User talk:Jomegat/Archive 1

EE
I doubt that you want to mix your work with your time on wikibooks, but I've created a number of books in the Electrical Engineering bookshelf that you might be able to lend a helping hand with. If not, I understand (you don't want to come home after a long day of engineering, to write about engineering on wikibooks).

On a personal note, i'm a young EE that recently graduated. Where do you work? What do you do? I just started grad school myself, so i'm out of the job market for a few years anyway, but it never hurts to learn about opportunities. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 03:36, 24 May 2006 (UTC)


 * It doesn't really matter where you reply to these comments, i'll see them no matter where you are. Don't feel obligated to help out the EE bookshelf, i just like to inform knowledgable contributors that the bookshelf has expanded greatly in the past few months, and that there are plenty of opportunities to help out. I recently started a Digital Signal Processing book, and there is also an Embedded Systems one if you want to write more about software. Talk to you later. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 04:35, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Category
I'm currently trying to categorise each module in Wikibooks. The idea is to make it possible for anyone to find a module they are looking for in Wikibooks through the category system. Also, as "module" for the module count means any page that isn't very short that has some kind of link in it, this also means that I am added modules without links to the module count too. This sounds trivial, but is important as wikis get measured by the number of "good articles".

Most books easily fall within certain categories. Your book, however, doesn't appear to me to do so (although lobbing it into "candidates for book of the month" might be an idea:) ). I've therefore just added the same category to each page. If you could continue to do the same for new pages, it would be appreciated. Alternatively, if you have a good way of categorising that pages, please implement that.

And by the way, keep up the good work, Jguk 19:07, 16 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I second that... great book!
 * I'm sort of following behind Jguk and doing more detailed categorisation. I'll probably add a lot of subject-area tags to individual pages, assumming that's OK with you :). -- SB_Johnny  | talk 11:40, 20 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, I was going to put them in general topic categories, not specific to the book. I mostly work on the how-tos category, and a lot of the pages of the AY book are excellent how-tos (better than most, in fact). Since there can be more than one how-to on any particular subject (more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak), I think it will be nice to be able to follow category paths, even if only for finding "see also" links. -- SB_Johnny | talk 12:52, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Images
The source of your images has been questioned on the Commons. You may want to see the discussion: Commons:Commons:Deletion_requests. w:user:ed g2s 14:51, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

re: Honours Answer book cover uploaded.
I have uploaded two versions of the file and emailed you with the details.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Image:AY_Answers.jpg

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Image:AY_Answers_600.jpg

Gerald

Music honour
- FYI - I have previously completed a music workbook for this honour, so I have got all the illustratrations of scales, cleffs, etc drawn, I am just uploading and editing as I have time. - Gerald G.

Adventist reverts
Hi - I notice you are reverting these now. I did do a few earlier on and placed a question on the IP talk page concerned (got nothing back!). The edits starting looking more authentic so I was unsure about reverting any more. I'll keep an eye and know for the future. Regards -- Herby talk thyme 13:59, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Sure you'll notice but they've been at it again. Reverted so far! Cheers -- Herby  talk thyme 09:50, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
 * You're welcome -- Herby talk thyme 14:29, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your help
Hi, I just now saw your messages to me, and I'm not sure I've figured out much of the wiki stuff, but as you have modified equations and added formatting info, I've learned by looking at what you are doing.

I've been having a hard time staying focused on one topic, so I've been bouncing around. Yes, I'm interested in the knot tying, as well as looking at the stars and advanced stars, so as I get better at wiki editing, you may see me touch more areas.

-- Rodney East

Spiders
Hi Jim, Thanks for the help and encouragement.I am so new that I don't know how all this works. How and where am I to respond when someone puts something in "My Talk"? Also, I haven't figured out how to add pictures. I'd like to add pictures of spiders form the reference in #1 that requires the drawing of the spiders. I placed the website link to the pictures in that requirement. Can you either tell me how to add pictures or will you add them?

Thanks for all you do. --Stephanieeast 03:03, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Apologies
I took out the template marks as I understand "templates" to be quite different to chapters in the book (they certainly are in the rest of Wikibooks). -- Herby talk thyme 15:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC) This might be useful to you Help:A quick guide to templates as the {{ brackets are for templates -- Herby talk thyme 15:31, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Hi Jim
 * Maybe it's me but I guess I took templates to be largely about organising the way a part or part page looks throughout a book. However I fully accept that if you plan using the same text in several places your approach may well be the best one and sorry for the removal (I'll still keep an eye for vandals - watching gives you a flavour for what is going on).  The "popups" bit is some java script that makes checking changes and reverting them rather easier.  All the best -- Herby  {{sup| talk thyme }} 13:02, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Me again
Hi Jim, just browsing (as I do) I see that you are adding the category to each page. Of course this means that all pages get categorised under "A" for Adventist. Not an issue to me but it depends on how you think/want people to look at the category. If you place | after the current text and before the final ]] brackets you may prefer the way the category sorts the page? I've just done Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Nature/Sand to show you how it looks - in the category in nows shows as N for Nature. Let me know if I can help - regards -- Herby talk thyme 14:58, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Up to you Jim but if you do want it doing I can do it semi automatically and much faster than you (no disrespect) as I have a bit of software that can help - let me know - regards -- Herby talk thyme 16:10, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Done 50 or so - will do more later or tomorrow (it does spelling too!). Let me know if I can help, regards -- Herby  talk thyme 16:37, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
 * OK Jim that "ran" at 9 pages per minutes overall so if you can go faster ....  There are one or two that needed manual review which I'll look at when I can but let me know if/when you want another run - regards -- Herby  talk thyme 18:08, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Page Edit Bot
Hey Jim! Haven't spoken to you in a while. I saw all your efforts to categorize the pages in your book. I just wanted to let you know that I have created a bot that can make edits to multiple pages at once. My bot can do things like add category links to all the pages in a book, for instance. If you have any other changes that you would like to make to multiple pages at once, let me know, and I can save you alot of effort! --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 03:24, 4 December 2006 (UTC)


 * If you are interested in my bot, and if you know perl, you might be interested in reading some of the documentation I have written about it at User:Whiteknight/Bot. My bot is written in 100% perl. I wrote a module that uses LWP to submit edits, and then I have been using TK to write GUIs for my library, so that I can make edits to multiple pages at once (with a foreach loop). I can send you some of the source code if you want. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 05:15, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Bots, edits & welcomes
Hi Jim. Looking at the post to WK on bot type stuff do let me know if I can help, it's quite a powerful piece of software that I have not explored all corners of yet but it can do a lot of editing to pages on a semi automatic basis. Once I've setup the "run" to cat your pages it can easily be run again - it will ignore pages that do not need editing. In passing I noticed that you "welcome" your contributors which is great - would it be wise to incorporate some of the conventional "welcome" template so that they have some hints about help, polices and the like? -- Herby talk thyme 13:18, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
 * No idea Jim - I just use it! But if you want more info w:WP:AWB is the place I got it (I picked it up when I was more regular on Wikipedia).  As you'll see the features are quite extensive and I've enabled the spell checking on here tho I did notice yesterday it slipped up on a couple of words so I must see if there is an update.  All the best -- Herby  talk thyme 13:34, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Minus
I blocked this user, so he shouldn't be bothering you now. I'm trying to help with the clean-up. -within focus 07:03, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry I wasn't around to help but thanks for helping out - it is appreciated when people take part in the wider community. The vandalism page is a good one to report on as all admins will have that on their watch lists.  Regards -- Herby  talk thyme 08:17, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
 * And as a ps looking at it it was nasty for you - I've had similar but it isn't much fun. If you are a firefox user I could point to some useful .js which makes reverting and checking a little easier.  As too "wee small hours" for me it's not - different timezone :-) regards and thanks again -- Herby  talk thyme 08:34, 6 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Thinking it thro Jim - there is another approach to this. I declined admin earlier on but a run in with someone similar changed my mind - I was frustrated that such a mindless idiot could get away with that kind of behaviour. I would have no problem at all nominating you for adminship.  You are a strong, conscientious and thoughtful editor.  However from your point of view I guess there is a sort of obligation to help on a project wide basis if only to a limited degree.  I can tell you from three days experience it is quite scary but if you are interested you know where I am and "no thanks" will not mean I won't do what I can to help you!  I suggest that you "reflect" rather than "react" but do think about it.  Regards -- Herby  talk thyme 13:07, 6 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Jim - I'll get back to you as soon as i can on FF stuff, if you like I'll "load" your monobook.js with some bits - clear the cache and voila - play around, the worst that happens is you blank it if you don't like it. Also I'm not trying to "drag" you out of your spot.  I've always been a rather general editor anyway but I like the place & the people! -- Herby  talk thyme 20:13, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Requirements Outlined
Hi Jim. The requirements are outlined for all the honors that have the requirements available. Now it should be easier for others to fill in the answers. I hope the formatting and header info are correct. Rodney and I have done some of this work late at night. Let me know if you find things I need to fix. Thanks for all your hard work and commitment.

--Stephanieeast 02:27, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Templates and other included content
I noticed you put some sections in Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Arts and Crafts/Music into templates. I just wanted to alert you to an alternative which is to include normal pages. Any page can be included by typing Templates are a specialized type of shared content, intended for very frequently used notation, formatting, labelling, notification, etc. and therefore have a seperate namespace. The template-namespace means that they will not be searched by default while included normal pages would. --Swift 05:53, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The following comment moved here from User talk:Swift--Swift 15:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Hi Swift,


 * I didn't know I there was a better way to include content on multiple pages other than with templates. Thanks for the tip.  I thought I had seen something on doing that a long time ago, but when I needed it, I couldn't find the info on how to do it.  And I did do a pretty thorough search! I finally mistakenly concluded that I must have been thinking about templates, so I went with that.  I have probably fifty such templates that I used for first aid and camping too.  Luckily, I prefixed them all with "Ay" when I created them, so maybe that will make them easier for me to find (though some of them should remain templates as they take arguments and are used throughout my book).  I think what you are suggesting is that I should make them "regular" pages, and then include them in all the place they are used.  Thanks again. Jim Thomas 14:29, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * You're welcome. Yes, this is precisely what I was suggesting. Regarding finding the pages, you can use the special page Special:Prefixindex/Template:Ay. Regarding resources on MediaWiki syntax, you might want to keep an eye on http://www.mediawiki.org/ where they are slowly buidling &mdash; among other things &mdash; a user manual/handbook. --Swift 15:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Hi Swift. Is there a way to figure out what modules include a template?  As it turns out "fifty" was off by at least a factor of two &mdash; perhaps three.  I have about fifty First aid templates, and I have used them in a lot of places &mdash; not only in the First Aid honors, but in some of the recreation ones as well (e.g. Winter Camping requires knowledge for treating hypothermia and frostbite).  I also found a bunch of Knot templates that are used all over the place.  If I have to search for them manually, it's going to take a lot of digging.


 * "Is there a way to figure out what modules include a template?" Yes, you can use the "What links here" tool in the toolbox just below the search box in the side-bar (e.g. Special:Whatlinkshere/Adventist_Youth_Honors_Answer_Book/Camping/Choosing_a_campsite). Included pages will have a "(inclusion)" behind the page link (just as redirects have "(redirect)").
 * Is this what you were looking for? --Swift 04:41, 9 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, that's it. I hadn't noticed the "What links here" link under the search box, but I did find the same thing when I was moving my templates - the request to check for double redirects does the same thing.  Anyhow, I have made a lot of progress moving the templates to regular pages now.  There's still a lot of work to do though.  Thanks again for the tip.


 * You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. --Swift 05:42, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Work to do!
Jim - Consider the cat run done - later today hopefully - it really is easier than individually editing everything. Back to FF do you use the default monobook? If so I will happily edit your .js or point you to the WP pages where I found stuff.

Community wide thoughts - if you are interested I think I would probably recommend looking at the Staff lounge and it's discussions as well as Votes for deletion and probably Request for Admin to get a flavour of what is around. If you feel like it contribute and folks will get to know you a little too. All the best -- Herby talk thyme 10:15, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes I had noted the postings - let me know if I can help you -- Herby talk thyme 16:56, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Life gets in the way sometimes  - it may well be tomorrow but I will get there - regards -- Herby talk thyme 18:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting that got me learning (an experience I enjoy!). The issue was that I needed a way to "list" the pages (easily done by category but that isn't in yet!).  I'm working on User:Stephanieeast's contributions and it seems to be ok.  The only issues will be if there are pages that that user did not contribute to that you want included.  Regards -- Herby  talk thyme 17:56, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Done I think - let me know if not (& maybe who contributed to the pages) regards -- Herby talk thyme 18:11, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Fine - won't be today but I'll get it done as soon as I can -- Herby talk thyme 18:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Your main template
Jim - another spate so I have semi protected your main template. Registered users can edit - others not. Let me know if you want it unprotected (or any admin) Hopefully finishing with the broom again - regards -- Herby talk thyme 10:37, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Template:Honor header - no problem - all the best -- Herby talk thyme 16:46, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Dealing with vandalism
Hi Jim - sorry to trouble you but I do know that this is something that concerns you too. Could I ask you to look at WB:RFA in the checkuser sections. This additional tool allows vandal fighters to discover what IP address was used by a named vandal and allow people to block that address to prevent creation of further accounts. There is a requirement for 25 votes to obtain these rights which on a small wiki is not easy. I stress I am not asking you to vote or to vote for a particular person but if you, and any registered contributor to your project, could look at this it may be helpful for the Wikibooks in the future. I hope you don't object to my approach. Regards -- Herby talk thyme 18:16, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
 * My thanks - & if I can help you, you do know that I will -- Herby talk thyme 18:45, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Checkuser
Hi Jim - I was hoping that someone who was one would get back to you on this so may not be fully correct or complete. The right allows someone to look into the "login" data past the user name. It allows viewing of the IP address which a named user logs in from. That way if we have a vandal with a name at present I can block the name permanently but I can only block the IP address for a short period & I will not be able to see the actual address. With checkuser rights I would see that IP address and be able to look at any other activity from that IP address. That way if there is a history of vandalism from that source I should be able to deal with the problem on a more permanent basis.

The checks that are now being requested when someone wants any additional rights on the RfA page are something that User:SB_Johnny and I both see as desirable. If you are seeking the trust of the community someone should take a look behind the name as it were to see if there is any history of problems with the IP address (something I think has been an issue on Wikipedia and less likely to be one here but I see it as a valid sign of trust). I hope this helps and thanks again for your support - regards -- Herby talk thyme 14:46, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Honor requirement Discussion
Hi Jim- As I have looked at a number of the honors, I've been concerned with how poorly written some are. Would the discussion section of a particular honor be a good place to entertain a discussion of the honor requirements themselves and possibly generate enough feedback to get some of these things changed?

I was working with my nephew over the Christmas holiday, on the Fishes honor. 10 families of fishes does not express the amount of variety that exist. For example does the fishes honor include the three classes of fish that currently exist. I was not sure from the wording if lamprey, or sharks are even a part of the honor. I personally think it would be good to talk about the 3 classes and then go down the taxonomic tree describing phylum or families, but to jump directly to families of fish denies much of the diversity.

When working on the Physics honor I was concerned with how little of physics was actually covered, You would not know that lighit, waves, quontum mechanics, thermodynamics or a number of other areas of physics were even part of the honor. In this case, I'd recomend some rewriting of the requirements, but also the writing of an advanced honor.

My question is should we have a special area to discuss possible changes to the honor. (To put this in context, ever year my area Coordinator asks for editorial changes for the honors, but it is always at the last minute, and I don't have notes of the problems just lying around- I'm looking for a repository for discussion of problems or improvements), And should this discussion area include the possibility of an Advanced honor?

or

Should we leave the normal Discussion section for this type of endevor?

--Rodney 13:04, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Wishes
Good ones for you and those you care about for 2007 - regards -- Herby talk thyme 17:37, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

SVG files not supported?
Many of the wikipedia image files for optics are vector based files .svg

I have not been able to use the files. Am I doing something wrong or to wikibooks not support .svg?

Thanks --Rodney 14:03, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Picture Issues
Hi Jim, Please look at the Mammal honor. I had some trouble with some of the pictures. If you could let me know what I did wrong I'd appreciate it. --Stephanieeast 06:57, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi Jim, I tried to follow your directions and I couldn't get it to work. I was able to copy the metadata and paste it in, but when I pasted the name into the Source File Name I got this error message, "The file you uploaded seems to be empty. This might be due to a typo in the file name. Please check whether you really want to upload this file." I copied the file name and pasted it in. What next? --Stephanieeast 00:30, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Jim, for the clarification. I will use the steps next time. Thank you for fixing the pictures this time:) --Stephanieeast 05:43, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

New rights
Jim - by way of thanks for the support and information. There was a vandal up to the usual on the 3rd, had you been around you would have seen him and had I been around I would have blocked him but no other information would have been available. Now I can tell you that the same IP address had been used quite recently for the same type of vandalism and equally that IP address has not been used recently for legitimate editing. As a result I was able to block the IP address for a while at least which will give us some peace from that particular one for a while. Thanks again for the support, regards -- Herby talk thyme 12:27, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Optics images and Some General ideas
Jim, I had thought the same thing about the optics images. I think I'd like to see them as separate images even so there is more flexibility for whoever wants to use them.

I'm planning on doing the slide projector and telescope to match the quality of some of the images (Like casagrain, or coude telescopes)

Stephanie and I have been working on the mammals honor recently. We decided to do one together. As I was working on it I started thinking about two somewhat related issues and how to best deal with them.
 * 1) Units- It seems to be common practice on wikipedia to have metric units followed by English units. I find this irritating. I think one of the main reasons that we still use English units in the United states is that all math courses are taught with conversions from one unit to another. This translates to "difficult" in peoples brains.

In the wiki format we have the ability to give just the metric unit, but if the person wants to convert they can click on the number and use the Google conversion capability to do the conversion for them. I have done this in the mammal honor, and would like to possibly make this a standard for the AY honor books.


 * 2) Scientific names- I have noticed that it is common practice to have the common name and then in parenthesis the scientific name. I think the scientific name is more useful, and what people do with things in parenthesis is ignore them.

In similar reasoning to the above, I'd like to try reversing this and have the scientific name and then in parenthesis the common name.

What do you think about these two issues

--Rodney 14:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks (I think)
You realize of course that this just means more work :). -- SB_Johnny | talk 18:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Metric Units
I've written up some Javascript that should make the conversion between metric and english units very easy. I left a large note about it in the staff lounge. If you would like to test this script, let me know. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 03:14, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Ah... the sweet smell of progress! I slapped the template in my user page, and it does indeed give me Kg - but I don't see the "convert units" link in the toolbox.  Do I hafta to do something else to make that happen?  Also, the links in the Staff Lounge are red, leading me to Template:User:Whiteknight/Convtest.  I took out the "template" and was able to find it OK, but you might wanna fix it in the SL. Jim Thomas 03:33, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Good call on the templates, i did indeed get the links incorrect. I will fix that ASAP. As to the link, you actually need to monkey around with your personal javascript. Go to User:Jomegat/monobook.js, and include the following line:

document.write(' '); Once you include this in your javascript, save it, and then use Ctrl+F5 to refresh the page with the templates. That should popup the link. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 03:44, 16 January 2007 (UTC)


 * That works pretty well. Thanks.  I may grab a copy and play with it myself a little.  Maybe it's time I learned Javascript. Is there any chance that once this evolves a bit more it'll be installed site-wide?  I think the people who would benefit most from this are prolly not going to go through the trouble of editing a monobook.js file.  Jim Thomas 06:10, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi, and thanks for the welcome
My real name is Joe Lee and I don't mind if you use it in the info box. I don't know how much I'll be able to help with the answer book, it will probably be fairly sporadic. I really appreciate all the work you have done on it. I have already been able to use it for several honors my club has worked on this year. MrJoe 19:59, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Remaining Adventist Youth templates
Jomegat, I came across many unused templates (or you may view them at here) associated with the Adventist Youth wikibook. They are all the redirects from when you moved them into main-namespace modules. If they are unnecessary, and while I don't expect you to tag them all, may I kindly ask that you request at WB:AN that they be deleted?

Also, would you be interested in Template:Ay music clefs? It looks like a module, but it has not been redirected. Thank you, Iamunknown 01:19, 20 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the heads up. I left a message at WB:AN as requested.  I'll hafta look into the music clefs page.  I moved it to a place where I'll be able to find it later, so the template can go (it didn't belong there). Jim Thomas 01:49, 20 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank you. BTW, The Adventist Youth Wikibook is very well done. It has many illustrations and is rather complete. Keep up the good work. :) --Iamunknown 02:01, 20 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the compliment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my work on it (why else would anyone work on one anyhow?) Jim Thomas 02:11, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Cont'd
I know at WB:AN you mentioned that there exist other template redirects, and that you weren't "quite ready for them to go the way of the dodo yet." When you are, would mind taking a look at Special:Prefixindex/Template:Ay and Special:Prefixindex/Template:First aid. And, if you don't want them deleted yet, please just say, "Stop!" and I'll stop. --Iamunknown 04:31, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The First Aid ones and the Ay ones (other than the three I mentioned) are ready to go. I have other templates elsewhere that I still need to clean up.  I'll let you know when they're ready.


 * Ack, I'm sorry. I overlooked that I'd already asked about the Ay templates. Sorry. --Iamunknown 04:49, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


 * No need to apologize. And let's make sure that this tedious task you've undertaken is not a thankless one too: THANK YOU!  -- Jim Thomas 04:52, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

I made a massive table / list of the links (with delete links) at User:Iamunknown/Speedy. I removed the three Ay templates that are not redirects / are being used. I hope it is okay. --Iamunknown 05:13, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


 * It looks OK to me. Pull the trigger! (and thanks again). -- Jim Thomas 05:28, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Links...
We need a better help page on how to do chapter linking, but here's the basics:


 * To link to a subpage of the page you're working on, use /SUBPAGENAME/
 * To link from one subpage to another, use ../SUBPAGENAME/
 * If you're not using a "flat structure" (i.e., if your chapters have subchapters), it gets more complicated... that's why flat structures are generally preferred (Book/Chapter rather than Book/Chapter/Subchapter). -- SB_Johnny | talk 16:40, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

WB:RFA
I have nominated you for adminship, in recognition of your long time of being a helpful editor and prolific contributor to wikibooks. I think that admin tools will be useful in writing your book, and helping out in other ways. Adminship is not intended to be additional responsibility nor an additional drain on your time, although i wont deny that it does bring some measure of additional responsibility.

I do hope you accept your nomination, but if you choose not to I will certainly understand. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 00:47, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Re:Decision Making
Thanks for the catch! i always forget what shortcuts link to where. I'll update the link. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 22:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

umm...
Not sure if you had brought it up elsewhere, but I blocked the IP for 1 month (account creation allowed). Soon you'll not need to report, eh? -- SB_Johnny | talk 23:16, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I hadn't brought it up on anywhere else - I was thinking of a very similar sort of problem caused by a different IP. Thanks for the block.  I figure it's time for me to be a little more active on the RC patrols since the reality of my gaining adminship is looking imminent.  -- Jim Thomas 00:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Template:Bird id
I did some work on this template, and added an optional audio link when you specify a "call" parameter. I can do some more cleanup work on the template too, if you want. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 00:54, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Sysop
Due to your full support on WB:RFA, you are now a sysop. -within focus 13:27, 20 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Congratulations! Let me know if you have any questions about how the tools work, etc. -- SB_Johnny | talk 13:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Template%3ABird_id
Hi! FYI with a thought. This template caught my eye as being of possible interest on Wikispecies, so I added some usage. What would you think of fixing it up to take another two images, but to auto-scale the images to about 1/3rd width... if there are three (keeping this size if less) then someone could put up six panes or three and have a tighter presentation. If interested, let me know, I can probably do that fairly easily. Best regards. // Fra nkB 14:14, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Hi Frank! Yes - PLEASE make those changes.  I had asked for something very similar in the Wikibooks technical chat room.  It is well beyond my current capabilities to do just as you have suggested.  Originally the images were named image_male, image_female, and image_juvenile, but then I started coming across photos of a male and a female together. So I decided to make them generic.  Do you think the range map should retain its name or should it be generic too?  I have used this template in few enough areas that I'm not concerned about backwards compatibility.  Another thought would be to have the description field take the place of an image if only one image were specified. -- Jim Thomas (aka Jomegat) 14:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

VfD
Hi Jim - hope you don't mind but IMO that is really a form of spam and I've binned it. I would stress it doesn't make you wrong - it makes me hasty. Glad to see the toys are working - all the best -- Herby talk thyme 07:59, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
 * No problem - I always tried to do the same - even got it right sometimes! You know where I am if I can help -- Herby  talk thyme 12:49, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks
Just a quick thanks for reverting some minor vandalism on the Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Basic Animation/Lattice page --AndyD 17:12, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Template:Stage short
The carriage return(s) should be removed now. Sorry about the hassle. --Iamunknown 01:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Are you comfortable...
I needed C++ Programming/Win32 deleted and its history logs pages merged with C++ Programming/API/Win32 are you comfortable enough to attempt to do that? --Panic 02:32, 28 March 2007 (UTC) Humm the problem must have be a protection on the original page (it was protected after the books merge) probably to avoid tha same thing, the history log to be lost. --Panic 02:34, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Recent vandal
Hi Jim - just looking at logs I noticed you blocked a vandal for a month. Looking at the user page on wp I've changed the blo9ck to indef. Equally the IP shows a previous vandal on there recently so I will block that for a while shortly. Hope you don't mind and that all is well. Regards -- Herby talk thyme 17:26, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't mind at all. BTW, I was going to leave a message on his talk page, but was unable to conjure up a template.  I tried subst:block and subst:blocked, but neither of those exist.  I wasn't feeling particularly creative, so I just didn't leave a message at all.  Is there a template for this? -- Jim Thomas (aka Jomegat) 17:35, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
 * One of those "I think I got bored looking" ones! These days I just pop something on the page about "you are blocked - please play nicely when you come back" type thing.  I guess a post to staff lounge (one of them) might produce a better answer.  For information the underlying IP is well blocked on Wikipedia and Commons so a good catch there - thanks and all the best -- Herby  talk thyme 17:59, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Well we both learnt something there - I think I was aware I'd seen something, just didn't expect it under the "test" section. I also recall seeing Whiteknight's argument before too. In practice most of the vandals we get have quite long histories on wikipedia (worth checking the page there when blocking) so are well aware of how to find when blocks expire.
 * reset

To me the more important thing is to make it clear we do not have a "vandalize anything you like but stop at the fourth warning or we will block you" policy of Wikipedia. So - depending on the extent and nature of the vandalism I will block immediately or certainly after one warning (they do know what they are doing after all). Equally if there is a history on WP I will refer to that (& so would not use a standard template) and will often block for quite a long time of what is a "first offense" here. I ran this past Derbeth sometime ago and he also takes records on other Wikis into account (I often check Commons too as I spend some time there as well). This, to me, sends a message that we are less tolerant of bad behavior on Books which seems correct. Thanks for the way you have dived in Jim - regards -- Herby talk thyme 12:21, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Would like to hear your opinion...
Take a look into Policies and guidelines/Vote/What is Wikibooks a proposed policy decission page and cast your vote, txs. --Panic 04:33, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Anonymous IP blocking
I noticed you forgot to put your signature in on this user page: User talk:70.73.216.199, which is something minor. What is major is that without warning, you blocked this IP address for a whole month, which is quite a lengthy period of time. I would advise you to set an earlier expiration date for the block, if you please. Best. Marcus2 17:34, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and signed the block notice (I was in a hurry when I blocked that user), but I am not inclined to back off the block time. The edits this user made were particularly distasteful, and edits of the same nature had been made from that IP the week before.  A month seems about right to me. -- Jomegat 00:58, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry to intrude but for your discussion I think you should be made aware that a decission on the Policies and guidelines/Vote/Blocking policy is running and your input may be important, txs... --Panic 02:27, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * And on further consideration, I have reduced the block to two weeks instead of one month. -- Jomegat 02:50, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

User:72.83.216.10
I hope you dont mind, but i blocked this ip for 1 day after your warning. When people make very profane vandalism, i dont see a reason to give them a second chance. "Suck my ****" is just not acceptable, and i dont think we should be dealing with that stuff.

If you disagree, you can certainly unblock the IP. --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 00:31, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't disagree at all. And indeed, I will adopt the same practice myself.  BTW, thanks for supporting Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book as a Featured Book.  It is greatly appreciated.  I did hesitate to nominate it for the very reason it has one opposing vote.  I have not said anything to my other contributors (they don't come around too often, and they surely don't watch the nominations page) because like me, they would be biased, and I was looking for unbiased opinions. -- Jomegat 00:39, 27 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Everybody has a different personal policy involving blocks. I tend not to give warnings, although i know many other admins who do. I find that if the vandalism is bad enough to deserve a warning, the vandal likely deserves a short block as well. If the mess isnt bad enough for a warning, i tend to send them a warm welcome instead. That's just me though, everybody has their own way and you need to figure out what you are most comfortable with.
 * As to the pathfinder's book, I was a boy scout for many years (which i know isn't exactly the same thing) so I tend to know good instructional material for youth groups when i see it. I also know that it's more important to write manuals for the 50 most important "honors" then it is to write manuals for all the millions that exist (but that nobody ever earns). --Whiteknight (talk) (projects) 00:45, 27 April 2007 (UTC)


 * The funny thing is that I started this book because, although there are official resources, they only cover four of the nine categories. People were always asking about the ones that did not exist on the forums, and someone asked again just after I stumbled across Wikibooks.  Thus, the project was born.  The original scope of the project was to write answers for the honor that had none - those millions nobody ever earns.  Other people encouraged me to make room for all of them, and I'm glad I listened.  One of them runs the outfit that sells the official books.  The book has an international following now, and I have heard from a lot of people for whom it is the only resource available (the official books are not cheap).  At first I just concentrated on the honors that had no answers, but after about a year of that, I was getting tapped out on expertise.  So I have now turned my attention to writing up the honors that do have official answers. -- Jomegat 00:54, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

What is Wikijunior
What is Wikijunior is proposed as a policy and has been included on the Wikibooks Policies and Guidelines Voting page. Please take time to comment and express your opinion in the referendum. -- xixtas talk 03:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Template:Featured book
I saw some of the work you were doing on Template:Goodbook2, and it inspired me to modify the Template:Featured book. I updated it so it uses an #ifexist: statement to differentiate between books who have the proper goodbook template, and those that do not have one. Let me know what you think about it, and sorry if i stole your thunder! --Whiteknight (talk) 01:13, 15 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Seems like we cross-posted! We do think alot alike, but I also have been watching you on the RC patrol (you're a machine!). --Whiteknight (talk) 01:15, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

IP blocking...
Hi Jim. Just to be safe, it's generally better to block problem IPs for a year (or shorter), rather than indefinite, since IP addresses can be transferred over time. Also, for IPs adding serial spam like that, I generally unselect "anonymous users only", because otherwise accounts can still edit using the IP (sort of helps to have checkuser to be safe there, but if some unintentional collateral blocking happens, they can use the unblock template and get our attention). -- SB_Johnny | talk 16:17, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * OK. Thanks for the education. --Jomegat 16:38, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Non-fiction versus textbooks
G'day Jomegat, please read the recent change made to WB:WIW in context. Before the anon edit, it said that "As a general rule, most non-fiction books are not suitable for inclusion as they are not instructional." This is correct; whilst textbooks are (generally) non-fiction, not all non-fiction books are textbooks. For example, travel guides, dictionaries and encyclopaedia are usually non-fiction but are not suitable for Wikibooks as they are non textbooks. The next sentence says that "Fiction is not allowed on Wikibooks, although the use of allegory or fables as instructional tools can be permitted in some situations." This covers the situation that I believe the anon editor was aiming for.

Please revert your edit if you agree, or reply below (your talk page, not mine) and we can continue this discussion further. cheers, Webaware talk 04:25, 23 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi Webaware. As you can see, I saw the brilliance of your logic and have reverted the edit. Thanks for pointing it out, and sorry for the confusion. --Jomegat 00:21, 24 July 2007 (UTC)


 * No worries, it was an easy mistake to make. cheers, Webaware talk 00:25, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Boneset!
Hey Jim! So nice to see a photo of that up now... someone had actually added an image of a different plant on the wikipedia page, which I had removed a few days ago. I used that image on this page on Wikiversity, and had a thought that you and the Youth Honors folks might be interested in participating on the bloom clock in general. It's a research project aimed in part at defining a global language for discussing bloom times, but also for creating illustrated keys by region and month (see Bloom Clock/White flowers seen in July in Southeastern Pennsylvania... the boneset picture actually appears on that page too now). Log entries from NH would be very nice (for me), since I go up there a couple times per year to visit my father-in-law on his farm near Charlestown. There's one other page I worked on recently that might provide some ideas as well for how to contribute. -- SB_Johnny | PA! 10:00, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I didn't know about the bloom clock project, but yes, I am very interested in participating. I have been involved in a similar project related to reptiles and amphibians http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Nongame/reptiles_amphibians.htm - only the NH Fish and Game department's implementation is a little clunky.  This looks to be a better setup for the same sort of data.  As for involving other people involved in Pathfinders, I will mention it to the ones I know and post a message on our forum.  NHF&G asks for (but does not demand) a photo of every sighting - I wonder if that would be a good idea for the bloom clock.  It would help weed out false data and perhaps bump up the number of photo contributions.
 * False data could concievably be a problem, but I really sort of doubt it. My "plan" is to just ignore people who are adding things that look a bit funny, then just delete their logs a year or so after they get bored of playing silly. Eventually I'd like this to be peer-reviewed and come up with a global language of bloom time, but I'm thinking we'll need at least 10 years of data before we can get there, so there's plenty of time to set that up. Also, I'd rather people not upload image files unless they're an improvement over files already available on commons (fuzzy cell-phone-camera photos are better than no photos at all, but if there are already good ones, let's just stay conservative with the disk space). -- SB_Johnny | PA! 17:44, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The plant I uploaded last night is growing next to the kid's swing set in an un-mown section of my backyard. There's also some Whorled Loosestrife out there and some Wild Sarsaparilla.  The Loosestrife is done blooming now for the most part - it's very difficult to find blossoms anymore - but I uploaded a pic of the sarsaparilla.  I have several more shots of some unknowns.  A personal goal I set for myself is to id every plant growing on my two acres of New Hampshire.  I am far from reaching that goal, but Boneset, Loosestrife, and Wild Sarsaparilla are plants that were previously unknown to me.  I've also got a plant in bloom right now and can't decide if it's catnip or downy wood mint.  I'll upload it to the unknown section as soon as I get a chance.
 * Incidentally, I have had an REM song stuck in my head for the past several days because I perceive that it contains the word "boneset". Dunno if it really does, and I don't even know the name of the song. --Jomegat 13:47, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh man... just lovin you right now :). I'd definitely "Support" a reptile clock as well... actually my first outreach project for Wikimedia Pennsylvania will be with a group that wants to start a butterfly clock/key using the same methods as the bloom clock. Given several years of contributions, these "distributed research" projects could really help us understand natural relationships in time and space (i.e., when Plant X is flowering, it's time to start looking for Turtle Y or Butterfly Z). Fun stuff... it took me almost a year to figure out the templating and logistical problems, but the Bloom Clock's structure should be easily adaptable to similar things. -- SB_Johnny | PA! 17:38, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Turns out the REM song is Swan, Swan, H, and the lyric is
 * Hey captain don't you want to buy Some bone chains and toothpicks?
 * But "bone chains" is close enough to "boneset" to get it stuck in my head. --Jomegat 00:13, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * My unknown was the first one on the list of unknowns! But I'm not sure it's really Prunella vulgaris - note that your specimen (and mine) has an entire edge, but the one on Wikipedia has a serrated edge.  Actually, all my books indicate that catnip should have a serrated edge too, and that's what has been holding me back on calling it that.  I had just about settled in my mind that I was looking at downy wood mint. --Jomegat 14:04, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Nevermind. Maybe it is Prunella vulgaris.   went outside and found two specimens side-by-side - one with an entire, and another with a serrated margin. --Jomegat 15:36, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Heh, I've been keying that last couple days, and yes, Franz is right (he's a botanist, and a German to boot (so really likes to be precise :_))). -- SB_Johnny | PA! 17:38, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Keys are up
With a bit of DPL magic...
 * Bloom_Clock/Flowers_seen_in_July_in_New_Hampshire
 * Bloom_Clock/Flowers_seen_in_August_in_New_Hampshire

I'm writing something up on how to actually do that, it's easy enough :). -- SB_Johnny | PA! 11:01, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I assume you have a template for making pages like this? --Jomegat 13:39, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Yup, see v:Template:Bcp3 :). It's damn complicated though (hit the edit button to see all sorts of nasty inclusion/exclusion tricks). Make sure to use subst, otherwise the thing won't work :P. -- SB_Johnny  | PA! 14:49, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh, um, er... I forgot to tell you about the cats as well (sorry, I've been the only one doing that stuff on the clock so far). If you want to add a page onto the key, you just categorize it (for this month use
 * Category:BCP/NHAMP/8 (in brackets, of course)
 * Then it will be automatically added to the DPL generation page (Bloom_Clock/Flowers_seen_in_August_in_New_Hampshire/DPL) within a half hour or so (as the database is updated).
 * I'm going to be AFK a few hours, but can fill you in this eve. -- SB_Johnny | PA! 15:20, 5 August 2007 (UTC)
 * And here's a diff: diff. -- SB_Johnny  | PA! 16:48, 5 August 2007 (UTC)