User talk:Derek Ross/2007

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[edit] Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2007_January_3#Perth

Happy New Year! Wondered if you may be interested in this: Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2007_January_3#Perth. --Mais oui! 20:32, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

A belated Happy New Year to you too, Mais oui! Lang may yer lum reek, etc. -- Derek Ross | Talk 01:19, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LVT

Just a note of thanks for your fine work on this important topic. My main contribution in this is first that I as a one time economist recognize its importance, timeliness and potential (but there are a lot of other people in that boat). With al this in mind, one aspect of my work is to create 'thinking and exchange' spaces for what I regard as socially disreptive, socially and environmentally important topics, so a couple of years ago I set up the Land Cafe for just these purposes. Now I mention this to you at five in the morning simply so that you are aware that from time to time I prick our realy quite wonderful group and push them in this direction, including just in these last days. I am glad that I did since I can see this is already bearing fruit. Thanks so much again Derek, and when your travels bring you to Paris I hope you will let me drag you into the Luxemburg Garden for a fine lunch. ericbritton 05:09, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words, Eric. I still find it hard to believe that governments persist with complex, transaction-based monstrosities like VAT and income tax when there is such a simple, straightforward and beneficial alternative available. But that's life, I guess. We just have to do our best to educate as many people as we can in the hope that eventually it will make a difference.
But you know all this and I can see that you have been working on it much harder than I. Good luck to your endeavours. As for lunch, I will certainly take you up on that if/when I am next in Paris. Likewise if you are ever visiting Calgary, drop me a Wikipedia email. Culinary standards here might not be quite up to Parisian levels but there are still some pretty good restaurants we might try. Cheers -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:13, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

hi my name is luke smith i'm from barclay and i belive the definition of love is your hearts definition of its counterpoint in another —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.142.21.83 (talk) 18:32, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Calgary Wikipedia meetup

We've got a new Calgary Wikipedia meetup date set: Sunday, January 28, 2006 2007, 2:00pm, at Haymarket Café (1101 Macleod Trail SE). —GrantNeufeld 23:01, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know, Grant. See you then. -- Derek Ross | Talk 23:05, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Just a reminder that the Calgary Wikipedia meetup is this Sunday, 2pm, at Haymarket Café (1101 Macleod Trail SE). —GrantNeufeld 03:04, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I hadn't forgotten. -- Derek Ross | Talk 16:01, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rock Trial

This article has been proposed for deletion. You can vote at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Rock Trial. I believe that this is not notable. -- Ssilvers 22:59, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

I see what you mean. -- Derek Ross | Talk 00:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] AfD's

Please vote at the AfDs for:

  • Sinfonicron
  • Wobbly Dog Productions
  • Penn Singers
  • Empire Lyric Players
  • Montreal West Operatic Society -- Ssilvers

[edit] England

Further to your comments regarding changing the flag on the tables for UK settlements, I appreciate your support and would therefore like advice about how to go about making such a change. --Ash online 16:46, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] On the subject of Haggis

Greetings Derek,

Last year I was camping just north of Dumfries with my Scouts on the land of the Buccleuch estate. In a nearby village I found a butcher and requested a haggis for that eve round the fire. He apologised that all he had was a 'tourist haggis' and informed me that his real haggis is only made in Jan for the Burns celebrations. Could you tell me whether this is common?

Good health to you and yours.

Iain

Must admit that I find that quite surprising, Iain. I would have thought that that was uncommon. I wonder what he meant by "tourist haggis"? Maybe he meant that he only makes haggis himself in January and that he sells tinned haggis, or one of the big commercial brands at other times of the year. Making haggis is reasonably labour-intensive and if he has a small business with a low turnover (seems likely if he is a village butcher) it may be more convenient for him to stock haggis that he bought from a wholesaler (tourist haggis ?)
My experience is that you can get haggis at most butchers and supermarkets in North-east Scotland at any rate. Even here in Calgary I know where there is a butcher that makes haggis. Funnily enough the only time that you can't walk in to the shop and get it from him is January, as he is so busy making up large orders for the various Burns suppers that he has none to spare for small orders unless they have been made well in advance. -- Derek Ross | Talk 18:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

This is an interesting discussion. I am from Scotland, and it's quite unusual for a butcher in Scotland not to stock Haggis. (From my own experience.)--124.100.4.180 15:26, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. -- Derek Ross | Talk 17:03, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] G&S

The G&S article is a Featured Article on Italian Wikipedia: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_e_Sullivan

Can we copy anything from the Italian WP for our article? It seems like, at a minimum, there are a few photos that can be copied, either for the G&S article, or for the author's or composer's articles? How's your Italian? -- Ssilvers 02:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dr. Who Barnstar

Doctor Who Barnstar
Since you are the original creator of the Dr. Who wiki page. I find it apropriate to award you this Dr. Who barnstar.--Dr who1975 21:45, 2 March 2007 (UTC)|}

Well, thank you. How nice! I've been a fan since the first episode (Daleks were pretty scary for a five year old though) ... but are you sure it was me? I don't remember creating it and, even though the earliest contribution in the article history was from me, I marked it as a spelling fix which suggests that there was an earlier version which has now been lost. This happened to many of the oldest articles on Wikipedia when we converted the database from the original wiki software to the software that we use now. I'm happy to accept the barnstar as the earliest known contributor to the current article (Ha! I'm not even that! See this link. Setok was there before me!) but I think that the credit for creating it belongs to someone else whose name we unfortunately don't know. If we ever find it out, they are the rightful recipient of this barnstar. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:04, 2 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] WP:SCOWNB Participants merger with WP:SCO

As I hope you may have seen I am attempting to tidy up WP:SCOWNB by removing old notices and the duplication that has emerged since the creation of WP:SCO. One of the latter issues is that there are lists of active Wikipedians on both locations which overlap to a significant degree. As WP:SCOWNB is ideally a place for announcements I am in process of merging the lists at WP:SCO and intend to remove the one at WP:SCOWNB when this is complete. However there are a fair number of Users not on both lists. If you do not wish to have you current WP:SCOWNB entry re-appear at WP:SCO please either let me know or edit the latter as appropriate. Thanks for your patience, and continuing support of matters relating to WikiProject Scotland. Ben MacDui (Talk) 17:45, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Kyle Sethi Article

On what grounds did you remove the kyle sethi article? it is well supported in a paper by Dr. Tobias Reihardt as a possible subject of the Amores. The paper is available from the somerville college website —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joe8390 (talk • contribs) 14:41, 15 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Protection

Hi Derek, thanks for getting the Oliver Cromwell article protected a while back. I want to get something similar done for Irish Republican Army, how do I go about it?

Jdorney 18:43, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

No problem. The best way to do this is to make a request (with reasons for it) on the WP:Requests for page protection page. You need to have really strong reasons for full page protection. However semi-protection, like I applied to the Oliver Cromwell article, can be justified when it's needed to prevent frequent anonymous vandalism. -- Derek Ross | Talk 05:51, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I think I'll go for the semi-protection then. Its to stop the anonymous vandalism and/or pov. Jdorney 09:36, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Off-topic, thanks to the seven kings

Ciamar a tha thu, Derek? I've seen your work on a lot of pages, so I'm glad you enjoyed my comment about the Declaration of Arbroath. With April 16th right around the corner, I don't want to get into what a Glaswegan friend called "Scottoonery," but in case you don't know Celtic Fiddle Festival, their Rendezvous album has a lovely instrumental version of Cam Ye by Athol. You can hear a clip here. — OtherDave 20:34, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Tapadh leat, OtherDave. I've aye liked fiddle music. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:38, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dookits at last!

Urban doocot in Glasgow: see also 1, 2. 3.
Urban doocot in Glasgow: see also 1, 2. 3.

Have at last found extant examples of the mythical (and nearly extinct) Glesga dookit. There was a fine big one in Maryhill, on location for Still Game near the canal, but when I went to take its photie it had been burnt down. Fortunately our son has found a couple more, one further along the canal near Partick Thistle F.C.'s ground, and one in Partick itself which is a fair distance away from the football club. No doubt others of these mysterious beasts have survived, and for that matter I've still to upload a picture of a Greenock pigeon fancier holding a couple of doos and his more modestly sized doocot. Anyway, nice to bag a couple of the bigger ones. .. another dave, .. dave souza, talk 22:06, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Wid ye credit it? Grand photies tae! Mind you, Dave, if they're that hard to find, people will be thinking that what you're doing is bordering on the evil Original Research (into Glaswegian social anthropology in this case). Still I won't tell if you don't! Seriously though I'm glad you've managed to get some pictures before they all disappear and I will be pleased to see your picture of the Greenock man when it appears. I somehow find it comforting to know that this obscure part of Scottish culture still exists. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:38, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
Ah well, been meaning to sort these out for ages, so here's Image:Pigeon fancier in Greenock.jpg and Image:Doocot in Greenock garden.jpg. Not sure if the terminology is right, no doubt some specialist will correct things – you've probably got some pigeon racers in your area, too! .. dave souza, talk 23:45, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yoghurt

{{lang0|Yogurt}}. Well, that or the equivalent is what I'd have said if I were making this comment back in 2003 - At this point it's water under the bridge, but I have to wonder, why did you do it? The spelling was already standardized (but for a mention of the other spelling in the lead para), and in subsequent years it seems to have touched off a bit of a storm. I just thought I'd ask what you were thinking.

<sigh>If you really want to know what I was thinking, just read my original suggestion for the change which I restated several times in later years. It had nothing to do with American/British spelling and everything to do with pronunciation as you can verify if you read the archives. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:45, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Also, it's only polite to mention that I've brought this up at WP:VPM#Yoghurt, Yogurt. --Random832 06:19, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

So you'd rather resurrect an argument which has already been settled twice than do productive work on the encyclopedia ? Are you trying to make some kind of point ? Well, good luck with it if you are. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:45, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Mikado

I would value your opinion regarding the current issue under discussion at The Mikado. Please see the talk page. Best regards, -- Ssilvers 15:39, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hd dvd key

Thanks for the delete - but it's back. <sigh> Philippe 04:49, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Nevermind, Alison got it. Philippe 04:50, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
Excellent! -- Derek Ross | Talk 04:53, 2 May 2007 (UTC)\
REALLY fast work from both of you. You rawk. Like a rawk star. Philippe 04:53, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Smile

Onceonthisisland has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling to someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Chain letter, anyone ? I don't think I'll be doing this. We're here to write an encyclopedia, not make each other feel "warm and fuzzy".--

It was just for fun. You can delete it if you want.--Onceonthisisland 20:16, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Not at all. I know you meant well by it so I wouldn't dream of deleting it. I just wanted to explain why I wouldn't be passing it on. So thanks for the kind thought! And I apologise for being such a curmudgeon. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:10, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Narcolepsy antibodies

The narcolepsy antibody research done in australia did not pan out. After attempts to prevent narcolepsy with intravenous gama globulin failed, scientists at Stanford sent antibodies from normals and narcoleptics (not labeled,double blind) to the researchers in Australia that made the original claimes in the Lancet and they were unable to reproduce results. (info from personal email from Mali Einen at stanford) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Philstout (talk • contribs) 04:20, 14 May 2007 (UTC).

Ah, too bad. Oh well, there's still the orexin research at any rate. Anyway as soon as the news is published we can add it to the article. In the meantime thanks for the heads-up. -- Derek Ross | Talk 05:27, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yoghurt

I want to start out by saying I'm really sorry that this happened - I did my best to stop it, but sadly I have been overruled by 4 people who are obsessed with name changing (regardless of whether or not I agree with them), and there is a new debate on the Yoghurt talk page about the move - I just felt it would be best if most people who had voted in the past knew about this.danielfolsom 23:54, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

No worries. Thanks for letting me know. -- Derek Ross | Talk 23:56, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How gasoline is priced?

My  VERY, VERY ,important question,is .Why is gas alway's priced as forexample 2.89.9 . What doese that .9 tenth of a cent mean , and  how did it begin? Many countries use a rounded off number, as in just 2.89 even. i hope that someone can help me with this puzzle . Thank you .  Thomas from Mufreesboro TN.≠63.215.29.145 00:16, 17 May 2007 (UTC) TEN45ABLE@aol.com

[edit] User:AlexNewArtBot

Hi Derek Ross/2007, as a WikiProject Scotland participant, please check out this this thread and consider adding the bot results page to your watchlist so we can manually update the New Articles page. There are some false results for the first batch, but I'm sure we can collectively tune the rules to improve the output.

If we get enough people watching the results page, we'll be cooking with gas as they say :)   This looks like a great helper in finding new Scotland related material. Cheers. --Cactus.man ✍ 01:49, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Sounds good. -- Derek Ross | Talk 02:00, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I.M. Pei copied or not?

2 possibilites include: 1. They did it. 2. We copied it. 3. We made edits correcting his city of birth.

1. We did it. 2. They copied it. 3. We made edits correcting his city of birth.

Both are possibilities. Since we have done step 4 (rewrote it and added citations), we have remedied scenario 1 or have made even more improvements to scenario 2.

The wikipedia article currently shows Mr. Pei's correct city of birth. I have confirmed this by my own original research as I have interviewed members of the Pei family before editing. This was not to write original research but only to confirm that the citations are correct. In several cases of my editing articles, I have undertaken original research only to confirm the accuracy of sources, not to add editing content. I have done this in order to insure that wikipedia content is of the highest standard possible. You probably won't find many wikipedia editors acting like reporters to check some of the sources before writing.VK35 22:01, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

More than you might think. However there is no doubt that a lot don't. I reviewed the entire history of the article after your initial message and that left no room for doubt: We did it; they copied it; we made more corrective edits. But in any case I am glad that you are taking such a responsible and cautious attitude. Thank you ! -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:10, 10 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Loch Ness

Hi - ref Loch Ness, I am not an admin and anything I [put in on Nessie is immediately edited out by others. Can you edit in something for me and make it stick?

I have a name page in Wikkipedia -- Jon-Erik Beckjord

and it is not mentioned that I also do Loch Ness Research. 6 expeditions.

I took a 16mm film of Nessie in 1983 and it was shown on ITV and in 1987, my assistant took my 35mm camera and took 8 photos of a 48 ft long creature.

My film mis similar to that of GORDON HOLMES.

Can you mention this and also list my website?

http://www.beckjord.com/nessie

thanks.

                Beckjord
Jon-Erik, even though I am an admin, this gives me no special powers to "make things stick". If material that you added was edited out by others, then it will be edited out by others when I add it. It is unfortunate but that is how Wikipedia works: it is easy to add mainstream views; it is difficult to add minority views; it is almost impossible to add personal views. I can see that the films that you have made are already mentioned in your personal article as well as a description of your theories. That is probably as much exposure in Wikipedia as you can expect for such unusual theories. As for the link to your website, I think it might be appropriate to add that to the Jon-Erik Beckjord article (and I see that you already have such a link) but not to the Loch Ness Monster article. -- Derek Ross | Talk 05:44, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Doric

Well met, Derek. You'll see that one of my long-term tasks is to make sure all of the articles at the Scots WP have incoming wikilinks. (I'm up to "K" thusfar.) Once a week or so, I'll go through Recent chynges and hit all of the new articles since my last visit.

I noticed an odd parallel between us... You're a Scotsman living in Canada who's visited the US South and I'm a Scots-Canadian living in the US South who intends to visit Scotland in the near future.

Sorry about the English response. I can read Scots to understand it, but I'll be buggered if I can form a sentence on my own. Cheers, Caknuck 20:45, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

No worries, It's sad but true that plenty of Scotsmen find it impossible to form a Scots sentence either, nowadays. And I'm pleased that you've taken on that linking task. Thanks! Anyway, we just need a Dixielander living in Scotland and planning to visit Canada to complete the circle. Spooky! -- Derek Ross | Talk 21:10, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re Clans of Scotland Project

Hi. You are listed as being a participant on Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Clans_of_Scotland. I am trying to get some more direction into the project and was looking for some input if you are still interested. Nfras 03:03, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Little context in 1350s

Hello, this is a message from an automated bot. A tag has been placed on 1350s, by Cmprince (talk · contribs), another Wikipedia user, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. The tag claims that it should be speedily deleted because 1350s is very short providing little or no context to the reader. Please see Wikipedia:Stub for our minimum information standards for short articles.

To contest the tagging and request that administrators wait before possibly deleting 1350s, please affix the template {{hangon}} to the page, and put a note on its talk page. If the article has already been deleted, see the advice and instructions at WP:WMD. Feel free to leave a message on the bot operator's talk page if you have any questions about this or any problems with this bot, bearing in mind that this bot is only informing you of the nomination for speedy deletion; it does not perform any nominations or deletions itself. --Android Mouse Bot 2 04:25, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Monty Python?

Sorry, you've come to the wrong cubicle. I'm afraid that if you want rude responses, you'll have to look elsewhere[1] -- try the third cubicle down the corridor ;) . . . Thanks, .. dave souza, talk 07:46, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Well spotted. I will teach thee all my original songs, my self-constructed riddles, my own ingenious paradoxes; nay, more, I will reveal to thee the source whence I get them, as Gilbert said. -- Cheers, Derek Ross | Talk 13:43, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Scots Wikipedia

I have a suggestion for the Scots Wikipedia. I noticed you seem to get a lot of bemused comments on the discussion pages from non-Scots speakers who are, shall we say, confused by the archaic-seeming (to Anglophone eyes) spelling system into thinking Scots is some sort of fairytale version of English. I know non-Scots speakers aren't your primary audience, but perhaps it would help them understand the project (and the language) better if there was a Scots analogue to Wikipedia:WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia.--Pharos 06:24, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

That's not a bad suggestion, Pharos. I'll definitely consider that. -- Derek Ross | Talk 13:42, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Stalking

I have come to the end of my tether. The campaign by User:Mallimak and his countless dynamic IP sockpuppets has now descended to pure stalking behaviour. The Wikipedia community cannot allow this behaviour to continue. I am asking you, and other Admins and Users who have had to deal with Mallimak in the past, to review the situation. Please see:

--Mais oui! 09:59, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Haggis in Alberta?

Where can you find this 'said' haggis ? Can you be specific about the whereabouts of this fine dish ? I have recently moved to airdrie, AB and i am hosting a 'pot luck' / house warming evening this coming weekend . ( sorry for the short notice . ) and i have , amongst others, African, Egyptian and East Asian families in our cul-de-sac . It has been asked if i would be cooking any Scottish Dishes and i would dearly love to serve up some Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. All i need is a butcher . Can you help please ? -- (asked User:24.64.114.152 who didn't sign with ~~~~)

Well, I don't think there's anywhere in Airdrie, 24.64.114.152, but you just need to head to south-west Calgary, not far south of the Chinook centre. That's where I get mine
MacEwans Meats
Unit 17, 9620 Elbow Dr. SW
Calgary AB T2V 1M2
Tel: 403-228-9999
Fax: 403-228-9999
I like his haggis. But he doesn't just do haggis. He does all the normal Scottish butchery items: pies, bridies, mealie puddings, you name it. I reckon you'll be well satisfied. By the way if you're looking for neeps they call them rutabaga round here.
Anyroad, good luck with your house-warming! -- Derek Ross | Talk 05:04, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Amadain ?!

Sorry to bother you on this page. I saw that you are a bureaucrat in the Gaelic Wikipedia(where I'm around regularly) and you were the only one I could find in the English Wikipedia. I noticed that the same ID is messing up the page Doras na coimhearsnachd , taking out the bot requests and adding Spam with sexual links instead. It had happened three times in a row by now in the last few days. I could have undone one, but I can't reset three. As at the moment nobody seems to be very active in the Gaelic Wikipedia looking after things like this, so I hope it is all right to ask you for help around here. Mòran taing airson ur cuideachaidh agus beannachdan --84.63.46.242 19:25, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I'll get right on it. Thanks for the heads-up. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:27, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
Now that was fast! Tapadh leat a-rithist!-Sionnach--84.63.46.242 19:56, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Calgary Wikipedia Meetup

With the municipal election coming up, I figured it would be good to have another local meet of Wikipedia contributors in Calgary. This would be a chance to chat about Wikipedia stuff in general, but also to discuss ways to cover the election on Wikipedia. I’m suggesting next week, at a location (TBD) in the downtown area. If you’re interested in participating, please vote on when you’d like to schedule the meet. Thanks. —GrantNeufeld 21:59, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Isaac Newton

He did die in 1727 & not 1728 - see his official bio from Newton College — iridescent (talk to me!) 22:35, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

My mistake. Sorry. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:44, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Urgent action: Wikipedia Gàidhlig

Hi Derek, some IP is messing up this this page againn, taking your note out and adding spam instead. Better have a look at it. Beannachdan --Sionnach | deasbair 21:36, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Sorted. No need to worry about it though, Sionnach. Next time it happens just blank the page or revert it to a previous version and leave a note for me on gd:User:Derek_Ross. I'll block the IP address and (if necessary) delete the page when I log on. -- Derek Ross | Talk 05:14, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
Thanks a lot for the advice. I just wasn't sure what you call an urgent action. Usually I undo minor spam links myself, hoping that it's alright doing it. ----gd:Sionnach | deasbair 22:10, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
That's fine. You're doing a grand job. I'm very pleased with the work that you and Steaphan30 have been putting into gd lately and will support you both in any way I can. Thank you. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:47, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
Thanks again, Derek, I really enjoy hearing this.

Please have a look at your gd user page. I might need some help right now, there is a situation, I'm not sure how to deal with. -gd:Sionnach | deasbair 12:54, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

I second what SIonnach is saying. THis user is making an absolute mess and is of no use whatsoever. It's flooding the Gaelic wikipedia with English articles. gd:Steaphan30

Could you please have a look at your gd. user page again? I left a couple notes and a question there.-gd:Sionnach | deasbair 06:23, 2 October 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.63.16.82 (talk)

[edit] Ya Ya

Your man YESYESandmanygoals is, if I'm not mistaken, one of those thingies that lives under bridges. As you can see from his edit summaries, there's nothing wrong with his English. Angus McLellan (Talk) 19:55, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

We are of one mind, <grin>. However if he is, he has so far shown himself to be a member of the irritating rather than the disruptive subspecies, so I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him be for the moment. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:28, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] sco Wiki.png

Hi, in my travels I noticed that sco:Image:Wiki.png does not appear on commons:Wikipedia. Also, according to wikt:Wikipedia, the Scots translation is "Wikipædia", which to me as a layman means that this image, uploaded to en:Image:Wiki.png by Slowking Man (talk · contribs) on 08:30, 1 April 2005 as an April Fools joke, might be a more correct logo. John Vandenberg 03:11, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

I see your point, John, and it's worth considering, but you have to bear in mind that the current logo was created by one of the regular editors on Scots Wikipedia and I wouldn't like to replace it without his agreement since he put time and effort into it specifically for the Scots Wikipedia and we want him to know that we appreciate that. -- Derek Ross | Talk 21:01, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] British/Irish articles

Hello Derek Ross. would you point me out to the ArbCom investigation concerning Northern Ireland. I've encountered disputes at Lough Neagh, Ireland, British Isles and these articles tie into Northern Ireland. GoodDay 23:11, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Sure, GoodDay. The Arbcom case you are looking for is Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/The Troubles. Although the same names keep on coming up, it has a wider remit than just dealing with the problem users concerned as you will see if you read it in full. If you have evidence of bad behaviour, either of those already involved in the case or of others who have so far escaped notice, ArbCom may well be interested but note that it is late in the day and they have already started work on their conclusions. -- Derek Ross | Talk 23:20, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] gd:WP

Hello, I asked at Meta to give bureaucrat rights at the project. Nothing against you, but the project needs a person, who's every day there to clean up, to fight vandals and also to work there. Actually there are often problems, which can't be handled in a short time. I hope, you will support my request. Two Bureaucrats will be not too much for a project where since some months not ane of the Admins longer active. Marcus Cyron 13:48, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm happy for Sionnach to be an admin and a bureacrat but I'm puzzled as to why you thought it necessary to ask Meta. I would gladly have given her rights if she'd ever asked for them. But so far she hasn't. -- Derek Ross | Talk 21:23, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
Looking on this discussion, I can only say, that I wanted to help the gd. Wikipedia, so I let Marcus go ahead with it. I would be very happy to become an admin at gd Wikipedia, as you suggested. Things seems to be a bit more lively lately, and, as I'm around almost every day, I could have a closer look on what is going on. gd:Sionnach | deasbair--84.63.1.187 22:41, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
Your wish is my command, <grin>. To be honest, I was considering giving you admin status anyway. You have been working hard on gd: over the last few months and that is generally what I am looking for when I consider who should be an admin. -- Derek Ross | Talk 00:00, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
Thank you very much for making me admin at gd:! To be honest myself, I was just to shy to ask, which I probably should have done in the first place. I'm looking forward for working together as good as we have been in the past, as I might have some questions in the beginning about using the new tools in a good and sensitive way to improve the gd.Wikipedia. gd:Sionnach | deasbair --84.63.29.192 06:03, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
I asked at Meta, because of I'm a more democratic person. Such things should happen in public, where all can see it. An other thing is, I would like to see her as a bureaucrat (defenetly nothing against you and your work!) - and I thought, only Stewards could give the Bureaucrat-Status (my fault). Sometimes I'm a little bit "fast forward" ;) Marcus Cyron 04:46, 8 November 2007 (UTC)
No problem, Marcus. I know you were acting in good faith, and I think that you did the right thing based on what you knew at the time. Let me explain my position a little so you can perhaps better understand the reasoning behind my general actions on gd:.
I became a Bureaucrat on gd: before there were such things as Stewards. I have been with the Wikipedia project for a very long time and at the time gd: was set up the current process for selecting bureaucrats did not exist. Instead bureaucrats for the smaller WP projects were picked from among those who volunteered and were known to be trustworthy. At the time the Wikipedia community was still small enough that I was reasonably well known by it at the time -- much more so than I am now. So when I volunteered to oversee the gd Wikipedia in 2004, Brion was quite happy to appoint me.
As far as democracy goes, gd: has so few people working on it (rarely more than five) that we can operate direct democracy there. Basically everyone knows everyone else and there is no way for anyone to hide who they are or what they do. This is rather different from the large WP projects like en: or de: where there are so many people that it is impossible to know everyone or what they are doing and so formal representative democratic processes have to be implemented. Thus it is quite easy for me or you (or anyone) to see who should be a gd administrator and who shouldn't even without a formal process.
Now to explain how people become administrators or bureacrats.
Firstly none of the gd administrators ever requested that they should be administrators. I watched their work and made them administrators because they were steady contributors at the time and I believe that administrator tools should be made available to any editor who has demonstrated a commitment to improve the Wikipedia over a period of several months. I'd also prefer that they are a native Gaelic speaker however that isn't essential. At the moment Steaphan30 will become an administrator if he keeps up his current contribution record until the end of November. Sionnach would also have crossed the gd administrator threshold at the same time even without your request. However that obviously did speed things up for her.
Secondly Bureacrats. My threshold for Bureaucrat is rather higher. I want to see someone demonstrate their commitment to gd: WP over a period of at least a year. When I became the gd: bureaucrat I had shown commitment to the WP project over a two or three year period and I have continued to show that commitment, so I don't think this is unreasonable. I will happily appoint Sionnach as bureaucrat once she has shown this one-year level of commitment. However I see little point in appointing a person as a second bureaucrat only to find that they have lost interest in the project after six months. It has been bad enough to see so many administrators lose interest after an initial burst of activity. I don't want to see the same thing happening with a bureaucrat. This is why I have not yet appointed her a bureaucrat.
So things work differently in the tiny Gaelic community. It's on a much more human scale than the larger WPs and thus can operate as a group of friends (or at least colleagues) rather than as a political entity. I hope you can see why I think that that is a good thing. -- Derek Ross | Talk 07:38, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] email

That should be my gd account sorted to recieve emails etc now. siarach (talk) 11:43, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Advice needed regarding bogus mirror account

What do we do about this?

I have, as a purely temporary measure, redirected these bogus mirror pages of my own User and Talk pages, because I noticed that Lurker had mistakenly left a comment at the bogus Talk, as had David Lauder several months previously.

However, this is highly unsatisfactory, because if the idiot who created the bogus account logged in and started making malicious edits then the Admin dealing with the incident would be led to my genuine Talk page and block me (unless they happened to spot the Redirect). Please note that "User:Mais oui" has only ever made two edits: to create mirrors of my User and Talk pages.

Sorry to bother you on Christmas Day. Have a good one. --Mais oui! (talk) 08:38, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. I see what you mean. That definitely looks like an attempt to cause confusion with your username. I can see that even if the user never makes another edit, it's still going to cause communication problems. I recommend that you put a request on Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention to have it pre-emptively blocked, giving the above reasoning. I'll deal with it after a couple of days there, unless someone raises a sensible objection. That way no one can say we're not following the correct process. In the meantime rather than a redirect I recommend that you put a disambiguation notice on the userpage and user talkpage and a short notification of what you are doing (to cover the very slight chance that this is a coincidental choice of user name made in good faith). Anyway Compliments of the Season and I hope that Santa was good to you. Cheers -- Derek Ross | Talk 00:23, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes thank you. Santa really did produce the goods this year: in a few days time I am getting married to the most wonderful, sharp, funny, wise and beautiful woman I have ever met. Jackpot!! She is something of a Unionist, so I know it must be love if I can oversee a such a glaring flaw in the diamond ;)
"to cover the very slight chance that this is a coincidental choice of user name made in good faith" - Mmmm, if you were going to open a good faith account, would your first two edits (your only two edits) be to cut and paste the contents of another User page and User talk page?
Too busy to faff around with Admin pages today, but I will follow you advice. --Mais oui! (talk) 10:25, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
Well, congratulations on getting such a great Christmas present! There is absolutely nothing better than marrying such a woman. As a 20 year veteran of my own marriage to such an one, I can absolutely say that it was the best thing I ever did and I am sure that in 20 or 30 years you will be thinking the same thing.
As for the good faith thing, I agree with your point completely. It's highly unlikely that the account creation was anything other than mischief-making. The only reason that I recommend going throught the bureaucratic process and bending over backwards to take account of the extremely remote chance that it wasn't, is that it ensures that your opponents have nothing to criticise in your actions. But I wouldn't worry about it: you've far more important things to think about than Wikipedia at the moment. Cheers, and all the best for the wedding and for the coming year! -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:36, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay I went ahead and made the request for you. It was acted on almost immediately and the Mais oui account is now indefinitely blocked. -- Derek Ross | Talk 23:49, 27 December 2007 (UTC)