User talk:Ben MacDui/Archive 16

Happy Christmas

Hi. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas. Mugginsx (talk) 10:03, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

You are very kind and my very best wishes to you too. We have seasonal snow at present and I am listening to And Winter Came.... It's all quite relaxing for a change. Ben MacDui 15:47, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Just listened to it on U-tube. Must go out and buy it - it's quite beautiful. No more snow yet here in New England. Mugginsx (talk) 21:01, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

	Season's greetings and best wishes for 2012!
	Thanks for all you do here, Ruhrfisch ><>°° 22:03, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

And to you. Our keyboards haven't crossed much of late, but looking forward to working with you in 2012. Ben MacDui 12:37, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

A cup of coffee for you!

Hello MacDui. I'm having a cup of coffee (it's 10:35AM here in California) and wanted to share with you as you've done such nice work on Scottish related articles, and I've just come to notice that. Rosiestep (talk) 18:38, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

You are most kind and I'd be happy to return the favour if you ever venture to these parts. All the best for 2012. Ben MacDui

Your GA nomination of Scandinavian Scotland

The article Scandinavian Scotland you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Scandinavian Scotland for comments about the article. Well done! There is a backlog of articles waiting for review, why not help out and review a nominated article yourself? It was a pleasure to read this article. — Dmitrij D. Czarkoff (talk) 17:50, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Many thanks for this prompt review. Ben MacDui 11:18, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Congrats! I seem to recall that it was that viking ship burial find that prompted you to bite the bullet. Nice to know that the consumed vessel had a wee something more to contribute, a thousand years on. --Mais oui! (talk) 12:40, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Thank-you for noticing. WP:SCO's list of recognised content is something I've lost track of of late and no-one else seems to be interested. Sabred's Scotland in the Late Middle Ages isn't listed as a recent example. I'm drafting a JL-Bot auto list here. You can't see anything yet but the next bot update should create a list. I'm going to try and get the DYK's listed separately as they may be very numerous. Comments welcome. Ben MacDui 12:54, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

I think what WP:SCO really needs is a wee newsletter. Nothing fancy, and not too often, but just to say hello to interested Users sometimes, and/or highlight pertinent issues.--Mais oui! (talk) 18:08, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

That's an excellent idea. My suspicion is that having a single person to produce all the content might soon become wearisome for them, but having a co-ordinating editor and half-a-dozen contributors providing a say monthly update on various topics might do the trick. I'd be happy to produce a sentence or two on e.g. recognised content and island goings-on. Ben MacDui 10:44, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Wonderful! --Mais oui! (talk) 12:17, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Nimbley6

Hi, did you mean to place this SPI here? Catfish Jim and the soapdish 11:10, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

No worries... it seems to be in the right place now. It appears to be a fairly cut and dried case of sockery, if a slightly odd variant (but then that's nothing out of the ordinary on wikipedia) Catfish Jim and the soapdish 19:56, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Re: k.d. lang RM

I'm just going to copy my previous statement here to show you the issue

This is just a self-admitted crusade on Kauffner's part to eliminate any sort of leeway in MOS:TM and the other manuals of style when it comes to people's stage names. Kauffner, Dicklyon, and Greg L are simply editors who think that the manual of style is a set of rules written in stone. I believe they are seeking to make a point after I attempted to get some clarity at WT:AT#Names of individuals over the apparent kerfluffle I started when I requested that Kesha be moved to "Ke$ha", with an RM at DJ OZMA, based on the fact that this page is at k.d. lang and we have pages like bell hooks, brian d foy, and will.i.am. I believe you, and other interested parties, should add your opinion to the discussion at WT:AT, because this very vocal minority of 3 editors should not be the ones to enforce a set of guidelines as unbending rules, such as Greg L's insistence that "[he] can only assume that a bat-shit-crazy, rabid following on [k.d. lang] established a local consensus in violation of WP:LOCALCONSENSUS".—Ryulong (竜龙) 23:55, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Timeline of prehistoric Scotland at WP:TFL

Hello MacDui, just a quick note to ask you to revisit the nomination at TFL (it's been a while!) and cap any comments you feel no longer apply. I've asked bamse to come back to it and an independent reviewer to have a final check before I schedule it for main page inclusion. Sorry it's taken so long, with just one slot a week, you can understand how long it may be before nominated lists make it to the homepage! All the best, The Rambling Man (talk) 18:49, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

That's no problem at all. I'd like to get it sorted out but there is no hurry whatever. I'll comment there asap. Ben MacDui 15:12, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Gael 91

I noted your edit here. That User, and their countless ip sockpuppets (a Dublin educational institution) has been trolling Wikipedia for far too long. I, and other Users, revert all the ip edits we discover, but I suspect that it is time Admins took some concrete action. Mais oui! (talk) 09:43, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

I will keep my eye on them but they have only just received a final warning. As far as socking is concerned all you need to do is submit a report at WP:SPI and the sleuths there will take a look. Anyone can do that. Ben MacDui 19:33, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Dear Sir, I am not a spammer. We had contact on several occasions. I wrote 23 articles for the Dutch Wikipedia and till recently 5 (partly) for the English version. I have a conflict with another moderator who calls me unreliable. He removed my name and you put it back several times.I have 28 books in the Royal Library in The Hague. My name is removed with my English articles. Even for William H. Mounsey (it is completely my article and I wrote a book about it). I am not an imposter. My name is Lex Ritman. I worked with the archaeologist Richard Feachem. May be you can do something about it. I feel humiliated by this other moderator. You can see several books of mineon: www.google.com: lex ritman (choose: images).Romeinsekeizer (talk) 14:51, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I am sorry you feel that way. Whether or not you are Lex Ritman isn't much of an issue as far as I am concerned The question for me is, what is the status of "Ritman, Lex (2010). Major William Henry Mounsey, a British spy. The Hague (The Netherlands): Antoninus Pius." Is it a reliable source by an independent publisher (that has ideally received favourable reviews)? Google hits indicate that:

• The National Library of the Netherlands is quite happy to list Lex Ritman's titles, but
• I can't find any independent verification of the publisher "Antoninus Pius" other than listings involving Lex Ritman himself.
• Nor can I find an independent review of any book by this publisher in English or Dutch - although the search is largely confounded by hits for the Roman Emperor of the same name.

This may then be a vanity publication of some kind, and not a reliable source. Ben MacDui 15:40, 4 February 2012 (UTC) PS I see you have already been advised to take the subject to Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

The odd dram

I noticed your note at FAC. What do you favor? I'm currently meandering through a Lagavulin 16 and a Bunnahabhain 12. Lovely, both. --Laser brain (talk) 17:43, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Lagavulin is my favourite Islay malt, and The Macallan from Speyside, although my budget rarely stretches beyond the fat bird. Isle of Jura is a treat too. In all honesty I'm not that much of an afficionado, but I receive a small retainer from the tourist board to ham up the Scottish image.:) Ben MacDui 17:57, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

MSU Interview

Dear Ben,

My name is Jonathan Obar user:Jaobar, I'm a professor in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University and a Teaching Fellow with the Wikimedia Foundation's Education Program. This semester I've been running a little experiment at MSU, a class where we teach students about becoming Wikipedia administrators. Not a lot is known about your community, and our students (who are fascinated by wiki-culture by the way!) want to learn how you do what you do, and why you do it. A while back I proposed this idea (the class) to the community HERE, were it was met mainly with positive feedback. Anyhow, I'd like my students to speak with a few administrators to get a sense of admin experiences, training, motivations, likes, dislikes, etc. We were wondering if you'd be interested in speaking with one of our students.

So a few things about the interviews:

• Interviews will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
• Interviews can be conducted over skype (preferred), IRC or email. (You choose the form of communication based upon your comfort level, time, etc.)
• All interviews will be completely anonymous, meaning that you (real name and/or pseudonym) will never be identified in any of our materials, unless you give the interviewer permission to do so.
• All interviews will be completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to say yes to an interview, and can say no and stop or leave the interview at any time.
• The entire interview process is being overseen by MSU's institutional review board (ethics review). This means that all questions have been approved by the university and all students have been trained how to conduct interviews ethically and properly.

Bottom line is that we really need your help, and would really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. If interested, please send me an email at obar@msu.edu (to maintain anonymity) and I will add your name to my offline contact list. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can post your name HERE instead.

If you have questions or concerns at any time, feel free to email me at obar@msu.edu. I will be more than happy to speak with you.

Thanks in advance for your help. We have a lot to learn from you.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Obar --Jaobar (talk) 15:48, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Scotland in the High Middle Ages...

...just to say, nice work over at Scotland in the High Middle Ages. It's looking a lot better. Hchc2009 (talk) 18:24, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks - the problem is that I don't have a lot of the sources and may be lacking some crucial ones to fill in the gaps, but I think its slowly getting there. Ben MacDui 19:18, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

I'm better on English than Scottish medieval history, but drop me a line if there are particular sources you're after. Hchc2009 (talk) 20:06, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

I believe the page numbering issue has been addressed save for one ref to Foster 96 and another to Gillingham 2000 neither of which I have and nor do I have anything to hand as an alternative. Any assistance gratefully received. Ben MacDui 20:08, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

I also wanted to say good work and to offer to help if I can. I did wonder if it might be better than trying to clean up the warfare section it might be easier to produce a something based on the text at Warfare in Medieval Scotland#High Middle Ages. I put that together, starting from scratch, after I decided that it would be too much work to try to support the statements this section in the article you are revising. Obviously the references style needs adaptation and the subject needs to be integrated. I can do this if it would help.--SabreBD (talk) 11:10, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

That would be great - go right ahead! I have very little on the subject at all - although we should mention Norse sea power, which I do have something on somewhere. Ben MacDui 16:55, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Will do. If you have something on Norse sea power (and I should have realised you would) it would be great to add that to the Warfare in Medieval Scotland article as well, as that is exactly the topic that I didn't have anything significant on.--SabreBD (talk) 17:04, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Happy to - although I'd like to finish SitHMA first if that's all right, or I shall be in danger of exploding. BTW, as I shall be dipping in and out of that article, and sometimes individual edits can take a long time if they involved a lot of twiddling with refs, can you let me know when you want to tackle the Military section? If I don't reply in a minute or two I'm probably out sunbathing. Ben MacDui 17:10, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

I did it before I read this. Hope that is OK. I have done my best to fit in with the ref style used and other format issues, but it is sometimes hard to get these right when an article is in the process of being cleaned up. By all means be ruthless with re-editing. I will take a look and see if more detail can be found. Hope the sunbathing went well.--SabreBD (talk) 17:43, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

You have reminded me to put the wretched thing on my watchlist! Now that the sun's gone down I will take a peek - many thanks. Ben MacDui 17:52, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

I see I need to look out my copy of Hammer of the Gods as well. Ben MacDui 15:21, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

No luck on my side for those two books, BTW; I'll have a look for alt sources this week. Hchc2009 (talk) 19:18, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Okey-dokey. Ben MacDui 15:21, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Hello MacDui. Just read your remarks re Scotland_in_the_High_Middle_Ages. The section on Christianity and the Church really needs a complete re-write and brought up todate. The text is simply a cut and paste from the main article Christianity in Medieval Scotland and so it would also need to be substantially updated. I'm not back until the end of next week and won't be able to get to the library until 5 March at the soonest but if that sort of timescale is ok then I'll give it a go. Even if this is too late this time I'll still do the revisions. Hats off to you though for what your doing at the review; pity our Premier League medievalists on this, Deacon and Angus, aren't around at the mo but I'll apply my Highland League abilities as best I can. --Bill Reid | (talk) 17:12, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

I am quite unfamiliar with the FAR/FARC process, but hopefully we can stall it until you get a chance to check the section over. There are a few bits and pieces I can fill in in the meantime. Have a good trip - and here's to the Highland League! Ben MacDui 19:56, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Uí Ímair and Earls of Orkney

Brilliant work, Ben, and very important to me personally, but for quite a long time I'll remain unable to return there. My current circumstances prevent me, as will those in the forseeable near future. Thank you for asking me, and I'll return when I can. Take care! Nora lives (talk) 13:58, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

OK and thanks. Ben MacDui 19:57, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for adding that! I'm trying to get a little done. Your project/article I need to re-read, and then when possible make comments or offer suggestions there, and develop plans for the dynasty's main article, long in need. We'll see! Nora lives (talk) 09:53, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Good - I am curious about Downham's views re Eric Bloodaxe. Who does she think he is? Ben MacDui 10:04, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't have Downham's article, but she did send a paper copy to User:Finnrind, and User:Cavila has/had access to one as well. But if you read Eric Bloodaxe through, largely Cavila's work, you'll discover the essentials: the historical king Eric of Northumbria was probably a brother of Maccus and Gofraid of the Isles, and therefore grandson of Sitric Cáech through his assumed son Aralt mac Sitric, king of Limerick (d. 940). Thus Eric would have been Olaf Cuaran's 1st cousin, if I understand it right. Nora lives (talk) 17:38, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Whoops. Make that nephew. It's been a while! Nora lives (talk) 19:29, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you!

Hi Ben, Thanks for blocking User:125.19.209.66. The user has been seriously counter-productive and has done everything to sully the spirit of WIkipedia. The user deleted a whole page (Kanti Bajpai) and replaced it with 'he's a cool dude'. And, then of course, the user also has a long history of vandalism. Thanks very much indeed! [[User:Merlaysamuel|Merlaysamuel]] ([[User talk:Merlaysamuel#top|talk]]) (talk) 13:47, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

That's a shared IP address registered to an educational institution (The Doon School), not an individual user. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 15:05, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the info Demiurge. But, as far as I've figured out, it's a person called 'Tanay' as as adds his/her name on alumni pages and credits him/herself for founding the doon school (oc course, through vandalism!)

Also, Ben I'm sorry I told him that he will be blocked. It was only out of complete frustration. Because it is maddening to see a page being vandalised (not 1 line, not 2....but the whole page) when you care for it so much! I knew I couldn't block him, therefore, I never wrote "I am blocking you" :P, I used a ploy saying "You are being blocked". Though I apologise for it. And once again, thanks very much! [[User:Merlaysamuel|Merlaysamuel]] ([[User talk:Merlaysamuel#top|talk]]) (talk) 16:03, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Oops! I have apparently ruined my signature :P [[User:Merlaysamuel|Merlaysamuel]] ([[User talk:Merlaysamuel#top|talk]]) (talk) 16:04, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

As I said, it's a shared IP address. It would be entirely possible for it to be used by someone calling themselves "Tanay" at some times, and by other people at other times. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 16:15, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Timeline

Not a problem. I saw how much effort you put into addressing the various concerns, it deserves a bit of show-casing! Any ideas if/when this "referendum" may take place? Would be nice to synchronise it if we can! The Rambling Man (talk) 09:43, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

It looks like it will be held in October 2014 - see Scottish independence referendum, 2014, although there is pressure from the UK govt to have it in 2013. Ben MacDui 09:47, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Wow, that's a way off. Perhaps we can think of a better time to run it? St Andrews Day? The Rambling Man (talk) 09:48, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

That would be good. Do you think the joke would be well-received it was timed to co-incide with the forthcoming Falkirk by-election? Ben MacDui 09:53, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

I think we'd both have a chuckle about it but it might not quite reach out to the masses! The Rambling Man (talk) 10:02, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

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Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange

Congratulations - just saw it got its well-deserved gold star! Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 22:20, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Many thanks for you help and indeed encouragement. Ben MacDui 09:00, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

WP:FOUR for Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange

		Four Award
		Congratulations! You have been awarded the Four Award for your work from beginning to end on Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange. TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 05:58, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 05:58, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks Tony. Ben MacDui 08:23, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Barnstar of Good Humor
	Made me smile, will you accept photographic proof? Wee Curry Monster talk 21:11, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank-you, and by all means - although authentication by a notary public may be requested. Ben MacDui 12:54, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Bullying on Wikipedia

For many months now I have been the victim of a nasty and persistant WP:HOUNDing campaign by one particular user. It has now come to the stage where it is clearly affecting my personal life. My wife asked me today why I wasn't laughing or smiling when our wee boy (nearly 22 months now) was playing rough n tumble with us, and I suddenly realised it was because I was thinking about this bully on Wikipedia. It has effectively extracted my ability to enjoy not just my hobby of Wikipedia editing, but more importantly my real-world life.

It is my belief that Sysops have a Duty of Care towards Users. I would like to know your opinions about the responsibilities of Admins regarding the prevention of bullying and harassment on the project.

The Anders Behring Breivik case profoundly affected me, and gave me cause to radically review my attitudes towards the internet and especially blogs. It made me realise the potentially horrific effects of internet thuggery, and made me alter my own behaviour in public forums, including Wikipedia. in short, I became much less assertive. I just wish others understood the same obvious lesson from the Breivik case. Unfortunately, the web is still clearly suffering from thuggery: you see it every day on prominent blogs, newspaper threads, and, alas, on Wikipedia.

The aims of the Wikipedia project are undoubtably noble, but it deeply troubles me to know that there is an individual out there who very, very clearly hates my guts. And, even more disturbingly, they are allowed to conduct their hatred campaign straight out there in the open, totally and completely unhindered by this supposed "community" at Wikipedia. (I took a substantial Wikibreak recently, not least to get a break from the day in day out nastiness.)

I am appealing for help here. I am going to talk about this issue now with my wife, my boss, and also with lawyer friends. I have kept this issue out of sight, and private, for too long. Only by publicly addressing the festering boil is there hope that it will be lanced.

I realise that by writing this post I have publicly conceded to my stalker that they have succeeded in their goal. So be it. It is no great defeat to admit in front of other human beings that I am a human being too. If you prick us, do we not bleed?--Mais oui! (talk) 10:15, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

I am sorry to hear about this. I don't think any duty of care as such should be held by sysops as such alone, but rather by the editing community as a whole - although there are of course circumstances in which admins may be able to take action in a way that other editors cannot. I am just signing off, probably until this pm - can you give me any links to any dispute resolution (or similar) procedures that have already taken place? Ben MacDui 10:21, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

This popped up on my watch list so I hope you don't mind me commenting. I've been in exactly the same position and from my experience the community does nothing, likely as not sysops will do nothing either. In my case, I happened to have a recurrence of mental illness and the hounding came to the point where I lost it and guess what, arbcom sanctioned me and the other victim. Wikipedia is crap at dealing with bullying, more often than not from my observation, the victim gets crap from both the bully and the community. Wee Curry Monster talk 11:04, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

@Mais oui! - I did take a look but you are a prolific editor and it wasn't at all clear to me what the issue was. By all means email me if you prefer. Ben MacDui 19:14, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the late reply. I have been away with 3 generations of the family on a well-deserved little ski trip to the Swedish fjällen, and have thus been off Wikipedia for 4 days. Not only am I delighted that I won the accolade from our difficult-to-impress 12 year old of being the "most improved skier" of the weekend, but I also managed not to break a leg, which always leaves me in a good mood after a ski trip. Add in the recent memory of the delights of a Påsk smörgåsbord, and you will find it difficult to encounter me in better shape.

One little lesson learnt from my long weekend is don't use an iPad to read your Watchlist! I picked up my wife's iPad in an idle 5 minutes to read the news, and decided to take a glance at my Wikipedia watchlist. This was an error. Inquistitive, I pressed "Diff" on an item, and managed to do this. My fat fingers prefer an old fashioned qwerty keyboard and accompanying mouse.

Even if I had not been such a prolific editor, I don't think you would have spotted the User and the distasteful behaviour I am referring to. The reason? I have studiously avoided being dragged into an Edit war, which is of course the objective of the ceaseless petty and provocative reverts this User conducts on my work. Thus my list of Contributions will not help you in identifying the User in question.

Occasionally I have tried to drag him to the Talk page with references to WP:BRD or WP:VERIFY in my Edit summaries, but it is a complete waste of time, as he just re-reverts. In the rare occasions I have managed to drag him to a Talk page he is invariably cold, spiteful and sneeky, and has exhausted all reservoirs of goodwill.

My "turn the other cheek" strategy has been largely successful, in that he has failed to provoke me into the outburst that he is so clearly trying to precipitate. In fact, I discovered a few days ago that I did not even have his Talk page on my Watchlist, which is always a good strategy with a User who is being nasty to you.

This User is the last of an old breed of thugs that got away with bullying me on Wikipedia many years ago. Thankfully, all the rest have been banned, topic-banned, drifted away from Wikipedia or abandoned/reformed their old ways. He is the only one left who clearly thinks it is acceptable behaviour to trawl through my contributions every single day for 6 months in the attempt to find a way, large or small, to discredit me in the eyes of the Wikipedia community. The clear contempt and hatred that this User has for me is actually the most disturbing aspect of this whole WP:HOUND episode. The hours and hours that they must have spent trawling through my tens of thousands of edits bears witness to their clearly obsessive emotions. It is that aspect of the case which most reminded me of the Breivik internet connection.

Since I posted here on your Talk page 8 days ago I have not been editing much on Wikipedia (with the exception of new RNAD Coulport article, which you may like to help me to get to DYK?). However, I note that the User has not conducted a single revert on my work during that intervening 8 days, so there is the possibility that they have realised that their pattern of behaviour must stop: either voluntarily or through Admin intervention.

I am going to politely decline your offer of e-mailing you. I conduct all my Wikipedia business on-wiki. The clearly e-mail coordinated attacks over the years on the Scotland page/talk page ought to provide a warning to the whole community of the inherent dangers of off-Wiki communication.

Finally, many thanks to the kind words of Wee Curry Monster. A friendly, neighbourly pat on the back means an awful lot when some wee ned has been defecating on your doorstep every day. --Mais oui! (talk) 06:21, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Ebudae Insulae: p-Celtic in the Hebrides

Hi MacDui. Look at this, Woolf posted this just a couple days ago [1]. Wow!--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 05:23, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing this out. Fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. The former is obvious, the latter is partly do with my lack of knowledge about Irish history and I found the second section tough going as as result, but perhaps more so because it seems as if something definitive is hovering just over the horizon somewhere but remains out of reach. Good to see a critique of Campbell's theory - I've tended to avoid the topic in island history sections to date. Not so sure about the Hoodie theory - they are quite common in e.g. Easter Ross and Sutherland [2] - he might have been on safer ground with Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, which is common in Ireland but confined to Argyll and the Ayrshire coast in Scotland see map. Ben MacDui 18:34, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Also, you might be interested in Wikipedia:Requests for JSTOR access. Ben MacDui 07:17, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

I just sent you an email about a source. Thanks for telling me about the JSTOR thing, I didn't know about it. I'd love to be able to freely browse their archives just for fun. But I don't think it'd increase my Wikipedia output. The papers I really want to read and use (a couple Hebridean-Manx ones by Woolf, McDonald, and Beuermann) are all hidden away in books rather than journals. I'm going to leave it be for the moment and just rely on Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request if I see something that I can request. If you get access, this is something I'd be interested in reading: Norse Settlement in the Northern and Western Isles: Some Place-Name Evidence, by W. F. H. Nicolaisen. I've seen it cited so many times, so it should be a good source for us.

Here's another free one from Acadamia.edu: From Dalriata to Gall-Gaidheil, by Jennings and Kruse. I remembered it when I read the discussion at Talk:Islay#interesting.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 10:45, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

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Disambiguation link notification for April 20

Hi. When you recently edited Islay, you added links pointing to the disambiguation pages Tolbooth (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:59, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Ah ken fine - but see the talk page ya daft wee bot. Ben MacDui 18:26, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Shenanigans?

In the last two days I have come across 2 quite high-profile Scotland-related articles that appear, somehow, to have been speedily deleted?!?

Is this due to some bizarre act of vandalism? I didn't know that vandals could actually delete articles without going through the normal AFD process.

I'd be very grateful if you could look at the History/Talk and the Deletion history of:

• Holyrood (magazine)
• Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

I'm a bit worried that we have lost some useful content. Ta.--Mais oui! (talk) 12:11, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

• Holyrood (magazine)'s history shows it was subject to a CSD G4 speedy request in September last year, which was declined because it had been "previously speedily deleted" rather than AfD'd. I can't see any obvious sign of a previous speedy deletion in the logs, but it may have been under a slightly different name.
• Moderator of the General Assembly.... was deleted as follows: "21 July 2010 Moonriddengirl deleted page Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (Listed at Wikipedia:Copyright problems for over seven days: Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2010 July 13)". The page was recreated shortly afterwards and seems to have been fine since.

"Vandals" can't delete articles - only admins can do that, but of course anyone can request a speedy and if a passing admin happens to think that the request is reasonable then its "au revoir". It's easy enough for an admin to restore the page if it's clear it was done in haste. However, the increasing size of the 'pedia does make it likely that a smaller and smaller percentage of articles are actually watched by anybody, so it is quite possible that deletions will occur without anyone who knows anything about the subject getting the chance to comment. Ben MacDui 18:10, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Tolbooth

Hi Ben. I've got a bit of info for an article on tolbooths. As a start, are you able to move the current dab page to Tollbooth? The other uses are mostly spelled with two Ls, so it would make sense to have the dab page there, but I cant do the move. Thanks, Jonathan Oldenbuck (talk) 10:52, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Tis done. Ben MacDui 16:34, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Many thanks! Jonathan Oldenbuck (talk) 08:00, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

You are welcome - look forward to the upgrade. Ben MacDui 08:16, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Tim

Funny I saw that show "Pointless", and that guy "Tim" didn't sound Orcadian at all. Maybe that's how people speak around there.--MacRusgail (talk) 20:10, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

I didn't see it myself, but he might have a been a "ferry louper" - as indeed am I when I get the chance. Ben MacDui 07:53, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Aye, they sounded more like folk from Edinburgh University (and St Andrews) than Glasgow, where they were supposed to be studying. Better than the two dimwits studying sociolinguistics at Lancaster who got felled at the first round by language questions! --MacRusgail (talk) 16:26, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Thank You!

Hey I have used your code from your user page. I hope you don't mind. Harsh2580 ^(talk) 15:25, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

Of course not - you are very welcome. Ben MacDui 19:47, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Vandalism of BLP article

This series of edits was a step too far. --Mais oui! (talk) 16:56, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

Is this a reference to your above complaint? Ben MacDui 10:23, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

No. No connection whatsoever. --Mais oui! (talk) 13:54, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Okey dokey. Ben MacDui!

Horror story

Please see:

• User_talk:Angusmclellan#Horror_story

--Mais oui! (talk) 04:48, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Picts

Just checking to see if you wanted to turn the individual re-assessment of this article into a community one? AIRcorn (talk) 22:55, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I am not the reviewer..... Ben MacDui 07:22, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

However, with this edit you moved it from an individual reassessment to a community one. I was wondering if that was intentional? AIRcorn (talk) 08:39, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Actually, not at all. I moved it because the links from both Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland/Article alerts and the article page itself, were broken. It is possible that the there is a bot bug somewhere that recognises a review is taking place but assumes it is a community one? The GAR instructions are typically opaque. I assume from what you are saying that the move creates a "community" rather than "individual" review - although what the difference is I am not sure on re-reading it - anyone can presumably participate anyway. Would a better solution therefore be to move the review back but fix the links? Ben MacDui 08:47, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

I have been meaning to work on making the instructions at GAR clearer. Basically the main difference is in who closes it. An individual reassessment is closed by the person who opened it, much like a GA review. A community one is closed by an independent editor based on consensus, like most other processes here. Looking at other wikiproject alerts the bot doesn't seem to recognise individual GAR discussions. Not sure what was happening at the article page itself, it has not been a problem I have noticed before. I will leave a note at article alerts to fix that end up. I will also see if the person who opened the re-assessment is happy to move it to a community one, it should probably be there in any case. AIRcorn (talk) 09:11, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

OK and understood. Ben MacDui 18:25, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Stone discovered on Canna is Scotland's first known example of a bullaun "cursing stone"

I thought that this would be right up your street - from 2012 in Scotland:

• 19 May - the [[National Trust for Scotland]] announce that the first [[Bullaun stone|cursing stone]] to be found in the country, dated to circa 800, was discovered on [[Canna, Scotland|Canna]]<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18130259|title='Cursing stone' found on Isle of Canna|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>

Cheers.--Mais oui! (talk) 05:57, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Nice one. Ben MacDui 16:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Category:Villages in Skye

I have removed the nomination of Category:Villages in Skye at the speedy renaming page because it was opposed, and remained so without change, for more than two weeks. Your comment left me with the impression that you have a certain knowledge of or familiarity with these categories, and so I wanted to bring two categories to your attention: Category:Villages on Seil, which you mentioned in your comment, and Category:Villages in the Isle of Arran, which deviates from the 'Villages on the Isle of ...' format used for the Isles of Bute and Mull. I'd be grateful if you would share your thoughts on what needs to be done with them. Thank you, -- Black Falcon ^(talk) 20:01, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Thank-you for the opportunity to comment. It is a tricky issue as there are various options and to some extent the desire for consistency may conflict with common usage.

• The parent cat is Category:Villages on Scottish islands - I don't think "in" would work here.
• the subcats are all "Category:Villages in Foo" except as you mention "Villages on the Isle of Bute" and "Villages on the Isle of Mull", which follow their own articles in using the "isle of" nomenclature, but which are not consistent with "Category:Villages in the Isle of Arran", and as you point out the new Category:Villages on Seil.
• the subcats for Shetland both use "in"
• we also have Category:Populated places in Skye for the 80 settlements this island has articles about that are smaller than villages.

Issues

"In" and "on" are fairly interchangebale in common usage. The larger the island, the more likely it is to be thought of as a district, so use of "in" will probably be more common. For a smaller island like Seil, "on" is likely to be more frequently used.

Use of "Isle of" makes the use of "on" much more likely in common use.

Suggested options

1 Maximum consistency: don't use the redundant "Isle of" for cat names and make them all "in";

2 Maximum consistency: do use the redundant "Isle of" for cat names but make them all "in" anyway;

3 Maximum common use: Keep them all the way they are except Arran, which (having once been "Villages in Arran" I think) would be "Villages on the Isle of Arran";

4 Maximum consistency but weak common use: Make them all "on".

• 1 is my preference but we can probably rule it out as it conflicts with the "cats follow articles" rule.
• 3 is I think a little clumsy
• 4 is also consistent but means moving almost all the cats and I am not much in favour of it.
• There would seem to be no perfect solution, but 2 may be the least worst as it is always consistent in using "in" and does not significantly conflict with common usage.

Ben MacDui 08:27, 23 May 2012 (UTC)