User talk:B.d.mills

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Archives[edit]

Outdated stuff has been moved to the Archives. Other content on these pages has been rearranged by topic.

Editing Experiments[edit]

Sig experiments[edit]

My new sig, as I join the fashion for obnoxious sigs....

--  B.d.mills  (Talk) 07:38, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

  • Obnoxious?!!! (angry face)!!! j/k -- BD2412 thimk 03:10, 2005 May 10 (UTC)
LOL ... I like your sig too. ;) --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 03:15, 10 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks - I just added yours to my tribute collection. -- BD2412 thimk 03:35, 2005 May 10 (UTC)

Pseudo-template for MOS violation (seasonal reference)[edit]

Paste into talk pages as needed:

The above excerpt violates the chronological guidelines for seasonal references in the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS). Please correct this with neutral wordings. Some examples of more suitable wordings may be found in the MOS.

The above excerpts violate the chronological guidelines for seasonal references in the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS). Please correct these with neutral wordings. Some examples of more suitable wordings may be found in the MOS.

Countering Hemispheric Bias in Wikipedia[edit]

Hemispheric Ignorance In SF[edit]

No strictly relevent to your bias quotes, but I can't resist quoting the standard example of sloppy SF: "He climbed to the top of the ruined Empire State building and gazed sadly at the sky, where Alpha Centauri shone, the nearest outpost of human civilization". New York, I'm told, is too far north to see Alpha Centauri. ---Isaac R 16:30, 14 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

That was very funny, I must admit I laughed when I read that one. Yes, it's true that Alpha Centauri is too far north to see Alpha Centauri. Where did you get it from? --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 01:32, 15 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]
To butt in here for a moment - it might be too far north now, but with precession it may be possible one day...? Every month I receive an email science fiction newsletter which lists bits of sloppy SF research and mangled writing under the heading "Thog's masterclass". Recent beauties have included :... she could see nothing but the old moon with a lost star drifting between its horns. (Patricia A. McKillip, _Heir of Sea and Fire_, 1980), and "The laboratory covers a dozen floors," the general said, "and in it we have every kind of equipment known. We can produce temperatures of minus 900 degrees Kelvin..." (Silas Water, _The Man with Absolute Motion_, 1955) Grutness...wha? 02:51, 20 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The correct answer to your question depends strongly on the time period when the story was set. The description included "the ruined Empire State building". The lifespan of the Empire State building would likely be measured in centuries, whereas precession and proper motion are effects that occur over longer timescales. My best guess is that by the time precession or proper motion allow Alpha Centauri to be visible from the skies of New York, the Empire State Building would long have passed into memory.
I have made the low-temperature mistake once in fiction myself. I was only eight or nine years old; I didn't know enough science at the time to know any better. --  B.d.mills  (Talk) 03:19, 20 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure where I saw this first, but I believe the quote is generally attributed to John W. Campbell, who must have read a lot of bad SF during his many years as an editor. Operating out of New York, of course! ----Isaac R 03:28, 20 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Northern bias[edit]

Bird Migration[edit]

Hi BD, I note your interest in boreocentric bias, boreal chauvinism or hemispheric ignorance, whatever you want to call it. One area it is rife is the field of interhemispheric bird migration, where birds (notably migratory waders) which breed in high northern latitudes and migrate to Australia, South America and Africa are said to move between their breeding grounds and their 'wintering' grounds, or are said to 'winter' in the southern hemisphere. I have already edited a couple of Wikipedia articles to mitigate this, but I am sure that there are plenty of other examples around. Maias 01:43, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that, I found it very interesting. I was editing the talk page for systemic bias when you dropped me a line, so your message was unusually well timed. Maybe a quotation illustrating the problem for migrating birds should be added to the list (go and have a look). --B.d.mills 01:48, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, a typical example is the following, taken from the article Red-necked Stint:
The Red-necked Stint, Calidris or Erolia ruficollis, is a small wader. This stint's breeding habitat is tundra in arctic north east Siberia. It nests on the ground. The Red-necked Stint is strongly migratory, wintering in south east Asia and Australasia as far south as Tasmania.
I would tend to replace 'wintering' with 'spending the non-breeding season', but it would be nice to find a less clunky term for it. Maias 03:37, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Further on the subject of bird migration, I think the best treatment is to consider the breeding and wintering from the point of view of the bird. This will of necessity require some tolerance of the boreocentric view because most migratory birds breed in the northern hemisphere. A consequence of this is we do not avoid using the verb winter for the small minority of migratory birds that breed in the southern hemisphere and spend the winter in the north. For these birds, wintering in the northern hemisphere is what they do. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 06:51, 4 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Some anonymous American with a hemispheric view of the world[edit]

One of the biggest problems you keep creating with your alleged biases is that you often say there is bias when the season and the place is mentioned. The U.S. is in the northern hemisphere. As was the Plymouth colony. You need read the context because it takes away from your good arguments when there actually is hemisphere bias. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.120.66.57 (talk) 04:28, 5 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As if I'm going to take advice from a user who is hiding behind an IP address and who won't read the Manual of Style. I just enforce the MOS, I didn't write it. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 05:23, 5 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Olympics[edit]

Hello B.D.Mills, as a Southern-hemisphere born and resident, I appreciate you effort against "Boreocentrism" in Wikipedia and try to eliminate seasonal references whenever possible. But I'd like to raise another point, all Wikipedia calls the (regular) Olympic Games as "Summer Olympics" which is a term I think is only used on countries that have winter (that is, snow/ice) sports, as a kind of "temperate-zone bias". The official term, "Games of the Olympiad" or maybe just "Olympic Games" (without season) are even avoided throughout Wikipedia. There is a small discussion about it on the Summer Olympics talk page but the administrators don't seem to notice it.Rsnetto74 (talk) 18:38, 2 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I will take a look. I'm not sure how to contribute here, although it is worth noting that on the two occasions when the Olympics were held in Australia, they were held in Spring (November 1956 and September 2000). The timing of the Rio Olympics will also be interesting. I do not have a preference for either term you cited. I focus more on clarifying seasonal references with dates where such dates can be found.
I will also clarify by stating that I do not eliminate all seasonal references, just the ones that are in violation of the MOS. An example: The Summer Triangle is a well-known asterism of three bright stars in the northern sky. Because it is a name, it is appropriate. Maybe the "Summer Olympics" can also be considered as acceptable in this context? -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 11:33, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Global perspectives task force[edit]

Hi B.d.mills! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countering_systemic_bias/Global_perspective We've a rudimentary task force page up]. If you'd like to sign up, even if only to indicate your support for the effort, that would be appreciated. Regardless, keep up the fine work. Benzocane 19:54, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Specific Contributions[edit]

Indus[edit]

ah, I didn't really have a permanent layout in mind for Indus. I just wanted to tidy up a little to see that it didn't get too out of hand. Fell free to undo everything I did to it. I didin't know that I was actually taking it out of order. I do have one sugesstion--put the huge 88 constellation table at the very bottom of the headings. Jaberwocky6669 15:37, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

  • oh yes and you are right about that stub notice. You gave me an idea. When an article reaches the point where a stub notice will get lost then should we consider the aricle to be a stub? I wonder what standard exists that determines whteher or not an article is a stub? Jaberwocky6669 15:39, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)
I'm not sure there is a stub standard as such. I feel that the stub is needed on those articles with blank sections. When a constellation has good information already, like Orion (constellation), then the stub is not needed. Where a constellation article lacks information about deep sky objects then the stub is definitely needed.
I'm not sure what you mean by the location of the large constellation table. Can you demonstrate by editing the Indus (constellation) article? --  B.d.mills  (T, C) 03:03, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I thought you hade edited the article? Jaberwocky6669 05:18, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)
I've edited the article recently, but you made the most recent edits. I think the article already conforms to your idea of putting the constellation tables at the bottom. I think they do look better placed right at the bottom just above the category section. —  B.d.mills  (T, C) 06:12, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I think that when most people come to a huge table in the article they may assume that they are at the end of the article and go elsewhere. I will move the stub notice to its previous location... Jaberwocky6669 06:18, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

For the good people in this project whom I have just contacted, you may reply in this section or on your user page. I am watching both locations. --  B.d.mills  (T, C)

I've noticed your contact notice about it. BTW we still didn't started similar project on Slovene WP, basically because of the lack of images in local language. I've seen that pl:WP has nice images, like this one for Dorado. --xJaM 11:29, 21 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, lists of species are normally in taxonomic order to show relationships. I've reformatted gull to avoid future confusion. jimfbleak 06:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. I did feel that the list was jumbled as it was. However, as it did have a reason for the order as you pointed out, I accept your revision. --B.d.mills 08:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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This is in the article space and not the category space. You know that to create a category you type 'Category:<name of category>' and not simply '<name of category>', yes? Would you like this deleted so you can create it in the proper namespace? (aeropagitica) 07:19, 30 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I forgot to put "category" at the start when I created it. I have since tagged it with "speedy". --B.d.mills 07:21, 30 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done! (aeropagitica) 07:43, 30 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

New Material[edit]

New contributions from other Wikipedians can go here. Alternatively, new material can be added to the end of one of the other sections if it fits better there. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 01:49, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Kingdom Hearts II FAC[edit]

The offending sentence has been changed. Do you have any other suggestions? Please leave comments at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Kingdom Hearts II. Thanks. Axem Titanium 03:07, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Axem Titanium 04:37, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Made suggested changes at Plymouth Colony[edit]

Per your suggestion, I have done my best to remove every reference to seasons from the article. However, I am stuck on the following sentances, as I am not sure of a good way to remove the seasonal references:

    • "With winter approaching and provisions running dangerously low, the passengers decided to return north and abandon their original landing plans.[11]" In this case, do you have a better way to refer to the cold and snowy months that occur in the northern hemisphere during the months of December, January, and February?
    • "The first structure, a "common house" of wattle and daub, took two weeks to complete in the harsh New England winter." Again, I am not sure how to remove the problem from this sentance. Could you help suggest how to remove the word winter from it?
    • "Thus, only seven residences (of a planned nineteen) and four common houses were constructed during the first winter.[22]" Again, help please?
    • "Nearly half of the original 102 passengers died during the first winter.[31] " Same problem as above. Any suggestions?
    • "Standish also organized the able-bodied men into military orders in February of the first winter. During the second winter, he helped design and organize the construction of a large palisade wall surrounding the settlement. " Argh. Unfortunately, the phrase "second winter" is the best I can use, since all references don't list exact dates, only using the phrase "winter".
    • "each of who lost their spouses during the harsh winter of 1620–1621, " again here, should I say something like "harsh snowy months of December, January, and February of 1620-1621"

Every other use of the words "Spring" "summer" or "autumn" has been removed from the article. Could you please tell me how to fix these sentances to remove the word "winter" from them? Please respond at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Plymouth Colony--Jayron32|talk|contribs 03:26, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have fixed your issue with this page. Do you have any further problems with the article? It was the only instance of season bias that i could find. Thanks for your review. Woodym555 18:00, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Resolving the "date format" problem for Battle of Normandy[edit]

Just to let you know that I have not decided not address your concern about the date format in the Talk:Battle of Normandy, as per User:Caranorn's argument. If you feel this was in error, please feel free to add back the tag and discuss it at Talk:Battle of Normandy. --Oshah 13:07, 8 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

[when?][edit]

Hello, something wrong happend with your template:when. In Greenland Ice Sheet Project and Insulin it ad few wrong iw. Lovecz (talk) 15:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ebola[edit]

Thank you for your suggestion regarding Ebola. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to).

Vega[edit]

Hi,

I noticed your addition to the Vega article concerning the future magnitude of the star. By any chance would you happen to have the name of the article and author from your reference? I know it's volume 95, but there is no contents listing available on the net (and I have long since disposed of my collection of S&T issues) so I can't properly complete the reference. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.—RJH (talk) 19:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I obtained this information from Sky and Telescope magazine, April 1998 edition. The author of the article used the then-recent HIPPARCOS results along with known proper motion information to determine the past and future brightest stars, and Vega was one of the stars covered because it will be the brightest star in the sky in the future.
I don't have the magazine with me right now so I cannot look up detailed information on the author and the like. I have it easily accessible at home and will consult it when I get home. I will provide volume and number, author, page numbers and article title. Is that sufficient? I have also provided similar information in another article (see: Epsilon Canis Majoris), and I will also need to provide a more detailed reference there.
I copied the table to the Talk page of List of brightest stars here: Historical brightest stars. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 23:40, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Reference: Jocelyn Tomkin, Sky and Telescope, Volume 95 Number 4, April 1998, pp. 59-63. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 11:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! Your addition corrected an error I made on the original article, so I appreciate the addition.—RJH (talk) 18:23, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Solar Eclipse Animations[edit]

Gee, would that I did make them. I'd taken a particular interest in the '09 eclipse, so I uploaded the animation myself, but the images were made by Andrew Sinclair, and I guess the image page doesn't make that terribly clear, so I'll fix that if I can.

The AOL link doesn't work anymore, but copies of the graphics are still extant on a NASA website, linked to from this page:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat/SEdecade2001.html (click on the time durations)

He said that putting the animations on Wikipedia is OK - he'd just like a message to let him know.Blue william (talk) 16:13, 6 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. It also seems some eclipses may be missing. The following is a catalog of available eclipse animations (assuming the file name is canonical). -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 00:58, 7 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
File:Solar eclipse animate (1991-Jan-15).gif Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1991-Jul-11).gif Solar eclipse of July 11, 1991 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1992-Jan-04).gif Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1992-Jun-30).gif Solar eclipse of June 30, 1992 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1992-Dec-24).gif Solar eclipse of December 24, 1992 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1993-May-21).gif Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1993-Nov-13).gif Solar eclipse of November 13, 1993 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1994-May-10).gif Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1994-Nov-03).gif Solar eclipse of November 3, 1994 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1995-Apr-29).gif Solar eclipse of April 29, 1995 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1995-Oct-24).gif Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1996-Apr-17).gif Solar eclipse of April 17, 1996 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1996-Oct-12).gif Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1997-Mar-09).gif Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1997-Sep-02).gif Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (1998-Feb-26).gif Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (1998-Aug-22).gif Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1999-Feb-16).gif Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (1999-Aug-11).gif Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2000-Feb-05).gif Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2000-Jul-01).gif Solar eclipse of July 1, 2000 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2000-Jul-31).gif Solar eclipse of July 31, 2000 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2000-Dec-25).gif Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000 P
Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2001-Dec-14).gif Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2002-Jun-10).gif Solar eclipse of June 10, 2002 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2002-Dec-04).gif Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2003-May-31).gif Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2003-Nov-23).gif Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2004-Apr-19).gif Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2004-Oct-14).gif Solar eclipse of October 14, 2004 P
Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005 H
Solar eclipse of October 3, 2005 A
Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2006-Sep-22).gif Solar eclipse of September 22, 2006 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2007-Mar-19).gif Solar eclipse of March 19, 2007 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2007-Sep-11).gif Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2008-Feb-07).gif Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008 A
Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 T
Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 A
Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 T
Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 A
Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2011-Jan-04).gif Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2011-Jun-01).gif Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2011-Jul-01).gif Solar eclipse of July 1, 2011 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2011-Nov-25).gif Solar eclipse of November 25, 2011 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2012-May-20).gif Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2012-Nov-13).gif Solar eclipse of November 13, 2012 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2013-May-10).gif Solar eclipse of May 10, 2013 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2013-Nov-03).gif Solar eclipse of November 3, 2013 H
File:Solar eclipse animate (2014-Apr-29).gif Solar eclipse of April 29, 2014 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2014-Oct-23).gif Solar eclipse of October 23, 2014 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2015-Mar-20).gif Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2015-Sep-13).gif Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2016-Mar-09).gif Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2016-Sep-01).gif Solar eclipse of September 1, 2016 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2017-Feb-26).gif Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017 A
Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2018-Feb-15).gif Solar eclipse of February 15, 2018 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2018-Jul-13).gif Solar eclipse of July 13, 2018 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2018-Aug-11).gif Solar eclipse of August 11, 2018 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2019-Jan-06).gif Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2019-Jul-02).gif Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2019-Dec-26).gif Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2020-Jun-21).gif Solar eclipse of June 21, 2020 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2020-Dec-14).gif Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2021-Jun-10).gif Solar eclipse of June 10, 2021 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2021-Dec-04).gif Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2022-Apr-30).gif Solar eclipse of April 30, 2022 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2022-Oct-25).gif Solar eclipse of October 25, 2022 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2023-Apr-20).gif Solar eclipse of April 20, 2023 H
File:Solar eclipse animate (2023-Oct-14).gif Solar eclipse of October 14, 2023 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2024-Apr-08).gif Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2024-Oct-02).gif Solar eclipse of October 2, 2024 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2025-Mar-29).gif Solar eclipse of March 29, 2025 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2025-Sep-21).gif Solar eclipse of September 21, 2025 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2026-Feb-17).gif Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2026-Aug-12).gif Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2027-Feb-06).gif Solar eclipse of February 6, 2027 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2027-Aug-02).gif Solar eclipse of August 2, 2027 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2028-Jan-26).gif Solar eclipse of January 26, 2028 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2028-Jul-22).gif Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2029-Jan-14).gif Solar eclipse of January 14, 2029 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2029-Jun-12).gif Solar eclipse of June 12, 2029 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2029-Jul-11).gif Solar eclipse of July 11, 2029 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2029-Dec-05).gif Solar eclipse of December 5, 2029 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2030-Jun-01).gif Solar eclipse of June 1, 2030 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2030-Nov-25).gif Solar eclipse of November 25, 2030 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2031-May-21).gif Solar eclipse of May 21, 2031 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2031-Nov-14).gif Solar eclipse of November 14, 2031 H
File:Solar eclipse animate (2032-May-09).gif Solar eclipse of May 9, 2032 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2032-Nov-03).gif Solar eclipse of November 3, 2032 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2033-Mar-30).gif Solar eclipse of March 30, 2033 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2033-Sep-23).gif Solar eclipse of September 23, 2033 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2034-Mar-20).gif Solar eclipse of March 20, 2034 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2034-Sep-12).gif Solar eclipse of September 12, 2034 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2035-Mar-09).gif Solar eclipse of March 9, 2035 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2035-Sep-02).gif Solar eclipse of September 2, 2035 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2036-Feb-27).gif Solar eclipse of February 27, 2036 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2036-Jul-23).gif Solar eclipse of July 23, 2036 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2036-Aug-21).gif Solar eclipse of August 21, 2036 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2037-Jan-16).gif Solar eclipse of January 16, 2037 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2037-Jul-13).gif Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2038-Jan-05).gif Solar eclipse of January 5, 2038 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2038-Jul-02).gif Solar eclipse of July 2, 2038 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2038-Dec-26).gif Solar eclipse of December 26, 2038 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2039-Jun-21).gif Solar eclipse of June 21, 2039 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2039-Dec-15).gif Solar eclipse of December 15, 2039 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2040-May-11).gif Solar eclipse of May 11, 2040 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2040-Nov-04).gif Solar eclipse of November 4, 2040 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2041-Apr-30).gif Solar eclipse of April 30, 2041 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2041-Oct-25).gif Solar eclipse of October 25, 2041 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2042-Apr-20).gif Solar eclipse of April 20, 2042 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2042-Oct-14).gif Solar eclipse of October 14, 2042 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2043-Apr-09).gif Solar eclipse of April 9, 2043 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2043-Oct-03).gif Solar eclipse of October 3, 2043 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2044-Feb-28).gif Solar eclipse of February 28, 2044 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2044-Aug-23).gif Solar eclipse of August 23, 2044 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2045-Feb-16).gif Solar eclipse of February 16, 2045 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2045-Aug-12).gif Solar eclipse of August 12, 2045 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2046-Feb-05).gif Solar eclipse of February 5, 2046 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2046-Aug-02).gif Solar eclipse of August 2, 2046 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2047-Jan-26).gif Solar eclipse of January 26, 2047 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2047-Jun-23).gif Solar eclipse of June 23, 2047 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2047-Jul-22).gif Solar eclipse of July 22, 2047 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2047-Dec-16).gif Solar eclipse of December 16, 2047 P
File:Solar eclipse animate (2048-Jun-11).gif Solar eclipse of June 11, 2048 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2048-Dec-05).gif Solar eclipse of December 5, 2048 T
File:Solar eclipse animate (2049-May-31).gif Solar eclipse of May 31, 2049 A
File:Solar eclipse animate (2049-Nov-25).gif Solar eclipse of November 25, 2049 H
File:Solar eclipse animate (2050-May-20).gif Solar eclipse of May 20, 2050 H
File:Solar eclipse animate (2050-Nov-14).gif Solar eclipse of November 14, 2050 P

Hi. I'm not actually deleting the eclipse animations; I've been moving them over to the Commons (and deleting them when an equivalent one already exists). They are now located in the appropriate sub-directories of commons:Category:Solar eclipse. Please let me know if I've accidentally deleted one which you've modified, and I'll undelete it. Can I suggest that you upload the animations to the Commons in future, rather than to Wikipedia? Uploading to the Commons has several advantages: it provides a centralised repository for all of the freely-licensed images, and these images can then be used on all of the Wikipedia sites (e.g. the different language Wikipedias, Wikinews, etc.).

The infobox I've created is already a template; it's at Template:Infobox Solar eclipse. You can find usage information there if you want to add it to new articles. To create the template parameters, I used the terminology that was already in use on some of the articles in the form of tables. It's pretty easy to change that, though (and the beauty of templates is that the change applies to all of the articles). I'll change "general eclipse" to "partial eclipse" when I'm a bit more awake (unless you beat me to it).

Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 00:23, 10 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Altered Speedy Deletion rationale: Jonathan Worrel[edit]

Hello B.d.mills, and thanks for your work patrolling new changes. I am just informing you that I have deleted a page you tagged (Jonathan Worrel) under a criterion different from the one your provided, which was inappropriate or incorrect. CSD criteria are narrow and specific to protect the encyclopedia, and the process is more effective if the correct deletion rationale is supplied. Consider reviewing the criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions or problems, please let me know. Thanks again! SoWhy 08:05, 22 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I did not actually supply any reason; I just used the {{speedy}} tag without a reason parameter. I was reviewing the CSD to see if I used the tag correctly and so I could supply a reason when you rang. I will take the trouble to review that page so I can supply reasons in the future. Thank you for your kind remarks. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 08:10, 22 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

House Sparrow[edit]

You have new message/s Hello. You have a new message at Talk:House Sparrow's talk page.

Research survey invitation[edit]

Greetings B.D.Mills-

My name is Randall Livingstone, and I am a doctoral student at the University of Oregon, studying digital media and online community. I am posting to invite you to participate in my research study exploring the work of Wikipedia editors who are members of WikiProject: Countering Systemic Bias. The online survey should take 20 to 25 minutes to complete and can be found here:

https://oregon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cSHzuwaQovaZ6ss

Your responses will help online communication researchers like me to better understand the collaborations, challenges, and purposeful work of Wikipedia editors like you. In addition, at the end of the survey you will have the opportunity to express your interest in a follow-up online interview with the researcher.

This research project has been reviewed and approved by the Wikimedia Research Committee as well as the Office for Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Oregon. For a detailed description of the project, please visit its Meta page. This survey is voluntary, and your confidentiality will be protected. You will have the choice of using your Wikipedia User Name during the research or creating a unique pseudonym. You may skip any question you choose, and you may withdraw at any time. By completing the survey, you are providing consent to participate in the research.

If you have any questions about the study, please contact me via my Talk Page (UOJComm) or via email. My faculty advisor is Dr. Ryan Light. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact the Office for Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Oregon.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Randall Livingstone School of Journalism & Communication University of Oregon UOJComm (talk) 03:40, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

July WMAU Melbourne Meetup[edit]

Hi, At last month's June meetup we discussed the idea of setting up a Training Course at a University of the Third Age (U3A) to be held in 2013 and named Becoming a Wikipedia editor. In order to get this course up and running we are calling for volunteers to help develop the idea, and either tutor part of the course, or provide one on one help to students in the class. All local Wikipedians are welcome to discuss this at our 11am meetup to be held this Sunday on 22 July. Please add your name to the attending list at Wikipedia:Meetup/Melbourne 23. Food and beverages are provided. Cuddy Wifter (talk) 03:20, 13 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

New userbox about hemispheric bias[edit]

Hi, I have just created the userbox below to show my support for your essay about Northern Hemisphere bias.

Code Result
{{Template:User Hemisphere Neutral}}
This user supports
hemisphere-neutral language.
Usage

I created the image myself from a Public Domain image. Feel free to use, edit, and promote this userbox as you see fit. AugurNZ 00:50, 28 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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Astronomical unit[edit]

I reverted your change; the relationship between seasons and perihelion is both essentilly fixed and relevant - it makes a difference in climates. It's essentially fixed because it changes on a 22,000 year cycle. In our lifetime, we will not see them shift relative to each other. Regards, Tarl N. (discuss) 01:25, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Your reversion is incorrect, does not comply with the MOS and your arguments for doing so are specious.
"Essentially fixed" is NOT the same as "fixed" and hence is technically incorrect and misleading. Seasons are completely irrelevant to laboratory timekeeping using atomic clocks. Perihelion and aphelion and the consequent changes in the Earth's orbital speed is the primary consideration that is relevant to relativistic time dilation (perturbations by the moon and other solar system bodies are also relevant).
Just how do the seasons matter here? No good explanation has been provided. The climate on Earth has absolutely nothing to do with its orbital speed around the Sun. It seems that you're clinging to a view of describing everything in relation to seasons, even for events that are not directly linked to them.
Please review the MOS, particularly MOS:SEASON, which says in part: "Avoid the use of seasons to refer to a particular time of year". In this particular article, it is correct to use "perihelion" and "aphelion" here. If you want to focus more on the present time, use "January" and July", NOT "northern winter" and "northern summer".
For that reason, I edited the article again to make it comply with the MOS. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 04:11, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The seasons are affected by the position of the perihelion; the northern and southern summer/winter cycles have different intensities because the sun is closer/further at the time of maximum insolation. Orbital speed has nothing to do with it, distance does. Tarl N. (discuss) 15:28, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]
You are making very specious arguments here. I'll say it again. Seasons are completely irrelevant in the context of relativistic time dilation, which is the context in the article where perihelion and aphelion are discussed. You're trying to justify seasonal references when in reality you're just using them as a boreocentric way of discussing time. Per MOS, this should be avoided - use months instead. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 04:35, 23 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Ah. I see what you are getting at. The comment is specifically In particular, time intervals measured on Earth's surface (terrestrial time, TT) are not constant when compared to the motions of the planets: the terrestrial second (TT) appears to be longer during the Northern Hemisphere winter and shorter during the Northern Hemisphere summer ...
The reason for specifying "northern hemisphere winter" and similar references is simply to convey to the reader when the earth is at what points in the orbit. They could have said specific months or even the current dates of the year for perihelion and aphelion, but for whatever reasons they chose to specify in terms of season. It does NOT violate MOS:SEASON because it is explicitly disambiguated by specifying which summer is being referenced. If you notice, right after you reverted me, someone else (not me) immediately reverted you again. If you want to argue this, take it to the article's talk page. Per WP:BRD get consensus on that talk page before attempting to make your edit again.
As to the relationship being essentially fixed; It hasn't moved more than a couple of days since the initial discovery of the perihelion, and it won't move more than another day in your lifetime. So it's essentially fixed. Argue that on the article talk page if you want. Tarl N. (discuss) 03:01, 24 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]
You do not see what I am getting at because you seem to be unfamiliar with MOS:SEASON.
You stated this:
"The reason for specifying "northern hemisphere winter" and similar references is simply to convey to the reader ..."
What reader exactly? If there were only northern hemisphere seasons, the hypothetical reader would be someone from the Northern Hemisphere only. A southern-hemisphere reader would not know for sure whether the foreign phrasing "northern hemisphere winter" should be translated into English as "southern hemisphere summer", "southern hemisphere winter", "winter" or "December to February/March" - and all of these interpretations are possible depending on the context. Suppose the text "northern hemisphere winter" was changed to say "southern hemisphere summer" (with the opposite hemisphere absent). It is equivalent. Would you know the intent unambiguously? Is it really that simple?
There is nothing wrong with specifying January as the perihelion month and July as the aphelion month. This is the correct usage per MOS:SEASON. The Gregorian calendar is appropriate to use here because this is describing a hemispherically-invariant astronomical phenomenon; perihelion and aphelion are in the same Gregorian months for everyone. Using months is the simplest way of conveying this to the reader. Not seasons. Using seasons to indicate astronomical time is inappropriate in this context. A sure sign that the use of seasons is inappropriate in an article is if the article requires verbose time descriptions like "northern hemisphere winter/southern hemisphere summer" when a specific time period like "January" can convey the same information more concisely, more clearly, more precisely and correctly per MOS.
Before posting here again, consult MOS:SEASON, in particular the paragraph that starts with "Avoid the use of seasons to refer to a particular time of year".

 B.D.Mills  (T, C) 10:13, 26 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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Nomination for merging of Template:Globalize[edit]

Template:Globalize has been nominated for merging with Template:Globalize/Northern. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 15:49, 5 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A tag has been placed on Category:Northern-centric requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section C1 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the category has been empty for seven days or more and is not a disambiguation category, a category redirect, a featured topics category, under discussion at Categories for discussion, or a project category that by its nature may become empty on occasion.

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Boreocentrism built into Wikipedia's architecture[edit]

Hello. You may be interested (to document) the following example of naïve belief that seasons and times of year are interchangeable; a telling symptom. This time it is not Wikipedia's content, but Wikipedia's software that committed the transgression. Fortunately I was able to get the issue resolved. [1] Regards, Ypna (talk) 07:51, 19 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Nomination for deletion of Template:Metricate[edit]

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