User talk:Stephen Ewen

Archive 1, Archive 2, Archive 3, Archive 4, Archive 5, Archive 6, Archive 7, Archive 8, Archive 9, Archive 10, Archive 11

Where Steve lives it is approximately: 02:49

Thanks

Thanks muchly Steve, nice to pop my head 'round the door! John Stephenson 21:15, 13 February 2008 (CST)

Follow-up

Thanks Stephen. I really appreciate your effort. I'll get started on the uploading tomorrow and start adding more to the article subpages as well. The sound files idea sounds excellent. Meg Ireland 03:11, 15 February 2008 (CST)

Please delete an image I uploaded

Stephen, I uploaded earlier today Image:Perkins Triangle Distillation Setup.png. The I found that the image had a flaw as well is being mis-named (it should be Perkin ... not Perkins). So I uploaded this corrected, re-named version Image:Perkin Triangle Distillation Setup.png.

I drew both of the above versions myself and licensed both of them as PD-new. They are similar (but far from being exactly the same) to the image we tried to upload from Commons but could not, because the Wikipedian who drew it declined to give his real name.

Could you please delete Image:Perkins Triangle Distillation Setup.png, which is the flawed and misnamed version? Thanks in advance. - Milton Beychok 02:03, 16 February 2008 (CST)

Done. I've had in the back of my mind to create a really nice 3-D image of that, but am not sure I will find the time but hope to. If you have a really large version of that image, send it to me by email so I don't have to strain as much should I find time to give it a go. You are a pretty amazin' fellow, by the way. :-) Stephen Ewen 02:11, 16 February 2008 (CST)

Stephen, thanks for being so prompt. That image is 311 x 471px and if my 85-year old eyes can see it easily, your eyes should have no problem. In any event, the image as it now stands is perfectly adequate. Thanks again, - Milton Beychok 12:36, 16 February 2008 (CST)

Symbols image

Hey Stephen. There was a discussion about this on Wikipedia. Apparently the symbols are considered public domain because the symbols have existed for some considerable centuries before they were reused by members of Led Zeppelin. The exact authorship is unknown. Meg Ireland 16:48, 17 February 2008 (CST)

Well, look at it from two angles. Angle one: let's assume the individual symbols are PD. However, in that combination, a derivative work of PD materials, they may be trademarked, just as is the combination of symbols that make up "Led Zeppelin" (each letter of that name is PD, no?). Angle two, let's assume the individual characters are not copyrightable. That still does not mean the combination, the derivative work, is not copyrightable.

Anyone can take public domain materials and create a derivative work from them, and that work is copyrightable if it has sufficient originality. The severable PD items would remain PD, but not the creative derivative work that uses them. Which is the case here? Beats me! And I don't think its worth researching and asking Atlantic. Hence, I don't think it wise to assert it as "public domain".

I added some more clarifications in the notes section of the image.

Stephen Ewen 19:12, 17 February 2008 (CST)

Would appreciate your comments

Stephen, if you have the time or the inclination, please take a look at the list of articles created on my user page. Am I overdoing it? Or does CZ think "the more, the merrier"? I would appreciate any comments you care to offer. - Milton Beychok 00:16, 18 February 2008 (CST)

Have a ball, Milton.

Stephen Ewen 00:20, 18 February 2008 (CST)

Time cover

I see that Prof. Jensen has put a Time cover into the 2008 Presidential article with a justification that reads: "fair use Category Five: Book, periodical, and disc covers, and promotional posters, comic strips, editorial cartoons, and closely similar". (http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/2008_United_States_presidential_election) I wasn't aware that CZ had authorized this sort of usage. I'm all for it, of course, as I have a bunch of Time covers that I would like to use in some of the articles I've worked on. As I recall, some time ago you nixed my use of a Time cover until we tried to get authorization from Time mag. They sent us an email saying we could use it for $1000 or some such. You resent an explanation and, I think, we never got a reply. So, what is your take on the present use? Hayford Peirce 10:20, 18 February 2008 (CST)

Jumping the gun, is he? See CZ:Proposals/Non-comprehensive_fair_use_policy. Stephen Ewen 13:04, 18 February 2008 (CST)

I dunno. You tell *me* -- I've got a bunch of Time covers just waiting to be used.... Hayford Peirce 13:10, 18 February 2008 (CST)

If it were me, I'd go get after him for jumping the gun. Stephen Ewen 13:18, 18 February 2008 (CST)

I'm just an innocent bystander seeking elucidation.... Hayford Peirce 13:25, 18 February 2008 (CST)

Stephen, I too would appreciate knowing whether I may use magazine and/or book cover images in articles, without seeking authorization from publisher. Also: If I request permission for a scientific journal article or book illustration, can I offer that it cannot be re-used by others but will only be used for the article specified. And if so, how do I protect the illustration from re-use in an otherwise CC-by-sa article? --Anthony.Sebastian 14:06, 18 February 2008 (CST)

See CZ:Proposals/Non-comprehensive_fair_use_policy. On the other matter, check out CZ:Upload-Wizard, the section "From a copyright holder who has given me written permission to use his or her work". Maybe test it out by uploading

. Things get really well labeled to avoid CC-by-sa confusion there. :-) Stephen Ewen 14:34, 18 February 2008 (CST)

Re Life/Draft

Stephen, thanks for tidying up the images in Life/Draft. Gareth Leng happy with my responses to his long list of critiques and prepared to approve replacing Life with the draft version (see http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Talk:Life/Draft#Thanks_Anthony). I've asked Chris Day to set up the draft version for approval if he agrees with Gareth. If so, will you look in and consider adding your approval. Thanks. --Anthony.Sebastian 13:55, 18 February 2008 (CST)

I can look in and add my encouragement as an author. :-) Stephen Ewen 13:57, 18 February 2008 (CST)

CZ:Recipe

Please have a look at: CZ:Proposals/Ad_hoc (CZ:Proposals/How_should_we_classify_and_index_recipes?) and please give your comments. Today is supposed to be the last day before it goes to the next step. However, there hasn't been any discussions on it. What do I do next? Supten Sarbadhikari 02:43, 19 February 2008 (CST)

Supten, you might use discretion and increase the period for length of discussion. At the time that proposal was initially made, no one really knew how to work the system, least of all the proposer. A lot still aren't sure. :-) Stephen Ewen 02:48, 19 February 2008 (CST)

Second. Definitely. That's only fair. That was one of the very first proposals, and I for one still don't have my head completely around this. Aleta Curry 14:44, 19 February 2008 (CST)

Hobbies

"My hobbies are...", or, "I enjoy da-da-da and ta-ta-ta as hobbies..." or "As a hobby, I do this." ;) --Robert W King 15:10, 19 February 2008 (CST)

Driving manual

Steve, why don't you propose (and drive) another proposal on Driving proposals? :-) Supten Sarbadhikari 01:06, 20 February 2008 (CST)

Can you make a proposal for that first? :-) Stephen Ewen 03:59, 20 February 2008 (CST)

Deleting an article and renaming another

Stephen: The following too technical for me.

I wish to delete http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:How_to_submit_articles_in_word_processor_format.

And I wish to rename http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Email_us_an_article_in_word_processor_format using the proper naming convention for CZ: type articles.

Will you do those for me. Those involved have no disagreement. Thanks in advance.

I may have to change the link on Main Page after renaming http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Email_us_an_article_in_word_processor_format. --Anthony.Sebastian 19:34, 20 February 2008 (CST)

Well, we can't please 'em all

Think maybe this fellow is having a bad day? Aleta Curry 04:10, 22 February 2008 (CST)

Problem with Daniel Mietchen entry on Editors list

Hi Stephen, User:Daniel Mietchen is incorrectly listed on the page of Editors under the "U" category and I can't seem to edit that particular page. He tried to email the editors but was rejected when his name was not found. Is this something you can fix and correspond with Daniel regarding the fix afterwards? Many thanks. David E. Volk

You can see the fix here - not sure how to ever automate that. Stephen Ewen 13:11, 22 February 2008 (CST)

Thanks Stephen! David E. Volk 13:47, 22 February 2008 (CST)

BTW, one can always search for someone's last name. Stephen Ewen 14:43, 22 February 2008 (CST)

I had no problem finding him on the list, but apparently the moderator of the Editor email list did. :) David E. Volk

Buck Owens

Can you check out this article - Draft:Buck Owens. I have no idea what's going on there. --Todd Coles 22:25, 23 February 2008 (CST)

It was a strange, fannish article, with many strange features that we didn't know what to do with (the original author disappeared) and we moved it into the discussion area to wait while we waited to see if anything else would happen to it. Hayford Peirce 23:13, 23 February 2008 (CST)

Sounds like a reasonable move. Stephen Ewen 23:14, 23 February 2008 (CST)

Did I do this one right?

The process for uploading such images seems to have become awfully complicated... Image:Bessemer_process_1889.gif --Joe Quick 13:03, 25 February 2008 (CST)

That's because that category of image lacks a section at the Upload Wizard, where its very easy. :-) Stephen Ewen 13:33, 25 February 2008 (CST)

Well, the upload wizard and associated process actually made the whole process much harder because it doesn't address such cases. Will it be an option there sometime in the future? I hope so.

Anyway, thanks for touching things up. Did you read the permission email? They asked for the credit line to read a very specific way. Are you sure we shouldn't follow their instructions? --Joe Quick 14:25, 26 February 2008 (CST)

Seems like they confused a credit line with a full citation; the latter is at the image page and can be cited int he article. And yes, plans are for a section for that upload type. It will have the same level of automation as this (you might try an dummy upload with it using Image:Testing_-_1,_2,_3,4.jpg to check it out). Stephen Ewen 15:10, 26 February 2008 (CST)

Talk links in signatures

Well, I was going to ask you how to do this, but I see from a posting further up the page that this has been disabled. Sigh. Why, if you don't mind my asking - was it because people were getting excessively 'cute' with their signatures? I find that talk link very useful (as do many), so is there any chance that someday the software could be mod'd to allow just that option (as a checkbox, like "Raw signatures) - "Add link to talk page in signature", or something like that? J. Noel Chiappa 16:24, 25 February 2008 (CST)

I was going to do something fancy too; guess the kibosh is on it. --Robert W King 16:25, 25 February 2008 (CST)

Sounds like a neat idea.... Feature requests can be addressed to bugs@citizendium.org and to https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org. Stephen Ewen 16:28, 25 February 2008 (CST)

Approval nomination process?

Hi, could you do me a favour and take a really quick look at CZ_Talk:Approval_Process#Updated nomination instructions - hopefully correctly! (and maybeCZ:Approval_Process too) and tell me if I have correctly worked out (and documented) how the Approval nomination process works now? What was there before didn't seem to match what I was seeing out in the Wiki, so I Was Bold and went ahead and updated the instructions (thinking that if they were wrong, they'd be confusing as all getout to less technical editors). Thanks! J. Noel Chiappa 19:05, 25 February 2008 (CST)

CZ:RBI

Could you restore that? It's a guideline that was under construction. I guess I should've said something. THX! --Greg Pass 20:08, 25 February 2008 (CST)

I can give you the text, but CZ:Proposals is where you would craft such a page, or else in userspace. You might wish to get a good handle on the current system before doing something like that, however. For example, Citizendium does not have Wikipedia-styled "guideline" pages like that, has a rules against shortcut acronyms as was posted there, the constabulary already has clear blocking and vandalism procedures, and the latter has been so negligible as to be not worth mentioning. Stephen Ewen 20:17, 25 February 2008 (CST)

Eduzendium

Hi Stephen, I haven't been participating much as of late due to the demands on new faculty. However, I am going to have my microbiology class participate in eduzendium. [CZ:Biol_201:_General_Microbiology]. I tried contacting various constables about facilitating the registration of my students, but received no reply. Most of the students (~55) will be registering in the next two weeks. I just want to make sure the registration process goes smoothly and that they are registered in a timely manner in order to finish the assignment by the end of april. These students will be registering with emails ending in @qc.cuny.edu I was hoping to touch base with you about this.--John J. Dennehy 15:44, 27 February 2008 (CST)

Great, John, I will let all constables know. Also, for your students' articles, do you wish them to be editable by anyone or only to the assigned student? There ought be some notice atop the article in the case of the former. Stephen Ewen 17:35, 27 February 2008 (CST)

good point. Only student should edit at least until the assignment is over. I'll add a notice to the template. BTW I will be suggesting this template: Biggius microbia --John J. Dennehy 19:25, 27 February 2008 (CST)

Re nominating Life/Draft for approval

Stephen, the approval process (http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Approval_Process) allows that three "involved" editors of an article can together nominate a draft version to replace an approved version, without an "uninvolved" editor:

The editorial procedures remain the same as for the original approval. Either one uninvolved editor or three involved editors can call for an article to be approved. They do this by returning to the XYZ/metadata page and fill out the To-Approve section of the template again.

Gareth has indicated he's prepared to approve. If you agree, I'll see if I can figure out how to set the 'to approve' banner with our three usernames.

I'll check back here for your reesponse. --Anthony.Sebastian 17:48, 27 February 2008 (CST)

Remember, I'm not an editor but a constable. I can only encourage as an author. Stephen Ewen 18:23, 27 February 2008 (CST)

Recipes again

Please have a look at CZ:Proposals/Recipes_Subpage_and_Accompanying_Usage_Policy#Next_steps.3F. Supten Sarbadhikari 23:34, 27 February 2008 (CST)

Bonita de Klerk

My student User:Bonita de Klerk says she doesn't have a password yet so can't log in. Is that possible after two weeks? I needed access to her account to upload part of a jointly authored article that was done by her and me - Palau so that the system will give her authorship (by the way an interesting point is that when uploading an original article if two authors have contributed to it the only way I can see to ensure this is noted is by splitting the article and letting each one upload part). Is there any other way you can think of? This is obviously in anticipation that some of us glory mongering credit focused academics can convince Larry to allow credit and citation :-)

Thanks in advance!

Lee R. Berger 06:34, 29 February 2008 (CST)

P.S. there are a few problems with the anthro author page - bonita's name is there twice and we seem to have an abundance of people with the surname "user" ;-)

Lee R. Berger 06:39, 29 February 2008 (CST)

Oh Recipes!

Please have a look at CZ:Proposals/Recipes_Subpage_and_Accompanying_Usage_Policy#Concrete_Steps_Ahead and kindly do the needful. Supten Sarbadhikari 22:24, 2 March 2008 (CST)

Your fair-use proposal

Hello. The proposal record for "Non-comprehensive fair use policy", for which you are listed as driver, says that the next step (community input) was due to be completed 23 February. Could you please update the proposal record on CZ:Proposals/Executive, changing your self-imposed deadline and perhaps the next step? If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. Your newly-appointed Proposals Manager, Jitse Niesen 16:24, 3 March 2008 (CST)

Led Zeppelin

Stephen, I just want to thank you for voting for Led Zeppelin in the Draft of the Week. I never expected anyone to vote for it but I do appreciate it :) Thanks! Meg Ireland 17:03, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Authorship and Citation

Hi Stephen,

Will you take a look at this [1]

Lee R. Berger 01:55, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Nah. There has to be an authoritative decision about authorship for it to have, well, authority and thus meaning. We won't know if there will really be ownership issues unless the idea is tested under a scheme traditionally noting authorship. We should not be afraid to run that sort of pilot, I think. I suspect that knol will push CZ to this in the longer run, particularly if the authoring students - the resume-builders themselves - are given choice of where they write. This issue may ultimately boil down to a choice between having contributions chiefly from those for whom attribution is important or those for whom it is not. In any regards, given the real names policy and the practical need to credibly publish to advance careers (coupled with the limited time people have to write), I personally don't see this issue as going away. I myself worry that being cited as "an entry [ Stravenue ] on a user-generated online encyclopedia, Citizendium",[2] will not lend the project to the sort of trustworthiness that will come from, say in this case, naming a geography editor from the Univ of Arizona first and then, again say in this case, Hayford Peirce. Stephen Ewen 02:14, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Naw, it was actually my cat, Leonetta (see portrait at [3]), who did the Stravenue article. She's very good with a computer keyboard but diffident and self-effacing and wanted me to take the credit for her work. I don't know how this will effect my on-going quest for a PhD. at Harvard, however.... Hayford Peirce 09:14, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Meow. Stephen Ewen 13:47, 6 March 2008 (CST)

CZ:Upload-Wizard

I have to say, this looks pretty spiffy. Nice job on that :) Aaron Schulz 10:31, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Thanks! Robert King has helped some. Stephen Ewen 10:10, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I'm actually thinking of changing the format again; possibly with larger icons and smaller text. Maybe we need more, or custom icons? Right now it still looks very "thrown together" or "web 1.0" if you will. --Robert W King 10:16, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Stephen do you think you can find icons that represent the abstractions of

"I (as in myself)" - perhaps a silouette pointing to himself, or something like that
"Someone else" - maybe a silouette pointing to something else
"Reuse with few or no restrictions" - not sure on this one
"Professional work" - not sure either.

I'm working on an improved "icon-friendly" version of the upload wizard. --Robert W King 12:35, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Lookin' good! One idea for the ...wish people to reuse my work with few or no restrictions and ...wish to upload a work of professional quality or rarity is to create a graphic for the one saying "Free!" and another saying "Less Free". I'll have to think about ideas for the others.... Stephen Ewen 13:45, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Check it out now. All I gotta do now is add more icons, ~~put the borders right~~, and figure out that imagemap deal, unless you already know how to execute it? --Robert W King 14:37, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I like it! The borders and centering needs to be made consistent, though. Also, it might be even more clear if each major section has a viewable border. Stephen Ewen 15:24, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I'm not sure how to change the color of that middle line; haven't figured that out yet. ~~Also, what do you mean by centering? None of the text is centered.~~ (Fixed). And when you mean each major section, do you mean the left-right, or each icon? --Robert W King 15:27, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Imagemap isn't working when I try to use [{{fullurl:Special:Upload|uselang=pd-old}}] --Robert W King 17:53, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I mean each icon/text unit when I say major section. This icon could be adapted by changing what appears in the textbox for the two types of self-released uploads. I'm not sure how to deal with Imagemap, perhaps just use the raw URL? Stephen Ewen 17:57, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Using the raw url doesn't work either!!

This might be adapted for the own release upload type. For one you make the green bright, for the less free you make the yellow bright. If need be, images of the icons with the text can be made and imagemap used that way. Stephen Ewen 18:02, 6 March 2008 (CST)

see http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:ImageMap#Special_chars_in_external_url and https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11504 They say fixed, but I claim either we have an outdated version of imagemap or it's B.S. --Robert W King 18:33, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Do the URL's work if you substitute unicode? See this. Stephen Ewen 18:47, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I tried %26 which is & but it wouldn't take it. You give it a shot, maybe I'm trying something wrong.--Robert W King 18:54, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Sounds like you've done everything right and have just run up against that bug. We should probably pester bugs to apply this patch. That'll fix it. Stephen Ewen 20:01, 6 March 2008 (CST)

See http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL#Ampersand_.28.26.29_problem Stephen Ewen 20:25, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Who do we yell at? --Robert W King 21:15, 6 March 2008 (CST)

Our own bugs people to apply that patch/update to the ImageMap extension. Stephen Ewen 22:04, 6 March 2008 (CST)

I emailed the bugs people, and CC'd you on it. I wonder if I should have cc'd Larry also. --Robert W King 11:13, 7 March 2008 (CST)

Meanwhile, could {{Plainlink}} serve as a workaround? Stephen Ewen 01:06, 8 March 2008 (CST)

{{Plainlink}} just provides a link in curly braces, doesn't it? I'm not sure how you would apply it? --Robert W King 07:44, 8 March 2008 (CST)

On the plus side

My long-wished timeline template is shaping up! --Robert W King 16:05, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

You need to look at it in Firefox. let me know if you need a screenshot of the display issue I am seeing. Stephen Ewen 17:35, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

Are you seeing the stem just in the wrong place? If that's all, then I'm not as worried as I was seconds ago before I looked.. --Robert W King 17:36, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

File:Stem-in-wrong-place-inFf-test-image.jpg

I can fix that, but hungry first. --Robert W King 17:45, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

I think I done fix 'er upped! --Robert W King 19:12, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

Indeed! Looks good in IE, too. Stephen Ewen 19:21, 9 March 2008 (CDT)

FYI: feedback proposal

It just occurred to me that I should point you to [| feedback proposal] in case you haven't noticed it and want to fill in why you think feedback should be on approved articles only. Warren Schudy 00:52, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

Credit for adapted diagrams--question

Hi Stephen, in my book you're one of the go-to guys on images and citations but I'm not sure if you check the forums anymore.

If I wanted to create a diagram or illustration in Illustrator that was an adaptation of a well-known diagram (for example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs--basically a needs pyramid), how would I go about citing the original image? My work would be a derivative, but clearly I did not come up with the concept of the hierarchy of needs myself. Would an 'adapted from (reference)' suffice?

Thanks, appreciate your help. Louise Valmoria 02:49, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

Just cite the original work and note your creation is a derivative, as you note. However, this is already available and can be imported without problem, if specifically the Maslow thing is what your are after. Stephen Ewen 04:03, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

Thanks for the advice, and also for your assistance with finding an available Maslow diagram. I am intending to fill out the rest of the motivation article with diagrams explaining the processes and the Maslow diagram is probably the easiest to find, but it does save quite a bit of time knowing that there is already something out there. Some of the other processes are newer or lesser known, so I also needed to know how to go about citing the correct theory originators should I need to make new diagrams. Much appreciated! Louise Valmoria 01:36, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Your fair-use proposal, again

Hi Steve. May I please remind you of my earlier message, dated 3 March, on your proposal "Non-comprehensive fair use policy". As far as I can see, you haven't yet updated the proposal record on CZ:Proposals/Executive, nor have I seen any sign of activity on the proposal page. If nothing happens within a week, I'll have to assume that you are no longer interested in the proposal and thus remove you as its driver, which will render the proposal inactive. That would be a pity given the amount of work that you've put into it. Cheers, Jitse Niesen 09:47, 10 March 2008 (CDT) (Proposals Manager)

DNA/RNA

I'm not sure either, but there is such a thing as RNA! That's as much as I know. --Robert W King 16:14, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

Also, change your clock to reflect DST. I forgot to do mine also. --Robert W King 16:15, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

What would you gentlemen like to know about RNA or DNA? David E. Volk 16:20, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

With regard to a revert at Intelligent design. In the context of that paragraph DNA is definitely correct, however, in the context of first life RNA may well be correct. Intelligent design tends to use modern definitions of life, hence they invoke the impossability of a cell appearing from nowhere. But first life does not have to be cellular. This is the basis of the RNA world hypothesis and probably the reason for the edit you reverted. Chris Day (talk) 16:41, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

FYI: I added an new image to the RNA page showing the primary difference between RNA and DNA. I see now this whole conversation started with a similar switch of words, to the correct one I might add. David E. Volk 16:57, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

I have an undergrad handle on DNA/RNA and have read about the RNA hypothesis in the past (I think its pretty interesting, like most of these things) and have studied the Out of Africa theory (which I find pretty convincing), er, Out of Africa Theory (hint-hint) in some depth. My reversion to DNA seemed correct because of what was stated in the immediately surrounding context. I'll let ya'll hammer it out, though. :-) Stephen Ewen 20:05, 10 March 2008 (CDT)

The simplest organisms don't have DNA. Either the sentence has to be changed by removing the word "simplest" or the word has to be RNA instead of DNA. While the step from organisms with RNA to organisms with also have DNA is certainly interesting and probably challenged by ID-people I think the intent of the sentence is: The genetic information of the simplest (or first) organisms was too complex, to have evolved at random. Those organisms didn't store their genetic information in DNA according to the established scientific worldview that is challenged by intelligent design. Christian Kleineidam 17:21, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

With respect to science there is definitely a consensus that RNA pre-existed DNA, however, whether the first cell existed before DNA is not known as far as I'm aware. The ID article appears to be talking about cells and probably bacteria-like cells. Do ID creationists acknowledge a pre-DNA world? The article cited can be seen here and the minimal set of genes they talk about is definitely for a DNA cell. Chris Day (talk) 18:14, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

i moved this discussion to Talk:Intelligent_design, it seems more relevant there. Chris Day (talk) 20:46, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Upload wizard mediawiki pages

I can't edit those because they're locked. That task is all yours :) --Robert W King 20:30, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

The talk pages aren't. :-) Stephen Ewen 20:34, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Also, we can make it so what is there is transposed from the Template namespace. Which pages you after? All of 'em? Stephen Ewen 20:35, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

E.g., {{Uploadtext-ownwork}} . Stephen Ewen 20:41, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Um, what? I don't understand? Also, there are only 3 left to do, the copyright-expired (pdold), reusable (reusable), and print source. --Robert W King 20:52, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

{{Uploadtext-bypermission‎}}

{{Uploadtext-pd-usgov‎}}

{{Uploadtext-flickr‎}}

{{Uploadtext-wikimedia‎}}

{{Uploadtext-ownworkcr‎}}

{{Uploadtext-ownworkpro‎}}

{{Uploadtext-ownworkgnu‎}}

{{Uploadtext-ownworkpd‎}}

{{Uploadtext-ownwork‎}}

Well I understand that but how is that put into context of the upload wizard? --Robert W King 21:10, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Which specific MediaWiki namespace pages do you want access to? Stephen Ewen 21:17, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Well technically I don't need access to any of them but there are three mediawiki namespace pages that need revisioning; those are the ones listed on the upload-wizard/sandbox page. --Robert W King 21:19, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

ROFL... See http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarygeek/2074653299/ for an idea for "You authored this...." Stephen Ewen 23:56, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Oops

Yeah; as you can see, I figured it out pretty quickly, though. Sigh, I've been using "jnc" as my username since '77 or so, so it's totally hardwired in my brain now! (And the similarity of CZ to Wikipedia doesn't help, either...) I was slightly cross when Larry said we had to use full names for accounts here! I was always very proud of carrying on the old ITS hacker tradition of using my initials for my account. Oh well. J. Noel Chiappa 21:13, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

LOL, I understand. Stephen Ewen 21:16, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Once I was at a convention with some guys I knew, and someone cracked a joke. Instead of just laughing, I did a pseudo-laugh while saying "L O L" (like el oh el). It was the most embarassing moment of my life. --Robert W King 21:17, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

LOL...someone else once told me they did the same thing. It could catch on.... Stephen Ewen 21:19, 11 March 2008 (CDT)

Count Rumford

Steve, can I use this: http://www.artunframed.com/images/gainsb/rumford1.jpg --Paul Wormer 19:35, 12 March 2008 (CDT)

I can't say "yes" because it's hosted in Britain so there may be an extremely remote issue (photos of PD works can have protections) with you uploading it from the Netherlands. But not with me from the U.S. :-) I'll upload it for you tonight. Stephen Ewen 20:15, 12 March 2008 (CDT)

It so happens that I'm in California right now, but if you do it, it is fine by me. Thank you--Paul Wormer 20:21, 12 March 2008 (CDT)

Steven, I would like to use a piece of a table of a book (a translation from the French into English) from 1790. I found the table here:

http://www.chem.yale.edu/~chem125/125/history99/2Pre1800/Lavoisier/Nomenclature/Lavoisier_on_Elements.html

and here (Google/Dover):

http://books.google.nl/books?id=yS_m3PrVbpgC&pg=RA1-PA175&vq=Table+of+simple+substances&source=gbs_search_r&cad=0_2&sig=HtEP0n7R9A8eL8QWjtUZrPFLyMA#PRA1-PA175,M1

The 1790 book was reprinted in facsimile by Dover in 1965. I could also use the original French version:

http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/exhibit/lavoisier.htm

What do you think copyright-wise? --Paul Wormer 15:03, 13 March 2008 (CDT)

That's Public Domain. Have at it. :-) Stephen Ewen 16:55, 13 March 2008 (CDT)

Spreadsheet

Did you have a chance to look at the spreadsheet? I'm thinking that we could put only the cases where there is no doubt that it is expired on the copyright-expired upload wizard template ( I think I highlighted them with blue ). Maybe keeping it in a table form would work. We could also make a flowchart with just those specific cases. --Robert W King 09:48, 14 March 2008 (CDT)

I'll look at it tonight.... I'm off to get new glasses. Stephen Ewen 12:04, 14 March 2008 (CDT)

Your fair-use proposal, the sequel

Please have another look at it. You put down 15 March as target date for writing the summary, which has now passed. For your convenience, the proposal page is at CZ:Proposals/Non-comprehensive fair use policy and the proposal record it at CZ:Proposals/Executive. -- The Proposals Manager, Jitse Niesen 16:56, 19 March 2008 (CDT)

Wrong licence on image?

Hi Stephen. Please see Image:Blaas.jpg. The author released it as public domain, which I entered when using the upload wizard, but on that page its appearing as copyrighted to the author. How can I change that? Regards, Anton Sweeney 18:56, 19 March 2008 (CDT)

That's an issue that requires coding to fix...it's on my list of stuff to do. :-) Stephen Ewen 19:27, 19 March 2008 (CDT)

No worries - the image displays the correct tag anyway when used in an article. Anton Sweeney 17:44, 20 March 2008 (CDT)

Table

Created here:

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/User:Robert_W_King/Sandbox#PD_table

On the actual upload page, it should probably say something like

"The following matrix represents the only works that are currently "Public Domain" ." --Robert W King 12:20, 21 March 2008 (CDT)

Please clarify

Stephen, I just uploaded the photoImage:Christchurch Trickling Filters.jpg for use in an article I plan to write. As you can see on the permissions subpage where I provided the complete chain of emails exchanged with the City of Christchurch in New Zealand that ended with granting CZ permission to use that photo, I asked them for permission under a Creative Commons license and they granted permission.

However, when I uploaded the photo, the drop-down licensing options only included copyright options ... there were no Creative Commons options. So I selected a copyright option which is more restrictive than a CC license.

But why are there no Creative Commons options? Please explain. - Milton Beychok 00:35, 25 March 2008 (CDT)

According to the correspondence, they did not release it under a Creative Commons license but only gave permission. That's fine, and you documented the photo perfectly. :-) Stephen Ewen 02:21, 25 March 2008 (CDT)

Credit Proposal

You wrote: "I'll drive if: 1) the 3 author rule is removed and replaced with nothing; 2) the result is a citation, but also includes the verbiage welcoming other contribs below it. Stephen Ewen 21:12, 29 March 2008 (CDT) "

The second proposal already has these I think. Even if it doesn't, go ahead and make those changes and drive! If someone strenuously objects, they can make proposal #3 or negotiate with you. -Warren Schudy 11:00, 30 March 2008 (CDT)

Second the motion! What did you think of my suggested new wording for what the template inserts (basically adding a pre-cooked citation, as you desired). J. Noel Chiappa 13:02, 30 March 2008 (CDT)

I need one of those callout boxes so help! as the Beatles said

I'm addressing this to Steve, Rob, or whoever reads this and can help.

In response to a suggestion for the Rottweiler article, I'd like to see THIS SECTION and the two whelping photographs put into one of those boxes some of the articles have.

My reason is that the information is not integral to the narrative but is nevertheless useful and interesting, and I also like the tone in which it's written. For more, see David's comments on the TALK PAGE.

I can't do the markup myself, that sort of thing makes me ill, so help, someone, pretty please?

Aleta Curry 23:01, 31 March 2008 (CDT)

Chris came to the rescue. Grateful thanks.Aleta Curry 04:28, 1 April 2008 (CDT)

A joy....

....to use your upload wizard. Such a great tool. Thanks. Chris Day 03:02, 2 April 2008 (CDT)

Images of book covers

Stephen: Can we show images of book covers now? If so, can we crop and show only selected segment of cover? --Anthony.Sebastian 17:06, 4 April 2008 (CDT)

I would argue “fair use” for CZ authors/editors to reproduce book cover images in these cases:

One uses a scanned image of a book cover one owns, scan produced by the owner, owner specifies no reuse by others except when used in Citizendium articles, that specification always shown with the image, the image always a thumbnail;
One uses a captured screen image of a book cover on a publisher’s website, shows it as a thumbnail, and specifies the publisher’s name and the website URL containing the image;
One uses a captured screen image of a book cover on a booksellers website, so long as the bookseller remains non-identifiable/non-linkable from the image, shows it as a thumbnail, and specifies no reuse by others except when used in Citizendium articles, that specification always shown with the image. --Anthony.Sebastian 18:28, 4 April 2008 (CDT)

It would of course be fair use, in my view. Stephen Ewen 00:56, 6 April 2008 (CDT)

Dear Stephen,

I am a little worried about my article's images, I was following the image wizard and copying the information from the public domain about the image, the name I used to credit the image was listed as the image's: "author" I thought those were their real names... I'm really new to this stuff so I appreciate the advice. Thanks,

Corinne

You'r own work?

Hey Stephen,

Sorry, I was wondering what to do if it's your own work (that's not in a Creative Commons)? For example my image for my bio is a picture I took, or if I draw a orbital motion and then take a picture and upload it to my computer. How do you credit your own work? Thanks again!

Corinne

Michael Faraday

Dear Stephen, you are good in finding portraits. Could you find a portrait of Michael Faraday? --Paul Wormer 19:16, 8 April 2008 (CDT)

Well, I love the one currently in the article. Very nice. Stephen Ewen 22:05, 9 April 2008 (CDT)

When I asked you this, Richard Jensen had not yet added that picture and also I didn't know that he intended to add one. Sorry for bothering you for nothing.--Paul Wormer 20:29, 10 April 2008 (CDT)

well actually I was given the idea by Paul's request here. Richard Jensen 21:35, 10 April 2008 (CDT)

Stephen could I use this photo ? --Paul Wormer 12:35, 23 April 2008 (CDT)

Fair Use

Do I upload photos from this site as fair use or something else? I'm not sure what the disclaimer requires of me/us. http://academic.reed.edu/uxmal/copyright.html --Joe Quick 11:01, 9 April 2008 (CDT)

Dunno, don't recall. I myself would not hesitate to use any photos there, however. Stephen Ewen 22:05, 9 April 2008 (CDT)

'Tombstone' page?

I assume Onslow Beach/Tester2 is now no longer needed, and should be deleted? J. Noel Chiappa 15:51, 11 April 2008 (CDT)

PS: Time to archive your Talk: page... :-) J. Noel Chiappa 15:51, 11 April 2008 (CDT)

Eduzendium

I'm having trouble getting help getting a student registered. His name is alvaro cardona <dariuscardona@yahoo.com> and he says he submitted a registration request but never heard back. --John J. Dennehy 14:19, 14 April 2008 (CDT)

Drop of 'title' Question

Hi Stephen, when I registered, I assumed that I need to include my title - since in Germany, the moment you receive your doctorate, it is an official part of your name that you can't usually miss (it is even entered into your passport). You can, of course, drop my title in my name - could you please assist me how to manage that? All the best for now, Raphael. ...said Raphael D Thöne, Ph.D. (talk) 06:20, 15 April 2008 (Please sign your talk page posts by simply adding four tildes, ~~~~.)

New user name

Stephen, take a look here. Thanks, D. Matt Innis 07:50, 15 April 2008 (CDT)

Another one for the name changer. D. Matt Innis 16:36, 26 September 2008 (CDT)

Please see my questions on the Forum

Stephen:

When you have the time, please look at the questions I asked here in the Images section of the forums. No rush, but I would like whatever answers you can give. Thanks in advance, Milton Beychok 11:13, 18 April 2008 (CDT)

Your help please...

If I am not mistaken you are an image expert.

Could you please explain the notes on Image:Peterborough Lift Lock, partway through cycle.jpg?

Did I upload an image that can't be used here?

The 150kb guideline, is that merely for the convenience of readers, who might have a slow connection? In which case it was okay that the first version I uploaded was 400K? Or is the concern over the capacity of the image server?

Thanks! George Swan 16:12, 21 April 2008 (CDT)

It's fine, and just ignore the size limit. Stephen Ewen 11:59, 23 April 2008 (CDT)

Hilarious

I know this is WP related, but you have got to check out this exchange. This is the funniest bit:

Clay Shirky is NOT a recognized authority on Citizendium. QuackGuru (talk) 21:46, 15 April 2008 (UTC) 
:Even if he is not that's not an issue here. -- Taku (talk) 22:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC) 
::This issue issue here. Per WP:EL#AVOID, the blog is not a recognized authority. QuackGuru (talk) 23:38, 15 April 2008 (UTC) 
:::Like I said, WP:EL#AVOID is merely a guideline. -- Taku (talk) 05:47, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
::::WP:EL#AVOID is a guideline we should comply with. QuackGuru (talk) 06:03, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
:::::And I have already responded to this. Please, I'm getting tired of repeating myself. -- Taku (talk) 06:55, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
::::::Policy or the guideline is applicable to this case. We should comply with Wikipedia policy and not ignore it. QuackGuru (talk) 09:28, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
:::::::Which policy? -- Taku (talk) 21:07, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
::::::::WP:EL#AVOID QuackGuru (talk) 22:03, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
:::::::::But it's not a policy :) -- Taku (talk) 22:10, 16 April 2008 (UTC) 
::::::::::We should comply with this guideline. QuackGuru (talk) 22:11, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

It's so just "spinning-the-wheels" but I love it. --Robert W King 13:08, 24 April 2008 (CDT)

ROFL. Stephen Ewen 23:21, 24 April 2008 (CDT)

Also...

I'm working on something and would like to know if you want to assist. The section is under CZ_Talk:Workgroup_Weeks "What else"; let me know if you're interested. Also, we need to finish the upload wizard! --Robert W King 09:29, 25 April 2008 (CDT)

strings extension

There has been some talk of trying to push to get the strings package added to CZ...any idea how something like that might happen?--David Yamakuchi 20:17, 3 May 2008 (CDT)

Email tools@citizendium.org Stephen Ewen 14:01, 4 May 2008 (CDT)

Changes

Just asking, when I was not at CZ for months, are there any significant changes in policy and content here? Regards. Yi Zhe Wu 12:22, 17 May 2008 (CDT)

Move lock

Hi - no hurry, but can you lift the move lock on the morphology article. We want to move it for disambiguation purposes. Thanks. John Stephenson 02:46, 15 June 2008 (CDT)

Done! Stephen Ewen 15:21, 15 June 2008 (CDT)

Wikipedia

Hi Steve,
It looks like there have been some fairly extensive edits to improve the Tecún Umán article over at Wikipedia. They have obviously been using our article to do this, because they are now citing many of the sources that I had considerable trouble getting my hands on when I was first composing our article. I think there may also be some copyright violations (have a look at recent edits). I'm glad that someone is paying attention but the copyright issues are obviously not acceptable. How do we go about fixing that?
Thanks much,
--Joe Quick 17:01, 18 June 2008 (CDT)

Let me look.... Stephen Ewen 18:12, 18 June 2008 (CDT)

Thanks, Steve. I know you've had contact with people over there who responded to similar situations very professionally before. See, specifically, the section on historical evidence. Where the text mirrors our article exactly but does not give credit. --Joe Quick 10:49, 23 June 2008 (CDT)

See here. Let me know if you want to do anything more. It would be fully justifiable, for example, to simply revert to the point where the rip off began. Stephen Ewen 14:04, 23 June 2008 (CDT)

Thanks again. I don't need any personal credit, so I changed the citation to simply read "Citizendium contributors". I removed references to our article where the information in question is common knowledge and our article probably didn't tell the author anything new and also changed a few references to cite other sources for the benefit of the reader. I guess we'll just have to wait and see whether any of this stuff sticks... --Joe Quick 12:48, 24 June 2008 (CDT)

This is great. I'd be unhappy if after all of our hard work Wikipedia says "today we copied all of their approved articles, & then we 'flagged' them so we're basically as good as Citizendium if not better (& we think we are too)" (Chunbum Park 13:34, 24 June 2008 (CDT))

Way to go!

Steve, that was great about the email from Trinity Church. That says something for sure. D. Matt Innis 07:35, 23 June 2008 (CDT)

Stephen Ewen 18:39, 23 June 2008 (CDT)

video copyright

Hi Stephen, First, very impressed with the e-mail matt mentions above. Second I just put a video onto the Biology/Video subpage as an experiment. One problem is that an older version that i had booked marked appears to have been removed due to copyright infringement. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxSLw1LMvgk What do we need to do to get access to this video? I assume we can't link to anything on youtube. If they give us permission would we host it? Third, note that the video subpage curretnly say these are CZ hosted, yet we are actually linking to youtube, so far. Should we change that header to something more generic? Or is our long term goal to host everything here? Chris Day 01:44, 26 June 2008 (CDT)

Is an image obtained from a U.S. patent published online considered Public Domain?

Stephen, I found an image (that I want to use for a CZ article) in a patent published online (U.S. Patent 6915662) at this url. I have re-drawn it completely to enhance it and to change the measurement units from USA units to metric units ... but it is still basically the same as in the patent.

Would my drawing be considered Public Domain? And how should I word the credit line? Should I credit it to the U.S. Patent Office, or to the specific patent number, or the names of the inventors?

Thanks in advance, Milton Beychok 16:57, 5 July 2008 (CDT)

An image obtained from a U.S. patent published online would be Public Domain only if the image is the intellectual creation of the U.S. gov. You know when this is the case if it is the intellectual creation of a U.S. gov employee in the course of their official duties. Stephen Ewen 01:14, 6 July 2008 (CDT)

By the way, for what its worth, for images that merely depict factual info of something that has passed into common use, I'd personally not be concerned one bit about just using it here under fair use. There's nothing creative about the image, it's just facts. That said, it's so small I can't read it without squinting, and even then its blurry and not at all pleasurable to view, and I have a high quality monitor. Stephen Ewen 01:23, 6 July 2008 (CDT)

See

Talk:LeStudio1.com --Robert W King 12:09, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

Thx. Userfied. Stephen Ewen 14:09, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

Many excellent free photos at www.morguefile.com

Stephen:

There are a great many excellent photos available for free use at www.morguefile.com. Their terms of use license agreement is available at License agreement

Are you familiar with them? I have written them an email asking specically if we are free to use any of their photos on CZ. I will email you a copy of their response when I get it.

I would appreciate your comments concerning their terms of use license agreement. It would be a great resource if we can use their photos. Regards, -Milton Beychok 14:11, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

Be careful! I have tried to go to that site three times now, twice with IE and once with Firefox, and all three times it takes me to:

http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/lostredirect.html

and a warning from Micro Trend PC-Cillin pops up and tells me that this is a "dangerous" phishing site.... Hayford Peirce 14:59, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

The link is incorrect. Milt typed "www.morgue.file.com" as the destination for the link when he meant "www.morguefile.com" --Joe Quick 16:28, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

Thanks, Joe. I have fixed my mistake now and the link now works correctly. What do you think of that site? Milton Beychok 17:07, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

The terms look fine to me. Many of the photographers ask to be notified when their works are used but, of course, that is only fair. Just check the darker tan strip above the photo for any special requests by the person who originally submitted the file. --Joe Quick 17:24, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

Stephen, I just uploaded Industrial air pollution source.jpg which I obtained from the www.morguefile.com website. All the author of the photo asked was to be notified by email about the upload and that he be included in the credit line ... and he said even that wasn't mandatory. I will send him an email and will include him in the credit line.

When I uploaded the drawing, I used the option offered in the Upload-Wizard that was entitled: Some other internet source that features re-usable media and I also selected {{Test-template}} as the licensing option. Everything went well and the image was uploaded. However, there seems to be no way to create a credit line when using that option from the Upload-Wizard. I have tried everything I could think of but have been unable to create a credit line for the uploaded photo. Can you help get that done? I would like it to read: "© Kenn Kiser". I would like to get this done as soon as you can, so that I can send Ken Kiser the notification email he asked for. Thanks a bunch, Milton Beychok 22:27, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

I'll tidy up over the weekend. You did the right thing. Stephen Ewen 23:01, 8 July 2008 (CDT)

There are some great photos there that I'd very much like to use. The files are generally large however, and I guess will generally need to be included at lower resolution - if so, how should they be credited? Gareth Leng 03:49, 9 July 2008 (CDT)

Attribute to author; link to location of photo. Stephen Ewen 22:51, 11 July 2008 (CDT)

Morguefile template

I made {{Morguefile}} and it can be selected from Special:Upload but not from the Wizard yet. Stephen Ewen 22:51, 11 July 2008 (CDT)

could you delete a page?

Hello Mr. Ewen,

could you delete this page please? Thank you very much. (Chunbum Park 10:08, 17 July 2008 (CDT))

Hi Chunbum. Done.

Stephen Ewen 00:58, 18 July 2008 (CDT)

Gratias tibi ago. (Chunbum Park 08:35, 18 July 2008 (CDT))

Can you re-name an image for me, please?

Stephen, could you re-name Image:Relative Volatility vsT&P.png to Image:Relative Volatilty vs T&P.png? I goofed and did not put a space between "vs" and "T&P". Thanks mucho in advance, Milton Beychok 00:58, 18 July 2008 (CDT)

Just re-upload it with the name you want and place {{speedydelete|Duplicate image}} on the wrongly named one. Stephen Ewen 14:41, 19 July 2008 (CDT)

helix: GOOD!

Stephen, I love the DNA helix animation! Thanks for uploading that.Pat Palmer 08:31, 18 July 2008 (CDT)

Thanks! That thing was quite the challenge to make.... Stephen Ewen 14:40, 19 July 2008 (CDT)

Category Help requests

Stephen, I asked you a question under "category help requests", but because I'm not sure that is the right place and will reach you, I mention it here. --Paul Wormer 10:00, 21 July 2008 (CDT)

I'll look into getting one this weekend... Stephen Ewen 18:01, 22 July 2008 (CDT)

User rename

Hi Stephen, here's one for your magic touch [4]

Done. Stephen Ewen 21:17, 9 August 2008 (CDT)

Image use

Stephen, can I use this picture? D. Matt Innis 21:46, 6 August 2008 (CDT)

Yep. --Joe Quick 22:01, 6 August 2008 (CDT)

Thanks Joe! Keep an eye on me to make sure I do it right... it's been awhile! D. Matt Innis 22:15, 6 August 2008 (CDT)

Wow, that was so much easier than a year ago! Way to go guys... D. Matt Innis 22:47, 6 August 2008 (CDT)

Images in Neanderthal: permissions?

Stephen: Re the images in Neanderthal: does CZ have permission to reproduce them? Not clear to me that proper permission obtained. Anthony.Sebastian 19:48, 8 August 2008 (CDT)

Photo from www.freefoto.com

Stephen:

There is a very good picture of a gas flare that I would very much like to use at here

Their rules for using a free photo can be read at here and my interpretation is that CZ would be free to use the photo. If you agree, after reading the rules, would you be so kind as upload it into CZ as [[Image:Gas Flare.jpg]] so that I can use it?

If you disagree, please let me know. Thanks very much, Milton Beychok 17:11, 10 August 2008 (CDT)

Yep, just credit both the source and the author by name (upload at Special:Upload choose and at step 5 select attribution under "Other high free"). And it'd be great to crop out their overkill water mark! Stephen Ewen 20:45, 10 August 2008 (CDT)

question...

Say, did you ever finish that tool to aid uploads? Thanks! George Swan 19:13, 11 August 2008 (CDT)

No, wanna help? :-) Stephen Ewen 22:05, 11 August 2008 (CDT)

Would you please read the forum thread about the Global warming article?

Stephen, as one of our Constables, would you please read this thread here on the forums about the neutrality of the Global warming external article ported here from Wikipedia? Do you think some action should or should not be taken? I will await your response in that thread on the forums.Thanks in advance. Milton Beychok 15:04, 13 August 2008 (CDT)

The content is for the relevant editors to work out, Constables deal with behavior only. Cheers, Stephen Ewen 21:49, 19 August 2008 (CDT)

McIntosh apples

Hi, Stephen. Thanks for having a look at the article on apples. Small thing, really, but the spelling is "McIntosh" for the apple, so the header is wrong, not the spelling in the article. Is that something you can fix? Sorry to be a pain in the nethers, but hey, someone has to do it! PS: Is there some way I have to put the date and time after my user link at the end of this, or is that automated? Newbie alert! Newbie alert! ;-) David H. Barrett

Rename User

Hi Stephen, This user needs a rename from User:Raul Saias Lopez Aedo to User:Raul Isaias Lopez Aedo. Thanks, D. Matt Innis 10:14, 30 September 2008 (CDT)

Need info about photos on Flickr

Stephen, how does one determine whether or not a photo found on Flickr may or may not be used in CZ? I haven't been able to figure that out. Milton Beychok 15:09, 4 October 2008 (CDT)

Image copyright question

Stephen, am I right in thinking that copyright expires after 75 years (specifically in Ireland and the UK)? Reason I'm asking is that there are plenty of old photos available online I'd like to use, on Irish figures and history, but I'm not sure if I can grab them or not. Thanks, Anton Sweeney 15:47, 5 October 2008 (CDT)

CV

Hello. I have written my bio to be editor again, but I dont know if you have my CV or not, so let me know if you need it or if I sent it to you before. Thanks in advance, Jesus Prieto-Lloret

Please look at [[Image:Periodictable V2.jpg]]

Stephen, please look at this image ... it refers to the copyright holder as "GPDL" which doesn't make sense to me and it has no credit line at all. Is that kosher? Could you legitimize the copyright holder, the licensing choice and the credit line? Thanks, Milton Beychok 03:35, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

One-time pad

I notice an ancient comment from you, User_talk:Sandy_Harris#one-time_pad. Does One-time_pad as it now is make sense to you? Sandy Harris

Hello!

Well, there's a sight for sore eyes! Are you back for awhile? School over? Where the heck have you been!!! D. Matt Innis 21:51, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Getting a PhD. in copyright law, I hope, hehe! Hayford Peirce 21:52, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Wherever you've been and whatever you've been doing, welcome back! Your expertise has been sorely missed! Milton Beychok 22:27, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Restart of proposal system

Hello. Due to a lack of activity and attention on my part, the Proposal System has ground to a halt and discussion on all proposals has stopped. I decided to clean out the system by marking all proposals as inactive and removing their drivers. This also happened to your proposal "Non-comprehensive fair use policy". I would be delighted if you decide that you want to take the proposal up again. You can do this by updating the proposal record, which can now be found at CZ:Proposals/Driverless. Please do not hesitate to ask if anything is unclear. Yours, Jitse Niesen 22:37, 23 February 2009 (UTC) (Proposals Manager)

PD... but not?

Stephen, I wonder if you could have a look at this forum discussion and let me know how something can be in the Public Domain and yet still require attribution, with templates such as {{PD-butclaim}}? Thanks, Caesar Schinas 06:36, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

As I understand it, proprietary rights are an additional layer of legal claims that people have (controversially) asserted over top of copyright. Whereas the original work (e.g., a physical photo) may be in the public domain, and all that that implies, there are financial costs associated with digitizing and hosting such images on the web. So some people add "requests" related to what they assert as proprietary rights, while some such as Corbit go much further and argue that their asserted proprietary rights PLUS their mere watermark on a PD image constitutes a new copyright (not that this would necessarily legally hold water, I am just describing arguments). The idea behind the template is to inform the reader about these claims over an image rather than play lawyer, judge and jury over the matter. My philosophy has been to inform people about what people say about an image as acquired from the source it has been acquired from, and let them make up their own minds. At core, we still use the image image and perhpas avoid ruffling anayone's feathers, and that's what ultimately matters. Stephen Ewen 06:54, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

I see. Perhaps that could be made clearer in the template or its documentation; I'll have a go...

Thanks for the explanation.

Caesar Schinas 06:56, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Also, when people who undergo costs associated with digitizing and hosting an image request attribution, it very strongly seems to me a common courtesy and a way to very appropriately honor providers with attribution for such when they request it. Put yourself in their shoes and you'd agree, and my philosophy is to keep image providers happy so they provide more. :-) Stephen Ewen 06:59, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Oh, I absolutely agree with that. Even for completely free works it's nice to credit the provider. I was just wondering what the legal issues were. Caesar Schinas 07:02, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Just to be clear about my last post, I am asserting it about those who undergo costs associated with digitizing and hosting PD images. I believe that it is a wholly appropriate an honorable thing to meet whatever is their reasonable requests when reusing the image. Because we would not even have it but for them!

For example: Peter Kazowski is a fan of 18th century Polish art. For U.S. $1,500 he buys a long out-of-print book with images of such, and over 1000 hours digitizes the photos of artwork, all PD. He then takes out polish-art.com to display his digitizations. As part of his site, he includes a "Terms of Use", which is an assertion of contract law (if you use my site then you agree to these terms) and proprietary rights ( I own this domain and digitized these images). He also sells large resolution images of his digitization (if you want a big image of a piece, pay me and I'll send it).

A CZ user decides that one of the smaller images at polish-art.com is good for an article on Polish history and includes it. Within the Terms of Use of the site, however, Mr. Kazowski states, "When reusing any images hosted at this site, you agree to attribute polish-art.com and include a link to polish-art.com."

See?

While Mr. Kazowski's requests may be legally questionable, it is moral to accede to his wishes. In such a case, we take the higher road. Mr. Kazowski's requests seem entirely reasonable, so we simply do as he has asked to keep him happy and honor his work, and to motivate similar people to provide images to the world as he has done.

Stephen Ewen 07:34, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I did understand your first explanation, and I do agree that in a case such as your (very good) example the provider should certainly be credited, even though we're not legally obliged to do so.

I just hadn't originally realised this was the purpose of those templates; I'd thought it was a legal thing. Now I understand.

Thanks for the explanations.

Caesar Schinas 07:58, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Upload Wizard

Hi Stephen,
What do you think of my initial draft of a new, simplified upload wizard, at User:Caesar_Schinas/Upload?
Oh, and I ought to let you know that I have made quite a few changes to the code behind the existing one, in case you wonder what's going on when you next look at it...
Caesar Schinas 17:24, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm partial to the icons. They work with the way our brains work with associations and speed functioning significantly, in the same way a compuiter with a graphical and not text-only interface does. Stephen Ewen 23:22, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry Stephen, I've only just noticed your reply. The new wizard has since been completely redesigned - see CZ:Upload - and everyone who has seen it likes it.

I suppose I could add icons to the new wizard fairly easily, and I am not opposed to the concept, but I think that many of the existing icons are pretty much unrelated to the action which they represent. Of course, things like Wikimedia and Flickr have obvious icons, but what do you use as an icon for "I am the copyright holder" - or "I am not the copyright holder", for that matter! We would need to compile a comprehensive set of icons for every option, rather than adding icons to everything just for the sake of it even if those icons were less than relevant.

Anyway, for now, I think the new wizard is complete (tweaks can still be made, of course), and everyone who has looked at it seems to approve.

Unless anyone objects, the new wizard will go live later today or tomorrow morning.

Caesar Schinas 07:00, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Very nice java work, Ceasar. :-)

I wonder if you can create a tick box, Is this photo of a human subject? that, if ticked, would insert {{privacyrights}}.

Icons for I am the copyright holder might depict one person; the other, two persons. Icons do speed usage. Imagine if your computer desktop only used text and no icons!

Stephen Ewen 02:22, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Welcome back!

Hi, Stephen. I didn't realize you were back. Welcome! Welcome! Milton Beychok 03:01, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Hey! I'm just droppin in because Ceasar asked me a question about the Wizard. Stephen Ewen 03:16, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

You've been Nominated!

Someone has nominated you for a position in the new Citizendium. They have noticed you're dedication to the project and like what they see. To be listed on the ballot for the position, it is necessary that you accept the nomination on the [[Archive:Citizendium Ballot for the Management Council|Nomination page]. Just place accept next to your name along with the four tildes. The nomination period will close at midnight October 7 (UTC). Article 54 of the new charter details the requirements:

Article 54

In conjunction with the Declaration of the Editor-in-Chief regarding the effectivity of this Charter, there shall be a call for nominations for the following offices: Managament Council (five seats), Editorial Council (seven seats), Managing Editor (one), Ombudsman (one). This shall be the effective date of the Charter.
Any Citizen may nominate candidates for these positions.
Nominations shall be collected and collated by the Chief Constable.
Nominations shall be accepted no more than fourteen days after the effective date of the charter; the ballot shall be available starting on the twentieth day after the effective date of the charter; the election shall be completed no more than twenty-eight days after the effective date of the charter; all elected officials shall begin their term of office on the thirtieth day after the effective date of the charter.
Only candidates who accept their nomination shall be eligible to appear on the ballot. Nominated candidates can accept nominations for no more than two official functions. Accepting a nomination serves as a declaration of commitment, in the case of being elected, to fulfill this function until the limit of the term.
All positions shall be elected by a simple majority of the voting citizenry. In the case of a tie, an immediate run-off election shall be held.
In the event that a candidate has been elected for two functions, the candidate shall declare which one he or she accepts within three days of announcement of the election results. In the event that such a declaration has not been made during this period, the candidate shall be considered elected for the position for which the nomination was accepted first. The same procedure applies to a reserve member that becomes elected by a seat being vacated this way.

If you would like to make a statement to help voters, click the "Statement" link to the right of your name.

Thanks again for the commitment you're making to assure that Citizendium becomes the premier quality online source we all have envisioned.

D. Matt Innis 13:18, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

welcome back?!

Stephen, I hope you are able to participate again. You've been missed by me!Pat Palmer 20:21, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Looks Quiet

I was just checking in to see how things were going, looking at recent changes and such. I've done this from time-to-time over the past two years plus. It seems like the project has been stuck in sort of a rut for a long time. :-(

I have ideas to breath new life in to the project and would consider donating some time to put feet to them. Email me if you think the ideas might be worth considering: stephen.ewen AT gmail.com

Stephen Ewen 07:33, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Still here. :) We roll on a 'consensus' model now with a simpler policy list that reduces everything else to guidance. Why not come back? John Stephenson (talk) 17:29, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Planning/advisory panel

Hi Stephen, We're putting together a non-public Google group where some of us can brainstorm about how this wiki might develop in the future. I was hoping you'd be willing to join the group and advise. If you are, please email manager A T citizendium.org so that we can add or invite you to the group (CZ-Advisory Panel).Pat Palmer (talk) 02:25, 3 July 2020 (UTC)

You are missed!

Stephen, I saw you dropped by and wanted to say hello. You are missed! We're slowly building a core group of writers again. I'm still hoping to get the software upgraded and the non-profit status worked out. Would love to see you back in the wiki. Pat Palmer (talk) 15:51, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

Hi Pat! Stephen Ewen (talk)

Hi back at you. Hope this finds you thriving. How are you faring this 2nd COVID winter? All well here. It's a good time to stay home and write peacefully in CZ. Pat Palmer (talk) 23:34, 8 January 2022 (UTC)