User talk:MalcolmMcDonald

I've virtually abandoned editing articles because of entrenched obduracy. I've not completely abandoned checking Wikipedia for information, since I'm still hoping for balanced views, or at least information on such topics as Global Warming. I made another attempt to learn something about GW recently, I'd come across something from "Edward R Long" who seems to be an important skeptic, hoping to find out what he really says. As my experience primed me to expect, Wikipedia was no help whatsoever. I've still never had an answer to my question "What is the purpose of this suite of articles on Global Warming?". I've started afresh there around 6 times looking for information, and never found anything useful. What a waste of time. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 10:05, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Reads like an advertisement
I was not the one who originally made this comment but here are some examples that I found in a quick glance. Note that I am not questioning the truth of the statements. 'The IPCC's Working Group III is responsible for crafting reports on mitigation...' ...using only the finest ingredients. 'These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries'. ...and 9 out of 10 cats prefer it. The paragraph that actually talks about scepticism starting: 'Some global warming skeptics in the science or political communities dispute...', is the last one in the section, essentially as a disclaimer. ...the value of your investment may go down as well as up. Martin Hogbin (talk) 10:28, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

We need some comments
Malcolm, have you contacted involved editors and asked them to comment here? Martin Hogbin (talk) 15:57, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I imagine this being a slow-burning project and I'm contacting critics of the article first. If I can get a reasonable turn-out (perhaps 20 or so) then I can list and/or request that supporters of the current article show their hand. All suggestions gratefully recieved. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 16:26, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Not canvassing
This is not a vote, it's a work in progress trying to discover whether the body of editors is "happy" with the NPOV of these articles. I am contacting the "unhappy" first because they have more to say, need a lot longer to put it up and think about it, and because they're the only ones who can provide the feedback on what they consider the real issues to be. I'm not even sure how many of the "happy" editors will agree to put their names here, I may end up with a note saying "I have listed for myself xx editors I consider to be happy, this compares with xx editors prepared to say in public that they are unhappy". I am prepared to answer all questions and respond to all comments, but intend to either keep this TalkPage clean or move other material to the top. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 09:49, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Non-specialist visitors speak
(This non-specialist editor made 1,404 edits to 738 unique articles before commenting here). I posted to your chart originally as an IP (69.165.150.81 (talk)). Look at my edits. I did, in effect, stumble on the AGW pages when I was looking for something. Check my edits. For two years, I never touched those pages. I wrote and copy edited historical bios, for the most part. I haven't engaged in discussion board debates or been interested in doing any more than fixing the many, many writing errors, spelling mistakes and grammatical problems I find when I surf Wikipedia.Spoonkymonkey (talk) 19:25, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Improvement Chart
MASTER copy of the "Improvement Chart". Please add your name to the relevant categories, perhaps with a brief description of exactly what concerns you. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 08:17, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the invitation to contribute. To which article does this refer? You do realise that there is a whole series of articles, including Global warming controversy, Scientific opinion on climate change, and Politics of global warming. . . dave souza, talk 20:04, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The chart refers to all the GW articles and all the things they may have in commmon. It's here to document the kind of things people may think are going wrong. I've tried to avoid anything that might offend like reference to PA from some quarters. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 20:22, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Malcolm, we should also add to your list that when discussions occur about an issue, they must be reverted until discussion is settled in a consistent manner. Too many times an AGW activist will insist their change stays on the live page while discussion occurs, meanwhile AGW skeptic changes are immediately reverted until the editor can prove the change is relevant (which, as a side note, appears to be near impossible). See my discussion here: JettaMann (talk) 15:09, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm not convinced it's good for a debate like this to be conducted by a self-selected clique in a bubble away from the relevant talk pages. Without the critics' responses, the conclusions will tend to polarise opinons. A straw poll on the article talk page would achieve a more balanced response.Stephen B Streater (talk) 08:08, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Community restrictions
O Fenian (talk) 20:54, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm a neutral party and I think it's vandalism to take out a well-referenced view by a book reviewer, who is another neutral party.
 * On examining the restrictions I find you're almost the only one to have fallen foul of them for 2 years, a month ago you were blocked for edit-warring out an accurately court-reported warning at Omagh Bombing in favour of the BBC version which coyly admits to being censored. Despite this, you'd somehow managed to make your POV version stick until I noticed. MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 09:15, 17 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Wrong on many counts, so many I lack the energy to correct the errors. Reject all you want, you breach that restriction at your own peril. O Fenian (talk) 09:18, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

Hub Gear
Merry Christmas. Nice job moving the pictures around. It is a nice improvement. I think I understand your appreciation for hub gears. I have nothing against them, and I hope you understand my efforts to keep the article as NPOV as possible. -AndrewDressel (talk) 15:08, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm a bit puzzled to see "In real-world conditions, the efficiency of derailleur gears is commonly much more seriously handicapped by poor lubrication and the mis-use of gears causing 'cross-chain' conditions" removed - when the actual reference at the WP article bicycle chain says "... in lab conditions, where there is no dirt, it makes no difference. On the road, we believe the lubricant mostly assumes the role of keeping out dirt, which could very well affect friction in the drive train". Should we not put the original phrase back? MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 18:28, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm also very mystified to see the sentence "unsprung weight ... is an insignificant factor in street or commuter-cycle use when climbing kerbs and crossing pot-holes" removed as superfluous. Street and commuter use is the majority use of bicycles, their interests and education should not be subsumed to those of a minority.
 * Similarly [failures generally give plenty of warning] (unlike the situation with alternative systems) - the hub-gear user is entitled to know that, while breakdown is not unknown, his system is much better in this respect than others.
 * I can even see a fourth example - the ordinary user needs to know that another "disadvantage" of the hub-gear (integral part of the wheel and it is not possible to change the wheel without also changing the hub) is of almost zero relevance to his needs and he needs to see the explanation: "In sporting use, this handicaps quick-changing a damaged wheel, or using different tires on multiple wheels." MalcolmMcDonald (talk) 11:16, 27 December 2010 (UTC)


 * So, we have one reference that isn't perfect and suggests that lubrication and dirt matter little for efficiency and none that verify that they do matter. I'd say leave the point out.
 * I have no doubt that street use is in the majority, but I have no information about the relative importance of unsprung mass in this environment. I don't know why it would be insignificant.
 * This whole point is iffy. I get plenty of warning from my derailleur systems when they are having trouble. I don't mind saying that the same is an advantage of hub gears, but leave out the dig at other systems.
 * The most common wheel problem I observed at the shop where I worked was a rim bent beyond repair. With a derailleur system, the customer only has to purchase a new wheel and reuse the entire shifting mechanism. A rear wheel with a hub gear will require relacing or total replacement, at significantly greater cost. This can happen to a commuter bike hitting a pothole as easily as a mountain bike hitting a rock. It is totally independent of the type or riding done. -AndrewDressel (talk) 22:11, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Video of Maytag flat-twin running
Video of Maytag flat-twin running. Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 03:52, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Horseshoe clip


The article Horseshoe clip has been proposed for deletion&#32;because of the following concern: "Lacks WP:Sources since 2012"

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Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. CommanderWaterford (talk) 14:18, 2 February 2021 (UTC)