User:Ed Poor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On behalf of the Wikipedia Community, I award you this Gold Barnstarwatch in recognition of your many years as a Wikipedia Bureaucrat. -Willmcw 23:56, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Idea of the hour

Idea #23: The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that, "you become what you think about, most of the time."

[edit] Thought for the day

We all have what theologians call a "fallen" nature and no one should judge himself (or herself) morally superior to others. But that does not mean the standard for "right" behavior should be eliminated simply because many appear unwilling to conform to it.

In his classic, "The Abolition of Man," C.S. Lewis observed three generations ago that we are engaged in a type of tragic-comedy: "we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. ... In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." [1]

[edit] Be a catalyst

I have placed myself on a self-imposed 40-day 1RR parole. I pledge not to do more than one revert per day on any Wikipedia article during the period from August 21st to October 1st, 2006.

"Catalysts try to resolve problems, not through the use of authority and special privilege, but by fostering consensus, gently nudging participants in the direction of more appropriate behavior and by generally reducing the level of confrontation rather than confronting users with problems."

[edit] Other words to live by

• Be true to yourself.
• Make each day your masterpiece.
• Help others.
• Drink deeply from good books.
• Make friendship a fine art.
• Build a shelter against a rainy day.
• Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

[edit] My local time

It's 19:14 (EDT) in New York City, USA. Thanks to user:Tim Starling for making it possible for me to say this (see m:ParserFunctions for the technical details).

This year, the last Sunday in October falls on October 29.

Next year, the first Sunday in November falls on November 5, 2007. Most of North America will set their clocks back to end Daylight Saving on this date.

See:

• Last Sunday in March
• {{first sunday in april}} - template which generates this date every year

This user scored 669 on the Wikipediholic test.

[edit] sandbox

66.666666666667

Teachings_of_Falun_Gong#The_Teachings_of_Falun_Dafa

<lilypond> \relative c' { \clef "treble" d4 g2 b8 g b2

} \addlyrics { A -- maz -- ing _ | Grace } </lilypond>

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory: In 2006, daylight time begins on April 2 and ends on October 29. (See: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/daylight_time.html)

[edit] Shortcuts

• {{Civil2-n}} - acting in an uncivil manner on [page].

[edit] Subpage

• /programming - list of programming terms
• /table - how to make one
• /boilerplate
• /one-word titles
• /timeline
• User:Ed Poor/science

• /Evolution poll
• /Factual dispute
• /Reverted
• /Created
• /Added - for facts which require ref's
• /to do list

• /NPOV

• /jihad

[edit] Strange ideas

When reporting opposition to political movements only "experts" (preferably with degrees in the field) may be cited. [2]

Maybe this indicates bias... see this book excerpt.

[edit] To do

1. Make (find?) calendar which highlights the current day.

[edit] Scientific Predictions Article

Ed, if you want to start a draft based upon my outline/proposal in talk:Scientific predictions, I say go for it! My current work schedule does not allow me the time to do it myself but it is top on my list of articles for contribution. In particular, the last sentence or two of my comments on that page "The article should also devote an appropriate level of content to how predictions are ratified (i.e. why peer-reviewed scientific journal articles submitted by scientists are the most trusted, and why non-peer-reviewed opinions of non-scientists are in general the least trusted), and the types and locations of these resources for public access. And finally, a good section on how the general public can use all of this information should be included," should be quite important. Cheers! Astrobayes 02:45, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] John Rennie

Ed, I am responding here to kind of keep it private. Regards, --Ancheta Wis 01:45, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

No. The program of Galileo was to pursue logical constructs free of occult quantities. In plain language, there would have to be some kind of sensor, perhaps surrounding the brain, to detect inner thoughts. Edison, I believe attempted to weigh people at the point of death to detect a change in substance or soul. You get the idea. There would have to be a technology / tool to delve into the unknown quantities. That does not preclude techniques in the future. But to attempt an investigation without techniques gets you nowhere, by the tenets of scientific method. You understand why; if you were to use some specially selected person who was sensitive to occult influence, you are would be at the mercy of that person. It would be impossible to detect cheating. That said, some phenomena previously thought to be psychosis, has neural correlates, using MR and PET scans. But it should be possible to design experiments, to determine groups of people with common spiritual or cultural traits to see if correlations occur. You would have to set out the parameters beforehand, and run double-blind tests, etc. to get rid of bias and the suspicions of collusion.

It would take some imagination to design the experiment. I do not have any idea of where to start, or what to examine. One thing does come to mind: The Dalai Lama has written memoirs of his escape from Tibet in 1959. To do this, he consulted an oracle, a traditional technology of Tibetan Buddhism. The oracle was a monk in everyday life who had to put on an enormous headdress to become the oracle. They took three readings. For the first two, the oracle said 'don't run yet'. Finally, months later, or so, the oracle became quite agitated and grabbed paper to sketch a map of the escape route. The Dalai Lama was able to evade capture by the Chinese. He wrote in his memoir that someone should investigate just what makes the oracle so effective. The memoir is in one of his books. --Ancheta Wis 01:45, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Oops, I didn't mean to write to your user page. Please feel free to move this to your talk page, Ancheta Wis

[edit] NYC Meetup

RE: your having made reservations (copied from my talk page) — You beat me to the punch. I was intending to do that this afternoon...now when my cell phone reminds me to call them, I'll have nothing to do. :-) No need to apologize for being forward (which you weren't)...I appreciate anything that saves me any little bit of time. Thanks. —ExplorerCDT 18:40, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Meetup NYC

Hey, just wanted to say hi and thank you for coming to the WikiMeetup in NYC this past weekend. I wanted to especially thank you for all your help in helping me repair things last minute. Keep in touch! —ExplorerCDT 04:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC)