User talk:Paul August/Archive8

CfD

Paul, check this out: [1]bunix 01:59, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm back, and thanks

Hi all, I'm back from my "strike". Thanks for all the kind words above. Looks like I missed a lot of things while I was gone. Giano's reincarnation, Tony and Kelly's various resignations, Geogre's proposed de-sysopping by Fred … I hardly know what to say. Paul August ☎ 21:39, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Welcome back, anyway. Charles Matthews 22:11, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Charles. Paul August ☎ 22:13, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

It is good to see you back. I trust you had a good break? -- ALoan (Talk) 23:31, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Just ducky, thanks. Paul August ☎ 01:03, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

What, you were gone? ;-)

Welcome back. FYI, we just lost Chris Hillman, who finally gave up for good. There's been no sign of Lethe activity in weeks. It appears that Charles Matthews, having failed to win a seat on the board, has discovered renewed enthusiasm for editing. If you like geometry mixed with computer science, you may welcome editor David Eppstein (of Geometry Junkyard fame), who has decided to dip his toes in the Wikipedia water. Emeritus professor Vaughan Pratt has complete his first major Wikipedia contribution, an extended article on Boolean algebras canonically defined.

A pretty little animation of Villarceau circles has won a featured picture slot, as has an animation depicting pi.

I'm disgruntled, as usual, from an excess of boneheaded editors and boneheaded policies, and from a scarcity of interesting questions on the reference desk. Maybe I'll try a Wikibreak myself, when I finish up a couple of projects. --KSmrq^T 11:24, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Nice to know I was missed K ;-) Thanks for the updates. Sorry to see that Chris finally left. And I hope Lethe hasn't. Otherwise it sounds like some good things (as usual) are going on. I noticed though you left out that 0.999… is now an FA. Is that contributing to your disgruntlement? Is there anything I can do to make you more gruntled? I won't stoop to asking interesting questions on the reference desk though. — Regards Paul August ☎ 12:23, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Did it win FA? I took that page off my watch list when many of the sane editors went on holiday or break or disappeared, and events in real life consumed most of my time and emotional energy. With Melchoir making scores of edits a day, and ganging up with Mets501 to threaten me with a block for 3RR if I objected, I decided to “cut and run”, leaving the field to the terrorists. But it saddened me greatly, and I fear it sets a bad precendent that will only embolden the forces of darkness.

An article targeted at a specific objective has turned into a sprawling monstrosity, most of whose references are redundant or useless and most of whose content belongs in a general discussion of number systems, especially the reals. There are now mathematical and other errors (in the intro, no less), chaotic organization, and language and concepts inaccessible to the original audience. I cannot imagine a typical schoolchild or curious adult will benefit. Instead of understanding, they will be left with intimidation.

As for getting gruntled, I'm sure a trip to Santorini would do wonders. It would remind me that Wikipedia has not (yet) gone the way of the Minoan civilization after the Thera eruption, and I'd love to sample the wine, food, and dancing, not to mention the sunsets and other attractions. :-)

Anyway, I suspect the mathematics community remains one of the happier segments of Wikipedia, and perhaps we can still have a little fun and do a little good. --KSmrq^T 11:46, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Glad to se you're back. No it is not a re-incarnation just the same old me - exactly the same in fact. Not a lot has changed. Tell me do you play bridge or poker, I am mentally dividing people up these days - I suspect, like me, you are a bridge player. Giano 20:17, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Giano, welcome back to you too. Yup I play bridge. I was a fairly serious player in my college days, way back when. By the way, I recently had an Italian volcanic adventure. I went up Vesuvio, Mamma Etna, and Stromboli. So I now see where your fiery Sicilian temperament comes from. Paul August ☎ 20:59, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Are those two sets necessarily disjoint? -- ALoan (Talk) 21:23, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Being a poker player — also in my college days — as well as a mathematician I can say with authority that they are not. Paul August ☎ 21:39, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

One bluffs and one calculates; no my temperament is not fiery at all, it is cool calm and collected at all times. Hope you had an interesting holday Paul, and found time to look at some architecture too while you were there. I haven't been to Pompeii for years, do they still show you the atrophied brothel? I remember a school trip to that when I was about 11, we were fascinated, it was the only thing we all wrote about afterwards in detail! Giano 21:45, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes I saw these lovlies (below) at Paestum, as well as the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii (I think I've seen the brothel before, don't remember it this time). Paul August ☎ 22:14, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

• 
  Temple of Hera
• 
  Temple of Apollo
• 
  Temple of Athena

Glad to see you returned. I hope our paths cross again. -- llywrch 23:09, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. Me too. Paul August ☎ 01:29, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi

Hi, Paul. Bishonen | talk 12:17, 18 October 2006 (UTC).

Hi Bish, How are things? Paul August ☎ 13:13, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Symbol in Subset

Thanks for putting the correct symbol for proper superset in Subset. I'm glad that someone knew where to find it; as my note on the Discussion page said, I was making the best correction that I could in the interim... Pawl 17:30, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome. Paul August ☎ 17:31, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Cleopatra

The info on her alternate deaths was sourced, there was no reason in editing it. The suicide itself is speculation —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.26.131.217 (talk • contribs) 13:53, October 23, 2006

This is the edit I reverted: [2]). It made several novel assertions about Cleopatra's death, without providing any sources, for those assertions (see WP:V). So I reverted it as "unsourced speculation". If you want to discuss this further the best place to do so is at Talk:Cleopatra_VII_of_Egypt. Regards, Paul August ☎ 15:34, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Today's featured article

Just wanted to let you know a featured article you worked on, 0.999..., was featured today on the Main Page. Tobacman 00:34, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Attalus

Cheers. This gives me the opportunity to congratulate you on that excellent article, which must have taken hours of painstaking work. I knew nothing about the subject in advance (even though I've traipsed round a few Greek ruins in Turkey) and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. qp10qp 15:32, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words. It took much more work than I'd care to admit. I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Paul August ☎ 15:37, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Vashist Narayan Singh

I believe you wanted to !vote delete, right? ~ trialsanderrors 18:45, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes thanks for catching that and pointing that out to me. Paul August ☎ 18:48, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Paul, can you explain the change from \equiv to = in Analytic signal?

this diff [3]

the two mathematical statements that you changed are true only because of their definition. there is no other reason for equality there other than equivalence. (you can answer here or the article talk page, i'm watching both.) r b-j 22:27, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi r b-j, I've copied your question to talk page, and replied there. Paul August ☎ 17:02, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you for reverting the vandal on my page. Hu 02:01, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

You're very welcome. Paul August ☎ 02:03, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Changes on Element (mathematics)

Thanks for editing Element. Really. It's a bit below par, and could a bit of content. However, I noted that you replaced $\in$ with ∈. On IE (the browser that I use at school; I use Firefox at home), the latter is displayed as box: it's an unsupported character. So, if you have no objections, I'd like to change it back so that on all browsers, the true symbol is displayed. Is that OK? --Gracenotes ^T § 20:13, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

OK. Paul August ☎ 20:19, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Dionysus

All praise for restoring the lost bit of text (with footnote link) about Prosymnus. Andrew Dalby 15:50, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Aww shucks twern't nothin. Paul August ☎ 16:03, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I've nominated myself for the Arbitration Committee

After some thought, and talking it over with some folks I respect, I've decided to volunteer for ArbCom. You can read my candidate statement. Paul August ☎ 15:14, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but will you be happy there, will you have anything in common with any of them? Giano 15:31, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I will be happy to be of some help. Are you worried I'll burn out? Yes I know the job is stressful. But I care about our encyclopedia, and I want to serve in the best way I can. If that means a bit of stress, perhaps it's worth it. As for getting along with other members? Yes I am an odd geeky antisocial eccentric old bird who spends half his life staring at a computer screen, having little in common with most other folks. But I count Mindspillage and Theresa Knott as good friends. I hope to have Geogre with me, maybe Filioct will return. I'll survive. Paul August ☎ 16:42, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Oh well then your choice - I may even campaign for you, second thoughts perhaps beter if I don't!!! I suppose I could even nominate myself, now that would put that proverbial cat amongst the pidgeons - I shall think on it, it would at least keep everyone on their toes. :-D Giano 08:30, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Nice candy-date statement, except that I think if you are serious about getting yourself elected then the last sentence is a problem. I appreciate the honesty and the gesture of support for others, but it suggests a vote for you is misplaced. Maybe you can find a better wording.

For me, this would transcend public service and tend to martyrdom. Still, the rare happy ending is highly rewarding, and it's nicer to be a referee than a combatant. Best of luck; you have my support. --KSmrq^T 09:22, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your support K. Since I would only risk being burned at the stake, in pixels, rather than in the flesh, I remain reasonably sanguine ;-) I would accept it as a personal test of character to be able to maintain a positive attitude under such circumstances. As for my statement of support for fellow candidates Geogre and UnivitedCompany, you are not the only one who thinks it odd (see Questions). So perhaps the last sentence is a problem. I was not trying to convey any hint of my not being serious about my candidacy. I take the ArbCom and being on the ArbCom very seriously. While I am not exactly salivating at the prospect (for the reasons alluded to above), nevertheless, I care deeply about the encyclopedia, I want to serve, the ArbCom plays an important role, and I believe I can help. At the same time however, I also believe there are two candidates who can perhaps help more. Simply put if I were Jimbo and I had to choose only two, out of the three of us, I would choose them. One of the concerns I had while mulling over whether to nominate myself or not, was that I might somehow displace other potencially better candidates. I don't know if any of this is "better" worded. You are a good writer, I would appreciate any suggestions for a better way to express this. Paul August ☎ 17:12, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I work at writing well, though sometimes it makes me think Prometheus got off easy. Here's one possible rewording:

• "Several excellent editors have volunteered for ArbCom in this election cycle. I would be especially pleased to see User:Geogre and User:UninvitedCompany serve."

Or, say nothing in your candidate statement but add statements of support to their questions page (or other appropriate place). The last sentence of a candidate statement carries special weight, and we want to know who you are and the benefits to us of supporting you. If you keep (some version of) this material, consider moving it and using something else for the last paragraph. --KSmrq^T 08:01, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

• You know what's weird to me? I tried to make it clear in my own answers, but this isn't a question of either/or. This is about the persons and their outlooks, not about "this is how things must go." Hopefully, we all know that compromise is the thing. I can be adamant about something, but that doesn't mean I'll run over people with a steamroller. Maybe we've had some steam roller drivers before, I don't know. Geogre 16:07, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom "Tongue in Cheek" Question" for Paul August

Hi Spartaz. I've answered your Tongue in Cheek Question ;-). Thanks for asking. Paul August ☎ 20:55, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. Your response made me smile out loud. :) Spartaz 20:57, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

;-) Paul August ☎ 21:01, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

65.164.168.38

You recently blocked 65.164.168.38 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) (about 15 seconds ahead of me). Should we go back and look at his previous "contributions" to see if they've all been caught? (I don't want to duplicate effort.) — Arthur Rubin | (talk) 19:34, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

There are not that many. I'd be happy to look at them. Paul August ☎ 19:37, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

OK, I've looked at all of the IP's edits. I've reverted a couple, all the others were reverted by other editors. Paul August ☎ 20:07, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Jason's dubious edits

Hi Paul. Just writing to say that the 'dubious edits' on the Jason article did not seem dubious to this user. Can you please elaborate? Solipsist3 01:40, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Soliosist3. Well part of my revert was ok. This is the dubious edit I wanted to revert. Thanks for pointing our my mistake. Paul August ☎ 02:22, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks very much for being so obliging and helpful, Paul, however I must point out that you spelt my name wrong above. Solipsist3 is not tolerant of typos. Solipsist3 06:24, 4 December 2006 (UTC) Further to this case, Solipsist3 has decided after a late night emergency meeting that Paul August's name shall be added to the prestigious and exclusive list of Best Friends that appears on Solipsist3's user page. Solipsist3 hopes that Paul August is appropriately humbled by this honour. Solipsist3 06:45, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for the typo and this belated reply, I've only just noticed yours above. Indeed I am most honored to be so designated, it is always nice to be befriended. Regards, Paul August ☎ 17:43, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Self-link in recursion

Hello, I put that self-link in Recursion because I thought it was funny - nobody objected on the talk page. Several serious encyclopedias have this in the see also-section - why can't we? :) - basically, it was intentional, nobody seemed to mind, can you please put it back? toresbe 23:31, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Toresbe. Sorry I never saw your comment on the talk page. I'll leave a reply there. Paul August ☎ 23:47, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I've edited the talk page now. I will pend on your approval, as written. toresbe 00:12, 27 November 2006 (UTC) -- Just a reminder, I've updated the talk page now. Will you please give your thoughts? Regards, toresbe 03:01, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I've done so. Paul August ☎ 04:05, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom questions

Hi. I'm Ral315, editor of the Wikipedia Signpost. We're doing a series on ArbCom candidates, and your response is requested.

1. What positions do you hold (adminship, mediation, etc.)?

2. Why are you running for the Arbitration Committee?

3. Have you been involved in any arbitration cases? In what capacity?

Please respond on my talk page. We'll probably go to press late Monday or early Tuesday (UTC), but late responses will be added as they're submitted. Thanks, Ral315 (talk) 01:59, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Filter

Hi Paul,

As you've noticed, I'm on a tear through general topology, which was going well, until I went to revise/merge/update filter (mathematics), when I stumbled on a very simple conceptual issue. Could you look at the talk page, and tell me what I'm doing wrong? linas 16:13, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Linas. Well I've read your comment but I agree with Zundark, I don't see the problem. Every superset of any element of a filter is also an element of the filter. Paul August ☎ 16:44, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Can you say why it is "bad" that: $U=(-0.5,1.5)\cup (x-\epsilon ,x+\epsilon )$ is an element of the filter, for any x and epsilon...? Paul August ☎ 16:48, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Nabokov

• "Of course, it would have been unseemly for a monarch to appear in the robes of learning at a university lectern and present to rosy youths Finnigan's Wake [sic] as a monstrous extension of Angus MacDiarmid's "incoherent transactions" and of Southey's Lingo-Grande. . ." (Pale Fire [New York: Random House, 1962], 76).

I assume this is what Filiocht had in mind. I would so love to put this in as a footnote and not even mention it's being fiction (and utter nonsense). . . I do think it conveys Nabokov's opinion pretty well. What do you think? Chick Bowen 20:29, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Chick. Well the passage that contains the Pale Fire ref is problematic for various reasons (it wasn't added by Filiocht by the way). It is out of place in a paragraph that begins "Joyce's influence is also evident in fields other than literature.", it duplicates the intent of the "in Nobokov's case … " passage just above, and I don't see where Nabokov "listed" it as "one of the 20th century's greatest prose works". So I think we should simply cut that part and merge the rest, with the previous remark above. I'll do that now. As for reflecting Nabokov's opinion of the Wake, I don't see a problem with citing that amusing Pale Fire quote, but I think there are plenty of other sources as well. Paul August ☎ 20:54, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Sounds good, and yes, you're right about the redunancy. There is something in Strong Opinions, I think, but I can't lay my hands on it right now. But it's not nearly as fun as the Pale Fire bit. By the way, I think that James Joyce Ramble image probably should go--I don't think it's really adding anything. Chick Bowen 21:03, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes I agree about the Ramble. Paul August ☎ 21:12, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Hello from a random user

I believe you would (will) make an excellent member of the arbitration committee. They are very short-staffed, and (I believe) a bit frazzled. I have little experience on Wikipedia in relation to your own, but in my humble opinion the presence of an editor such as your self would be greatly appreciated and sorely needed. Happy Editing! NinaEliza 05:32, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Nina, thanks for your kind words. Paul August ☎ 05:49, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Well that's embarrassing

[4] (hangs head, and makes appointment with eye doctor). Chick Bowen 01:10, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

;-) Paul August ☎ 01:15, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Portfolio for ArbCom

On Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2006/Summary table, I added a column "Examples" with links that exhibit a candidate's arbitration skills. My motivation is that as a voter, I don't want to just rely on a candidate's words, but also see their actions. Moreover, I believe a portfolio of "model cases" to remember in difficult situations can be useful for each candidate, as well.

I entered one case, in which I was involved, you may want to check if this expresses what you feel is a model case. While you're gone, I will also go through your questions page and see if I can find more there. — Sebastian (talk) 00:24, 4 December 2006 (UTC)    (Please reply on this page.)

Well, when you get back ...

When you get back, you'll find two unanswered questions from me on your ArbCom question and answers page. Please have a look. --Cyde Weys 17:55, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Cyde. I've just now returned from a long trip. I'm exhausted, jet lagged, hungry, need a shower and a drink, have a suitcase full of dirty close, unopened packages, piles of mail, very full email inbox, recorded telephone messages, hungry cats, … well you get the idea. I will answer your questions as soon as time and circumstances allow. Regards, Paul August ☎ 01:16, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Paul! I read your reply. You know, you were my favorite candidate and you were the first for whom I voted since I value your levelheadedness. So when you write "Do I still think he would make an excellent arbiter? Yes." it is not what I expected from you. The obvious question is: Why? Geogre's attitude may not have been "vicious", but it violated WP:NPA - a policy that holds for every user, and should be a non-brainer for arbitrators. I agree with the argument "nobody is perfect", and I would sympathize with shrugging this off if he had apologized. But afaik he did not do so, which makes him seem less willing to learn from his mistakes than the average person. How does this qualify for an arbitrator?

Re. the perceived discrepancy between Cyde's two questions: Cyde addressed this here; I can see how this fits together: Cyde wants to avoid situations like the one we witness here. One way to do so is to ask candidates not to endorse or unnecessarily comment on other candidates. — Sebastian 23:25, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Note

Hi Paul, just to let you know that you reserve the right not to answer the questions. I recommend that you refer to this, this and this for some context first. - Best regards, Mailer Diablo 15:40, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Mailer. Oh dear, perhaps I ought to go away again. I see that there are things needing looking into, I just don't have the gumption at the moment (see my response to Cyde above). Thanks, and my best regards too, Paul August ☎ 02:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

• Please take your time, no rush here. :) - Cheers, Mailer Diablo 04:41, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

You got my "vote"

Since I posted these questions en masse, I'm probably going to "vote" en masse as well. I admire your candor. NinaEliza 00:04, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Heracles

Thank you for restoring the "foreign language" links deleted by User:68.190.89.38, who treads the borderline of vandalism. --Wetman 06:47, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Well thanks for the thanks, but it is Hectorian, who I believe deserves the credit. Best regards, Paul August ☎ 06:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom Elections

Hi there, my name is Neille and I'm a producer at a public radio show called Weekend America. We're doing a piece on the ArbCom elections and would love to chat with you as a front runner if you have a few minutes today or tomorrow. Thanks! I'm at: nilel (at) marketplace (dot) org Neille i 19:49, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Neille. Sure we can chat, anytime. Paul August ☎ 19:56, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I see someone has contacted User:Giano II as well. Can we have a link to a transcript after it happens, please :) -- ALoan (Talk) 12:55, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes that would be nice. Paul August ☎ 15:00, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

How did it go? Blnguyen (bananabucket) 06:05, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

I declined to participate in the show, so I don't know anymore about it. Paul August ☎ 06:18, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Big O notation

I noticed that you deleted the alternate definitions an anon (156.56.70.58) added to the page. These definitions were incorrect so I'm glad you removed them. I thought it was best to have alternate exists-forall definitions for all of the entries, though, so I added some to the article. This is just a heads-up: the definitions I added aren't the same as the anon's. CRGreathouse (t | c) 08:14, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi CRGreathouse. Yes the anon's definitions were clearly incorrect. Your defs left out |g(x)|, I've fixed them. Regards, Paul August ☎ 16:53, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the correction. As for auto-signing, I'm not sure what you mean. "~~~~" produces "CRGreathouse (t | c) 17:13, 13 December 2006 (UTC)" and "~~~" produces "CRGreathouse (t | c)" for me (and presumably something similar for you, without the t|c), but I imagine you already knew that since you signed your post above. If you mean customizing it, you can do that by clicking on "my preferences" at the top mid-right of your screen. CRGreathouse (t | c) 17:13, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Edit: Perhaps you mean the 'unsigned' notice, which is {{unsigned}}.

When I left my comment on your talkpage, I forgot to sign my message. But then It was signed automatically for me. Take a look at your History page. Paul August ☎ 17:19, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Looks like a bot that is automatically signing for users all across the encyclopedia. Very nifty. As a test, I, Cyde, am leaving this unsigned.

Yes, I like it to, but it doesn't seem to always work :( Paul August ☎ 18:24, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Not sure why the 'bot didn't pick Cyde's edit up, but here - User:HagermanBot - is an explanation of what it signs or not. Newyorkbrad 18:28, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Hrmm, it looks like the bot hasn't been running for over an hour now. Maybe it malfunctioned, or its owner shut it off? --Cyde Weys 19:11, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

HagermanBot does not sign any comments that have links to User or User talk space, and your unsigned comment above had just such a link. NoSeptember 04:33, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Test of HagermanBot

Test (not signed)

Try again (test)

Loyalty and ArbCom recusal

The issue of loyalty to friends and the question of whether I would recuse in an ArbCom case in which I had a conflict of interest, has come up on my vote page. Ii seems like a good idea for me to respond here:

I would like to assure everyone that I most certainly would recuse. Yes I have developed some very wonderful Wiki-friendships. (Who knows, perhaps one day with you ;-)) I am loyal to those to the extent that I am willing to go the extra mile, during rush hour traffic, detour, get lost, seek alternate routes", fix a flat, run out of gas, and hitch hike to wherever I'm needed. However none of this extends to my judgments about what is best for Wikipedia. In my view, the encyclopedia always comes first.

Paul August ☎ 18:55, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Loyalty and ArbCom

I said that because I feel that loyalty is something that is rarely tested and yet plays a critical role in how we act. Your endorsement of Geogre and UninvitedCompany raised quite a few eyebrows, and when closely questioned on it you claimed neither one was particularly controversial. At least a few people decided then and there that while you were an excellent editor and fairminded you might not be totally impartial.

I'd like to expand this, so that you don't get the wrong idea, or think that I disrepect you or your viewpoint. One thing I'm very firm about, no matter how long I'll be at Wikipedia, is that I shouldn't be an admin. The primary reason for that isn't my incivility, or my tendancy to sarcasm and irony, but rather my loyalty and inability to act in an impartial manner. I take it so far as to not touch articles on medical care, Neverwinter Nights, the PRC, or any other topic where I have both personal expertese and a strong opinion. I would never try to mediate between a friend on Wiki and another user, either.

Taking this back to my vote, I feel that your loyalty to your friends is admirable. If you trust Geogre and UninvitedCompany, if you feel they are better qualified and agree with their platforms, then I am glad you are brave enough to say that publically, and that you value your friendship with them over the votes it might have cost you, unlike some people who would have backpedaled on such a thing. However, that type of loyalty does not eagerly lend itself to impartiality. While I appreciate the fact you would recuse yourself in a case where you felt you had a conflict of interest, I'm unable to vote support since I don't know if you would recognize such as a conflict of interest. You seem a very calm, uncontroversial man with calmly held opinions and a desire to help improve Wikipedia, and I don't know how well you would handle things if one of your friends got hounded out of Wikipedia and backstabbed like MONGO is now.

I appreciate your comment and honesty, apologize for the length of this comment, and hope you accept this in the good faith I write it in. Good luck in your election effort.

--Elaragirl^Talk|Count 19:09, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Elaragirl, Thanks for your very thoughtful post and your kind words.

As a human being and a mathematician, I have to admit that you are correct, I am not totally impartial, but I sincerely hope and believe I am impartial enough, to be a good member of ArbCom. Ultimately this is for other people to judge. However, If you mean that folks who have no attachments to people or ideas make the best judges — I take your point — but I'm not sure I can agree.

You might also want to consider the possibility that any mistaken judgments I might have, may have more to do with my ignorance than my partiality (I know out of the frying pan into the fire!).

By the way, for the record, a couple of things. First, I've had virtually no personal contact with UninvitedCompany. And second, the reason I have not, as you say "backpedaled", is out honesty not loyalty.

Anyway I appreciate your response, and I most certainly do accept your good faith. I respect other opinions and will think about what you've said. Thanks again.

Paul August ☎ 21:43, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Template:Ent

I appreciate you fixing the use of rf/ent in infinity but I was sorta hoping to use that as a test bed. It's the only article I've found that has spaces in the template calls *and* more than one note. Glad someone is handling this. Gimmetrow 06:00, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Well it is easy enough to create a test page. Paul August ☎ 06:03, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

True, and I have done that. But it would be better in the long run to handle the leading spaces in the template. I think I have the solution for that. Gimmetrow 06:21, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Ares

Sorry if you thought I was vandalizing Ares. My intent was to break apart the section into two paragraphs, which I just did. Please do not hesistate to tell me if this edit shouldn't be done. s d 3 1 4 1 5 final exams! 23:49, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

I didn't think that you were vandalizing the page. Rather I supposed you were just trying to remove what you thought (mistakenly} to be an extraneous right parenthesis. Paul August ☎ 01:14, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Happy holidays!

File:Julekort.jpg

Wishing you a Happy Holidays
from s d 3 1 4 1 5 Happy Holidays!!
19:06, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Happy editing!

Thanks! And to you. Paul August ☎ 19:08, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Mathematics and God

I've added the "{{prod}}" template to the article Mathematics and God, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but I don't believe it satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and I've explained why in the deletion notice (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). Please either work to improve the article if the topic is worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia, or, if you disagree with the notice, discuss the issues at Talk:Mathematics and God. You may remove the deletion notice, and the article will not be deleted, but note that it may still be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached, or if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria. Ioannes Pragensis 10:53, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom

All the best, Paul. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 03:37, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations! ;-) SlimVirgin ^(talk) 03:34, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Is it congratulations or condolences? In any case thank you. Paul August ☎ 03:50, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations. I'm very glad you were chosen for the ArbCom, in what has been perhaps the best election yet. You'll make a great arbitrator. Cheers, -Will Beback · † · 11:35, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks and best wishes for taking on this demanding role. KillerChihuahua^?!? 20:55, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Condolescences, obviously ;-))))) Apart from jokes, I'm really happy you did it, your exactly the type of editors that are needed for the job. Oh, and happy new year! :-))))--Aldux 21:22, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

• Congratulations, and hope you enjoy this new role (despite sometime being a thankless job.) ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 21:15, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to you all. Will, I hope I live up to your expectations. KC, I will definitely hope for some of those good wishes to come true. Yes Aldux, condolences indeed, but I will try my best, and Buon anno to you too ;-) Jossi, I don't think "enjoy" is the word I'd use, but as in gifts, it's the thought that counts ;-) To all, thanks for your kind words, I hope I am, and continue to be, deserving of them. Any advice, counsel or criticism will be very welcome. If you think I've made a mistake, I want to know. If think I've done a good job, thanks will be much appreciated. I can use all the help I can get. Thanks again, and Buon anno a tutti :) Paul August ☎ 23:33, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations, Paul! Best of luck with ArbCom! =) Nishkid64 23:44, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Oversight

Hello. Congratulations for your election. You now have oversight access on the English-language Wikipedia. Please read Wikipedia:Oversight before using this feature. Cheers! guillom 10:02, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Paul. In addition, please subscribe to Oversight-l. And congratulations on your new status. Redux 13:13, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations

Or should I say, my sympathies.  :) I just saw the announcement on your appointment to the ArbCom. Wear the hat well. User:Zoe|(talk) 17:10, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

There's a hat?! They haven't seen fit to give me one yet. Are we supposed to buy our own? Thanks Zoe. Paul August ☎ 17:28, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

You might want to make your own out of tin foil.  :) User:Zoe|(talk)

Congrats! Guettarda 18:52, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Guettarda.

Congratulations! Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 17:28, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Oleg. I hope I can count on you and others for some help from time to time, I will need it.Paul August ☎ 17:38, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

What kind of help? Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 05:26, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

All kinds, opinions, advice, relevant arguments, moral support, an occasional joke, a shoulder to cry on, whatever. Paul August ☎

Jokes, eh? Here you go:

• A mathematician wanders home at 3 a.m. His wife explodes, “You’re late! You said you’d be home by 11:45!” The mathematician protests, “I’m right on time. I said I’d be home by a quarter of twelve.”
• Upon his death, the Pope finds himself in a long line at the Gates of Heaven. He steps to the front, announces himself, and is told to wait his turn like everyone else. As he waits, grumbling, he sees a mathematics professor walk up and be shown in immediately. When he goes to protest he is told, “Shhh. That’s God! He thinks he’s a mathematics professor.”
• An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician find themselves in an anecdote, indeed an anecdote quite similar to many that you have no doubt already heard. After some observations and rough calculations the engineer realizes the situation and starts laughing. A few minutes later the physicist understands too and chuckles to himself happily, as he now has enough experimental evidence to publish a paper. This leaves the mathematician somewhat perplexed, as he had observed right away that he was the subject of an anecdote and deduced quite rapidly the presence of humor from similar anecdotes, but considers this anecdote to be too trivial a corollary to be significant, let alone funny.

More on demand. :-D

As for advice, forget it. The last time I offered you advice, it was a suggestion for rewriting the last line of your candidate statement. Like most people offered advice, you ignored it; and now look at the mess you’re in! ;-) --KSmrq^T 08:57, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Wow thanks K, you'll never know how much I needed a good laugh just now! I especially enjoyed the third. And yes I'm certainly in a mess. As for your advice, as a purely tactical matter your advice was shown to be correct. And it wasn't ignored, it was simply not followed, there's a difference ;-) Paul August ☎ 18:00, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Glad it helped. Been there. Just ask. --KSmrq^T 21:13, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

I add my congratulations. Now in the service of your newfound responsibilities could you kindly hop on over to the requests for arbitration page and please fix the Giano situation and heal the community as a New Year's present for all of us. I'll give you till Tuesday because of the holiday. :) Regards, Newyorkbrad 18:04, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Unblocking Issue

Hello my honorable friend, Paul August. I am terribly sorry my venerable friend for posting on your talk page, but other respectable administrators such as User:Mangojuice have suggested for my issue to be brought to a higher authority for speculation. Please see my contributions at User:Darin Fidika and my banning issue at User talk:Darin Fidika for further analyzation. I beg of you to look into this case and see it's injustice.

Currently at the moment, I have been permenantly blocked by User:Nihonjoe for "continuous blatant copyrighting of images and information". Due to the fact that absolutely none of my articles that I have created within the recent past are copyright violated to any extent - it couldn't always hurt to add a source though, I am being permenantly banned simply for forgetting the copyright property of a few images that I have uploaded. If I ask for any clarification of this issue, Nihonjoe will simply bring back an old topic from a samurai incident.

Within this incident, Nihonjoe deleted well over 800 of my samurai articles truly because most of them were based off of a single source. I, along with other admins had previously said we would assist in the expansion of these articles from other sources to diminish the copyright violation, but Nihonjoe decided to delete practically everything, including over 200 various other samurai articles that I created from multiple sources such as the Life and Writings of Musashi and the Samurai Sourcebook. After this issue, Nihonjoe falsely accused me of copyrighting information when I truly wished to assist the Wikipedia foundation to the very best of my knowledge. Thus, at this point, I am being thought of as some type of vandal that continuously "steals" information and images when there is no true justification. Every administrator that has responded to my unblock requests on my talk page simply always base their conclusion upon the samurai incident while not looking into the issue at all - thus they reject my good will as nonsense. The samurai incident ended without me being blocked and for no true punishment put on me due to Nihonjoe's unjustified resolution - I probably deserved to be temporarily blocked due to my ignorance however. Whatever the case please do not harm Nihonjoe, since he was obviously uninformed of the entire situation and only acted impulsively. I believe ones incompetence should always be improved upon rather then punished for, as when it comes to Nihonjoe's case.

Thus, I ask if you could unblock me so that I can continue to extend my eternal devotion to the Wikipedia foundation. I intend on expanding various famed novels such as Journey to the West, animes, books, and much more. I only truly wish for Wikipedia to be a place of greatness, and I will gladly extend my loyalty to this foundation at your will's descision as I have done in the past.

Thank you very much my friend for your time and consideration.

-- User:Darin Fidika (30 DEC) (EST)