User talk:Sonia

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>_> Sorry

Hello, Sonia. You have new messages at Fridae'sDoom's talk page.
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I deeply apologise for missing those unreliable sources. I can't believe I was that blind... Fridae'§Doom | Talk to me 09:33, 15 July 2010 (UTC) re

No problem, FD. Just keep reviewing, and I'll watch your reviews for the next coupla days. I made a few mistakes when I started off with AfC too. Slow down slightly, and you'll do fine. Just remember that you've got to be prepared to help these submitters if they ask you questions about how to improve. Again, if you're not sure, this page is open. sonia^♫♪ 09:52, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you!

...for the welcome. Made me chuckle a bit to actually get noticed on one of my infrequent WTF-removals as I read through a page. Would be fun to spend more time adding and editing, but this life doesn't seem to be the one holding the time for that, not to mention that policies and procedures vaporize in my head. I work on a wiki as part of my job, and I still have to constantly reload my head as to whether two equals or three is a bold header, and whether I have to revert or undo in order to roll back more than one page. Anyway, nice to meet you as we pass, and I appreciate you taking the time to briefly un-invisible me. :-) VPF - Veryprettyfish (talk) 11:31, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

No problem. I'd suggest going into your preferences and enabling Twinkle under "gadgets"- it will make your life easier by far, when you do spot the vandalism. Hidden vandalism that goes unseen is one of our biggest problems, and people like you are an asset to our community. If you have any questions or comments, this page is always open. Cheers, sonia^♫♪ 22:21, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

The Man Who Sold the World

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for picking up on the mess I made of moving the "Man Who etc." pages, I should've asked for help before I started! Nothing ventured nothing gained, but sorry for the hassle...! Looks like Anthony.bradbury's got it all sewn up now. Truly grateful. Nortonius (talk) 21:46, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, that's good. I'll remove the {{helpme}} on your page then- even though I didn't really help much... Happy editing! sonia^♫♪ 22:21, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Renaming

Hi, could you please confirm your request at w:nl:WP:HA by leaving a message here and then notifying me at the Dutch Wikipedia. Thanks. -- Taketa (talk) 08:39, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

All right. I confirm that I am trying to unify my account across all Wikimedia projects, and that I am doing this by requesting with my alternate account openstrings. Thank you very much for your trouble. sonia^♫♪ 09:07, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Spell checking

Hi, Thanks for your reply to my help request - please accept my apologies for taking so long to answer, I've been on WP rarely of late, and had forgotten I'd asked the question! I use Opera and the preferences are set to British English, so i'm baffled as to why it checks this in American! I'd assumed that it was the WP editor, but thanks for the info. Having used Opera for longer than i've been a registered user of WP and as I generally don't edit from anywhere but home this had not occurred to me! I certainly haven't got anything installed that is doing this, as I'm very careful about add ons and avoid them whenever possible. I'll look for info in the Opera forums. Thanks again. Bertcocaine (talk) 23:40, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

No problems, I'm still somewhat curious as to how that happened. Do let me know if you get an answer. sonia^♫♪ 04:05, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Sussed it! Opera has built in spell checking from v10 onwards. This has a separate setting for the dictionary from the main language selection in preferences, which is selected within the context menu within the web page. Now I've switched to UK English and it spell checks correctly. Thanks again! Bertcocaine (talk) 10:16, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, that's interesting! Thanks for letting me know, and happy editing! sonia^♫♪ 20:15, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

ar.wp usurpation request

I have added one for you here, you will need to wait 7 days. --Shipmaster (talk) 07:43, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, so there was a rename page. I couldn't find it, sorry. Most gratefully, sonia^♫♪ 07:54, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Ping! pong

Hello, Sonia. You have new messages at 220.101.28.25's talk page.
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Hello, Sonia. You have new messages at 220.101.28.25's talk page.
Message added 02:44, 19 July 2010 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

9/11 motto controversy

Well, now that Kevin's told you to shut up (seems a bit blunt to me), I would suggest adding it to special nominations and waiting for consensus. Kayau can oppose if he so desires. Personally, I think it's beautiful. Of course, I'm American, so that makes me very POV. PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 01:39, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Princess, no harm was meant there. Actually, I am feeling quite blunt tonight. I do agree though that they were getting out of hand there so I decided to tell them both to please stop the drama quite bluntly. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 01:41, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

I didn't think you meant any harm or I would have gently reminded you about WP:CIVIL. I was not nearly as bothered as perhaps my comment sounds. It just shocked me a little. I thought the argument was getting ridiculous (more on Kayau's side, since I happen to agree with Sonia), but I tend to be a little more diplomatic. It's okay though. Your comment was a refreshing halt to the somewhat heated discussion. PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 01:52, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

True, you're smart in many regards. It's good to know bluntness is considered refreshing nowadays. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 02:03, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Of course it is. Having to step around being politically correct gets very tiresome. I still do it, of course, but there are times...! And honestly, I'm glad you said it, because there is simply no way I would have said something like that. Anyhow, we'll see where it goes now. Once again, thank you for your addition to the discussion and feel free to contribute to MOTD anytime! PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 02:13, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Sure, will do. Princess, if you hang around Sonia enough you will learn to be a lean, mean, wiki-writing machine. Oh wait, you will become lean and mean but the last part is still a work in progress. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 02:18, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Princess: I second Kevin's statement that you're smart- but I'd phrase it as "wise". I've been consistently impressed with your outlook and reasoning wherever I've seen you around; your voice of reason would be well used around the dramafests like ANI if you could stand going near them. But no, hanging around me won't get you much wiki street-cred, I have half your edits (and less than a quarter your article-writing!), and a good jot less common sense. Kevin's bluntness- well, it's a good thing and a bad thing. As I've come to know all too well :P Would you be interested in collaboration on some article-writing? I can copyedit, if that will be of any help. sonia^♫♪ 02:32, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Wow, thanks! It's funny, because every time people tell me I'm sounding smart it's when I think I was totally rambling. I will definitely give thought to contributing to ANI. Right now I've used common sense most at WP:ER and helping out some new users. Article writing is not my strong point. I prefer rewriting and finding references! (good editor, not author!) However, I have this idea for revamping War and Peace, which I think could be easily GA and with some work maybe even FA. There's certainly enough info about it available. However, I'm still reading the book, and so can't start that project until I finish (end of the month, maybe). I'm also writing an article, but the book with most of the info is from the library and I don't currently have it. But sure, if you have something you want to work on, I would love to collaborate. I honestly had forgotten that you had fewer edits than I. My perceptions of people tend to be less based on their number of edits and more the quality of their work or their personality. Both of those had you pegged as "experienced" in my mind. (Oh, and about bluntness - that's why I didn't reprimand him, but neither do I follow that pattern!) PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 02:58, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. Well, I haven't read War and Peace yet, I probably should- I'll get it out when I can, and I should finish when you do if I don't have too many other things on. Then we can do that together. Is that fine by you? The only other things I have in mind at the moment are expanding Enigma Variations (which you probably aren't interested in) or working on Category:Macbeth. Besides, it gives me a reason to get some reading done- I have only read one book in the last two months (given I'm a librarian that's absolutely pathetic) which is The Kite Runner. Good book. Have you read it? I can think of a couple of articles that I'd love to collaborate on on simple, but that can come later. One thing at a time :) sonia^♫♪ 03:12, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

You're a librarian? That's so cool! I was going to volunteer at my library this summer, but had too much going on. You should read War and Peace. There's a reason why it's been called the greatest novel of all time. I would love to work on it with you! Enigma, I would probably only be good for copyediting. Jubileeclipman is the one to talk to about music. I haven't read The Kite Runner. I've heard that it's good, but think I probably won't read it (language, sensuality). During the summer I generally read approximately a book a day. I need a life! PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 03:21, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

No you don't, silly. Books are a life, and I wish I read as much as you do. I will make an effort to read War and Peace- Lolita and 1984 are also on my reading list. But I bought (from a garage sale for $2!) a very old reprint of the complete First Folio, so Shakespeare's my latest "fad". I would be happy to have you proofread Enigma for me when I'm done with it (in a couple of months, no doubt- because of my schedule editing is restricted to ten-minute bursts so writing content is really hard.) A pair of non-musical eyes is always a good thing to catch obscurities and such-like. Well- I'll get back to you when I've read War and Peace, and I'm looking forward to that! :) Cheers, sonia^♫♪ 04:12, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Read 1984 (good), not Lolita. Shakespeare I prefer watching to reading. Cyrano de Bergerac is my favorite play (not Shakespeare of course). Anyway, the reason I'm back is because I was lurking over at ANI and realised that I'm not sure about commenting there. How does on go about it? I mean, obviously, I pick a thread where I have a reasonable observation, but are the regulars going to be like, "who is this girl and what is she doing here?" I don't really plan to get involved in anything terribly controversial or propose anything novel (yet). In fact, I was going to comment on this thread, mostly agreeing that the unblock should only be considered if he is helpful on other projects or has several proposed edits going through his talk page. Also, it's the administrators' noticeboard. Do they like having normal users around commenting on stuff? Forgive my insecurity and thank you so much for putting up with me! PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 13:36, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Don't worry about that. You are definitely allowed to add comments to the administrators' noticeboard. Actually I believe they encourage non-admins to add comments to get better consensus. Come to think of it, the only part of the administrators' noticeboard that makes it administrative is that an admin action is involved. The way I see it is that if it were admin only, it would have been fully protected and you wouldn't be able to edit it. Hope this helps. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 274° 9' 30" NET 18:16, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

The AN closely resembles the simpleWiki version, so there should be no problem with outside feedback. :| TelCoNaSpVe :| 20:20, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks guys. I did go ahead and post what I was thinking about. For now I'm just going to browse a lot and only post if I have something really interesting to say (i.e. never). PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 03:07, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

↑↑That's also very wise. I am, however, very glad that you chose to weigh in at simple on the Kennedy fracas, even though you (like me) weren't around for the desysopping. (If you ever want to comment on anything, but don't want to do so on-wiki- or if you just want to chat: email me.) sonia^♫♪ 05:07, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, reading about Kennedy was definitely interesting. My feelings were somewhat mixed on that one - for a (previously) useful editor, my gut would be to extend more chances, especially since his latest sock was productive. However, socking is rather disruptive and in this case, unlike Yottie, I don't even believe that his double vote in the original RfA was an accident. The reason I really took the time to investigate was because the thread seemed very negative, the users previously involved insistent that he should not be given another chance. Although I would not express it quite so strongly, I think they have a point. He was disruptive, breaking basic policy, and did not assume enough GF of the community that we would AGF and let him have a fresh start. Anyway...thanks for the e-mail offer, which I would love, I'm sure, but I don't have e-mail set up for WP and probably won't for a few years. PrincessofLlyr ^{royal court} 13:16, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Just to say something almost (okay, completely) off-topic, PrincessofLyr, thank you for saying that Cyrano is your favorite play. :) I think that it's unbelievable, so much that I even have the Easton Press edition of it. :) Have you seen the movie from... I think it's from the '50s. It's probably the best movie version of it ever... Anyways, I think I'll just stop babbling about Cyrano now. :) By the way, Sonia, if you wouldn't mind popping in to the ACC IRC channel, I have something that I would like to bother you about. ~~ Hi878 ^{(Come shout at me!)} 23:23, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, you caught me at a bad time. For future reference, Thursdays (well, Wednesday evening for you) I'm not online as much– from about 20h UTC I do my shift at the library till 4h UTC; then our orchestra has rehearsals for a good portion of the evening. I'll attempt to get online tomorrow. Now, back to work... sonia^♫♪ 02:48, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

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E-mail

Sent you one. Courcelles (talk) 23:36, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Received. I'm on it :) sonia^♫♪ 23:44, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Replied. You're good :) Courcelles (talk) 05:51, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Really? Merci! Maybe I should do this more often...sonia^♫♪ 06:14, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

LOL. You're right :D Courcelles (talk) 07:20, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Facepalm on your behalf ;) sonia^♫♪ 07:36, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I wear glasses, the facepalm thing doesn't work too well for me! (In all seriousness, I'm ready to be over this summer cold. It's making me not nearly as sharp as I ought to be.) Courcelles (talk) 07:39, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

True- so do I (but the person in the graphic appears to be wearing them too...) Hey! So that's why there's been so much drama of late, all the kids are out on summer break! "Summer cold", though...? Down here, it's actually been a rather pleasant winter. Apart from the fact that it's final semester for me and I've got a composition due tomorrow that's worth 20% of my grade :P sonia^♫♪ 07:52, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Ouch. I haven't worried about grades for a good while, though performance evaluations are just as nervewracking. Maybe more. 1992 Winter Olympics medal table is, I think, ready for FLC. Have another look, when you get in. Courcelles (talk) 04:23, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

It looks fine to my virgin eyes, but you're the expert here :) re grades: I intend to do my postgrad overseas, but I won't be able to afford it unless I get a scholarship- so each paper is handed in with jangling nerves. Though the worst that can happen is that I'll do it here at Auckland Uni- which ain't that bad. I'm not looking forward to having to find a proper job, though. Casual work is fun. sonia^♫♪ 05:07, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, stick Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/1992 Winter Olympics medal table/archive1 on your watchlist, because nothing ever gets through FLC without a dozen+ little fixes here and there. Postgrad? Are you thinking of taking a masters in music? Courcelles (talk) 05:19, 23 July 2010 (UTC) (ETA: My nomination statement made me feel old. 18 years ago? Really...?)

Watchlisted, thanks. (Wait, I get joint nom? You did most of it...) Postgrad- I'm not entirely sure. Because I've got a rather wide set of courses this year, I could go into something else altogether. I'll have to decide when I specialise next year, but for now I have no idea (which is somewhat disconcerting.) I just want to experience different cultures, I guess, and doing that while I'm studying seems ideal. sonia^♫♪ 05:36, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd tell you to come to the U.S., except that I often experience the desire to be anywhere else but here. (More because I'm not travelling as much as I used to.) There's a bunch of world-class universities 1,300 miles to your west in New South Wales/Victoria- and I've learned through experience to take seriously anyone that gets out of NUS alive. Hong Kong, though, is an absolutely amazing place to live- expensive as heck- but also a great place to base yourself from and use breaks to explore Asia- an hour to Taipei, four to Tokyo, two to HCMC (give it a miss, though), three to Beijing, etc. (And of course you co-nom it. You did the research, I just organised it and added some pretty pictures.) Courcelles (talk) 09:08, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting, I think I'm exactly the opposite– being Asian, I don't really want to return there at all. (Especially not to NUS.) Europe or the US is what I'm looking at at the moment. Australia's affordable and close enough by that my parents wouldn't worry themselves sick, which is good, but the culture's pretty similar. Speaking of Australia, Sydney's tentatively putting in a bid for Wikimania 2012. As it's probably about as far as I can afford to travel, I really hope they get it. (You did a lot of work as well- this made it significantly more readable.) sonia^♫♪ 09:26, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Heh! Anywhere but "here". My idea of an exotic destination is Asia, a boring destination would be Europe. But my Kiwi cousins believe the exact opposite. The grass is always greener... When it comes to education or work, however, I reckon anywhere outside your usual comfort-zone is good. Sonia, studying in the US or Europe - even Scotland! - is something I'd recommend. For my part, I thoroughly enjoyed working back home in Auckland - but I suspect if I moved back permanently I'd hate it soon enough ;-) Equally, I spent three years as a child in Singapore, and have been back several times (it's handily situated midway between Glasgow and Auckland!), and I'd love to live there, but I can see why you wouldn't. But even studying in Australia is something I'd recommend, simply because it's outside your usual comfort-zone. TFOWR 09:52, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh dear, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, of course. NZ's fantastic and I've never been happier. The ten years I spent in Singapore left me with a rather acrid taste in my mouth of Asian culture. It took me years to stop feeling guilty for leaving my motherland (bloody patriotic songs and textbooks!), I suspect it'll take me just as long to anchor to any one place, to feel like I belong. Which is good- I've always been a bit of a wanderer in mindset, personality and choices. One of the issues I have with Asian culture is that sometimes it's so goal-oriented, so black and white. Must get this, must achieve that. And really, life for me is about the journey and the moments along the way, not the destination. I could not truly understand that before I moved here. </rant>, sorry... sonia^♫♪ 10:14, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

You didn't come across as ungrateful at all - apologies if I appeared to suggest that! I know what you mean about belonging, too - I'm not a proper Kiwi (despite what my passport says) and I'm not a proper Scot (despite whit ma accent an' leid might suggest). And that has to be the most Wiktionary links I've ever used! TFOWR 11:22, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks!

Hello, Sonia. You have new messages at Darcykildare's talk page.
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Quick question

You so graciously offered a bit of help to a neophyte like myself, and I'm timidly taking you up on it. I created an article outside of Afc, the Pegasus Prize, that seems to be hanging in unreviewed land. In general, who reviews these contributions? Also, I've expanded on other articles such as Cees Nooteboom and Sten Nadolny, but when (and how) are these (where applicable) "upgraded" out of the stub class? Many thanks in advance for your help! Darcykildare (talk) 14:08, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. Well, as you've now seen, Wikipedia is volunteer-powered. Articles sometimes never get reviewed because those of us who do New Page Patrol are more concerned with making sure no blatant copyright violations or attack pages or other such rubbish gets through. I've reviewed it now, and it's fine. If you ever need an article reviewed, it would probably be faster to ask me than to wait for the patrollers who help clear the backlog- it's a lot of work. As for stub-class: Well, if you've read it through and it seems like it is no longer a stub (or no longer unreferenced or whatever issue tag has been placed on it), feel free to remove it- it's individual judgement. If you ever want another person to review what you've done, though, I'm always here. (Also: this template has a lot of useful links on it if you want to do some reading.) sonia^♫♪ 22:11, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Many thanks (and for how to use the talk pages). I was unsure of the propriety of making a judgment myself as to the quality of an article I've expanded. Darcykildare (talk) 22:09, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

MOTD Barnstar

		The MOTD Barnstar
		This award is given to you for helping out Motto of the day. Thanks to your effort, MOTD has brilliantly and successfully passed the most difficult period of the year. In fact, there are mottoes scheduled until the end of the summer. For this reason MOTD would like to express heartfelt thanks to you for your support. We appreciate your efforts in further helping the project! – delivered by Simply south on behalf of Wikipedia:Motto of the day 23:06, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! Kudos to Kayau and Hi878 though for being so industrious-- and to pjoef of course. sonia^♫♪ 05:07, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

:) Thank you. You should have put this where we could see it; my ego needs regular re-inflating. ~~ Hi878 ^{(Come shout at me!)} 02:49, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Welcome Messages

I like the welcome message you use. Do you use a template? If so what is the template? Mr. R00t ^Talk 02:15, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

huh? Well, i think the one you're talking about is template:W-FAQ. I'm on a mobile, forgive the Alt account. Openstrings (talk) 03:41, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Question

I just want to enquire whether User:1234r00t copied the navbar from you or the other way around. I don't want to touch his talk page with a barge pole because I haven't met him, so I'm asking you here. If he copied from you, I strongly recommend you to request an attribution from him. Kayau Voting IS evil 02:52, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

He did, he told me he did, and I have no issues with it. sonia^♫♪ 03:54, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

I see, alright then, sorry for bothering you. Kayau Voting IS evil 04:33, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

No probs, and thank you for informing me. (If you look at many of the more fancy userpages, half of them use code scraped from either a) a couple of really well-known userpages or b) the WP:User page design center.) I personally think it's polite for them to ping me on IRC or wherever if they're going to scrape my code, but I wouldn't really want formal attribution. But each to their own, no? sonia^♫♪ 04:42, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I believe that attribution is required in accordance to the GFDL, which everything in Wikipedia is published under. Hope this helps. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 273° 38' 45" NET 18:14, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Okay, thanks, and I shall remember that– but what I was attempting (and failing) to say is, if I don't want it attributed to me, do I still have to have it legally attributed to me? sonia^♫♪ 19:40, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

I believe so, since the GDFL has strict rules. However, the way I see it, as a rule of thumb if you understand the code behind it and could reproduce it independently then it shouldn't be necessary, otherwise it should be attributed. PS. congrats on adminship at simplewiki. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 333° 31' 0" NET 22:14, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you; that clears things up significantly. So if I see something I like, learn the concept behind it and create my own version that is significantly different to the original, it is basically my own content, since I wrote it from scratch- despite the fact that I got the idea from someone else, right? (Thanks for the congrats, I'm still very much learning the ropes.) sonia^♫♪ 22:26, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Indeed so, a good example here would be parser functions and magic words. Whether you learn about them on someone's userpage or on MediaWiki shouldn't make a difference. I learnt about the switch function through someone's userpage and have used it countless times. Generally speaking, the attribution is for those who just copy the code without knowing what is going on. PS. I'm sure you'll make a fine administrator and you could definitely be a good bureaucrat as well. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 344° 44' 30" NET 22:58, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, I'm very honoured that you have such confidence in me– I wish I felt the same way. Can I ask what gives you that impression? As I see it, I'm a perfectly ordinary editor, somewhat surprised actually that so many people felt I would make a good admin. It's quite a different kettle of fish suddenly not being able to just say "This is broken, you fix it". sonia^♫♪ 06:58, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

The way I see it, every well established editor in good standing has the potential to become an administrator. Also, I doubt you will do anything silly with the tools and that alone and that in itself could be enough to be considered a fine administrator. Most admins are perfectly ordinary editors as well, they just don't show it as much due to admin duties. As a bit of advice, don't delete the main page, ask when you're not sure and you should be fine. Also, as the saying goes,

“ A superior pilot is one who uses their superior judgement to avoid situations which require the use of their superior skills. ”

Ironically, it may indeed be more about not using the tools rather than using the tools. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 344° 14' 30" NET 22:56, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Aye, that it certainly is. sonia^♫♪ 08:22, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

You have no idea just how true that is. —Ed (talk • majestic titan) 08:28, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

I have greatest respect for those admins who get on with building the encyclopedia and don't engage in exchanging pointless invective. In that sense, they use the tools sparingly and get called up on it sparingly, but it is an accomplishment in a way. sonia^♫♪ 10:03, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

It can be thought of as, "being there when you need it". So, while you're going about Wikipedia or any other wiki for that matter and come across a task that requires the admin tools, you don't need to ask someone else to do it for you. The way I see it is that if you're spending a lot of time pestering admins to carry out tasks, then it's time you got the admin bit. On the other hand, even if an admin only uses the admin tools only once, it is still worthwhile for them to have the tools. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 9° 14' 15" NET 00:36, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

I never needed it. Whenever I ran into a problem I could easily get a page protected or a vandal blocked. I just made a request at WP:AIV or WP:RFPP and magic pixies fixed the problem. I only took RfA seriously when one of those pixies pointed out that I should "get my own damn mop". And that, I think, is what it boils down to - you don't "need" it: but it helps the community. It saves someone else having to do it for you, it means you can help others even more... but why am I telling you this - you'll know from experience on another wiki! Same applies here. Oh, and congratulations on "Happy Sonia Day"! TFOWR 00:53, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

I'll know from experience? I've been an admin for, like, two weeks! And it feels really weird still, really different. :P My RfA started this whole debate about having too many admins (much the opposite issue here), because there's 45 flagged 'dmins and only an active community of 25-30. I had misgivings about running because of that, but I figured that if I could flag my own bot, delete my own redirects and block users when the UK/US admins are sleeping, then that would be saving other people time. But it turns out most of what I've been doing is fixing MediaWiki pages and fully-protected pages, which is not at all what I expected to be doing. I'm really glad not to have a mop here, though... it means a lot more here. sonia^♫♪ 01:11, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Short note

This is not important or anything. I just wanted to tell you that when somebody asked a question in april at the HD, he or she asked what the gender set in the preferences for. Your guess was that it helped in templates like Working Man, and an admin said that was wrong. While I was bored today I got to the editing window of Working Man and found that you're actually right, because the template uses to 'gender' magic word. just though you might want to know. Kayau Voting IS evil 05:05, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, interesting. I thought it did, but at that point I knew little about magicwords anyway. Thank you for telling me. (Also, forgive me for my lack of clue re interviewing and OR. I'm very noob at actually creating content, as you know.) sonia^♫♪ 05:12, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Signpost: 26 July 2010

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Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 04:03, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Could you...

I've proposed at WB to include an edit count criterion a while ago. I-20 said this is under discussion in simple, but I know nothing about simple, so I'm wondering if you could link that discussion for me, so that I can read the comments at simple and see if it fits at WB. Thanks a million. Kayau Voting IS evil 02:42, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

And in case I forget...

		The MOTD Barnstar
		For your long-time contributions to the MOTD. I've been thinking of giving one to you for a long time but I've never remembered :). Kayau Voting IS evil 02:45, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Wow, how did I miss this? Thank you!

What exactly should there be an editcount criterion for, sorry? I'm not sure what you're asking. But sure, I'll find the discussion for you once I'm aware what it is ;) sonia^♫♪ 06:58, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, you should have trouted me. :) I meant the editcount criterion for autoconfirmation. :P Kayau Voting IS evil 07:01, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, I see. It wasn't a particularly interesting discussion, but here it is. Background: we had just changed policy so that rollbackers have to be autoconfirmed first, but hadn't realized that autoconfirmed wasn't 4 days+ 10 edits like it is here.sonia^♫♪ 07:05, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll throw this one up at WB. We've an even smaller community than simple considering the variety of sigs there :) Kayau Voting IS evil 07:23, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, judging by size at simple is always a bit skewed, because we have about 30 active users (i.e. edit at least once a week, I regularly see about 15 on recentchanges), but hundreds who edit every month. As a kind of satellite city of enwiki, we get the brunt of the same vandals but lesser actual contributors, which is sad. It is a very good place to learn policy and editing before moving on to enwiki, because we can be just about 100% sure that new users don't get bitten and get all the help they need. sonia^♫♪ 07:34, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Ping!

Hello, Sonia. You have new messages at 220.101.28.25's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Ping! Courcelles (talk) 19:26, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Happy Sonia's Day!

Sonia has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, so I've officially declared today as Sonia's Day! For being an great person and awesome Wikipedian, enjoy being the star of the day, Sonia! Signed, Neutralhomer A record of your Day will always be kept here.

For a userbox you can add to your userbox page, click here. Have a Great Day...Neutralhomer • Talk • 04:22, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

I just pick people who I think are awesome, who have contributed greatly to the project, and deserve some recognition. That's what you have done. :) Glad to hear I made your week. :) - Neutralhomer • Talk • 05:52, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, thanks again! sonia^♫♪ 06:03, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

You're Welcome. :) - Neutralhomer • Talk • 06:07, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Congrats Sonia! —Ed (talk • majestic titan) 07:00, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Ed! Fancy seeing you here... fyi, I managed to get John Joseph Woods ready in time for DYK. omgz I actually did some mainspace work! :D sonia^♫♪ 07:07, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Way to go, congrats for that too! Bet you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now... :) —Ed (talk • majestic titan) 07:12, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Yep. :) Thanks so much for this; trout-worthy on my part! sonia^♫♪ 08:22, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Have to say Yay!, before the day passes! --220.101 (talk) ^\Contribs 23:54, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks all! :) sonia^♫♪ 01:11, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for John Joseph Woods

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:05, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Congrats! ;) Glad to see it made it on. And congrats on being awarded your own day- welcome to the club! :) HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 18:22, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Good work! Now if we could get something besides crickets in our FLC, you might have quite the week. Courcelles (talk) 18:23, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

• victory dances* Hmm... is FLC usually that quiet? sonia^♫♪ 01:11, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

FLC is always quiet. You have to get down into the backlog before you start attracting reviewers. Ours is the oldest nomination without comments, though, and I've never seen an FLC closed without commentary. Courcelles (talk) 01:18, 31 July 2010 (UTC)