Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 12:34, 19 December 2013

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WER

Hi Sandstein. A discussion is taking place at Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Editor Retention#Less than optimal? about a block you recently enacted. Please understand that this is in no way a criticism of your enactment, but you may find the discussion interesting. Regards, Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk)

Editing Cut the Rope: Holiday section in https://en.wikipedia.org/Cut_the_Rope#Cut_the_Rope:_Holiday_Gift

Your editing of CtR:HG has some grammar errors. "also" isn't allowed to be stood at the end of a sentence, the use of "subsequent" isn't correct, because ctr:hg is only released in Xmas holiday. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nhatlinh1704 (talk • contribs) 23:26, 13 December 2013 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages talk:Naming conventions (definite or indefinite article at beginning of name)

I have issued a general warning on the talk page of Misplaced Pages talk:Naming conventions (definite or indefinite article at beginning of name).

Having done that and trying to clarify the situation I am now involved. However it is clear from the posting shortly afterwards by 14.198.220.253 that (s)he has not got the message. As you have taken an active role in warning editors about the discretionary sanctions in place for the "article titles policy, broadly construed", please could you have a look and see if you consider a formal warning to 14.198.220.253 to be in the interests of the project. -- PBS (talk) 12:24, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not apparent to me why the post by 14.198.220.253 might warrant a warning. But I've warned both IP editors involved in the earlier edit-warring because of that.  Sandstein  12:51, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

the problem is this: "If anyone thinks that wording in the policy is incorrect, then fix it, see WP:Bold. If you want to enforce some obscure specific procedure, then lock the article." What the IP address is saying is that (s)he will be bold, if I don't approve then I should protect the page (which is clearly not the way forward after the page has already been protected against an edit war by this editor by third admin). -- PBS (talk) 17:11, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, the IP is clearly mistaken, but that's not in and of itself grounds for sanction. Only actual misconduct such as edit-warring is.  Sandstein  17:12, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Which is why I suggested a warning :-) -- PBS (talk) 17:38, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Why did you delete my files?

I've uploaded 2 files to let people know Cut the Rope game's icon. But you've deleted them. If so, which copyright option you selected for the file Cut_the_Rope.png which you uploaded? I don't know and I don't understand those copyright options. So, in oder not to violate copyright when upload game logo/icon, which copyright option I should choose? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nhatlinh1704 (talk • contribs) 14:56, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Before you upload anything to any Wikimedia site, you need to understand the concept of what copyrighted works and licenses are, and which are allowed on Misplaced Pages. The pages Commons:Commons:Copyright and WP:NFC contain what you need to know. In brief, images such as game icons are copyrighted, and may be uploaded and used on the English language Misplaced Pages (but not on Wikimedia Commons!) only with a specific non-free use rationale, such as is present on File:Cut the Rope logo.png. If you do not understand this, please don't upload any images, because you will very likely get it wrong and somebody will have to delete the images again.  Sandstein  15:16, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Notability of Avatar the Last Airbender characters

Outside the main character, I have serious doubts about the notability of all characters listed at {{Avatar: The Last Airbender}}. Interestingly, only the flying bison has any significant coverage discussed; all others as written fail at GNG pretty badly. It is not impossible one or two may be saved, but I think most will have to go. Preferably we could just incorporate them into list of characters, i.e. merge them - there's probably enough minor notability for that. Your thoughts? (PS. If you reply here please WP:ECHO me). --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 05:20, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

@Piotrus: You're likely right, the fact that the articles are almost only (excessive) plot summary and written in an in-universe style is an indication of that. I'm not a fan of character list articles myself, because characters are plot elements, and no article should consist only of that. A brief list of the most important characters in the series article should suffice. Either way, we would probably need individual AfDs to determine the notability of the individual characters if a merger idea has no consensus.  Sandstein  10:27, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Amit Goswami page deletion

Hi Sandstein,

I understand it was your good self that deleted the page about Amit Goswami, an action I discovered today to my great surprise. I have been aware of Goswami's ideas for a long time but it was today, while wishing to gather up information on his whole "school" of non-paradigmatic scientific thinkers (Fritjof Capra, Lee Smolin, Rupert Sheldrake, David Bohm, etc.) for my masters thesis in philosophy of science (I'm a student at La Sorbonne, Paris), that I wished to access a simple portal that would give me some succinct details about his ideas - viz. my searching on wikipedia.

Apparently you considered him "not notable" enough. To be honest, I don't particularly rate his ideas on existence and consciousness, but I did see a documentary about him a few years ago, he has appeared in such "new-age" films as What The Bleep Do We Know?, has authored several books and, according to the deletion discussion page, his professorship at University of Oregon has indeed been confirmed. The guy may indeed be a Quantum Woo crackpot, but if he is a crackpot then in those ranks he is at least en route to being as notable as Velikovsky, Sheldrake, Hancock, or many others all of whom have their wikipedia pages left intact.

In the "battle" against hoodwinkery and charlatanism, there is nothing worse than giving the impression that there is censorship of "out-there" ideas going on, and, unfortunately, this is exactly the impression given by the deletion of this wikipedia page... fuelling the fire of the conspiracy theorists and really playing directly into their hands. If I may quote Carl Sagan on the Velikovsky affair: "The worst aspect of the Velikovsky affair is not that many of his ideas were wrong or silly, or in gross contradiction to the facts. Rather, the worst aspect is that some scientists attempted to suppress Velikovsky's ideas. The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge and there's no place for it in the endeavour of science. We do not know beforehand where fundamental insights will arise from about our mysterious and lovely solar system. And the history of our study of the solar system shows clearly that accepted and conventional ideas are often wrong and that fundamental insights can arise from the most unexpected sources."

For all these reasons, and for the benefit of open scientific discussion where people are encouraged towards critical thinking and not conspiracy theories, I think it would be in the best general interest that this page be restored.

Thank you for your time, Erachris

Amit Goswami (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) was deleted based on the result of the discussion Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Amit Goswami, rather than because of any opinion of my own. What you say does not call that result into question. Our inclusion criteria (see WP:N) define "notability" as being the subject of substantial coverage in reliable published sources, which in this case was deemed inadequate to base an article on. It's got nothing to do with the merits of the subject as a scholar or thinker.  Sandstein  16:06, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

A list of his scientific revue publications taken from the University of Oregon website: http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~dmason/grad/fac/goswami.html The appearance of just one of these articles on Harvard's Smithsonian site: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986NuPhA.448..469R A link to another in the revue "Physics Essays": http://physicsessays.org/doi/abs/10.4006/1.3035899 Photographic evidence of his tenure as professor at UoO: http://alumni.honors.uoregon.edu/content/clark-honors-college-1980-1984 Although, as I pointed out, I think his real notability today comes from his public position as a spokesperson for what is affectionately called "Quantum Woo". If the decision must stand then, so be it - but the decision seems to be based purely on his academic standing (even though this is at least partially contestable), when in fact his real notability is not as an academic but as a "controversial" disseminator of new-age ideas that tens of thousands of people have bought into via his books and the documentary about him The Quantum Activist. I did read the discussion by the way; it seemed to equally disregard this aspect. Please direct me as necessary if this should be taken up elsewhere than on your talk page. Erachris (talk) 17:28, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Actually, his academic standing or the number of his publications wasn't relevant in the deletion discussion. What's principally relevant is whether reliable published sources written by people not affiliated with him have written something about him. If you want the community of Wikipedians to review the deletion decision, you can ask for that at WP:DRV, but you should provide evidence in the terms relevant for notability per WP:PROF or WP:GNG.  Sandstein  18:22, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Asking about uploading logos with "non-free logo" copyright option

I'm going to upload logo of Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift, Time Travel and CtR 2. Is that OK when I choose "non-free logo" copyright option when I upload them? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nhatlinh1704 (talk • contribs) 13:03, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

In principle yes, if you are up to the task of writing a correct non-free use rationale.  Sandstein  20:49, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

ec on ae

Beg pardon; I'm not sure how I screwed that up. I was trying to fix it but you were always a step ahead. Thanks, ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 20:48, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

No problem, thanks for your input on AE, we always need more admins there.  Sandstein  20:56, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

AE request for talk page semi-protection?

Hi, Tumbleman (talk · contribs) appears to back at Talk:Rupert Sheldrake again, evading his block for the third time. The other agitator will no doubt be back, as off-wiki info suggests. Is an AE request always "against" a user, or can it include other requests? Or should I go through the normal RFPP process? vzaak 21:02, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Sockpuppet blocks should be requested at WP:SPI, they have experts for that there. There aren't recent IP edits to the talk püage, so what would semiprotection be in aid of?  Sandstein  21:07, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

There are recent edits by 70.211.67.178 (talk · contribs) which carry the Tumblemanian signatures. My question is: If I can make a good case for talk page semi-protection, is AE an appropriate place to do that? vzaak 21:16, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Not really, you should try WP:RFPP first, in my view.  Sandstein  21:38, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Bio deletion

I'm curious what happpens to the articles with red links to John_Michael_Greer after the bio deletion? Does someone unlink them? Otherwise someone will end up trying to create a new stub! Tom Ruen (talk) 21:54, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

And well they may, if by doing so they demonstrate the topic's notability with new sources... No, red links aren't routinely unlinked.  Sandstein  21:59, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

That's an idiotic position. I'm glad I don't waste my time on bios. Tom Ruen (talk) 21:30, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Barleybannocks

Every second spent trying to help Barleybannocks edit the Sheldrake article productively, is a second wasted. I tried it, I bought books to understand the background ($39 and eleven hours of my life I will never get back), this is a time sink with no payback. Just my $0.02. Guy (Help!) 00:33, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Well... at least you're qualified to edit the article now :-) I think that issue will shortly be resolved.  Sandstein  21:24, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Henry Earl

While I think that the use of BLP1E here was verging on ludicrous, I think your close was a reasonable one given the discussion. Just wanted to say thanks for the detailed explanation.Hobit (talk) 20:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Same here. I am worried as well about the stretching of 1E in that case, but your closure of the DRV is very good, Sandstein.--cyclopia 21:12, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks!  Sandstein  21:23, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps, but as a whole, the system failed. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:35, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Arthur Rubin Block

I notice that blocked editor Arthur Rubin has posted a list of suggested edits on his talk page, inviting other editors to "comment" on them. The "comments" are acknowledgements that the edits have been done. I'm not sure this quite rises to the level of WP:EVADE just yet, since he's not exactly "directing" other editors to make the edits, but it seems like it's not too far away from that. This is probably worth keeping an eye on. SimpsonDG (talk) 04:55, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

OK... if you think this warrants action, please submit it to WP:AE for examination, with diffs.  Sandstein  06:04, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Notifications and warnings

There appears to be considerable confusion regarding DS notifications and DS warnings. Last month Bbb23, citing the 2013 DS draft not yet in effect, issued a round of notifications to those editing the Sheldrake article. AGK confirmed to me that the draft was not applicable, which means that Bbb23 technically gave out warnings for misconduct, whether or not that was intended. The {{uw-sanctions}} template Bbb23 used is explicitly for misconduct, as the Discretionary sanctions page says and as AGK confirmed to me. However Bbb23 avoided saying that the notifications were for misconduct, and actually stonewalled my request for clarification and resolution.

This is all enormously complicated by the fact that Bbb23 had apparently been concerned about reverts, saying, "Technically, any change, no matter how small to the text of an article, is a revert." This prompted a discussion on clarifying EW policy. Thus after all I can't really tell whether the notifications were for. Bbb23 will not communicate with me.

The reason I mention all this is because it actually becomes relevant here. You should be aware that the people notified by Bbb23 were not engaged in misconduct, or at least that Bbb23 has avoided saying so and has stonewalled the question. vzaak 05:36, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Hm, that sounds like something that would need to be discussed with Bbb23 rather than with me.  Sandstein  06:07, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Bbb23 has stonewalled questions, per the links I gave, so I don't know what to do. It's all completely weird to me. vzaak 06:36, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't see how anything needs to be done, or what I might do.  Sandstein  06:42, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

There's confusion in the AE. (1) Bbb23 chimes in to say that Barney was already notified. In fact you warned Barney, not notified, right? Bbb23 is equating notifications with warnings, or thinks warnings do not exist, or there is some other confusion. (2) The AE complaint says that Barleybannocks was warned by Bbb23, which may not be the case. Bbb23 indicates that Barley was notified -- like the rest of us -- but not warned for misconduct. (3) These factors may play a role in whatever final AE decision is made.

Since Bbb23 refuses communication, I suppose the next step is RFC/ADMIN or something else. In the meantime you should ask Bbb23 what is going on, if it affects the AE. vzaak 07:13, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

The reason this pertains to the AE request is the following. Though I support strong action against Barleybannocks, it should not be done on the false pretense that Barley had received a DS warning for misconduct. Similarly for TRPoD: the initial complaint by TRPoD was explained poorly, suggesting that TRPoD was just wanting to ban disagreement, or worse. If there are any boomerang effects, they too should be free of the false pretense of a prior misconduct warning. vzaak 07:53, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Some questions for a senior wikipedian

Some questions for a senior wikipedian

As a senior Wikipedian supportive of the recent indefinite banning of a user for defending what appears to be Misplaced Pages core values, I would like to ask you a few specific questions, and I would be very grateful for some specific answers.

1. Is Misplaced Pages primarily supposed to reflect: a) what reliable sources say; or b) can multiple reliable sources be overridden by a few editors’ opinions?

2. If the answer to the above question is (b), then should this not be made much clearer in policy etc, because as things stand they give the impression that Misplaced Pages should primarily be a reflection of what reliable sources say? (I would not, for example, have argued as I had had I known this was the case and had it been made clearer in policy/guidelines etc.)

3. If the answer to the first question is (a), then why is it inappropriate to say that “Sheldrake’s work has received a small degree of support from academics” in light of the following sources which are a sample of sources supporting/showing both the fact of, and the content of, some of Sheldrake’s academic support?

Sources stating there has been support for Sheldrake within academia:

Sources stating there has been support for Sheldrake within academia:

David F. Haight, Professor of Philosophy at Plymouth State University writing in The Scandal of Reason, published by the University Press of America says, “that Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields have been taken seriously by more physicists than biologists is to be expected.”

Bryan Appleyard, writing in the Sunday Times (a source already used in the article) says “Morphic resonance is widely derided and narrowly supported”.

Adam Lucas, writing in 21.C says that “of all the scientific journals, New Scientist has undoubtedly been the most supportive of Sheldrake, having published a number of sympathetic articles on formative causation over the years." And this: "when he has not been ignored, however, Sheldrake's peers have expressed everything from outraged condemnation to the highest praise."

But are these sources true? Yes, as it happens, here are some scientists and academics who have supported Sheldrake’s work:

Nobel Laureate in Physics Brian David Josephson writing in Nature.

Marc Bekoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder writing in Psychology Today.

Menas Kafatos, the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics and the Director of the Center of Excellence at Chapman University – Huffington Post

Stuart Hameroff Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, Director, Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona – Huffington Post

Rudolph E. Tanzi, Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital – Huffington Post

Neil Theise, Professor, Pathology and Medicine, (Division of Digestive Diseases) Beth Israel Medical Center - Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York – Huffington Post

All four of the above wrote a letter, published in the Huffington Post supporting the scientific content of Sheldrake’s TEDx talk (which included a discussion of morphic resonance) and about which they say "there was not a hint of bad science in it". Hameroff also said that Sheldrake’s work could be accounted for by his own theory of consciousness developed in association with Roger Penrose

Further scientific/academic support for Sheldrake.

David Bohm FRS, who collaborated with Sheldrake on connection between his implicate order and Sheldrake’s morphic resonance with a dialogue published in the peer-reviewed journal ReVision

Hans-Peter Durr Physicist, who wrote about Sheldrake’s work in connection with quantum Physics

Theodore Roszak Professor Emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay writing in New Scientist

Mary Midgley writing in the Guardian

Paul Davies Physics professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science

John Gribbin Atrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex

A final point

One other similar area where the sources are overwhelming concerns the well known (and extraordinarily well-sourced) fact that Sheldrake is a biologist - a fact which his constantly removed. contra BLP and clear Misplaced Pages precedence. If needed I can provide 100 reliable sources for this from every conceivable type of source/individual/institution. Here are four from the New York Times alone which, I believe, are not included in the more than 25 currently cited on talk.

Again, then, I would be grateful if you could answer the specific questions above in relation to this particular content.

I eagerly await your response. ThanksBarleybannocks (talk) 12:34, 19 December 2013 (UTC)