User talk:Alkivar

Food for thought: Why Wikipedia Must Jettison Its Anti-Elitism [1] by Larry Sanger (Co-Founder of Wikipedia).

NASA stuff

I'd be willing to scan just about all of the NASA stuff if it's really only 500 pages or so. Do you want me to send it back when I am done? I was thinking some of the documents might be better OCR'd and converted to wikitext articles, if they are predominantly textual. My scanner can scan up to legal size. For anything larger, I have a hand scanner that scans a path 4 inches wide, can stitch those scans together for larger images. please delete my email address when you are done with it. Pedant 17:54, 2004 Oct 16 (UTC)

pages are in the mail you should recieve them soon. Alkivar 04:18, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The package of NASA material has arrived. It appears to have survived the trip well. I haven't opened it yet, will try to start tonight.Pedant 22:34, 2004 Oct 26 (UTC)

I'm stuck for a bit on scanning, the computer the scanner is connected to has had the RAM removed, I'm waiting to get it back from Kingston. They received it on the 22nd of November, so I expect it back in a matter of days. Pedant 07:23, 2004 Nov 29 (UTC) OK, I have the scanner running, trying to figure out the OCR thing. I uploaded this one file for test purposes. I'd like to convert this kind of thing to wikitext rather than keep them as jpgs, cause they get pretty big. If you know of any resources to help me figure out optical character recognition, I'd be grateful. Pedant 22:12, 2004 Dec 29 (UTC)

all right, I have worked a bit at it,and looks like I'm started. The front page for the archive, at present is at this page on wikisource Pedant 06:55, 2004 Dec 30 (UTC)

EXCELLENT! Alkivar 01:24, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)

A quick note to say thanks

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for your support in my request for adminship. It was certainly a wild ride, and I really appreciate you taking some time out to contribute. ClockworkSoul 16:26, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on the Jew template

I know it's a bit frustrating now, but in the end I think it's going to be vastly improved, and most of the credit goes to you. Jayjg | (Talk) 02:54, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Signatures

Heya. Have you seen Wikipedia:Username#Signatures? You're free to use images in your sig if you want to ofcourse, but it is perceived as unpleasant by some people (if you'd already read that and decided to anyway, please ignore this message). ----fvw * 15:43, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)

Yeah I read that but it said its not official policy as of yet. So I figured this might spur someone to finally get that decision made; Its meant to be slightly annoying yet not too obtrusive. That and the radioactive unicode symbol isnt as pretty ;) User:Alkivar/sig 20:15, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

You're trying to force people to make a strict policy? What are you hoping for, to have it explicity allowed or explicitly disallowed? If the latter, see Don't disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point; If the former: It is allowed now. Making it allowed explicitly in policy isn't going to change the fact that it annoys a lot of people. --fvw * 20:40, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up on the sig. I thought I had fixed whatever problem the developers made, I might be mistaken. I mean don't they look alright now, they do to me?

In any case, I don't think the use of the "Raw" setting will work on the sigs I left already.--metta, The Sunborn ☥ 23:28, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Just dropping by to say your signature makes your username stick out on a page... like a sore thumb. Ashibaka tlk 21:13, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Nice work, and thanks

I, Clockwork **Soul**, award you this barnstar for your innovation and initiative in the creation of the The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar

I just wanted to thank you for coming up with the idea for the The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar, which evolved into the finest (and in my opinion highest) award that we have here at the 'pedia.

Oh, and by the way (for what it's worth) I like your orange sig and the associate image. It adds a bit of flavor to sometimes bland pages. – Clockwork Soul 14:07, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

ROTLMAO :D

hey man :) yeah, turn around is fair play, i was messing with you :) . just wanna let you know, i was responsible for the trollwarning on your user page, but not for the blanking :) Project2501a 10:31, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Copyright in China.

Greetings. I notice you posted that "China was not an international copyright signatory until around 1980 something". Does that mean that photographs taken in China before 1980 are in the public domain? Do you know? Do you know what the actual date is, or where I could get this information? It's very important to me. Thanks, – Quadell ^{(talk) (sleuth)} 20:30, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)

The answers that follow were found here (PDF file) as linked to from our article on the Berne Convention page:

China

Bilateral Jan. 13, 1904⁵

Bilateral March 17, 1992⁹

Berne Oct. 15, 1992 (Paris)

UCC Geneva Oct. 30, 1992

UCC Paris Oct. 30, 1992

Phonograms April 30, 1993

WTO Dec. 22, 2001

Chinese Taipei

WTO Jan. 1, 2002

⁵ The government of the People’s Republic of China views this treaty as not binding on the PRC. In the territory administered by the authorities on Taiwan the treaty is considered to be in force.

⁹ Bilateral copyright relations between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America were established, effective March 17, 1992, by a Presidential Proclamation ofthe same date, under the authority of section 104 of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by the Act of Oct. 31, 1988 (Public Law 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2855).

It is my understanding that works prior to signature are not protected (at least thats how USSR/Russia's copyright protection is interpreted), however China's works were added by Presidential proclamation, so I dont know if this remains valid in that circumstance but remember IANACL (i am not a copyright lawyer). User:Alkivar/sig 03:30, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

personal attacks

Re: [2], please see Wikipedia:No personal attacks, which is Wikipedia official policy.

It may seem silly to make a big deal over using a few sharp words, but in fact people can and have been blocked from editing for a pattern of doing so. The reason is not because everybody wants to be super politically correct and hypocritically polite; the real reason is, to make Wikipedia work, people have to compromise... and someone you've just finished insulting is going to be in no mood to compromise. So prohibiting personal attacks is just one of the ways to try to stop edit wars from escalating out of control by not inflaming the emotions of the other party. -- Curps 08:18, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Everyking has been REPEATEDLY BLOCKED for his "NPOV" edits on Ashlee Simpson related articles. Sorry but the only way to get it through his thick skull is to berate him. The guy refuses to compromise PERIOD, this is not going to change even were I to be nice to him. It has already gone thru Arbcom on more than one occaision. User:Alkivar/sig 08:26, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Well, check out the outcome of a recent Arbcom dispute, since you mention it. One person was banned for uncooperative edits, the other was banned for personal attacks alone. I'm not taking sides, just letting you know about the policy. -- Curps 08:53, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Something for Katana

I picked up dozens of old pictures drawn for news articles dating back to 1882 with katana in hands of officers. These are not exactly accurate, artists took a great liberty in making scenes look more appealing but because of that, they reflect common knowledges shared by Japanese from that era. I'm not sure of their copyright status. They are in possession of Tokyo Keizai Unversity, but they probably can be uploaded as they are more than 100 years old. The website doesn't say anything about that so I'm merely linking them here. [3] This one was drawn by an Ukiyoe artist named Shuju Utagawa on 1882 and its title is "Japanese Katana, Famous around the World". It shows two Japanese men with kabuki like facepaint driving off what appears to be Chinese troop by katana. It's interesting to note that over a hundred years ago, Japanese were already boasting about katana. [4] This one is about the Sino-Japanese War and is titled "Attack on Pyongyang". It was drawn on 1894. The officer in the center is using his sabre (= gunto) to direct his troop's fire on retreating Chinese troop. [5] This one is also about the same war drawn on the same year. This one shows at least five officers wearing gunto watching enlisted men fire the gun. I think you would love them! Revth 13:46, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

y0

Where've you been? Hop on the channel.

Listen template

How do you feel about this? Some people feel strongly about it's use, and I personally agree with the edit summary you left in the timpani article. I've gotten in a little discussion on the talk page. This thing needs to be totally overhauled, IMHO. I've been trying to come up with something more attractive, but nothing has clicked yet. – flamurai (t) 09:02, Feb 20, 2005 (UTC)

Steve Dalkowski

Thank you for your FAC support and for updating the table, looks good! Is it Hardcore dance music you're into or that horrible Hardcore Rap stuff they play on MTV? There's very, VERY few of us hardcore dance music fans in the US :) Zerbey 18:39, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

User:SPUI

Don't vandalize other Users' User pages. Rick K 06:41, Feb 24, 2005 (UTC)

Rick ... BITE ME... i did it while talking to SPUI on IRC. User:Alkivar/sig 06:44, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Possible lead pics

See Cannabis rescheduling in the United States/Picture options Rad Racer 23:31, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Option 3 looks best. User:Alkivar/sig 04:43, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

A change of pic could be requested.. see Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 2005 Rad Racer 20:12, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Does that pic #1 look like KB by the way? My friend Tommy was saying it was, based on the rationale that anything above mid-grade or schwag is automatically KB. However, I pointed out the apparent lack of red hairs and crystals. Rad Racer 01:19, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Photos too small to really make out much detail, you'd need something much larger to make out if theres hairs on it. Purple hairs are generally very very tiny and hard to see unless its a closeup. Same is true for crystals, almost impossible to tell on something in that scale. My guess is its probably midgrade commersh. User:Alkivar/sig 03:23, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, possibly University of Mississippi-grown NIDA cannabis, which is generally considered unsuitable for medical use. Good sleuthing by the way on the Lolita Method article. The The Story of Freedom Storehouse Press clinches the matter. They claim to have met Pred through Usenet. And I was about to say that proves it was later than 1989, but looking at the Wikipedia Usenet article, I see that Usenet was created in 1980. But here we seemingly have the smoking gun:

Although PRED takes frequent hiatuses from writing and posting to ASS, even during his absence his presence looms over the group like an omnipresent storm cloud on the horizon. When Todd, Gary and Sean first stumbled upon ASS in the Fall of 2001, PRED had been retired from the newsgroup for over a year. Yet, frequent mentions and allusions to his work prompted the trio to investigate his writings. The resulting study would forever change the three partners’ business plans while simultaneously giving birth to the concept and reality of Freedom Storehouse Press.

After reading the body of PRED’s work, the trio’s mission became clear. Contact PRED and solicit his involvement in a website devoted to the promotion of ultracore fiction.

Reaching PRED was simple enough. His email address appears at the beginning and end of each of his posts. By the time Todd sent out the first email query to PRED, all three partners had done an extensive as well as intensive Google search on PRED. They were now intimately familiar with almost every story, commentary and flame he had ever posted. They also knew he had officially retired from ASS a year earlier, and this time he appeared serious.

Etc., etc. From the first paragraph, it appears obvious that Pred's relationship with them began in Fall 2001. Yet - on Google groups, Pred's post of Nov 23, 1999 states that Freedom Storehouse Press published his book in 1989. Why would he have written about them in 1999 if they did not contact him until 2001? Ah, the plot thickens! There is some sort of contradiction here. Well, I thought I had solved this mystery, but now it appears it may never be solved.