User talk:Nimur

Looking to Contact You

Hey Nimur! You may remember a brown friend who you used to hang out with back in your days in New York. It's me. I've been looking for a good way to contact you, since it looks like your email is bouncing lately. Got a reason or two to drop you a line this time of year. I'll also get around to calling you soon, if I hopefully have the right number, but in the meantime, let me know what your updated email address is. Mine is still the same as before. Hope things are well, and I'm glad to see you're very active here - it's something I always wanted to do but never had enough time to seriously devote to. Vmanjr (talk) 15:32, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

I think I still have your phone number, and email, I'll try to get in touch with you this weekend! Thanks for the note! Nimur (talk) 16:01, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

You deserve this

		The Reference Desk Barnstar
		for explaining that two pigeons can make a half-wave antenna (just not a very useful one) [1] Physchim62 (talk) 22:40, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

re: Pigeons on my TV aerial?

"two pigeons in a row constitute a half-wave antenna at 700 MHz" That's a pretty cool intersection of radio invisible waves seems-like-magic and real-life objects! On the other hand, did you perhaps just crack the secret for implementing RFC 1149? DMacks (talk) 05:26, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

My reply to your post

Hi Nimur. I thought you might be interested in my reply to your post at WP:Reference desk/Science#light pulse intensity with time. So I'm pointing it out to you here, because I figured you might not otherwise notice it, since the thread has been otherwise dead for a day and a half, and the topic is old enough that it's transcluded from the archives, so my reply doesn't show up in the ref desk's history. I've been too busy with real life to reply in a more timely manner. Red Act (talk) 06:22, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Yeah. I figured there could be some unusual "edge effects" and wave packet shape effects, plus geometry, that might make the situation more complicated; but as I mentioned, "I don't know how..." - it's been a while since I did anything numerical with optical wave interference so I'm not the most well-equipped to evaluate the idea. Anyway, it's a neat concept, I've been thinking a lot lately about ways to create optical frequency-mixing. This is a hard problem. Nimur (talk) 12:23, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Fall 2010 USRD newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 3 • Fall 2010 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup News in brief Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Bot automates graphics creation, saves work Featured Article, eh? Reviews needed at ACR	State and national updates Project reports for Delaware Maryland Michigan Minnesota
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

— JCbot (talk) 01:21, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanx!

The Refdesk Barnstar For helping me vanquish the despicable Ariel font once and for all. DRosenbach (Talk

My bad

As per header - Cheers for the heads up about including SERPs on the helpdesk Darigan (talk) 17:02, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Reference desk

Sorry for using your thread to moan about you. As you can probably guess my gripe was primarily that you had asked me to prove facts that were in the article BLU-82 and which I thought easily confirmable by a web search. eg searches for "BLU-82" or "GSX explosive" eg eg an example that should be reliable (snippet only).

By the way one of Melvin Cook's competitors to supply the explosive for the BLU-82 gives a simple account of why it was successful: archived conversation between Gerald Hurst and someone else (Gerald Hurst is this guy ,inventor of Astrolite)

Anyway sorry about what might seem a lot of fuss about nothing. I just got annoyed. I do however have a proper question (see reference desk talk page again).

I shouldn't have blown up like that, sorry.Sf5xeplus (talk) 20:47, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

No worries, we're all human (except the bots and search-engines). I'll work on my part, which is to keep my contributions up-to-snuff. I may be a "regular" but I do make mistakes, thank you for checking my work. It keeps me honest. Nimur (talk) 21:10, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

reply

Replied here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing#running_a_c.2B.2B_program). thanks--180.234.38.71 (talk) 14:21, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for File:Hubble.jpg

Thanks for uploading or contributing to File:Hubble.jpg. I notice the file page specifies that the file is being used under fair use but there is not a suitable explanation or rationale as to why each specific use in Wikipedia constitutes fair use. Please go to the file description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale.

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'file' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) 22:27, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

I have added a fair-use rationale template for that image: File:Hubble.jpg. Nimur (talk) 17:31, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Hubble.jpg

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Hubble.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of "file" pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) 17:55, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Edwin Hubble

I'm sorry, I can't see any discussion on the talk page. In any case, non-free content cannot be used in favour of free content, even if it is of a higher quality. Our deliberately strict non-free content criteria are quite clear that free content must always take precedence, even if the free content has yet to be found. However, in a case like this, where we already have a free image of the subject, it's pretty much black and white. If you disagree, that's fine, but your problem is with the policy, not with me; please do not add the non-free image back into the article in the mean time. J Milburn (talk) 22:18, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

I apologise, I didn't actually see the message on my talk page, I assumed you meant the article talk page. If you are concerned that the "free" image has been uploaded under a false license, then perhaps you could nominate it for deletion? J Milburn (talk) 22:29, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

I will try to investigate the exact copyright status of both images, including the original photographer and institution. This is a bit difficult because both photos have been reprinted in thousands of different websites and print sources. Nimur (talk) 22:30, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks; I'm sorry about my rather curt message above, as I say, I hadn't seen your message to me. I disagree that we should use "the higher quality image" necessarily- we should use the smallest amount of copyrighted material possible. As you argue, the pipe image is more useful, but it should certainly be reduced drastically in size, and perhaps cropped down significantly (just face and pipe?) J Milburn (talk) 22:33, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Before we take any action, can you give me a day or two to try to track some more authoritative copyright information down? I agree that we need to minimize the amount of "encumbered" content, but I'm not sure either image has a currently valid copyright, because I don't know the actual original author/photographer of either image (except that to the best of my current research, both images originated from Mount Wilson). Nimur (talk) 22:36, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Winter 2010 USRD newsletter

Volume 4, Issue 1 • Winter 2011 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features The Year in Review Royal Award Conferred USRD busy at work at FAC	State and national updates Project reports for CA MI MN NE NJ UT WA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—

JCbot (talk) 01:05, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Looking to Contact You

Hey Nimur,I'm the one who wrote both the articles about the vacuum and about the Ankitium. I think what I am thinking of is not impossible to develop because I've already found many reasons to believe in it. I've also some other theories on the facts which are yet to be proven. The "TOE" is one of them. I think it could be possible to construct the "TOE" equation. But I may not be able to explain it through the articles only as many things are still unknown to me and need a definite person who could help me. You've asked that why I am unable to research on it. Here's the answer. I'm a boy of just 20 and nobody is believing in me that a boy of my age who is a engineering student could be able to construct it. But I can assure you,if you could arrange a meeting between me and a proper guide who could help me on this things, it may not be going to failure because nothing is impossible in Physics. What I'm telling that may be wrong. But there has a possibility that it may be right. I just want to found whether it could be right or not. If you are interested then contact me through my email-id (E-mail address removed). There you could ask for my cell no also. Being a student,I don't have sufficient money to make an I.S.D call.

One more thing,if you've found possibility to have something true in my words,then contact me as early as possible. I promise you to go to there to complete this research at once you've replied me leaving behind my Engineering college.

Hope that you would be kind enough to check my words at least. — Preceding unsigned comment added by User:Nthng is imp (talk • contribs)

I have moved your note down here because your previous post over-wrote an earlier message to me (diff). I appreciate your enthusiasm and I hope your studies continue; but I am not able to telephone or meet with you. I recommend that you study hard, excel in the mainstream areas of physics and engineering, and if you have trouble with specific subjects, the Science Reference Desk is always available to help you and others. Don't forget to take full advantages of any local resources available at your school - work with professors and teachers. If you have ideas that aren't being taken seriously, re-think them. Take constructive criticism seriously when it comes from intelligent sources. Aim to progress to bigger and better things by performing to your best capability at every stage of your education. Nimur (talk) 17:47, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for replying me. Here goes another interesting topic. Does a string really exist? No,it's not. If we consider that a string is self-vibrating, then a question can be asked. Why does a string vibrate? The charge,mass,energy are created due to the vibration. But as we all know that energy can not be created but can be converted. So,here comes a question that from where does a string gets it energy to vibrate?

Another thing is that is a photon really mass less? I think,no,it's not. Photon has a mass of the range of 10 to the power -57. That's why we consider it as a particle of mass zero.

You've told me that there exists dark energy in vacuum. But,what does hold or carry the energy? Energy can not exist freely. It definitely needs a medium.

One more to go. In black holes why the light can not escaped from it? The escape velocity in the black holes is greater than the velocity of light. That's why the energy of a black hole continuously increases. The energy gets converted into mass and as a result the mass as well as the gravity of a black hole continuously gets increased in a larger way. I know it is hard to prove. But it is not so hard to prove that any kind of elementary particle in our world is created from the photons. I'm definite that it could be proven. Think about it. If these could be proven, no one can stop you from getting a Nobel. I don't want anything but a scholarship as I belong to a lower middle class family. Hope that you would be kind enough to reply me again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by User:Nthng is imp (talk • contribs)

Please do not delete previous messages from my talk-page; this is the second time you have done that (diff). I think you need to review some history of physics. Many of your ideas are completely incorrect and have been demonstrated false by experiment. Some of your other ideas may have merit, but you are not really presenting them in a convincing way. But whether you are correct or not is unimportant. Wikipedia will not be the place to publish or solicit your ideas. This is an encyclopedia, and we have a very strict policy against publishing original research here. Nor is this the proper forum for you to seek scholarships; my talk-page is intended to help me communicate with other encyclopedia editors to improve Wikipedia. You should pursue standard channels, apply for university-level programs in physics and mathematics, and prove your ideas in an appropriate forum. I think you will have a hard time proving that a photon has a mass, and you will have a very hard time proving that energy requires a medium to propagate in. These ideas are not correct; this has been convincingly shown via theory and experiment. If you engage in a physics program, you need to be able to understand and learn from previous scientific knowledge, and synthesize new knowledge - but trying to contradict established fact is not going to get you far. Let me re-emphasize: I am not able to telephone you, meet with you, or help you find scholarships. If you need assistance locating specific resources, the reference desk may be able to refer you to programs that you can pursue. Nimur (talk) 20:19, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Sorry. I don't understand before what you are trying to telling me. I'm going mad because I've sent it to W.N.A.R. before. But no one reply me. To prove the corresponding mass of a photon you can use this equation. hv=E=m(c)2. Here you can find that the corresponding mass of a photon of a very negligible term. But it definitely exists. I'm sorry once again to disappoint you. It won't be again I promise. I'm going mad as no one is believing in me. I know it is hard to believe. But all of our convention has started with the convention of holding the mass,charge and energy. No one has tried to find out from where does it created from. Hope that you could understand it. At least tell me from where does I can get help to prove it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.194.70.32 (talk) 07:47, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

I regret to tell you that you are applying mass-energy equivalence incorrectly. You should start by reading our photon article, and read about experiments to check the mass of the photon. I recommend that you continue studying to develop a solid background in modern electrodynamics. There's hardly any substitute for the Jackson textbook on classical electrodynamics. (In fact, Chapter 1 has an entire section treating "The Inverse Square Law, or, The Mass of the Photon"). After you've demonstrated a mastery of that theoretical treatment, you should be prepared to theoretically comprehend the implications of your physical assertions. And, you will be able to understand why your current hypotheses are incorrect. At present, I do not think you are able to formally prove your physics ideas in a convincing way. Nor do you seem to be correctly applying classical or quantum theories. Don't be discouraged - this is hard stuff - but don't get ahead of yourself. Study the basics first, work your way up, master the theory, and then try to expand it (or even, possibly, to correct it). Nimur (talk) 20:37, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

.CO registry logo

Hi!

I've uploaded the .CO registry logo a couple of times but you deeted it. I don't undestrand why since other TLD's such as .ME have it and within the TLD infobox there is a space for it.

I think having the logo visible is not part of an advertising campaign, all brands (such as coca cola) have their logos visible on their pages and this is merely to allow the visitors to associate the graphic image with the brand.

Best, Santiago — Preceding unsigned comment added by Santiagorodriguezortiz (talk • contribs) 05:41, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

one final offer

I can vnc into your desktop (or a VM if you can set it up! it doesn't have to be your real desktop) and be on skype, and talk you through, for the twenty minutes, into what it takes to get this done. This takes "extreme programming" to a new level. Look, I already have a game plan,, I'm just not a Unix hacker. You want to do this or what? This would be super, super-fast, especially if you already know Perl or another scripting language and how gpg works... The idea of having someone work you through a hack on skype and while VNC'd into your development VM is the most interesting offer you'll ever get in your life, I'll guarantee you that! Just say "ok". You'll not have a better cocktail story. 109.128.192.218 (talk) 17:22, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I do not permit random people who contact me via Wikipedia to access my computer resources; my computers are very valuable to me, and all my spare resources are currently processing digital images of Jupiter that I photographed in October (the superresolution program I wrote takes a very long time to run, so I can't set up a DMZ for you this month, or ever). Why don't you just submit a patch file for your favorite Bittorrent client to Sourceforge? Regarding my cocktail stories, I have plenty of more interesting stories than "the time I gave somebody on the internet permission to access my computer." For example, you can read all about the time I built a moon rocket, and designed the computer and wrote the software; or the time I got stranded in a blizzard on a remote Alaskan island and had to crawl underneath a building to solder together a 36-bit digital radio connector in the dark on account of a bad Windows UART driver. If we restrict ourselves only to cocktail stories related to interesting offers for Unix software I have personally authored, I can tell you about the time Communists tried to purchase my seismic imaging technology implementation for use in the deep water of the East China Sea, but despite their fantastic offer of financial compensation, I turned the offer down for ethical reasons. Or, the time I was interrogated by Israeli agents who wanted to know every detail of the noise-reduction software algorithm I implemented - they made, shall we say, an "offer I couldn't refuse." If you seek to commission my programming services, you are in competition with some of the world's largest and wealthiest corporations and research institutions; I think you will not be able to provide me with a financial incentive that can possibly sway me. Currently, I am only participating on projects that I find personally interesting; and with due respect, you seem to seriously underestimate exactly how interesting my prior "extreme-programming" software offers have been so far. Nimur (talk) 18:05, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Boy, do you have that final sentence right! With experience like that, this 20 minute project is not for you after all. Unfortunately, everything that I have that would be of interest to you is, not to put too fine a point on it, impossible. Thanks for all your time all the same! 109.128.192.218 (talk) 18:24, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

I will say this. Obviously if a project takes 20 minutes, it can only be a hack, and not of major importance. I can't think of one important breakthrough that was made in twenty minutes, and no project anyone ever comes to you with that is of any importance whatsoever will take twenty minutes. So, I don't feel bad about giving you a less than world-changing prospects. 109.128.192.218 (talk) 19:46, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

User:Kj650

There are similarities between User:Tomjohnson357 and User:Kj650. I have lodged a report about sockpuppetry involving these two User names. See HERE. Dolphin (t) 02:19, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

WP:RD/S The Structured Vacuum question

Hi Nimur. I thought that the section is old enough that you might not have noticed my[question about The Structured Vacuum? Have you read far enough to form an opinion? -- 110.164.230.43 (talk) 08:25, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

I have responded on the desk. Briefly, I'm sure the subject has evolved, but the book is still a fun read and seems pretty consistent with modern physical theory anyway. Nimur (talk) 14:43, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Barnstar

		The Reference Desk Barnstar
		For answering so many people's (myself included) questions on various reference desks. Thank you!

T H F S W (T · C · E) 00:09, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Agh! I broke your signature! I think I fixed it. Sorry! Nimur (talk) 00:19, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! I enjoy the Ref Desks, I learn a lot just by being there. Most interesting to me is hearing all the different ways people phrase questions about science - it's a really good insight into the way different people conceive of the raw concepts - a little glimpse into the way they were educated, what books have shaped their viewpoints, how they have managed to learn complex ideas with or without formal education (or education that has been very different from mine)... Nimur (talk) 00:15, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Gear trains

I don't know if you noticed, but I responded at the science reference desk gear trains question. Just thought you might want to comment. SpinningSpark 00:38, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Happy First Day of Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring!

A Beautiful Cherry Tree in Spring Bloom

Theres nothing like seeing a field full of spring flowers.

Just wishing you a wonderful First Day of Spring 2011! Mifter (talk) 20:28, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere and are entering the season of Autumn not Spring then I wish you a happy First Day of Autumn 2011!
To spread this message to others, add {{subst:First Day Of Spring}} to there talk page with a friendly message.

Talkback

Hello, Nimur. You have new messages at WP:RD/C.
Message added 08:10, 18 April 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

You took the hat right out of my hands - thanks!

Maybe I'm too reticent in general, but this was the first time I've had an edit conflict while {{hat}}'ing a discussion. Thanks for that. -- Scray (talk) 21:14, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Heh. I hope we can just all get along! Hopefully the involved parties will cool off and move on. Happy editing, Nimur (talk) 21:18, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Talkback

[2] – ╟─TreasuryTag►Captain-Regent─╢ 07:17, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you (Fallettinme Knot Keel Dat Guy Agin)

Someone needed to do this. I am most appreciative. --Jayron32 04:27, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

I have to say, the hardest part was finding a way to be polite while doing it... I only hope the Humanities and Misc. desks don't get mad at me for sending him their way! Nimur (talk) 04:35, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Reference Desk Talk Page

I appreciate what you're trying to do on the reference desk talk page [3], and I hope it succeeds in cooling things down I'm not too optimistic though . Keep up the good work. Buddy431 (talk) 16:35, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Deleting comments

Hi, could you tell me why you deleted this comment, with reference to WP:TPO? Thanks. ╟─TreasuryTag►hemicycle─╢ 17:22, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Ref desk

You do not own that page, and if you revert my comments again, I'll be taking you to the appropriate authorities. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:23, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I've already done so, actually. Unless I'm fundamentally misinterpreting the situation, your behaviour is ridiculous, Nimur. See WP:ANI. ╟─TreasuryTag►Counsellor of State─╢ 17:26, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I've hatted his ownership comments along with the rest of the section. And if he messes with it once more, I'm taking him to WP:ANI. This will serve as the required notice. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:29, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

He's at ANI now. I've reverted all of his 'stop discussing this now' collapse-tags too, as well as replacing all the comments he deleted. ╟─TreasuryTag►hemicycle─╢ 17:32, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

May 2011

You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war according to the reverts you have made on Wikipedia talk:Reference desk. Users are expected to collaborate with others and avoid editing disruptively.

In particular, the three-revert rule states that:

1. Making more than three reversions on a single page within a 24-hour period is almost always grounds for an immediate block.
2. Do not edit war even if you believe you are right.

If you find yourself in an editing dispute, use the article's talk page to discuss controversial changes; work towards a version that represents consensus among editors. You can post a request for help at an appropriate noticeboard or seek dispute resolution. In some cases it may be appropriate to request temporary page protection. If you continue to edit war, you may be blocked from editing without further notice. ╟─TreasuryTag►most serene─╢ 17:37, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

ANI notice

Hello. This message is being sent to inform you that there is currently a discussion at WP:ANI regarding reason for discussion. The thread is Bizarre case of WP:OWN. Thank you. —- Barek (talk) - 17:53, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Nimur, I think you've made your point that you feel the discussion there was getting nowhere. Other people obviously disagree, so it's better to let the archive bot handle it now, when everyone has said their piece. I didn't see any frivolous discussion there myself, it all seems germane to governance of the desks. Please don't hat any more threads. Regards, Franamax (talk) 20:10, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Yoo man!

it's me from "Reference desk/Science", about Phil zimbardo.

i responded, thanks.. :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.178.0.69 (talk) 15:16, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

I noticed. Nimur (talk) 22:09, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

U.S. Roads WikiProject Newsletter, Spring 2011

Volume 4, Issue 2 • Spring 2011 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Stub drive continues on User Vaoverland passes away Get your kicks with the US 66 task force	State and national updates Project reports for CA DE MD MI PA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—Rschen7754bot (talk) 02:15, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Advice about getting started in Electronics hobby

Hello Nimur. We've never conversed directly before, but I've greatly admired your RefDesk contributions for some time. You strike me as an incredibly knowledgeable fellow, particularly with respect to electronics. Thus I humbly ask for advice: I have a geology background and a lifelong passion for computers. The closest I ever got to circuits, however, was 4th grade science class. Over the past year or so I've found myself more and more drawn to hobby electronics. I think the projects are fascinating, the opportunities for crossover with my computer projects are many, and sometimes I just wish I knew what the hell was what when I look at a PCB. So I'd like to get started in basic electronics.

I've done some research about entry-level texts, but their appear to be two schools of thought - the theory-first guys and the project-first guys. As someone who obviously has some expertise in this area, I was hoping you could recommend a text or two, perhaps even a learning strategy? Unfortunately, this will all be self-taught. My location prevents any direct mentoring with established electronics enthusiasts.

I'd say my initial goals would be to understand circuits, know how to use a multimeter and solder, understand the basic components of a PCB, and to create a few minor working devices. Considering I'm starting from zero, those seem like reasonable but still quite challenging goals.

My deepest thanks for any assistance you can provide. The Masked Booby (talk) 09:25, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

I just want to acknowledge receipt of this note - I've been very busy this last week; but when I get a chance I will compose a thorough response for you. As you already know, I have a lot of opinions and a little experience in this area, so hopefully with a bit more time I can compose something useful for you. In the mean time it would help if you clarify your interest areas: programming/computers? Radio? Audio? Blinking light-bulbs? Hobby robotics? Electronics is such an enormous field, even the hobbyist needs to specialize a little bit. My first electronics text was "Grob Basic Electronics" which you can find on Amazon and elsewhere; it's incredibly practical introduction to the theory, which you need to have in the field of electronics. Unlike many other hobbies, electromagnetics are mostly invisible forces, so you have to solve problems in your toys using only your mind (your eyes will be useless most of the time). Don't go light on the theory and the math - the more you understand, the larger the set of problems you'll be able to solve. Anyway, I'll give you a more detailed response sometime this evening or the weekend... Nimur (talk) 15:07, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

No rush on the reply, I'm certainly not waiting with the car running ready to dash to Radio Shack. I'd say my longterm goal would be doing some simple robotics, playing with arduinos, and perhaps being able to repair (or at least diagnose) the occasional broken household electronics device. Considering I'm starting from zero, those are all years off and I understand that, but hopefully that helps frame things a bit. I find the Lego Mindstorms quite appealing, but believe that just jumping in there would abstract away most of the real electronics knowledge that I'd like to acquire. So perhaps that could also be used as a longterm milestone - working up to that level of understanding, such that the inner workings of all the sensors and what not are understood, not just taken for granted. Thanks, and again, I can wait weeks for an answer. Please don't delay any real world responsibilities to help me! :-) The Masked Booby (talk) 23:52, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Router stuff

Hey, would you be able to help me more in depth work through this? Thanks, CTJF83 01:20, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

I'm happy to help, but a bit busy tonight. If you post on the Computing desk, I will probably respond, but it's also likely that somebody else can provide an answer before I can. Nimur (talk) 02:31, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Ok, ya, another user gave me a suggestion, I'll try that and see where it goes...thanks for your help. CTJF83 11:46, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Google & Facebook

Hello Nimur: On the ref/computers desk, under "Firesheep for Linux", you added a paragraph on security/lack of security of using Google & Facebook. I don't know what firesheep is but your remarks on Google & Facebook caught my attention since I use both.

I brought this question here as it is not about firesheep and is specifically about your remarks. I get the impression that this is something you feel strongly about. Can you suggest discussion elsewhere (in or out of Wikipedia) about security risks involved in using Google & Facebook? I'm looking for something useful and informed but without needing technical background to follow. There are frequent spurts of discussion on Facebook but they tend to be ill-informed rumours.

Your help would be much appreciated. I'll watch this page for a while. Thank you, Wanderer57 (talk) 18:19, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

I would highly recommend the essays written on behalf of Electronic Frontier Foundation on this subject. EFF is a nonprofit legal advisory and activist organization committed to promoting peoples' rights as they pertain to electronic technology. I will grab a few relevant articles written by them, and post links here, momentarily. Nimur (talk) 18:43, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Top level, Deeplinks Blogs related to Social Networks and Deeplinks Blogs related to Search Engines. Stand by while I locate some of my favorite posts and articles, ones which I feel were particularly well-researched and highlight the core issues. Nimur (talk) 18:47, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

• Facebook's Broken Promises: Facebook Apps Leaking Private Data to Advertisers and Trackers. This is a good one. This is not a "technical flaw" or a "programmer error" - it is part of the "plan," - install a web application game, ignore its terms of use, and ... hand over your private Facebook data to the game developer. The creator of this website has zero qualms about sharing your messages, your friends' contact information, your photographs, with third-parties. It's astonishing to me - if I offered a free telephone service in exchange for permission to record your calls, would you agree to use it? But, when Facebook offers you a free text-messaging platform, in exchange for permission to record and share messages you send to your friends, 750 million users sign up.
• Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Are Still Breaking European Privacy Law. I live and work in the United States, am a native-born U.S. citizen. Technically, European laws do not apply to me. However, I envy the protection that governments in nations like Germany extend to protect their citizenry from malicious large corporations. The average citizen lacks the technical understanding, and lacks the financial resources, to defend themselve against the ingress into their own personal freedoms by large technology companies. It would be nice if we had an American government advocacy office overseeing the search engine industry to ensure that our citizens are protected against wiretap, for example.
• Two-part series on Government investigations that use social network websites. This is what we know is happening. These are the above-board, legal, on-paper, records-exist-and-had-legal-approval. What dark backroom activities take place, I can only speculate.

I'll dig up a few more articles that I recall - I remember a very nice packaged document from EFF which contained the results of a FOIA release from the Department of Justice, showing training manuals for legal methods that prosecutors can use Facebook data. It outlined the ways that evidence could be collected in accordance with American law, for use in trials. It outlined what specific processes could be used to entice Facebook users to self-incriminate, while still being admissible evidence.

I have operated web servers for my own use, and the use of my friends and coworkers. I know what Root on a shared server is capable of. I am truly astonished that people trust Root on the facebook.com database server - they never even met the guy! Nimur (talk) 19:15, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Microsoft support scam

Hi Nimur! Thanks for your reply to my question. I'm dropping by just to let you know that I edited a post that you made (I know that is normally a no-no), by deleting a url that appeared to have been left inadvertently, and that gave the thread a confusing start. Diff. --Throwaway-account-001 (talk) 17:39, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for correcting the error. It may have been a simple copy-paste error by me. Nimur (talk) 17:42, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Lightsaber help on Ref Desk

The Refdesk Barnstar In reference to this, all I can say is WOW! I have yet to see a more thoroughly meticulous way of responding to an entirely theoretical question. DRosenbach (Talk

November 2011

Volume 4, Issue 3 • Fall 2011 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Junction list template updates coming ACR processes merged Stub drive getting toward the end	State and national updates Project reports for CA MD MI PA VA TX
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—JCbot (talk) 01:21, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) graphical timeline

Template:South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) graphical timeline has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Bulwersator (talk) 15:53, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

December 2011 Newsletter for WikiProject United States

The December 2011 issue of the WikiProject United States newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you.

 
--Kumioko (talk) 04:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

answer to the space balls mystery

Thanks for your answer of a few days ago, about the 'balls from space' mystery - if you're interested, here's the solution solution - I still don't understand why they're falling only in Namibia, Australia etc. - anyway, thanks again 11:22, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

January 2012 Newsletter for WikiProject United States and supported projects

The January 2012 issue of the WikiProject United States newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you.

 
--Kumi-Taskbot (talk) 18:24, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

You are invited to join Stanford's WikiProject!

As a current or past contributor to a related article, I thought I'd let you know about WikiProject Stanford University, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Stanford University. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks and related articles. Thanks!

You are invited to join Stanford's WikiProject!

As a current or past contributor to a related article, I thought I'd let you know about WikiProject Stanford University, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Stanford University. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks and related articles. Thanks!

ralphamale (talk) 21:58, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

USRD WikiProject Newsletter, Winter 2012

Volume 5, Issue 1 • Winter 2011 • About the Newsletter
This edition is going out to all USRD WikiProject members (current, former, or potential) in addition to other subscribers as part of a roll call to update the participants list. Anyone that would like to continue to receive this newsletter in the future needs to update the subscription list if they are not already subscribed.
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features U.S. Roads consolidates M-6 article makes headlines Planning Department debuts Stub drive concludes early, successfully Editorial	State and national updates Project news Task force reports for MD, MI, PA, and VA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—Imzadi 1979 → 22:11, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Hi

First of all, thanks for your help to get me get into the correct direction in astronomy stuffs. I'm currently a high school student and i'm trying to learn astronomy for Science Olympiad, the sad thing is none of my school teachers can help me out. Astronomy is not something they teach in my school. If you don't mind, i'm going to just ask you directly instead of reference desk. Would you like to help me? And by the way, you don't seem like to have an email for your account? I recommend you add one to your account so people can contact you in personal way if needed. I'm just thinking we can just talk directly or chat directly, it's a lot faster than this. Thanks!Pendragon5 (talk) 20:38, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Hello Pendragon5, thanks for the note. I'm glad to hear that you're studying for Science Olympiad; that program is a very good use of your time and will be a great enrichment beyond the regular school science class curriculum. Sorry to hear that your teachers aren't equipped to help out with the astronomy subject area!

I'm very happy to answer any science questions you may have. In general, I recommend that you post to the Reference Desk directly, because I will read posts there almost every day, and respond when I have time. But, when I'm busy, (and it does happen), you can still get some good answers from other volunteer editors.

As always, check multiple sources, and use critical thinking to evaluate any information you read. Wikipedia is a great resource, but we sometimes make mistakes or provide incorrect information, so it's best to fact-check!

I'll scour my bookshelf to see which of my many books I would recommend for a student at your level, and will post some links so you can check them out at your local library or bookstore. Off the top of my head, I highly regard "To Rise From Earth," also available at Amazon, which is about spaceflight engineering (rather than astronomy). Happy studies,... - Nimur (talk) 17:19, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Oil sands and heavy crude oil

There is a discussion if Oil sands and Heavy crude oil should be merged or not, and how these articles should refer different deposits. As the main editor of the heavy crude oil article, your opinion is welcomed. Beagel (talk) 12:12, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Wiring a Small Office with CAT6 Ethernet?

Thanks for your response. I followed up here: Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing#Wiring_a_Small_Office_with_CAT6_Ethernet.3F. --33rogers (talk) 22:54, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Riding the booster

That was a fantastic video of the shuttle booster ride you posted on the ref desk. Do you know what is on the small parachute in the distance right at the end? SpinningSpark 18:18, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes of course: there are two Solid Rocket Boosters. Toward the end, you can see the other booster impacting the water. If you look closely while watching that video, you'll actually see that the video source changes from one booster to the other: at times, you are seeing the view from the booster that impacted the water first; and other times, the video is sourced from the second booster to impact the water. If you watch the video very closely, you'll see that you're actually seeing footage cut from two totally separate missions - that is, the scene cuts between at least four totally separate SRB-mounted viewpoints. The missions were STS-117 and STS-127; some of the footage was shot almost two years apart, and cut together to make a nice film; for dramatic effect, some of the foogtage is actually spliced "out of order." (I noticed, for example, that first we see footage an aerial view of the first booster impacting the water; the footage then cuts to a view of the other booster impacting the water... which is what we just watched from the other vantage point!) Nimur (talk) 18:19, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes. I realised the film was a collage. I also realise there are two boosters; the other one is clearly seen throughout. However, I do not think the parachute at the end of the film is carrying the other booster - there appears to be only one canopy rather than three and the payload is much smaller. SpinningSpark 19:50, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Even at "720p", the Youtube clip is too blurry for me to distinguish whether that's one or three canopies, so I'll defer from comment. It's plausible that we're seeing "some other object;" I can imagine there might be some helicopter-sourced, paradropped locator buoy, but I have never heard anything about such a project, and if the Shuttle missions did anything, they publicized every acronymed subsystem (See, e.g., our article's section on Diver Operated Plug (DOP) and Salt Water Activated Release (SWARS). To the best of my recollection, I do not recall ever having heard about a Parachute-Deployed Locator-Buoy SRB Recovery Assistance Device" ("PDLBSRBAD"); but STS was a huge program with thousands of subsystems, and I am not aware of all of them. Nimur (talk) 20:15, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

The aspect ratio of the payload just does not look long enough to me to be a booster. I was thinking some kind of flight recorder, but you will know better. SpinningSpark 21:31, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

After reading the section you linked, could it be the drogue parachute with the frustrum? SpinningSpark 22:10, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

That sounds very plausible. From NASA Kennedy Space Center's SRB page: "The recovery crew retrieves the SRBs, frustum/ drogue chutes, and main parachutes." There's also discussion of the onboard recovery beacon, which seems more in line with my memory of the system: "Location aids are provided for each SRB, frustum/ drogue chutes and main parachutes. These include a transmitter, antenna, strobe/ converter, battery and salt water switch electronics." Quite extensive description: Descent and Recovery. "After the drogue chute has stabilized the vehicle in a tailfirst attitude, the frustum is separated from the forward skirt by a charge triggered by the low-altitude baroswitch at an altitude of 5,975 feet 248 seconds after separation. It is then pulled away from the SRB by the drogue chute." Well spotted, Spinning Spark! Nimur (talk) 22:18, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

You're invited! New England Wikimedia General Meeting

	New England Wikimedia General Meeting
	The New England Wikimedia General Meeting will be a large-scale meetup of all Wikimedians (and friends) from the New England area in order to discuss regional coordination and possible formalization of our community (i.e., a chapter). Come hang out with other Wikimedians, learn more about ongoing activities, and help plan for the future! Potential topics: What is a Wikimedia chapter and should we work towards one? Planning of regular Boston meetups (any other New England cities?) Planning for upcoming coordinated events (Wikipedia Love Libraries, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiknic, etc.) Outreach to universities (WikiProject Academical Village) and cultural institutions (GLAM) Wikimania DC is this summer. Your ideas!
	Sunday, April 22 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM	Conference Room C06, Johnson Building, Boston Public Library—Central Library 700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116
Please sign up here: Wikipedia:Meetup/New England!

---

Message delivered by Dominic at 08:50, 11 April 2012 (UTC). Note: You can remove your name from this meetup invite list here.

Colors of human cone cells

Hey Nimur, thanks for responding to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2012 April 10#What are the colors of human cone cells?! You mentioned you wanted to dig up a reference... did you get a chance to find one? Melchoir (talk) 18:55, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

R.W.G. Hunt, Measuring Color, available at Amazon and in digital formats. This book is highly recommended; I have seen the author present his technical work. It's a good balance of presentation between the physiology, psychology, and physics of color. Nimur (talk) 14:57, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Great, thanks! Melchoir (talk) 18:23, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

USRD WikiProject Newsletter, Spring 2012

Volume 5, Issue 2 • Spring 2012 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Paving a path forward with KML Down and dirty with KML SPSs in need of removal from articles Maple Syrup Report	State and national updates Project news Task force reports for CA, DE, and MI
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—Imzadi 1979 → 00:14, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Provide some useful websites for practice

First of all I would like to thank you for telling about my incompleteness. Will you please provide me some websites so that I can practice questions of my level? I am a student of 9th standard. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sunnysinghthebaba (talk • contribs) 13:22, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

The best place to ask such a question is on the Science Reference Desk so that you can get feedback from other contributors. Nimur (talk) 16:05, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

new comment on an archived question

Take a look: Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2012_May_19#Is_indexing_a_safety_risk.3F — Preceding unsigned comment added by OsmanRF34 (talk • contribs) 20:40, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

Boston Wiknic

	Great American Wiknic - Boston
	The Second Annual Great American Wiknic will be an opportunity for Wikipedians across the Greater Boston area to meet for an afternoon of Food, Fun, and Fellowship. Come hang out with other Wikimedians, learn more about upcoming activities, and just enjoy a day at the park!
	Saturday, June 23 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Boston Common	Food Fun Fellowship
Please sign up here: Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston/Wiknic/2012!

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of Meetup/Boston at 14:42, 31 May 2012 (UTC).

USRD Summer 2012 Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 3 • Summer 2012 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features U.S. Roads Project Goes to Wikimania Driving to 4 Million Michigan Reaches Milestone Maple Syrup Report	State and national updates Project news Task force reports for AK, CA, DE, GA, GU, LA, MO, MT, ND, OK, and TX
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—Imzadi 1979 → 23:00, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

You're invited: Ada Lovelace, STEM women edit-a-thon at Harvard

U.S. Ada Lovelace Day 2012 edit-a-thon, Harvard University - You are invited!

Now in its fourth year, Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and related fields. Participants from around New England are invited to gather together at Harvard Law School to edit and create Wikipedia entries on women who have made significant contributions to the STEM fields. Register to attend or sign up to participate remotely - visit this page to do either. 00:36, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Thank you!

		The Reference Desk Barnstar
		Thank you for your help with my C problems! 169.231.8.73 (talk) 21:58, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia Loves Libraries Seattle

Decemmber 8 - Wikipedia Loves Libraries Seattle - You're invited

Seattle Public Library

Date Saturday, December 8, 2012 Time 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Location Seattle Public Library Meeting Room 1 on Level 4, Central Library, 1000 4th Avenue, Seattle WA, 98104 Event An editathon on Seattle-related Wikipedia articles with Wikipedia tutorials and Librarian assistance on hand. Hashtag #wikiloveslib or #glamwiki. Registration http://wll-seattle.eventbrite.com or use on-wiki regsistration. Yours, Maximilianklein (talk) 04:19, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Hand-coding

Hey all :).

I'm dropping you a note because you've been involved in dealing with feedback from the Article Feedback Tool. To get a better handle on the overall quality of comments now that the tool has become a more established part of the reader experience, we're undertaking a round of hand coding - basically, taking a sample of feedback and marking each piece as inappropriate, helpful, so on - and would like anyone interested in improving the tool to participate :).

You can code as many or as few pieces of feedback as you want: this page should explain how to use the system, and there is a demo here. Once you're comfortable with the task, just drop me an email at okeyeswikimedia.org and I'll set you up with an account :).

If you'd like to chat with us about the research, or want live tutoring on the software, there will be an office hours session on Monday 17 December at 23:00 UTC in #wikimedia-office ^connect. Hope to see some of you there! Thanks, Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 23:03, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Your request for a transcript

Hi a few weeks ago you requested the transcript of the Seaborg predictions. I have it now... please email me via my user page (Homepage). Sandman30s (talk) 18:03, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Excellent! I did want to read that interview. Looks like your contact is buried behind a Flash plugin, so I'll check in to that a little later when I have a machine with Flash installed... Thanks for the heads-up! Nimur (talk) 19:30, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry about that, you can email (Sandman30s) and then remove my email from here if you wish Sandman30s (talk) 21:13, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

The Center Line: U.S. Roads WikiProject Newsletter, Winter 2013

Volume 6, Issue 1 • Winter 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Wikidata Q&A USRD Cup returns Project looks ahead to new year	State and national updates Project news Task force reports for CA, FL, and PA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—EdwardsBot (talk) 19:56, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

QoS

Hi, for info when you linked to QoS you linked to a disambiguation page. I've corrected this for you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.192.224.159 (talk) 19:53, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

This is apparently in reference to an archive from November (diff). Thank you for notifying me. In general, there's no need to correct other people's comments, but in this case, you disambiguated my post without affecting my meaning. It's great to know that our ref-desk archives are still interesting enough to get readers' attention! Happy reading! Nimur (talk) 01:18, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Personal Request

Recently you answered a question of mine in wikipedia reference desk regarding Algorithms and Hacking. I am by the way a high school guy very interested in Computer Science and Mathematics. I was very interested in hacking and this led to me to search wikipedia to know the names of figure like Donald Knuth and others. I guess that my question may probably seem strange to you but I want to know who among this figures have the greatest knowledge on computer science.

• Richard Stallman
• Linus Trovalds
• Kevin Mitnick
• Julian Assange
• Dennis Ritchie
• Donald Knuth

I hope you will be kind to answer my question in elaborate. Solomon7968 (talk) 19:06, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

It's fantastic that you're interested in computer science and mathematics! Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question, because "knowledge of computer science" is not a scalar parameter, so the set of people who know about computer science is not strictly ordered. It is always good to learn about some of the great foundational leaders in a field, especially when you are just beginning to study it. But don't get too hung up on trying to figure out who the "best" or "smartest" computer scientist is. It is much more useful - and much more interesting - to simply learn what each individual has contributed.

Your list is a little haphazard; these individuals are each very different. Some are researchers, some are programmers, some are not. It's important that you develop critical thinking skills to evaluate each person's contribution on its merits, instead of relying on the interpretation of the mass media, or even on my opinion.

If you frequently read my contributions to Wikipedia's computer reference desk, you will find that I often cite Edsger Dijkstra; John Hennessy; and I occasionally quote Richard Stallman, or link to his website. I also frequently link to Peter Norvig's website, and John Walker's website. These individuals are not necessarily the ones who know the most about any particular subject; but I find their writing insightful, even when I disagree with their ideas.

If you are a high-school student interested in computer science, I would strongly recommend that you pay more attention to algebra, trigonometry, and calculus, rather than expending mental energy on "hacking." Those mathematical tooks will be far more important when you progress to more advanced topics in computer science; and until you master algebra - the formalization of symbolic computation - you will never write a computer program. Once you begin writing computer programs, you will need to learn much more math if you plan to stay ahead of the computer, because I guarantee your computer will outperform your brain at the simple maths!!

Finally, let me make some elaborate comments on "hacking." It's very easy for non-programmers to be misled by the "mystique" of hacking. Until you understand some basic computer theory, many things that people do with computers appear magical. But I will tell you this much: hacker mystique is entirely fictional. "Hacking" has been misconstrued by the mass-media so severely that nobody even knows what it means anymore. When I use the phrase colloquially, it is never in a good way: to me, "hacking" means "doing something very poorly - in a shamefully sloppy way."

When I don't have time to make a program work, I "hack" it by implementing it badly - in ways that I know will eventually fail. "Hacking" is the computer-programmer's equivalent of rushing to get your homework done - doing a last-minute bad job on something you didn't even want to do. Amongst my computer-savvy friends, we say we are "hacking" when we are using embarrasingly stupid tricks and bad ideas that barely work - mostly because there isn't time to do it properly; or when the task is so unimportant that nobody cares about doing it correctly. It is never something to be proud of.

I have no idea how this word has been construed to mean "computer crime." I never use the phrase "hacking" to refer to illicit behavior that circumvents computer security-measures; although many people use the term in that context. If I am describing that, I say "circumventing computer security measures," or I describe what I am talking about. Usually, even a skilled programmer can only circumvent "hack job" security-measures that were poorly implemented by a sloppy "hacker"; quite the opposite of what most people expect!

When somebody has written prose and is called a "hack", it is usually meant as an insult. I feel the same way about somebody who has written computer software. As you begin to write software, do not try to "hack": try to engineer. Learn principles of proper design, and apply them to solve important problems. Nimur (talk) 06:20, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Well Thanks for your suggestions. But will you clarify me one thing. After going through wikipedia my realization was among the most influential books on Algorithms the top two are:

• The art of computer programming
• Introduction to Algorithms

Both of them are above 1000 pages books. But what will a student pursue if he has got completed both of these books. I mean if anyone completes these two books will he be a expert in the fields of Algorithms. Solomon7968 (talk) 14:29, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't actually like Knuth's textbooks. I never finished them. ...Neither did Knuth. I learned algorithms from a text called "Data Structures and Algorithms in Java", whose author eludes me; and from Silberschatz's dinosaur book, Operating Systems Concepts. Nimur (talk) 17:25, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Goodrich and Tamassia, who I recalled after a little coffee. Nimur (talk) 21:00, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

The Center Line: Spring 2013

Volume 6, Issue 2 • Spring 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Project creates route list standard Driving down under Meta and Wikidata update ACR becoming active, changing USRD Cup wraps up	State and national updates Project news Task force reports for CA, GA, MI, OK and WA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—EdwardsBot (talk) 22:25, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science - Answers

Excellent, and thoughtfully constructed answers at the Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science, particularly your comments on light and Geometric Optics. I would tip my hat to you Sir, if I had one and if you could actually see me. All the best for your future. My Sincere Best Regards--122.111.251.68 (talk) 13:33, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

Aka OneMadScientist --122.111.251.68 (talk) 15:46, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

Iron

Google the letters, man! that POS is an AmTech S1735. They come in a plastic case with a bunch of crap accessories. The only thing worth keeping is the tiny tube of solder that's included. They start breaking down when you put the plug into the wall socket. 184.199.165.229 (talk) 22:41, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Okay, I'll defer to your familiarity with this brand and model of soldering gun. Nimur (talk) 22:46, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

		The Reference Desk Barnstar
		For helping me find some information that is very difficult to google, and overall helping an outstanding number of people in the reference desk. 3vilp4wn (talk at me) 02:13, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting

You are invited to the 2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting, on 20 July 2013 in Boston! We will be talking about the future of the chapter, including GLAM, Wiki Loves Monuments, and where we want to take our chapter in the future! EdwardsBot (talk) 09:43, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

What do you do with orbital debris data

Interesting, your answer to the recent ref desk question about orbital space debris. I was just curious, what do you use the information in Orbital Space Debris Quarterly to get done? 75.75.42.89 (talk) 23:34, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Currently, it's purely recreational, although I will not rule out that someday I will plan a trajectory and photograph some large piece of debris. Astrophotography, like most human behaviors, is a huge expenditure of time, money, energy, and effort for almost no purpose. Nimur (talk) 19:17, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

The Center Line: Summer 2013

Volume 6, Issue 3 • Summer 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Rewriting Infobox road and incorporating Wikidata Driving around the Pearl of the Orient Fixing our shields licensing	State and national updates Project news in brief Task force reports for CA, GA, MI, MN and WI
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—EdwardsBot (talk) 22:21, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

The Center Line: Fall 2013

Volume 6, Issue 4 • Fall 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Final push for 2013 goals A New York state of merger Templates, Lua, and sister projects	State and national updates Project news in brief Task force reports for CA, IA, MD, MI, and PA
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—EdwardsBot (talk) 03:12, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

New England Wikipedia Day @ MIT: Saturday Jan 18

NE Meetup #4: January 18 at MIT Building 5

Dear Fellow Wikimedian, You have been invited to the New England Wikimedians 2014 kick-off party and Wikipedia Day Celebration at Building Five on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus on Saturday, January 18th, from 3-5 PM. Afterwards, we will be holding an informal dinner at a local restaurant. If you are curious to join us, please do so, as we are always looking for people to come and give their opinion! Finally, be sure to RSVP here if you're interested. I hope to see you there! Kevin Rutherford (talk)

(You can unsubscribe from future notifications for Boston-area events by removing your name from this list.)

The Center Line: Winter 2013

Volume 7, Issue 1 • Winter 2014 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features 2013 in review The Moon is rising: our Lua progress so far Looking ahead to 2014 The Maple Syrup Report	State and national updates Project news in brief Task force reports for CA, GA, MI, OH, PA, UT, WA, and WV
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:15, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

You're invited: Women's History Edit-a-thons in Massachusetts this March

Women's History Edit-a-thons in Massachusetts this March - You are invited!

New England Wikimedians is excited to announce a series of Wikipedia edit-a-thons that will be taking place at colleges and universities throughout Massachusetts as part of Wikiwomen's History Month from March 1 - March 31. We encourage you to join in an edit-a-thon near you, or to participate remotely if you are unable to attend in person (for the full list of articles, click here). Events are currently planned for the cities/towns of Boston, Northampton, South Hadley, and Cambridge. Further information on dates and locations can be found on our user group page. Questions? Contact Girona7 (talk)

You're invited!

NE Meetup #5: April 19th at Clover Food Lab in Kendall Square

Dear Fellow Wikimedian, New England Wikimedians would like to invite you to the April 2014 meeting, which will be a small-scale meetup of all interested Wikimedians from the New England area. We will socialize, review regional events from the beginning of the year, look ahead to regional events of 2014, and discuss other things of interest to the group. Be sure to RSVP here if you're interested. Also, if you haven't done so already, please consider signing up for our mailing list and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. We hope to see you there! Kevin Rutherford (talk) and Maia Weinstock (talk)

(You can unsubscribe from future notifications for Boston-area events by removing your name from this list.)

Adrianne Wadewitz Memorial edit-a-thons

Adrianne Wadewitz edit-a-thons in Southern New England

As you may have already heard, the Wikipedia community lost an invaluable member of the community last month. Adrianne Wadewitz was a feminist scholar of 18th-Century British literature, and a prolific editor of the site. As part of a worldwide series of tributes, New England Wikimedians, in conjunction with local institutions of higher learning, have created three edit-a-thons that will be occurring in May and June. The events are as follows: May 21st at Northeastern University's Snell Library, in the Digital Scholarship Commons on the second floor May 22nd at Brown University's Rockefeller Library, in the Digital Scholarship Lab June 25th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (exact location TBA), where we will also be hosting a "how to conduct an edit-a-thon" session beforehand We hope that you will be able to join us, whether you are an experienced editor or are using Wikipedia for the first time. If you have any questions, please leave a message at Kevin Rutherford's talk page. You can unsubscribe from future notifications for Boston-area events by removing your name from this list.

Attenuation equation

In case you're interested, I identified the sound attenuation equation you were looking for in answering the ultrasound question. --Tardis (talk) 05:09, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! In this instance, your memory served you very well! I sincerely appreciate the effort.

Incidentally, this is the second time this week that my memory of one of Stoke's laws has seemingly evaporated! I may be falling out of practice! Nimur (talk) 05:57, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

New England Wikimedians summer events!

Upcoming events hosted by New England Wikimedians!

After many months of doubt, nature has finally warmed up and summer is almost here! The New England Wikimedians user group have planned some upcoming events. This includes some unique and interesting events to those who are interested: Cape Cod Wiknic and Photography Blitz on June 14th in Barnstable County, with complete travel reimbursements available for those who participate Adrianne Wadewitz Memorial Edit-a-thon on June 25th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (exact location TBA), where we will also be hosting a "how to conduct an edit-a-thon" session beforehand 3rd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting, which will feature at least one guest speaker, and possibly many more Although we also aren't hosting this year's Wikimania, we would like to let you know that Wikimania this year will be occurring in London in August: Wikimania 2014 in London If you have any questions, please leave a message at Kevin Rutherford's talk page. You can unsubscribe from future notifications for Boston-area events by removing your name from this list.

New England Wikimedians summer events!

Upcoming events hosted by New England Wikimedians!

After many months of doubt, nature has finally warmed up and summer is almost here! The New England Wikimedians user group have planned some upcoming events. This includes some unique and interesting events to those who are interested: Cape Cod Wiknic and Photography Blitz on June 14th in Barnstable County, with complete travel reimbursements available for those who participate Adrianne Wadewitz Memorial Edit-a-thon on June 25th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (exact location TBA), where we will also be hosting a "how to conduct an edit-a-thon" session beforehand 3rd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting, which will feature at least one guest speaker, and possibly many more Although we also aren't hosting this year's Wikimania, we would like to let you know that Wikimania this year will be occurring in London in August: Wikimania 2014 in London If you have any questions, please leave a message at Kevin Rutherford's talk page. You can unsubscribe from future notifications for Boston-area events by removing your name from this list.

The Center Line: Spring 2014

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:05, 8 June 2014 (UTC) on behalf of Imzadi1979

Hi

While "This user lives in the U.S. State of Texas." and "This user lives in the U.S. State of New York." on the same page is a bit strange, I do think you'd like to read Seasteading. Kind of the opposite of PRINCE2. Joepnl (talk) 01:54, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm familiar with seasteading! More recently, I've started engaging in plane camping... there are places where one can fly, land on a grassy field, and just tuck in under the wing. I have a friend who owns and operates a flying boat - a Lake Buccaneer - so in principle, we could seastead in that! But he only floats it in freshwater (salt does terrible things to mechanical parts) - and most pilots don't like leaving their aircraft on the water overnight "just in case it sinks." It's a really low probability risk, but a really easy one to avoid! I'll be perfectly honest, though: every time we make a water landing, I tell myself, "this one will be my last, one way or the other." Nimur (talk) 15:51, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm very glad the cool people that should know about seasteading already do :) My last flight was about 5 years ago and that was a normal, commercial airline millions of people use daily. I think that really was my last flight because I hate it from the bottom of my heart. The only time I was totally relaxed was in a tiny airplane in Zimbabwe where I got to sit next to and talk to the pilot. Flying in a Lake Buccaneer actually looks like fun to me. There's an annual party Ephemerisle (officially not connected to the Seasteading Institute, for insurance reasons I think, but the inventor of seasteading invented it as well), a bit like Burning Man but a lot smaller and quite the opposite of a desert. You or your friend might like it. https://www.facebook.com/events/422823277863756/?ref=22 (Hmm. Maybe next year.. :)) Joepnl (talk) 00:51, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

momentum answer

Thanks for your answer to my question on momentum of electromagnetic radiation. It has led me to plenty of material on that stress tensor. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 12:54, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Great! You've probably already found the article on Maxwell stress tensor. This formalism relies on some heavy math: full-time undergraduate physics students are expected to spend many weeks studying preparatory electrodynamics equations that build up to that material. If you're following the equations, you've either got a solid mathematical physics background or you're doing well as an autodidact! Anyway, glad to be of service! Nimur (talk) 21:08, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

The Center Line: Summer 2014

Volume 7, Issue 3 • Summer 2014 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features The U.S. Roads Portal: A great gateway to the project HWY Cup a success in improving the articles of WikiProject Highways	State and national updates None submitted
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979, 21:50, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

The PENISS Prize

Our motto: "It's only hard if you make it hard"		The PENISS Prize
		On behalf of the People Encouraging Niceness (and/or Eschewing Nastiness) In Society Society, I hereby award you the PENISS Prize. The prize is the highest (and sole) honour in the gift of the Society and is awarded irregularly, on merit. It entitles the awardee to the postnominal letters P.E.N.I.S.S. (in appropriate contexts, of course). It confers automatic membership of the Society, and it thus bestows the power to award the prize to others*, and they to others, in perpetuity. Remember, the more PENISSes in the world, the better for all of us. What a nice thought. Please continue your good work!

* To present this award to others, simply type {{subst:User:JackofOz/PENISS}} on their talk page, and then sign and date your post.

Hello, Nimur. Our paths haven't crossed much, but I am aware of your fine work and you are esteemed a worthy member of the Society. Welcome. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:27, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Description of comets and hydrostatic equilibrium

		The E=mc² Barnstar
		Brilliant explanation of comet settling process here

Orphaned non-free image File:Edwin Hubble with pipe.jpg

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Edwin Hubble with pipe.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Stefan2 (talk) 00:16, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

The Center Line: Fourth Quarter 2014

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979 (talk · contribs) 10:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Online and contactless payments security

Hi. Just to let you know that I added my latest "experimental results" to our Reference Desk comments on this topic a few hours ago, but the entire discussion now seems to have been archived anyway. Regards. RomanSpa (talk) 12:14, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Great! This is going to be an open topic for future investigations... thanks for your inputs! I'll remember to ping you if I find anything interesting in the future. Nimur (talk) 17:30, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Re: Flying Volkswagens

But when the New Jersey lobbed shells into the mountains of Lebanon, the barrage of shells were famously described as "flying Volkswagens", not "bullets that fly 25% slower than an ordinary rifle round."

Having been inside a flying Volkswagen and lived to tell the tale, I got a kick out of your comments. Viriditas (talk) 20:59, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Spontaneously exploding hummingpeople

Hey Nimur, I just accidentally thanked you for your rant against Dragons flight when I had meant to thank Dragons flight himself as a show of support since I didn't have time at the moment to do much else and he seemed to be defending himself well enough. (I thought his answer was right on the spot, showing the OP what assumptions (however unlikely to occur in nature) and calculations could lead to such a claim.) So please consider that "thank" rescinded, but do transfer it multiplied many times over to the rest of your contributions that I greatly enjoy and appreciate. Cheers! -- ToE 20:18, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

I hope I haven't been too grumpy today. In any case, I'm glad to see the direction that the comments took after my posting. I'm much happier with the state of the answers now. Happy reading! Nimur (talk) 20:24, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

The Center Line: Winter 2015

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979 (talk · contribs) 18:37, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Areas of Interest/Expertise

Hi Nimur, would you please consider adding some topic headings to your entry at Wikipedia:RD_regulars? I know you are quite expert at some types of physics and computer stuff, but there are probably lots of other things I haven't even guessed :) I'm hoping to get participation up, so that it can become a useful resource for all of us. Thanks, SemanticMantis (talk) 14:35, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Ought this information be placed on my userpage? Nimur (talk) 15:24, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Of course that would be fine too - my goal was to have a central place where one could quickly skim a variety of user's topic areas. The other option would be to start a totally new page, but it seemed to me a good idea to use the page where our names are already all listed. One hypothetical use case I had in mind was something like this - "I see this question about X - I don't know a ton about that, but I'm pretty sure one of our users does. Dang, who was that again? Was it Y or Z?" Another possibility is that new users skimming it might be reassured that at least some of us know what we're talking about in some topics :) Make sense? Put another way - this was intended to help me/us answer the question "Who knows about X", not "What does user Y know?" SemanticMantis (talk) 15:59, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

on ignoring

Thanks.

The ironic thing is that although I completely agree that certain kinds of disruptive editors are best ignored, I can't ignore Bugs to save my life... —Steve Summit (talk) 11:11, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Oh, I know it can be hard. Certain editors are just smart enough - but not an inkling more - to entice other people into engaging them in pointless discussions. Wikipedia has a few really dumb vandals who can be very easily ignored after a moment's cursory glance. Wikipedia also has some really smart contributors who have interesting things to say and are worth engaging. But there is a certain uncanny valley in the middle there ... those editors are the worst. Those are the editors who have nothing to say, but aren't so blatantly obvious about it.

Nimur (talk) 04:14, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

And thus we have the indelible punchline here. —Steve Summit (talk) 15:10, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

The Center Line: Spring 2015

Volume 8, Issue 2 • Spring 2015 • About the Newsletter
Departments Assessment roundup Portal selected articles and pictures	Features Route description 101 The nitty gritty of in-depth research	State and national updates Editor updates In other project news...
Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979 12:14, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you

Mein Furor! Thanks for the info and links. Very interesting and clarifies suspicious ideas I had about BiasAgent of the nine (talk) 17:34, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

"Surely, Wnt, you don't mean to imply that historical artwork of a thing is distinct from solid evidence that a thing existed! That sort of logic would discredit the ancient astronaut hypothesis and many world religions!" I think I love you now Agent of the nine (talk) 15:39, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Permission to reuse photo

A group of physicians at our institution would like to use the image of the Da Vinci system you have posted but I can't determine if you are the original source of the photo which was apparently taken by a N. Moussar while touring the Intuitive Surgical Inc facility. We would provided appropriate credit directly under the image but I'm not sure what information to list? It seems as though it might be approved for reuse but again, I'm not sure what I should include in the credit line under the image. This is the image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laproscopic_Surgery_Robot.jpg

Many thanks for any assistance you can offer. V. Nemeth at Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vnemeth (talk • contribs) 18:36, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

I am the original author of this photograph. I will contact you regarding this photograph.

Nimur (talk) 18:44, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the ref desk answwer!

Hello, Nimur. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

μηδείς (talk) 03:55, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Marines

I thought this was off topic, so I'd post it here... I was in the Marines from 1989 to 1993. That was a bad time to be in the military. Active duty was being shut down and everything was being moved to the reserves. It quickly became a dog-eat-dog environment as every unit had to cut staff. I was in a MACS unit. There were 7 MACS units when I enlisted, but they were being cut to just 2 MACS units. I believe they cut down to 3: 2 active and 1 training. Not only that, but the size of each MACS was being reduced, cutting the enlisted ranks by 75% and moving the officers from full-time to reserves. Even with all of that, I tried to make the best of it. I planned to make a career. I went into the MECEP program and got 27 credit hours completed on my BS when I was hit by a drunk driver (with two driver's licenses suspended for DUI and driving a stolen, uninsured car - and he was still being promoted through the officer ranks). Due to the environment and my insistence that the officer who ran over me should be punished, I was quickly given a medical discharge. I figured I'd keep going to college, but I then found out that by starting MECEP, I canceled by enrollment in the GI bill and couldn't receive any money for college. I went to the VA for help and discovered that my medical discharge was written up as an "honorable" discharge, but they checked off every possible injury they could find so that there is no conceivable injury that I could ever sustain (even mental illness) that would be covered by the VA. Now, my general view of the military is very negative. I highly regret that I tried to make a life there and consider it the greatest mistake of my life. However, as you may have noticed, I try to express my extreme negativity with humor, not anger. Further, I do not sit and complain about the military every day. I did go to college. I have a PhD and I work as a college professor, with full medical/dental benefits. 199.15.144.250 (talk) 14:00, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your service anyway. It sounds like a series of very unfortunate circumstances - random problems and systematic problems - contributed to your experience. Nobody should be driving under the influence, and it is shameful that anybody can ever get away with that, in any environment. I have not had very great experiences with drunk drivers either, and I hope that we can change the permissive culture that encourages that behavior, as well as increasing the criminal penalties for such unacceptable behavior. Of course, I can't independently verify any part of your story, so I won't needle you over the details; but I can accept the general spirit of your story at face value because it sounds consistent with everything else you've written in the past.

I am glad to hear that you have built a success story out of all the adversity that you faced. It is very easy to be cynical about problems. It is much better, but a lot harder, to take the trouble in stride, and having some humor does help. For what it's worth, replacing those desk chairs was probably pretty funny, but I bet nobody was laughing at the time.

Nimur (talk) 16:18, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

The Center Line: Summer 2015

—MediaWiki message delivery (talk) delivered on behalf of Imzadi1979 05:23, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

The Center Line: September 2015

Volume 8, Issue S1 • September 2015 • About the Newsletter

Happy 10th Anniversary!

• • USRD through the years
• • A goal for success
• • From the first spinning cogs to controlling the power of the moon

• • Article assessment over time
• • How to measure a WikiProject's load
• • Conflict over article titles

• • Arbitration case closes
• • Collaboration
• • Our valued contributors

Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979 (talk) on 23:58, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

This Friday: Women in Architecture edit-a-thon @ Cambridge, MA

You are invited to join the Women in Architecture edit-a-thon @ Cambridge, MA on October 16! (drop-in any time, 6-9pm)--Pharos (talk) 18:29, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Hey

Some kind of a scientist on your UserPage does seem funny. Keep the good work coming btw FindMeLost (talk) 11:52, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Thank you. Nimur (talk) 16:08, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!

Hi,
You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:01, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

The Center Line: November 2015

Volume 8, Issue 4 • November 2015 • About the Newsletter

Departments

• • Assessment roundup
• • Portal selected articles and pictures
• • KML Corner

Features

• • Constructing a road junction list
• • WikiConference USA 2015
• • The Junction template and you
• • Harnessing map archives

State and national updates

• • State updates
• • In other project news...

Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

—delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Imzadi1979 (talk) on 22:59, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Content-removed-from-ref-desk notice misplaced?

I think you posted something to the science reference desk that you meant to post on the original poster's talk page. (Don't bother replying to this note.)

--76.69.45.64 (talk) 01:01, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Note

I'm surprised you don't know what WP:DENY means. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:16, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

If the content should be deleted, please go ahead and delete it. I am not convinced that using the hidden archive template is an appropriate response.

Ultimately, I don't care if somebody asks a stupid question; if I think the question, or its followup, is stupid, I'll ignore it. You are, of course, free to react as you see fit.

But even if you can convince me that the post in question was problematic, you will never convince me that a large, colorful banner that says "WP:DENY" is somehow "denying attention" to that problem.

Nimur (talk) 20:40, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

OK, I'll delete it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:41, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

I think you f***g h8 me

...cause I said some right wing stuff in the past. Correct?Asmrulz (talk) 19:31, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

I do not recall anything you have said that was of a political nature; and generally, I try not to hate anybody, even if I disagree with their opinions. If you did say something to offend me in the past, I do not remember that conversation. My impression of you, based on what I do recollect of your comments and questions on the Reference Desk, is that you are an enthusiast computer programmer and hobbyist, and that you have potential to develop strong skills if you pursue formal education. I'm fairly certain that this impression is unchanged by any political view you may have, whether I agree or disagree with your politics.

I do not think "left-wing politics" and "right-wing politics" are apt categorizations for the many nuanced ideologies and policies that intelligent people conduct. Many opinions and policies are too complex to place on a single-dimensional spectrum in this fashion. If you do hold some view that I find unpalatable, it will not be because of its directionality. Let me reiterate: I do not recollect any conversation in which you expressed any political position: I seem to associate your user-account with questions of a mostly technical nature.

Nimur (talk) 04:06, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Why did you remove my question

Why did you remove my question?Eagle422 (talk) 02:03, 2 February 2016 (UTC) Am I doing something wrong?

Hello Nimur. Thanks for the revert at the science ref desk. I wanted to let you know that this troll has been blocked. feel free to remove this if you want. Cheers. MarnetteD|Talk 02:18, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

Sentence of the week award

"Could Mark Hamill create that software, if ordered by a court?" :) SemanticMantis (talk) 17:56, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

You are an awesome Wikipedian!

Elsa Enchanted (talk) 15:52, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Thank you! Nimur (talk) 16:20, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Hello, A invitation

Hi, I am quite sure you must not have heard of "The Signpost" by Wikipedia. It is a weekly newspaper published on the English Wikipedia. Click here to go to subscription page or simply place this template anywhere (where you want the newspaper to be placed) and the newspaper will appear there. The Template is- {{Signpost-subscription}} . OTHER WAYS OF SUBSCRIPTION ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE SUBSCRIPTION PAGE. I have subscribed to the paper you can also do it. Visit my User Page to see the paper. Thanks and please subscribe --VarunFEB2003 (talk • contribs) 07:03, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

Brakes on Mars

This is where I got the idea that brakes would be less effective on Mars [4]. Does this source seem unpersuasive? I'd hadn't thought about brakes on Mars before I saw that so this wasn't something I just assumed and put on the Reference Desk. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 18:09, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Sir, I brought this to your attention in as respectful a fashion as I could. Your recent contributions to the reference desk have been absolutely unsatisfactory.

Let me begin by addressing this specific line-item, regarding your comments about brake efficacy for Mars rovers.

X-Plane is a great toy - but it's a toy. Documentation about a software toy's Martian simulation is not a reliable source for information on basic physics or on planetary science.

Good sources include websites published by research institutions or agencies like NASA. Good sources include textbooks on physics, and textbooks on planetary science. Good sources include research journal articles.

If you are not regularly reading NASA websites - if you are not regularly buying physics textbooks - if you are not regularly subscribing to academic research journals - you can ask us at the reference desk to help you locate places where you can find those resources. Don't lower the standards and bring down the average on our encyclopedia. We can help you find good sources at low or zero cost. That's what we do.

The absolute worst thing you can do is to post a comment that just comes into your mind - and not even post where you got the idea from. Readers can't tell whether you're an experienced scientist or just some random guy on the internet. That's why you need to cite a source for every statement.

Review Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources. If you can not distinguish between a good encyclopedic source and a poor encyclopedic source, you should not be contributing to the Wikipedia Reference Desk: our only objective on the reference desk is to refer readers to reliable encyclopedic sources.

Here are ten good websites you could spend a few hours reading.

1. NASA's main Mars Missions website
2. Curiosity and the Mars Science Laboratory from Jet Propulsion Lab
3. the Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit) from JPL
4. NASA JPL's Viking Lander Fact Sheet
5. The website of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at Arizona State University
6. The NASA webpage explaining how brakes worked on the Space Shuttle Orbiter's landing gear
7. MIT's OpenCourseWare class on Technology in Transportation, including a section on energy and physics in wheeled vehicles - presented by the aeronautics and astronautics department
8. A nice video and explanatory website from Boeing showing how the 787 Dreamliner's advanced aerospace engineering teams built brakes that can withstand extremes of physics
9. The website of the Society of Automotive Engineers' Brake Colloquium Exhibition, where you can learn about the most critical and up-to-date information on braking and brake systems
10. MIT's OpenCourseWare lecture on the basic physics of traction in planetary sciences.

Can you see how easy it is to find great resources? Do you see how these are better than the source you linked - which is a 16-year-old self-published anecdote about playing a simulation game - fraught with technical errors, and not an encyclopedic reference?

So - X-Plane is great. It's a fun toy. It has the capability to be used for fantastic research - and it has even occasionally been used by professional researchers. But the source you linked is not a suitable citation. Your comments on the reference desk included incorrect statements, wrong physics, and did not cite any source. Your next comments consisted of patent nonsense. Do not post this type of nonsense on our encyclopedia. I, and many other regular contributors to our reference desk, will revert and delete this type of nonsense.

Don't come back-peddling with this single link as some kind of justification. Wikipedia is not a forum. As I described on your talk page, your contribution probably doesn't belong on our encyclopedia. You might find other internet forums to be a more appropriate place to conduct light and informal conversations.

Nimur (talk) 20:38, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject United States/The 50,000 Challenge

You are invited to participate in the 50,000 Challenge, aiming for 50,000 article improvements and creations for articles relating to the United States. This effort began on November 1, 2016 and to reach our goal, we will need editors like you to participate, expand, and create. See more here!

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:38, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

Hello, Nimur. Voting in the 2016 Arbitration Committee elections is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

Personal Question

"I've seen a lot of videos in my day - quantitatively, probably several standard deviations more than most video-watchers" -- why are you so confident of this? Is do you have some extreme 5-movies-a-day habit? Do you just leave YouTube on autoplay all day? I thought you were some sort of support engineer for various kinds of science projects, and I don't imagine extreme video watching is part of that... anyway, that line just struck me as a bit odd, and I got curious; of course no need to share personal info if you'd rather not. Cheers, SemanticMantis (talk) 20:10, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Part of my day-job involves testing video capture and video playback software; at any given time, I have ten or fifty or even a hundred video streams running on the various screens in my work environment. Lots of video-watching hours get logged!

If we count all the cameras I've worked on that are now in the wild, there are just billions of them. Just billions. As I mentioned a few months ago, the terrifying reality is, more than one of my cameras is probably pointed at you right now, statistically speaking. It is a good thing that I am a zealous supporter of secure software and user privacy rights. It is a very bad thing that not all of our cohorts share this zeal.

I know a guy who programmed a camera-robot to automate the watching-of-videos - e.g., cameras pointing at other cameras pointing at test charts, looking for defects against known references. That way, he could stream more cameras and more video playbacks, and automatically catch image glitches.

In my humble opinion, even that very constrained problem exceeds the state-of-the-art capabilities of machine vision and image processing. Human eyes must gaze upon the video in order to determine if it's working right.

At an earlier company, one of my co-workers started creating an Illustrated Encyclopedia of Image Artifacts - everything from codecs to CCDs, software bugs and lens defects, ... accumulated over the years of staring at (and fixing) broken camera designs.

I'm not sure if he finished before he quit.

Nimur (talk) 22:15, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Oh, and if you want some great YouTube videos for testing video playback times, here are some spectacular ones: the Trondheim - Bodø line in winter is a great way to confirm or refute battery-life claims. That video also has a 1080p high-resolution version to keep you toasty on cold winter nights. Raw files can be obtained, too: see, for example, den synkrone Nordlandsbanen minutt for minutt. Nimur (talk) 23:39, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Ah, that explains a lot. I had forgotten you did so much camera stuff... It's probably not fair to count 50 open streams for an hour as 50 hours of video watched, but you'd probably be well ahead of the median even with a more conservative accounting. Anyway, thanks for the explanation, I'll wave at my neighbor's security camera and up at the sky in a few minutes, let me know if you see me :D SemanticMantis (talk) 17:35, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

RC Patrol-related Proposals in the 2016 Community Wishlist Survey

Greetings Recent Changes Patrollers!

This is a one-time-only message to inform you about technical proposals related to Recent Changes Patrol in the 2016 Community Wishlist Survey that I think you may be interested in reviewing and perhaps even voting for:

1. Adjust number of entries and days at Last unpatrolled
2. Editor-focused central editing dashboard
3. "Hide trusted users" checkbox option on watchlists and related/recent changes (RC) pages
4. Real-Time Recent Changes App for Android
5. Shortcut for patrollers to last changes list

Further, there are more than 20 proposals related to Watchlists in general that you may be interested in reviewing. (and over 260 proposals in all, across many aspects of wikis)

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Best regards, Stevietheman — Delivered: 01:12, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

About Avialogs

Hello,

I am the founder and manager of Avialogs, you wrote Now, I don't consider AviaLogs a reliable source - they host all sorts of wonky and weird obsolete manuals even for easy-to-get airframes like the commonplace Cessna 172. In any case, they purport to host this flight manual for the F-16, but I strongly doubt that it is authentic; and even if it were authentic, the important information (including fuel flow rate, along with the entire performance chart appendix) is not included.

I would like to clarify what is Avialogs and our mission.

- The goal of Avialogs is not to have the last manual updated but to build an aviation library. Even more, we do not want to have the last version of manuals with the last updates as we do not want to substitute ourselves to manufacturers and aviation maintenance providers. From last year we even stopped to add manuals produced after 2000. So Avialogs is a reliable source if you consider it for what it is: An aviation library focused on history, with a large number of manuals that where valid at the time of their release. In addition, my personal interest goes to the beginning of Aviation, so our acquisition policy is more toward Aviation history from the beginning until the 70's . - And finally I would like to confirm to you that all manuals on Avialogs are authentic.

Feel free to comment or to send me suggestions,

Best regards.

Benoit --Bdemulder (talk) 15:07, 11 January 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for your note! Allow me to clarify my statement about reliability: I don't consider AviaLogs reliable source for flight paperwork that is safe and legal for use during flight, which sets the bar extraordinarily high!

Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I'm happy that your web service exists - I have a great interest in aviation and its history - I just want to make sure that our up-and-coming pilots know not to depend on historical documents for current flight operations! Nimur (talk) 15:32, 11 January 2017 (UTC)

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Hello! The Wikimedia Foundation is asking for your feedback in a survey. We want to know how well we are supporting your work on and off wiki, and how we can change or improve things in the future. The opinions you share will directly affect the current and future work of the Wikimedia Foundation. You have been randomly selected to take this survey as we would like to hear from your Wikimedia community. To say thank you for your time, we are giving away 20 Wikimedia T-shirts to randomly selected people who take the survey. The survey is available in various languages and will take between 20 and 40 minutes.

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Your feedback matters: Final reminder to take the global Wikimedia survey

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About this survey: You can find more information about this project here or you can read the frequently asked questions. This survey is hosted by a third-party service and governed by this privacy statement. If you need additional help, or if you wish to opt-out of future communications about this survey, send an email through EmailUser function to User:EGalvez (WMF) or surveys@wikimedia.org. About the Wikimedia Foundation: The Wikimedia Foundation supports you by working on the software and technology to keep the sites fast, secure, and accessible, as well as supports Wikimedia programs and initiatives to expand access and support free knowledge globally. Thank you! --EGalvez (WMF) (talk) 08:25, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Asking you as the resident expert...

...on the dangers of Lithium batteries. You really opened my eyes! I had never realized that so many of us carry a potential bomb in our pockets! I asked another question about them on the science refdesk. If you can offer any insight there into exactly when a lithium-ion battery will explode as a result of a "mere" short-circuit, I'd appreciate it. Eliyohub (talk) 19:31, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

The Center Line: Spring 2017

Volume 9, Issue 1 • Spring 2017 • About the Newsletter

Departments

• • Assessment roundup
• • Portal selected articles and pictures

Features

• • Commons and Wikidata revamp
• • Route logs for junction lists
• • Finding friends at the DOT
• • This space for rent

State and national updates

• • State updates
• • In other project news...

Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

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Sunday July 16: New England Wiknic @ Cambridge, MA

Sunday July 16, 1-5pm: New England Wiknic

You are invited to join us the "picnic anyone can edit" at John F. Kennedy Park, near Harvard Square, Cambridge, as part of the Great American Wiknic celebrations being held across the USA. Remember it's a wiki-picnic, which means potluck. Sunday July 16 New England Wiknic (also on Facebook) 1–5pm - come by any time! Look for us by the Wikipedia / Wikimedia banner! We hope to see you there! --Phoebe (talk) 16:33, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

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Ways to improve Sous les pavés, la plage!

Hi, I'm Vexations. Nimur, thanks for creating Sous les pavés, la plage!!

I've just tagged the page, using our page curation tools, as having some issues to fix. The French version of the article has references. Would you be able to incorporate those?

The tags can be removed by you or another editor once the issues they mention are addressed. If you have questions, you can leave a comment on my talk page. Or, for more editing help, talk to the volunteers at the Teahouse.

Vexations (talk) 00:44, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

Sure, I'll spend some time to continue this translation, including citations! Nimur (talk) 02:36, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

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Science ref desk

While I don't disagree with your removal of that one broken-English question, I think what he was trying to ask could be addressed by Man bites dog (journalism). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:55, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

And he re-posted it anyway, so never mind, I suppose.[5] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:24, 24 February 2019 (UTC)

2019 US Banknote Contest

	US Banknote Contest
	November-December 2019
There are an estimated 30,000 different varieties of United States banknotes, yet only a fraction of these are represented on Wikimedia Commons in the form of 2D scans. Additionally, Colonial America, the Confederate States, the Republic of Texas, multiple states and territories, communities, and private companies have issued banknotes that are in the public domain today but are absent from Commons. In the months of November and December, WikiProject Numismatics will be running a cross-wiki upload-a-thon, the 2019 US Banknote Contest. The goal of the contest is to increase the number of US banknote images available to content creators on all Wikimedia projects. Participants will claim points for uploading and importing 2D scans of US banknotes, and at the end of the contest all will receive awards. Whether you want to claim the Gold Wiki or you just want to have fun, all are invited to participate. If you do not want to receive invitations to future US Banknote Contests, follow the instructions here

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Message from Project North Carolina

Hello Fellow North Carolina user,

I have reorganized and updated the content for the Wikipedia:WikiProject North Carolina. I hope it is useful to improving collaboration.

User:G._Moore Talk

encyclopaedias

Hi. I hope you are doing well. I am sort of surprised we never came across before. I wanted to say I found your userpage very interesting Also, Douglas Adams had envisioned a similar encyclopaedia a long time ago. In the early beginning, it was one of the central themes of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise. Later, in the early world-wide-web era, there was a website as well; but it was before the wiki engine. But that website had a lot similar target that of Nupedia, and later Wikipedia. I think it deserves a mention on your userpage in list of similar encyclopaedias to wikipedia. See you around —usernamekiran (talk) 12:37, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

For a good period of time, BBC operated H2G2, which dated back to the ancient time of 1999.

I have seen H2G2 live and die and become reborn again a few times; and a lot of content has even been transcribed to other publications. The BBC has made a lot of very draconian organizational changes in the last few decades, and it has seriously harmed their ability to create excellent digital content, and especially harmed their ability to market it to users outside of the United Kingdom. I find their logic frustrating; I feel that a few of their decision-makers can't quite empathize with the experience of being outside of the range of free media, but within range of their short-wave-radio-antennae.

Today we have a global internet, and stakeholders have found it impossible to censor; so instead of suppressing good information, they simply dilute it with bad information. It is much easier and cheaper to produce bad, fake, and imaginary information, so the end-game is pretty clear: real, authentic, true information will always be available, but it'll be deeply buried by piles of junk and it will be too inconvenient for anybody to use it.

My user page is already quite lengthy, and it's hardly an extensive list of all the things I know about and think about; it's really just a splash of personal introduction. It is written in a fashion that I hope establishes who I am and the way that I think, so that other editors have a better chance of interacting with me in a positive and constructive fashion. I'm quite approachable, and I am able to converse with all sorts of individuals with extraordinarily diverse backgrounds. In exchange - and this is especially important to establish in the "online" context - I think it's appropriate to say who I am, without being overly blunt - to establish that I am not imaginary - that the things I do, and the things that I have done - are not imaginary - and that if an individual tries very hard, they too can do extraordinary things that will inspire others' imaginations.

I hope you continue to have enthusiasm for physics and cosmology, and I implore you to remember that learning and doing real physics is nearly as enjoyable as learning and doing imaginary physics. Many people can't tell the difference; real physicists can't be fooled very easily about much of anything.

Nimur (talk) 16:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

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Image registration for World Cup burst-mode images

Hi Nimur

Long time no chat, 11 years to be precise! I wanted to follow up on the above topic, linked at my talk page here. I was curious if you ever did finish the image registration project and produced a full quality version of the animation. Secondly, I wanted to ask if you still had copies of my original photos. I lost my hard drive some time ago and would love to be able to retrieve a full quality photoset of that moment again. Also, I've been toying around with image/movie upscaling and smoothing software and wanted to test if I could turn the images into a smooth animation myself. If you do, please get in touch or send me a download link to get the photos please! Thanks! Zunaid 19:34, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

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The Center Line: Fall 2023

Volume 10, Issue 1 • Fall 2023 • About the Newsletter

Features

• A New Future for Road Articles Online

Archives • Newsroom • Full Issue • Shortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS

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