User talk:Writ Keeper/Archives/5

Latest comment: 11 years ago by Writ Keeper in topic Inre: My Old Account

A barnstar for you!

  The Admin's Barnstar
Thanks for your help, WK. Drmies (talk) 21:19, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
Yup, no problem! Writ Keeper 21:21, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

Your turn!

Hi WK--it's your turn to serve as maître d' for the Teahouse! I've updated the maître d' page with your info. As a small aside, you may want to hunt down a horizontal/landscape photo for your profile image (only because, filling only half of the space, it looks rather out of place... as cute as that puppy may be). Let me know if I can do anything to help! —Theopolisme 14:11, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

  The Modest Barnstar
For a little housecleaning that may have saved somebody else a bunch of work Rushyo Talk 22:10, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

ΛΧΣ21 05:51, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Request for your recusal of your adminship.

Hi Writ Keeper, as you offered to recuse your adminship, I am requesting you to do so.Curb Chain (talk) 07:21, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Care to explain your rationale, for those of us who don't keep track of every single time someone gets mad at an admin for a decision they made? (And because that's not something one can really just request without giving a reason, even if everyone knows what that reason is.) — Francophonie&Androphilie(Je vous invite à me parler) 08:09, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
I'm not sure where we are on Writ Keeper's timeline, so I'll jump in and respond. It has to do with this. It's been a long-time bone of contention between Curb Chain and myself. Writ Keeper got involved as an admin after some edit warring between CC and myself, but Curb Chain thought he was "involved" because he was nice enough to express his evaluation of Curb Chain to me, so Writ Keeper recused himself (making Curb Chain's request here totally unnecessary) and turned it over to Worm That Turned as a neutral admin. To me, the entire thing is a total tempest in a teapot, but that's just my opinion.

You can glean some more from reading up above anything with "Curb Chain" or "Yworo" (another editors of a similar ilk). Beyond My Ken (talk) 08:37, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Oh, if you really want to delve into the morass, you can look here, here and here. Beyond My Ken (talk) 08:45, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, BMK.  Seeing your response and mine, it occurs to me that I may have misunderstood what CC's asking of WK here - CC, are you asking (as I assumed, reading this section without knowing its context), that Writ Keeper resign as an administrator, or is this just a perfunctory request that he recuse himself from the matter at hand (as I believe BMK has assumed)? Your use of the word recuse would imply the latter, but the subsequent phrase of your adminship is more associated with the former. — Francophonie&Androphilie(Je vous invite à me parler) 08:49, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
He (CC) does say on his talk page about WK "I don't think you are competent with admin tools," because WK didn't block me when I have (according to CC) an "extensive block log", so perhaps he is asking Writ Keeper to step down from his adminship. In my opinion, that's simply another example of Curb Chain's poor judgment, but then (understandably, I think) I guess I'm biased in that respect. Beyond My Ken (talk) 08:59, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
Hmm. Well, if you, as the one most familiar with this situation, agree that it's unclear, I suppose I'll hold off on any further comment until either CC clarifies, or WK resolves the matter on his own. This appears to be a case where there's only so much, for the time being, that we WikiJaguars can do. — Francophonie&Androphilie(Je vous invite à me parler) 09:06, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
Just bear in mind that since I'm in the middle of this, I'm hardly an uninvolved, unbiased observer. Beyond My Ken (talk) 09:22, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Indeed. Not that my opinion is really necessary, but I'll be suspending "judgment" until the situation's more clear; the only opinion of yours I'm listening to at the moment is that Curb Chain's request is ambiguous, and I don't think your involvement should particularly skew your analysis in that regard. — Francophonie&Androphilie(Je vous invite à me parler) 09:32, 21 December 2012 (UTC)


One of the criteria I required of such a request is that you must "[cite] a specific admin action that I've performed". I wrote this requirement to ensure that requests were in reaction to an actual misuse of an actual admin tool. Have you any? Writ Keeper 14:48, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Addendum: If, as F&A suggests, you're merely asking me to not use my tools in this one specific matter, which is what I meant when I used the word "recuse" on your talk page, then you'll be happy to know that I've already done so; I turned it over to WormTT two days ago, right after I told you that I would. If you're asking for the removal of my admin bit entirely, as I, and the others, thought on first read, the above point stands. Writ Keeper 14:54, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Sorry...

Didn't mean to stomp on your close. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 16:33, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Nah, it's fine, I screwed up the tags somehow anyway. Same same. Writ Keeper 16:35, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

and another request..

Hello again WK. Many thanks for you help with Gianni Mocchetti. I am now trying to create an article for Dynamite Daze but, as you can see, there is a re-direct in place. How do I circumvent/ remove this? Many thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:03, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Hey, Martin! Can you not just write the article over the redirect? There's a real edit history behind it, so I don't want to just delete it. If you go to the source of the redirect page, you can delete the #REDIRECT [[whatever]] bit, and it'll be like any other page; you can then just write the article. By the way, if you didn't know, you can force Wikipedia to show you the redirect itself, rather than its target. If you click on the redirected link (like the one in your post here), you'll see little text underneath the target page's title that says "(Redirected from Dynamite Daze)" with a wikilink; if you click on the wikilink in that little text, it'll take you to the redirect, where you can edit the page and modify or remove the redirect as you would for any other page. Redirects are actually just normal pages with a few magic words at the top, after all. Writ Keeper 20:10, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
Now done. I probably knew that. Thanks for reminding me. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:30, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

why?

why u delete this picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_talk:Socialnetworksguys.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_talk:Socialnetworksguys.jpg is a picture with free content. MervinVillarreal (talk) 20:13, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

I actually just had your talk page open, and I was about to write you a quick note of explanation. There are two problems: first, I'm not at all convinced that the Facebook person is the actual artist who created the image, as a quick search found it in various other places on the Internet, and that Facebook posting appears to be very recent. If that person is not the original artist, than they have no right to release it under any kind of copyright. Second, even if it is the original artist, saying something is "free content" is not enough for Wikipedia. Our images need to be explicitly released under an acceptable free license; some examples of acceptable licenses are listed here. The point is that we need to explicitly allow others to modify and release their own versions of the image ("derivative works") and to reuse the images, even as part of a commercial enterprise ("commercial reuse"). Neither of these things are implied by claiming it is "free content", as there is a lot of content that is considered "free" that would not allow either or both of those actions. Writ Keeper 20:23, 27 December 2012 (UTC)


then how you know when you are telling the truth or not? the person who uploaded the picture was my cousin, he edit that image, and I dont have to tell lies because, if you find an image equal to this, on other web site, let me know.MervinVillarreal (talk) 20:59, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Here's one. I can't tell when it has been posted, but given that it has 12,000 views, it's probably been quite a while. The source is cited as "web", so it had probably been taken from yet another place on the Internet before then. You say he "edited" it: that's not enough to claim it as his own. Writ Keeper 21:04, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

thats my pictureeeeee!, the same name. MervinVillarreal (talk) 21:11, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

no coincidence that was uploaded today, this web site is very famous, so for that have so many visitors.MervinVillarreal (talk) 21:12, 27 December 2012 (UTC) and as no date uploaded, you can not be sure. Also, if someone posts a picture saying free content is free then, right? What does it take? because the options of uploading this

"This is a free work. That I can Demonstrate it is legally okay for anybody to use, in Wikipedia and elsewhere, for any purpose. "MervinVillarreal (talk) 21:16, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) this is the original AFAIK http://elontirien.deviantart.com/art/Internet-University-Cast-120846620, not a PD image. NtheP (talk) 22:50, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, Nthep. Another person actually showed me that same link, but I wasn't able to look at it at the time. But yeah, if that's the original, and you're not the person who uploaded it to the DeviantArt account, then it's not yours and you can't make the appropriate releases to upload it to Wikipedia. Writ Keeper 22:54, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

HV Jain (Jain Bhai)

I've taken the author of that to SPI at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Delhi2010 - there was a lot of stuff to do with this subject a couple of years ago. I can't seem to get a notification to Gzbgzb - I'm having a problem on this machine which is stopping me from clicking the window buttons on the bottom of the screen. Someone's given me a stinking cold for New Year, and I think I'm going to bed... Peridon (talk) 18:36, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Okay, I gave him the template notice. Bed's probably a good idea; wish I could. Writ Keeper 18:56, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks...

I've been reading your message from the archives on DrMies' talk page. My channel listings wiki hasn't had any support since I started it last October. It would be a lot helpful if I had a lot of help, and if the channel listings deleted off of Wikipedia were brought back. So, thank you. ~~LDEJRuff~~ 12:40, 3 January, 2013 (UTC)

No problem, but I may have been a little hasty. If you're going to reuse the Wikipedia content, you need to do two things: release it under the same license it was released (WP:CC-BY-SA). and provide attribution for where you got it and who wrote it. The license thing is no problem; if memory serves, I think your Wikia site is already licensed under the CC-BY-SA license, so that's fine. I'm not sure how attribution is going work if the content has been deleted, though, since you can't just use a hyperlink to the original. I might be able to dredge up a list of contributors, which I think would cover it, but there are about 4,000 edits to the page, so that might be tricky. Let me ask around and see if there's a third option. Writ Keeper 18:03, 3 January 2013 (UTC)
Okay, MRG has very kindly provided us with a list of the contributors to the article List of Dish Network channels (United States); the list is here. What you're going to have to do is copy and paste this list of contributors into some page on your Wikia site. Then, you need to give me an email address, so that I can attach the contents of the list to you. (If you don't want the email address to be public, you can send me a dummy email with the "E-mail this user" feature; that'll reveal your email address to me without revealing it to anyone else.) Once I send it, you should add it to your Wikia site with a note that's something like: "List imported from en.wikipedia.org under the terms of the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license; the list of Wikipedia contributors to this article can be found here: <url (on Wikia) of the contributor list>" in the edit summary and on the talk page, or whatever the Wikia equivalents are. That should do it. Let me know if there are any other deleted pages you need. Writ Keeper 21:26, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

New message from Media Maven, Jan. 3, 2013

Hi Writ Keeper!

Thanks again for helping me changing my username yesterday -- much appreciated!

I've created this article and am awaiting review:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/MCT

Can you please take a look at it and tell me what you think?

Thanks for helping me get started!

Best, Media Maven (talk) 21:22, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

p.s. can you please reply on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Media_Maven?

APA Update

Hi Writ Keeper Happy New Year to you. I wonder if you could have a quick look at the vastly reduced article and see if its okay to go up. Thanks for your time. SRobinsonOP (talk) 08:31, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Thinkons

  3 thinkons 4U - warmth, cold, understanding
Thanks for your help Van Derek (talk) 23:37, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Proposal talk page?

Hey, Jc37! I was looking at your proposals, and had a few questions about them, but the link in the invitation to discuss on the Moderators proposal page points to Wikipedia talk:Village pump (technical)/Proposal by Jc37. I assume you meant the normal talk page? I've changed it to that here, so if it's not what you meant, me sure to revert. Thanks; they look pretty good! Writ Keeper 16:48, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

That's what I get for copying code lol.
Thanks for catching that. If you see other incidences of that, please of course feel free to fix : ) - jc37 16:52, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

The Age of The Universe is Wrong

The Age of The Universe is Wrong

my artical is not a hoax i just created it and ill be editing and adding more to it later today

please leave my artical alone and do not delete it thankyou have a good day — Preceding unsigned comment added by John.Toth.uk..essex (talkcontribs) 16:59, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Well, I only tagged it instead of deleting it outright, because I wasn't sure whether it counted as a hoax or not; another admin will be along to review it and decide what to do. I'm not going to delete it myself. It's... pretty much indistinguishable from a hoax, though. (By the way, like I said on your talk page: our concept of time is not based on the Sun or the Earth. It's based on the radioactive decay of cesium atoms, which is a constant throughout the Universe and the past of the Universe, so your argument doesn't make much sense, as time is not arbitrary in the way you suggest.)
Don't worry about it too much, though! having your articles deleted isn't that big a deal; it's happened to all of us. You just need time to learn what Wikipedia is, and what its policies are. Feel free to ask me more questions if you need! Writ Keeper 17:06, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
I deleted it, and Mike Rosoft deleted the second version of it and prevented recreation. WK, I gave John here a final warning, on his talk page. Drmies (talk) 17:57, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
*sigh* I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but suspected it might. Writ Keeper 17:59, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Jordan Clement

No probs, didn't even notice he was blocked when nominating - I'll remove it and send to AfD after the creator is unblocked. GiantSnowman 18:22, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Okay, cool, thanks! Writ Keeper 18:23, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

UAA

Hello Writ! Can you look at WP:UAA and see a username I have reported for username policy violation. I believe a block is warranted as it clearly violates the username policy. All the comments are on the page itself. Regards. ~TheGeneralUser (talk) 21:16, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, TGU! I went ahead and blocked (with autoblock disabled); easier than having a whole big argument about it. I do agree with the other commentators, particularly Edgar181's. (The bot's since archived the thread, which is kinda annoying, but you might want to look back and see what he said.) For the account I blocked earlier, I actually didn't even look at the UAA report; I just saw it in the edit summary and blocked it after doing a cursory edit check. I didn't realize it was so stale until just now. Like Edgar said, there's nothing wrong with blocking these accounts, but it's not necessary to report them, since blocks aren't really going to change anything. It does kinda get in the way of the real important reports. No big deal, just keep it in mind. :) Thanks! Writ Keeper 21:28, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for your help Writ :). Well there wasn't any argument about it, just a little talk and comments about the issue. I do believe that any username which clearly and blatantly violates the username policy should be reported and blocked, regardless of their registration time. I will though take into consideration into everyone's points, but I genuinely believe that clearing up mess on Wikipedia is what a community Admin's volunteer responsibility and duty to do (which I enjoy and love to do). Regards. ~TheGeneralUser (talk) 21:38, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
Sure, and that's a totally legitimate thing to think, and I don't disagree with you. But the question I pose to you is this: what mess does blocking (or more accurately, reporting) a six-year-inactive account really clean up? It doesn't remove their offensive name from the logs (if anything, it spreads it). The thing about the noticeboards like AIV and UAA is that they're supposed to be for immediate problems, and an account that's been inactive for six years is not an immediate problem (unless it's something requiring RevDel or oversight, and in both those cases, UAA is not the right place to report it to anyway). Again, you didn't do anything wrong; I don't want you to think that. :) Just keep it in mind. Writ Keeper 21:47, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

ANI 3.0

Here we go, Writ Keeper. First of all, what to do with List of bands whose leader is not the lead singer? It's a ridiculous topic, but its first editor is currently an administrator. Does that matter? Second, I offer you this. Where to turn? WP:NOTWEBHOST etc. Deletion discussion? Block? Have fun figuring it out. If your answers are incorrect, I'm going to run for 'crat, everyone will vote for me, and I'll pull your tool. Besides that, you still having fun here? Drmies (talk) 03:59, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Well, for the list, I'd say AfD, though I'm not sure how it'll turn out. Here's a problem: "leader" is a subjective thing. How do you define "leader"? Is it the frontman? Source #11 sure thinks so, but some of the other sources don't. For example, Bruce Dickinson (the lead singer) is the frontman of Iron Maiden beyond the shadow of a doubt. So why is Iron Maiden on the list? Maybe Steve could've been the frontman at one point, but not any more, and not for the last thirty-two years at least. I'm not sure I would call Neil Peart the "leader" of Rush; he's certainly not the frontman, Geddy Lee is. An argument could be made that Neil is, of course, but we're not here to make arguments about it, we're here to talk about reliable sources. Here's another problem: the list is woefully undersourced. Basically, I would argue that every single entry in this list would need a citation. A list of any length, with a necessary citation for each entry (which will almost surely mean a different source for each sentry) will mean an absurd reflist. Some of the sources aren't reliable; at least one (#6) is a circular reference, because the text of the source was copied from Wikipedia. Finally, who cares? I don't see how this is an important thing for a list. A category maybe (a big maybe), but I can't see the use of a list. I'd definitely put it up at AfD and ask for a strong delete. An argument could be made for an extremely reduced list, for bands like Van Halen or Santana, but even then, I think it would be better served as a category; less maintenance that way.
As an aside, that an admin started it is irrelevant, of course; admins don't have any superiority in content matters.
For the other...I dunno. Clearly WP:NOTHERE; the page should probably be MfD'd per FAKEARTICLE, but I don't think a speedy deletion would be a good idea. The guy has no edits outside his userspace, but that's not a requirement for editing, so a block isn't called for. I'd say give him a friendly notice, explaining the logic behind the MfD, and wait to see what his response is. Writ Keeper 05:30, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
Not bad, WK, not bad. I think you're spot on, and I think you should argue that "leader" point at the AfD. BTW, given your penchant for half-dead white rockers, you should have noticed that Robin Trower, as at least partial leader of The Paramounts, is conspicuously absent. Really, we should also have a list of Bands where the drummer is the singer and Bands where the bass player is the singer. I just scrapped Page & Plant from this list, BTW. As for your point about admins: don't you know by now that one does not touch an admin's work? We are sacred! Drmies (talk) 05:54, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
Well, as the lead section of the list clearly states, co-leaders don't count. (Where do they come up with this shit?) Writ Keeper 06:15, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
Okay, nominated; I was going for the longest AfD nomination statement for this one, but I don't think I made it. Writ Keeper 06:33, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
If I may butt in: on the question of the article's creator being an admin - When we give an editor the mop, it's an indication the we trust their judgment in using it wisely. Good judgment in being an admin may not be exactly the same thing as good editorial judgment, but when an admin shows a lack of good judgment in their editing, I think it does, to some extent, raise questions about their good judgment in general. Beyond My Ken (talk) 09:32, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
To some extent, perhaps, but whether it's to an extent that requires anything to be done about it is another question. The admin in question is mostly inactive anyway; his only even moderately recent edit was to stave off the "1 year inactivity desysop". (Whether that in itseelf is a display of good judgement or not is an exercise left to the reader.) He has several AfD notifications on his talk page (including one List of eponymous band names), so this isn't the first time. The point for me is that we assume their good judgement going forward, but not going backward. That is, we include permissions like "autopatrolled" and "reviewer" and the like in with the admin bit, because we trust admins to generally be good editors in the future. (Suck on that split infinitive, English professors!) But we don't look at past content decisions and say, "Well, this seems like a bad decision to me, but an admin did it, so it must be fine and/or I'll leave it alone." People do wacky stuff; the bit doesn't prevent that. Writ Keeper 14:21, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
Sorry, I wasn't suggesting any action was necessary, more just commenting on the general case. Beyond My Ken (talk) 14:23, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
Oh, I know; as my edit summary says, this is just a general dumping of whatever thoughts I have on the subject. No apology necessary. After all, as much as Drmies might wish otherwise, this page is not ANI 3.0; I'm quite open to people voicing their thoughts on a subject, whatever it may be, and wouldn't assume things are accusations unless directly stated. Posting a thought here is in no way "official action" or anything like, so there's no need to worry about that kind of thing. Writ Keeper 14:25, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Re: Your ANI comment about me

Thanks very much, man! :-) Graham87 11:27, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

New to Wiki

I was adding page about Michael Vail Blum and all the information put is correct. I'm not sure about many guide lines here. Kind of complicated to me. could you please help me why it was deleted? 121.58.174.17 (talk) 10:00, 6 January 2013 (UTC) Atul

New to Wikipedia help

Writ Keeper, I am a new user and would like your help. A user has started demanding an article layout be changed according to his desire against the vote of everyone else who has reverted the changes. It is really odd. I am a new user and have no idea how to handle the situation. And is this type of thing a regular occurrence? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_people_who_have_been_called_a_polymath

I am also updating the page of Patrick M. Byrne which has extremely confusing Talk page requirements.Bhalluka (talk) 18:46, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Bhalluka, welcome to Wikipedia! For your first problem, your best bet is probably to try seeking dispute resolution through one of our dedicated processes. The best place to start with that is probably the dispute resolution noticeboard; this will add some structure to the conversation about the tables, and provide a neutral "moderator" who can keep things rolling. These kinds of disputes happen more often than we'd like, but Wikipedia is a very big place, so you'll probably come across them less than you'd expect.
For the Patrick Byrne article, the restrictions sound complicated, but they actually boil down pretty nicely. Basically, if you behave yourself (and I see no reason why you wouldn't!), you shouldn't have to worry about it too much. The gist of the restrictions are that you only use one account while posting on it (so, only write things as "Bhalluka"; don't log out to make an anonymous edit, since it might make you look like another person). You don't have to worry about the "proxy" thing; that's just for anonymous editors, I think. As long as you're logged into your Bhalluka account, you'll be fine. The one about advocacy basically just means to edit as neutrally as possible. The article has had problems with people who come to Wikipedia and change articles to make people sound better or worse, regardless of the truth. That's something you should avoid everywhere on Wikipedia, but it goes especially for this article. Just stick to the facts (and more importantly, what the reliable sources say), and you'll be fine with that. The last one is about conflicts of interest. Basically, if you have any personal connection with Patrick Byrne (he's your boss, you work at his company, you're his close relative, you're him, etc. etc.), you should say so on your userpage. Conflicts of interest make the neutral editing I mentioned particularly difficult, so we would need to be extra careful about it. Does that make more sense? Writ Keeper 19:08, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
Just in case you don't see it, I'd like to highlight this comment to see what you think. Ryan Vesey 22:48, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
Well, I have no objections, but it'd be my first RFC close (as an admin or otherwise). :) Writ Keeper 22:50, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks Writ, if I were preparing to close the page, I would remove or collapse everything under "Evaluations of "Should the layout be changed"". I don't know if it is a distraction to you or not, but it certainly has the ability to sway comments and closure ideas. Ryan Vesey 16:14, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
Writ, thanks for the explanation it clears things up. I thought there might be some approval process to edit. I am starting with bibliography, and will be sure to ask you for help if problems come up -- thanks again. Bhalluka (talk) 11:31, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

  The Admin's Barnstar
Hinata revdel - good call; wish I'd had the balls and good sense to step in earlier and and just do it myself. Yunshui  14:23, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Cluebot?

Is there any reason you have cluebot rather than Miszabot archive your talk page? Ryan Vesey 19:36, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

I found ClueBot's setup easier to figure out, way back when. No particular reason, really. Writ Keeper 19:39, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
I've never noticed any problems with Miszabot, so I thought using it might be better. In addition, you might have seen it, you might not have, I noticed you did some weird logging out things when I posted it, but I left a note about the RfC above. Ryan Vesey 19:40, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
Weird logging in/out things? Where? Writ Keeper 19:47, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
[1] Ryan Vesey 19:55, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
Oh, that. Yeah, I just logged out to test a thing from a non-admin perspective. I thought you meant I had posted somewhere while accidentally logged out. Yeah, I saw your note, but I'm trying to avoid that talk page until closing time happens, so I can avoid prejudice. Writ Keeper 19:59, 11 January 2013 (UTC)


Update on MCT article -- can you help?

Hi Writ Keeper! My MCT article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/MCT) was declined on the basis that the subject of the article was already covered in another article. The editor that rejected the article set up a re-direct to The McClatchy Company as a solution.

The problem is that this article didn't even mention MCT!

I went on the help desk live chat and received a lot of advice. One editor suggested I add some information on MCT to the McClatchy and Tribune articles, then link to my proposed article, once it's live. I made those additions.

Another editor suggested I convert the timeline format in my history section (article is here-->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/MCT) to a narrative format, more similar to McClatchy and Tribune articles. So I did that. Can you please take a look at the article and the edits in the McClatchy and Tribune articles and let me know what I should do next?

Thanks for any help you can provide!!

--Media Maven (talk) 20:18, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Glitch pokekmon

Okay, I will stop writing about these glitch pokemons. --Starship9000 (talk) 15:38, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Here's a heads up

MikeFromCanmore is back.[2] It's unlikely that it's not him. And now he's struck the article that I told my sister he'd probably strike. At least he hasn't started asserting all kinds of crap in the article about lesbian bed death being a valid concept. But he might. Will you keep an eye out on the article? Halo Jerk1 (talk) 05:26, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

It's confirmed as him, but there may be a truce between us now.[3] Halo Jerk1 (talk) 06:15, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
Blocked. Writ Keeper 06:23, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
Re obsession, he was responding to this,[4] but you probably saw that. I'm tired of edit warring with the guy, reporting him, etc., so that's why I attempted the truce under conditions. I also need to keep away from my sister's editing areas as much as I can. Halo Jerk1 (talk) 06:44, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Help Project newsletter : Issue 5

 
The Help Project Newsletter
Issue V - January 2013
Project news summary
From the editor

Hello again from the Help Project!

In the last newsletter (which was quite a while ago sorry!) I talked about my fellowship and the plans for improving the main portal page, Help:Contents. Well I'm sad to say that my fellowship is now over, but very happy to say that the proposed improvements to that page have been completed and implemented. Do check it out if you haven't already.

Another important and frequently used help page, Wikipedia:Contact us, has also seen a significant revamp. You may recognise the design inspiration from the new tutorial pages.

In project news, we now have a subscription to the "article alerts" service. Any deletion nominations, move discussions, or requests for comments on pages within the Help Project's scope will now show up at Wikipedia:Help Project/Article alerts. So that's definitely a page which project members might want to watch.

Any comments or suggestions for future issues are welcome at Wikipedia:Help Project/Newsletter. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter on your talk page in future then just edit the participants page and add "no newsletter" next to your name.

-- the wub "?!" 23:34, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Aacharyaa Pratishtha Sharma (dancer)

Hi - you welcomed User talk:Rusianejohn who created this article. It's bad now, it was worse before I removed the copyvio and did some editing. It's actually a copy of User:Chorndavid which still has the copyvio. Is there any chance you can try and engage Rusianejohn to help him turn this into a decent article? I assume that 114.79.12.100 (talk · contribs) is one of these editors, if they are actually 2 people. Thanks. Dougweller (talk) 12:09, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Dougweller. I didn't really invite him; that's a bot that automatically invites new users to the Teahouse. It borrows the names of Teahouse hosts (that have given permission for it to do so) and puts them on its invites, to give the invitation a more personal feel. Kinda weird, but whatever. I'll take a look when I get a chance. Writ Keeper 14:09, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. That really is weird, I don't think I like it as it feels deceptive. I also wish these editors would get a welcome message with links at the same time so at least they have a clue. But thanks, any input would be appreciated. Dougweller (talk) 19:04, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
*eyeroll* The whole idea is that this isn't a welcome bot; otherwise, it would never have gotten through BRFA, since a welcoming bot is a perenially-failed proposal. Why people think that's such a bad idea and that it's better to either count on some person leaving an equally-soulless templated welcome or abandoning the newbie to work out how Wikipedia functions on his own, almost certainly screwing things up, is beyond me, but that's another story. It's misleading, yeah, and I'm not very enthused by it, but it can't hurt too much, I guess. Writ Keeper 19:10, 14 January 2013 (UTC)


Copyvio issue

I left this note on Moonriddengirl's talk page, but she hasn't edited in a few hours. Care to take a look? Ryan Vesey 19:12, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

I've opined in the FFD and removed the text from the talk page (it's a copyright violation there as well as in the article; copyright policy applies project-wide). Writ Keeper 19:25, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks, I had somehow missed the huge extended content banner, my reverts are exempted from 3RR since it's fairly blatant copyvio despite the fact that some of the editors in question don't understand that; however, it would be great if you could watch the page. Ryan Vesey 19:28, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
I am. Writ Keeper 19:34, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

User talk:Hinata

If you are going to protect the user talk page, you should probably collapse the whole discussion that led to it, as its not really productive to leave it there and prohibit further responses. Monty845 17:01, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Okay, collapsed. Thanks. Writ Keeper 17:04, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Hinata

I see no reason to provide even the courtesy of toleration to someone who thinks I should be murdered. You're right: you don't know what it's like to be persecuted for your sexuality. But beyond that, Hinata's views about whether these obnoxious opinions are controversial, and whether they are hate speech, are themselves objectively false. I don't think they should be allowed to go their merry bigoted way under even the slightest illusion about that. AlexTiefling (talk) 17:04, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Well, they weren't going their merry way; they were indefblocked, with no real possibility of coming back. I mean, do you really think talking to them through a blocked account's talk page on Wikipedia is going to change their mind about something like that? If it were that easy, then this probably wouldn't have happened in the first place. Anyway, it's a moot point now; TPA is gone, the page is protected and we can move on. All I can do is reiterate it: I'm very sorry for this. :( Writ Keeper 17:08, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
Alex, I have an inkling. I live in Alabama. I have students and friends who are or have been the target of such hate, and I read the local papers. No, you can't change their minds though it is tempting to try, very tempting at least to respond. But in the end, they're trolls and we shouldn't feed them for the very practical reason that feeding them keeps them fat and happy, makes them think we care about them, which we don't. As an admin, my response is to block and deny talk page access if they persist in soapboxing, and while that is emotionally unfulfilling it makes sense on a website. We move right along, and write and improve articles that--speaking as a stereotypical liberal here--will help someone along the line figure out what's really going on. And we forget the assholes, since they don't need remembering, and we try to lessen their going about in their merry little ways at least on this domain. Happy days, Drmies (talk) 06:44, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

HighBeam

Hey, sorry to be the bearer of bad news... Though your application was perfect and your account fully approved, we ran out of access codes 7 short of the total who signed up in round 6. I've gone ahead and moved you to the top of the list for round 7. If and as soon as we are given access to more accounts, you will be first to receive it. If you need help accessing sources, WikiProject Resource Exchange is a great place to go, or for HighBeam specifically, you might try asking one of the other 1000 editors who have HighBeam access this year. Again, I'm sorry, and I'll keep pushing for more access to these valuable resources. Cheers, Ocaasi t | c 18:21, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Ha, darn! No worries; regardless of my own status, thanks for working on this, Ocaasi! Writ Keeper 18:23, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
Be sure to let me know if you need anything. Ryan Vesey 18:49, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
Seconded. I'll Highbeam the crap out of any search you want doing over there, just ask. Yunshui  20:07, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

cool!

Thanks for the common.css tip -- do you know if there's any way to further customize based on user-agent? NE Ent 17:38, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

I've been looking off-and-on for a way to do that; haven't really come up with anything yet. There probably is, one way or another. The thing for me is that I generally browse Wikipedia on my mobile with Javascript turned off, to make pages load faster, so I haven't been really looking at JS solutions, and I doubt CSS can do that kind of thing on its own. Writ Keeper 17:41, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

  The Admin's Barnstar
For displaying basic common sense in blocking an edit warring individual. Thankyou. ♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 19:07, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

Fazil Marickar

hey why did you delete this page, i was creating an article about this real person, he is not fake!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sreejiththulaseedharan (talkcontribs) 07:42, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Sreej! I didn't deleted it because he was a fake person, although now that you mention it, it does look pretty fake. I deleted it because it was blatant promotion; an indiscriminate, unsourced list of accomplishments like that is not an appropriate Wikipedia article, because it looks like it's there for no reason except to make its subject look good. These kinds of misunderstandings happen all the time, so don't feel too discouraged about it or anything! Nobody will hold it against you as long as you learn from this. You just need to realize that that's not what Wikipedia is about; Wikipedia is about writing neutral, balanced articles about notable subjects that contain only verifiable facts supported by reliable sources. I know that's a lot of links to throw at you, so please feel free to ask me any more questions you have, or you can ask at the Teahouse, which is a place for people to ask questions and get whatever help they need in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Happy editing! Writ Keeper 07:49, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

i had just created the article, wrote the whole in order, it was too large to handle without saving, and by the time i was about to give references it was said deleted, couldn't you wait at least a few hours, it was a days work and now because of you i have to do it all over again!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sreejiththulaseedharan (talkcontribs) 14:20, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

No, because it didn't really matter whether it had references or not. It was too promotional in tone for a Wikipedia article, regardless of whether it was sourced. It basically read like a curriculum vitae, which is not acceptable in a Wikipedia article, no matter how sourced it is. If the article was to be kept, it needed to be completely rewritten anyway. Writ Keeper 16:49, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

New Article - APA. Is it okay?

Hi Writ Keeper Happy New Year to you. I wonder if you could have a quick look at the vastly reduced article and see if its okay to go up. Thanks for your time.SRobinsonOP (talk) 10:29, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, SRobionson! I'm so sorry for taking so long to respond to you; I keep meaning to, but then other things get in the way.. Anyway, the article is looking better, but my advice is pretty much still the same: you need inline citations, and you need to cut down on the promotional content. You have a long list of references (of questionable reliablility) but you don't have any inline citations for them, so it's totally unclear what those references are being used for, and what parts of your article are supported. You're using words and phrases like "exclusively", "first of its kind", "well received"; even if all these words are true (and they may be, but nobody can tell if they are or not because they're not cited!), the overall tone comes off as promotional. It still kind of reads more like a press release or advertisement than a properly neutral encyclopedia article. Some of your language looks like it was taken directly from some kind of manual; that's not the job of an encyclopedia article. Putting sentences in all-caps the way you do in one is not right for Wikipedia on its face, but it also suggests that you're copying it from another source, which is not allowed if that's what you're doing. I hate to say it, but to be totally honest, if you can't see these issues yourself after all this time, then you might not be the right person to write this article. Articles on Wikipedia need to be written from a neutral perspective, and that's not something everyone can do for every subject. Writ Keeper 14:31, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
Hi thanks for the response. Like I said previously if National Newspapers are not good enough I am not sure where to go with it. Its not open to the public so its not promotional no money to be made here, but I see what you mean with those words. Okay I shall be back. Thanks.SRobinsonOP (talk) 11:05, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

 
Hello, Writ Keeper. You have new messages at Stefan2's talk page.
Message added 11:18, 21 January 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Stefan2 (talk) 11:18, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Tamil Letter quite possibly PD

Care to take a look at my most recent comment at the deletion discussion? It turns out that the letter was prepared as a statement by the Sri Lankan Embassy. That would mean only Sri Lankan laws apply and that it is PD as a court document. The only remaining question is does US law apply a copyright. Unless I'm wrong in my first conclusion. Ryan Vesey 18:32, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Hm. Certainly the US will go by whatever Sri Lanka says about it; it's analogous to how US government employees' work is automatically public-domain if produced in the course of their duties. The US-and-country-of-origin thing is more for copyright expiry, I think. Commons says that the government exception in Sri Lanka is for "any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof". So then it's a question of whether this is an official text. Probably is. Writ Keeper 19:04, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
Jumping in here on a tangent since it's off-topic at the FFD -- the U.S. versus country-of-origin situation does indeed apply largely to copyright terms, but also to things like threshold of originality and freedom of panorama. VernoWhitney (talk) 20:09, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
I understand threshold of originality (the US sometimes considers an object PD that isn't PD in it's home country), but freedom of panorama? Can you think of an example? As far as I know, things where freedom of panorama isn't allowed in the US (like statues) can freely be considered PD if it's from a country that allows it. In addition, a country like Laos doesn't have freedom of panorama for buildings, and pictures of them are also not free in the US, correct? Ryan Vesey 20:13, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
Pictures of architecture are in the public domain in the United States no matter where they originate -- or rather, they are still copyrighted but their use within the United States does not infringe upon any exclusive rights; see 17 U.S.C. § 120. Infringement is generally determined by the location of the offense (i.e., distribution of the derivative work)...at least when it comes to U.S. courts and their dislike of applying foreign law domestically. Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc. is the latest case law that comes to mind. Such images could not be used on Commons, of course, but that's due to policy and not law. VernoWhitney (talk) 20:47, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

In that case, is there a way for these to be re-uploaded locally? Ryan Vesey 20:56, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why not so long as the images didn't include sculptures or other artwork which wasn't architecture (I'm not an admin at commons so I can't check). As was mentioned in the DR, {{FoP-USonly}} (which I was looking for but couldn't find for my last response) should be usable here. VernoWhitney (talk) 21:29, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Shayan Anique Akhtar

Hello Writ, You should delete this page. I created this page based on my bio as previously created the same page using my First and Second name Shayan Anique which was deleted. I have made mistake because I created page again using my full name "Shayan Anique Akhtar" I have nominated it for deletion.

Bombadas

JayKim16 (talk) 16:44, 24 January 2013 (UTC)KimmieJayKim16 (talk) You deleted my page and its for a school project! im going to fail if its not up! i lost my work and am on a different computer, i mentioned that it was for a project!!!!Please can you repost it!!! please!! im about to graudate high school and i need this to get accepted into College!!JayKim16 (talk)

User asked me as well and I have emailed a copy. JohnCD (talk) 16:48, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
Okay, thanks, JohnCD; I was going to reply with a similar offer. Writ Keeper 16:49, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Congrats... You fixed the Teahouse just where it needed to be fixed!

I award you this badge of service for your indispensable assistance in getting the WikiLove Badge customization up and running. It's really easy and useful and *it works*, thanks to your help.

Also, in case you were wondering, we're trying a new experiment centered around 'acknowledgements' in the Teahouse. If you see someone doing something awesome, find the Badge that fits best and share it with them. More details are linked on the Badge itself. Cheers!


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Ocaasi t | c 20:22, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

As per tour request and the outrageous mendacious accusation from others.

As per your request I have made it clear for AndyTheGrump and any of his associates that he has not been subjected to legal threat - he is so inventive in covering up his own errors and fails.

As it's not clear is there anywhere else I need to post and advisory?

I have to make clear that i do not welcome his repeated attacks upon others and his abuse of Wiki to empower himself. His behaviour is such that It drives editors away and as there is still an ongoing issue with editor retention that may been to be addressed.

I will not be responding to his misbehaviour - but should be continue his abuse and bullying I will refer him to a list he has inspired on a personal wiki page. I so wish that Wiki would get with the issues of Cyber abuse and put in place correct portals and systems to protect individuals - and not just admins. That bias is so anti-diversity and sitting in the very heart of wiki. What is the best way to get such a deficit addressed and ensure that people attacked and victimised through wiki can be secure in knowing if they report it is handled securely and with respect.

Presently it is not occurring - and people are leaving because of it. --TTFN-- Media-Hound 'D 3rd P^) (talk) 23:15, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

If you could redact some of your comment in this diff; probably the last two sentences in the second paragraph and definitely the last sentence in the same paragraph ("If they continue a formal complaint should be made."), that would be good enough for me. (Just deleting the sentences and replacing it with (redacted) shoud do it.) Even if you didn't intend it that way (although I can't find any other way to interpret it), that comment can easily be construed as a legal threat, and to avoid incentivizing a "chilling effect", even from indirect or unintended legal threats, redaction is probably best. As for the rest of your comment: as you say, there's no mechanism on Wikipedia specifically for reporting bullying, probably in part because of it subjectivity; as you can see from the ANI thread, not everyone agrees with your analysis of the situation. But I'm not an expert on xyberbullying, nor on the history of Wikipedia's DR mechanisms, so I can't really say. Writ Keeper 23:26, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Request

Would you mind telling this editor that continuing to post on my talk page after I requested that he not do so again is not acceptable behavior, especially when he seems to be trying to get a rise out of me. [5],[6],[7],[8],[9],[10],[11],[12] Also, that I have a perfect right to delete comments from my talk page. Thanks. Beyond My Ken (talk) 23:46, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Sure thing.

Although may I ask you to remind said user that interacting with editors is a part of the process and he should not be uncivil with them just because he does not like their views on a topic, in particular with edit summaries on his talk page and here on Talk:Cooper Square where this whole thing started. For the record, I was not trying to get rise, was trying to settle the waters in the hopes of coming to an understanding with the discussion on Cooper Square, of which he was a part, especially when he seemed to be taking things so personally. But if he wants to throw his toys out of the pram then, you're right, it's up to him. MisterShiney 06:59, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

Croonerman Socks

Can we reblock the Ip too? The Ip was blocked becasue it was a duck and within a week of it being lifted it resumed the edits promoting croonerman... Hell In A Bucket (talk) 15:40, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

Give me a second. Jeez. (I was in the process for blocking it for another week; it's a dynamic IP, so I'm not very enthused about blocking it for longer. It doesn't look to be very dynamic, granted, but still.) Writ Keeper 15:42, 25 January 2013 (UTC)
I understand, I'm an impatient bastard (my own statement not thinking you thought that)Hell In A Bucket (talk) 15:45, 25 January 2013 (UTC)
Nah, no worries. :) Writ Keeper 15:46, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

is this good so far?

Hello Writ Keeper, I actually made at least 970 edits so is it looking good so far or do I need to aim it more to 1,000? I have not nominated any pages for deletion like what Kudpung told me after my 72 hour block expired so are you so far impressed since I did not nominate any pages like you asked and I also have been creating draft articles that looks like this:Tornado (Parque ded Acciones ded Madrid) and I was creating a article in my sandbox for test edits. Are you impressed so far? --Starship9000 (talk) 00:13, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Re my sandbox

Thank you for your help on my sandbox. I'm more familiar with procedures at es.wiki and still have to learn the ropes so that I can contribute more at this wiki. Regards, --Maragm (talk) 08:09, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Of course, no worries! I was actually just typing an explanation of what I did at your talk page. The gist of it is this: you page was nominated for deletion because you made it in the main article space, which is reserved for "finished" articles only. (Of course, no article is ever really finished; I mean articles that are good enough to stand as they are.) If you want to make more drafts in the future, definitely feel free to do so; just be sure that you start the title out with "User:Maragm/", as I did with "User:Maragm/sandbox". That way, the drafts will be in your userspace, which is where they're supposed to be.
One other thing, as an aside: it's totally fine for you to import articles from other language Wikipedias, but when you do, be sure to say where you got it. Usually you can just do this in the edit summary, by writing something like "Text imported from the Spanish Wikipedia: (link to the source page)". That attribution, including the link to the page where you got it, is important for copyright purposes.
Anyway, cheers! If there's anything else I can help you with, just drop me a line here, and I'll see what I can do. :) Writ Keeper 08:17, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks again for your explanation. When I finish and transfer it to the main article space I will certainly follow your instructions and indicate that it was translated from es.wiki. It will take me a couple of days to complete, but I've done it before with other articles. Regards, --Maragm (talk) 08:27, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) There's also {{translated}}, which is a bit more in depth (and labor intensive, what with scrounging up diffs and whatnot), but definitely preferable to just "(imported from Spanish Wikipedia [link])". :) —Theopolisme (talk) 08:30, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
Ok, I added the translation template. Just another question: what if I am the sole author at es.wiki? (not this case, but other articles I plan to bring here). Regards, --Maragm (talk) 09:01, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

King The Kid

Hello (sorry for my english, I'm French)

We were writing the page but sometime, in life, you have to eat....so yeah, we take a break for eating you deleted the page. The band go on a tour in March, the have Internet Show in February, they have a CD on iTunes, they have a (I don't remember the name) shop band on Internet, they have articles on the web. Ricky Ficarelli is huge and he's 1/3 of the band. Google it ;) Maudamelie — Preceding unsigned comment added by Maudamelie (talkcontribs) 02:30, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

Well done...

...excellent use of fire. Yunshui  00:09, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

AfD script

Hi, WK, Drmies said you could help me with an "AfD gadget in your pull-down menu". I'm not sure if he means an actual gadget or a script. It's supposed to help me close AfDs (never done it so far). In case it matters, I use the vector skin. Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:36, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Bbb! Sorry for not responding; I was on vacation. I, uh, have no idea what Drmies is talking about. A namespace search turns up two examples of something like this: User:Jnothman/afd helper/script.js and User:Mr.Z-man/closeAFD.js. I (obviously) don't use either of them, but I think I've sen Jnothman's AfD helper around, and Mr.Z-man does good stuff, so they should be good options. Cheers! :) Writ Keeper 04:35, 1 February 2013 (UTC)
I've seen Mr. Z-man's script suggested before. In addition, in dealing with any discussions, you might find it helpful to use the script I suggested to Mr. Stradivarius at User talk:Marcus Qwertyus#Speedy deletion declined: Bob Doyle (politician)Ryan Vesey 05:10, 1 February 2013 (UTC)
Yup. Fun fact: having one of Amalthea's fancy blue backgrounds for admins was the primary motivation for my RfA. not really, but still Writ Keeper 05:19, 1 February 2013 (UTC)
  • Thanks. I read the short description by Mr.Z-man as to what his script does. That sounds useful but not at all what Drmies described. As I understand it, there's some pull-down available to me at the AfD discussion itself. And the description of Jnothman's script indicates that it's for any editor and to be used in voting and nominating, not in closing. Ah, well, if either of you hear of anything, please let me know.--Bbb23 (talk) 14:44, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

 
Barnstar awarded for helping to work out some css for me, even though I use an obscure skin. Thank!   An optimist on the run! 16:10, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Help, please?

Hi, Writ Keeper! Curious if you'd be interested in donating some of your Javascript programming chops to an issue at Today's article for improvement (talk thread linked). The goal is to make some sort of script that, very briefly in the words of Horai 551:

I would suggest that in the nominations section, there should be a button labeled "Nominate Arrticle". When clicked, a pop up window would appear. In it you can write the name, class, and an optional comment section. You then choose the right topic, click save, and it would appear. Next to the nomination, there should be a support/oppose button.

Would you be at all interested in helping with this? I'd be happy to help make mockups/etc. Thanks again, —Theopolisme (talk) 22:52, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Theo! Sorry to be so long in getting back to you. I've been working on another request that came up last week (User:Writ Keeper/Scripts/userHistory.js, if you're curious). I'd like to wrap that one up before I take on anything else. It's in a semi-finished state as is, though, so hopefully there shouldn't be much else to do, other than a few more features here and there. So, hopefully in a few days, I'll be available to take a crack at it. Writ Keeper 22:30, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
Cool; no hurry! I'd do it myself, but I'm still doing some major Javascript procrastination...I only know those useless server-side languages. ;) —Theopolisme (talk) 23:19, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

  The Technical Barnstar
The updated userhist tool is just fantastic, with a side order of freakin' rad and generous lashings of awesomesauce. You, Mr Keeper, just made the number one spot on my personal favourite Wikipedians list. Yunshui  23:08, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

A quick concern

You blocked my father a couple of months' time ago and I didn't want to start a row on here, but he's been quite morose about it. He claims to have been having his jollies but that he didn't mean any real harm. He said several editors were rude to him and mentioned you as having placed a block on him, though he didn't say you personally were unpleasant. There appear to have been several interactions betwixt himself and administratours but I am not sure what the original offence was. Have you any idea? Perhaps you can help me get to the bottom of things. Francis Xavier the Fifth (talk) 00:30, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Sure, can you give me his username? Writ Keeper 00:39, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Speaking of edit warring

[13] I'm partially at fault as it takes two to edit war, but Medeis is refusing to respond to talk page concerns. Ryan Vesey 23:37, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Help--request for input from user

I just chatted with you in editing help. After reading your quote and its source on your user page, you're just the admin. I want to talk to. Do I talk to you here or somewhere else? Back in chat? Or where? Paavo273 (talk) 00:08, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

There's a war at Continuation War and I'm part of it. I'm not even sure if you want to take the time required to look at it. If you glance at it and realize no, I totally respect that. In simple terms, I feel like there's a larger edit-war going on than just WP:edit-war. As I've stated unapologetically on the talk page, I think there has been a wholesale Sovietization of WP articles related to Soviet issues. I feel like there's been a lot of bullying on many different levels. But I am *not* asking you to address that, only to tell you where I'm coming from. What I really want to know is is there any way to move the war to a resolution fastrack. I'm new to edit-war environments but I've been around WP for at least 3-4 years. My main contributions have been in English language usage. Anyway, what I really want advice on is what I should do now. Have I violated any WP rules as certain opposing editors claim, and where do I go from here. Or should I just disappear. I was about to do that when I noticed that about 19,000 people read the CW article some months. So it added relevance to my participation in my mind. Thanks for any ideas you can give! Paavo273 (talk) 00:17, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

I've familiarized myself with WP 3-revert rule and edit warring and a whole bunch of other rules I've been accused of violating. I don't want to violate any rules of WP, but more than that, I'm concerned about whether there's room in the relevant WP community for what is obviously a contrarian position to what I conceive to be the mainstream Soviet dominance. What bothers me is that a lot of people talk at each other. Conversation/Discussions easily get derailed and turn into shouting matches. Virtually the whole talk page the last week or more has amounted to only this. People talking, but nobody listening. The reality is, in my opinion, that the opposing views are irreconcilable, which I know WP policy says they must be reconcilable and subject to consensus and compromise. I'm sure there are a lot of other hot-button issues like this. It's probably no less reconcilable than Israelis and Palestinians agreeing to co-write an article about the West Bank. Anyway, any ideas about how to proceed and if at this point I'm in danger of being guilty or actually am guilty of edit-warring? According to my interpretation of the rule I'm not. Thanks a lot for your trouble! Paavo273 (talk) 00:29, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Anyway, do I in your admin. position have a duty to revert the edit as the user at the bottom of the [Continuation War|CW] talk page has now *twice* threatened me to do? (This user BTW just jumped into the discussion after an absence of quite awhile, I don't know how long.) If you or any other admin. tells me to desist, of course I will immediately. Paavo273 (talk) 00:34, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

If you as an admin. believe I've violated or am about to violate a WP rule, please just say so, and I'll stop and go away immediately. Again, thanks for your trouble. Paavo273 (talk) 00:40, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Seven

 
Check out the Teahouse Genie Badge, awarded for solving issues on the Teahouse Wishlist.

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Thanks again! Ocaasi 02:02, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for the revert and the block. =) -- Gogo Dodo (talk) 05:28, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Yep! Writ Keeper 14:24, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Blacky pictures

Hi again WK. I am seeking to move this article to Blacky Pictures Test as per the rationale at the Talk Page. I have found one supporter. The editor who created the article, User:Nydas, seems now to be long gone. Is this a fair re-name? How long should we wait? - the article gets hardly any attention and is watched by fewer than 30 editors. I have never done a move, so any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:34, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Martin! That definitely sounds reasonable to me; I don't think you need to wait at all, since I doubt this would be a controversial move. You should be able to go ahead and do it! (Just in case you don't know how, the option to move a page is found in the menu at the top-right of a page; just go to the little down-pointing arrow, click "Move", type in the new page name, and click the "Move page" button. There are some other options, but the default ones should be just fine for this.) Cheers! Writ Keeper 22:25, 9 February 2013 (UTC)
Many thanks, now done. Much easier than anticipated - that menu item has been there for me for over five years and I had never yet even thought to use it! Martinevans123 (talk) 22:56, 9 February 2013 (UTC)
My pleasure! Writ Keeper 23:28, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Freedom of choice

Hi, you've shown an interest in edit wars so just thought I'd bring this to your attention...Freedom of choice. From my admittedly biased perspective...SPECIFICO is once again removing reliably sourced content just like he did with tax choice. If you're not interested, let me know and I will no longer bring these issues to your attention. Thanks. --Xerographica (talk) 21:20, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

I don't see any edit warring , though I didn't go all the way back through the article history. How recent is it? actually, turns out I did Can you give diffs of what you think is edit-warring there? As an aside, "reliably sourced" is not the only criteria for inclusion of information into Wikipedia articles. There are other concerns. For example, in that context, I would agree with removing "right to life"; that's not a universally-accepted right, so using it in that context is non-neutral. Writ Keeper 21:26, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
Hugo Spinelli built the article up, and Rich, Rubin and SPECIFICO are trying to tear it down. SPECIFICO is the one who nominated it for deletion... Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Freedom_of_choice. Where's their positive contributions? Where are the reliable sources that they've brought to the table? I know it's hard to see a pattern with so few instances. But thanks for taking a look at it. --Xerographica (talk) 21:39, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
Not all possible subjects are meant to have articles, and not all information is meant to be in an article. Removals and deletions can be positive contributions, if they improve the encyclopedia as a whole by removing inappropriate content. Not all additions are positive contributions, and not all positive contributions are additions. Writ Keeper 21:42, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your advice!

Even after several years I still feel like a newbie. Capitalismojo (talk) 16:27, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Ha, well, it's all in what you're used to. Admin or not, I'm just some wikignome/scripting guy with only like two short articles under his belt. The encyclopedia could use fewer people like me, and more people like you, who are unfamiliar with the dramaboards and actually write the encyclopedia. :) Writ Keeper 16:34, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

English Patriot Man

Thanks. I thought about it but I was vaguely involved. Why do people admit to being banned editors? Dougweller (talk) 16:20, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Yep, no problem. Can't really say; I'd guess they just don't care, but who really knows? Writ Keeper 16:44, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
  • Yeah, on that. Bah. Excellent block reason. In context, mark you! I was paying you a perfectly serious compliment. Perhaps you'd rather I let the facetious evil twin loose on your ass next time? Bishonen | talk 21:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC).
  • Heh, thanks but no thanks. But thanks. Writ Keeper 22:07, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

ANI

Hello. Rather than sling my club about more on the ANI, I thought I'd drop you a message. (Please indulge me with this. But don't read as I am letting off steam more than anything.) I think my "ban" proposal is actually less severe than a block. As I understand blocking, he could only work on is own user space. Indeed, sometimes blocks include the user space. But with a ban, he'd just be restricted from those category pages and others' userspace. He could edit and talk in the non-categorized (econ, etc.) and revert obvious vandalism type stuff. Now will he agree to a voluntary ban? I doubt it. He has not reacted very positively to my proposal. Instead, "you guys" must comply with his conditions, e.g., stop me, Rubin & SPECIFICO from harassing him. And consider his latest example. He cites one thread that was civil, verses the 116 diffs that I complied. (I'd proposed the Editor review to him before, but he won't do it.) Forgive me, Writ Keeper, if I complain too much here, but X goes on and on – not just on the talk pages. He creates new, lousy stuff, and then links it on other pages which have marginal relevance. (Example, his Scroogenomics article, created with three edits, and then linked here and there. So who contributed to Scroogenomics? X did 3 edits, 72Dino did 10, I did 9, Rubin, SPECIFICO, and the bot each did 1.) X asks if anyone objects to posting stuff, which can't be ignored because he'll take it as a green light for more lousy editing. Okay. I'll stop. Maybe I'll repost my {{trout}}. Let me know if you want to use it and I shall. Thanks so very much. – S. Rich (talk) 00:18, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Schoolblock

I just blocked another school IP, User talk:147.31.184.131, but why can't I find "schoolblock" in the pull-down list that Twinkle gives me? There's a schoolblock template on that same page, October 2011, but I don't see a template indicated in its text. Thanks, Drmies (talk) 15:30, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

Do you know, for some reason I never actually use Twinkle for block notices? I just type out the template by hand. Why, I have no idea, but it's habit by now.
Anyway, if I had to guess, I'd guess that it's because Twinkle uses the "user warning" templates. That is, the names of all the templates that Twinkle uses begin with "uw-", standing for user warning. But the schoolblock template isn't one of those, it's just called Template:Schoolblock. Using it manually is pretty easy, though: just type in {{subst:schoolblock|sig=~~~~}}. The reason you can't see the template in the text is because of the subst: part; blocking and warning templates are usually substituted, which means that the template in the text actually gets replaced with what's in the template, rather than doing it each time the page is viewed like normal. Writ Keeper 15:38, 15 February 2013 (UTC)
By hand? What are you, a medievalist? How strange that this would be the reason for exclusion. (Can you change that?) I asked about the text because a bunch of these warnings and templates (I thought) have the name of the template in there, as hidden comments. Thanks Writ! You're so smart, and helpful! I hope you got a terrific lay on Valentine's Day. Drmies (talk) 16:05, 15 February 2013 (UTC)
  • WK, I got one more for you--when I Twinkle Template:Welcome student onto someone's page there must be a redundant space (or a hard break?) at the end, since the signature is put in a box; see User talk:Hegarty.michael.c for instance. Can you fix that? Thanks, and have a great weekend, Drmies (talk) 02:38, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
    • Okay, that should be fixed now; there was a stray newline in the template. Writ Keeper 02:56, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

  The Technical Barnstar
You're grrreat, Writ Keeper. Thanks for your help, and thanks for following up so quickly. Drmies (talk) 02:58, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Thought for today

Re [14]; blocking trolls or edit warriors and the like, while necessary, is fairly straightforward. Intervening in some wikiations, however, requires artful finesse; failure resounds in wikiplosions (Block! Unblock! AN ban! ArbCom!) decaying to futility, while the sign of success is the the sound of one hand clapping. NE Ent 22:34, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, but I think that's too Zen for me. I'll probably just stick to the easy stuff from here on out. (I've had kind of a stressful day for RL reasons, so I might be too drained to really get what you're telling me...) Writ Keeper 23:50, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
You did good, even if it didn't seem like it. NE Ent 03:35, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
Heh, okay, thanks. :) Writ Keeper 05:06, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Guitar Hero

No worries, I'm just hoping to rehabilitate Guitar Hero as a useful editor in six months or so if he can keep his nose clean from socking around a block. I needed it to be clear in no uncertain terms that he was unconnected here, which is the case as far as I am aware. I do think that the Germans (nationality + ethnicity)/Karl Marx matter is going to end up at ArbCom eventually because the status quo is being tendentiously maintained, but that's another story altogether. Best regards, —Tim //// Carrite (talk) 20:15, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Okay, no problem. I definitely agree that this wasn't Guitar hero on the roof; the subject matter brought it to mind, is all. Best of luck on working with him! Writ Keeper 20:19, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Seeing different colors

Based on yours/my comments on seeing colors differently, I thought you'd be interested in thisRyan Vesey 23:01, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

(WP:TPS): Hi Ryan, hi Writ. An excellent video. And really what Wittgenstein was saying in 1950. (His last work, in fact). Martinevans123 (talk) 23:16, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Teahouse Birthday

Hi Writ! We are having some birthday celebrations as Teahouse turns 1 year-old next week. As someone who has been indispensible from the beginning, I was wondering if you might reflect a bit on your experience at the Teahouse and how you view its role in the community. I'd love to have your responses to any of these questions, possibly for a Wikimedia Foundation blog post which will run on the big day.

  1. How did you find the Teahouse? What were your first impressions?
  2. What do you like best about the atmosphere at the Teahouse?
  3. What experience, interaction, guest, or host stands out for you as a highlight?
  4. How has the Teahouse enabled you to empower other editors?
  5. What do you hope for the Teahouse as she continues to grow up?

Thanks again for your awesome contributions to the project. Cheers, Ocaasi t | c 20:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

NPA

Should you also remove the revision and edit summary on my talk page? It is a personal attack. Eyesnore (pending changes) 22:07, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Eh, I wouldn't have thought it bad enough to warrant revdel. RevDel is "not "ordinary" incivility, personal attacks or conduct accusations"; so sayeth the policy. However, it's pretty much up for interpretation, so if you think it's bad enough, I'll do it for you, I guess; just let me know. Writ Keeper 22:15, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

ANI does not resolve content disputes.

May I ask you where it says that? Mr T(Talk?) (New thread?) 16:57, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

"To get assistance in resolving disputes, please see dispute resolution" in the collapsed "Are you in the right place?" box at the top of the page. More common-sensically, ANI is for requesting admin intervention into matters. But: admins cannot resolve content disputes merely by virtue of being admins: "administrators should be a part of the community like other editors, with no special powers or privileges when acting as editors" from WP:ADMIN. So, you're asking for admin intervention in a situation where an admin has nothing to do as an admin. Two other established editors have mentioned this in your thread alone, and it's a pretty long-established custom, so yeah. Writ Keeper 17:06, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

Inre: My Old Account

As you should be able to note within my account(s) history, the restoration of my original account was handled entirely at an administrative level. I had simply assumed that whatever was required in terms of linking both accounts had been appropriately affected by those administrators who were kind enough to get the job done. I have no problem at all, if you see some deficiency that might create some perception of chicanery or subterfuge, in properly linking the two accounts to your or anyone else's satisfaction. In fact, if you're so inclined, I'll invite you to do just that as I'm ignorant of either the issues or process involved. Thank you. JakeInJoisey (talk) 00:26, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Yup, no worries; I didn't think you did it deliberately. Just putting these userboxes up, as I've just done, should be plenty. Thanks! Writ Keeper 00:31, 22 February 2013 (UTC)