User talk:James.folsom/2006

Welcome!

Hello, James.folsom, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 23:51, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

answer to your question on citations

I answered to your question on the citations on the talk-page of hypochlorous acid. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 23:51, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing

(answer to comment on my talkpage)

James, first a happy new year. The naming is OK with me, if you are working on the page it is not a problem, but indeed it would be nice if it would change into something more comprehendable, easier, later. A general way is first authors surname and the year, it does not have to be too compact. Keep up the good work! -Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 18:17, 4 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fermentation vs. putrefaction and rancidification

G'day, an anon user has brought up some interesting points about the Fermentation (food)#Fermentation vs. putrefaction and rancidification section. I believe that we need someone from the Microbiology wikiproject to take a look at this section, and the associated discussion, and help us resolve the apparent problems. I would appreciate it if you, or a member of your project, could help us out with this. cheers, Webaware ^talk 02:44, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Boiling water to remove chlorine

G'day James, just a minor point about boiling water to remove chlorine: it doesn't work on tap water that has been chlorinated by adding chloramine, as this stuff is persistent. It can be removed by:

heating, then dropping in a tablet of sodium metabisulfate, then leaving for 30 minutes (home brewer's trick)
filtering through an ion-exchange based water filter

Also, I've heard of people who have regularly rinsed their newly acquired kefir grains under tap water, only to find after a couple of weeks that they've stopped growing and started making "weird" kefir. (Probably that really nasty tap water they pump around Kalifornia, that stuff is rank!) Webaware ^talk 00:56, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Technically the use of chloramine in tap water is chloramination, I have added an admonishment about chloramine to the article. Washing kefir grains in tap water is a bad idea, but it has little to do with the chlorine/chloramine. The primary reason they go bad like that is that tap water contains bacteria, and if you wash your grains in non-sterilized tap water you will overtime accumulate spoilage micro-organisms that will ruin the fermentation. Even boiling isn't all that great because spore forming proteolytic organisms could still contaminate the grains from boiled water. This why traditional kefir is such a variable product. The fact that kefir fermentation works at all is a miracle of how robust the community within the grain is. personally I don't think they are supposed to be washed anyway, it isn't necessary to do anything but strain them out and put them in fresh milk. I suspect that this is how it was done for most of the history of kefir, because clearly washing them in water messes them up. Maybe the article should advise against the washing of the grains?

Fair enough (chloramination, bacteria in water). I agree with the no-wash approach, and certainly most home kefir producers don't bother with washing unless a problem is apparent (in fact, many don't bother washing the jar, but that's another Evil entirely!) Washing kefir grains reduces their immediate effectiveness, removing the outer layer of kefiran, teaming with microorganisms hungry for lactose; it grows back, of course, but washing keeps the kefir grains from performing at their best. I'd be in favour of a recommendation against washing, unless it is required because of an apparent problem. Webaware ^talk 01:50, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sandbox

Would you mind clearing your sandbox of categories? It is showing up all over the place. Thetrick 20:39, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimania in Atlanta!

Hi! I noticed your involvement on U.S. South-related articles, categories and WikiProjects, and I wanted to let you know about a bid we're formulating to get next year's Wikimania held in Atlanta! If you would like to help, be sure to sign your name to the "In Atlanta" section of the Southeast team portion of the bid if you're in town, or to the "Outside Atlanta" section if you still want to help but don't live in the city or the suburbs. If you would like to contribute more, please write on my talk page, the talk page of the bid, or join us at the #wikimania-atlanta IRC chat on freenode.org. Have a great day!

P.S. While this is a template for maximum efficiency, I would appreciate a note on my talk page so I know you got the message, and what you think. This is time-sensitive, so your urgent cooperation is appreciated. :) Mike H. I did "That's hot" first! 09:21, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]