Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 19:19, 25 June 2006

• Archive 1: August 2003 - July 2004
• Archive 2: August 2004 - July 2005
• Archive 3: August 2005 -

advise

Never attempt to explain throughput vs response time (Chen 1989) to a system administrator unless it fits his theory of the day. - O^O

There is no system. Why would you try to administer what does not exist? Raul654 23:13, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

When modeling a system that does not exist, does one use a queue depth of zero or infinity? - O^O

One digital path ends with a divide-by-zero exception, the other with a stack overflow. Buddha tells us to choose the third path. Mu. Raul654 23:28, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Ah, the path of Z. Buddha is wise indeed; he lights the way to coherency of memory and finity of state. - O^O

Cache coherency is a devil's bargain. One cannot follow the path to Nirvana without accepting multiple states of being. Raul654 00:34, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Poke back

Yeah, I'm here. What's up? —Khoikhoi 01:45, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Check your email. Raul654 01:56, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about that, check it now. —Khoikhoi 02:20, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Uh, yeah, I'm poking back as well. Email received and replied to. Who knew we'd get recognition for our obsessive compulsive editing behavior anyway? ;) Tombseye 03:08, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

While we're on the subject of, uh, stuff, I got another question. Just out of curiosity, what are Watchmen's chances? Tombseye 03:37, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

It looks all right - you might want to drop Zzzz a message on his talk page asking him to follow up on his comment. Raul654 03:43, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Yeah I dropped him a message and nada so far. Everybody else is cool with it so far and if we do a checklist of Zzzz's comments, they've all been met. I could pester him some more if that's the hold-up. Tombseye 03:46, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Today's featured article/June 8, 2006

I would like to thank you for your consideration of other people's work. Trying to improve the WC article and being ignored is a real boost in confidence, and gives me more reasons to work at WP. --Panairjdde 09:08, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Huh? You do realize that I made five different changes to the blurb in response to requests you made on the talk page , which is far more than any other article I can remember. Raul654 02:01, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not too sure what the deal is here, so I can't comment on that specifically, but it seems to me that yesterday's featured article went fine and you were very responsive to comments and suggestions. . Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch televison for a month. Badgerpatrol 02:11, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

The change is made

As you'll no doubt notice, I placed the new version of FAR today and a notice directing people there from FARC. I hope this doesn't catch you off-guard but it had been five weeks, there was general consensus, and it had been roundly announced, so I thought boldness was in order. Marskell 09:45, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for scheduling the apocalypse, I'll have to make sure I stick around that day. Also, thanks for all the work you do on FA generally. Dragons flight 16:30, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

:-) William M. Connolley 17:40, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Userpage fix

Yes, that was a typo. Thanks for fixing my user page. How embarrasing.... But nice to know somebody reads them. --J Clear 01:14, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome :)

I regularly vandali...erm, "tweak" other people's user pages :) Raul654 02:22, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I know you're busy and pretty stressed, but...

I just noticed that the temporary block notices on Lir's talk and user pages don't agree on the expiration of the block and neither agrees with the block log. You reset the one year ban on Jan. 31, the last blocking action taken against Lir, which is why I'm asking you to look into it. I would change them myself, but don't know if I'm missing something. Thanks. —WAvegetarian•(talk) 20:25, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Assume the date on Lir's user page (April 13, 2007) is the authorotative one. Raul654 21:06, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Press release - 1000th featured article

Hello Mark, for today's press release a graph comparing the growth of featured articles on ENWIKI and DEWIKI has been chosen to be part of the selected material for media purposes. Thus I would like to inform you that I have created an English language version in slightly improved quality. Perhaps these two graphs should be exchanged. Just have a look here. Best regards --Marbot 20:56, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Done. Raul654 21:15, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Greetings, Mark!

If I may be so WP:BOLD, may I suggest Lindsay Lohan for the featured article for 2 July 2006? Given that's her 20th birthday, it made sense to me, anyway ;) RadioKirk talk to me 21:19, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Apologies for the reminder if you've seen this... ;) RadioKirk (u|t|c) 17:33, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! :) RadioKirk (u|t|c) 12:55, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

United States article nomination

Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/United States

Hi, even though most of the people (with some being administrators) are supporting the article on becoming featured, there are still those that object, and most of their objections are based on how the article is "too long" and needs to be shortened. I just want to bring to your attention this dilemma that if information gets removed to help trim the article, then others will object simply because it's not "comprehensive." Hope you understand. Thank you.--Ryz05 _t 23:08, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Malmedy

I agree that O'Reilly does not deserve his own section, but do you really think that the "legacy" of Malmedy includes what this goofball said on his stupid talk show?? I'm thinking of removing any mention of it in the article and instead including it on the O'Reilly page. Stanley011 02:48, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

If you had asked me after the first time, I would have said no (and in fact, I did say just that on the talk page). However, after teh second, he's caused a suffecient controversy to warrant some mention. I am in favor, however, of adding more (non-O'Reilly) legacy to that article, and at some point I also plan to merge the contents of the malmedy massacre trial article back into the malmedy massacre article (it should never have been split off in the first place). Raul654 02:51, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Renominating featured articles on the front page

If an article has been featured on the main page over two years ago, could it be renominated? Is there a guideline for this? Cheers, jaco♫plane 20:14, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

And, out of curiousity, do you ever worry we'll run out of FAs if we keep trying to have one up everyday? CanadianCaesar Cæsar is turn’d to hear 09:50, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

To answer Jacoplane's queries in reverse order - insofar as main page featured article policies, there's nothing written down anywhere. For over two years now I've been making it up as I go along (sssh - don't tell anyone! I don't think anyone's caught on - I've got them all fooled :) For this reason, however, precedent becomes a very important guide. I believe around New Years 2004 (end of 2004/beginning of 2005) I asked what people thought about the possibility of "re-featuring" articles and, if memory serves, it was almost unanimously negative. I was considering it then, but set the idea aside. I admit as time has gone on, the idea of never featuring the same one twice is one I've grown to like.

To answer Caeser's question - yes, I worry about that constantly. However, we are generating about 45 new featured articles per month (none of which, save about 4 articles that were featured, defeatured, and "refeatured) have appeared on the main page previously (we are also defeaturing about 15 articles a month, most of which have appeared on the main page, so the net change in featured articles is about +30 per month, or about one per day). Thus, every month, the pool of potential main page articles grows larger by about (45 new FAs that have never appeared on the main page - 30 used per month=) 15 articles. So running out is not a realistic worry at this point. Raul654 10:00, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Also, one last thing to keep in mind: the current pool of potential main page articles is HUGE - 273 (it's easy to count using a spreadsheet program). That means we could shut down the FAC for 9 months and run purely from what we have in the tank now. Raul654 10:08, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Football (soccer)

I see you have marked this article as featured based on the votings/comments from the community, however discussion was still commencing and I am seriously in question of this article because it fails FA criteria 2a. Can you please look over the article again? Thanks! — Wackymacs 12:35, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

User:Swainstonation RfC

I have opened a RfC on this user and was wondering if you might certify it. Thanks. — ceejayoz 05:19, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm of the opinion that he should be allowed to remove warnings from his talk page; I also don't think very highly of RFCs (they're pointless - they do literally nothing). I have been keeping an eye on him, and I was going to let the recent 'dumbass' edit summaries slide, but if he keeps it up, I'm going to give him another block. However, I think you need to disengage, and stop commenting on his talk page - IMO, it's going to escalate the situtation. Raul654 05:26, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Right, so why waste your time commenting on my RFC when you could spend that time catching real vandals on recent change patrol, and you are making it sound like you are my big brother, please do not publicly say you are "keeping an eye on someone", it sounds creepy, just a heads up.--The Nation 04:33, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Much like ceiling cat, Raul sees all. Raul654 04:38, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

What?--The Nation 04:39, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

File:Ceiling cat 00.jpg if this is the ceiling cat you are talking about than that is creepy, please do not watch me masterbate, jk

How did the United States FAC fail?

I'm not sure why you failed that nomination even though most people voted in support. I kindly ask you to provide an explanation. Also, when can the article be renominated? Finally, what can be done next to help bring the article to featured? Thank you.--Ryz05 _t 15:22, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

today's featured article - Colbert at WHCD

That thing's been sitting there forever, what's the process and/or timetable for it to get a date? --kizzle 07:31, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

There are 39 requests ahead of it in the queue! Raul654 21:23, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Oh wow! Take your time then :)--kizzle 21:32, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Mosque

Mosque, which is a featured article scheduled to be shown on the Main Page on June 14, now sports disputed tags in two different sections. What would you advise to do in this case? I don't think it's a good idea to show to the world an article with disputed tags. Pecher 16:51, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Are you still on Wikibreak?

{{fixit}}. --Avillia 08:37, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Music samples

You did a lot about sound samples on Misplaced Pages so I thought that you may be interested in the proposed guideline at Misplaced Pages:Music samples. Regards, Jogers (talk) 12:35, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Burnout

Sorry to see the wikistress level going up. Keep your spirits up — you've given a lot to Misplaced Pages, and we all realize that. Cheers. AnnH ♫ 13:02, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

I request you the same. As a small bit to reduce your stress, I've done some edits to bring NPOV to the article on Maneka Gandhi. I've specifically addressed your concern that the article focusses too much on her family ties rather than her individual accomplishments. I've added some citations and will edit the article further when I get time. -- Sundar 13:44, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Don't worry, Mark. I'm sure a little ceiling cat-related activity will lift the spirits right up! *ducks* Linuxbeak (AAAA!) 23:21, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

have a beer. Screw that - make it two Although don't drink and edit! -- Rick Block (talk) 01:32, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Thank you all. I'm very grateful for all the wonderful, supportive comments I've gotten both on this talk page and by email. A word of explination - I was/am weary of having to put out forest fires all the time. At the same time, I was feeling under-appreciated for the work I do on wikipedia.

Oh, and Linuxbeak, your comment did make me laugh. Raul654 04:46, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Mosque article

Someone let me know yesterday that the mosque article is the subject of two disputes. As you're aware, I had scheduled this as tomorrow's main page featured article, but it can't go up while the disputes are going on, so I've taken it off the queue. Please let me know when the disputes are over and I'll fast-track it back onto the queue. Raul654 10:23, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Message received. Hopefully we'll get everything straightened out soon. joturner 18:06, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Selena FAC

I wonder why you removed the Selena FAC early, there was only three objections along with 4 supports, one of them was fixed but Petaholmes became inactive soon afterwords. And Rory096's was very questionable. Thanks Jaranda 02:16, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Can you add a few extra days to the FAC and see if I could fix Rebecca's objection please as that was the only key objection left. Thanks Jaranda 03:01, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Sigh I give up on Rebecca's objection, I can't really expand the article without becoming too crufty. Thanks Jaranda 03:07, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

If you want, I can put it back on the FAC for a few more days. Raul654 03:16, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Ok, thank you Jaranda 03:18, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

FIFA World Rankings

Forgive my impertinence. I was marking the {{facfailed}}s and reviewing the archived nominations, and I was wondering if FIFA World Rankings should get a little more time? It seems like the nominator is actively responding to the objections, and the objection that there's a copyvio in the history seems... strange? If really a problem, couldn't we delete that version? —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 02:16, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

OK, I'll give it more time. Raul654 02:27, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Nice Job on Writing Your Articles

I'd just like to say good job on writing all these "featured" articles for the front page. I've read quite a few of them now and they're always very in-depth. It must take you a very long time to write and research a new topic to write about everyday, while also keeping things varied and interesting.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to reading your articles in the future.

Thanks

John Pearce

Sorry!

Dear Raul654,

I apologize for nearly losing my temper about the June 8th featured article.

You "won" because you proved your point, and I accept that,

(but I still call it the World Cup and not the world cup finals!)

I think we had this debate because I lost my temper too quickly when you didn't "get ploughed down" (in other words, accept

what I was saying), and my safety valve was about to burst (I was really ticked off).

But anyways, that is all behind us, and I hope we will be able to be on better terms in the future,

Most sincerely,

Jean-Paul 10:18, 15 June 2006 (UTC) Parlate Italiano?

Apology accepted. Raul654 17:17, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Reverted vandalism (not sure)

Maybe we haven't met before, but I know I could help here. First of all I found this and reverted it. It was from an anon IP (195.70.32.136). In my opinion it was nonsense and I reverted it. If you consider it was not, you can revert my changes. Hoping to help you, juan andrés 23:12, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, the edit you reverted was nonsense and reversion was in order. Raul654 17:13, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Opposition to homosexuality

Hi, you appear not to have closed the AfD for this page yet have carried out the redirect (which was the obvious consensus). The page that needs properly closing is this. --Wisden17 00:29, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

done. Raul654 17:17, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

DYK on main page

Would you mind giving an opinion on the inclusion of the Banu Nadir item on DYK? I can see the merit of including it, but I am slightly concerned at the message it appears to be sending out. The article from which it is drawn seems to suffer from some POV issues, although I must stress that I'm not any kind of an expert on this subject. It's a given that Misplaced Pages ought not to be censored, but I wonder if that can be taken as far as pointless inflamation of religious tensions. Again, I can see both sides of the argument here- but I would appreciate the viewpoint of a third-party with more experience of process and protocol than I. Badgerpatrol 03:33, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Image Tagging for Image:Don_King.jpg

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Chapterage

There's renewed discussion about whether and how to set up US wikimedia chapter. Among other things this could help better organize meetups, gatherings at large events and cons, and local outreach. Cf. the mailing-list and meta-page on the topic... both of which could use TLC. +sj + 17:08, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Hi

You seem to be well-versed in policies and so on, so I have a question. People are claiming that guidelines, being "guidelines," not "policies," only have to be followed on a voluntary basis. What's your take on the situation? Exploding Boy 17:35, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

My opinion: A policy is something that must be followed; an actual guideline (as opposed to something that someone has unilterally decided to call a guideline) is something that you should follow unless you have a damned good (convincing) reason why you shouldn't; (and "because I don't agree with that guideline" is not suffecient) Raul654 18:28, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'm talking about a guideline that has been created by consensus, and is tagged as a Misplaced Pages guideline, not, for example, something someone has on their user page. Several users recently, when invited to comply with the guideline, have refused on the grounds noted above. The page on policies and guidelines states that guidelines are "actionable," which I interpret to mean "must be followed, or may result in a block." Would you agree? Exploding Boy 00:42, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

"I don't have to comply, it's only a guideline, not a policy" is, in my considered opinion, not a suffeciently compelling reason. Raul654 02:52, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Depending on the circumstances, a block might be appropriate. Raul654 02:59, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I completely agree. So would you agree with my interpretation (that refusing to follow a guideline is blockable)? Exploding Boy 03:00, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Potentially, yes. We have guidelines for a reason. Raul654 03:01, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Hmm. This is all annoyingly vague (not your comments, but the guideline / policy thing). Apparently some users feel that guidelines are merely suggestions, to be followed only if they happen to agree with them. Some users have refused point-blank to comply with carefully written, consensus-made guidelines and have challenged their enforcability vs. that of policies. I've asked for clarification on the Village pump and the guideline/policy page, but so far to no avail. Unfortunately, no one seems to actually know, and the wording "guideines are actionable" is vague. Exploding Boy 03:00, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

The entire process by which guidelines and policies are generated is vague. The difference is one of degree, not of kind. Both represent our best practices and both are created through consensus and experience (along the lines of - 'hrm, this practices works well. Let's make it the standard'). However, a policy is something you must follow, whereas a guideline is something you should follow unless you can come up with a reason you shouldn't. In other words, guidelines are not absolutes, but are more than mere suggestions-which-one-can-ignore-because-one-doesn't-like-them. Raul654 03:11, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Ok, well thanks. While I totally agree with your interpretation, I'm going to wait for some more input before engaging certain users on this issue again. Exploding Boy 03:18, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

The Blondin Award

Glad you're feeling better! In recognition of your always well-balanced editing, you are this year's recipient of the Bishonen Tightrope Trophy, a coveted award bestowed on the few who carry the wikipedia on their shoulders. (The image represents the amazing Charles Blondin carrying Jimbo Wales safely across the Niagara Falls.) Bishonen | talk 17:46, 17 June 2006 (UTC).

Re: Bird identification

Thanks very much for pointing me in User:Jimfbleak's direction. I've asked him his opinion on the identity of that baby gull. --Kurt Shaped Box 00:35, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Tony Blair issues

Hi - I've just added some discussion points to the Tony Blair take page - you may wish to give a view. SP-KP 11:44, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Chromatophore

Hi Raul654. Thanks for promoting the chromatophore article to FA status. It being my first, I must admit to feeling quite pleased with myself. Now to find another suitable stub and see if i can repeat the process! A quick question perhaps you could answer for me. I notice the article doesn't have a bronze star at the top right. Is it my responsibilty to add it as nominator? If so, could you tell me how to do it. If not, how/when does the star get added? Thanks again! Rockpocket 02:20, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

For compliated reasons, I don't add that template to articles when I promote them. However, I've gone ahead and added it to the chromatophore article. Raul654 02:24, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Ahh. I see. Thanks again. Rockpocket 02:47, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Happy Birthday!

The Misplaced Pages Birthday Committee wishes you a very happy birthday! Enjoy your special day.

Many happy returns!!!

Thistheman 04:26, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Wishing you all the best on your birthday! From the Misplaced Pages Birthday Committee.

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