User talk:MER-C/archives/15

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This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

WP:AFD

Do you want to WP:AFD this article, Miguel Condé? Real96 23:47, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Miguel Condé. MER-C 03:10, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar time!

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		I, for one, appreciate the efforts you make in keeping Wikipedia vandal-, spam- and other-annoyance-free. Keep up the good work! Alan 13:27, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

You mean I'm now your robotic overlord? </sarcasm> Thanks, anyway. MER-C 14:10, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Contributions Page

What do you mean it was a non-existing user's page? So you mean someone who use to have a user page, its name was User:Jordanrschroeder Contributions? Jordanrschroeder 13:54, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Discussion at User talk:Jordanrschroeder#Contributions page.

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Zongshen 200 GS

Greetings Sir!

May I ask, why the articel Zongshen 200 GS is nominated for deletion? We understand that the article may sound like an advertisement, but many other bike models of other companies (i.e. Honda, Kawasaki, Aprillia, Benelli, etc.) are existing as articles in Wikipedia?

May we seek explanation, because many of us who wish and like the article to be here, feels like descriminated. Is it due to the fact that the motorcycle featured in the article is "Made in China", and no one recognizes products from China? And other bike models from well known companies are given more priority in Wikipedia, than those "Made in China".

We hope to have a common understanding regarding these, before you proceed with any deletion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.9.52.160 (talk • contribs)

My rationale for deletion is at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Zongshen 200 GS. Not because it is spam, but because it is non-notable and unverifiable. Not to mention an impersonator.

By the way - when you go fishing, do you catch all the fish? MER-C 05:33, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

USer page

Thanks for the revert. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:57, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Re: Wikipedia != myspace

What exactly constitutes a zero tolerance approach? I'm guessing that one would need to inform an admin and have the user(s) blocked. I've found several users (notably User:Driski555 and User:E-abulous) who are using Wikipedia as a social networking site (presumably because it isn't blocked at their high school). The only edits they've made to actual articles have been vandalism (e.g. changing the first line of the article on evolution to read "evolution does not exist", adding their names to a list of famous people from Wisconsin, etc., etc.). I hate to waste time on Wikipedia chasing down users that are abusing the system, instead of making constuctive edits, but... if these people are allowed to continue using WP in such a way, it will show others that this sort of systematic abuse is tolerated. I've already warned them both, and one has even apologized to me. But they're still using WP as a sort of myspace (they even have links to myspace under a "Friends" section on their user pages). So, where should I go from here? Fuzzform 20:50, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

locateme tags

Hi. I've noticed you've been putting the {{locateme}} tag onto articles. I've been moving them to the articles' talk pages as, according to the Template:LocateMe page, they should be on the talk pages. Cheers, A bit iffy 10:22, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

comment deletion

Stp dltng m cmmnt lk y dd nWkpd:rtcls fr dltn/Mgl Cnd; d t gn nd y'r rprtd.-Eep² 03:05, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Trolling is not tolerated here, try posting here instead. MER-C 03:22, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Oh noes! Your goign to be reported!!11!!!! Me tooo!!!one! >Radiant< 07:56, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

ROFL! MER-C 08:26, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Note that I've blocked him now. >Radiant< 09:12, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Hizzoner

OK. But I would still contest the prod, since I believe the article is worthy of further etymological expansion: which newspaper coined the spelling, the political climate in which it was first used, why it seems to stick to only certain mayors of certain big cities (for example, I remember it used extensively in NYC in the Koch and Giuliani years, but not very often for Bloomberg or Dinkins). Yeah, yeah, not a dictionary and all, but that last part seems beyond wiktionary and within the realm of wikipedia. You can tag it as needing expansion/context/sources, which I will try to find. Wl219 06:28, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Review

Hi, you placed a banner at the page Expanding earth theory in Feb. 2007.

A substantial amount of contributions and referencing has occurred and it is currently being reworked for peer review. Your template, while accurate at the time is longer warranted. I am therefore removing it, I hope you agree with this action. Can I also suggest that the talk page is the first and best place to suggest article improvement, in my personal opinion these tags are used mostly to make a point and do not improve wikipedia. If it is 'urgent', it can be removed and added to the talk page. IMHO. Anyway, regards - ☻ Fred|☝ discussion|✍ contributions 14:30, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

Hi there, thanks for taking care of the person vandalising my user page (along with various articles) earlier today. Having not dealt with active vandals on Wikipedia for a few years, I wasn't sure where to request blocking (but now I know, from the link at the top of your talk page ). Thanks again. —David Johnson [T|C] 15:14, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Your question

Hello, I probably should have posted this hours ago, but I just thought to do it now.... Thanks for taking the time to post a question at my RFA. I have provided an answer (which I am guessing you have noticed by now). If you would like to discuss this further, or I did not fully answer your question, please feel free to reply either in the RFA thread or here on your talk page. Regards. --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 17:34, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

That's fine. I was just making sure your password wasn't exactly that and beyond the reach of script kiddies. MER-C 10:19, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

BTW, do you know if the DEVs will be running the checker against the admin accounts periodically and resetting passwords and emailing people to change them if necessary? Assuming that my RFA passes, I have absolutely no objection to (and would actually support) a process where the password hash was put up against a cracker for privileged accounts. Since all these accounts (better) have valid emails, any that are not strong enough can be remediated easily in that fashion. Of course, if someone doesn't have their email correct, they could be sunk, but I've been told that almost all the emails are good. --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 12:29, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

No, I think it may be a once-off. See bugzilla:9816/WP:AN#Password cracker to be run over admin accounts shortly. It's happened again: WP:ANI#Account hacked?. MER-C 12:46, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Untitled section

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		Thanks for reverting vandalism done to my user page, while I was struggling between finding out who was the vandal, trying to warn him and reverting the vandalism. I recently warned the vandal after he vandalized several pages, and guess he went to play revenge. And thanks for reporting him.Optakeover 11:08, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Oh and, you can open an Awards sub-page for your userpage now. Haha! Optakeover 11:16, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

If I can be bothered. Thanks. MER-C 12:46, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Surprising comment

I was surprised to learn on Eep's talk page that you fall on the wrong side of RFA cliche #1. Would you like me to fix that? >Radiant< 13:00, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

It's a bit hard running for adminship with only one hand. After my arm heals, I've got exams coming up about the time I can begin to type with two hands, so the answer's no until mid-June.

And the edit counters become practically useless once you go over 50,000 edits. MER-C 04:13, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

You can run as long as you have two feet :) Anyway feel free to get back to me on this. >Radiant< 08:15, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Or me - I'll co-nom if you want. Viridae^Talk 08:52, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I'll vote for it, too, MER-C. Yes, I remember I voted against it last time, but that was months ago, before working alongside with other volunteers on COI/N and BLP/N. We know you don't mind being in hot water :-D — Athaenara 07:13, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

• Looks like you'd pass regardless of how many hands you have :) >Radiant< 09:46, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I personally have a strong bias against people with 3 arms :0. Anyway, take care and heal fast ;). I just hope you're right handed. -- lucasbfr ^talk 10:38, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I am. MER-C 10:44, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the copyright info

Thanks for pointing me to {{PD-US-patent}}! --Butseriouslyfolks 16:21, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Deleation of Pico (Newgrounds)

Why do you want this article to be deleated? I really like this article. Superjustinbros. 18:57, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Please read Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Pico (Newgrounds). MER-C 10:25, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Prod

Hi MER-C,

I'm new to deleting pages; I recently requested the removal of User:Spreading its wings, and you suggested that I use a prod. What exactly is that? Thanks, --MosheA 10:48, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Prod refers to Wikipedia:Proposed deletion. It's the favoured method of dealing with "user page[s] appear[ing] to be used as a blog, social networking site and/or a free web host [where t]he user concerned has made few (if any) encyclopedic contributions and has not been active for a substantial period of time", as my custom made template puts it. MER-C 10:59, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for reverting the vandalism to my page. --Nlu (talk) 13:48, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Just saw that you're hurt. I'm sorry to hear that. Get better soon. --Nlu (talk) 13:48, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		For remaining dedicated during your recovery, you are awarded the Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar. --Nlu (talk) 13:52, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Hurt?

Sounds pretty nasty :( Hope you get better soon! Don't wear yourself out tapping away at the keyboard ;) Take care, – Riana_ऋ 14:45, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Don't worry, I've found a task that only requires the mouse. Too bad it increases the size of the image backlogs. MER-C 06:18, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

How glorious! I look forward to getting some deleting done :) Oh, and thanks for the talk page revert, much appreciated. Cheers, – Riana_ऋ 14:18, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Ouch, I was wondering what you meant about only having one hand at WT:FPC. Hope it's fixed soon :-) --YFB ¿ 13:56, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Licensing

I've added the appropriate tag to the Cecil Sharpe House image. [user]Matt.whitby[/user].

GFDL-presumed images

While I have no particular love for GFDL-presumed images, if the image is unquestionably user-created and is in use, it is probably worth trying to get a GFDL release. I have created a template for this purpose - {{GFDL presumed warning}}. Please feel free to tweak as desired. --BigDT 13:24, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

I use User:Howcheng/quickimgdelete.js to deal with these images, as it makes dealing with these images with only one hand a lot easier, so you probably won't seeing me using it. That said, I have no qualms with the wording. MER-C 11:11, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Yulu-Mountain-Changsha.jpg

Thanks for your suggestion. really I don't learn no more informations on copyright status of images. also I've uploaded Yulu-Moutains2-en.jpg on wikisource instead of the Yulu-Mountain-Changsha.jpg with a copyright tag. delete Yulu-Mountain-Changsha.jpg,pls,thx. Cncs wikipedia 15:11, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

It will be nuked by an admin in about a week's time if the {{no license}} tag stays in place. MER-C 09:59, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Userpage prods

Yep, you've got a point there. That was clarified at WP:PROD since the last time I looked. (Serves me right for not re-reading it after tax season. :) ) I have reverted, noting my reason for the reversion in the edit summary. Sorry about that. —C.Fred (talk) 16:41, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Fishing revisions

First of all, I would like to thank you for actively guarding our Fishing Project. I've seen all your efforts of protecting the Fishing article from those harmful vandals. I've made a major revision from all those revisions/reverts that were made previously by bots and other wikipedians because some of the important information there were lost despite the effort of each and everyone to guard the said article. Thanks and more power! Bu b0y2007 01:51, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

I'd say this might be a case for WP:RFPP. Don't ask me. though. MER-C 10:06, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

user: Barnaby dawson

Hello, Thanks for protecting my user page from link spam. As it happens (in this case) it was actually me putting up the link to my blog although you couldn't have known that from the IP address. Barnaby dawson 07:21, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

my article deleted?

may i ask why my article is getting requested for deletion? my article is in beginning stages. this band is real. their myspace page is real. this site is meant to be for EVERYONE to contribute so please explain? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tigs4melife (talk • contribs)

Because Wikipedia isn't myspace and you haven't made a case as to why we should consider your band for inclusion. MER-C 08:16, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Special:Linksearch Alternative

I also posted this at WP:AN, but I thought I'd put it here as well since sometimes it's easy to overlook thinks on that page since it's so busy. Have you seen Wikipedia:WikiProject Spam/LinkSearch? They have pages for many different external websites including MySpace. They provide an alphabetic list of pages linking to those websites. Instead of plowing through Special:Linksearch, you can use their MySpace page and scroll down to the User: ones. -- JLaTondre 02:20, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

That was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. Though when I dragged my net through the userspace, I was astounded that I found 2851(!) possible myspace pages.

The reason why I was so annoyed last night was that all I had to do to find them was google search "a href" site:en.wikipedia.org inurl:user. MER-C 03:03, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Additional Searches

Here are two additional searches you may wish to add to your /Spam page:

• "visit our site" inurl:User site:en.wikipedia.org
• inurl:band inurl:user site:en.wikipedia.org

The first one is a variation on a search phrase you already have, but it picked up a few additional pages. The second one found about a half dozen pseudo-article type user pages. If you just use band without it being in the URL, there were too many false positives for me to weed through, but it would probably pick up more. -- JLaTondre 00:28, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Done. MER-C 09:27, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Image:Zorkmidgold.gif

It's been more than a week since you tagged that image for eventual deletion. Why hasn't it been deleted yet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.176.231.64 (talk • contribs)

Because the admins haven't got around to deleting it. MER-C 12:12, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

"null" in edit summaries

I noticed that you recently did the following edit:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bratz:_The_Movie&oldid=132663080
• 12:15, 22 May 2007 MER-C (Talk | contribs) m (3,489 bytes) (Reverted to revision null by Tregoweth.)

The tool that you are using to help revert vandalism doesn't seem to be including the version ID number, but displays it as "null" instead. --Eastmain 13:52, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Twinkle got borked yesterday by a change in mediawiki. It was the next fastest way I could revert. MER-C 09:44, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Wiki.java

Hi,

I have started using your Wiki.java class to update wikipedia pages from a Java tool to clean-up disambiguation links. It's not working each time, for some pages I have to try 3 or 4 times before the page gets updated on wikipedia. Do you have any idea on what could be causing the problem ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by NicoV (talk • contribs)

My modified class:

/*
 *  WikipediaCleaner: A tool to help on Wikipedia maintenance tasks.
 *  Copyright (C) 2007  Nicolas Vervelle
 *
 *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
 *  with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 *  51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 */

package org.wikipediacleaner.api.impl;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLConnection;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;

import org.wikipediacleaner.api.APIException;
import org.wikipediacleaner.api.constants.EnumWikipedia;
import org.wikipediacleaner.api.data.Page;
import org.wikipediacleaner.i18n.GT;


/**
 * A helper class for updating MediaWiki pages.
 * (Waiting for an implementation in the MediaWiki API)
 * <p>
 * This is a modified version of a class written by
 * <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MER-C/Wiki.java">MER-C</a>.
 */
public class MediaWikiUpdate {

  private final EnumWikipedia wiki;
  private final Map<String, String> cookies = new HashMap<String, String>(10);

  private static final boolean CHECK_REVISION = true;

  /**
   * Create a new object for updating a MediaWiki page.
   * 
   * @param wiki Wikipedia.
   */
  public MediaWikiUpdate(EnumWikipedia wiki) {
    this.wiki = wiki;
  }

  /**
   * Logs into Wikipedia.
   * 
   * @param username User name
   * @param password Password
   * @return Flag indicating successful login.
   * @throws APIException
   */
  public boolean login(String username, String password) throws APIException {
    try {
      // sanitize
      username = URLEncoder.encode(username, "UTF-8");
      password = URLEncoder.encode(password, "UTF-8");
  
      // "enable" cookies
      String url = wiki.getWikiURL() + "?title=Special:Userlogin";
      URLConnection connection = new URL(url).openConnection();
      grabCookies(connection);
  
      // find the target
      url = wiki.getWikiURL() + "?title=Special:Userlogin&action=submitlogin&type=login";
      connection = new URL(url).openConnection();
      setCookies(connection);
      connection.setDoOutput(true);
      PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(connection.getOutputStream());
  
      // now we send the data
      out.print("wpName=");
      out.print(username);
      out.print("&wpPassword=");
      out.print(password);
      out.print("&wpRemember=1&wpLoginAttempt=Log+in");
      out.close();
  
      // make it stick by grabbing the cookie
      grabCookies(connection);
      BufferedReader in = null;
      try {
        try {
          in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream(), "UTF-8"));
        } catch (IOException e) {
          if (!(connection instanceof HttpURLConnection)) {
            throw e;
          }
          InputStream err = ((HttpURLConnection) connection).getInputStream();
          if (err == null) {
            throw e;
          }
          in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(err, "UTF-8"));
        }
        in.readLine();
    
        // test for success
        String line;
        while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
          if (line.indexOf(wiki.getLoginSuccessfulString()) != -1) {
            return true;
          }
        }
      } finally {
        if (in != null) {
          try {
            in.close();
          } catch (IOException e) {
            //
          }
        }
      }
    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
      throw new APIException("Unsupported encoding exception");
    } catch (IOException e) {
      throw new APIException("Login problem: " + e.getMessage());
    }
    return false;
  }

  /**
   * Logs out of Wikipedia.
   */
  public void logout() {
    cookies.clear();
  }

  public void editPage(Page page, String text, String summary, boolean minor) throws APIException {
    try {
      // sanitize
      String title = URLEncoder.encode(page.getTitle(), "UTF-8");
      summary = URLEncoder.encode(summary, "UTF-8");
      text = URLEncoder.encode(text, "UTF-8");

      // what we need to do is get the edit page and fish out the
      // wpEditToken, wpAutoSummary, wpStartTime and wpEditTime values
      String url = wiki.getWikiURL() + "?title=" + title + "&action=edit";
      URLConnection connection = new URL(url).openConnection();
      setCookies(connection);
      connection.connect();
      grabCookies(connection);

      BufferedReader in = null;
      String wpEditToken = "";
      String wpAutoSummary = "";
      String wpStartTime = "";
      String wpEditTime = "";
      String wgCurRevisionId = "";
      try {
        in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream()));
        // more specifically, we're looking for "name="wpEditToken"", "name="wpAutoSummary""
        String line;
        boolean editRetrieved = false;
        boolean summaryRetrieved = false;
        boolean startRetrieved = false;
        boolean timeRetrieved = false;
        boolean revisionIdRetrieved = false;
        while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
          if (line.indexOf("name=\"wpAutoSummary\"") != -1) {
            int x = line.indexOf("value=\"") + 7;
            wpAutoSummary = line.substring(x, line.indexOf('\"', x));
            summaryRetrieved = true;
          } else if (line.indexOf("name=\"wpEditToken\"") != -1) {
            int x = line.indexOf("value=\"") + 7;
            wpEditToken = line.substring(x, line.indexOf('\"', x));
            editRetrieved = true;
          } else if (line.indexOf("name=\"wpEdittime\"") != -1) {
            int x = line.indexOf("value=\"") + 7;
            wpEditTime = line.substring(x, line.indexOf('\"', x));
            timeRetrieved = true;
          } else if (line.indexOf("name=\"wpStarttime\"") != -1) {
            int x = line.indexOf("value=\"") + 7;
            wpStartTime = line.substring(x, line.indexOf('\"', x));
            startRetrieved = true;
          } else if (line.indexOf("wgCurRevisionId") != -1) {
            int x = line.indexOf("\"") + 1;
            wgCurRevisionId = line.substring(x, line.indexOf('\"', x));
            revisionIdRetrieved = true;
          } else if (editRetrieved &&
                     summaryRetrieved &&
                     startRetrieved &&
                     timeRetrieved &&
                     revisionIdRetrieved) {
            break;
          }
        }

        // check revision Id
        if (CHECK_REVISION) {
          int revisionId = -1;
          try {
            revisionId = Integer.parseInt(wgCurRevisionId);
          } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
            //
          }
          if ((page.getRevisionId() == null) ||
              (page.getRevisionId().intValue() != revisionId)) {
            throw new APIException(GT._(
                "The page {0} has been modified on Wikipedia since you have loaded the page.\n" +
                "To avoid modification conflicts, you need to reload the page and make your modifications again.\n" +
                "(Local revision: {1}, Wikipedia revision: {2})",
                new Object[] { page.getTitle(),
                               page.getRevisionId().toString(),
                               Integer.toString(revisionId) } ));
          }
        }

        // this is what accepts the text
        url = wiki.getWikiURL() + "?title=" + title + "&action=submit";
        connection = new URL(url).openConnection();
        setCookies(connection);
        connection.setDoOutput(true);
        PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(connection.getOutputStream());

        // now we send the data
        out.print("wpTextbox1=");
        out.print(text);
        out.print("&wpSummary=");
        out.print(summary);
        if (minor) {
          out.print("&wpMinoredit=1");
        }
        out.print("&wpEdittime=");
        out.print(wpEditTime);
        out.print("&wpEditToken=");
        out.print(wpEditToken);
        out.print("&wpStarttime=");
        out.print(wpStartTime);
        out.print("&wpAutoSummary=");
        out.print(wpAutoSummary);

        // done, give the servers a rest
        out.flush();
        out.close();
        try {
          Thread.sleep(2000);
          
          // it's somewhat strange that the edit only sticks when you start reading the response...
          in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream()));
        } catch (IOException e) {
          if (!(connection instanceof HttpURLConnection)) {
            throw e;
          }
          InputStream err = ((HttpURLConnection) connection).getInputStream();
          if (err == null) {
            throw e;
          }
          in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(err));
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
          //
        }
        in.readLine();
      } finally {
        if (in != null) {
          try {
            in.close();
          } catch (IOException e) {
            //
          }
        }
      }
    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
      throw new APIException("Unsupported encoding exception");
    } catch (IOException e) {
      throw new APIException("Editing problem: " + e.getMessage());
    }
  }

  /**
   * Grab cookies from the URL connection provided.
   * 
   * @param u An unconnected URLConnection.
   */
  private void grabCookies(URLConnection u) {
    // reset the cookie store
    cookies.clear();
    String headerName = null;
    for (int i = 1; (headerName = u.getHeaderFieldKey(i)) != null; i++) {
      if (headerName.equals("Set-Cookie")) {
        String cookie = u.getHeaderField(i);
        cookie = cookie.substring(0, cookie.indexOf(";"));
        String name = cookie.substring(0, cookie.indexOf("="));
        String value = cookie.substring(cookie.indexOf("=") + 1, cookie.length());
        cookies.put(name, value);
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Sets cookies to an unconnected URLConnection.
   * 
   * @param u An unconnected URLConnection.
   */
  private void setCookies(URLConnection u) {
    Iterator<Entry<String, String>> i = cookies.entrySet().iterator();
    StringBuffer cookie = new StringBuffer();
    while (i.hasNext()) {
      Map.Entry<String, String> entry = i.next();
      cookie.append(entry.getKey());
      cookie.append("=");
      cookie.append(entry.getValue());
      cookie.append("; ");
    }
    u.setRequestProperty("Cookie", cookie.toString());
  }
}

From what I can tell, fr.wikipedia requires one to press the preview button before saving (at least for anons). Would that be true for registered users? MER-C 10:48, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Normally, it's not required and the update was working most of the time (except from time to time when it could fail several times in a row), so it's probably not that. But now, I can't test any more on French Wikipedia: the Login page has just been enhanced with a capcha :( --NicoV 15:34, 23 May 2007 (UTC) Login working again :)

I'd probably say it's a database lock, where the wiki is read only. And here's why we have captchas. MER-C 10:54, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I have noticed that from time to time, I get an HTTP Code 400 when trying to update the page contents, mostly when update is failing. But each time I got this error code, the update was done correctly. Any idea what would be causing this ? --NicoV 13:35, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

400 = Bad Request (see List of HTTP status codes). Probably a cookie problem, but it's way too late where I live to think constructively. MER-C 14:06, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Apparently, the problem updating a page only appears when I am running my tool inside Eclipse, I don't have problems when running the tool directly from its Java Web Start link. Probably Eclipse messing with the code (?). Thanks anyway. --NicoV 11:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

DYK

On 24 May 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Tooting (crater), 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.

--Smee 08:58, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Oscar Wilde

I cannot understand why you have warned me for whatever deletion I made to the Oscar Wilde article. I am fairly certain it was either spelling, grammer or a very obvious minor error - none of which would be enough to warrant the label vandalism. If you can show me (I cannot figure out how to see the change I made), then I can explain my reasons I'm sure. Regards, Dave. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.71.181.169 (talk • contribs)

Here's why. MER-C 11:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Wow, if I deleted that whole paragraph, then I apologise! I am desperately trying to remember what edit I made, and I seem to remember that the paragraph in green was duplicated, so I just took out one of them. If this resulted in the loss of material then I can only apologise. Regards, Dave.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.71.181.169 (talk • contribs)

Don't worry about it. It was too long ago to be of any consequence. MER-C 10:33, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Please take a look and comment

Hi MER-C,

I notice you made a contribution to the List of people from Ridgefield, Connecticut page. I've gotten into a discussion with #69 over the substance of my disagreement with him. He's intransigent, and I'd like to get on record that we have a consensus to keep that section of the List of people from Ridgefield, Connecticut list. If, in fact, we have a consensus. I summarized my long argument at the bottom of the page and asked for comments. Would you please look over at least the summary (a few paragraphs) at the bottom of Talk:List of people from Ridgefield, Connecticut and give your opinion (whether in support of keeping or not). Much appreciated, Noroton 22:33, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Image:Brij.jpg

Thanks MER-C, I have changed the licensing tag for the image. Kukoo 14:38, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Actually, you haven't. Please apply an appropriate copyright tag and only then remove the {{no license}} and {{gfdl-presumed}} tags. MER-C 04:38, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Userpage prods

Hi, thanks for taking the time to dig these old pages. I saw that you don't warn the users on their page, though. I have no problem when they last edited 6 months ago (we can assume they left), but some pages were created in May. I renewed the prods I crossed, since it's probably better if they have a message explaining the situation before the page gets deleted :). Well, that's just my thoughts of course. -- lucasbfr ^talk 15:20, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Re:Image:Bravenet 1997.gif

I am using {{Non-free web screenshot}} there is no fair use substitute. (Cocoaguy ここがいい _contribs^talk) 15:33, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

You must add a rationale as required by WP:NONFREE. The tag itself is not a fair use rationale. MER-C 04:29, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Law Practice Today

Please see my suggestion regarding Law Practice Today on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Law Practice Today. Cheers. --Edcolins 18:56, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

AfD for Paul Ulrich and Saudi Match Point

Hello, MER-C ... I noticed that you nominated these two articles about an author and his book in a joint AfD, but not the ones for the book's publisher (Blacksmith Books) and the author's wife (Jing Ulrich) both of which are included in the same current WP:COI/N discussion ... just wondering, "Why didn't you include the other two articles?" —68.239.79.82 (talk · contribs) 10:44, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Never mind! ... I didn't see your comment at WP:COI/N :-) ... I agree that the wife's article is looking Much Better Now (although I've already voiced my WP:A concerns about it there), but it's still my personal opinion is that the publisher legitimately falls into the same NN/COI bucket as the book, and that will be my only comment at the AfD. —68.239.79.82 11:37, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi MER-C, thanks for nominating the first two Ulrich articles; I just added Blacksmith Books to AfD as well. I dropped a notice at User talk:Pulrich regarding the the publisher's AfD, but it didn't quite seem appropriate for me to add the first 2 as they were your noms. When you get a chance, would you be willing to give him the notifications so that we will have done it all "by the book"? Thanks again for your help, it's much appreciated. Doc Tropics 19:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

This isn't a bureaucracy, so you needn't ask my permission to notify. That said, I have done so. MER-C 12:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Waste

I received a "Please do not add unhelpful and unconstructive content to Wikipedia.." from you. I am bewildered because I have never edited a wikipedia entry, nor vandalized, nor accessed the article I am meant to have edited!!! I am the only person who uses this computer, and a bit concerned about this error. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.88.245.153 (talk • contribs)

This says otherwise. MER-C 13:01, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Again, I plead my ignorance.

Those inane remarks on "Waste" were defintely not my work.

I'm not going to 'waste' anymore time on this, only to suggest the current reporting procedures may require further work.

Regards, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.77.9 (talk • contribs)

You're on a dynamic IP, so the text at the bottom of my warning - "If this is a shared IP address, and you didn't make any unconstructive edits, please ignore this warning." - is particularly relevant. MER-C 12:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

re: Image:Jewish Encyclopedia Arnon Gorge.jpg

I have updated the licensing tag on the image. Thanks for the heads-up. Tomer^talk 18:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

The copyright notice on the image is still there... MER-C 12:40, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Ah. Hmmm. I'll look into it straightaway. Tomer^talk 23:24, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Absent uploader

I'm new to this "absent uploader" idea (not that it's a new idea). Where can I find more information about stale accounts related policies? Rklawton 13:21, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Mainly it's WP:NOT#MYSPACE, i.e. we delete stuff created/uploaded by users who have no intention of contributing to the encyclopedia. MER-C 13:35, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

What about their accounts? Do we keep them? Rklawton 13:45, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

We can't really delete user accounts for various reasons, including GFDL. MER-C 11:58, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Soompi

FYI, someone re-created the Soompi article. Originally you were the one who asked for its removal. Groink 20:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Tagged, thanks. In future please tag such articles with {{db-repost}} if they were deleted by means of a deletion debate. MER-C 11:52, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Possibly unfree Image:Jewish_Encyclopedia_Arnon_Gorge.jpg

JewishEncyclopedia.com claims the copyright on the images they have posted from the 1901-1906. However, those images are in the public domain and are ineligible for copyright. Slapping a "(c)" on them cannot change that. I believe it's been addressed a number of times on WP. --Briangotts (Talk) (Contrib) 00:33, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Secretasry desk views

A few years ago when I had more time on my hands I made a series of articles on types of desks and I also made some drawings to illustrate them. I made two drawings (god knows where those files are now) for the secretary desk: One front view and one side view. Somehow I forgot to state that I had made that side view myself and that was placing it in the public domain, as I had done for the front view. Just on the day I left for my two week vacation, probably when I was on my way in a bus, you posted a message about the need for a copyright notice for this side view, on my talk page. I have just read this notice, and I see that the side view has somehow disappeared. Could you please make it appear again? --AlainV 02:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

• The image in question is Image:Secretarydeskside20050410.jpg, I think. --Eastmain 02:29, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The image was {{gfdl-presumed}}, which isn't a copyright tag. You can ask an active administrator (not me) to have it back, stating that you wish to release it under a free license(s). MER-C 12:04, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Did you remove it? If you removed it (without even giving me suffcient time to place the mention that I wish to place it in the public domain) it seems to me that you should be the one to take the necessary steps to put it back or at the very least be more precise as to what is involved in getting an administrator to put it back, than just linking to an extremely general page on administrators. --AlainV 21:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

See the red text at the top of the page. All you need to do is post on the talk page of an active admin, or here. And you had at least seven days to change the license tag, as well as all the time that it was tagged with {{gfdl-presumed}}. MER-C 11:17, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks!

Though, in truth, I wasn't the one who first suggested it be uploaded. Spikebrennan beat me to it, but he wasn't sure if it was free to use or not. Serendipodous 13:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar

I Angelbo award you this anti Vandal Barnstar for your reversal of vandalism to my userpage.

Mads Angelbo ^{Talk / Contribs} 10:09, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. MER-C 11:13, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Gallery of Sistine Chapel ceiling

The gallery, which I created, was previously part of the article Sistine Chapel ceiling which contained many of these pics, but not much info. Since I have rewritten the article and it is quite lengthy, I looked for a way of displaying the photos. Yes, they are all on wikimedia commons, but not as concisely and well displayed. The gallery has been created as "Part 2" (if you like) to the article. One option is simply to put them back at the foot of the article.

Similarly I have just written the article Italian Renaissance painting and have created a gallery of very carefully selected images illustrative of certain points as a "Part 2" to that article. (which is of necessity long because it is a huge subject) All the images already exist at wikipedia commons, but are not accesible for ready comparison because it takes many hours of work to locate them all.

In the field of Art History, one needs images, lots and lots of images, because that is what we deal with. Essays can be written almost entirely of well-selected images, but they need to be displayed in proximity, to make the point. In the case of the Sistine Chapel, there is a section on wikimedia commons devoted to it, but not effectively in an encyclopedic manner. If the removal of the gallery to commons can be effected in such a way that the material is intact, linked directly to the article, and without wads of commons-specific format/info, then it will continue to serve its purpose. Otherwise it will not. I don't waste my time lugging wapping great frescoes from one site to another for fun! --Amandajm 04:53, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

One should note that "Wikipedia articles are not [...] mere collections of photographs or media files". What I am proposing is that the gallery page itself gets copied to commons so that they are "concisely and well displayed" over there. I have no idea what I will do with it after the transwiki gets done (eventually), but it seems OK for inclusion. MER-C 06:18, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Help

Help me deleting Category Municipalities in China pls, BECAUSE of my inattention, there has been a similar Category Municipalities of the People's Republic of China it before i did. thx. cncs 17:02 2007-06-02 (UTC)

Tagged. In future, it's {{db-catempty}} or {{db-author}}. MER-C 04:18, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Lantana flower and leaves

As for the reason why the nom was left open for a long time, the page became heavily backlogged while I was unable to promote FPs and nobody else was willing to take the burden. MER-C 04:03, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

• Thank you for your explanation. I really was convinced that something was wrong with the nomination or with my interpretation of the guidelies. Otherwise I wouldn't have written that comment. Mybe some time I'll be able to help with the closing process (right now I'm too busy at Commons) Alvesgaspar 22:15, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Image:Julianmice.jpg

You have asked me about the source of this image on my talk page. I probably did tag a lot of images incorrectly back when I was a novice editor last Spring and this seems to be one. I am not an expert in image tags, so please could I ask you to adjust the tag as required. The history is as follows: the image is a non-copywritten audience shot of a concert which came from the website www.goony.nl/aae. I specifically asked the owner of the website for use of this image before using it on the wikipedia and permission was granted. Cheers and thank you. A1octopus 22:44, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

In this case it would be a case of {{replaceable fair use}}. Unless there has been an email sent to permissions-en at wikimedia dot org or a specific notice on the website, we have generally no indication of free licensing. Note that using {{WithPermission}} usually isn't enough. MER-C 05:52, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Images

Could you please delete every image I've uploaded without a fair use rational so I quit getting these annoying messages (Its all spam and drivel anyways). And even the ones with a fair use rational are mostly bs I made up so the AWBs wouldn't delete my images. I'll even give you the link to them. Andman8 02:38, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

See the red text above. I can, however, tag them with {{no rationale}} or {{replaceable fair use}}. All done, except for a few I could not touch with those tags.

I've been getting bot spam too, as I reverted vandalism on about 200 fair use images some time ago. MER-C 05:38, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks!

Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my user page today. Chriswiki 11:07, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Shanif Dhanani

Hi MER-C. Thanks for tagging this for speedy. I've, erm, speedied it. I noticed you didn't drop the article creator a note when you tag for speedy. That's surprising, because I know you normally do. I'm guessing there's probably a good reason why you didn't on this occasion, but it would be inconsistent if I didn't drop you a message like this, when I would do for anyone else! :-) Cheers and please keep on tagging. --Dweller 13:07, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Image:Dipak_Mehta.JPG

I saw your recommendation, so I put in a request for the file to be deleted. Looks like its a full resolution photo just wasting space anyway. Commons:Deletion_requests/Image:Dipak_Mehta.JPG -wizzard2k ^(C•T•D) 15:02, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I also neglected to mention that I have very little idea what goes on at commons. MER-C 09:55, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

YechielMan's RFA

Thank you for participating in either of my unsuccessful requests for adminship. Although the experience was frustrating, it showed me some mistakes I was making, and I hope to learn from those mistakes.

Please take a few minutes to read User:YechielMan/Other stuff/RFA review and advise me how to proceed. Best regards. YechielMan 21:20, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard#Paul Ulrich

Hello ... All 4 articles under discussion here have been deleted now, and Pulrich (talk · contribs) appears to be trying to build new street-cred as a WikiGnome (note his recently sanitized Talk page), so would you please close this? Thnx! —72.75.70.147 09:53, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Done. MER-C 09:59, 5 June 2007 (UTC)