User talk:Varnent/Archive 2

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WikiProject Images and Media

Hello Varnent, I have prepared an drive yesterday to get the most images moved to the Wikimedia Commons. It is at Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Commons/Drive Sep 2011. It will start at 13 years ago or more precisely at 00:00, 1 September 2011 (UTC). There are some awards you may get. You may sign up now. ~~Ebe123~~ ^talk_Contribs 17:27, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

P.S. Since you want it, I have put the div tags.

Replaceable fair use File:Jonathan Ned Katz.jpg

Thanks for uploading File:Jonathan Ned Katz.jpg. I noticed the description page specifies that the media is being used under a claim of fair use, but its use in Wikipedia articles fails our first non-free content criterion in that it illustrates a subject for which a freely licensed media could reasonably be found or created that provides substantially the same information or which could be adequately covered with text alone. If you believe this media is not replaceable, please:

1. Go to the media description page and edit it to add {{di-replaceable fair use disputed}}, without deleting the original replaceable fair use template.
2. On the image discussion page, write the reason why this image is not replaceable at all.

Alternatively, you can also choose to replace this non-free media by finding freely licensed media of the same subject, requesting that the copyright holder release this (or similar) media under a free license, or by taking a picture of it yourself.

If you have uploaded other non-free media, consider checking that you have specified how these images fully satisfy our non-free content criteria. You can find a list of description pages you have edited by clicking on this link. Note that even if you follow steps 1 and 2 above, non-free media which could be replaced by freely licensed alternatives will be deleted 2 days after this notification (7 days if uploaded before 13 July 2006), per our non-free content policy. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

Please note that our policy usually considers fair use images of living people that merely show what they look like to be replaceable by free-licensed images and unsuitable for the project. We hope (talk) 16:03, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Some bubble tea for you for adding a photo!

Hey, if you get more data about Fenway Health and want to work on that article then let me know and I will help you integrate whatever data you find. Blue Rasberry (talk) 23:16, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! It's on my list of organizations whose articles I'd like to beef up in preparation for displaying them on WikiQueer. I've worked with Fenway and am a fan of theirs - so I'm happy to help track info down. --Varnent (talk) 23:20, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Am I correct in understanding that WikiQueer is going to include a directory of resources which would not merit inclusion into Wikipedia, such as descriptions of small non-notable LGBT organizations and projects? I work with some gay rights organizations in India and I would guess that no one else on the WikiQueer project is covering that region. Perhaps I could help with including info about some of those. Blue Rasberry (talk) 23:41, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Absolutely!! One big goal is to include articles on organizations, people and topics that don't quite meet WP's standards - or information (like talking points) that would violate WP's neutrality policy...but is very advantageous to a LGBT audience. We're already working on some EU and Canada outreach - I would love to see involvement with India organizations. Ideally we'd like to build the wiki to include other languages, but we're still in a very early stage. We're also working with organizations to promote and share their content via the wiki. Also actively looking for wiki savvy folks to serve on the Global Advisory Board if you're interested or know folks that might be. --Varnent (talk) 23:48, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Let me think about this. I need to organize my own notes and this might be a good place for me to put them. If you want to talk with a guy who has lots of HIV content in lots of languages, check AIDSvideos.org or just ask me more about the project. Eric Krock from that site is a friend in San Francisco who does awesome work to make a script about HIV available in every language. Blue Rasberry (talk) 00:24, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

That would be great! If you can help e-connect me with Eric - I would greatly appreciate it! I'll email you via WP so you have my contact info. In a past gig I administered a CDC grant doing HIV/AIDS testing awareness amongst LGBT youth - so it's a topic that's dear to me. The wiki is working with a HIV activist/reporter in Michigan - but we'll want lots more.  :) --Varnent (talk) 21:18, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia partnership

Hi Varnent,

I have taken a look at the links that you have posted, and tbh I'm not entirely certain what it is that you want of us. All of our content is licenced under the GNU copyleft licence and you can take whatever you want as long as you release the content under the same licence and offer some kind of credit. What is it that you're wanting WP:LGBT to do?

Dev920, who misses Jeffpw. 19:12, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Move to commons drive

Hi, as a reviewer, I have reviewed one of your images. I ended up reviewing all of your images, and the vast majority has problems. Please see your log for the problems. Right now you have -3 images, please do not change it back to its original. Please be more careful and after the next 3 bad images, I would bar you. Be careful. ~~Ebe123~~ (+) ^talk
_Contribs 11:35, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Quite a few of those were changed pretty quick - was just in the process of finishing them up. Will finish fixing up the rest soon. --Varnent (talk) 11:39, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

I will be waiting 5 minutes for the newesty ones. ~~Ebe123~~ (+) ^talk
_Contribs 11:41, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks - I can't rename/move the files - but will keep in mind use of better names. Was an accidental oversight on my part that this couldn't be fixed after the bot copy. Will also make better use of " Working" - my bad.  :) --Varnent (talk) 12:15, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

The most important thing is to not transfer images where the source or copyright status are missing or unacceptable. Just pass over them and do ones you know are good to transfer. – Quadell ^(talk) 14:29, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Point taken - would it be possible to get the ones I uploaded yesterday rechecked? Except for the name issues - I think the other issues have been resolved on all but maybe one. --Varnent (talk) 20:33, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Invitation to join the January 2012 Move to Commons Drive

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Joining of the next MtC drive

Thanks for joining the next MtC drive! I noticed that you forgot to put yourself on the logs page. Please do it, since the reviewers won't check the non-logged files. ~~Ebe123~~ (+) ^talk
_Contribs • 10:54, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

"clients"?

During the IRC chat highlighted in the latest Spotlight, you typed, "I have a long list of clients that don't touch enWP because it has no share capabilities - as crazy as I may think that sounds - their perceptions are my realities". Who are these "clients", and why do they want a "Share" button? I don't want to sound like Chzz, but I'm puzzled and repelled by this demand for Facebookiness. I don't come to Wikipedia to play Farmville, or post lolcats; why would I want a "Share" button? --Orange Mike | Talk 15:59, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Orange Mike | Talk 15:59, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm glad you've asked me this question here - gives me a chance to share some thoughts. That said, let me offer a few disclaimers first.  :) I would recommend you check out the WikiShare extension page to get a sense of its design and ask any extension specific questions or provide feedback there - mw:Extension:WikiShare. I should also provide some context for folks that didn't see the IRC. I am developing a MediaWiki extension for use by any MediaWiki wiki (such as mine) and WMF projects (like enWP and Wikinews). It is in response to a software bug filed in WMF's Bugzilla requesting the feature be added to Wikipedia - since there was some interest and it wasn't a WMF priority, I offered to create an extension as a volunteer. I've previously created a similar one called AddThis using the AddThis service. However, that uses third-party scripts and has other dependencies that are in conflict with some wiki privacy statements and policies - such as those used by all WMF projects. The idea was take the basics of that extension, remove all third-party services, house it within MW framework and make it "safe" for use by any wiki project.

There are already a few non-English Wikipedias using share buttons and English Wikinews is already using them as well. There isn't consistent use between these WMF projects and there was some concern a smaller WMF project may use a method that isn't ideal. So creating this extension for use by WMF project also became a criteria. As a developer, how I approach certain features may change depending on how the audience will use them. Now knowing at least some WMF projects (not enWP) may deploy the extension soon after its creation, I wanted to get a better sense of reader demand/usage since editors have debated the topic relentlessly here on enWP (and yes - I went through the tedious process of reading all those debates). Hence why I was asking reader relations staff if readers are demanding share features - which not surprisingly they are.

That brings us to Chzz's debates and I suspect the source of your question.  :) Regardless of any possible usage on enWP, development of this extension will be completed. Even if it's never used on a single WMF project, it will be maintained and used elsewhere. However, I anticipate it being used on at least some WMF projects. It's A LONG WAYS away from consideration or discussion of deployment on a massive wiki like enWP, so I'm not at all ready for such a debate as the extension doesn't even exist yet. Nor have I even decided if I'll even engage in such a debate personally. As I said before, enWP wasn't a motive in creating this extension. However, I do personally believe such a feature has a place on enWP for a long list of reasons. I recognize some editors will find its presence annoying, and I respect that, which is why this extension intentionally allows them to disable the whole thing when they're logged in. As to why it should be here, I'd point to the mountains of research on why these buttons work, are used, etc. But, like I said, that conversation is probably months off, so I'm not going to waste time finding the sources unless I wind up engaging in the debate should that time ever come.  :)

Regarding my clients, I can't say which organizations or companies specifically said what as that would be a breach of confidentially and just a dumb idea all around.  :) However, the exact names aren't important anyway. In general they are reasonably sized national and international organizations with a progressive activist volunteer and staff base. Generally the issue centers around fundraising and marketing - which is a common barrier for nonprofit involvement in outside projects (sort of that unpleasant side most try not to think about but we're forced to deal with to survive). It's just a reality that in tough times, it's very difficult to allocate resources towards something your donors either aren't paying for or don't understand you're doing. Rightly or wrongly, social media has become an important factor in a lot of these organizations fundraising and marketing efforts. Showing folks every few days "look at this great thing we just worked on" is working better than a monthly round-up of "look at these things we did". If there's not a systematic or automated way for them to promote their volunteer or staff's involvement in an outside project, it means more work for an already overloaded marketing/development staff to get the word out that they're doing these things. I understand you can always copy and paste to share a link - but plenty of studies have showed that just doesn't work as well as share buttons. As I said in the IRC, it's a logic I've argued with a few times - but ultimately they decide if it's not social media friendly - it's not a good use of their limited time during a tough fundraising climate. We can argue with that all day - but I've heard it from enough clients to feel confident there's at least some consensus amongst that segment of groups that this is a barrier. Plus I haven't heard any of my colleagues winning the argument either - so I'm moving on to other solutions. I should probably point out these folks are not potential COIs as their target would be the hundreds (or thousands) of articles within their organization's public education expertise - some are potential GLAM folks (although I have no involvement in that project and can't speak at all to what they may be hearing from potential participants). Many have already given up completely on maintaining their organization's article (again - for better or worse I can't say).

I also tend to disagree - and in general not accept the premise of - the argument that share buttons make a wiki transform into a social media project. I've seen hundreds of wikis with them, including just about every Wikia wiki, and thousands of news, blogs and other "non-social media" sites with them included. I tend to think it's a fine line between "we're not social media" and "we shy away from all community-building". A enWP specific system of liking or sharing that only speaks to other enWP users and uses lots of infringing APIs...sure...that may cross a line. But simply allowing use of outside services via URL submission (so no APIs, malware or privacy leaks) seems wildly different. I'm not sure inclusion of a nice search feature makes a wiki a search engine, and I don't think wikis using Google Search are closer to being a search engine than enWP is.

It's very difficult (probably impossible) to develop any web platform trying to please everyone. I recognize you may be annoyed by a share button, but that's why you can turn it off. Anonymous users (who won't be able to disable it as they're not logged in) are generally readers - who seem to overwhelming want that feature added. I suspect a lot of features now included in enWP wouldn't pass collective editor scrutiny. Is the print feature dangerously close to turning enWP into an offline project, magazine or book? Does the PDF export mean enWP is publicly showing favoritism for an Adobe product? I could come up with arguments against dozens of enWP features, but that doesn't mean those arguments should outweigh the needs of the millions of other users.  :)

I hope that rant answers your question and gives you some context on how this all come up, what I'm working on specifically and where I stand on it all. --Varnent (talk) 20:47, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Dynadot logo.gif

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Your input is needed on the SOPA initiative

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New version of huggle

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March 2012 Move-to-Commons drive

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of WikiProject Images and Media at 07:44, 29 February 2012 (UTC).

Happy Birthday (2012)

Wishing Varnent/Archive 2 a very happy birthday on behalf of the Birthday Committee! Armbrust, B.Ed. ^{Let's talk}_{about my edits?} 01:04, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Wikimedia Midwest

Hi,

I signed up as interested in the project. I'm not sure how much I would be able to contribute. Professors and other campus ambassadors in the midwest may be interested in participating.

Etlib (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:30, 11 April 2012 (UTC).

Transclusions to WikiQueer

Just wondering about the editing of the LGBT articles, such as LGBT rights in North Carolina, to put in noincludes around the references sections, etc. Why do this? The edit summaries say "prep for transclusion to WikiQueer". I don't know of any other articles that are edited to simply help outside websites copy/transclude our info. Is this going to be something done to all LGBTQ-related articles? Thank you.

JoannaSerah (talk) 14:56, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

JoannaSerah: Thank you for contacting me here with your question - I appreciate it when folks seek clarity before taking actions.  :) The reason that we've done this with some articles being transcluded is to avoid displaying content either not compatible outside enWP (such as interwiki language listings) or content that would be displayed 2x+ on the destination page (such as references section). While these have some functional impact on their display, they are admittedly mostly for cosmetic and ease of use reasons.

I can't speak to this being done for other wikis. This was a solution that we worked out in discussion with folks from WikiProject LGBT, Wikimedia UK, WMF and the MediaWiki developer community. The consensus was this would have the least impact and provide a solution that was mutually beneficial. As a MediaWiki developer, it is something that I am looking at with other developers to pursue allowing these exclusions on the receiving wiki (in this case WikiQueer) rather than requiring modifications on the source wiki (in this case enWP) - currently the software doesn't allow for that. This solution was seen as having next to no impact on their usage on enWP (as these pages have not yet been transcluded within enWP - generally that only happens with templates or project pages on enWP). It is also something that was tested for several months before being used more heavily. The use of transclusion is an effort to hopefully avoid duplication of efforts and encourage volunteers at WikiQueer to support LGBT content on outside wikis. It is something we are doing with non-WMF wikis such as OutHistory and OpenCongress.

It is not something that will be done to all LGBTQ-related articles. However, the plan at this point is to do that with any articles being transcluded onto WikiQueer. Right now there are a number of articles that, for various reasons, editors on WikiQueer have opted to house and edit separately rather than transclude.

For reference, here are some examples of the end-results of this, a specific example with transclusion from multiple projects, information on WQ about this, and information on WQ's support of WM projects.

Hopefully that helps answer your questions - please let me know if you have any additional ones.  :) --Varnent (talk) 18:04, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for the reply. I just wanted to find out more about this since I had not seen any of the discussions and haven't seen it done for any other non-WMF sites. You are right that it doesn't really affect the presentation of the articles. Putting in the noincludes (at least, the ones I've seen), doesn't seem to add/delete info from the pages. However, you may have to continue correcting/reverting others' edits down the line since I'm sure several other editors will run across those noincludes and take them out as unnecessary. Especially since the edits didn't point to any discussion/consensus. I think I'll have to take a look at WikiQueer and see about editing there. Especially about North and South Carolina. :) Thank you. -- JoannaSerah (talk) 19:37, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Again, I appreciate your thoughtful response.  :) I think you're absolutely correct that it's something we'll have to keep an eye on. At some point I plan to add some info to the page or perhaps talk page of a WikiQueer article - but I'm trying to avoid COI for the time being. As the relationships between WM and third-party wikis (we're helping put together this concept in that regard), my hope is there will be better documentation on how this helps outside wikis, etc. Ideally, we'll come up with a technical solution in MediaWiki software or a MW extension that allows third-party wikis to handle specific content exclusion on the target wiki...but there are far more engaging issues like visual editor that has more developer interest than transclusion for obvious reasons.  :)

Any help you could provide on NC/SC content - especially in regards to developing articles on organizations that could one day be housed on enWP or info you may have that's not otherwise permitted on enWP (such as talking points on Amendment 1, etc.). Take care! --Varnent (talk) 20:21, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Hi Varnent, this looked a bit naughty to me. Surely a simple bit of regex during the transclusion can work this out? If the only bit of incompatibility is sniffing out the inter-language code area this does not look like much of a headache compared to making all these LGBT articles non-standard. Cheers --Fæ (talk) 05:41, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm open to suggestions - so far we haven't found a way that's compatible with MW's transclusion as it exists now. --Varnent (talk) 06:20, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm working on a solution that sort of tricks it into accepting (then not displaying) the language links. That should solve about 90% of the instances when this has been (or would be) done. The other 10% (references section usually) may have to wait until we can develop a new extension or get some improvements to the transclusion system to the MW core software. --Varnent (talk) 07:34, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

 Done This work-around is now in place for the language links to be hidden. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it or doing it sooner. It's not the most "technically pure" solution, but I'm willing to suffer through the extra half a second it will now take to load some pages. I've had developing a regex style solution for transclusion on the technical to-do list for awhile. That should be the final solution needed - although that could be a ways off (the technical aspects are a bit odder than expected). Essentially that allows us to properly place the references section - but that's not as problematic as the random language links. Plus sectioning those out on enWP seems less disruptive than the edits around the language links - I've also come across a few articles in the past where that was already done for enWP transclusion purposes. That said, any edits made on enWP to help with WQ transclusion is a hassle in my opinion and something we want to remove altogether as the software to do so becomes available.  :) --Varnent (talk) 05:04, 13 May 2012 (UTC)

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Please fill out our brief Teahouse survey

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 Done --Varnent (talk) 01:29, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

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 Done --Varnent (talk) 01:28, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

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 Done --Varnent (talk) 01:28, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

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The Tea Leaf - Issue Four

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LGBT harassment complaints

Not frequently but more than a few times I have come across claims from people who state that they are targeted for harassment on Wikipedia because of their support for LGBT issues. I know that you do LGBT activism on Wikipedia, and I was wondering if you might see value or have interest in setting up a board where such complaints could be cataloged and sorted.

I think there might be value in storing these kinds of complaints so that a determination can be made about the extent to which this is a problem on Wikipedia and help people decide whether this problem needs a reaction.

Here is an example which I just saw. It is characteristic of what sometimes happens and is not remarkable to me except for being the case that made me wonder how often this happens. Blue Rasberry (talk) 19:47, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Also, will you be at Wikimania? I would like to meet you if you are. Blue Rasberry (talk) 19:48, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Bob Dylan

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Teahouse!

Hi Varnent. I noticed you haven't been active on the Teahouse since signing up to be a host! I know we're all busy these days, so to make room for a few other more active folks, I moved you to the breakroom for the time being. Feel free to move back to the host page and dive in anytime =) Looking forward to it! See you soon (at Wikimania!) Sarah (talk) 02:47, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

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Please comment on Talk:Pakistan Zindabad

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You have mail

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NewtonGeek (talk) 17:03, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

thank you for the email and again, kudos to both of you for your courage and efforts. --Varnent (talk) 17:29, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Thank you so much. I'm sorry we met under such unfortunate circumstances. Your words are appreciated. NewtonGeek (talk) 17:41, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

You have mail

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NewtonGeek (talk) 12:49, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

A nickel's worth of free advice

Hi.

I realize that you don't really want any advice from me, but I'll offer some up, in any case. While I have a good deal of respect for your work here and elsewhere, particularly in combating harassment of project participants and encouraging broader project participation, you unequivocally and unambiguously ought to dissociate yourself from Fae.

Having read some of your talk page comments today and having sat through your meeting on Friday afternoon (parts of which were horribly cringe-worthy), I can understand why you're attempting to defend Fae and his actions. That said, it really does a great disservice to you and your work when you associate yourself with him. While I'm the last person to be defending the Arbitration Committee, they're making the right decision in removing him from the project. When you lie with pigs... well, you know the rest. --MZMcBride (talk) 18:14, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

P.S. It was also nice to meet you last week, if only briefly. And I still owe you a reply on my talk page! So much to do and so little time. :-)

Despite our perhaps rough start - and I own up to not helping that happen positively (like Fae I sometimes type faster than my internal filter can process)- I do have respect for you and your work. As such, I do genuinely appreciate, welcome and value the input. Ultimately I've found myself both offline and online having strange and sometimes conflicting associations. Guilt by association is something I've experienced many times, but I'm a rather loyal person and try to work with people in areas I agree with them. I am not too concerned about my own reputation - and am trying to keep the politics surrounding Fae from impacting the success of potentially helpful work. I will likely not always succeed, and inevitably I'll regret some actions, but I'd feel tremendous guilt distancing myself from Fae for self interest and protection. As a lifelong possessor of minority opinions, I gave up being popular a long time ago. :) If Fae does something to violate my trust in him, I'll respond accordingly. However, that has not yet happened and my list of associates would be much shorter if I picked them based on the opinions or experiences of others.

All of that said, I recognize you're saying this form a supportive, rather than critical, place. I'm not trying to brush it off, but I can be stubborn when it comes to loyalty. Your advice makes me feel more inclined to defend you amongst others as well given that I haven't done anything to compel you to help or be nice to me. As you know, everyone has their enemies, but most people still deserve to have some friends. If people write me off because of my associations, there's a good chance we would have had conflict eventually anyway. :)

Yes, it was nice seeing you at the meetup, I didn't make the connection until later or I probably would have said more. --Varnent (talk) 18:57, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Well, I can certainly respect and appreciate loyalty.

I worry that this particular loyalty will harm your causes more than it helps, but (surprisingly I've found that often) people are capable of separating actions on one site or in one context by an individual from judgments of the person in other contexts. That is, people can often ignore that I'm a disruptive troll on one project while I'm actively and constructively engaging on other projects. Given the impending judgment of the Arbitration Committee, I think this bodes well for Fae (it certainly hasn't yet damaged his chapters-related work). I suppose we'll see what happens. --MZMcBride (talk) 20:55, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Indeed, time will tell. Fae knows ultimately my commitment is to the broader WM movement and should problems arise, I'll have to side with and defend the work. Hopefully these loyalties won't conflict, but..to quote Spock (if I may be so bold and geeky) "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." I've seen Fae step aside when necessary, such as with the mailing list, so I'm cautiously optimistic (which as a realist is about as optimistic as I get). --Varnent (talk) 21:05, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

I'm not particularly sure if this is heart-warming or what, but this made me smile. Theo10011 (talk) 21:20, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Yay - there can be wikilove and not always wikidrama. :) -Varnent (talk) 22:18, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

True, and you probably don't realize how much of an achievement it is to have that advice come from MZ. ;) Anyway, keep up the good work. Theo10011 (talk) 23:38, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Once again Wikipedia does not fail to surprise me. Advice to "dissociate yourself from Fae" is the sort of advice that makes sense only in oppressive regimes. Possibly we are in one, but nonetheless, such advice serves us ill, following it doubly so. Even were I of the opinion that a global permanent site ban were appropriate for Fae, I would not recommend that other editors "dissociate" themselves from him. Rich Farmbrough, 05:14, 23 July 2012 (UTC).

To be fair - the advice comes from a good place. The notion is that we don't want the possible LGBT outreach work to be delayed or hindered by any wikidrama happening. I agree with you on principle, and as you can see above in practice as well, but in strategy and theory - it's a fair point and a political (keep in mind I think all systems are political in nature - so I use that term broadly) reality to some extent. In execution, it's something we do need to keep in mind - fair or unfair as that may be. Based on some of his actions with the LGBT outreach work thus far, I think Fae would agree that it's at least a factor we need to contemplate. --Varnent (talk) 06:11, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Srebrenica massacre

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The Tea Leaf - Issue Five

Stop by for a tasty glass of wiki-iced tea at the Teahouse, today!

Hi! Welcome to the fifth edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

• Guest activity increased in July. Questions are up from an average of 36 per week in June to 43 per week in July, and guest profile creation has also increased. This is likely a result of the automatic invite experiments we started near the end of month, which seeks to lessen the burden on hosts and other volunteers who manually invite editors. During the last week of July, questions doubled in the Teahouse! (But don't let that deter you from inviting editors to the Teahouse, please, there are still lots of new editors who haven't found Teahouse yet.)
• More Teahouse hosts than ever. We had 12 new hosts sign up to participate at the Teahouse! We now have 35 hosts volunteering at the Teahouse. Feel free to stop by and see them all here.
• Phase two update: Host sprint. In August, the Teahouse team plans to improve the host experience by developing a simpler new-host creation process, a better way of surfacing active hosts, and a host lounge renovation. Take a look at the plan and weigh in here.
• New Teahouse guest barnstar is awarded to first recipient: Charlie Inks. Using the Teahouse barnstar designed by Heatherawalls, hosts hajatvrc and Ryan Vesey created the new Teahouse Guest Barnstar. The first recipient is Charlie Inks, for her boldness in asking questions at the Teahouse. Check out the award in action here.
• Teahouse was a hot topic at Wikimania! The Teahouse was a hot topic at Wikimania this past month, where editor retention and interface design was heavily discussed. Sarah and Jonathan presented the Teahouse during the Wikimedia Fellowships panel. Slides can be viewed here. A lunch was also held at Wikimania for Teahouse hosts.

As always, thanks for supporting the Teahouse project! Stop by and visit us today!

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 08:39, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:1953 Iranian coup d'état

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Please comment on Talk:Information technology

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Grant meta cleanup ;)

Hi there, Would you mind closing the obsolete grant application on meta so as to make the list of potential grants a bit clearer? Thanks a bunch! notafish (talk) 08:31, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay - getting caught up in a new job. Will archive those if they haven't already been archived. --Varnent (talk) 18:22, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

 Done --Varnent (talk) 23:30, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Six

Hi! Welcome to the sixth edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

• Teahouse serves over 700 new editors in six months on Wikipedia! Since February 27, 741 new editors have participated at the Teahouse. The Q&A board and the guest intro pages are more active than ever.

A lovely little teahouse nestled in Germany from Wiki Loves Monuments

• Automatic invites are doing the trick: 50% more new editors visiting each week. Ever since HostBot's automated invite trial phase began we've seen a boost in new editor participation. Automating a baseline set of invitations also allows Teahouse hosts to focus on serving hot cups of help to guests, instead of spending countless hours inviting.
• Guests to the Teahouse continue to edit more & interact more with other community members than non-Teahouse guests according to six month metrics. Teahouse guests make more than twice the article edits and edit more talk pages than other new editors.
• New host process implemented which encourages anyone to get started as a Teahouse host in a few easy steps. Stop by the hosts page and become a Teahouse host today!
• Host lounge renovations nearing completion. Working closely with Teahouse hosts, we've made some major renovations to the Teahouse Host Lounge - the main hangout and resource space for hosts. Learn more about the improvements here.

As always, thanks for supporting the Teahouse project! Stop by and visit us today!

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Please comment on Talk:Bethel University (Tennessee)

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Please comment on Talk:Tony Scott

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Request for comments on Cydia

Hi! Since you're a member of WikiProject Apple's iOS task force, you might be interested in joining the current discussions at Talk:Cydia about sourcing and content issues - see the newest four sections on that page. Thanks! Dreamyshade (talk) 23:27, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people/RfC

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