User talk:Finell

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Welcome!

Welcome!

Hello, Finell, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome!  RJFJR 04:01, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for Welcome!

Dear RJFJR: Thanks for the Welcome message you left on my Talk page! I am curious how you even noticed my existence. Are you the official welcoming committee?? Thanks again. Finell 02:12, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

I'm the officially unofficial (or vice-versa) welcome committee. Which just means that I remember appreciating it when someone left the welcome message for me so I try to do it for new wikipedians in return. Have fun! RJFJR 02:21, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Stub text

No, I didn't notice your note until you pointed it out to me. As for your other question, did you click the discussion tab when reading User:Rdsmith4/me? If not, I have no idea why that happened. It's not possible to modify the behavior of the tabs. In any case, I redirected User talk:Rdsmith4/me to my real talk page to avoid future confusion. — Dan | Talk 02:41, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Right, he was reading User:Rdsmith4/me and clicked "discussion" intending to leave me a message, but left it in the wrong place. The page is fine as a redirect. — Dan | Talk 19:22, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you for your support and kind words on my RfA. Much appreciated. ≈ jossi fresco ≈ 04:05, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

Golden mean, Golden Mean, ZGolden mean

What exactly were you trying to do with these moves/redirects? It seems to me that all you really needed to do was edit the original version of "Golden mean" and change the redirect to point to Golden Mean. Am I missing something? Owen× ☎ 12:41, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

Nicomachean Ethics

Thanks for your help with the introduction--it looks much better now. I made sure the article was accurate, but the writing style isn't always very good. Some of the other paragraphs could probably use some help too. I would like to link to golden mean from NicEth, but I'll wait until it gets sorted out a little. WhiteC 15:06, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Thank you, Finell!

Thank you for your support on my RfA, and for the very kind words. Both are sincerely appreciated. Look forward to collaborate further with you. ≈ jossi fresco ≈ t • @ 14:54, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Sig

Here, Shell <e> 02:06, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Solar eclipse

Uh, why did you comment out the entire latter part of the article? [1] -- Curps 05:17, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Would an Admin PLEASE help me? I am NOT a vandal. I did not mean to comment out ANY part of the text of Solar eclipse. In the course of copyediting 1 section of Solar eclipse, I added 3 words in capital letters at the end of a comment that someone else had already inserted, agreeing with that comment. Did I inadvertently overwrite the end of comment tag that was already there?

When I saved my edit and saw what happened to the article, I immediately tried to revert my own edit, but I was alrady BLOCKED. I tried to respond on Admin Curps's Talk page, but I couldn't because I'm BLOCKED. When I tried to email Admin Curps as the User is blocked" page suggested, I couldn't: I got an error message saying that I can't email either because I am not logged in (but I was) or because I don't have a valid email address in my preferences (but I do).

I am aware that this featured article has been plagued with vandalism. But PLEASE look at my whole edit history on Solar eclipse. PLEASE look at my 2 signed comments toward the end of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Solar_eclipse#All_messed_up . PLEASE look at my whole edit history on Wikipedia. PLEASE post my response on User_talk:Curps or email it to him.

My IP address 75.6.227.164 is also blocked.

Thanks. Finell (Talk) 07:04, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Looks like the blocker realised this was a genuine mistake very quickly (see the block log [2]). However I guess the auto blocker has caught you, I'll undo those. --pgk^(talk) 09:50, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry if I missed any autoblocks, I think I checked for them and didn't find any. It's not clear why you weren't able to send e-mail, my e-mail is working fine and I receive e-mails daily. However, your edit did more than just add capital letters at the end of an HTML comment, you also added an HTML end comment string at the very end of the article (after the +zh interwiki link, and far away from the site of those capital letters) [3]. So despite what you said above, it really seems like you did intend to comment out the entire latter part of the article... probably you were experimenting and inadvertently saved that experiment to the actual page instead of the Wikipedia:Sandbox. Unfortunately, Solar eclipse was prominently linked from the main page, as a recent featured article, and we've had a lot of vandalism to such prominently featured articles lately, so it was a bit trigger-happy, but I did unblock the account name a minute later. Perhaps there really ought to be an option to unblock autoblocks at the same time that a username is unblocked. -- Curps 01:44, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Saints Wikiproject

I noted that you have been contributing to articles about saints. I invite you to join the WikiProject Saints. You can sign up on the page and add the following userbox to your user page.

This user is a member of the Saints WikiProject.

Thanks! --evrik 19:27, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

history of astronomy articles

Finell, I am pleased to see your recent enthusiast contributions to astronomical history articles. One request: could you be less aggressive in editing, and try keep the number of edit sessions limited? I now see >10 changes a day in one article, it is hard to keep up reviewing them. Tom Peters 13:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Finell, I gave you the wrong answer on the meaning of VAT in reference to clay tablets: it is an abbreviation for Vorder-Asiatische Tontafelsammlung, and they are (or used to be) kept in Berlin musea, not in the Vatican. Tom Peters 22:41, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Golden Ratio

Thanks for the compliment you posted on my Talk page regarding the Golden Ratio graphic, I wrote a short reply to it there. Good luck on the article. -Eisnel 20:02, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Golden Ratio in Geometry

Steven, I am not sure what you are asking about. Last I checked I could not detect any material that I added to the Golden Ratio page. Do you know where the link has gone? I am pretty sure there was one to one of the pages at my site, with all the proofs and relevant sources for a follow-up. Did you find any wrong with this arrangement? -Alexb@cut-the-knot.com 21:19, 3 October 2006 (EST)

Steven, sorry. Absolutely forgot about what I did. The piece about the 4:3 ratio appeared in one of Keith Devlin's columns at the MAA site a few years back. If need be I can find it. As to the potential of the wide screen, this is of course a speculation, but a reasonable one, in view of the mystical aesthetic value ascribed to the Golden Ratio. There is a nice link to a misconceptions page. -Alexb@cut-the-knot.com 21:41, 3 October 2006 (EST)

Fibonacci

Eh? Minor? To be frank, I didn't even known you can mark moves as minor. I must have thought I was marking the target for deletion! Dunno how that happened. - CrazyRussian talk/email 16:23, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, er, thanks for the heads up. I am totally aware of minor edits. I just didn't know that MOVES could be marked minor. As an admin I do in fact know uh... a lot.

As to your main point, I corrected all the double-redirects, and no, I don't think it's a good idea to bypass all redirects. Some redirects, yes, definitely not all. For example, the article for "3" should continue stating that it's a Fibonacci number. I think that's quite fine. There's no policy here that all redirects should be bypassed. - CrazyRussian talk/email 17:07, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Mathematics: Canadian mass nouns

Do you mean "mass nouns" or "math nouns"? Till 15 September the text was still The word "mathematics" is often abbreviated math in the U.S. and Canada and maths in Britain, Ireland, Australia and many other Commonwealth countries.[4] Then it was changed to North America, after some discussion, now in the archives. If one defines the Google hit operator Gh by Gh[X] = the number of Google hits for search term "X", and the maths ratio for site S by mr_S = Gh[maths site:S]/Gh[mathematics site:S], we find experimentally that mr_.uk ≈ 0.95, whilst mr_.ca ≈ 0.07, supporting the theory of Canadian neighbourly conformance. I'm somewhat reluctant to transform this insight into a contribution to our article Canadian English (North American English confines itself to the U.S.), as it is based on original research. The article seems to take the position anyway that by default the lexicon for Canadian English is the same as for American English, as it mainly documents the differences between these two.  --Lambiam^Talk 20:14, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Lavinia Williams

Finell, thanks for your kind comment regarding Lavinia Williams. Sorry I haven't been around much to reply. You suggested I list the additional citations I found (and mentioned on the article's talk page) under "References" in the article itself. The only thing is, I have no idea if they are real, trustworthy, or accurately transcribed. The citations on the talk page (as opposed to the ones in the articles) are citations I have seen references to online, but where I have not actually seen or heard the books, videos, or audiotapes myself, and could not even find them listed in library catalogs that I checked. I mentioned them on the talk page to give people who wanted to work on the article ideas for places to look, but I didn't want to just blindly propagate them into the article before someone checked up on them. EsdnePyaJ 04:46, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Please Do Not Vandalize My Talk Page

Adding your information to my talk page is not appropriate. A word is not inherently a personal attack, and using the "dick rule" is quite appropriate. If you have a complaint about it, find the talk page there, and do not edit my page because you disagree with something that is tossed around by many editors and admin as a good rule of thumb. SanchiTachi 04:36, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Dear SanchiTachi:

The views expressed in your item "The Following Words are Not Personal Attack Terms" are misleading and are a dangerous endorsement of personal attacks and incivility, particularly to individuals who are new to the Wikipedia community. Do you really contend that if someone wrote on Wikipedia that you are a dick or a bully, or that you behave like one, that would not constitute a personal attack? Therefore, I added corrective information that is documented by the Wikipedia official policy statements that were linked in what I added.

Furthermore, you should take to heart the comments of other Wikipedians who have expressed the view that some of your conduct has been uncivil or has constituted personal attacks, and consider that they may not all be mistaken. At least, consider whether your contributions to Wikipedia would be more effective and more readily accepted it you stopped engaging in conduct that several other Wikipedians view as disruptive. Also, you may find greater satisfaction in your participation here if your conduct is not the object of this sort of criticism. I am not suggesting that you avoid controversy, but rather that you advocate your position on controversial issues more effectively.

As for the immediate issue of your item "The Following Words are Not Personal Attack Terms", I suggest that you do one of the following: (1) Delete the item; or (2) Restore my response in the interest of balance. Of these, I believe that the first one would be best.

Regarding your accusation that my addition was vandalism, please review Wikipedia:Vandalism and you will see that it is not: I did not change or delete what you wrote. If, after reviewing that statement of official policy, you still contend that my addition was vandalism, please either invoke Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism or commence formal dispute resolution, so the issue can be resolved authoritatively.

Finell (Talk) 05:47, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Disrupting user pages is vandalism. You had no purpose there except to try and be argumentative, which goes against Wiki policy. Any further responses by you or changes to my user page or talk page from you will result in me sending your name up for review. You had no reason to be there, nor any purpose except to be disruptive. SanchiTachi 05:51, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Dear SanchiTachi:

Please do "[send my] name up for review", as you offered to do on my Talk page. That is precisely what my last comment proposed that you do. Also, it is not appropriate for you to delete (i.e., censor) the comment I left on your Talk page, especially since my comment was a direct response to the message that you posted on my Talk page. Finell (Talk) 06:05, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

licensing

There's nothing wrong with his multilicensing under GFDL and PD. I just spent like....3 hours looking into it.⇒ SWATJester ^{Denny Crane.} 13:27, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Sources

Please note that primary sources are perfectly acceptable sources on WP and your insistance of adding {{unreferenced}} to an article which cites its sources is quite surprising. If you are unfamiliar with the subject matter and find it unbelievable, you would do much better reading up on the matter. Here you have the following sources to the subject matter with *published* English translations, including commentaries:

• Read the Volsunga Saga Here, translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson.
• Timeless Myths: Volsunga Saga
• The Story of Sigurd. The Volsunga Saga retold by Andrew Lang.
• Modern English translation of Beowulf by Francis Barton Gummere
• Modern English translation of Beowulf by John Lesslie Hall
• translation of Nibelungenlied by Daniel B. Shumway
• Drap Niflunga in translation by Bellows.

You would do much better adding these external links to the article than to engage in an edit war insisting on pretending that the article does not cite its sources.--Berig 17:16, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

You say that I began by reverting you, whereas the hisory says that the first revert was yours. If you are unable to spot four (4) sources in the first two paragraphs, and the table {{volsung}} on the right side of the table which mentions four sources, there is nothing I can do.--Berig 04:56, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

You have to understand that it says nowhere on WP:CITE that naming the primary sources is not citing. If this question is so important to you, why do you insist on plastering tags, instead of adapting the sourcing to *your own* preferences?--Berig 08:38, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I wrote to the President but got no reply

Finell

Thanks for your message on my talk page. Attempts to contact the secretary of Bertie's Cabal and clarify the rules for membership have thus far proved fruitless.

I think I wrote the piece as I had intended, but accept it may have been more amusing if reworded. I did, however, your point of view until I was worried that my head might asplode and then decided to go bowling instead.

Paul Tracy_|\talk 22:02, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Peter Nehr page

Peter Nehr is a subject of interest. Reasons being that he is only Austrian-American natualized citizen that I know of that has made it to the Florida State Legislature that I have been able to find in my research. Thus, that makes him a first in his category. He is now a freshman with sponsored bill which have passed which makes him of significance in any state since he is now within state history regardless of scale of importance. I thank you for taking time to review and appreciate the scope of your position in trying to keep the range and scope of Wikipedia down. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anitanehr (talk • contribs)

Conflict of Interest

re:Anita, I see no indication that you have been locked out of Wikipedia. Your user name is Anitanehr and your account is not blocked. What do you mean that you are locked out? On the other hand, what do you mean by gaining "exclusive access"? No one has exclusive access to Wikipedia articles; everyone has equal access. Also, the fact that you are the subject's wife and were "assigned to establish the Wikipedia listing for [your] husband" suggests the potential for violating the Wikipedia:Conflict of interest policy. Finell (Talk) 07:27, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Continuing this discussion please, Finell, It was my mistake on being "locked out"...please forgive, I am new and I was not locked out. Now as to conflict of interest. I could see how my writing style could be construed as biased and changed it to strictly factual and will be providing all backup within the next 2 weeks so that my article is referenced as in my Graduate and my PhD papers were and will be. Will this alleviate any problems for you where conflict of interst are concerned? Doctoral theses have been written on some cases where no distance exists in some areas of science and yet fact can be maintained in the writing. Being close to him, I know his background better than someone else and have access to factual documents such as birth records, naturalization papers, etc that someone outside would not. I also read German fluently which allows me to read old data from before he came to this country should I ever need to add any prior historical information later as his career progresses which the Party asserts to me will happen. I will await your answer. Thank you in being so kind and patient with me. AnitanehrAnita

Die Feen

Hi Steven, Now that Die Feen contains a synopsis and some critical opinions, I think it is not too far off being suitable for candidacy as a good article. As a preliminary, I'm trying to sort out the referencing. I noticed you added a reference to the booklet from the Sawallisch set. I wonder whether you can help me on who wrote the notes and what pages they are in the booklet? Contentwise, does it indicate whether the recording was made in 1982, as the article previously stated) or 1983 which would fit better with the centenary celebrations? I also wonder if it is a source for the history of the manuscript (ie. its being given to Ludwig and then to Hitler and then being lost) or the lack of braodcasting. Thanks. --Peter cohen 11:49, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Dear Peter: Where do you see that I added any reference to this article? I just checked my 3 edits, and they do not include adding a reference (I did add a tag to indicate that more secondary references were needed, but it was promptly removed).

I see that you added a lot of content to the article. However, before nominating the article as a WP:GA, I suggest more careful copy editing (just quickly glancing at the article, I saw that the very first sentence lacks a period, and I spotted two words that were run together), adding many more wikilinks, and conforming the capitalization in the headings to the WP:MOS. Also, I suggest moving the list of recordings to the "Performance and Recording History" section, adding more inline references (especially where a statement is attributed to others, such as "Although the music of Die Feen shows the influences of Weber and other composers of the time, commentators have recognised embryonic features of the mature Wagnerian opera."), and removing all the redlinks from the premier cast (no reason to believe that they each warrant a Wikipedia article). Also, many of the Notes and Sources need to be conformed to proper bibliographic citation style; I suggest using citation templates, because they promote consistent style and completeness. Good luck! Finell (Talk) 18:20, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Hi Steven, thanks for your reply. It is in the following edit [5] that you added the reference at the bottom.

I've done much of what you suggested above. The WP:WPO recommended style is to have a discography at the bottom and a performance history warly on. I'll have a think how best to split the performance and recording material. The Sources section has a query against it, anyway from our trial assessments, and is likely to be replaced by further reading and external links sections. As for, the inline citations, my initial contact with you was to do with finding what was said in which sources. Who the commentators are in the lead mentioned in the lead is explained in the article (specifically) in the The music section. I intend to check which of the performers at the premiere are important. at WP:Wagner we are compiling a list of singers who need articles. Thanks again for your comments and good wishes.--Peter cohen 23:49, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

WP:BABEL

Perhaps you'd consider using those language userboxes, so other editors can easily know which languages you are proficient in?-- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk}  05:21, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Copernicus in German Encyclopedias

Okay, I looked it up in the Brockhaus Enzyklopädie and in a text from the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. His nationality isn't mentioned in my edition of the Brockhaus Encyclopedia, but the text from the ADB [6] has one paragraph devoted to this question. Should I translate it?
In der Wissenschaft ist er ein Mann, der nicht einer Nation angehört means For/In science he is a man who has neither/no nationality. It also says that his nationality couldn't be determined clearly and has been a matter of dispute.
I could also cite the german wikipedia (leading and modern), but this won't count, would it? I hope I could help. --Versusray 13:56, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Versusray: Cite rather the "Neue Deutsche Biographie", this is the continuation of "Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie". The last "Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie" edition seems to be from 1912. And rather take the newest edition of "Neue Deutsche Biographie" not those from 1953. The older edition can likely disrespect the neutral point of view; most probably because it is the Polish heritage case - which need to be minimized, is not it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.104.219.176 (talk) 19:04, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it's from 1912, that's why it's public domain and in wikisource. That was all I could find. I don't know if the newer edition is more 'neutral', because this old one already states that Copernicus had neither nationality. I'd already call this neutral. You can also look at the original entry, but I guess this won't help you. --Versusray 19:36, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

My regard for other users and viewpoints

You mentioned in the talk page of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon article that you saw evidence of my lack of regard for other users and their viewpoints on my user talk page. In good faith, I re-read the content on my talk page, and I didn't see any evidence of a lack of regard for other users or viewpoints, unless your definition of "lack of regard" somehow includes "disagreement". At any rate, I found the personal attack offensive. Rray 19:59, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I apologize for offending you, but please distinguish between comments about editing behavior and personal attacks. Was your edit comment a personal attack on me? I did not take it as such. On the other hand, your manner of editing and commenting does tend toward the abrasive, rather than the collaborative. Finell (Talk) 21:10, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I disagree about being abrasive rather than collaborative, but that's cool too. Thanks for taking the time to reply though, and have a good weekend. Rray 22:48, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I put Benford's law of controversy up for afd

regards,Rich 03:12, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Spelling out of centuries on Joseph Priestley

I appreciate your desire to adhere to the letter of the law of the MOS, but it is only a guideline. Because featured articles try to attain a professional standard of writing, it is important when getting an article ready for that venue to keep that standard in mind. Professional style guides such as the Chicago Manual of Style dictate that centuries should be spelled out. Academic presses spell out their centuries as well. I'm not going to revert this change again, but I would appreciate it if you would consider the explanation left in the edit summary and the discussion on the article's talk page before reverting. Thanks. Awadewit | talk 19:09, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

I did conider your edit summaries. I am aware of the other style guides, which are not unanimous on this point. There are some MOS standards that I never use elsewhere (periods and commas immediately after a close quotation marks make me cringe). However, Wikipedia should aspire to adhere to the MOS, especially in FAs. Furthermore, in this case ordinal numerals are more legible than the spelled out words. Thanks for not re-reverting 2 other editors who are trying to help. Finell (Talk) 19:27, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

This is one of those guidelines that makes me cringe, so you can probably understand how it is to read through the article and see those bristly little numbers everywhere. Everyone has their pet peeves. The article is just about ready for FAC. I'm still awaiting a few replies from the peer review and Roger Davies is going to change it all to British English. Awadewit | talk 19:33, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

No, I didn't think your edit comment was poorly written! It was interesting enough to make me look at the change. I just quoted it as (what I think of as) wordplay... –Outriggr § 23:05, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Oh, and since I'm here, Awadewit has converted me to spelled-out centuries, at least in articles about history. (But then I know someone will convert 'em, so then I forget about it.) I agree that it looks more professional. Especially when they are used in adjectival form—a hyphen is always less jarring when it does not join a numeric construction ("18th-century" versus "eighteenth-century"; "4-speed" vs. "four-speed"). –Outriggr § 23:11, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Re: your email

Hey, sorry, that simply slipped through the net -- if I don't respond when I first get the new messages bar I tend to forget about it. Anyway I responded on my talk page. Cheers, Christopher Parham (talk) 05:11, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

MOS proposal

Thanks for your comment, but it does seem to be tangential to the question: do you support the idea that MOS central takes precedence by default, thus encouraging debate on the talk pages of both MOS and the relevant sub-page to resolve inconsistencies (soon after they're identified, we hope)? Tony (talk) 09:19, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

My vote was "Support, but ...", which I followed with the reasons for my support and some reservations. My last comment was a reply to User:SandyGeorgia, who remarked on one of my reservations. Finell (Talk) 02:31, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

User:Pumpmeup and talkpages

Just FYI - he is entitled to delete or archive the information on his userpage, including inactive block/unblock notices and warnings. Avruch ^T 15:02, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Not to mention the fact it was actually archived, I never delete threads that aren't just vandalism/spam. Please see User talk:Pumpmeup/Archive 4 - I just forgot to update the archive box on the main talk page. Even so you have absolutely no right to restore removed comments, accuse me of lying and ignore policy on the spot ("you should be reminded of your misconduct until you learn from you mistake"). Your edit summaries show blatant ignorism of the appropriate user talk page policy alongside quite severe incivility. Not too mention the incident didn't concern you in the first place and you are not aware of any of the further details. I notice you've had problems with incivility and such in related incidents in the past - which may have contributed to you being blocked. Try and stay out of incidents that don't concern you in future, or at least remain civil and do a bit of policy reading. --Pumpmeup 18:26, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Dear Pump: Your repeated vandalism of Joseph Priestley certainly did concern me, because I invested effort working on that FA (though not nearly as much as the article's main contributors). So when that FA hit the Main Page, I was one of several editors monitoring it for the usual juvenile vandalism by anon users. I was surprised to see repeated vandalism of that article by a logged in Wikipedian, and then shocked to find that the vandal was an established Wikipedian with several well deserved commendations for your service to Wikipedia. When I saw nothing about this vandalism on your Talk page, I looked at the page history and saw that you deleted the posts about your being blocked for vandalism and also about your failed RfA. Your edit summary on these deletions said that you "archived" the discussions, but they were not in the archives linked from your Talk page (I was not aware that you put them in a hidden archive, but that is essentially the same as simply deleting them). Further, removing Talk page comments about your conduct that you don't like to an archive is not archiving in the way that term is used on Wikipedia; these were posts made the same day on an otherwise empty Talk page. Subsequently, you simply deleted my post on your Talk page without archiving it, and you did the same to a post by Admin Rifleman 82, in which he told you that your post on my Talk page was uncivil and that he was questioning his decision to unblock you.

Given your recent block for vandalism, the comments that Admins and other experienced Wikipedians have made about your conduct, the closing of your recent RfA with not a single supporting vote, and the removal of your rollback privilege for misuse, you would be wise to consider your own conduct rather than attacking others. Your edit summary on my Talk page is disgraceful. Finell (Talk) 02:17, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Allow me to reiterate that you, Pumpmeup and anyone else is entitled to remove warnings, notices and criticism (and anything else) from their talkpage. The purpose of the talkpage is to communicate with the user - if you leave a warning, and its removed, you can assume that the user read it. I'm not endorsing vandalism or anything else for which either of you have previously been blocked. Simple fact is, he can remove what he wants, and telling him otherwise is not constructive to solving a problem. Avruch ^T 02:21, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I'll respond to your comment on my talkpage. Avruch ^T 03:42, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

There was no "hidden" archive. It was just the same as all the others - the box just wasn't updated on the main talk page. Seriously, realize that I have, and always will read other's comments before archiving/removing them (in cases where threads provide no meaningful/useful conversation). All revisions/discussions are available in the page's history. Pumpmeup 06:43, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Pumpmeup & edit summary

Hi there

Just a note to tell you I've responded at at my talk. --Rifleman 82 (talk) 04:51, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Golden emergency

I'm trying to create a category to list all the works that were designed with golden proportions or at least been studied because of it's coinciding properties in diverse publications (say, like Stone Henge or the Arc of Noah)... but I can't figure out the right name for such category. I'll also bee needing at least some peer review of the experts. --20-dude (talk) 11:58, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

"(...)omits from its list of resources many of the authoritative sources cited in the Golden ratio article itself." I'm just starting. Howcome every single editor expects every article to be finished already when it is just starting? I'm starting the list from scratch. First placing the books written by the historical researchers, then the academic and scientific researchers from universities and scientific organizatons, then other authors, then internet pages from academic/scientific, and finally regular sourced useful amateur internet pages... If you want you would be more than welcomed to put those sources you mention in the project. Because of your next comment there is still a lot left for me to do:

Also, as the Golden ratio article shows, a lot of nonsense has been written about the golden ratio, and not everything written on the topic is by a reliable source. Yes I'm plenty aware. I could use some more of your advising here. I was thinking on maybe dividing the list in:

• works that have clear golden proportion and have been studied in diverse quotable publications (like stonehenge, the pyramids or the music of Beethoven)
• works designed with golden proportion (the parthenon, da vinci's work, le corbusier's work, etc.)

But that would left some other works like the Gothic cathedrals right in the middle. They have unknown authors but the geometrical coincidence is even more detailed than the parthenon.

What are your thoughts? By the way, even if you're an opposer you should be involved.--20-dude (talk) 02:10, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Nice going with the list! I like a lot the changes you made.--20-dude (talk) 02:13, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I meant opposer to the WikiProject (since you didn't seem to like it too much), but that was a poor choice of words on my part, anyway. I know you're a great contributor to the golden ratio articles and that's why I came to you. Reinassance is a toughie, but you're right, that's really embarrasing. hahaha. It shouldn't happen.--20-dude (talk) 02:49, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I didn't mean any disrespect to the work done and its researchers. The sources there will be eventually placed, but I'm sure even you agree that's the kind of work that can be ready from the beginning. It was my initiative to include a list of sources that can be researched for the related articles, nobody told me to do so and is not that common to see that sort of lists in a Wikiproject.--20-dude (talk) 02:56, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Your reply is in my talk page: --20-dude (talk) 04:55, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

WARNING

You gave me constructive criticism, I'll do the same for you:

• a. What makes you talk with such tone? it kinda sounds like authoritarian arrogance. Nobody likes that either. I suggest you relax, be careful and take it easy. We're supposed to be a community, never forget that.
• b. I looked for help, especially in those who oppose my view, and results speak for themselves. It worked.
• c. If you think, mathematics is indispensable for applying golden proportion in aesthetics; you need to learn beyond that. As long as it is man made (or even nature made) it will NEVER get be phi. Divine proportion is, as its name indicates, an ideal of perfection. It is weird to you I know, but art approaches phi like that: A perfect square, a string, a nail, marker and perhaps a hammer is all an artist needs to IMITATE phi. The best approach to GR is the Parthenon: it features the proportion in the global dimensions, in the inner spaces, and in the thickness of the structure.
• d. I'm fine with Dicklyon, my appreciation of his work and perspective is real.
• e. Your comments are more than welcomed and your sort of constructive criticism is fine, but never forget, it's very easy to speak when you don't create.
• f. Wikipedia is all about having articles that are not necesarely complete, but are pushed to appear so. I explained from the beginning I was trying to make a "page under construction", in which tags could indicate so. I the end, I gave up and continue to develop the article with your systems.
• g. Check the editorial houses and the curriculum of my sources. You come from the math angle; most of my quotes are from historians, architects and designers (and then again, even some engineers).
• h. You can't blame me about the images as if it were a crime. Actually, according to me, I was giving the author even more credit by not modifying to much the context of the images. And I'm not sure you're even right on that one. What's a fourth of a page compared to a full screenshot, which are so welcomed in WP articles there is a copyright tag for them.
• i. I don't mind that much, but you come off as rude and have your own flaws. You are also always the first to point fingers. I'm just chatty, and sort of opinionated, nobody is disrupting, not even rude. The evolution of the article speaks for itself, it's not mine or dicklyon's, is the best of both.
• j. C'mon, the Bangkok thing was priceless. It's moronic, but it has a honest mistake, I kept reading a column as if it were an internet page, haha.
• k. everybody can make warnings. Please, keep them for when it's worth.
• l. I was planning on keep going until I finish the alphabet, but when I actually contemplated repeating the same comments with different letter I decided to give it a rest.
• m. Take care. Bye, now.

--20-dude (talk) 07:30, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

I answered at User talk:20-dude#Warning, where this conversation began. Finell (Talk) 17:45, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Please, stop copying what I post on your page in my page. It is not a big deal if I sign up and I axidentally wasn't logged in. I was doing edits from another site. It is not like you have to mind anyway. Same with my warning. That's right my warning is ok yours not. You have to avoid blank reverting and when you see somebody doing so you HAVE to warn him before. I hate wasting my time like this but:

.618=.382+.236=(.618)²+(.618)³ ...so, you can eat your words. 

Specifically the word nonsense. Somebody else might consider that an attack on your part, but I'll assume there is good faith somewhere. Read your comments again, they were uncalled for and very unpleasent.

When Dick blanked my edits twice, back then the article was mostly a list with the books that talk about them as related to golden ratio. He erased the Parthenon 4 Gosh sake! The whole thing is inscribed in a freaking golden prism! You're attacking the editor and not the ploblem (against WP: guidelines, btw)Results speak for themselves, with the exception of the arks (wich I respected when Dick took them off) I have proven that every item was right. You should have observed the items were a very specific selection from the beginning. I could defenitely suport your concern I were placing just any monument like an idiot, say the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall, ut there is no justification for taking off such trascendental work as the gothic cathedrals. To finish soon: the damn parthenon paragraphs were actually (and rightfuly) long time part of the Golden ratio article and he took it of!!! PHIdias for gosh sake!!

I tired of this, please let's move on. There's still too much to do. --20-dude (talk) 21:21, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Not recently. When I'm editing from another computer and I feel to lazy to sing in, you can tell it is me by my familiar way of addresing the editors that always implies that I know them and it is me. And if ask later I always confirm. Sometimes I even change the signature myself (I also always sign)--20-dude (talk) 23:30, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Richard Dawkins

Hello Finell. Thank you for your contributions to the article Richard Dawkins. Regards, Masterpiece2000 (talk) 04:44, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

You're very welcome. I just commented on the article's talk page. Finell (Talk) 04:53, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks re: "logical quotation"

Thanks for your edit at WP:MoS, Steven. That's the first time someone has gotten it exactly right, I think. - Dan Dank55 (talk) 17:34, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Euclid

Dear Finell I was wondering what your objection to changing the nationality of Euclid is. As it is known, Euclid was probably born in Alexandria. He taught and died in it. No one can confirm that he is purely Greek while what is more confirmed is that most of his life was spent in Egypt. He is even called "Euclid of Alexandria". In the hellinic period the Egyptian and Greek civilizations were strongly mixed with each other and each of them influenced the other. Euclid and many other scientists of Alexandria in the Byzantine age are results of that mix. So it is fair to claim both nationalities for them. So I do not understand why this insistence on claiming a doubtful piece of information (i.e. that he is purely Greek) while refusing something that might have greater evidence? Please note that I am saying he is a Greek/Egyptian and I am not claiming that he is only Egyptian. I linked the NAHSTE website in external links. If you did some search in the internet you would find many evidences that support my claim. Best wishes, Ahmedettaf April 5 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahmedettaf (talk • contribs) 15:57, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Correction to my last message: I meant the two civilizations (Egyptian and Greek) were strongly interacting with each other during the Ptolemaic empire and not the Byzantine age. Sorry about that Ahmedettaf (talk) 16:36, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Luca Pacioli

Please don't remove cited information, it is considered vandalism. Chessy999 (talk) 11:11, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I changed because it's the standard here. Ciao and good work!! --Attilios (talk) 08:34, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Matila Ghyka

I did not add any new information. My change was just a correction from Minister to Plenipotentiary Minister (which is the correct title for diplomatic envoys (see Diplomatic rank). Ministers without any other specification can be anything but diplomatic staff. I also added a reference to justify the rest of the information included in the article. I am willing to comply to your request if you are so kind and explain what I did wrong.Afil (talk) 15:31, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I will make the corrections accordingly. Actually the entire book is about Matila Ghyka.Afil (talk) 17:13, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Lojack

Please see my opinion on removing that content here. Nothing personal, I just don't think that content of articles should be held in ransom when it happens to be in accordance with wikipedia policies. (it was libel or it had unreliable sources, it would be different, but this is not the case) --Enric Naval (talk) 21:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your help with the LoJack issue. I am not going to push this any further, delete or modify the content just because I think that it should not be there. Wikipedia is a community site and people on it can use it and do what they want with it. I am surprised at the social ethics of some of your contributors, it seems to be a lot more ego then common sense. The people that feel that everything should be out there should be careful for what they wish for because when they realize why some things shouldn't be so available, it will be too late. This really is not a big deal, it is already out there anyway, Wikipedia just makes it easier to find. Please respond in my talk page if you need to reach me.Summitrt (talk) 02:59, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Edits

Why do you keep editing articles that are barely within your field of knowledge? the problem is also that your edita are too strong compared to your researching. Since unlike Dicklyon, you never increase sourcing or information, I can't avoid having this perception. Read the source, not the entire thing but specifically the chapter, section or paragraph that contextualizes the wikipedia statement that you're modifiying. This is too focus on your actions, but that's why you always get the content wrong.

To ilustrate my point, your edits the extreme oposite (meaning as bad) of what you consider mine to be: I my writing often need polishing but the information always prove right, stay and evolves into something even better (save for the biblical arcs); while your polishing lacks aproximation to the sources and end up twisting words to the point that the connection to what the source says stops existing.

Also, there was an ongoing discussion about the use of "he calls", the resolution was that there is no need to use such controversial afirmation when there are milloin of ways of expressing the same thing without affirmating something we can't prove: we don't have a sourse stating who coined the term, in consecuence we can't the coining to anyone and twisting word's in the article is not helping either.

Please, as a personal favor, think of you're answser, twice. Because I barely control my temper, an although its all my problem and fault, it's never a good idea to trigger it.

A sugestion, ask when you don't understand something I write, don't claim it is wrong. Read yourself in the talk pages (as I often do my writting). All your claims were proven wrong or just partially right. The articles remains in escense the same, which is all I care for (I'm not tight with the words I write at all, but with the statements and points they make).--20-dude (talk) 23:01, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Dear Dude: Please tell me exactly which edits you are referring to. You can link the diffs in you reply. Also, if you tried to be more "tight with the words [you] write", what you write would require less editing and clean-up to bring it up to Wikipedia's standards, and there would be less opportunity for others to make mistakes when they edit you. Also, please consider the use of a spell-checker. The spelling in what you write in article space are an embarrassment to Wikipedia, which is why Dicklyon and I refer not merely to editing your writing to improve it, but having "to clean up after you".

It is not a good idea for you to compare Dicklyon and me, or one editor to another in general. We each have our strengths and weaknesses. Dicklyon is a much stronger mathematician than I am; I doubt that you are making the same claim. He has fixed occasional mathematical mistakes that I have made, and I have tweaked some of his writing. But he and I get along reasonably well, and neither of us has had anything near the kinds of problems with one another that we each have had with you. I do not believe that he has ever given me a civility warning, for example, as he has given you. Also, my contributions to Wikipedia include sourced contributions and adding sources to existing material. However, when I copy edit to try to improve writing quality and clarity (something that you admit that you are not careful with), I am not looking for additional sources to cite.

Congratulations on managing your anger. That is a very important personal skill. You should be careful how you raise that subject with others, however. Some people might interpret the following statement of yours as a threat, especially the last part that I put in italic: "Please, as a personal favor, think of you're [sic: your] answser [sic: answer], twice. Because I barely control my temper, an [sic: and] although its [sic: it's] all my problem and fault, it's never a good idea to trigger it." That sounds startlingly close to what wife and child abusers say to terrorize and control their victims. I am sure that you did not mean it that way.

Learning to listen to what others say about oneself, and to try to take criticism in constructively, rather than being reactive and counterattacking (to what may not have been intended as an attack in the first place), is another important personal skill.

Have a nice weekend. Finell (Talk) 04:30, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

As far as I can tell from your edit histories, the Dude seems to be blaming Finell for my recent edits. Go figger. Dicklyon (talk) 05:02, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

No, I checked.--20-dude (talk) 23:58, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Again, watch your comments.

Consider this a warning. "It is an embarrassment". Is not acceptable as a description, its mean, offensive and raises suspicion of bad faith on your part (because it's too subjective). I demand your apologies.

And no, it's not an embarrassment, it is a stub. You don't like it, go fight the use of stubs at the policy pages, I don't care. Since the only good source in Google books is not good enough for me. I left it there, as a stub, to see if an expert comes along.

It is also not "my child". Quit going through my contributions, you're embarrassing yourself and if I were another person I could do the same to you, but that wouldn’t be civil (in a broader conception of the term). You always forget to ask before making strong statements and weak warnings, because I would have told you to erase it for all I care.

Please don’t reply. You can do as you please with the stub you have my “permission”. It’ll be fun to see what can you do as a researcher (I’m not stating any perception of you here, just to be clear). Again, please do not reply, I won’t care to read it. --20-dude (talk) 23:57, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Proposal to discourage pagemove archiving

See Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#Proposal to discourage pagemove archiving. xenocidic (talk) 14:49, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Your erasing and bad choice of words

For future reference, I'm sure is just a bad choice of words, but your usage of the word "unintelligible" enrages me (I'm just expressing the effect). That's because a) it's not, the definition of that word goes beyond what you meant (which I'll assume is bad grammar, phrasing or spelling) b) in the past you have showed a limited knowledge and capability understanding the topic, therefore, you must realize unintelligible to you might mean just that (unintelligible to Finell)c) all the paragraphs were created at different times and I'm not the only creator or those 3 paragraphs, d) it's incredibly disrespectful to the creators, much more when you erase it.

I'll move on, but in the future try to think twice and be more considerate before behaving like that. Somehow, you insist on editing a topic you're barely familiar with, that's cool, but take in consideration you are barely familiar with it, so that our collaboration gets better (I understand you're relatively new to the topic, you that I'm relatively new to your language).I put them back, but since your comments and actions let me confused about the problem with them, I did some editing. However, I'm not sure if that was an improvement, please fix them (as you already proved you can), and I'll check them later to make sure the sources are cited right.--20-dude (talk) 21:09, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

You used the comments on my page against me, so I do the same and we're both right (you about me and vice versa):

Please don't remove cited information, it is considered vandalism. Chessy999 (talk) 11:11, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

--20-dude (talk) 21:12, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Dude: I know what unintelligible means. It accurately describes the text that I removed with that edit comment, which was not merely "bad grammar, phrasing or spelling"; the latter descriptions unfortunately characterize most of your contributions to Wikipedia. In that particular instance, even though you cited a source, the statement itself was incomprehensible, and therefore it was not possible to fix it by copy editing.

User:Chessy999 made it a practice to accuse those who reverted his bad edits of vandalism, as his Talk page shows. This behavior led to the discovery that Chessy999 was a sockpuppet of a user who had been banned from Wikipedia for abusive conduct; Chessy999 was blocked indefinitely a few weeks after his post on my Talk page. You will find other examples of abusive editors attacking me when I confront them, such as User talk:Finell#Please Do Not Vandalize My Talk Page. User:SanchiTachi, the author of that post, was indefinitely blocked for incivility a couple weeks later. Finell (Talk) 17:09, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Is that a threat? It sounds to me as if you're trying to scare me by showing me the "impaled heads you have chopped of", which is just weird.

Nevermind that, I'm also confused by most of your statements. For instance, what do you expect me to say when you label my overall edits? You know I could talk similarly about yours, but there would not be any point to that.

If that makes you ease, I do not think you're a vandal at all. Just a guy who in the end is juts trying to help improve articles that happen to be about stuff he is getting familiar with. As I have recently recognized you have (recently as well) achieved some great edits, but some of your messings include confusing badly what the sources say, and erasing stuff...Some or even most of it already edited by reliable editors (great part of the material you erased and called unintelligible was edited or survived Dicklyon). In consequence, I doubt your objectivity.

Then again, I'd like you to give it a second try. With the sources I added I can assure the material is verifiable (and obviously sourced), but with your collaboration it can also be assured that the material is well exposed.--20-dude (talk) 04:22, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Euclid

Finnel, if, as you claim, that Elements is the most the "successful" textbook, etc. etc., and that there are reliable sources (you know, besides the RS page), then cite them in the text, preferably with the context.

Otherwise I could equally claim that I have reliable sources that suggest otherwise, and both claims would be on level.

In sum, WP:PROVEIT.

Danjel (talk) 08:08, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Just a note - I responded to your undo in the Euclid Discuss

NittyG (talk) 06:03, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

I have begun the process again. Please see the discussion. I will wait shortly for your reply if it's not just that you got my message and when you'd be able to respond in more detail. Thanks NittyG (talk) 19:15, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Finnel, I'm sorry I got pushy. I think we both got pretty frustrated. I answered to your reply. Lets take a deep breath and be constructive, objective, and focus now. Objections to what I put are natural, and I understand and appreciate the time you're putting forth in discussing this.

I figured I'd respond the the connect-the-dots remark. I understand why you put that where you did, but we should discuss these things on each others talk page from here on.

What I mean by connect-the-dots is, like in the case of the tin article, also put where tin comes from. The update I did to that article along those lines were regarded highly by the authors, which I'm a part of now.

We may not agree on everything, but lets work it out, work together for the interest of wikipedia

thanks NittyG (talk) 00:18, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Finnel - what do you think about the edits I made? NittyG (talk) 04:32, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Finnel - please note the discussion topic on the bottom of the Euclid talk page. Thanks. NittyG (talk) 17:31, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Hi

Thx for your thoughts. Tony (talk) 15:55, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Fibonacci sum expression

And why on Earth did you revert my changes? Which "source" do you need, if I proved that formula by myself, because could not find it neither at wikipedia, nor in books? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivan Lakhturov (talk • contribs) 19:33, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

copulative verbs

re: you have redirected the link again.

Here in the Wikipedia, if one knows a subject (honestly) and be able to provide better explanation to that subject than as it is shown, then such things are beneficial to readers.

Your ways of doing thing (like, only cutting and redirection etc.) is usually a norm of a person who has no knowledge but pretend to be of showing alike (character of self derogatory for something....

Now it is clear that you do not understand those basic English. So why you have to involve if you do not know.

I will redirect one more time. But if you play again the same thing, I will leave it.

Why don’t you provide some more links or explanations if you can?

Nevill —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.79.78.169 (talk) 02:51, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Dear Anonymous: Thank you for your comments. I am not "playing games", but am trying to improve the encyclopedia. I did not redirect a "link"; I redirected 2 pages (Copulative verb‎ and Copulative verbs) to Copula (linguistics), because the latter article had a full treatment of the subject, and the articles that I redirected contributed nothing additional. You created (or recreated) 2 pages with identical content, which in not permitted because it makes maintaining the encyclopedia more difficult, and the page with the plural name violated Wikipedia's naming guidelines. Further, you marked your changes as minor, which they clearly were not. Your text cited no reliable sources, which violates Wikipedia's standards. More recently, after I restored the redirect, you blanked the page, which breaks links and damages the encyclopedia. Please try to learn about Wikipedia's policies, including its requirements of civil behavior and assuming good faith. Consider registering and participating more fully in the Wikipedia project. Thank you. Finell (Talk) 21:55, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

No big deal but...

It's no big deal but I'd rather you didn't make changes to my signed comments. If you feel a small change, like the one you made today, would help things along, then just send me a message about it so I can make it myself.

This is no way the same thing as when you altered the statement topping the quotation section. That was meant to be a public message and your change was moderate and explained. Darkfrog24 (talk) 23:13, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I certainly meant no offense. The response to what you wrote was off-base because he read what you wrote literally rather than what you obviously meant. I apologize. Finell (Talk) 23:22, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

None taken. I did kind of mean it literally, though.

...but I've noticed something else. You and Tony seem to think that I was involved in the edit war that directly preceded the most recent page block. I did make one reversion during that time, but it had nothing to do with the presence or absence of the explanation paragraph. I made this change: [7], which had already been discussed on the talk page [8]. Duke of Waltham reversed it. However, in his edit summary, he referred to MChavez's changes, not mine. I figured it must have been a mistake and undid Waltham's action. I also sent him a message on his talk page asking if this was the case, but he hasn't answered yet. Darkfrog24 (talk) 23:32, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

How could you have meant it literally? Hans was clearly saying that so-called American is stupid and so-called English isn't. He was not saying that both (A and E) are stupid, as he made clear in this rebuttal. I took your original statement to mean that one shouldn't call either style (A or E) stupid—which is something on which you and I agree—and which you had to explain in your rejoinder. So I thought that you had hastily used the wrong conjunction, and marked up my change so the change would be obvious). But don't worry, I won't touch your posts again.

Also, the edit is what is important, moreso than the edit summary. A rational editor would only revert an edit because of the edit itself, not because of the identity of the editor. And Mchavez appears to be your ally in this mess, so the Duke's mistake about who he reverted is understandable (or perhaps he recognized that Mchavez's edit restored your earlier edit). The Duke reverted the edit, regardless of who made it, because it was against consensus. And you reverted the Duke, and restored the anti-consensus change, most likely because the other version is weaker and you don't like the guideline in the first place. Disliking the guideline is your prerogative, but editing against consensus isn't. Please stop being coy about what you are doing, such as when you wondered aloud if you were one of the accused edit warriors, when Rootology's warning on your talk page told you you were, the last time your edit warring got the MOS page protected. Finell (Talk) 01:11, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

That's what I'm saying. I didn't revert the edit because it was done by the Duke of Waltham. I did it because Duke of Waltham reversed changes for which consensus had been found on the talk page giving as his reason something that seemed to show that he'd meant to revert something else. If you're asking if I didn't notice that restoring my changes also restored MChavez's, the answer is YES, I DIDN'T.

I don't do coy, Finell. When I asked why I was accused of edit warring, I was serious. When I explained myself to you here a moment ago, I was serious. You seem to be projecting onto me hidden motives that I do not have. Trust me, I've put everything out in the open on the MoS talk page. I've been quite direct about which changes I support and why I support them. No, I don't like the policy overall and I have made no secret of that.

Check that, there's one thing I've kept back: With regard to the explanation paragraph, it makes the current Wikipedia policy less likely to be reversed, not more. Now, when unfamiliar editors encounter the instructions, they either feel indignation that Wikipedia is "doing it wrong," or they assume, "Surely this is just a mistake," as I did with the colons and semicolons and as MChavez did overall. A line explaining, "Yes, this is different from what you've seen in the newspapers," would dispel those feelings, making discussions of and challenges of the policy less likely. Darkfrog24 (talk) 01:41, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I might be able to live with a brief statement at the end of the section, to the general effect that Wikipedia's chosen style is different from what many style guides prescribe for the sake of typographical aesthetics, which is to place commas and periods before a closing quotation mark regardless of whether the punctuation mark is part of the quotation, and that Wikipedia chooses to favor faithfulness to the quoted material over aesthetics. As I recall, though, you wanted something to the effect, We know it's wrong, but we do it this way because ..., which I will not support. But I don't think that even a brief statement is necessary or desirable, because our guideline is clear and its rationale is already stated, and I foresee rancor over the form of the statement. Further, I will not support mention of American versus British style in the MOS because it has nothing to do with Wikipedia's guideline; the MOS is not an encyclopedia article on the matters that it covers. Finell (Talk) 03:21, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

We know it's wrong, but we do it this way because ... Now you're putting words in my mouth. Careful with those.

If the guideline were clear, none of this would have happened. And other MoS don't have that rule for typographical reasons. That's how the rule got started, not why it's still there.

You don't like "American and British" and I find that "typographical" misses the point. How about "most other accepted forms"?

The place to put this explanation would be right next to Wikipedia's reasons for adopting its current style. Darkfrog24 (talk) 03:51, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Joseph Priestley lead image

I have implemented an Infobox Scientist in the lead of the Joseph Priestley article, effectively right-aligning the much-disputed placement of the image and left my rationales on Talk:Joseph Priestley. Because I strenuously disagree with the alleged consensus about violating guidelines about image placement and consensus across a wide body of other articles, I have offered to open an RfC for more editors' involvement. Madcoverboy (talk) 21:10, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Joseph Priestley lead image alignment

You previously have commented on the RfC at Talk:Joseph_Priestley#RfC on lead image alignment on whether or not the lead image should be left-aligned. A straw poll is under way to determine what, if any consensus have been developed towards resolving the debate. Go to Talk:Joseph_Priestley#Major_options and indicate your relative levels of support for each option. Thank you. Madcoverboy (talk) 17:53, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

En dash

I just noticed a comment you made at Talk:Manual_of_Style where you express concern that an en dash might mess up search engines, etc. I wonder if you are aware that WP:Naming conventions requires us to always create a redirect for the hyphenated version when we use a dash in an article title? I have always assumed it is for precisely this reason. (Personally, I favor hyphen being always used in article titles, with dashes redirected, since that's how people think and type.) Eaglizard (talk) 01:24, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot about that one. I still prefer avoiding special characters in article titles. Finell (Talk) 02:20, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for making WP:NODRAMA a success!

Thank you again for your support of the Great Wikipedia Dramaout. Preliminary statistics indicate that 129 new articles were created, 203 other articles were improved, and 183 images were uploaded. Additionally, 41 articles were nominated for DYK, of which at least 2 have already been promoted. There are currently also 8 articles up for GA status and 3 up for FA/FL status. Though the campaign is technically over, please continue to update the log page at WP:NODRAMA/L with any articles which you worked during the campaign, and also to note any that receive commendation, such as DYK, GA or FA status. You may find the following links helpful in nominating your work:

• T:TDYK for Did You Know nominations
• WP:GAC for Good Article nominations
• WP:FAC for Featured Article nominations
• WP:FLC for Featured List nominations
• WP:FPC for Featured Picture nominations

Again, thank you for making this event a success! --Jayron32.talk.say no to drama 02:47, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Monetae cudendae ratio

Thanks - I really didn't mean to revert your edits but those of the anon which changed the article right before you. And then I had some trouble with the parentheses. Thanks.radek (talk) 23:36, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

The easiest way to have undone that one edit would have been to click the Undo link for that edit in the edit history or while viewing the diff. Regardless of your intent, you reverted my edits twice. Finell (Talk) 23:51, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

MoS

Nice fix, Finell. Tony (talk) 07:56, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Finell 17:52, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Lecture

That was quite a lecture you gave at Talk:Speed of light. It seems unlikely that it will do any good. If you have any specific suggestions for me, let me know, as I realize I'm sometimes part of the problem. Dicklyon (talk) 07:02, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

User:Euclidthegreek

Hello, could you keep an eye on this user and watch out for any nonsense edits/misinformation he inserts? Given his history it is difficult to see this user being productive. Triplestop x3 02:09, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

I'll try. I do bend over backward to give newcomers the benefit of the doubt and encourage their constructive participation in Wikipedia. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. From my look at his early contribs, he strikes me more as a joker than a vandal or troll; I don't condone jokes in Wikipedia, but I distinguish immaturity from sociopathology. I take it you saw my comments to him on his Talk page? —Finell (Talk) 03:26, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

I see what you mean. More nonsense. —Finell (Talk) 03:46, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Edit to the 'Speed of light' lead.

After your heavyweight and threatening comments about behavioral change being needed from editors of the 'Speed of light' article I was somewhat surprised to see that, despite on ongoing discussion on the subject in an attempt to reach a durable consensus, you decided to rewrite the lead yourself. Martin Hogbin (talk) 19:06, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

D Tombe

A ban has been implemented by you upon D Tombe. The basis for this action appears to be an assessment of D Tombe's activities outside the article speed of light, and even outside of WP altogether. Within this article, he has presented a perfectly cogent viewpoint, which I share along with various eminent published sources ((for example Wheeler; Jespersen; Sydenham), that 299 792 458 m/s is not a fundamental constant of nature, but an arbitrary conversion factor introduced by CODATA in 1983. In view of impeccable sources upon this issue, it is surprising to me that you would intervene simply to support a majority rule stance by a cabal of misinformed editors that cannot make nice distinctions in usage of words. Brews ohare (talk) 13:14, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

You are mistaken. I had nothing do to with Tombe's page ban; look at the history at AN/I for yourself. I know nothing of his off-wiki activities. I know nothing about Tombe other than what I've seen of him on WP. On the other hand, if investigation shows that Tombe is sockpuppeting or meatpuppeting with IPs, I will have initiated—but not implemented—the sanctions that will result. If investigation shows that Tombe had nothing to do with the IPs, I will have initiated the process that clears him of suspicion. I will be satisfied however it turns out.

I am not part of any cabal. I am not ignorant. I am not interested in, or persuaded by, your version of physics. Please do not bring your crazy accusations or your science lectures to my talk page again. —Finell (Talk) 22:30, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Glad to hear you're not part of a cabal, but all I meant was that your actions seem to support what I have flatteringly called a cabal, which in turn is built from a pig-headed unwillingness to discuss matters. Brews ohare (talk) 00:11, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Lots of people are behaving in a pig-headed manner there, on all sides (including, but not limited to, Martin, Tombe, and you). The communication style that the three of you share—stating your position your way, and belittling the others who are "wrong" (i.e., who disagree with you), is the opposite of persuasive: it will never persuade anyone who doesn't already agree with you; it cannot produce genuine discussion, accommodation, or agreement, except with those who already agree with you; it therefore accomplishes nothing. I proposed a different method of attempting to reach consensus, to get away from everyone insisting that they are right and those who disagree was wrong. Start with everyone's sources, discuss what they do and do not say, and fairly appraise the sources' reliability; rewrite the article to reflect what the reliable sources say, and balance the article to reflect the weight of the differing views among the reliable sources; ignore sources that are not reliable according Wikipeida's objective criteria. Wikipedia is supposed to follow the reliable sources, not to advance Wikipedians' own views. My proposal was ignored. The disputants continue to shout at, but not communicate with, those whose point of view differs from theirs. The lead is sorrier than ever (or at least was when I looked a few days ago). The article will improve, but only when (1) the style of working and communicating becomes collaborative instead of combative; (2) the disputants are removed from the page administratively, by some form of ban or block, for their failure to edit collaboratively; or (3) the people who are arguing at each other get tired of it and stop working on that article, which will happen eventually (it always does). —Finell (Talk) 01:03, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

I have belittled no-one on the Talk page, though I have called them pig-headed here. And I have used sources (notably Jespersen; and Sydenham) and logic, not sarcasm and invective, as is the wont of several so-called editors. Brews ohare (talk) 03:10, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Finell, The peer reviewed papers in question have been supplied by Brews. I have looked at two of them and they are unequivocal about the point in question. You have been mislead by another editor who tried to tell everybody that I wrote the peer reviewed papers in question. I didn't, and I have explained that to him on his talk page. I'm waiting for him to correct the matter. I'm also waiting for your updated announcement about your 'ban evasion' accusation in relation to the anonymous IP server. I thought that you were going to do a 'checkuser' and come back to us all and announce the result. It's important that you don't leave a serious allegation like this outstanding. Somebody's reputation will remain at stake until you complete your investigation. David Tombe (talk) 00:27, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

David: (1) Regarding the peer reviewed papers, please give me the full citations or web URLs and quote the specific passages that that say what you believe the the article should include. If they say what you want the article to include and they satisfy Wikipedia's reliable sources standards, it should be possible to work them into the article. However, if the articles only make statements from which you draw your conclusions, that is not sufficient; your derived conclusions, if not stated in the source articles, falls within Wikipedia's prohibition of original research. I proposed discussing what the sources say and what they are on the article's Talk page, but everyone ignored me.

(2) I have nothing to update regarding the IPs who turn up to support you (I only saw the one, but you have had other IP supporters before, according to the discussion at AN/I). If you request checkuser to clear yourself of an accusation, they would probably run it. I suggested that you do this and was hoping you did; I had no way of knowing if you did since you didn't respond. For me to request checkusser, I would have to accuse you of being (sockpuppeting) or recruiting (meatpuppeting) the IPs, and I would have to make a case that persuades them that the evidence is a sufficient basis to justify a checkusser; if I say I suspect you, but not accuse you, that isn't enough. So it is easier for you to have checkuser run than for me. I also asked admin Jehochman if he wanted to request checkusser to decide the matter one way or the other. He replied, "I am not interested in raising the heat. The user might adapt better if he experiences less pressure." So I didn't pursue it further. The exchange is on his Talk page. —Finell (Talk) 09:08, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

PS: I would also appreciate your answer to this question I asked you after your last post on Jimbo's talk page:

David: What do you mean by, "Brews should come out now (voluntarily)"? Please explain. Thanks. —Finell (Talk) 11:57, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

I see. So you want me to do instigate a checkuser on myself in order to clear myself from your suspicions that you have widely announced? David Tombe (talk) 09:26, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Do please stop by

The only way that I know of to counter the complete nonsense at Wikipedia:Paid editing is to come up with an alternative Wikipedia:Paid editing/Alternative text. Free free to stop by and contribute. If you know of a better way, please let me know. The reason that Wikipedia:Paid editing is in the shape it is in is that a single editor reverts everybody else's contributions, so that I request that everybody follow WP:1RR on the alternatives page. Smallbones (talk) 21:53, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

If one editor reverts everyone else, that sounds like a matter for AN/I. It shouldn't relegate everyone else to an alternate text page. —Finell (Talk) 23:35, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Actually they suggested an RfC when another editor brought it up there. I'm not sure an RfC is much different than another talk page. Smallbones (talk) 00:06, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

The situation is more tricky than a simple dispute. Somehow, WP:Paid spent a considerable time under a flag saying that the page is a summary of existing policy. Anything which remotely challenges that position has been removed. I think the best way forward (for those wanting to impose some barriers to paid editing) is to follow the lead set by Smallbones and edit WP:Paid editing/Alternative text for another week or so (and ignore WP:Paid, leaving it for those who see no inherent problem with paid editing or admining). Then it might be appropriate to consider whether the pages should be handled in some other way (for example, swapping the content of the two pages). Johnuniq (talk) 02:59, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Changes in the metre

Finell: In presenting matters to Dicklyon I am really trying to consult him on this subject, and not trying to set up another venue for attacks upon my so-called "fringe views". If Dicklyon concludes that something of value to the speed of light crops up, I am sure he will present it in the proper venue more capably than I. So please do not feel obliged to "head me off at the crossroads". Any possible outcome of this little dialog with Dicklyon will surely show up with ample opportunity for you to call it fringe, idiosyncratic, stupid, blind, or whatever you deem (very politely) appropriate. Brews ohare (talk) 17:44, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Dicklyon will surely think for himself. In fact, he has already expressed very clearly his negative opinion of your views on this topic. I have been trying to explain to you why you are wrong in this issue, to help you understand why others characterize your contributions as they do. Please start listening. —Finell (Talk) 19:32, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

If you have some useful advice, please repeat it. Personally, I think my arguments are correct, but that in peoples' minds I am associated with extreme views that, in fact, I have never espoused, which has led to an unwillingness to look at the actual statements I have made and at the sources I have suggested. You yourself have done this, and in fact have extended the problem by misreading the hypothetical example I provided as some kind of claim supporting weird physics. Compounding the problem still further is a tendency of many to use pejorative remarks about "fringe science" idiosyncrasy" and so forth, that have no basis in fact, and are employed to avoid real reasoning, but create a bandwagon effect among those too lazy to evaluate matters for themselves. Brews ohare (talk) 19:48, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

I've read your exact statements. I understand them. They are wrong. The sources you cite, which I also read, don't support your statements. Dicklyon, whom we both respect, has told you the same. You are making an unwarranted extension of what the sources do say. I didn't misread your example, and I explained the fallacy of your example. I've given you useful advice, which you have ignored, and which you are free to re-read; I won't waste time repeating myself. And I'll stop trying to help you understand. Less patient people, like Martin, lost patience with you long ago. It is your own persistent conduct and the fallacious views you express, over and over, without listening to and appreciating what others say, that causes you to be marginalized here. This dialogue is over. —Finell (Talk) 20:12, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

'Less patient people, like Martin'? This is a an unfair and uncalled for personal remark. I have been dealing with Brews and his editing of the speed of light page for nearly a year. I have tried cooperation and discussion but to no avail. Brews insists on adding his own views to the article without regard for established science. This not only degrades the article but makes communication and cooperation between other editors almost impossible. There has to be a time to say enough is enough. You have reached this point rather more quickly than I did. Martin Hogbin (talk) 22:13, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

You are ending this discussion prematurely. I do not think you have understood my statements correctly, and are characterizing misconceptions of them as "wrong". Dicklyon has said (so far as my A& B example goes) that it is correct but unsourced. That is different from your opinion, I believe. Rather than repeat unkind adjectives like "fallacious" "unwarranted extension", etc. why not undertake to examine matters more closely with me?? Brews ohare (talk) 20:34, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Copernicus talk page

Hmmm, while the comment left by anon was definitely weird and perhaps even inflammatory I didn't see any outright bigotry in it. I have seen much worse, direct, explicit bigotry on talk pages and in edit summaries made by some of the involved editors, go unpunished (though not always). But I will defer to your judgment on this one.radek (talk) 12:04, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Request for arbitration

Please attend to Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case#Speed of light and comment if you wish. Jehochman ^Talk 14:39, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light

An Arbitration case involving you has been opened, and is located here. Please add any evidence you may wish the Arbitrators to consider to the evidence sub-page, Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light/Evidence. Please submit your evidence within one week, if possible. You may also contribute to the case on the workshop sub-page, Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light/Workshop.

On behalf of the Arbitration Committee, Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 03:59, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The Virginian

Finell, I can see that this business about the Lone Ranger has been perplexing you. To put your mind at rest, go to the talk page at Faraday's law. Somewhere down there, you'll see the Lone Ranger involved in a discussion. He's clearly quite sympathetic to what I am saying, but I think you'll find that his analysis of the situation diverges from mine. The Lone Ranger seems to think that the motionally induced EMF is not a part of Faraday's law. I disagree. I think that the time varying aspect and the motionally dependent aspect are two aspects of a single law that can be expressed in total time derivative format. Whoever the Lone Ranger is, he clearly uses a dynamic server which is why you keep thinking that he is a new man in town. I've seen him alot in the past at various articles. I'd be grateful if you could make this information available to all those who you have been making enquiries with. David Tombe (talk) 10:15, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Paid editing

Progress is now being made at WP:Paid editing. The topic is very important, and I'd love to get the proposed policy back on track. If you have any input, I'd love to see it on the page. Smallbones (talk) 16:44, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I'll try, but I'm tied up in a lot of other things, both in the real world and in an arbitration here (referred to above). —Finell (Talk) 16:49, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Workshop comments

David does have somewhat of a point - comments like [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed_of_light/Workshop&curid=24280965&diff=317400899&oldid=317347898 have nothing to do with the current dispute, so far as I can tell. If I'm mistaken, please let me know, but in that case you do need to provide evidence to show that sockpuppetry is currently an issue. Bringing this up after I just explicitly said he's not socking is over the line. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 02:20, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Evidence length

Hello, Finell. Your current evidence section at the Speed of Light case is well over the established 1,000 word limits. When you get a chance, please shorten it to fit within this restriction.

Also, as I mentioned in the section above, presented evidence should be kept relevant to the dispute at hand. Much of your evidence is relating to how David was using multiple accounts prior to his last indefinite block; I do not see how this is relevant to the dispute at the Speed of Light article. Please consider refactoring this information, or including details about how it is relevant to the current dispute. Thank you. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 22:00, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Your statement at the Law case

Who is the user that vandalized the main page? It would be interesting to check if your claims hold up. --Apoc2400 (talk) 21:43, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

See #User:Pumpmeup and talkpages above. By the way, I was never blocked for incivility, as he said in his comment. I made an edit (to the day's front page FA, I think) with a <!-- hidden comment -->, but I accidentally deleted the first hyphen that is part of the end-of-comment tag. As a result, the balance of the page was commented (blanked) out. Before I could revert myself, I had been blocked for vandalism. The blocking admin realized that he had acted too hastily and unblocked me within about a minute. Finell (Talk) 00:02, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

It seems his edits are still in the article history and the block in his block log. Also, it was a year and a half ago, so I don't really see any reason to dig in it. --Apoc2400 (talk) 10:11, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. I don't think your mistake caused any big problems. --Apoc2400 (talk) 23:02, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Inappropriate behavior

On WP:Civil you state your opinions regarding matters that are still under review as though they are facts.

You also accuse me of gaming the system, which I just don't get. How can a request for comment on the use of the one-line Edit Summary be gaming the system? The idea is simply to invite ideas on how to avoid cryptic summaries that may result in some heat on Talk pages.

It is an issue unrelated to Case/Speed of light, although I believe some of the problems there originate in these one-line Edit Summaries, and I have recommended that the Arbitrators consider that possible cause. I haven't tried to "nail" anybody for such activity. That is just my opinion as to one origin of unrest: it is not an attack on anybody; it is not uncivil; there is no axe grinding. Brews ohare (talk) 18:10, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Per your request...

I took a look and found that the IP edit to the Workshop page earlier was not an instance of abusive sockpuppetry. Due to the Privacy Policy, there isn't much more I can say on the matter, but I would ask that you view the comment made as you would a comment from any other participant to the case. Thank you. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 21:48, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Deletion of comments on Talk page

Isn't it a bit presumptuous of you to delete catcalls by other editors on Talk: Speed of light, with the justification Delete unnecessary remark? If this is a good practice, you could actually delete a good third of the commentary on this page. Brews ohare (talk) 18:19, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

I thought it was the appropriate thing to do with this particular remark in the circumstances, but other reasonable editors could disagree or object that it was presumptuous of me; it was a judgment call. If you look a few headings above, you will see that another editor objected when I deleted an ethnic slur from Talk:Nicolaus Copernicus. In other instances on Talk:Speed of light, your repetition of the same arguments over and over led to some of the remarks of which you complain. I'm not about to refactor the whole talk page, and that would clearly be inappropriate for me to do. On a related subject, I don't see the point of inserting what you just did in an old discussion thread that ended last month. Most editors who participate in a talk page only look for new posts at the bottom of the page, or in last several talk topics where discussion is ongoing. Finell (Talk) 19:01, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Mozart's nationality

Finell, You misrepresented my position at the arbitration talk page, and I am not allowed to defend myself. You brought up a stale matter relating to my edits at the Mozart page over a year ago. You claimed that the dispute was over the issue of whether Mozart was a German or an Austrian, and that I had been arguing that he was a German. It is certainly my own opinion that Mozart only ever became an Austrian about 60 years after his death, but that was not what the argument was about.

The two camps in the argument were,

(1) Arguments to back up both cases. I was supported to this end by one other editor.

(2) No tolerance for any suggestion that Mozart was a German.

I was offering a compromise, and the relevant edit can be read here [9].

The real controversy surrounding that incident was not about truth, or sourcing, or willingness to consider both points of view. The controversy surrounded the issue of inserting material into main article space in the knowledge that it would be opposed by a large number of editors.

My counter argument was that the administration were not doing enough to thwart the activities of special interest groups who are intent on re-writing history. As a condition of my unblocking , I agreed to refrain from inserting material into main article space against a clear consensus. While I am disappointed that the administration cannot do more to counteract revisionist interest groups, I can also appreciate that it would not necessarily be an easy task to undertake, and so I have resigned to the reality of it. Since being unblocked, I can provide evidence that I have had a similar kind of dispute relating to New Zealand's independence date, and that I backed down in honour of my pledge.

There has been absolutely no repeat of the factors surrounding the Mozart debate in July 2008, and I'm very sorry that you felt the need to resurrect this issue at the 'speed of light' arbitration hearing because it provides absolutely no similar offence evidence whatsoever.

I would be much obliged if you would do the honourable thing and go to the arbitration talk page and clarify this matter on my behalf. It is totally out of order to try and poison the jury by misrepresenting irrelevant incidents from the past. David Tombe (talk) 04:23, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Your edit to Year

I agree with your removal of the new passage about Anno Domini. I though it was really not in keeping with the theme of the article, and all that is needed is to make sure there is a link to the Anno Domini article somewhere in the Year article. I don't, however, agree that is POV to mention Anno Domini without mentioning the CE. When there are many names for something, it is normal in writing to mention only one of them. It is impossible to write if you try to make every sentence be a thesaurus.

If the poster tries again with a more acceptable description of the year numbering system, I hope you won't remove it just because it only mentions one of the names for the year numbering system. --Jc3s5h (talk) 19:08, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Huh?

If you look on the proposed decision page history, you can see three edits around 21:30 by Carcharoth that were oversighted. I'm still not at all sure why -- the content is just Carcharoth voting on some proposals. TotientDragooned (talk) 03:45, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light

This arbitration case has been closed, and the final decision may be viewed at the link above.

• All editors are reminded to be civil at all times and seek consensus where possible, and encouraged pursue dispute resolution when necessary.
• Brews ohare (talk · contribs) is warned for his conduct in this dispute, and placed under a general probation for one year, under which any uninvolved administrator may impose sanctions if Brews ohare fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia or general editing and behavioral guidelines, policies, and expectations, despite warnings.
• David Tombe (talk · contribs) is also warned for his conduct in this dispute and during the course of the arbitration case, and is placed under the same general probation but for an indefinite duration. David Tombe may not appeal his probation for one year, and is limited to one appeal every six months thereafter.
• Both Brews ohare and David Tombe are banned from all physics-related pages and topics, broadly construed, for twelve months.
• Violations of the topic bans or general sanctions may be enforced by blocks of up to a week in length for repeated violations, to increase to one year after the third block. All blocks and other sanctions applied should be logged on the case page here.

For the Arbitration Committee, Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 22:28, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Discuss this

A question for you

Hi Finell. I've replied to your last comment here, and posed a question for you in a new section immediately below. Reqards, Paul August ☎ 20:03, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

No response? I'd really like to know how you think we should address these editor's conserns. Would you rather we move the discussion to say Talk:Pi? Paul August ☎ 19:17, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Thus far, there is no consensus on the Project Math talk page to change the status quo: several editors want to delete the infoboxes, several editors want to keep them, and some editors don't have strong opinions one way or the other. I was waiting to see if anyone else wanted to reopen this issue. Thus far, no one has. The longer-type infobox has been in the Pi article for at least two years (I went through the edit history back to 10/23/2007, then quit), which reflects a rather long consensus. You can't please everyone, especially on Wikipedia. I see no need to go through this controversy again. —Finell (Talk) 20:00, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Move request

Regarding your move request, I would like to point out that moving a talkpage IS an allowed way to archive it. Please see Help:Archiving a talk page#Move procedure. The other editor did not do anything wrong by archiving the talkpage by moving it. Users can still check the archives (which is actually easier than checking the logs), and there is also an option to search the archives of a article (see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Professional wrestling for an example). You may not like this way of archiving a talkpage, but it is allowed and approved. TJ Spyke 21:56, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. In this case, the disadvantages far outweigh any advantages. The page already has 6 archives (plus 5 separate archives on one particular topic. How would someone know that the history associated with, say, Archive 3 can is attached to Archive 7? Also, there were current, open discussion topics that were archived. In any event, an admin moved it back and was kind enough to set up automatic archiving. —Finell (Talk) 22:35, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Animality Studies

I don't disagree with you. However, I closed the move as non-controversial because the user could have done the move him or herself (but wasn't autoconfirmed). Also, the user may be unaware that Animal studies exists. --RegentsPark (sticks and stones) 03:23, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

Reference and Literature

Regarding your recent revert on Euclidean geometry‎ art., the Reference section is to contain reflist - art. is referencing to some source, not Notes, and what is called Reference now - contains a list of publications related to whole issue discussed. So, I'm a bit puzzled with reverting. Pavel Modilaynen (talk) 09:48, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Despite the name, the <ref></ref> wikitext markup generates footnotes, which may be used for both citation of references and explanatory notes (see Wikipedia:Footnotes). Despite the names, the <references/> markup or the {{Reflist}} template generate these footnotes. Where footnotes are used for both purposes, it isn't entirely accurate to call the footnotes section "References"; "Notes" or "Footnotes" are the usual headings for this section. But then, another section is required for a bibliography; "References" is the most popular heading for this. "Literature" is not a typical heading for a bibliography on Wikipedia; neither is "Bibliography", although it is the customary term in the real world (see Wikipedia:Layout). As a separate matter, it is customary to defer to the original, primary author(s) of an article on matters of style where that style is consistent with Wikipedia's style guidelines, unless there is a substantial reason for changing it beyond personal preference. Because many of the footnotes in the Euclidean geometry‎ article are short, your idea of a 2-column layout was a significant improvement. Thank you for asking. —Finell (Talk) 16:59, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Please, stop reverting my edits. What's the reason for that? My changes are not vandalism and are all according the principles of wikipedia good faith. What's really be helpful is to come to a decision that Reference section should be renamed to Further reading, what would be modified by me without problems. You behavior might be rated as offensive and based on preconceived opinion. Pavel Modilaynen (talk) 18:25, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm sorry you feel that way. I did not accuse you of vandalism, and I have no doubt that your edits were made in good faith. However, there was no reason for your changes other than your own personal preference. The section headings that you changed are consistent with Wikipedia's guidelines and are widely used throughout Wikipedia; see, e.g., the following Wikipedia:Featured articles: Georg Cantor, Emmy Noether, and Gamma-ray burst. To be sure, many other articles, including FAs, use other terminology. But that is not the point. The point is that it is not appropriate to change an article from one guideline-permitted style to another unless there is a good reason for doing so beyond personal preference. "Further reading" is not an appropriate heading for sources that are used to support the article's content (see Wikipedia:Layout#Further reading), as is the case in all of the articles that you changed. You made no attempt to obtain consensus for your changes. Therefore, the edits of yours that I reverted are not consistent with Wikipedia's content policies and guidelines. Please stop making such changes to existing articles. Thank you. —Finell (Talk) 20:32, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, I couldn't imagine that different standards exist and are accepted. Thanks to this case and you, now I have notion on that. Though you are right (in terms of wikipedia standards, which seem a bit strange for me in this respect) I would take as goodwill just pointing me on these standards to allow correct it by me (cause there were changes which meet standards). So, I think, this wraps up the issue. Thank you and nothing personal. PS. Just a citation from WP:UNDO: It should be borne in mind, however, that reverting good-faith actions of other editors (as opposed to vandalism) is considered disruptive when done to excess... Pavel Modilaynen (talk) 11:03, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Patent costs

Re your removal of the paragraph on litigation costs, with modification comment “This section is not about litigation”:

Given that the ‘Costs’ subsection immediately follows the ‘Rationale’ subsection, and is within a section entitled ‘Economics’, I'd have thought that litigation costs are actually more relevant than the costs of obtaining a patent, in that I would guess that litigation costs are a larger cost within the economy (based on the guess that the number of legal actions is more than about 32/1000 of the number of granted patents).

Accordingly, I intend to re-add the paragraph on litigation, and will in fact consider moving the litigation paragraph to before the filing costs text. I might also try to add brief mentions of other costs associated with granting patents.

See also Talk:Patent#Costs_associated_with_patents; feel free to move the above text to that section of the Talk page and reply there if you have ideas about how the information should be arranged.

[Incidentally, there was a typo in your nbsp change: missing ampersand, so ‘nbsp;’ appears literally in the rendering.] Pjrm (talk) 06:17, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

It make sense for litigation and litigation cost to be grouped together. Sorry about the typo. —Finell (Talk) 07:03, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Tycho Brahe & Newton

Thanks for your various comments on the Tycho Brahe/Newton topic. One point puzzles me, though: what aspect of my last post on the Tycho Brahe talk page is it that you consider inadequately sourced for WP's article space? (Much of my text proposal put on the talk page is, no doubt, moot at this point. I only wrote there at some length to make a record dealing with matters that might possibly crop up elsewhere. But a few words in explanation of your view would no doubt be instructive generally.) With good wishes, Terry0051 (talk) 17:01, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I was not referring to anything that you put in the article. I was referring only to the points you make from directly interpreting Principia (the primary source) itself; the analysis is very sound, as I said. Frankly, I was trying to make a point to Logicus about the exclusion of OR without using him as the example. I certainly didn't mean to offend you. Further, as I also said, the sourced material that you put together about Newton's views would be worthwhile additions to other articles. —Finell (Talk) 17:20, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

[From Terry0051] Thanks for your reply, and certainly no offence is taken: I was only hoping maybe to learn something about the mysterious WP boundaries between explanation and interpretation, and perhaps also between reliable and not-reliable sources. (For the record, I didn't think I'd interpreted anything as opposed to pointing out, with an element of explanation, the actual contents of the source in the various places in which they were to be found.) And the practice on whether to regard well-known and well-regarded editions & translations of classic works as primary or secondary -- and whether the usual practice reflects the stated policy -- is another mysterious matter. But maybe this is not the best occasion to go into all of that, so please feel free to let the matter drop. Terry0051 (talk) 18:34, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Idiosyncratic Signatures

Thanks for your level headed comments on the history of astronomy talk pages.

You asked at Talk:Tycho Brahe whether the signature practice on that and related pages was a guideline of WikiProject History of Astronomy. It isn't. As far as I can tell it began as a practice of User:Logicus a long time ago and has since been adopted by a number of his correspondents. Logicus seems to enjoy being idiosyncratic. --SteveMcCluskey (talk) 04:10, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. —Finell (talk) 04:56, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Brews ohare Essay

Hi Finell: You wrote proposed essay misstates and conflicts with existing policies and guidelines. I have reworded this essay here and there to bring up some of your points, but probably not sufficiently. Perhaps you could help me to do this better? I'd like to make an essay somewhat along these lines part of WP, and I could use your help to accomplish this. The idea is that some greater guidance for Talk pages might prove helpful, even if only as suggestions and not guidelines. Although I have responded to TenOfAllTrades, there seems to be little interest in those quarters. Brews ohare (talk) 20:09, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Dear Professor: Thank you for thinking about me in this regard. I don't think that I am the right person for this job. I expressed my not-so-favorable impression (definitely not a compete analysis) of the essay in my comment on its talk page. More importantly, I don't think that you are the right person for this job. You have a negative opinion of how Wikipedia operates. Since everyone who participates in Wikipedia does so as a volunteer, most of us have a generally positive opinion of Wikipedia's policies, guidelines, and practices—otherwise, we'd be outta here. Therefore, if you continue to involve yourself in policy from your point of view, you will constantly be fighting, and losing, uphill battles. Making changes of the scope and kind that you want to make here will not happen.

I don't agree with everything that goes on here. For example, I believe that registration should be required to edit Wikipedia. While I am not alone in holding this view, it is a hopeless position to advocate: requiring registration is contrary to Wikipedia's culture, and allowing anyone to edit without registration was one of Jimbo's founding principles.

Somewhat closer to your interests, I believe, the level of civility actually practiced does not approach Wikipedia's stated ideals. I recognize that it isn't going to get much better. There are only enough admins to deal with the most serious incivility and personal attacks, and they have other, more serous matters to attend to. Aspirational essays won't help because they won't influence the people whose behavior requires adjustment. So, I accept things pretty much as they are. When you think about, it's extraordinary that volunteers could have contributed enough time and energy, and could have organized themselves sufficiently, to create what Wikipedia is today. And, for the most part, it wasn't engineered, beyond Jimbo's original vision; it an example of successful social evolution.

In my opinion, if you want to continue editing Wikipedia, you will have to learn to accept it (or at least tolerate and live with it) pretty much as it is. If you choose to continue editing, both you and Wikipedia would be much better off if you edited and wrote articles that interest you that are outside your topic ban, and, more importantly, stay away from disputes. If nothing else, examine your record in disputes and debates on Wikipedia. Then, do something you are good at, instead of something you are less good at (to put it very gently).

And, you have to put your bad experiences here—the outcome of the arbitration, the way you were treated in the disputes that preceded the arbitration, and whatever else on Wikipedia you feel bad about—far, far, far, behind you. Otherwise, it will adversely influence whatever you try to do here. If you can't do that, do something else that is satisfying and productive outside Wikipedia: invent another patentable process or product (preferably one where you will own the patent), write a textbook, publish a paper. Obviously, you know your interests better than anyone else. —Finell (talk) 22:18, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, Finell, thanks for your perspective. I do find your's to be a rather gloomy picture to decide quite simply that WP despite its guidelines is beyond remedy and improvement. In writing my essay I did entertain the notion that Talk page activity was poor because the heat of activity clouded judgment, and having an essay to appeal to in such a mess might aid in restoring order. Apparently you find that Utopian. The hostility met by any activity in this direction also is evidence that your view is correct. Perhaps I will have to leave, as editing among these people under these conditions is foolish. Brews ohare (talk) 01:22, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't think it's gloomy at all. And I don't think that you are being Utopian, just unrealistic. People aren't any better than they are, but things really aren't so bad overall. Things tend to improve gradually over time. There are lots of Wikipedians who are working to improve civility here. An essay on improving behavior will probably be read by many Wikipedians, but not by those who are uncivil. Not every article on Wikipedia is contentious, and you can (and should) stay away from that are. Being effective and persuasive in arguments, or at least the kind of arguments that happen on Wikipedia, is not one of your stronger skills. Actually, you are the one whose outlook sounds gloomy to me. Do you really believe that there are no contributions that you can make to articles that will be satisfying and uncontentious? —Finell (talk) 04:50, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi Finell: You may understand that I see the conduct of Talk pages to be problematic. They tend to be contentious, rather than cooperative. That is a tendency of nature under some circumstances, to interpret opposition as attack. What one wants is to interpret opposition as an opportunity to develop a more nuanced view or to add dimension to the topic. There is a good deal more satisfaction in seeing an article become more encompassing and authoritative, than in trumping some editor by a cute turn of phrase or chasing them off.

So I ask you how one might promote the construction of articles as a greater good than massaging ego? My thought with my Essay was to promote an environment where this would happen if Talk pages followed a paradigm of some kind.

I would rather make some contribution to this problem, which I view as major, than to edit an obscure topic. I realize that is an undertaking, and that my Essay is only a step. Maybe you could help? In particular, could you make some suggestions about process, for example, by proposing some changes to the Essay? Maybe you have some alternative actions to propose? Brews ohare (talk) 18:16, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Although you are motivated by the best intentions, I don't believe that your essay, however it might be revised, will improve civility on Wikipedia. Therefore, I do not wish to invest my time in editing it. Nor do I have a counter-proposal. —Finell (talk) 22:31, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Copernicus

Hey Finell - would you mind giving me a quick overview of how all this works? You and I made some changes today - does that mean they stay unless someone undoes them? Or is there a master editor that has control over the content that makes the final decision? If that is the case, who is this editor? Thanks very much, I appreciate any help. --Piast (talk) 23:06, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

There is no master editor. If editors disagree about some content in an article, the article's editors decide the question by consensus. The article's talk page is used to discuss issues about the article and to reach consensus where there is disagreement among editors. In the Welcome message at the top of your talk page, there are links to pages you can read that explain how editing Wikipedia works. —Finell 23:34, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Talk page

Thanks, but I am not a newcomer. If I need assistance, I'll be sure to ask. Roger Zoel (talk) 01:00, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Talk:New Moon (2009 film)#WP:Logical quotation

Hello, Finell. Would you not mind weighing in on the above linked discussion? From Darkfrog24's suggestion, I take it that your thoughts on this matter will help make this discussion more balanced. Flyer22 (talk) 22:18, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Merge discussion for Wikipedia:Contents_box

An article that you have been involved in editing, Wikipedia:Contents_box , has been proposed for a merge with another article. If you are interested in the merge discussion, please participate by going here, and adding your comments on the discussion page. Thank you. – imis^☂ 20:43, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Please explain

'Wikify, delete matter unnecessary for disambiguation page, alphabetize, copy eidt' Content – imis^☂ 05:32, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

See generally Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages). Since I did quite a few things in that edit, what specifically are you questioning? —Finell 05:52, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

re this of course – imis^☂ 15:38, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

Disambiguation pages serve merely to direct a reader to the Wikipedia article that the reader may be looking for. A disambiguation page isn't a part of a project or series just because one of the articles that the disambiguation page points to is. In addition to being incorrect (the Content disambiguation page is not part of the "Book structure" series and is not categorized as such), the {{Book structure}} navbox dominated the page and would overwhelm a reader who is lost. Also, we try to avoid self-reference to Wikipedia in the main (article) namespace (see Wikipedia:Cross-namespace redirects). We have extensive, well-structured documentation (with their own navboxes) in the Help: and Wikipedia: (project) namespaces to guide Wikipedia editors, who are a tiny minority of the individuals who visit Wikipedia. —Finell 19:55, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

RFC/U Logicus 2 (Draft)

I am drafting a Requests for comment/User conduct concerning the conduct of Logicus (talk · contribs · count · api · block log) since the abortive RfC of February 2007. Since you have been involved in the recent content RfC at Talk:Celestial spheres, I would appreciate it if you would look over the draft and see whether it seems appropriate, what revisions you would propose, or what you could add.

At the moment, parts of the RfC are little more than outline points and the desired outcome is totally undefined, but with cooperation perhaps something can be put together that could make it through the process.

I had hoped that this RfC would not need to be posted, given the recent closure of a content RfC on Logicus's edits. However, Logicus's recent comments suggest that I may have been too optimistic.

Feel free to either edit the draft or submit comments on its talk page. Your editing skills and tact would be especially useful. --SteveMcCluskey (talk) 21:28, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

I think that an RFC/U is a waste of time because Logicus does not care what anyone else says. If his conduct becomes truly disruptive, such as edit warring over article content, AN/I is the appropriate forum. Otherwise, there is no reason to argue with his talk page posts point-by-point; to do so is to play his game and provide him with amusement. Our time is better spent editing articles. —Finell 22:22, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

You may be right that an RfC/U would be a waste of time, but as I look at the record, Logicus's behavior has long since passed the point of being disruptive, with a two-year record of disruptive arguments on talk pages concerning original research and point of view pushing in the associated articles.

I know the draft is terribly unwieldy, but would you please look at this section and consider

• whether this record meets your threshold of disruption and
• what is the best way to bring it to the attention of appropriate admins?

To paraphrase WP:DE, Logicus has just about exhausted the patience of this editor.

BTW, I've contacted a number of other editors who have been involved with Logicus, requesting their input.

Thanks, SteveMcCluskey (talk) 00:04, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you about his behavior, and understand your loss of patience. However, it is easy enough to respond briefly or not at all to his talk page TLDRs, and that is all he appears to be doing now. He seems to have given up on inserting his OR into articles, at least for the time being. Admins won't act at AN/I unless there is ongoing disruption. While the length and nature of Logicus's talk page posts fit the definitions of disruptive and tendentious editing, at AN/I they may not earn him more than another warning. Removing talk page content and RfD tags would have warranted admin intervention when it was happening, but that is a bit stale now. Administrative action is solely for the purpose of preventing continuing disruption, not punishing past misconduct. If he again becomes sufficiently disruptive to warrant AN/I, past misconduct would be relevant as supporting evidence. An RFC/U, however it turns out, would accomplish nothing. So, I suggest doing nothing about Logicus now. —Finell 00:51, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Undent

Would you object if I copied the above exchange onto the Draft RfC talk page? Your comments provide a useful perspective.

Thanks, SteveMcCluskey (talk) 21:06, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I have no objection. Thank you for asking, although permission isn't necessary under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 and the GFDL licenses. To reiterate, in my opinion disengagement is the best coping strategy for dealing with this unique editor. —Finell 23:13, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Signpost?

Monday's Policy Report is going to be on WP:Civility, but we don't have enough quotable material from the talk page yet, so I'm beg ... er, soliciting opinions from people who have spoken up on that talk page recently. If you have something quotable, or if you don't, feel free to weigh in at Wikipedia talk:Civility#Policy report_for_Signpost. - Dank (push to talk) 23:14, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Finell. You have new messages at I dream of horses's talk page.
Message added 04:40, 7 December 2009 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

I dream of horses @ 04:40, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

So where's the OR in the RfC material ?

In your recent anti-Logicus RfC comments which alleged the material in question is OR, unfortunately you never identified which of its claims are OR in your view. I would be most grateful if you would now do this so that I may consider how any such breaches of NOR policy may be remedied by some revision(s) should any of your criticisms be objectively valid.

If you can oblige me, I would be most grateful if you would start with the material in the smaller section entitled 'Impetus in the celestial spheres', at least since I imagine it would be less problematical for you on your particular understanding of medieval dynamics, as well as being smaller. So in the first instance, do you claim that particular material is OR anywhere?

And in case you ever thought Wilson's objections were valid, I would also be grateful to know whether you think they have now been overcome by my proposed revisions of the only four sentences he seemed to claim are OR because he claims they are OS.

Thanks in anticipation ! --Logicus (talk) 16:16, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

RFC discussion of User:Logicus

A request for comments has been filed concerning the conduct of Logicus (talk · contribs). You are invited to comment on the discussion at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Logicus 2. --SteveMcCluskey (talk) 21:31, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

The Great Wikipedia Dramaout

Hi! As you have expressed an interest in the initial The Great Wikipedia Dramaout, you're being notified because we are currently planning another one in January! We hope to have an even greater level of participation this time around, and we need your help. If you're still interested please sign up now at Wikipedia:The Great Wikipedia Dramaout/2nd. Thanks, and Happy Holidays! JCbot (talk) 04:29, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Hello, Finell. You have new messages at 7107delicious's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Talkback

Hello, Finell. You have new messages at 7107delicious's talk page.
Message added 12:12, 22 December 2009 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

7107delicious ^{Weinachtsgespräch} 12:12, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Help needed at Avatar (2009 film) article about a WP:Logical quotation issue

Hey, Finell. I asked for your help before. I need your help again, at Talk:Avatar (2009 film)#Armond White's review. It is not about White's review; it is rather about our discussion below the one about White's review. Flyer22 (talk) 22:11, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Your comments at WP:AN (Logicus)

I don't know the nature of your disputes with Ncmvocalist, but it is certainly not appropriate to drag them into the discussions on that page. Please discuss those issues on your User talk pages or the pages concerned with the specific disputes they address. --SteveMcCluskey (talk) 15:16, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for your good judgment, which I respect, and advice. I disengaged. And, as you know, an admin closed the matter with the expected result.

I commented to Ncmvocalist once on his talk page, about his most over-the-top action that I saw.[10] He reverted my comment without reply.[11]

Thanks again.—Finell 01:22, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

Just a Heads-Up on a Recent Edit to Carl Sagan

This is just a notification on possible background on this edit to Carl Sagan.

The paragraph entered in the article by 24.6.219.114 is, for the most part, a quotation from, or a reference to, Cosmos, specifically the episode "The Edge of Forever". However, given the rather truncated and selective choice of phrases, it borders on quote mining, and as such its motives are dubious. Therefore, you made the correct choice in reverting it, it is simply that a lack of citation is not the (most significant) issue. Thank you. -RadicalOne---Contact Me 16:35, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Brews

Regarding your comment "Because of that, the rest of us should stop picking up the stick and beating him with it." I want to thank you for saying this. I came into this situation in the middle so I didn't see everything before his topic ban but since then that's all I've seen is people beating Brews with a stick and I find this comment to be mature and reasonable. I am going to be outspooken in Brews defense but if more people had a view like this I could go and get off the Reichstag. ( WP:Oh I say, what are you doing? Come down from there at once! Really, you're making a frightful exhibition of yourself. ) Hell In A Bucket (talk) 01:49, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

'Voting' in discussion

Re: [12]. Yes, I would mind – very much – if you decided to turn my comment into a vote. One of the reasons why the arbitration enforcement process is so damnably unpleasant is because of the lining up and taking sides, coupled to the assumption that people reading the discussion aren't bright enough to get past the first word. In my experience, the posts to AE (and to other boards seeking admin action) which are preceded by bold text tend to be from the angry fringe, and tend to be accorded less weight than the comments which simply make their point clearly and concisely. Heck, I'd prefer to avoid having bullets in front of each point, because it prevents the use of paragraph breaks in comments — but those were unfortunately present when I commented.

If you don't mind, it would add nuance depth to your comment at WP:AE if you didn't precede it with a bold vote text. Competent, neutral individuals read the entire discussion before jumping to a conclusion. Or would you object to my removing it? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:02, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

inverse golden ratio - capital Φ

Ok, I withdraw. I couldn't see it in the text, I had never heard of it before, and it is a notation contrary to more common meanings for capitalisation. φ^-1 is not exactly difficult is it? (though in convoluted algebras, I suppose it might get wearing!).

There are problems in some articles with a few editors on personal crusades to introduce new notations that they in their infinite wisdom have decided ought be introduced. This looked like one. --Red King (talk) 20:20, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

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

Stacey B. Day

I have declined your G7 speedy on this article, because other editors had worked on it before User:Daykight. I have restored it to the state before Daykight blanked it, and will notify him, too. Regards, JohnCD (talk) 10:51, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

In-N-Out

Hello. Lynsi is now the President of In-N-Out burger as of Jan 1st 2010. Mark Taylor is now the COO and no longer president. And yes she still is the sole owner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.95.99.166 (talk) 05:50, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Please add citations in the article to Wikipedia:Reliable sources for this information. Also, the two citations at the end of the last paragraph of the 21st century section were dead links. If you can supply sources for the facts in that paragraph, it would help the article. Thanks again.—Finell 02:26, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Use of symbols

Hi Finell: I have filed an RfC at Talk: Bivector#RfC: Unicode wedge symbol. Could you take a look at this matter and proffer some advice? Brews ohare (talk) 00:58, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

I looked at the RfC discussion. Everything in that discussion appears to display normally to me (Firefox 3.5.7 under XP Pro SP2 on an old IBM ThinkPad), and I don't remember ever doing anything to tweak my display settings for Unicode characters. Therefore, I have no way of knowing of whether the display problem that you encounter is widespread, rare, or, perhaps, unique to you—there are so many variables that could affect how Unicode (or any other) characters display. Perhaps, God only knows why, you have a non-standard character encoding in your browser settings (or are you set to automatic?). When I see characters displaying bizarrely (roughly once or twice per month), character encoding is usually the culprit. You might want to check with a sample of your colleagues who have a variety of hardware-software combinations, to see how the wedge character displays on their systems.

I believe that the the question of using HTML entity codes versus Unicode characters has been discussed at WP:MOSNUM or WP:MOS, or perhaps both. There may even be guidelines on it. If a substantial percentage of readers have a problem with some Unicode characters, the issue—if there really is an issue— should probably be discussed on the talk page of the appropriate MOS page, rather than being confined to one article's talk page. On the other hand, if you don't find others with the same problem, it may not be an issue for Wikipedia, but some fluke in your particular setup. This sort of thing happens all the time with computers, largely because (in my opinion) standards are so loose and engineers did not play a strong role in the development of PC technology, especially in software; a lot of it was done by people with technical knowledge, but without the engineering discipline.

Regardless, I strongly urge you to avoid disputes—even if it means that Wikipedia is wrong about something. I hope things are going well for you otherwise.—Finell 01:41, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice on conflict. It is interesting to learn that my PC with Windows XP and Firefox is different from yours. I see the wedge in a ∧ b not as a $\wedge$ b but as a ∘ b. I can change that by switching fonts from Times Roman to Cambria Math, but that puts extra blank lines in the text whenever the wedge shows up. Brews ohare (talk) 19:21, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

I found another option, to disable the default setting "allow pages to select their own fonts". See Help_talk:Special_characters#Instructions for Firefox. Unfortunately, that alters the font spacing in page text to be a bit less readable, at least in using Times New Roman. Brews ohare (talk) 20:58, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Unblocking Brews and David

The block seems to no longer be necessary or productive. If I were to bring a motion to get them unblocked, would you support it?Likebox (talk) 21:58, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

You are improperly canvassing and forum shopping. If you want to bring up a motion, Do It, Do it *on the relevant fora* and stop a) disrupting the discussion on Talk:Speed of Light and b) haranguing other editors on their talk pages. You are simply being disruptive. Knock it off at once. 67.118.103.210 (talk) 22:16, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I am asking the opinion of those involved only. This is not canvassing. Neither am I forum shopping--- I will bring it up in the proper place very soon, if everyone agrees it's ok.Likebox (talk) 22:55, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

It's called a preparation to see if it is even worth opening up. if no one would even consider it why waste the time. Hell In A Bucket (talk) 22:58, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I am not aware that either of them is blocked. Are they? I would not support, and would probably oppose, a motion to lift their topic bans (if that is what you are talking about), for different reasons in the two cases.

Brews is productively and peacefully (for the most part) editing articles outside his physics topic ban. In my opinion, he should continue doing so as a corrective experience until his topic ban expires. It was in physics articles that he got himself into disputes and trouble; I see no reason why he should return to that potentially troublesome topic prematurely.

Tombe is committed to promoting a fringe point that rejects much of modern physics. He has, and uses, other outlets to publish his views on the topic. I oppose allowing him to return to Wikipedia's treatment of physics any sooner than the arbitration decision permits. I would prefer a permanent topic ban for Tombe, but Wikipedia is more lenient that I would be in his case.—Finell 23:31, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

(deindent) Yes--- I was talking about the topic ban. Sorry for misspeaking.

I agree with you that both editors have made edits that are disagreeable. We all have to deal with the circus of diverging points of view. But it is not good to make a decision about whether to block based on a person's opinionated edits.

In order to function, people with different points of view have to be able to speak out without fear of retribution. By allowing topic bans based on ideosyncratic thinking and weird interpretations, we kick out creative individuals. While most of the edits might be misguided, this can be corrected by consensus. On the other hand, they can contribute beautiful work, diagrams in Brews' case.

I have had to deal with many fringe science topics, and I find that the best way is to just follow the policies, read the sources, make sure that all the material is understood by all from first principles, and work hard to mention fringe points of view alongside mainstream thinking so as to clarify every position. To do this well, we have to tolerate disagreements. So even if you would like to see so-and-so banned, I am asking you to put this feeling aside and ask if this ban is helping create a good atmosphere in the encyclopedia.Likebox (talk) 01:29, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Finell, Your reply to Likebox actually gets to the real core of the matter. The real reason why I was made so undesirable at that ARBCOM hearing was because it is known that I hold unorthodox views in physics which I have published off-wiki. But that is not a legitimate reason for a topic ban.

The correct way to address such concerns would be to formally list what such views have impinged on my edits to wikipedia articles. If those could be formally categorized then I'm sure that an amicable agreement could be reached. We need to move away from all these false allegations about misbehaviour.

You yourself on your own admission hold unorthodox views in physics. You stated those views on Steve Byrnes's talk page. But until anybody's unorthodox views start to make their way into wikipedia main article space, then it should be of no concern to anybody at wikipedia.

The allegation against me of inserting fringe views was examined and refuted by one of the arbitrators, and he based his observation on the evidence of one of the witnesses. That witness, Steve Byrnes, is an editor who I once had an extensive debate with at a physics talk page. Steve Byrnes himself admitted that I had not been inserting my fringe views into the main article space. Those who supported the motion, clearly hadn't investigated the matter in sufficient detail.

At the end of the day, as Likebox has already stated, alot of issues in physics are grey, and there is no definitive manner for presentation in an encyclopaedia article. My disagreements with the establishment are focused at one end of the topic of electromagnetism, and those disagreements do not become relevant for the larger part of the topic. I have stringently avoided physics topics that go into the deep end of matters regarding which I disagree. The accusations of original research were often based on my historical edits, whereby some people were wrongly thinking that stating the views of a 19th century master was tantamount to original research. David Tombe (talk) 04:00, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

David: There is an important difference. Like Byrnes, I do not insinuate my personal musings into Wikipedia. My editing of Wikipedia is based solely on reliable sources and accepted scholarship. You, on the other hand, try to work you rejection of relativity and such into Wikipedia articles, which is a disservice to our readers. The fact that you publish those views off-wiki is not the problem and had nothing to do with your well-deserved arbitration sanctions.—Finell 20:32, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

As Likebox has discussed above, the issue of importance to WP is not brews_ohare or David Tombe, but the conduct of discourse on Talk pages. For a quality article to develop, points of view have to be entertained and explored. Knee-jerk reactions have to be avoided along with resort to using WP:Fringe WP:NOR WP:Soap as swear words on Talk pages with no supporting WP:Diffs. It is natural, of course, to react to ideas that are unfamiliar or even contrary to one's instincts as being the maunderings of a crack-pot, but that natural urge has to be suppressed. It also is natural to indulge in oration, self-important pronouncements, and to seek administrator action to quell the irritations of beliefs contrary to one's own. None of these actions promotes good quality articles.

It may be too much for WP editors to bear, but some methodology for catalysis of good discussion would be sooo... wonderful.

You are pleased with my recent editing, which strikes you as somehow different from my behavior on Talk: Speed of light. In some ways it is: for example, I simply abandoned discussion with JohnBlackburne when the runaround appeared nonconvergent. In contrast, on Talk: Speed of light I had a misplaced confidence in the convergence of logical argument, and hoped some formulation of logic and sources could be found that would provoke consideration of the obvious. That notion is Utopian. In some ways my behavior has not changed: where discussion works and editors actually converse, my behavior is exactly as before, and resolution is accomplished to the benefit of WP. My motivations and beliefs have not changed; all that is different is my lowered expectation of useful interchange. Brews ohare (talk) 19:27, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Brews: Although I respect you, we have different opinions about the arbitration and about Wikipedia's policies and processes. Expressing differing views on a talk page is welcome. Continually arguing the same thing over and over, on the other hand, is disruptive. But I prefer to leave the history where it is, rather than re-argue it, and to concentrate on the present and the future.—Finell 20:32, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi Finell: It is evident that what one party thinks is a different and new argument, another will take as a rehash of the same-old same-old. The convinced party is liable to see the argument as not different because it lead to the same (obnoxious) conclusion. The resulting exasperation over what is taken as mere repetition then can lead to abusive behavior, which should be prohibited by WP:Civil and WP:NPA, but usually is not.

My view, apparently different from yours, is that WP guidelines should be made more explicit on these matters and more rigorously enforced. That (IMO) would lead to more focused and more productive Talk page discussion.

As you might imagine, I view the Speed of light arbitration as an ineluctable example of the failure of WP admins and guidelines to handle such matters. Brews ohare (talk) 23:13, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

In all fairness, I'd say as well that the Speed of light arbitration illustrates the futility of trying too hard to get a point across. Nonetheless, the powers of persuasion do have greater effect in a healthy editing environment. Brews ohare (talk) 23:24, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Finell, I challenge you to produce an edit in which I have put my anti-relativity views into wikipedia. And as regards the ARBCOM sanctions, ARBCOM pandered to you big time. You tried to dig up a whole load of irrelevance from 2008 to present against me in a bad light at the ARBCOM case. You built it up in your sandbox. I alerted Hersfold about it, as a consequence of which I got blocked for assuming bad faith. That is how corrupt the ARBCOM proceedings were. ARBCOM went overboard to placate the likes of yourself. ARBCOM have done exactly what you wanted. My personal views on the 'speed of light' clash with yours, and you have engaged in political shenanigans and succeeded in getting me banned from editing all physics articles. No wonder you continue to extoll the virtues of ARBCOM. The whole thing is a shame and disgrace. That ARBCOM hearing was nothing short of a political trial. David Tombe (talk) 02:21, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Let's not throw that one out there lest it be used as bait for a block....Hell In A Bucket (talk) 02:18, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Hell in a Bucket, Our lines must have crossed. Thanks for you concern, but don't worry, I'll see any trap and I'll avoid it. I just want to see if Finell can put his money where his mouth is. David Tombe (talk) 02:24, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi Finnell.

I am starting to get a good picture of the nature of the dispute that led to the ban. I have talked to Brews about this, and he can recognise the need to be brief and on-point on talk-pages. You and headbomb are the most against this idea, but I think that it is a really good idea to do this.

I made a draft motion at User:Likebox/DraftMotion. I hope it can get your support, and headbomb's too. I don't want to reopen a contentious can of worms. If you say "no my mind is made up against this", I ask you to be forward looking at the ArbCom hearing. I hope the antagonistic comments by editors directly above have not soured every chance of reasonable compromise.Likebox (talk) 05:17, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

I read your draft motion. I will oppose it for the reasons that I have stated. Stirring this up again is a bad idea. In the 2 (I think that is the number) enforcement proceedings against Brews and in the recent motion for modification of his topic ban (I supported Brews in all of these, and made the second of the 2 motions for modification that passed), the arbitrators were satisfied that Brews had "dropped the stick" and was editing productively. With this motion, he will be picking it back up again. Also, take a good look at the edit histories of the "Speed of light" arbitration pages (especially Workshop and Evidence) and note Brews' extraordinarily high edit counts and rapid edits. Especially since this kind of editing activity was one of the bases of the charge of disrupting editing, the same behavior in the arbitration itself—even after being warned—was unwise. Brews is likely to do more unwise things in connection with your motion, because he is at his very worst in these kinds of direct conflicts with others.

During the arbitration (most of this was on Brews' talk page, and is still there), I advised Brews to offer some concessions and agree to have a mentor. If he had taken that advice, I am certain that his sanctions would have been less severe. Tombe, on the other hand, advised Brews to be a warrior, and Iblis told Brews that he had done nothing wrong and should make no concessions (he also made use of Brews after the arbitration decision because Brews was, like you, one of only 3 or 4 supporters of Iblis's failed ESCA policy proposal). Brews, with his poor judgment in matters of this kind, followed the wrong advice during the arbitration (he took Tombe's counsel despite Tombe's long block record, including blocks for socking). His behavior in the arbitration helped persuade the arbitrators to sanction Brews as severely as they did (the decision was unanimous). He is likely to do it again. Further, Tombe, Hell in a Bucket, and Iblis are likely to be aggressive in supporting Brews, which will probably be counter-productive. Tombe and Hell have reputations on Wikipedia as warriors and troublemakers because of their behavior. Tombe was blocked twice during the arbitration for his bad behavior in the arbitration. Iblis is much better than the other two at working the system and keeping himself out of trouble, but he offends arbitrators. Iblis even advised Brews to IAR after the arbitration decision came down; Iblis was warned against this by a few arbitrators, the clerk, and a few other admins. This kind of support will rub off on Brews. Even worse, Brews may model his behavior in the motion on these negative models, as he did last time. You need to recognize that Brews, who is on probation, has a bigger downside in this process than just losing the motion and everything remaining as is.

Nevertheless, I certainly distinguish Brews' behavior from Tombe's (and anyone else's). You can see that distinction in my comments about Brews and Tombe in the Workshop.

If you still to ahead with the motion, I would appreciate it if you would give me notice when you post it. Thank you.—Finell 07:40, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

(deindent) Will do. I'll keep you informed, and I hope there are no bad feelings. This is something on which reasonable people can easily disagree. As far as fast edits--- professional scientists write quickly. Brews has understood the problem, what went wrong, and has taken steps to acknowledge it and fix it. It would have been easy to be clearer to him about the issue of verbosity though.Likebox (talk) 14:26, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Finell: Your previous comments take a very dim view of my likely future behavior should bans be lifted. While I'd agree that some engagements can get me excited, I believe I have reached a more jaded stance on what can be accomplished through WP exchanges, especially where more than one dissenting editor shows up. I also have a vastly lower estimation of the ability of admins to grasp and deal with either bad behavior or matters of content. So, given these greatly reduced expectations, I'd say give me a try and see if I am now more realistic. Brews ohare (talk) 17:31, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Brews: As I have said before, I respect you and appreciate many of your abilities. Understanding and appreciating what other people are saying and thinking, especially the subtleties, is not one of your strengths. Neither is persuading others in a dispute (which, actually, is related to the first one). I do not "take a very dim view of [your] likely future behavior should bans be lifted." I have some concerns, but if I took "a very dim view" of your conduct, I would not have supported making an exception for discussing and editing the images in Speed of light, the scene of your "crime".

I am more worried about you behavior in the course of the motion than I am about your behavior if the motion is granted. If it resembles your behavior during the arbitration, the likely outcome will be additional sanctions, not lifting of the existing ones. You are still arguing that you were not at fault in your pre-arbitration disputes, and it was everyone else who did wrong or lacked requisite comprehension (other editors, admins, arbitrators). These arguments are (1) wrong, in my opinion; (2) wrong, in the opinion of almost everyone else; and, most important of all, (3) not likely to persuade anyone else who does not already support you, except to persuade them to oppose you, even if you were right. On your main point, I know a lot of pages where editors with minority views get along just fine, even on very contentious issues. Your problem was not your minority view, but the way you went about dominating the talk page, coming up with a slightly different version of the same argument over and over. Most everyone understood your argument; I certainly did. You were not entirely wrong as a matter of logic, but you wanted to give way too much emphasis to a point that had no real world impact, to a degree that would have confused rather than informed the general reader. Again, we all know how smart you are and how much physics you know. Your logic was not the problem.

Looking objectively, from a neutral arbitrator's point of view, support by Tombe and Hell in a Bucket will be a minus for you, not a plus. Likebox (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) also has a record of blocks for edit warring, and part of his motivation in trying to modify your arbitration sanctions is, indirectly, to justify his own past behavior that led to his sanctions. If you follow their approach (or Iblis's), you will do yourself harm rather than good, as you did last time.

To be very blunt, your judgment about how to deal with these kinds of matters on Wikipedia is poor. For example, you invited your two trips to WP:A/R/E:

• You took a pure math article, did a good job of developing it, but you added the category of "computational physics" (as in "physics, broadly construed"). So, of course, Tznkai brought you to A/R/E for violating your topic ban. The category you added is the only reason he brought you to A/R/E. Was Tznkai supposed to say to himself that computational physics isn't physics? Is sounds like physics to me. Adding that category was a blunder not smart, or necessary. Other editors (including myself) had to twist ourselves into pretzels to say that "computational physics" isn't really physics (Headbomb, who is not your biggest fan, did an especially nice job). But you brought this problem on yourself, cost the rest of us time defending you, and created unnecessary drama (the last thing in the world that you need).
• In the middle of a dispute with JohnBlackburne over another math article—which was really over the different approaches of someone who does pure math versus someone who uses math to do other stuff—you tell him about your topic ban and you add a general relativity example to the article. That was like telling him, "Here's a club. Beat me." Back at A/R/E, the rest of us have to argue that it was just an example, you didn't discuss the physics, it is still just a math article, blah, blah.

I was really tempted to ask you, each time, whether you have self-destructive impulses (a Freudian death wish), because you so clearly brought these enforcement proceeding on yourself.

The arbitrators decided that a 1-year topic ban and 1-year probation were appropriate remedies; the length of a sanction is always a judgment call. I think you should "serve the time" and resume editing of physics articles, if you are so inclined, when the year is up. I see nothing but grief for you in this motion—especially if you use it to reargue the arbitration decision itself, which is not a ground for modifying the sanctions on motion. If Likebox goes ahead with the motion, my advice would be to oppose the motion yourself in a brief statement saying that you do not want the sanctions modified. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, then make a short statement to the effect that you will not be making a statement and will leave it to others to discuss whether the motion should be granted or denied. You have not followed my advice in the past, and you are obviously free to reject it now. Before you do so, try a scientific approach: take a careful look at my track record of being right about how things would turn out, just in the disputes in which you have been involved (including the arbitration itself, policy pages, AN/I, A/R/E). Your supporters (including Tombe and Iblis) have been consistently wrong.

Good luck. Try to stay out of trouble.—Finell 23:53, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Finell: As I said

here : You don't have to establish that justice was or was not done, or that the remedy was effective or not effective. All you have to establish is that recent history indicates useful contribution and no disturbance, so a test is in order to see whether lifting the bans will cause trouble again. If trouble does result, action can be taken.

Your worries about my interpretation of the Speed of light case and its adjudicators has no bearing, and neither does any rehash of ancient history, nor do Freudian speculations.

I thank you for your encouragement, and hope you can entertain a forward optimism. Brews ohare (talk) 00:16, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Hi Finell--- I don't mean to disturb you, but you are not right that I am motivated by my history of blocks and so on. All that stuff was related to main-page arguments. I have never been blocked for talk-page stuff (except for once inappropriately regarding the ESCA essay, and that was quickly overturned), and I was completely astonished to see that Brews was blocked for this. The issue for me is sanctity of discussions. My own conflicts were not of the same sort (although there were indications that this might become a problem in the future).Likebox (talk) 01:44, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

EUCLID

Dear Finell. You removed a link i recently tried to add to the wiki of Euclid. You state it has no reliable source and is some kind of conspiracy. I agree this link might not was the best presentation of a diffrent history.

But.

Though given the facts that the complete history of Euclid is rather incomplete - information regarding his history is vital.

Here is a reliable source - which also cannot screwed as just a hoax.

Quoteing:" In view of the poverty of Greek tradition on the subject even as early as the time of Proclus (410-485 A.D.), we must necessarily take cum grano the apparently circumstantial accounts of Euclid given by Arabian authors; and indeed the origin of their stories can be explained as the result (1) of the Arabian tendency to romance, and (2) of misunderstandings.

We read15 that “Euclid, son of Naucrates, grandson of Zenarchus16 , called the author of geometry, a philosopher of somewhat ancient date, a Greek by nationality domiciled at Damascus, born at Tyre, most learned in the science of geometry, published a most excellent and most useful work entitled the foundation or elements of geometry, a subject in which no more general treatise existed before among the Greeks: nay, there was no one even of later date who did not walk in his footsteps and frankly profess his doctrine. Hence also Greek, Roman and Arabian geometers not a few, who undertook the task of illustrating this work, published commentaries, scholia, and notes upon it, and made an abridgment of the work itself. For this reason the Greek philosophers used to post up on the doors of their schools the well-known notice: ‘Let no one come to our school, who has not first learned the elements of Euclid.’” The details at the beginning of this extract cannot be derived from Greek sources, for even Proclus did not know anything about Euclid's father, while it was not the Greek habit to record the names of grandfathers, as the Arabians commonly did. Damascus and Tyre were no doubt brought in to gratify a desire which the Arabians always showed to connect famous Greeks in some way or other with the East. Thus Nas<*>īraddīn, the translator of the Elements, who was of T<*>ūs in Khurāsān, actually makes Euclid out to have been “Thusinus” also17 . The readiness of the Arabians to run away with an idea is illustrated by the last words [p. 5] of the extract. Everyone knows the story of Plato's inscription over the porch of the Academy: “let no one unversed in geometry enter my doors”; the Arab turned geometry into Euclid's geometry, and told the story of Greek philosophers in general and “their Academies.”

Equally remarkable are the Arabian accounts of the relation of Euclid and Apollonius18 . According to them the Elements were originally written, not by Euclid, but by a man whose name was Apollonius, a carpenter, who wrote the work in 15 books or sections19 . In the course of time some of the work was lost and the rest became disarranged, so that one of the kings at Alexandria who desired to study geometry and to master this treatise in particular first questioned about it certain learned men who visited him and then sent for Euclid who was at that time famous as a geometer, and asked him to revise and complete the work and reduce it to order. Euclid then re-wrote it in 13 books which were thereafter known by his name. (According to another version Euclid composed the 13 books out of commentaries which he had published on two books of Apollonius on conics and out of introductory matter added to the doctrine of the five regular solids.) To the thirteen books were added two more books, the work of others (though some attribute these also to Euclid) which contain several things not mentioned by Apollonius. According to another version Hypsicles, a pupil of Euclid at Alexandria, offered to the king and published Books XIV. and XV., it being also stated that Hypsicles had “discovered” the books, by which it appears to be suggested that Hypsicles had edited them from materials left by Euclid.

We observe here the correct statement that Books XIV. and XV. were not written by Euclid, but along with it the incorrect information that Hypsicles, the author of Book XIV., wrote Book XV. also.

The whole of the fable about Apollonius having preceded Euclid and having written the Elements appears to have been evolved out of the preface to Book XIV. by Hypsicles, and in this way; the Book must in early times have been attributed to Euclid, and the inference based upon this assumption was left uncorrected afterwards when it was recognised that Hypsicles was the author. The preface is worth quoting:

“Basilides of Tyre, O Protarchus, when he came to Alexandria and met my father, spent the greater part of his sojourn with him on account of their common interest in mathematics. And once, when [p. 6] examining the treatise written by Apollonius about the comparison between the dodecahedron and the icosahedron inscribed in the same sphere, (showing) what ratio they have to one another, they thought that Apollonius had not expounded this matter properly, and accordingly they emended the exposition, as I was able to learn from my father. And I myself, later, fell in with another book published by Apollonius, containing a demonstration relating to the subject, and I was greatly interested in the investigation of the problem. The book published by Apollonius is accessible to all-- for it has a large circulation, having apparently been carefully written out later--but I decided to send you the comments which seem to me to be necessary, for you will through your proficiency in mathematics in general and in geometry in particular form an expert judgment on what I am about to say, and you will lend a kindly ear to my disquisition for the sake of your friendship to my father and your goodwill to me.”

The idea that Apollonius preceded Euclid must evidently have been derived from the passage just quoted. It explains other things besides. Basilides must have been confused with basileus, and we have a probable explanation of the “Alexandrian king,” and of the “learned men who visited” Alexandria. It is possible also that in the “Tyrian” of Hypsicles' preface we have the origin of the notion that Euclid was born in Tyre. These inferences argue, no doubt, very defective knowledge of Greek: but we could expect no better from those who took the Organon of Aristotle to be “instrumentum musicum pneumaticum,” and who explained the name of Euclid, which they variously pronounced as Uclides or Icludes, to be compounded of Ucli a key, and Dis a measure, or, as some say, geometry, so that Uclides is equivalent to the key of geometry!

Lastly the alternative version, given in brackets above, which says that Euclid made the Elements out of commentaries which he wrote on two books of Apollonius on conics and prolegomena added to the doctrine of the five solids, seems to have arisen, through a like confusion, out of a later passage20 in Hypsicles' Book XIV.: “And this is expounded by Aristaeus in the book entitled ‘Comparison of the five figures,’ and by Apollonius in the second edition of his comparison of the dodecahedron with the icosahedron.” The “doctrine of the five solids” in the Arabic must be the “Comparison of the five figures” in the passage of Hypsicles, for nowhere else have we any information about a work bearing this title, nor can the Arabians have had. The reference to the two books of Apollonius on conics will then be the result of mixing up the fact that Apollonius wrote a book on conics with the second edition of the other work mentioned by Hypsicles. We do not find elsewhere in Arabian authors any mention of a commentary by Euclid on Apollonius and Aristaeus: so that the story in the passage quoted is really no more than a variation of the fable that the Elements were the work of Apollonius. http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Aabo%3Atlg%2C1799%2C001&query=elem.%3A1%3Adef. "

In regards to understand the history of euclid and books attributed to this name - the above information deserves to be mentioned in the wiki of euclid. --DuKu (talk) 06:29, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

I did not say hoax or conspiracy. I said that the piece that Raju published on his personal web site is not a reliable source on Euclid and that his views on the subject are fringe. Raju's academic field is computer science, but he publishes deliberately controversial works in other fields, and is a polemicist for the point of view that Western scholarship has suppressed the contributions of Indian mathematics and science. His views on this and other subjects are regarded as fringe theories, which is Wikipedia's charitable term for crank. A year or two ago, another editor wanted to incorporate Raju's views in the article; that editor ultimately conceded that Raju is not a reliable source on that subject.

I am, of course, very familiar with the material that you quoted above from Heath. Heath is the leading modern scholar on Euclid and on classical Greek mathematics. The fact is, very little is known about Euclid's personal history; almost all that survives is his works, and much of that is through post-mortem transcriptions and translations. The Euclid article says just about all that can be said about his history; everything else is speculation, and therefore not suitable for inclusion under Wikipedia's content policies and guidelines.

It appears from your writing that you are not fluent in English. That may make it more difficult for you to to contribute to the English version of Wikipedia.—Finell 20:04, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

The link i posted has nothing todo with the personal website you mention. Maybe you research first before you make sensational claims, which btw you seem todo alot. --DuKu (talk) 20:35, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

The link you posted was to a paper on Raju's personal web site: http://ckraju.net/papers/MathEducation1Euclid.pdf. The domain name is "ckraju.net". The last sentence in your last message violates Wikipedia's policy: Wikipedia:No personal attacks. Do not do it again, to me or to any other editor. The Welcome message on your talk page has links to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, and other information that is helpful to new editors like yourself. I suggest that you read the linked material, as it will make you editing here more productive, and your time here more pleasant.—Finell 20:56, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Wow Finell maybe you start reading what i wrote OR what you edited. Here a hint for you http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Euclid&diff=340681663&oldid=340676785 - Further i stop the discussion here now with you, as you obviously just try to engage me in your made up claims. --DuKu (talk) 21:01, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

That was the first revert. It was an ad for a book. Wikipedia does not link to ads, and ads for books are not reliable sources for article content. I thought you were referring to the more recent revert, which was Raju. You should have made clear what you were talking about. I suggest that you learn, very quickly, about Civility.—Finell 22:57, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Read my first sentence again, makes your last comment obsolent. If you claim again that i a) personal attack you or b) break civility - i will report you for makeing things up. --DuKu (talk) 23:23, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Finell reported me for several claims which lead to a 31h bann of my account. I reported him aswell today, as his claims are somewhat twisted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Edit_warring#Finell.27s_accusations_.28related_to_my_bann.29 --DuKu (talk) 06:55, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Finell just made a pretty pointless statement on my user page. Beside this conflict settled. Please stop posting on my user page stuff which make sno sense. Thanks for your cooperation. --DuKu (talk) 00:46, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Citation template clutter

Wikipedia_talk:Featured_article_criteria#RfC_on_additional_wording_about_citation_templates Tony (talk) 03:15, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the notice, Tony.—Finell 12:19, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Euclid links

Hi Finell,

I've noticed the friction between you and Duku on the Euclid page, and have been trying to arbitrate at Duku's end to some extent (Duku is somewhat responsive). It seems to me that the issue is the inclusion of a reference that is pushing a fringe theory to some extent. Is it worth mentioning the fringe theory as fringe, thus justifying the inclusion as a compromise? I have no idea of the issues, the context, interpretations or quality of the reference, so do not want interfere in the article. I feel that Duku is functioning in good faith but doing it in a clumsy way so as to upset others (and now it seems to have got personal). Also, I agree references should not be included unless they were related to the creation of the text. Clovis Sangrail (talk) 08:28, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Looking at their recent edit summaries, I'm not sure of good faith anymore. I'll leave it for the admins Clovis Sangrail (talk) 09:28, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Civility

Beside the conflict with Finell was settled he keeps insulting me with wilde accusations and made up claims. User Finell this is my last post in this regards before i take proper steps to stop you from further insults. Please take the time and read about battleing and insulting of other users. Thank you. --DuKu (talk) 01:52, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Request for Amendment to Arbitration

Hello, Finell. This is to inform you (as you asked me to do) that there is a request for amendement regarding an arbitration case that you have commented on.Likebox (talk) 05:03, 8

Warning: Unsourced content (copied from likebox talk page)

Please do not add or change content without citing verifiable and reliable sources, as you did to Infraparticle. Before making any potentially controversial edits, it is recommended that you discuss them first on the article's talk page. Please review the guidelines at Wikipedia:Citing sources and take this opportunity to add references to the article. Thank you.—Finell 17:26, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

If this article is as important and well grounded as you claim, it should be easy to supply sources. Why don't you just do that, rather than trying to make a WP:POINT by leaving it unsourced. The current version of the WP:ESCA essay does not justify substantial bodies of text the do not purport to be summarizing or paraphrasing reliable sources. Verifiability is policy. Thank you.—Finell 20:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Did you read the talk page? I explained that I don't know the sources. I learned this from this encyclopedia. However, I have found the original articles with about 10 minutes of work, and cited it on the talk page. Even without this cite, the article's contents are fine as they are, since the subject is well known, and all comments on that page are easily verified by any physicist.

I wasn't making any point--- I was sincerely annoyed to see people deleting stuff they couldn't understand. Please stop deleting it again.Likebox (talk) 22:29, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

The fact that I don't know the sources does not mean that I can't find them. Headbomb does not understand this material, and should not support deleting it.Likebox (talk) 17:17, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Warning: Unsourced content (again from likebox talk page)

Please do not add or change content without citing verifiable and reliable sources, as you did to Infraparticle. Before making any potentially controversial edits, it is recommended that you discuss them first on the article's talk page. Please review the guidelines at Wikipedia:Citing sources and take this opportunity to add references to the article. Thank you.—Finell 17:26, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

If this article is as important and well grounded as you claim, it should be easy to supply sources. Why don't you just do that, rather than trying to make a WP:POINT by leaving it unsourced. The current version of the WP:ESCA essay does not justify substantial bodies of text the do not purport to be summarizing or paraphrasing reliable sources. Verifiability is policy. Thank you.—Finell 20:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Did you read the talk page? I explained that I don't know the sources. I learned this from this encyclopedia. However, I have found the original articles with about 10 minutes of work, and cited it on the talk page. Even without this cite, the article's contents are fine as they are, since the subject is well known, and all comments on that page are easily verified by any physicist.

I wasn't making any point--- I was sincerely annoyed to see people deleting stuff they couldn't understand. Please stop deleting it again.Likebox (talk) 22:29, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Please do not add unsourced or original content, as you did to Infraparticle. Doing so violates Wikipedia's verifiability policy. If you continue to do so, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia.

Headbomb is coordinator of WikiProject Physics, and you hardly say that he doesn't understand the article or the material. If, as you admit, you "don't know the sources", you can't add the content. End of story.—Finell 15:33, 19 February 2010 (UTC) (To preserve the continuity of the conversation, I will watch for your reply, if any, here on your Talk page)

Coordinator of WikiProject Physics or not, if you look at Headbomb's AFD nomination of the article, then that clearly indicates that he indeed did not understand the topic. Editing the article really has to be discussed on the basis of the content of the sources and the necessary physics that the sources are based on. In this case the sources will assume a working knowledge of quantum field theory, so it is only natural that the article has to do some nontrivial explaining that you cannot directly source. Count Iblis (talk) 17:11, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

The article is a difficult specialist article, written by an expert off the top of his or her head. It is extremely clear because of this. In order to preserve the article, you just find the sources for the arguments presented. It is important to realise that such material is indistinguishable from crackpot contributions for people who don't understand the material.Likebox (talk) 17:28, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Surely Finell isn't suggesting anyone owns the physics project? Sure seems like that he is indeed suggeszting that and also suggesting you don't ocntribute. Sounds a lot like asking for your qualification on a project that doesn't require them. Would you mind answering those questions Finell? Maybe back up your opinion with a policy you are entrusted to uphold? Hell In A Bucket (talk) 18:37, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

To me it appears that two things are at work here.

The first is that the article is of main interest to specialists. From the viewpoint of Likebox and Count Iblis, that specialist nature means that only a few people can understand the article, and everyone else should just go away. A more honest view would be that these authors are not willing to take the time to boil the article down into levels of detail. At some broad level the article should make sense to anyone, and as the levels deepen, more readers will be lost (or better, directed to places where they can fill in the background).

A common approach to bringing people on board is to present a historical resume that leads up to the presentation of the article, and explains the contribution of the article's topic to that development, and the uncertainties that yet are to be faced. Such a thread is readily documented: for example, "so-and-so said such-and-such at some-time-or-another."^{1, 2, 3} By identifying historical milestones one also identifies key concepts.

The second thing at work here is impatience of the participants with each other, stemming largely from the view of some that WP is broken, and from others that it is working just fine. The resulting animosity makes this article a proxy for these larger issues. Whatever your view, evolution to a better WP requires a focus upon generating content, not upon using rules to decide how content is created, and to eliminate content instead of helping to improve it. Where objections arise to article content it seems to me to be preferable to point out in detail what is the problem and what might be the solution, rather than throwing guidelines about like WP:SYN, WP:OR or WP:V as if they were self-evident pejoratives. These guidelines are a last resort, and only generate friction when introduced without an obviously sincere attempt to help the author. Brews ohare (talk) 21:08, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Brews: I agree with your first 2 paragraphs and the first 2 sentences of your third paragraph (which is quite a lot). I also agree that, in the abstract, it should not matter how good content is created, and improving Wikipedia's content should be the reason for what we all are doing here. If a Wikipedian knows a topic well enough to draft an article (or additional content for an existing article), and can then look up source citations to add, that is fine. However, from an encyclopedic point of view, good content has to include good sources. Unlike Encyclopaedia Britannica, or Encyclopaedia Americana, or numerous well-respected reference works and text books that are written and edited by experts in their fields, Wikipedia relies solely on amateur author-editors; with relatively few exceptions (you are one of them), even the project does not know the identity or qualifications of its author-editors. Wikipedia's policies were created for this particular reality.

Many apparently-knowledgeable physics editors assessed Infraparticle as a poor article before I got involved. It was stubbified as the result of an AfD because of this, so it could be rewritten with sources. Restoring the same disputed, unsourced content does not improve the article and is a disservice to readers. Adding sourced content, and insisting that content be sourced, seems to me like the best way to improve this particular article. When there is doubt about an article's accuracy or treatment of a subject, requiring sourced content, and checking the sources, is a sure-fire solution.

Wikipedia is full of unsourced content, policies notwithstanding. I could spend all my Wikipedia time deleting or challenging unsourced content. I don't do that.—Finell 23:00, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Hi Finell: Thanks for all the agreement. Maybe as a non-expert you feel you can do little to help these authors in this case beyond challenging them and policing WP guidelines. But, I'd guess you could help these authors further, because they really don't have a good idea of how to write this thing in an accessible manner.

I just saw a title in Barnes & Noble: “String Theory for Dummies”. More than probably, the reader of this book is not set up to do graduate work in string theory. But the book is testimony to an interest out there for specialized topics that can be addressed at a popular level, and probably will help some bright souls to launch a serious career. That is how the intro to Infraparticle might work too. Brews ohare (talk) 00:28, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Hi Brews, in this case it was actually an explanation to make the article more understandable that was deleted on the basis of OR/Synth. In case of string theory, one could cite popular books. But in case of infraparticles, you cannot precisely cite (almost) verbatim quotes of explanations, as the material has not made it in undegraduate textbooks yet. So, adding more explanations to make the material more accessible is going to raise even more red flags for Finell. However, this is precisely what we will do as we don't want to write only for experts. Also once you got a lot of explanations in the article, the article can be more easily edited by people with less knowledge. Count Iblis (talk) 01:15, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Whoa! That wasn't me. I did not participate in the AfD. I did not see any accessible introductory material in what Likebox added, and which I reverted. My only complaint about the material that Likebox added was that it was unsourced. I never complained about SYNTH (the material was unsourced, so there wasn't anything to synthesize from) or OR (if one contends that anything unsourced is OR, that makes OR meaningless as an independent concept) in Infraparticle. I am always in favor of making articles more accessible to the general reader. Iblis: If you want to attempt to make Infraparticle more accessible, please go ahead; I will not raise unreasonable objections, and I will try to help with copy editing and the like.—Finell 21:45, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

I posted on the talk page of infraparticle on how to make progress. Count Iblis (talk) 14:10, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

AN/I discussion

Hello. This message is being sent to inform you that there currently is a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The discussion is about the topic User:Likebox deceptively sourced infraparticle. Thank you. -- The Anome (talk) 01:38, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

March 2010

Please stop wikihounding me under any circumstances, be it through needless interactions or inappropriately editing or moving my commentary without my permission. If you have concerns about clerk notes being placed in the clerks notes section, please take the matter up with an arbitrator who is authorised to police the arbitration pages in the manner that they wish. Ncmvocalist (talk) 09:33, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

What in the world are you calling wikihounding? I made a statement in, and have been following, that particular proceeding. It is an outgrowth of the Speed of light arbitration, in which I was a party. I have not been following you around and harassing you. If you disagree with that statement, please point where I have done so.

You posted notes in a section that is preceded by this instruction: "This area is used for notes by non-recused Clerks." The operative preposition here is "by", not "to". You are not a Clerk, non-recused or otherwise. I do not understand why you insist on commenting in a Clerk's-only section. While you had no business putting your comments in that section in the first place, restoring your remarks to that section was particularly pointless, since the issue you raised was resolved. If a Clerk wants to record in that section the request or the action taken, that is the Clerk's prerogative, not yours. You have many legitimate options for communicating with the Arbitration Clerks; commenting in a section that is for the Clerks' exclusive use is not one of them.—Finell 21:02, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

Your particular interest in following my editing activity is disruptive, and it has not been limited to this particular proceeding. Again, if you have a problem, take it up with an arbitrator - this is neither your call to make, nor do you appear to understand the norms of arbitration. Frankly, I think it's incredibly lame that you are making every possible attempt to edit comments made by someone else other than yourself - particularly when there's a history of disagreement. Ncmvocalist (talk) 10:24, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Yet another example of Wiki-fundamentalism causing pointless conflicts. Count Iblis (talk) 12:58, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Help

Hi finnel, I am a new user of wikipedia. my nickname is soso97, i don't like this name but i don't know how to change it. I love science and knowledge. I am science star's friend at school. I hope you could help me how to start using wikipedia. Soso97 (talk) 17:34, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Speed of Light

Dear Finell,

Referring to my recent edit, "Substituted 'believed' with scientific terms 'theorized' and 'hypothesized'", which you undid with the message: "The simple words are simpler and more accurate."

Well, the reason for my edit was that I was just following Wikipedia guidelines: Wikipedia:Words_to_avoid#Words_with_multiple_meanings

As you can see from the guideline article, my objection to the terms "belief", "believe", and "believed" are because of their 'religious' connotations: Creationism is my belief; I believe in Jesus Christ; I believed that God would save me.

Therefore, I think that the terms "hypothesize"/"hypothesized" and "theorize"/"theorized" are more appropriate in a scientific context.

Yours sincerely,

IVAN3MAN (talk) 05:33, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for writing. In the context, I doubt that anyone will conclude that these notions were akin to religious belief, so forms of the word believe are not ambiguous in this context. Further, theorize and hypothesize have implications beyond mere belief, and we do not know whether these implications are warranted. As used in the article, was one belief part of a theory? Was the other stated as a formal hypothesis? To my ear and in this context, theorize and hypothesize strike me as an effort to sound "scientific" by using somewhat fancier words, and comes off sounding a bit pompous.—Finell 13:24, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for responding. Actually, I never had a problem with the terms believe and/or believed until I started having 'debates' with "Intelligent Design"/creationist nutters on Internet forums, who accuse me and my fellow associates of being "evilutionists" (sic) and allege that "evilution [sic] is a belief and a religion"! Furthermore, those bloody "Electric Universe" cranks who often plague the comments section on astronomy websites, such as Universe Today, are just as bad if not worse than friggin' creationists at accusing "standard model" astronomers of following the 'religious belief' of the Big Bang theory. Hence my reason for wanting to change believe and/or believed with some alternative terms. —IVAN3MAN (talk) 08:21, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

It is worse than pointless to debate with biblical creationists and other cranks. I'd rather have "just a theory" to rely upon than "just a superstition" or "just mythology" any day. —Finell 00:34, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

removed PDF accessibility

Hello, I think, your removal of PDF accessibility information in the PDF article was not a good idea. PDF accessibility is an important issue and there are hundreds of articles on internet about this topic. Please, help improving wikipedia articles with new references and new information instead of removing them. Thank you. Some references: [13], [14], [15] --89.173.64.200 (talk) 18:10, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for improving the article by adding the necessary citations to reliable sources. Verifiability is essential for assuring the reliability of information in Wikipedia. An {{Unreferenced section}} tag hung over that section since June 2009, but no one came forward with sources. I'm glad that my deleting this section motivated you to supply the necessary sources.—Finell 22:46, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

I think that your removal will not motivate most people and no one will recognise that something was removed. As I see it, there are only few contributors that will spend time with this type of corrections.--89.173.64.200 (talk) 15:08, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Medieval dialectic

Hello Finell.Why did you delete the material I posted in the dialectic page? The source I provided was called "Dialectics and its place in the development of medival logic".And the content is verifiable.There´s a link to the book. Of course, there are some pages missing, but I just named these philosophers. These names appear in the summary and all over the book. I think that, for the purpose of naming a few philosophers that used dialectics in the middle ages, the source is good.--Knight1993 (talk) 13:08, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

The link is to the acknowledgments page of a book. Your citation does not give the page numbers that support statement made in the article, so the source for the statement cannot be verified.—Finell 17:00, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Air India Express Flight 812

Hello Finell,
Thought you might like to know that there was a discussion about the "Reaction" section at Talk:Air India Express Flight_812#Reaction lists you removed. (I am fairly neutral on the matter) Just letting you know! Happy Editing! --220.101.28.25 (talk) 00:31, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for telling me. I did look at the discussion, and there appeared to be a (weak?) consensus for deletion. As a matter of policy, the content was clearly un-encyclopedic. Indeed, the expressions of condolences were not even newsworthy.—Finell 02:58, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

No worries. It was just going to grow 'like topsy'. As I said in my comment there, every governemt would very likely, as a matter of 'form', send a message and it would outgrow the actual crash article. Good to have an "uninvolved" editor be bold! --220.101.28.25 (talk) 03:08, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Vision Airlines

Hi! Regarding this edit:

I reverted it. Let's take a look at things:

• "Correct location" - Look up the address "3975 Johns Creek Court Suwanee, GA 30024" on Yahoo Maps!
  • Suwanee is in Gwinnett County. As per Yahoo Maps!, the address of Vision Airlines is in Forsyth County. It cannot possibly be in Suwanee.
  • The U.S. Census Bureau map of Suwanee is here - Whatever is inside the yellow is "in" Suwanee. Anything else is not in Suwanee.
  • This is the map of Forsyth County, Georgia
• And regarding Infobox URLs, AFAIK it is best to say "thiswebsite.com" without the "http://"

WhisperToMe (talk) 17:04, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

The company's own web site, which is cited as the source of the statement, says that its headquarters is in Suwanee, GA. Who are we to argue? What you are doing with your map analysis is prohibited by the Wikipedia:No original research policy. Also, if you plug the street address and zip code into Google Maps, Google Maps adds Suwanee, GA to the address (although that is also prohibited OR). You also reverted other good edits of mine (or, at least, edits that you do not say that you object to). Therefore, I reverted your revert, but I changed the URL back to your preferred style.—Finell 00:44, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Very amusing

Well, I thought I gave some constructive analyses of the article lead, along with possible directions for improvement. While I fully considered seeing potential trolling and negativity, it was unexpected to see it from you. Oh, by the way, "travelled" is not a misspelling, but a variant used by millions of people. Tim Shuba (talk) 11:12, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Tim, I certainly did not mean any disrespect toward you, and I did not say that your ideas for the lead were not constructive. Opinions among Wikipedians differ on how much should go into the lead, and I expressed my opinion on this one. It is a matter for the consensus to decide. I don't believe that warrants an accusation of trolling.

Is travelled a British versus American issue? Firefox's spell checker marked it as misspelled. Word auto-corrects it. WordPerfect marks it as misspelled.—Finell 23:05, 20 July 2010 (UTC) But, I should have noticed that the double-l spelling was used consistently throughout the article.—Finell 04:38, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Okay, I do often use the word trolling in a rather wide sense, and I don't consider it inappropriate in all cases (sometimes it is even a positive). I suppose I had that word on my mind due to other postings on and related to that talk page. So never mind the accusation, if anything I was doing more trolling by posting the message here in the manner I did.

Yeah, travelled is British English, in fact I think it's used pretty much everywhere outside the USA. Dropping the doubled letter there was one of the many initiatives by Noah Webster of dictionary fame. See the text on his bio page where I just added a citation. Webster had tons of other language reform initiatives, many successful, many not. From my personal observation, the travelled-->traveled change in American English was never fully integrated, with both form appearing regularly in publications by American writers. So I would say the neither form is obviously preferable even in American English. In part because there is no official body to unequivocally mandate correct English usage, the evolution of the language has always been a free-for-all. Tim Shuba (talk) 18:10, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Opinion request

Would you please weigh in at the Examples discussion at Talk:Fringe theory? Thank you. Tom Reedy (talk) 21:00, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

I invited the editors who had weighed in on that page and the pseudohistory page and then I went to the edit histories and talk page histories and invited every editor who ever edited or commented on those pages. (I also got confused while doing that and I might have invited some editors who had commented on some of their talk pages; I had a lot of windows open at the time). Apparently at one time you had edited or commented on one of those pages. Tom Reedy (talk) 14:00, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject_Golden_ratio

Just wondering what you think of Wikipedia:WikiProject_Golden_ratio, seeing as it's up for deletion and you're one of only two active members of it. Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • ^{(Many otters • One bat • One hammer)} 03:18, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Carpe Diem citations

You requested citations on the carpe diem article. I restored the link to the dictionary entry on perseus. This link was deleted from the article some time ago for some unknown reason, most likely vandalism. Gx872op (talk) 15:36, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Speed of light FAC

I have nominated speed of light for FAC. As a major contributor, please leave your 2cents on the review page.TimothyRias (talk) 16:10, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Dear Tim: Good for you, and good luck this time! I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I simply haven't had time to devote to Wikipedia in the last few months. To tell you the truth, this respite from Wikidrama has, to my surprise, been a pleasant relief. Best wishes.—Finell 21:52, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych

Thanks for the copyedit. Ceoil (talk) 07:54, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Refactored

I refactored your survey entry at the quotation RFC to fit the schema of short numbered entries without discussion. I hope that's OK. Also, you've said TQ where you probably meant LQ (first use); I left that. Dicklyon (talk) 05:01, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Conciseness

Finell, I mentioned an old edit of yours at WT:AT#“Conciseness” wording. Your perspective would be appreciated. Dicklyon (talk) 02:32, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Fields Medal

Hello there,I'm that user who's been the victim of editing the Fields Medal page(i.e.I got blocked with charge of Vandalism.).I've got three question:1)When the current protected status of that page ends,Does the page current contents remain in place or they are replaced with the old version? 2)I've prepared a new and somehow comprehensive table about Fields medalists.I posted this table on the discussion section of the Fields Medal page,and I request for comments about this(If You come there and see my that table I will be really glad,and don't forget to put your comment about it down there!;-)),but so far,just one person did so.Is it normal? 3)Should I submit a request for edit to replace the new table with current one?Or should I wait for reaching a consensus?Thank You. Rezameyqani (talk) 07:50, 19 August 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rezameyqani (talk • contribs)

Microsoft Small Basic

Hello, Finell

Please be careful while editing!

Your edits in Microsoft Small Basic seems to have damaged it. I have restored the last known good version. Let's see what we can salvage of your edits. Please edit in contextual-distinct units and preview your edits.

Also, your talk page is badly in the need of an archiving setup.

Best regards,
Codename Lisa (talk) 08:57, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

June 2015

Please stop adding unreferenced or poorly referenced biographical content, especially if controversial, to articles or any other Wikipedia page. Content of this nature could be regarded as defamatory and is in violation of Wikipedia policy. If you continue, you may be blocked from editing Wikipedia. Black Kite (talk) 22:33, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

@Black Kite: Could you please identify the edit(s) that prompted your warning? In the future, I suggest that you include a diff so the editor knows what you are talking about. Also, what led you give me a level 3 (bad faith) warning?—Finell 00:25, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Sorry, I meant it to be level 2. Nevertheless, you re-instated a possible BLP violation in the Dolezal article with this edit; reading the rest of article, Dolezal clearly denies that she is "transracial" (if such a thing exists). My main problem with the edit was the misleading edit summary - "Wikify, copy edit" which was clearly not the case. Black Kite (talk) 01:11, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

@Black Kite: Thank you for answering. Please take a closer look at my entire edit, instead of just the one word that bothers you. I made a lot of small fixes, which is all I tried to do, and I believed my edit summary was accurate. If you look at my other edits, you will see that I do a lot of WP:MOS-based edits and copy editing.

The word you dislike was in the version I edited. However, by the time I tried to save the article, I had an edit conflict. I did not notice that the word you dislike was removed in the interim.

Furthermore, that word is a direct quotation from the NY Times and was not attributed to Dolezal. Even though you do not like the word, it is not defamatory. I am aware of WP:BLP; it does not require that articles about a living person adhere to what the person says about of himself or herself.—Finell 05:48, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Help with edits.

Hey,

I wanted to let you know that I encountered (and really appreciated and admired) the following message you posted:

Temperment[edit] Michael, I see that you devote a lot of time to Wikipedia and make many valuable contributions, especially in upholding Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. I also tend to do a lot of copy editing and conforming articles to WP:MOS. However, you could do even more good for Wikipedia by continuing to do what you do with more tact toward other editors. I base this recommendation on reading the most recent archives of your Talk page. Standards are important, but encouraging broader public participation in creating and editing Wikipedia is even more important to the project in the long run (I'm not talking about deliberate vandals). Where possible, consider trying to salvage imperfect edits rather than reverting them—especially with well-intentioned, but inexperienced, Wikipedians. Also, consider using a more friendly, welcoming tone in your communications with other editors and even in your edit summaries, especially with less experienced editors. There will always be a corps of editors who like to copy edit and to conform articles to the MOS. However, recruiting and retaining new editors, and broadening the diversity of editors, are two of the most serious problems that confront the Wikipedia project.—Finell 09:06, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

My first ever article, The Wood Nymph, recently got the copy-editing ax. :) And, honestly, I felt a little discouraged, too. I want to learn (I'm completely self-taught through trial and error), because I do not see the page I created as a one-off. Rather, I have The Oceanides stub expanded in my in-box after a lot of work. But now I'm thinking twice about ever pasting it into the stub page. Maybe you wouldn't mind looking at it, because the 'mistakes' I made on The Wood Nymph page will also be on the sandbox article. I'd like to learn, and you seem to have a helpful temperament.

Thanks,

Sgvrfjs (talk) 22:57, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

Refs

Most of us tend to keep refs over a single line. Best Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 15:25, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

Pentagram of Venus

   At User talk:Fuzzypeg#Pentagram of Venus i communicated to the contributor of the most recent version of Pentagram#Pentagram of Venus about my concern that that section needs to become an independent page (and be linked from the Pentagram article). You also may want to consider commenting at Talk:Pentagram#Omnibunstrosity.
--Jerzy•t 01:47, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

thank you for your help, maybe you could put some of these citations in since I can't get them to stick

1.Jump up^ Faculty Conference of July 30, 2015 does refer to BH Hair in her summary, near the end, click talks, click her name, here is another source of that same talk: physicsgirl.com and click the icon next to the date 7/30/15.

1.Jump up^ Beyond the Standard Model Journal Club That lists her talk, and the paper currently listed as ref 4 contains the support of the fact that she completed during that talk, that talk put the finishing touches on the note.

She has notes on that same cite, for example on 12/16/14 she says "I propose a gravitational wave" but then on 2/22/15 it is "We proposed" The talks Strings India, Chicago, Harvard other all call the concepts 'the Triangle' and 'Spin Memory'

http://physicsgirl.com/

When I put in FN 7, I mean FN 7, not citation 7.

Any other help would be greatly appreciated. The Colloquy is an official GSAS publication that lists her as Mode 2, from what I hear, there is not another one in Physics, it is rare (I suppose all thefunding from Hertz helps)

Thank you again... and yes, none of this would be possible without Weinberg's help. 76.16.211.203 (talk) 06:53, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

I see

I see what you mean by complete references.76.16.211.203 (talk) 06:55, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

found the talks introducing the concepts

and added them in

good night, thank you76.16.211.203 (talk) 07:13, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

April 2016

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Mother's Day may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "()"s. If you have, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.

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It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 22:16, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, BracketBot, I always apprecite your help. I fixed it.—Finell 22:41, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Kanban (development): 19 August 2016

Hi Finell Thanks for your contributions to the Kanban (development) page which I'm also trying to improve. You added an "Advert" tag to the page on July 25th. Can you give me some examples of the language you think should be changed? Thanks. Andycarmichaeluk (talk) 11:14, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

ANI

There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The discussion is about the topic User:UW Dawgs: You smell like poo!. Thank you. Toddst1 (talk) 06:14, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

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Administrators' newsletter – March 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2017).

Administrator changes

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Ronnotel • Islander • Chamal N • Isomorphic • Keeper76 • Lord Voldemort • Shereth • Bdesham • Pjacobi

Guideline and policy news

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• Defender, HakanIST, Matiia and Sjoerddebruin are our newest stewards, following the 2017 steward elections.
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Technical news

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Administrators' newsletter – April 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2017).

Administrator changes

TheDJ

Xnuala • CJ • Oldelpaso • Berean Hunter • Jimbo Wales • Andrew c • Karanacs • Modemac • Scott

Guideline and policy news

• Following a discussion on the backlog of unpatrolled files, consensus was found to create a new user right for autopatrolling file uploads. Implementation progress can be tracked on Phabricator.
• The BLPPROD grandfather clause, which stated that unreferenced biographies of living persons were only eligible for proposed deletion if they were created after March 18, 2010, has been removed following an RfC.
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Technical news

• After a recent RfC, moved pages will soon be featured in a queue similar to Special:NewPagesFeed and require patrolling. Moves by administrators, page movers, and autopatrolled editors will be automatically marked as patrolled.
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Administrators' newsletter – May 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2017).

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• An RfC has clarified that user categories should be emptied upon deletion, but redlinked user categories should not be removed if re-added by the user.
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Technical news

• You can now see a list of all autoblocks at Special:AutoblockList.
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Administrators' newsletter – June 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2017).

Administrator changes

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ThaddeusB • Yandman • Bjarki S • OldakQuill • Shyam • Jondel • Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC proposing an off-wiki LTA database has been closed. The proposal was broadly supported, with further discussion required regarding what to do with the existing LTA database and defining access requirements. Such a tool/database formed part of the Community health initiative's successful grant proposal.
• Some clarifications have been made to the community banning and unblocking policies that effectively sync them with current practice. Specifically, the community has reached a consensus that when blocking a user at WP:AN or WP:ANI, it is considered a "community sanction", and administrators cannot unblock unilaterally if the user has not successfully appealed the sanction to the community.
• An RfC regarding the bot policy has closed with changes to the section describing restrictions on cosmetic changes.

Technical news

• Users will soon be able to blacklist specific users from sending them notifications.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2017 elections, the new members of the Board of Trustees include Raystorm, Pundit and Doc James. They will serve three-year terms.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:40, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 June 2017

• From the editors: Signpost status: On reserve power, help wanted!

• News and notes: Global Elections

• Arbitration report: Cases closed in the Pacific and with Magioladitis

• Op-ed: Wikipedia's lead sentence problem

• Featured content: Three months in the land of the featured

• In the media: Did Wikipedia just assume Garfield's gender?

• Recent research: Wikipedia bot wars capture the imagination of the popular press

• Technology report: Tech news catch-up

• Traffic report: Film on Top: Sampling the weekly top 10

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:18, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 June 2017

• News and notes: Departments reorganized at Wikimedia Foundation, and a month without new RfAs (so far)

• In the media: Kalanick's nipples; Episode #138 of Drama on the Hill

• Op-ed: Facto Post: a fresh take

• Featured content: Will there ever be a break? The slew of featured content continues

• Traffic report: Wonder Woman beats Batman, The Mummy, Darth Vader and the Earth

• Recent research: Utopian bubbles: Can Wikipedians create value outside of the capitalist system?

• Technology report: Improved search, and WMF data scientist tells all

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:32, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2017).

Administrator changes

Happyme22 • Dragons flight

Zad68

Guideline and policy news

• The RFC discussion regarding WP:OUTING and WMF essay about paid editing and outing (see more at the ArbCom noticeboard archives) is now archived. Milieus #3 and #4 received support; so did concrete proposal #1.

Technical news

• Fuzzy search will soon be added to Special:Undelete, allowing administrators to search for deleted page titles with results similar to the search query. You can test this by adding ?fuzzy=1 to the URL, as with Special:Undelete?fuzzy=1. Currently the search only finds pages that exactly match the search term.
• A new bot will automatically revision delete unused file versions from files in Category:Non-free files with orphaned versions more than 7 days old.

Miscellaneous

• A newly revamped database report can help identify users who may be eligible to be autopatrolled.
• A potentially compromised account from 2001–2002 attempted to request resysop. Please practice appropriate account security by using a unique password for Wikipedia, and consider enabling two-factor authentication. Currently around 17% of admins have enabled 2FA, up from 16% in February 2017.
• Did you know: On 29 June 2017, there were 1,261 administrators on the English Wikipedia – the exact number of administrators as there were ten years ago on 29 June 2007. Since that time, the English Wikipedia has grown from 1.85 million articles to over 5.43 million.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:59, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 15 July 2017

• News and notes: French chapter woes, new affiliates and more WMF team changes

• Featured content: Spectacular animals, Pine Trees screens, and more

• In the media: Concern about access and fairness, Foundation expenditures, and relationship to real-world politics and commerce

• Recent research: The chilling effect of surveillance on Wikipedia readers

• Op-ed: Why Task Forces are Dying in 2017

• Gallery: A mix of patterns

• Humour: The Infobox Game

• Traffic report: Film, television and Internet phenomena reign with some room left over for America's birthday

• Technology report: New features in development; more breaking changes for scripts

• Wikicup: 2017 WikiCup round 3 wrap-up

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:49, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2017).

Administrator changes

Anarchyte • GeneralizationsAreBad • Cullen328 ^{(first RfA to reach WP:300)}

Cprompt • Rockpocket • Rambo's Revenge • Animum • TexasAndroid • Chuck SMITH • MikeLynch • Crazytales • Ad Orientem

Guideline and policy news

• Following a series of discussions around new pages patrol, the WMF is helping implement a controlled autoconfirmed article creation trial as a research experiment, similar to the one proposed in 2011. You can learn more about the research plan at meta:Research:Autoconfirmed article creation trial. The exact start date of the experiment has yet to be determined.
• A new speedy deletion criterion, regarding articles created as a result undisclosed paid editing, is currently being discussed (permalink).
• An RfC (permalink) is currently open that proposes expanding WP:G13 to include all drafts, even if they weren't submitted through Articles for Creation.

Technical news

• LoginNotify should soon be deployed to the English Wikipedia. This will notify users when there are suspicious login attempts on their account.
• The new version of XTools is nearing an official release. This suite of tools includes administrator statistics, an improved edit counter, among other tools that may benefit administrators. You can report issues on Phabricator and provide general feedback at mw:Talk:XTools.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:11, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 5 August 2017

• News and notes: Non-English special edition! 99% no news about English-based wiki communities!

• Recent research: Wikipedia can increase local tourism by +9%; predicting article quality with deep learning; recent behavior predicts quality

• WikiProject report: Comic relief

• In the media: Wikipedia used to judge death penalty, arms smuggling, Indonesian governance, and HOTTEST celebrity

• Traffic report: Swedish countess tops the list

• Blog: Canadian Supreme Court rules against Google in favor of worldwide court orders

• Special report: Sharing Wikipedia offline medical information in the Dominican Republic

• Featured content: Everywhere in the lead

• Technology report: Introducing TechCom

• Humour: WWASOHs and ETCSSs

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:22, 5 August 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2017).

Administrator changes

Nakon • Scott

Sverdrup • Thespian • Elockid • James086 • Ffirehorse • Celestianpower • Boing! said Zebedee

Guideline and policy news

• ACTRIAL, a research experiment that restricts article creation to autoconfirmed users, will begin on September 7. It will run for six months. You can learn more about the research specifics at meta:Research:Autoconfirmed article creation trial, while Wikipedia talk:Autoconfirmed article creation trial is probably the best venue for general discussion.
• Following an RfC, WP:G13 speedy deletion criterion now applies to any page in the draftspace that has not been edited in six months. There is a bot-generated report, updated daily, to help identify potentially qualifying drafts that have not been submitted through articles for creation.

Technical news

• You will now get a notification when someone tries to log in to your account and fails. If they try from a device that has logged into your account before, you will be notified after five failed attempts. You can also set in your preferences to get an email when someone logs in to your account from a new device or IP address, which may be encouraged for admins and accounts with sensitive permissions.
• Syntax highlighting is now available as a beta feature (more info). This may assist administrators and template editors when dealing with intricate syntax of high-risk templates and system messages.
• In your notification preferences, you can now block specific users from pinging you. This functionality will soon be available for Special:EmailUser as well.

Arbitration

• Applications for CheckUser and Oversight are being accepted by the Arbitration Committee until September 12. Community discussion of the candidates will begin on September 18.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:35, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 6 September 2017

• From the editors: What happened at Wikimania?

• News and notes: Basselpedia; WMF Board of Trustees appointments

• Featured content: Warfighters and their tools or trees and butterflies

• Traffic report: A fortnight of conflicts

• Special report: Biomedical content, and some thoughts on its future

• Recent research: Discussion summarization; Twitter bots tracking government edits; extracting trivia from Wikipedia

• In the media: Google's Ideological Echo Chamber; What makes someone successful?

• WikiProject report: WikiProject YouTube

• Technology report: Latest tech news

• Wikicup: 2017 WikiCup round 4 wrap-up

• Humour: Bots

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:45, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 September 2017

• News and notes: Chapter updates; ACTRIAL

• In the media: Monkey settlement; Wikipedia used to give AI context clues

• Humour: Chickenz

• Recent research: Wikipedia articles vs. concepts; Wikipedia usage in Europe

• Technology report: Flow restarted; Wikidata connection notifications

• Gallery: Chicken mania

• Special report: Two steps forward, one step backward: The Sustainability Initiative

• Traffic report: Fights and frights

• Featured content: Flying high

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:20, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2017).

Administrator changes

Boing! said Zebedee • Ansh666 • Ad Orientem

Tonywalton • AmiDaniel • Silence • BanyanTree • Magioladitis • Vanamonde93 • Mr.Z-man • Jdavidb • Jakec • Ram-Man • Yelyos • Kurt Shaped Box

Guideline and policy news

• Following a successful proposal to create it, a new user right called "edit filter helper" is now assignable and revocable by administrators. The right allows non-administrators to view the details of private edit filters, but not to edit them.
• Following a discussion about mass-application of ECP and how the need for logging and other details of an evolving consensus may have been missed by some administrators, a rough guide to extended confirmed protection has been written. This information page describes how the extended-confirmed aspects of the protection policy are currently being applied by administrators.

Technical news

• You can now search for IP ranges at Special:Contributions. Some log pages and Special:DeletedContributions are not yet supported. Wildcards (e.g. 192.168.0.*) are also not supported, but the popular contribsrange gadget will continue to work.

Arbitration

• Community consultation on the 2017 candidates for CheckUser and Oversight has concluded. The Arbitration Committee will appoint successful candidates by October 11.
• A request for comment is open regarding the structure, rules, and procedures of the December 2017 Arbitration Committee election, and how to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:23, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 October 2017

• News and notes: Money! WMF fundraising, Wikimedia strategy, WMF new office!

• Featured content: Don, Marcel, Emily, Jessica and other notables

• Humour: Guys named Ralph

• In focus: Offline Wikipedia developed at OFF.NETWORK Content Hackathon

• Blog: The future of offline access to Wikipedia: The Kiwix example

• In the media: Facebook and poetry

• Special report: Working with GLAMs in the UK

• Traffic report: Death, disaster, and entertainment

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:35, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2017).

Administrator changes

Longhair • Megalibrarygirl • TonyBallioni • Vanamonde93

Allen3 • Eluchil404 • Arthur Rubin • Bencherlite

Technical news

• The Wikimedia Foundation's Anti-Harassment Tools team is creating an "Interaction Timeline" tool that intends to assist administrators in resolving user conduct disputes. Feedback on the concept may be posted on the talk page.
• A new function is now available to edit filter managers that will make it easier to look for multiple strings containing spoofed text.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors will be invited to submit candidate statements for the 2017 Arbitration Committee Elections starting on November 12 until November 21. Voting will begin on November 27 and last until December 10.
• Following a request for comment, Ritchie333, Yunshui and Ymblanter will serve as the Electoral Commission for the 2017 ArbCom Elections.

Obituaries

• The Wikipedia community has recently learned that Allen3 (William Allen Peckham) passed away on December 30, 2016, the same day as JohnCD. Allen began editing in 2005 and became an administrator that same year.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:50, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 November 2017

• News and notes: Cons, cons, cons

• Arbitration report: Administrator desysoped; How to deal with crosswiki issues; Mister Wiki case likely

• Technology report: Searching and surveying

• Interview: A featured article centurion

• WikiProject report: Recommendations for WikiProjects

• In the media: Open knowledge platform as a media institution

• Traffic report: Strange and inappropriate

• Featured content: We will remember them

• Recent research: Who wrote this? New dataset on the provenance of Wikipedia text

• Humour: Good faith (but still incomprehensible)

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:39, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2017).

Administrator changes

Joe Roe

JzG

Ericorbit • Perceval • Thingg • Tristanb • Violetriga

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, a new section has been added to the username policy which disallows usernames containing emoji, emoticons or otherwise "decorative" usernames, and usernames that use any non-language symbols. Administrators should discuss issues related to these types of usernames before blocking.

Technical news

• Wikimedians are now invited to vote on the proposals in the 2017 Community Wishlist Survey on Meta Wiki until 10 December 2017. In particular, there is a section of the survey regarding new tools for administrators and for anti-harassment.
• A new function is available to edit filter managers which can be used to store matches from regular expressions.

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2017 Arbitration Committee elections is open until Sunday 23:59, 10 December 2017 (UTC). There are 12 candidates running for 8 vacant seats.

Miscellaneous

• Over the last few months, several users have reported backlogs that require administrator attention at WP:ANI, with the most common backlogs showing up on WP:SPI, WP:AIV and WP:RFPP. It is requested that all administrators take some time during this month to help clear backlogs wherever possible. It should be noted that AIV reports are not always valid; however, they still need to be cleared, which may include needing to remind users on what qualifies as vandalism.
• The Wikimedia Foundation Community health initiative is conducting a survey for English Wikipedia contributors on their experience and satisfaction level with Administrator’s Noticeboard/Incidents. This survey will be integral to gathering information about how this noticeboard works (i.e. which problems it deals with well and which problems it struggles with). If you would like to take this survey, please sign up on this page, and a link for the survey will be emailed to you via Special:EmailUser.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:57, 2 December 2017 (UTC)

ArbCom 2017 election voter message

Hello, Finell. Voting in the 2017 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2017 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 December 2017

• Special report: Women in Red World Contest wrap-up

• Blog: Close encounters of the Wikipedia kind

• Featured content: Featured content to finish 2017

• In the media: Stolen seagulls, public domain primates and more

• Arbitration report: Last case of 2017: Mister Wiki editors

• Gallery: Wiki loving

• Interview: Interview with Charlesjsharp, regular contributor of Wikipedia's Featured Pictures

• Recent research: French medical articles have "high rate of veracity"

• Technology report: Your wish lists and more Wikimedia tech

• Traffic report: Notable heroes and bad guys

• Humour: On their way to the WMF Incubator

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:27, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for December 18

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Score, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Musical score (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are usually incorrect, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of unrelated topics with similar titles. (Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.)

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 12:29, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

 Fixed by another editor.

Administrators' newsletter – January 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2017).

Administrator changes

Muboshgu

Anetode • Laser brain • Worm That Turned

None

Bureaucrat changes

Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is in progress to determine whether the administrator policy should be amended to require disclosure of paid editing activity at WP:RFA and to prohibit the use of administrative tools as part of paid editing activity, with certain exceptions.

Technical news

• The 2017 Community Wishlist Survey results have been posted. The Community Tech team will investigate and address the top ten results.
• The Anti-Harassment Tools team is inviting comments on new blocking tools and improvements to existing blocking tools for development in early 2018. Feedback can be left on the discussion page or by email.

Arbitration

• Following the results of the 2017 election, the following editors have been (re)appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Alex Shih, BU Rob13, Callanecc, KrakatoaKatie, Opabinia regalis, Premeditated Chaos, RickinBaltimore, Worm That Turned.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:37, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 January 2018

• News and notes: Communication is key

• In the media: The Paris Review, British Crown and British Media

• Featured content: History, gaming and multifarious topics

• Interview: Interview with Ser Amantio di Nicolao, the top contributor to English Wikipedia by edit count

• Technology report: Dedicated Wikidata database servers

• Humour: Why don't we have an article about _________?

• Arbitration report: Mister Wiki is first arbitration committee decision of 2018

• Traffic report: The best and worst of 2017

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:26, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2018).

Administrator changes

None

Blurpeace • Dana boomer • Deltabeignet • Denelson83 • Grandiose • Salvidrim! • Ymblanter

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC has closed with a consensus that candidates at WP:RFA must disclose whether they have ever edited for pay and that administrators may never use administrative tools as part of any paid editing activity, except when they are acting as a Wikipedian-in-Residence or when the payment is made by the Wikimedia Foundation or an affiliate of the WMF.
• Editors responding to threats of harm can now contact the Wikimedia Foundation's emergency address by using Special:EmailUser/Emergency. If you don't have email enabled on Wikipedia, directly contacting the emergency address using your own email client remains an option.

Technical news

• A tag will now be automatically applied to edits that blank a page, turn a page into a redirect, remove/replace almost all content in a page, undo an edit, or rollback an edit. These edits were previously denoted solely by automatic edit summaries.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee has enacted a change to the discretionary sanctions procedure which requires administrators to add a standardized editnotice when placing page restrictions. Editors cannot be sanctioned for violations of page restrictions if this editnotice was not in place at the time of the violation.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:51, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 5 February 2018

• Op-ed: Do editors have the right to be forgotten?

• Featured content: Wars, sieges, disasters and everything black possible

• Recent research: Automated Q&A from Wikipedia articles; Who succeeds in talk page discussions?

• Blog: New monthly dataset shows where people fall into Wikipedia rabbit holes

• Interview: Interview with The Rambling Man, Wikipedia's top contributor of Featured Lists

• Traffic report: TV, death, sports, and doodles

• Special report: Cochrane–Wikipedia Initiative

• Arbitration report: New cases requested for inter-editor hostility and other collaboration issues

• In the media: Solving crime; editing out violence allegations

• Humour: You really are in Wonderland

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:12, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 February 2018

• News and notes: The future is Swedish with a lack of administrators

• Recent research: Politically diverse editors write better articles; Reddit and Stack Overflow benefit from Wikipedia but don't give back

• Arbitration report: Arbitration committee prepares to examine two new cases

• Traffic report: Addicted to sports and pain

• Featured content: Entertainment, sports and history

• Technology report: Paragraph-based edit conflict screen; broken thanks

• Humour: Impossible and unexplained traffic report

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:11, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2018).

Administrator changes

Lourdes†

AngelOfSadness • Bhadani • Chris 73 • Coren • Friday • Midom • Mike V

† Lourdes has requested that her admin rights be temporarily removed, pending her return from travel.

Guideline and policy news

• The autoconfirmed article creation trial (ACTRIAL) is scheduled to end on 14 March 2018. The results of the research collected can be read on Meta Wiki.
• Community ban discussions must now stay open for at least 24 hours prior to being closed.
• A change to the administrator inactivity policy has been proposed. Under the proposal, if an administrator has not used their admin tools for a period of five years and is subsequently desysopped for inactivity, the administrator would have to file a new RfA in order to regain the tools.
• A change to the banning policy has been proposed which would specify conditions under which a repeat sockmaster may be considered de facto banned, reducing the need to start a community ban discussion for these users.

Technical news

• CheckUsers are now able to view private data such as IP addresses from the edit filter log, e.g. when the filter prevents a user from creating an account. Previously, this information was unavailable to CheckUsers because access to it could not be logged.
• The edit filter has a new feature contains_all that edit filter managers may use to check if one or more strings are all contained in another given string.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2018 Steward elections, the following users are our new stewards: -revi, Green Giant, Rxy, There'sNoTime, علاء.

Obituaries

• Bhadani (Gangadhar Bhadani) passed away on 8 February 2018. Bhadani joined Wikipedia in March 2005 and became an administrator in September 2005. While he was active, Bhadani was regarded as one of the most prolific Wikipedians from India.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:00, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Signpost issue 4 – 29 March 2018

• Op-ed: Death knell for The Signpost?

• News and notes: Wiki Conference roundup and new appointments.

• Arbitration report: Ironing out issues in infoboxes; not sure yet about New Jersey; and an administrator who probably wasn't uncivil to a sockpuppet.

• In the media: The media on Wikipedia's workings: the good and not-so-good

• Traffic report: Real sports, real women and an imaginary country: what's on top for Wikipedia readers

• Featured content: Animals, Ships, and Songs

• Technology report: Timeless skin review by Force Radical.

• Special report: ACTRIAL wrap-up.

• Humour: WikiWorld Reruns

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:48, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2018).

Administrator changes

331dot • Cordless Larry • ClueBot NG

Gogo Dodo • Pb30 • Sebastiankessel • Seicer • SoLando

Guideline and policy news

• Administrators who have been desysopped due to inactivity are now required to have performed at least one (logged) administrative action in the past 5 years in order to qualify for a resysop without going through a new RfA.
• Editors who have been found to have engaged in sockpuppetry on at least two occasions after an initial indefinite block, for whatever reason, are now automatically considered banned by the community without the need to start a ban discussion.
• The notability guideline for organizations and companies has been substantially rewritten following the closure of this request for comment. Among the changes, the guideline more clearly defines the sourcing requirements needed for organizations and companies to be considered notable.
• The six-month autoconfirmed article creation trial (ACTRIAL) ended on 14 March 2018. The post-trial research report has been published. A request for comment is now underway to determine whether the restrictions from ACTRIAL should be implemented permanently.

Technical news

• There will soon be a calendar widget at Special:Block, making it easier to set expiries for a specific date and time.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee is considering a change to the discretionary sanctions procedures which would require an editor to appeal a sanction to the community at WP:AE or WP:AN prior to appealing directly to the Arbitration Committee at WP:ARCA.

Miscellaneous

• A discussion has closed which concluded that administrators are not required to enable email, though many editors suggested doing so as a matter of best practice.
• The Foundations' Anti-Harassment Tools team has released the Interaction Timeline. This shows a chronologic history for two users on pages where they have both made edits, which may be helpful in identifying sockpuppetry and investigating editing disputes.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:23, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 April 2018

• From the editors: The Signpost's presses roll again

• Signpost: Future directions for The Signpost

• News and notes: Photo of Kim Jong-un. Stephen Hawking death tops hits on many Wikipedias.

• In the media: The rise of Wikipedia as a disinformation mop

• In focus: Admin reports board under criticism

• Special report: ACTRIAL results adopted by landslide

• Opinion: Guideline for Organization Notability revised

• Op-ed: World War II Myth-making and Wikipedia

• Community view: It's time we look past Women in Red to counter systemic bias

• Discussion report: The future of portals

• Arbitration report: No new cases, and one motion on administrative misconduct

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Military History

• Blog: Why the world reads Wikipedia

• Humour: Our Favorite Places to Whine About Stuff

• Traffic report: A quiet place to wrestle with the articles of March

• Technology report: Coming soon: Books-to-PDF, interactive maps, rollback confirmation

• Featured content: Featured content selected by the community

• Gallery: A look at some famous and not as well-known border tripoints

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:48, 26 April 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2018).

Administrator changes

None

Chochopk • Coffee • Gryffindor • Jimp • Knowledge Seeker • Lankiveil • Peridon • Rjd0060

Guideline and policy news

• The ability to create articles directly in mainspace is now indefinitely restricted to autoconfirmed users.
• A proposal is being discussed which would create a new "event coordinator" right that would allow users to temporarily add the "confirmed" flag to new user accounts and to create many new user accounts without being hindered by a rate limit.

Technical news

• AbuseFilter has received numerous improvements, including an OOUI overhaul, syntax highlighting, ability to search existing filters, and a few new functions. In particular, the search feature can be used to ensure there aren't existing filters for what you need, and the new equals_to_any function can be used when checking multiple namespaces. One major upcoming change is the ability to see which filters are the slowest. This information is currently only available to those with access to Logstash.
• When blocking anonymous users, a cookie will be applied that reloads the block if the user changes their IP. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. This currently only occurs when hard-blocking accounts.
• The block notice shown on mobile will soon be more informative and point users to a help page on how to request an unblock, just as it currently does on desktop.
• There will soon be a calendar widget at Special:Block, making it easier to set expiries for a specific date and time.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee is seeking additional clerks to help with the arbitration process.

Obituaries

• Lankiveil (Craig Franklin) passed away in mid-April. Lankiveil joined Wikipedia on 12 August 2004 and became an administrator on 31 August 2008. During his time with the Wikimedia community, Lankiveil served as an oversighter for the English Wikipedia and as president of Wikimedia Australia.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:05, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 May 2018

• From the editor: Another issue meets the deadline

• Op-ed: Has the wind gone out of the AdminShip's sails?

• Opinion: Integrating my many lives on Wikipedia

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Portals

• Discussion report: User rights, infoboxes, and more discussion on portals

• Featured content: Featured content selected by the community

• Arbitration report: Managing difficult topics

• News and notes: Lots of Wikimedia

• In the media: Wikipedia in Turkish politics; COI politics in Wikipedia; most cited work

• Traffic report: We love our superheroes

• Technology report: A trove of contributor and developer goodies

• Blog: Why I write about women on Wikipedia

• Recent research: Why people don't contribute to Wikipedia; using Wikipedia to teach statistics, technical writing, and controversial issues

• Humour: Play with your food

• Gallery: Wine not?

• From the archives: The Signpost scoops The Signpost

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:24, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 May 2018

• From the editor: Another issue meets the deadline

• Op-ed: Has the wind gone out of the AdminShip's sails?

• Opinion: Integrating my many lives on Wikipedia

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Portals

• Discussion report: User rights, infoboxes, and more discussion on portals

• Featured content: Featured content selected by the community

• Arbitration report: Managing difficult topics

• News and notes: Lots of Wikimedia

• In the media: Wikipedia in Turkish politics; COI politics in Wikipedia; most cited work

• Traffic report: We love our superheroes

• Technology report: A trove of contributor and developer goodies

• Blog: Why I write about women on Wikipedia

• Recent research: Why people don't contribute to Wikipedia; using Wikipedia to teach statistics, technical writing, and controversial issues

• Humour: Play with your food

• Gallery: Wine not?

• From the archives: The Signpost scoops The Signpost

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:17, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2018).

Administrator changes

None

Al Ameer son • AliveFreeHappy • Cenarium • Lupo • MichaelBillington

Guideline and policy news

• Following a successful request for comment, administrators are now able to add and remove editors to the "event coordinator" group. Users in the event coordinator group have the ability to temporarily add the "confirmed" flag to new user accounts and to create many new user accounts without being hindered by a rate limit. Users will no longer need to be in the "account creator" group if they are in the event coordinator group.
• Following an AN discussion, all pages with content related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, broadly construed, are now under indefinite general sanctions.

Technical news

• IP-based cookie blocks should be deployed to English Wikipedia in June. This will cause the block of a logged-out user to be reloaded if they change IPs. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. For the time being, it only affects users of the desktop interface.
• The Wikimedia Foundation's Anti-Harassment Tools team will build granular types of blocks in 2018 (e.g. a block from uploading or editing specific pages, categories, or namespaces, as opposed to a full-site block). Feedback on the concept may be left at the talk page.
• There is now a checkbox on Special:ListUsers to let you see only users in temporary user groups.
• It is now easier for blocked mobile users to see why they were blocked.

Arbitration

• A recent technical issue with the Arbitration Committee's spam filter inadvertently caused all messages sent to the committee through Wikipedia (i.e. Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee) to be discarded. If you attempted to send an email to the Arbitration Committee via Wikipedia between May 16 and May 31, your message was not received and you are encouraged to resend it. Messages sent outside of these dates or directly to the Arbitration Committee email address were not affected by this issue.

Miscellaneous

• In early May, an unusually high level of failed login attempts was observed. The WMF has stated that this was an "external effort to gain unauthorized access to random accounts". Under Wikipedia policy, administrators are required to have strong passwords. To further reinforce security, administrators should also consider enabling two-factor authentication. A committed identity can be used to verify that you are the true account owner in the event that your account is compromised and/or you are unable to log in.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:59, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Honeywell TPE331 editing issues

Hi Finell,

I'm the freelance editor who was asked by Honeywell to fix the TPE331 Wiki page. Although I've been doing minor edits to various WP pages in areas of my other expertise, as you can probably tell, I'm pretty new to doing anything but changing a word or two here and there or adding a single citation. This is my first attempt to overhaul a page and although I have some basic (very basic) WP editing skills, I'm certainly not an expert in the various disclosures needed and matters of citation formatting/coding. I've tried reading through the various WP manuals, documentation and other material but don't seem to be making any progress in either understanding that material or getting the various flags removed from the TPE331 page. In short, I'm befuddled.

So I'm throwing myself at your mercy to see if you can help me figure this out. I thought I had met the requirement for disclosing my conflict of interest but apparently not sufficiently. I was holding off trying to fix some citation issues until the page got moved from "Garrett" to "Honeywell." As a separate issue, I see that the whole new section on "performance" was removed and I'd like to see if this useful user information could be re-instated, perhaps once we figure out the disclosure issue(s).

Can you help? Jveeds (talk) 18:57, 15 June 2018 (UTC)jveeds Jim V

People who edit Wikipedia, either as employees or as paid consultants (etc.), whether they do or do not disclose their conflict of interest, have turned large swaths of Wikipedia into a giant advertising brochure. I see it all the time, not only in articles directly about a company or the company's products and services, but in general articles about a topic that is of concern to a client. For example, an article about a particular disease will include material that favors the use of a drug or medical device, where a client is a leading provider of same.

The most skillful paid editors (mostly undisclosed) work slowly and insidiously, gently pushing an article in baby steps toward a client's interest. They "copy" edit to use words that reflect more positively on the client or the client's industry. They delete unsourced material that reflects negatively on a client, directly or indirectly. The next day, often using different user name, they add self-sourced or otherwise poorly sourced material that reflects positively on the same client, directly or indirectly. As you must know, some "independent" industry periodicals publish as "news" all press releases they receive, with or without a tad of editing; sometimes they even add a staff "reporter's" byline for increased, but false, authenticity. Occasionally, when someone is sufficiently ham-handed in editing Wikipedia, they get caught. Most of the time, they get away with it.

I see this all over Wikipedia, and it makes me sick. Please just go away!—Finell 20:26, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 June 2018

• From the editor: The Admin Ship is still barely afloat, while a Foundation project risks sinking

• Special report: NPR and AfC – The Marshall Plan: an engagement and a marriage?

• Op-ed: What do admins do?

• Opinion: Google isn't responsible for Wikipedia's mistakes

• News and notes: Money, milestones, and Wikimania

• In the media: Much wikilove from the Mayor of London, less from Paekākāriki or a certain candidate for U.S. Congress

• Discussion report: Deletion, page moves, and an update to the main page

• Featured content: New promotions

• Arbitration report: WWII, UK politics, and a user deCrat'ed

• Traffic report: Endgame

• Technology report: Improvements piled on more improvements

• Gallery: Wiki Loves Africa

• Blog: Wikipedia should be open for editors in Turkey

• Recent research: How censorship can backfire and conversations can go awry

• Humour: Television plot lines

• Wikipedia essays: This month's pick by The Signpost editors

• From the archives: Wolves nip at Wikipedia's heels: A perspective on the cost of paid editing

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:29, 30 June 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2018).

Administrator changes

Pbsouthwood • TheSandDoctor

Gogo Dodo

Andrevan • Doug • EVula • KaisaL • Tony Fox • WilyD

Bureaucrat changes

Andrevan • EVula

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC about the deletion of drafts closed with a consensus to change the wording of WP:NMFD. Specifically, a draft that has been repeatedly resubmitted and declined at AfC without any substantial improvement may be deleted at MfD if consensus determines that it is unlikely to ever meet the requirements for mainspace and it otherwise meets one of the reasons for deletion outlined in the deletion policy.
• A request for comment closed with a consensus that the {{promising draft}} template cannot be used to indefinitely prevent a WP:G13 speedy deletion nomination.

Technical news

• Starting on July 9, the WMF Security team, Trust & Safety, and the broader technical community will be seeking input on an upcoming change that will restrict editing of site-wide JavaScript and CSS to a new technical administrators user group. Bureaucrats and stewards will be able to grant this right per a community-defined process. The intention is to reduce the number of accounts who can edit frontend code to those who actually need to, which in turn lessens the risk of malicious code being added that compromises the security and privacy of everyone who accesses Wikipedia. For more information, please review the FAQ.
• Syntax highlighting has been graduated from a Beta feature on the English Wikipedia. To enable this feature, click the highlighter icon () in your editing toolbar (or under the hamburger menu in the 2017 wikitext editor). This feature can help prevent you from making mistakes when editing complex templates.
• IP-based cookie blocks should be deployed to English Wikipedia in July (previously scheduled for June). This will cause the block of a logged-out user to be reloaded if they change IPs. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. For the time being, it only affects users of the desktop interface.

Miscellaneous

• Currently around 20% of admins have enabled two-factor authentication, up from 17% a year ago. If you haven't already enabled it, please consider doing so. Regardless if you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:22, 3 July 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation Pages- Please don't remove/replace redirected links

Hi,

I notice that in this edit, you replaced the link via redirect (for name "The JAMs") with a link for The KLF. However, this is contrary to the guidance given by the Manual of Style entry covering redirection on dab pages, which favours linking via redirect when:-

the redirect target article contains the disambiguated term; and

the redirect could serve as an alternative name for the target article, meaning an alternative term that is already in the article's lead section.

Both these apply here. The example given (for Jim Carrey) specifically notes the redirect version to be "correct" and the direct link version as "incorrect".

Hope this explains things. Ubcule (talk) 11:13, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 July 2018

• From the editor: If only if

• Op-ed: The last leg of the Admin Ship's current cruise

• Opinion: Wrestling with Wikipedia reality

• News and notes: Another newspaper for Wikipedia; Wikimania 2018 ends; changes at NPR

• In the media: Blackouts in Europe; Wikipedia and capitalists; WMF Jet Set

• Discussion report: Wikipedias take action against EU copyright proposal, plus new user right proposals

• Featured content: Wikipedia's best content in images and prose

• Arbitration report: Status quo processes retained in two disputes

• Traffic report: Soccer, football, call it what you like – that and summer movies leave room for little else

• Technology report: New bots, new prefs

• Gallery: Independence days, national holidays, and football – all in July

• Blog: Motivation of two editors

• Recent research: Different Wikipedias use different images; editing contests more successful than edit-a-thons

• Humour: It's all the same

• Essay: Wikipedia does not need you

• From the archives: The pending changes fiasco: how an attempt to answer one question turned into a quagmire

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:51, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2018).

Administrator changes

Sro23

KaisaL • Ymblanter

Guideline and policy news

• After a discussion at Meta, a new user group called "interface administrators" (formerly "technical administrator") has been created. Come the end of August, interface admins will be the only users able to edit site-wide JavaScript and CSS pages like MediaWiki:Common.js and MediaWiki:Common.css, or edit other user's personal JavaScript and CSS. The intention is to improve security and privacy by reducing the number of accounts which could be used to compromise the site or another user's account through malicious code. The new user group can be assigned and revoked by bureaucrats. Discussion is ongoing to establish details for implementing the group on the English Wikipedia.
• Following a request for comment, the WP:SISTER style guideline now states that in the mainspace, interwiki links to Wikinews should only be made as per the external links guideline. This generally means that within the body of an article, you should not link to Wikinews about a particular event that is only a part of the larger topic. Wikinews links in "external links" sections can be used where helpful, but not automatically if an equivalent article from a reliable news outlet could be linked in the same manner.

Technical news

• The WMF Anti-Harassment Tools team is seeking input on the second set of wireframes for the Special:Block redesign that will introduce partial blocks. The new functionality will allow you to block a user from editing a specific set of pages, pages in a category, a namespace, and for specific actions such as moving pages and uploading files.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:31, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 16

An automated process has detected that you recently added links to disambiguation pages.

Major and minor (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)

added a link pointing to Triad

Sukkah City (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)

added a link pointing to Dwell

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:18, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 23

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Major and minor, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Triad (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver).

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:14, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 August 2018

• From the editor: Today's young adults don't know a world without Wikipedia

• Interview: 2018 Wikimedian of the Year, Farkhad Fatkullin

• News and notes: Flying high; low practice from Wikipedia 'cleansing' agency; where do our donations go? RfA sees a new trend

• In the media: Quicksilver AI writes articles

• Discussion report: Drafting an interface administrator policy

• Featured content: Featured content selected by the community

• Special report: Wikimania 2018

• Traffic report: Aretha dies – getting just 2,000 short of 5 million hits

• Technology report: Technical enhancements and a request to prioritize upcoming work

• Gallery: Leapfrog, historic Thai cave, and a rhythmic beat

• Recent research: Wehrmacht on Wikipedia, neural networks writing biographies

• Humour: Signpost editor censors herself

• Essay: Principle of Some Astonishment

• From the archives: Playing with Wikipedia words

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:03, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 3

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Muriel Bristol, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page William Roach (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver).

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:13, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

 Done

The Signpost: 1 October 2018

• From the editor: Is this the new normal?

• News and notes: European copyright law moves forward

• In the media: Knowledge under fire

• Discussion report: Interface Admin policy proposal, part 2

• Arbitration report: A quiet month for Arbcom

• Traffic report: John McCain's death generates over 7 million hits, followed by historical low

• Technology report: Paying attention to your mobile

• Gallery: A pat on the back

• Blog: After a catastrophic fire at the National Museum of Brazil, a drive to preserve what knowledge remains

• Recent research: How talk page use has changed since 2005; censorship shocks lead to centralization; is vandalism caused by workplace boredom?

• Humour: Signpost Crossword Puzzle

• Essay: Expressing thanks

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:44, 1 October 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2018).

Administrator changes

Justlettersandnumbers • L235

Bgwhite • HorsePunchKid • J Greb • KillerChihuahua • Rami R • Winhunter

Interface administrator changes

Cyberpower678 • Deryck Chan • Oshwah • Pharos • Ragesoss • Ritchie333

Oversight changes

Guerillero • NativeForeigner • Snowolf • Xeno

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the process for appointing interface administrators has been established. Currently only existing admins can request these rights, while a new RfC has begun on whether it should be available to non-admins.
• There is an open request for comment on Meta regarding the creation a new user group for global edit filter management.

Technical news

• Partial blocks should be available for testing in October on the Test Wikipedia and the Beta-Cluster. This new feature allows admins to block users from editing specific pages and in the near-future, namespaces and uploading files. You can expect more updates and an invitation to help with testing once it is available.
• The Foundations' Anti-Harassment Tools team is currently looking for input on how to measure the effectiveness of blocks. This is in particular related to how they will measure the success of the aforementioned partial blocks.
• Because of a data centre test, you will be able to read but not edit the Wikimedia projects for up to an hour on 10 October. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee has, by motion, amended the procedure on functionary inactivity.
• The community consultation for 2018 CheckUser and Oversight appointments has concluded. Appointments will be made by October 11.
• Following a request for comment, the size of the Arbitration Committee will be decreased to 13 arbitrators, starting in 2019. Additionally, the minimum support percentage required to be appointed to a two-year term on ArbCom has been increased to 60%. ArbCom candidates who receive between 50% and 60% support will be appointed to one-year terms instead.
• Nominations for the 2018 Arbitration Committee Electoral Commission are being accepted until 12 October. These are the editors who help run the ArbCom election smoothly. If you are interested in volunteering for this role, please consider nominating yourself.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:13, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 October 2018

• From the editors: The Signpost is still afloat, just barely

• Op-ed: Wikipedia's Strickland affair

• News and notes: WMF gets a million bucks

• In the media: Bans, celebs, and bias

• Discussion report: Mediation Committee and proposed deletion reform

• Traffic report: Unsurprisingly, sport leads the field – or the ring

• Technology report: Bots galore!

• Special report: NPP needs you

• Special report 2: Now Wikidata is six

• In focus: Alexa

• Gallery: Out of this world!

• Recent research: Wikimedia Commons worth $28.9 billion

• Humour: Talk page humour

• Opinion: Strickland incident

• From the archives: The Gardner Interview

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:09, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2018).

Administrator changes

Sir Sputnik

Kudpung • Liz • Lourdes

Everyking • Jackmcbarn

Interface administrator changes

Dinoguy1000

CheckUser changes

AGK • Ivanvector • Stwalkerster • TonyBallioni

Oversight changes

Amorymeltzer • Oshwah • TonyBallioni • Vanamonde93

Keilana

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment determined that non-administrators will not be able to request interface admin access.
• A request for comment is in progress to determine whether the Mediation Committee should be closed and marked as historical.
• A village pump discussion has been ongoing about whether the proposed deletion policy (PROD) should be clarified or amended.
• A request for comment is in progress to determine whether pending changes protection should be applied automatically to today's featured article (TFA) in order to mitigate a recent trend of severe image vandalism.

Technical news

• Partial blocks is now available for testing on the Test Wikipedia. The new functionality allows you to block users from editing specific pages. Bugs may exist and can be reported on the local talk page or on Meta. A discussion regarding deployment to English Wikipedia will be started by community liaisons sometime in the near future.
• A user script is now available to quickly review unblock requests.
• The 2019 Community Wishlist Survey is now accepting new proposals until November 11, 2018. The results of this survey will determine what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year. Voting on the proposals will take place from November 16 to November 30, 2018. Specifically, there is a proposal category for admins and stewards that may be of interest.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors will be invited to nominate themselves as candidates in the 2018 Arbitration Committee Elections starting on November 4 until November 13. Voting will begin on November 19 and last until December 2.
• The Arbitration Committee's email address has changed to arbcom-enwikimedia.org. Other email lists, such as functionaries-en and clerks-l, remain unchanged.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:18, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for November 11

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Metropolitan Opera, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Matinée (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver).

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:14, 11 November 2018 (UTC)

 Done

ArbCom 2018 election voter message

Hello, Finell. Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 3 December. All users who registered an account before Sunday, 28 October 2018, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Thursday, 1 November 2018 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2018 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 19 November 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 December 2018

• From the editor: Time for a truce

• Op-ed: Looking back, looking forward: A beginner's experience on Wikipedia

• Special report: The Christmas wishlist

• Opinion: The blogosphere migrates to Galaxy WMF

• News and notes: Reviewer of the year, WikiCup winner, and the 2019 Wikimedia Summit

• Reflections: Wikipedia, history, and the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day

• In the media: Court-ordered article redaction, paid editing, and rock stars

• Discussion report: Farewell, Mediation Committee

• Arbitration report: A long break ends

• Traffic report: Queen reigns for four weeks straight

• Gallery: Intersections

• Recent research: Why do the most active Wikipedians burn out?; only 4% of students vandalize

• Essay: No one cares about your garage band

• Humour: The dark side of our favorite root vegetable

• From the archives: Ars longa, vita brevis

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:47, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2018).

Administrator changes

Al Ameer son • Randykitty • Spartaz

Boson • Daniel J. Leivick • Efe • Esanchez7587 • Fred Bauder • Garzo • Martijn Hoekstra • Orangemike

Interface administrator changes

Deryck Chan

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the Mediation Committee is now closed and will no longer be accepting case requests.
• A request for comment is in progress to determine whether members of the Bot Approvals Group should satisfy activity requirements in order to remain in that role.
• A request for comment is in progress regarding whether to change the administrator inactivity policy, such that administrators "who have made no logged administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped". Currently, the policy states that administrators "who have made neither edits nor administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped".
• A proposal has been made to temporarily restrict editing of the Main Page to interface administrators in order to mitigate the impact of compromised accounts.

Technical news

• Administrators and bureaucrats can no longer unblock themselves unless they placed the block initially. This change has been implemented globally. See also this ongoing village pump discussion (permalink).
• To complement the aforementioned change, blocked administrators will soon have the ability to block the administrator that placed their block to mitigate the possibility of a compromised administrator account blocking all other active administrators.
• Since deployment of Partial blocks on Test Wikipedia, several bugs were identified. Most of them are now fixed. Administrators are encouraged to test the new deployment and report new bugs on Phabricator or leave feedback on the Project's talk page. You can request administrator access on the Test Wiki here.

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 3 December 2018. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Miscellaneous

• In late November, an attacker compromised multiple accounts, including at least four administrator accounts, and used them to vandalize Wikipedia. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. Sharing the same password across multiple websites makes your account vulnerable, especially if your password was used on a website that suffered a data breach. As these incidents have shown, these concerns are not pure fantasies.
• Wikipedia policy requires administrators to have strong passwords. To further reinforce security, administrators should also consider enabling two-factor authentication. A committed identity can be used to verify that you are the true account owner in the event that your account is compromised and/or you are unable to log in.

Obituaries

• Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (Raymond Arritt) passed away on 14 November 2018. Boris joined Wikipedia as Raymond arritt on 8 May 2006 and was an administrator from 30 July 2007 to 2 June 2008.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:36, 3 December 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 December 2018

• From the editors: Where to draw the line in reporting?

• Op-ed: Wikipedia not trumped by Trump appointee

• Special report: The Signpost got 380,000+ views in 2018, sounds reasonable enough, right?

• News and notes: Some wishes do come true

• In the media: Political hijinks

• Discussion report: A new record low for RfA

• WikiProject report: Articlegenesis

• Arbitration report: Year ends with one active case

• Traffic report: Queen dethroned by U.S. presidents

• Gallery: Sun and Moon, water and stone

• Blog: News from the WMF

• Humour: I believe in Bigfoot

• Essay: Requests for medication

• From the archives: Compromised admin accounts – again

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:35, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2018).

Administrator changes

Galobtter

Orangemike

BorgQueen • Davidruben • Ocee • Revolving Bugbear • Theda • There'sNoTime • Timc • Tijuana Brass • Tristessa de St Ange

Bureaucrat changes

Addshore

CheckUser changes

Joe Roe • SilkTork

Euryalus • Newyorkbrad • There'sNoTime

Oversight changes

AGK • Joe Roe • SilkTork

Euryalus • Newyorkbrad • There'sNoTime

Guideline and policy news

• There are a number of new or changed speedy deletion criteria, each previously part of WP:CSD#G6:

1. G14 (new): Disambiguation pages that disambiguate only zero or one existing pages are now covered under the new G14 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-disambig}}; the text is unchanged and candidates may be found in Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as unnecessary disambiguation pages.
2. R4 (new): Redirects in the file namespace (and no file links) that have the same name as a file or redirect at Commons are now covered under the new R4 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-redircom}}; the text is unchanged.
3. G13 (expanded): Userspace drafts containing only the default Article Wizard text are now covered under G13 along with other drafts (discussion). Such blank drafts are now eligible after six months rather than one year, and taggers continue to use {{db-blankdraft}}.

• The Wikimedia Foundation now requires all interface administrators to enable two-factor authentication.
• Members of the Bot Approvals Group (BAG) are now subject to an activity requirement. After two years without any bot-related activity (e.g. operating a bot, posting on a bot-related talk page), BAG members will be retired from BAG following a one-week notice.

Technical news

• Starting on December 13, the Wikimedia Foundation security team implemented new password policy and requirements. Privileged accounts (administrators, bureaucrats, checkusers, oversighters, interface administrators, bots, edit filter managers/helpers, template editors, et al.) must have a password at least 10 characters in length. All accounts must have a password:

1. At least 8 characters in length
2. Not in the 100,000 most popular passwords (defined by the Password Blacklist library)
3. Different from their username

User accounts not meeting these requirements will be prompted to update their password accordingly. More information is available on MediaWiki.org.

• Blocked administrators may now block the administrator that blocked them. This was done to mitigate the possibility that a compromised administrator account would block all other active administrators, complementing the removal of the ability to unblock oneself outside of self-imposed blocks. A request for comment is currently in progress to determine whether the blocking policy should be updated regarding this change.
• {{Copyvio-revdel}} now has a link to open the history with the RevDel checkboxes already filled in.

Arbitration

• Following the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: AGK, Courcelles, GorillaWarfare, Joe Roe, Mkdw, SilkTork.

Miscellaneous

• Accounts continue to be compromised on a regular basis. Evidence shows this is entirely due to the accounts having the same password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately.
• Around 22% of admins have enabled two-factor authentication, up from 20% in June 2018. If you haven't already enabled it, please consider doing so. Regardless of whether you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:38, 1 January 2019 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for January 6

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited MIMO, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Antenna (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver).

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:13, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

 Done:Thanks, DPL bot. I would never opt out of your always-helpful notifications.—Finell 20:45, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2019

• Op-Ed: Random Rewards Rejected

• In focus: The Collective Consciousness of Admin Userpages

• News and notes: WMF staff turntable continues to spin; Endowment gets more cash; RfA continues to be a pit of steely knives

• In the media: The Signpost's investigative story recognized, Wikipedia turns 18 and gets a birthday gift from Google, and more editors are recognized

• Discussion report: The future of the reference desk

• Featured content: Don't miss your great opportunity

• Arbitration report: An admin under the microscope

• Traffic report: Death, royals and superheroes: Avengers, Black Panther

• Technology report: When broken is easily fixed

• Gallery: Let us build a memorial fit for such pain and suffering

• News from the WMF: News from WMF

• Recent research: Ad revenue from reused Wikipedia articles; are Wikipedia researchers asking the right questions?

• Essay: How

• Humour: Village pump

• From the archives: An editorial board that includes you

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:50, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2019).

Administrator changes

Enterprisey • JJMC89

BorgQueen

Harro5 • Jenks24 • Graft • R. Baley

Interface administrator changes

Enterprisey

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is currently open to reevaluate the activity requirements for administrators.
• Administrators who are blocked have the technical ability to block the administrator who blocked their own account. A recent request for comment has amended the blocking policy to clarify that this ability should only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as account compromises, where there is a clear and immediate need.
• A request for comment closed with a consensus in favor of deprecating The Sun as a permissible reference, and creating an edit filter to warn users who attempt to cite it.

Technical news

• A discussion regarding an overhaul of the format and appearance of Wikipedia:Requests for page protection is in progress (permalink). The proposed changes will make it easier to create requests for those who are not using Twinkle. The workflow for administrators at this venue will largely be unchanged. Additionally, there are plans to archive requests similar to how it is done at WP:PERM, where historical records are kept so that prior requests can more easily be searched for.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2019 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2019, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2019, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• A new IRC bot is available that allows you to subscribe to notifications when specific filters are tripped. This requires that your IRC handle be identified.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:15, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 February 2019

• From the editors: Help wanted (still)

• News and notes: Front-page issues for the community

• In focus: Wikimedia affiliate organizations seek community participation in 2019 board election

• Discussion report: Talking about talk pages

• Featured content: Conquest, War, Famine, Death, and more!

• Arbitration report: A quiet month for Arbitration Committee

• Traffic report: Binge-watching

• Technology report: Tool labs casters-up

• Gallery: Signed with pride

• Recent research: Research finds signs of cultural diversity and recreational habits of readers

• Essay: Optimist's guide to Wikipedia

• From the archives: New group aims to promote Wiki-Love

• Humour: Pesky Pronouns

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:15, 28 February 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2019).

Administrator changes

Evad37

There'sNoTime

Alex Shih • Brian • Mushroom • Nakon • Oscarthecat • PeruvianLlama • Ragib • Reaper Eternal • Rossami • Tom

Interface administrator changes

Evad37 • Galobtter

Ritchie333

CheckUser changes

There'sNoTime

Keegan • Ks0stm

Oversight changes

There'sNoTime

Ks0stm • Sphilbrick

Guideline and policy news

• The RfC on administrator activity requirements failed to reach consensus for any proposal.
• Following discussions at the Bureaucrats' noticeboard and Wikipedia talk:Administrators, an earlier change to the restoration of adminship policy was reverted. If requested, bureaucrats will not restore administrator permissions removed due to inactivity if there have been five years without a logged administrator action; this "five year rule" does not apply to permissions removed voluntarily.

Technical news

• A new tool is available to help determine if a given IP is an open proxy/VPN/webhost/compromised host.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee announced two new OTRS queues. Both are meant solely for cases involving private information; other cases will continue to be handled at the appropriate venues (e.g., WP:COIN or WP:SPI).
  • paid-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private evidence related to abusive paid editing.
  • checkuser-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private requests for CheckUser. For instance, requests for IP block exemption for anonymous proxy editing should now be sent to this address instead of the functionaries-en list.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2019 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Base, Einsbor, Jon Kolbert, Schniggendiller, and Wim b.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:12, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 March 2019

• From the editors: Getting serious about humor

• News and notes: Blackouts fail to stop EU Copyright Directive

• In the media: Women's history month

• Discussion report: Portal debates continue, Prespa agreement aftermath, WMF seeks a rebranding

• Featured content: Out of this world

• Arbitration report: The Tides of March at ARBCOM

• Traffic report: Exultations and tribulations

• Technology report: New section suggestions and sitewide styles

• News from the WMF: The WMF's take on the new EU Copyright Directive

• Recent research: Barnstar-like awards increase new editor retention

• From the archives: Esperanza organization disbanded after deletion discussion

• Humour: The Epistolary of Arthur 37

• Op-Ed: Pro and Con: Has gun violence been improperly excluded from gun articles?

• In focus: The Wikipedia SourceWatch

• Special report: Wiki Loves (50 Years of) Pride

• Community view: Wikipedia's response to the New Zealand mosque shootings

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:02, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2019).

Administrator changes

Reaper Eternal • ThaddeusB

Bogdangiusca • Christopher Parham • Necrothesp • Schneelocke • Siroxo • Sarah

Mentifisto → Lofty abyss

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

Bureaucrat changes

DeltaQuad

Kingturtle

Technical news

• In Special:Preferences under "Appearance" → "Advanced options", there is now an option to show a confirmation prompt when clicking on a rollback link.
• The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Please see meta:Community health initiative/User reporting system consultation 2019 to provide your input on this idea.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee clarified that the General 1RR prohibition for Palestine-Israel articles may only be enforced on pages with the {{ARBPIA 1RR editnotice}} edit notice.

Miscellaneous

• Two more administrator accounts were compromised. Evidence has shown that these attacks, like previous incidents, were due to reusing a password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. All admins are strongly encouraged to enable two-factor authentication, please consider doing so. Please always practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.
• As a reminder, according to WP:NOQUORUM, administrators looking to close or relist an AfD should evaluate a nomination that has received few or no comments as if it were a proposed deletion (PROD) prior to determining whether it should be relisted.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:57, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Heteronuclear ion moved to draftspace

An article you recently created, Heteronuclear ion, does not have enough sources and citations as written to remain published. It needs more citations from reliable, independent sources. (?) Information that can't be referenced should be removed (verifiability is of central importance on Wikipedia). I've moved your draft to draftspace (with a prefix of "Draft:" before the article title) where you can incubate the article with minimal disruption. When you feel the article meets Wikipedia's general notability guideline and thus is ready for mainspace, please click on the "Submit your draft for review!" button at the top of the page. CASSIOPEIA^(talk) 06:32, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 April 2019

• News and notes: An Action Packed April

• In the media: Is Wikipedia just another social media site?

• Discussion report: English Wikipedia community's conclusions on talk pages

• Featured content: Anguish, accolades, animals, and art

• Arbitration report: An Active Arbitration Committee

• Traffic report: Mötley Crüe, Notre-Dame, a black hole, and Bonnie and Clyde

• Technology report: A new special page, and other news

• Gallery: Notre-Dame de Paris burns

• News from the WMF: Can machine learning uncover Wikipedia’s missing “citation needed” tags?

• Recent research: Female scholars underrepresented; whitepaper on Wikidata and libraries; undo patterns reveal editor hierarchy

• From the archives: Portals revisited

• Humour: Jimbo and Larry walk into a bar ...

• Opinion: The gaps in our knowledge of our gaps

• Interview: Katherine Maher marks 3 years as executive director

• Community view: 2019 Wikimedia Summit gathers movement affiliate representatives to discuss movement strategy

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:36, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for May 3

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Zvezda (ISS module), you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Module (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are usually incorrect, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of unrelated topics with similar titles. (Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.)

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Administrators' newsletter – May 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2019).

Administrator changes

HickoryOughtShirt?4 • RexxS

Necrothesp

Bratsche • Kyle Barbour • Kzollman • Madman

Interface administrator changes

Pharos

Bureaucrat changes

Primefac

CheckUser changes

Reaper Eternal

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment concluded that creating pages in the portal namespace should be restricted to autoconfirmed users.
• Following a request for comment, the subject-specific notability guideline for pornographic actors and models (WP:PORNBIO) was removed; in its place, editors should consult WP:ENT and WP:GNG.

Technical news

• XTools Admin Stats, a tool to list admins by administrative actions, has been revamped to support more types of log entries such as AbuseFilter changes. Two additional tools have been integrated into it as well: Steward Stats and Patroller Stats.

Arbitration

• In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases, the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions; administrators found failing to have adequately done so will not be resysopped automatically. All current administrators have been notified of this change.
• Following a formal ratification process, the arbitration policy has been amended (diff). Specifically, the two-thirds majority required to remove or suspend an arbitrator now excludes (1) the arbitrator facing suspension or removal, and (2) any inactive arbitrator who does not respond within 30 days to attempts to solicit their feedback on the resolution through all known methods of communication.

Miscellaneous

• A request for comment is currently open to amend the community sanctions procedure to exclude non XfD or CSD deletions.
• A proposal to remove pre-2009 indefinite IP blocks is currently open for discussion.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 May 2019

• From the editors: Picture that

• News and notes: Wikimania and trustee elections

• In the media: Politics, lawsuits and baseball

• Discussion report: Admin abuse leads to mass-desysop proposal on Azerbaijani Wikipedia

• Arbitration report: ArbCom forges ahead

• Traffic report: Dark marvels, thrones, a vile serial killer biopic, that's entertainment!

• Technology report: Lots of Bots

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation petitions the European Court of Human Rights to lift the block of Wikipedia in Turkey

• Recent research: Wikipedia more useful than academic journals, but is it stealing the news?

• Essay: Paid editing

• From the archives: FORUM:Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:11, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2019).

Administrator changes

Andonic • Consumed Crustacean • Enigmaman • Euryalus • EWS23 • HereToHelp • Nv8200pa • Peripitus • StringTheory11 • Vejvančický

CheckUser changes

Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC seeks to clarify whether WP:OUTING should include information on just the English Wikipedia or any Wikimedia project.
• An RfC on WT:RfA concluded that Requests for adminship and bureaucratship are discussions seeking to build consensus.
• An RfC proposal to make the templates for discussion (TfD) process more like the requested moves (RM) process, i.e. "as a clearinghouse of template discussions", was closed as successful.

Technical news

• The CSD feature of Twinkle now allows admins to notify page creators of deletion if the page had not been tagged. The default behavior matches that of tagging notifications, and replaces the ability to open the user talk page upon deletion. You can customize which criteria receive notifications in your Twinkle preferences: look for Notify page creator when deleting under these criteria.
• Twinkle's d-batch (batch delete) feature now supports deleting subpages (and related redirects and talk pages) of each page. The pages will be listed first but use with caution! The und-batch (batch undelete) option can now also restore talk pages.

Miscellaneous

• The previously discussed unblocking of IP addresses indefinitely-blocked before 2009 was approved and has taken place.
• The 2019 talk pages consultation produced a report for Phase 1 and has entered Phase 2.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:48, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

The June 2019 Signpost is out!

• Discussion report: A constitutional crisis hits English Wikipedia

• News and notes: Mysterious ban, admin resignations, Wikimedia Thailand rising

• In the media: The disinformation age

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Traffic report: Juneteenth, Beauty Revealed, and more nuclear disasters

• Technology report: Actors and Bots

• Gallery: Unlike the North Face, Wiki Loves Earth

• Special report: Did Fram harass other editors?

• Recent research: What do editors do after being blocked?; the top mathematicians, universities and cancers according to Wikipedia

• From the archives: Women and Wikipedia: the world is watching

• Opinion: Why the Terms of Use change didn't curtail undisclosed paid editing—and what might

• In focus: WikiJournals: A sister project proposal

• Community view: A CEO biography, paid for with taxes

• Op-Ed: 2019 Wikimedia Affiliate Selected Board Seats Election Results

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:52, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2019).

Administrator changes

28bytes • Ad Orientem • Ansh666 • Beeblebrox • Boing! said Zebedee • BU Rob13 • Dennis Brown • Deor • DoRD • Floquenbeam¹ • Flyguy649 • Fram² • Gadfium • GB fan • Jonathunder • Kusma • Lectonar • Moink • MSGJ • Nick • Od Mishehu • Rama • Spartaz • Syrthiss • TheDJ • WJBscribe

¹Floquenbeam's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

²Fram's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

Bureaucrat changes

28bytes • WJBscribe • Wizardman

Interface administrator changes

MSGJ • TheDJ

CheckUser changes

Beeblebrox • BU Rob13 • DoRD

Oversight changes

Beeblebrox • BU Rob13 • DoRD • GB fan

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment seeking to alleviate pressures on the request an account (ACC) process proposes either raising the account creation limit for extended confirmed editors or granting the account creator permission on request to new ACC tool users.

• In a related matter, the account throttle has been restored to six creations per day as the mitigation activity completed.

• The scope of CSD criterion G8 has been tightened such that the only redirects that it now applies to are those which target non-existent pages.
• The scope of CSD criterion G14 has been expanded slightly to include orphan "Foo (disambiguation)" redirects that target pages that are not disambiguation pages or pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
• A request for comment seeks to determine whether Wikipedia:Office actions should be a policy page or an information page.

Technical news

• The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Community feedback is invited.

Miscellaneous

• In February 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) changed its office actions policy to include temporary and project-specific bans. The WMF exercised this new ability for the first time on the English Wikipedia on 10 June 2019 to temporarily ban and desysop Fram. This action has resulted in significant community discussion, a request for arbitration (permalink), and, either directly or indirectly, the resignations of numerous administrators and functionaries. The WMF Board of Trustees is aware of the situation, and discussions continue on a statement and a way forward. The Arbitration Committee has sent an open letter to the WMF Board.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:19, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 July 2019

• News and notes: Wikimedia grants less accessible for travel, equipment, meetups, and India

• In the media: Politics starts getting rough

• Discussion report: New proposals in aftermath of Fram ban

• Arbitration report: A month of reintegration

• Gallery: Classic panoramas from Heinrich Berann

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Community view: Video based summaries of Wikipedia articles. How and why?

• News from the WMF: Designing ethically with AI: How Wikimedia can harness machine learning in a responsible and human-centered way

• Recent research: Most influential medical journals; detecting pages to protect

• Special report: Administrator cadre continues to contract

• Traffic report: World cups, presidential candidates, and stranger things

• In focus: The French Wikipedia is overtaking the German

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:17, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2019).

Administrator changes

Johnuniq • Kosack • Valereee

Ad Orientem • Ched • Gadfium • Jonathunder • Nick • Yelyos

Bald Zebra • Beetstra • Doug Bell • Journalist • Ruud Koot • Splash • Voice of Clam

Interface administrator changes

Dinoguy1000

CheckUser changes

RickinBaltimore

Oversight changes

Beeblebrox

RickinBaltimore

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the page Wikipedia:Office actions has been changed from a policy page to an information page.
• A request for comment (permalink) is in progress regarding the administrator inactivity policy.

Arbitration

• Editors may now use the template {{Ds/aware}} to indicate that they are aware that discretionary sanctions are in force for a topic area, so it is unnecessary to alert them.

Miscellaneous

• Following a research project on masking IP addresses, the Foundation is starting a new project to improve the privacy of IP editors. The result of this project may significantly change administrative and counter-vandalism workflows. The project is in the very early stages of discussions and there is no concrete plan yet. Admins and the broader community are encouraged to leave feedback on the talk page.
• The new page reviewer right is bundled with the admin tool set. Many admins regularly help out at Special:NewPagesFeed, but they may not be aware of improvements, changes, and new tools for the Curation system. Stay up to date by subscribing here to the NPP newsletter that appears every two months, and/or putting the reviewers' talk page on your watchlist.

  Since the introduction of temporary user rights, it is becoming more usual to accord the New Page Reviewer right on a probationary period of 3 to 6 months in the first instance. This avoids rights removal for inactivity at a later stage and enables a review of their work before according the right on a permanent basis.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:23, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 August 2019

• News and notes: Documenting Wikimania and our beginnings

• In focus: Ryan Merkley joins WMF as Chief of Staff

• In the media: Many layers of fake news: Fake fiction and fake news vandalism

• Discussion report: Meta proposals on partial bans and IP users

• Traffic report: Once upon a time in Greenland with Boris and cornflakes

• Op-Ed: We couldn't have told you this, but Wikipedia was censored

• Opinion: The Curious Case of Croatian Wikipedia

• Community view: Chinese Wikipedia and the battle against extradition from Hong Kong

• News from the WMF: Meet Emna Mizouni, the newly minted 2019 Wikimedian of the Year

• Recent research: Special issue on gender gap and gender bias research

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:41, 30 August 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2019).

Administrator changes

Bradv • Chetsford • Izno

Floquenbeam • Lectonar

DESiegel • Jake Wartenberg • Rjanag • Topbanana

CheckUser changes

Callanecc • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Oversight changes

Callanecc • Fox • HJ Mitchell • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Technical news

• Editors using the mobile website on Wikipedia can opt-in to new advanced features via your settings page. This will give access to more interface links, special pages, and tools.
• The advanced version of the edit review pages (recent changes, watchlist, and related changes) now includes two new filters. These filters are for "All contents" and "All discussions". They will filter the view to just those namespaces.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2019 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.

Miscellaneous

• A global request for comment is in progress regarding whether a user group should be created that could modify edit filters across all public Wikimedia wikis.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 September 2019

• From the editors: Where do we go from here?

• Special report: Post-Framgate wrapup

• In the media: A net loss: Wikipedia attacked, closing off Russia? welcoming back Turkey?

• Traffic report: Varied and intriguing entries, less Luck, and some retreads

• News from the WMF: How the Wikimedia Foundation is making efforts to go green

• Recent research: Wikipedia's role in assessing credibility of news sources; using wikis against procrastination; OpenSym 2019 report

• Gallery: Finding freely licensed photo collections

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• In focus: Wikidata & Wikibase for national libraries: the inaugural meeting

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:06, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2019).

Administrator changes

Barkeep49

Beetstra • KillerChihuahua • Kusma

Arcadian • Extraordinary Machine • Xeno

JamesBWatson → JBW

Interface administrator changes

Evad37

CheckUser changes

Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens

Oversight changes

Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens

Guideline and policy news

• Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which applies if the category contains only an eponymous article or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories.

Technical news

• As previously noted, tighter password requirements for Administrators were put in place last year. Wikipedia should now alert you if your password is less than 10 characters long and thus too short.

Arbitration

• The 2019 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place October 4th to 10th.
• The arbitration case regarding Fram was closed. While there will be a local RfC focus[ing] on how harassment and private complaints should be handled in the future, there is currently a global community consultation on partial and temporary office actions in response to the incident. It will be open until October 30th.

Miscellaneous

• The Community Tech team has been working on a system for temporarily watching pages, and welcomes feedback.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:55, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Draft:Heteronuclear ion concern

Hi there, I'm HasteurBot. I just wanted to let you know that Draft:Heteronuclear ion, a page you created, has not been edited in 5 months. The Articles for Creation space is not an indefinite storage location for content that is not appropriate for articlespace.

If your submission is not edited soon, it could be nominated for deletion. If you would like to attempt to save it, you will need to improve it.

You may request Userfication of the content if it meets requirements.

If the deletion has already occured, instructions on how you may be able to retrieve it are available at WP:REFUND/G13.

Thank you for your attention. HasteurBot (talk) 01:27, 22 October 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2019

• In the media: How to use or abuse Wikipedia for fun or profit

• Special report: “Catch and Kill” on Wikipedia: Paid editing and the suppression of material on alleged sexual abuse

• In focus: The BBC looks at Chinese government editing

• Interview: Carl Miller on Wikipedia Wars

• Community view: Observations from the mainland

• Arbitration report: October actions

• Traffic report: Wrestling with a couple of teenagers, a Nobelist, and a lot of jokers

• Gallery: Wiki Loves Broadcast

• Recent research: Research at Wikimania 2019: More communication doesn't make editors more productive; Tor users doing good work; harmful content rare on English Wikipedia

• Essay: Wikipedia is in the real world

• News from the WMF: Welcome to Wikipedia! Here's what we're doing to help you stick around

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:11, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2019).

Administrator changes

GermanJoe • Girth Summit • Kees08 • Nosebagbear

DESiegel • GB fan • MSGJ • Voice of Clam • WilyD

DeltaQuad • Fang Aili • Pakaran

Bureaucrat changes

DeltaQuad • Pakaran

Interface administrator changes

MSGJ

CheckUser changes

L235 • Mz7 • SQL • ST47

Ivanvector

DeltaQuad

Oversight changes

L235 • Mz7 • ST47 • Stwalkerster • The Blade of the Northern Lights • Xaosflux

DeltaQuad • DGG • Julia W

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC was closed with the consensus that the resysop criteria should be made stricter.

• The follow-up RfC to develop that change is now open at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2).

• A related RfC is seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors may now nominate themselves as candidates for the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections. The self-nomination period will close November 12, with voting running from November 19 through December 2.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:15, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

ArbCom 2019 election voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 on Monday, 2 December 2019. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2019 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:05, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Google Code-In 2019 is coming - please mentor some documentation tasks!

Hello,

Google Code-In, Google-organized contest in which the Wikimedia Foundation participates, starts in a few weeks. This contest is about taking high school students into the world of opensource. I'm sending you this message because you recently edited a documentation page at the English Wikipedia.

I would like to ask you to take part in Google Code-In as a mentor. That would mean to prepare at least one task (it can be documentation related, or something else - the other categories are Code, Design, Quality Assurance and Outreach) for the participants, and help the student to complete it. Please sign up at the contest page and send us your Google account address to google-code-in-admins@lists.wikimedia.org, so we can invite you in!

From my own experience, Google Code-In can be fun, you can make several new friends, attract new people to your wiki and make them part of your community.

If you have any questions, please let us know at google-code-in-admins@lists.wikimedia.org.

Thank you!

--User:Martin Urbanec (talk) 21:58, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

I apologize for not replying sooner. My coding skills are not adequate to mentor anyone.—Finell 04:05, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 November 2019

• From the editor: Put on your birthday best

• News and notes: How soon for the next million articles?

• In the media: You say you want a revolution

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Arbitration report: Two requests for arbitration cases

• Traffic report: The queen and the princess meet the king and the joker

• Technology report: Reference things, sister things, stranger things

• Gallery: Winter and holidays

• Recent research: Bot census; discussions differ on Spanish and English Wikipedia; how nature's seasons affect pageviews

• Essay: Adminitis

• From the archives: WikiProject Spam, revisited

• In focus: An update on the Wikimedia Movement 2030 Strategy

• Special report: How many people edit in your favorite language? Where are they from?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:23, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2019).

Administrator changes

EvergreenFir • ToBeFree

Akhilleus • Athaenara • John Vandenberg • Melchoir • MichaelQSchmidt • NeilN • Youngamerican • 😂

CheckUser changes

Beeblebrox

Deskana

Interface administrator changes

Evad37

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC on the administrator resysop criteria was closed. 18 proposals have been summarised with a variety of supported and opposed statements. The inactivity grace period within which a new request for adminship is not required has been reduced from three years to two. Additionally, Bureaucrats are permitted to use their discretion when returning administrator rights.
• Following a proposal, the edit filter mailing list has been opened up to users with the Edit Filter Helper right.

Technical news

• Wikimedia projects can set a default block length for users via MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry. A new page, MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry-ip, allows the setting of a different default block length for IP editors. Neither is currently used. (T219126)

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 2 December 2018 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Miscellaneous

• The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF will no longer use partial or temporary Office Action bans... until and unless community consensus that they are of value or Board directive.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:47, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for December 8

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The Signpost: 27 December 2019

• From the editors: Caught with their hands in the cookie jar, again

• News and notes: What's up (and down) with administrators, articles and languages

• Special report: Are reputation management operatives scrubbing Wikipedia articles?

• In the media: "The fulfillment of the dream of humanity" or a nightmare of PR whitewashing on behalf of one-percenters?

• Discussion report: December discussions around the wiki

• Arbitration report: Announcement of 2020 Arbitration Committee

• Traffic report: Queens and aliens, exactly alike, once upon a December

• Technology report: User scripts and more

• Gallery: Holiday wishes

• Recent research: Acoustics and Wikipedia; Wiki Workshop 2019 summary

• From the archives: The 2002 Spanish fork and ads revisited (re-revisited?)

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Op-Ed: Why we need to keep talking about Wikipedia's gender gap

• WikiProject report: Wikiproject Tree of Life: A Wikiproject report

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:37, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2019).

Administrator changes

Dreamy Jazz • Newslinger • Rosguill

Deor • Spartaz • Xeno

Angusmclellan • clpo13 • Edgar181 • Matthewedwards • NCurse

CheckUser changes

Bradv • Casliber • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno

Oversight changes

Bradv • Casliber • DGG • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno

Someguy1221

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment asks whether partial blocks should be enabled on the English Wikipedia. If enabled, this functionality would allow administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces, rather than the entire site.
• A proposal asks whether admins who don't use their tools for a significant period of time (e.g. five years) should have the toolset procedurally removed.
• Following a successful RfC, a whitelist is now available for users whose redirects will be autopatrolled by a bot, removing them from the new pages patrol queue. Admins can add such users to Wikipedia:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist after a discussion following the guidelines at Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist.

Arbitration

• The fourth case on Palestine-Israel articles was closed. The case consolidated all previous remedies under one heading, which should make them easier to understand, apply, and enforce. In particular, the distinction between "primary articles" and "related content" has been clarified, with the former being the entire set of articles whose topic relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict, broadly interpreted rather than reasonably construed.
• Following the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Bradv, Casliber, David Fuchs, DGG, KrakatoaKatie, Maxim, Newyorkbrad, SoWhy, Worm That Turned, Xeno.

Miscellaneous

• This issue marks three full years of the Admin newsletter. Thanks for reading!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:06, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 January 2020

• From the editor: Reaching six million articles is great, but we need a moratorium

• News and notes: Six million articles on the English language Wikipedia

• Special report: The limits of volunteerism and the gatekeepers of Team Encarta

• In the media: Turkey's back up, but what's happening with Dot-org and a new visual identity?

• Arbitration report: Three cases at ArbCom

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2019

• Gallery: Wiki Loves Monuments 2019, we're all winners

• News from the WMF: Capacity Building: Top 5 Themes from Community Conversations

• Community view: Our most important new article since November 1, 2015

• In focus: Cryptos and bitcoins and blockchains, oh no!

• Recent research: How useful is Wikipedia for novice programmers trying to learn computing concepts?

• From the archives: A decade of The Signpost, 2005-2015

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Japan: a wikiProject Report

• Humour: Predicting the 6,000,000th article

• Obituary: Remembering Wikipedia contributor Brian Boulton

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:09, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2020).

Administrator changes

Ergo Sum • Nick Moyes • QEDK • Wugapodes

Dennis Brown

Aude • BrownHairedGirl • CALR • Jengod • John Reaves • J.smith • Kim Dent-Brown • K1Bond007 • MECU • Refdoc • RHaworth

CheckUser changes

Opabinia regalis • Premeditated Chaos

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, partial blocks are now enabled on the English Wikipedia. This functionality allows administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces rather than the entire site. A draft policy is being workshopped at Wikipedia:Partial blocks.
• The request for comment seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure closed with wide-spread support for an alternative desysoping procedure based on community input. No proposed process received consensus.

Technical news

• Twinkle now supports partial blocking. There is a small checkbox that toggles the "partial" status for both blocks and templating. There is currently one template: {{uw-pblock}}.
• When trying to move a page, if the target title already exists then a warning message is shown. The warning message will now include a link to the target title. [16]

Arbitration

• Following a recent arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee reminded administrators that checkuser and oversight blocks must not be reversed or modified without prior consultation with the checkuser or oversighter who placed the block, the respective functionary team, or the Arbitration Committee.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2020 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2020, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2020, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• The English Wikipedia has reached six million articles. Thank you everyone for your contributions!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:05, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 March 2020

• From the editor: The ball is in your court

• News and notes: Alexa ranking down to 13th worldwide

• Special report: More participation, more conversation, more pageviews

• In the media: Mapping IP editors, Smithsonian open-access, and coronavirus disinformation

• Discussion report: Do you prefer M or P?

• Arbitration report: Two prominent administrators removed

• By the numbers: How many actions by administrators does it take to clean up spam?

• Community view: The Incredible Invisible Woman

• In focus: History of The Signpost, 2015–2019

• Recent research: Wikipedia generates $50 billion/year consumer surplus in the US alone

• From the archives: Is Wikipedia for sale?

• Traffic report: February articles, floating in the dark

• Gallery: Feel the love

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Op-Ed: What I learned as Wikimedia UK Communications Coordinator

• Opinion: Wikipedia is another country

• Humour: The Wilhelm scream

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:23, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2020).

Administrator changes

Money emoji

Athaenara • DeltaQuad

Fishhead64 • Kudpung • Mikaey

Bureaucrat changes

DeltaQuad

CheckUser changes

DeltaQuad

Oversight changes

DeltaQuad

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, the blocking policy was changed to state that sysops must not undo or alter CheckUser or Oversight blocks, rather than should not.
• A request for comment confirmed that sandboxes of established but inactive editors may not be blanked due solely to inactivity.

Technical news

• Following a discussion, Twinkle's default CSD behavior will soon change, most likely this week. After the change, Twinkle will default to "tagging mode" if there is no CSD tag present, and default to "deletion mode" if there is a CSD tag present. You will be able to always default to "deletion mode" (the current behavior) using your Twinkle preferences.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2020 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: BRPever, Krd, Martin Urbanec, MusikAnimal, Sakretsu, Sotiale, and Tks4Fish. There are a total of seven editors that have been appointed as stewards, the most since 2014.
• The 2020 appointees for the Ombudsman commission are Ajraddatz and Uzoma Ozurumba; they will serve for one year.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:20, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 March 2020

• From the editors: The bad and the good

• News and notes: 2018 Wikipedian of the year blocked

• WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19: A WikiProject Report

• Special report: Wikipedia on COVID-19: what we publish and why it matters

• In the media: Blocked in Iran but still covering the big story

• Discussion report: Rethinking draft space

• Arbitration report: Unfinished business

• In focus: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein …"

• Community view: Wikimedia community responds to COVID-19

• Recent research: Disease outbreak uncertainties, AfD forecasting, auto-updating Wikipedia

• From the archives: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own

• Traffic report: The only thing that matters in the world

• Gallery: Visible Women on Wikipedia

• News from the WMF: Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:42, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2020).

Administrator changes

Cabayi • Lee Vilenski

Boing! said Zebedee

Jonny-mt • MarkGallagher • PeaceNT

Money emoji → Moneytrees

Bureaucrat changes

SilkTork • WereSpielChequers

CheckUser changes

NativeForeigner

Oversight changes

Someguy1221

Daniel Case

Guideline and policy news

• There is an ongoing request for comment to streamline the source deprecation and blacklisting process.

Technical news

• There is a plan for new requirements for user signatures. You can give feedback.

Arbitration

• Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold a Arbcom RfC regarding on-wiki harassment. A draft RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC (Draft) and not open to comments from the community yet. Interested editors can comment on the RfC itself on its talk page.

Miscellaneous

• The WMF has begun a pilot report of the pages most visited through various social media platforms to help with anti-vandalism and anti-disinformation efforts. The report is updated daily and will be available through the end of May.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:00, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for April 4

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited DREAM Act, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Pass (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver).

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The Signpost: 26 April 2020

• News and notes: Unbiased information from Ukraine's government?

• In the media: Coronavirus, again and again

• Discussion report: Redesigning Wikipedia, bit by bit

• Featured content: Featured content returns

• Arbitration report: Two difficult cases

• Traffic report: Disease the Rhythm of the Night

• Gallery: Roy is doing fine and sending more photos

• Recent research: Trending topics across languages; auto-detecting bias

• Essay: Wikipedia:An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing

• By the numbers: Open data and COVID-19: Wikipedia as an informational resource during the pandemic

• Opinion: Trusting Everybody to Work Together

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?

• Interview: Health and RfA's: An interview with Guy Macon

• In focus: Multilingual Wikipedia

• WikiProject report: The Guild of Copy Editors

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:17, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Issue 38, January – April 2020

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 38, January – April 2020

• New partnership
• Global roundup

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --15:57, 29 April 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2020).

Administrator changes

Gnangarra • Kaisershatner • Malcolmxl5

CheckUser changes

Callanecc

Oversight changes

HJ Mitchell

Guideline and policy news

• Discretionary sanctions have been authorized for all pages and edits related to COVID-19, to be logged at WP:GS/COVID19.
• Following a recent discussion on Meta-Wiki, the edit filter maintainer global group has been created.
• A request for comment has been proposed to create a new main page editor usergroup.
• A request for comment has been proposed to make the bureaucrat activity requirements more strict.

Technical news

• The Editing team has been working on the talk pages project. You can review the proposed design and share your thoughts on the talk page.
• Enterprisey created a script that will show a link to the proper Special:Undelete page when viewing a since-deleted revision, see User:Enterprisey/link-deleted-revs.

Miscellaneous

• A request for comment closed with consensus to create a Village Pump-style page for communication with the Wikimedia Foundation.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:19, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 May 2020

• From the editor: Meltdown May?

• News and notes: 2019 Picture of the Year, 200 French paid editing accounts blocked, 10 years of Guild Copyediting

• In the media: CBS on COVID-19, Sanger on bias, false noses, and five prolific editors

• Discussion report: WMF's Universal Code of Conduct

• Special report: The sum of human knowledge? Not in one Wikipedia language edition

• Featured content: Weathering the storm

• Arbitration report: Board member likely to receive editing restriction

• Traffic report: Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam

• Op-Ed: Where Is Political Bias Taking Us?

• Gallery: Wildlife photos by the book

• News from the WMF: WMF Board announces Community Culture Statement

• Recent research: Automatic detection of covert paid editing; Wiki Workshop 2020

• Community view: Transit routes and mapping during stay-at-home order downtime

• On video: COVID-19 spurs innovations in Wikimedia video and virtual programming

• WikiProject report: Revitalizing good articles

• On the bright side: 500,000 articles in the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia

• Obituaries: Dmitrismirnov, Kattenkruid, Muidlatif, Ronhjones, Tsirel

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:05, 31 May 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2020).

Administrator changes

CaptainEek • Creffett • Cwmhiraeth

Anna Frodesiak • Buckshot06 • Ronhjones • SQL

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment asks whether the Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS) should allowed any unblock request or just private appeals.
• The Wikimedia Foundation announced that they will develop a universal code of conduct for all WMF projects. There is an open local discussion regarding the same.

Arbitration

• A motion was passed to enact a 500/30 restriction on articles related to the history of Jews and antisemitism in Poland during World War II (1933–45), including the Holocaust in Poland. Article talk pages where disruption occurs may also be managed with the stated restriction.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:27, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 39, May – June 2020

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 39, May – June 2020

• Library Card Platform
• New partnerships
  • ProQuest
  • Springer Nature
  • BioOne
  • CEEOL
  • IWA Publishing
  • ICE Publishing
• Bytes in brief

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:13, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 June 2020

• News and notes: Progress at Wikipedia Library and Wikijournal of Medicine

• Community view: Community open letter on renaming

• Gallery: After the killing of George Floyd

• In the media: Part collaboration and part combat

• Discussion report: Community reacts to WMF rebranding proposals

• Featured content: Sports are returning, with a rainbow

• Arbitration report: Anti-harassment RfC and a checkuser revocation

• Traffic report: The pandemic, alleged murder, a massacre, and other deaths

• News from the WMF: We stand for racial justice

• Recent research: Wikipedia and COVID-19; automated Wikipedia-based fact-checking

• Interview: What is wrong with rebranding to "Wikipedia Foundation"?

• Humour: Cherchez une femme

• Opinion: Trying to find COI or paid editors? Just read the news

• On the bright side: For what are you grateful this month?

• In focus: Edit Loud, Edit Proud: LGBTIQ+ Wikimedians and Global Information Activism

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Black Lives Matter

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:53, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2020).

Administrator changes

Malcolmxl5

John • TheCoffee • Tim!

Creffett → GeneralNotability

DeltaQuad → AmandaNP

CheckUser changes

Bbb23

Interface administrator changes

TonyBallioni

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is in progress to remove the T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) speedy deletion criterion.

Technical news

• Protection templates on mainspace pages are now automatically added by User:MusikBot II (BRFA).

Arbitration

• Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold an RfC regarding on-wiki harassment. The RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC and is open to comments from the community.
• The Medicine case was closed, with a remedy authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for all discussions about pharmaceutical drug prices and pricing and for edits adding, changing, or removing pharmaceutical drug prices or pricing from articles.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:25, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2020).

Administrator changes

Red Phoenix

Euryalus • SQL

Jujutacular • Monty845 • Rettetast • Madchester

Oversight changes

GB fan

Keegan • Opabinia regalis • Premeditated Chaos

Guideline and policy news

• There is an open request for comment to decide whether to increase the minimum duration a sanction discussion has to remain open (currently 24 hours).
• Speedy deletion criterion T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) has been repealed following a request for comment.
• Speedy deletion criterion X2 (pages created by the content translation tool) has been repealed following a discussion.
• There is a proposal to restrict proposed deletion to confirmed users.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:20, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 August 2020

• Special report: Wikipedia and the End of Open Collaboration?

• COI and paid editing: Some strange people edit Wikipedia for money

• News and notes: Abstract Wikipedia, a hoax, sex symbols, and a new admin

• In the media: Dog days gone bad

• Discussion report: Fox News, a flight of RfAs, and banning policy

• Featured content: Remembering Art, Valor, and Freedom

• Traffic report: Now for something completely different

• Gallery: Photos of threatened species from iNaturalist

• News from the WMF: New Chinese national security law in Hong Kong could limit the privacy of Wikipedia users

• Recent research: Receiving thanks increases retention, but not the time contributed to Wikipedia

• Essay: Not compatible with a collaborative project

• Obituaries: Hasteur and Brian McNeil

• In focus: WikiLoop DoubleCheck, reviewing edits made easy

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:25, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 August 2020

• News and notes: The high road and the low road

• In the media: Storytelling large and small

• Featured content: Going for the goal

• Special report: Wikipedia's not so little sister is finding its own way

• Op-Ed: The longest-running hoax

• Traffic report: Heart, soul, umbrellas, and politics

• News from the WMF: Fourteen things we’ve learned by moving Polish Wikimedia conference online

• Recent research: Detecting spam, and pages to protect; non-anonymous editors signal their intelligence with high-quality articles

• Arbitration report: A slow couple of months

• From the archives: Wikipedia for promotional purposes?

• Obituaries: Marcus Sherman, Jerome West, and Pauline van Till

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:32, 30 August 2020 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 2

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Complementarity (molecular biology), you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Complementarity.

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Administrators' newsletter – September 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2020).

Administrator changes

Eddie891

Angela • Jcw69 • Just Chilling • Philg88 • Viajero

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the minimum length for site ban discussions was increased to 72 hours, up from 24.
• A request for comment is ongoing to determine whether paid editors must or should use the articles for creation process.
• A request for comment is open to resolve inconsistencies between the draftification and alternative to deletion processes.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
• An open request for comment asks whether active Arbitrators may serve on the Trust and Safety Case Review Committee or Ombudsman commission.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:56, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 40

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 40, July – August 2020

• New partnerships
  • Al Manhal
  • Ancestry
  • RILM
• #1Lib1Ref May 2020 report
• AfLIA hires a Wikipedian-in-Residence

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:14, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 September 2020

• Special report: Paid editing with political connections

• News and notes: More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki

• In the media: WIPO, Seigenthaler incident 15 years later

• Featured content: Life finds a Way

• Arbitration report: Clarifications and requests

• Traffic report: Is there no justice?

• Recent research: Wikipedia's flood biases

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:47, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2020).

Administrator changes

Ajpolino • LuK3

Jackmcbarn

Ad Orientem • Harej • Lid • Lomn • Mentoz86 • Oliver Pereira • XJaM

There'sNoTime → TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment found consensus that incubation as an alternative to deletion should generally only be recommended when draftification is appropriate, namely 1) if the result of a deletion discussion is to draftify; or 2) if the article is newly created.

Technical news

• The filter log now provides links to view diffs of deleted revisions (phab:T261630).

Arbitration

• The 2020 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place from September 27th to October 7th.
• Following a request for comment, sitting Committee members may not serve on either the Ombuds Commission or the WMF Case Review Committee. The Arbitration Committee passed a motion implementing those results into their procedures.

Miscellaneous

• The Universal Code of Conduct draft is open for community review and comment until October 6th, 2020.
• Office actions may now be appealed to the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:42, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2020).

Administrator changes

John M Wolfson

Bduke • Nilfanion • Philosopher • Rspeer • Yunshui

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

TonyBallioni

CheckUser changes

EdJohnston • Oshwah • Yamla

Yunshui

Oversight changes

Anarchyte

Yunshui

Guideline and policy news

• Community sanctions now authorize administrators to place under indefinite semiprotection any article on a beauty pageant, or biography of a person known as a beauty pageant contestant, which has been edited by a sockpuppet account or logged-out sockpuppet, to be logged at WP:GS/PAGEANT.

Technical news

• Sysops will once again be able to view the deleted history of JS/CSS pages; this was restricted to interface administrators when that group was introduced.
• Twinkle's block module now includes the ability to note the specific case when applying a discretionary sanctions block and/or template.
• Sysops will be able to use Special:CreateLocalAccount to create a local account for a global user that is prevented from auto-creation locally (such as by a filter or range block). Administrators that are not sure if such a creation is appropriate should contact a checkuser.

Arbitration

• The 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections process has begun. Eligible editors will be able to nominate themselves as candidates from November 8 through November 17. The voting period will run from November 23 through December 6.
• The Anti-harassment RfC has concluded with a summary of the feedback provided.

Miscellaneous

• A reminder that standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States and closely related people. (American Politics 2 Arbitration case).

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:51, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 November 2020

• News and notes: Ban on IPs on ptwiki, paid editing for Tatarstan, IP masking

• In the media: Murder, politics, religion, health and books

• Book review: Review of Wikipedia @ 20

• Op-Ed: Anti-vandalism with masked IPs: the steps forward

• Discussion report: Proposal to change board composition, In The News dumps Trump story

• Featured content: The "Green Terror" is neither green nor sufficiently terrifying. Worst Hallowe'en ever.

• Traffic report: Jump back, what's that sound?

• Interview: Joseph Reagle and Jackie Koerner

• News from the WMF: Meet the 2020 Wikimedian of the Year

• Recent research: OpenSym 2020: Deletions and gender, masses vs. elites, edit filters

• In focus: The many (reported) deaths of Wikipedia

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Books & Bytes – Issue 41

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 41, September – October 2020

• New partnership: Taxmann
• WikiCite
• 1Lib1Ref 2021

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The Signpost: 29 November 2020

• News and notes: Jimmy Wales "shouldn't be kicked out before he's ready"

• Op-Ed: Re-righting Wikipedia

• Opinion: How billionaires re-write Wikipedia

• In the media: Relying on Wikipedia: voters, scientists, and a Canadian border guard

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Administrators' newsletter – December 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2020).

Administrator changes

Andrwsc • Anetode • GoldenRing • JzG • LinguistAtLarge • Nehrams2020

Interface administrator changes

Izno

Guideline and policy news

• There is a request for comment in progress to either remove T3 (duplicated and hardcoded instances) as a speedy deletion criterion or eliminate its seven-day waiting period.

Technical news

• Voting for proposals in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey, which determines what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year, will take place from 8 December through 21 December. In particular, there are sections regarding administrators and anti-harassment.

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 7 December 2020 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

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The Signpost: 28 December 2020

• News and notes: Year-end legal surprises cause concern, but Public Domain Day is imminent

• In the media: Concealment, data journalism, a non-pig farmer, and some Bluetick Hounds

• Arbitration report: 2020 election results

• Opinion: How to make your factory's safety and labor issues disappear

• Featured content: Very nearly ringing in the New Year with "Blank Space" – but we got there in time.

• Traffic report: 2020 wraps up

• News from the WMF: What Wikipedia saw during election week in the U.S., and what we’re doing next

• Recent research: Predicting the next move in Wikipedia discussions

• Essay: Subjective importance

• Op-Ed: An unforgettable year we might wish to forget

• Gallery: Angels in the architecture

• Humour: 'Twas the Night Before Wikimas

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Administrators' newsletter – January 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).

Administrator changes

Hammersoft

Andres • Brion VIBBER • Rkitko • Thatcher

CheckUser changes

Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek • Primefac

Oversight changes

Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek

Joe Roe

Guideline and policy news

• Speedy deletion criterion T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment.

Technical news

• You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.

Arbitration

• By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes). The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason).
• Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.

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Books & Bytes - Issue 42

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 42, November – December 2020

• New EBSCO collections now available
• 1Lib1Ref 2021 underway
• Library Card input requested
• Libraries love Wikimedia, too!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:00, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2021

• News and notes: 1,000,000,000 edits, board elections, virtual Wikimania 2021

• Special report: Wiki reporting on the United States insurrection

• In focus: From Anarchy to Wikiality, Glaring Bias to Good Cop: Press Coverage of Wikipedia's First Two Decades

• Opinion: Wikipedia's war against scientific disinformation

• In the media: The world's press says "Happy Birthday!" with a few twists

• Technology report: The people who built Wikipedia, technically

• Videos and podcasts: Celebrating 20 years

• News from the WMF: Wikipedia celebrates 20 years of free, trusted information for the world

• Recent research: Students still have a better opinion of Wikipedia than teachers

• Humour: Dr. Seuss's Guide to Wikipedia

• Featured content: New Year, same Featured Content report!

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2020

• Obituary: Flyer22 Frozen

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:10, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2021).

Administrator changes

Hog Farm

Mattflaschen • Nandesuka • Savidan • Wangi

CheckUser changes

Berean Hunter • Xeno

Oversight changes

Someguy1221 • Xeno

Arbitration

• The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people, replacing the 1932 cutoff.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!

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The Signpost: 28 February 2021

• News and notes: Maher stepping down

• Disinformation report: A "billionaire battle" on Wikipedia: Sex, lies, and video

• Opinion: The call for feedback on community seats is a distraction

• In the media: Corporate influence at OSM, Fox watching the hen house

• News from the WMF: Who tells your story on Wikipedia

• Recent research: Take an AI-generated flashcard quiz about Wikipedia; Wikipedia's anti-feudalism

• Featured content: A Love of Knowledge, for Valentine's Day

• Traffic report: Does it almost feel like you've been here before?

• Gallery: What is Black history and culture?

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Administrators' newsletter – March 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2021).

Administrator changes

TJMSmith

Boing! said Zebedee • Hiberniantears • Lear's Fool • Only • WGFinley

Interface administrator changes

AmandaNP

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is open that proposes a process for the community to revoke administrative permissions. This follows a 2019 RfC in favor of creating one such a policy.
• A request for comment is in progress to remove F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a, which covers immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• A request for comment seeks to grant page movers the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target. The full proposal is at Wikipedia:Page mover/delete-redirect.
• A request for comment asks if sysops may place the General sanctions/Coronavirus disease 2019 editnotice template on pages in scope that do not have page-specific sanctions?
• There is a discussion in progress concerning automatic protection of each day's featured article with Pending Changes protection.

Technical news

• When blocking an IPv6 address with Twinkle, there is now a checkbox with the option to just block the /64 range. When doing so, you can still leave a block template on the initial, single IP address' talkpage.
• When protecting a page with Twinkle, you can now add a note if doing so was in response to a request at WP:RfPP, and even link to the specific revision.
• There have been a number of reported issues with Pending Changes. Most problems setting protection appear to have been resolved (phab:T273317) but other issues with autoaccepting edits persist (phab:T275322).

Arbitration

• By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people. Sanctions issued under GamerGate are now considered Gender and sexuality sanctions.
• The Kurds and Kurdistan case was closed, authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for the topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2021 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AmandaNP, Operator873, Stanglavine, Teles, and Wiki13.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:13, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 42

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 42, January – February 2021

• New partnerships: PNAS, De Gruyter, Nomos
• 1Lib1Ref
• Library Card

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:27, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 March 2021

• News and notes: A future with a for-profit subsidiary?

• Gallery: Wiki Loves Monuments

• In the media: Wikimedia LLC and disinformation in Japan

• News from the WMF: Project Rewrite: Tell the missing stories of women on Wikipedia and beyond

• Recent research: 10%-30% of Wikipedia’s contributors have subject-matter expertise

• From the archives: Google isn't responsible for Wikipedia's mistakes

• Essay: Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia

• Obituary: Yoninah

• From the editor: What else can we say?

• Arbitration report: Open letter to the Board of Trustees

• Traffic report: Wanda, Meghan, Liz, Phil and Zack

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:43, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2021).

Administrator changes

Alexandria • Happyme22 • RexxS

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a has been deprecated; it covered immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• Following a request for comment, page movers were granted the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target.

Technical news

• When you move a page that many editors have on their watchlist the history can be split and it might also not be possible to move it again for a while. This is because of a job queue problem. (T278350)
• Code to support some very old web browsers is being removed. This could cause issues in those browsers. (T277803)

Arbitration

• A community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure is open until April 25.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:20, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 April 2021

• From the editor: A change is gonna come

• Disinformation report: Paid editing by a former head of state's business enterprise

• In the media: Fernando, governance, and rugby

• Opinion: The (Universal) Code of Conduct

• Op-Ed: A Little Fun Goes A Long Way

• Changing the world: The reach of protest images on Wikipedia

• Recent research: Quality of aquatic and anatomical articles

• Traffic report: The verdict is guilty, guilty, guilty

• News from Wiki Education: Encouraging professional physicists to engage in outreach on Wikipedia

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:31, 25 April 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2021).

Administrator changes

Enchanter • Carlossuarez46

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, consensus was found that third party appeals are allowed but discouraged.
• The 2021 Desysop Policy RfC was closed with no consensus. Consensus was found in a previous RfC for a community based desysop procedure, though the procedure proposed in the 2021 RfC did not gain consensus.

Technical news

• The user group oversight will be renamed to suppress. This is for technical reasons. You can comment at T112147 if you have objections.

Arbitration

• The community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure was closed, and an initial draft based on feedback from the now closed consultation is expected to be released in early June to early July for community review.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:51, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 43

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 43, March – April 2021

• New Library Card designs
• 1Lib1Ref May

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:11, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

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Administrators' newsletter – June 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2021).

Administrator changes

Ashleyyoursmile • Less Unless

Husond • MattWade • MJCdetroit • Carioca • Vague Rant • Kingboyk • Thunderboltz • Gwen Gale • AniMate • SlimVirgin (deceased)

Guideline and policy news

• Consensus was reached to deprecate Wikipedia:Editor assistance.
• Following a Request for Comment the Book namespace was deprecated.

Technical news

• Wikimedia previously used the IRC network Freenode. However, due to changes over who controlled the network with reports of a forceful takeover by several ex-staff members, the Wikimedia IRC Group Contacts decided to move to the new Libera Chat network. It has been reported that Wikimedia related channels on Freenode have been forcibly taken over if they pointed members to Libera. There is a migration guide and Wikimedia discussions about this.

Arbitration

• After a Clarification request, the Arbitration Committee modified Remedy 5 of the Antisemitism in Poland case. This means sourcing expectations are a discretionary sanction instead of being present on all articles. It also details using the talk page or the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to discuss disputed sources.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 June 2021

• News and notes: Elections, Wikimania, masking and more

• In the media: Boris and Joe, reliability, love, and money

• Disinformation report: Croatian Wikipedia: capture and release

• Recent research: Feminist critique of Wikipedia's epistemology, Black Americans vastly underrepresented among editors, Wiki Workshop report

• Traffic report: So no one told you life was gonna be this way

• News from the WMF: Searching for Wikipedia

• Humour: Wikipedia's best articles on the world's strangest things

• WikiProject report: WikiProject on open proxies interview

• Forum: Is WMF fundraising abusive?

• Discussion report: Reliability of WikiLeaks discussed

• Obituary: SarahSV

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:14, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2021).

Administrator changes

Trialpears

AGK • Eliz81 • Mulad • ThaddeusB • Vianello • Who

Lacrimosus → Ikuzaf

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

CheckUser changes

AGK • DGG

Oversighter changes

AGK

Guideline and policy news

• Consensus has been reached to delete all books in the book namespace. There was rough consensus that the deleted books should still be available on request at WP:REFUND even after the namespace is removed.
• An RfC is open to discuss the next steps following a trial which automatically applied pending changes to TFAs.

Technical news

• IP addresses of unregistered users are to be hidden from everyone. There is a rough draft of how IP addresses may be shown to users who need to see them. This currently details allowing administrators, checkusers, stewards and those with a new usergroup to view the full IP address of unregistered users. Editors with at least 500 edits and an account over a year old will be able to see all but the end of the IP address in the proposal. The ability to see the IP addresses hidden behind the mask would be dependent on agreeing to not share the parts of the IP address they can see with those who do not have access to the same information. Accessing part of or the full IP address of a masked editor would also be logged. Comments on the draft are being welcomed at the talk page.

Arbitration

• The community authorised COVID-19 general sanctions have been superseded by the COVID-19 discretionary sanctions following a motion at a case request. Alerts given and sanctions placed under the community authorised general sanctions are now considered alerts for and sanctions under the new discretionary sanctions.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:26, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 July 2021

• News and notes: Wikimania and a million other news stories

• Special report: Hardball in Hong Kong

• In the media: Larry is at it again

• Board of Trustees candidates: See the candidates

• Recent research: Gender bias and statistical fallacies, disinformation and mutual intelligibility

• Traffic report: Football, tennis and marveling at Loki

• News from the WMF: Uncapping our growth potential – interview with James Baldwin, Finance and Administration Department

• Humour: A little verse

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:10, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 45

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 45, May – June 2021

• Library design improvements continue
• New partnerships
• 1Lib1Ref update

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:04, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2021).

Administrator changes

BusterD

Kees08 • Nickshanks • Protonk • Schissel • Ultraexactzz • Wknight94

CheckUser changes

TheresNoTime

Oversighter changes

TheresNoTime

ST47

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open to add a delay of one week from nomination to deletion for G13 speedy deletions.

Technical news

• Last week all wikis were very slow or not accessible for 30 minutes. This was due to server lag caused by regenerating dynamic lists on the Russian Wikinews after a large bulk import. (T287380)

Arbitration

• Following an amendment request, the committee has clarified that the Talk page exception to the 500/30 rule in remedy 5 of the Palestine-Israel articles 4 case does not apply to requested move discussions.

Miscellaneous

• You can vote for candidates in the 2021 Board of Trustees elections from 4 August to 17 August. Four community elected seats are up for election.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:18, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 August 2021

• News and notes: Enough time left to vote! IP ban

• In the media: Vive la différence!

• Wikimedians of the year: Seven Wikimedians of the year

• Gallery: Our community in 20 graphs

• News from Wiki Education: Changing the face of Wikipedia

• Recent research: IP editors, inclusiveness and empathy, cyclones, and world heritage

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Days of the Year Interview

• Traffic report: Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan

• Community view: Making Olympic history on Wikipedia

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:42, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2021).

Administrator changes

Jake Wartenberg

Emperor • Viridian Bovary

Ashleyyoursmile → Viridian Bovary

Guideline and policy news

• Feedback is requested on the Universal Code of Conduct enforcement draft by the Universal Code of Conduct Phase 2 drafting committee.
• A RfC is open on whether to allow administrators to use extended confirmed protection on high-risk templates.
• A discussion is open to decide when, if ever, should discord logs be eligible for removal when posted onwiki (including whether to oversight them)
• A RfC on the next steps after the trial of pending changes on TFAs has resulted in a 30 day trial of automatic semi protection for TFAs.

Technical news

• The Score extension has been re-enabled on public wikis. It has been updated, but has been placed in safe mode to address unresolved security issues. Further information on the security issues can be found on the mediawiki page.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is in progress to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules. Comments and new proposals are welcome.

Miscellaneous

• The 2021 RfA review is now open for comments.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:44, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 46

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 46, July – August 2021

• Library design improvements deployed
• New collections available in English and German
• Wikimania presentation

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:14, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 September 2021

• News and notes: New CEO, new board members, China bans

• In the media: The future of Wikipedia

• Opinion: Wikimedians of Mainland China were warned

• Op-Ed: I've been desysopped

• Disinformation report: Paid promotional paragraphs in German parliamentary pages

• Discussion report: Editors discuss Wikipedia's vetting process for administrators

• Recent research: Wikipedia images for machine learning; Experiment justifies Wikipedia's high search rankings

• Community view: Is writing Wikipedia like making a quilt?

• Traffic report: Kanye, Emma Raducanu and 9/11

• News from Diff: Welcome to the first grantees of the Knowledge Equity Fund

• WikiProject report: The Random and the Beautiful

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:54, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2021).

Administrator changes

Blablubbs

Alvestrand • Black Falcon • Deathphoenix • Dppowell • Mark Arsten • JGHowes (deceased)

Oversighter changes

Callanecc

Mkdw

Interface administrator changes

Galobtter

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, extended confirmed protection may be used preemptively on certain high-risk templates.
• Following a discussion at the Village Pump, there is consensus to treat discord logs the same as IRC logs. This means that discord logs will be oversighted if posted onwiki.

Technical news

• DiscussionTools has superseded Enterprisey's reply-link script. Editors may switch using the "Discussion tools" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features.

Arbitration

• A motion has standardised the 500/30 (extended confirmed) restrictions placed by the Arbitration Committee. The standardised restriction is now listed in the Arbitration Committee's procedures.
• Following the closure of the Iranian politics case, standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, post-1978 Iranian politics, broadly construed.
• The Arbitration Committee encourages uninvolved administrators to use the discretionary sanctions procedure in topic areas where it is authorised to facilitate consensus in RfCs. This includes, but is not limited to, enforcing sectioned comments, word/diff limits and moratoriums on a particular topic from being brought in an RfC for up to a year.

Miscellaneous

• Editors have approved expanding the trial of Growth Features from 2% of new accounts to 25%, and the share of newcomers getting mentorship from 2% to 5%. Experienced editors are invited to add themselves to the mentor list.
• The community consultation phase of the 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process is open for editors to provide comments and ask questions to candidates.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:03, 1 October 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2021

• From the editor: Different stories, same place

• News and notes: The sockpuppet who ran for adminship and almost succeeded

• In the media: China bans, and is there intelligent life on this planet?

• Opinion: A photo on Wikipedia can ruin your life

• Discussion report: Editors brainstorm and propose changes to the Requests for adminship process

• Recent research: Welcome messages fail to improve newbie retention

• Community view: Reflections on the Chinese Wikipedia

• Traffic report: James Bond and the Giant Squid Game

• Technology report: Wikimedia Toolhub, winners of the Coolest Tool Award, and more

• Serendipity: How Wikipedia helped create a Serbian stamp

• Book review: Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality

• WikiProject report: Redirection

• Humour: A very Wiki crossword

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:13, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2021).

Administrator changes

Clpo13

Brian0918 • JDoorjam • Karanacs • MrDarcy • Mindspillage

Interface administrator changes

Evad37

CheckUser changes

Dreamy Jazz • Ferret • GeneralNotability • Girth Summit • RoySmith

Oversight changes

Dreamy Jazz • LuK3

Guideline and policy news

• Phase 2 of the 2021 RfA review has commenced which will discuss potential solutions to address the 8 issues found in Phase 1. Proposed solutions that achieve consensus will be implemented and you may propose solutions till 07 November 2021.

Technical news

• Toolhub is a catalogue of tools which can be used on Wikimedia wikis. It is at https://toolhub.wikimedia.org/.

Arbitration

• GeneralNotability, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections. Ivanvector and John M Wolfson are reserve commissioners.
• Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves to stand in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections from 07 November 2021 until 16 November 2021.

Miscellaneous

• The 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of five new CheckUsers and two new Oversighters.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:43, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 47

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 47, September – October 2021

• On-wiki Wikipedia Library notification rolling out
• Search tool deployed
• New My Library design improvements

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:58, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for November 16

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Parachute, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Canopy.

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ArbCom 2021 Elections voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 6 December 2021. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2021 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:03, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 November 2021

• In the media: Denial: climate change, mass killings and pornography

• WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2021

• Deletion report: What we lost, what we gained

• From a Wikipedia reader: What's Matt Amodio?

• Arbitration report: ArbCom in 2021

• Discussion report: On the brink of change – RFA reforms appear imminent

• Technology report: What does it take to upload a file?

• WikiProject report: Interview with contributors to WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers

• Serendipity: "Did You Know ..." featured a photo of the wrong female WWII pilot

• News from Diff: Content translation tool helps create one million Wikipedia articles

• Traffic report: Reporting ticket sales on the edge of the Wiki, if Eternals should fail

• Recent research: Vandalizing Wikipedia as rational behavior

• Humour: A very new very Wiki crossword

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Administrators' newsletter – December 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2021).

Administrator changes

A Train • Berean Hunter • Epbr123 • GermanJoe • Sanchom • Mysid

Technical news

• Unregistered editors using the mobile website are now able to receive notices to indicate they have talk page messages. The notice looks similar to what is already present on desktop, and will be displayed on when viewing any page except mainspace and when editing any page. (T284642)
• The limit on the number of emails a user can send per day has been made global instead of per-wiki to help prevent abuse. (T293866)

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections is open until 23:59, 06 December 2021 (UTC).
• The already authorized standard discretionary sanctions for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes), broadly construed, have been made permanent.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:24, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for December 23

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Frame of reference, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Axis.

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 05:58, 23 December 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 December 2021

• From the editor: Here is the news

• News and notes: Jimbo's NFT, new arbs, fixing RfA, and financial statements

• Serendipity: Born three months before her brother?

• In the media: The past is not even past

• Recent research: STEM articles judged unsuitable for undergraduates below the first paragraph

• Arbitration report: A new crew for '22

• By the numbers: Four billion words and a few numbers

• Deletion report: We laughed, we cried, we closed as "no consensus"

• Gallery: Wikicommons presents: 2021

• Traffic report: Spider-Man, football and the departed

• Crossword: Another Wiki crossword for one and all

• Humour: Buying Wikipedia

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:07, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

The WikiEagle - January 2022

The WikiEagle

The WikiProject Aviation Newsletter

Volume I — Issue 1
Aviation Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Outreach • The WikiEagle
Announcements After over a decade of silence, the WikiProject Aviation newsletter is making a comeback under the name The WikiEagle. This first issue was sent to all active members of the project and its sub-projects. If you wish to continue receiving The WikiEagle, you can add your username to the mailing list. For now the newsletter only covers general project news and is run by only one editor. If you wish to help or to become a columnist, please let us know. If you have an idea which you believe would improve the newsletter, please share it; suggestions are welcome and encouraged. On 16 December, an RfC was closed which determined theaerodrome.com to be an unreliable source. The website, which is cited over 1,500 articles, mainly on WWI aviation, as of the publishing of this issue. Luft46.com has been added to the list of problematic sources after this discussion. The Jim Lovell article was promoted to Featured Article status on 26 December after being nominated by Hawkeye7. The Raymond Hesselyn article was promoted to Good Article status on 4 December after being nominated by Zawed. The Supermarine Sea King article was promoted to Good Article status on 22 December after being nominated by Amitchell125. The William Hodgson (RAF officer) article was promoted to Good Article status on 26 December after being nominated by Zawed.
Members New Members KingAviationKid (Joined on 17 December) PatrickChiao (Joined on 22 December) Wp9097 (Joined on 16 December) Number of active members: 386. Total number of members: 921. Closed Discussions Featured Article assessment Jim Lovell (discussion) – Closed as promoted on 26 December 2021 Good Article assessment HAL Tejas (discussion) – Closed as not promoted on 30 December 2021 William Hodgson (RAF officer) (discussion) – Closed as promoted on 26 December 2021 Supermarine Sea King (discussion) – Closed as promoted on 22 December 2021 Raymond Hesselyn (discussion) – Closed as promoted on 4 December 2021 Deletion Timeline of Berlin Brandenburg Airport's construction (discussion) – Closed as delete and redirect on 30 December 2021 Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 (discussion) – Closed as keep on 25 December 2021 Requested moves Akbarpur (Ambedkar Nagar) Airstrip → Akbarpur Airstrip (discussion) – Closed as moved on 30 December 2021 1983 Avensa Douglas DC-9 crash → Avensa Flight 007 (discussion) – Closed as moved on 30 December 2021 Garuda Indonesia Flight 035 → Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 035 (discussion) – Withdrawn on 28 December 2021	Article Statistics This data reflects values from DMY. Aviation pages by quality Quality Total FA 142 FL 15 A 56 GA 505 B 4,573 C 11,878 Start 15,082 Stub 18,754 List 2,539 Category 11,638 Disambig 653 File 2,713 Portal 629 Project 89 Redirect 1,518 Template 2,489 NA 66 Assessed 73,339 Unassessed 1 Total 73,340 WikiWork factors (?) ω = 251,763 Ω = 4.92
New/Ongoing Discussions Featured Article review D. B. Cooper (discussion) – Since 14 December 2021 A-class Article assessment Granville Gee Bee Model A (discussion) – Since 21 April 2020 List of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the Iraq War (discussion) – Since 22 February 2010 Good Article assessment Romanian Air Corps (discussion) – Since 25 December 2021 Jean Batten (discussion) – Since 2 October 2021 Merger proposals List of astronauts by name → List of astronauts by year of selection (discussion) – Since 10 August 2021 List of cosmonauts → List of space travelers by nationality (discussion) – Since 10 August 2021 List of space travelers by name → List of space travelers by nationality (discussion) – Since 10 August 2021 Holidays Czech Airlines → Czech Airlines (discussion) – Since 23 June 2021 Bendix Aviation → Bendix Corporation (discussion) – Since 30 May 2021 Airport Movement Area Safety System → Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (discussion) – Since 29 May 2021 ASDE-X → Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (discussion) – Since 28 May 2021 Splitting proposals Family Airlines (discussion) – Since 23 November 2021 2021 Kabul airport attack (discussion) – Since 24 September 2021 List of military aircraft of the United States (discussion) – Since 16 August 2021 Braniff International Airways (discussion) – Since 8 September 2019 Deletion List of maiden voyages (discussion) – Since 29 December 2021 Requested moves Hot-air balloon → Hot air balloon (discussion) – Since 30 December 2021 Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 108 → Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 (discussion) – Since 28 December 2021 Garuda Indonesia Flight 150 → Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 150 (discussion) – Since 28 December 2021 Garuda Indonesia Flight 206 → Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 206 (discussion) – Since 28 December 2021 Garuda Indonesia Flight 708 → Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 708 (discussion) – Since 28 December 2021 Garuda Indonesia Flight 892 → Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 (discussion) – Since 28 December 2021 TWA Flight 800 → TWA Flight 800 (1996) (discussion) – Since 27 December 2021 Dynamic Airways Flight 405 → Dynamic International Airways Flight 405 (discussion) – Since 26 December 2021 CommutAir Flight 4281 → CommutAir Flight 4821 (discussion) – Since 25 December 2021 Thai Airways → Thai Airways International (discussion) – Since 13 December 2021 Thai Airways fleet → Thai Airways International fleet (discussion) – Since 13 December 2021 List of Thai Airways destinations → List of Thai Airways International destinations (discussion) – Since 13 December 2021 Did you know Ravish Malhotra (discussion) – Since 30 December 2021 Alexander Tahy (discussion) – Since 26 December 2021 Veronica Volkersz (discussion) – Since 6 December 2021 Rudolf Szepessy-Sokoll (discussion) – Since 3 December 2021 On The Main Page Did you know... ... that the aerobatic demonstration aircraft used by SoloTürk is also used in military operations of the Turkish Air Force? (24 December)
Discuss & propose changes to The WikiEagle at The WikiEagle talk page. To opt in/out of receiving this news letter, add or remove your username from the mailing list. Newsletter contributor: ZLEA

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:35, 1 January 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2021).

Administrator changes

Amalthea • Ihcoyc (deceased) • Kateshortforbob • Kirill Lokshin • Rifleman 82 • Ryan Norton • Wrp103

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

CheckUser changes

Cabayi • Donald Albury • Enterprisey • Izno • Wugapodes

Opabinia regalis

Casliber • David Fuchs • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy

Oversighter changes

Cabayi • Donald Albury • Enterprisey • Izno • Wugapodes

Opabinia regalis

Casliber • David Fuchs • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy

Guideline and policy news

• Following consensus at the 2021 RfA review, the autopatrolled user right has been removed from the administrators user group; admins can grant themselves the autopatrolled permission if they wish to remain autopatrolled.

• Additionally, consensus for proposal 6C of the 2021 RfA review has led to the creation of an administrative action review process. The purpose of this process will be to review individual administrator actions and individual actions taken by users holding advanced permissions.

Arbitration

• Following the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Cabayi, Donald Albury, Enterprisey, Izno, Opabinia regalis, Worm That Turned, Wugapodes.

Miscellaneous

• The functionaries email list (functionaries-enlists.wikimedia.org) will no longer accept incoming emails apart from those sent by list members and WMF staff. Private concerns, apart from those requiring oversight, should be directly sent to the Arbitration Committee.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:24, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 January 2022

• Special report: WikiEd course leads to Twitter harassment

• News and notes: Feedback for Board of Trustees election

• Interview: CEO Maryana Iskander "four weeks in"

• Black History Month: What are you doing for Black History Month?

• Deletion report: Ringing in the new year: Subject notability guideline under discussion

• WikiProject report: The Forgotten Featured

• Arbitration report: New arbitrators look at new case and antediluvian sanctions

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2021

• Gallery: No Spanish municipality without a photograph

• Obituary: Twofingered Typist

• Op-Ed: Identifying and rooting out climate change denial

• Essay: The prime directive

• Opinion: Should the Wikimedia Foundation continue to accept cryptocurrency donations?

• In the media: Fuzzy-headed government editing

• Recent research: Articles with higher quality ratings have fewer "knowledge gaps"

• Serendipity: Pooh entered the Public Domain – but Tigger has to wait two more years

• Crossword: Cross swords with a crossword

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:20, 30 January 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 48

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 48, November – December 2021

• 1Lib1Ref 2022
• Wikipedia Library notifications deployed

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --15:12, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

February 2022

You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war according to the reverts you have made on Pilates. This means that you are repeatedly changing content back to how you think it should be although other editors disagree. Users are expected to collaborate with others, to avoid editing disruptively, and to try to reach a consensus, rather than repeatedly undoing other users' edits once it is known that there is a disagreement.

Points to note:

1. Edit warring is disruptive regardless of how many reverts you have made;
2. Do not edit war even if you believe you are right.

If you find yourself in an editing dispute, use the article's talk page to discuss controversial changes and work towards a version that represents consensus among editors. You can post a request for help at an appropriate noticeboard or seek dispute resolution. In some cases, it may be appropriate to request temporary page protection. If you engage in an edit war, you may be blocked from editing. Alexbrn (talk) 19:39, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

Notice

This is a standard message to notify contributors about an administrative ruling in effect. It does not imply that there are any issues with your contributions to date.

You have shown interest in complementary and alternative medicine. Due to past disruption in this topic area, a more stringent set of rules called discretionary sanctions is in effect. Any administrator may impose sanctions on editors who do not strictly follow Wikipedia's policies, or the page-specific restrictions, when making edits related to the topic.

For additional information, please see the guidance on discretionary sanctions and the Arbitration Committee's decision here. If you have any questions, or any doubts regarding what edits are appropriate, you are welcome to discuss them with me or any other editor.

Alexbrn (talk) 19:50, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

No. I believe in science and real medicine.—Finell 05:36, 7 February 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2022).

Administrator changes

AustralianRupert • Cimon Avaro • Euryalus • Jehochman • Nunh-huh

28bytes

Bureaucrat changes

28bytes

Interface administrator changes

Evad37 • Galobtter

Ragesoss

Guideline and policy news

• The Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines have been published for consideration. Voting to ratify this guideline is planned to take place 7 March to 21 March. Comments can be made on the talk page.

Technical news

• The user group oversight will be renamed suppress in around 3 weeks. This will not affect the name shown to users and is simply a change in the technical name of the user group. The change is being made for technical reasons. You can comment in Phabricator if you have objections.
• The Reply Tool feature, which is a part of Discussion Tools, will be opt-out for everyone logged in or logged out starting 7 February 2022. Editors wishing to comment on this can do so in the relevant Village Pump discussion.

Arbitration

• Community input is requested on several motions aimed at addressing discretionary sanctions that are no longer needed or overly broad.
• The Arbitration Committee has published a generalised comment regarding successful appeals of sanctions that it can review (such as checkuser blocks).
• A motion related to the Antisemitism in Poland case was passed following a declined case request.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2022 Steward elections will begin on 07 February 2022, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2022, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Voting in the 2022 Community Wishlist Survey is open until 11 February 2022.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:01, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 February 2022

• From the team: Selection of a new Signpost Editor-in-Chief

• News and notes: Impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine

• Opinion: Why student editors are good for Wikipedia

• Special report: A presidential candidate's team takes on Wikipedia

• In the media: Wiki-drama in the UK House of Commons

• Serendipity: War photographers: from Crimea (1850s) to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)

• Technology report: Community Wishlist Survey results

• WikiProject report: 10 years of tea

• Featured content: Featured Content returns

• Deletion report: The 10 most SHOCKING deletion discussions of February

• Recent research: How editors and readers may be emotionally affected by disasters and terrorist attacks

• Arbitration report: Parties remonstrate, arbs contemplate, skeptics coordinate

• By the numbers: Does birthplace affect the frequency of Wikipedia biography articles?

• Gallery: The vintage exhibit

• Traffic report: Euphoria, Pamela Anderson, lies and Netflix

• News from Diff: The Wikimania 2022 Core Organizing Team

• Crossword: A Crossword, featuring Featured Articles

• Humour: Notability of mailboxes

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:19, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2022).

Administrator changes

Modussiccandi

BOZ • Brookie (deceased) • Jackmcbarn • Jamesday • Jonathunder • Master of Puppets • Saravask

CheckUser changes

Callanecc

Oversighter changes

Callanecc

Guideline and policy news

• A RfC is open to change the wording of revision deletion criterion 1 to remove the sentence relating to non-infringing contributions.
• A RfC is open to discuss prohibiting draftification of articles over 90 days old.

Technical news

• The deployment of the reply tool as an opt-out feature, as announced in last month's newsletter, has been delayed to 7 March. Feedback and comments are being welcomed at Wikipedia talk:Talk pages project. (T296645)
• Special:Nuke will now allow the selection of standard deletion reasons to be used when mass-deleting pages. This was a Community Wishlist Survey request from 2022. (T25020)
• The ability to undelete the talk page when undeleting a page using Special:Undelete or the API will be added soon. This change was requested in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey. (T295389)

Arbitration

• Several unused discretionary sanctions and article probation remedies have been rescinded. This follows the community feedback from the 2021 Discretionary Sanctions review.

Miscellaneous

• The 2022 appointees for the Ombuds commission are Érico, Faendalimas, Galahad, Infinite0694, Mykola7, Olugold, Udehb and Zabe as regular members and Ameisenigel and JJMC89 as advisory members.
• Following the 2022 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AntiCompositeNumber, BRPever, Hasley, TheresNoTime, and Vermont.
• The 2022 Community Wishlist Survey results have been published alongside the ranking of prioritized proposals.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:46, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Rejuvenate WikiProject Skepticism

Hello - my name is Susan Gerbic (Sgerbic) and I'm writing to you because at some point you joined Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism. This might have been months ago - or even years ago. With the best of intentions the project was created years ago, and sadly like many WikiProjects has started to go dormant. A group of us are attempting to revitalize the Skepticism project, already we have begun to clean up the main page and I've just redone the participant page. No one is in charge of this project, it is member directed, which might have been the reason it almost went dormant. We are attempting to bring back conversations on the talk page and have two subprojects as well, in the hopes that it might spark involvement and a way of getting to know each other better. One was created several years ago but is very well organized and a lot of progress was made, Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/Skeptical organisations in Europe. The other I created a couple weeks ago, it is very simple and has a silly name Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/Skepticism Stub Sub-Project Project (SSSPP). This sub-project runs from March 1 to June 1, 2022. We are attempting to rewrite skepticism stubs and add them to this list. As you can see we have already made progress.

The reason I'm writing to you now is because we would love to have you come back to the project and become involved, either by working on one of the sub-projects, proposing your own (and managing it), or just hanging out on the talk page getting to know the other editors and maybe donate some of your wisdom to some of the conversations. As I said, no one is in charge, so if you have something in mind you would like to see done, please suggest it on the talk page and hopefully others will agree. Please add the project to your watchlist, update your personal user page showing you are a proud member of WikiProject Skepticism. And DIVE in, this is what the work list looks like [17] frightening at first glance, but we have already started chipping away at it.

The Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/Participants page has gone though a giant change - you may want to update your information. And of course if this project no longer interests you, please remove your name from the participant list, we would hate to see you go, but completely understand.

Thank you for your time, I hope to edit with you in the future.Sgerbic (talk) 07:03, 17 March 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 49

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 49, January – February 2022

• New library collections
• Blog post published detailing technical improvements

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:05, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 March 2022

• From the Signpost team: How The Signpost is documenting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

• News and notes: Of safety and anonymity

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Kharkiv, Ukraine: Countering Russian aggression with a camera

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Western Ukraine: Working with Wikipedia helps

• Disinformation report: The oligarchs' socks

• In the media: Ukraine, Russia, and even some other stuff

• Recent research: Top scholarly citers, lack of open access references, predicting editor departures

• Wikimedian perspective: My heroes from Russia, Ukraine & beyond

• Discussion report: Athletes are less notable now

• Technology report: 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon

• Arbitration report: Skeptics given heavenly judgement, whirlwind of Discord drama begins to spin for tropical cyclone editors

• Traffic report: War, what is it good for?

• Deletion report: Ukraine, werewolves, Ukraine, YouTube pundits, and Ukraine

• Gallery: "All we are saying is, give peace a chance..."

• From the archives: Burn, baby burn

• Essay: Yes, the sky is blue

• Tips and tricks: Become a keyboard ninja

• On the bright side: The bright side of news

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:49, 27 March 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2022).

Administrator changes

Firefly • Sdrqaz

Ad Orientem

Geschichte • Ryan Postlethwaite • Sabine's Sunbird • Wassupwestcoast

Interface administrator changes

Evad37

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open proposing a change to the minimum activity requirements for administrators.

Technical news

• Access to Special:RevisionDelete has been expanded to include users who have the deletelogentry and deletedhistory rights. This means that those in the Researcher user group and Checkusers who are not administrators can now access Special:RevisionDelete. The users able to view the special page after this change are the 3 users in the Researcher group, as there are currently no checkusers who are not already administrators. (T301928)
• When viewing deleted revisions or diffs on Special:Undelete a back link to the undelete page for the associated page is now present. (T284114)

Arbitration

• Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Opening of proceedings has been updated to reflect current practice following a motion.
• A arbitration case regarding Skepticism and coordinated editing has been closed.
• A arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been opened.

Miscellaneous

• Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines has closed, and the results were that 56.98% of voters supported the guidelines. The results of this vote mean the Wikimedia Foundation Board will now review the guidelines.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:13, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 April 2022

• News and notes: Double trouble

• In the media: The battlegrounds outside and inside Wikipedia

• Special report: Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary (Part 2)

• Technology report: 8-year-old attribution issues in Media Viewer

• Featured content: Wikipedia's best content from March

• In focus: Editing difficulties on Russian Wikipedia

• Gallery: A voyage around the world with WLM winners

• Interview: On a war and a map

• Serendipity: Wikipedia loves photographs, but hates photographers

• Traffic report: Justice Jackson, the Smiths, and an invasion

• Recent research: Student edits as "civic engagement"; how Wikipedia readers interact with images

• News from the WMF: How Smart is the SMART Copyright Act?

• Essay: The problem with elegant variation

• Humour: Really huge message boxes

• From the archives: Wales resigned WMF board chair in 2006 reorganization

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:40, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2022).

Administrator changes

Colin M

David.Monniaux • Fribbler • Grue • Kpjas • West.andrew.g

CheckUser changes

Ks0stm

Oversighter changes

Ks0stm

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, a change has been made to the administrators inactivity policy. Under the new policy, if an administrator has not made at least 100 edits over a period of 5 years they may be desysopped for inactivity.
• Following a discussion on the bureaucrat's noticeboard, a change has been made to the bureaucrats inactivity policy.

Technical news

• The ability to undelete the associated talk page when undeleting a page has been added. This was the 11th wish of the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey.
• A public status system for WMF wikis has been created. It is located at https://www.wikimediastatus.net/ and is hosted separately to WMF wikis so in the case of an outage it will remain viewable.

Arbitration

• Remedy 2 of the St Christopher case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to place a ban on single-purpose accounts who were disruptively editing on the article St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine or related pages from those pages.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:33, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 May 2022

• From the team: A changing of the guard

• News and notes: 2022 Wikimedia Board elections

• Community view: Have your say in the 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board elections

• Opinion: The Wikimedia Endowment – a lack of transparency

• In the media: Putin, Jimbo, Musk and more

• Special report: Three stories of Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war

• In focus: Measuring gender diversity in Wikipedia articles

• Discussion report: Portals, April Fools, admin activity requirements and more

• WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19 revisited

• Technology report: A new video player for Wikimedia wikis

• Featured content: Featured content of April

• Interview: Wikipedia's pride

• Serendipity: Those thieving image farms

• Recent research: 35 million Twitter links analysed

• Tips and tricks: The reference desks of Wikipedia

• Traffic report: Strange highs and strange lows

• News from Diff: Winners of the Human rights and Environment special nomination by Wiki Loves Earth announced

• News from the WMF: The EU Digital Services Act: What’s the Deal with the Deal?

• Video: How the entire country of Qatar was blocked from editing

• Gallery: Diving under the sea for World Oceans Day

• From the archives: The Onion and Wikipedia

• Essay: How not to write a Wikipedia article

• Humour: A new crossword

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:45, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 50

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 50, March – April 2022

• New library partner - SPIE
• 1Lib1Ref May 2022 underway

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:52, 1 June 2022 (UTC) (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2022).

Administrator changes

Tamzin

Barek • Darkwind • Geometry guy • ProcseeBot • RoyBoy • Sean Whitton • Valereee • Visorstuff • WAvegetarian

Sn0wflake → VersedFenrir

CheckUser changes

Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

• Several areas of improvement collated from community member votes have been identified in the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines. The areas of improvement have been sent back for review and you are invited to provide input on these areas.

Technical news

• Administrators using the mobile web interface can now access Special:Block directly from user pages. (T307341)
• The IP Info feature has been deployed to all wikis as a Beta Feature. Any autoconfirmed user may enable the feature using the "IP info" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features. Autoconfirmed users will be able to access basic information about an IP address that includes the country and connection method. Those with advanced privileges (admin, bureaucrat, checkuser) will have access to extra information that includes the Internet Service Provider and more specific location.

Arbitration

• Remedy 2 of the Rachel Marsden case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to delete or reduce to a stub, together with their talk pages, articles related to Rachel Marsden when they violate Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy.
• An arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been closed.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:55, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for June 19

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited The Keeper of Lost Causes, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Victim.

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:03, 19 June 2022 (UTC)  Done

The Signpost: 26 June 2022

• News and notes: WMF inks new rules on government-ordered takedowns, blasts Russian feds' censor demands, spends big bucks

• In the media: Editor given three-year sentence, big RfA makes news, Guy Standing takes it sitting down

• Special report: "Wikipedia's independence" or "Wikimedia's pile of dosh"?

• Discussion report: MoS rules on CCP name mulled, XRV axe plea nulled, BLPPROD drafting bid pulled

• Opinion: Picture of the Day – how Adam plans to ru(i)n it

• Featured content: Articles on Scots' clash, Yank's tux, Austrian's action flick deemed brilliant prose

• Essay: RfA trend line haruspicy: fact or fancy?

• Recent research: Wikipedia versus academia (again), tables' "immortality" probed

• Serendipity: Was she really a Swiss lesbian automobile racer?

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Enterprise signs first deals

• Traffic report: Top view counts for shows, movies, and celeb lawsuit that keeps on giving

• Gallery: Celebration of summer, winter

• Humour: Shortcuts, screwballers, Simon & Garfunkel

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:30, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2022).

Administrator changes

AA • Gwalla • Ioeth • Laurascudder • Moriori (deceased) • Nat • Rfl

Drilnoth → AFigureOfBlue

Bureaucrat changes

Lee Vilenski

Interface administrator changes

Nihiltres

Technical news

• user_global_editcount is a new variable that can be used in abuse filters to avoid affecting globally active users. (T130439)

Arbitration

• An arbitration case regarding conduct in deletion-related editing has been opened.

Miscellaneous

• The New Pages Patrol queue has around 10,000 articles to be reviewed. As all administrators have the patrol right, please consider helping out. The queue is here. For further information on the state of the project, see the latest NPP newsletter.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:28, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 August 2022

• From the editors: Rise of the machines, or something

• News and notes: Information considered harmful

• In the media: Censorship, medieval hoaxes, "pathetic supervillains", FB-WMF AI TL bid, dirty duchess deeds done dirt cheap

• Op-Ed: The "recession" affair

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary (part 3)

• Election guide: The chosen six: 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections

• Community view: Youth culture and notability

• Opinion: Criminals among us

• Arbitration report: Winds of change blow for cyclone editors, deletion dustup draws toward denouement

• Deletion report: This is Gonzo Country

• Discussion report: Notability for train stations, notices for mobile editors, noticeboards for the rest of us

• Traffic report: US TV, JP ex-PM, outer space, and politics of IN, US, UK top charts for July

• Featured content: A little list with surprisingly few lists

• Tips and tricks: Cleaning up awful citations with Citation bot

• In focus: Wikidata insights from a handy little tool

• On the bright side: Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war — three (more) stories

• Essay: How to research an image

• Recent research: A century of rulemaking on Wikipedia analyzed

• Serendipity: Don't cite Wikipedia

• Gallery: A backstage pass

• From the archives: 2012 Russian Wikipedia shutdown as it happened

• Humour: Why did the chicken cross the road?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:38, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 51

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 51, May – June 2022

• New library partners
  • SAGE Journals
  • Elsevier ScienceDirect
  • University of Chicago Press
  • Information Processing Society of Japan
• Feedback requested on this newsletter
• 1Lib1Ref May 2022

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:45, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 3

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Allele, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Trait.

(Opt-out instructions.) --DPL bot (talk) 09:18, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2022).

Administrator changes

Valereee

Anthony Appleyard (deceased) • Capitalistroadster • Samsara

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC has been closed with consensus to add javascript that will show edit notices for editors editing via a mobile device. This only works for users using a mobile browser, so iOS app editors will still not be able to see edit notices.
• An RfC has been closed with the consensus that train stations are not inherently notable.

Technical news

• The Wikimania 2022 Hackathon will take place virtually from 11 August to 14 August.
• Administrators will now see links on user pages for "Change block" and "Unblock user" instead of just "Block user" if the user is already blocked. (T308570)

Arbitration

• The arbitration case request Geschichte has been automatically closed after a 3 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

• You can vote for candidates in the 2022 Board of Trustees elections from 16 August to 30 August. Two community elected seats are up for election.
• Wikimania 2022 is taking place virtually from 11 August to 14 August. The schedule for wikimania is listed here. There are also a number of in-person events associated with Wikimania around the world.
• Tech tip: When revision-deleting on desktop, hold ⇧ Shift between clicking two checkboxes to select every box in that range.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:44, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 August 2022

• News and notes: Admins wanted on English Wikipedia, IP editors not wanted on Farsi Wiki, donations wanted everywhere

• Special report: Wikimania 2022: no show, no show up?

• In the media: Truth or consequences? A tough month for truth

• Discussion report: Boarding the Trustees

• News from Wiki Education: 18 years a Wikipedian: what it means to me

• In focus: Thinking inside the box

• Tips and tricks: The unexpected rabbit hole of typo fixing in citations...

• Technology report: Vector (2022) deployment discussions happening now

• Serendipity: Two photos of every library on earth

• Featured content: Our man drills are safe for work, but our Labia is Fausta.

• Recent research: The dollar value of "official" external links

• Traffic report: What dreams (and heavily trafficked articles) may come

• Essay: Delete the junk!

• Gallery: A Fringe Affair (but not the show by Edward W. Feery that was on this year)

• Humour: CommonsComix No. 1

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 years ago

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:58, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2022).

Administrator changes

DanCherek • DatGuy • Femke • Z1720

Aldux • Graham Beards • Nyttend

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

Guideline and policy news

• A discussion is open to define a process by which Vector 2022 can be made the default for all users.
• An RfC is open to gain consensus on whether Fox News is reliable for science and politics.

Technical news

• The impact report on the effects of disabling IP editing on the Persian (Farsi) Wikipedia has been released.
• The WMF is looking into making a Private Incident Reporting System (PIRS) system to improve the reporting of harmful incidents through easier and safer reporting. You can leave comments on the talk page by answering the questions provided. Users who have faced harmful situations are also invited to join a PIRS interview to share the experience. To sign up please email Madalina Ana.

Arbitration

• An arbitration case regarding Conduct in deletion-related editing has been closed. The Arbitration Committee passed a remedy as part of the final decision to create a request for comment (RfC) on how to handle mass nominations at Articles for Deletion (AfD).
• The arbitration case request Jonathunder has been automatically closed after a 6 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

• The new pages patrol (NPP) team has prepared an appeal to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) for assistance with addressing Page Curation bugs and requested features. You are encouraged to read the open letter before it is sent, and if you support it, consider signing it. It is not a discussion, just a signature will suffice.
• Voting for candidates for the Wikimedia Board of Trustees is open until 6 September.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:11, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 52

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 52, July – August 2022

• New instant-access collections:
  • SpringerLink and Springer Nature
  • Project MUSE
  • Taylor & Francis
  • ASHA
  • Loeb
• Feedback requested on this newsletter

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:20, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 September 2022

• News and notes: Board vote results, bot's big GET, crat chat gives new mop, WMF seeks "sound logo" and "organizer lab"

• In focus: NPP: Still heaven or hell for new users – and for the reviewers

• In the media: A few complaints and mild disagreements

• Special report: Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution

• Discussion report: Much ado about Fox News

• Interview: ScottishFinnishRadish's Request for Adminship

• Opinion: Are we ever going to reach consensus?

• Serendipity: Removing watermarks, copyright signs and cigarettes from photos

• Recent research: How readers assess Wikipedia's trustworthiness, and how they could in the future

• Traffic report: Kings and queens and VIPs

• Featured content: Farm-fresh content

• Gallery: A Festival Descends on the City: The Edinburgh Fringe, Pt. 2

• CommonsComix: CommonsComix 2: Paulus Moreelse

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 Years ago: September 2022

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:01, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2022).

Administrator changes

ScottishFinnishRadish

Staxringold

Ahoerstemeier (deceased) • Ched

Interface administrator changes

Cyberpower678

CheckUser changes

GorillaWarfare

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, consensus was found that if the rationale for a block depends on information that is not available to all administrators, that information should be sent to the Arbitration Committee, a checkuser or an oversighter for action (as applicable, per ArbCom's recent updated guidance) instead of the administrator making the block.
• Following an RfC, consensus has been found that, in the context of politics and science, the reliability of FoxNews.com is unclear and that additional considerations apply to its use.
• Community comment on the revised Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines is requested until 8 October.

Technical news

• The Articles for creation helper script now automatically recognises administrator accounts which means your name does not need to be listed at WP:AFCP to help out. If you wish to help out at AFC, enable AFCH by navigating to Preferences → Gadgets and checking the "Yet Another AfC Helper Script" box.

Arbitration

• Remedy 8.1 of the Muhammad images case will be rescinded 1 November following a motion.
• A modification to the deletion RfC remedy in the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been made to reaffirm the independence of the RfC and allow the moderators to split the RfC in two.
• The second phase of the 2021-22 Discretionary Sanctions Review closes 3 October.

Miscellaneous

• An administrator's account was recently compromised. Administrators are encouraged to check that their passwords are secure, and reminded that ArbCom reserves the right to not restore adminship in cases of poor account security. You can also use two-factor authentication (2FA) to provide an extra level of security.
• Self-nominations for the electoral commission for the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections open 2 October and close 8 October.
• You are invited to comment on candidates in the 2022 CUOS appointments process.
• An RfC is open to discuss whether to make Vector 2022 the default skin on desktop.
• Tech tip: You can do a fuzzy search of all deleted page titles at Special:Undelete.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:42, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2022

• From the team: A new goose on the roost

• News and notes: Wikipedians question Wikimedia fundraising ethics after "somewhat-viral" tweet

• News from the WMF: Governance updates from, and for, the Wikimedia Endowment

• In the media: Scribing, searching, soliciting, spying, and systemic bias

• Disinformation report: From Russia with WikiLove

• Recent research: Disinformatsiya: Much research, but what will actually help Wikipedia editors?

• Interview: Isabelle Belato on their Request for Adminship

• Featured content: Topics, lists, submarines and Gurl.com

• Serendipity: We all make mistakes – don’t we?

• Traffic report: Mama, they're in love with a criminal

• From the archives: Paid advocacy, a lawsuit over spelling mistakes, deleting Jimbo's article, and the death of Toolserver

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:42, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2022).

Administrator changes

• 
  • Isabelle Belato
  • Whpq
• 
• 
  • Atama
  • Astronautics~enwiki
  • Athaenara
  • Eddie891
  • GraemeL
  • Marianocecowski
  • Natalya
  • Pratyeka
  • SB Johnny

Interface administrator changes

• TheresNoTime
• Ragesoss

CheckUser changes

• 
  • Blablubbs
  • Firefly
• Joe Roe

Oversight changes

• DGG

Guideline and policy news

• The article creation at scale RfC opened on 3 October and will be open until at least 2 November.
• An RfC is open to discuss having open requests for adminship automatically placed on hold after the seven-day period has elapsed, pending closure or other action by a bureaucrat.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves from 13 November 2022 until 22 November 2022 to stand in the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections.
• The arbitration case request titled Athaenara has been resolved by motion.
• The arbitration case Reversal and reinstatement of Athaenara's block has entered the proposed decision stage.
• AmandaNP, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2022 Arbitration Committee Elections. Xaosflux and Dr vulpes are reserve commissioners.

Miscellaneous

• The 2022 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of two new CheckUsers.
• You can add yourself to the centralised page listing time zones of administrators.
• Tech tip: Wikimarkup in a block summary is parsed in the notice that the blockee sees. You can use templates with custom options to specify situations like {{rangeblock|create=yes}} or {{uw-ublock|contains profanity}}.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:22, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 53

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 53, September – October 2022

• New collections:
  • Edward Elgar
  • E-Yearbook
  • Corriere della Serra
  • Wikilala
• Collections moved to Library Bundle:
  • Ancestry
• New feature: Outage notification
• Spotlight: Collections indexed in EDS

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:19, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 November 2022

• News and notes: English Wikipedia editors: "We don't need no stinking banners"

• In the media: "The most beautiful story on the Internet"

• Interview: Lisa Seitz-Gruwell on WMF fundraising in the wake of big banner ad RfC

• Opinion: Privacy on Wikipedia in the cyberpunk future

• Disinformation report: Missed and Dissed

• Op-Ed: Diminishing returns for article quality

• Book review: Writing the Revolution

• Technology report: Galactic dreams, encyclopedic reality

• Essay: The Six Million FP Man

• Tips and tricks: (Wiki)break stuff

• Recent research: Study deems COVID-19 editors smart and cool, questions of clarity and utility for WMF's proposed "Knowledge Integrity Risk Observatory"

• Featured content: A great month for featured articles

• Obituary: A tribute to Michael Gäbler

• Concept: The relevance of legal certainty to the English Wikipedia

• Traffic report: Musical deaths, murders, Princess Di's nominative determinism, and sports

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago

• CommonsComix: Joker's trick

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:40, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

ArbCom 2022 Elections voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 12 December 2022. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2022 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:21, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2022).

Administrator changes

• Eddie891
• Euryalus
• TheresNoTime

• Alex.muller
• Excirial
• RedWordSmith
• Ron Ritzman
• TheresNoTime
• Stephen

Interface administrator changes

TheresNoTime

TheresNoTime

CheckUser changes

TheresNoTime

Oversight changes

TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

• Consensus has been found in an RfC to automatically place RfAs on hold after one week.
• The article creation at scale RfC has been closed.
• An RfC on the banners for the December 2022 fundraising campaign has been closed.

Technical news

• A new preference named "Enable limited width mode" has been added to the Vector 2022 skin. The preference is also shown as a toggle on every page if your monitor is 1600 pixels or wider. When disabled it removes the whitespace added by Vector 2022 on the left and right of the page content. Disabling this preference has the same effect as enabling the wide-vector-2022 gadget. (T319449)

Arbitration

• Eligible users are invited to vote on candidates for the Arbitration Committee until 23:59 December 12, 2022 (UTC). Candidate statements can be seen here.
• The proposed decision for the 2021-22 review of the discretionary sanctions system is open.
• The arbitration case Reversal and reinstatement of Athaenara's block has been closed.
• The arbitration case Stephen has been opened and the proposed decision is expected 1 December 2022.
• A motion has modified the procedures for contacting an admin facing Level 2 desysop.

Miscellaneous

• Tech tip: A single IPv6 connection usually has access to a "subnet" of 18 quintillion IPs. Add /64 to the end of an IP in Special:Contributions to see all of a subnet's edits, and consider blocking the whole subnet rather than an IP that may change within a minute.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:44, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 January 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation ousts, bans quarter of Arabic Wikipedia admins

• In the media: Odd bedfellows, Elon and Jimbo, reliable sources for divorces, and more

• Interview: ComplexRational's RfA debrief

• Technology report: Wikimedia Foundation's Abstract Wikipedia project "at substantial risk of failure"

• Essay: Mobile editing

• Arbitration report: Arbitration Committee Election 2022

• Recent research: Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement in talk page disputes

• Serendipity: Wikipedia about FIFA World Cup 2022: quick, factual and critical

• Featured content: Would you like to swing on a star?

• Traffic report: Football, football, football! Wikipedia Football Club!

• CommonsComix: #4: The Course of WikiEmpire

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:45, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2022).

Administrator changes

• ComplexRational
• Extraordinary Writ

Stephen

• Andrew Yong
• Dbenbenn
• DESiegel
• GlassCobra
• Joe Decker
• Nancy
• Pathoschild
• StuffOfInterest
• William Pietri
• Wwwwolf
• Xdamr

Interface administrator changes

Nihiltres

CheckUser changes

Moneytrees

• Ivanvector
• SilkTork

Oversighter changes

• GeneralNotability
• Moneytrees

• Guerillero
• SilkTork

Guideline and policy news

• Speedy deletion criterion A5 (transwikied articles) has been repealed following an unopposed proposal.

Arbitration

• Following the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, CaptainEek, GeneralNotability, Guerillero, L235, Moneytrees, Primefac, SilkTork.
• The 2021-22 Discretionary Sanctions Review has concluded with many changes to the discretionary sanctions procedure including a change of the name to "contentious topics". The changes are being implemented over the coming month.
• The arbitration case Stephen has been closed.

Miscellaneous

• Voting for the Sound Logo has closed and the winner is expected to be announced February to April 2023.
• Tech tip: You can view information about IP addresses in a centralised location using bullseye which won the Newcomer award in the recent Coolest Tool Awards.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:08, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 January 2023

• From the team: We heard zoomers liked fortnights: the biweekly Signpost rides again

• Special report: Coverage of 2022 bans reveals editors serving long sentences in Saudi Arabia since 2020

• News and notes: Revised Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines up for vote, WMF counsel departs, generative models under discussion

• In the media: Court orders user data in libel case, Saudi Wikipedia in the crosshairs, Larry Sanger at it again

• Technology report: View it! A new tool for image discovery

• In focus: Busting into Grand Central

• Serendipity: How I bought part of Wikipedia – for less than $100

• Gallery: What is our responsibility when it comes to images?

• Humour: New geologically speedy deletion criteria introduced

• Opinion: Good old days, in which fifth-symbol-lacking lipograms roam'd our librarious litany

• Featured content: Flip your lid

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2022

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:13, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 54

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 54, November – December 2022

• New collections:
  • British Newspaper Archive
  • Findmypast
  • University of Michigan Press
  • ACLS
  • Duke University Press
• 1Lib1Ref 2023
• Spotlight: EDS Refine Results

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:14, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2023).

Administrator changes

Gimmetrow

• Bjelleklang
• Bob the Wikipedian
• Leithp
• WhisperToMe
• 100 inactive admins

CheckUser changes

• BDD
• Bradv
• Donald Albury
• Maxim
• MusikAnimal

Oversighter changes

• BDD
• Bradv
• Donald Albury
• Maxim

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, the administrator policy now requires that prior written consent be gained from the Arbitration Committee to mark a block as only appealable to the committee.
• Following a community discussion, consensus has been found to impose the extended-confirmed restriction over the topic areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan and Kurds and Kurdistan.

Technical news

• The Vector 2022 skin has become the default for desktop users of the English Wikipedia.

Arbitration

• The arbitration case Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 has been opened and the proposed decision is expected 24 February 2023.
• In December, the contentious topics procedure was adopted which replaces the former discretionary sanctions system. The contentious topics procedure is now in effect following an initial implementation period. There is a detailed summary of the changes and administrator instructions for the new procedure. The arbitration clerk team are taking suggestions, concerns, and unresolved questions about this new system at their noticeboard.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2023 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Voting in the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey will begin on 10 February 2023 and end on 24 February 2023. You can submit, discuss and revise proposals until 6 February 2023.
• Tech tip: Syntax highlighting is available in both the 2011 and 2017 Wikitext editors. It can help make editing paragraphs with many references or complicated templates easier.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:37, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 February 2023

• From the editor: New for the Signpost: Author pages, tag pages, and a decent article search function

• News and notes: Foundation update on fundraising, new page patrol, Tides, and Wikipedia blocked in Pakistan

• Section 230: Twenty-six words that created the internet, and the future of an encyclopedia

• Disinformation report: Wikipedia on Santos

• Special report: Legal status of Wikimedia projects "unclear" under potential European legislation

• In the media: Furor over new Wikipedia skin, followup on Saudi bans, and legislative debate

• Op-Ed: Estonian businessman and political donor brings lawsuit against head of national Wikimedia chapter

• Opinion: Study examines cultural leanings of Wikimedia projects' visual art coverage

• Recent research: Wikipedia's "moderate yet systematic" liberal citation bias

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Organized Labour

• Tips and tricks: XTools: Data analytics for your list of created articles

• Featured content: 20,000 Featureds under the Sea

• Traffic report: Films, deaths and ChatGPT

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:44, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 February 2023

• News and notes: Terms of Use update, Steward elections, and Wikipedia back in Pakistan

• In the media: Arbitrators open case after article alleges Wikipedia "intentionally distorts" Holocaust coverage

• Disinformation report: The "largest con in corporate history"?

• Essay: Machine-written articles: a new challenge for Wikipedia

• Tips and tricks: All about writing at DYK

• Featured content: Eden, lost.

• Gallery: Love is in the air

• Traffic report: Superbowl? Pfft. Give me some Bollywood! Yours sincerely, the world

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 years ago: Let's (not) delete the Main Page!

• Cobwebs: Editorial: The loss of the moral high ground

• Humour: The RfA Candidate's Song

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:01, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2023).

Administrator changes

The Wordsmith

• Fuhghettaboutit
• Spinningspark (deceased)

CheckUser changes

Callanecc

Oversighter changes

Callanecc

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, F10 (useless non-media files) has been deprecated.
• Following a request for comment, the Portal CSD criteria (P1 (portal subject to CSD as an article) and P2 (underpopulated portal)) have been deprecated.
• A request for comment is open to discuss making the closing instructions for the requested moves process a guideline.

Technical news

• The results of the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey have been posted.

Arbitration

• Remedy 11 ("Request for Comment") of the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been rescinded.
• The proposed decision for the Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case is expected 7 March 2023.
• A case related to the Holocaust in Poland is expected to be opened soon.

Miscellaneous

• The 2023 appointees for the Ombuds commission are AGK, Ameisenigel, Bennylin, Daniuu, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, JJMC89, MdsShakil, Minorax and Renvoy as regular members and Zabe as advisory members.
• Following the 2023 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Mykola7, Superpes15, and Xaosflux.
• The Terms of Use update cycle has started, which includes a [p]roposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing. Feedback is being accepted until 24 April 2023.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:19, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 March 2023

• News and notes: What's going on with the Wikimedia Endowment?

• Technology report: Second flight of the Soviet space bears: Testing ChatGPT's accuracy

• In the media: What should Wikipedia do? Publish Russian propaganda? Be less woke? Cover the Holocaust in Poland differently?

• Featured content: In which over two-thirds of the featured articles section needs to be copied over to WikiProject Military History's newsletter

• Recent research: "Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the Holocaust" in Poland and "self-focus bias" in coverage of global events

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:41, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 55

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 55, January – February 2023

• New bundle partners:
  • Newspapers.com
  • Fold3
• 1Lib1Ref January report
• Spotlight: EDS SmartText Searching

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:45, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 March 2023

• News and notes: Wikimania submissions deadline looms, Russian government after our lucky charms, AI woes nix CNET from RS slate

• Eyewitness: Three more stories from Ukrainian Wikimedians

• In the media: Paid editing, plagiarism payouts, proponents of a ploy, and people peeved at perceived preferences

• Featured content: Way too many featured articles

• Interview: 228/2/1: the inside scoop on Aoidh's RfA

• Traffic report: Who died? Who won? Who lost?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:16, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 03 April 2023

• From the editor: Some long-overdue retractions

• News and notes: Sounding out, a universal code of conduct, and dealing with AI

• In the media: Twiddling Wikipedia during an online contest, and other news

• Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" case is ongoing

• Featured content: Hail, poetry! Thou heav'n-born maid

• Recent research: Language bias: Wikipedia captures at least the "silhouette of the elephant", unlike ChatGPT

• From the archives: April Fools' through the ages

• Disinformation report: Sus socks support suits, seems systemic

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:45, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2023).

Administrator changes

Aoidh

KillerChihuahua

CheckUser changes

Ferret

Guideline and policy news

• A community RfC is open to discuss whether reports primarily involving gender-related disputes or controversies should be referred to the Arbitration enforcement noticeboard.

Technical news

• Some older web browsers will not be able to use JavaScript on Wikimedia wikis starting this week. This mainly affects users of Internet Explorer 11. (T178356)
• The rollback of Vector 2022 RfC has found no consensus to rollback to Vector legacy, but has found rough consensus to disable "limited width" mode by default.
• A link to the user's Special:CentralAuth page will now appear in the subtitle links shown on Special:Contributions. This was voted #17 in the Community Wishlist Survey 2023.

Arbitration

• The Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case has been closed.
• A case about World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been opened, with the first evidence phase closing 6 April 2023.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:11, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 April 2023

• News and notes: Staff departures at Wikimedia Foundation, Jimbo hands in the bits, and graphs' zeppelin burns

• In the media: Contested truth claims in Wikipedia

• Obituary: Remembering David "DGG" Goodman

• Arbitration report: Holocaust in Poland, Jimbo in the hot seat, and a desysopping

• Opinion: What Jimbo's question revealed about scamming

• Op-Ed: Wikipedia as an anchor of truth

• Special report: Signpost statistics between years 2005 and 2022

• News from the WMF: Collective planning with the Wikimedia Foundation

• Featured content: In which we described the featured articles in rhyme again

• From the archives: April Fools' through the ages, part two

• Humour: The law of hats

• Traffic report: Long live machine, the future supreme

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:16, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2023).

Administrator changes

Spicy

• Ale jrb
• Dbachmann
• DGG (deceased)
• Jimbo Wales

CheckUser changes

Jimbo Wales

Oversighter changes

Jimbo Wales

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment about removing administrative privileges in specified situations is open for feedback.

Technical news

• Progress has started on the Page Triage improvement project. This is to address the concerns raised by the community in their 2022 WMF letter that requested improvements be made to the tool.

Arbitration

• The proposed decision in the World War II and the history of Jews in Poland case is expected 11 May 2023.

Miscellaneous

• The Wikimedia Foundation annual plan 2023-2024 draft is open for comment and input through May 19. The final plan will be published in July 2023.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:22, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 8 May 2023

• News and notes: New legal "deVLOPments" in the EU

• In the media: Vivek's smelly socks, online safety, and politics

• Recent research: Gender, race and notability in deletion discussions

• Featured content: I wrote a poem for each article, I found rhymes for all the lists; My first featured picture of this year now finally exists!

• Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" approaches conclusion

• News from the WMF: Planning together with the Wikimedia Foundation

• Special report: There Shall Be Seasons Refreshing – Stories from WikiConference India 2023

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:24, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for May 18

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Casimir effect, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Retardation.

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The Signpost: 22 May 2023

• News and notes: Golden parachutes: Record severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

• In the media: History, propaganda and censorship

• Arbitration report: Final decision in "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland"

• Recent research: Create or curate, cooperate or compete? Game theory for Wikipedia editors

• Featured content: A very musical week for featured articles

• Traffic report: Coronation, chatbot, celebs

• WikiProject report: Wikipedians Convene for Queering Wikipedia 2023: The First International LGBT+ Wikipedia Conference

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:38, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 56

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 56, March – April 2023

• New partner:
  • Perlego
• Library access tips and tricks
• Spotlight: EveryBookItsReader

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:03, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 5 June 2023

• News and notes: WMRU director forks new 'pedia, birds flap in top '22 piccy, WMF weighs in on Indian gov's map axe plea

• In the media: Section 230 stands tall, WP vs. UK bill, Miss Information dissed again

• Featured content: Poetry under pressure

• Traffic report: Celebs, controversies and a chatbot in the public eye

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:21, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2023).

Administrator changes

Ingenuity

• Ddstretch
• Prodego
• Resolute

CheckUser changes

Courcelles

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, editors indefinitely site-banned by community consensus will now have all rights, including sysop, removed.
• As a part of the Wikimedia Foundation's IP Masking project, a new policy has been created that governs the access to temporary account IP addresses. An associated FAQ has been created and individual communities can increase the requirements to view temporary account IP addresses.

Technical news

• Bot operators and tool maintainers should schedule time in the coming months to test and update their tools for the effects of IP masking. IP masking will not be deployed to any content wiki until at least October 2023 and is unlikely to be deployed to the English Wikipedia until some time in 2024.

Arbitration

• The arbitration case World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been closed. The topic area of Polish history during World War II (1933-1945) and the history of Jews in Poland is subject to a "reliable source consensus-required" contentious topic restriction.

Miscellaneous

• Following a community referendum, the arbitration policy has been modified to remove the ability for users to appeal remedies to Jimbo Wales.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:32, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 June 2023

• News and notes: WMF Terms of Use now in force, new Creative Commons licensing

• In the media: English WP editor glocked after BLP row on Italian 'pedia

• Featured content: Content, featured

• Recent research: Hoaxers prefer currently-popular topics

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:09, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for June 26

An automated process has detected that when you recently edited Maximum usable frequency, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Angle of incidence.

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Administrators' newsletter – July 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2023).

Administrator changes

Novem Linguae

• Deckiller
• Electionworld
• MBisanz
• Penwhale
• Raul654
• Roadrunner
• Viridae
• Yannismarou

Bureaucrat changes

MBisanz

Guideline and policy news

• Contributions to the English Wikipedia are now released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) license instead of CC BY-SA 3.0. Contributions are still also released under the GFDL license.

Technical news

• Discussion is open regarding a proposed global policy regarding third-party resources. Third-party resources are computer resources that reside outside of Wikimedia production websites.

Arbitration

• Two arbitration cases are currently open. Proposed decisions are expected 5 July 2023 for the Scottywong case and 9 July 2023 for the AlisonW case.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:58, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 3 July 2023

• News and notes: Online Safety Bill: Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK launch open letter

• Disinformation report: Imploded submersible outfit foiled trying to sing own praises on Wikipedia

• In the media: Journo proposes mass Wiki dox, sponsored articles on Fandom, Section 230 discussed

• Featured content: Incensed

• Traffic report: Are you afraid of spiders? Arnold? The Idol? ChatGPT?

• Humour: United Nations dispatches peacekeeping force to Wikipedia policy discussions

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:14, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 July 2023

• News and notes: Big bux hidden beneath wine-dark sea as we wait for the Tides to go out?

• In the media: Tentacles of Emirates plot attempt to ensnare Wikipedia

• Obituary: David Thomsen (Dthomsen8) and Ingo Koll (Kipala)

• News from the WMF: ABC for Fundraising: Advancing Banner Collaboration for fundraising campaigns

• In focus: Are the children of celebrities over-represented in French cinema?

• Tips and tricks: What automation can do for you (and your WikiProject)

• Recent research: Wikipedia-grounded chatbot "outperforms all baselines" on factual accuracy

• Humour: New fringe theories to be introduced

• Cobwebs: If you're reading this, you're probably on a desktop

• Featured content: Scrollin', scrollin', scrollin', keep those readers scrollin', got to keep on scrollin', Rawhide!

• Traffic report: The Idol becomes the Master

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:00, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 57

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 57, May – June 2023

• Suggestion improvements
• Favorite collections tips
• Spotlight: Promoting Nigerian Books and Authors

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:22, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 August 2023

• News and notes: City officials attempt to doxx Wikipedians, Ruwiki founder banned, WMF launches Mastodon server

• In the media: Truth, AI, bull from politicians, and climate change

• Disinformation report: Hot climate, hot hit, hot money, hot news hot off the presses!

• Obituary: Donald Cram, Peter McCawley, and Eagleash

• Tips and tricks: Citation tools for dummies!

• Humour: Does Wikipedia present neutral perspectives?

• In focus: Journals cited by Wikipedia

• Opinion: Are global bans the last step?

• Featured content: Featured Content, 1 to 15 July

• Traffic report: Come on Oppie, let's go party

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:37, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2023).

Administrator changes

Firefangledfeathers

• AlisonW
• Amberrock
• Closedmouth
• Scottywong

Interface administrator changes

Novem Linguae

Technical news

• The tag filter on Special:NewPages and revision history pages can now be inverted. This allows hiding edits made by automated tools. (T334338)
• Special:BlockedExternalDomains is a new tool that allows easier blocking of plain domains (and their subdomains). This is more easily searchable and is faster for the software to use than the existing MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. It does not support regex (for complex cases), URL path-matching, or the MediaWiki:Spam-whitelist. (T337431)

Arbitration

• The arbitration cases named Scottywong and AlisonW closed 10 July and 16 July respectively.
• The SmallCat dispute arbitration case is in the workshop phase.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:54, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 15 August 2023

• News and notes: Dude, Where's My Donations? Wikimedia Foundation announces another million in grants for non-Wikimedia-related projects

• In the media: An accusation of bias from Brazil, a lawsuit from Portugal, plagiarism from Florida

• In focus: 2023 Good Article Nomination drive is underway: get your barnstars here!

• Special report: Thirteen years later, why are most administrators still from 2005?

• Tips and tricks: How to find images for your articles, check their copyright, upload them, and restore them

• Cobwebs: Getting serious about writing

• Opinion: Copyright trolls, or the last beautiful free souls on this planet?

• Serendipity: Why I stopped taking photographs almost altogether

• Featured content: Barbenheimer confirmed

• Humour: Arbitration Committee to accept case against Right Honorable Frimbley Cantingham, 15th Viscount Bellington-upon-Porkshire

• Traffic report: 'Cause today it just goes with the fashion

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:16, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 August 2023

• From the editor: Beta version of signpost.news now online

• News and notes: You like RecentChanges?

• In the media: Taking it sleazy

• Recent research: The five barriers that impede "stitching" collaboration between Commons and Wikipedia

• Draftspace: Bad Jokes and Other Draftspace Novelties

• Humour: The Dehumourification Plan

• Traffic report: Raise your drinking glass, here's to yesterday

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:42, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2023).

Administrator changes

• Pppery
• Theleekycauldron

• Dwheeler
• G.A.S
• Royalbroil
• Ssd

CheckUser changes

Bradv

Oversighter changes

Bradv

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, TFAs will be automatically semi-protected the day before it is on the main page and through the day after.
• A discussion at WP:VPP about revision deletion and oversight for dead names found that [s]ysops can choose to use revdel if, in their view, it's the right tool for this situation, and they need not default to oversight. But oversight could well be right where there's a particularly high risk to the person. Use your judgment.

Technical news

• Special:Contributions now shows the user's local edit count and the account's creation date. (T324166)

Arbitration

• The SmallCat dispute case has closed. As part of the final decision, editors participating in XfD have been reminded to be careful about forming local consensus which may or may not reflect the broader community consensus. Regular closers of XfD forums were also encouraged to note when broader community discussion, or changes to policies and guidelines, would be helpful.

Miscellaneous

• Tech tip: The "Browse history interactively" banner shown at the top of Special:Diff can be used to easily look through a history, assemble composite diffs, or find out what archive something wound up in.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:21, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 58

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 58, July – August 2023

• New partners - De Standaard and Duncker & Humblot
• Tech tip: Filters
• Wikimania presentation

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:26, 12 September 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 September 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia power sharing – just an advisory role for the volunteer community?

• In the media: "Just flirting", going Dutch and Shapps for the defence?

• Obituary: Nosebagbear

• Serendipity: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no paywall, for thou, Wikipedia Library, art with me

• Featured content: Catching up

• Concept: Strange portal opened by CERN researchers brings Wikipedia articles from "other worlds"

• Traffic report: Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:36, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 3 October 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia Endowment financial statement published

• In the media: History is written by whoever can harness the most editors

• Recent research: Readers prefer ChatGPT over Wikipedia; concerns about limiting "anyone can edit" principle "may be overstated"

• Featured content: By your logic,

• Concept: Wikipedia policies from other worlds: WP:NOANTLERS

• Poetry: "The Sight"

• Traffic report: There shall be no slaves in the land of lands, it's a Bollywood jam

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:30, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 October 2023

• News and notes: Where have all the administrators gone?

• In the media: Thirst traps, the fastest loading sites on the web, and the original collaborative writing

• Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to know how to restore images to make massive improvements

• Featured content: Yo, ho! Blow the man down!

• Traffic report: The calm and the storm

• News from Diff: Sawtpedia: Giving a Voice to Wikipedia Using QR Codes

• Humour: New citation template introduced for divine revelations, drug use, and really thinking about it

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:00, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 6 November 2023

• Arbitration report: Admin bewilderingly unmasks self as sockpuppet of other admin who was extremely banned in 2015

• In the media: UK shadow chancellor accused of ripping off WP articles for book, Wikipedians accused of being dicks by a rich man

• News and notes: Board candidacy process posted, editors protest WMF privacy measure, sweet meetups

• Opinion: An open letter to Elon Musk

• WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2023

• News from Wiki Ed: Equity lists on Wikipedia

• Recent research: How English Wikipedia drove out fringe editors over two decades

• Featured content: Like putting a golf course in a historic site.

• Wikidata: Evaluating qualitative systemic bias in large article sets on Wikipedia

• Traffic report: Cricket jumpscare

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:43, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2023).

Administrator changes

0xDeadbeef

Tamzin

Dennis Brown

Interface administrator changes

Pppery

• Ragesoss
• TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

• The WMF is working on making it possible for administrators to edit MediaWiki configuration directly. This is similar to previous work on Special:EditGrowthConfig. A technical RfC is running until November 08, where you can provide feedback.
• There is a proposed plan for re-enabling the Graph Extension. Feedback on this proposal is requested.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves from 12 November 2023 until 21 November 2023 to stand in the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections.
• Xaosflux, RoySmith and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2023 Arbitration Committee Elections. BusterD is the reserve commissioner.
• Following a motion, the contentious topic designation of Prem Rawat has been struck. Actions previously taken using this contentious topic designation are still in force.
• Following several motions, multiple topic areas are no longer designated as a contentious topic. These contentious topic designations were from the Editor conduct in e-cigs articles, Liancourt Rocks, Longevity, Medicine, September 11 conspiracy theories, and Shakespeare authorship question cases.
• Following a motion, remedies 3.1 (All related articles under 1RR whenever the dispute over naming is concerned), 6 (Stalemate resolution) and 30 (Administrative supervision) of the Macedonia 2 case have been rescinded.
• Following a motion, remedy 6 (One-revert rule) of the The Troubles case has been amended.
• An arbitration case named Industrial agriculture has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case close 8 November.

Miscellaneous

• The Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in November 2023, with 700+ drafts pending reviews for in the last 4 months or so. In addition to the AfC participants, all administrators and New Page Patrollers can conduct reviews using the helper script, Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:22, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 November 2023

• In the media: Propaganda and photos, lunatics and a lunar backup

• News and notes: Update on Wikimedia's financial health

• Traffic report: If it bleeds, it leads

• Recent research: Canceling disputes as the real function of ArbCom

• Wikimania: Wikimania 2024 scholarships

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:43, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 59

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 59, September – October 2023

• Spotlight: Introducing a repository of anti-disinformation projects
• Tech tip: Library access methods

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:15, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

ArbCom 2023 Elections voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 11 December 2023. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2023 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:23, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 December 2023

• News and notes: Beeblebrox ejected from Arbitration Committee following posts on Wikipediocracy

• In the media: Turmoil on Hebrew Wikipedia, grave dancing, Olga's impact and inspiring Bhutanese nuns

• Disinformation report: "Wikipedia and the assault on history"

• In focus: Tens of thousands of freely available sources flagged

• Comix: Bold comics for a new age

• Essay: I am going to die

• Featured content: Real gangsters move in silence

• Traffic report: And it's hard to watch some cricket, in the cold November Rain

• Humour: Mandy Rice-Davies Applies

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:08, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2023).

Administrator changes

• Ganesha811
• JPxG

• Ajpolino
• Lourdes
• Mairi
• RockMFR
• Somno
• WilyD

Beeblebrox → Just Step Sideways

CheckUser changes

• Beeblebrox
• Opabinia regalis

Oversight changes

• Beeblebrox
• Opabinia regalis

Guideline and policy news

• Following a talk page discussion, the Administrators' accountability policy has been updated to note that while it is considered best practice for administrators to have notifications (pings) enabled, this is not mandatory. Administrators who do not use notifications are now strongly encouraged to indicate this on their user page.

Arbitration

• Following a motion, the Extended Confirmed Restriction has been amended, removing the allowance for non-extended-confirmed editors to post constructive comments on the "Talk:" namespace. Now, non-extended-confirmed editors may use the "Talk:" namespace solely to make edit requests related to articles within the topic area, provided that their actions are not disruptive.
• The Arbitration Committee has announced a call for Checkusers and Oversighters, stating that it will currently be accepting applications for CheckUser and/or Oversight permissions at any point in the year.
• Eligible users are invited to vote on candidates for the Arbitration Committee until 23:59 December 11, 2023 (UTC). Candidate statements can be seen here.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:53, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 December 2023

• Special report: Did the Chinese Communist Party send astroturfers to sabotage a hacktivist's Wikipedia article?

• News and notes: The Italian Public Domain wars continue, Wikimedia RU set to dissolve, and a recap of WLM 2023

• In the media: Consider the humble fork

• Discussion report: Arabic Wikipedia blackout; Wikimedians discuss SpongeBob, copyrights, and AI

• In focus: Liquidation of Wikimedia RU

• Technology report: Dark mode is coming

• Recent research: "LLMs Know More, Hallucinate Less" with Wikidata

• Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols

• Comix: Lollus lmaois 200C tincture

• Crossword: when the crossword is sus

• Traffic report: What's the big deal? I'm an animal!

• From the editor: A piccy iz worth OVAR 9000!!!11oneone! wordz ^_^

• Apocrypha: Local editor discovered 1,380 lost subheadings in ancient Signpost scrolls. And what he found was shocking.

• Humour: Guess the joke contest

• BJAODN: Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:57, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2023).

Administrator changes

Clovermoss

Dennis Brown

• Julia W
• Marasmusine
• PBS

CheckUser changes

• Aoidh
• HJ Mitchell
• Sdrqaz
• Spicy
• ToBeFree
• Vanamonde93
• Z1720

Maxim

• Enterprisey
• Izno
• SilkTork

Oversighter changes

• Aoidh
• Firefly
• Sdrqaz
• ToBeFree
• Z1720

Maxim

• Enterprisey
• Izno
• SilkTork

Arbitration

• Following the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Aoidh, Cabayi, Firefly, HJ Mitchell, Maxim, Sdrqaz, ToBeFree, Z1720.
• Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee rescinded the restrictions on the page name move discussions for the two Ireland pages that were enacted in June 2009.
• The arbitration case Industrial agriculture has been closed.

Miscellaneous

• The New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in January 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles in the new pages feed. Currently, there is a backlog of over 13,000 unreviewed articles awaiting review. Sign up here to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:54, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 January 2024

• From the editor: NINETEEN MORE YEARS! NINETEEN MORE YEARS!

• Special report: Public Domain Day 2024

• Technology report: Wikipedia: A Multigenerational Pursuit

• News and notes: In other news ... see ya in court!

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate

• In the media: What is plagiarism? Oklahoma Disneyland? Reaching a human being at Wikipedia?

• WikiProject report: WikiProjects Israel and Palestine

• Obituary: Anthony Bradbury

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2023

• Crossword: everybody gangsta till the style sheets start cascading

• Comix: Conflict resolution

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:48, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 60

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 60, November – December 2023

• Three new partners
• Google Scholar integration
• How to track partner suggestions

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --13:36, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2024

• News and notes: Wikipedian Osama Khalid celebrated his 30th birthday in jail

• Opinion: Until it happens to you

• Disinformation report: How paid editors squeeze you dry

• In the media: Katherine Maher new NPR CEO, go check Wikipedia, race in the race

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate, part 2

• Recent research: Croatian takeover was enabled by "lack of bureaucratic openness and rules constraining [admins]"

• Comix: We've all got to start somewhere

• Traffic report: DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:13, 31 January 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2024).

Administrator changes

• Red-tailed hawk
• Robertsky

• Ameliorate!
• Ancheta Wis
• Anthony Bradbury (deceased)
• Cobi
• Ev
• Moondyne
• Worm That Turned

Bureaucrat changes

Worm That Turned

CheckUser changes

Wugapodes

Interface administrator changes

• Enterprisey
• Izno

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC about increasing the inactivity requirement for Interface administrators is open for feedback.

Technical news

• Pages that use the JSON contentmodel will now use tabs instead of spaces for auto-indentation. This will significantly reduce the page size. (T326065)

Arbitration

• Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee adopted a new enforcement restriction on January 4, 2024, wherein the Committee may apply the 'Reliable source consensus-required restriction' to specified topic areas.
• Community feedback is requested for a draft to replace the "Information for administrators processing requests" section at WP:AE.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2024 Steward elections will begin on 06 February 2024, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 27 February 2024, 14:00 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• A vote to ratify the charter for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is open till 2 February 2024, 23:59:59 (UTC) via Secure Poll. All eligible voters within the Wikimedia community have the opportunity to either support or oppose the adoption of the U4C Charter and share their reasons. The details of the voting process and voter eligibility can be found here.
• Community Tech has made some preliminary decisions about the future of the Community Wishlist Survey. In summary, they aim to develop a new, continuous intake system for community technical requests that improves prioritization, resource allocation, and communication regarding wishes. Read more
• The Unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in February 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:02, 1 February 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 13 February 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia Russia director declared "foreign agent" by Russian gov; EU prepares to pile on the papers

• Disinformation report: How low can the scammers go?

• Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to touch grass to dramatically improve images of flora and fauna

• In the media: Speaking in tongues, toeing the line, and dressing the part

• Serendipity: Is this guy the same as the one who was a Nazi?

• Traffic report: Griselda, Nikki, Carl, Jannik and two types of football

• Crossword: Our crossword to bear

• Comix: Strongly

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:35, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2024).

Administrator changes

• Sdkb
• The Night Watch

• East718
• Isabelle Belato
• Mzajac
• Staecker
• Stan Shebs
• Sugarfish
• Tamzin

Bureaucrat changes

SilkTork

Guideline and policy news

• Phase I of the 2024 RfA review is now open for participation. Editors are invited to review, comment on, and propose improvements to the requests for adminship process.
• Following an RfC, the inactivity requirement for the removal of the interface administrator right increased from 6 months to 12 months.

Technical news

• The mobile site history pages now use the same HTML as the desktop history pages. (T353388)

Miscellaneous

• The 2024 appointees for the Ombuds commission are だ＊ぜ, AGK, Ameisenigel, Bennylin, Daniuu, Doǵu, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, MdsShakil, Minorax, Nehaoua, Renvoy and RoySmith as members, with Vermont serving as steward-observer.
• Following the 2024 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Ajraddatz, Albertoleoncio, EPIC, JJMC89, Johannnes89, Melos and Yahya.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:21, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 March 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia enters US Supreme court hearings as "the dolphin inadvertently caught in the net"

• Recent research: Images on Wikipedia "amplify gender bias"

• In the media: The Scottish Parliament gets involved, a wikirace on live TV, and the Foundation's CTO goes on record

• Obituary: Vami_IV

• Traffic report: Supervalentinefilmbowlday

• WikiCup report: High-scoring WikiCup first round comes to a close

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:01, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 61

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 61, January – February 2024

• Bristol University Press and British Online Archives now available
• 1Lib1Ref results

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:32, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 March 2024

• Technology report: Millions of readers still seeing broken pages as "temporary" disabling of graph extension nears its second year

• Interview: Interview on Wikimedia Foundation fundraising and finance strategy

• Special report: 19-page PDF accuses Wikipedia of bias against Israel, suggests editors be forced to reveal their real names, and demands a new feature allowing people to view the history of Wikipedia articles

• Op-Ed: Wikipedia in the age of personality-driven knowledge

• Recent research: "Newcomer Homepage" feature mostly fails to boost new editors

• News and notes: Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Charter ratified

• In the media: "For me it’s the autism": AARoad editors on the fork more traveled

• Traffic report: He rules over everything, on the land called planet Dune

• Humour: Letters from the editors

• Comix: Layout issue

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:39, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2024).

Administrator changes

• Kbdank71
• Kosack
• NrDg
• TLSuda

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open to convert all current and future community discretionary sanctions to (community designated) contentious topics procedure.

Technical news

• The Toolforge Grid Engine services have been shut down after the final migration process from Grid Engine to Kubernetes. (T313405)

Arbitration

• An arbitration case has been opened to look into "the intersection of managing conflict of interest editing with the harassment (outing) policy".

Miscellaneous

• Editors are invited to sign up for The Core Contest, an initiative running from April 15 to May 31, which aims to improve vital and other core articles on Wikipedia.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:47, 1 April 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 62

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 62, March – April 2024

• IEEE and Haaretz now available
• Let's Connect Clinics about The Wikipedia Library
• Spotlight and Wikipedia Library tips

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:02, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 April 2024

• In the media: Censorship and wikiwashing looming over RuWiki, edit wars over San Francisco politics and another wikirace on live TV

• News and notes: A sigh of relief for open access as Italy makes a slight U-turn on their cultural heritage reproduction law

• WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2023 in Toronto recap

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Newspapers (Not WP:NOTNEWS)

• Recent research: New survey of over 100,000 Wikipedia users

• Traffic report: O.J., cricket and a three body problem

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:48, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2024).

Administrator changes

Nyttend

• JohnOwens
• Killiondude
• MelanieN
• Nihonjoe

Bureaucrat changes

Nihonjoe

CheckUser changes

Joe Roe

Oversight changes

GeneralNotability

Guideline and policy news

• Phase I of the 2024 requests for adminship review has concluded. Several proposals have passed outright and will proceed to implementation, including creating a discussion-only period (3b) and administrator elections (13) on a trial basis. Other successful proposals, such as creating a reminder of civility norms (2), will undergo further refinement in Phase II. Proposals passed on a trial basis will be discussed in Phase II, after their trials conclude. Further details on specific proposals can be found in the full report.

Technical news

• Partial action blocks are now in effect on the English Wikipedia. This means that administrators have the ability to restrict users from certain actions, including uploading files, moving pages and files, creating new pages, and sending thanks. T280531

Arbitration

• The arbitration case Conflict of interest management has been closed.

Miscellaneous

• This may be a good time to reach out to potential nominees to ask if they would consider an RfA.
• A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in May 2024 to reduce the number of unreviewed articles in the new pages feed. Currently, there is a backlog of over 15,000 articles awaiting review. Sign up here to participate!
• Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election is open until 9 May 2024. Read the voting page on Meta-Wiki and cast your vote here!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:25, 2 May 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 May 2024

• News and notes: Democracy in action: multiple elections

• Special report: Will the new RfA reform come to the rescue of administrators?

• Arbitration report: Ruined temples for posterity to ponder over – arbitration from '22 to '24

• In the media: Deadnames on the French Wikipedia, and a duel between Russian wikis

• Op-Ed: Wikidata to split as sheer volume of information overloads infrastructure

• Comix: Generations

• Traffic report: Crawl out through the fallout, baby

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:57, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2024).

Administrator changes

Graham Beards

• Deskana
• Mets501
• Staxringold

Bureaucrat changes

• Deskana
• Warofdreams

Oversight changes

Dreamy Jazz

Guideline and policy news

• Phase II of the 2024 RfA review has commenced to improve and refine the proposals passed in Phase I.

Technical news

• The Nuke feature, which enables administrators to mass delete pages, will now correctly delete pages which were moved to another title. T43351

Arbitration

• The arbitration case Venezuelan politics has been closed.
• The Committee is seeking volunteers for various roles, including access to the conflict of interest VRT queue.

Miscellaneous

• WikiProject Reliability's unsourced statements drive is happening in June 2024 to replace {{citation needed}} tags with references! Sign up here to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:44, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 8 June 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation publishes its Form 990 for fiscal year 2022-2023

• Technology report: New Page Patrol receives a much-needed software upgrade

• Deletion report: The lore of Kalloor

• In the media: National cable networks get in on the action arguing about what the first sentence of a Wikipedia article ought to say

• News from the WMF: Progress on the plan — how the Wikimedia Foundation advanced on its Annual Plan goals during the first half of fiscal year 2023-2024

• Opinion: Public response to the editors of Settler Colonial Studies

• Recent research: ChatGPT did not kill Wikipedia, but might have reduced its growth

• Featured content: We didn't start the wiki

• Essay: No queerphobia

• Special report: RetractionBot is back to life!

• Traffic report: Chimps, Eurovision, and the return of the Baby Reindeer

• Comix: The Wikipediholic Family

• Humour: Wikipedia rattled by sophisticated cyberattack of schoolboy typing "balls" in infobox

• Concept: Palimpsestuous

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:26, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 July 2024

• News and notes: WMF board elections and fundraising updates

• Special report: Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification vote underway, new Council may surpass power of Board

• In focus: How the Russian Wikipedia keeps it clean despite having just a couple dozen administrators

• Discussion report: Wikipedians are hung up on the meaning of Madonna

• In the media: War and information in war and politics

• Sister projects: On editing Wikisource

• Obituary: Hanif Al Husaini, Salazarov, Hyacinth, and PirjanovNurlan

• Opinion: Etika: a Pop Culture Champion

• Gallery: Spokane Willy's photos

• Op-Ed: Why you should not vote in the 2024 WMF BoT elections

• Crossword: On a day of independence, beat crosswords into crossploughshares

• Humour: A joke

• Cobwebs: Counting to a billion — manuscripts don't burn

• Recent research: Is Wikipedia Politically Biased? Perhaps

• Traffic report: Talking about you and me, and the games people play

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:38, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2024).

Administrator changes

• Elli
• HouseBlaster
• Pickersgill-Cunliffe

• Brianga
• De728631
• Georgewilliamherbert
• Hyacinth (deceased)
• ProveIt
• The Night Watch

Technical news

• Local administrators can now add new links to the bottom of the site Tools menu without using JavaScript. Documentation is available on MediaWiki. (T6086)

Miscellaneous

• The Community Wishlist is re-opening on 15 July 2024. Read more

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:58, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 63

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 63, May – June 2024

• One new partner
• 1Lib1Ref
• Spotlight: References check

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:15, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 July 2024

• Discussion report: Internet users flock to Wikipedia to debate its image policy over Trump raised-fist photo

• News and notes: Wikimedia community votes to ratify Movement Charter; Wikimedia Foundation opposes ratification

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation Board resolution and vote on the proposed Movement Charter

• Essay: Reflections on editing and obsession

• In the media: What's on Putin's fork, the court's docket, and in Harrison's book?

• Obituary: JamesR

• Crossword: Vaguely bird-shaped crossword

• Humour: Joe Biden withdraws RfA, Donald Trump selects co-nom

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:30, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2024).

Administrator changes

Isabelle Belato

• Ian.thomson
• Modussiccandi

Interface administrator changes

Izno

CheckUser changes

Barkeep49

Technical news

• Global blocks may now target accounts as well as IP's. Administrators may locally unblock when appropriate.
• Users wishing to permanently leave may now request "vanishing" via Special:GlobalVanishRequest. Processed requests will result in the user being renamed, their recovery email being removed, and their account being globally locked.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee appointed the following administrators to the conflict of interest volunteer response team: Bilby, Extraordinary Writ

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:59, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 August 2024

• In the media: Portland pol profile paid for from public purse

• Recent research: STORM: AI agents role-play as "Wikipedia editors" and "experts" to create Wikipedia-like articles, a more sophisticated effort than previous auto-generation systems

• In focus: Twitter marks the spot

• News and notes: Another Wikimania has concluded.

• Special report: Nano or just nothing: Will nano go nuclear?

• Opinion: HouseBlaster's RfA debriefing

• Traffic report: Ball games, movies, elections, but nothing really weird

• Humour: I'm proud to be a template

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:47, 14 August 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2024).

Administrator changes

Pppery

Interface administrator changes

Pppery

Oversighter changes

Wugapodes

CheckUser changes

• Courcelles
• GeneralNotability

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, there is a new criterion for speedy deletion: C4, which applies to unused maintenance categories, such as empty dated maintenance categories for dates in the past.
• A request for comment is open to discuss whether Notability (species) should be adopted as a subject-specific notability guideline.

Arbitration

• Following a motion, remedies 5.1 and 5.2 of World War II and the history of Jews in Poland (the topic and interaction bans on My very best wishes, respectively) were repealed.
• Remedy 3C of the German war effort case ("Cinderella157 German history topic ban") was suspended for a period of six months.
• The arbitration case Historical Elections is currently open. Proposed decision is expected by 3 September 2024 for this case.

Miscellaneous

• Editors can now enter into good article review circles, an alternative for informal quid pro quo arrangements, to have a GAN reviewed in return for reviewing a different editor's nomination.
• A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in September 2024 to reduce the number of unreviewed articles and redirects in the new pages feed. Currently, there is a backlog of over 13,900 articles and 26,200 redirects awaiting review. Sign up here to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:44, 2 September 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 September 2024

• News and notes: WikiCup enters final round, MCDC wraps up activities, 17-year-old hoax article unmasked

• In the media: AI is not playing games anymore. Is Wikipedia ready?

• Recent research: Simulated Wikipedia seen as less credible than ChatGPT and Alexa in experiment

• News from the WMF: Meet the 12 candidates running in the WMF Board of Trustees election

• Wikimania: A month after Wikimania 2024

• Serendipity: What it's like to be Wikimedian of the Year

• Traffic report: After the gold rush

• Humour: Local man halfway through rude reply no longer able to recall why he hates other editor

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:25, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 64

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 64, July – August 2024

• The Hindu Group joins The Wikipedia Library
• Wikimania presentation
• New user script for easily searching The Wikipedia Library

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:33, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 September 2024

• In the media: Courts order Wikipedia to give up names of editors, legal strain anticipated from "online safety laws"

• Community view: Indian courts order Wikipedia to take down name of crime victim, editors strive towards consensus

• Serendipity: A Wikipedian at the 2024 Paralympics

• Opinion: asilvering's RfA debriefing

• News and notes: Are you ready for admin elections?

• Gallery: Are Luddaites defending the English Wikipedia?

• Recent research: Article-writing AI is less "prone to reasoning errors (or hallucinations)" than human Wikipedia editors

• Traffic report: Jump in the line, rock your body in time

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:08, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2024).

Administrator changes

• Asilvering
• Significa liberdade

• Good Olfactory
• Hesperian
• I JethroBT
• TommyBoy
• Woody

CheckUser changes

• Barkeep49
• Izno

• Doug Weller
• Spicy

Guideline and policy news

• Administrator elections are a proposed new process for selecting administrators, offering an alternative to requests for adminship (RfA). The first trial election will take place in October 2024, with candidate sign-up from October 8 to 14, a discussion phase from October 22 to 24, and SecurePoll voting from October 25 to 31. For questions or to help out, please visit the talk page at Wikipedia talk:Administrator elections.
• Following a discussion, the speedy deletion reason "File pages without a corresponding file" has been moved from criterion G8 to F2. This does not change what can be speedily deleted.
• A request for comment is open to discuss whether there is a consensus to have an administrator recall process.

Arbitration

• The arbitration case Historical elections has been closed.
• An arbitration case regarding Backlash to diversity and inclusion has been opened.
• Editors are invited to nominate themselves to serve on the 2024 Arbitration Committee Electoral Commission until 23:59 October 8, 2024 (UTC).

Miscellaneous

• If you are interested in stopping spammers, please put MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist and MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist on your watchlist, and help out when you can.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:59, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 October 2024

• News and notes: One election's end, another election's beginning

• Recent research: "As many as 5%" of new English Wikipedia articles "contain significant AI-generated content", says paper

• In the media: Off to the races! Wikipedia wins!

• Contest: A WikiCup for the Global South

• Traffic report: A scream breaks the still of the night

• Book review: The Editors

• Humour: The Newspaper Editors

• Crossword: Spilled Coffee Mug

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:13, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Chaz Stevens templates?

I'd love to sort them out, if you'd come to Talk:Chaz_Stevens#June_templates. --GRuban (talk) 21:03, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

Invitation to participate in a research

Hello,

The Wikimedia Foundation is conducting a survey of Wikipedians to better understand what draws administrators to contribute to Wikipedia, and what affects administrator retention. We will use this research to improve experiences for Wikipedians, and address common problems and needs. We have identified you as a good candidate for this research, and would greatly appreciate your participation in this anonymous survey.

You do not have to be an Administrator to participate.

The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on its Meta page and view its privacy statement .

Please find our contact on the project Meta page if you have any questions or concerns.

Kind Regards,

WMF Research Team

BGerdemann (WMF) (talk) 19:29, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2024).

Administrator changes

• Crisco 1492

• Babajobu
• Daniel
• Elf
• Jayron32
• Thue
• Wugapodes

CheckUser changes

Maxim

Oversighter changes

Maxim

Guideline and policy news

• Following a discussion, the discussion-only period proposal that went for a trial to refine the requests for adminship (RfA) process has been discontinued.
• Following a request for comment, Administrator recall is adopted as a policy.

Technical news

• Mass deletions done with the Nuke tool now have the 'Nuke' tag. This change will make reviewing and analyzing deletions performed with the tool easier. T366068

Arbitration

• RoySmith, Barkeep49 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2024 Arbitration Committee Elections. ThadeusOfNazereth and Dr vulpes are reserve commissioners.
• Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate from 3 November 2024 until 12 November 2024 to stand in the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections.
• The Arbitration Committee is seeking volunteers for roles such as clerks, access to the COI queue, checkuser, and oversight.

Miscellaneous

• An unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in November 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:20, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 6 November 2024

• From the editors: Editing Wikipedia should not be a crime

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation shares ANI lawsuit updates; first admin elections appoint eleven sysops; first admin recalls opened; temporary accounts coming soon?

• In the media: An old scrimmage, politics and purported libel

• Special report: Wikipedia editors face litigation, censorship

• Gallery: Why you should take more photos and upload them

• In focus: Questions and answers about the court case

• Traffic report: Twisted tricks or tempting treats?

• Technology report: Wikimedia tech, the Asian News International case, and the ultra-rare BLACKLOCK

• Humour: Man quietly slinks away from talk page argument after realizing his argument dumb, wrong

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:04, 6 November 2024 (UTC)