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Araucarioxylon

Hi, there's a whole article at User:Una_Smith/Araucarioxylon which never seems to have been moved into user space. I've left a note on her talk page, but she doesn't seem to have been around for more than a year. So I guess you could either use this material, or, better, create Araucarioxylon from it. Peter coxhead (talk) 09:13, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Nice find! Let's wait a few days for her reply though. -- Obsidin Soul 09:33, 19 November 2011 (UTC)
I guess she's not active anymore. :( I'll go ahead and spruce it up then move it to mainspace in a bit after finishing up with Alexandre Arsène Girault. Cheers. -- Obsidin Soul 01:25, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
Please do! Peter coxhead (talk) 14:24, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
Same reason as below, heh. I want to do this in one sitting so I don't forget what ref said what given that it's going to be challenging sorting out the synonymies in this one. A bit difficult to do that atm.-- Obsidin Soul 01:09, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

LOL

I agree, the image used for the LOL article is outdated and irrelevant. What can we suggest for a more appropriate image? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashton2571 (talkcontribs) 01:00, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Of course. Please feel free to find more suitable images.-- Obsidin Soul 16:21, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

I noticed that the refs were crap too. I suspected copyvio, but couldn't find it. Peridon (talk) 21:34, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Aye. FWIW, he really may be locally notable. But very very local. If it's a copyvio, the source is probably family lore. Thanks for taking a look. -- Obsidin Soul 00:38, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Some Help

Hey, Obsidian Soul, I need some advice. I want to add a lot of new information on vesper bats from | this website. It's a blog, but it's written by a scientist and cites its sources. Can I use the website as a source? Zhoulikan (talk) 01:55, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Yep. See WP:USERGENERATED. That "blog" is certainly very well-referenced enough with peer-reviewed sources to be acceptable. Same applies with personal websites owned by specialists in their respective fields that can qualify as "self-published".-- Obsidin Soul 06:32, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
Thanks! Zhoulikan (talk) 05:40, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Minor barnstar
Thankyou for cleaning up my appalling stylist errors at HMS Porcupine (G93) - it's much appreciated! The Cavalry (Message me) 22:34, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
You're welcome. :) -- Obsidin Soul 02:09, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Other way around

"You are trying to imply that Mark Twain's criticism of religion caused his depression."

NO He was suffered from manic episodes some of which were so bad he not only denied God existed but denied he (Twain) existed. --Protostan (talk) 08:34, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Er... so depression causes atheism? Anyway, moot point, please provide a very reliable source for this. It's a very contentious claim, bordering on mind-reading.-- Obsidin Soul 09:13, 30 November 2011 (UTC)
Why couldn't severe depression cause atheism? --Protostan (talk) 03:04, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

http://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/Abstract/1999/07000/Religion_and_depression_in_later_life.16.aspx

--Protostan (talk) 04:38, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Did you read and understand the abstract of that study? It doesn't say anything like that at all. The study is about how religious people apparently cope better with depression and sickness in old age. Nowhere does it say that one causes the other. Furthermore, it's WP:SYNTHESIS to use this as justification for your speculation that Mark Twain's depression caused him to "deny God" and "deny he existed". That's like saying "Jesus likes icecream." and then citing a completely unrelated modern study where 60% of Christians said they liked icecream as proof. -- Obsidin Soul 07:00, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
I thought you might like to know I wasn't making up that there is a connection between atheism and depression. --Protostan (talk) 08:10, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
Okaaay... like the connection between taking drugs and happiness? -- Obsidin Soul 08:15, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
Wow, that is impressive! I never even knew that "university" (Protestantse Theologische Universiteit) existed. Just in case you hadn't guessed it already; they do not use the scientific method, they are just a couple of religious extremists who started their own diploma mill to avoid hearing about evolution in a real university. Von Restorff (talk) 06:14, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Image Acquisition for Museum Exhibit

Hi

I am a designer at Amaze Designs located in Boston, MA. We are currently doing an exhibition for the Museum of Nature and Science located in Dallas Texas. We are interested in your Image entitled "Eurypterus_Paleoart.jpg". This image would be used solely for educational purposes only in the exhibit on a graphic panel. Final dimensions would be 5" x 5". Please let me know how much you would charge for this sort of usage and feel free to contact me directly at my email: (Redacted) for more information. Thanks and I look forward to hearing back.

Cheers! Kim66.92.65.29 (talk) 19:12, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Hello. I've replied through email. Cheers. :) -- Obsidin Soul 21:08, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

A watershed map

Good enough?
Da lake

Hey Obsidian Soul. I noticed you are map savvy. Do you take requests? No hurry on this one. I'd like to get a watershed map for Adams River (British Columbia) together. Shuswapwatershed.ca has some great maps, in several formats. If you've got time, give me a shout. Cheers, The Interior (Talk) 04:16, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

That's a bit more complex than distribution range maps as it requires actual topographic maps. I'm no cartographer and only have a vague idea of what a "watershed map" is. :P I'll have to check out some things first, I'll give a definite reply in a couple of days or so. Cheers.-- Obsidin Soul 07:25, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
I guess it would involve overlaying the outline from one of the maps above onto a base map from commons, like one of these maybe? ([1][2]) Just meant to be a rough outline of the drainage of the river. This is the one for the larger river system. ( the Adams is just NNE of the "n" in "Thompson"). The Interior (Talk) 09:00, 2 December 2011 (UTC)
Do you need all the creeks and stuff outlined as well, or do you just need the outline of the area? I've managed to secure a map of the area from NASA, but it's topographical (i.e. it doesn't really show the water, just elevation, though I can adjust that so that areas roughly at the lake's level is blue). The Blue Marble satellite image is too low-res, and the Shuswap Watershed Project's map has a different projection than NASA's (i.e. they do not correspond with each other easily) and does not show neighboring areas, making it hard to put into context. :( -- Obsidin Soul 20:45, 2 December 2011 (UTC)
Ok, how's this?-- Obsidin Soul 22:35, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

S-weeet! This is exactly what I was looking for. Fine work, OS. I'd be happy to use it as is, but if you have time, two small fixes.

  • There appears to be a bit of "bleed" with the blue-coloured areas, they're wider than they should be.
  • Is it possible to label the Upper Adams (the stretch N. of Adams Lake), and change the label for the Adams where you have it to Lower Adams?(maybe "Lower Adams R." so it fits) Definitely don't need the tributary creeks.

Thanks so much for this, I'm sure working with the two different projections was annoying. I owe you. I'm a pretty good copy-editor if you ever need one, and I have access to a lot of online journals if you need research/fact-checking help with anything. Have a good one, The Interior (Talk) 19:45, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Heh. Confusing more like. Thank goodness there was a variant of the map on the Shuswap Watershed site that was topographical. I actually used three maps to determine where to place what lines, haha. Regarding the blue colors, if the bodies of water are not at the same elevations it would be impossible in QGIS, as the colors are based on elevation, not on the presence of actual water. But I'll try. Labels are easy enough to do. And no, no need for anything in return, lol, though appreciate the offer. :) Feel free to copyedit anything I work on, just don't feel obligated.-- Obsidin Soul 20:23, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
Right on. I sort of gapped on what you said about using the elevation for colours. It just needs a little touch up around the N and S ends, and maybe the bay on the W. Here's a good reference image for the lake area. The Interior (Talk) 20:40, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
Ah, better than the Google map reference I was using, LOL. So it's the light blue areas that are too wide?-- Obsidin Soul 20:55, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, they could be "ground" colour. The Interior (Talk) 03:55, 4 December 2011 (UTC)
BTW, haven't forgotten about this, just a bit too busy at the moment (holidays, relatives coming home, etc.) to sit down and devote time to making the map. But I'll get around to it in a bit.-- Obsidin Soul 01:07, 12 December 2011 (UTC)
Hey, take your time! Enjoy your holidays. Just getting set to start mine. I"m sure the dozen or so daily visitors to the article can live without a map for the time being :) The Interior (Talk) 03:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Araucaria mirabilis

PanydThe muffin is not subtle 16:02, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

DYK Review Note

DYK review note: Thank you for your review of Template:Did you know nominations/Caerthillian to Kennack. There are still some issues concerning this nomination that may need to be clarified; please respond on that page as soon as possible. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:45, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Natural selection

Hi, regarding your revert, could I ask you to comment on the talk page where this was being discussed? I should have mentioned the talk page on my edit.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 21:10, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Hey, yeah sorry, didn't realize there was a discussion in the talk page regarding it.-- Obsidin Soul 03:26, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

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DYK for Alexandre Arsène Girault

HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:05, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Rolling angels at the RD

I <3 'd your response. --KFP (contact - edits) 09:21, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

I have way too much time apparently. :P -- Obsidin Soul 10:30, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
I could swear the bird is not a chicken but a chocobo, though! --KFP (contact - edits) 13:33, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
Come to think of it... the cat looks like a moogle. :D -- Obsidin Soul 17:54, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Bro.--Otterathome (talk) 11:04, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

hi

just a question, what does OP mean? MahAdik usap 01:38, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Hello. OP means "Original Poster". In other words, the person who started the discussion.-- Obsidin Soul 02:12, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! MahAdik usap 00:09, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for all your help with Alfred Ernest Wileman

The L. Binomial Authority help award
A L. for you! Shirt58 (talk) 10:35, 14 December 2011 (UTC)
Thanks! :) -- Obsidin Soul 17:16, 14 December 2011 (UTC)
Another interesting challenge: William Grey! --Shirt58 (talk) 09:32, 17 December 2011 (UTC)
Being an amateur collector not notable in anything else, it's pretty much impossible. :/ -- Obsidin Soul 05:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Wikibots

Your Wikibots are cool! Do you have those as SVG or some other editable form? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.243.77.197 (talk) 02:52, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Just got back from vacation. And yes, but probably not anything you can use - it's available in almost any 3d format you want, heh. So if you know how to use any 3d editing programs (blender, 3ds max, Maya, Zbrush, etc.) I can provide the files if requested. It's all free, I also donated this to an open-source game, but they didn't use it :(-- Obsidin Soul 05:32, 29 December 2011 (UTC)
That's even better! I can use blender.. could you put the files on the Category:Wikibots page? Thanks, and happy new year! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.243.77.197 (talk) 07:28, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
Will do. :) Happy New Year! -- Obsidin Soul 09:28, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
Blegh. Commons doesn't accept .7z, .zip, .3ds, or .obj file formats. Do you have a preferred file hosting site I can upload it to?-- Obsidin Soul 14:20, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
MediaFire is a good one.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.243.77.197 (talk) 21:29, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
Here you go. It includes a .3ds and .obj format of the mesh and 10 maps - the bump map, diffuse/color map (both the unpainted and painted versions), luma/glow map, normal map, specularity map, and the masks for the painted areas in case you wanted to apply a different color to the diffuse. Cheers.-- Obsidin Soul 05:05, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi. Could you do me a favor? Could you copy/paste your short explanations of WP:N and WP:V to this new essay a few editors and I are working on? It's WP:The End. If you could put those in the "Policies and Guidelines" section, that'd be perfect. I'd do it myself, but it's easier to keep attribution if you do it. Thanks.--v/r - TP 20:48, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

I wouldn't recommend it, honestly, heh. I was paraphrasing madly in an attempt to cover the relevant points quickly enough without boring the helpee. But I've copied them as requested, please do clean them up a bit though (better examples might also be needed).-- Obsidin Soul 21:07, 30 December 2011 (UTC)
The point of the essay is supposed to be real down-to-earth and man-to-man speak. What you have should work great. Thanks!--v/r - TP 21:37, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Hi

Hi there, I'm not trying to cause trouble; but with the fact SQGibbon keeps trolling my edits and reverting them and telling me I'm wrong everywhere I go, I can't focus on other work. I'm trying to ignore him now. I don't think my edits are 'unconstructive' as they have been labeled and the whole thing is silly. Thanks. --97.100.176.192 (talk) 19:17, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Brugmansia

Hello, and thanks for your edits on the Brugmansia article. I would like to discuss picture placement with you HERE. Thanks! --Tom Hulse (talk) 02:54, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

A cupcake for you!

your smarts are food to me (will never look at Caspar David Friedrich the same way again :D Manytexts (talk) 00:31, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
It's a true story! Here you can see him in happier times when he still had his hat and a hairdresser snipping away behind him. :D -- Obsidin Soul 04:25, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
puts a new spin on the "bowl cut" :))

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A kitten for you!

A kitten for you!

Neogeolegend (talk) 14:47, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

LOL, where did that come from?-- Obsidin Soul 14:50, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

WP Palaeontology in the Signpost

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OMGWTFBBQ!!1!!11

What happened to the title of your userpage and talkpage? Von Restorff (talk) 19:58, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

LOL! Thanks! :D -- Obsidin Soul 03:08, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Crazy fish

Hello! Your submission of Crazy fish at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:23, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Reconsidering one joke message?

A female dog
A beautiful tit!

Could you please consider taking the message about the "female dog" at WP:RD/S back? I'm afraid it may be considered offensive, and it's not really contributing to the topic. — Sebastian 21:10, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

I hereby give Obsidian Soul permission to refer to me as a female dog, because he is such a nice guy he has given me permission to look at his sisters tits. Von Restorff (talk) 21:27, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
I fully agree with this observation and can only hope that I have not caused unintentional distress among the fainthearted of the world. I have taken steps to ensure that this page and that discussion remains safe for Pokemons and have censored the offensive images and text. -- Obsidin Soul 22:35, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
Just so you know, since Sebastion here is obviously bit rusty on policy, this is already undwer discussion at WP:ANI because I dared to revert him when he attempted to censor that remark. I wouldn't give it another thought if I were you though. Beeblebrox (talk) 22:46, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
@Beeblebrox: No worries, we are just a bit silly, Sebastian is a nice person and he probably did the right thing in his POV and you are doing the right thing in your POV and therefore we need to love eachother and drink tea. Von Restorff (talk)
Yeah, I think Sebastian means well. Though I obviously think the prospect of anyone misinterpreting that sentence and getting offended by the use of "female dog" extremely unlikely. Anyone who would do so would probably get a heart attack reading our actual articles. Continually stating that it is offensive is also a bit insulting in itself. Nonetheless, I have removed the posts to defuse the situation (with scissors this time, sharpies don't seem to do the trick).-- Obsidin Soul 06:49, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
@Obsidian Soul: Lolz. When and if I grow up I am going to be a Pokemon. And now for something completely different, can I ask you to help with the organisation of the 4th Great Wikipedia Dramaout? I randomly picked the first of February 2012. Some details need to be fixed, for instance "4rd" needs to be changed to "4th", and some major things... like getting participants. Von Restorff (talk) 22:49, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
Channeling Monty Python? LOL I'll participate but I have too much on my plate right now to help with organization. I also have a phobia of positions of responsibility, except when it involves world domination. :P -- Obsidin Soul 06:49, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Hehe, ok. Von Restorff (talk) 13:26, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi Obsidian Soul. I found your "roughly squiggled over with a sharpie" a good bit funnier that the original joke, but it must have offended someone. What happened between these two apparently successive edits? How does material like that disappear without showing up in the diffs? -- ToE 09:29, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Hullo, I removed it voluntarily per above. This has apparently been taken to ANI already, and that's really too much drama over a bad joke. :P Anyway I'm not sure what you're referring to. Do you mean the archiver bot? Discussions routinely get transferred to a new page and transcluded temporarily before being archived completely by User:Scsbot. That discussion (along with other past discussions) is currently here. -- Obsidin Soul 09:49, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Yep. I got thrown off by the archiver bot -- I hadn't realized that it had archived that particular day's questions, despite "Walking from the Earth to the Sun" being at the very top of the diff! I now see your edit here. I should have know better as I've tripped over this before while chasing down diffs on the RDs. -- ToE 09:58, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Heh, np. -- Obsidin Soul 10:01, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

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DYK for Crazy fish

Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:03, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Blackeye goby

Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:01, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

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Barnstar

The Original Barnstar
This barnstar is awarded to everyone who - whatever their opinion - contributed to the discussion about Wikipedia and SOPA. Thank you for being a part of the discussion. Presented by the Wikimedia Foundation.

DYK for Waptia

Orlady (talk) 00:02, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Unknown invert

Ventral side

Was File:Unidentified invertebrate 2 - Mindanao, Philippines.jpg found near the ocean by any chance? It looks a bit like a chiton. Abyssal (talk) 02:07, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Nope. That's what's mysterious about it. That specimen was found under a rock out in the garden. They are actually very common here in Bukidnon which is miles away from the nearest coastline.
Can't figure out if they're some kind of flatworm or gastropod. They range in size from 1 to 2.5 inches. They leave slimy trails and seem to feed on plants, judging by their excreta, but don't have tentacles nor eyespots.-- Obsidin Soul 02:18, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Obsidian Soul. You have new messages at Chipmunkdavis's talk page.
Message added 00:51, 9 February 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

CMD (talk) 00:51, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Religion in the Philippines

Good catch removing POV here. It has been around since this July 2011 edit. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 01:46, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. There might be more of those around though, as I admittedly don't read much of the text in similar articles.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 02:19, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

List of countries by literacy rate

Hi. Yesterday I changed List of countries by literacy rate. I added the referance. My referance was Turkish Statistic Institute. And why did you change it?--Veritas-tr (talk) 23:32, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Ah sorry. My mistake. :) That article always has values being changed and I wasn't examining the diffs that closely. When I examined your changes I mistakenly though that you had changed the values of the other nations without references due to the way the list shifted down when you moved Turkey up.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 06:49, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Photo req parameter

Hi Obsidian, just a tiny wee (pointy?) point: when you add a photo to an article (e.g. at Aframomum), check the talk page to remove any "needs-photo=yes"(already removed at Aframomum). You do great work here - no biggie :) Hamamelis (talk) 03:07, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Sorry really can't. :P My eyes are refusing to stay open and I'm just about to go to sleep atm. I just went through a long list of taxa articles assembled by User:Bulwersator with photos from the pl.wiki to be transferred to en.wiki. With the checks for validity/errors, corrections, notes, and opening several tabs at once per picture to be inserted, having to open the talk pages to check and change the needs-photo param would be too much, LOL.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:19, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
Not to worry ¦O (yawn), I know what you mean. All the best, Hamamelis (talk) 03:47, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Jute

I have reverted the edit you made in Jute that cleared the Food section. Because:

  • This page is not only about jute fibres, it is about jute (plants, uses) in general. Given that jute fiber is and should be the most important occupaton.
  • Nobody coming to jute could go to specialized topics such as Corchorus, we have to add jute related-.. to jute
  • Corchorus is a genus of around 50 species and either it has a subsection in Corchorus#food as jute, so editors will find a tough job as well as readers will hardly be coming here.
  • Food is an important part in some cultures, and hence is neededas a subtopic.

Cheers,--Extra999 (talk) 03:34, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry but I would have to disagree quite strongly. No one actually calls the culinary applications for Corchorus as "Jute" (I should know, we eat it too, under the name saluyot). Both the hatnote and the opening paragraph indisputably identifies the subject of the article as the vegetable fiber. If you wish to merge the two articles under its common name, please suggest an alternate proposal and don't squeeze something which is clearly not within the scope of the article.
I will now move the discussion to WikiProject Plants, if you don't mind. You will be able to interact with more editors specializing in plant articles there. I don't have time for edit wars, but I will abide with whatever consensus is reached in there, and I trust you will do the same.
Please discuss at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Plants#Jute and Corchorus-- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:56, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
And in case you missed it, have a look at Corchorus: "Different common names are used in different contexts, with jute applying to the fiber produced from the plant, and mallow-leaves for the leaves used as a vegetable."-- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:09, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Thank you

For your contribution to Gregarinasina. Images of these parasites that can be used in WP are especially difficult to source. DrMicro (talk) 09:47, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

They were from tolweb and were listed here User:Bulwersator/Echo/Images/Plants+animals+etc. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:41, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

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Suggestion

Hi- Considering the response to your clear and correct post at E as F & T, I get the impression that this should just be left alone now - that any more replies will just provoke further hysteria from this guy. For a brief moment I had considered asking him how the article's use of the term "theory" conflicted with WP's own definition, but I'm now glad I didn't. By adding the term "fact" to the mix he's already gone off the deep end. Better to just ignore him at this point - it's unwinnable, and he's making a fool of himself. Milkunderwood (talk) 02:30, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

My fault. I shouldn't have even let the post provoke me into replying, but *shrugs* I have very little patience for people like that. And agree, further replies is useless at this point. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:00, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Caprella mutica

Materialscientist (talk) 13:55, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Yay the missing tmbox! :D -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:07, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Editor's Barnstar
Really appreciate the good work you're doing. Keep it up!! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:56, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. :D It's blue. *sniffs it* Is it edible? -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:02, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Author citation dates in botanical articles

Hello. I'm curious about why you are adding dates to the author citations of botanical articles. They are actually not normally included unless the date itself is important in the taxonomical history of the taxon, this is in contrast with zoological author citations.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:02, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Well, in the french WP, we add the date systematically, because we don't want to judge if "it's important in the taxonomical history of the taxon" or not ; or, more accurately, we consider the first scientific description as "important". If it's not the custom in the english WP, tell me, and i'll stop adding it... Regards, VonTasha (talk) 17:12, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
As far as I know, dates are omitted in botanical author citations in enwp. You might want to take this up in Wikipedia:WikiProject Plants plants though. It's one of the things I like in zoological author citations, the dates make it easier to find the original publication they were described in. On the other hand, adding dates when they are very rarely used even in academic works may make us look unprofessional to actual botanists.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:19, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
huuuuh, I don't speak english well enough to plead a cause on a project. Well, if it's not the custom on this WP, I'll stop adding this information, it will be easier for everyone... Regards, VonTasha (talk) 17:26, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Post-Scriptum : if you feel like beginning a debate about this, could you warn me ? I'd be interested by this debate... Thanks ! Cordially, VonTasha (talk) 17:29, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Nah, I don't feel like jumping into any more arguments right now, haha. But if a discussion for this ever happens, I'll notify you. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:36, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK 25 Medal

The 25 DYK Creation and Expansion Medal
For your excellent articles on biology-related topics, the DYK project thanks you! The Interior (Talk) 19:33, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 19:36, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
LOL, and yeah the map!!! *facepalm* I'm so scatterbrained sometimes. >.< -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:04, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm sneaky like that ;) The Interior (Talk) 23:09, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Haha, And it took, what, three hours for me to realize it? XD I'll scrawl it on my monitor before I go to sleep so I won't forget it this time, LOL-- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:14, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Remember to use non-permanent marker. The Interior (Talk) 23:16, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
Too late. Now if only I could read my handwriting... seriously though, hunting for my source files atm and reacquainting myself with Quantum GIS, give me a day or two.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 10:48, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
The "soft bunny" of happiness and tranquility.

I was wondering why you reverted my edits to Naja nigricollis? It is a GA status article that an anonymous user ripped apart. The version before was far better. Now it's GA status is in question, as far as I'm concerned. I know that one of the subspecies is now considered a species of it's own. I will go ahead and create that page and take out that "subspecies" from the Naja nigricollis article. I also think the "Common names" should be at the very top. LAx33 (talk) 17:04, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Being GA certainly does not mean an article is locked. And a lot of GA's do still need additional work. GA reviewers are only human after all, and more often than not, not specialists on the topic. Furthermore, yep it's already outdated (pointed out before it was GA even), I don't think it will pass WP:GAR at its previous state. But that can still be fixed, though it would require a major overhaul to transfer the subspecies (and once transferred, there would be no more subspecies under N. nigricollis, which would leave the Taxonomy section empty).
And please do. But again, do follow the MOS guidelines. They're really just minor things, but important to keep everything consistent.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:20, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

I created a page for Naja nigricincta - have a look and tell me what you think. I am going to be "bold" and take out the "Taxonomy" section in Naja nigricollis. I'm also going to request a move for Naja nigricollis to Black-necked spitting cobra since now there are no subspecies and so that we can eliminate the "common names" because it is a bit confusing, or at least it can be for many readers. LAx33 (talk) 17:31, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Will take a look. And nah. There are still two common names for N. nigricollis. In cases like this, leaving it at its scientific name while redirecting the common names is still the best option.
As for the common name hatnote, see the Aisha example in WP:HATNOTE#Examples of proper use.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:34, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Okay will leave it at its scientific name. So the way the "common names" was listed before wasn't the right way? I also signed up to the Wikiproject Reptiles and Amphibians. I'm a huge venomous snake guru. I keep hots as a hobby and I have extensive experience with them and a great amount of knowledge. LAx33 (talk) 17:41, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Nope. Information like that should be in the body of the article. The top space is reserved for disambiguation only. I'll be excising all information about N. n. nigricincta and N. n. woodi from N. nigricollis and transferring what I can.
And nice. :) My own interests are more generalized heh, but most members of that WikiProject are enthusiasts themselves. Also take pictures whenever you can! A lot of herp articles need them. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:45, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, will do. Someone put everything I edited out of the "Taxonomy" section back on. I just want to leave the little tidbit at the end saying that the subspecies have been split into their own species. I just want the table taken out and that's it. LAx33 (talk) 17:58, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Ugh multiple edit conflicts! LOL. I'm working on removing everything atm. I already have a revised taxonomy section mentioning the split.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:00, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

By the way, are you an administrator? LAx33 (talk) 18:10, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

@Drmies, yeah I guess. Edit summaries got forgotten as the transfer was still ongoing. @LAx33, nope. Neither do I ever plan on ever being one, heh.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:14, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Obsidian, do you have an e-mail address? I would like to talk to you in private about something related to the subject of venomous snakes. LAx33 (talk) 18:18, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Well, my email feature is on. See the "Email this user" feature on the left panel, under toolbox. However, I really should not be the one you're talking to about venomous snakes though, LOL. I have very superficial knowledge and interest in snakes in general. There are more active and more knowledgeable editors in WikiProject:Amphibians and Reptiles.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:22, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Well I am going to e-mail you anyways, I'd like to talk to you about something else also. LAx33 (talk) 18:25, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

LOL okay. I'm about to go to sleep though. It's 1:59 AM and I still have to finish a map :P (see previous section with the evil bunny of horror and terror).-- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:30, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
Sweet dreams, Obsidian. You'll walk up more lonely, though: your conversation partner just got blocked as a sock of VeronicaPR (talk · contribs)/Sebastian80 (talk · contribs). So it goes. Drmies (talk) 18:37, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
That was unexpected... to say the least. Anyway gnyt. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:39, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
Yep, I guess. I recognized Sebastian's handwriting--see their talk page for a section where I questioned their competence. They are of good will, I guess, and they know snakes, I suppose--shame it had to end up like this. But they will be back, no doubt. Sorry to interrupt--again, sweet dreams! Drmies (talk) 18:46, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Columnea consanguinea

The DYK project (nominate) 00:22, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Red Dirt (film) edits

By the time I read your thanks, I'd totally forgotten I'd worked on that article. Nice to know it was appreciated! GeorgeTSLC (talk) 19:06, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Heh, you're welcome. Truth be told, I've forgotten I wrote that article as well, LOL. Looking at it now, the plot summary looks way too detailed. But oh well, at least it exists. :) Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:44, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Logical fallacy

[3] I wasn't making a logical fallacy, because I wasn't arguing that religious views of that topic are true. I was arguing that, as far as Wikipedia is concerned, we need to represent religious views on that topic because a significant percentage of the world's population believes in those views in explaining the universe. You told me to reread WP:NPOV. Perhaps if you reread it, you would see this sentence, "Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represents all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint." Religious views on the nature of reality and the universe are a significant viewpoint, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Deism, and other relgions are followed by a significant percentage of the world's population. Do you disagree that many people believe in religious or theistic philosophies about the origin and continuation of life on earth? Cla68 (talk) 07:52, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Um, yes you did. It doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are (and frankly I don't care), the fact that you are confusing WP:V and WP:NPOV with numerical superiority is argumentum ad populum. All I know is I'm tired of fighting religious creep on our scientific articles, and hilariously enough, here you are advocating we feature them prominently instead. So apologies if I'm not all bunnies and sunshine. Don't pick and choose a sentence in WP:NPOV, read it in its entirety and understand why and how. Here are some of the more relevant passages:
  • "Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represents all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint. Giving due weight and avoiding giving undue weight means that articles should not give minority views as much of or as detailed a description as more widely held views. Generally, the views of tiny minorities should not be included at all."
Oh, and as it seems like you are confusing "minority" and "prominence" with the numbers of adherents. No. If you recall we have something called WP:V, it's even highlighted in WP:UNDUE.
  • "Wikipedia aims to present competing views in proportion to their representation in reliable sources on the subject."
In case that wasn't clear enough, we have WP:VALID:
  • "Wikipedia policy does not state or imply that every minority view or extraordinary claim needs to be presented along with commonly accepted mainstream scholarship. There are many such beliefs in the world, some popular and some little-known: claims that the Earth is flat, that the Knights Templar possessed the Holy Grail, that the Apollo moon landings were a hoax, and similar. Conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, speculative history, or even plausible but currently unaccepted theories should not be legitimized through comparison to accepted academic scholarship. We do not take a stand on these issues as encyclopedia writers, for or against; we merely omit them where including them would unduly legitimize them, and otherwise describe them in their proper context with respect to established scholarship and the beliefs of the greater world."
I know you wrote the WP:ACTIVIST essay. At least learn to recognize what is fringe and what is not and expand your understanding of NPOV. Creationism is pseudoscience and it is fringe. Whether you or a billion other people disagree. Our goal is to educate, not proselytize nor propagandize. Every single view that hasn't been subjected to academic peer-review and the scientific methodology is fringe. From poor Ymir's decaying flesh to Izanami and Izanagi and their frothing poles to, yes, Genesis.
We count the reliable sources, not the people. The majority viewpoint in articles therefore, is the scientific consensus, per WP:PSCI. And IIRC, I've been in this argument with you already in another article where you were advocating the same thing. I thought you got it before, and here you are... still asking the same questions. Now excuse me, I'm here to write articles, don't draw me into pointless debates when you don't read the answers anyway. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:43, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
Straw man. Cla68 (talk) 12:35, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
LOL, mixing up your logical fallacies again, aren't you? I typed out a long answer to that, but then I got this weird feeling you're enjoying this. Not worth it. Good day.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 13:29, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Lists of image

Symbiosis award!

Thanks for checking this list! I fixed moth/plant interwiki mess Bulwersator (talk) 10:35, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. :) Your list generator thing is very helpful. Also check the notes I added to the list. Some of the pictures used by pl.wiki are incorrect. The one I can remember offhand is a picture of Salvia columbariae being used in the wrong article. And I'll pass on the other images, I keep mostly to biology topics, heh.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:00, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
I noticed notes and fixed wrong images Bulwersator (talk) 12:19, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
@Biology topics: User:Bulwersator/Echo/Maps/Plants+animals+etc, User:Bulwersator/Echo/Images/Animals and User:Bulwersator/Echo/Maps/Animals Bulwersator (talk) 12:20, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
A bit too busy for more atm, honestly. :P -- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:24, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

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New look!

Hey there, I see you have a new look! Did you gamble to extinction? Bob the WikipediaN (talkcontribs) 20:41, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Worse. I sold my soul. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 20:47, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
I think that would constitute allowing someone else to use your Wikipedia account, which the community frowns upon! Bob the WikipediaN (talkcontribs) 21:18, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
You can call us Legion now, I guess. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 21:41, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Science Fiction Project

I am working on a Victorian Science Fiction gaming project and am looking for artwork. I'd love to use some of yours. Please look over what I do at hivequeenandcountry.com and let me know what you think and if you would be interested in letting us use some of your images.

Thanks Terry — Preceding unsigned comment added by TSofian (talkcontribs) 01:46, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Hello. Which images? Everything I added on Wikimedia Commons can be used freely (even for commercial purposes) provided you include attribution. :) A link back to the page of the file in Wikimedia Commons or my userpage here is all that's needed, really. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 01:53, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Didymoceras species articles

Hi Obsidian, I noticed you have created a trio of species articles for Didymoceras. Generally the WP:paleo guidelines have been to not create to many Species articles for extinct taxa, but to integrate the info into the genus article. Is there enough distinct info for good stand alone articles for the species?--Kevmin § 05:22, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Yes. Didymoceras navarroensis, at least, already has enough unique information for its own page. I'll expand the other two as I can (just found a good source). Ammonites, belemnites, etc. are usually quite distinctive, with numerous collectors and authorities which contributes to the problem: the genus itself is extremely shaky. Part of the reason why I decided to split. It has a long convoluted history, I'm not even sure if it's valid anymore. I have the strong suspicion that it should be Cirroceras now, but how and why it has precedence over older names like Helicoceras, I don't know. Which taxa are even still under Didymoceras is confusing and the internet is littered with synonyms with not enough definitive works. Even Paleodb has multiple conflicting entries on heteromorph ammonites. Pending resolution of the genus itself, I thought it best to at least have articles for the species which do exist, with redirects from their synonyms. They are at least stable in terms of diagnosis, etc. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 07:52, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Transitional Fossil peer-review

Thank you for your contributions to the article. As you can see, I have created a peer review for it.

--Harizotoh9 (talk) 01:39, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for fixing the layout of the image. PamD 08:17, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. It's still iffy, but *shrugs* that's what you get with too short articles I guess.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:22, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

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A barnstar for you!

The Original Barnstar
For your efforts to improve wikipedia. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:24, 26 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 19:57, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

Buenaspis page

Dear Obsidian Soul,
I notice you are very quick to make changes to the page I made only hours ago.

  • Some of what you did are minor improvements (a stage should be spelled with a capital letter).
  • Some of it does not make any change to what the visitor to the pages sees, and so I don't care much, although I think it is a waisted effort.
  • Some of it seems only appropriate when there are agreed rules on how to do it (citations, and the notation of the authors - with or without a comma), that I am not aware of.
  • Some other changes make it more difficult for laymen to understand (somites replacing segments), although I of cause acknowledge the concepts are not identical.
  • You also deleted some information on how the species compares to related ones, which I think is useful.

Now, I do not see much point in entering in editing fights. Perhaps you'd be so kind to respond to the points I make above and we can together work it out.
Kind regards, Dwergenpaartje (talk) 19:56, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

Och. Yes, my changes were minor corrections.
  • Yes. They are proper nouns and should always begin with a capital letter. Same thing with epochs, periods, etc.
  • Which ones? I automated the taxobox per the recommendation of WP:PALEO, and yes, it doesn't change anything of what the viewer sees. But it keeps classifications consistent. Especially with the naraoiids which has a very unstable classification. It's not wasted effort at all, as it enables the page to automatically update classifications along with everyone else with minimum effort. I also added the author citation for the genus (since it is monotypic) as well as created redirects from the binomen (you should do the latter when creating articles on monotypic taxa).
  • The reference formatting is per the convention used by the {{Cite journal}} template. I recommend you use the template in the future when citing journals as it keeps everything consistent. It's also easier, in my opinion.
  • Yeah I guess. I added "body segments" to explain it in the first instance. That should make it understandable without sacrificing accuracy, I think.
  • I did not delete anything at all. Do you mean the Differences with other Liwiidae section? Look again. The red text (which incorrectly implies that I deleted something) is the result of me converting your previous unspaced paragraphs into bullet points. Nothing has actually been removed, merely shifted.
And I'm sorry if it caused any edit conflicts. I assumed you were already done creating the page at that time.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 20:12, 26 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, your answers are most helpful. I sometimes get alarmed by changes made by other editors on content I created with some effort, and it is not alway simple to see the edits are not maming what I added. I've seen people change small trilobite into very small trilobite without a clue what they were talking about, just thinking 3cm was very small and not just small. I care about correct and informative pages, and dread the large amounts of one line stubs ("Leiopyge is a trilobite.", you will recognise that kind of page) and red links. I see lots of people editing endlessly, and hardly anyone adding content. And I see very little restraint. Now I understand the edits you did are useful, and as far as I am able to (within my technical grasp of the editing language), I'll try to follow your advice.
Also I will create the Soomaspis and Tariccoia pages, you elicit with creating red links, although I cannot access the literature with the original descriptions. I made some drawings based on photographs in the literature. These probably are less informative then the photographs, but I'm not able to buy such rare fossils to make my own pictures and copying infringes rights...
Again, thank you for taking the time to explain your edits. It really helps. Regards, Dwergenpaartje (talk) 23:35, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
You're welcome. And yep, your articles are way better than the usual ones we have for fossil invertebrates. You just have to relax though, and assume good faith :). All articles pass through someone else sooner or later.
Anyway, I actually create reconstructions as well, but I have two taxa lined up at the moment and 3d is slow work. Otherwise I would've been happy to create reconstructions for you. If you also need access to paywall journals, I recommend making a request at Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request. They'll gladly share sources you might not have access to. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:51, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
Thank you very much! I didn't know about the Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request possibility, and it could be really useful indeed.
Perhaps it would be usefull to develop a format for trilobite articles, to assist editors. I would be interested to participate in such an activity, although I would not know how to get such a thing started. I'm not aware of a WikiProject Trilobites. Kind regards, Dwergenpaartje (talk) 12:36, 2 March 2012 (UTC)
A good idea really is to just take a quick look at Good Articles or Featured Articles in WP:WikiProject Paleontology (see Category:FA-Class Palaeontology articles and Category:GA-Class Palaeontology articles), WP:WikiProject Arthropods and any GA or FA article under any of the projects under WP:WikiProject Tree of Life really. All of them share the same basic layout. Try and do what they do and you'll be fine. It's a bit more work at first, but in the long run it means less work for others. As far as I know though, there are no good articles for trilobites. Our coverage of them is a bit... lacking. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:14, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Input sought

Please see Talk:Botany#Botany_article_structure_and_concerns. Thank you.512bits (talk) 00:03, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Tagalog skills

Any chance you could take a look at ermitanyo? It was tagged as a hoax, but that was incorrect as far as I cam tell. There are quite a few hits on google books, but they are in tagalog... seeming as you're the only editor I can think of who professes to know any tagalog, I thought it would be worth seeing if you can find anythink useful. Cheers! SmartSE (talk) 13:49, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

In its current state, yes, I think tagging it a hoax would be correct. The word ermitanyo is actually derived from the Spanish word ermitaño, meaning "hermit". It is an actual word but it does not refer to anything specific. It's also the word most often used in folklore and mythology, but it does not refer to the name of an actual magical being like the article implies. It's merely a word for a variety of related words surrounding the basic concept of "hermit", including "wizard", "old man", "witch doctor", "monk", "ascetic", "prophet", "male seance/seer", "shaman", "loner", etc. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:02, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
Ok, thanks for taking a look - I've deleted it now. SmartSE (talk) 14:07, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
np. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:08, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

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Etymology: herbivore, arthropod

I ventured to correct these two articles because they contained inaccurate information about the etymologies of the two words. Herbivore was stated to be derived from -βόρα, a schoolboy howler, and arthropod from ποδός, said to mean a foot, when Greek has only the one word for the whole limb from groin to toe. Thus "jointed legs" is a better translation than "jointed feet". I accept what you say about classical Latin v. new Latin. But OED is firm that herbivore comes to English from the French. Anyway, it seemed to me that what I had to say was better than the tosh previously published. But it is irrelevant, apparently. Although my deletion of the spurious go at an etymology for herbivore has been silently accepted. WaltonArgus (talk) 19:52, 4 March 2012 (UTC) And I see my efforts with arthropod have also been rejected. An octopus is so called because it has 8 feet? And crabs have jointed feet? Ah well, I seem to have been wasting my time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WaltonArgus (talkcontribs) 20:05, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Ah, that clarifies it somewhat. I was the one who removed the offending text (the -βόρα etymon) in herbivore. Your corrections are appreciated, however, rather than going into extreme linguistic detail on ποδός, you really should just replace "feet" with "leg". These articles are really not about etymology. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 05:55, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

And that clarifies everything completely, master. The net resultant of my intervention is that the spurious etymological go which had originally spurred me to action in the introductory section of Herbivore is now under your instruction to my complete satisfaction. Wasting my time? Not at all. Especially not in view of the fact that my translation of the Greek root for -pod has also as it were prevailed in Arthropod. I looked at Gastropod, where I see that etymologies are not organised globally. And the vindication of that is that a better English for the Greek is still "foot" here. Though it rang false that the Greek root was linked differently in Herbivore from its link in Gastropod.

After the deft strokes of your scalpel, hank you for your steady leadership.WaltonArgus (talk) 20:28, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

<squints> I hope that wasn't sarcasm and please don't call me that. Regardless, I hope I haven't discouraged you from correcting these errors. And I urge you to replace instances of incorrect etymons being given, but please do take the context into account as well. In an article about snails (or crabs, shrimp, octopods, insects, etc.) it's jarring to find entire sections devoted to the intricacies of linguistic evolution. And no, these changes aren't automatically updated globally, which gives you an idea of how much work volunteers like you and me actually have to do to keep the articles accurate, up-to-date, readable, and vandalism-free.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 20:43, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

It shall be as you say. Sarcasm and I were complete strangers. And thanks for the touch of encouragement.WaltonArgus (talk) 23:41, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Glad to hear it. :) Good luck and cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:43, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Tottingshire's edits

He also changed Trinomen. I fixed it up a bit, but you should probably have a look since you understand better what he did elsewhere. Peter coxhead (talk) 19:55, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

I see he changed the text in Species too a while back. I've reverted it further. Some of his changes are certainly true, but the emphasis being given is questionable. He only ends up muddling it up even further. If he really wanted to explain all the intricate details he should give the explanation in full rather than merely replacing it with even more dumbed-down summaries.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 20:21, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
I agree entirely with your point. Peter coxhead (talk) 09:20, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Liparis fabricii

Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:40, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

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Mount Kitanglad: proposed changes

Please take a moment to review my proposed changes at Talk:Mount Kitanglad and feel free to comment or suggest improvements. Thank you.--Racerx11 (talk) 02:49, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Just to inform you that I have made the live edits at the two articles: Mount Kitanglad (actually used user:Wtmitchell's draft for Kitanglad which was an improvement on mine) and also at Mount Dulang-dulang (I banged this edit out just now so it may need a once over). Feel free to make any further edits. You did a great job providing some valuable insight to the discussion and the sources you provided...awesome. Overall you have been extremely helpful.--Racerx11 (talk) 03:43, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Glad it helped. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:46, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Indirana semipalmata

Casliber (talk · contribs) 13:40, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

resource request - Nature

Hi ObsidianSoul,

I've uploaded one of the articles that your requested at the resource exchange (the one from Nature). You can find a link to the article at that page. Best, GabrielF (talk) 18:53, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Great job as always. :) Will do nicely for the behavior section of the article. Though the other is still needed for the life cycle part.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 18:58, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Cephs

Hey thanks for the Kraken-star! And for articles such as Belemnotheutis, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, and now Teuthowenia megalops - probably the best ceph articles on the 'pedia. Awesome work! mgiganteus1 (talk) 07:16, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Work in progress, heh. But seriously, a big thank you for the ceph anatomy articles! -- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:35, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Ecnomiohyla rabborum

The DYK project (nominate) 15:55, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

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Caprella mutica GOCE request

Hi. I see it's passed GA and that Casliber has been through it. Do you still want a GOCE job, or shall I remove the request? --Stfg (talk) 14:40, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Oops, sorry forgot to take it down. Please remove it, probably unnecessary by now.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:57, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
No problem. I thought it might not need it now. Regards. --Stfg (talk) 15:01, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
Yeah, best to give way to the articles really needing it. Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:07, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Emucaridae or Emucarididae

Dear Obsidian Soul, I redirected Emucaridae to Emucarididae, since the latter is the name that Paterson et al. introduced. I also think it is the correct name, being derived from Emucaris (cf. Anomalocarididae from Anomalocaris). However, I failed to get the automatic taxobox correct. Therefore I undid the redirect for the moment. Perhaps, you would be willing to fix the taxobox of Emucarididae, and restore the redirect on the Emucaridae. And sorry for the inconvinience I've caused. Dwergenpaartje (talk) 11:21, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

 Done. Blimey, automatic taxoboxes are a pig for this sort of change. Half a dozen substantive edits and a similar number of null edits just to add "-id-"! --Stemonitis (talk) 12:55, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Psh. It's only a few more than with manual taxoboxes. :P Thanks. And yeah, sorry Dwergenpaartje. Common mistake with -is ending genera. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 13:05, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Present

Present for you on my user page. 512bits (talk) 23:16, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Happy first day of Spring!

DYK for Teuthowenia megalops

The DYK project (nominate) 16:17, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Chilean jack mackerel

I've modified Chilean jack mackerel as you suggested, I think. I see you have offered to make range maps for biological articles. Would you be so kind as to make a range map for this species? It would be good if you could combine its coastal distribution with its distribution on the high seas. A map of its coastal distribution is shown here (click to enlarge). And here on page 6 is another map which shows the belt on the high seas (the belt should be "more tightly constrained to the 35 to 45°S band", as suggested). --Epipelagic (talk) 16:50, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Sure thing. Gimme a few minutes.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:55, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
Done. I've also given it the go ahead. Cheers. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 17:30, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
Oh well done. Thank you very much. --Epipelagic (talk) 19:15, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
You're welcome. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 01:05, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Using an image in a Televsision program

Hi,

We'd like to use your image File:Bluebottle fly 2.jpg in a television program about the history of Entomology for the Smithsonian Channel. I understand you've released it into the public domain, but we are hoping you'd be able to sign a release so that we have all the correct paperwork.

Thanks so much!

Lee Anne Gillan — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.222.223.242 (talk) 13:46, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Chilean jack mackerel

The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

An award for you

A Barnstar!
Golden Wiki Award

You are among the top 5% of most active Wikipedians this month! 66.87.7.109 (talk) 22:41, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
Thank you. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 01:38, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Trypauchen vagina

The DYK project (nominate) 08:03, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Dispute resolution survey

Dispute Resolution – Survey Invite


Hello Obsidian Soul. I am currently conducting a study on the dispute resolution processes on the English Wikipedia, in the hope that the results will help improve these processes in the future. Whether you have used dispute resolution a little or a lot, now we need to know about your experience. The survey takes around five minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist in analyzing the results of the survey. No personally identifiable information will be released.

Please click HERE to participate.
Many thanks in advance for your comments and thoughts.


You are receiving this invitation because you have had some activity in dispute resolution over the past year. For more information, please see the associated research page. Steven Zhang DR goes to Wikimania! 01:17, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Actually...no

I'm not a fan of giving late responses. If I was so desperate to include Filipinos in Malays as you claim, I'd be including Filipinos regardless of whether I have sources or not. I had a source, my geography book that said ethnic before the word Malay and I didn't even believe it but I go by FACTS. Plus, I'd still be running my mouth right now.

Philippines isn't special? I couldn't agree with you anymore, tell that to the idiots who think they're half-Hispanic just because they learned to speak Spanish as a second language. PacificWarrior101 (talk) 02:44, 7 April 2012 (UTC)你的母親混蛋!

Well at least you responded. That's good enough, thanks. Just because it's in a book doesn't satisfy WP:RS automatically. You must take into consideration the age of the book, the author, the studies/theories it was based on, and the current scientific consensus. They are obsolete - the reason why we don't discuss 18th century theories as if it were still factual without passing it through the filter of modern science.
As for the colonial mentality thing, that's a separate problem really. Why people are still adamant at treating everything Hispanic or American with extreme hostility is beyond me. In the same way that people who claim to still be largely Hispanic are ridiculous (though it might still be true in the "pureblood" haciendero families). It was more than a century ago, but like it or not, their customs etc. have become assimilated into our own culture to a pretty large degree. Our own native languages are peppered with thousands of Spanish loanwords that even without formal schooling, I already have a pretty extensive Spanish vocabulary. And isn't it Sabado Santo today for example? I do admit I'd like to learn to speak Spanish better partly because my grandparents spoke it fluently and partly because a huge chunk of our history is in Spanish and inaccessible to modern English-speaking Filipinos.
Anyway I'm on a semi-wikibreak at the moment, too stressed out in real life and arguments here are simply making it worse. Just please stop flaming the Malaysian editors for refusing to include other ethnicities into the Ethnic Malays article. We really are not Malays. We have our own rich Prehispanic heritage without adopting a "race" that has been forced into us by the very colonists you claim to dislike. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:15, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Botany status

Please see Talk:Botany#Where_to_go_now. Thank you. 512bits (talk) 15:57, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay in a reply, please see my reply to Sarah below. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:22, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

WikiProject Plants Collaboration of the month

I'm attempting to revive the Plant article COTM, and since you're a member of WikiProject Plants, you're being notified about this hopeful revival. Please feel free to propose articles for collaboration, and thanks for your consideration! Northamerica1000(talk) 13:44, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay in a reply, please see my reply to Sarah below. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:21, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Science lovers wanted!

Science lovers wanted!
Hi! I'm serving as the wikipedian-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution Archives until June! One of my goals as resident, is to work with Wikipedians and staff to improve content on Wikipedia about people who have collections held in the Archives - most of these are scientists who held roles within the Smithsonian and/or federal government. I thought you might like to participate since you are interested in the sciences! Sign up to participate here and dive into articles needing expansion and creation on our to-do list. Feel free to make a request for images or materials at the request page, and of course, if you share your successes at the outcomes page you will receive the SIA barnstar! Thanks for your interest, and I look forward to your participation! Sarah (talk) 01:53, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
Sounds like a really great idea, but I'm sorry I honestly can't find any motivation to continue any more work for Wikipedia. That might change someday, but right now I can't participate. Good luck with it though. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:20, 22 April 2012 (UTC)
Sorry to hear that. Have a fun time doing other things - I'm sure you'll be back one day :) SmartSE (talk) 15:40, 22 April 2012 (UTC)
Hope so too. :) Thanks. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:35, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the work you've given us so far, hope to see you back too :( The Interior (Talk) 14:38, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Some baklava for you!

Something sweet for you ... there doesn't seem to have been enough of that in your life lately. Sorry to hear that you are giving up on wikipedia, your efforts have been stupendous and the pleasant humour is much appreciated! May you have a wonderful break and come back at some point completely refreshed. Nadiatalent (talk) 14:28, 22 April 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. :) I genuinely enjoyed the work I did, which makes me even sadder that I don't seem to feel the same drive and satisfaction anymore. I hope I get back into the groove someday. Sooner rather than later, but now's as good a time as any for a break anyway. Real life is demanding more attention these days. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:36, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
Oh dear... I've just come here to see whether you wanted to collaborate on some marine life articles, and teach me something about how you make your great distribution maps. And you've pulled out! Wikipedia simply can't afford to lose more editors like you. You are one of the few editors where the page seems to light up when your name is on it. I know Wikipedia has a culture that allows ratbag bullies, including some bully administrators, to roam its corridors beating up content editors. It's not a safe environment. But still I'm shocked it has got, yet again, to an editor of your calibre. If you do come back after a break, I'll stand beside you if you want. We could draft an essay setting out the issues, and take it to arbcom if necessary. All the best Obsidian! --Epipelagic (talk) 22:39, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Philippine WikiCon

You are invited to the 3rd Philippine Wiki Conference (WikiCon) on May 26, 2012 9am-1pm at the co.lab.exchange in Pasig City. Please fill this form should you signify interest. --Exec8 (talk) 17:45, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Tropical plants

Hello, How are you? I need your help. I thank you your help in the articles. I ask you: Can you find more people willing writing in tropical trees, genera and families? I ask you if you could enlarge some articles making better known this group of trees in Wikipedia, adding links to genera and families and writing information and asking people if they are interested in writing about topics as tropical trees articles, tropical forest articles or botanical or biodiversity articles. Do you know Wikipedia forums that could be interested about these type of articles? They are welcome too. I thank you very much.

I am from Spain and my mother language is not English language. Many country side areas, and Natural areas and Living beings are in Countries where population cannot collaborate with Wikipedia, but their Natural World and its highly economically valuable species are very important too in the human knowledge and developtment of the mankind. People should have information because these matters are important, not just a curiosity only. This unknow world is from Poles to ecuator, in unoccupied oceanic areas closely to Europe, in Deserts as Sahara, or whatever. But to me the main aim is to gather the abundant information disperse about living communities and living beings that have existed for millions of years because they are disappearing and in 20 years they will are not longer exist. Curritocurrito (talk) 12:14, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

I started a discussion for the Clark topic

And requested resolution. I recognize this is a controversial topic, but is validly and recently sourced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.195.73.31 (talk) 14:55, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

It is also unnecessary, based on a tabloid that has never been confirmed (note: not denying an allegation does not confirm it), and extremely damaging to the subject. The question better asked is why do you insist on adding it? -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:52, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
P.S. It's spelled Clarke.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:53, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
It's at WP:DRN too, BTW. --NeilN talk to me 16:30, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Welcome back!

Staring-them-down award
Congratulations on your recovery (still in progress, of course) from wiki-disillusionment. I'm very glad to see you back (having undergone a similar process myself, that included shifting to a less-identifiable signon). They're just annoying insects, really. Sminthopsis84 (talk) 13:15, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
Now I have to guess who you are! With the only clue being that you're obviously an insectivorous marsupial. ^-^ Thanks. And welcome back yourself. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 00:39, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. Yes, that's the real me, small, nocturnal, insignificant, but with rather horrifying eating habits (and never a big-time wiki editor). Sminthopsis84 (talk) 13:54, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
Har, I know for a fact that you weren't a small-time wiki editor either! ;D Anyway good luck with the new start. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:00, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Good to hear the disillusionment is on the wane, Obsidian Soul. Not sure what it stemmed from, but, as with all things, one mustn't let the negatives overshadow the positives. :) The Interior (Talk) 14:43, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

It's still there. XD Addiction to Wikipedia is simply stronger it seems.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:00, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
Glad to see youve come back, and that other people have also welcomed you back. Soap 01:52, 30 July 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:21, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Invitation to wikiFeed

Hello Obsidian Soul,

I'm part of a team that is researching ways to help Wikipedia editors find interesting content to contribute to Wikipedia. More specifically, we are investigating whether content from news sources can be used to enhance Wikipedia editing. We have created a tool, called wikiFeed, that allows you to specify Twitter and/or RSS feeds from news sources that are interesting to you. wikiFeed then helps you make connections between those feeds and Wikipedia articles. We believe that using this tool may be a lot of fun, and may help you come up with some ideas on how to contribute to Wikipedia in ways that interest you. Please participate! To do so, complete this survey and follow this link to our website. Once you're there, click the "create an account" link to get started.

For more information about wikiFeed, visit our project page. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask via my talk page, or by email at wikifeedcc@gmail.com. We appreciate your time and hope you enjoy playing with wikiFeed!

Thanks! FifthCrow (talk) 21:11, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

YesY Done. I don't have a Twitter account nor subscribe to any RSS feeds however. :P -- OBSIDIANSOUL 05:04, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Weapons of rainforest tribes

Hi, I just wanted to thank you for the amount of detail/effort you put into your answer to my question regarding weapons of rainforest tribes on the Reference Desk. It was the most helpful of the answers, so thanks! —SeekingAnswers (reply) 21:52, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Glad it helped. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:36, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Would you care to explain?

Indeed, I would appreciate an explanation, why you have chosen to make such an untrue and unwarranted accusation about my conduct. Your comments completely misrepresented the discussion. Wee Curry Monster talk 22:49, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Please refer to the original discussion.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:19, 31 July 2012 (UTC)
I replied there. Wee Curry Monster talk 23:34, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Resource exchange

Hello.Your request was fulfilled.You can find a link to the article/s you requested in the relevant section at WP:RX.Please indicate when you've downloaded successfully and add a resolved tag to your request.Thank you.--Shrike (talk)/WP:RX 12:37, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

mistake in File:Trilobite facial suture types.png

Dear Obsidian Soul,
I'm glad you overcame your wiki-desillusionment (is that a word?). As you know, I too contribute a bit to articles, on trilobites mainly. You've made a lot of excellent graphic material. When I made a piped link from genal spine to Trilobite#Facial sutures, I found a small mistake in [File:Trilobite facial suture types.png], namely that in the drawing on the left an arrow marked "genal angle" is in fact pointing to the tip of the genal spine (while the genal angle is the "bend" where the back of the cephalon curves into the genal spine). I lack the skills to change your graphic work, but perhaps you may find some time. Some trilobites (among the Olenelloids) also have intergenal spines and intergenal angles, somewhere in the back of the cephalon between the genal spine/angle and the axis (see Mesonacis or Olenelloides - no illustration here, but a drawing may be found here: [4].
Kind Regards, Dwergenpaartje (talk) 13:59, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Oops. I think the diagrams I was basing it on were using the cephalons of trilobites that didn't have genal spines, haha, hence the confusion. Anyway I've fixed it. I've also added a label pointing to the spine. I just called it "spine" however, since it can technically be before or after the genal angle and on the fixigena or the librigena, in which cases it wouldn't be a genal spine then. Thank you very much for pointing that out, and you've been doing a really great job on our trilobite articles! :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:56, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
Great. Thanks for the quick repair. And thanks for the star you awarded me! Dwergenpaartje (talk) 11:40, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Tree

There has been some controversy over at the article Tree. I thought the article existing before August 1st was not very good and completely rewrote it in my userspace. Another editor took exception to my new version which he describes as rubbish, repeatedly stating that 2/3 of it was faulty. Would you be able, as a member of WikiProject Plants, to look over the article, point out errors I have made and make suggestions? I took a view that anyone who looked up "Tree" in wikipedia did not want anything too technical. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 16:10, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Sorry nope. Merely a layman here, not a botanist. Maybe User:Peter coxhead or User:EncycloPetey? -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:24, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Many thanks

I had some hassle with very slow responses from WP and was in a hurry, so I did not notice that the text I had edited was curtailed. This happened on the same day to another article as well, though I caught that one myself. I greatly appreciate the trouble you took in mending the result! JonRichfield (talk) 12:54, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

No worries. I have very slow internet as well and the same thing has happened to me several times. :) And great work on improving the wording in our articles! -- OBSIDIANSOUL 12:56, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Compliment much appreciated! BTW, while I was here I noticed the "Tree" debacle. I looked in to see whether I could help, but after an unbelieving skim of the talk page, I quickly looked out again! ;-( I suspect that any argument where the talk page material exceeds the article text needs serious commitment to justify mixing in. JonRichfield (talk) 13:26, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Yeah. I'd still have offered to help, botanist or not, if I didn't have other commitments that have been put off again and again after being mired successively in incredibly lengthy talk page arguments. I seem to have a knack at finding myself in the middle of them lately. Meh. :( -- OBSIDIANSOUL 13:36, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Doxocopa pavon

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:03, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

ANI

Hello. There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. ViriiK (talk) 00:44, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

That was quick. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 00:48, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
No specific reason. I just like the layout of your userpage and you're a good editor. Enjoy! Jenova20 (email) 14:30, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
Cookeh!!! Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:33, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

DYK

Can you fix the link to the image? Template_talk:Did_you_know thanks Illia Connell (talk) 03:46, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Yep, already on it. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:49, 18 August 2012 (UTC)
... but I merely wrote a couple of sentences and added a couple of templates!!!! Cheers Illia Connell (talk) 04:00, 18 August 2012 (UTC)
So did I. I based much of my expansion on your work and Sarefo's. Stop overthinking it, heh. ^-^ -- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:04, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Review Nicely done. Nomination is on day six following substantial ongoing rewrite and expansion. Size checks out. No copy vio or plagiarism concerns. Beautiful article. Well researched, and sources support the hook line. Well illustrated. Interesting subject. Nicely done If substantial compliance can excuse the technical breach, I think this should PASS. 7&6=thirteen () 14:01, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Thank you. And yeah, apologies for the one-day overshoot. Meant to finish it yesterday, but had some real-life stuff to attend to.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:08, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
I agree with you. We will have to see what the 'powers that be' have to say. Great job! 7&6=thirteen () 14:12, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
Nomination needs your comment on proposed alternate hooks. 7&6=thirteen () 09:51, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Who says people can't receive barnstars they created themselves?

A barnstar for you!

The Fossilized Barnstar
Thank you for creating the most realistic looking paleoart on Wikipedia! FunkMonk (talk) 14:35, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
You've opened a rift in space-time with this deed and possibly caused a true Precambrian rabbit! -- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:42, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
Hahah, I think you need to do a 3D restoration for that article! FunkMonk (talk) 14:45, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
Highly realistic. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:17, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
Uh oh, I foresee this image being used as evidence in creationist science for years to come... FunkMonk (talk) 15:19, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
"The Rabbits of Eden", sounds Dantesque ;) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:29, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Trogloraptor edits

We know it's named NN Cave... that's the problem. we're _really_ concerned about the publicity at this point. Until we can determine the geographic extent of this spider, one careless vandal could decimate most of the entire species.

Would it be ok if we left the name out until we can do a bit more research?

Matt Bowers, Western Region, National Speleological Society Wrassler66 (talk) 15:02, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

It's repeated at various other sites though, but I understand. How about just saying "a cave in Josephine County", would that be fine? And should the M2 cave similarly be omitted? -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:07, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
That helps, thanks! The M2 name is already obfuscated enough to be safe at this point. It's also on private land & is difficult to access. We'll know more about the fragility of this species as our teams do more field work. Right now, they're dealing with media requests from all over the world. It's kinda insane for the moment. - M@ Wrassler66 (talk) 15:19, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
No worries. I've also similarly removed the cave names in the image files in Wikimedia Commons. That should be good enough. And do feel free to improve or expand the article as you see fit (provided that it's properly sourced, of course). Cheers. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:24, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! I would have missed that. I'm still trying to learn my way around this editing interface. Just signed up today. You look like an uber-poster... would appreciate your opinions on my first page attempt if you're so inclined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Wrassler66/sandbox Salud! Wrassler66 (talk) 15:40, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Heh, "uber-poster" sounds like a supervillain name :D Anyway sure, here's some advice:

  • You must meet the criteria in WP:Notability (organizations and companies) for the article to be retained, and the way to do that is to find and use as many reliable third-party sources as possible . In other words secondary sources written by other people - news, books, journal articles, TV interviews, webpages, etc. (note that offline sources are acceptable). This is the single most important thing you have to do. Because without this, your article could be challenged by any editor who feels like it does not meet the standards of notability yet, and it could end up deleted.
  • Write in a cool detached manner. Given that you are closely related to the subject, please read WP:Conflict of interest first. Always remember that self-promotion (something like "my organization is the bestest ever!") is strictly forbidden in Wikipedia. But you are by no means forbidden from writing about something you are part of, just please be very careful to maintain neutrality and expect other editors to come by and look over your edits to make sure there are no biases.
  • Primary sources are still usable, but within reason and they do not count towards notability.

I'll happily help with the formatting and rewording and whatnot, but only if you've sufficiently proven notability. Otherwise, it'd really be for nothing. "Uber-poster" or not, we all do have to follow the policies. Not now though, heh, I'm just about to go to sleep. :P But don't be afraid to ask anyone else here for help. For technical problems, the best place to ask would be at the WP:Help Desk -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:07, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Phormium / Flax in New Zealand

I don't really see why someone other than the fork creator should have to sort out this mess, but you're doing a good job which is appreciated (by me anyway!). Peter coxhead (talk) 16:03, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Someone has to do it. *sigh* I'm pretty sure it will be merged sooner or later (sooner I hope). Thanks, and hey I did catch one long-standing error, heh. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:12, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Don't ever do that again. Keep a civil tongue and assume editors who disagree with you are acting in good faith. I have not the slightest interest in why you chose to ascribe deeply nasty motives in this case, but you won't do so again. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 17:07, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Look who's talking. It's ironic you're so sensitive about ascribing deeply nasty motives after you revert something because of a *drum roll* gay agenda, which is ascribing a deeply nasty motive to someone as well. Here you are threatening that I "won't do so again" in ominous tones with no reason. That is threatening me with your admin stick. Practice what you preach yeah? User rights don't impress me, so stop threatening me, kthx. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:55, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
It is possible to use the word "agenda" to describe rewriting a person's biography to make her private sexual orientation more prominent than it really is without meaning it in the sense of the linked article. I'd have happily apologised for my choice of words if it offended you. Instead, I immediately get referred to as a bigot. You'd get exactly the same "threat" for that if I weren't an admin, and I've always taken a zero-tolerance approach to this sort of sneering, casual attack. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 06:42, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
This is dismaying and very highhanded behaviour Cunningham. Instead of threatening one of our more capable content contributors (very rare these days), you should take your own advice and "back off". You should also make up your own mind whether you are contributing to content in that article, in which case you are merely a lowly content editor like the rest of us, or whether you are acting in an administrator role, in which case you have no business trying to influence the content, and should be setting a good example. --Epipelagic (talk) 07:55, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
Thank you for the kind words, Epipelagic. I typed a long response, but I think that's merely perpetuating the drama. It's the threats in your posts and the officious "admin-ey" overtones that bothered me, thumperward. If there's one thing I strongly believe in Wikipedia, it's the fact that no editor is above another. And no, as Peter coxhead already mentioned in the talk page, I have never called you a homophobe nor a bigot. I didn't even call you a censor. Accusing another editor of an "agenda" is also not acceptable behavior without very strong evidence per WP:DDE. And lastly, a long-term relationship is significant, whether you want it or not. It might be a WP:BLP violation if she was still alive and if it was untrue. But it's true and assuming she was ashamed of it and that it was "unimportant" is insulting to her and her family. That's the reason for my wife analogy which you bizarrely took as a personal attack. Stop the threats, and I'll stop the snarkiness. WP:AGF is not a one-way street. If it helps, know that I never hold grudges and I apologize for the sarcasm.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:21, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
There's no question of "shame" here. It is improper for us to elevate Ride's personal life to the prominence of the lead considering its relative impact on public perception of her, especially when the rationale is not "reliable sources have noted a change in public perception of the subject" but rather "This is a big deal to LGBT people hence notable". That's what the talk page established. Indeed, the way we treated the subject was complimented in the media following said debate. It was reinserted into the lead by a disruptive editor whose other contributions to the encyclopedia mostly revolve around putting blatantly inappropriate material into the lead section of biographies, with the summary "Suppressing her LGBT status is pure bigotry". This should not have been an at all controversial revert, given the significant talk page discussion. As for any "adminey" overtones in my comment, I wish people wouldn't immediately assume that anything I say is in my capacity as an admin. If I'm acting as an admin, I will say so. I didn't mention my admin status at all here (nor would I, in a debate in which I am plainly involved). I just stated plainly my expectations regarding how others will interact with me, which is my prerogative as an editor working here in my spare time who doesn't expect to have aspersions cast at him. For what it's worth, Epipelagic, I don't expect to be referred to by my surname by strangers. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 08:58, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
Then stop framing your content arguments as if they were commands, which you've done in all of your replies. Your "Don't do that ever again" statement is fairly unambiguous in its intentions. I'm not affiliated with the editor you're referring to, whoever that is (AFAIK, that sentence has been there for a while). But yes, when I said it was a "big deal" I meant it was notable enough in a significant number of RS (including the one you just linked), and I took offense to the fact that you clearly dismissed Huffington Post as one, for (what seems to me) simply because of it being geared towards an LGBT-audience. You didn't even address any of my points in the talk page (the lack of a consensus you alluded), and instead focused on me apparently calling you a censor and a bigot, which I didn't. There's a big difference between being a private person and characterizing her significant other as "unimportant". Her sister says as much. You also failed to point out that Teamm's edits is per my suggestion and illustrates that I do acknowledge that she didn't like labels. My own edits to the article itself a while ago was to point out that she didn't like the media frenzy on her being the first female American astronaut, and that she only considered herself an astronaut, nothing else. Anyway, we both agree that Teamm's rewording is satisfactory, yeah? So let's please leave it at that. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 09:28, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
probably for the best. FWIW I'm sorry for blowing this out of proportion. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 09:42, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
Thank you. I'm sorry for being snarky as well. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 10:01, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

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Thanks!

Thanks for the awesome barnstar!--Kevmin § 23:16, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

You're seriously one of the most prolific article creators in WP:PALEO. You're welcome. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:20, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
Aww thanks! Im pretty sporadic at it though, lol, but I like writing up all the obscure fossil plants and insects. Too bad I'm not nearly as artistic as you are! :D --Kevmin § 23:38, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
Nyeah, my art contributions take a long time to make. The time it takes to make one, you'll have expanded/created twenty new articles. XD -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:46, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
lol, if only I was that prolific! Most of my articles are lacking image due to the copyright restrictions on most journals. So your art is still an invaluable addition too. --Kevmin § 23:49, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
Well if you want a collab, I can prolly make reconstructions. Something simple though. LOL. Like one of those weird Precambrian/Cambrian invertebrates. Not now though, still have Tiktaalik burning a hole through my desk. heh -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:57, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
I will totally keep that in mind! And isn't that what stem tetrapods are for??--Kevmin § 00:17, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
Desk hole-burners? I had no idea! ;D -- OBSIDIANSOUL 00:19, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
And paperweights of course.--Kevmin § 01:00, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Btw please tell me that Im not the most prolific paleo member, thats kind of scary! lol--Kevmin § 01:00, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

It's not exactly a big group. :P Probably not the, but definitely one of, heh.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 02:46, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
Whew, I was a bit worried for a second. lol--Kevmin § 04:06, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Potato

In my sandbox is the potato article, reverted back to before the split, but then with the subsequent additions, including your own as of 22:43, 24 August 2012‎.

My sandbox version thus has the missing information that was accidentally snipped out after the split-merge due to Alanliefting or whatever his name is.

Feel free to copy-paste it over to the potato article if you so wish (just click here ready for copy-paste). ColaXtra (talk) 01:02, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 01:12, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Hmm, maybe two cites too. If I diff my sandbox version article with the current article, a few cites show up too. Here they are:
* Reference for potato history: ''The Vegetable Ingredients Cookbook'' by Christine Ingram, Lorenz Books, 1996 ISBN 1-85967-264-7
* ''The History and Social Influence of the Potato'' by Redcliffe N. Salaman ISBN 0-521-31623-5
Well, the differences now are minor. If you don't care, I don't either. ColaXtra (talk) 01:18, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Agh, my internet is starting to slow down this time of day. Chokes every time on that article. So off to sleep for me I guess. Feel free to add the remaining cites or I could just check them later (it looks like consensus is to split anyway, if Alan finds a way to leave a suitable summary that is). Thanks again. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 02:35, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

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Theopolisme :) 13:16, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

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-- Cheers, Riley Huntley talk 22:34, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

IRC cloak request

Hello Obsidian Soul. You recently applied for a Wikimedia IRC cloak, but it looks like you forgot to register your nickname first. Could you please log on to IRC and do:

/msg NickServ REGISTER <password> <email>

where <password> is a password of your choice and <email> is your e-mail address? After you do that, please follow the instructions that are e-mailed to you to confirm your e-mail address. When you're done with that, I just need you to confirm your cloak request:

/msg MemoServ send wmfgc IRC cloak request

After you finish all of that, I'd be happy to get you a cloak. :-) If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on my Meta talk page. Barras talk 08:08, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Done. Sorry a bit rusty here. I had a cloak before but it seems to have expired. Thank you. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:18, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

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DYK for Kallima paralekta

Casliber (talk · contribs) 16:02, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

I think I've managed to get it to work now by editing the wiki's CSS. Thanks anyway! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Xtreme2000 (talkcontribs) 11:30, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Glad you found a solution. Cheers. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:45, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Resource exchange

Hello.Your request was fulfilled.You can find a link to the article/s you requested in the relevant section at WP:RX.Please indicate when you've downloaded successfully and add a resolved tag to your request.Thank you.--Shrike (talk)/WP:RX 16:51, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Whoa that was quick. Thank you very much. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:57, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Distribution map projection

Hi Obsidian Soul. I found the distribution map for Chilean jack mackerel and was wondering what kind of projection you used for the map? It's not MERCATOR, is it? It's a very nice picture, and I'd like to make a derived work including the sub-stocks of jack mackarel in the South Pacific. Thank you in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ricardo Oliveros Ramos (talkcontribs) 20:28, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

I have no idea what projection it is, but this was the file I used I think. It's inaccurate of course given the large gap between Alaska and Siberia, and would not be the best map for other range maps for the northern Pacific. But it's basically the same world map used most commonly in other range map in Wikipedia. See Commons:Category:Blank maps of the world for a choice of blank world maps you can use.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:11, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Trogloraptor

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:02, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Thapsia villosa

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:04, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for being helpful

Mint tea
Thanks for being helpful. Pine 10:19, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
Leaves in a cup of water! My favorite! <3 *plants it* -- OBSIDIANSOUL 10:27, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

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Thank you from TSLGhost

Hi Obsidian Soul, I want to thank you for helping with the Albert Nico article yesterday. I have edited using your advice and Yunshui's.. and i Yunshui said i did a very good job editing and meeting Wiki's requirements. Thank you for guiding me.Nicoeditor (talk) 08:47, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Glad to hear it. Good luck. :)-- OBSIDIANSOUL 08:52, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

thanks re Lignum nephriticum

thanks for fixing my misunderstanding about Lignum nephriticum in Pterocarpus indicus - and so quickly. - Rod57 (talk) 20:14, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. The speed is due mostly to you already having provided the sources I can base the article on, so thank you as well. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:54, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

The Book - "You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat"

The book "You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat" is not BY Banksy it is ABOUT Banksy. The authors/compilers are Gary Shove & Patrick Potter. [1] A 'disclaimer' sticker appears on all the books being retailed. see the US distributors pages: [2] [3] ~~Androidbaby~~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Androidbaby (talkcontribs) 10:35, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

Then please discuss your changes in the talk page of the article. I reverted your removal of an entire paragraph for being unexplained. Furthermore, even a book about Banksy should not just be outright removed should it? Rewording might be better to clarify that it wasn't by him, since it still is relevant to the article.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 10:50, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) I would argue that Androidbaby has made a good point. From what I can see the book is indeed about Banksy, not by Banksy. See this in it:Wired. Whether or not it should be mentioned in the article is a whole nother matter. --Shirt58 (talk) 11:43, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
Heh. Again I'm not contesting that the book was not by Banksy, but Androidbaby originally removed the entire paragraph without explanation, hence why I reverted it. Notice I haven't reverted the removal again now that a proper explanation has been provided. And yeah, whether or not it should be in the article is another question which I'll leave entirely up to Androidbaby. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 11:49, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
Yep, agree. This is a rather complex matter. I do visual arts nerding the 10th of every calendar month. As this is one of the second and fourth Thursday of the calendar month, that means I've put on my Eng. Lit. nerd hat on. I try to limit my invertebrate zoology nerdiness to two days per week, but, well...--Shirt58 (talk) 13:54, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
LOL, at least your nerd hats are organized. My nerd hat is pure tinfoil and seems to respond to random radio signals from outer space.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:55, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

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User talk:Sminthopsis84

Hello. There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. Widefox; talk 20:49, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

Welcome

Thanks for the fora DYK and t does have a Gibraltar blue link. The picture below should show how the competition is progressing. Victuallers (talk) 06:17, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

Bienvenido, Velkommen, vítáme vás, Witamy, Καλώς Ορίσατε, Добро пожаловать, Salvē, 歡迎, 欢迎, 歓迎, 환영합니다, ยินดีต้อนรับ, Dobrodošli, أهلاً وسهلاً, Вітаємо, Welkom, सुस्वागतम, Добредојдовте, Croeso, Добре дошли, Вітаем ... Gibraltarpedia in an international and multi-cultural collaboration
Bienvenido, Velkommen, vítáme vás, Witamy, Καλώς Ορίσατε, Добро пожаловать, Salvē, 歡迎, 欢迎, 歓迎, 환영합니다, ยินดีต้อนรับ, Dobrodošli, أهلاً وسهلاً, Вітаємо, Welkom, सुस्वागतम, Добредојдовте, Croeso, Добре дошли, Вітаем ... Gibraltarpedia in an international and multi-cultural collaboration
Bienvenido, آداب عرض, स्वागत, ברוך בואך, Benvido, Benvenuto, Benvinguts, Bienvenue, Bonvenon, Willkommen, Fàilte, Ongi etorri, Tere tulemast, Tervetuloa, Üdvözlet, Välkomna... Gibraltarpedia in an international and multi-cultural collaboration
Bienvenido, آداب عرض, स्वागत, ברוך בואך, Benvido, Benvenuto, Benvinguts, Bienvenue, Bonvenon, Willkommen, Fàilte, Ongi etorri, Tere tulemast, Tervetuloa, Üdvözlet, Välkomna... Gibraltarpedia in an international and multi-cultural collaboration

DYK for Oregonia bifurca

The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for the barnstar, Obsidian Soul! And thank you for typing up the article on the crab. I meant to mention the year 1902 in the hook, but forgot. Too late now. :-( Anyway, please keep the good wikiarticles coming. I've also nominated your article on Lignum nephriticum. Happy editing. Cheers! --PFHLai (talk) 22:12, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
Och, that was a quickly written one. I'll try to bulk up the article while it's still in the queue. Thanks. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

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Paris1127 (talk) 09:43, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

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Review of page we discussed

Hi there, Obsidian Soul (cool name, BTW.) You helped me out the other day on the help autobot when I was confused about why the references on my submission were in question. I've reformatted things according to your advice and the templates you referred me to. Since you commented that you thought my references were actually very good, could I request that you review the submission this time? I would appreciate it since you're somewhat familiar with it at this point. Let me know if this is possible. Thank you for your help. Here is the link to the submission, although please check for the latest revision as I am new at this and still a little uncertain as to the whole process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/D%26H_Distributing

Note I can't see the citation reformatting that I've done so I hope you can. Hope I've done it right.

Again, thanks for your advice!

Sue ~~Suzcomm — Preceding unsigned comment added by Suzcommun (talkcontribs) 20:42, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Hi, Sue. Good job on formatting the references, but you still haven't fixed the rest of what was discussed in the help chat. And sorry but I must decline. I don't normally review the articles I gave advice on, as I might not notice some things an uninvolved and more objective editor would. But I can still give you advice on what else you need to fix.
1) The article's table of contents is generated automatically if you have created your section headers correctly. Section headers should be enclosed in == and not merely bolded as you have done, please see WP:CHEATSHEET for the basics in Wikipedia code, and compare your article with existing ones to see how sections are treated.
2) A large part of your article's tone is still inappropriate for an encyclopedia. It reads like a brochure. Remember that promotion is forbidden in Wikipedia, please see WP:Words to watch for a rundown on what words and expressions you should avoid. In general, please write formally, concisely, and factually in a neutral point-of-view; even if doing so results in prose that is coldly clinical. Avoid colloquialisms, subjective opinion, "PR-speak", or sentences aimed to unjustifiably flatter the subject or excessive detail aimed to sell something. Such sentences should be removed or reworded. Examples of which are listed listed below:
  • It also demonstrated one of its first exercises in supporting its resellers through economic and other hardships, which has become an intrinsic element of its value proposition through the decades.
  • It focuses on emerging technologies and personalized service, offering dedicated account reps, flexible credit options and value-based programs, carrying thousands of skus from hundreds of manufacturers.
  • Through the D&H Partner Services program, customizable marketing materials, such as solutions-focused brochures, product images and vendor logos, help customers promote their own brands and services.
etc.
3) Though your references are formatted correctly, your article is still not referenced properly. As I said in the help chat, references are there to verify the information you have written, they are not "see also" links but "click here to see where this info is from" links. Every sentence or paragraph in the article must explicitly have a reference that tells the reader where that information comes from.
Once you have fixed those, you can resubmit your article for review by clicking the link in the previous decline template that says: When you are ready to resubmit, click here. Please try to improve the article as best as you can before doing so, though, to avoid wasting your (and the reviewer's) time. Waiting for review can take a few days to more than a week, and that can add up to months if it gets declined for one reason or the other. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 03:27, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Lignum nephriticum

Yngvadottir (talk) 08:04, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

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About to move my Article

Hi i just want u to move my article to Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation.

can u pls do it for me as u did it last time.

here is my article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Garry_Sahota

Thanks in advance :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Garry Sahotaa (talkcontribs) 15:36, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi. I don't contribute to the help chat anymore for personal reasons, but given that your page has been deleted once already in mainspace, you actually need to wait for it to be reviewed first before it can be moved further and become an article. I notice that it is currently under review, so hopefully it will pass. If not, listen to the reviewer's notes and fix the issues accordingly. Cheers.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 22:09, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

creating article

hello there! i was wondering if you could give me a hand with my first tree of life article. i was planning one about a nematode. would it be too much trouble? thank you! FoCuSandLeArN (talk) 22:49, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

Hello. I don't really know much about nematodes, heh, but sure. If you link me the article after you've done with most of it, I'll gladly help you with the layout, clarify errors, etc. I'm on a semi-wikibreak at the moment though.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 22:13, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
Thank you! I think I did ok. let me know if you have any comments. i've created a bunch since; they are my first few. take a look here for a list. FoCuSandLeArN (talk) 22:22, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
Okay, here are my corrections:
  1. Always italicize the ranks of genus and species. Always. Don't italicize anything higher than genus though (e.g. don't italicize the family), though trinomina are normally also italicized (including subspecies in animals; and subspecies, varieties, subvarieties, and forms in plants). It includes adding an {{italic title}} template in articles on the scientific name and italicizing the |name= parameter in the taxobox like I did in Aspergillus ibericus; or simply removing the |name= parameter altogether like I did in Paracapillaria xenentodoni (articles which have taxoboxes automatically italicize their titles, if there is no |name= parameter, which is primarily intended for common names).
  2. Fill in the major taxonomic ranks in the taxobox and link all of them, even if they don't have articles yet - regnum, divisio (or phylum), classis, ordo, familia, genus, and species, when known. Include other ranks where necessary or important. For example, Paracapillaria xenentodoni belongs to familia Capillariidae, ordo Enoplida, subclassis Enoplia, classis Enoplea, phylum (not divisio, which is traditionally only for botany, though "phylum" can be used for the latter as well) Nematoda, regnum Animalia. You can also use an {{Automatic taxobox}} or {{Speciesbox}} (see example in Anopheles daciae) to make this easier, although it might be daunting for new users. Note that all three taxoboxes, the manual, the automatic, and the speciesbox, are visually the same. Using any of them is a personal preference.
  3. Bold the species name and [include and] bold the binomial name in the taxobox. If monotypic, bold all other ranks also covered in the article as well.
  4. Always include the author citation if available on the taxobox. These are the abbreviated names following scientific names in plants, and names and surnames followed by dates in animals. These are very important. Examples are the "Serra, Cabañes & Perrone, 2006" I added in Aspergillus ibericus and "De & Maity, 1994" I added in Paracapillaria xenentodoni. Take extra care to preserve all punctuation (parentheses, brackets, etc.) if they are present in the sources. Those are also important and not incidental.
  5. Add the parent WikiProjects in the talk page. This usually just means adding a template with the relevant WikiProject's name. (for example I added {{WikiProject Fungi}} in Talk:Aspergillus ibericus, and {{WikiProject Animals}} in Talk:Paracapillaria xenentodoni). Do not worry about rating it.
  6. Optional: try to simplify the descriptions such that a layman would understand them. Link unfamiliar terms or use simpler vocabulary.
  7. Minor: Punctuation are always placed before the <ref> tags. You also made several mistakes due to copypasting, heh, so be more vigilant in catching those. :P
Anyway, here are the diffs of the fixes I did in your articles. Study them for future articles. Feel free to ask if something is confusing:
Hope my comments aren't too arcane or anything. :) You can probably find a better explanation of what I did in the instruction page for the {{Taxobox}} template. Cheers. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:48, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
Thank you for your trouble, mate! Most appreciated. FoCuSandLeArN (talk) 23:56, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
No problem. :) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 23:58, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Proposed blackout in protest of RA 10175

Dear Obsidian Soul,

Greetings!

As a Filipino Wikipedian, I hope you are aware of the passage of Republic Act No. 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III on September 12, 2012. Currently, there is a discussion on the Tambayan, the noticeboard for Philippines-related topics, about a proposed blackout of the English Wikipedia in the Philippines in order to protest the passage of RA 10175, similar to the blackout against SOPA and PIPA held earlier this year. I feel that your input on the subject will definitely help in the discussion.

Please feel free to participate in the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Tambayan Philippines#The Cybercrime Prevention Act, and I hope your input will help the Filipino Wikipedia community determine which is the best course of action against this law. Similarly, we hope to get as much input from as many Wikipedians as possible.

Thank you and maraming salamat po!

Kind regards,

Sky Harbor (talk) 09:53, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

using photo in publication

Hi! I am interested in using your photo of the fern nectaries in a scientific publication, and want to make sure I have your permission. I am not sure if this is the best way to contact you. Could you send me an email at (Redacted)?

Thanks!

M — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mgweber (talkcontribs) 16:39, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi. I've replied through email.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 22:15, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK

I'm sorry, but you seem to have been under a mis-conception - the proposal suggested that GAs should be allowed 5 days after having been promoted to GA status.--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 16:43, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Ah, that would make much more sense. Still, the fivefold (or whatever arbitrary expansion length) requirement is still nonsensical. We are dealing with older articles that have been improved in GA, not new articles that have just been written. With such a requirement, the only thing that would pass would be GAs written from former stubs (and we already feature those in DYK when appropriate). Other than that, most GA already pass the DYK requirements at the outset.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:48, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
No, the option of being a just passed GA would be instead of, rather than as well as, a 5x expansion or new creation.--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 18:09, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
Och. Yes, I misunderstood completely then. I have changed my !vote in the discussion. I can see now how this would work. Quite nicely in fact.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:30, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

An award from us (and the signpost :-) )

The Signpost Barnstar
This month the Signpost said that the Gibraltar project was a " ludicrously productive GLAM project". Thank you for helping us with that achievement. We have got behind with the barnstars so this is one to say thank you for helping. Gibraltarpedia.org is now showing the list of about 100 plaques - do take a look and see the languages we will be featuring. Victuallers (talk) 21:59, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Sarcopterygii stubs

Hi Obsidian Soul. I would like to ask you for your opinion regarding this proposal for creating a Category:Sarcopterygii stubs. Regards, --Fabio Descalzi, aka Fadesga (talk) 15:50, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Posts are being deleted...

Hi there...

Since you have helped me in the past I thought it would be good to let you know that there are some people that are deleting my posts almost every day or so. Is that legal? Do they have the right to do so if they do not like the posts although they are valid? What can I do about it? See for instance that article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Allelujah!_Don%27t_Bend!_Ascend! A certain guy is deleting the Grande Rock rating for three days now. I'm sure you can spot him.

Thx in advance Hard Rocker 13 16:05, 3 November 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by AORmaniac13 (talkcontribs)

Yes, it is "legal" (in the sense that it is not forbidden). I don't know if you're aware of it, but there are thousands of other volunteers on Wikipedia, including you and me, all of whom have all the same rights in determining article content as you have. Wikipedia articles are openly editable by anyone and are constantly being updated, policed, improved, etc. Don't be surprised if your edits get changed. If you don't agree with the changes, then discuss it with the editor in question. In the Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! article, if you mean User:Koavf, I recommend you ask him for his reasons in removing the ratings in his talk page or the talk page of the article itself. Take note that how "valid" your changes are depends purely on the reliability of your sources backing up the changes, and their adherence to Wikipedia's policies. -- OBSIDIANSOUL 16:41, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

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Misc desk

I'm all for a bit of humour on the Ref Desks (I'm perpetually guilty of it) but I think you might reconsider your last post... it's liable to be taken as offensive, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to spark any disruption. Cheers, --Dweller (talk) 14:06, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Ah, but it would be interesting to see if anyone actually objected to what are already implicitly accepted as true, albeit bluntly stated. Anyway, yeah, I'm just a bit mean today. I've removed it. Apologies.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 14:51, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
Appreciated. --Dweller (talk) 14:59, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Award

Congratulations!
The inaugural (and most probably only) god of large penises award is made to Obsidian Soul for being humble and good natured enough to remove a potentially inflammatory post on the Misc Ref Desk. Despite being in a "mean" mood. Dweller (talk) 15:05, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
He has nipples. This detracts from his divinity.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 15:50, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Gender is not appropriate?

Gender is not appropriate? Ok, maybe you think that it actually is, but you think that sex is more appropriate than gender? No offense friend, but I disagree. No hard feelings. This is just my opinion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.19.96.159 (talk) 23:44, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but my revert was not based on personal opinion, as yours seem to be. Please read our articles on gender and sex and gender distinction. Or try googling "gender vs. sex" for the numerous guidelines, articles, editorials, etc. from scientific organizations, universities, journals, etc, dealing with how to correctly use either of the terms. It basically boils down to: sex = biological, gender = cultural. Also see the following papers explicitly dealing with it:
  • King, B. M. (2010). "Point: A call for proper usage of "gender" and "sex" in biomedical publications". AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 298 (6): R1700–R1701. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00694.2009.
  • Torgrimson, B. N.; Minson, C. T. (2005). "Sex and gender: What is the difference?". Journal of Applied Physiology. 99 (3): 785–787. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00376.2005. PMID 16103514.
The word "gender" was not used in the context of persons until the 1970s. Previously it was used exclusively for grammatical gender in linguistics. It is true that it is often used in place of sex in popular media and in some scientific literature from 1980s onwards, but only in the context of social sciences, psychology, and sex studies, i.e. only in reference to humans. In biology and physiology, especially when referring to sexual dimorphism in nonhuman animals (like prairie dogs in this case), you use "sex", period.
I have reverted it back to "sex". Please do not revert it again.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 04:39, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

As a contributor to this article, you may be interested to know I have nominated it for deletion. Your comments are welcome at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/International reactions to the United States presidential election, 2012. Robofish (talk) 12:22, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Grande Rock discussion.

Hi there, Can I please have your help over this discussion. I need to know if you do consider these sources reliable or not. In the specific wiki article it says it's OK but no one can see that. I would appreciate if you could give me a helping hand. Thx in advance. The discussion takes place here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard#Grande_Rock Hard Rocker 13 23:25, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry but I don't think I can add anything more than what has already been said. The topic area is simply too far from my usual subjects of interest for me to be of any help. My only advice is to show who else thinks Grande Rock is reliable in independent sources. The people at the help chat might be able to help you more on hunting down those sources, but I don't volunteer there anymore.-- OBSIDIANSOUL 06:18, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Phyllody, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Ament (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

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Oryctocephalus indicus

Kudos for helping me with Oryctocephalus indicus --Tobias1984 (talk) 21:06, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

No problem. I just saw your post in WP:PALEO. I'll try to create stubs for your article when I get the chance (excellent work, btw!) -- OBSIDIANSOUL 21:11, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Ptychagnostus atavus

Thank you again for your help. The article looks really good. I only tweaked the wording of one sentence a bit (geologic nitpicking). --Tobias1984 (talk) 23:20, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Ovatoryctocara granulata

There is another proposed fossil for the base of Cambrian Stage 5. I already started the article but could use your help Ovatoryctocara granulata. --Tobias1984 (talk) 17:57, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

Gibraltar 1

Hi Obsidian

I just wanted to say thanks for all the work you've put into Gibraltar related articles, I've recently been uploading a lot of photos, if you've looked for something recently and haven't found it I may have uploaded it, lots more to come too. Also I'm working on some 3d things too like this one, if you have any suggestions of things I could try to do please let me know.

--Mrjohncummings (talk) 20:09, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Phyllody

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:01, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

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