User talk:Durova/Archive 61

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Felbrigge.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 4, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-04.  howcheng  {chat} 22:16, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks again for all your assistance. :) Durova Charge! 01:22, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Iowa and Nebraska lands

 * Thanks again. :) Durova Charge! 06:59, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Yellowing
You are right of course, I was only referring to historical photographs which are archived as negatives. I don't believe yellowing is a problem for that medium, but I could be wrong. Nautica Shad es  22:08, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
 * That's a fair point. Durova Charge! 00:13, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

The Military history WikiProject Newsletter : Issue XXIX (July 2008)
The July 2008 issue of the Military history WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you. This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 01:04, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Here we go again...

 * Whee! Thank you very much. Durova Charge! 07:29, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:MayaLinsubmission.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 6, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-06.  howcheng  {chat} 02:50, 4 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much. :) Durova Charge! 02:57, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

WikiChevrons

 * Thank you very much. :) Durova Charge! 13:48, 4 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Hope you feel better. Get well soon! HG | Talk 04:56, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Robert Byington Mitchell
Hello Durova. I've created many many articles, but I don't know how to download images!

Can you find any image of Robert Byington Mitchell? I created his biography few days ago. And how can I download images? What kind of images can I download? You are an admin on Commons and you've downloaded so many great images. You are probably the most qualified person to my questions. Regards, Masterpiece2000   ( talk ) 10:50, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Great work on the new page! Thank you for coming to me with your image questions.  For Civil War images the best place to go is the Library of Congress photo archives.  Then create an account on Commons (if you don't have one already) and follow the upload instructions.  I found 8 files of Gen. Mitchell (actually 8 prints of 2 portraits) and did a quick upload on one of them.  If you'd like to get a little practice you could try the other.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 13:43, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

FPC Suggestion
What about this with a crop for tilt? I'd nominate but I don't have any decent editing software at the moment (even for a simple crop). Mostlyharmless (talk) 02:31, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Image problem
Hello Durova. I am really confuse about how to download image on Commons. I've send you an email. Regards, Masterpiece2000   ( talk ) 03:32, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Replied by e-mail. Durova Charge! 10:07, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your kind reply. Masterpiece2000   ( talk ) 13:45, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your interest in images. Durova Charge! 16:05, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Picture addition to Omaha Beach
Hi Durova. Just a courtesy note to let you know that I felt it necessary to revert your addition of the map image to Omaha Beach. I've explained my reasons in the article talk page, and if you want to challenge my action I'm happy to discuss there. Cheers. --FactotEm (talk) 09:04, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Replied at article talk. Durova Charge! 10:11, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Panther pix
In re this: can you put in an email? I'd love a copy. Just hit me up? TREKphiler  hit me ♠  05:37, 7 August 2008 (UTC) (FYI, the header's a bit of a bad pun on the opening notes of Mancini's theme...)
 * Replied by e-mail. Durova Charge! 09:49, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Image WW2
Show me where this photo is not in the public domain. It appears in numerous publications on the war. Please cite a source or else leave it be--Woogie10w (talk) 10:32, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I have cited the relevant licensing page on Wikimedia Commons, which contains links to the new Russian laws. The image itself is also templated for unclear copyright status.  Yes, it's widely used.  That's because Russian copyright law used to be much more generous.  Durova Charge! 10:35, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Then also remove it from Wikimedia if it is in violation of the law--Woogie10w (talk) 10:36, 7 August 2008 (UTC) You are bluffing, this photo is not in violation of the law--Woogie10w (talk) 10:42, 7 August 2008 (UTC)That photo you put up is pathetic, a picure with of a bunker with a sign that says "SURGERY", we can't see a human being.--Woogie10w (talk) 10:49, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * (ec X2):
 * First reply: We don't positively know whether it's public domain or not. If the photographer were identified and died under certain conditions, then yes it would be PD (although this image is quite late in the window for that opportunity). I could delete it since I happen to be a Commons administrator. How about this compromise? Your babel boxes state that you speak Russian. Let's use the replacement image temporarily while you research the photographer information for that image? I haven't had much luck; recently wrote a Russian cultural center with questions about other Soviet-era images and received no response.
 * Second reply: I had written (see above) But this outright accusation is out of line. I have provided the appropriate sources and have no reason to bluff.
 * Third reply: Please calm down. Durova Charge! 10:52, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

I have sought independent feedback at and Commons:Commons:Administrators'_noticeboard. Durova Charge! 11:19, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Update
You have your first steeplechase winner. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:39, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Images
Hello, Durova. I've a question. Let's say, I want to upload an image. Do I've to upload the image in my computer first and then upload it on Commons? Regards, Masterpiece2000   ( talk ) 17:42, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes. Durova Charge! 17:43, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Now I think I can upload images. I will try tomorrow. Regards, Masterpiece2000   ( talk ) 17:56, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured_pictures/History/World_War_I
First of all, I think that only this image (and of course the image you nominated for delisting) are of lower quality than the Battle of Jerusalem image. Had I been "on duty", so to speak, when this picture was nominated, I would have opposed it's promotion. I would support someone who nominates it for delisting. In terms of detail, however, I'd be inclined to say (having come to this conclusion by comparing the pictures at the same resolution) that the other two images I assume you are referring to (here and here) are of better quality than the photograph you have nominated. In fact, I'd say they also better portray and convey information about their subjects. The image you nominated doesn't really show much about the battle except for the artillery installation, which, as Harlsbottom pointed out, could be an installation anywhere. That being said, I don't dispute the authenticity of the image; I only mean to say that it is not particularly descriptive and seems (to my untrained eyes) rather generic. As for the Passchendaele image, you know my stand. The encyclopedic value of the image is not merely that it displays the results of the Third Battle of Ypres, but also the effect of long term shelling on an area. Perhaps I am naïve, but I like to think the image is also effective in depicting war in general. Nautica Shad es  22:37, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Maybe I should be more specific. Durova Charge! 22:47, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

It would seem I guessed correctly. :) Nautica Shad es  01:57, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, there are different ways of approaching these matters. When I was reviewing material for this FPC there were several choices and the two other ones that seemed most intriguing were the mayor of Jerusalem surrendering the city under a white flag and a mosque before and after shelling.  I selected this instead because it was most distinctive in relation to existing FPs: tactical artillery placements are a type of image we don't often feature.  Durova Charge! 04:09, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Do you have a link to the surrender image? That sounds great to me. Nautica Shad es  12:58, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Heh, I went over to look for it and wandered into an entirely different corner. If it turns up I'll ping you. :)  Durova Charge! 23:21, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * There's a similar image (which unfortunately wouldn't open on my system) at CALL NUMBER: LC-M31- 1835[P&P].  Durova Charge! 18:13, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Onchocerca volvulus emerging from a black fly.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 11, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-11.  howcheng  {chat} 23:12, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 23:21, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Reindeer sled

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 17:19, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Request for FP
I understand that you are a very busy person here on the 'pedia. However, I ask you simply as a fan to in your spare time try to promote another earthquake-related picture as featured. Just a simple request, take no haste with it.-- Meld    shal   23:19, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

And, regarding your "rest", i really think you should come back to full time work. I understand that getting de-sysopped is a big deal for you, as it is for anyone. However, gaining sysop rights in the first place is supposed to be "no big deal", anyway, accor ding to a wise man. There are so many editors here that contribute greatly, and they are not sysops. Just try looking through one of the categories for "Anti-administrator hopefuls", or stuff like that. I implore you to return full time to the project. I think that the project is starting to lose its original stature, and as you are one of our original greats, I ask you simply, please come back. Promoting FPs is enough, maybe for you, but the entire project would love if you came back to other things as well. Please return.

Disregard this if you wish. I feel that the entire project is missing out on one of its best, Durova. It is the simple request of a fan here, not a enemy, nor friend. I simply ask you to come back. Thank you if you have taken the time to read this. -- Meld    shal   23:19, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I've found one. It's going to take some cleanup, so it may be a little while before it goes up as a nominee.  Durova Charge! 16:47, 10 August 2008 (UTC)


 * What is the image? Just so I know when it is up. -- Meld    shal   21:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Vernon and Irene Castle

 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 16:45, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/German train wreck, World War I

 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 16:46, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

FPs to add to Portal:Feminism
Please see Portal talk:Feminism/Selected picture. I'll keep an eye on that page and start adding those into rotation once the blurbs are done. Cheers, Cirt (talk) 14:43, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/German instrument of surrender, World War II

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 23:28, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Japanese instrument of surrender, World War II

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 23:30, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Light bulb patent

 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 00:30, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks
Thank you for the grace and dignity you displayed in your handling of your recall debacle. Your conduct at the time was most befitting an administrator, and I hope to see you stand for RfA again soon. Best, Hi DrNick ! 00:19, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much, Nick. Maybe sometime in the future.  Right now I'm focusing on featured pictures and featured sounds.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 00:29, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Just a note of clarification
Dear Durova.Just a small personal note. I made that comment on a work page and while you hadn't yet replied and was called out by a visit from Porlock (Coleridge), and, by the time I'd got back to post it noted you'd already replied. But I posted it nonetheless, because repositioning (and it seems clear to me that it should have gone above your comments, was aesthetically better, and cleared the air of unfortunate ambiguities. Since explanations have been forthcoming, this is now an irrelevant quibble. In conclusion, I would like to register my deep appreciation for the palmary quality of your administrative judgements, all over wiki. Best Nishidani (talk) 09:17, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. And I do appreciate the defense.  It's also been my experience that these tense discussions reach the best resolution when as many people as possible remain calm and concentrate on the big picture.  Best regards from your non-administrative fellow editor, :)  Durova Charge! 09:24, 11 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Whoops (no offence intended:)), just proof if it were needed of how little I follow the details of people's backgrounds, as opposed to scrutinizing their edits whenever I encounter them. For the private record, I live among people who are panic merchants with some justification, since life in this country is chaotic and full of crazy happenings. Whatever the appearances of my commenting style here, I am however known to be disconcertingly unflappable, even if, metaphorically, the house falls in. The big picture is what interests me, that is why perhaps I should not edit on wiki: far too many rules, and, far too many obvious things not seen, or deemed irrelevant, for the application of the Law, and not the spirit of an encyclopedia. If you're ever up for election, I'll come back with a terse endorse, as I would with Avi.(No need to reply I don't want to open up another thread!)Nishidani (talk) 10:48, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. :) Durova Charge! 15:21, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Could you...
make a comment at the FPC of Image:MtCleveland ISS013-E-24184.jpg? I really need some feedback. Thanks, -- Meld    shal   15:41, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi, I usually review these things when I'm sitting at my best monitor so if you don't mind it might be a few hours before I comment officially. Looks great from this machine, and quite an encyclopedic find.  Best regards,  Durova Charge! 15:59, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Rehash of FPC discussion
White Cat, I know you mean well, but as an FPC regular it's alarming to see this many name changes pop up on my watchlist on the basis of a brief discussion that appeared to be DOA back in April. I don't particularly see the need for this bot, since anyone who knows the filename of a featured picture can access the candidacy quite easily through the image page. Commons needs to structure candidacies around filenames because they're a multilingual project. English Wikipedia is more likely to promote an alternate version, and sometimes delists and replaces improved file versions of the same image.

Your bot could make it difficult to cross reference such cases. For instance, an editor who doesn't know this history may have a very hard time figuring out why Image:Love or dutya.jpg is a former featured picture while Image:Love or dutyb.jpg is featured. Would you have a fresh discussion with us please, so we can work this out? Thanks, Durova Charge! 16:24, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Firstly, it is not alarming. Please do not panic. :)
 * Okay so this feature has many benefits. The title names currently used by FPC nominations are unable to deal with multiple featured pictures for the same topic. For example if we had 20 different featured pictures on any specific topic (an easy possibility in the next 10 years) unique nomination pages would help a lot.
 * Due to the poor system I cannot make out how "Love or duty" developed. How the process progressed should be better linked. I'd recommend a system like FAC where there is a central page that links to old nominations (visible in article talk pages). Image talk pages are underused and this could be such a good usage. But all this is a seperate issue of course.
 * A second benefit is that this feature would make it possible to more easily link to successful nominations from other wikis - particularly commons.
 * -- Cat chi? 16:34, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Would you raise these points at FPC talk for discussion please? The FPC regulars don't seem to have been aware that your bot was in the works.  I noticed it only because I have a lot of FP credits and some old candidacies popped up on the watchlist.  A white cat might be a very good thing, but when one pounces out of the shadows the natural reaction is to duck. ;)  Best regards,  Durova Charge! 16:39, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I have already done that. Wikipedia talk:Featured picture candidates. -- Cat chi? 16:55, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much, and thanks also for your swift responses and hard work. Durova Charge! 17:11, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi, while I do not want to rush things, how long should I wait before returning to my bot? I would like to think not a whole lot of people would care about nomination pagenames. I certainly do not aside from the functional issue. -- Cat chi? 15:19, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I've moved the discussion to the bottom of the page with an answer about time frame there. Perhaps no one saw it before.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 16:32, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Replying
i believe that nomination doesn't count in that way. -- Meld    shal   17:30, 11 August 2008 (UTC)


 * And would you mind commenting on these two FPCs of mine? This and this, please. -- Meld    shal   17:31, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Soon as I'm at the good monitor. May be a few hours.  Durova Charge! 17:51, 11 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you. Shoemaker's Holiday and I are proposing a restoration wikiproject.  Would you be interested in joining?  We'd love to have you.  Best regards,  Durova Charge! 17:50, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Um, I'm not very good at restoration, I'm really only an amateur photographer. But thanks for that. -- Meld    shal   18:06, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Is this the image for earthquakes? Image:Tsunami by hokusai 19th century.jpg? -- Meld    shal   18:44, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * A different version of that is featured. I suppose tsunamis relate to earthquakes.  Durova Charge! 20:53, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * But that image is not a tsunami, according to the FPC nom. What is the image you plan to promote? Please tell me. I'm dying of suspense. -- Meld    shal   15:58, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It will probably be a couple of days yet before this is ready to nominate, so I'll describe. And if you have the sources for it perhaps it could run on the main page as a "Did you know" because Wikipedia doesn't have an article about this earthquake.  It happened in 1927 in the Near East.  I'm not certain where the epicenter was, but the location in this photograph was known as the British Mandate of Palestine back then and is part of the West Bank today.  A house on a narrow street has collapsed and the people from the neighborhood are clearing out the rubble.  Durova Charge! 16:26, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Was it this earthquake? The 1927 one is mentioned here in the Nablus article, while the 1837 one is mentioned in the Safed article. Wikipedia doesn't have good coverage of earthquakes yet, though the major ones have articles. Carcharoth (talk) 17:36, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I think so. It wasn't listed on Wikipedia's list of earthquakes.  Durova Charge! 18:12, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

You've got mail!
Sent you an e-mail, whenever you have a moment. :) Cheers! --Ramdrake (talk) 18:40, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Romea.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 13, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-13.  howcheng  {chat} 23:32, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Image:Navajofamilya.jpg follows on August 14.  howcheng  {chat} 23:33, 11 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Hi, thanks very much. Best regards,  Durova Charge! 01:33, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Council/Proposals
Very confusing page. Have you seen my comment on the talk page? Carcharoth (talk) 14:42, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Durova Charge! 16:21, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Quilting update
There's a new Barnes & Noble in Lahaina, and their section on Hawaiian quilts is extremely intimidating. There must have been more than a dozen books on the shelf. I hope you are doing well. Viriditas (talk) 09:20, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Aw, and I should be doing more DYKs (which that would have been if I'd put more time into it). Thanks and best wishes,  Durova Charge! 09:41, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Suzi Quatro's birth name
Regarding Suzi Quatro's birth name, it is not a matter of whether I agree or not. I don't care one way or the other. But we need to provide reliable sources. I do agree that the IMDB is not reliable either, as it has user contributions similar to Wikipedia. But we need something that will settle this once and for all. For every site you find with the long name, I'm sure I could find two that list the short version, so we are no better off. That's why I have been looking for something official, with either name. I'm not sure which is the appropriate noticeboard for this. I have already listed this on the talk page of the article, without any result. Any advise on the correct forum would be appreciated.--Dmol (talk) 19:07, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Try Reliable sources/Noticeboard. The simplest thing would be to cite both versions as they appear in reliable sources, along with a footnote that mentions the sources conflict.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 19:18, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Goa 1955 invasion.ogg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 17, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-17. Hmm, I just noticed that the anniversary was just on August 15... if I had done these earlier with enough grace time, I could have moved it to that date, but it's a little late now. Oh well.  howcheng  {chat} 22:16, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Image:WTC-Fireman requests 10 more colleages.jpg is scheduled for 9/11 (of course).  howcheng  {chat} 22:17, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

I always thank you. Thanks aren't sufficient this time. You know my family's connection to 9/11, or the sacrifices I made afterward? I put off that FPC for months, hoping someone else would take that image. Don't look at my own user page very often these last few months. Thanking you, and looking forward to 9/12. Durova Charge! 22:29, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

re: email
It's worse than you think. And yes, I am better, thank you. MER-C 11:47, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Re: Featured picture candidates/Harriet Tubman
Ah, fair enough; I was not aware that she had actually served. Kirill (prof) 13:01, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Yes, it took an act of Congress to get her pension awarded, but she was buried with military honors. :)  Durova Charge! 18:46, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Anti-Americanism
Hi Durova! An attempt by Bsharvyite acolytes to disrupt the Anti-Americanism article is under way again. They destroyed Igor with the assistance of the admins, for trying to protect the integrity of this article, now I guess it is my turn. I have tried to nip things in the bud, but I see we are in for a whole new operatic performance. Colin4C (talk) 17:23, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll see if I can send someone your way. Durova Charge! 05:48, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves
By the order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves in recognition of your exemplary work on military history featured pictures, sounds, and articles. For the coordinators, TomStar81 (Talk) 21:34, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much! :) Durova Charge! 21:36, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Cough...

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 04:58, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Congratulations!
[[Media:Jfk berlin address high.ogg]] has been promoted to featured sound status. Excellent work. --MZMcBride (talk) 16:23, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 16:27, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Just a little thank you

 * Ah, well thank you! I'm working on a couple of unlikely little gems.  Just loaded a featured sound candidate, if you're up for a change of pace.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 20:49, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Mar-A-Lago
Hi, Durova, I saw the very nice Mar-A-Lago picture you found, and wondered if you can locate something as nice for Tregaron - or even the other Post estate, Hillwood. I confess I haven't looked, cause I don't know where to find such things. - Nunh-huh 20:54, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll have a look, although anything public domain will likely be black and white (and subject to the same brutal voting patterns by FPC regulars who don't recall the days of darkrooms and chemical vats). Durova Charge! 21:12, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Dang, I found one Historic American Buildings Survey photo of Tregaron, but occasionally my system has trouble opening a LoC .tif file. Maybe you'll have more luck.  Enter the name in the search line here.  Durova Charge! 21:21, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I found a listing for 26 transparencies by Arthur Rothstein listed, but the record reads "No digital image available". So I guess that's that. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, though. As for B&W vs. color: well, color is nice, but so is B&W. I guess that if the "#voters" don't recognize that, it says more about them than the quality of the photo! - Nunh-huh 21:30, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * If you type in just "Tregaron" you'll get to one black and white photograph after a couple of clicks. There's a lower resolution .jpg version I could probably open if you have trouble reaching the .tif.  Durova Charge! 21:56, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I guess it's all about knowing where to click! I still can't locate any pictures. The initial search returns two results, "Tregaron Estate" and "Architectural drawings for a building ("proposed development of Tregaron property") for Lawrence N. Brandt, Klingle Road, N.W., Washington, D.C.". But clicking on "Preview Images" gets me nowhere useful, and neither does clicking on the titles of the two results.  - Nunh-huh 00:32, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that; been kind of distracted. Here's a quick upload of the Hillwood estate. It's only the smaller .jpg file and I haven't done anything with it. But at least it's a start. Hope it helps. Durova Charge! 00:40, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Ah, thanks, I feel much less inept now. Our Hillwood article is a stub, but at least now it's an illustrated stub; I'll add some info to it later. - Nunh-huh 00:59, 16 August 2008 (UTC) P.S. I straightened and cropped it, and reuploaded it (on EN, as that's the only place I can upload). You may or may not want to transfer the cropped version to Commons. - Nunh-huh 01:07, 16 August 2008 (UTC) P.P.S. Oops. Actually, that's a picture of another "Hillwood", so I'm going to change the description and take the photo out of the article. The one in the picture is in Providence, Rhode Island; Marjorie Post's Hillwood was in Washington, D.C. (actually, she also had another Hillwood on Long Island, but the famous one was in Washington. - Nunh-huh 01:59, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh dear. Well, sorry about Hillwouldn't.  Can't win 'em all.  Durova Charge! 02:16, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Ramallah woman
P.S. something to keep idle hands busy. MER-C 07:57, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 08:03, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Replying
Um, I didn't read your comment. I wanted to say something, and I picked the heading closest to the bottom that seemed relevant, so I didn't have to create a new one for one comment. Rebecca (talk) 12:03, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for clarifying. Best wishes.  Durova Charge! 12:05, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

WTF?
You and I had spoken well over a year ago on the BLP policy talk page, and I had a lonnnng Wikibreak since then. We didn't see eye to eye on that issue IIRC (I think it something related to Daniel Brandt 14th AfD nom.) But I sure built up a pile of respect for you in that conversation. Just drifting around this morning and cleaning up my watchlist and other stuff I came across an item mentioning your desysopping. At the risk of opening a wound, I just wanted you to know that I find it pretty un-fracking-believable that such a thing would have happened. There's very little I know about the whole thing, and really you also. But mainly I just wanted you to know that there's at least one person who might disagree with you on issues that nevertheless thinks you're one hell of a good editor. Laughing Vulcan 14:31, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * (Reply to your reply on my talk) - No problem with the timing, your page does rightfully say you're backlogged! ;)  And I appreciate your replying to my talk, as placing your talk on my watchlist results in constant updates.  :)
 * I can't remember the chain of events where I read it... something at AN/I or AN.  After my initial above I went and looked at the Arbcom decision on it out of curiosity, and I just cursorily reviewed the Evidence page.  Sum total I took away from it:  Why would I ever want to stand for an RfA? If one pure mistake, quickly corrected with apology, will effectively desysop me why would I want to go through the process in the first place?
 * If anything, all that I read concludes me to believe Everest was being made out of a speedbump. I mean, I could see admonishment on proper block/checkuser/etc. policy, or even a forced mentoring or temporary restriction on employing blocks.  But for whatever incorrect conclusions and process (if true that it was incorrect process) led you to incorrect action - the sum total is one incorrect action quickly remedied and apologized for.  And that results in voluntary recension of tools for the good of the whole?  After briefly looking through it, it only amazes me that you're still editing and the whole affair shows Wikipedia is damn lucky to still have you.  (This is much longer than I intended my reply to be, but oh well.  Thanks for wading through it!)  Laughing Vulcan  03:46, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. :) Actually I've been doing a lot more of what I enjoy since then; I've been fool enough to get sysopped again over on Commons, but things are much more mellow over there.  If you'd like to see why I still enjoy Wikipedia, touch bases sometime and we'll collaborate on something.  I've been doing a lot of conominations with featured pictures and featured sounds.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 04:19, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Tally
''Suggest you take it down; too much like a straw poll. Durova Charge! 11:13, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 11:25, 17 August 2008 (UTC)''


 * (sigh) t'wasn't me who took it down, but Zzuzz. It was tongue in cheek, but only partly. I get mightily sick of all the non-vote discussion that ends in reams of paragraphs only the most dedicated ever read. Anyhoo...it looks like petering out with nothing happening anyway. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:45, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Historical pictures of Warsaw
Hello there and thanks for the invitation. Sure, I'll be more than happy to help provided you tell me what is it that you need and what's the fuzz all about. What's that restoration thing you mention? Do you need more old pictures and if so, how old should they be? 1930's? 1900's? late 19th century? Litographs, actual photos? The owner of the warszawa1939 page is really helpful and there shouldn't be a problem with obtaining hundreds of pics of various buildings, most of them either destroyed during the war of afterwards (the commies really did a great job demolishing what was left after the war).

As to the actual buildings, the matter is quite easy as barely any building in Warsaw has been rebuilt in a way it used to look like before the war, with the St. Alexander's church being a fine example. Another example would be the entire old town area (I mean it), including the cathedral (cf. Image:Katedra.jpg and Image:4 Warszawa 12.jpg). Another nice example (though not as obvious) is the PAST building (see here. Yet another is the Saxon Palace, of which only the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was rebuilt (cf. Image:Palac Saski.jpg with, say, pl:Grafika:Gnz01.jpg). These are just a few off the top of my head, let me know what you need and I'll be more than happy to find it. Cheers,  // Halibutt 15:47, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the reply. Mainly I suggested architecture because the library of Congress website has a limited supply of high quality digital images about Polish culture, mostly architectural photochroms from 1890-1900.  If you go to this link and type "Warsaw" in the search bar you'll see what I mean.  I haven't had the pleasure of seeing your city firsthand, so you'd be a better person to gauge which of these locations really looked best in its prewar glory.  The photochrom set were all professionally created works for hire first published in the United States over a century ago, so they're public domain.


 * It would be delightful to get other historic material about Polish culture; the challenge is obtaining files of sufficient resolution and inherent quality. The photochrom architecture shots are 26MB in .tif format, which is a good size for restoration.  If you can get high resolution scans of other subjects that would be delightful.  The largest photograph I've located of Marie Curie is under 2MB (I'm currently working on a 50MB portrait of Sarah Bernhardt).  I'm most experienced with historic photography, although I've also had good results with chromolithographs and hand-tinted etchings and can do other media.  The quality of the archival material matters more than age.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 20:35, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Japaneseweavera.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 21, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-21. If you could look this particular one over, that would be great. Since I know nothing about weaving, I wanted to be sure I was describing the picture accurately. Thanks.  howcheng  {chat} 18:11, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * P.S. If you're already doing this, please disregard, but would you mind using LOC-image for the source of your Library of Congress images? Thanks.  howcheng  {chat} 18:13, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I'll try. And ty again for the notification.  Durova Charge! 19:54, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Michael Jackson copy
Hi there Durova, you seem to understand this issue more than most. I would really like to stop our material being used without credit. I'm also concerned that info from the article was cherry picked to give off a certain image of the subject himself. It's kind of shocked me that material I wrote is being used to a large audience in a manner that I don't even condone. In fact I'm mortified by how the article content was cherry picked to give an overall anti Jackson vibe to their piece. — Realist  2  23:55, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This is a situation where a well-written letter to the editor can make all the difference. Most journalism professionals have little understanding of how Wikipedia works: they're not likely to be familiar with historic page revisions or diffs.  Editors do respond to a calm and concise accusation of plagiarism by the original author.  Substantiate it in a small amount of links and comparative text.  If you're serious, follow up by telephone.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 00:18, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Privatemusings restriction lifted and placed under mentorship
Per ruling of arbcom, User:Privatemusings' restriction is lifted. Solely for the matter of editing biographies of living persons, is placed under the mentorship of User:Lar, User:Jayvdb,  and User:Durova. If no issues arise, the mentorship will expire after ninety days from acceptance of this motion. See full motion and remedies here: Requests for arbitration/Privatemusings and Wikipedia talk:Requests for arbitration/Privatemusings. — Rlevse  •  Talk  • 00:10, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 00:19, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

The JIDF and Inspector Gadget
I think this may explain some of the confusion from earlier today. CJCurrie (talk) 02:36, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Very odd. Good practice to store content at a stable URL in case that occurs.  Durova Charge! 02:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Bleh

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 14:43, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Sultan Pasha al-Atrash

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 14:43, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured sounds
Hey, I was listening to the podcast back in July where you talked a little about your work with featured sounds. Is there a way I can help out with that effort? Thanks,  Enigma  message 18:54, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much for asking. Right now we've got several featured sound candidates up at WP:FSC; your reviews and votes would be appreciated.  If you're a bit more bold and would like to try nominating material, I know some good archives and would be glad to help get you started.  Over at Not the Wikipedia Weekly we often do content collaborations via Skype.  You can use their service at no cost; e-mail me and I'll share my Skype handle.  It's an excellent client for file transfers.  best wishes,  Durova Charge! 19:05, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I downloaded, installed, and added you on Skype. :)  Enigma  message 20:06, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Someone tried to ping me on Skype a couple of minutes ago. Please e-mail me your Skype name and I'll get in touch.  There are several people on Skype with names similar to your Wikipedia username.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 20:10, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Congratulations!

 * Thank you very much. :) Durova Charge! 04:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Napoleon's exile to Elba

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 16:54, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Ursa Major

 * Thank you! :) Durova Charge! 09:15, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Polish cavalry in Sochaczew(1939)a.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 24, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-24.  howcheng  {chat} 18:54, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Duck and Cover
Back for my daily visit. :-) --jjron (talk) 09:04, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 09:17, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Image
I did not upload the image. I just noticed it in an article and nominated it for featured image. My mistake I did not check the licensing properly, I think the person uploaded the image should be warned about it.  Otolemur crassicaudatus  (talk) 18:12, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Ah, okay. And I didn't check that either.  Will do shortly (have a project near completion to finish first).  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 18:15, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * See . Katzenmeier uploaded the image.  Otolemur crassicaudatus  (talk) 18:16, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * As per the nomination page, I question that it is actually a licence violation. Maybe I've missed something, but to me it all looks above-board. Could you double check it and confirm for me? Diliff  | (Talk)   (Contribs) 19:19, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Heyo
Let me know what you think.  Jaakobou Chalk Talk  21:14, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Wish my feedback were more helpful; not quite my best area of expertise. Durova Charge! 12:35, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Arctic clothing
Not really textile stuff, or maybe it is. Anyway, I thought you might be interested in amauti. Also found piblokto which is rather obscure and potentially interesting if someone could expand it. Carcharoth (talk) 02:22, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Very interesting. Not something I'm likely to have time for in the near future, but worth bearing in mind.  Durova Charge! 12:43, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Arctic eclipse

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 12:43, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Another Jerusalem Image
Sorry about the extremely belated response. I actually happen to like that image, but I'm unsure of how it would fare at FPC. I'd suggest nominating the unrestored version at peer review and seeing what they think of it. Nautica Shad es  12:58, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually I eventually located that surrender and handed it to someone who expressed an interest in restoring it. Not sure when he'll finish.  Durova Charge! 17:33, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Ears burning?
I have dropped your name at Requests for arbitration. Jehochman Talk 22:32, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the parachute. My name landed with a splat in a few other places on that thread and I didn't even know it.  Durova Charge! 08:00, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I've often wondered whether tweaking signatures to link to a redirect to one's userspace (I've seen this done) would help use the ordinary "what links here" to pick up other uses of one's "name (just hide redirects). Would only work if it was linked of course. Searches would be needed to pick up the rest. But that gets a bit paranoid. Carcharoth (talk) 17:41, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * um...? Durova Charge! 17:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * You said you didn't know your name had been mentioned. I thought of a few ways to search for mentions. Trusting someone to let you know they are talking about you (as Jehochman did) is probably best, though. It was an offhand comment! :-) Carcharoth (talk) 18:58, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Teeheehee... if I poked around to monitor every time someone mentions my username I'd never get anything done. Now I'm off to collaborate with a wonderfully talented young editor who's restoring a French etching from 1789 about the storming of the Bastille.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 19:11, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe that a Google web alert set on your username would work. Most of project space is still indexed. I get a daily digest of web mentions for my name so that I can magically appear, like Orcus, whenever I am summoned. Jehochman Talk 02:49, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually my Google web alert only gives me off-wiki results. This is curious...how would I alter the setup?  Durova Charge! 03:42, 25 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Orcus?: "'The cult of Orcus is mainly composed of twisted creatures with a morbid fascination with the undead, such as necromancers, as well as creatures deliberately seeking the path to undeath, such as would-be liches and vampires. They often wear macabre costumes decorated with bones and skulls. Orcus has a chance of hearing his name whenever and wherever spoken, and of reacting by manifesting to the speaker in an irritated mood. Unscrupulous merchants in various parts of the D&D multiverse have used this by selling parrots trained to speak only innocuous phrases until at a predetermined location, when they scream Orcus' name non-stop. This summons the demon, who slays the adventurer, allowing his or her equipment to be looted by the merchant's associates.'"  :-) Carcharoth (talk) 04:14, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I usually rely on special delivery from my flying monkeys. Sometimes they buzz the Lollipop Guild just for fun on the way back to my castle.  Durova Charge! 05:07, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

E-mail
Hi Durova, I've sent an E-mail. Best wishes. Acalamari 16:34, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Replied. :) Durova Charge! 17:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Amazing, back to you twice. :) Acalamari 19:11, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Johnson
If you still feel strongly that the legacy section is needing more, than please look through this and see if anything is important enough that is worth mentioning. Note, the document is already at 9694, and MoS puts the end cap at 10k. As you can see there, there can be determined some "influence" of some women able to write based on knowing Johnson, along with some societies and other things about Johnson, and a critical essay that shows that most of the early 19th century disliked Johnson. The only things that could be said to be "influencing" would be later criticism, in which critics (like Arnold, Eliot, Hill, Bate, etc) respond to Johnson's opinions, but they do not incorporate his style or the rest. Ottava Rima (talk) 21:13, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Note
This is to leave you a note about Samuel Johnson. As per this, I trimmed out 3k worth of text and then added in 9.5k worth of text in terms of elaborations of plots/subjects of works, influence on contemporary works, more detailed explanation of biographies, added a section on his influence on criticism and response, and organizations/celebrations based around his character. Ottava Rima (talk) 02:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll give this a careful reading in the next 12 hours. Thanks for the attention, and best wishes.  Durova Charge! 05:25, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Anything still missing? Ottava Rima (talk) 19:26, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll give it a look a bit later on. Collaborating on an article drive atm.  Thanks for your patience.  Best,  Durova Charge! 19:52, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I removed 9k of early biography to put it on a separate page based on discussion/consensus with others who worked on the page. This allowed me to put a 10k section on his literary philosophy, i.e. what his life of criticism was all about and what connects his three major works: the Dictionary, the edition of Shakespeare's plays, and his Life of Poets series. I also expanded on how he is viewed in criticism/as a critic in the legacy section. I cannot fulfill Awadewit's request for a discussion on his "themes" or other things that are natural to a fiction writer, because he wrote very, very little fiction. Instead, I expanded on his works as a critic, which was mostly discussed by Greene, who, although representing only one major work, was one of the major Johnson scholars and represents over 30 years worth of scholarship in the field. It is possibly unbalanced weight wise, but Wain and Bate also emphasize Johnson's role as a critic (Wain devoting a collection just to Johnson's criticism), although they do not focus on it themselves. Ottava Rima (talk) 17:08, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

FPC
Hey, Durv, I understand that you're stressed with the whole "Steve Crossin case", but I was wondering if you could spare some time to look over this? Thanks, -- Lord    Sunday   12:59, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Um 'stressed'? Been around the block way too many times for that to stand in the way of an FPC nom.  I do like to examine FPCs from a better monitor than this, though.  And I've been busy with other stuff.  Will have a close look at your nebula sometime soon.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 16:04, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Indian pigments.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 26, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-26.  howcheng  {chat} 21:21, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * P.S. Image:Da Vinci Studies of Embryos Luc Viatour.jpg is to appear on August 28.  howcheng  {chat} 21:55, 25 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 16:54, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/FA-18 aerial refueling

 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 16:55, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Morning fog in East Frisia

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 16:42, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Oswego lighthouse, 1900

 * Thanks. :) Durova Charge! 16:42, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Stunt pyrotechnics

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 16:42, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Promotion

 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 04:19, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:AlfredPalmerRamagosa.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on August 30, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-08-30. I'll see what I can do about the Featured Sound. The templates aren't really designed to accommodate these yet.  howcheng  {chat} 04:56, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks. :) Durova Charge! 05:50, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

LOC exhibit
Have you seen this: ? This looks like it could be a treasure trove of FPs (and some of them already are).  howcheng  {chat} 05:06, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Teehee, what makes you think I haven't already pored through it? :) Cheers!  Durova Charge! 05:49, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Next load of FPs

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 08:54, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

National Library of Wales Images
Hi Durova, Just responding to your comment on my talk page. Would love to continue the discussion about how we can best make use of our resources with Wikipedia.Paul Bevan (talk) 15:52, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for responding. I've replied by e-mail.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 19:19, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for stepping up to the plate on this, Durova, I hope you'll be able to work something out with them. Haukur (talk) 20:50, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Glad to, and thanks for noticing. :) Durova Charge! 20:53, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Land Day
Hi Durova. Just wanted to let you know that user PR brought up concerns about Jaakobou's editing of Land Day and asked me whether he should bring up his concerns with you. Rightly or wrongly, I advised him against bothering you. Still, it seems only fair that I let you know about this. You can see the recent conversation at User talk:HG. Hope this finds you in good health, HG | Talk 19:16, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi, thank you very much for giving me a heads up. My mentorship regards policy issues, and this gets into a content area where every editor on the page probably knows more of the subject than I do.  I'll mention this with Jaakobou next time I touch base with him; suggest you contact Jaakobou's other mentor Avi who's stronger on the content side of this subject.  Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 19:23, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

BN comment
Yes, I did forget to log in. The IP is pretty widely known to be me anyway (it's not the first time I've edited without remembering to in, and probably won't be the last). My take on the wailing and gnashing of teeth that surrounds reports of canvassing is well summarized by this exchange:


 * Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?


 * Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!


 * Croupier: {hands Renault a pile of money] Your winnings, sir.


 * Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

Basil &quot;Basil&quot; Fawlty (talk) 21:22, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * My favorite film of all time. Wonderful quote, and very well known.  One of the lesser known ones is my personal favorite: There are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.  Durova Charge! 21:30, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Requests for arbitration/Piotrus 2
An Arbitration case in which you commented has been opened, and is located here. Please add any evidence you may wish the Arbitrators to consider to the evidence sub-page, Requests for arbitration/Piotrus 2/Evidence. Please submit your evidence within one week, if possible. You may also contribute to the case on the workshop sub-page, Requests for arbitration/Piotrus 2/Workshop.

On behalf of the Arbitration Committee, &mdash; Coren (talk) 22:03, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the notice. Durova Charge! 22:49, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

AGF and LGRdC
But your AGF interpretation here is not more or less valid than politely reminding LGRdC that he very often is very unforgiving about very minor things, going so far that his AfD based opposes frequently make him look far worse than the candidate. Not that it has any chance of changing anything, but it's fair game imho to draw his attention and that of on-lookers to the fact that asking for forgiveness might be seen as slightly hypocritical coming from someone who regularly opposes on non-issues. user:Everyme 22:56, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't say he's perfect. Wish he were.  Just that in this instance his support seems fully explained by his gratitude for getting a second chance, and trust that when I extend it to another editor it isn't done lightly.  Let's wish the best.  Durova Charge! 23:21, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
 * in this instance his support seems fully explained by his gratitude for getting a second chance - Ok, if you say so. I still think that it may —at least in part— be due to the fact that EK is a heavy-weight inclusionist and I keep wondering if LGRdC would extend the same forgiveness, and also ask others to do likewise, if the candidate were more of a deletionist/"deletionist". user:Everyme 00:40, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It's what I hope he would do. Durova Charge! 00:49, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

POTD notification
Hi Durova,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture Image:Bedouinwomanb.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on September 2, 2008. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2008-09-02.  howcheng  {chat} 23:39, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 23:41, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

RFA options
See Requests_for_arbitration, thought you'd be interested. I also posted at BN. — Rlevse  •  Talk  • 02:49, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Durova Charge! 02:57, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Sheep club

 * Thank you. :) Durova Charge! 08:08, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you
LessHeard vanU (talk) 09:08, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * You're welcome. :) Durova Charge! 09:24, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

WP:USRD
It is my pleasure to request a Special Edition Wikiproject Triple Crown for WP:USRD. Should you be gracious enough to grant my nomination, USRD will have 6 editors with TCs. Including myself, they are: Scott5114, Holderca1, Mitchazenia, NE2, and Davemeistermoab. Thank you for your time an attention. Imzadi1979 (talk) 03:19, 21 May 2008 (UTC)


 * As an updated request, USRD member Juliancolton holds a TC, although only one of his FCs used for it comes from USRD. Thanks in advance! Imzadi1979 (talk) 18:47, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay, will get on this as soon as possible. Thanks for the heads up! :)  Durova Charge! 04:05, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * In light of recent events, I will defer to your considered judgement in light of the NYSR/USRD split. USRD post-split still qualifies with myself, Scott, holder, NE2 and Dave. I'm truly saddened over the split, but as I've tried to make clear to NE2, I respect the decisions of others in this matter. I wish them all the best and hope to work in the future with them where appropriate. Imzadi1979 (talk) 20:18, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks, and yes I agree it's a sad thing the split was necessary. Perhaps at some point in the future the two projects can mend fences.  Since this was requested before the split I'll regard it as valid.  Thanks very much,  Durova Charge! 20:28, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Arbcom comments
Despite Sam saying your comments were unconstructive (and I sort of see his point as well - ending with "Shame on you" might not have been the best idea, though it did drive the point home rather forcefully), I'd like to thank you for having the guts and principles to say what you did at the Coffee/PeterSymonds RfArb clarification. Calling the committee out on matters of inconsistency like this is important. The impression I get is that if anyone, like Shoemaker's Holiday did, admits to "health problems" (and we don't need to go into details here), they and the committee are forever caught in a catch-22 situation between privacy and confidentiality on the one hand, and openness and transparency on the other. Health problems can cover a wide range of things, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that a large number of "long-term" Wikipedians (together with the more obsessive vandals) could collectively be diagnosed with quite a lot of things! Though I hasten to add that many are fine, and even those with problems are only human, and many know themselves and channel their activities appropriately. Hmm. This is coming out all wrong. Anyway, I hope what I'm trying to say is getting across. My concern going forward is whether this would discourage people from revealing "health problems". I would say don't do so on-wiki (though that is not a hard-and-fast rule), but whether to state this to the Arbitration Committee in private is another matter. Oh, and re your comment about the Italian arbitration committee, I though I saw a comment somewhere that it was only active for a short time and was shut down because it was set up wrong or without proper process and approval? I don't know how active it was or how many cases it heard before being deleted. Carcharoth (talk) 03:46, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I have been saying privately for quite a few months now that the arbitration committee needs to either retain the consulting services of a credentialed professional in these difficult areas, or else obtain some kind of proficiency training for dealing with matters far outside the normal purview of encyclopedia editing.  Managing a wikiproject or leading an article mediation has virtually nothing to do with managing real health problems or dealing with offsite harassment.  Perhaps I ought to speak up more, because the arbitration committee is composed of fifteen people who are nearly all intelligent, articulate, and well-meaning in one-on-one encounters--and yet collectively they perpetrate these jaw-dropping lapses of judgment.  From one month to the next they cannot remember and act upon their own mandatory pronouncements; the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.  Nobody bats .1000.  I've erred; we've all erred.  I am very sorry for my errors and seek to correct them, but I do not believe my post today was any mistake.  It was long overdue.  I hope the Committee maintains better records of its own pronouncements and obtains needed professional services, because if they make many more mistakes on this scale with editors' health or safety in the balance then the community may need to compel them to change.  Durova Charge! 04:01, 1 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Individual arbitrators can use whatever method they consider helpful in reaching decisions; if one arbitrator wants to use precedent as a guide, then there is no problem with that. However the committee as a whole is not bound by precedent in the way that precedent operates in some legal systems. To put it another way, if we establish a precedent, we can depart from it whenever we think fit, although hopefully for justified reasons. There can therefore be no complaint about inconsistency; each case must be argued on its own merits and not that of some other case.
 * I remind you I was recused on the Matthew Hoffman arbitration case, but the decision was quite clear as to how Shoemaker's Holiday could regain administrator status: "by application to the Committee, upon demonstration of six months editing in compliance with communal norms and conduct standards". This was a favour to him, because it was felt that his private explanation to the committee ought to remain private, and that the community as a whole ought not to have to second-guess what it was. That was the committee's clear decision and that was the reason that lay behind it. I'm afraid I do not understand your problem with it. Sam Blacketer (talk) 11:53, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Your response is quite cogent; the trouble is you're answering a complaint I didn't raise in this appeal. At first that looked like a straw man argument; now perhaps it's genuine misunderstanding.  At either rate Shoemaker's released the entire Committee from confidentiality regarding his health.  Durova Charge! 12:09, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you
Your co-nomination meant a lot to me, especially considering your past opposition and the different views we have on some things. It's a shame the nom failed, but the support I received was encouraging, and I will try again in several months. Everyking (talk) 20:47, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you; we were writing to each other's user talk pages at the same moment. Best wishes,  Durova Charge! 20:52, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Nominations for the Military history WikiProject coordinator election
The Military history WikiProject coordinator selection process is starting. We are aiming to elect nine coordinators to serve for the next six months; if you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 (UTC) on September 14! This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 22:01, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Possible FP
Durova, would Image:Fuerteventura sunset leftrocks.JPG have any shot at being a FP?  MBisanz  talk 00:52, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Try commons:Commons:Quality images. Durova Charge! 02:35, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Already hit that, thanks!  MBisanz  talk 02:36, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Picture restorations and admins tools
Hi Durova. I read your follow-up at RfArb, and I was wondering what admin tools are needed for image restoration? If the tools would help with that, I'd be prepared to argue, if he is as good as you say, that SH should get his tools back. At least one person heavily involved in the image restoration project should have the tools. If not, then that part of the argument doesn't really stand up. I know adminship seems like (and in effect often is) a reward for good editing, but it shouldn't be. It should be about good judgment and trust, What the good editing does show is good editorial judgment and commitment. And rebuilding trust. The problem here is the judgment show while using the tools. I caught the end of Everyking's RfA, and though I didn't get time to decide which way to !vote, the issue of desysopped admins or admins who resigned coming back to RfA is an interesting one (there should be a list somewhere, or one made if one does not exist). Getting back to the 'trust' bit, the work SH is doing has rebuilt that trust for me (indeed, it had done so long ago). I think the main thrust of your argument should be that even if the ArbCom want to "protect" someone from RfA (and if they are doing that, they should privately give SH a timetable by when he should appeal to them privately - I would encourage him to do that, through a mediator if necessary), then they should still give that person the option to set aside such protection and go to RfA. I'd wait for things to settle down again, but I think some progress is being made. Sure, the ArbCom don't always appear to be consistent, but I'm slowly beginning to see some of the points they are making as well. I realise this has been frustrating for you (and SH), but it didn't help that the whole issue sprung up again in the middle of the discussion on what was a thread about two other editors. Anyway, let me know if I can help in any way. Carcharoth (talk) 06:49, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, the principal thing is that featured picture candidacies is an area short on admins. We get a steady trickle of copyvio nominations, usually from well-meaning newcomers.  Here's an example from tonight: Featured picture candidates/Adam Smith medallion.  I can take care of these things when they're hosted at Commons, but not for local en:wiki.  Less frequently we run into sock voting and other problems.  The most serious one was the Mario1987 episode, where an editor was running a sockfarm of about half a dozen accounts to stack candidacies and got a copyvio upload all the way up to featured picture.  About 85% of his uploads ultimately had to be deleted.  Featured sounds has a similar need for attention from someone with the tools.  Some countries have different terms of copyright for text, photography, and audio recordings.  Shoemaker and I are already scouring the planet for freely licensed material to restore, so we're the ones most likely to notice if a license claim is irregular.  Thanks for asking and best wishes,  Durova Charge! 07:55, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * More relevantly, in a few weeks, we'll have 100 featured sounds. At that point, there's a high chance we'll want to start a featured sounds section on the main page - which has already been suggested and had some support - and it would be really useful if I could manage it, rather than depending on others, at least at first. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 17:31, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Noticeboard discussion that involves you
Administrators' noticeboard --NE2 19:35, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

The Military history WikiProject Newsletter : Issue XXX (August 2008)
The August 2008 issue of the Military history WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you. This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 22:55, 2 September 2008 (UTC)