Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 20:57, 21 April 2005

(Old stuff cleared out.)

Usually I ask "Please don't remove other people's messages from here, even if they are just being mean to me or complaining about something stupid. Yes, you're probably right that I don't need to see all that, but my concern is just that I might overlook something that ends up being important later.  :-)"

But for the next few days at least, that request is suspended. I will watch the history of the page to make sure I don't miss anything, but I also really don't want certain people posting certain libel and implied threats of my family here. So, feel free to remove that. :-) Jimbo Wales 13:31, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wikimedia logo

Search as I might, I can't find the source file for the Wikimedia logo, to use on my Wikimedia Quarto covers. This is the closest thing I can find ; it creator (Neolux) isn't responding to e-mails, and hasn't edited the English Misplaced Pages since September 9th. Does a larger version exist, or should I create a new vector version? -- user:zanimum

Ideas for Bootstrapping Wikivarsity

Hi First of all Hats off for giving us the Wikiworld :)

I have some suggestions about Wikivarsity. Would like to have your comments...

Please pay special attention to the portion where I suggest giving certificates to translators, thus increasing the number of translators available for all Wiki projects. While at the same time giving some tangible rewards(without spending money) for the time dedicated on Wiki translation. Imagine how powerful it could be, if most of the translation services in the world boasted of Wikimedia Certified Translators.

Hope you find it interesting. Looking forward to your comments. SudarshanP 10:44, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Although I'm not Jimbo, I felt I should respond. I think this would be a great idea. After all, translators are few and far between. Other than passion there is little reason for them to do this drudgery. They are a rare resource and I think we should applaud and reward them in some way. Mboverload 09:21, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

Status of Harlan Ellison contact?

Over on Talk:Harlan Ellison last year you said you were in contact with Harlan Ellison regarding some dispute over the content of the Harlan Ellison article, and that you were temporarily replacing the article with a stub until that was sorted out. Did anything ever come of it? I was just about to restore the old material, but I figured I should ask "in person" before doing so. Bryan 16:45, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Lacking any word on what's going on, I have restored all the deleted material. If Ellison still has problems with it I think we should work them out the Wiki way instead, since behind-the-scenes negotiation appears to have been fruitless. Bryan 16:46, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Arbitration policy/Proposed amendment ratification vote

This vote has been effectively stalled since January. There's currently a (54/68) = 79.4% vote in favour of the amendment, which the page indicates would be a passing vote except for a small note saying that at least 100 votes would be needed to pass it. This doesn't seem likely right now; I'd like a word with you at some point as to what we can do about the vote and the associated amendment, for I'd much like to see this go into effect. -- Grunt 🇪🇺 18:22, 2005 Feb 15 (UTC)

Removal of the "Snowspinner" amendment (regarding the use of evidence from outside of Misplaced Pages - IRC and private e-mail, etc.) would appease many of the "no" voters. Such an obviously charged issue should be handled separately with a vote that explicitely either grants or withholds the right of ArbCom to hear such evidence. -- Netoholic @ 20:03, 2005 Feb 15 (UTC)

Lost Counties, Cities and Towns of Virginia

Unlike much of my WP work, most of this article was put together off-line during a long period of time, and very little was pulled from other WP articles. When we had the February 21-22 server problem, I had time to reflect on how much I enjoy the WP work, and instead of worrying, I resolved to work on something to have to contribute content-wise when the system came back up. I am not in a position to help with the financial end, but I appreciate those who do.

I just wanted to drop you these comments. Mark in Richmond Vaoverland 12:51, Feb 23, 2005 (UTC)

How to reach Jimmy Wales

I just read the article in Wired, "The Book Stops Here" that features Jimmy Wales and others at Misplaced Pages. I have a question I'd like to write to Jim privately. How can I do this? I'm not familiar with blogs and I interpret this as being a public forum.

Thanks,

Peggy Lucero Bethesda, MD mdwomanus@yahoo.com

Try the "E-mail this user" link on this page.-Mr Adequate 22:14, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Wallpaper

I'm sure you're gonna love this :) Jimbo and Richard Cheers ! ;-) notafish }<';> 12:52, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

duke

The 13th, and present, Duke of Manchester is "Alexander Charles David Drogo Montagu", born in 1962. His son and heir apparent is "Alexander Michael Charles Montagu" styled Viscount Mandeville. If you do chat with the Duke, you might invite him to add the details of his marriage to Wendy Dawn, née Burford, or the exact birth date of his daughter Ashley to our data<g>. - Nunh-huh 23:43, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I can certainly confirm that the 13th Duke is Alexander, not Andrew ( and other sources). -- Emsworth 23:53, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

WIRED article available on-line

The article in WIRED magazine is now available on line: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/wiki.html

– Dennis _{(talk) (Wiki NYC Meetup)}] 15:57, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)

Interview

• Are you evil?

Indeed.

• Is Misplaced Pages evil?

It should go without saying.

• Is Wikimedia Foundation evil?

Worse than that, actually.

• Are you a Todo?

Only on Tuesdays. --Jimbo Wales 01:45, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Hye!

Which would you choose, being an administrator at Misplaced Pages, or being a hobo out on the streets? 68.23.45.217 21:59, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Gee, I should suppose it is best to be both.--Jimbo Wales 01:46, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Greetings from Bilbao (Spain)

I´ve droped you a few lines in es.wikipedia. Best, --JosebaAbaitua 23:29, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Notice that you were mentioned.

I don't want to talk about you behind your back, so I am letting you know I mentioned you (somewhat critically) in this discussion.--Silverback 01:58, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

ps. I originally mistakenly posted to the talk page for the article rather than this page, so I have deleted it there and reposted here, but with the original date.--Silverback 12:08, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

NASA World Wind

In case you're interested, there is now (the beginnings of) reverse linkage into Misplaced Pages from NASA World Wind. See WikiProject Geographical coordinates for some examples. — Egil 10:04, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Image:NupediaLogo.jpg

Nupedia's logo (Image:NupediaLogo.jpg) from the Wayback Machine is currently on Misplaced Pages as {{Logo}}. But, was its logo available under the GFDL? 119 21:51, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Stanford Presentation Slides?

Could you post the slides from the Misplaced Pages presentation you did at Stanford onto the web somewhere? Thanks for all the great work you've done helping make information free. Salasks 17:00, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Arbitration policy/Proposed amendment ratification vote Part II

I'm not sure as to the current status of this, but you've previously indicated on IRC that you wish to see this implemented. If you can give your stamp of approval here ASAP, it would be appreciated, as there are already more amendment proposals brewing (mostly regarding the 100 vote rule and in relation to the "Snowspinner amendment") and there are cases ongoing right now where there are arguments involving arbitration policy. -- Grunt 🇪🇺 16:44, 2005 Mar 10 (UTC)

Misleading edit summaries

Can I block someone for repeatedly providing misleading edit summaries? Mgm| 17:52, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)

Universism article

I would appreciate your review of this sitation. The article on Universism is being deleted on the basis of two misunderstandings - 1) that it is not a significant movement and just Ford Vox's homepage (shown to be false) and 2) that a bunch of "sock puppets" voted to keep it back in December 2004 (shown to be false). I think another major factor is that the adminstrators concerned just don't like the subject. Universism is controversial not just among people of faith but amonth true atheists as well. Here is the article: http://faithless.org/wikipedia.htm Undeletion discussion of Universism article: http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Votes_for_undeletion#Universist_Movement Discussion of article: http://en.wikipedia.org/Talk:Universist_Movement Original VfD page: http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Votes_for_deletion/Universism Recent forum threads: http://www.faithless.org/community/index.php?showtopic=2630 http://www.faithless.org/community/index.php?showtopic=2512 There's no reason there shouldn't be a Misplaced Pages article on Universism, but there isn't because the article was deleted in early December for not being 'notable' enough, just days prior to the New York Times article. Here's what else the Movement has been up to: http://universist.org/news.htm From Misplaced Pages's standpoint, Misplaced Pages should include social and religious movements, and this is the kind of article where Misplaced Pages can really shine: Universism started in 2003 and there won't be a Britannica article for 20 years, but there can be a Misplaced Pages article today and there should be given the progress we've made. It would be a shame for Misplaced Pages not to cover Universism for the above misunderstandings. Futhermore, Universist Movement officials pledge not to edit the article themselves. Universist 16:12, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

If it is indeed true that this was featured in the New York Times, Fox News, the BBC, then I would vote 'keep' on a VfD myself. This is not a decree, just a personal opinion. Possibly the pre-NYT VfD was valid, but further press coverage has now changed the state of the world such that an article is warranted. I should not that I have not looked at the VfU page, so perhaps there is further information of which I am not aware. I'm just saying that in general, something that has gotten major press coverage is almost certainly worth at least a stub.--Jimbo Wales 01:51, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Jimbo, the admins concerned are postulating all sorts of interesting new criteria for undeletion, craftily so that Universism does not fit them: http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Votes_for_undeletion/Universist_Movement ...Among them have been the "Google News" standard - ie, no current hits on Google News for Universism, so no Universism Misplaced Pages article. Yet just a cursory search lead me to discover that there are many religious movements in Misplaced Pages without current Google News hists, like Discordianism, Brownsville Revival, Atherius Society, Adidam, Branhamism, Chen Tao, Elan Vital (nothing about the movement), Instititute of Noetic Sciences (article Noetic), and Konkokyo. Another standard now proposed by Dpbsmith involves getting a front page story in The Birmingham Post-Herald and a dozen mentions in The Birmingham News. These are conservative publications not interested in us. We have already received a COVER STORY in The Birmingham Weekly, the city's #2 paper: http://universist.org/cover.htm ...Dpbsmith's criterion including listings in the Birmingham News religion calendar, but again we already user the Birmingham Weekly calendar every week, our audience doesn't use Birmingham News and certainly not their religion calendar. It includes a Bellsouth phone account and listing in the Yellow Pages, expenses we do not want. This is just absurd and not what Misplaced Pages is about. The fact is that we exist just as Misplaced Pages exists. We have received enough press that we warrant a listing here among all the cartoon characters. This is embarrassing that there isn't a Universism article after all we've done. The only explanation I have seen is that the admins who deleted it the first time simply do not want to be wrong and will rationalize to their graves. Universist 17:30, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

That article is "generous" at best. It sounds like an advert to me to be honest. That's probably not helping your case any. --Alterego 18:05, Mar 13, 2005 (UTC)

Are you talking about the Bham Weekly article? Here is the author's pedigree: http://www.writerstoolkit.com/AboutAuthor.htm Here is the Misplaced Pages article we are discussing: http://faithless.org/wikipedia.htm A suggested alternate Misplaced Pages article: http://www.universist.org/npovuniversistmovement.htm ...I just think Universism deserves an entry in Misplaced Pages, regardless of who writes it. Universist 20:57, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I was talking specifically of the wikipedia article. --Alterego 04:13, Mar 14, 2005 (UTC)

Arbitration can pry into private correspondence?

Jimbo, in among the rather harmless amendments to the arbitration policy was the so-called "Snowspinner amendment", which permits the likes of Snowspinner to present his personal correspondence as "evidence" in arbitration (which, it seems to have been forgotten, was meant to be a way to resolve differences, not attack other users).

I've always thought it was a good unwritten rule of the Internet that private correspondence should not be made public. Even trolls on Usenet consider it poor behaviour. I note that you too showed an inclination to this belief, when Raul repeated an IRC conversation that you had with him on the talk page of autofellatio.

I believe Snowspinner's amendment was not motivated by a desire to improve policy or the encyclopaedia but by personal animus, because he is aggrieved that someone called him a "fuck" in IRC but was not punished for it. (You have to ask whether Snowspinner could not just have shrugged that off -- we're not in school here and the idea is we all try to get on because that's the way to build an encyclopaedia, wiser minds have determined, not that we should all be spending our days sneaking on each other, trying to cause trouble -- frankly, a rogue such as Snowspinner is a great deal more disruptive of the functioning of Misplaced Pages than most of the "trolls" he is convinced plague his life.)

Can I ask you to revisit this issue? I can't see how it is constructive.Dr Zen 23:26, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Sometimes users mailbomb others with vicious insults. It's rather silly to suppose that such behavior has to be ignored, isn't it? Of course private correspondence should not be made public even in most of these cases (it can be a personal judgment call in many cases), but the idea that somehow the arbcom was supposed to be restricted in investigations to just what takes place on the wiki is a different matter.

I can't comment in particular on the Snowspinner example you cite, because I don't know about it. But the community does hang out in irc, and it is very very unfortunate if #wikipedia is a hostile environment. People ought to relax about being called a "fuck" in IRC, because it just makes the caller look like an idiot, but also people ought not be namecalling either.

Remember, the arbcom is not a court of law, but a community function. They have no power to subpoena, no power to jail anyone. So they can't "pry into" anything.

They do have the power to say: look, behaving like a jerk and expecting an infinite right to edit wikipedia is not going to happen. So I see no reason to artificially limit what they look at. Misplaced Pages is a real human community, not an online game. If someone sends you hateful email as a result of your voluntary efforts to make the world a better place, then it's 100% perfectly ok to complain to the arbcom about it, and to have a rule which says "Oh, someone mailbombed you with vicious insults, but that's something we can't ask them to leave the community over" would be wrong. --Jimbo Wales 01:01, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

We'll have to agree to differ. I think in "real human communities" the private should be left private, the public public; you disagree. I think what you do in email or any other personal space is quite separate from what you do here in the Misplaced Pages space. I think the latter is the proper concern of the community; the former none of its business.

Is it the arbcom's business if you're a jerk outside Misplaced Pages? Really? If I find "evidence" that User X has been a jerk on, say, slashdot, how about that? What if I know they are a troll in another medium? Is all that "evidence" that can be used against them? Other media are different, though. They have different rules of engagement, if you like.

That's not to say that I don't agree that one ought not to abuse one's fellows in emails or IRC. It's not going to be conducive to making this a place where a great encyclopaedia is built. I certainly don't think it's something to ask someone to leave the community over though. What next? You have a criminal conviction, you can be left out? You wrote a snitty blog post? You're not nice to your mum?

Is the arbcom not a court of law? It sure looks like one. Dr Zen 02:18, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think that in general the private should be left private, and the public public. That's an entirely different question from whether the ArbCom ought to ignore evidence that is directly relevant. I'm sensitive to some of the slippery slope concerns that you're raising, but let's recognize that they _are_ slippery slope concerns, and treat them with some. When I say that if a crazed Internet psychic posts pictures of my little girl on his own website with ludicrous libelous comments, then it's perfectly legitimate for this to lead to his ban at Misplaced Pages, this is not even remotely like saying that people should be banned for not being nice to their mums, right? Either extreme position is indefensible, I would say. In the very unlikely event that someone would be banned from Misplaced Pages solely for writing a snitty blog post, I'd be the first to step forward and overturn the ban. And yet in the other extreme, I think you'd have to agree with me that certain outrageous behaviors don't get a free pass just because they took place in IRC or private email or another website. If you agree with that, then you agree with me on the principle: the ArbCom ought not face arbitrary restrictions one way or the other, but use simple human judgment in the light of community conventions and norms.

If someone starts sending you death threats in private email and slandering your family all over the web, based on your good work at Misplaced Pages, then they will be banned from editing Misplaced Pages. As a healthy community, we should respect our members enough to afford them that kind of respect and courtesy. This is a very far cry from the extreme scenarios you are envisioning about people being banned over trivial flamewars on Slashdot and the like.

When I said that the arbcom is not a court of law, I was responding in particular to this idea that they can "pry into" private correspondence. They can't. Someone can send it to them, but they have no way to subpoena it. They can't put people in jail, they can't order people to be brought into court. This is a private website run by a community which tries really hard to have an atmosphere of love and respect, and the arbcom's role is to put some due process into the dealing with unfortunate social situations. But it isn't a court of law, it's people trying to make good decisions for the overall health of the community based on our policies.--Jimbo Wales 16:51, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Using Google as a barometer to justify deletionism

May I ask you to comment on the topic of using Google in order to justify the deletion or inclusion of an article? In my opinion, the entire notion is flawed and there is nothing about the process documented at Misplaced Pages:Google test which merits being called a "test". Best regards --GRider\ 00:51, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think the Google test is often helpful, but should be used with judgment. I see no way to ban people from doing it, do you? It's useful information which ought to inform our judgment, although of course in many cases there can be reasons to override or ignore it. I trust people to make the right decisions thoughtfully, using the Google test as one element among many.--Jimbo Wales 01:01, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Arbitration policy/Proposed amendment ratification vote Part III

Jamesday is opposing the passing of this amendment. See this edit. -- Grunt 🇪🇺 01:14, 2005 Mar 12 (UTC)

Hi-Bye

• Did you ever meet Satan?

No, but I think we're supposed to be on a panel discussion in Amsterdam in May.

• Are you filthy rich?

More filthy than rich.

• Would you consider yourself an expert in any field of academics?

No.

• Are you planning to take over the world?

Yes, one click at a time. --Jimbo Wales 02:36, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Bye-Hi

• Are you a graduate of Smith N. Jones High School?

No, they kicked me out after an unfortunate incident with a stack of Britannica... well, it's a long story. :-) Are you having fun with this? --Jimbo Wales 02:36, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Appeal

Jimbo, several days ago I sent you an appeal by e-mail of the January arbcom ruling against me, but you don't seem to have replied...I understand that you are busy, but could you take a look at it and tell me your thoughts? It is very important to me, and I feel without a proper resolution to the matter I will no longer be willing to work on the project. Everyking 12:34, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I would urge you (Jimbo) to make sure that Everyking, Netoholic and Dr Zen are treated fairly. - Ta bu shi da yu 13:51, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks

I just wanted to say: thank you for Misplaced Pages. It's a most remarkable project! It is the most amazing software project I've ever worked on. It will be wonderful when (and if) Misplaced Pages 1.0 gets released! Please, keep up the good work.

Unfortuneately, it's time for me to depart from Misplaced Pages. You probably don't know who I am, but I used to be an admin (well, I most likely still am at the time of writing, but won't be much longer) and contributor on many articles. Like exploding whales. But I'm leaving now. I just wanted to have the opportunity to express my gratitude for letting me contribute to this site and for making this whole thing possible! - Ta bu shi da yu 13:55, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Cumbey and SqueakBox Javier Solana feud

Cumbey threats

These threats were received by email. User:Cumbey claims SqueakBox is hacking into the wiki database. She is going to demand the hard discs from you so she can get me put down for a long time because of my alleged hacking. She accuses me of having a stash of janja (sic) she means ganja, in my possession, and that she is going to tell the Honduran police about it. She is going to write to you demanding you reinstate her version of Javier Solana. She is very unhappy with the new contributors. She thinks they work for me and I work for Solana.--SqueakBox 14:46, Mar 14, 2005 (UTC)

I think both of you have violated the Misplaced Pages:No legal threats policy. Dtobias 12:33, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

That may be the case but she started it by accusing me of being high on drugs. I cannot tolerate such a baseless claim, and live in a country where drug possession is a serious crime. All I have threatened her with is libel if she continues to impute my good name. What choice do I have? (I am not planning to do so). --SqueakBox 17:14, Mar 25, 2005 (UTC)

Cumbey reply to 'SqueakBox' Allegations

As you, a person with a thriving business career, and likewise me with a busy law practice, sometimes it is difficult to find rebuttal time for those who have nothing to do but stalk. That has been the case here. For openers, I told SqueakBox in a private email, that if he persisted in what was an obvious extraordinary internet stalking of myself that I would, if he did not retract his repeated slurs that I was 'vandalizing,' 'trolling' and was a 'fanatic,' I would attempt to as a last resort contact you, if I couldn't find you otherwise on line, I would communicate by certified mail and request retractions. The bit about demanding 'hard drives' is pure SqueakBox and PURE FICTION!

Next, it is unfortunately obvious that either SqueakBox may have well hacked into a Wiki process database (Wiki Global Elite), or at least he clearly intimated he had done so. My basis for saying is that everytime pages on the board disappeared, it was called on Misplaced Pages itself to my attention by SqueakBox. He tauntingly challenged me to go look. On the very Misplaced Pages boards he would note that all pages dealing with my work and Maisy's work had disappeared -- and so they had! I could not log on for a few days and had to re-establish my account and password there. The page has since been locked there by Maisy for vandalism and it is locked in my format -- not SqueakBox's, which should reveal what their investigation showed about current events on that site.

SqueakBox or his alias then posted messages to me claiming names such as 'David' with spelling, syntax, and punctuation identical to that used by SqueakBox (when writing as SqueakBox -- a still different newspaper name (not as Squeakbox) he writes under has complex sentences, punctuation, and spelling) -- obviously both came from the same pen. I suspect he either knows the process or gained user privileges there using a different name. Everytime it happened, SqueakBox left a taunting message for me on both talk pages and public pages on Misplaced Pages, as well as to private email. I tried being very civil with SqueakBox, even going so far as to furnish a home phone number in case he wanted to talk. He vandalized, insulted, going so far as to call me "a vandal and a troll" for trying to protect a wonderfully written article with supporting external references which SqueakBox removed, claiming this would give people reason to suspect Javier Solana was 'accumulating powers' and was 'the beast.' As far as saying this is what Solana is -- again, this is SqueakBox's extropolation and not mine. I have always told people that their guess as to this particular prophesied character's identity "is as good as mine." I confess to having said, however, that "Solana might be an educated guess."

As regards the 'ganja' references, SqueakBox brought this on himself. After countless baseless publicly posted (and with a sniveling and whiny tone at that)SqueakBox messages publicly and insultingly calling me a religious fanatic, he sent me a profound email professing deep belief in Haile Selassie as his Rastafarian messiah -- God returned in the flesh and we had missed him! I went as any good researcher to the appropriate Misplaced Pages page and learned that the very publicized Rastafarian sacrament of marijuana usage was called ganja. (I confess I did misread it as "janja" and evidently SqueakBox did know enough about it to know the difference.) I suggested IN A PRIVATE EMAIL that SqueakBox might be either smoking something or consuming too much 'ganja'. SqueakBox went on to make this private correspondence very public! He did the publication in the legal sense, not me! As far as the 'threat' to notify the consulate (NEVER ANY THREAT TO A FAMILY -- DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE HAS ONE APART FROM HIS DOGS), this was merely a humorous comeback to the numerous SqueakBox - Weiss threats to me in email to "have me sitting in a Caribbean republic jail" for "criminal offense of libel." SqueakBox's behavior which has been both publicly and privately abusive frankly reminds me of a little kid who kicks another kid in the shins, and then in turn runs home crying to his mommy when the kicked kid says, "for that, I'm going to get you."

SqueakBox's newly revised page says he proved Haile Selassie was God and Solana was not the devil. As I see things, he did a lousy job of both!

I consider Misplaced Pages a tremendous service. I have written professionally (starting as a speechwriter for the Democratic caucus of the Michigan House of Representatives) since 1969. I have tried to make meaningful Misplaced Pages contributions. It is too bad that people like SqueakBox can reduce it to a three ring circus, and the level of scholastic achievement to junior encyclopedias and below.

Respectfully,, Constance E. Cumbey Misplaced Pages User 'Cumbey'

SqueakBox Response

I told Cumbey what was going on at wikielite because I was watching it myself. That is why I told her to take a look; she also has the internet. I was not making anything happen; it is cranky to make the logical deduction from this that I was hacking into anything, as well as libellous. to say I have done so. To say i am User:David is again very cranky, and clearly not the case. His contributiuons are very different and he operates out of a different country. We are both english; presumably it is our similar english style that has led Cumbey to deduce we are the same person. Again very cranky, very libellous stuff. I did not mention on numerous occasions getting her in a caribbean jail, merely that do not like to be libelled as someone who breaks the law, and that livbel is a criminal offence here. She is being completely over the top, and does not back up anything she says. makes a joke of Cumbey's pretended having nothing to do with solana as the beast thesis which was a POV spín and not a wonderful article at all. Cumbey got blocked for edit warring trying to reimpose her outdated POV, disorganised version. I went in detail on the Talk page about my edits, to which she has never responded in any way. So what is she complaining about my edits of Solana here. She lies saying she didn't know I had a partner, and about the hard disc threat to prove her belief that I have been hacking in. Cumbey vandalised my home page here and there is a record of her insults elsewhere. When I tried to get a serious conversation about what I considered her Nazi apologism comparing Solana to Hitler she went about occultism. I am not the one obsessed with religion, nor do I want beliefs about Solana infecting the solana article. It is now just like any other political article. It has had a lot of recent input from various contributors, none of whom feel drawn to readding Cumbey's hidden beast evidences and overt anti-EU pro-US as the single geopolitical superpower rant. I don't know why Cumbey doesn't let things be; the new version is now accepted, and I am innocent of any of the charges. I consider her threats in email to have been litle more than religious harrassment; believing someone is God, especially when lots of other people believe it too, is not a reason to ring the police trying falsely and without the slightest evidence that they are committing a serious crime. And then she says i brought it on myself. i.e. according to Cumbey I have no right to express my religious beliefs withoutt being persecuted by her. And, according to her, I deserve it. I am, after all, a Rasta. So I don't like Cumbey, and want her to leave me alone, and stop libelling my character with her ridiculous allegations. Special:Contribution/ SqueakBox shows don't spend my time here stalking. Cumbey abuses me greatly every chance she gets, because I trashed her original Solana POV thesis. Her accusations always lack substance. Cumbey operates mostly anonymously, using a large number of IP addresses, but nevver edits anything that is not to do with Javier Solana. Whereas i edit a lot of political articles about Spanish speakers, of whom Solana is one. As a european I don't buy into her politics, but what I object to is the way she hijacked the article for her Christian evangelising purposes. --SqueakBox 06:14, Mar 25, 2005 (UTC)

Cumbey quotes in email

Tomorrow I am sending Jimbo a certified letter, return receipt requested printing out the hard copy -- I am demanding that you immediately retract ALL your libelous and slanderous Sock Puppet allegations forthwith; I am demanding a WRITTEN APOLOGY circulated as far on the web as you circulated your slanders and I demand that everything be put back in the Solana article that had external references.

Furthermore, Misplaced Pages policy is to attach external references. You removed them--I see with some glee that others are now catching on to your idiocy in such things as denying the importance of the Barcelona Process. Javier Solana himself wrote a brand new article about it published in today's London Financial Times. Why don't you go over there and hack it as well.

But on the other hand, maybe I should exercise Christian charity and blame all your misdeeds on the machete wielder.

Earlier that day she accused me of working here for javier Solana, which I resent as I am a volunteer.

Hope Solana is paying you well for all your internet mayhem and destruction. May the Lord have mercy on your poor miserable soul'

You are a hacker and a liar! You are locked out of Wiki Global Elite!

NEVER EMAIL ME AGAIN! I plan to make you (in)famous in my next book -- here in the USA, Richard Weiss, truth is an absolute defense. You had no reasonable expectation of privacy on your internet sabotage and lies. Don't threaten me with your cruddy little Caribbean jails!

here she promises to put my efforts on wikipedia into her new book. This is clearly a banning offence, were she to actually do so. --SqueakBox 17:49, Mar 25, 2005 (UTC)

Privacy of emails

It was Cumbey who broke the privacy of our email conversations, by publishing my real name, --SqueakBox 19:10, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC)

Haile Selasie

Cumbey has placed a link to my User page in the text of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia here, --SqueakBox 14:57, Apr 9, 2005 (UTC)

Cumbey's blog

In my opinion the latest posting on Cumbey's blog here is an offsite personal attack on User:One Salient Oversight and myself. i believe I read Juimbo here saying he will not tolerate such behaviour, especially as her attack includes a link here, that she got from what was my user page, which partially identifies me. I am going to read the rules in detail, and if appropriate go to arbcom, --SqueakBox 16:18, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

Jimbo, you are playing a star role in Cumbey's April 15 1.41am blog here. If she decides to delete it i haver it saved onto my hard disc. I won't quote what she says because I don't know about blog copyright, but needless to say I have never invoked your name to justify my work here or claimed that you have blessed any of my edits here at Misplaced Pages, --SqueakBox 17:43, Apr 15, 2005 (UTC)

Willy on Wheels

WoW is now running vandalbots. See User:Javabot, and the deletion log for evidence. The whole WoW mess has been escalating over the last few weeks, with WoW intensifying his attacks, and becoming more sophisticated in attack methods. More, better, reversion tools are needed. In particular, it should be possible for "revert" to delete an article where only a single contributor has committed entries, and the article is less than a certain time old. Developer help is urgently needed! -- The Anome 14:51, Mar 14, 2005 (UTC)

No, it shouldn't. This will have all sorts of horrible side effects. My two cents would be to give admins the power to revert all edits made under a single account, regardless of the nature of those edits, if the account is less than X hours old and/or has less than Y edits, with both fairly small numbers. Put in an additional limit to the rate of registering accounts under a single IP (say, one per hour, this should be plenty for users who come in with a mistaken/unwise account name). All of this is, of course, still gameable, and nothing will change that. We can only slow it down a bit, not eliminate it. Hmm, I get the feeling these ideas should be discussed elsewhere, and probably are. JRM 15:05, 2005 Mar 14 (UTC)

Wikispecies count

That's a fine question. A fine question indeed. I wish I had an answer to it, though. - UtherSRG 22:14, Mar 14, 2005 (UTC)

I'm afraid nobody is counting. Actually the contributors of the Tree of Life are working from topside downwards : Kingdom to Class, to Order, to Family and then to Genus. Species are only being dealt with if a particular species is important, or has some importance. Nevertheless the number of species already dealt with should be considerable and is growing rapidly. Even at this rate, it will still take several decades before we have covered the majority of species, even if the number of dedicated contributors keeps growing. This doens't answer your question, but may give you an idea of the enormous task we're working on with only a few contributors. JoJan 15:13, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

the database for wikispecies is available here. perhaps if i get some time later this week i'll come up with some good sql queries to figure out a count. --Alterego 15:58, Mar 15, 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages MySQL warning

Warning: mysql_query(): Unable to save result set in /usr/local/apache/common-local/php-1.4/includes/Database.php on line 324 Error in numRows(): MySQL server has gone away

Backtrace:

   * Database.php line 502 calls wfdebugdiebacktrace()
   * User.php line 452 calls databasemysql::numrows()
   * SkinTemplate.php line 254 calls user::getnewtalk()
   * OutputPage.php line 417 calls skinmonobook::outputpage()
   * OutputPage.php line 614 calls outputpage::output()
   * Database.php line 360 calls outputpage::databaseerror()
   * Database.php line 309 calls databasemysql::reportqueryerror()
   * SpecialWatchlist.php line 102 calls databasemysql::query()
   * SpecialPage.php line 309 calls wfspecialwatchlist()
   * SpecialPage.php line 220 calls specialpage::execute()
   * index.php line 101 calls specialpage::executepath()

Adraeus 01:38, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

About RickK, me, and user blocking

Note: Please read this carefully and thoroughly, as this is important.

RickK, one of the admins, blocked my former accounts "User:Hil Duff" and "User:Hil Duff star". He didn't give any reason why and totally ignored my comments on my talk page just because he thinks my user name would be something like imposting or vandalizing. I wanted to discuss things over with him, but he just deleted my account immediately without reason. I just want to be a happy Wikipedian here.

I AM NOT A VANDAL, and I won't be Hilary Duff, just Cool Cat886. I won't tell anybody that I am famous or a pop star. I just want to contribute in peace here, and YOU CAN BLOCK ME ONLY IF YOU SEE ME VANDALIZING OR ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING BAD, BECAUSE I DIDN'T. Would you support me and be my good friend, or should I just get blocked for eternity because I didn't do anything? Cool Cat886 07:20, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Abusive blocking

Hi Jimmy, I'd have preferred not to bother you on your user talk page for such a personal problem, but the situation give me no other choice.

My need

I need the intervention of an autority higher in the m:power:structure than the ones I'm in conflict with, which is I believe the reason why you are on top of that structure.

My story

Here's my story in its as succinct as possible version:

fr:wiki

I've been sucked in the m:wikipedia vicious circle on fr:wiki, I did my best to inform the fr:community about this, and about how the current fr:wiki is receding from the global wikipedia spirit. As a result of facts, my account on the fr:wiki is now blocked, and multiple IP that are not mine are also banned because I dared to apply Misplaced Pages:Ignore all rules. Which I don't really care about anymore; after what I've been through I don't have any more motivation to contribute on the fr:wiki.

meta:wiki/en:wiki

I wanted to write articles on meta about what I know of m:wikipedia vicious circle and how to end it, or at least to reduce to the max the phenomenon, and hot to prevent this to happen again. But I just noticed that my meta:account and en:wiki have been blocked too by a meta admin from the fr:wiki, with no reason given, but an email adress to ask for reasons. I did nothing blameworthy on meta nor on en:wiki as no one gave me any good reason to yet. These blocks are what i consider a good reason to behave blameworthy. I don't want to, and I wish m:wikipedia vicious circle will not follow me on each and every wikipedia where I've been bold enough to use the same nickname. That's why I'm asking your help to put an end to the vicious cycle phenomenon and to deal directly with the responsible persons about this no-reason given block of my account on meta.

ja:wiki

my japanese account is not blocked, the only reasons I see to this are either Anthere has no power to block me there, or she does not know/care about this account.

logging into a blocked account leads to automatic IP ban. which adds to the nonsense of "blocking at all cost" attitude.The previous IP I was using to write and edit this very message for this reason. WTF!, just WTF! Luckily an IP block does not block anyone in reality, which makes me ask myself, why blocking? and what blocking is used for if not newbie rejection and increasing authoritarian attitude based conflict intensity

Also to mention

I have to mention also that I've informed m:User:Jean-Christophe Chazalette aka fr:Utilisateur:Aurevilly of my intentions to sue the fr:wiki if the slandering of certains fr users against me were not removed in a reasonable delay. Ive also informed him that as a hacking philosophy supporter Timothy Leary defined cyberpunk information system conceiver/optimizer, I know some of wikipedia weaknesses and that I have ideas of how to help fix them, but if they insist on treating my person and my work that way, I would have no hesitation to use my knowledge of these weaknesses against the fr:wiki in legal action. I guess these informations may have played a role or not in my block.

:It seems like you're in contravention of the policy outlined on Misplaced Pages:No legal threats. Dtobias 21:17, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I'm very aware of what it seems, and that it is not what it seems, that's why I added this précision to avoid confusion between what it is and what it seems. this is no threat but information sharing, am i not right to ask for slandering removal ? is it not honest to say that you are ready to go to court if necessary ?

As many others contributors and contributors wannabe I just want to help a project that means something to me. I sincerely think I can help with the wikipedia vicious cycle, and its prevention, and BTW help contributors work in a better-if-not-good atmosphere.

Hoping to see an improvement in this situation. m:User:Izwalito en:User:Izwalito fr:User:Izwalito ja:User:Izwalito

GNU FDL/ GNU GPL and wikipedia

I'd like to talk about the use of GFDL on wikipedia websites with persons able to make decisions. I've got reasons to believe that GFDL is inappropriate to wikipedia websites and that GNU GPL should be used instead. By reasons, I mean practical reasons, common sense reasons and personal ideological reasons.

m:User:Izwalito en:User:Izwalito fr:User:Izwalito ja:User:Izwalito

Anthere's report on Izwalito matter

I took the decision of blocking Izwalito on meta and on the english wikipedia (he was already blocked on fr (not by me), but I extended the length of the block), after Izwalito informed Aurevilly of his decision to very probably sue w:fr:utilisateur:Floreal for defaming comments on the french wikipedia, as well as all those who might be able to delete permanently her comments and refused to do so, as well as his decision to sue the responsibles of Wikimedia projects for the website being run under the wrong licence.

I wrote those emails and I know what is said here is not what I wrote.

I believe this might concerns a serious number of people : Floreal, 5 board members of WMF, 9 board members of Wikimedia France, and the developer team.

it concerned a lot more than this, it concerned every single reader of the slandering who did nothing to remove it.

Since Izwalito was already blocked on the french wikipedia by general consensus and because of his legal threats which do not exactly show a very good spirit in the community, I have decided to take upon myself to block him in three places.

the general consensus has to be proven, I received emails from wikipedians saying it was abusive and unfair, and it was told by others on the pump. see upper about this threat misunderstanding.

To preserve a certain independance of decision, I also asked on the following projects that Izwalito be blocked as well : Ja.wikipedia, Zh.wikipedia, fr.wikiquote and en.wikiquote. Brion and Kate run a check to list his user accounts. As a steward, I could have made myself a sysop on any of these projects and blocked him myself, but I felt it might have been a bit too authoritative. Hence, I only did it on projects where communities have expressed their trust in me as a sysop.

could have asked ME for my accounts..., still don't understand why my account has been blocked on different wikipedia.these accounts are not me, blocking them seems pointless, as I don't need any account.

As a trustee on Wikimedia Foundation Inc and a trustee on Wikimedia France, I am also directly concerned by the legal threats, so I am currently discussing the issue with w:fr:utilisateur:Aurevilly who is a judge in France, as well as w:fr:utilisateur:Ryo, the president of Wikimedia France.

sounds weird that you're not discussing it with the main character of the story isn't it? sounds weird that you took action before the discussion came to a conclusion.

I also informed the board, to the best of the other board trustees availability. I had the opportunity to shortly discuss the issue with Jimbo this afternoon on irc. However, Jimbo is not much available, and it was my belief a couple of decisions (such as blocking Izwalito) had to be taken quickly. I consider that I could act so while Jimbo was missing.

why does it have to be done quickly? as the account is still blocked and I'm still not. This poos user account is innocent you know.

Note that I am fully aware Izwalito uses several ips, hence has is libery of edition and comments preserved.

Note that I am fully aware that I use only one IP as I own only one. But when I'm blocked abusively I don't hesitate to go elsewhere to protest against this abusive block and resume my contributor work. Note that my liberty of edition is not preserved and that's why I'm fighting for freedom of speech.

Anthere 00:36, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

PS : one more word about the reason why Izwalito has been blocked, repeatedly on the french wikipedia. Note that I am not very well versed on the topic, but that the block is quite widely supported.

quite widely among the sysops...

Izwalito, as a newbie, started translating english wikipedia rules and meta pages and tried to impose them on the french wikipedia (either, adding them to current ones, or replacing the current ones by the english rules).

how could I try to impose anything as I know it is impossible for a simple contributor to impose anything, and as I submitted those translations to translation verification and to community decision. I only created new article, I replaced no existing rule, you can check by yourself, it's all in my contribution history

He also moved texts, without any respect for history. After having been told not to do so, he went on doing it anyway.

I moved text (no plural), after having been forbidden in an authoritative way without any further explanation, I decide not to take account of this till someone explain me why. As no one tried to explain anything to me I had to figure it out by myself, and I did not went on as what I did after that was copy-pasting not cut-pasting. BTW I've witnessed those who forbid do what they forbid me to do, whihch lead me to think that something's wrong somewhere.

As he says himself, he has the mentality of a hacker. Add overflowing the pump, and very strong comments towards contributor (Floreal in particular).

I'm not responsible for the pump being overflowed, this phenomenon was already problematic before I create my account, my comments were towards contributors' comments not contributor (I even translated tthe wikipedia:no personal attacks articles which didn't exist on the fr:wiki. The Floreal thing was a on-the-same-level answer to a provocation from Floreal which I did because after being abusively blocked more than 10 times in 10 days and after sysops deleted hours of my work, and censored me, I started to act careless too, and to answer to provocation.

All this resulted in Izwalito being blocked or reverted many times.

chronologically, I've been blocked and reverted first and then I started to act like a fool, to be precise, all this started when a sysop made me lose 2 hours of work in a childish edit war because he thought he knew better than me.

Note that Izwalito continues editing under ip when blocked and does not hide himself in the least when doing so, making the block totally ineffective.

I'm honest why you should I hide what I'm doing? I am no vandal. Block is not totally ineffective, it worked perfectly in infuriating me. I don't know who you think you're fooling with this block thingy. IP is not a person, and blocking IP is not blocking the person using this IP.

The last block period came after he used comments considered unjustifiable on the pump.

From what I've read on the pump, some wikipédians think it's the block which is injustifiable and injustified. 8 days block for a sysop personal consideration (the sysop who blocked me knows personnaly the person who provoked my comment as he told me by email afterwards).

I never blocked him myself earlier, though I supported reversion if necessary.

this part I agree with.

The current block is an answer to the legal threats. Anthere

I have to remember that it's not a good idea to be honest, it will get me in trouble. Specially when I'm trying to find a way to avoid the inevitable through discussion. Next time I'll sue directly without trying to communicate as sysops block before talking.

I fully support Anthere. Angela and Anthere have the authority to act on behalf of the foundation in cases like this, and we should be glad that they are willing to do so. This is especially true in cases like now, when I'm in the midst of travelling and I am therefore not much available to be the heavy myself.--Jimbo Wales 01:32, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I wonder what a case like this means, and where is the common sense in letting someone involved in a conflict in charge of putting an end to the conflict. I feel concerned that common sense is sacrificed to personal reason. I also feel concerned that the project fondator is careless enough about the community to give blind trust to someone using personal attacks and not citing any in-context sources to expose facts. I thought what we should be glad is that contributors are willing to contribute, not that those in charge (or left in charge) are working unwillingly to put an end to the contributing will of one particular contributor. If not, no wonder that m:wikipedia vicious cycle exists and is hurting/crippling the project.

to avoid any more splashing through looking glass effect, (this discussion page has to look good) I m dealing directly with Anthere though email. Anyways ,you just lost one (more?) contributor through carelessness. my advice to you Jimbo, remember what has been done before and don't wander on the path of error, as there is only one error, to repeat them.

<update> as this article has been linked to from fr:wiki I've answered to anthere here also. Not a smart move I would say.

Why do you keep linking to m:wikipedia vicious cycle, a page which currently only says (There is currently no text in this page)? Dtobias 16:00, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

ask yourself what happens when principle of least surprise is not respected, I'll add the redirection that you could have add yourself. I'm not supposed to, I'm blocked, but as some seems to be unable to find information by themselves...

I'm supposed to be playing guessing games with alternate capitalizations in order to try to find an article that you could have linked to correctly in the first place if you were less careless? Dtobias 17:55, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

my previous comment about "some being unable to find information by themselves" wasn't referring to you, Dtobias, unless you are multiple, I don't know why you took it for you. it was referring to people I don't know, don't know where to find hence can't speak with, who are responsible for not respecting the principle of least surprise hence making this interlink appears blue and not red as it should hence preventing me from knowing that my link was leading to a no-content page, that I know would have fixed this problem if they knew about the problem hence are unable to find information by themselves which I condensed in "some seems to be unable to find information by themselves as it was a lot shorter and is not the matter discussed here in the first place. I'm not the person who wrote this article or named it, I do respect the principle of least surprise when I create articles (or should I say I did whan I created), and I expect others to do so. I didn't know about this capitalization problem. When I learned about it, I fixed it (although I'm multi-blocked), is it what you call being careless ? To answer your personal attack, If you were not careless yourself in the first place (takes about 4 seconds to copy-paste-search) , you would have found the article by yourself and could have fixed the redirection, and instead of thanking me for doing your job, you turn me down. happily there will be no next time, this time. I quit already.

Some clarifications about Anthere's report

Anthere distorts the chronology of Izwalito's story. At first, he was a regular contributor writing fine articles on video games for a few weeks. Then, he had an argument with one sysop which generated volumes of heated discussion. Concurrently or little afterwards, he started discussing policies on the Bistro (=VP) and elsewhere. He also began translating meta pages from en: and meta: to fr:. Two of these still remain: fr:Wikipédia:Vandalisme and fr:Wikipédia:Pas d'attaques personnelles. These pages were clearly marked as translations and in need of discussion before being considered rules.

The real problems arose when Izwalito tried to move a section between two pages. villy made a rollback, a short edit war ensued where Alvaro (another sysop) rolled back Izwalito as well while threatening to block him and then doing so. The following day, after Izwalito was unblocked, Alvaro reverted several valid contributions and deleted some newly created pages. A few days later, Izwalito reinstated one of his reverted contributions on the Bistro with what could be understood as an insulting edit comment, except that the actual insults were replaced by "******". He was then blocked for "insults". The following day, he got into an argument with Floreal, who made personal attacks against him (background note: before and after this, she's made several abusive comments on various users). He responded by an edit which was felt outrageous by a clear majority and was blocked for this for a week. This block has since been extended and is still enforced for reasons stated above.

I don't know who I'm writing this for, but I hope readers will get a clearer view of the events leading to the current situation. _R_ 04:20, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) (fr:Utilisateur:R)

• Pfff... R... It wasn't an edit war ! And sorry, Jimbo, for your talk page ;D Alvaro 18:43, 2005 Mar 25 (UTC) (fr:Utilisateur:Alvaro)

I think R report is relevant, but not incompatible with my report. R, the issue is not really about why Iz was blocked repeatedly. The issue ultimately is about Iz making legal threats to us. I indicated that I was not very much aware of all the troubles before the legal threats, but I trust the people who took care of it for the decisions they took. I only joined the issue when Iz decided to go legal. Your indications on what occurred before are very precious though as they provide another perspective. Anthere 19:47, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The point not to forget here is that I didn't go legal, but I m banned from all wikimedia projects no matter what, for bad behaviour. I only said I would go legal and I've been very clear about the reason: if no one wants to listen to me about the weaknesses I've found in the french wiki, I had no other choice than to draw attention on those, which I did. Banned means everything anonymous that could be related in any way with something I could have said is deleted, reverted, removed from the fr:wiki, the funny part is that stuff I've added from IP is still there and stuff from friends of mine or other people I don't know has been removed. I've been watching the block logs and I noticed that people are being blocked because they are supposed to be me. I've shown how to use public proxies to edit when you're blocked, so now fr:wiki is blocking public proxies, and at least one regular user is complaining about not being able to contribute anymore. Ever heard of "the most secured door is the one you can let fully open ?". Amazing among all, the GDL has become a copyright on the fr:wiki. I guess Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure? doesn't ring a bell for them. I don't know why I still care, could it be because they don't ? There are times and places where knowing what others don't and trying to share it with them is a severely punished crime, same goes for being different, thinking different, not sure an encyclopaedia is supposed ot be that kind of place though. User:Izwalito

A Question

Do you know where I can find a List of countries by size of military?

Answering questions like this one isn't Jimbo's main job around here. I'm copying your query to Misplaced Pages:Reference desk#Armed forces, where you have a better chance that someone will tackle it. JamesMLane 05:10, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Help Misplaced Pages fr

Misplaced Pages fr has a big problem with the freedom of religion. I wrote several articles on different religious movements. I got harsh response by multiple reverts. There is no discussion only reverts and blocking of the pages after an edit war of reverts. Specially dfficult are teh pages about Science chrétienne=Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy

my user name in fr.wikipedia.org is Friends--80.135.92.217 10:58, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

France seems to have a problem with an outbreak of secularism amongst its political leaders. But rather than being simply 'secular' i.e. non-religious, it is actually being manifest in a way that demonstrates antipathy towards religion. This is very interesting because, whilst it is all done in the name of unity, it seems to go against the constitution of the country, i.e. liberty, fraternity and equality. I am not going to cite any examples, for fear of reprisals and increased suppression of religious freedom.

However, in contrast with the slant towards 'uniformity' under the guise of secularism, France itself is full of diverse cultures. The people of France welcome and celebrate diversity and freedom in many forms, from art to music, from sport to opinions and attitudes. French people are kind, loving and generous, and yes, they also have many religious holidays that are recognised by the state. So what is the next step? Banning of religious holidays because they are manifestations of religious differences which only divide? So... rather than being neutral administrators, secularists are forming their own religion, the religion of the state.

Perhaps this a possible explanation for the problems you have been experiencing. Regards (anon) 217.205.243.240 15:16, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

don't make confusion between fr:wiki (wiki francophone) and french wiki (wiki français). fr:wiki does not rely only on France but on any place speaking french (such as Canada, Belgium, ...). However your analysis of France going against its own principles is quite true, and it is quite true too that fr:wiki goes against wikipedia principles (I m Izwalito from the previous msg), but I also noticed that USA are going against their own constitution for quite a time (France is kinda following the american way), and others countries as well. WTF is going wrong with the world ? Anyways back to the subject, the example given by friends is not isolated on the fr:wiki, what to do when you are facing this religion of state as a single contributor ? and what is left to do when the head of state says he's not available and gives his blind trust to state ?

Friends is clearly a POV-pusher. His harsh treatment has a lot more to do with this than with issues of religious freedom. _R_ 04:23, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Maybe. When he said "Misplaced Pages fr has a big problem with the freedom of religion.", I thought he was talking about freedom of religion! How stupid of me! However, maybe you're right, or also right! User:217.205.243.240 217.205.244.105 14:28, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

All I can say is: look at the articles' history and talk pages and see for yourself. _R_ 15:35, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Autofellatio

hello Jimbo. If you can be bothered, please make a statement on Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Invalid_VFD, I think that the kind of "Jimbo said"-exegesis we are caught in is rather silly, and it seems your opinion on the case would be appreciated. It's about the infamous Image:Autofellatio.jpg again, which is doing another round on WP:IfD. dab (ᛏ) 09:17, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

An issue in a other-language Misplaced Pages

Hi. Another user suggested that I brought this issue regarding the Image Use Policy in the Portuguese Language Misplaced Pages to your attention. I had posted a comment on the Village Pump in order to get some advice on whether I actually had a point and, if so, about how to proceed. Would you mind reading my post on the issue and giving me your opinion? Thanks, Redux 18:40, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

3RR policy problems

Jimbo, I sent this to you by email to your bomis address, but I don't know that you ever received this. I understand the problems that revert wars were causing, but I feel the remeedy has gotten out of hand, breaking long standing principles of the way we deal with potential problems users and the enthusiasm with which Wikipolice are blocking long-term editors. I posted the following on the 3RR policy page (and was almost instantly reverted by Tony Sidaway), which I believe is good guidance in approaching the policy, rather than a redefinition of the policy. I would be grateful if you would consider this and hopefully render an opinion.

My firm belief is that every admin must be ready to explain a policy action, and not block and walk away.

Admin responsibility

Admins applying the policy should be mindful of the origin of the three-revert rule. It was created not to punish editors or choose sides in an article dispute, but to discourage edit warring where a handful of editors reverted continuously until an outside admin stopped them.

Since the use of a block in the 3RR is at admin's discretion, before an admin blocks a user, always consider:

1. Did you make any attempt to engage the edit warriors?
2. If the revert war is moving too quickly to engage the editors, did you protect the article long enough to attempt to engage the warriors?
3. If one side in the edit war is defiant or nonresponsive, have you placed an appropriate warning on his/her talk page against resuming the edit war and then left sufficient time (say 15-30 minutes) for him/her to read your warning before unprotecting the article?
4. Before considering a block, did you look at the content of the disputed edits to try to determine whether this is potential vandalism or simply a content dispute?
5. If it is a content dispute, ask each side to justify its position to help determine lack of good faith, which is otherwise assumed.
6. Do you stand ready to mediate the dispute if asked to do so by any of the parties?
7. Remember: it takes at least two editors to edit war. Make certain you understand the consequences to Misplaced Pages and community cohesion and Wikilove before blocking one side in an ungoing dispute.'

Cheers, Cecropia | explains it all ® 19:51, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you, Mr. Wales. That's all I've got to say. :) IKato 23:30, Mar 23, 2005 (UTC)

Hey!

Mr. Wales, open all adminship. Mr. Wales, tear down this wiki!

- 68.72.121.36 23:52, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"File names must be at least three letters."

Hello,

I tried four times to upload a photo for an article ("D. A. Pennebaker CU.jpg" for, you guessed it, D.A. Pennebaker), but I kept getting the error "File names must be at least three letters." Well. The file name contains enough letters; I tried removing the underscores in favor of spaces; I tried moving the file off my H:/ drive (which has been a bit flaky), and it's only now--in writing this--that I realized the problem.

The software mistook the first period in the filename as the end of the filename, so it thought that the filename was simply "D".

Huh. That error message was more frustrating than helpful. But, by the same token, I don't know how often people try to upload photos named after someone who goes by initials.  :-) Koyaanis Qatsi 14:40, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You might want to visit MediaZilla and file this bug. Unless Jimbo has taken up developing, this is a bit outside the range of his normal functions. :-) Bugs may also be reported to the developers live on the #mediawiki IRC channel, but they're seriously overworked, so this should be reserved for BUGS. JRM 18:08, 2005 Mar 24 (UTC)

Done, thanks.... I had no idea we had our own bug report system now. Koyaanis Qatsi

Uichipedìa

Hello Jimbo,

this is to inform you that after the rejection of the proposal to rename the italian Misplaced Pages to "Vicipedia" because the letters "W" and "K" don't exist in the italian alphabet, it was decided by a large majority to rename it to "Uichipedìa" (as a transliteration of the english pronunciation, but with an accent on the last "I", in analogy to the pronunciation of the italian word "enciclopedia") and, for consistency, to rename its founder to "Gimbo Uèils".

OK, just kidding, we aren't renaming anything. --it:Utente:Leonard Vertighel 84.56.111.105 14:03, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Symbols of Misplaced Pages

Dear Benevolent Dictator,

Misplaced Pages, as a nation, would need the following symbols.

• Flag
• Coat of Arms

Sincerely,

68.72.125.15

Hamburg in June

Hi Jimbo,

is there any chance you could be a guest at the 6th Hamburg-Meetup on June 1? or June 2? Normal attendance is between 15 and 20 people, but I do assume, it could be more people if you come.

greetings from the north sea Zeitgeist 12:40, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

OII Talk Progress

Did someone from the Oxford Internet Institute contact you about a talk in the end? Have you arranged anything?

(If none of this means anything to you, it probably means you never got my e-mail and Angela didn't mention it to you...)

I'd be interested to know if any progress had been made.

Thanks, --cfp 18:57, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Ferrari images

Jimbo: Fabio Castellano of the Ferrari Press Office left a note on my talk page regarding our use of their images and logos in the articles on Ferrari and Scuderia Ferrari. I scaled down the logos and several of the photos to ensure that they comply with fair use guidlines; however, he said he'd communicated with you about placing copyright notices in the caption text each time the image is used. Therefore, I'd like to request clarification before I reply to him: may we make an exception for this case and allow copyright notices in articles, or should the image description pages (which all contain adequate copyright information) be sufficient? Regards User:Rdsmith4/Sig 21:23, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Please help identify User:KingOfAllPaperboys

Jimbo, I am reposting here, because I didn't get a response from yesterday's posting on the Developer's talk page. A page that I hoped would serve in lieu of a developers notice board. Please assist because the data is perishable. Although, I speculate on possible identities below, I have no conclusive evidence. Your directing this for assistance before the data is lost will be appreciated. Here is the site for the original request -- thanx --Silverback 22:37, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Developers, I don't see a notice board so I am trying this page. Please help us identify User:KingOfAllPaperboys. He got blocked the evening of the 25th for harassing User:Netoholic, but a review of his history leads me to believe that he is the sockpuppet of an administrator. The user was created in december 2004, and after about 4 edits over two months on Feb. 10th there was a burst of activity helping to fight a vandal attack, on pages he'd never visited before, and he fought it like a professional. Therefore it looks like he is the alter ego of an admin. After very little activity for another month or so, suddenly he shows up harassing User:Netoholic who has made himself unpopular recently, especially among the admins with revert wars over templates and policies. However, that is no excuse for an admin to have a sockpuppet and misbehavior. I think there should be zero tolerance for such behavior and immediate revocation of admin status. But identifying the culprit requires developer assistance. I have tried to track it down via contribution histories and have three candidates User:172, User:Snowspinner and User:Itai, who each had the motive and some significant but not conclusive gaps that coincide with KingOfAllPaperboys activity.

Please assist in identifying this abuser of the community before the IP trail grows cold. He may be sophisticated so make sure he didn't come in under a separate IP, during the 24 hours KingOfAllPaperboys was blocked.

Please let me know ASAP if I have managed to reach anybody in this manner. Otherwise, I think my best hope to would be to try Jimbo's talk page, but I don't want to bother him unnecessarily.

                         -- thanx,
                             User:Silverback

Bad news from wikipedia Germany

Hi Jimmy ,

if you should have a little spare time and a translation-tool u might try this link :

http://www.blog.de/main/index.php?blog=357&title=wikipedia&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

or this

http://fr.wikipedia.org/Discussion_Utilisateur:Thomas7

or this :

http://www.vrs-ev.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=586

( especially : http://www.vrs-ev.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3386#3386 )

you might also google "Opa Skriptor" (which will provide all this links and a lot more)

All these disgusting happenings seem to be a possible foreplay for a coming fork.

They will take you directly into the heart of wikipedia.de

( and what these people have made out of your great idea )

Currently they have gathered to kick out a guy ,

who has dared to opposite the "Politbüro" of old sad times.

Look here :

http://de.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Benutzersperrung/Manfred_Riebe

Be happy , that you speak no german.

Hoping you are more pleased of the other wikipedias

Greetings

Mutter Erde 23:06, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

@Jimbo Wales

Hi, please don´t waste your time with this special operative bullshit created by an user, who is banned (infinite) in the german wikipedia in cause of his troll behavior and spam-messages like this.

yep, mutter erde is in fact a troll. He became a troll after having been punished by sysops because of a bagatelle. We anticipate a lot of more trolls soon to come :-( 217.64.171.188

CU

--Herrick 09:45, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC) (Admin de:WP)

• Ooops , Mr.Herrick is here.

Let´s have a look what he´s doing with his Admin-tool.

http://de.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Benutzer_Diskussion:Skriptor&oldid=4967142#Der_Wikipedia_-_Ignorantenstadl

( = Contributions to a virtual memorial of shame , part 4 )

or :

http://www.vrs-ev.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3419#3419 ( Sorry ,probably hacked in the meantime !MutterErde 11:20, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC) )

( Only two new examples. Many more if you are interested )

Greetings

MutterErde

11:44, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Please note: most of the stuff MutterErde wrote is - in fact - nagging and grouchiness. But on the other hand there are some really quite unpleasant occurrences like - please really have a look: http://de.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Benutzersperrung/Quellnymphe

Hope I didn't give offence 217.64.171.188

@ 217 ....

Thank you for improving my bad english.

BUT:

• you´ll find my german user-site here:

http://de.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Benutzer_Diskussion:Mutter_Erde&oldid=3251883 ( How many fakers do you count  ? ;-) )

• you´ll find my french user-site here:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/Utilisateur:MutterErde

@ Jimmy Wales:

Sorry , but the wikipedia-thread on the VRS-Board was hacked and is probably gone.

But we have started a new collection of wikipedia.de - scandals here:

http://www.vrs-ev.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749

Or google "Opa Skriptor"

Greetings

MutterErde 11:20, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Bad news? - Sad news!

Sad to say: a new form of wikistapo-terror occured: mixing up users with banned users and claiming, newbies to be sockpuppets of banned users. O my god, I really could vomit. Come and see: http://de.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Benutzer_Diskussion:Hadhuey&action=edit&section=27 172.183.233.52 which should be 172.Amaryllis

Post scriptum: havent got the faintest idea how to proof I'm not not that Qellmymphe mentioned by sysop unscheinbar? Do you? 172.183.233.52 Please note also: I really do use a f..ing AOL-Account - maybee that's the reason for Unscheinbars misbehavior ...

• Ooops , a guy named "Unscheinbar" was on Jimbos german site

http://de.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Benutzer_Diskussion:Jimbo_Wales&action=history

What he has done there ? Strange ..............

MutterErde 20:38, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Your photo : FPC

Hello,

Just to inform you that a current Featured picture candidate on Commons is a photo of Jimbo Wales!

Pabix ܀. 19:03, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

A formal, official response to pro-elitism-blah?

Jimbo, would you please issue a formal, official response to the negative discussion about Misplaced Pages's process. For example, Why Misplaced Pages Must Jettison Its Anti-Elitism. Thank you. Adraeus 05:59, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

he did. --Alterego 06:15, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

That's more of an informal RTFM response which doesn't counter Larry Sanger's criticism — Jimbo's response merely says Larry is wrong. Adraeus 16:06, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

there is no reason to be formal....and honestly how often have you seen Jimbo be formal, or anything around here be formal lol? everything is impromptu and many feel it is best to let Sanger discredit himself as an epistemologist who has a lot to learn. he hasn't made a single friend by doing what he's done and it has tarnished his reputation. that's a big deal for an academic in the job market. just keep editing and the encyclo will prove itself IMHO --Alterego 20:25, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Larry Sanger's rep at K5 seems to be doing just dandy. Adraeus 20:28, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

He explained that he made that post in the first place because he was in fear for his reputation and he was in the academic job market - a bad combination. Well, as Misplaced Pages becomes more successful his reputation will become worse and worse as his criticisms are drowned out by the encyclopedia's success. That's what I meant. --Alterego 23:26, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Who's "he"? By the way, read this thread. It turns into a pseudo-discussion with a staff-troll about Misplaced Pages. Adraeus 06:42, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Proposed hardware order

Quick overview of items at m:Hardware ordered March 2005. Expect we'll refine it further over the next day or two. The PDUs and 400GB hard drives for the current database servers can be ordered safely enough - didn't seem controversy around them. I won't be around as much as usual for the next 4 weeks or so - changing country. Expect will want more things once we know the results of some of the tests dsicussed there. Jamesday 11:45, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

New Perk for Misplaced Pages Administrators and Bureaucrats

Word has been received that, as of tomorrow, all Misplaced Pages administrators and bureaucrats have been added to the Line of Succession to the throne of The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, which also results (through treaty) with a role as the titular monarch for the democratic island nation of San Serriffe. I wanted to be among the first to thank you for the new perk. Mark in Richmond. Vaoverland 22:24, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Arbitration Committee case opening

The case against you has been accepted by the Arbitration Committee. Please bring evidence to Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Jimbo Wales/Evidence. Thank you. → JarlaxleArtemis 01:15, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Aw, poor Jimmy. I hope he doesn't get banned. (Actually, I hope you don't get banned for proposing that case.) Adraeus 06:43, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I didn't propose that case. I just created the two pages. (It was April Fool's Day.) → JarlaxleArtemis 03:28, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)

Versión Española

On another note, why is the user page Spanish? --Ghost Freeman 11:57, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Because it's Jimbo's native language. JRM 12:45, 2005 Apr 1 (UTC)

I don't believe it is. This is English wikipedia, and for the sake of inclusiveness I have reverted it to English. Vaya pues, --SqueakBox 14:51, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Jimbo speaks Spanish whever he becomes Supercow! "¡Supercow al rescate!" -- Toytoy 14:57, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Ya te entiendo, pero bueno nadie mas lo comprende, o casi nadie, y así es mejor quedarse con la versión en ingles. Another April Fools joke? Pardon my bad Spanish, --SqueakBox 15:21, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Jimbo, don't do that!

Jimbo:

Thanks for your dedication to Wikipædia. This website is not just an encyclopedia; it is about the love to knowledge and truth. I am sorry that Misplaced Pages does not make you rich. You earned my thanks. I just want to tell you this: Don't do that! You really don't want to become a Bomis Babe.

I don't know what you're thinking about. But you can never make any money by using yourself to replace Katja Kassin or Brandi Lyons. I hate to see you being so desperate. But when I was told that you're going to be in the hardcore section of the BabeEngine, I found myself weeping.

Don't do that, Jimbo. You don't have that body. If you need money, send your résumé to Britannica. -- Toytoy 14:25, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Jimmy is already "independently wealthy". See Jimmy Wales. Adraeus 21:31, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

IRC

Thank you very much for the IRC chat, it made a big difference to me. --Bishonen|Talk 19:23, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Angela Beesley

Hi Jimbo! I know you're busy, but this is an emergency of sorts. User:Angela is trying to get her own biographical article nuked from Misplaced Pages - she considers herself too "non-notable" and has listed the article on RFD. I don't agree, and I'm sure you won't either, so would you perhaps consider having a quiet talk to tell her how notable, important, and exceptional she is. I know she'll listen to you:-)David Cannon 00:56, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Revert war over sisterproject termplates

netoholic has been repeatedly reverting the sisterproject templates using Misplaced Pages:Avoid using meta-templates (which he mainly wrote) as justification. I understand the issues that meta-templates can cause but i can't see that a revert war over such a popular template is a good thing either. imo this is an issue that needs to be decided by the board and the developers/database admins and then the descision they make needs to be communicated to all wikis. Plugwash 13:34, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've put together the page, and used it as justification, based on User:Jamesday's very good description of the technical reasons behind inefficient template use. See Misplaced Pages talk:Avoid using meta-templates for his comments. To be honest, I can't see how reverting someone in order to dramatically save on server resources is a bad thing, when that other user hasn't given an even minimally compelling reason for his view. -- Netoholic @ 16:20, 2005 Apr 7 (UTC)

Your past vote supporting Misplaced Pages:Ignore all rules

--> moved to Misplaced Pages talk:Ignore all rules by The Uninvited Co., Inc.

Mobocracy?

Hello Jimmy. I understand that Misplaced Pages is guided by discussions, and many of it are done by polling. Quite a lot of titles and contents were decided by such polls. I am interested to know your opinion towards such headcounts. Very often the people who cast the votes do not really understand the issue, but they cast their votes, and the votes count and are counted. IMHO this contradicts to the true meaning of Misplaced Pages, and it exists, and carries on. If this can't be stopped and reversed Misplaced Pages will never be a real encyclopedia that is respectable and trustful. — Instantnood 20:32, Apr 7, 2005 (UTC)

What Instantnood means is, can he ignore the majority view that we should refer to Taiwan in article names, or should all the references be changed to "ROC". He has been trying to do this, annoying a lot of people by his continued persistence, for a number of weeks now, jguk 21:07, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I am not specificly talking about the Taiwan vs. ROC issue, but my general opinion for the discussions and polls across Misplaced Pages. — Instantnood 06:32, Apr 8, 2005 (UTC)

Mobocracy, meritocracy, blahocracy... Bleh! Simply put: Misplaced Pages is a Wikiocracy. Get over it! ;p Adraeus 21:13, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

A personal message on developing issues

I have not directly addressed you before, though I admire the projects you have initiated and to which you have provided your support immensely. You deserve great accolades for your efforts and investments.

I have a few people claiming that my behavior is "deplorable" and should be censured, because I went to the personal trouble of notifying people that a decision that had been made upon an issue that they had voted on, in an overwhelming 88 to 21 vote had almost immediately been nullified by the action of a few others. I subsequently posted the issue to the Village Pump, where my actions were already being complained about, though curiously, my user-identity, and the issue I was involved in notifying people about was in a "discrete" act of "self-censorship" not actually mentioned, though I was absurdly being accused of simply "packing" the votes, by notifying more people of it, rather than letting the attention to the issue remain limited the narrow clique that had already been voting to totally ignore the previous decision on a very similar image. I of course find this somewhat hypocritical, but I am aware there are many shallow minded ideologies of both right and left extremes of the political spectrum where people embrace such blatant hypocrisy as being "on the level".

I have made no disguise of the fact that I consider existing laws against "pornography" to be improper governmental intrusions into individual's private lives. I also am making no disguise of the fact that I consider the posting of explicit photographs of sexual acts and quasi-sexual acts to this project to be an improper imposition of a few individuals of their tastes (or tastelessness) that is a potentially extreme burden to the entire project, and many of those who would like to be involved with it. To use a colloquial term that is well covered by its own article, I consider that any insistence that such photos are in any way "needed" in this project to be pure bullshit and a profoundly asinine obliviousness and indifference to the sensibilities and legal liabilities of most people. You might disagree that the image currently in question merits the same overt denunciation "This image is completely unacceptable for wikipedia -- I don't even consider this borderline", which you gave the previous one, or feel that the issue of such photos should remain entirely open to further debate, but I am asking for your input on the matter being considered at Misplaced Pages:Images and media for deletion/Autofellatio 2.which I have also made mentioned of in a larger context at the Village Pump. ~ Achilles † 22:05, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

re: something you wrote

... (speechless)

Kim Bruning 13:54, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Got my tongue (and fingers) back. Thank you very much for your message! :-)

I see you've talked with Jirate? He's managed to get several people rather angry it looks like, but hopefully there's still something that can be done.

*cross fingers*