User talk:JWSchmidt

Wikiversity Course
You gave me a bunch of info on wikiversity, so I thought you'd be interested in this:

School of Mathematics:Calculus

If you could advertise somehow, that would be nice. Fephisto 04:10, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

In response to your reply on my board. To be honest, I don't know what "A Practical Approach" was doing there (I got rid of it now), I had actually pirated the page from the existing "Calculus Course" details that had nothing going on. I will, however, be distinguishing from those who want to know Calculus fully and formally (a train of thought like Partitions -> Riemann Darbouex Sums -> Upper and Lower Sums -> Formal integrals for example, although they'd have to go through some set theory and it'd be a hard ride) and those who want to know Calculus intuitively (more or less, an integral is the area underneath a curve, for example).

What are you getting at with the modules though? Are you looking to get Calculus with some more practical examples, or are you suggesting some other sort of synthesis action? Fephisto 00:36, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, that's some highly probable synthesis action, I really doubt that many students are going to want to study in-depth set-theoretical Calculus, so the intuitive examples you're looking for will probably pop up in my course sooner or later, and I'll try to let you know when they do. However, I still need students, 8/. Fephisto 03:39, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

I've got one really dedicated student so far, but unfortunately for you he opted for in-depth set theoretical Calculus. If you want to check for material, check sometime after August 21 (or check until August 21, whatever fits your fancy), that's when I'm ending class. However, I really doubt you'll get much material worth in a week. Fephisto 06:19, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

The course has already ended, there was a whopping one person (technically two people) that participated. If you're interested in the format or results check it out: School of Mathematics:Calculus.Fephisto 23:51, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Image use
Hi. I would like to use under the CC-By-SA-2 licence. I will use it on my site. Thanks, answer to my talk page at en.wikipedia. It's a great pic. Www.wikinerds.org 02:14, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * "You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor." - An HTML link back to the source of the image where it says JWSchmidt (JWSurf, John Schmidt) is fine. --JWSurf 16:46, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wiki theory as subsets of epistemology and sociology
Hi, I see you've done some excellent work on the tentative first steps of providing a theoretical explanation of the [google.com/search?q=Wiki | success of Wiki] in general and [alexa.com/wikipedia.org | Wikimedia projects] in particular. I have quite a few ideas that I believe will revolutionise the world, and they will do this by proving ambitious statements backed by a comprehensive theory of Wiki that is universally agreeable. I know my ideas are revolutionary (subject to some major or minor tweaking), but I need people like you to I am very good at understanding things, but as a result, I am incredibly poor at explaining them to people who are less lucky fortunate in their comprehension abilities than I. You appear to have the talent of exposition. Together, we will change the world. Please come to my team builing area and associate your interest with some or all of my solution sets. Nsh 17:17, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * understand them, and
 * explain them.


 * I did not find much at your page. --JWSurf 16:46, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wikiversity
Just wanted to reciprocate that nice little golden box :-) Sorry - had forgottten that you wouldn't have got it yourself, as I put my message on your main page, doh! Wikiversity really could blossom into something amazing - it just needs a few initiatives. Read the m:Talk:Wikiversity and Research pages for some people who are interested in the general field - and, as always, if you have an idea/initiative, just get it going and invite as many people as possible to take a look. I will for a start. Cormaggio 16:10, 20 August 2005 (UTC)


 * And thanks again - I replied on my talk page but likewise wanted to say that I really appreciate your input on Talk:Wikiversity:About - it's been really stimulating. We just need to keep this conversation going, and who knows what'll come of it or how soon..? Cormaggio 12:10, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Replying to what you've left on my discussion board. My basis for checking out the statis was whether there would be anything to stop an unaccredited me to teach an unaccredited class, but hopefully still accurate (I'm pretty confident that I know what the hell I'm doing); and it doesn't look like there is anything from stopping me to do this from what I've read, so I should be able to send out a mailing to the discussion pages of students from the current participation list, get people who want to start this Summer, and go from there, right? Also from what I've read, however, teaching styles vary, and I'd rather perform a tutor-style non-factory method. I know this doesn't match up with learning community, but I should be able to try it, see if it works out, encourage more support for Wikiversity. --Fephisto 17:46, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Definitely Mathematics, and I will try Calculus I. There won't be a guarentee that what's usually covered in Calc I will all be covered, or even if it will be for the entire semester; but I wouldn't mind helping with that. --Fephisto 21:31, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I remember working extensively on the 3-D Calculus section, but so long as it has a formal definition of limit it's probably O.K. (that and even if it wasn't there I'd probably add it in just to fit with the class). And I don't think I'd be forcing students to go look up a Calculus reference through Google anyways; but why do you ask? --Fephisto 00:42, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Consciousness studies
I moved your interesting item on Ned Block's ideas to the module on nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy and put a notice pointing to it in the section on phenomenal and access consciousness. See http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Consciousness_studies:_The_conflict2#Phenomenal_consciousness_and_access_consciousness RobinH 09:42, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Request for Adminship
JW, I've requested adminship in Wikibooks to help out more with the Wikiversity and other Wikibooks projects. Any support you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.--Mfinney 10:20, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Looking to Help out
John, Looking to help out with the wikiversity, think it is a great idea. Am fairly new to Wiki sites as far as contributing to them, but am eager to begin helping. I have degrees in Physiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering and focused in Immunology. Let me know how I can help. Thanks. Ferralangel 20:04, 17 April 2006 (UTC)ferralangel

Policy review
Policy is not the most exciting subject at Wikibooks but we do have some major unresolved issues.

The most important issue, in my opinion, is Dispute resolution which starts by declaring that:

"Currently there is no official organized process to resolve disputes between users"

The suggested remedy for this is: Ad hoc administration committee which puts into place the absolute minimum in terms of an enforcement apparatus.

The second most important is No personal attacks where a vote has recommended the policy be enforced but it still languishes as "proposed".

The third policy that is needed and which will prevent edit disputes from getting out of hand is Editing disputes policy.

Other policies that need consideration are at: Policies and guidelines.

Please spare a minute or two to peruse these issues and add a comment and/or a vote. RobinH 12:49, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Heya! Im new to Wikiversity
Hello there! Im rather new to wikiversity and wanted to drop a line with you. My name is Tyson and I'm looking to help out over in History. Very nice work on your Cell Biology course! I hope you don't mind but I'll probably be using your course as a guide for formatting a course for Ancient Egypt!

Looking forward to working with you on the Wikiversity project!

Sincerely! -- T.Myhres 03:20, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Wikiversity and Wikimedia
I'm a little confused. Why would it be better for Wikiversity to become a Wikimedia project? Is it like a test webstie right now? It doesn't seem to belong to any particular part of Wikipedia. I guess I'm just new to all this and a tad confused.

"Why would it be better for Wikiversity to become a Wikimedia project?" <-- Wikimedia has a broader goal than Wikipedia: ".....a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge". Wikipedia is important, but it routinely rejects content that does not belong in an encyclopedia. Right now, Wikiversity is just an idea. The people who run Wikibooks do not want it there. In order to exist, Wikiversity needs its own website domain.....it needs to become a Wikimedia sister project.

RE: I see. Why don't people in Wikibooks want Wikiversity there? I think the two are critically bound together. Wikiversity seems like a place to collect authors to write the texts for Wikibooks... I don't understand why they don't want Wikiversity as part of Wikibooks. However, it would be cool for Wikiversity to become its own website. Thanks for your info! Endless melee 18:06, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Do you like our Human Physiology wikibook?
About 5 weeks ago I decided that instead of a traditional class, I would have my students create a Human Physiology textbook. I'm proud of the work they have done so far, and hope we can really polish it up in the next few weeks. We would love any input you can give on the book and hope that if you have a talent or interest in a particular chapter that you will give us some feedback or make improvements.

Thanks! Provophys 22:29, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Noncommercial images
I have marked images like Image:Chromosomes2.jpg for speedy deletion. --Derbeth talk 09:35, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Can you replace text "Permission is granted to copy..." with GFDL template? Use of dedicated template makes some automatic tasks (like searching for images without copyright information) easier.
 * And another thing: are you aware of problems that GFDL license makes when applied to images? If not, consider reading . --Derbeth talk 15:01, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

while you're here...
Hi John,

Would you mind weighing on on Wikibooks:Request for enabling special:import? Wikimedia tech asked for a show of hands :) -- SB_Johnny | talk 23:51, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry... one more vote please?
One more thing to smooth out the transwiki process... Wikibooks:Request_for_enabling_special:import. We're asking that "Transwiki:" be given namespace status so we can import to it directly. -- SB_Johnny | talk 19:58, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Unsolved archive
Could you possibly clarify the Unsolved archive page? Your last edit of that page states it to be some sort of a "historical archive". Did this come from Unsolved problems in biology? Why was it put here (without any history). --Swift 18:38, 6 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The following comment moved from User:Swift --Swift 02:30, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * The origin of the "Unsolved archive" page is described at the top of the "Unsolved problems in biology" page. --JWSurf 05:05, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I had actually found as much out. I also saw your comment in the VfD discussion. Do you resent this being deleted. I think we are generally a reasonable bunch so if you would like to keep the page, please feel free to state why.
 * Wikibookians differ in how prone to deletionism they are. The arguments for deleting are partly un-cluttering the page structure. If you can convince a few people that it would benefit the project to keep the page, the page will most likely stay. --Swift 02:30, 8 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The following comment moved from User:Swift --Swift 04:12, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * "Do you resent this being deleted." <-- You are perceptive: I do have some resentments. But I have moved this material to another wiki where exploration of the unknown and the unsolved is more central to the mission. --JWSurf 18:36, 8 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I think you have misunderstood the arguments presented in the VfD discussion. Unsolved archive was not up for deletion out of any Wikibookians distaste have for "exploration of the unknown and the unsolved". Rather, the redundancy, possible confusion and likely violation of the GFDL.
 * Redundancy: As I mentioned in the discussion, this page is already archived in Wikipedia history at .
 * Confusion: Given the redundancy argument above and the existance of related content, this page will potentially confuse readers looking for information about this without providing them any benefits. As you can see from Unsolved problems in biology no-one is asking for this type of content to be deleted. It is largely a cleanup measure.
 * Copyrights: The GFDL states that you cannot create a derived work from a GFDL without citing past contributors. Every time you edit a wiki page copyrighted by GFDL you are creating a derived work. Since the database logs every edit, the edit history serves as a reference to past contributors. Since Unsolved archive was copied to Wikibooks without importing the history, it is currently in violation of the GFDL. This could possibly be fixed (I say possibly because I'm not sure about the legal status of the page's past versions) but it is cumbersome to maintain (but then again, you don't want this maintained ... ).


 * I hope this clarifies a few points. I hope you feel a little better and urge you to state any concerns you may still have. I have the feeling you have had to fight for this content in the past (my perceptive side again) but this is not a battle on that front. I fully support you in adding educational material about unsolved problems and the exploration thereof.
 * One final note: I'd like to ask you not to require your collegues to be perceptive. Even if I was a very perceptive person, I'd feel uncomfortable constantly having to judge insinuated opinions and emotions in an environment where misunderstandings can have very negative consequences. --Swift 04:12, 9 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The following comment moved from User:Swift --Swift 05:50, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * "I'd like to ask you not to require your collegues to be perceptive." <-- I agree that it is fruitless to expect wiki colleagues to be perceptive. Far too often irony goes unnoticed. I suppose the wikilawyers will eventually get around to making the use of irony a bannable offense. --JWSurf 04:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * "Far too often irony goes unnoticed." Exactly, so one can either adjust to the community or risk conflict. Even in the best case misunderstanding scenario where the collegue will do his best and assume good faith it will still take some time to sort the issues out &mdash; time and effort that could otherwise go into the project.
 * Irony is a literary device, not a constructive communicationt method. --Swift 05:50, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

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Cell Biology Textbook
Hey, I noticed that you made significant contributions to the Cell Biology textbook. I am working with the Saylor Foundation to develop a similar textbook. If you have the time and interest we would love for you check out our textbook- Saylor.org's Cell Biology- and make some contributions! --Azin (discuss • contribs) 21:22, 31 May 2012 (UTC)