User talk:Aza24/Archive 8

Internet Archive links
Hi @Aza24. Your work on Euclid is great, thanks. The Wayback Machine (and Internet Archive more generally) is also a wonderful resource, one of the best things on the internet. However, it is in my opinion effectively spam (i.e. unhelpful to readers and unwarranted marketing for an unrelated service) to put an IA backup of every URL on Wikipedia, including living links, and it seems particularly spammy to include a large number of links to pages where the IA backup doesn't actually include the content of the page. It's more than sufficient for Wikipedia authors to tell the IA to back up every page linked from Wikipedia articles, but leave the Wikipedia page per se alone, only explicitly adding archive links to address actual or likely link rot.

The problem I have with such IA links is similar to my problem with S2CID spam added by Citation Bot, which nobody really ever seems to defend when it's challenged bu also nobody is willing to remove site-wide. I haven't had the enough interest/energy/time to try to make a site-wide RFC about either Internet Archive spam or S2CID spam, but I try to push back on it locally on individual pages.

I find it distasteful for other websites, even if they happen to be non-profits with publicly beneficial missions, to abuse Wikipedia for their own self promotion, and to be honest I think there should be some requirement to get large-scale consensus from Wikipedians before external organizations should be able to do this kind of large-scale spamming, instead of just going ahead with it and hoping nobody complains.

All the best, –jacobolus (t) 23:52, 12 March 2024 (UTC)


 * @Jacobolus, I get it, and I apologize if my comment appeared to be fishing for recognition. My revert (and explanation) was more related to hasty actions amid a stressful day IRL (hence my revert on your page).
 * WP is full of useless things that have become standard, and I see this fits that bill. Other candidates are the page views template on every talk page (barely usable, take up space, much better tools available), links to EB 1916 in every external links section, portals in general, etc.  Aza24  (talk)   23:58, 12 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I try to clean up article talk pages when I can, including removing the broken page views templates. E.g. I also try to replace american english banners on talk pages with invisible use american english banners in article pages to reduce visual clutter, set the 'wikiproject shell' to collapsed state, consolidate talk page "milestones" in ArticleHistory, set up archiving of very old discussions, and take out redundant archive search boxes when there are 2 of them. I wish we had a somewhat more compact top banner than talk page header to put on talk pages; at least it's possible to use my own user CSS to hide the various welcome messages portions of it, leaving the archive search. I think I have sometimes compared articles with the EB1916 version and where there's no remaining text from the EB taken it out, but I might be misremembering there; most of the articles I look at weren't started from old EB. I have definitely sometimes removed mergedfrom templates after finding no remaining text from a long-ago merger, but I wish this could be one of the possible "milestones" instead, where people curious about the page history could see it.
 * Aside: It would be great if the ArticleHistory template could include custom / free-form entries. I'd love to see milestones along the lines of "Aug–Sep 2022, Aza24 does a substantial cleanup/rewrite" on Euclid, and not only items conforming to specific bureaucratic processes. Oh well. –jacobolus (t) 00:38, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
 * We used to have a bot that cleaned up talk pages, but that was at least half a decade ago (before my WP time, but maybe you remember it?). There was something of a movement a year or two ago to clean up talk pages a little—Combining class rating & wikiprojects, as well as archive notices & talk headers came out of it. Unfortunately the autocollapse for WikiProjects was rejected at TFD. More nuance to article-history templates would be great, I agree. I'm glad WP:GOCE has their own template, though I rarely see people actually add it!
 * I know that EB-based articles (I think I meant 1911, not 1916, but same effect) are a complex issue with quite a bit of history. What I'm really referring to is that many people add uncited external links which say "EB 1911 has an article on so-and-so", which is perhaps the worst place a reader could be sent to. An 100 year, outdated source that probably just duplicates existing article content!  Aza24  (talk)   19:59, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I don't at all mind people adding links to old encyclopedias on e.g. biographies of obscure 18th century English people. On topics of ongoing scholarly interest they're usually not very helpful. –jacobolus (t) 20:02, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
 * (Aside: Citation bot will hopefully no longer be doing so much S2CID spam, . I might get motivated sometime to go pester the internet archive people about the IA bot.) –jacobolus (t) 15:06, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

February music
Today I am happy about a singer on the Main page (at least for the first hours), after TFA the same day last year. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:38, 7 February 2024 (UTC)
 * He played all three? Geez, he must have had some tea to help voice afterwards.  Aza24  (talk)   22:19, 10 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Probably he didn't, and died, - sad story. Some day we should do something about the 2017 ref-tag for Tristan und Isolde. - When I made today's story I was sure Alfred Grosser would appear on RD today, which may happen or not but I go to bed. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 23:24, 10 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, I actually spoke to DanCherek about bringing the Tristan to GA at some point. Will ponder further!  Aza24  (talk)   23:58, 10 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Sounds good. - Thanks to Seiji Ozawa. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:38, 12 February 2024 (UTC)
 * The image, taken on a cemetery last year after the funeral of a distant but dear family member, commemorates today, with thanks for their achievements, four subjects mentioned on the Main page and Vami_IV, a friend here. Listen to music by Tchaikovsky (an article where one of the four is pictured), sung by today's subject (whose performance on stage I enjoyed two days ago). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:41, 20 February 2024 (UTC)
 * more music and flowers on Rossini's rare birthday --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:56, 29 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Rip to Ozawa, Vami... and now Pollini! Gah... too many gone too soon.  Aza24  (talk)   03:01, 24 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Seriously. That one got to me (Pollini). Such a versatile musician, and so expressive. I was just now listening to him play - Stockhausen. Antandrus (talk) 03:22, 24 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I'm listening to his Brahms 2 (the last movement) right now. Not even the rep he was known for, but yet magnificent. And so sensative!! Ironic how easy comparisons with Michelangeli are in this regard—perhaps the only two famous recent Italian pianists (I will run if someone mentions Einaudi).  Aza24  (talk)   04:45, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

Signups open for The Core Contest 2024
The Core Contest—Wikipedia's most exciting contest—returns again this year from April 15 to May 31. The goal: to improve vital or other core articles, with a focus on those in the worst state of disrepair. Editing can be done individually, but in the past groups have also successfully competed. There is GB£300 of prize money divided among editors who provide the "best additive encyclopedic value". Signups are open now. Cheers from the judges, Femke, Casliber, Aza24. –  Aza24  (talk)   02:20, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

If you wish to start or stop receiving news about The Core Contest, please add or remove yourself from the delivery list.

GT promotion bot issue
Hi Aza24! I noticed that this GT promotion with 's bot didn't seem to work (although I can't work out why)—apologies if either of you knew this already and were working on it. — Bilorv ( talk ) 18:16, 17 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Yeah, I hadn't noticed the second time. I'm not sure what's wrong either, if Novem isn't sure I may just do a manual promotion in the mean time.  Aza24  (talk)   19:27, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Bilorv sorry for the delay. I ended up manually promoting it pending bot investigation (the bot struck on a second article!)  Aza24  (talk)   05:19, 24 March 2024 (UTC)
 * This is the fix if this happens in the future. The bot looks for a certain pattern, and having numbers missing from the pattern confuses it. – Novem Linguae (talk) 02:52, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery FAC
Hi, I am looking for reviewers of this FAC, which has been struggling to attract attention, and I want to make sure it stays afloat. Any chance of some assistance? Regards, Amitchell125 (talk) 21:26, 28 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Hi @Amitchell125, nice to hear from you. I'm happy to take a look but it may be later this week. I've left a comment on the review page so the coords now I'm planning to take a look. Best –  Aza24  (talk)   04:03, 1 April 2024 (UTC)

March music
in memory of the birthday of a friend who showed me art such as this -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:49, 7 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Cool pieces! Love the Hildegard statue. Gerda, have you ever sang anything by Frank Martin in any of your many choirs?  Aza24  (talk)   02:39, 8 March 2024 (UTC)
 * No, regarded as too difficult. Pepping, Britten The Company of Heaven, Nystedt, Sandström ... but not Martin. Le Vin herbé seen. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:16, 8 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Gotcha. My choir did Martin recently, but only a single movement from his mass. That movement alone was quite tricky! I can't imagine doing the whole thing (but would love to one day)  Aza24  (talk)   03:54, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Good for you! - va pensiero --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:00, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Rossini's Petite messe solennelle was premiered on 14 March 1864, - when I listen to the desolate Agnus Dei I think of Vami_IV. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:08, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Vacation pics uploaded, at least the first day, - and Aribert Reimann remembered who knew voices. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:39, 20 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Next day, around Porto da Cruz, on Bach's birthday --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:56, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Some days later, a calf in the mist and chocolate cake, and a story of collaboration --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:11, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I listen to Bach's St John Passion today, - 300 years after it was first performed. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:41, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Two days later in time, early Bach music for Easter! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:46, 31 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I have been obsessively listening to the opening of Bach's St. Matthew Passion recently. So sublime!  Aza24  (talk)   04:01, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Agree. What do you think of the opening of BWV 66, my story today, with a link to YouTube? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:00, 1 April 2024 (UTC)