User talk:MJCdetroit/Archive November 1st, 2007 to December 31st, 2007

Standardization

Please look also at {{Infobox RS}} and {{Bosnia and Herzegovina municipalities}}. It seems it would be easy to convert. - Darwinek 23:22, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

User:Duja said he was going to create an Infobox Settlement "wrapper" for the Bosnia and Herzegovina muni... one. The RS one shouldn't be too hard. —MJCdetroit 23:56, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Please look at WP:TFD and vote on Opcina templates. Thanks. - Darwinek 00:01, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

Hi there. Thanks for stepping in to take care of the recent request that I received for Algierian infoboxes. If everything can be handled with Infobox Settlement, then that makes life simpler for all of us. Plus I'm not entirely back from my break - it will still be a couple of months before things settle down again - so I can't dedicate too much time to this at the moment. - 52 Pickup 16:30, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Not a problem, I came across it by chance. Hopefully, it will work out for them. The last thing we need is another infobox when there is one that will do. I moved the discussion over to E's talk page. I am fixin' to go on a wiki-break here soon myself. —MJCdetroit 17:40, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

TfD

Sorry, I haven't been able to get myself down there and comment on that debate you suggested. I've been pretty busy lately and only got your e-mail a little while ago (about a day, I'm lazy ;)). If you still want me to, I'll give my two cents on the template. ~ Sebi 04:50, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

If it hasn't closed. Otherwise, don't bother. However, there are some geography related TfD's that are currently listed that you may want to have your opinion stated in. —MJCdetroit 15:16, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Unit display templates

I found and fixed the problem with the Unit display templates. I think we're probably good to go back to the new version. In fact a number of edits I made last night rely on the new version, some have been reverted but not all. So the old version could well be doing more harm than good. Jɪmp 03:10, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

What was the problem? I ask because many pages like San Francisco City Hall says that it transcludes {{Unit ft}} but my bot nor I can find it. I don't know. I switch tl|convert to the new version now and change the protection so you can edit it, if needed. —MJCdetroit 03:16, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

San Francisco City Hall transcludes {{Buildings in San Francisco}} which transcludes {{Unit ft}}. The problem was an empty parameter. A number of these Unit display templates transcluded {{convert}} with |lk={{{lk|}}} this left lk empty sending the new version to a subtemplate which didn't exist. These had to be defaulted to off. I reckon I got 'em all. Jɪmp 03:28, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

You're exactly two seconds too late. I figured it out too. Thanks, MJCdetroit 03:30, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

That "singular" terminology

Gene Nygaard raised a very good point that

It usually isn't really "singular" vs. "plural" that gives rise to the use of this parameter. Those are terms applicable to nouns. But where that parameter is used is generally in the case of adjectives.

I've adjusted the code to allow for sing to be replaced with adj. I was hoping for a bot to do the switch. Could you unleash one? Once it's done we can dispence with sing. Jɪmp 09:04, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

While "technically" professor English is correct, but everyone is so used to using "sing" and it does seem to make sense—I want to make feet into foot, oh, just add |sing=on. I wouldn't switch it. Funny metaphoric example: Just because we [we being North America, not sure about the rest of the British Empire] use the saying, "I am going to take a shit". Doesn't mean that a person is literately going to stick their hand in the bowl a steal someone's feces. People know that you really mean that one is going to "leave" something and not "take" something. In the template, people KNOW what sing does when they use it. Don't complicate things with technicalities. Just introduce adj into the code and say that it be used in addition/instead of sing. —MJCdetroit 13:08, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Fair enough. I have added adj as you've no doudt noticed. P.S. we say "take a shit" in Australia too. Jɪmp 00:42, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

New York maps

I noticed that you added a number of maps to Adirondack-area articles on Nov. 11. Coincidentally, I was thinking about doing something similar, only I wanted the map to show the Adirondack Park, so I put in a request at Wikipedia talk:Blank maps, and voila (User:Jackaranga was kind enough to fulfill my request). The problem is, I don't see how to get Template:Infobox Settlement to use the new map. Can you point me in the right direction? TIA, Mwanner | Talk 22:13, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

The "pushpin_map" is generated from {{Location map}} more specifically in the this specific case {{Location map New York}} because you entered "New York" in the pushpin_map field. I don't think it would be wise to replace that specific map. However, it looks like USer:Jackaranga actually used that map and superimposed the green park blob on it. Therefore, I'll try to add a secondly named map for your use. —MJCdetroit 02:59, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Done. See your Santa Clara example for details —MJCdetroit 02:59, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Great! Many thanks! -- Mwanner | Talk 13:05, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Not a problem, took about 3 minutes to do. —MJCdetroit13:21, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

I see locator maps all over New York now (not just the 55 you mentioned earlier on my talk page). BIG TIME THANKS! Ideally New York should have its customized locator maps on each state like most other states but that's probably not going to happen since the number is so huge. Again BIG TIME THANKS! (p.s. if you have any power over the county template, it sure would be nice to give it some of the flexibility that is now in the settlement box). Americasroof 10:14, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

File:Interlingual Barnstar.png		The Geography Barnstar
		For the Savior of New York who has crawled hundreds (thousands?) of sites to put locator maps on Empire State articles so we can at last find out where we are! Americasroof (talk) 11:05, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I've tweaked those New York settings and started making similar changes across each state in the union. The changes have been well received by all. One place it made a big difference was in Maine. Those articles hardly had any maps at all. —MJCdetroit (talk) 13:47, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Detroitbot malfunction

Bot appears to have modified information in the article rathe than just modifying style issues. Article was San Diego County, California. You can look at history to see problem. Notice land area change after bot modified labels, etc. I undid the bot's changes.--Markisgreen 16:17, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, MJCdetroit 16:46, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Unit display template deletion

Hi MJCdetroit, I see you have nominated some of the {{Unit *}} templates for deletion. Can you tell me, does {{Convert}} now support all the conversions carried out by all of the the Category:Unit display templates. If not which ones are missing (you can ignore Smoot)? By the way, thank you for all you have done with {{Convert}}. -- PatLeahy (talk) 20:04, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm gonna be gone for a while (starting later today), so I didn't want to list anymore of those for TfD. Convert can handle all of those Unit displays expect for smoot (which is only used in Boston) and lbf. Jimp can add a pounds force to newtons and other force units. Ask him.

I haven't looked but I image that some of the Unit display templates are still used by some articles. However, most of those can be TfD'd. —-- MJCdetroit (talk) 20:24, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

US County

(I posted a note on Template talk:Infobox U.S. County; please reply there.) I thought you'd want to know that I found an error on a page rendered from the template. I don't have time to look at it now. Timneu22 (talk) 02:21, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Infobox Settlement vs. Geobox

Hi MJCdetroit. This is a follow-up to the discussion we've been having on User talk:CapitalR, but starts a new topic, so I'll post it here. I've since discovered Template:Geobox, and the way it handles flag icons. You would use country = United States and country_flag = true, and the template calls {{flagicon}} directly to render the image. Geobox also does the same thing for state_flag. I think that's a good approach. I'm not familiar with the WikiProject work around those templates; is there a plan to migrate towards Geobox, or is there a reason to have two parallel infobox templates? Thanks, Andrwsc (talk) 21:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

We were discussing it, but I don't know if it is going to happen. They do work slightly different. User:Kotniski has a better understanding of how Geobox's code work than I (actually I've been too lazy/busy to look at it) and he has brought some of geobox's better features over to Infobox Settlement. If the flag=true thing is doable, then he would know best. However, because Infobox Settlement does not use parameters named "country" and "state", the fields should be named something like subdivision_flag...subdivision_flag1...etc. —MJCdetroit (talk) 21:29, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, I haven't looked much at Geobox's code either, I just know something about its features... But I don't see any reason why the same method of handling flag icons couldn't be transferred from there to Infobox Settlement. (In my instances of {{Infobox Settlement}} for Poland I've simply used the {{POL}} template, which displays both the flag and the wikilinked country name.) I also think it would be a good idea to merge Infobox Settlement with Geobox (this was discussed in various places not long ago), but I don't know whether the editor community is ready for such a radical change, For example, the two boxes have different display styles for the header, and this is something some editors (admittedly including myself) get sensitive about.--Kotniski (talk) 21:56, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Request for Spider of Unincorporated areas and other non-mapped areas using settlement template

I'm glad to see you back. I was really afraid I had scared you off of Wikipedia as I thought you had manually added the pushpins for New York which for hundreds (thousands?) of articles. Since you're back you have to be punished. Could you spider all the NY CDP's with the template that are not covered by your initial bots? New York has a governing structure which has intimidated mapmakers for years (there's lots of unincorporated areas even in the NYC suburbs) that report first up to towns and then up to counties. Those unincorporated areas which are sometimes huge in population terms leave the police et al functions up to the county and don't have the time or desire to manage that themselves. I have manually updated all the CDPs on Long Island in Suffolk and Nassau counties including uploading a U.S. Census map. While I might reluctantly venture to the other suburbs, it might be faster to update the other locations so there is something there (my preference is the that the label is set to "none").

As a sidenote, I see there's a bizarre competition between geobox and settlement box. Here's my .02. The settlement box is perfectly designed in all respects. I wish it could standardize all settlements. The geobox is perfectly designed to handle everything else that has a geographic component (e.g., houses, factories, canals, bodies of water, etc.). I wish that it had not ventured into some cities which I watch (e.g., in Illinois). Thanks again. Americasroof (talk) 04:30, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

It looks like it is doable using this Category:Unincorporated communities in New York and its sub-categories. You just want a map added eh? —MJCdetroit (talk) 13:38, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. That looks like that should catch them (I assume you would also include the subcategories as well). Spot checking them. The infobox is on most of those pages. Presumably the bot will not make any changes if the pushpin is already present. And yes, the map is the only thing I'm requesting. Again many, many thanks. Maybe New York will finally enter the wikipedia age now! ;-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Americasroof (talk • contribs) 14:42, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

I tweaked the old bot settings. Please check my last few contribs to NY articles. I started at Adams Center. You'll notice that when there was already a map the pushpin was not added to it and if there wasn't an infobox (like in Adrian) then the bot will not add an infobox. If want a bot to add an infobox then you'll have to ask User:CapitalR to run his bot. I also did some MOSNUM formating. If those edits are good with you then I will turn the bot on tomorrow. —MJCdetroit (talk) 03:09, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Detroiterbot is currently doing its thing, but many pages do not have an infobox. —MJCdetroit 20:03, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

re. Username

As a chemist, I can say: Great user name. As you all ready know, DHMO must be handled with care! It has been found in every form of cancer cell ever studied. I work with the pure grade of it everyday in my lab. I am sure that you have seen this before, but if not: www.dhmo.org. Keep Rockin' —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:55, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I handled some DHMO at work today. Terrible, terrible stuff - especially when combined with soap. You wouldn't believe how clean my hands felt afterwards! :P — Dihydrogen Monoxide 05:23, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

keep your American Measurements in America please

sorry I had to revert your edit to the Gilbert Islands article (redundant information, plus the table looked totally cluttered), but do you really want to go around the whole world and add your redundant square miles to the area figures? I think there is an understanding that American Measurements are not used in articles on areas outside the U.S.A.--Ratzer (talk) 16:47, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Miles are not used only in the US. Besides, since this is English Wikipedia and the majority of English speakers (unfortunately) understand miles better than kilometres, it seems right that miles figures should be given for all places, regardless of the location. Other language Wikipedias, of course, will use the units appropriate to those languages.--Kotniski (talk) 10:49, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

You may be right in the first one: besides U.S.A., also Myanmar and Liberia have not adopted the metric system, although I'm not certain if they use miles. You are wrong in assuming that the majority of English speakers understand miles better than kilometers, certainly not if you count those who use English as a second language, like myself.--Ratzer (talk) 16:57, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

You are so wrong in so many ways. By your logic, Americans should read only articles about America. Wikipedia is meant to be used by everyone—including you. —MJCdetroit (talk) 17:12, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

No, you should also read articles about the Gilbert Islands if that's what you are interested in. And if you like to know the size of the lagoon of Tarawa Atoll in terms of units more familiar to you, you can use a calculator, Excel, or Google, instead of cluttering a compact table with redundant information.--Ratzer (talk) 21:21, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, miles are the normal unit in Great Britain as well (though the Republic of Ireland now uses metric road signs, I understand). My preference for km comes from living in Poland for the past 15 years.--Kotniski (talk) 17:58, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, I just searched tables about administrative subdivisions of Great Britain in the English Wikipedia, and found them uncluttered by redundant American units, such as [1] and [2]. Would be nice if you left those tables like they are.--Ratzer (talk) 21:29, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, Ratzer is now dictating how wikipedia should read to the rest of us despite the long established practice of having both metric and U.S./Imperial units present. If you don't like it, maybe you should edit in your first language, German and dictate how things should be done over there.—MJCdetroit (talk) 21:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Right, I'm the big Wikipedia dictator. Hey man, don't you see how polemic you get when you run out of arguments or examples that would strengthen your case?--Ratzer (talk) 06:35, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

No, I just don't like people rudely dictating to me how they "think" wikipedia should be, despite the fact that it is 100% contrary to the a long standing practice that is backed by the MOS. Then again, you already knew that because of some of the arguments [on the same subject] that you've had with other editors in the past. For that reason, I don't need to strengthen my case. Even if I had a mountain of examples, a mile high, there would be no convincing you of the merits of them because you have a clear hatred of "American Measurements". There are other things that could be said based on your rude tone but it's better if I limit this conversion to the facts and just end it now.—MJCdetroit (talk) 13:52, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not dictating anything to anyone. And you keep whining about my "rude" tone, never mind that my first word in the whole debate was "sorry". Hatred? Not really. I do have a clear preference for SI, but why should I hate other measurements, they are not bad per se (I have even started articles about some historic measurements, e.g. de:Dezimal, because I feel the knowledge about thm should be preserved). I rather think your user box "SI-0" shows hatred toward the metric system. If there's anything I "hate", it's redundancy, blowing something up without providing additional information. Then, you say that you want to limit this conversion (conversation?) to the facts, but instead you speculate and use the subjunctive. Since you dug out my past arguments with "other editors" "on the same subject", I may tell you that my debate with user Avarette was different in some important aspects (besides the fact that this user did indeed stick to the facts). First, it was about an article regarding an area belonging to the U.S.A. Second, it was about using American measurements in the text of the article, not in a table. Not even that user wanted to add American measurements to the island table in the Mule Keys article, which shows island sizes in square meters only (as originally provided by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and exclusively in square meters in their source tables). Never mind that the Mule Keys belong to the U.S.A. Now if you think you can apply the MOS to statistical tables, we need to discuss that on MOS discussion page. You see, the MOS is a constantly developing and evolving thing (unfortunately I haven't taken the time to participate in the past, since I was more preoccupied with adding contents to Wikipedia). Some things just have not been defined yet, such as multiple measurements in statistical tables. Look at the islands table in the article Channel_Islands_of_California, with square miles, km², feet, and meters. It looks horrible, IMHO, but, since the Channel Islands are part of U.S.A. (although some argue they are still Mexican since they were not included in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo), I left it out of respect for your country where many people still prefer historical over metric measurements (a preference that I had underestimated in the past). Maybe some more knowledgeable Wikipedians can program a clickable toggle for statistical tables (much like the sort buttons you see in some Wikipedia tables), that would allow a reader to switch a complete table between American and Metric measurements with one click.--Ratzer (talk) 10:42, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Hungry? Here's a little snack for you on your birthday, from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day, MJCdetroit/Archive November 1st, 2007 to December 31st, 2007!

Marlith ^T/C 03:22, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Happy 2nd (???) birthday! Didn't realise they employ chemists at some young ages :P (Obviously this is a wiki-birthday, but I won't let that stand in my way xD) — Dihydrogen Monoxide 21:49, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

red dog mine map

Howdy MJCDetroit -

Good add of the map on Red Dog Mine page. It needed it. Although the map shows the mine out in the ocean for some reason - that should be fixed. (I double checked the WGS84 coordinates given in the article - they are good.)

Could you delete/remove the AREA and POPULATION boxes? They are misleading and bad info.

I don't know why Red Dog has come to be a census-designated area or how the US Census decided on 66 square miles. Probably some of the mineworkers called it home on their census reports. Some workers, working 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off, have gone homeless for extended periods, just traveling the world or staying with friends or families on the off shifts.

Consider that the 2000 US Census also reports that there are 0 (zero) housing units at Red Dog! But on any given day or night of the year there are hundreds of people there.

The Census data is wrong wrong silly bad.

If you want the wiki article on Red Dog to accurately report the 2000 US Census statistics you don't need to make any changes.

If you want the article to accurately report on what exists at Red Dog delete that stuff about area and population from the new map boxes.

Tx CGX CGX (talk) 05:45, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Template:Location map Alaska was calibrated incorrectly. I tweaked it and it seems to put Red Dog and Anchorage in the right places now, so I know it is correct now. As far as the Census data goes, User:CapitalR's bot placed that data there with verifiable data from the United States Census Bureau. Given that it is verifiable, we must use the government's data, unless you have a different verifiable source. I left the Area and population alone. Please talk to CapitalR about census data. He maybe able to shed some light on to it. —MJCdetroit (talk) 13:25, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

This is an unusual case. The Red Dog Mine is an large industrial project plopped down in the middle of nowhere. The Red Dog Mine census area is a paper construct, the statistics on which do not record at all the reality on the ground at Red Dog. If it is neccesary that the Wikipedia article on the Red Dog Mine also carry information on the Red Dog census area, then perhaps the article needs to clearly state what information in the article applies to the census area and what information applies to the mine. They are not the same thing, conflating them is an error.

Thanks, I'll see if CapitalR can help. CGX, CGX (talk) 20:40, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

You're welcome. You have much more knowledge than I do on the matter and as you said it is an unusual case and CapitalR can help with the census stuff. I just had my bot put a map to it (and several others in Alaska). —MJCdetroit (talk) 21:16, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

CapitalR, Nyttend, MJCdetroit - Short story - Can you guys seperate the Red Dog Mine page from the Red Dog Mine CDP page, or do one of the other recommendations in the long story?

Long story: Red Dog Mine is not the Red Dog Mine CDP.

The current Red Dog Mine page is very misleading:it intermingles information about the Red Dog Mine and the Red Dog Mine CDP.

Let us please either; remove from the Red Dog Mine page all reference to the Red Dog Mine CDP , or, put a link to a seperate Red Dog Mine CDP page on the Red

Dog Mine page, or, put a small section on the Red Dog Mine page about the curious case of the Red Dog Mine CDP.

Argument:

The very first, critically important, sentence in the article currently states, "Red Dog Mine is a zinc and lead mine and a census-designated place (CDP) in

the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska."

This may easily lead a reader to think that the Red Dog Mine is the exact same thing as the Red Dog Mine CDP, or at least corresponds closely. This is not at

all true. The actual physical footprint of human disturbance at the mine is very different from the outline of the CDP. There is, in fact, no meaningful

relationship at all between the Red Dog Mine and the reported statistics of the Red Dog Mine CDP, other than the geographical coordinates.

The first sentence would be vastly improved if it read something clumsy like, "Red Dog Mine is a zinc and lead mine in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the

U.S. state of Alaska. Although the mine falls geographically within the Red Dog Mine census-designated place (CDP), the statistics for the Red Dog Mine CDP

have no relationship at all to the Red Dog Mine."

I understand that the names are very similar, and that Red Dog Mine falls, geographically, within the Red Dog Mine CDP, but they are very different entities

that should not be mixed together willy-nilly.

Support for Argument:

It is very easy to draw hugely incorrect conclusions about the Red Dog Mine from the Census 2000 statistics for the Red Dog Mine CDP.

Why?

All employees at Red Dog are remote workers. They live somewhere else in the world and stay at Red Dog, at the mine, in a big hotel sort of place, for two to

four weeks at a time. For every two weeks at the mine, a worker gets one week off. Thus, during their Red Dog careers, Red Dog employees spend 2/3 of their

lives at the mine.

Only a few dozen, out of the hundreds of workers at Red Dog, chose to list their work site (i.e., Red Dog) as their residence in census 2000. The other

approximately 450 employees listed some Alaska town, or New York, or wherever as their home. Thus the census figures do not report the actual situation on

the ground at Red Dog. The census figures report only that 32 out of the hundreds of workers at Red Dog chose to report Red Dog as their residence. Yet the

only actual difference at Red Dog between these 32 and their hundreds of co-workers is how they filled out a piece of paperwork. (see Note 1 below)

If Wikipedia simply presents the Red Dog CDP data on the Red Dog Mine page, it will lead Wikipedia readers to think that there are 32 people, with

mathematically impossible income, living on the tundra with no housing whatsoever, within the boundaries of the Red Dog Mine CDP.

The actual situation is that there is a hotel-like accommodation at the Red Dog Mine, which houses hundreds of mine-workers at any given time. The 32 people

reporting to the Red Dog CDP are a subset of these hundreds, not because of the way or where they live, but because of how they filled out their census

paperwork.

On any given day, hundreds of people "live" in the Red Dog Mine CDP, all of them at Red Dog Mine. But none of them really live there, they are workers,

consultants, etc, staying at the hotel-like Personnel Accomadation Center (PAC).

It is not neccesary to refute the statistics presented by Census 2000 for the Red Dog Mine CDP. It is simply neccesary to recognize that the CDP is not the

mine. CGXCGX (talk) 04:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Is there some reason that you can not cut and paste the needed information into two separate articles? Be bold and do it. We'll proofread it when you're done. —MJCdetroit (talk) 04:24, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Poland geoboxes

Hi, you asked me some time ago if I was going to convert the remaining Geoboxes for Polish villages (Category:Villages in Lower Silesian Voivodeship and its subcategories) into Infoboxes. Well, I said I would, but I seem to be lacking the time to do it, so if you have the bot already set up and have the urge to do it, please go ahead. But there is an issue with some of the Geobox fields which have automatic linking, i.e. the parameter value is automatically converted into a link if the article exists. Ideally the conversion tool would change such values to the linked equivalent (i.e. put double square brackets round them if they exist as the names of articles). I think last time you ran your bot on some of these articles such parameters ended up unlinked in the Infobox.--Kotniski (talk) 14:17, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

I'll have to look at the settings file for that. It has been a while. My bot is currently set up to do things in U.S. based articles. When that task is done, I'll see about going through the Polish ones. However, it won't be anytime soon, sorry. —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:55, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

OK, no problem. The articles are perfectly fine as they are, so I don't see any urgency, it's just a question of consistency within the category. Maybe I'll get round to doing something with them over the Christmas hols.--Kotniski (talk) 16:03, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

If I get to it first, I'll let you know; otherwise, have a merry Christmas (Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia). —MJCdetroit (talk) 16:21, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Dziękuję bardzo - hope you have a happy Christmas too, with a great New Year to follow:)--Kotniski (talk) 19:44, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Finally, started but something is not right with the settings. When I come to a page that is an Infobox Settlement page, the settings delete the "offical_name" field; so I had to run it manually. I'll try and figure it out (maybe tomorrow). —MJCdetroit (talk) 03:04, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

I also noticed another problem - the bot seems to convert Geobox's "state type" to subdivision 4 (the smallest subdivision) instead of 1.--Kotniski (talk) 09:17, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, that wasn't the "bot's" fault, that was mine. I guess that is one of the things that I definitely don't like about the geobox design-- the Country, region, state, district name scheme. I personally consider "region" of a higher order than "state" because I live in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., to which the state of Michigan is a part of. Of course as demo'd this is not the same all over the world. Shame on me, I should have caught that, and that still doesn't explain why I put Voivodeship at the smallest subdivision, but at the very least they all line up across from the correct parameter partner. I very much prefer the "subdivision" scheme of infobox settlement because it eliminates any geographical naming bias like region vs. state. In any case, is this the correct order for Poland: Country (obviously), Voivodeship, County (powiat), Gmina? Let me know for sure and I'll adjust it. —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:16, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, that's right. My preferences for the respective linked labels (subdivsion_types) are: [[Voivodeships of Poland|Voivodeship]], [[Powiat|County]], [[Gmina]] (though different schemes have been used in the past, by me and others). --Kotniski (talk) 14:49, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

(outdent)Yeap, I prefer to link the subdivisions too. Thanks, —MJCdetroit (talk) 15:21, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Tibet geo boxes

Hi MJ hope you are well. A chinese wikipedian has just brought it to my attnetion that the Tibetan places don't have a parameter for settlement type. If you compare Zhengzhou with Deleg for example it doesn't show the city type. Could you look into it and contact User talk:Neo-Jay to discuss. Thanks ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 18:39, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

I also need you to look into how I would go about adding an infobox for all of the counties in Tibet such as Coqên County. Is there an infobox Chinese district or something? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 18:56, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Settlement type at the top is because "name" was used instead of "offical_name". I made a change to Deleg to allow this to display up top; revert if you wish. It is a little known "trick" that was recently added. I'll contact N.J. too. Also, I'll see what I can do for the county you described. —MJCdetroit (talk) 20:11, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your help!--Neo-Jay (talk) 06:53, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks buddy. Meryy Christmas! ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 11:02, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Hi, could you please look into the infobox problem in Burang County? It seems that when seat_type and seat are added to the infobox, then a blank area will be showed on the top of the page. I don't know why. I appreciate it if you can help.--Neo-Jay (talk) 12:46, 19 December 2007 (UTC)--Neo-Jay (talk) 12:46, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

I already asked someone about it.—MJCdetroit (talk) 12:57, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Looks like the problem was my ignorance of HTML - I only just worked out the closing tr tags have to be on separate lines. Now this change has been made to the template, everything should be fine.--Kotniski (talk) 20:13, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Cool. I burnt my eyes out trying to look at it, but then again I'm a chemist and not a computer programmer. —MJCdetroit (talk) 20:25, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

Darwinek wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Hi Michael! I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year. Looking forward for further cooperation in 2008. - Darwinek (talk) 11:56, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you and I wish the same on to you and yours during this Christmas season. MJCdetroit (talk) 14:41, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Commercial link in Gaylord, Michigan

I note that 24.180.198.126 continues repeatedly to put in a link to a website that starts with the heading

"REAL ESTATE IS MY BUSINESS"

There is nothing else on that website. It is a commercial link, pure and simple. It does NOT belong in Wikipedia.

Moreover, he/she removes links to the Chamber of Commerce, which actually has lots of community information links, and to the airport. This is very strange.

Apparently this contributory wants to be the ONLY 'official Wikipedia endorsed real estate agent in Gaylord, Michigan.

It is wrong.

I don't know what to do, but would be happy to entertain any suggestions or assistance. 7&6=thirteen (talk) 18:19, 25 December 2007 (UTC)Stan

The user has been warned by User:JHunterJ on their talk page. I added the a small part about Grayling too. If this IP address continues posting these links, we can take a different course of action. Just let me (or any admin) know if it continues. —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:03, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

RL Measurements

Looking through it seems you have added pounds alone to the infobox. This does not seem appropriate for measurement of a person for either an Australian or British perspective. While the effort to bring details to a better standard is welcome, it appears that this measurement detracts from the article. CorleoneSerpicoMontana (talk) 08:44, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

No, I used {{convert}} to convert stones pounds to X st X lb (X lb/X kg). This displays all three methods of weighing ones weight used in the English world. I explained this over at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Rugby league. —MJCdetroit (talk) 13:43, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Looking through you appear to have added lbs alone to the RL infoboxes. I have no problem with the removal of the pluralised lbs for a st and lb measurement, however it seems unnecessary, ungainly, unwarranted and ultimately unwanted. I have no problem with the little jobs that you may wish to do in relation to the removal of an s, however the addition of a foreign measurement when dealing with the weight of a human within the SL or NRL arena is out of order. Londo06 (talk) 14:23, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I added pounds using a conversion template. I did not take away or remove stones or kg (which are both equally as 'foreign' to someone from the US or Canada). Removal of the (xxx lb/xx kg) actually violates the MOS and is out of order. —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:34, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

No I believe I stated added, which does not involve taking away or removing. It doesn't belong there, as a st and lb measurement for an equally insular sport American Football would seem inappropriate. lbs alone as a weight offers no description of familiarity or frame of reference to anyone within Australasia or the UK. I'd imagine something similar would be apparent when trying to give the weight of an American Football player in st and lb measurements. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Londo06 (talk • contribs) 14:47, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

And if you did add stones to say, Template:Infobox NFLactive, I would support you in such an addition. —MJCdetroit (talk) 15:07, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Locked? U.S. County

Ideas why Template:Infobox U.S. County is locked? Timneu22 (talk) 22:07, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Here's what the Protection log said verbatim:

13:56, 15 December 2007 Shimgray (Talk | contribs | block) protected Template:Infobox U.S. County ‎ (high-use template; vandalism target [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

It looks like Shimgray protected it. Do you need it unprotected? I'd be glad to do that. —MJCdetroit (talk) 02:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

My changes are done. Do you want to protect it again or do I have to go through the stinkin' formal process? Thanks again Timneu22 (talk) 14:17, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Reapplied protection. —MJCdetroit (talk) 20:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

More Tibet

Weather averages for {{{location}}}
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Source: {{{source}}} {{{accessdate}}}

Hi MJ hope the christmas period is going well for you. I have a request can you add the tibetan.chinese paramters to the infobox monarch -it is needed on articles like Songtsän Gampo and Tenzin Gyatso etc etc where we have the unsightly extra boxes which bloat the article. Can't this be needly written into the monarch infobox for tibetan and chinese leaders like with the settlements? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 12:45, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

E.g this needs writing into the monarch box so it is just one:

MJCdetroit/Archive November 1st, 2007 to December 31st, 2007
Tibetan name
Tibetan	སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ་
Transcriptions Wylie srong btsan sgam po THL Songtsen Gampo Tibetan Pinyin Songzain Gambo Lhasa IPA soŋtsɛ̃kampo
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	松贊干布
Simplified Chinese	松赞干布
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sōngzàn Gānbù

♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 12:47, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Could you also look into adding the korean parameters into the main actor template -again for the same reasons to avoid the cluttering blue box. Thanks ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 19:17, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I'll look into it within a few days. —MJCdetroit (talk) 20:33, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

OK. Another thing sorry to keep you busy like this -I'm wondering why there isn't a locator map for Cambodia like ther eis with Burma, Tibet etc. I need to add a locator map to pages like Battambang etc ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 14:50, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

One may not be available in the commons. I'll check it out. Does the example work for you? —MJCdetroit (talk) 14:56, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

This might work: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Cambodia-map-blank.PNG

Done. See Phnom Penh and Battambang. MJCdetroit (talk) 16:34, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

MC Detroit (in my best Ali G voice: aiii respek to my main man -LOL sounds like a real hard nut gangster rapper you'd see on stage with the Method Man lol). You are a terrific human being. Thankyou that cambodian map looks wonderul -also thanks for commenting in the Burma template tfd. Given time there is no reason why these can't become full articles - some districts in developed countries like USA and UK would have multitple templates for articles even within them so it is important to at least sort of out districts which covers a fairly big area of the country. Yes I'm currently putting Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Vietnam on the map so to speak. Yesterday I completed a template on Tibetan Buddhism which I hope will be a useful asset for Tibetan articles. ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ ^Talk? 11:09, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

I'll transfer the extra name codes to the monarch infobox soon. —MJCdetroit (talk) 15:45, 6 January 2008 (UTC)