User talk:Ian.thomson

This user may have left Wikipedia. Ian.thomson has not edited Wikipedia since 17 June 2023. As a result, any requests made here may not receive a response. If you are seeking assistance, you may need to approach someone else.

Ian.thomson is taking a short wikibreak and will be back on Wikipedia soon.

—^{Hi, I did not misspell my own name, there's just not a P anywhere in there!}

Wikipedia does not care about you or me being qualified scholars. Wikipedia is not a scholarly site, but a summary of sources that speak for themselves. We all have the right to edit, but there are rules to make sure that proper sources are used for appropriate articles and editors are civil. -- In other words: duh only book-lurnin we likes 's frum books, not school-folk wit deir fancy-shmancy deeplomas. Ye ain't gots to be unschooled to edit, but ya bettah bring yer damn sauces like uh chef at tha Italian resteeraunt.

If I'm not responding, that's probably because

It is approximately 3:48 AM where this user lives (Kumamoto). [refresh]

...And I'm either asleep, teaching Japanese toddlers the word "no," or ...something.

**If you:**
...leave me a message about Wikipedia, click here.	...see my contributions, go here.	...just generally feel lost, read this.
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New stuff goes at the bottom, people. Also, please sign your posts in talk pages with four tildes (~~~~)

To-do: red plastic gas cans

These things are ubiquitous in the US (or at least any part I've been to) but we don't have an article on them. Like, I've only ever seen three consistent models (each different sizes of the same basic pattern) and looking online, it looks like those are the only three models that have been allowed since the gas crisis in the '70s.^{[original research?]}

I've got a lot of other things on my plate, but I think these might be sufficient sources for someone (me, anyone else, whoever) to write up an article on them:

The last source definitely doesn't establish WP:NOTE and I'd normally be wary of anyone insisting that it be used. Still, I think they also discuss regulatory info and maybe manufacturing history. Given the news sources (all of which are "oh shit, these things are exploding again" and "please stop doing things to make them explode"), I think it's safe to say that its inclusion probably won't amount to promotion.

I'm not sure that this would accomplish much more than a stub, at least with my usual "summarize, paraphrase, combine overlapping statements" approach. Ian.thomson (talk) 22:21, 12 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I saw this up in your table of contents. Those damned things are a colossal nuisance , I finally found a brand that allows better control of flow and doesn't end up slopping gas all over the lawnmower, generator, or tiller. The mesh screen appears nowadays to be broadly used. They also come in yellow for diesel and blue for kerosene. Acroterion (talk) 01:19, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I am remembering my dad using blue barrels made of the same material for kerosene back when we had a space heater but yeah, I do see the same design in blue and yellow. (I think he got them on sale, I'm not sure I've seen them in stores ever again, and boy hell were they trouble to get rid of). Guess I need to look for sources on the diesel and kerosene ones and figure out what the industry name is for this family of cans. They're not Jerrycans (which is where gas can currently redirects): they're broader, have a handle on the back, and the stamping on the sides is just embossed warning text (not a structural feature). (I'm sure you know but other talk page watchers who haven't opened the links might be wondering why I want to reinvent the Jerrycan).

There's another gas can design that I'm seeing, "Safety gas cans," which I suppose needs to be written about as well. Basically squat half-capsule mini-barrels with a handle and spout on the flatly rounded top. They're why I haven't just made "gas can" about the red plastic ones, since we really need "gas can" to be a disambig between the standard plastic, the Jerrycan, and the safety gas cans. Thanks for helping me realize that. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:38, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I'm accumulating a museum of gas cans. I got two of the safety cans after squirrels started eating the plastic ones. After that generation of squirrels died they seem to have stopped munching plastic and confine themselves to the house, so now I have some plastic ones that are easier to handle, and a yellow one in case we run out of heating oil - I can get off-road diesel and use that in a pinch. I think fuel container is a safe generic term. Acroterion (talk) 01:49, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I guess maybe a redirect to Bin bag would suffice? Ian.thomson (talk) 23:10, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wikibreak

I should have announced this sooner but it just kinda crept up on me. Between various issues (less prep time at work, trying to affordably diet and exercise better), I've just not had enough energy when I'm home beyond what I need to get ready for the next work day or upcoming week.

I've bought some sources to expand articles on Goetic demons, though. I may work some on that without fully coming off of the Wikibreak. Ian.thomson (talk) 23:10, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Ian - we haven't interacted much, so sorry for coming out of the blue, but I wanted to tell you that when I was in my 'I have an account, but I mostly just read stuff without commenting' stage, your contributions were a real inspiration for me to actually get involved. You were one of the most active editors on some of the pages I was interested in, and I saw your name come up time and again attached to sensible, rational comments. So, yeah - I'm a fan.

Anyone deserves and can self-award a break whenever they want to; I'd suggest that you have definitely earned one if you feel like it, and should take as long as you need/want. If you want to do some article-writing without engaging with admin stuff (or anything else) you're still doing good work - thank you! Girth Summit _(blether) 23:21, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I am going to pile on here as another "out of the blue" editor. I don't think we have ever interacted directly at all but you have certainly provided value to me as an editor (and no doubt to Wikipedia as a whole) and that does not go away because you have other things to focus on whether that shift in focus is temporary or permanent. Now go get some exercise! :) S0091 (talk) 21:32, 15 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Wishing Ian.thomson a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Birthday Committee! Best wishes! CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 05:39, 9 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wishing Ian.thomson a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! —— 🌸 Sakura emad 💖 (talk) 14:50, 9 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

—— 🌸 Sakura emad 💖 (talk) 14:50, 9 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Indigo children

You protected this one before, and I'd like a second set of eyes on what's been going on with an IP with a bad case of WP:IDONTHEARYOU. --Orange Mike | Talk 04:50, 14 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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18:13, 4 January 2022 (UTC)

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22:52, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

Trying to come back

Every two weeks, when my email login expires and I have to log back in, I get the notification that "I" have too many failed logins and need to reset my password. Even after almost a year of inactivity, this is still the case. To the asshole(s) doing that, you could have made bank on crypto by now, and I'm saying that as someone who thinks all cryptocurrency is a scam.

Thanks to Wikipedia, I got to see alt-right talking points identified as such well before they became a part of mainstream conversation. Offline individuals who I trusted and respected started hinting at these talking points more and more. Pretty much every attempt to show them the source and goal of those ideas only stalled things at best. When politicians aren't stirring up the alt-right, they're defending those who stir them up, or defending those who defend the pandering, or saying we need to cooperate with those who are ultimately defending the alt-right. And the number of users I've seen hounded for saying "we shouldn't allow Nazis on the site because it's antithetical to this site's goals" is dismaying. Shame on the shriveled, minuscule, impotent souls whose petty grudges push them to defend fascism just to score points against someone. And if you're upset at my characterization of you as such, you're the one who put the shoe on, Cinderella.

On top of that, over the past decade, I've spent half of it on the other side of the world from my hometown. Though this has just slowed the rate at which I was growing tired, it hasn't stopped it.

I'm fucking sick of it all. I'd say "Nazis can all go to hell" but that's like telling shit to stink. Wait, no, at least shit has enough sense that it doesn't need to be told to do that.

I do want to come back. I'm aware that we'll never "go back to normal," that there is not and will never be a "new normal," that normal was always a monsterous lie, and that order is nothing but the local flavor of chaos. That thinking is actually kinda why I got along here as well as I did.

I do enjoy non-contentious admin work. Going through new user names and blocking obvious troll or spam accounts before anyone else can even report them is actually fun.

I have a bunch of new sources for Goetia related articles as well as sources for the Shams al-Ma'arif article.

I'm tired of pretending I prioritize WP:5P over WP:NONAZIS. I know enough about the site to know that saying that's going to bite me on the ass and that that that's not going to work well with my other plans to return. Going to be thinking about it but I'm certain there's no outcome I'm going to be happy with. Ian.thomson (talk) 09:36, 4 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Ian - I came across your username just now while reading an old thread, and realised I hadn't seen you around in a while. I came here, and read this. All I can say is this: when I was a newb, you were one of the people who inspired me. I saw lots of sensible, level-headed comments and actions from you, and I thought 'Hey, Wikipedia is a little bit of the internet where there are good people running things. Maybe I could get involved here.' Do what's best for you, of course, but I wanted you to know that you made a difference, for me at least. Girth Summit _(blether) 23:44, 8 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Your essay

Just a quick thanks for penning the WP:YESPROMO essay. It's a brilliant piece and I have linked to it many times in my talk page messages! Cheers. --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 00:51, 20 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Happy Seventh Adminship Anniversary!

Wishing Ian.thomson a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Chris Troutman (talk) 13:23, 9 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Happy First Edit Day!

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Precious anniversary

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NPOV

Hello, there is a discussion about neutral point on view of the RFK Jr talk page and I am wondering what your say on it is. Logawinner (talk) 20:31, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What made you seek out this particular editor, who has made only 1 edit in nearly 2 years? Zaathras (talk) 20:58, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

They were the editor that got onto be when I was making biased edits on religious articles when I was younger. I figured someone being on the other side of my troublemaking could make a much more informed decision than me that would be more unbiased. They are the one that taught me about NPOV. Logawinner (talk) 03:38, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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