User talk:Art LaPella

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[edit] Archive

Old discussion is archived at my 2005 thru May 4, 2007 archive and May 11, 2007 thru April 18, 2008 archive.

[edit] A-FB

Image:Antiflame-barnstar.png The Anti-Flame Barnstar
Dear Art LaPella, please accept this Anti-Flame Barnstar for keeping cool in a prolonged conflict of interest debate, as well as your exemplary attempts at resolving it with Wiki best interest in mind. Poeticbent talk 16:22, 19 April 2008 (UTC)


On a separate note, would you please take a fresh look at this? Thanks in advance. --Poeticbent talk 16:22, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I'll move it to my userpage awards section. I unlinked Deputy Minister because that's a disambiguation page, and I didn't find an article that explains a Deputy Minister that isn't a Deputy Prime Minister. A link somewhere to Realism (arts) would explain why it's called "realism". Art LaPella (talk) 18:15, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Easter parade (cultural event)

You changed the meaning of a statement in the article. Previously it said that Christ's walks are seen as the earliest predecessors of the Easter parade. Now it says that church commemmorations of Christ's walks are seen as such. I wrote the original statement, using the Collins book as a source. I might have made a mistake, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. I've returned the Collins book to the library, so I can't easily check the fact. Was your change based on a source, or just on the fact that somebody didn't like the previous version? (She found it "unintentionally amusing" or something like that.) Lou Sander (talk) 20:12, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

On further review, I think I understand what's going on here. (I hadn't seen the comments on the Template talk page, but only those on the article's talk page.)
I think accuracy and readability would be served if your change were undone and (in the article) "These parades are often commemorated..." were changed to "These processions are often commemorated...." They were called "processions" when first mentioned in a previous sentence, and some fool editor (me) called them "parades" later on.
Jesus did processions. Fashionable New Yorkers did parades. Lou Sander (talk) 20:29, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

You have read the book and I haven't, so I will make your recommended change and bow out. But I don't think that version satisfies Gatoclass's objection. Art LaPella (talk) 20:53, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Josef Smrkovský

I would like to humbly ask you if you could check and re-write the text in native speaker´s English... My Czenglish could be a problem. I agree with your version on DYK. Thank you. Aloysius (talk) 5:25, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Y Done. Some questions:

"If someone thinks we are manoeuvred by the Soviets they are badly off base..." "manoeuvred" means "used" or "manipulated". If this statement "proved incorrect", then the Soviets did use or manipulate him, but his punishment seems to show that he was not acting for the Soviets. I think "we are manoeuvred" is probably a mis-translation for "we will be invaded" or "we are frightened" or something.

Another puzzling quote: "was buried under police control". Does that mean he was under police control when he died and the police may or may not have killed him, or does that mean the police controlled the burial ceremony? Art LaPella (talk) 21:14, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DYK-Smrkovsky

{| class="messagebox standard-talk" |- |Updated DYK query |On 27 April 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Josef Smrkovský, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page. |} --Gatoclass (talk) 11:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

No I didn't; I just helped the real author with his English, on both the hook and the article. See the previous section above. Art LaPella (talk) 16:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
If I credited you wrongly, it's because you were listed as the creator of the article on the DYK update page, and I'm not responsible for that. I suggest you find the responsible party and bring it up with them instead. Gatoclass (talk) 04:27, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
Anyhow, I've redone the credit now, thanks for drawing it to my attention. Gatoclass (talk) 04:35, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hang Seng Index Stocks Categories

No, the two categories are different. Don't consider them as one category. Category:Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index Constitute Stock is red chip while Category:Hang Seng Index Constituent Stocks is blue chip in Hong Kong Stock Market. Ricky@36 (talk) 03:49, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "reexaminated"

Good catch there[1]. I can't believe that I managed to misspell it in spite of the fact that was I trying to make a word by word copy of the source, which had the correct spelling. --Enric Naval (talk) 04:40, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] St. George Orthodox Church, Chandanapally

Thanks for copy editing and cleanup of the article St. George Orthodox Church, Chandanapally - Tinucherian (talk) 06:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome. Art LaPella (talk) 13:57, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks...

...for proofreading. William I of Schenectady (talk) 17:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome. Art LaPella (talk) 22:47, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DYK archiving bot: Update

The bot is still in its early development stages; you might be interested in the discussion here. Waltham, The Duke of 03:23, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmm. The "heuristic" leaves us guessing. Art LaPella (talk) 03:41, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
I'll ask tomorrow; it's 06:52 and I must get some sleep.
Now that I think of it... You could keep the discussion running while I am away. We have petitioned for the bot together, haven't we? You are as entitled to participating in the development process as I am. Waltham, The Duke of 03:52, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
At this point I really can't think of anything to say to a volunteer. I make a much better nerd than a politician! Art LaPella (talk) 20:11, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
Huh? I am only appealing to your superior knowledge of the DYK system; you don't have to be a politician in order to have a conversation with someone, more so to simply comment on how the bot should operate... Waltham, The Duke of 21:49, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
Making the archives monthly sounds harmless (although I have never archived). No other technical proposals have been expressed (my programming experience would help if they had). As for inducing Gimmetrow to continue, well, mumble mumble. Art LaPella (talk) 22:00, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
Not what I meant... Well, not exactly. Never mind, it's all a matter of ideas. We shall soon have our bot, which is what matters. See you around... Waltham, The Duke of 00:43, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, since the thread is in place...

Gimmetrow asked me what I thought reaction would be to recreating all the DYK archives by month (e.g. Wikipedia:Recent additions/June 2008). I replied that a re-organisation would probably be welcome, but that monthly archives would be too long and that weekly or ten-day archives should be considered. What do you think? Waltham, The Duke of 05:57, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Daddy Cool at DYK

Thanks for your proofreading, this is my first go at noming a DYK. With the 259 character hook, do I just edit the existing nom or do I resubmit with less characters?Shaidar cuebiyar (talk) 22:34, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Either is fine. If you edit, then write an answer like "Shortened" below my criticism, so that others will know my criticism has been answered. Art LaPella (talk) 22:43, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
Placed edit below your criticism, hopefully its OK now.Shaidar cuebiyar (talk) 22:56, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
Looks fine to me. In a few days, others will check for other things including references. Art LaPella (talk) 22:58, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The DYK Medal

The DYK Medal
I award this medal to Art LaPella for his active particpation and contributions in the DYK selection process in Template talk:Did you know -- TinuCherian (Wanna Talk?) - 11:14, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thank you

BVande (talk) 17:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DYK help

Hi Art LaPella,

I would like to help with the maintenance of the DYK submission page, including choosing those of correct style, etc.

However, I am not an admin. May I do this?

I ask you as you seem active in that area. If I become an admin I will become active in the DYK area.

Thanks,

BG7 21:59, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Sure. I had been proofreading the unprotected page Template talk:Did you know for months, and that was related to the main reason they made me an admin: so I could fix DYK and other protected Main Page problems without having to ask an admin. Template:Did you know/Next update is also unprotected. Although DYK is only visible for six hours, each edition is seen by more people than almost any article has been seen since it was written, so DYK (and other Main Page sections) get more scrutiny and should get even more. Art LaPella (talk) 22:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
Cool, ok! Would you mind shadowing my edits for a few days, so I know i'm doing ok? Also, can I pick succesfully approved DYKs for the next page?
Thanks,
BG7 22:15, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
If you mean shadowing edits to Template talk:Did you know, I automatically notice anything that happens there. According to discussion at Wikipedia talk:Did you know, there is precedent for non-administrators moving hooks to Template:Did you know/Next update, although I've never done that—my contribution is a more mechanical level kind of proofreading. Yes, I'll explain anything I notice you overlooking. Art LaPella (talk) 22:40, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
Ok thanks. I've also been talking to Wizardman, and he's just helped me fill the next update, and there seemed to be no problems!
I'll assess some now!
BG7 22:48, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Need your help

I found 2 cases of wrong information in WP within an hour.

I started a page to tabulate it so that we could find out if these were AGF good faith errors or sneaky vandalism. Some people are strongly opposed to this, even to the point of reverting a report of an error (this is a clear case of wrong information, not POV opinion).

I am willing to just drop the matter but that means my effort to help WP has failed. BVande (talk) 22:40, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm glad you found 2 cases of wrong information. I'm not glad that a new editor (only 60 edits) already wants to redesign how all of Wikipedia handles vandalism. Your edit to Johnny Unitas appears to be correct, except that you didn't preview to see how it would appear, requiring this correction. But there is a much lower chance that you already know how to improve the procedure described at Wikipedia:Vandalism without more experience. In this case, getting confrontational over a single factoid from 2005 would cause more hassle than benefit. Art LaPella (talk) 23:08, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
Hi Art. I'm not sure if you're already aware or not, but the above user has been indef'd as a sock of Dereks1x per CU. Since you did the this id verification thing, I thought I'd let you know. Best, --Bfigura (talk) 17:28, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
I don't know anything about Dereks1x, but I did get snail mail with a copy of a driver's license, showing enough to prove it has to be someone named B. Vande something, and asserting use of the username BVande. Art LaPella (talk) 18:15, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
Wierd. I'm not sure if that should affect the block, since my understanding is that Derek seems to enjoy creating false user accounts, but I'l mention it to the blocking admin. --Bfigura (talk) 18:36, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article length

Is the Buckland Windmill article long enough to nom for DYK? Mjroots (talk) 15:38, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. I count 1811 characters, which is enough. According to Template talk:Did you know#Instructions (as modified by precedents), I started copying from the first paragraph beginning with "Buckland" (not the article title) and ending with "fantail.(3)", excluding the picture and caption. I then copied it to Microsoft Word, and (temporarily) removed the Table of Contents, the section headers, and edit buttons, for the purpose of counting characters.
The latitude and longitude are wrong. If you click that link, it leads to a satellite image of a tree with no visible windmill nearby, about 5 km north of Buckland near Tadworth. According to [2], it's "2 miles west of Reigate" which places it much closer to Buckland. Art LaPella (talk) 18:02, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
Sorted, I'd forgot to change the grid ref, previous one was for Tadworth Windmill. Mjroots (talk) 21:38, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Barnstar

The University of Florida Barnstar
For good and thorough work pertaining to articles about the University of Florida.
Thank you! I'll copy it to my front page. Actually, I was just cleaning up any articles I found by searching for the misspelling "JC Penny". Art LaPella (talk) 21:18, 20 May 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Vratislav Brabenec

Hello and thank you for the help on Smrkovský! I have had some family trouble since then and so I am coming with my thanks a bit later. And it is not just thanks but also another appeal - yesterday I went to a gig of the Plastic People of the Universe and one of the member who is the main member today has had no article here so I tried to fix the hole - but I need a little help again. If you be so good. Thanks much more than at the beginning;) Aloysius (talk) 23:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Done. Here are some parts I didn't understand:
1. "post officer". Does that mean "post office worker", "supervisor at a post office", or "officer at a military post"?
2. "...he practised the lay..." Is that a typo for "he practised law", that is, he was a lawyer? Or does that mean he was a layman, that is, before he studied theology he didn't do anything unusually religious? If so, then I would remove the whole phrase. It may be important to say that he studied theology, but why is it interesting that he didn't do anything religious before that? Art LaPella (talk) 22:21, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Thank you!
1. I have changed that.
2. I meant he practiced gardening so I used "lay" as "field of work" or "subject" - just to explain what he was doing between secondary school and university - what is suitable there? Thnx (talk) 05:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
I made another edit. [3] lists 33 definitions of "lay" (including lay(1), lay(2), lay(3), and lay(4)), but "field of work" or "subject" isn't on the lists, nor do I recall hearing the word used that way. Art LaPella (talk) 14:06, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Leona's tonsilitis

Your proof-reading had me scurrying to my OED - I've never seen it spelled with double 'l' (I'm English). I've changed it back to the English spelling, and amended the tonsilitis entry to add the variations in spelling. Thanks. Leonapedia (talk) 14:25, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Oops I'm going to have to learn to read a dictionary better ... I stand corrected. I've just looked it up in both the shorter OED (rather than the pocket one I first reached for) and inChambers. Guess I've been spelling it wrong all these years. Sorry, mea culpa! Leonapedia (talk) 14:37, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
In addition to my first impression that 2 L's were needed, I just went by dictionary.com and onelook.com, which say one L is unusual and doesn't mention a difference for British English. If anything, British English often uses (U.S.-centrically-)extra L's in words like the Britishism "travelled". Art LaPella (talk) 17:09, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DYK suggestion

Hello and thank you for the suggestion to shorten VAR2 of the 3rd June Haridasa Thakur entry in the DYK talk page. I have revised it to 175 characters, can you please let me know if entry as it stands acceptable here. Thanks for reviewing it. Wikidās-ॐ 07:30, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your DYK hook. The new hook is short enough (although it's more than 175 because we include spaces when counting). The hook sounds as if English isn't your native language, so I added a slight rewrite. The rewrite is acceptable to me, but others will soon inspect the article's citations and other details. Art LaPella (talk) 21:34, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, your rewrite is excellent. Wikidās ॐ 05:27, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hauenštejn

This time I went to a trip that inspired me:) Can you please check my English? Thank you for your time! You have helped me to two DYK nominations, great job! Aloysius (talk) 22:18, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Y Done Art LaPella (talk) 03:46, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
You are as quick as a wink. Thank you for having a look at the hook, as well! Aloysius (talk) 06:20, 9 June 2008 (UTC)