User talk:The Rambling Man: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 20:48, 18 June 2018 editThe Rambling Man (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, IP block exemptions, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers, Template editors286,429 edits →Request: let's go and improve some articles like we usually do around here, right..........?← Previous edit		Revision as of 20:51, 18 June 2018 edit undoThe Rambling Man (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, IP block exemptions, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers, Template editors286,429 edits →Request: addNext edit →
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	:::Excuse me for being direct, but since when the fuck can an admin threaten to take a minion to Arbcom with impunity yet a minion be given all these "friendly warnings" when he's giving the lords and masters an opportunity to change their ways before the ceiling crashes down around them? After all, I seem to recall I have a very high hit rate with admins who I have advised that are going down the wrong path in the past, and this is no exception. If the self-appointed "DYK admin" apologises and promises not to repeat them then we have no problem. But, of course, I won't be holding my breath. In the meantime, I suggest this "warn TRM to be nice" stick is dropped and we all go back to ''trying'' to improve Misplaced Pages. ] (]) 20:32, 18 June 2018 (UTC)		:::Excuse me for being direct, but since when the fuck can an admin threaten to take a minion to Arbcom with impunity yet a minion be given all these "friendly warnings" when he's giving the lords and masters an opportunity to change their ways before the ceiling crashes down around them? After all, I seem to recall I have a very high hit rate with admins who I have advised that are going down the wrong path in the past, and this is no exception. If the self-appointed "DYK admin" apologises and promises not to repeat them then we have no problem. But, of course, I won't be holding my breath. In the meantime, I suggest this "warn TRM to be nice" stick is dropped and we all go back to ''trying'' to improve Misplaced Pages. ] (]) 20:32, 18 June 2018 (UTC)
	::::If I’m not mistaken, Gatoclass was rather firmly trouted at the time of that threat, which was half a year ago, I think. I would similarly tell him to chill it with the threats if he developed a pattern of using them. Anyway, I’ve said my piece and hope you take it under advisement. Cheers. ~ ]<sup style="margin-left:-1.0ex;">]</sup> 20:45, 18 June 2018 (UTC)		::::If I’m not mistaken, Gatoclass was rather firmly trouted at the time of that threat, which was half a year ago, I think. I would similarly tell him to chill it with the threats if he developed a pattern of using them. Anyway, I’ve said my piece and hope you take it under advisement. Cheers. ~ ]<sup style="margin-left:-1.0ex;">]</sup> 20:45, 18 June 2018 (UTC)
	:::::I don't even know what that means. Are you here to passive-aggressive threaten me with some kind of Arbcom sanction for requesting yet another admin to stop abusing his position? Are you giving said admin some advice on not abusing his position, you know, "under advisement"? Why don't all three of us get back to improving some articles......... ] (]) 20:48, 18 June 2018 (UTC)		:::::I don't even know what that means. Are you here to passive-aggressive threaten me with some kind of Arbcom sanction for requesting yet another admin to stop abusing his position? Are you giving said admin some advice on not abusing his position, you know, "under advisement"? Gatoclass was only trouted because another, responsible and helpful admin actively had to take him to ANI where he ''should'' have been taken all the way to be deysopped. But swerved that one, and now you mysteriously appear from nowhere (indicative of yet more off-wiki shenanigans from Arbcom for no good reason) to pass off this threat? Was there some kind of policy breach I was unaware of? It certainly doesn't breach any sanction against me? Why don't all three of us get back to improving some articles......... ] (]) 20:48, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Revision as of 20:51, 18 June 2018

Days since an error-free queue: 2395

What TRM is mainly doing these days

Primary

The strongest featured list contributor (105) in the history of the project. Woot!
Featured articles: 18
Featured topics: 3
Good articles: ~165 (if anyone can pin this down, much appreciated)

Locked and loaded

Misplaced Pages:Featured list candidates/List of international goals scored by Robin van Persie/archive1

Good to go

The cupboard is bare.

Ongoing

"thoughts and prayers"

593?!! Pizzas on me!
hook style - decision made
"2 or 3 school shootings a year on ITN is not too many.", "But, double digits might be enough to warrant posting. That would reduce us to only two or three American school shootings in ITN a year."... I sometimes struggle to understand if this is real.

"Support. Certainly more notable than snooker or canoe races. Gamaliel (talk) 02:09, 30 May 2018 (UTC)" (Who nominated the snooker? Who nominated the Boat Race(s)?)
"Posted, now that a prose summary of the match has been added per TRM. I've added this to the men's blurb, as per the suggestions above, modeling it off the blurb for 2017's Boat Race. ... Ed 02:45, 30 May 2018 (UTC)" (TRM didn't change his oppose position, and funny how we're using a TRM nomination here to "model it off").

TFL notification

Hi, TRM. I've scheduled List of Red Bull Air Race World Championship winners to appear as Today's featured list on June 22. The blurb is here for your tweaking pleasure. Cheers. Giants2008 (Talk) 20:19, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Umm....

Re this edit: ... Was it something I said? Or didn't say? Or just an accidental hit of the rollback button? — Amakuru (talk) 19:22, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

I guess it was an "arse edit", while I was mowing the lawn... sorry! The Rambling Man (talk) 19:41, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

Fishy business

In general I agree with the points you have been raising at Errors. It would be nice if every species had unique features enabling an interesting hook to be written for them. In practice, many of them have been little studied and an interesting specific hook is difficult (the general public is not interested in taxonomy or the number of rays in the dorsal fin of fish). Perhaps you would like to suggest an interesting hook for one or more of the articles Arothron reticularis, Arothron carduus and Arothron multilineatus that I have just created/expanded and one or more of which I will shortly be nominating for DYK? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:38, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Cwmhiraeth I'll take a look, but you have to consider that I'm a strong advocate of "FAILING" DYKs which are junk, and that means if an article doesn't have anything unique to praise at DYK, then FAIL it. The general public may well be more interested in dorsal ray fins above seeing the same junk hook used time and again, you just don't know. And a lot of it is in the phrasing which is woefully poor in recent times at DYK. The Rambling Man (talk) 20:28, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Grenfell Tower fire

I've put the Grenfell Tower fire article in line for an OTD appearance on 14 June. There is precisely one unreferenced paragraph in an article with over 400 refs. I trust this will not prevent an appearance? Mjroots (talk) 19:58, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

I don't know, I just report issues at ERRORS, I don't make any decisions on what does and does not prevent an appearance I'm afraid. Just reference the paragraph in question, shouldn't be that hard. The Rambling Man (talk) 20:14, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

What I meant was that given the size of the article, the one paragraph should not prevent its appearance. Yes, ideally everything should be referenced, but a very minor issue can be allowed to slide. Mjroots (talk) 20:34, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

Well as I said, I simply report issues at it's up to an admin to make the decisions. I would reference the paragraph or remove it, that way there's no problem. Unreferenced material shouldn't be allowed to stand, let alone be featured on the main page, don't you agree? The Rambling Man (talk) 20:57, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

No, I don't agree. It's very much on a case-by-case basis. Articles don't have to be FA quality to appear on the MP. One minor blemish in a very long article should not be a barrier. A very long article with many unreferenced paragraphs would not be of sufficient quality. Have asked on the talk page for this issue to be fixed by the normal editing process, but if it isn't, it should not be a barrier to an appearance. Mjroots (talk) 05:32, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

You don't agree that material in Misplaced Pages should be verifiable using reliable sources? How strange. Just fix the issue and there won't be any problems. You could have done that by now rather than coming here to defend something which is frankly indefensible. The Rambling Man (talk) 06:09, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

That something should be done is not the same as saying it must be done. Still, there's nine days before the anniversary, so it might just get done. The material in question is not within my area of expertise. I'm not able to fix this myself. Mjroots (talk) 07:30, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Who said it "must" be done? I don't know why you started this conversation really. I can't control what admins pull and don't pull, I simply report errors where I see them, and if something is unreferenced and needs to be challenged, that's what I'll do. With the entire resources of the Internet at your disposal, I'm sure you could have fixed the issue by now, or found someone to help you fix it. That would have been time much better spent than this peculiar thread. The Rambling Man (talk) 07:53, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) having seen this rather comical conversation unfold, I decided to go and see if I could fix up the Grenfell Tower fire article myself, which I have now done. It didn't take very long or really require much in the way of expertise, just the usual Wikipedian scouting out of relevant sources. If there's anything I've missed, let me know. — Amakuru (talk) 09:08, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Amakuru. I'm not quite sure why this thread even exists, especially when it's started by one of our more experienced admins. Oh well. The Rambling Man (talk) 09:24, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

You've obviously got people running scared, with your "unreasonable" insistence in WP:ERRORS that articles linked from the main page must adhere to our citation policy, such that they now feel they have to run everything by you first... — Amakuru (talk) 09:35, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Well, that's probably appropriate. I do, after all, own this place... The Rambling Man (talk) 10:01, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

"You mean—my God Holmes!—people are beginning to check the quality of what goes on the main page before it's actually on it?! What can this possible mean?!" —SerialNumber54129 10:06, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

I've been doing it a while now, but most people just get pissy about it and claim it doesn't apply to them or their article or I'm being overly picky or whatever. I can take it. I'm a Jedi. The Rambling Man (talk) 10:13, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Random (talk page stalker) input. Years ago, for the release of Phantom Menace, Walkers crisps had a scratch card promotion to win random junk. A friend of mine got one, and on the card was a panel that said "do not scratch off". He scratched it off and underneath it said "You will never be a Jedi". I can hear his cries of anguish even now. I also had a look at Grenfell after seeing this. It was not immediately clear which paragraph that was being referred to (useful) but I see its been dealt with now. I made a minor deletion of some repeated material and went on my merry way Man Over-bored (talk) 10:50, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

The fact that I hold administrative privileges has nothing to do with it. Unless I'm making an edit which only an admin could make, I'm just another ordinary editor. The object of the exercise was to ensure that there would not be a challenge on the day. Mjroots (talk) 12:03, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

The fact that you're an admin means you should be aware of the basic principles of Misplaced Pages. I thought that was obvious. But it looks like others have done the job you could have done in half the time you've spent here, so all should be good. We'll see I guess. The Rambling Man (talk) 12:13, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, The Rambling Man. You have new messages at Template:Did you know nominations/2018–19 RFU Championship.
Message added 21:26, 4 June 2018 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Narutolovehinata5 21:26, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

WT:FOOTY

urk --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 10:35, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

double urk --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 10:37, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

ODNB

I thought you were in the UK? I used to be able to get access via a library card. In any case OUP kindly dole out the first few sentences for free, which is good for birth dates & less good for death dates. Espresso Addict (talk) 08:15, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Yes, many library services still provide access. Click on the Sign in and then Sign in with your Library Card on the left and put one in. If they're registered then you can. Hint: It's not a validated look-up, so as long as it fits the right pattern you can get in. Janeyferr (talk) 09:41, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Might you be able to do me a favour?

Hi TRM, would you be able to take a quick look at List of Most Played Juke Box Folk Records number ones of 1945 and see what I've done wrong? The title and artist columns in the table simply refuse to sort, and I can't figure out why - it's driving me mad!!! Thanks in advance for any light you can shed! -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 11:22, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

I will do. I took a quick look already and can't see anything obvious, although I agree that it's only sorting by date correctly... The Rambling Man (talk) 11:36, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

ChrisTheDude it's the 60-row-span ref column that seems to be causing the problem. Make it 52 so there aren't 8 invisible rows which has caused the sorting to go to ratshit... The Rambling Man (talk) 11:40, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

Sorted - thanks! -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 11:56, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

No problem. The Rambling Man (talk) 12:01, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Featured list candidates/Bibliography of works on Madonna/archive1

Hi TRM, would you like to take a look at the above nomination? Sorry if you've been busy, in that case feel free to ignore. —IB 08:40, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

Hi, no problem. I'll get to it eventually, I'm working my way up the FLCs and yours is close to the top of my list now! The Rambling Man (talk) 08:42, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

Inglorious graph

Hello. If History_of_Norwich_City_F.C. is going to appear on Main page some day (can but hope), the graph at History_of_Norwich_City_F.C.#Striving_to_reach_the_top_level:_1930–1972 should probably have an inglorious update. No rush, but if you can handle it, I'd appreciate it, thanks. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 13:21, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

On it. The Rambling Man (talk) 13:34, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

Dweller done and replaced in both locations. Sorry for the delay, Commons was playing silly buggers. The Rambling Man (talk) 13:49, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

Hello. Thanks so much. Delay?!? Took you no time at all!! Bet you enjoyed that downward trendline. But is the Canary a Phoenix? With a German accent? --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 14:03, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

Everything is transient. Perhaps an indication of our current optimism that we jettisoned Mick even though we finished two places above the budgies. The Rambling Man (talk) 14:07, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

It really was a crappy season. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from the next, other than it'll probably be without boy wonder. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 07:54, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

Boy wonder? I think you mean Martyn Waghorn. The Rambling Man (talk) 07:57, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

I remember him! Wasn't he the lead singer of ABC? --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 08:02, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

"Everything is transient" - have you been reading Ecclesiastes again? I told you to stop it. It's just futile. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 07:55, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

Next time you think of doing that, remember to turn away from it. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 08:03, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

Copy-editing

Hello, I was wondering if you had a few minutes to copy-edit 2017 Sierra Leone mudslides? The editor reviewing it for GA recommended I ask someone outside the review to give it a second look. As always, your help is greatly appreciated.TheGracefulSlick (talk) 18:45, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

Yeah, no problem at all. Either tonight or tomorrow, I should have some spare time. The Rambling Man (talk) 19:02, 13 June 2018 (UTC)

TheGracefulSlick I've had a quick look at made some small edits. I also found this image which might be suitable for inclusion in the article somewhere? I think it's in very good condition and should just walk GA. Good luck! The Rambling Man (talk) 07:56, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Thank you! I'll comment on the review to see if I can wrap things up, then find a suitable place for the image.TheGracefulSlick (talk) 16:57, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

If there's anything more specific you need any help with, don't hesitate to drop me a line. The Rambling Man (talk) 20:13, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Request

Hi TRM. You've asked me to come to you with concerns rather than go to noticeboards in the past, so let's give that a whirl. I've noticed that you rather frequently threaten others with a case request at ArbCom, most recently as it relates to Gatoclass. I ask that you please refrain from doing so. If you think someone's conduct warrants a case request, you can certainly file one, but repeated threats merely have a chilling effect on contributions. To be clear, I'm asking this as a concerned editor, not an ArbCom member. ~ Rob₁₃ 15:57, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Oh, sorry, you mean the same Gatoclass who threatened to take me to Arbcom? That one? Pull the other one mate, it's got bells on it. The Rambling Man (talk) 20:15, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

*sing* Why cant we be friends, why cant we be friends.... In more seriousness - I for one would prefer it if you *didnt* exit the project due to some overzealous admin less aware of the backstory being less polite than Rob here. No one is asking you to kowtow, but ultimately threats are meaningless unless the outcome is genuinely a possibility. I cant think of any situation where an arbcom case against either you or gatoclass at this point raised by the other party would end up without everyone involved just being told to grow up. In triplicate with fancy arbcom wording, but pretty much that. Be the duck. Do what you do best. Let the petards hoist as they will. But please would you keep the opinions inside. Its much easier to defend someone being treated unfairly if they are not issuing theats. Its not like there are not enough people watching. Only in death does duty end (talk) 20:26, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Excuse me for being direct, but since when the fuck can an admin threaten to take a minion to Arbcom with impunity yet a minion be given all these "friendly warnings" when he's giving the lords and masters an opportunity to change their ways before the ceiling crashes down around them? After all, I seem to recall I have a very high hit rate with admins who I have advised that are going down the wrong path in the past, and this is no exception. If the self-appointed "DYK admin" apologises and promises not to repeat them then we have no problem. But, of course, I won't be holding my breath. In the meantime, I suggest this "warn TRM to be nice" stick is dropped and we all go back to trying to improve Misplaced Pages. The Rambling Man (talk) 20:32, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

If I’m not mistaken, Gatoclass was rather firmly trouted at the time of that threat, which was half a year ago, I think. I would similarly tell him to chill it with the threats if he developed a pattern of using them. Anyway, I’ve said my piece and hope you take it under advisement. Cheers. ~ Rob₁₃ 20:45, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

I don't even know what that means. Are you here to passive-aggressive threaten me with some kind of Arbcom sanction for requesting yet another admin to stop abusing his position? Are you giving said admin some advice on not abusing his position, you know, "under advisement"? Gatoclass was only trouted because another, responsible and helpful admin actively had to take him to ANI where he should have been taken all the way to be deysopped. But swerved that one, and now you mysteriously appear from nowhere (indicative of yet more off-wiki shenanigans from Arbcom for no good reason) to pass off this threat? Was there some kind of policy breach I was unaware of? It certainly doesn't breach any sanction against me? Why don't all three of us get back to improving some articles......... The Rambling Man (talk) 20:48, 18 June 2018 (UTC)