User talk:MER-C/archives/22

We've got another one...

See Wikipedia_talk:Featured_picture_candidates#Elena85.2FJoan97_Shenanigans (unless she wipes it off the talkpage as well). --jjron (talk) 14:39, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

ZOMG it's the Tropical Cyclone Featured Content stuffing CABAL!! When I was selecting examples for a Signpost article, I couldn't help but notice the ubiquitous TCs at featured lists and featured topics.

More seriously, Elena85 was renamed to Joan97 (see also Wikipedia:Changing username/Archive41#Elena85 → Joan97). The reason given is valid, but I have never seen someone change username and use that to vote twice. MER-C 03:24, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I am new

Hello i am new here to wiki but i am not spammer in any how. I know that there is nofollow tag i just wanted to add some links providing some details.

For improvement in that please help what should i do. Should i not put in external links. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Crickethitesh (talk • contribs)

Using your first edits to systematically add links to various articles is extremely suspicious. A lot of people who do this are here to promote their website instead of contributing constructively, which isn't allowed. I recommend you add some content first in some topic you are familiar with. Help:Contents, Wikipedia:How to edit a page, Wikipedia:Your first article, User:Jonathan/Where to find help on editing and Wikipedia:Embedded citations are good places to start. MER-C 13:24, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

From User:Vstata

See [1]; User:Vstata is trying to respond to the warnings for spam you sent them, but keeps sending the messages to me for some reason. --ais523 17:07, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

---

Dear Sir,

I have received a message from you informing me of the deletion of 'spam links' inserted by me and am very distressed by being termed as such. I think it only proper to clarify my actions as well as know how I can add links without running foul of Wikipedia policy which I can assure you I respect as much as anybody. My goal is to to make quality content available free for use.

Mine is a personal website on themes on India and "Paintings on Stamps'(Art and Philately being my passion). It is my endevour to make my site an educational reference site, and therefore have taken care to add content from really authentic sources.

You must be aware than content on India and Philately is still very scarce on the internet and needs to be seen in that context. I request you to see my site in detail and then decide if it is unique, different and detailed enough to merit a link. I have added links when I have felt that it genuinly adds value and information from another angle on the page they are placed on and when they cannot form part of the wikipage being very image intensive

I do agree that the links that I have added are from my personal site which also bring in more persons to read my contents but that is not the only reason nor the primary one.Although the site has Ads from Google, Amazon, let me assure you the income is very secondary and anyway hardly covers my hosting cost.

While I respect your policy not to make Wikipedia a collection of links and endorse it, I think it would be a mistake to 'throw the baby out with the bath tub'. There must be a way to add genuine links after due scrutiny by experienced editors (as in the case of DMOZ). Please do tell me how I can do so without running foul with Wikipedia policy.

Last but not the least, please get that 'SPAM' tag off my site. Surely with so many deletions carried out in such a short span of time as apparent from the deletion logs, I don't think there is enough objectivity in deciding content as 'spam'.

I shall be grateful for your time and advice on the matter.

With kind regards,

ID:Vstata

Some initial thoughts: The issue is not whether you are making money out of your site or the appropriateness of the content but whether you are promoting your own site. Doing so is not on, see also Wikipedia:External links#Advertising and conflicts of interest and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. Our advice on how not to be a spammer may also be of interest. MER-C 13:28, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Pied Cormorant

Are you going to close this? Milk's Favorite Cookie :  Chat  18:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Soon, for some definition of soon that may or may not be the same as yours. MER-C 09:02, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Closure

Someone went ahead and closed it as "Not Promoted" - when there was a clear Support-Oppose consensus. Anyways, I know that the image was under discussion. You may want to deal with this. Thanks, Milk’s Favorite Cookie ^(Talk) 14:33, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree with the result, the show stopper was the lack of enc value. MER-C 03:31, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:FCDW/March 31, 2008

Good work for writing this article... I originally proposed the idea (way back in Febuary) but never got round to writing it, so kudos to you. I've taken the liberty of expanding the materoal on Featured Topics and Lists (those being the areas I knew most about) - hope you don't mind. Tompw (talk) (review)

Oh, and obviously if you don't like my changes, feel free to revert them - it's your article. Tompw (talk) (review) 19:12, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

I felt your edits added too many flaws in the form of redundancy and typos however I've incorporated some of your suggested changes. MER-C 10:23, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Spam Links

Hi, I added some links to interviews with bands I have been involved with which contain a lot of useful information about those bands. There was no intention to spam Wikipedia or advertise the website in any way, they were legitimate links that I believe contain useful information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.102.146.78 (talk • contribs)

See my comments under #I am new above and our comments on how to not look spammy. MER-C 08:59, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

WP:SSP

Hiya - thanks for marking Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Samthemanilovethem as closed. Just a quick note, though - it's better if you just whack {{SSPa}} (I think it's case sensitive) at the top of the sub-page, rather than the full text that you put in place (did you "subst:" the template, perhaps?). Only problem is that the bots appear to look for the actual text "SSPa" to archive it - if you substitute the template, or put the wording in verbatim, then they don't archive it and it sits there looking all forlorn and orange!

Thanks for your help, though - it's a frequently backlogged page, so all assistance is appreciated. _{The public face of GB}^T/C 12:54, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I think substing was the way it was done before the bot. Thanks for telling me - I only bothered to read the instructions once. MER-C 07:51, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

External Links

Your page on External Links says " If the link is to a relevant and informative site that should otherwise be included, please consider mentioning it on the talk page and let neutral and independent Wikipedia editors decide whether to add it." Do I include it in my talk page. If not where? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vstata (talk • contribs)

Each article has a corresponding talk page located at Talk:Article name, for example the talk page for Mars is Talk:Mars. You can get there by clicking on the "discussion" tab next to the edit one. That's where you should comment. (A hint: don't bother doing so on all of the articles - it's a waste of time - just the most edited one and see what response you get). MER-C 07:48, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

RfA take 3

• At this point I'm off to work. If you accept, would you mind adding it to main page please? SynergeticMaggot (talk) 16:56, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

• I'm glad this finally went live on my watchlist :-) — Athaenara ✉ 20:33, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

• The page exists (at MER-C 3), but the nomination has not yet been accepted. EdJohnston (talk) 13:08, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Ooh, SUL and unlimited rollback make it so tempting (but brings about some headaches since I need to shove a couple of accounts out of the way, see bug 13507). I'd be willing to try out any other proposed adminship process but definitely not RFA. MER-C 13:35, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

This is the third thread on this same issue in the last few months, perhaps accepting may be the surrest way to stop the headache of being asked repetedly... I've added my co-nom support--Hu12 (talk) 15:27, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

MER-C, I share your distaste for the ways Rfas can be trolled or used as soapboxes by other users, but you need not cater to that. I urge you to accept the nom. — Athaenara ✉ 16:30, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

I put your RfA page up for speedy but it was removed. It appears others want you to accept. It was my original mistake of not linking your RfA 3 here (and not asking you before I created the page). So I'd like to know if you could decline on your RfA so I can close it out. Unless you'd like to do it yourself. Regards. SynergeticMaggot (talk) 19:14, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Speedy delined as other's have contributed. MER-C, Wikipedia is a better quality project because of editors like you, being an admin could only make it that much better. I'll echo Athaenara's sentiment, I urge you to accept this nom, You've demonstrated you'd be excellent at it.--Hu12 (talk) 21:16, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Thats actually poor rationale. There was one other contributor to the article when I tagged it(which was to support even though it hadn't been accepted yet) and this RfA was rejected by the nominee. I db-authored it since I created the page. SynergeticMaggot (talk) 22:24, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

There is no "speedy" need to rush delete an unlisted RFA, especialy since you were not the only contributor. Let MER-C think about it and take all the time he wants. Were all here to support MER-C, nominating or supporting someone for RFA is a selfless jesture, lets not forget that.--Hu12 (talk) 23:46, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

MER-C, don't feel pressure from me, but just know that if you do stand for admin, you have my strongest possible support and encouragement. If you don't want to do this, well I accept your decision and continue to appreciate and value all you do for Wikipedia. --A. B. ^{(talk • contribs)} 01:15, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

"Just do it" --Hu12 (talk) 07:00, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

I do not want to play 20 questions, especially if they are stupid questions. I'm still leaning towards declining the nomination. MER-C 10:46, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Late to the party & not for the first time. You have my support without question. However I would echo A. B.'s words above & not for the first time, cheers --Herby ^{talk thyme} 15:52, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

A moment of time

I was wondering if you could take a look at this. Your thoughts? --Sharkface217 05:11, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

... are unfortunately "" (i.e. there's likely to be no COI) . MER-C 13:02, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Whoops, sorry about that. I have another report that I think may warrant your time. Thanks --Sharkface217 20:01, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Keep up the great work

In reverting vandalism, looks like you are not wikibonked anymore or if you are the amount of edits you normally do would be ridiculous for a human being. Just a question and im sure you've heard this before but whats with the username? Anything special or something you made up. Thanks Roadrunnerz45 (talk) 12:58, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I usually edit at double this current rate. As for the username, I'll give you a hint: one of my interests is the planet Mars. MER-C 12:57, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Heya, thanks for telling me about editing at double the rate, thats kinda scary. I guess thats why you opted out of showing your edit stats on this site here because it would freak everyone out. And your page doesn't come up on wannabe kate either. By the way, you telling me about Mars confused me even more:) Your a unique user on Wikipedia. Nice talking to you! Roadrunnerz45 (talk) 13:41, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Think MER. — Athaenara ✉ 08:08, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank You admin, that makes it quite easy. I think its fair to say this user is interested in the planet Mars. I guess men are from Mars so it makes sense. I am a Jupiter fan myself:) Roadrunnerz45 (talk) 09:06, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

SPAM warning

Hi;

I've made visual galleries for each one of the 53 most important Hitchcock films, including movie stills, posters and artists photos, there are more then 1000 images. It's quality content available for use in a public site without any kind of advertise. You can see all the galleries in the follow link: http://www.eyegate.com/Hitchcock

I´m not a spammer and I became very worried with the message you sent me about my "external links" edition in Hitchkock's films Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film), Foreign Correspondent (film), Young and Innocent, Sabotage (film) and Juno and the Paycock (film).

I use Wikipedia a lot and I can feel by myself the problem of bad quality links in "external links" of articles.

I work hard to make a very good material to contribute with the free information, not to bored the users.

If it's possible, I'd like to have an answer from you.

Thank you for your attention.

Fernando Caiaffa (user:Caiaffa)

Ummm, yeah. Systematically adding links to multiple language Wikipedias is EXTREMELY suspicious (yes, I did mean to shout) and if your actions were in bad faith then it would place you among the real hardcore spammers. However, this is not the case but your efforts to improve the encyclopedia are somewhat misguided as Wikipedia is not for self-promotion. MER-C 13:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for let me know about this. I read the pages you mentioned. At the Wikipedia:External links page, in the item 3 of the topic "What should be linked", it seems that my galleries absolutely meet this criteria, but, at the same time, I can be considered in the topic "Advertising and conflicts of interest". Is there any way to include my galleries in Wikipedia without the possibility of being considered a spammer? For your knowledge, here are some of my galleries that I'd like to link in Wikipedia: http://www.eyegate.com/Beatles, http://www.eyegate.com/Betty_Boop, http://www.eyegate.com/Einstein, http://www.eyegate.com/Tintin_babel, http://www.eyegate.com/Harry_Potter, http://www.eyegate.com/NFL. As the major part of them are purely graphical, they are usefull in every language. As I previously told you, my efforts are to improve the free good quality information to the people, that's why I don't have either Google Ads in the site and all the galleries (and some images) have relevant links (Wikipedia links and others). Thanks again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Caiaffa (talk • contribs)

It might be a good idea if you propose on the talk page before adding any more links and getting reverted for promoting your own site. MER-C 12:21, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

spam.horizonpress.com

I add content from books published by Horizon Scientific Press. For Verifiability I understood that the correct citation would be the book that the material comes from. I do not have access to any other published material so the only references I cite are to Horizon Press books. In future I have three options:

1. Stop adding content to Wiki
2. Add content without references
3. Add content with references to Horizon Press books

I welcome any help or suggestions and will take your advice seriously. Many thanks. Touchstone42 (talk) 11:00, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Let's try to keep the discussion in one place. MER-C 11:56, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Special:RevisionDelete

Another feature I would like to see: If a revision is deleted, leave an entry in the edit history indicating "one or more revisions has been removed," so it's clear that what you think is a diff isn't. Ditto for any other circumstances when diffs are not in the expected order. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 04:18, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if this is the case, but some mouldy implementation notes (scroll down for the screenshots) would say so. The code isn't live on Wikipedia, as it still needs to be tested and the databases updated, see bug 3576. It'll appear first on the Test Wikipedia, whenever the devs can be bothered. MER-C 07:13, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

I need your advice

In the adminship poll here you said the 5min limit for rollback is usless for spam. Can you explain to me about the 5 min limit, i am not aware of such a limit. Can you please direct me where it states this, what do you mean by this? I have looked everywhere about the limit for rollback and found nothing. Thank You. Roadrunnerz45 (talk) 03:35, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Non-admins can only rollback five times a minute (try it). This is a technical restriction, as in server configuration. MER-C 05:25, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, thats something that will never effect me, only superhumans like you. BTW dont be scared about the RFA process, just look at all the past attempts and you'll get it. Dont let the other users on here bother you or stop you doing something you want to do. Trust me! Roadrunnerz45 (talk) 05:52, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Celebrations of the September 11, 2001 attacks

Hello MER-C, can you please explain why you closed the request here as "Not a COI issue" ? the reason I created a request at COI is that some editors in the dispute (including myself) are personally involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I think this is influencing their judgment. Imad marie (talk) 15:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It's not a conflict of interest but rather nationalist editing. A COI is, in a nutshell, people editing articles about themselves, family members, friends, businesses, employers, organisations, bands, etc in a promotional manner. The arbcom ruling in the area means that if you want your complaint to be addressed effectively you should go to arbitration enforcement. MER-C 06:12, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Images

http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&limit=500&target=Spot+Image&month=&year=

• Search commons web links spotimage.com

Spot Image (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Seems to be a role account (here and on commons), there is a Copywright tag on many of these images. Are these kosher?--Hu12 (talk) 10:38, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

See OTRS ticket 2008041610018297 (don't ask me, I don't have access). From the Commons user page: "This account belongs to an employee of SPOT Image who is sharing images from their database as an official initiative from this company." The individual images should be tagged with an OTRS template, but the English Wikipedia is a big enough handful for me. MER-C 10:57, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

My Tiny Life

Hi. Why did you remove link to the online PDF of My Tiny Life from Julian Dibbell? The link is clearly relevant, and I don't understand what you mean by "blacklisted". Sanxiyn (talk) 21:44, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

lulu.com got listed on the local blacklist because of this discussion. What that means is that if a page contains a link to lulu.com, then you can't save it until the link is removed. MER-C 05:45, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I requested whitelisting the link. Sanxiyn (talk) 00:11, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

sigh...not spam

Ningbo Guide website isn't spam. I read the links above about what spam is and how not to be a spammer, and I don't see which one applies. It's very useful website that everyone in the entire community uses, it shouldn't be removed from the wiki. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jovialman3 (talk • contribs)

Then tell me why you have been edit warring with a bunch of IPs (who are spamming by the way) over the inclusion of ningboguide.com versus helloningbo.com and ningbolife.com for the last few weeks. It wasn't the first time you did it either. MER-C 12:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

The guy doesn't do anything else except spams his website. Hermant patel (talk) 13:16, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Not any more he won't. MER-C 13:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Account has also been blocked, keep a eye out for redirect and/or sneaky links. thanks for the good work--Hu12 (talk) 13:37, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

New Project

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

If you consider yourself a very active Wikipedian who is willing to help newcomers, please either complete your information in the table or add your entry. If you do not want to be on the list, either remove your name or just disregard this message and your entry will be removed within 48 hours. The table can be found at User:Useight/Highly Active, as it has yet to have been moved into the Wikipedia namespace. Thank you for your help. Useight (talk) 17:44, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

El castillo

Looks to me like vesion 3 has more support and less opposition than the photoshopped version. --Dschwen 13:50, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

See WT:FPC#El Castillo closure. There's no problem here. MER-C 08:27, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, sorry, me==moron. --Dschwen 14:32, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

New CSD Criterion for Image: space

Sorry for the spam, but having seen that you regularly list useless pdfs on IfD I was wondering whether you could have a look at this CSD proposal which would simplify the job and remove some WP:CREEP. Thanks! RichardΩ612 Ɣ |ɸ 17:53, May 4, 2008 (UTC)

Wrong version featured

Dear MER-C, i think there was a mistake when closing this nomination. The original version gained the most votes not Fir's edit. --Richard Bartz (talk) 22:43, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Seems fine to me, more people explicitly preferred the edit. There are also 2 edit only supports vs 1 original only support. MER-C 12:16, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

{{badpdf}}

I have done some changes to the BadPDF template you should note. It has been changed to {{badformat}}, which is used to tag images in non-image formats that could be better expressed as plain text. BadPDF still redirects to the new one for backwards compatibility. It can now be used for any format where it could be better as text, such as XLS. ViperSnake151 00:57, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

The Holy Grail - External Links

Hello ,

I added my website http://spam.gradale.com at external links section. But you deleted it. Why? My website explains the new holy grail theory and where is it hidden like http://spam.alfredobarbagallo.com link at external links section. Why do you delete the alfredobarbagallo.com link?

Regards, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.127.96.230 (talk • contribs)

Your new theory, eh? How about actually finding the Grail (pictures, or it didn't happen) instead of promoting your sites on Wikipedia, which isn't allowed? Several editors have tried explaining to you why your sites are inappropriate and you have been blocked before for exactly that, see User talk:212.127.96.230 and WP:ELNO points #2, #4 and the "conflicts of interest" heading below it. MER-C 07:23, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Coren Bot

Ahhhh. Its driving me up the wall getting two messages a minute which I have to keep rollbacking. I've tried contacting Coren but no response. I've asked various editors to white list my account but still nothing is happening. Its a nuisance!! ♦Blofeld of SPECTRE♦ ^$1,000,000? 14:03, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

You've already been listed. (I'd personally wait until the warnings pile up, then revert them in one go.) Oddly enough, the whitelist page is unprotected though it was a bit hard to find. MER-C 02:47, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Holy Cross College

Hi you reverted a change to Holy Cross College (UK). Not sure why, as you've restored phrases such as "i just want to rub butter all over his penis and then lick it off" - which doesn't strike me as encyclopaedic(!), so I have reverted it back again... DrFrench (talk) 13:59, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh. Oops. Sorry. MER-C 14:19, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Better Work

Hello, MER-C ...

I don't think that the WP:SPA author of Better Work (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) is likely to return, so can we just speedy delete it and MOVE ON?

Happy Editing! — 72.75.78.69 (talk · contribs) _{20:42, 10 May 2008 (UTC)}

Someone will come along and delete it, but I have no idea on the timeframe involved. We can safely forget about it. MER-C 05:25, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Template:Oldprodfull

Hello again, MER-C/archives ... I have a couple of questions:

1. I would like to add {{Oldprodfull}} to the very end of the table at Wikipedia:Template messages/Deletion#Deletion tools, but I'm reluctant to be that bold ... any suggestions?
2. Do you think that my Flag templates for deletion warnings (like WP:FLAG-BIO and WP:FLAG-BAND) are ready to be moved into project space as "legitimate" WP:FLAG-xyz shortcuts?
3. Do you have any comments on {{Flag-editor}}? (I noticed its discussion page is empty. :-)

Happy Editing! — 72.75.78.69 (talk · contribs) _{22:13, 11 May 2008 (UTC)}

1) There's absolutely nothing stopping you.

2) Two comments:

2a) This seems a bit redundant to your standard maintenance tags.

2b) The various pages to be moved into project space contain a lot of redundancies and could easily be condensed into one page.

That said, given the massive backlogs in some of the categories (e.g. Category:All articles lacking sources has 78,627 members) it might be worth a shot. I've certainly been in the "is this deletable crap?" situation before and tagged {{notability}} for a second opinion, which has a multi-month backlog.

3) I really hope this doesn't get added to talk pages of the creators of bad faith articles. There are also a set of deletion warning templates for specific problems, e.g. Template:Db-bio-notice. (I personally don't believe in speedy deletion warnings because most of the articles I tag are irredeemable). I'm not sure where there is one for

I guess that's about it for now. MER-C 11:57, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Thnx fer the feedback ... some of the duplication/redundancy is based on experience with newbies (say it on both the article's discussion page and the editor's talk page, because they might only see one of them at first) ... these are intended only for the "questionable" ones, and their intent is to slow down the Proposed deletion and Speedy deletion processes so that they don't occur Too Quickly ... it's not for blatant and obvious {{db-spam}} or {{db-copyvio}} articles, for which I feel the courtesy {{spam-warn}} and {{sd-copyvio}} templates (applied after the fact) are sufficient. :-)

Happy Editing! — 72.75.78.69 (talk · contribs) _{17:05, 12 May 2008 (UTC)}

Warning Level

Hi. I see that you reverted and warned 163.153.27.75 (talk · contribs) due to their vandalizing Conquistador; thanks. While I agree that the edit was inappropriate, since this appears to be the first edit they have ever made, did it really deserve a level 2 warning? --NERIC-Security (talk) 13:34, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't use level 1 warnings because I prefer not to make assumptions about the IP's intentions to contribute constructively, (the level 1 warnings make this implicit assumption). And besides, they say effectively say the same thing anyway. MER-C 11:53, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Question about FP promotion

Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/20070616 Chris Young visits Wrigley (4).JPG

I was browsing around on the old FP promotions, and I saw that you had promoted this one. While fairly neutral on the discussion, I don't understand how a vote of three for and three against merits FP promotion. Was there some other circumstance that is not mentioned in the archive? Thanks

Clegs (talk) 20:21, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

I have it at 7/2. Not every support or oppose comes in bold letters and one valid support was struck due to procedural reasons which were resolved. MER-C 06:58, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Need Help Again Old Friend.....

IP User 90.196.3.1 (talk · contribs) seems to think my personal page is a discussion forums and keeps editiing my articles there and generally creating a bit of a mess there. I keep reverting but he doesn't stop. Other wiki users are getting tired of reverting his edits too on various Sikh articles. He seems to push a particular POV on Sikhism, one from a sect known as AKJ. Can you stop this guy or at least have a word with him.--Sikh-history (talk) 14:27, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Mmm, lots of SPAs. I suspect there might be some sort of underlying problem here that requires attention - something article probation or discretionary sanctions will probably solve. I'd recommend posting on WP:ANI with some evidence of misbehaviour due to this underlying problem. MER-C 12:03, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

WP:HAU/OC

Hello . The Highly Active Users project has gone through a complete revamping per popular demand. We believe this new format will make it easier for new editors to find assistance. However, with the new format, I must again ask you to verify your information on this page. With the extensive changes, I may have made some errors. Thanks again. bibliomaniac15 01:52, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

You will also need to add [[Category:Wikipedians who use StatusBot]] to your userpage in order for SoxBot V to automatically update your online/offline status. If you do not added this text, you will always be listed as "offline" at HAU. Thanks. Useight (talk) 02:57, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

POTD June 21, 2008

Hi MER-C

Forgive me my ignorance as I am not completely familiar with the POTD circuitry here. I have a request, but I do not know if you are the right user to ask, but if not, maybe you can redirect me. June 21 is the national day of Greenland, and I thouhgt it would be good timing if the POTD on June 21 could be an FP from Greenland. What I had in mind is Image:Upernavik_evening_panorama_edit4.jpg and alternatively, if this is considered too newly nominated, Image:Iceberg with hole near sanderson hope 2007-07-28 2.jpg. If this is against some policy just tell me, and I'll forget about it. Cheers, and thank you for the nice work you do closing FPs. -- Slaunger (talk) 06:56, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't do POTDs, you should ask Howcheng. MER-C 07:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

OK, thank you. -- Slaunger (talk) 07:57, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Image:Preservewildlifea.jpg

Can you indicate whats wrong with this file? I have both viewed it full size and in a 50 and 250px thumbnail and can't find a problem. Is it because there is a sharpened version available? Viridae^Talk 08:03, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Meh don't worry - comments from Durova indicate that she (the uploader and only significant contributor) is happy for the deletion to occur anyway. Viridae^Talk 08:16, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry

Sorry Mer-C; I just inadvertenly edited a wikipedia contribution of yours whereby I only wanted to have the code for a wiki I am building. You reverted it after this. Thanks & have a nice week-end. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.64.224.244 (talk • contribs)

Yeah, that's fine. Just try to avoid doing it in the future by closing the window/tab without saving. MER-C 10:23, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Request for comment

I was wondering if you'd comment here. Thanks! --Sharkface^T/_C 20:58, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd appreciate it if you didn't spam my talk page every time you file a COIN report. I go there twice a day and whether I comment or not is up to me. Thanks. MER-C 07:59, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

why delete?

hi,

why do you delete my post in a articel? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Topper nclub (talk • contribs)

Which article? You should also read the (big/bold) text at the top of this page. MER-C 13:18, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

sorry, but im a newbie from germany. article : Peter North (porn actor)

it was a extern link to a database-site (link www.iafd.com or www.adultfilmdatabase.com) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Topper nclub (talk • contribs)

Your contributions are empty, so I can only guess it was adultstarbase.com (tracking URL). I suppose you added the links to the German wiki too (it was the same IP address). That's highly suspicious and screams SPAM! to me. There's a definition of spam in that (bold) text above. MER-C 09:17, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

External Link for approval

Hi! I'm a newbie, not a spammer, and would like to add an external link to the "x year in music" Wikipedia pages. The WP:EL suggests that "if the link is to a relevant and informative site that should otherwise be included, please consider mentioning it on the talk page and let the Wikipedia editors decide whether to add it". So here we are, the link is http://www.getback.com/Music/@1982. You can listen to over 1,000 songs from 1982. It's fun, compelling, relevant and informative. Not to mention free and registration not required. Also, the copyrighted material has been cleared for use on the site. Thanks for your help with this. Angelica Angelczek (talk) 15:28, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Pardon my cynicism, but why does this post sound like a promo for the site? Instead, you should prove it has some sort of encyclopedic use, say, as a reference. It might also help your case if you contributed in other ways than linking to that site. MER-C 12:04, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Clearly it does have encyclopedic use. It's an interactive reference where you have the ability to transport yourself into x year and listen to the songs spanning all genres of that year. I've always been one to learn from experience in addition to reading and studying.

The internet lacks premium content, this link fills the void and creates a compelling wiki page for visitors. No other site offers three decades of music, is year specific, and free. Ideally it would be great if we could just pop a widget into the wikipedia page however it is copywrited material; that's for the wiki business development people to work out ;) Angelica Angelczek (talk) 17:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

By "reference", I meant an in-text citation of a reliable website which allows us to verify something stated in the article, for example "Avalanches have been caught in action on Mars. ". In this case, the site belongs to the (university) guys who operate the camera. To get a good appreciation of which sites qualify as reliable sources, you need to have some content experience (i.e. not just adding external links to one website). MER-C 13:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

References

76.79.110.130 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
--Hu12 (talk) 14:08, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

hmmmm I'm seeing links to IMDB, Music Brains, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Star Pulse, and Myspace. Getback is offering more meaningful content than these sites. You can look up any artist and it lists their entire discography including international releases and bsides, as well as album artwork, videos and photos. The site is a unique resource, it's informative, relevant, contains information from knowledgeable sources (the VP of content co-produced "In The Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2", his previous production work is Grammy nominated, and he's on the board of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame), and it contains copyrighted material ie music, videos, and photos which can't be posted in the wiki page itself. How can we make this work while sticking to the guidelines? Angelica Angelczek (talk) 00:53, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You can make it work by making useful contributions that are not adding links to getback.com (tracking link). You could, for instance, expand some of these articles. By the way, you still sound like you're spruiking the site. MER-C 11:58, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I noticed most of these articles are sports related. We have every sports statistic from 1968-1990 which we paid for. Why should we make it free and available when you want to take down our other contributions which we also paid for? How do you resolve this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Angelczek (talk • contribs)

(reset) You're missing the point: the idea is to contribute to the encyclopedia without adding links to your site which is not allowed. That way, your edits probably won't be erased. MER-C 09:20, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Status Bot

Hi,

Just wondering how i get a status bot on my username :-) Prom3th3an (talk) 12:13, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

The instructions are here. It should be working. MER-C 12:38, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Image deletion question

Hello there.. Can you explain why you tagged Image:La Comédie humaine 02.jpg for speedy-delete? The edit summary says "empty description page", but the Commons page clearly has a description. I don't really mind if the image is deleted, since it's not used anywhere (and probably won't be; there are other, better images of the same books available). But I'd just like to know what the problem is with the image. Thanks! – Scartol • Tok 14:28, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

It's the local description page that is relevant here, which we can use to add tags en.wikipedia specific tags (such as {{FeaturedPicture}}). MER-C 12:40, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the userpage revert

I warn a persistent vandal, leave for a few days of exams, and see what happens? Thanks for keeping an eye out, I appreciate it. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 19:24, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Semi Page Protection

LOL, your getting hit by the vandals worse than i am, have you ever thought of semi page protection? Prom3th3an (talk) 12:07, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

My userpage is permanently semi-protected and move-protected, this page is not. I need it unprotected because I move this page for archiving. MER-C 12:12, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		You do a great deal of work, and for this you are slapped in the face by anon users vandalising your user page and yet you still help. Thankyou for defending my user page, you deserve this your efforts are greatly appreciated Prom3th3an (talk) 03:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, though I'm used to it. :) MER-C 12:01, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Help

Hi MER-C. You've got a page move script haven't you? Can you help with [2]. Thanks. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 11:44, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, no I don't, though I've had a lot of practice. I can also reasonably write one, consider it on my lengthy to-do list. I also just found out that I'm subject to the move throttle (dammit).

I think that's all of them done, give or take a few that didn't have revert links. MER-C 12:09, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch. You clearly have had a lot of practice - I thought you definitely used a script! I think VoA has one somewhere. There's a note at the bottom of WP:AN about this. Thanks again. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 12:13, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Renaming of account on fr.wp

Usurpation completed on fr.wp. Regards, Blinking Spirit (talk) 07:16, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. :) MER-C 07:23, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikinews

Welcome to Wikinews. Here is a short introduction to our policies that are substantially different from the Wikipedia versions.

• n:Wikinews:Cite sources - we cite sources in a different way to Wikipedia
• n:Wikinews:Writing an article - an introduction to writing an article
• n:Wikinews:Style guide - on headlines and other things.
• Wikinews:Archiving - we don't edit article after they have been published for two days.
• Wikinews:Original reporting - Wikinews allows OR

See your Wikinews talk page for a full welcome message,

Anonymous101 (talk) 09:07, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Video clip as FP?

Hi,MER-C, May I please ask you, if a video clip might be nominated as a candidate for FP? Thank you.--Mbz1 (talk) 14:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. MER-C 08:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Spam, etc.

Your user ID is ironic, as you show spammers no mer-c. I am fairly much death on spam also, as some of my more "controversial" posts in ANI suggest. I like your H-bomb. It's a similar idea to that expressed in the Vandalism selection on my user page. I would have said "spam" in the edit summary for Chartres rather than just reverting it; in fact I tried to, but you beat me to it. :) However, spammers usually know that they're spamming, though sometimes not. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 13:18, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The idea is to use the automated tools to 1) save you time and 2) get the message across that we can revert your spam extremely quickly and thus it wasn't worth your while spamming in the first place. Consider this guy - it took five spam campaigns (three as IPs) and about a year's worth of edit warring to get his links onto the 'pedia and it took me a minute to nuke the majority of it. (See WikiProject Spam report). The pun is unintended. MER-C 13:53, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Maybe unintended, but it works. I usually use the rollback for obvious vandalism, i.e. what I call putting "stupid stuff" into articles, like vulgarities or the guy's own name or whatever; but I expect that obvious spam could be treated the same way. I am interested in your take on the Peter Wall article, i.e. whether you think I'm overstating it by calling it a spam article. Meanwhile, be careful about reverting that one guy, because he's threatening to contact "wikipedia abuse support", whatever that might be. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 14:06, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Support in abusing Wikipedia? Also, spamming and link vandalism are listed as types of vandalism on WP:(. MER-C 07:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Julia_marple.JPG

I appreciate it's not your place to do it, but could you possibly check that the table I put on the page is the right type of thing? I'm not very good with images. If not don't worry :) steveking89 19:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

By replaceability it refers to our ability to replace it with a freely licensed image. Otherwise it's good, but one suggestion - it would be good if you linked to the interview mentioned. Also, each separate use requires it's own rationale but I have taken care of this. MER-C 06:46, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Technicalities

I have two questions for you. Where does it say that FPC Nominations get closed and removed within hours? And the process that closes such nominations protects or maintains who or what? I ask this because the only reasons that I can see to do that would be because the wiki is being used for very very wrong things.

That was more than two questions, but here is the other: What is the Picture of the Day today? I know what I see here, but I am very curious what others see.

It does start to have the appearance of a closed system here; an appearance that only gets stronger and stronger in resolution and focus; a closed and an abusive system. -- carol (talk) 12:07, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

We have a long standing essay (or whatever it is) that allows debates to be closed ahead of time. This is our version of it and it can be invoked when an image obviously fails the featured picture criteria. In the case of the VI seal, the problem was it couldn't add value to an article (the image itself, not the commons VI process). Essentially it's a more discreet version of {{FPX}} on commons. It probably deserves a mention in the destructions somewhere, I'll think about where it fits in tomorrow (sleep beckons).

Secondly, the process doesn't maintain anything. I maintain the process because I close the vast majority of nominations (for example in May I closed 72% see Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/May-2008).

POTD: can you rephrase the question? I don't quite get what you're asking. (reference) MER-C 14:08, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the explanation. I really thought that a secure review system could allow a new one to be mentioned there for a while; I am kind of old and tired of claiming that it is the insecurity of others that tends to make systems that are so exclusive. It is boring and for as many years as I have been doing that, the world must have surely devolved to a state that -- blah blah blah. However, to compare the amount of time it took to remove the photoshop advertisement from the article GIMP with how long it took the FPC thing to remove a mention of a different review system on a supportive wiki and you might see a little of what some of my problem with the removal was. If something wrong is going on, that should perhaps simply be mentioned.

Can you tell me what the Picture of the Day is today? I have a screengrab of what is being displayed on the Main Page that I view. I am finding it interesting and belief defying that users here do not know what is on it or are unwilling to say what is on it. I simply want to know if you see what I see, and then some input from you as to the reason others are not answering or are unable to answer that question. -- carol (talk) 14:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Today's picture of the day is this (snappy template form) or image form (doesn't update). MER-C 07:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I appreciate the link, however, that does not mean that you and I both saw the same image. They split out the different parts of the software which run the display and when I built it and started to run the different pieces of it before the whole thing was completed -- the different stratification type layers of software build up made an impression on me.

In addition to that, I use a lot of software that is prebuilt but most of the gui software I build myself. No automated updates either -- so when that software starts behaving differently when preferences have not been changed and nothing has been updated by me, I start to look at where I am vulnerable. The answer lately is wikipedia admin, in addition to the people I do not know who are now involved with the toolkit and such in the project that I have no idea what I did that was wrong to them....

I do not like to see problems between the information wikis and the image server wiki -- they should be on the same team.

This has been an apology, I don't know if I did anything that I should apologize for and I don't know if you should be the recipient of it if I should apologize.

I saw a very adorable Lion fish in an aquarium (the POTD). I had an aquarium for a while and it was kind of fun but a lot of responsibility. Heh, I will close this apology with something 'deep': Aquarium fishes should not be put into shallow water. -- carol (talk) 07:40, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Image talk:Retired Pacific hurricane tracks.png

Hi MER-C. I saw that you tagged that image for speedy-deletion because there's no description. Isn't the summary seciton towards the bottom of the page good enough? Juliancolton ^{Tropical Cyclone} 12:13, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

It had no description on the English Wikipedia (the place where you put the {{FPC}} tag). The commons image/page will be unaffected by the deletion. MER-C 12:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Ooh, I see. Alright, thanks for clearing it up. Juliancolton ^{Tropical Cyclone} 12:50, 2 June 2008 (UTC)