User talk:Sj

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Welcome! Please leave me a message.

~ talk pages need talk pages! sj

Esteemed visitor : talk may be refactored, excerpted, summarized, archived, or deleted.

Carpe diem! --the Mgmt. (optimistic thoughts)


P	ropter fratres meos,
	et proximos meos...
Leave me a message! Or visit my user page. Northern Elephant Seals fighting for territory and mates, Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, CA

1 2009
2 early 2010
3 late 2010
4 2011
5 Since Oct

[edit] 2009

2009 highlights.

[edit] OLPC article in Wikipedia

+sj+, you wrote: > Have you looked at the XO map recently? It's been getting a lot of attention! > I'm hoping to update the OLPC article and get it to FA status; would appreciate your help. +sj + 20:47, 2 December 2008 (UTC) As I'm only an occasional wikipedian, I only found today your message.

Was any progress made in getting the OLPC article to FA status? I guess a first step would be to get it to GA status ? I would be happy to help you progressing this.

I think I've made a big part of the edits of sections Technology, Distribution and Deployment during 2008, although often not being logged in, from a structure and content point of view. I'm a real beginner as far as the MoS, GA status and FA status are concerned: in fact I'm discovering these concepts just today, but I'm interested to learn. I've been working as Quality Manager in an IT consulting firm for some time, so I think I have (some of) the required competencies for the job. However, I'm not a native English speaker/writer, so a final review would surely be welcome :-).

Just leave me a message to let me know where you suggest to start. Luc Bollen (talk) 20:22, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject Years

WikiProject Years is currently developing a guideline for the inclusion of events in year articles, especially more recent years such as 2009 (see Wikipedia:WikiProject Years/Recent Year guidlines draft). Please have a look and offer suggestions. Recent year articles are consistently among the most edited on Wikipedia and are surrounded with controversy, as everyone believes their event is "notable enough" to be listed in the main year article. We need objective criteria which will (hopefully) alleviate the controversy a bit.

Important policy discussions took place in January 2009 at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) and at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Years.

Deilvered by §hepBot (Disable) at 01:33, 11 January 2009 (UTC) on request of Wrad

[edit] Greetings from an old Dudley Friend, Justin White

Sammy --

It has been a long time! Shoot me back an email to let me know you're all right. I have been out of communication with most people in my life but have begun to reconnect. The world will be oodles better for it!

Justin White (THE:DANE) justinwhite2000 gmail

Sure enough. Let's stay in touch! -- are you coming back to Cambridge this June?? +sj + 23:25, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wikivoices and you

Unbeknownst to you, you've been co-opted into a 'Wikivoices' 'vodcast'! - we've been running podcasts for about a year, and I'm now interested in dipping my toe into the whole 'vodcasting' thing - you no doubt recall giving this interview last year, and I've been in touch with the creator who's happy to release it CC licensed, and I thought it would be a great fit for a bit of an experiment into 'vodcasting' here on the wiki!

We crossed paths briefly when I sought to have a chat with you around the board elections, and it's partly because you seem to be such a wiki-involved, and wonderful kind of chap that I'm afriad I didn't swing by for permission ahead of time here (still, easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right?) - I think the interview is fantastic, and you communicated some really important points clearly and succinctly - so thanks for giving it, and huge thanks in advance for forming part of the first-ever-in-the-whole-world on-wiki vodcast!

If you're up for an audio conversation at some point before too long, it'd be great to have you on the 'show' too :-) cheers, Privatemusings (talk) 05:14, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

ps. it's on the Community portal too :-) Privatemusings (talk) 05:15, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

[edit] notes

Aliceyue aka silu | recentchangescamp rfd

I've just returned from Haiti, having visited schools in Port Au Prince and environs run by a dedicated service organization, Ananda Marga (AMURT). A colleague and I will be returning later this year as volunteers to run workshops for the teaching staffs of these schools. A number of these schools seem to be perfect candidates for receiving low-cost laptops because of their stability, organization, and good security. And the school directors are excited by the possibilities of this program as well as computer savvy. Although I've just read that OLPC has discontinued deploying their laptops, I'm wondering if there is any way you can help us request 100 laptops (for two classes in each of two schools).

Thank you.

Toby Horowitz 67.100.107.66 (talk) 14:34, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Hello Toby, there are a number of schools already involved in Haiti, mainly through the major government initiative; have you seen the work that Tim Falconer has done with his group at the Waveplace institute? There may be a way for your schools to get involved with an existing program. If you create an account here (did you mean to log in?) or give me some way to follow up with you, I can send more details. +sj + 08:12, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I hope your schools are alright after the horrific quake... I know many of ours have collapsed. Wish there were more details right now. +sj+ 01:27, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit] What's notable in the future?

As a member of the WikiProject Years, could you please contribute to this discussion? Thank you. ––bender235 (talk) 18:29, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

the future is just the past with a different POV. the same question applies to years past. +sj + 00:43, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Account creation tool

I've just applied to use the account creation tool. +sj + 00:42, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

I've approved your account so you should be able to access the tool. Please review WP:ACC/G before acting on any requests and feel free to ask questions on my talk page or in #wikipedia-en-accounts ^connect. - Rjd0060 (talk) 00:03, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

[edit] OCL

We had a long discussion about codgering at RCC this year! I was advocating for the return of OCL. You read my mind! -- phoebe / (talk to me) 01:01, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

[edit] outline-of-knowledge

Wikipedia:WikiProject_Outline_of_knowledge -- phoebe / (talk to me) 22:13, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

This category does not look very reader-friendly. Please consider splitting off a subcategory with draft outlines. In this way, the category screen, showing only the article space outlines, will become uncluttered, while the drafts will be on a lower level. They will be moved "up" as they are released to article space. --Zlerman (talk) 03:09, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

No need. We'll be moving all those outlines to article space starting immediately. It's time to shake things up and shift this project into hyperdrive. The Transhumanist 19:46, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree with this. I also wonder if starting the outlines project with countries is the most helpful thing -- since country pages are already quite well outlined (you're moving from a level-3 outline to a level-2 outline, perhaps; but most topic articles are only a level-5 outline of the subject, where the benefits of a higher-order outline are more immediately obvious). I know you've been doing this for many moons, so are not about to change, but I'd like to see more effort go into pages like the outlines of science... +sj + 23:50, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

I've moved the outlines to article space.

Here's a convenient list you can use WP:LINKY on to access and edit these quickly. Please copy the list's link to the top of your talk page so that you can access it easily.

There has been growing pressure on me to write up the administrative pages for outlines - their instructions, guidelines, etc. Therefore, I'm now in the process of composing these. Fortunately, it is mostly a matter of gathering material from messages I've written to you guys over the past year. Still, this is taking up most of my time, and I will be buried in these for the foreseeable future.

The next big task after the government branches sections are cleaned up is link support for the outlines.

You mentioned that "You can manage renames quite effectively with a script, and have it take minutes, not hours". Please teach me how to do this (please post such help to my talk page). I would love to take a look at scripts that do this. Can you point them out or email them to me?

Thank you. The Transhumanist 22:52, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: There are several people I know of besides me who would be very interested in how to do this. I've CC'd this message to them (Juliancolton, thehelpfulone, Robert Skyhawk, and NuclearWarfare). I will pass along to them any know-how you provide. You have yourself an audience. :) -TT

You...can...rename...pages...with a script? NuclearWarfare dies of shock. Please tell me how, oh wise one :) NuclearWarfare _(Talk) 23:44, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

It might be listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Scripts, but I didn't find anything at a quick glance. –Juliancolton ^Tropical ^Cyclone 00:16, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

I guess I should mention the python script of pywikipedia - movepages.py. This will probably be script that can be used so long as you have installed python and pywikipedia, although it will require a bot task, if it can reach such speeds as it can run automatically. Sorry I didn't mention this earlier ;) The Helpful One 18:10, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I was thinking of using a pywikipediabot. There's also maintenance/moveBatch.php which can act on a textfile containing pairs of article titles... which is itself not to hard to scriptably update with a search-and-replace. +sj + 05:32, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Further discussion archived at User talk:Sj/OOK.

[edit] Adoptee

Hi, it was suggested to me that I explore the adoptees program and I think your interests fit with my current project. Just wanted to introduce myself to start and see if you are still available for help. Ward.Allen (talk) 22:29, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you Sj, I have initiated the change thanks to you. Once it's done I look forward to having a little more fun with things but I was hoping you could help me with my ongoing problem in the meantime. I am trying add a reference to the wiki I have created. It is an employee newsletter from a hospital network released by their public relations. There is no copyright on it. Even in the absence of copyright, I phoned them and got full permission for use here. This document is a .pdf. I uploaded the pdf but when I click on it it doesnt work.....it almost like adobe reader cant recognize it or it cant access the whole file......what can I do? Ward.Allen (talk) 17:57, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] WWE guy

Hey SJ - the WWE guy is at it again. Before it get's CSD'd do you want to move this to his userpage... seems sad for his first three articles all to be shot down. JCutter (talk) 23:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Nozio

Hi SJ, you removed the CSD tag from Nozio... the person who originally put the CSD tag on the article has restored it (and nomed it for deletion.) I personally am not seeing the reason not to speedy the article. Could you comment on the articles talk page? Generally I am opposed to restoring CSD tags once they have been removed.---I'm Spartacus! ^{NO! I'm Spartacus!} 23:54, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Giambiopia

Excuse me, could you please reinstate Giambiopia. It is not offensive in anyway and is a nowhere near an attempt at vandalism. What does bjaodlin style mean? WendyGoatsGruff33 (talk) 16:10, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the previous statement regarding Giambipia. There is no way that this would constitute vandalism while you allow pages for White Power and blatant racism.Muffintops69 (talk) 17:10, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] for you.

.... Happy Passover! -- phoebe / (talk to me) 05:18, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Re:nah

I'm confused. When you say "conversions"... that's in regard of... what? :)--Fluence (talk) 21:02, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Mmm... was that about the tabs and interface stuff? If it was, I worked that out on the Betawiki translator. Really easy and practical. The mainspaces tabs were modified by Siebrand I think. For example, "Category" was successfully changed to "Neneneuhcāyōtl", so now writing ":Neneuhcāyōtl:Something" is understood immediatly as a category. But that's basically all I went to ask. So, Betawiki (I think now it's called TranslateWiki) was source for all :)--Fluence (talk) 21:17, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Deleteing the page for hoop angelz

Dear Sj,

       Hoop Angelz is a website exactly like Club Penguin,but it is not completed yet. Latrobe 12

Excitement (mine at least) is building as we approach the Super Huge Expansion, during which notices will be placed on thousands of subject talk pages and their corresponding WikiProjects (see below concerning which ones). Though not all on the same day! - this will take place over a period of weeks or months, because it's best not to open the flood gates all at once.

[edit] User:Sj/Survey

I was wondering if you ever published any results? --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 15:09, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

We never promoted that variation of survey. The questions were used as background for future surveys, however. I don't recall that a single full survey was submitted save by the people working on the questions... +sj+ 02:22, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Attalus I at FAR

I have nominated Attalus I for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Cirt (talk) 07:05, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Boston event

It depends on the date. I'm not in Boston right now and won't be back until this Monday at the earliest. But I would very much like that since it looks like I am going to be unable to attend the New York conference. JoshuaZ (talk) 05:27, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Confirm that I'll be in Boston this Monday. So any date after that will work for me. JoshuaZ (talk) 15:11, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Coworking space in Boston!

Hello Sj,

I recently came across the Boston Coworking forum and noticed your interest in coworking space. I am the Marketing/Office Manager at WorkBar, a coworking office in Boston. I wanted to contact you and let you know about WorkBar and let you know that not only do we have plenty of space available but that we are also looking to work with local Boston meetups and organizations who may be looking for a place to host events. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to email me at evona@workbarboston.com and also, refer to our website: http://workbarboston.com/

Best,

Evona

Awesome, thanks Evona! I'm definitely interested and will get in touch. There are a lot of hackspaces opening up, which is excellent; now if only we can bring another few dozen cafes into the city and put a bit of effort into our parks and green spaces, it will be a much more pleasant place to meet and work. +sj+

[edit] Newton articles

Hallo SJ,

I was just now looking at some of the WP articles on Isaac Newton. It seems that, way back in 2004, they were in some way split up, very likely with some plan in mind. Your name looks as if it was attached to the initial set-up of those split parts.

Revisions have developed over the years, and in a way that doesn't necessarily relate very much to whatever any initial plan was. While in WP that's not a controlling consideration I guess, it would be interesting to have your reminiscence -- if you care to say anything about it -- and to know what your thoughts were or are, for a sensible development of this subject-matter.

I'm not sure at this stage how much I can do or when: I've put a bit into a few related articles. There clearly are several things in the I.N. pages that could usefully be updated (or even cry out for updates), and the tags in the articles themselves say that much.

Anyhow, any views of yours would be of interest here.

Regards , Terry

Hiya Terry, there were both short and long forms of the article way back when. The detailed bio was split into a set of specific topical articles and merged with Isaac Newton (combining the section struvture and adding for details see links at the top of relevant sections). +sj+

The simple plan was to provide space for Newton biographers to add extensive detail without making the overview biography too elaborate. Don't be shy about rearranging the smaller articles, or recombining them to better effect. +sj+ 13:29, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Hiya SJ, thanks for the info -- noted. Terry0051 (talk) 14:00, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki-Conference New York Update: 3 weeks to go

For those of you who signed up early, Wiki-Conference New York has been confirmed for the weekend of July 25-26 at New York University, and we have Jimmy Wales signed on as a keynote speaker.

There's still plenty of time to join a panel, or to propose a lightning talk or an open space session. Register for the Wiki-Conference here. And sign up here for on-wiki notification. All are invited!
This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 03:21, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Happy {{subst:PAGENAME}}'s Day!

[[User:{{subst:PAGENAME}}]] has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian,
and therefore, I've officially declared today as {{subst:PAGENAME}}'s day!
For being such a beautiful person and great Wikipedian,
enjoy being the Star of the day, dear {{subst:PAGENAME}}!

Peace,
Rlevse
~~~~~

A record of your Day will always be kept here.

For a userbox you can add to your userbox page, see User:Rlevse/Today/Happy Me Day! and my own userpage for a sample of how to use it. — Rlevse • Talk • 00:06, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

You are a sweetheart; I really appreciate it, Rlevse. Thank you. +sj+

[edit] Wiki-Conference New York panel

We have moved your "Barnraisings and cross-wiki collaborations" panel from slot B-3 on Sunday to slot B-2 on Saturday, to avoid a scheduling conflict. Thanks!--Pharos (talk) 17:28, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

BTW, it would also be good if you folks could make some preparations among yourselves about how best to work together on the panel. I'll be sending you all an e-mail on this soon.--Pharos (talk) 17:30, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] not getting emails

Hi Sj,

I'm not receiving emails from you, but I noticed in my(?) userpage comments you said you'd sent me a message - was that an email? Or did you message me somewhere here? Apologies for being on the low end of the wiki learning curve right now. Thanks for your help and support,

--Nina (Nina Paley (talk • contribs) 14:41, 23 July 2009 (UTC))

Hi, I sent an email - let me see if it came back. Better to use your userpage, however, so the discussion is on-wiki for others to jump in - I responded further there. +sj+ 14:53, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Courtesy of Rich Farmbrough, here's a list of editors by their edit counts over the previous month (8th June to 8th July).

It would be nice to get the most prolific Wikipedians involved with WP:WPOOK. If you can, find a good reason to contact one or more of them, and invite them to work on a relevant outline - or all 500!

[edit] Facilitated community discussions

Thanks for your kind feedback. Would you be interested in starting a new Wikiproject with me? I'm thinking of calling it Wikipedia:Community council and its mission would be to start writing the issue pages as I've described them. The council would be open to all, and have a fairly strict code of conduct on how the pages were to be written. Along with writing the issue pages would be the explicit goals of creating order out of chaos by using a creative problem solving approach; focusing discussion; encouraging collaboration; and reducing noise. Hopefully the council would become the main focus of attention for dealing with difficult issues. The work of the council would not be to discuss and decide issues, but rather to document and organize what has already been done. Project members would help organize and write issue pages with links to discussions, essays, etc... that have already taken place. It would document and collect the work of the community. The project would also link the appropriate issue page to any relevant discussion about the issue, whether it be on the talk page of an article, a policy, a guideline, or a user. Gradually, the Community Council could expand more into facilitation. As I've envisioned facilitation, it will only work if the issue pages are created and the community focuses their attention on an issue to one centralized place. Since Wikipedia only changes in small incremental improvements, the first step is to start creating the issue pages. Does this sound like something you would be interested in working on with me? Let me know. Thanks. -- ☑ SamuelWantman 07:17, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Your point about finding the right name is right on the money. While I'm just not sure of the perfect name, I'll stay away from anything that would imply decision-making authority. So I'm ok with Wikipedia:Community Facilitation, and it should be very clear that it is a wikiproject, open to all, with no decision-making power. Along with creating that page for organizing the project, there should be Wikipedia:Community Issues, which would be a centralized directory of issue pages, each issue having its own subpage. Talk pages should be organized the same way as article talk pages, so the discussions on the issue's talk page should be ONLY about the writing of the issue page, and not about discussing the issue itself. The issue page can link to discussions elsewhere and summarize them in a NPOV way. If community members knows how to write an article, they'll know how to write an issue page. The first order of business for the wikiproject should be writing the issue pages, and as that work progresses, there can be discussion on the best ways to help facilitate the community decision making process.

I'm going to move my user page proposal to Wikipedia:Community Facilitation, adapt it into a wikiproject, and also move this discussion to Wikipedia talk:Community Facilitation. If the links are blue, join me there to continue this conversation. -- ☑ SamuelWantman 20:49, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Signpost: 27 July 2009

From the editor: Welcome to the build-your-own edition of the Signpost
Board elections: Board of Trustees elections draw 18 candidates for 3 seats
Wiki-Conference: Wikimedians and others gather for Wiki-Conference New York
Wikipedia Academy: Volunteers lead Wikipedia Academy at National Institutes of Health
News and notes: Things that happened in the Wikimedia world
Wikipedia in the news: Assorted news coverage of Wikipedia
Discussion report: Discussion Reports and Miscellaneous Articulations
WikiProject report: WikiProject Oregon
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation
Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by -- Tinu Cherian BOT - 12:57, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] We're working on something special...

...to award Buaidh for all his hard work.

It's at User:Penubag/Sandbox3.

But it's not done yet. Feel free to help improve it.

I'm hoping that everyone involved with the WP:WPOOK will sign it (please sign without a timestamp).

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 23:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks for signing up!

It is nice to know that I'm not alone. I'm going to post something about the project that is a bit more public soon, but first I'd like to feel assured that the project won't be misinterpreted. It is hard to avoid controversy these days. If you can, please look over the project page and make whatever improvements you can think of. If we can attract a small percentage of the people who like to complain about the way things are we will be a mighty force. Thanks. -- ☑ SamuelWantman 02:22, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

You are not! I left notes on some related threads -- though when you're taken with a new idea, everything seems related, hein? -- on wiki-en, WP:PEREN, and the discussion about a 'development council' (an idea that really just wants people to start talking about WP:Issues and avoiding getting derailed). We need a few more people to sign up, and then you might want to post about this to a few central discussion forums. +sj+ 14:40, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] who can vote?

I get a “Sorry, you are not in the predetermined list of users authorised to vote in this election.” message. —jacobolus (t) 12:26, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Nevermind. Apparently I have to go to special:securepoll from en.wikipedia rather than from meta. —jacobolus (t) 12:28, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Facilitated discussion

Transhumanist, you are among other things talented at facilitating discussions in an unusual way -- through your energy and enthusiasm :-) I'd appreciate your input on the Community facilitation project, which among other things aims to maintain a set of long-term discussion pages at WP:Issues.

Regards, +sj+ 15:00, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Seems redundant to the Village pump.

Unfortunately, User:Dbachmann is waging a war against outlines. He failed at merging them, so now he's lobbying to move them to portal space, but he's using all manner of tactics. False accusations, posting arguments directly on guideline pages, etc. He strikes in a flurry of activity every month or so.

I'm going to be preoccupied for the foreseeable future with this conflict.

I'm sorry I can't be of help.

The Transhumanist 21:27, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: For an example of how this guy twists things, see User talk:Dbachmann#Outlines.

[edit] OOK collaboration: Outline of knowledge (eom)

Delivered by –Juliancolton | ^Talk at 21:42, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Signpost: 3 August 2009

News and notes: WMF elections, strategy wiki, museum partnerships, and much more
Wikipedia in the news: Dispute over Rorschach test images, and more
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation
Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 06:13, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] 2012 Election Need Your Feedback

I noticed you were a regular editor on the 2008 election page. Myself and other editors are odds on some edits we are trying to make to the page. Since you have already been involved in probably similar discussion, we would greatly appreciate hearing your feedback on the 2012 election discussion page under the Republicans and Ruled Out discussions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:United_States_presidential_election,_2012#Republicans.3F

David1982m (talk • contribs) 20:03, 4 August 2009 (UTC).

(I do not have much to say here... it simply needed solid mediation. –SJ+)

[edit] Wikipedia Signpost: 10 August 2009

Special story: Tropenmuseum to host partnered exhibit with Wikimedia community
News and notes: Tech news, strategic planning, BLP task force, and more
Wikipedia in the news: Shrinking community, GLAM-Wiki, and more
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 05:36, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Congrats

Congrats, SJ! I think you'll do a bang-up job on the board. Raul654 (talk) 15:34, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Congratulations. I would issue congratulations in person but I'm not going to be able to make the meetup tomorrow. JoshuaZ (talk) 02:46, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Signpost: 17 August 2009

From the editor: Where should the Signpost go from here?
Radio review: Review of Bigipedia radio series
News and notes: Three million articles, Chen, Walsh and Klein win board election, and more
Wikipedia in the news: Reports of Wikipedia's imminent death greatly exaggerated, and more
Discussion report: Discussion Reports and Miscellaneous Articulations
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation
Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 04:12, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Adopt-a-User

I noticed that you're still listed in the Adopters area. With your new responsibilities, are you still available?

I'm RoyGoldsmith and I met you at the Wiki-Conference in July. I'm a fairly new editor, only active since March. Being a newbie myself, I possibly overcompensate by being extremely forgiving to other newcomers.

By and large I get around Wikipedia OK. But I have an occassional question, mostly on either navagation in the wiki itself or my wanting advice on how to handle a specific situation.

So, do you have time to adopt a new user? --RoyGoldsmith (talk) 11:48, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Articles for deletion nomination of Eyetap

I have nominated Eyetap, an article that you created, for deletion. I do not think that this article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and have explained why at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Eyetap. Your opinions on the matter are welcome at that same discussion page; also, you are welcome to edit the article to address these concerns. Thank you for your time.
Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. — Dæ dαlus ^Contribs 22:33, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Signpost: 24 August 2009

News and notes: $500,000 grant, Wikimania, Wikipedia Loves Art winners
Wikipedia in the news: Health care coverage, 3 million articles, inkblots, and more
Discussion report: Discussion Reports and Miscellaneous Articulations
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation
Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 06:20, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed deletion of 0 A.D. (game)

The article 0 A.D. (game) has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

WP:CRYSTAL article about an unreleased game; lacking in independent secondary reliable sources that would establish notability.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{dated prod}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{dated prod}} will stop the Proposed Deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The Speedy Deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and Articles for Deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. EyeSerene^talk 11:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Articles for deletion nomination of 0 A.D. (game)

I have nominated 0 A.D. (game), an article that you created, for deletion. I do not think that this article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and have explained why at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/0 A.D. (game). Your opinions on the matter are welcome at that same discussion page; also, you are welcome to edit the article to address these concerns. Thank you for your time.
Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. EyeSerene^talk 08:14, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Talk:List of digital library projects‎

Your comments would be appreciated here. DGG ( talk ) 04:57, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Speedy deletion nomination of Rodovid

Maronbonbon (talk) 04:29, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

[edit] hey SJ

it was nice meeting you tonight. you said this was the best way to contact you :) hope to talk to you again soon. -- julia 140.247.43.112 (talk) 02:45, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

It's a very reliable way to contact me -- but if you don't have an account here or leave a way to reach you, it can be tricky to reply! <goes to look for a supplementary email> +sj+ 22:28, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Raptor Education Group

Nice work! Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 06:54, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. If only we had as many bot-enabled people working through WP:Cleanup as we do people speedying pages... +sj+ 07:20, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

Hello, Sj. You have new messages at Rjanag's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

[edit] Talkpage reversions and ANI discussoin

Hello, Mr. Blue Eyes.

Why do you revert my discussion page?

Relly Komaruzaman Talk 11:59, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Hi Relly! See below.

May I please inquire as to your rationale for having reverted a recent edit to my Talk page, in an apparent attempt to prevent people (me?) from seeing the message another user had posted there? I would prefer to hear your explanation for such a seemingly odd action on your part, before I came to my conclusions about it. Thank you. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 12:05, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for asking, Kevin. A single-purpose IP started contributing to an ANI discussion about a revert war on the Wikivoices main page. It was not about our Wikivoices interview at all, but the IP spammed all of our talk pages apparently to confuse that discussion. Once I figured out that the ANI discussion was not in fact related to that event, I reverted the talkpage spam so that you wouldn't all waste the same effort.

If you want to discuss the Wikivoices episode (which I am also quite miffed isn't public yet) the right place to do so is at Wikipedia talk:Wikivoices#WMF_Board_candidates_session. Cheers, +sj+ 22:13, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Interestingly, the user who was editing via that IP address takes exception to your claims, as evidenced at its talk page. I'd be interested to read more about your side of the issue once you review that page.--otherl left 17:27, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

[edit] CF&I

Hi Sj,

I was out of town for a while and otherwise busy, so I haven't been doing much. I hate working on things by myself, so I'm happy to see you get involved. I think the next step is to take one issue and really develop it to the point that it becomes a demonstration of what we have in mind. By doing so we will:

Create an example that makes the value of an issue page self evident to anyone who reads it.
Work out a format for future issue pages.
Find out what it takes to engage people involved in the issue to contribute to an issue page.
Incorporate what we learn into the guidelines at WP:CF

Do you have an idea for a good perennial issue to start with? Should it be huge, like "Notability" or something small? Who do you think we can get to help us?

Once we have a good example issue developed, I think we should publicize this broadly. -- ☑ SamuelWantman 08:08, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

I think we're on the same page. I'm happy to jump into any issue and help link, write, edit, refactor, etc... I haven't been very active recently, so I don't have an idea of an issue to pick. I'll trust your choice in this. Let me know and I'll be there. -- ☑ SamuelWantman 09:14, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] AfD nomination of Rodovid

An article that you have been involved in editing, Rodovid, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Rodovid. Thank you.
Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. Canstandya (talk) 23:43, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: archives

From the editor: Perspectives from other projects
Special story: Memorial and Collaboration
Bing search: Bing launches Wikipedia search
News and notes: New WMF hire, new stats, and more
Wikipedia in the news: IOC sues over Creative Commons license, Wikipedia at Yale, and more
Dispatches: Sounds
Discussion report: Discussion Reports and Miscellaneous Articulations
WikiProject report: WikiProject Tropical cyclones
Features and admins: Approved this week
Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation
Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:25, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] issues

boy do I have them. Two columns make my head hurt; surely there's bluelinks somewhere for some of those redlinks? And it's not totally clear to me what the focus of that page is.. maybe more of a community portal style would be helpful? -- phoebe / (talk to me) 07:23, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

I'll think about good presentation styles. My instinct is to group by topic :) but there's not so many issues right now. I'm less worried about the difference between blue & redlinks. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 16:30, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] ref breakage

in case you don't read the 'post comments as closely as I do :) interesting sidenote that the 'new' system of references dragonsflight made possible in cite.php (putting ref content in <references/>)is breaking bing's rendering script for articles. As a content reuser you might doublecheck to see if it works with your scripts; I'd be curious. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 16:30, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Mr. Klein

Help save your doppelganger from a dire fate. —mako ๛

[edit] one navbox per article?

I love that this proposal argues that it's data-driven.

[edit] AfD nomination of Oscar van Dillen

An editor has nominated one or more articles which you have created or worked on, for deletion. The nominated article is Oscar van Dillen. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe that the article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion and has explained why in his/her nomination (see also Wikipedia:Notability and "What Wikipedia is not").

Your opinions on whether the article meets inclusion criteria and what should be done with the article are welcome; please participate in the discussion(s) by adding your comments to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Oscar van Dillen. Please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~).

You may also edit the article during the discussion to improve it but should not remove the articles for deletion template from the top of the article; such removal will not end the deletion debate.

FYI--I was not the one who nominated the article, but rather wanted to make sure that some more people who had worked on it were properly notified.--Epeefleche (talk) 10:47, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] order-of-magnitude pictures

That sounds great! This is a project that's been put off indefinitely due to other things happening (the wonderful thing about Wikipedia is that someone else picked up my work and improved it anyways), but I'd love to come to the next meetup (I even live near Davis.). Paul Stansifer 23:00, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] what a pickle

I know a thing or two about pickles... also olives. Meshariffic. Much like the WP:Department directory and editor's index... let's talk making meta useful soon. I want to reply to ongoing discussion w/ something constructive. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 19:53, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

and nice redesign. Did you know that your background image comes up as the tooltip when using WP:POPUPS? An interesting quirk. -- 19:53, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] I am looking for a a "mathematics and physics zealot" oriented Mentor

I am looking for a mentor who is analytic and science oriented, who likes articles with an outline format, with numbers and bullet points to find information for use as a REFERENCE encyclopedia, NOT one who likes expository writing styles written for enjoyment or to be easy to read from start to finsh. HkFnsNGA (talk) 19:21, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Contributions

Dear Samuel:

Happy New Year! Sadly, I've been aware that you have concerns about many of my contributions, simply tagging them "disputable" on the argument that there are no "online sources". I appreciate also your concern to keep Wikipedia for its true purpose, which is most relieving. Anyway, I should explain to you the reasons why so little or anything is found on internet on some of the subjects.

My name is Corrado Trione, and I work for the University of Bologna in Italy. Since 1999 I've been, with a team of 2, trying to save some of Italy's oldest genealogical lines, mainly from Piedmont, and this has been no "online" work, as it might seem in these days, but a matter of going to the parishes and "excavating information". The process has been slow, but gratifying. I'm a member of Italy's Heraldry Association, and my projects have been sponsored by two universities in Italy, one in Turin, where I live. AcademieIT (talk) 18:02, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Based on this, I can only tell you that such tag of "unreliability" is doing a very great deal of damage to the families that were object of my serious research, and I rather ask you to remove them at once, for the best of everyone. I am very concerned about it because I quoted from books accesible to Wikipedia readers (never obscure books), but your charges, as were once against Socrates, are because "no many pages in the internet say anything about them". I ask you to review this as it is now concerning me.

Regards and all my best,

AcademieIT (talk) 18:02, 31 December 2009 (UTC)AcademieIT

Replied on your talk page. +sj+

Thanks Sj! Replied you there too. Now that you are back, I appreciate your concerns and writing. About the problems on the contributions, an editor from the nobility workfield here also raised questions, but I explained him some of what I wrote (citing my online sources) and he had suggested then to remove the conflicting names to avoid further controversy and rewrite the article for cohesion, as it is clear, as you stated, that despite there's little or none online information you can Google with one click, doesn't mean that there aren't enough records on private databases or that the family doesn't exist, or that it is a hoax of mine. Some misleading info led to the creation of an article I regret now, as it won't happen again. I will even merge 2 articles, as it is clear is the same family we are talking about. The names on the page I blanked will be removed from the article as accorded by suggestion of the Wikipedia nobility editor. Only the main names will remain, the ones related to the main trunk and spouses only in the first part (to avoid further conflict). About A. Habsburg-Lothringen, as strangely there's no record of her online (despite she's actually buried in Italy), the editor suggested to remove her titles, and leave only the name. Will keep in touch. Also, if you have any other suggestions, will be glad to read them at User talk:AcademieIT :) AcademieIT (talk) 04:17, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Articles corrected and information disputable has been deleted, according to suggestions. Further comments can be made in the User talk:AcademieIT. AcademieIT (talk) 21:46, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit] early 2010

[edit] Unreferenced BLPs

Hello Sj! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 2 of the articles that you created are tagged as Unreferenced Biographies of Living Persons. The biographies of living persons policy requires that all personal or potentially controversial information be sourced. In addition, to ensure verifiability, all biographies should be based on reliable sources. If you were to bring these articles up to standards, it would greatly help us with the current 204 article backlog. Once the articles are adequately referenced, please remove the {{unreferencedBLP}} tag. Here is the list:

David C. Page - Find sources: "David C. Page" – news · books · scholar · free images
Jenny Preece - Find sources: "Jenny Preece" – news · books · scholar · free images

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 05:18, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Pinball

You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Pinball. — SMcCandlish Talk⇒ ʕ(^Õل^ō)ˀ Contribs. 16:34, 18 January 2010 (UTC) (Using {{Please see}})

[edit] Invitation to Speak at the Massachusetts Library Association's Annual Conference

Hi Sj,

How are you doing? I'm writing you to see if you might be interested in speaking at the Massachusetts Library Association's Annual Conference, which is being held in Hyannis, MA, April 28 - 30. I've been familiar with your work on the OLPC project and through the Internet Archive, and thought it might be very interesting for librarians to hear from you about your views on the need and uses for free and open materials in education and how that fits in with libraries.

I realize this is somewhat out of the blue and I'm not even sure if you do speaking engagements of this sort, but if it is something that might interest you, please contact me at mcolford@bpl.org, or 617-859-2389 and we could discuss this further.

Thanks for your time,
Michael R. Colford
___________________________________________________________
Michael R. Colford | Director, Resource Services/Information Technology
BPL | v 617.859.2389 | f 617.424.8617

To learn more about the Boston Public Library, visit http://www.bpl.org
Download ebooks and audiobooks at http://overdrive.bpl.org —Preceding unsigned comment added by Colford (talk • contribs) 21:25, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello Michael, were you just in Boston for the winter ALA meeting? Barring a schedule conflict I would be glad to speak at the conference. I give a few of those presentations each year; it is my favorite one to give, since I see the role of libraries becoming vastly more important and high-profile as information management becomes part of the daily life of everyone who uses the Internet or a [local, offline] digital library. I will follow up by mail. +sj+ 06:15, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm jealous! -- phoebe / (talk to me) 00:44, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost

News and notes: Fundraiser ends, content contests, image donation, and more

In the news: Financial Times, death rumors, Google maps and more

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:59, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

BLP madness: BLP deletions cause uproar

Births and deaths: Wikipedia biographies in the 20th century

News and notes: Biographies galore, Wikinews competition, and more

In the news: Wikipedia the disruptor?

WikiProject report: Writers wanted! The Wikiproject Novels interviews

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:40, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Reference desk: Wikipedia Reference Desk quality analyzed

News and notes: Usability, 15M articles, Vandalism research award, and more

In the news: Idealizing the Star Spangled Banner, Curious Announcement, and more

WikiProject report: WikiProject Severe Weather

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:42, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 January newsletter

We are half way through round one of the WikiCup. We've had some shakeups regarding late entries, flag changes and early dropouts, but the competition is now established- there will be no more flag changes or new competitors. Congratulations to Sasata (submissions), our current leader, who, at the time of writing, has more listed points than Hunter Kahn (submissions) and TonyTheTiger (submissions) (second and third place respectively) combined. A special well done also goes to Fetchcomms (submissions)- his artcle Jewel Box (St. Louis, Missouri) was the first content to score points in the competition.

Around half of competitors are yet to score. Please remember to submit content soon after it is promoted, so that the judges are able to review entries. 64 of the 149 current competitors will advance to round 2- if you currently have no points, do not worry, as over half of the current top 64 have under 50 points. Everyone needs to get their entries in now to guarantee their places in round 2! If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, and you hope to get it promoted before the end of the round, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, by email or on IRC. Good luck! J Milburn, Garden, iMatthew and The ed17 Delivered by JCbot (talk) at 00:20, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Round one is over, and round two has begun! Congratulations to the 64 contestants who have made it through, but well done and thank you to all contestants who took part in our first round. A special well done goes to Sasata (submissions), our round one winner (1010 points), and to Hunter Kahn (submissions) and TonyTheTiger (submissions), who were second and third respectively (640 points/605 points). Sasata was awarded the most points for both good articles (300 points) and featured articles (600 points), and TonyTheTiger was awarded the most for featured topics (225 points), while Hunter Kahn claimed the most for good topics (70). Staxringold (submissions) claimed the most featured lists (240 points) and featured pictures (35 points), Geschichte (submissions) claimed the most for Did you know? entries (490 points), Jujutacular (submissions) claimed the most for featured sounds (70 points) and Candlewicke (submissions) claimed the most for In the news entries (40 points). No one claimed a featured portal or valued picture.

Credits awarded after the end of round one but before round two may be claimed in round two, but remember the rule that content must have been worked on in some significant way during 2010 by you for you to claim points. The groups for round two will be placed up shortly, and the submissions' pages will be blanked. This round will continue until 28 April, when the top two users from each group, as well as 16 wildcards, will progress to round three. Please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup; thank you to all doing this last round, and particularly to those helping at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, by email or on IRC. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox, iMatthew and The ed17 Delivered by JCbot (talk) at 00:53, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

[edit] referential

re:

[edit] Sock

Just so you'd know, Eddstonham (talk · contribs) the editor you were telling me about on my page, he's been indef as a sock of User Eddstonham (talk · contribs). And the article he created (→ Cambridge time traveller ←) was read, verified and tagged by me for CSD under WP:CSD#G11 for its blatant advertising tone and content. I know what I'm doing and I don't usually do this unless I really go through the article's content first before I tag anything for Speedy, his sock User:User Eddstonham apparently taunted me and made some personal attack towards me after I speedied the article page. Nothing personal, I'm just doing my part for the community and Wikipedia. That's all. Cheers and regards! --Dave ^{♠♣♥♦1185♪♫™} 10:44, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

[edit] JPatrickBedell redirect

You speedily deleted a JPatrickBedell redirect with R3, but there's a number of reliable sources that mention it. Can I repost the redirect, or if controversial, where would the discussion be? Galatee (talk) 17:02, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Respectfully, you've replied to the message below mine a day ago now. Could you provide guidance for my request please? Galatee (talk) 02:17, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Hello Galatee, I don't see a link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPatrickBedell from any of those reports. Google suggests that no webpages link to that page. People do link to his userpage, User:JPatrickBedell, which is still there. If you think the particular redirect that was deleted should exist, please explain why on Talk:John Patrick Bedell. I've moved this thread there for context. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/John_Patrick_Bedell

Cheers, –SJ+ 01:35, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

And thank you for the discussion. Galatee (talk) 18:38, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

[edit] FYI

Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Inactive admin email. Ucucha 20:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

That seems appropriately kind and inviting -- both inviting a return and making this a special process to improve security, where adminship can be restored by any crat in the future. –SJ+ 21:50, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: March and April

News and notes: Financial statements, discussions, milestones

In the news: Pentagon shooter used Wikipedia, soon iPhone OS will too

WikiProject report: WikiProject Java

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 03:39, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: A Wikiversity controversy, Wikimedian-in-Residence, image donation, editing contest, WMF jobs

In the news: Studies on collaboration and student usage, Main Page drives traffic to Time.com

Dispatches: GA Sweeps end

WikiProject report: WikiProject Ireland

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 22:08, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia-Books: Wikipedia-Books: Proposed deletion process extended, cleanup efforts

News and notes: Explicit image featured on Wikipedia's main page

In the news: Campaign for video, costs of crowdsourcing, iPhone app, brief headlines

WikiProject report: Percy Jackson Task Force

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 19:31, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Usability rollout, downtime, admin phishing, Wikimania scholarships and more

In the news: Overdue correction, Critical Point of View conference, brief headlines

Sister projects: A handful of happenings

WikiProject report: The WikiProject Bulletin: news roundup and WikiProject Chicago feature

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 19:10, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: New board member, rights elections, April 1st activities, videos

In the news: Wikipedia influences drug terminology, brief headlines

WikiProject report: WikiProject Baseball and news roundup

Features and admins: This week in approvals

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 03:34, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 March

We're half way through round two, and everything is running smoothly. Hunter Kahn (submissions) leads overall with 650 points this round, and heads pool B. TonyTheTiger (submissions) currently leads pool C, dubbed the "Group of Death", which has a only a single contestant yet to score this round (the fewest of any group), as well five contestants over 100 points (the most). With a month still to go, as well as 16 wildcard places, everything is still to play for. Anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Although unrelated to the WikiCup, April sees a Good Article Nominations backlog elimination drive, formulated as a friendly competition with small awards, as the Cup is. Several WikiCup contestants and judges have already signed up, but regular reviewers and those who hope to do more reviewing are more than welcome to join at the drive page. If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox, iMatthew and The ed17 Delivered by JCbot (talk) 22:22, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

Round two is over, and we are down to our final 32. For anyone interested in the final standings (though not arranged by group) this page has been compiled. Congratulations to Hunter Kahn (submissions), our clear overall round winner, and to ThinkBlue (submissions) and Arsenikk (submissions), who were solidly second and third respectively. There were a good number of high scorers this round- competition was certainly tough! Round three begins tomorrow, but anything promoted after the end of round two is eligible for points. 16 contestants (eight pool leaders and eight wildcards) will progress to round four in two months- things are really starting to get competitive. Anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Judge iMatthew has retired from Wikipedia, and we wish him the best. The competition has been ticking over well with minimal need for judge intervention, so thank you to everyone making that possible. A special thank you goes to participants Stone (submissions) and White Shadows (submissions) for their help in preparing for round three. Good luck everyone! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 17:38, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: 12 April 2010

Sanger allegations: Larry Sanger accuses Wikimedia of hosting illegal images

News and notes: Studying German flagged revisions, French library agreement, German court case

In the news: SCOTUS hopeful edited bio, criticism from article subject

WikiProject report: WikiProject Motorcycling

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:43, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Berlin WikiConference, Brooklyn Museum & Google.org collaborations, review backlog removed, 1 billion edits

In the news: Study of featured article quality, Facebook's integration of Wikipedia, and more!

WikiProject report: WikiProject Environment

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 12:56, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

From the team: Introducing Signpost Sidebars

Museums conference: Wikimedians meet with museum leaders

News and notes: Wikimedia announcements, Wikipedia advertising, and more!

In the news: Making sausage, Jimmy Wales on TV, and more!

Sister projects: Milestones, Openings, and Wikinews contest

WikiProject report: WikiProject Gastropods

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 13:20, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

[edit] CSAIL pics

Since you offered, here is the list of MIT CSAIL people who have articles that lack pictures: User:Raul654/CSAIL (I updated it a few moments ago to strike a few people whose articles have gotten pics since I originally compiled the list)

Good hunting. Raul654 (talk) 07:39, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Accessibility chat

Hello sj, we have set up an irc channel #wikimedia-accessibility and an entry page at the Usability wiki (http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accessibility_Initiative). I hope to see you there soon. Cheers, Lecartia (talk) 17:15, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

[edit] For your comment, thanks

Bwa? O_o...apparently talkback templates don't work on here? Silver seren^C 19:40, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Wikimedia Embassy and Wikimania 2010

Hi, I got your message yesterday on meta, going to look into it. Thanks for welcoming me. On a lighter note, I won the Wikimania scholarship and will be going to Poland. Hope to see you there, bye! --Abbasjnr (talk) 05:39, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: 3 May 2010

Book review: Review of The World and Wikipedia

News and notes: iPhone app update, Vector rollout for May 13, brief news

In the news: Government promotes Tamil Wikipedia, and more

WikiProject report: WikiProject U.S. Roads

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 15:39, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

From the editor: Reviewers and reporters wanted

Commons deletions: Porn madness

Book review: Dan O'Sullivan's Wikipedia: a new community of practice?

Wikipedia books launched: Wikipedia books launched worldwide

News and notes: Public Policy and Books for All

In the news: Commons pornography purge, and more

WikiProject report: WikiProject Birds

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 13:21, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Backstage at the British Museum

In the news: In the news

WikiProject report: WikiProject Essays

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 19:39, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 May newsletter

We are half way through round 3, with a little under a month to go. The current overall leader is Sasata (submissions), who has 570 points. He leads pool C. Pools A, B and D are led by Hunter Kahn (submissions), Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) and White Shadows (submissions) respectively. Anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Two of last year's final 8, Theleftorium (submissions) and Scorpion0422 (submissions), have dropped out of the competition, saying they would rather their place went to someone who will have more time on their hands than them next round. On a related note, a special thank you goes to White Shadows (submissions) for his help behind the scenes once again. There is currently a problem with the poster, perhaps caused by the new skin- take a look at this discussion and see if you can help. The competition has continued to tick over well with minimal need for judge intervention, so thank you to everyone making that possible. Good luck to all! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 20:53, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Location of next Boston meetup

There's a geonotice for the June 14 Boston meetup scheduled to begin on May 15 for editors in Massachusetts (see here). On our meetup.com page, you mentioned our get-together will be somewhere in Harvard Square, but I don't believe a specific location was given. Do you have a place in mind? The sooner that's determined and posted, the less confusion there will likely be for newcomers. Cheers, Emw (talk) 20:39, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Is the date for this meetup June 14 or 15? Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston says June 15, but the geonotice says June 14. Tim Pierce (talk) 00:42, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

It is now June 15, since I'm not raound on the 14th and my coorganizer may not be either. I'll try to get the geonotice to update~ –SJ+ 01:46, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Administrators can update the 'BostonWikinotice' message here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Geonotice.js. Emw (talk) 01:53, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Problem fixed, thanks to good folks on IRC. Emw (talk) 02:07, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Could you update the meetup.com page to show that we're meeting at the Grafton Street Pub on June 15 and not Red Bones BBQ on June 14? Best, Emw (talk) 18:54, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Done! –SJ+

[edit] MW 2010 pic

See File:MW2010.jpg Raul654 (talk) 17:31, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Awesome! We did have a great time... –SJ+ 19:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Need your help on something different

Maybe you never come across this, but I'm in need of your help of deleting my contributions on the Lockheed U-2 Spyplane article. I know, it sounded weird because most of the time people argue about how their stuff got deleted and wanted it put back on the wiki. But in my case, as a fed up and frustrated contributor, I wanted to have whatever I wrote and contributed in the last 8 months on the U-2 article to be removed, but the power that be, admins/editors or whomever they are, won't let me.

It all started almost two weeks ago, I floated few ideas in the discussion page about creating a new section, nobody responded, and I took it as no objections raised. I did more research, and put more new info to the article, with proper references and notes. But as soon as I did that, within minutes, it was reverted. So, I started to remove what I wrote, figuring might as well give up and pick things up. By the time I deleted all my stuff from the article, I found that the references number dropped from 53 to 32, and the article byte size reduced by more than 22%. Maybe because seeing the article now missing a big chunk of things, the power that be, came back and said no removal, citing licensing agreement or something.

Today, just few minutes ago, I went to Google to see if others have the similar problem like I have, most(if not all) were about their stuff got deleted. And I learned a new word, deletionists, which I have no doubt you heard of it. In the whole time, nobody questioned the person reverted my editing in the first place, just that I can't remove what I wrote. I know, I'm just a 8 months newbie contributor and can't compare with other editors, admin, or whatever high up people. But I just wish that if I'm not able to support what I write any more on that page, at least give me the right to remove what I wrote, and restore the peace and the article the way it was 8 months ago.

Maybe this is just waste of time, but at least I have to try.Bryan TMF (talk) 00:45, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: 24 May 2010

News and notes: New puzzle globe, feature for admins, Israel's "Wikipedia Bill", unsourced bios declining

WikiProject report: WikiProject Saints

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:32, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Photography: Making money with free photos

News and notes: Wikimedians at Maker Faire, brief news

WikiProject report: WikiProject Zoo

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 22:47, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

From the team: Changes to the Signpost

News and notes: "Pending changes" trial, Chief hires, British Museum prizes, Interwiki debate, and more

In the news: Cancer coverage, cognitive surplus, Wikipedia monarchy, and more

Free Travel-Shirts: "Free Travel-Shirts" signed by Jimmy Wales and others purchasable

WikiProject report: WikiProject Comedy

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 12:28, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Tomorrow's meetup

If the people who've listed themselves here as "planning on being there" or "definitely will try" actually attend tomorrow's meetup, we could have 20 people coming. This includes meetup.com's "Yes" respondee's (but not the "Maybe" crowd). I called Grafton Street yesterday and let them know we'd be coming by with 20 people, plus or minus a few. Emw (talk) 11:49, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Nomination for deletion of Template:WM06banner

Template:WM06banner has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. WOSlinker (talk) 19:50, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Sugar on Nokia

Nokia N810 Running OLPC Sugar as promised. Liorkaplan (talk) 06:27, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Fabulous, thank you. I'll tell Guy I am blogging about it, and hope to see the development continue... (He is amazing and dedicated... but also stubborn once he sets his mind on doing something a particular way :) –SJ+

[edit] The Signpost

News and notes: Pending changes goes live, first state-funded Wikipedia project concludes, brief news

In the news: Hoaxes in France and at university, Wikipedia used in Indian court, Is Wikipedia a cult?, and more

WikiProject report: WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 21:20, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Ran Morin

I've prodded Ran Morin because it's a BLP with no sources. Be sure to provide sources. :) Everard Proudfoot (talk) 19:06, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Fixed :) –SJ+

I think it's a drastic step to make sure that people provide sources instead of just letting them go. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 23:35, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost: 21 June 2010

Sister projects: Picture of the Year results declared on Wikimedia Commons

News and notes: Collaboration with the British Museum and in Serbia, Interaction with researchers, and more

In the news: Wikipedia better than Britannica, Pending changes as a victory of tradition, and more

WikiProject report: WikiProject U2

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 19:37, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Objectionable material: Board resolution on offensive content

News and notes: 2010–15 plan, Smithsonian outreach, Teaching Wikipedia, brief news

In the news: Wikipedia controlled by pedophiles, left-wing trolls, Islamofascists and Communist commandos?

Public Policy Initiative: Introducing the Public Policy Initiative

WikiProject report: Talking with WikiProject Ships

Features and admins: Approved this week

Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 22:08, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] July meetup

Given that we had about 15 people for the June meetup in Cambridge, would it be better to find a more spacious place than Red Bones for the July meetup? I'd like to put up a geonotice, which would start on July 1. Cheers, Emw (talk) 23:01, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston mentions Le's Restaurant, but http://www.meetup.com/wikipedia-5/ mentions Pho Pasteur. The address seems the same, but the different names may cause confusion. Emw (talk) 17:20, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Jeffrey Peters' donation (sic)

Sj, there is a lot of debate on the Did You Know queue over Jeffrey's donation of two articles. Jeffrey has made over 200 donations to DYK and no one questions the quality of his work as acceptable. However he has been banned by Arbcom. I understand in the past that other banned users have only been able to supply work to en: after gaining special permission. I have read the exchange at wikimedia, but it is not clear if you realised that he was banned from en:. I am looking here I have no "history" with Mr Peters but I understand that he was banned despite his valuable contributions. Would you care to comment on what we should do in the case of a banned user. Victuallers (talk) 22:49, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, Victuallers. As I replied on some of the DYK discussions, I don't think the ban status of the author of a work should matter, if the work is freely licensed, and well cited and verifiable. I think W:BAN as currently written is clear here. I see no need to either glorify a banned author or boycott their writing. (And I don't understand why people refer to this as a 'donation' any more than all of our work on the projects is freely donated.) –SJ+

[edit] late 2010

[edit] "Distributed Wikipedia" proposals

While putting together a little collection of historical proposals to replace Wikipedia's wiki structure by some kind of distributed revision control (a list I had been musing for a while and was now prompted to put online by the "Federating Wikipedia" talk on Sunday), I noticed that you seem to have been interested in this topic, too (at least back in 2005). So maybe you'd like to take a look: User:HaeB/Timeline of distributed Wikipedia proposals. Regards, HaeB (talk) 01:54, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Hey WP:GLAM/SI opportunity

Recently we have been working with the Smithsonian Institution to create workshops between local user communities and Smithsonian employees in an effort to better cover their collections and material on their websites and create content related to their expertise (which are all sadly lacking). Most of our focus right now is in the DC Area but the Smithsonian Coordinator asked if we had a way to interact with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA. I noticed you are pretty active in organizing meetups up there. Would you be interested in helping me find some users in your area to work with them? Would you mind me giving her your e-mail? Sadads (talk) 17:49, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I look forward to hearing more about it. Of course you can share my email and phone # - they are published on my userpage. I'd love to help you turn your work connecting SI and DC Wikipedians into a general resource for other groups in the DC area as well -- there's an ongoing LOC project that needs some attention too which came up during our spring Museums and the Web event. –SJ+ 00:22, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Eventually, this will need a full strength chapter with regular meetings to support general outreach in the area. I am going to keep prodding for user support on this end and the Smithsonian is really excited. I also briefly stepped in to the Local public library system today and talked to one of their Librarians and he seemed very interested in doing stuff to. I hope not to stretch myself to thin and get some more people pushing and prodding. I will share your e-mail name and phone number with the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian coordinator asked that we use the same project space, and I agree, so if you start planning stuff, keep us informed on glam, Thanks. Sadads (talk) 01:14, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I told the Campus ambassadors for WP:UPP that I would be putting them in contact with you for this as soon as we get their username stuff together, Sadads (talk) 17:22, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, wrong acronym WP:USPP :)Sadads (talk) 10:49, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 July newsletter

We are half-way through our penultimate round, and nothing is yet certain. Pool A, currently led by Sasata (submissions) has ended up the more competitive, with three contestants ( Sasata (submissions), Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) and TonyTheTiger (submissions)) scoring over 500 points already. Pool B is led by Casliber (submissions), who has also scored well over 500. The top two from each pool, as well as the next four highest scorers regardless of pool, will make it through to our final eight. As ever, anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Planning has begun for the 2011 WikiCup, with open discussions concerning scoring and flags for next year's competition. Contributions to those discussions would be appreciated, especially concerning the flags, as next year's signups cannot begin until the flag issue has been resolved. Signups will hopefully open at some point in this round, with discussion about possible changing in the scoring/process opening some time afterwards.

Earlier this round, we said goodbye to Hunter Kahn (submissions), who has bowed out to spend more time on the book he is authoring with his wife. We wish him all the best. In other news, the start of this round also saw some WikiCup awards sent out by Suomi Finland 2009 (submissions). We appreciate his enthusiasm, and contestants are of course welcome to award each other prizes as they see fit, but rest assured that we will be sending out "official" awards at the end of the competition. If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 22:47, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki-Conference NYC (2nd annual)

Our 2nd annual Wiki-Conference NYC has been confirmed for the weekend of August 28-29 at New York University.

[edit] The Wikipedia Signpost

News and notes: Canadian political edits, Swedish royal wedding, Italian "right of reply" bill, Chapter reports

In the news: Gardner and Sanger on why people edit Wikipedia, Fancy and frugal reading devices, Medical article assessed

WikiProject report: Always Expanding: WikiProject Images and Media

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Tricky and Lengthy Dispute Resolution

Technology report: Major MediaWiki release, password security, vulnerable MediaWiki installations, and more

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:04, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: FBI requests takedown of seal, Public Policy advisors and ambassadors, Cary Bass leaving, new Research Committee

In the news: Wikinews interviews Umberto Eco, and more

Admin stats: RfA drought worsens in 2010—wikigeneration gulf emerging

Sister projects: Strategic Planning update

WikiProject report: Chocks away for WikiProject Aviation

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Tricky and Lengthy Dispute Resolution

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:29, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Book publisher apologizes for plagiarizing photos by Wikipedians, brief news

Spam attacks: Large scale vandalism revealed to be "study" by university researcher

In the news: Supportive communication and missing incentives on Wikipedia, and more

WikiProject report: A Pit Stop with WikiProject NASCAR

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: ArbCom releases names of CU/OS applicants after delay

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 09:03, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Pending changes poll, Public policy classes, Payment schemes debate, and more

In the news: Zionist editing courses, newspaper denies editing candidate, net neutrality

WikiProject report: WikiProject Cryptozoology

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Proposed decision of climate change case posted

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 21:04, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Most linked websites on Wikipedia, New York Wiki-Conference, and more

In the news: Agatha Christie spoiled, Wales on Wikileaks, University students improve Wikipedia, and more

WikiProject report: Studying WikiProject Universities

Features and admins: Featured article milestone: 3,000

Arbitration report: What does the Race and intelligence case tell us?

Technology report: Reusability of MediaWiki code, Google Summer of Code: Interwiki transclusion, and more

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 16:15, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Pending changes analyzed, Foundation report, Main page bias, brief news

In the news: WikiLeaks and Wikipedia; Google–WP collaboration to translate health information

Book review: Cognitive Surplus, by Clay Shirky

Dispatches: Tools, part 1: References, external links, categories and size

WikiProject report: Putting articles in their place: the Uncategorized Task Force

Features and admins: Bumper crop of admins; Obama featured portal marks our 150th

Arbitration report: Interim desysopping, CU/OS appointments, and more

Technology report: Development transparency, resource loading, GSoC: extension management

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:48, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 August newsletter

We have our final eight! The best of luck to those who remain. A bumper newsletter this week as we start our home straight.

Pool A's winner was Sturmvogel_66 (submissions). Awarded the top score overall this round, Sturmvogel_66 writes primarily on military history, favouring Naval warfare.
Pool B's winner was Casliber (submissions). Awarded the top score for featured articles this round, Casliber writes primarily on natural sciences, especially botany and ornithology.
Pool A's close second was Sasata (submissions). Awarded the top score for featured pictures this round, Sasata writes primarily on natural sciences, favouring mycology.
Pool B's close second was ThinkBlue (submissions). Awarded the top score for good articles and topics this round, ThinkBlue primarily writes content related to television and film, including 30 Rock.
The first wildcard was TonyTheTiger (submissions). Awarded the top score for did you knows and valued pictures this round, TonyTheTiger writes on a number of topics, including baseball, American football and Chicago.
The second wildcard was White Shadows (submissions). Someone who has helped the Cup behind the scenes all year, White Shadows said "I'm still in shock that I made it this far" and writes primarily on Naval warfare, especially U-boats.
The third wildcard was Staxringold (submissions). Awarded the top score for featured lists and topics this round, Staxringold primarily writes on sport and television, including baseball and 30 Rock.
The fourth wildcard was William S. Saturn (submissions). Entering the final eight only on the final day of the round, William S. Saturn writes on a number of topics, mostly related to Texas.

We say goodbye to the six who fell at the final hurdle. Geschichte (submissions) only just missed out on a place in the final eight. Resolute (submissions) was not far behind. Candlewicke (submissions) was awarded top points for in the news this round. Gary King (submissions) contributed a variety of did you know articles. Suomi Finland 2009 (submissions) said "I'm surprised to have survived so far into the competition", but was extactic to see Finland in the semi-finals. Arsenikk (submissions) did not score this round, but has scored highly in previous rounds. We also say goodbye to Ian Rose (submissions), who withdrew earlier this month after spending six weeks overseas. Anyone interested in this round's results can see them here and here. Thank you to Stone (submissions) for these.

Signups for next year's competition are now open. Planning is ongoing, with a key discussion about judges for next year open. Discussion about how next year's scoring will work is ongoing, and thoughts are more than welcome at Wikipedia talk:WikiCup/Scoring. Also, TonyTheTiger is compiling some information and statistics on the finalists here- the final eight are encouraged to add themselves to the list.

Our final eight will play it out for two months, after which we will know 2010's WikiCup winner, and a variety of prizes will be awarded. As ever, anything you worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 23:15, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Fortis College

Can you tell me why the Fortis College Wikipedia page was marked as "written like an advertisement"? I tried to make it very resourceful. The only thing I can think of you are referring to is the BBB rating, but to me that alone isn't indicative of an advertisement. Any insight would be great, because I'm currently interlinking the relevant city pages with the Fortis school and I would hate for it all to be deleted. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thermanson (talk • contribs) 01:00, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it looks like we're not on the same page. First of all, your counter example, ITT Technical Institute, has to my count over twenty location pages linking to the school's Wikipedia page. Some examples are Las Vegas, Nevada, Memphis, Tennessee, Orlando, Florida, Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wichita, Kansas, Syracuse, New York, Knoxville, Tennessee, Tallahassee, Florida, San Bernardino, California, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and more. From this and other examples, I'm not sure the Fortis College Wikipedia page and the links pointing to it are being treated the same as other institutions.

I feel your pain.

I don't believe the purpose of the educational sections on the location pages is to only point out "significant and notable institutes". First of all, this is a highly subjective matter. Additionally, these location pages are setup to be resourceful, not exclusive. I believe adding onto the lists on these pages would only enhance the resourcefulness of the page. Look at any education sections of any city websites. Do most of them prove their "noteworthyness"? No, they don't. In fact, I'm not sure it's fair to include some institutions, but not allow others.

In response to when you said "Once we get to the stage where all such institutions *are* mentioned, it will likely be less seen as advertising, and just seen as valuable information in the info-grid.)" To me, you are saying that it will be seen as "valuable information" once all institutions are mentioned. However, when I bring the pages one step closer to doing so, it is frowned upon. Wikipedia pages are dynamic and constantly being added on to enhance their value. Most pages do not start out by having all of the information they end up with. That is the beauty of Wikipedia. Pages constantly evolve and mature by the help of others. So again, by adding Fortis College, I am adding to the "valuable information in the info-grid."

I originally linked all of the location pages to the Fortis College website, but I was told I should create a Fortis College Wikipedia page instead, and then link the location pages to the Fortis College Wikipedia page. I have done what I was told to, but am still experiencing opposition.

Different people will offer you different perspectives. The editors are a team of tens of thousands; don't expect immediate consistency. –SJ+ 19:26, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

I am fine with merging the two pages, am not sure how. Before I do so, however, I want to make sure when someone types in "Fortis Institute" in Wikipedia, they come to a Fortis page, since some locations are called "Fortis Institute".

We have a system of millions of "redirects". If you look at the current Fortis Institute page you will see those are just a simple line of wikimarkup. Searching should work for you as expected. –SJ+ 19:26, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. —comment added by Thermanson (talk • contribs) 14:56, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Number of edits inflection point

Thanks for your interest! I've responded on my talk page - in brief, the fastest edit rate was from May 10 to June 22, 2007. Wnt (talk) 19:47, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] POTD

Hi Sj, evidiently I was looking at the wrong page when I did that. The protected template at the time was not formatted correctly and I believed I was looking at the protected version when I formatted it. Sorry for the mix-up and thanks for fixing the unprotected version! Regards, Woody (talk) 10:53, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] thanks sj for the call and your patience!

hope i'm placing this in the right spot. Excited to dive into the librarian content. Cheers! Efmcleanckm (talk) 17:06, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Mozilla Drumbeat Festival

Hi,

I was to come to Barcelona but Mozilla awarded me a $500 travel scholarship which unfortunately isn't enough to cover my travel costs. Hope you guys hold up a successful WikiTent. Bye:-)Abbasjnr (talk) 08:46, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

Oh, so you've been to Mombasa?? I didn't know that...When was that? I'm doing great in school. Africa Online is doing great here. My uncle, who is an IT lecturer actually has an Africa Online Broadband which I used whilst participating in the Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge. Internet is now so popular here, hence several internet companies have sprung up...By the way, I just realised that you were subscribed to the Wikimedia Kenya mailing list :) Abbasjnr (talk) 08:02, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2010 September newsletter

We are half-way through our final round, entering the home straight. TonyTheTiger (submissions) leads at the time of writing with 1180 points, immediately followed by Sasata (submissions) with 1175 points. Sturmvogel_66 (submissions) closely follows in third place with 1100 points. For those who are interested, data about the finalists has been compiled at Wikipedia:WikiCup/History/2010/finalists, while a list of content submitted by all WikiCup contestants prior to this round has been compiled at Wikipedia:WikiCup/History/2010/Submissions. As ever, anything contestants worry may not receive the necessary attention before the end of the round (such as outstanding GA or FA nominations) is welcome at Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, and please remember to continue offering reviews yourself where possible. As always, the judges are available to contact via email, IRC or their talk pages, and general discussion about the Cup is welcome on the WikiCup talk page.

Despite controversy, the WikiCup remains open. Signups for next year's competition are more than welcome, and suggestions for how next year's competition will work are appreciated at Wikipedia talk:WikiCup/Scoring. More general comments and discussions should be directed at the WikiCup talk page. One month remains in the 2010 WikiCup, after which we will know our champion. Good luck everyone! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 23:09, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] the Public Policy Initiative Assessment Team wants You!

Hi SJ, When I saw your name from the Editorial Team participant list, it was reminder of your earlier interest in the project. So I wanted to tell you that we will be testing out assessment metrics in the Wikiproject: United States Public Policy, I know you were interested in some of the evaluation plans for this project, but I don't know how busy you are. If you have the time, I was hoping you would be interested in assessing articles with the Public Policy Initiative. There is more info about assessment on the 9/13/2010 Signpost. If you're interested or just curious you can sign up on the project page or just contact me. Thanks! ARoth (Public Policy Initiative) (talk) 21:36, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

[edit] comments re the WDL links

-SJ+

Reviewed your comments re the WDL external links - appreciate your help with tightening up on these. I can certainly integrate your suggestions e.g. - audio, primary source. I was expanding as I went so there is inconsistency there and I can go back and conform. I will mention that we don't always have curators' audio/video, more often, we just have a feature that permits "listen to this page". Regarding the "retrieved on" - will make that change. Was following a pilot guideline manual (draft not yet approved) recommended by LOC on that one...but we will just toss that aside.

LOC Context - Your comments on putting the two refs in context is helpful. Spoke with M. Rago about this and so now I'll work on how best to do that.

Will go back and look over the entries that I have done before moving ahead on new ones.

We have an intern who will be following in my steps to do content en francais.

thanks again. If I'm posting my note in the wrong place, just point me to where this should go.

Efmcleanckm (talk) 16:02, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

[edit] An update from adopt a user

Hi there Sj! You may be wondering, what have I done to sound the alarm this time? Nothing. I'm messaging you in regards to the adopt-a-user program, which currently has a backlog of users wishing to be adopted. This doesn't make much sense, as we have a considerable list of users offer adoption, so there shouldn't be any backlog. I've begun to eliminate this backlog myself through a matching program, but I need your help to make it work. Of course, adoptees and adopters don't have to go through there, but I believe it helps eliminate the backlog because someone is actively matching pairs.

On the list of adopters, I have modified the middle column to say "Interests." It's easier working with other users that have similar interests, so if it's not too much to ask, could you add your interests in the middle column? For example, if I was interested in hurricanes, computers, business, and ... reptiles? I would place those in the middle column. Counter-vandalism and the like can also be included (maintenance should be used as the general term). The more interests, the better, since adoptees can learn more about you and choose the one they feel most comfortable working with. The information about when you're most active and other stuff can go into the "Notes" section to the right.

Finally, I've gone around and asked adoptees (and will in the future) to fill in a short survey so adopters can take the initiative and contact users they feel comfortable working with. We all know that most adoptees just place the adopt me template on their user page and leave it - so it's up to us to approach them and offer adoption. So, please take a look at the survey, adopt those that fit your interests, and maybe watchlist it so you can see the interests of adoptees and adopt one that fits your interests in the future.

Once again, thank you for participating in the adopt-a-user program! If you wish to respond to this post, please message me on my talk page.

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of Netalarm (talk) at 05:25, 11 October 2010 (UTC).

[edit] too much?

Hello Sj - wanted to show you where we are with our external linking re the WDL - check with you to see if this style is too lengthy.

* World Digital Library presentation of original language title or translation of title.  
Partner Institution.  Primary source {item type} with summary description, {#} images with enhanced 
view and zoom features, text to speech capability {with curator video}.  {Language(s) of the source}.  
Links to related content.   Content available as {file format).  {Brief statement of notability.}

Would you rather I place this in the WikiProject:Libraries or GLAMs area for comment? Efmcleanckm (talk) 13:00, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that's a good idea! –SJ+ 01:44, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

[edit] gettin' some flack...losing time spent

Hey there Sj - FRIDAY!

First, thank you for your patient coaching for our work with the World Digital Library.

I'm writing to let you know feedback on our link format has been that it is too "advertisement"-like and too lengthy. Another reversion trigger is the use of the original language in the title of the article - some wikipedians are reading this and no more and rejecting that based on the fact that it is living in WK EN.

From our standpoint, we always use the article/item's original language title as a scholarly practice with the English title immediately following. So, this is my way of saying that I really don't see us NOT including the original language with the translation.

Need to find the balance here so that we can continue with our work, but I'm not too willing to move ahead with current format in light of having what we formulated undone. Wondered how you see making multiple contexts here come together a little better? Would like to hear your view of what a middle ground between the very generic and succinct early LOC format and the more value-added revision would consist of, and whether we will be able to bring folks together better?

Thanks so much.

Efmcleanckm (talk) 13:52, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

[edit] BiB

HI SJ:

Thanks for that nice shout-out on your blog. Would love to send you an invite to check out the prototype when it is ready, in a couple months? May I? To what email address?

Also, you know, happy to give you gratis all the books we end up publishing and, later on, assuming we've a premium membership, talk a little bit about how we could give OLPC free premium access...Though that's much farther down our road!

Oh and I'm rnash@rnash.com and rnash@thinkcursor.com

Bestest, Richard

RN - sure thing, send an invite to <meta.sj at gmail>

[edit] Jon Stewart

It would be even funnier if you did attend the rally but weren't the giant tea bag guy I added to your user page. Did you? Narco (talk) 03:04, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

That's the best addition to the "...am not..." list to date! The great thing about giant-teabag outfits is that they offer a certain amount of identity protection. :-) Whoever that Anchorage resident was, I reckon he's welcome to use my name as a pseudonym. And I was elsewhere that weekend -- but having an equally sanity-restoring time. –SJ+

[edit] WikiCup 2010 October newsletter

The 2010 WikiCup is over! It has been a long journey, but what has been achieved is impressive: combined, participants have produced over seventy featured articles, over five hundred good articles, over fifty featured lists, over one thousand one hundred "did you know" entries, in addition to various other pieces of recognised content. A full list (which has yet to be updated to reflect the scores in the final round) can be found here. Perhaps more importantly, we have our winner! The 2010 WikiCup champion is Sturmvogel_66 (submissions), with an unbelievable 4220 points in the final round. Second place goes to TonyTheTiger (submissions), with 2260, and third to Casliber (submissions), with 560. Congratulations to our other four finalists – White Shadows (submissions), William S. Saturn (submissions), Staxringold (submissions) and ThinkBlue (submissions). Also, congratulations to Sasata (submissions), who withdrew from the competition with an impressive 2685 points earlier in this round.

Prizes will also be going to those who claimed the most points for different types of content in a single round. It was decided that the prizes would be awarded for those with the highest in a round, rather than overall, so that the finalists did not have an unfair advantage. Winning the featured article prize is Casliber (submissions), for five featured articles in round 4. Winning the good article prize is Sturmvogel_66 (submissions), for eighty-one good articles in round 5. Winning the featured list prize is Staxringold (submissions), for six featured lists in round 1. Winning the picture and sound award is Jujutacular (submissions), for four featured pictures in round 3. Winning the topic award is Sturmvogel_66 (submissions), for forty-seven articles in various good topics in round 5. Winning the "did you know" award is TonyTheTiger (submissions), for over one hundred did you knows is round 5. Finally, winning the in the news award is Candlewicke (submissions), for nineteen articles in the news in round three.

The WikiCup has faced criticism in the last month – hopefully, we will take something positive from it and create a better contest for next year. Like Wikipedia itself, the Cup is a work in progress, and ideas for how it should work are more than welcome on the WikiCup talk page and on the scoring talk page. Also, people are more than welcome to sign up for next year's competition on the signup page. Well done and thank you to everyone involved – the Cup has been a pleasure to run, and we, as judges, have been proud to be a part of it. We hope that next year, however the Cup is working, and whoever is running it, it will be back, stronger and more popular than ever. Until then, goodbye and happy editing! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn, Fox and The ed17 03:11, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 1 November 2010

News and notes: Foundation's finances, geodata milestone, interim counsel, museum conference

In the news: Airplane construction with Wikipedia, lessons from the strategy project, logic over rhetoric

WikiProject report: Scoring with WikiProject Ice Hockey

Features and admins: Good-lookin' slugs and snails

Arbitration report: Arb resignation during plagiarism discussion; election RfC closing in 2 days

Technology report: Foundation office switches to closed source, secure browsing, brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:46, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Fundraiser: November 15 launch, emphasis on banner optimization and community involvement

News and notes: Second Wikipedian in Residence, {{citation needed}} for sanity

In the news: WP prose praised, Public Policy update, education debate, WP documentary

WikiProject report: WikiProject California

Features and admins: No, not science fiction—real science

Election report: The countdown begins

Arbitration report: No cases this week; Date delinking sanctions reduced for one party; History ban extended

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 17:36, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Uninvolved admin needed to close an RfC

Currently there is need for an uninvolved admin to look at and close if needed and RfC on Transcendental Meditation. The RfA at this point rests on a vote. Your help would be very much appreciated.(olive (talk) 03:08, 11 November 2010 (UTC))

[edit] Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I'm not sure how I missed your message.

Just answered your inquiry from September on my Talk page. --Pleasantville (talk) 15:04, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Speedy deletion nomination of Werelate.org

You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.

If this is the first article that you have created, you may want to read the guide to writing your first article.

A tag has been placed on Werelate.org requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done because the article, which appears to be about a real person, individual animal(s), an organization (band, club, company, etc.), or web content, does not indicate how or why the subject of the article is important or significant: that is, why an article about that subject should be included in an encyclopedia. Under the criteria for speedy deletion, articles that do not indicate the subject's importance or significance may be deleted at any time. Please see the guidelines for what is generally accepted as notable.

If you think that you can assert the notability of the subject, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hang on}} at the top of the article, immediately below the speedy deletion ({{db-...}}) tag (if no such tag exists, the page is no longer a speedy delete candidate), and providing your reasons for contesting on the article's talk page, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the article meets the criterion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself. You may freely add information to the article that would confirm the subject's notability under Wikipedia guidelines.

You may want to read the guidelines for specific types of articles: biographies, websites, bands, or companies. role^player 17:04, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

speedy deletion for notability concerns! a sad state of affairs. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 22:44, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Census 2010 data

Do you know if there are concrete plans for how to update information in Wikipedia derived from the 2000 Census when the 2010 Census information comes out? (There are about 50,000 citations of the 2000 Census.)--Pleasantville (talk) 15:00, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

That's a good question. We should chat with Ram-Man et al about updating the censusbots. –SJ+ 21:37, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Comments

I am not sure if this is what you intended Talk:Transcendental_Meditation#Comments. The first suggestion has 4 outside comments and the 5th three so will wait for further responses. --Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:47, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the update. The further discussion seems useful, I don't see a rush. It's good that most of the active editors are aware of the importance of getting input from other readers. (you could even add a cleanup tag that directs readers to a talk-page poll, if more input is desired.) –SJ+ 19:22, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Ambassador Program in Houston

Hi! I'm leaving you this message because you're listed as a Wikipedian from Houston. The Wikipedia Ambassador Program is currently looking for Campus Ambassadors from the Houston area, to help with Wikipedia assignments at Texas Southern University. Classes at TSU will be participating in the Public Policy Initiative for the Spring 2011 semester, and the role of Campus Ambassadors will be to provide face-to-face training and support for students on Wikipedia-related skills (how to edit articles, how to add references, etc.). This includes doing in-class presentations, running workshops and labs, possibly holding office hours, and in general providing in-person mentorship for students.

Prior Wikipedia skills are not required for the role, as training will be provided for all Campus Ambassadors (although, of course, being an experienced editor is a plus).

If you are interested in being a Wikipedia Campus Ambassador, or know someone in Houston who might be, please email me or leave a message on my talk page. Thanks!--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 20:01, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I know some people who might be interested -- I'll ask them to get in touch. –SJ+

[edit] Further comments

Was it your intention to summarize the RfC being discussed here? [1] Will made a good point after I made changes that 4 external editors supported option 1 and 3 supported option 5. Thus I reverted my change. He also made a good point that issues such as characterizations and marketing apply equally well to both the movement and technique. Wondering if you could clarify your opinions referred too in that section. Thanks. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:26, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

It is not important if the comment you wrote was a "summary" of the Rfc or not. I feel that your comment was clear and simple, easy to understand. The current interpretation, explicitly expressed by at the least two editors, is that you supported a consensus around suggestion #5, but it will be fine to hear more precision or even to stand corrected. Edith Sirius Lee (talk) 19:18, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Doc, I understand what you mean - would you not expect issues that apply to both movement and technique to show up in a summary article?

Edith, I am not commenting on the merits of any of the options presented. I simply note that there is a consensus around that option among those who have an opinion -- it is a compromise almost everyone is comfortable with. Reaching that level of consensus is a fine outcome. –SJ+ 06:14, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

SJ, I don't mind the outcome you've suggested for the RfC, but I am concerned about your approach. An RfC isn't a poll so merely counting up the numbers on each side doesn't seem like the right technique. If matters are always handled by majority vote then one side will always prevail since, among involved editors, there are far more on one side than on the other. Some of those editors are single purpose accounts who only edit this topic. Could you explain your view of this issue? Will Beback talk 08:54, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Hi Will, I think we agree - RfC's aren't polls, they are a way to reach useful consensus through discussion. I share your wariness of single-purpose accounts and the tyranny of the majority. If involved editors were strongly divided, it might be necessary to look elsewhere for a resolution. But 90% support for an option suggests it is a good basis for consensus, not a controversial idea pushed by a majority faction.

I reworded the summary a bit to emphasize the qualitative nature of consensus and the discussion so far. Unanimous support should be possible here, since the only specific opposition was previously in support of the popular option. –SJ+ 21:55, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your clarification. We will figure out have to make something work I am sure in line with this consensus. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 23:00, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

SJ, Thanks for your helpful reply. I'm glad we agree. Will Beback talk 14:02, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Wikis take Birmingham

Thanks for the greetings. Sounds like a good idea, and I'd be pleased to help out. I'm not much of an organizer, though. What all did you have in mind? --Dystopos (talk) 03:37, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 6 December 2010

News and notes: ArbCom tally pending; Pediapress renderer; fundraiser update; unreferenced BLP drive

In the news: Amazon "shopping-enabling" Wikipedia; Al Jazeera interview; be like Wikipedia

GLAM-WIKI London: British Museum hosts two days of talks between Wikimedia and the cultural sector

WikiLeaks: Repercussions of the WikiLeaks cable leak

WikiProject report: Talking copyright with WikiProject Copyright Cleanup

Features and admins: Birds and insects

Arbitration report: New case: World War II

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:17, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Adopt-a-user

Hello Mr. Klein,

Will you adopt me as a new Wikipedia user/contributor? I'm in Texas working with very creative artisans and craftsmen. Alternative culture and it's historical impact holds great interest for me, as well as alternative, renewable energy. Though I've scaled the skyscrapers in New York City, I enjoy getting out into the wild to see the geography for myself, having grown up in the Montana Rockies. I need help getting a new project started and to do some edits.

Thanks for your kind consideration, Architect7 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Architect7 (talk • contribs) 11:19, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for the adoption. I am reviewing all your recommendations and implementing them. My current interest is handcrafted, pre-industrial products. Architect7 (talk) 18:59, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 13 December 2010

News and notes: Wikipedia articles expert-reviewed by Encyclopedia of Life, and more

In the news: Confusion about Wikileaks continues, Wikipedia vs. Britannica in India, and more

Rencontres Wikimédia: Wikimedia and the cultural sector: two days of talks in Paris.

WikiProject report: WikiProject Algae

Features and admins: The best of the week

Election report: The community has spoken

Arbitration report: Requested amendment re Pseudoscience case

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:54, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

News and notes: Article Alerts back from the dead, plus news in brief

In the news: Faulty story urges for advertising on Wikipedia; brief news

Image donation: Christmas gift to Commons from the State Library of Queensland

Discussion report: Should leaked documents be cited on Wikipedia?

WikiProject report: Majestic Titans

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Motion passed in R&I case; ban appeals, amendment requests, and more

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:59, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Ambassadors: Wikipedia Ambassador Program growing, adjusting

News and notes: Director of Technical Operations hired; South Korean mayor sues; brief news

In the news: Designing Wikipedia and the origin of page histories; brief news

WikiProject report: WikiProject National Basketball Association (NBA)

Features and admins: The best of the week

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 13:20, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011

Hello. You are being contacted because you have previously shown interest in the WikiCup but have not yet signed up for the 2011 WikiCup, which starts at midnight. It is not too late to sign up! The competition will remain open until at least January 31, and so it is not too late to enter. If you are interested, simply follow the instructions to add your username to the signup page, and a judge will contact you as soon as possible with an explanation of how to participate. The WikiCup is a friendly competition open to all Wikipedians, old and new, experienced and inexperienced, providing a fun and rewarding way to contribute quality content to Wikipedia. If you do not want to receive any further messages about the WikiCup, or you want to start receiving messages about the WikiCup, you may add or remove your name from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the WikiCup talk page or contact the judges directly. J Milburn and The ed17 06:51, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

[edit] 2011

Archived: the talk page as the noticeboard itself never took off.) – SJ + 12:34, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Invitation to join WikiProject United States

Hello, Sj! WikiProject United States, an outreach effort supporting development of United States related articles in Wikipedia, has recently been restarted after a long period of inactivity. As a user who has shown an interest in United States related topics we wanted to invite you to join us in developing content relating to the United States. If you are interested please add your Username and area of interest to the members page here. Thank you!!!

--Kumioko (talk) 03:31, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Nomination for deletion of Template:You can edit

Template:You can edit has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. — This, that, and the other (talk) 11:24, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Outline update 2011-01-18, and an invitation...

Sj,

As you probably know, I'm in the process of getting the outline development team back up to speed. In case you are interested in keeping up with goings on with outlines, here's an update followed by an invitation...

We've undergone a name change: the project has been simplified to "WikiProject Outlines".

The current main focus is on increasing the availability of outlines. If readers can't find the outlines, the outlines can't help them. We need to figure out the best places to put links, and the best ways to attract external traffic directly to these pages.

While studying the link structure to outlines, I came across a navigation aid I forgot we had that you might find useful:

If you'd like to use the main page with outline links instead of portal links, set Wikipedia:Main Page alternative (outline links) as your default main page. See the instructions.

Due to the occasional sniping attempt on outlines and their support pages, outlines now have an alert page at Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts. Please go there now and add it to your watchlist.

Tarheel95 and Robert Skyhawk are working on a project to track traffic to outline pages. Speaking of traffic...

A discussion on outline traffic analysis has been started on the Outlines WikiProject talk page. You are cordially invited to participate. Your input is greatly needed on possible ways to increase the availability of the outlines. All ideas and feedback are welcome. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely, The Transhumanist 08:20, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

P.S.: don't forget to watchlist the alert page mentioned above. Cheers. -TT

This is great; thanks for the updates TT!

[edit] Articles you might like to edit, from SuggestBot

SuggestBot predicts that you will enjoy editing some of these articles. Have fun!

Stubs: Slough of Despond; Paul Althaus; Anselm Hüttenbrenner; Adolf Paul Johannes Althaus; Methylase; Common species; African Wild Dog Conservancy; World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Association of Zoos and Aquariums; Endangered Wildlife Trust; Umbrella effect; Wrocławki; Habitats Directive; Apache Thrift; Species Survival Plan; Wicket gate; Translocation (wildlife conservation); Falęcin, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship; Brian Bergstein

Cleanup: IOS (Apple); Wikipedia; Ottoman Empire
Merge: SMS banking; List of protected areas of Laos; Widget (video game)
Add Sources: Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Habitat conservation; Arbitration Committee (English Wikipedia)
Wikify: Persian Leopard Conservation Society; Cosmos Software; Onomarchus
Expand: Plantlife; M4 carbine; Protestantism

SuggestBot picks articles in a number of ways based on other articles you've edited, including straight text similarity, following wikilinks, and matching your editing patterns against those of other Wikipedians. It tries to recommend only articles that other Wikipedians have marked as needing work. Your contributions make Wikipedia better -- thanks for helping.

If you have feedback on how to make SuggestBot better, please tell me on SuggestBot's talk page. Thanks from Nettrom (talk), SuggestBot's caretaker.

P.S. You received these suggestions because your name was listed on the SuggestBot request page. If this was in error, sorry about the confusion. -- SuggestBot (talk) 15:26, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 January newsletter

We are half way through round one of the WikiCup. Signups are now closed, and we have 129 listed competitors, 64 of whom will make it to round two. Congratulations to The Bushranger (submissions), who, at the time of writing, has a comfortable lead with 228 points, followed by Hurricanehink (submissions), with 144 points. Four others have over 100 points. Congratulations also go to Yellow Evan (submissions), who scored the first points in the competition, claiming for Talk:Hurricane King/GA1, Miyagawa (submissions), who scored the first non-review points in the competition, claiming for Dognapping, and Jarry1250 (submissions) who was the first in the competition to use our new "multiplier" mechanic (explanation), claiming for Grigory Potemkin, a subject covered on numerous Wikipedias. Thanks must also go to Jarry1250 for dealing with all bot work- without you, the competition wouldn't be happening!

A running total of claims can be seen here. However, numerous competitors are yet to score at all- please remember to submit content soon after it is promoted, so that the judges are able to review entries. The number of points that will be needed to reach round two is not clear- everyone needs to get their entries in now to guarantee their places! If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, and you hope to get it promoted before the end of the round, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 22:42, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Rebecca Clarke (composer)

Hello, SJ, I see you worked on the Rebecca Helferich Clarke article -- I would like to get the "Helferich" out of her name in the title! She used it in signing a few peices of music in her youth, but she also used "Thacher" a few times. She did not ever publish under Rebecca Helferich Clarke and the name is not known to her surviving family as something she used. Would this be done by creating a new article with the title Rebecca Clarke (composer) and moving the current article to it (and then deleting the one with the "Helferich" title.) Thank you for your help. It is very aggravating to have really a very good article, but with the subject's name wrong! Thank you Liane Curtis (Clarkesociety) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clarkesociety (talk • contribs) 22:28, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

The right thing is probably simply to move the page and explain why on the talkpage, as you did above. I will copy your comment there. –SJ+ 22:06, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Since you left a comment on my talk page—it was disambiguated from Rebecca Clarke without my input and I don't have strong opinions on the matter! Kat Walsh (spill your mind?) 04:03, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Adoption

Hi there Sj! I'm a new wikipedia contributor and have interests in culture and science. I was wondering if you'd be interested in adopting. I am a long time user but first time editor and contributor, and willing to work at this. Please let me know. Thanks! -rockstaranon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rockstaranon (talk • contribs) 22:59, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Hello rockstar! I've left you a welcome message, and would be glad to adopt you. Culture and science are my kind of editing. –SJ+ 22:25, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks much sj! Your user/talk page and Wikipedia experience is impressive! I've got a small list of easy edits just to get started with, and I'll begin those this weekend. Also I'll work on getting my user page nice and pretty. Just a heads up, there may be some lapses in my edits and responses, I am a full time student with three jobs and am very busy, but I am willing to work at this, and would very much would like to be a good editor. Thanks again! rockstaranon 03:44, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

For some reason the 4 tildes are not linking to my page? rockstaranon 03:08, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WMF and the dead link issue

I recently started a task force here to deal with the problem of WP:LINKROT in citation templates, which lead to this proposal for WMF to help in archiving websites. A few outside institutions want to help and would like input from a representative of WMF. I see you are involved in a related citation project, WikiScholar (formerly Wikicite}, and thought you'd be able to help. Quick overview.

WebCitation.org would like to "officially" partner with WMF, possibly handing some/all control over to WMF and possibly working on fundraising together.
Internet Archive's Archive-It service would like to talk to a WMF representative about using their service.
The French search engine Wikiwix has been caching pages for fr.wikipedia for 2 years and is offering it to en.wikipedia for free. They want to know WMF wants it before they spend money.

There is an on-going discussion here regarding all of this. Would you be able to review it and give your input? Thanks. - Hydroxonium (H₃O⁺) 18:55, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Recent Changes Camp 2011 – Boston, MA

Hi, SJ. We met at RoCoCo 2007, so my form letter I am dropping on Boston Wikipedians' Talk Pages feels a little irrelevant here, but have it anyway as a useful reminder. :)

Can I interest you in Recent Changes Camp 2011 (Wentworth Institute of Technology, March 11-13)?

It is an Open Space Technology format unconference focused on wikis and collaborative practices.

Recent Changes Camp follows an unconference model of being free to participants and an Open Space model in having a program that is determined onsite by participants.

You can read more here, and do feel free to pass this on to friends and colleagues.

Hope to see you there on any or all of the days.

Dave Crosby (talk) 15:47, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed deletion of Shenzhen Stock Exchange/List of listed companies

The article Shenzhen Stock Exchange/List of listed companies has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

Fulfils a function already performed by an external website. Similar pages for other stock exchanges do not exist.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Hugahoody (talk) 17:33, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Huga. Similar pages do exist for other stock exchanges (if not the two big ones in the US), which is a good thing; but this one doesn't seem all that useful without further information. Suitable for archiving somewhere outside of article space; I responded there. –SJ+ 04:06, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Talkback

Hello, Sj. You have new messages at CharlieEchoTango's talk page.
Message added 20:54, 21 February 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

[edit] Community engagement

Hi there, Samuel. I'm a journalism professor doing research on community engagement in journalism. A big part of engagement is collaboration, and I'm trying to learn from collaboration experts.

I was nosing around LinkedIn to see who had connections to Wikipedia, and I stopped when I saw that you're connected to two people I've interviewed as part of my work -- Sandy Ordonez and Colin Rhinesmith. I wonder if you have ideas for me of people in the online collaboration world who could help journalists figure out this space.

I'm at mayerj@missouri.edu. Would sure love to hear your ideas if you have a few minutes.

Joy Mayer — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mayerjoy (talk • contribs) 21:18, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 21 February 2011

News and notes: Gender gap and sexual images; India consultant; brief news

In the news: Egyptian revolution and Wikimania 2008; Jimmy Wales' move to the UK, Africa and systemic bias; brief news

Versailles: Six-month residence in the Palace of Versailles for a Wikimedian

WikiProject report: More than numbers: WikiProject Mathematics

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Longevity and Shakespeare cases close; what do these decisions tell us?

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 18:28, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Invitation to participate

Hi, Shenzhen Stock Exchange/List of listed companies is an article you worked on and it has been nominated for deletion. Please stop by and comment if you're interested. Thank you. USchick (talk) 01:23, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 February newsletter

So begins round two of the WikiCup! We now have eight pools, each with eight random contestants. This round will continue until the end of April, when the top two of each pool, as well as the next 16 highest scorers of those remaining, will make it to round three. Congratulations to The Bushranger (submissions) (first, with 487 points) and Hurricanehink (submissions) (second, with 459), who stormed the first round. Casliber (submissions) finished third with 223. Twelve others finished with over 100 points- well done to all of you! The final standings in round one can be seen here. A mere 8 points were required to reach round two; competition will no doubt be much more fierce this round, so be ready for a challenge! A special thanks goes, again, to Jarry1250 (submissions) for dealing with all bot work. This year's bot, as well as running smoothly, is doing some very helpful things that last year's did not. Also, thanks to Stone (submissions) for some helpful behind-the-scenes updating and number crunching.

Some news for those who are interested- March will see a GAN backlog elimination drive, which you are still free to join. Organised by WikiProject Good articles, the drive aims to minimise the GAN backlog and offers prizes to those who help out. Of course, you may well be able to claim WikiCup points for the articles you review as part of the drive. Also ongoing is the Great Backlog Drive, looking to work on clearing all of the backlogs on Wikipedia; again, incentives are offered, and the spirit of friendly competition is alive, while helping the encyclopedia is the ultimate aim. Though unrelated to the WikiCup, these may well be of interest to some of you.

Just a reminder of the rules; if you have done significant work on content this year and it is promoted in this round, you may claim for it. Also, anything that was promoted after the end of round one but before the beginning of round two may be claimed for in round two. Details of the rules can be found on this page. For those interested in statistics, a running total of claims can be seen here, and a very interesting table of that information (along with the highest scorers in each category) can be seen here. If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, and you hope to get it promoted before the end of the round, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 23:50, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Outline collaboration

Here's the latest addition to the religion section of Portal:Contents/Outlines. Wikipedia has rich coverage on this subject. Very interesting, especially from sociological and historical perspectives.

Outline of Sikhism

This is a call to all members of the Outline WikiProject and outline aficionados to help refine this outline. It needs annotations, missing topics added, and the entries in the general concepts section placed in more specific sections.

Come join in on the fun and get acquainted with members of the Outline WikiProject!

The Transhumanist 04:47, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

P.S.: I had no idea this religion was so extensive or that it had so many followers. Hope to see you on the outline.

[edit] Wikipedia Takes Boston?

What are your thoughts on a having a Wikipedia Takes Boston event this Spring? I've started a thread over on the Boston meetup talk page: Wikipedia_talk:Meetup/Boston#Wikipedia_Takes_Boston. Emw (talk) 16:29, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Commented there - it sounds like a great idea. Let's coordinate the schedule with the upcoming library event. –SJ+ 18:55, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 7 March 2011

News and notes: Foundation looking for "storyteller" and research fellows; new GLAM newsletter; brief news

In the news: "Truth in Numbers?" interview; 94% women; Google algorithm update; brief news

Deletion controversy: Deletion of article about website angers gaming community

WikiProject report: Talking with WikiProject Feminism

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: New case opened after interim desysop last week; three pending cases

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 15:19, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

[edit] MfD nomination of Wikipedia:Manual of Style (images)

Wikipedia:Manual of Style (images), a page you substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:Manual of Style (images) and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~). You are free to edit the content of Wikipedia:Manual of Style (images) during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the page; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. Gnevin (talk) 20:51, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost

News and notes: NPG copyright irony; Citizendium's finances; Credo accounts donated; brief news

In the news: Ward Cunningham's rich child; Indian donations; data mining Wikipedia; brief news

WikiProject report: Medicpedia — WikiProject Medicine

Features and admins: Best of the week

Arbitration report: One closed case, one suspended case, and two other cases

Technology report: What is: localisation?; the proposed "personal image filter" explained; and more in brief

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:36, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Berlin conference highlights relation between chapters and Foundation; annual report; brief news

In the news: Sue Gardner interviewed; Imperial College student society launched; Indian languages; brief news

WikiProject report: Linking with WikiProject Wikify

Features and admins: Featured list milestone

Arbitration report: New case opens; Monty Hall problem case closes – what does the decision tell us?

Technology report: UploadWizard release; code review – should MediaWiki move to Git?; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:45, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: 1 April activities; RIAA takedown notice; brief news

In the news: Academic contributions; Jimmy Wales weighs in on murder trial controversy; brief news

Editor retention: Fighting the decline by restricting article creation?

WikiProject report: Out of this world — WikiProject Solar System

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: AUSC appointments, new case, proposed decision for Coanda case, and motion regarding CU/OS

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:39, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Editor retention; Malayalam loves Wikimedia; Wikimedia reports; brief news

In the news: What if experts just want to get their links into Wikipedia?; brief news

Recent research: Research literature surveys; drug reliability; editor roles; BLPs; Muhammad debate analyzed

WikiProject report: WikiProject Japan

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Two cases closed – what does the Coanda decision tell us?

Technology report: The Toolserver explained; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 10:25, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Commons milestone; newbie contributions assessed; German community to decide on €200,000 budget; brief news

In the news: Wikipedia accurate on US politics, plagiarized in court, and compared to Glass Bead Game; brief news

WikiProject report: An audience with the WikiProject Council

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Case comes to a close after 3 weeks - what does the decision tell us?

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 06:45, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Survey of French Wikipedians; first Wikipedian-in-Residence at Smithsonian; brief news

In the news: Low-hanging fruit and sustainability; Qwiki on iPad; sceptic critic; brief news

WikiProject report: WikiProject Somerset

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Request to amend prior case; further voting in AEsh case

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:20, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Picture of the Year voting begins; Internet culture covered in Sweden and consulted in Russia; brief news

In the news: Wikipedia users name "superinjunction celebrities"; brief news

WikiProject report: The Physics of a WikiProject: WikiProject Physics

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Two new cases open – including Tree shaping case

Technology report: Call for RTL developers, varied sign-up pages and news in brief

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:03, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: More research on newbie editors; Baidu plagiarism; bin Laden coverage; brief news

In the news: Billionaire trying to sue Wikipedians; "Critical Point of View" book published; World Bank contest; brief news

WikiProject report: Game Night at WikiProject Board and Table Games

Features and admins: Featured articles bounce back

Arbitration report: AEsh case comes to a close - what does the decision tell us?

Technology report: MediaWiki 1.16.5, 1.17b1; 1.18 branched; UploadWizard the default; Berlin Hackathon; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:30, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Geographical distribution of Wikipedia edits; Sue Gardner interviewed; brief news

In the news: Education minister's speech copied from Wikipedia; Jimmy Wales interviewed; brief news

WikiProject report: Back to Life: Reviving WikiProjects

Features and admins: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Motions - hyphens and dashes dispute

Technology report: Berlin Hackathon; April Engineering Report; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:11, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: GLAM workshop; legal policies; brief news

In the news: Death of the expert?; superinjunctions saga continues; World Heritage status petitioned and debated; brief news

WikiProject report: WikiProject Formula One

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Injunction – preliminary protection levels for BLP articles when removing PC

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:26, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WT:U

Replied there. My sense and the sense of many others who have a lot of experience with username blocks is that it's not the template:uw-softerblock message that's the problem. (When I wrote it, it was roughly what it is now ... "Welcome to Wikipedia. Because we have a policy against usernames that give the impression that the account represents a group, organization or website, I have blocked this account; you are welcome to create a new account with a username that represents only you ... except that people have added another sentence linking to our COI policy now, which wouldn't be my choice.) We know that long warning messages before you get to the softerblock and different block templates can sometimes be a real problem. Another part of the equation is: we currently don't have the number of volunteers we'd need (admins and non-admins both) to deal with each new user who uses a company or organization name in the most patient way we possibly could. Some allowances have to be made for the fact that 99.99% of users who pick a username that matches their business and start out with only promotional-sounding edits will never ever give a crap about NPOV or V, no matter how much time we spend gently leading them by the hand (and many of us have put in a lot of effort). - Dank (push to talk) 14:27, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Boston meetup still on 4/10?

Hi SJ, is the April meetup still on for this Sunday, 4/10? If so, I'm going to look into getting space at BPL for the 'Wikipedia Takes Boston' uploading party on 4/17. Otherwise, if the meetup is changed to 4/17, do you think we could have the uploading party at the meetup venue? Best, Emw (talk) 11:35, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

I am still planning to have dinner with people this Sunday, since some people plan far in advance. But let's plan another dinner the day of the photo event. BPL would be a great venue.

[edit] Openness

HI, I wanted to comment on http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Talk:Resolution:Openness

I have lost interest in wasting my time on wikipedia after being harassed by WhiteWriter and his friends while editing articles related to kosovo. The serbs are stalking and harassing anyone who even wants to add simple facts and make life difficult for anyone. It is a real pain. I hope that you will get them under control some day, they are really messing wikipedia up.

thanks, mike James Michael DuPont (talk) 21:54, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mike, thanks for dropping me a line. I sympathize with this story - I often avoid writing about political topics until I have twice as long as I would normally take to make small changes, so that I can take extra time to avoid misunderstanding or respond to wikistalking. I can't speak to this particular case, but am looking into what can be done to improve these situations in general. –SJ+ 01:27, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks re: Archived citations

I've been off-wiki for a while and I'm just now replying to messages. I just wanted to thank you for drafting a new RfC for the archived citations project. Thanks very much. I'll be moving this forward in the next few days/week. I'm really glad to have you so involved with Wikipedia and very happy for all your help over the years. Thanks again. - Hydroxonium (T•C•V) 06:25, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Help Save Article - Speedy deletion nomination of Barbara Kanam

A tag has been placed on Barbara Kanam, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia for multiple reasons. Please see the page to see the reasons. If the page has since been deleted, you can ask me the reasons by leaving a message on my user talk page.

Thanks for sharing. It looks like it has been saved already - I cleaned up the article and citations a bit. – SJ + 21:14, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Re: List of UK Official Download Chart number-one albums from the 2000s

Hello, Sj. You have new messages at Talk:List of UK Official Download Chart number-one albums.
Message added 02:01, 29 May 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Hey there Sj. I had a show at creating an article for the List of UK Official Download Chart number-one albums from the 2000s using what little data I could find. Let me know what you think. A Thousand Doors (talk | contribs) 12:40, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Hi SJ, thanks for the nice message at my talk page

Basically, I am sick of being harassed by some anonymous person calling himself Mbz1. ([2] and much of my talk page archive.) Maybe I'll regain my energy for editing Wikipedia again someday. Hope all is well with you! betsythedevine (talk) 21:23, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 30 May 2011

News and notes: ArbCom referendum goes live; US National Archives residency; financial planning; brief news

In the news: Collaboration with academia; world heritage; xkcd; eG8 summit; ISP subpoena; brief news

WikiProject report: The Royal Railway

Featured content: Whipping fantasies, American–British naval rivalry, and a medieval mix of purity and eroticism

Arbitration report: Update – injunction from last week has expired

Technology report: Wikimedia down for an hour; What is: Wikipedia Offline?

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 20:22, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 May newsletter

We're half way through round 3 of the 2011 WikiCup. There are currently 32 remaining in the competition, but only 16 will progress to our penultimate round. Casliber (submissions), of pool D, is our overall leader with nearly 200 points, while pools A, B and C are led by Racepacket (submissions), Hurricanehink (submissions) and Canada Hky (submissions) respectively. The score required to reach the next round is 35, though this will no doubt go up significantly as the round progresses. We have a good number of high scorers, but also a considerable number who are yet to score. Please remember to submit content soon after it is promoted, so that the judges are able to review entries. Also, an important note concerning nominations at featured article candidates: if you are nominating content for which you intend to claim WikiCup points, please make this clear in the nomination statement so that the FAC director and his delegates are aware of the fact.

A running total of claims can be seen here. If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, and you hope to get it promoted before the end of the round, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 23:36, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Increasing # of female Wikipedia Contributors?

Hi SJ - I'm hosting the free wiki workshop for women and girls in DC (Wikipedia:Meetup/DC_WWW1) in a couple of weeks. Are there any Wikipedia forums (preferably that get to Sue Gardner) discussing how to increase the # of women/girl editors? Thanks, ASenger (talk) 00:26, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

There are indeed - there is a gendergap mailing list which Sue started and which would be a perfect place to discuss your workshop. – SJ + 22:45, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Perfect. Thanks.ASenger (talk) 13:11, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 6 June 2011

Board elections: Time to vote

News and notes: Board resolution on controversial content; WMF Summer of Research; indigenous workshop; brief news

In the news: 60% of doctors use Wikipedia; growing in India; brief news

Recent research: Various metrics of quality and trust; leadership; nerd stereotypes

WikiProject report: Make your own book with Wikiproject Wikipedia-Books

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Two cases pending resolution; temporary desysop; dashes/hyphens update

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:25, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] My RfA

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you very much for supporting me in my recent RfA. Even though it was unsuccessful, I appreciate your trust. With much gratitude, jsfouche ☽☾Talk 02:06, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Mail

You've got mail! , Sj Please check your e-mail.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{YGM}} template.

Regarding the signpost. Rcsprinter (talk) 15:21, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 13 June 2011

News and notes: Wikipedians 90% male and largely altruist; 800 public policy students add 8.8 million bytes; brief news

In the news: Revere, Palin and Colbert generate activity; British Wikipedia "cleanser"; brief news

WikiProject report: WikiProject Aircraft

Featured content: Featured lists hit the main page

Arbitration report: More workshop proposals in Tree shaping case; further votes in PD of other case

Technology report: 1.18 extension bundling; mobile testers needed; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:35, 14 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Congratulations

I just wanted to offer my congratulations for being re-elected. I think you have been doing a fine job and am happy you'll continue for the next couple years. Thanks for all your efforts. They are very much appreciated. - Hydroxonium (T•C•V) 01:45, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

My congratulations also - I'm glad you'll be in there!Dcrjsr (talk) 14:18, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

I do still intend to organize wiki workshops at various of the society meetings - esp. Biophysics, but perhaps also RNA, Proteins, and the education section of ASBMB (biochem). It'll probably, in fact, be a lot easier to find the time for that without the responsibilities of a trustee. I'd be glad to contribute to any discussion about such ideas that ensues, since I seem inadvertently to be a representative of many rare categories of wiki editors. - Dcrjsr (talk) 22:24, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

You've got mail! , Sj Please check your e-mail.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{YGM}} template.

UOJComm (talk) 23:21, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

I just wanted to congratulate you for being re-elected. Furthermore, as a longtime user, I just realized that Wikipedia has changed a lot in recent times, especially I was more involved in Chinese Wikipedia in the past. Where shall I find updated information about this project ? -- Ktsquare (talk) 15:30, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Thank you, Kt, I really appreciate it! A great place to start is to read the archives of the on-wiki newspaper, the Wikipedia Signpost. Is there anything like that for Chinese Wikipedia news? I have also been most interested in how zh:wp has changed recently -- since there is both hoodong and baidupedia to look to for potential ideas and style guidelines. – SJ + 05:40, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

There is a version of Wikipedia Signpost, which is more or less inactive recently. Some issues surrounding the administrator at zh are sometimes present and they also bundle other issues when an admin is under fire for removal of administrator rights. FYI, m:Requests_for_comment/Oppression_in_zh_wikipedia and [3] -- Ktsquare (talk) 01:43, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 20 June 2011

News and notes: WMF Board election results; Indian campus ambassadors gear up; Wikimedia UK plans; Malayalam Wikisource CD; brief news

In the news: Wikipedia could become trusted medical resource; neologism controversy; news in brief

WikiProject report: The Elemental WikiProject

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: One case comes to a close; initiator of a new case blocked as sockpuppet

Technology report: Engineering department restructured; "break MediaWiki and be reverted"; news in brief

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 16:06, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Outline of Quebec (eom)

[edit] Without a Net

Greetings, Sj. A few days ago, you created a disambiguation page for Without a Net. It looks like you created it as "Without a Net (disambiguation)", and then editor R'n'B changed it to "Without a Net". You also renamed the article about the Grateful Dead album from "Without a Net" to "Without a Net (album)". I think things were better before, and should be changed back. That's because there is only one article about something called Without a Net, the one about the Grateful Dead album. All the other entries on the disambiguation page are for other things: Live without a Net (three articles), Swimming without a Net, some red links, and an improv comedy group that redirects to "Improvisation" (that last one should be removed in any event, per MOS:DAB). In short, there's no need for a disambiguation page for Without a Net, although one is needed for Live without a Net (which currently redirects to Without a Net). As an additional point, when you moved the Grateful Dead album article, you left some links to the article unchanged, so they now redirect to the disambiguation page. That actually could be fixed without too much trouble, but instead of that, I think things should be put back. (If you reply here, I will see what you say.) — Mudwater ^(Talk) 13:07, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Good point. I split out the "Live" titles, which is what were being referenced confusingly, and moved the Dead album back to the canonical name. – SJ + 13:30, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Great, thanks! — Mudwater ^(Talk) 13:45, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 27 June 2011

News and notes: ArbCom database theft; WikiLove to roll out on the English Wikipedia; brief news

In the news: Russian president uploads to Wikimedia Commons; brief news

WikiProject report: The Continuous Convention: WikiProject Comics

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Proposed decision for Tree shaping case

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:44, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Re the Signpost

Hello Sj,

A while ago you subscribed to my service to recieve the signpost my mail. I'm sorry, but I've been having trouble getting it over to America. As you're my first "customer", I feel rather bad to have let you down like this, but, I can't really get it over there. So, I suppose you'll just have to keep reading it online. ;( Rcsprinter (talk) 15:02, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Not to fret -- I know this can be tricky. I'm a big fan of your idea mainly because I wanted to print and distribute copies of newsletters years ago, and still like the idea. There's no real substitute to having a copy of WikiMedium on the side of the coffeetable... of course these days that's inevitably in some other language, like German or Czech, until an English translation comes out regularly. If SIGN-MAIL takes off, I could try to organize printing and shipping within the US. [I'd like to be able to offer wikimedium translations once a quarter, too - there they layout's already done in one language.] – SJ + 07:20, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Danger: alert page unnoticed

The Outline of relationships was nominated for deletion.

It was then overhauled and the nomination was withdrawn.

Before → After.

Only a couple members from the Outlines WikiProject showed up at the AfD.

Do you have Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts watchlisted?

If not, please watchlist it.

Thank you. The Transhumanist 08:10, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 June newsletter

We are half way through 2011, and entering the penultimate round of this year's WikiCup; the semi-finals are upon us! Points scored in the interim (29/30 June) may be counted towards next round, but please do not update your submissions' pages until the next round has begun. 16 contestants remain, and all have shown dedication to the project to reach this far. Our round leader was Casliber (submissions) who, among other things, successfully passed three articles through featured article candidates and claimed an impressive 29 articles at Did You Know, scoring 555 points. Casliber led pool D. Pool A was led by Wizardman (submissions), claiming points for a featured article, a featured list and seven good article reviews, while pool C was led by Eisfbnore (submissions), who claimed for two good articles, ten articles at Did You Know and four good article reviews. They scored 154 and 118 respectively. Pool B was by far our most competitive pool; six of the eight competitors made it through to round 4, with all of them scoring over 100 points. The pool was led by Hurricanehink (submissions), who claimed for, among other things, three featured articles and five good articles. In addition to the four pool leaders, 12 others (the four second places, and the 8 next highest overall) make up our final 16. The lowest scorer who reached round 4 scored 76 points; a significant increase on the 41 needed to reach round 3. Eight of our semi-finalists scored at least twice as much as this.

No points were awarded this round for featured pictures, good topics or In the News, and no points have been awarded in the whole competition for featured topics, featured portals or featured sounds. Instead, the highest percentage of points has come from good articles. Featured articles, despite their high point cost, are low in number, and so, overall, share a comparable number of points with Did You Know, which are high in number but low in cost. A comparatively small but still considerable number of points come from featured lists and good article reviews, rounding out this round's overall scores.

We would again like to thank Jarry1250 (submissions) and Stone (submissions) for invaluable background work, as well as all of those helping to provide reviews for the articles listed on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. Please do keep using it, and please do help by providing reviews for the articles listed there. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews generally at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup.

Two final notes: Firstly, please remember to state your participation in the WikiCup when nominating articles at FAC. Finally, some WikiCup-related statistics can be seen here and here, for those interested, though it appears that neither are completely accurate at this time. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 23:40, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 4 July 2011

News and notes: Picture of the Year 2010; data challenge; brief news

In the news: WikiLove roll-out; €25,000 in damages for being removed from Wikipedia; brief news

WikiProject report: The Star-Spangled WikiProject

Featured content: Two newly promoted portals

Arbitration report: Arb resigns while mailing list leaks continue; Motion re: admin

Technology report: June report: Virginia datacenter, parser, user profiles; WikiLove 1.0; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 11:38, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Some bubble tea for you!

SJ thanks for spending SIX HOURS with me and Phoebe in that classroom. I was happy, for you, to pick the one that did not smell :-) Sue Gardner (talk) 20:21, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 11 July 2011

From the editor: Stepping down

Higher education summit: Wikipedia in Higher Education Summit recap

News and notes: Wikipedians' surfing habits explored, Sloan Foundation renews $3M grant

In the news: Britannica and Wikipedia compared; Putin award criticized; possible journalistic sockpuppeting

WikiProject report: Listening to WikiProject Albums

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Tree shaping case comes to a close

Technology report: WMF works on its release strategy; secure server problems

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:34, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: WMF Annual plan; Article Feedback tool; university outreach; brief news

In the news: Fine art; surreptitious sanitation; the politics of kyriarchic marginalization; brief news

WikiProject report: Earn $$$ free pharm4cy WORK FROM HOME replica watches ViAgRa!!!

Featured content: Historic last launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour; Teddy Roosevelt's threat to behead official; 18th-century London sex manual

Arbitration report: Motion passed to amend 2008 case: topic ban and reminder

Technology report: Code Review backlog almost zero; What is: Subversion?; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:26, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] wikilove

	science!
	you know what this is, right? .... right? .... that's right, this would be the LABORATORY where they do LIBRARY SCIENCE. (The libraries come out the other end). Thanks for all your hard work on-wiki lately. phoebe / (talk to me) 19:56, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Nomination of List of Young Global Leaders for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article List of Young Global Leaders is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Young Global Leaders until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • ^{(Otters want attention)} 20:53, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Wikimedian in Residence interview: Wikimedian in Residence on Open Science: an interview with Daniel Mietchen

News and notes: Oral citations; the state of global development; a gentler Huggle; brief news

In the news: Open access clash with copyright; rising reader satisfaction; the wiki-correlates of geopolitical instability; brief news

Recent research: Talk page interactions; Wikipedia at the Open Knowledge Conference; Summer of Research

WikiProject report: Musing with WikiProject Philosophy

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: New case opened; hyphens and dashes update; motion

Technology report: Protocol-relative URLs; GSoC updates; bad news for SMW fans; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:46, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion problems

See [4] and later deletion req... why are people so mean? 140.247.187.212 (talk) 21:43, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 July newsletter

We are half way through the penultimate round of this year's WikiCup; there is less than a month to go before we have our final 8. Our pool leaders are Adabow (submissions) (Pool A, 189 points) and PresN (submissions) (Pool B, 165 points). The number of points required to reach the next round is not clear at this time; there are some users who still do not have any recorded points. Please remember to update your submissions' pages promptly. In addition, congratulations to PresN, who scored the first featured topic points in the competition for his work on Thatgamecompany related articles. Most points this round generally have, so far, come from good articles, with only one featured article (White-bellied Sea Eagle, from Casliber (submissions)) and two featured lists (Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, from PresN and Grammy Award for Best Native American Music Album, from Another Believer (submissions)). Points for Did You Know and good article reviews round out the scoring. No points have been awarded for In the News, good topics or featured pictures this round, and no points for featured sounds or portals have been awarded in the entire competition. On an unrelated note, preparation will be beginning soon for next year's WikiCup- watch this space!

There is little else to be said beyond the usual. Please list anything you need reviewing on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews, so others following the WikiCup can help, and please do help if you can by providing reviews for the articles listed there. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews generally at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup- points are, of course, offered for reviews at GAC. Two final notes: Firstly, please remember to state your participation in the WikiCup when nominating articles at FAC. Finally, some WikiCup-related statistics can be seen here and here. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 11:42, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 01 August 2011

News and notes: Wikimania; why Board of Trustees elections attract few votes; brief news

In the news: Consensus of Wikipedia authors questioned about Shakespeare authorship; 10 biggest edit wars on Wikipedia; brief news

Research interview: The Huggle Experiment: interview with the research team

WikiProject report: Little Project, Big Heart — WikiProject Croatia

Featured content: Featured pictures is back in town

Arbitration report: Proposed decision submitted for one case

Technology report: Developers descend on Haifa; wikitech-l discussions; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:59, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Wikimania: Seventh annual Wikimedia conference concluded in Haifa, Israel

News and notes: Wikimania a success; board letter controversial; and evidence showing bitten newbies don't stay

In the news: Israeli news focuses on Wikimania; worldwide coverage of contributor decline and gender gap; brief news

WikiProject report: Shooting the breeze with WikiProject Firearms

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Manipulation of BLPs case opened; one case comes to a close

Technology report: Wikimania technology roundup; brief news

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:22, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Women and Wikipedia: New Research, WikiChix

News and notes: Chapter funding and what skeptics and Latter Day Saints have in common

In the news: Wikipedia a "sausage fest", Chicago Wikipedians ("the people you've probably plagiarized"), and other silly season stories

WikiProject report: The Oregonians

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Abortion case opened, two more still in progress

Technology report: Forks, upload slowness and mobile redirection

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 09:39, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Template:Recent wiki spot checks

- Obsolete ? - TB (talk) 13:52, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Civil War listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect The Civil War. Since you had some involvement with the The Civil War redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion (if you have not already done so). Ryan Vesey Review me! 14:36, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 22 August 2011

News and notes: Girl Geeks edit while they dine, candidates needed for forthcoming steward elections, image referendum opens

In the news: Journalist regrets not checking citation, PR firms issue advice on how to "survive" Wikipedia (but U.S. Congressman caught red-handed)

WikiProject report: Images in Motion – WikiProject Animation

Featured content: JJ Harrison on avian photography

Arbitration report: After eleven moves, name for islands now under arbitration

Technology report: Engineering report, sprint, and more testers needed

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:32, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Abuse filter on all Wikimedia sites; Foundation's report for July; editor survey results

In the news: Wikipedia praised for disaster news coverage, scolded for left-wing bias; brief news

Recent research: Article promotion by collaboration; deleted revisions; Wikipedia's use of open access; readers unimpressed by FAs; swine flu anxiety

The pending changes fiasco: How an attempt to answer one question turned into a quagmire

WikiProject report: WikiProject Tennis

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Four existing cases

Technology report: The bugosphere, new mobile site and MediaWiki 1.18 close in on deployment

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 09:00, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 July newsletter

The finals are upon us; we're down to the last few. One of the eight remaining contestants will be this year's WikiCup champion! 150 was the score needed to progress to the final; just under double the 76 required to reach round 4, and more than triple the 41 required to reach round 3. Our eight finalists are:

Casliber (submissions), Pool A's winner. Casliber has the highest total score in the competition, with 1528, the bulk of which is made up of 8 featured articles. He has the highest number of total featured articles (8, 1 of which was eligible for double points) and total did you knows (72) of any finalist. Casliber writes mostly on biology, including ornithology, botany and mycology.
PresN (submissions), Pool B's winner and the highest scorer this round. PresN is the only finalist who has scored featured topic points, and he has gathered an impressive 330, but most of his points come from his 4 featured articles, one of which scored double. PresN writes mostly on video games and the Hugo Awards.
Hurricanehink (submissions), Pool A's runner-up. Hurricanehink's points are mostly from his 30 good articles, more than any other finalist, and he is also the only finalist to score good topic points. Hurricanehink, as his name suggests, writes mostly on meteorology.
Wizardman (submissions), Pool B's runner-up. Wizardman has completed 86 good article reviews, more than any other finalist, but most of his points come from his 2 featured articles. Wizardman writes mostly on American sport, especially baseball.
Miyagawa (submissions), the "fastest loser" (Pool A). Miyagawa has written 3 featured lists, one of which was awarded double points, more than any other finalist, but he was awarded points mostly for his 68 did you knows. Miyagawa writes on a variety of topics, including dogs, military history and sport.
Resolute (submissions), the second "fastest loser" (Pool B). Most of Resolute's points come from his 9 good articles. He writes mostly on Canadian topics, including ice hockey.
Yellow Evan (submissions), who was joint third "fastest loser" (Pool A). Most of Evan's points come from his 10 good articles, and he writes mostly on meteorology.
Sp33dyphil (submissions), who was joint third "fastest loser" (Pool B). Most of Phil's points come from his 9 good articles, 4 of which (more than any other finalist) were eligible for double points. He writes mostly on aeronautics.

We say goodbye to our seven other semi-finalists, Another Believer (submissions), Piotrus (submissions), Grandiose (submissions), Stone (submissions), Eisfbnore (submissions), Canada Hky (submissions) and MuZemike (submissions). Everyone still in the competition at this stage has done fantastically well, and contributed greatly to Wikipedia. We're on the home straight now, and we will know our winner in two months.

In other news, preparations for next year's competition have begun with a brainstorming thread. Please, feel free to drop by and share any thoughts you have about how the competition should work next year. Sign ups are not yet open, but will be opened in due course. Watch this space. Further, there has been a discussion about the rule whereby those in the WikiCup must delcare their participation when nominating articles at featured article candidates. This has resulted in a bot being created by new featured article delegate Ucucha (talk · contribs). The bot will leave a message on FAC pages if the nominator is a participant in the WikiCup.

A reminder of the rules: any points scored after August 29 may be claimed for the final round, and please remember to update submission pages promptly. If you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 00:12, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Fixed broken link

Hi Sammy,

Just noticed that beauty has been missing from your page for over 5 years.

Rather, in this edit of 14:16, 2006 March 1, the link to “Beauty” (“Sweet Sorrow”) was broken when the section was renamed to “Nexus of links”. It got touched again in this edit of 19:27, 2010 March 6, which sadly didn’t fix the link. But now it’s better (as of this edit), and beauty is restored!

—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 09:11, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

Ahh, there's the wikipedia spirit I know and love. Thank you, M. von Barth! – SJ + 21:16, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 05 September 2011

News and notes: 24,000 votes later and community position on image filter still unclear; first index of editor satisfaction appears positive

In the news: Britannica and Wikipedia like "apples and chairs"; should anyone who's anyone get an article?; and why fighting and barriers to editing may be useful after all

WikiProject report: Riding with WikiProject London Transport

Sister projects: Wiki Loves Monuments 2011

Featured content: The best of the week

Opinion essay: The copyright crisis, and why we should care

Arbitration report: BLP case closed; Cirt-Jayen466 nearly there; AUSC reshuffle

Technology report: Pencils down in Google Summer of Code, August analysed and integrated HTTPS support in action

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:47, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Foundation reports on research, Kenya trip, Mumbai Wikiconference; Canada, Hungary and Estonia; English Wikinews forked

In the news: 9/11 coverage, Wikimedia hypothetically rebranded and Wikipedia golf 2.0

WikiProject report: Politics in the Pacific: WikiProject Australian Politics

Featured content: Wikipedians explain two new featured pictures

Arbitration report: Ohconfucius sanctions removed, Cirt desysopped 6:5 and a call for CU/OS applications

Technology report: What is: agile development? and new mobile site goes live

Opinion essay: The Walrus and the Carpenter

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:33, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Talkback

Hello, Sj. You have new messages at Wikipedia talk:Autoconfirmed article creation trial.
Message added 18:50, 17 September 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

From the editor: Changes to The Signpost

News and notes: Ushahidi research tool announced, Citizendium five years on: success or failure?, and Wikimedia DC officially recognised

In the news: Wikipedia: yesterday's news? Calls for women, doctors, and scholars of humanities; Wales makes Wikimedia work "look easy"

Sister projects: On the Wikinews fork

WikiProject report: Back to school

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: ArbCom narrowly rejects application to open new case

Technology report: MediaWiki 1.18 deployment begins, the alleged "injustice" of WMF engineering policy, and Wikimedians warned of imminent fix to magic word

Popular pages: Article stats for the English Wikipedia in the last year

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 10:36, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

[edit] News and progress from RfA reform 2011

RfA reform: ...and what you can do now.

(You are receiving this message because you are either a task force member, or you have contributed to recent discussions on any of these pages.)

The number of nominations continues to nosedive seriously, according to these monthly figures. We know why this is, and if the trend continues our reserve of active admins will soon be underwater. Wikipedia now needs suitable editors to come forward. This can only be achieved either through changes to the current system, a radical alternative, or by fiat from elsewhere.

A lot of work is constantly being done behind the scenes by the coordinators and task force members, such as monitoring the talk pages, discussing new ideas, organising the project pages, researching statistics and keeping them up to date. You'll also see for example that we have recently made tables to compare how other Wikipedias choose their sysops, and some tools have been developed to more closely examine !voters' habits.

The purpose of WP:RFA2011 is to focus attention on specific issues of our admin selection process and to develop RfC proposals for solutions to improve them. For this, we have organised the project into dedicated sections each with their own discussion pages. It is important to understand that all Wikipedia policy changes take a long time to implement whether or not the discussions appear to be active - getting the proposals right before offering them for discussion by the broader community is crucial to the success of any RfC. Consider keeping the pages and their talk pages on your watchlist; do check out older threads before starting a new one on topics that have been discussed already, and if you start a new thread, please revisit it regularly to follow up on new comments.

The object of WP:RFA2011 is not to make it either easier or harder to become an admin - those criteria are set by those who !vote at each RfA. By providing a unique venue for developing ideas for change independent of the general discussion at WT:RFA, the project has two clearly defined goals:

Improving the environment that surrounds RfA in order to encourage mature, experienced editors of the right calibre to come forward, pass the interview, and dedicate some of their time to admin tasks.
Discouraging, in the nicest way possible of course, those whose RfA will be obvious NOTNOW or SNOW, and to guide them towards the advice pages.

The fastest way is through improvement to the current system. Workspace is however also available within the project pages to suggest and discuss ideas that are not strictly within the remit of this project. Users are invited to make use of these pages where they will offer maximum exposure to the broader community, rather than individual projects in user space.

We already know what's wrong with RfA - let's not clutter the project with perennial chat. RFA2011 is now ready to propose some of the elements of reform, and all the task force needs to do now is to pre-draft those proposals in the project's workspace, agree on the wording, and then offer them for central discussion where the entire Wikipedia community will be more than welcome to express their opinions in order to build consensus.

New tool Check your RfA !voting history! Since the editors' RfA !vote counter at X!-Tools has been down for a long while, we now have a new RfA Vote Counter to replace it. A significant improvement on the former tool, it provides a a complete breakdown of an editor's RfA votes, together with an analysis of the participant's voting pattern.

Are you ready to help? Although the main engine of RFA2011 is its task force, constructive comments from any editors are always welcome on the project's various talk pages. The main reasons why WT:RfA was never successful in getting anything done are that threads on different aspects of RfA are all mixed together, and are then archived where nobody remembers them and where they are hard to find - the same is true of ad hoc threads on the founder's talk page.

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of RfA reform 2011 at 16:03, 25 September 2011 (UTC).

Opinion essay: The global mission, the image filter and the "German question"

Recent research: Top female Wikipedians, reverted newbies, link spam, social influence on admin votes, Wikipedians' weekends, WikiSym previews

News and notes: WMF strikes down enwiki consensus, academic journal partnerships, and eyebrows raised over minors editing porn-related content

In the news: Sockpuppeting journalist recants, search dominance threatened, new novels replete with Wikipedia references

WikiProject report: A project in overdrive: WikiProject Automobiles

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: "Broadly construed" explained, voting begins on Senkaku Islands case, invitation to comment on CU/OS candidates

Technology report: 1.18 deployment on track, "mythical" Git migration scheduled, editor decline statistics improved

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:26, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 September newsletter

We are on this year's home straight, with less than a month to go until the winner of the 2011 WikiCup will be decided. The fight for first place is currently being contested by Miyagawa (submissions), Hurricanehink (submissions) and Sp33dyphil (submissions), all of whom have over 200 points. This round has already seen multiple featured articles (1991 Atlantic hurricane season from Hurricanehink and Northrop YF-23 from Sp33dyphil) and a double-scoring featured list (Miyagawa's 1948 Summer Olympics medal table). The scores will likely increase far further before the end of the round on October 31 as everyone ups their pace. There is not much more to say- thoughts about next year's competition are welcome on the WikiCup talk page or the scoring talk page, and signups will open once a few things have been sorted out.

If you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 12:51, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Mystery

Please solve this mystery if you can...

On September 23rd, traffic to Portal:James Bond doubled, and has stayed at the new level since then. I can't figure out what happened.

See http://stats.grok.se/en/201109/Portal%3AJames_Bond

Traffic to Outline of James Bond stayed the same (though it was at the higher-level already), which leads me to suspect changes made somewhere in Wikipedia.

See http://stats.grok.se/en/201109/Outline%20of%20James_Bond

I'd like to find out what happened, in case it reveals helpful link placement tips that can double the traffic to outlines too!

I look forward to your reply. The Transhumanist 22:31, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Outline evolution

Sj,

I've been plugging away at outlines, and via feedback have been implementing several improvements. A format that is emerging that I'd like to see used as the model for (non-country) outlines can be seen in Outline of chess. Please take a look, and let me know what you think. The Transhumanist 22:31, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Oho, I do like that. – SJ +

[edit] Since Oct

News and notes: Italian Wikipedia shuts down over new privacy law; Wikimedia Sverige produce short Wikipedia films, Sue Gardner calls for empathy

In the news: QRpedia launches to acclaim, Jimbo talks social media, Wikipedia attracts fungi, terriers and Greeks bearing gifts

WikiProject report: Kia ora WikiProject New Zealand

Featured content: Reviewers praise new featured topic: National treasures of Japan

Arbitration report: Last call for comments on CheckUser and Oversight teams

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 06:03, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Please help fill in annotations at Portal:Contents/Outlines

Please go to Portal:Contents/Outlines' and fill in as many missing annotations as you can, even if it's only one or two. Every little bit helps!

The annotating of the entries on Portal:Contents/Outlines is nearing completion.

Annotated entries look like this:

Basketball – team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules.
Canoeing and kayaking – two closely related forms of watercraft paddling, involving manually propelling and navigating specialized boats called canoes and kayaks using a blade that is joined to a shaft, known as a paddle, in the water.
Cricket – bat-and-ball team sport, the most popular form played on an oval-shaped outdoor arena known as a cricket field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard (20.12 m) long pitch that is the focus of the game.
Martial arts – extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development.

Entries needing annotations look like this:

Even if all you can do is one or two, the support will be greatly felt. Many hands make light work.

Thank you. The Transhumanist 00:28, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

Opinion essay: The conservatism of Wikimedians

News and notes: Largest ever donation to WMF, final findings of editor survey released, 'Terms of use' heavily revised

In the news: Uproar over Italian shutdown, the varying reception of BLP mischief, and Wikipedia's doctor-evangelist

WikiProject report: The World's Oldest People

Featured content: The weird and the disgusting

Arbitration report: Senkaku Islands closes; administrators authorized to place articles on discretionary sanctions

Technology report: 1.18 deployment and HTTPS switchover completed, but developer help now needed with new projects

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 03:23, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Logo of Wikipedia

Hi SJ!

I caught this edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Logo_of_Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=448650842

We have a Manual of Style, and it needs to be followed consistently. No matter what he preferences are, on EN we must go by the manual of style. Also I would imagine that the newspaper article author using "Kizu Naoko" was likely uninformed, or it was a mistake. The popular media tends to use western order.

I also took the courtesy of reverting your removal of the page notice: Template:Editnotices/Page/Logo_of_Wikipedia

Because the manual of style is global, there is an automatic consensus to use "Naoko Kizu" and a consensus to keep the edit notice up.

If you know how to get in touch with Noam Cohen, I would really appreciate it.

WhisperToMe (talk) 15:42, 13 October 2011 (UTC)

Okay, I see Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style/Japan-related_articles#Name_order - So you did look into the matter regarding the MOS.

The posters believed that you were referring to particular pen names like Nisioisin and Neko Hiroshi, and not legal names like "Kizu Naoko" - Since there is already a discussion there, I think it will be best to continue it there.

WhisperToMe (talk) 15:54, 13 October 2011 (UTC)

Please see Talk:Logo_of_Wikipedia#Controversial_and_barely_notable_quote_removed WhisperToMe (talk) 14:11, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Japanese names

Hi Sj! Since nobody on MOS-JA commented on the specific issue, I decided to make a noticeboard post, in the BLP section:

I took it to the BLP noticeboard: Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard#Naming_order_of_a_Japanese_person

Since Kizu Naoko is a living person, it should fit the noticeboard's purpose WhisperToMe (talk) 03:51, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 17 October 2011

News and notes: Arabic Wikipedia gets video intros, Smithsonian gifts images, and WikiProject Conservatism scrutinized

In the news: Why Wikipedia survives while others haven't; Wikipedia as an emerging social model; Jimbo speaks out

WikiProject report: History in your neighborhood: WikiProject NRHP

Featured content: Brazil's boom-time dreams of naval power: The ed17 explains the background to a new featured topic

Arbitration report: Case requests on ethnic strife and a WikiProject declined, Abortion case stalls but topic bans look to be lightened on amendment

Technology report: WMDE renew investment in Toolserver, first offsite backup programme of Wikimedia begun

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 11:11, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

From the editors: A call for contributors

Opinion essay: There is a deadline

Interview: Contracting for the Foundation

In the news: Are Wikipedians reluctant journalists?; Wikipedia:The Musical

WikiProject report: Great WikiProject Logos

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Abortion; request for amendment on Climate Change case

Technology report: WMF launches coding challenge, WMDE starts hiring for major new project

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 11:27, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] New Page Patrol survey

New page patrol – Survey Invitation

Hello Sj! The WMF is currently developing new tools to make new page patrolling much easier. Whether you have patrolled many pages or only a few, we now need to know about your experience. The survey takes only 6 minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist us in analyzing the results of the survey; the WMF will not use the information to identify you.

If this invitation also appears on other accounts you may have, please complete the survey once only.
If this has been sent to you in error and you have never patrolled new pages, please ignore it.

Please click HERE to take part.
Many thanks in advance for providing this essential feedback.

You are receiving this invitation because you have patrolled new pages. For more information, please see NPP Survey. Global message delivery 13:17, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2011 October newsletter

The 2011 WikiCup is now over, and our new champion is Hurricanehink (submissions), who joins the exclusive club of the previous winners: Dreamafter (2007), jj137 (2008), Durova (2009) and Sturmvogel_66 (2010). The final standings were as follows:

Prizes for first, second, third and fourth will be awarded, as will prizes for all those who reached the final eight. Every participant who scored in the competition will receive a ribbon of participation. In addition to the prizes based on placement, the following special prizes will be awarded based on high performance in particular areas of content creation. So that the finalists do not have an undue advantage, the prize is awarded to the competitor who scored the highest in any particular field in a single round.

The Featured Article Award: Casliber (submissions), for his performance in round 2. Hurricanehink (submissions) matched the score, but Casliber won the tiebreaker.
The Good Article Award: Yellow Evan (submissions), for his performance in round 4.
The Featured List Award: Miyagawa (submissions), for his performance in round 4. PresN (submissions) matched the score, but Miyagawa won the tiebreaker.
The Recognised Topic Award (for good and featured topics): PresN (submissions), for his performance in round 3.
The Did You Know Award: The Bushranger (submissions), for his performance in round 1.
The In the News Award: Candlewicke (submissions), for his performance in round 1.
The Reviewer Award (for good article reviews): Wizardman (submissions), for his performance in round 3.

No prize was awarded for featured pictures, sounds or portals, as none were claimed throughout the competition. The awards will be handed out over the next few days. Congratulations to all our participants, and especially our winners; we've all had fun, and Wikipedia has benefitted massively from our content work.

Preparation for next year's WikiCup is ongoing. Interested parties are invited to sign up and participate in our straw polls. It's been a pleasure to work with you all this year, and, whoever's taking part in and running the competition in 2012, we hope to see you all in January! J Milburn and The ed17 00:48, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Can you userfy this for me?

Uzbeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan AaronSw (talk) 04:35, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

Done.

[edit] The Signpost: 31 October 2011

Opinion essay: The monster under the rug

Recent research: WikiSym; predicting editor survival; drug information found lacking; RfAs and trust; Wikipedia's search engine ranking justified

News and notes: German Wikipedia continues image filter protest

In the news: Citizendium on the rocks, Shankbone celebrated, and the week in vandalism

Discussion report: Proposal to return this section from hiatus is successful

WikiProject report: 'In touch' with WikiProject Rugby union

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Abortion case stalls, request for clarification on Δ, discretionary sanctions streamlined

Technology report: Wikipedia Zero announced; New Orleans successfully hacked

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 18:12, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Special report: A post-mortem on the Indian Education Program pilot

News and notes: Wikimedia Norway awarded, Halloween on the Main Page, Wikimedia UK recognised

In the news: The Economist assays the encyclopaedia's challenges, Jimbo speaks on net future, and an inclusionist alternative emerges.

Discussion report: Special report on the ArbCom Elections steering RfC

WikiProject report: Booting up with WikiProject Computer Science

Featured content: Slow week for Featured content

Arbitration report: Δ saga returns to arbitration, while the Abortion case stalls for another week

Technology report: Full steam ahead on Visual Editor, the avoidance of lock-breaking and 1.18b1 release

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 13:17, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: ArbCom nominations open, participation grants finalized, survey results on perceptions on Wikipedia released

In the news: Fundraising vs ads redux, WikiConference India nigh, a world lit up with articles

WikiProject report: Having a Conference with WikiProject India

Featured content: Writing featured content: Advice from Sturmvogel 66; Sports, sports, sports!

Arbitration report: Abortion and Betacommand 3 in evidence phase, three case requests outstanding

Technology report: Coding Challenge results; Wikimedians to wait and see if Athena really does represent "wisdom, courage and inspiration"

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:23, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Last-minute candidates for ArbCom, the Sue Gardner European Tour hits London

In the news: Indian wikiconference heralds expansion, fundraiser in Silicon Valley major donor coup, import of Wikipedia reconsidered

Discussion report: Much ado about censorship

WikiProject report: Working on a term paper with WikiProject Academic Journals

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: End in sight for Abortion case, nominations in 2011 elections

Technology report: Mumbai and Brighton hacked; horizontal lists have got class

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:46, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Drive-in theater

Are you still planning anything with this list? Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 23:02, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Yes, it's an example of where our notability policies have become stricter over time, excluding sourced and useful information that used to be commonly accepted on the project. I'd like to summarize the trend and its impact on editors and knowledge captured, but need time to gather more examples / troll through old *fDs... if similar examples spring to mind, feel free to add them there. – SJ + 00:32, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Fine Art Edit-a-Thon & DC Meetup 26!

Fine Art Edit-a-Thon & Meetup - Who should come? You should. Really.
	FINE ART EDIT-A-THON & DC MEETUP 26 is December 17! The Edit-a-Thon will cover fine art subjects from the Federal Art Project and the meet up will involve Wikipedians from the area as well as Wiki-loving GLAM professionals. You don't have to attend both to attend one (but we hope you do!) Click the link above and sign up & spread the word! See you there! SarahStierch (talk) 15:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Fine Art Edit-a-Thon & Meetup - Who should come? You should. Really.

FINE ART EDIT-A-THON & DC MEETUP 26 is December 17! The Edit-a-Thon will cover fine art subjects from the Federal Art Project and the meet up will involve Wikipedians from the area as well as Wiki-loving GLAM professionals. You don't have to attend both to attend one (but we hope you do!) Click the link above and sign up & spread the word! See you there! SarahStierch (talk) 15:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

(In case you're in the area =) SarahStierch (talk) 15:54, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Arb's resignation sparks lightning RfC, Fundraiser 2011 off to a strong start, GLAM in Qatar

In the news: The closed, unfriendly world of Wikipedia, fundraiser fun and games, and chemists vs pornstars

Recent research: Quantifying quality collaboration patterns, systemic bias, POV pushing, the impact of news events, and editors' reputation

WikiProject report: The Signpost scoops The Bugle

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Voting underway in the elections, finally a final decision on Abortion, scant movement on requests

Technology report: Foundation appears correct to back improved smartphone support; and how a Reddit slip meant no-one could read anything for thirty minutes

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 07:38, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Heya (disambiguation)

Hello. I've been making some formatting changes to Heya (disambiguation) to make it in line with WP:MOSDAB. Although, I am curious about the page move you made of Heya to Heya (sumo). Was this not the primary topic (of Heya)? None of the others have articles. If Heya (sumo) is not the primary topic (although in my eyes it seems like it should be), the dab page should be moved to Heya or else it is essentially WP:MALPLACED. Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks, France3470 (talk) 17:18, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

News and notes: Amsterdam gets the GLAM treatment, fundraising marches on, and a flourish of new admins

In the news: A Wikistream of real time edits, a call for COI reform, and cracks in the ivory tower of knowledge

Discussion report: Trial proposed for tool apprenticeship

WikiProject report: This article is about WikiProject Disambiguation. For other uses...

Featured content: This week's Signpost is for the birds!

Arbitration report: Elections due to finish this week, little activity on Betacommand 3, Abortion case amended

Technology report: Incremental dumps help mirrors, full screen search helps mobile visitors, and two MediaWiki releases help external sites

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 19:32, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Nice to see you around! :-)

Nice to see you around, and helping with the Berkman/Science po discussion. :-) --Kim Bruning (talk) 23:52, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 12 December 2011

Opinion essay: Wikipedia in Academe – and vice versa

News and notes: Research project banner ads run afoul of community

In the news: Bell Pottinger investigation, Gardner on gender gap, and another plagiarist caught red-handed

WikiProject report: Spanning Nine Time Zones with WikiProject Russia

Featured content: Wehwalt gives his fifty cents; spies, ambushes, sieges, and Entombment

Arbitration report: Betacommand 3 workshop revived, two cases set for acceptance and the ArbCom elections finish on a whimper

Technology report: Trials and tribulations of image rotation, Article Feedback version 5, and new diff colours

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 18:42, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Speedy deletion nomination of Ab'gar XIV

A tag has been placed on Ab'gar XIV, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done for the following reason:

no such king ever existed since the line stopped at Abgar XI. The only reference for this article is the 19th century "Nuttall Encyclopedia"

Under the criteria for speedy deletion, articles that do not meet basic Wikipedia criteria may be deleted at any time.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, contest the deletion by clicking on the button labelled "Click here to contest this speedy deletion". Doing so will take you to the talk page where you will find a pre-formatted place for you to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. You can also visit the page's talk page directly to give your reasons, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the page meets the criterion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the page that would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, you can contact one of these administrators to request that the administrator userfy the page or email a copy to you. Rafy talk 11:19, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 19 December 2011

News and notes: Anti-piracy act has Wikimedians on the defensive, WMF annual report released, and Indic language dynamics

In the news: To save the wiki: strike first, then makeover?

Discussion report: Polls, templates, and other December discussions

WikiProject report: A dalliance with the dismal scientists of WikiProject Economics

Featured content: Panoramas with Farwestern and a good week for featured content

Arbitration report: The community elects eight arbitrators

Technology report: Visual editor demo launched, hailed as "most important change to our user experience ... ever"; but elsewhere over-hasty deployments criticised

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 04:49, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Please add this to your watchlist:

Outline of the United Nations

Thank you. The Transhumanist 02:23, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 26 December 2011

Opinion essay: Openness versus quality: why we're doing it wrong, and how to fix it

Recent research: Psychiatrists: Wikipedia better than Britannica; spell-checking Wikipedia; Wikipedians smart but fun; structured biological data

News and notes: Fundraiser passes 2010 watermark, brief news

WikiProject report: The Tree of Life

Featured content: Going through the roster with Killervogel5 and a plethora of featured content

Arbitration report: Three open cases, one set for acceptance, arbitrators formally appointed by Jimmy Wales

Technology report: Wikimedia in Go Daddy boycott, and why you should 'Join the Swarm'

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 04:18, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] File:LogoGutza22Jul2003.jpg missing description details

Dear uploader: The media file you uploaded as File:LogoGutza22Jul2003.jpg is missing a description and/or other details on its image description page. If possible, please add this information. This will help other editors to make better use of the image, and it will be more informative for readers.

If the information is not provided, the image may eventually be proposed for deletion, a situation which is not desirable, and which can easily be avoided.

If you have any questions please see Help:Image page. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 15:24, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] 2012 WikiCup

Hi! As you've previously expressed interest in the competition, I'm just letting you know that the 2012 WikiCup is due to start in less than 24 hours. Signups are open, and will remain so for a few weeks after the beginning of the competition. The competition itself will follow basically the same format as last year, with a few small tweaks to point costs to reflect the opinions of the community. If you're interested in taking part, you're more than welcome, and if you know anyone who might be, please let them know too- the more the merrier! To join, simply add your name to Wikipedia:WikiCup/2012 signups, and we will be in touch. Please feel free to direct any questions to me, or leave a note on the WikiCup talk page. Thanks! You are receiving this note as you are listed on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Please feel free to add or remove yourself. EdwardsBot (talk) 01:26, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 02 January 2012

Interview: The Gardner interview

News and notes: Things bubbling along as Wikimedians enjoy their holidays

WikiProject report: Where are they now? Part III

Featured content: Ghosts of featured content past, present, and future

Arbitration report: New case accepted, four open cases, terms begin for new arbitrators

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 16:27, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation link notification

Hi. When you recently edited Internet Society of China, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Chinese (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 11:23, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] Noam Cohen

Hi, Sj! I have corresponded with Noam Cohen.

Noam Cohen did say that the Times does have a style guide, and according to that style guide he is supposed to render Japanese names in Western order. In terms of, say, the subject strongly preferring Japanese order, he's not sure how that would be resolved exactly. He said that the NYT would let someone spell the name how he/she would want to (i.e. "My name is Mohammed, not Muhammad") but he is not sure if naming order is affected by that.

I'm still e-mailing him. If you want, I can forward you correspondence and/or get you involved. WhisperToMe (talk) 22:03, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Okay - I sent you an e-mail. Please respond to the e-mail so I can obtain your e-mail address. With that I will forward you the correspondence. Thank you very much :)
WhisperToMe (talk) 17:15, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
- You should now have copies of all three e-mails (my initial e-mail, Noam's reply, and then my reply)
- Should I also send these e-mails to Aphaia?
- WhisperToMe (talk) 18:02, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
  - Oh, ok. I will not e-mail Aphaia then.
  - At the moment I don't know of any other sources that refer to Aphaia's viewpoints and opinions so there's nothing else for me to add. From my understanding the sources regarding the logo and the Japanese Wikipedia are the only ones that discuss analysis and viewpoints from Aphaia. However the questions of "is this information worthy of inclusion on Wikipedia" and "how should one's name be presented" are two separate questions to be resolved separately.
  - In regards to following sensitivities, I'm not certain that following a sensitivity is necessarily the best plan, nor should it be the primary goal of writing for Wikipedia. Keeping in mind, as an example Talk:Muhammad/FAQ#Q1 an argument brought up was that including images would infringe upon the sensitivities of followers of a religion. The English Wikipedia community decided that, even though these followers would feel offended, it would be the best policy to include the images.
    - The FAQ itself says "So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia's existing policies, nor the law of the U.S. state of Florida, where most of Wikipedia's servers are hosted, no content or images will be removed from Wikipedia because people find them objectionable or offensive."
  - This is why I'm interested in hearing how a professional organization would deal with this issue. If there is a consensus among the popular media/RS world that one could make an exception like this, then the community could say "the media would, and did accommodate such demands and have Yamada Hanako's name presented in the opposite fashion consistently. Since reliable sources for Yamada Hanako have done this, this should be reflected on Wikipedia"
  - Regarding concerns about Wikilawyering (AFAIK this was brought up on the Commons), I don't think it's wikilawyering if one follows the underlying spirit of a rule/guideline/etc. rather than simply following it to a letter. The English Wikipedia is intended to be a tertiary source, reflecting what other people wrote. Generally guidelines on naming order/etc. are meant to have Wikipedia reflect the practices of published English-language literature. Having Wikipedia's policies on a person's naming order determined by the policies of reliable sources would fulfill the goal of making Wikipedia a tertiary source.
  - WhisperToMe (talk) 16:57, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 09 January 2012

Technological roadmap: 2011's technological achievements in review, and what 2012 may hold

News and notes: Fundraiser 2011 ends with a bang

In the news: Wikipedia ends annual fundraising drive; Monmouthpedia launches

WikiProject report: From Traditional to Experimental: WikiProject Jazz

Featured content: Contentious FAC debate: a week in review

Arbitration report: Four open cases, proposed decision in Betacommand 3

Technology report: December in more detail; and why the MediaWiki codebase was "slushed" this week

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 05:03, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] What is fiction?

Is this section accurate? Is it complete? Please take a quick look. Thank you. The Transhumanist 00:07, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:WikiProject Years

Hi, since your name's down on this project, I'm just writing to let you know that there's a discussion going on at the moment on how to format events – and in particular, events that go on for multiple days – on year pages. Your input would be appreciated. — Smjg (talk) 18:23, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 16 January 2012

Special report: English Wikipedia to go dark on January 18

Sister projects: What are our sisters up to now?

News and notes: WMF on the looming SOPA blackout, Wikipedia turns 11, and Commons passes 12 million files

WikiProject report: WikiProject Beer

Featured content: Lecen on systemic bias in featured content

Arbitration report: Four open cases, Betacommand case deadlocked, Muhammad images close near

Technology report: ArticleFeedback moves into new trial phase; and how MediaWiki integrates with Facebook, IPv6, and PostgreSQL explored

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 06:54, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] Hello, good sir!

Was that your voice speaking about wikis at the end of Justin Reich's talk today? I was listening to the webcast, and I thought you (or your doppelganger) made some good points. In any case, hello!

~~Brandon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pingswept (talk • contribs) 18:51, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that was me! I found the talk frustrating; I'm not sure that sort of research does much more than generate provocative talk and paper titles. Limited data, limited disaggregation, no data transparency or reproducability... no basis for drawing conclusions of any sort. I hope that before the work is published in a more formal way those issues are addressed, but worry that in some academic regimes provocative titles are an end in their own right. And how are you doing? I thought of you recently, when OpenGlobe started up. I hope all is well. – SJ + 22:19, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Agreed about data transparency and reproducability. That seems to be slow to take hold in academia, which is sort of weird. I disagree a little about limited data. Or rather, I agree that the data is limited, but I thought Justin did a good job of presenting his conclusions as uncertain, which seems like a reasonable behavior in the face of limited data. But maybe it came across differently in person. Anyway, stuff is good. I'm working on a new device in Artisan's Asylum. You should stop by if you haven't seen the place before-- I think it's the second-largest community hackerspace in the world, and it's right near Union Square in Somerville. Pingswept —Preceding undated comment added 18:05, 21 January 2012 (UTC).

[edit] The Signpost: 23 January 2012

News and notes: SOPA blackout, Orange partnership

In the news: World watched as Wikipedia shut down for SOPA blackout

WikiProject report: The Golden Horseshoe: WikiProject Toronto

Featured content: Interview with Muhammad Mahdi Karim and the best of the week

Arbitration report: Four open cases, proposed decision in Muhammad images, AUSC call for applications

Technology report: Looking ahead to MediaWiki 1.19 and related issues

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 19:07, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] The Signpost: 30 January 2012

News and notes: Update on Global Development, Wikipedia Day NYC is a success, JFK audio on Commons

In the news: Zambian wiki-assassins, Foundation über alles, editor engagement and the innovation plateau

Recent research: Language analyses examine power structure and political slant; Wikipedia compared to commercial databases

WikiProject report: Digging Up WikiProject Palaeontology

Featured content: Featured content soaring this week

Arbitration report: Five open cases, voting on proposed decisions in two cases

Technology report: Why "Lua" is on everybody's lips, and when to expect MediaWiki 1.19

Read this Signpost in full
Single-page
Unsubscribe
EdwardsBot (talk) 04:10, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

[edit] WikiCup 2012 January newsletter

WikiCup 2012 is off to a flying start. At the time of writing, we have 112 contestants; comparable to last year, but slightly fewer than 2010. Signups will remain open for another week, after which time they will be closed for this year. Our currrent far-away leader is Grapple X (submissions), due mostly to his work on a slew of good articles about The X-Files; there remain many such articles waiting to be reviewed at good article candidates. Second place is currently held by Ruby2010 (submissions), whose points come mostly from good articles about television episodes, although good article reviews, did you knows and an article about a baroness round out the score. In third place is Jivesh boodhun (submissions), who has scored 200 points for his work on a single featured article, as well as points for work on others, mostly in the area of pop music. In all, nine users have 100 or more points. However, at the other end of the scale, there are still dozens of participants who are yet to score. Please remember to update your submission pages promptly!

The 64 highest scoring participants will advance to round 2 in a month's time. There, they will be split into eight random groups of eight. The score needed to reach the next round is not at all clear; last year, 8 points guaranteed a place. The year before, 20.

A few participants and their work warrant a mention for achieving "firsts" in this competition.

12george1 (submissions) was the first to score, with his good article review of Illinois v. McArthur.
12george1 (submissions) was also the first to score points for an article, thanks to his work on Hurricane Debby (1982)- now a good article. Tropical storms have featured heavily in the Cup, and good articles currently have a relatively fast turnaround time for reviews.
Sp33dyphil (submissions) was the first to score points for a did you know, with Russian submarine K-114 Tula. Military history is another subject which has seen a lot of Cup activity.
Sp33dyphil (submissions) is also the first person to successfully claim bonus points. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is now a good article, and was eligible for bonus points because the subject was covered on more than 20 other Wikipedias at the start of the competition. It is fantastic to see bonus points being claimed so early!
Speciate (submissions) was the first to score points for an In the News entry, with Paedophryne amauensis. The lead image from the article was also used on the main page for a time, and it's certainly eye-catching!
Jivesh boodhun (submissions) was the first to score points for a featured article, and is, at the moment, the only competitor to claim for one. The article, "Halo" (Beyoncé Knowles song), was also worth double points because of its wide coverage. While this is an article that Jivesh and others have worked on for some time, it is undeniable that he has put considerable work into it this year, pushing it over the edge.

We are yet to see any featured lists, featured topics or good topics, but this is unsurprising; firstly, the nomination processes with each of these can take some time, and, secondly, it can take a considerable amount of time to work content to this level. In a similar vein, we have seen only one featured article. The requirement that content must have been worked on this year to be eligible means that we did not expect to see these at the start of the competition. No points have been claimed for featured portals or pictures, but these are not content types which are often claimed; the former has never made a big impact on the WikiCup, while the latter has not done so since 2009's competition.

A quick rules clarification before the regular notices: If you are concerned that another user is claiming points inappropriately, please contact a judge to take a look at the article. Competitors policing one another can create a bad atmosphere, and may lead to inconsistencies and mistakes. Rest assured that we, the judges, are making an effort to check submissions, but it is possible that we will miss something. On a loosely related note: If you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 00:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Sj&oldid=474309004"