User talk:Gidonb/Archive 2014

List of Dutch Jews

Hi GidonB. Could you take a look at the talk page Talk:List of Dutch Jews. Waarom de opname van niet-joden? Thanks, Metzujan (talk) 14:27, 31 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Metzujan! Thank you for drawing my attention to the new issues with VKing on this list. He has been banned from nl.wiki for edit warring, hate speech, copyvio violations, lying about them and pushing a fringe right-wing agenda. See [1] and [2] for more details. It is sad news that he has just started to "improve" this list. As for the inclusion and formatting question. Other formats than this one are possible but more complicated to implement. Please do not view this list as detached from similar other lists. BTW I would love to chat sometime and exchange Wikipedia experiences. Regards, gidonb (talk) 15:06, 31 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

By all means... I have already noticed that we have encountered the same problems, in particular relating to Jewish topics, see here and here and the spelling of shabbat (it's one of my top priorities to tackle). For almost 3 years clearly wrong information was not corrected. But it can be even worse. Since 2005 till very recently you could find a painful wrong explanation of this word. Enough to be done, and slowly but surely the problems are being solved.

As for the above mentioned user, thank you for the relevant feedback. I wasn't aware of his background hence my polite explanation of his rather racial view, which brought me back to memories of my college friends who also had their own "particular" view on the holocaust, and jews. Never a dull moment. Metzujan (talk) 15:39, 31 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Dutch Wikipedia is a mess. I am so glad I am here. Used to get lots of requests to return or contribute, as many of the better editors have left. I think they should not worry about this or that editor but improve the way people interact and whether fringe or moderate writers get the upper hand. One of the biggest pains for Judaism-related content on nl.wiki is a person who keeps adding evangelical, messianic, self-invented, and misunderstood content to Jewish articles. You gave an example that I did detect. They forgive him, as he does trivial editing work around the clock. Jewish content is thus sacrificed for the general good. But the "general" was not so good either. There were similar issues in many content areas, people who take ownership over articles, self-proclaimed experts, endless warring, discussions that never get to the point, random bans, bad interpersonal relations, discrimination, racism, etc. Sometimes, like in the case you raise above, there is even overflow to en.wiki. You know, I have not lived much in the Netherlands, but sometimes I get the feeling that this reflects society in the Netherlands. I hope it isn't true. En.wiki, with some occasional stress in the highly contentious subject matter areas that I edit here, is really an antithesis to the Dutch Wikipedia. gidonb (talk) 13:50, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm, am I a reincarnation of Gidonb? Here and here your name is recently mentioned. I think I am fighting now a lost battle, but it tells a lot that after you left the Dutch Wikipedia a couple of years ago, your spirit is still alive!! :-) I agree with your analysis above. Although for almost over a year, he didn't change the article: just recently adding his pov, which prompted me to correct it and start a discussion. So my opinion you never know what impact your edits can have :-)

Hmmm, on a more positive note then. I think I am following again in your footsteps since I have changed nl:Portaal:Jodendom portal after years of neglect. Unfortunately zero feedback, I personally think it's an improvement, but since it was almost unchanged since you started it, I thought you might appreciate it that I actually did something with the portal.

I also started yiddish acticles like nl:Hoteldebotel, nl:Koefnoen (uitdrukking), nl:Tacheles, nl:Gannef and I have created and am working on nl:Categorie:Jiddisch, by adding new articles and I am planning on starting a portal as well. As for other jewish topics, I find it hard that like nl:Sjabbatkaarsen, nl:Jitschak Abarbanel, nl:Israël in de Davis Cup or nl:Jiddisch van A tot Z and many others there is no input from others whatsoever. Maybe that's the key difference with the English Wikipedia, there are many more people here that are contributing on these topics. I hope to become more active here as well, probabely in a month orso. Kol tuv! Metzujan (talk) 11:37, 29 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Paris

Hello! Why did you remove the change I made on the page "List of metropolitan areas by population"? The metropolitan area of Paris (see the article about Paris on Wikipedia) actually has 12,672,000 (2007 data) habitants. So, Paris should be included in the list of metropolitan areas by population! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.253.134.34 (talk) 02:41, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello 130.253.134.34, please see the answer by Polaron in the edit history of the article. gidonb (talk) 02:45, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Catherine II of Russia

I am a sporadic copy editor and still learning my way around. Ariel*Gold is my mentor, and I would like to be able to call on someone like you as the need arises. For example: I question the neutrality and accuracy of the Catherine the Great article, but don't know how to 'tag' it. Thank you, Shir-El too 23:20, 21 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Shir-El. You may ask me questions. If your concerns with the article are this serious, adding the {{npov}} template is the most straightforward solution. Be sure to write in some detail on the talk page why you believe that the article is biased and inaccurate. Do consider the following alternatives, however. Rewriting and improving the sections you are unhappy with, while using the references on which you base your knowledge, is a more constructive approach to the problems that you encountered. Another approach is adding {{refimprove}} on top and using templates such as {{fact}} and {{who}} in the text, while deleting some real nonsense. This approach directs the reader and other editors directly to the sections that need improvement and is attractive, for example, for articles of mixed qualities. You can also use tags now and improve later. It really depends on your judgement. Regards, gidonb (talk) 01:53, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I hope to do all of the above at a later date. My view of Catherine is largely predicated on Henry Troyat's biography of her, which means that I may also be biased. However some facts do stand out: that she founded the first vocational schools for orphans, the first institute of higher education for daughters of the aristocracy, and circumvented controversy, superstition and political intrigue to introduced mandatory smallpox vaccination into Russia by - having herself inoculated first! Thank you again, and have a good one! Shir-El too 19:37, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You are welcome and good luck! gidonb (talk) 20:10, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

KAM Isaiah Israel

Hi,

Sorry for not responding to your request on my talk page; I have been away from my PC for the past month, so was unable to deal with anything. I'm glad it has been resolved for you, I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to help you out. Stephen! ^Coming... 09:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Stephen, no problem! Hope you had a good wiki-vacation! Thanks for getting back to me. Working on the synagogues of Illinois is a longterm project I undertake, so no worries! Best regards, gidonb (talk) 10:04, 6 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ladyhawke

Cannot get the [7] reference/link right on Ladyhawke. I'm missing something, but what? Thank you, Shir-El too 23:42, 14 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You were missing a title. I also simplified the URL. Welcome, gidonb (talk) 09:29, 15 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Dutch transliteration into Hebrew at he.wiki

Hello Gidon,

Can you hop over here and answer my transliteration questions?

Many Thanks, Kulystab (talk) 11:39, 18 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Done. gidonb (talk) 12:05, 18 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rafael Evers at he.wiki

Shalom Gidon! What about the other way around? Could you check this article on its spelling and content. I must note that my hebrew writing skills are very poor and that I could use your help. :-) Thanks in advance! Metzujan (talk) 09:08, 10 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Canadian Jews

[[Image:Ambox warning yellow.svg|left|48px|]]

The article Canadian Jews has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

This is nothing more than a dictionary definition.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{dated prod}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{dated prod}} will stop the Proposed Deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The Speedy Deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and Articles for Deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. -shirulashem^(talk) 03:18, 22 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. I created this article as a redirect to eliminate red links. Later an article was created which lacked substance. The prodding prompted the restoring of my redirect. gidonb (talk) 01:12, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject Classical music

I was drawn into a hot debate by a message which may or may not be "canvassing." I decided to take part after reading the discussion and based on my own experience, not because I 'supported' anyone. Now one of the participants who's point of view was rejected has left me this message:

"If you joined as the result of canvassing you should withdraw, as your presence will unfortunately render the discussion invalid."

I feel strongly that this person is attempting to use the rules to manipulate the situation, but in all fairness I would like a second opinion from someone more knowledgable, outside the debate. Please let me know what you think, or whether you know someone I could refer this question to. {I would ask my mentor, but she is absent.} Thanking you in advance, Shir-El too 00:48, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Shir-El, can you point me the page where the discussion was held? Best, gidonb (talk) 01:07, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It was mostly held here Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Classical music and on our various talk pages, but I am happy to say it has since been resloved. I would appreciate your opinion anyway - as opposed to any form of action - so I'll know better next time. Thank you! Shir-El too 07:37, 11 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's difficult to form an opinion right now and not very necessary if the differences were resolved. The title you gave to this discussion however was I need advise. I can give you some advise. As an editor of your own talk page, you can considerably improve the tone and increase the topical focus of the exchange by replacing user-chosen headers into the names of the Wikipedia pages which are the basis for the discussion. It also makes discussions easier to follow for an occasional outsider who takes interest. gidonb (talk) 13:47, 11 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Givat HaMivtar

תרגמתי סיכום של הערך העברי

he:גבעת המבתר

ולא כולם התלהבו מהתוצאה. האם תוכל לחוות דעתך? תודה.

Eddau (talk) 16:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Eddau, I have improved the article. I would appreciate if you take time to look at the referencing and improve your references next time you write an article. gidonb (talk) 02:10, 17 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Palestinian saints

Category talk:Palestinian Roman Catholic saints Eddau (talk) 01:45, 17 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have seen it. gidonb (talk) 02:11, 17 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Twin towns or Sister cities?

Hi Gidonb, I notice you have recently been working on Twin town/Sister city lists. I though you might be interested that there is a new discussion open on proposed name modification (Twin towns, Sister cities or both?) on this talk page. Your comments would be much appreciated. Thank you -- Marek.69 ^talk 07:25, 20 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Same-sex marriage under United States tribal jurisdictions

You should nominate Same-sex marriage among Native Americans in the United States at Template talk:Did you know so it can appear on the main page. If you want I can do it for you. Hekerui (talk) 17:12, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for you kind suggestion and offer. I have never nominated an article that I started for anything but (once) deletion so I would follow your nomination with interest! Best regards, gidonb (talk) 18:31, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

So are you doing it or should I? If you've never done it's time to try really. Hekerui (talk) 19:45, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you again for your suggestions! I do not wish to ask for any such things and, much more than that, do not wish to tell or even imply what you should do. I am happy to create an encyclopedia with you and all my other colleagues here! gidonb (talk) 16:38, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have no clue what you mean but it's the last day and I wrote up something simple. Hekerui (talk) 23:49, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I meant to say that the question you asked me was a difficult one. I do not want to submit myself or my articles for anything (without committing for the future), just to assist Wikipedia whenever I can. I do this since 2003. By the condition in your question I could not say that either, as I would imply that you should submit the article. I make it a habit not to command people around, if I can help it. You submitted anyway and that's fine. As long as this is what you really want. gidonb (talk) 02:39, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can't possibly boss me around when I'm giving you a multiple choice and you pick, right? :-) Best Hekerui (talk) 11:28, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As you put it, by not picking the first option I was telling you what you should do. It's not my cup of tea. gidonb (talk) 00:04, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

So polite! You need to spend some time in Berlin to get rid of that ;-) Okay, I won't bother you anymore. Hekerui (talk) 08:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. gidonb (talk) 12:20, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On January 9, 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Same-sex marriage under United States tribal jurisdictions, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits your article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check ) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Materialscientist (talk) 12:00, 9 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the notice! gidonb (talk)

Service awards proposal

Hello, Gidonb/Archive 2014! I noticed you display a service award, and would like to invite you to join the discussion over a proposed revamping of the awards.

If you have any opinions on the proposal, please participate in the discussion. Thanks! — the Man in Question (in question) 00:44, 9 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Haiti

No worries, I caught on. Thanks for fixing the article, I went ahead a re-deleted the images. Rafajs77 (talk) 00:26, 15 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oscar van Dillen

I am not quite sure what I did so wrong over at the AfD. You said: "Please be careful, especially with PRODing, but even with AFDing." If you mean be careful when placing the prod, I missed the previous AfD through an oversight: I removed the prod a few minutes later and sent the article to AfD for a second time. Yes indeed I should have spotted the prod in the history... However, I honestly thought the guy was not notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia, given the complete lack of sources and the apparent non-usefulness of those Oscar had provided in the other AfD; hence the request for deletion. Once the AfD was underway, I felt I had better try to keep it on track: the previous AfD went off at a tangent at times and some editors even came close to downright vilifying the poor fellow. During the second AfD process, editors slowly but surely started to make sense of all the sources and find a few more here and there. Oscar then contacted me by email to declare his non-involvement in this AfD but also to help out with better sourcing and explain some of the more obscure sources he had found. I then made sure every editor involved in the previous AfD and all the major contributors to the article were aware of the 2nd nom. During all this, four editors, including my self, added the sources we had found and verified (or had been provided with by Oscar) to the article. When you found it, the article was fully sourced and simply required someone who could speak Dutch to verify the Dutch sources. One editor in the discussion seemed to claim that none of them were any good. I asked for confirmation of this but never got it. I was going to withdraw anyway just as you made your speedy request since the article was no longer unsourced and unviable and clearly profiled a notable person. I might add that I am only a year and a half old here on wiki, so I am still learning, really. Oscar thanked me for the thoughful way I was handling everything, so he, for one, doesn't think I did anything wrong. And he is chairman of the Dutch Wikimedia Foundation! On the other hand, if I have indeed done anything wrong that he hasn't seen, I would like to understand what it is exactly so I can learn from it. I do feel we need to be careful with articles about our own people, though: they really should all be up to the minimum standards expected by the policies. This article blatantly was not until the four—now five—of us started to add the actual sources that should have be added three months ago. Or rather should have been added when the article was created... I am not a "deletionist", BTW, far from it. This article came up during a drive to source 200+ unfer'ed BLPs over at WP:CTM and WP:composers. Almost all were sourced. Van Dillen was far harder than any of these—and some of those took hours to sort out. Hence, van Dillen ended up on the scrap heap, so to speak, after we had finished. Anyway, I hope that explains my methods for you and clears things up a little. I look forward to any thoughts you might have. Regards --Jubilee♫clipman 02:19, 13 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(I linked the wrong wikiproject, BTW. WP:CM → WP:CTM --Jubilee♫clipman 00:45, 15 February 2010 (UTC))[reply]

Don't worry about it. gidonb (talk) 00:49, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

OK. I've added a few more comments over at the AfD but I think we should both stand back now and let the closing admin get on with reviewing and archiving. You are right I have a lot to learn but for the life of me, I really and honestly could not source this article! The refined searches are useful and I should have been more thorough checking them. But Dutch...? I would not know where to start! Google and Bablefish both garble the translations horribly: most often they are impossible to interpret. Anyway, I really did go as far as I possibly could to source this article from RSs before the PROD was placed and again (quickly, from the sources Oscar provided) before the subsequent AfD was requested. (I forgot to check for previous AfDs before PRODing, of course, this is true—I did check for PRODs though. No idea how I missed the AfD but ho-hum.) We are probably better discussing the various failures here, anyway, rather than in a withdrawn AfD debate. Your vast experience here will certainly help me focus my future searches, if you are willing to give some basic (and not so basic) pointers. Thanks, --Jubilee♫clipman 03:13, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Musical theatre

Thanks for your contributions to the article. I have put back in the list of foreign countries with strong musicals scenes, because the articled was accused, at one point, of focusing only on the U.S. and UK. I believe the statement is true, but I haven't seen any sources in English that discuss the international musicals scene. I hope someone from those countries will eventually come by to add references. -- Ssilvers (talk) 20:24, 22 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

CfD nomination of Category:British singers by gender

CfD nomination of Category:Italian singers by gender

Lists of state leaders

Dear Gidonb! I saw you changed the List of state leaders in 2007 page, and wrote: "these countries should all be returned in alphabetical order into their continent" and then you did the opposite by creating a sub-region within Asia. So the Asian countries are now not in alphabetical order. And what sense does it make to rename Middle East into Southwest Asia? The only difference is that you omit Egypt. So if you want simple alphabetical lists, why Southwest Asia? ZBukov (talk) 01:49, 24 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ZBukov, it is not the opposite but sometimes a two-step process of problem resolving and gradual improvement. If in two steps they work as follows: First the majority of these countries are returned to be located under their continent (Asia) and Egypt at its correct location in Africa, then the split in Asia is dissolved. The Middle East is an intercontinental region. It was included as a fictitious continent that corrupts both Africa and Asia. Regards, gidonb (talk) 03:32, 24 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Gidonb, you didn't mention the second step of your two-step improvement! And I'm still curious, if you want to abolish the Middle East unit as it's not a continent (which I understand and support) than what sense does it make to create a sub-region under Asia? Regards, ZBukov (talk) 20:53, 24 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Right, the second step would be dissolving the sub-region into the continent. I already did that for some of the years. gidonb (talk) 23:31, 24 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's great! Thank you for your help in improving these articles! :) Rgds, ZBukov (talk) 10:03, 25 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, wouldn't it save you some work if you effected the merger in one step instead of first creating Southwest Asia than dissolving it a day or two later? As I saw you created the Southwest region on the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 pages yesterday and today. ZBukov (talk) 10:10, 25 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I see that you start again creating a fictitious Southwest Asia region. I still se no reason to doing it in two steps. I agree with abolishing the Middle East as it's not a continent, but the last time when you started doing this, you left several Southwest Asia subregions lying around in several articles and I had to clean it up. Please do it in one step and put those countries to where they belong. There is no need for "Southwest Asia" - it's even less relevant than Middle East. ZBukov (talk) 19:34, 25 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You seem to pick the articles you correct at random. Wouldn't it make more sense if you went through them in order to avoid missing one? ZBukov (talk) 19:34, 25 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Prod: Meshulam Gross

Hi Gidon: Can you help the Meshulam Gross article? You had once contributed to it. User:Debresser wants to get rid of it. What to make of it? IZAK (talk) 06:34, 4 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

TU Delft Article

Dear gidonb - It is not true that I have reverted all information back, please compare the last version of the article with the one I created couple of days ago. I have responded to all your comments writing down the summary. You disagreed on adding info about EU - I have given my explanation; You wanted to have a link to "numerous research institutes" - it is there; I have removed excessive information about TU Delft graduates, since you are right that it looked too much as a PR-piece, but I left information about Nobel laureates as such information is available on MIT or UCLA articles for example; finally information on the ranking position of TU Delft was there before I even started to edit the article and the only thing I did is to add more links supporting that statement. The ranking information is available on many university articles I know, look for example at MIT, UCLA, RWTH, EPFL, University College London, etc. In conclusion - I really do not understand your decisions. All the statements in the article on TU Delft are supported by links or other wikis, so I am not creating my own reality. -- Przemysław Pawełczak —Preceding unsigned comment added by Przemyslaw Pawelczak (talk • contribs) 14:42, 15 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Barry Chamish

Just a reminder but template:cite web requires the title of the webpage as well as the url. Otherwise, you get nothing but errors. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 20:15, 19 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ricky81682, thank you for continuing this important job, that I had not completed! gidonb (talk) 18:05, 15 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Categories for discussion nomination of Category:Hebrew songs

[[Image:Info non-talk.png|left|36px|]]Category:Hebrew songs, which you created, has been nominated for deletion, merging, or renaming. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 15:32, 21 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I always support standardization and other improvements in categorization. gidonb (talk) 18:00, 15 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Kim Jong-un

Hi. I see you are a serious editor here. Hope you don't mind my keeping the birth date of Kim Jong-un as 83 or early 84, which is what the BBC profile[3] gives, and supported by a cited Chosun article[4], which describes how the DPRK is manipulating the dates. Which was the BBC source you mentioned? The profile is dated only a week ago and if you have good references then can we discuss on the article talk page? cheers Earthlyreason (talk) 17:11, 28 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry I could not find it back. Listened already to too many broadcasts on Kim Jung-un in the last hour. Hope it will resurface. In the meantime, the vague date is the correct date as far as I am concerned. gidonb (talk) 18:57, 28 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi

Hi Gidon: Good to see that you are still active on WP. Best wishes and enjoy! IZAK (talk) 16:33, 15 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Still doing my daily edits. Nothing exciting as I'm busy with other stuff. The best also to you! gidonb (talk) 17:59, 15 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Bavel, Netherlands

In the header for the entry "Bavel, Netherlands", the final "l" in the name "Bavel" is missing. Please correct.

Ton Janssens (talk) 21:52, 6 January 2011 (UTC) Ton Janssens.[reply]

Ton, thank you for noticing my typo!!! I have moved the page and proposed the redirect for speedy deleting. gidonb (talk) 22:02, 6 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Added a few things about the early history of Bavel. Ton Janssens (talk) 21:13, 7 January 2011 (UTC) Ton Janssens.[reply]

Autopatrolled

Hello, this is just to let you know that I have granted you the "autopatrolled" permission. This won't affect your editing, it just automatically marks any page you create as patrolled, benefiting new page patrollers. Please remember:

This permission does not give you any special status or authority
Submission of inappropriate material may lead to its removal
You may wish to display the {{Autopatrolled}} top icon and/or the {{User wikipedia/autopatrolled}} userbox on your user page
If, for any reason, you decide you do not want the permission, let me know and I can remove it

If you have any questions about the permission, don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise, happy editing!HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 03:34, 28 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the notice! gidonb (talk) 19:01, 28 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Please don't revert me again like you did in efteling, if you will, the category will become "red" again. 20:59, 10 March 2011 (UTC)