Wikipedia Day Celebration and Mini-Conference in NYC Saturday Feb 23 edit

 
Doing the "Open Space" thing at one of our earlier NYC Wiki-Conferences.

You are invited to celebrate Wikipedia Day and the 12th anniversary (!) of the founding of the site at Wikipedia Day NYC on Saturday February 23, 2013 at New York University; sign up for Wikipedia Day NYC here, or at bit.ly/wikidaynyu. Newcomers are very welcome! Bring your friends and colleagues!

We especially encourage folks to add your 5-minute lightning talks to our roster, and otherwise join in the "open space" experience!--Pharos (talk) 02:50, 2 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hey1 edit

Aye, I've only been back a little bit. Don't really do anything outside of FP, but, hey, I can do FP. Adam Cuerden (talk) 08:35, 2 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Happy New Year! edit

  Best wishes for the New Year!
Wishing you and yours a joyous, healthful, and productive 2013!

Please accept a belated thank you for the well wishes upon my retirement as FAC delegate this year, and apologies for the false alarm of my first—and hopefully last—retirement; the well wishes extended me were most kind, but I decided to return, re-committed, when another blocked sock was revealed as one of the factors aggravating the FA pages this year.

Maintaining standards in featured content requires vigilance, dedication and knowledge of people like you, who are needed; reviews are always welcome at FAC, FAR and TFA requests. Somehow, somehow we never ever seem to do nothin' completely nice and easy, but here's hoping that 2013 will see a peaceful road ahead and a return to the quality and comaraderie that defines the FA process, with the help of many dedicated Wikipedians!

SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:43, 3 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Tour of Consumer Reports' laboratories edit

 
Wow! Laboratory tour!

On Tuesday January 15 at 3pm Wikipedians are invited to join a tour of laboratories at Consumer Reports in Yonkers. If you would like to attend please RSVP at Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/January 2013. If you have questions feel free to ask on that page or contact me on my talk page or by my office phone at 914.378.2684. Thank you. Blue Rasberry (talk) 19:41, 9 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

The Center Line: U.S. Roads WikiProject Newsletter, Winter 2013 edit

Volume 6, Issue 1 • Winter 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments
Features
State and national updates
ArchivesNewsroomFull IssueShortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS
EdwardsBot (talk) 19:46, 17 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

WikiCup 2013 January newsletter edit

 

Signups are now closed; we have our final 127 contestants for this year's competition. 64 contestants will make it to the next round at the end of February, but we're already seeing strong scoring compared to previous years.   Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) currently leads, with 358 points. At this stage in 2012, the leader (  Grapple X (submissions)) had 342 points, while in 2011, the leader had 228 points. We also have a large number of scorers when compared with this stage in previous years.   12george1 (submissions) was the first competitor to score this year, as he was last year, with a detailed good article review. Some other firsts:

Featured articles, portals and topics, as well as good topics, are yet to feature in the competition.

This year, the bonus points system has been reworked, with bonus points on offer for old articles prepared for did you know, and "multiplier" points reworked to become more linear. For details, please see Wikipedia:WikiCup/Scoring. There have been some teething problems as the bot has worked its way around the new system, but issues should mostly be ironed out- please report any problems to the WikiCup talk page. Here are some participants worthy of note with regards to the bonus points:

  •   Ed! (submissions) was the first to score bonus points, with Portland-class cruiser, a good article.
  •   Hawkeye7 (submissions) has the highest overall bonus points, as well as the highest scoring article, thanks to his work on Enrico Fermi, now a good article. The biography of such a significant figure to the history of science warrants nearly five times the normal score.
  •   HueSatLum (submissions) claimed bonus points for René Vautier and Nicolas de Fer, articles that did not exist on the English Wikipedia at the start of the year; a first for the WikiCup. The articles were eligible for bonus points because of fact they were both covered on a number of other Wikipedias.

Also, a quick mention of   The C of E (submissions), who may well have already written the oddest article of the WikiCup this year: did you know that the Fucking mayor objected to Fucking Hell on the grounds that there was no Fucking brewery? The gauntlet has been thrown down; can anyone beat it?

If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. 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 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) 00:57, 1 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

thanks edit

Thanks for that mini-welcome back of sorts. Unfortunately I'm still semi-retired. I don't really edit any more unless there's something egregious in one of the articles I watch. I do log in every now and then just to check on a couple of things but I'll be mostly in the background. Anyway, thanks for the greeting. --Polaron | Talk 18:56, 11 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

NYT story you'd like edit

I thought of you when I read this story in The New York Times a couple of days ago. Enjoy! If you haven't already ... Daniel Case (talk) 01:08, 13 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

Bronx River Parkway & Harlem Line RR stations edit

Let me ask you something; Why do you think Crestwood (Metro-North station) along the Bronx River Parkway is relevant, but Woodlawn (Metro-North station) isn't? If you examine the entrance to Woodlawn station from Bronx River Road, you'll see that it uses the southbound off and on ramps from the Bronx River Parkway. ---------User:DanTD (talk) 15:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

WikiCup 2013 February newsletter edit

Round 1 is now over. The top 64 scorers have progressed to round 2, where they have been randomly split into eight pools of eight. At the end of April, the top two from each pool, as well as the 16 highest scorers from those remaining, will progress to round 3. Commiserations to those eliminated; if you're interested in still being involved in the WikiCup, able and willing reviewers will always be needed, and if you're interested in getting involved with other collaborative projects, take a look at the WikiWomen's Month discussed below.

Round 1 saw 21 competitors with over 100 points, which is fantastic; that suggests that this year's competition is going to be highly competative. Our lower scores indicate this, too: A score of 19 was required to reach round 2, which was significantly higher than the 11 points required in 2012 and 8 points required in 2011. The score needed to reach round 3 will be higher, and may depend on pool groupings. In 2011, 41 points secured a round 3 place, while in 2012, 65 was needed. Our top three scorers in round 1 were:

  1.   Sturmvogel_66 (submissions), primarily for an array of warship GAs.
  2.   Miyagawa (submissions), primarily for an array of did you knows and good articles, some of which were awarded bonus points.
  3.   Casliber (submissions), due in no small part to Canis Minor, a featured article awarded a total of 340 points. A joint submission with   Keilana (submissions), this is the highest scoring single article yet submitted in this year's competition.

Other contributors of note include:

Featured topics have still played no part in this year's competition, but once again, a curious contribution has been offered by   The C of E (submissions): did you know that there is a Shit Brook in Shropshire? With April Fools' Day during the next round, there will probably be a good chance of more unusual articles...

March sees the WikiWomen's History Month, a series of collaborative efforts to aid the women's history WikiProject to coincide with Women's History Month and International Women's Day. A number of WikiCup participants have already started to take part. The project has a to-do list of articles needing work on the topic of women's history. Those interested in helping out with the project can find articles in need of attention there, or, alternatively, add articles to the list. Those interested in collaborating on articles on women's history are also welcome to use the WikiCup talk page to find others willing to lend a helping hand. Another collaboration currently running is an an effort from WikiCup participants to coordinate a number of Easter-themed did you know articles. Contributions are welcome!

A few final administrative issues. From now on, submission pages will need only a link to the article and a link to the nomination page, or, in the case of good article reviews, a link to the review only. See your submissions' page for details. This will hopefully make updating submission pages a little less tedious. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. 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 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) J Milburn (talk) 11:50, 1 March 2013 (UTC)Reply

GAN: New York State Route 335 edit

Hello, I have reviewed New York State Route 335 for GA status and I have put the article on hold as there are a couple minor things that should be addressed. The review page can be found here--Dom497 (talk) 01:47, 21 March 2013 (UTC)Reply

WikiCup 2013 March newsletter edit

We are halfway through round two. Pool A sees the strongest competition, with five out of eight of its competitors scoring over 100, and Pool H is lagging, with half of its competitors yet to score. WikiCup veterans lead overall; Pool A's   Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) (2010's winner) leads overall, with poolmate   Miyagawa (submissions) (a finalist in 2011 and 2012) not far behind. Pool F's   Casliber (submissions) (a finalist in 2010, 2011 and 2012) is in third. The top two scorers in each pool, as well as the next highest 16 scorers overall, will progress to round three at the end of April.

Today has seen a number of Easter-themed did you knows from WikiCup participants, and March has seen collaboration from contestants with WikiWomen's History Month. It's great to see the WikiCup being used as a locus of collaboration; if you know of any collaborative efforts going on, or want to start anything up, please feel free to use the WikiCup talk page to help find interested editors. As well as fostering collaboration, we're also seeing the Cup encouraging the improvement of high-importance articles through the bonus point system. Highlights from the last month include GAs on physicist Niels Bohr (  Hawkeye7 (submissions)), on the European hare (  Cwmhiraeth (submissions)), on the constellation Circinus (  Keilana (submissions) and   Casliber (submissions)) and on the Third Epistle of John (  Cerebellum (submissions)). All of these subjects were covered on at least 50 Wikipedias at the beginning of the year and, subsequently, each contribution was awarded at least three times as many points as normal.

Wikipedians who enjoy friendly competition may be interested in participating in April's wikification drive. While wikifying an article is typically not considered "significant work" such that it can be claimed for WikiCup points, such gnomish work is often invaluable in keeping articles in shape, and is typically very helpful for new writers who may not be familiar with formatting norms.

A quick reminder: now, submission pages will need only a link to the article and a link to the nomination page, or, in the case of good article reviews, a link to the review only. See your submissions' page for details. This will hopefully make updating submission pages a little less tedious. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. 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 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) J Milburn (talk) 22:52, 31 March 2013 (UTC)Reply

Wikipedia Meetup NYC this Sunday April 14 edit

Hi Mitchazenia! You're invited to our next meeting for Wikipedia Meetup NYC on Sunday April 14 -this weekend- at Symposium Greek Restaurant @ 544 W 113th St (in the back room), on the Upper West Side in the Columbia University area.

Please sign up, and add your ideas to the agenda for Sunday. Thanks!

Delivered on behalf of User:Pharos, 18:07, 10 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

You gonna be there, Adam? Jim.henderson (talk) 22:48, 11 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

The Center Line: Spring 2013 edit

Volume 6, Issue 2 • Spring 2013 • About the Newsletter
Departments
Features
State and national updates
ArchivesNewsroomFull IssueShortcut: WP:USRD/NEWS
EdwardsBot (talk) 22:21, 27 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

NY 112 and other Long Island Highways edit

My idea for the lead section in the New York State Route 112 article was to point out that the route has those three names, but is still signed mostly as "Route 112." The details on where the names start and end and such can be in the route description. As for articles like New York State Route 347 and the others, there are still sources that can be swiped from the SPS's. -------User:DanTD (talk) 03:45, 3 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

Of course not. It wouldn't make sense to add double digit names to any road articles. A few common names are okay, and for roads as short as those on Long Island, it's unlikely that any would have 40 names. You just have to use common sense with the names. Regarding the extensions and other upgrades to NYS 347, I did run into quite a few sources that confirm what was previously written there, and it is a fact that rampant development along Route 347 was one of the factors that hindered these potential upgrades. It's also a fact that the extensions of NYS 112 were proposed, even if the sources I had proving it were thrown out by inconsiderate family members. -------User:DanTD (talk) 14:26, 4 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

George Archer (architect) edit

Wonder if you could shed any light on George Archer (architect), specifically if the Erie Railroad company architect is the same person as the one who designed buildings in Maryland. A repsonse at Talk:George Archer (architect) would be appreciated.Djflem (talk) 19:03, 5 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

It may be of interest to know that George E. Archer (w/ middle initial) was supervising architect for Erie Railroad and there are several stations attributable to him: Pavonia Terminal (jersey City): Middletown, NY (now Thrall Library); Rochester, NY; and Port Jervis, NY, about which you have written an article. From Roots Web: George Edward Archer was born on 15 February 1853. In 1889 he was a Chief Architect for the New York and Lake Erie Railroad. The New York Sun newspaper wrote on 24 Aug 1888, "Chief Architect Archer, of the Erie, is preparing the plans for the spacious new depot which the Company is about to erect at Port Jervis." The Sun further stated, "Mr. Archer is one of the most experienced architects in the country in this class of work." Djflem (talk) 18:05, 6 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

WikiCup 2013 April newsletter edit

We are a week into Round 3, but it is off to a flying start, with   Sven Manguard (submissions) claiming for the high-importance Portal:Sports and Portal:Geography (which are the first portals ever awarded bonus points in the WikiCup) and   Cwmhiraeth (submissions) claiming for a did you know of sea, the highest scoring individual did you know article ever submitted for the WikiCup. Round 2 saw very impressive scores at close; first place   Casliber (submissions) and second place   Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) both scored over 1000 points; a feat not seen in Round 2 since 2010. This, in part, has been made possible by the change in the bonus points rules, but is also testament to the quality of the competition this year. Pool C and Pool G were most competitive, with three quarters of participants making it to Round 3, while Pool D was the least, with only the top two scorers making it through. The lowest qualifying score was 123, significantly higher than last year's 65, 2011's 41 or even 2010's 100.

The next issue of The Signpost is due to include a brief update on the current WikiCup, comparing it to previous years' competitions. This may be of interest to current WikiCup followers, and may help bring some more new faces into the community. We would also like to note that this round includes an extra competitor to the 32 advertised, who has been added to a random pool. This extra inclusion seems to have been the fairest way to deal with a small mistake made before the beginning of this round, but should not affect the competition in a large way. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to contact one of the judges.

A rules clarification: content promoted between rounds can be claimed in the round after the break, but not the round before. The case in point is content promoted on 29/30 April, which may be claimed in this round. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. 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 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) 16:16, 7 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

NYC Wiknic edit

Saw your post, I admittedly have always wanted to go to Flushing Meadows, and wouldn't object. However Prospect Park is serviced by seven subway lines (2,3,4,B,F,G,Q and also Franklin Ave S) and Flushing Meadows is serviced by just the 7? You could argue E,F,M,R but those are a bit too South, maybe take a bus from there. Start a thread on the talk page? Either way love to meet some fellow Wikipedians. Cheers — MusikAnimal talk 02:22, 11 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

A barnstar for you! edit

  The Good Article Barnstar
For your contributions to bring Sagtikos State Parkway to Good Article status. Thanks, and keep up the good work! -- Khazar2 (talk) 01:12, 20 May 2013 (UTC)Reply
I read your prohibitions more closely this time, but didn't see anything about this. Hope you don't mind my wanting to say thanks--your diligent work on this subject is very appreciated. -- Khazar2 (talk) 01:12, 20 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

Former DL&W Stations cat in the commons edit

I thought you might like this, but I've created a commons category for former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad stations. Perhaps you can fill this up. Enjoy. ---------User:DanTD (talk) 19:42, 20 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

2013 Philadelphia Wiki-Picnic: Saturday, June 22 edit

  Philadelphia's Great American Wiknic at Penn Park  
You are invited to the Philadelphia edition of the Great American Wiknic taking place in Penn Park, on Saturday, June 22, 2013! We would love to see you there!--User:Ocaasi (talk)|}}

Former hotel near old Harriman Erie Station? edit

What's this building on the northeast corner of the embankment of the Erie Line over New York State Route 17 near the former Harriman (Erie Railroad station)? Is this a replacement for the old Harriman Station Railroad Hotel? -------User:DanTD (talk) 20:19, 25 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

Picture swap edit

We had a pleasant time this evening, didn't we? I thought about your remark about Westwood (NJT station) where you liked your picture better than the one I uploaded to replace it at the top of the infobox. Looking again, I think mine is prettier and better describes the building, while yours better depicts the function on the rail line. It would be silly to score this as two points to one as the value of those points is very much a matter of judgement. Seems to me the best answer generally (and the generality is why I'm answering here rather than in the particular article's talk page) is to use the article's talk page.

"User:jim.henderson (or whoever), a nice guy and stalwart contributor (there's no such thing as applying too much soft soap on a victim) replaced my picture (name it) with his (name it) but I think mine better serves the article because [. . . .]. Am I misjudging the situation, or ought I put mine back in?"

Having inserted a couple thousand of pictures in something like a thousand articles, I am unlikely to defend one of my own against such a query (might defend another's, though) so if nobody speaks up in a few days, that looks to me like your green light. Jim.henderson (talk) 03:11, 2 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Wantagh State Parkway citation; June 3, 2013 edit

I'm pretty sure the citation you removed is supposed to prove that a segment of Wantagh State Parkway runs along the Twin Lakes Preserve. ---------User:DanTD (talk) 19:19, 3 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Erie succession templates edit

I just added 40 of your Erie Railroad succession templates into the appropriate category. Am I missing any? ---------User:DanTD (talk) 13:12, 4 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Paragraphs edit

Re this sequence of edits: We have no fixed rules on how many sentences make up a paragraph; nor as far as I know does any style guide save overzealous middle-school English teachers trying to coax real work out of some truly lazy students (no, I know you weren't one of them). MOS:PARAGRAPHS says only "The number of single-sentence paragraphs should be minimized, since they can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, paragraphs that exceed a certain length become hard to read." It refers you to Writing better articles, which elaborates on it thus: "Paragraphs should be short enough to be readable, but long enough to develop an idea."

In this case the idea of the first graf is the approach to Jeffersonville. The second graf deals with the village itself.

BTW, there are plenty of three-sentence grafs in that article besides that one.

Don't think I'm getting too twigged about this; it's kind of happened before. I've stuck with three-sentence grafs as a norm since I was in journalism, where it makes sense. In one of my graduate classes, though, the professor called me out on this in front of the class. However, I've heard other people with journalistic backgrounds, including one of my' high-school English teachers, say the same thing happened to them when they went back to school. So I just smiled and thought to myself "welcome to the club." Daniel Case (talk) 16:43, 4 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

WM 2012 Photohunt edit

Hey there, was wondering if you still have a copy of the pictures taken from the 2012 DC Wikimania? This is Eric from the other group.. Pls let me know, thanks!! Noroi (talk) 16:36, 7 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Barnstar edit

  The Minor Barnstar
For cleaning up this mess I left. Daniel Case (talk) 20:11, 7 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject Good Articles Recruitment Centre edit

 
Hello! Now, some of you might have already received a similar message a little while ago regarding the Recruitment Centre, so if you have, there is no need to read the rest of this. This message is directed to users who have reviewed over 15 Good article nominations and are not part of WikiProject Good articles (the first message I sent out went to only WikiProject members).

So for those who haven't heard about the Recruitment Centre yet, you may be wondering why there is a Good article icon with a bunch of stars around it (to the right). The answer? WikiProject Good articles will be launching a Recruitment Centre very soon! The centre will allow all users to be taught how to review Good article nominations by experts just like you! However, in order for the Recruitment Centre to open in the first place, we need some volunteers:

  • Recruiters: The main task of a recruiter is to teach users that have never reviewed a Good article nomination how to review one. To become a recruiter, all you have to do is meet this criteria. If we don't get at least 5-10 recruiters to start off with (at the time this message was sent out, 2 recruiters have volunteered), the Recruitment Centre will not open. If interested, make sure you meet the criteria, read the process and add your name to the list of recruiters. (One of the great things about being a recruiter is that there is no set requirement of what must be taught and when. Instead, all the content found in the process section is a guideline of the main points that should be addressed during a recruitment session...you can also take an entire different approach if you wish!) If you think you will not have the time to recruit any users at this time but are still interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still add your name to the list of recruiters but just fill in the "Status" parameter with "Not Available".
  • Co-Director: The current Director for the centre is me (Dom497). Another user that would be willing to help with some of the tasks would be helpful. Tasks include making sure recruiters are doing what they should be (teaching!), making sure all recruitments are archived correctly, updating pages as needed, answering any questions, and distributing the feedback form. If interested, please contact me (Dom497).
  • Nominators, please read this: If you are not interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still help. In some cases a nominator may have an issue with an "inexperienced" editor (the recruitee) reviewing one of their nominations. To minimize the chances of this happening, if you are fine with a recruitee reviewing one of your nominations under the supervision of the recruiter, please add your name to the list at the bottom of this page. By adding your name to this list, chances are that your nomination will be reviewed more quickly as the recruitee will be asked to choose a nomination from the list of nominators that are OK with them reviewing the article.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing this program bring new reviewers to the Good article community and all the positive things it will bring along.

A message will be sent out to all recruiters regarding the date when the Recruitment Centre will open when it is determined. The message will also contain some further details to clarify things that may be a bit confusing.--Dom497 (talk)

This message was sent out by --EdwardsBot (talk) 15:02, 9 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Camera 4 sale edit

I have become unhappy with the Nikon Coolpix P-330 that I bought a few months ago for $300. It handles easily, and reliably makes good pictures, but the GPS often doesn't know where it is in the city. I'm thinking of replacing it with a Samsung Galaxy Camera which will perhaps suffer more in the subway or other poor light places but will know its location is (well, not when it's underground and usually not indoors) and will also work as a small Android tablet computer. Seems a shame to retire a nearly new, mostly good camera, though. Want to pay $100 for the P-330, with original accessories plus a spare battery? Jim.henderson (talk) 12:07, 11 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

NYC Wiki-Picnic: Saturday June 22 edit

  Great American Wiknic NYC at Prospect Park  
You are invited to the Great American Wiknic NYC in Brooklyn's green and lovely Prospect Park, on this Saturday June 22! We would love to see you there, so sign up and bring something fun for the potluck :) -- User:Pharos (talk)

Redirect State of New York Department of Commerce edit

What would, State of New York Department of Commerce redirect to? Tinton5 (talk) 17:05, 22 June 2013 (UTC)Reply