User talk:Mgreenbe/Archive

Hookah

Hey man, good edit on the hookah page. some of the wording in the part about the illegal drugs was bothering me. hopefully we can find a source. how is israel right now? I would love to come visit sometime. do jewish people smoke hookah much? I pretty much have the same feelings as you about wikipedia—so fun, informative and interesting but in need of a lot of work. I am really hoping to become a much bigger part....as soon as I finish my finals haha. take care.NPPyzixBlan 19:04, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Falafel

You think the Israeli-Palestinian conflict doesn't extend to falafel? I envy you your optimism ;)

Welcome to Wikipedia, in any case! Palmiro | Talk 21:44, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Glad to be here!

I think I'm batting for the wrong team, as the best falafel I've ever had came from East Jerusalem. Uh oh, don't tell my relatives! --Mgreenbe 00:36, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

My vote goes for Aleppo, with a second preference for Mezze Jebel (a suburb of Damascus). Unfortunately I don't have any experience of Israeli falafel. Nice one on fixing up the article. Palmiro | Talk 18:20, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Good work on Italy and the added ME stuff. The pastries you describe sound a lot like burekas, which is an Eastern European word (I think). We need a good, pan-ME word for them, but none of the Arabic words ring a Hebrew bell. Maybe I'll just start using them, and see what the locals think. Your description of the food makes me want to go to Syria: time to get a new passport, I guess. --16:27, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Ah yes, the infamous passport two-step. Syria's fruit in particular is amazing, in the summer piles of apricots, then cherries (for a dollar a kilo!) plums, peaches, nectarines, something weird that looks like a squashed appple and tastes like a peach, figs, grapes, and all fresh. For some reason, only the poorer areas seem to have good fruit and vegetable markets though. When I was living in Muhajirin, a middle-class area in the north of Damascus, there was nothing there, then I moved to Shaghour, quite a popular area, and there was a fabulous fruit market there (just outside the old Jewish quarter, actually). Mind you, eating in restaurants can be a bit less exciting for those not used to it, because while the food is good pretty much every restaurant has exactly the same menu (the main differences often being in the imaginative English, my favourites so far are "plack oliver" and "Unnatural juice").

As for the pastries, I think Turkish "börek" is something similar to the filled ones, but I can't even think of a common Arabic word for all the different kinds (well actually, "mu`ajjanat" is used, meaning roughly "things made with dough", but it's not very colloquial and could also apply to other things).

Am I right in thinking that kvass is sold from tankers, or is that something from ancient Soviet history? If it's true, it's probably worth a mention. Palmiro | Talk 16:49, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Do you mean tanker (ship) or tank truck? The former would be impressive, but not beyond the Russian imagination. A sort of Battleship Potemkin drinking game?  :) I've seen the latter in Russia, but only as big as an oil drum on a cart; had a nozzle at the back and some paper cups. Dirt cheap: about 25 cents (8-10 rubles) a (300ml?) drink. My grandmother told me that in Soviet Russia (50s and 60s), there was a water fountain near the kvass with a single glass cup, to be washed after each use!

The drink is also sold from blin stands, at shawarma places, and in bottles all over. So I'm not sure of how to mention it...I'll add "sold out of tanks or barrels". --Mgreenbe 17:23, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Ah, I've never been in Russia, and had imagined tank trucks like the ones used for home heating oil... though the ship is an even more striking image! In Syria, there are drinking fountains everywhere - providing them is considered a meritorious act in Islam, which makes a lot of sense given the climate - and very often there's one metal cup chained to it, which everybody uses (without washing it). Palmiro | Talk 17:52, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

An atheist huh? Guess you still had enough religion to go to another man's country and take it as yours. posted 10:50, 5 November 2005 by 207.255.174.254

I don't think you'll be going to Nablus any time soon, unfortunately (although that said, if you really wanted to, you almost certainly could, reasonably safely, but while it might be very informative it wouldn't be a pleasure trip). It's one place that has really suffered. Palmiro | Talk 19:19, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I've heard about some of the problems; mostly the internal strife, as that's what gets play on the news at home and in Israel. I thought it would be possible until I read the article -- must you really go in by foot? Even if there's a bus stop on either side, that's outrageous. I'll have to look for knafeh in the Nablus style if nothing else. Or, pending a visit from a more knowledgable/Arabic-speaking friend from the states, actually go. Either way, I'll take a picture and put it up on the page. :) --Mgreenbe 21:45, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, if you really are thinking about going, you should arrange, or at least discuss, it in advance with some local group or well-organised body used to dealing with this sort of thing, as there are a couple of issues to be taken into account. For one thing, Isra eli citizens are forbidden from travelling into Area A - that's the areas theoretically under the fullest level of Palestinian control, and includes all the major West Bank cities except Hebron. If you are an American citizen, no problem with your passport. For another, if you are a resident where you are, people there could be suspicious of your motives. An organisation like the Alternative Tourism Group could advise you and possible fit you on an arranged visit, so they might be worth checking out whatever you might feel about their politics and activities in general. Palmiro | Talk 13:36, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I don't think either of those are a problem (not an Israeli citizen, not worried about suspicion). Thanks for the tip on ATG! I try to avoid going on tours, but this might be a good exception. --14:49, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

The eXile

Hi there

thanks for your comments, but to be honest I am not in the slightest interested in getting involved in another bad-tempered dispute and will probably withdraw from the English-language Wikipedia entirely once I have done some work on one article I have made a start on and that urgently needs further attention. Good luck with it, and I hope you keep your patience! Palmiro | Talk 11:01, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I completely understand; the whole affair is seriously reducing my respect for Wikipedia and its processes. Shame though, it looks like we'll be losing a good editor. --Mgreenbe 11:07, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, I was actually thinking of folllowing my withdrawal from here with putting more effort into ga.wikipedia.org, so it's as much a redeployment as a tactical retreat ;) Palmiro | Talk 14:31, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Shawarma proposed merge

You might wish to comment on this at Talk:Shawarma. Basically I agree that shawarma, doner kebab and gyros should be merged but all three are substantial articles, so I'm hoping someone else will do the work! Palmiro | Talk 10:18, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

I marked myself down as agreeing with you, barely resisting the urge to say "not it!". But it's a slippery slope: what next, merging hummus and peanut butter? --Mgreenbe 17:46, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

A special funny posture while walking

Are you acquainted with the work of Monty Python's Flying Circus? It looks like here we have an Antichrist for Funny Walks.

Anyway, a lot of his edits look like the problem is with the English and the lack of cited sources rather than the content - in some cases it seems to come down to him giving a Sunni POV on articles that were suffering from severe Shia POV. Not sure what the best way to deal with it is, as I am no expert in theology. I might ask someone else. Palmiro | Talk 14:47, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Partly true, but look at one of his edits to Mahdi:

• The Barbarians increase in building high.
• Birds will throw brim stones from the sky that destroys buildings and leave tents intact.
• A huge storm of metal locusts crosses the desert. Their tails throw out brim stones.

...

• People could see and talk to each other even if they are on two ends of the earth in a wink of time.

While it betrays a modicum of bad faith on my part, this seems like a hoax. This can't be the widely held belief, and I have difficulty believing that a hadith (is that the right word?) predicts "a huge storm of metal locusts" with "tails throw[ing] out brim stones". --Mgreenbe 15:05, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

peer review

You damn humanist athiest!... Hey could you help with the Peer Review of my article on Rapping? Thanks! --Urthogie 12:58, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Dreams

Would you mind if I archived the page there? Go crazy. It's long past the point of diminishing returns (the old expression about wrestling with pigs comes to mind), and leaving the thread just gives him a place to post more nonsense: insulting me is one thing I don't much care about, but insulting my intelligence is quite another and pretty much guaranteed to tick me off.

As it says at the top of my Talk Page, I'm not big on the dishonest, incompetent, and fanatical: combining at least two out of three definitely gets my dander up. --Calton | Talk 15:13, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

DVD cover of the movie version of the book He Died With A Felafel In His Hand.

Update: I've taken the liberty of creating an archive of all but the very last set of comments. I admit I didn't take the bother of pulling together all of the anon's stuff scattered hither and yon on the page nor did I try to work out which unsigned posting was done by which IP number or at what time. Life's too short.

Also, I finally looked at your User Page and I noticed a falafel reference. In that spirit, here's a movie tangentially about falafel (or as the Australians insist on spelling it, felafel) -->

(Yes, it's real: that's a scan of my copy of the DVD, which I had to send away to Australia for.) --Calton | Talk 04:05, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Some articles that could use your knowledge

Your egyptology experience could be helpful at Controversy over race of Ancient Egyptians.--Urthogie 21:33, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Lorenzo Gabanizza

Hey Mgreenbe, thanks for the message. I'm afraid I don't have any sources for information on this person -- I just tagged the article as part of clearing a previous copyright violation. Thanks! --Nick Boalch ^?!? 23:32, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

your vote

Could you please give your opinion and vote at Talk:Islamist_terrorism#Voting. Islamic terrorism is the more common phrase, and the current counterpart articles are christian terrorism and jewish terrorism.--Urthogie 18:53, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Islamist is considered a synonym for Islamic by oxford, webster, and chambers dictionaries, and only american heritage gives a seperate definition for it. So it doesn't make sense to call something an Islamist organization.--Urthogie 19:41, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

We would make the content appropriate to it. Thats exactly why we're trying to change the name, so edit wars dont occur over such content(page name is used as a silent consensus, I've found). In addition, I think that you'll find that newer oxford, chambers, and websters dictionaries do identify Islamism as synonymous(but thats somewhat besides my above point). Thx, --Urthogie 20:10, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Specifically, this part of the discussion explains how the title makes content editing erroneous and difficult: [1]--Urthogie 20:16, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Regardless, I'm gonna start putting my weight behind Modulatum's idea, as its the most pragmatic at this point.--Urthogie 20:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

It seems like we're starting to develop a consensus for Modulatum(ivan's) idea. I usually avoid political shit as you can see from my to do list but this article name just seemed like complete crap, because Islamic terrorism actually redirects to it-- the editors held that it was always Islamist in nature. Yeah, most of my work is on hip-hop articles, especially on Rapping. Anything you want me to check out or collaborate on, by the way?--Urthogie 22:49, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

2 Kings 1:8

I do think this article could be really expanded. There is no discussion of the meaning and symbolism of Elijah's garb, a topic which has been much discussed. For all of these verses there is quite a bit to say about translation issues. - SimonP 20:47, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Anchor Bible is a good, but somewhat introductory source. There are a number of different verse by verse analyses, and I have found that the best option is to consult a number of them as they all have somewhat different opinions and interpretations. For translation issues I only really find them interesting when different translations lead to very different interpretations of a verse, or when the translation itself gives insight into the thinking of the translator. However I'm more interested in theological and historical issues, than language ones. To a Hebrew scholar, however, a belt versus girdle debate might be fascinating. - SimonP 21:31, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't think there is much of a precedent, and certainly no policy. I've been working away on some of the verses in the Gospel of Matthew, so something like Matthew 3:4 could be considered a precedent. However, a number of people do not like these articles, considering them as overly obscure. - SimonP 22:11, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Lollipop offer

Many thanks for your offer. Your virtual lollipop is much appreciated. I am thinking about an article on Mr Whippy vans after other Australian editors comments. Regards--A Y Arktos 11:18, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry - I didn't express myself well - a virtual lollipop is very much appreciated and will suffice :-) Thank you. --A Y Arktos 11:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understood the tone of your "What about them indeed?" comment. I can't work out if you were criticising me for my suggestion of Mr Whippy vans or not. Cnwb 22:29, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I skipped over the unnecessary discussion and jumped in to add some info on sausage sizzles to the Street food article. Now about that lollipop... 8) Garglebutt / (talk) 00:11, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Encapsulation issue.

Thanks for your recent edit regarding my note to both the information hiding and separation of concerns articles. I only asked because I just created the interface inheritance stub, and I wanted to make sure that the information I submitted was accurate. Could you please review the stub and let me know what you think? I would really appreciate that. Cheers. Folajimi^(talk)

Thank you for the timely response! It is greatly appreciated.

My intent is to have the stub be as flexible as possible, so I am glad that the stub was even coherent. It's really nice to know that you could broaden the concept of the stub. However, is the content also applicable to C++? Folajimi^(talk)

Request for references on interface inheritance

Hi! Am I glad that you left information in interface inheritance on your talk page; I was trying to remember who helped clarify the stub (even though your last reply was posted more than a year ago!) The "What links here" was very helpful in this regard.

A pair of {{fact}} challenges have been made against the stub; do you know of any good reference material to address the challenges?

Also, in your previous reply, you had mentioned the need for concrete examples; do you know of any reputable sources for such information? --Cheers, Folajimi (leave a note) 13:04, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

WP:RM

I was under the impression that you were to merge Oneiromancy and Dream interpretation? —Nightstallion (?) 09:25, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Re;Dhimmi

Привет! An interesting thing I noticed about Wikipedia is that it helps develop thick skin and not be easily intimidated even if you feel someone is trying to abuse you; I usually just say and do what I feel is appropriate. I have noticed you speak basic Russian. Did you learn it in college?--Pecher 12:59, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

I may write something on the term "dhimmitude" sometime later, but that's indeed just a term, although quite useful.--Pecher 13:11, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

My nick also resembles the name of a posh district in downtown Kiev, which derives its name from the Ukrainian "печера" (pechEra, not palatalized as opposed to Russian), meaning "cave".

It's interesting that you too call all Russian-speaking Israeli Jews "Russians"; actually, those who hail from Russia are a minority, as about a half of olim come from Ukraine and many are from Belarus, Moldova, Latvia, or whatever. Probably, some Russians think you have ancestors from this part of the world when they first learn you speak some Russian.--Pecher 13:51, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

LSU and corndogs

I don't know exactly where it came from but it's been going around among LSU opponents for a while now seemingly born from an email or chatroom post claiming LSU fans smell like corndogs. Google 'LSU corndog' and you'll probably find it. I find it pretty stupid and hate that some Auburn fans use it or may have even originated it. AUTiger ʃ ^talk/_work 23:38, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Brown professional schools ref

Took your advice and added brief paragraph to Brown entry. Thanks. GO WHARTON 17:54, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

I'll give your new paragraph mod suggestion a go. Mighty fray of Brunonia, as in the plant? I'd prefer to avoid any sort of tussle in which there's the possibility (however remote) of the involvement of one Martha Stewart. GO WHARTON 18:31, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Welcome to WikiProject CS

Hi! Just wanted to welcome you to WikiProject Computer science. Having seen the contributions you've made so far, I was wondering when you'd officially join :-) Anyway, glad to have you onboard! Looking forward to collaborating with you in the future. --Allan McInnes (talk) 20:09, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

feel free

Anything like that gives me a break from getting mad about the rash of bigotry currently breaking out in a number of areas (and I'm talking about Wikipedia, not Denmark). Have you read my current favourite? Eurabia:_The_Euro-Arab_Axis. As I remarked to someone else, it's just as well I live in Syria, because if I lived in Europe, I'd be in danger of becoming a dhimmi due to the evil conspiracies being plotted by our governments, who apparently have nothing better to do than work out how to enslave themselves and their citizens... And somebody has now rewritten an entire article on a related matter taking the author of this piece of fantasy as his/her main source... Right, I better shut up about this, coz I'm just getting mad again. Palmiro | Talk 14:17, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the welcome

Thanks for the warm welcome, and yes, I've been a bit addicted to RC Patrol recently (what was it, fourteen hours straight yesterday?). Anyway, in honor of your gratitude, I was inspired to sit down and write the Pork (instant messenger) stub, which would have never been done since I would still be on RC patrol. Coincidentally, I just had a pork dinner last night; it was fantastic. Anyway, thanks again, and happy Sunday! ~ PseudoSudo 18:37, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks and hello

Thanks for your welcome and helpful links. Very new to this. Did you notice (or know) that we both hail from Ithaca? Lived there all my life, and was born there in '88. I lived with a jewish family all last year, ate falafels constantly, and we were all naturally liberal (its Ithaca!- what else could i be?). In my book Gimme Coffee is the place to be. Again, thanks for the welcome. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hellycopper (talk • contribs) 04:34, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

February 2005 [sic]

Thanks for catching my inane mistakes! I'm living in the past. Nice cleanup on Yorkshire pudding, too. Why not make an account and stay a while? --Mgreenbe 13:22, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Not a problem (I still catch myself writing 2005 quite often. I actually do have an account (with well over 10,000 edits, actually ;)), but I'm on a public computer at the moment and prefer not to log in using it. -- 128.197.249.61 13:30, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Compiler Feb 2006

I take your point about links being important. However, some of the meterial was too detailed to be appearing in the open paragraphs (eg, .exe and .com). Some of the other material was just plain wrong (or very product specific). For instance, I have been in the compiler/tranlator/static analysis business for 26 years and have never heard of a transpiler (it seems to be a trademark of this company www.sector7.com/OPENVMS%20MIGRATION/VX%20Tools) or a cascader.

The object code stuff is covered later on and is just too much information at this point.

What a weird way to communicate (derekATknosofDTcoDTuk)

Discussion Request from Gold Cross 12 Feb 2006

Mr/Ms greenbe Pleased to have discussion with you about 666_numerlogy "First Interpretation" which reflects my opinion after lot of studies for many years now (same as other participations including yours). I respect other people with different opinions and even opposed participations with fully open mind, also I know that "wikipedia" is an open environment which can hold all opinions from all people without any hostility or bad feelings among them and from that point of view I would like to know your objection(s) on my participation and who give you the right to clean it? I hope your answers to be objective keeping in mind that no one can ever monopolize the whole truth alone.

Mister, thanks. :)

Wikipedia is not the place for your opinion; there is a ban on original research. My request is for citation of a reliable source giving the numerological argument you would like to include. Part of my objection is that Wikipedia is also not a collection of random trivia — this is why I am in favor of removing much of section 6 "Culture and psychology", perhaps creating a separate article Number of the Beast in popular culture. Thanks for understanding (cross posted on your talkpage to make it easier for you). --Mgreenbe 21:38, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Hookah Origin

Point taken. My source is [2], but honestly I am not sure if it is sufficiently authorative...Bertilvidet 14:59, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Coleslaw seeds

Was it not an obvious piss-take? The idea of the "traditional Irish doner kebab" struck me as so ludicrous I couldn't let it pass. (I seem to like that word too much, ludicrous. Though maybe that's just the effect of Wikipedia.) Palmiro | Talk 17:54, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Had I checked my facts, I would have been able to get around your query by explaining that the chilis had probably been introduced by Saint Brendan the Navigator. Unfortunately, I had some idea in my head that he had gone to America (insofar as he went to America) in the tenth century. It's so easy to be wise after the event... Palmiro | Talk 18:38, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Hah! Palmiro | Talk 23:46, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

your two cents

On Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Futuristic Sex Robotz? Thanks--Urthogie 12:58, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Egyptians

Heh, it looks like I reverted your edit because you sort of squeezed in there right at the last minute. ;) --Khoikhoi 21:26, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Image:Hediedwithafelafelinhishhand.JPG

Hello, Mgreenbe. An automated process has found and removed an image or media file tagged as nonfree media, and thus is being used under fair use that was in your userspace. The image (Image:Hediedwithafelafelinhishhand.JPG) was found at the following location: User talk:Mgreenbe. This image or media was attempted to be removed per criterion number 9 of our non-free content policy. The image or media was replaced with Image:NonFreeImageRemoved.svg , so your formatting of your userpage should be fine. Please find a free image or media to replace it with, and or remove the image from your userspace. User:Gnome (Bot)-talk 07:29, 16 May 2007 (UTC)