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New article on Elizabeth Lanza and editing on related articles

Hi! I would like to make another article on Elizabeth Lanza if that is fine, but this time according to the guidelines. I am sorry for the incidents as of late as to the undisclosed COI and copyright infringements.

Also, have I understood it correctly that I am encouraged not to edit these articles related to my work directly, only suggest edits? That would make my job a little harder, but I understand if that is required of me.

I might be a little confused right now, but is it sufficient to disclose the COI anywhere else than on my user page and on every related article? 

--André N. Dannevig (talk) 15:17, 2 May 2017 (UTC)
@André N. Dannevig:
  1. Recreating the article Elizabeth Lanza. You can re-create the article, but my advice is that it would be better to create a draft at Wikipedia:Articles for creation, so that it can be reviewed by an independent reviewer before being accepted as an article. Also, I strongly advise you that before creating either that or any other new article you carefully consider whether its subject satisfies Wikipedia's notability guidelines. There are, in my opinion, far too many of these guidelines and policies, making it confusing and difficult for new editors, but the most relevant ones here are the general notability guideline and the guideline on notability of people. It is by no means clear to me that all the subjects you have written about satisfy those guidelines, and if they don't then any work you put into them is likely to be wasted, as the articles will probably just be deleted.
  2. Suggesting edits rather than editing articles directly. The main reason for this recommendation is that many people editing about subjects they have a personal connection to edit in ways which come over as promotional. Sometimes that is intentional, but very often it is a matter of an editor who does not intend to post promotional content, but because of the close involvement cannot stand back and see how his or her editing will look to an outsider, so that the editing unintentionally comes across as promotional. As long as you are just editing on purely factual matters, such as stating that a particular person holds a particular academic post, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't edit directly, but for anything which might be more open to interpretation, such as comments about the significance of a person's work, I think it would be better not to edit directly. That is just my opinion, and if you find someone else who disagrees you may have to reconsider that advice.
  3. Disclosure. The information about this is, in my opinion, too long and confusing, and is also distributed across several pages, making it difficult to find it all. However, Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure#How to disclose suggests posting a disclosure on your user page (which you have done) and on the talk page corresponding to each relevant article. I think that should be enough.

Also, another point, which is not an answer to your message, but which may possibly be helpful to you. My advice to new editors is that it is best to start by making small improvements to existing articles, rather than creating new articles. That way any mistakes you make will be small ones, and you won't have the discouraging experience of repeatedly seeing hours of work deleted. Gradually, you will get to learn how Wikipedia works, and after a while you will know enough about what is acceptable to be able to write whole new articles without fear that they will be deleted. Over the years I have found that editors who start by making small changes to existing articles and work up from there have a far better chance of having a successful time here than those who jump right into creating new articles from the start.

Finally, it is normal to post new talk page sections at the bottom of the page. It doesn't matter that you posted at the top this time, but I'm letting you know for the future, as there is a danger that a new post at the bottom of a page may not be noticed, as editors are likely to look for new stuff at the bottom. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 15:51, 2 May 2017 (UTC)


This is very helpful, thank you! I am doing some reading on this now.

--André N. Dannevig (talk) 09:46, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Why would you delete incoming links to an article which was deleted through copyvio? (Elizabeth Lanza). Surely the subject is still notable. Geschichte (talk) 15:57, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

Is she? I haven't found the sort of coverage which would show that she is. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:00, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Myatt's Fields South

Hi James, this is John from Wikimedia UK. Here in the UK we are trying to collect and improve information on the history and current state of social housing estates in London. The Myatt's Fields South stub is part of this training with people who live on estates to get them to create articles that are missing on social housing estates. At the moment it is a stub, but I feel that it does meet the notability criteria because there has been significant recent coverage of the dispute between Lambeth Council and the residents, including articles on the BBC, Standard and Inside Housing. It is also a historically important example of social housing, and many of those references which exist in the Lambeth Archive are due to be added in due course. I am going to strongly argue for the fact that the subject is notable historically and recently, and I do feel it is a shame that people are so quick to put AfD requests on subjects that exist as stubs initially. There are many articles full of advertising copy which are out there, but this is an article on an important social housing area which has attracted enough coverage to prove it is notable. Could you please look again and review your assessment that it makes 'No evidence of satisfying Wikipedia's notability guidelines.' Thanks. --Jwslubbock (talk) 21:37, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

@Jwslubbock: In response to your request I have just spent about an hour checking all the current references in the article, and also looking for further information. Here are the results of my investigation.

References in the article

  • There are twelve references, one of which is not available online, so that I have not been able to read it, and one is behind a paywall, so that I have seen only its title and a one-sentence abstract. I shall comment as well as I can on those two, on the basis of what information is available, and then deal with the other ten references.
  • The first one is titled "The story of the Camberwell Submarine". The abstract is "A private finance initiative deal in south London was meant to retrofit an ageing communal heating system and save tenents money. Keith Cooper investigates what happened next." That makes it look as though it is entirely about the heating dispute, and it seems improbable that it contains substantial coverage of the housing estate.
  • Then we have "Myatts Fields South Phases IVa, V and VI. Lambeth Council. 1974. pp. LBL/BDD/1/92/3." Unfortunately I have been unable to find anything about this apart from what is given in that reference title, but it seems improbable that a council's document about phases in the building of a housing estate by that council is going to contain evidence of its historic importance, and it is also clearly not an independent source.
  • Six of the references don't mention Myatt's Field South at all.
  • Two more make only passing mention, including one which is a press release from a campaigning organisation.
  • Another is an interview with a resident, consisting of her personal reflections on the estate, such as the feeling that her contributing to the "gentrification" of the area "irks at [her] conscience". By no stretch of the imagination would that be evidence of notability, even if it weren't on the web site of an estate agent selling houses in the estate. (Incidentally, the "reference" does not, as far as I can see, support any of the content to which it is attached in the article, except conceivably the statement that there are "terraces arranged around pedestrian footpaths", though the interview refers to "squares" not footpaths. Also, the person interviewed has a name closely similar to the username of the editor who placed it in the article.)
  • That leaves one reference, which is a fairly short news report of the boiler dispute. Even if the article were about the boiler dispute, I find it difficult to see how that could be considered sufficient coverage to demonstrate notability in Wikipedia's terms, and for an article about the housing estate, it doesn't even begin to get there.

My searches

  • I tried various searches. The most obvious Google search, for "Myatt's Fields South" produced all of ten hits, but I was able to find many more from other searches. Even simply leaving out the apostrophe dramatically increased the number of hits. It was necessary to weed out some false hits, such as a brief council web site page advertsing Myatt's Fields Park, and not actually mentioning Myatt's Fields South. The majority of pages I found were pages on the web sites of companies selling houses on the estate. Next commonest were pages on web sites which publicly list minimal information about such things as businesses in an area, properties for sale, etc etc, in order to get people to pay for more extensive information, or to click on links taking them to businesses that presumably pay for inclusion. There were also things such as a page for Myatt's Fields South on a web site which exists to enable people to find car parks, and a street map page. And a copy of a planning application. And of course there was the Wikipedia article. And so on...
In summary, my extensive checks have produced absolutely no evidence whatever that this housing estate is notable in Wikipedia's terms. That is not surprising, as most housing estates aren't.
You say "it does meet the notability criteria because there has been significant recent coverage of the dispute between Lambeth Council and the residents", but coverage of one event related to the estate is not the same thing as coverage of the estate.
Why do you wish to "[try] to collect and improve information on the history and current state of social housing estates in London"? Is it because you genuinely think that many of those estates satisfy Wikipedia's notability guidelines? Is it because you think that social housing is a good thing and deserves more publicity? Is it because, as is so often the case in these "training" exercises, you set out to think of some topic to get recruits to edit, and the estates where they live look like something that will interest them?
The editor who created the article has a user name very similar to the name of a resident of the estate, and, as I mentioned above, she included a "reference" which was an interview with that resident. Have you warned her about conflict of interest? When she wrote an article about this estate, in which she gave grossly undue coverage (just uner a third of the article) to one event, namely the fuel dispute, did you check that she is not involved in that dispute, as if she were her editing would clearly be contrary to Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines? The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:12, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
Seems like you're pretty committed to arguing against me here. Yes, the user I was working with is an estate resident, and is an architect and lecturer, but has nothing to do with the dispute. I am training her to be able to use Wikipedia as part of her teaching activities. As with a lot of social housing estates, most of the references will be contained in non-digitised sources, many collected in the Lambeth Archives, which we hope at some point to be able to make available online. This is not because I think 'social housing deserves more publicity', but the fact is that in London, housing in general is becoming an incredibly important topic, and the histories of many estates that are under threat of demolition and redevelopment are not available online anywhere. These housing estates are of historical social importance, and many are the sites of current social battles between residents and developers or their local councils. People should be able to read the best available version of the information that exists about them. If you like, I am happy to go and dig up further sources which may not exist in online, but there are certainly many social history books which will mention the architect and history of this estate with which I can improve the article. So I would just ask for your consideration of the article as a work in progress which can be improved, and to hold off from arguing for a speedy deletion, especially as this is a part of a process to involve more students in learning to edit Wikipedia. Thanks. Jwslubbock (talk) 09:53, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
@Jwslubbock: No, I'm not "pretty committed to arguing against [you]". You asked me about this, and I attempted to give you as full an answer as I could, which is not at all the same thing. As for "hold off from arguing for a speedy deletion", I have never even suggested speedy deletion, nor am I likely to, as the article clearly does not come anywhere near to satisfying any of the speedy deletion criteria. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 10:24, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
I have spent considerably longer than a hour following up the references, and trying to understand why you tagged this stub by a new editor 92 minutes after creation. That was a severe example of WP:BITE. The correct action was to place a welcome message on the user talk page- explain notablity, and ask her there to explain. This is then followed up by an invitation to the Teahouse where she can develop her skills.
When you read the references as of 19:44- there were only five available to check- the first was British History on Line- where you discover that when Ted Hollamby was developing the estate it was referred to as Brixton: Lambeth Wick estate. The second was English Heritage 2014 (Page 7) where the two estates(North and South) are labelled separately. Have you checked what Stefi Orazi says in the book that is attached to her blog- I hopeful that it will provide more material on Hollamby's modernist estates. With that, wiki notability was easily satisfied. WP:GEOLAND also applies. ClemRutter (talk) 10:17, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
@ClemRutter: Hello, Clem. Thanks for your comments, some of which were certainly helpful. I have a few things to say in relation to them.
It turned out t be very helpful that you mentioned Stefi Orazi's blog. When I checked to see what you were referring to, I discovered that www.modernistestates.com, despite containing pages and pages of properties for sale, was not, as it appeared to be, the web site of an estate agent, but an "independent blog", the author of which says she does it "for fun". I am grateful to you for having led me to correct my misunderstanding there. No, I haven't seen her book, which she says she based on her blog. Can you give me a brief indication of the sort of relevant information it contains?
You may be right in suggesting that posting to the editor's talk page would have been better. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I'll try to bear it in mind in future, though I think in your situation I might have expressed the suggestion rather differently.
Perhaps you can also help me by clarifying a couple of points that I am unclear about concerning your comments about references. I can't find where in the British History on Line article there is the information that the housing estate which is the subject of the Wikipedia article was previously known as "Brixton: Lambeth Wick estate". In fact, everything I have seen there is about things which pre-date the housing estate, but I haven't read every word of it, so I may have missed something relevant. Can you point me to it? It is certainly true that in the paper by Geraint Franklin and Elain Harwood, published by English Heritage, the two estates are "labelled separately", assuming that you mean in the map. However, how is that relevant to the issue of notability of the Myatt's Fields South housing estate? I don't understand that. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:03, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
If you compare the street names listed in in the Lambeth Wick history page, you can see that it covers the area occupied by Myatt's Fields North and South. I think the information there is not up to date enough to cover the building of the estate in the 1970s, but as a historical reference it helps explain what existed on the land before the creation of the estates. Jwslubbock (talk) 13:11, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Markov babbler

Hey. I blinked at the text on User:Securitash, that you have now deleted, and showed it to my son, who said a "Markov babbler" will create text like that. We have the article Markov chain, but not the babbler specifically. Wouldn't it be a great way to create articles? :-) Bishonen | talk 20:17, 5 May 2017 (UTC).

PS, I just noticed you have already written to the user. Bishonen | talk 20:23, 5 May 2017 (UTC).
@Bishonen: Hey, that's such an obvious explanation: why didn't I think of it? I had not come across the term "Markov babbler" before, but I have been aware of the concept since way back in about 1969 or 1970. Of course the computers of that time could achieve only a very limited version, compared to what can be done now, but even with the primitive technology available then it was possible to produce text looking remarkably as though it was almost meaningful English. (Or presumably Swedish or any other language, but the examples I saw were English.) I have seen far better examples from more recent times. Yes, I wonder if it would be possible to find a Markov babbler program that would produce Wikipedia articles convincing enough to survive for a significant time without being deleted. I guess the answer is "yes", if the article is posted by an established editor, not a new one, since new pages created by new editors get scrutinised by selfish spoil-sports who are on the look out for things to delete. (Me, for example.) Most nonsense posted to Wikipedia gets deleted or reverted very quickly, but if it manages to escape for a little while so that it's off the radar of recent edit patrolling then it can sometimes stay for a very long time. A couple of days ago I found a bit of vandalism that didn't look remotely as though it might be true, but not only had it remained unreverted for about four and a half years, but in that time it had been copied to over 6000 other web pages, to judge from a Google search. Over the years I have noticed a number of techniques which really clever vandals use to increase the likelihood that their vandalism will go unnoticed. Maybe you have noticed them too, or maybe you have noticed other ones that I have missed. We could have fun exchanging tips on how to do it by email. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:43, 5 May 2017 (UTC)

IDS NEXT deletion

Hi James,

I appreciate the response you have given which makes Wikipedia content reliable and trustworthy. However, I wish to state that I have given neutral material on the company and consciously avoided promotional statements, which I believe is acceptable to Wikipedia. I am writing about a notable company that has been in business for three decades. Further, since I did not have references in my earlier article, I added the references and reposted. It was not a blind repeat. Could you advise where I am going wrong specifically? Jacob.ki (talk) 13:12, 8 May 2017 (UTC)

If you sincerely thought that the text you posted was not promotional, then I can only assume that you work in marketing, PR, advertising, or whatever, and are so used to reading and writing marketing speak all day long that you have become desensitised to it, because every version that you have posted of the page read from start to finish as though it was written by the company's marketing department or a marketing consultant to give the reader the impression that this business really provides a great service to its customers. It is true that in later versions you avoided some of the more blatantly laudatory language of earlier versions, such as "a great tool" and "helps user enhance guest experience and reduce costs", but the overall thrust of the page remained promotional. You ask me to advise you "where [you are] going wrong specifically", but it is difficult to be specific, as it is largely a matter of the whole nature of the writing, rather than specific details which can be picked out. However, I can give a couple of examples of unmistakable marketing text. "With a round-the-clock support desk that functions every single day of the year, IDS NEXT actively supports the mission-critical nature of hospitality operations" (which you posted several times in different re-creations of the page") is one. "A pioneer of the all-in-one Hotel ERP solution that focuses on integrating all areas of operations in a hotel onto a single platform with modular access to its user base" is another. Nobody writes in terms like those unless they are seeking to give a favourable impression of the business they are writing about in order to impress potential customers.
Another point, which perhaps I should have mentioned to you before, is that if your Wikipedia editing forms the whole or part of work for which you receive pay, then the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use require you to disclose the fact, and the exact nature of your relationship to the subject you are writing about. That applies equally to a person acting as an employee, as a contractor, or in any other capacity. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:09, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
Well said. I will need to use part of this when I need to use part of this.Dlohcierekim (talk) 15:23, 9 May 2017 (UTC)

What on earth does "Foot accutrement" mean?

It's a humorous reference to socks. I wasn't going to use the term because Hypn0Toad and Lord High…L3X1 are valid alts per policy. Sorry for the confusion. d.g. L3X1 (distant write) 12:41, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

@L3X1: Oh. If I'd realised it was meant to be humorous I would have left it as it was. I assumed it was meant to be a serious edit by an editor with a poor command of English. Oh well... The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:12, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

Unblocked editor

Hello. I suggest you take a close look at Special:Contributions/David Hedlund, an editor who was indeffed for POV-pushing and disruptive editing on articles relating to alcohol and euphoriants in 2014, and socked for quite some time after that, but was unblocked by you about three weeks ago. Because he is now once again getting dangerously close to the kind of edits/editing that he was originally blocked for (see their edits and talk page). Cheers, - Tom | Thomas.W talk 11:38, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

@Thomas.W: I agree. Much too "close to the kind of edits/editing that he was originally blocked for", in my opinion, so the experiment of unblocking is over. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:16, 11 May 2017 (UTC)
You might want to consider removing talk page access too, since he's refactoring old talk page comments, pinging people all over the place (including pinging me a considerable number of times...), thereby wasting other editors' time, etc etc, but not requesting an unblock, which is all he's supposed to use his talk page for when blocked... - Tom | Thomas.W talk 11:33, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
@Thomas.W: Yes.  Done The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:01, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

John Francis Templeson

Please see here. --Kansas Bear (talk) 00:39, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

You've got mail!

Hello, JBW. Please check your email; you've got mail!
Message added 05:21, 15 May 2017 (UTC). It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

John from Idegon (talk) 05:21, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Deprodding of Psychomotorics

I have removed the {{proposed deletion/dated}} tag from Psychomotorics, which you proposed for deletion. I found English-language sources that use the term. If you still think this article should be deleted, please do not add {{proposed deletion}} back to the file. Instead, feel free to list it at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. Thanks! BlackcurrantTea (talk) 13:50, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

Plagiarism

Giving you a heads-up regarding Padmanabh Singh, I've reverted the same plagiarism twice now. –Skywatcher68 (talk)

@Skywatcher68: I have revision-deleted the content in question, which was not just plagiarism, but much more seriously copyright infringement. I have also posted messages about copyright to the talk pages of the account and the IP address that posted the content. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 08:05, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Another set of block-evading IP hoppers

2606:a000:4946:1400:6141:ed84:1737:ef60, 2606:a000:4946:1400:6c1f:b72f:3d8a:7f96, 2606:a000:4946:1400:8075:4267:45da:e4d1, 2606:a000:4946:1400:24bd:8544:e618:9296, and 2606:a000:4946:1400:388b:ef22:8f4b:e10c. Possibly 2605:a601:8057:d400:9d90:1d1d:4eb8:ffe0 and 2605:a601:8057:d400:d9ca:8c7e:5211:9e48 as well. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 16:59, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

DJ Many Restore

You Care To Restore That Page About Me... I Think I'm Notable Now LOL This Article Explains http://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/how-to-use-your-talent-to-attract-the-attention-of-major-brands.html Or You Could Always Just Google Me. Also I Have A Huge Cult Following Now With Over A Million Followers On Twitter http://Twitter.com/DJMany DJ Many56 (talk) 11:38, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

@DJ Many56:
  1. You link to a page about yourself at www.inc.com. That web site exists to provide people and businesses with a medium to promote themselves. As you know, Wikipedia doesn't.
  2. There are good reasons why number of "followers" at Twitter is not accepted as an indication of notability.
  3. The page about you has been created on Wikipedia at least 16 times (maybe more, as it has been created under numerous different titles and I may have missed some) and deleted every time. It has been the subject of at least four deletion discussions, each of which resulted in a perfectly clear consensus that it should be deleted. (One of them reached that consensus despite your attempt to rig the result by using a sockpuppet account to support keeping the article.) How much more will it take for you to get the point?
  4. You are well aware of the guidelines on conflict of interest.
  5. You should read WP:ADMINSHOP, if you haven't done so already.

The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:44, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Other Articles About Me http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2016/03/14/dj-many-twitter-personality-emanuel-thomas.html https://dotesports.com/call-of-duty/mlg-signs-dj-many-9267 DJ Many56 (talk) 12:13, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Planys Technologies request to revise deletion process of the page

Dear Sir, I would like to clarify with you that there wasn't any intention of posting any promotional or advertising content in Wikipedia against its policies. Planys Technologies is a high tech Indian startup in the field of robotics and represents the honourable ==Make in India== initiative by the Indian Government. I'm working currently at Planys and a fresher as an editor in wiki and hence correcting as and when an editor is indicating any corrections. The previous comment from an editor was accepted and we did represent Planys in the ==International ROBOSUB competition held at Sandiego== but I wasn't able to get any articles mentioning anything specific and so I didn't know how to link some content to prove its innocence. Sir, I humbly request you to guide me through this as I'm unable to figure out what more should I do to publish this article without any errors and deletions. Please Sir, I would really appreciate if you could take some time out and let me know how to proceed on this further. Thank you so much. AjithaKumar (talk)AjithaKumarAjithaKumar (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 12:55, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

@AjithaKumar: Since you are working for Planys Technologies, Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines indicate that you should not be creating an article about the company. If you can write a whole page of such blatant marketing-speak as "The team has shown commendable spirit and courage", "a mission to change the mindset and encourage end users to use advanced technology" "a huge knowledge pool that has enabled Planys to combine different technologies and innovations to address the industrial challenge" and so on and so on, and honestly say "there wasn't any intention of posting any promotional or advertising content", then you clearly lack the ability to see your own writing objectively. If that is so then it is unlikely that you will be able to avoid writing such promotional terms again. You were warned about marketing speak by Peridon, who also told you not to move the draft back to article space, but you ignored that. If you are interested in starting to contribute to Wikipedia in a neutral way on subjects unrelated to your own employment or other subjects where you may have a conflict of interest, then you are very welcome to do so. If, howe3ver, your only interest is creating a page on behalf of your employers to publicise their business, then Wikipedia is not the right place for you: that is what the company's own we site is for, but not what Wikipedia is for. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:11, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Deletion review for Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Feminist has asked for a deletion review of Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. —Cryptic 16:27, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

help requested

consistent with CIR I'm not pinging anyone, but if you have time take a gander here, please. Nonresponsive to feedback, repeat submissions to AFC and AGF/NPOV problems at MFD. They have been given ARBAP notice. NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 13:54, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

@NewsAndEventsGuy: Hmm. I think the biggest question is whether the eventual block will be logged as for CIR reasons, for NPOV failure, for IDHT, or for various other possibilities. However, I find that in cases like this it is better to give the editor a chance to show that he or she can improve: at best this gains a good editor and at worst (and, I'm afraid, far more likely) it ensures that when the block comes it is perfectly clear to any reasonable person that it was justified, rather than being debatable and possibly pointlessly debated. For now I have just posted a talk page message advising him/her to accept Wikipedia policy on NPOV and to stop re-submitting the draft without improvement. I also considered a WP:SNOW close of the MfD, but I decided there is no harm in letting it run a little longer. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:30, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
Agree, that's why I like to ask you for help! Only thing I was surpised about was your linking CIR at the users page.... see the last section of that essay. Thanks for your consistent attention to these things. NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 15:54, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
@NewsAndEventsGuy: Yes, you are perfectly right, linking to that was a mistake. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I have changed my message to the editor, but of course unfortunately the original version is still there in the editing history, so he/she may still see it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:02, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Securitash

Glad you blocked that user; we may both have had too much patience, but I suppose too much is better than too little. It's kind of annoying to see that stuff still on the userpage (that you deleted per U5), copied from Meta. That's something I wonder about every time I come across it, often via WP:UAA. Do you know if anything can be done? If the answer is to go to Meta and ask them to delete it, I don't think I will, somehow. Too boring. Bishonen | talk 11:37, 26 May 2017 (UTC).

@Bishonen: I never thought that the editor was going to switch to constructive editing, and from the start I thought it was just a question of when, rather than if, he/she would be blocked. I did consider blocking earlier, but decided to give enough benefit of the doubt to make sure that when the block eventually came there was no more doubt left. I didn't notice that the meta-content was showing until you pointed it out, but all you have to do to stop it showing is re-create the page. I tried to do that, but was edit-conflicted by DoRD who beat me to it. I see that the editor has already had more than one page deleted at meta, so it might well be possible to get them to delete the user page too, but like you I don't think I will bother. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:59, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
@Bishonen: I said that the editor has had "more than one page" deleted at meta. If it's of any interest to you, I have now found that the number of deleted pages is six, as you can see here. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:03, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
Aha, recreate the page! Why didn't I think of that. I'm sure I'll find use for it going forward. Excellent. Bishonen | talk 12:06, 26 May 2017 (UTC).
@Bishonen: I can think of several possible answers to "Why didn't I think of that", but it's probably best if I don't mention any of them. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:11, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
I just happened to notice this section in my watchlist a while ago, and thought that "Securitash" was such a strange word that I had to see what Bishonen was talking about. Anyway, after blanking the userpage, I decided that the behavior of this account was so strange that I needed to run a check. I found some interesting results:
Notably, this account was in the results as well. I'm not familiar with this case, unfortunately, so perhaps you have some insight. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:16, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
@DoRD: Very interesting. Even without CheckUser evidence, there is no doubt that several of these accounts are al sockpuppets of the sockpuppeteer mentioned if the in the Fixer88 SPI. Indeed , more than one of the accounts have admitted to sockpuppetry.(See for example this edit, this one, and this one. Since you have also linked Fixer88 to them, I can't help wondering if it's time to reinstate the indefinite block on Fixer88. I have consulted Opabinia regalis, the Arbcom member who lifted the block. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:38, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
I'm tempted to go ahead and place a block, but since I also sent email to OR about this, I guess I'll wait to see what she has to say. Cheers ​—DoRD (talk)​ 14:02, 26 May 2017 (UTC)
Update: Okay, after hearing the back story and taking a second look, I won't be blocking Fixer88 unless there is something else to link the accounts. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 20:21, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

liberal news / POV

point well taken. I have edited my sandbox and have developed a proposal for the Trump resistance wiki page. Others have indicated that wiki is under developed and it was suggested by others that I contribute to that wiki. The info I have edited in my sandbox, is that worthy of Wikipedia? Please advise. Let us eat lettuce (talk) 18:17, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

YMB29

Hi James, Please disregard my previous post: I disagree with you on some details, but concur completely with the thrust of your conclusions here. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 23:23, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, JBW. You have new messages at Paris1127's talk page.
Message added 06:59, 30 May 2017 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Paris1127 (talk) 06:59, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

William Bayne Fisher

Hello. Could you please let me know what William Bayne Fisher looked like before you deleted it? I was going to start a stub by using this reference and possibly some book reviews via JSTOR, but perhaps there was already more? Please ping me when you reply. Thank you.Zigzig20s (talk) 16:47, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

@Zigzig20s: Wow! A question about something I did in 2011. I wonder if that's a record.
The main source for the deleted article was an obituary in the Geographical Journal, Vol. 151, No. 1 (Mar., 1985), pp. 148-149, which is available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/633323. I did think of saying that if you don't have access either to JSTOR or to a paper copy of that article, then I could email you a copy, but I read JSTOR's terms of use, and I can't see any way of interpreting them as allowing me to do that. Considering the number of times I have blocked Wikipedia editors for copyright infringements, I don't think I can in all conscience start bending those terms of use. However, if you don't have access to it by one means or another, I could start the article myself from that obituary, and leave you to add more content from other sources, including the one you mentioned and the other sources cited in the deleted article. There was a smaller but significant contribution to the article from https://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/alumni/our-story-and-yours/clarke/. Two other sources cited gave only minor coverage: inclusion of his name in along list at http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/4A91B020-42FB-40D3-BE0F-6097411726D4/0/MedalWinners19702011.pdf and a one-sentence mention of him at https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/ustinov.college/newsletter/michaelmas%202006.pdf. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:34, 1 June 2017 (UTC)
@Zigzig20s: Well, how totally stupid of me. I see that you said you were thinking of using book reviews via JSTOR, so all my stuff about what I could do if you don't have JSTOR access was completely pointless. I did read what you wrote, but by the time I had checked the history of the deleted article and its sources I had forgotten. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:36, 1 June 2017 (UTC)
OK, what did the article look like? Was it in good shape? Perhaps you could just restore it, regardless of who created (who cares?). It's the content that matters.Zigzig20s (talk) 19:42, 1 June 2017 (UTC)
@Zigzig20s: I have just seen your user page, and I have two observations.
  1. Your information is out of date: the link you gave shows that you are now 283rd Most Active Wikipedian, not 284th, as you said.
  2. Have a look and see who is just one place ahead of you, at number 282.
Hmm. I am normally most reluctant to restore content created by a block-evading editor, because although in one way of course you are right that it's the content that matters, on the other hand in my experience "anything you create will be deleted and stay deleted" is the one tool we have which has any chance at all of persuading persistent block-evading editors to stop. I was going to say that after such a long time that was unlikely to be a significant factor so I would be happy to make an exception here, but before clicking on "Save changes" I had a look at the history of the sockpuppeteer. It turns out it was one of the most disruptive editors that Wikipedia has ever had, and he continued to use disruptive sockpuppets for at least six years after being banned, counting only the accounts I have managed to trace, and for all I know may have continued more recently than that. I am in two minds as to whether I am willing to make an exception and restore the deleted article. I will think about it and let you know. For family reasons I am not likely to get a chance to get back to you on this until after the weekend, but if I haven't said any more about it by Tuesday, please poke me to get me to deal with it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:14, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2017

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

Administrator changes

added Doug Bell • Dennis Brown • Clpo13 • ONUnicorn
removed ThaddeusB • Yandman • Bjarki S • OldakQuill • Shyam • Jondel • Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Miscellaneous

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

Ziad k abdelnour

I've just tagged Ziad k abdelnour as G4 but note you have several similarly named articles on your list at User:JamesBWatson/Links#Check. If the previous behaviour were more recent I'd be raising an SPI. If there's not quacking there's at least a hint of Hoisin sauce. Regards, Cabayi (talk) 15:37, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

@Cabayi: Do you know, recently I've been thinking of cleaning up my "links" page, because about 98% of it is old stuff that's never going to be of any use to me again, and one of the many things I was thinking of getting rid of was the Ziad Abdelnour links, as the page didn't seem to have been re-created for a while. And then you tell me it has been. What is more, with a little searching I found that in recent months it has been re-created at least twice, once as Draft:Ziad K Abdelnour and once as Ziad k abdelnour. So, is it sockpuppetry? Well, as soon as I see a "new" page created already containing a page protection template, alarms start going off in my head. When I then notice that it also has a maintenance template dated more than a year before the creation of the page, the alarm becomes almost deafening. When I check the "new" page against deleted copies of numerous other pages created by different accounts over the course of several years, and find they are virtually identical, I can switch off the alarm, because we are getting close to certainty, and I don't need to be alerted to a "possible" bit of sockpuppetry. However, there is just one other possibility to be considered, namely copying of the page back to Wikipedia from Wikipedia mirrors. A Google check reveals that there are indeed many copies of this Wikipedia page around on various sites. However, I am unable to find one which is precisely this version, and even if it is out there somewhere, what a funny coincidence that several "different" editors who "independently of one another" decide to create this article should all do so by copying from a Wikipedia mirror, and all just happen by chance to choose the same one out of many mirrors - and one so obscure that I have not been able to find it. Enough said? Thanks for alerting me to this. I actually found it quite interesting investigating it, following clues up in various places. Anyway, I must go now, as I have a couple of ducks to block. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:54, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
Happy to help, Cabayi (talk) 06:02, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Failure to engage in consensus decision making

thanks for pointing this out. I thought I added valid content. please see my attempt to engage in consensus decision making. Regardless of the perceived slat of subject matter, the Trump syndrome may be an ongoing phenomenon/development that may be a future wiki. Can we engage in consensus decision making here? Let us eat lettuce (talk) 19:42, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Freight payment service

Yes. It wasn't a mistake (although of course it may turn out to have been). The original article was much shorter, and the creator probably long since gone, but the other editor I notified, who on the surface appeared to me to be involved in exactly the same business, had amended it most recently. That latest contributor seemed to me to be making rather suspect edits so I thought it would be as well to notify them too. Maybe there are "other" editors I should also have notified. Deb (talk) 21:11, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

@Deb: I did wonder whether it might be some reason like that. Thanks for answering my query. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:16, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Deleting on a Wikipedia account

Please can you tell me that how to delete Wikipedia account Mohd Abid 125 (talk) 17:45, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

I'm afraid there is no way of deleting an account, but if you don't wish to continue using it you can just abandon it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 18:37, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

Unprotection at Andrew Rannells

Would you be willing to unprotect the above article? I would guess the IP hopper has moved on from Wikipedia by this point in time (which is 6 years after the original protection). --Izno (talk) 13:17, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

@Izno:  Done I am actually surprised that I indefinitely protected an article because of disruption from just one editor. I wonder whether that was just a mistake, or whether back in those days I often used to do it. Come to think of it, there is another possible explanation. I do remember that at one time in cases of very persistent disruptive editors I occasionally used to log a protection as "indefinite" in the hope of driving the editor away, and then after a while come back and lift the protection, so it's possible I may have done that and then missed coming back to lift it. When I get time I will check through my protection log to see whether I can find any other long-standing protections like that, and if so remove them. Thanks very much for drawing it to my attention. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:40, 14 June 2017 (UTC)
No worries. I've just started taking care of semi edit protected requests and occasionally I bump into edit requests that look like they could be unprotected. --Izno (talk) 12:46, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

Hello James

I agree recreating the page with a different title was not constructive at all but I was just not directed much by anyone towards how to actually mend things. I was not given enough of time to create the article in a better way. I still wish to do it, so could you tell me how to? Should I contact the administrator who deleted it? Refering to UrbanClap Bulle Shah (talk) 16:03, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

@Coxnix: Before I answer your question, I will ask you to change your signature. Having a signature that has no connection whatever to your user name is confusing and unhelpful.
If, as seems likely in view of your editing history, you have created the article as an advertisement, then the answer to your question is that you should not do so, and if you are being paid to do so, then you are required by the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use to state who is paying you and what your relationship to them is. If, on the other hand, you did not intend the page to be an advertisement, then the best advice I can offer you is not to create any articles unless and until you gain enough experience of Wikipedia to be able to recognise what is seen as promotional and what isn't. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:47, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

Disruptive edits coming from the 27.59 range

A few IPs in that range, most recently 27.59.72.224, have been involved in changing portions of articles related to Kannada people to the Kannada language. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 17:03, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: I have found the kinds of editing you refer to from 27.59.69.248, 27.59.72.224, and 27.59.97.64. If you know of any more, please let me know. I have placed a range block on the smallest possible range covering those three IP addresses for a few days. If possible I would prefer to avoid placing a range block either on a larger range or for a longer time, as there are a good many other edits, most of them constructive, from the 27.59.x.x range. However, if the problem continues then let me know, and I will consider whether or not a bigger range block looks like the least bad option. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk)
Sure thing. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 21:38, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

Sebring High School (Sebring, Florida)

Re your edit here: [1] Just read the first letters. The same user has now created the identical attack page at Sebring High School Meters (talk) 04:26, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

@Meters: Yes, of course. It took me a minute to realise what you meant by "read the first letters", but once I got there it hit me in the face. When I first saw the article I sort of had the feeling that it looked like vandalism of some kind, but I couldn't think why. I've now decided it belongs in the dumping ground for attack pages. Thanks for pointing it out for me. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:45, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

Sock of

Hi James. JohnMark1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is an obvious sock of John Mark Salvacion Bartolome (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). He has created the spam article JM Bartolome.- MrX 19:28, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

@MrX: Yes, you are totally right, thanks for telling me. I have deleted the article and blocked the account. However, I have not followed your suggestion of salting the article title, because the spam page has already been created under several different titles, so I have no doubt he would just move on to another title, so that salting would achieve nothing. In fact, once we know that an editor is likely to evade protection by switching to another title, it is actually better not to protect, because it's easy to keep a watch on titles which have been used before, whereas it is impossible to watch out for every possible new variation that the editor could possibly come up with. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:43, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
OK, that's a good point. Thanks for blocking the sock and deleting the article. I've also nominated his glamour shot on Commons with the hope that that will discourage further spamming.- MrX 19:46, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
@MrX: Yes, if that is deleted it may discourage further spamming, and I wondered about doing that myself. However, checking whether that image is in use on any pages is a very good way of finding whether he has created yet another copy of the spam page, so it might have been better to have kept it. Oh well, we can never know for certain what will have the best chance of deterring a particular disruptive editor, and deleting the image probably has as good a chance as any other. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:59, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

JacksonViking, etal

An IP, 198.109.219.254, is adding the exact same content at Jackson High School (Michigan). The IP belongs to the public library in Jackson, so whatever you think is best. Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 18:58, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

@John from Idegon: Thanks. I have blocked the IP address for a little while, but it is now clear that the person in question will just come back via other IP addresses or accounts, so I have also semi-protected the article, at present indefinitely. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:13, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
Thank you sir. The minor deviants of Southeast Michigan will remain anonymous as it should be. :) appreciate it. If you ever land out here in Idegon, I owe you a plate of Maffa chicken, our local specialty. Of course they must be accompanied by tater tots, our local invention. John from Idegon (talk) 00:36, 21 June 2017 (UTC)
@John from Idegon: I reckon the closest I've ever been to Idegon is Sacramento, which is apparently about 500 miles away, and I've never encountered either Maffa chicken or tater tots, so I look forward to being treated to them when I get round to dropping in on you. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 07:13, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

WP:ANI

FYI: WP:ANI# It's nice to know the Federal Aviation Administration is a school PCHS-NJROTC (Messages)Have a blessed day. 22:05, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

IP hopper adding inappropriate content to the Talk page for Macy's

Only 2600:1017:b41c:5729:f0a3:8523:fc45:908b & 2600:1017:b41d:1341:412e:7db2:83f:e6b6 so far but wanted to let you know. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 16:28, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: I looked into this, and found another one, 2600:1017:b41b:5b6b:cb4:1b88:4a79:2967, which was blocked for a week earlier this month for similar edits on other talk pages, and which like the two you mention is in the range 2600:1017:b41... Various other related IP addresses have also been blocked for a while at various times, and I also found that there are currently active blocks on the ranges 2600:1017:b42.... and 2600:1017:b40... for more of the same. Clearly individual IP addresses and IP ranges get blocked, but the vandal just moves to a new IP address which is outside the blocked range. A very long term block on the whole 2600:1017:b4... range is not an attractive idea, as the risk of collateral damage on other editors is too great, but I have blocked a range which covers both the IP addresses you mention and also the one I found. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do that will stop this vandal, but placing blocks on large enough ranges stands a fair chance of inconveniencing him or her enough to slow the vandalism down to a significant extent, which blocks on individual IP addresses or very small ranges don't do. Another problem is that there is no completely satisfactory way of checing all the recnt edits in an IPv6 range, unlike an IPv4 range, so it is never possible to be really sure how big a range is involved. However, we just have to manage the best we can. Ho hum. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:50, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

Possible sock of recently blocked user

Just a FYI Ancientluv143 may have a sock Kt62345 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) - FlightTime (open channel) 15:33, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

@FlightTime: Yes, and another one too: Rodeostudio. In any case, quite apart from the sockpuppetry, it is clear that none of those accounts is here to contribute to the encyclopaedia, so I'll block the two you mentioned. The other one is already blocked. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:02, 27 June 2017 (UTC)
Thank you and thank you for what you do :) - FlightTime (open channel) 20:12, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

86.30.162.121. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 19:25, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

I'm guessing you're busy. When you get a chance... [2] –Skywatcher68 (talk) 21:54, 27 June 2017 (UTC)
@Skywatcher68: When I saw this message, and those in the two sections above, I was rather short of time. I dealt with the other two, but this one had to be left, and since there has been no more editing from the IP address there is nothing to be done now. However, even if I had had time to deal with it, all I would have done as a first step would have been to post a message to the IP talk page explaining why the edits were unacceptable, as that should always be the first step in this situation, and that is something you could have done yourself, asking for administrative help only if the problem continued after warnings. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:10, 28 June 2017 (UTC)
Oh, okay. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 16:59, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

Counter-intuitive

About this: We've had problems with people invoking WP:EL when they should be thinking about WP:RS for years. Apparently, it really is counter-intuitive, and we were pointing that out to get their attention (A: "This doesn't apply to refs!" B: "So about this ref..." A: "No! Really! This actually completely totally intentionally cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die doesn't apply to refs!!!!" B: "Oh. Um, are you sure about that?").

But perhaps we are finally past that point.  :-) WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:26, 30 June 2017 (UTC)

@WhatamIdoing: Yes, I know full well from years of experience that there are people who are unable to grasp the difference between an external link and a reference, and no doubt to them it does seem counter-intuitive, which is why I conceded "even if it does to many people". However, I still don't see that a reader's understanding of the point is likely to be in any way improved by including the words "While it may seem counter-intuitive", and I am a firm believer that most of our policies and guidelines are far too long and complex, so that removing words which are unlikely to improve understanding seems a good thing. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 18:56, 30 June 2017 (UTC)
Note that I'm not objecting or reverting.  ;-)
A couple of years ago, I threatened blink text if the situation got worse. I think it's been getting better, though. It's just taken a while. As with all policy-related "changes" (in this case, the 'change' is only from a common misunderstanding, to what it's always said), it just takes a while (usually two years, in my experience) for editors to notice and adapt. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:46, 30 June 2017 (UTC)

James Fell (author) deleted

Hello there James. I see you deleted the James Fell (author) page on June 14, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fell_(author) I was wondering if this might have been a mistake? DGG submitted it for deletion June 3, 2016 and the page was repaired soon afterward. The "Unambiguous advertising or promotion" cleaned up. The reason you give for your deletion in 2017 was for the same reason, but I can find no record of any comments or discussion. Possibly the dates looked like it has been 11 days between DGG's deletion and not a year and 11 days? Hoping to hear from you soon. Thanks!Sgerbic (talk) 21:19, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

The whole article, from start to finish, was written in a way which gave the clear impression that it was written by someone who approves of Fell's work, d wishes to encourage the reader to do so too. It presents Fell's work very much from Fell's point of view, and by no stretch could it be regarded as written from a neutral point of view. You say that DGG "submitted it for deletion" on the third of June 2016, but in fact the only thing he did was delete it, on the fourth of June. You say that the article was "repaired soon afterward" and the advertising or promotion was "cleaned up", but in fact after a wait of seven months you re-created the article, substantially unchanged, with a very large proportion of the text word for word the same as before. It was no less blatantly promotional when I deleted it than it had been when DGG had deleted it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 18:38, 30 June 2017 (UTC)
Well you have a better memory than I have. I haven't looked at the article in sometime. I thought the article had been cleaned up and the feeling of promotion was removed. You are giving really good feedback on what you think promotion is, thanks. I'll keep this in mind.Sgerbic (talk) 15:09, 2 July 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia suddenly attracting vandalism in support of Trump

NBC News and ABC News articles in particular. I've added NBC News to requests for page protection. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 23:45, 2 July 2017 (UTC)

from Ktnk

I'm sorry not for carefully following the Wikipedia guideline. I'm not an employee of this company, but a self-employed contractor. Although my intention was to summarize the information, my proposal is to delete these pages especially as the notability is thought to be trivial. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ktnk (talk • contribs) 15:01, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

Adjacent sockpuppets

On Khal Drogo, both User:Arron-A and User:Eastwesteros are socks of User:User-4488 and User: MaxPrem respectively. Should I just revert to last clean version? 2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:B3 (talk) 03:39, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

That seems like the best idea. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:44, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

KindLink page deletion

Hi JamesBWatson, I am sorry this was considered to be a promotional page. That was not the intent. KindLink has been featured in the news today (BBC Click programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08qlwlk/click-great-balls-of-fire). Since then, we have started receiving hundreds of requests for explanations and further information on the product - hence the decision to create a wiki page, as KindLink seems to be important to a considerable amount of people. All other giving platforms (Justgiving, globalgiving, localgiving, charity checkout etc) seems to have a page on wikipedia with similar contents and they have not been deleted. I am very happy to edit the page according to your/other admins' suggestions if you think it is too much promotional. --AdrianoMancinelli (talk) 11:40, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

I have answered at User talk:AdrianoMancinelli. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:05, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

from Gregwrites

Thanks for advice on the Nathan Asher page. Truth is I just wanted to create a page I knew something about. It was not in any way promotional, as the band has been disbanded for at least eight years. I thought the sourcing was solid and written in the form of other bands on wikipedia. I don't know any one from the former band. I just used to listen to them years ago. I thought they deserved an entry, given their reach on the southeastern coast of America about a decade ago.

With that said, I hope you will look again at the page and see that it was not promotional and that it met the guidelines for a band.

Gregwrites (talk) 20:54, 29 May 2017 (UTC)Gregwrites

I have answered at User talk:Gregwrites. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 15:36, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

from GriffinKemp97

Formerly dasEsArts

My mistake, I have also checked, it just says promotion. Not self. Apologies.

Thanks for the help —  Preceding unsigned comment added by GriffinKemp97 (talk • contribs) 16:59, 5 June 2017‎

from Thombinder

I have read the comment you left. About how I am not capable of distinguishing promotion and neutral writing. It is therefore that I have specifically used a neutral, stable and reliable source for that part. How else am I supposed to explain what Playtech BGT Sports does without quoiting their website or other reliable sources? —  Preceding unsigned comment added by Thombinder (talk • contribs) 15:10, 8 June 2017

Korea Daily

Thank you for your comment. I'm working for the Korea Daily and there is no Wikipedia information about the company. I'm fixing the mistakes so let me know if you have more advice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joongangdailynews (talk • contribs) 22:02, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

2602:304:CE7C:140:0:0:0:0/64

2602:304:CE7C:140:0:0:0:0/64 (block range · block log (global) · WHOIS (partial))

Hi JamesBWatson,

Could you give this IP range another block? They've returned on 2602:304:CE7C:140:E4AF:9F33:93E0:4F5A (talk · contribs · WHOIS) and although that IP is currently blocked, they will likely return shortly on another IP within the ::/64 range. Thanks. 193.106.43.180 (talk) 22:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

I would certainly have done so, but another administrator got there before me and blocked the range. Thanks for letting me know about it, though. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:24, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

Team4_2017

Hi James,

We did this on the advice of our professor for a final project. And yes, it is a team project with other members, it has been a steep learning curve for us in regards to adding substantial contributions and learning how to use the sandbox. Yes I am currently going through and adding our edits piece by piece so not to override other editors work, then we will continue to work on the opinions language. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Team4 2017 (talk • contribs) 22:03, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

I am the only one editing using this account. We are doing the collaborations on another platform. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Team4 2017 (talk • contribs) 01:50, 26 June 2017 (UTC)

2601:805:4201:1737::/64

Hi JamesBWatson,

Would you mind blocking this IP range again? They've re-surfaced as 2601:805:4201:1737:28DD:F92:63E9:4899 (talk · contribs · WHOIS) (and although that individual IP is already blocked, blocking the /64 range for good measure won't hurt...) Thanks. 2A07:5740:600:0:0:0:A940:A7C4 (talk) 04:50, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

 Done The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:34, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you for your feedback and clear explanations to the edits you have made. In the future I will ensure I will take care of all the suggestions you have made for any new edits.

Priya2017 —  Preceding unsigned comment added by Priya2017 (talk • contribs) 04:58, 28 June 2017‎

Long-term disruptive IP hopper

Disruptive edits have been coming from the 2606:a000:45c7:9200 range since at least January of last year. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 02:17, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: Yes, indeed. Thanks for letting me know. It is inconceivable that anyone editing from an account could have done so much vandalism over so long a time without being blocked indefinitely, and virtually inconceivable that anyone from an IPv4 address could have done so without having been blocked for a very long time. Unfortunately, persistent IPv6 vandals often get away with it for a very long time, because most administrators don't know enough about IPv6 to realise that whenever an IPv6 address is the source of disruptive editing there is a vital need to check for other related IP addresses too, and that blocking a single IPv6 address is often totally futile, as very often the user has over 18400000000000000000 other personal IP addresses to switch to. (Why so many ISPs allocate such enormous IP ranges to individual users I have no idea, but they do.) Another problem is that the tools available on Wikipedia for checking contributions from IPv6 ranges are nowhere near as good as those for checking IPv4 ranges, so even an administrator who does realise the need to do a thorough check sometimes can't. Anyway, I have blocked the range for two years. Thanks again for letting me know. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:01, 5 July 2017 (UTC)
Sure thing. I probably wouldn't have noticed if the most recent one had left Dzhambulat Khatokhov alone; going through the history there revealed the true nature of that range. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 21:15, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Talk page hopper has returned

2600:1017:b413:5531:bd01:d64a:eff:d619 @ Macy's talk page. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 19:44, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Another block-evading IP hopper at CNN Controversies

2600:387:b:3::a2 was blocked, vandal switched to 2600:387:b:9::83. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 20:01, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

I see Widr has now blocked that one as well. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 20:02, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2017

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

Administrator changes

added Happyme22 • Dragons flight
removed Zad68

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

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

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

I saw that you protected it to prevent malicious page moves, but you also protected it so only extended confirmed users could edit it in addition to moving it. Did you accidentally place edit protection on the page? (The log summary said "Repeatedly moved to a user talk page of a nonexistent user.") —MRD2014 00:15, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

@MRD2014: Yes, that was accidental, as it was meant to be just move protection. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I have corrected my mistake now. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:33, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

Return of Kings

Do you remember anything about the deletion of Return of Kings (blog)? I can't find a discussion, maybe it was prodded? How do you find out this sort of thing? I ask because the article was recently re-created as Return of Kings. You removed the link to it at Roosh V so I thought you might remember, or know how to figure it out. Kendall-K1 (talk) 23:47, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

@Kendall-K1: No, I didn't remember anything about it, but I have checked the article creation in the deleted history. It was deleted because it was created by the account GirlIsADime, which was determined to be a sockpuppet at a SPI which is now archived at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/St. claires fire/Archive. The deletion log says that it was deleted by blocked editor St. claires fire, and there's a link from that user page to the sockpuppet investigation page, but the only way for you to find out which particular sockpuppet it was is exactly what you have done: ask an administrator. The way that this came to my attention was that an editor called Tdl1060 nominated a number of pages for deletion as created by the sockpuppet. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 10:27, 7 July 2017 (UTC)
Thanks! Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:08, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

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Wallnot (talk) 16:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

From Russia without love!

Hi, James, I seem to have run foul of an editor on the From Russia with Love talk page. Rather than discussion of issues regarding the plot subsection, I'm getting ad hominem belligerency. Could you advise me how to get the dialogue transferred to a wider discussion forum than just the talk page? Thanks, Mzilikazi1939 (talk) 13:33, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

"ad hominem belligerency"? You are the one throwing around accusations of ownership. I have made no comments about you, just pointed out the inadequacy of one of your edits (no reflection on you, just your edit). Rather than canvass others, perhaps you should put your comments onto the article talk page. - SchroCat (talk) 15:59, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
@Mzilikazi1939 and SchroCat: Here are a few comments, which you may or may not find helpful. I hope at least some of it may help.
I have looked at the talk page discussion, and I see that both of you clearly feel quite strongly that you are right, and that the other one of you is being unreasonable. Unfortunately, I have found over the years that there is no really satisfactory way of dealing with this sort of problem by getting the dialogue transferred to a wider discussion. Wikipedia:Third opinion can be helpful, but only if both of you are willing to undertake to accept whatever opinion the third person gives, even if you personally disagree with that opinion. There are various suggestions at Wikipedia:Dispute resolution, and you may find one or other of those is helpful; certainly at least have a look there. I suggest, however, that if you possibly can, the best solution will be to try to come to a compromise between the two of you, and reach a version that you are both willing to accept, even if you both think it's not at all perfect. It will also make it easier to sort things out if you can both hold back from criticising one another, even if you think the other one of you deserves criticism. That means that even if you think there is an ownership problem, or throwing around of accusations of ownership, or ad hominem belligerency, or whatever else, it will help if you can both try not to get into arguing about it: just let it go, and concentrate on the issue of what is best for editing the article.
Finally, a comment about my own impressions of this. From reading the talk page discussion, I am sure that both of you are acting in good faith. Each of you is sincerely trying to put forward what you believe is best for the article. Try to bear that in mind: remember that the other person is probably just as much as you trying to do the best for the article, and you can respect their opinion, even while explaining why you disagree with it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:48, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice. Personally I'd be happy to abide by a third opinion. It looks like we've got it sorted, though. Mzilikazi1939 (talk) 12:24, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

More IP hoppers

Don't know what's going on with 2605:e000:7d or 2602:306:b8e8:d960 but they sure have a bee in their bonnet regarding Pep flags. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 02:45, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: It is clearly a matter of kids from rival schools playing a game against one another,as shown by these two edits: [3] & [4]. I see the problem has been going on since March. I have semi-protected the article for three months. Let's hope by then they have found some other silly game to play, but if the problem returns after that I will be willing to consider protecting or longer,thought I would prefer not to unless it's really necessary. (For what it's worth, in my opinion the whole "Competition history" should be removed, as it is unsourced and has been disputed, as well as being of questionable encyclopaedic value, but I am not going to get involved in disputed editing of a page I have protected.) The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 08:58, 10 July 2017 (UTC)
Sounds good. I'll leave that section alone as well, on the grounds that I restored it previously. If I see anyone playing with the history again, however... –Skywatcher68 (talk) 14:55, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Another block-evading IP hopper for you

Only 2601:989:8200:95e0:dd3e:d8e9:4f37:8eb1 (blocked) & 2601:989:8200:95e0:a131:6ce:3778:d466 (not yet blocked) so far. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 22:32, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

Just found 2601:989:8200:95e0:1d9f:3868:f894:d69c as well. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 22:35, 12 July 2017 (UTC)
@Skywatcher68: I've blocked the IP range to the end of the month. I see two of the IP addresses had been given 31 hour blocks at different times, but that is totally pointless in a case like this. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:24, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Trevorhacker

Hi JamesBWatson. I noticed that a user named Trevorhacker1803 registered just the other day and has set about editing, whereas I noticed you blocked Trevorhacker (talk · contribs) in May. Quite clearly a sockpuppet from the name alone. Ss112 05:54, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

@Ss112: Another administrator blocked the account before I got there, but I followed up by checking editing history and doing some deleting. Thanks for letting me know. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:03, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

Another hopper?

I noticed 51.235.28.240 & 78.95.229.131 recently started editing the same few articles in Arabic. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 01:35, 16 July 2017 (UTC)

Abusing multiple accounts?

I've just nominated Shayan Khan at AFD. While going through the AfD-notice routine, I discovered that you had blocked the article creator, User:MinkyThePet, in April 2016. My overheated imagination suggests that it might be worth having a look behind the scenes at those named and IP editors who have been heavily tweaking that article since July 2016... Yrs, Narky Blert (talk) 19:24, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Need help to move page Prem Khan (Actor) to Prem Khan

Created the page with faithful refference Monuwara (talk) 05:10, 18 July 2017 (UTC)

Prem Khan (Actor to Prem Khan , unnecessary disambiguation Monuwara (talk) 05:11, 18 July 2017 (UTC)

Prem Khan (Actor Monuwara (talk) 05:12, 18 July 2017 (UTC)

WP:SELFBLOCK

I hope you will block me for six months. I found your name in Category:Wikipedia administrators willing to consider placing self-requested blocks. --Marvellous Spider-Man 06:24, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

(tps) Already done by Jimfbleak per the request on his talk. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:51, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

Johnny Ortiz

Seems to me that administrators semi-protecting Johnny Ortiz for a week at a time hardly accomplishes anything. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 20:32, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: I totally agree with you. In situations like this I wonder whether the administrators have not actually looked at the history of the article more than a few days back, or whether they actually think that protecting articles for more than a week or so is worse than letting vandalism keep coming back after very short breaks. I have increased the protection to six months, and even that I regard as very minimal, since a large proportion of the editing has been vandalism and other unconstructive editing since at least as far back as the beginning of last year. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:13, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

Juiianpe socks

Hey JamesBWatson, can you help deal with these accounts JuiianPema, Juiianpe1, and JuiianPe. I Suspect they are sockpuppets and even after warning one of them, they still continue to do disruptive editing. I already posted them on the Administrators' noticeboard and hope could deal them as well. Nuobgu (talk) 20:41, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Already dealt with by the time I got there. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 10:02, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Block clarification..

Hi,James,

I am Blades from the ACC team.Can you shed some light on the block of User:172.97.236.171.I am comfortable with the email-route too!Cheers!Winged Blades Godric 13:52, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

@Winged Blades of Godric: No, I'm afraid I can't shed much light on it. The block was on the IP range 172.97.128.0/17. I have checked edits from that range in the period leading up to the block, and although I found quite a number of vandalism edits, they were only very ordinary low level vandalism at a low rate, and I didn't find anything at all to explain why I blocked the range for a long period. I may have had a very good reason at the time, but if so I am now unable to find what it was, so I have unblocked. I wonder whether I may have blocked the wrong range by mistake, but if so I have no way of telling what range it should have been.
I wondered for a while what the ACC team might be, but it then occurred to me it is probably "Account creation". Is that right? The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:54, 25 July 2017 (UTC)
Thanks!And yeah Account Creation Team!:)Winged Blades Godric 14:59, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

RfB question

Hi there "James". First of all, I'm sorry that you feel I have not answered Maxim's question sufficiently and moreover, I apologize for not having answered your follow-up by now. I hope you don't mind me coming here for a quick inquiry. I've been mulling over that question for almost a day now but still am not completely sure what you expected. Do you mean cases like an AfD where people disagree whether a certain source is reliable and/or independent or whether the coverage is "significant" (WP:GNG)? Regards SoWhy 14:38, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

@SoWhy: Sorry to have caused you so much trouble: when asked the question I had no idea you would have to think so long and hard about it. I started drafting a fairly long response to your question here, but it became clear to me that what I was writing was of relevance to the RfB discussion, so I am instead posting only a briefer answer here, and I shall post further comments there. It seems to me that many decisions must be based on subjective judgement. For example, WP:CSD#A7 refers to an article "that does not indicate why its subject is important or significant", which entails both taking a personal view on what constitutes "important or significant" and taking a personal view on what constitutes sufficient indication of such importance or significance. I have known editors who seem unable to grasp that point, and insist that such-and-such a statement is a claim of significance, and anyone who thinks not is just wrong, rather than saying that in their view the statement constitutes a claim of significance, and accepting that other people may reasonably disagree. Maxim, in asking question 10, raised what seems to me to be essentially that point:a certain subjectivity to it, where different administrators would reach different (yet still reasonable) conclusions... but I didn't see anything in your answer which indicated any awareness of the issue, causing me to wonder whether you might be one of those editors who don't see the subjective nature of such issues. If so, then decisions taken in the roles of administrator of bureaucrat are likely to be heavily influenced by your own opinions, as you are likely to be unable to see that they are opinions, rather than objective "facts". The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:32, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for the reply. I welcome all feedback and I am using the feedback I get at RfB as a way to improve as an editor, even though it's likely to fail. And yes, I agree with you, completely. Especially A7 is a minefield of subjective interpretation with little to no guidance from the written policy which is especially problematic for new editors. One admin's reasonable claim of significance is not one for another and both might be correct in some cases. My approach is merely one of erring on the side of caution only because deletion is extremely BITEy; I understand that I might be in the minority when it comes to that which I accept. I have closed many a close AFD as delete despite my inclusionist tendencies because I understand that when it comes to judging consensus, it's not important what I think but what the result of the discussion is (e.g. [5] [6] [7] [8]).If for example a predominant number of responsible editors considers certain sources as unreliable or non-independent, then I can't and won't close that AfD as keep just because I disagree with their analysis. What I personally think of a subject or a candidate is not always what the community thinks and I had hoped that my actions so far have demonstrated that I am able to distinguish between my personal beliefs and my admin actions (I have performed more than 10,000 deletions after all despite being despised as a hard-core inclusionist).
I'll try to write a generalized answer to your question later now that I know more what your intent was. Again, thank you very much, for all you have done for the project. Can't believe it's been seven years now, it seems just like yesterday you passed RfA with flying colors. Time does fly, doesn't it? Regards SoWhy 13:05, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
@SoWhy: I knew that I had seen you around for a long time, and that I respected you as a good editor and administrator, but until I checked your link to my RfA I had completely forgotten that you co-nominated it, and now I am ungratefully opposing you at RfB. How embarrassing. It is also interesting, in view of things that have been said in your RfB, that in my RfA you said "His speedy deletion tagging is not perfect".
I said above that I respect you as a good editor and administrator, and it has only been as a result of seeing what has been said at RfB and checking up on it that I have become aware of the issues that have given me some concern: as far as I remember I have never had any negative experiences of you.
Interesting that you say you are "despised as a hard-core inclusionist". I had never seen you that way at all, but in light of that comment I have just checked, and found that you have on average made one deletion for every 4.4 edits you have made. I really don't see how to view that as the record of a "hard-core inclusionist". The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:32, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
No worries. I certainly did not expect you to support me for something any editor with half a brain would have done, seven years ago. In fact, I'd be disappointed if you felt obligated to support me just because of that. I was merely genuinely surprised by how long it's been. But since you mention the CSD comment I made back then, I think it goes to show that people might have an impression of me being too harsh on people for trivial mistakes when in fact I have supported and even nominated candidates who made mistakes and will do so again (remember FlyingToaster for example?). Unfortunately, once a certain picture has been established, it's very hard to get rid of it. Same goes for the "hard-core inclusionist" comment. Despite my high number deletion to edits ration, I've been accused multiple times (see my talk page for current examples) of using flimsy reasons to keep pages contrary to consensus and of course of having a very strict, out-of-touch approach to speedy deletion, when in fact I probably speedy deleted 7,000 pages (estimated). I'm sorry that you and others I respect consider me unfit to be a crat and that's something I will work on, even though I have no plans of running ever again. Regards SoWhy 19:39, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
@SoWhy: The remarks about being embarrassed about opposing you after you supported me seven years ago were made in a joking spirit and not meant to be taken seriously, though it is true that it took me completely by surprise to re-discover that you had co-nominated me. I actually feel somewhat uncomfortable about having said things which amount to saying that you are "unfit to be a crat", as I really think that in well over 90% of ways you would be excellent for the job. Indeed, if I hadn't seen your answer to the one question I commented on, I would have posted a Support. Perhaps I have let that one point disproportionately influence me. I will give the whole thing some more thought.
Your drawing my attention to my RfA led me to look there and check some of the edits referred to in comments there. Most of the opposition centred on my approach to deletion, and I must say that looking back now some of the speedy deletion nominations I made all those years ago were horrible, some of them on articles which I would not now even tentatively consider for possible deletion. I wonder if there are still editors who retain impressions of me that they formed way back then, although I have moved on. If so, perhaps something similar applies to you and the "hard-core inclusionist" business: impressions once formed can stick. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:11, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
I understand the spirit, don't worry. I just wanted to make clear that even if you were serious, I wouldn't expect anything from you, in case you misunderstood my comment. Glad we understand each other
As for evolution, you sure are right. Just two days ago I reversed a delete AFD close because someone edit-conflicted with the close when trying to participate instead of sending them to DRV instead (the discussion now looks like a keep) because it seemed pointless to have a DRV discussion which clearly would have been an extension of the AFD at the wrong place. 2008-me would probably abhor such behavior. Regards SoWhy 04:50, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2017

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

Administrator changes

added Anarchyte • GeneralizationsAreBad • Cullen328 (first RfA to reach WP:300)
removed Cprompt • Rockpocket • Rambo's Revenge • Animum • TexasAndroid • Chuck SMITH • MikeLynch • Crazytales • Ad Orientem

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

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

What to do with a Not Here IP?

Hi, JamesB. 24.117.145.226 has yet to contribute anything other than word salad and hasn't been dissuaded by being blocked for a week. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 20:36, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

Blocked for a longer time. We'll see whether he or she gives up. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:14, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Page Deletion - Propane Council

Hi James - You just deleted the article for the Propane Education and Research Council for: Editor's summary: G11: Unambiguous advertising or promotion (TW)

I was working with User:Doc James to remove the sources that were a COI, and only reference the law enacted by Congress that mandated the creation of the council, which is located on congress.gov.

I posted the changes on the article's talk page as requested by Doc James for discussion. Were those suggested changes rejected? Ryandutcher (talk) 20:53, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

@Ryandutcher: Having read your post to the article's talk page more thoroughly than before, I now realise that you were proposing to replace the whole content of the article, not just make changes to one section, as I originally thought. I have restored the article and its talk page. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:48, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Chioma Obiadi

Hi @JamesBWatson:, i am interested in writing an article about Chioma Obiadi, I wanted to know why this page was deleted.MiMi139 (talk) 13:32, 5 August 2017 (UTC) Copied from Chioma obiadi. Narutolovehinata5 tccsdnew 13:33, 5 August 2017 (UTC)

The IP address you blocked

This ip address is blocked 2A03:2880:0:0:0:0:0:0/34 when I edit from it. This ip address is not a proxy. Please note that I am using this ip address from Free Basics website.Zafar24Talk 22:13, 5 August 2017 (UTC)

INTTRA Inc.

Hello James B Watson -- I write to ask how this COI thing works, under the covers. Obnoxious posters I understand. Anyone who looks at their work can see. COI and sockpuppets require secret CU investigations. It reminds me of the FISA court. We citizens (the editors) need to have absolute confidence in the honesty of that court. We are trusting them to do the right thing for the right reasons. What kinds of checks are there on the deletion of articles? I understand the need to discipline the bad guys, but when a page is deleted, the work of every unwitting volunteer is deleted too. I point you to talk:INTTRA Inc.. The article is gone. I'm sure there are readers who would like to know how shipping documents find their way around the world.

I don't have any particular dog in the fight. Yes the company is just down the road from me. I worked for their competitor more than twenty years ago. And yes, there is some investigation going on about me, but I have heard nothing more since the initial allegation was made. Are the articles I created likely to be deleted too? Rhadow (talk) 17:06, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

@Rhadow: There are several points here, and at present I don't have time to go answer them all properly, but I'll make a few comments on one of the issues, and I will try to come back to this in when I have time, which is unfortunately not likely to be until after the weekend.
I looked at the editing history of the article you refer to. With two exceptions, the changes by editors other than the creator of the article were trivial details such as disambiguating a wikilink, correcting a spelling, and so on. The two exceptions were addition of a deletion proposal, later removed by the editor who put it there, and your edit, which as well as some maintenance work such as dating references added one sentence of content. There were therefore no substantial contributions by other editors lost. Of course, it is annoying to have one's work lost even if it is not a "substantial contribution", as I well know, having had the experience myself, and there are editors who think that articles should never be deleted because of being created by sockpuppets, irrespective of whether there are any contributions, substantial or not, from other editors. However, when this issue has been discussed there has been consensus that the disadvantages of losing good work are outweighed by the benefits of conveying the message "we will not sit back and let you keep on getting away with defying Wikipedia policy" in cases where contributions from other editors are not substantial".
Sorry not to answer your other points, but as I said above I hope to do so in a few days. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:57, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) I should also add that Wikipedia processes are not courts of law. No one (with the exception of the Wikimedia Foundation itself) is above the consensus of the community.--Jasper Deng (talk) 21:02, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) @Rhadow: COI and sockpuppet (SPI) CU investigations are not carried out in secret. COI investigations are carried out very transparently at WP:COIN. In fact there is very little that can be investigated secretly. Some issues may be discussed at Wikipedia meetings and conferences, but they are also public even if no minutes are taken and published.
Wikipedia is an open collaborative project where every single registered user (and in many cases also unregistered) can take part in its organisation and management and even apply for positions of New Page Reviewer, Administrator, Arbitrator, CU tool operator, or CU clerk. Wikipedia is more open and its inner workings more accessible than those of any other open source or collaborative project on the entire Internet.
Any pages you created will not be deleted if they meet with Wikipedia criteria for being appropriate for an encyclopedia, meet our criteria for notability, and do not promote a person or an entity, or an idea. Wikipedia must not be used as a platform to campaign against social injustice, lack of legislation, or lack of safety regulations for products or systems, or to take sides in any political issues or cases of international conflict. Pages are only deleted after receiving the scrutiny of at least two users, one of whom must be an administrator, and if they are not sure, the article is put for debate by anyone from the entire Wikipedia community until a consensus is reached; in the absence of consensus the debate defaults to 'keep'. I don't think our Wikipedia project could be fairer than that. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:24, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

Hello Kudpung กุดผึ้ง, Jasper Deng, and JamesBWatson -- Thank you all for reading my posts and taking the time to respond. It is time-consuming, I know, to respond to messages of more than 140 characters. The matter we are dealing with here is complicated. If WP is worth improving, then it is worth our time to lay out the issue in its entirety and discuss it. If we can together make a suggestion or two that improves the process then we will have done our parts. An ecosystem as large as WP doesn't stand revolution; it must improve by evolution. When the ship is large, so must be the rudder. It takes some loud shouts to be heard. I would like to address the totality of this situation as I see it. First, it requires a look at the individual parts, then a look at how they work together as a system. What looks like a good isolated policy may have unintended negative consequences when it is part of a complex system.

As to CU investigations and contact with the subject of an article suspected as being the work of a paid editor, it is only practical that these investigations be carried out by a sole, trusted member of the team. Because the task is so well defined, I'm not worried about the accuracy of the outcome. The investigator either discovers that there is IP address overlap, or not. The subject either admits he or she paid for editing or not. If I suspected the investigator would alter the findings before reporting to COIN or sockpuppet conversation, I wouldn't be here. You'll get no argument from me on these processes.

What triggers an investigation is problematic. You sent me to WP:COIN. There I found TxFactChecker, with whom I had disagreements about POV on a politician's page. I shed no tear when TxFactChecker left. The editing was annoying. A look at the history of Dan Huberty will show I wasn't the only one who felt this way. There was another feisty editor there, PoliticalPoster007, fighting on the same topics. The straightforward response would have been to take them both out the woodshed and chastise them for NPOV and rapid-revert conduct. Instead, TxFactChecker is cited on the COIN discussion. Having similar views to another is not sufficient evidence of collusion. COIN is, however, a means to a relatively prompt set of sanctions, up and including expulsion from the community. I get it; if you have an objective, you use the most expedient tool to accomplish the goal.

I'm not worried about automated sweeps of IP addresses either. Two editors sharing an IP address could be husband and wife. Fifteen could be students at a university. When shared addresses are working on the same politicians, garage bands, or commercial entities, then my eyebrows lift. At least, though, it's a robot looking at the population, not a specific set of people.

An investigation needs to start somewhere. Yes, it could be on the basis of a not-very-well-camouflaged userid or content copied from a subject's website. It becomes problematic when the charge originates from or is supported an editor's use of em-dash or the phrase, "my two cents." In that case the accuser needs only post the accusation and never return to support the position. It is a cost-free way to get into a fight. In politics, it's called, "ring and run." When there is no cost associated with making an accusation, especially an unfounded one, it's going to happen with some regularity. When no offense is discovered, it has wasted a lot of people's time. When the investigation proceeds to its conclusion and an innocent editor pays, that is ultimately bad for the community. How can that happen?

The DUCK theory troubles me. Where there is smoke there is fire. This is not simply a superstition held by an uneducated few. It is institutionalized. Indeed, an admin told me this, "However, with or without CU evidence, passing a duck test is often sufficient for a block." This was in support of statement that protesting one's innocence is evidence of guilt. Yes, it is a dunking stool test. If this theory were applied in the real world, a twenty-five year-old black man with a prior arrest would have not a chance of acquittal. Parenthetically, I observe that failing the duck test would be a more accurate description.

So here we are, a week after the first mention of me on the sockpuppet investigation page. We've wasted time, you (all) and me. I've been offered the platitude that all Wikipedians are invited to volunteer for any role. That my be the published policy, but individual discussions have a different flavor. To wit: "[T]here is a general consensus that users with less than 500 substantial manspace edits may not have had sufficient contact with our policies and guidelines to be implementing policies and guidelines regarding deletion." First of all, to a new editor, it's jargon. Second, it is a not-so-subtle put-down, hiding behind general consensus[citation needed]. It would be more straightforward to say, "I disagree with your recommendation to [keep / delete] this article. I predict that with five hundred or so edits, you'll likely agree with the consensus on this one." It's not worthwhile discussing this case. The original article and its talk page are gone. All that remains is a deletion discussion with this allegation: "Also, I observe that World's Lamest Critic has an interesting contribution history. Their very first edits included Jimbo's talk page, a sockpuppet investigation, and an AfD. These are not the sorts of edits one would expect from a new user.  Looks like a duck to me." The problem is that it was made before a CU investigation was concluded. It therefore assumes facts not in evidence.

If there is one concrete change I suggest, it is the retention or deletion of articles and their associated talk pages in parallel with the discussions. This would require some thought. I understand it has to do with copyright law. Nevertheless, it would prevent the kinds of quicksand that gave rise to this particular thread. I stumbled onto this INTTRA article and worked on it. It interests me. The company is near me, and I used to work in that industry. What I didn't know at the time is that the article had already been created and deleted before, perhaps multiple times. Simply by touching it, I was ensaring myself in a long standing controversy. It was a tar baby. Now there will never again be an article about INTTRA, as far as I understand. If I had known that, I wouldn't have touched it in the first place. I suppose that a complete history cannot follow a now-empty namespace, but a warning would be nice. As my co-defendants have discovered, the deletion of talk pages takes the wind out of their own self-defense. All that remains is the accusation on a discussion page.

Please accept these observations for what they are, an attempt to build a healthier WP ecosystem. Rhadow (talk) 14:56, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

IP Hopper?

Hi again. 108.26.154.59, 108.56.149.132, and 108.49.239.226 make similar edits regarding Pixar movies, characters in the Cars franchise in particular. The latter two only seem to be active while the first is blocked. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 20:58, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

I have extended the block on the original IP address, and blocked the other two. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:13, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
Okay. 216.53.142.131 recently made the same sort of edit to Lightning McQueen. Worth keeping an eye on. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 03:29, 6 August 2017 (UTC)
216.53.142.131 is definitely continuing in the same pattern as those three. Suggest blocking for block evasion. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 17:04, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

BangladeshiBoy

You blocked him for creating unsatisfactory stubs on educational institutions. OlloKHAN is now editing the same articles and creating more. Quack quack. SPI has been filed. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:12, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

@Robert McClenon: As you probably know another administrator got there before me, but I have semi-protected the articles for a week, which may help if he tries to use more sockpuppets. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:13, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Zing!

[9] On a serious note, on a duck call like that one should I have slapped a G5 on it without waiting for the SPI to close? Meters (talk) 20:52, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

@Meters: It's difficult to answer that. Some people take the view that you shouldn't apply G5 before an administrator or checkuser has determined that the account is a sockpuppet, and I have known editors to be slapped down for doing so, but personally I wouldn't object in a DUCK case. I do, however, think it shouldn't be done except in really obvious duck cases. After all, it is supposed to be "speedy" deletion, and it's not reasonable to ask for that if it is still necessary to wait for significant investigation to be done. (Incidentally, putting a G5 on can have the side benefit of getting the SPI dealt with sooner, because reasonably frequently I have seen a G5, looked into the history, and been led to the SPI that way. Since there is always a large backlog of SPIs waiting for attention, and more administrators patrol speedy nominations than SPIs, that can effectively fast track the SPI, which for an obvious duck case is reasonable, I think.)
Occasionally I have seen a G5 tag on page where there is no SPI, no block, no warning about sockpuppetry on the user talk page, no edit summary or message about sockpuppetry from the person who posted the G5. in short, there is absolutely nothing anywhere to indicate why the account is thought to be a sockpuppet, nor of whose sockpuppet it is thought to be. That is, quite frankly, totally pointless. How anyone can expect an administrator to delete a page in that situation I can't imagine. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:31, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
Yes, User:Meters, User:JamesBWatson - It is my experience that speedy nominations get dealt with in anywhere between 2 and 12 hours (and occasionally in minutes if the admin was on New Page Patrol at the same time as I was), and SPIs in a few days, so that the G5 will be dealt with while the SPI is still open. If I see sockpuppetry, I will put the G5 nomination on as soon as I file the SPI, rather than waiting for the SPI. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:51, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
Thanks. I try to err on the side of caution. Meters (talk) 21:33, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Hercules123! new account

Hi JamesBWatson. I've noticed a few more disruptive Littlemixfan!, a possible Hercules123! new account. It looks like a WP:DUCK. Destiny Leo (talk) 15:57, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Got another block-evading IP hopper for you

Hi, JamesB. 101.212.188.195 received a Level 4im and switched to 101.212.189.43. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 14:30, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: I have blocked a range covering both those IP addresses for a couple of days. There had been no edits at all from the range since 2013 until this month, and suddenly vandalism has started coming, so far from four IP addresses in the range, so a block for longer might be helpful, but I prefer to try a short block first in the hope it will be enough to stop the problem. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:54, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Bundy

Normally, I would never waste an admin's time with a simple content dispute, but this guy needs an attitude adjustment, at very least. A month ago, on the Ted Bundy article, an editor changed "died in the electric chair" to "executed in the electric chair", which I thought was redundant and unnecessary. (Does anyone die of natural causes in an electric chair?) So I reverted, per WP:BRD, and invited him to discuss it. Apparently he didn't think it worth discussing, because he never responded; but another user reverted my revert with the message, "There, fuck your edit war, this is good enough". (One revert is an edit war?) I referred the matter to the talk page, where I received a series of insults, but no good argument for the change. I allowed 3 weeks for him to gain consensus for the change, with no responses at all, then changed it back. Of course, he immediately reverted me, citing a "3-week stable version" -- which is laughable. Ordinarily I would just walk away from a minor dispute, but last time I conceded a point to this guy, all I got was a bunch of gloating, and now this -- so I feel obliged to seek administrative assistance; sorry to trouble you. I'm already at 1.5RR on the article, so I can't even revert his silly revert without him accusing me of edit warring again. (A quick scan of his talk page shows that he's had other edit warring issues.) I don't care about the single-word change at issue -- I care that this guy is the kind of person who regards editing as a competition, and is driving away good content creators. (I may be leaving myself, after 8 years -- it just isn't worth the aggravation.) If you can help in any way, such as semi-protecting the article with the original wording until he can gain some consensus for his change, or explaining the facts of WP to him, I would greatly appreciate it. DoctorJoeE review transgressions/talk to me! 13:00, 22 August 2017 (UTC)

My first thought on this was to wonder why anyone, on either side of the dispute, should care enough about the wording to spend time on it. I also wonder how you can say that you "don't care about the single-word change at issue" despite having reverted at least seven times (I may have missed some), and posted six times to the talk page about it, some of those times being fairly long posts. The comment "fuck your edit war" was certainly unhelpful (to say the least) and as far as I can see you are also right in saying that at that time you had reverted only once, so that calling it an "edit war" makes no sense. In regard to your comment about "a series of insults", I certainly see a rather unfriendly approach in the talk page discussion, but "insults" seems to be overstating it, and I would also say that your own approach is also somewhat unfriendly. I note your comment "we are now over 3 weeks out, with no interest or support (let alone consensus) for your contention that "died in the electric chair" is not self-evident", but isn't it equally true that there was "no interest or support (let alone consensus)" for your contention? You went on to say "I hope you will have the grace to drop the stick", but you seem to be unwilling to do so yourself. Your suggestion of semi-protecting the article would serve no purpose, as both of the editors involved in the dispute are autoconfirmed; in fact you are both extended confirmed, so anything short of full protection, allowing only administrators to edit the article, would be ineffective. Furthermore, for an administrator to selectively protect an article in a particular chosen version pending settlement of an editing dispute would be abuse of administrative power, as it would amount to using that power to impose a choice of his or hers. If an article is to be protected pending resolution of a dispute then it should be protected in whatever version happens to exist at the time, not in one which the protecting administrator chooses to revert back to and protect. In this case that would not mean protecting the version you prefer. I also note that your request for me to intervene came only after the request for comment about this appeared to be going solidly against you. Are you sure this isn't forum shopping? I see that over a long period of time you have made numerous edits to the article in question, an astonishingly large proportion of which are reverts. Are you sure there isn't an element of an ownership approach?
@DoctorJoeE and Rockypedia: I suggest to both of you look back at your comments on the article's talk page and consider whether you can think of ways of expressing your views which might have come across as less combative. Rockypedia, please don't use edit summaries such as "fuck your edit war". Whatever your intention was, it is likely to be seen as aggressive, and that is not helpful in obtaining cooperation from other editors. I suggest that both of you refrain from further edit-warring, as if you continue you are likely to be blocked from editing. (And don't expect the so-called "three revert rule" to protect you, as you are both too far involved in this edit war for it to matter whether further reverts fall within an arbitrary time limit or not.) I suggest that both of you accept that the matter is now being subject to a "request for comment" discussion, stand back and see how that discussion turns out, and then accept its outcome, whatever that may be. Finally, I suggest that both of you think about whether it was really worth your while spending so much time and trouble over such a minor matter of exactly what wording should be used. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:26, 22 August 2017 (UTC)

Revdel request

On IBM, IP user added email addresses here (both in the edited text itself and in the edit summary). I've reverted the edit itself, but the personal information is still in the history (both places). Can you please revdel? (I pulled your id from Category:Wikipedia administrators willing to handle RevisionDelete requests). TJRC (talk) 18:40, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Seeing as JamesBWatson hasn't been around for a few hours, I've taken care of it. -- zzuuzz (talk) 18:46, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

You've got mail

Hello, JBW. Please check your email; you've got mail!
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ʍaɦʋɛօtʍ (talk) 00:36, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Edit war at New Line Cinema

Hi, JamesB. A particularly confrontational block evading IP hopper is over there; I don't think a 31 hour block is going to do much. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 22:21, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2017

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

Administrator changes

added Nakon • Scott
removed Sverdrup • Thespian • Elockid • James086 • Ffirehorse • Celestianpower • Boing! said Zebedee

Guideline and policy news

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

User:Trevorhacker evading block

Hi James, I saw you blocked Trevorhacker several months ago for evading their block and adding unsourced content. I'm quite sure they have re-registered as Pinkfan03, considering Pinkfan03 has edited both Pink and Jennifer Lopez topics (adding unsourced information to their articles yet again—here, for example), as well as even going to Trevorhacker's talk page saying they think they should be unblocked (quite obviously Trevor) and then blanking Trevorhacker's talk page of a block notice. Ss112 03:37, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

@Ss112: Yes. Blocked. Thanks for letting me know. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:40, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Isha Upanishad "edit war"

Disclaimer: I am new to Wikipedia and don't know how this place works. This request concerns a page on Hinduism. If you believe that this issue does not come under your domain, then please don't ignore this; rather suggest the name of another admin who CAN handle this issue.

I wish to inform you that there has been an "edit war" between me and the user Ms Sarah Welch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch) regarding the article Isha Upanishad. I put "edit war in quotes because it got resolved pretty quickly, and was in no way an actual conflict(look here-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Isha_Upanishad ,if you don't believe me). I only started nine days ago and she has been an established user for a long time. The reason for the "war" was that I had quoted from a non-RS based source, which was the version of the Isopanisad published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, which is also the publisher of THE MOST widely read edition of the Bhagavad Gita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaktivedanta_Book_Trust), in the whole world. Therefore, in no way do I consider this version to be a poorly known version. The other editors who have come before me have quoted the book, and the book is included in the list of references in the article itself! Still, I agree that mantras can be interpreted in many ways, but at the very least, I should be able to post the original mantras, IN SANSKRIT, without translation. The original mantras of course, cannot differ. Only the translation differs. Therefore, I request that you have a word with her about this issue. While in no way do I question the fact that she is an established editor, I firmly disagree with her over this issue. The "edit war" took place 9 days ago, and during this time, I have put much thought into this. I also believe that the opinion of other editors should also be taken, and that Ms Sarah Welch should not have a Monopoly over the page. I expect a courteous response, admin. Thanks, Lie Cleaner HK.

PS : If you think that you are not the person I should be asking, then please suggest another admin. —  Preceding unsigned comment added by Lie Cleaner HK (talk • contribs) 12:49, 23 August 2017‎

WorkJam (Company) page deletion

I just went through the Wikipedia:Article_wizard and the article passed all the criteria for a Wikipedia article that I can tell. I contested the speedy deletion tag, and nobody ever responded to me on the talk page. Except User_talk:Robert_McClenon falsely accused me of "remov[ing] speedy deletion notices from pages [I] have created" Zaurus (talk) 14:04, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

@Zaurus: Yes, I saw that Robert McClenon said that. Presumably he thought that the editor who removed the tag without logging into an account was you. I am not particularly surprised that he thought that, since in practice when an editor editing from an IP address that has never been used to edit before suddenly turns up at a new article and removes a speedy deletion tag, it is usually the creator of the article editing without logging in. Nevertheless, personally I never accuse the editor in question in that situation, because it is never possible to be certain that it isn't one of the exceptional cases in which it really is someone completely independent who just happens to have come along by chance and seen the newly created article and removed a tag from it.
Yes, as you say, you did contest the speedy deletion nomination, saying that the sources seemed independent to you, which was surprising, as all of them were press releases and similar promotional pages on the web sites of companies which are in the business of providing promotional services for businesses. Indeed, you yourself referred to what you called "the feature-bragging expressions found in the source articles".
I have looked again at the deleted article, and I think it was a little thoughtless of me to just leave both of the speedy deletion reasons given in the nomination in place. Instead, I should have removed the one referring to promotion and just kept the one referring to indication of significance, because actually the article was not promotional enough to justify deletion, but it did fail to provide any indication of significance.
Rather than just deleting the article on the basis of its current content, I searched to see whether there were sources available which would justify keeping the article, but I found none. Everything that I was able to find satisfied one or more of the following criteria: not a source independent of the company, not a reliable source, not giving substantial coverage of the company. If the article were restored or re-created it would be taken to a deletion discussion, and I think it is very unlikely that it would survive, so all that would be achieved would be to take up the time of some editors who could have spent that time on more productive work. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:03, 6 July 2017 (UTC)
Speaking of using time on more productive work, maybe you could help improve Wikipedia:Article_wizard with the Newswires as bad sources to help save my time. See Wikipedia_talk:Article_wizard#Bad_sources_should_include_Newswires. Zaurus (talk) 20:04, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

NoahRaso

Sorry about linking CIA to Donald Trump, I thought it was odd what it said in the source article but I wasn't sure of what it was. It was an accident. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NoahRaso (talk • contribs) 14:04, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

@NoahRaso: Yes, I thought it might be a mistake, as it didn't seem from your other editing that you were the kind of person who would do that as vandalism. Well, it's dealt with now, so we can forget about it and move on to other things. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:05, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Highpeak100

Hi, thanks for your comments on Rodrigo Tavares. I further edited the text to ensure there is no connection with the Granito Partners page. I compared sentence by sentence. Using the copyright match software, the result was "Total match candidates found: 0 (before eliminating redundant matches)". I hope you will accept this new version. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Highpeak100 (talk • contribs) 10:56, 8 July 2017 (UTC)

Jasmine Dawda page

Hello JamesBWatson how are doing? I'm writing you concerning Jasmine dawda page, you've been on the page a while back and said there're certainly claims of significance and some other editors thinks so too, the speedy deletion tag was removed by an editor and a debate was started for the page but since then no top editor has contributed as to what the future of the page will be even though there have been 10 edits to improve the page by 4 different editors. References have been added and other major improvement have been done to the page. I will appreciate it if you can use your experience as a top editor in this community to take the decision as to what should be done to the page. I spent days piecing this page and the references together, I don't want to see it go to the bin like that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mode9 (talk • contribs) 10:58, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Porto Design Factory Wikipedia page

Hi there,

Let me explain my situation to you so that we can help each other. I'm a former student of P. Porto and did a paper on Porto Design Factory (PDF) for the end of my degree. The main problem that I had with this was that it's difficult to find reliable information about PDF and the Design Factory Global Network (DFGN) on the internet without it being on their website. So I, personally, wanted to help other students with the same problem to have access to that information. I talked directly to Porto Design Factory asking them permission to use the text of their website in a Wikipedia article and they gave me permission to use it, knowing that the information that it's on Wikipedia can be edited and used by anyone without giving credit to the author. The situation is simple, I'm a former student that wants to help other students. I have no connection to PDF and they did not ask me to create the article to promote themselves. I just meet a lot of international students that didn't have any access to the information because the website is not very good for master degree papers for instance.

I would very much appreciate your opinion in what is the best solution to this situation. Thank you, DotPone — Preceding unsigned comment added by DotPone (talk • contribs) 11:21, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

@DotPone:
  1. A page full of such language as "Encouraging an innovative ecosystem centered in interdisciplinary dialogue and teamwork, it believes in supplying the basic tools to respond and adjust to the business community of the region, especially to the most relevant industries" and "a leading co-learning and co-creation platform focused on educating a new generation of global innovators" and so on and so on is promotional, which is not permitted in Wikipedia.
  2. As I have explained above, we cannot accept the unsubstantiated word of just anyone who chooses to create a Wikipedia account that they have copyright permission. However, I really don't see that there is any point in pursuing that, since content which is so promotional as to be unacceptable for Wikipedia is not acceptable no matter what its copyright status.
  3. I don't understand how it helps students who don't have access to information about an organisation to copy content from the organisation's web site to Wikipedia, since if it is available on that web site then students do have access to it.
  4. If "it's difficult to find reliable information" about an organisation except on that organisation's web site then the organisation does not satisfy Wikipedia's notability guidelines, in which case no article, no matter how it may be written, is suitable for Wikipedia. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:06, 19 July 2017 (UTC)


Restore a deleted page

Hey James can you please take a look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/delete&page=HPE_OneView. You moved it for me a couple days ago, but DGG deleted it. —  Preceding unsigned comment added by Llrosa (talk • contribs) 20:15, 21 July 2017‎

@Llrosa: When I moved the article it was tagged for speedy deletion as promotional. I agreed that it was promotional, and also confirmed that it had been promotional throughout its history, so that the problem could not be solved by restoring an earlier version from the page history. I thought it should probably be deleted, but it was not quite as blatantly promotional as many articles I have seen, and I decided to leave it for in effect a second opinion from another administrator. Such a second opinion subsequently came from DGG. On balance I think his decision was the right one. Indeed, if I had thought that the deletion nomination was an unreasonable one I would have simply declined that nomination when I moved the article. The conclusion of all this is that I don't think there would be any justification for restoring the deleted article. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:02, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Ben Steigmann

Just found another account he was using called Gggtt, can you block it or do you need a checkuser? 82.132.247.196 (talk) 02:12, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Adding Semi-Protection

Can you please add a semi protection with longer period against hoax and vandalism on the following articles: List of radio stations in Central Luzon, List of radio stations in the Cordillera Administrative Region, List of radio stations in the Bicol Region, List of radio stations in Southern Tagalog, List of ABS-CBN Corporation channels and stations, List of People's Television Network stations and channels, List of GMA Network stations, List of Radio Philippines Network affiliate stations, List of GMA News TV stations, List of GMA Network radio stations, and My Only Radio.

Nikbert16 (talk) 7:00, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Incident from Last Year with My Anonymous Account

Hey James, just wanted to thank you for your support on my talk page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:80.245.197.109).

You asked why I don't create an account...I actually do have an account (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Steevm), I've just forgotten the credentials and didn't particularly care, as I no longer edit Wiki as much as I used to (as you can probably tell given this reply is over a year since you messaged me). Generally I only edit when I'm reading an article and notice a typo/grammatical errors etc. - then I'll fix them. I appreciate that this makes communication difficult. Maybe I should just figure out what my credentials are again :) 80.245.197.109 (talk) 13:41, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

Deletion of "Pressterror"

Hi,

I wanted to let you know that the article Pressterror, nominated for deletion, shouldn't be deleted. This topic is featured in an episode of Big Night Out, broadcasted by Viceland. In the episode there is plenty of objective information given about this musical project. I also added links of viceland's episode in the reference section of the Pressterror wiki page.

Let me know what you think about that.

Greetings — Preceding unsigned comment added by HeerJ (talk • contribs) 10:34, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Lorde category

I think Category:Lorde, which was deleted in 2013, can be created now. Precedent has typically deleted those eponymous categories with only albums and songs subcategory and maybe a discography page, but this is additional content now, including a "songs written by" category and and a list of awards page. If there is objection, perhaps it could be renominated. Thanks. --StarcheerspeaksnewslostwarsTalk to me 01:14, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Benjamin Lemaire

Just saw your edit. Many sources talk about the erased content, what's Wikipedia usage for this ? Can i still use the links talking about this to source the article ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by MangoZona (talk • contribs) 20:05, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

@MangoZona: Wikipedia policy is that, under most circumstances, an article should not contain material suggesting that the person has committed a crime, or is accused of having committed one, unless a conviction is secured. That includes links to other sites for the purpose of making such accusations available to the Wikipedia article in question. Also, please note that a reference in a Wikipedia article should be a source which confirms content in that article, and posting "references" not to confirm anything in the article but rather to call attention to material not included in the article is missing the point. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:31, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Deletion of UK Onshore Oil and Gas page

You deleted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Onshore_Oil_and_Gas - I don't think this was necessary. A re-wording would have sufficed. Please restore this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by UKOOG7 (talk • contribs) 16:00, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

@UKOOG7: I can't restore a page which infringes copyright. If, however, you create a new account for yur personal use and follow the conflict of interest guidelines and the requirement for disclosure of paid editing then you will be able to create a draft of a new article on the subject, reworded, and request that it be reviewed for possible inclusion as an article. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk)


The Fry Up Police

Hi, you deleted this page stating "Pure vandalism and blatant hoaxes" and "Pages that disparage, threaten, intimidate, or harass their subject or some other entity, and serve no other purpose". I have no idea what article you were reading but nothing I put in the page I created, did any of those things. I listed our how the group, followed by over 100,000 people came to fruition and some reasons behind it. I did however, accidentally edit another page I had open, thinking it was the one I created?? Either way, my editing of the page I created were all valid and as it was a draft I assumed I could edit it until i got it correct. Could I please get a bit more information on it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by TomJenx (talk • contribs) 12:43, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Dagga Magazine & Daggafari

Highya,

Just wanted to find out why you have not posted a closing comment on the closing of the AfD?

regards --Mickey ☠ Dangerez 16:50, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

Removal of content on Cannabis in South Africa
You said: "Removing content which clearly promoted a point of view"
The historic content on Cannabis in South Africa does not promote a point of view even if you don't agree with racism in history.
You said: "attempted to subvert a deletion discussion by posting the substance of the discussed article to another page."
Please elaborate this statement? The content was moved under guidance from a veteran editor. Not sure how doing so subverts a deletion discussion. This accusation is unfound and would like it retracted.
You said: " & contained various pieces of text seen in other places, apparently violating copyright"
None of the content violates copyright. And effecting a global delete on all related content in the Cannabis in South Africa article because you have the false believe copyright was violated is unjustified.
--Mickey ☠ Dangerez 17:15, 17 September 2017 (UTC)
  1. There was no need for any closing comment, as consensus was 100% clear.
  2. Even looking no further than the very first sentence that I removed, there were the passages "As a result of hundreds of years of stigma, racism and pseudo-scientific allegations" and "to insult and break down a person's character". That is clearly designed to promote a point of view, as is much of the rest of the content in question. Nor am I by any means the only person to see what you have been doing as promoting a point of view; for example, a comment in the deletion discussion said that it "very much feels like a SOAPBOX in order to promote/market a movement", and another comment was "the article as written is blatantly POV". It is perfectly clear that not only that particular content but your whole purpose in editing Wikipedia is to promote a movement, both by publicising it and by expressing favourable opinions about it, while denigrating those who hold a different point of view.
  3. There was a very clear consensus in the deletion discussion that the content of the articles you created was not suitable for inclusion in the encyclopaedia. Posting such a large body of text from the article to another was clearly intended to evade the inevitable decision to delete: indeed, you yourself even indicated as much, indicating an intention that the content of the article be "merged to the suggested page in the event that the motion to delete is successful". I can scarcely comment on what you say about the "veteran editor" as you have not told me who that was or what the "guidance" in question was. If, however, someone advised you to post all or virtually all of the content of the article under discussion to another article in order to thwart the deletion discussion, then that was very unhelpful and inappropriate advice.
  4. You are clearly here to use Wikipedia to promote a movement and a point of view. No doubt you initially came here thinking that doing so would be acceptable, but you have continued to do so after it has been made perfectly clear to you that it is contrary to Wikipedia policy. You persistently refuse to accept that consensus is against you, and when you find anyone disagreeing you your response has repeatedly been a belligerent attempt to insist that your opinion is RIGHT and anyone disagreeing is WRONG, rather than a cooperative attempt to discuss and reach agreement. That is not how Wikipedia works. If you continue in the same way then sooner or later you will be blocked from editing. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:44, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
1. First of all in South Africa the word pothead (daggakop) is a derogatory term as it is elsewhere in the world. In South Africa pseudo-science and stigma is rife and this is not a POV but a statement of fact. Also any part that you may feel is POV can always be edited to represent a more neutral POV and is not a valid reason for outright deletion. Yes I do have COI as a member of the cannabis culture but I am here to make sure cannabis is represented neutrally free from stigma and pseudo-science and also to make sure the historic content of cannabis in South Africa has a place on wiki. Your feelings are irrelevant without clear evidence of intent. Which I can assure you has always been in good faith. Also if you feel I was derogatory towards anyone please address the incident and lodge a complaint because such behavior will not be tolerated on this Wiki.
3. How does one evade an AfD by following the advice of a veteran editor whom suggested on the talk page of Daggafari that the content must be merged and that he created a redirect instead. I realised the term is not notable enough to have it's own article and did only what the original admin advised. This was not an intent to evade AfD when discussion were mostly at an end. See the history of the talk page or ask Slashme. Please stop with your baseless accusation that the merger attempt was "in order to thwart the deletion". This is untrue.
4. Just because you don't agree with racist history doesn't make it a POV.
Obviously you were not reasonable in your close nor in this challenge. If you are not willing to discuss this civilly I will seek recourse and apply for deletion review. --Mickey ☠ Dangerez 14:22, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
@MickeyDangerez: I have no idea why you think I "don't agree with racist history". So far as I am aware I have never mentioned anything about my own opinions on the matter. I also don't know why you think that I am "not willing to discuss this civilly". You are perfectly free to start a deletion review, but I really can't see any chance that the deletion discussions involved will be seen as not having a clear consensus to delete. Now that you have told me that the advice from the "veteran editor" was at Talk:Daggafari I have checked the editing history of that page, and can't find any suggestion there of merging the content. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:49, 18 September 2017 (UTC)

Adolfo Lopez Mateos (locality)

I'm doing a page about a township in Mexico https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_lopez_mateos_(localidad), but it gets keep being deleted as irrelevant by a dude from Spain, https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuario:Tarawa1943 you can find the basic information about it here,

https://en.mexico.pueblosamerica.com/i/adolfo-lopez-mateos-zacatal/

http://www.telepaisa.com/pueblos.php?action=poblacion_ver&poblacion_id=257797

also I'm not creating pages in serbian, just adding information and will translate later https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_L%C3%B3pez_Mateos,_Jes%C3%BAs_Carranza

https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C5%A1tina_Jes%C3%BAs_Carranza,_Veracruz

maybe he should first move to Mexico before starting deleting towns there. I can post that information anywhere I want, because I created that page, you can find it here https://everipedia.org/wiki/adolfo-lopez-mateos-locality/ 

and on many places of the internet, you people do not own wikipedia, stop taking everything so serious and deleting other people's work  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Usernet123u (talk • contribs) 08:32, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

== please semi unprotect Dick Strawbridge talk page, need to add army abuse info from BBC news today — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.171.202.31 (talk) 17:07, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

Flaying of Marsyas

You moved this to a not very well done disam page without leaving redirects. Nearly 100 pages redirected there, all but one or two referring to the Titian. You then failed to do the post move clean-up. Thanks. Johnbod (talk) 13:25, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

@Johnbod: Thanks for pointing out the problems. By "redirected" I guess you mean "linked". There are currently only three redirects to the page. It was remiss of me not to think of retargetting the links, and I am grateful to you for pointing out my mistake. As soon as I read your message I went over to try to correct the various wikilinks, but I didn't get many done for a combination of several reasons, including the fact that many of them you had already done by the time I got there, the fact that my browser froze while I was trying to do it, and the fact that I spent a lot of time checking pages listed under "what links here" which turned out to merely contain the "Titian" navbox, rather than direct links. We should probably have an option under "what links here" which leaves out such second-hand links. As for the "not very well done disam page", you evidently know much more about the subject than I do, and were therefore better equipped to improve my minimal job, which is how Wikipedia works. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:01, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
No, you ticked the box to not leave redirects. It would have been better to leave that, then change the one or two (if any) that ought to go to the disam - most if not all that are not re the Titian should of course go to Marsyas, which you failed to link to. There are only three there now because I have been doing the clear-up, and perhaps not finished it - my cache hasn't updated the template ones yet. As you say, most came via the Titian nav-box, but you didn't update that, did you? Johnbod (talk) 14:07, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
@Johnbod: No, I didn't update the link in the navbox, because as I have already said above I didn't think to retarget links. I don't understand your comment "you ticked the box to not leave redirects". When moving a page there is a box labelled "Leave a redirect behind", which I deselected because I was about to create a new page at the same title, which would have just over-written the redirect. Are you saying that leaving that box selected would also have had some other effect which would have been helpful in this case?
Incidentally, although it is not important, I can't find the redirects that you say you have changed. The three redirects to Flaying of Marsyas are Punishment of Marsyas, The Flaying of Marsyas, and The Punishment of Marsyas, while the only redirects to Marsyas are The Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo and Hyagnis, and of those five the only one which you have ever edited is Punishment of Marsyas, which you created on 4th August by moving another article, and have not edited since. Nor can I find other redirects which you have recently changed in your editing history, but perhaps I have somehow missed them. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:34, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Page protection

Given the last comment on the talk page (which ought to be blocked and revdeled) removing page protection is very probably not a good move. I'll let you know if the editor involved phones me again (we really do not need a replay of the malarkey on this page all over again). Andy Dingley (talk) 19:56, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

@Andy Dingley: Yes, you are right, so I have restored the protection. I had seen the talk page post but had not realised its significance. Thanks for alerting me. (Phones you? Has that happened before?) The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 20:04, 21 September 2017 (UTC)
I get all the crazy. Sad story, poor guy hasn't been well treated by the Army or anyone (now there's a story that fills half the doorways of downtown Britain), but there's no reason to connect the dates to the subject, and it's way out of WP's remit. Andy Dingley (talk) 20:12, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

Colombo Courtyard Hotel

Thank you for your kind advice can you tell me how can I edit a existing article because my article got deleted even before completing it and now I find it difficult to retrieve it back and edit. "Bernadiene"(talk)

I have answered the duplicate copy of this message on your talk page. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:00, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

Hi, I have few questions! There are tons of other hotels they have their own wiki pages done but why can't this hotel have its wiki page done! Also I just did the content again I had more details added to justify why it needs to be up on Wikipedia. If other similar properties can have pages done why not this hotel, I mean its not fair to have a page deleted in less than 10 minutes once it's created. Can you kindly advise me how to have this page up and I will be putting few other pages up too on few other locations in Sri Lanka. My first article gets continuously rejected and but just because it was previously done by few other users doesn't mean that every article done on this page is not factual. Bernadiene" (talk)

Same as above. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 13:46, 23 September 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the welcome!

Thank you for welcoming me! I would love to see if I could help people with template requests. Meanwhile, I guess I will be generally improving Wikipedia.--TruDev (talk) 12:43, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

86.171.202.31

Hey James, long time no see. Just FYI, I've re-blocked that IP with an oversight block and suppressed all their edits. Their edits are libellous and so easily qualify for suppression. If or when they resurface, could you email the oversight team (oversight-en-wp at wikipedia.org or Special:EmailUser/Oversight)? I can't guarantee it'll be me who picks it up because I'm not so active these days and the time I do have I'm trying to devote to article-writing, but someone will deal with it. Thanks, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 13:57, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

Revoke talk page access for Megerflit (talk · contribs)

Can you revoke TPA privileges for Megerflit (talk · contribs)? Looks like he's now just resorting to just threats on his talk page after the appeal got declined. Thanks. theinstantmatrix (talk) 18:36, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

@Theinstantmatrix: I certainly would have done that if I had been around, but by the time I came back onto Wikipedia and saw your message it has already been done. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 08:53, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Undid revision 802190386 by JamesBWatson (talk)

Hi James, probably you suggested a removal of my article without even reading it, not fair! There's a whole PDF laid out to materialise the facts you ignored. Thanks, LadyWilco (talk) 22:22, 24 September 2017 (UTC)LW

@LadyWilco: Assuming you mean your edit to the article Rockfire Capital, what on earth gives you the impression that I didn't read it? As yo must have seen from my edit summary I remove the link that you gave as a "reference" because it wasn't a reference for anything in the Wikipedia article. If I was wrong about that, please tell me what statement in the Wikipedia article is supported by the page you linked to, and explain how that page supports the statement in the Wikipedia article. I am unable to find anything in the article which is mentioned in the page you linked to. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 09:08, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Blog Inquiry

Hey James, I have a blog opportunity I wanted to discuss with you. Could you email me when you get a change? Email is on my user page.

CMCreator900 (talk) 00:18, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

@CMCreator900: If you wish to communicate something to me by email, why don't you just email me? Use the "Email this user" link in the "Tools" section at the left hand side of this page. However, most communications about Wikipedia should be posted on-wiki for transparency, and email should be used only when there is a good reason why content should be kept confidential. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 00:53, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

Hey James,

I already emailed a few people and so Wiki throttled my usage temporarily. If you wouldn't mind emailing me though that would be great. Thank you.

CMCreator900 (talk) 02:35, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

@CMCreator900: I have made several attempts to email you, and each time I get the message "An error occurred. Invalid contact address." Maybe this is a temporary problem with my email provider, so I will try again after waiting for a while. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 10:57, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for the comments and support

Hello, JamesBWatson, Thank you for your comments and suggestions. The powers that be here where I work are rather antsy to get this first basic article created and approved by the powers that be at Wikipedia. Reason for the antsyness, not known. So, I am in a position where I have to dive right in, absorb as much as possible and start creating this first article. I much appreciate your suggestion of smaller steps at first, however, not possible for me at this moment. I'm endeavoring to study as much as I can as I go along and to get things right to the greatest degree possible. I am backing the article up as I go along in PDF format. I read one Editor's Help request regarding their personal Sandbox having been wiped and that Editor had no backup. Suggestions were offered to that Editor as to how that Sandbox may be recovered - hence, the reason for my PDF backups of my Sandbox. Thank you for your input and suggestions. Please note that I am a paid editor and that the necessary declarations have been made on my User page and User/Talk page. Best regards,Verbwright981 (talk) 20:09, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

So far I have done around 20 hours' worth of reading prior to getting started on writing in my Sandbox. The Conflict of Interest/Paid Editor Guidelines article is one of the first articles that I had read, and, as I have commented already, I have made the necessary declarations on my User Page and User/Talk Page at the top of each page. I am writing in 3rd-party neutral, descriptive language/encyclopedic format. A lot to absorb in a short span of time. Taking things slow and steady, one step at a time. Verbwright981 (talk) 20:45, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Page you deleted

Hi

You deleted the page Gaurav Kotli under a A7 CSD tag. The article had sources in Hindu etc and I would like to see if I can restore it (by translating the sources, which I informed are reliable), I am not a sysop so can't see the page anymore, please could you paste a copy in my userspace. User:Aguyintobook/Articles/Gaurav Kotli. as this would save the time and hassle of a deletion review and whatnot.  --- Α Guy Into Books™ § (Message) -  20:44, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

@Aguyintobooks: Who "informed" you about the reliable Hindi sources? Whoever it was misinformed you. (I assume that by Hindu you mean Hindi.) The only "reference" was to a link to a Facebook page which is now a dead link. (You can check for yourself if you like: the URL is http://www.facebook.com/Gauravkotli1/index.php.)It may or may not have been in Hindi, but Facebook isn't a reliable source, and in any case it is no longer available. The full text of the article was "Gaurav Kotli is an Indian Writer, . He started as a session and Song writer, and became a Hindi Writer. Gaurav Kotli was born in a Hindu family" plus a list of songs. There was really nothing there that could be of any use to you, as it had essentially no information that you have not yourself posted in the version of the article that you created. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 21:04, 26 September 2017 (UTC)
Eh that's odd, when I left it earlier is was referenced to about 5 hindi newspapers and an image (of a newspaper), it also said something about the subject being a doctor? possibly some other doctors who were relations, I had removed the list of songs and record companies. (I would be more specific but can't find it in my edit history now the article is gone.)  --- Α Guy Into Books™ § (Message) -  21:20, 26 September 2017 (UTC) I won't worry about it.  --- Α Guy Into Books™ § (Message) -  22:58, 26 September 2017 (UTC)
@Aguyintobooks: You asked about the article which I deleted, and so my reply was about that article. It was created by Kotlitungal and deleted on 16 December 2014. I suspect you may be referring to the article which you created, and which was deleted on 26 September 2017 by Doc James. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 11:53, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
Oh sorry mate, I had not realized that. As its been deleted before, its probably best it stays that way.  --- Α Guy Into Books™ § (Message) -  12:18, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

Sorry

Sorry about Joeboy. I guess I sort of showed my Wikipedia:WikiBadger tendencies. Again sorry. I will go inactive a couple of days to punish myself. Bobherry Talk Edits 14:31, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

Impedehim is back

Heads up, User:Impedehim is back writing incoherent essays, you may want to block and nuke. – Train2104 (t • c) 01:06, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

@Train2104:  Done Thanks for letting me know. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 07:26, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

Deleted My Sandbox entry?

Please forgive my ignorance; I'm new to Wikipedia.

It was my understanding that in my Wikipedia "sandbox," the content I create there isn't public (at least, that's what the sandbox description says). If that's the case, why did you delete the article I was experimenting with? I was just trying to learn some formatting by trial-and-error; I had no intention of actually having that content on Wikipedia at this time. Thanks for your time.

You are right in thinking that your sandbox is not public, in the sense that the ordinary reader of the encyclopaedia won't normally see it (though it sis public in the sense that anyone can see it if they know where to look). Certainly "trying to learn some formatting by trial-and-error" is a perfectly good thing to do in a sandbox. Unfortunately some people who are here to use Wikipedia for advertising or spam use userspace pages such as user sandboxes to hold content which would be deleted if it were an article, using the "this is just a sandbox" as an excuse to avoid deletion, and when I saw your sandbox it looked rather like that. However, I have now looked at it again, and although the wording is perhaps mildly like marketing speak in places, it is really not so blatantly promotional as I first thought. I shall restore the page for you, and I apologise for making your first go at editing Wikipedia a less positive experience than it should have been.
On a completely different matter, when you post to any talk page or discussion page, finish your message with four tildes (i.e. ~~~~). That will automatically be converted into a signature, which not only shows who posted the message, but also provides a link to your talk page, which can be convenient for anyone who wants to go there to communicate with you. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:11, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for your reply and restoring the content. I will definitely make sure I do my research before posting or editing publicly. Thanks again. Rieggs (talk) 16:47, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

Remaking license tamplte "PD-NJGov"

Hi,

there is a new NJ State Law that has provisions that open many works to the public domain. I have added a citation to this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_U.S._subnational_governments#New_Jersey . You were the user who deleted the template based on old laws in ~2014.

The new law says: " Open data and datasets made available by an agency on the open data website, unless subject to a disclosed legal restriction, shall be treated as license-free, subject to reuse, and not subject to copyright restrictions. " (https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/njstats/showsect.php?title=52&chapter=18A&section=234.5&actn=getsect ) which sounds as public domain as it can be :)

Any chance I can remake the template? 13:55, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

@Acebarry: The template was deleted by Plastikspork as a result of discussion at Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2013_July_11#Template:PD-NJGov. All I did was remove a redirect to a re-creation of the template. (Though to judge by my deletion log entry and the history of the re-created template it seems I probably intended to delete the re-created template, and deleting only the redirect seems to have been a mistake, probably because I didn't know that while I was investigating the relevant history someone moved the template and left a redirect in its place.)
As far as I know there is no reason why you shouldn't create a new template covering the new situation, but if you do so I suggest you take care to ensure that what you put in it accurately reflects the legal situation. As you will know if you have read the discussions relating the old templates, they made claims which went beyond what the law actually said.
The notice quoted in the deleted template referred to "web sites of state agencies listed at http://www.state.nj.us/nj/deptserv.html in the executive branch of state government other than independent state agencies", whereas the statute you refer to applies to "Open data and datasets made available by an agency on the open data website". I don't know how much difference, if any, that makes. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 15:06, 1 October 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for the quick response. I'm clearly not a lawyer, but AFAICT since the Open Data Act was enacted after all of that discussion, they didn't have the new clause to talk about. In your opinion, should it be under "PD-NJGov" or "PD-NJGovOpenData"? Is there a better place to ask than you? (of course no offense)? 15:18, 1 October 2017 (UTC)
@Acebarry: I agree: it seems to me that the old discussion is not relevant now, as the law seems to have changed. As for the title of the template, unless there is some convention bout templates of this kind that I don't know of I would prefer to use the simper, shorter, form, as it saves typing, reduces risk of typos, and so on. There may be a better place to ask, but if so I'm afraid I don't know where it is. If I were you I would just go ahead and create it, and use a title that you think is likely to be most helpful. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 15:26, 1 October 2017 (UTC)
Thank you for the advice! 15:30, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2017

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

Administrator changes

added Boing! said Zebedee • Ansh666 • Ad Orientem
removed Tonywalton • AmiDaniel • Silence • BanyanTree • Magioladitis • Vanamonde93 • Mr.Z-man • Jdavidb • Jakec • Ram-Man • Yelyos • Kurt Shaped Box

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

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

Hi, JamesB. I'm recommending a rangeblock for 167.88.224.XXX. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 17:28, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

Yes, and looking into this I also found other ranges from the same school district, so I have blocked them. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 19:27, 3 October 2017 (UTC)
Got another one for you: 137.152.185.XXX. –Skywatcher68 (talk) 21:02, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

Tamil

Tamil language was oldest surviving classical language Declared by UNESCO.

Oldest Tamil inscription dated 540 BCE. Tholkappiyam dated 540 BCE. But in you blog that was mentioned as 2 nd century BCE.

Tamil also one of Ancient classical languages.

Chinese, Hebrew, Sanskrit, latin, Greek and Tamil was Ancient classical languages of the world.

Proto Dravidian language also Tamil. You can read about that. I have written that in my Quora page. Parun3247 (talk) 13:54, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

@Parun3247: Why are you telling me that? That has no bearing on the issues about which I have posted to you, which are misrepresenting a source, misrepresenting a quotation, and misrepresenting the nature of your editing. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:00, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

Inside the Valley

Much obliged; that had completely slipped my mind. Yunshui 雲水 16:02, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

@Yunshui: Yes, unblocks on hold very often get forgotten in that way. It has happened to me before now. Unlike unblocks not on hold, one on hold is rarely checked by other administrators, so if the administrator who put it on hold is not contacted by the blocking administrator about it, there is a very real risk that they become invisible. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:12, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

A goat for you!

You got mail. Not all that important, and relatively short, at two paragraphs and 116 words, but it's mail nonetheless. :)

Drmies (talk) 16:07, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

@Drmies: Nobody has ever given me a goat before. What do I do with it? The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:15, 4 October 2017 (UTC)
Good question--I am not sure. Remember what a stink it was when we got this function in the first place? I think the goat was just thrown in without discussion, so I'm not even sure if it's a consensual goat. Drmies (talk) 18:18, 4 October 2017 (UTC)
You have no idea how weird it was having "I'm not even sure if it's a consensual goat" pop up on my watchlist :P The addition of goats is rather unclear. Dysklyver 19:14, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

User:Sanchez Rick

The answer's in my username. It's a placeholder for now, but when I have time, I'll be replacing most of the Rick Sanchez information. Sanchez Rick (talk) 17:15, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

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