User talk:Raul654

For your tireless work in making Wikipedia better, for keeping Template:Feature up-to-date, for doing the grunt work of cleaning up Wikipedia:Featured article candidates, for mediating in disputes, for adding lots of really nice pictures, and for still finding the time to work on articles! In a few months you've already become a highly valued member of the community. Stay with us and don't burn out, please. --Eloquence Apr 10, 2004

• Archive 1: August 2003 - November 2003
• Archive 2: December 2003 - March 2004
• Archive 3: April 2004 - July 2004
• Archive 4: August 2004 - November 2004
• Archive 5: December 2004 - March 2005
• Archive 6: April 2005 - July 2005
• Archive 7: August 2005 - November 2005
• Archive 8: December 2005 - March 2006
• Archive 9: April 2006 - July 2006
• Archive 10: August 2006 - November 2006
• Archive 11: December 2006 - February 2007
• Archive 12: March 2007 - May 2007
• Archive 13: June 2007 - August 2007
• Archive 14: September 2007 - December 2007
• Archive 15: January 2008 - March 2008
• Archive 16: April 2008 - June 2008

TFA x2

Is it true that an article cannot appear on the Main Page twice? When I mentioned putting a request in for Canada here, SandyGeorgia claimed that it cannot be requested because it already appeared as TFA on June 23, 2006. However, I did not find anything stating this at WP:TFA or any subpages. -- Reaper X 05:44, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

We have not, in the 4+ years I've been doing it, featured a FA on the main page more than once. That's not to say I won't ever do it (which is why it doesn't say anywhere that we won't) but for the time being I have no plans to. Raul654 (talk) 22:17, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

ArbCom

Hi, I very much hope you're ready and willing. Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee#New_arbitrator. TONY (talk) 14:13, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Next Dispatch

Raul, this one has been tricky, so I'm hoping you'll have time to glance at it: Wikipedia:FCDW/June 23, 2008. (Ditto to above). SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:41, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Looks good to me. Raul654 (talk) 04:46, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Raul; that one had me nervous. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:46, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Why? Raul654 (talk) 04:51, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Worried about over generalizing, since reliability of sources isn't black and white, and depends on text cited. Wanted to give broad guidelines about what to watch for in content review, without simplifying too much or implying a source was either or, since reliability depends on text being cited. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 05:18, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Burma consensus

Hello, if you can recall I recently asked you to evaluate the consensus on a naming issue here. The time needed for the debate has expired and if you could be as kind as to review the consensus and post your opinion in the box provided at the top of the page it would be appreciated. Thankyou and happy editing!  Atyndall93 | talk  00:25, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Replied there. Raul654 (talk) 02:43, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

As you're the highest available Wiki person I can think of offhand...

Pursuant to Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Carlos_Botelho, I believe we have a case of multiwiki spam. The nom of this AfD has a list of the articles User:Carlos Botelho created about himself, so I won't relist them here. I think the same AfD criteria apply on all the other wikis, and more importantly, I noticed that in languages that Carlos does not know, the information is very sparse, meaning it looks like whatever was simple enough to get pushed through an online translator without looking wrong. I'd like to get somebody to clean all these articles out as non-notable, vanity, COI, and not advertising articles. Is there some way to do this cross-wiki without learning 15 languages? MSJapan (talk) 00:25, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

You need a steward to do it, but I'm not sure if they can delete them on wikis with sysops. I'll ask some people and see what they say. Raul654 (talk) 02:29, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I can help -- what needs done? — Dan | talk 03:32, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I've deleted fi:Carlos Botelho, ru:Ботелью, Карлуш, sl:Carlos Botelho, and zh:Carlos Botelho. nn:Carlos Botelho doesn't seem to mention this guy anywhere -- only the deceased sculptor and a Brazilian politician. I left es:Carlos Botelho and pt:Bottelho -- these articles are lengthy and should probably be put through the local deletion process. I've also left a message for User:Redux, a steward who is a native speaker of Portuguese and a fluent speaker of Spanish, asking him to take a look at the pt and es articles. — Dan | talk 03:57, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

TFA/R at VPP

• Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#Today.27s featured article.2Frequests straw poll SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:17, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Latest sock

Thanks for getting Threop. I was getting exhausted reverting his edits (and running into an iffy 3RR situation). You might also want to block User:Stem Pressure, an account Threop created. Oren0 (talk) 03:03, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

I blocked both current socks and took out his IPs too (He only had the two socks that I could find) Sorry about accidentally reverting you. Raul654 (talk) 03:09, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

I created an SSP entry for him. Can I just blank that? Oren0 (talk) 03:14, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

RfD

Hi, Raul. Thought you might want to be aware of these RfDs. Bstone (talk) 05:22, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Nguyen Van Nhung and WP:WIAFA

Hi Raul. Can you look at this FA and look at the conundrum between a few different opinions and possible conflicts between featured article criteria. The problem with this person is that he was a military officer and bodyguard who was known only for a series of extrajudicial assassinations (and his own assassination). This leaves no known or recorded info on his birth/enlistment/earlier career etc. Some people have objected to it for neglecting such things (1b I guess), however, this may or may not trump "relevant body of published knowledge [or lack thereof]" (1c). In any case, some of the reviewers said that the 1b criteria would be satisified if the article was moved to a name which focused on his bodyguard/assassination roles. However, this has now caused people to complain about naming guidelines and the lack of a proper parent article. I'm wonder whether this catch-22 can be broken, ie, is this article inherently not FA-able with the current resources, or are one or more of the objections not in accord with WIAFA. Because if it is the latter, I would appreciate being told so I can withdraw it and get on with things. Thanks, Blnguyen (bananabucket) 05:44, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm about to go to bed for the night - I'll look into this tomorrow. Raul654 (talk) 05:46, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Blnguyen (bananabucket) 05:49, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

If it is decided that the name change helps, the current article title (changed from "Nguyen Van Nhung" to "Nguyen Van Nhung as a military bodyguard") doesn't seem quite right yet. I'm thinking that an article title that is more event related eliminates the bio issues; maybe something like "Assassination of ... " SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:36, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Could I suggest that the subject be discussed also on the talk pages of either FAC or WIAFA? I believe this kind of problem could occur again. There are many biographies of persons that will always be "incomplete". For example, minor historical figures in which one could get all "relevant body of published knowledge" would satisfy 1c but still have significant gaps of information in which reviewers would claim failure of 1b. Basically, we should answer the question of whether it is possible to have a FA-quality article that is short because of the lack of information or data. --RelHistBuff (talk) 18:07, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Forgot to mention that we did kind of see this before in the Peter Wall FAC. In that FAC, I basically made a comment like Rlevse did in the Nguyen Van Nhung FAC--RelHistBuff (talk) 18:15, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Similar also came up at Natalee Holloway and many of the older "Disappearance of ... " or " Murder of ... " articles. In the case of Natalee Holloway, the nominators added info to make it into a more complete bio. In other cases of disappearance, Marskell has argued that if the bio can't be completed, to name it according to the event. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:19, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Renaming the article would certainly get around the problem. I suggested such a renaming as a workaround for the Peter Wall article. But what if there is no obvious article name if there is no relevant "event" and comprehensiveness is compromised due to missing data as would be the case for a minor historical figure? I guess we are only speaking about a hypothetical situation for the moment. Maybe I could submit a minor "incomplete" biography to FAC and trigger a discussion like jbmurray did with Peter Wall? :) --RelHistBuff (talk) 21:30, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Nag...Blnguyen (bananabucket) 03:07, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Um, can you take a look at this please? There's been a flurry of more ideologically-oriented article debate which are affecting/taking away the questions of article content. Blnguyen (bananabucket) 03:18, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm having difficulty wrapping my mind around the topic of the article. About half the article mentions Nhung only in passing (discussing the coups and events surrounding them). The remainder of the article describes his role in the two coups, but nothing else about his life is described. The article is not a biography of him, nor about the coups themselves, but some kind of weird combination thereof. I think the topic of the article needs to be clarified (including renaming the article) before the FAC nomination can proceed. Raul654 (talk) 03:20, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

MP request

Sorry I have to do this but I missed my chance to put this on the request page.

July 7 Joe Sakic, his birthday.

One more thing, is there anyway for requests that are heavily supported or opposed by users, in words the consensus is clear and not ferther decussion is needed, can be removed by other users so slots are open more often. Buc (talk) 07:23, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

dal

marc- would you mind taking over/getting someone to take over dal mailings? I'm on vacation with limited computer access for the next two months.

I hope I sent you the automailing script..let me know if I haven't. It did die thanks to problems with mkfamail, but fixing it should be pretty easy with even a little java knowledge.

thanks, and sorry for the short notice.

Frazzydee|✍ 09:20, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok, send me what you have. Raul654 (talk) 14:14, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Account abuse

86.146.244.93 (talk) 22:34, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello Mark,

Felt I could approach you after some reading up on this and reading your profile. It is something I have been feeling really uncomfortable about during the last few weeks.

Let me describe my problem: a former housemate has been using a wikipedia account, that uses my real name, to start conflicts with other users about football related topics. Now the account has a puppet socket conviction against it and all sorts of blocks.

I discovered this a few weeks back, when I googled my name just for fun and had all these wikipedia entries coming up, including allegations, convictions etc. I was mortified. This could potentially be very damaging to me and, or, my career as my name is not very common. Therefore I want to do something about this.

I read a bit about changing/deleting user accounts on wikipedia, but am I am unsure how to do this or if I am even allowed to! How can I undo what he has done? I feel powerless now.

Can you help me?

M

You go about requesting a rename by asking a bureaucrat (I'm a bureaucrat, so you've already done that much). And yes, you're allowed to ask, but that doesn't guarantee I'll do it. We don't delete accounts for any reason. Before I can do anything, I need more information from you - in particular, what account do you want me to rename? Raul654 (talk) 03:47, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Need feedback

Not sure what FAC's role is here ... Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates#New references feature. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:24, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Replied there. As far as FAC is concerned with a new referencing system, the existing policy of "whatever floats your boat, as long as the article is consistent" should suffice. Raul654 (talk) 15:38, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Raul; generally, I was unsure what to do when a novel situation like this appears. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:11, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free media (Image:Thundercats2.jpg)

Thanks for uploading Image:Thundercats2.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BJBot (talk) 05:50, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

OTRS and Luke Ford permission

Hello. Allegedly someone at commons "discovered" a probem with User:Tabercil/Luke Ford permission (apparently VRTS ticket # 2007111210016632), resulting in hundreds of images deleted on commons, but there is no discussion available to verify anything about this, since it's supposedly an OTRS-covert operation. I can't find where Tabercil was even notified. Could you verify what's going on here? Gimmetrow 08:27, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Replied by email. Raul654 (talk) 15:37, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

OGG help

I need some help converting wmv to ogg, and the help page said you were skilled at it. Could you help with this? RedThunder 12:53, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I've never tried converting an wmv that I can remember, and since I'm on-the-road until the end of August, I don't have access to the normal battery of software I'd use.

Off the top of my head, I think your best best it to transcode the wmv file to an mpeg using vlc. After that, ffmpeg2theora should be able to handle it. I don't think ffmpeg2theora can handle wmv files directly, but I could be mistaken. Raul654 (talk) 03:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Stats on primary contributors & passing FAC

Hi, Awadewit pointed me in your direction regarding something you wrote re: a correlation between primary contributors and the likelihood of passing FAC. Would you mind letting me know where I could find it? Thanks. Jthomsant (talk) 15:40, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

It's a paper I submitted to ACM Hypertext. It was accepted as a poster, but I didn't submit it as such. I still have it, if you want to read it (it's not anywhere public though). Raul654 (talk) 15:45, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Sounds cool. Sorry to post a <aol>me 3</aol>, but I'd very much like a copy too! :-) --Kim Bruning (talk) 16:01, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, please. I definitely want to read a copy, if you wouldn't mind e-mailing me one. Jthomsant (talk) 14:23, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Here is the paper. Raul654 (talk) 19:37, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Multi-language TFA

I'm wondering, if in you experience, there has ever been an article to be Today's Featured Article on multiple language Wikipedias on the same day? If so, who was the first to achieve this? It would require quite the preparation, but I figure that big anniversaries related to the articles are universal.--Patrick Ѻ 17:27, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

To my knowledge, it's never been done. Raul654 (talk) 18:45, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

The General in his Labyrinth

Many thanks!  :) --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 03:24, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

You're most certainly welcome. Raul654 (talk) 03:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I really want to read that. El general en su laberinto! Thanks! Brusegadi (talk) 08:22, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

:) Raul654 (talk) 03:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Main page request: Donald Bradman on August 27th

Hi Raul. Further to my advanced notice!, Bradman's passed FAC and I'd like to request a Main Page slot on the 100th anniversary of his birth, ie August 27th this year.

I think that was the most exhausting process I've been through to get to FA. Every stage has been hard work! Ironically, after the heavyweight PR, I thought it would sail past FA, lol.

Thanks so much in anticipation of your help with my request. --Dweller (talk) 10:21, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Dweller, see WP:TFA/R; because it's a 100th anniversary, you'll have enough points to get a slot to list it there as the date approaches, and then Raul won't be tasked with remembering it for two months. Best, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, thanks. Heading there now. --Dweller (talk) 13:13, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

FARC and new C-class

Raul, in case you want to weigh in at User talk:Marskell#C-class status.

GimmeBot automatically assigns a B-class assessment when an article is FARC'd. Now that they've added a new C-class assessment, we have a bot issue. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:55, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Raul, I need your feedback at User talk:SandyGeorgia#Requests archive. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

TFA/R

Afer 100KB of discussion, a new proposal and questions needing your feedback at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests#NEW PAGE proposal. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:51, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

New page in place at WP:TFA/R; the only significant change is we now subtract points for recent mainpage appearance (pls check the point scheme), and it's now made more clear how to replace a request. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:50, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

André Kertész' change of mind

A TFA error comment at Talk:Main Page, that might interest you. 199.91.34.33 (talk) 14:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Scibaby?

User:Slym_Gym? --BozMo talk 20:35, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Raul654 (talk) 20:37, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I was afraid he was going to pull a creepy crawly. I still think the latter is closely related... Brusegadi (talk) 05:21, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not really sure how to contribute to the Scibaby block, I gathered he is using sockpuppets but I didn't really look into his transgressions. I just felt I should share that the IP range blocked is currently assigned to sprint mobile broadband (air cars) and is dynamic. Since I have an account its not a big deal to me, just thought I would share in case its important. I'm referring to the subnet 72.58.0.0/16 --Arjes (talk) 01:38, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

REDIRECTING rather than DELETING

You have helped me before (on video conversion) and perhaps you have some ideas on a current problem I am having, not related to electronics. I recently wrote an article on Conscript Fathers, however another editor wants to redirect the article instead of going through a formal AFD. The discussion on this can be found at the article Talk Page. I feel that if the other editor feels it is a very bad article, then he should submit it for AFD. He only wants to REDIRECT. Is it correct to just REDIRECT instead of going through the formal AFD. I believe the article will stand on its own and is well referenced. It was selected as a DYK on June 13 - which I indicted to him was evidence of this article's quality and accuracy (not a guarantee however). I have had clashes with this editor many times before pertaining to deleting or redirecting my articles, but did receive 40 DYKs since the last major event with him. He has not given me indications exactly (minor small things) why the article is bad, only personal feelings on how I write articles - which indicates to me a personal thing, rather than this being a bad article. He has put the article back as a REDIRECT 3 times from when I undone his REDIRECT. Can the article be put back as an article and IF that editor feels it is a dreadfully bad article that he should put it up as a AFD or (what I suggest) get a "third opinion" as to if the article should exist? What is your feelings on this? I'll look back here on your talk page for your answer. Thanks. --Doug ^talk 00:34, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I've since asked for a "third opinion" - waiting on responses. --Doug ^talk 14:27, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

July 11 main page article

Right now the July 11 main page article is To Kill a Mockingbird. Someone I suppose, should have pointed this out to me when I requested it, but it's two weeks after The General in His Labyrinth appeared. I blame someone, whoever it was. I'm not sure why I requested this. Mockingbird's 50th anniversary would probably be more appropriate in 2010. Can you replace July 11 with something else? --Moni3 (talk) 12:59, 3 July 2008 (UTC)