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Congratulations!

I saw you made Arbcom. Have fun with that! :p dmz 17:32, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, but I'm not sure 'fun' enters into the equation (at least not when using the traditional definition =). –xenotalk 17:14, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Question about Xenobot

Hello! An editor at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Wine#Crickey.21_More_than_a_1.2F3_of_wine_pages_have_some_clean_up_tag recommended we come talk to you. The Wine Project has a large number of articles needing coordinates and was wondering if this is something a bot could do? Appreciate your time. AgneCheese/Wine 04:42, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Hm, Xenobot never added coordinates, it added the coordinates_region paramater - much simpler than adding coordinates themselves - which I believe may require a human touch (I'm not sure if it can be botted). –xenotalk 17:14, 2 January 2011 (UTC)
Ah. That is what I was afraid of :/ Well that you for the reply. :) AgneCheese/Wine 21:16, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Your broke it!

In other words, I was referred to you :p You seem to have tried to change the template used on that page in the for bureaucrat sections of the templates to {{CHUC}} but you seem to have forgotten to add the "C" to the actual templates used. dmz 11:27, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Yep, you were right. I've made the corrections - thanks for the note, –xenotalk 14:47, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

How can I enable the prefix search filter?

Hi,

This search box i very nifty! Sadly I cannot figure out how to enable it? That is, the prefix search filter term "prefix: "... I'm have installs running both on MW15 and MW16. I have no separate search engine extensions like lucene installed though. Haven't installed Inputbox extension yet but it doesn't feel like it would contain that functionality.

Thanks, --Ovoned (talk) 11:41, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Hmm - this is well outside my area of expertise; you might try asking at WP:VPT. –xenotalk 15:48, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
I'll do that, thanks for the tip --Ovoned (talk) 16:53, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Chicago Q1 run

When you get a chance, could you run the bot for the Chicago project tagging assignment.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 19:00, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

I put up your request here, and hopefully EdoDodo (talk) (who has been taking a lot of Mk V's tasks) can run this with DodoBot (talk · contribs). Cheers, –xenotalk 19:20, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
Running it now. - EdoDodo talk 20:16, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
The Dacia one looks ready to roll too. Thanks again =) –xenotalk 20:24, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
Cool, I'll run that one next. - EdoDodo talk 20:34, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
Why did it start and then stop before it finished the As?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 02:48, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
Looks like it needs a kick =) –xenotalk 03:25, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Hmm... It looks like one of my regular expressions gets caught in an infinite loop on the Anastacia article. I'll look into why it's happening this afternoon, task is on hold until then. - EdoDodo talk 07:17, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Problem sorted. Bot is now running again. - EdoDodo talk 14:51, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
It seems to have stopped again in the Ms.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 23:35, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
The bot reached a page that had been deleted since it had created the list of pages, didn't handle it correctly and crashed. This is now fixed, and the bot is running again. Sorry for the regular interruptions, but on the up side, it is helping me fix a lot of bugs that I hadn't noticed when doing shorter runs . - EdoDodo talk 07:23, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
I wonder - is the bot stepping through every article in the target categories? Whenever I used to do CHI runs, I would build the list, then filter out anything already tagged & assessed by CHI. If the bot doesn't do this, and it's not too hard to program, it might save time and bandwidth. –xenotalk 14:10, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, at the moment it steps through every article. I'm not quite sure how I would go about exporting pages in pywikipedia, but I'll look into it when I have time. - EdoDodo talk 15:48, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Rename

I need my account user name to be renamed to - ibonjour — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashish54 (talk • contribs) 10:55, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter, Q4 2010

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter
Volume 3, No. 3 — 4th Quarter, 2010
Previous issue | Next issue

Project At a Glance
As of Q4 2010, the project has:

Content

Project Navigation
To receive future editions of this newsletter, click here to sign up on the distribution list.

MuZemike delivered by MuZebot 18:24, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Question about renaming

Hi, I see that you handle renaming requests and have a question about the procedure. I'm thinking of changing my username but I have a Global account so on login I am simultaneously logged into 60 project sites. I have only contributed to a few of these sites (commons and french wikipedia and maybe a few others) but what happens to the global accounts if my username gets deleted? Jdrewitt (talk) 18:57, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

If you are renamed here, your en.wiki account will be detached from the Jdrewitt SUL, but the other-project accounts will still be there and not be renamed (there is no global renaming at present). For the projects to which you do contribute, you can have them renamed as well and then attach them to the new SUL. The rest you can just abandon, if you like. You would retain control of the Jdrewitt SUL account unless you request to have it deleted. –xenotalk 19:01, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks :) Jdrewitt (talk) 20:46, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

FYI

WP:AN#Editing restrictions of User:Diego Grez. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:25, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Commented there, thanks. –xenotalk 16:03, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Unblock bot for BRFA

Hello there, xeno. Can you unblock my bot MCBot (BRFA · contribs · actions log · block log · flag log · user rights) for my BRFA? Thanks. —mc10 (t/c) 19:52, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

I believe this was done by another admin. –xenotalk 16:02, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Can you protect for me the page Raven Symone please?

Can you protect for me the page Raven Symone please? Seemed like vadalism is going on, other users have to revert a lot of edit. Thank you. Silvergoat (talk∙contrib) 07:48, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Please file at WP:RFPP; I am not near a PC at present. You will usually get a faster response there, as well. –xenotalk 16:02, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

The image

The big image of the blue sleeping man, when does it appear on the page? HeyMid (contribs) 14:19, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

{{lazy sleeping barnstar}} shows up whenever my talk page is below 500 bytes. –xenotalk 14:20, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
I looked through the code of your talk page and header, and can't see how it only appears then :p I see some magic about if the page size is less than 500, but I don't see how it effects (or doesn't effect) the appearance of {{Lazy sleeping barnstar}} :p It's a neat idea though, If I can figure it out I may just steal it for my own talk page ;P dmz(public) 15:27, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
If PAGESIZE > 500, then display lsb; else - display top business. The ifeq statement doesn't end until the last line of the page. –xenotalk 15:31, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
I think you mean that if PAGESIZE is less than 500 bytes, then display the lazy sleeping barnstar template. The MediaWiki byte-size counter doesn't seem reliable, since the lazy sleeping barnstar template did not disappear until you replied, and the page history claims the page was already over 500 bytes when I created this section. HeyMid (contribs) 15:52, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
Right you are - those pacmen and me never got along. And yes, sometimes the page needs a kick purge (or new edit) before the lazy giant will show up/go away - as the parserFunction needs to be re-evaluated after you change the size of the page. –xenotalk 15:59, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
Why yes, that is clever. Eventually I may get around to stealing it. On the other hand, eventually I'll get around to doing a lot of stuff that doesn't seem like it'll ever get done :S dmz 20:24, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
And I'm stealing it now, and while I'm at it stealing your Archive Index template because it seems pretty good :p Don't worry, I'm giving you attribution. dmz 21:01, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
Be my guest. Attribution is nice =] –xenotalk 21:03, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
And it is all set up, including some magic on my pagenotice to show my banner saying I'm not an admin there when the Lazy sleeping barnstar is up, since the banner ruins the page when it's that way :p Feel free to check it out any time, my talk page gets little traffic so once Miszabot gets around to emptying it it'll be that way for a while :p Also, thanks for letting me use the code, I learned a bit about MediaWiki Parser Functions while rewriting it to fit my talk page! dmz 22:37, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
For quite sometime I thought the images was a fox. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 21:07, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Question about Bot approval process

Not trying to be a complete irritation just trying to learn the process her but why is it that Admrbot got approved to do almost the same thing as I request in a matter of a couple days and mine is being dragged out for weeks? --Kumioko (talk) 14:35, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

I'd guess that the fact the operator plans to always run in semi-auto mode was one of the factors for the speedy approval. But they also didn't have as much "extra" in it as yours does. That being said, sometimes BAG does need to be poked/prodded: iff you feel that you've addressed all the concerns on the BRFA to date, you can use {{BAGAssistanceNeeded}} and request approval for a trial. –xenotalk 14:39, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, I don't plan on running it in auto either, in fact I have mentioned multiple times that I didn't think it was appropriate. I also think its a little silly if mine was being held up becuase I was forthcoming about the edits I was making (which should be a requirement) rather than saying something like generic edits to talk pages that doesn't mean anything to anybody. As far as the trial goes, I am doing the exact same edits as I would be doing with the bot so if they want a trial they can look at my AWB related edit summaries. I don't want to seem like I have a bad attitude but its starting to be a little bit irritating when I see some that get approved quickly and mine drags on for weeks, which is exactly what I want to avoid. --Kumioko (talk) 14:50, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
It's not punishing you for being up front - you are admittedly using a lot of custom regex and self-built modules whereas Admrbot is (I think) running on the stock engine. –xenotalk 14:53, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Maybe, it just has the err of the demoralizing admin request I submitted a couple years ago that almost made me walk away from WP altogether. To be honest this is exactly the sort of long drawn out discussions that I don't want and that I envisioned happening. If its this bad to get the bot running I can only imagine what it will be like when I edit some users favorite article or make a bad edit because the page contains a 1 in a million formatting problem that I never saw before. --Kumioko (talk) 14:58, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Man cheer up! My bot, took 2 months to get approval and by that time I was busy in real life. As I got some free time the task wasn't appropriate to do until months later, shortly afterwards some crat withdraw my bot for reasons that are still a mystery. Still Wikipedia is going to suck sometimes - that doesn't mean you have to take it personally. Everyone is a volunteer so it's a bit haphazard but with a bit of persistence it will all work out in the end. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 15:30, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Oh I know its life. Its just a drag sometimes. --Kumioko (talk) 15:40, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Dash vs negative sign

fyi:

Cheers, Jack Merridew 20:08, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. I've nothing more to add about the dash/minus situation (of which I was woefully ignorant =)... And no problem with regards to the changing of the diff to use {{diff}}. I usually remember to use the url decoder script I have to rewrite it to a nonsecure link (which the secure server automatically translates to secure), but sometimes I forget. –xenotalk 20:26, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Curiosity piqued... You referring to some other script than User:Snottywong/diffconverter? Cheers, Jack Merridew 20:50, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Yep... –xenotalk 20:52, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
importScript('user:js/urldecoder.js') // decodes external links to be internal, rewrites secure links to regular ones
urlDecoderIntLinks = true             // helps me get rid of annoying underscores in internal links as well
Terima kasih; off to seek a victim-page ;) Jack Merridew 21:37, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
I'm also a fan of urldecoder.js, which helps the original editor add the right kind of links to his comment. Now if only there were a way to help the *reader* deal with someone else's comment that is full of secure links.. EdJohnston (talk) 22:35, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
It's a wiki; refactor as needed on important pages. Both; try Snottywong's tool; it does {{oldid}}s, too. Cheers, Jack Merridew 00:22, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

User:HBC Archive Indexerbot

The template I stuck on my userpage doesn't seem to be working, mind checking it out when you get a chance? dmz 01:59, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Hm, I don't see any configuration problem there (try copying the index into your own space maybe?). Might want to ping the operator and see if they can lend any insight. –xenotalk 02:20, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

follow this link:http://gta.wikia.com/Niko_Bellic

Stop with that false infos. please! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terminator15 (talk • contribs) 02:13, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Wikia is not considered a reliable source; if you have something more concrete then we can look at it, but for now the current text of the article was a compromise from even less pointing to Serbian. –xenotalk 02:20, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

MCBot

Hello again, xeno. Can you grant IPBE and reviewer to my bot to allow it to edit? I was redirected to you from my BRFA. Thanks. Cheers, —mc10 (t/c) 22:12, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Commented there. –xenotalk 17:59, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

For You!

The Admin's Barnstar
I award You this Administrator Barnstar for performing Your administrative duties above and beyond! Mbz1 (talk) 18:16, 13 January 2011 (UTC)


The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
I award You this barnstar for Your kindness and understanding! Mbz1 (talk) 18:16, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I agree with the above. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 19:51, 13 January 2011 (UTC)


The Barnstar of Awesomeness
To the Canadian that always gives 100%. Your helpfulness, advice, assistance and boting on Wikipedia makes it a better place for everyone. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 19:51, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Bot deny

I added to an editors talk page (at editors requested) {{bots|deny=SineBot}} yet the bot still edited the talk page. Is User:SineBot not deny complying or is my deny request incorrect in some way? Regards, SunCreator (talk) 17:39, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

That seems to prevent SineBot signing posts on that page, but not prevent it issuing warnings. Seems like that might be considered suboptimal, so you might want to drop Slakr (talk · contribs) a note and ask if he can let users opt-out of the warnings as well. –xenotalk 18:05, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Inherit class as custom module?

You gave me once a settings file to inherit classes from templates. These settings use Advanced Find and replace. Do you happen to have this as a custom module? I could add it in my "WikiProject Biography general fixes" custom module. -- Magioladitis (talk) 17:53, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mag. Sorry, I don't know how to do custom modules. I also don't really do much bot work in this area (or at all really) anymore. –xenotalk 18:05, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
OK. I am on it. I keep working on the new plugin project. Really slowly... but keep working. -- Magioladitis (talk) 18:12, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
I appreciate it - but don't do it for my benefit; I've got a lackey helpful user that picks up all Xenobot's requests (and will be doing so for the foreseeable future). They've programmed a dedicated tagging bot that duplicates everything Xb Mk V used to do - you might want to try it out... –xenotalk 18:15, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Missing step?

May I ask why you moved the userpages but did not rename the account? NW (Talk) 00:58, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Hm- thanks for the note. I was working from the iPhone and I neglected to hit submit again after it threw up the SUL detachment warning. Now fixed =) –xenotalk 05:28, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Happy 10th Wikipedia!

File:Verre de whisky.jpg
Happy 10th anniversary of Wikipedia!

Reaper Eternal (talk) has bought you a whisky! Sharing a whisky is a great way to bond with other editors after a day of hard work. Spread the WikiLove by buying someone else a whisky, whether it be someone with whom you have collaborated or had disagreements. Enjoy!

Spread the good cheer and camaraderie by adding {{subst:User:HJ Mitchell/WikiScotch}} to their talk page with a friendly message. Message received at 17:49, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for the note - and a happy 10th to all my fellow editors. –xenotalk 21:25, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Ctjf83 2

I'm throwing in the towel. CTJF83 chat 20:47, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

I've done the needful. Thank you for your offer to serve. –xenotalk 20:58, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Alcoa

Hi Xeno. Wanted to ask your help on Alcoa's Wikipedia page. Two things have come up. First, someone has placed two boxes atop our page questioning the content. They did not give a reason for this, and no changes have been made by me (Mark at Alcoa) in quite some time. Also, you'll remember you changed my username to Mark at Alcoa. Another user is again asking me to change it. Can you help? Thanks, Mark. Mark at Alcoa (talk) 17:07, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mark, nice to see you again.
I've removed those tags, because the IP didn't explain on the talk page why they felt the article was {{advert}} or {{npov}} and nothing jumps out after a quick read-through.
The RFCN discussion referenced on your talk page was closed as "allow" [1]. The issue of company names as part of usernames is currently being discussed at Wikipedia talk:UN#User names that have known companies in them and the outcome is still unclear. If the policy changes to prohibit usernames like yours, I will let you know.
Best regards, –xenotalk 17:13, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Xeno, thanks for your quick response. Regards, Mark Mark at Alcoa (talk) 17:21, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
No problem. Cheers, –xenotalk 17:23, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

SWEP International

Would you block this account? -- Cirt (talk) 21:18, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Borderline... I would probably wait to see if they responded to the request to change their username or continued trying to insert that article. –xenotalk 21:26, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
How long would you wait? -- Cirt (talk) 21:26, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Probably like a week. I'm going through your blocks and looking at stuff like SpeechVIII (talk · contribs) - it just looks like you're cleaning out the 'expressed concern over category' by blocking the accounts when they aren't even causing problems (I'm not sure what that name is meant to promote). –xenotalk 21:29, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Followup to above query. And then after waiting another week - let us say this above account had not edited, would you then argue even though it is blatantly the name of a company and editing of a promotional nature, that the account should not be blocked, as it has now been considered "inactive" since the original promotional edits? -- Cirt (talk) 21:31, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I would probably use {{softerblock}} in that instance. –xenotalk 21:32, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Only probably? But you might not block that account, at all? -- Cirt (talk) 21:33, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
If the username is the only issue, they should be softblocked, not hardblocked. HeyMid (contribs) 21:35, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Well, if they are inactive, sleeping dogs can lie, no? It's clear the user wasn't being subversive [2], and just didn't really understand username, COI policies, and the like. –xenotalk 21:35, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
So it is okay to encourage leaving usernames that are specifically the names of companies unblocked? -- Cirt (talk) 21:36, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
As I said, this more of a borderline case, and I wouldn't really be too concerned if they were blocked after they had time to respond to the warning. It's not really representative of the blocks I'm concerned about that lead me to contact you, which are 1) good-faith individuals who mistakenly used an email address for their username; 2) usernames that are not obviously promotional; 3) people other admins specifically chose not to block, but to warn and have not had a chance to respond to the warning; 4) people who have name changes requests in progress and 5) people who have not edited (we ask our UAA regulars not to report people who don't edit, so why should we block?). –xenotalk 21:42, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Xeno, perhaps you could describe for me a sample case study of users with account names that you would actually block? -- Cirt (talk) 21:44, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

In this case, the user had already changed from the name that caused concern - you blocked their new name... –xenotalk 21:46, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I just reviewed a bunch of your username blocks back to November and many I agree with. Just try to approach the corner cases with a little more tact, a little less block - especially if the user's contributions (which I trust you are checking before you block) are good faith, constructive edits. There is no rush or imminent need to block such a user and it just creates work for admins who have to patrol the unblock queue (or drives off a potential contributor). If their username is a problem, but they are making good edits, then just gently ask them to change it and provide guidance on how to do so. –xenotalk 21:51, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Alright, I will take that under advisement. And, Xeno, I hope you realize that I strive to unblock/unprotect/undelete/userfy/etc upon request rather quickly and responsively and reply rather speedily to concerns regarding admin actions. Thanks. -- Cirt (talk) 21:55, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I understand... but the hallmark of a great admin is not one who knows when to use the tools...but who knows when not to. It looks like the user that drew my attention to this is sticking around [3]...so alls well that ends well, I guess. –xenotalk 21:59, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Understood. But hopefully a good admin is also one who responds quickly to constructive criticism given in a polite manner. ;) So I thank you for that. Cheers, -- Cirt (talk) 22:07, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Absolutely. Thanks for taking the time to discuss. –xenotalk 22:09, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
You are welcome. Thanks for your candor and tone. ;) -- Cirt (talk) 22:15, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Radio Station Question

Hey Xeno, I was wondering if you were experienced in the rules and MOS's of WP:WPRS. If so, let me know. I might need some help with a Program Director at an area radio station who is trying to update a page to standards outside those of Wikipedia. You can see the conversation at User talk:Neutralhomer#WGRX. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 21:58, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Wouldn't it make sense to also have the branded name in the lead "WGRX, also known as Thunder 104.5" as well as the infobox? Compare with CFNY (which has "102.1 The Edge" etc., in the lead) or GA WCSP-FM ("C-SPAN Radio"); also see Wikipedia:WPRS#Introduction. Otherwise it looks like you're handling it fine. Keep in mind that COI editing is not prohibited but merely strongly discouraged. –xenotalk 22:14, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I am in the minority where I don't add the branding to the lede, just kind of a personal preference, but I can do that as a compromise. I didn't know COI editing wasn't prohibited, that was/is my mistake. I normally, though, give the editor the option of allowing me to make the edits for them so there is no COI problems at all. I do that with the owner of a station in California. I will keep an eye out for the user (which is actually on-the-air right now according to the station site) and see about doing the compromise with the branding you suggested and see if that settles things. Thanks! :) - Neutralhomer • Talk • 23:07, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Kindof hard to stake your editing on personal preference when your project says otherwise! =) –xenotalk 23:09, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I know, I am hardheaded and resist change. :) That is one of the changes that started a couple years ago and I have been against it from the start. Guess I am going to have to get used to it. :S - Neutralhomer • Talk • 23:14, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Any particular reason? Most readers will probably know and look for the station by their brand name, less so by their callsign. –xenotalk 23:18, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Mostly, cause I feel the branding is already available in the infobox itself. The callsign starts off the article, but adding something that is already there (branding) is, I feel, unnecessary. I try to put all the important information on the article lede, i.e.: callsign, community of license, format, and owner. From there, all other information is just a quick glance away in the infobox. That's the way I feel things should be, but again, I am in the minority. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 23:32, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
I'd say that the brand name is pretty important and belongs in the lead. (And if something could only appear in one or the other, I'd say having it in the prose would be more important). I just asked my colleague if he knew what "CFNY" was. He didn't. But he knew 102.1 The Edge... –xenotalk 23:33, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Canadian radio stations are the ones people should know the calling code for though! Since, you know, they're supposed to announce it every half hour or so. I'll always remember The Edge as "CFNY-FM: 102.1 The Edge" :p demize (t · c) 23:50, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Yea, you're right. "CFNY, a Corus radio company". Hear that a lot. I think my colleague probably just doesn't like rock music =) –xenotalk 23:51, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, I can see that. Except for one station in DC (WASH-FM), no one probably knows the call sign of the stations here. I will let the editor know about that and see if that works as a compromise. I guess I am just boneheaded. :) - Neutralhomer • Talk • 23:45, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, we've all got our little quirks =] Let me know if I can be of further assistance. –xenotalk 23:47, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, we do. :) Will do. Take Care...Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:27, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

deleted article request

There was a page I was wanting the copy of the text of. I was fairly certain that it was at Redstar2000, but there is no deletion log for that article that I can see. However, several redlinks on talk pages and an old AfD suggest that the page did exist at one time. A comment in that AfD suggests that at the time Redstar 2000 was a redirect, but that page also has its own AfD (from several months later), as well as an actual deletion log. So I'm not sure what's going on there, but if you could provide me with userfied copies of whatever was at Redstar 2000 (and Redstar2000 if there was anything) for me (barring the most recent re-creation of the former, which was just vandalism), I'd much appreciate it. The content should be just vanity stuff about a non-notable messageboard poster. --superioridad (discusión) 02:39, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Sure, see User:Superiority/Redstar2000. Do feel free to {{db-u1}} once you've got what you need. –xenotalk 13:41, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

AWB checkpage

Could you please respond?

Hello, I think you're in the position to accept whether people can use the tool AutoWikiBrowser; can you just pop into Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage and see if I've allowed to download the software. Sp33dyphil (Talk) (Contributions)(I love Wikipedia!) 04:31, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Looks like Wifione (talk) got to this. –xenotalk 13:41, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
My AWB request

I see you granted me AWB rights, but I checked the checkpage for my name (pretty much to see if you added this account too (which isn't necessary, I'll only be using it at home)) and you appear to have added me under the Bot section :p demize (t · c) 14:59, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Seems ye olde extra large double double doesn't do what it used to... –xenotalk 15:01, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
You should go black. Hotter, but [marginally] more caffine :p Also, thanks for granting the request! demize (t · c) 15:03, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
Will consider it =) –xenotalk 16:16, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
Unrelated stalker note, this thread made me want to drive cross country just to get an In-n-out double-double. Gigs (talk) 17:05, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Xeno on an iPhone

How do you edit on the iPhone? Just using MobileSafari, or do you have some secret special app that makes it easier? :p demize (t · c) 15:33, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Mostly using Safari. I toyed around with Opera a bit but never made the switch - if I recall correctly, it's got some marginal benefits. To check my main account's watchlist I use a watchlist token and the RSS feed. The main reason I use the on an iPhone account (apart from security) is that it allows me to make various preference tweaks to reduce data use and to also _not_ have rollback to avoid inadvertently clicking the rb links. –xenotalk 15:35, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Curious question: How effective is it compared to using a computer? HeyMid (contribs) 16:26, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
A huge pain in the neck. I wish someone would make a native application to make it easier to edit using an iPhone. –xenotalk 16:29, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Sometimes you have made quick edits using your iPhone, or is that incorrect? HeyMid (contribs) 16:32, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Not sure I understand the question... –xenotalk 16:33, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Here you made two edits in just one minute. HeyMid (contribs) 16:37, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Yea, the iPhone helpfully auto-corrected some words there that didn't need corrected =) So yes, I often have to make corrections to iPhone edits... –xenotalk 16:46, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
It probably wouldn't be too hard for somebody to make an app that could edit. I'd try, but I have enough to do (and no credit card or hundred dollars :p) demize (t · c) 20:24, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
I sometimes use Safari to edit on the iPhone, it's okay, but a slow interface compared to a desktop or notebook environment with a mouse. Avoid previewing pages as sometime memory requirements of Wiki pages can make Safari crash and exit. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 20:32, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
I have tried using safari aswel, but to edit long pages, scrolling is a pain in the neck. Not worth it to me, IMO. Tofutwitch11 (TALK) 21:30, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Did you know you can use two-finger touch to scroll within the edit window? Still not great, but better than trying to drag the cursor all the way down. –xenotalk 21:37, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Wish I knew that before..thanks.Tofutwitch11 (TALK) 22:50, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
Set your edit box to a large number of rows(90 or more) in your wiki user preference then you rarely need to scroll in the box anyhow. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 04:56, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
Pro-tip! Hadn't though about that. Thanks =) –xenotalk 13:40, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Negative deleted edits

Any idea why AnomieBOT (and previously ClueBot) are giving User:Blake negative deleted edits at CHUU? demize (t · c) 14:31, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

This happens from time to time, especially when the user account is very old. Has something to do with how the bot mathematically comes up with the number. It's not something we're too concerned about, as those numbers are just to give a 10,000 foot overview of the request. It's been noted and discussed somewhere - if you're really curious I could track it down... –xenotalk 14:34, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
Nah, that's fine - it seemed a bit odd, that's all. demize (t · c) 14:36, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

xenobot

i made a req at [page], but he has yet to respond. can i submit a page request for your bot if it's just a list of articles. there's no easy cat list for my wikiproject, so i had to compile it and then strip out the false postives mostly by hand. i was hoping you could help me by adding {{Rodent}} to a list of pages i've compiled over at Wikipedia:WikiProject Rodents/Scope list. additionally, if you could overwrite any instances of {{Mammal}}/{{WikiProject Mammals}} and auto-tag the articles i'd appreciate it, let me know if you need anything. --ΖαππερΝαππερ BabelAlexandria 04:40, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Do you have consensus from the Mammals WikiProject to remove their tag? (Because it appears they have a hook for the rodents task force) –xenotalk 13:41, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
actually, yeah, the hook is for task forces, but this is an actual full-fledged wikiproject (non-temporary inclusion of 1000+ articles). I will verify a consensus though. --ΖαππερΝαππερ BabelAlexandria 17:13, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

User talk:Renamed user 1499

Thanks for your help & flexibility with User talk:Renamed user 1499! Swim900 (talk) 20:45, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

No problem - happy editing. –xenotalk 20:56, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
Just a question: On Wikipedia, do we entertain username changes of blocked accounts? (Of course, usernames of trolls and impersonators may be changed.) HeyMid (contribs) 13:24, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Mmm

[4], [5]: I think I must be going senile... WJBscribe (talk) 22:10, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Heh, I've done that a few times as well, if it makes you feel better =) –xenotalk 22:20, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Hurray, new username! Thank you, Xeno!

Thanks so much for letting me shut the door on misspelling--er, if that's how you spell that. Sharktopus (talk) 14:09, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

No problem - happy editing =) –xenotalk 14:13, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

incredible shrinking sigs?

Xeno, I think I remember you as an expert in shrinking sigs for people with extraordinarily long sigs. Am I remembering correct? Do you have time to take a look at a user's sig (Geofferic (talk · contribs · count)) and see if it can be reduced?

Thanks! Syrthiss (talk) 12:46, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Best I could do. –xenotalk 13:30, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks to you and Amalthea. Syrthiss (talk) 13:38, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
My talk page stalker army knows no rival. –xenotalk 13:43, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for help on my sig!

Um, for some reason, when I changed one of the sigs on my User:Talk page (by replacing the code with 'Geofferic T•C✡ 15:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC)'), now everything after it is red. It's not doing this on the Sig page. Any idea? Geofferic T•C✡ 15:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

And I notice it's not doing it here. Must be something gimp on my talk page. I'll just wipe the slate clean. Thanks! Geofferic T•C✡ 15:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Edit filter request

Hi Xeno. I have an open request for the edit filter flag at Wikipedia talk:Edit filter and was wondering if you could take a look and offer your input. Thanks, 28bytes (talk) 16:54, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

While there's not really a quorum that needs to be established, as only two editors have commented and it's been open for less than a week, I think it should remain open for a bit longer. –xenotalk 17:04, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
OK. Thanks, 28bytes (talk) 17:35, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

AWB removal

Hi Xeno, regarding this which was a sensible decision, I just wondered where requests should be made if someone notices AWB being mis-used? I may have missed it, but I couldn't see anything at WP:AWB when I first noticed the problem, but would have dropped a note somewhere if I could have. Cheers SmartSE (talk) 15:52, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Hm, you could probably post at WT:AWB or WP:ANI depending on the severity of the issue. –xenotalk 15:57, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
Ok, thanks for the reply. SmartSE (talk) 16:03, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

BCD

Just wondering, is there any purpose for {{BCD}}? -- WOSlinker (talk) 10:03, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

It makes it easier to refer to Δ (talk · contribs). –xenotalk 13:40, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Mithrandir SUL

According to the SUL util, there is no SUL for the account. m:Help:SUL does say that the wiki where the username has the most edits will become the home wiki, so I'm tempted to believe that that means you can't make an SUL if you don't own the account with the most edits though. Care to clarify? demize (t · c) 23:10, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Correct. The user with the most edits holds the "claim" to the SUL and can enable it at any time. As such, we typically decline to process requests that either create new conflicts for that claimholder or that would have the effect of allowing an en.wiki editor to "slide into" the position of best claim. –xenotalk 23:13, 31 January 2011 (UTC)
CU/U

Not meaning to rush anything, I'm just wondering, how long does it take for an usurpation? What is the "hold period"? Cheers... Mìthrandir (talk) 00:40, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

As explained above, there is currently a global conflict for that name. Perhaps you could ask the lt.wiki if they mind you taking the name globally. –xenotalk 02:05, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Xenobot Mk V

About the bot, if I type <categorytree>Fictional characters</categorytree> on this page, would the bot work properly? Because that would really save a lot of my time. Harry Blue5 (talk) 21:21, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

No, not really. If you do that, you come across categories like Category:Batman television series episodes, Category:The Blues Brothers songs, Category:Professor Challenger novels, members of which I assume are not in the scope of your project. I've recursed a few levels to give you an idea, see [6]. –xenotalk 21:40, 1 February 2011 (
Ah, but I could do multiple category trees, couldn't I? I was thinking about typing:
<categorytree>Fictional characters by gender</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by medium</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by nationality</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by occupation</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by physical feature</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by status</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional characters by superhuman feature or ability</categorytree><categorytree>Lists of fictional characters</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional duos</categorytree><categorytree>Characters by role in the narrative structure</categorytree><categorytree>Fictional character stubs</categorytree>
Pretty longwinded, but still a lot quicker than the alternative. (I think I still need to clean up those categories before I use the bot though. The Parent Trap films shouldn't be under "Fictional twins", should it?). Harry Blue5 (talk) 09:00, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Yes, some category trees are a horrible mess. You might consider using WP:AWB's list builder to try and make an exhaustive list. A category tree will never be safe for a bot to traverse. –xenotalk 17:07, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

An apology

I apologize for making you an unwitting party to my short foray into ban evasion. Pretending to be someone I am not and abusing the good faith of good people is not something I particularly want to be known for but there it is. Sorry. --Lyncs (talk) 15:38, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. –xenotalk 17:09, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

User:Sktruth

This renamed user is still editing with their old name. As they are already hurling baseless accusations of abusing admin tools at me, perhaos you would care to block the old name? Thanks. Beeblebrox (talk) 22:08, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

This happens from time to time; and not because of a deliberate act by the user - see bugzilla:26816. I left them a note. –xenotalk 22:16, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
I did try to tell them myself first, but they have not been real receptive to anything else I have had to say... Anyhoo, thanks for your attention to the matter. Beeblebrox (talk) 22:22, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

TeamFREDNET

No, I am not Vermont1998.

The creation of the TeamFREDNET login is my first activity with editing Wikipedia. I am the COO of this non-profit organization. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teamfrednet (talk • contribs) 22:48, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Please create a new account and use a name other than the name of an organization. See Wikipedia:Username policy for more. You can safely abandon the "Teamfrednet" account and stop using it. –xenotalk 22:50, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Possible Problem Editor

This anon editor popped up on my watchlist earlier today by making an edit to KDKA-TV against consensus. I took a look at their contribs and I have seen ALOT of problem edits. Could you take a look and see if a warning or block is necessary? Thanks...Neutralhomer • Talk • 23:08, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Block is out of the question; I'm not even sure they need to be warned about. Maybe a welcome note? You should probably use an edit summary explaining why you are trimming it back to just bluelinks instead of using rollback. –xenotalk 23:17, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

AWB problems

Hi m8

Long time no speak, hope all is well with you :¬)

Just wondered if you had time to take a look at a couple of AWB problems I have been trying to work out? This and the following one If not, no problem, I am sure someone will find them soon enough.

PS - Fringe is getting exciting again! lol

Chaosdruid (talk) 20:24, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Have given you some off-the-cuff answers. Haven't used AWB in a while though, so I'm getting a little rusty.
Fringe is getting exciting. I do miss the A-B-A-B-A-B of the beginning of the season though. I think we'll be in the altiverse this week though. I'm so glad that it's doing well in the death slot. Hopefully it gets picked up for S4 soon. –xenotalk 20:57, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for the help! that makes me able to go ahead and start something that has annoyed me for a while now - I had a chat with the TV project people about having found lots of articles with the character names in bold and we agreed they should be corrected so I wanted to get on with it but it was extremely annoying doing it manually.
I didn't realise that it hadn't been picked up for S4! they had better not do what they so regularly do - I will fly over and give them a piece of my mind if they do lol - so many promising series have been nipped in the bud in the last three years it gets a little annoying that they are the ones I like as well.
A glimmer of hope - [7] Chaosdruid (talk) 21:52, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
No problem. And thanks for the link. At least someone at FOX is listening... –xenotalk 22:04, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Semi-protection request

I’m not sure where to start, Xeno, on this request; but I would like to get Nation semi-protected. I.P. editors (most often from England) strip out the example in the first paragraph lede where it gives the example of “Palestinian nation” (one of the definitions that more broadly refers to a community of people who share a common territory and government—but who are not necessarily a sovereign state; and who often share a common language, race, descent, and/or history). There couldn’t be a better example of a ‘a nation of people’—that is not already a bona fide sovereign state—than the Palestinian people since the State of Palestine is today widely recognized by many sovereign states (although often in equivocal terms).

FWIW, I have zero axe to grind on this issue. In fact, on terrorist-related issues, I usually find myself arguing on the same side as those who would consider themselves pro-Israeli. None of that matters; I’m an equal-opportunity fact pusher. As you can see from the history of the Nation article, our registered editors and I have to step in too often to undo I.P.s out to make Wikipedia conform to an ideological message they’d like to push. Greg L (talk) 05:26, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Hmm... I'd sooner fully protect the article, to stimulate discussion at the talk page and not disenfranchise one side of an edit dispute. Though I hesitate to act at all, in case this ends up at arbitration one day. I will add the page to my watchlist and if it continues, I'll either throw up a full protection or request it at WP:RFPP. Sound good? Thanks for your efforts on this article. –xenotalk 17:18, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

  • …“ends up at arbitration one day.”(???) Who’s afraid of ArbCom? I am. I am!  I’ll keep all my body parts, thank you. ;-)

    Yes, I appreciate your keeping an eye out. An experienced wikipedian eye will be helpful here. If anyone can think of a better example of a “nation” that is not already a sovereign state and isn’t an American Indian nation (neither definition #1 nor 3) to use as a clarifying example to substitute for the dreaded “P‑word,” bring it on; it even says as much in the hidden editors’ note: substitute, don’t delete.

    We have articles on State of Palestine and Palestinian nationalism. The I.P.s are deleting the mention of Palestinians in the lede and then leave the entire section “#Nations that are not sovereign states intact. That’s either taking a schizophrenic approach to dealing with that which offends one’s sensibilities, or is being wholly inattentive to reading the article and its citations to the dictionary definitions.

    I originally had no mention of an example for the #2 definition (non-soveriegn state, non-American Indian nation), but when I stared at that one (straight out of the dictionaries), I wondered, “well, what the heck exemplifies a nation that is not a sovereign state?” I think the problem is that the “Palestinian nation” as a second definition is hard for the… uhm… *passionates* to accept because they assume it implies that it means the first definition (a sovereign state), which it currently is not but is getting too close for comfort. Greg L (talk) 20:07, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, my initial suggestion was going to be "find another example" - but I couldn't think of one either. In the meantime, you might want to initiate a section at the talk page explaining your rationale for using the example, along with an invitation to suggest a different one. –xenotalk 20:13, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
No kidding. What other example? Aryan Nation? Chechnyan Nation? Chocolate Nation? One might think a (Palestinian) people who are already at least partly recognized by many member states of the U.N. as being a sovereign state would be incontestable. OK; will do (start a discussion thread). I do best on these sort of things when I noodle on it for at least half a day. I’m all for using a less controversial example. But the trouble with “less controversial” in this case is that doing so would seemingly undermine the very property that makes Palestinian Nation so appropriate here. Greg L (talk) 20:30, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Well, that wasn’t hard. I had already started a discussion thread where I had thrown out the proposal of using the Palestinian nation as an example. There were several editors active on the talk page who were concerned by my wholesale trimming of the article (which had, at this stage, been a humongous essay of O.R. beyond all comprehension). But when I threw out my proposal for using the Palestinians, you could hear a pin drop. So…

I just now moved that discussion thread to the bottom of the talk page and renamed it. It is #Palestine as a people with a government that is not a sovereign state. When I got there this morning, I found a post on that thread from another editor. He had a thoughtful concern about using a single example of Palestine—pretty much along the exact same lines as you and I feel. So I answered it in a way that amounts to an open call for suggestions.

Let’s see where this takes us… Greg L (talk) 13:53, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Flemish nationalism

Hi Xeno, I thought you would be interested in the northern part of Belgium and how it has a Flemish Community that also goes by the name Flemish nation. This is being discussed on Talk:Nation here at #Arbitrary section break: Flemish nation?. What are your thoughts? As an admin, are you allowed to weigh in there? Or are you allowed, but doing so wouldn’t be wise because it would make you “involved” if it needed to be locked down? Regardless, I thought you would be interested to know about the Flemish “nation”. I did not know about it.

That’s what’s fun about Wikipedia: Learning. I write about things I want to know more about. I have some half-dozen patents in fuel cells and haven’t even read our article on that; been there-done that. And I wouldn’t look forward to being reverted by a 7th grader who *corrected* me because he read in Popular Mechanics that 20% of American’s automobiles will be powered by fuel cells by 2015. (*sigh*) Greg L (talk) 23:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

If I weigh in, I won't be able to set any protection should a dispute/edit war emerge. Plus, I'm lazy and not in an opinion-forming mood ;p. But talk page discussion (and any attendant consensus that can be established) is a good thing: because if IPs make edits against the consensus established on the talk page and do not engage in discussion, I'm less hesitant to use semi- rather than full protection.
Concur wholeheartedly about Wikipedia as a resource for learning about random stuff. I'll sometimes find myself clicking through a long string of articles and learning about whatever happens to grab my attention that day. –xenotalk 00:02, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Dealing with that other editor over there made contributing to Wikipedia too un-fun. He’s got that article to himself. I left this note on his talk page, where I see that the red-titled whoever-he-is clearly is not making friends. Thanks for taking an interest in this article. I’m done there. See you next time. Greg L (talk) 21:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Reopened section

Love your header. Cute! I just wanted to let you know that I've reopened an AN section you closed because of a change in status: here. I'm pretty sure the reopening will be noncontroversial with you, since the contributor revoked his indication that he would not participate any further, but I wasn't sure about the strikethrough, so I thought I'd best trot it by you. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 18:52, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Not controversial, but usually I suggest handling these by changing "{{resolved|1=etc}}" to "{{tlx|1=resolved|2=etc}}" and leaving the comments unstruck (per WP:STRIKE). It's you though, so I'm fine with your edit ;>. I did tweak the strike and added a comment [8]: I still think it can be considered resolved from an AN perspective. If they make further reviews out-of-process, that may change. Sound good? –xenotalk 19:02, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Oh, good idea. :) I'll do that next time. I tend to forget that templates can be uninvoked, so to speak. And I agree that it's not an AN issue at this point, revocation of intentions notwithstanding. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 19:03, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Cool. Thanks for dropping by and waking up the lazy sleeping barnstar ;p –xenotalk 19:06, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

UserName Change

Can I get a username change? It is too close to my real name. Can I get it changed to User:ChiTownBear. Thanks Copritch (talk) 22:03, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

My age old question at Wikipedia talk:Changing username/Assistance#Usurpation emails

Would you be able to stop by and give a quick answer? It would help me and any future clerks :p demize (t · c) 22:31, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Sure. –xenotalk 22:42, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Thanks! demize (t · c) 23:03, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
To be honest, I saw that question a few weeks ago and didn't really have a good answer, so I ignored it - hoping you would forget ;p –xenotalk 23:04, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Heh, I did forget, but then something reminded me :p demize (t · c) 23:25, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

WP:UAA

Xeno, further to the recent changes made to the user name policy which you initiated the other day, I believe Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention/Instructions may need a look over ("Explicit use of a name or url of a company, group or product as a username is not permitted. Since usernames that are the name of a company or group create the appearance of intent to promote that group, accounts with a company or group name as a username are indefinitely blocked.") to make it consistent with the policy. If the change sticks (which I hope it will), it will probably make sense to give the UAA regulars a heads-up as well. --JN466 12:29, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Done as suggested. Thanks for the reminder, –xenotalk 13:34, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Good. There'll be a few less people with bite marks now. ;) --JN466 13:39, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Hopefully... –xenotalk 13:41, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect at VP/policy

This is not correct. As I responded. Please revert somehow. -DePiep (talk) 20:44, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

What is incorrect? –xenotalk 20:46, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Multi-page (edit conflict). To me this  clears it. -DePiep (talk) 20:53, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Alright. Thanks, –xenotalk 20:54, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Little help

I'm not sure where to report the owner of these accounts:User:Tamara Zion, Tamara Zion (renamed), User:PURRfectly Perfect, User:Perfect with a PURR and 'spouse' User:A Sharp Dressed Man. Not only is she using multiple accounts, but she also left a not very nice message on my wall, and is modifing my comments on other talk pages, she has some less than civil edit summaries and an has a less than cooperative attitude. Could you let me know where is most appropriate to post this user, or could you handle it yourself, thanks. Passionless -Talk 05:46, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Nevermind, I have just discovered the {{Adminhelp}} template, so unless you find this real soon, you can ingnore my comment, thanks, Passionless -Talk 06:58, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Another admin appears to have stepped in here. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Cheers, –xenotalk 13:43, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
There was no cause for concern.  :) Hi Xeno! Tamara Zion (talk) 21:12, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Re: Copying within Wikipedia

Hi. Thanks for letting me know. Hugahoody (talk) 23:07, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Convenient template

There's a template that allows you to leave a quick note on user's talkpages saying you've responded to their CHUS/CHUU request (and it even links to it!). {{subst:CHU note|1=USURP|sig=y}} will make a note for CHUU, {{subst:CHU note|sig=y}} will make a note for CHUS. Thought you might find it useful =) (It would also be useful if somebody made a javascript thing that added a link to each entry on CHUS and CHUU to leave a note, I've considered doing so but javascript isn't my forte :p) demize (t · c) 17:30, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

That's a great idea. Should be easy enough to hack up using inputbox. –xenotalk 18:34, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
I don't see how inputbox would make it work, personally. What I was thinking was a link next to the requesting username saying something like "Leave CHU note" that would open the user's talk page in a new tab, already adding a new section preloaded with {{subst:CHU note|1=USURP|sig=y}} or {{subst:CHU note|sig=y}}, depending on the page it's located on. It would probably be a relatively easy script to write, but like I said, javascript isn't my forte :p (of course, it could also be added to {{renameuser2}} and {{usurp2}}, which would be easier but some users may not like it) demize (t · c) 18:45, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
Yes, my thought was to just install it into the templates. We could hide it with css by default if anyone had an issue with it. –xenotalk 22:21, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
That would work. If you'd like me to add it, I can (I think), otherwise you can. Or anything else you think should happen you can do (like starting a discussion about it). demize (t · c) 22:41, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
Well, I've got a "modded" version of renameuser2 in my sandbox now, shouldn't be hard to make the change in the actual template. As well, I don't currently have it hidden by default, but that could be easily added. Your thoughts? demize (t · c) 01:24, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
Uh, just saw a problem that wasn't actually a problem... if you're going to try to make sure the link works, use this page: User:Demize/dev/null/Sandbox. It's using the template from the sandbox, so the parameter is actually parsed instead of just thrown into the url as {{{1}}}. demize (t · c) 01:38, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
I think it will be well-received. –xenotalk 17:49, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
Well, I've added it to both {{Renameuser2}} and {{Usurp2}}, and everything appears fine now. The preload templates could probably be semi-protected though, as they're never going to need to change and a vandal changing it could be pretty bad, but I do doubt a vandal would go that far. demize (t · c) 21:18, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

← Cool. Nice work. Since we're on it, it would probably make sense to add a "notify user" (adds {{usurpr}}) to the target username line. –xenotalk 21:21, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Fringe

Lol - looks like we were right about interesting again ! Wonder if the baby will be "The One" :¬) Chaosdruid (talk) 22:22, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

The viewership numbers aren't encouraging though - it was the least watched episode in the history of the series =\. –xenotalk 17:49, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
If I could I would fly over and buy 20 TV sets for everyone I know in the US and Canada and force them to watch, that would add at least 80 to the totals! lol
Ah well, "DuhDuh Duh-Duh-Duh Another one bites the ..." Maybe the baby will be born, Peter will be sucked to the other Alt Realit, Walternate will meet Walter and they will both explode in a violent matter-anti-matter explosion only to be saved by the baby climbing in the machine and turning the two AR's into one, people with foour arms and legs and two heads in some crazy great big Escher-esque style [9] + [10]
Or maybe they will all live happy ever after, who knows - if they cancel we'll have to write the scripts ourselves...hang on Giacomo could do it... User_talk:Malleus_Fatuorum#Catching_up
Hope all is well with you and, as you seem pretty busy (although that's not always a bad thing), I'll leave you to it :¬)
Chaosdruid (talk) 18:51, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

yeah, its a blue bar now...

See also: Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) § Blue new message bars?!

Ultimate grief to all the people with fake 'You have new messages' orange bars on their talkpages. Syrthiss (talk) 19:23, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Ha! Anyways, it's still orange in monobook. Monobook 4eva! –xenotalk 19:26, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi. Quick question: there's some sort of rule about requiring that images that override the default target (using the |link= parameter) must be public domain, isn't there? If so, do you know where that's made explicit? And if so, does it apply to images like the logo? Or maybe I'm crazy. Just a general question because I figure you'd know; not related to any edits of yours or anything. --MZMcBride (talk) 05:48, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Images that override the default target to the image description page have to be public domain or under a license that specifically does not require attribution (such as GNU LPGL or similar), unless attribution is provided by some other means - such as at User:Jack Merridew (on days where he is showing such an image). This is explained at Wikipedia:Alternative text for images#Links and attribution but strangely missing from more relevant pages such as Wikipedia:Image use policy. –xenotalk 13:26, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
Ah, got it. Thanks. :-) (Still not quite sure the Wikipedia logo meets those requirements, but image copyright in general just makes me annoyed and upset, so I'll move on.) --MZMcBride (talk) 03:51, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
If we were being quite strict, we would't really be using the Wiki*edia logos for decorative purposes at all. But as far as I know the Foundation takes a relaxed view with their use, on Wikimedia projects at least. –xenotalk 14:10, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
Unrelated matter

accidental edit

Hey, I accidently reverted Tonya Kay's wiki by accident. I was comparing versions which I click the wrong button. Anyways I believe I fixed it back to your revision. I just felt I needed to explain the accident. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ricky1146 (talk • contribs) 05:03, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

No worries. Thanks for the note. –xenotalk 13:28, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi Xeno, don't know how familiar you are with unix and committed identity hashes. I've wanted to place one on my page for a while, but I'm leery of doing it because the hash version that I can create on my local machine doesn't match the version that the website link from the committed identity page gives. I don't like being dependent on some other source to recreate the hash, and especially dubious if I'm not getting the same result from two different sources. You have any advice? Thanks. Syrthiss (talk) 19:03, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

I'm not too familiar with it - I would expect the hash should be the same, though? Are you sure you're using the same algorithm? –xenotalk 19:07, 17 February 2011 (UTC)
To my knowledge, yes...but I may not be familiar enough with the flags on the unix hash routine they suggested to get it right. Certainly every time I create it on my machine it is the same, but that gets into the problem with a single source again - what if I lose access to this particular machine. /runs_in_circles. Syrthiss (talk) 19:12, 17 February 2011 (UTC)
Well, you ought keep in mind that it isn't you that has to recreate it for the same result - it is whoever is going to verify your committed identity. e.g. 1) you lose access to your account 2) you give your committed identity phrase to someone who 3) enters it into a hash calculator and 4) verifies the result matches the hash you left on your userpage. So I would say, in this case, you should use something like http://jssha.sourceforge.net/ to be sure the individual in 2,3,4) is getting the proper result. –xenotalk 19:17, 17 February 2011 (UTC)
True, tho if I don't trust that two algorithms produce the same results I am not likely to trust that someone else could reproduce it as well...but I get your point. I could probably live with that, especially considering that I have communicated with enough other folks here + confirmed my RL identity with WMF in the past. Thanks. Syrthiss (talk) 19:28, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:RFA#ErrantX

Could you please close this RFA? --Addihockey10 e-mail 13:50, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Ah, it's still open? I knew I had something to check on this morning... –xenotalk 13:53, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
Heh, thanks for catching that. It'd probably have otherwise sat there for aaaaaages before I noticed :) --Errant (chat!) 16:26, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
No worries =) –xenotalk 16:26, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

help me

CARIPASS page added some more information but would really appreciate a second pair of eyes on the editing and content to ensure that I stay within the guidelines. Thanks Preceding unsigned comment added by KiKils (talk • contribs) 16:43, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the note, I will take a look. Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by using four ~tildes~. Cheers, –xenotalk 16:58, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

status changer config

Cheers, Jack Merridew 06:52, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Changing User:Neutralhomer/monobook.js would only change how pages appear to Neutralhomer himself, rather than changing how Neutralhomer's user page looks to everyone. - Kingpin13 (talk) 06:58, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
Unless you mean changing Template:Statustop (where the margin top is currently specified)... in which case it will mess up in vector. At the moment it looks great in vector, but messes up in monobook, changing it to around -40 would make it look great in monobook, but mess up in vector. - Kingpin13 (talk) 07:00, 19 February 2011 (UTC)


(edit conflict) He was fine with cutting it; I did. @tps; I know it's his local config.

The real issue here is the the origin for relative positioning is different in monobook and vector; above and below the heading. The devs broke the page model, and anything that tries to position something gets tripped up by it. Anyway, fixed enough for me; back to West Sumatra. Cheers, Jack Merridew 07:07, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

parserFunctions to detect user skin maybe? –xenotalk 16:58, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
That's an interesting idea; I'll have to look into it. Cheers, Jack Merridew 18:09, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Email

Thank you for your email. I have thought carefully about it, and you do have some valid points. I will reply to it in more detail when I have more time, which may not be for a couple of days. JamesBWatson (talk) 12:10, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

unblock the guy?

is it time, yet? on a MacBook, Jack Merridew 04:43, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Probably best to make a request at WP:A/R/A and present a case for lifting of the restrictions. –xenotalk 14:52, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
Cheers, Jack Merridew 01:36, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Loremaster

Back in March 2010, you conditionally unblocked User:Loremaster. Since that was nearly a year ago and the sanctions seemed to be at least in part voluntary, do you think those conditions should apply to Loremaster's extensive use of IPs since then? Delicious carbuncle (talk) 04:13, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

I guess it depends on if the IPs were used in a disruptive manner or not. The problem back then was the use of IPs to evade blocks and further edit wars. If that is not occurring here, then it is not a big problem - the restrictions were not meant to be indefinite. –xenotalk 13:36, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Question For You

I had no idea where to find it, but I knew that my usurpation request had been denied (let's be honest, I'm still under this nick, aren't I? *LOL*). Early on in the process I had feared it would be a reject because the nickname had edits on other Wikis.

Now, I have only today located the Reject above with both Avi's note and your eventual reject (which I cannot argue). Thus, I have now renewed my effort to establish my identity under my proper identity, which as of April 2011 will be ten years since I adopted anywhere online (that first post as Cyclone occurred at the Armageddon Games forums, now much less active than it was back then). It would be nice to celebrate that 10 years by establishing my identity here as well under my nickname of ten years.

I have taken the steps to contact "Cyclone" at both the RuWiki and the JaWiki. My concerns with these users, however, is that they both appear to be fairly inactive and I worry they may not answer my query even on their own pages, much less my talk page which I asked them to do (I should note that I manhandled the signature to link to my pages instead of signing as an IP there, not a huge deal IMO but I guess we'll see). My query therefore is what happens if they don't respond within, say, a week? Is there anything I can do if they prove to be inactive even to this type of request? I can't read either language on those pages, and have no idea how to convert them, so it would be difficult for me to find my way around their pages; I only located their userpages because, predictably, they follow the same URL format in all Wikis. Requesting usurpation in those Wikis individually would be next to impossible as well (strangely, the contributions pages don't show edits for those, either), so I am just worried about if they don't respond. Maybe I'm putting the egg before the chicken (or whatever order is wrong - do we know?), but I worry about things. =) CycloneGU (talk) 00:48, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

I recently wrote a bit on this at Wikipedia:Handling SUL conflicts. Getting consent is definitely the best bet. FYI you can change the interface to English on those sites and follow "WP:USURP" which will usually get you to the local venue. –xenotalk 01:44, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
This might be answered in the guideline somewhere, but I am probably missing it. How do you change the interface to English on the other Wikis? CycloneGU (talk) 04:25, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
Either guess at the buttons to get there, or navigate directly to special:Preferences, the language is on the main preferences page. –xenotalk 05:29, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
You might want to tweak your message to let them know they can keep their names on their local wikis (it would mean you would be unable to use your SUL there, but it might make them more likely to consent). We just need them to consent to you taking over the "claim" to the SUL. Since the ja.wiki user has over 1000 edits, I think we really do need to hear from them, and the ru user, before we can proceed. Sorry for the trouble. –xenotalk 15:04, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
I'm guessing that they won't reply on the talk page regardless of my message, so I can tweak it anytime. I'm basing my guess on looking at other usurpation requests where someone suddenly comes in saying, "No, I still want this name!" and then goes away again for months. It won't be until an usurpation attempt on those Wikis, if at all, that I can get their attention.
In that vein, another question. I was not able to choose to see the Wikis in English. Obviously I have not registered this nickname on that Wiki. Should I do that and try to usurp using it? I won't be editing on those Wikis, so I have a concern about being declined instantly based on that, though I would make a case for claiming the global account name in question based from this Wiki (and the fact it's an English term). CycloneGU (talk) 07:13, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
If you go to special:MergeAccount, you should be able to create an SUL that automatically create accounts for you as you visit other wikis. Then you can set the interface to English. And if you are able to acquire the Cyclone name on ja. and ru., we can still perform the rename here, even though you've enabled SUL. –xenotalk 13:54, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Help

I'm an bureaucrat hopeful and I would want like some bureaucrat coaching. May you help me? ~~Awsome EBE123~~(talk | Contribs) 12:10, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

To date, no one who had not already had a successful RfA has been successful at RfB. So, I would suggest you seek adminship first (see WP:GUIDERFA and WP:PASSRFA for some further reading). And, unlike adminship, the bureaucrat task is relatively simple and would not lend itself well to coaching. Best of luck, –xenotalk 13:36, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
I thought that being an admin was a requirement for becoming a bureaucrat. Looks like I was wrong, but I don't think the community would ever promote somebody who wasn't first an admin to a bureaucrat position :p Also, I think that bureaucrats inherit rights from administrators, so that should be a barrier (but I could easily be wrong about the inheritance). demize (t · c) 23:39, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
It's not a de jure requirement, but is is (pretty much) a de facto requirement. And yes, the bureaucrat package is unfortunately missing a few abilities essential to 'crat tasks, so a bureaucrat has to hang on to their admin tools in order to be fully effective. I tried to remedy this in the past (see also: bugzilla:25752), but unfortunately ran into various inexplicable objections. Might try again at some future date, but for now I need to hang on to the administrator package to be an effective arbitrator. –xenotalk 23:45, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Notified Takeo of usurp.

Just letting you know. SixthAtom (talk) 21:53, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. The bot just updated the listing too. It will be processed (if no objections) in about a week. –xenotalk 22:00, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
Awesome. ★Takeo™ 22:08, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Thank you

Dear Xeno,

I've just had a very long and helpful discussion with CharlieEchoTango in the chatroom. He helped me get my writing page unblocked so that I could post to you. As you have learned by being so kind to take the time to investigate my situation, I am new to actually participating in Wikipedia. I have been a longtime fan of the site, and one of my favorite things to do has been to use it as one of my favorite research resources. Comedy is a huge part of my life - it's my greatest passion and my second greatest passion is interviews and biographies. Anyway, long story short, I recently decided to take a try at adding comedians and comedy acts that were missing from wiki. Stone and Stone was my first attempt and you know what happened next...just so many misunderstandings and then just one massive frustrating situation - but I'm so grateful for people like you that got involved - your patience and time that you all put into helping - I am incredibly touched by that. I had NO idea wikipedia could get so dramatic, afterall I was doing something on my free time, it seemed like a pleasant activity and a great way to up my tech knowledge! Well, lol, I'll admit that I'm a bit timid about proceeding, but hopefully I'll be more knowledgeable for it than if I had begun and had no conflicts!  :) Hope that all made sense. Anyway, thank you again so very much and I hope to put all of you and your colleagues advice to good use and make y'all proud with my articles to come. Like I said to CharlieEchoTango, I'll be taking a week off until my blood pressure goes down :) but then I'll be looking forward to contributing again soon!

Best Wishes, Comedybiographer (talk) 06:36, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi Comedybiographer,
I'm glad to hear that there are Wikipedians out helping integrate new users into the culture here.
I think that some users who have been here for a long time have forgotten what it was like to be new, and are perhaps a little too quick to assume the worst.
Thank you for your perseverance, and please feel free to let me know if you run into any further issues.
Happy (and hopefully stress-free) editing, –xenotalk 13:51, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for fixing the header

Thanks for fixing the header. I know it may not have been appropriate for me to close that but I was being bold because I believe that all parties at this point have said what they needed to say and there's not much point in leaving it open indefinately. --Kumioko (talk) 15:49, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, normally the subject shouldn't close an ANI concerning them, but I think this is a fine invocation of IAR if you think that further discussion will not improve the encyclopedia.
I do hope you'll (either now or in the near future) reconsider your decision to leave Wikipedia, though. You can still do all the good things you were doing if you just stop doing the trivial stuff. And if you believe something that someone considers trivial is important, propose it be done at WP:VPR and gather consensus for the task. –xenotalk 15:54, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
Thanks. I may do the occassional edit but not the volume I was doing andn probably just from an IP. --Kumioko (talk) 15:57, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
I also notified CBM who opened it in case he disagrees. It seemed the right thing to do under the circumstances. --Kumioko (talk) 16:08, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
Not a bad idea. I don't think there will be any objections to your closure. –xenotalk 16:21, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

No subject header, but I imagine you know what I'm talking about

Wow. You really just can't win, can you? I firmly believe you all handled that tragedy in the best way possible, and for what it's worth, I deeply respect what ArbCom tried to do here. I suppose a truly wise ArbCom would not have been surprised at the reaction, but this error was due to over-estimating the "Community", so at least it was an honorable mistake.

I don't trust myself to say anything more about this in public right now; I've already toned this down substantially before hitting "Save page". I wouldn't want to say how I really feel - you might have to have another Immoral Kafkaesque Sekrit Trial to desysop me for conduct unbecoming. --Floquensock (talk) 16:31, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Gold Hat has given you a cookie! Cookies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. You can Spread the "WikiLove" by giving someone else a cookie, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.

To spread the goodness of cookies, you can add {{subst:Cookie}} to someone's talk page with a friendly message, or eat this cookie on the giver's talk page with {{subst:munch}}!

  • I have some ideas on what we might have done differently. Though hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Thank you for the note, Floq; and the cookie, 'Hat. –xenotalk 02:45, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
Never mind. I think we've got down to... whatever comes after the peanut gallery (I have to be careful what I say).Elen of the Roads (talk) 15:12, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

I suppose you've been busy

I haven't seen you around much recently :p Although, with ArbCom, I guess you have lots of work recently (especially with the whole debacle going on right now). Why'd you bother volunteering for hell anyway? :p demize (t · c) 02:56, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Maybe so the rest of us can get good work done perhaps? —UncleDouggie (talk) 03:01, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
Yes, "♫ for the good of all of us... ♫" –xenotalk 14:00, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Rename

Thanks for the rename! Sactage Talk 21:01, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Er, just now, when I signed with ~~~~, and it input [[User:Sactage|Sactage]] [[User talk:Sactage|Talk]] 21:01, 28 February 2011 (UTC), as opposed to [[User:Furries|Furries]] [[User talk:Furries|Talk]] 21:01, 28 February 2011 (UTC). Is that normal? Furries Talk 21:04, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
No problem...
See Wikipedia:How to fix your signature. –xenotalk 21:07, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
Ah, thanks, I probably should've figured that out myself. Furries Talk 16:39, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Rename to pancakegirl

Hello Xeno, can you please tell me, what happens to edits I've already done if I rename myself? Does the name change on all the old edits? Also, where is the "permanent log" filed? Best wishes (not sure what to sign off!) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amybinns (talk • contribs) 22:22, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

If you go thru with the rename, your contributions will move along with you and they will be re-attributed to the new name. The permanent log is in the rename log; see here to see the record of my own rename. –xenotalk 22:29, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Thankyou Xeno. Please go ahead with the rename. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amybinns (talk • contribs) 22:32, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

You should be able to log in to the new name now. –xenotalk 22:35, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

My Usurpation request

Dear Xeno, can you please process my usurpation request a little fast?.. I think you would not have any issues in approving my usurpation request. Kindly consider my request favourably. R.Sivanesh ✆ 16:30, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

The request looks fine, but usually we do hold these for up to a week - is there a reason you need it done faster? –xenotalk 16:33, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
The reason is that I have my exams so I will not be able to come back to wiki for another 2-3 weeks. R.Sivanesh ✆ 16:36, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Hm, you needn't worry about that - your request will be processed fairly soon and there shouldn't be any further action required on your part. –xenotalk 16:38, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
There seems to be an unattached account in tamil wiki will it get absorbed automatically or should I do anything?.. R.Sivanesh ✆ 16:45, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
You would need to request usurp of that account at m:SR/UC. –xenotalk 16:47, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Thank you! for that information. R.Sivanesh ✆ 16:51, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Dear Xeno, the bureaucrat in Tamil wiki is not aware of the procedure for usurpation can you help him out? His His talk page is ta:பயனர்_பேச்சு:Natkeeran#Usurpation_request. R.Sivanesh ✆ 19:28, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Do you speak Tamil? I don't, and Google can't translate. But you can see the procedure in English here: Wikipedia:Bureaucrats#Usurpations. –xenotalk 20:50, 1 March 2011 (UTC)


You dont have to know Tamil. Tamil people can understand English fairly well. Please tell him that there is no first come first serve basis for user names. He does not seem to know that there is concept called Usurpation. R.Sivanesh ✆ 08:53, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
I have commented there [11]. Hope that helps. –xenotalk 14:02, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

I just wanted to point out that I'm not sure the link you left justifies your point. IF anything it shows a lack of consensus, even then, of what does or does not constitute a minor edit. Additionally, since then, thousands of improvements have been made to AWB to largely nullify any argument for the rule being added. IN addition to the servers being upgraded a couple times since then and are much much more powerful than they were back then. If this was indeed the deciding factor of why the Minor/trivial edit rule was instituted it might be the time to rereview it. --Kumioko (talk) 19:29, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

I know you are fond of cleaning up wikicode with edits that are generally considered insignificant, but arguments against making trivial edits are still compelling. See also: [12] [13] –xenotalk 19:35, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for the speedy reply and the links. After mining through about 20 or thirty none seem to indicate a clear consensus on the issue of what is or is not a minor edit. There are some agreement regarding specific examples where the edits being made where disagreed upon such as Template redirects or date delinking but not much outside that clearly agreeing an edit as minor. As I mentioned before I still think that someone needs to establish clearly what is considered a minor edit, perhaps in a table form, that can be added too (or removed) as needed rather than a vague catch all description.
For example, after reading the many of the discussions I can see that there does seem to be agreement that removing blank spaces or changes to casing are minor and shouldn't be done alone. Aside from those 2, the rest where argued both ways and it appears that the more technical users won the arguments by force of will and access rights. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here but I just wanted to point out that the example you gave didn't really emphasize what you were trying to convey and if anything supporterted the opposition if they had bothered to read it. --Kumioko (talk) 20:07, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Well, we all have unconscious biases which tend to cause us to interpret discussions more in line with our personal beliefs. You are free to initiate an RFC on the subject, to see if the community minds if AWB starts being (ab)used by editors with a compulsion to boost their edit count to make low-value changes that have no net effect on the rendered page. Maybe we can even have a group of users users who will add spaces around headers, and another group who will remove spaces around header. That would be fun, wouldn't it? –xenotalk 20:10, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
I think that your response is silly and missing my point. My point is to clarify them because they are too Vague'. How is these edits should not be done: worse than saying don't do minor edits (with no clear idea of what they are so that whenever an editor that disagrees and has access can block them or revoke their access)? If editors abuse it then they can be dealt with at that time. Then if they do there will be no doubt what is a minor edit and is or is not allowed because they will be clrearly defined. If someone finds a loop hole well discuss it and if consensus agrees its minor we can add it to the list. But it can't be worse than the constant discussions about what is or is not a minor edit that are currently going on. They are almost daily. Personally I find no joy in discussions and would rather edit. But that ship has sailed and after striking a mine in shallow waters sank within sight of the shoreline. Now I find myself compelled to try and clarify some of the vagueness and arbitrary rules that are in place for no other reason than someone years ago thought they might be a good idea on a forum 5 people watch and got consensus. I have no intention of starting an RFC about it though because whatever credibility I had was taken from me when my access was revoked and I was sent to ANI. But if it comes up I will comment on it and wehter I agree with them or not I will continue to enforce the rules as they are. There are a lot of good editors out there doing minor/trivial edits (most of which help the pedia in some small way) that need to be stopped. --Kumioko (talk) 20:29, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
I'm confused. On the one hand you tell me that you don't think my edit was justified, on the other you say the rules should be clarified. My edit was to restore a clarification on trivial edits (that was removed by an editor who habitually makes trivial edits and has an active editing restriction for the same). I understand that you disagree with the position that there is no need to make an edit simply to remove a deprecated parameter, but that is one example of what many believe to be an insignificant or trivial edit, and edits like this are nicely captured by the statement "has no effect on the rendered page". Am I missing something? –xenotalk 20:32, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Sorry we got on a tangent here a bit. Originally I just wanted to clarify that the link you provided as justification, really doesn't justify the rule in the first place and made me start to question the reasoning for the rules existance as written. Many users as you put it is defined as 2 or 3 btw not "many" and not really a consensus. If we are going to determine what consitutes a minor edit then we should address that to the larger audience at the Village pump, not on the AWB talk page again that few actively watch. Then once its determined what a minor edit it should be enforced to all bots, users and scripts equally if there is consenus for such a change rather than enforcing a stricter policy on AWB users than for the rest of the community.
As much as it may appear otherwise I do agree with you that some edits should not be done solely such as removing blank spaces or changing from one case to another. I have never argued otherwise, I simply disagree that just because a change doesn't render anything to the page it is a minor edit and can't be done. We just need to clarify what those minor edits are and right now its the same people saying we have consensus when a consensus in many cases has not been clearly reached. --Kumioko (talk) 20:50, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Consensus for this type of thing develops organically over a number of years. So you are right that there probably isn't going to be a clear discussion that you can point to and say "Aha! This discussion proves that removing |nested=yes (is/is not) insignificant!" If you want to initiate a discussion at one of the Pumps, feel free. –xenotalk 20:58, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks but as I mentioned before I have no credibility anymore after the ANI and my AWB rights were revoked. Its part of the reason I stopped editing and added the retired template (that I changed to Semi after someone sent me a very amusing EMAIL about it) and why I am only editing in discussions now so that I can, as the EMAIL writer put it, "Keep those who shall not be named from controlling the ministry". Its only a matter of time before someone else brings it up anyway, probably in the next couple weeks, so I'll just say my piece then. --Kumioko (talk) 21:25, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
You may feel that way (that you've lost all your credibility), but it's not true. And remember that Mag was willing to restore your AWB access as long as certain (imo, very reasonable) assurances were provided. –xenotalk 21:33, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
The funny thing is my rights got revoked for what amounts to 1 type of edit out of literally thousands of useful things I did to fix WP and rather than let me finish the last 1500 or open a discussion he revoked my rights because he didn't agree. Aside from the benevolent intervention he made it sound like thats what it boiled down too. He disagreed with what I was doing with the standardization of the Wikiproject banners and used the other edit to stop me from doing the standardization, which others continue to do by the way. I spent a massive amount of my time to fix things on here with AWB and manually so one editor with admin rights and a bot account who does less edits in a week than I was doing in an hour could revoke me. Because thats better for WP. Because CBM knows best. No thanks my AWB useage is over as the time I was spending fixing problems. If knowone cares about fixing that stuff then I have better things to spend my time on. IF I start editing again I will rewrite my AWB module into a java script and do it that way. I won't be able to do nearly as many article improvements but there's less wikiocracy hobbling the effort. It shouldn't really take that long anyway its only 7200 lines of code! --Kumioko (talk) 22:28, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

British Listed Buildings

Hi. I was wondering if you could help me organize a bot to draw up lists of listed buildings in the UK from http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/. We are missing a massive amount of content and I think we should have at least lists like the lists of National Registry US places for the British equivalent.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:14, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Dr. Blofeld - I'm not doing much bot work anymore - plus that sounds like a more complicated bot than I'm capable of =) Have you tried WP:BOTREQ? –xenotalk 02:32, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

OK, will do. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:25, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

ClueBot

Hey Xeno!

I just thought I'd draw your attention to this edit made on ClueBot NG's talk page. It's just it doesn't look like it came from you and it looks very strange to say the least!--5 albert square (talk) 23:26, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Haha, that's a rather amusing attempt to fake being xeno :p They didn't even get the capitalization right! demize (t · c) 01:17, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
Was that what it was?! I wasn't sure lol, I'll go and remove it --5 albert square (talk) 01:32, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, if you look at xeno's signature it's bold, black, and all lowercase. That wasn't :p As well, xeno is from Canada (presumably the Toronto area, based on a previous discussion on his talk page, but quite possibly not) and the IP that did that edit was from Western Australia... so, about as far away as possible. :p demize (t · c) 01:46, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
Definitely not mine - thanks for removing it =) –xenotalk 02:32, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

xenobot mk v

Hi, when do you think it'll run again? I have a request at User talk:Xenobot Mk V#WP:RIGHT. Thanks! Lionel (talk) 04:49, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Are the other members of the project on board with it? You might consider posting {{subst:User talk:Xenobot/R}} to the project talk page. –xenotalk 13:21, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
It's been posted for 5 days and no objections Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Conservatism#Bot_article_tagging Lionel (talk) 23:44, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
I've left a short note there noting the request for auto-assessment. I am hoping that EdoDodo (talk · contribs) is able to pick up the task. –xenotalk 13:39, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Online Ambassador Program

Please take a look at this project page and see if you can be a mentor to one of the many Areas of Study. If you can, please put your name in the "Online Mentor" area of the Area of Study of your choice and then contact the students you will be working with. As the Coordinating Online Ambassador for this project, please let me know if I can be of assistance. Take Care...Neutralhomer • Talk • 04:12, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

How much work is involved in this kind of stuff? Is it like being an adopter? I probably don't have enough cycles to pitch in. Thanks for the note, though. –xenotalk 13:34, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Can your bot help me?

Hey Xeno, I need a little help from you.

Well, I need to tag every article related to List_of_number-one_rhythm_and_blues_hits_(United_States) with the {{R&B and Soul Music}} template.


E.G. Talk:List of number-one R&B singles of 2011 (U.S.)
Talk:List of number-one R&B singles of 2010 (U.S.)
Talk:List of number-one R&B singles of 2009 (U.S.)


can you help me out? Thanks in advance.


Regards Eduemoni↑talk↓ 04:31, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Sure, see User:Xenobot Mk V#Instructions. Probably Xenobot's stand-in will do it though. –xenotalk 13:32, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Status top

Hi

I could do with a little help, I appreciate you are busy though and don't want to take up too much of your time...I have been using the {{Statustop|offset=100}} for some years now. I tried your version just in case it would make a difference and it was much easier to use that, although it did what was intended I still had to manually save the page. So I have three questions:

First, is there anything that you know of that can do the change without having to accept the edit? e.g. something which only goes to online if I am logged in and then goes offline when I log out? I would prefer to only have to manually change it when I am switching between on, around and away.

Secondly, is there a way to exclude the edits from the edit count? If I am changing status several times in a working session that is a fairly large amounts of edits to my space over a month when I am just changing status. You can reply "don't worry about it" if that is the most appropriate response lol.

I also had to remove the script as it seemed to be interfering with the cite bar in the text editor. When the script was in the only button which worked was the "Insert" - I could not get the "show/hide extra fields" or the other buttons to work. Third question then - Do you know of anything which caused this and is there a fix? I cannot remember the page that I got your script from or I would put a note there :¬)

Thanks Chaosdruid (talk) 22:48, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

1) Not that I know of. Back when I cared about displaying my online status, I asked for this but no one was willing to program it for fear of incurring the wrath of the devs.
2) I wouldn't worry about it too much. You could always request the page to be deleted once in a while, that way it wouldn't reflect in your "live edits" count.
3) I'm not too sure. I didn't really write the script, I just hacked about a script that someone else wrote. I know it was designed with Monobook in mind, so maybe it's a vector thing? You might post to WP:VPT asking someone to re-write it for Vector.
Best of luck! –xenotalk 23:02, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for that, especially the point about deleting. I should try more to think outside the box, although Escher and I have a similar sense of the world and so the box may not actually have an outside lol.
I similarly used to care religiously, recently I have left it at online for months at a time - even when I was abroad for several weeks lol (blushes). I really only use it when I am in the middle of an ongoing "live" discussion, or when people are waiting for responses and I am otherwise occupied so they know when I am back. I suppose it really is not of much use. I did not miss it when it was not there for a couple of weeks...maybe I will delete for now, ask for some coding, and worry more about important things :¬) Chaosdruid (talk) 00:30, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Audit Subcommittee RfC removed from CENT

I have removed the Audit Subcommittee RfC from WP:CENT and added it to the archive. I hope you don't mind. - Hydroxonium (H3O+) 02:40, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Nope- that's great. Thank you for doing that. –xenotalk 03:06, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Usurpation

Dear Xeno, Thank you for favourably considering my usurpation request! R.Sivanesh ✆ 05:53, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

No problem. Don't forget to update your signature. Happy editing, –xenotalk 15:10, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the rename.

I was wondering why it took so long to do a rename. Maybe you could tell me how that process works out on my talk page? Takeo 17:23, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Requests for usurpation are usually held for up to a week, to give the owner of the target username an opportunity to object. Had you requested a name that wasn't taken, it would've been much swifter. –xenotalk 17:31, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Question

If an RFA has the percentage to pass could a bureaucrat close it as unsuccessful? Just wondering. Inka888 06:11, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

While the percentages are often a useful metric, an RFA is only successful if a bureaucrat closes it as successful. –xenotalk 15:10, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
So consensus or no consensus, it is up to the bureaucrat if one is to become an admin or not? Inka888 07:50, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
If, in the bureaucrats' best judgment, there is no consensus to promote, they should not promote. The raw percentage does not bind the action of the bureaucrat - consensus does. –xenotalk 02:57, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Confirmed

Could you add confirmed rights to my public computer account? Inka888 11:45, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

 Done –xenotalk 02:57, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, Inka888 03:05, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Username usurp David Able --> Quinn

Since I am unable to usurp that user name, could User:David Able be moved to User:Quinn1. I've already created the page and inserted redirects. See User:Quinn1. I'm not sure if that's all I need to do in this case. Thanks! -----Quinn CLOUDY 21:33, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for putting me on the right track. Pretty tedious work you 'crats do it seems. I'm thankful for your efforts :) -----Quinn CLOUDY 02:52, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
No problem =) –xenotalk 02:57, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, especially because I do half your work for you ;P demize (t · c) 03:24, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
Many hands make light work =) –xenotalk 04:58, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Rodent tagging

Hi Xeno, thanks for tagging so many WP:RODENT articles with your bot. In a few cases, the bot run caused articles to get double tags (example; same with most of the articles listed at [14]). You might be able to fix those and add some logic to the bot to prevent this in the future. Ucucha 04:50, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. This is because both Mammals and Squirrels were getting converted to Rodents during the task. This should not occur in the future, since this was a one-off run. I'll try and scan for duplicates and remove. –xenotalk 13:42, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks. Well, there might be other unexpected situations that result in double tagging, but I don't know how easy it would be to check for that. Ucucha 20:58, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
I just scanned all the talk pages in the Rodents project for WikiProject Rodent.*?WikiProject Rodent, and there were fourteen more needing duplicate removal: [15]. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. –xenotalk 17:42, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

He

Hi xeno! You are xeno from thetestwiki.org? Memo18 (talk) 11:03, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably not. I am xeno at http://test.wikipedia.org, but probably not xeno at any non-Wikimedia project. –xenotalk 22:27, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Usurption Revisited

All right, neither "Cyclone" used on the RU or JA Wikis replied. So now I am trying to figure out how to make an usurp request on both Wikis. I know I can now visit those Wikis and make the change to show the place in English, but what is the likelihood that I will be able to usurp both of them? I know if I can succeed at an usurp that I can then usurp the one here as well...in other words, which one is the one I should try to usurp most? i.e. which actually holds the global account? the other I can do later. =) CycloneGU (talk) 01:52, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

The ja.wiki has the most edits, so currently holds the claim. If you usurp at ja. wiki, the claim would go to the active ru user where usurp may be difficult. User with the most edits holds the claim and is able to create the global account. –xenotalk 02:03, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
What makes the RU attempt more difficult? If the user is not active, isn't an usurp more likely? CycloneGU (talk) 02:24, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
It will depend on their local policy. Ru user last edited ~3 months ago. –xenotalk 02:27, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
Yikes. That would be difficult. I might have to try the e-mail method, which could prove tricky since I don't know that language. Hopefully one of their bureaucrats can help me with e-mailing that user asking whether I can usurp. CycloneGU (talk) 02:35, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

All right, got the English preference on both Wikis. At least I can navigate even if I can't read any of the actual content. =D

I've taken a stab at creating a request for help. I really have no clue what else to do to get the ball rolling on a request. CycloneGU (talk) 02:46, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

The usurp request page is ja:WP:USURP. –xenotalk 17:46, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Rename

Thank you so much. This makes me extremely and unreasonably happy. Have some kittens! --Danger (talk) 17:29, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Danger has given you some kittens! Kittens promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Kittens must be fed three times a day and will be your faithful companions forever! Spread the WikiLove by giving someone else some kittens, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.

Spread the goodness of kittens by adding {{subst:Kittens}} to someone's talk page with a friendly message.

No problem. Happy to help =) –xenotalk 17:33, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Fix available for popups

You have new message/s Hello. You have a new message at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)#Something_wrong_with_popups.3F's talk page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by UncleDouggie (talk • contribs) 22:54, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for taking the time out to fix that =) –xenotalk 13:40, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

fyi re a usurpation request

Am I missing something, here, or is that a falsification? Damned, Gold Hat (talk) 03:12, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Rather than trying to "spoof consent", I think the user is just rather confused at the process. –xenotalk 13:40, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
ya, I can see that. I see that the target account has no edits showing and is most of 5 years old; no email, either. I doubt they'll be consenting or objecting. Cheers. Damned, Gold Hat (talk) 19:06, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

My request

Hello Xeno, I made a request for auto assessment to your bot, however he didn't start it yet, could you tell me why? Thanks in advance Eduemoni↑talk↓ 16:32, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

As of late, requests left there have been handled by EdoDodo (talk · contribs); unfortunately, it seems like they are on a bit of a break. I will see what I can do. –xenotalk 16:39, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Username Change

Greets! You changed my username over two weeks ago and my edits were still not moved. Is that allright?--Der Golem (talk) 12:01, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Sometimes it can take a while. If it takes longer than 4 weeks to fully move over, you should consider seeking developer intervention - perhaps by posting to bugzilla:17313. –xenotalk 22:44, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
Allright, thank you! cheers--Der Golem (talk) 09:51, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Tibet

Hi. Admittedly Category:Populated places in Tibet is a huge mess. The vast majority of the articles contain false info from falling rain and at least half of them cannot be seen on google maps. I would like you to generate a list of all unreferenced Tibetan village articles and delete them. A few have been expanded a little and are valid towns but it would be better to whittle down what we have to those which actually have info and are verifiable on google maps. For instance Arza is a legit township and we want to keep the townships. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:06, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

I can generate a list and then you can file a bulk AfD discussion. –xenotalk 13:37, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Mm, I could generate List of township-level divisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region in Chinese and get it translated like I've been doing with the some of the others and identify those which are definitely notable and verifiable and then delete the others.♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:34, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably a good start. –xenotalk 13:37, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

I'll wait and see if the editor I've asked can translate the Xinjiang list. If that's done I'll create a Tibet list. Hopefully when all wikilinked it should identify all of the townships. Some of the villages though are notable and can be seen on google maps. The problem is that because there are so many bad eggs its tough to actually find those settlements which actually have information and actually exist... Its probably best to work through improving the counties and then create the townships of Tibet first anyway....

Viewing google maps generally gets a good idea. Clearly this is a notable settlement, The problem is the many villages which appear to be nothing but plateau... ♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:01, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Help Please

I'm tryin to unify my user globally on wikipedia, but on this wiki some user have logged whit the same user name. He or she doesn't have even a user page, maybe he or she even use it really. I am asking you for help to unify me, my user name is Qban answer me on wiki.eses:Usuario:Qban, please answer me there because i don't get in here usually. My native language is spanish, but you should answer me in english(it is medium, please be understandable). Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.55.135.211 (talk) 05:11, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

I've posted a request at Wikipedia:Changing username/Usurpations#None (SUL request) → Qban. –xenotalk 14:01, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

WT:ACN

Hey Xeno, I posted a couple of questions at WT:ACN and, since you're the coordinating arb, I thought you would probably be the most qualified to answer the first (not that it's urgent and you've probably seen it on your watchlist anyway!). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 04:39, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

I've commented briefly there on one aspect of your question, a more detailed answer will be forthcoming. –xenotalk 14:02, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
I don't know if I was unclear in my question or if ArbCom just don't think it's appropriate to comment publicly at all, but I wasn't asking who had applied, just the number of applicants who didn't make it this far. If it's the latter, then fair enough I'll drop it! Cheers, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 03:58, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
No; you were clear - I've commented there. –xenotalk 04:13, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
Fair enough. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 04:18, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Former user 9172

Hi Xeno. This user was recently renamed. But instead of vanishing under RTV he still uses socks. It seems he is still very much a current, not a former user, and involved in sock farming. Dr.K. λogosπraxis 07:24, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps I should have called them "Renamed user 9172" instead? Do you think it makes enough of a difference that I should rename them again? –xenotalk 13:01, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
Thank you Xeno. I think that the current name provides him with a cover for his persistent and long-term socking and being misleading may lead to confusion about the scope of WP:RTV. Onther than that a sockmaster is a sockmaster by any other name. I leave this up to you Xeno. I contacted you out of concern about any misrepresentations the sockmaster gave you so as to get an RTV-type of name which already has misled IMO appears as if it has misled MrG as shown in this edit summary. Take care. Dr.K. λogosπraxis 13:47, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
I wasn't really so much misled as hoping for the best. This user is contact with the Wikimedia Foundation at this point. It doesn't really matter what we call him so long as we call him something other than what we signed up as. If he's changed to Renamed, I can update the links I've already updated. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 13:50, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
My apologies Moonriddengirl. I should have qualified my assertion above. I struck my comment and rephrased. What a mess. :). Dr.K. λogosπraxis 14:09, 16 March 2011 (UTC).
I am going to leave it for now, as I understand there are some things going on behind the scenes which may relieve the situation and make the "Former" adjective a reality. If those efforts prove unsuccessful, I will consider renaming the account to a more accurate "Renamed user 9172". –xenotalk 13:52, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
Thank you very much Xeno for the clarification. I leave the case to your expert hands. Take care. Dr.K. λogosπraxis 14:02, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Hi Xeno, I would like to thank you for your administration work on wikipedia and to have accepted my usurpation request. I have made the same request for wikicommons today. I hope that it will work smoothly too. Regards. --Qwerty12345tmp (talk) 10:14, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

No problem - happy to help. –xenotalk 13:02, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

not even 1 articel has intepreted that niko is from croatia u are crazy

crazy crazy — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terminator15 (talk • contribs) 13:29, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

See [16]. –xenotalk 14:54, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

look that and get the facts!

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=349736 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terminator15 (talk • contribs) 13:31, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

The article properly notes that Niko's nationality has been subject to debate and directly quotes the executive producer of the game to support the notion that his nationality was left intentionally vague. –xenotalk 14:54, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Online Ambassador Class Prof hit the Blacklist

I did my best to explain the blacklist to the prof, but I am not sure why the link he is trying to use would be on the blacklist. Could you give this link a look-see and help out, please? Thanks. - Neutralhomer • Talk • Coor. Online Amb'dor • 15:03, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Check [17]. –xenotalk 15:06, 17 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks Xeno, much appreciated. - Neutralhomer • Talk • Coor. Online Amb'dor • 15:15, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

PersonShooter

I'm not familiar with this particular editor. Could you please clarify who you think this account is a sockpuppet of? NW (Talk) 16:19, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Based on the technical and behavioural evidence, this appears to be Peparazzi. Please feel free to consult a more experienced CheckUser to verify my findings. –xenotalk 16:35, 18 March 2011 (UTC)
100%. Amalthea 17:56, 18 March 2011 (UTC)
Much obliged =) –xenotalk 18:13, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Embarrassing

  • [18] [19] . I think its time the community organized a cleanup thing for Pakistan articles, they're the worst on wikipedia. They need to be on watchlists too as they attract traffic from Pakistani users who barely speak english and add all sorts of POV and misinformation..♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:24, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Category:Populated places in Punjab (Pakistan) contains a lot with falling rain as a source like this. The format seems to be the same with the sentence of coordinates and altitude and reflist. Can you use AWB to remove them from the rest of the articles in that cat?♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:48, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

I have a lot on my plate right now. Could you post at WP:AWB/TA (or consider downloading the tool and learning to use it yourself)? –xenotalk 19:02, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

User account help is needed

Hi, I would be grateful to you if you assist me retrieve the password for my old user name "osy" as it seems I may have closed the account with which I registered the user name in question or may have otherwise forgotten it completely, which either way thwarts my efforts to receive a new password for the aforesaid account when ever I request one. I would also appreciate your help in transferring all my contributions from my ontoyinsimn user name to my osy user name. osy are the initials to my full name-ontoyin-simon-yin. the user name I am currently using is ontoyinsimon which as you can see reveals part of my name and ultimately part of my identity also,and which I am now uncomfortable with. I contribute to Wikipedia because first of all I can and secondly I consider my contributions to be of significance to others and not because I want recognition for my efforts. Thanks in Advance for your help. OSY 14:30, 19 March 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ontoyinsimon (talk • contribs)

I initiated a request at WP:USURP#Osy, and you can have the name in 7 days if there are no objections. –xenotalk 16:28, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Kąġi Oȟąko

Good morning, Sir,
I am the elder daughter of 'Kąġi Oȟąko' [20]. I haven't created my account for the moment, but i'll do this as soon as i'll have read all the tutorials. I need also some time: i'm a student.
Could I talk to you BY MAIL to give you news of my dad and say why he didn't answer you? These are private matters and my dad can't write himself, because he's paralysed and he's nearly blind. And me and two of my sisters want to ask you if it's not forgotten for us to create our own account?
Yes, User:Köksarı is the name that my dad used for Vikipedi ([21]) - and it was 'Qullanıcı:Kök maqam' ([22]) at Vikipediya and 'Користувач:Ішак' ([23]: see the language box on the right side to have his accounts) at Вікіпедія. He began to make a 'unified login' but he didn't have time to finish this.
Thank you if you answer me. Áidnu —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.124.161.15 (talk) 11:16, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi, please email me at xenowiki@gmail.com - I have been wondering about Kangi and wishing him well. Also you and your sister(s) should feel free to create accounts. Thank you, –xenotalk 12:27, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Smartyllama

You've checkusered the IP and poked about yes? Given the reason for the 2008 block some investigation into that block would be in order. Prodego talk 19:09, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I haven't, but you're probably right. –xenotalk 19:10, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
Nothing conclusive. –xenotalk 19:17, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
Probably safe to assume it's nothing, been 2 years after all. Thanks. Prodego talk 19:19, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
Yea, that was my thought as well. –xenotalk 19:21, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

AutoWikiBrowser

Could you please place AutoWikiBrowser on my account. I formally edited under the username Gabriele449 but my name has changed and I recently logged on to AutoWikiBrowser but it said my user account did not have rights to AWB. The account Gabriele449 had AWB on it. Could you also take AWB rights of that account. Thanks, Jessy T/C 22:39, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

A drink

File:Verre de whisky.jpg

On 29 March 2009, I took my first small steps as a Wikipedian.

Now, 2 years, 47,000 edits, 2 RfAs and many memories later, I'd like to share a drink, on my "wiki-birthday", with a few editors who made my early experience here a pleasant one. As much as I would like to thank each of those editors in non-templated fashion, or even buy them a drink in person, I fear I would be celebrating my fourth wiki-birthday (and very drunk!) before the task was complete. Thus, please accept this as a small, if slightly impersonal, token of what these collaborations, words of advice and moments shared have meant to me.

Here's to all the happy memories of the last two years and to many more to come! HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts?

Thanks for all the help and advice you've given me, particularly with Diego. It was lonely at times above the parapet, but your support throughout meant a lot and we now have a productive editor who edits without restrictions. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:04, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Happy (belated) wiki-birthday! Here's to another two years =) –xenotalk 17:42, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
:o, your wiki birthday is one day before my real birthday! :p demize (t · c) 00:54, 31 March 2011 (UTC)


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