User talk:Ben MacDui

This user is a Scottish Wikipedian. There are things particularly relevant to Scottish Wikipedians at the Scottish Wikipedians' notice board. Please feel free to help us improve Scottish related articles in Wikipedia!

Polite intercourse: some of my correspondents may not be sure how to address a person such as myself. I take no offence whatever at being called 'Ben' - it's an understandable error. However, this name is an honorific. My local friends call me 'MacDui'.
If you leave a new message on this page, I will usually reply here unless specifically asked to reply elsewhere.

Happy Christmas

Hi. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas. Mugginsx (talk) 10:03, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

You are very kind and my very best wishes to you too. We have seasonal snow at present and I am listening to And Winter Came.... It's all quite relaxing for a change. Ben MacDui 15:47, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Just listened to it on U-tube. Must go out and buy it - it's quite beautiful. No more snow yet here in New England. Mugginsx (talk) 21:01, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

	Season's greetings and best wishes for 2012!
	Thanks for all you do here, Ruhrfisch ><>°° 22:03, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

And to you. Our keyboards haven't crossed much of late, but looking forward to working with you in 2012. Ben MacDui 12:37, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

A cup of coffee for you!

Hello MacDui. I'm having a cup of coffee (it's 10:35AM here in California) and wanted to share with you as you've done such nice work on Scottish related articles, and I've just come to notice that. Rosiestep (talk) 18:38, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

You are most kind and I'd be happy to return the favour if you ever venture to these parts. All the best for 2012. Ben MacDui

Your GA nomination of Scandinavian Scotland

The article Scandinavian Scotland you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Scandinavian Scotland for comments about the article. Well done! There is a backlog of articles waiting for review, why not help out and review a nominated article yourself? It was a pleasure to read this article. — Dmitrij D. Czarkoff (talk) 17:50, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Many thanks for this prompt review. Ben MacDui 11:18, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Congrats! I seem to recall that it was that viking ship burial find that prompted you to bite the bullet. Nice to know that the consumed vessel had a wee something more to contribute, a thousand years on. --Mais oui! (talk) 12:40, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Thank-you for noticing. WP:SCO's list of recognised content is something I've lost track of of late and no-one else seems to be interested. Sabred's Scotland in the Late Middle Ages isn't listed as a recent example. I'm drafting a JL-Bot auto list here. You can't see anything yet but the next bot update should create a list. I'm going to try and get the DYK's listed separately as they may be very numerous. Comments welcome. Ben MacDui 12:54, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

I think what WP:SCO really needs is a wee newsletter. Nothing fancy, and not too often, but just to say hello to interested Users sometimes, and/or highlight pertinent issues.--Mais oui! (talk) 18:08, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

That's an excellent idea. My suspicion is that having a single person to produce all the content might soon become wearisome for them, but having a co-ordinating editor and half-a-dozen contributors providing a say monthly update on various topics might do the trick. I'd be happy to produce a sentence or two on e.g. recognised content and island goings-on. Ben MacDui 10:44, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Wonderful! --Mais oui! (talk) 12:17, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Nimbley6

Hi, did you mean to place this SPI here? Catfish Jim and the soapdish 11:10, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

No worries... it seems to be in the right place now. It appears to be a fairly cut and dried case of sockery, if a slightly odd variant (but then that's nothing out of the ordinary on wikipedia) Catfish Jim and the soapdish 19:56, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Re: k.d. lang RM

I'm just going to copy my previous statement here to show you the issue

This is just a self-admitted crusade on Kauffner's part to eliminate any sort of leeway in MOS:TM and the other manuals of style when it comes to people's stage names. Kauffner, Dicklyon, and Greg L are simply editors who think that the manual of style is a set of rules written in stone. I believe they are seeking to make a point after I attempted to get some clarity at WT:AT#Names of individuals over the apparent kerfluffle I started when I requested that Kesha be moved to "Ke$ha", with an RM at DJ OZMA, based on the fact that this page is at k.d. lang and we have pages like bell hooks, brian d foy, and will.i.am. I believe you, and other interested parties, should add your opinion to the discussion at WT:AT, because this very vocal minority of 3 editors should not be the ones to enforce a set of guidelines as unbending rules, such as Greg L's insistence that "[he] can only assume that a bat-shit-crazy, rabid following on [k.d. lang] established a local consensus in violation of WP:LOCALCONSENSUS".—Ryulong (竜龙) 23:55, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Timeline of prehistoric Scotland at WP:TFL

Hello MacDui, just a quick note to ask you to revisit the nomination at TFL (it's been a while!) and cap any comments you feel no longer apply. I've asked bamse to come back to it and an independent reviewer to have a final check before I schedule it for main page inclusion. Sorry it's taken so long, with just one slot a week, you can understand how long it may be before nominated lists make it to the homepage! All the best, The Rambling Man (talk) 18:49, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

That's no problem at all. I'd like to get it sorted out but there is no hurry whatever. I'll comment there asap. Ben MacDui 15:12, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Gael 91

I noted your edit here. That User, and their countless ip sockpuppets (a Dublin educational institution) has been trolling Wikipedia for far too long. I, and other Users, revert all the ip edits we discover, but I suspect that it is time Admins took some concrete action. Mais oui! (talk) 09:43, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

I will keep my eye on them but they have only just received a final warning. As far as socking is concerned all you need to do is submit a report at WP:SPI and the sleuths there will take a look. Anyone can do that. Ben MacDui 19:33, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Dear Sir, I am not a spammer. We had contact on several occasions. I wrote 23 articles for the Dutch Wikipedia and till recently 5 (partly) for the English version. I have a conflict with another moderator who calls me unreliable. He removed my name and you put it back several times.I have 28 books in the Royal Library in The Hague. My name is removed with my English articles. Even for William H. Mounsey (it is completely my article and I wrote a book about it). I am not an imposter. My name is Lex Ritman. I worked with the archaeologist Richard Feachem. May be you can do something about it. I feel humiliated by this other moderator. You can see several books of mineon: www.google.com: lex ritman (choose: images).Romeinsekeizer (talk) 14:51, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I am sorry you feel that way. Whether or not you are Lex Ritman isn't much of an issue as far as I am concerned The question for me is, what is the status of "Ritman, Lex (2010). Major William Henry Mounsey, a British spy. The Hague (The Netherlands): Antoninus Pius." Is it a reliable source by an independent publisher (that has ideally received favourable reviews)? Google hits indicate that:

• The National Library of the Netherlands is quite happy to list Lex Ritman's titles, but
• I can't find any independent verification of the publisher "Antoninus Pius" other than listings involving Lex Ritman himself.
• Nor can I find an independent review of any book by this publisher in English or Dutch - although the search is largely confounded by hits for the Roman Emperor of the same name.

This may then be a vanity publication of some kind, and not a reliable source. Ben MacDui 15:40, 4 February 2012 (UTC) PS I see you have already been advised to take the subject to Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

lex ritman

Dear Sir, We had already contact on 31-5-2010. It was about my article about William H. Mounsey. You can find a book of mine mentioned by the Royal Library in The Hague: " Kapitein Robs stormachtige leven". See: www.kb.and fill in: lex ritman. Also on: www.google.com and than the same. There are several reviews there, but of course in Dutch. Do try: www.google.com and fill in: zeelandnet pieter kuhn. Click and click again after reading. The whole site is with my text and name. There are reviews there too. For a check you can mail: redlumrock@zeelandnet.nl Cor Mulder will confirm who I am. You can also phone (working days): 0031703615393 (my publisher for the mentioned book): Uitgeverij Panda. All my books are sold out, so promoting is no use. You can find out that I am not a spammer and that I am not an unreliable source. The moderator who offended me and removed my name as often as possible is: Bob Re-born. Thank you for trying to bring my name back in an article today. I hope he will know the text written here by me. I ask for help, because I think he will not answer me any more. Calling me a spammer and unreliable source was not nice. I worked together with Hans G. Kresse (mentioned by me in several articles).Thank you on forehand. Lex RitmanRomeinsekeizer (talk) 17:09, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I am not querying who you are. I am querying whether Major William Henry Mounsey, a British spy was published independently, or by you. Ben MacDui 12:31, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

My reaction: books published by Antoninus Pius can be found: www.ericdenoorman.nl and click. Than click on: Eric de Noorman (top of page). Than click (left on: literatuur/you have to scroll). Than scroll a while till: Ritmanuitgaven (meaning books written by Lex Ritman). The publisher (mentioned): Antoninus Pius. See the reviews and pictures (of course written in Dutch). Not vanity editions of course, but for members of a foundation. With: www.google.com and fill in: "Kapitein Robs stormachtige leven" 404.001, you can find more books. Scroll and you see pictures again and reviews and a lot of libraries with the blue and red book. Books about Eric de Noorman are for instance in Rotterdam in a library. With: www.kb.nl and fill in: lex ritman, you will find all together three publishers. So at any rate reviews with 5 books with Eric de Noorman and two with Kapitein Rob. Of course I know the publishers. So you cannot say that it is independent. Especially Antoninus Pius was a limited edition done in cooperation with Panda and the heirs of Hans G. Kresse and with consent of the Royal Library (acquisition). One published by the heirs themselves (number 16 of KB). Also especially written for members of the foundation Hans G. Kresse. Of course you can also say that I am the publisher, because it was my initiative. The Mounsey-book is within this scope. So I am not a persistent spammer and unreliable source. Question: is it allowed to write about your own work or excavations?Romeinsekeizer (talk) 14:32, 6 February 2012 (UTC) I think we will stop now. Thank you again192.87.123.13 (talk) 15:53, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

It is only a pity that the article about William H. Mounsey has no mentioning of the main source, meaning my book. I accept that of course192.87.123.13 (talk) 16:30, 6 February 2012 (UTC)RomeinsekeizerRomeinsekeizer (talk) 16:33, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

The odd dram

I noticed your note at FAC. What do you favor? I'm currently meandering through a Lagavulin 16 and a Bunnahabhain 12. Lovely, both. --Laser brain (talk) 17:43, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Lagavulin is my favourite Islay malt, and The Macallan from Speyside, although my budget rarely stretches beyond the fat bird. Isle of Jura is a treat too. In all honesty I'm not that much of an afficionado, but I receive a small retainer from the tourist board to ham up the Scottish image.:) Ben MacDui 17:57, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Ritman

Last message. No need to reply. See: www.google.com (images): "lex ritman" books (click).Also: www.google.com (internet): "lex ritman" trouw. And of course: click again. Review in newspaper. I understand now what a vanity book is. "Mounsey" is not a vanity book. It is a co-production.Romeinsekeizer (talk) 12:24, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

I said sorry to Bob Re-born. I was focused on writing about my research.Romeinsekeizer (talk) 14:28, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Ritman(2)

Dear Sir, I would be happy when you remove: lex ritman, Ritman and Ritman(2). Than I can start again according to the rules, that I didnot completely understand. Sorry for that. Of course it is only a request. Thank you for all your helpRomeinsekeizer (talk) 14:04, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

MSU Interview

Dear Ben,

My name is Jonathan Obar user:Jaobar, I'm a professor in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University and a Teaching Fellow with the Wikimedia Foundation's Education Program. This semester I've been running a little experiment at MSU, a class where we teach students about becoming Wikipedia administrators. Not a lot is known about your community, and our students (who are fascinated by wiki-culture by the way!) want to learn how you do what you do, and why you do it. A while back I proposed this idea (the class) to the community HERE, were it was met mainly with positive feedback. Anyhow, I'd like my students to speak with a few administrators to get a sense of admin experiences, training, motivations, likes, dislikes, etc. We were wondering if you'd be interested in speaking with one of our students.

So a few things about the interviews:

• Interviews will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
• Interviews can be conducted over skype (preferred), IRC or email. (You choose the form of communication based upon your comfort level, time, etc.)
• All interviews will be completely anonymous, meaning that you (real name and/or pseudonym) will never be identified in any of our materials, unless you give the interviewer permission to do so.
• All interviews will be completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to say yes to an interview, and can say no and stop or leave the interview at any time.
• The entire interview process is being overseen by MSU's institutional review board (ethics review). This means that all questions have been approved by the university and all students have been trained how to conduct interviews ethically and properly.

Bottom line is that we really need your help, and would really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. If interested, please send me an email at obar@msu.edu (to maintain anonymity) and I will add your name to my offline contact list. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can post your name HERE instead.

If you have questions or concerns at any time, feel free to email me at obar@msu.edu. I will be more than happy to speak with you.

Thanks in advance for your help. We have a lot to learn from you.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Obar --Jaobar (talk) 15:48, 8 February 2012 (UTC)