User talk:Mark L MacDonald/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Welcome

Hello Mark L MacDonald, and Welcome to Wikipedia!

Welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you enjoy the encyclopedia and want to stay. As a first step, you may wish to read the Introduction.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me at my talk page — I'm happy to help. Or, you can ask your question at the New contributors' help page.

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Mark L MacDonald, good luck, and have fun. --NtheP (talk) 20:11, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia: check out the Teahouse!

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Hello! Mark L MacDonald, you are invited to the Teahouse, a forum on Wikipedia for new editors to ask questions about editing Wikipedia, and get support from peers and experienced editors. Please join us! NtheP (talk) 20:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)


Training the trainers - Newcastle

Hi Mark. I have started a discussion about the location of the February train the trainer course that you've signed up to. You might be interested in commenting - see [1]. Thanks, Bazonka (talk) 21:45, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Training event for UK Wikimedians

Hi Mark, you signed up to the WMUK training event but the venue has changed. The response from the community is that a different location would be easier for volunteers to get to. As such the training session will be held in Manchester on the same dates. If you are still able and want to attend could you please confirm as much in the sign up section so we know you'll be there. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 15:07, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi Mark, we're looking to finalise numbers and I just wanted to confirm that you're still interested in attending the event on 23-24th February? Thanks, Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 20:13, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
Hi Richard, yup still planning on attending, thanks! Mark M (talk) 08:18, 9 February 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. As 18 people have registered their interest and there's only space for 12 we're in the process of chasing up who can come and who would need accommodation (arranged by Wikimedia UK). Would you need accommodation? Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:09, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
I won't be needing accommodation. I live quite close to Manchester, so I was planning on staying the night in my house. :-) Mark M (talk) 13:35, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for letting me know. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:32, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Hi Mark, the details of the venue are now on the UK wiki. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 13:54, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

After whittling down the people who didn't respond we still had 14 people interested in 12 places. Unfortunately this means two people miss out. We've decided to put you on the reserve list should anyone drop out. I hope that's ok. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 15:41, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Umm.. having been the fifth person to sign up for this, and having expressed my interest to Doug at a meetup even before that, I have somehow not made it into the top twelve? Could I have you expand on your reasons for excluding me a little please? It seems arbitrary, and a little insulting.. but maybe I've misunderstood? Mark M (talk) 16:12, 12 February 2013 (UTC)
I've replied to your post on the UK wiki, and I hope you understand that no offence was meant. It hasn't been an easy decision deciding which two wouldn't be attending. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 16:55, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Hello Mark, we've been able to include you in the training session. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 11:10, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Richard; sorry for being a pain. Mark M (talk) 12:06, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
Not at all, I'm glad we got things sorted out. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:55, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
Hello, Mark L MacDonald. Please check your email; you've got mail!
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Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 15:32, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors

Hi, I reversed some of the changes you made to eigenvalues and eigenvectors

  • The third paragraph already generalizes the definition to arbitrary linear operators. Methinks it is important to start with the matrix algebra definition, because that makes it accessible to any reader who knows matrices, a high school subject (I presume); whereas "linear operator" is a concept that only readers with a tech-oriented college education will know (and they probably already know what an eigenvector is!). I believe that eigenvalues and eigenvectors are such an important concept that even high-school students should be given the chance to know about them. (And I wish I had learned them earlier myself.)
  • I am not comfortable with the word "coefficient" for the entries of a generic vector. In other contexts it means a number that multiplies something else, such as a variable; so here it may get confused with the eigenvalue. "Coordinates" also is appropriate only when the vector is used to represent a position in space. "Element" of a vector may be uncommon in math (I cannot tell, I am computer guy so for me it is the standard name), but is definitely used for the entries of a matrix; and since we just defined a vector as a list of numbers, "element" seems clear enough. Would you agree?
  • The style "If you .... then you ..." is OK for a tutorial, but Wikipedia articles are supposed to use a stiff, dry, impersonal "encyclopedic" style. I guess we are supposed to write as if we were lecturing to Diderot's bust in an empty museum, and readers, if they are lucky, just may happen to hear us as they walk by. 8-)

All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 03:29, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

I added a section on the talk page about the opening sentence; the word element is fine with me, so I used it as you suggest, and reworded the other bit. It's still a clumsy sounding explanation of scalar multiplication, but better than nothing. Mark M (talk) 03:34, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

UK Wikimedian of the Year 2013/Nominations

The Wikimedia UK AGM will be held in June, and nominations for the UK Wikimedian of the Year are currently open. If there is someone who you feel has made an important contribution to the UK Wikimedia movement in the last year please go ahead and nominate them here by 09:00 (BST) on Monday 20th May at the latest. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 13:31, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Math articles on the english wikipedia

Thank-you Mark for the welcome User_talk:Lfahlberg#Welcome. I will have to see about working on the English wikipedia. That was way too much confrontation with people whose goals are definitely diametrically opposed to mine. Not somewhat, but completely in opposition. The funny thing is that I regularly use Wikipedia, but rarely for mathematics :). However, in the last two weeks, I have been working intensively on math articles for the [Macedonian wikipedia]. (There I have a relatively free hand, even though Macedonian is my second language and so my sentence constructions are sometimes weird :).) I have been creating free online resources for mathematics for years and years that are consistently used (in both Macedonian and in English.) While working on the MK wikipedia articles, I would refer to the corresponding articles in the English wikipedia. When I read the English articles on linear function (and then linear equation) I was so astonished that I forced myself to write knowing full well there would be some confrontation. However, I was absolutely appalled by the response. So I will have to see. The only reason I might consider it is that through all the conflict I actually learned a lot about creating wikipedia articles and about remembering to carefully research other possible definitions and generalizations. That was both useful (and even fun). Warm regards, Lfahlberg (talk) 15:45, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

(No worries about reply if you are busy/bored.) Допуштени вредности was one of my first pages and I just moved stuff from my wiki (which is explanatory) to that page. Slowly I am getting the hang of doing encyclopedic and learning yet another wiki language. Kids read Wikipedia; that is key. As I get better at it (I am only 10 days into it), I will go back and fix the older pages. If your interested :), here is a more recent page on - you guessed it - Linear functions. Линеарна функција (still haven't quite got the hang of svg...). P.S. If you have a moment, I would really like to know how to get rid of the double bullet after the math lines on the linear functions page. (I can do this in html.)
Well, it's a bit of a hack, but you could use :* instead of ** as follows:
Markup Renders as 
* Item1
** Item2
** Item3
:* <math>x=y</math>
:* Item 4
:* Item 5

  • Item1
    • Item2
    • Item3
  • Item 4
  • Item 5


On the English wikipedia there is a definite style preference for using prose when possible, instead of lists (see WP:USEPROSE). Also, for quick questions like that, a good place to ask is at the Teahouse, where the people are very friendly, and specialize in helping newcomers. And while I agree that kids read and use Wikipedia, this does not mean we should focus our efforts on explaining mathematics to children. The key guideline is to Wikipedia:Make technical articles understandable, which states: Strive to make each part of every article as understandable as possible to the widest audience of readers who are likely to be interested in that material. So the question one should continually ask oneself is, who is most likely to be interested in this material? All the best, Mark M (talk) 08:26, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

Talk today

Thanks for a lovely presentation today Mark. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.88.244.129 (talk • contribs) 13:32, 2 July 2013

Thanks! :-) Mark M (talk) 15:12, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Hello

I don't suppose I can talk you into using your full name on your signature to make sure there is no confusion. It isn't a requirement and if you choose to keep your sig I am sure people will figure it out eventually. Just a suggestion. Happy editing!--Mark Miller (talk) 23:35, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Hi Mark; I've used this signature from the start, so I think I'll stick with it. I've even redirected User:Mark M to my userpage (since that user seems inactive). I suppose if you wanted a more distinctive signature you could format it differently.. I guess that's the problem with having a common name! :-) Mark M (talk) 08:15, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
If that user is inactive you may wish to request usurping the name, but if there is actually an account with that name, is it proper to redirect to you while the account is still valid?--Mark Miller (talk) 21:58, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
Two edits since 2006? I think they'd probably allow you to usurp that. You should ask an admin about it.--Mark Miller (talk) 22:00, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Editathon

Thanks for spotting the error in the accents - following up on the editathon? It is being very interesting doing this! MerielGJones (talk) 16:17, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Yup, I was just taking a closer look at a few of the articles created during the editathon, and decided to make a few changes. Your article on Hélène Sparrow looks really good; I hope you decide to stick around, and continue editing Wikipedia, since you're off to such a great start! :-) Mark M (talk) 19:40, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for continuing to take an interest in Hélène Sparrow! MerielGJones (talk) 21:51, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Digital democracy project

Hello Mark. I wanted to drop you a note, firstly to thank you for all of your input to the attempt to community source the submission to the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy. Even though the work hasn't been overwhelmed by large numbers of contributors I think it has led to something valuable. We are going to look at encouraging submission to the next theme - representation - and the final theme, when it is announced. Each theme will have a separate submission (to include the talk page) but at the time of the final one we'll be compiling some kind of report as an accompaniment. The second point is I definitely agree we need to encourage more people to participate directly on the call for the second theme (and those subsequent). I would love to get some suggestions from you on this. I have deliberately been quite reticent about promoting the project through Wikipedia channels as I don't want to do anything that could upset the community. Do you have any views on how we could get more people involved? Thank you for all of your help so far, it is appreciated. Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 15:05, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Latest stage of submission to the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy

Hello there. I thought I would drop you a note as you kindly took part in the first stage of the efforts to crowdsource a submission to the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy. The second stage is now live and can be seen here. It would be great if you could help with putting together the submission on the second theme, which relates to representation. Also, if you have any suggestions on how we can widen participation, that would be very helpful. Thanks again for all of your help. Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 11:08, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Liverpool Meetup

Hi Mark, there's a meetup this weekend, and now that I'm back I might finally be attending one! Would be good to see you there if you can make it. Sam Walton (talk) 08:23, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Next meetups in North England

Hello. Would you be interested in attending one of the next wikimeets in the north of England? They will take place in:

If you can make them, please sign up on the relevant wikimeet page!

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Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 20:36, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia:GLAM/Lytham

Hi Mark. You should request a geonotice for this event so that editors see it! :) Sam Walton (talk) 20:06, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Hi Sam; I guess the reason it's not advertised is because it is already full. It will be an event for training people (about 15 of them) associated with the library who have essentially no experience with Wikipedia. We already have two trainers, but I don't think there would be objection to having a third, if you're free. Mark MacD (talk) 07:33, 28 May 2015 (UTC)
Ah, I wasn't aware, I just stumbled across it and assumed it was an open event. I'd be happy to come, definitely, it's quite close to me and I'm free! Sam Walton (talk) 08:25, 28 May 2015 (UTC)
Hi Mark. Sorry about this but I just realised I'm in fact not free, I'd forgotten about something when I posted above. Hope the event goes well! Sam Walton (talk) 22:43, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Does this make any sense to you?! Hopefully we'll be able to provide some sensible advice! Bazonka (talk) 21:34, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

I think the short story is that if it's been more than 70 years since the artist died then the work is (almost certainly) in the public domain, so upload away, and use the {{PD-art}} tag. I came across this issue with another Wikipedia event which lead to me uploading this image - which I just copied from the internet. Mark MacD (talk) 09:24, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

testing

Hi testing Backton (talk) 11:24, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

User:Backton, your test worked! :-) Mark MacD (talk) 09:11, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Lytham training event

Hi Mark and Dan Just wanted to say a big Thank You for the incite you have given us in using Wiki. I have had excellent feedback from the attendees and you have certainly given us food for thought on the benefits of using Wiki as an invaluable tool. It was refreshing to see the passion of the real people behind the anonymous face of Wiki and to learn that Wiki has been striving to be taken seriously. Many Thanks Jacqueline LSAAC Tagger1 (talk) 19:54, 6 June 2015 (UTC)LSAAC Tagger1

Hi Jacqueline, I'm glad you found it helpful. I hope the participants will choose to help build and improve Wikipedia. Mark MacD (talk) 09:11, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Meetups in Liverpool and Manchester

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ArbCom elections are now open!

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Next meetups in North-West England

Hello. This is just to let you know that the next wikimeets in North-West England will take place in:

Please sign up on the relevant wikimeet page if you can make them! Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 20:09, 18 January 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

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The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom 2017 election voter message

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