User talk:Rfc

Messages

Welcome to Marspedia! I look forward to seeing more of you in the future. You seem familiar with wikis but if you need any help, look at http://www.marspedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page#New_Users_Start_Here.21 or contact one of the admins. Enjoy! Ioneill 16:37, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi Ian, thank you very much for your warm welcome. I have started to write articles, and I should like to know your opinion. Is this the kind of article this project wants, or is it too fantastic, all-too much pointed to a speculative future? Rfc 10:55, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi Rfc (do you have a first name, or are you staying anonymous?), it's good to see you contributing in such a positive way. The content you have provided so far is great - any speculative future is fine in my books. Also, you can include your personal opinion (so long as you clearly state "{{PersPosArticle}} ~~~" which prints "This article reflects the personal position of Ioneill") - personal opinions are fine. Besides, it may create some good discussion. For the main part, article creation is positive step regardless of opinion, speculation or ideas as long as you are fine with a good debate! Anyhow, you seem to have experience with wikis and the content is looking good, so keep it up :-) Ioneill 19:48, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

• Thanks a lot for your attention --PPark 18:56, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

• Thanks for the note, Rfc. We very much value your contributions to Marspedia. In a flurry of activity related to spam cleanup, I mistakenly deleted your Nuclear Power image. I have restored it now. I also added you to a bunch of whitelists I have for the spam tools, so that your edits will not be affected by what I'm doing. Thanks again for your contributions, and let me know if there's anything at all I can do to help you. -- Jburk (talk) 19:02, 30 August 2017 (BST)

Site development

Hi, I'm just messaging the active contributers to Marspedia to get their views on the redesign of the front page. I've tried to highlight the important links and made the page more accessible to newcomers. Also I've created a Wikipedia-style "featured articles" section. I'd be really interested to hear your views on this. It's going to take a lot more work, but this is a good start. Primarily I want to extract the important info and cut down on the excessive text that may cause confusion (as suggested by a couple of you). However, I haven't removed anything as yet, simply jigged it around a bit. I'll look forward to getting your input :-) -- Ioneill 08:51, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

You did a great job, Ian! It really looks better. How about my changes? It is just a proposal, so if you see a problem, please redo it. I am not entirely sure about the place for the "Notice" section. Is it required to stay on top of the page? Rfc 10:18, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi Rfc! Thank you, glad you like the redesign :-) I really like your changes too, but for now the copyright notice needs to stay where it is - although I'm getting confirmation from the developers. We are able to change certain things on the front page, but I'm worried about the copyright notice. I love the fact you've moved the "mission statement", that will stay where it is, but for now the copyright will have to stay unmoved. Nice work though! I will let you know when I get a reply to my email about further changes and we can take it from there. Also, suggestions for the slogan after "Welcome to Marspedia!" will be gratefully received, not sure if "The collaborative resource for building a colony on the Red Planet." reads that well... Keep up the superb work! I've been reading your new articles and they are superb, I look forward to seeing more! Did you take a major in Mars settlement design?? Certainly looks like it ;-) Cheers, -- Ioneill 20:08, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Does a "major in Mars settlement design" really exist? No, I am not, but I am used to design complex telecommunication systems, including some system engineering. I would love to do "Mars settlement design" fulltime, but I guess this is not good for earning the money I need for living (on Earth for the time beeing;-). -- Rfc 09:13, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

I really wish it did exist! I think the Mars Foundation once had a volunteer who took an engineering course in settlement design, but I dont think he's with us any more. There are ways to make a little cash from Mars settlement concepts, but it's mainly educational. Have a look at our site: http://www.marshome.org/grants.php to see what can be awarded. Really only useful for students at the moment, but we are hoping to develop funding eventually. -- Ioneill 20:47, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

List of Lists

The List of Lists exists solely for site development. I've hopefully answered some of your questions about it and copied the discussion over to the talk page for List of Lists. Ask more questions and propose things (or leap into action for that matter), just note that I may not respond for quite a few hours. It's daybreak here and I've been up since yesterday... --Strangelv 12:46, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for explaining. Sweet dreams ... -- Rfc 14:50, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Blocking repeated bot offenders

Hey Rfc. Thanks for the idea to block the MER category and Exobiology page - only registered users can edit them now. Between us we probably reverted a hundred edits! At least these pages should be quiet for a month (I put a 1 month limit on the block to see if that is enough).

Sorry I've been a little quiet of late, my laptop crashed last week and it looks like it's dead now, so i'm limited to using the family backup PC for now until I get a new machine. Any problems, I always have access to my email and will be checking Marspedia daily.

Hope you are well and having a nice Christmas in Germany :-) -- Ioneill 12:48, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Featured Article

Hi Rfc. Thanks for the info on the MarsDrive article, will get to the bottom of who posted it :-)

I have changed the featured article on the front page to the Greenhouse article you added a lot of new concepts to. Have a look. I used one of your diagrams as I thought it was most descriptive :-) Enjoy!

Take care and catch you soon Ioneill 16:13, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it sprang into my eye, and I feel it's a great honor:-) Besides, "funerals and burials" seems to be double. Perhaps, burial is the better word, for it is closer to the act carried out in the greenhouse. Hope you had a great season, as well! -- Rfc 07:35, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi Rfc! Long time no see! I've been away for so long, I was forgetting how to wiki... looks like things have been moderately quiet over here, but I thought I'd change the "featured article" on the front page. Now I'm back, I think it's high time to re-invigorate this project, especially with Phoenix landing on Mars last week. Will hopefully see you soon! Hope you are well :-) -- Ioneill 00:55, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi Ian, welcome back! I too had not much time during the last few months, but I tried to keep an eye on Marspedia at least. I have tried to find a payed job in the planetary research field, but I was not successful near my home. Besides I have talked to many people about the topic, but most people are simply not interested, some even find it a waste of money. So I guess we have to continue with only a few enthusiasts in our spare time, and hopefully we can generate additional attraction by our work here. -- Rfc 09:17, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

General

Hi Rfc. Good news, I now have a new laptop up and running so I hope to be a bit more active on Marspedia! I have some catching up to do, some superb articles have appeared, I'd better get reading. Hope all is good with you. -- Ioneill 12:38, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi Ian, congratulations! Laptops are pretty useful, but I don't like their keyboard layout. A bunch of new open issues have appeared too. It's funny to see how little we know, once we go a little deeper into realization aspects. We could need the help of some specialists (e.g. geologists, chemists, biologists, etc.). And my impression is, the global number of people interested in Martian settlements is less than a hundred, or so. Very few of them seem to have even recognized the emerging of the Marspedia project.

I am looking forward to January 30th, when the asteroid 2007 WD5 crosses the Martian orbital trajectory. There is a tiny chance to hit Phobos ... -- Rfc 15:14, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

captcha code

Dear RFC, thanks for the captcha code on lunarpedia. Alas I do not have php access, so cannot do anything with it. Only MikeD has php access. Thanks. Charles F. Radley 03:38, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi Charles, I have asked Ioneill to install the PHP code, for he ‎is a Bureaucrat too. --Rfc 09:37, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

You need to be way more than a Bureaucrat to install or upgrade extensions. And if I recall correctly, Ioneill is way more than a Bureaucrat, he can correct me if I'm wrong or get reminders of usernames and passwords if I'm right.

However, I will be conducting some long overdue maintenance this weekend.

- Mdelaney 06:11, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Hi James, can you please help with this? --Rfc 09:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi again, there are new bot attacks in both Lunarpedia and Marspedia, and I wonder whether it is less work to install the new captcha trigger or to revert the bot's edits over and over. As fas as I understand you are the only person keeping the passwords for php access. It should take only a few minutes to insert the green parts:

1. Logon to the machine where the wikimedia software is running.
2. Find the files ConfirmEdit.php, ConfirmEdit.i18n.php, ConfirmEdit_body.php.
3. Be sure the contents of the files match.
4. Create a backup copy of the files.
5. Insert the green parts using vi or prepare the files on your PC and ftp them.
6. Check the effect. If you try to change the first letter in a page a captcha should pop up on clicking the "save page" button.

That should be all. You can count on my assistance, if needed. Cheers! -- Rfc 10:23, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I don't have them. They're all in a text file on a hard drive that may be complete toast that can only run on a specific notebook of mine that may also be complete toast. Dana Carson and Mike Delaney both have these passwords last I checked, however. -- Strangelv 10:43, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

vacation

I'll be on vacation for a few days, without access to the internet. Don't worry about my temporary absence. -- Rfc 18:44, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Have a good time! A break from the internet is a good thing now and then. --Nate 23:05, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

A problem on Lunarpedia

Anonymous IP's have edited Strangelove's User:talk page with no response. There is a new user account that has been started in the Russian language. I suspect illegal activity abusing Lunarpedia's undefended condition. I suggest the temporary prohibition of new accounts on Lunarpedia until this gets sorted out. There should be a policy of english language only on Lunarpedia pages if that policy does not exist already. This is a crisis that I hope we can come through.--Farred 16:17, 23 November 2009 (UTC) I am sorry that I am not in position to take on administrative responsibilities for Lunarpedia at present. I am willing to look into what would be needed. Anonymous edits at Lunarpedia should also be temporarily disabled.--Farred 16:37, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Since I am only a common user like you, I can not really help. But I am sure the two sysops, you have left a message to, will take appropriate action soon. -- Rfc 19:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

An article to delete

I wrote a new article titled "Solar heat engine." I was unaware of the article Solar concentrator at the time. A portion of what I wrote fit as part of a sub point "Thermal Engines" under "Utilization of Focused Solar Radiation" in the article "Solar concentrator" in the category "Energy" in the category "Technology" in the category "Settlements" in the category "Main." It is not the way I would have arranged categories, but that is how they are and it is best to just fit into the current structure unless someone wants to do a whole reorganization of the site. So, my article is now redundant and hanging in no category. Please delete my article, "Solar heat engine." It can be found in my contributions. Thanks for your consideration.--Farred 07:27, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Hi Farred, I have placed a note on Deletion. I can not delete articles myself, because I do not have sysop permission. Hopefully, one of the sysops drops in and stumbles on it. The categories tree is not really good, indeed. I, too, feel it needs some rearrangement. Please feel free to do it. -- Rfc 10:22, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I now remember that putting a note on the Deletion page is what I should have done. I am not the best at Categorizing articles, but even I could make modest improvements on the present structure, if I were confident of the Wiki techniques. I must learn new things in my old age, better late than never.--Farred 19:52, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

The easiest way to create a new category is to place a category tag of a non-existing category on an article's page, which you want to categorize. Then follow the link that appears on the bottom of the article's page and you will find yourself in the middle of an edit pane. To find out what to type in this edit pane, you may have a look into some existing category page, with the edit mode activated (click on the edit tab). The same principle works for article pages as well. -- Rfc 18:59, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

After considering the problem of what Wiki techniques to use and reading your advice, all that is left to do is study the present category arrangement to become familiar enough with it to actually make an improvement. I will propose a change when I come up with one. Do not hold your breath waiting for it.--Farred 20:04, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

non Mars related advertising on Marspedia site

Hello Rfc,

New User:4400 has put a link to Puma shoes on his user page. I do not think this is the sort of contribution Marspedia seeks. I do not know if the corporation has anything to do with this. I could start with a comment on User:4400's talk page, but editing User:4400's user page may be necessary. I thought I would seek your input.Farred 01:45, 4 July 2010 (UTC) Jarogers took care of it. Farred 15:00, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

The spelling of aluminium

Hello Rfc:

A new user on Lunarpedia, Jotagiraldez, is apparently very productive and talented. One thing he changed that I would disagree with is the spelling of aluminum being changed to aluminium, the British variant that my spell checker flags as an error. I give an argument for the old spelling on the [[Talk:Aluminium]] page if you care to look. I would like to notify as many people as might care about this. You seem to have taken some interest in Lunarpedia in the past and the issue might come up on Marspedia in the future.--Farred 17:07, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

My spell checker (The Firefox browser) poses the same like yours, so I have the same problem. In my mind there are two contrary argumentations: 1. The same discussion took place in Wikipedia in December 2002, and Aluminum has been a mere redirect page on Wikipedia ever since. So Wikipedia could be used as a reference. 2. Probably, the majority of Mars and Moon flight enthusiasts live in the US, which may be proved by the Mars Society membership log. After all, it is not an easy question. And there is another thought that occurred to me: We should avoid any distress for that productive and talented user on Lunarpedia. The preference of a spelling variant may not be worth it. -- Rfc 09:11, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

I have followed your advice in a reply to User:Jotagiraldez. Thanks. --Farred 00:11, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

The references for fluoride

In Dental caries I made an effort for references for necessary chemical elements being on Mars as you suggested. Do you think that is sufficient? - Farred 05:54, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

How does "fluorine has not been discovered" and "The necessary chemical elements are on Mars" fit together? Wouldn't it be better changed to "The necessary chemical elements may be found on Mars later on" or something like this? -- Rfc 09:51, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

It is the principal ores of fluoride that have not been discovered. Fluoride is not so abundant that we would expect it to be noticed in the first analysis of Martian sand and rock but the expectation that the elemental composition of Mars is similar to Earth's is based on sound science. From the nature of fluorine we would not expect it to be drawn into Mars' core like siderophiles. It would not disappear like volatiles from Luna because it does not primarily form volatiles and Mars does not loose volatiles anyway. Since fluorine is the 13th most abundant element on Earth it should not be absent from Mars. It is conceivable that fluorine is so rare on Mars that it can not be extracted economically, but this would require scientists to rework some basic theories of the formation of the solar system. The idea that Mars would need to import fluoride from Earth forever is such an unlikely possibility that I would say it is not worth mentioning. Perhaps we can change the article from "chemical elements are on Mars" to "chemical elements are expected to exist on Mars" and change "it will be cheaper to extract" to "should be cheaper to extract". What do you think? - Farred 21:16, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Agreed! Thank you. It is not such an important thing. I just stumbled over it. -- Rfc 20:39, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

OK, will do. - Farred 08:57, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Error creating thumbnail

Hello James, there is a permanent "Error creating thumbnail" problem on Marspedia. Example: http://www.marspedia.org/index.php?title=Charcoal I am sure this is a software bug or configuration problem, that has arisen with one of the last updates or administrational activities. I am afraid, this is really annoying for anyone who wants to do a contribution. Who can fix this? -- Rfc 18:24, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

The problem also exists on Lunarpedia and probably all of the wikis. Unfortunately, we're all completely overwhelmed by the new website and the hosting migration. Last I checked we were very likely going to be migrating the wikis as well. Please fasten your safety belts. The ride may get bumpier in the next couple of months... -- Strangelv 02:05, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Artificial intelligence article

I have made changes in the artificial intelligence article. Do you consider it an improvement? - Farred 01:29, 4 August 2013 (UTC)

Better, yes. And yet, the main idea points to a kind of expensive high-tech economy. It is an interesting article after all, a good starting point for thinking. -- Rfc 20:02, 4 August 2013 (UTC)

I intended an expensive high-tech economy. Considering the difficulties of mining ice to get water, freezing the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to get nitrogen, and the entirely artificial basis of agricultural and atmosphere maintenance; I am not convinced that an exclusively low-tech colony on Mars is possible. You would not be able to have a black smith hammering out the pistons and cylinders of a mining machine that carries both fuel and oxygen tanks. There is a place for low-tech activities, but I do not think they can fill all needs. - Farred 03:47, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Editting Deletion

Thanks for sorting out the finished items and deleting them. It made it easier for me to delete a batch of the rest. I had forgotten all about that list. - Farred 01:07, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for doing all the cleanup work. The items in chapter "Articles for deletion" contain only empty pages from spammers. Not real user's pages. I think those can be deleted as well. -- Rfc 21:14, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

The section ==Articles for deletion== is now also "(nothing to do)" - Farred 00:54, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

What are havaries?

There is a link that you put into the article Genetic engineering that leads to the article Fail-safe. What is the meaning of the rendered text in the link, "havaries"? - Farred 00:54, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Yes, this was a bit rough. Now I have overhauled the whole article a little. The article was created some 5 years ago, and many other articles have emerged since. So, it is much easier now to properly link the words to other articles. Marspedia has been growing a good deal, even with a small number of writers. I was hoping to attract more readers and writers from my activities on http://marsonefans.com, but I was not exactly successful apparently. -- Rfc 08:46, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps someone will notice the improvements to this website. I will fix the typo in a link I mentioned above just because I do not like errors. - Farred 09:00, 4 October 2013 (UTC)