User talk:Mandarax

This editor is an Auspicious Looshpah and is entitled to display this Book of All Knowledge with Secret Appendix.

DYK for Henri-Edmond Cross

Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:03, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

diff coloring

From the Signpost

In addition to working on the bug reports that flood in after virtually all large deployments (of which some 23 are currently marked as requiring a fix before 1.19 is released to external sites), developers have also been looking afresh at the issue of changing the default diff colouring (first covered in the Signpost back in December). MediaWiki 1.19 had headlined with accessibility improvements in this area, the benefits of which seemed to have ensured that the change survived a series of long discussions when it was first proposed. On the change's final deployment, however, observers noted that decreases in the contrast ratio offset the improvement for colour-blind users, forcing the change to be reverted (wikitech-l mailing list). A third design is now being trialled; nevertheless, the bold blue-and-yellow-bordered design is almost certain to provoke a fresh round of discussions which it will have to survive if it is to make it onto Wikimedia wikis.
Bgwhite (talk) 04:36, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Short version. Try User:Cacycle/wikEdDiff for some temporary relief.

Long version. Finally found why my user scripts were not loading. I had wikEdDiff enabled under My Preferences -> Gadgets. I noticed this because you mentioned the diffs and I was going to show you wikEdDiff, but it wasn't working for me. Disabled wikEdDiff from gadgets, but added it in via vector.js... my user scripts and wikEdDiff now work again. There was also a script in vector.js that was also causing things to bomb.

I looked at your monobook.js and stole the page size script and drop down menu script. I like those. Did you know twinkle and friendly were now one program? Did you know there is a gadget for displaying local time in people's signatures? Bgwhite (talk) 07:02, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Just noticed this under Gadgets/Appearances. An option to "Display diffs with the new yellow/blue color scheme that improves accessibility." Bgwhite (talk) 07:09, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the Signpost and wikEdDiff info. I actually was aware of wikEdDiff; I've had it watchlisted for a long time to remind me if I ever wanted to try it. Thanks for informing me of the Preferences option. I'll see how I like it. I think I'm not crazy about the colors. The main thing I like is the highlighted background of the changes. I think I prefer AWB's diffs, except, of course, for the mind-numbingly horrible bug which causes the diff window to stretch instead of wrapping the text. I'm not sure how helpful prosesize will be for you unless you intend to do more with DYK and if you do, you'll probably want DYKcheck either in place of or in addition to prosesize. The drop down menus are invaluable. Oh, one thing I noticed you copied along with the drop down menus is the shortcut to Article blamer. I'm glad you did. The link was to an expired account. I had assumed that when someone revived the program, there would be a redirect from the old broken one, and I was patiently waiting for that to happen. But since you added it, I decided to go check, and discovered a working version, which is not redirected to from the old one. This extremely useful tool is currently at http://toolserver.org/~tparis/blame/

Yes, I know that Twinkle and Friendly were united. But I need some of the old files for an enhancement which I use. And I prefer to keep my settings in my monobook rather than in a special Twinkle preferences page. (Yes, I'm sure there are some obsolete parameters, but they're not doing any harm.) I used the local time gadget until a change was made which caused it be unusable for me, as every time I went to a page with a lot of signatures, I'd get a notice from the browser saying that a script was taking too long. So I saved the state of the script prior to that change, and that's what I've used ever since.

I'm glad you were able to get your scripts working again! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:47, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

I'll do an occasional DYK, so now I don't have to hunt down the program to calculate page size. Hmmm, better look at DYKcheck.

AWB wrapping text... Have you tried right-clicking in the edit space? The first option that shows up is "word wrap".

I've never had any errors with the local time gadget.

The gadget to "Display diffs with the new yellow/blue color scheme that improves accessibility" does highlight the background. I sure do like Mediawiki's third design option. I can't wait for that. Thank you for your incredible, interesting and intrusive information. Bgwhite (talk) 21:44, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

AWB wraps the edit box fine. I was talking about the diff area, which gets annoyingly stretched when there's something such as an extra-long URL. I first requested that this be fixed over two years ago. Yes, I like the "third design" too. Sorry, didn't realize I was being intrusive.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:19, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I get to say the best "in" word, except "not" doesn't apply "Sorry, didn't realize I was being intrusive...." It's inconceivable that you are insanely intrusive. Bgwhite (talk) 22:24, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Hehe, I can be dense sometimes....

Don't forget to fix your link to Article blamer. In case you're not familiar with it, it finds instances where specified text was added to an article. I guess the name comes from the fact that you can find out who to blame for adding something. Where I find it useful is if I or someone else discovers some old vandalism or bad information in an article, I can use the tool to find when it was added and determine if additional vandalism perpetrated at the same time needs reverting. Before I discovered the tool, I would sometimes do a tedious manual binary-type search of the history to narrow it down before finally just going through diff by diff. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:51, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

I couldn't get the links configured form your monobook.js (the four including Article blamer) to ever show up. I'm using vector and I have a feeling it only works in monobook. In any case, I've modified the code to include Article blamer and 6 other links into the page tab. I just have to add pagesize and the DYKtool doohickey and there will be nothing on the left sidebar I need. I can then add a script to remove the left sidebar and have more room to play with.

If you want to grab it and customize it for yourself, it is located at: User:Bgwhite/cactions.js. Do a search for "grok" and that is the section I added. You will also need to grab User:Bgwhite/cactions-languages.js and change the cactions code to point to your copy. Bgwhite (talk) 01:44, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. I may check it out. Yet another thing we "brothers separated at birth" seem to share is our fondness for customizing our tools. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:39, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

That misunderstanding on your friend's part could be hazardous if said friend were dealing with inflammable materials. (Feel free to format this in some more suitable style.) LadyofShalott 00:34, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Hehe.

And your formatting is perfectly appropriate. I do complicate things when I use footnotes, yet it does serve to simplify the main text. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:39, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Ellen Gallagher

Thanks from me and the wiki Victuallers (talk) 16:03, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

• Mandarax, thanks for this and the previous one--the other Delacroix, who looks so gaunt and cool with that cigarette dangling from his mouth. You are putting a mark on the Wiki. Hey, I have a totally unrelated and totally geeky question. Since a day or two ago, double-clicking on a title (so I can copy and paste it somewhere) adds a space at the of the text--any ideas? Drmies (talk) 16:12, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

• Thanks. Oh, I hope you don't mind that I refer to Gallagher as American rather than Dutch. As you may recall from a note I left for "99" on your talk page, I originally planned on using that self-portrait for the Cross DYK but then decided to pander to the lowest common denominator and use a nude instead. I was neither surprised nor disappointed that the person who promoted the hook substituted the image. The portrait was bolder, looked better as a DYK thumbnail, and illustrated the hook better. Still, one day I'll visit an alternate timeline in which the nude is used, and I'll see which gets more hits (in that unfortunate graveyard slot). Neither image was really representative of his work; the portrait was from a brief, early Realist period rather than the Neo-Impressionism he was known for, and the nude was, well, a nude, whereas he mostly did landscapes.

  For me (Firefox, monobook), the double clicking works the same as it always has: if I do it on a single-word title or the last word of a multi-word title, I get it with no space; otherwise there is a trailing space. Sorry if I've misunderstood or been otherwise unhelpful. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:06, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

• I've never had a trailing space before. Odd. I do remember that nude note. When are you going to put a nude self-portrait on your user page? The Worshipers of the Mandarax have a right to know. Drmies (talk) 00:35, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Ooops!

My dear Mandarax, I was going to leave you a note, one that said "hey, how's it going" or words to that effect, and that note was to be edit 100,000, dedicated to you. However, I was obviously not paying attention, and so I have to dedicate edit number 100,013 to you. Will you settle for that? Thanks for your help in so many of the ones before this one. Drmies (talk) 04:45, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Wow! Congratulations! I'm so honored to have been number 100,013! Thanks for your continuing, tireless contributions to Wikipedia. And, to put this into perspective, I note that you did it without using things such as AWB, so your achievement is even more impressive. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:55, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. I did consume copious amounts of beer, of course. And I use Twinkle, so I'm cheating in many ways. I used to copy and paste and fill out all those citation templates by hand, and I did all the vandalism warnings the same way. Old ways are not always the best ways, though the skills come in handy when I'm slumming as an IP. Drmies (talk) 16:03, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

I certainly wouldn't put tools such as that in the same class as AWB or Huggle (which I've never used). Twinkle merely makes it a little easier to do what you would do anyways, whereas those others automate things in such a way that you're able to do much more than you ever would be capable of doing without 'em. Anyways, thanks again for all you do around here. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:07, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

So, I fulfill part of the requirement for Lord High Togneme Vicarus, but of course I don't have 12 years under my belt (so I'm really just a lousy Most Pluperfect Labutnum). Is that why you still list yourself as Auspicious Looshpah? I think the "and" should be an "or", making my a LHTV and you a Lord Gom. Drmies (talk) 03:35, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

I see there is discussion on Wikipedia talk:Service awards. Drmies (talk) 03:39, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

I gotta say, I find that whole page rather amusing (especially the bulleted oppposes). However, this Labutnum of the Encyclopedia does find it rather odd that I could have a higher rank than you, though I have fewer than half the number of edits you do. LadyofShalott 04:41, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

<--I'm watching a TV show: Southland. It's not bad. Drmies (talk) 03:10, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

This "recommendation" comes from a person who was arguing over the fine points of Dance Moms today. Bgwhite (talk) 05:00, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Southland, eh? I saw the first episode when it premiered a few years ago, didn't like it, and never watched it again. Of course, I said the same thing about Battlestar Galactica, which some people say is their favorite show. Sill haven't seen Dance Moms.

BTW, to those who've left a note here recently which I haven't responded to, know that I have read 'em and you may assume the appropriate response (LOL or whatever). I may eventually respond.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:01, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Signature

Thanks for notifying me about DYK and non-valid signature. Is this  Tigerboy1966  20:29, 11 March 2012 (UTC) OK now?

Yep. Thanks for taking care of it so quickly! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:34, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Thanks for cleaning up the quotes and parentheses on the DYK nominations I reviewed. Missed that part of the DYK hook part. :( So good on you for catching it. :)

LauraHale (talk) 22:06, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the kitten, and you're welcome for my edits (those are little things which are very easy to miss, and I clean up a bunch of 'em every day). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:34, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

A tamamushi for you!

Hello, thanks from me also for all the DYK tidying; you just gave me an edit conflict on the Tamamushi Shrine though! You removed the exfoliation wikilink - I agree that none is a perfect match, but together do they amount to something? In particular the loss of folia (or wings), weathering (or aging), and the process of the breaking up of particles... Don't particularly mind - but presumably only those who don't know what this word means will click here, and then might they gain something? Your call (and I can incorporate in my next expansion), Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 00:17, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the beautiful tamamushi! We almost always try to avoid links to disambiguation pages such as Exfoliation, and, as I mentioned in my edit summary and you concurred, none of the choices on that dab page appears especially appropriate. If you want to restore the link, I won't object or change it back. (But someone else might.) Another option would be to link to the Wikionary entry: exfoliation. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:21, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Signature

Thank you kindly for the tip! I will change it pronto. Cheers! Ocaasi ^{t | c} 10:53, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:59, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

diff update

See the very end at this week's Signpost technology page. Bgwhite (talk) 06:40, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the update. After using the new style for a while, I decided that I wasn't crazy about it, and I went back to the current default. I imagine I'll get used to the new one when it's the default (or else I'll explore other options).

P.S. I hope you weren't jealous that I gave your arch-nemesis Drmies a barnstar! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:35, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Update. I've returned to the new version. Its practical advantages outweigh its aesthetic disadvantages. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:27, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Hmmm, never thought Drmies as my arch-nemesis before. We both share the common bond of being worshipers of the great and mighty Mandarax. But, I kind of like the ring to it. I really like the new diff because I can actually make what was changed. I have a hard time seeing small changes of one or two characters. Changes also pop out. Bgwhite (talk) 19:44, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, I guess I was misinterpreting comments such as "Kill the Drmies!!!!"....

Yes, as I mentioned when I brought up this whole diff subject, that's what I like about it too. It just didn't feel "comfortable" to me. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:59, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Ah, I'm already dead, so don't worry. Hey Mandarax, my thanks again for that lovely barnstar you gave me; even my wife appreciated it. Well made, and well placed. Drmies (talk) 22:20, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome (and thanks for the compliment about my barnstar aesthetics). I'm glad you and the Mrs. appreciated it. As you probably noticed, the image is by Paul Signac, friend and associate of two of "my" artists: Charles Angrand and Henri-Edmond Cross. I must confess that I initially considered awarding you an "off-the-shelf" barnstar, but I've never given out any of those before, and you certainly deserved better. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:09, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh, and the image's title is The Demolisher, which is especially appropriate since your "stated predominant activity" apparently is deleting articles! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:27, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that. I have to admit that I've deleted more (apparently) than I've written. Worse, Duke is about to lose. *Snif* Drmies (talk) 01:41, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/The Virginian (1929 film)

No idea why this happened, but this edit hid the images. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 13:19, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Nevermind, for any reason the images did not load in my browser when I wrote this message, but now the images are visible in my browser. I mistakenly thought it was because of your edit the images were not visible in my browser. Apology if I caused any inconvenience. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 14:34, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

No problem. Glad to see I didn't do anything to break it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:26, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Thanks again for the DYK clean up. I did learn from the last time that {{'}} should be used near the hooked text. I missed the space before the question mark thing though and not sure how to handle multiple hooked text when nomming. :(

LauraHale (talk) 20:55, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the kitten. Almost no one gets the apostrophes right. There is a subtle but discernible spacing difference between {{'}} and {{`}}, although using either one is certainly better than just an apostrophe, which displays incorrectly. I don't know exactly what you mean about handling "multiple hooked text when nomming". I've seen you successfully nominate multiple articles in a hook.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:32, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/Indiana–Kentucky rivalry

Hey! Regarding Template:Did you know nominations/Indiana–Kentucky rivalry, thanks for the advice. I've revised it.--YHoshua (talk) 21:09, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. Looks much better. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:34, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Women's History Month

As we enter the final week of Women's History Month, I'd like to point out my continuing commitment to the cause: of the fifteen DYK articles which I've written, six of them have been about female artists. I just hope my most recent female artist nomination gets approved in time for April Fools' Day, to get her the wide readership exposure which she deserves. Besides, Janet Fish is especially appropriate for that day since it's "April Fish" day in some parts of the world. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:12, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Janet Fish

Hello! Your submission of Janet Fish at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Drmies (talk) 20:06, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for reviewing the article. Your hook could work, but, as you suggested, I sought Crisco 1492's opinion of the original hook. I agree that the EL section is far from ideal, but it's frustrating to write an article about an artist, then being unable to actually show a bunch of her art; the least I can do is point readers to places where they can see some. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:36, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Well, I'm strict. Also, I'm an abusive admin, haha. You know I'm getting emails? I'll look again to see if Crisco responded. BTW, thanks for your article contributions. You know we appreciate you as a gnome, now we can celebrate you as a writer. Maybe it's time for you to think of a nom de plume. Drmies (talk) 04:25, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm glad that you're strict. I wouldn't want the appearance of any kind of favoritism. Thanks again for the review. I was starting to have flashbacks about my previous hook that went two weeks without anyone even looking at it. That was fine, but this hook was on a deadline.

Thanks, but I wouldn't celebrate me too much as a writer. Hmmmm.... I thought "Mandarax" was my nom de plume (nom de clavier?).

Uh oh – you're getting emails? I hope they're not threatening or too abusive. (I notice you didn't mention this before you encouraged me to go for an RfA.) I often don't read the adminly messages on your talk page and I try to avoid reading AN[/I]; I did note, however that someone's calling for your desysopping. What fun!

BTW... "metonymy"... nice word! I didn't know that one, although I was familiar with the similar "synecdoche". I've told people that it's a synecdoche when I refer to my GPS navigator by the name which the software gives to its American English voice. I would say that that's also a metonymy. Oh, I've archived my thread about movies I hated, but add Synecdoche, New York to the list. In that thread I also named Richard Kelly and Kevin Smith as writer-directors who only had one good movie in them, and they should have quit after making it. Well, add Charlie Kaufman to that list; he should have retired after writing Being John Malkovich. I'll balance some of this negativity out by mentioning some movies I loved: There's Something About Mary and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Oh, but now I feel obligated to name another one I hated: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:45, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Well that's weird. I had not looked at your talk page prior to writing the above, and now I see that just three hours earlier, someone else had mentioned There's Something About Mary to you. Eeeeerie! (I was reminded of H&KEFGB because I noticed it on TV a few days ago [no, I didn't watch to give it a second chance], which reminded me of H&KGTWC, which reminded me of TSAM.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:19, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Borat

As you loved Borat, enjoy. Bgwhite (talk) 23:37, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks for the link. Amazing that such a mistake could ever happen. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:02, 24 March 2012 (UTC)

Did you know...

... that Mandarax recently attended a concert in which a musician performed a Bach cello suite entirely with her feet? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:47, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

You can't leave it at that, Mandarax! Where's the rest of the story? LadyofShalott 19:56, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Whoa. Fo shizzle? Explain! BTW, next time, please a (pictured) behind the "Mandarax" part. Drmies (talk) 19:57, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

More details soon. In the meantime, if anyone has any info (or guesses) to add, feel free.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:52, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

See my talk for Solo Cello, but no answer yet. Would you join me here? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:00, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you all for viewing my pre-April-Fools'-Day DYK. The twist is that this version of the Cello Suite was transcribed for organ, and was performed using only the pedalboard. It was beautiful. (BTW, the Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are among my favorite classical pieces, and I think this was the first time I ever heard one performed on anything other than a cello. Serendipity – it wasn't listed on the program, but was added as an encore.) Oh, Gerda, also included in the organ recital was, I believe, my first live performance of a Bach cantata (118).

I think a similar hook would make a good real April Fools' DYK some year if I could find enough info about the performer and a review or other reliable source describing her performance. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:22, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing! I thought of organ but couldn't believe that someone was able to play the highly virtuoso part on the pedal alone! April fools should be nominated today. I don't think I can handle that, too much in the making, Dr. Blofeld started one on a choir I admire and one about a choir performing in a church connected to my personal history (see user), I completed one for Good Friday and am working on one more, St Matthew Passion structure, - unless you know a better name. Did you know I assembled a picture collection yesterday around my front page image? PS: I have a Bach cantata open for review that should not have been performed more than 2 weeks ago. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:40, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

As I've told you before, I greatly admire your work. You're so productive! Good job on the pictures; I'm glad to see you working on the occasional article about the visual arts. As for your hint about the cantata needing a review, I've done it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:39, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Ah, very interesting! I was trying to imagine a contortionist bowing the cello with her foot... and it was quite hard to imagine that producing a passable performance of anything by Bach. LadyofShalott 16:33, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I was picturing people picturing that, so I'm glad it had the desired effect! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:39, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Did you know this? Frohe Ostern! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:56, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Happy Easter! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:35, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

It is a pleasure

		The Editor's Barnstar
		For your fine work at Columbo. —Djathinkimacowboy 18:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:42, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Janet Fish

The DYK project (nominate) 00:03, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

I really liked that headline. It was the only one that made me think on what the headline meant. Bgwhite (talk) 23:54, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! It was actually the very first one that occurred to me when I decided to make an April Fools' Day DYK for the article, although I didn't suggest it until after my original hook didn't go over too well. (Another, very silly one, which I briefly considered, was "... that a school of fish included katz?".) Congratulations to you for your DYK about the guy blowing up animals! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:19, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

I claim no responsibility for the article. I thought the article was hilarious and did a DYK. Balloonman deserves all the credit. Bgwhite (talk) 04:26, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Ah, okay. (BTW, as for my hook, I'm glad you liked it, but I still like my original one about a human child in a fish, and I'm sure it would've been more attention-grabbing.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:12, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

...for the help with my DYK nomination (MV-1) - clearly my first. Cheers,  ⊂| Mr.choppers |⊃  (talk) 16:33, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

No problem. Welcome to DYK! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:36, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/Federal prosecution of public corruption in the United States

I have expanded the intro. Are you now OK with this as a joint nom? Savidan 23:21, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

The second article has been sufficiently expanded. I've responded there. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:50, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Well done!

		The LGBT Barnstar
		Thanks for fixing the wikilink on Pink News and helping with an important LGBT article! I most likely wouldn't have noticed it. Jenova20 22:51, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I strongly argued to change that horrible situation which has The Sun redirecting to Sun, but people apparently were not interested in logical arguments that the exceedingly obvious correct redirect target should be to the UK newspaper. Ever since then, I've fixed hundreds, maybe over a thousand, of those now-erroneous-but-should-be-correct links which are added every day. Anyways, sorry for the speech. Thanks for your work on Wikipedia! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:35, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Well i should have checked where it linked to after all my edits but forgot so thanks anyway, it is appreciated. Jenova20 17:47, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

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BLP Todd Siler

Dear Mandarax,

I am a newbie, a first time, one time editor with a failed track record. I am appealing to you as a veteran wikipedian of acclaimed expertise for your help. Last week, I voluntarily attempted to improve the BLP of the artist, scientist, innovator and educator named Todd Siler by adding external links and verifiable, sourced references. I admitted a COI naively assuming that, as I was not writing biography content but just adding source material that my edits were neutral. My endeavors have lead to disgrace as the article is now heavily tagged casting a terrible pall over the life and work of this notable figure. I am considered a major contributor because I had to redo the reference section a dozen times to get it right. I have spent hours trying to find ways to rectify the situation. On wiki advice, I posted my withdrawal from further edits on the article’s talk page.

Considering your interest in art and science and Colorado artists, I ask that you consider reviewing the article. The fact that it has been tagged as an advertisement for a person who in a 40 year career has never engaged in promotion, tagged for questionable sources for a scholar of world renown whose work as been peer reviewed in hundreds of instances and tagged due to my inexperience is potentially damaging to Dr. Siler. As an educator with an international student following who surely look to Wikipedia for resource material, this is unwelcome indeed. I clearly understand the reason for the tags and respect Wikipedia’s high level of responsibility and ethics. I honestly regret my actions and seek only resolution.

I value the Wiki community of consensus and collaboration and I thank you in advance for your kind consideration. "George Cabe (talk) 16:08, 14 April 2012 (UTC)"

Sorry you've encountered such difficulties, and I hope you decide to do more Wikipedia editing. I've removed some of the tags, including the one about advertising. Note that the article has not been "tagged for questionable sources", but rather for the lack of inline citations, which it indeed should have. See WP:REFBEGIN. Most of the many references listed in the article do not have URLs, so these can only be turned into inline citations by someone with access to those materials. As for the ones that are online... when I reference an article, I make sure that every fact has an inline citation, and I simply don't have the energy to search for all of that. Maybe someone at WP:Cleanup or WP:Help desk could help. Good luck! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:20, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

"I can't thank you enough for taking the time to respond to my ask for help. I have two more questions: If you or I removed (undo) all of my edits, would that remove my major contributor status and would it cause any harm to the article since some other editors made appropriate edits after mine? Secondly, during the past week after learning that essentially the page needed "inline citations", I worked on a potential list. One editor at the help desk advised that I should make suggestions for edits on the talk page. I was reluctant to do that since I had posted my withdrawal. I only want to do what is right. Is it appropriate to ask someone at cleanup or help desk to review my suggested inline citations for inclusion? As I have stated, I no longer feel eligible to edit any further. My sincere thanks,once again." George Cabe (talk) 00:36, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Strange... I attempted to reply four and a half hours ago. Somehow my response didn't get saved. I hate retyping things, but here I go....

You're welcome.

Per your (implied) request, I undid your edits to the text of the article (which were rather minor), while leaving the references which you added after the end of the text. I'm sure that was sufficient to remove the Conflict of interest tag, which I did. Your attitude and willingness to do what's "right" are admirable.

I think it would be fine to post your suggestions on the article's talk page, but if you're reluctant to do so, you could instead do it on your user talk page or a user subpage such as User:George Cabe/sandbox. Again, good luck.

It's nice to see such a conscientious editor. I hope you'll find other topics on Wikipedia which you may want to contribute to. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:33, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

":" Once again, I can't thank you enough for the timely, thoughtful and kind assistance in this matter. I will consider how best to post suggestions for inline citations in the hopes that someone is able to take it to task. Your support has been very meaningful. I wish you the very best."George Cabe (talk) 14:31, 16 April 2012 (UTC)"

As promised

See here. Much thanks! --kelapstick^(bainuu) 02:11, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Hehe, it's quite a fast-growing category! You're welcome for the DYK nomination. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:12, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

I haven't quite worked how where to put the picture of the authors (as drawn by Cortes), do you think they should replace Kareem Abdul Jabar (in the article, I think KAJ looks smashing in the DYK nomination). --kelapstick^(bainuu) 03:43, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

According to DYK rules, the image illustrating the hook must appear in the article. I would say that the drawing of the authors could go on the left under the "Authors" heading. If that looks too cluttered, another option would be to leave KAJ until after the DYK, then replace that picture with the one of the authors. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:16, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Kind of what I was thinking, although I did some tweaking, and it's not bad, I moved KAJ down a section, he didn't fit in where he was (maybe he doesn't play well with others, I don't know), the infobox pushes everything down, as much as I like them they are a pain in the ass. Forced the picture left under a section header against MOS recommendations (and they way I usually reformat other articles). I tried a hard break (that's what she said) before the authors section, but it forces the hard break to go below the infobox. I just removed the authors section, it's only two lines, and can be included as a second paragraph in the background section. Maybe I should break down and expand the lead so the infobox is entirely contained (or remove information from the infobox...or I can be lazy and let it sit as is for now...I think I will stick with the latter.--kelapstick^(bainuu) 08:34, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Looks good to me. Yeah, when I recommended the placement, I was thinking about the MOS and specifically ignored it, as most people tend to do. I'm guilty of adding to the Infobox; you're right – some items could probably be removed, but the philosophy when in doubt, do nothing is a good one. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:36, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Might as well give up....

In case you missed it, might as well give up on edit counts.

Also, the new color diff scheme is supposed to be turned on sometime today. Instead of "upgrading" the Mediawiki code a few times a year, they are now going to "upgrade" at least every other month. Bgwhite (talk) 07:34, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks; I did miss it. I'm very surprised. I'd thought for a long time that Rich Farmbrough would be the first to do a million edits, but he's still got about 27,000 to go. As for me, I'd "given up" long ago. Last month I had my fewest edits since October 2009.

As I've mentioned, I enabled then disabled then reenabled the new diffs. I think they really missed an opportunity to greatly improve it. Whereas with the old scheme it was very, very difficult to discern small changes such as a single punctuation character, and impossible to see spacing changes, they've now upgraded it to just very difficult for all such small changes. It baffles me why they were apparently unable to select colors which really work, such as those in AWB. Thanks for the warning about the more frequent "upgrades"; usually their "upgrades" break a bunch of things (often breaking bots, for example), although the last upgrade really did fix that problem I'd been having with Twinkle. Yes, that problem had been caused by the previous "upgrade", but I'll still give 'em credit. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:07, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

And I see that the new "upgrade" did briefly break Twinkle. And it looks like public opinion is strongly against the new diff scheme. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:25, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

I've got to laugh at some of the comments. Part of the problem is it's something new and everybody hates when it changes out the old for the new. They should have put way to change back to the old version via preferences right from the beginning. I do agree that the colors could be slightly darker as it can be more difficult to see.

Ahhh, it will be so nice to have "upgrades" more often because it will give me a reason to view the technical pump to figure out why something isn't working. Bgwhite (talk) 07:07, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, it occurred to me that some of the opposition may be a general resistance to any change from the familiar. That's obviously not the case with me, since I voluntarily made the change before it was thrust upon everybody. Just today I was poring over a diff containing a long paragraph in which a single character was added. I kept carefully inspecting it, trying to find the change, not knowing ahead of time if just one side had a change or both; after a long time I eventually found it, but it should be obvious immediately. Note: I didn't notice your comment til now; I had made a reply below at about the same time, and I wasn't notified that I had a new message. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:00, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

I hate change, but I'll get used to it. The colors are a bit light for me as well, esp. when I'm outside on the netbook. Hey, you two, perhaps you are interested in this thread, see Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#To ban or not to ban?. The editor in question is also the author of User:AnotherWeeWilly/sandbox. There's a beautiful watercolor by Van Gogh in it for you. (Mandarax, if this wasn't clear, I'm asking you to look at that sandbox article and make a snap judgment whether the writer is worth keeping...) Drmies (talk) 15:09, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Ah, my favorite kind of decision... one that's already been made (judging by the red). I see you decided it was worth keeping. And the ban decision is all but made already too. That's good, as I'm much too tired today to be making any decisions or, really, thinking at all; seems like a good time to do lots of mindless editing! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:37, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Returning to the original topic.... The downward slide has begun. After plateauing at number 25 on the list of users by number of edits, where I stayed for quite a while, I then dropped to number 28 where I stayed for a very long time. I've now slipped to 29, and it's all downhill from here. I fully expect you to surpass me soon. (In spite of how it may appear, since I've taken note of my position, my lower ranking really doesn't matter to me. I'd hate to think I would ever step up my AWB edits just to maintain or improve my position on the list.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:48, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Eh, you've shifted to do more DYK than AWB edits. I do follow where I rank, but I don't put alot of stock into it because of my AWB edits. I do more than simple edits, so alot of AWB edits would count as "normal edits". 90 new articles today took about 3 hrs to complete because of cleanups, prods and the like. There were 200 new articles every day last week, but it took under two hrs to complete because alot of them were simple edits. I use a AutoHotkey script, so instead of alot of typing, it is simple keystrokes.

Plateaued is definitely a verb. Hear it alot in music or sports.... The song plateaued at #8 on the charts.

I went and saw a movie over the weekend. My wife loves horror movies so we saw The Cabin in the Woods. It turned out to be a very funny/satirical. I don't want to say it was a spoof, but did spoof horror movies with some wicked commentary. Josh Whedon wrote the show (Firefly, Buffy). He does have a good sense of humor. I'd highly recommend Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog if you haven't seen it. It's a free short web movie. I saw Better Off Ted is available on Netflix. That was a great TV series. Bgwhite (talk) 08:39, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Wow, you go to movies with the wife?!? Firefly was yet another of those "saw the pilot, didn't like it, never watched again" shows. Buffy is one of those "never saw but heard it was great" shows. The "Racial Sensitivity" episode of Better Off Ted was one of the funniest episodes of any show ever! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:56, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

I completely lost it with the sign on the drinking fountain saying, "White's only". Bgwhite (talk) 20:14, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Rachel Kollock McDowell

THanks for the correction on the DYK - before I had the bold but not the link. Always a detail.Parkwells (talk) 02:44, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:08, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination help

Can you help fix Template:Did you know nominations/Justin Bieber on Twitter? I added a second article after the original nomination and a second contributor as some one came in and did substantial editing to improve the Bieber article. --LauraHale (talk) 01:25, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

 Done – just some minor tweaking. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:32, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Awesome. :D Thanks mate! --LauraHale (talk) 04:14, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Beatles infobox

There is a Straw Poll taking place here, and your input would be appreciated. — GabeMc (talk) 02:17, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Todd Siler

I took the suggestions of several veteran editors like yourself and posted possible article improvements to the Talk Page of Todd Siler. Remembering your keen interest in art and Colorado artist in particular, I wanted to alert you to my efforts. You had mentioned that you did not have the time to work on a page that didn't have url sources. I took that has evidence that others would feel the same and cited as many online sources as I could. I would appreciate your review. I wasn't able to do the markups as a newbie but am hopeful that the information would represent a formidable foundation for experienced editors. "George Cabe (talk) 15:15, 27 April 2012 (UTC)"

DYK for I Don't Want To Blow You Up!

Panyd^{The muffin is not subtle} 00:12, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

DYK in general

Thanks for cleaning up after me when I self nominated. I'm still on training wheels with filling out the nomination.Maile66 (talk) 00:18, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:40, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

?

Hey Mandarax, do you know what this user is doing? I don't have a clue! Drmies (talk) 16:54, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Well, it looks like they're using the "frequently updated" parameter of {{Infobox software}} (which seems unnecessary for software whose latest version was released three years ago). Until just now, I was completely unaware that an Infobox could retrieve its data from a template without specifying that template in the Infobox. It supposedly allows users to "quickly and effectively" update software version numbers by editing the template rather than the article. However, if I were someone who didn't know this (e.g., me, two minutes ago) and I wanted to update the version, I would be completely baffled, as the text relating to the version appears nowhere in the text of the Infobox. It's not intuitive to me that to change the version, one has to click on the version link as displayed in the article; I only discovered this by perusing the Infobox's documentation. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:18, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

You learn something every day. As did I--can you please have a look at Template:Did you know nominations/Stichting Oud Politieke Delinquenten? Thanks for your help there. Drmies (talk) 14:22, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your comment: further response and hook tweak at the template. Drmies (talk) 14:00, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Categorization question

Mandarax my friend, is what I did here kosher? LadyofShalott 14:14, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Seems okay. Perhaps not ideal, which is why you asked, but I don't think it's a problem. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:03, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll leave it, and if someone later objects, deal with it then. LadyofShalott 12:57, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

New mediawiki update

They were supposed to due another update on Monday. Perhaps they did it today because of the notable changes on the watchlist. The technical village pump is having a field day over it. I'm not sure what to say because one moment an article, not talk or a wikipedia page, is starred and the next moment it is bold. According to the pump, they supposedly did a change for you monobook holdouts. Ah joy. Bgwhite (talk) 21:04, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I've been wondering what was going on... thought maybe it was just problems loading or something. I'm another of the "monobook holdouts" because I really hate the vector interface. It is less readable to me, not more. LadyofShalott 02:25, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

I never saw stars. I try to avoid reading Village pumps (as well as noticeboards and whatnot) as much as possible, but what I saw in a brief glance looked overwhelmingly opposed to the change. To me, the bold seems like a goodish idea. I often go through my watchlist nonsequentially and I did sometime wonder if I'd seen a diff already. However, what I think would've been a much better idea would be an option to hide already-viewed changes. The numerous green backgrounded "updated since my last visit" notices on revision histories are certainly... uh... noticeable. Is that what they did to punish us monobookers? Yes, Lady, I agree – I much prefer monobook. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:22, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

I don't see the green background notices, so it must be the monobook goodie. In most cases, they need to ask people first and make a way to turn it off. Just springing things on people is not good. The stars were mighty big, maybe 150-175% the size of the font. Stars were useless. I didn't like the bold at first, but now I'm liking it and finding it useful. I don't mind the vector look probably because I'm used to it. Also, getting rid of the left menu bar,that was hogging up screen space, made it much nicer. That is a useful javascript. Bgwhite (talk) 08:35, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

I forgot to thank you. You are the one who alerted me to the wonderful drop drop menu script, cactions.js. Without that, I couldn't get rid of the left bar. I found a nice Firefox add-on called "Form History Control". It allows you to get rid of any values you have added into forms (aka edit summaries). I use alot of the same edit summaries. There are also alot of edit summaries I've used once and the summary starts out the same as the summaries I use alot. It has an option to get rid of any summaries you have used once, twice or three times, then you can individual edit any leftovers. Like, it literally has like saved me literally alot of time, like. Bgwhite (talk) 21:34, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Aw, it's a shame you don't get to see the green. On the revision history page of any article in my watchlist, every edit since my last visit looks like this:

• (cur | prev) 14:07, May 11, 2012‎ Bgwhite (talk | contribs)‎ . . (37,522 bytes) (+536)‎ ‎ . . (→‎Comics bibliographies: reply) updated since my last visit (undo)

If I haven't viewed an article in a long time and/or it gets a lot of edits, the entire revision history page could be filled with those green notices on every line!

I'm glad you've found the drop-down menus to be useful. I just manually delete those edit summaries in the form as they become bothersome, but I may check out the add-on. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:29, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

I see they've undone the change to the watchlist. And they made the revision history page much less obnoxious; it's still got all the "updated since my last visit"s, but now it's just green text on the normal background. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:23, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Literally...

I recently mentioned the misuse of the word literally. Well I was very interested to see someone write on a certain admin's talk page that a "situation is literally scaring the crap out of me". I refrained from pointing it out there, as I didn't want to make light of their scary situation, but I had to note it somewhere. I haven't identified the user, as I wouldn't want them to literally die of embarrassment. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:05, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh dear. LadyofShalott 12:56, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

It's one of the most overused words, indeed. That's funny. On a totally serious note, I love giving barnstars. (Here is context, if you needed that for some inexplicable reason.) Drmies (talk) 19:41, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Forgive me, but I keep imagining someone sitting at the keyboard as they get scared, and the feces just start spewing out. Forgive me again. Normally I'm not amused by such puerile humor. (Note: the only thing I didn't like about Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was the bathroom scene.)

Yeah, you're conscientious, considerate, and generous in awarding barnstars to deserving users; I should do more of that. Dahn does good work. (And that was quite a translation job on ANI!) A coupla years ago I had seen work Dahn had done on an article and I added a DYK credit. Dahn seemed surprised and genuinely touched to receive it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:55, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

No apology necessary. What a mess Wikipedia can cause--high bloodpressure, carpet wasted... Dahn does great work, and so does his Romanian pal, Biruitorul. (Hope I got the vowels right.) As for barnstars and wikilove, I like getting creative here. IP 99 (well, formerly known as) got a few from me as well today: User talk:198.228.226.241. I wonder how often NPPers have their finger on the rollback button when my edits come by. Have a great weekend, Mandarax! Drmies (talk) 00:56, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh, and I liked Basquiat fine, I think. I don't remember a story line or plot details--I may have mentioned to you earlier that I can see a movie five times before I know how it ends. Imagine me watching The Usual Suspects. Drmies (talk) 00:59, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Regarding that barnstar, I must say... "eeek!" (Note: you're not the only one who's been giving out balls today.)

Thanks for the Basquiat update. I also tend to not remember much about movies, especially if they're not something I particularly love or (more likely) hate. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:26, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

I changed the barnstar, out of deference to the IP's sensitivities. We're having a boy so I suppose I'll learn a lot more about them. BTW, I figured out your friend's identity, but that's neither here nor there. That was a nice barnstar for Bg; I am really liking Wikilove. I think I'm going to give up on movies until Matt Damon returns for another Bourne; the recent reruns of the Death Wish movies on AMC hasn't helped. In a few weeks me and the apple of my eye will be overseas...if you ever read (and finish) one of my all-time favorite books, Le Grand Meaulnes, you'll know why (I see now there's a movie...). Happy days Mandarax, Drmies (talk) 04:58, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Probably a good idea to switch that image. But I'd like to point out that I still cherish the tastefully risqué Protector of Wikipedian Sex Workers Award which you gave me. Congratulations on your future boy; awwww, I remember when he was just a blueberry. About 99's identity.... I sometimes form a composite idea of WikiUsers, and my initial vision of 99 was just about as wrong as possible. As for my recognition of Bg's seven years, well, one can hardly go wrong when quoting Shakespeare. I disabled Wikilove immediately after it was deployed. Yes, I really should award more barnstars, but I prefer to construct them manually. I don't think I've seen a movie since I said a few months ago that I was quitting 'em for a while. I saw one of the Bourne movies; I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that I didn't like it. I generally like Damon, although as I've previously mentioned, I hated Dogma. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think I'm about equally split on liking/disliking his films. Never saw a Death Wish movie, or anything with Charles Bronson as far as I recall. Ooooh, an overseas trip... have fun! Did you read Le Grand Meaulnes in French? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:20, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Of course! And in Dutch, and in English. My real reason for dropping by: Did You Know that Donna Summer "literally loved to sing"? Drmies (talk) 04:09, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Wow! I can barely read in English, and you've read the same book in three languages! No, I didn't know that about Summer. Ah, looking at various usages of that word has provided me with literally millions of hours of entertainment. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:48, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Then you can rhetorically die an amused man. Ha, amused to (first meaning) death. Drmies (talk) 15:47, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Bold watchlist

They turned off bold, for now. If you want it back, add the following to your common.css

span.updatedmarker { background-color: transparent; color: #006400; } strong.mw-watched a { font-weight: bold; }

Thank you for your note on my pseudo 7-year anniversary. Interesting week... anniversary, user page vandalized for first time, email thanking me for the my work and they will be mentioning me in their Wikimania talk, email from an admin telling me where to go and for the Coup de grâce, my mother-in-law needs hip replacement surgery. Wife asked if I could telecommute from the spawn of Satan's house and take care of her during the daytime. Bgwhite (talk) 05:12, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Two other nice scripts I found for your vector/monobook.js

Remove the "Mark all read" button on the watchlist: importScript('User:Equazcion/RemoveMarkAll.js');

In the history section of an article, add a url link of the two versions you are comparing. Easy to copy-paste into a discussion: importScript('User:Equazcion/LiveDiffLink.js');

Equazcion has a several other little scripts in his vector.js file. Bgwhite (talk) 05:27, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the info, you're welcome for the note, congratulations on the good stuff, and sorry to hear to about the bad stuff.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:23, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Regarding Template:Did you know nominations/Jagannath Prasad Das

Hi, the article Jagannath Prasad Das which I created is qualified for DYK, but I don't any changes in Template:Did you know nominations/Jagannath Prasad Das, can you please help me with this? --Subha^Utter2me! 06:07, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Odd bug in DYK listings

Check Template talk:Did you know#Articles created/expanded on April 27, and look at the first entry, Template:Did you know nominations/Sodsai Pantoomkomol. At the foot of the nomination I see the line:

No it's not my first. I like your hook better than mine.·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 15:18, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

I have no idea where this is coming from - it is not inside the nomination itself. I have seen you fix poorly formatted nominations. Maybe you know what is causing it. Thanks, Aymatth2 (talk) 19:53, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

 Done. The user had added a misplaced comment at the end of another nomination, which had been archived. The archived text isn't visible when transcluded onto the nominations page. so the comment appeared to be attached to a different nomination. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:06, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Good. I thought it was something like that, but could not see a nomination where the comment seemed to belong... Aymatth2 (talk) 12:23, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Of note...

Just to let you know, ssd drives fail just as miserably as a regular hard drive. Reinstalling everything is so much joy. What is worse is going without Wikipedia for 36 hours with all the sweating, hand shaking, paranoia, increased pulse... Bgwhite (talk) 05:44, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

How horrible! Well, maybe losing WikiAccess gave you the opportunity to spend some time with the wife outside of the scheduled hours, and contemplate the quality time you'll soon be able to spend with the mother-in-law. Glad it's fixed and you're back! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:19, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

You sir are evil. There was a silver lining. My wife had a final today, so I didn't have to spend time with her, thank goodness. I would normally say something "happy" about my wife taking a test, but I wouldn't wish that misery on anybody. Last one I took was June 16, 1995 and yes, I'll remember that day till I die. Bgwhite (talk) 06:38, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes I am.

I consider every day to be a test, so my last one was May 18, 2012. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:11, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Did you pass? Bg, did she pass? Drmies (talk) 15:41, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Weird italic title

Can you tell where tl:italic title is coming into Charlie Albright? It's a BLP, so there is no reason for it to be italicized, and I can't find the template. Is it hidden inside some other template used on the page? LadyofShalott 02:02, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, that was odd. There's an {{Infobox album}} near the end of the article which was doing it. I added the appropriate parameter to suppress the italic title. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:19, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

I see! Thanks, Mandarax! LadyofShalott 02:20, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Original Barnstar

I haven't barnstarred you in at least a week or so: this is so you don't forget that the wiki will break without you. Thanks for remembering my anniversary: I had no idea it's already been a year. Thanks also for your continued advice and support; if I've done anything right it's in large part because of help from editors like (I could list a dozen more immediately, but you're top of the list). Mandarax, I worship you. Have a great holiday weekend--if transponsters have holidays, of course. Drmies (talk) 13:04, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

• And thanks for the non-gratuitous "literally"! Drmies (talk) 19:08, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

• Thank you very much! (I'd hoped that you would appreciate the "literally"....) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:36, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Thanks for cleaning up the mess I made of the Jennifer Screen nomination.

LauraHale (talk) 07:44, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Well, I certainly wouldn't call it a mess. Believe me, I've seen people make a mess of DYK nominations, and that wasn't even close! Anyways, you're welcome. And thanks for the kitten! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:35, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Are you talking about me?? Hey, Mandarax, wish you were here! Drmies (talk) 14:59, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Hehe. No; you may have made some tiny errors, but never a mess.

Thanks. BTW, what did you end up serving your brother? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:42, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry, Mandarax--everything but the dead animal. But I served him two pounds of mushrooms in Belgium to make up for it. Drmies (talk) 22:16, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Also, you make the best barnstars. Thanks. Hey, I just added up the DYKs and I'm at 200. Now I can stop--but there's another in the pipeline. Can you please look over Horse burial for me when you have a moment? (I just realized I didn't do a DEFAULTSORT, and the talk page is bare.) Thanks! Drmies (talk) 04:29, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

(watching) I heard you, 200, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:08, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Wow! 200! Good work putting lots of quality material on the Main Page! (And Gerda, good job with the 200 DYK Medal.) Horse burial is interesting and well-written, as usual. I made what is perhaps the smallest possible visible edit, basically moving an apostrophe a few angstroms. I don't think a DEFAULTSORT is necessary. As for the article's DYK, while I generally favor withholding information if it will produce a hookier hook, I personally think this would attract more attention if it was spelled out that these animals were buried with humans. But, of course, whatever you think is fine.

Thanks about the barnstars. (But I still think your sex worker one is the best.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:03, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

I won't get close to Gerda's count, I'm afraid. Mandarax, please go ahead and tweak the hook: I'm still jetlagged (which is why I'm up at 6AM) and my creative faculty hasn't yet woken up. Drmies (talk) 11:12, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Nom

Thanks for letting me know. Regards, Ericoides (talk) 19:19, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

No problem. Those intricate templates can be tricky. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:22, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for reverting the vandalism. Yes, My user page has been vandalized twice now. Bgwhite (talk) 19:17, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. I wonder who the user is a sock of; their only edits have been to vandalize five of your pages and someone else's user page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:37, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

It is a sock most likely related to the AfD of Depak Muniraj. The sock also vandalized User:Muhandes and we a both involved in Muniraj's case. Bgwhite (talk) 19:46, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

They're blocked now, but I guess they already threw away the account. Drop me a line if this happens again. Drmies (talk) 11:12, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Speaking of Depak

Check this out, a puzzling edit on many levels, not the least of which that the editor of that draft has been blocked for two weeks. Drmies (talk) 11:17, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

• Also, you two, please help me out cleaning up Walter Baxter, a former AfC submission turned down by your pal. Writer, obscenity trial, gay, military--find me a better DYK possibility. Drmies (talk) 11:42, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
• Mandarax, what are they trying to do here? What is this "Example" substitution? I've gone through a couple of their AfC edits already and I don't understand the syntax and what it does--what I do see is that whatever they're doing is probably not helping those who submitted the articles. Drmies (talk) 12:15, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

• The Lady did a good job of cleaning up Walter Baxter. I found only the minorest of things to do. (Hmmmmm, is that my specialty?) I'll see about checking out the other things if I'm feeling motivated to figure why people do things.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:19, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

• Thanks Mandarax. Your intention to maybe develop a feeling toward a motivation is (cautiously) appreciated. Drmies (talk) 12:44, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

• Hehe, sorry, I've been extra-tired lately, so I might not be up to my usual normal-tired standards. I dunno what the deal is with those edits. The {{AFC submission}} documentation is decidedly uninformative about parameters.

  The clock is ticking on Baxter's DYK and it's only got 953 of the required 1500 characters. However, it could be expanded leisurely and submitted for April Fools' Day at any time over the next nine months:

  • ... that Walter Baxter, an author charged with obscenity, wrote a novel covering the gay relationship between the Batman and Tony Kent?

  The last Batman hook I wrote went on to become the most-viewed non-lead hook of all time (although it's since been surpassed). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:51, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Passing along a request for help

Mandarax, would you please take a look at User talk:LadyofShalott#Userpage update/correction? I think you are likely to be better able to help that editor than I. LadyofShalott 22:16, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

 Done (more or less). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:08, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you, Mandarax!! LadyofShalott 00:10, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at TheGeneralUser's talk page.
Message added 10:21, 29 June 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

TheGeneralUser (talk) 10:21, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Thanks a lot Mandarax for helping me correct and fix my user page quickly! Your efforts have been very helpful :) TheGeneralUser (talk) 10:30, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the barnstar! That was very nice of you. And you're welcome for the edits. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 11:24, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Your signature using obsolete code

FYI... the font tag in your signature has been depreciated for awhile. There's talk of an update coming down the pipeline that will remove the font tag altogether. Best if you start to <div> or <span> your signature.... <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;color: red"> produces This Bgwhite (talk) 07:25, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know. My initial thought was that my already-long signature would be too big after replacing the more compact <font>, and I was going to just wait until it stopped working and then deal with it. But I decided to just do it. I find the additional 19 characters to be an annoyance, but it's still within allowed signature limits. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:53, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

I have the same concern with length. That's why I don't understand discouraging use of smaller code. What is the point? LadyofShalott 13:56, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

This actually isn't a Wikimedia driven issue. The font tag was depreciated in HTML v4.0 by the W3C, the main web standards organization. In HTML5, the tag is totally removed. Wikimedia is wanting to make the software HTML 5 compliant. To make it compliant, various tags such as font, center, tt and strike are to be dropped. I created my first website in 1993, so I'm very, very olllld school. I want to tell this new css stuff to get off my lawn. Bgwhite (talk) 20:32, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Ah, I just saw Lady's message on her talk page. It was further up on my watchlist. The code is longer for what you are trying to do. In theory, the new way does give more fine grained control... can add other options besides just font characteristics. Also, it is part of CSS, which allows the content of a document to be separate from the formatting of a document. You can write one CSS page to describe how an entire website could look, thus saving time and code. So, for just changing just one font on one page, it is more code. For changing the font on many pages at once, it saves on code. Bgwhite (talk) 20:47, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Well phooey on them! Allowing multiple pages to be formatted at once is fine. It shouldn't have come at the expense of simple code for the one page. (I also created my first page somewhere in that time period. <grumble> And now you say they are also doing away with centering, strikeouts, etc.? <grumble, grumble, grumble some more> </grumping> LadyofShalott 20:59, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

I'm sure you are still grumbling about the removal the blink tag. Bgwhite (talk) 21:16, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Oh heck no! I always despised things blinking at me. LadyofShalott 21:40, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

It actually could be seen as a Wikimedia driven issue. Wiki interprets a [[link]] and outputs <a href="...">link</a>; the font tags could very easily be translated likewise. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:16, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Authority control file.

As you, Lady and Drmies work on articles that are more likely to have an Authority control file... From this week's signpost, there is a proposal for a bot to add a VIAF identifier. This is done by adding the {{Authority control}} template. Thought it might be a good idea for you to start adding it manually to new articles. Kurt Vonnegut's would be {{Authority control|VIAF=71398958}}. Bgwhite (talk) 21:26, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Interesting. So... is this correct? (BTW, that article just got promoted to GA. :) ) LadyofShalott 21:50, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

I think I'm likely to leave this task to the bots. Bg, I've removed the active template from your post, because it was putting my talk page in Category:Wikipedia articles with authority control information.

Lady, hearty congratulations on the GA! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:25, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! LadyofShalott 22:29, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, congratulations Lady. Yup, it is correct. On the VIAf page under the "About" section, one of the external links could be a Wikipedia link. Hmmm, wonder how/why it the link gets there. Bgwhite (talk) 22:52, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! So... what do you do when one person has more than one VIAF as is the case for Faith Hunter (63433421)/ Gwen Hunter (25490963) (same author, two pen names)? LadyofShalott 23:04, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Flagicons in lists of artworks

I came upon Chronology of works by Caravaggio and was appalled to see the ticky tacky little flagicons. I wondered if this were an anomaly, so I looked at List of works by Leonardo da Vinci and found the same style in use there. This seems like a completely gratuitous use of the stupid flagicons to me. Are you aware of any discussion where this was chosen as a convention? I'd really like to strip out the icons as useless and tasteless. (Are you getting the idea that I hate the ticky tacky little flagicons? Good, 'cause you're right; I do.) LadyofShalott 03:26, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Ugh, the Caravaggio article has more problems. Table is broken, circa should go in front of date, use of center tag, having some columns sortable when they shouldn't, etc. Toolserver is still having problems after ~10 days, so I can't do my usual stuff. Will be nice to work on a list again. Bgwhite (talk) 04:30, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Oh, that is horrible. I can't imagine that there was any consensus about it, especially since it's contradictory to MOS:FLAG. There probably wasn't even a discussion; probably just one misguided person thought it would be a good idea, and maybe others followed their example. I agree with Drmies about not using flags on the Tour de France page, but at least there I understand why people might want to use 'em. On these pages, they're just ridiculous.

I'm guessing the circas were oddly after the year for sorting purposes. Thanks for working on this Bg. I always get a headache when I try to work on tables, especially large ones. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:25, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

There's a way to sort even using the circas. If you ever don't want to deal with a table, just yell. I actually enjoy working on tables. Bgwhite (talk) 07:23, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. Beware, I may just take you up on that offer some time. One of the things I use tables for is when I'm dealing with a template that stubbornly insists on displaying its output in some specific position, and I use a table to force my will upon it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:49, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

OK, with that note, I'm going to start deleting flags. BG, you can do the other stuff. :) LadyofShalott 17:12, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Ah, you've already been working on the flags too! LadyofShalott 17:13, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Beyond the kitten of thanks, can you give me a very brief synopsis of MOS regarding hyphening year statements?

LauraHale (talk) 22:51, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Hmmm, I dunno if that'll be in the MOS. I may sometimes be inclined to over-hyphenate, but in this case "one" is modifying the noun "year", so I removed the hyphen. Now, if "one-year" was being using as a compound adjective (and I think I just made that term up, but I think you know what I mean) such as "a one-year contract", then I think the hyphen would be fine. If there are any English professors seeing this, maybe they can expound further and/or correct me. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:06, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

• Yet another thing I thought I made up, but didn't. Although the article is "compound modifier", they're also called "compound adjectives". The article mentions hyphenation of such elements. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:17, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

... *splats* Okay. I apologise but given that you know this better than me, I'm just going to blithely go on letting you fix these and giving you a murder of kittens in thanks for fixing these problems. :D --LauraHale (talk) 00:13, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks for the kittens. Hmmmm, a "murder" is a group of crows; applying that to kittens produces images of flying cats, and you've gone and reminded of the Orvillecopter again. Oh, and you asked about the MOS... it's discussed in section 3 of MOS:HYPHEN. BTW, The person who really goes around fixing grammatical, formatting, and MOS errors is Art LaPella. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:38, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Did you know ...

Did you know that "Did you know that 'Did you know ... that "Did you know that Big 5 stopped selling handguns in March 1986?", regarded as the Perry Mason moment of the first Menendez brothers trial, resulted from a tip phoned in by a Court TV viewer?' will be Daniel Case's 500th DYK?" was perhaps my most complicated and convoluted contribution, until now? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:25, 7 July 2012 (UTC)