User talk:John of Reading/Archive 15

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Archive 13

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Please Refresh User:Naraht/Mixed Greek Latin?

When you have a chance could you please refresh the User:Naraht/Mixed Greek Latin page again? It is done from a database scan on ([ABEHIKMNOPTXYZ][ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ]|[ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ][ABEHIKMNOPTXYZ]) Thank youNaraht (talk) 15:24, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

By chance, I'm downloading a new database dump right now. Another few hours... -- John of Reading (talk) 15:25, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

@Naraht: Done this one. -- John of Reading (talk) 22:08, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

@Naraht:

...but the other will have to wait until I get the laptop repaired. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:16, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Ouch.

Naraht (talk) 10:48, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

I have no idea why but for some reason the Regular Expression that I had up at the top lacked the Theta. So could you update it to ([ABEHIKMNOPTXYZ][ΑΒΓΔΕΖΘΗΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ]|[ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ][ABEHIKMNOPTXYZ]) if you have a chance (and your computer is happy)?Naraht (talk) 19:18, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

OK, I'll do that. I've downloaded the compressed dump again onto the family desktop, and will uncompress it overnight. Meanwhile I'm using a tiny spare laptop and a spare monitor from the attic, since in the evenings my children have first call on the family desktop for their homework. Such is life! -- John of Reading (talk) 19:56, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Done. Digamma next? -- John of Reading (talk) 10:26, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

How did you add in the new ones without disturbing the ones I had marked? I don't know whether a completely new list would have included the ones I've fixed over the last day or so... And if you want to try Digamma, sure, but I doubt many hits....Naraht (talk) 11:59, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Since I'm working from a database dump, the edits you've made since the dump make no difference to the results. I carefully merged the new entries into your list without disturbing your edits: I pasted the new list into the edit box and clicked "Show changes" to see the new ones, then I opened a fresh tab and merged them in carefully. And, no, I don't think Digamma is worth including. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:19, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Thank you for help in both Greek Related queries!

Naraht (talk) 21:49, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

@Naraht: For the other task, do you want only uppercase Greek letters? There are surprisingly few articles whose title contains an uppercase Greek letter. They are at User:John of Reading/X3; none of them are redirects. Actually Panagiotis Κordonouris is about to become a redirect, since WP:UE says the Kappa should have been transliterated. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:07, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

I'm confused on this output, why didn't ΦΒΚ or ΑΦΩ show up? Those are the type of redirects I'm really interested in.Naraht (talk) 11:56, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

My fault. I've just seen a checkbox that I didn't know existed, which was telling the database scanner to skip all redirects. I'll try again... -- John of Reading (talk) 12:04, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

@Naraht: After many vicissitudes, I've created User:Naraht/Greek redirects to non-Greek. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:43, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting

Pluto - what's wrong? Cite error: A list-defined reference named "HST-SynColours" is not used in the content + Cite error: A list-defined reference has a conflicting group attribute "lower-alpha". Thanks --Frze ^{> talk} 20:38, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Pope Paul VI Cite error: A list-defined reference named "FOOTNOTEGuitton1967172" is not used in the content (see the help page). Cite error: A list-defined reference named "FOOTNOTEHebblethwaite1993669" is not used in the content (see the help page). --Frze ^{> talk} 20:40, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Fixed both, see my edit summaries for an explanation -- John of Reading (talk) 21:52, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

As requested

Hello, John of Reading. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Piotrus (talk • contribs) 14:58, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Interesting, thank you. Replied. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:24, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Category:Articles with missing files

Line 1 (Metro Bilbao) - what's wrong? Thanks --Frze ^{> talk} 11:04, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Undoing the work of the Commons Delinker isn't going to help! Look for "Upload" or "Wizard" in the HTML source of the page, and you'll see a link mentioning File:BSicon exSTRlf RizhMZD.svg. This is part of the route map hiding behind the "Expand" link in the infobox. The file has been deleted from Commons. Route maps are tricky, so you'd best ask at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Trains. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:55, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Dupl. signatures & "will+likely"

Hi John. Thanks; you're a star for 2 reasons (of which I'm aware).

You fixed the UW template in double-quick time.
You run AWB.

Re the latter, I was wondering how close you are now to User_talk:Trafford09#will_likely resolution - or has it perhaps been run, & needs another in time?

Regards, Trafford09 (talk) 09:31, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I eventually decided to skip that one. Over at my log page my comment is "appears to be a style issue rather than a clear grammar error". I've posted at Wikipedia talk:Typo Team#will likely > will probably, and with luck some of the project's spelling experts will comment. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:48, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the links & info., John. On vera. Trafford09 (talk) 10:08, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Stadium capacities

Hi John, I'm updating stadium capacities and the sources are www.stadiumzone.weebly.com and www.worldstadiums.com and my own research work. If you doubt about some changes, please let me know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Staafros1 (talk • contribs) 10:26, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

@Staafros1: Then, please, for each figure you edit, add the source that confirms the new figure. See Help:Referencing for beginners if you don't know how to do that. If the only source is "your own research work", then please don't make the change, as Wikipedia articles should only summarise information that has been published in reliable sources - "original research" is not allowed. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:32, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Hi John, I'm sorry I'm just trying to update the more current capacities. I will add sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Staafros1 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

OK! Please go back through your contributions systematically to fix them up. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:48, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Category:Pages with broken reference names

List of towns in Canada - please take a look - Thank you very much. --Frze ^{> talk} 14:22, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

@Frze: I'm sure we've had one like that before! Anyway, I've fixed it by moving a reference at List of municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador and then doing a null edit at List of towns in Canada. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:22, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, we had such an error before, but unfortunately I'm not able to understand this <onlyinclude> tags, when and why to use and what they do. Sorry & thanks --Frze ^{> talk}

Fair enough. The help page is Wikipedia:Transclusion, but it's not easy. Roughly, within List of towns in Canada there is the magic line {{:List of towns in Newfoundland and Labrador}}, which asks the software to include a copy of that sub-article within the big article. Within the sub-article, the <onlyinclude>...</onlyinclude> tags mark off the portion of the article that is to be copied - just the table, not the lead, categories, {{reflist}} etc. Any references used inside that portion have to be defined within that portion, otherwise they will be missing from the big article. All clear now? Probably not! Feel free to post these to my talk page and I'll do my best to fix them. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:36, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

AWB help

I have added the database to my download queue. You have a good guide here. Just requesting if you make a video by a screen recorder to help the beginners? How to make article lists? Thanking you in advance. Please help. Fai zan 11:10, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

I think a video is beyond me, but I'll add a section to User:John of Reading/Typo fixing with AutoWikiBrowser. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:15, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

I am grateful to you. Fai zan 11:16, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: Done; feel free to ask if anything is not clear or seems incomplete. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:44, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Sure. How to use the Regular expression? What if I just search the grammar mistakes using simple words? Are they not effective? Fai zan 13:38, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

On the "Title" tab of the Database Scanner, You tick "Not contains", "Regex" and "Case sensitive", and paste a long regular expression, below, into the second text box. But what is that long expression? Fai zan 13:51, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: You don't have to use regular expressions, but you will get better results if you do. If you search for, say, "bord" without ticking the regular expression box, the software will search for precisely the letters b-o-r-d, and you will get a list of articles that contain "border", "borders", "Rebordosa" and so on. At minimum, to search for a single word, tick the regular expression box and stick "\b" before and after the word: "\bbord\b". "\b" is the code for a word break.

For the long regular expression, look downwards a couple of lines and you will find a green box labelled "Titles skipped". Click the "show" link there. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:18, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

I am grateful to you. Have downloaded the dump and will start working on it. Thanks to you industrious efforts and help. Fai zan 08:50, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: (An overnight thought) If all you are planning to do is searching for a single word, you may find it easier to set the list source to "Wiki search (text)" rather than "Database dump". This will be much faster and will query the up-to-date text instead of the copy saved in the database dump. In the text box just above the "Make list" button, enter your word inside double quotes. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:55, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

OK, what will be the regular expression code if I want to search for multiple words. For Example: "insenstive" and "tht" Fai zan 09:11, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

That would be \b(insenstive|tht}\b - but even then, two searches with "Wiki search (text)" will be faster than a database scan. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:14, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Man, but then what is the advantage of this huge database? Fai zan 09:37, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

I have problems ticking the regular expression box. Where is it? Searched it here too, but could not find it. Fai zan 09:41, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Complicated searches need regular expressions. Examples: "All words beginning with the misspelled prefix 'mulit'", "All words ending with the misspelled suffix 'ollogy'", "All occurrences of 'exercice' excluding those where the preceding or following word is one of these [...]", "All cases where the word 'the' is just before a piped link, and the text after the pipe begins with 'the'". These are far too hard for the ordinary text searches.

To search for \b(insenstive|tht}\b, you need to be looking at the "Text" tab of the database scanner. The regular expression box is labelled "Regex". -- John of Reading (talk) 10:11, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

OK, thanks. Fai zan 10:19, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

What to do if I want to search for a word with a space; in the database dump using regular expression? For example:"a irredentist". Any place/guide to learn the usage of Regular expressions in Wikipedia? Fai zan 15:27, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Hello again! The reference is at Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Regular expression. To scan for "a irredentist" I would use \ba\s+irredentist\b using the regular expression codes for word break (\b), white space (\s), and "one or more of the preceding code" (+). But to make this search worthwhile I'd actually search for something like \ba\s+irr , which would find the word "a" followed by any word beginning with "irr". -- John of Reading (talk) 15:36, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

OK, Thanks! Fai zan 17:01, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Hello again John! Wanted to ask the reg-ex code if I want to search for a word with the punctuation marks? For Example: well-known. Will the codes be different for different punctuation marks? Fai zan 14:40, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: You can search for a hyphen as if it were an ordinary character. Some other punctuation characters (listed at "Metacharacters" in the guide) have a special meaning; if you want to search for those you have to precede them with a backslash to turn off the special meaning. For example the period/full stop character means "match any character", so to search for a genuine period/full stop you must search for \. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:09, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

OK thanks boss. Fai zan 13:55, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

the long arm of coincidence

After your help on Wikipedia:Help desk#Adding archive info for suspended link gets error, but help link doesn't help, I took a look at your User page and then, curious because I didn't recognize the language (I'm a research linguist), at Plas Uchaf. Heh! I'm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and Bala Cynwyd is just on the other side of City Line Road. Cheers! --Thnidu (talk) 11:45, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Welcome to the Tyop Contest!

tyop

typo

Hi there! This is just a friendly reminder that the first ever Tyop Contest starts tomorrow at 0:00 UTC! The contest will be run from February 1 to March 1, 2014. Please note that there have been some changes to the scoring process to allow a system that involves almost no effort on your part submitting your typo corrections. This allows for moar time spent fixing typos,
less time submitting your fixes!
Your judges, Jeffrd10 and Newyorkadam

Projects during February

1st - 3rd: the tail end of a list of miscellaneous typos beginning with the letter "s"
3rd: a few typos beginning with the letter "a"
4th: a few typos beginning with the letter "m"
4th: articles with words ending in "ingg"
4th - 5th: a few typos beginning with the letter "t", including "teh"
6th - 8th: new database dump; "the the" (c. 900 articles)
9th - 19th: repeated words beginning with the letter "o" (c. 2150 articles) - often "on on" (c. 1250)
20th - 24th: a few typos beginning with the letter "w"
25th - 26th: Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting
26th - 27th: a few typos beginning with the letter "m"
27th: a few typos beginning with the letter "d"
28th: two more small lists, then preparation for the "P" list

A fairly typical month...

Comments for the judges

@Jeffrd10 and Newyorkadam: Four comments on my involvement in the Tyop Contest:

I'm unlikely to find another typo this month needing more than 1250 fixes, so my fixing of 1250 "on on" errors is my entry in the "bonus" section of the competition.
I don't want to go anywhere near the "paid editing" controversy. If you decide that my February contributions are worth a money prize, please instead choose one of the charities named in my userboxes and send the prize there.
I notice that the "Entries" page only lists the first 1000 or so of my February typo fixes, and the page is already over 700 kilobytes long. It may be necessary to split the page, or to delete the parts that have been checked.
I notice also that only the first 232 of my fixes have been judged. Please don't overburden yourself with this judging task; if you decide that you've taken on too big a job, please feel free to stop! -- John of Reading (talk) 08:21, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for posting John :) I'm taking a short break from judging, but we won't stop until every last entry is judged! We will send out a wrap-up message at the end of the contest and another at the end of judging (which could take some time). Thanks :) -Newyorkadam (talk) 22:58, 21 February 2014 (UTC)Newyorkadam

Regex

Heya John. Please give me the regex codes for the following:

I want to search for "Xth Month". For example: {1 to 31}th February.
For:"http://http://". Thanking you in advance. Fai zan 16:25, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: \d matches any one digit, [379] matches any one of the digits listed, and [1-5], say, matches a range of digits. So \d\dth\s+February would match any two digits, then the letters "th", then one or more spaces, then the word February. If you want to match only 1 to 31 and not 32 to 99, then ([1-9]|[12]\d|3[01]) would match either a single digit 1-9, or a one or two followed by any digit, or a three followed by a zero or one. You might also like (th|st|nd|rd) which matches "th" or "st" or "nd" or "rd".

To search for "http://http://" you could use an ordinary search, not a regex search. But you might like to match "https" as well as "http", and for that you would need the regex \bhttps?\:\/\/https?\:\/\/ -- John of Reading (talk) 16:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

OK so should I search: \d\d(th|st|nd|rd)\s+February? Fai zan 17:12, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

@Faizan: That would only match two digits. Try \d\d?(th|st|nd|rd)\s+February where the second digit is followed by a question mark to show that it is optional. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:17, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

OK boss. Thanks. I am trying a few websites like these tutorials. From where did you learn the expressions? Pathway that I can adopt? Fai zan 17:22, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

I started with fairly simple find&replace rules, gradually learning more as I went along. By the time I started using the database scanner I was fairly fluent. I use this site when I need to look something up. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:33, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

Ah..... hope that I learn them too while going along. Anyway, Thanks. Fai zan 17:56, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

One more, What can be the code for "1980's"? I have tried \d\d\d\d\W, but it does not work. Fai zan 19:17, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

For that I would search for \b[12]\d\d0[’'`]s\b - word break, then a 1 or 2, then two more digits, then a zero, then one of three possible apostrophe characters, then an "s", then a word break. -- John of Reading (talk) 19:25, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

John Campbell help with template

Can you put an athlete template on John Campbell article?

Yours Truly (talk) 16:14, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

@Jd52102: I suggest you copy the one from Jasmine Campbell - grab the lines from "{{Infobox sportsperson" to "}}" inclusive and paste them into the John Campbell (skier) article. But you don't have much information to go on! Is this news item your only source? -- John of Reading (talk) 16:22, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Okay, thank you, possibly you can help? I am currently still researching Yours Truly (talk) 16:25, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

I see you've managed to copy the infobox. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:32, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

It was hard, but yes, I managed to copy the infobox. I'm new here, and a seriously need help with research Yours Truly (talk) 21:55, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

@Jd52102: I've copied in the table and source from Virgin Islands at the 1992 Winter Olympics and tweaked some of the links. I can't find anything about his early life or later career with Google. How do we know that he was born in St Johns? -- John of Reading (talk) 08:34, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

Because her daughter, Jasmine Campbell was born there Yours Truly (talk) 22:25, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

@Jd52102: That only shows that John was living in St Johns in 1991. We need a source to confirm where John was born, back in 1962. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:29, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Tyop Contest Conclusion!

tyop

typo

The Tyop Contest is over! Great job, everyone! Of the fourteen entrants, twelve fixed typos! The judges are very behind with the judging, but it will get done! Another note similar to this one will be sent out when the judging is complete to announce the winners. Check back again next January for the (hopeful) second running of the Tyop Contest, as this one went swell

Your judges, Jeffrd10 and Newyorkadam

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Newyorkadam (talk • contribs) 03:27, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Helena Artillery

John would you mind doing a little clean up on Helena Artillery? Thanks!Aleutian06 (talk) 17:20, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

@Damon.cluck: Done, with some points noted on the talk page. In addition, AWB suggests combining some duplicate references, and re-ordering some references so that the numbers are in ascending order. Would you like me to make those changes? -- John of Reading (talk) 20:19, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, please, thanks!Aleutian06 (talk) 19:57, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Done -- John of Reading (talk) 20:01, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Again!Aleutian06 (talk) 03:06, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Why are you blocking my edits?

John, What is the meaning of this????

I am contributing articles in the best way I know is possible. Please recover my edits or I will sew you, John!!!

No regards,

The King of Landgraaf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.178.132.90 (talk) 12:48, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

Because you are not backing them up with references to reliable sources. Wikipedia articles should only contain material that has already been published in good sources such as books, newspapers and respected news websites. And when I tried to check your edits with Google searches, I didn't find anything relevant. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:52, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

I am the King, not you. I am the law. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.178.132.90 (talk) 12:54, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

Discretionary sanctions 2013 review: Draft v3

Hi. You have commented on Draft v1 or v2 in the Arbitration Committee's 2013 review of the discretionary sanctions system. I thought you'd like to know Draft v3 has now been posted to the main review page. You are very welcome to comment on it on the review talk page. Regards, AGK [•] 00:23, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, it's a copying error

I just went to bitsavers and the text in IBM (March 1973). OS/VS2 HASP II Version 4 Logic, Program Number 370H-TX -001 (PDF). First Edition, Revised September 15, 1976 by TNLs SN25-0122 and SN27-1555. GY27-7255-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help) reads:

HASP MULTI-LEAVING RJE Feature
MULTI-LEAVING is a term which describes a computer-to-computer communication technique developed for use by the HASP System. In a gross sense, MULTI-LEAVING can be defined as the fully synchronized,
pseudo-simultaneous, bi-directional transmission of a variable number of data streams between two or more computers utilizing binary synchronous communications facilities.

So, yes, the error in Houston Automatic Spooling Priority was a typo in transcription rather than in the cited document. Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 18:00, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Excellent, thanks for confirming this. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:40, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Expert

Super, better to try and fail than not to ... ta John. Mosfetfaser (talk) 07:54, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

If a non-free image isn't used in any articles, a bot comes along and tags it for deletion, so I thought it best to add it to the article. To be honest I will be surprised if the image is accepted. The thread at the help desk will be seen by several experts once the Americans get out of bed! -- John of Reading (talk) 08:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

ok John, let's see. Mosfetfaser (talk) 08:12, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

René Bazinet

I'm not sure what to do about what you feel is necessary to verify this information. The material is from taped interview sessions and not readily available to anyone other than Mr. Bazinet and myself. I could type up the transcripts of the taped material but the article that I had formerly planned to write and get published was not done due to a lack of interest when the prospectus was sent to several periodicals. This is the first and only biographical article that I've posted on Wikipedia. I am also the author of the same information posted on the IMdB site, which was not contested. This page was simply my way of compensating Mr. Bazinet for not being able to get his story published, back in 2002 and for the edification of his eclectic fan base. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to allow it to remain, under the circumstances. Thanks for your assistance in this. Blythe Spirit (talk) 07:54, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: If the material has not been published then I'm afraid it is outside Wikipedia's scope. There are some suggestions at Wikipedia:Alternative outlets. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:04, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

So, I guess what you're saying is that the page will have to be deleted, is that the gist of it? Well, if so, then so be it. I only posted it as a favor and will just have to explain the situation to Mr. Bazinet. How do I remove the images from the Wikimedia section, or is that done automatically? Blythe Spirit (talk) 08:09, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: Not necessarily deleted, because it may be possible to write a biography using only reliably published information. I can see from Google Books that he's been mentioned in several books and periodicals. Do you have access to those?

There's also no reason to delete the photos that you donated to Wikimedia Commons; whether or not they are used in a Wikipedia article, they are part of an important source of freely-licensed images that could be useful in all sorts of unexpected ways. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:22, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Well, most if not all of the material is covered in "Le Clown" - published by: Logiques for their Circus Arts Collection, but that book is only in French and has never been translated into English. Should I include it and should I leave the most current additions I made to the reference section, as well, or would it be better if they were removed? Thanks for your continued help. Blythe Spirit (talk) 08:37, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: A book in French is fine! If you can edit the article, adding footnote references with page numbers, that would be great. Something like...

Some fact about  Bazinet's life<ref>Le Clown, page 45</ref> and someone's opinion of his work.<ref>Le Clown, page 56</ref>

...and a description of the book in the "References" section. Then a reader can clearly see how to check the information: go to a library or a second-hand book site, get hold of the book, and turn to the indicated pages. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:57, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

That may be more difficult that you make it sound. :-) I don't speak French and would have to collaborate with René, on it, which might take some time, since (for lack of a better way of explaining it) he's a rather eccentric character. How much time will Wikipedia give me to accomplish this task? Blythe Spirit (talk) 09:07, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: As much time as it takes - "There is no deadline". I must also point you to Wikipedia's advice on conflict of interest, before someone else does. As you are discovering, it can be hard to create an article that meets Wikipedia standards when you know the person in real life. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:45, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

OK, I see now that my reference to the interview material could be interpreted as a conflict of interest. I only added it in response to your notification and have just removed it. Thanks for telling me! Anyway, I'll attempt to get René to assist me in referencing as much of the material as possible, out of what I've already written, through excerpts in "Le Clown." Otherwise, it would be an even more involved chore to have to start all over again. I also have a few souvenir programs, from productions he starred in, and a Cirque du Soleil newsletter he gave me that might prove useful, too. Thanks again for all the information you've imparted, so far. I'd be most appreciative if you'd kindly allow me to prevail upon you for further help if necessary... Blythe Spirit (talk) 10:05, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: Yes, feel free to ask more questions. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:11, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, once more, John. I'll definitely be in touch, again, eventually... :-) Blythe Spirit (talk) 03:34, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Well, John, the upshot is that - after his having been apprised of the circumstances - René believes the photo images that accompany the article should be sufficient to substantiate the veracity of the text. He "liked" the page - via his Facebook account - as have about 60 other FB members and he's certain that Cirque du Soleil official(s) would be happy to confirm all the info, too, if Wikipedia official(s) would care to contact them about it. As previously mentioned, being an 'artiste' type, René is a little on the eccentric side. He doesn't feel the need to collaborate with me, on adding citations, so at this point I don't know what else to do. I listed "Le Clown" in the reference section and René's clown partner, David Shiner, whose Wikipedia page has several more reference notations, is also referred to in my material. I'd welcome any more suggestions, from you, regarding this most frustrating situation... Blythe Spirit (talk) 01:09, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

That's really not how Wikipedia works. There are no "Wikipedia officials" doing day-to-day editing, only volunteer editors such as you and me. And verification is by including references to published sources, not by contacting anyone connected with the subject of the article. So for now the "needs additional citations" message will have to stay. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:39, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

I completely understand and did my best to convey this to René, who is currently doing a gig in Puerto Vallarta. When he returns to Montreal and has a chance to wade through his collection of periodicals and "Le Clown" he may get back to me concerning this issue. One can only hope. Meanwhile, the -bio- material in a couple of souvenir programs he gave me, from Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco" and Salto Natale's "Synfunia" - as well as one of Cirque du Soleil's newsletters - circa 2008, correlates to some of the info in my article. However, these are rare, out-of-print publications and not readily available to the general public. Would it be worthwhile to list them, with apropos citations, anyway, do you think? Blythe Spirit (talk) 04:32, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

These would help, so that readers can see where the information is coming from.

Compare these: "Bazinet studied at the John Abbott College (reference: theatre program)" and "Bazinet is considered to be one of the world's top clowns (reference: theatre program)". In the first case, the reader will probably accept the information, as there is no reason for the theatre to report this wrongly. In the second case, if that's the only reference, I as a reader would tend to discount the information, since that's the sort of thing a theatre program would tend to say about anyone. That second claim needs a more solid, independent, source such as a book.

For the article to exist at all, there must be enough references to "reliable independent sources" to show that Bazinet passes the general notability guideline or the specific guideline for performers. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:48, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Well, as far as the programs are concerned, surely some credence could be lent in relation to his top clown status, by virtue of the fact that he has been the lead -or- star performer in the prestigious Cirque du Soleil and Salto Natale productions mentioned above, as well as in Cirque du Soleil's only full length feature film, to date, "Alegria: An Enchanting Fable." On their official site he's listed as Cirque du Soleil's clown coach and acting consultant, too. He's well recognized, within his milieu, as one of the best clowns of his generation and is also prominently credited, in their resumes, by many renowned circus performers as a brilliant teacher/mentor. Needless to say, among his staunch admirers, this avant garde entertainer is quite notable. However, the problem at hand is accumulating the requisite certified substantiating proof of that. :-) As in every field of endeavor there is a competitive spirit among the players, so I've reminded René that his longtime clown partner, David Shiner, has a viable page on this celebrated site and am hoping, if nothing else does, that will compel him to make some concerted effort to keep his from being deleted. Thanks again for your patience, John, and for supplying the guidelines by which I'll do my utmost to work within. Blythe Spirit (talk) 11:33, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

My name

I originally registered as "Abyssal_leviathin" but eventually decided to change it to "Abyssal" because "leviathan" was spelled wrong in my original so I had to usurp "Abyssal" from a user who never contributed to Wikipedia. However, on Wikibooks there was a guy named Abyssal whose screen name I couldn't usurp. I've been considering contributing to WB so I had to create a new alt account for that. I forgot to log that one out before going back to my Wikipedia edits. St. Abyssal (talk) 17:09, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

OK, that makes sense. Thanks. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:11, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

A cup of coffee for you!

Thanks for your help! Greatpumkin (talk) 21:26, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

March 2014

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in Richard C. Lukas's The Strange Allies: The United States and Poland, 1941-1945, pp. 61-85.>] Warsaw Rising Museum</ref>
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Wasn't me, gov'nor. But fixed anyway. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:46, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

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Ta. Fixed one, the other three seem to be false positives. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:49, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

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Ta. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:59, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Barcelona Roman amphitheatre

As a contributor of Barcelona Roman amphitheatre article, I beg you a new reading and idiomatic revision. I've done a new contribution in this article, but I can't write in English very good. Excuseme and thanks a lot.--Climent Sostres (talk) 23:29, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

@Climent Sostres: I've made an edit, but there are parts where I'm not sure of the meaning. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:25, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

John, I've tried to explain better those parts that you say you can't understant. I'm anxiously waiting for your revision. And I'm very happy with your help.--Climent Sostres (talk) 22:09, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

@Climent Sostres: Thank you, you made the meaning clear. I've had another try at turning it into natural English. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:07, 5 April 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much.--Climent Sostres (talk) 16:43, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

April 2014

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* Denmark - [http://www.dma.dk/ Søfartsstyrelsen / Danish Maritime Authority] and [application: [http://www.dma.dk/sitecollectiondocuments/sof/ansogskema-kaldesignalbevis-uk.pdf]

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René Bazinet - revisited

Hi again, John. I’ve been busy with other things and haven’t found the time, nor had the inclination to do any more work on the page I composed for René Bazinet. I think, at this point, that it’s probably best that you, or whoever is in charge of such things, just delete it since it doesn’t comply with the stringent standards you’ve outlined. It’s a shame that in this case the rules can’t be bent and an exception can’t be made. However, I have no problem accepting the rationale behind Wikipedia’s policies. Because René hasn’t given me any assurance that he intends to submit the requested substantiating documentation, in response to my directives, it seems that he doesn’t really care whether or not the page exists, anyway.

Moreover, frankly, I’m tired of periodically checking in to see that untalented and presumptuous wannabe writers have made unnecessary and inappropriate edits to my work. I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d, also, please see to it that my images in Wikimedia are removed, or if you’d inform whoever is in charge of that action to do so. The reason being is that the prospect of running across them being used, without my permission - by others who take credit for them, would be very annoying, to say the least. Likewise, after all this has been done please inform me about how to cancel my membership, here, as there won’t be any purpose for belonging to a community in which I have nothing to contribute. As before, thanks for all your continued help concerning these related matters. Blythe Spirit (talk) 00:31, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

@Blythe Spirit: Thanks for getting back to me.

About the article: Tricky. Wikipedia does allow the sole author of an article to ask for its deletion, but in this case the article was created and worked on by another editor back in 2012, so that case does not apply. I am not confident in judging whether topics meet the Wikipedia notability guideline, and am reluctant to request deletion on that basis. But any editor can remove unsourced or poorly-sourced information from an article, and I may well do that. I hadn't spotted that the book "Le Clown" was written by Bazinet himself. My answer, above, would have been different if I had realised this earlier.

About the images: I have left a note at the Wikimedia Commons help desk linking to your request here. I don't know whether the admins there will decide to delete the images. I suspect not; see Commons:Commons:Courtesy deletions for the guidelines used on that project. After all, you have released them under a CC-BY-SA license, allowing them to be used freely provided they are attributed to the name mentioned on the file description pages.

Your membership: It is not possible to delete user accounts (See Wikipedia:Username policy); the usual advice is just to log out and forget the password. But the name "Blythe Spirit" could be hidden from the history of the article if you first follow the instructions at Wikipedia:Courtesy vanishing.

-- John of Reading (talk) 07:26, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

The book "Le Clown" was authorized by the Canadian government, as part of a circus art series, as he is recognized by the circus world as one of the top clowns, in the business. In other words, the Canadian government commissioned René to do it. He did not independently author it or hire the photographer who was, also, commissioned by the Canadian government to take the photos provided for the publication. If you check on DataHead2112's initial "article" you'll discover that it was comprised of a very few sketchy sentences and no photos, so in essence the article was composed primarily by me, as 69.235.19.92, before I became an official Wikipedia member and afterward, sometimes when I neglected to log-on as Blythe Spirit. I am, in point of fact, the sole author of the article, apart from slight intermittent and unsolicited edits done by seemingly well-intentioned wannabe writers. I have just deleted the pictures and my composition, therefore everything is now gone except for the minor contribution DataHead2112 made. Blythe Spirit (talk) 08:16, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Many Wikipedia articles are quite small, for various reasons. But provided there is enough well-sourced information to pass the notability guideline then that's OK.

I'm intrigued by what you say about the photos here. When you uploaded them, you said they were your own work. Here you say that a photographer was hired by the Canadian government. Were you the photographer? Who owns the copyright in the photographs? -- John of Reading (talk) 09:18, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

You apparently do not pay attention, or do your research, John. :-) The pictures on the Wikipedia page and in Wikimedia are my own work and the pictures submitted for "Le Clown" were taken by another photographer entirely. I had nothing, whatsoever, to do with the book project commissioned by the Canadian government. I just spent five (5) days in late Oct. of 2002, conducting several interview sessions and an exclusive photo-shoot, with René, a few years after "Le Clown" was first published. Please re-read the above messages and in case further clarification is necessary the three (3) photos in Wikimedia are -my- work and I would very much like them to be deleted from the site. Thank you, again, for your assistance in having my request facilitated, since I did not know that I was giving up the right to delete them myself, when I uploaded them there/here. Blythe Spirit (talk) 10:23, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Oops, yes, I made a wrong assumption there. My apologies. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:26, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Apologies accepted. :-) Although I imagine his fans will be very disappointed with what remains of the "article" at least it now complies with Wikipedia's standards... Wishing you the very best in all your quests, John. Blythe Spirit (talk) 10:42, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Once more with feeling, John :-) -|- Unfortunately, this is just what I was afraid would happen, regarding my pictures. Someone, in Canada, has made a video, which they are showing on YouTube and perhaps other similar venues, using my "Bowler & Tux" picture of René Bazinet. The dialogue is in French and it appears to be some sort of homage to René's talent. Since the link/URL cannot be transmitted to you via this User Talk message service all I can give you is the title of the YouTube video, which is as follows: BANVILLE, Théodore de - Le Saut du tremplin. Please inform me as to what I must do to obtain proper accreditation, from this person - for the picture, as this he did not even asked permission, to use the photo, much less give me proper credit for it. I'd greatly appreciate your assistance with this. Thanks! Blythe Spirit (talk) 22:04, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Under the terms of the CC-BY-SA license that you granted, they do not have to ask your permission. And if you pause the video at 4:11 you will see that he has given you credit for the picture. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:16, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Really? He has two (2) versions on YouTube and one he attributes only to Garance Arletty where the credits are written, under the video when the 'more' link is clicked onto. That is the version with the most hits. I'm very confused, now, as the specifics on the picture's Wikimedia page stipulate the follow: "You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work)." Doesn't that at least -imply- that the prospective user needs to -ask- the author if they can use the image? Blythe Spirit (talk) 06:58, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

No, the license does not require re-users to ask you for permission.

I'm looking at the video here, which attributes the image to you at 4:11 in the video, and, I now see, in the text underneath the video as well. He is complying with the terms of the CC-BY-SA license. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:13, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Well, that's hardly fair, as I understood that my work would be -protected- on and by Wikimedia. I found his video on a French Canadian site, too: litteratureaudio -under- gilles-claude-theriault. He may very well be making money from the use of my image. Isn't there any way that Wikipedia and/or Wikimedia can prevent this person and/or any other people from using my image to profit by? As the artist of this work I am very upset about this situation. Please do your best to assist me with what amounts to my worst nightmare, concerning the use of my work. Blythe Spirit (talk) 07:21, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

At litteratureaudio he *also* gives credit to you by name and states that he is re-using the image under the CC-BY-SA license. And the terms of the CC-BY-SA license *allow* re-users to make money from their re-use. Hence the wording at the top of the Wikimedia Commons home page, "a database of 20,714,922 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute". -- John of Reading (talk) 07:32, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Is there nothing that can be done in this case, then? As a photojournalist my work can be profited on by someone who isn't the artist? That is not fair and I was not aware that Wikimedia allows this to happen. Surely you can see why I am justified in requesting that a special exception be made for my images to be deleted from Wikimedia. Please tell me how I can plead my case, if you're unable to do so for me, in this matter, John. Thanks again! 07:45, 8 April 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Blythe Spirit (talk • contribs)

Wikikedia does not "allow it to happen"; you allowed it to happen by releasing the images under a CC-BY-SA license. Commons do sometimes allow images to be deleted by request (Commons:Commons:Courtesy deletions). However, I have already forwarded your deletion request, at Commons:Help desk:Uploads by User:Blythe Spirit, and it was declined by an administrator: "Uploads are old (2012), correctly categorized, in scope, and have CC license which can't be revoked". I can't do any more than that, and I am not aware of any other steps you can take. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:55, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Gee, that's cold, John, and after all we've been through... :-) I allowed my work to be used, for profit, by others? No, that's not what I allowed or thought I was allowing. I lent my work to Wikimedia, in good faith, for an article on Wikipedia, which didn't meet its standards and now my work will be able to be used without my permission, indefinitely by anyone who wishes to do so, for their own purposes. That is not what I understood how my images would be used, nor is it what the statement I copied above implies. Well, if you are an artist, in any medium, you should be able to comprehend my chagrin at this state of affairs. To comply with the notifications you added to the top of the René Bazinet page I attempted to obtain printed material to substantiate the comments in my composition. When that failed I removed the article, since the verification isn't available in the published form that Wikipedia requires. I can only implore you, now, to see it in your heart to check around and find a way to help me out of this current mess, or steer me in the right direction to do it myself. Please, John, help me out... Blythe Spirit (talk) 08:21, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Well, there's an email address listed at Commons:Commons:Contact us/Problems. Your deletion request would then be reviewed by another Commons administrator. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:26, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Oh, thank you -so- much, John. I'll try that avenue, just as soon as I can formulate a compelling synopsis of the circumstances.... Wish me luck and if you could put in a good word, too, I'd be most grateful. :-) Blythe Spirit (talk) 09:02, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Portal Business and Economics

How much stuff do u think we need to remove from the intro to the Portal:Business_and_economics?Lbertolotti (talk) 19:35, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

@Lbertolotti: Have a look at the portals linked from the top right of the Main Page. I think it needs to be three or four paragraphs at most; someone visiting the page, using an ordinary-sized computer screen, needs to see at least the top of the "Selected article" and "Business News". Otherwise he will just click away without realising that the page is interesting. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:35, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

See if this Portal:Business_and_economics/Intro is better now, there are still some problems remaining.Lbertolotti (talk) 22:11, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

I've commented at Portal talk:Business and economics; it's probably best to keep the main discussion going there. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:19, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

See Portal:Business_and_economics/Intro, I think the old problems have been solved now. I've contacted 1muflon1, but he didn't express his views on this matter.Lbertolotti (talk) 09:28, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

My revert

Hello. I reverted some edits, including one of yours, to Portal talk:Current events. From the edits to Portal:Current events/2014 April 8, I'm pretty sure that it was simply vandalism. Cheers —DoRD (talk) 11:58, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

That's fine. I was dithering between giving that brief reply and removing the post entirely. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:55, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

The the fixes!

Thanks for helping fix 'the the' errors, I've fallen off of that job :P I'll hop back on it and help you out when I can. -Newyorkadam (talk) 14:42, 9 April 2014 (UTC)Newyorkadam

950 pages edited this time, only two months after my last attempt. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:42, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

Really? My list had 3,500 left when I started. Maybe it's because mine includes fixes such as 'the The', which I think yours doesn't. I also know that User: Sct72 did some, so that should've helped. -Newyorkadam (talk) 22:59, 9 April 2014 (UTC)Newyorkadam

That's probably right, my regular efforts only look for "the the" and "The the", though with a few complications. I'm currently working on "The The", without the complications. -- John of Reading (talk) 05:44, 10 April 2014 (UTC)