User talk:Cepstrum

''Note: the first two posts are from 2011 but got archived into my 2010 page. I copied and pasted the conversions here to reflect my intent to keep 2011 posts on my talk page.''

leaving lengthy comments on article talk page
It is not necessary for you, every time you do make an edit or insert a pna tag or whatever, to go to the articles talk page and leave lengthy and long explanations. Unless you are removing large info from a page, there really is no need for you to announce every edit or justify it on the article's talk page. Imagine everyone did that. Now in some cases it is justified but often I dont see the point. Also, if you do have questions about broken links to an article or whatever technical/MA format questions just fix it, or ask someone you know is competent in the area on their talk page about how to fix it. I know you are trying to be thorough but some of these lengthy notes can get too much at times. Now please dont take this the wrong way and go running to half a dozen people crying about my comment. I am just telling you often your comments, while considerate, are not necessary. I have noticed you have become more comfortable with your edits, which is good and I hope you will continue to be confident enough that you dont feel like justifying every edit with 3kb of text afterwards. cheers...:) – Distantlycharmed 19:31, January 5, 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, DC.


 * I'm afraid I don't quite understand what prompted this. Could you give me some examples? I am trying to be useful and avoid my past ways. Any help/advice for improvement is welcome.


 * I'm also unsure who the "half-dozen" people I'd "cry" to. Do you think I should seek help? Perhaps I could ask Sulfur or Cid. Maybe I'd better before I do too much damage.


 * 20:05, January 7, 2011 (UTC)

I dont keep tabs on these things or jot them down, I just recall noticing that when you do make edits of some kind, you often - not always - post on the article's talk page explaining it. The Fred Freiberger article comes to mind right now. I dont see why you needed to explain at length why you added the pna tag - just add it and add the relevant info you think belongs there with citations. If someone were to ask your or has a problem with it, you could then explain to them directly. This is what we call overkill - the result of which is most people will just not respond to the talk page or bother reading it. well, at least I wont. Imagine if all archivists, everytime they did an edit of significance, would post on the talk page first explaining the edit. – Distantlycharmed 20:42, January 7, 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok, because you cited the Mr. Freiberger article, I'll ask Cleanse, the admin who worked with me on it. I looked and found I didn't ever write 3 KB of text, though. Almost all of my talk page posts were around 200-600 bytes. After reviewing my posts, I think a couple egregious examples were on Talk:Apogee, Inc. and Talk:Sela (really stupid!). You were right about those: they were dumb, and I regret them. I had thought the Talk:Fred Freiberger page resulted in a successful collaboration, and nothing I posted exceeded 1 KB. No crying will be involved: I'll just ask Cleanse for his opinion and hope he's candid with me. ;) I'm going to also ask Sulfur or Cid to see if I can move/condense my posts (with a link to the original), as I've done before. I don't want to harm MA, and I thank you for bringing this to my attention.


 * Again, DC: Thanks for alerting me. I'll try to get on track. Rats! >.< 21:45, January 7, 2011 (UTC)

You dont need to thank me as I doubt you "appreciate" me pointing this out to you. The fact that you are once again going to make a huge deal out of this by bothering other people asking them about it etc, is exactly my point. Take suggestions as just what they are and stop getting all nervous and caught up in it. No one is planning a court-martial. Anyway, I can see that even suggestions bounce off you and are taken the wrong way and go nowhere. Well, at least I leanred something here and wont point it out to you again. And by the way, the 3kb was not to be taken literally but to illustrate the point that your talk-page justifications are overkill and go beyond what is necessary. The fact that you are going to whine to people about it (sorry but I dont know how else to call it), makes the point. Take care. – Distantlycharmed 22:17, January 7, 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, I can't force you accept that I did indeed appreciate you alerting me – though I admit it surprised and dismayed me to learn I was causing harm again :-(. BUT, thanks to you, I looked through my history, saw and saw examples of these kinds of things. I wouldn't have known had you not alerted me. Now I can try to make sure my talk page posts are relevant and concise.  So truly, I am pleased.  ;-)


 * I will refrain from "whining" to anyone for now, and see if I can fix the problem myself.


 * So thanks (really!!) 23:02, January 7, 2011 (UTC)

Wayback Machine links and references
A couple of things, please use the brokenlink template to link things to the Wayback Machine site rather than direct links there. This method quickly shows "broken" links. Also, references (ie links to external sites) should be tied directly to the item that they are referencing. Thus, they should not be moved to External links sections. -- sulfur 20:41, January 5, 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks; many kudos to you!


 * 20:52, January 5, 2011 (UTC)

Hi there!
Hi there, I just wanted to drop by and say hi as I don't believe I have seen you before on MA. How's things going? :) --TrekFan Talk 21:31, January 16, 2011 (UTC)


 * Hello, TrekFan!


 * I'm sorry, but I don't recall who you are. Have we met? Maybe you're mistaking me for someone else?


 * OR, could it be from TrekBBS, where I have/had the same name? (which is pretty rare and esoteric – or maybe not to you; perhaps you analyze cepstra of signals. I just haven't known anyone who does.) If this is from TrekBBS, you might be wondering about my absence. It's complicated. Bottom line: I became very ill (still am) and forgot about TrekBBS.


 * How are you? Well, I hope?


 * 20:26, January 17, 2011 (UTC)

I am good thank you and no, we don't know each other (as far as I know, another life maybe? :P). I've seen you making some edits on MA and I thought I'd just drop by and say Hi, see how you're finding things here! -- TrekFan Talk 14:36, January 19, 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, thanks for clearing things up. It was very kind of you to ask me how things are going. I've had a pretty rough time here (see above posts and my talk archive).


 * I think you need to resurrect your friends list, or MA needs some sort of system that would allow willing editors to come along and aid well-meaning but mistake-prone newcomers who seek guidance. I've made so many gaffes and would really appreciate friendly, specific pointers.


 * Just to be clear: I really don't fault the admins. They're overworked, and they're just admins, not part of some special hand-holding welcoming committee. It must be hard (and tiresome) for them to distinguish from the irascible troublemakers and honest but dumb newbies.


 * Sorry for the rant! (I'm going through a really hard time IRL.) :-/


 * 18:07, January 19, 2011 (UTC)

Hey listen, when I first started editing on MA, I encountered some of the same problems. I think it's mostly down to well-established people (such as SOME, but not all, of the admins) expecting new-comers to know everything about MA policy and wiki-markup, when in actuality it takes a while to get used to how things are done around here. I'd like to think I have finally managed it now, so if you have any questions just ask, no matter how dumb you might think it is! -- TrekFan Talk 18:22, January 19, 2011 (UTC)

Furthermore, regarding what we discussed before, I think this page is relevant to you. If you get any trouble, just quote what it says on there! :) -- TrekFan Talk 21:20, January 20, 2011 (UTC)

"Jonathan Archer" FA Nomination
Hey Cepstrum, I've nominated Jonathan Archer for featured status and I was wondering if you could take a look at it and see what you think? It's not one I have written but I think it's a good article, worthy of recognition. -- TrekFan Talk 15:50, January 21, 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, TrekFan. I'll transfer it to my iPod and look at it (I'll be pretty much unavailable until tomorrow). Thanks for inviting me to participate!


 * 16:04, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

No worries, and thanks for taking a look. -- TrekFan Talk 16:06, January 21, 2011 (UTC)


 * I'll also read the talk page to get a sense of community consensus/stability, as well as the history. (Yes, the whole thing ;) !) This is going to be fun – my first time participating in the process.


 * 16:17, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

Cool, well feel free to put your comments on the nominations page when you're ready. Just put either Support:, Oppose: or Comment: and then your reasoning. -- TrekFan Talk 16:26, January 21, 2011 (UTC)


 * I've already begun to take notes. I plan to give it a very thorough review.
 * This is so much fun. Thanks! (for inviting me)
 * 20:38, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

Hey, no worries. There's already some discussion going on over at the nominations page. -- TrekFan Talk 21:01, January 21, 2011 (UTC)


 * I see it's been taken down and removed to a PR. I had my list of comments typed and was going to post them. Too late! :-(


 * I've more to say, but didn't want to add clutter unless you're interested.
 * 20:25, January 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * The whole point of the peer review process is to get comments on how to improve the article. - 20:29, January 22, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, it was decided to be moved to peer review because of the length of the discussion taking place on the nominations page but it would be great if you could place your comments there? After all, that's what it's for! -- TrekFan Talk 20:33, January 22, 2011 (UTC)


 * It appears big changes by multiple editors will occur, so I probably couldn't help with that. (I'm not an expert on ENT; I'm not ignorant, though.)


 * OTOH, I enjoy copyediting and "wordsmithing", so doubtless I'd critique the prose/flow. (I've published several professional, peer-reviewed papers – and have reviewed some rather harshly. I'm not prescriptivist, though.) I know MA is not a professional journal – I might be too exacting, but I think I could be reasonable.


 * Perhaps you could let me know when it's reached near textual quiescence – no sense scrutinizing a "fluid" article. (Though merely adding/removing/reordering material is ok.)


 * I really want to be useful here, so please let me know how I could best help!
 * And for apocrypha, isn't there a USS Archer? ;-)
 * 01:19, January 23, 2011 (UTC)

Sure, copyediting sounds great. And yes, there is a USS Archer. -- TrekFan TALK 01:24, January 23, 2011 (UTC)


 * That would be background information, as apocrypha is for information from the books and games, where that ship was "seen" in the film, although the reference wasn't stated in canon as such. - 01:33, January 23, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yeah; I actually had no idea where I'd heard it but thought it might'v been while reading about STO's timeline. I was just being a little whimsical. ;-)
 * 01:39, January 23, 2011 (UTC)

FA Nomination
Hey Cepstrum. I was hoping you could take a look at Nero, Number Two for me and see what you think? Any comments would be greatly appreciated as I have put this up for FA nomination. I know you were keen to participate in the last FA nomination but didn't get chance to so I was hoping you would like to this time? Thanks, either way :) -- TrekFan Open a channel 02:17, January 30, 2011 (UTC)


 * TrekFan,


 * Appreciate the heads-up. I'll look into it, but it's doubtful I'll be able to help:


 * 1) I know even less about than ENT – not saying I'm a "basher" of the film: I just have trouble with movies (even Trek ones!), never got connected with TOS, and only saw the movie once.
 * 2) I'm in really , requiring  intervention due to    that are   – and all without  . So I don't know whether I'll have the stamina to do a FA review (I'd do it only if I could do an extremely thorough job: eg, taking notes, cross-checking w/ guidelines and similar articles...).


 * (Whew ndash; sorry for the rant and TMI! I'll take it off once you've read it; don't want that sitting on my public talk page.)


 * Nevertheless, I'll try it. Maybe I can force myself to do a less-than-exacting job this time.... :-)


 * Please keep apprising me of these things (or any place wherein you'd like my input or I'd get a chance to take part in a voting/community process). Thanks again!


 * 13:45, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about that. Please don't do anything that would strain you and if you don't want to any further FA analysis, please don't. I won't take it to heart, promise. Just rest yourself and get better. -- TrekFan Open a channel 19:38, January 30, 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the sympathy, but I won't be getting better anytime soon! (It's getting worse, actually. And this started in December 2009!) This is one reason why I use MA. I have to sit in bed most all day using my iPod anyway...


 * 20:02, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

That must be awful. I really hope things improve for you. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. But, if you're up to it and only if you are up to it, I believe I have worked on those points you mentioned. I thought I would mention it hear to avoid cluttering the nominations page. One thing I will say is that I believe the article should be a comprehensive overview of the story just as the episode summaries should be. After all, we are documenting what happens in the comic. But please, you don't have to do anything if you're not feeling good. I'm sure some other people will comment on it soon enough. -- TrekFan Open a channel 20:28, January 30, 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm beginning to see your rationale for the way the article is. I'd like (actually, love) to edit the prose – I almost wish I'd been an editor rather than an engineer! But, you're right: I might not be up to it. It's a hefty task, I know little of the story (I've never even seen a Trek comic), and things are starting to get really bad again. I'm going to be busy with hospitals, surgeons, etc. next week, and "feel" another ambulance ride to the ER might be coming soon, perhaps tonight. :-( All this messes with my mind, too. If you're up to working on it a little more slowly via the article's (yet to be created) talk page, I could possibly help.


 * Also, I think my extensive comments should be removed to the talk page. After reviewing policy, I've realized they don't belong – they're supposed to address specific objections. Though I guess you could say I "objected" and then provided reasons. Maybe I should change my "comments" title to "object"? I just didn't want to flat out reject it.


 * Thanks again for your sympathy. You're right: whenever I go to the hospital a gaggle of doctors come (out of curiosity) to study my amazingly bizarre, malfunctioning (just about everywhere), young body – there's much more wrong with me than listed above!


 * 20:49, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

Please, by all means, rest. Only look at it when you're feeling up to it. I don't to be the cause of any serious health problem. I think you're right about the comments, however. It should be changed to object. Perhaps you could put something along the lines of "Object for the reasons mentioned on the article talk page?" and move your comments to the talk page? -- TrekFan Open a channel 20:53, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

Changing a vote
Please do not add text or reword a vote on the nominations page if you change your mind. Instead, strike out the entire post and create another one at the bottom. Also, only use bullet points for actual votes, not comments, as this makes it easier to scan the votes without having to read the entire discussion. - 23:53, February 7, 2011 (UTC)


 * Sorry! it was my first time, and it looks as though I made just about every gaffe possible (and I kept re-reading the, too!). Oh well: I probably won't be participating in an FA again – too exhausting. (But if I do, I'll seek your help first to ensure I do it right). Again, sorry for the trouble! 01:45, February 8, 2011 (UTC)


 * PS What's the good of using  (as I've been doing)? I've been meaning to ask.

How's it going?
Hey, just wanted to see how you're holding up as I haven't seen you on MA for a little while. Hope everything's OK. -- | TrekFan Open a channel 21:34, February 16, 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, TrekFan!
 * I've been very ill lately and have been going through many taxing/unpleasant procedures at hospitals: both have limited my ability to participate. I've been making a few (very) minor edits, as well as a posting some questions on article talk pages. But that's about as much as I can handle now and probably for a while; I've many more procedures and hospital visits coming soon. :-/


 * Thanks for asking! Hope things are well with you. I've not been tracking any recent activity, so I'm completely unaware of what's going on – if anything has been happening, that is. ;-)


 * 08:28, February 18, 2011 (UTC)

Hey, no worries. I'm not too bad thank you and there hasn't been much going on lately besides a couple of FA nominations. I hope you get better soon! Take care. --| TrekFan Open a channel 13:23, February 18, 2011 (UTC)

Peer Review
Hey Cepstrum. If you're up to it, I'd appreciate any comments you might have in the Reginald Barclay peer review? Currently, there's only two of us making edits and it would be great if you had any ideas for improvement you might have. You don't have to make any edits if you're feeling unwell, but any comments you're able to make would be beneficial. Thanks. --| TrekFan Open a channel 13:37, March 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi, TrekFan!
 * I took a (brief) look at the article and found many "little" things that need fixing – and they're the very sort of thing I like to do: copy-editing, links, MoS, consistency (eg, "LaForge" and "La Forge"), and "word smithing". I've been through the ringer lately at hospitals, subjected to most unpleasant procedures. I think I'll have time today or Friday, though. if that's not too late. (I missed the last PR b/c time expired.) Aside from those "little things", the article looks pretty good. I think the structure might not be the best, but I'd only comment on that and leave its arrangement to the "pros" (eg, you). ;-)


 * I really hope I can help you with this. 15:32, March 16, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah sure, not a problem. I wouldn't want to put you through any unnecessary strain. The peer review is being kept fairly active by myself and Defiant so it should be up for at least another week, so there's plenty of time. I'd appreciate your copyediting skills on this one. Many thanks. --| TrekFan Open a channel 15:56, March 16, 2011 (UTC)

RDM's AOL chat archive
I generally only use my browsers search function when looking for something, which I doubt is an option for a mobile user, and I don't trust the sites search function, so an advanced Google search might be your best bet for finding keywords, since you could use the "exact wording or phrase" option for part of the page name. As for bots and keyword outputs, you could try OuroborosCobra. He has a bot that might be able to help, and the info could be placed on a chats talk page. I don't think we should be placing things directly on the pages themselves, as they are suppose to be nothing more than an archive of the Geocities pages, but since the forum page for these hasn't been archived yet, you could make suggestions there and see what people have to say. - 15:03, March 16, 2011 (UTC)

Your feedback & opinion
Sorry to keep disturbing you, Cepstrum, but I have just finished a major rewrite of Melora Pazlar and I was hoping I could get your feedback on it? I value any comments you might have in regards to prose, grammar, content etc etc. I know you're not feeling 100% so I wouldn't ask you to make any edits. Just when you get a chance, if you could have a read and let me know what you think, I'd greatly appreciate that. :) I've also worked on the episode article considerably so again, if you get a free 10 minutes and want something to read, I'd love to hear any comments you might have on that one. It's not urgent and don't worry if you can't, it's not problem. Thanks again! :) --|  TrekFan Open a channel 20:14, March 19, 2011 (UTC)


 * Sorry for my tardiness, TF. :(


 * I might be able to take a look, but the Barclay PR has already left me feeling a little woozy with self-imposed (and artificial) pressure. I find when I try to commit to things, I tend to do that, and more anxiety is something I really need to avoid for my health.


 * But I appreciate your solicitation; it's nice to feel needed! I'll do what I can. It just might be a while. :-/


 * (Most ppl could just do a quick job, but I get into perfectionistic mode and end up causing negative reactions in my body.)


 * Probably TMI, but I wanted to make it clear why I'm sometimes unable to do things. (And my physical status swings around a lot, from "bad" to "terrible/life-threatening".)


 * So, if you're willing to be patient.... I would love to comment on it!


 * Oh, and "not feeling 100%" is a gross understatement! No offense taken, of course. ;-) Just letting you know my days/nights are truly horrifying, most of the time.  14:23, March 23, 2011 (UTC)

In many ways, we are similar, Cepstrum. I too get into a "perfectionist" mode, especially when I am writing something or designing something on the computer - every little thing has to be just in the right place, lined up with everything else, right down to the last pixel! The reason I asked you is because you obviously enjoy doing it and you are very good at correcting any spelling and grammar that pops up. Just take your time and do it when you feel ready. --| TrekFan Open a channel 19:48, March 23, 2011 (UTC)

Ten Forward Discussion
Hi Cepstrum. By all means, please do reply if you have an opinion on the subject. The reason I posted it in Ten Forward was so other people could comment on it aswell. As you can tell, it is something I feel strongly about. I apologise if I have offended you or anyone else with my comments. It would be nice to read what you have to say, neutral or otherwise. --| TrekFan Open a channel 19:45, March 23, 2011 (UTC)

Quote format
FYI, quotes are contained within "the quote", so that only the text is italicized, not the double quote markers. Just to let you know. -- sulfur 15:08, March 25, 2011 (UTC)

Talk Page Template
Hello again, Cepstrum. Just wanted to say I borrowed some code from your talk page intro for use on my talk page. It's not identical - I edited it quite a bit. Hope you don't mind! --| TrekFan Open a channel 20:28, March 27, 2011 (UTC)


 * TrekFan:


 * How dare you!? I'm going to block you once they make me the sole Bureaucrat! ;)


 * Hehe j/k I'm very happy you could make any use of what's there! I must thank for letting me know it was possible, as well as Cid Highwind; they both really did a lot on my behalf when Wikia made things...impossible...for an entire month for me/mobile users. (Being bed-ridden, I must most always use a tiny iPod. It had a happy ending, though: in December Wikia let mobile users back, and meanwhile I got to try transferring my  ML skills to rudimentary HTML and CSS. I love my custom monobook skin so much – it's hard to believe others aren't seeing MA as I do!)


 * I am thinking of changing my sig to "Dunsel" b/c of my frequent goofs. (I use a template for my sig, too, which hides the bunch of HTML. Something I recommend.) And I finally have a post ready for your forum topic; I'm just afraid to hit "save". Maybe I could email it to you (via the anonymous MA system) to get your opinion first. ?

Reviews

 * Finally, I haven't given up on Reg. I just got a little confused after I'd made a bunch of changes only to find that someone else had been working on it at the same time! I was planning to let it settle a bit b4 putting an "inuse" tag on it for wholesale (albeit minor) edits. I already agreed with the general direction. I can go look at Melora Pazlar if you still wish. 13:06, March 28, 2011 (UTC)

Hello Cepstrum! R.E. template - Well thanks anyway :) I would really appreciate it if you could give Melora Pazlar a once over for spelling/grammar/content etc. Pick up on any mistakes I might have made! And you are most certainly not a Dunsel :) --| TrekFan Open a channel 14:37, March 28, 2011 (UTC)

Your thoughts
I'd greatly appreciate it if you could weigh in on this conversation. Thanks. --| TrekFan Open a channel 19:54, March 29, 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok, done! I hope I did it in the proper manner/style. That was a lot of work you did..... 15:54, March 30, 2011 (UTC)

Nav template and Melora Pazlar

 * In response to: Nav template and Melora Pazlar

Hi again, Cepstrum! I know you like me to reply on your talk page so here I am!

Firstly, I don't mind long responses (I end up doing it a bit myself!) so don't feel the need to apologise.

R.E. the template: I really don't mind that you think that, it's fine. I asked you for your opinion and you gave it. I wouldn't want you to support it if you didn't want to. My reasoning behind it was the average user (that isn't too familiar with wiki-ness - for the lack of a better word!) may not know/understand about categories but, seeing the template on the page in front of them, can navigate easily between Federation starbases. I know when I first started, I knew next to nothing about categories and the like. But that's just my reasoning and I appreciate you taking part in the discussion.

R.E. Melora Pazlar: Again, I'm grateful for you taking a look. When I asked you, I hadn't envisioned putting it up for nomination. I had just rewritten a majority of the article and wanted your opinion as a personal favor (< yes, I noticed your spelling!) to get some feedback and help me with future articles. You have some good comments and I will most certainly act on them. I was thinking of starting a PR on the article but with Reginald Barclay on at the moment, I was hesitant to start another one. If it's OK by you though, I will make some edits that you can review? Thank you for your nice comments on the detail and thoroughness of the article - it was myself who did the research on the bginfo/apocrypha aswell as most of the main body.

I hope you would consider reviewing it again once I have made some edits. And sorry for going on so long :P

Thanks again and take care yourself! --| TrekFan Open a channel 14:21, March 31, 2011 (UTC)

Since Reginald Barclay has now been archived due to inactivity, I have decided to open up Melora Pazlar for peer review. If you're feeling well, it would be nice to hear some of your comments on the edits I have made in the past couple of weeks? --| TrekFan Open a channel 17:56, April 14, 2011 (UTC)

Restarting my "friends" list
Hey Cepstrum!

I've been thinking about something you once said to me about restarting my friends list and I've decided to do it! It would be great if I could add you to the list? --| TrekFan Open a channel 00:11, April 4, 2011 (UTC)