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The Signpost: 02 January 2012

The Signpost: 09 January 2012

The Signpost: 16 January 2012

WP:ARBPIA#Editors_reminded

Hi, I've never come across your name at AE, certainly not in the context of an ARBPIA-related report. Are you familiar with WP:ARBPIA#Editors_reminded? I could of course be wrong, but it sounds as though you may not have read the Remedy formulated there. It specifically enjoins editors to assume good faith, write with a neutral point of view, remain civil, and avoid personal attacks. I don't see how any of the comments Unomi directed at me can possible not be considered blatant breaches of what #Editors_reminded considers appropriate behavior. Can you elaborate, here or at AE, just how you feel Unomi's attacks are consistent with #Editors_reminded?—Biosketch (talk) 11:27, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Just because you open an SPI case, which only merit is its questionable entertainment value, doesn't mean that WP:SPI automatically classifies as ARBPIA territory. I would suggest that you reconsider the words you have chosen on AE, I can assure you that I find nothing "cunning" about casting aspersions of that nature. Please find somewhere else to indulge in your victimization fantasies. That you would file an SPI based on use of exclamation marks and smileys ( which happen to exhibit markedly different styles ) is disturbing and sad, if you weren't doing such a great job of displaying the frailty of your connection to reality I might have considered taking formal action against you for employing such disruptive attempts at gaming the system. un☯mi 12:15, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Actually, the message I was trying to convey to User:Stifle, the validity of which your comment above has helped establish, is that your approach to editors with whom you have disagreements is hostile and aggressive and altogether inconsistent with the spirit of this project. There'd be no reason for you to take the SPI as personally as you have if you were as convinced of its futility as you claim you are. The vindictive anti-Zionist outbursts you attacked me with mean you lack the capacity to assume good faith, write with a neutral point of view, remain civil, and avoid personal attacks. Had your attacks been unrelated to the I/P conflict, I'd probably have ignored them as meaningless; but your sinister association of me with the negative stereotypes you believe to apply to Zionists both makes the attacks pertinent to ARBPIA and, in my opinion, makes them sanctionable.—Biosketch (talk) 13:30, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Yes, I have sanctioned users under ARBPIA, which you would have noticed if you searched WP:ARBPIA for my name. I expressed my opinion at WP:AE that the comments reach the level of a breach of the letter of the ruling, but not one that would occasion a sanction greater than an admonishment. Stifle (talk) 13:37, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
I'll acknowledge that, I don't really have the desire to spend much further time on this, but should someone take Biosketch to task for the rather appalling misrepresentation of what I have written and offensive, to put it lightly, attribution of beliefs to me, then I would find it welcome. un☯mi 14:00, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Unomi, if you specify which beliefs I've attributed to you unfairly, I'll be more than happy to know you dissociate yourself from them and to withdraw the attribution of them to you. What I don't understand is your resistance to retracting the one comment I objected to on your Talk page, which was the catalyst for all this.—Biosketch (talk) 14:12, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Perhaps you should take the time to re-read it. I wrote that within the "Pro-Zionist Brigade" ( a pretty clear indicator of sardonic humor ) there could be found a high degree of self-deception. I don't see why I should retract it WHEN YOU SO VERY CLEARLY AND REPEATEDLY ARE MAKING THAT VERY CASE FOR ME, YOU NUTJOB person acting in a manner that I find indistinguishable from that which I associate with nutjobs. un☯mi 14:24, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Gentlemen, please take your dispute off my talk page. Stifle (talk) 19:45, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

File:Catalog back page.JPG

You forgot to add OTRS tag to [[:File:Catalog back page.JPG]. Can you please do that? --Sreejith K (talk) 06:44, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

I did not forget; rather, it was not appropriate that one should be added. The OTRS discussion did not lead to the grant of permission (because the author could not be found). The only claim to PD status is that given on the page. If you wish to nominate it for deletion because of this, you are free to do so. Stifle (talk) 09:47, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2012 Celebrity Cricket League

Hi Stifle. I was wondering if you could have another look over Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2012 Celebrity Cricket League. It probably sounds arrogant considering that it was 4:1 in favour of deletion, but I really don't think there was a consensus to delete. I think I clearly showed that the tournament meets GNG (and CLUB, though I'm still not sure why that was used as a rationale), while the delete voters did not refute this and mainly used "just not notable"-type arguments. Cheers, Jenks24 (talk) 04:00, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Hallelujah

You placed two requests for citations on Hallelujah (Messiah Part II #44). Did you see the request on the talk for a separate article on the Hallelujah? BECAUSE it is so often performed by itself, and people don't know it is part of Messiah. For the "brilliant" please look up D major, the key of trumpet celebration, quote: "In the Baroque period, D major was regarded as "the key of glory"". Then remove the tags, please. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:46, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 January 2012

Upcoming Xbox console

That article should be deleted as well as it was moved during the creation of the Xbox 720 AfD.∞陣内Jinnai 17:26, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

DRV

A notification that the Templates for Discussion discussion (oy, repetition) has been taken to a deletion review discussion. The Article Rescue Squadron was notified, and as notifications to previous involved parties isn't normal practise, I and a few ARS members agreed that, in the interests of transparency and fairness, we should let everyone know...hence this talkpage message ;).

If anyone has an issue with me sending these out, do drop me a note on my talkpage. Regards, Ironholds (talk) 10:30, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454

I'm just bringing this to your attention. While you deleted the article after the AFD debate was concluded, you left the page in place where the article was moved to. If the result was delete, doesn't that mean Queensland 1982 Airport robberies gets deleted? Someone moved the page after the deletion discussion started.- William 00:37, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Qi (programming language) (2nd nomination)

Did you notice that a number of users rallied at an external mailing list have contributed to this discussion and carefully weighted the strengths of all arguments made? —Ruud 03:10, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Did you see my talk page FAQ? Specifically the second section. But yes, I did note that there was a number of new users, but there was not a consensus to delete taking all into account. Stifle (talk) 16:44, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
I don't consider you FAQ to be relevant. This was at best a borderline case between delete and no consunsus, so I would have expected a closing rationale. Would you still care to add one? —Ruud 03:07, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
My FAQ points out that I carefully consider all closures and waive any requirement to discuss with me if you wish to raise a deletion review. I'm not trying to be obstructive, but I've already given you the rationale you were looking for and I don't see what adding it to the AFD page would do. Stifle (talk) 09:33, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Household Name Records

The article Household Name Records discography probably should have been included in Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Household Name Records. Any chance you'd agree to delete discography as well?--GrapedApe (talk) 17:11, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Can't really do that as it wasn't explicitly included, but I've PRODded it. Stifle (talk) 17:16, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
Thanks.--GrapedApe (talk) 17:18, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union

Just a heads up, I didn't notice Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union was up for AfD until you soft deleted it today, so I'm requesting undeletion, since I feel it has some notable qualities and high profile sources. Feel free to comment!-- Patrick, oѺ∞ 19:27, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll work to shore up the article's notability this week.-- Patrick, oѺ∞ 20:59, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 January 2012

Deletion review for Secure error messages in software systems

An editor has asked for a deletion review of Secure error messages in software systems. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. Pnm (talk) 04:21, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Did I do anything wrong?

Hello, Stifle
Almost a month ago, I nominated these files for deletion but I must have done something wrong. I am unable to determine what.
File:Consumerization Report 2011 - Chart 1.jpg
File:Consumerization Report 2011 - Chart 2.jpg
File:Consumerization Report 2011 - Chart 3.jpg
Can you please take a look and tell me where I went wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Fleet Command (talk) 15:41, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Invitation

WikiProject Article Rescue Squadron
WikiProject Article Rescue Squadron
Hello, Stifle.
You have been invited to join the Article Rescue Squadron, a collaborative effort to rescue articles from deletion if they can be improved through regular editing.
For more information, please visit the project page, where you can >> join << and help rescue articles tagged for deletion and rescue. Northamerica1000(talk) 09:09, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 06 February 2012

Celebrity Cricket League

Hello,
Last year based on an AfD conclusion you have deleted the Celebrity Cricket League article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Celebrity_Cricket_League). Now the article was re-created and the current AfD decision is Keep. So, could you please merge back the contents from the earlier delteed article to this new article since I put lot of information about its launch and its first edition in that article.
Anish Viswa 01:17, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

  • The previous history of the article can be found using the History function at the top of the page. You can find the previous versions there and merge them yourself. Stifle (talk) 10:13, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 13 February 2012

MSU Interview

Dear Stifle,

My name is Jonathan Obar user:Jaobar, I'm a professor in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University and a Teaching Fellow with the Wikimedia Foundation's Education Program. This semester I've been running a little experiment at MSU, a class where we teach students about becoming Wikipedia administrators. Not a lot is known about your community, and our students (who are fascinated by wiki-culture by the way!) want to learn how you do what you do, and why you do it. A while back I proposed this idea (the class) to the community HERE, where it was met mainly with positive feedback. Anyhow, I'd like my students to speak with a few administrators to get a sense of admin experiences, training, motivations, likes, dislikes, etc. We were wondering if you'd be interested in speaking with one of our students.


So a few things about the interviews:

  • Interviews will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
  • Interviews can be conducted over skype (preferred), IRC or email. (You choose the form of communication based upon your comfort level, time, etc.)
  • All interviews will be completely anonymous, meaning that you (real name and/or pseudonym) will never be identified in any of our materials, unless you give the interviewer permission to do so.
  • All interviews will be completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to say yes to an interview, and can say no and stop or leave the interview at any time.
  • The entire interview process is being overseen by MSU's institutional review board (ethics review). This means that all questions have been approved by the university and all students have been trained how to conduct interviews ethically and properly.


Bottom line is that we really need your help, and would really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. If interested, please send me an email at obar@msu.edu (to maintain anonymity) and I will add your name to my offline contact list. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can post your name HERE instead.

If you have questions or concerns at any time, feel free to email me at obar@msu.edu. I will be more than happy to speak with you.

Thanks in advance for your help. We have a lot to learn from you.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Obar --Jaobar (talk) 07:26, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Young June Sah --Yjune.sah (talk) 21:02, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 February 2012

The Signpost: 27 February 2012

The Signpost: 05 March 2012

Happy Adminship Anniversary

Wishing Stifle a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Armbrust, B.Ed. Let's talkabout my edits? 00:11, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
:) Thank you. Stifle (talk) 13:33, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

A beer for you!

For Protecting the Serbia page so no non-registered users can edit. Thus greatly reducing vandalism. Thanks Bro :) MoravaiDrina (talk) 06:39, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference

Hello, Stifle. I’m new to Wikipedia, so I apologize if my questions are ignorant or if the answers could have been found elsewhere.

I would like to re-start a page for the “Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference,” which was deleted in February 2009. I have spent quite a bit of time researching the conference and collecting dozens of links to - what I hope are - notable sources, which is what the entry seemed to lack when it was deleted. I hope to add a significant amount of content to the information that was contained in the previous version, as well as significant sourcing for that new content.

I was hoping you could tell me how I might go about this in the proper manner. Best, EricaShekell (talk) 23:15, 09 March 2012 (UTC)

You are entitled to just recreate the article if you get over the reasons why it was deleted. Alternatively, I can userfy the deleted article for you, allowing you to work on it in your own time before moving it to mainspace when you are ready. Stifle (talk) 13:36, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Shavershian AFD

If the article's not worthy of being kept, why should you suggest otherwise because I've been initiating discussion on the merits against keeping it? At this point I'm glad you didn't close it because that would have been ripe for overturning at DRV.—Ryulong (竜龙) 20:28, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

I didn't close it as keep because I knew that irrespective of what I wrote it would be dragged to DRV (and I suspect you will do so anyhow), and I didn't need the drama.
There is a distinction between "initiating discussion" and "harassing and arguing with everyone who doesn't agree with you", and you were well into the latter territory. Stifle (talk) 11:29, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 12 March 2012

UTRS

I confirm that I have requested an account on the UTRS tool. Stifle (talk) 14:24, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

 approved. Welcome to the team, we will be sending users over to UTRS instead of unblock-en-l soon. The Helpful One 01:08, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

OTRS:6419858

I'm not entirely sure what an OTRS complaint is (I figure it's important), but how do I view it?--Львівське (говорити) 22:53, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

See WP:OTRS for information on what an OTRS complaint is. Unfortunately they cannot be viewed other than by privileged users. Stifle (talk) 22:55, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
So how do you recommend the article be fixed in the meantime? There's a dispute resolution and a BLP/N case open on it, the BLP went quiet and the DR was put on pause until the former got resolved, so things are sitting in limbo at the moment.--Львівське (говорити) 22:58, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
If the BLPN is stalled, then people should continue editing the article in accordance with BLP rules, in particular removing any sentence without a high-quality reference. Stifle (talk) 23:00, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Kara Young AfD [1]

Hi Stifle, today I've cleaned up the article, removed unsourced content and more importanly added several new sources including the LA Times, NY Times, NY Post, Black Women in American History etc. Could you please have a second look and see how you feel about your keep/delete vote? Thanks, -- — Keithbob • Talk • 20:38, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Dennis Miller Live

  • Deletion of this article would be far from uncontroversial, so the prod has been removed. It does not fail WP:V, it just fails having any editors who actually work on it.--Milowent • hasspoken 01:40, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Estadio Cancun 86

Use of a bot to mass prod articles

Shouldn't you take time to look at the articles before prodding them for deletion? You seemed to have gone through quite a number of them rather quickly. The start of the Dennis Miller Live article mentions all the notable awards the show has won, which would disqualify it for a prod. So you obviously aren't reading these things before tagging them. Dream Focus 04:10, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I have not used a bot. I have opened old unreferenced categories in tabs, reviewing for articles that lack sources, and PRODding where it seems reasonable. WP:V places the burden of proof on those seeking to add or retain content. Thank you for referencing Dennis Miller Live. Stifle (talk) 12:34, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Prods of multiple articles

Hi Stifle. Just now I've added references and removed your Prod tags from Cantref Llŷn, Dancing on Ice (Netherlands and Belgium), Comedia (Spanish play), Equivalents of Duke outside Europe, and I, Max. Needless to say, I'm finding your rationale of Unreferenced for over five years, fails WP:V quite unimpressive. It seems weird that I need to come to your talk page to say this, but I'm hoping you're not planning to continue like this. It would be constructive if you did a quick search for sources; these were not hard to find. From what I've seen, the articles you're prodding do not look like hoaxes. Paul Erik (talk)(contribs) 04:11, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

There is a requirement that all Wikipedia articles be verifiable, and the policy states that the burden of finding sources lies on those seeking to retain or add the article. I never said anything was a hoax. Additionally, a lack of sources for over five years may point towards non-notability. Feel free to reference articles. Stifle (talk) 12:35, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
P.S. I am not "planning to continue like this", but every once in a while I do review various categories of articles for compliance with policies, and take appropriate action when they do not meet them. Stifle (talk) 12:37, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
P.P.S. On reflection, I probably overdid things. Stifle (talk) 16:51, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Okay, thanks, Stifle. Paul Erik (talk)(contribs) 22:33, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 March 2012

Talk page blanking

What was going through your mind when you did this? [2] You are supposed to add new sections at the bottom of the page and there is no way that you are authorized to just blank the whole page! There is important stuff on there that I want to take up with Ncboy2010, so I will restore the previous version and add all the recent notices back at the bottom. CaptainScreebo Parley! 12:25, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

No worries, this user needs keeping an eye on as they are going bananas with HotCat, doing a lot of rapid-fire editing and adding links all over the place to DABs, and not heeding the subsequent bot messages. See this section to see why I was a bit miffed to find that the page had disappeared. I accept that we all have stumbly fingers or hazy editing sessions ;-) All the best! CaptainScreebo Parley! 12:56, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

An AFD you participated in has been started again

I'm contacting everyone that participated in the last one, which ended earlier this month, to inform them of the new one. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Aziz Shavershian (2nd nomination) Dream Focus 13:49, 24 March 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 March 2012

Fake TAR

A while ago, I made fake The Amazing Race results pages on userpages. These were deleted. So, in the question of fairness, I'm requesting that the fake TAR results pages on User:TAR2C are deleted. Thank you! 70.68.97.58 (talk) 06:10, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 02 April 2012

Dispute resolution survey

Dispute Resolution – Survey Invite

Hello Stifle. I am currently conducting a study on the dispute resolution processes on the English Wikipedia, in the hope that the results will help improve these processes in the future. Whether you have used dispute resolution a little or a lot, now we need to know about your experience. The survey takes around five minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist in analyzing the results of the survey. No personally identifiable information will be released.

Please click HERE to participate.
Many thanks in advance for your comments and thoughts.

You are receiving this invitation because you have had some activity in dispute resolution over the past year. For more information, please see the associated research page. Steven Zhang DR goes to Wikimania! 11:53, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Are these allowed?

Most of these are fairly old drafts or copies of existing pages.

Shadow2 (talk) 10:17, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 09 April 2012

The Signpost: 16 April 2012

FFD comment request

You were the image reviewer at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Starvin' Marvin (South Park)/archive2 which was promoted to FA on 15 September 2009. This included a review of the infobox image File:Ep 109 starvinmarvin.gif. I am in a debate at Wikipedia:Files for deletion/2012 April 15#File:Pilot .28The Cosby Show.29 monopoly lesson.png, which is a debate over the infobox image for a television episode. The reviewer believes that the image currently violates WP:NFCC. I was hoping you might weigh in on this debate.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 00:30, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Abuse Filter on the Article Feedback Tool

Hey there :). You're being contacted because you're an edit filter manager, At the moment, we're developing Version 5 of the Article Feedback Tool, which you may or may not have heard about. If you haven't; for the first time, this will involve a free-text box where readers can submit comments :). Obviously, there's going to be junk, and we want to minimise that junk. To do so, we're working the Abuse Filter into the tool.

For this to work, we need people to write and maintain filters. I'd be very grateful if you could take a look at the discussion here and the attached docs, and comment and contribute! Thanks :). Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 18:32, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 April 2012

Trinity College/University of Dublin

Hi there, I noticed you opened a discussion a couple of years ago proposing the merger of Trinity College, Dublin and University of Dublin; I've done so again as the two articles are, for all intents and purposes, the exact same. You may wish to give your opinion. Cheers --Schcamboaon scéal? 17:20, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 April 2012

The Signpost: 07 May 2012

Hate to bother

I hate to bother you but there are only a handful of people who are familiar with the process. Can you have a look at THIS for me? Your help would be appreciated. It is related to a link for online-scratch-card to use in an article. Thanks. --Morning277 (talk) 18:49, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 May 2012

The Signpost: 21 May 2012

The Signpost: 28 May 2012

The Signpost: 04 June 2012

Jono lester

Many, many moons ago, you salted Jono Lester as a repeatedly created non-notable bio. It's back at Jono lester. It's has a WP:BLPPROD on it at the moment, one of those grey areas in that it does have a ref, but to his own website, so not reliable to our standards. I have no idea if his recent races have raised him up above the motorsport notability bar, but I thought I'd let you know if you want to deal with it, because it shouldn't stay at the incorrectly capitalised location. Regards, The-Pope (talk) 12:58, 7 June 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 11 June 2012

You closed the last AfD on this guy as a redirect; it's been recreated again

Patrick Murray (politician) is back. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:41, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 June 2012

The Signpost: 25 June 2012

The Signpost: 02 July 2012

The Signpost: 09 July 2012

Wikipedia has a long history of collaborating with educational institutions. The Schools and universities program — international and in many languages, but dominated by US institutions — started in 2003 and evolved case by case with little system. However, that changed in 2009 as Wikimedia embarked on its formal strategic process, and outreach in higher education came to be seen in terms of achieving explicit goals — especially that of increasing editor participation.
The Russian Wikipedia has been blacked out for 24 hours, ending 20:00 UTC Tuesday, as a protest against Russian State Duma Bill 89417-6, a bill currently before the Duma (the Russian parliament). Visitors to the Russian Wikipedia are confronted by the sign above in protest at a draconian internet censorship bill before the Duma. The Russian word for Wikipedia is crossed out in this banner, and the text says: "Imagine a world without free knowledge. The State Duma is currently conducting the second reading of a bill to amend the "Law on Information", which has the potential to lead to the creation of extra-judicial censorship of the Internet in Russia, including the closure of access to the Russian Wikipedia. Today, the Wikipedia community protests against censorship as a threat to free knowledge that is open to all mankind. We ask that you oppose this bill."
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Football, which focuses on the sport also known as association football or soccer. WikiProject Football is by far the largest sport project and one of the most active projects on Wikipedia in terms of the number of articles covered, edits to articles, and talk page watchers.
Eight featured articles were promoted this week: ... Aries (constellation) by Keilana. Aries the Ram (symbol ♈) is one of the constellations of the Zodiac and one of 88 currently recognised constellations. Its area is 441 square degrees (1.1% of the celestial sphere). Although fairly dim, with only three bright stars, it is home to several deep-sky objects.
No cases were closed or opened, leaving the number of open cases at three. ... The case concerns alleged misconduct with regards to aggressive responses and harassment by Fæ toward users who question his actions.
The results from last month's trial of the LastModified extension were published this week on the Wikimedia blog. The first analyses have indicated a significant positive impact, suggesting that the extension – which makes the time since a page's last edit much more prominent in the interface – could eventually find its way onto Wikimedia wikis.

The Signpost: 16 July 2012

User:Fæ was elected as the inaugural chair of the new Wikimedia Chapters Association, despite the controversies that have surrounded Fæ on the English Wikipedia and Commons, most recently aired in a live case before the Arbitration Committee. This is in marked contrast with unexciting movement, during the Wikimania meeting, on the most important issues facing the establishment of the association.
During Wikimania (July 12-15), the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) board finalized and enacted long-discussed reforms of the movement's financial structures, and considered procedures for creating new ways for Wikimedians to organize themselves into offline communities. The board moved on the controversial image filter issue, approved the 2012–13 annual plan, and issued a statement on the wikitravel proposal. It also appointed the two new chapter-selected trustees and elected the four office-bearers.
With the Tour de France in its final week, we traveled to the French Wikipedia for a chat with Projet Cyclisme (WikiProject Cycling). The French Wikipedia places a greater emphasis on portals than the English Wikipedia, which explains why WikiProject Cycling and its discussion page are actually extensions of the Cycling Portal. The project is home to two Article de Qualité (equivalent to Featured Articles) and eight Bon Article (Good Articles), primarily biographies of cyclists.
A brief overview of the current discussions on the English Wikipedia, including one regarding the purpose of the Community Portal. Started by Maryana, a Wikimedia Foundation employee, is this page for new users to be educated about the community, or is it for experienced users to find updates about the community?
Nearly 1400 Wikimedians and others from 87 countries descended on the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., for Wikimania 2012. Even with an unprecedented number (1400) of conference attendees — the previous two Wikimanias, held in Gdańsk (Poland) and Haifa (Israel), were attended by fewer than 1100 people combined – Wikimania 2012 was a complete success, with attendees' reaction to the conference coming out as ecstatic and laudatory.
Eight featured articles were promoted this week, including Paul McCartney by GabeMc. McCartney (born 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and his collaboration with John Lennon is highly celebrated. After the band's break-up he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings. McCartney has been described by Guinness World Records as the "most successful composer and recording artist of all time", and his song "Yesterday" has been covered more than any other song in history.
As Wikimania, the annual conference targeted at Wikimedians and often well attended by those with a technical slant, draws to a close, comments have already begun to come in from attendees regarding the many tech-related features of the conference.
No cases were closed or opened, leaving the number of open cases at three. A new remedy in the Fæ case calls for him to be indefinitely banned from the site after his attempts to solicit intervention from the Foundation, claiming that publicly listing all his accounts would be too onerous due to "ongoing security risks." He was further criticised for attempting to dodge good-faith concerns; the committee believes that if Fæ's claims are valid then he must be removed from the community.

The Signpost: 23 July 2012

Does Wikipedia pay? is an ongoing Signpost series seeking to illuminate paid editing, paid advocacy, for-profit Wikipedia consultants, editing public relations professionals, conflict of interest guidelines in practice, and the Wikipedians who work on these issues... by speaking openly with the people involved.
The Signpost's goal is to provide readers with essential information about the Wikimedia movement and the English Wikipedia – both of which have become large and extremely complex institutions that require timely, balanced and in-depth coverage.
Two weeks ago the Signpost reported that the Russian Wikipedia had just begun a 24-hour blackout in protest at a bill that was before the Russian parliament that proposed mechanisms to block IP addresses and DNS records. The protest, implemented after on-wiki consensus was reached during the preceding days, concerned the potential of the amendment to the information law to allow extra-judicial censorship of the internet in Russia, including the closure of access to the Russian Wikipedia. Among the questions now are how effective the blackout was and where we go from here in terms of internet freedom in one of the world's biggest and most influential countries.
With the 2012 Summer Olympic Games beginning this weekend in London, we decided to catch up with the chaps at WikiProject Olympics. The last time we interviewed WikiProject Olympics was in February 2010 when the project was gearing up for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We wanted to know how the project has grown since then and whether preparing for a Summer Olympics was more grueling.
For the second time this year (and the third in the history of the committee), there are no open cases, as all three active cases were closed last week.
There has never been a better time to improve the behavior of marketing professionals on Wikipedia. For the first time we're seeing self-imposed statements of ethics. Professional PR bodies around the globe have supported the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) guidance for ethical Wikipedia engagement. Although their tone is different, CREWE and the PRSA have brought more attention to the issues. Awareness among PR professionals is rising. So are the number of paid editing operations sprouting up and the opportunity for dialogue.
One featured article was promoted this week, Melville Island. A small peninsula in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, it was discovered by Europeans in the 1600s and initially used for storehouses. The land was purchased by the British and used to hold prisoners of war, then to receive escaped slaves from the United States. After being used as a place of quarantine and later a recruitment centre, the land was granted to Canada in 1907 and used to house prisoners of war. It is now home to the clubhouse and marina of the Armdale Yacht Club.
In the first of a series looking at this year's eight ongoing Google Summer of Code projects, the Signpost caught up with developer Harry Burt.

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Vodafone Global Enterprise (2nd nomination)

As someone who commented on the first AfD I am informing you that the article is up for deletion again. --Biker Biker (talk) 12:19, 29 July 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 July 2012

From the modeling of social dynamics in a collaborative environment to why the number of Wikipedia readers rises while the number of editors doesn't.
Wikimedia Foundation published its Annual Plan, focusing on technical improvements, editor retention, and structural reforms over the coming year. The movement's total revenue, including almost all chapter funding, is slated to rise by 35%, from $34.2 million to $46.1 million, and global spending to more than $42.1 million. The foundation's own core spending will grow by 15% to $30.2 million in 2012–13.
We continue our Summer Sports Series this week with WikiProject Horse Racing. Started in November 2005, the project has grown to include nearly 8,000 articles maintained by 34 active members. There are 10 Featured Articles and 19 Good Articles included in the project's scope. In addition to preparing articles for GA and FA status, the project attempts to create requested articles and locate requested images. We interviewed Redrose64, Montanabw, Tigerboy1966, Ealdgyth, and Cuddy Wifter.
Eight new featured articles, five new featured lists, and eight new featured pictures. The highlights include a new featured picture of Frank Sinatra, created by William P. Gottlieb and nominated by Tomer T. Sinatra (1915–98) was a highly successful American singer and film actor whose career spanned 60 years. This image dates from around 1947.
In the light of recent questions over the long-term reliability of Wikimedia wikis, the Signpost caught up with CT Woo, the Wikimedia Foundation's director of technical operations.
Arbitrator Kirill Lokshin proposed a motion requiring the alteration of any instances of an editor's previous username in arbitration decisions to reflect their name changes. The Devil's Advocate has initiated an amendment request for the controversial Race and intelligence case.

The Signpost: 06 August 2012

At this year's Wikimania, I [Brandon Harris] gave a talk entitled The Athena Project: Wikipedia in 2015. The talk broadly outlined several ideas the foundation is exploring for planned features, user interface changes, and workflow improvements. We expect that many of these changes will be welcomed, while others will be controversial. During the question-and-answer period, I was asked whether people should think of Athena as a skin, a project, or something else. I responded, "You should think of Athena as a kick in the head" – because that's exactly what it's supposed to be: a radical and bold re-examination of some of our sacred cows when it comes to the interface.
On August 1, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) portal was launched on Meta. The FDC will implement the Wikimedia movement's new grant-orientated finance structure in accordance with the WMF board's recent resolutions. As a volunteer committee, the FDC will make recommendations to the WMF board on a $11.4 million budget for 2012–13.
Arbitrator Kirill Lokshin proposed a motion for a procedure on the alteration of an editor's previous username(s) in arbitration decisions to reflect their name change(s). ... The Devil's Advocate initiated an amendment request for the controversial Race and intelligence case.
This week the Signpost interviews Casliber, an editor who has written or contributed significantly to a startling 69 featured articles. We learn what makes him tick, why he edits, and why he can write on everything from vampires to dinosaurs, birds to plants. He also gives some advice to budding featured article writers.
The Wikimedia Foundation's engineering report for July 2012 was published this week on the Wikimedia Techblog and on the MediaWiki wiki, giving an overview of all Foundation-sponsored technical operations in that month (as well as brief coverage of progress on Wikimedia Deutschland's Wikidata project). ... At least one fibre-optic cable was damaged at the WMF's Tampa site on August 6, leading to a sharp downwards spike in traffic lasting over an hour and almost three hours of disruption for readers around the globe.
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Martial Arts. Since April 2004, the project has been the hub for discussion and improvement of martial arts articles, including all disciplines and national origins. The project maintains a variety of conventions for handling the names and descriptions of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Sikh, Filipino, Okinawan, and hybrid martial arts. WikiProject Martial Arts has spawned or absorbed several subprojects focusing on boxing, kickboxing, sumo, and mixed martial arts.

The Signpost: 13 August 2012

In a certain way, writing Wikipedia is the same everywhere, in every language or culture. You have to stick to the facts, aiming for the most objective way of describing them, including everything relevant and leaving out all the everyday trivia that is not really necessary to understand the context. You have to use critical thinking, trying to be independent of your own preferences and biases. To some effect, that's all there is to it. Naturally, Wikipedians have their biases, some of which can never be cured. Most Wikipedians tend to like encyclopedias; but millions of people in the world don't share that bias, and we represent them rather poorly. I'm also quite sure that an overwhelming majority of Wikipedia co-authors are literate. Again, that's not true for everyone in this world. Yet we have other, less noticeable but barely less fundamental biases.
The Bangla language, also known as Bengali, is spoken by some 200 million people in Bangladesh and India. The Bangla Wikipedia has a very small active community of about ten to fifteen very active editors, with another 35–40 as less active editors. The project faces particular challenges in being a small Wikipedia, and Dhaka-based WMF community fellow User:Tanvir Rahman is working to understand these challenges and to develop strategies that can improve small wikis that have strong potential to expand their editing communities.
A request for arbitration was filed late last week, ending the three-week long absence of pending cases.
Six featured articles were promoted this week, including Business US Highway 41, which was a state trunkline highway that served as a business loop in Marquette in the US state of Michigan.
Three weeks into a month-long evaluation of code review tool Gerrit, a serious alternative has finally gained traction in the review process: Facebook-developed but now independently operated Phabricator and its sister command-line tool Arcanist.
This week, we interviewed the lively bunch at WikiProject Dispute Resolution. Started in November 2011 to study and discuss improvements to Wikipedia's resources for resolving disputes between editors, the young project has supplemented dispute resolution efforts currently handled at the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard, Mediation Committee, and other venues. Over 40 editors have signed up to provide feedback, a variety of ideas have been proposed, and a manual for dispute resolution has been created.
Current proposals and requests for comments include a competition to redesign the main page ...

FYI

The main conversation regarding Wikipedia:Contact us/draft1 and related pages is centralized at Wikipedia talk:Contact us, so I don't know how many people will see your comment where it is now. VernoWhitney (talk) 15:37, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

The Admin's Barnstar

The Admin's Barnstar
For all your hard work, contributions and administration of the Wikipedia project in the MediaWiki namespace. Cheers. --Hu12 (talk) 01:32, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Holiday cheer

Holiday Cheer
Michael Q. Schmidt talkback is wishing you Season's Greetings! This message celebrates the holiday season, promotes WikiLove, and hopefully makes your day a little better. Spread the seasonal good cheer by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be a newbie, a good friend, someone you have had disagreements with in the past, or just some random person. Share the good feelings. - MQS
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