Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents

Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents
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User:Bank of Wikipedia / User:Willy on Wheels

Apparently someone took it upon themselves to become the central bank for Wikimoney. I'm not sure if this is best understood as a joke that isn't funny, a math project gone wrong, or what. I blocked the account indefinitely, based on m:Role account, and the deliberately confusing Wikipedia:Username provisions of Wikipedia:Bans and blocks. Not sure if that was the right thing to do or not. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 5 July 2005 21:58 (UTC)

Works for me. Snowspinner July 5, 2005 21:59 (UTC)

And now we have a sock; apparently the perpetrator was wise enough not to attempt a logged-in edit and so trigger the autoblocker. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 5 July 2005 22:23 (UTC)

Um, I think this was kind of just a game people were playing, a system of rewards or something like that. It seems harmless, and maybe beneficial if it boosts morale. Everyking 5 July 2005 22:26 (UTC)

Perhaps, but I don't see why a separate account is needed for this sort of thing. Mackensen (talk) 5 July 2005 22:30 (UTC)

Did it really hurt anything though? It's sad that the first reaction to a bit of harmless nonsense is to block it.

Yes, I agree other than the m:Role account. I would suggest that whoever founded the bank move it to their userspace and run it there, under their real username or at least a sockpuppet created that only they use. Other "employees" (if it is a shared account) should not use the same account, but instead either create sockpuppets to work at the bank, or use their own accounts. You (Talk) July 5, 2005 22:33 (UTC)

Now there's a User:Bank of Wikipedia Employee5, just thought I'd point that out. You (Talk) July 5, 2005 22:34 (UTC)

I will leave it up to others to block this account if they see fit. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 5 July 2005 22:39 (UTC)

Hmm... As long as these employee accounts are each used by only a single person (being a newbie admin I have no experience in determining that, also I am not referring to a single person using multiple "bank employee" accounts) I feel that they should be allowed to operate since (someone correct me if I'm wrong) I don't see how they violate the sockpuppet policy, nor any other. You (Talk) July 5, 2005 22:43 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Username#Inappropriate usernames and Wikipedia:Blocking policy#Usernames. That username makes it look like it's somehow an "official" account. --cesarb 5 July 2005 23:22 (UTC)

I've blocked. Snowspinner July 5, 2005 23:25 (UTC)

Uh, it was a game of nomic from what I can tell. --SPUI (talk) 6 July 2005 00:01 (UTC)

As a block is clearly supported by policy in this case, The Uninvited was within his rights, but I can't help but feel that starting a conversation with the user first might have been, um, nicer. It has to be remembered that being blocked is not a nice feeling, many good editors have left the project over blocks where, in truth, they were acting in good faith. Not everyone is familiar with every Wikipedia policy, (especially those found on meta). Pointing out that he was commiting a blockable offense, and giving him some options, such as creating another account with a subpage, etc., would have worked just as well. func(talk) 6 July 2005 02:05 (UTC)

Point taken. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 6 July 2005 15:55 (UTC)

We are not acting neither in good nor in bad faith. We are a Bank , not a church. If you dont like our name you should say so one month before, when we choosed it. Coming after one month and a half, after all this job we have done, and claiming that our name or that our purpose is illegal according to YOUR rules, this is at least vulgar and hypocritical. Of course we know that you have both the knife and the melon, and you are using violence to succeed in your evil goals. This is the only reason we want to negotiate with you. We accept you to change our name from "Bank of Wikipedia" to "BoW Bank". Please, ask a administrator to do this change, whithout affecting our bank's accounts, files and transactions. Bank of Wikipedia Employee6 8 July 2005 08:53 (UTC)

The issue isn't your strange game so much as the role accounts being employed for it - please use your main accounts. Snowspinner July 8, 2005 11:48 (UTC)

My Main account was "Bank of Wikipedia"! Now my main account is "Bank of Wikipedia Employee7". I have no other account. Bank of Wikipedia Employee7 9 July 2005 08:06 (UTC)

I've blocked employee 6 as well in this same vein as employee 5 was blocked. Sjakkalle (Check!) 8 July 2005 08:58 (UTC)

Bank of Wikipedia Employee7 - (contribs) vandalised my user page and talk page. Hadal kindly rv'd them for me, and has such, blocked the account. <>Who?¿? 9 July 2005 09:11 (UTC)

Question since User:Bank of Wikipedia is indefinately blocked, can the user page be protected to alleviate vandalism? <>Who?¿? 9 July 2005 09:36 (UTC)

Well, if anyone was wondering what happened to User:Iasson, I guess you have your answer. --Calton | Talk 9 July 2005 15:17 (UTC)

There was never any evidence, other than remotely similar style of writing, that this was ever User:Iasson. The Bank of Wikipedia was quite harmless and I am both surprised and disappointed with the approach taken in banning this account. Bahn Mi 9 July 2005 16:58 (UTC)

I wish I could say it surprised me... Everyking 9 July 2005 17:14 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I think Calton is jumping to an unwarranted conclusion. As well, we should have as a courtesy made an attempt to contact the account holder before blocking, since there wasn't any apparent vandalism or destruction going on.

That said, blocking the accounts as m:role accounts seems to be perfectly reasonable. The usernames are also a violation of policy—they imply that they operate under some sort of official sanction or imprimatur. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 9 July 2005 19:27 (UTC)

I think Calton is jumping to an unwarranted conclusion. Other than the fractured English, obscure self-made rules, raging about a Cabal, use of consecutively numbered/named sockpuppets, and logging in from a Greek IP, no, I guess there's little resemblance to Iasson. --Calton | Talk 14:27, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

I am the legitimate owner of the account "Bank of Wikipedia". If you doubt about it, unblock "Bank of Wikipedia" account and I will confirm my claim, as long as I know the password. "Bank of Wikipedia" was my unique account, and now it is this one, I have no other. I want to negotiate with you. If you think that my name is sort of official sanction or imprimatur, I accept you to change my name to "BoW Bank" (also please transfer all transactions from my old account to the new one). I think this is a fair solution to the impramatur problem, although I still wonder why this problem occured now and not one month and a half ago, when I choosed this nickname. Bank of Wikipedia Employee11 23:38, 9 July 2005 (UTC)

So, wait, you never actually did anything but play Nomic on Wikipedia? Oh, well in that case, stop wasting our time. Snowspinner 16:25, July 11, 2005 (UTC)

Our goal is not to play Nomic on Wikipedia! We are a Nomic Bank, and our goal is to convince wikipedians, without using any kind of direct ot indirect violence, that our coins have real value, they are credible and they can be used here as a medium of exchange. BoW Bank 21:22, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Actually let's not do that. I DO think we should have a wikinomic, maybe at wikicities? Just not here. :-) Don't forget to invite me! Kim Bruning 00:29, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

Wikicities is not a place to send banned users. Angela. 07:17, July 11, 2005 (UTC)

Due to the recent ban, we tried to move to wikicities. Unfortunately the wikicities admins are also possessed by the same kind of hate that the wikipedian admins have, they also have the same strange and false belief that we are someone else. Thats too bad. This is a message to all our trusted employees, and to all our customers. We are searching for another place to host our nomic bank. All propositions are welcome. BoW Bank 15:56, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Well, it's good to see that this foolishness has finally been brought to an end. Bank of Wikipedia indeed! And with such rules! Hah! James Bell 23:51, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

I am afraid not! Our Bank still operates, under a brand new name (BoW Bank). All trusted employees have been transfered there and they continue their work and their support to the Bank and to its customers. Would you like an account too? BoW Bank 13:39, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

I've blocked User:BoW Bank as an unsanctioned role account. This user claims to be User:Bank of Wikipedia, who has already been blocked for the same reason. Carbonite | Talk 13:53, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

While we're keeping up to date on this, the account is confirmed as Iasson. Snowspinner 14:25, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

• If that is the case, then I beleive Iasson's block should be extended to one year from today. Its not written into the arbcom ruling, but I beleive that it is standard practice. Thryduulf 15:52, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

• Out of curiosity, how was it confirmed? (If we're trying to protect our detection methods, 'a developer said so' is a valid answer.) If we are sure it's Iasson, then extension of the ban should probably be a Request for Clarification over at RFArb. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:15, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
  • It edits from the same IP range as Iasson in a style that is sufficiently similar. Snowspinner 17:22, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I just deleted User talk talk:Bank of Wikipedia, which had been created by an anon IP with a cut-and-paste of an old version of User talk:Bank of Wikipedia. The deleted page was mis-named and a duplicate stripped of the original's page history. CDC (talk) 17:54, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

• I have made a request for clarification regarding Iasson's ban at WP:RFAr. Thryduulf 19:27, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

We have no relations with any banned user. We think that you are making this false claim that we are connected with user Iasson, simply because you hate our success and you want to find a pretext to stop our bank's evolution. We ask any other legitimate user to make an experiment and create a nomic bank and we bet that he/she will also be named a sockpuppet of a banned user. If you want to ban our bank, create a policy and prohibit nomic banks from wikipedia, then ban us directly like real (wo)men! BoW Bank Employee14 23:31, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

• employee14 blocked as a reincarnation of a banned user. Does this sequence of numbered Employee's remind anyone else of user:Sjorford/Playpen#It's the Faethon Family Smile-Time Variety Hour!? ;) Thryduulf 23:47, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
  • Oh no, not again. Is Iasson using public passwords for these accounts? --Deathphoenix 01:45, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
    • I haven't checked, and am not inclined to on the blocked accounts (even though I could unblock myself, I don't really wnat to have to). If I remember I'll check if he pops up again. Thryduulf 07:53, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
      • We are not public accounts, our password is private. But all our employees are using the SAME password which is only known to the trusted ones. You can find only ONE numbered Employee active in the same time, and it is often the one having the bigest number. If a false bank employee appears, we change our number to a greater number, to overcome him. In the future, and if false employees abuse us, we will use a public key infrastacture, to safely separate the true employees from the false ones. You can distinguish our active employee from his dress code, he always wear costume. If you ask him to tell you his name, he always follow a name convention, and this is "BoW Bank EmployeeXX". BoW Bank Employee15 11:43, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
        • Oh yeah, you are definitely Iasson. --Deathphoenix 11:55, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
        • Maybe you could get some kind of official sanction for your bank? I'm not sure how you would go about that, though. I suppose we could have a vote on whether to have a bank. Everyking 11:58, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
        • I blocked employee15 as a reincarnation of a blocked user... Ferkelparade π 12:04, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
        • No. 16 blocked to. Willy on Wheels involved in this? Sjakkalle (Check!) 12:35, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

No one known as Iasson is at our bank, but we have employed our newest recruit. BoW Bank Employee16 12:19, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Sure. No one known as Iasson is employed at the bank. We are only the Bank's trusted employees and nobody else. We need a lawyer to help us through this problem. BoW Bank Employee27 13:42, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

• • 27 blocked. --Kbdank71 13:54, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Block behaviour changes

See Wikipedia:New features

After a suggestion on wikien-l, Tim Starling has changed the behaviour of blocks: a blocked user can still edit their user pages. If the user starts filling the page with technically-challenging content, there's always the option to protect the page as well. Keep in mind when blocking - David Gerard 7 July 2005 22:10 (UTC)

Of course, protecting a talk page is not a thing we'd usually want to do... But look at this and this. What can I do, other than protecting the talk page itself? I think there should be a way to either turn off this feature selectively, or block the page selectively. I fail to see a case where the change isn't a turn for worse. --cesarb 9 July 2005 10:55 (UTC)

Not only that, but

• It seems to ignore the IP autoblocker, even if it was triggered by a different account
• It doesn't seem to trigger the IP autoblocker

What a brain-damaged misfeature. --cesarb 9 July 2005 11:04 (UTC)

I'm not going to defend it, I'll leave that to the people who promoted it on wikien-l and elsewhere. I'll disable it if that's the solution favoured by the community. -- Tim Starling July 9, 2005 11:59 (UTC)

I just don't understand the reason for the change, even after reading the mailing list thread. If a blocked user needs an outlet to complain about the block, they should email an admin, use the mailing list, or IRC even. With this feature, we also have to beware of removals of {{sockpuppet}}. -- Netoholic @ 9 July 2005 15:44 (UTC)

• I thought the feature only allows editing of the talk page which would not permit the removal of such notices. --Phil | Talk 12:24, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

I just thought of another problem. I (or someone else) will have to unprotect the user's talk page, by hand, when the block period finishes. --cesarb 9 July 2005 15:56 (UTC)

Only if the users abuse their talkpage. Most probably wont. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 21:01, 9 July 2005 (UTC)

I think it depends on the user in question: vandals may well continue their vandalism on their talk page; revert warrriors will just complain on it. It does seem that this feature needs to be thought out a bit more, though it does have potential to be useful in some cases. --rbrwr^± 21:36, 9 July 2005 (UTC)

Can blocked users create new user pages, like User:BadUser/page1, User:BadUser/page2, ..., User:BadUser/page∞? If so, I could see that also being problematic. JYolkowski // talk 20:27, 9 July 2005 (UTC)

No. -- Tim Starling 20:39, July 9, 2005 (UTC)

Leaving edit access to the user talk page encourages the blocked user to communicate openly. Many of the complaints that we see on IRC and wikien-l suggest that the user feels that they being victimised by a clique. In my opinion this feeling is likely to be mitigated by open communication. —Theo (Talk) 21:31, 9 July 2005 (UTC)

I think this is a good idea and well worth a trial. It makes much more sense any dialogue between a blocked user and admins on the user's talk page, where it is recorded and visible to all, rather than on the mailing list. And I don't think manually unprotecting protected talk pages at the end of a block will be a problem–frankly, if someone carries on in a fashion which requires their talk page to be protected, make the block permanent, I say. Also, for purely selfish reasons, I have no interest in 99% of the aggrieved trolls who complain about their blocks, and would rather see their whining on a talk page that I'm never going to read than flooding my mailbox. —Stormie 00:06, July 10, 2005 (UTC)

I think it's worth a try. As Wikipedia continues to grow, this will help to stop WikiEN-l from turning into IDemandYouUnbanMeNow-l. - Mark 09:45, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

OH GOD YES PLEASE - David Gerard (another wikien-l admin) 11:16, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

I like the idea myself, in terms of keeping a communication channel open. Particularly as we're having to block a lot of querulous rubbish from the blocked to keep the list readable. Concur with Stormie. If the feature is having problems, it would best be tweaked rather than switched off - David Gerard 11:16, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

Well, my main objection to this misfeature is: it causes a talk page (and not any common talk page, a user talk page) to be protected, which makes harder for other people to add to it (while before only the blocked user was prevented to adding to it). Do you have any idea on how to prevent that situation? --cesarb 14:31, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

How about letting them edit a subpage, instead of their actual user talk page? Say, Special:Mytalk/Unblock me please. -- Tim Starling 16:29, July 10, 2005 (UTC)

I think it's a good feature myself -- one particular advantage is that the wiki page history preserves evidence of behaviour, good or bad. I just see one problem with it as far as an "open means of communication": there's no guarantee that anyone will see the user's edits!

I often watch the page of someone I'm warning with {{test}} etc, but not always, and it's not required; and a new user is not likely to be on anyone else's watchlist. You might end up with people repeatedly editing their page (with or without "LOOK AT ME" edit summaries) just to bump it up on Recent Changes to try to get some attention. Perhaps if the user's talk page were automatically added to the blocking admin's watchlist? Or some other kind of public log for other admins to follow up on? We know most of the responses are going to be useless, tiresome and vicious ranting, but if we're going to allow them to complain at all they shouldn't be sent off to an empty room to do so. — Catherine\^talk 20:48, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

• Perhaps we could have a special page that shows changes to talk pages of currently blocked users. Bovlb 14:43:19, 2005-07-12 (UTC)

I'd rather the page stay at their normal talk page rather than an "Unblock me please" page. The Unblock me please page will be harder to find, less likely to be watched, and implies that requesting an unblock is the only communication a blocked user is allowed, when there might be other messages they want to put on that page which don't say "Unblock me please". Angela. 20:40, July 11, 2005 (UTC)

Presumably if Tim's other feature, the block-from-specific-page, comes online, this would allow the user to be blocked from even the talk page for a short time (say ½ hour) whilst they calm down. Obviously if this fails to bring them to their senses they can be sanctioned more permanently. --Phil | Talk 12:24, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

This misfeature catchs another administrator off-guard. With this I can already count at least three instances where this has confused people, and zero instances where it helped (that I have seen). --cesarb 18:38, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

You're the only one complaining, and only about "Dr. Weasel". Since he's just fooling around here, I have no problem with locking his account AND user talk page.

Let's do a tally somewhere, to keep track of how many contributors support/oppose this new feature. Uncle Ed 16:54, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

Please weigh in at blocked users' talk page. Uncle Ed 16:59, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not keen on this feature, though I appreciate Ed had the right idea in asking for it, because it helps people to communicate and it keeps it off the mailing list. The downside is that we now have talk pages turning into obsessive diatribes against the blocking admin, or against the editors involved in the dispute that led to the block, not a good thing to be on the receiving end of. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 17:05, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

• In my opinion, this is a helpful feature that may help to resolve problems. Twice I was blocked by Admins who violated Wiki procedures and who did so based on edit content. If this feature were in existance, I would not feel helpless when abused by Admins. In addition, any complaints I made on my User page may permit the Admin to rethink their actions. As it was, I waited 24 hours (once longer because it was a strange 55 hour block) and then informed people about the Admin abuse. If this feature were in effect, then the Admin would have the opportunity to change their position, or at least know the User's complaints, when the unblock goes into effect. --Noitall 17:20, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

Wow, someone who was blocked is actually talking about the feature rather than re-protesting their block. I think this proves that Tim's feauture opens up communication! Uncle Ed 17:47, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

User:209.183.212.194 (blocks broken?)

I've blocked 209.183.212.194 twice in the last 10 or 15 minutes or so and neither block seems to have worked as s/he keeps on posting. I don't see anyone unblocking on the block log so I'm not sure what's going on. Perhaps someone else could try blocking him/her? Gamaliel 18:09, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

The edits he is doing is to his own talkpage. And I believe this is a new feature of the newest mediawiki version and not a bug. A blocked user can still edit hois own talk and userpage after being blocked. You can always lock his talkpage if you really want to stop him. Shanes 18:14, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing that up. I may do that considering that one of the reasons I blocked him was for changing a vandalism warning from another editor into a request for "buttsex". Gamaliel 18:17, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Actually I already did it.I figured I'd unprotect later after he get's the message Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 18:22, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

I have added a small note about it to MediaWiki:blockiptext. --cesarb 18:33, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Whoops! I added a larger one by edit conflict... then saw yours and took it out thinking it was there previously but I'd missed it. I'd suggest we leave the larger note until people get used to the change. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 18:36, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Yours will annoy people because they will have to scroll down to do a block. Perhaps that's a good thing. How about making the text blinking red? --cesarb 18:40, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Well, OK, but only if we can make the letters blink in sequence. H-O-T-E-L HOTEL HOTEL H-O.... heh. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 18:43, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Your wish is my command ;-) Theresa Knott (I can't believe I actually spent time making this crap) (a tenth stroke) 21:53, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Total waste of time, but a virtuoso performance! alteripse 00:01, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Theresa, its... its... beautiful, it's so retro. And pink, even. I'm touched. Thank you. I'll add it to the MW:BIPTx page. It's an admin-only page, anyway, so who could object? Also, on a more serious note, isn't there some page where this is being discussed? I seem to remember Tim Starling mentioning such a thing but I'm not sure where it is. We should have a link on the Blockip page. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 01:44, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

It's just a little bit up here. --cesarb 05:17, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Rob Liefeld

I'd like the intervention of another administrator at Rob Liefeld please. I locked the article due to an edit war between two (or more?) editors but I've decided to recuse myself due to allegations of favoritism. The allegations are unfounded of course, but I figured the move couldn't hurt, but then the anon has accused me of favoritism by not unlocking the page and allowing him to continue the edit war. Additionally, there are allegations that another anon is actually the subject of the article removing criticism of himself. Gamaliel 21:24, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

I agree that the article was protected appropriately. Would you like me to state that on the article's talk page too? -- Francs2000 | Talk File:Uk flag large.png 21:27, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Liefeld has a reputation in the comics world, but I have to admit, I find the idea that he's anonymously editing to remove criticism kind of silly. He's MUCH too full of himself to be anonymous. :) Snowspinner 23:28, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

I have now listed this on Wikipedia:Requests for comment: the anon user is being hostile to anyone who disagrees with his point of view and I am not getting through to him. -- Francs2000 | Talk File:Uk flag large.png 17:13, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Resurgence of Antonarian Concepts among Mid Western African American Wiccan Slaves

From: Queentumi To: Board

I personally deleted all pages concerning Anton which is an African American Wiccan name for God taken from Aten, to Anten to Anton. This name was passed down in my family who is African American and Blackfoot Indian by my Great Grandmother who lived to be 113.Unlike caucasions who are people of the book that is they use a book for spiritual guidance and history many native american and afircan cultures are people of the spirit that is things are passed down orally from generation to generation after various insults I personally deleted all information that I added to wikipedia because I do not enjoy arguing but I do enjoy sharing my heritage with others since I posted the information it is not vandalism to delete it if I personally feel there is a lack of respect for that information by people such as dfleck. I will not allow anyone to disrespect my heritage any further than it already has been. So take something away from folks who have a lack of respect for it is not vandalism it is obeying the wishes of the people such as defleck to protect my culture and the culture of Midwestern Wiccan Blacks such as myself from undo religious and creed persecution.

Queentumi. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.217.208.172 (talk • contribs) 2005-07-12 19:41:47 CDT (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure I follow, but unfortunately, if you contributed the content under the GFDL, you don't really have veto on whether or not it goes in now - if your contributions are seen as a positive addition by people, they're well within their rights to insist that they be included - in fact, it's what they should do. The best thing you can do now to help decide how your content is used is to continue participating in the discussions around it. If they're turning into arguments, I'm sorry to hear that - perhaps an outside voice would help. Can you link me to some of the articles? I'll have a look and see what I can contribute to the discussions. Snowspinner 00:47, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

User pages that must be locked permanently

The GNAA have found a new way of causing disruption in Wikipedia. Any pages that look like this must be editted to remove the HTML that is causing display problems and permanently locked. Please do not forget to add the {{vprotected}} tag to the page, add a note to the talk page and list the page on WP:PROT. - Ta bu shi da yu 03:21, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Is there a concievable way of stopping this from happening? Snowspinner 03:40, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

For those of us using the Opera web browser, it's simply a matter of toggling from "author css mode" to "user css mode", which disables all CSS on the page. From there, editing becomes perfectly normal. As a long-term fix, it's a matter of filtering out certain CSS attributes from HTML tags. --Carnildo 04:32, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Alt-E still works as a keyboard shortcut for editing the page. Rhobite 04:52, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

As I mentioned above, on CSS/PHP exploit on User page, you can always just use the action=edit url http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User%20talk:JacksonBrown&action=edit. Works quite well. <>Who?¿? 05:13, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Pioneer-12 evading ban

This user was blocked indefinitely for repeatedly asserting that his talk page contributions were not licensed under the GFDL. See 68.46.123.33 (talk · contribs) who signs his posts:

 © 2005, Pioneer-12

Clearly he should be blocked for evading a ban. The introduction of copyright notices in signatures is a little worrying. Of course, all users retain copyright to material they release under the GFDL. Could someone infer from this notice that other user comments are not copyrighted? Should it be removed? Bovlb 14:39:56, 2005-07-13 (UTC)

I'm not going to get involved in the copyright issue, however if this user is evading a ban by editing under an IP then the IP should be blocked. Is it the only IP this user edits under? Is this user the only user to use this IP? -- Francs2000 | Talk File:Uk flag large.png 14:47, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Blocked indefinitely, though I should have made that a month, and I'll fix that. The copyright issue is unacceptable - he's destroying the ability of mirrors to function. Snowspinner 15:01, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

Marking the contributions as copyright is totally moot—the author of any text automatically receives and retains copyright, unless it is explicitly transferred as part of a work-for-hire situation or the like. On Wikipedia, all of us retain copyright on our contributions. What Pioneer-12 would like to believe is that he can contribute copyrighted material without licensing it under the GFDL. Any incarnations of his that make that assertion should be blocked for not complying with Wikipedia's terms. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:29, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

• And now 203.162.3.77 (talk · contribs). Bovlb 05:12:33, 2005-07-14 (UTC)
  • Blocked indefinitely since it is an open proxy. Rhobite 05:17, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

Pioneer wrote this (for which I think he deserves a round of applause for boldness) on Snowspinner's talk: "Sorry, you can try all you want, but you can't block me. You can waste your time trying, though. :-) The initial block was immoral, and thus I refuse to heed it. Get mad if you want; I am practicing civil disobediance, and will continue to do so till the Wikipedia system comes to it's senses. Notice how I am CONTRIBUTING and being productive? Why would you want to block such a person? It's ludicrous."

Well, how do we refute that argument? Pioneer insists he's doing nothing wrong and says he's being productive. It's useful to look at the other side. I see here persecuting someone over a quibble. Everyking 05:31, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia isn't a government, and civil disobedience here is just disruption. Pioneer is being a nuisance by refusing to license his talk page comments under the GFDL. His choice is incompatible with editing here, so he is blocked. He is free to license his comments under the GFDL, as every other editor does, and he can resume editing. Rhobite 05:38, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

Pioneer has already made some of these edits, so what's the status of those? If a person makes an edit, and claims copyright over it, then who wins, the user or the project guideline? I always thought by contributing you were effectively releasing your work freely, by that act, regardless of any statement to the contrary. Otherwise I don't see how you handle edits that have already been made. Everyking 05:53, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Refusing to honor the GFDL license and insisting that his contributions aren't under the GFDL isn't a quibble? This is hard ban material, frankly. The fact that every contribution is licensed under the GFDL is pretty much the most fundamental part of Wikipedia. It's something we can't afford any compromise on, or else we risk very bad legal problems. Snowspinner 06:15, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

He only said his signed comments are non-GFDL. He freely gives his article work to it. -- Netoholic @ 18:30, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Pioneer 12's beef, as I understand it, is ONLY over his Talk Page contributions. It's about as petty a complaint as I can imagine, but if he doesn't want to license those bits of deathless prose under GFDL, he's free to take them elsewhere. Why carve out a policy exception merely to accomodate his idiosyncracies? --Calton | Talk 06:10, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

I fail to see why that deserves a round of applause. I've had plenty of petty vandals leave me similar messages after I blocked them and they popped up under a new IP address. The deliberate regard for community consensus (it's all of Wikipedia that must come to its senses, not him) merits censure, not praise. — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:49, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Another IP. I am adding to Wikipedia:Banned users. Snowspinner 18:14, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

I'm going to add a note that he's only banned until he agrees to follow Wikipedia's GFDL terms with regards to his signed comments. I think that's fair, considering that he doesn't dispute giving his article work under the GFDL. -- Netoholic @ 18:30, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Good call. Snowspinner 18:38, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

Unicode imposters

This one is disturbing: [1]. On my computer at least, lower case "es" in Cyrillic renders exactly like a "c" (read about it here: [2]). I would never have noticed this RickK imposter except that User:Dbraceyrules mentioned it on RfC. I wonder if it is possible to have a list of illegal characters for usernames, especially those Unicode entities which render identically to Latin characters. Antandrus (talk) 15:50, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

How do we block this account?I tried putting Ri%D1%81kK as the user name in but the block didn't work. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 16:02, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

I already did: look at the block log. I copied and pasted from the "RickK" at the top of his contributions list (that's the only way I know how to do it). Antandrus (talk) 16:08, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

• I believe this is getting out of hand, and that (at least on the English Wikipedia) we should forbid non-standard characters for usernames entirely. You can get plenty of variation with ASCII values 32 - 126. Grandfather it if there is any legit user with a nonstandard character in the name (which to my knowledge there isn't even) Radiant_>|< 17:32, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

  I'm pretty sure you're wrong; I've seen at least one user with a name in Cyrillic. Keeping it to ASCII only will still not prevent people exploiting the "I"/"l" identification, though, which is by far the most common trick. Adequately fighting homograph spoofing attacks while still keeping the system practical is not easy. JRM · Talk 19:12, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

I guess I've been lucky for the past five years or so, but every web browser I've ever used on any operating system has rendered characters outside the Latin-1 set with a different appearance -- even homographs such as "c" and "es" -- in the case of the RickK impostor, the "es" is drawn using a much thinner stroke than a "c" would be. --Carnildo 21:03, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Interesting. Here they are for side-by-side comparison:

RickK (Latin-1, third character is "c")

RiсkK (third character is Cyrillic "es")

Antandrus (talk) 22:05, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Schnorrer

All you who remember the old Wik/Anthony edit/flame wars (or those who have heard the legends), please help. I just protected the Shnorrer article from what appears very much to be a renewal of hostilities...at least, I can't imagine who but one of those two would get fussed over that article and whether or not it links to Karl Schnorrer's page. I don't have time to stick around today and figure out if Wik's back, nor do I know the 3RR well enough (been away too long) to be certain about its application (and applying it in light of a possible resurfacing banned user is a sticky wicket anyhow). I'm sorry to leave you all the dirty work, but I know it's in good hands. Thanks! Jwrosenzweig 19:06, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

I unprotected and blocked the participants for 24 hours instead. Hottentot, by his user page, is an account belonging to one of Wik's other nemeses, Quagga (and what's more, the one whose behavior started the chain of events that led to Wik's vandalbot attack). He's been warned about the three-revert rule before, so he's fair game to block. Khoisan is an account that has never been used for any other purpose. This makes it obviously a sockpuppet trying to avoid the consequences of engaging in a revert war, so I concluded that a warning is unnecessary, in the interests of treating both participants equally. Whether this is Wik or somebody else makes little difference. --Michael Snow 20:09, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Looks like Sanctu (talk • contribs) is a reincarnation of Khoisan/Wik. -- Netoholic @ 21:40, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

My local AV scanner triggered....

EDIT= WP's silly spam protector refused my msg due to my use of an URL redirect service (blantantly modified "http" prefix is below). The links point to my personal webspace and will display png images informing of suspicious page & detected infection type. You guys definately have to make it less of a labrynth to make simple tech alerts like this one. props!, Jonathan

This is not a wiki page but rather an off-site event that is linked to a wikipedia page.

While browsing the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalocyanine

I used command "R-clicked > Open in New Window" against the link titled as: Phthalocyanine Crystal Structures

Which points to: http://phthalo.mkengel.de/pcrev.htm

Which triggered my AVscanner @ TCP/socket scanner to report: h++p://jp04.notlong.com

And when I excuted the "Terminate/disconnect" cmd in the AV prompt (see above notlong link) it failed to close the window (I think the website relaunched same URL) and I my AVscanner @ Processor reported: h++p://jp05.notlong.com

Note that the infecting page has same appearance as Wikipedia design. Feel free to contact me if there is anything I can do. ~ lunch@pobox.com

NOD32 AV LOGS NOTE: IMON=Internet Monitor, AMON=Resident Memory Monitor.

Time | Module | Object | Name | Virus | Action | User | Info

2005.07.13 16:40:28 | IMON | file |http://www.unwantedlinks.com/parasite/parasite3.js | probably modified trojan JS/Minor.A | connection terminated | SOMEWHAT\Administrator

2005.07.13 16:41:20 | AMON | file | C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\VOPRUPV9\parasite3[1].js | probably modified trojan JS/Minor.A | renamed to C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\VOPRUPV9\parasite3[1].Vjs | SOMEWHAT\Administrator

CLIENT SYSTEM DETAILS NOD32 Antivirus System information Virus signature database version: 1.1167 (20050713) Dated: 2005.07.13 - Wednesday Virus signature database build: 5870

Information on other scanner support parts Advanced heuristics module version: 1.016 (20050616) Advanced heuristics module build: 1085 Internet filter version: 1.002 (20040708) Internet filter build: 1013 Archive support module version: 1.032 (20050623) Archive support module build version: 1120

Information on installed components NOD32 For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 - Base Version: 2.12.4 NOD32 For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 - Internet support Version: 2.12.4 NOD32 for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 - Standard component Version: 2.12.4

Operating system information Platform: Windows 2000, Version: 5.0.2195 Service Pack4, Version of common control components: 5.81.4916, RAM: 383mb, Processor: x86 Family 6 Model 5 Stepping 1 (348 MHz)

PS: (Critical but serious) For the love of rational behavior could we please adopt a basic, familiar forum posting software package and do your manipulations of it on the backside? All I wanted to do was send an alert to somebody and even finding where to do it is an excersize in uncertain spelunking and then this editor? And the anti-spam killfilter? Ugh! Please just use a simple non-machine readable code generator like the rest of the planet and post a highly visible "virus, hijack, etc" reporting link ... or something that works for the general public.

At first glance this appears to be a false alarm from NOD32. parasite3.js appears to be some sort of script which detects whether a visitor is infected with an IE "hijacker" program. parasite3.js does not appear to be malicious; even if it were, Wikipedia has no control over the content of external links. I'm not sure why your virus software gave that alert - maybe parasite3.js contains the name of some trojan, and that was enough to set off the alert. I'm sorry you went to all this trouble reporting this, but there doesn't seem to be any problem here. Rhobite 22:42, July 13, 2005 (UTC)

Ok thanks. I have no idea how this forum functions ... and I mod phpnuke, Invision, Tbits boards. Hmph! I'll check the nod32 forums.

Socks

What is the policy concerning sockpuppets if they are singularly used in a revert war for repeatedly restoring a single previously merged article to independance (with no other supporters for the restoration)? This is relevant at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Melissadolbeer.

~~~~ 23:16, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

With no other supporters for their restoration? What are you talking about? You are in a revert war with multiple users over that page. I've blocked User:Goodboy as it's clearly a sock and User:Watcher1 as it's clearly a role account but User:Gdr andUser:Mel Etitis are not sockpuppets. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 23:40, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism

I admit to be the vandals in the Fort Bleakeley, Kaschner/Wellmann, Whodunit (and variants), and Doppelganger incidents. Though it may sound far-fetched, it is true. I take full responsibility for any directly and indirectly related damage, be it physical, emotional, or virtual.

In any case, I hope my positive and helpful attitude and contributions to Wikipedia stand out more than the negative results of my previous acts. James Bell 00:11, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Though I am as unfamiliar with these cases as I am with Mr. Bell's usual pattern of editing, I wonder if perhaps Mr. Bell's password has been compromised. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 18:27, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Mr. Bell left a farewell message on his user page on July 12, though he also made a couple of posts here (one to the Bank of Wikipedia section, above). I'm not sure what is going on here. --Deathphoenix 12:02, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

An anon created a hoax article called Fort Bleakeley towards the end of March 2005. He complemented it with other supporting articles to make it look as if it were real. After the article was discovered to be a hoax, he made all sorts of weak arguments and insults to other users, particularly User:Plek, who discovered the hoax, and User:RickK (who I believe has recently left). The anon, who called himself "Jake," was banned and tthe articles deleted; he evaded the block, recreated the articles, and created a decoy called User:JakeGHz. JakeGHz, because of the similarity to the anon's name, of his immediate involvement in the matter, and because he wrote an article on April 1st, JakeGHz was (correctly) branded as a sock of the mischievous User:Jake0618.

(will continue)

User:SlimVirgin

User SlimVirgin is consistently taking a pro-Israel/pro-Jewish/pro-Zionist stance on various articles in edits, revert wars and even in locking the articles with what appears to be siding with the same side of dispute all the time. Can some responsible admins please look into this? She (I am assuming it's a "she", but you never know in cyberespace) has done it several times just today. I know that she is a famous op and probably some other admins will prefer not to risk their status, but if it is true that she is taking sides on issues, and she is an "important admin" (although an important person would not end up being an online junkie) this would be a Very Bad Thing for Wikipedia. Wiki25 20:13, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

• Diffs? --Kbdank71 20:16, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

For instance, the edit history of Gaza Strip, Israeli terrorism, Zionist terrorism, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- and this is just today in a short span of time.

This is a diff, SqueakBox 20:28, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

It does not matter which version of an article is locked as page protection is not permanent. That aside, please provide links to specific instances of alleged wrongdoing. It would also help your case if you did not make snide asides about people such as your comment about being an "online junkie". Gamaliel 20:41, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

No doubt Wik25 (talk · contribs) is also JoergenG (talk · contribs), Joergg (talk · contribs), Joerg2 (talk · contribs), Testing124 (talk · contribs), 213.130.117.51 (talk · contribs), 61.129.44.201 (talk · contribs), 67.41.77.196 (talk · contribs), 219.94.39.114 (talk · contribs), MichaelSlone2 (talk · contribs), and MichaelSlone3 (talk · contribs), who has used a series of proxies and sockpuppets to revert Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about 50 times in the past week, while being reverted and/or blocked by at least 9 other editors. His other contributions, particularly using his earlier sockpuppets, are also quite "interesting". Jayjg ^(talk) 21:50, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Hey, aren't you supposed to be blocked, Jay? Everyking 22:08, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

James, for once could you possibly investigate something on your own before jumping to conclusions? Jayjg ^(talk) 02:06, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

• "10:19, July 13, 2005 Hadal blocked "User:Jayjg" with an expiry time of 24 hours (WP:3RR violation at Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani)" - in other words, no, his block had already expired. Radiant_>|< 22:14, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

• My mistake then. Nevertheless the point still stands: complaining about somebody else's revert warring despite having been blocked for it yourself. Everyking 03:59, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

  Come now. This is getting close to an ad hominem tu quoque. As long as we know what Jayjg did, how does that disqualify him from pointing out the behaviour of others? JRM · Talk 13:56, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

  • Your mistake? No. This is simply further evidence that you're nothing but a troll, Everyking. Tomer ^TALK 07:37, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

Everyking is not a troll. Sjakkalle (Check!) 12:03, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

That's the second time Tomer has attacked me and I have never even encountered him in editing before, at least I don't think so. I'm not going to get into this trading of insults with someone I don't have any practical reason to argue with. Everyking 14:41, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

I've taken no admin action in relation to Gaza Strip, and have only rarely edited it. Israeli terrorism was briefly protected yesterday after a spate of reverting and editing by anon IPs and new users who were adding POV nonsense to it (including that Rachel Corrie was a victim of terrorism and had been shot), and several of them looked about to violate 3RR. Zionist terrorism was protected because the same group of editors threatened to go there next, and I intend to unlock it today. I protected Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because of a 3RR violation by a user who keeps using sockpuppets to revert. Because I'm not able to prove that it's the same user, and therefore can't block — and even if I did, he'd come back with other accounts — I protected the page instead. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 22:11, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

• I don't think any Admins are important themselves, but they perform important functions. I am quite aware of SlimVirgin, and she has been involved in pages I have been on, yet my experience she has been reasonable. I don't particularly recall her being supportive (which I would sort of like) or in opposition (and many here have had an opportunity to oppose me in one thing or another). If anything, I think she has leaned the opposite way of this complaint. As for an Admin, there is probably no one better at resolving disputes, and I suspect much of it goes on behind the scenes, which is probably the right way to do it. --Noitall 22:26, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

• I agree. I looked over the histories of the articles in question and I don't see anything from SlimVirgin except attempts to help the articles along. On the whole her involvement seems slight. -Willmcw 07:42, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

• People might be interested in the improper and flimsy (and incorrectly titled) Wikipedia:Request for comment/SlimVirgin (and in my worries about the way that RfCs are going on Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment). --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 12:56, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

User:195.22.151.1

Looks like I'm being pulled into my first real WikiDispute. User:195.22.151.1 (contribs) started editing on Wednesday. His first two edits were to change links on Norfolk Southern and Template:North America class 1. Since they were the first edits by an anonymous user, and they appeared to me at that time to be malicious in nature, I reverted them. The user then made more changes to Norfolk Southern and to Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway; he moved the information from that article into Norfolk Southern in a new subsection entitled "Subsidiaries". I left comments on Talk:Norfolk Southern and Talk:Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway stating my belief that some subsidiary information is appropriate in Norfolk Southern, but that the other page shouldn't be made into a redirect. User:195.22.151.1 reverted my revert of the template and an unrelated edit to Railfan (see Talk:Railfan for further discussion on that edit). He also tried to report me as a vandal disrupting editing on pages relating to American railroad history (a dubious claim if you view my own user page and contribs). Another admin removed this allegation from the incidents page.

Other editors apparently agreed with my original reverts and with the sentiment that I expressed on the Norfolk Southern talk page and they have reverted edits by User:195.22.151.1 to these pages. I say "apparently" here because I made no effort to contact these other editors to inform them of the situation; instead, after my two reverts were reverted, I stepped back and let the community decide. This morning I see that User:195.22.151.1 has returned and reverted the other editors' reverts and reported me again, this time as a sockpuppet of another administrator. Other admins have decided that this claim was incorrect and removed the allegation from the incidents page. I've invited the user to join the discussion on his talk page.

At this point, I'm continuing to edit as I have been editing for the last year, waiting for feedback from User:195.22.151.1. Is there anything further that I should be doing? slambo 12:40, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

Anti-railfan vandalism, multiple open proxies, Philly TV, etc.

There has been been a rash of vandalism of railroad articles lately. One of the vandals of the railfan article is User:195.22.151.1, who also listed a frivolous "vandalism in progress" falsely claiming that Slambo and SPUI (who have been reverting the vandalism on railfan) are vandalizing the articles.

Three other vandals making similar edits to railfan are User:69.17.55.21, User:129.35.45.12, and User:212.137.71.44, all of whom have already been blocked as open proxies.

Another user who vandalized the railfan article by trying to move the entire article to foamer and add some derogatory comments to the article on 12 June is User:68.83.229.146, who if you look at their edit history is User:Spotteddogsdotorg. Their user page claims to be a non-fixed IP but the edit history says otherwise.

Note also that 68.83.229.146 (who is Spotteddogsdotorg) nominated Roger Moss for deletion, even though User:Spotteddogsdotorg claims in a post to my talk page that he/she has no interest in Roger Moss. There was some controversy about the Roger Moss VFD a month or so ago, along with VFDs for several Philly TV personalities (Tracy Davidson, Doug Kammerer, NBC 10 Live at 5 and others); check the VFDs and you will see that User:Spotteddogsdotorg (or 68.83.229.146) was involved in every one of them and nominated most of them. During those VFDs there was a "bloc" of users such as User:Melvis, User:Hohokus, User:ConeyCyclone, and possibly User:Toasthaven, who all voted as a bloc with Spotteddogsdotorg, and all have similar edit patterns and went straight to the VFDs not long after creating their accounts.

One of the railfan vandals, User:129.35.45.12, was also the user who added an IFD tag to Image:Tvsrr2.jpg at 12:34 on 14 July; this image then appeared with a IFD nomination at 12:37 by User:FunkyChicken!. 129.35.45.12 has been blocked as an open proxy.

Meanwhile several anon IPs have been making frequent edits to the vanity plate article, repeatedly removing a railroad themed vanity plate image, and changing the term "railfan" in the article to the more perjorative "train spotter". They are User:213.123.153.25, User:69.17.96.248 (who has already been blocked as an open proxy), User:212.44.58.71...and big surprise, User:Spotteddogsdotorg. User:213.123.153.25 listed a frivolous "vandalism in progress" report of myself, similar to the frivolous one that User:195.22.151.1 listed of Slambo and SPUI; User:68.83.229.146 who is User:Spotteddogsdotorg then moved 213.123.153.25's listing from "low" to "severe" within minutes.

Other users that appear to be related and also need to be checked out: User:24.240.235.19, User:209.137.173.69, User:Toasthaven2, User:PhillyDude!, User:KiwiPunter, and User: 203.98.57.97.

User:209.137.173.69 is definitely User:Toasthaven2 if you look at the message on Toasthaven2's talk page at 17:11 on 12 July. See here:User_talk:Mothperson#Re:_Roger_Moss for other users' views on 209.137.173.69.

User:203.98.57.97 is User:KiwiPunter based on [3]. KiwiPunter vandalized the psychiatry article on 5 July. 203.98.57.97 nominated several legit articles for VFD including defect detector, which is railroad related, and Doug Kammerer, which had just survived a VFD after being nominated by Spotteddogsdotorg.

My guess is that every one of these users is either the same person, or a small group working together. Also of note is that Spotteddogsdotorg left a message on my talk page (as well as those of Radiant! and Mothperson) on 7 July indicating a familiarity with open proxies and accusing us of being sockpuppets of each other. I suspect this user has a lot more open proxies or knows where to find them.

Spotteddogsdotorg left another message on my talk page at 14:14 on 15 July claiming "This username is no longer active, but this user is under a new name. You and your buddies are going to go nuts trying find the new name!". Given the prolific use of open proxies, my guess is there may or may not be a "new name" - or there may be several. I recommend that admins keep an eye on articles relating to these subjects for vandalism, frilovous VFD nominations, and subtle insertion of derogatory POV:

1. Philadelphia TV stations and TV personalities
2. License plates, license plate collecting
3. Railfans and railroads

For more verification see also: User_talk:Mothperson/Litterbox, User_talk:Mothperson#Re:_Roger_Moss, and here and below on Mothperson's talk page: User_talk:Mothperson#User:Spotteddogsdotorg_and_minions. Kaibabsquirrel 15:10, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

User:Spotteddogsdotorg also vandalized my user page this morning. Kaibabsquirrel 15:49, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Software feature to limit collateral damage?

User:WBardwin just got blocked again, please see User talk:Bishonen and User talk:Jwrosenzweig. WBardwin edits from an AOL proxy in the 207.200.64.0 - 207.200.127.255 range. User:UkPaolo edits from 62.252.0.0 - 62.255.255.255, an NTL range. They are only two of the highly virtuous contributors that keep getting blocked over and over, sometimes "indefinitely", when an admin blocks an IP in these ranges. Please take a look at WBardwin's talk page to get a sense of the scale of the problem that keeps hitting these and other good users! I could show you a pretty hefty pile of e-mails from these two, too, as they've taken to appealing very politely to me, which is fine if I'm at the computer, but sometimes I'm not. It says on the Special:Blockip page that blocks in these ranges should be kept to 15 minutes or less, but I guess admins miss it sometimes. I don't know what to do, but we really, really need to take this seriously. Two suggestions:
1. Could somebody who understands to edit special pages please put in a warning in red letters at the top of the Blockip page that says "Before blocking, please read the IP range box" (plus maybe a warning in purple that says "Please read the red text" and a warning in cyan that says "Please read the purple text")?
2. Would it be possible to implement a software feature that brings up a warning whenever an attempt is made to block these ranges for more than 15 minutes? E. g. "You are about to block an IP shared by many users, please see the IP range box. These ranges should not be blocked for more than 15 minues. Do you really wish to block it for 48 hours?" or whatever. (In some pleasing color.) Really. If I was WBardwin or UkPaolo, I think I might have left by now. :-( Bishonen | talk 17:26, 15 July 2005 (UTC)