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Welcome!

Hello, Nick Ottery, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! 

And don't forget, the edit summary is your friend. :) Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 02:06, 16 May 2006 (UTC)Reply

checkY

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Autoblock of 129.234.4.76 lifted or expired.

Request handled by:  Netsnipe  ►  13:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

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What to do edit

Hi, With a page like Levandekyrka I think it is pretty clear; Not in English and a copy of some other website (bye bye), but maybe it will get translated re-worded and end up as a really interesting article. I tend to think not as there was no attempt to alter or improve on the original. By the way I agree about Radio 4.--Alchemist Jack (talk) 10:49, 8 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

DYK nomination of Grunge Lit edit

  Hello! Your submission of Grunge Lit at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! --Chanaka L (talk) 11:33, 10 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Hello Nick, Francium12 has already approved your DYK hook. All the best with your first nomination. Hope you would become a DYK regular. Regards!--Chanaka L (talk) 02:31, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Beinn Sgritheall edit

I added some descriptives to Gaelic placenames (i.e. specifying WHAT they are, since the Gaelic name are rather opaque in that regard). However, the sources are not always clear and you might want to check I correctly identified the features, namely Craeg an Taghain as a "deserted farmstead" (seems to be some sort of scheduled archeologic monument, to be precise), Coille Mhialairigh as a "forest" and Bealach Arnasdail as a "pass". (I personally think it would be more transparent to say "Mhialairigh Forest/Woods" and "Arnisdale/Arnasdail Pass", but the usage clearly is in favor of for full Gaelic only) Circeus (talk) 18:56, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

Hi Circeus. Many thanks for your input to the Beinn Sgritheall article. I'd never really considered the potential issues with only using the Gaelic names (I'm so used to thinking in those terms when out in the hills!), but I think your additions make a great deal of sense. I'll check against appropriate sources when I get a chance but on first pass they look good. I think that given the Ordnance Survey still use the Gaelic terms it is better to adopt this approach than to completely anglicise them. Thanks. Nick Ottery (talk) 20:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
I agree, and I never actually considered switching the term in the article (I was just a random bit of musing ^_^;;;), but it still seemed obviously useful to mention what they were: it makes a big difference whether Craeg an Taghain is a lake, a hill, a village... or whether Bealach Arnasdail is a summit, a pass or a river (which at first I thought it was until I looked for a Gaelic-English online dictionary). Circeus (talk) 21:22, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
As a side note, could you also check that the link I put for Mull is the right one? Quite a few islands go by that name in Scotland... Circeus (talk) 21:24, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
I definitely agree that contextualising the Gaelic with a physical feature is a great idea. Thanks again for pointing it out to me - I've got some past articles that could do with a similar approach :-) The Mull link looks fine based on the source. I'm going to need to check Craeg an Taghain again as the feature is actually an area of crags (c.f. this page) though presumably there was a farmhouse or perhaps shepherd's hut nearby at some point. Nick Ottery (talk) 14:57, 2 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
My lack of knowledge of British geography seems to be the problem: I apparently confused it with an homonymous feature. Circeus (talk) 17:56, 2 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

Thanks..... edit

....for your kind words. Much appreciated. Nancy talk 14:26, 4 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

You're most welcome! As I said in the DYK check I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and feel I have had my horizons broadened. It looks like the hook will appear in an update during the next 12 hours or so. Thanks for getting in touch. Nick Ottery (talk) 13:09, 6 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

Re:Page size check edit

Thanks for the help, Nick. I feel kind of stupid, but I'm not actually sure what a monobook is! lol. How does that work? — Hunter Kahn (c) 14:46, 11 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

  • Ahh, OK, I've got it now. Thanks very much for your help! — Hunter Kahn (c) 00:04, 12 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

Eurasian Land Bridge DYK edit

I've responded on the template talk page. Thanks for the feedback and consideration. Cla68 (talk) 11:46, 25 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

The link looks good. I should have caught that myself. Thank you for helping improve the article. Cla68 (talk) 21:27, 25 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
You're most welcome. I think I've sorted the red link that was associated with Variable Gauge Axles and have removed the {{fact}} tag in that section by including a relevant source which does discuss both time and costs, directly comparing bogie exchange with variable axle technology. Would you mind checking the citation style for consistency? It's a bit of a strange one for me having no named authors. Thanks. Nick Ottery (talk) 09:25, 26 November 2009 (UTC)Reply
Looks good. Thank you for finding a source to support that text, that was very helpful and greatly improved the article. Cla68 (talk) 11:21, 27 November 2009 (UTC)Reply


Plague-Churches edit

Thanks for correcting the template on Venice Plague-churches. Alberto Fernandez Fernandez (talk) 14:00, 10 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

No problem. Thanks for your additions to the San Sebastiano article and for creating the template. I was aiming to go through and develop the plague-churches further so having the template is a great start. Thanks for getting in touch. Nick Ottery (talk) 14:16, 10 January 2010 (UTC)Reply
Thank you because your article made me think I need to go back to Venice for a brush-up. Regarding the plague churches, I was not aware it has been a widespread European habit to build votive churches. Italy, Russia (like The One-Day Votive Church: A Religious Response to the Black Death in Early Russia, Slavic Review, Fall 1981) ... May be I should also make a template for the Saints associated to the Plague (Job, Roch, Rosalia,Sebastian,...) Alberto Fernandez Fernandez (talk) 18:56, 10 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

castello edit

Great job on the co-cathedral of Castello! I removed the word "former cathedral" because, technically speaking, it still holds the title of cathedral as co-cathedral of the Patriarch of Venice. Sounds weird but examples are countless in the RC church. Famous similar example: St. Paul's Cathedral, Mdina & St. John's Co-Cathedral in Malta. Alberto Fernandez Fernandez (talk) 21:43, 2 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Ah, weird indeed! Thanks for tidying that up. I had seen references to co-cathedral in the sources but was a bit confused by the exact meaning and applicability. Nick Ottery (talk) 21:52, 2 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Càrn Mòr edit

This is the proper spelling of the name using accents - see numerous other Scottish mountains containing the element Càrn. A lot of sources seem to omit Gaelic accents for some reason. See Dwelly's dictionary online etc. --MacRusgail (talk) 13:57, 5 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Your Edits at User:White Shadows/German U-boat bases in occupied France edit

I noticed a particular contribution you made removed "unnecessary commas". The commas you removed indeed are necessary. "By the time the Allies re-took the city in 1944, not everything had been completed, as the Germans originally planned." The commas in red are placed because "By the time the Allies re-took the city in 1944" is a dependent clause and thus requires a comma. "As the Germans originally planned" is also a dependent clause. The other commas you removed were also necessary. Please reply with your understanding in respect to comma usage. LordPiratez (talk) 22:30, 19 March 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hello, thanks for getting in contact. Feel free to add in your commas, but with them, reading that sentence makes my head hurt. Perhaps it may be worth reviewing this discussion of punctuation in relation to Dependent Clauses? Thanks. Nick Ottery (talk) 23:34, 19 March 2010 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for your reply. See this. Scroll down to the second heading titled "Punctuation patterns". See A. By the time the Allies re-took the city in 1944, not everything had been completed is a sentence following the "Dependent clause, independent clause" format. That is why a comma is needed. Furthermore, I can't see how "reading that sentence makes [your] head hurt" because naturally, one would pause at the places I put commas. If you run it all together, then it would hurt my head. Please reply. LordPiratez (talk) 22:54, 20 March 2010 (UTC)Reply
I don't really have a problem with that first comma to be honest, that was a mistake on my part so thank you for highlighting it and providing a concise explanation. However, the second comma, to me at least, seems to break up the flow of the second part of the sentence. Surely the German's planned to have everything completed, but this work was interrupted by the re-taking of the city? I would argue therefore that "By the time the Allies re-took the city in 1944, not everything had been completed as the Germans originally planned" reads correctly - reading that I don't feel a need to put a pause after completed. Of course I am not a grammar expert and am always happy to expand my knowledge of this area so if I'm missing something please let me know. Thanks again for getting in touch. Nick Ottery (talk) 15:55, 21 March 2010 (UTC)Reply
Thank you again for replying. I now understand why you deleted the second comma. It seems like it does somewhat "break up the flow", though grammatically I think a comma is necessary. But, here, I'll make an exception. Thanks, LordPiratez (talk) 16:39, 21 March 2010 (UTC)Reply

DYK nomination of North Atlantic Oscillation (band) edit

  Hello! Your submission of North Atlantic Oscillation (band) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! White Shadows you're breaking up 01:28, 22 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hello. Thanks for taking a look at the nomination. I've left a comment and an alternative hook at my nomination's entry. Nick Ottery (talk) 08:43, 22 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

Elias Martin edit

 
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Non-free files in your user space edit

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Magicland Dizzy edit

Hello Nick, sorry I haven't been in touch sooner, I'm busy IRL and a little burned-out on WP after somehow getting the Seymour article up and running (I only wind up to create an article or expand one properly once in a blue moon). I hadn't realized that you'd only recently been working on Magicland's article, or I would have made some tweaks rather than just changed the rating, very nice work and thank you for it.

I still need to dig out sources for you, but here's some suggestions in the meantime:

  • The lead's excellent, though some of what it contains needs to be verified with sources in the article (particularly development).
  • Gameplay is also tight, though there's a couple of minor missing details: the health bar is mentioned but there's nothing indicating how Dizzy loses health, also IIRC Dizzy can be killed instantly from drowning, is this mentioned in any source?
  • Plot - the part about defeating Zaks and leaving is not cited. It's a very minor point, but actually stating that the Yolkfolk are egg-people would be beneficial.
  • Development - as you've noted, this needs verifying and will be the sticking point in terms of the article reaching its potential. I will have a good look for sources when I get a min.
  • Reception - a few pointers here:
  • Review scores that are in the table don't need to be repeated in the text, in fact it would probably be better to only put scores in the table full-stop.
  • It's very easily done, but don't forget to attribute opinions to reviewers of magazines rather than the magazine itself.
  • Video game titles and magazine titles always go in italics.
  • Nice work in finding the sales figure, always good to have them.
  • Here's a review you haven't found yet: issue 64 of Amstrad Action, on page 63.
  • Wherever possible try to highlight a single facet of the game and attribute different opinions to it (IE graphics, sound etc.) rather than listing each publication's main opinion in turn. Now, in the case of a game like this which has multiple versions and only one or two sources covering each that can be very difficult, I found it a real challenge with Seymour and I had a lot more sources to play with, but it's always good to aim for it.
  • The reception section is a little sparse. Again, I had the same problem with Seymour, UK magazines at the time had 'dumbed-down' from their early-80s roots and their small reviews tended to carry a lot of twaddle and failed to even touch on the basic areas of graphics, sound, gameplay etc. and were too busy taking the water out of other members of the magazine's staff. I did as much as I could then called it a day. However, the section really could do with a little more, even the tiny quote from the Amiga Force feature ("This one's a good challenge for all players") on the Amiga Magazine Rack and something from the Amstrad Action review would help. If you haven't already, it may be worth checking the reviews of the Dizzy Collection pack in all the usual places as well.

That's pretty much all I can see, I need to find that magazine with the Dizzy feature. Someoneanother 17:52, 25 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

I found that feature, it's in issue 75 of Retro Gamer and is revoltingly titled "Dizzy's Eggshellent Adventures", it's on pages 48 to 55 (!). It's an excellent source for the series as a whole, basically a long interview and look-back with Philip Oliver which includes the modern-day demo and even some fangames, but it kind of peters out once Fantasy World Dizzy is out of the way. The small box concerned with that particular game confirms that Magicland was the first Dizzy adventure subcontracted to Big Red, it also states "While Magicland was as surreal as any of Dizzy's other adventures, the constant references to classic tales and fables meant that it was far easier to relate to". Further, in the article proper Oliver states that due to a lack of time they were forced to contract out after Fantasy World Dizzy, though this was seen as an expansion of others converting earlier Dizzy games to other computers. That's it basically, the other spin-off games from that era are basically ignored and the article heads straight onto the NES game. Guy in Black has found a similar article in issue 42 of Retro Gamer, but I don't have access to it.
All that said, I just looked at the Oliver Twins' page again and read the bit above Magicland Dizzy, basically all of the information attributed to that source is covered (I hadn't clocked that before), which puts an entirely different spin on things. The development section was always going to be the part that kept the article out of GA status, so if I could nitpick that section now:
  • This part, directly after the Oliver Twins' page citation: For Magicland Dizzy the design work was done for Codemasters in-house by Neal Vincent (incorrectly credited as Neil) with the Oliver Twins retaining design-approval oversight. Meanwhile, the coding of the game was contracted out to an external developer, Big Red Software." is not sourced. I'm not sure where the first sentence came from, is it a left-over or do you have a source? If not I would remove it and focus on the other part, which can be cited to the Dizzy feature in Retro Gamer.
  • Everything from "It featured Dizzy and his cousin Danny.." to the end of that paragraph is covered in the Retro Gamer piece, so can be cited to that. Good times.
  • Here is the full citation for that piece: <ref>{{cite journal|url=|title=Dizzy's Eggshellent Adventures|first=Darran|last=Jones|journal=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]|issue=75|pages = 48-55|date=|accessdate=25 Jun 2010}}</ref> - you can drop it in and you're away. If there's anything within the source you'd like clarifying let me know.
  • Two minor points unrelated to development specifically: a) I've just noticed that your citations don't include page numbers, it would be a good idea to include them, I'll sort them out myself if I get a minute. b) It would probably be a good idea not to link to the locations of magazine databases within citations, I know we do links to world of spectrum in external links but there's not really any need to link to scans etc. which may be questioned by a GA reviewer when they can be pointed to them if they wish to see the sources anyway.
Phew. I'm hoping you find the time to go for it, Dizzy's long overdue a GA of one sort or another and as it happens Magicland is by far my favourite Dizzy game :D Someoneanother 22:14, 25 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

DYK : Recaredo Santos Tornero edit

Have clarified the reference of the hook. Please take a look, thanks. --Diego Grez ¡aprende a llorar! 19:13, 6 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hi edit

Hope I didn't embarrass you with my comment at RFA. I was just upset that the comment seemed to ignore your main point in preference to picking on a dubious "error" to cast doubt on the whole comment. Mainly, I suppose, I was trying to draw attention to the fact that it came from the nominator, and as such I found it a little inappropriate. Again, sorry if it caused you to feel uncomfortable in any way. That wasn't my intention.  -  Begoon (talk) 15:46, 7 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hi Begoon. No, not at all! Quite the opposite in fact; I appreciated your comments, particularly as you noticed it was my first time commenting at an RFA. I spent a long time thinking about my rationale before committing it to the page so it was a little disconcerting that a slight spelling/word misuse issue was picked up on, rather than the substance of my argument (as you pointed out). Ah well, what is done is done. I certainly don't intend to make a habit of opposing at RFA. Thanks again for your comments there, and for getting in touch here! Nick Ottery (talk) 21:43, 7 July 2010 (UTC)Reply
Great. I was having one of those "speak my mind" days yesterday, and that often gets me into trouble - so I'm glad you found my comments useful. See you around... -  Begoon (talk) 08:20, 8 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

RFA Thank spam edit

  Thank you for voting in my RfA, which failed with 10 support, 26 oppose, and 13 neutral. Your comments were much appreciated.

--White Shadows There goes another day 17:30, 7 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

You are welcome. I'm sorry I had to oppose at this time but hopefully my rationale highlighted why. I think you are developing nicely as an editor and should focus on that for a while. All the best. Nick Ottery (talk) 07:39, 8 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

Talkback edit

 
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DYK for San Cassiano (Venice) edit

RlevseTalk 06:03, 4 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Mechanical filter FAC edit

The mechanical filter article which you have previously edited and/or reviewed has been nominated as a Featured Article. You may give your opinion on whether you think this article should be promoted to Featured Article status by leaving a comment on the nomination page. SpinningSpark 18:20, 17 September 2010 (UTC)Reply

Re Template:Infobox mountain edit

You are using {{Infobox mountain}} on your sub page User:Nick Ottery/Draft of Bennachie Article. Your infobox used deprecated parameter names. In the near future the template is to be updated and the old parameter names will no longer work. I updated the template for you. I hope that was OK. –droll [chat] 20:13, 20 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

ArbCom elections are now open! edit

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