User talk:Picapica/archive0611

English wikipedia: cause for concern

Dear Jac, you may be aware of the existence of [[Category:Welsh-speaking people]]. This has been nominated for deletion, on the grounds that all "similar" categories, eg. English-speaking people, would be "too big". I'm not prepared to die in a ditch over it, but I do feel that it's an obvious exception. If you have an opinion, would you care to contribute to the debate? Deb 19:14, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, Deb. I wholeheartedly agree that [[Category:Welsh-speaking people]] does not merit delition. However, I can't find the debate -- doesn't appear to be on the Categories for discussion page. Beth sy’n digwydd? -- Picapica 19:02, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Grand Central probably

I'd possibly change the name to Grand Central (train operating company). On their website thay do refer to themselves as Grand Central, formally, rather than Grand Central trains. Or would this name be rather long? Simply south 19:59, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

I've moved it like you suggested anyway. Strangely i feel like i'm a bit erratic. Simply south 11:54, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Endings of Presidential and Congressional terms

You were in a discussion some time ago with another user about whether U.S. presidential and congressional terms, before the 20th amendment, ended on March 3 or March 4. I ran into the discussion just recently, and thought you might be interested in some additional information I posted on this issue at User_talk:DLJessup. I'm glad I was able to locate evidence that satisfied DLJessup, who is an outstanding contributor though he turned out to be incorrect on this narrow issue, and please feel free to me know if there are any article changes you think should be made based on this additional information. Regards, Newyorkbrad 18:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, Nyb, for being so considerate as to think of bringing the latest developments on this discussion to my notice (I tend not to keep my watchlists going for too long: they can be harmful to one's equanimity!). No bad feelings towards DLJ who, as you say, is an expert contributor on these matters, but I'd more or less accepted defeat on that question without, even so, being 100% convinced. It's heartening to see a concensus finally established... Picapica 18:55, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome -- now we should think through whether we should be modifying any articles in light of this info (i.e., changing March 3 to March 4). Newyorkbrad 21:33, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I've read through all the arguments and evidence you've presented on this matter in various places in the Wikipedia, Nyb, and you have my full support in making whatever date changes you may think appropriate. -- Picapica 21:53, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Typos

I see that you fix a lot of typos. Do you have some kind of Bot that finds them? Just wondering. And thanks! --Ssilvers 23:34, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi, Ss. No, I use no bot (as a matter of fact, I am somewhat prejudiced against them!): though I do use the very useful Google syntax suggested at Wikipedia_talk:Typo#Googling_for_typos. What usually happens is that from time to time, having come across a repeated typo/misspelling when browsing Wikipedia – and having fixed those instances – I then go on to do a general "typo hunt" for more examples, generally using Google as suggested above. Like housekeeping "in real life", an hour or so spent tidying up can be surprisingly therapeutic... and it leads to some serendipitous finds of very interesting (if partly misspelled) articles... -- Picapica 17:27, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

UK National Day

Hi Picapica. I see you've removed the UK entry from National Day. As far as I know, the 2nd Saturday in June is the ND for the whole of the UK. It's mentioned in the text of the article. Cheers, Arcturus 19:03, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Sorry: I have to admit I hadn't read that mention in the intro. I was checking the list itself for information about other countries' national days when I came across that "UK National Day" entry. I have to say, though, that despite having lived in the UK for the best part of 60 years I've never before heard of such a national day, and although I have heard mention of the "Queen's Official Birthday", I'd be ready to bet that 90% of UK citizens could not tell you when it was, and that 99% of people living here would affirm that the UK has no national day. (I think that the BBC article linked to on the Queen's Official Birthday page makes it fairly clear that the whole event is a masterpiece of inconsistent and unthought-through ad-hockery -- which, if it were "marketed" as such would probably make it the ideal celebration of Britishness!). -- Picapica 22:03, 19 November 2006 (UTC)