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American kestrel

The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Formerly called "sparrowhawk", a misnomer as it is a true falcon and is unrelated genetically to the Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of a blue jay to a mourning dove. It also ranges to South America and is a well-established species that has evolved into 17 subspecies adapted to different environments and habitats throughout the Americas. It exhibits sexual dimorphism in size (females being moderately larger) and plumage, although both sexes have a rufous back with noticeable barring. Its plumage is colorful and attractive, and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults.

The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air. It sometimes hovers in the air with rapid wing beats while homing in on prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). This broad diet has contributed to its wide success as a species. It nests in cavities in trees, cliffs, buildings, and other structures. The female lays three to seven eggs, which both sexes help to incubate.

Its breeding range extends from central and western Alaska across northern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south throughout North America, into central Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a local breeder in Central America and is widely distributed throughout South America. Most birds breeding in Canada and the northern United States migrate south in the winter. It is an occasional vagrant to Western Europe.

Based on appearance and behavior it was for many years considered a member of the primarily European and African kestrel clade within the genus Falco, but DNA analysis shows the American kestrel to actually be genetically more closely related to the larger American falcons such as the peregrine, aplomado, and prairie falcons. Though the species has not been renamed as a result of these genetic analyses, it is not actually a kestrel in the phylogenetic sense. Instead, a process of convergent evolution to fit a similar small prey niche in the ecosystem as the true kestrels have left it with similar physical characteristics and hunting methods.

The American kestrel is a common bird used in falconry, especially by beginners. Though not as strong a flyer as many other, larger falcons, proper training and weight control by the falconer allows many American kestrels to become effective hunters of birds in the size range of sparrows and starlings, with occasional success against birds up to approximately twice their own weight.

Taxonomy
The American kestrel was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Falco sparverius. Linnaeus based his account on the "little hawk" that had been descibed and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands that was published between 1729 and 1732. Linnaeus specified the type locality as America but this was restricted to South Carolina based on Catesby. The genus name is from Late Latin falco meaning a "falcon". The specific epithet sparverius is Medieval Latin for a "sparrowhawk".

Until the sixth edition of the AOU Checklist of North American Birds was published by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1983, the most commonly used name for the American kestrel was the sparrow hawk. This was due to a mistaken connection with the Eurasian sparrowhawk in the genus Accipiter. The sixth edition of the AOU Checklist corrected this, officially renaming the bird American kestrel. Several other colloquial names for the kestrel are also in use, including grasshopper hawk, due to its diet, and killy hawk, due to its distinct call.

As noted in the introduction, DNA analysis shows the American kestrel to actually be genetically more closely related to the larger American falcons than to the true kestrels. However, based on its physical similarity to the kestrels and the established nature of the name American kestrel, there has been little impetus to change its name. This could change in the future if continued genetic research more precisely determines the evolutionary history of the American kestrel within the genus Falco. The entire genus is actually a set of species so closely related that most or all can be hybridized by artificial insemination. Significant natural hybridization of species has occurred in the past during the evolution of this closely related set of species, such that precise evolutionary genetic analysis as to which species are more basal to other species or to the genus as a whole is difficult to render.

Seventeen subspecies of the American kestrel are recognized, generally based upon plumage, size, and vocalizations:

 * F. s. sparverius, described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, is the nominate subspecies. It is found in most of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
 * F. s. paulus, described by Howe and King in 1902, is found in the southeastern United States from Louisiana to Florida.
 * F. s. peninsularis, described by Edgar Alexander Mearns in 1892, is found in southern Baja California.
 * F. s. tropicalis, described by Ludlow Griscom in 1930, is found from southern Mexico to northern Honduras.
 * F. s. nicaraguensis, described by Howell in 1965, is found in Honduras and Nicaragua.
 * F. s. sparveroides, described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1827, is found on Cuba, Isla de Juventud and the central and southern Bahamas.
 * F. s. dominicensis, described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, is found on Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Jamaica.
 * F. s. caribaearum, described by Gmelin in 1788, is found on Puerto Rico and throughout the Lesser Antilles to Grenada.
 * F. s. brevipennis, described by Hans von Berlepsch in 1892, is found in the Netherlands Antilles.
 * F. s. isabellinus, described by William John Swainson in 1837, is found from Venezuela to northern Brazil.
 * F. s. ochraceus, described by Charles B. Cory in 1915, is found in eastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
 * F. s. caucae, described by Frank Chapman in 1915, is found in western Colombia.
 * F. s. aequatorialis, described by Mearns in 1892, is found in northern Ecuador.
 * F. s. peruvianus, described by Cory in 1915, is found in southwestern Ecuador, Peru and northern Chile.
 * F. s. fernandensis, described by Chapman in 1915, is found on the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
 * F. s. cinnamominus, described by Swainson in 1837, is found in Peru, Chile and Argentina.
 * F. s. cearae, described by Cory in 1915, is found from northeastern Brazil south to eastern Bolivia.

Description
Under traditional classification, the American kestrel is the smallest raptor in America. The American kestrel is sexually dimorphic, although there is some overlap in plumage coloration between the sexes. The bird ranges from 22 to 31 cm in length with a wingspan of 51 - 61 cm. The female kestrel is larger than the male, though less so than larger falcons, being typically about 10% to 15% larger within a subspecies. The more northern subspecies tend to larger sizes (northern hemisphere), with a large northern female being about twice the size of a small southern male. The male typically weighs 80 - 143 g, and the female 86 - 165 g. In standard measurements, the wing bone is 16 - 21 cm long, the tail is 11 - 15 cm and the tarsus is 3.2 - 4 cm.

Physically, American kestrels are leaner and less muscular than larger falcons. The pectoral flight muscles of the American kestrel make up only about 12% of its body weight, as compared to about 20% for the strongest flying falcons such as the peregrine. The wings are moderately long, fairly narrow, and taper to a point. Their less muscular body type is adapted to energy-conserving ambush hunting, rather than spending large amounts of energy-consuming time on the wing and getting into long tail-chases of bird prey. For their size, they have strong talons and beaks, and can swiftly dispatch prey. Their lean build and energy-conserving strategy allow a lower daily food intake than if they were more strongly muscled, yet with enough strength to commonly take bird prey as large as themselves, and occasionally larger. The success of this body style and hunting strategy is reflected in the high success of the species in densely populating a large range throughout the Americas. The flight of the American kestrel is not so dramatic and swift as more muscular falcons such as merlins and peregrines, but their efficient adaptation to a broader diet of more available smaller prey, and need for less food per day, has resulted in there being many more of them.

In contrast to many other raptor species, the sexes differ more in plumage than in size. Males have blue-grey wings with black spots and white undersides with black barring. The back is rufous, with barring on the lower half. The belly and flanks are white with black spotting. The tail is also rufous, with a white or rufous tip and a black subterminal band. The back and wings of the female American kestrel are rufous with dark brown barring. The undersides of the females are creamy to buff with heavy brown streaking. The tail is noticeably different from the male's, being rufous in color with numerous narrow dark black bars. Juveniles exhibit coloration patterns similar to the adults'. In both sexes, the head is white with a bluish-grey top. There are also two narrow, vertical black facial markings on each side of the head, while other falcons have one. Two black spots (ocelli) can be found on each side of the white or orangish nape. The function of these spots is debated, but the most commonly accepted theory is that they act as "false eyes", and help to protect the bird from potential attackers.

Vocalizations
The American kestrel has three basic vocalizations – the "klee" or "killy", the "whine", and the "chitter". The "klee" is usually delivered as a rapid series – klee, klee, klee, klee when the kestrel is upset or excited. This call is used in a wide variety of situations and is heard from both sexes, but the larger females typically have lower-pitched voices than the males. The "whine" call is primarily associated with feeding but is also uttered during copulation. The "chitter" is used in activities that involve interaction between male and female birds, including courtship feeding, copulation, and the feeding of nestlings. Nestlings can produce calls similar to those of adults at 16 days old.

Ecology and behavior
American kestrels are found in a wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, meadows, deserts and other open to semi-open regions. They can also be found in both urban and suburban areas. A kestrel's habitat must include perches, open space for hunting, and cavities for nesting (whether natural or man-made). The American kestrel is able to live in very diverse conditions, ranging from above the Arctic Circle, to the tropics of Central America, to elevations of over 4500 m in the Andes Mountains. The bird is distributed from northern Canada and Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego. It is the only kestrel found in the Americas, though as mentioned above this classification is genetically inaccurate. It has occurred as a vagrant in the UK, Denmark, Malta and the Azores.

American kestrels in Canada and the northern United States typically migrate south in the winter, some of them converging with resident kestrels of smaller size in Mexico, sometimes going as far as Central America and the Caribbean. Birds that breed south of about 35° north latitude are usually year-round residents. Migration also depends on local weather conditions. American Kestrels breeding at lower latitudes – below 48ºN to be precise – arrive earlier after warmer springs, whereas birds from higher latitudes return to their breeding grounds at the same time each year. These patterns suggest that short-distance migrants are better able to cope with climate change. Wintering kestrels' choice of habitat varies by sex. Females are found in open areas more often than males during the non-breeding season. A common explanation for this behavior is that the larger females who are bigger than the males arrive at the preferred habitat first and exclude males from their territory.

The American kestrel is not long-lived, with a lifespan of <5 years for wild birds. The oldest banded wild bird was 11 years and 7 months, while captive kestrels can live up to 14–17 years. In a study, humans accounted for 43.2% of 1,355 reported deaths, which included direct killing and roadkills, while predation (including by larger birds of prey) accounted for 2.8%. This statistic is likely biased, however, as reported deaths are usually found near or in areas populated by humans.

Feeding
American kestrels feed largely on small animals such as grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, beetles, lizards, mice, voles, shrews, frogs, and small birds. The kestrel has also been reported to have killed scorpions, snakes, bats, and squirrels. The kestrel is able to maintain high population densities, at least in part because of the broad scope of its diet. The American kestrel's primary mode of hunting is by perching and waiting for prey to come near. The bird is characteristically seen along roadsides or fields perched on objects such as trees, overhead power lines, or fence posts. It also hunts by kiting, hovering in the air with rapid wing beats and scanning the ground for prey. Other hunting techniques include low flight over fields, or chasing insects and birds in the air.

Prey is most often caught on the ground, though occasionally they take birds in flight. Before striking, the kestrel characteristically bobs its head and tail, then makes a direct flight toward the prey to grab it in its talons. Much like the red-tailed hawk, American kestrels conserve energy in a hunt and pick their attacks with care as to position and odds of success. During the breeding season, the bird will carry large prey back to its mate or young. One study found that an American kestrel pair "foraged in ways that minimized the costs of energy acquisition in its particular situation". For example, if the success rate for catching prey decreases significantly in a particular area, the bird will move to a different area.

Reproduction
American kestrels are sexually mature by their first spring. In migratory populations, the males arrive at the breeding ground before females, then the female selects a mate. Pair bonds are strong, often permanent. Pairs usually use previous nesting sites in consecutive years. This gives birds an advantage over younger or invading individuals, as they would already be familiar with the hunting grounds, neighbors, predators, and other features of the site. Males perform elaborate dive displays to advertise their territory and attract a mate. These displays consist of several climbs and dives, with three or four "klee" calls at their peaks. Females are promiscuous for about one to two weeks after their arrival at the nesting site. This is thought to stimulate ovulation. Food transfers from the male to the female occur from about four to five weeks prior to egg laying to one to two weeks after.

American kestrels are cavity nesters, but they are able to adapt to a wide variety of nesting situations. They generally prefer natural cavities (such as in trees) with closed tops and tight-fitting entrances that provide for maximum protection of the eggs and young. Kestrels occasionally nest in holes created by large woodpeckers, or use the abandoned nests of other birds, such as red-tailed hawks, merlins, and crows. They have been recorded nesting on cliff ledges and building tops, as well as in abandoned cavities in cactuses. American kestrels also commonly utilize nesting boxes.

Three to seven eggs (typically four or five) are laid approximately 24–72 hours apart. (Two supernormal clutches of eight eggs and one of nine have been documented. One egg in one of the eight-egg clutches hatched as did one egg in the nine-egg clutch.) The average egg size is 32 x, 10% larger than average for birds of its body size. The eggs are white to cream in color with brown or grey splotching. Incubation usually lasts 30 days and is mainly the responsibility of the female, although the male incubates 15–20% of the time. Eggs that are lost are typically replaced in 11–12 days. Hatching takes place over three to four days. Hatchlings are altricial, and are only able to sit up after five days. They grow rapidly, reaching an adult weight after 16–17 days. After 28–31 days, their wings have developed and they are able to leave the nest. The young adult kestrels may breed from a year old, and the species has approximately a three to five-year life expectancy in the wild.

In ecological terms, the reproductive pattern of the American kestrel leans towards a small bird "r selection" strategy. In r/K selection theory, selective pressures are hypothesized to drive evolution in one of two generalized directions: r or K selection. R-selected species are those that place an emphasis on a high growth rate, typically exploiting less-crowded ecological niches, and produce many offspring, each of which has a relatively low probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., high r, low K). By contrast, K-selected species display traits associated with living at densities close to carrying capacity, and typically are strong competitors in such crowded niches that invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a relatively high probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., low r, high K). Between these two extremes, the American kestrel is one of the few raptor species that lean towards being r-selected. They are able to breed at one year old, have few non-breeding adults in the population, and have larger broods. Their population growth rate is high relative to larger raptors, which typically lean towards being K-selected.

Weather
American kestrels are often useful in scientific studies on animal physiology, and are typically captured using the bal-chatri method or raised in nest boxes for experiments. Kestrel metabolic rate has been found to increase in response to rainfall, and at ambient temperatures below about 25 °C. Kestrel metabolic responses to weather and temperature do not vary, however, with sex. Kestrels will increase their oxygen consumption, and therefore their metabolic rate in cold and wet conditions to counteract heat loss.

Environmental disturbance
American kestrels' response to environmental stress is measured as blood concentration of corticosterone (CORT), a hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that releases stored energy for essential body functions. Extended periods of elevated blood CORT levels may direct metabolic energy away from growth and reproduction. Thus, high levels of traffic disturbance and human development surrounding American kestrel nests are found to increase stress hormones leading to reproductive failure. Among successful nests, however, nestlings do not typically experience a higher stress response to environmental human disturbance, suggesting that they can tolerate a considerable degree of human activity near the nest.

Environmental contaminants
Since American kestrels are carnivores, toxic chemical runoff ingested by their prey can concentrate at high levels in their blood. Wild kestrels are subject to immunomodulation, or an altered immune response, to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of industrial flame retardants that may leach from factories into the environment. When PBDEs accumulate in body tissues of kestrels, the T-cell mediated immune response decreases in efficiency. As a result, kestrels that ingest PBDEs may not respond sufficiently to viruses or other invading microorganisms. In addition, certain PBDEs may suppress the growth and development of the spleen and bursa in American kestrels.

While PBDEs can affect immune response and suppress growth of certain organs, they can also affect the thyroid system of American Kestrels. Exposure to PBDEs in vivo can alter the thyroid system and retinol concentrations in kestrels. This leads to oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and changes in glutathione metabolism. These systems are important in early development, growth, regulation of metabolism, thermoregulation, and reproduction. Oxidative stress is also known to contribute to cancers and neurological diseases.

Exposure to PCBs might also affect American Kestrel reproduction. It was found that PCBs affect the function of carotenoids in kestrels. This led to changes in coloration, especially during breeding season for adults. PCB-exposed males where duller and contributed less to egg incubation than unexposed males. PCB-exposed females kept their color longer than they should have. Normally, loss in color is associated with carotenoids being directed to ovaries to help in egg development. PCB-exposed females retained their colors longer, suggesting the PCBs made them less prepared for reproduction. The same females also had significant delays in egg laying. Offspring also showed higher incidence of developmental problems and decreased reproductive success.

PCBs have also been found to affect eye color in American Kestrels. Eye color in kestrels is known to vary with age and sex, however, when exposed to PCBs, color patterns were suppressed regardless of age and sex. While it is unknown what role eye color plays in visual acuity, this may be of greater concern to birds like kestrels who rely heavily on vision for hunting.

PDBEs were linked to changes in breeding behavior in kestrels as well. Different levels of PDBE exposure were linked to different changes in behavior as well. Overall, PDBE exposure led to changes in behaviors that strengthen the bond between a breeding pair. Such behaviors include frequent copulation, food transfers, male posturing, nest box inspection, and specific mating calls (7). High exposure levels led to increases in some behaviors and decreases in some, whereas low exposure caused decreases in almost all behaviors observed. PDBE exposure also altered the timing of these behaviors, often delaying them by several days when compared to the control group.

American Kestrels have also been used extensively in toxicology research. Fenthion is a common pesticide that is used to kill insects such as flies and gnats. It was also found that kestrels are highly susceptible to secondary fenthion poisoning. When 14 kestrels were presented with live sparrows who had come into contact with a fenthion solution, all 14 died within 3 days after consuming the sparrows.

Diphacinone is another common pesticide that is often used to kill rodents and is thought to be related to secondary poisoning in birds of prey. When kestrels were orally dosed with diphacinone, blood clotting rates significantly decreases. Kestrels were also found to be 20 to 30 times more sensitive to secondary poisoning from diphacinone than other birds like Northern bobwhite and mallard ducks.

American kestrels can also be significantly influenced by air contaminants. When exposed to common gaseous pollutants such as benzene, toluene, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, significant changes to the thyroid systems were observed. Higher levels of thyroid activity indicate that exposure to these gases leads to a loss of inhibition of thyroid glands in kestrels. However, there were no changes to immune function or food consumption.

Status and conservation
The American kestrel is likely the most abundant falcon in North America, although its total population is difficult to quantify, as local populations can change quickly due to resource availability. Count data from the USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) indicate that the North American breeding population is experiencing long-term and gradual but sustained declines, with some regions, such as New England and coastal California, exhibiting more rapid declines. Count data from raptor migration corridors also indicate regional population declines and largely corroborate BBS data. The North American population has been estimated at 1.2 million pairs, with the Central and South American populations being as large. A smaller estimate is 236,000 birds wintering in North America. A population increase occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, probably due to deforestation for agriculture. The resulting pastures provided an ideal habitat for kestrels.

The southeastern U.S. subspecies (Falco sparverius paulus) has declined 82% since 1940 due to a decrease in nest site availability. This decline is a result of longleaf pines being cleared for agricultural fields. Despite this, the American kestrel is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.

The Peregrine Fund, a leading non-profit organization advancing research and conservation of birds of prey worldwide, launched the American Kestrel Partnership in 2012. The American Kestrel Partnership developed and maintains a web-based network for citizen and professional scientists to enter, manage, and consolidate data from kestrel nest box monitoring programs in the Western Hemisphere. The database is being used by researchers to model and understand relationships between kestrel nesting parameters (e.g., phenology, occupancy, survival, productivity, and nestling weight and exposure to environmental toxins) and environmental factors, such as land use, landscape composition and configuration, climate conditions (e.g., drought), and point sources of environmental toxins. Each breeding season, the American Kestrel Partnership features a live-streaming video feed from the nest box located at The Peregrine Fund's campus in Boise, Idaho.

Use in falconry
One important use of American kestrels is in falconry. It is often considered a beginner's bird, though the careful weight control needed to maintain the kestrel's desire to aggressively hunt takes skill. Falconers experienced in extracting the best performance the species is capable of, report they are highly reliable on the normal game of sparrows and starlings. More aggressive individuals are sometimes capable of capturing prey up to approximately twice their own body weight, allowing the occasional capture of true game birds such as quail and dove. However, most falconers interested in the reliable taking of such game do prefer larger falcons or hawks. The advantage the American kestrel offers the experienced falconer is its suitability to simple and urban falconry not requiring large tracts of land or the use of hunting dogs. This form of falconry is sometimes referred to as "micro-falconry" or "micro-hawking". The other small raptor species commonly used in micro-falconry are the merlin, the sharp-shinned hawk (the smallest accipiter), and the European kestrel (a true kestrel).

Hawking with the American kestrel requires adapting to the strengths and weaknesses of the bird. It is a tiny falcon, and even for its size, it is less muscular than other small falcons such as the athletic and swift merlin. It is more adapted to ambush hunting and short chases than to the longer aerial chases larger falcons often adopt. Used within its limits, it is effective. Experienced falconer Matthew Mullenix, author of the book American Kestrels in Modern Falconry, in an article comparing kestrels to merlins, summed their abilities up as follows:

1. "Kestrels are thin-winged, flat-chested, under-powered and lack acceleration compared to merlins. I say that with much affection for them and with thousands of kestrel kills to prove these are not necessarily damning differences. Comparing a red-tailed hawk to a Harris' or goshawk will conjure equally negative points of fact, yet we all know how good trained red-tails can be!"

2. "The chief variable to choosing between a kestrel and a merlin may be your hawking land. If you live in open country or have access at least to good pasture for cattle, a merlin can excel there. If you plan to hunt mostly in town or suburb, and especially if you plan to hawk from a car, I'd recommend the kestrel. The consideration coming in at close second is your intended quarry. To snipe, dove, quail and open-country sparrows, merlins are best suited. For most blackbirds (Icteridea), either falcon can prove effective. Starlings in close are extremely vulnerable to kestrels, but in the open are best prey for merlins. The same holds true for house sparrows, with this exception: sparrows in thick cover are better quarry for kestrels. This is the slip for which I feel the American kestrel is perfect."

3. "Once committed to an attack, trained kestrels tend to follow through to the end. They will stoop into cover, chase birds on foot, bind to quarry twice their size, and never let go voluntarily. They have small feet, but as written elsewhere, also have the strongest feet for their size. It is a simple fact that American kestrels hold starlings better than merlins, on average, and will gladly tackle larger quarry than will any jack (male merlin)."

American kestrels do not train so easily as some larger falcons (particularly the peregrine falcon) in the art of "waiting on" to perform a diving stoop on flushed prey. However, some individual kestrels do master this skill. Falconers sometimes train them to climb to a stooping position with tidbits on kites or balloons that the kestrels learn to climb after. More common hunting techniques are to "slip" them after spotted game from the fist, or to release them from a vehicle window close to spotted quarry. These techniques are more of a natural fit to the kestrel's ambushing methods in the wild.

Falconers using the American kestrel should be alert to protect the falcon from larger predators that may attack the kestrel, particularly if it is distracted on the ground with captured prey. Domestic cats and dogs are the greatest threat to attack the falcon on the ground, but the Cooper's hawk is well known to boldly attack kestrels. This mid-sized American accipiter has sufficient size and strength to carry the kestrel away, though falconers have reported often being successful in recovering the kestrel unharmed by acting quickly to intimidate the larger hawk into releasing the kestrel.

American kestrels are bred in captivity for use in falconry and are among the easier falcons to breed. They are also sufficiently common that "passage" birds in their first year are relatively easy to trap. Wild-caught kestrels "tame down" fairly quickly. They will usually be eating from a falconer's hand the day after capture, be training within a week, and be ready to hunt in three to five weeks. A very tame American kestrel will allow itself to be picked up around the body with one hand while accepting tidbits from the other hand. Such tameness is very useful when checking or treating the bird for injury or illness.

Migratory raptors native to the United States are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, so American kestrels are illegal to possess without a permit (such as a falconry permit) in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

title: American kestrel


text:
Talk:Purushottam Laxman Deshpande

The correct title of a play
It's 'तुझें आहे तुजपाशीं' on the cover and 'तुझे आहे तुजपाशी' on the first page! I have the book (edition August 2000) in front of me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anikulkarni (talk • contribs) 05:06, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Mentioning Caste
Dear Editors! There has been a discussion on India Portal related to mentioning of caste of subjects. The point is that mentioning caste of people, who have nothing to do with their caste, is found to be unnecessary by few editors. Hence the caste of the subject person needs to be deleted from the biography. I am not deleting the caste as of now but am only posting this here so that the regular editors of this article are well aware of it beforehand and no edit-wars take place. For details of discussion held on the portal please refer Wikipedia_talk:Noticeboard_for_India-related_topics. Your views if any are welcome there or even here. And.... as the reasons of exclusion of caste pointed out were "irrelavant to notability of subject person", "privacy of the subject person", "inclusion of caste is like branding individuals", etc. other information included in the article which also fall under these cases will also be removed after discussions. Examples of it included religion, non-notable spouse's and children's and parents' information, previous occupation, lived in places, non-notability related educational qualification, etc. Your views on this are also welcome here or at the India portal. -Animeshkulkarni (talk) 17:01, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Not here, please. There is a community discussion taking place at WT:INB and I would advise people to read the entire discussion before forming an opinion because the above summary is incorrect. Nothing more need be said here. - Sitush (talk) 02:18, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Re. Parent's Name in "Early life" section
Hello Jonathansammy - post your recent revert of my changes, I did a quick check on the cite link at the end of the para 1. It does not mention his father (and mother's) middle names? I thought I should double-check with you whether I was looking at the wrong cite? :) -MayureshK 15:24, 21 December 2017 (UTC)
 * My apologies,I have added back the citation tag for the mother's name.The father and the maternal grandfather are mentioned in the Dictionary of National biography reference.Thanks.Jonathansammy (talk) 15:33, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

Pu La Deshapnde
I have redirected Pu La Deshapnde to this article. Part of the contents of the article can perhaps be incorporated into this article:

PuLa (पु ल) is the short name of Mr. Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (पुरुषोत्तम लक्ष्मण देशपांडे). His followers and fans call him PuLa with Love which is infact his name initials. PuLa has Flourish the marathi language with his irreplaceable contributions to Marathi Literature. He is famous for his sarcastic and comic yet poignant (मार्मिक) language in most of his writings. He was born on November 08, 1919 in Mumbai and breathed his last on June 12, 2000 in Pune. He was married to Sunita Deshpande. He was a versatile artist having been performed singing, drama, playing musical instruments, writing stories, script writing, poetry etc. He in his literature has narrated the events as part of his life, like being happened around him. He had also performed on stage narrating his stories, some of them are available on internet as Nivadak PuLa (निवडक पु.ल.) ref. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi_GBRwddNI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrN4OeBCZ-Q , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSLqBdfvWck&list=RDRSLqBdfvWck&t=9, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_yzbGkrsMI&index=3&list=RDRSLqBdfvWck some of his famous books include Batatachi chaal (बटाट्याची चाळ), Asa Mi Asa Mi (असा मी असा मी ), Vyakti ani Valli (व्यक्ती आणि वल्ली), Golaberij (गोळाबेरीज) Apurvai (अपूर्वाई). There is a recent Marathi Movie mhais (म्हैस) based on his comic story. Most of his performances i.e. Kathakathan (कथाकथन) are available in video forms. The Pune Okayama Friendship Garden, A Japanese Garden as a symbol between Indo-Japanese Friendship is named after him and thus is called Pu La Deshpande Udyan.

- Diptanshu 💬 12:36, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Most of what's in the above text is already in the article. However, I feel the redirect/ article incorrectly spells his name and should simply be deleted. Ps: which it looks like it has 😊 -MayureshK 06:49, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Correct middle name
I see both the Hindustan Times and the Times of India give his middle name as "Lakshman" on at least some occasions. Those seem to be very good references so I shall give both names in the article. --DanielRigal (talk) 17:30, 1 January 2019 (UTC)
 * https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/a-documentary-ode-to-pu-la-deshpande-in-pune-on-june-12/story-NoO6GjKPktxXy3tc0rPiSP.html
 * https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/a-cultural-icon-called-pula-who-made-marathis-laugh-at-themselves/articleshow/66674448.cms

Death
I think the Death section could be reworked. It doesn't fit this guideline. New contributor here so please cut me some slack. 23.30.106.102 (talk) 07:31, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Bengali translation
How can I translate this article in Bengali language ? I can't find the option. Kalyan Pal PHSA (talk) 14:57, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Purushottam Laxman Deshpande


text:
Melissa George

Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian and American actress. She began her career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993–1996). After moving to the United States, George made her feature film debut with a supporting role in the neo-noir science fiction Dark City (1998). She made the transition to leading roles when she appeared in the supernatural horror film The Amityville Horror (2005), gaining further recognition for the crime thriller film Derailed (2005), and the horror films 30 Days of Night (2007) and Triangle (2009).

Outside film, George received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the HBO drama series In Treatment (2008). She won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress for her role in the Australian miniseries The Slap (2011), which she reprised in the 2015 American adaptation.

Early life
George was born in Perth, Australia, to Pamela, a nurse, and Glenn George, a construction worker. Her paternal grandmother was a Scottish immigrant. William Ward, a grandfather on her mother's side, worked as a prison warden at Rottnest Island, offshore from Perth. The second of four children, she is also a cousin of the opera singer Taryn Fiebig.

George attended Warwick Senior High School and developed an interest in dancing and began studying jazz, tap, ballet, and modern dance at the age of seven. Her enthusiasm for dance eventually evolved into a passion for artistic roller skating. She is an Australian national roller skating champion and won bronze medals in the National Championships in 1989 and 1990. She won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in 1991.

1992–1998: Early work
George began modelling in her early teens, and in 1992 was named Western Australia's Teenage Model of the Year. At the age of 16, George and a friend, Cara Mitchinson, both acted in a mock episode of the popular Australian soap Home and Away with a video camera, playing Bobby and Sophie Simpson, respectively. When the offer of a role on the serial came, George's parents convinced her to relocate from her native Perth to Sydney and she began lodging with families. George met with casting director Liz Mullinar and was subsequently cast in the role of Angel Parrish. She made her first on-screen appearance on 30 March 1993, arriving as a teenage runaway. While playing the role, George made property investments and wrote advice columns for two English teen magazines.

Her role earned her five consecutive Logie Award nominations, of which she won two. The character became popular among viewers when she was paired up with Shane Parrish, and to this day they remain one of the soap's most loved couples. George departed Home and Away on 30 August 1996. She then made a health and fitness video, Mind, Body and Soul (1996), created a sleepwear line called "An Angel at My Bedside", and had a recurring role on the short-lived 1997 Fox Broadcasting Company television fantasy drama series Roar, which was filmed in Queensland, opposite Heath Ledger. Her fearlessness in performing the show's stunts endeared her to the show's creator, Shaun Cassidy, who subsequently cast her as the female lead in the pilot Hollyweird. A show about "the adventures of an intrepid pair of friends from Ohio who take their love for the macabre and use it to solve crimes plaguing Los Angeles", she was to star alongside Bodhi Elfman and Fab Filippo. The pilot was ordered to series, however, the Fox Network's tinkering and delays frustrated Cassidy, who pulled out of the project, saying that Fox had forced him to spend "much of the last year trying to fix something I never viewed as broken in the first place." Ultimately, production never went ahead on the show. George then appeared on the cover and in a nude pictorial for the March 1997 issue of Australian Playboy.

In late 1997, George decided to relocate from Australia to the United States, hoping to establish a career in Hollywood. Within a year after relocating, George made her film debut in the critically acclaimed neo-noir science fiction film Dark City (1998).

1999–2008: Film breakthrough
After a supporting role in Steven Soderbergh's 1999 neo-noir crime film The Limey, she was cast in a supporting role, Cleo Miller, in the 2001 black comedy Sugar & Spice and had a minor role in David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive, which opened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. She starred in several unaired TV pilots, including the lead role in Lost in Oz, an original sequel to The Wizard of Oz, inspired by the Oz books of L. Frank Baum. After the pilot was filmed, a significant amount of time passed before the decision was made to film a second episode. However, by then George's contract had lapsed, and, as she had just moved to America, she didn't want to move back to Australia to shoot it. Ultimately, a second episode was never shot and the show was never picked up.

She starred in the short-lived ABC drama-comedy Thieves, co-starring John Stamos. She starred in the sixth season premiere of the WB series Charmed, had a minor role opposite Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the 2003 romantic comedy Down with Love and was originally cast as Susan Freeman in the American series Coupling based on the British series of the same name. After "an audition from hell", George was cast and filmed the pilot, but the network (NBC) then fired the writers and replaced George and her fellow castmembers Breckin Meyer and Emily Rutherfurd with Rena Sofer, Colin Ferguson and Sonya Walger, respectively. The series lasted only four episodes and show creator Steven Moffat blamed NBC's meddling as the reason for the show's failure, saying that they "fucked it up because they intervened endlessly." George later commented that she "dodged a bullet" by being replaced before the show aired.

In 2003, she had a role in two episodes of Friends, where she played Molly, the early babysitter for Ross and Rachel's baby, Emma. Also in 2003, she landed the role of Lauren Reed on the ABC television series Alias. She had auditioned to play lead character Sydney Bristow, but lost out to Jennifer Garner. When that happened, ABC cast her on Thieves instead. It was originally planned that George would guest-star for several episodes but she was quickly upgraded to regular. To explain her character's accent (George is Australian), the writers wrote that she was born in the United States but grew up in London. George left the show at the end of the third season, saying that "I got offered a couple of films so I decided to kind've [sic] move on."

Her first starring role in a feature film was Kathy Lutz in the 2005 remake of the 1979 horror film, The Amityville Horror. The film was not well received by critics, but was a major success at the worldwide box office, grossing over $108 million. Despite unfavorable reviews, Film Threat praised George and her co-star Ryan Reynolds's performances, stating that they "make a striking couple. Both young and extremely attractive" and that she "does an impeccable American accent, but otherwise she is unremarkable as Kathy Lutz. Her physical beauty is sometimes distracting, but not enough to keep the audience awed by her acting." That same year, she played Deanna Schine in the thriller Derailed, co-starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston, playing the wife of a man embroiled in an affair.

In March 2006, it was announced that she had been cast in the NBC comedy-drama series Lipstick Jungle, based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell. George was to play Nico Reilly, the editor-in-chief of Bonfire Magazine. However, the show underwent significant changes with George and other castmates being replaced and with executive producers DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler, writers Rand Ravich and Jill Gordon and director Nigel Cole all fired. George had been personally cast by Bushnell, but left in early 2007 when she was offered the HBO series In Treatment. Also in 2006, she travelled to Brazil to film the horror-thriller Turistas (released in the UK and Ireland as Paradise Lost) with Josh Duhamel and Olivia Wilde. Shooting lasted three months on what was the first Hollywood film to be shot entirely on location in Brazil and George, who learned to speak Spanish and Portuguese for the role, said that the experience "made me a better actress, more resilient, tougher."

In 2007, she landed the lead role, Christine, in the biographical drama Music Within, opposite Ron Livingston, which focused on a disability rights activist in Portland, Oregon. The film had a limited release. In an interview, she said that she "knew that Christine's a true character, and the woman responsible for Richard Pimentel's sort of success in a way. She was the driving force behind him and behind every good man is a good woman, and Christine was that woman." She starred in the British horror-thriller WΔZ, and had a prominent role in the film adaptation of 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade and co-starring Josh Hartnett. The film was a modest success with an over $75 million worldwide gross.

2008–2018: Television and critical acclaim
George returned to television in 2008 in the HBO half-hour drama In Treatment, co-starring Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest, receiving a 2009 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film,  and also received a nomination for "Best Actress" at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards.

In September 2008, George joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy for eleven episodes as Sadie Harris, a bisexual intern, but in January 2009, it was released that she was leaving the show in a mutual agreement with the producers. Also in 2008, she starred in the film The Betrayed, which was released at the San Diego Film Festival, and was released direct-to-video in the United States on 30 June 2009.

On 9 November 2009, it was announced that George would guest-star in at least two episodes of Fox's Lie to Me playing Clara Musso. George also received the lead role in the Australian-British mystery thriller by Chris Smith titled Triangle, which opened to positive reviews. George also starred in the British thriller film A Lonely Place to Die (2010), directed by Julian Gilbey. She climbed Ben Nevis mountain for her role in the film.

In November 2010, George was named the new face of L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. In 2012, George appeared as Rosie in the Australian TV series The Slap and as Sam Hunter in the British TV series Hunted, which was filmed over seven months in London, Scotland and Morocco. An American adaptation of the series, in which George again played the character Rosie, premièred on the NBC network in February 2015. A review of the U.S. series in The New York Times noted George's performance as "particularly beguiling ... As Rosie she is absurd, infuriating, sad and very funny."

In 2017, she was cast opposite Sean Penn in the television series The First (2018), created by Beau Willimon and filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Other ventures
George is credited as the inventor of Style Snaps, a device intended to allow changing pant hem length without sewing. The product is marketed via direct response TV. She has stated that the invention earns her more money than her acting career.

Public image
In November 2012, while promoting the television series Hunted for The Sun-Herald television magazine in Australia, George was quoted as saying: "I don't need credibility from my country anymore, I just need them all to be quiet. If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don't speak to me anymore. I'd rather be having a croissant and a little espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City." The response was purportedly spurred by George being tired of repeated questions about her role as Angel Parrish on Home and Away –the role that had originally garnered her fame in Australia –as opposed to questions about her more recent projects. The publication of the article drew significant criticism, specifically from Australian publications. George would later say she was misquoted in the piece, and that the phrases had been "swapped around and put out of context": "I never said that at all. We were laughing and I never said anything negative about my country", she said.

In light of a publicised domestic violence dispute between George and her boyfriend Jean-David Blanc in 2016, journalist Christine Sams, who had originally published the Sun-Herald article, wrote a public apology, in which she noted: "Many of those people attacking George have directly used those inane comments from my original interview (published years ago) to somehow justify her not receiving sympathy or help now. I just wanted to say sorry Melissa, you don't deserve it."

Personal life
In 1998, George met actor and film director Claudio Dabed in Bali. They married in 2000, and lived in Buenos Aires. In 2011, they announced their divorce.

In 2011, George met French entrepreneur Jean David Blanc (son of musician Serge Blanc), the founder of AlloCiné, at a BAFTA awards party. Together they have two sons, Raphaël (b. 2014) and Solal (b. 2015). In September 2016, George separated from Blanc following allegations of domestic abuse that purportedly occurred at their home in Paris. George was hospitalised with head and neck injuries, and both Blanc and George received domestic assault charges over the incident, with Blanc saying George instigated the confrontation. Blanc was ordered to pay George €1,000 in damages, and she €1 to him.

Shortly after the incident, George attempted to fly to the United States with the couple's two sons for a work arrangement, but was prevented from doing so by French authorities after Blanc alleged she was attempting to kidnap their children. George denied this, and said she had intended to return to France with the children after finishing the work engagement. In a 2017 interview on Sunday Night, George said she and Blanc had shared custody of the children, but that she felt trapped in France, unable to move freely between countries with her children; the custody arrangement made between the parties required that Blanc provide written consent before the couple's children were allowed to leave the country. She also alleged during the program that she believed Blanc had private detectives hired to follow her around Paris. Blanc denied George's allegations. In 2017, she stated she had resumed working in the United States, on the series The First, and flew between both countries to "spend the maximum time" with her children. Melissa George gave birth in March 2024 to her third child. The father is unknown.

George became a naturalised American citizen in 2008.

title: Melissa George


text:
Talk:Vostok

Me thinks this page should be made into a disambiguation page. Right now it mixes the rocket Vostok with the spacecraft (capsule) Vostok, and the Vostok space program. All three are of course closely related, but e.g. the explosion of the Vostok rocket in 1980 has no real connection with the manned spaceflight program of the 1960s anymore. It's not much of an urgent matter yet as the article has not enough meat to split into three parts, most is about the Vostok space program. andy 11:00, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Vostok


text:
Chicxulub (disambiguation)

Chicxulub may refer to:

 * Chicxulub crater, on the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico
 * Chicxulub Pueblo, a town on the Yucatán Peninsula
 * Chicxulub Pueblo Municipality, which includes the town
 * Chicxulub Puerto, a coastal village in Progreso Municipality, Yucatán

title: Chicxulub (disambiguation)


text:
Ron Rifkin

Ron Rifkin (born Saul M. Rifkin; October 31, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama Alias, Saul Holden on the drama Brothers & Sisters, and District Attorney Ellis Loew in L.A. Confidential. He received the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Herr Schultz in the 1998 revival of Cabaret.

Personal life
Saul M. Rifkin was born in New York City to Miriam and Herman Rifkin, who was born in Russia. He is the oldest of three children. He was raised as an Orthodox Jew and remains Jewish though he left Orthodoxy at the age of 32. His wife, Iva Rifkin, owns a fashion design business.

Career
In 2001, Rifkin's association with Touchstone Television began when he played intelligence agent Arvin Sloane in Alias, opposite Jennifer Garner. From 2006 to 2011, he played second-in-command businessman Saul Holden on Brothers & Sisters, opposite Sally Field. He also played Ann Romano-Royer's (Bonnie Franklin) second boyfriend Nick on One Day at a Time. He was a series regular during the sixth season. In the season 7 premiere, "Alex Moves In", it is revealed that Nick dies as a result of an accident with a drunk driver.

Rifkin has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in film, on stage, and in television. His association with writer Jon Robin Baitz has been especially fruitful. In 1991, his performance in Baitz's play The Substance of Fire won him the Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Drama-Logue awards for Best Actor. The next year, he performed in Baitz's Three Hotels, for which he received a second Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nomination. In 1996, he starred in the film version of Substance; in 2002, he appeared in the Baitz play Ten Unknowns at Boston's Huntington Theatre; in 2004, he starred in his play The Paris Letter at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, a role he reprised the next year at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York City, and appeared in the ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters, which Baitz created, as a character named Saul, Rifkin's real name.

Rifkin received a 1998 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the Broadway revival of Cabaret. Additional theatre credits include David Hirson's Wrong Mountain, Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country, and Neil Simon's Proposals.

Rifkin's extensive film credits include Silent Running (1972), The Sunshine Boys (1975), The Big Fix (1978), JFK (1991), Husbands and Wives (1992), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Wolf (1994), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Negotiator (1998), Boiler Room (2000), Keeping the Faith (2000), The Majestic (2001), Dragonfly (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), and Pulse (2006).

On television, Rifkin has appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and miniseries, had regular roles on The Rockford Files, One Day at a Time, Husbands, Wives & Lovers, The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, and Alias, and made guest appearances on a number of series, including Barnaby Jones, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Sex and the City, The Bob Newhart Show, The Good Wife, ER, Law & Order, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Falcon Crest, Soap, Hill Street Blues, Smash, and The Outer Limits, for which he received a CableACE nomination.

Rifkin is the reader for a number of audiobooks, including Lois Lowry's The Giver, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Sang Spell, and Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed.

He currently portrays Defense Attorney Marvin Stan Exely, a recurring character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He also starred in Limitless as Brian Finch's father Dennis Finch and appears in Gotham as Father Creel.

In October 2020, a short film, Daddy, was uploaded on Christian Coppola's YouTube channel in which Rifkin stars alongside Dylan Sprouse. In the film, "after the death of his wife, an 80-year-old man checks into The Plaza Hotel to celebrate their first anniversary apart, hiring a male escort to take her place."

title: Ron Rifkin


text:
User talk:Rfc1394/2003

All of 2003

This has been moved to allow new comments to show up on my E-Mai userl page. Comments will be moved here as they age.

Welcome to Wikipedia
Hi Rfc1394, welcome to Wikipedia. I've just been looking over your contributions to the Atlas Shrugged articles, good job! I took part in tidying them up a while ago and it's nice to see them being added to (I'd contribute more myself but haven't actually read it...).

Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

 * How to edit a page
 * How to write a great article
 * Naming conventions
 * Manual of Style

If you have any questions, see the help pages, or add a question to the village pump.

Have fun,

Ams80 11:05, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Don't move albums
There's no need to move albums to disambiguated titles unless there is another meaning. For example, The Rhythm of the Saints only refers to the album (unless you know something I don't) and thus doesn't need the (album). Tuf-Kat 18:49, Dec 16, 2003 (UTC)
 * I also deleted some links to songs that don't have an article, such as at David Bowie. I'm pretty inclusionist when it comes to such things, but I think having these preemptive links is an invitation for bored people to fill the Wikipedia up with articles like Jean Genie is a song by David Bowie.  If you want to write an article on one or more songs, feel free to do so and link to it liberally. Tuf-Kat 19:02, Dec 16, 2003 (UTC)

Sorry about the conflict when fixing Paul Simon. I guess Tuf-Kat straightened us BOTH out. --Uncle Ed 19:09, 16 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * If I did, I think it was an accident. The three of us seem to have confused each other, but all appears to have worked out well in the end. Tuf-Kat 19:12, Dec 16, 2003 (UTC)

Copying over my Everything2 writeups over
Hey. When you copy your E2 writeups over here, would you make sure to replace the HTML with wiki markup? Standardization eases editing for those who might later want to change the article. --MIRV 21:09, 16 Dec 2003 (UTC)

In Reply: I am attempting to do that.

List of People
Hi, Rfc1394, and welcome. (I'm trying to decide whether your nickname is Rfc, or 1394. [wink, smile]. In any case, i notice you, as i did, became a redesigner, fairly quickly after becoming a user, of List of people by name. I almost reverted your changes to Hb-Hd in the H row, but then realized that the effect is merely on the table's appearance and not on what will happen if those letters ever get used.  Still, i'm missing what you are trying to do, there and in the F row, which i did not look at closely, and i'm curious, if you don't feel nagged by my asking.

(In any case, so you don't need to ask me the same question, my philosophy is that the "ligatured" Hb-Hc-Hd suggests to the user the fact that (unless redesigned at the time of first use) Hb thru Hd would be on a single page (almost certainly the efficient way to do it).) And where the pages already exist, they can tell you "don't agonize over whether to look at 'Hc' or 'Hd' first, they're on the same page"

You probably already looked at my recent work on section Table Structure (Tsk! My careless editing); if not it might save you a little confusion and/or research at some point. I'm guessing your work doesn't obsolete it; if you think otherwise, feel free to update or point it out to me if you like.

I also maintain, for my own use, kind of a dummy version of the table at User:Jerzy/List-of-people-by-name Pages i've Organized, a page that is now misnamed but not too badly. Ah, at least briefly i will think of it as a Palantir, since it shows me quickly that you created pages (or redirects) for Ff - Fh, Fj, Fk, etc., and at least obsoleted Table Sructure as to row F being partially populated. (I wouldn't have done, since they are so unlikely to be used, but on the other hand, "WP is not paper".) Look, copy & edit, or ignore, tho courtesy (i think), and the likelihood i'd revert if you edited my copy rather than your own, suggest you not edit it in place.

Finally, i don't know if you looked at List of people by name: Ha, which AFAIK is unique in going to a 3rd level rather than just 1 or 2; again this may or may not interest you, without reflecting on your character. [wink] (If you notice any 3-level ones, i'd be grateful to hear of them; i haven't thought yet how to search for them. Hmm, possible idea.)

Ask questions abt any aspect of List of people by name that is of interest, and enjoy. --Jerzy 10:10, 2003 Dec 17 (UTC)

 My Response:  * List of people This (originally posted at user:jerzy) is in response to your message on my user page user talk:rfc1394. (I don't know what the command sequence is to put a username and timestamp on a page yet.) I also realize I think this should be at user talk:Jerzy so it will notify you of my response, so I'll put it there so you'll get mail.
 * Hi, Paul; glad to hear from you.
 * Re signing:
 * The syntaxes you're looking for are
 * which creates just the link, and
 * which creates the link and the familiar time-stamp.
 * which creates the link and the familiar time-stamp.
 * which creates the link and the familiar time-stamp.

 * The most useful standard form for me is
 * as a sig-line on a Talk page. (But on Cleanup, plain
 * is requested.)
 * (You'll want to look at this passage in an Editing pane, in order to see how i used the special nowiki tags to suppress intepretation of these syntaxes.)
 * Re notification and mail
 * First and foremost, you should realize these are two facilities that have in common only the fact that they depend on the Wikipedia (WP) user account system.
 * The notification makes no use of EMail as far as i can tell; rather, it is simply a matter of a user X's view of many pages (i haven't paid attention to which kinds) including a field that changes in response to any other user editing user X's talk page.
 * The mail facility is of use only between two users who both have specified an EMail address to be associated with their respective accounts. A user can see their own EMail address (on their Preferences page, i think) but no other user can, except (probably sysops and) the user who is sent an EMail by another.  Note that if you send me EMail, i see your EMail address, but you don't learn mine unless i reply via WP mail. (Note i could choose to reply directly, not thru WP, via another EMail address and you still wouldn't know my WP EMail address.)  You can send WP EMail to yourself which will give you some feel for the process.
 * User vs User Talk pages
 * I'm not surprised you suffered confusion abt that. Check out Namespace even if you're no longer confused, and ask questions.
 * User vs User Talk pages
 * I'm not surprised you suffered confusion abt that. Check out Namespace even if you're no longer confused, and ask questions.

In adding the extra letters, it was my thought that either the original block table should be fully populated, or if it was not, that the pages it links to be properly indexed even if no entries were present. Seeing 'red' on the missing items (pun intentional) items made me consider that this was inadequate. Either a block of entries should be connected together - the way the letter X is - or they should be empty but properly cross-indexed.  If there are no entries for a particular page, the answer is to cross-link to one of the other letters before it that does exist, have it add the empty letters, and link back to that page so that there are no nonexistent links.
 * I understand your approach somewhat, and don't find it crazy tho i'm not sure i agree either. You'll find all kinds of responses in areas like this; i'm kind of a "trust the marketplace of ideas to sort it out" advocate on such infrastructure issues, rather than a "prescriptivist"; you'll eventually meet more of each kind, in this context or others.
 * IMO you'd be wise to spend a while watching for reactions to it at this point (and i noted after my 1st draft of this didn't get inserted, you have raised it on an appropriate talk page), i.e., (as Buckaroo Banzai said to New Jersey during brain surgery) "Don't tug on that! You never know what it's connected to." Many things are very easy to put back, but deleting a page whose existence turns out to be awkward is an attention-intensive thing that it's worth avoiding being the cause of. I.e., edit boldly: add text, throw away anything you don't like (bcz its pretty easy for anyone to put it back if you screwed up), but think hard before you create a new page!  See Vfd to understand why.

Once a two-letter gets 'big enough' to have some entries, then it can be split off into either its own page or its own plus whatever follows it. The question on how big is 'big enough' is arbitrary, but I'd say if an entry has at least 1/2 a page, say ten items or more (unless the items before it have less than ten each) then it's probably time to split it. Also if the page gets above 20 entries then definitely split it (subject to the provision that there be some entries in the letters before it.)
 * Half a page! Dream on, buddy. I created the third level under List of people by name: Ha bcz it had gotten up to about 80k bytes.  IMO not enuf of the List of people by name pages have headings and ToCs, which i think can help with the ease-of-access issues i think you are concerned about.
 * Do bear in mind that you have been looking at least somewhat at random, and therefore in a sense atypical, pages: most letter pairs lack any names starting with them, and most always will (tho, for instance, Thabo Mbeki should have caused List of people by name: Mb to be created). The pages that matter, bcz readers and editors consult or add to them frequently are a small proportion; List of people by name: Ha is an example. We surely need List of people by name: Sz and IIRC List of people by name: Zs, but energy spent making them work well is (forgive my blatantly judgmental opinion) a sad waste when the really big and therefore heavily used ones are as neglected as they are.
 * For my part, i've mixed looking for articles that interest me (and others less interesting that are related to them) with stumbling on things, and even clicking "Random page", and i've also started paying attention to Cleanup and Vfd (tho not yet Pages needing attention or Requested articles). IMO there is plenty of intersection between most editors interests and what has value to substantial numbers of users and editors, but IMO it is not easy to foresee what those intersections will be.

 * Oh, and learn how to use the Wiki markups where they can substitute for HTML tags; folks will edit them away & may nag you abt it. Outside of tables, i think i only use the BR, SUP, and S tags, and a notation i don't know the name for, for Fuckengrüven and the like.  (I've seen people remove my BRs occasionally.)
 * But, as usual, i grow verbose. I'm gonna shut up now; don't let that discourage you from putting questions to me. (Heh. More likely my verbosity would discourage you. [smile])

Paul - Rfc1394 - Wed, Dec 17, 2003 13:07 EST / 18:07 UTC(GMT) Update 13:12 EST

Telephone Articles
Hiya :) Great work on the telephone articles! I'm having fun adding stuff to them too... One little point, it's really not necessary to link to generic terms such as "initiate" and "begin", for example. Doing so could mean that "dictionary definition" style articles may be created, which Wikipedia is not.

Thanks, and keep up the good work :) Dysprosia 10:58, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

No more future history
Please don't make any more future century articles, these have been voted to be deleted once before. - Hephaestos 04:06, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Jimbo Wales benevolent dictator
I dunno how much value advance warning will have, but i'll let you know i was already mad at you, for deciding already that Jimbo had done something harmful to you, before i followed both the links & discovered your cryptic summary was about the heading having changed, not yr opinion of Jimbo's benevolence. (Others may react similarly, or not.)

Sorry for the bad vibes, if you felt them! --Jerzy 20:26, 2003 Dec 19 (UTC)

Test pages
If you really need to create test pages in different namespaces, please do so on the Test Wikipedia, which has been specifically created for this purpose. Thanks.—Eloquence

 * I second that. There is no need to create these pages here. Dori | Talk 00:13, Dec 20, 2003 (UTC)

In Reply Rfc1394 00:23, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * 1) I didn't know about the test partition
 * 2) I was attempting to reproduce a bug in Wikipedia.  It is reproducible.

 * No problem, Rfc, and thanks for helping with the bug hunting process.—Eloquence

 * I believe the bug you are looking at has been discussed before (in fact I pointed it out too a while back). Sections get counted also if you put one inside comments -- that's how I encountered it). You only need the sandbox to test this. Dori | Talk 00:44, Dec 20, 2003 (UTC)

Public Utilities
Hi! Can you take a peek at what I made of lists of public utilities? Normally stuff is not capitalized, and it's good to add stuff in such a way that it's not focused on one specific continent. Tables make adding stuff a bit inconvenient for most people. For the rest: keep up the good work! :) Guaka 00:12, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Movie links
Hi. I've noticed that you have added a particular bar of links to the bottom of a lot of movie articles. Is this part of a WikiProject? Have you discussed this with anyone anywhere? It would be nice is we could discuss the form of it first before you start mass-changing zillions of articles. In particular, I object to the hr, and to the use of "See also" as a non-heading. -- Timwi 06:56, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi 1394, this is exactly what I wanted to ask you. I'll have a look if your answer is on Timwi's user page. All the best, --KF 10:01, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Okay, I've just read your answer at User talk:Timwi. It's really just minor things I personally don't like: Why See A lso rather than See a lso? And why a reference to a list of documentaries (which doesn't even exist)? --KF 10:07, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Electric Power Transmission
I deleted the following from the article on electric power transmission:

"In cities it is sent over wooden poles usually known as telephone poles, or buried underground in pipes or a occasional connection room called a vault, which is accessible through an access point called a manhole."

You seem to be confusing high voltage transmission with low voltage electricity distribution. Telephone poles would not normally be used for power distribution due to the technical requirements for electricity being more severe. You might sometimes get a telephone line being strung under a power line. Tiles 22:29, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Hello. In overpass, you used too many capital letters, in one case linking to a redirect page ("Interstate Highway") rather than to the page it points to ("interstate highway" with a lower-case "h"). The first letter of the name of an article is case-insensitive; the others are case-sensitive. Wikipedia articles do not typically use capitals in article titles without specific reasons. Michael Hardy 00:50, 22 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Nylon, village pump & paper (image)
Thanks for your comments on nylon. See Talk:nylon for a discussion of its trademark status.

You also left comments on my talk page about a question at the Village Pump. It wasn't me that left that question.

Finally you also left comments about paper (image); was that directed at me?

Thanks, Samw 17:38, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Sepia
Hello. I moved your sepia entry to sepia tone since there are four distinct meanings for the word "sepia". I created a disambiguation page in its stead. Davodd 00:25, Dec 24, 2003 (UTC)

07042743880
okorie chukwuemeka 102.91.5.42 (talk) 00:44, 21 October 2023 (UTC)

Okorie chukwuemeka
okorie chukwuemeka 102.91.5.42 (talk) 00:45, 21 October 2023 (UTC)

title: User talk:Rfc1394/2003


text:
Żywiec Brewery

Żywiec Brewery ( pronounced ; ) is one of the largest breweries and beer producers in Poland. Founded in 1856 in the town of Żywiec, the brewery manufactures pale lager with a 5.5% alcohol volume. Grupa Żywiec S.A. consists of five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery, Leżajsk, Warka Brewery and Browar Namysłów. Currently, the Dutch Heineken Group (Heineken International Beheer B.V.), with a 99% shareholding, has control over its major operations. The brewery has the capacity of producing 5 million hls a year, making it the largest brewery in Grupa Żywiec.

History

The brewery started operating in 1856 in the town of Żywiec, which was then part of Austrian Poland. It was owned by the Habsburg Imperial Family until its confiscation by the post-WWII Communist government of Poland. At the beginning of the 1990s a court case was started by the descendants of the original owners, who sued the Polish government demanding $77 million compensation for the nationalisation and the use of the Habsburg family name and coat of arms for marketing purposes. The case was settled out of court on undisclosed terms in December 2005.

Żywiec Brewery began distribution to other towns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1913. In the 1990s, the brewery was acquired and modernized by Heineken International.

Beers

The brewery produces several brands of beer, usually pale lagers ranging from 5.6% to 9.5% abv, including Żywiec Jasne Pełne or Żywiec Beer, a 5.5% abv pale lager, which has been brewed in the town of Żywiec, Poland for almost 150 years, and Żywiec Porter, a dark porter once brewed in Cieszyn Brewery.

Żywiec Beer is sold by the 1pt. can, 1pt. bottles and by the keg. In the United States, it is sold by 12-pack and 6-pack bottles (330 ml / US 11.2 oz.) as well as 500ml cans and bottles. It is still brewed by means of traditional methods using all-natural ingredients and mountain spring water.

Logo
The Żywiec logo includes all of the most important historical symbols of the brewery and Poland itself. Żywiec Beer's prominent front label displays a man and woman, who dance the Krakowiak, a traditional dance of the area of Kraków in historic Lesser Poland. This dancing couple is dressed in classic Polish folk dancing clothes. Kraków's coat of arms is represented with the crown in the middle of the couple. The coat of arms is also represented by the three spruce trees displayed on the bottom of the label and the year 1856 on top underneath the crown. The name Żywiec is placed on the red sash across the middle of the label with the golden trimming. The Żywiec logo is the most famous mark and brand of beer in Poland and the trademark of the entire brewery.

title: Żywiec Brewery