 | I will be taking an intermittent wikibreak due to a recent personal injury. |
Greetings from
Scotland 
Please leave new messages here.
This user's Committed identity and GPG public key can be found here
 | ||
 Cylindropuntia bigelovii Teddy bear cholla | ||
| ||
I first discovered this fantastic resource in May 2005. Amazing how one can navigate unexpectedly from Clinical depression to Hairy ball theorem in 2 hours, perhaps one causes the other ... :-) This is the quick way to do it, but it's not the route I used!!
I have now discovered the Symbolist painter Odilon Redon and his fantastic early charcoal works, including the incredibly appropriate Cactus Man. Also, check out the utterly brilliant Spirit of the Forest - this leaves Munch for dead. Not to mention Julio González, cubist sculptor, a contemporary of Picasso, and his enigmatic Monsieur Cactus.
I am an Administrator on the English Wikipedia which can be verified here - (my RFA). If you need administrative assistance please leave a message on my talk page.
| Action | Count |
|---|---|
| Edits | 16224 |
| Edits+Deleted | 18555 |
| Pages deleted | 1655 |
| Revisions deleted | 1 |
| Pages restored | 30 |
| Pages protected | 61 |
| Pages unprotected | 34 |
| Users blocked | 237 |
| Users reblocked | 4 |
| Users unblocked | 10 |
Some Words of Wisdom
John Buchan
| “ | ... An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support. ... | ” |
| “ | ... There are two rules for drinking whisky. First, never take whisky without water, and second, never take water without whisky. ... |
” |
| “ | ... This is our land, this is our Scotland, these are our people, these are our men, our works, our women and children: can you beat it? ... | ” |
Contributions and things to do
edit| My Contributions | ||
| Articles • Featured on DYK • Images |
| Articles for re-write / expansion / cleanup | ||
| Floors Castle • John MacLean • Mary Barbour • Mellerstain House • Peter Howson • Ray Winstone • Drummond Castle • Wilhelmina Barns-Graham • Ben Nicholson • Trevor Bell • Sandra Blow • David Bomberg • Beryl Cook • Jessica Dismorr • Alfred East • Stanhope Forbes • Terry Frost • Patrick Heron • Howard Hodgkin • Bill Brandt • Kevin Carter • Alfred Eisenstaedt • Peter Lanyon • Bob Law • Tom Phillips • Annie Leibovitz • Niko Pirosmanashvili • Jane Bown • Robert Capa • Larry Burrows • 1943 Naples post office bombing • Foulis Castle • Balvaird Castle • Drummond Castle • Braemar • Duns Castle • Stirling Castle • Hammerbeam roof • Rannoch Moor • Dunbar Castle • Castle Campbell |
Useful links
edit
The Wikipedia Signpost
edit
- News and notes: Election cycles come and go, and Wikimedia Foundation achieves record revenue in 2024–2025!
Admin and ArbCom elections upcoming, BoT elects two new members, task force advises to close Wikinews and keep Wikispore, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- In the media: Wales walk-off, antisemitism, supernatural powers, feminism turmoil, saints, and sex
Plus mammoth mummy sex-change operation completed!
- Recent research: At least 80 million inconsistent facts on Wikipedia – can AI help find them?
And other recent publications about contradictions and retractions.
- Disinformation report: Epstein email exchanges planned strategy, edits and reported progress
At work on Wikipedia whitewashing. How much should they be paid?
- Traffic report: It's a family affair
Even in these times there is something to be thankful for!
- Book review: The Seven Rules of Trust
Jimmy Wales and Dan Gardner write a book inspired by Wikipedia. What's in it?
- From the archives: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein ..."
The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.
- Humour: An interview with Wikipe-tan
A conversation about being the mascot of Wikipedia.
- Opinion: AI finds errors in 90% of Wikipedia's best articles
Using ChatGPT to fact-check a month's worth of Today's featured articles.
- Serendipity: Highlights from the itWikiCon 2025
A recap of the latest convention of the Italian Wiki-community, held in Catania from 7–9 November.
- Comix: Madness
It could happen to anyone.
Interesting stuff
edit.jpg){kind=link}
The siege of Baghdad took place in early 1258 when a large army under Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Hulegu had been sent by his brother, the Mongol khan Möngke, to conquer Persia. When Baghdad's ruler, Caliph al-Musta'sim, failed to reinforce the Mongol army, an angered Hulegu decided to overthrow him. The Mongol army routed a sortie led by al-Musta'sim's dawatdar (a leading minister) and besieged the city. After Mongol siege engines breached Baghdad's walls within days, al-Musta'sim surrendered and was later executed. The Mongol army pillaged the city for a week. The number of deaths was inflated by epidemics of disease, but Hulegu estimated his soldiers killed 200,000. Although the siege is often seen as the end of the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad prospered under Hulegu's Ilkhanate. This double-page illustration, taken from a 14th-century manuscript of Rashid al-Din Hamadani's Jami' al-tawarikh, depicts the attempted escape of the dawatdar down the river Tigris (centre right); the soldiers on the pontoons forced him back to Baghdad with the loss of three ships. The manuscript forms part of the Diez Albums, now in the collection of the Berlin State Library in Germany.Illustration credit: unknown
Did you know...
- ... that The Banquet of Cleopatra (pictured) depicts Cleopatra drinking a dissolved pearl to impress Mark Antony?
- ... that an on-stage incident traumatized Antonie Mielke so much that she retired from opera?
- ... that people entered the Bronze Age tombs at Volimidia centuries later in the Iron Age to leave offerings to the dead?
- ... that Zhang Xichen founded a magazine to compete with one made by his own employer?
- ... that Harvard's first modern feeder school cost twice as much as Harvard itself?
- ... that the text of "Heaven and Earth, and Sea and Air" was written by the man after whom the Neandertal was named?
- ... that the unique, if "Freudian", partnership between Richard A. Hunter and his mother was the most prolific in publishing in the history of psychiatry?
- ... that, contrary to the perception of Phytoseiidae, Amblyseius anacardii is observed as an agricultural pest?
- ... that, according to legend, Ngataba Min became king after eating the head of a rooster?
In the news
.jpg){kind=link}
- In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier (pictured) and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
- The New Democratic Party, led by Godwin Friday, wins the Vincentian general election.
- Former presidents of Peru Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo are sentenced to prison for corruption and a self-coup attempt, respectively.
- Flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah leave at least 469 people dead across Sri Lanka and India.
Tasks we can all help with
editYou can help improve the articles listed below! This list updates frequently, so check back here for more tasks to try. (See Wikipedia:Maintenance or the Task Center for further information.)
Update with new information
Expand short articles
Check and add references
Fix original research issues
Improve lead sections
Add an image
Translate and clean up
Help counter systemic bias by creating new articles on important women.
Help improve popular pages, especially those of low quality.
Images of Scotland to make you smile
edit
More words of wisdom
edit| “ | ... It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to have to paint it. ... | ” |
| “ | ... Every line of strength in American history is a line coloured with Scottish blood. ... | ” |
| “ | ... Look to your consciences and remember that the theatre of the world is wider than the realm of England. ... | ” |
| “ | ... We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation. ... | ” |
| “ | ... We all know that Prime Ministers are wedded to the truth, but like other wedded couples, they sometimes live apart. ... | ” |
| “ | ... Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open. ... | ” |
| “ | ... I am not young enough to know everything. ... | ” |
| “ | ... Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive. ... |
” |
| “ | ... God help England if she had no Scots to think for her. ... | ” |
| “ | ... He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it. ... | ” |
| “ | ... All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies. ... | ” |
Vandal humour
editA collection of amusing vandalism encountered while on RC Patrol. This is intended to grow over time into my own personal BJAODN
- The secrets behind Thierry Henry's success are finally revealed
- The medical cause which leads people to give The finger
- The importance of the humble doughnut as an economic indicator
- How to become an FA Premier League football player, courtesy of Wikipedia
- Is this feline origin of the Question mark really true?
- Strange goings on at a New Zealand high school
Cactus.man's Committed Identity
|
|---|
|
This page contains the Committed Identity and GPG public key details for Cactus.man. First Committed ID 33E09F2A8DFEC3EB834748FF5E6022D7A8F3D1DE Second Committed ID Status: Deprecated 3979BE326F6720080AFB6A4C4FCAAC528C8B20BD62079616F18C3DB2879FDF94F8EDEC42738DBAE1AC244DCA4E39AE4FCE8E85FBFA6AE2C8F5BD5163D367BBCF Third Committed ID ECEEAD046309C1EADA8E36264CD1BEEF1796B37FA4CA3B27183CFAA565D2CC9FD2AD1208BC35246C5DC5A96C901E39886D1E681226590E0DCA505821B8186E94 Fourth Committed ID 7BEDDE75C85F0A85DE03982FCF3DD20C1930DCF8FD6B43FC0877E4E0CE62B60B8356AC943BB562D6C342D943AD855C5CD1C6B11F0FF28A42FD603C3AD692450A Fifth Committed ID DFA6C8AA40824D874E7686C990559B264DB7F222E271468E5E0271ACC04C2A647099E50528119A781DE458BC24E249DFFDCB62420BA3ACB21994F92473A7BFC7 Latest Committed ID Status: Current 155a71275892dd8354e4412206bf91090ac1ac5a4b93298b9c3ba9ad2ae466d499d254bfab19bb22c7d95221c8d70169a4768c809438e0f7fe202c3657667021 GPG Key ID: 0x7B381118 -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: GnuPG v2.3.8 (Gpg4win-4.0.4) mQMuBGNhTeARCACLb1feA8C0NhcB5jgdq6JPJLRVcbBWES/hFK6f60LtOZMh1l0Y TWlAnyoos1iSK6LA0t8pxSkDe4P/qO0cytPIPcmJRwwxpZL5so90/yYZOOM+Kn+A JY/EXeYnH68Jme6lFIYAgnNxO1LFYqkRunlgKD9la2LuJMjYKPwuHhXmcJ+Pq6DA jJPgaoV3xifyru0JZzNkTCpwXDsGOfO5Akzgl78bQ22LGqMQZNf0EXxPR0cHFFvF JP1CCIGiZk76vPXloOnW5a/t7cAvKtG8NzN2YKBNbfnIxvi59iTVO42Y8pjPIFrH E+aBihfkb/3C6snWQxPNX+Jr34Lx8X3xKPMLAQC0XtnrSgH6dKJik27yyD4A+NZw /oNvIuIKAbp44Qb+NQf/SqItY4muz1DXrGUkgOsMTaH1xsvDzjECXTuaWDX6oNFO 7AXs8WI1L5J06wFRAt5TDXRIBqhHa6hcSLp8hpLMUx5pHhAh2/3oeUPbREVw8w7a fezZeBoHSNnl+jD0XQ4EnucZi0xMUK/W/gxtJM8HHnI9GsSqcW5T7qzMABKzJfiu H8/qgMUHNp2I/maHgGb//4QAe89FLUP05+/0iUsk69Wabtqcc+mYbQqnC6vZZldf SboDF+LlpW/j+l0lEvtToljaPiS2lfyhB97eSmGm/zHdj5bJd0LYvKdcpAkMP9rw yjVAeotG47TY5KtyxFbbaVor87ufNVBsrC0sVOJX9AgAhuiq/9fRX6aj6tC9RORz YpWieyfydIgxmfnP1XfQn74tj2sZWhFLAbiwl7bzqP851MOrxPYJ47EGjkt/1Wbf 7gEG7xeDPEglP7Af12OhlaisCgivhdflolmysfGUC+g+RhsYzMTot2iQIP7VGzCa MOT13su1xhTSdAXWZjeaXTjAs96K+lytLWqfd9Zwr4vWjOTB1BM1XuB/gsKmFGJT xpcK2V6YlmSutOzPaCmx9vZBOXJGSpCmk9o8pfUKbsE5r4a4nIBf3sXj9zZpdoSG 3n9UuHC9+D8XDk5b783DoZpBQ/OAvGmByMe94oGLbWuKhMxnquGd4BbEbLgezXIU ULQiQW5keSBCIDxhYnlybmUudGVoQGJ0aW50ZXJuZXQuY29tPoiTBBMRCAA7Ahsj BQsJCAcCAiICBhUKCQgLAgQWAgMBAh4HAheAFiEE3ABM1PCyhY5vDyiEC21gy3s4 ERgFAmNhTjEACgkQC21gy3s4ERgvngD9G2moYPp37IJsI74UmzZAHoKUGEpWo0m7 ZEsHZnYbkmYA+gNYN3i9r8LHMEZhAClFRIvllWQGQ8j8t8U9YmLrRCGauQQNBGNh TeAQEADS3wFmJ3UmHbGc9M8QX76BaoSbVfalmBz/fsGz2KbtYk7Y6leulaMH6uVt q9HwQw12Ze5xrDZel0N6ndlwqXTZqJ15pkpa3r/0BddsDJ6sa0U4F7pchkESPb/4 IGT7GERWTzvgX6+pnXoPzNeNQtTMXnZSsejkkovdtl1w2479E+0G8V7oUUa8Z9to KxKtaLUHmNA9h3FrG9+Oytw5x3AfrrLPa7W4+pJK09UzqLS2U52ys8eqTiWPco2h HW35EsuqL7wr9ZxRE+vJO+Z/Uk5j0Cc4xl7ZgAbCcUhritK5K30Ik9GvGW02QEih QmgFTDce8RYWoOavLjhYr0jsgs5skbO+PX8sf5KRmy0xshNF2VOFHtrtRIGXeP8O nP4TDPcRuqvYRN4sfV2DKyaJ4HimACjJFuvL3Ba7CHozxv90HzkjzeuJLJI/yV8F EEMb8IqK6vD9+TSH6csXsDdKFaOj+rQJWjqTaJCfd0wGLjkLlhbhd+ol0KAdd7S7 zxIv/B7ldqjfVEv85UySBR3FVgIzF8MawUBRGisRfiW2OMoYFhF9peKmNrp5POTa 0H+5Y2/ci2ph9gjo2v3x2WjS3hr3Y9RUh74F1r+u3nvCegWOA99a3T4rjUFQvzgY k0iBz2zjFVSdo1Cgxb6B4/xb1Q6a7tDAsxmygJqVKB32iLIpDwADBQ//Zl7WK37U sqb0RL7AjKvaml1b4jTM59LzXS2j8enhdJMP6rD8/xiWAzm9ZVxG6NRmeyJp3CR7 LImk5vlQBUQ9Bd9/gzbBohL1YUOp/JiT2i9jcRolSse4S4+rNa1X4KcxIanLAMuk mX3KPehu50cRB6NQYbDI5wb4duqP+/qkzhG+ttK5aZ3k5v7zCynjHvflBNgTcPqW tWFOitJAbH41l5cz35M0MBPxVGov9RUlteTiGRa+daq7c/lmmQRfzb9HDWNEP1rg Tnc15LNo5RcwC95FdyfZSJ7kzJlMQJnqTuXCqjyI7Arg0G82JqJ67Yb89rwZT9PH q5yoH2Oe4Htjj6ZcrhE2mMSzRpzDSal+sWEpQi1Gw77u8scTA1ZuDJ07IxQ3NTiU +BwvfDZIqXD27qse96JMc99WvtSkvGkoRzuHlURwMrE9HRhIVGVVWBULqdjMN+Rv P2NdJ7IySDan+9yOn0Q4Zgc5lBnfBia47RWxNeKGa24PYG84ID2AMKKMBO8jOFqv cYwMIKZNdcwVR9IWBEgC0ywod58RRMJiFqEGbzpbL1t2Bv7FSL7NSxSB65VfyRad 3CZF3YIG/DJSNu84xSQHOpju+6j6f4aJAzDuwlfwH7AyZuaKOwtDAYq3x+fPOO18 AUMq/X9DGge0LYrLUSwA1P10rETH8XWD9saIeAQYEQgAIAIbDBYhBNwATNTwsoWO bw8ohAttYMt7OBEYBQJjYU45AAoJEAttYMt7OBEYtG4A/3TUUpmay0LgF4V7MmLv XCNGJK/0Y6B3xdjVSWCWXB3bAQCjSnikhLgN7+8rrDE+2q5qlf/kHzY3+G3X1JvI 0jHELg== =qY/6 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- |