User talk:DanMS/Talk Archive 04

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Qwepasdl in topic DAN HELP !!!

"list of public elementary schools in NYC" edit

Hi Dan, I'm new to this--can you tell me why you removed "PS 116M" and its link from the "see also" section at the end of this article? I saw 2 other schools listed there, and so added mine (I am the tech teacher there). Was that wrong? Is "see also" only for internal links? Thanks, Kathleen —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.202.53.100 (talk) 02:42, 7 February 2007 (UTC).Reply

Re List of public elementary schools in New York City
I removed it because it was just an external link, pasted in at the very bottom of the page, with no apparent relevance to anything else. The proper way to to that would be to paste it in after the relevant school in the list. Your last edit was nearly correct. Normally we don’t like to make the primary name in a list to be an external link. It would be better to do it like this:
*PS 116 Mary Lindley Murray [http://www.ps116.org/]
Copy the above line and paste it into the line where you have the link now.
While we are on the subject, I think the names of all the schools should be converted to title case instead of all upper case.
Also, please remember to sign your posts on a user page by putting four tildes ~~~~ at the end of the message. Thanks.
Hope this helps. Feel free to write again anytime. ●DanMS 03:00, 7 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

I'll add my thanks for your formatting on this page. btw there's a rumour that the regions are to be abolished in the NYC schools hierarchy, and perhaps replaced with some other unit of organisation, so any further effort invested in that part of the work might be short-lived. I imagine we can rearrange the records for each school easily, so that would still be worthwhile. Thanks again. AndrewHowse 22:31, 7 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re NYC schools and William Sherman in particular: the exterior of the school has a sign that reads "William T Sherman" but I couldn't find a dedication plaque or similar. I also read that Gen Sherman spent the last years of his life in NYC, so there's at least a tenuous connection. AndrewHowse 22:42, 11 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
OK, it seems pretty certain that William Tecumseh Sherman is the eponym of the school. I wasn’t sure, but your discovery seems to nail it—unless we discover some other William T. Sherman who was prominent in the history of New York or New England. By the way, I have finished adding all the elementary schools from the NYC schools website, and I think I have done all that I have an interest in doing. Feel free to add anything else that you like. ●DanMS 22:48, 11 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
Roger wilco. Thanks for all your gruntwork. I'll see what else I can glean locally and update the page from time to time. AndrewHowse 01:54, 12 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

hi dan, thanks a lot for your information about Torpedo tube on wikipedia. i need more information about torpedo launcher mechanism for surface ship, i would be appriciated to you to send me more information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hrezvany (talkcontribs) 14:46, 10 February 2007

  • I wish I had more information for you about surface-ship torpedo tube launchers, but I don’t know much about them. I served on submarines in the U.S. Navy but never worked with surface torpedo launchers. You will have to search Yahoo! or Google for that. Regards, ●DanMS 16:53, 10 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

YOU SUCK edit

Why do you keep reverting these masterpieces that I am writing? Being a schoon is very important to the town history of Cedar Falls and I really don't understand why some technical student in California has nothing better to do than revert my edits. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.167.191.244 (talk) 01:20, 12 February 2007 (UTC).Reply

Page move edit

Long time ago, you left a comment at Talk:Neil Werrett. I agree the page should be moved, but newly created accounts can not move pages. Would you take care of it? // Konvalj 01:50, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

  • I moved the article. However, the short text needs so be rephrased to that the subject is the trust rather than Werrett. ●DanMS 02:15, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
Done - and thanks! Would you care to move another one as well? New Chronology (Glasgow) => Glasgow Chronology. See talk. // Konvalj 02:35, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
I moved New Chronology (Glasgow) to Glasgow Chronology. Now here is a job you can do: Go to What links here for the old page and update all of the linked pages so that they link to the new page. There are only a dozen or so to be updated. ●DanMS 02:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply


AfD Progressive Bloggers edit

You have edited the article Progressive Bloggers. This article is currently being considered for deletion under the wp:afd process. You may contribute to this discussion by commenting here. Thank you.Edivorce 23:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Cypress College edit

Hi Dan,

Thank you for the edit on the Cypress College page. Yes, the $12 million is correct for the annual financial aid number per the dean of student support services. Thanks for the catch! $12 vs. $12 million is pretty huge.

Marcposner 21:39, 18 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hello edit

OKay..thanks for that!!//..wil rem tht in future!

cya u`l hear more of me! :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Govind029 (talkcontribs) 12:47, 20 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

The ultimate, ultimate challenge edit

And ultimately, the redirect was also deleted. Thanks for letting me know, I forgot to check. --Coredesat 05:23, 1 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks and revert question edit

First of all, thank you for all your excellent work. Wikipedia is truely a better place as a result of your efforts. I hope you don't mind my asking, but I am curious why it appears you sometimes don't post warnings to users whose edits you revert. I just did my very first vandalism revert, so I am hardly an expert in the acceptable protocol. I would be interested in hearing your views! Thanks, Riick 07:25, 8 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for your kind words. I suppose the most honest answer to your question is that I am too lazy to always make the effort of posting a warning. Second, I am not at all sure that it does any good, especially with anonymous IPs. People who are intent on vandalizing are probably going to continue no matter what other editors say. Actually, the main effect of posting messages is so that other editors can keep track of how many times a vandal has been warned, and if a vandal has been given the fourth warning and continues vandalizing, he can be blocked. By Wikipedia policy, a user is not supposed to be blocked in most cases until he has received the level 4 warning and continues in his errant ways. There are exceptions, however, such as what is called a {{blatantvandal}}. A user could be given that warning when it is discovered that he has vandalized many pages but has not yet been given a warning. ●DanMSTalk 00:48, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Dan- This is helpful information. I also appreciate your getting back to me so quickly. Happy editing! Riick 06:58, 10 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Did you know edit

  On 16 March, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

--howcheng {chat} 00:16, 17 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Images edit

FWIW, per the Image MOS, images should be stacked left/right in a staggered fashion, not "stacked" or aligned in a row. -- Stbalbach 00:56, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

I don't know specifically what article you are referring to. It is true that the MOS provides that guidance, but that does not always work very well, especially when the article is short, or when there is an infobox on the right side at the top. Sometimes you have to rearrange things to make the page lay out properly. ●DanMSTalk 01:02, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
WP:MOS#Images - either its changed since I last looked or don't remember it. In any case I agree in that article it's pretty tight so the right side stack makes sense. Just saw your edit comment about aligning images and wanted to make sure you knew about staggering, as I have seen some who think all images are supposed to be along the right hand side. Sounds like you know about staggering. -- Stbalbach 01:14, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Usually when I write “aligned images” in an edit summary, what I mean is that I set various-sized thumbs to the same size. I think it is rather ugly when there are several thumbnails of different sizes next to each other. Also, sometimes you find pages where there are left and right images at the same level, with the text squeezed in between horizontally. That doesn’t work very well either. Actually my personal preference is for stacked images, but I won’t inflict my own preferences on Wikipedia unnecessarily. ●DanMSTalk 01:37, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Math expressions edit

{{#expr:1/5.28}} See m:Help:Calculation 199.46.200.232 19:10, 21 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

USACE pictures -- thanks (plus date change) edit

Hi DanMS, thanks for your recent uploads of USACE pictures to Commons. I thought I'd mention over here on Wikipedia that I changed the dates on a couple of them (Williamson, W.Va., & the Winfield Lock and Dam) because the listed dates on the USACE source pages seemed to contradict the captions on those same pages. (And in the case of the Williamson picture, the picture itself -- it's dated March but the hills are covered in summer greenery.) Maybe the listed dates are merely upload dates? Or the dates they were added to the database? Or maybe just in error? Anyway, I just wanted to explain why I changed them. Thanks! --Malepheasant 02:51, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Yes, I do suspect that many of the dates are wrong. I found one that was very clearly no good at all. It was a picture of the Lady Washington that claimed a date of January 1988 in Seattle, but the people clearly seem to be enjoying a nice summer day! I found another one purportedly taken in Denver in January but again it clearly seemed to be summer or springtime. The dates could very well be the upload dates to the USACE library—I just couldn’t say. Many of the USACE dates seem highly suspect. But I don’t know what else to do. I have been putting notations in the picture descriptions where the date obviously could not be as indicated. You can look at my gallery on commons:User:DanMS and make any corrections as you see fit. Also I have quite a few pictures on Wikipedia that I uploaded before I (recently) switched to uploading on Commons. See my gallery. ●DanMSTalk 03:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for the reply, and regarding your note about the other picture you noted -- I was just noticing the same thing. "West Williamson" is still part of Williamson, but since the first picture shows the central business district, that one's probably still preferable. Thanks again! --Malepheasant 03:37, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

river drop edit

you cannot subst templates like these, unfortunately. However, as you'll see argued at Wikipedia:Don't worry about performance, you don't need to worry about performance issues if you want to transclude your template.

Just so you know, I can add your template's functionality to {{convert}}. Your coding appears to just divide by a number and then round.. both of which {{convert}} can do. One thing you can never ever do is {{subst:convert}}. Check out a page's markup after doing that! hah! -- drumguy8800 C T 20:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the pictures edit

Just wanted to drop a note and say thanks for all the recent images of Kentucky lakes you've been uploading. It's appreciated! Acdixon 14:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Fender's blue butterfly edit

Answered on my talk page. Pro bug catcher (talkcontribs). 14:14, 26 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Duplication of coordinates edit

On several recent edits you have added geolinks to articles where the coordinates template already exists. This overwrites the previous coordinates in the upper right of the page so neither is intelligible. I am removing the Minnesota ones but the problem may be more widespread, as I see at least one in Michigan also. Kablammo 04:58, 7 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

I didn't see it down there, stuck all the way at the bottom underneath the nav templates. It is supposed to be in the upper-right corner. ●DanMSTalk 05:26, 7 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
The location surprised me also when I first added a few coor templates. I undid a bunch of the duplicates (leaving other changes); I'm not sure I got them all as I only looked at the city ones for the past two weeks or so. Regards, Kablammo 10:34, 7 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Another user has started an inquiry/discussion on the problem of the overlapping template text at the right upper margin at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Duplication of title coordinates. Regards, Kablammo 12:46, 7 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for the note. I really don't know what is going on. The discussion linked above suggests that one or a few strong-mined individuals have created a change, made it part of the MoS, and now expect everyone to conform. It may well be that the new template is useful, but it is not at all clear to me why it has to be inconsistent with prior usage. There are thousands of articles with coordinates; many of those are of municipalities, which is often a new editor's portal into Wikipedia. I'm afraid that such new editors may be put off by the dispute apparently now going on. To me it is perfectly defensible to have coordinates appear both near the title and the external links; it makes no sense why the addition of the latter should interfere with the former. Kablammo 15:58, 11 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Barnstar! edit

  The Commons Ambassador Barnstar
For your hard work uploading free images to the Commons for Wikipedia articles, I award you The Commons Ambassador Barnstar. Keep up the good work. Dual Freq 01:07, 14 April 2007 (UTC)Reply


On a side note, thanks for fixing my coordinate errors, I was trying to be using GNIS, but I must have messed up copy and pasting the infobox and forgot to change a few numbers. Sorry. --Dual Freq 01:07, 14 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks very much for the barnstar! First one I have received. That coordinate error that I fixed was the only one that I found. All the rest have been dead on. Right now I am in the process of going back and adding geo coordinates to all of the pictures that I have uploaded to Commons. I wish I had done that from the start. It's quite tedious to go back and get geo coordinates again by locating things on the maps. I created a little Excel worksheet to convert all the coordinates from decimal to DMS. I wish there was a way we could directly enter decimal coordinates in a template and have Wikipedia do an automatic conversion. ●DanMSTalk 01:16, 14 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
I've had that same problem with coordinates since the templates don't always take the same format. USGS GNIS is a good source if you know the name, it usually lists both DD and DMS. USA Photomaps is my tool of choice allowing topo and aerial image download from Terraserver and displaying DD / DMS / UTM of mouse cursor or points. Its also gets GNIS names and plots them. Works well with high speed internet and a decent size hard disk since it retains the images after download. --Dual Freq 01:28, 14 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

U.S. Diplomatic representatives edit

Hi, I'm writing because you seem to have added succession boxes in a number of articles indicating that 19th century U.S. diplomatic representatives were "ambassadors." This is incorrect. Up until the 1890s, U.S. diplomats were generally accredited as "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary," and are referred to in short as the "U.S. Minister to [Wherever]". From the 1890s onwards, the number of Ambassadors sent out increased at the expense of Ministers, until by the 50s or so the US was only sending out ministers. It is not right to refer to Ministers as Ambassadors. It's good that you added the boxes, but they're not much use if they're actively misleading, as a large number of them are right now. The U.S. State Department very kindly makes it perfectly clear how each diplomatic representative was accredited. Given that the existence of many of these incorrect succession boxes (and perhaps incorrect in-text references, as well) is the result of your actions, I wonder if you might help in correcting these errors. Thanks, john k 07:04, 30 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Yes, technically you are correct. However, the title change had little real effect. Effectively there is little difference between an ambassador extraordinary and a minister plenipotentiary. We can use the term ambassador in a looser sense, as the highest-level official diplomatic representative one one nation to another. You will also note that all of the Wikipedia pages referring to United States Ambassador to <some nation> will show the complete history of the nation's top diplomat, regardless of title. I certainly do not object if you want to change the succession boxes. If you want to be perfectly accurate, there are some cases where a minister's title was changed while he was on post, so you may have to create two succession boxes in place of the existing one. ●DanMSTalk 00:40, 1 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
It is true that the title change did not have much real effect. But the U.S. decision to start credentialling ambassadors to major powers in the 1890s was an indication of the U.S.'s new status as a world power, and the switch to ambassadors for minor states in the 40s and 50s was an indication of a major shift in diplomacy more broadly. I don't believe it is correct to use "ambassador" in a broad sense when we are discussing a period when "ambassador" was not used in a broad sense. I don't object to United States Ambassador to Greece, or whatever, including both Ministers and Ambassadors, but you'll note that those articles are generally clear on who was a minister, and who an ambassador. There's no reason not to be precise on that. The only area where I see it as up for dispute is the category issue. It seems to me that it is problematic to identify people in categories as "ambassadors" when they never held that rank, but it would also be a lot of work to separate it out. That would definitely be the last thing I do on the matter. But I really do think that we should strive for precision and accuracy on this subject, especially given that the information is readily available to do so, which is not always the case. john k 02:27, 1 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Jackson Lake Dam edit

Just wanted to say...nice job.--MONGO 21:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Sure, no problem...I had it listed on my todo list on my userpage for months since I was creating dozens of stubs about the mountains and glaciers in Grand Teton NP. I had lots of info in my head, but couldn't seem to get to it...so I appreciate you "beating" me to the punch!--MONGO 03:56, 9 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

What about being an admin? edit

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I will accept the nomination if you wish to nominate me. ●DanMSTalk 01:16, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Sorry, I was quite busy in this days :-( I've now nominated you now ;-), good luck and happy editing! «Snowolf How can I help?» 21:34, 20 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Please state your acceptance (and answer the default questions) here. Happy editing, «Snowolf How can I help?» 14:45, 22 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Image:Nuvola Firefox icon.png edit

Hello, DanMS. An automated process has found and removed an image or media file tagged as nonfree media, and thus is being used under fair use that was in your userspace. The image (Image:Nuvola Firefox icon.png) was found at the following location: User:DanMS. This image or media was attempted to be removed per criterion number 9 of our non-free content policy. The image or media was replaced with Image:NonFreeImageRemoved.svg , so your formatting of your userpage should be fine. Please find a free image or media to replace it with, and or remove the image from your userspace. User:Gnome (Bot)-talk 07:24, 14 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Rfa edit

Hey Dan, just a quick question pertaining to your Rfa. I see you took an extended Wikibreak for about 3/4 of 2006, and I was curious as to why. As of now, it is the only thing standing in my way of giving you my support on your sysop-hood. Please reply on my talk page, at your convenience of course. Jmlk17 20:48, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Right on...thanks for the info! Jmlk17 06:26, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Image:Theodore_Bikel_Headshot.jpg listed for deletion edit

An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, Image:Theodore_Bikel_Headshot.jpg, 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. MECUtalk 18:15, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

"The" Wikipedia edit

I noticed your comment about "The" Wikipedia on my RFA page. It has always been unclear to me whether or not "the" is required, and in fact I must admit that I use it inconsistently—sometimes with "the" and sometimes without. I am more inclined to think it should be just Wikipedia without the article. I'm glad you brought it to my attention, though, and I am going to try to remember to omit the article in the future. I do a lot of copy editing in my professional work, so I should be more attentive to things like this. Has this ever been debated anywhere on The Wikipedia pages? ●DanMSTalk 20:42, 25 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

My comment was meant more out of humor than anything else, but I think most people tend to omit it. :-) (It's omitted in our article on Wikipedia) —METS501 (talk) 20:46, 25 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
No offense was taken by your comment—I'm glad you brought it to my attention. I like precision in writing. ●DanMSTalk 20:54, 25 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

AcreFeetToM3 edit

The functionality could be added to {{convert}}, if you like. I just never got around to adding volume conversions. -- drumguy8800 C T 22:19, 26 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Coords dec to dms template edit

Just a note to let you now that I've nominated {{Coords dec to dms}} for speedy deletion. I appreciate your well-meant efforts, but the template duplicates {{coord}}, which also offers far more functionality. Andy Mabbett 13:32, 29 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Congratulations edit

Congratulations. Here are what pass for words of wisdom from the puppy:
  1. Remember you will always protect the wrong version.
  2. Remember you must always follow the rules, except for when you ignore them. You will always pick the wrong one to do. (See #5)
  3. Remember to assume good faith and not bite. Remember that when you are applying these principles most diligently, you are probably dealing with a troll.
  4. Use the block ability sparingly. Enjoy the insults you receive when you do block.
  5. Remember when you make these errors, someone will be more than happy to point them out to you in dazzling clarity and descriptive terminology.
  6. and finally, Remember to contact me if you ever need assistance, and I will do what I am able.
KillerChihuahua?!?
DISCLAIMER: This humor does not reflect the official humor of Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, or Jimbo Wales. All rights released under GFDL.

You're an admin! edit

It is my pleasure to inform you that you are now an admin. Congratulations. You can feel free to do everything you're supposed to do and nothing you're not supposed to do. If you haven't already, now is the time look through the Wikipedia:Administrators' how-to guide and Wikipedia:Administrators' reading list. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, or at the Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard. Best wishes and good luck, -- Cecropia 15:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Congratulations, Dan. Best of luck with the tools. —Anas talk? 16:50, 30 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks to all. I will try not to foul it up irretrievably! ●DanMSTalk 00:03, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Happy Admin Anniversary! edit

  Wishing DanMS/Talk Archive 04 a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Trampton 06:19, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

--Trampton 06:19, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

  Wishing DanMS/Talk Archive 04 a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Arnon Chaffin Reveiw me? Talk 18:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Arnon Chaffin Reveiw me? Talk 18:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply


Congrats edit

Congrats on becomeing an admin. I know you will do good for Wikipedia! Politics rule 11:20, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

English Language history and timeline edit

I am trying to get in contact with the Daniel M. Short who created a tmeline/chrt of the history of the English Language. Do I have the right person? I'm an editor at a textbook company and would like to speak with you about a writing opportunity. I have been trying to go to www.danshort.com but have been unsuccessful. Is the sight down? Pease contact me at katherine.carroll@thomson.com Thank you.

DAN HELP !!! edit

Hey... I'm not sure if you remember me, but you really helped me out, with the creation of 2 articles The Revols Ken Kalmusky And ALL of the photos added, are marked for deletion, some are gone already. I've got all of the original publisher's information for the picture, of the cover of a book mentioned in the article, that I scanned, that was removed "Across The Great Divide" there are other newspaper clippings that are historically published pictures / articles, that I also have the Newspaper information for, that I can't figure out how to link, or associate with the pictures. you think you could help me again ? sorry for dragging you back into this. --Qwepasdl 03:53, 15 June 2007 (UTC)Reply


:I got it, thanks - Congrats on Admin status, you deserve it !! Qwepasdl 05:04, 15 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hello, Qwepasdl. I'm sorry for the delay in answering. I have been out of town and returned just this afternoon. Yes, I certainly remember you and assisting with your project. I'd be glad to help further. Is everything set now or do you need more assistance? ●DanMSTalk 00:08, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
No worries, I think it's all good, all of the images I had used for my articles, were marked for deletion, as I didn't specify a "Fair Use Rationale"
I really jumped into this whole Wikipedia thing "Cold" to fix The Revols article, that was poorly written, and up for deletion without knowing ANYTHING about editing or Wikipedia.

In fact, I still don't know anything. So if there's anything else that could "Sneak Up" on me, that I've done incorrectly, that could jeopardize the current structure or integrity of either of the 2 contributions I have made. 1 The Revols 2. Ken Kalmusky (Bassist for The Revols) - perhaps you could "Browse through" and see if everything is ok. and let me know what I need to fix.

Other then that, I do intend on adding more to wikipedia.

Is there a "Practice App" or area, that I can create a whole article, over time, and edit it, until it's just right, that recognizes and executes all the code, for viewing the article, without actually, creating it "Live on Wikipedia" so that when I'm finished an article, even if it's taken me 3 weeks to build - I can select "Edit" copy all of the text, create a new article in Wikipedia, and paste my article, having already worked out the bugs, and not having to worry about bot's and editors making changes "During" the creation of the article ?

Qwepasdl 03:42, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply