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Edits to Appropedia by myself are generally as a regular member of the community, and sometimes as an administrator.
Unless otherwise stated, they are not legal or official actions as a director of the Appropedia Foundation.
Contributions by User:ChriswaterguyCommunity discussions & key policy pages • Article talk pages • User talk pages • Appropedia talk pages • Category talk pagesRead more...


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Also see:


Old conversations

Old conversations are in the Archive.


Conversations on other sites

Keeping an eye on...

notes for self

Idea for page and blog/forum post:

Forums:

Sustainable Humane Habitat in Developing Contexts - They seem very relevant to us and also connected historically with Engineers Without Borders UK - raise with Andrew Lamb.

  • Bring into any discussion on open design, and OSN.
  • Note they are funded by the European Commission's Asia Link Programme. This programme has been established in order to fund projects promoting Euro-Asian partnerships between research institutions addressing environmental and social challenges. Not exactly something we are likely to get as a US based org, but might give some ideas.

To do:

  • effect of keywords in PD search, e.g. reports
  • TT-related content then contact Lucy
    • search terms for Appropedia's Public Domain Search - TT doesn't work.
    • UP, housing options
    • transport - port this & anything good on this site.[1][2]
    • other TT themes/areas of focus?
      • need to be self-sufficient... with good local food networks, less energy consumption per head and strong practical skills,
      • climate change deals with the invisible and has very little positivity about it, whereas this is all about positivity. Everybody can get stuck in and design the change - it is very much a bottom-up initiative. - empowerment, participation, cf subsidies.
      • war footing, and TT as a leading example
      • TT & climate change - not necessarily constructive (if the change is to other fossil fuels) but most likely the general awareness and people's tendency to conflate issues mean that support for TT will mean a support for sustainable action, not ways to replace oil with coal.
  • http://forums.permaculture.org.au/ftopic4543.php - reply (bump) after adding more permaculture content.
  • original docs in mainspace; check what links to {{Includes content from}}, and also update that template.
  • Alan Alda as a supporter of green tech?
  • how does http://www.approvideo.org/blogs/ instruct/relate to Appropedia functionality?
  • contact a sympathetic WP admin re hexayurt article, getting a copy.
  • Wikipedia:appropriate technology examples -> each relevant topic page. Can be expanded and analyzed in a way not suitable for Wikipedia. Also consider adapting definition section (Jottings on appropriate technology?)

(Vinay, Mich, Mel...): Kiwanja, NGO-mobile. Innovative ideas for mobiles.


Porting

Well, I've been doing it manually. I could try out wikEd too, you can go ahead and download it on my page.--Fatima 19:43, 23 January 2008 (PST)


Hi Chris,

I was wondering if you could have a look at 'Handpumps'. It's almost done, I just can't seem to get the picutres to align right and it leaves all these gaps! (See fig 8 and 9). I did this page manually, from now on I'm going to be using wikied.

--How do I add the tables? I've been uploading them like the images, but it doesn't seem right. Is there another way to do the tables? Fatima

Hi Fatima, Check out Help:Tables (and Help:Contents in general). There is also a cut and paste tool at http://area23.brightbyte.de/csv2wp.php, I think you need to save your table from excel as a .csv (comma separated values) file first. Chris may have a good suggestion from WikiEd as well. Keep up the great work. --Lonny 15:00, 28 January 2008 (PST)
All I can think to suggest is that you try again (maybe on another page) using WikEd, and see if it does a better job of the table. You don't have to save that page - just use the [w] button, then preview, and copy the parts that work better than the current page.
That would be my first approach, anyway. If that doesn't work, the links Lonny gave should help. I guess see if you can copy from the PDF to a spreadsheet, and save as a .csv file. Hope that helps, let us know if it doesn't!
If you learn new good ways of doing things, please note them on the relevant porting page, e.g. Appropedia:Porting PDF files to MediaWiki. --Chriswaterguy · talk 17:55, 28 January 2008 (PST)
Very sorry, I've made a mistake - the PDF porting with wikEd isn't working yet. It's been a few months since I tried it with PDFs, and I'd forgotten about this. I'm now working on it and hope to have better answers within a week. In the meantime, I suggest you:


Thanks Chris. I'll just finish up the ones I've already started (taking Lonny's suggestion for the tables) and then work on html or word docs.--Fatima 12:45, 29 January 2008 (PST)


I tried doing the tables but somehow I can't seem to do it and the entire text ends up in the table! see this http://www.appropedia.org/Run-off_rainwater_harvesting#Rainwater_for_Agriculture How do I fix this, I've been trying alot of things but nothing works......!--Fatima 13:15, 29 January 2008 (PST)

Hi Fatima,
I think I fixed the table. Check it out and let me know if it is not what you were looking for. Thank you, --Lonny 16:27, 29 January 2008 (PST)

porting

Am I supposed to reply here? or on my talk page? does it matter?

Anyway, I did see that page. Wikipedia also has several very good examples. I am working through my list of authors, trying to contact them, but they all published in the 60's and 70's and they are very difficult to find.

Thanks for the help. --David.reber 11:32, 29 January 2008 (PST)

Thanks Chris. I actually got the non-free adobe acrobat from a very kind and generous friend! I'll try it out today and see how it works and will let you know!--Fatima 13:29, 3 February 2008 (PST)

I am about to port Ecological Sanitation from Practical Action to Appropedia but I noticed that there already exists a stub for Ecological Sanitation- should I create a new page or add Practical Action's article on Ecological Sanitation to the stub? --Fatima 13:39, 3 February 2008 (PST)

Responded on your talk page. --Chriswaterguy · talk 14:44, 3 February 2008 (PST)

I've started using the non-free adobe acrobat- and it has tremendously reduced the time to port material! Usually there is an error in saving the first page of the pdf in the rtf format, so I just do that page manually, otherwise it's working pretty well....... To see what is already done, I just put the topic title of the pdf brief in appropedia's search- if it's been done before, the page shows up, otherwise I just create a new page. But I'll look at the links you've suggested.--Fatima 16:57, 3 February 2008 (PST)

Chris,

I've more or less ported the water related practical action briefs- I am having trouble downloading Ecological Sanitation; otherwise I've done the others. Do you want me to port the other non-water related practical action briefs? ( I can do pdfs easily!) If not what other water related content do I focus on?--Fatima 15:07, 4 February 2008 (PST)

Fantastic! Either:
  • Use Appropedia's Public Domain Search to find high quality information (on water or anything else). I plan to do some serious work on the search engine in the next few days, but it should already give good results now - you just have to do some hunting (refining the search terms, and browsing results). If you're unsure if something is public domain (the search results are not 100% PD unfortunately) just ask me.
  • Port something from Requests for porting help on the porting page; or
  • Port other Practical Action content.
I also had trouble with the ES article - the PDF is just a blank page. I'll notify them.
Btw, have you found an easy way to extract the pictures from the PDF? --Chriswaterguy · talk 15:56, 4 February 2008 (PST)

Since it is easier for me to port pdf files, I think I'll port more of them. When I save the pdf file in the XML format, it automatically creates a folder with all the images in it, so I don't have to use the snap shot tool or paint, which is great! But...the XML document itself is a little puzzling to me..when I opened the XML document,it looked unusual..when I pasted in on to the web page in Appropedia , it wasn't coming out right. So now what I do is save the pdf file in Word Document format- I use this document to transfer the text to the web page and then I save the pdf again in the XML format to get the images folder- it really does'nt take that much time saving the pdf file in both types of formats so I do it. Is there any way I could show you the XML document (is it possible to email that doc ? I don't know too much about it) so that you know what I'm talking about?....--Fatima 19:49, 5 February 2008 (PST)

Hi Chris,

I've ported Conservation of indigenous breeds (Practical Action Brief)...but i'm having trouble doing the table (see the link)..I've been trying but I can't seem to do it right at all...your help would be appreciated..

http://www.appropedia.org/Image:Compostbin-table.jpg

--Fatima 19:49, 6 February 2008 (PST)



Scientific method on Appropedia?

Hi Chriswaterguy. I'm new here.
A question: I've been editing Wikipedia for a while, and there's a continuing discussion (aka war) there on the extent to which content needs to be governed by the scientific method and mainstream science, vs accepting "alternative science", "traditional wisdom", etc.
I'm especially concerned about this because of the likelihood of people furnishing harmful misinformation - it's bad enough when people say that you can build a 5 mw cold fusion generator out of paper clips and twine, but when people start posting that chicken soup cures AIDS or the like, I worry about the possibility of serious harm.
I'd like to know what the policy/guideline/"stance" of Appropedia is on this issue.
(I see that you wrote at Appropedia:Neutral point of view: "Appropedia also places a strong emphasis on scientific fact and Rigor.")
- I've also posted this question to Lonny's Talk page.
Thanks -- Writtenonsand 06:35, 15 February 2008 (PST)

Hi - thanks for your reply on my Talk page. On Wikipedia many of my edits are of the "WikiGnome" variety - "WikiGnomes work behind the scenes of a wiki, tying up little loose ends and making things run more smoothly."
I see a lot of redlinks and unlinked vocabulary pages here on Appropedia, and my instinct is to make stub pages for them or link them to W as appropriate. I assume that that would be okay? -- Writtenonsand 16:03, 17 February 2008 (PST)


Glad to have a WikiGnome on board! I've thought at times about our need for this. Some of us have been trying to juggle gnome work with other things, with difficulty, so your contributions will be very welcome.
Stubs would be great; linking to Wikipedia is also good (it's a judgment call - don't spend too long thinking about each one as they can be changed). I've stopped using {{WP}} now and use {{wp sup}} instead, as it allows an Appropedia redlink together with a WP link. (Perhaps we should even replace WP with the wp sup code, to make it simpler.)
In making stubs, I think you'll find APDS useful. Don't hesitate to contact me (or anyone else here) - email or IM (Skype, same username) also possible if you prefer. Thanks again! --Chriswaterguy · talk 19:35, 17 February 2008 (PST)


Thanks -- Writtenonsand 15:19, 18 February 2008 (PST)


List of redlinks?

Is there a listing somewhere of all redlinks? (I.e. articles/pages/stubs that need to be created) -- Writtenonsand 17:31, 18 February 2008 (PST)

Special:Wantedpages, right, thanks! -- Writtenonsand 17:37, 18 February 2008 (PST)


Drought Myth: copyleft?

Hi - I just went through and wikified Drought Myth, but now looking at it I'm not 100% sure that we were formally given copyleft to it.

It says "Source: Reprinted and shared freely by the copyright holder at http://selfmadefarmer.wordpress.com/", and was apparently originally posted to Appropedia by User:Krystle, who is "apparently" the owner of selfmadefarmer.wordpress.com . We're sure that this was intended to be placed under the GFDL by the owner? selfmadefarmer.wordpress.com doesn't seem to have any copyright/licensing info.

I'm probably being a little paranoid about this, but my experience with copyright, attribution, and editing articles on wikis suggests that that's often a good idea.

-- Writtenonsand 07:29, 19 February 2008 (PST)

Here's another: Methane: "Portions (cc) S.E.E.D.S. under Creative Commons".
What's "cc"? I can't find any relevant definition. "Creative Commons"? If "copyright" or some non-GFDL license, then this content can't appear on Appropedia, right? Is Creative Commons 100% compatible with GFDL? (Again, only asking because of the blood I've seen these issues shed in the past.) -- Writtenonsand 07:50, 19 February 2008 (PST)
Thanks for your diligence - I agree it's better to be a little paranoid, and make sure we get it right.
User:Krystle is indeed the Selfmadefarmer - she has a newsletter and we've exchanged emails. A user has the right to add anything they own the copyright to, and in doing so releases it under Appropedia's license. If there's still any ambiguity at all, please ask Krystle on her talk page, or let me know and I'll email her.
(cc) is indeed Creative Commons, and is a play on (c) or ©. Unfortunately CC-by-sa (the closest equivalent to GFDL, I believe) is not fully compatible, but that's expected to change soon - the people in charge of the licenses have agreed to make them interoperable. However, if a site uses CC-by or CC-by-sa, I expect they'd be happy to approve by email for it to be also released under GFDL.
I can't see a license statement or CC mark on S.E.E.D.S., so I'll email Ericblazek, who added this and the content now at Category:Biofuel. Then, if needed, one of us can contact the S.E.E.D.S. folks. Thanks again! --Chriswaterguy · talk 15:00, 19 February 2008 (PST)
Thanks again for all your help. -- Writtenonsand 18:33, 19 February 2008 (PST)


Another:
Cider Cool Off the Press
(From BITTERSWEET, Volume I, No. 4, Summer 1974)
Story and photographs by Rick Bishop
- I see that this is Category:Bittersweet, and that there are 29 articles in this category. We just have blanket permission for all articles in Category:Bittersweet? -- Writtenonsand 17:43, 20 February 2008 (PST)


"Skills" :-)

You wrote: "so that a WikiGnome such as yourself can work more efficiently and make better use of your skills."
Heh, "skills". I wouldn't actually claim any, but I can lift heavy things. Or actually, light and medium things.
Thanks again for the tips. (I'm certainly interested in developing my skills.)
Also, I see that User:Smallaxe's page says: "ENGR 305 Project: Directed Internship to overhaul the current Appropedia design, to add a more appealing and user friendly environment to this implementation of "MediaWiki"," along with some details. Sounds interesting. -- Writtenonsand 16:26, 21 February 2008 (PST)

I've certainly seen you show patience, persistence, good judgment and knowledge, for a start... whether we call them skills is incidental :).
I hadn't noticed that on Smallaxe's page - it seems this is one of Lonny's students, taking on a very valuable project. --Chriswaterguy · talk 16:43, 21 February 2008 (PST)

SfGS

Hi Chris,

I was thinking that we should rename all SfGS pages as SfGS then the page name, with no colon (so as not to look like a namespace). So SfGS: Zero-Waste Party would become SfGS Zero-Waste Party, and that they would all be categorized under Template:Tlc (which we could do with {{SfGS}}). Please let me know what you think and if you would like me to make the changes.

Thank you, Lonny

Agreed - but either we leave the pages with colons as redirects, or we need to change the template on the old wiki and enter the target page manually. Is that worth doing, do you think? Happy for someone else to decide and do :). Thanks! --Chriswaterguy · talk 05:22, 26 February 2008 (PST)

Ecovillages

Not sure what the policies are on adding or editing stuff, so I thought I'd ask here before I sign up. I'm part of a new eco-village that's growing just outside of Ithaca, NY (near but not the same as EcoVillage at Ithaca). We have a very strong focus on sustainability and emergency preparedness, and I've been promoting appropedia to our members as a great resource. Is it appropriate to ask for, or to add myself, a link on the Ecovillages page that you edit?

Also, just to point out, Ithaca is misspelled in one or two places on the existing page.

Thanks!

Please add a link, and (even better) add a page describing your project. We'd love to hear more about what you're doing - and please let us know if you need any help!
I trust our gnomes will fix the spellings in time, but aways feel free to make corrections. --Chriswaterguy · talk 18:13, 8 March 2008 (PST)

note to self

http://www.linuxsa.org.au/tips/disk-partitioning.html

Having to reinstall - back later - Chris

I have no idea where this should go.

And you're the water guy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_us/deteriorating_water_pipes

--Simpsons 20:32, 8 April 2008 (PDT)


I've created Category:Water distribution - perhaps add a paragraph and link on that page, or start a new page and add that category. Thanks. --Chriswaterguy (talk) 20:56, 8 April 2008 (PDT)

Note to self ;

Twitter: greenskeptic GPF (Global Philanthropy Forum): Fazle Abed (founder of BRAC): "All our solutions have been small scale; we hv not been ambitious enough to end poverty." about 14 hours ago from web


AIDG aidg Tech Tuesday: Urine-Diverting (Dry) Toilet [Shada, Haiti] Pt 1 http://tinyurl.com/4xsofp about 20 hours ago AIDG aidg Urine-Diverting (Dry) Toilet [Shada, Haiti] Pt 2 http://tinyurl.com/3qqaeh about 20 hours ago

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/Contents.htm -- Chriswaterguy

debugging:

mcc

shutdown from CLI: 

halt / shutdown -h

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/howto-linux-add-user-use-adduser-command/

Q. How do I add a new user using command line tools? What are command line option recommended.

A. You need to use useradd command, which is responsible for creating a new user or update default new user information

The useradd command creates a new user account using the values specified on the command line and the default values from the system. The new user account will be entered into the system files (/etc/passwd) as needed, the home directory (/home/username) will be created, and initial files copied, depending on the command line options. Task: Add a user to the system

Syntax is as follows for useradd command: useradd <username>

By default user account is locaked, you need to setup a new password: passwd <username>

For example add a new user called tom and set password to jerry:

  1. adduser tom
  2. passwd tom

If you want to add a user to group read how to add a user user to group

List of common options: 

   * -c comment: Add a comment for the user
   * -d home-directory: Create a new home-directory
   * -e yyyy-mm-dd: Date for the account to be disabled
   * -f days: Number of days after the password expires until the account is disabled. (If 0 is specified, the account is disabled immediately after the password expires. If -1 is specified, the account is not be disabled after the password expires.)
   * -g group-name: Primary Group name or group number for the user's default group (group name must exist)
   * -G group-list: List of secondary additional (other than default) group names or group numbers, separated by commas, of which the user is a member (group name must exist)
   * -m: Create the home directory
   * -M: Do not create the home directory
   * -s: User's login shell (default /bin/bash)

To read all command line option type following command: $ man adduser

Found the bug, I think

http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=86418

You can login from terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F1 when the dm starts) and then type drak3d in order to disable 3d and unsderstand what's happened. If drak3d is not found there then you have to reinstall it ('urpmi drak3d' and it should install its dependencies)
I'd uninstall compiz (# urpme compiz) and then installed it again (# urpmi compiz).

More ideas: http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=83433

Boot from USB

USB Flash Memory HOWTO

Blog

strongly recommend a readme.rtf or equivalent:

  • Standard one for Linux.
  • distro specific
  • known critical bugs and warnings at the top; link to live page
  • Easily accessible later (menu or via CLI)
  • Context specific ones, e.g. when first installing a 3D desktop.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html?em : FRIEDMAN surprised by dual flush?

examine the details on Ap: "responded to that crisis in such a sustained, focused and systematic way that today it is energy independent."

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/what-is-the-future-of-suburbia-a-freakonomics-quorum/?em


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/opinion/09bissinger.html?ref=opinion :

I have already gone on record with a Times Op-Ed article in April saying the games should be banned entirely because of their incontrovertible history of corruption and politicizing...

“Why is winning the only thing that matters?” asks Sey. “There must be some national crisis of self-esteem for us to push so hard for these medals. Otherwise why would you need it?”

Because that’s SportsWorld. Which is also why upon further review, I’ll stick with the Beijing pollution index and the blue sky index and not watch women’s gymnastics. I will no doubt miss out on some of the best performances of the entire games. But that’s the trade-off when you’re just not a fan of child abuse.

Articles

Knol mags

Meeting Vasco-Pyjama.

Hi folks - can't connect much today. Meeting Vasco-Pyjama from LJ this arvo. In Sydney probably tonight.

Note to self: nav links top of http://www.demotech.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Design.TechnologyWthinPoverty

attention grabbing stuff: Die green...

The deceased will be buried in biodegradable coffins between gum trees in a protected koala sanctuary.
Reflecting a worldwide trend towards environmentally friendly burials, the site, on bushland attached to Lismore Memorial Park Cemetery in the Northern Rivers region, is due to open on July 1.
Families visiting graves would be lent a satellite navigation device, Mr Whitney said.
allow headstones made from natural rock.
conventional funerals and cremations are ecologically damaging because cremations produce greenhouse gases; embalming uses harmful chemicals that can enter soil and waterways; gravestones are made of granite shipped from China; coffins are made from particle board or rainforest timber, held together with poisonous glues, lined with plastic and varnished, which pollutes the land.
-Green reaper's grave new world

--Chriswaterguy 16:02, 19 April 2008 (PDT)

Thanks Chris.--Fatima 18:54, 2 May 2008 (PDT)

Personal message

Sorry, Chris! Could not figure out where to put a personal message to you, so I try here.

I react to your input on my talk page at Demotech. I appreciate to talk to you about the contribution Demotech may have to Appropedia as I am aware that you are one of the drivers of Appropedia. My Skype name is reindervt You can reach me best at midnight my time. Evenually you can make sure by sending a mail to info@demotech.org .

I look forward to speak to you!

Greetings, Reinder

Cool - talk to you soon! --Chriswaterguy 05:28, 8 May 2008 (PDT)

Ekopedia and others...

I arrive and actually I do like most of the people create a new subject without being sure that there are none already talking about this... I am part of Ekopedia. It is a participative encyclopedie about alternative technique... It start in French but now it develops in many others languages...

Check Ekopedia

We earlier tryed to have a collaboration with Tiptheplanet... It did not work out... Pity so much dubble information...

Check TipThePlanet

On their Website I now discover Appropedia seems to be the same also...

Check Appropedia

I have to had this student initiative...

Check Demotech

So I feel a little bit sad to see so much person motivated but not working together... If you feel like talking about and trying to create synergie... mail me at olivier(a)kaospilots(dot)nl

Thank you

Very exciting! Answered by email. --Chriswaterguy 22:30, 25 May 2008 (PDT)


Hi Chris, I am trying to contact you, but I can't find your email on the site, so I'll try like this... I would like to discuss with you the idea of putting a book I have written online so it can be collaboratively revised.... hope you can help, I think it will be a rather exciting project (for me anyway!). I am new to the ins and outs, the perils and pitfalls of such a thing, and also the support you are able to offer... my email is robjhopkins (at) gmail.com. Many thanks, Rob.

Answered by email. --Chriswaterguy 18:02, 4 July 2008 (PDT)

Water ways as a natural highway

I thought you might like this.

http://bigrivershow.com/

Thanks! Will have a closer look when I have a faster connection. --Chriswaterguy -13:34, 15 July 2008 (PDT)

Hi from Egypt

Quick hi to Appropedia folks. In Alex now for Wikimania. Linux on my laptop is playing up for me again so I'll connect in the morn (about 9 hours). --Chriswaterguy -13:34, 15 July 2008 (PDT)

Math and formulas on Appropedia

Hi Chris, I'm Alvaro. We met last night at IDDS. Im involved in the design of the ropeway, and wanted to share some of the calculations involved in the security of the cables. It seems however that the math mode is not enabled in appropedia (this is the message: Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \frac{x}{csh(x/a)}). Who should I talk to to repair that? (if you think it's a good idea). Thanks. (4 Aug. 2008) [contact, ab1805 [-@-] mit [#dot#] edu]

Hi Alvaro,
Thanks for pointing this out. It now works. E.g.
Keep up the awesome contributions, --Lonny 02:35, 4 August 2008 (PDT)

Allo
Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I finally succumbed to the desire to contribute. :) --pfctdayelise 02:20, 8 December 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Woah
Latest comment: 15 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion

Sections gone mad

Man. What have you guys done to your MediaWiki? Look at what happens when I click 'edit' on your talk page! Where have the 'edit section' links gone? I can't even find the section I originally started, to reply in. How do I get rid of these break-out sections?? "Generic mode" was no help -- still didn't show my section. It has disappeared into the aether!

Anyway... Papyrus sanitary pad - hadn't heard of those before, sounds pretty mad although perhaps scratchy?!. But are they reusable?? Can you rinse out papyrus?? If not, then I would guess cloth pads are the go. Menstrual cups are internal and thus more comparable to tampons.

Will you be in Australia in January? I've probably already asked you this but I can't remember the answer. LCA is in Hobart around January 20th. At any rate I will look forward to seeing you in Melbourne some time.

And I think if anyone wants to have any influence in the wider world these days, having economists on side is an absolute necessity.

cheers :) pfctdayelise 03:32, 8 December 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Hey - hope the Uniwiki didn't cause too much grief! It has some great features (esp the category selector on the right) but some problems for serious wikiators. (I'm trying to come up with a generic word for people who do wikis - wikian looks like someone who's with Wikia.) I archived from my page, with a bit of url hacking and dividing up the page into supersections - Uniwiki doesn't like really long pages.
Hey, I've never used a tampon - I was just reporting what seemed a cool idea, to let girls go to school. The synthetic gauze cover seems like it should make it less scratchy. Have heard of menstrual cups, and they sound maybe a wise idea - but I'll leave such decisions to those more qualified than I :-).
This coming January? No, still far, far away. Sadly, and yet happily. --Chriswaterguy 05:27, 8 December 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Hmm.... so there's really no way to turn it off? Or at least no way to get section editing back? I kind of like that a lot... --pfctdayelise 11:50, 8 December 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]
In this version, only with a url hack - click edit then add &section=n (n being fiddly to calculate on a long page with subheadings). Ugly, but I do it sometimes. I'm incline to think that we wait for FCKeditor, and see if we can add the really cool bits from Uniwiki to that (category selection and optional - not default multiple boxes).
Uniwiki was designed for Africa, for kids with no computer experience, but Merrick Schaeffer from UNICEF said (at Wikimania) that they'd used it with success in an office setting, I think. Not ideal for hardcore wiki folks, tho. Combining with FCKeditor and tweaking, we could hopefully have the best of both worlds. --Chriswaterguy 22:20, 8 December 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Some more porting questions

Hello Chris,

I am currently an intern for Appropedia and have been given the task of porting PDF's to MediaWiki format. I had a question that Lonny suggested that I ask you about. Should I go by your format of having an original, and a editable page in Appropedia?

Thanks, Steven M.

Chriswaterguy still alive
Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I'm going to Suchitoto today, 1.5 hrs from San Salvador. I was going yesterday but had a major ^(@P*@@$)&* up with my Linux system. I've managed to backup, so I can safely head off, but I won't be logging on till probably tonight - I get there this afternoon, and at some point need to fix my system.

I've been learning a few things, and am planning a brief blog post, and a series of microblog posts on LinuxEssentials:

  • Be sure to have a "rescue disk" - this is a LiveCD designed for the purpose, not a heavyweight distro. Knoppix (with rescue tools & a lightweight desktop environment) is good. Geekier folks have other options like Slax, and running from USB.

--Chriswaterguy 18:14, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Connected again. Still fiddling with Linux. --Chriswaterguy 03:58, 15 March 2009 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Draft notes for forums

Hi - I'm looking for advice on reliable distros with good repositories. The ideal might be if it used the Debian repositories or only slightly modified Debian repos (or repos from another major, reliable distro - maybe RedHat or Fedora) but was packaged in a more user-friendly way than Debian. Suggestions?

"Which distro do you recommend?" PS - the reason I don’t like any distro is exactly because I’ve never found one where I *didn’t* find myself doing stuff an end user should *not* have to do. Not that I can’t, but I do administration for my day job — I don’t wanna go home and do it s’more! ;-)

IRC notes

(10:28:05 AM) Chriswaterguy: Hi - I'm looking for advice on reliable distros with good repositories. The ideal might be if it used the Debian repositories or only slightly modified Debian repos (or repos from another major, reliable distro - maybe RedHat or Fedora) but was packaged in a more user-friendly way than Debian. Suggestions? (10:28:43 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, opensuse (10:29:21 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, but IMO, nothing beats debian package management (10:29:32 AM) xy|ox: Chriswaterguy, ubuntu (10:29:46 AM) neoteny: errr Titan8990 opensuse doesn't provide anything Chriswaterguy asked for. (10:29:50 AM) Titan8990: xy|ox, you must have missed his first sentance that included "reliable" (10:30:24 AM) heftig: Chriswaterguy: centos (10:30:28 AM) Titan8990: neoteny, it matches reliable and user-friendly package management (10:31:18 AM) xy|ox: Titan8990, so you recommend opensuse, do you miss the his first sentence? (10:32:18 AM) Chriswaterguy: Thanks for the answers! (10:34:02 AM) Chriswaterguy: Titan8990: I'd love access to the Debian repos, but decided against straight Debian. the Debian install disk couldn't even recognize the HDD on my ThinkPad (and I bought this machine because it was supposed to the most compatible with Linux!) (10:34:35 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, are you sure you wern't trying to install the unstable version of debain? (10:34:55 AM) Chriswaterguy: xy|ox: Ubuntu works for a lot of people, but I'd rather avoid it. it doesn't strike me as reliable - from my own awful experiences and from what I've read. (10:35:22 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, wikipedia has a list of distros that use debian package management (10:35:30 AM) Chriswaterguy: heftig: I was thinking about CentOS. (10:35:42 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, centos is not one of them (10:35:46 AM) Chriswaterguy: heftig: It uses the RedHat repos? (10:36:21 AM) heftig: Chriswaterguy: it uses its own repos, but they're practically clones of rhel (10:36:55 AM) Chriswaterguy: RHEL packages should be good - Debian might be the ideal, but not the only option. (10:36:57 AM) neilthereildeil: adaptr: ok ill try to steal the script (10:36:59 AM) bolt [n=r00t@cE797BF51.dhcp.bluecom.no] entered the room. (10:37:00 AM) heftig: mib_gmzx4o: ask your distro :) (10:37:09 AM) monestri: Can I try a different client? (10:37:10 AM) neilthereildeil: but i guess its manually editing the menu.lst file until then.... (10:37:11 AM) linatrix left the room (quit: Read error: 110 (Connection timed out)). (10:37:11 AM) neilthereildeil: thx (10:37:14 AM) neilthereildeil left the room. (10:37:16 AM) mib_gmzx4o: ok, are things ok for some distros ? (10:37:18 AM) Browser` left the room (quit: "Lost terminal"). (10:37:20 AM) c64zotte1 left the room (quit: Client Quit). (10:37:24 AM) Titan8990: m0nst3rkill3r, ehh, ~/.gnome maybe (10:37:24 AM) HellMind [n=RANDOM@190.18.84.5] entered the room. (10:37:25 AM) c64zotte1 [n=hans@62-12-246-241.pool.cyberlink.ch] entered the room. (10:37:34 AM) mib_gmzx4o: because my gma 950 sucks balls on archlinux (10:37:35 AM) heftig: Chriswaterguy: CentOS is RHEL without the price tag (10:37:47 AM) mib_gmzx4o: how are things over at debian or ubuntu ? (10:37:47 AM) HellMind: how can assign a core to a process? (10:37:50 AM) mib_gmzx4o: or fedora (10:37:53 AM) Titan8990: m0nst3rkill3r, but if you are referring to non-GUI applications then they need scripts in /etc/init.d and they are added to startup with the update-rc command (10:37:54 AM) adaptr: RHEL is just as free (10:37:55 AM) Just4Now: monestri, another clieint prob won't help, but i didn't much care for the firefox ftp client (10:37:59 AM) here4thegear left the room. (10:38:15 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, they all use a similar kernel (10:38:15 AM) xy|ox: Chriswaterguy, what you understand by reliable? (10:38:16 AM) linatrix [n=ali@196.202.20.11] entered the room. (10:38:19 AM) heftig: mib_gmzx4o: running fedora 10, intel performance is awful. fedora 11 uses the new stuff. going to try the alpha soon (10:38:26 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, and thus the same driver (10:38:26 AM) Chriswaterguy: Titan8990: I was trying the testing version of Debian. I figured that Stable was not going to be updated for another 18 months - not an attractive option. Testing is supposed to be at least as stable as most distros. (10:38:32 AM) AngryElf left the room (quit: "leaving"). (10:38:37 AM) mib_gmzx4o: i mean, this has been going on for too long now (10:38:41 AM) mib_gmzx4o: at first i was patient (10:38:47 AM) mib_gmzx4o: but now it's just too much (10:38:48 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, not really, I also had the driver problem with debian unstable (10:38:51 AM) mib_gmzx4o: how long has it been (10:38:54 AM) mib_gmzx4o: since .27 ? (10:39:07 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, its marked unstable for a reason and distros such as debian don't update as often to maintain that stability (10:39:21 AM) monestri: well i'd use it if I knew how to upload with it Just4Now (10:39:22 AM) mib_gmzx4o: i mean, there has to be something wrong when diablo 2 is slow as molasses on an intel gma 950 (10:39:23 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, you have to make a choice between "bleeding-edge" and stable, period (10:39:35 AM) Just4Now: your client on windows or linux (10:39:39 AM) Chriswaterguy: How do OpenSuse repos compare? I've heard good things of OpenSuse, and I gather it supports LXDE (my favorite desktop) (10:40:11 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Chriswaterguy: there is no special "support" needed for a window manager or desktop enviroment (10:40:20 AM) mib_gmzx4o: unless there's something terribly wrong with the distro (10:40:21 AM) extor left the room (quit: Remote closed the connection). (10:41:04 AM) wooby left the room (quit: Remote closed the connection). (10:41:07 AM) ognirc [n=doon@pool-72-65-75-107.clrk.east.verizon.net] entered the room. (10:41:12 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Titan8990: i was thinking more among the lines of some distros refusing to offer the new stuff in the repos until it matures (10:41:17 AM) Chriswaterguy: mib_gmzx4o: there's a difference between winging it with a different desktop and using one that is standard or semi-standard for the distro. (10:41:17 AM) mib_gmzx4o: what a crappy step from intel (10:41:25 AM) jwhite^ left the room (quit: No route to host). (10:41:57 AM) icatorze left the room (quit: Remote closed the connection). (10:42:00 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, gentoo masks packages until they are 100% mature (10:42:10 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, but its not for new users at all (10:42:17 AM) Chriswaterguy: Titan8990: So you think "Stable" would recognize my HDD? I don't see why that would change between Lenny and Testing (especially since they only diverged last month). (10:42:23 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Titan8990: isn't gentoo dead already ? :) (10:42:54 AM) mib_gmzx4o: and anyway, i don't find watching text scroll by all day long any fun.... (10:42:59 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, idk, I do know even when specifying the right driver for my sata controller in the debian unstable release, it still failed to recognize (10:43:00 AM) Chriswaterguy: mib_gmzx4o: There's something terribly wrong with a lot of distros :-). Even fantastic ones have their problems. (10:43:03 AM) monestri left the room (quit: Remote closed the connection). (10:43:07 AM) Titan8990: Chriswaterguy, so yes, I think stable debain will work (10:43:10 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, not even close (10:43:14 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Chriswaterguy: touche (10:43:19 AM) heftig: mib_gmzx4o: nah, it's not dead. but it's still an exercise in patience :P (10:43:37 AM) shadeslayer left the room (quit: "bye"). (10:43:51 AM) osubuck: gentoo teaches patience huh? (10:43:59 AM) heftig: yes (10:44:12 AM) Just4Now: would my one and only hard drive be /dev/hda0  ? (10:44:14 AM) mib_gmzx4o: you know (10:44:20 AM) garme left the room (quit: "Leaving"). (10:44:20 AM) Renfield [n=Renfield@c-24-63-157-129.hsd1.nh.comcast.net] entered the room. (10:44:22 AM) Titan8990: osubuck, and lots of troubleshooting skills (10:44:22 AM) adaptr: Just4Now: just hda (10:44:25 AM) mib_gmzx4o: there can be a thing as too much patience (10:44:32 AM) osubuck: then what's the point? (10:44:34 AM) heftig: Just4Now: it would be /dev/hda if it's IDE, or /dev/sda if it's SCSI or SATA (10:44:36 AM) Hodapp_: Chriswaterguy: What do you propose is terribly wrong with a lot of distros? (10:44:39 AM) osubuck: why would you want to use something like that (10:44:44 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Just4Now: more likely /dev/sda (10:44:45 AM) Just4Now: thanx heftig, it's SATA (10:44:50 AM) ToreadorVampire left the room (quit: "... and now back to the REAL fantasy world!"). (10:44:53 AM) Raistl|n [n=TheCrow@c-67-176-114-13.hsd1.co.comcast.net] entered the room. (10:45:15 AM) Just4Now: my OS won't boot with grub, so I'm trying to to boot from the centos cd and then boot from there. i found a document that says try vmlinuz root=/dev/sda (10:45:22 AM) mib_gmzx4o: when is .29 coming along ? (10:45:28 AM) mib_gmzx4o: or is it out already ? (10:45:34 AM) mib_gmzx4o: and i'm just being silly now (10:45:39 AM) Chriswaterguy: Hodapp_: Just going by experience - instablity, things not working. Not to say they don't have a lot a great features, and won't get a lot better and maybe crush MS. But not this year. (10:45:41 AM) mib_gmzx4o: how's intel on 2.6.29 ? (10:45:53 AM) xokaido [n=xokaido@host-62-168-165-53.adsl.caucasus.net] entered the room. (10:45:53 AM) Just4Now: cannot open root device sda, or unkonown block (0,0 (10:45:58 AM) xokaido: hi all... :-) (10:46:08 AM) mjf [n=mjf@r6y10.net.upc.cz] entered the room. (10:46:10 AM) path_ [n=path_@pc-15-190-86-200.cm.vtr.net] entered the room. (10:46:15 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Just4Now: you need to specify a partition, that's that number after /dev/sda (10:46:17 AM) Kitar88 left the room (quit: Read error: 110 (Connection timed out)). (10:46:21 AM) Renfield: Ha! I love your web site "Cookies must be allowed to vote". (10:46:25 AM) Kitar88 [i=Kitarist@BSN-142-77-67.dial-up.dsl.siol.net] entered the room. (10:46:25 AM) osubuck: MS is about due for another success (10:46:36 AM) mib_gmzx4o: osubuck: you mean with win7 ? (10:46:42 AM) osubuck: yes (10:46:50 AM) mib_gmzx4o: it would seem so (10:46:52 AM) osubuck: vista was like the ME of this generation (10:47:01 AM) mib_gmzx4o: and it can only be a good thing ;) (10:47:09 AM) Dexter left the room (quit: Read error: 113 (No route to host)). (10:47:13 AM) Chriswaterguy: Re "distros that use debian package management" - if a distro uses APT, that's not the same as using the Debian repos, is it? (10:47:22 AM) Just4Now: likely to be /dev/sda0 then right (10:47:26 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Chriswaterguy: of course not (10:47:26 AM) Just4Now: first i created /boot partition (10:47:32 AM) Kitar|st left the room (quit: Connection timed out). (10:47:39 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Just4Now: if it's the first partition then yes /dev/sda0 (10:47:45 AM) mib_gmzx4o: if not, then move the number up (10:47:59 AM) mib_gmzx4o: you'll hit it eventually if you're not sure (10:48:01 AM) mib_gmzx4o: :) (10:48:03 AM) Just4Now: cannot open root device "NULL" or unknown block (8,3) (10:48:04 AM) Chriswaterguy: mib_gmzx4o: just checking :-). So using APT doesn't mean it has good repos. (10:48:13 AM) mlarsen [n=mlarsen@0x57370230.esnqu1.dynamic.dsl.tele.dk] entered the room. (10:48:26 AM) Chriswaterguy: Also planning on giving Knoppix a whirl. At least I'll have a good LiveCD for when I need it. (10:48:29 AM) mib_gmzx4o: yup (10:48:31 AM) Renfield: I need some assistance with my udev rules. I want to create a symlink for my external DVD-RW. It appears that the symlink points to /dev/sg0, but in order to actually mount a CD, I need it to point to /dev/sr0. Anyone know how I go about doing this? (10:48:41 AM) osubuck: knoppix is decent (10:48:48 AM) osubuck: uses LXDE (10:48:53 AM) Frederick [n=ubuntu@unaffiliated/frederick] entered the room. (10:49:11 AM) mib_gmzx4o: knoppix with LXDE ? (10:49:13 AM) mib_gmzx4o: my my (10:49:16 AM) mib_gmzx4o: i though it was kde (10:49:22 AM) mib_gmzx4o: well, who could blame 'em (10:49:23 AM) osubuck: thats what the live cd i got came with (10:49:26 AM) Frederick: folks ive had to reisntall windows vista and it removed my grub, im having problems to set it again I have 3 linux installs I dont want todo again can I have some help? (10:49:28 AM) mib_gmzx4o: the new kde is crap (10:49:32 AM) xokaido: in the past I have used the port of a site (it was 81), the main reason was testing purpose of a website, now I have switched the port to a default one (80) but firefox has somehow stored the port 81 and doesn't let me get to default port 80... (10:49:37 AM) xokaido: what can I do?... (10:49:42 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Frederick: you need a live cd (10:49:46 AM) osubuck: kde 3.5.10 still works good here :D (10:49:53 AM) simard [n=simard@modemcable234.226-83-70.mc.videotron.ca] entered the room. (10:50:00 AM) Frederick: mib_gmzx4o: im on one (10:50:03 AM) Frederick: can you help me? (10:50:04 AM) xokaido: Frederick, yes you can... (10:50:11 AM) mreiss_ [n=mreiss@MREISS.RES.CMU.EDU] entered the room. (10:50:15 AM) Tirili [n=opera@dslb-088-070-046-052.pools.arcor-ip.net] entered the room. (10:50:23 AM) xokaido: Frederick, use: grub_update and evetyhing would be just fine... :-) (10:50:24 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Frederick: can you install grub from that live cd ? (10:50:27 AM) mib_gmzx4o: which one is it (10:50:31 AM) p4s4l left the room (quit: Read error: 104 (Connection reset by peer)). (10:50:32 AM) Ether_Man left the room (quit: ). (10:50:56 AM) wooby [n=Peter@p5B085E6E.dip.t-dialin.net] entered the room. (10:51:04 AM) mib_gmzx4o: oh, back on the intel graphics topic (10:51:16 AM) Frederick: mib_gmzx4o: it iis ubuntu live cd (10:51:21 AM) mib_gmzx4o: anyone else experiencing high Xorg memory usage (10:51:26 AM) mib_gmzx4o: ? (10:51:44 AM) xokaido: does anyone know why FF should port of a site (in the past I have used port 81, now I don't want) and how to change it?.. (10:51:45 AM) heftig: 646m virt (10:51:52 AM) heftig: topped by firefox at 1g virt (10:51:58 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Frederick: try this ---> http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/reinstall-ubuntu-grub-bootloader-after-windows-wipes-it-out/ (10:52:02 AM) donglep3 left the room. (10:52:13 AM) aff___ is now known as killown (10:52:27 AM) linatrix- left the room (quit: No route to host). (10:52:57 AM) Schoktra left the room (quit: ). (10:53:07 AM) xokaido: does anyone know why FF should remember the port of a site (in the past I have used port 81, now I don't want) and how to change it?.. (10:53:14 AM) jnewt3 [n=jnewt@adsl-75-46-219-141.dsl.ksc2mo.sbcglobal.net] entered the room. (10:53:25 AM) mib_gmzx4o: xokaido: if you're not sure (10:53:34 AM) mib_gmzx4o: just wipe firefox from your system and reinstall it (10:53:42 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, are you serious? (10:53:42 AM) mib_gmzx4o: BAM you get defaults back (10:53:51 AM) SQlvpapir_ [n=teis@0x50c60c4b.virnxx10.dynamic.dsl.tele.dk] entered the room. (10:53:55 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Titan8990: about what ? (10:54:00 AM) xokaido: loool, I really don't want to be done... (10:54:02 AM) Titan8990: xokaido, ctrl+shift+delete (10:54:08 AM) wooby left the room (quit: Remote closed the connection). (10:54:13 AM) Titan8990: mib_gmzx4o, lol reinstalling firefox to reset settings (10:54:16 AM) xokaido: am sure there would be an easier solution, thx anyway... ;-) (10:54:21 AM) Frederick: setup (hd0) (10:54:22 AM) Frederick: Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition (10:54:26 AM) Texou left the room (quit: "++"). (10:54:35 AM) mib_gmzx4o: Titan8990: well, whatever :) (10:54:39 AM) kksm19820117 [n=kksm1982@121.247.73.92] entered the room. (10:54:41 AM) mib_gmzx4o: the man's question sounded specific (10:54:42 AM) xokaido: Titan8990, doesn't work... (10:54:44 AM) mib_gmzx4o: never heard of that (10:55:07 AM) Just4Now: Ok, i'm sure it's /dev/sda0. But i still get " cannot open root device "NULL" or unknown block (8,3)." Which makes me wonder, how could the install CD boot from the HD without loading the drivers first? (10:55:08 AM) Chriswaterguy: I definitely want a distro with LXDE :-). So nice, so fast, works smoothly. (10:55:10 AM) mib_gmzx4o: xokaido: just do a rm -r ~/.mozilla

Beginners_permaculture_garden
Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Chris - not sure where to respond to you. So I'll put it here. Thx for the twitter help for Beginners_permaculture_garden. Our Chicago project is to build a Chicago MyFarm organization like MyFarm. See Chicago MyFarm. We want the whole thing to be open source, creative commons, etc. So, we'll be pushing how-to's to Appropedia, etc. - user:bmorrisett (morrisett at midwestcyber.com - my spam software works pretty well)

Thanks for the note! I only just noticed it, and moved it from my user page to here on the talk page. (Sorry, it's still a bit confusing for people new to wikis.)
Great project. Keep taking the lead, and keep me updated - actually, keep the Appropedia community updated (which includes me of course). --Chriswaterguy 04:37, 15 March 2009 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Some questions about translating pages
Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this but here goes. I was wondering how exactly to format translated pages when it's not always obvious? For example, the "Tepache" stub I recently put up -- the word tepache already is in Spanish, but it's also the title of the English article, so what title do I give the Spanish translation? is there a standard? (I tentatively did a translation of Kvass and titled it Kvass_(es). Seems simple enough, but maybe there should be a es.appropedia.org subdomain like Wikipedia has?) + is there a template tag to add to the top of pages to direct users to translated versions? (there was mention of this in the translation help article, but couldn't tell if it exists) Oorxax 17:25, 15 March 2009 (UTC)Reply[reply]

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