User talk:Hydnjo/Archive12

DO NOT EDIT OR POST REPLIES TO THIS PAGE. THIS PAGE IS AN ARCHIVE.

go vs. search

Hi - FYI I added a bit to the thread at Wikipedia:Help desk#can't find a page from search. I see from a thread above that you're monitoring an article to determine when the search index gets rebuilt. I'm pretty sure this will not be tremendously meaningful since the index rebuild is manually initiated (by a developer - I'm not sure who specifically usually does this, perhaps Brion). I've asked Brion before if there's a way to tell when the index was last rebuilt, and there is apparently no way anyone but a developer can directly find this out. Given how frequently this comes up, it seems an indication of when the index was last rebuilt (like "search index last rebuilt on <date>") should be added to the search results page. I'll suggest this to Brion. I also gather that running the search index rebuild process takes a pretty long time and slows down the site (which is why it's not done automatically at some scheduled time). -- Rick Block (talk) 16:44, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

RfA Thank You!

Thanks Hydnjo,

I am honored by your support in my recent successful request for adminship. As an administrator, I am your servant, ready to help however I can. (In your case, since you've had the tools longer than I, my best use might be menial labor!) My talk page is always open; should you need anything, or should you see me making a mistake -- probably a common occurrence -- please do let me know. I will depend on the good sense of the community to keep me from making a complete fool of myself! :) In gratitude, Xoloz 17:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your friendly welcome

Just one question: when I want to ask a specific user a question, is the right way to do it the way I'm asking you this question now?

Best regards, vibo56 19:29, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, exactly this way. Some users however may choose to reply on their own page in order to keep the conversation (if there is one) intact on one page so you may want to put that user on your watchlist. In the case of this question I'm going to answer on my page and then copy the whole thing to your page which is another way that you might encounter or want to do for whatever reason. I very rarely find a need to do this - just showing you how. Also, it's a good idea to put something in the edit summary even if only a word or two.

Please feel free to ask me anytime you think I can help out. --hydnjo talk 22:14, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks again. I decided not use my full name in the wikipedia, and removed it from the signature in my question above. --vibo56 08:47, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Proposal I expect you'll find interesting

In case you didn't notice, see Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#User:Conrad Devonshire/Better means of identifying when an article receives or loses featured status. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:09, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Admin?

Hi - I notice you haven't been editing much lately. Is this because you've found other interesting things to do, or has the same old/same old here gotten a little boring? Would you find life here more interesting as an admin? I know you're not a technogeek, but you've certainly been around long enough to know the ropes and you're certainly, let's say, mature enough to handle the awesome responsibility (alright, so maybe it's not that awesome). If you're interested, please let me know. The dual nature of your login might be an issue for some folks, but I don't think there's a way to know for sure without doing the RFA thing. -- Rick Block (talk) 19:29, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

I understand. If you ever change your mind(s), just let me know (although judging by MJCdetroit's nomination, RfA seems to have turned into a little bit more of a circus than it perhaps used to be) . -- Rick Block (talk) 01:20, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Signature edit

Why did you feel a need to alter my signature on Rick's talk page? Had I wanted it linked I certainly know to do so and the way you edited my signature is not characteristic of my linked signature which is: hydnjo talk 22:11, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

All comments on Talk pages need to be linked to the editor who made them in order to easily determine who made them without scouring the history of the page. I certainly wasn't implying that you don't know how to do it yourself, so please don't take offense. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 22:34, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

I must have missed that part of WP's policy which states that "All comments on Talk pages need to be linked to the editor who made...". Could you please point out where I can find it so that I may acquaint myself with that policy? --hydnjo talk 00:23, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

You can find them here. In short, it says:

Sign your posts: To sign a post, type three tildes (~~~), and they will be replaced with your username after saving, like this: Eloquence. Type four tildes (~~~~), and they will be replaced with your username and time stamp, like this: Eloquence 03:44 Feb 17, 2003 (UTC); comments can be further customized in Special:Preferences, like so: --Maru (talk) Contribs 00:37, 27 October 2005 (UTC). (The latter is usually preferred, to make it easy to piece together the chronology of a page.) No comments are really anonymous, because anyone can check the history of the page to find out what user or IP address posted any given text. Signing your post is a common courtesy which allows people an easy way to see who is speaking; unsigned posts are confusing.

You can fund further elaboration on signing posts here. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 01:00, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I believe that the guidelines that you are citing are referring to talk pages in the article namespace. I intend to revert your edit linking our names to our User page on Rick's talk page as it was not our intention to link our real names to our username. Further, I would consider it a courtesy on your part to consult with me before editing my comments as your edits could be misconstrued as our own. --hydnjo talk 01:40, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Feel free. As for editing your comments, I didn't. I edited your signature to link to you, per the guidelines above. If you think that somehow misconstrues something, that's a personal problem. You were not misrepresented in any way. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 16:13, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I feel that owe you an apology for my surly attitude above. I realize that you were trying to be helpful towards other users happening upon my message to Rick. My being in a sour mood should not be expressed as sharp dialogue with you or any other users with whom I happen to cross paths and I'm sorry for doing that. :-) --hydnjo talk 22:58, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Not a problem. I hope the rest of your day goes better. "See" you around. (^_^) ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 23:10, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Under the influece

Hi again Hydnj, I've added a few other WP:EUI things to you list. These days I'm mostly found over at the French Wikipedia, teaching 200million or so Francophones about my little country (exaplaining how England is not the same as UK, nor Great Britain, nor Britain, nor Little Britain was stressful). Uni finals finish in a week. --Thewayforward 12:59, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Donald Duck

Hee! Yes, I suppose I was a bit biased in my choice of image for the home page. :) - Brian Kendig 11:19, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Sprigging

Thanks for the note! Per your request, I wrote an introductory article on the pottery decoration and put disambigs on each. Jokestress 01:00, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Picnic

Hi there! Come by my talk page, and to to the bottom when you get a chance? We are having a picnic today :-) --HappyCamper 03:46, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Giggle Giggle

Tee hee, the edit here was a semi-joke, but I see you didn't remove it :-) Also, I noticed that it seems you guys don't want to be considered for an Admin (per Rick Block's talk page) since I was going to nominate you? - Abscissa 04:34, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Hey, sure np. I must say that I didn't really "get" the monty hall problem until I saw a chart of possbilities drawn out, which I actually drew out myself, though someone else was trying to explain it to me at the time (and like most people, I did not get it right away). newayz, keep it real, get those probability bastards... 50/50 says you are great at doing it :-P - Abscissa 12:48, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Math Genius?

You of course know me from my decades of involvement in the monty hall problem...

I am very fasincated by odds, betting, gambling, statistics, probability, etc. but I need someone who is more knowledgable than I to help me with this question... (if you know someone who would be better suited to answer this please let me know)

Suppose you are playing the casino game Let it ride. Here are the simplified rules (hopefully easier than the main article):

Object: make the best five-card poker hand of a pair of 10's or better.

Play:

1. You bet 1 unit.
2. Three cards turned face up, two face down.
3. You have the option to raise 1 unit or do nothing.
4. One face down card is revealed.
5. You have the option to raise 1 unit or do nothing.
6. Last face down card is revealed.
7. 10's or better poker hand is paid according to:

Payout schedule

Hand	Payout
Royal flush	1,000 to 1
Straight flush	200 to 1
Four of a kind	50 to 1
Full house	11 to 1
Flush	8 to 1
Straight	5 to 1
Three of a kind	3 to 1
Two pair	2 to 1
Pair of 10's or better	1 to 1

So a sample game might go:

1. Dealer shows J♦ 7♠ 7♣ ? ?
2. You decide not to raise one unit.
3. Dealer shows J♦ 7♠ 7♣ 7♥ ?
4. You decide to raise one unit (since you are assured a win)
5. Dealer shows J♦ 7♠ 7♣ 7♥ 3♠
6. You are paid 3 to 1 for each unit, so you win 6 units plus your original 2.

Of course the house has an advantage. The question I have is: if you knew all 5 cards from the start would you have an advantage over the house?

I think the way to figure it is just triple the payout table and then subtract 1 unit for each hand you don't win... (hard to explain, I'm sure you get it)?

hope this makes semi-sense.... - Abscissa 18:40, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

The last table at http://wizardofodds.com/letitride/letrideapx.html provides sufficient information to figure this out. -- Rick Block (talk) 20:02, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi Rick, I'm not sure it does... if so can you explain? e.g. what if the two covered cards are 7♠ 7♣ and you can only see 7♥, according to the optimal strategy you should not raise, but if you knew you would get 3 of a kind you would raise. - Abscissa 20:34, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

The last table has the probability of each kind of hand of 5 cards, e.g. you have a 76.12% chance of having nothing, a 16.25% chance of having a high pair, etc. So, if you can see all the cards, you bet 3 for each winning hand and 1 for each losing hand. From the table, you triple the return from all hands that are high pair or better and subtract the return from the losing hands. -- Rick Block (talk) 23:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi guys - Just got back from a couple of days away and found this party going on without me! Just as well Abscissa, I'm a math genius not. And Rick, thanks for the link but I'm still somewhat confused. Not surprising given that July is Heidi's and my birth month and we take that excuse to "party" all month (well technically the last week of July but we practice for three weeks). Thanks for this surprise discussion. I think that keeping up with you two on this would be wishful thinking but I'll take a look later. Warmest to you both from H&J --hydnjo talk 17:53, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Monty Hall dashes

Just so we'll know better in the future, what did you change the "-" to at Monty Hall problem#See also with this edit? We're feeling kind of stupid right now. Thanks for your help with this. --hydnjo talk 23:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi there, in response to your question, i changed the hyphens to em dashes (second dash from the left next to insert just below the edit box). This is in accordance with the correct use of dashes (as opposed to hyphens). The shorter en dash can be used when defining ranges (e.g. 10–20%), while the em dash is used parenthetically or to link phrases together. As an aside, I am keen to see more wikipedians understand this difference and incorporate more dashes into articles where they are appropriate. As it is now, I see countless errant hyphens or double hyphens when they should usually be em dashes! Even the automated name signing feature appears to be oblivious of the existence of them! Thanks, 80.177.20.202 23:40, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

We've never noticed that before. Is it important? If so, do we need to go back and fix mucho past edits? I can't imagine that if this is an egregious error that it hasn't been brought to our attention before now. Anyway, thanks for your instruction and is there anywhere that "-" would be appropriate? We're just trying to distinguish between the two characters. --hydnjo talk 00:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC) addendum: Ok, we see that you have already made the distinction. Sorry about that and please let me know if we screw-up again. Thanks --hydnjo talk 00:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

If you look at wikipedia's article for hyphen, it should hopefully clarify where it should be used. As a general rule, use as a textual ligature for compound words, e.g. man-eating shark or fun-loving and so on. Conversely, as I stated, dashes can be used to break sentences up (see dash article). As for the severity of the error, well, I think it's basically become such a common misuse that we can't hope to put everybody straight. I've even written to the BBC News website to complain about their incorrect hyphenation! You could call it petty, perhaps, but then again I believe language and communication thrives upon steadfast grammatical rules — after all, I think the general consensus among educated people is that the misuse of apostrophes is something to be avoided, so I thought: 'why not hyphens and dashes as well?' While my efforts to rid wikipedia of incorrect hyphenation may be in vain somewhat (and I usually tend to just correct as I see them, as opposed to actively seeking them out), I like to think that I'm helping to raise the standard of it somewhat; after all, if we're going to liken ourselves to the Encyclopædia Britannica, we want to minimise mistakes! What I don't intend is for my little rant to make you feel at all guilty, or like you ought to go back and fix your errors. After all, thousands of other users will carry on doing it, and I can't keep up with them all! Thanks, 80.177.20.202 00:33, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Well now I/we are impressed! I'll always remember this discussion and will do my best to follow your gentle explanation as to when to use what. And should you ever decide to make your talk into an alpha name please let us know at your earliest convenience. Thanks, --hydnjo talk 01:00, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Joke for the Day

Two penguins are standing on an ice floe. The first penguin says, you look like you're wearing a tuxedo. The second penguin says, what makes you think I'm not??

I thought you would love that :-) - Abscissa 20:46, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

(This joke was brought to you by Ketchup(tm)) - Abscissa 20:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Well then, you should love the joke about the joke!  ;-) --hydnjo talk 22:18, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I listend to it... though I had to install the godforsaken realplayer to do so :-) it was worth it. There are hundreds of sendups on the penguin jokes, but I have never heard the original... (haven't been a long enough listener)... I just saw the movie on Fri. (Frankly I like the radio show better...) anyway I won't spoil the movie for you guys in case you haven't seen it. Don't know if you listen to the radio show at all/often but seeing GK moving and talking is amazing after hearing his voice for so long! Sadly there are zero zero zero zero zero political jokes in the film and few monologoues but I can appriciate why these were left out... :-( - (This comment was brought to you by Powder Milk Biscuits(tm))

Abscissa 00:35, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

archive link

I guess that broken archive link was really bugging you :). Thanks for fixing it. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:03, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Main Page

Thanks very much for your kind words of support! I'll do my best to preserve the consensus-backed design that we worked so hard to create. —David Levy 18:55, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Songs...

Now, what might that song be? :-) --HappyCamper 05:48, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

My, what a day. Have you had a glass of lemonade lately? --HappyCamper 01:29, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

My Challenge

Indeed! Ṣ₡ЯՄՊՏɧѱᎦ ^☎/ _∑
(barnstar relocated by hydnjo to top of page) --hydnjo talk 00:06, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

RD date headers

Actually I thought I was the one that was doing it the first two days, but then I was a few hours late for a few days and I saw them there. On the talk page for Science, User:LightCurrent and I had signed up for the position so I thought that it was him that was supplementing me. I guess it was you. Well I'm there everyday, and (actually I am 45 minutes late now) it is 8 pm here at UTC 0:00. Yesterday I saw you, and I just had to beat you, because I noticed you went from left to right, so I went right to left. Hee hee :) — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

OK then, if we both pay attention to the date headers then it'll most likely be just fine. With all of the folks around the RD I hope that some of the other daily routines get addressed as well. Let me know if you expect to be away for a while and I'll pay special attention and I'll do the same. --hydnjo talk 02:29, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Like today (September 11, UTC), I wasn't around but I see that others have picked up the slack. I hope that between you and I, others need not be concerned about date headers. What do you think, can you and I handle it? --hydnjo talk 02:44, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm here everyday, unless I am travelling, so I will only be late at it, if I miss it usually. We can handle it. — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

Whoo! Whoo! Let's have some chocolate!

I see that I was absent and you took care of it. Whoohoo! MOre choclate! And cerveazas!

---

Well, I am still "kind of gone," but I was nominated for adminship, so I have to come back for a little bit. — [Mac Davis](talk) (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)02:31, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Barnstar

		The Worker's Barnstar
		I always see you on my watchlist whenever you change the date on the reference desk. Thanks doing the job that could easily be given to a bot. bibliomaniac15 00:15, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

No problem. I'm on the Barnstar Brigade, so I consider it my duty to recognize people like you. bibliomaniac15 22:54, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

RD Talk -> Template Messages

I kind of wanted it on the RD Talk, to see what people from the Reference Desk thought of it. Why did you move it? — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)22:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Because I thought that it was more suited to the template name space. If you disagree, just let me know here and I'll move it back. Sorry about being so nit-picky.  :-) --hydnjo talk 22:59, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Never mind, I put it back - sorry for doing that without discussion. Thanks for calling my attention to that unwise move.  :-) --hydnjo talk 23:12, 27 September 2006 (UTC) addendum: I've left a copy at Wikipedia talk:Template_messages#Refq template. Feel free to delete it if you think that it is misplaced. --hydnjo talk 23:19, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Ahh, no harm done. — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)00:59, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Good! Thanks for getting back to us. --hydnjo talk 01:44, 28 September 2006 (UTC)