkerpikker ... 02:55, 5 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks for tackling the style: here's my idea for a change:

"On February 17, 1837, Lyell used his presidential address at the Geographical Society to present Owen's findings to date on Darwin's fossils, noting particularly the unexpected implication that extinct species were related to current species in the same locality."
 * The "particularly" may be unnecessary, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. ....dave souza: talk 08:51, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I like it! In fact, I think I'm gonna go change the article to reflect your proposed change... (think "particularly" is not stricly speaking necessary but ok in context). Mikkerpikker ... 10:01, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Kilcreggan
Hi Dave, Kilcreggan now has a pier! Also, that's a nice range of photos you've supplied for the Newark Castle, Port Glasgow article. BTW, to save an image from Geograph to your HD, just right click on it and select "save image as" or whatever equivalent your browser calls the command. Cheers. -- Cactus.man  &#9997;  14:13, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Many thanks, that gives access to a lot of distant photos. Any new photos you want around Inverclyde, let me know. ....dave souza, talk


 * Will do, thanks for the offer. And I have to say "Good Grief !", a one-button mouse? Surely worthy of an article due to notability as the first mouse in history to qualify for a bus pass :-) -- Cactus.man  &#9997;  15:42, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Welcoming
I happened to notice that you welcomed User:Saek. Thank you. However, you placed the welcome template on the user page rather than at User talk:Saek where it normally belongs. For one thing, no message is sent to a user when a message is placed on their user page, only when it is placed on their user talk page. RJFJR 19:55, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Apologies for my error, I have done it correctly in the past. ....dave souza, talk 20:03, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Chess piece

 * I'll bet you either Agapetos or 220 (Sarfati) blanked it. Jim62sch 14:29, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

User:Zocky deleted everything after Feb 2. with the message "deleting what seems to be a lot of private info disclosure until I read it. please do not undelete without first reading it yourself." It appears s/he couldn't even be bothered to read it, just deleted it all. Zocky also re-deleted the RFC against Aa, but since it has been deleted previously I am not willing to wheel-war. Guettarda 14:44, 17 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Oh, the bet's off because I said that before I looked, forgetting the old adage about looking before you leap. :) Jim62sch 14:50, 17 February 2006 (UTC)


 * and  Guettarda 17:50, 17 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Ah. Back to the reading list. ...dave souza, talk 21:44, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

history of science
Dave, please consider joining the History of Science WikiProject.--ragesoss 21:00, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Sarfati
Hi Dave, I've added a version of the criticism section you wrote to Jonathan Sarfatti. See here. It's trimmed because of the discussion on the subpage about sources, but it can be expanded as more good sources are found. Let me know what you think, please, and thank you very much for your hard work, which has gone a long way (I hope) to bringing the disagreements to an end. SlimVirgin (talk) 13:29, 23 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Dave, go ahead and edit as you see fit. I see the subpage discussion as more or less closed now, as most of the issues AA raised are dealt with. The thing to watch is to be scrupulous about using good sources and sticking closely to what they say. When dealing with biographies of living persons, we're expected to be particularly careful about sourcing, especially when there has been a complaint. Thank you again for the time and effort you've put into this. SlimVirgin (talk) 16:15, 23 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Hey Dave, look out for the Scott articles. i sent you three altogether. David D. (Talk) 21:24, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks, that's excellent. Lots of bedtime reading ...dave souza, talk 21:33, 23 February 2006 (UTC)