This is an archive of past discussions with User:Spawn Man. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Nice reworking. Do you think the article will be ready any time soon? What do you think needs to be done - I've done a fair bit, but I'm not sure I know where to start next... Thnaks, Spawn Man07:50, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Well, there are only 19 footnoted references. I hope to add more in the next couple of days, but ended up shoring up some other articles (Styracosaurus and Compsognathus) instead. 19 references probably are not enough for an article of this length, in my personal opinion. Firsfron of Ronchester07:59, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
I'm not entirely sure on how to start on them. I'd be fine if there were harvard style cites thorughout the article & it was a simple matter of turning them into footnotes, but it's not, so I'm lost. How's compy going (funny how we all have these cute names for dinos - compy, iggy, archie, steggie...), is it near FAC yet? It looks good so far - just did some minor edits on it. Well see you around... :) Spawn Man08:02, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
"Compy" is going well. I think it's pretty close to complete, but we will need one of the FAC reviewers to go over it. I'm considering asking Samsara if she will do it; she's very good. As far as nicknames go, it's just too hard to type out the names every time. "Steggie", "Iggy", "Compy", "T-rex", "Trike", etc, are pretty cute shortcuts, although "Styraco" is still sort of long. Firsfron of Ronchester08:09, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
But to tell you the truth though, Archie is starting to look like a good article, as opposed to what it looked like before I started work on it. So what are you up to Firsfron? May I ask how old you are? If you gave me a general range, that would be fine. I'm just curious... Lol. I got into an argument yesterday about me accidentally assuming this guy called Cremepuff was a girl. To tell you the truth I actually thought Sango123 (You may know her) was a girl until only a few moths ago. And now you tell me that Samsara is a girl - I was certain she was a he. There you go, I'm useless with genders lol... :) Spawn Man08:13, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Archie would possibly pass GA, though I suppose that is pure speculation on my part. In answer to your question, I am over 30, but I still feel 21. I don't know that Samsara is a girl; I had assumed s/he was because of the -a ending, but there's nothing on the userpage which indicates gender. And now I am calling it a night, because it is very late here in America. Best wishes and happy editing, Firsfron of Ronchester08:27, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes, I am over 30, but I am pursuing a different degree. So, I'm in college again (although I never really left). I would be interested in learning your ages, and what you do, though of course I want to respect your privacy, and you shouldn't feel pressured to share or make stuff up. Firsfron of Ronchester22:56, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Tell you how old I am - but you might be a weirdo... ;) I am over 20, live with my partner & would prefer not to say what I do as it would be pretty easy to find me - there aren't many of me in NZ... What's up with that Essjay guy? I've heard of him, but never had direct contact; should I be shocked? Thanks guys, Spawn Man01:05, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Long story short, he was given several positions of trust within Wikipedia (CheckUser, Admin, Bureaucrat, etc), had used his "credentials" to convince people his edits were correct, appeared in The New Yorker commenting about how great Wikipedia is because it is mainly written by experts like himself, and was even hired by Jimbo Wales. It turns out, everything about him was a lie. The ramifications of this are pretty big; The New Yorker has printed a retraction, etc, etc. It's very bad publicity for Wikipedia, but the worst part is, nothing he wrote (and he had 20k+ edits) can be trusted now. He was the 'crat who promoted me to admin. Should I doubt myself now? Can anything really be trusted? It's very disapointing. Firsfron of Ronchester04:07, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
I may very well be corrupt. Hard to tell. As for Essjay, the whole sordid affair is explained here. He lied about who he was, where he lived, his age, his expertise, everything. Firsfron of Ronchester04:32, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Wow what an intense thread that is...I'm sure he did some good stuff in the 20k edits, so don't worry. I don't think it will hurt wikipedia much, especially as it seems to have undergone a quantum leap about 12 months ago with inline reffing and verifiablility becoming the norm. cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs04:53, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah, it shows how sheltered I am here - I never even knew off Essjay. Everyone lies about something. Heck, I'm sure people just say they have PhD's to sound credible as the ones who really do always show off about their qualifications & think they're better. I don't think it's really that big a deal & he should have stayed. Indeed, intense thread... :) Spawn Man04:56, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Back to my original point, it is not the falsehood which worries me most but some of the subsequent behaviour reported in the thread. Unfortunately I don't have time to keep reading as there is so much to digest to see how real or exaggerated it was. The polarisation exhibited on his talk page is a worry and I hope that there aren't entrenched factions. cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs05:09, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
I just spent half an hour tracking that particular piece of chicanery. If Jimbo signs something then it implies he approves of it. Even if it is the design of a paperclip. This is not nice. Sandpiper18:54, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Erm, I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. If you're talking about the Essjay thing, I couldn't care less about him. Not in a bad way, but I only really heard about it yesterday. Jimbo is not God however - you statement about the design of a paperclip is remarkably similar to the ol' "God makes every blade of grass" quote... Spawn Man04:11, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
I was talking about forged entries in the creampuff autograph book. As to wiki, as far as Jimbo goes, yes he is. He has a veto on anything written or proposed here. Any statement he makes may be quoted and used in evidence of righteousness. The only reason I commented here was because I was uncertain to add my own sig to creampuff's book as he had requested, never mind adding anyone elses. This amounts to an endorsement of that editor, so I checked him out a bit. The only time it is appropriate to sign anyone else's name is if they have written something but didn't sign it. Your reply suggests you did not recognise which incident I was talking about??? Sandpiper09:16, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Still have no idea really... ;) The issue was resolved, but if you want to come in here on your high horse, that's fine by me. Jimbo is not God, & I even recall a poll of nearly 100 wikipedians voting that he wasn't. Goodbye, Spawn Man22:21, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi, Spawn Man. Just popping round here to thank you for your support and confidence at my RfA. Great turnout, humbling level of support. Once again, thank you! Bubbahotep20:44, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Archaeopteryx
Could you send me an email and I'll send you a recent review of the 10th specimen which you might find useful - the article looks very nice btw. --Peta23:54, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
The whole "needs 2 votes/week" thing always drove me nuts, so I just figured I'd wipe the slate clean every 3 months instead. cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs06:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
No no, I wipe the slate clean every three months. At the end of month numero uno, the winner becomes the collab and is removed; all others stay (obviously rendering the next highest vote-getters as the most likely candidates to be nominated next time round). Then, at the end of month three, all votes are removed (I figure those that have been hanging around may be a bit stale and maybe we better have a redraw from scratch).cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs09:53, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
I've come against a wall in Archie - I've recieved a scientific paper from another editor here, but can't make much use of it. It says it's about a tenth specimen (not including feather) & I've started a paragraph on it in the article. However, it sounds very similar to the "Thermopolis specimen". Another problem is that I can't really read too indepth into those scientific things, just skim the surface. I'd love if you'd be able to check it out & see if you can make any sense of it. It would help discern whether 1)It is the Thermopolis specimen. 2)If it's the tenth specimen. 3)Anything else that could be of use to the article. I would be forever in debt if you would be able to salvage anything from the paper - you don't seem to call on any favours too often though. Say yes if it's alright & you can send me an email so that I can attach the PDF file to my return email. If not, I'm sure I'll be fine lol. Thanks Firsfron... :) Spawn Man05:29, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Heh, just looking over old Wikiproject dinos talk archives & saw a comment you left when you first arrived in regard to the missing dinosaurs on the List of dinosaurs - "Our work will never be done. Say, how much do we get per article? ;)--Firsfron 00:22, 10 March 2006" - Thanks in no small part to you this has happened & I hope you can congratulate yourself for all your hard work... :) Spawn Man06:01, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi Spawn Man,
Thanks for your really nice notes. Yes, I would be glad to look at the paper; let's figure out what's going on here. If you have others, send those along, too. I've sent you an e-mail; hopefully, you'll get it. As far as the missing dinosaurs list goes, I'm just so glad that everyone on the team has spent time expanding the short sub-stub articles. There are still many which need attention, but we're getting there. It just takes a little patience and hard work. Your enthusiasm and perspective have been invaluable to this team. Catch you later, Firsfron of Ronchester16:16, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes, the Thermopolis specimen is the same as Archaeopteryx siemensii. Our article states "[the] Thermopolis Specimen was discovered in Germany and described in 2005 by Mayr, Pohl, and Peters". The article you sent is titled "The tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx by GERALD MAYR, BURKHARD POHL, SCOTT HARTMAN, and D. STEFAN PETERS". I'll work later tonight reworking these two paragraphs into one, and see what else can be gleaned from this paper. Thanks and happy editing, Firsfron of Ronchester23:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Ye of little faith! With that PDF, I think the article will be ready. I've cut down the number of red links - 1 had a mistake in it - & everything else can easily be fixed. The long list of species - I don't know why that's a problem? No DOI's? What are they if I may ask? And with the PDF there'll be 23 refs as well as the non-inline ones... We can do Firsfron, we've done it before. Besides, it will make it easier if people tell us what the problems are... Spawn Man04:45, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
No, of course I am not annoyed with you, Spawn. I was just trying to read the paper you sent, work out how to add stuff into the article, reply to comments on my talk page, and respond to comments on the Compy FAC. Sorry, I'm trying to balance too many things at once. :/ THE DOIs are digital object identifiers: this is explained on the Compy FAC; someone objected when they weren't added. Each FA must have them now, apparently. Also, FAC reviewers have generally objected when there were lists of species; they want everything de-listed, whenever possible. 23 refs, I'm afraid, isn't enough for an article of this size. Dinoguy's image still hasn't been addressed (the scale might be 1/4th too small), etc, etc... I feel rushed! :) Firsfron of Ronchester06:24, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
I've combined the paragraphs, but there is a problem: the first paragraph stated "most of the neck and the lower jaw have not been preserved," while the second paragraph states "only parts of the spine, tail and right foot [are] absent." These two statements are incompatible, and will require further research. I don't know what to think. I'm beginning to think these are two seperate specimens, but just how many specimens of Archaeopteryx are there in Thermopolis, Wyoming?! Ugh. This will require more research, but I'm off for now. It is 11:50 here; time for bed. Thank you for your patience. Firsfron of Ronchester06:44, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
Thank you
Thank you very much. That was fun. I hope the new article does end up being helpful to you. I didn't know anything about the interdental plate until I googled it. I gather from a couple of the references that the presence or absence of this plate in a creature's anatomy is somewhat instructive in placing the animal in its evolutionary context. I don't quite have a good enough handle on that aspect yet to add it to the article.
No problemo. Yeah, I knew it had something to do with that, but science papers & my brain just don't mix in most circumstances. Keep an eye out for any more I post there, as I'm trying to get rid of all the red links in an article of mine. Alas, all I have to give is barnstars (no cash lol), unless I start pimping myself out over the internet. Ergh - an internet audience/date with Spawn Man... I doubt there'll be many takers lol... :) Spawn Man07:05, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
Ah, you are trying to de-redlink Archaeopteryx, I presume. As soon as I created the stub I checked "what links here" and I saw that was the only article that linked to interdental plate. I will definitely keep an eye out for your future bounties, though some of the other terms in Archaeopteryx look tougher. Johntex\talk07:46, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
My RfA
Hi Spawn Man. For everything I've done wrong so far, I apologize. Rest assured that I heard every voice loud and clear during the discussion, and will strive to use the mop carefully and responsibly. Thank you very much for your support, and please don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism anytime. Xiner (talk, email) 13:19, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
No hard feelings?
--Cremepuff222 (talk, review me!) has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling to someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Thanks, it means a lot. It's kinda hard - you realize it's not them being gone that you miss, but the little things. I'm a kinda loner friendswise, so my cat was really my best friend (pretty sad if you think about it in a stereotype way), so I'm kinda lost. I don't think I've cried so much in my whole life lol. Keeping busy helps a bit though. This alst year has just been a nightmare for me. Hopefully things will get better... Thanks RM - Spawn Man10:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks again. I wish he had just passed on, but it was a little bit more horrible than that. Getting a bit sad just thinking about what happened. Thanks Riana (still getting used to your absent dzasta...) -- Spawn Man10:21, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi Spawn,
I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. You haven't revealed much, but from your words, it sounds like he died violently. That is the worst possible way to lose a pet, and I've had that happen. When my cats died (within days of each other), I was a complete mess. Losing a beloved pet is a horrible experience. Take care of yourself; come back only when you're ready. Best wishes, Firsfron of Ronchester20:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
I don't know who you are, but I found your name on Creampuff222's userpage, saw your contribs, and gave you a barnstar. I hope this makes you feel a little better. I lost my first cat when I was 10, and I couldn't get over it (in fact, 3 years later I still haven't). But he blessed me with his daughter, who gave birth to another daughter (the only surving kitten of a litter of 4). They have looks like my first cat, and they always remind of me him.
Sorry, I didn't think or mean any harm. My idea was to illustrate a point about conflict reolution and finding a way forward - and it has had a good outcome and shows you in a good light for those who'd recall some of the issues past. cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs07:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
In regard to the page Dinosaurs by size - how long since it was last updated? Archie hasn't changed in size on the page, despite my numerous expansions. Would you be able to update or even better - could you show me in a step-by-step way how to do it myself? It'll keep me busy & I can keep it up to date. I've tried clicking on the links to this "cat scan", but I don't know how to work it yet... Thnaks, Spawn Man08:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi Spawn Man!
You can see here that Archaeopteryx has gone from 31100 to 46600 in a couple of weeks. The page is updated regularly using navigation popups, a tool developed by Lupin. If you don't have this tool, you can install it. If you have trouble installing it into your monobook (and I'm on), I'll gladly try to help. Popups give you a little pop-up window that tells you how large an article is (in kb), so you know how large any article is by hovering your mouse over the wikilink until the window pops up. Then you update the page with that info.
If CatScan was working, we could use that to update all the pages at once. Unfortunately, CatScan has been working only sporadically since April of last year. Currently, it is not working for English language articles, though it did work just fine last month. It had a bit of a replication lag, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Even when it is working, it is a pain to use, as the replication lag is so slow that you have to be very careful to make sure the data is correct (if the replication data is old, and the article has been expanded since then, CatScan will still indicate the article is small). user:Duesentrieb has indicated that new hardware has been ordered, but I'm uncertain this tool will ever work as well as it did until last April.
When this tool is working (that's important: if you use it when it is broken, you will get junk, obsolete results), here's what you do: "Wiki:" en (that's the English language edition); "Search in category:" Dinosaurs (this will search every article in Category:Dinosaurs; unfortunately, it will also catch non-dinosaur articles, stuff like Barney, etc); Click "for stubs" and put 1000000 in the "having less than" field or "less than" 0 "links" (so that the results will catch every article, and any article with any amount of Wikilinks). Then hit "scan". CatScan will give you the first 1000 results, alphabetically. Since there are more than 1000 articles in Category:Dinosaurs, you can either do the rest by hand (pain in the butt), or decrease the "depth" field to 5 (or so), although doing that will eliminate categories that are nested within more than 5 categories (and you have to double-check).
Next step is to copy all this data into a word-processing program. You can use Notepad, but Word and Wordpad also work. Use the "replace" function under "edit" to remove all the categories. This takes a long time. Use the replace function to add # [[ to the beginning of every article name. Use the replace function to add ]] to the end of every article name. Use the replace function to remove double blank spaces (leave single blank spaces so that article names which consist of more than one word (like Feathered dinosaurs) aren't squished together. Copy your results into Microsoft Excel. Sort the results by size. Update the Dinosaurs by size page with the new data. You're done! Hope this helps. :) Firsfron of Ronchester16:38, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
Forgot to mention: it was a great kindness for you to nominate Cas for administrator, especially considering your feelings in the past about not being selected. I think he would make a great admin, and I won't soon forget your kindness to our mutual friend. Happy editing, Firsfron of Ronchester19:05, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for that Firsfron! I do have a tendency to nom & remain un-nomed lol. Thanks for the explaination too, not sure I understand everything right now, but will look into it. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Regards, Spawn Man01:23, 22 March 2007 (UTC) :)
Request to nom
I am literally bubbling to nom Archaeopteryx & as per my comments on the article's talk page, I am now requesting your permission to nominate. There are no other articles on FAC, so this would not disrupt anything & if we work together, the article only has minor things which need to be fixed. So? Spawn Man05:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
You're so eager, how could I say no? Not that you need my permission, but I felt it just wasn't ready. Probably still isn't, but you are right: we often work well under pressure. Nominate away, and we'll see what we can't pull off... Thanks Spawn Man. Firsfron of Ronchester05:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
One:Yes, but you must be approved. 2)Nope, sysops tools are built into MW software. Their actions are logged publicly. 3)You must have 250 good edits or be a sysop. 4) Because it isnt. You get to delete pages, ban users, edit protected pages, etc. (See Wikipedia:Administrators for more.) I am not AmiDaniel, but I still hope I was able to answer your questions. ffm✎t00:28, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks
Sorry to hear about your cat. Thanks for the barnstar; the articles you've already written look great; I don't have much time to spend on wiki at the moment but I'll send more interesting articles to you as I come across them. --Peta03:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks Riana (hmmm... you're not wiki-stalking me are you?? ;)) I know, spooky aye? Lucky it wasn't one number down if you know what I mean... Might have been a Wiki-witch-hunt... ;) Thanks Spawn Man07:42, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Argh! Don't bring those creationists up with me! Honestly, they're so annoying - Dinosaur is protected 24/7 because of them & I'm sure if Archie ever makes to the main page, it will be too... *Sigh*... Spawn Man07:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
I know. I was just thinking about it because of Archie, and thinking it'd be cool to get some other prehistoric birds up, Diatryma...there are now Cainozoic FAs AFAIK.
Absolutely not! I voted "support" on your subsequent nom of someone else afterwards. You voted honestly according to your belief and with absolutely no malice. How could I fault you for that? I just hope that as the RFA carried, I don't disappoint. Seriously - not angry at all - Alison☺09:21, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Just checked my edit count randomly & found I was at 7777 edits - just thought you might find that vaguely amusing... Archie FAC seems to be going well - hopefully you'll be able to support soon; that section Sabine's whipping up looks great! Well I've got some new articles to created. It's a shame they're not about dinosaurs as I'd plaster them all over the project talk for everyone to see - I'm so proud. :) Gosh, I sound like a five year old. Anyway, see you around... Spawn Man07:30, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Um, actually, that is amusing, Spawn. Cheers to your 7,777th edit, and here's to your (hopefully) upcoming 77,777th edit. :) I don't think you sound like a five-year-old (or posting each of my milestones on my own user page would also be juvenile... though perhaps it is. I enjoy it nonetheless).
As for Archaeopteryx, I will support when I think it's really, truly ready. Sabine's comments haven't been addressed (the section remains on the talk page, without much input from the Dinosaur folks), and someone else has indicated there are copyright problems with two of the images. I'd act, but I'm not sure what the consensus is here, and no one else has given any input. Firsfron of Ronchester04:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
ah ha! see I knew I was right about the copyright! And you doubted me... ;) Anyway, I just realized that out of the 12 FAs (including Archie) the Dino team have, I've done 5! Not to be big headed, but I just thought it was amasing because I'm not even a professional paleonotologist nor do I have nay training in science at all... And I've only seen a dinosaur skeleton once. I'm so happy! :) Thanks for helping me along the way though. I couldn't have done it without you or the team... :) Spawn Man00:04, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
No reason to doubt Spawn Man, eh? Yes, your work is greatly appreciated. 4 FAs are impressive by any standards. But I wouldn't count your chicks before they're hatched. We still don't know for sure what other folks may think of our little article, and there could still be some difficult objections. We're not in the clear just yet. Which dinosaur skeleton have you seen, Spawn Man? I wasn't aware New Zealand had any dinosaurs, aside from, you know, giant extinct birds like the Moas. I'm not a professional, either, but it's a very interesting subject. Very early on, when I was around five, my cousins took me to see the dinosaurs at Chicago's Field Museum, and I've loved them ever since. I've gone to dinosaur museums on both sides of the Atlantic, and have frequently visited some excavation sites in my area, where the fossils were dug up. Firsfron of Ronchester00:39, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Chamitataxus
On 25 March, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Chamitataxus, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.
Question 1: C
Question 2: E
Question 3: A
Question 4: C
Question 5: A
Question 6: G
Question 7: C
Question 8: A
Question 9: B
Question 10: A
Question 11: C
The first thing that springs to mind when I see SS is Schutzstaffel (also the same thing you get if you type SS into the search box). Weird for sure, but then again you need to be to edit wikipedia. I know you don't have that intention, BTW, and I'm not offended in the least, but I'd sooner be called something else. Sunny is fine, you can also go with ASB (short for angrysunbird). Sabine's Sunbirdtalk23:35, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Archie timeline picture
Hi!
Actually, that's not my diagram; Y tambe, from the Japanese wiki, put it up for comment, and I was the only one to comment on it. I tried to get an outside dinosaur person interested in reviewing it, but no luck to this point. It's not in use on the Japanese version, either, but Y tambe seems to have been at a low activity level over the last month. I'd love to see it in the article, too. J. Spencer00:52, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
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Edaphodon
On 27 March, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Edaphodon, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.
