User talk:Gareth Leng

Please join us for Biology Week!

Hello, I am giving you this personal invitation to join us this week for Biology Week! Please join us on the wiki and add or edit biology articles. Also, please let your friends and colleagues who are biologists, biology students, or naturalists, know about Biology Week and ask them to join us, too. Any way you can help make it an event would be most welcome. Think of it as a Biology Workgroup open house. Let's see if we can kick up activity a notch! Thanks in advance! --Larry Sanger 12:24, 22 September 2008 (CDT)

The first Biology Week took place here from Sep 22-28, 2008.

(Just showing you what I'm putting on all editor pages. And isn't it time to archive your user talk page?  ;-) --Larry Sanger 12:24, 22 September 2008 (CDT)

About the Sex Article

Thanks for your comments about my questions concerning the sex article. I'd like to see the same list of topics covered rigorously and well. At one point in my career, I studied reproductive behavior in rodents (rats, gerbils) but some 30 years ago my interests moved to human sexuality. My main interest is the ethological and ethnographic analysis of human courtship behavior, based on participant-observer ethnographic observations in a variety of settings. From your comments and the kind of work your group publishes, your interests are physiological and neuroendocrinological -- areas I genuinely wish we understood better in human beings. But from what I've seen, we're a long way behind the kind of understanding we have of rats (for example).

On that note, do you have a copy of your Jacques Benoit article you could email to me? (perpcorn@dca.net) Thanks!

I'm trying to get a feel for Citizendium and its inhabitants. Very friendly, I'd say! The sexuality articles are certainly one place to start thinking about what kinds of article might be most helpful. So many thanks for your welcome!

Timothy Perper 12:19, 25 September 2008 (CDT)

Just don't extend observations about the ethical behavior of rat courtship to lawyers. There are some things a rat will not do. Howard C. Berkowitz 12:58, 25 September 2008 (CDT)

MRI

Gareth, I see that you are moderately positive about the article of Roy et al. in Materials Research Innovations (MRI). Do you know the purpose of this journal? It is the following:

Because of its super peer review procedures, the journal is especially suited for the publication of results which are so new, so unexpected, that they are likely to be rejected by tradition-bound journals. Presumptive authors are invited to submit papers covering non-traditional topics at the frontier of science and technology and their management.

(From here)

The journal has flagship article a paper by Roy et al. on the burning of salt water by application of a polarised radiofrequency beam at 13.56 MHz (photons corresponding to this frequency have a VERY low energy, it is completely unclear how these photons could ever break a chemical bond, they could not even excite a rotation of water).

Further, did you notice sentences in the Roy et al. article on the structure of water such as:

The most direct evidence, using infra-red spectroscopy (by E.G. Brame, an authority in that field) for the change of the structure of water by the “subtle energy” of healers hands in the U.S., has been presented by Schwartz et al. and Tiller.

There is more like this in this paper (for instance it is claimed that a weak static magnetic field can change the pH of water by one unit). --Paul Wormer 12:21, 25 September 2008 (CDT)

I am sorry, I thought that you wrote the comment on the page Homeopathy/Bibliography. I looked closer and saw that it was not you.

--Paul Wormer 03:01, 28 September 2008 (CDT)

Definition

Gareth, Remember to add this to the top of definition pages: <noinclude>{{subpages}}</noinclude> Chris Day 03:58, 1 October 2008 (CDT)

The Allan Ramsay article you started and developed

Gareth, if you ever decide to start an article on Allan Ramsay's father, "Allan Ramsay, poet and author of The Gentle Shepherd.",, I recommended Google Books's free downloadable pdf, "The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy, By Allan Ramsay, William Tennant, Alexander Fraser Tytler Woodhouselee, Contributor Randall Thompson, Published by W. Gowans, 1852, Original from the New York Public Library, Digitized Nov 27, 2006, 105 pages", at: http://books.google.com/books?id=5VYgAAAAMAAJ.

If nothing else, a delightful read. --Anthony.Sebastian 03:53, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Homeopathy

Gareth,

Chris and Howard have deleted some things from the Homeopathic article, I hope you can undo/revert it. I don't want to do it myself because of the arguments that will follow.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Ramanand Jhingade 06:58, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

For background, Ramanand is referring to the following edits I made to a section that is now titled "Prevalence of homeopathy". The relevant talk page comments are at Prevalence, popularity, etc. on the homeopathy talk page. Chris Day 05:29, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Homeopathy is not considered Indian in India. I hope you can do something about that sentence in the article which says it is considered an Indian 'National system of medicine' (it can be Alternative system of medicine).—Ramanand Jhingade 09:20, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Alternative Medicine (theories)

Hullo Gareth. We've been working on the page Alternative Medicine (theories) since your last visit, and I'd be interested to hear if you have any views on it now! Martin Cohen 18:24, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Healing arts workgroup

Hi Gareth! Just wanted to make sure you had the Healing Arts workgroup on your watchlist. D. Matt Innis 17:15, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

rugby

Brings back fond memories. I was at the Murryfield game (England vs Scotland) when the grand slam was on the line. David Sole was the captain. Do you remember he walked the team onto the field rather than running. It was a titanic battle with Scotland taking the slam :( But even as an Englishman it was so memorable. Those were the days when we all huddled on the terraces sharing nips of whisky and we all used to line up out side Aitkin and Niven for our tickets at 4AM in the morning. I guess now you can't even get tickets without very good connections. Chris Day 19:02, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

You owe someone for that Christmas present. I must admit, having grown up with JPR Williams and Gareth Edwards, it's great to see Wales back. Chris Day 02:38, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Dolly the Sheep

It was hard to avoid a chuckle when reminded of Dolly. I don't know if you subscribe to the ProMED mailing list, but that's normally a very serious emerging diseases information service. When Dolly was announced, a normally very staid, very respected epidemiologist posted, "No good will come of Scotsmen doing strange things with sheep." Howard C. Berkowitz 14:58, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Definitions

Hi Gareth, thanks for filling in some empty definitions. However, please take a closer look at the formatting standards, so as to allow definitions a uniform appearance when displayed on related pages. Cheers, Daniel Mietchen 17:05, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks Gareth! I must also add that I enjoyed your article on Douglas. I watched a documentary the other night on the history of scotland on BB2. Scottish history has always attracted me (Admittedly, since watching Braveheart as a young man :-)) and just thought I'd mention to you to keep up the good work. Denis Cavanagh 18:28, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

re homeopathy

Gareth:

See: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Talk:Homeopathy/Draft#External_comment_on_Homeopathy --Anthony.Sebastian 18:44, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Evidence based medicine

Hey Gareth, I've put a note on Robert's talk page so I can get him to add his name to the metadata page. I could do it for him, but considering the number of articles he has started, I think he'll want to know how to do it... hang in there and I'll try get it locked up. Hehe. D. Matt Innis 01:05, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Done! Congrats again! D. Matt Innis 02:17, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Core list

Bear in mind when the list was first made we excluded the articles that were more than a stub. Consequently you will see some very obvious ones absent from the list. It all depends what we want this list to represent. The ones we think need to be approved as soon as possible (then we should exclude those already approved), the ones we think are the most important (all regardless of status) or the ones we think we need (red links). I can see advantages to all three lists.

Since making the lists I have been moving more toward a model of connectivity and thus trying to develop more Related Articles pages as a way to identify the articles we need. Obviously these are two different models. The latter is like crystal growth, the former is trying to maximise coverage. Of course the ideal situation is to create a Related Articles subpage for every article on the core list and combine both strategies. Unfortunately it's a slog and not exactly the fun way to do it. Chris Day 20:35, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Blank "cascade theory" article

Now that "cascade theory" is blank, should it get the "speedydelete" template? Bruce M.Tindall 00:12, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I'll have to work out how to do that.... :-) Gareth Leng 09:28, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Origin

I recently moved "On the Origin of Species" to "The Origin of Species", however, i now think this is the wrong move. In retrospect i think it should be either at Origin of Species or at the original "On the Origin of Species". Any thoughts on this? Chris Day 18:52, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Medical error

Hi, You removed all the external links with the comment "subpage", but don't seem to have created one. Fred Bauder 22:35, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

?? I moved them into the external links article subpage - did I miss something??Gareth Leng 23:24, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

More likely I did. I'm seldom here and probably don't realize there is such a subpage. Fred Bauder 01:16, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Restart of proposal system

Hello. Due to a lack of activity and attention on my part, the Proposal System has ground to a halt and discussion on all proposals has stopped. I decided to clean out the system by marking all proposals as inactive and removing their drivers. This also happened to your proposal "Involving authors in approvals". I would be delighted if you decide that you want to take the proposal up again. You can do this by updating the proposal record, which can now be found at CZ:Proposals/Driverless. Please do not hesitate to ask if anything is unclear. Yours, Jitse Niesen 22:37, 23 February 2009 (UTC) (Proposals Manager)

Herbal medicine

Hi Gareth. I pulled your name off the Healing Arts Workgroup page since you seem to be the most active (as well as Matt). I've just started an article on Anise and have plans to continue more articles on herbs. Personally, I am more interested in the culinary side of things. However, my question to you, as an editor is, do these articles belong in the Healing Arts workgroup? What about Health Sciences? I currently have it listed as Biology/Food/Agriculture, but I'm thinkign Agriculture might not be that important for these articles. Let me know what you think. --Todd Coles 15:37, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I already have it under Food Science, I'm more questioning that since many herbs have purported medicinal qualities and are considered an alternative form of medication, whether you feel it is appropriate that it be included in Health Sciences/Healing Arts as well. Clearly the Food Science workgroup will have no real expertise over that aspect. --Todd Coles 17:36, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

There has, incidentally, been some suggestion to have a group simply as Food, and bringing Agriculture under it -- might be a few topics that are Engineering that deal with production techniques.

While I haven't worked on it recently, see phytotherapy. Howard C. Berkowitz 20:05, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Orchid proofreading

Gareth, I think orchid is ready for you. Please feel free to correct anything you think is repeated or senseless and ask about things impossible to understand. You may change the text style as you wish so it will be nicer to read, with less repeated words and different order of the sentences. It's kind of hard to write an article this size... after a while I didn't know anymore if I said some things and maybe repeated them ahead. Furthermore there are always some things missing but we do not want a book size article. Maybe Chris can help us with some tech English words. I may look for them here but possibly he will know them by heart. Tomorrow, Saturday, I will be out all day but probably Sunday will be back here all day. Oh, I was not able of getting rid of the WP notice at the end. Do you know how to do it? Comments and remarks are welcome. Thank you. Dalton Holland Baptista 03:08, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much for spending that many hours on orchids. It's been a quite good English class for me too. Prepositions always are a mystery, hehe. BTW I saw you work with Neuroendocrinology, coincidentally all my fathers closest friends are either neurologists or neurosurgions. Most are retired now but for decades they were professors at Escola Paulista de Medicina, in São Paulo. Dalton Holland Baptista 14:12, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Recovered Memory

Gareth, I wanted to let you know I re-worked some of the sources on the page in a way hopefully acceptable to you. If not, please feel free to write me at home page to discuss.Neil Brick 03:59, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

memory recovered

Gareth, remember me? I had a broken blood vessel in my brain and have been out of the picture. I have forgotten what I was up to but finaly came here accidently. I would like to get back into the picture starting with DNA (draft) which was almost ready for submission. Can you reply to me? Send me email at thommandel@aol.com since I will never get back to this hidden page. Thomas Mandel 04:13, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

if you have time, please ok for Infectious Disease subgroup in Health Sciences

if you have time, please consider OKing some subgroups I've created. Tom Kelly 06:47, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

CZ:Subgroups

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Subgroups#Affiliation_with_Workgroups

randomized controlled trial

Robert Badgett asked me a little while ago about how to start the approval process for the randomized controlled trial article. Since he is the primary author, he can't approve it single-handed. Could you have a look at the article and see if you think it is developed enough for you to nominate it? Thanks much. --Joe Quick 04:57, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Approval process for Animal

Mr. Leng, I've finished up the draft for Animal, and I was wondering if you could read it over and see if you could initiate the approval process for it. I'm pretty proud of it, and I'd love to see it garner approved status. Sincerely, Joshua Choi 23:55, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

homeopathy reapproval

A couple of the people who have been working on the Homeopathy draft have suggested that it is now ready for reapproval. I haven't looked closely at the changes myself, but it sounds like they have mainly been aimed at clarifying or explaining the scientific position. If you agree with the changes and feel that the article is ready for reapproval, do you think you could add your name to the appropriate field in the "ToApprove" section of the metadata template? Thanks much. --Joe (Approvals Manager) 13:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Clarification?

Hi Gareth, you stated on the Homeopathy talk page I think it would be a mistake to cite him, basically because I don't see how he could be cited without a succeeding attack piece to put the mainstream view from materials science. This sounds like you're saying that merely to present the mainstream view would constitute an "attack piece," which I think (hope) is not what you really meant. You might want to clarify your comment to prevent misinterpretation. Raymond Arritt 15:22, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

reapproval for Evidence-based medicine and Randomized controlled trial

Robert Badgett has nominated both articles for re-approval but since he worked on both of them, he needs co-approvers. If you agree with the changes that have been made since the article was approved, could you please add your name to the metadata template as a co-approver? Thanks much. --Joe (Approvals Manager) 17:58, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

memory recovered

Gareth, remember me? I had a broken blood vessel in my brain and have been out of the picture. I have forgotten what I was up to but finaly came here accidently. I would like to get back into the picture starting with DNA (draft) which was almost ready for submission. Can you reply to me? Send me email at thommandel@aol.com since I will never get back to this hidden page. Thomas Mandel 04:13, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Citizendium charter drafting commitee nomination

Hi Gareth, You've been nominated by a fellow Citizendium member to be a candidate for election to the Citizendium charter drafting committee.

If you haven't been following the discussion in the forums, we're getting ready to establish a charter for Citizendium that outlines the project's goals, ideals, and basic structure. To get the process moving, we put together a plan for electing a group of Citizens to compose a draft of the charter, which will then be submitted for community review. You can find more about the plan here.

You've been nominated by another Citizen to be a candidate for election to that committee. The next step is up to you: you may either accept or decline the nomination by going here and following the instructions at the top of the page.

If you have any questions, just let me know. --Joe Quick 15:16, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

homeopathy (again)

Matt Innis has nominated the homeopathy article for reapproval. If you support the current version, could you add your name on the metadata template? Thanks much. --Joe (Approvals Manager) 01:41, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

(Don't know if you're back, Gareth, but...)

Sending a quick ‘hello’ out to all of you who wanted a weekend write-a-thon. Also, a nudge, push, and a shove to all those who haven’t made it out in a while. This Sunday, 10th January, is your Big Chance. Party theme is ‘stubs’. Now, what could be easier? Write about anything you want! (At least come on over and say ‘hi’—we’ve all been much too quiet lately and I rather miss everybody.) Aleta Curry 20:47, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Please look

I'd appreciate your comment at Talk:Memory_of_water#Rewrite Sandy Harris 15:05, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

You've been Nominated!

Someone has nominated you for a position in the new Citizendium. They have noticed you're dedication to the project and like what they see. To be listed on the ballot for the position, it is necessary that you accept the nomination on the [[CZ:Nomination page|Nomination page]. Just place accept next to your name along with the four tildes. The nomination period will close at midnight October 7 (UTC). Article 54 of the new charter details the requirements:

Article 54

• In conjunction with the Declaration of the Editor-in-Chief regarding the effectivity of this Charter, there shall be a call for nominations for the following offices: Managament Council (five seats), Editorial Council (seven seats), Managing Editor (one), Ombudsman (one). This shall be the effective date of the Charter.
• Any Citizen may nominate candidates for these positions.
• Nominations shall be collected and collated by the Chief Constable.
• Nominations shall be accepted no more than fourteen days after the effective date of the charter; the ballot shall be available starting on the twentieth day after the effective date of the charter; the election shall be completed no more than twenty-eight days after the effective date of the charter; all elected officials shall begin their term of office on the thirtieth day after the effective date of the charter.
• Only candidates who accept their nomination shall be eligible to appear on the ballot. Nominated candidates can accept nominations for no more than two official functions. Accepting a nomination serves as a declaration of commitment, in the case of being elected, to fulfill this function until the limit of the term.
• All positions shall be elected by a simple majority of the voting citizenry. In the case of a tie, an immediate run-off election shall be held.
• In the event that a candidate has been elected for two functions, the candidate shall declare which one he or she accepts within three days of announcement of the election results. In the event that such a declaration has not been made during this period, the candidate shall be considered elected for the position for which the nomination was accepted first. The same procedure applies to a reserve member that becomes elected by a seat being vacated this way.

If you would like to make a statement to help voters, click the "Statement" link to the right of your name.

Thanks again for the commitment you're making to assure that Citizendium becomes the premier quality online source we all have envisioned.

D. Matt Innis 13:22, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Request for comment

I'd like to hear your opinion on Talk:Homeopathy/Draft#Rewrite.3F. Sandy Harris 12:48, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

What I wanted to know specifically was whether my rewritten lede should replace current lede. Matt & Howard have both said it (in an earlier version) is an improvement, but it is a major change in a controversial area, so I have not actually made the switch. Sandy Harris 00:24, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

FYI

Take a look at the Politics Workgroup talk page concerning naming conventions. Martin is the only editor involved at this point. D. Matt Innis 18:02, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

A correction if I may: three editors are involved: Martin, Russell (History) and myself (Politics and History) --Howard C. Berkowitz 19:56, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Another correction: History is not one of the Workgroups. That leaves Howard and Martin as Politics editors. Roger has joined on the Politics workgroup talk page. D. Matt Innis 20:20, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Howard inserted History just now and I have removed it. We had a serious problem years ago with Jensen and the History tag being appended to everything so that he could control CZ. It was agreed then that since History can potentially be a tag for any article, only those with a clear need for inclusion in the History WG should have it. This was a good policy, and we should stick to it.Martin Baldwin-Edwards 22:06, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

I have informed the constabulary and intend to restore it, since there are clear historical references. Those that disagree should take the Myanmar Road into the China-Myanmar-India Theater. Howard C. Berkowitz 22:23, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

If you intend to stick the History tag on everything, it would be best if you resign as a History editor. Martin Baldwin-Edwards 23:58, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Admittedly, while I tend to consider your advice as at least a reasonable argument for doing the opposite, where have I been putting the History tag inappropriately on articles? Yes, I've put it on (guessing) 200 or so articles I've added to the Pacific War subgroup. Are you suggesting that there was not historical unpleasantness especially between 1937 and 1945, but easily going back to the First Sino-Japanese War? Have you read them? Have you found them not to be History?

Many of my articles are about military history. Others are about the sweep of grand strategy and international relations, not necessarily international law. No workgroup is ideal. I've also written over 100 articles relating to the Wars of Vietnam and predecessors, as well as predecessors such as Dai Viet and the Nguyen Dynasty. Are you suggesting these are not historical events?

Text here was removed by the Constabulary on grounds that it is needlessly inflammatory. (The author may replace this template with an edited version of the original remarks.)

A comment here was deleted by The Constabulary on grounds of making complaints about fellow Citizens. If you have a complaint about the behavior of another Citizen, e-mail constables@citizendium.org. It is contrary to Citizendium policy to air your complaints on the wiki. See also CZ:Professionalism.

Please Revote

There has been a mistake on the Management Council Ballot. Howard C. Berkowitz was left off this ballot. Please recast your vote for Management Council

D. Matt Innis 14:12, 16 October 2010 (UTC)/Constabulary

On the business hours of public houses

You wrote in the forums: Can I please call "time" on discussions of the Charter Committee and its failings and achievements, here and elsewhere. For non Brits, this is a call to drink up and leave the topic.

Don't worry about translation -- thanks to the combined efforts of T.S. Eliot, Andy Capp, and "The Sultans of Swing," even we nice colonials know what "time" means! Bruce M. Tindall 17:31, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Although "last call" is more on this side of the pond. --Howard C. Berkowitz 17:43, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Going cold turkey

Hi, Gareth, could you take a look at: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Talk:Roast_turkey#What_do_we_do_now_with_the_turkey_recipes.3F__Asking_for_opinions_and_thoughts.... and offer your considered opinion when you have a moment? Many thanks! Hayford Peirce 22:04, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Homeopathy Study in Cuba

Gareth, you deleted a reference to a study of 3 million Cubans and wrote: "The trial was run by the Finlay Institute, and the authors were employees of this the commercial suppliers of the product; clear conflict of interest (oddly undeclared)" First, I would like to know the reference that you have this assertion, and equally important, what evidence do you have that employees of a company in a communist country like Cuba get financial benefits? I am certainly not saying that your concern isn't valid, but I just want evidence of it. Dana Ullman 04:25, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

New Health Sciences editor

Gareth, this has been the busiest day I have had on CZ since I joined and I am sure that it has been for you as well.

As an Editorial Personnel Administrator, I have just approved a new member, D. Leigh Higgins, as a Health Sciences author and editor. I have strongly urged her to expand her user page biography. If you have the time, it would be nice if you posted a welcome on her Talk page and also inquire if she wants any advice about expanding her bio or any other kind of help. Thanks, Milton Beychok 07:28, 25 October 2010 (UTC)