User talk:Erebus555/archive4

This is archived talk from User:Erebus555.
Archive
Archives
  1. The beginning - 1 June 2006
  2. June 2006 - 31st August 2006
  3. October 2006 - 31st December 2006
  4. January 2007 - 8 June 2007

Tropical cyclones WikiProject Newsletter #8 edit

Number 8, January 7, 2007

The Hurricane Herald

This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.

Tropical cyclone activity

  • Three tropical cyclones existed in the West Pacific during December. Typhoon Durian (Reming) was the deadliest and strongest of the three, killing over 800 people, in the Philippines and Vietnam and peaking at Category 4 strength. Typhoon Utor lasted formed on December 7 and lasted for 7 days, passing over the Philippines and causing severe floods in Malaysia. The final storm of the year, Tropical Storm Trami, lasted for three days and did not affect land.
  • The Southern Hemisphere saw a number of storms develop during December. The most significant was Cyclone Bondo, which hit Madagascar on December 23. Cyclone Anita dissipated early in the month, having formed in November and Cyclone Clovis developed on December 30 before reaching its peak in January. All of these storms were in the Southwest Indian Ocean, the only other cyclone was Cyclone Isobel that formed on December 31 to the north of Western Australia.

The Portal   Portal:Tropical cyclones is designed as the entry point to the WikiProject's work and is recognised as a Featured Portal. The structure emulates that of Wikipedia's Main page and needs updating in a similar manner. The following are the key sections that need editorial attention:

  • Selected article: This is one of the articles of the project, rotated on a weekly basis. These are selected from the better-quality articles and discussed at Portal talk:Tropical cyclones/Selected article.
  • Selected picture: This is chosen from the pictures used in the articles and is rotated monthly. It is selected in a similar manner to the article on Portal talk:Tropical cyclones/Selected picture.
  • Did you know: This is rotated as new articles are created and contains an interesting fact from a few of the new articles.
  • Active tropical cyclones: The currently active tropical cyclones are listed here, and are linked to appropriately.
  • Tropical cyclone news: Recent events in Tropical cyclone activity, such as formation, landfalls and dissipation of storms.
  • Anniversaries: This significant anniversaries for each day in the last week. Unlike the others it refreshes automatically, but should be updated if a new significant event occurs.
  • Things you can do: Unlike the other sections which are reader orientated, this is aimed at editors to give suggestions of articles to work on.

Please keep all of these sections up-to-date and refresh them as new tropical cyclones develop and articles are created. Also please keep the suggestions to editors current and fresh.

Main Page content

Storm article statistics

Grade Oct Nov Dec Jan
  FA 15 16 19 23
  A 6 7 6 2
  GA 33 48 57 74
B 84 83 78 71
Start 201 210 200 193
Stub 13 11 15 16
Total 352 375 375 379
percentage
Less than B
60.8 58.9 57.3 55.1

WikiProject Derbyshire edit

Hello, thanks a lot for putting your name down for the Derbyshire Wikiproject. JFBurton 19:46, 31 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

No problem, I go there quite regularly so I felt I could have something to add! - Erebus555 19:47, 31 January 2007 (UTC)Reply
So what happens now? When do I find out when I can start the project? JFBurton 12:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
I'm not sure to be honest. I put in a request for a West Midlands project which is still up there. I was lead to believe that you develop a temporary one through your username and then this is moved to an actual WP page when a certain amount of time has passed but I think this request has been up for over a week with 3 interested users (me included), and still nothing has happened. - Erebus555 16:42, 1 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Orphaned fair use image (Image:Cuba gooding jr.jpg) edit

Thanks for uploading Image:Cuba gooding jr.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable under fair use (see our fair use policy).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any fair use images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. This is an automated message from BJBot 05:02, 4 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Oh that's come back to haunt me again. I'll leave that to get deleted. Whilst the image tag is correct, I do not have permission to use it. - Erebus555 14:20, 4 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Tropical cyclones WikiProject Newsletter #9 edit

Number 9, February 4, 2007

The Hurricane Herald

This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
"The NHC is the official basin for the Atlantic."[1]

Storm of the month

 
Cyclone Clovis approaching Madagascar
Cyclone Clovis was named late on December 31 near to Tromelin Island. Clovis strengthened as it moved to the southwest reaching its peak the same day with 60 knot winds (according to Météo-France). The JTWC intensified Clovis more slowly, and assessed that it reached its peak with 65 knot winds on January 2, as it was nearing the Madagascar coast. The JTWC maintained this strength until it made landfall on the island on January 3. The resulting floods damaged a number of structures in Mananjary and about 1,500 people had to be evacuated.[2]

Other tropical cyclone activity
The only activity during January was in the Southern Hemisphere, with a total of 5 cyclones existing throughout the month.

  • Dora, the second cyclone the Southwest Indian Ocean formed late in January well to the east of Réunion; and reached tropical cyclone strength at the start of February.
  • The two storms in the South Pacific, Zita and Arthur followed very similar tracks to the east of the Dateline. The JTWC estimated that Zita reached its peak on January 23 and Arthur briefly had hurricane force winds two days later.
  • Cyclone Isobel formed between Indonesia and Australia late in December and headed south, making landfall in Western Australia on January 3 as a minimal Tropical Cyclone.

New articles and improvements wanted

Member of the month

 
Cyclone barnstar

The January member of the month is Chacor, formerly known as NSLE. Chacor joined the project in November 2005, and has contributed to a wide variety of articles across the project. Recently he has generally focussed on the West Pacific and did most of the work on the first Good article in that basin: Typhoon Ewiniar (2006). He has also started the much needed process of splitting the Southern Hemisphere seasonal articles. Finally, Chacor is probably the user who maintains the quality of the most visible part of the project, the current activity.

Main Page content

Storm article statistics

Grade Nov Dec Jan Feb
  FA 16 19 23 25
  A 7 6 2 2
  GA 48 57 74 75
B 83 78 71 76
Start 210 200 193 195
Stub 11 15 16 16
Total 375 375 379 389
percentage
Less than B
58.9 57.3 55.1 54.2

A quick note: When you create a new article please list it in the appropriate section on the project's page and add a fact from the article to the Portal. Thanks.

Extraordinary People edit

Thanks for doing a bit to Extraordinary People, it was one of my first articles. Most people haven't heard of the prog. Recent episodes had scenes of brain surgery, which were a bit much! Thanks againMerkinsmum 17:22, 17 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

No problem, it just needed some routine cleaning up! It's an interesting programme too though I miss it quite a lot... - Erebus555 17:36, 17 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Minor edits edit

You seem to mark too many edits as being minor; please see "Help:Minor edit". Snowman 23:50, 19 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

AB Row (copied from here) edit

Your work to the article is brilliant. I thank you for expanding it so far and added all the references you did. Plus, I must thank you once again for pulling your finger out and contacted Carl Chinn. Whether he does edit the article, we'll have to wait and see, but I certainly do hope he does. Great work, lets just hope the AfD is resolved. - Erebus555 19:16, 23 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thank you. As of June 2005, the original boundary stone marking the border of Aston and Birmingham was located in the reception area of Gabriels per footnote 1 of the article. Is it possible that you can go there and get a photo of the stone for the article? -- Jreferee 20:40, 23 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
Sure but I cannot say when I can go due to things I've got going on here. - Erebus555 20:45, 23 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

DYK edit

  On 24 February, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Hillfields, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

--Carabinieri 11:43, 24 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Image:AB_Row,_Birmingham.jpg listed for deletion edit

An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, Image:AB_Row,_Birmingham.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. Please look there to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. User:Gay Cdn (talk) (Contr) 19:29, 3 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Tropical cyclones WikiProject Newsletter #10 edit

Number 10, March 4, 2007

The Hurricane Herald

This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.

Storm of the month

 
Cyclone Favio near Madagascar

Cyclone Favio developed well to the east of northern Madagascar on February 12 and moved to the southwest as it developed. The storm did not significantly intensify until February 19 when it was just off the soutern coast of Madagascar, but rapidly intenstified soon after to its peak with 185 km/h (115 mph) winds. Favio turned to the northwest and hit Mozambique worsening the floods already occuring in the country. Favio claimed at least 4 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.

Other tropical cyclone activity
There were a total of 6 tropical cyclones in the southern hemisphere during February. Five of these, including Favio, were in the South West Indian Ocean.

  • The only other storm in the Australian region was Cyclone Nelson which formed at the end of January in the Gulf of Carpentaria before it hit Queensland.
  • Cyclone Dora was active in January and reached its peak as an annular cyclone on February 3 with 185 km/h (115 mph) winds.
  • Cyclone Gamede was an unusally large storm that prompted the highest level of cyclone warning on Réunion and brought strong winds to the island on February 27, causing a bridge to collapse.
  • Neither Enok towards the start of the month or Humba near its end, had any impact on land.

Member of the month

 
Cyclone barnstar

The February member of the month is Miss Madeline. Miss Madeline is responsible for many of the projects featured lists such as List of Category 5 Pacific hurricanes and List of California hurricanes. She has also put serious work into many of our Pacific hurricane articles since she joined the project as one of its founding members. Recently she has worked on 1996 Pacific hurricane season, bringing it from a stub-class article to a Good article candidate.

Storm article statistics

Grade Dec Jan Feb Mar
  FA 19 23 25 28
  A 6 2 2 2
  GA 57 74 75 80
B 78 71 76 78
Start 200 193 195 194
Stub 15 16 16 16
Total 375 379 389 398
percentage
Less than B
57.3 55.1 54.2 52.8

Comments wanted on project talk Many discussions that potentially have far reaching impact for the whole project are carried out on the project's talk page. However, only a fraction of our active contributors actually engage in those discussions. If you add the project page to your Watchlist and keep an eye on discussions there to monitor upcoming changes, even if you don't participate in those discussions it would help both yourself and the project as a whole. For instance, at the moment the primary infobox templates such as {{Infobox hurricane}} are in the process of being deprecated and replaced by new versions which do the role more effectively.

An external link edit

I will be grateful of your opinion of an external link on the Warwickshire page that links "Warwickshire Online". Is is spam or not? 84.13.139.114 21:09, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This link is not spam, however, according to WP:EL, links to discussion forums, such as 'Warwickshire Online', are disallowed. - Erebus555 21:18, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Washwoodheath technology college edit

dear erebus please could you not vandalise my page again as i repeatedly have to update this

This was not vandalism. Your edits had rewritten the page, removing all references and cited information. You replaced it with poorly written, uncited and biased information. What I did was not vandalise the page but reinstate what was there before, and also adding in some of the information from your last post - leaving out the repeated information and uncited information.
Please sign your posts too. - Erebus555 14:27, 26 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

erebus i see my mistake i removed those tags at the bottom sorry bout that but may i point out that the information is not biased as i acutally work at the school

I understand you may work at the school, and it is this that could actually make it biased. Either way, it is best to not add your own opinions on the subject to the page as this is not encyclopediac. All information you do add to the page must have link to the website/ book/ newspaper it was from to show it is true or at least acknowledged by another source. If this is not done then it is part of Wikipedia policy to remove that information.
Again, may you please sign your posts by adding ~~~~ at the end of your post. - Erebus555 14:27, 26 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

West Midlands Improvement Drive edit

Well as you know, Dudley was selected for the improvement drive in the West Midlands WikiProject. One thing that the article needs is images and as your user page says you are from Dudley, would it be possible for you to get images of Dudley? This is if you have a digital camera. If not, then I'll try and sort something out but I felt it could be easier to ask you first.

Plus, the improvement drive nominations page has got very quiet since the latest nomination process began! Maybe you could add a nomination or support/objection to the current nomination. Thanks and happy editting! - Erebus555 21:39, 10 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Due to other commitments I won't be able to do anything in the immediate future, but I should be able to get something done in a month or so's time. Matthew 12:45, 11 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
OK, I'll try and sort something out to get some photos myself but I may have the same problem as you. Thanks anyway. - Erebus555 12:50, 11 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Revert edit

Your recent edit to Human biology (diff) was reverted by an automated bot that attempts to recognize and repair vandalism to Wikipedia articles. If the bot reverted a legitimate edit, please accept my humble creator's apologies – if you bring it to the attention of the bot's owner, we may be able to improve its behavior. Click here for frequently asked questions about the bot and this warning. // AntiVandalBot 12:59, 11 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

I was using IRC Monitor to revert the edit but for some reason it deleted the whole thing. I know not to use this version to revert edits - it's the second time this has happened now! - Erebus555 13:01, 11 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

User:Sibbad edit

Dear Erebus

How do I actually enter into a dialogue with you? As someone very much involved with Black Patch Park along with others I am dismayed to find the article on Black Patch feels as if it being "invaded".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Patch_Park

Of course I understand and very much respect the idea that Wikipedia is an iterative project that evolves via the contributions of many people within the terms and conditions of Wikipedia netiquette but I am unclear where you are coming from with this project and how you can claim some kind of editorial oversight over articles about places in the West Midlands. Surely the right thing to do when you find a fact you consider unreliable is to make it reliable by seeking a relevant reference or by slightly rewriting, not by placing some sort of label on the whole article. You could also send a note to the last contributor in 'talk'.

Perhaps your overarching project for the area would be easier to digest if I and others knew how to get involved in your grand project and where you are coming from and what criteria you are using to set standards for the articles you are labelling unreliable. That is what I would do. that is what I would regard as good manners.

Do you plan to place similar blanket labels on any article in Wikipedia that features the region and does not meet your exacting criteria? the research process is iterative and Wikipedia lends itself to constantly improved approximations of the truth. In their early stages some articles may be rather sketchy. they can be improved by constant tweaking. Your approach seems to require this to happen under your watchful eye with you as a referee. This implies that you can somehow determine the 'canon' for Birmingham and the Black Country - and tomorrow the world? Isn't the nature of Wikipedia that it should be a collective of loose cannons always susceptible to corrections by the widest variety of people within the larger idea of Wikipedia's founder.

I have written and contributed to and edited many other articles in Wikipedia including biographies of some of my better known relatives and have had fruitful dialogues about ways of improving style and correcting errors or debating contested interpretations of events and facts, but I have not yet experienced an invasive project on the scale I am experiencing here. I am made uncomfortable by it as though Wikipedia was being somehow taken over by a larger agency determined to impose its values and interpretations on a wide swathe of regional issues and narratives. If I am getting the wrong end of the stick or being unduly sensitive I apologise but please accept the integrity of my views until such a time as I stand corrected or better informed. Simon Baddeley 02:01, 17 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Dear Erebus

I worry that such ambitious interpretations of the West Midlands on Wikipedia are being written under a pseudonym. I have contacted you elsewhere to express my concerns about this after learning about the Wikiproject and its grand intentions for descriptions in Wikipedia of the area. The tag Erebus seems ubiquitous in this enterprise and so I would like to make a plea for rather more transparency before feeling comfortable about this worthy project.

My name is Simon Baddeley. I have lived in Handsworth since 1978, written a short history of the local park, helped found the Handsworth Park Association and am currently a founder member of The Friends of St.Mary's Churchyard and of The Friends of Black Patch Park and a member of Birmingham Civic Society. I work at the School of Public Policy at Birmingham University. My email is s.j.baddeley@bham.ac.uk and my phone is 0121 554 9794. Yours sincerely Simon Baddeley 02:49, 17 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

First of all, I had to remove your comment from my userpage as it was in the wrong area. If you wish to contact me then the general place for this to happen is on a user's talk page, such as the one you commented on earlier.
Secondly, I am a little confused to what your reasons for contacting me were. I have a feeling this is to do with the article, Black Patch Park, and the fact that two tags were added to the top of the article. These tags are by no means meant to place any pressure on the author but merely to attract other users attention to the article to help bring the article to the best standards possible for Wikipedia as a project. Wikipedia serves as two purposes; as a collaborative effort to expand, create and improve articles on notable subject and to provide information to the public on topics and subjects. As a result, these tags are placed so that the article can be improved for the public to understand the information more easily and to generate some form of consistency between articles.
I believe you are also enquiring into the 'West Midlands WikiProject' too. This is a collaborative effort amongst many other users, like yourself, to focus their efforts on articles under a certain scope. This is one of scores of WikiProjects which deal with numerous scopes from architecture, medicine, countries and schools etc.. Just because I have founded or created the West Midlands WikiProject, it by no means makes me the referee. I understand that there is no such WikiProject that actually has a leader. The tag placed at the top of the talk page is there just to designate that the project aims to improve articles in the scope and that Black Patch Park, as an example, is one of the articles that the participants aim to improve. Every article could be improved in some way and articles are given a status sometimes; Good article, stub, start and the highest, Featured. My involvement in the WikiProject can be quite substantial, this may have given you the idea that I was the leader or referee, but this is only to keep it alive and keep the group that has developed working together with one main aim.
Getting involved in the project is easy. Add your name to the list of participants and by doing this you are showing your interest in helping the project to reach its aims and goals. It does not mean you are forced into doing something with the project.
I hope you understand that the project does not intend to hurt the feelings of other editors but aims to improve articles to a standard that the Wikipedia creator and others have set. I understand your feelings when these tags have been placed on the article, I felt that same when one of my first articles had similar tags placed on it, but this is only aiming to improve your article. Take care and happy editting! - Erebus555 15:53, 17 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Your edit to Doug Ellis edit

I'm happy enough to put this edit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doug_Ellis&diff=116367611&oldid=114318932

to the Doug Ellis article down as a joke, but it's hardly the best of examples to newer editors when someone who has been editing for two years adds such links (chairman going to cunt) to articles about living people! Gretnagod 23:41, 21 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hang on a minute! I did not do that part of the edit. If you look back further into the history you can see that I was not responsible for adding the link to cunt from chairman etc.. My aim with that edit was to convert all standalone links in the article to references and change the headings per Manual of Style. Whilst doing that, I did not notice some of the language used in the article. Sorry, but maybe you have should have checked the edit history before accusing me of such edits. - Erebus555 07:18, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Sorry, my error there. Yes, I should have looked more thoroughly but I failed to notice the previous edit wasn't to the same area of the page, must have been half asleep. Incidentally, I've been taking a look at what could become an edit war at Aston Villa FC over the headings. Any thoughts? Sorry again. Gretnagod 15:12, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
It's OK, I was in a grumpy mood (early mornings, rain etc.) so I may have been a little harsh. I had a look at this developing edit war and commented on the talk page. - Erebus555 21:05, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Aston Villa Article edit

Hi, glad to see you are taking an interest in the Villa page. I'm obviously aware that wikipedia must present a balanced neutral point of view. As the writer of a vast majority of the article as it now stands including most of the history section, I would like to argue that the dates suggested by User:Thumperward are not at all representative of notable eras in Villa's history and show a lack of knowledge. They do not give the reader an overview of the era. (eg '1920 - 1950' - in which time Villa won 1 FA Cup. Doesn't tell us anything!) Perhaps a compromise of Headings with dates could be reached. What do you think?

I think he has a point about the 'Pheonix from the flames' heading which I have replaced. However, this was not trying to fill the article with 'magazine style fluff' - it was meant to give the reader an introduction to an era in which Villa miraculously rose from the Third division to become European Champions. I think my headings give more of a timeline of the club than dates that don't even fit an era of history at the club. Villafanuk 20:51, 22 March 2007

OK, maybe a combination of the two could work. For example '1920 - 1950: FA Cup win'. This has the timeline effect as well as combining the content of the section in a less fanciful form. OK maybe the 'FA Cup win' is a bit drab but with some discussion amongst others, a suitable heading may be decided upon! - Erebus555 21:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Help needed with Black Patch Park article edit

Dear Erebus having studied instructions I am still looking for help with getting the article on Black Patch Park off the list of pieces facing deletion. Can you help? The general point, as you know, is that it reads too much like an essay. I do not find this very helpful. Does the whole article need rewriting or just some sections. is it a question of style of the article or some specific edits? I am confused, especially as i have several other articles mainly by me on Wikipedia which one editor described as exemplary. I am off on holiday and i am worried that when i get home I'll find the article deleted, which would be a shame as I think this is a most interesting area of the Black Country which as suffered neglect from being so peripheral to the area known as the Black Country - just over the Birmingham border. It has an intriguing history - much of it uncovered by Ted Rudge in his award winning Open University thesis on the Romany association with the area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Patch_Park What would have to be done to remove this persistent notice that appears everytime I open the article. Could you tidy it up yourself. Please don't point me to more Wikipedia guidance. It isn't helping. i need comments on the actual article to know what and how much needs altering to get this article out from under the deletion threat.Simon Baddeley 10:38, 24 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Tropical cyclones WikiProject Newsletter #11 edit

Number 11, April 1, 2007

The Hurricane Herald

This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.

Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.

Storm of the month

 Damage from Will

Hurricane Will developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Caribbean Sea and intensified. It crossed over Jamaica and re-emerged over water a few days later. The storm intensified into a hurricane and an eye began to develop. Will became a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the vulnerable Gulf Coast of the United States soon after. To date, Hurricane Will has claimed over 350 lives and is directly responsible for about $5 billion of damages; of which an unknown amount was insured. Despite the damage, it is not expected that the name will be retired by WMO.

Other tropical cyclone activity

  • After threatening the Eastern Seaboard for some time, Hurricane Hink has turned away and the NHC has cancelled all warnings associated with the storm.
  • The 2007 Pacific typhoon season began with Tropical Storm Kong-rey forming on March 31.
  • There were a total of 7 cyclones in the southern hemisphere: Becky in the South Pacific, Indlala and Jaya in the Southwestern Indian Ocean and Odette, George, Jacob and Kara in the Australian region. Indlala killed at least 80 and left over 100,000 homeless; whilst Cyclone George was the worst storm to affect Port Hedland in over 30 years.

Member of the month

 
Cyclone barnstar

The April member of the month is HurricaneIrene. Irene began contributing to tropical cyclone articles on Wikipedia in August 2005, but ran out of steam and left after barely 2 weeks. However, Irene's influence on the project has been wide-reaching. Her efforts led directly to two articles attaining featured status and her legacy inspired many of our most active editors to write a plethora of good articles on a wide range of storms.

Main Page content

Storm article statistics

Grade Jan Feb Mar Apr
  FA 23 25 28 29
  A 2 2 2 2
  GA 74 75 80 82
B 71 76 78 80
Start 193 195 194 209
Stub 16 16 16 17
Total 379 389 398 419
percentage
Less than B
55.1 54.2 52.8 53.9

The Main Page

The WikiProject has a narrow scope, so it is not surprising that our articles are not frequently selected for Today's featured article. Most destructive cyclones are likely to be mentioned on the In the news column. We have no real control over that, but we should submit suggestions when appropriate.

However, we can do a more lot more to place our content in the other major section of the main page: The Did you know column. In the past month we created over 30 articles. Of these only 2 were even submitted as suggestions for DYK. We can do much better, please submit DYK entries for new articles when you do the initial assessment.

Map coordinates edit

I think we are overlapping on adding coordinates to the Birmingham articles! I must say that the Ordnance Survey NGR format would seem more appropriate to British locations as that is the only format suitable for use with British maps, and also more familiar to people from here. As a matter if interest how are you getting the coordinates? Some of your plots are spot on for Google satellite maps, but not quite centred on the MAGIC UK government system. I don't know how to get grid refs from Google. Any hints? Oosoom Talk to me 17:54, 1 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

I am using Google Earth. I know where the vast majority of the buildings are so I find them, put down a placemark and then copy the geographical coordinates from there. I then cancel the 'Edit Placemark' box so it doesn't clog up my system. If there is a placemark already there, I right click on the icon and click 'Save to My Places'. Then, from My Places, I right click and click Properties which gives you the coordinates.
I think some problems with the coordinates are that the maps on Google could be slightly off where they should be. For example, on some of the coordinates converted from OS Map references, the plot is way off on Google maps. That is where we get some sort of mix up between MAGIC and Google. - Erebus555 18:01, 1 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for that technique. I was wondering whether you could get the coordinates from Google Maps, but that isn't what you were doing. I use MAGIC, which will give an OS six figure reference or hundredths of degree for lat/long. Oosoom Talk to me 18:58, 1 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Just to let you know I've found out how to get lat/long from a Google Maps web page. Using satellite view: get your place in the centre of the screen (double click on it), then click on Link to this page (upper right) and the lat/long is re-presented in the address bar as a parameter. (from Wikipedia:Obtaining geographic coordinates#Google). Oosoom Talk to me 09:35, 3 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Aah! Thanks a lot! It'll save numerous attempts at opening Google Earth (which usually end with my computer crashing for some unknown reason). - Erebus555 09:37, 3 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
I find it easiest to lift coordinates from StreetMap - note the "click here to convert coordinates" link, under any map, and you can click on an exact spot for a precise location. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Precision for a note on precision. Andy Mabbett 09:43, 3 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
I certainly do find StreetMap easier to search for streets. Searching for streets is a lot more difficult on Google Maps. You search for 'Stoney Lane' and you end up at some tower block in Aberdeen which is totally unrelated to your search! Thanks as well though! - Erebus555 09:48, 3 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Birmingham street furniture edit

Can you use these?

Andy Mabbett 16:49, 5 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

It's possible. Maybe in the history of Birmingham article for some certain period. It maybe best to move them or reupload them on Wikimedia Commons. - Erebus555 17:12, 5 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Wasn't it you who proposed writing articles on the former functions of the City Council? Andy Mabbett 23:16, 5 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
It might have. I have proposed writing an article on the Baths Department. I can't remember if I proposed anything else. - Erebus555 15:51, 6 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Yes, that was what I was thinking of. Oh well, there they are, if ever you do want to use them. Andy Mabbett 21:07, 6 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Discussion invitation edit

I've created a new discussion page at Template talk:West Midlands railway stations/Layout discussion in order to discuss which of the suggested layouts should be used for this template. Please feel free to voice your opinions. – Tivedshambo (talk) 08:18, 6 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Welcome to Schools edit

I see you have signed up with an interest in the West Mids (I'm in East mids). To help you I will have a start at assessing a few of the schools you have been editting. You could join us in helping with this .... First will be Ridgeway Victuallers 11:59, 8 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the welcome! First of all I need to read a little about the assessment process and get understand all the different templates but I'm happy to help! - Erebus555 14:36, 8 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wikipedia:WikiProject UK Waterways edit

Thank you for your support for Wikipedia:WikiProject UK Waterways. I've started it, and listed you as a member. Please feel free to amend your entry on that page, to show your areas of special interest. Andy Mabbett 19:06, 13 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

DYK edit

  On 25 April, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Gilbertstone, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

--ALoan (Talk) 13:16, 25 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Brum skyline edit

Hi. I would appreciate your checking (and possible addition if you can) of of names on this image: Image:Brum skyline numbered.jpg. Thanks Oosoom Talk to me 11:34, 26 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

All filled in! I think it may have been useful to put a number between Beetham Tower and one of the Sentinels (you can see what appears to be a short building) as this is Cumberland House. It was not essential, though, so you don't need to do it. - Erebus555 16:50, 26 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Many thanks. I knew you could do it. Oosoom Talk to me 18:58, 26 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

British Telecom Tower (Birmingham) edit

Hi,

Did you mean to say that the British Telecom Tower (Birmingham) is only five storeys tall? Andy Mabbett 20:35, 9 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Does this need bringing up on a user talk page Pigsonthewing? Be bold and change the article if you think it's incorrect! n L.J.Skinnerwot|I did 01:54, 10 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Changed to 5 and left a message with Pigsonthewing. I think it can be left at that. L.J.Skinnerwot|I did 15:45, 12 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Rail around Birmingham and the West Midlands edit

I notice that you've changed all the external links to the above website from "Rail around Birmingham and the West Midlands" to read "Rail around Birmingham: Station Name". Good idea, but unfortunately the name of the website is "Rail around Birmingham and the West Midlands". I didn't want to do a mass reversion without talking about it first, and besides, I prefer your idea of adding the station name to it. Is there any chance of you correcting the site name whilst keeping the ":Station Name" part? Fingerpuppet 05:25, 13 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

OK, I'll do it using Auto Wiki Browser to make it easier. Sorry for any inconvenience. - Erebus555 11:30, 13 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thank-you and well done for making the effort on these - some of it twice! – Tivedshambo (talk) 20:58, 13 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
Yes, thanks very much - your hard work is appreciated! Fingerpuppet 08:37, 14 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Welcome to VandalProof! edit

Thank you for your interest in VandalProof, Erebus555! You have now been added to the list of authorized users, so if you haven't already, simply download and install VandalProof from our main page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any other moderator, or you can post a message on the discussion page. Betacommand (talkcontribsBot) 03:29, 19 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Did you know? edit

  On 19 May, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Plants Brook, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

--GeeJo (t)(c) • 17:05, 19 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Alum Rock edits edit

hi, thanks for the edits and useful guides in the message you sent me. I saw with interest that your part of a wikiproject around the west mids, i'll keep an eye out! i have made some changes to the Alum Rock entry, including putting in references. one of those is for Census infomation, which i think would be useful for any other pages. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/ and http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=892&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=199 one if the links i put in was an external link to google maps, because i wanted it to link to a map of the "Rock" part of alum rock rather then a unspecified/commented point. please let me know if any of the edits are incorrect, i'll try and get the style right. --UKbandit 13:31, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

re alum rock edits edit

ok, appreciate the guidance.

i have moved the google maps link to a more appropraite point as i still think its important to help users identify the area from saltley gate to highfield road. this is now just a link from within the section which describes The Rock. hopefully thats a better position for it as it's more relevent there. --UKbandit 14:39, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

vandal edit edit

Bold textNEW GYM OPENING AT FORT DUNLOP, BIRMINGHAM CALLED B24 FITNESS! INFO AT HTTP://WWW.B24FITNESS.CO.UK


found on top of bham entry. was also on Gym entry (i was fingered as the vandal in error!)

not sure where else they might have it. cant do reverts?--UKbandit 14:57, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

You can download some scripts and put them in your monobook for reverting. But reverting vandalism can just be removing the information the last person put in. For example, in this case, you did just that. It is best to give the vandal a warning too. These are usually in the form of templates offered by Wikipedia. When the user has a certain number of these warnings, they can then be blocked by an administrator.
For more information on vandalism see WP:VAN, WP:AN3 and WP:CUV. - Erebus555 15:06, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Birmingham article - Central Mosque edit

hi, i changed the bham article to reference birmingham central mosque by its offical title, so i changed it from central mosque to birmingham central mosque. this edit was taken out because the article was about birmingham by a user. i revereted it back because i think its important that the offical name is used, much the same as birmingham university would not be refered to as just 'university'. hope i was not out of turn. - —Preceding unsigned comment added by UKbandit (talkcontribs) 15:12

That's fine. Remember to sign all posts with four tildes (~~~~). - Erebus555 15:42, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

ok ta reading my own comments didnt make sense, so thanks! UKbandit 15:50, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

BCN Mailing list edit

I think you'll like this [3]; Ray Shill posts there regularly. Andy Mabbett 22:57, 26 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, I quite like the look of it! - Erebus555 13:27, 27 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Birmingham energy recovery facility edit

I have made a new page for the above with a photograph. Perhaps the topic of waste management should be more prominent on the Birmingham page or a linked page. Snowman 14:06, 27 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

I fear the article map not be able to comply with WP:N and, therefore, could get deleted as a result, unless you can find more information from sources to expand it to a size that clearly shows it's significance.
As for waste management in Birmingham; I had a think about this last night and I believe the topic is too specific. It may be better to produce a broader topic to do with the environment and environmental issues in Birmingham. This includes protection of buildings, parks and wildlife within Birmingham as well as waste management. This would be best as a separate article to keep the size of the Birmingham article down. When a suitably sized article to do with this topic has been created (beyond stub size), then I feel a short section within the Birmingham article on the topic could be written.
What are your thoughts on this? - Erebus555 14:33, 27 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

photos for sterkfontein edit

Hi! I've been this christmas in Sterkfontein and have photos of the underground lake. but I don't know how I can put it here... thanks, Silvia from Spain:-)

At the left hand side of the screen is a bar with different links to pages. In the box labelled "interaction", there is a link called "upload-file wizard". Click on this link and follow the instructions. Remember to always add a tag, otherwise the picture will be deleted. - Erebus555 10:00, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Richard Tangye edit

Thanks for adding his middle name - nothing odd about Trevithick, it's a good Cornish name, and very fitting for an engineer! DuncanHill 15:41, 2 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

By odd, I meant it isn't the average middle name you hear being banged about nationally, anymore :). I have certainly never come across it before! - Erebus555 15:42, 2 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
'By Tre, Pol and Pen, you may know all Cornishmen'. Take a look at Richard Trevithick. I don't know if he was related in anyway to Richard Tangye, it's not unknown to use a surname from the mother's side as a middle name in Cornwall. DuncanHill 15:47, 2 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
I'll have a look into a possible family connection there. Thanks for the info! I have never been to Cornwall so it it's always good to learn from a local (that's if you are a local!) - Erebus555 16:22, 2 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wolverhampton City Wards edit

Councillors are not inherently notable, and they articles are about the geography of the wards not the politics. If you want to list councillors then list every councillor, not just one or two, in the case of Penn list the correct councillors, and then list every councillor of the ward going back for the last six local elections (much like the General elections do). Reverting the deleted material (which is not even correct for Penn) helps no one. If you are going to put the effort in so that the stubs become more comprehensive then I will not hinder you, but if all you're going to do is add the odd councillor here and there then what is the point? The information on councillors is easily available on wolverhampton.gov.uk, so why only list David Bourne for Wednesfield North? Why not list Phil Bateman (who is also the CE for WMPTE and Centro and thus has a bigger claim to notablilty). Otherwise most councillors are not notable, and being a councillor does not make them notable, unless they have done something else. And as for Simon Jeavons, the only reference is his personal website, that's just too close to advertising. Darrenhusted 11:24, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Yes but doesn't a councillor ascertain that you have a power of authority in your ward and in the city council in general? I understand these people are not MPs but they still have a say in city-wide issues that affect the running on the city.
I have not edited the article to include the councillors, so I cannot be held to account for the incorrect information on the councillors or missing names of councillors (I am not even familiar with Wolverhampton). A ward is not a geographical area but is a designated area of a city/ town etc from which a councillor/ councillors are appointed to the council. This gives them a political definition that should be addressed in the article. A ward is totally different to a neighbourhood, even if it does follow the general boundary of one.
As for the election results, I would not be interested, myself, with the elections of 10 years ago etc. however I do feel the most recent election results are worth noting, and in some cases, the results from the election before that.
I assume good faith for your edits and will remove the vandalism warning. Also sorry for forgetting to sign most post - I have a habit of doing that after adding vandalism messages. - Erebus555 12:11, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

The thing is that the Ward articles are listed as Geo-Stubs, and so their scope is geographical and historical, if you want to start a new page which talks about the political make up of the council then I would be happy to help. Darrenhusted 14:51, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

As an example of the level of depth that would be needed for all 20 wards, not just four or five, look at [4] for example (I randomly picked a ward from Brum's list), if you look at that then you see how much is needed to make the listing of political affiliation relevant. However the listing of just David Bourne in Wednesfield North, or Simon Jeavons alone assumes a level of notability not given to the other councillors in the ward, never mind the rest of the councillors.
But I would suggest a page called [5] as a start.Darrenhusted 16:00, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
I feel the political information about each ward should be in an individual section in each article. I probably will add the political information to the Wolverhampton ward articles in due course (when I have enough time on my hands). This does not just expand them, but, with the information on the geography of the wards, history of the wards etc. could develop into a good sized article like Kings Norton has become, though it requires work still.
I acknowledge there was incorrect information, but the purpose of Wikipedia is to allow others to contribute, and with this, many people will add to that information to correct it or expand it. As for the political article about Wolverhampton, I think a more appropriate title would be Politics of Wolverhampton, as this can address the wards and constituencies in one article. - Erebus555 17:01, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
I think we can both be in agreement that just listing three of the 36 Labour councillors, or listing a single Tory, or in the case of Springvale listing the parties but not the councillors, is no the right way to go, and until all the information is there a piecemeal approach is not a satisfactory one. Darrenhusted 17:11, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
As I am a little confused by the comment, are you saying there are 36 councillors to one ward? If so, then this opens something completely new to me. - Erebus555 17:26, 5 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
No, there were only three labour councillors listed for the whole of the twenty WCC ward articles, and in one ward only one of the two tories was listed, and neithe rmade any sense, if any councillors are going to be listed it should be all or none. Darrenhusted 16:56, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Birmingham Water Supply edit

See also Witton Lakes & Brookvale Park Lake. Andy Mabbett 16:32, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for that. I should be doing a major expansion of the History of Birmingham article in the summer. I'll be needing all the sources I can get though... - Erebus555 16:53, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
some more info here, here.

theres other interesting stuff too on e.g. smethwick castle brom etcUKbandit 15:47, 8 June 2007 (UTC)Reply