More democratic process in awarding of medals

[Gza]

I think the medal system is a great way to honor those who take time out of their busy days to help students learn more effectively, or post creative ideas that even experts can learn from. I think that instead of mentors being the only ones able to decide who gets the recognition, we (all the members of the forum) should have a way to nominate certain people we see who stand out, but still don't get noticed. Also, as was mentioned in the "medals" post, I think a greater variety of medals should be created (medals for Math, Chem, Biology, and Philosophy all come to mind).

 

[Integral]

If you think there is someone deserving, post it here, the nomination will be discussed by the Mentors. I believe that awarding the medals is an ongoing process, we did a very quick selection in the first round picking the easy and obvious. I am sure that there are others who deserve a medal that were missed in that first round. I am also sure, due to the changing nature of the forum, and human nature, that there will always be someone who should have one that does not. I would request that if you feel you deserve a medal, please be patient, continue posting physically (or scientifically) sound information, while we sort out the ones that have been missed.

BTW: I have posted this without consulting Greg or Chroot, If they disagree with this post, I am sure they will let us know. :)

 

[marlon]

Right on Integral,

I too have have been posting on a regular basis from the moment I signed on to this forum, yet not received a medal.

I think that the people who already have a medal should decide whether a potential candidated should be rewarded or not. In the mean time, anyone who wants a medal can do only one thing : post marvellous answers to ,eeuuhh "intelligent" questions

regards
marlon

 

[Gza]

I didn't mean to come off as being disappointed at not receiving a medal (i'd actually be pretty surprised if I did receive one, since I'm just a lowly undergrad, and nowhere near being a science expert ) I've just noticed a few people on the homework help sections who take up a lot of slack in answering tons of questions with excellent advice. I'll be sure to mention them here (everyone else should do the same.)

 

[The_Professional]

I think we shouldn't lose sight of the bigger picture, by getting upset because you didn't get a medal. Nobody on the street will congratulate you because you have a medal on a forum.

Continue helping people, make informative, funny, interesting or insightful replies. And gradually people will notice if you're making a contribution. If you're an old, humorless nag then people will notice it too.

 

[Integral]

If you're an old, humorless nag then people will notice it too.

Hey! Let's not get personal!

 

[The_Professional]

Hey! Let's not get personal!

That wasn't intended for you nor to the 99 percent of mentors /members.

 

[Integral]

That wasn't intended for you nor to the 99 percent of mentors /members.

No problem

Likewise my first post was not pointed at anyone in particular but to all in general.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

Simple Answer:
If you don't have a medal yet and want one continue to help people with correct answers in specific areas of study

 

[Phobos]

As was mentioned, feel free to nominate members.

Also, we periodically hold a "members award" thingy where everyone gets to vote on things like "physics expert", "most helpful", "whitest teeth" (kidding), etc. It's been a while since our last one. Perhaps we'll do another soon.

 

[jcsd]

There are a few other people who I think probably desvre medals, but the one that mainly springs to mind is humanino.

 

[musky_ox]

Can i have a medal?

 

[marlon]

Can i have a medal?

Hmmm, i don't think it is going to work like that.

Can't blame a guy for trying though,

regards
marlon

 

[Rothiemurchus]

I think Marlon deserves a medal for the clarity and depth of his answers to many very difficult topics on these forums - particularly as regards qft and qm and nuclei and particles.

 

[misogynisticfeminist]

I nominate marlon...: ) esp. for his help in quantum and nuclei and particles boards. Besides marlon, humanino...

 

[marlon]

Hi,
Thanks Rothiemurchus and misogynisticfeminist for the support. Glad to hear my answers are "somehow" usefull.

regards
marlon

 

[marlon]

Heyyy Humanino,

When are we going to get our medal ?

I know you want one tooo...

regards
marlon

 

[Gokul43201]

I too, would like to add that marlon and humanino have been very helpful with physics questions.

 

[chroot]

Congratulations to our newest medal recipients:

humanino
marlon
Tide
Clausius2

You all have been deserving medals for a while now -- thanks for your patience, and thanks so much for being a huge part of what makes PF special!

Keep those nominations coming!

- Warren

 

[chroot]

In addiiton, I have changed the language from "Science Expert" to "Science Advisor" to make sure no one feels burdened by being labelled an "expert." The meaning of the medal has not changed.

- Warren

 

[arildno]

"advisor" is much better choice than "expert"

 

[humanino]

thanks for the honor

Thank you so much. This is a great honor for me. I will now have to be very careful, for the sake of PF's reputation. :shy: I first came here, because I wanted to test myself in the answers I proposed. Apparently, I did not commit to many mistakes. I could never have deserved the "expert", but I love the new "advisor". We are only discussing, the least i can say is no authority from my part.

I would also like to say that PF is now a cherished place in my heart, for several reasons. Communicating science is very important and very difficult, and PF is very efficient to do that. Especially thanks to all the true expert who give of there precious time. I already learned a lot here, and hope that will continue.

I will also have to improve my english.

 

[chroot]

I will also have to improve my english.

Or maybe we should all work on improving our French. Oui?

Thanks again for your contributions! And of course, feedback like yours let's us know we're on the right track.

- Warren

 

[marlon]

Also from my part,

a lot of gratitude for this beautiful recognition. It is indeed an extra motivation to keep on posting marvellous answers

Humanino, n'ayez pas peur !, ton anglais est vraiment parfait...

regards
marlon

 

[Evo]

Congratulations to all of the new award winners!

 

[marlon]

Congratulations to all of the new award winners!

Grazie, bella bellissima Evo

marlon

 

[Gokul43201]

"advisor" is much better choice than "expert"

I heartily second that. There are folks here that truly deserve the title of 'Expert', but advisor is apt and has a nice ring to it too.

 

[Evo]

Grazie, bella bellissima Evo

marlon

How many languages do you speak Marlon?

 

[Dr Transport]

Advisor is good...Congrats all around.

 

[marlon]

How many languages do you speak Marlon?

Dutch (verstaat ge ??), English, French, Italian (learned this in evening classes and i have a lot of italian friends at college, besides i love opera : nessun dorma nessun dorma, tu pure o principessa nella tua fredda stanza (G. Puccini , La Boheme)) and a little bit German (aber nicht sehr gut)

marlon

 

[Moonbear]

I just want to chime in as well that I like the change to advisor rather than expert. It's a little less intimidating

 

[Integral]

Dutch (verstaat ge ??), English, French, Italian (learned this in evening classes and i have a lot of italian friends at college, besides i love opera : nessun dorma nessun dorma, tu pure o principessa nella tua fredda stanza (G. Puccini , La Boheme)) and a little bit German (aber nicht sehr gut)

marlon

Its pretty clear that Europe has way to many languages in way to small an area. When are you guys going drop all of those archaic variations of Latin and adopt a modern Language...English of course.


BTW I speak all languages except Greek.



They are all Greek to me!



Now I will hide in the corner waiting for a hail of rotten tomatoes with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek!

 

[NateTG]

Its pretty clear that Europe has way to many languages in way to small an area. When are you guys going drop all of those archaic variations of Latin and adopt a modern Language...English of course.


BTW I speak all languages except Greek.



They are all Greek to me!



Now I will hide in the corner waiting for a hail of rotten tomatoes with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek!

I believe that Alaska has (or had) a much higher number of languages than Europe. Something like 500 inuit languages.

 

[Nereid]

I believe that Alaska has (or had) a much higher number of languages than Europe. Something like 500 inuit languages.

India (>600 still going strong today), Australia (>1,000, though many now extinct), but New Guinea takes the gold medal (>3,000?)

 

[marlon]

Integral, what a stupid remark my dear friend

Not all these languages come from Latin, man, you are way off here.
Besides this is a consequence of history and there is nothing to do about that.
We don't want to speak English, we want to speak our own language in our own country...

regards
marlon, who speaks English when talking to a native English-speaker... I ain't got no problem with that...please do accept other cultures...LOL

and i agree with Nereid and Nate

 

[plover]

Languages in Europe were far more diverse until pretty recent times also (well into the 19th century?). Most current European countries had several distinct languages, often closely related, sometimes not. Different counties in England had mutually incomprehensible dialects, which under some classification schemes might have been considered distinct languages. Even some relatively important languages such as Occitan (southern France, i.e. "Langue d'oc") have mostly vanished. (Was Flemish a language? Or did people in Flanders speak one of the other languages from that region?) Other languages are still used in their native region (Breton, Frisian, Abkhazian, Manx[?]). However, many languages belonging to small populations have more or less completely disappeared. For example, the northwestern province of Russia which borders on Finland, called Karelia, was home to several distinct cultures—one of these being the Karelians, another group was called the Veps, I can't remember any of the others. I would imagine a thorough search of Europe would turn up a large number of such groups.

 

[Integral]

Integral, what a stupid remark my dear friend

Not all these languages come from Latin, man, you are way off here.
Besides this is a consequence of history and there is nothing to do about that.
We don't want to speak English, we want to speak our own language in our own country...

regards
marlon, who speaks English when talking to a native English-speaker... I ain't got no problem with that...please do accept other cultures...LOL

and i agree with Nereid and Nate

There it one of the rotten tomatos I spoke of...

Marlon please read the last line of my post again.

 

[Gokul43201]

Even some relatively important languages such as Occitan (southern France, i.e. "Langue d'oc") have mostly vanished.

Hmmm...I wonder if Occitan vanished with the Languedocians in the 12th century or shortly thereafter, when the Church ordered their massacre ?

 

[humanino]

Integral : were you joking ?! How many languages do you speak ?

OK, you were joking all along. Everybody should speak Linux that would be simpler

% cat "food in cans"
cat: can't open food in cans
----------------------------
% nice man woman
No manual entry for woman.
----------------------------
% rm God
rm: God nonexistent

from, and other : http://ucan.foad.org/~abby/humor/stupid-unix-tricks.html

 

[humanino]

Gokul and Plover : I cannot tell for sure, but I think those dialects are still spoken by grandparents ! My grandmother does speak one The nearby village has another (well not too far dialect, but some words would not make sens at all for each other ! One mile away !)

 

[Nereid]

Manx, as in cat, also a Celtic language (like Irish, Breton, Gaelic), now extinct (formerly spoken on the Isle of Man. Karelia, from whence JRR Tolkein got some many of his language ideas (OK, from Finnish - related to Karelian - and Welsh too). Europe, apart from Basque - which is one of nine (?) languages with no known relationship - most languages spoken in Europe are Indo-European; the exceptions are Finnish, Saami (aka Lapp?), and Hungarian, which are a completely different family. If you include Turkish, then you've also got another family.

 

[Evo]

The Island of Sicily also has dialects. They speak proper Italian, but also Sicilian, which has different words. In Palermo, Sicily they speak Palermitan, (considered a language of the mafia) there is also a small area in Sicily where they speak a dialect so unique no one else in Sicily can understand it.

 

[plover]

Manx, as in cat, also a Celtic language (like Irish, Breton, Gaelic), now extinct (formerly spoken on the Isle of Man.

Right, I knew where it was from, I just didn't know whether it was extinct.

I think some people are trying to revive Cornish (another Celtic language). The last person to grow up with Cornish as their native language died in the early 20th century, I think.

Karelia, from whence JRR Tolkein got some many of his language ideas (OK, from Finnish - related to Karelian - and Welsh too).

I didn't know that Tolkien used ideas from Suomi (Finnish) or Karelian. The ritual that Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" is based on comes from Karelia, and there are many elements in the choreography of the original production that were taken from ritual gestures used in that area.

Europe, apart from Basque - which is one of nine (?) languages with no known relationship

I've never heard any other language described as being quite as isolated as Euskara (Basque) except maybe Tasmanian. Do you remember any of the others? (Ainu maybe?)

- most languages spoken in Europe are Indo-European; the exceptions are Finnish, Saami (aka Lapp?), and Hungarian, which are a completely different family.

Finnish and Magyar (Hungarian) are related to each other and to Mongol. It's called the Finno-Ugrik family; apparently, it originated in the Ural mountains in central Russia, spread to the East to become Mongol, and to the West to become Finnish, then entered Europe a second time by way of the Mongol invasions in the 12th century (?). The Magyars are descendents of Mongols who remained in Europe when the Khanate fell apart.

I can't remember where Sámi fits in, but that is what has been called 'Lapp' (which apparently is derogatory).

 

[Chronos]

Many unique languages exist in world history. Examples: Navahoe was the code language used in the Pacific theatre of WWII. Perhaps we can take a page from that experience and attempt to communicatie with other sentient creatures on this planet.. ie, dolphin and ape families. On the other hand, perhaps, we do not really want to hear what they have to say about us... what do you mean 'we' are destroying you're habitat?? Death to the whales and their ape sympathisers...

Anyways, back to the topic. The medal obsession disturbs me. I could care less about that. I think most of us already knew who was talking science and who was talking trash. Correct me if I am wrong. The reason most of us hang out here is to talk about real science and real issues with people who understand and respect the scientific method. I do not have any great new theories. I read, research and learn from people here that know a great deal more than I could ever hope to know about cosmology, physics and the scientific method. My heroes: Nereid, she really knows her stuff and gives great explanations; Marcus, he asks all the right questions and is very fair about it; Tom; a true genius who is humble and helpful to those who ask honest questions; Krab, he astonishes me with his brilliant insights to simple problems; Chroot, an old dude who tolerates our youthfull enthusiasm; Greg, who puts up with all the nonsense. And Urs, who indulges us, finds time to put up with our silly ideas, and still talks to us.

Apologies to the other mentors I forgot to mention. I have great respect for all of you guys. I mentioned the others because they were the first that came to mind. I have great respect for all of you.

 

[Integral]

Integral : were you joking ?! How many languages do you speak ?

OK, you were joking all along. Everybody should speak Linux that would be simpler

% cat "food in cans"
cat: can't open food in cans
----------------------------
% nice man woman
No manual entry for woman.
----------------------------
% rm God
rm: God nonexistent

from, and other : http://ucan.foad.org/~abby/humor/stupid-unix-tricks.html

I struggle with English! Color me Ugly American! I can tell you in 2 different languages, Spanish and German, that I do not speak that language, does that count for anything? I did make an effort to learn Cech. a few years back,... But then came a divorce so that went no where.

 

[Integral]

Chroot, an old dude who tolerates our youthfull enthusiasm;

LOL! I have always thought he was a brash youngster!

Edit: Thought I'd add a bit.

It is a fear of the Mentors that a student just beginning to learn will NOT be able to differentiate between a solid physical post and a crackpot. Let's face it some of the valid ideas of Physics can seem pretty outlandish (ie entanglement) so where do you draw the line between Physics and science fiction. The medals are our effort at marking the reliable posts. Unfortunately we may never be able recognize all who make significant contributions.

It is our goal to provide a resource on the web where a student or interested person can actually be exposed to current physical concepts without having to sort through crackpot material. Thus our recent crack down on the crackpots. I am hoping that we can bring to an end all speculative personal theory posts and leave only good physics...It ain't easy.

Bear with us and feedback is always heard.

Integral

 

[Clausius2]

Congratulations to our newest medal recipients:

humanino
marlon
Tide
Clausius2

You all have been deserving medals for a while now -- thanks for your patience, and thanks so much for being a huge part of what makes PF special!

Keep those nominations coming!

- Warren

It's an honour! ufff, ufff

Let's go friends. We have to celebrate this with Queen... Sing with me!

"Weee are the chaampions, my friends!...

Cause we kept on fighting tiiiiillll the eeeennnd...

Weeee are the chaaampions,
Weee are the chaaampions,

No tiiime for loooosing,

Cause we aaare the chaaampions...


Thanks to all people, my mother, my family, my cat, my grandparents, my professor, thanks to Sharon Stone for being my girlfriend , thanks to the Oscar Academy for giving me this award, thanks to Warren and PF's mentors for bearing my bad humour, thanks to all people for reading this poor english, thanks to Greg for having that computerized man face, thanks to Tom for giving such freezing answers, thanks to Enigma for answering my dull questions, thanks to Integral for having the same beard since the last 30 years, thanks to everybody... (I'm reduced to tears right now).


Muchas gracias, chavales, algún dia iré por ahí y nos tomaremos unas birras!
Translation: Thank you, folks, some day I'll go there and we'll have some beers!.

 

[quantumdude]

I struggle with English! Color me Ugly American! I can tell you in 2 different languages, Spanish and German, that I do not speak that language, does that count for anything?

I did make an effort to learn Cech. a few years back,...

I think that's spelled, "Check".

 

[chroot]

Isn't it... Czech?

- Warren

 

[Integral]

I knew it was some combination of those letters nothing looked right. Anyway that is ancient history now..

Dobry den