User talk:TotoBaggins

Note: My name is Sean, and I sign my posts as such. --Sean/TotoBaggins

Minor edits

Remember to mark your edits as minor only when they genuinely are (see Wikipedia:Minor edit). "The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a 'minor edit'." (thanks for all your edits, no matter how minor) -Willmcw 06:09, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Main page

Sorry I keep messing up you comment on the talk page for the Main Page. I think I have fixed it now. Damn vandals made everything difficult! By the way, Welcome to Wikipedia! Psy guy ^(talk) 22:44, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Grigori Perelman

Millenium Prize problems is simply a redirect to Clay Mathematics Institute, which is why I removed the link (twice, at least!). Can you please self-revert? TIA ---CH 23:31, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I decided to go ahead with it on the theory that at some point MPP would have its own page distinct from CMI. That said, sure, why not?

Well, OK. I am done trying to clean it up anyway. ---CH 23:40, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

License tagging for Image:Astronomical-Limb.jpg

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This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 14:04, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Monophyletic pic

Hello, TotoBaggins! I like the new figure you created for Phylogenetics. Is it OK if I adapt it for the Cladistics article? EdJohnston 02:17, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Sure, of course. I derived it from another work anyway, since the (para|poly|mono)-phyly distinction wasn't clear to me without a picture, and I figured others might feel the same way.

== Commons POTY identity confirmation ==

I confirm I am the same user as 69.134.237.245 on the POTY vote.

License tagging for Image:Lilac-Chaser.gif

Thanks for uploading Image:Lilac-Chaser.gif. Wikipedia gets thousands of images uploaded every day, and in order to verify that the images can be legally used on Wikipedia, the source and copyright status must be indicated. Images need to have an image tag applied to the image description page indicating the copyright status of the image. This uniform and easy-to-understand method of indicating the license status allows potential re-users of the images to know what they are allowed to do with the images.

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This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 06:06, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Redundant sentence in lede para and text of Ghostwriter article

Hi, By definition, the body of the article will have material that seems redundant after the lede (intro paragraph), since the lede summarizes the content and key arguments of the article. I think that trimming one of the 2 parts (make the lede's reference shorter, or if you prefer, make the 2nd time it comes up shorter) would have been better than chopping the whole para in the body of the article. Just some ideasNazamo 16:57, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for the suggestion. I felt that it was very awkward for the identical sentence to appear so close to the first instance. Perhaps I should have just reworded it, but I thought it read fine without it. --TotoBaggins 20:19, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank you and a question

Thank you so much for your help! Would it be hard to modify this so that instead of using a single pixel x-column, it uses the average value in a range of x? That is, the sample would come from a wide multi-pixel band. ike9898 15:13, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Sure, my pleasure. I'm not a graphics programmer by trade, so dabbling with this kind of thing can be fun. Here's a version that does what you want (I had actually already made that improvement; it helps a bit with the banding).

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use Image::Magick;
use strict;

use constant MAX_COLOR => 0xFFFF;

sub usage
{
    die "usage: $0 IMAGE-SOURCE REFERENCE-COLUMN-CENTER REFERENCE-COLUMN-WIDTH\n";
}

my $err;

my $fname = shift() or usage();
my $reference_column = shift() or usage();
my $band_width = shift() or usage();

my $src = Image::Magick->new();
$err = $src->Read($fname);
die $err if $err;

my $height = $src->Get('height');
my $width = $src->Get('width');

my $dest = Image::Magick->new();
$err = $dest->Set(size => "${width}x$height");
$err = $dest->ReadImage('xc:white');
die $err if $err;

$" = ',';
my @colors = qw(R G B);
foreach my $y (0 .. $height)
{
    my @ref_pixel;
    print "Doing row $y of $height\n" unless $y % 10;
    foreach my $offset (-$band_width/2 .. $band_width/2)
    {
        my $refcol = $offset + $reference_column;
        my @ref_pixel_el = split ',', $src->Get("pixel[$refcol,$y]");
        for (0 .. 3)
        {
            $ref_pixel[$_] += $ref_pixel_el[$_];
        }
    }
    for (0 .. 3)
    {
        $ref_pixel[$_] /= $band_width;
    }
    foreach my $x (0 .. $width)
    {
        my @pixel = split ',', $src->Get("pixel[$x,$y]");
        foreach my $color (0 .. 2)
        {
            $pixel[$color] += (MAX_COLOR - $ref_pixel[$color]);
            $pixel[$color] = MAX_COLOR if $pixel[$color] > MAX_COLOR;
        }
        $err = $dest->Set("pixel[$x,$y]" => "@pixel");
        die $err if $err;
    }
}
my $box_right  = $reference_column + 1;
$dest->Draw(stroke      => 'red',
            strokewidth => 1,
            primitive   => 'line',
            points      => "$box_right,0 $box_right,$height");


$err = $dest->Write("out-$fname");
die $err if $err;

Umbilical cord

Hey there, TB. You may have already noticed it, but I wanted to let you know about my reply to the question on umbilical cords you asked a few days ago. I wouldn't normally leave a note on a user's talk page except that the original answer you received was dead wrong. :-) --David Iberri (talk) 16:08, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Hey, thanks so much for the detailed answer. I'm glad you wrote, as I had missed it. --TotoBaggins 16:36, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Reference Desk answers

Your answers and remarks on the Reference Desk(s) are much appreciated. The wry wit and direct responses help keep that place interesting and useful. Regards. dr.ef.tymac 17:14, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for the kind words! I've finally found a positive outlet for my character flaw of being a know-it-all misanthrope. :) --TotoBaggins 17:17, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Mental illness post

Hello TotoBaggins, my reply on the reference desk: “what mental illnesses are related to heterosexuality?” was meant to counter what I perceive as an obvious homophobic bias in the Mental IIIness question. It seems to me that the question is really asking “homosexuality is a mental illness, isn’t it?” or at least supporting the view held by some people that homosexuality causes people to go insane or something. My answer was intended to point out the stupidity of associating sexual orientation directly with mental illness, while also giving the questioner the benefit of the doubt. I would appreciate it if you did not jump on me like that in the future. Thanks, S.dedalus 20:12, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Hey, sorry! I didn't mean to jump on you at all, but should have been more cautious as I was already feeling contentious after a previous misstep. --TotoBaggins 20:32, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

No problem, I was just feeling a bit miffed at the whole question. I probably should have avoided the question since I have such strong bias in that aria. S.dedalus 22:37, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

POTD notification

POTD

Hi TotoBaggins,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Moons of solar system v7.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on June 11, 2007. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2007-06-11. howcheng {chat} 17:03, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Image tagging for Image:MtStSepulchrePanorama-ghosts.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:MtStSepulchrePanorama-ghosts.jpg. The image has been identified as not specifying the source and creator of the image, which is required by Wikipedia's policy on images. If you don't indicate the source and creator of the image on the image's description page, it may be deleted some time in the next seven days. If you have uploaded other images, please verify that you have provided source information for them as well.

For more information on using images, see the following pages:

• Wikipedia:Image use policy
• Wikipedia:Image copyright tags

This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 23:09, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Clio is back

Your second-best poster is back, Toto, thanks to you and others. How could I possibly let you down? You will find an explanatory note on my talk page. Clio the Muse 23:48, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Ref Desk/Humanities' Template

Thanks for the fix.Bielle 01:49, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Sure no prob. Just more fallout from the recent gnashing, I guess. --TotoBaggins 01:59, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Guano depository

Hah! ---Sluzzelin talk 01:42, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Notice

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Seagulls. I think you messed up a wee bit -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 02:17, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

The Importance of Punctuation

Hiya,

It sounds like the letter you were talking about on the misc reference desk is this one. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 19:07, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Hey, awesome, thanks! I hadn't seen that thing in 20 years. I'm going to start using this line in my breakups: Admit to being useless and inferior.  :) --TotoBaggins 19:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Haha, no problem :) — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 19:33, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Nice knife image

Thanks for telling me about the image you made better. If I knew how to do it myself I would have made it a vector image from the start. Beautiful work, TotoBaggins. Waerloeg 00:49, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for the kind words. I'm barely competent at it myself, but do enjoy puttering around with Inkscape. I definitely have to stick to things like knife blades while I dream about drawing things like this critter. :) --TotoBaggins 01:56, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Picture of the Day

Are you Jeremy.Hinton? Regardless, thanks for sharing this image with us. Very fascinating.-- 12:03, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Nope, my real name is Sean. And while I did tweak a recent Picture of the Day, I've not actually been the main force behind any of them. Thanks for the kind words just the same, though. --TotoBaggins 13:18, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Whipped Slave FP Candidate

Just wanted to let you know that I've uploaded a couple of new edits of the whipped slave image for consideration. They may help with the image quality discussion. MamaGeek ^{(talk/contrib)} 14:43, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Protect articles against POV vandalism

I've replied here. Please enable your email as well if you can. --Matt57 ^{(talk•contribs)} 14:45, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

It was really easy for me to find news sources refering to the polar bear as cute. If you're looking for sources saying something, just search them up in Google. --Matt57 ^{(talk•contribs)} 11:57, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Belated thanks

Hey, I logged in after a while, and just noticed that you had nominated my mendhi photo as a feature picture. I know it didn't get promoted but thank you very much either way. I appreciate the gesture. Zainub 17:51, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Sure. I really liked it! --TotoBaggins 21:37, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

hadrosaurs thank you

Hi TB - thanks for creating the image map on the hadrosaur family tree. It's a great addition to the image, and to the article! Ciao, Debivort 06:24, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Hey, no prob. I love the work that you do! --TotoBaggins 13:18, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

thanks!

thanks for responding to my question regarding the htoo brothers. i was about their age at the time (well i guess that would mean i still am) so thats why my memory was so vague. thanks again.

Sure, no prob! --TotoBaggins 19:54, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Finding featured pictures

Either you have WAY too much time on your hands or you have a better way of finding FP's on a certain subject than I do. :) Specifically, these static shots of vehicles--how'd you come up with it? I assume they're not otherwise collected somewhere or you would've just included that one link instead of each one individually. I've wondered how to easily locate FP's of a certain subject before in order to compare and evaluate FPC's, and this could help me a lot. --Peter 21:32, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Bad news: I just have WAY too much time on my hands! It helps to be on the clock. ;) There are some categories in the FP list, but vehicles isn't one of them. --TotoBaggins 21:45, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Bearnstar

		Bearnstar of Surreal Imagery
		I wanted to award you a barnstar for making me laugh, but unfortunately it was eaten by a bear. 22:36, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Awesome, my first barnstar, and I love that goofy bear! Thanks! --TotoBaggins 14:08, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Finding first edition of a page that contains a text

That code on your userpage looks really useful. Doing it manually takes too much time. How do I use it? I know nothing about computers. A.Z. 20:05, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I must say that, if it works, then it's an extremely useful tool that I needed many times already and that I think should be included as a standard Wikipedia tool easily available to all users. A.Z. 20:45, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

You have to have Perl installed. If you use something Unixy like MacOS or Linux, you already do, otherwise you'd have to go get it from ActiveState. Then you can enter a command like:

perl wiki-blame.pl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:TotoBaggins 'That code on your userpage looks really useful.'

and it will reply:

Earliest revision: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:TotoBaggins&oldid=152099136

Let me know if that works for you! --Sean 23:02, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry. I can't understand it. I'm going to ask at the computing reference desk. A.Z. 02:12, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Aliasing your script

I'm not familiar with perl, but is it possible to setup an alias for it to simplify things? Such as, having "perl wiki-blame.pl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/", so that all that needs to be done is "wikiblame END_OF_URL 'text'"? I am using bash, if that's very important --lucid 21:32, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

The ancient eye

Dear Sean, thank you so much for that lovely star. It's always nice being appreciated by one's peers, but what really made my day was the inclusion of my absolute favorite animal's eye! Thank you again, and I'm looking forward to seeing you around at the desks, fellow sleuth! (Speaking of which, it took this sleuth a while to realize that Sean and TotoBaggins were one and the same person :-)) ---Sluzzelin talk 11:05, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

You're very welcome. Octopuses are cool, and it was fun to make.

Yes, I'm annoyed that I chose a silly nickname in the first place and now have this confusing thing, but now can't be bothered to start over. --Sean 11:10, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Heh, I don't think it's any sillier than my moniker, but I was never sure whether it was an Oz-meets-Middle-Earth thing, or another Hobbit I had never heard of ("o" being quite popular in the Shire what with all the Frodos, Drogos, and Folcos - ack I hope Toto isn't a long lost relative of the Sackville Bagginses Longo and Otho! ;-) ---Sluzzelin talk 12:41, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Field Maples

Don't worry I am a worthy custodian of the hundred or so mature trees in my garden (and none of them are super-old ents: I guess none over 400 years despite the garden being scheduled as pre 1250). I used to dream about having a lot of majestic oaks etc but now I've got them I have come to realise none of them are maintenance free and the solutions are never ever-lasting. I am planting lots of younger trees too. A lot of the problem is that the people (mainly Victorians) who planted the very slow growers (white walnut, yew, field maple) never planned space for when they were full grow. Now the overcrowding is an interesting challenge: a full grown oak will kill a fully grown beech at ten feet. Ho hum. --BozMo talk 09:02, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the response, and I'm glad to hear it! I hope I didn't come off as accusatory; in my part of the world (southeastern USA) people will clear land of magnificent trees without a second thought, and I wanted to see what the rationale was if that was true in your case, which it certainly doesn't sound like it is. Cheers! --Sean 15:24, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

POTD notification

POTD

Hi TotoBaggins,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Tecumseh sherman.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on October 25, 2007. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2007-10-25. howcheng {chat} 17:30, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Procaryote cell, liscencing, and Featured picture

Hi, i am LadyofHats, i wanted to make you some comments refering to my image Image:Prokaryote cell diagram.svg, i do not mind you editing the image but still when you uploaded the old version you changed the liscensing and the authorship of the image is completly gone, if you could check that i would apreciate it. also it has no sence to make duplicated versions of the images.

I am greatfull that you try to promote my images as featured pictures and i hope i dont disapoint you saying that i see few sence in doing so, my experience with FP is that no matter how acurate or well done an image is there will be always someone proposing to change it. a good example of it would be the grey bacterias you just took out of the procaryote image. since i had add them under request too. i will post a more complete answer in FP but i wanted to ask you about the lisencing... i hope you dont find me too cooky. i just want to keep an eye on my work-LadyofHats 15:23, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

• Hi, and thanks for writing back. I didn't mean to change the licensing and lose the history. I'll go fix that. --Sean 15:59, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Permission to use your Phylogenetic groups image

I'd like to use the abovementioned image to illustrate a seminar announcement (in Norwegian). The license doesn't seem to allow that, unless I put the entire seminar announcement under the same license, which seems like going overboard. Will you let me use the image without doing so, in this particular case? Hanche 17:49, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

• Yes, sure; I've changed the license to public domain. Enjoy! --Sean 18:17, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Thanks! Hanche 23:15, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

POTD notification

POTD

Hi Sean,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Wwii woman worker-edit.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on November 18, 2007. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2007-11-18. howcheng {chat} 22:37, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Honus Wagner touchup

Thanks for uploading the edit, although I still support the original I'm very curious as to how you did it. Was this done with the clone tool in photoshop? Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 03:17, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

I also support the original.

I use Linux, so don't have Photoshop. The GIMP is a reasonable substitute for my modest needs. I didn't use the clone tool, but rather copied a square portion of the card off to the right of the blemish, reversed it horizontally, pasted it over the blemish, and then softened the edges with an eraser at half transparency. I find that the clone tool often gives a noticeable spottiness (as in the Reuters photo scandal), and it's often better to copy a largish area. I reversed it horizontally as I find that the eye picks up on direct copies, but flipping it throws that off. I'm a programmer by trade, so all this is just me goofing around. Some of the photo edits that people can do are simply stunning (as in the lead photo in the boxing article). Cheers! --Sean 03:47, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

"Why doesn't boyancy work in solids?"

You wrote, "presumably the wooden ones will float to the top due to buoyancy", and reading it quickly, I was thinking, "but only if they're the same size", and then I noticed you'd said that yourself, and then I wondered what you possibly could have wlinked it to, and I thought, "Certainly not...", but you had. Nicely done. :-) —Steve Summit (talk) 02:09, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

• Thanks; I aim to please!  :) --Sean 16:10, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Flagella Diagram

Hi! I saw your note about collaborating on a flagella diagram on the talk page. I work on eukaryotic flagella, and think it would be fun to collaborate on this, assuming it was eukaryotic flagella you were hoping to diagram??? Fritzlaylin (talk) 18:44, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for your nice compliment! de7 10:32, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar

		The Reference Desk Barnstar
		Thank you for your reply to my query at the Science Reference Desk regarding the History of Quantum Mechanics. Your contribution to the discussion was insightful, and helped me find the answers I was looking for. Thanks! FusionKnight (talk) 19:43, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think I deserve it for my small contribution, but thanks! --Sean 20:19, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Wilhelm Frick

Hello Toto, I really don't understand you. Do you enjoy with that terrible image?. What of "enc" that image has?. Do not you think that perhaps it's a shock to a sensitive person?. It's a corpse, with blood on the neck. Is it necessary?. Why? If all we know that Frick is dead, he's dead, we don't need an image showing how he was at his death's time. Don't you believe it?. I didn't remove the image but I strongly support it. I wait your answer. Good Luck. Ahmed987147 (talk) 23:38, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Hi Ahmed. No I don't enjoy that image, but nor do I enjoy any of these below. That said, they're all very encyclopedic, and their articles would be poorer without them. --Sean 00:10, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Slavery in the United States

The Holodomor

My Lai Massacre

OK, you have your point of view and it's very respectable to me, I only want to clarify that I'm not the user who is removing the picture. I abstain to remove the image. I don't know what user is removing it. But I'm not. Kisses Ahmed987147 (talk) 00:55, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Good work!

Great work with that Jesus/Bible statistical analysis at the reference desk. Above and beyond the call of duty. Good one. AndyJones (talk) 07:13, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

My cheers as well for that one and this[1] when if a picture's worth 1k words, these were so much more. Still smiling, Julia Rossi (talk) 07:31, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

We're off to see the Grocer, the wonderful GrocerOfOz.

		The Barnstar of Good Humor
		I would have thanked you for making me laugh sundry body parts off, but I was afraid you'd snap. So instead... Clarityfiend (talk) 22:57, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, CF! --Sean 13:51, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Frog on a lily pad (or ??)

Your response to my query on the Science Ref Desk just now, does it for me. Many thanks! -- Deborahjay (talk) 18:50, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Great; glad I could help. I have personally sat upon a large lily pad as a child in South Africa, so it's a topic near to my heart. :) --Sean 19:06, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Manhattan distance

Hi Sean. I answered your question on Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Mathematics/2008_July_14#Manhattan_distance. Bo Jacoby (talk) 13:39, 20 July 2008 (UTC).

Hey, thanks for the alternative explanation. It was good. --Sean 13:14, 21 July 2008 (UTC)