Please post your messages in accordance with these suggested guidelines:

• Please post new messages to the bottom of my talk page -- click here to do this automatically.
• Please use headlines when starting new talk topics.
• Please sign and date your entries by inserting --~~~~ at the end.
• As a general rule, expect responses on your talk page.

Thank you for your cooperation.

• Archive 1 -- August 5, 2005 - June 2, 2006
• Archive 2 -- June 2, 2006 - June 25, 2006
• Archive 3 -- June 25, 2006 - July 23, 2006
• Archive 4 -- July 24, 2006 - August 19, 2006
• Archive 5 -- August 19, 2006 - September 29, 2006
• Archive 6 -- September 29, 2006 - December 2, 2006
• Archive 7 --December 3, 2006- January 4, 2007
• Archive 8 --January 4, 2007- March 22, 2007

These pages are kept for archival purposes only. Please do not modify them. Subsequent comments should be made at the bottom of this talk page. No further comments should be made on the above pages. Thank you.

Contents 1 Ban Mr.T99 2 Thanks for the barnstar 3 Another DB/Spotteddogs sock 4 User:Olaf1974 5 Re:Admin coaching 6 Taichung entry 7 Donotsayno 8 Admin coaching 9 Questions about user page and info boxes 10 RfA thanks 11 No problem 12 Uh oh 13 My RfA 14 How do I create a link? 15 Titus Alone 16 Cool as a cucumber............ 17 Can you lend a hand please? 18 Cheers! 19 American School in Taichung 20 You deleted a page which really didn't qualify for speedy deletion 21 Coelophysis 22 Need your help to review 23 Laurentdion 24 Post mortem 25 Later Jin Dynasty 26 Chubby lock service shouldn't have been deleted 27 Hey! 28 Check up 29 Looking up deleted contribs 30 Welcome to the AMA! 31 User 209.189.130.41 32 Tecmobowl (talk · contribs · logs · block user · block log) 33 Comfort zone....... 34 Regarding Association of Members' Advocates 35 Hmm... 36 AWB 37 Dino project 38 Advameg 39 Advameg - hopefully the last word - spammers give me a headache 40 Arabnet, Arabcircle, Stars.net, Dreamnet 41 fix 42 Stegosaurus 43 Stegosaurus 44 Stegosaurus 45 Nielsen Ratings 46 Re: DuMont 47 Link spam 48 Freddie Mercury revert wars 49 Esperanza Admin coaching - October 29 50 WP:FUC 51 Help! 52 Admin coaching - October 30 - New partners 53 Admin Coaching 54 Happy Halloween 55 Am i getting on your nerves yet?! 56 Dravidosaurus 57 Stegosaurus (again) 58 Thanks 59 Talk:Sheriff (company) 60 Howdy! 61 Derek Webb 62 November Esperanza Newsletter 63 Thanks for the friendly welcome! 64 Sorry 65 Notorious departures. 66 admin coaching stuff 67 ?? 68 Your worries 69 Question 70 Thank You! 71 Ceres 72 Request for administrator attention 73 Cavalry award 74 Congrats + Favour 75 Stegosaurus and the Cavalry 76 List of Celebrity Deathmatch episodes 77 Thank you 78 Need help sorting Dave Small vs David Small 79 Dino images 80 Hoshidoshi & Nero - Wit's end!!! 81 MfD 82 Segisaurus 83 re: Dinosaur pronunciation 84 Re : Civility 85 You're welcome 86 Shortest dinosaurs articles 87 Re: Sarcasm 88 Dinosaur clean ups 89 Sources that proves links between Smirnov's family and Sheriff 90 Virtual classroom update 91 Dean Smith article 92 Chinese Taipei 93 Articles left on hold 94 Sheriff 95 Orcomimus 96 Esperanza admin coaching 97 2006 Asian Games 98 Nosenuggets 99 Editcountitis 100 Dashanpusaurus: 101 Sheriff, neverending story 102 Mifunesaurus: 103 Thanks! 104 Mauco and me 105 Stegosaurus 106 Howdy 107 Stegosaurus and.. 108 Stegosaurus 109 Diplodocus and Stegosaurus 110 Stegosaurus photo 111 Zigong Dinosaur Museum Photos 112 talk:Dinosaur 113 Protecovasaurus: 114 Stegosaurus photo again 115 dinosaur illustration needs 116 Dinosaur image review 117 Apatosaurus

[edit] Ban Mr.T99

Can you please ban Mr.T99? He is vandalizing his own talk page? Adding swear words on it. Please ban Mr.T99! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by PriceisRight98 (talk • contribs).

PiR98 ooks like a sock of Mr.T99 to me. --CFIF ☎ [[Special:Contribution--Somedude101 23:21, 26 October 2006 (UTC)s/CFIF|⋐]] 20:09, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks for the barnstar

I think the headline says enough! :) --CFIF ☎ ⋐ 20:35, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another DB/Spotteddogs sock

A Coin Off Rims (talk · contribs · logs · block user · block log) has been reverting my recent edits, calling them minor. Also, look at my talk page history and there is an IP there that claims they are Displaced Brit. --CFIF ☎ ⋐ 02:08, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

• The user name seems to be an anagram for "CFIF is a moron" which makes it a blatant attack. TV Newser Tipline 15:19, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User:Olaf1974

Thanks for the welcome! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Olaf1974 (talk • contribs) 07:32, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re:Admin coaching

It's supposed to be ;) I didn't realise that a few extra coaches had signed up since I last looked (think only new requests appeared on my watchlist). Thanks for prodding me, I've sent out a few of my standard pings to requests at the top of the list to see if they want coaching, so I'll assign them coaches (including yourself) asap. I've been pretty busy recently so that's why I haven't been paying quite as close attention to the AC page as before. Cheers, Petros471 20:13, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay... your new trainee: Ginkgo100. Fellow coach: Steel359. As usual let me know if you have any q's etc. Petros471 20:18, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Taichung entry

Firsfron: Thank you for coming to make a contribution to the Taichung page. I am trying to do a complete overhaul of the page to bring it up to to WikiProjects City standards. It is a time consuming process. Unfortunately, I have an unregistered user sabotaging my efforts by reintroducing unsourced and false information.

I have tried to intitiate discussion with him on the talk page, but as yet there is no response.

Your help would be appreciate.

== Ludahai (10/4/06 00:46 UTC/08:46 Taiwan time)

Firsfron: Thank you for your response. Another unregistered user has popped up and placed inaccurate information on the Taichung City page. Could we please place a partial block on editing allowing only registered users to edit the page. The only constructive work I have seen done on that page has been by registered users. thanks Ludahai 01:10, 5 October 2006 (UTC) Ludahai (10/5/06 01:09 UTC/09:09 Taiwan time)

The page is being altered again. It is vandalism because it is inserting information that is blatently false. Just as an example, the vandal consistently asserts that the city nickname is "Little Las Vegas" when the real nickname is "City of Culture." I live in this city and I have NEVER heard anyone call it "Little Las Vegas."

I have tried using the talk page on Taichung City. However, there has been no response. I will try the talk pages for those URLs, but I highly doubt that they will respond. Could we please try to protect the page in the meantime until they either register or respond? Thank you. Ludahai 10:56, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your action on the Taichung page. Hopefully, this will flesh out the culprits and force him/her/them to start a dialogue and explain themselves. Thank you. Ludahai 22:26, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

An update on the Taichung Page situation. The main vandal has not shown himself anywhere since the protection was put up. I am nearly complete with the content of the page, and will soon edit it to bring it up to WikiProject Cities standards. However, I am concerned that when the protection is lifted, the same person will come in and ruin all of the work I have done on the page.

Thanks. Ludahai 02:13, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

		The Original Barnstar
		For your help in guiding me on my early edits and dealing with the vandal problem Ludahai 02:15, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Donotsayno

I've filed an RfC against him if you are interested. --CFIF ☎ ⋐ 20:23, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Admin coaching

Hello, I see you have been assigned as one of my admin coaches. Thank you! I have created a subpage for discussion at User:Ginkgo100/Admin coaching. Please feel free to comment there. Cheers! --Ginkgo100 ^{talk · e@} 20:40, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questions about user page and info boxes

Thanks for your help so far. I have three more questions.

1. I have started working on my userpage. Where is there a list of the boxes that you have on the right of your page? I would like to include relevant ones on mine.

2. How do you create an Infobox? I would like to make one for the TAIMUN conference pages I am working on.

3. How do you nominate someone for a barnstar?

Thanks.

Ludahai 12:56, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for all of your help. I hope you don't mind my borrowing a couple of ideas from your User Page. And, congrats on #18,000. A thousand in three days! Do you have a life?  :)

BTW, happy Mid Autumn Festival. Ludahai 13:23, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RfA thanks

Thank you for participating in my RfA, which finished with a tally of 66/11/5. I learned quite a bit during the process, and I expect to be learning a lot more in the days ahead. I will be taking things slowly (and doing a lot of re-reading), but I hope you will let me know if there is anything I can do to improve in my new capacity. -- Merope Talk 13:36, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] No problem

I had a feeling that you actually plan on getting this to featured status partly due to you listing it on WP:1FAPQ. So when I saw your peer review empty I rushed to throw out some notes. I'm sure because of that some of my comments aren't too clear. Anyway if you want I can do a copy-edit (rephrase some things) after you go through my notes. It was my pleasure doing the review if its means that this article will become better.

On another note, the most important of my comments is the article not following a timeline and the analysis. I don't think its wrong to give analysis but without a timeline it just makes the article look like an essay. Here is what I mean:

Bad: John went to Peter's House. John broke Peter's leg. Peter had to go to the hospital. Peter was mad because before he went to Johns house because Peter kissed his sister. John recovered.

Good: Peter was mad at John house because Peter kissed his sister. John went to Peter's House. John broke Peter's leg. Peter had to go to the hospital.

I hope you can understand what I mean by the above. I think analysis of something in a text should go right after its mentioned instead of it being scattered around. - Tutmosis 01:53, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uh oh

I may have jumped the gun on Stegosaurus...not sure if this FAC will be doable. Any help much appreciated. Question is, how much embellishment is enough on scientific bits. cheers Cas Liber 03:13, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

thanks (man that was quick!)Cas Liber 03:20, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Just a bit busy here - it's 2PM on Saturday and I have to do some outsidey thingsCas Liber 03:56, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

You're a godsend. I was flagging and I felt at a bit of a dead end; the changes look good and the calculations about Pop. cult. length most timely. I was tempted to strike out the objections now addressed but I guess according to Wikietiquette he should get the chance to do it himself. cheers Cas Liber 08:56, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

OK, well when Stego's passed I reckon Ankylosaurus can walk it in...... :)Cas Liber 09:57, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My RfA

Thank you for participating in my RfA, which passed with a tally of 91/1/4. I can't express how much it means to me to become an administrator. I'll work even more and harder to become useful for the community. If you need a helping hand, don't hesitate to contact me. NCurse work 15:30, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do I create a link?

I got your thing about my new article, Carnictis (Vile Meat-Weasel). And I'd like to thank you for the advice. But anyway, I need to know how to create a link so that I can link my page up with the King Kong(2005)Page.A7X 900 18:18, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Titus Alone

Hey, it seems you were the original editor of the Titus Awakes page. According to you, Peake's wife got 30000 pages into World Without End, her version of the book...

I was curious, do you happen to know of any way to see these 30000 pages? Was this information in one of the antecedent or ancilliary documents, essays, etc included in Titus Alone? I ask because I have not yet purchased or read Alone (I'm still on Gormenghast), but if these 30k pages are something I can get my hands on I definitely want to ASAP.--Mr Bucket 05:17, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cool as a cucumber............

[edit] Can you lend a hand please?

I feel like such a noob for asking this but here it goes, I need your help with my new page, Carnictis (Vile Meat-Weasel). I just need some more info on the creature and a picture of it as well. I promise this will be the last time I come to you for help, I don't want to be a pest.A7X 900 01:38, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cheers!

		The Editor's Barnstar
		Thanks for helping to sweep up the road others litter with good intentions! And for generally keeping on top of things around the dino project, of course!Dinoguy2 00:31, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] American School in Taichung

Could we please get the page named Taichung American School changed to American School in Taichung? That is the correct name of the school. You can verify it on the external link I provided on that page. I am going to work on that article next week. Thanks. Ludahai 04:55, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Never mind. I figured out how to do it. Thanks Ludahai 05:00, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] You deleted a page which really didn't qualify for speedy deletion

I would appreciate if you could read the hangon tag and review the contents of the site before deleting. The following is the contents of the hangon tag that I had put up:

have been trying to put up information about WET, an opensource web testing tool. The criterea for speedy deletion of this page that was quoted in the morning was that it was a blatant advertisement for a product. The only external link that the page was pointing to was wet.qantom.org which is the home page for this opensource product. WET is a opensource product which is serving the community of software testers. Other than gratitude to the financial supporters of the product there is no commercial even in the web page. Apologies! but if adding content about an open source product is considered commercial, then wikipedia should consider using a non opensource product for its own content delivery.

I came back to it later in the day and am now trying to add the page again. This time I get an error that this Wiki page uses copyrighted material from http://wet.qantom.org. True that I copied the contents of this page entirely from the wet.qantom.org home page - but that page itself is not copyrighted. It is a opensource product and the contents are shared using a creative commons share-alike license.

I am at my wit's end now - whether to try to spend time to add more content or not. I dont want to keep adding an entry for WET and come back to only see that the content has been removed. I had put a hangon tag even in the morning. I do agree that strict measures are required to keep the spam out, but at the same time, I think that the editors who are responsible for deleting pages should atleast read the hangon tag contents, check the contents that seem to be in dispute and eventually notify the original author as to why they still think that the content is objectionable.

Just my few cents. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Raghublr (talk • contribs).

I deleted the article because it was a copyright infringment. From the deletion log: 14:14, 12 October 2006 Firsfron (Talk | contribs | block) deleted "WetWebTester" (This article was created in the last 48 hours and all of its revisions are unquestionably copyright infringements taken from http://www.wet.qantom.org/home.html, with no assertion of permission. (CSD A8))

When I deleted the page, there was no hangon tag; this was added to the talk page at 14:15, after the article had already been deleted. You are free to recreate the article, as long as the material you add does not contain copywrited material from other web-sites without assertion of permission. Best, Firsfron of Ronchester 21:32, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coelophysis

OK. First, sorry for the American instead of English (I was not sure). Secondo, can you explain a thing? Why do you (I mean you Anglosaxons) add the pronunciation scheme? If it is an aid to pronounce the Latin name, then the correct pronunciation is with the "Ch" of "cheese" (something such Cheh-low-PHY-sys I think). Anyway, I think if you use the Latin term you should pronounce it in the correct form. Let me know and good work!--Attilios 22:00, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

OK. This is English Wikipedia. But it can be used by people knowing English but who could be able to pronounce Latin correctly (German people can, for example). The aim of this Encyclopedia is to have an international view (see WP:Systemic bias). Anyway, it was not that my curiosity. I was simply wondering why many dinosaur entries have this support for pronunciation, if you pronounce it in the English way the same. Another question: we in Italy pronounce Anglosaxon words with their original pronunciation, not the Italian one: why you Anglosaxons (but that's also a problem with Frenchmen) do not do the same? Ciao!Attilios 22:51, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

OK: It's funny you consider a handicap in your language. I know that Germans are less passive about the question, and continuously striving for improve their language. Just a little last word: it can be no debate about the pronunciation of Coelophysis. You are citing me English sources. The matter is that scientific names of genera and species are written in Latin. Since I studied it, you should be sure that the Latin pronounce is the right one (e.g. "Cheh-low-FY-sis"), as long as you agree that this is a Latin word. The way English language people pronounce it... is another matter, it's their problem of uncapability to pronounce correctly other languages. I think that at a palaeontological international congress people should have problems in understanding what they are speaking of. Bye and good work. --Attilios 00:13, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need your help to review

Hello,

I am new user and have been trying to write some article on the wikipedia. I started off by writing about WET, an opensource web testing tool. It got deleted more than once as I had apparently not followed certain Wiki Ethos. After looking through some of the guidelines, I have rewritten the complete article and have tried to follow the guidelines. I would like your help to review this article. I have put it up as a user sandbox page at User:Raghublr/Sandbox. If you could review it once and mark your comments in the page, I will make changes appropriately and add it as an article called Wet Web Tester. I am using the same sandbox user page's talk page as the communication media.

-- Best regards, Best regards, Raghu V 07:40, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Laurentdion

Talk page or email, whichever works best for you is okay for me (my email is enabled). As I told david, I showed on AN:I that not only has this user been here for some time, they have never touched an article, and fit the very definition of a disruptive single-purpose account. His requests are absurd; we cannot delete his username, nor can we delete every mention of him and his former article from the history of every page in which they have appeared. This user has made every indication that they have no intention whatsoever of ever being a good contributor. Therefore, I still see no reason to unblock. --InShaneee 20:44, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree, comments like that do seem to show civility, and gave me real pause when I started looking into this. However, those were two months ago. As I showed on AN:I, Laurent's behavior became far more abusive following the deletion of his article, and began a period of disruption, followed by two weeks or so of abscence, then further disruption, for two months on into this week. It is impossible to delete his username (one of his requests). As to his request to remove his username itself, while yes, it would likely be a simple task, I do not see any wisdom in it. If someone came along one day and removed signatures from my talk archives stating 'right to vanish', I'd revert them right away. A record of his activities needs to be kept, especially considering his behavior, and so long as they remain, this user has given me every indication via email that they will continue to do 'whatever it takes' to get their way. I'm sorry, but this isn't someone who I see being a productive contributor at any point. --InShaneee 21:44, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Post mortem

Oh (expletives deleted) sod it - still, I can understand - something about the overall flow of the Stegosaurus page I was always a bit unhappy with. How long is a lockout period before re-requesting FAC? Cas Liber 00:25, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Later Jin Dynasty

There is a problem here. Currently, there is a redirect to send any entries that list Later Jin Dynasty to a page entitled Jin Dynasty. However, there is a Later Jin Dynasty that existed during the Five Dynasties period currently entitled Later Jin Dynasty (Five Dynasties). However, current formatting would make that page difficult to access directly, and there is little justification for the redirect page.

Could the redirect page be deleted so I can rename the existing Later Jin Dynasty page to be consistent with the other Five Dynasties pages? I have been expanding the existing stubs and will be adding pages for the other two dynasties for which there is no existing page.

Thanks. Ludahai 00:55, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chubby lock service shouldn't have been deleted

I think deleting Chubby_Lock_Service was a mistake. Chubby is an interesting lock manager that's very different than what else is out there, and the paper about chubby is appearing at the 'Operating Systems Design and Implementation' conference next month - the most prestiegious operating systems conference in the world. Chubby is a major part of Google's infrastructure and Wikipedia is certainly a better encyclopedia with an article about it. (In fact, wikipedia.org might someday want to use the Chubby software or something very much like it).

Certainly the article was a bit sparse - sorry, I was making my first edit to another article (BigTable) - the BigTable article errnously claimed that BigTable was built on a piece of Google infrastructure that also had a wikipedia article, so when I fixed the BigTable article I created the Chubby article so there was still a link in the BigTable article. If anything, the Chubby article should have been listed as a stub, but it was my first article and I didn't know how to do that.

I think I'm following the first step of Wikipedia:Undeletion_policy right, but if I should be posting this appeal somewhere else please let me know. I'm not sure if there was a discussion about deleting it (I didn't see it on the list of articles for deletion on Oct 12 or 13th) so I think you "speedy deleted" it.

Thanks! Erik s paulson 16:31, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hey!

Hey Fang Aili!

I got to thinking. Since you were my admin coach, and since I was Ginkgo100's admin coach, it's kinda like you're a grandmother. ;) (OK, this message was sort of pointless, but I just wanted to thank you once again for your support, as always). Best wishes, :) Firsfron of Ronchester 04:25, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Hehe.. something like that. :) I'm glad Ginkgo was successful. How are things going, by the way? Lately I've been into trying to remove various speedy backlogs. It's addicting after a while. Come to think of it, I should try to contact my current admin coachee again; he's been incommunicado. Best wishes, Fang Aili ^talk 18:03, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Check up

Hey, its been some time since the DuMont Television Network peer review and I just want to let you know I havent forgot about it. I see you still working on it and I intend to keep my promise and copyedit the article. So let me know when you finished. - Tutmosis 20:41, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Looking up deleted contribs

Since you were such a great admin coach before my promotion, I'll ask you my first syspo question after promotion. =) Is there an easy way to look up deleted pages in a user's contribs? I ran across an abusive editor who did nothing but create attack pages. Since these were speedy deleted, I could not check to see how many different pages had been created -- I could only look up the history for the one I deleted, because I did not know the names of the other ones. Do I have to just rely on other editors' talk page warnings to get an idea of this history? --Ginkgo100 ^{talk · e@} 23:42, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Welcome to the AMA!

Hello Firsfron, I see that you have decided to join the AMA (we're a little late with this one). I'll be the first to say welcome! We're always in need of more advocates, especially since were backloged most of the time. Your also only the second sysop advocate we have. Just a few pointers for what we do. We communicate by putting a template on our talk page. The template is {{AMA alerts}}. The AMA also has it's own IRC channel which reports new cases to us, and also new alerts. If you'd like to jump right into a case, you can check out WP:AMARQ, which is our new request for advocacy system. The instructions for how the technical part works is on the talk page. You can also use the AMA userboxes that appear under here. If you have anymore questions about the organization, just ping any advocates talk page, including our coordinator, Steve. Again, welcome to the AMA! -Royalguard11(Talk·Desk) 05:35, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User 209.189.130.41

More vandalism by 209.189.130.41 at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ringo_Starr&diff=82644448&oldid=82628893 J.R. Hercules 01:23, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tecmobowl (talk · contribs · logs · block user · block log)

Tecmobowl is acting like one of the vandals in the Spotteddogsdotorg/Scott Brown sockpuppet ring switching from television to baseball and staying away from his main targets of abuse. The patterns are obvious, even down to the Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents posting and playing innocent. I first suspected him a few weeks ago. TV Newser Tipline 08:57, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

• Thank you for your help with this situation. I really don't mind if people want to give me legitimate warnings, but I still don't think I have done anything to warrant one yet. I have read your comments on my Talk page and thank you for your help. If you have any advice as to how I can quickly and easily deal with these types of incidents (other than what I am doing), it would be appreciated. Thanks for your time. --Tecmobowl 09:56, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks for the tips. I will try and keep that in mind in the future. --Tecmobowl 10:11, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comfort zone.......

I must admit I do feel out of my depth sometimes with dinosaurs, even though I have been interested for yonks. Another hobby is Australian plants, in particular Banksia, and we are about to stick Banksia integrifolia up as a Featured Article Candidate - this will hopefully reinflate my defaltion on Steggy........Cas Liber 11:09, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Well spotted typo! thanks - I think we'll put it up on FAC later today.Cas Liber 00:12, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Regarding Association of Members' Advocates

Hi, you are receiving this message because you have listed yourself as an active member of WP:AMA. If you aren't currently accepting inquiries for AMA, or if you have resigned, please de-list yourself from Wikipedia:AMA Members. If you are still active, please consider tending to any new requests that may appear on Category:AMA Requests for Assistance. We're going to put AMA on wheels. :) Sorry for the template spamming - we're just trying to update our records, after we had a huge backlog earlier in the week (if you've been taking cases, then sorry, and please ignore this :)). Again, sorry, and thanks! Martinp23 20:59, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

OK - sorry about spamming! From what I;ve gathered, the association pretty much went dead not long after it started (probably around whne you joined) but has since been revitalised, and is now much more active. I only joined recently hough - so I'm not too sure of the past! Thanks, Martinp23 21:46, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, sorry about the double message. I was looking through who had edited the members page to look for new members. Since you hadn't had any proper welcome, I thought I'd give you one (even though how late we are). The talk page is, well, not well monitered and almost never used by advocates. -Royalguard11(Talk·Desk) 23:28, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hmm...

Hello there! Right now, I can't afford the time to be as thorough as I would like to be in answering your query - this is a situation where a lot can be said. Here is a sketch of what I would be inclined to do if I was more informed and involved:

1. Block indefinitely.
2. Explain that an essential part of contributing to this encyclopedia is good communication with other users.
3. Write why you think some edits are questionable.
4. Say for X number of months, explanations for these sorts of actions been inadequate from the account.

   Always emphasize the account, and not the user who you think controls it (I'll let you think about why this is important).

5. Say that it is important that other users know that this account is meant for constructive or encyclopedic editing, and it would help if they could indicate their editing goals on their talk page so others can identify with the account's intentions.
6. Assert that the indefinite block is temporary so long as an adequate response is given.

This is one of those odd situations where a creative use of the buttons is in order. What you are looking for, is a response that reads intelligently, and indicates unambiguously that the user is trying to do something good for Wikipedia. This has to be done on the talk page, not in an e-mail. If it falls short of this, press the user to give a better response. If this fails, then keep the block active - you are not here to babysit accounts over the internet. Feel good that you have given someone a reasonable dose of professionalism and dignity through the process. This works regardless if the user is a "child" or an "adult". Create situations for someone to act maturely, and they will do so if they are capable and willing.

Likewise, be prepared to reciprocate this when you receive it. In the event you have to lift the block, be graceful about it - this means, knowing how to admit error. I generally write something to the effect "blocked in error - my fullest apologies". However, my inclination is that for this case, this is not a likely scenario - something feels very suspicious about the account, particularily if you look at how the userpages were constructed, and the related accounts on other language Wikis. Remember, the Wiki cannot capture the sophistication of reality, so focus on what you know from the Wiki, and nothing else. I hope this helps. --HappyCamper 13:06, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] AWB

Do you really mean that the sentence should start with a lower case letter: [1]? Please be more careful when using AWB. Den fjättrade ankan 18:34, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dino project

Added myself to the project. Will be happy to help wherever I can. Thanks for the tip. ArthurWeasley 02:07, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Advameg

You deleted an article that is the subject of an ongoing AfD debate. This is a clear violation of policy. Please contribute to the AfD debate instead of deleting the article unilaterally. Mjk2357 03:19, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I deleted the page because it appears to have been created primarily to disparage its subject. Please read WP:CSD G10. Pages which meet Categories for Speedy Deletion do not warrant an AfD. Best, Firsfron of Ronchester 03:26, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Funny, milliseconds before you deleted it someone else said it should be deleted because it was advertizing for Advameg! Really it's sad that Wikipedia has gotten to the point where you're so scared of getting sued anything negative is getting deleted. By your logic I should go delete the Enron article too. Mjk2357 03:28, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

The article begins with "Advameg is an Illinois- or possibly Indiana-based internet company and a known spammer of Wikipedia." If the opening sentence begins with an attack, there is no reason for it on Wikipedia, per WP:CSD G10. Happy editing! Firsfron of Ronchester 03:33, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually that was an old version I mistakenly restored after someone else had bypassed AfD and nuked the article. The original sentence was changed after complaints. Would you object to the article being restored with a different starting sentence and going through normal AfD? Considring other people have messaged me saying the article is too pro-Advameg (???) I think there's some debate here. Mjk2357 03:36, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I will restore with the changed first sentence. Personally I think every company that holds a top-5000 Alexa domain should have at least a stubby article. There are a ton of city-data.com links on Wikipedia - there's debate as to whether or not they are legit or spam. Users should know about the company behind them to make their own decicions. Mjk2357 03:47, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Firsfron - Mjk2357 is a former poster on city-data.com/forum/ (under username mjk1093, using IPs such as 68.80.88.*, 4.239.156.*, 4.90.214.*, 68.38.121.*, 68.57.31.*, 68.80.69.*, 68.80.88.*, provided for verification) that was banned by the moderator for various rules infractions (worst messages are deleted) that is using Wikipedia for a personal vendetta against site's owners. There has been no spamming of Wikipedia on behalf of city-data.com - as an administrator, I'm sure you can check who added any references to the site to verify this. None of the other sites listed are spammy and in reality contain very high-quality content. The attack article was deleted four times by different administrators (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/delete&page=Advameg) and against the rules Mjk2357 has restored the article three times already. I believe Mjk2357 should be banned from Wikipedia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.184.73.22 (talk • contribs).

In addition, the company attacked by Mjk2357 is one of the first benefactors of the Wikimedia Foundation (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Benefactors, August 2004, whois on fact-index.com).

Thank you for the answer, however please note that the recreated article certainly did contain the attack material (and many other incorrect statements - please read it and I'm sure you'll notice for example how ridiculous the statements about the company's political leanings are, or how the "external reference" links don't support any of the statements made, or how he "neutrally" titles an external link where city-data.com is included in the best business research sites as "On the Impossibility of Contacting Anyone at Advameg"). I think Mjk2357's previous contributions are precisely the reason why he thought he could get away with creating an attack page and then recreating it multiple times. If users like this are not banned, this encourages creating "history" that can be abused later on (similar to what scammers on eBay have been known to do). I'm sure that you were able to verify that he is the user banned from city-data's forum by looking at his IP, so his motive is clear.67.184.73.22 08:40, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Advameg - hopefully the last word - spammers give me a headache

I do not believe the article met the criteria for speedy delete. The criteria listed given for the three deletions were as follows 1.) Article was anti-Advameg (debatable - I included some good points and some caveats). 2.) Article was pro-Advameg (contradicts #1) 3.) Company's HQ was uncertain (that one just stumps me!). However I don't plan to waste all my time battling this company. Given the petty scale of their operations (to date) it doesn't seem worth it. However I do reserve the right to remove their spam where I see it.

As this IP has revealed itself as a rep of Advameg I am requesting a warning or a block because Advameg is in clear violation of policy - promotion of commercial websites via linkspam. Obviously they are attacking me in part because a large part of their traffic comes from their Wikipedia links. They seem like the suing type so no way am I giving out my name!

P.S. - this IP is the probable operator of the sockpuppets at IPs: 67.163.18.29 69.217.59.174 24.14.148.207, 82.210.185.92, and 208.54.95.129. The spam project also refers to a page called "suspected sockpuppets of Zdrv" but this has been deleted (wonder why??) Mjk2357 20:24, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Arabnet, Arabcircle, Stars.net, Dreamnet

Why did you delete these articles? They are ISPs in Saudi Arabia. I don't believe they are candidates for speedy deletion. If it helps they are listed in the official website of the ISU (Saudi Arabia). Anyways, if you still think they should remain deleted it's cool with me, I know the articles are kind of lame. :| --Anas Salloum 14:47, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm convinced. I will consider that every time I start similar articles. And hey, thanks for your help and time my friend. ;) --Anas Salloum 16:38, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] fix

No problemo. --Fang Aili ^talk 16:43, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus

The article looks pretty good to me thanks to all your edits. When do you want to proposed it as a featured article? ArthurWeasley 17:41, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi, looks better now - the only niggling thought i have is that the intro is 4 paras now (and someone might complain.....) and that maybe Para 3 in the intro can be worked into the description, either as is or slightly modified. The other featured dinos all had larger descriptions somehow too. However if you want to go as is then I'll support it :)Cas Liber 21:18, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus

Re your post on my talk. I'm honoured to be considered at least a de facto leader! Alas, my time is little on here for a while, due to outside stress & little to write about... However, in regards to getting the dino to pass FAC, you need to do a few things. 1) Get Sheepy involved. He ususally helps a great deal with the technical stuff. 2) Some sections are very small. Also, if the in popular culture section is bigger than any other section, you've got problems. Try & cut down on the pop culture section a bit, maybe removing any obviously badly written pieces that often occur in the pop culture sections. Then add to the other section. In particular, History of Discovery & the description sections are lacking, & to a less what degree, the Paleobiology sections. Sheepy usually helps with those sections. 3) After all this, it always helps to proof read the entire article for grammar & to make sure all inline cites are behind the punctuation. 4) Hope to dear God almightly nobody like Tony1 shows up saying crap like "I oppose because you haven't change "with" to "and", as this would save on .1 letters!". Yes, very annoying when people oppose solely for minor minor spelling or grammar mistakes, such as in T rex. 5) When people oppose & then don't change their vote once you've fixed their concerns, always make sure that you clearly state what you have fixed & how you feel that their oppose is now invalid, so that Raul can see that you have fixed the problems. Don't forget, it's also up to Raul to decide too. Finally, 6) Try not to get stressed out like I did with my other 3 FACs. If you get stressed, ask someone like me, Ballista or Dinoguy to take over or help with replies. It really helped having you there on the T rex FAC, so never go it alone. That's about it matey. Hope you get it passed & hopefully I'll be on to vote for it... Also, I'm just wondering if anyone else can maintain the Dino collaboration. I've left a message on my user page, but I doubt anyone's raised their hand. Could you keep me posted? Thanks a bunch man... Spawn Man 22:05, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Umm...this is well put. I am trying to do my tax and have had a load of work dumped on me but will try to dig up some discovery stuff. Maybe it's because it failed the first time but I don't feel hugely optimistic yet.Cas Liber 23:40, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Just added a sentence to link to the bone wars in 'Discovery and species' section. Was looking to see if I had anything to add here to flesh out the discovery.Cas Liber 20:30, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus

You sent me a message asking if I could check the Stegosaurus article. I made one change. It is not any more common than other dinosaurs. I think it should be a candidate. There is no other information that I can think to add. Thank you for asking me. somedude101

maybe add something about stegosaur's diet. I'm pretty sure it's ferns or whatnot, as grass didn't exist back then, I think. Otherwise it looks good and follows t-rex FA structure. BlueShirts 04:14, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

It was a good idea to add a Diet section. However there is a slight redundancy with the Skull section which describes the teeth and how stegosaurus must have used them (according to two possible scenarii). Not sure how to get around this though. ArthurWeasley 17:16, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I think I have finished messing around with the article now and to me it is ready for FA resubmission. Have a last check with User:Casliber and User:Mark t young to see if they have anything to add or correct and give it a try. Good luck! ArthurWeasley 06:51, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nielsen Ratings

My source for the 1949-1950 show was (I'm slightly embarassed to admit) Uncle John's Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader. Of course, a book with "bathroom" in the title may not always be trusted, and I agree that this fact is out of place in an article about the Nielsen Ratings. Steveo2 11:00, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

• I re-read that article in the Bathroom Reader, and discovered that the show listed was Texaco Star Theater, matching one of your sources. I suppose that that doesn't matter in an article is about Nielsen Ratings, considering that the statistic refers to a pre-Nielsen show. Steveo2 19:54, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
• On the subject of starting a new page for early ratings, I feel that there's not enough to "work with." Maybe a Pre-Nielsen section could be added to the Nielsen article, if it could be done in a way that makes sense. Steveo2 11:57, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: DuMont

I see absolutely no reason not to list it as a GA candidate. It's got good prose, it's well-sourced (someone could certainly claim that some of the sources aren't necessarily "reliable", but how many RSs are you going to find on a network that disintigrated half a century ago?), and it's probably as comprehensive as I could imagine it getting. As far as whether or not it could be an FA (obviously, I'd go for GA first, but that's pretty obvious), it would certainly be a strong candidate. See what the person who passes it as a GA (as I'm sure it will be one) says in their comments, and go from there. Best of luck! -- Kicking222 13:23, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Link spam

67.167.83.166 (Talk) (Contribs) has been relentlessly adding spam links for fansites over the past few months. He was warned once in August by another editor and I warned him a few days, since then he's continued spamming links. In his recent edits he's removed the official site link, IMDb link and all the references in the article, Paulina Rubio, as well as adding more fansite links to Danity Kane and 8th & Ocean.

What is the next move? Do I need to give him a final spam warning or can he just be banned now? Thanks for your help. —B33R^{(talk • contribs)} 20:46, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Freddie Mercury revert wars

While I'm here, can I bring to your attention revert wars on Freddie Mercury?

67.190.44.85 and Sparkhead have been unable to agree on the other of some quotes, leading to "revert wars" between the two. I added my opinion on the talk page and was promptly told by an aggressive 67.190.44.85 that "your efforts here are doing more harm than good with regard to the quality of the article." 67.190.44.85 has gone on to say in the edit summaries of further edits:

“

Although morons on Wikipedia may tell you otherwise (including possible "reviewers"), it is incorrect to place the comma outside of the quotation mark. Open any published book to see this!

”

“

Although Wikipedia is controlled by a bunch of people who are unfamiliar with the rules of grammar, the comma goes inside of the quotation mark.

”

Despite the fact that in British English the punctuation does in fact go outside of the quotes. I'd appreciate your help in defusing the situation and fixing the punctuation problem which wasn't wrong in the first place. —B33R^{(talk • contribs)} 21:21, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

• A little more information: 67.190.44.85 stated in an edit summary: "I decided that, since I put them all up, I should get to decide the order."[2] to which I replied with a comment on the talk page and a revert (my only one today) with an edit summary of "That's not how it works. Review WP:OWN",[3] at which point he's gone on an edit spree in the article. I'm not certain it could be considered vandalism per se, but it seems disruptive (14 edits in 21 minutes). After that one revert today I have not reverted back to the previous version of that section of the article, but feel it would be appropriate. I'll watch that article's talk page for future replies. Thanks. *Sparkhead 21:39, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

And now this IP user is changing the content on Freddie Mercury so it's American English rather than British English and saying to us "Please refrain from making Queen fans look like morons".

Can you please help us and tell us what we can do next to stop him further damaging the article?

I'm just looking at WP:DR and there's nothing there that really helps, because no matter what this IP user is told, he's just gonna keep reverting and editing the article so it's entirely American and how he wants it, when Freddie Mercury was for the most part of his life, and largely considered, a British Citizen. —B33R^{(talk • contribs)} 08:59, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your reply. My original problem was that a revert war benefits no one, as I said on the talk page. Originally all that was needed was the two to stop reverting and aim for some common ground.

Now that the IP user has essentially claimed ownership of the quotes, which isn't allowed per WP:OWN and is now calling anyone who disagrees "morons", in the edit summaries and on the talk page, this is highly disruptive to the article and I'm sure name-calling is against Wiki rules. Furthermore, as the article is about a British person there's no reason why the article should be written in anything other than British English but then again I'm a "moron" for not writing in American English so what do I know?! Not to mention the IP user's history of vandalism and the fact that he still doesn't provide any edit summaries despite numerous editors asking him to.

So as I see it, my only course of action now is to stop editing Freddie Mercury because I write in British English and because I don't want to be abused and called a moron by the "owner", an anonymous user who thinks he's always right and that he owns the article, every time I make an edit. If that is allowed to pass then I'm sure every anonymous user will be abusing people, from the link spammers I revert daily to anyone else who doesn't agree with me, and in that case I might as well quit editing now for fear of running into another 67.190.44.85. —B33R^{(talk • contribs)} 11:13, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Before seeing this reply above, I left a comment in Talk:Freddie Mercury saying much the same thing. Also note 67.190.44.85 has now introduced a sock into the discussion. The disruption is just unacceptable but I'm not certain what rule (apart from WP:SOCK) would apply. (Also, I'd ask you reply here so both B33R and myself can discuss in one place. Thanks.) *Sparkhead 13:51, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Some of the edit summaries he's been using have been out of line. I've blocked for 48 hours because that is a clear violation of WP:NPA. It is possible, even likely, that User:Boab is a sockpuppet account used to sway discussions in 67's favor (both began editing on 19 July, and both edit just the one article). WP:RFCU should be used to confirm these suspicions. Best, Firsfron of Ronchester 18:51, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Admin coaching - October 29

As far as I can see you are not currently assigned as a coach to anyone at Admin coaching. Are OK to receive a new trainee? Thank you for helping with admin coaching! Highway ^{Grammar Enforcer!} 22:12, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WP:FUC

rather than leave you a lengthy explanation, noticing your commentary about fair-use image galleries, i was wondering if you could take a close look at the past history and talk page associated with Poké Ball, thank you. -Zappernapper 19:11, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

(Just how does one pronounce "WP:FUC"? Tee hee.. --Fang Aili ^talk 14:29, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help!

I was wondering if you can help me with a minor issue i seem to have developed with my preferences?! I changed my skin option to the 'chick' setting and now, none of the links to the other option headings within my preferences page will work-they just don't do anything so i'm stuck with no way of getting back to my original settings! Is bugging me but is also probably something I've done wrong (that kinda thing usually is!). Would be grateful if you could help me-thanks!Greebo cat 21:27, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your help, at least it's explained the problem for me-although i'm using a new machine so only have internet explorer at the mo. Guess i'll have to wait for the problem to be fixed (or invest in another browser at some point!). Thanks for your help. Greebo cat 00:07, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Ah-possibly not the best idea to wait then! Have downloaded firefox an have now managed to change my skin back to default-will stop faffing round with it now (learned my lesson!). Thanks for your help. Greebo cat 14:40, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Admin coaching - October 30 - New partners

You've been assigned Exir Kamalabadi (talk • contribs) as a student, and Nishkid64 (talk • contribs), as a partner. Once coaching's began, can you move the entry from Pending, to Active at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Admin coaching/Coaching box. If you've got any questions, hit my talk page. Cheers, Highway ^{Grammar Enforcer!} 22:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Admin Coaching

Yes, we'll do the coaching at the subpage you just mentioned. By the way, shall I notify NishKid, or will you do it? I can't wait to get started.--¿¡Exir Kamalabadi?!^{Join Esperanza!} 23:22, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I created the subpage. Let's get started!!! --¿¡Exir Kamalabadi?!^{Join Esperanza!} 23:28, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Hey Firsfron, this is my first trainee, and I am a relatively new admin (5 weeks on the job). I go can with anything here, so just tell me what you want to do and I'll agree with you. Nishkid64 23:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Happy Halloween

Yeah, there were just too many pages on my list!!! And I feel like I got WP:Figure Skating off the ground and it's moving along just fine, so I can feel good about that. Michelle Kwan did get promoted to GA status, so that was a victory. Congrats on 20K edits, btw! I wonder how many I have now. --Fang Aili ^talk 14:28, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Am i getting on your nerves yet?!

Sorry to keep pestering you, but i have another favour to ask you. I added a few sentences to the article on brachypodosaurus but it looks wrong and i can't put a finger on the wrongness! I think it may be somethin to do with my formatting or something-could you take a quick look when you have time and let me know what i did wrong? Thanks again. Greebo cat 15:39, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dravidosaurus

I actually first added the sentence that Dravidosaurus was a nomen dubium (see all my previous edits in the history page), then I had second thoughts (I often have...). As you said, nomen dubium means doubtful name. The problem with dravidosaurus is that it can still be a valid taxon except that we don't know for sure what it is. Anyway, if you feel that it should be tagged as a nomen dubium, no problem. Btw, Stegosaurus a FA yet (don't know much how this is processed)? Cheers ArthurWeasley 23:09, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

There are a number of articles which are marked as stubs. Is there any rule to decide when an article is not a stub anymore? Take Brachypodosaurus, it has a complete taxobox, a set of references and there isn't much we could add to the content since it is only known from an humerus. Should it still be considered a stub? (In that case, it might remain a stub forever). I am relative new to wikipedia so figured I should ask somebody experienced. ArthurWeasley 23:37, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus (again)

OK. I've cast my vote. Cheers ArthurWeasley 00:59, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks

Thanks for the welcome, I like Wikipedia very much and I'll try to contribute a lot here( I'm sorry if I commit any English mistake, that's because I am Brazilian and I am learning English) Thiago R Ramos 17:50, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk:Sheriff (company)

Two users (I am one of them) have a content dispute on the article Sheriff (company). It is a bit complex, but I feel that the time is right for a third opinion. If you want to help, please read the Talk page of the article, and in particular Talk:Sheriff_(company)#Ties_to_Renewal which focuses on the current dispute. You may also give us recommendations for how to resolve the dispute, in addition to your third opinion. Thank you in advance. - Mauco 03:18, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Firsfron, it was on purpose that I picked you at random from the AM list, since I didn't want any indications of inappropriateness on my part. Your non-specialist status is just what we need: Someone who is not an expert on the area will be able to look at it with a cool head and see things from a Wikipedia point of view, not from the POV of a participant. In the matter of the confrontational Renewal-Smirnov position, which you specifically asked about, these eight different sources all back up the statement.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] To save you from wading through all of them, a summary of the key points from each of these can be seen here: Talk:Renewal_(Transnistria)#Sources. Basically, the request was not to ask you to "take sides" or rule on who is right in a content dispute, but just to provide some detached Wikipedia policy/guidelines guidance on what is appropriate for such an article and what is not, in terms of relevance and criteria for inclusion and exclusion. - Mauco 04:46, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Firsfron, I am the other editor involved in the dispute. The right place for your comments is the talk page of the article Sheriff (company). I had disputes with Mauco in many places, as I think he is pushing a pro-Russian expansionism POV through Wikipedia. Requests for Mediation in other cases were refused by Mauco [12], [13]. Please post your "third opinion" on article talk page. In the same time, as you are an administrator, please take a look a 3RR reports that remained unanswered by administrators for many days 3RR report I did against Mauco in 23 October, 3RR report Mauco did against me in 24 October, I wonder why nobody is taking a decision on those reports?--MariusM 19:39, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

It is uncalled for that one user paints the other user the way that MariusM is doing here. I specifically wanted a neutral admin, who would not take sides. I did not try to influence him in advance by making unfounded claims about the political orientation of MariusM, or any other editors. I just wanted him to see the issue with an open mind and not come with a set of preconceived notions. We have BOTH been reported for 3RR, but neither of us have ever been blocked. It is in very bad taste of MariusM to only single out one half of the story and not tell the rest. - Mauco 23:29, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

I included BOTH sides of the story, I gave also the link of the 3RR report Mauco did against me.--MariusM 11:11, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Firsfron. I answered at your comment in Talk:Sheriff (company) and I think you should look at this page. Mauco already commented my answer, and I feel that answering again to Mauco is feeding the trolls. I gave sources with links for everything I claimed (as the articles are long you can make search with "Sheriff" or "Smirnov" to jump at the relevant part). My opinion is that we should go back at the version of article just before protection.--MariusM 15:59, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I strongly object to being called a troll!! Trolls do not participate in a dispute resolution process to the extent that I do, or provide an unreasonable high number of sources for their edits, as I do. They also do not agree to compromise, as I have done in this case. Namecalling is not civil and does not help the dispute resolution process, and refusing to discuss the issue further (as MariusM is effectively doing by his statement above) is not helpful to dispute resolution either. - Mauco 01:26, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey, I just wanted to say hey over here. I hope you don't mind me butting in over on the Sheriff article with my compromise piece. I saw their posts over here when I was posting my comment concerning the Derek Webb article, and somehow ended up taking a look. I've never been involved in an edit war, and got interested in the whole thing. If you get a chance to come read the compromise piece I've made over there, I personally think it's a good piece which now allows for both arguments to be mentioned and maintain neutrality on the issue despite obvious disagreements. And hopefully, I'll get around to fixing the requested sources on that Derek Webb article sometime this week. Thanks! -- Pepsi2786 06:30, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Howdy!

Heya, I just saw your message on my talk page. Sometimes I edit Wikipedia from the library or one of the computer labs on campus where I go to school. Small campus a couple blocks from a Wal Mart, in an Army town?--Raguleader 03:17, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Derek Webb

Thanks for your input on the good article candidacy of Derek Webb. I'll see what I can do about more references. Pepsi2786 07:23, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Pepsi,

Yes, the article looks good, but it is very much underreferenced. Four citations is just not enough for an article of that length. Also, for a Good Article candidate, you really should be using the in-line citations available at WP:CITE. If you need help on learning how to do that, let me know. Happy editing! :) Firsfron of Ronchester 19:40, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey, I ran through and editted the references and added several more citations throughout as well as a few new references. Could you look at it again for me? Thanks. -- Pepsi2786 10:38, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I've done a fair bit more reorganizing and chopping to accomodate your concerns. If you get a chance to stop by soon and have a look, I'd appreciate it. More in-depth notes on what I changed are on the Derek Webb talk page. -- Pepsi2786 07:16, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Back again. I made those few changes you asked for, and I also created the subpages for those two albums which were showing red links. Anything else? Thanks. -- Pepsi2786 19:18, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for all of your efforts in reviewing the article during it's GA candidacy. I sincerely appreciate the assistance in making it a better article. -- Pepsi2786 01:18, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] November Esperanza Newsletter

For your reading pleasure, the newest Esperanza newsletter (November '06 edition) can be found at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter. —Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, The Halo, Shreshth91 and HighwayCello, 20:33, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks for the friendly welcome!

I've been working on stubs for a while, but I'm excited to start on these! (They're, like, mini-stubs, aren't they?) Devotchka 07:33, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sorry

Please don't be offended by my edit, I only felt the wording was awkward. NMajik 23:54, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notorious departures.

The person you need to talk to is User:TrackerTV who added the original vague notice that gave the impression that he was banned from ALL of the site ([14]), which is {{banned user}} territory. Following your revert, I revised the original notice to be exactly understandable, which was the objection you made in that edit summary. 68.39.174.238 00:01, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] admin coaching stuff

Weirdness abounds.. I'll look into it. I don't see any reason for changing the way things are. At least from my perspective, admin coaching seems to work just fine. Are you coaching these days? My coachee hasn't edited since Oct 31 so nothing's happened yet. --Fang Aili ^talk 19:55, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Where has this sudden craze to start all these new admin coaching schemes come from anyway? -- Steel 20:02, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

The only one I know of is the Esperanza admin coaching program. There's been a flurry activity lately because Highway Cello has done a lot of work on it. I don't really know what the deal is with the "admin school" and stuff. --Fang Aili ^talk 20:10, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

It's basically a bunch of bored, relatively new users who think it would be "cool" to start their own admin coaching programme. -- Steel 20:25, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

That sounds like a description of how the Eperanza admin coaching program started... :-) <duck> Carcharoth 18:08, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Good luck with your coachee, Firsfron. I'm sure you'll be great. Your previous student passed with flying colors, IIRC. --Fang Aili ^talk 20:10, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for getting me caught up on the goings-on. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. --Fang Aili ^talk 21:51, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for linking me, Firsfron. I think you are absolutely right. I don't understand how on earth they came up with this idea, or even how this is related to Admin coaching. Nishkid64 22:02, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit]  ??

Why did you delete Ubertelos??? you have no direct right. can you justify this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ubertelos (talk • contribs).

[edit] Your worries

Hi there. I noticed at the deletion discussion for the Virtual Classroom set up by The Transhumanist, you said the following: "Comments like this also worry me.". Do you mind if I ask you why my comments worry you, and what relevance my comments had to the deletion discussion? Carcharoth 18:05, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Please let me know if you are still involved in the article Sheriff (company) or you quit the attempt to solve the dispute. Thanks.--MariusM 22:15, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thank You!

Thanks for the barnstar! You might be able to help me with a question of Laornis (which is still stub-class, but I have improved it a fair bit and added some info). First, you might know whether the material described in 1870 was indeed collected that year, or earlier. Second, the binomen edvardsianus puzzles me - Cope comes to mind, but he and Marsh apparently hated each other in 1870. Dysmorodrepanis 04:34, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ceres

Hi Michael,

You have recently reverted my edit to Ceres (dwarf planet). Your edit summary is just rv. Can I ask why you reverted? Best, Firsfron of Ronchester 22:20, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I reverted it because asteroid belt automatically refers to the main asteroid belt: there are no others in the solar system. There are other groups of asteroids, and there is the Kuiper Belt, but those are not the same thing. Michaelbusch 22:24, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Request for administrator attention

I'd like to place links to the Admin coaching program at the following locations, but they keep getting systematically removed or reverted:

• Wikipedia:Administrators#See also
• Wikipedia:Administrators' how-to guide#See also
• Wikipedia:Community Portal#Community support groups and programs
• Wikipedia:Department directory#Community support groups and programs
• Wikipedia:Department directory#System administration departments
• Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship#See also
• Help:Contents/The Wikipedia community#Administrators

I've also placed a see also reference in the lead paragraph of Administrators' reading list, but I don't know how long it will last.

Various reasons have been cited, including "it's a controversial program of a controversial group". Whatever the reasons, the end result is that Admin coaching is being choked off and isolated from the Wikipedia community of which it is supposedly a part.

I thought you would like to know. Sincerely,  The Transhumanist   04:32, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cavalry award

[edit] Congrats + Favour

Congrats on Stegosaurus making it to FA status!!! Woot!!! A pity I didn't help more with the process. Don't forget to request it for the main page, as we still have Pssitacosaurus, Albertabausrus & now Stegosaurus which haven't appeared on the main page. If you take care of Stegosaurus, I might request the other 2. Or if you like I can do everything for you. Up to you. Anyway, since you're an admin, I thought I'd call upon you to throw your hand into a revert war on the Nero page. I don't want the disagreement to lead to the article being protected fully or someone being blocked for the 3RR. The situation is posted on the Nero talk page, but I'll give a summary here. Well, I've been contributing to the article, however the user HoshiDoshi has consistantly reverted all of my edits. My edits are factually correct, are cited & are pretty well phrased too. I did a lot of work & if you would see fit, I was wondering if you could revert his edits. I don't want anyone blocked incase this is in violation of some rule. He seems like he is a newer user & he has control issues over the article. I have a lot of good stuff to go on the article, but all my efforts are futile until this is resolved. So if you could just throw in your professional view etc, it would be much appreciated... Thanks Firsfron... Spawn Man 23:05, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Wow! Freakish timing Firsfron! I was just posting that message here when you posted on my talk page! :) Thanks for your kind words also my friend... But I don't think I'll be trying for a while. Gulp! Spawn Man 23:07, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for alerting the user. Should I assume that it will be alright to contact you if any other administrative input is needed? Thanks a bunch! Spawn Man 23:28, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm. Nothing comes to mind on what else to add to the page. Maybe something about our dinosaur barnstar? I can't remember the link, but it's in the project award's page. What about the colaboration too & when that started... Firsfron, I've had an idea though. Wikiproject Dinosaurs was born from Tree of life. However, there is no Wikiproject Prehistoric life! As I said, I was thinking we could merge Wikiproject into an new Prehistoric life project. This has been proven to work before, as with Wikiproject Military history. I was around when that was merged & it was seamless. Now the project is huge & well run. So in the long run this would be my plan:

1) Delete the Dinosaur Collaboration until numbers pick up again or it is actually needed.

2) Create a new Wikiproject Prehistoric Life page.

3) Merge WP:Dino with this new WP.

4) Get all the shiney bells & whistles once everything is on its feet (eg - Collaboration, assessment, task forces, barnstars, portals...).

So yes, that is my plan. The new project could encompass anything before mankind or including early stages of it, such as Neanderthals. I feel this would be a much better project & I would happily put it in motion if all the big players at the project agreed. Thoughts? Spawn Man 05:56, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Well what about making the Prehistoric life project as a parent project of WP:Dino? That way it would make better sense & you guys wouldn't have to do much other than change the parentage section on the project page... What do ya say? Spawn Man 22:51, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Sounds feasible - are there guidleines about setting up inactive/hypothetical wikiprojects? Question is then, what would the parent one actually do if tehre was a Cainozoic/Cenozoic/Age of mammals/Prehistoric Mammals descendant project (I can see a vote/poll coming on this one...) and others.Cas Liber 00:41, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus and the Cavalry

Thank you for your post, it is much appreciated. If you ever want me to help out on another article just ask, I would be glad to do what I can. Oh, and congratulations on Stegosaurus making featured article status. The best, Mark t young 00:05, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words and congratulations for the FA status of Stegosaurus. I am a relatively new user (since Aug 2006) but now am quite addicted to Wikipedia. What's next ? Cheers. ArthurWeasley 16:46, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of Celebrity Deathmatch episodes

Somebody is vandalizing the list of celebrity deathmatch episodes. It's serious and I think I should tell you because you are one of the experts. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by F.Barrera (talk • contribs).

[edit] Thank you

Just here to say thanks for the message. I've actually been using Wikipedia for quite some time now, just never got round to registering. Thanks agin. The Copper 17 11:59, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Same with me. I'm in en-wiki since May 2006 and in de-wiki since September 2005. However, thanks for the message. :-) --EvaK 10:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need help sorting Dave Small vs David Small

There is currently an article for David Small (author for child literature) and I've added an entry for Dave Small (computer Scientist) also known as David Small.

I beleive we should move the pages around but I know it is regulated so I'm asking for your advice to make sure I don't vandalize wikipedia :-)

See the talk page for more details.

Thanks,

StephaneOdul 19:33, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dino images

Thanks for all your tips. As for pictures, I've posted my first three productions on the Amargasaurus, Polacanthus and Acrocanthosaurus pages. Tell me what you think. I am not very happy with the Polacanthus one myself so feel free to remove it if you don't like it either. Found that BW looks better than color so will continue in BW. ArthurWeasley 22:23, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Just found the dino image review page. Posted a message there...ArthurWeasley 00:23, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hoshidoshi & Nero - Wit's end!!!

I know I can always count on you to keep me calm Firsfron, but I'm at my wit's end!!! Hoshidoshi has placed a comment here link, before reverting my hours of edits to the Nero page link. I've left an annoyed post on User talk:Hoshidoshi, stating that in some cases, he is not right. I've refrained from simply reverting his edits constantly, instead opting to talk it out. However he continuously reverts my edits & gives pathetic reasons such as they're not primary sources. In all my FA's, I've never had this quarry!! I mean I had one souce from Bob Bakker, a well trusted paleontologist, yet he got his info from other's work. This is insane!!! It's putting me off working contructively here & I need a resolution now!! I'm going to contact a couple of other admins to sort it out, cause I'm trying to get 1000 edits this month. I can't if my current project is being destroyed by a newish user who has no idea about refs, reverts every single edit of mine & doesn't even know how to sign his name properly!!!! I'm losing it Firsfron. Please revert his revert please as it took me nearly an hour writing all of that & he has no right to revert it without discussion first & considering it's cited & acurate. I'm prepared to let some stuff go (as I have many times before on my FA's), but this user is being very unreasonalbe, & is not aware of rules on Wikipedia... I don't want to have to request the article be protected, as this would serve no purpose to anyone & he isn't interested in talking it out!!! Thanks, Spawn Man 01:23, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey thanks for adding your comments to the situation. i've replied to them there. Thanks... Spawn Man 02:31, 14 November 2006 (UTC). P.S. I sense some tention between us friend, are you annoyed at me or anything??

[edit] MfD

As you're probably aware: Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:Esperanza. What the heck. --Fang Aili ^talk 17:41, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Segisaurus

Thanks! I'm not even finished yet though. I got that form the first page of the findings report.... :) Spawn Man 02:54, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] re: Dinosaur pronunciation

Hi, thank you for the welcome. :D I'll try what I can, and if I run into problems I'll let everyone know at the project's talk page. :) --Kjoonlee 17:13, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re : Civility

When I said 'I don't care' , I was referring to the idea that some people tend to attempt to twist WP:CIVIL, saying that if you are incivl your comments shouldn't 'count'. I don't care if someone has decided that I'm being incivil in that regard, since being civil appearantly only gets one attacked en masse.

If you can point out the user I made a personal attack against, I will happily remove my comments. However, as you well know from reading the comment, I did not direct that at any particular user, and I was even careful not to mention any specific arguments through diffs or direct quotes. On the other hand, I have been accused of bad faith, accused of having an agenda, and accused of voting simply to delete out of hatred for Esperanza. While I understand that you, as an admin, have to act against percieved incivility, I wonder if you have done likewise to any of the participants in the MfD for Esperanza that have also made incivil commments. --Elaragirl ||||||^Talk|Count 17:22, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

To clarify - WP:CIVIL & WP:NPA means that any uncivil/incivil comment, or a history of such comments, even if they are not directed at any specific user, could result in a block for incivility? In any case, I have removed the specific components of my comment that so offended you. I see no further reason to comment on this. --Elaragirl ||||||^Talk|Count 17:55, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

OMG!!!: the following is an apology, written by Elara If you meant no threat, then I am sorry I took it that way. I am having a horrifically bad day on several fronts. --Elaragirl ||||||Talk|Count 19:36, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I've posted at Elaragirl's talk page regarding the quote you took from my talk page. To be honest, I'm unimpressed and distinctly dissatisfied. Moreschi 20:09, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I didn't say anything very complicated: what I said was what I meant. I would aprreciate it if you did not take people's words from my talk page out of their original context, forget to add on the qualifying clause which made it perfectly clear that Elaragirl bore no real malicious ill-will towards Esperanza, and then post that mangled version on somebody else's talk page, where editors will see it, not check out what was originally said, and think "This is user is a total Esperanza-hating bastard" - which is essentially what you did. Not good form, IMO. Moreschi 09:30, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] You're welcome

I'm relieved it's over. I think now's the time for Esperanza to overhaul itself. --Fang Aili ^talk 21:03, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Shortest dinosaurs articles

Hi, thanks for your kind comments. I've noticed the good work that WikiProject Dinosaurs has done in particular the excellent List of dinosaurs. I would like to add information to the articles on the shortest dinosaurs mini project but found the lack of reference material on the web rather frustrating I could not find enough verifiable information to create a stub for Dong or his book The Age of Dinosaurs in Japan and China, which is a shame as I think any such articles help clarify the rather confusing world of undescribed dinosaurs and nomen nudum! CheekyMonkey 21:27, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I will take a look at the list. I guess it must be hard not to violate WP:NOR sometimes. Cheers. CheekyMonkey 22:00, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Sarcasm

I think some people mistook my sarcastic Deletionist Party comment as something real. No two deletionists agree on anything, and the Association of Deletionists is a Meta BJAODN type of page. No incivility intended.--Elaragirl ||||||^Talk|Count 21:54, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dinosaur clean ups

Ah, I see you've been noticing my clean up efforts for the dinosaur articles. I need to get 1000 edits this month, so I'm going through & doing anything I can to the articles. Thanks for the encouragement Firsfron... :) Spawn Man 00:38, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources that proves links between Smirnov's family and Sheriff

Hi Firsfron, you let me a message regarding my unwillingness to compromise in Sheriff (company) article, where you were invited by Mauco to mediate our dispute. The reason I don't accept to write in the article that there are clashes between Smirnov and the company Sheriff is because I believe this is not true and we should not accept falacies in Wikipedia. Bellow are sources, some from this year, that shows that Smirnov has strong ties with Sheriff. Please read them and comment on article talk page. Also, as article is protected, please take out the paragraph with untrue comments regarding so-called clashes between Smirnov and Sheriff (at least until we reach an agreement).--MariusM 09:49, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

1. BBC article 1st April 2004 : "Organised crime experts in the UK suspect that Sheriff really belongs to the first family of the rogue republic, and claim the Smirnovs use it to launder money."
2. Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika – Terra Incognita 1 July 2006 : “The symbols of president Smirnov and Sheriff, controlled by his family, are everywhere” (...) “The Sheriff Company controls almost everything has any relevance at all in the business environment. The company is controlled by the family of President Smirnov”
3. “There is no Europe here” by Patti McCracken 1 February 2006 : “This renegade republic is runned mafia-style by president Igor Smirnov and his son Vladimir, who controls a consortium called Sheriff”
4. E-democracy comentary 17 January 2006 : "Three more or less consolidated groupings are represented in the Supreme Soviet of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian republic after elections. They are: 1) the Obnovlenye (Renovation) movement that represents the interests of big business in Transnistria. The official leader of the movement, Mihail Burla, claims that this movement holds 23 out of 43 seats, it means the absolute majority; 2) the "Respublica" movement inspired by separatist leader Igor Smirnov that represents the interests of the "old guard" of "founding parents" of the separatist regime; 3) informal grouping of local security bodies supported by similar circles from Russia, which look for own niche in the local business, in relations with chauvinistic and revengeful circles from the Russian Federation, and "People's Volition" party, headed by deputy chairman of the State Duma Sergey Baburin. (...) The fact that interests of the "Smirnov clan" are represented in all three movements, including the victorious movement Obnovlenye is a proof in this regard. The famous firm "Sheriff" has among its leaders one of Smirnov's son, who has recently became lawmaker, supports the latter. Of course, no serious clan "keeps its eggs in one basket," and this thing also defines the Transnistrian pluralism that the so-called democratic elections in the region were based on. One can say the three heads of the same "separatist dragon" form the political pluralism in Transdniestria."
5. San Francisco Chronicle 12 February 2006 : “This renegade republic is run mafia-style by President Igor Smirnov and his son, Vladimir, who controls a consortium called Sheriff”
6. Washington Times 19 July 2004 : “Vladimir Smirnov, son of the Transnistria leader, leads the breakaway region's customs service. He is said to be the major silent partner in Sheriff”
7. U.S. Institute of Peace 22 July 2004 : “Sheriff Company, run by the “President” of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov, and his son Vladimir”
8. European Tribune 25 June 2005 : “It [Transnistria] is a harshly government "country", run by a man named Igor Smirnof, who uses a company called "Sheriff" to create a mafia monopoly on all the important aspects of industry (...) The TDR is a run by the Russian-backed Sheriff mafia/company, and it has no ethics or moral hang-ups”
9. Sheriff - un kolhoz cu beneficiar privat (Romanian) 19 July 2006 : "The company Sheriff shows the way the rulling family managed to create a structure which is parallel with the state, which control the local economy and produce earnings for private persons using official power (...) The company was founded in 1993 and is ruled by two MGB officers: Victor Gusan and Ilie Cazmali. Those coordonated in 1992 the arrest of Ilaşcu group [see Wiki article about Ilaşcu for details - my note] and were trustmen of president Smirnov during the war. (...) The younger member of the family, Oleg Smirnov, new ellected MP and high functionarry of custom office, is one of Gusan's assistants" (my translation)
10. Civic Media report 18 September 2006 : "One of Smirnov’s sons is head of custom office. The second is the owner of the company Sheriff" (my translation from Romanian)
11. Ziarul de garda Chisinau 24 November 2005 : "The son, Vladimir (Smirnov), controls through the holding “Sheriff” an important part of the economy" (my translation from Romanian)

From all those sources I like most the commentary of e-democracy: "interests of the "Smirnov clan" are represented in all three movements, including the victorious movement Obnovlenye is a proof in this regard. The famous firm "Sheriff" has among its leaders one of Smirnov's son, who has recently became lawmaker, supports the latter. Of course, no serious clan "keeps its eggs in one basket," and this thing also defines the Transnistrian pluralism that the so-called democratic elections in the region were based on. One can say the three heads of the same "separatist dragon" form the political pluralism in Transdniestria."--MariusM 09:49, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I am sorry, but the above sources do not reflect the situation in Transnistria. They repeat the old saw that Sheriff is owned by Smirnov, and it is wrong. We know that know, and I would like to have a reference from a serious political analyst (in Moldova, of course) who will today, in late 2006, still claim on the record that there are ANY OWNERSHIP TIES WHATSOEVER, of any kind, between Smirnov and Sheriff. They are antagonists and it is clear to any well-informed observer. The sources above are all either old, or do not fall into this category. They are propaganda. - Mauco 14:01, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

If I understand well, Mauco contest only ownership of Sheriff company by somebody from Smirnov familly recently, in 2006. He do not contest previous ownership, and also don't contest the employment of Oleg Smirnov as assistant of Sheriff founder Gushan.--MariusM 14:58, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Virtual classroom update

Well, we've moved on to our second lesson in the Virtual classroom, though each lesson is continuous so we may see more additions to the interface share and compare discussion as well. The current topic of discussion is "stubbing," with a short course to kick things off provided by our resident expert on the subject, Grutness.

To help keep track of what's going on, here's a template you can place at the top of your userpage or talk page:

Virtual classroom lessons 6. Yuser, on fighting linkspam 5. Learning the ropes 4. Elaragirl, about deletion and deletionism 3. The Rambling Man, on vandalism 2. Grutness's guide to stubbing 1. Compare your user interfaces with what others use 0. Coaching section - active training-in-progress -  Miscellaneous questions and comments - anything goes  .  .  .

Hope to see you at the Virtual classroom soon.  The Transhumanist    12:59, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dean Smith article

How does the lead on the Dean Smith article look now? Remember 13:52, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chinese Taipei

Hey there. I would like to get your input on something. There is a controversy over the use of Taiwan as a parenthetical for Chinese Taipei as I believe (from experience) that most English speakers have no idea that Chinese Taipei is, in fact, a reference to Taiwan. Opponents of the simple parenthetical state that the official IOC designation is Chinese Taipei, which is true. However, those same people do NOT use the official IOC designation for China, Iran, Palestine, Laos, and Korea. I find it hypocritical. I also find it is obstructive because we are trying to provide information that MOST people will find useful. Using Chinese Taipei doesn't accomplish that purpose. With (Taiwan) as a parenthetical it does. Far more people know the term Taiwan than know Chinese Taipei. Well, please check out the Talk:2006 Asian Games page for the discussion. Thanks. Ludahai 07:47, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Articles left on hold

You've left two articles on hold for GA past the specified time limit, Keane and Western concert flute. Please either pass or fail these articles and remove them from the list at WP:GAC. This would be much appreciated. Best, Moreschi 22:57, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

No problem. The only real reason why I'm bothered is because I've got an article on the list - Agrippina (opera) - and I'd like it reviewed sooner rather than later - or at least in GA terms, which must set a record for most-frequently-backlogged, or something. Cheers, Moreschi 20:14, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sheriff

Hi Firsfron. I stated my opinion in Sheriff talk page. Please join the discussion. Also, if consensus will take longer to reach, please revert your edits which were done without a consensus.--MariusM 14:54, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Orcomimus

Expanded this a little bit off what info I could rummage up. Is it big enough now to remove from the WP:Dino's Shortest dinosaur articles list?? Thanks Firsfron... :) Spawn Man 23:59, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza admin coaching

I'm not sure if you know, but since China re-blocked Wikipedia, Exir Kamalabadi can no longer edit on Wikipedia, and we cannot continue with the admin coaching. =( Nishkid64 20:29, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 2006 Asian Games

"Note: This is also only this user's second edit to Wikipedia. How did you come to find this place, sir?"

i promised myself to keep quiet since i'm not a party to this but i can't help it. i'm a law student and i practice argumentation daily because my professor told me that it's an investment for future lawyers, so pardon me.

with all due respect to you as an administrator of this community, i believe your note is perfectly fine but the question is akward. there is a subliminal message behind that question which was made to look otherwise, but under the pretense of suspicion. The 2006 Asian Games talk page is just ONE (1) mouse-click away from the article about Asia's biggest sporting event which happens to have started the 18th of November (football games and some others for that matter) and the context: "new comers are ignorant of talk pages". i'm reading between the lines so i might lose this debate. taking the question literally, you clearly showed prejudice on the presumption of ignorance to new comers with regards to finding the discussion pages.

have you overlooked the fact that the games is on-going? are you not open to the idea of an ever increasing page viewership because this particular article tops the list of major search engines (which includes, but not limited to: Yahoo!, search.com and Google)?

as tough as it is to win an international football game, i cannot even fathom what Sir Bernard feels that figuratively sent him down on his knees apologizing for the action each and every member of this community is entitled to--the right to suffrage.RebSkii 21:37, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

i might lose my wikipedia access because of my big mouth but then again, i can't stop it. so let me add this: we have the right to speak up and be heard.RebSkii 21:37, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nosenuggets

Can you please talk to Nosenuggets? First, he moved an item I put in last Wednesday in Portal:Current events/Sports to Tuesday, insisting that it took place on Tuesday in the U.S., so it should be on Tuesday on the portal, even though the announcement took place on Wednesday in Japan. After a very short revert war, he desisted after I warned him against further reverts and started a discussion about it on the discussion page, where two other regular contributors agreed with my position.

Now, late Saturday evening as I was going to bed, I entered the games for Sunday for the Intercontinental Cup. It was already Sunday in some parts of the world, and a little more than an hour before it here, when I made the post. Knowing I would not have time Sunday morning, I put it in. Later, when it was nearly Sunday even in the eastern United States, and daytime Sunday here, he removed it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portal:Current_events/Sports&diff=88690872&oldid=88688096

In a subsequent message to me, he told me not to put items in before they occur.

User_talk:Ludahai#Please_wait

However, he is far more guilty of a similar offense given that he posted College football games for the upcoming Saturday on THURSDAY, when it was not yet Saturday ANYWHERE in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portal:Current_events/Sports&diff=88312042&oldid=88267456

I try to be a reasonable person, but when people are unreasonable like Nosenuggets, I feel actions need to be taken. Thanks. Ludahai 05:16, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editcountitis

It's a pleasure. Rich Farmbrough, 10:57 21 November 2006 (GMT).

[edit] Dashanpusaurus:

Thanks for the kind words. It felt good creating a dinosaur article again, as you guys seem to beat me to it all the time. This time I went mad & created Shaximiao Formation as well, the formation in which it was found. Hope you like them... :) Spawn Man 01:20, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Made a huge mistake & thought that the Shaximiao Formation was a separate formation. However it is one of 4 formations of 1 large one; the Dashanpu Formation. So I had to go around making sure every thing was in order. Phew! Spawn Man 02:13, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sheriff, neverending story

Hi Firsfron. Maybe you should look at Sheriff (company), where edit war started again. Maybe you can help with [15].--MariusM 09:55, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mifunesaurus:

I've been trying to add to this article, but a problem has occurred... Why in the article does it state that it has not been described, when 2 links, including the one provided, that I have found say that it has been described, by both one Heng in 1985 & one Dong? Is it still a nomen nudum or has it been described? Thanks Firsfron, Spawn Man 00:41, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you soo much for the barnstar! It's great to see the one I made come back to me lol! As for the above, I didn't understand what you said, & probably never will. Don't waste your breathe on me, I'll remain ignorant. ;) Anyway, I only found minimal info on the dinosaur anyways... Have a great day mate!!! :) Spawn Man 06:19, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Duh, me get it now Firsfron! Me hungry.... ;) Spawn Man 06:36, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

I assume you're talking about Thanks Giving? We don't celebrate that here in New Zealand.... See ya then... :) Spawn Man 06:46, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Heck yes I did! I created Antartica's Mount Kirkpatrick Formation! Yay! Hopefully it's not too bad or anything... Boy, creating formation articles is awesome! :) Spawn Man 05:48, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome! I've actually been on Wikipedia for some time, but I only recently registered. Sphenacodon 09:16, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mauco and me

Hi Firsfron. After both me and Mauco were blocked for edit warring, first thing Mauco did after block was over was to revert me, without any explanation revert on Sheriff. You are familiar with article Sheriff, but he reverted me in other 5 different articles as well, without any explanation in talk pages: Politics of Transnistria (see talk page: we had a dispute, an other mediator was brought to solve it, there are 4 wikipedians who want to include a paragraph, only Mauco opposed; after a compromise proposal was proposed by mediator which remained unanswered by Mauco, paragraph was included but Mauco reverted without explanations) List of unrecognized countries, War of Transnistria (revert with the misleading comment that information belong to an other article - Raşcov, while info he took out was not about Raşcov), Gîsca and Mikhail Burla. What should I do? If I revert Mauco both of us again will be blocked again?

Regarding Sheriff, I gave 12 (twelve) refferences to support my view that between Smirnov familly and company Sheriff there are strong links. Between refferences - BBC, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicles, which can not be considered biases, contrary with Mauco's links, which are from Russian or Transnistrian sources (the entire politicla game in Transnistria being the desire of Russia to anex this region). I consider that mauco don't want Wikipedia readers to be correctly infromed about Transnistria, he is only doing denial propaganda in favour of Transnistrian regime.

Please let me know your opinions.--MariusM 23:39, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus

Yay! I'm the first to congradulate you on getting "Steggie" to the main page at last! It looks great. That's one for the Dino brag book. :) Spawn Man 07:48, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Howdy

Hi Firsfron. I saw that you're editing and figured I'd say hi. How goes? Good job being #269 by # of edits. I saw myself in the 500s and was amazed--I thought there'd be way more people with more edits than me. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! --Fang Aili ^talk 17:34, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey Fang Aili! All goes well; just reverting vandalism to Stegosaurus; whenever we get a really nice, featured dinosaur article on the main page, it gets completely vandalised by IPs. :( Yes, I was surprised I was so high on the list. Congrats on #545, that's really cool, too! :) My Thanksgiving was really good; ate with the family, and then a few hours later, ate with some friends. So I was really stuffed! What's new over in your neck of the woods? Probably heavy snow and...? How was your Turkey Day? Firsfron of Ronchester 17:47, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

T-day was good. I went to Marquette, Michigan and there was hardly any snow. It's been really warm so far. Congrats on getting another dinosaur on FA! Though yes, the constant vandalism is annoying. Lately I've been working on folk dance articles. Today I created List of folk dance performance groups and China National Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble. I am continually amazed at the dearth of folk dance info on the 'pedia, so I'm trying to add to it. I'm also talking with the people at Dunav, and they might release their site to GFDL. *hopes wildly* --Fang Aili ^talk 17:56, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Definitely global warming if you ask me.. they did have a bit of snow earlier in the season but it has mostly melted. I saw one or two pockets left. --Fang Aili ^talk 18:32, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus and..

Hey, thanks for the advice (which I've taken). To be honest I never even considered trolls and baddies, lol! Hope all is going well with the Stegosaurus vandal fighting, and if you have any future advice to impart, please don't hestiate! The best, Mark t young 18:05, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey, again Firstron, No it wasn't presumptuous of you. I suppose I am just a little (?!?) naive when it comes to thinking the worst in people. But, yes I will be around for the next feature-article dinosaur. Which is going to be Diplodocus I take it? Mark t young 18:56, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus

Hey, Can you revert Stegosaurus back to: 20:07, November 27, 2006 ArthurWeasley (Talk | contribs) (rvv) as all the subsequent reverts have mistakes, and I don't know how to revert articles. This is really starting to annoy me! :-( Mark t young 19:17, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Diplodocus and Stegosaurus

Yup, I was just passing by and the big red fonts struck me. The Stegosaurus article is under siege by heavy vandalism since it made it to the main page (btw, congratulations to all the dino team). Should somebody request semi-protection or should we just wait the end of the storm?ArthurWeasley 20:02, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Raul never condones protection whilst an article is on the main page even when it would be best. Ya know though, I can see in the future that msot bigger articles are going to be at least semiprotected, as I've been seeing more & more semi protects cropping up everywhere. Spawn Man 23:18, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus photo

Hi Firsfron,

I'm just writing an email to the park management to ask if it is possible to keep publishing photos on the free licence. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get an answer. I'm sorry for such situation. I was not aware I need permission from sculpture owners to publish the photo. Jakubhal 21:58, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Zigong Dinosaur Museum Photos

Just a couple of quick uploads. I put some links in my talk page for a few photos and a couple on the Zigong wiki page. I will try to sort through the photos and upload some more. Cheers! Phreakster 1998 02:49, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] talk:Dinosaur

I managed to stay calm, polite, and reasonable through the first couple of rounds of that discussion, but then something happened to my patience. It snapped. I'll just refrain from further comments in that section, but if you choose to respond further, I'll be watching from the sidelines : ) Doc Tropics 04:30, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

OK, sometimes I can't resist picking a scab off to see what's underneath. Here's what our friendly IP editor has been up to: contrib history. He's confined himself to talkpages, and it's unlikely he'll do any damage, but this seems to verge on disruption by posting similar nonsense at several pages. Should everyone just work around him until he goes away? Would a note on the talkpage be in order, or totally non-productive? (I'm doubtfull, but willing to try). Or do you think this is actually disruptive enough to warrant a short block? I'm curious about your opinion since you have the mop-and-bucket at your disposal. Doc Tropics 05:02, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

There have indeed been further developments regarding the IP editor, and now I'm less-than-amused. There is evidence here that blocked user kdbuffalo (talk • contribs • page moves • block user • block log) is responsible for these edits. This is particularly frustrating because he was specifically blocked for disruption and trolling at Evolution, and is now rather blatantly evading the block. I'm bringing this to your attention because you suggested that I should; would you prefer that I forward this to WP:ANI? This definitely warrants intervention, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. I know you're in transit right now, so I'll await your response. Thanks, Doc Tropics 06:02, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

• Cancel the Red Alert. The IP address has already been blocked, and the issue itself will probably be addressed at the community level. Hopefully this will leave time for you to peek at megazostrodon, as you said you might. I'm really looking forward to your input, and I know Greebo will appreciate it too. Thanks for everything, it's been a pleasure actually "meeting" you, after seeing your work in the Dino articles. Doc Tropics 06:20, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Firs, thanks so much for your "few minor fixes" to the article; you put a fine polish on it! No doubt Greebo cat will purr. I'll let you know how the DYK nom turns out, or with luck, you'll see for yourself. It's just as well you took time for supper, little details (like food) are important. The "excitement" was minimal, but so is my tolerance for that kind of nonsense. Thanks again for your work on the article, and let me know if I can ever return the favor somehow. Doc Tropics 08:57, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

• Not only did megazostrodon make DYK, it got the lead! Thanks for your help : ) Doc Tropics 15:39, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Protecovasaurus:

I've expanded this article. However, the previous revision of the article said it was an ornithischian. My link however, Dinodata, says it is actually a nomen nudum archosaur. If so, is the taxo box still correct, & is Dinodata in fact actually right? In any case, I hopefully got it off the shortest dino stubs page? Thanks Firsfron, Spawn Man 00:45, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Heh. I knew something fishy was going on. A wrong description left for many moons! A treason! ;) Spawn Man 00:57, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stegosaurus photo again

Hi Firsfron,

I'm glad to inform you I have just received permission to publish my photos from Bałtów under the terms of free licences. I've updated description pages. Hopefully there would be no more complaints. Regards, Jakubhal 14:30, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] dinosaur illustration needs

Hello Firsfron - I've been snooping through your Dinosaur efforts and am in awe. I was wondering you your effort wanted help in the form of illustrations? I enjoy tackling wikipedia requests and you can see the nicest examples here: radula, ascocarp, [16], and Symmetry_group. Let me know. Debivort 20:47, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Where did you want to start? Thanks again for volunteering, Debivort! Firsfron of Ronchester 21:09, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm open to suggestions. Possibilities could include species illustrations like ArthurWeasley has done so nicely, or more technical illustrations of anatomy. I should mention that dinosaurs are not my professional field (which is instead neuro/developmental biology) so I will need technical guides. So, given those constraints, maybe I can be most helpful by generating new public domain images based on copyrighted sources? Whatever you think would be most helpful really. Debivort 22:20, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the guidelines re: new images. My thoughts now are to start with two tasks: first to ask you for a specific and technical project, such as a skull cross-section. I just don't know which particular skull would be the most helpful. Secondly I'll try to pick a few random genera to illustrate as my free time permits. Is there a discussion page for draft images to make sure they satisfy technical criteria before they are rendered fully? Debivort 02:16, 1 December 2006 (UTC

• looking over therapod images, I couldn't come to a sense of what to avoid with pronated hands. From your description, it sounded like the portrayal here [17] is incorrect. Do you have a reference for the correct posture? Debivort 02:52, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dinosaur image review

Firs, thanks for your nice comments. I think this image review process is very useful and I really appreciate all the comments I could receive from you guys. Is there somewhere a wishlist of the most wanted illustration ? If not, I will simply continue picking ramdomly any dinosaur that I fancy and make a drawing out of it (I usually look first to see if there is a skeletal reconstruction available somewhere to have the general shape of the animal right). I'll also try to look on the wiki article to see if illustration is lacking, something I should have done in the first place earlier: the spots for corythosaurus, suchomimus, dilophosaurus and pentaceratops are already occupied... If there is no objection I'll move scutellosaurus and shunosaurus on their pages (the mammals are already posted). ArthurWeasley 21:58, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there any policy within the dino group about what should go in priority in the taxobox as an illustration: a picture of the skeleton or a reconstruction? ArthurWeasley 22:11, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Apatosaurus

Firs, looks like you accidentally erased the Apatosaurus article! ArthurWeasley 00:40, 2 December 2006 (UTC)