User talk:Old Moonraker/Archive 1

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Welcome

Hi Old Moonraker/Archive 1, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for joining the coolest online encyclopedia I know of. I hope you stick around. You'll probably find it easiest to start with a tutorial of how the wikipedia works, and you can test stuff for yourself in the sandbox. Check out the simplified ruleset. When you're contributing, you'll probably find the manual of style to be helpful, and you'll also want to remember a couple important guidelines.

1. Write from a neutral point of view
2. Be bold in editing pages
3. Use wikiquette.

Those are probably the most important ones, and you can take a look at some others at the policies and guidelines page. You might also be interested in how to write a great article and possibly adding some images to your articles.

Be sure to get involved in the community – you can contact me on my talk page if you have any questions, and you can check out the village pump, where lots of wikipedians hang out and discuss things. If you're looking for something to do, check out the community portal. And whenever you ask a question or post something on a talk page, be sure to sign your name by typing 4 tildes like ~~~~. Always sign the talk page, never the articles.

Again, welcome! It's great to have you. Happy editing!May the Force be with you! Shreshth91($ |-| r 3 $ |-| t |-|)

Transport Safety

Why exactly is a continueous stream harder to sustain in a road vehicle? Why aren't deadman's brakes as common on road vehicles as on rail vehicles of even similar size and weight, for example, modern trams do have some sort of deadman's but for some reason, not busses, inconsistant, isn't it?

Actually, older trams generally did not have deadman's brakes, but in the 1930s, some justuctions (I don't know whether or not the HMRI was one of them) did make them mandantory. Here in Melbourne, all our trams in regular service have deadmans', although busses and trucks in Australia invariably having nothing like this. Our Zs, As, and Bs have acclerator and brake pedals just like on a road vehicles, but have an additional pedal which drivers must depress to mobilise the vehicle. If this pedal is released after the tram has started moving, the track brakes are applied, unless it stops before it is released. This type of deadman's could be emplyed on a road vehicle if there is no clutch pedal in the way. But who needs a clutch pedal anyway? It is perfectly possible to intergrate a clutch trigger into the gear lever, or have automatic clutch operation (why aren't they more common if thery are so cheap to instal). If a centrifugal clutch (which automaticlly disengages when the engine is ideling) is fitted, then you don't really need a clutch pedal, clutch handle or clutch button anyway (It is possible to make all the gearchanges without disengaging the clutch). The use of a freewheel similarly eliminates this need, although doesn't allow for engine braking, unless it can be locked, or revearsed. Or what about those high tech transmissons like tiptronics, selespeeds, sensodrives and twin cluch gearboxes such as Direct shift. Another idea can be found on this page. Also, there is a proposal to add penalty switches to cruise controls. Myrtone@Moonraker88.com.au

James Samuel

That was quick - thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Old Moonraker (talk • contribs)

Hey, you're welcome. btw, I saw the page for James Samuel (engineer). Usually it's not necessary to create such pages, unless there are two people with the same name and a disambiguation page is required. I'd suggest listing the page for speedy deletion by simply inserting the {{db-author}} tag to get rid of it. At your discretion, you can create a redirect, instead.--Kchase02 T 06:43, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

I'll try that tag. Thanks again. Old Moonraker 06:50, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Caisson Lock

Hi, I saw your comments on Talk:Caisson lock & have asked User:Geni to improve the diagram. Could you add your comments about doors & air pressure to the article? — Rod ^talk 11:27, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, pleased to. ––Old Moonraker 11:31, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Done. ––Old Moonraker 15:26, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - really helpful. Do you have a source we can cite for the info? — Rod ^talk 18:40, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Mainly I used the "Lost Canals" book (cited at #5). It has a few pages on the lock, but is short on technical detail. I got most of this from a partial account of Weldon's patent (which is where the bit about air pumps came from – he had them in the patent but not the built version). Other sources are the web sites cited earlier in the page. In other words, it's mostly in the footnotes already, and the patent would probably confuse the issue. (Well, as you remember, it confused me!) ATB. ––Old Moonraker 18:51, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

I made a couple of fixes in the diagram but I don't have a problem with it otherwise.Geni 13:54, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Great – thanks for looking it over. ––Old Moonraker 14:16, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

K&A map

Thanks for your comment about the map for the K&A canal - you are correct & I've passed on your comment to User:SFC9394 who made the map. I agree with your comment but I'm not sure if the scale means anything can be done about it.— Rod ^talk 08:39, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Image sizes

Hi. I saw a comment of yours on User talk:DIEGO RICARDO PEREIRA and I thought I'd just leave a note on your talk page as well.... Unless there is a reason to specify an image width, such as forcing an image to be big enough for certain details to show (as in a map), you should not specify a width for thumbnails. Users can set their preferred thumbnail size in their preferences, and specifying a thumbnail width breaks this functionality. ~MDD4696 01:46, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I didn't know that. Doesn't work for Diego's map though – he specified the thumb size! ATB. Old Moonraker 06:28, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Steam illustrations

The loco pages seemed to have gained a bit of life :-). In the context of the article I think it would be more useful to have an illustration of a pressure gauge which was in more general use. The Rocket one isn't very enlightening :-). Talking of illustrations I have been working on an improved component diagram, see Talk:Steam_locomotive_components, comments? --AGoon 20:55, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Agree – a modern one would be more relevant. The historical one is interesting, though. Old Moonraker 21:06, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Nuclear power

No problem. I was just a little confused when an entire section went back. I purged my browser cache and realized. Don't worry about it too much. No harm, no foul. :) thadius856_talk 18:02, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Cat's eye

I'm glad you brought the external link back into the text, I'm sure that's a better place for it. More work needs doing, the base is cast-iron, not steel as I said. And I didn't appreciate that it's built to collect rain-water, which lubricates the rubber wiper and improves the wiping action. TomRawlinson 19:14, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Town & Country Club block

Dear Moonraker,

I have just noticed that my URLs which I have spent time putting onto Wikipedia yesterday and today have been blocked. I am concerned as I have spent alot of time doing this which has now been wasted.

I am not listing our URLs on Wikipedia from a commercial perspective. I am not looking to get advertising. I am simply providing it as a source of information for people looking for information on a regional basis across the UK.

I have been a journalist and publisher for over 15 years and I am concerned by all this.

We are no different than another website called www.thebestof.co.uk which is a commercial website also. Of which you have 26 listed occurences of them on Wikipedia.

You also have ICSurrey online which is another commercial website.

I apologise if i "packaged" the URl in a commercial way rather than based on editorial or information however I would appreciate if you could unblock all of our listings as we have spent enormous money building our brand to bring a worthwhile community service to the market which you are currently stopping.

I appreciate your help in all this

regards

Giles Morgan 'gilesmorgan' CEO Town & Country Club www.townandcountryclub.net

The Wikipedia policy is as I outlined on your talkpage. The reason for it is, as far as I understand, that WP content is quickly picked up by search engines, and mirrored very widely on other sites, so that any commercial links posted here are very quickly bumped in the rankings of Google, for example. Businesses pay good money for this (although some regard the practice as underhand) and so as not to add to the general churning and leeching of commercial spam such links, which may indeed have been posted here in good faith, are quickly removed. The blocking policy I mentioned would only be applied to put a stop to this and not as a punishment.

May I emphasise again that this is only my take on the issue? For the definitive version you should check out the internal links I left on your talk page. Hope that helps.--Old Moonraker 12:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Town & Country

Hi Moonraker,

I apologise as I am new to all this. We did not mean to offend or break the rules, we just wanted to make sure that all of our regions were listed so users can find local info through us. We have 39 regions hence why I was trying to cover all of them with external links.

I would appreciate it if you could advise on how I can proceed in doing it properly.

Thanks in advance

Giles

Righting arm image

That's all fine. The license fully allows that, and it's great that you spotted that we hadn't already covered the topic of Righting Arm in that or other articles, that you fixed that, and that you produced an illustration as well.

Good job! Georgewilliamherbert 20:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for looking it over, I appreciate it. --Old Moonraker 08:03, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Chernobyl disaster

Your updates to the Prof. Allison item look fine. My original figure of about 120 deaths added back in some thyroid cancers which he regarded as avoidable, so I've tried to express that also. I don't know what the current count is on thyroid cases. Joffan 18:52, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

That's fine. I just figured that the Prypiat, Ukraine article had it, so that should do - but good point. It would all have to be changed. Grahamdubya 19:28, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:List of media personalities who have vandalised Wikipedia

It looks like the deletion police are trying to circumvent a previous AFD again. See Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:List of media personalities who have vandalised Wikipedia. As you voted keep, could you cast your vote again? - Ta bu shi da yu 23:10, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Image:Headshunt.svg listed for deletion

An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, Image:Headshunt.svg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. Please look there to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. BigrTex 04:42, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Rename

As requested, I have changed your name. You can now log in using the new username. Warofdreams talk 19:05, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Pilgrims' Way

I think E Renouard James may have been the person responsible, in a more junior capacity. Parker, in Surrey, says "the officer in charge of the survey in south-west Surrey was Captain (afterwards Major-General) Edward Reounard James, described by Dr Hooper as a writer 'who, to his technical qualifications, added a taste for archaeology and a whole-hearted enthusiasm for the pilgrim theory.'"

Parker's source here is the article by Hooper in vol 44 of the Surrey Archaeological Collections (1936) which I haven't seen. Djnjwd 22:35, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

This seems very likely, but ERJ would have been reflecting the Director’s wishes. The official history has: ”[Henry] James’s new-found enthusiasm for history led to one of the most enduring archaeological blunders on Ordnance Survey Maps. Without sufficient evidence, he named a footpath along the North Downs as ‘The Pilgrims’ Way’.” The date of the error is not specified exactly, but is in the context of “the 1840s”. In 1844 revised instructions were issued, to the effect that “literary sources” were to be consulted and written authority granted before an antiquity could be named. Is it possible that ERJ, in his enthusiasm, published his pamphlet because he wasn’t allowed to include it in the maps?

It's detail, which we might not be able to pin down. The main point at issue is that any precisely-specified route is not genuine, and this you have done. --Old Moonraker 23:03, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Someone at the OS seems to have relented: “Pilgrim’s Way” is missing from my 1871 one-inch of West Kent, but by the Seventh Series (1959) it has crept back in, in “historic gothic” script. Today’s 1:50 000 has ”Pilgrims’ Way” in modern script (reflecting current, local usage) and ”Trackway” in gothic, presumably referring to its prehistoric, rather than the supposed mediæval, origins. --Old Moonraker 23:32, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

On the same logic, the article is Okish as it stands, as it reflects the current usage of the Pilgrims' Way as a modern route; it still needs some tweaking to reflect more accurately its somewhat disingenous origins. Djnjwd 00:17, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Tweaked as you suggest.--Old Moonraker 17:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

GBU / MOAB Bomb

Hail, :) i am sorry if im disturbing...but i was reading this article and saw the gap formed by the Info Box...just letting you know , i mean , i can't take care of it (and...does it need taking care of...) as you can see,im a little new here,just created my first page :) (Also,on the Optical Fiber) the "The Headline Text" you fixed,keeps coming back,or at least when i opened the page as a guest...just letting somebody know... :/ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dethwing (talk • contribs) 01:40, 15 February 2007 (UTC).

Sorry Dethwing, I cannot replicate this on Optical fiber, but more expert users than I will offer "purge your browser cache" as a suggestion. I haven't edited GBU / MOAB Bomb, but it too looks ok to me. The software doesn't wrap text around info boxes or TOCs and it can look a bit odd. Any help at all? --Old Moonraker 12:35, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

That explains it. Sorry for bothering. Previously i was looking it with Maxthon, Im now looking in under Ubuntu Linux, and everything seems to be in very order... Thanks:)

Apologies, Dethwing: I've just looked at GBU / MOAB Bomb from another machine and it is wrong, as you say. I've tried a fix, but it might not work for everybody. --Old Moonraker 17:51, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

One or more

Hi, thanks for at least trying to look it up but have to say that "one or more" is plural. → friedfish 16:48, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Any help if I post the quote? (I hope I'm interpreting it correctly...) --Old Moonraker 17:02, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Internet version for easy access is A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English → friedfish 17:15, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Aha! I see where we are disagreeing: Partridge is specific about the verb to be: "Note that the verb to be agrees with its subject, not its complement: thus, not 'A man are thousands of different persons' but 'A man is thousands of different persons' is correct". (emphasis as in original). Please accept that this is at the outer limits of my parsing ability! --Old Moonraker 17:27, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Arc lamp photo

Yeah, the photo of the arc lamp isn't public domain, it's just means on flickr, anyone can view the photo. If you look closely on the side it says (c) all rights reserved. --Saint-Paddy 01:01, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

This has confused me, because of the "This photo is public" statement that came with it. I've checked on the Wikipedia public domain article and the flickr copyright pages, but am still confused. I will need to check further. However, I did inform the original poster (you're not Drew_073 as well, are you?) but didn't hear back, so I'm comfortable to keep it up for the present. In another case (de Havilland Dragon) the original poster came onto WP to attach his real name to the picture, without commenting on the PD tag I had used. As I said, I need to give this some more thought. --Old Moonraker 07:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

This is a big topic (nearly 600 threads) in the flickr forums. The opinions are mixed but the majority agrees with your point: the This photo is public statement seems to be a flickr category and not a copyright release. Their big gripe, however, is posting without attribution, which is not the case here. For the future, I would need to use only ones posted with a CC license. I still don't know what to do with the ones already used here for articles. What about the one where the original uploader has attached his own name? Any suggestions welcome. --Old Moonraker 07:47, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Hydropower

As a New Englander and more importantly, a Lowellian, the impact of water power on the American Industrial Revolution is very important - We set the whole thing moving. A lot of the tension behind the American Civil War was over this economy difference - us Northerners produced the finished products, the Southerners provided the raw materials. Or, they sold them to England to cut us out altogether :-)

Lowell (and the New England textile industry as a whole) collapsed in the early 20th century, largely because it was no longer a neccessity to produce cloth in the Northeast because Steam and then Electricity had become far more portable and economical. Rather than update Lowell's aging factories, the jobs all moved to the South to be with cheaper labor and closer to the raw materials, and from there to Mexico and overseas. Today, my city is largely a museum to what was a major New England industry 100 years ago.

I only found out about the Coal in England / Hydropower in New England difference a few years ago. I emailed a resident of Manchester, to ask them about their canals, and they informed me that unlike in Manchester, New Hampshire, the canals were for transportation, not water power. Due to our late start in the Revolution, there are very few transportation canals in America. Lowell was developed starting in 1823, near the Middlesex Canal and had a railroad to Boston within 20 years. I was very surprised to hear Americans were a good 50 years behind the British on adopting coal. New England is not coal-rich at all though, so it is not surprising - when you have all the educated and wealthy people, a ready workforce, and the market for the finished product, you do what you can with what's available locally.

CSZero 22:24, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

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