User talk:Ben MacDui/Archive 1

This page is an archive. Do not edit the contents of this page. Please direct any comments to the current talk page.

CIFAL

I have no idea what "CIFAL" refers to or what exact failings I pointed out. You are going to have to show me.--Rmky87 19:53, 2 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I reviewed the CIFAL page, and the changes look good, thank you. In answer to your questions, AWB is an "AutoWikiBrowser" tool which I use to do semi-automated scans through new Wikipedia pages, looking for those which are missing essential elements (such as categories), so that I can place tags on them. The tags either alert the original author of an article that changes are required, or, if the original author is unable or unwilling to make the change, it also puts the articles into a category or queue, so that other Wikipedians can eventually make the necessary modifications. The date changes that Rmky87 made were not significant -- they were administrative only, as he's in a different timezone than I am, and he was keeping things tidy for another list elsewhere on Wikipedia that he's personally interested in. ;) In terms of edits to the CIFAL page, the next thing I would ask you to concentrate on, would be supplying references that confirm notability via outside sources, and not just CIFAL's own websites. For example, include a link to a newspaper or magazine article that talks about CIFAL's importance, or some other newsworthy-event that CIFAL was involved with. For more information, see Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Verifiability. For example, the statement that CIFAL forms a "key part" of the U.N. should probably be cited to an outside source that confirms the organization's relative importance. And if you have any questions, let us know! --Elonka 20:57, 2 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image copyright problem with Image:Gig.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:Gig.jpg. See notice by OrphanBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 06:15, 6 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dealing with vandalism

Hi Ben, thanks for the question you left on my talk page. Typically, vandals are warned four times and, if they persist, can then be reported at WP:AIV. Administrators monitor that page and can block the user from editing Wikipedia for a period of time. For further information on this policy, see Wikipedia:Vandalism#Dealing with vandalism. Links to the warning templates can also be found on this page. Additional templates for all kinds of issues are available at WP:UTM. I placed the second warning {{test2}} on the talk page of the user you mentioned. If you have any additional questions, please drop me a note. Thanks for reverting vandalism on Wikipedia. Regards, Accurizer 21:16, 19 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi again, the anon vandal template is more specific than test1, it is directed towards an anonymous user (IP address) who has vandalized. Unlike a registered account, IP addresses can be used by numerous people, and they would all see the warning message. Anon users who receive a test1 but did not themselves vandalize might not understand this and could be put off by the warning. The anon vandal template explains to any innocent users why they are seeing the message and invites them to create an account to avoid receiving warnings (and possible blocks) that were intended for others. Since there is no "anon vandal 2", we follow anon vandal with test2. And yes, you can place it yourself. I added it only because I was online and did not know whether you still were and, if not, when you would return. Warnings are most effective when placed quickly. When using these templates, just be sure to substitute them like this: {{subst:test1}}. This places the text of the template on the page instead of establishing a link back to the template. Regards, Accurizer 20:33, 20 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Elonka

Thank you very much for your support in my RfA. Unfortunately consensus was not reached, and the nomination was not successful. I do however appreciate that you took the time to post, and the thoughtfulness of your message. Thanks again! --Elonka 08:42, 25 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peer Review

I ran the semi automated peer review and put it on your Sandbox's talk page. I am glad to run it - AndyZ is doing them again so I have not been doing them on the WP:PR page. If you are interested, you can add the javascript to your monobook.js and run it yourself. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:10, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You are very welcome, good luck with the article, and take care Ruhrfisch 01:41, 31 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
- You are again very welcome and congratulations on the DYK. I must say I enjoyed your user page very much. Do you know The Waterboys song using the Yeats poem as lyrics (The Stolen Child)? Let me know if there is anything else I can do to be of help. Ruhrfisch 22:32, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  - There is another, later Waterboys song that also uses a Yeats poem as the lyrics, but it was not as memorable (for me at least).
  - To get the peer review javascript, add {{subst:js|User:AndyZ/peerreviewer.js}} to your monobook.js, and save it. You also have to bypass your browser cache afterwards (I think it gives you a message how to do this). After that, when you edit an article click on the peer review link right next to the log out button. The peer review comes in template form, so you have to paste it into a page to really read it. Let me know if you have trouble / questions and I will see what I can do to help. Take care, Ruhrfisch 01:30, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Islands of the Inner Hebrides

I see that you've added a number of additional islands such as Handa and the Summer Isles to this category. Whilst I agree that they didn't seem to be well categorised under Islands of Scotland, I din't think that they are normally included within the Hebrides. Indeed Inner Hebrides does not include them. Do you have another source which says otherwise? --JBellis 17:31, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Encylopedia Britannica (free bit) says the Inner Hebrides are from from Skye in the north to Islay [1]. You may also want to consider how you would categorise the small islands off the north coast of Sutherland which clearly don't belong in Orkney. It's very difficult to prove a negative - on that logic, Gruinard was the brithplace of Jack the Ripper and Iceland has a territorial claim on the Summer Isles. --JBellis 18:15, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dubh Artach

Hi I got the Inchcape/bell rock photo from Geograph_British_Isles_project which has a lot of creative commons licensed images, unfortunately could not see a Dubh Artach one. If you add this {{reqphotoin|Scotland}} template to the article talk page it will go into Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Scotland and someone may be able to supply one. GameKeeper 13:16, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Burghead

Yes your picture is fine, I had expected to around there when I saw that a picture was missing but was behind schedule when over there so never got chance to take a picture. --jmb 16:53, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

DYK

On November 8, 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Findhorn Ecovillage, which you created. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

Excellent work. That's why it has top billing with the photo as well!Blnguyen (bananabucket) 03:05, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Novas Software entry

What were the reasons as to why you pegged it for a speedy deletion? I would like to hear what you would have to say about the matter --Christian B 20:09, 10 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See the article talk page for my comments. Ben MacDui Talk 20:40, 10 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Advaita edit

It's OK. I don't mind if the word motif is used. 14 November 2006 21:33 (UTC+1) Kkrystian

Dubh Artach picture

...confirm that the artist is Sam Bough...this Scottish painter died in 1878...

This means {{pd-art}} definitely applies. It also means you can take that book cover image and crop the releavant part from it for the article. The logic behind this is that the artist is dead over 100 years so the picture is offically public domain in the US. This makes it public domain for english wikipedia (US based) and therefor due to bilateral trade agreements the UK respects this copyright law. You can take the photo of the picture and use it, because this case Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. means the copyright of the original picture is the copyright in question (not the copyright of the photo of the picture). If you want a second opinion you can ask here Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. But this seems fairly clear cut to me. It would be good practice to link the source from the image page.GameKeeper 20:48, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Geography

Nope: there is no "history" regarding that particular section, certainly not in the last year or so. Geography is happily one of our less controversial topics.

I would strongly recommend that you have a browse through the Geog sections of other countries, especially the northern European ones; and the ones which are Wikipedia:Featured articles. You often pick up lots of good ideas there.

Feel free to rewrite it. If you want you can stick the draft on a subpage - eg. User:Ben MacDui/Draft of new geography subsection at Scotland article - and invite comment/ammendments at Talk:Scotland; but you do not need to. Remember WP:BE BOLD. I am sure that if your version displeases someone we will know about it before too long.

Please use plenty of good quality citations: too many is far better than too few - we can just cut out any overkill.

Yep: a little geology probably a good idea, but please keep it v brief, cos we have a whole article for the detail: Geology of Scotland.

Featured articles on countries: Australia · Bangladesh · Belgium · Bhutan · Cambodia · Canada · Hong Kong · India · Libya · Nauru · Nepal · Pakistan · People's Republic of China · South Africa

Flannan Isles

I unfortunately never got around to fully rewriting the article (my contribution to Wikipedia tends to come in spurts). So, take a try at it. If you looked at the old article, you'll see why I deleted--it basically read like something out of a true ghost stories book. If you're going to write a detailed article, I'd certainly suggest describing the various paranormal interpretations and their history. After all, you're right--they are still of great interest. The problem with the old article wasn't that it described those theories, but that it fancifully championed them, and this is Wikipedia, not Unsolved Mysteries. I agree with you on the theory that the sea took them, and if I remember correctly, it seems that this is the most widely accepted of the more plausible explanations. havardj Jack 06:26, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dubh Artach

The best person to get in touch with that i can think of is Angr - Old Irish and linguistics, especially relating to Celtic languages, are areas in which he specialises. Siarach

RE: Boat

I actually got that from the Russian wikipedia, which has far more on the lords of the Isles than English wiki. I'd have to consult one of those heraldry books to find out more about its origins. I can tell you that it is called a Lymphad and is on the earliest Macdonald seal, i.e. that of Domhnall of Islay dating to 1410 and attached to a charter to Inchaffray Abbey. Also, if I recall correctly, it is displayed on some monumental sculpture from the isles in this period (e.g. bottom of this image); you might wanna look at Robert Brydall, "Monumental Effigies of Scotland" (Here in PDF). Also, this page might be of use. Regards, Calgacus (ΚΑΛΓΑΚΟΣ) 10:19, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

BTW, yeah, I think a similar image is used in the Sinclair Orkney arms [2] [3]. Calgacus (ΚΑΛΓΑΚΟΣ) 10:30, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Scotland

The edits I made today to the Scotland article were very minor, and there is no need to discuss them beforehand. The article is not protected- so in effect I can make any changes as I wish- as is the nature of Wikipedia. So don't leave such stupid messages again on my talk page please. Astrotrain 20:49, 6 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would not advise encouraging other editors to engage in edit wars- especially over the minor addition of one link, and one sentence. Why don't you try improving the article yourself if you think it is so bad? Astrotrain 21:01, 6 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Reply to Scottish Island template/infobox question...

"I have been working on a new infobox to use for Scottish islands. A draft of the infobox is here (on the rhs of the page). Clearly there is something I have not understood, and I am sure it is something simple, but I can't find what I am looking for amidst the blizzard of Help jargon. I tried copying it to Template:X1 and then posting {X1} (with two braces) to a page. The infobox appeared but with the data fields presented as in the template (e.g. {{{area}}}), and when I went to edit the box on that page all there was, was {X1}. Looking at other templates transcluded into pages I imagine I should see a nice user-friendly list to add data too. I have not therefeore had the confidence to post a new page 'Template:Infobox Scottish island' yet. Apologies if I am being dense - any assistance gratefully received. Ben MacDui (Talk) 15:05, 2 December 2006 (UTC)"

I'm not really sure what you're asking. If you need to copy something from a sandbox, don't. By the time you copy it, it will probably be deleted. Second, to copy something into a page (template-wise), instead of saying, for example, {{welcome}}, add "subst:" in front of "welcome" so it says {{subst:welcome}}. (And to make it so you see the template code instead of the actual template, place and around the template code.) Plz reply on my talk page. --StonedChipmunk 02:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can include non-template pages with double brace too, which makes experimentation in the User space possible. The syntax {{User:Ben MacDui/Infobox Scottish island}} will include the page User:Ben MacDui/Infobox Scottish island as if it were a template. GameKeeper 08:53, 7 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Oops, that "place and around the template code" isn't what I meant. The codes I put didn't appear. When you are editing, check the Wiki markup list of codes below the Save Page button and look for the one that says nowiki. That's the one that keeps a template code from being actually used (just makes it displayed). And GameKeeper makes a good point too. --StonedChipmunk 15:40, 8 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Good Morning

Hiho, just another little example for you :-) --Ü 00:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re User:Globaltraveller/Sandbox/Culture

Feel free to edit my user page User:Globaltraveller/Sandbox/Culture. Thanks Globaltraveller 22:00, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

User:Ben MacDui/Scotland/Archive

Ta. Happy Christmas to you too. I'm having a very good one so far :) --Mais oui! 22:05, 23 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Semi Automated Peer Review

I am not sure what the problem is - I just ran it on Johnny Appleseed and it worked. User:AndyZ has updated the script so it now runs some corrections too (if you want it to). I would ask him or try WP:BYC. I am not around as much the next few days, but if you let me know what you want the script run on and were to put the results, I will get back to it in 12 hours or so. Happy New Year! Ruhrfisch 15:11, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I ran it and pasted it in your sandbox. I also took the liberty of running the correction tool (mostly fixes dates and nbsp for units per the MOS). I also looked at your monobook.js file and compared it to mine, but saw no differences (except I have the popup script second and Interiot's tool script third, which I do not use). If you want, you could try copying my monobook.js file to yours. I am only able to access the net twice a day for the next few days but am glad to help if you have other things for the script to look at. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:31, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
- Oddly enough I could not get it to work for those two articles either (Staffa and Isle of Mull). I did not try copying the text to another dummy article and doing the peer review there - that may work. Do you want to leave a note for Andy Z or shall I?
  Interiot's tool is an edit counter, but I never got it to work (needs to have a script installed on the local server too, I think). I currently use this edit counter instead. Ruhrfisch 02:08, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  - Thanks - all the best to you in 2007 too. Ruhrfisch 13:41, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    - Problem fixed, it should work now. Happy New Year! AZ _t 15:50, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Before, when I tested it right after you mentioned those articles the first time, I received an error. After making changes to the script, I tried it on the pages you mentioned, and now they all seemed to work for me. Perhaps try bypassing your cache? (either that, or I just hate Scotland; but I can assure you that its not the latter). AZ _t 23:10, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dun

Hi Ben. I'm fascinated by your entry on the St Kilda page: the bit about Dun having been joined to Hirta until a galleon from the Spanish Armada crashed into it. Do you have a reference for that? Dhmellor 11:19, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, of course. It's Maclean again, p18. "one of the galleons lost in St Kilda waters was driven through the channel in a storm. The ship's mast caught the arch as it passed underneath it and brought a massive fall of rock down on its decks, sinking the ship and destroying the arch." He does not cite his source, although Martin Martin is a possibility. It sounds far-fetched and awfully like a resident of the gaeltacht winding up a sassenach, but as WP:V makes it clear "the threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth." I'd have cited it but I am reluctant to start adding the <ref> tags in the middle of an article that doesn't use the system. I am not in a position to attempt such a revision for the whole article as I don't have all the source books. There is a wonderful quote I might add about the landscape in which case I'll probably add the ref tags for the Name and Geography sections. Thinking aloud, the See also - List of places with fewer than ten residents seems to me to be be irrelevant and surely 'Notes' should be 'Miscellany'. All the best for 2007. Ben MacDui (Talk) 12:04, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know the Lachlan MacLean book so I can't comment on whether he can be regarded as a reliable source. However, I don't remember any Spanish galleons in Martin Martin (though that doesn't mean it isn't there!) and I agree it sounds extremely unlikely. I would go for your 'winding up a sassenach' theory! Happy Hogmanay! Dhmellor 17:57, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PS When I wrote the above yesterday, I assumed you must have meant Lachlan Maclean (1838), because the passage which you cite does not appear on p.18 of my copy of Charles Maclean's book. However, I have now found it - in my edition it is on p.5. However, I still can't trace the story in Martin Martin or anywhere else in the copious St Kilda literature, and I suspect it may be one of the more recent instances of the old tendency to romanticise about St Kilda! Cheers Dhmellor 15:16, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Glad you found it and thanks for looking. I tried a Google search to no avail. Ben MacDui (Talk) 15:35, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

An article which you started, or significantly expanded, Mingulay, was selected for DYK!

On December 31, 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Mingulay, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

Thanks for your contributions! Nishkid 64 14:49, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Who Gon Stop Us

Well you can find out how notable it is by bringing it to WP:AFD. In fact that's the edit summary you used for your Who Gon Stop Us edit even though you actually tagged it for speedy deletion. I see you've only edited one AFD ever so let me know if you're unfamiliar with the various deletion methods. If an article is not a speedy delete candidate, it can still be deleted via a non-speedy delete method (either WP:PROD or WP:AFD). —Wknight94 (talk) 11:00, 7 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks

Thanks for the link. Hope you had a good christmas and new year. Regards, Calgacus (ΚΑΛΓΑΚΟΣ) 06:17, 10 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

DYK!

On January 10, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article World Heritage Sites in Scotland, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

Nishkid 64 15:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Homage to Catalonia

Thanks ;-) It certainly hasn't put me off progressing Caledonian-related FA's (although that one was a bit hairier than normal). If only we all had the eloquence, diplomacy and tact of Margo!! Globaltraveller 23:25, 10 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Black Rats in Scotland

Hi Ben. Apologies for querying something of yours again, but I think your amendment to the Shiant Isles page, referring to two other islands in Scotland which also have Black Rats, is unreliable. Having been to North Rona and probably read most if not all the literature on it, I can't see how there could be rats there - black or brown - as they would surely have wiped out the nesting Storm Petrels. The same goes for St Kilda, of course. I know Niall Benvie's book claims that North Rona has Black Rats, but I have never seen this claim anywhere else, and frankly I don't believe it. Benvie is a fine photograpther, but...... regards Dhmellor 14:58, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No problem at all. Checking on the facts is (hopefully) a welcome event. Benvie's book (which it sounds like you have) comes with a NTS badge on it, which may be worth something. I did a quick search for more information. According to the NHS, "the black rat is now extremely rare in Scotland and is absent outwith port areas." [4] which is probably true from their point of view as I suspect they only visit the Shiants occasionally. Darling, F.F. & Boyd, J.M. 1964. Natural History In The Highlands and Islands record a story that Rattus rattus is said to have "cleared North Rona of its human population of thirty soon after 1685," but that "the rats also starved thereafter." So it is possible that Benvie is failing to recollect the facts accurately. The SNH is usually authoratative. "(Rattus rattus) was introduced to Britain (and presumably Scotland) by the Romans by the 3rd century. There now (post-1983) appear to be no self-sustaining populations on the Scottish mainland, although they may be present on Westray in Orkney and the Shiant Islands of Skye (Corbet & Harris, 1991; Arnold, 1993). An Audit Of Alien Species In Scotland (May 2004). Westray! This is news to me. The JNCC's 1999 Developing a mammal monitoring programme for the UK [5] states that the Scottish population is an estimated 1,300 and that the species is "Confined to ports and to Lundy Island (Bristol Channel) at least the three larger of the Shiant Isles (Key et al 1998), and Inchcolm and possibly other Firth of Forth islands."

Thus the statement "The Shiants are one of only three places in the Scotland where the Black Rat (Rattus rattus) can still be found" may be true even if Benvie is not accurate. "The Shiants are one of perhaps only three places.." may be a useful compromise. If North Rona is free of them (and I don't doubt you are right about this), they are probably also on Incholm and may also be on Westray and/or elsewhere in the Firth of Forth. It also sounds like there are regular arrivals in the ports, but we can probably gloss over that. I am disappointed in Benvie tho'. --Ben MacDui (Talk) 20:32, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ben, your sources (and others) suggest that Inchcolm and perhaps other nearby islands in the Firth of Forth may have (or have recently had) Black Rats. I was as surprised as you about Westray, so I googled westray and rats, and found this fascinating link: [6] Sounds credible, I think, and indicates that although Westray has had them in recent memory, it is now clear. So I reckon the best we could do on the Shiants page would be something like 'Apart from one or two small islands in the Firth of Forth, the Shiants are believed to be the only place in the UK where the Black rat (Rattus rattus) can still be found'. I don't think we should be too hard on Niall Benvie - it's a bit of a 'coffee table book' really (sorry if that sounds patronising!) Dhmellor 17:41, 13 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Good find on the Westray front. I occasionally manage a visit there and will save this anecdote up. I have never managed North Rona however - that's quite a trip. I added something about the 1685 rats there - I am hoping my confidence in FFD will not also be dented! I will however treat Mr. Benvie's contributions with more caution in future. If you have an interest in Scottish wildlife generally as well as the islands there is a draft I have of a new article I could do with a hand on. --Ben MacDui (Talk) 10:21, 14 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure we can have every confidence in FFD! I've done a bit more work on the North Rona article, inspired by your example. I'm more seriously into islands than wildlife, but the one does tend to lead to the other. If your wildlife article is already posted I'll certainly have a look and contribute if I can. Dhmellor 17:56, 14 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, as you can see below, someone already found it. However, I've posted a draft of two sections here in which you will find our old friends from St Kilda and the Shiants. I'm reasonably happy with these bits. The remainder including the mussels is here, if you are curious. Ben MacDui (Talk) 20:50, 14 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fauna draft

Hi, I was looking at your draft of Fauna of Scotland and the following excerpt concerned me:

Scotland is the remaining European stronghold for the Freshwater Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), supporting populations in over 50 rivers, mainly in the Highlands.

This sentence is very similar to the referenced JNCC page; I would suggest finding a way to paraphrase this information. The draft looks good so far but I just wanted to inform you of this before you post it in mainspace. Quarma 20:14, 14 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Location map of Scotland

Can I ask why you keep reverting the location map of Scotland which is in line with all other UK location maps and keep replacing it with one not showing Scotland as part of the UK and out of line with all other UK location maps? Somethingoranother 22:09, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

By all means. There are three main reasons.

1) The Scotland page is prone to more-or-less endless vandalism and POV pushing. More effort seems to go into simply keeping it stable than in improving it. It is therefore my view that any changes of significance ought to be discussed on the Talk page first, (ideally reaching consensus) if for no other reason than to help that silent brigade of watchers who are trying to keep the article stable. It is all too easy for things to fall apart, especially if there are complex edits with no clear strategy behind them going on.

2) It does not matter to me what other home countries do on their pages, only what is the best thing for this page. Following the herd is not necessarily better.

3) I can't see any purpose in confusing the map with an extra shading for the UK. Definitions of Scotland, England, UK, Europe etc. are all a click away. Many people already confuse 'England' and the 'UK' and I don't think the England map does anything other than re-inforce that condition. Maybe a better map with clearer colours would work, but what is the point? The UK map does not show 'Europe' in a subsidiary shade.

Thank-you for asking, and I hope we will find a positive way to work together to improve this article. Ben MacDui (Talk) 08:59, 17 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you!!

Many thanks for all the hard work and constructive input you have put in recently. It is very much appreciated!

Apologies for not responding to Talk page items, but I do have a good excuse/reason: I have a new girlfriend, and... well... you know... somehow Wikipedia is just finding it extremely hard to compete with a pretty girl ;) Isn't that odd...

I used to be birdwatching and tree/shrub nuts in days gone by, so I promise to read your new article soon. But to answer your question, yes: the Talk page of the WP:SCOWNB is defintitely the best place to start when seeking peer review of new articles.

Best wishes. --Mais oui! 15:45, 21 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You are most welcome, and thank-you for the advice. Generally speaking I am unaffected by sexual desire myself of course, but I shall celebrate your good fortune by amending my I-tunes listening. Ben MacDui (Talk) 18:39, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No no no!! We only kiss and cuddle... no sex before marriage you know ;) --Mais oui! 11:01, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You are an example to us all. I shall amend my user page accordingly. Ben MacDui (Talk) 19:04, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Daisy Bell - ho ho!! :-D --Mais oui! 10:07, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

DYK

On 23 January, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Fauna of Scotland, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

--Yomangani ^talk 18:12, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Congrats! Ruhrfisch 19:08, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Mingulay

You sure get around for a mountain.... I ran the peer review script on Mingulay and also did the fixes (double check that edit please - it wanted to change "we'll" in the song lyric to "we will" but I caught that one). I am glad to run the script any time you want and since it seems to like me (depsite my love of the Waterboys and Hoogie and listening to "Fhuair Mi Pog A Laimh An Righ" by Margaret Stewart and Allan MacDonald as I type this), so please just ask if it gives you trouble. Ruhrfisch 21:17, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I was reading St. Kilda and it gives the area in square km and then square yards (!). Am I missing something or is this vandalism? Ruhrfisch 21:31, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks once again. The imperial measurements are certainly absurd! I'll look into all this later. It's getting late here. Ben MacDui (Talk) 21:57, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Ruhrfisch for your quick responsiveness (I was just about to do it when I noticed he had already run it). By the way, just an observation, the meters/miles problem probably just springs from the fact that the person who was updating the conversions saw a wikilink to [[squared meters|km2]], and assumed the number was in squared meters and then converted it to squared yards. I looked quickly thru the article, doesn't seem to be any other problems since there are no other such misleading wikilinks.

Safari and FireFox browsers both seem to have a wide variety of different troubles with the script, which I'm still working on resolving. Perhaps this method might work meanwhile? Thanks, AZ _t 01:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

- The Peer Review script will now add non-breaking spaces ( ) between measured numbers and their units, as well as fix other things - you just click on the "Autoformat per MOS" button. It shows a diff and you need to look things over carefully as it will sometimes change things you don't want changed. Ruhrfisch 03:17, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Wildkitty.jpg

This was deleted from commons while on DYK, so I don't know whether you uploaded it or not. It seems to be unused in any article so I'm going to delete the temporary copy I uploaded here too. Drop me a note if that's a problem, and I'll see about fixing it. Cheers, Yomangani ^talk 02:16, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Seria Ludo

Hi. I just created a goofy, hopefully humorous user page called "Seria Ludo", the main context of which is me complaining about the length of the DYK hook we used for your recent article. The following text is from the bottom of the page:

Ben MacDui - Although I used the hook for Fauna of Scotland as fodder for above foolish diatribe, I want in no way to oppugn the article itself. The article is gorgeous. You tackled a gigantic topic single-handedly and admirably. It has superior content, beautiful citations, great images, etc. If word count in a hook translated into kudos, I can think of no article that deserves those 40 words more than this. Great, great work.

I wanted you to read my sincere praise before the rest of the page. I hope the essay makes you smile rather than frown. Thanks. House of Scandal 03:09, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Aw shucks - my first award! - and it was only 214 characters long. Just as well it didn't run to 220. Thank-you for your encouraging words - I shall change my listening to celebrate. Ben MacDui (Talk) 23:36, 25 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fauna of Scotland

I think that the Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland would probably be the best place to go for help with the article, as the article is about the animals of Scotland. Badbilltucker 21:05, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Orphaned fair use image

The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. This is an automated message from BJBot 10:28, 28 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank-you for noticing. I asked for this to be deleted months ago. Ben MacDui (Talk) 13:51, 28 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]