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Crime victims by nationality

Please note that the subcategories of Category:Crime victims by nationality are up for renaming again. Given that you participated in the previous discussion, you may be interested in participating in this on, too. עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 11:07, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Season's greetings

	Merry Christmas
	From me, a happy NSW Xmas bush Xmas from down here in Oz (damn, should have 5x expanded that for this Xmas...is there still time I wonder....) Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:28, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Cas, and happy holidays to you! Ucucha (talk) 12:49, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Deletion request on specieswiki

Hi Ucucha. First: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And ehm, I need your help on specieswiki (again, I needed it in October too ) Please delete the following pages:

Thanks in advance! Yes, in English, because of this request... Kind regards, Trijnstel (talk) 12:39, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the note; I've cleaned out the CSD category at Species.

Merry Christmas to you too! Ucucha (talk) 12:45, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

FA leave

Hello, again. Can you please give me leave for re-nominating the giraffe article? Thank you. LittleJerry (talk) 17:15, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I think you'd do better to wait until the end of the two-week period; it's been at FAC for a while and you may get more reviews when it's off FAC for a while. Ucucha (talk) 22:35, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Maindates

It looks like you regularly add maindates for today's featured articles. Your script missed Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 12, 2011. It might be an issue with resolving redirects. Gimmetoo (talk) 02:24, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I actually broke the bot completely around December 12 for some stupid reason—it ran correctly from the command line, but when run from cron it couldn't resolve some directories, leading to a PHP fatal error. The Toolserver's PHP configuration has it not print any errors, not even fatals, so it took me longer than it should have to figure that out.

Redirects may be an issue too, though. My script takes the article title from Template:TFA title, and then goes to the talk page of that title to attempt to add the maindate. I've changed the script by now so that it notifies me on my talk page when it can't add the maindate. Are you checking that all TFAs have the maindate set correctly? Ucucha (talk) 08:01, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I have a script to check that there's a maindate on the talk page for each TFA blurb. Gimmetoo (talk) 13:56, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good! I considered running a check for that myself, but that won't be necessary. Ucucha (talk) 14:25, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

FAC/WikiCup bot

Hey, I hope you're well- happy new year! As per this discussion, can I ask whether your bot is still running? Do we still need the WikiCup rule about notifying at FAC, or have you got that covered? J Milburn (talk) 02:32, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the code should still work. I forgot whether I turned it off a few months ago by having it check the date or by nuking it—I'll make sure it runs again come January. Ucucha (talk) 07:56, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I just checked the code and it looks like I won't need to do anything to make it run correctly again. Ucucha (talk) 08:17, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

AWB ISBN bug

Re AWB ISBN bug, fixed in rev 7893. Ta Rjwilmsi 11:29, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I hadn't thought of reporting the bug; what would be the best place for similar issues in the future (WT:AWB, SourceForge, your talk page...)? Ucucha (talk) 11:42, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Bugs is the place to go. Rjwilmsi 18:39, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review

Hi, I'm with the Wikipedia:WikiProject AP Biology 2011. I've been working on the Olympic marmot as part of a project, and now, multiple reviewers have told me that it's ready to be reviewed for GA! I nominated it, but TCO suggests to recruit reviewers to facilitate the process, and he directed me to you and a few other users. I would like to ask if you weren't too busy, to do the GA review for the Olympic marmot. I'd really appreciate it! I'm going to ask a few of the other names he gave me about this too, and whoever has the time to get to it first can review it. Also, I'm not sure if you were kidding on your edit notice about adding an image of a rodent to my post, but the Olympic marmot is considered a rodent, so I threw in a picture :) Thanks! Imthebombliketicktick (talk) 17:01, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good luck with the nomination! I'm afraid I won't have time to review it, but I'm sure a good reviewer will show up. Thanks also for putting the picture there; too few people follow that instruction. Ucucha (talk) 19:46, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I understand that you're busy, haha. The picture thing was no problem! I don't see why more people don't help you out on making your talk page more illustrated. Happy New Year! :) Imthebombliketicktick (talk) 08:07, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sentence case

Would you mind moving American Red Squirrel to sentence case? Someone's changed this over in the lead and taxobox already. —innotata 14:43, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Also removed some unnecessary detail—a species article does not need a detailed review of phylogenetic relationships within the squirrel family, and it doesn't need to say what month a paper it cites was published. Ucucha (talk) 15:05, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Re-list exemption

Per the instructions at WP:FAC, I would like to request an exemption to the usual two-week waiting period before re-listing Martha Layne Collins at WP:FAC. You archived the previous discussion on January 1 with only a source review, which I responded to promptly. I was hoping to get the article promoted in time to give it a chance to be WP:TFA on International Women's Day (March 8), or at least sometime during Women's History Month in the U.S. (March). Given the extreme difficulty I seem to have in getting reviews these days, an immediate re-listing may be the only way to do this. Your prompt response is appreciated. Thanks. Acdixon ^{(talk · contribs)} 17:39, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can re-nominate the article. Your articles always seem to attract few reviews, which is a pity. Good luck this time. Ucucha (talk) 18:18, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks; re-listed. Any advice on how I could generate some more interest in my nominations (short of developing a deep and abiding interest in The Simpsons LOL)? At this rate, I'll never get to my goal of having a Governors of Kentucky featured topic. Acdixon ^{(talk · contribs)} 18:53, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Pipistrellus raceyi

Hi Ucucha, since today the German article of Pipistrellus raceyi is awarded as "lesenswert" in the German wikipedia. I translated it from your article and worked it over for the German version so I think this should be interesting for you. Thank you for your excellent work, -- Achim Raschka (talk) 21:27, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Great! Danke schön für die Übersetzung. Ucucha (talk) 21:29, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Phodopus

Hello Ucucha. Happy New Year! Have you been aware of the goings-on concerning the Phodopus article? In particular, I found it necessary to tag it for citation check and expert attention, and User:Michaplot has been doing some rather fine work on it. Do you have have any views on the questions he has raised on the talk page, and could you advise him how he can get or make the maps he wants? Best regards, Simon. --Stfg (talk) 17:23, 7 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I noticed it on my watchlist, but hadn't really looked at the article yet. It's been improved quite a bit. I've written up some comments, and I hope I've not delved too much into obscure paleontology (further searching turned up another Late Pliocene record, from China; see Li Q., Zheng S.-H. and Cai B.-Q. 2008. Pliocene biostratigraphic sequence in the Nihewan Basin, Hebei, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 46(3):210–232.). Ucucha (talk) 21:13, 7 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much, for this and for what you wrote on the article's talk page. Best, --Stfg (talk) 21:30, 7 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Morganucodonta are mammals. The Mammal article maintains otherwise, however.

Hi, Ucucha! (Is it uh-cute-sha, oo-cut-sha, or something else?)

I am totally in agreement with the edit summary of your reversion of my recent edit. Only adherence to a crown-clade definition of Mammalia would prompt the exclusion of the morganucodonts from Mammalia, and I find devastating the attack on any such definition in Lucas, Spencer G. (1992). "Extinction and the definition of the class Mammalia". Systematic Biology. 41 (3): 370–371. doi:10.1093/sysbio/41.3.370. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help) I call Morganucodon a mammal in a children's book I am writing.

Except inasmuch as it specifies a Triassic origin, however, the Mammal article consistently adheres to the crown-group paradigm, which excludes the Morganucodonta. The cladogram in the Evolutionary History section explicitly shows Morganucodon outside clade Mammalia. There is a major section on the McKenna/Bell classification, which excludes the Morganucodonta, not because they are extinct—the multituberculates are there—but because they are outside the crown group. No alternative classification is given.

The article is inconsistent in restricting Mammalia to the crown group while supposing that the class had its origin in the Triassic. I was admittedly mistaken in placing the crown-group's origin in the Middle Jurassic; Luo et al. (2011) place the initial divergence at the base of the Pliensbachian at 189.6 ± 1.5 Ma. That is still in the Jurassic, however.

Would you have a problem if, in the interest of consistency, I redid my edit with 190 Ma specified and Triassic replaced by Jurassic throughout? I do think that consistency is a virtue, even though I heartily disagree that taxa like Morganucodonta "are now usually placed in the unranked clade Mammaliaformes" rather than in Mammalia.

Are you aware of a secondary source to the effect that "few if any sources would place morganucodonts outside of Mammalia"? I do find one relevant to the Docodonta in Foster, John (2007). Jurassic West. Indiana University Press. p. 223. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help) Foster says that McKenna and Bell were "essentially relegating Docodon and its relatives to a status of mammal-like but not true mammals. More recent analyses include the docodonts in the Mammalia, however." With good secondary sources, we can make claims like these in Wikipedia articles.

On a more personal note: as a Massachusetts resident interested in paleontology, can you point me to any Boston-area interest groups on the subject? This is a retirement hobby; I can work in isolation, but I would prefer some social interaction. I have not joined the New England Paleontological Society in Barre, MA, which is further away than I am interested in traveling. Surely, there is something in or around Boston, but I have yet to find it.

Peter M. Brown (talk) 20:02, 7 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You are right, and my edit summary may have been hyperbolic—I forgot that McKenna and Bell do indeed place Morganucodon outside Mammalia. Even they, however, place the Late Triassic Hallautherium inside Mammalia (p. 42). I think the position that Mammalia should be limited to the crown group is a minority one (as I argued at Talk:Multituberculata) a few years ago; for example, the 2005 description of the Late Triassic Tikitherium (apparently a docodontan) calls it a "mammal" without reservation. Even a paper like Luo, Z. X.; Martin, T. (2007). "Analysis of Molar Structure and Phylogeny of Docodont Genera". Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 39: 27. doi:10.2992/0145-9058(2007)39[27:AOMSAP]2.0.CO;2., which talks about "mammaliaforms" and "crown-group Mammalia" throughout, is content to call docodontans "mammals".

I think the article should keep saying that mammals appeared in the Late Triassic (there is even a section header proclaiming that "True mammals evolve in the Triassic"), since that still appears to be the dominant position in the literature. Many of the related articles need work, though, and it's hard to cover a complex and unstable classification accurately.

I don't know of any interest groups, unfortunately. There are good paleontological programs at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and Peabody Museum—people there may well be interested in helping you out. Ucucha (talk) 20:39, 7 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I was trying to produce consistency the easy way, but consistent terminology does the reader no favor when it is not the terminology generally used nowadays. You're pointing out that the correct approach is the harder one: define terms as they are currently used with historical notes, as necessary, explaining other usages, then modify the rest of the article accordingly.

McKenna and Bell define "Mammalia" as the crown group "comprising the most proximal common ancestor of extant monotremes and therians, plus all descendants of that ancestor." (p. 3) In presenting their classification, we need to explain that it is this crown group that is being classified, not all of Mammalia as the term is generally used. Where the text says that Mammalia is divided into the Prototheria and the Theria, we need to change it: what is so divided is the crown group. You point out that there is a section entitled "True mammals evolve in the Triassic"; that needs to be changed to "Mammals evolve in the Triassic."

Not only Mammal but also Mammaliaform and Evolution of mammals need substantial revisions. I may as well get going on these.

I note that the Morganucodon and Hadrocodium articles do call the respective taxa "mammals". These can be left alone.

Any further advice or cautions?

Peter M. Brown (talk) 00:06, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'll say a few things that I think are pertinent, though they're perhaps little more than my personal opinion—make of them what you will.

Perhaps a divide is developing between the uses of the formal term "Mammalia" and the informal term "mammal": people do employ the crown-group definition of Mammalia, but continue to call strictly non-mammalian mammaliaforms "mammals". Gaetano, L. C.; Rougier, G. W. (2011). "New materials of Argentoconodon fariasorum (Mammaliaformes, Triconodontidae) from the Jurassic of Argentina and its bearing on triconodont phylogeny". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (4): 829–843. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.589877. place Argentoconodon in Mammaliaformes only, but then suggest it was part of a widespread clade of gliding mammals.

McKenna and Bell's classification is often cited, but I think that may be less because it is good than because it is the only comprehensive and recent classification of fossil mammals. It's actually decidedly idiosyncratic in many places—I don't think I've seen any other classification put hyraxes, sirenians, and elephants in the same order, or split off golden moles into their own order, or call the bandicoot order "Peramelia". When people do use their classification, I think there's a good chance that that is because it's far easier than making a complete new classification. They're also pushing Linnean classification to the limit; no one else seems to like their mirorders and parvorders and legions much.

I don't think it's much more accurate to say that crown-group mammals are divided into Prototheria and Theria. The distinction between "mammals" and "crown-group mammals" is of course only meaningful when talking about Mesozoic mammals, and I don't think anyone still uses the Prototheria–Theria dichotomy there. McKenna and Bell for example use the subclasses Prototheria and Theriiformes, and relegate Theria to a supercohort. Other people will use other names; Boreosphenida and Australosphenida seem to be becoming increasingly fashionable (see the description of Juramaia, for example). When you're only concerned with Recent mammals, it's convenient to just divide them into Prototheria and Theria, and the latter into Marsupialia and Placentalia, but with all those fossil groups in between, the situation gets more complicated.

Oh, and I forgot to reply to the question about the pronunciation of my username. I'm not actually sure how it ought to be pronounced; it's the Quechua word for "mouse", and a few years ago I chose it because I liked Thomasomys ucucha so much. I suppose it should most likely be pronounced as in Spanish: uˈkuʧa. Sorry for my ramblings; I hope they'll find some use. Ucucha (talk) 02:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

FAC delegate

Ucucha, I've tendered my resignation as FAC delegate, but will stay on up to 30 days if Raul and/or you decide you still need me. If you need me to help over the next 30 days, just let me know your schedule. All the best to you, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 06:05, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sandy, thanks for your dedication to FAC over the years—as others have said, FAC wouldn't have been where it is now without you. Good luck with your work in reviewing, medical articles, and Venezuela! Ucucha (talk) 13:13, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In the short run, this is going to mean that we all need to pitch in and help at FAC. If there's anything you'd like me to cover, Ucucha, just ask. - Dank (push to talk) 14:12, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the offer, Dank. Ucucha (talk) 14:42, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sandy, could you keep an eye on Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Adiantum viridimontanum/archive1, where I'm recused, and WP:Featured article candidates/Plateosaurus/archive1, where I'll probably take it upon myself to do the needed spotcheck? Everything else I can handle. Ucucha (talk) 15:23, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, will do. Best, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:41, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ucucha, is the "older nom" bot mover broken? It seems to have been stalled for days, but I'm not sure ... can't remember what it's set at. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think so; its FAC database got messed up I think. I'll try to fix it. Ucucha (talk) 18:29, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

WP Palaeontology in the Signpost

The WikiProject Report would like to focus on WikiProject Palaeontology for a Signpost article. This is an excellent opportunity to draw attention to your efforts and attract new members to the project. Would you be willing to participate in an interview? If so, here are the questions for the interview. Just add your response below each question and feel free to skip any questions that you don't feel comfortable answering. Multiple editors will have an opportunity to respond to the interview questions. If you know anyone else who would like to participate in the interview, please share this with them. Have a great day. -Mabeenot (talk) 19:48, 8 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ya sure?

For Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Plateosaurus/archive1, i'm inclined to think that ref 43 is unacceptable. It is Mallison's personal blog. WP:SPS possibly? i'm aware of the Self-published expert sources may be considered reliable when produced by an established expert on the topic of the article whose work in the relevant field has previously been published by reliable third-party publications provision, but stuff like:

"But which paper am I f-ing supposed to read?"
"suffice to say that a certain highly esteemed (no kidding!) researcher"
"Oops!"
"GRMPH!!"
"And here we get to the nub of the problem, and the reason why I think AMNH FARB 6810 should not be called P. erlenbergensis, but rather P. engelhardti." pushing a fringe viewpoint!
"he checked if there were enough good characters on the sacrum to make it diagnostic (yep!)"
"Uhm, is that a total IGNORE of Moser’s assessment, or am I a hedgehog? I don#t want to have to grow all spiky all over, so I’d say it is an IGNORE, because the rest of the Discussion deals only with the question if P. erlenbergensis is a nomen nudum or not (not, P-M&N conclude)."

is questionable. Is this a high quality reliable source? Certainly not of the caliber necessary at FAC! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.4.234.229 (talk) 05:57, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome to comment at the FAC if you think it's inappropriate. You cite all the examples of informal language in the post, but omit the scientific soundness of the rest. What you call a "fringe viewpoint" is the essential point of the blog post and what it's cited for in Wikipedia. I don't know much about sauropodomorph taxonomy, but the use of the name engelhardti rather than erlenbergensis agrees with recent good taxonomic sources on Plateosaurus (e.g., Moser, 2003; Yates, 2003) and with nomenclatural rules. Google Books results for Plateosaurus erlenbergensis and P. engelhardti in the recent literature suggest the same picture.

The blog post is used for a single sentence that would be impossible to source to anything else, because it refers to a very recently published paper. I think in that limited context it's acceptable. Ucucha (talk) 12:47, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'll reply here, becasue the point wasn't raised where it belongs.

Yes, my language on my personal blog is quite informal. That's entirely the norm for the (dinosaur) palaeontological community. After all, "RTFP" is a standing expression. As Ucucha pointed out, the P-M&N paper is very new, and there has not been any scientific publication on this topic that I could cite. Thus, my blog is the best there is. Obviously, as soon as something better comes along I'll exchange it. There will very likely be something in a high-impact journal soon, by someone who is much better at Plateo taxonomy than me). (btw: I called that person recently, he agrees with my conclusion.)

So, as far as is possible given the timing of the new paper, I am "an established expert on the topic of the article whose work in the relevant field has previously been published by reliable third-party publications". If you ask for more, you ask for the impossible - and thus for wikipedia to be wrong. HMallison (talk) 14:17, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, btw: "fringe" viewpoint? I#d say the "fringe" is the view that has no support anywhere, goes counter established research, and cites no support, not even a reason. As I pointed out in my post. And as Ucucha's research shows. HMallison (talk) 14:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Civility enforcement/Evidence/Blocks

In the course of an ongoing case, the Arbitration Committee has decided to collect all relevant information regarding Malleus Fatuorum's block log and, as such, has created a table of all blocks, which can be found here. Since you either blocked or unblocked Malleus Fatuorum, you are welcome to comment, if you wish. Salvio ^{Let's talk about it!} 13:56, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello

Would you be able to read "S&M (song)" and tell me if there is anything outstanding that would prevent the article from passing FAC pleased? Calvin • ^{Watch n' Learn} 15:42, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well, if you ask all the people who could pass the FAC to review the article, in the end there'll be no one left to promote it. I'd say you should get as many people as you can to look over the article (specifically at prose, which seems to have been the major issue in the last FAC), and then try again at FAC. Ucucha (talk) 17:15, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Lol, I didn't mean give me a list of points, I mean't would it pass FAC or not as it is. Calvin • ^{Watch n' Learn} 17:17, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

To answer that question with any degree of certainty, I'd have to review the article. The only way to find out for use is to nominate the article at FAC. Ucucha (talk) 18:11, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm worried about it failing it's fifth FAC though. Five FACs with no promotion is just embarrassing. Calvin • ^{Watch n' Learn} 18:13, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You're still a long way from the record. ;-) Don't be afraid, you can only win by trying. Just make sure that the article is as good as you can make it. Ucucha (talk) 23:44, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Lol. It's not that much more! S&M will have at least 5 either way. Calvin • ^{Watch n' Learn} 00:14, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you

Ucucha, thank you for correcting those errors on Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias. I failed to notice them. Regards, --Lecen (talk) 22:50, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. It's a very interesting article and thanks for bringing it up to FAC's standards. I hope you'll decide to stay and contribute more high-quality content in this area. Ucucha (talk) 23:35, 9 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your kind words and support. But I really need a break. Cheers, --Lecen (talk) 00:17, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Good luck in your future endeavors. Ucucha (talk) 00:19, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fossil beds (again)

I have slightly expanded the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument article and I would like to know if you would support it if it went to FAC again. I know it's not much of an expansion (just a few sentences), but the information is difficult to track down and I doubt there's much more to be said. Thanks. Jsayre64 (talk) 01:07, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I said before that I think you should focus not on lists of the kinds of animals that have been found, but on more analytical topics, like the claim in the beaver paper that many immigrants into North America first appear in the record in the John Day area. Also, as I mentioned in the FAC, it's problematic to speak of "pigs" and "antelope". Did you check the books I mentioned last time? Ucucha (talk) 14:21, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks

	For the translations
	Thanks for helping with the translations; hopefully the article can have a support or two on prose soon. Hope you don't mind a local brew Crisco 1492 (talk) 14:56, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, and good luck with the FAC. Ucucha (talk) 15:42, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A barnstar for you!

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	For being a great talk page stalker. Thanks Ucucha, on behalf of all the editors you have helped, including yours truly. Drmies (talk) 15:01, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the acts of kindness! Ucucha (talk) 15:41, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Template:MSW3

Hello Ucucha. A case has arisen in a FAC review, where an article's use of Template:MSW3 has been replaced by a direct use of cite-book that roughly, but not exactly, imitates the output of MSW3. The purpose is to make this citation display similarly to others in the article, for example regarding (non)-hyphenation of ISBNs, and (non)-inclusion of location of publication. I can't make up my mind whether to worry about this or not. Template:MSW3 merely invokes cite-book with certain pre-defined parameters, so on the surface it may just be a question of convenience. But it does reduce the utility of Template:MSW3, or else constrain anyone preparing mammal articles for FAC to revise all citations to make them appear like those generated by Template:MSW3. What is your view? --Stfg (talk) 13:55, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't use Template:MSW3 myself (see False potto for example), because there are several problems with the template; among other things, it barely allows you to cite the work you should actually be citing, which is the chapter. Ucucha (talk) 14:13, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I'll remember that. --Stfg (talk) 16:02, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Just so you know, someone created alternatives to MSW3 that allows more specific chapter referencing, such as {{MSW3 Primates}} and {{MSW3 Groves}}. In your specific case, you could use {{MSW3 Artiodactyla}} or {{MSW3 Grubb}}. They may not be perfect, there are other options. – VisionHolder « talk » 20:36, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nominators for Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Brunei/archive1

I was unable to find the list of nominators for the FAC Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Brunei/archive1. Please fix the cause and run me again. UcuchaBot (talk) 00:13, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Turning Point (2008)/archive4

The spotcheck you requested at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Turning Point (2008)/archive4 has been performed.--WillC 00:23, 16 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Good. I think Sandy is going through FAC now; otherwise I'll get to it in a few days. Ucucha (talk) 00:30, 16 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I got through the top two-thirds and ... found same as always, not much to close, lacking reviews ... haven't read yet below Nyon Conference. I'll resume in the am! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:41, 16 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I started again at the top, hoping for some change since yesterday. Nothing I can move in the top 35-- now on to the "older nominations" again. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:58, 16 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nominators for Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Variegated Fairy-wren

I was unable to find the list of nominators for the FAC Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Variegated Fairy-wren. Please fix the cause and run me again. UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 19 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Monkey stuff

Hi Ucucha. I added a reference to The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates for a rediscovered species of "Miller's grizzled langur", see [1]. De entry of "Miller's grizzled langur" is, as of now, still listed in red, meaning there is no article. The latin name is, as noted there, Presbytis hosei canicrus. Just for fun I had a look at the spanish wikipedia article es:Los 25 primates en mayor peligro del mundo. There a species is listed and linked under the latin name Presbytis hosei canicrus, but as you can see in de the edit mode, as ''[[Presbytis hosei|Presbytis hosei canicrus]]'', thus linking through on the spanish wiki to es:Presbytis hosei. This in turn has a link to the english wiki: Presbytis hosei which redirects to Hose's langur. The question is this: is Presbytis hosei canicrus the same as Presbytis hosei as the spanish link implies, and is 'Miller's grizzled langur' then the same as 'Hose's langur'? I understand very very little about all this species classification and latin names. I recognized your nl.wiki-name as one of editors of the endangered primates list. Thought you might know how to clarify this. Thanks. --VanBurenen (talk) 10:24, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The three-part name Presbytis hosei canicrus it is a subspecies of the species Presbytis hosei; it's the same species as the other subspecies of Presbytis hosei, but has some minor differences. According to MSW3 and the 2004 Asian Primate Classification (Brandon-Jones, D.; Eudey, A. A.; Geissmann, T.; Groves, C. P.; Melnick, D. J.; Morales, J. C.; Shekelle, M.; Stewart, C. -B. (2004). "Asian primate classification". International Journal of Primatology. 25: 97. doi:10.1023/B:IJOP.0000014647.18720.32.), Presbytis hosei has four subspecies, of which two—Presbytis hosei hosei and P. h. canicrus—may be extinct. P. h. canicrus is known only from Kutai National Park in Indonesia according to the Asian Primate Classification. Ucucha (talk) 12:46, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

P. h. canicrus has been found not to be extinct according the reference I mentioned above and added to the article. May I conclude from your answer that the Spanish wiki has made a wrong link: ''[[Presbytis hosei|Presbytis hosei canicrus]]''? --VanBurenen (talk) 13:10, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not necessarily; it's a reasonable position to take that subspecies shouldn't all have their own articles and should instead be covered in the species article. But it can certainly get confusing. Ucucha (talk) 13:36, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Just a remark

I don't mind archiving my nomination, I would've withdrawn it myself anyway, but I seriously do think the last user was a complete troll, considering his review and likely purposeful edit-warring. - ☣Tourbillon ^A ? 20:00, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Tony1 is certainly not a troll, and I'd strongly advise you to retract that remark. He merely holds some strong opinions. Ucucha (talk) 20:06, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

He may not be a troll in the true sense of the word, but what he did was not at all constructive. I don't mind a strong opinion, but it should be a responsible one with that - edit-warring and suggestions that are contrary to all guidelines I've carefully checked is anything but responsible. Just saying. - ☣Tourbillon ^A ? 20:09, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

iPad close

Why are you closing it? I fixed issues yesterday... -- Eraserhead1 <talk> 23:32, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's been on for quite a while, received no support, and the reviewers identified several issues; with FAC backlogged, I have to make some tough decisions to archive FACs that don't seem to be approaching promotable territory. It's better to try again with a fresh FAC in a few weeks. Ucucha (talk) 23:37, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why not just let me work through the identified issues and not worry about the backlog? It wasn't as if the issues weren't being addressed in a reasonable timespan. -- Eraserhead1 <talk> 23:49, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I do have to worry about the backlog. You've certainly been replying promptly to the issues raised, and that's commendable, but the article had been at FAC for three weeks with no support—that made it highly unlikely that it'd get through. Ucucha (talk) 14:20, 21 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Eraser, it's also a matter of the "fastest route" for the article to the bronze star. When a FAC drops to the bottom of the list and has been sitting there for weeks with no support, it's unlikely that reviewers will engage, and the article has a much better shot by coming back fresh, to the top of the list, in two weeks. It's often the best route to success-- good luck! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:27, 21 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough. -- Eraserhead1 <talk> 14:31, 21 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Recusal

I recused from these eons ago: Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Here We Go Again (Ray Charles song)/archive2. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:23, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I'll take care of it. Ucucha (talk) 16:32, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Pingie, in case you forgot :) Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Super Meat Boy/archive3 to featured log ! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:57, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for reminding me; it's now done. Ucucha (talk) 17:00, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Peer review for Pope John Paul II

Hi Ucucha, I was wondering whether you'd be interested in doing a peer review, or if you had any comments on this article?

Kind Regards -- Marek.69 ^talk 09:38, 25 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid I won't have time. Good luck! Ucucha (talk) 13:23, 25 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Anne Secord article

Well, the article that you supplied to me - Secord, from History of Science - is making quite a difference to John Horsefield. I am grateful to you. - Sitush (talk) 09:52, 25 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Great, happy I was able to help. Ucucha (talk) 13:23, 25 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

FAC

Sorry to bother you... but it's just that I missed the "two weeks window" part of WP:FAC, and restarted a nom after just 2 days - me and another user just finished the copyedit, and after all the previous one was killed partly because the only Oppose in that would not answer me. Is it okay to keep the nom or it's better for me to wait? igordebraga ≠ 14:46, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Igordebraga, I saw this on my talk and hadn't yet gotten to it, so will respond here. First, I entirely defer to Ucucha, since my resignation is effective in seven days and he'll have to decide how to handle these. But second ... the problem that I see is one I've always had with the WikiCup. If one Cup participant gets an exception in an environment of competition, then all have to get it. It's an issue to be resolved-- glad Ucucha gets to do that :) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:50, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I think it's better to wait the full two weeks—lots of FACs are waiting for review. Ucucha (talk) 14:53, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, then. On the 11th, when I come back from a trip, I'll remake that nom. (and while the Cup points are a part, it was just me wanting to get to finish my work on Jaws and improve other articles...) igordebraga ≠ 17:35, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Source checking

Can you please do some source spotchecking for the giraffe article? LittleJerry (talk) 00:53, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm avoiding any reviewing and nominating at FAC at the moment, since a week from now I'll be the only FAC delegate. Once I have a new colleague, that may change. Ucucha (talk) 00:58, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The RFC closes Saturday. I promise one new FAC delegate will be appointed very shortly thereafter. (And I plan to appoint another new one before too long) Raul654 (talk) 01:00, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It seems rather silly that you even have to wait until Saturday, considering the FAC workload, but better safe than sorry, I 'spose. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:01, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you

Thank you for your part in commenting and closing the FAC for Nyon Conference. Also, I think Wikipedia:FAC/ar needs updating. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 19:41, 4 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. I've updated the /ar page. There seem to be a lot of half-hidden places where the FAC and FAR delegates are mentioned; we'll have to get them all up to date when the delegates change again in a few days. Ucucha (talk) 19:54, 4 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

FAC question

Hi Ucucha. I currently have an FAC open on Katharine Hepburn. There are a couple of discussions there that have been resolved, would it be okay to put them in a "hidden" drop-down box? I'll do it myself if it's okay, but I wanted to check first. I would ideally like to keep the page clean and easy to read. Thanks. --Lobo (talk) 10:07, 12 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

We prefer not to put templates in FACs, because they sometimes cause the archives to exceed template limits. Instead, if the reviewer agrees, you can move some commentary to the FAC's talk page. Ucucha (talk) 20:45, 12 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Pachylemur

On 14 February 2012, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Pachylemur, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that the name Pachylemur, now used for a type of extinct giant lemur, was first used as group name of primitive primates once considered intermediate between pachyderms and lemurs? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Pachylemur.You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

The DYK project (nominate) 16:37, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Nominators for Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Abbas Kiarostami

I was unable to find the list of nominators for the FAC Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Abbas Kiarostami. Please fix the cause and run me again. UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nominators for Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/New York State Route 28

I was unable to find the list of nominators for the FAC Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/New York State Route 28. Please fix the cause and run me again. UcuchaBot (talk) 23:02, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

MSU Interview

Dear Ucucha,

My name is Jonathan Obar user:Jaobar, I'm a professor in the College of Communication Arts and

Sciences at Michigan State University and a Teaching Fellow with the Wikimedia Foundation's

Education Program. This semester I've been running a little experiment at MSU, a class where we

teach students about becoming Wikipedia administrators. Not a lot is known about your community,

and our students (who are fascinated by wiki-culture by the way!) want to learn how you do what

you do, and why you do it. A while back I proposed this idea (the class) to the community

[[Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)/Archive_82#Learn_to_be_a_Wikipedia_Administrator_-

_New_class_at_MSU|HERE]], where it was met mainly with positive feedback. Anyhow, I'd like my

students to speak with a few administrators to get a sense of admin experiences, training,

motivations, likes, dislikes, etc. We were wondering if you'd be interested in speaking with one

of our students.

So a few things about the interviews:

Interviews will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
Interviews can be conducted over skype (preferred), IRC or email. (You choose the form of

communication based upon your comfort level, time, etc.)

All interviews will be completely anonymous, meaning that you (real name and/or pseudonym) will

never be identified in any of our materials, unless you give the interviewer permission to do so.

All interviews will be completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to say yes to an

interview, and can say no and stop or leave the interview at any time.

The entire interview process is being overseen by MSU's institutional review board (ethics

review). This means that all questions have been approved by the university and all students have

been trained how to conduct interviews ethically and properly.

Bottom line is that we really need your help, and would really appreciate the opportunity to speak

with you. If interested, please send me an email at obar@msu.edu (to maintain anonymity) and I

will add your name to my offline contact list. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can post your

name HERE instead.

If you have questions or concerns at any time, feel free to email me at obar@msu.edu. I will be