This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
It being past 15:35 UTC, congratulations (or condolences as the case may be ;)) on your successful RfA. It's not official yet, but it might as well be. Thank you for being so patient waiting for me to put together your RfA. If there's anything I can ever do for you, please do not hesitate to ask. Hopefully, it won't take two months for me to do it :) All the best, --Durin 16:21, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
The Happy Cactus award.
Hi Durin, I am astonished by the support I received - now I have lots of "thank-you cards" to write!!
It wasn't at all stressful, as I half expected it to be, and your nomination clearly carries some weight with many people. As to whether it should be congratulations or condolences, time will tell :) Thanks again for your efforts in preparing the nomination, I just hope that I don't screw up and let you down in performing my admin duties. If I need advice on matters you will be my first port of call.
In the meantime, for your sterling work in broadening the admin pool with qualified candidates let me award my first ever "barnstar" - the Happy Cactus award (courtesy of the US NOAA). No doubt we'll cross paths from time to time as we work away here, so I'll see you around. All the best. --Cactus.man✍ 16:46, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Congratulations. Here are what pass for words of wisdom from the puppy:
Remember you must always follow the rules, except for when you ignore them. You will always pick the wrong one to do. (See #5)
Remember to assume good faith and not bite. Remember that when you are applying these principles most diligently, you are probably dealing with a troll.
Use the block ability sparingly. Enjoy the insults you receive when you do block.
Remember when you make these errors, someone will be more than happy to point them out to you in dazzling clarity and descriptive terminology.
and finally, Remember to contact me if you ever need assistance, and I will do what I am able.
DISCLAIMER: This humor does not reflect the official humor of Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, or Jimbo Wales. All rights released under GDFL.
Congratulations - Now it's official!
Congratulations! It's my pleasure to let you know that, consensus being reached, you are now an administrator. You should read the relevant policies and other pages linked to from the administrators' reading list before carrying out tasks like deletion, protection, banning users, and editing protected pages such as the Main Page. Most of what you do is easily reversible by other sysops, apart from page history merges and image deletion, so please be especially careful with those. You might find the new administrators' how-to guide helpful. Cheers! -- Francs2000 18:25, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Congratulations on your new mop! Sango123(e) 20:29, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
I too would like to congratulate you; have fun vandal-whacking, but do us a favor and be sure to preserve their unique sense of humor. I also particularily enjoy your userpage; those images of Scotland are breathtaking. Anyway, congratulations! MoP 07:30, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
I'm 80th and the last supporter:) Congratulations Cactus.man, good luck--Ugur Basak 09:23, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Congratulations, and all the best. --Bhadani 12:54, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
You are like the rising Sun. --Bhadani 16:16, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Congratulations. I would have added my vote, except I didn't know you were in the running. Our mutual friend has transferred their interests to other topics, and seems to be behaving himself. -- Geo Swan 14:26, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
The fact that Geo Swan would post that remark speaks volumes. Cactus.man, shortly after I joined Wikipedia, you and Geo Swan got into a flame war with me. I was new. You were new. Geo Swan was not. At the time, I interpreted your remarks to me as racist. Your hurtful remarks motivated me to become active in the creation of Wikipedia:WikiProject Mexican-Americans/Chicanos. Adminship is an opportunity to start a new page. Good luck. Joaquin Murietta 14:48, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Hello again Joaquin. My reply is on your talk page. Regards. --Cactus.man✍ 16:54, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Congratulations Cactus.man!--a.n.o.n.y.mt 15:12, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Congrats! You deserve this extra responsibilities. --Siva1979Talk to me 15:03, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Congrats; as far as messing up goes, I'll say what Durin said to me (btw, I was his first nominee to have asked him to nominate him) - his due diligence before the nom would have ensured that there would be no issues of messing up. --Gurubrahma 06:44, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Hi SFC, I was working away clearing out some backlog at WP:CSD. I see you have started tagging redundant Scotland infobox maps - GREAT. Some of them, however, are not totally redundant yet (Image:Forfar-Scotland.png for example). Can you please make sure that all linked pages have been updated with the new image before tagging for speedying. If you prefer, you can just pass me a list for deletion in due course and I will work my way through it as part of the effort. Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 15:20, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Good call on the Kirriemuire one, I didn't spot that. I have just two more to tag (of the ones I originally uploaded to WP) and that should be me. I will do a quick check through the rest to see if there are nay more instances of more than 1 page use. I don't know if the other locator map images should be deleted (such as the old sat map ones), but I will have a scout about the others and see what else could possibly go (to start I was just working on all the dark green ones that I originally uploaded). SFC9394 15:27, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, quite a few of the images still seem to be linked to the relevant page though. Technically speaking, these are also not speedy candidates because they are not identical duplicates here on WP, but different alternative versions on Commons. If you were the author of the original dark green versions, then they would be speedyable at your request having created alternatives. --Cactus.man✍ 15:34, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
I attempted to explain the (slightly) complex situation in the speedy delete notice. Unfortunately some of the old green have the same file names as the new ones on the commons (and by the same I mean exactly the same), thus the mediawiki software appears to take preference to the local ones rather than commons. So it will be that once they are deleted the infobox will use the commons ones. I attempted to change the infobox image path by firing a "commons:" in front of the filename, but it didn't want to play ball - I don't know if there is any other way of forcing the infobox to use the commons ones other than uploading them under a new name (which I would rather not do since I had started to use a standardised naming pattern, and that would also force a load of knock on speedy deleting on the commons!). The dark green ones are all authored by me, so that is no problem - for all the other various maps that have been used I can stick them on IfD (as long as they are used nowhere else) and let them get deleted in 5 days without too much trouble. SFC9394 15:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Further thought: if it has to be technically that the images are not used anywhere for speedy deletes (i.e. the software actually won't let a speedy delete unless it isn't used anywhere), then the maps could just be edited out of the various infoboxes for a couple of hours until they have gone, and then change it back and it will then use the commons images. SFC9394 15:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
I forgot, but I have encountered this problem before. Local filenames WILL be preferred before the same Commons name. What you are doing is correct though, retaining the same filenames. If you are the only author / editor of the original and have created a replacement on Commons, then it can be deleted at your request. Given that I know the history of this effort, and if you created all the dark green maps I will work my way through them, marking as deletion at author request. The nice new topo ones should then appear :-) Other maps that you did not author will need a different approach though, probably WP:IFD --Cactus.man✍ 15:58, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Yeah that is good, thanks - I have speedied all the ones that I uploaded, so any more I will put on IfD if they are not being used (or likely to be used given the topo maps are now there). I will put a notice on K851jg2's talk page, given he originally did a bit of work in creating the first maps, but as I said in the standardisation discussion, he has been inactive since last august, so I don't know if he will read it. SFC9394 16:08, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
I've cleared out the backlog of your dark green / red dot maps. It all seems fine to me now, but you might wish to give it the once over as there were a couple of intermittent, dodgy results. Let me know if there are any problems. --Cactus.man✍ 16:53, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Many thanks - the replacements all come up as intended. That is everything switched over, the only thing I have left to do is replace the low-res city maps on the commons with high-res versions. After that I will put a notice on the template talk page to direct users to the commons category so that others know to use the new style maps (and where to get the map template from). SFC9394 17:08, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
My RFA
Thanks Cactus.man/Archive 3
Thanks for your recent support on my RfA which passed 91/0/0. If you ever need anything, feel free to leave me a message! GfloresTalk 07:02, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
Some support ?
Hey man, i've nominated myself for admin, i was wondering if you could support me, and tell other ppl to do the same.
If you cud do this that would be great ,
Thanks for your help in advance ,
Aadamh 12:50, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your message regarding adminship. There are several problems with your attempted self nomination:
You have very few edits and extremely limited experience of how Wikipedia works. Most editors who consider RfA nominations look for substantially more experience across a wide range of namespace areas. Your nomination is doomed to almost certain failure.
Your attempted self nomination is improperly formed and does not appear on the main RfA page. Nobody yet knows it "exists".
It is severely frowned upon to solicit support from other users as you have done on my talk page.
I would strongly suggest that you agree to withdraw the nomination, let me know and I will deal with that for you. Read the links provided for you in the welcome message above to understand how things work here. Gain much more experience, continue to contribute across a wide range of areas and interact with other users. Read the various policies and guidelines and give it at least another 3 months of solid contributions before you consider seeking adminship. Then read the advice at Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship carefully before making your decision.
I understand what you're saying. Could you please remove my name from nomination list. Thanks for your time, i appreciate it. Aadamh 20:49, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
New Category of Article
Hi Cactus Man. Thought you could help with this question. I want to start a new category of article with its own talk page etc. It would have a stub category of its own and a little image (like the onw you did for Scottich building stubs. Its got nothing to do with Scotland but I don't want to say it here bec. I'd like my daughters to be the "founders" of the category. Can you direct me to info on where to learn how to do this? Thanks --Lawnmowerman 18:42, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
Hi Lawnmowerman, thanks for your query. I'm no expert on Categories or Stubs, but just put in what seems most appropriate to me at the time and the army of others usually come along and fix things up soon if needed. That's the beauty of WP. You probably want to start your research at Wikipedia:Categorization and Wikipedia:Stub, or ask some questions at the WikiProjects Wikipedia:WikiProject Categories and Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting. Hopefully this helps, good luck. --Cactus.man✍ 07:05, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Young Authors Question
Hi Cactus Man. I also left this question on Wikipedia:WikiProject Categories as you suggested. I have an idea and was hoping someone could give me some guidance on whther its a good one, whether its permitted in WP, and if so, tips on how to do it. I have recently begun helping my children write some articles and stubs on WP. I would like to create a notation for articles that denotes them (or flags them if you prefer) as having been written by a "young author." I see WP as a fantastic way to educate my children in significant ways and hope perhaps the movement will catch on. In connection with the effort, I would like to have a special page for the "young authors project" etc. I would define young authors in some very generic way so as to protect identities. What do you think? Do you have any tips on how to do this or an "administrator" that would be particularly knowledgeable about how to do this? Thanks in advance for your help. --Lawnmowerman 14:43, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Hi Lawnmowerman, your "young author" idea is not really appropriate for WP. There are MANY young editors here but, ultimately, the articles that are created or added to do not "belong" to anybody in particular, but are the product of the collaborative work of the community at large. It is great that you are encouraging your children to contribute, but let them create their own accounts and their contributions will then be attributed accordingly in their edit history (and also on their user pages if they so desire). That is how attribution works here. Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 15:50, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your helpful response. That's exactly what I'll do. I mentioned your response to User:Jerzy as an example of an appropriate response. He is dealing with some personal problems and needs some space. All the best, --Lawnmowerman 16:31, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Lawnmowerman, your response to Jerzy was completely inappropriate. I don't know what history may exist between you both as users, but being civil is important, and personal attacks are not acceptable here on WP. These principles are some of the official policies we have, and violation of them can ultimately lead to you being blocked from editing. Please read the appropriate policy pages. I am trying to help you out here, please consider this before maligning others. Thanks. --Cactus.man✍ 17:07, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Shouldn't administrators be aware of these policies? especially the one about being gentle with newcomers? Users like User:Jerzy will discourage a lot of people and he should know that. Just because his initial incivility is passive aggressive and mine is simply aggressive, doesn't make his response any less uncivil. You're right tho, I should not have been drawn in by his arrogance. Thanks for your help from the newbie crowd --Lawnmowerman 17:25, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
You have a point, but I couldn't make any sense of Jerzy's post. To me, it was just incoherent rambling and utterly incomprehensible. The incivility slipped by my simple radar, but you are correct that it is equally unacceptable. Anyway, please keep working away here, your contributions are welcome. BTW, I saw your request for the Blaeu Atlas of Scotland - an interesting topic. I moved it (and your other request) to Wikipedia:Scottish Wikipedians' notice board/Requested articles. You may wish to post future requests there. Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 17:48, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
yes, glad you moved that as I knew it was in the wrong place but wasn't aware of the request board until uour help. Thanks --Lawnmowerman 18:01, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
I would help you if I knew what you were talking about .... --Cactus.man✍ 16:05, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Half of edits made every day by Mikkalai are Anti-romanian. There is blocking on Anti-semitic edits, nazi edits and also on Anti-romanian edits. His hatred is manifested against all Romania/Moldova/Transnistria related articles. His favourite target is to constantly remove the words Romanian language from any Moldova related article. Moldova is also a region from Romania and was split by sovietic force in 1940 from Romania. He is russian and his hatred towards romanians is manifested by his Anti-Romanian edits made every day. Yes, he was blocked once for violating and Anti-Romanian edits. From a moldovan.
Please see dispute resolution procedure for issues regarding content disputes on articles. You should try to reach agreement on the article talk pages first however. You could also visit Wikipedia:Requests for administrator attention for advice on getting administrator help with other problems. I Hope that helps. --Cactus.man✍ 06:48, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
RfA thanks!
Hi Cactus! Thank you for supporting my RfA and the kind words. The RfA passed at 105/1/0, putting me in WP:100 - I'm delighted and surprised! I'm always happy to help out, so if you need anything, please drop me a line. Cheers! ➨ ❝REDVERS❞ 21:05, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
My RFA
Thank you!
Thank you for supporting / opposing / vandalisingmy RFA! The result was 71/3/0 and so I am now still a normal user / an administrator / indefinitely banned. Your constructive criticism / support / foulmouthed abuse has given me something to think about / helped me immensely / turned me into a nervous wreck. If there's any way I can help you in return, please ask someone else / suffer and die / drop me a line! --Sam Blanning (formerly Malthusian)(talk) 19:47, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
Dear Mr Blanning, thank you for choosing the ACME Auto-thanker! Simply strike out the phrases that do not apply and tear off this strip at the indicated line to give all your supporters and detractors the personalised response they so richly deserve. N.B: DO NOT FORGET TO TEAR THIS BIT OFF, MORON!
Re:AzaToth's RfA
Hi Shreshth, I just noticed you have a Support vote in the Neutral section. I didn't do anything with it as I was unsure if it really is support in the wrong section, or really is neutral with the wrong heading. Perhaps you could fix this up. Thanks. --Cactus.man✍ 12:55, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for pointing that out. I've fixed it.--May the Force be with you! Shreshth91($ |-| ŗ 3 $ |-| ţ |-|) 12:58, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for voting on my RfA. It passed with a consensus to promote of 45/7/1. To those of you concerned about the fact that I am a relative newcomer, I encourage you to poke me with a sharp stick if I make a mistake. Or better yet, let me know on my talk page, and I'll do my best to fix it. Makemi 05:17, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Hello Rmfstar, I was working through clearing some backlog of orphaned fair use images when I came across Image:VishniacWisdom.jpg. This seemed like a worthy fair use image to salvage, so I added it back into the article. I now see that you are the main author of the article, the uploader of the image, the person who last removed it from the article and the user who tagged it as orphaned fair use. It seems to me to be a shame to lose such a good photograph, but I'll respect your wishes as the main editor involved. What do you think? --Cactus.man✍ 12:24, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
I love the image, but removed it at the request of Carnildo during Roman Vishniac's FAC. He said that the image was decorating the article because it had no critical commentary. I did (and do) not think so, but it's not absolutely crucial, and there are already a lot of Fair use images in the article. Perhaps it's best if it's just left out (note a reader can still find this favourite image of mine by following the External links). -- Rmrfstar 12:39, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the reply. Fair enough, I'll take it back out and process it as an orphaned FU image. --Cactus.man✍ 12:44, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks to you, too, for deleting the image. -- Rmrfstar 13:06, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
My RfA
Thank you so much for supporting me in my recent RfA, which passed with a final tally of 56/1/0. I thank you for your confidence in my abilities. If you ever need anything or find that I have made an error, please let me know on my talk page. — Scm83xhook 'em 21:30, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
I am the father of Edward Richmond. The Army released Sgt Jeffrey Waruch because they said they didn't find enough evidence to try him but if you read the Army Times.com article someone might wonder why not. I have official investigation paperwork of the incident that was investigated at Command Level when it happened. It would shock you. If you want to see it I would send you some of it. You know why they didn't bring him up for charges? The government could not allow the only witness in US vs Richmond to be under investigation during my son's trial. Sgt Waruch did what they "accused" my son of. If you were on a Jury and found out that the witness had shot "surrendering civilians" and a mother and daughter that was running away and wasn't being charged what would you think. The women were supposedly running from side to side. Major Samuel Schubert was the prosecutor in my son's case and wrote that Second Legal Reveiw the day after he charged my son with un-premeditated murder. Edward Richmond richmond@premier.net
My RfA
My RfA recently closed and it was a success, passing at 84-02-00. I would like to thank you for taking the time to weigh in and on your subsequent support. And I know it's quite cliche, but if you ever need any assistance and/or want another opinion on something, grab a Pepsi and don't hesitate to drop me a line on my talk page. Thanks again. Pepsidrinka 05:02, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
RfA thanks
Thanks Cactus.man/Archive 3, thank you you so much for supporting my RfA, which passed successfully 49/6/3. I am grateful for all the supportive comments, and have taken people's suggestions to heart. I will do my best to live up to people's expectations. If I can ever make any improvements or help out in any way, please feel free to let me know! Thanks again for your much appreciated support.
Thank you for supporting/opposing/commenting on my request of adminship, sadly the result was 54/20/7 an thus only 73% support votes, resulting in that the nomination failed. As many of you commenting that I have to few main-space edits, I'll try to better my self on that part. If you have any ideas on what kind of articles I could edit, pleas send me a line. :)
A request for mediation has been filed with the Mediation Committee that lists you as a party. The Mediation Committee requires that all parties listed in a mediation must be notified of the mediation. Please review the request at [[Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Carolyn Wood]], and indicate whether you agree or refuse to mediate. If you are unfamiliar with mediation, please refer to Wikipedia:Mediation. There are only seven days for everyone to agree, so please check as soon as possible.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Joaquin Murietta (talk • contribs)
Just making sure you are aware you are listed as a party. I hope you will consider agreeing to mediation. I added your correct user name today. I addedd Cactus.man (talk·contribs) in addition to Cactus.Man (talk·contribs)Joaquin Murietta 18:50, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Hello Joaquin, yes I was aware of the RfM. I haven't had time yet to determine whether or not your request has enough merit to allow me to agree to mediation or not. However, I will post a decision either way before the 14 day limit expires. --Cactus.man✍ 20:35, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
JFK
First off, congrats. Secondly: business. The JFK page, for whatever reason, is a vandalism attractor. I went through proper channels, got a {{sprotect}} on it, but then, less than 24 hours later another administrator took it off (saying that 20 hours was plenty). Within a few days, vandalism was back up, and today it's ridiculous. At the time of this writing, 14 of the last 50 edits were reverts. Any thoughts? -- Sholom 20:25, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your message Sholom, nice to see you're making good use of the many valuable tools available :-).
I've had a look (somewhat belatedly this morning) at the JFK history. Since you posted your message there has only been limited vandalism by 3 different users, all reverted. I understand how frustrating it is to deal with this, but the protection policy is, correctly in my view, quite conservative in advocating that protection is used as little as possible. There are an army of RC Patrollers who are doing a fantastic job, and it seems you also now contribute to this, keep up the good work.
Revert the vandalism as you come across it, warn the users with the appropriate warning template on their talk page and report it on WP:AIV if it continues beyond a final warning. The warnings really do have a positive effect on the majority of 'test' type vandals. A simple benign {{Test}} more often than not helps the innocent "can I really edit this stuff?" user, and they will not cause further damage. Keep the contributions pages of vandals you encounter open for a while and monitor them for activity, issuing further warnings if necessary. I made the mistake when I started of trying to revert as much as possible and ignoring the test warnings. Use the warnings progressively, and use WP:AIV, the system works fairly well.
You also might find this page useful in assessing the level of vandalism to an article. The JFK page for example has significant levels of vandalism, but it's not out of control. I hope that helps. Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 09:22, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
It would be great if you could check out and comment on the proposal for clearer language in the process description for RfAs that I posted there. Thanks. --Mmounties (Talk) 02:57, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Hello Mmounties, I have responded to your proposal as requested. Please don't take offense, but I really don't think your proposal is necessary. I understand where it's coming from, I too was disappointed that AzaToth's RfA failed. The early closing and miscalculation on the percentage were unfortunate. Given the level of discussion on the RfA page I, do think there were good grounds for serious consideration as a borderline case by the closing bureaucrat. Nevertheless, if the extra half hour had been allowed, and the calculation was done correctly, I think the outcome would still have been the same. That point has now passed. In another month, when AzaToth returns, I am certain his position will have been considerably enhanced by all of this. I will be there to offer my support again. Best wishes. --Cactus.man✍ 10:37, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for responding. Just to make it clear though, and as I have stated before, this proposal has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that AzaToth's candidacy failed. It has, however, everything to do with trying to avoid the same sort of uproar we had over this failed candidacy when the next close, "AzaToth 1"-type of candidacy comes around. It is avoidable. And easily so. And it makes absolutely no sense to have instructions for the bureaucrats in one place and different instructions/explanations for the general public in another place. The "instructions" to the bureaucrat should be written in a way that is sufficient for both (i.e., similar to the proposed text). Currently they are not. That, and only that, is what this proposal is about. I haven't gone to check the comments yet today and right now I've got to run, so I won't be able to see them until later, but I hope this clarifies things for you a bit. --Mmounties (Talk) 21:16, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Hello again Mmounties, if I misunderstood the motivation for your proposal, I apologise. It came after a flurry of vigorous discussions following AzaToth's failed RfA, and the first insertion of a mathematical formula by Doug Bell. It therefore seemed to me to be related directly to that RfA. I understand that you are after a wider clarification for the avoidance of further mistakes. I can support that aim, but your proposal on the page does not address that issue in my opinion. It adds nothing of substance to, or clarification of, the intended process, other than the mathematical formula. I really don't think that's necessary, I'm sure all WP bureaucrats know how to calculate the relevant percentage. --Cactus.man✍ 13:32, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
Wow, I was really impressed with how fast you reverted my edits to the doughnut topic (doughnuts as economic indicators). How'd you do that?? I read the RC Patrol page, but wasn't sure what tools you used and how specific edits are flagged?
That would be telling :-) --Cactus.man✍ 17:53, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
My (HereToHelp’s) RfA
Thank you for supporting my RfA. I’m proud to inform you that it passed with 75 support to 1 oppose to 2 neutral. I promise to make some great edits in the future (with edit summaries!) and use these powers to do all that I can to help. After all, that’s what I’m here for! (You didn’t think I could send a thank you note without a bad joke, could I?) --HereToHelp 13:15, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
Procedural query
Hi. I noticed that you removed the sprotected tag from the Tony Blair article recently. I didn't see a request for unprotection prior to this. Can you educate me about how the process works? What should I be looking out for if I want to argue that a protected article should remain protected? Thanks SP-KP 18:30, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi SP-KP
In answer to your question, I removed the {{sprotected}} tag from the Tony Blair article because I unprotected it. That is one of the discretionary tasks granted to administrators. It had been protected since 26 March following a spate of vandalism. That seemed to me to have died down, although it has now grown a bit as well :-(
Protection policy and Semi-protection policy dictate that page protection is a measure of last resort. I agree with that. Those pages will direct you to the relevant place to request further protection or unprotection. It was over a week since the protection was applied which, in my view, was more than enough time to deal with the problem. The page in question has been on my watchlist for a long time and I will continue to monitor it. I hope that answers your question, but if not, let me know. --Cactus.man✍ 18:54, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi again. Thanks for your reply. To help me understand this a little more, can you explain how admins assess whether a semi-protected article can be "safely" unprotected? If that's too large a question, perhaps if you could just illustrate by outlining your thought processes re: the decision to unprotect Tony Blair i.e. how did you come to the conclusion that removing semiprotection was safe? Cheers SP-KP 19:13, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
Yes, it is a large question, which has no right or wrong answer. I unprotected the Tony Blair article because I am familiar with it, and the level of vandalism it gets. Reviewing the history indicated that the vandalism had almost ceased since the protection was applied (which was over a week since - much too long). Hence my decision. In unfamiliar situations, all we have to go on is the article history and discussion with other admins. HTH. --Cactus.man✍ 19:45, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your interest in VandalProof! You've been added to the list of authorized users, and I will do my best to notify you once a download becomes available. AmiDaniel (Talk) 03:07, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi Dave, what a great wee building!! I was completely unaware of this in Mackintosh' repertoire. Nice bunch of images to go with it too. I particularly like the "eyebrow" hooded lintels over the high level windows on the curved end - brilliant stuff. I also see that you uploaded a bunch of images for the Willow Tearooms which, shockingly, doesn't have an article. Do you want to do it, or should I? Nice work with the neds as well :-) Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 10:21, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
Same here - thanks Dave. I've never come across this building before, either. Thanks for the contribution - much appreciated. Regards Bruce, aka Agendum | Talk 12:53, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
Glad you like it, it's a nice wee building working hard in a rather deprived area of Glasgow. A cafe was on the go in the front committee room some years age, then that stopped. Recently the outside's been done up and had scaffolding up till a couple of months ago, and now it has the billboard and a big sign to the canal side announcing the tea-room which appears to be run by church volunteers: a worthy thing to visit. Having gone along the canal walk a bit to get a picture, it was a slight relief when the youths proved friendly, asking if I was photographing the church and saying "take our picture" which I did, though one sensibly kept out of the picture. They were happy with the result, and I didn't quiz them about neds: Cactus.man, did you just think they looked like neds? See Talk:Ned (Scottish) for discussion: most people here think they shouldn't be stereotyped, though one was quick to react to the picture as neds. It'll be a great help if you can put together a Willow Tearooms article, I've a Miss Cranston article draft on the backburner and will try to bring that forward. ...dave souza, talk 16:06, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
OK, I'll work up a Willow Tearooms article, good luck with putting Miss Cranston on the front burners! As for the young lads, I'm afraid that they fit the visual sterotype - baseball cap, shell suit, white trainers, hanging about drinking (not sure what though, it looks like a soft drinks bottle and the contents through the cup look sort of orange - Irn Bru? The less charitable would assume Buckfast decanted into a disguised bottle!). They could be straight off the set of Chewin' the Fat.
You're right though, it is inappropriate to jump to such conclusions. They could be perfectly decent young lads, I've no idea. There was an interesting series of programmes on Radio Scotland a couple of years or so ago, not long after the Rosie Kane affair, which took the form of a series of "radio diaries" presented by a young lad frustrated by such automatic stereotyping. He spoke like the sterotypical comedic representation of the ned, but was a highly articulate and intelligent young man. Maybe Rosie Kane was right? --Cactus.man✍ 07:31, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, will try to get Kate C. restarted. The ned outfits are very similar to the stereotypes on the Karen Dunbar Show, though there they have white outfits which is something I've noticed around here lately. Shifting fashions from the old Burberry days! ..dave souza, talk 10:58, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
Kusma's RfA
Hello, Cactus.man! Thank you for your support in my recent successful request for adminship. If you ever have problems that you could use my assistance with or see me doing stupid things with my new buttons, don't hesitate to contact me. Happy editing, Kusma(討論) 02:45, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
American English to British English spellings etc.
Hi Erebus, unfortunately your edits of American spelling to British spelling on American-content articles contravene the Manual of Style, as pointed out to you above. The particularly unfortunate thing is that you have been using the AutoWikiBrowser which is a great productivity tool, but can cause a lot of damage in a short space of time if misused (even if inadvertantly). An admin has temporarily blocked your access to the use of AWB.
Please carefully review the MOS spelling gudelines and look through all the edits you made. If you can agree to work your way through them systematically, and revert if need be, I am sure we can restore your access to the use of AWB. Bear in mind for the future that all AWB edits should be carefully considered before being committed. Please get back to me. --Cactus.man✍ 18:36, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
I have restored your AWB approval to help with rolling back. I won't say happy editing because it will no doubt be tedious, but happy editing once it's all cleaned up :-) FYI this was all discussed on the Administrators Noticeboard --Cactus.man✍ 07:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
I have already started to revert my edits and it appears the majority already have been reverted anyway. I will be more careful in future and I certainly won't forget this. After reverting the edits, I will edit the article for Storey and insert the American English spelling so that people in the future, do not become confused like I did. - Erebus555 11:44, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
Good to see your IP is unblocked now. This was all very unfortunate and not really your fault, but hopefully you are not too bruised by the whole affair. Editing the article for Storey is probably a good idea as you suggest but it is a redirect to Floor which is a bit ambiguous in it's use of singular and plural tenses. Some further clarification would help, good luck. --Cactus.man✍ 12:04, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
A Download Is Now Available
I just wanted to let you know that a download of VandalProof has recently been
made available. AmiDaniel (Talk) 09:48, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Picture request
Hi Dave, today was supposed to be Willow Tearoom start day, but you went and posted Bud Neill which completely blootered my plans. What a great find! Being inspired by what I found, I've expanded the article, but am having trouble finding freely available photo's of the statue. There are lots available on Flickr, including some nice shots, but they mostly have restrictive licences. The only one with a free license has a traffic cone on top of bajin's heid - not quite what the article needs. Any chance you could get along there on a nice sunny day and get some good pics? Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 12:26, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Well actually Bud was a spin-off from the fish with legs and alligator jaws pictures as above, since it reminded me of Mr? (or is it Senator?) Kraw K. Dile and needed a link. As well as Lobey's the wee boy, I've Further adventures of the wee boy and Bud Neill's Magic!, so intend to scan the covers. Will be in Glasgow in about a month and was just thinking of heading along to the statue with the camera, weather permitting. Hope Elfie's tail's been restored. The one with the cone should do until then, ...dave souza, talk 17:29, 9 April 2006 (UTC).
Images in the article look good to me, I've tried tweaking the headings a little to give a bit more info: the one looking west along Woodlands Road shows a handcuff on Rankie, and he's reaching for Lobey's gun. The road name in the main caption seemed superfluous as it's clear from the text. Hope that suits, ..dave souza, talk 18:26, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
Lobey's the Wee Boy!
Just looked - brilliant work on the Bud Neill article! I've mentioned on my talk page some book covers I was thinking of scanning, and will try to photie the statue next time I'm in Glasgow. The stub was started because a link was needed for the summary to Image:Tiktaalik.png. ....dave souza, talk 17:44, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Ha! That's why this place is so bloody addictive - a few clicks can separate a crocodile-like fish extinct for 375 million years from a Scottish cartoonist and bronze statue in Woodlands Road with a traffic cone on it's head :-) I've added the traffic cone picture as an interim measure with some text about vandalism to make it relevant. Some book covers would round off the article nicely, but might need a new section with a brief discussion of the books to keep on the right side of the "fair-use police". --Cactus.man✍ 08:14, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, I've been promoted. pschemp | talk 01:36, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Did You know - Bud Neill
Did you know? has been updated. A fact from the article Bud Neill, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.
...that Bud Neill was a Scottish newspaper cartoonist whose best loved strip was set in "Calton Creek", a fictional Arizona outpost of the wild west populated with Glaswegians, including Sherriff "Lobey Dosser" who rode a two-legged horse?
Got the above message this morning, so had to scramble to add some information about republication of the cartoons and cover images. Couldn't resist adding some captions, though left out the bizarre pocket cartoon of a wifie at a bus stop giving a gent in a bowler hat the blindingly obvious non-explanation of why she's clutching a stuffed trophy - "It's a giraffe's heid!". ...dave souza, talk 09:58, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
I nominated it for DYK after a request on the talk page. The article's looking good Dave, the cover scans and extra commentary on the books fill it out nicely, great stuff. BTW, there's a signed 1st edition copy of Bud Neill's Magic! going for £100 on eBay if you're feeling mad enough :-) I'll pass on this occasion. --Cactus.man✍ 10:43, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Thank you very much, once again, for maintaining the Portal - I keep forgetting about it, which is strange, considering how often I link to it!
The absolutely tremendous new article Bud Neill would make an excellent article in the "featured" box at the Portal (Calgacus' history article has had a very good run already). I would do it myself, but thought I'd see if you would like to do the edit? I would also like to nominate Bud Neill for Good Article status soon. --Mais oui! 11:53, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi Mais, no problem with the portal, I usually get round to it when something pops up on the radar, often a DYK entry. I'll draft a Bud Neill summary for inclusion in the portal featured box in the next day or so. The article's turned out well but still needs a few rough edges to be smoothed out before going up for Good Article status. It would also be worth waiting for Dave to get some decent shots of the statue to replace the traffic cone version which he should do in the next month. Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 13:37, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Looking good! Especially with Nils Olav just below! We must be feeling light-hearted, with the springtime and stuff... --Mais oui! 08:19, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
Ha! Spring indeed, the Nils Olaf photo is brilliant (as is the whole story). I particularly like the slightly skewed angle the shot is taken from which just adds to the air of surrealism. --Cactus.man✍ 08:27, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
ProhibitOnions's RfA
Thank you, Cactus.man/Archive 3!
...for voting in my RFA. It passed with a result of 58/2/0. If you have any comments, or for some reason need any new-admin help, please let me know here. Regards, ProhibitOnions 22:59, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Dr. Rabb
Can you explain why we shouldn't have an article on Maurice Rabb? Elfalem 19:51, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Hello Elfalem, unfortunately Dr Rabb doesn't appear to meet the notability criteria necessary to warrant a Wikipedia article. Representing his region at the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Paris is not really notable enough. Please see Wikipedia:Notability (people) for information on what is considered suitable notability for inclusion. Hopefully that will help. --Cactus.man✍ 20:00, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
It is right that the boy scout represenation is not significant. But his contribution to the field of Ophthalmology are very important. Elfalem 20:04, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your reply. If his contributions to the field of ophthalmology are very important as you say, and this can be verified independantly citing sources, then he may warrant an article. Unfortunately the article you created made no assertion of why the subject was notable, which is why another user marked for speedy deletion under criteria A7 of the speedy deletion policy. I reviewed the content of the article as it was at that time and agreed, so deleted it. If you think his contributions are notable enough I would suggest working on a draft in your user space before posting it as an article. If you recreate the article as it was previously, it will be deleted again fairly swiftly as a recreation of deleted content and / or as being not notable enough. Let me know if you need any further help. --Cactus.man✍ 20:26, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it. I will ask if I need help. Elfalem 20:30, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Hello! I wonder why don't you try to update the template yourself? It has not been updated for more than 24 hours. The only regularly updating admin is on wikibreak and will not be "active for the foreseeable future" as his talk page says. So we need an admin who would take up this work. --Ghirla-трёп- 15:01, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
OK, I'll have a look, but I'm not familiar with the procedures and norms for updating, so it may take a wee while to get it done. Bear with me. --Cactus.man✍ 15:29, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks a lot. You may want to know, though, that placing messages on user talk pages doesn't seem to be required any more, it's up to updating admin's discretion. Also, if you take a look at the Main Page you will see that the DYK template is shorter than others and so the sixth entry might be welcome. Otherwise, your update seems to be perfect. Congrats! --Ghirla-трёп- 16:54, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi Ghirla, yes I know the user talk page update is now "optional", but I think it's only polite to inform people directly that their hard work is featured on the main page. If I become involved in this work in the longer term, it's something I would always do as a courtesy. I also saw that the main DYK page entry was shorter than the other sections and thought about adding another item but, being a newbie updater, I erred on the side of caution. The guidelines kind of hint at 4 entries, the old section had 6 entries, so I settled for 5 :-) I'll have another look and add an extra one shortly I think. --Cactus.man✍ 17:16, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your most helpful response. The current design of the Main Page was adoped only about a month ago. It allows more space for DYK template, while the DYK guidelines were written long ago, when the Main Page looked quite differently. Cheers, Ghirla-трёп- 17:19, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
Major kudos again. I wonder why you chose to ignore Battle of Budapest: the template has recently featured a number of articles that used to be stubs but were expanded so considerably — more than three times the previous length — that they are new articles in fact. I also see that you didn't put Image:Shuv_rokot.jpg on the Main Page but if you would please take a note that images from Commons should be temporarily uploaded to English Wikipedia in order to protect them. --Ghirla-трёп- 09:21, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. The Battle of Budapest almost made my cut, it's an interesting article but I just felt that the wording of the entry was a bit light on interesting facts. I'll have a closer read of the article and see if the entry can be "spiced up" a bit. As for images, I followed the guideline again which seemed to indicate that only the 1st item should have an image. It was a close call between Image:Petrus de Ebulo.jpg and Image:Shuv_rokot.jpg. If there are no prohibitions on having two images I'd be happy to add Ivan Shuvalov because it's a nice image. I'll take your advice on this because you seem to be a veteran contributor to DYK. --Cactus.man✍ 10:05, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
I see that I also forgot to list the previously shown images in the archive section on the talk page, thanks for fixing that. --Cactus.man✍ 10:18, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
OK, thanks for your circumstantial response. Two images in one template are definitely are out of the question. Happy eduts, Ghirla-трёп- 11:31, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
My RfA
Many thanks for your support on my recent RfA. It was successful. Thanks again, Mark83 09:00, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
DYK thanks
Hi, I've been involved with updating DYK for the last 3-4 months. I'd be on an indefinite wikibreak for the better part of the year. Thanks for updating DYK. btw, the template "UpdatedDYK" is optional. --Gurubrahma 13:19, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
No problem, plus it's quite a good way to find interesting new articles. I know that the {{UpdatedDYK}} template is optional, but I think it's nice to let editor's know directly that their hard work is featured on the main page, and it's not too much extra work. Enjoy your wikibreak :-) --Cactus.man✍ 14:18, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Great pics, great articles
Wonderful illustrations added to articles on my watchlist - leading me to some great new articles on Scottish artists - expansions, more pics - and endless disambigs etc. - your work noticed and appreciated. --HJMG 17:11, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi HJMG, thanks for your message and kind words. I work away on artist related articles from time to time, particularly Scottish artists, and was working on preparing William McTaggart when, somehow, I stumbled upon your Edinburgh School article. That inspired me into action for the others!! I am a big believer in providing appropriate images for articles, particularly for the visual arts, so I add them whenever I can. I've got Robin Philipson pencilled in for an article, unless you beat me to it :-) Cheers. --Cactus.man✍ 17:53, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi - no, no plans to work on Robin P - people I'm looking at are Alexander Garden and Flora Stevenson - but we shall see. I agree absolutely about use of images - but have only just figured out the system here. (Techie-dom is not my natural habitat!)--HJMG 09:09, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
Alcázar on DYK
It seems to me that the anachronous quality of the fighting—medieval ramparts against tanks and planes—was a more interesting aspect than the simple disparity of numbers, which is altogether the norm in sieges. Who suggested the change? Albrecht 16:13, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
You may have a good point, but it's one that anyone may readily deduce from a reading of the article. The original suggestion on the DYK talk page referred to howitzers and sappers which do not appear anywhere in the article. Facts mentioned in a DYK entry should appear in the article so, as the updating admin, I changed it to reflect the actual wording used. The artillery bombardment and aerial bombing are mentioned and demonstrate the disproportional balance in the fighting that you think has been lost. The only specific that is missing is the reference to tanks, which the reader of the article can quickly determine were a factor (albeit there were only "2 or 3" of them). I think the essence of the article is still well represented on the DYK page and will hopefully inspire a large number of readers to visit. --Cactus.man✍ 16:50, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
It's no big deal. I'm aware that the DYK description should not introduce facts not present in the article: by "sapping" I meant the tunneling and mine-laying beneath the south tower. You're right: "howitzer," technically, doesn't appear in the article, but the exact type of gun didn't seem important to me; it was just an easier way of saying "modern field artillery." Anyway, thanks for clearing that up. Albrecht 01:17, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
Happy Easter to all of you, and I hope that this version may fix your current problems and perhaps provide you with a few useful new tools. You can download version 1.1 at User:AmiDaniel/VandalProof. Let me warn you, however, to please be extremely careful when using the new Rollback All Contributions feature, as, aside from the excessive server lag it would cause if everyone began using it at once, it could seriously aggitate several editors to have their contributions reverted. If you would like to experiment with it, though, I'd be more than happy to use my many sockpuppets to create some "vandalism" for you to revert. If you have any problems downloading, installing, or otherwise, please tell me about them at User:AmiDaniel/VP/Bugs and I will do my best to help you. Thanks. AmiDaniel (Talk) 06:42, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
Happy Spring celebration / Easter (as your preferences and beliefs dictate)
Here's hoping that if the bunny leaves you any beans they're this kind! ++Lar: t/c 14:58, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
Robin Philipson
Did you know? has been updated. A fact from the article Robin Philipson, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.
18:25, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Hi Cactus! Thank you for supporting my RfA and the kind words. The RfA passed at 105/1/0, putting me in WP:100 - I'm delighted and surprised! I'm always happy to help out, so if you need anything, please drop me a line. Cheers! ➨ ❝REDVERS❞ 21:05, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
02:57, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
21:16, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
