User talk:Gregorydavid

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[edit] Welcome to Wikipedia!

Hello Gregorydavid, welcome to Wikipedia!

I noticed nobody had said hi yet... Hi!

If you feel a change is needed, feel free to make it yourself! Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone (yourself included) can edit any article by following the Edit this page link. Wikipedia convention is to be bold and not be afraid of making mistakes. If you're not sure how editing works, have a look at How to edit a page, or try out the Sandbox to test your editing skills.

You might like some of these links and tips:

If, for some reason, you are unable to fix a problem yourself, feel free to ask someone else to do it. Wikipedia has a vibrant community of contributors who have a wide range of skills and specialties, and many of them would be glad to help. As well as the wiki community pages there are IRC Channels, where you are more than welcome to ask for assistance.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on my talk page. Thanks and happy editing, --Alf melmac 09:28, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Linking

Thank you for saying Hi.. Please help me fix page Johann and Page Anton Rupert so that Johann on this page directs to existing page Johann Rupert Thank you Gregorydavid 18:33, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I've fixed that on the Anton Rupert page, in this example the trick is : [[Johann Rupert|Johann]] --Alf melmac 08:08, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Borders of Africa in Anton Rupert article

Well, "hi" from me as well to another South African! Thanks for your supporting comments regarding this issue ... the Anton Rupert article really didn't seem the correct place for that particular debate/statement to me either. Regards, Elf-friend 12:30, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Johann

I'll assume you forgot the "please" in the "Could you fix and explain" part of your message ... otherwise it sounds awfully like an order ... and I don't take orders from anybody except my wife :-) ...

Anyway, when somebody (you?) put the redirect in the disambiguation page it seems to have ignored the rest of the page and made it just a redirect page ... I have deleted the redirect and just added Johann Rupert to the dab. list.

Regards, Elf-friend 09:10, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sammy Marks

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! We welcome and appreciate your contributions, such as Sammy Marks, but we regretfully cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from either web sites or printed material. This article appears to be a direct copy from http://www.places.co.za/html/marksmuseum.html. As a copyright violation, Sammy Marks appears to qualify for speedy deletion under the speedy deletion criteria. Sammy Marks has been tagged for deletion, and may have been deleted by the time you see this message. If the source is a credible one, please consider rewriting the content and citing the source.

If you believe that the article is not a copyright violation, or if you have permission from the copyright holder to release the content freely under the GFDL, you can comment to that effect on Talk:Sammy Marks. If the article has already been deleted, but you have a proper release, you can reenter the content at Sammy Marks, after describing the release on the talk page. However, you may want to consider rewriting the content in your own words. Thank you, and please feel free to continue contributing to Wikipedia.

-- No Guru 19:35, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Pretoria

You changed the first sentence in the Pretoria article, without citing a source to back up your claim that the name changed. If you look at the Pretoria page, as well as the Tshwane page, you will see a detailed description of the name change process. When/if the change is approved, you can change the first sentence. 168.209.98.35 03:11, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of South Africans

Hi Greg, I commend you for your enthusiasm about Wikipedia in general and you seem to be doing good work adding people to List of South Africans, but I don't understand why there are som redlinks because the list is supposed to be about South Africans with Wikipedia articles? Regards, Elf-friend 06:53, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Hi Elf-friend, you and user janto have questioned my practice of including links / red links to non- existent pages. If I do in clude the link it shows up existing content immediately, and I can go and examine it, if it shows up red I will quite soon create the content. I think the links I create have the same status generally than those that exist elsewhere. Who is to judge or estimate the probability of content being provided for links or key words?

As I say I will take responsibility to revisit thos articles I work on so that un-finished strings are dealt with.. Regards, Gregorydavid 11:22, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The article that I started on Elisabeth Eybers is actually quite old (see its history) ... you just spelled it incorrectly (Elizabeth) in the list ... which shows one of the problems with your approach, I think.
As to the list itself, its stated purpose is to list all the South Africans for whom articles already exist, so I would again kindly request that you refrain from adding names for whom there are not yet articles. But by all means go ahead and create a (separate) list of notable South Africans who do not have articles yet - I think you will find that separate "request for article" lists are commonly used in Wikipedia.
Kind Greetings, Elf-friend 14:46, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
Hi Greg, I certainly hope that myself and other Wikipedians have been patient with you, as one should certainly not bite newcomers :-). List of South Africans is certainly not for living South Africans only, otherwise I certainly wouldn't have added Mrs. Ples ;-). Kind Regards, Elf-friend 08:28, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Hi Elf-friend, Sometimes I have to go back again and read carefully what was said, I see you said existing articles and not existing people for the List of South Africans. Did you see all the red links under South African Writers? See Paul Roos where someone has reverted. I now know about three persons with the name Paul Roos. What does it mean to "know how to Wiki"? Regards, Greg Gregorydavid 08:45, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Knowing how to Wiki

I do not know what that particular person meant by “knowing how to Wiki”, but I feel that whatever it is, he has probably not mastered it himself yet, - please see the message that I left on his talk page [1].

In the case of two or more persons sharing the same name, it is better to start a new article about him (or her), with a "differentiator" in brackets after the name, such as: Paul Roos (South Africa).

Regards, Elf-friend 07:29, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another belated welcome

Hi Greg; sorry for only typing this, but welcome to Wikipedia, also from a fellow South African. Good contributions so far, hope the Wikimania takes you too! dewet|™ 11:43, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

No problemo. And yeah, once the addiction sets in... ;) By the way, it's considered bad etiquette to edit user's pages directly -- messages to them should be put on their talk pages. But these are the small "rules of the game" that one learns as you go along... Regards, dewet|™ 14:31, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cape of Good Hope

Howzit? I reverted this edit [2] on Cape of Good Hope - the sense of the text changed with your edit. I believe that Cape Agulhas is where the oceans meet ? Wizzy…☎ 09:44, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User Blocked

Please Administrator take note that user Gregorydavid 11:26, 11 February 2006 (UTC) has been blocked from editing. This block is not intended for me.

I have pasted relevant notification below:

User is blocked From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Your user name or IP address has been blocked from editing

You were blocked by Commander Keane Reason given: Autoblocked because your IP address has been recently used by "Justin.Tweedie". The reason given for Justin.Tweedie's block is: "Repeated insertion of copyvio information into Wonderware, ignoring warnin (see our blocking policy)


You are not blocked from reading pages, only from editing them. If you were only intending to read a page and are seeing this message, you probably followed a red link. These are links to pages that do not exist, so they take users to an editing screen. You should have no problem if you follow only blue links.

If you would like to know when the block will expire, please see the block list.

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias"

Please fix if you can. Regards, Greg Gregorydavid 11:26, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I put a request on Commander Keane's Talk page. This IP is probaby a proxy. Wizzy…☎ 11:39, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User blocked again

Your user name or IP address has been blocked from editing.

You were blocked by Alkivar for the following reason (see our blocking policy): "Autoblocked because your IP address has been recently used by "Crowbaaa". The reason given for Crowbaaa's block is: "constant disruption of WP:AN / WP:ANI, trolling"." Your IP address is 196.25.255.210.

That is me who has been blocked again.. Gregorydavid 14:40, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

User:Dewet has raised it with Alkivar. Wizzy…☎ 15:14, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I am still blocked, sent e-mail to User:Alkivar yesterday and again today.. Contributions are drying up.. Regards, Gregorydavid 07:00, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi. does anybody know how smart the Wiki autoblocking software is? Thanks Gregorydavid 07:37, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

I presume that when blocking "Crowbaaa", there is an option to block IPs used by that user - I would guess as an extra option for vandals that use proxies. If that is done, your login is (currently) not checked. (Of course, it should be, but will require additions to the mediawiki software). All edits from that IP are then blocked. Find another proxy, on a port other than 80 ? You can set it in your browser. the SAIX one is transparent - nothing you can do about it. Try another SAIX proxy, explicitly ? Google for "SAIX proxy" and stick it in your browser. Wizzy…☎ 08:30, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for caring.. I shall wait a while longer.. do some real work.. Cheers! Gregorydavid 08:39, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

{{unblock}}
You're not blocked. If it's your IP, please put the tag, along with a reason, on the IP's talk page. --Rory096 05:00, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Do you know what the IP is? --Rory096 06:08, 24 March 2006 (UTC)


[edit] User blocked again and again

Hi, thanks all for trying yesterday. I think my e-mail to User: Commander Keane worked. Pleas try again, thanks. Gregorydavid 15:25, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edits to date

Username Gregorydavid Total edits 259 Image uploads 0 (0 cur, 0 old) Distinct pages edited 115 Edits/page (avg) 2.25 Deleted edits 0 (browse) First edit 2006-01-20 08:41:45 Edits by namespace Namespace Edits Articles 218 Talk 13 User 2 User talk 23 Project 1 Project talk 2 The end of contributions till unblocked.. Regards, Greg Gregorydavid 13:03, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

And whining like this gets you nowhere. I have posted again to Alkivar. Chill. Wizzy…☎ 08:32, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

Hi Gregorydavid! You recently put the article BBC into the category "24 hour news channels". I've reverted this change. The BBC article is about the organisation as a whole - and it is not a 24-hour news channel, it is a broadcaster. The article on BBC News 24, the BBC's 24-hour news channel, is already, correctly, in the category, so the BBC article doesn't need to join it. Hope this explains the reversion. If you've any questions, or need any help, please get in contact with me on my talk page and I'll be delighted to assist! Cheers! ➨ ❝REDVERS❞ 11:11, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Hi again! Categories are necessary but horrible, horrible things. They're never what you expect them to be and never work as you plan them to! But there's a dedicated and hardworking team at Wikipedia:Category schemes trying to keep things straight.
As such, there's no easy way of deciding - even the Category advice page says they are "cumbersome (categories can't be edited directly)" and "awkward (category listings are not present at the point of data-entry forcing user to remember category names on his own or guess)". I really hate to say this, as it's probably no use to you and certainly no use to me, but the only way of deciding on the fly is commonsense. I told you it was no use!
Wikipedia:Category is a long page with advice, which boils down to: place an article in the lowest possible subcategory, except where a better-focussed article is already there. Which isn't much use either!
The two ways I find correct categories are to either slowly drill down through Wikipedia:Browse or to search. The search facility is less than helpful when not looking for articles: I do a search for something that won't come up as an article (ie "category broadcasting" = Special:Search?search=category+broadcasting&go=Go) then scroll to the bottom, untick everything, tick "category" and remove the word "category" from the search string. That cumbersome method produces a search of categories that mention the other term (= Special:Search?ns14=1&search=broadcasting&fulltext=Search).
A third way is to look for similar articles and find what category they are in. If the original article isn't there, then add it.
A rule-of-thumb might be to say that if both the category and the article have existed for a long time and one is not in the other, there's probably a reason for it.
Sorry I can't be of more help - as I say, categories are horrible, horrible things! ➨ ❝REDVERS❞ 13:54, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Hi Redvers, Thank you for confirming what I thought.. I used a precedent approach, ie I thought BBC is synonymous with CNN is some respects, hence my tagging BBC with a like category..

The delay in introducing TV to South Africa was a form of censorship, thats why I have tagged those two articles, ie SABC and Television in South Africa with that category.. I hear one must be bold on Wiki, so I know there are plenty of experts around who have plenty of time to fix things eventually..

It is interesting thinking about the modus operandi of all the types and roles of Wiki people..

Thanks for the time and effort to fill me in.. Regards, Gregorydavid 06:17, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DKW fans

Hi Greg

Great to have at least two active contributors to this site! Keep on the good work! I know the SA page quite well, I've even contributed to an article there about Monte Carlo Rallying. I guess I have to add a section and picture about the Monza on Wiki pretty soon. Using that name and not writing anything...

Rgds,

Morten Dkwmonza 22:27, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Panama Canal mess

Hi, thanks for the notification about that bit of vandalism. Actually, all the pages I'm working on are on my watchlist, so I tend to notice things like that pretty quick; also, there's a whole bunch of good folks working on keeping the article clean right now (it's getting loads of edits because it's on the front page). Cheers, — Johan the Ghost seance 20:57, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome! Basically, it's a case of responding pretty quick, so that when someone does a bad edit I can just revert it (ie. edit the last good version and save it). Since articles like Panama Canal tend to be in lots of peoples' watchlists, that happens most of the time. If some good changes are made then a bunch of bad stuff, it's a case of manually sorting the good from the bad, starting with whichever version is nearest the desired result; but that doesn't happen too often. Of course, sometimes mistakes are made, so if a well-intended edit is chucked out with the bathwater, I hope you won't take it personal! (You did exactly the right thing by bringing it up in the talk page.) Cheers, — Johan the Ghost seance 21:29, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Couch Rugby

Couch Rugby has been proposed for deletion. Please see the article for details. NickelShoe 01:39, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

The guideline you should look over would be WP:NEO. You'll notice the article is being discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Couch Rugby. They're arguing that this is a negligible term and the thing it describes lacks widespread popularity. If you can show otherwise, make sure the article makes that clear, and make sure and say so at the deletion discussion.
I don't know how popular this is, so I couldn't say whether it's salvagable or not. NickelShoe 13:09, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Account Unjustly Blocked

I have discovered that my account "Happyjoe" is blocked from editing due to some sort of misunderstanding over the Big Spring, TX article. I am uncertain who to contact to have this mistake fixed. Please remove this block so that I may complete necessary editing on other articles. Thank you for your timely assistance in resolving this problem... Happyjoe 69.145.215.206 04:08, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Hi, Happy Joe, you need to contact one of the Wiki Administrators, User:Commander Keane once helped me with a simmilar problem. He may need to contact you via e-mail. I shall leave him a message. Regards, Gregorydavid 14:10, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Falkirk Wheel

Hey there! I uploaded a few more pictures from the day I was there to commons, and made a link on the artcle page. You can see from this pic Falkirk_Wheel_lock_SMC.jpg where the bottom section links to the lower canal. Falkirk_Wheel_Sign_SMC.jpg gives a bit more info on how it works, hopefully that helps work out your question. Sorry but when I went I didn't go on the boat so I don't know what the entry point looks like close up. Cheers SeanMack 15:59, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Just checked again and loaded up a few more pics - yeah it does seem that the arms move within a dry box - however I guess we would need a picture of the bottom of it (or someone from there to go look) to tell us how dry it actually is...SeanMack 16:31, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] South African Companies

Well, sometimes things are a bit sloooow at work ... :-) Elf-friend 11:45, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Can't Move Contributions

Through misunderstandings I accidentally opened up & used 2 accounts (on 2 different machines) - Grahambould & GrahamBould. I have decided on the second & moved what could (including Watchlist) to GrahamBould, but I can't see how to move Contributions. Can you help? Graham Bould 21:43, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Game

Hi mate, just bringing to your attention The Game - check out the dab link I created for the South African show. The link to Gavin Hood has nothing to do with the Football (Australian rules) show. Just letting you know, cheers - Rogerthat Talk 02:19, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Harington etc

Hi, glad you like the user page. Anyone can contribute to it so if you can find improvements that need to be made feel free.

Harington was set up as a disambiguation page that wasn't actually disambiguating anything. What are the worldwide uses of the specific spelling Harington (one r)? If there is only one use then that should be where the article is located, with a note to say that Harrington (two rs) is an alternative spelling. If there is more than one use then it is appropriate to have a disambig page there, but you need to say what those uses are, rather than just having links to the alternative spellings. If there are no individual uses for that spelling then a redirect to the Harrington disambig page would be more appropriate.

On the Harrington page please place the alternative spellings under a "see also" at the bottom, not at the top of the page. Sorry I deleted them, I have a habit of being too brash at times. -- Francs2000 13:12, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi, the article was disambiguous of nature when I created it, but there is more to come.. Thats why I went there again.. I tend to create some articles instintivly while working on others, so that is why I still have to create the perfect one.. Cheers, Gregorydavid 14:59, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Just a note then, it's worth bearing in mind that these things get judged very quickly for whether they are valid articles or not, and those that don't appear to be get deleted quite fast. What I would recommend is making sure there is at least a couple of sentences stating what the article is about; either or just leaving a red link that you can come back to later. -- Francs2000 15:02, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I can take the punch, it started with Padraig Harington sourced from the internet with no article on Wiki, so I created a Miki article and the next day someone had sorted out the disambiguation after finding the two R version.. Thanks Gregorydavid 15:08, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Harrington (with two "r"s) is not an alternative spelling where Sir John Harrington is concerned. My grandmother still has the name Harrington passed down fron Sir Harrington. That meens that I am related to him and wouldnt be saying this if I wasnt, or I hadnt done a ton of research on him. I still get angry when I see his name spelt with only one "r". The surname of the man who inveted the first flushing toilet has two "r"s in it. –jenzy

[edit] Re: Impressive

Hi, I'm not entirely certain what you are referring to. I have had very little influence on the apartheid article, save for a few modifications here and there, and I wasn't responsible for creating it (the credit must go to others). I'm also unaware what ELXLE is, could you perhaps explain further? Thanks, — Impi 09:12, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I see now. Please remember though that even when speaking of articles I have started, others do come afterwards to add to those. I don't think anybody on Wikipedia can take full credit for any decently-sized article, at least not for long at any rate. Thanks for the explanation of what ELXLE meant, as it is certainly interesting, but might I ask what the relevance of the question was? — Impi 12:19, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cape Agulhas

original

Re "fractions of minutes must be reduced ...", I think you may have misread what was there, 'cos all I did was revert — it was originally deg, min, sec, frac. No big.

The English part of the plate says "Cape L'Agulhas / You are now at the southern most tip of the continent of Africa". As for the erosion thing, as I said on the talk page, it is interesting, but I'm not sure how you tell which way the currents are going from the sat pics? I'd love to see this explained. Cheers, — Johan the Ghost seance 11:01, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Replies

original

User conversations are one weak area of WP, IMHO.

  • You can just reply on the other person's page; this makes sure that they see it, but then anyone following the conversation has to flip back and forth between pages.
  • You can do what I do, which is manually place links to the replies: go to the history, select the appropriate diff, and paste in the URL. Tedious, but it displays the whole chain.
  • Some people keep all replies on one talk page. Sensible, but it requires the other person to have it in their watch list.

This is why, if you're talking about an article, it is far better to keep all the talk on the article's page. Cheers, — Johan the Ghost seance 19:29, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bridge 14

Hi Gregory, I don't have any book sources for this, though an Internet search may be rewarding: [3]. I recall there was also an SABC TV movie about it some time later?

Regards, Elf-friend 07:50, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Seamless searching

I agree - the current "interworking" between the different Wikis leaves much to be desired. Kind Regards, Elf-friend 11:09, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to read coordinates off google satelite images?

Hi, do you know how to pick up coordinates off google images? I need this so that I can direct users to specific places. Thanks, Gregorydavid 07:26, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Hey there, it depends on what you are trying to do exactly and what tools you have access to. The easiest way I think is using this webpage:
http://www.giswiki.org/hjl_get_CoorE.htm
I personally use an addin to google earth that does pretty much the same thing, but from within Google Earth. Does this help? Regards SeanMack 12:19, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
Google Maps (which WP links to) doesn't do this, wich is a real pain. Google Earth is the thing I use; I don't think you need an addin, just set a placemark on the place you want and read off the co-ords from its properties. You need Windows for Google Earth, but apart from that it's really cool, and well worth trying. Probably need a fairly fast PC too. — Johan the Ghost seance 18:44, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
The addin I have is made by the same person as the web page I added above - the advantage it has over and above the basic co-ordinates is that it can format a co-ordinate template for pasting directly into wikipedia - saves a lot of hassle. Cheers SeanMack 12:43, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
I came across this users page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dschwen and thought you might be interested in the mapping parts. Cheers SeanMack 16:03, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Welcome to Esperanza!

Welcome, Gregorydavid, to Esperanza, the Wikipedia member association! As you might know, all the Esperanzians share one important goal: the success of this encyclopedia. Within that, we then attempt to strengthen the community bonds, and be the "approachable" side of the project. All of our ideals are held in the Charter, the governing document of the association.

Now that you are a member you should read the guide to what to do now or you may be interested in some of our programs. A quite important program is the StressUnit, which seeks to support editors who have encountered any stress from their Wikipedia events, and are seeking to leave the project. So far, Esperanza can be credited with the support and retention of several users. We will send you newsletters to keep you up to date. Also, we have a calendar of special events, member birthdays, and other holidays that you can add to and follow.

In addition to these projects, several more missions of Esperanza are in development, and are currently being created at Esperanza/Possibles.

I encourage you to take an active voice in the running of Esperanza. We have a small government system, headed by our Administrator general, Celestianpower, and guided by the Advisory Committee comprised of KnowledgeOfSelf, JoanneB, FireFox and Titoxd. The next set of elections will be in April, and I would be glad to see you vote, or even consider running for a position.

If you have any other questions, concerns, comments, or general ideas, Esperanzian or otherwise, know that you can always contact Celestianpower by email or talk page or the Esperanza talk page. Alternatively, you could communicate with fellow users via our IRC channel, #wikipedia-esperanza (which is also good for a fun chat or two :). I thank you for joining Esperanza, and look forward to working with you in making Wikipedia a better place to work!

Cheers! Sango123 (e) 06:00, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #1

Reach out is a program aimed at allowing users to bring issues that they have had in Wikipedia to a listening, sympathetic and caring audience:
"No one can know how we feel if we do not say. We cannot expect to get understanding if we do not ask for it. No one will dispute that sometimes life's issues are too much for one person. It is fair to say that sometimes Wikipedia's problems fall under the same heading. This is a place where you can bring the bruises that can sometimes be got on this project for attention."
The Stress alerts program aims at identifying users who are stressed, alerting the community of thier stress and works in tandem with the Stressbusters at trying to identify causes of stress and eliminating them.
Note from the editor
Welcome to this new format of the Esperanza Newsletter, which came about during the last Advisory Council meeting - we hope you like it! The major changes are that each month, right after the Council meeting, this will be sent out and will include two featured programs and a sum up of the meeting. Also, it will be signed by all of the Advisory Council members, not just Celestianpower. Have an Esperanzial end of March, everyone!
  1. Future meetings are to be held monthly, not fortnightly as before.
  2. Bans and Access level changes (apart from autovoice) in the IRC channel are to be reported at the new log.
  3. In the IRC channel, there is going to be only one bot at a time.
  4. The charter requires members to have 150 edits and 2 weeks editing. Why this is the case will be clarified.
  5. A new Code of Conduct will be drafted by JoanneB and proposed to the Esperanza community.
  6. The NPA reform idea is to be dropped officially.
  7. Charter ammendments are to be discussed in future, not voted on.
  8. The Advisory Council is not going to be proposed to be expanded by the Advisory Council themselves, if others want to propose it, they will listen.
Signed...
Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, KnowledgeOfSelf and FireFox 17:47, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Constitution of South Africa

I've rewritten two of your articles. Please keep in mind Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. If you wish to copy and paste source documents, Wikisource would be the right place. Thanks, CanadianCaesar Et tu, Brute? 17:38, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #2

The Barnstar Brigade is a new program aimed at giving more very deserving yet unappreciated users barnstars. It will officially start on 2006-04-09, but signing up is encouraged before this date:
"Here in Wikipedia, there are hundreds of wikipedians whose work and efforts go un-appreciated. One occasionally comes across editors who have thousands of good edits, but because they may not get around as much as others, their contributions and hard work often go un-noticed. Sadly, these editors often leave the project. As Esperanzians, we can help to make people feel appreciated, be it by some kind words or the awarding of a Barnstar. A project the size of Wikipedia has thousands of editors, so there are plenty of people out there who deserve recognition, one just has to find them. The object of this program is not to flood editors with Barnstars, but to seek out people who deserve them, and make them feel appreciated."
The Stress alerts program aims at identifying users who are stressed, alerting the community of thier stress and works in tandem with the Stressbusters at trying to identify causes of stress and eliminating them.
Information
Welcome to the second issue of the new format Esperanza Newsletter - we hope you still like it! This week, it was delivered diligently by our new dogsbody. MiszaBot (run by Misza13): any execution complaints should go to him. Content comments should be directed at the Esperanza talkpage. Thanks!
  1. The next elections: Approval voting as before and, also as before, an previous leadership member can run. Please submit your name for voting in the relevant section of this page. Voting starts on 2006-04-23 and ends on 2006-04-30. There will be three places up for grabs as KnowledgeOfSelf is leaving Wikipedia. Please see the previously linked page for full details.
  2. The Code of Conduct is now ready for extensive discussion! Specific comments should go to the Code of Conduct talk page, discussion of having one at all should be directed to the main Esperanza talk page.
  3. The current process for accepting proposals for new programs has been deemed fine. All Advisory Council members and the Admin Gen are to endevour to be bold when viewing discussion. If they feel that consensus has been reached, they will act accordingly.
A plea from the editor...
The propsed programs page is terribly underused! Please leave any comments, good or bad, on the page, to help us determine the membership's thoughts on the ideas there.
Signed...
Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, KnowledgeOfSelf and FireFox 19:53, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Old Skool Esperanzial note

Since this isn't the result of an AC meeting, I have decided to go Old Skool. This note is to remind you that the elections are taking place now and will end at 23:50 UTC on 2006-04-29. Please vote here. Thanks. --Celestianpower háblame 20:42, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edit made to the Porcelain article

User: Gregorydavid. It appears that you made an offensive edit of the Porcelain article yesterday (24th April). Can you throw any light on this please? Regards, Nick. Nick 10:38, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #3

The Administrator Coaching program is a program aimed at preparing Wikipedians for Adminship or helping them understand the intricacies of Wikipedia better. Recently, changes have been made to the requirements of coachees. Please review them before requesting this service.
This would be something like the Welcoming Committee, but for people who have figured out the basics of editing articles; they're not newcomers any more, but they might want some help in learning new roles. Some might like suggestions about how to learn vandal patrol, or mentoring on taking an article to featured status, or guidance with a proposal they plan to make at the Village Pump, for example. In this way, Esperanza would help keep hope alive for Wikipedia because we would always be grooming the next generation of admins.
Stressbusters
The Stressbusters are a subset of Esperanza aiming to investigate the causes of stress. New eyes on the situation are always welcome!
Note from the editor
As always, MiszaBot handled this delivery. Thank you! Also, congratulations go to Pschemp, Titoxd and Freakofnurture for being elected in the last elections! An Esperanzial May to all of the readership!
  1. Posting logs of the Esperanza IRC channel are explicitly banned anywhere. Violation of this rule results in deletion and a ban from the channel.
  2. A disclaimer is going to be added to the Esperanza main page. We are humans and, as such, are imperfect.
  3. Various revisions have been made to the Code of Conduct. Please see them, as the proposal is ready to be ratified by the community and enacted. All members will members to have to re-confirm their membership after accepting the Code of Conduct.
  4. Referendums are to be held on whether terms of AC members should be lengthened and whether we should abolish votes full stop.
  5. Admin Coaching reform is agreed upon.
Signed...
Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, Pschemp and Freakofnurture
20:29, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Barnstar

The Working Man's Barnstar
For tireless work on the more laborious or repetitive of Wikipedia tasks. Congratulations! Elf-friend 06:42, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
Hi Elf-friend,

I do appreciate your support. There is so much to do on Wiki and so many examples of such good work that one can only but try.. Gregorydavid 09:36, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:Fair use criteria

Hi,I see my potato has been deleted and this has attracted some response.. See :Wikipedia:Fair use criteria to find out what fair use is.. Gregorydavid 06:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notable Alumni from Stellenbosch University

Good work! --Janto 11:15, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Great work...

...on all the South Africa (and especially Stellenbosch) related articles you've been doing recently. Just thought you'd like to know: it doesn't go unnoticed! dewet|✉ 11:44, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kees

I have temporarily restored the Kees page under User:Gregorydavid/Kees so that we can review it. I would say that one should put his most important assertion(s) of notability (such as winning the yacht race) in the introductoty paragraph, to prevent his notability being questioned. Regards, Elf-friend 06:15, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you.. I always assume that articles belong to the whole Wiki community and I do not normally have readymade articles available, so I am pleased to hear he got time to sail too.
Gregorydavid 06:19, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
I think the Bruynzeel article has come along nicely now! Just a comment: In general I prefer not to use in-line linking, but rather explicit references as I've done to the article now. I don't have time to check now, but I'm pretty sure somewhere in the WP:MOS there is something about that. Anyway, well done! dewet|✉ 15:29, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
It has, and as I say, I have learned a lot from you. I do need to pay attention to the correct way to cite a reference, particularly when it is not just straight off my head.. I remembered last night that his South African company was also known as Bruply, and maybe it has been sold to Pgboard.
Cheers, Gregorydavid 08:03, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
Really? Do you know whether it was located where PG Bison is now, next to the sawmills? dewet|✉ 10:06, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
Yes, the sawmill just west of Distell and near Voëltjiesdorp is where the Stellenbosch factory was. There was another works at Parow on Voortrekker Road where large logs from overeseas were shaved into verneers for the manufacture of plywood. I found out this morning that Bruply Doors (Pty) Ltd is now called Steinhoff Doors and Building materials (Pty) Ltd reg 1972/004708/07 and that his chipboard interests were sold to PG Bison. The sawmills at Stellenbosch also produced laminated pine beams and chipboard. The timber was from local forests an also came in by rail..
Gregorydavid 10:21, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Amazing. My dad used to operate a wood furniture factory just behind (what's now) PG Bison, and I had no idea that it had such a history... dewet|✉ 14:32, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Maybe my dad knew your father and his business. I do remember that road going out to Devon Valley. My dad used to get reject doors and plywood from Bruynzeel Timber which were useful and economical for all sorts of projects..
Gregorydavid 14:43, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
(Sorry for re-indenting; its going all over the place! :) You might want to avoid the line break before your sig, since that resets the indenting.) I just checked with my dad; indeed, he confirmed that Bruynzeel Timbers occupied the grounds of what is today Mondi Timbers and PG Bison. He also said that Bruynzeel was fond of 'bending' pine wood (presumably using steam/heat), and even went to far as building an ornate entry for the trucks delivering logs to his timbers. Small, small world. dewet|✉ 15:14, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
No problem.. Yes, the laminated beams were purpose made from strips of timber that were glued together in the curved shape that was required by the client. Then you got the straight ones too. The Silviculture and Timber Science departments at Stellenbosch University also contributed to some of the research. Carl Borgine was the Norwegian scientist who worked on the research and his wife Sieve was a librarian at the University. Gregorydavid 15:54, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bush Telegraph

You might be interested in this ... Wikipedia:WikiProject South Africa/Bush Telegraph. Regards, Elf-friend 12:50, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] License tagging for Image:Xuka River Bridge - LocalityPlan.pdf

Thanks for uploading Image:Xuka River Bridge - LocalityPlan.pdf. Wikipedia gets hundreds of images uploaded every day, and in order to verify that the images can be legally used on Wikipedia, the source and copyright status must be indicated. Images need to have an image tag applied to the image description page indicating the copyright status of the image. This uniform and easy-to-understand method of indicating the license status allows potential re-users of the images to know what they are allowed to do with the images.

For more information on using images, see the following pages:

This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 12:05, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A short Esperanzial update

As you may have gathered, discussions have been raging for about a week on the Esperanza talk page as to the future direction of Esperanza. Some of these are still ongoing and warrant more input (such as the idea to scrap the members list altogether). However, some decisions have been made and the charter has hence been amended. See what happened. Basically, the whole leadership has had a reshuffle, so please review the new, improved charter.

As a result, we are electing 4 people this month. They will replace JoanneB and Pschemp and form a new tranche A, serving until December. Elections will begin on 2006-07-02 and last until 2006-07-09. If you wish to run for a Council position, add your name to the list before 2006-07-02. For more details, see Wikipedia:Esperanza/June 2006 elections.

Thanks and kind, Esperanzial regards, —Celestianpower háblame 16:00, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chain

Thanks for the encouragement on my chain reformat. It's good to know that someone appreciates my work.

Neelix 16:36, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bhisho/Bhiso/Bisho

Hi Gregory, please take a look at Talk:Bhiso where I have asked for citations about the name change. I could not find any reliable-looking evidence for the name Bhiso, although I have found some for the name Bhisho. Do you have anything to add on this? Thanks, Zaian 15:22, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, my PC is currently blocked from editing, so I shall reply here.. I realised that I had made a mistake shortly after reveiwing what I had done, but I thought I would let the dust settle before I go and fix all the relevant articles. In the meantime I have not had convenient access for a while. I do have a Government source for the new spelling which is Bhisho but I think I made the mistake because I was using a number of sources which all used different spellings..

Thanks Gregorydavid 08:03, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

I've moved the page from Bhiso to Bhisho. Regards, Zaian 07:32, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] isiZulu

Hey there :) I see you left a comment on the main page of the Zulu version of the site? Do you want to write a couple articles? I've just started browsing that wikipedia and am horrified! Most of the articles are just pictures (and very very Eurocentric ones) so I've tried to write a couple of sentences in each.. but Zulu is so damn hard! How's your Zulu? :) Joziboy 12:57, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tupperware

Hello, and thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. I noticed that you added new information to Tupperware — we thank you for doing so, but in order to satisfy our verifiability policy policy, we need to know from which sources you got that information. Just adding a link to the article next to your addition would be all right, or you could put it in the article's discussion page. If you need any help, feel free to ask me at my talk page. Thanks!

--  Netsnipe  (Talk)  07:59, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] August Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: To-Do List
The Esperanza To-Do List is a place where you may list any request, big or small, for assistance. If you need help with archiving your usertalk, for example, all you need to do is list it here and somebody will help you out. Likewise, if you need help with some area of editing on Wikipedia, list it here! Again, any matter, trivial or not, can be placed on this page. However, all matters listed on this page must not be of an argumentative nature. You do not need to be a member of Esperanza (or this program) to place or fulfill requests on this page. If you don't have any requests, consider coming by and fulfilling a few! This program has not been very active, but has lots of potential!
What's New?
In order to help proposed programs become specific enough to make into full-fledged programs, the In development section of the proposals page has been created. Proposals that are promising, but need to be organized in more detail are listed here. Please take a look at what is there, and help the proposals turn into programs.
To improve both the layout and text of the front page, in an attempt to clarify the image of Esperanza, the front page is going to have some redesigning take place. Please take your creative minds to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Front page redesign to brainstorm good ideas.
Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.
  1. In order to make sure all users who join Esperanza are welcomed, a list of volunteers who are willing to welcome new Esperanzians is at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Members#Esperanza_welcomers. Please add yourself if you are interested; we want to make sure all new Esperanza members are welcomed!
  2. The In development section of the proposals page has been created.
  3. Proposals page: Some proposals have been moved to the aforementioned "In development" section, some have been left as a proposal, and others have been archived. For those proposals that were a good idea but didn't necessarily constitute a program, General Esperanzial Actions has been created.
  4. Two small pieces of charter reform will be decided on in a straw poll at Wikipedia talk:Esperanza/Governance. One involves filling the position of any councillors who may leave, the other involves reforming the charter.
  5. Until cooperation with the Kindness Campaign is better defined, it remains as a proposed program.
  6. There is a page for discussing the front page redesign.
Signed...
Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, Freakofnurture, and Titoxd
05:03, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

[edit] Harington

I'll be happy to help with the John Harington issue, but probably won't be able to dig in 'til Monday. Cheers! — Catherine\talk 16:21, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] September Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: Barnstar Brigade
Here in Wikipedia there are hundreds of wikipedians whose work and efforts go unappreciated. One occasionally comes across editors who have thousands of good edits, but because they may not get around as much as others, their contributions and hard work often go unnoticed. As Esperanzians we can help to make people feel appreciated, be it by some kind words or the awarding of a Barnstar. This is where the Barnstar Brigade comes in. The object of this program is to seek out the people which deserve a Barnstar, and help them feel appreciated. With your help, we can recognize more dedicated editors!
What's New?
September elections are upon us! Anyone wishing to be a part of the Advisory Council may list themselves as a candidate from 18 September until 24 September, with the voting taking place from 25 September to 30 September. Those who wish to help with the election staff should also list themselves!
Appreciation Week, a program currently in development, now has its own subpage! Share your good ideas on how to make it awesome there!
The Esperanza front page has been redesigned! Many thanks to all who worked hard on it.
Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.
  1. The proposals page has been updated, with some proposals being archived.
  2. Since the program in development Appretiaion week is getting lots of good ideas, it now has its own subpage.
  3. The September 2006 Council elections will open for nominations on 18 September 2006. The voting will run from 25 September 2006 until 30 September 2006. If you wish to be a candidate or a member of the elections staff, please list yourself!
  4. The new Esperanza front page design has but put up - many thanks to all who worked on it!
  5. TangoTango has written a script for a bot that will list new members of Esperanza, which will help those who welcome new Esperanzains greatly!
Signed...
Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, Freakofnurture, and Titoxd
04:04, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

[edit] November Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: Admin Coaching (needs coaches!)
Admin Coaching needs coaches!!! If you are an administrator, or even a generally experienced user, do consider signing up to be a coach.

Admin Coaching, now being coordinated by HighwayCello, is a program for people who want help learning some of the more subtle aspects of Wikipedia policy and culture. People are matched with experienced users who are willing to offer coaching. The program is designed for people who have figured out the basics of editing articles; they're not newcomers any more, but they might want some help in learning new roles. In this way, Esperanza would help keep hope alive for Wikipedia because we would always be grooming the next generation of admins.
What's New?
The Tutorial Drive is a new Esperanza program! In an effort to make complicated processes on Wikipedia easier for everyone, Esperanza working to create and compile a list of tutorials about processes here on Wikipedia. Consider writing one!
A discussion on how Esperanza relates to the encyclopedia has been started; please add your thoughts.
Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.
The last AC meeting (full log)
  • The list of proposed programs has been updated, with some proposals being archived.
  • There is now a new program: the Tutorial Drive! Consider writing a tutorial on something you are good at doing on Wikipedia.
  • The suggestion of adding a cohesive look to all the Esperanza pages is being considered; join the discussion if you are interested!
  • In order to make a useful interlanguage welcome template, those involved in translation projects will be asked what English Wikipedia policies are most important and confusing to editors coming from other language Wikipedias.
  • A discussion of Esperanza's role in Wikipedia is being held, with all thoughts of all Esperanzians wanted!
  • Shreshth91 informed everyone that he will be leaving the Esperanza council as life is rather busy; his spot will be filled by the runner up from the last election, HighwayCello.
Signed...
Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, The Halo, Shreshth91 and HighwayCello
20:33, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

[edit] 2006 Cape Town truck-train collision

Hi,

I was forced to undo your edit to the above article where you changed the number of fatalities from 27 to 20. This is because, while 20 may well be right, there is already a news source up that says 27. What was your source for this information? If it is a good source, we may have a tough call deciding which one is right. Blood red sandman 12:28, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi,

Yes, I have added a source. The figure of 20 fatalities was announced sometime after the accident, but when the memorial service was held the figure of 19 was quoted on SABC. Gregorydavid 12:34, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. Sometime within the next 24 hours I will use the reference to expand to include the confusion regarding casualties. Blood red sandman 12:38, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
Ignore that completly, you added the source as I was writing the above. Blood red sandman 12:29, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
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