text:
Talk:Scanger

Not just Dublin
You know the term Scanger/Scobe ((which is re-directed here}} is not just used in Dublin.It's used in Nearly every Town and all the City's in Ireland.When said typically from a Dublin Working class.Well I don;t think of Scobes/Scangers like that.I think of them  typically from working class family in the area I am from.

So please don't change it back just to Dublin as it is blatantly wrong.

Mikel-Fikel 82 17:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree the term may be more widely used in Dublin but it is understood across most/all of the Republic of Ireland and while in other cities local terms (e.g. Scobes in Cork) may be in more widespread usage A Scobe is effectively a Skanger with a Cork accent.

Skangers are a nationwide phenomenon so when the article is edited accordingly why do people insist on reverting it? Do Dublin people really WANT to claim exclusive ownership of Skangers ? Somehow I very much doubt it ! 80.229.222.48 17:38, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

"a stereotypical member of a youth subculture group in Dublin"
Why just Dublin? They're all over Ireland!

The vast majority out side of Dublin are mostly Skulchies (a culchie-scanger hybrid).

I have lived in various parts of Ireland (including Dublin) and have never heard the term "Skulchies" Skangers are everywhere though (unfortunately) 80.229.222.48 17:45, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Not just Dublin
I was annoyed with the way it said stereotypically from Dublin Working class.Well I'm from Cork and When I think of scobe((re-directed here)) I think of them from places Like Knochnaheane or mayfield in Cork City.So I will be editing out he Dublin part.

Howiya?
Is it really appropriate to have this Dublin label for female scangers in the article considering this article is about scangers all over Ireland?

Skanger Vs. Scanger
"Skanger": 18,700 results. "Scanger": 10,100 results. A change in title maybe in order.

 * I've edited the page "Skanger" so it now bears the correct title. This article should now be merged with crrectly-titled article.

 * Why does every usage of the word now have a capital letter? Also, is it possible for some reference to be left in the article to the fact that an alternative spelling is available albeit less common? Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - [[Image:Ichthus.svg|25px]] - 11:46, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

 * seems it has been changed back, why i dont know Owwmykneecap 20:12, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Someone went and made an identical article at Skanger. This is stupid. If no one objects I'm going to turn that back into a redirect and then we can discuss which spelling should be used in the heading. I personally think both spellings should be mentioned and used, since both are in use. Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - - 13:42, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * It was a redirect until the 27th July and is a redirect again. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 20:18, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - [[Image:Ichthus.svg|25px]] - 10:48, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

As in with a K. I have never seen it referenced to with a "c" before. Also I dont mind this being funny (in fact i think this should be), but there is a lot of wrong information in this article, how old was the person who wrote it, as in did the have any first hand expeerience with them in school etc or is it more a view from slightly further afar? Owwmykneecap 01:48, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I must say I've only ever seen the word spelt with a c, so both are obviously in use. I believe this article is the collaborated work of lots of people (from looking at the edit history), of varying ages and experience. Some seem to have been more biased than others. I am, however, surprised at how NPOV this is. Not entirely, by any stretch of the imagination, but surprising neutral and factual. Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - [[Image:Ichthus.svg|25px]] - 18:37, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I believe the word should be spelled 'skanger' as it comes from the word skanky. Good article, but then, I did play rugby.

Guys, the spelling in general use in Ireland is "skanger". Google says 29,600 hits for "skanger" versus 11,000 for "scanger". "skanger" is more well-represented on UrbanDictionary. It is the spelling used on most of the few Irish sites which actually deal with real Irish culture, overheardindublin.com, p45.net, etc. Let's get this sorted out for once and for all. Almost no-one actually spells it with a 'c', so let's have Wikipedia reflect that. --John Lunney 01:41, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I hardly think 11,000 is "almost no-one" as you've suggested, but perhaps the order of the two spellings in the introduction and the article name should be changed. You should probably seek consensus for such a move. Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - [[Image:Ichthus.svg|25px]] - 09:21, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Fair enough, it's not "almost no-one", but "skanger" is certainly the predominant spelling. I wasn't planning on just going wild and moving the article. But I certainly believe it should be moved to reflect the majority spelling. I've moved around the talk page a little so that all discussion of the spelling of the word is in one place. Looking back through the revisions of this article, a lot of information has been deleted, some of it inappropriate, some of it fairly reasonable. Also, if we change it to "skanger" here, it should change on Wiktionary too.
 * What do others think?
 * --John Lunney 13:10, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Support a move to Skanger - by far the most common spelling. Bastun BaStun not BaTsun 00:18, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

What?!?
This article has completely destroyed all credibility I previously regarded wikipedia with. One short paragraph could easily describe the word and how it is used. This article is an incredibly biased attack on a low socio-economic group within Irish society. The reason it has not already been removed?? "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas". Why yes Mr. Marx, I do believe you have a very valid point there, where is the article on "rugger buggers" from blackrock? Perhaps its due to the fact that people from these socio-economic groupings have less access to computers or lack the acedemic writing skills required to be a regular wekipedia contributor. With this in mind the question must be posed, What does wikipedia represent? The views, opinions and humerous prose of the elite intellects and acedemics? or an objective, unbiased means of each individual contributing their own knowledge into an evolving up-to-date encyclopedia? Martinq22 14:47, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

 * If you'd like an article on the phenomenon of "rugger buggers", then why not go start one? Wikipedia is an encyclopedia which everyone is welcome to edit & editors are encouraged to co-operate to achieve concensus. Care to contribute? - Ali-oops✍ 14:36, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Personaly I dont really believe that adding another biased article will balance out the scales here. I mean, Im all for definitions but this article is just ridiculous!Martinq22 14:47, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Theres an article about d4 ppl somewhere else but not as well done as this one —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.43.222.177 (talk) 18:54, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

There is no classism
To people who say that putting down scangers is classist: Shut up, it's not and saying that is, quite frankly, offensive to honest unemployed people who are trying to work and do the best they can in life in difficult circumstances. To be a scanger, you have to conform to the "stereotype". You have to wear the gel, the cap, you have to be violent, abusive and envious of people who are in a better situation than yourself. The only way it's classist is if you think all unemployed people waste their dole on pointless Civic mods and only a few idiots think that. There are plenty of good people who can't get a job and scangers aren't among them. --193.203.134.22 13:48, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Well said. In fact it is honest people from what another contributor has refereed to as "a low socio-economic group within Irish society" who have most reason to be disdainful towards Skangers 80.229.222.48 19:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Spides, millies &c.
The inclusion of the material about spides and their support of loyalism/republicanism is informative, but I can't help feeling that it doesn't fit in the "scanger" article. I don't know much about spides and millies—is there anyone who thinks they would be able to start an article on them? Or would a separate section in this article about "Spides and Millies" suffice?

Also, since people keep adding more bullet points to the part about the scanger accent which are not related to it, does anyone agree that I should create a separate section entitled "Distinguishing features of speech" to avoid confusion?

— Doshea3 20:05, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

The Belfast Spides are the same as the skangers, only are usually called different, so why would they have no places in the article? (86.131.164.88 20:08, 12 May 2006 (UTC))

semi-protection
I've just asked an admin to due to anon editors constantly removing the NPOV/orig tags - Ali-oops✍  19:32, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
 * That won't save you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.236.216.23 (talk • contribs)
 * It helps - Ali-oops✍ 06:26, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

The Monk.
Skangers do say knacker drinking. Everyone says knacker drinking.

Eh the reference to the monk being a drug dealer is still in the article and needs to be changed he was, as has been pointed out, an armed robber.

And those people that are up in arms about this not having sources need to chill out it's true and you all know it. it is also just a feckin joke stop taking it so seriously.

Wikipedia Editorial Policy too lax
Aye - and, as an encyclopedia, Wikipedia is a "feckin joke" when it's editorial policy allows the inclusion of utterly inane topics - such as Scanger.

Hobo chang ba 08:07, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

 * Sounds like a touch of information snobbery to me! What in your opinion should Wikipedia stick to?

Pictures
These were added, Image:Scumbags.jpg, Image:Chavscum.jpg and Image:Subtle shocker.jpg. I removed them as they could be anybody, anywhere and I also thought that they could be being used as an attack on the people pictured in them. Any thoughts? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:28, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Good choice. It looks like those photos are all from the same source; judging by the titles, my guess is that they were intended as an attack. Censored photos are okay, but these photos are just inappropriate for an encyclopedia. — Inkuh 22:04, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Nothing wrong with current picture as it is optically censored. Leave it alone.
 * The picture that was put back in was originally in the article. It was removed twice by User:Davie jamestow so he could insert his attacking pictures here and here. When I removed his picture after the second edit I forgot to put back the original picture, which is acceptable. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

What's the point of the Scanger page ?
It seems to me that this page was created to help establish a negative stereotype - an activity I believe should not be promoted by Wikipedia. There is a notion that a pre-existing concrete stereotype is being defined. Well, that's nonsense - A stereotype is never fixed in definition. That changes with time and the particular prejudices a defining party brings to the exercise. Why is it that the poorest and weakest in society are usually the ones being "defined" as members of these stereotypes? I believe negative stereotyping develops as a futile reaction to the insecurities inherent in a capitalist society - An amorphous group, e.g., scangers, is called into existence and then blamed for some or all of society's ills. Instead of articles trying to define the shape-shifting characteristics of amorphous groupings such as scangers, chavs, and all the rest, all that is necessary is a page on Wikipedia devoted to defining the phenomenon of negative stereotyping - why it exists - and indicating various methods employed to encourage a more progressive understanding of society's complexities.

Hobo chang ba 18:07, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

its not a stereotype, a stereotype would be "all black people rob" a skanger like say a yuppie is the name for people who dress act etc a certain way. the behavoir may be stereotypical of a certain class or it may not but dont confuse this with meanting the term to be stereotypical Skangers are often very anti-social and can be violent...i would hardly calll them the weakest and poorest anyway its a moder phenomenom and rightlyt deserves a page...perhaps a better one, but certainly a page so how about you try write something.... Owwmykneecap 13:53, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Point: to define the term Skanger.

 * Also it's not for Wikipedia to decide if they should be eradicated from society. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 16:29, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

 * It is very difficult to reply to you when you come back and change the wording and thus the meaning of your comments. As you did here. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:14, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Major Changes to Article
The term "scanger" does exist, and this subculture does deserve to be covered by Wikipedia, but the current article is a mass of unsourced "facts" and semi-anecdotal assertions. I've made a start by removing some of the more blatantly uncited parts, but much more still remains. Demiurge 13:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

This article does in no way conform to Wikipedia's principle of nuetral point of view. This article is simply appears to be a rant. Certain, supposedly "politically correct" terms are quite offensive such as "grouping" almost as if to imply so called scangers are a population group.Olockers

 * Recent changes have now ruined this article. Those who have rewritten it have done a very shameful job. The writing in the new paragraph on appearance is awful. The term 'scanger' is tied up with the tongue and cheek humor of Dublin. This article used to represent that. The editors have clearly misunderstood its purpose. Now it takes itself too seriously and as a result is far more confusing. What was wrong with cataloguing the contents of one of the many comedic stereotypes Irish people use? And how, in the name of God, can such information be cited? To act as if there is anything more to the term 'scanger' than anecdotes and unsourced "facts" is to make the term more derogatory. Those of you who are intent on ruining this article, please find new hobbies, or at least improve your writing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.135.57.246 (talk • contribs)
 * If it can't be cited, then it doesn't belong on Wikipedia. WP:V. Demiurge 09:31, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

 * The article hasn't improved any on the citing sources front, so in accordance with WP:BOLD I propose to replace it with a redirect to Chav, a (properly cited) article on the UK equivalent of scangers. Any objections? Demiurge 10:56, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, I object. A Scanger is not the same as a chav and to say so is like making Irish Traveller a redirect to Roma People. It's a stupid idea, if you don't mind me saying. Whereas there are cultural similarities, they aren't identical groups and are defined by their nation of residence. I also believe a lot was lost in the rewrite. I accept some POV had to be removed, but much informative information was simply deleted rather than improved, which is a shame. SoStrongly Oppose - Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - ga: - fr: - [[Image:Ichthus.svg|25px]] - 13:53, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose thought i had already replied to this...anyway Skanger far predates this modern chav phenomon Owwmykneecap 17:41, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

I was born and raised in the US, and never have I heard a single person refer to a condom as a "scumbag". We use the term for sleazy individuals, same as Ireland.
 * Butr that is where the word comes from... from harvard universtity dudes.

POV
This articial is pov from start to finish, i was tempted to norm for delete but the numberious reference from the irish press has turned my away from that course of action (Gnevin 16:46, 15 September 2006 (UTC))

How is the it POV? It adequately describes the stereotype which numerous delinquents conform to. It's only POV if scangers are an actual group or movement. --Onias 02:06, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Your use of delinquents in deny this artical shows your inherent negivate pov (Gnevin 13:02, 17 September 2006 (UTC))
 * Well, it would be a tiny encyclopedia that doesn't have people with certain prejudices and biases contributing. Anyway, being a delinquent is part of the scanger stereotype unless you count pseudo or wannabe scangers (that phenomenon is covered quite well in the article) and the article's purpose is to describe the stereotype. By the way, you wrote that I have "inherent negivate[sic] POV" as opposed to positive POV? So the article is supposed to glorify the scanger "culture" or something? Besides, I don't think I'm biased towards scangers. I've only occasionly come into contact with them; I'm naught but a simple country lad :) --Onias 14:51, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

POV
Of course this is a POV page. But it is no more so than anything related to any social class phenomenon. This is a real enetity, with a braod culture following similar lines. I live in an aprtment block with people like the aforementioned and I can fully vouch for the article's veracity. I reject the supposed Marxist accusation as it taints true Marxist philospohy and also casts aspersions on the author's article. all in all, it;s a good article. There is apronounceds sectarianism, anti-British feel to the Irish scanger. These people are vistims of their circumstances but no more so than anyone else is a victim (e..g rugger buggers). If it;s OK to lauhg at snobs, then it should be OK to laugh at scobies too. re: Spelling... it relaly doesn;t amtter whether you use a "k" or a "c" in Skanger/Scanger. Like most words' origin, it is verbal and not orthographic in origin.

Leave the article alone as it is. Well done ot the author. Let me also add that many sakngers do actually ahve internet. It is a misnomer to assue they don't.

"a stereotypical member of a youth subculture group in Dublin"
Why just Dublin? They're all over Ireland!

The vast majority out side of Dublin are mostly Skulchies (a culchie-scanger hybrid).

Use of the word 'scanger' in the narrative
Given that 'Scanger' is a derogatory term, should it be used in the narrative text? Is this kind of sentence correct: "Scangers have a reputation for anti-social behaviour."? The Nigger article wouldn't have a sentence like 'Niggers are known for laziness'. Know whorramean? Curtains99 15:15, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
 * "Scanger" is a collection of behavioural stereotypes, not a term of abuse for all working-class Dubliners, so I think it's OK. Demiurge 16:20, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Piercings
I think it shoud be noted that scangers only ever have their ears pierced.

VANDALISM!!!!
Some skangers vandalised this page beyond recognition.Its needs to be restored and protected.

Deletion
The article has been marked as unreferenced for several months, yet not one single acceptable source has been provided, and there are no signs of any. Therefore I have removed the uncited information from the article, in accordance with the WP:CITE policy. Please do not readd this information without sourcing it. Demiurge 14:38, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * To the people who are readding the unsourced content without discussion, please discuss on this talk page why your preferred version meets Wikipedia's content standards for verifiability, reliable sources and no original research. I'm leaving the page for the moment, but I'll revert again in a few days time if there's no serious attempt to meet Wikipedia standards in the meantime. Demiurge 16:28, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Unreferenced
Unsourced statements can be removed on sight. Where clean-up tags have brought attention to unreferenced information for some time without effect then unsourced information should be removed, regardless of how many media sources have mentioned the article, how long the article has been around or that the information is empirically obvious to people wandering the streets of Ireland.

If you're adding or restoring unsourced information, please include a reference. If you don't then don't get upset if it gets removed. Including something because you "know it to be true" is primary research which is not an acceptable source of wikipedia information. No-one is saying that all the information in every other article is sourced but there's tons of it here.

There are plenty of articles similar to this where this leads to revert warring. Those including the unsourced information without referencing it tend to lose those wars, often resulting in a much shorter article. Hope you guys can find some references.  Dei zio  talk 21:54, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * All unsourced material is gone. Two references added to prove that the term exists. Curtains99 19:09, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * For the people who were adding the unsourced material back in: I've marked the word "howiya" with a Fact tag; can we start out by trying to find a reliable source for this term? Once we've found that, we can then see about sourcing the rest of the removed material. Demiurge 19:12, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Undo, undo!
The ridicoulous shortening of the article was completly unnessacery. I know most of the statments were unsourced but I could garentee most were true and that you could find many sources backing it up. I realise it needed a clean-up and that several statements were biased or made-up but that's no need to delete 3/4 of the frigging article!

P.S. There needs to be a wiki mention of Sculchies. It's own artile or a section of the culchie or scanger atricles. Cheers.

--James Brown Monster, 16:31, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Totally agree. A lot of Wikipedia articles are ruined by people interpreting sensible and well intentioned editorial policies to their most ludicrous extremes and removing three quarters of an article over a few allegedly flawed lines is almost as destructive as any attempt at wiki-vandalism. Actually the original article Going back prior to mid-November 2006 was a lot better (I tried reverting it only to be face ridiculous accusations of breaching some apparently non-existent "consensus") Thanks to the actions of some overzealous editors the article has been reduced to little more than a stub more suited to a Wictionary entry than a proper Wikipedia article with a virtually all the work of previous wikipedia editors chucked away. No doubt the individuals responsible will respond attempting to justify their actions by quoting chapter and verse various wikipedia policies suitably over interpreted without any reference to common sense. But I think the fact that back in July 2006 the article boasted citation by at least four press articles. whereas there hasn’t been a single one since last November speaks volumes80.229.222.48 19:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Reverting back to much of last year's unsourced POV is not improving this article, IMO. And continually re-reverting without any dialog isn't helping, either. Nice to see you on the talk page now, though. Rather than simply reverting to the older article you believe to be more comprehensive, how about detailing here what you'd like to see be put back in and why. Then we can at least get some sort of buy-in from folks here? - A l is o n  ☺ 20:10, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

First off "continually" re-reverting ??? One revert and three minor edits hardly amounts to "continual re-reverting" much less a "revert war". Secondly the assertion that the article in its current state is somehow an improvment over the older more comprehensive edits is nothing more than your POV which while perfectly valid is obviously not shared by several other contributers here. Nor does it seem to be shared by the press since theyve stopped referring to this article. While the older article had its weaknesses surely it was better to deal with these through a series of minor edits/improvments rather than "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" through a wholesale butchering of the original article which left very little intact of what had been quite a well written article to which several contributers had obviously put a lot of work into. As for being unsourced POV It can (and has been) argued that this is very difficult to avoid entirely in an article of this type. Any treatment of a sociey's perceptions of a subculture is by its nature bound to be subjective and therfore it very difficult to maintain absolute NPOV or to provide citations to back up every statement. Therfore a certain amount of common sense is required while still adehering to NPOV and providing citations insofar as possible. 80.229.222.48 21:14, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:IAR proposal (revert to longer article)
Given that nobody has responded I now propose a WP:IAR on this article and for the reasons stated above a revert to the version of 19:12, 25 July 2007 or one of the long versions from last November. Anyone agree/disagree ?

 * Yes, I disagree per Alison above. Why don't you reproduce the material on the talk page you want to see added back and there can be some discussion on specifics. Rockpock  e  t  01:20, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Disagree. As before, please discuss what you want to see added here, provide cites and then we'll talk. The version back then was total original research & this is not what Wikipedia is about. - A l is o n  ❤ 04:43, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Ummm What is being proposed is a Wikipedia Ignore all rules. The whole point of an WP:IAR is that things like original research  and citations dont matter. What is the point in "reproducing the material on the talk page" Ive already suggested a revert to  the version of  19:12, 25 July 2007. The text of this version is available in the articles history. Reposting the whole thing here would clutter up the talk page and waste bandwidth/server space. 80.229.222.48 16:59, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't understand why IAR should be invoked to ignore WP:NOR - a core policy. What is so special about this particular article "that things like original research and citations dont matter." They do matter.  Rockpock  e  t  17:59, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
 * What is so special about this particular article "that things like original research and citations dont matter ?
 * Without rehashing all the reasons that have already been given above the fact that the article was far better (with had been cited in several press articles) prior to Nov 2006 before it was reduced to little more than a stub. The whole point of WP:IAR is a recognition that there are instances where rules like WP:NOR dont always lead to better articles. An article of this type being a case in point. 80.229.222.48 16:59, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Sourcing
Sorry, but this is clear-cut. No sources = WP:OR. IAR does not excuse any article from complying with content policies. Please ensure any further additions are reliably sourced.  Dei z  talk 00:27, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

 * IAR does not excuse any article from complying with content policies. Ummm surely WP:IAR. does exactly that ? As in this instance does WP:COMMON. A full article is far better than a glorified stub more suited to Wictionary. Ideally it would be nice to have fully cited material from verifiable sources but clerly this is not always practical An full article (suitably tagged to make the reader aware of potential issues with the content) is clearly the best option until sufficent citable and verifiable material becomes available to replace it. 194.165.161.222 (talk) 22:49, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

 * WP:OR and WP:RS largely trumps WP:CON

Where exactly does it say this ? 99% of this is WP:OR Thats still leaves (at least) 1% that isint so why revert when editing would be a better (or less worse) option) ? 194.165.177.159 (talk) 00:25, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Is sourcing really the issue here though ? Or is it being used as a fig-leaf by those misguided liberals (above) who object to the article (on "classist" grounds or somesuch nonsense) but having lost that argument are now using WP:OR as a red herring to destroy it by butchering it to a stub. Even if their obsessive behaviour is clearly not in line with WP:OWN 159.134.233.64 (talk) 23:15, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Yes, sourcing is really this issue here. The whole thing you reverted to is completely unsourced made-up conjecture, with nary a cite to its name. I've no idea where you're going with this "liberals" thing, other than to note that it's usually used as a throwaway phrase to attack a person who you happen to disagree with - A l is o n  ❤ 00:51, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Can we get back to discussing the real issues here namely WP:IAR, WP:CON WP:COMMON. and all the other points above which havent been addressed ? 194.165.160.139 (talk) 01:53, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
 * IAR allows edits which, although on shaky ground under an generally sound reading of one or more policies, improve the encyclopedia. However, IAR never allows editors to lose sight of the fact that WIkipedia is an encyclopedia, and as such should contain accurate, reliably sourced information. Without getting into any of the nonsense above, the issue remains: If something is unsourced, it can be removed by any editor and should not be reincluded without appropriate sourcing.   Dei z  talk 04:35, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

What happened this?
This used to be an excellent article with great length, humour and information. What happened? Why has so much of it been taken down? Iloveamerica2much (talk) 14:22, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Policy happened this. WP:V for a start.  Dei z  talk 04:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Scanger


text:
Bil Aka Kora

Bilgho Akaramata Kora, also known as Bil Aka Kora (born April 25, 1971, Pô, Burkina Faso) is a musician. He was one of the 17 children of Mahama and Teoura Bilgho. He is married to Astride, and is the father of Korane Prisca. Bil Aka Kora's sound draws upon traditional music from the language, instruments, rhythm and themes of the south of Burkina Faso.

Early life
While in high school, Kora joined a band called "les Missiles" where learned to play the guitar under the instruction of a Ghanaian called Salah Ben. Bil Aka Kora went to university to study math and physics, but was forced to drop out after his second year because he had neither the funds nor a scholarship to continue his studies. He then turned to music to earn a living. He began playing full-time in bars and nightclubs. In 1997, the Cultural Minister of Burkina Faso, Mahamoudou Ouedraogo, initiated "Les Grands Prix Nationaux de la Musique" (National Grand Prizes of Music), which is a national competition for Burkinabé musicians. Winning the first place at this competition with another musician, Kanzai, encouraged Bil Aka Kora to keep developing his musical talent.

Career
Bil Aka Kora was seen playing live on the TV shows La Nuit du Communicateur (Communicator's Night) and Prix Galian (Galian Prize). He recorded his first album, Douatou, in December 1998.

He was the musical director of several film documentaries and movies soundtracks during the 18th edition of FESPACO. In 2004, he played the role of the musician in the movie Sofia from director Aboubacar Diallo, and composed the movie soundtrack.

Kora owns a production studio called Djongo Diffusion. Bil Aka Kora declares that his purpose with the studio is to help young people who want to become musicians, even if they are not performing Djongo music.

Special musical style
Bil Aka Kora's version of Djongo is a fusion of Kassena and modern musical styles such as jazz, reggae, and blues. Djongo was originally the traditional music of the Gourounsi or Kassena (ethnic groups in the south of Burkina Faso), produced with a lot percussion instruments such as bendre, lunga, djembe, drums and flutes. Djongo is traditionally a dance of rivalry, vitality, strength and energy that Kassena men dance to impress and seduce girls or before going to war. Kora modernized Djongo and made it into a musical style appreciated throughout Burkina Faso, even though the lyrics are in Kassena, a language spoken by only 1% of the population.

Global tours
Bil Aka Kora has traveled to Belgium, France, Italy and Canada as well as many African countries like Togo and Benin. Travelling has enabled him to meet and exchange with others artists, like the Austrian musician Hubert von Goisern and the Canadian mixer Gerald La Roche.

Nominations and achievements

 * He has won the Gold Kunde twice in 2000 and 2005.
 * His video Dibayagui was selected the most beautiful in 2005 by the Burkinabe for the TV show, Clip d'or.

Kora says he owes his musical success to the support of his wife Astride, and his group, the Djongo System.

Discography
Bil Aka Kora recorded three albums. Most of his music has themes of social issues. His first album, Douatou ("Rain Maker") (1999), talks about the rain, a metaphor for the political issues of Burkina Faso. In his song "Wematou" ("God is My Father") he explains how society criticizes single moms and their children, but takes no fault with single dads and their children.

His second album, Ambolou ("What is Worthy for Me" ) (2001), has been called an album of maturity.

His most recent album is Dibayagui (2004). In this album, the song "Dibayagui" is for the Kassena warriors.

Future plans
Kora hopes to become more famous both in Africa and internationally. He hopes to win the KORA, a musical festival in South Africa. The KORA rewards talented African and African Diaspora musicians.

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

title: Bil Aka Kora


text:
Talk:Institutional dichotomy

I was unable to find any reference online, nor in a LoC search, to the essay in which this article claims that John Wolfenden proposed the idea of institutional dichotomy. As original research is discouraged on Wikipedia, could anyone provide some sources that discuss this topic? Otherwise this article should probably be deleted. —Miles (Talk) 17:45, Apr 9, 2005 (UTC)

'''Wolfenden, John. The Languages of Science, "The Gap--And the Bridge," p. 19-34. Fawcett Premier Book.''' Do your research man. --66.57.84.225 19:49, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)Crakahman

title: Talk:Institutional dichotomy


text: Talk:Presynaptic

title: Talk:Presynaptic


text:
Pär Zetterberg

Pär Johan Zetterberg (born 14 October 1970) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with R.S.C. Anderlecht, but also represented Falkenbergs FF, Charleroi, and Olympiacos during a career that spanned between 1986 and 2006. A full international between 1993 and 1999, he won 30 caps for the Sweden national team and scored six goals. He was awarded Guldbollen in 1997 as Sweden's best footballer of the year.

Club career
Zetterberg started off his footballing career with Falkenbergs FF in 1978, and made his senior debut for the team in Division 3 at the age of 15 in 1986. After having played seven games for Falkenberg, he joined Anderlecht as a youth player later in the same year. He made his debut for Anderlecht in the Belgian First Division in 1989 and had a loan spell at Charleroi between 1991 and 1993. He stayed with Anderlecht until the year 2000 and helped the team to four league titles during this time.

In 2000, Zetterberg joined Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague and helped the team to three straight league titles between 2000 and 2003. He returned to Anderlecht in 2003 and helped the team to another two league titles before retiring from professional football in 2006.

He appeared in around 300 games for Anderlecht during his two spells with the team.

International career
Zetterberg represented the Sweden U17 and U21 teams a total of 12 times, scoring two goals.

He made his full international debut for Sweden on 19 May 1993 in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Austria, replacing Johnny Ekström in the 70th minute of a 1–0 win. He scored his first senior goal for Sweden two weeks later on 2 June 1993 in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Israel, scoring the third goal in 5–0 win. Zetterberg helped Sweden qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but missed out on the tournament because of a serious knee injury.

He played in the qualification campaigns for UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but could not help Sweden qualify for the two tournaments despite scoring a total of three goals during the latter campaign.

Zetterberg had a falling out with the national team manager Tommy Söderberg in 1999, and declared that he would not return to the Sweden national team until Söderberg no longer managed the team. He would play his last ever international game for Sweden in a 1–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying win against Luxembourg at the age of 28. Zetterberg won a total of 30 caps during his career, scoring six goals.

Coaching career
On 21 March 2020, Zetterberg left RSC Anderlecht as assistant manager after a two year stint.

Personal life
Zetterberg has type 1 diabetes. He is the father of professional footballer Erik Zetterberg.

International

 * Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zetterberg goal.

Honours
Anderlecht '''
 * Belgian First Division: 1990–91, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2005–06
 * Belgian Cup: 1993–94
 * Belgian League Cup: 2000
 * Belgian Sports Team of the Year: 2000

Olympiacos
 * Super League Greece: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03

Individual
 * Belgian Golden Shoe: 1993, 1997
 * Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 1993, 1997, 1998
 * Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 1996–97
 * Swedish Golden Ball: 1997
 * Belgian Fair Play Award: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006
 * Platina Eleven (Best Team in 50 Years of Golden Shoe Winners) (2003)
 * The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever (2011)

title: Pär Zetterberg


text: User talk:24.177.253.190

title: User talk:24.177.253.190


text:
Talk:Anapaest

"There is an ancynt marinere and he stoppeth one of three"- anapestic?

...nope, loosely iambic. --Oolong 09:08, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

famous example
You ought to use more familiar examples (familiar to Americans, at least):

'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas and ALL through the HOUSE...

Oh SAY can you SEE by the DAWN'S early LIGHT? CharlesTheBold (talk) 06:30, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Let's try Shelley; everybody knows his work--or ought to: Like a CHILD from the WOMB, like a GHOST from the TOMB, I aRISE and unBUILD it aGAIN. --Svenska, 18 Mar 09

Educated stupidity
Oh, A Visit from St. Nicholas is “another example of trimeter” is it? Or is it? Honestly, you boorish Wikipedians wouldn’t know a trimeter from a millimeter! Though you may drown in the vast swamp of your ignorance, still you ought recognize that
 * Twas the night before Christ mas and all through the house

has not three, but four strong beats! Truly, you are all educated stupid! MartianDisciple (talk) 10:22, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

 * There is a template which goes like:
 * "Thank you for your suggestion. When you believe an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills.  New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to)."
 * I'm not one for just using such things but this would work if I were. J IM ptalk·cont 02:12, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Sourcing
Some of this article's content (specifically, the characterization of the cadence of anapaests as "galloping," itself an allusion to an anapaestic Tennyson poem, as well as the illustrative examples from Byron and A Visit From St. Nicholas) seems manifestly to have been derived from a book called The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry. Unless the author of those sections of the article can provide some other source(s) for the material, I'll update the article with a citation to the aforementioned book. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gestrin (talk • contribs) 22:38, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Autological word
The article makes a strange claim.
 * The English word anapaest (when pronounced ) is itself an anapaest (and hence autological). The Greek and Latin words ἀνάπαιστος and anapaestus only start as anapaests.

Even the pronunciation given clearly shows the stress on the first syllable, making it a dactyl, not an anapaest. And the comment about the Greek and Latin words are not really notable. I'm removing this paragraph. Feel free to restore it if there's another pronunciation I don't know about.

 * Sorry, I forgot to sign my previous comment. -WurdBendur (talk) 02:01, 5 January 2014 (UTC)

 * IPA transcriptions may provide a useful standard representation of the sounds of words, but stress patterns vary between dialects and regional variations of the same language. Ie. What sounds like a stressed syllable to many millions of English speakers may sound unstressed to many millions of others.  Also, anapest is primarily a prosodic term and given that the stressed/unstressed parts of words in poetry are often influenced by surrounding structure (anapestic feet can fall across multiple words and include parts of words for example) I find the sentence unhelpful. ~ Ljredux (talk) 16:44, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Anapaest


text:
User:TreveX

About me
I am a member of the Countering Systemic Bias WikiProject, working mainly on articles relating to East Africa in general and Uganda in particular. Some of my proudest moments include:
 * AIDS in Africa
 * The Presidents of Uganda series, with much arduous battling over Yoweri Museveni - now a featured article!
 * Lord's Resistance Army - now a featured article!
 * Acorn Computers Ltd - now a featured article!

 * Worst argument ever: Talk:New anti-Semitism
 * What I'm working on at the moment: Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom

Relative prominence of East African countries
Measured using Google search in en.wikipedia.org on 7/8/2005

 * 1) Ethiopia 17,800
 * 2) Kenya 17,000
 * 3) Sudan 15,200
 * 4) Uganda 13,100
 * 5) Tanzania 11,200
 * 6) Somalia 9,600
 * 7) Rwanda 9,550
 * 8) Burundi 8,090
 * 9) Djibouti 6,280
 * 10) Eritrea 5,650

title: User:TreveX


text: Category:Scottish mathematicians

title: Category:Scottish mathematicians


text:
Dolaucothi Gold Mines

The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (Mwynfeydd Aur Dolaucothi), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the Dolaucothi Estate, which is owned by the National Trust.

They are the only mines for Welsh gold outside those of the Dolgellau gold-belt, and are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. They are also the only known Roman gold mines in Britain, although it does not exclude the likelihood that they exploited other known sources in Devon in South West England, north Wales, Scotland and elsewhere. The site is important for showing advanced Roman technology.

Roman mining methods
Archaeology suggests that gold extraction on this site may have started sometime in the Bronze Age, possibly by washing of the gold-bearing gravels of the river Cothi, the most elementary type of gold prospecting. Sextus Julius Frontinus was sent into Roman Britain in AD 74 to succeed Quintus Petillius Cerialis as governor of that island. He subdued the Silures, Demetae and other hostile tribes of Roman Wales, establishing a new base at Caerleon for Legio II Augusta and a network of smaller Roman forts fifteen to twenty kilometres apart for his Roman auxiliary units. During his tenure, he probably established the fort at Pumsaint in west Wales, largely to exploit the gold deposits at Dolaucothi. Frontinus later restored the aqueducts of Rome and wrote the definitive treatise on 1st century Roman aqueducts, the two-volume De aquaeductu.

That gold occurred here is shown by the discovery of a hoard of gold ornaments in the 18th century. Objects found included a wheel brooch and snake bracelets, so named because they were soft enough to be coiled around the arm for display. All the objects are now held in the British Museum, and displayed in the Romano-British gallery. A sample of gold ore was found at the site by Henry De la Beche in 1844, confirming the presence of gold.

Evidence from the fortification (known as Luentinum from details given in Ptolemy's Geographia) and its associated settlement show that the Roman army occupied the fort from c. AD 78 to c. 125. However, coarse ware and Samian ware pottery recovered from a reservoir (Melin-y-Milwyr) within the mine complex show that activity at the mines continued until the late 3rd century at least. Since Ptolemy's map dates to about 150, it is likely that it continued being worked until the end of the 3rd century if not beyond.

Hydraulic mining
The Romans made extensive use of water carried by several aqueducts and leats, the longest of which is about 7 mi from its source in a gorge of the river, to prospect for the gold veins hidden beneath the soil on the hillsides above the modern village of Pumsaint. Small streams on Mynydd Mallaen, the Annell and Gwenlais, were used initially to provide water for prospecting, and there are several large tanks for holding the water still visible above an isolated opencast pit carved in the side of the hill north of the main site. The larger aqueduct from the Cothi crosses this opencast, proving the opencast to be earlier.

The water was stored in the tanks and then released suddenly, the wave of water sweeping away the soil to reveal the bedrock and any gold-bearing veins beneath. Pliny the Elder gives a dramatic account in his Naturalis historia of the method, possibly derived from his experiences in Spain. The method is known as hushing and survived in use until the 19th century in Britain, and into the 20th century in the goldfields of Africa. A not dissimilar method is used today in exploiting alluvial tin deposits, and is known as hydraulic mining. A smaller scale version of the same method is placer mining, and both may have been used to work alluvial placer deposits next to the river Cothi itself, judging by a large aqueduct which tapped the river a mile or so upstream, and enters the site at a low level compared with the other known aqueducts on the site. The water supply of the aqueducts was also used for washing crushed gold ore, and also possibly driving stamping mills for comminution of the ore (Lewis and Jones, 1969).

One of the first aqueducts was built at a high level on the east slope of Allt Cwmhenog and tapped a small stream about 2 mi away. There is a large tank at its end, where it sweeps around the brow of the hill onto the west side of the ridge. A gold vein must have been discovered here, because there is a large opencast below the tank. Yet the larger and longer aqueduct (with a gradient of 1 in 800) taps the River Cothi about 7 mi to the north-east and traverses the same opencast, so must be later in date.

By contrast, several tanks found on the site did not show a vein, so were abandoned. The tank shown at right occurs not far from the north opencast and was probably intended to find the limits of the deposit located in the adjacent opencast (Tank A in the schematic diagram below). It clearly didn't find the vein, and was thus abandoned. The water supply may have been obtained from a small leat run from a stream up the main Cothi valley before the much larger aqueduct was constructed.

Opencast mining
Prospecting was successful and several opencasts are visible below the large tanks built along its length. The only exception is the final and very large tank, below which are two reservoirs. It is likely that this complex was used for washing powdered ore to collect the gold dust.

More leats and tanks can be found below the line of the main aqueduct, some of which are shown on the map of the site. They surround the lip of the very large opencast and the tank shown at right is one which was built on the main aqueduct. It was successful in finding a vein, judging by the opencast below, but must have been modified later to feed a washing table built to the left-hand side (near the figure in the picture), probably to wash the crushed ore from the same opencast working. It is labelled Tank C in the schematic diagram. Similar tanks occur below as the Romans followed the large vein down to the road and the main opencast. Most of the opencast workings must therefore be Roman in origin, since one of the aqueducts has been confirmed by carbon 14 dating as to predate all modern workings. Just by the road itself the Carreg Pumsaint has been erected in the space beside a large mound, now thought to be a dump of waste material from mining activities.

The existing ponds above and below the minor road from Pumsaint to Caeo, were probably part of a cascade for washing ore, the upper tank having yielded large quantities of Roman pottery from c. AD 78 to at least 300 (Lewis, 1977; Burnham 2004). The upper pool is known as Melin-y-Milwyr, or the soldiers' mill, an intriguing name that implies that watermills may have been used here during the Roman period. Alternatively, it may have been a sequence of washing tables for the crushed gold ore. A large-scale mill complex is known from Barbegal in southern France, where no less than 16 mills (in two lines of 8 each) were built into the side of a hill and supplied with water from a single aqueduct. There were two lines of parallel overshot mills, the outflow from one feeding the next below. The mill supplied flour to the region. Moreover, Roman engineers used sequences of reverse overshot water-wheels to dewater mines, and the deep workings at Dolaucothi produced a fragment of such a wheel during the 1930s when deep mining operations were resumed. Sequences of such wheels increased the lift, and one extensive sequence of 16 wheels was found in old Roman mine workings on the Rio Tinto river in the 1920s. The wheels were arranged in pairs and could lift water about 80 ft from the bottom of the mine there.

Melin-y-Milwyr

The tank at the head of the small road from Pumsaint to Caio was thought to be modern since it still holds water. However, when the level of the water was low in 1970, it yielded large quantities of Roman pottery which show that it is of Roman origin and built early during their exploitation of the mines. The section shows that it was connected to a smaller tank just below the modern road by a drystone culvert in a cascade. The lower tank also holds water but is in an advanced state of eutrophication. The collection of fragments included Samian ware and coarse ware from over 100 separate pots, and must have fallen into the reservoir when the mines were in full operation. Analysis of the pottery fragments showed a distribution of ages from the late 1st century AD through to the end of the 4th century. Since the fort and fortlet under the present village of Pumsaint ends in the middle of the 2nd century, it shows that mining continued for a long time after the military evacuation.

It implies that there is a large mining settlement in the vicinity of the village of Pumsaint which has yet to be found.

The exact function of the cascade is related to the methods of extracting the final traces of gold from the crushed ore. There were probably washing tables between the two tanks so that a gentle stream of water could be used to wash the ore on the rough surface of the tables, the finer gold being caught in the rougher parts of the tables, and removed at the end of the process. The cascade would probably have been built towards the end of the 1st century when underground mining commenced following opencast development.

Carreg Pumsaint

This site yields some of the earliest evidence anywhere for the Roman use of water-powered trip hammers to crush ore (Burnham 1997). The ore was probably crushed on the famous Carreg Pumsaint, a block of stone erected many years ago before the Romans had left the site. There are parallels with similar stones at other ancient Roman mines in Europe, and the hollows in the block were formed by a trip hammer probably worked by a water wheel or a "water lever". Such a water-powered hammer would have been moved regularly as each hollow became too deep, so producing the series of overlapping oval hollows in its surfaces. The hammer head must have been of substantial size judging by the width of the hollows shown in the drawing. The stone is the only example so far discovered at the site, but is not unique, and Burnham refers to others of similar shape from Spain. As one side of the stone became worn, it was simply turned to reveal another side, so the block could be re-used several times. When found years after the Romans had left, in the Dark Ages, it gave rise to the legend of the five saints, who left the impression of their heads in the stone after being found asleep by the devil.

Deep mining
They followed the veins with shafts and tunnels, some of which still exist on the site. The remains of Roman dewatering machines were found during the 1880s and the 1920s when the Rio Tinto mines in Spain were being mined by opencast methods. At Dolaucothi, a similar discovery was made in 1935 during mining operations, and it included part of a reverse overshot water wheel which is now in the National Museum of Wales. It was found with burnt timbers, suggesting that fire-setting was used to help break up the hard quartz in which the gold was trapped. A similar but larger wheel was rediscovered during mine operations at Rio Tinto in Spain, and is now in the British Museum, where it is displayed prominently in the Roman gallery. The Spanish example included a sequence of no fewer than 16 reverse overshot water wheels, each pair of wheels feeding water to the next set in the sequence. Each wheel would have been worked like a treadwheel, from the side rather than at the top, but it would have been a hard and lonely activity for the miners working these wheels lifting water from the mine bottom. Since the fragment of a reverse overshot water wheel was found 160 feet below any known adit or stope, it must have been part of a similar sequence at Dolaucothi to that in Spain. Gold mining was sophisticated and technologically advanced at Dolaucothi, suggesting that the Roman army itself pioneered exploitation at the site. The construction of such dewatering machines is described by the Roman engineer Vitruvius writing in 25 BC, and their use for irrigation and lifting water in thermae was widespread.

At another part of the mine, on Penlan-wen, water would have been in short supply; a siphon could have transferred water from the main aqueduct or one of its tanks, but remains unproven. The vein carries along the hill for some considerable distance, and has been trenched out. This method involved excavating the vein vertically down while keeping the top open. However, ventilation becomes a problem when fire-setting is used, so three long adits were driven in from the hillside to the north. They are much wider than normal galleries, suggesting that their primary purpose was to allow circulation of air through the trench and permit safe fire-setting. The upper two adits are still open to the trench, but the lowest one is currently blocked.

Similar sites
Although there is nothing directly comparable with Dolaucothi in Britain in terms of the extensive hydraulic systems, there are many other known Roman mines in Britain, some of which seem to show traces of hydraulic activity. They include the extensive remains of lead mining at Charterhouse in the Mendips, Halkyn in Flintshire, and many areas in the Pennines. Dolaucothi is most directly comparable with gold mines in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania in modern Romania, at Rosia Montana, and with the Roman gold mines in north-west Spain, such as the very much larger site of alluvial mining at Las Médulas and Montefurado. The Romans may have used slave labour taken from the local area to work the mine, although the army itself was probably most directly involved, especially for their engineering skills in surveying and building aqueducts, reservoirs and water tanks or cisterns.

There is some evidence that some of the gold was worked at the site, judging by the finished brooch shown above, as well as other finished gold products. A part engraved jewel has also been found in the vicinity. Such activities would have needed skilled, not slave labour. No workshops or furnaces have yet been found, but it is likely that both existed on site. Ingots of gold would have been easier to transport than dust or nuggets, although a high-temperature refractory furnace will have been needed to melt the gold, which has a melting point of 1064 °C. Pliny mentions such special furnaces in his Naturalis historia. A workshop will have been vital for building and maintaining mining equipment such as the drainage wheels, flumes for washing tables, shuttering for aqueducts, crushing equipment and pit-props. Official mints would have produced gold coins, a key component of Roman currency. After the military occupation the mine may have been taken over by Romano-British civilian contractors some time after 125, although the final history of the site has yet to be determined.

Later history
Following the Roman departure from Britain in the 5th century, the mine lay abandoned for centuries. There was a revival in the 19th century and attempts to make successful ventures at the site in the early 20th century, but they were abandoned before the First World War. In the 1930s a shaft was sunk to 430 ft in an attempt to locate new seams. Falling into disrepair and unsafe due to flooding at its lower levels, the mine finally closed in 1938. It was during this period that ancient underground workings were found, and the fragment of the dewatering mill discovered within. The extensive surface remains, especially the traces of hydraulic mining, were to be discovered only in the 1970s by intensive fieldwork and surveying.

Between 1975 and 2000 the lease to the underground workings at Dolaucothi was held by Cardiff University. Students from the School of Engineering were largely responsible for the renovation of the underground workings that were made safe for tourists. The mine was extensively used as a training mine for Mining Engineering and Exploration Geology students under the supervision of Alun Isaac, Alwyn Annels and Peter Brabham. Students from the School of Earth Sciences carried out an active gold exploration programme using surface and underground diamond drilling techniques, geochemical soil sampling and geophysics. Geological exploration was carried out by students using both surface and underground drilling methods. The ore processing waste tailings dam was also sampled, mapped geophysically and assessed for its Gold potential. The mine was extensively mapped and a library of Dolaucothi data is still held at the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences at Cardiff University. Cardiff University finally gave up the lease to the underground workings in 2000 due to the closure of its BSc Mining Engineering degree course. Photographs of surface and underground activities from the Cardiff University archives can be found from the links below.

Although there is yet no comparable site in Britain, it is likely that field work will locate other mines, simply by tracing the remains of aqueducts and reservoirs, and often, if not usually, aided by aerial photography. Physical remains like tanks and aqueducts are often recognised by the shadows cast by the structures in oblique lighting conditions. Thus Tank A was first seen in early morning light when the sun's rays cast an oblique light across the hill (Allt Cwmhenog) on which the structure is situated.

Other local mines
The lead mines of Nantymwyn near Rhandirmwyn village some 8 mi to the north may also have been first worked by the Romans, judging by hushing tanks and aqueducts found there in the 1970s both from fieldwork and aerial photographs. They occur at the top of the mountain called Pencerrig-mwyn, and the veins were followed underground by several tunnels leading to the workings. Inside, the veins have been removed and debris carefully stacked within the stope. The workings lie far above the later modern mines and processing plant (now derelict). The later mine was once the largest lead mine in Wales.

Other local sites
There are Roman forts at Llandovery and Bremia near Llanio, and as of 2003, in Llandeilo.

National Trust
The National Trust has owned and run the Dolaucothi gold mine and Dolaucothi Estate since 1941 when it was bequeathed by descendants of the Johnes family who had owned the mine and large surrounding estate since the late 16th century. The University of Manchester and University of Cardiff were active in exploring the extensive remains in the 1960s and 1970s and Lampeter University is now closely involved with the archaeology of the site. The National Trust organises guided tours for visitors, showing them the mine and the Roman archaeology.

title: Dolaucothi Gold Mines


text:
Kara Zediker

Kara Zediker is an American actress born in Kankakee, Illinois. She guest starred on Star Trek: Enterprise as the young T'Pau in the fourth-season episodes "Awakening" and "Kir'Shara". She has also guest-starred on such shows as Charmed, The King of Queens, Becker, Joan of Arcadia and 24.

Biography
Zediker is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

She appeared as Elizabeth Nash in the first season of the Fox television series 24, in Rock Star in 2001 as Marci (Rob's girlfriend), and in the role of T'Pau in Star Trek: Enterprise. The character had previously been played by Celia Lovsky in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time", and Zediker portrayed a younger version of that character. One of the reasons why she was cast was because the producers felt that she looked similar to Lovsky.

title: Kara Zediker


text:
Sergei Chetverikov

Sergei Sergeevich Chetverikov (Серге́й Серге́евич Четверико́в; 6 May 1880 – 2 July 1959) was a Russian biologist and one of the early contributors to the development of the field of genetics. His research showed how early genetic theories applied to natural populations, and has therefore contributed towards the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory.

Between the two World Wars, Soviet biological research managed to connect genetics with field research on natural populations. Chetverikov led a team at the Nikolai Koltsov Institute of Experimental Biology in Moscow, and in 1926 produced what should have been one of the landmark papers of the modern synthesis. However, published only in Russian, it was largely ignored in the English-speaking world (though J.B.S. Haldane possessed a translation).

Chetverikov influenced several Russian geneticists who later came to work in the West, such as Theodosius Dobzhansky and Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky, both of whom continued to work in a similar style. The significance of Chetverikov's work came to light much later, by which time the evolutionary synthesis was virtually complete.

He was arrested by OGPU in 1929 and sent to exile to Yekaterinburg for five years. He later moved to Nizhny Novgorod and organized the Department of Genetics at Gorky University. He was dismissed from his post at the behest of Lysenko in 1948.

title: Sergei Chetverikov


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Highstead Arboretum

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was keep. —Korath (Talk) 03:37, Apr 15, 2005 (UTC)

Highstead Arboretum
non notable stub. --Jonathan Christensen 17:51, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, judging by google, it's the #1 arboretum in Redding, Connecticut. And judging by the article, it's the only interesting thing in the area... Kappa 18:36, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Weak delete. I know several people whose gardens are more notable. And Kappa, how many other arboretums are there in Redding, Connecticut? --Halidecyphon 18:56, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Not sure, is that relevant? Kappa 19:04, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I guess I just meant that it's not particularily notable for something to be "the #1" when there's only one... --Halidecyphon 19:14, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I think uniqueness is also a good test of notability. Incidentally, it appears to be the #3 arboretum in Connecticut after Connecticut College Connecticut College Arboretum and the Bartlett Arboretum, followed closely by the Dinosaur State Park arboretum. Kappa 20:01, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * The third best arboretum in Conneticut? I will refrain from sarcastic comment... I guess once someone writes articles on the first two, i'll consider changing my vote. Halidecyphon 20:41, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Actually I found that Connecticut College Arboretum is already there. Kappa 20:58, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Weak keep Possibly just above the bar for notability. Might be more encouraged by some expansion. (Trust me, I'm the number one 'Shane' in Villa Park).
 * Keep They seem to do some publishing as well. Rx StrangeLove 21:14, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Meelar (talk) 01:22, Apr 10, 2005 (UTC)
 * Weak keep.DS 01:33, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Third best arboretum in Conneticut makes it notable in my book. Dave the Red (talk) 05:22, Apr 10, 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge into Redding, Connecticut and delete - Skysmith 07:26, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Why would you want to delete and not redirect? Kappa 10:21, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. It's notable enough that it may be useful for some.CatCrofts 05:12, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Wikipedia:Peer review/Acorn Computers Ltd/archive1

Acorn Computers Ltd
This may be approaching feature article status in terms of article depth/quality. Particularly interested in comments on the structure. Should the number of sub-headings be consolidated or not? TreveX 17:52, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Sub-headings
Since I'm the one guilty of the current structure, I'll state my reasons. The article has become quite long and probably must be broken up by headings. Since Wikipedia allows multi-levels sections, I don't think we should be afraid of using them. The best demonstration of the thinking behind the heading structure is the section on Acorn's financial troubles. One of the reasons for these troubles was Acorn's heavy outlay on R&D projects. So having the R&D Expenditure as a sub-section of financial problems makese sense to me - and then having the various things this expenditure was going on as further sub-sections actually makes the table of contents itself a mini-history of Acorn. Otherwise, the "Supplying the Electron" section goes to the same depth as "Financial problems" and the structure disappears and you just get a list of headings. In the article the subsections don't make all THAT much difference, but they make the table of contents actually DO something in itself rather than be just a list of links to various titles, which is what it would be if the headings and sub-headings went. lmno 23:51, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * It is nice to see the history of one of the major players in computers documented. I have the impression that a lot of effort was put in this article to make it factually correct. Discussion on the talk page indicates that some authors even communicated with the people involved to verify the history of Acorn. Some problems that I came across are:

 * The lead section doesn't invite me to read on. Expand it a bit. Why was Acorn special, why do I want to know everything about it? Mention ARM for example.
 * I liked this gem: "And when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!" but it is not really neutral. Grep for exclamation marks to find more
 * The use of era is too dramatic in the section titles.
 * Overall, the acticle could do with a copy-edit to make the text flow better before nominating it at FAC. The prehistory section for example is a bit dense in information.

 * The peer review request itself more or less suggests that there are too much sub-headings. I agree with lmno that the article needs sub-headings (almost all articles of this size do) but the amount of them in this article is at first glance excessive. Indeed, the table of contents serves as a mini-history. However, only after you have read the article and understand what all the headings refer to. I don't think that it is very helpful when first reading the article. Instead, the size of the table of contents may discourage readers. An unfortunate additional problem is that the rendering of sub-headings at level 2, 3 and 4 are not very clearly distinct in the main body of the text (at least not with my konqueror browser). Of course, this is more a problem of the wikimedia software than of the article. Nevertheless, I think these are reasons enough to reduce the number of headings. Some suggestions:

 * the first heading "Company history: from CPU to CPUs" can go, so that all sub-headings below go up one level. Almost the entire article falls under this heading and as such it is more like an alternative article title instead of a heading. A nice side effect is that the article then uses heading levels 1,2 and 3 which are more clearly distinguishable.
 * Merge "Prehistory" and "CPU Ltd". They both deal with the history of Acorn. A separation in paragraphs is sufficient, no need for sub-headings.
 * The section "1983: Flotation" is small, can it be merged?

 * Generally, I would try to avoid sections that are one (small) paragraph in length. Paragraph delimeters are sufficient to indicate structure. If you feel it is necessary to use these headings to make the subject clear then this is an indication that the flow of the main text itself is not in good shape. For example: the headings "Proton" and "Tube" that fall under "Research and development" can be deleted. Rename "Research and development" to something like "Development of the Proton and Tube".
 * Jan van Male 13:41, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * It is nice to see so many comments addressed (within 24 hours!). I'd say the first half of the article is now `ready' (as if that is ever the case on wiki). The second half of the article could use copy-editting to reduce some POV and add some clarifications. I'd like to invite others to add their comments. Jan van Male 14:32, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)


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User:Pezzin

Hi, my name is Christian Pezzin, and I am trying to get used to this really cool project.

I mainly work on the it.wiki but sometimes it happens to have a look over here, as well.

So, take care and Go WiKi Go!

Christian

cs:Wikipedista:Pezzin de:Benutzer:Pezzin hu:User:Pezzin it:Utente:Pezzin

title: User:Pezzin


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Jonathan Philbin Bowman

Jonathan Philbin Bowman (6 January 1969 – 3 March 2000) was an Irish journalist and radio broadcaster.

Life and career
Born in Dublin in 1969, Jonathan Philbin Bowman, the son of the historian and broadcaster John Bowman, was educated at Sandford Park School and at Newpark Comprehensive School. He chose to leave formal education in his early teens, a decision he announced on The Late Late Show.

He mostly worked as a freelance journalist. He co-presented a radio show The Rude Awakening on Dublin's FM104 with Scott Williams, George Hellis and Margaret Callanan for two years between 1993 and 1994 before joining the Sunday Independent newspaper as a columnist. He later presented television programmes on RTÉ, such as the quiz show Dodge the Question.

Bowman died in a fall at his home on Fitzgerald Street in Harold's Cross, Dublin, on 3 March 2000. Tributes were paid to him by party political leaders. He was survived by his parents, his sister Emma, his brothers Abie and Daniel and his only son Saul Philbin Bowman (Saul Mehigan).

title: Jonathan Philbin Bowman


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User:Msiddalingaiah/Lisp

Wikipedia: Lisp

 * Jatha
 * Practical common Lisp
 * Parsing binary files

Quote
Quote defers evaluation:

(quote (+ 1 4)) ; returns the list (+ 1 4), not 5

' is shorthand:

'(+ 1 4)

Set
Set assigns the value of the first argument to the value of the second argument:

(set 'x 1) ; sets the symbol x to value 1 (set (quote x) 1) ; same thing (set 'y 'x) ; sets the symbol y to symbol x (set y 2)  ; x now has value 2

Setq is a synonym for (set '):

(setq x 1) ; sets the symbol x to value 1

Lambda
Lambda creates a function object:

(set 'f (lambda (a b) (+ a b)))

Defun
Defines a function:

(defun funny (a b) (+ a b))

Funcall
Calls a function object with known number of arguments:

(funcall f 4 5) ; returns 9

Apply
Apply calls a function object. The arguments to the function are supplied as a list:

(apply f '(2 3)) ; quote the list to avoid evaluating the arguments (apply f (quote (2 4))) ; same thing

Function
Function gets the function object bound to a name:

(function funny) ; returns function object (set 'g (function funny)) (apply g '(5 6)) ; returns 11 (apply (function funny) '(7 8)) ; returns 15
 * 1) 'funny         ; same thing

title: User:Msiddalingaiah/Lisp


text: File:TINCarmedlove.jpg

title: File:TINCarmedlove.jpg


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Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum

The Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum is an arboretum of 13 ha, located at 101 Ferry Road, Bristol, Rhode Island, midway between Newport and Providence, Rhode Island, on Bristol Harbor with views over Narragansett Bay. It includes a mansion, with a 4 ha lawn and over 300 species of woody plants in its arboretum and gardens, including both native and exotic species.

The Mansion and its grounds were established in the 1890s by Augustus and Bessie Van Wickle as their summer retreat. Augustus Van Wickle was from Hazleton, Pennsylvania, with a fortune in the coal-mining business and a donor of the Van Wickle Gates at Brown University.

Mansion
The mansion was built in Queen Anne style in 1895, then rebuilt in 1906 as Blithewold II after being destroyed by fire. The slow-moving fire within the walls could not be extinguished, but much of the furnishings and other objects were able to be removed from the house. Blithewold II was designed in English Country Manor style by Walter Kilham of Kilham & Hopkins, Boston. In 1936 Marjorie Van Wickle Lyon inherited Blithewold, where she lived until her death in 1976 at the age of 93. By her bequest, ownership of Blithewold passed to the Heritage Foundation of Rhode Island (later known as the Heritage Trust of Rhode Island). Since 1978 the house has been open as a public museum, restored to its appearance circa 1910, with an extensive collection of the Van Wickle's personal possessions, including furniture, decorative arts, letters and other writings, Marjorie's original watercolors, and an extensive collection and display of women's dresses and other costumes of the period.

Grounds
Today's grounds are primarily the design of John DeWolf, and date between 1896 and 1913. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Blithewold's grounds include species from North America, Europe, China and Japan. Specimen trees include magnolia (Magnolia spp.), linden (Tilia spp.), Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), various oaks (Quercus spp.) and beeches (Fagus spp.). Other notable trees include a weeping Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum 'Pendula'), Hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata), Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), and Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica). The grounds also include English Yews (Taxus baccata) and Eastern Junipers (Juniperus virginiana), as well as what is claimed to be the largest Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) on the East Coast, planted in 1911, and currently about 100 ft tall.

Blithewold's Bamboo Grove covers an area nearly the size of a tennis court, and is planted with Phyllostachys aureosulcata, the Yellow-groove bamboo, which grows to 10 m tall.

Blithewold has maintained contacts with the Arnold Arboretum ever since 1926, when staff botanists visited Blithewold to see the Chinese toon tree (Toona sinensis) in flower for what was believed to be the first time in the United States.


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Make believe

Make believe, also known as pretend play or imaginative play, is a loosely structured form of play that generally includes role-play, object substitution and nonliteral behavior. What separates play from other daily activities is its fun and creative aspect rather than being an action performed for the sake of survival or necessity. Children engage in make believe for a number of reasons. It provides the child with a safe setting to express fears and desires. When children participate in pretend play, they are integrating and strengthening previously acquired knowledge. Children who have better pretense and fantasy abilities also show better social competence, cognitive capabilities, and an ability to take the perspective of others. In order for the activity to be referred to as pretend play, the individual must be intentionally diverting from reality. The individual must be aware of the contrast between the real situation and the make believe situation. If the child believes that the make believe situation is reality, then they are misinterpreting the situation rather than pretending. Pretend may or may not include action, depending on whether the child chooses to project their imagination onto reality or not.

History
The interest in pretend play advanced through three significant stages, though it has likely existed since the dawn of humanity, as children tend to do this naturally on their own, without coercion, or needing a term to describe what they are doing. The initial stage was during the 1920s and 1930s when research in play had gained popularity. During this time, there were little or no empirical findings specifically about pretend play. A revival of interest starting in the late 1940s signified the second stage. The new mission was to find how pretend play related to the developing personality of a child. A common hypothesis during this period was that pretend behavior projected a child's inner feelings and reflected their experiences in their everyday lives. The most recent stage, which persists until today, began in the 1970s. Research in this stage is greatly influenced by Jean Piaget's studies and theories, either in terms of finding evidence to support it or to falsify it. Despite the cultural jargon on the issue, the history of playing make believe may indeed have originated at the dawn on consciousness, itself.

Critical period
The act of pretending is believed to be inbuilt because it occurs universally and begins promptly between the ages of 18 and 24 months (Lillard, Pinkham & Smith, 2011) . The prevalence and frequency of pretense increases between 1 and a half to 2 and a half years of age. The first stage of pretense generally starts with object substitution. By 3 years, a child can easily distinguish between real life events and pretense. Children within 3 to 6 years, who have acclimated to pretend play, show an increase in interactive pretend play. This means that they participate in self-other relations, giving the doll a more active role (e.g., driving a car) instead of a passive recipient role (e.g., being fed). At the age of three, children's pretense remains close to their real life experiences. A three-year-old girl may pretend that she and her mother are going grocery shopping. In this case, both her role in the relationship and the activity she is taking part in are literal. There is then an increase in the mastery of role play within the ages of 4 and 5 years. During the fifth year, the child shows ability to incorporate forms of relationships into their play. They are no longer limited to the role of child, instead, they can be a parent or a spouse, or expand further by adopting the role of members in society such as policemen, doctors and so forth.

Role-play

When children participate in social role enactment, or role-play, they are portraying the identity or certain traits of another individual. This includes representing both external and internal qualities. When a child role-plays alongside one or more other individuals, they are engaging in an activity called sociodramatic play. Sociodramatic play emerges at around three years, and sometimes earlier for children who have older siblings. During its early stage, it follows a very strict script, sticks closely to existing roles and includes more parallel play than interactive play. By the age of 5, children begin to deviate from the strict roles and scripts. They start to integrate more imagination into their roles and build off of their partner's creations.

Role play exists in three forms. Relational role-play, usually the first to emerge, is based on relationships that the child observes or experiences. Such relationships include mother and child, father and child, husband and wife, etc. Functional role-play emphasizes on the jobs and actions that the character usually performs. Character role play portrays the character's stereotypical features usually determined by society's representation of them.

Pretend play allows for children in low socio-economic backgrounds not to miss out on important developmental milestones, as all a child needs to pretend is their own imagination. Skills that would otherwise require being fostered by educational toys may be developed through pretend play since it is not limited by the child's financial background.

Complex forms of role-play involve the ability of the child to represent another individual's mental representation. This skill appears when a child is around 5 years of age. This strengthens the child's social ability by allowing him/her to take another individual's perspective and can therefore understand and cooperate with others.

Nonliteral actions
Five recurring behaviors in pretend play that indicate its nonliteral aspect will be explained. The first behavior is the tendency of performing a task without the presence of a necessary instrument, such as pretending to make a call without using an actual phone. The second behavior is substitution, in that the child might use a block rather than a telephone to make a phone call. The third behavior, discussed in the section above, is when a child takes the role of another individual and performs their usual actions, such as pretending to be a firefighter and extinguishing a fire. The fourth behavior is when a certain action results in an unrealistic outcome, such as a child pretending to clean the room by simply snapping a finger. The fifth behavior will be discussed in depth in the following section and it involves giving an inanimate object, such as a doll, animate qualities, such as talking and drinking tea.

It is important for a child to always understand that pretense is isolated from the real world. This means that the child must understand the nonliteral aspect of pretend play and understand that the changes made during pretend play are temporary. Children must be aware that once the play session ends, the nonliteral aspects of pretend play such as role taking and substituted objects also cease to exist. One form of pretend play widely observed in children is the creation of imaginary companions. Imaginary companions can be entirely in the child's imagination or they can be based on a doll or stuffed toy that portrays animate qualities. About one to two-thirds of children under 7 years of age have an imaginary companion that later diminishes as the child ages. The significance of this form of pretend play has not yet been determined; however, there have been some speculations that it supports children's fledgling social skills.

Toys and props
In a study by Welsch, children provided with props showed sophisticated levels of play. In pretend play, any object in the child's surroundings can be used as a prop.

Substitution
Any object can be integrated into pretend play as a representation of another object. This kind of representation is referred to as substitution. The ability to substitute one object for another emerges when a child is about 2 years old. In early instances of substitution, children are only capable of substituting objects that either have a similar structure or a similar function. For example, a child can pretend that a pen is a toothbrush, or that a television remote is a telephone. A pen has roughly the same shape as a toothbrush, while the remote has buttons that function similarly to a telephone. Around the age of 3, the child begins to master substitution and no longer needs physical or functional similarity between the actual object and the substitute. The child also becomes capable of substitution without the use of a concrete object, thus depending solely on imagination (e.g. putting their palm to their ear and having a conversation, indicating a phone call). The ability to hold more than one substitution at a time also increases, meaning that the child can pretend to be on the phone, walking a dog, and sipping juice all at once.

There are two types of substitutions. Symbolic substitution is when one object is used to represent another, such as when a coach uses sticks to represent players in a game plan. Hypothetical substitution is when one object is used "as-if" it actually is another object, such as the previous example of imagining that a pen functions as a toothbrush.

Doll play

Pretense with dolls begins when a child extends pretend self actions to a doll. A child might start by pretending to feed themselves, then reach out and pretend to be feeding a doll. This is further developed when a child begins giving the doll an active role rather than a passive one. For example, the doll does not just eat when fed by the child, instead, the child pretends that the doll reaches for the spoon and feeds itself. After the doll is given an active role, the child begins to bestow upon it sensory and emotional attributes, such as feeling sad, happy, or hurt. The highest form of doll play appears when a child is about 3 and a half years of age. At this point, the child is capable of giving the doll cognitive abilities.

A distinguishing feature between doll play and social play, which includes more than one child, is the degree of control a child has. When participating in doll play, the child has full control over the situation.

Influencing factors
Pretend play is universal, in that it appears in many or all cultures. However, some cultures tend to disapprove it and believe that it is a form of communication with spirits or devils. These different views tend to impact the amount of time dedicated to pretend play and the themes that children interact with. Yet, although many cultures discourage pretend play, its unavoidable emergence indicates that it develops from internal cognitive abilities rather than from the external environment or observed learning.

Gender roles
Sex-typed play is generally established between the ages of 4 and 9 years. During this age, girls often take domestic and realistic roles, while boys often lean more towards fantastical and physically active roles. The degree to which these roles are expressed has been linked to the attitudes of the parents. Children of parents who encourage sex roles and disapprove cross-sex references show more instances of sex-typed play. Although the parents' attitudes are the most influential, other adult role models such as teachers and family members can also reinforce gender play.

Family structure
Levels of imagination are closely related to a child's familial environment. Issues such as marital conflict and physical forms of discipline create anxiety and tension in the child's life. These have been linked to reduced occurrence of play behaviors and low levels of imagination.

On the other hand, strong and encouraging relationships between the children and their parents, specifically fathers, are linked to higher rates of play and imaginative pretense. When parents introduce pretend play to their children at an early age, the children begin to imitate their actions and create their own pretense scenarios. Children also become more capable of identifying social signals, such as eye contact and referential pointing.

Scripts
Participants in games of make believe may draw upon many sources for inspiration. Welsch describes book-related pretend play, wherein children draw upon texts to initiate games. Children seem most interested in texts with, for example, significant levels of tension. Children who use more fantastical pretense themes tend to understand the concept of pretense at an earlier stage. Although stories and acting inspire creativity in pretend play, long durations of television exposure has been associated with lower levels of imagination.

Social and cognitive development
The presence of a relationship between pretend play and the following cognitive and social skills suggests that pretend play may have a causal effect. Current research attempts to investigate how pretend play can be used to develop and improve performances in theory of mind tasks, reasoning skills, and how it can be used as an intervention method, especially for children with autism. Most research emphasizes on the preschool period since this age group shows the greatest emergence and development in pretend play and the following social and cognitive skills. Research on preschool children also seek to integrate pretend play as a teaching method.

Theory of mind
Pretend play encompasses several abilities that coincide with theory of mind. The first two abilities relate to object representation. The child has the ability to mentally represent one object as another. The child also has the ability to understand the paradox, in which the object can represent another, but in essence remains the same object. This means that the child is required to hold two contradicting mental representations of the same object. In 3 year olds, this cognitive ability is evident in pretend play but not in other activities. For example, the child can pretend that a pen is a toothbrush, but when shown an apple-shaped soap bar, the child is unable to comprehend the real and apparent features of the object. This inability is referred to as mutual exclusivity bias. However, development of pretend play has been found to correlate with performances in the previous example along with performances in the false-belief task, which also tests a child's understanding of mental representations. Children begin to pass the false belief task at around the age of 4. The third ability is related to social representation, in which the child is able to represent another individual's mental representations, such as desires, thoughts, and feelings. This ability appears when a child is about 5 years old. It enables the child to take the perspective of others and strengthens their understanding of others' thoughts and beliefs. By this age, children are aware of the subjectivity of pretense. The ability of perspective taking is also central in an individual's ability to cooperate and work with others. This is a complex representation skill because it requires the child to have a representation of a representation. The child also needs to keep in mind that the representation they are holding is not their own. When a child engages in role play, they are engaging in simulation in which they are putting themselves in the character's mental state.

Another ability, joint attention, is related to social referencing. Both theory of mind and pretense require a certain degree of interacting and communicating with others. Joint attention includes the ability to follow another individual's referential pointing, eye gaze, or view point. When children participate in pretend play with other individuals they are required to share the same pretend presuppositions of the object and situation as the other individual. For example, when pretending to take a road trip, both children are expected to know that the chairs they sit on represent car seats. Children show more instances of joint attention in pretend play than they do in other non-symbolic play activities.

Counterfactual reasoning
Counterfactual thinking is the ability to conceptualize alternative outcomes to the same situation. Studies support that children between 4 and 6 years of age are better capable of conceptualizing alternative outcomes when the situation is unrealistic or is set in a pretend context. Children also perform better when the situation presented is open ended. When the situation already has an outcome, the child finds it difficult to conceptualize an alternative. A similar factor between counterfactual reasoning and pretend play is that they both deal with situations that divert from actual events.

Autistic spectrum disorder
Individuals with autism exhibit large delays in pretend play. This delay correlates with their inability to pass false belief tasks at 4 years of age. Another delay found in children with autism is language delay. This language delay has been associated with pretend play, such that children with autism who engage in pretend play have more advanced language skills.

Executive function
Executive function refers to a specific set of cognitive operations that encompasses inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Inhibitory control has been particularly associated with pretend play, especially during play that involves substitution of objects such as pretending a stick is a sword. Usually the child's ability to inhibit the real identity of an object in order to treat it with its pretend identity varies with age and what attributes the child needs to ignore, form and/or function. Overall, prior research has shown that pretend play activities can improve a child's executive function, but whether the act of pretending or some other part of the activity such as practice inventing a story or building a fortress is responsible is still an open question.

Learning and knowledge acquisition
Pretend play is not only associated with developing general cognitive abilities and reinforcing existing knowledge, but recent research has been investigating how children learn new knowledge during pretend play. While children do not invent new knowledge on their own, when pretending with others, children make judgements about the generalizability of unknown information introduced by others in the pretend context. These judgements affect the degree to which children believe the information is applicable and reflective of the real world. There are a number of factors known to influence these judgements including the fantastical themes employed in the pretend world as well as the credibility of the other play participants.

Emotions
By the age of three, children are generally able to distinguish fantasy and pretense from reality, but there are a number of reasons why children might confuse the two. In some cases, it appears as though children are unable to regulate their emotions, especially fear, and this leads to what may seem like confusion between reality and pretense, such as monsters hiding in their toy bin. Negative emotions such as fear and anger also seem to have a negative effect on children's tendency to believe an event is either possibly real or fantasy and either more or less likely to actually happen in reality.

Prior knowledge
From ages as early as 15 months, children demonstrate both an understanding of pretense and expectations of reality being reflected in pretense. At times, pretend play may involve animals, objects, or places that the child knows little or nothing about, and any information about these subjects that is introduced during the pretend play is readily associated with the subject. However, when the child has some knowledge about the subject of pretense, like being familiar with the behavior of lions, and new information is introduced that is contrary to their knowledge, such as lions only eat animal crackers, they are less likely to learn this information as being generally true of lions outside of the pretend play context and may even be resistant to the premise in pretense as well. In fact, the extent to which a pretend context is more or less connected to reality, such as how realistic the task is or whether the characters are people the child may encounter, influences how likely the child is to learn generalizations from the pretend play.

Credibility and trust
Children do not treat all new information equally, and in fact a number of situational and source specific factors influence how likely children are to believe information is true or applicable to reality as is the case in pretend play. Jaswal (2010) found that when playing with an adult, children display a general tendency to trust the truthfulness of information, though the extent to which it conflicts with what they already know or believe will still influence the extent they will generalize the information to reality. However, over multiple sessions playing with a person, how reliable or accurate information from that person has been in the past will have a proportional influence on how likely the child will believe new information. Also other attributes the adult or peer may influence the child's judgements. Children have been shown to be sensitive to socio-economic cues and differences. Children also look at the informant's stance relative to a perceived group, whether that be the group involved in play or a larger social group that the child identifies with, and will show a bias towards information coming from a less conflicting stance with the majority. Overall children, while biased to trust adults, still apply rational judgements to new information introduced during pretend play that influences their tendency to believe how much that information generalizes to reality.

title: Make believe