User talk:FreplySpang/Archive/April2005

Hi FreplySpang!
Thanks for telling me about the image tagging thing. I'm very new to Wikipedia. I'll put the information for those images as soon as I can. And would you please vote for "Maria Lionza" for Collaboration of the Week? It's a very interesting topic that I really need help with the research. I think the research would be a more challenging task but it would be worth it because this is something that many people outside of Venezuela have never heard about. I myself found out about it while researching Venezuela for a research paper and I thought "I should start a Wikipedia article about this". I would love if others could help. But sorry for going off-topic there, thank you for telling me about that. - Stancel 29:52 Apr 28 2005 (UTC)

good pickup ...
... on the prior "editor"'s well-intentioned change to Niagara Falls. (former Bostonian/Winchesterite)Sfahey 05:56, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Copyright violation template for new users
The template I used was the one listed under "Copyvio for new users: Text" on Standard user greeting. There are a bunch of other templates on that page (mostly the copy and paste kind). Andrew pmk 02:47, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism
Thanks for fixing the vandalism of Seven Wonders of the World. I've now protected it.

James F. (talk) 21:01, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

ValueFirst Messaging
You marked ValueFirst Messaging as a copyvio. It seems it was written/copied by an employee of the company User:Shantanu. --Henrygb 20:54, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

My template
I'm glad that you like it. :) – ClockworkSoul 22:51, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * By the way, it's posted on Template messages now. – ClockworkSoul 22:54, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Hello there
Some idiot put a "pending deletion" tag on your user page. I deleted it for you. Cheers. Jez 03:30, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Project Cyclops
Good job! Lupo 14:03, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thanks!
I was hoping not too many people would yell at me about that Pakenham Line thing. Hope to make a useful difference here sometime. :-) AidanSteele

What WikiProject Rankings project is not

 * This is not suggesting a hierarcal system.
 * It will be used only by users who want to use it.
 * Only ranking will be assigend to users who want to use it.
 * The idea ment to make it like barn stars, but based on regular contribution.
 * It is currently a prototype, likely that it is nothing like the final version.

I urge you to reconsider your vote based on this clarification. Thanks --Cool Cat My Talk 08:45, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

sorry babe
Sorry babe, I didn't realize this stuff was posted to everyone, what a strange idea.

User24...Vandalism
I was away for an hour or so when you posted your message, but I have just blocked him. Thanks for reverting vandalism. Academic Challenger 22:01, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Minuteman Bikeway
Thanks for the followup edit there. I reworded to fix grammar and readability up a little, but I have no actual knowledge of the path! So your input was excellent! And the page ended up getting two edits for the price of one. Musser 22:06, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Scouting Ireland (CSI)
Valfarly 23:40, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Scouting Ireland SAI
Valfarly 23:40, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Scouting Ireland
Valfarly 23:41, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

this info is ALL public domain - i'm on the team that runs that website that i took the information from! Thats me second down on the right: http://www.scouts.ie/marketing/?Page=whoswho.php

i was nearly put off... but you were so nice about it i think i'll stick around. :-)

VfD RURAL MARKETS
FreplySpang Laura Scudder Mindmatrix Smoddy

Article RURAL MARKETS under VfD. The article has been redone by me &#8211; would you please take a relook? Thanks. --Bhadani 07:57, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the move
thanks for the move sorry about that.

JEB Photos
I believe I can provide you with what you want if you give me some time. Thanks, SummerFR 23:48, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Hi, and thanks for your nice note and your help on the JEB thread. Please don't remove any photos yet.


 * Thanks. Right now, in this first draft, I just want to see what text I write to complete the thoughts I have. Once I finish what I would like to write, I can more easily step back, and look it over, and think about it, and be a better position to eliminate what may seem overtly slanted. It's easier to edit out. I have been reading the featured articles on wiki about political leaders, to see what these are like, and doing that helped me to better understand where I should go. That's why I added the box. But tone is something I am sort of not overtly worrying about at the moment, though I am sensitive to what you are saying, and I am looking forward to editing the text once I complete my thoughts. I just can't always do both as I write. Thanks again for your message. I will get back to you soon on that photo issue. Also, I know that it is quite possible to write a completely different entry, on all the things one disagrees with, but, there are space limitations in a wiki entry, and a fair analysis of both sides of every controversial issue can not be presented in this format. I think the purpose of an encyclopedia entry is to include accomplishments and achievement, and to mention the controversies as well, and that is why I have left the Governor's record as the last piece of this. SummerFR 16:26, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * FreplySpang, this is FYI, re the photos, as you and I were the ones initially involved in this discussion, and I hope we continue to talk, along with BaronLarf and whomever else:

on the Jeb article discussion page. However, FYI, I did post an email response there that I received today from Gov Bush's spokeswoman, and I hope that satisfies you for now. Also, for the reasons I stated in my last response on the discussion page -- my belief that any lawyer will want to see how the photos are being used -- I intend to restore all photos as I had them, to enable those lawyers next week to see them on the page. I am asking that you leave those photos up for that purpose, since getting an answer is what both you and I seek, and I feel we will get an answer if they know what we are talking about. They will not know if you keep deleting the photos. In addition, I will later write to you a longer response on the discussion page of the Jeb article, outlining the reasons for a complaint I have about every single political and historical biography entry I have thus far read on wikipedia, and my complaint is this: there are not enough photos on those pages. There should have been more, and I will make my case about this. Consequently, in my view, as an educator and someone who wants to support the goals of wikipedia, the real problem here is not that I have posted too many photos, but that not enough photos have been posted on other wiki entries. That is something we can perhaps discuss more after you consider my reasoning, to come. Thanks, SummerFR 00:57, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * BaronLarf, I can not tell if you have seen my latest response to you about your concern over the myflorida.com photos, as I do not yet see any response from you
 * FreplySpang &mdash; thanks for your continued involvement in the Jeb Bush article.  I don't want it to develop into an open dispute between SummerFR and I, and I'm trying to explain to him the reasoning behind my (and I think your) concerns without biting a newbie.  --BaronLarf 19:38, Apr 24, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for carrying the flag of NPOV and civility for now, BaronLarf. Like you, I hope that SummerFR comes to understand the workings of Wikipedia better. Her reluctance to go over Wikipedia policies before yelling "harassment" is certainly a concern. I just don't have time to be in the thick of it right now, I'm sorry. But I think you have been trying very hard to be a good Wikicitizen and I'll support you in formal proceedings if necessary. (By the way, SummerFR is a "she.") Oh, I was just wondering: SummerFR has mentioned that your user page used to say something about "trying to make GWBush articles neutral makes me want to scream." She takes that to mean that you want them to be anti-GWB. It sounds to me like you want them to be neutral, but you're surrounded by zealots on all sides, and so it's screamworthily frustrating. Am I right? FreplySpang (talk) 21:25, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Yeah, your interpretation is pretty accurate. My userpage (which I've editted now for clarity) used to list one of my passions as "Trying to make articles on Republicans a more NPOV. Trying to make articles on George W. Bush neutral really makes me want to scream, though, so I don't do much on that page."  What I meant by that was I had tried to get involved at the GWB page, but there were so many people on every side along with frequent vandals that I gave up on the page, more or less.  At some point I mentioned to SummerFR that I was a Republican, which I thought would help her understand that I wasn't out to tar and feather Jeb Bush.  But it didn't seem to help;  she then wrote that I was some sort of Republican who was anti-Jeb.   Thanks much for your message, and I completely understand that you didn't have enough time to get involved in this matter.  It's taken huge chunks out of my day; I'm lucky that I can spare it.  ;^)  --BaronLarf 21:41, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

PfD on TfD
Now some zealous user has nominated the blanked pfd for deletion. I'd appreciate if you weighed in. Thank You! &mdash; Xiong &#29066; talk 04:17, 2005 Apr 24 (UTC)


 * Don't appreciate me too fast. I'd be perfectly happy to see it go. FreplySpang (talk) 04:26, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You made the comment you felt justified. When I ask for another's comment, I don't insist it come from my mouth. Thank you. That said, I think you might try to see that TfD right now is pretty much a stronghold of deletionists, railroading template after template, ignoring all the finer points of process -- trying to improve the nominated item; giving it a chance to see if it works; speaking (as you did) directly and politely.

A blanked {pfd} is nothing much to fight over, but anyplace is the right place to stand up for sanity. In the black-and-white world of the deletionist fanatic, any "delete" is a delete, and finer points are ignored. Will you uphold the route you took, and work toward a more congenial atmosphere on TfD? &mdash; Xiong &#29066; talk 05:04, 2005 Apr 26 (UTC)
 * (First time I posted this it came out in stiff academic-speak with a whiff of fuck-you-sir. Didn't mean that.) I'd rather not get more deeply involved in TfD. In general I don't think templates are as central to Wikipedia as you seem to. My contribution to congeniality is just to try to be congenial, or at least civil. FreplySpang (talk) 18:31, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You misjudge me, Sir -- especially if you feel I don't appreciate your ability to disagree civilly. The pleasure is mine.

I do not think templates are central to Wikipedia, not in the sense that the content they provide is key to mainspace content. Templates are part of the engine that pulls the train, but they are no more interesting than the boiler room of the RMS Titanic -- at least, until they break, and the ship starts to list. Even so, the work done by a template is never essential; any user with a clipboard can copy-and-paste to his heart's content. Templates merely make work easier on humans. Since I am a toolmaker by birth and by trade, I naturally gravitate toward template construction. But I never fool myself into believing they are important in themselves.

However, the way in which templates are managed is disgraceful, and this is as good a place as any to get out the mop and bucket. TfD is a deletionists' haven, and the process is corrupt on several levels ranging from pure technical foolishness right up to outright defiance of our foundation issues.

There is plenty of work to be done around here and if this is not your cup of tea, I respect that. But we need members able to pull out the "stiff academic-speak with a whiff of fuck-you-sir" -- we need them desperately, so long as they remain intellectually honest. I should not like to see you absent from a strong moral position on due process within TfD. &mdash; Xiong &#29066; talk 07:28, 2005 Apr 29 (UTC)

Sir or Madam as the case may be
Just looked over your user page. I have no idea what your position is on such things, but I assure you my use of the honorific is entirely gender-neutral. &mdash; Xiong &#29066; talk 07:32, 2005 Apr 29 (UTC)

Request for info
FreplySpang, to you, too, as I just wrote this Baronlarf:
 * BaronLarf, Please post on the Jeb Bush discussion page a list of all the words, phrases you find objectionable and you think should be changes, so I can know what you are talking about specifically. Thanks. SummerFR 09:02, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Testing on Wikipedia?
Freply, what passage are you talking about? I'm a new user at wikipedia but I haven't been testing with the discussion page.

Listen smartass
Fuck off you motherfucking douchebag. I bet you're a member of the Order of DeMolay like Lucifer and Adolf Eichmann!
 * So nice to know someone out there appreciates me. DeMolay doesn't want me, for a large number of reasons. FreplySpang (talk) 17:52, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)