User:LessHeard vanU

This editor contributes to Wikipedia in an increasingly desperate - and futile - attempt to drive from his mind images of fluffy kittens, soulful eyed puppies, cute ducklings, sweet...aaaargh! Make it stop! Make it Stop!

My name is Mark James Slater. I was born 30th October 1959, in West London. I am married with two children. I now live in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

I believe in taking the consequences of my actions, for good or bad (although my wife does not agree that this happens in practice!)

I realise that many Wikipedians use "their" page to indicate what fine, unique and intelligent individuals they are, how valuable they are to the WikiCommunity, and to generally make themselves appear interesting and amusing. I guess that this is my attempt...

A Short Statement of Intent

I was very pleased to be appointed an administrator as I believed that I would be more effective in that role than as an editor only. Primarily, I am here to make this place more editor friendly. I will do what is asked of me, provided it is within my competence and the rules, policies and guidelines of Wikipedia, and will strive to act in a transparent and accountable manner. With the above in mind, I will respond to your emails and respect your privacy - but see my caveat below as I do not care to conduct my Wikilife outside of the scrutiny of my peers. I will not participate in IRC discussions, nor in the exchange of emails outside of that is necessary for me to function as an sysop. If I do partake in private conversations, as part of my admin role, and determine that there is a conflict of interest between the request for privacy and accountability I shall always opt for disclosure. I realise this may exclude me from certain aspects of the administrative remit but, to be frank, I consider this a benefit. Otherwise, feel free to let me help you.

Caveat

Should I receive information by private means I shall consider that the sender has waived any claim of privacy or copyright on their part of the message and has obtained such permission on the part of any third parties whose post(s) form part of the message. By communicating with me outside of Wikipedia spaces you are giving me permission to disseminate the content of any message in the manner of my choosing, and you hold yourself liable for any violation of law, Wikipedia policies, service providers Terms of Service, and other consequence of my making public of such information.

You may request privacy, and I may honour such a request, but I am not bound by it.

Make of This What You Will

I wish I had the t-shirt that proclaims

"Je suis Marxiste (tendance Groucho)!"

LHvU

		The Original Barnstar
		for your hard work cleaning up the Penwith articles Reedgunner 16:41, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

		The Original Barnstar
		I gladly present Mark James Slater with this award for never failing to put arrogant nob'eds in their place. Vera, Chuck & Dave 19:31, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

		The Surreal Barnstar
		"The Surreal Barnstar may be awarded to any Wikipedian who adds a 'special flavour' to the community by acting as a sort of wildcard". I gladly award this Barnstar to LessHeard vanU, who has no fear of lesser beings, and who is a genuinely committed editor. I thank him profusely. andreasegde 20:18, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The Beatles Wikifish That's the way Cod planned it

For absolutely no reason at all, I, Kingboyk, hereby award you with a [[:Image:PeanutButterJellyStar.gif|Dancing peanut butter jelly bean thingie (since sadly deleted, sob)LessHeard vanU 12:59, 11 June 2007 (UTC)<]]. Enjoy! --kingboyk 18:58, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

A really neat "flower on a flag" image presented by MaxSem to me for following the herd.

		Recognition
		While browsing the discussion at ElinorD's RfA, i noticed your comment and just decided to award you this particular barnstar. Very well-deserved. I used my William Wallace's pic as i couldn' find an appropriate barnstar for in a recognition for your action. -- FayssalF - Wiki me up® 02:55, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		Thanks for your work on the InfoArt cleanup project. Tyrenius 21:52, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

		The TomStar81 Spelling Award
		Be it known to all members of Wikipedia that LessHeard vanU has corrected my god-awful spelling on the page Wikipedia:Request for adminship/TomStar81 2‎, and in doing so has made an important and very significant contribution to the Wikipedia community, thereby earning this TomStar81 Spelling Award and my deepest thanks. Keep up the good work! TomStar81 (Talk) 20:36, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		Thanks for the compliment ;) ACBestMy ContributionsAutograph Book 20:22, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence (Potato Salad of Congenitality cluster, 1st. Class) In Panis, Veritas.

I hereby award you, with all due solemnity (which is to say not very much at all) this highly prestigious and edible award "The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence". I award this to the editors who do good work in all the various places I bump into them, and also to editors who look a little bit hungry. Wear it with pride, noble wiki-warrior! Best regards, Hamster Sandwich 23:34, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Peace
		For giving peace to my mind in a time of great turmoil with your clear thinking and quick action , I can never thank you enough Mattisse 17:20, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

		The Socratic Barnstar
		For your ability to think against the flow, which led the Privatemusings case to an amicable solution. — Sebastian 19:13, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

		The Invisible Barnstar
		For being one of the folks who does the scut work without expecting plaudits or groveling, and with respect for those whose path you cross. Risker (talk) 01:44, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		I see you alot on AIV, dealing with reports and blocking vandals. I've seen you on AIV quite a lot, and I want you to know your tireless work has not gone un-noticed. :) Steve Crossin (talk) (anon talk) 23:16, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

You have won the Edit Summary of the Day award for this contribution here[1]. Thank goodness someone is keeping on top of those new forms. Risker (talk) 22:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Were this admin to act in a foolish, trollish, or dickish way, he is open to being slapped with a large trout.

(I am placing this here, in the same way that I have included the Beatles Wikifish, the late and lamented "Dancing peanut butter jelly bean thingie" thingy, and the ""The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence" award, of examples in how a little personal act by an individual can make this place such a great place to participate in.)

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		I am always terrible at choosing the right barnstar, but your sage adminship and infinite patience deserve recognition! Cheers, CP 16:05, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

BlackPearl14 would like to give LessHeard vanU the following barnstar for helping her with preventing personal attacks :)

Thanks! BlackPearl14^{Pirate Lord-ess of the Caribbean} 21:19, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

		The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
		For your facing flak from dastardly IP editors after semiprotecting the Sarah Palin article. If it gets hot in that helmet, feel free to don one of these. And keep your head down, it's valuable around here! Noroton (talk) 17:17, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Dear Reader, I hope you have enjoyed contemplating the above frippery as much as I enjoyed receiving them...

Herr Count vonU

ze Interiot's 'Wannabe Kate' Tool

Admin Stats and WP:RECALL

LessHeard vanU (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

I am not in the category Admins open to recall. I do not believe in a process that enables individuals or groups with an agenda to pursue an action to desysop an administrator for reasons unconnected with the use of the tools. I also do not believe in any impediment that constrains an administrator from acting boldly, or otherwise limits the ability to act in what the individual believes is to the greater good of the project.

However, I consider that should my use of the sysop tools be so (word de joure) egregious as to lose the confidence of the community in my ability to use them impartially and in keeping with the office then a couple of people - or just one in a couple of instances - of good standing in the community and not involved in any current or recent dispute with me need only to come to my talkpage and request that I give up the mop. I will then consider my position, and if persuaded set down the tools.

The above is not a recall process, just an indication that I wish only to continue as an admin while I have the confidence of the majority of the community. As such it does not seek to limit any person from bringing an RfC, or RfAr, regarding my conduct should they so desire.

Other LHvU Pages

Sandbox 1

Sandbox 2

Admin log

Meta Userpage

Commons Userpage

"In Wikipedia, X is an Article, not Evil"

Anon ip editors have edit hours on their side

If there really are 99 vandal ip editors for every good ip editor, then ip editing works. The vandal ip's create perhaps 1 hours work each on average to clean up. That is 99 hours work. The remaining good ip editor contributes perhaps 2 hours per day, for five days a week for 3 months. That equals 130 hours, or a gain of 31 hours to Wikipedia. Thus removing ip editing is to the detriment of WP.

Useful tools

How to edit a haggered page ; type http:(//)en.wikipedia.org(/)w(/)index.php?action=edit&title=(article name) (remove brackets!) in address bar, and go looking for an unprotected template. Disinfect and save template.

If you plug the IP into http://samspade.org/ and it shows "ASSIGNED PA", it's likely to be permanent over a term of months and can usually be safely blocked for such periods

My Individual Contributions To The Repository of Knowledge That is Wikipedia

Carleen, Arban Severin, Subconscious music

Adding the name of the Nation(ality) in pages lacking same - which I have termed "countering Hickism", the belief that all English speaking people will instinctively know the country of the city/State mentioned (and they may do, but encyclopedias require standards for all not assumptions).

Removing wuffle (personal detail that is irrelevant to the article - "When not designing processor architecture, s/he enjoys playing softball with their children and Softy the cat".)

Alternate Accounts

I have created the following accounts;

User:LHvU - anti impersonation, plus alternate editing account where there may be a security risk (cyber cafes, friends computers, London, etc.) in using this account.

User:Markjamesslater - anti impersonation, inactive.

User:MarkJSlater - anti impersonation, inactive.

Presence on Wikipedia Review

I am "LessHorrid vanU" on the above site. Not only do I log on to record any opinions that I may have on various topics, but I also log on when I only read the content. If anyone wishes to civilly discuss my participation on that site I am happy to oblige. I also respect the right of anyone to hold an opinion on my or anyone else's participation on that site, although I often wish those whose opinion regarding said participation does not concur with mine would extend me the same courtesy as I extend them.

A note for the unwary; The Wikipedia Review Kabal always speaks with one voice... admittedly, that voice appears to be saying various differing and often contrary things - and rather seems to be arguing with itself - but it is certainly "one voice": if only because someone at Wikipedia has said so, and anything you read on Wikipedia must be true.

Of Clive Hattersley, Jimbo and Giano II

I would comment that I am truly very, very angry about this. If Mr Hattersley is not lying, then he is a very poor journalist who is incapable of checking either his sources or enquiring of this site where "his" article had got to - and remember he was very specific about the inaccuracy. I do not see why the usual scapegoat (daft though it was to raise to the initial bait) gets clobbered for shit journalism, and I am hoping that Jimbo has been following proper procedure when he tried to squash what he thought was the source of embarrassment. In short, I think that Hattersley fabricated the piece, Giano showed up the lie, and Jimbo got the wrong end of the stick again. This is an example of why I edit Wikipedia; someone has to help stem the tide of stupidity around here.

In Memoriam

With apologies to Jim Carrol - "People Who Tried"
User:!!