User talk:Arch dude

Singularity by 2020

Hey. I stumbled upon your userpage by accident, and I am curious why do you think it will happen so early. I would put my money on somewhere in 20-40 years. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 04:42, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Hi, Piotr. I cannot provide a rational defense of the date, only of the concept. Singulatarians generally accept one or the other of two models: the "swell" or the "spike," as described in Damien Broderick's book The Spike. The "swell" assumes that progress will continue incrementally just as has occurred in the past. I find the "spike" model to be much more likely. In this model, The infrastructure gradually improves until it can support a sudden breakthrough to Superintelligence, the event known as the "singularity.". Then some minor catalytic addition occurs that creates a self-improving autonomous system. This system then evolves abruptly, probably over the course of a few hours or days. In this model, not much is visible to most observers prior to the transition. So, it comes down to a feeling as to what constitutes a sufficient infrastructure and when will that infrastructure be available. A minimally-sufficient infrastructure would require a significant and unlikely catalyst, probably purposely developed. As the infrastructure becomes richer, a broader range of progressively simpler catalysts are possible, and eventually the infrastructure becomes so rich that an unintentional (but improbable) catalyst suffices. Richer still, and and increasingly broad range of increasingly more probable unintentional catalysts suffice. In this model, the singularity is inevitable unless humanity ceases to exist. But the richness of the infrastructure is increasing at an exponential rate. My unsupported guess is that we are well past the minimally-sufficient infrastructure and are at or near the point where an improbable accident is possible, or where a deliberate breakthrough could be initiated by an individual working alone with only normal access to the Internet. Major elements of the infrastructure include massive computing capability (including clouds and supercomputers) increasingly rich knowledge bases (including Wikipedia,) and increasingly sophisticated analytics (including search engines and Watson.) -Arch dude (talk) 23:38, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Template talk:Cite DNB

Hi Arch duke. Thanks for your comment, which was certainly a more reasonable analysis than either PBS or Billinghurst had to offer. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what steps I should take from here. I tried asking for help at the Help Desk just last month, to which only PBS and Billinghurst replied. I could submit another edit request, although it must be said I am still not sure how to put my proposal into practice, code-wise.--Nevé–selbert 11:05, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

Outstanding Contributions Recognition

	Outstanding Contributions Recognition
	Your work and contributions are exemplary. Dear Arch dude, with intelligent and most helpful inputs at the Help desk, you truly are an outstanding contributor. Your efforts to guide editors at the Help desk is appreciated. Keep up the great work! :) Lourdes

A cup of coffee for you!

Thanks for your contributions. You might want to adjust your date for the singularity, as it won't be prior to 2020 in 17-18 days. Either way, keep up the good work! Jeb3Talk at me hereWhat I've Done 16:14, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

Just a tip...

...but I usually keep a link handy to c:Commons:List of administrators by language, for situations that involve non-English issues. Once you bother people a few times you start to remember who speaks what and who is normally willing to help. GMG^talk 17:05, 23 January 2020 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Thanks for the feedback! I am determined to get it right; changing content and correcting citations is a priority. Just learning how to do this... it isn't easy for a beginner. Thanks for taking the time to write! Harpmom39 (talk) 02:11, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

Copyright stuff

Answering this as the thread got archived...

I was not aware that the US required fixation for copyright (unlike some other countries including my own). Under your interpretation, I could (for instance) go to the Metropolitan Opera, film the latest rendition of Don Giovanni and post it on Youtube (the score sheet is out of copyright, the performance is "live", and I am doing my own recording). I highly doubt that is the case. Maybe there is a specific exemption for artistic performances as opposed to instruction material?

Even then, the teacher likely prepared for the conference and has some notes for it, which the recording would then be a copyright violation of. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 12:52, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

@Tigraan:I don't know how your Don Giovanni example would work, and I agree it's a good test case. But the lecture notes are not a good example, because they had not yet been "published" until the "performance". I am not a copyright lawyer, just an interested layman. -Arch dude (talk) 17:06, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

April 2020

I noticed that a message you recently left to a newcomer may have been unduly harsh. Please remember not to bite the newcomers. If you see others making a common mistake, consider politely pointing out what they did wrong and showing them how to correct it. It takes more time, but it helps us retain new editors. I have noticed in some of your responses, particularly in the helpdesk you consistently and constantly talk down to people and belittle them. An example is where you said "Anyone" which includes you to a teacher. Please try to be more respective and diplomatic in your responses to people asking for help. Thanks Galendalia (talk) 23:49, 25 April 2020 (UTC)

@Galendalia: I try to be sensitive to newbies. However, when a "request or help" is a rant about how bad Wikipedia is, I usually respond with what I consider to be a "so fix it" message of the appropriate tenor. I feel that I did so in this instance. I do not feel that I "belittle" any of the folks who ask for help, but please do ding me on a case-by-case basis when you feel I am overly harsh. -Arch dude (talk) 00:06, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

• No worries, but that "so fix it" can come off pretty harsh and can be seen as a personal attack regardless if they are new or older editors. Thanks for your understanding. --Galendalia (talk) 00:08, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not a coffee shop. The training course to be kind, courteous and considerate is to newbies is not well attended. I check in at the Help Desk very often to increase my awareness of what’s going on in Wikipedia World. I am always impressed with the service ArchDude provides. He is not a “handholder” or a hall monitor. He provides straightforward answers that may challenge the new editor to alter his opinion of working here. That’s it! He doesn’t belittle. He challenges.―Buster7 ☎ 03:38, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

I agree. Note that the user who posted Template:Uw-bite above has since been “blocked indefinitely from editing for ... personal attacks”. ◅ Sebastian 09:00, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Yea. I saw that afterward. I have greeted hundreds of new editors. I gave them some tools and left them to their own journey, as was done for me. I wasted my precious time on some and was rewarded by others. And some, like Galen, are lost causes that play at editing but are just here to disrupt. ―Buster7 ☎ 22:56, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia page edits

Thank you for the responses. Noted the procedure for future edit requests. I see some page issues for previous edits: A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. Could you please help with the correction of this as there are valid citations added to the page. Thank you for your help. Arantxa147 (talk) 20:07, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia page edits

Sorry, that wasn’t my intention. Thank you very much for your prompt reply and help on this. It is the collective effort of all the contributors which has helped Wikipedia grow and become one of the best knowledge and information hubs on the Internet. Arantxa147 (talk) 20:16, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

For your user page

This editor is a Senior Editor and is entitled to display this Rhodium Editor Star.

Cheers & thanks!

Thanks for your quick response here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk#http%3A%2F%2Fyalereviewofbooks.com%2F_considered_a_reputable_source%3F BrianLeeMarsh (talk) 13:50, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

Good example for AGF

Hi Arch dude, your reply to the question Help: I was the Captain- I was there! was an elegant example not just for WP:AGF, but also for User:SebastianHelm/principles#A4GF. I can learn from that! ◅ Sebastian 10:38, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

@Sebastian: I do try to assume good faith, but this response is more nuanced that that. The Captain must be at least 90 years old and is highly unlikely to be an expert computer user. I'm 70 and an Army veteran, and both of my parents served as Army officers in WWII, so I spend a little extra time trying to be respectful in cases like this. Orangemike made a perfectly good response, assuming good faith and providing the needed information, and I would not have added to it in most circumstances. I am a good deal more brusque with paid editors. -Arch dude (talk) 14:49, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

It seems we're not on the same page: (1) The BA2069 incident took place 20 years ago, so for the captain to be at least 90 years old now, he would have to have been at least 70 at the time. (2) I don't see Orangemike in that conversation at all, do you maybe mean Hoary? Their reply also meets my A4GF criteria. But yours is particularly elegant, starting out by respectfully addressing “the captain”, and then, with the perfectly tailored advice to “get the correct information published in one of the aviation industry magazines” smoothly placing the ball in the OP's court. ◅ Sebastian 19:25, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

@Sebastian: Oops! Sorry, I thought you were referring to This. Different captain. I thought I was a bit too brusque on the The BA2069 incident response. -Arch dude (talk) 20:17, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Man, you're a tough case; you seem to be really praise resistant. Neither in your BA2069 incident response, nor in the Chodo Airport one did I find you anything like brusque. I give up on the former; I think I made myself clear enough. In the case of Chodo, you even softened Orange Mike's reply by providing a bonus explanation to further the OP's understanding of why we can't do as he wished.

But since you so desperately want to see yourself as brusque, maybe the next help topic, the question about CSS animations, can serve as an example: In your reply to User:Positron832, you could have reached the destination of Harmony_And_Mutual_Understanding a little faster if you had taken the first exit off the highway. That is, if your first reply, instead of starting out with NOT, had already included your acknowledgment of their editing or your kind remark on their bouncing logo. But even that first reply was completely appropriate and obviously Positron832 took it very well. ◅ Sebastian 01:21, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Re:Media namespace

Thank you very much for your reply. However, I would like to clarify on what I mean by the media namespace. If you go to Help:Files, you will see a table with a list of namespaces on the right. On the bottom where it says Virtual namespaces, you will see the ID -2 paired with the word Media in bold. The difference between the media namespace and the file namespace is that the File namespace, for example: File:Example.jpg, will take you to the page of the file. The Media namespace, for example: Media:Example.jpg, will link directly to the file. You can click on the links to test. I hope this helps. Gioguch (talk) 04:26, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

P.S. Typing Media:Example.jpg in the URL will take you to File:Example.jpg, you have to type it in the search bar, click on the link below to link directly to the file.

Restore accessibility of article page that has been to redirected to less-relevant article

Re:

Thank you for the accurate, useful advice on finding the real WP page behind a redirect. The results of the change are still fermenting, but I am very happy to have gotten clear, actionable advice from someone when I was in a WP quandary.

Sahara110 (talk) 19:26, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

ArbCom 2020 Elections voter message

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How to keep from being asked for donations

I haven't seen a place to tell people how they can do this. I was giving advice to an IP and saw your response to a question about that.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 23:32, 30 November 2020 (UTC)

Getting help from Facebook

I don't know if telling people who need help with Facebook that professionals will help them is a good idea. I have tried and all Facebook seems to do is show you a list of frequently asked questions.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:12, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

@Vchimpanzee: my reply was somewhat sardonic: Bugging paid ("professional") employees is preferable to bugging Wikipedia help desk volunteers when you have a Facebook problem. The fact that the for-profit company does not provide useful help is not Wikipedia's problem. -Arch dude (talk) 22:27, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

I think it would be more useful to mention that.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 22:42, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Replacement images

Hi Arch dude! I've created a new image to replace a non-free image used in the Super-Kamiokande article. I'm pretty confident that it doesn't infringe on anyone's copyright but I thought I'd post a link here for you to take a look, as I mentioned at the Help desk the other day. You can see in the image description links to the original image and a reference image that I used. I could of course change the layout substantially but I thought it'd be pretty pointless. nagualdesign 01:11, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

I've uploaded another image to replace a non-free image. Again, it isn't that different from the image it replaces but I think it sidesteps any copyright limitations. Feel free to disagree. I can always make more substantial edits. nagualdesign 01:53, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Nagualdesign: Your first new inage clearly contains no creative element from the source image. I recommend that you change the wording in the image description, from "based on" to "information taken from" to make it clear that you are not trying to copy the image. The second image is more problematical. You used exactly the same shapes, in exactly the same layout and orientation, as the source image. Sadly, "layout" is considered to be a copyrightable "creative element". I really, really hate this, because I think copyright law is just plain nasty in cases like this. If you have become too frustrated to try again, I will make an attempt to create an alternative. Where does this image belong in the article? would it look better if it were more vertical? Are there widely-accepted icons used by process engineers for these elements (compressors, filter, etc.)? IF so there may be a open-source set of such elements (FreeCAD, Inkacape, or other) and you could use those. -Arch dude (talk) 02:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll make a few changes later today. What do you make of this image? nagualdesign 11:24, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

I've made some minor changes to the image file descriptions, rewording "based on" to "made using reference" and linking directly to the references rather than linking to non-free images hosted on Wikipedia. I could remove the links altogether but I think it's better to provide that information. I did a search for various symbols used in ventilation system schematics and decided that a bunch of rectangles and ovals are generic enough. I'll take my chances. nagualdesign 15:04, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

 Done The aspect ratio of the air purification system image wasn't working well in the article so I decided to change the layout after all. nagualdesign 23:52, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

File:Southall FC 1883-84 team.jpg

File:Southall FC 1883-84 team.jpg

RE: @Mark Roach Southall FC: "Permission to publish" is insufficient. Instead, we need a formal CC-BY-SA license from the copyright holder (usually the photographer

Hi, as per the title of the image it was taken in 1883-84 so permission from the photographer is of course not possible, however it is owned by Southall Football Club. How do I now go about following correct procedure and implementing what you have described above please?

The permission from the owner of the image is granted, so it's just about how I can now follow the correct procedure, so I'd be grateful if you can confirm what I need to do now and how. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mark Roach Southall FC (talk • contribs) 16:06, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Mark Roach Southall FC: Sorry, but Wikipedia must follow the law, and that includes copyright law. In my opinion copyright law is a disaster. Unless you can assert that the club owns the copyright, then you cannot upload that picture at all. No process can supercede the law. If you can assert that the club owns the copyright, then an officer of the club can license it to us under the CC-BY-SA. Basically during the upload process, you (on behalf of the club) will assert that you are the owner of the copyright and that you license it to us under CC-BY-SA. This allows us and anybody else to use the picture for any purpose, as long as that use attributes the picture to the club. -Arch dude (talk) 16:18, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Ok thank you, so can you guide me how to go back in an edit to do that please? Mark Roach Southall FC (talk)