User talk:MacGyverMagic/Archive 29

November Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: Admin Coaching (needs coaches!) Admin Coaching needs coaches!!! If you are an administrator, or even a generally experienced user, do consider signing up to be a coach. Admin Coaching, now being coordinated by HighwayCello, is a program for people who want help learning some of the more subtle aspects of Wikipedia policy and culture. People are matched with experienced users who are willing to offer coaching. The program is designed for people who have figured out the basics of editing articles; they're not newcomers any more, but they might want some help in learning new roles. In this way, Esperanza would help keep hope alive for Wikipedia because we would always be grooming the next generation of admins. What's New? The Tutorial Drive is a new Esperanza program! In an effort to make complicated processes on Wikipedia easier for everyone, Esperanza working to create and compile a list of tutorials about processes here on Wikipedia. Consider writing one! A discussion on how Esperanza relates to the encyclopedia has been started; please add your thoughts. Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.

The last AC meeting (full log) The list of proposed programs has been updated, with some proposals being archived. There is now a new program: the Tutorial Drive! Consider writing a tutorial on something you are good at doing on Wikipedia. The suggestion of adding a cohesive look to all the Esperanza pages is being considered; join the discussion if you are interested! In order to make a useful interlanguage welcome template, those involved in translation projects will be asked what English Wikipedia policies are most important and confusing to editors coming from other language Wikipedias. A discussion of Esperanza's role in Wikipedia is being held, with all thoughts of all Esperanzians wanted! Shreshth91 informed everyone that he will be leaving the Esperanza council as life is rather busy; his spot will be filled by the runner up from the last election, HighwayCello. Signed... Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, The Halo, Shreshth91 and HighwayCello 20:33, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

Thanks for your help

Hi mgm,thanks for helping me with my question on the help desk and for providing some clarification for me.It was greatly appreciated.Serenaacw 10:22, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Regulus Arcturus Black

I've redirected this to Regulus Black. I seem to remember his middle name was mentioned in the Black Family tapestry drawn by J.K. Rowling on http://www.hp-lexicon.org . - Mgm|^(talk) 11:54, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

NO!!! "Seem to remember" does NOT qualify as verifiable from a Reliable Source. Rowling has NEVER publicly stated Regulus Black's middle name, nor has she said that it even begins with an "A". This is a crucial plot element in the Harry Potter universe, and constitutes either false speculation or a spoiler! There were indeed other characters on the Black Family tapestry with the name "Arcturus" and other "A" names, but NOT REGULUS. You have bought into an urban legend without checking the source. If Rowling has publicly stated that Regulus is R.A.B., then provide indisputable PROOF and we can redirect and so forth. Nobody has been able to do so yet, because it is not a fact. This is what is required for the Wikipedia! Please undo the redirect, and speedily delete the Regulus Arcturus Black article as requested. It is NOT encyclopedic under verifiability and reliable source rules, and constitutes speculation and original research. Thanks. --T-dot 13:56, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

*Even if his name is Regulus Arcturus Black, it doesn't prove he's RAB, but that's not what I was saying. I think it makes a good search query, but you're right. His middle name wasn't mentioned on the tapestry after all. - Mgm|^(talk) 17:44, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't matter. The mere existence of an article by the name of Regulus Arcturus Black in an encyclopedia like this implies that such a name really exists and that it is verifiable by a reliable source. We cannot say this, and thus the article CANNOT STAND. The article was inappropriately created by a known internet troll vandal who has an agenda of "proving" that R.A.B. = Regulus Black. This claim is NOT permitted in either of those articles. It is discussed as a possibility, but not a proven fact. It is one of the most important aspects of the unpublished 7th novel in the series, and a terrific plot spoiler if it is true, and pure undocumented speculation and original research if it is not true. Either way it cannot remain in the wikipedia. --T-dot 21:17, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

*By the way, it is confirmed by the initials used in translated versions of the book. - Mgm|^(talk) 18:27, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

This is discussed as a POSSIBILITY in the R.A.B. article, but is NOT conclusive proof. The fact that the Black family name and the "B" in R.A.B. are consistent in various translations lends credence to the THEORY that the B in R.A.B. stands for Black. Beyond that we cannot say, since we do NOT know Regulus' middle name, or the initial, or even if he has one. There is another theory mentioned in the article that suggests R.A.B. could be "R. Andromeda Black", the mother of Tonks. Please study the articles before you make these rash and incorrect statements! --T-dot 21:17, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

It appears that an administrator has now correctly speedily deleted the former Regulus Arcturus Black article. I can't find any hint of it anymore - even in "my contributions" where I repeatedly added the speedy delete tag. Thanks to whoever it was. --T-dot 21:28, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Re: Admin

Hi - first of all, thanks for the offer, and I'm honoured that you'd consider me to be an admin, so am happy to respond to your questions:

1. Mainly, I involve myself with RC patrol, using VP2 mainly, and as an alternative I watch pgkbot's feed on IRC. Recently, I've also got involved with the reversion of spam addition to article, using the various linkwatchers on IRC. Aside from this, I've recently been involved with creating the Beekeeping WikiProject, doing some article cleanup, taking cases with the Association of Members' Advocates and finally I've been involved with writing a few bots: AMABot, which updates the AMA alert case total, and reports on IRC; RefDeskBot, which archives the reference desks and the help desk; MartinBotII, which does a variety of Wikiproject related tasks, and some others. I also run a TawkerBotII clone (User:MartinBot) from time to time (usually at periods of high levels of vandalism).
2. I'd expect to use admin powers to primarily respond to block and unblock requests delivered by various bots on IRC and by monitoring WP:AIV. I'd keep a careful eye on WP:RFPP, and subsequent requests for page un-protection. Somewhere that I would really like to help clear the backlog is at CAT:CSD, where I would be willing to spend my time. Also, I'm sure that I would help out closing XfD debates and deletion review requests. I'd also try to help with the enormous copyright violation backlogs - although I haven't contributed there much, I do consider myself to have a solid understanding of the GDFL and of fair use (particularly for images - hence I would be involved at WP:IFD). As part of my dispute resolution efforts, I'd be sure to use admin powers to enforce the WP:3RR rule, where appropriate. Of course, on top of this, I'd keep an eye on the administrator noticeboards and try to take time out to do some vandalfighting, when not fighting the backlogs!
3. My recent disputes have all been ones which I've invited myself into with the AMA - all of which I have been able to close successfully. Before I became a member of the AMA, I was involved in two disputes:

1. Ste4k (talk · contribs) - I got involved in a dispute at Sculpture of Ancient Greece through WP:3O, where Ste4k was carrying out a move against the consensus on the talk page. After finding Ste4k to be uncooperative, I carried out the move per the consensus - my efforts were quickly reverted by Ste4k after I missed around two sentences of text, and Ste4k seemed unwilling to tell me what I had missed. In time, an RFC was brought against her here, to which I contributed (if I remember correctly) the section of "Greek Statue". Ste4k was later blocked per WP:ANI.
2. During my last RfA (or around that sort of time), I closed and RfA as speedy redirect, as was the general consensus at the time. The AfD can be seen here Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Grassfield Elementary School, and I have fully explained my actions on my last RfA, but I will summarise: the nominator wished to have the article deleted after he/she had carried out a merge. Of course, this is a violation of the GDFL (the loss of article history would be the violation). In the RfA, there was clear consensus for a speedy redirect, so I took the action to closing it as a non admin (utilising WP:BOLD). The nominator took exception to this, and reverted me, at which point I left the AfD to be closed by an admin. Although I realise that parts of my handling of the AfD weren't perfect, I feel that I have learnt from it, and hope that others involved have done the same.

Thanks - Martinp23 13:23, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi - I started editing in January of this year, but only became active in April. The Ste4k dispute took place in late July, and the AfD in late August -- Martinp23 13:42, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the nom! I'm just preparing it now (and, of course, I accept :D) Martinp23 10:17, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Wellsville KS, Edit Page

Hi I have notice that you have deleted certain bands other then one Mrs. Chelly Wright off of the Wellsville KS, wiki. I would like to inform you that those bands that you claim not notable are in fact real bands that work in the community performing shows for the general youth. I have added them back so please do not remove.

Thanks for the inconvence

William Shields (local wellsville resident) h4x0r=fux band member

Martinp23

Just saw the page creation - may I conom with you? Been meaning to for some time  Glen  09:28, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Okay. I'll just do that then :)  Glen  09:33, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Cleanup Taskforce

I added Timeline of Israeli leaders to your desk (in spite of the warning about slow responses). We've yet to make a list of what work this needs. Please look at it and accept, reject or let me know and I'll reassign it. Comments on what is needed would be appreciated on the taskforce subpage. I don't know we have an expert on this material. Any work appreciated. Thank you. RJFJR 04:15, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Re: NPOV

Yeah, haha, I was tired. "Riddled with NPOV", though..I like that. WP:RIDDLER? :p --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 18:46, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Joseph McManners

You've just spoke on my talk page thanking me for reverting the vandalism there, but I think you've somehow found the wrong person. I've not been to that page nor have I ever reverted vandalism there. ^^; -WarthogDemon 02:49, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Ah, now I see it. Couldn't see it before. That'll teach me to use CTRL+F from now on... My bad. ^_^; And no prob. :) -WarthogDemon 05:43, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

hello again

You helped once can you again. This is an attack on a defenseless child [1]. Thanks. --John Lake 19:54, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Wheels Vandalism

First of all, MacGyver was an amazing TV show and is the man. Second of all, thank you for the advice on wheels vandalism! I will report them sooner, however, vandals i have reported in the past without all 4 warnings are often just taken off the list and not blocked. Kind of frustrating at times, so i am just patient and keep an eye on them to do it 4 times. However, I will take your advice and report wheels vandals sooner. Thannks for the advice! Keep up the good work. Chrislk02 (Chris Kreider) 13:09, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Did you know

On 18 November, 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Thor Salden, which you created. 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) • 10:32, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

RfA Thanks

Thank you for the nomination! I'd like to express my huge thanks to you, MacGyverMagic, for your support in my recent RfA, which closed with 100% support at 71/0/1. Needless to say, I am very suprised at the huge levels of support I've seen on my RfA, and at the fact that I only had give three answers, unlike many other nominees who have had many, many more questions! I'll be careful with my use of the tools, and invite you to tell me off if I do something wrong! I'd like to especially thank you for starting it all by nominating me - it's hugely appreciated, so thanks :D- Martinp23 14:17, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Jamvan2

Hey mate, I've just looked through this users contribs and you may wanna think about an indef block - seems vandal only to me. Just a thought :)  Glen  12:29, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Robot Wars rewrite

Hey there,

I noticed that you'd participated in a Robot Wars related AfD and that you were keen to rewrite the walking robot article at some point. I wonder if you're interested in helping me to rewrite the Robot Wars article - I've started a page at Talk:Robot Wars/Rewrite for creating a new, organised and altogether encyclopaedic article, so if you feel the urge to add anything to the page then feel certain that it will be richly appreciated as I try to turn the article around.

Regards, CountdownCrispy ^{( ?} 08:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

NPWatcher

You've been approved to use NPWatcher. When you log into the program, wait a few seconds while it queries wikipedia before screaming at your PC for crashing (unless you see an error, of course). Please give me any feature requests, bugs, etc. The watchlist feature does not work. Before you run the program, please check the changelog on the application page to see if I've made a new release. Finally, enjoy! Martinp23

Also, thanks for your interest, and please repot any problems or feature requests! Martinp23 18:04, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Rolf Stein

Thanks for your help. I had an account about 18 months ago under a different name. But edit wars on the Tibet page, and the extent of time I was wasting drove me away. Now I plan to stick to uncontroversial (but dangerously unnotable) topics like deceased professors. Do you contribute to the Dutch version aswell?Tibetologist 10:29, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Object lesson

Hi MacGyver; thanks for your post on my talk page.

No I do not want to write a dictionary, but also I do not like red links. Isn't a short stub better, then? I have created many, and often found a good article there a while later.

Or should object lesson be de-linked in... oh, now I can't find the articles that linked it (how do you do that when the article doesn't exist?), but there were some.--Niels Ø 10:48, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Women's Australian rules football Images

Hi, MacGyver Why did you delete the images of the article Women's Australian rules football that where uploaded by User:Felix Portier and wrote: removed all image additions by User:Felix Portier (has history of copyright violations)? That does not mean thet all the images uploded by User:Felix Portier like this! Regards User:Felix Portier 12:16 Friday, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Maverick

Why did you delete my page on Maverick? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Topgun101488 (talk • contribs) .

User page moddability

Hi, Mgm. You know how my userpage works (you designed it) so I was hoping you could add templates to it for creating things like expandable panels (My Subpages, etc.) and those boxes on the right, like the one with the picture of my dog on it. You don't have to, so don't feel obligated. It's just that I want it to be easier to do things like that and you seem like the right person to ask. Thank you very much if you agree. 'FLaRN' (talk) 02:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

• Okay. Don't feel rushed. And by the way, thanks again.

'FLaRN' (talk) 16:35, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Image

Hello, are images from this site [2] are possible to download? Thanks Felix Portier Friday, 24 November 2006 2:55 PM (UTC)

Hello, thanks for awnsering my question, heres another one, Are image from this site possible to download [3] and apart from that here is it it's licence information [4]? Felix Portier Saturday, 25 November 2006 8:48 PM (UTC)

Wik Ngathan

Thank you for the fix, and the tips. I'll likely be creating many more Australian and New Guinean language stubs, and adding to them when I have time.*Kutaka(-lu) 07:06, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

reply at my talk page

see my talk page, my apologies ▪◦▪≡Ѕirex98≡ 12:07, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Footballer lists

Well, they still serve as navigation aids and such. Realistically, I think the problem with list deletion is that lists which are basically stub class lists get deleted because they're not all that useful, but stub class articles are kept even though they're not all that useful. I don't see why they should be treated differently. In general, I think all article is not useful arguments boil down to this article is a stub, which is not a criterion for deletion. I do see it get bandied about for non-list articles as well, and complain about that too.

Look, I'm not a fool - I know perfectly well that all those lists will be deleted. I just want to raise people's awareness of what they're doing by calling attention to it (because I don't think they realise the stub equivilence). There's a definite bias against lists, and I have seen delete - this is a list posted on AfDs before. It's not always easy to seperate the listocidal maniac from the well-intentioned misnominator. WilyD 14:08, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comment

...about the topic of shopping malls. Is there a Wikipedia standard - or, more to the point, is there or should there be an official position on whether coverage of shopping malls is even appropriate on Wikipedia?--Msr69er 20:10, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Hclintonx

He just created an obvious sock and vandalized my user page again [5][6]

and did the same vandalism (mass removal of sourced edits) to the DFN article [7].Hkelkar 22:05, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Notice that his citation is bogus.Hkelkar 22:11, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Agnontas

Sure, looks good now. John Reaves 04:44, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Image 2

Hello, thanks for awnsering my question, heres another one, Are image from this site possible to download [8] and apart from that here is it it's licence information [9]? Thanks Felix Portier Saturday, 25 November 2006 8:48 PM (UTC)

Writing wikipedia articles

You responded to a question I left on the discussions page. This was back in August but I've only just found it because I couldn't find my way back to the right page - the discussion pages are bloody hard to find your way around. I only found it in the end because I signed in again - I don't usually bother, since I stopped editing - and found something about messages to click on. Basically you said if I could prove I had written the article you would retrieve it. But how do I prove that? I have no idea. in the two articles on poets I tried to write, I quoted only from the poets, with their permission, and from stuff I myself have written about them,on the web sites I created, but what would constitute proof of that? i have images I'd quite like to upload too, if I could work out how or get a friend to do it for me, but again how would I prove I took the photographs?

Sheenagh 14:45, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

re verification

You wrote "Please follow the instructions I gave in the previous response (drop an email to permissions@wikimedia.org from an address which can be identified as you so we can verify your identity)."

But how can any email address be identified as anybody? I could set up an address saying george_bush @ hotmail.com but it wouldn't mean I was him!

Sheenagh 15:03, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

No problem

Thanks for your extra reply, I'd rather have 3 answers giving me detail than only one answer, and everyone holding back because one person answered the question. I learned how to do what I wanted, and the resulting is this:

This user uses Windows Vista.

Thanks again, Ard0 17:38, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

re writing articles

Of course george_bush@hotmail.com isn't neccesarily him, but when we're talking government information from the website of the White House, an email from for example administrator@whitehouse.gov could be used to get permission to use material from said site. Can you refresh my mind what material this was about?

From two web sites, for the poets Catherine Fisher and Paul Henry, both of which I wrote the text for with their approval. If all I need do is send "permissions" an email from my address saying I'm me, I wrote the naterial and I give myself permission to use it, ok, but it seems illogical to make a big thing of checking and then use a method so unreliable!

Re uploading images, no there are only the normal number of dots in the filename, ie one, and I'm not using a Mac. The form doesn't ever actually ask you to type a filename, it just appears when you click on the image browsed. I don't think I'll ever suss it; several of my friends have tried and failed. Wikipedia is really hard to use.

Footballers

Sure thing, was just about do do it anyway! GiantSnowman 19:26, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Don't tell me what to NOT do

I can do what I want, can't I? if not, please tell me why not. ksy92003 25 November 2006

Pepe Marchena

Thanks a lot for your suggestion! I still have to add some more info today and I'll upload some album covers for the discography part. After that, maybe you would like to have another look in case I've made any oops? I'm quite new to this ;-) GemmaMS 15:09, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, it looks better now, I've added information of all kinds, infobox, an album cover. I'll suggest it for the Did you know section tomorrow. If you have some time to have a look, any suggestions are welcome. Cheers. GemmaMS 23:05, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, I said I would suggest it... but I don't know how to do it. On the other hand, is it good etiquette, to suggest myself? :-s. I was thinking of possible ideas to pick: well, he was the first flamenco singer to use an orchestra (it was a big hit!), and he created a new flamenco style, the colombiana, and was the founder of a new current, the "marchenismo"... GemmaMS 19:54, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Image3

Hi, are these images [10] possible to download on wikipedia or are they copyrighted? Regards and Thanks, Felix Portier Monday, 3:46 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Impeahcment

Can I nominate User:FisherQueen to be impeached of his editing rights?. I believed he abused them. --Hammersmith123 12:46, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

yeh, I had an articles called John Anderfield, Red Page and Ant Race. --Hammersmith123 12:56, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

number of users?

Hi, MGM. I was browsing the articles for deletion when I noticed a vote for deletion (from you) that didn't make sense to me. I think I am still kind of new to this, so I wanted to check with you to see if there was something I was missing... You said "Delete number of users fails WP:WEB" about Online Go Server. I don't see a "number of users" criteria on WP:WEB. Am I missing something? I'm not saying that it doesn't make sense. I just don't see it on that page. Thanks. -- Ben 17:37, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Funny. Last time I read that, I swear I read something about user numbers at WP:WEB. The reasoning was that if the place only has an active userbase of about 100 people, the site is unlikely to satisfy WP:WEB criteria. A few more hits and my own site could get that, but that doesn't mean it should get a Wikipedia article. I was commenting on the number of users because the owner or creator mentioned it like it was something to be proud of. Does that make any sense? (I don't think this response is as coherent as it could be, but those are my scrambled thoughts). - Mgm|(talk) 19:01, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

It makes perfect sense. And I'm with you on your judgement of the notability of the website. I was making sure that there was not some extra information that you had that I didn't have (with regards to judging the notability of websites). Thanks. -- Ben 23:11, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

MfD

So how do you find all those pages for MfD? Manually browse through the user list? Whispering 22:06, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/User:Skifdank

My, that was fast. Thank you for taking the bull by the horns, as it were. So it's a bit embarrassing to mention that I neglected to list one that I'd tagged as part of the mass nomination: Wyvern920 (talk · contribs) Never mind, I tagged it as a {{db-repost}}, since it was a deleted article recreated.

I think we should get either a speedy deletion criterion or some tagging method for clearly abusive userpage that are used for advertising or vanity without contributing to the project.

It turns out, even as we speak, that there's a discussion on here about doing just that for {{prod}} tags. I'm all for it as long as there's some sort of "waiting period" before applying the tags: if the spam is too ridiculously obvious (as in David@wildoutwest.com (talk · contribs) -- check out his deleted edits), then speedy tags would be called for anyways.

How did you find them?

Short answer: through the "What links here" page for the {{userfied}} template. Longer answer:

A few months ago, I came across a whole pile of these userfied pages, first a bunch done as cut-and-pastes by TruthbringerToronto (talk · contribs) on one of his "every word is sacred and must be saved" crusades, then came across a bunch done as actual moves (which is, at least, GFDL-compliant) by RHaworth (talk · contribs). There were a LOT, and since it bothered me, I compiled a list of 100 of them from December to see if they were, in fact, actual users. My conclusion, laid out here (yes, it was a slow day) was that 80% weren't pages for active editors, but obvious vanity/spam/MySpace pages. I laid out my findings and interpretations in some detail (okay, it was a VERY slow day) and posted it to the Administrators' noticeboard, where it got, at best, mild interest.

Last month, I got the idea of seeing where the {{userfied}} template linked to. Hundreds of pages, it turned out. So I made a list, and plowing through it occasionally I've made a bunch of group nominations to MFD (like this).

You can find the raw and mostly unsorted list at User:Calton/Userfied pages to watch. --Calton | Talk 00:21, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Gratzie!

I wasn't going to send thank-you cards, but the emotional impact of hitting WP:100 (and doing so unanimously!) changed my mind. So I appreciate your confidence in me at RFA, and hope you'll let me know if I can do anything for you in the future (except spare you in Mafia, of course). Cheers! -- nae'blis 23:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

We played together in Greek Mafia on GL I think, and (when it's up) I'm on Mafiascum.net - both as Mr. Flay. -- nae'blis 22:15, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/CURURU

I noted that the article was six months obsolete because of it was "subject to change" (words in the article) as a result of a June 1, 2006, site renewal. I have no position vis-à-vis deletion or keeping (I don't know anything about the importance of the subject in the realm of Japanese blogs, and would prefer to defer to those who know the subject quite well), but if it is to be kept, an update is most definitely needed. B.Wind 22:08, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

User page

Just want to remind you about the template structure of my userpage...don't want to get prodded! lol 'FLaRN'(talk) 22:24, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Re:Coding

Okay thanks! 'FLaRN'(talk) 21:18, 30 November 2006 (UTC)