User talk:Fox/March 2012

Latest comment: 12 years ago by The ed17 in topic WikiCup 2012 March newsletter

Tokyo Sky Tower ITN

Foxj, I've replied to your change of the blurb for the Tokyo Sky Tower with a number of reliable sources, including the definition of tower used both by Guinness World Records and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, clearly defining towers as different to buildings. Please review your change to the blurb, I don't think it should have been made. TechnoSymbiosis (talk) 20:13, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

New Page Triage engagement strategy released

Hey guys!

I'm dropping you a note because you filled out the New Page Patrol survey, and indicated you'd be interested in being contacted about follow-up work. This is to notify you that we've finally released both the initial documentation about the project and also the engagement strategy, which sets out how we plan to work with the community on this. Please give both a read, and leave any comments or suggestions you have on the talkpage, on my talkpage, or in my inbox - okeyes wikimedia.org.

It's awesome to finally get to start work on this! :). Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 02:09, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

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Were you asked off wiki ?

To request action regarding the quotes on my user talk page? Was it Jaakobou who asked you? Did you tell him he shouldn't blank content on the talk pages of editors he has harassed in the past? Tiamuttalk 18:27, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 05 March 2012

Review

Please review the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement#Request_concerning_Tiamut
Regardless if I am sanctioned, I would really like the antisemitic content removed.
Regards, JaakobouChalk Talk 17:15, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

I left you a reply here - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AArbitration%2FRequests%2FEnforcement&diff=480631660&oldid=480629649
Regards, JaakobouChalk Talk 09:12, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
I'm not sure on how to present how deep rooted the problem is. This link explains the techniques applied throughout the middle east. The same techniques are applied with more subtlety at the top of Tiamut's talkpage. Anyway, from your reponse I can see that you did see offense in the [is it really] sensationalist [?] paraphrasing. I left another reponse.[1].
With respect, JaakobouChalk Talk 10:29, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
I replied to you here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AArbitration%2FRequests%2FEnforcement&diff=480651463&oldid=480645478
With respect, JaakobouChalk Talk 12:13, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
Replied - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement#Comment_by_Fluffernutter
- JaakobouChalk Talk 18:24, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
Replied. JaakobouChalk Talk 18:52, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

ani mention

fyi Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Pay_for_edits_in_Wikipedia Nobody Ent 14:18, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

"A series"

Hello! I always try to stay on top of the pluralization issue (and seek English variety-neutral wording). To the best of my recollection, this is the first instance in which I've seen it applied to "a series" (despite our recurring use of this wording in ITN for years), and I don't recall seeing it treated as plural in British English media (including our articles about UK television). Can you please point me to an authoritative source? Thanks! —David Levy 06:06, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

It seems it depends on the journalist so I may have been a bit hasty, but the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph have all used it as a plural. Feel free to reinstate it however. — foxj 06:21, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the links. If this is a common practice, I'd prefer to sidestep the issue via your revision.
Am I correct in assuming that this applies specifically to instances in which the wording "series of ______" is used? I frequently read about UK television, and I don't recall ever seeing something along the lines of "A second series were commissioned in 2010.". —David Levy 06:45, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Yes, it is purely for "a series of bombs", "a series of tornadoes", "a series of rotten apples", whatever. "Series" in the instance you refer to is synonymous with the American "season". But you knew that ;) — foxj 06:54, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Indeed, I annoy my fellow Americans by referring to "series" (instead of "season"/"seasons") when discussing British television. (;
Out of curiosity, does one of the two terms predominate in Australia? I've heard Shane Bourne use them interchangeably on Thank God You're Here. —David Levy 07:07, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Actually, I haven't really paid close enough attention to tell you for certain. I'm starting to think these journalists have implanted - gasp indeed - the wrong option in my head. — foxj 07:18, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
To be clear, I was inquiring about "series" vs. "season", not the original issue that brought me here. —David Levy 07:28, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Oh, I see, confused me. Australian English tends towards British English, so I would assume therefore they stick to "series" rather than "season". A lot of programmes are bought in from the States, though, which might skew the data a little. — foxj 07:32, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

I came here to make the same point. As a UK grammatician, I'm appalled that major news sources are employing journalists with such scant regard for the rules of the language, but in the face of that evidence, I can't really go ahead with my intention of asking you to revert yourself. Kevin McE (talk) 07:12, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

My version at least cuts it out entirely, but I will not do it again, Kevin. — foxj 07:18, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
I often encounter appalling grammatical errors in American print media (e.g. "it's" in place of the possessive "its", which I've spotted in UK publications as well). In your view, are the linked examples similarly clear-cut in their incorrectness? —David Levy 07:28, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
I would consider it a dead giveaway of a writer who is lead more by the sound of what they've written (if that makes sense) than by grammatical rules. The non-euphonic effect of "avalanches is" leads to unnecessary correction, apparently even among those who should know better. Kevin McE (talk) 19:57, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for the first Freudian slip in an edit note that I've ever noticed, resulting in one of the funniest edit notes I've come across. Kevin McE (talk) 10:28, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

WikiProject Eurovision: Discussion on the use of navigation templates

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MSU Interview

Dear Foxj,

My name is Jonathan Walby user:walbyjon and I am with Dr. Obar's class at Michigan State University. You have previously stated that you would be willing to answer a few questions for our research project. If you are still willing to participate, please let me know. You may contact me at walbyjon@msu.edu. Please let me know when you have time to answer the questions and I will email you the list of questions. If you have any questions please feel free to let me know. Thank you for your involvement and help with this project.

GOCE March drive newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors March 2012 backlog elimination drive update
 

 
GOCE March 2012 Backlog Elimination progress graphs

Greetings from the Guild of Copy Editors March 2012 Backlog elimination drive! Here's the mid-drive newsletter.

Participation: We have had 58 people sign up for this drive so far, which compares favorably with our last drive, and 27 have copy-edited at least one article. If you have signed up but have not yet copy-edited any articles, please consider doing so. Every bit helps! If you haven't signed up yet, it's not too late. Join us!

Progress report: Our target of completing the 2010 articles has almost been reached, with only 56 remaining of the 194 we had at the start of the drive. The last ones are always the most difficult, so thank you if you are able to help copy-edit any of the remaining articles. We have reduced the total backlog by 163 articles so far.

Special thanks: Special thanks to Stfg, who has been going through the backlog and doing some preliminary vetting of the articles—removing copyright violations, doing initial clean-up, and nominating some for deletion. This work has helped make the drive a more pleasant experience for all our volunteers.

Your drive coordinators – Dianna (talk), Stfg (talk), and Dank (talk)

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

The Signpost: 12 March 2012

This merger discussion has been inactive since September 2011. I wonder if there is a consensus. --George Ho (talk) 09:15, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 March 2012

Dispute

Thanks, but it is already being addressed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikiquette_assistance#85.246.163.58_--_Personal_insults_.28portuguese_extremely_offensive_words.29_.2B_ongoing_vandalism. Cheers Linuxftw (talk) 04:59, 24 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 March 2012

Help us develop better software!

Thanks to all of you for commenting on the NOINDEX RfC :). It's always great to be able to field questions like these to the community; it's genuinely the highlight of my work! The NOINDEX idea sprung from our New Page Triage discussion; we're developing a new patrolling interface for new articles, and we want your input like never before :). So if you haven't already seen it, please go there, take a look at the screenshots and mockups and ideas, and add any comments or suggestions you might have to the talkpage. Thanks! Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 16:48, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

WikiCup 2012 March newsletter

 

We are over half way through the second round of this year's WikiCup and things are going well!   Grapple X (submissions), of Pool B, is our highest overall scorer thanks to his prolific writings on television and film. In second place is Pool H's   Cwmhiraeth (submissions), thanks primarily to work on biological articles, especially in marine biology and herpetology. Third place goes to Pool E's   Casliber (submissions), who also writes primarily on biology (including ornithology and botany) and has already submitted two featured articles this round. Of the 63 contestants remaining, 15 (just under a quarter) have over 100 points this round. However, 25 are yet to score. Please remember to update your submission pages promptly. 32 contestants, the top two from each pool and the 16 next-highest scorers, will advance to round 3.

Congratulations to   Matthewedwards (submissions), whose impressive File:Wacht am Rhein map (Opaque).svg became the competition's first featured picture. Also, congratulations to   12george1 (submissions), who claimed good topic points, our first contestant this year to do so, for his work on Wikipedia:Featured topics/1982 Atlantic hurricane season. This leaves featured topics and featured portals as the only sources of points not yet utilised. However, as recent statistics from   Miyagawa (submissions) show, no source has yet been utilised this competition to the same extent it has been previously!

It has been observed that the backlogs at good article candidates are building up again. While the points for good article reviews will be remaining constant, any help that can be offered keeping the backlog down would be appreciated. On a related note, if you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talkemail) and The ed17 (talkemail) 23:17, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Article Feedback Tool newsletter

Sorry for the radio silence, guys :). I just wanted to let you know that we're planning on starting a new round of hand coding, which you can sign up for here. This will be the final round (honest!), and is basically because we found some really interesting results from the last round that blew our collective mind. It's important to check that they weren't a fluke, though, and so a bit more work is needed.

If you have any questions, drop a note on my talkpage - and if you know anyone who would be interested in participating, please tell them about it! We'll be holding an IRC training session in #wikimedia-office at 18:00 UTC on the 21st of March to run through the tool and answer any questions you may have. Thanks! :) Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 00:39, 14 March 2012 (UTC)