User talk:Hayford Peirce

Hayford Peirce

Current talk page

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2012

I wrote this article quickly, probably could use an experienced writer such as yourself (if interested) to spruce it up. Big traffic driver.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 17:47, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

I would go *insane* if I had to work on a article like this! I take it there's both a movie, a cult, and what else, books, about this nonsense? If so, then you should mention all of them at least in passing. Good luck, and don't let your mind rot.... Hayford Peirce 17:50, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Too late. Mind already rotted. But wanted to ask: is there any truth to rumors that your book The Burr in the Garden of Eden was responsible for launching the 2012 hysteria? Please comment.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 17:57, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

It was probably the group sex scenes in which they are channeling Reichian orgones that caused all the problems.... Hayford Peirce 18:00, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Hayford I would like your permission to upload a picture of the cover of your book The Burr in the Garden of Eden for an article.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 18:53, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

File:Burr in the Garden of Eden.jpg

The German cover of The Burr in the Garden of Eden

I suspect that Hayford cannot give that permission. You almost certainly have to go to the publisher. Chris Day 19:05, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

I think that Chris is right, unless we want to try using the "Fair Use" doctrine, applying small scans of book covers. WP first did it this way, then deleted them all, then restored some of them, along with *long* justifications. I dunno why we couldn't do it here, but, I think, people have argued about this for years. In any case, I know the publisher, so I'll email him and ask him to grant permission. Hayford Peirce 19:18, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Thanx.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 19:22, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

In the world of science, if i write a review and want to include my own photo, one published in another journal, then I have to get permission from the publisher of the primary journal. We never own the material that we publish. It may be different in literature, but I doubt it, unless the books are self published, which is becoming more common. Chris Day 19:25, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

It's the same in lit. as in sci. It's just that the "fair use" doctrine has been batted back and forth ever since I joined CZ 3 years ago. If we can justify it under "fair use", then it doesn't matter who owns it In any case, I have just emailed the publisher. Hayford Peirce 19:30, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Certainly I'm not clear on fair use. To me, if we're not profiting from it and only using it to promote the book, its hard to imagine how anyone could challenge it as not being "fair use". But our worry is not a common sense interpretation but the legal definition. Of that I am ignorant. Possibly your publisher could clarify what they mean and accept as 'fair use'? Chris Day 19:35, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

A little qualifier to Chris' above comment on copyright in science: This never has long been true but a growing number of scientific journals practice Gold Open Access, i.e. their content is now CC-licensed. --Daniel Mietchen 19:57, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

I don't think the publishers have a clear idea either. I know that Stephen Ewen and I used email Time magazine and such like and explain that we were a non-profit, etc. etc. They would reply, "Yes, we understand, so we'll only charge $1000 per use of our covers." So screw 'em -- I myself think that "fair use" would let us use these covers. Especially if we throw in enough boilerplate explanation, as WP people are now doing. See, for instance, this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Interlop11.jpg with all the boilerplate. I dunno why we couldn't do exactly the same thing. What's the absolute *worst* that could happened if we did? Well, I suppose that Larry could be thrown into prison for 300 years. Well, maybe not.... So, I myself, would unleash the unrestricted "fair use" doctrine all over CZ.... Hayford Peirce 20:36, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Those orgones

The Burr in the Garden of Eden (book) -- is this a good title for the article. I knew those orgones were responsible.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 20:19, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

No need to put book after it, since there's absolutely no confusion about it. Hayford Peirce 20:24, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Is the German cover "family friendly", or can I use it to illustrate Pornography (soft-core, of course)...giggling at said policy. Howard C. Berkowitz 21:17, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

It's *my* sort of family friendly, but I dunno what Charlie Manson would say about it.... As far as *I'm* concerned you can use it anywhere, including an article about Orgone.... Hayford Peirce 21:40, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Sibling revelry, perhaps. Hmmm...my mother's library did have some of Reich's orgone books, but I don't know if I even still have them in storage.

I am, incidentally, a bit surprised there has been zero comment about pornography. Yes, I think it's objectively written, but what does it take to do a controversial article around here if you aren't a homeopath? My Israel-Palestine work hasn't gotten any outrage.

This is reminding me, all too much, of the comment that even the people who write viruses don't support the Macintosh. Howard C. Berkowitz 21:50, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

No pix, I suppose, so no one cares. Or they're all busy over at the WP article, vandalizing, rewriting, and arguing. Hayford Peirce 22:07, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

One of the reasons I wrote it was to test Daniel's theory that an approvable article had to be illustrated, and, further, as a first sensitive topic to test the "ff" policy. As you point out, does anyone care? Should I try a serious article about erotic pain and the different philosophies of "safe, sane and consensual" vs. "risk aware consensual kink"? Howard C. Berkowitz 22:23, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Only if you want to put me, and probably everyone else, *really* to sleep. Although I suppose that the next time I wake up at 3 in the morning, as today, and have trouble getting back to sleep, I could come out and look at it for an effective somnifère... Hayford Peirce 22:31, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

PS, you might add to the Victoriana section of the porn article that there is truly nothing in the world *duller* than Prince Albert's porn.... Hayford Peirce 22:31, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

You refer, I assume, to his writing, as opposed to the eponymous body modification?

The convergence of pornography and being "up" at night, I suspect, is best left to Eric Massa.

I could also write in the Alex Comfort style, or a harder but not necessarily inflammatory style, or go to the deliberately dense Masters & Johnson approach. Nevertheless, this will need to be examined by the new EC. 22:41, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Fair Use

Just received this from the publisher of Wildside Press:

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:56:08 -0400

Message-ID: <9221c331003151356y5de3571eid35fceef4d9bba30@mail.gmail.com>

Subject: Re: Attention: John Betancourt -- cover permission requested

From: John Betancourt <wildsidepress@gmail.com>

To: tahiti@post.harvard.edu

Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=00163646c9d848887a0481dd1c73

Of course -- you don't need permission, though. I view it as fair use.

Which reminds me -- I've been meaning to drop you a note. I have found a new printer that doesn't charge the $12/book/year fee. If you want me to reissue any of your old Wildside books in print form, let me know. Happy to do so. (And I'll replace Alan's covers with something nice.)

-- John

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:27 PM, <tahiti@post.harvard.edu> wrote: Hi, John,

Do you know the Citizendium project started by Larry Sanger, one of the co-founders of Wikipedia (although Jimmie Wales doesn't like to be reminded of that)? It's supposed to be a *better* Wikipedia. I don't know if it is going to succeed, but I am one of the Main Men there. There's an article about me there (as well as at Wikipedia):

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Hayford_Peirce

Someone wants to write an article about my novel "The Burr in the Garden of Eden" and would like to upload a scan of the Wildside cover to illustrate the article. I told him that I'd ask your permission. Full credit and copyright info, of course, will be given to Wildside.

If you simply email me about this, I will insert your email into the permissions page of the image at some point.

Many thanks, and I'm glad to see that Wildside is apparently doing well these days!

Best,

Hayford Peirce _________________________________________________________________________

So, as you can see, at least *one* publisher views it as "fair use". Hayford Peirce 21:19, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Blockquote vs Quotequote

Didn't know the preferred format was blockquote, will try to use from now on.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 16:48, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

I really like the colored-quote formats like (I think I saw in Biology perhaps? You're right the Life article -- looks great. but won't use).--Thomas Wright Sulcer 16:48, 22 March 2010 (UTC) --Thomas Wright Sulcer 21:46, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Well, I think that 99.9% of the quotes in CZ are Blockquotes -- you could ask Howard about it.... Hayford Peirce 17:06, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Tony Sebastian used a lot of colour for quotes in the Life article. I seem to remember that was controversial at the time and there was a long debate about it on the forum. The main reasoning for using blockquote was that all quotes will look the same and are controlled by the stylesheet rather than by various templates and/or personalised wikimarkup. The idea is that changes to the style in the future will be consistent and easily implemented across the board. Chris Day 17:31, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Sigh. Yes, I've just taken a look at the Life article. What to do, what to do? I wish that there were more Constables, or more Editors, or even just ONE functioning Editor-in-Chief. Or just a plain old Decider. It's too early to go mix a martini, but I feel like it. Why do people have to *complicate* things!? Hayford Peirce 17:42, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Be.cau.se we are not cl.on.es we are not pro.gram.ed to obey. Ve are not ro.bot.s or Da.leks Ve are pe.op.le. Ve have fau.lts and flaws. Ve have a cho.ice....Ve have a cho.ice....Ve have no cho.ice....Ex.ter.min.ate....Ex.ter.min.ate....Ex.ter.min.ate.... Chris Day 17:54, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Here is the old forum discussion. Chris Day 17:59, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Good grief, I had completely forgotten all that! Well, the hell with it.... Hayford Peirce 18:24, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Without looking at the Forum thread, it's a general Web best practice to be careful with eye candy, lest one get into browser dependencies, color vision, and the like. With an international audience, one also cannot assume broadband connections. Howard C. Berkowitz

Yes, that's what I gathered was the gist of the Forum discussion. Anthony had put a *lot* of effort into making his stuff look pretty. But I think it all depends on which browser one uses, plus other settings, etc. etc. Remember the character who was sticking in all the Congressmen and using all the extra equal signs? This is just another example of that, actually. Hayford Peirce 20:51, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

I'll use blockquotes; wouldn't want to be attacked by aliens or orgones or dareks or have weird sea creatures be attracted by eye candy. When I come across my old {{quote|}} I'll switch them around.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 21:45, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Meg, for one, use the quote template. I'd say not to worry too much at this point. Chris Day 22:08, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Check out Metaphor and Allostasis and allostatic load for the current method I use for blockquotes. Try different browsers and text sizes for viewing. I would redo the blockquotes I put in Life. Anthony.Sebastian 04:05, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Anthony, life is too short for all of that. I think that your efforts in Life look fine -- my only concern, here as in a couple of other issues that we Citizens argue about it, is simply establishing *consistency* throughout the spectrum of articles. For two reasons: aesthetics in general, and also, I gather from the tech people, that if we don't have *consistency*, a lot of the tech operations simply don't work. I myself am certainly not going to ask you to redo the Life quotes -- someday when we have a thousand WP retentive-types to do this, then we can address these individual cases.... Hayford Peirce 04:26, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Hayford, you always make sense and force one to think further. I applaud operationally necessary consistency, though not consistency for the sake of consistency or at the expense communicative efficacy and creative innovation. I hear the little voice shouting from the back pew of my mind, something about about the hobgoblin of small minds. CZ, no place for small minds, you surely agree. Anthony.Sebastian 03:04, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

I certainly hear you loud and clear about the hobgoblins, a phrase I've used many times in my lifetime. What I remember, however, is the case, what, six months ago, about the guy who was bringing in *hundreds* of articles he had created at WP about Maryland congressmen over the centuries (he'd been banned from WP). They were, more or less, *excellent* articles, and we *welcomed* here. But he then decided that for the section headings he wanted to use two, three, four, or more = (equal signs) SO THAT IT WOULD LOOK BETTER. Well, maybe it DID look better on HIS monitor, but not necessarily everyone else's. But the IMPORTANT part of this, which, I myself, as the dumb cop, had absolutely no knowledge of but had to trust the judgment of our more technically oriented people, was that by using these extra = signs, he was screwing up, in major ways, basic operations of our entire "search" system or whatnot. We tried for a *long* time to explain to him, and to reason with him, but it was useless. Finally he ended up being banned as a vandal -- I'm sure that you remember the case. The point here that I'm trying to make, is that *sometimes* consistency, beyond just being a question of aesthetics and personal taste, is an important matter of practicality. For the latter point, I just have to trust the judgment of people more knowledgeable than I.... Cheers! Hayford Peirce 04:01, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

I take your point. Avoid explosives. I'm getting close, though, to a blockquote format I like. Will try it out on Life/Draft. Anthony.Sebastian 03:26, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

I look forward to seeing it, and, I'm sure, many others do also. I'm certainly not 100% satisfied with our present formatting, so if we could evolve a *better* one, that could then be *consistently* applied, that would be great! Hayford Peirce 04:18, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

To hyphen or not to hyphen

Hayford, what do you think is correct: "multiplayer" or "multi-player"? Both? Is it a question of AE or BE? --Peter Schmitt 14:33, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Hyphen, as per Ro. Hayford Peirce 15:45, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

When in doubt, I hyphenate. A hyphen rarely hurts, except in the case of hyphenated line-endings. Anthony.Sebastian 03:21, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

My forum account has been deleted?

Have you any idea why my forum account has been deleted? [1] I would ask on the forums, but don't want to re-register until I know. --Chris Key 23:39, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, looking on the forums I probably got caught up in the 525 bogus members you deleted in 5 minutes[2]. I have re-registered under the same name, just awaiting approval... --Chris Key 00:00, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, I thought that you had been registered a long time ago.... I'll approve you immediately. Hayford Peirce 00:03, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Thicket strategy

Hi Hayford just letting you know what I'm up to. My thinking at present is that a way to boost CZ's web presence is by creating what HB and others call a thicket of articles -- not just one long one here or there, or a hot topic article -- rather the idea is to create a few good long articles which are comprehensive and interesting and well-written, and then write lots of little articles on supporting terms. Sometimes these are so-called lemma articles but I prefer just a very short article explaining a term, but loaded with wikilinks to the bigger articles and others. For example, my article Aeneid is a main one relating to another biggie dactylic hexameter but surrounded by lots of little articles on related subjects. I'm asking please don't delete the little articles since they serve (hopefully) the function of driving traffic to the bigger ones.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 12:28, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

You misunderstand my function -- I only delete obvious vandalism and dead-end accounts that are *clearly, clearly, clearly* against CZ policy as explained in various guidelines. I certainly would never delete *short* articles just because they're short. Basically, Constables only delete what *other* people ask them to, and even then it's almost *always* because of mistakes in Titles, etc. If I just went around deleting articles because I felt like it, I would be removed as a Constable. Hayford Peirce 16:15, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

I understand your function, but I wanted to explain to you what I was trying to do, so that in the event that requests came up to delete small articles, that you'd understand the purpose behind my creating lots of little articles. I came across other instances in which articles may have been deleted in the past, possibly because they were small or didn't look significant (I'm not sure why there were deleted) but I wanted to explain that the idea behind creating a slew of smaller articles was to possibly build interest in the bigger ones like Aeneid or dactylic hexameter and such. It's a niche strategy -- find specific areas where we can compete with WP, and do a better job, possibly attracting other contributors and editors here. Again, I don't know if this will succeed or not, but I"m trying.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 21:26, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

On a related subject -- I'm exploring whether to do some kind of experiment regarding subpages and PageRank. I left a message here at DM's talk page. Wondering whether some kind of permission is needed. It would involve creating two competing article thickets on nonsense topics, to see which one did better in PageRank terms.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 12:28, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't have a clue as to what you mean -- Daniel and the other are the people to address. If they think that it would gum up the works, then don't do it. Hayford Peirce 16:15, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Sorry if I didn't explain it well. I'm working with Daniel about it. Basically the experiment is harder than I thought, and DM thinks it would require article titles which were real, not nonsense ones; I'm putting this on the back burner for the moment. The idea was to have two competing "article thickets" -- one with subpages; one without -- and see which were easier to find using Google searches after a month being on CZ. I have a hunch that the subpages confuse the crawlers, but am not sure (HB isn't sure). But I was looking for some way to possibly show this, and if so, it would then have to come up with the editorial committee in charge.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 20:43, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, as long as you're experimenting, and others (not me, because I don't understand it) are aware of what you're doing, and you're not creating articles that would being CZ into obvious disrepute, then go ahead. I think that many of us have created test articles, or test something or others over the years. Eventually they just get deleted -- and forgotten. In some cases, Matt and I have been leery about Daniel and others creating and running Bots until they knew *exactly* how they would work.... Hayford Peirce 20:51, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Wiped out again

...in an edit conflict. (& then I went & put this on your user page!) Perhaps that's an argument for not keeping conversations confined to one page. After all, these days it's easy to keep two windows open. Anyway, yes, I find it hard to imagine how anyone could convincingly argue against your K-Trio examples. Did some jolly impartialist come along and quote statistics, as just happened to me: '19-5 isn't exactly conclusive'? And that in response, I notice, to someone else's figure of 9-1. Still only 1000-0 will do, it seems. Any idiots out there, their views must be respected. Ro Thorpe 20:51, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm, worse than I thought. Have you ever thought about devoting yer time to a place called Citizendium? It's quite different, I hear! Cheers! Hayford Peirce 20:57, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

But, you say, common sense prevailed chez K-Trio! And my ancient ticker is still only 59 - until tomorrow. Ro Thorpe 21:11, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Anyway, [3] is the place if you can bear to have a look. I still have hopes of getting the co-ordinator chappie on my side. Yours dreamily, Ro Thorpe 23:41, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Good flippin' Geezus! ZZZZZZZz, that noise you hear is me snoring after trying to wade my way through about a quarter of it! Catch up on your Z's, you're gonna need all yer strength to deal with that! Hayford Peirce 23:55, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Is it worth getting worked up about? Normally this article on Wikipedia gets only a sliver of attention -- 6 users per day perhaps. My suggestion is if you're going to joust on wikipedia, prepare to battle. That's what it's all about. If you want quality, spend more time here on CZ.--Thomas Wright Sulcer 23:58, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Just fired another sally. I have plenty of time and patience. I used to teach Arabs and Koreans English. (Granted, that was much easier...) Ro Thorpe 01:18, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Meg has supplied the quotation, so I was able to give CZ a plug. The WPjuns will need all their reserves of bloody-mindedness... Ro Thorpe 18:00, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

I have the NYT Manual of Style, but it's only 230 pages long and not absolutely complete. I've looked through it and it doesn't seem to address the question at hand but, pragmatically, we can find a thousand examples in the paper itself to back up our position. Fowler's Second Edition probably has something relevant, but trying to find anything in that book is a nightmare. Hayford Peirce 18:12, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Star Wars and Philosophy

Hayford, as science fiction writer and thoughtful person, you might find the essays in this multi-authored book interesting.

Book Title: Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine. Contributors: Kevin S. Decker - editor, Jason T. Eberl - editor. Publisher: Open Court. Place of Publication: Chicago. Publication Year: 2005.

If you have a Questia account, you can read the full-text: http://www.questia.com/read/116211835 Anthony.Sebastian 03:10, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! I'll check this out! Hayford Peirce 03:50, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Conventional coal-fired power plant is due for final Approval tomorrow

Hi, Hayford: Just want to alert you that the Conventional coal-fired power plant is due for Approval tomorrow. Regards, Milton Beychok 16:29, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi

Thanks for the welcome message, Peirce. I'm trying to figure out how things work and made some small contributions. Of course it is very similar to working on Wikipedia, but I find Citizendium very appealing. Regards, (and watch out for these lobsters!) Jules Grandgagnage 15:25, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

deletion requests

Hayford, you should look at the remaining deletion requests, too. I have completed the templates. --Peter Schmitt 08:05, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! I figured that if I left them long enough someone would get tried of them! Hayford Peirce 14:23, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Minor minor

So you decided for the "crazy" AE system of dates ;-)

As for the endash without spaces: I know that American typography uses emdashes without spaces—like this—though I regard this as ugly. But are you sure that "May 1, 2000–June 2, 2010" is correct typographical praxis? It looks very irritating! (Because it groups "2000–June" together.)

--Peter Schmitt 00:16, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi, Peter -- you're gonna hate my answer to all your questions: "Because that's the way Larry decided to do it about two years ago." There were discussions in various places about all these points, and at last he simply said, "Do it this way." (I do think that in the case of the dates, there was some indication that sorts and searches etc. worked better with his mode. Can't remember 100%.) As for emdashes, *some* 'Merkins do it that way, others don't. The New York Times, for example -- with them it is WordSPACEemdashSPACEword. But remarque, in the CZ date it is an endash, not an emdash. Same principle, though. Hayford Peirce 01:30, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, I do not mind much -- typography on wikipages is not very good anyway. It was just an observation.

On the other hand, I do not think that it is necessary to force uniformity on such minor points (as long as each page is consistent). Style differences between pages can be accepted, just as AE/BE differences. (Controlled) individuality is not all bad. --Peter Schmitt 20:24, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Can you do this??

Hayford, I replaced the topmost refinery photo in the draft version of the approved Petroleum refining processes article with a much better photo. Can you do the same replacement of the topmost photo in the approved version without needing to re-approve the article? No content has been changed ... only the photo was changed. Regards, Milton Beychok 22:05, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, Hayford. Milton Beychok 01:38, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

PLEASE don't resign as a Constable! We need you!

Hayford, PLEASE don't resign as a Constable! We need you as a KOP and need you badly!! PLEASE reconsider. Milton Beychok 19:48, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

1. Hayford, are you going to make me beg? :) Whether you reconsider or not, you have been a great copper. You will definitely be missed. That wry wit in combination with the friendly curmudgeon is a perfect balance to defuse the fireworks. :) Chris Day 20:14, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
2. It's ham on wry. Hayford, believe me, I do appreciate your efforts and the seemingly impossible job. I tend to think it will get better if we can move the Charter. Howard C. Berkowitz 20:15, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
3. I think it was a good idea to suggest that everyone with special roles should tender resignation once the Charter is in place, but we are not there yet. --Daniel Mietchen 20:32, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
4. Hayford, you should do whatever it is you need to do. However, if you do not reconsider, you will definately be missed! --Chris Key 20:33, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
5. Hayford, if you must, you must, but I hope you will consider Daniel's point, which I second. —Anthony.Sebastian 20:51, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
6. Every cop needs a vacation (and, of course, deserves it), Hayford. But he should not consume it in times when he is most needed -- in emergencies. Until there will be a Charter, CZ certainly is in an exceptional state. Please extend your office at least until then. (It may well be that after that date the reasons for your intended resignation will mysteriously have disappeared.) --Peter Schmitt 21:23, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

As I just posted in the Forums: Well, thanks, everyone, for your kind words! I've heard privately from Larry and some of the other Constables and I can say that Matt and I are now discussing things. There are a couple of other private issues to be taken into account also.... Hayford Peirce 22:15, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

The Reports of My Departure Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

All: once again, thanks for your kind words of support. As I said above, there are other circumstances that, at least for moment, will remain private, but after *numerous* emails between Matt and myself I have reluctantly decided that I cannot, at this crucial moment in CZ's history, leave him in the lurch. Nor, perhaps, everyone else, although I am not fully convinced of that. As General de Gaulle (or someone else) once said, "Les cimetières sont pleins d'hommes indispensables." Hayford Peirce 23:02, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Good for you, Hayford ... and thanks. Milton Beychok 23:28, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, Hayford. D. Matt Innis 23:45, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Best wishes for you & CZ. And it was de Gaulle who said the graveyards are full of indispensable men, may he rest in peace. —Anthony.Sebastian 17:05, 13 May 2010 (UTC), in memory of Mark Twain

Apparently it's one of those "quotations" for which no real citation can be found, just attribution. It's also attributed to Clemenceau and others. But who remembers Clemenceau except *real* geezers? Even le grand Charles is now becoming a distant memory: geez, it was *41* years ago that he stepped down! Hayford Peirce 17:38, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Protection request

Please could you protect Template:Greenapprovalbar as suggested on it's talk page by Daniel Mietchen and agreed by me. --Chris Key 23:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Hayford, but could you protect the template instead of the talk page please ;) --Chris Key 23:41, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, in three or four more efforts I might get it right, hehe. Okie, I'll protect the template and unprotect the talk page -- does that sound right? Hayford Peirce 23:43, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Hehe, that sounds right to me! --Chris Key 23:44, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Perfection! Thanks again. --Chris Key 23:46, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

This doesn't look right

Hayford, I blocked this account for User:Fioricey49ujk. I didn't look too closely but it looked wrong when I saw it so I blocked it in case it had slipped through. Wuz up? D. Matt Innis 17:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Matt, did you have a look at the user page? It is clearly link spam, plus an Editor everywhere! Besides, the one approved right thereafter may deserve a capitalized surname. --Daniel Mietchen 18:32, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

No, I didn't see it till this afternoon! I have since renamed Sven's last name to upper case. D. Matt Innis 19:44, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, there were *three* of them like that, plus one or two yesterday, that came in at the same time. I *thought* that I had *rejected* all of them, but must have clicked the wrong check-box at least once. (There were also a couple of Approvals that I did at that time, and I must have gotten confused!) Thanks for handling it! Hayford Peirce 19:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

LOL, I caught at work as I was getting ready to leave and didn't notice the viagra advertisement, hahaha. I'm sure it was some kind of Freudian slip :) D. Matt Innis 19:40, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Membership requests from spammers

Hayford, as you know, we recently had membership requests from 6 spammers. I rejected 2 of them and you rejected 4 of them. It appears that they all seem to have come from http://www.livescribe.com/forums/ ... does anyone have the authority to track down their IP address and to block it? Milton Beychok 20:30, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I had been asking myself the same question. I just started a topic about this in the Forums at http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,3181.0.html Hayford Peirce 20:47, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Approvals

No need to apologize for the delay(s), Hayford. They do not matter. I consider our discussions about it as "academic" debates. (Even without any uncertainty: Why should we expect that Cops work -- without delay -- on "demand"?) --Peter Schmitt 21:38, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! Even cops have to take time off to brush their teeth from time to time and ponder unanswerable philosophical questions.... Hayford Peirce 21:43, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Like who should win the French open vs who will win the French open? Chris Day 21:51, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Whoever can say "Open sesame!" first in French, I image. And since Ro-jay Fay-day-raire can probably speak it faster and better than even Venus Williams, he'll probably be the one.... Hayford Peirce 21:56, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

A missing theory

Having set theory up for Approval, and noting we have game theory, is work needed on match theory? If so, what is it? Howard C. Berkowitz 00:20, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

That would be the matching theory. --Peter Schmitt 00:35, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks

Just wanted to say hi and thank you for the speedy approval and welcome message! Esther Fraser 03:27, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

De rien, as we Canadiens say! Glad to see you jumping right in! Hayford Peirce 03:46, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

About applicant Troy Alexander

Hayford, if you look at this website that Troy furnished, http://www.ycusd.k12.ca.us/RVHS/index.asp?whichPage=mainpages/directory.htm, his name appears as a teacher at that high school just as he said he was. Is that not enough to confirm his application? Milton Beychok 04:39, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Not necessarily. I didn't like his email address. We're supposed to verify that the person sending the request actually *has* that account. I used to be *very* rigorous about this, now I've become less rigorous. But once in a while I want to see more verification. And there was something about the tone of the bio.... Anyway, if you're satisfied, go ahead and approve him. Hayford Peirce 15:36, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks and done. Milton Beychok 15:56, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

About applicant Johnathan Gray

Hayford, I am ready to approve Johnathan's application except for one thing. His email address is given as jonathan.gray@pkfn.org and marked as "Confirmed". However, it is incorrect and it should be jonathan.gray@okfn.org (where okfn stands for Open Knowledge Foundation). If I confirm his application, then his confirmed email will be incorrect ... and I have no way to correct it. Can you use your Sysop privileges to change his confirmed email address to jonathan.gray@okfn.org ?? As matters stand, I was going to confirm him as an author and advise him to provide additional information before I confirmed him as an editor. Sorry to bother you again and I hope you can help me. Milton Beychok 21:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm missing something here, Milton. His pkfn.org is *NOT* marked as "confirmed". Have *You* confirmed that it should really be orfn.org by receiving emails from there? If so, then I will change his address for you. Hayford Peirce 21:44, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I have confirmed his address to be jonathan.gray@okfn.org (*not* orfn.org and *not* pkfn.org ). Thanks for your help. Milton Beychok 22:25, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

okfn is correct, for Open Knowledge Foundation. And I do not think it is good that you discuss these things (see also the other applicant approved today) with full names (albeit spelled incorrectly — there is only one h, the one after the t) and email addresses here in public. By the way, I have attended his talk at LSWT 2010. --Daniel Mietchen 22:33, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

It's all academic anyway -- I've just discovered that I *can't* change his email address. I can change his Username and his "position applied for" from "Editor and Author" to "Author" only, but that's all I can do. I think that he'll have to reapply, this time using his correct email address. In fact, I've just done a little more investigating, and I can't change his email address even after he's joined. Maybe a smarter Cop, or a smarter Sysop could find some other way of handling, this, but, as far I can tell, he's gonna have to reapply, with the correct email address. Hayford Peirce 22:45, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay, Hayford. I was just hoping to save some time if you could change his email address. But since you cannot, I will ask him to re-apply. Milton Beychok 23:16, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

(unindent)Hayford, I just received an email from Jonathan that CZ's software won't let him re-apply. I have emailed both Dan Nessett and Chris Kay for help in getting his email address changed. If they cannot straighten this out within 24 hours, I am going to approve Jonathan as an author anyhow ... and his email address can get revised later somehow. I have also asked Daniel Meitchen to contact Nessett and Kay as well. Meanwhile, I asked Jonathan to bear with us until we can get this straightened out. Milton Beychok 16:33, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Just FYI; no-one other than the properly signed in user is able to change an email address. Make sure *not* to approve an account until you see that it is confirmed. This verifies that the user actually owns that email address and will become the default contact email so they can use the "email password" feature (we also have no access to passwords). A user will only be able to create one account every 24 hours with the same email address. It can take up to 4 hours to get a new account email if the servers are slow. Hope this helps. D. Matt Innis 16:41, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I wrote Jonathan at the correct email address and he responded. That confirms his address. So does the Open Knowledge Foundation website confirm his name as working there. It was well over 24 hours between his first application and his attempt to re-apply (but our software did not let him re-apply). Are you saying that I can go ahead and confirm his application and then he can change his email address himself afterward? I need a "yes" or "no" answer, Matt. Milton Beychok 16:52, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I *know* that both Matt and I have *mistakenly* approved candidates whose address were *not* confirmed -- because we were in a hurry and overlooked that fact (their credentials otherwise were fine), but I don't know how things got straightened out later. Let's say that you confirm him at a (mistaken) xyz.com address and his real address is abc.com. The confirming email goes to xyz.com, telling him that he's a member and can now log in and generate a new password. But he *can't* receive that email, because the address *doesn't exist*! What *I'm* not sure of is whether a new member can log in once he's approved *whether or not he gets a confirmatory email*. Matt does know, though, I'm sure. So you'll have to wait for him to answer.... Hayford Peirce 17:38, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Hayford, I *will* wait for Matt to answer. In the event that Matt says go ahead, I will not only confirm Jonathan at the EPA confirmation page and let the software send his approval notice to the wrong address, but I will send him an email at his correct address as well. Thanks for your comments. Milton Beychok 17:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

This is bugging me enough that I think I'll set up an experiment to apply as a new member with a purposely wrong email address and then see what happens. And then I'LL WRITE DOWN EXACTLY WHAT THE PROCESS IS and post it into the Constabulary How-To page, with instructions on what to do the next time this happens. Which it will.... Hayford Peirce 17:59, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Are you saying that I can go ahead and confirm his application and then he can change his email address himself afterward? I need a "yes" or "no" answer, Matt. Milton Beychok 16:52, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

No, he doesn't have his password and has no way of getting it if the system sends it to the wrong email address. D. Matt Innis 18:17, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I just confirmed this myself by setting up a new account with the WRONG email address. It was then IMPOSSIBLE for me to get the password sent to me.

Matt may have a better idea, but here is what I suggest: A.) Have Jonathan wait 24 hours from NOW. Don't let him do a THING about applying for Citizendium or trying to apply. THEN have him start all over again, this time using the correct address. The key: unless he can access the automatically generated password that is sent from CZ, he will NEVER be able to log in. What has happened *before*, several times, particularly with EZ student applicants, is that they used a SECOND email account address in their application, so that the password actually COULD be found by going to the other address. In Jonathan's case, this can't happen.... Hayford Peirce 18:25, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Matt, please don't get offended, but this is becoming ridiculous. Why not let me approve him as an author and let the system send his password to the wrong address? But you then send him the password to his correct address of jonathan.gray@okfn.org along with telling him how to log in and correct his email address. That is much more simple than asking him to re-register. I assume that you can find out what his password is. Milton Beychok 18:35, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

No Milt, nobody can find out what his password is - even with direct database access. The only way to recover a lost password is to get it emailed to the address that is registered to the account. If that email address is unavaliable, then obviously that email will never arrive. --Chris Key 18:43, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

(Unindent) This what I have just added to the Constabulary page -- Matt, is this enough, do you think?

Most times when a new applicant is unable to log in for the first time after requesting an account it is because the applicant has been approved even though his email address was not Confirmed on the application. But generally speaking this is because the applicant has given a second email address on the application rather than his main address, which he principally looks at. Therefore he does not find the automated response from CZ until he looks at his email in the secondary address, to which it has been sent.

Occasionally, however, an applicant may mistakenly type his email address incorrectly: He types, for instance, "JohnSmith@yahou.com" instead of "JohnSmith@yahoo.com". If this happens, and his request is mistakenly approved, he will NEVER be able to log in because the confirmatory email with the CZ log-in password will have been sent to an address that does not exist and that can never be accessed.

There is a SINGLE solution: the applicant must be told that he must now wait 24 hours before making another request for membership. The key here is the 24 hours. If he tries to apply before the 24 hours are up, he will simply be told that his request cannot be processed.

Hayford Peirce 18:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Sure, Hayford, that works. D. Matt Innis 19:22, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay, I surrender. I will email Jonathon and ask him to wait 24 hours and then re-apply. But our system really needs to be revised somehow so that a simple error by an applicant can be more easily remedied. Milton Beychok 18:56, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Just one of about a million things that need to be fixed. But, in terms of priorities, I would put this pretty far down the list. Hayford Peirce 19:08, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

And make sure that he decides whether he is Jonathan or Jonathon or whatever, hehe.... Hayford Peirce 19:10, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Milt, I hope you understand that this is not our doing. It's the way the wiki software works. That way no-one knows anyones password. Just make sure it says "confirmed" before approving and that problem won't occur. You were just unlucky to have approved an "unconfirmed account" with a "bad" email address. Had he had a good email, it would not have mattered - he still would have gotten the email with the password. Both errors together were catastrophic... kinda like the gulf oil spill! D. Matt Innis 19:22, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

There is one alternative. A SysOp (such as a Constable) can go to Special:Createaccount and create a second account manually with the correct email address. The previous request can then be declined. There are a few issues with this however. The original user name may be taken, so a variation will need to be used or the old account renamed. The user page and talk pages will have to be created manually complete with categories. Also, a SysOp will have to go to Special:UserCredentials and fill in the bio/cv/etc. Overall, Hayfords solution may be better. --Chris Key 19:49, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the thinking, Chris, but I think that this is *far* too complicated. This is NOT a problem that arises very often. Daniel just sent *another* possible solution to us via the Register account apparatus but I have rejected that also. I hate to sound grouchy about this. Why can't he just wait 24 hours and then reapply? Hayford Peirce 20:02, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

cleaned up comment some. D. Matt Innis 20:14, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Chris, I attempted to create the account manually, but the system recognized that there was already an account request with that name and errored. I figure that is why Jonathan could not re-apply and have now rejected the account request. I will try it again now. D. Matt Innis 20:10, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Nope, didn't work. We have to wait the 24 hours. The more we try, we may be causing him to have to wait longer. I think Hayford is right, though I've edited his comment some ;) D. Matt Innis 20:14, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

As a more long-term solution, it is possible to increase the number of account requests an IP address can make in a day. By default it is 1 per 24 hours, but this can be increased by editing $wgAccountRequestThrottle in LocalSettings.php. This change would need to be requested by a bug ticket on bugzilla, discussed on the forums and approved by Greg, then implemented by someone with root server access (Most likely Dan Nessett). --Chris Key 20:17, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it was decidedly placed at 24 hours by those that set up the system to prevent multiple account creations from the same IP address, so it's part of the real name and verifiable function. Any change would need to be thought through thoroughly.. and not on Hayford's page - it makes him edgy :) D. Matt Innis 20:23, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

(unindent)Matt, I *never* "approved" him. I did not even put him "on hold". His application is still pending and in the queue. I found his email address to be incorrect in the course of my due diligence check of his identity. Once I found his application had an incorrect address, I started asking for the help of Hayford and then you and Chris Kay and Dan Nessett ... and that opened up this can of worms. I have now personally emailed him at his correct address, explained the situation and asked him to re-apply after 24 hours. To date, all of my communications with him have been via personal emails to his correct address. The only error that occurred was his providing an incorrect address and I repeat that our software needs to be revised to provide a simpler remedy for cases such as this one. Milton Beychok 20:28, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Is the fact that his current application is still in the queue going to create a problem when he does re-apply?? 20:28, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Ah, no wonder he was still in the queue. Yes, that would be why he could not re-apply, but I have since deleted it so he should be able to apply within the 24 hours. D. Matt Innis 21:02, 28 May 2010 (UTC)