User talk:SchfiftyThree/Archive 6
This is an archive of past discussions with User:SchfiftyThree. 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. |
Archive 1 | ← | Archive 4 | Archive 5 | Archive 6 | Archive 7 | Archive 8 |
the The
Yes folks, it’s the The time again. You might like to add your opinion (whatever it may be) on this page.--andreasegde (talk) 15:01, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
Hey SchfiftyThree
Hey SchfiftyThree. I see that you responded to my comment on Cluebots Talkpage:
"You know, I've actually thought that sometimes, too. I have beaten ClueBot lots of times yesterday at page blankings, minor changes with obscenities, etc. I've done all that with Huggle, a software that fights vandalism really good. Who knows? Someday, you'll get to use software to fight vandalism. SchfiftyThree 15:30, 7 August 2008 (UTC)"
Unfortunately, since it its now in archives, I can't respond to it, so I decided to do it here. Anyways, I actually do use software to fight vandalism. I use "Vandal Fighter" for monitoring, I have rollback permission for reverting, and both "Twinkle" and "Huggle" for warning.
I believe the problem is my 8 year old computer. It's only got a 700MHZ CPU in it, which seems to be the highest that it can be upgraded to when it comes to Bus speed and Voltage requirements. My computer is locked onto a set voltage and bus speed(Thanks alot Dell), but the original CPU was 533 MHZ, so my speed has improved considerably. As long the cpu's voltage and bus speed specs are always the same, I can upgrade as much as I want. Unfortunately I can't find any celeron cpu's with the same specs but with a higher clock speed, so I'm stuck with this speed. Combine that with the fact that I use Windows XP Pro, which needs quite a bit of resources, and you'll see why i have trouble beating cluebot. It takes at least 5-10 seconds to load the "Diff" page to revert edits in firefox, and then another few seconds to warn the person. I don't use IE anymore because, first, i can't use twinkle, and second, its REALLY slow when loading a page in a new tab.
Now, if I could use my moms laptop nonstop, then it would be a much different story, but until I can get some money(to get a newer computer), i'm stuck with this. Vandalism destroyer (talk) 22:02, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
Uhhh, hmmm. It appears i've been mistaken. I thought huggle was something that was REALLY a monobook.js script called "Whack a vandal" or something along those lines. so now i'm using the REAL huggle now. Vandalism destroyer (talk) 20:48, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
- Good to hear you're using Huggle now. Use it pretty carefully, though. And I'm sorry if I didn't reply yesterday; I was really busy. SchfiftyThree 20:50, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Thank you. Vandalism destroyer (talk) 08:08, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
A different straw poll on Talk:The Beatles
It would be easy to overlook because there are now two polls going at the same time. The newest one is here. Thanks. Ward3001 (talk) 23:34, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Your note
I have changed the protection level of your archives and responded to your E-mail. :) Acalamari 23:43, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
Barnstar
The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | ||
As the title suggests, this Barnstar goes to the many articles you created, and your nonstop 'tireless' work ethic. Great job! Sυρєrıor (Reply!,Contribs) 22:23, 13 August 2008 (UTC) |
- Wow, thanks for the barnstar! I didn't reply immediately, because for the last two hours or so, I went swimming. SchfiftyThree 23:02, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
- It's no problem; a congrats for your great editing. Sυρєrıor (Reply!,Contribs) 02:00, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
Re: Thanks
No problem at all. You are one of our best vandal-fighters, and I will use every tool at my disposal to protect the good guys. Do you want me to indefinitely protect your userpage? J.delanoygabsadds 04:58, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
- Nah, leave it semi-protected (I'm not a sysop yet), but have it fully move protected (so no one moves my userpage to another title). SchfiftyThree 05:03, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
- Oh, I forgot this, but, yes, leave it indefinitely protected. SchfiftyThree 05:04, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
thankyou for signing my guestbook
User:Electrical Experiment/Guestbook/awardsHereFord 23:23, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
Range"tracking" IP ranges
Hi there!
You have done a great job on reverting TKM (and no, I'm not talking about Turkmenistan!) ...however, I was just itching to ask an admin if there was a way to track IP ranges, as explained here.
Thank you! ~ Troy (talk) 02:23, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- You're welcome. And, speaking of reverting on TKAM, have you ever reverted 74,000 characters before, or anything between 70,000—99,000? I've reverted:
- 70,000-79,000
- 80,000-85,000
- 87,000-89,000
- 90,000-95,000
- 97,000-99,000
- :-) SchfiftyThree 02:28, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- Well, I can't quite keep track of that! No, probably not—I don't revert a bunch at once, it's more like I revert relatively large vandal edits at a fast pace (ie: this old chap here, or more recently, this little dude).
- The former went on to change his IP address—it took him a day, but after experimenting with mine, I found a way to do it in seconds :) (that's the thing with Vista).
- As a matter of fact, after seeing vandals and other folks who keep changing their IPs, it lead me to wonder if there is a way to still track them. Any ideas? ~ Troy (talk) 02:38, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- How do I keep track? I just look through all my reverts, specifically the ones in March 2008 (where I probably reverted a lot of it). I have this "chart", where it has the seven days of the week, and the amount of characters deleted that I reverted. There are also different colours for each digit (day) of the week; red=Monday, yellow=Tuesday, green=Wednesday, blue=Thursday, purple=Friday, brown=Saturday, and grey=Sunday. I update it every day on Microsoft Word, and that's how I keep track of the amounts of deleted characters I've reverted! SchfiftyThree 02:45, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
That is a good way of keeping yourself organized, but I'm talking about IP ranges. Can there ever be such a tool that can track the edits of an entire IP range? Because, you know, admins can rangeblock extreme cases, but there really should be a way to keep a good hold of vandals within the range so you don't have to block innocent people on the way.
It's just a thought, but I really feel that it's gotten out of hand—if I were a vandal, being anonymous would have more benefits simply because you can evade blocks within seconds! ~ Troy (talk) 03:10, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- Hmm, I don't know. Have you asked another user or admin? There could be a tool like that. SchfiftyThree 03:16, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- I think I will. And—may be I should check with Village Pump. Well, thanks anyway! ~ Troy (talk) 03:20, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- No problem. SchfiftyThree 03:23, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
- I think I will. And—may be I should check with Village Pump. Well, thanks anyway! ~ Troy (talk) 03:20, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
Message
Hi there
i have recently recived a message from you about changes to the article "Irish Langauge", i do not recall ever editing anything about the irish language, so there must be a mistake!
i'm not being funny, but i would jus like to point it out!
Regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.151.150.180 (talk) 11:26, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
- I warned you because someone using your IP address made the edit, and since I saw that the edit was unconstructive, I reverted it. SchfiftyThree 15:51, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
Thanks
Thank you for reverting the vandalism on my user page! :) ~ Troy (talk) 18:39, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
- No problem. Heck, I might use Huggle sometime today (so watch out!) :-) SchfiftyThree 18:40, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
Er...
Oops? ---- claviola (talk to me) 00:43, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
- Heh, that's okay. ;-) SchfiftyThree 00:45, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
Did the IP create the article? Corvus cornixtalk 21:05, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
- I'm not sure; probably not. I just saw the user remove the tag, but I might have not noticed that the user was an IP. SchfiftyThree 21:07, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
- They probably are, but IP speedy deletions are generally allowed, unfortunately. Corvus cornixtalk 21:08, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
BARN
The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | ||
As the title suggests, this Barnstar goes to the many articles you created, and your nonstop 'tireless' work ethic. Great job! 71.120.75.116 (talk) 21:11, 23 August 2008 (UTC) |
Fair use rationale for Image:RRTFB.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:RRTFB.jpg. You've indicated that the image meets Wikipedia's criteria for non-free content, but there is no explanation of why it meets those criteria. Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. If you have any questions, please post them at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions.
Thank you for your cooperation. NOTE: once you correct this, please remove the tag from the image's page. STBotI (talk) 22:52, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
Re: Wow
hehehe. Well, I got most of my homework done yesterday after I was done with work, so today I don't have much I have to do. Thanks for the shiny! If you like, I can mess with your huggle config page to make it go faster. J.delanoygabsadds 00:43, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
- Sure, go ahead. I'm probably one of our best vandal-fighters, along with other users like Discospinster. Just don't mess up! :-) SchfiftyThree 00:46, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
- Well, I guess you already have it set to preload 5 pages. Sorry, I guess I should have looked there before I offered to make it faster. *sheepish look* J.delanoygabsadds 00:50, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
- Heh, that's alright. Do you have my talk page on your watchlist, so I don't have to use {{Tb}} on your talk page all the time? SchfiftyThree 00:52, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
- Yeah, it is. Gotta keep up with dem vandals, see? J.delanoygabsadds 01:20, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
RfA?
Hello SchfiftyThree. I've been monitoring your excellent work on Wikipedia for some time. How would you like to become an administrator? Have you ever thought of launching an RfA? The admin tools would be of good assistance on the tasks you perform all the time. I've decided to offer myself to nominate you for adminship, as I believe that an RfA from you at this time would be most successful. So, should you be interested in an RfA, and should you be in need of a nominator (although I presume that you've received other offers before, given your outstanding work), just let me know and I'll start writing an RfA shortly. :-) Best regards, Húsönd 01:33, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Wow, I've been thinking about this for a long time now. That would be nice for me to become an admin. I've been here since 2005, and I'm sure that something I'm very well-known for on Wikipedia is my vandalism reverting. Nice offer; I'll go for it! If it fails, that's okay. :-) SchfiftyThree 01:35, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Well then. :-) I've just created it. I will now write the nom, and meanwhile you could answer to the 3 standard questions there. When we're both done, you will have to launch it on WP:RFA. Good luck!!! Regards, Húsönd 01:59, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- SchfiftyThree, mathbot detects you have only 91% edit summary usage for major edits. I'll need you to check in your preferences "Prompt me when entering a blank edit summary"; could you please do that? Otherwise your edit summary usage may be frowned upon in your RfA. Easily averted if you follow my advice. :-) Regards, Húsönd 02:08, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Well then. :-) I've just created it. I will now write the nom, and meanwhile you could answer to the 3 standard questions there. When we're both done, you will have to launch it on WP:RFA. Good luck!!! Regards, Húsönd 01:59, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
If/when you do run, let me know so I can co-nom, if you don't mind. J.delanoygabsadds 02:13, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Reply to Husond - I'm sorry that I have only 91% major edits. Back in 2007, I made tons of edits minor, because I didn't know much about minor edits; I've sort of improved on whether I should mark edits minor or not. I've also checked the blank summary box in my preferences.
- Reply to J.delanoy - I'll let you know, probably tomorrow, when I'm done with classes.
Sorry if I didn't reply at the moment, I was busy answering the questions. :-) SchfiftyThree 02:29, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Okay, edit summaries okay then. Schfifty, I think that J.delanoy just needs to know if you'd like him to add a co-nom. So that he may add one and this be launched. Preferably tonight, otherwise I'll end up supporting in the #100 position, as usual. :-) Regards, Húsönd 02:34, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- I'll write a nom, and post it as soon as I can. Good luck! J.delanoygabsadds 02:48, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Okay, edit summaries okay then. Schfifty, I think that J.delanoy just needs to know if you'd like him to add a co-nom. So that he may add one and this be launched. Preferably tonight, otherwise I'll end up supporting in the #100 position, as usual. :-) Regards, Húsönd 02:34, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
Schfifty, there's a double redundancy in your nom (answer to Q1), perhaps you should have a look at this:
Another task I would perform as a sysop would be deleting pages that:
- ) Are tagged for CSD before being speedy deleted (this reads as if you wanted to delete pages that have already been deleted after being tagged for CSD)
- ) Meet the criteria for speedy deletion (e.g. A new page pops up about an average teenager named Ryan Smith, and is tagged with an a7 tag; if I see that tag, I may delete the article). (this is exactly the same thing as #1)
Perhaps you could just say that you would be interested in deleting pages tagged for speedy deletion; and that should suffice. ;-) Regards, Húsönd 02:58, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Why, you're welcome. I'm proud to nominate such a good candidate as you. Don't worry, I'll update my RFA userpage as soon as you launch your RfA, which you should right after J.delanoy adds his co-nom. Good luck! Regards, Húsönd 03:01, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Don't know exactly where to put this, but the co-nom is up. Good luck! J.delanoygabsadds 03:14, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
Answer to Q1 looks better now but I would still drop the last sentence if I were you. It's also a bit redundant/confusing, and you say "after finding that the subject is non-notable or vandalism, I may proceed and delete". Well, if you find that the subject is really non-notable or vandalism, then you don't "may delete", you "should delete"! ;-) My advice: drop the last sentence. Regards, Húsönd 03:19, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Erm, indeed. But be prepared to be bombed with questions about CSD. The sentence you replaced it with sounds deceptively as if you didn't have much experience with CSD. If I were you I'd drop it too, along with the adminship-is-no-big-deal sentence, which may not have its best place in the answer to a question that asks about admin duties. Please consider having a second look. Húsönd 03:36, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
Star
The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar | ||
Thanks for cleaning up my userpage after the ip-vandal. :) Admrb♉ltz (t • c • log) 03:53, 4 September 2008 (UTC) |
Your RFA
Best wishes for your RFA -- Tinu Cherian - 07:36, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
List of administrator hopefuls
Hi - Re this edit - your contrib history starts with an 02 April 2007 edit. Your earlier edits were apparently made under a different username (Schfiftythree628). The tool that updates WP:HOPEFUL will insistently overwrite the corrected date with the one from the contrib history. We could perhaps clarify the column heading to indicate that the date shown is the earliest edit under this username. Would you be OK with that? -- Rick Block (talk) 15:57, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- Sure, I'll be fine with that. It must be from when I was renamed in August last year. SchfiftyThree 20:42, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
Hey there
You are pretty fast! Pesky guy, aren't you? Well, you know what I'm getting at ;D Good luck, ~ Troy (talk) 23:10, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
- No problem. I'm hoping that you'll do well, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Regards, ~ Troy (talk) 00:06, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
Question on vandalism
I have been monitoring the "Software engineering" article and found two small changes that are clearly wrong and easily verified as such. Initially I assumed good faith but now I think otherwise. These were done by 96.245.69.90. These were single word edits that the bots won't catch. You are soon to be admin and seem to know your way around the Wiki. How do we notify this guy to stop this behavior? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Starrymessenger (talk • contribs) 01:20, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
RfA questions
Hey there, instead of changing the answer all together, I ask that you indent and make a correction statement below, its just so that we do not confuse people. Thanks. Tiptoety talk 14:12, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Alright, thanks for the advice. I'll try to do that next time. SchfiftyThree 21:10, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Actually I would appreciate if you would fix it please. Tiptoety talk 21:24, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- I bet it's too late, I've withdrawled it already. Better wait until next time. SchfiftyThree 21:25, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Oh, well best of luck in your future endeavors, and remember: there is always next time! Cheers, Tiptoety talk 21:26, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- I bet it's too late, I've withdrawled it already. Better wait until next time. SchfiftyThree 21:25, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Actually I would appreciate if you would fix it please. Tiptoety talk 21:24, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
I am sorry
Hello SchfiftyThree. In one of the hardest decisions I've made during my time on Wikipedia, I had to withdraw full support to your RfA. I am embarassed for doing that, as I was your first nominator (and therefore supposed to be first amongst all supporters). I failed to realize that although possessing some remarkable characteristics that many administrators unfortunately lack, you were simply not ready to become an admin at this time. I noticed something was very wrong when you could not compose a solid, objective answer to Q1, but hoped it to be just an impression, or an isolated case. But obviously it was not. User Tiptoety left a very incisive and pertinent question about protection, which would suffice to jeopardize your RfA if your answer were not complete, accurate and, above all, correct. When I read your answer, I knew the RfA would effectively fail. And when I read the other answers I knew I could not pretend that I was unaware of all those negative signs. I had to withdraw my full support, and I now recommend that you withdraw your RfA as it will definitely not be successful. I hope you forgive me for this mess, which I naturally share responsibility for. However, I am sure that you have not been "tainted" with this RfA. If unsuccessful, the message it will give other users is "this user is not ready now, but probably will be in the future". So I recommend a pause for now. You have a few gaps to jump over before your next RfA. And if you're not mad at me, I would be glad to assist you with those gaps. But please don't be frustrated with this RfA, even opposers know that you are good user, a good asset, and a promising, prospective admin. I am sure that a little bit more of hard work will result in a resoundingly successful RfA next time around. So again, I am deeply sorry. Feel free to slap me with a trout. :-) Best regards, Húsönd 21:14, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Sure, go ahead, withdraw it. I'm not frustrated about this; I will probably have more work to catch up on. I had a feeling that this could end up unsuccessful. Next time might be better. I'll have to work on XFDs, consensus building, and some other stuff before becoming an admin (I've been here since 2005). :-( SchfiftyThree 21:22, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Thank you for understanding, Schfifty. Next time it will definitely be better. You're fine on vandalfight, but yes you do need to participate in more XfD's/deletion review/tag articles for speedy deletion, or simply abstain from dealing with deletions (and mention that on your next RfA). And you need to pay a few visits to WP:RFPP in order to better understand which requests for protection are accepted and which are declined (for that you simply need to watch what admins are doing). And, especially, you need to be more careful when answering questions. You deviate too much from the purpose of the question, and stick too much to unnecessary prose. If you take these recommendations at bay, I can hardly think of any objections to your next RfA. I am sorry for this one, but I know you'll do much better next time. Best regards, Húsönd 21:40, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks for your tips and wishing me best of luck if I had another RfA (they can be hard sometimes), but how will I get more supports if I answer questions more clearly? How come when I answered then I started getting more neutrals? SchfiftyThree 21:47, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- You started getting more neutrals because users could then see that you had severe flaws in your suitability to become an admin. Yet, recognizing your other qualities, many refrain from opposing and go neutral instead. Going neutral is often a way of opposing because it deprives from support while at same time does not provide an oppose (which is always unpleasant even if provided with the best faith). Next time you will have questions again, but you will know how to answer them right. Just do your homework. :-) Húsönd 22:28, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Oh, well, I should have had a more broader scope when answering. Today I had realised that they were going neutral due to the way I was answering, and my lack of experience in XFDs and deletion reviews. When it comes to consensus building, I'm not sure what to make a poll about, let's say the Todd Field article. I left a note on Greysharbor's talk page about an "Untitled Todd Field Project" that is in the works. I could make a consensus about whether to include sources about this information besides from the IMDB. But I do know that the stuff I need to work will hopefully reach higher percentages later. Plus, I already did my homework. :-) SchfiftyThree 22:43, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- You started getting more neutrals because users could then see that you had severe flaws in your suitability to become an admin. Yet, recognizing your other qualities, many refrain from opposing and go neutral instead. Going neutral is often a way of opposing because it deprives from support while at same time does not provide an oppose (which is always unpleasant even if provided with the best faith). Next time you will have questions again, but you will know how to answer them right. Just do your homework. :-) Húsönd 22:28, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks for your tips and wishing me best of luck if I had another RfA (they can be hard sometimes), but how will I get more supports if I answer questions more clearly? How come when I answered then I started getting more neutrals? SchfiftyThree 21:47, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Thank you for understanding, Schfifty. Next time it will definitely be better. You're fine on vandalfight, but yes you do need to participate in more XfD's/deletion review/tag articles for speedy deletion, or simply abstain from dealing with deletions (and mention that on your next RfA). And you need to pay a few visits to WP:RFPP in order to better understand which requests for protection are accepted and which are declined (for that you simply need to watch what admins are doing). And, especially, you need to be more careful when answering questions. You deviate too much from the purpose of the question, and stick too much to unnecessary prose. If you take these recommendations at bay, I can hardly think of any objections to your next RfA. I am sorry for this one, but I know you'll do much better next time. Best regards, Húsönd 21:40, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
RFA
Hi there, I just noticed you withdrew your request. But I think you should stick it out to the end. It was pretty close, but supports were still coming in! Think about it how do you turn this on 21:25, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- You might be right, but there is some stuff for me to still work on. Maybe if I had answered the questions in a more understanding way, that would help? SchfiftyThree 21:28, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- I thought your answers were fine. They aren't particularly important in the long run. how do you turn this on 21:43, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- So, it didn't work out? I guess you could always try again when you're ready :O ...well, I'm you certainly don't have to be an admin to be helpful or to do useful tasks. You've been doing a great job on those vandals, so I guess it's just that some of the focus needs to switch to other issues like content disputes :) Make sure to keep up the good work, though! ~ Troy (talk) 21:53, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- Hey, as a matter of fact, the users who went neutral and opposing were clearly right about my answers to the questions. I should have had a more broad scope when answering, so they wouldn't be too confusing to the readers/participants. Thanks for supporting, though! SchfiftyThree 22:29, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- So, it didn't work out? I guess you could always try again when you're ready :O ...well, I'm you certainly don't have to be an admin to be helpful or to do useful tasks. You've been doing a great job on those vandals, so I guess it's just that some of the focus needs to switch to other issues like content disputes :) Make sure to keep up the good work, though! ~ Troy (talk) 21:53, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
- I thought your answers were fine. They aren't particularly important in the long run. how do you turn this on 21:43, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
Hey ST. Just noticed you have withdrawn the RfA and felt like expanding on my oppose with some suggestions. To put it bluntly, I'm glad the RfA failed, as it was simply not the right time for you. On the other hand, as Husond correctly said, it doesn't "taint" your reputation and "electability" imho. The point is that your considerable strengths should in a future RfA (and ideally not only there, but in your future at Wikipedia in general) be backed by greater cluefulness regarding policy. Or rather, and here comes my suggestion to you, not only the policies and guidelines themselves, since the momentary wordings change. What I've always found very useful is to hold out for interpretation and application of P&G by people with bigger brains than myself because there is nothing quite so powerful when learning about the formative spirit behind our policies. The majority of the policies' content is more a description of how things are being interpreted and applied under the aspects each respective policy or guideline focuses on. So I've always found it educative and interesting (and yes, also entertaining most of the time) to read through all kinds of discussions where sometimes tiny interpretative variations and nuances are debated by different people who hold greatly differing interpretations but still manage to determine consensus (i.e. sometimes; or, at least every once a while; ok, almost never, but that's not the point right now...). Just avoid the mistake hotheaded idiots like yours truly commit from time to time, namely to jump in and raise the heat with fairly aggressive and pointed remarks. Not that I believe that would be a danger for you, just saying that interest in the intricacies of the inner workings of this project and community can (in people so inclined) lead to symptoms like spontaneous formation of fixed ideas and fervent insistence on those ideas... Anyhow, I thought of offering you the suggestion to hang out around all kinds of policy related debates (both in article talk and project space) to also capitalise on the great opportunity of learning by reading the thoughts and formulations by people who know more and are smarter. Hanging around vandals too much is not a healthy exercise imho, as they rarely ever produce actual quality vandalism like e.g. this or this. Also, don't ever shy away from asking questions. Far too many people substitute asking questions with jackbooting in to discussions like louts, and thus many are more than willing to discuss about and offer their personal interpretation (or the common interpretation) on every single aspect of this project. I'm confident you'll be fine and wish you good luck (and even more than that, a great time!) in accepting Wikipedia as a potentially lifelong learning experience and widening your scope even more. user:Everyme 22:53, 5 September 2008 (UTC)