User talk:Guettarda

Requests for adminship and bureaucratship update

No current discussions. Recent RfAs, recent RfBs: (successful, unsuccessful)

Do we need clearer criteria on the "notability" of academic books?

If you have time could you read over and comment on this discussion? I think the policy needs to be revised. After a tentative proposal, I realized I do not have enough of a perspective to make a good one. But there has been a lot more discussion since I first raised the issue, and I would really value your contribution to the discussion. Best, Slrubenstein | Talk

theory of evolution and "species"

Hey - are you around? Well? If you are and have time ... I have proposed an addition to the Evolution article, which is now at the draft revision, for further work and discussion: [1] Could you take a look at it and, if you think it is worthy, see if you have ideas for improving it so it can be moved into the actual article? Thanks, Slrubenstein | Talk 19:38, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Afro-Trinidadians

Hi. I have reservations about using 'Afro-Trinidadian' to replace 'Trinidad and Tobago people of Black African descent' to name this category page as, 1, what differentiates an Afro-Trinidadian from an Indo-Trinidadian with people of mixed Black-Indian (which apparently half or more of all Trinidadians) appears to be (from looking at what is said at Afro-Trinidadian people) how Black African-looking or how Desi-looking a person is and not the culture they have/subscribe to (their religion, food, dialect, other customs), and 2, that such a name is not suitable for describing both Trinidadians and Tobagonians together. The new name is bulkier, but straightforward in meaning. Still, of course, most notable Trinidadian's membership as either Afro-Trinidadian or Indo Trinidadian (or other), is not controversial and so I would support having Category:Afro-Trinidadians and ;Category:Afro-Tobagonians as sub-cats of 'Cat:T&T people of Black African descent' Mayumashu (talk) 01:51, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

WP:GAN or a great idea for a place-holder/stable diff, in this case Ficus maxima

Hey, I reckon this is worth placing there as a good waypoint, especially if you have some time to address any issues, as I think it'd reasonably easily pass GA. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:39, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

PS: No word from Dale Dixon, may have to get on the ol' dog and bone...

The WikiProject Puerto Rico Newsletter

The WikiProject Puerto Rico Newsletter Year II - Issue 1 - Summer 2008
"Confía en tu propia voluntad más que en hombre alguno sobre la tierra. Esa es tu fuerza, no soy yo tu fuerza. Tú mismo eres tu fuerza!" - Luis Muñoz Marín
From the editor Hello, Guettarda. This is the fifth issue of WikiProject Puerto Rico's newsletter. The newsletter is intended to help all members to keep up with the latest news relating to the project. I will continue Eddie's format and willingness to include new material by request. As he once said, please help with the newsletter by suggesting content to be included on the newsletter by leaving a message on my talk page. - Caribbean~H.Q. 01:17, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
Se levanta un gigante dormido Saludos to all, I present to you the new version of our project's Newsletter. It has been almost a year since the last edition, but rest assured that we haven't been lazy. Our Good Article count has raised by 11, while we have produced two Featured Lists and two Featured Articles. I will tweak the delivery format, from now on the Newsletter will be delivered per season. That means four anual editions, one for summer, fall, winter and spring. Speaking of summer, it has been a hot one, make sure to check out the project news below. I will also introduce a new section titled "Puerto Rican Highlight" where we will comment about positive accomplishments reached by Puerto Ricans and our representative organizations. - Caribbean~H.Q. 01:17, 29 August 2008 (UTC)	Users who helped with this newsletter Caribbean H.Q. (talk · contribs) Other areas where you can help Please help in Puerto Rico's Featured Article initiative. Please help Marcos maintain Portal:Puerto Rico. An image for you! Majestic isn't it? That's the Arecibo Observatory, it has the largest single-aperture telescope ever built. Majestic isn't it? That's the Arecibo Observatory, it has the largest single-aperture telescope ever built.
Project News Automotivado joined the project on July 24. We welcome him and recognize his efforts in Puerto Rico Islanders and other articles covering Association football in Puerto Rico. Keep up the good work! Reverie has returned after an extended hiatus. She needs help finding new projects for her portfolio, if you have any image requests, please help her in this task. Román Baldorioty de Castro, Francisco Coimbre, Lolita Lebrón and Félix Trinidad are now of Good Article quality. List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico passed Featured List Nomination on July 10. Puerto Rican Amazon passed Featured Article nomination on August 14. A fact from Hector Feliciano was featured in the "Did you Know?" section of the main page on August 16. Puerto Rican Campaign is currently a Good Article nominee, suggestions for improvement are welcomed.
Puerto Rican Highlight On August 3, Tarah Gieger became the first athlete from Puerto Rico to win a gold medal at the Summer X Games. (ESPN Deportes) In 2007, Gieger also became the first woman to participate at a Motocross des Nations, being part of Team Puerto Rico.

Addbot (talk) 06:48, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Temperature

Hi, Long time, no see. This was a good comment, it tries to put the conversation back to facts and issues. But I think that this was not - the only likely outcome being an increase in temperature. Cheers, Ben Aveling 03:28, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Hello to you!

Yes, I've found myself caught in the jumble that is news organization/news personality articles lately. Unfortunately I seem to have a problem responding to trolls. I guess that's the debating side of me showing. Regards, NcSchu_(Talk) 12:29, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Sigh:

Thanks for the feedback. My message was meant to be in good spirit, but I deal with bullies every day (not saying Hesperian is a bully) and I know why people exhibit the kind of behaviour he was. It wasn't meant to inflame the situation, only to show how I felt and what things looked like from my end. You have to admit, everyone else in the discussion did not get as personal as Hesperian, and although I like his passion, it made me feel very stressed in a situation I expected to be pleasant - I still don't know what triggered his response, but as I said, I think it's just better we stay away from each other. I respect your judgement highly as you are a brilliant editor here, so if you have any other advice on the situation it would be really appreciated. : ) Cheers, Spawn Man (talk) 04:50, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Wow, you really are such a great user - you're comments on Hesperian's talk were very helpful. I suggested taking the matter to a different forum or mediation, but Hesperian made fun of that. As it is, I hold no grudge against him. I think he's a brilliant user and editor and I hope we can friends so we can collaborate some day. Anyway, I'm a bit rusty, so back to editing for me... : ) Spawn Man (talk) 06:08, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, sad he left, but you can't be responsible for other's actions. I'm not aware of the situation, but it sounds like you made the right call... What projects have you got going at the moment? Spawn Man (talk) 06:17, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

My only advice is to just do what you enjoy. Take light in the fact that you're not the only one who isn't thoroughly enjoying themselves on here - heck I left for months and came back and still find this place does stress you out. You're only on earth for a limited time and if you're not doing anything you enjoy, then you need to do something you do enjoy. I only came back because I realized I do enjoy writing articles, but if you're stressed out on here, then you should take a break until you feel that joy of wanting to be on here again. If you ever need to talk, then you've got a friend in me. : ) Spawn Man (talk) 06:31, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

I know, he's such a bastard... ;) He really does put me to shame, but he also inspires me so much. We're picking up our collaboration where we left off with Werewolf. Should be fun... I'm off anyway, see you later. Don't listen to what others say; I'm usually a good judge of character and you seem good to me. I've learnt that it all comes from within anyway. : ) Cheers, Spawn Man (talk) 06:38, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

And another one down...

Dammit...

He did good work. And I'm nothing compared. I'm just a gnome. Which is why my name isn't dragged through the mud I guess... After JWSurf's "acceptable" personal attacks on the AN board, and then getting my very first warning for this single revert I don't feel I can trust anything about this place anymore. If this place weren't the first effing search result for so many damn concepts....that's the only thing that keeps me here. I care about those people who want to know stuff. Even my friends who should know better check WP. Aunt Entropy (talk) 06:29, 12 September 2008 (UTC) ETA: fixed link

Hi, since it's hard to know where best to discuss this, just a note that this is a disgusting situation leading to a very sad departure, a loss for the quality of what we should all be working to achieve. By the way, Auntie, JWSurf has agreed to stop using the term, and I'm hopeful we can improve civility while of course acknowledging disagreements in analysis or interpretation of underlying incidents. Live in hope, I guess. . . dave souza, talk 20:49, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Yo!

Could you kindly give User:User01014 a welcome and a brief and friendly introduction to our notability guidelines, since you reverted his/her edit?-Tznkai (talk) 13:02, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Language of evolution

Hey Guettarda, here is an interesting suggestion. I am throwing this up for discussion for a few of the more evolution-minded editors...Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:16, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Spines, or setae

Thanks for the greet. I have a year 1632 edition of the Anatomy of Melancholy which has the best “spine” of any book I have ever seen (looks like that Gaudi staircase, and 400 year old leather treated with hundreds of years of oil from human hands is always nice, but this is special). More seriously, I assume you are using spine, thorn, prickle, etc. colloquially and thus interchangeably. 1. I am currently in Los Angeles, and the spines (sharp processes) on the fruit of Marah macrocarpus (nice roots, too), when the fruit is dried before dehiscing, cause an eerie musical sound reminiscent of Xenakis’ Electroacoustic music from the early 1960’s. It grows in the interesting chaparral ecosystem, which required fire every few decades or so to survive. 2. Last year I hired a young biology student at Caltech to go over to the desert garden at Huntington and pluck the spines of each cactus (or thorny plant) to determine which had the best musical sound for making a sound sculpture there, and he came up with the same cacti I already chose, Ferrocactus sp. with hooked spines, and Echinocactus grusonni. 3. I paid in advance to participate in a botanical expedition of Socotra last fall, but my mother had cancer, was hospitalized a couple of days before I was to leave, and died last May. 4. I was dating a woman last year who had recently returned from the spiny forest in Madagascar! That is where I recommend you check for spines. EricDiesel (talk) 22:52, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

A bit more on local spines... Of course Opuntia is local here (never touch the fruit!, and the spine of the various Opuntia chollas has a sheath that comes off in your skin), but Leptidactylon californicum and Argemone munita have got to be the worst, for spines, and for illustrating an interesting feature of the local ecosystem. In mature chaparral, there are spiny woody plants like Ceonothus spinosus, but if there is a fire, most of the fire followers, which are herbaceous and only grow for a year or two after a fire before being drowned in woody competitors, are spiny. If not for fires, they would go extinct, and the one year of life, out of every thirty to hundred years, cycle means that if they get eaten before seeding, they are extinct, explaining the spines. Oh, yeah, the jumping cholla propogates when the spine gets caught in large mammals, whence the jointed branch breaks off and transports the plant segment to a new location to start a new colony. EricDiesel (talk) 23:03, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Looks like some work needed at Wikipedia from the .red links. EricDiesel (talk) 23:04, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Thorny Welcome Message

I consolidated your "welcome" thread on my talk page, and gave you some spiny links associated with Puerto Rico flora. But I don't know how to put the Wikipedia "message alert" on the top of your talk page. EricDiesel (talk) 17:37, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Spiny "plants"?

Compare these two spiny images -

• Marah macrocarpus -

http://crazysalad.typepad.com/crazysalad/images/2008/04/09/marah_macrocarpus.jpg

• Not a Marah macrocarpus, but a Erethizon sp. -

http://www.liewcf.com/blog/wp-images/porcupine-baby.jpg

Underwater spiny forest

http://www.urgetosubmerge.net/Photo%20Galleries/Southern%20California%202007/Anacapa%20Island%20on%20the%20Spectre%20January%2026,%202007/slides/DSCF3938.JPG

WP3

• I've asked for WP:3 to help resolve our dispute. [2]--Firefly322 (talk) 01:23, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

A "dispute" over formatting that you won't defend, but that you will revert-war over? OK... Guettarda (talk) 04:19, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Based on your continuing use of the word anecdotal and the lack of any real contributions to the category, it seems to me that your goal is simply to cause chaos in the religion and science category. If so, this is truly reprehensible behavior. --Firefly322 (talk) 10:31, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

You should really focus on the content issues, instead of trying to personalise disputes. Guettarda (talk) 15:12, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

And here I thought this was the encyclopedia anyone can edit. Whether Guettarda had made edits to the article/category previously is irrelevant; he's a very fine editor and in my experience tries to improve article wherever and whenever possible. That id, I believe, the Wiki-way. •Jim62sch•^dissera! 16:07, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

LMAO

Did you know the "s" is awfully close to the "d" on your keyboard?

Template:Islands of Trinidad and Tobago; 17:15 . . (+22) . . Guettarda (Talk | contribs) (assing Parasol Rocks)

BMW(drive) 22:12, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

While I have your attention, can you do me a favour? Look down on this page. Then look at his Talk page (you'll see my comments). Then look at the WP:WQA entry that was created by him, but caused by that page. Am I out in left field, because that page p's me off! BMW(drive) 22:20, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

You think WQA is masochistic? I started this editor review last night LOL BMW(drive) 10:53, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

RE:Kelly, ID, mess

Haha! I know. I've been accused of being a member of the IDCabal or similar such nonsense because I have spoken at length about how inflammatory and uncivil a cabal accusation is. As I recall it, and my memory is fuzzy, There was me, DBergan, Fuelwagon, and Fellonious Monk going at it for a while. FW was virulent, FM was obstinate about science=npov but cooperative generally , and Dbergan was a good natured ID defender. I ran interference between FW and Dbergan and FM did as well. Generally speaking though, yes, FM and had a fair amount of mutual respect, but distinct differences on content. Or so I recall.---Tznkai (talk)

There were also a few legit criticisms about me giving a so called ultimatum, to be fair, but some of the unblock supports were apparently accusations of some sort of cabalish or similar such behavior.--Tznkai (talk) 06:07, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

The deep irony of the ID flap is how much most of us can agree on most things about ID. I think too many vandals and ignorant redusers left a lot of people twitchy, and then people annoyed at those people for being twitchy, and so on until it snowballed into the nonsense today.--Tznkai (talk) 06:15, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

In addition, it seems trust in admins is at an all time low. Not sure who to blame about that yet.--Tznkai (talk) 06:18, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Oich. Wikipedia Review, apparently I've been discussed there a lot recently, which is funny, and a wonderful ego stroke.--Tznkai (talk) 06:53, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

If you can be bothered with the background, this discussion shows your argumentative friend waving that accusation about as a get out of jail free card. The site for disgruntled banned users has certainly spread anti-admin gossip, and there was also rather a flap just a year ago when over-twitchy treatment of what looked very much like yet another pro-ID troll was escalated into making an example of the admin concerned, and desysopping of a very productive editor for not treating the apparent troll as a potential contributor to be cherished. A major part of that case was the assertion that admins shouldn't use the tools for behaviour on an article they'd once edited sometime in the past, even though they weren't part of the current dispute. So, dealing with disruptive behaviour got harder. There have been further bizarre goings on, but that should give you some indication. Give my regards to Wikipedia Review, dave souza, talk 07:32, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

'twas there for that.--Tznkai (talk) 07:37, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia Review is slightly more than a site for disgruntled banned users. Quite a few Wikipedia admins have taken up residence there in efforts to discuss and better Wikipedia, for instance Newyorkbrad, Alison, Jennavecia, Lar, etc. ⇒SWATJester ^{Son of the Defender} 09:24, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

One bad apple does not spoil the whole bunch; neither does a few good apples make the rotten ones applesauce. The meme was indeed started by Moulton on WR. KillerChihuahua^?!? 21:45, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Bravo

Excellent comment on de-escalation: [3]. I hope you don't mind that I've copied most of it to my user page. If there's any context you think it needs, please let me know. --Ronz (talk) 18:29, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Neutrality

Hi, thanks for your comment on my talkpage, I'll try to ensure that I remain neutral. However, to be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about? Could you perhaps supply a diff of where you think that I might have been showing partisanship, so that I can re-review the situation? A specific suggestion of how you think I might have handled it better would also be useful. Thanks, --Elonka 15:54, 13 October 2008 (UTC)