User talk:John

Welcome to my talk page! I'll sometimes reply on your talk, but will frequently (increasingly often) reply here. When leaving messages, please remember these easy steps: • Use a ==descriptive heading== • Use [[wikilinks]] when mentioning users and pages • Sign your post with four tildes ~~~~ Click here to leave me a message

Hi, there!

Hey, John, good to see you again, I'd like to point out about vadelizers that were once on our wiki. May be coming to Wikipedia as well.... They are called the Mile Team, one of the members recently spamed my userpage on here because he reconized me on another wiki his usernmame was under 700mile they usually never put anything in their pages to confuse people into thinking there is not link on a wiki to their page. Also 700mile is a good example, all members of the Mile Team usually have a certain number or phrase with the word "Mile" in it. Keep a look out for users with those kind of names. In the mean time be sure to ban 700mile. YaBoiKrakerz

Page hits and photo

Hi John,

Out of curiosity is there anyway to see how many hits a page gets in a given time frame?

Also the score board photo on the QoS page, can it be lowered slightly so that it is beside the para on the semi? It is currently beside the para on the quarter final.

Regards, Socheid (talk) 22:39, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

There is and I will try to find it for you. Image formatting is difficult as it depends what monitor size and screen resolution you are using. I'd probably leave it where it is. --John (talk) 23:40, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

The Clash article has been rated as GA-Class

That's great news about the article! Thanks for the star, although I'm not sure I deserve it. --John (talk) 14:04, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

The Military history WikiProject Newsletter : Issue XXVI (April 2008)

The April 2008 issue of the Military history WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you.
This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 01:12, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

New Project

Myself and several other editors have been compiling a list of very active editors who would likely be available to help new editors in the event they have questions or concerns. As the list grew and the table became more detailed, it was determined that the best way to complete the table was to ask each potential candidate to fill in their own information, if they so desire. This list is sorted geographically in order to provide a better estimate as to whether the listed editor is likely to be active.

If you consider yourself a very active Wikipedian who is willing to help newcomers, please either complete your information in the table or add your entry. If you do not want to be on the list, either remove your name or just disregard this message and your entry will be removed within 48 hours. The table can be found at User:Useight/Highly Active, as it has yet to have been moved into the Wikipedia namespace. Thank you for your help. Useight (talk) 17:32, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I've added myself. --John (talk) 03:46, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

And I see you removed me, along with several others. Oh well. --John (talk) 05:41, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

I removed a bunch of incomplete entries. We're trying to make a list based on active editing times (UDT) and those who didn't fill in a time that they're editing were removed. If you'd like to remain on the list, please include the times you edit (UDT, please). Right now the table is completely based on timezones, but I'm going to be doing some more work on it tomorrow. So, long story short, editor's without listed editing times aren't really helping the project meet its purpose. Useight (talk) 07:40, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

What a waste of everybody's time then. You should have said this in your initial mailing. Never mind. --John (talk) 16:13, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Helena Schrader's works

I am really confused why you chose to remove the texts by Helena Schrader who received her PHD in Germany by writing the works on Olbricht, Stauffenberg, and the German Resistance

Here is some of her bio: In 1993, Helena P. Schrader (then writing under her maiden name, Helena P. Page) wrote the first, full-length biography of General Friedrich Olbricht. This work was published by a leading academic publisher in Germany and at once harvested recognition and academic honors. The small edition rapidly sold out and a second edition followed the following year. Although now out of print, this biography is still the definitive biography of Olbricht. It incorporated much original research, based on access to archives in what was then East Germany, unpublished personal documents and interviews with family members, colleagues and opponents of Friedrich Olbricht.

During more than 20 years in residence in Berlin, Germany, Helena Schrader became friends with several members of the German Resistance to Hitler. Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein, son of the former Commander-in-Chief of the German Army in the Weimar Republic, was her mentor establishing contact with various other resistance figures. Through him, Helena become friends with both Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche and Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager. The family of General Olbricht, most especially his widow, Eva Olbricht, and his son-in-law, Dr. Friedrich Georgi, were supportive in every way, providing countless details and documentation. Marion Gräfin Yorck von Wartenburg and Clarita von Trott zu Solz were equally encouraging, providing much insight above all into the motivation and life-style of those courageous opponents of the Nazi regime involved in a conspiracy against a brutal and inhumane police state. Nina Gräfin Stauffenberg, the widow of Claus Graf Stauffenberg, granted Helena an extremely rare interview, and Helena was also able to spend many hours talking with Freya Gräfin Moltke. Last but not least, Helena was also able to interview several of the officers who helped put down the coup on 20 July 1944 as well as the widow of Generaloberst Jodl.

Combined with over 20 years of secondary and archival research these contacts along with interviews with over a hundred other survivors of Nazi Germany enabled Helena to write a novel, An Obsolete Honor, which helps modern readers to understand what it was really like to live in Nazi Germany.

So I honestly believe her books: General Olbricht: Ein Mann des 20. Juli and An Obsolete Honor SHOULD be listed as resources on the pages I had them as should her website which is all about the same subject.

I didn't think this was advertising, just good additional info, am I missing something here?

Kythera 07:08, 4 May 2008 (UTC)Kythera Ann

I suggest that rather than adding the external link to many articles, you use the resource (or others) as a source to add some text to the body of the article. Do one article at a time. This way you will actually be helping. Adding the same external link to many articles looks like spamming to me. Sorry. --John (talk) 07:22, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

ok, I will try to figure out how to do that nicely...hmmm...let me give that some thought, I do see your point though. My own writing comes easily, but reformatting another's info to be seamless into another text, that could take me some time, ha!

Kind Regards, Kythera 13:37, 4 May 2008 (UTC)Kythera

List of Filipino Americans

See my work in splitting notable from not notable yet by use of talk page. You can check how I split up the list and help maintain the split in the future. Thanks Hmains (talk) 21:28, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Good work. --John (talk) 00:02, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Brandon Lee

I don't understand why you removed my references to Brandon Lee's ethnic background when you are wanting references for articles. And if it is justified I don't understand why you removed the Eurasian people category, but why not all the other ethnic categories.

According to Wikipedia:Categorization/Gender,_race_and_sexuality

"A race-specific category could be implemented where race has a specific relation to the topic." It doesn't say notability. What exactly constitutes proof of notability?

In the article on Ronald Regan it categorizes him as Irish American, but I don't see any proof of notability for the category, perhaps it should be removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tweisbach (talk • contribs) 03:28, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

I've replied here. --John (talk) 16:40, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Usercheck please

John, could you check IP User:86.27.162.213 against the list of editors involved in the British Isles naming dispute? The IP is used solely to edit-war on these articles and I strongly suspect a "regular". Include the relevant Admins in the check please. This is urgent as the IP persists in vandalism. Regards Sarah777 (talk) 11:46, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately I don't have CU access. Maybe you'll have more luck with Alison? --John (talk) 13:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

122.148.180.50 again.

Please semi protect User talk:122.148.180.50. I'd also perma block the IP since he doesn't seem to have ever made any good edits. Previous note. -- Jeandré, 2008-05-05t12:15z

User talk:Grahamzilch

Grahamzilch has exercised the right to vanish, so I doubt he will reply. J Milburn (talk) 15:39, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Ok. In the absence of any reliable sourcing that graphic he uploaded under a previous name may have to be deleted which seems a shame. --John (talk) 16:06, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Judgment

Hey John. Regarding the breathtaking example of poor judgment we have seen today, I get the feeling you are pretty angry. I am too.

I have been trying to take the pragmatic view on this campaign, there is an air of inevitability over the whole thing, so I was trying to work towards ensuring when it happened (rather than if), it would be as constructive as possible for both Vk and the community. The Deacon, not to put too fine a point on it, royally fucked that up, and his comments since haven't helped. As I write, those in protest (i.e. pretty much everyone that has commented) have remained remarkably disciplined and resisted his apparent invitation to wheel-war, while forming a consensus on what a poor decision it was.

While I'm sure you, like me, have a new more things you would like to say about the unblocking admin, I suggest we focus on the Vk issue for the moment. Once this has settled down a little, I'd like to consult with you privately about we could stop this sort of terrible administration happening again. Rockpocket 01:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. I appreciate it. An incredibly poor judgment as you say. Ironically it does Vk no favours either. --John (talk) 05:45, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Consider removing full protection from Fritzl incest case

One of the two editors involved in the edit war has promised not to continue to revert. It's your call of course, but at this point I think the protection can probably be scaled back to semi. --Jaysweet (talk) 18:12, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Ok, I will revert to sprot. Thanks for the note. --John (talk) 18:35, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

The last word

Image:PopDeclineIrishFamine.PNG = OR ... delete at will. --Grahamzilch (talk) 20:01, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. I'm not an admin on Commons but I will let someone else who is know. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. --John (talk) 20:25, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

That was it - it was a moment of madness, the one deliberate OR I committed. Take care. Been good knowing ya. --Grahamzilch (talk) 21:06, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

It was good knowing you too. Please do let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help you. --John (talk) 21:08, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Gibraltar

Just a reminder that Gibraltarian referenda are the same as Botswanan ones.

Whats next ? --Gibnews (talk) 22:46, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Hey, I've left them another message. Thanks, --John (talk) 05:49, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

I started a complaint on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents#Improper_page_moves_of_Gibraltar_events

If necessary I will ask the Government to take it up with Wikipedia as they also feel strongly about it and have issued a guideline - however it would be nice to avoid that. --Gibnews (talk) 15:34, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I saw. That doesn't seem to have helped, and I don't think the Gibraltar Government has any real control over how Wikipedia's naming rules are enforced so I wouldn't recommend that either. There is bound to be a neutral venue where we can attract neutral people who are interested in stuff like this. AN/I is really best kept for situations where admin action is required and this does not fall into that category. Let me think about it some more. --John (talk) 22:16, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Catholics

Thomas Bates not a catholic! I think if we were looking for catholics, he, Guy Fawkes, saint peter and the pope would be in the same suspect list. Not worth having an edit war over as most people would realise he was Victuallers (talk) 20:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

If it's that obvious it should be really easy to reference. WP:V applies here; categories are not exempt from them. --John (talk) 20:26, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Anglo-irish

Remember that a reference at the end of a para may cover the whole paragraph. Denis Browne was descended from the Family of the Marquesses of Sligo on one side and a Dean of Emly on the other according to the ODNB, or is that not sufficient? Similarly the reference at the end of the sentence is Charles Harington harington covers his Irish background. David Underdown (talk) 08:08, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

ODNB? Wikipedia:Categorization of people states: The article must state the facts that result in the use of the category tag and these facts must be sourced. If I ever remove any that fall into this description, let me know. --John (talk) 13:58, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography I did let you know when I initially reverted your edit, pointing out it was already cited, and you then removed it again. David Underdown (talk) 14:20, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you did, but the reference is not satisfactory, being subscription only. There's no need for snarky edit summaries like "see th l;ittle 1 at the end of the para? It is referenced" by the way, I'm an admin with over 50 000 edits so I understand how referencing works and this one doesn't cut it. Rather than edit-warring to restore unreferenced material, I'd prefer it if you could find a valid reliable source and insert it, or else remove it as unreferenced as I was trying to do. --John (talk) 14:25, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems that you misundertand WP:V though. Subscription sources are valid. See current discussions on the policy talk page. I'm sorry for my slight display of temper in the edit summary, but when someone asks for a reference for something that's already sourced to a standard reference work, patience sometimes wears a little thin, and it was already being stretched by a long-running discussion on another article at the time. David Underdown (talk) 15:15, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

No problem, I understand. My only aim here is to remove unreferenced contentious material from articles. As you will see from my contributions, this category has been seriously abused; I am finding about 90% of the members of this category are completely unreferenced, necessitating hundreds of edits to clean up the category. I intend to complete this today, after which I will try to revisit the points you make. --John (talk) 15:23, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Removal of category people of Irish descent

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

This appears to be done by AWB but you are removing a number of people with citations within the article, or people born in the United Kingdom that go on the represent the nation of their parents or grandparents. May want to look into this.Londo06 09:22, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Example please? --John (talk) 13:55, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

No matter, I have found what you were talking about. You are wrong, and it is essential that you refrain from restoring unverified negative information to articles on living people. More at your talk. --John (talk) 15:09, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Have sourced one. How might one attribute a source to a category.Londo06 18:12, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

I've answered at your talk; I didn't see a reference to his ethnicity in the reference you mentioned in your edit summary. --John (talk) 18:21, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou for the direction. It is another of those 'it is not what is true, but what is verifiable' things as many of those people who were removed from the category are sportsmen who have played for the Republic of Ireland through parentage or grand parentage.Londo06 18:22, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

In the article Christian O'Connell, it states that his father was Irish. What criteria are you using to remove the category? --Bardcom (talk) 18:41, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Just WP:V ("The burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material. All quotations and any material challenged or likely to be challenged should be attributed to a reliable, published source using an inline citation.") and (where applicable, as in the case you are inquiring about), WP:BLP ("Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons — whether the material is negative, positive, or just questionable — should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion, from Wikipedia articles, talk pages, user pages, and project space.") Self references are no good. --John (talk) 18:46, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Wow! Can I use that logic and quote you when I'm examining articles that use the term "British Isles"??  :-) Seriously though, a random trawl through your edits shows them to be spot on. What a daft category anyhow. But I've been cautioned many times when changing the term "British Isles" that the editor changing a term must also exercise a reasonable degree of care and is expected to do a basic amount of checking. I was just wondering if you were using some criteria, or if you were googling each person, etc, or are you just seeing if the source is referenced, and if it's not, then to remove the category. --Bardcom (talk) 19:38, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Pretty much what I am doing. I am removing the category from articles where the only mention of Irish heritage is in the category or in an unreferenced assertion. Thanks for your endorsement. --John (talk) 19:40, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

John, that's nonsense. You have vociferously objected on my talk page to my reinstatement of Clare Short to the category, even after I had added a reference, and even though her campaigning on Irish issues is one the main factors in her notability. Please start repopulating the category, or I will take this to ANI as abuse of AWB — AWB should only be used if there is consensus for the change, yet you have been using it to depopulate a category even where the facts are verified. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 20:53, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Untrue. If the facts were verifiable I have not removed the category. You need to find proper references I'm afraid; WP:V and WP:BLP are the consensuses I am enforcing with these edits. --John (talk) 20:56, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and Wikipedia:Categorization of people, as I already mentioned. You might want to ponder that "campaigning on Irish issues" is not synonymous with a particular ethnicity; you may be conflating the two. --John (talk) 20:58, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

John, you are confusing two related but distinct concepts: "verified" and "verifiable". Clare Short's Irishness is readily verifiable, and per WP:BLP only controversial unreferenced points need to removed.

Clare Short is member of the British House of Commons, and if you can't see that Short's Irish ethnicity is relevant to her campaigning on Irish issues, I;m not going to try explaining it to you. Time to take this to WP:ANI. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 21:12, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Er, no. "Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons — whether the material is negative, positive, or just questionable — should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion, from Wikipedia articles, talk pages, user pages, and project space" (from WP:BLP, my emphasis). --John (talk) 21:18, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

John, do you see that word contentious in the chunk of WP:BLP you quoted???

In what way is it contentious that Clare Short and Kevin McNamara are of Irish ancestry? --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 22:21, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Glad to be able to help.

"Contentious Adjective 1. causing disagreement 2. tending to quarrel"

I tell you what it generally means on Wikipedia. It means "disputable". Is Clare Short "of Irish descent" or not? Well, you obviously think she is, and you have added a reference that says her father is from Crossmaglen. Well and good. I notice nobody else has chipped in on the talk discussion yet on whether they agree this is a good reference to justify the inclusion of the category. As always, I will go along with what a consensus of reasonable editors think on the matter. What we cannot have is the situation before I went to work, where about 90% of the entries were completely unreferenced. Presumably they had been added by someone who thought that having an Irish surname is the same as belonging to this category. It is not. Unreferenced ethnic and religious categories are a violation of BLP. I removed hundreds of violations, but you have chosen to bluster and threaten me over two chosen examples which you are unhappy about. If you are keen to restore the enormous use of this category which used to pertain, your energies would be better directed to finding reliable sources which describe the subjects of the articles, and which show that their notability is related to their ethnicity. I hope that helps you understand why I did what I did. --John (talk) 01:41, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

John, could you please be more careful when removing categories. I went over a random selection of your edits concerning people I was familiar with, I was easily able to find several instances where the article already had sufficient reliable sources to justify the presence of the categories you removed. It's all well and fine exorcising a bugbear as long as you're careful not to removed justifiable material too. --Kgaughan (talk) 01:28, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Specific examples please? --John (talk) 01:41, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

John, I don't know whether you are being silly or being disingenuous, but you are stretching the limits of my ability to AGF.

In the a case of Clare Short, you have a high-quality ref that her father is from Cossmaglen. Have you checked where Crossmaglen is? Do you agree that it is in the island of Ireland, and that Short is therefore of Irish descent? If so, why do you dismiss that by saying "you obviously think she is" [Irish]? Do you really want to argue that point?

If you agree with that point, do you agree that Short's resignation from the front bench over the an Irish issue, viz. the PTA, was relevant to her career[1]? Or that she called for British Troops to leave Ireland at a time when that was a bitterly controversial position? And if you agree with those, do you accept that being Irish is a relevant factor?

You say that have set out to "bluster and threaten me over two chosen examples". I don't have time right now to research hundreds of articles, so I chose two people whose career I am familiar with, and that's why I am annoyed. If you dispute even these two high-profile cases, I don't see any reason to trust your judgement on all the rest of the articles. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 02:26, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough BHG. If you still aren't getting this then perhaps you aren't going to. Your annoyance is entirely your own responsibility. I cleaned up a category which was 90% a heap of steaming, BLP-breaching horse-shit, after I had raised the topic at AN/I and in the category talk. You picked up a couple of false positives from the hours of work I had done, added a couple of references, and accused me of vandalism, and you're annoyed. Maybe it is you who are having a POV problem here. Think about it. --John (talk) 04:20, 10 May 2008 (UTC) (amended --John (talk) 04:41, 10 May 2008 (UTC))

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

• All further discussion to Category talk:People of Irish descent in Great Britain, please. --John (talk) 06:01, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Morrissey: a number of sources indicate his views on animal rights

Hi, you put a "citation needed" point in the lede of the Morrissey article. The article's section on animal rights lists a number of sources. Here is the section:OnBeyondZebrax (talk) 15:46, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that, I have restored the vegetarian category. --John (talk) 15:52, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi, sorry for the snarky word "silly" in my edit summary. I had previously thought that citations were never used in ledes (another editor removed my attempts to add citations to a film article lede, and told me that you shouldn't use citations in the lede). However, a quick look to the "Writing a Lede" section of the Manual of Style indicates that "there is not, however, an exception to citation requirements specific to leads. The necessity for citations in a lead should be determined on a case-by-case basis by editorial consensus. Complex, current, or controversial subjects may require many citations; others, few or none. Contentious material about living persons must be cited every time, regardless of the level of generality." So you were right. Apologies! :) OnBeyondZebrax (talk) 16:02, 9 May 2008 (UTC) P.S. you pointed out on your talk page that you have 50,000 + edits...how do you find out this figure? Is there an "editing statistics" button somewhere on a person's user page?

No problem; there are various edit counters. I use this one, which currently gives 53 000 and something for me. Just change the code and add in the user name you want to check. Best wishes, --John (talk) 16:05, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

That looks complicated. This is much easier![2] I've only just noticed that the user profile in "preferences" gives the number of edits... Ty 04:38, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

That tool only measures edits up to 50k though. Us old-timers have had to adapt... Now to try your other suggestion. --John (talk) 04:40, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Wow! That must be new, or else I've never noticed it before. Thanks, Ty. --John (talk) 04:42, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Right, it must be new then! I thought I had been oblivious for the last two years or so! Ty 04:48, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Another hater of cheap writing shortcuts

Hi, I was happy to see on your user page that you dislike the use of the terms "Seminal. Legendary. Iconic. Epochal, used as intensifiers rather than their literal meanings. Unless it's sourced, no. See peacock words." I have removed the terms "seminal" and "legendary" from hundreds of music articles. I find they are often just a cheap, lazy writing shortcut. For example, typically we will hear that "Artist X did a recording in 1987 with the legendary session guitarist Jane Doe." I will cut the word "legendary", but if I am feeling in the mood, I'll do some research. And often I find that the person has been deemed notable, but in a much more restricted sense. And then, I'll reword it as ""Artist X did a recording in 1987 with session guitarist Jane Doe, who was praised in 1998 by New York Times critic John Smith for her "fleet-fingered virtuosity" and "angular improvisations" .............................................................But that took 30 minutes of research, so some editors take the lazier path, and just slap on some "peacock words"! OnBeyondZebrax (talk) 16:11, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. I often refer people to WP:PEACOCK on these occasions. --John (talk) 16:13, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

The Novels WikiProject Newsletter - Issue XXIV - May 2008

The May 2008 issue of the Novels WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you. SteveCrossinBot (talk) 07:59, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Edward Henry

Would you please stop claiming that the fact that Henry was of Irish parentage is "unverifiable". It says so in his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, a highly reliable and respected academic source. In what way could this possibly be construed as "unverifiable"? If you mean that you don't have access to the DNB, this is irrelevant. Many people do. If you start claiming that entries in the ODNB are unverifiable then you may as well start claiming that most of Wikipedia is unverifiable. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:44, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Well done for referencing the ethnicity of Henry. In this way you have made Wikipedia a little bit better. I intend to go on trimming unverifiable ethnic categories from articles as they breach our policies. The rest of your rant is out of place here, though there may be another place where it would be interesting or relevant. Best, --John (talk) 16:14, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Excuse me? That was uncalled for. I was not ranting. You decided to revert something without giving any reason for your revert other than the one you had previously given and which I had refuted. Not good editorial practice, especially from an admin. The ONDB was already referenced in the article and I fail to see why this fact in particular needed to be referenced. Is his parentage particularly controversial? I've seen no evidence of this. -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:29, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, my revert was mistaken, but I think yours was too. What you have done the second time round was better; as I say, this makes the assertion of the subject's ethnicity more verifiable. Here's a more typical example of the work I have done. If you look at the archived section above you will see that this has been extensively discussed here, as well as centrally; there are more appropriate places to discuss this, which is what I meant by "out of place". If you came here to point out my mistake I thank you. --John (talk) 16:51, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Interview

I am trying to find a wikipedia administrator who would readily do an interview for a research project I am conducting from the perspective of a wikipedia insider. If you'd like to do this, please email me at goat77 (AT) gmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by Goat77 (talk • contribs) 17:45, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Inlet ramp

Tks for wikifying Inlet ramp on the F-15 page for the uninitiated like me. But gosh, the article needs some work to make it meaningful. For a start, the intro needs to at least explain that an intake is on an aircraft, and to briefly orient the reader by saying where it is and what it does. The current intro -- "An intake ramp is flat rectangular plate-like device, within a 2-Dimensional air intake, designed to generate a, rearward leaning, oblique shock wave, to aid the inlet compression process. The ramp sits at an acute angle to deflect the intake airstream from the longitudinal direction." -- is all about a ramp on something that the reader isn't told about, and probably doesn't know about because it's a fair bet that Wiki visitors are uninitiated. Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 01:19, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Heh, yes, I did spot that too. I will work on the article as and when I have time. No harm in either starting the work yourself or making some suggestions in the talk page for others to work on. --John (talk) 01:42, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

RE

Sabona! I understood the quidelines to be different. My apologies. Mangwanani (talk) 19:08, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi John,

Comments from IP address 82.3.251.57. You're opinion please? I suspect they don't constitute the wikipedia standards on only presenting substantiable facts.

Regards, S

Repentant anons

sorry for vandalism, moments of madness, i really value wikipedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.39.19 (talk) 21:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

All right i stop —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.92.29.49 (talk) 21:24, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

QoS

Hi John,

Mind if I ask why you chopped out:-

• the section on famous fans?

• the fact that no Welsh team has played against them so far?

By the way are you going next weekend?

Regards, S Socheid (talk) 22:46, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi Soc. There were a lot of "famous fans" sections chopped out as (I think) there was a project consensus that they were unencyclopedic. I won't be able to go on Saturday as I live 8000 miles from Glasgow. Are you going? If so, have a great time. --John (talk) 23:01, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome

The guy was persistant. Corvus cornix_talk 17:05, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Royalcreed‎

This one appears to be a spammer / vandal-only account. Thoughts? Lord Sesshomaru (talk • edits) 21:00, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Let's see if they continue after the warning I gave them. If so, I'll block. --John (talk) 21:02, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Huh, thought I'd warned them. Sorry, thanks and they are now indefinitely blocked. --John (talk) 21:07, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Lord Sesshomaru (talk • edits) 21:45, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Oplaca

Saw that you deleted this page, apparently after blanking by the original author. No quarrel with that. However, the page had an active AfD; it is helpful, if only for cleanup purposes, if you could close the AfD as moot after you delete the page. Verbum sapienti satis. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 07:19, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. I missed the AfD note in the history when I looked; obviously I would have closed the AfD if I'd noticed. I really appreciate this feedback and I will definitely look even harder at the histories of articles I'm deleting. Best wishes, --John (talk) 07:50, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry

I accidently deleted nearly all of it my keyboard is messed up and I didn't know how to restore it.

212.24.91.66

Thanks (just to be polite) for reblocking this IP 1 day after the previous block expired. As I've previously discussed with Ioeth (the last blocking admin), since I'm physically behind this IP (and has physical access to other computers and users behind this IP, is it useful that I leave a message on the IP talk page suggesting that anyone who wish to create an account behind this IP forward the request directly to me?

Also, the suggestion on the template that potential contributors "create an account at home" is totally unfeasible - this is a boarding school, most people don't go home for months on end!

I therefore propose customising the entire block comment page for the IP to cater for the case. --Deryck C. 12:07, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Editing Wikipedia is a privilege, not a right. People who belong to an institution where they are allowed unsupervised access to the internet, and whose maturity levels are such that they commit silly vandalism, should not be editing. If anyone from your school wants to edit seriously, there is a mechanism for creating an account for them, which is already linked from my block message. I see no need to take any special measures in this case.--John (talk) 17:13, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

There are 1000+ people behind this IP. Reblocking the IP because of 4 disruptive edits, apprently committed by not more than 2 people, deprives the remaining 1000 of the "privilege" to edit. "People who belong to an institution where they are allowed unsupervised access to the internet" - false, there are stringest block policies imposed on the internet access available through this IP. In addition, I think we should refrain from making indistinctive statements like "People who belong to an institution... whose maturity levels are such that they commit silly vandalism, should not be editing". This is personal attack on everyone in the school. --Deryck C. 22:05, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry if I was digressing above. I wouldn't oppose settling the situation of the block as is, if you insist that the current mechanism is adequate. However, forgive me for my sensitivity, but I find your comments strongly irritating. --Deryck C. 22:09, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm genuinely sorry to have irritated you, as it wasn't my intention. But a year's softblock seems well within the usual parameters for a schoolblock. There is nothing stopping good contributors like yourself from editing under an existing username account, and neither are people prevented from opening an account, as I said above and in the block message I sent. If you know of anyone who is genuinely being disadvantaged by this, if you see any obstacle in policy or in common sense with what I've done, or, most of all, if you can show evidence that the encyclopedia will be harmed by removing the ability to edit anonymously from the school IP, then I will be happy to reconsider. Best wishes, --John (talk) 02:51, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

What Was the Problem wit--John (talk) 21:02, 20 May 2008 (UTC)h the External Link re: David Blaine?

Yesterday I posted the following as an External Link

David Blaine Style Street Magic. A How To Do the Tricks

which you subsequently removed. Since most of the links are his "official" links, it would seem appropriate that there be some links-- whether this one or others-- that help explain what is done. If you want to add a Spoiler Alert, please do so.

At the same time, if this link does not adhere to more general Wikipedia Link Rules, be nice to know what the real problem is.

Thanks.

Coco Pazzo

19:52, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you read this section above as the arguments are very similar. Basically, we aren't really looking for a lot of extra external links, as they add little that couldn't be easily found on a Google search. Substantive content which is well-referenced, on the other hand, is always very welcome. Let me know if you need any more help. --John (talk) 21:02, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Just an information

Hi, I'm here just to ask for a bureaucratic information (I'm asking to you because you are one of few admins who reviewed the topic ban without asking to punish me for having asked a review): since the bot has archieved my request for a review (because there were no replies in 24 hours) before any consensus could emerge, what is the conclusion? Is the appeal to be considered finally fully legitimated? Or is there any room to contest the ban?--Pokipsy76 (talk) 20:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Let me look into that, Pokipsy76. It'll take me a few hours though. --John (talk) 20:59, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure I know what it means but I am very grateful for your interest on this.--Pokipsy76 (talk) 15:26, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

No problem. I will do what I can to ensure that Thomas receives treatment that is not only fair but demonstrably fair, as I would for any good faith editor. --John (talk) 15:28, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Incivility undiscovered

John I have replied on my page but given that I am under constant threat of being blocked by some Admins for alleged incivility (for which no objective standard exists that I can see) I must ask you to point out the exact words I used that you regard as uncivil. I simply can't see any incivility in the diff you provided. Perhaps you could explain it to me, if only that I may in future avoid such apparent incivility? Regards, Sarah777 (talk) 10:04, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

SamuelM555 block evasion

What do you think of 212.198.168.153 (talk · contribs) as a block evading sock of SamuelM555 (talk · contribs)? Contribs are almost all related to Jew categories. - auburnpilot talk 13:37, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up. I have warned them in the first instance and reverted some of their edits. --John (talk) 13:54, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Uploading image that is free license

--Visualmaxnyc (talk) 15:22, 21 May 2008 (UTC)Hi John, You left me a message about uploading an image for Carmindy. The image I am trying to upload is a freely licensed image, however how to add the image with that setting. Wiki edits are new to me, so there is a lot to learn. Can you advise? thanks, Mimi

i'm not testing. i am correcting some information that was wrong. check the things that i have corrected and see for yourself.