User talk:MER-C/archives/26

Counterculture of the 1960sLearner001 (talk) 22:22, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
MERC-C, could you please review the edits on this page since your last reversion edit? Thanks in advance!Learner001 (talk) 22:22, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

WT:MILHIST
In order to attempt to keep FPC from turning into some huge hive of fucking idiocy, I have informed WP:MILHIST about the U.S. Grant image, and told them exactly what I think of the FPC process. Deal with it, I'm tired of the utter stupidity rampant at FPC. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk)
 * And for that matter, everywhere. WT:NOT has people arguing that if over 50% of a widely-participated RFC vote that, on principle, WP:NOT should not deal with plot summaries, then you should clearly rewrite the thing to make it far stronger than it was. And dont' get me started about that new woo-wiki who decided to make pages bashing and outing all skeptics of alternative medicine, including me. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 19:19, 7 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Looking at this fresh, after a night of sleep, I'm afraid I still agree with all the above. FPC is absolutely overwhelmed with stupidity. I'm really tempted to inform relevant Wikiprojects as a rule until sufficient sane people are brought in. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 09:39, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * FPC can be irrational sometimes. You would make headway against the concerns (I'm not commenting on their validity) if Thure de Thulstrup existed. I'd say it would have a good chance if you let it be for a while (a month or so) then come back with the article created.


 * Oh, and nothing beats the date delinking nonsense when it comes to stupidity. MER-C 13:01, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Are you mad? :-D
? Well spotted on that bug, but for the love of god why did you then go copying oversighted material (or at least material that's supposed to be oversighted) onto VPT? Did you see some of the usernames that were notably absent from the ipblock list? "X is a student at Y", "X's phone number is Z", these usernames have been hidden with the hideuser permission, which oversighters have access to when blocking users. It automatically suppresses the username in all edits and log actions, deletes their userpage and talk page, and hides them in ListUsers and IPBlockList, as you noted. Everywhere, except, it appears, the block log. So thanks for spotting that, don't get me wrong. I'll file a bug PDQ. But when dealing with oversighted content, please do think twice (at least, preferably three times :D) about posting it in public places. That edit will probably itself have to be oversighted. Happy‑melon 10:55, 16 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I need a forum where I can discuss these matters with technically inclined people to diagnose a problem I know very little about. I don't use IRC and I don't think arbcom are technically inclined enough. VPT is the most obvious choice.
 * At least on wiki it can be zapped after the sanity check. :) I've emailed oversight. MER-C 11:19, 16 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Hmm... Sorry if I snapped at you, I had to get the post in before you saw my "manual archiving" revert and thought "vandalism" (and the revert before google came along and spidered it :D).  So I may have come over a bit harsh, sorry if that was the case.  As I said, well done and thanks for spotting that leak in the site's Oversight mechanism; I'm investigating on my test wiki and I'll file a bug once I've identified what the problem actually is (I think it's when a vandal username is blocked by a non-oversighter, and then the user is reblocked to hide the username; the original block entry is not hidden). Happy‑melon 11:36, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

PDFs
Hi, I've seen that you commented a few times on Wikipedia talk:Books and also know you're quite an active user on the English Wikipedia. Because of this I wanted to ask you if you know why the "PDF Version" button from the toolbox doesn't work. Whenever I ask for the PDF version of an article it gives me an error saying that "The POST request to http://pdf1.wikimedia.org:8080/mw-serve/ failed (Empty reply from server)". Is this just for me or does the error occur for everyone? Do you know when it might be solved? Thanks! Diego_pmc Talk 14:50, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
 * . WP:VPT is the place for these things. MER-C 03:35, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Rob Roy
What the hell? Super-majority in support now equals not promoted? Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 03:57, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * You're counting votes. I considered the arguments - depicting the back of characters' heads isn't very enc. MER-C 04:01, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Depicting a key scene in the book, as produced by a major artist isn't encyclopedic? A scene furthermore used on the page on the Engraving family? Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 04:03, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * You didn't say that in the nomination, so how would I know? It might have enc in Dalziel Brothers but it is overflowing with images. MER-C 04:14, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I'd rather not explain major plot spoilers in detail on FPC. It's considered polite. Seriously, if you want to debate how major the scene is, fine. But if you're just going to declare that the people who made the book were incompetent, they had no idea what scenes were important, and that only scenes where the face is fully visible count, then I think we have a major problem here that kills literature noms.
 * By all means, ask for more input, state that objections need to be dealt with, or the thing will be closed as not promoted, or let it stay open a little longer to have a consensus arise. But it just makes the process look completely arbitrary if you're going to overrule votes in ignorance of the subject itself. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 04:17, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Look, I don't think that it's asking for too much to say that if you're going to overrule, you state your reason, and give a day or two for replies, particularly if you don't know the subject. Otherwise, it just makes FPC look bad, and makes things very frustrating for people putting a lot of time and money into getting works for Wikipedia in order, in part, to try and make rare works more accessible, not just buried quietly as a thumbnail somewhere that most peole won't know to click on.

It's also a basic courtesy to explain what's going on to the nominator Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 04:46, 17 May 2009 (UTC)


 * sigh* Look, MER-C, you generally do a good job, but you really need to explain yourself. Nasty surprises, unexplained and unmentioned over-rulings of the votes, and the like just make people really frustrated at FPC. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 05:12, 17 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Apologies for the delay, some IRL stuff got in the way. You could just have a spoiler warning and put one of those hidey navboxes around it... or maybe not. 718smiley.svg You could also have discussed the concerns.


 * If a picture doesn't help someone who is unfamiliar with the subject understand the subject matter, then it shouldn't be featured. This was the case.


 * I am approachable here and will provide reasons if asked nicely. But people rarely ask. I'll change the outcome to no consensus - nominations with 2/3 in support aren't guaranteed to succeed and haven't been for several months. MER-C 06:51, 17 May 2009 (UTC)


 * MER-C, it's a scene from a novel. You could make the same justification about any scene from any play, novel, opera, whatever. How do you expect the image to illustrate the brooding atmosphere of the work? The plot's about conspiracies and intrigues. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 07:51, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * In those nominations you gave an act/scene number (in fact, I remember a nomination almost failing for not providing one). Our literature FPs tend to say, "this is a specific (important) scene, this is what it looks like", or "these are some characters, here is an artist's rendition/caricature". This one seems to do neither. Some advice: is the book divided into chapters? Providing a chapter reference (not a page number, they can vary between editions and is meaningless for online books) would help reviewers assess the accuracy/enc.


 * I am thinking of cutting up the culture, entertainment and lifestyle part of WP:FP to include a specific section on literary and theatrical works. What should I call it? MER-C 13:15, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Lomatium
Please see Durova's comment. You actions, striking other people's votes, are a massive violation of WP:Talk. This kind of action does have consequences, and I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision. NW ( Talk ) (How am I doing?) 20:57, 21 May 2009 (UTC)
 * NW, that was me. Please see here for my explanation. I thought I was doing a good/fair thing..? wadester16 | Talk→ 03:56, 22 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah, oops. Let me apologize then. I saw that it was you who had closed the discussion and assumed that you were the one to strike it. Wadester, I replied on WT:FPC. NW ( Talk ) (How am I doing?) 04:07, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

MIRV FPC
I was unaware that the MIRV pic had been suspended from promotion until the said concerns could be addressed. At any rate, I would like to know what the appropriate amount of time to wait before renomination would be, as I intend to locate someone who can edit .svg images to fixes the problems asap. TomStar81 (Talk) 22:49, 23 May 2009 (UTC)
 * If concerns have been addressed, then you can renominate at any time. MER-C 04:06, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Are you sure?
Well that's weird.

I created this nom by choosing the 'Portrait' option: Featured picture candidates/Sikh pilgrim at Harmandir Sahib

According to your figures that should have a width of 260px. But here's an edit to show how it looks at a hard-coded 260px: Sikh pilgrim at Harmandir Sahib at 260px

That's a pretty big difference in actual size.

I based my 350px on a guess, because when that nom was running a nearby nom had a hard-coded 350px image that came up at a similar size on the FPC page. --jjron (talk) 14:15, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * To be fair I wasn't quite sure what the directions wanted when making the nom, but if I remember correctly (it was about 3 weeks ago) I just deleted the text there and typed in Landscape (sorry, yes it was landscape, it was pretty late when I typed that last night, but my comment here verifies that selection). Anyway, I spose my point at the closure discussion was that it does give bigger images in most cases, and that does seem to be true. --jjron (talk) 06:18, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Quick Question
Message for MER-C  1 June 2009

Hey MER-C

I noticed that you have deleted our links from a couple of water related Wikipedia pages (handpumps, water treatment, rainwater harvesting). Sorry to hear that you feel our site is spam. I'm not sure if you've taken the time to look properly at our site - WaterSanitationHygiene.org. You'll see that we not only host technical information on rainwater harvesting but a whole host of important areas such as water treatment, water drilling, handpumps, water quality testing. Our target audience is the NGO community. I've modified a number of the links so that it takes Wikipedia viewers straight to more detailed ad relevant material based on the Wikipedia page (rather than our general technical resources page). I've actually been a Water University Researcher for 10 years and this is my collection of probably the most relevant materials for water on the web. When I upload my sanitation and hygiene techical materials in the following weeks this will be the largest collection of resources for water professionals working in developing countries on the web - an extremely important resource.

Let me know if you would like to discuss this further.

Cheers

Janetheintern (talk) 11:18, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Spam is a behaviour problem, not a content problem. The links were removed because they were spammed (added in bulk), not because they are spam. When we have to revoke someone's editing privileges in order to stop them adding links, it is a big problem. MER-C 11:37, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Hey MER-C

Thanks for the quick reply. The links are obviously not spam (our Google Analytics are showing that on average visitors from Wikipedia is finding relevant content on our site - 7m15s average time on our rainwater harvesting pages from the rainwater harvesting Wikipedia page and 6mins:35s average time on our handpump pages from the Hand pump Wikipedia page). Would you recommend adding these links over a couple of days (rather then in a 10 minute succession) and adding comments to the talk page - so they don't trigger the spam filter?

Thanks in advance for the support.

Cheers

Janetheintern (talk) 12:56, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * You don't get it - the whole point of linkspamming is to drive traffic to a site, raising its PageRank in the process. The problem is that that particular IP has done nothing but add links despite being warned twice not to do so. No, that will only see the site blacklisted. The best course of action is to do nothing - if an established editor feels your site is of any value then he/she will add it. MER-C 13:08, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Hey MER-C

Firstly being a newbie around here we didn't realize that we were getting any warnings. Secondly, we are well aware that Wikipedia in addition to most forum sites on the web these days use the "no follow" tag. This isn't about PageRank - it's about helping an individual who arrives at Wikipedia go on to find more in-depth technical material. If you could actually be bothered to take a look at the site you would quickly realise that this is a differnt case - and the site has very relevant additional technical materials for the water and sanitation sector. I think it's a sad day when individuals administrating wikipedia can't take the time to see the difference between spam and valid additional technical material that advances science and knowledge.

Cheers

Janetheintern (talk) 13:59, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * This is not about the content of your site. Linkspam is the systematic addition of links to any site (regardless of content) - and the IP's editing patterns fits the profile.


 * You should have noticed a yellow box at the top of all pages. As for warnings, first warning, addition, another addition, second warning, yet another addition, block. If you didn't see the box, then that's a bug. MER-C 08:33, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Closure request
Would you ming closing this?  wadester 16  04:40, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Why would that be? (Just curious). I'll deal with it tomorrow. MER-C 13:54, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Mainly because it's really close, leaning support, but I don't think it should pass. Should I fail it having garnered support, especially since I reopened it, I will most likely get my head re-bitten off. You're good with the judgement calls.  wadester 16  15:09, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

National Highway Template
Can you show how to do it ? I am new to svg editing. it will help for us WP:INR--Naveenpf 11:38, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Help:Vector graphics tutorial MER-C 11:42, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * that too much for me :P --Naveenpf 11:54, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * All you need to do take File:National highway 1.svg, change the one to some other number then save as the appropriate file name. Repeat for all routes. Easy to do, but as I said, it's very boring. Once you have uploaded all 100 or so images, then edit Template:Indian highways routebox to replace with National highway .svg (or whatever). MER-C 12:11, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * something like in the last comment is wat i need.SVG_Help/Archive_1--Naveenpf 12:23, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * That's not possible at the moment. MER-C 12:26, 4 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Then how they passing these lat and long

--Naveenpf 13:55, 4 June 2009 (UTC)


 * What that does is overlay the text (Mumbai) onto a blank image. It is not part of the image itself (which is what you want, I guess). MER-C 06:43, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Closing Wizard
Any idea when I can get access to that? I've noticed you haven't closed a nom yet this month - which is perfectly fine - but if most of the responsibility is going to be placed on my shoulders, the automated tools would be appreciated. Not sure if you're still working on this or not, though. Thanks.  wadester 16  21:18, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Uni exams, I'll see what I can do on Friday. MER-C 03:45, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * No problem. I forgot the US has such earlier exams from most other western countries.  wadester 16  04:04, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, because MER-C is from the US and everything :P Noodle snacks (talk) 04:11, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Eh-hem, sir... my exams were in mid-May. All you people with accents seem to wait till June. For what? To waste part of summer? :-)  wadester 16  04:14, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Gahh... it's winter there. And here I was trying to sound smart. So much for that plan...  wadester 16  17:26, 22 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Facepalm.jpg MER-C 04:39, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Claim about you
FYI: I see you are mentioned at User talk:Jimbo Wales. While I'm here, I have to say thanks for all your great anti-spam work! Johnuniq (talk) 04:41, 28 June 2009 (UTC)


 * MER-C, thanks for the response. I much better understand the approach now. At first it appeared like the responses were just being summarily deleted without explanation (which was only an incomplete part of the story). And, again, thanks for the important work you're doing by assessing potential copyvios. ... Kenosis (talk) 04:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Mathew Day
Hi MER-C. Just letting you know that I changed the speedy deletion on Mathew Day from the A7 you used, to hoax. Because if he truly had saved Russia he would be notable (remember, for CSD A7, claims don't have to be true or sourced). Thanks, and keep up your work - Kingpin13 (talk) 11:56, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Gerry Dee Copyright - File:GERRY DEE POSTER.jpg
Sorry for the confusion with posting the picture. I revised the picture to included the copyright holder's name: Tim Leyes. I followed the directions on the Media Copyright Questions page. I was hoping you can let me know that I did it correctly. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wearepulse (talk • contribs)


 * Not quite. At a minimum, all images must have:
 * A copyright tag. Your image doesn't have this. A list of valid copyright tags is at WP:ICT/All.
 * An image source. Where (what website) did you get the image from?


 * Judging by the EXIF and the file name, this image appears to be non-free content. By "non-free" we refer to the legal freedom we have to copy or modify an image. This has further implications:
 * Non-free images cannot be used in circumstances where they can be replaced easily. One such unacceptable use is illustrating living people, as I (or someone else) can take a free photograph that would serve the same purpose.
 * You need to provide a fair use rationale.


 * Examples of acceptable images are File:Helvellyn Striding Edge 360 Panorama, Lake District - June 09.jpg and File:$10,000 Space from 2007.jpg.


 * We are a free-content project - meaning that anyone can copy or modify Wikipedia's articles, with some provisos - so I hope you'll understand why we make uploading non-free images so hard. MER-C 04:10, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Desiphral
Thank you for taking the time to investigate and post reports on Desiphral (and his many socks) at Administrators' noticeboard and Wikipedia talk:WPSPAM. I had long given up keeping track of his policy violations simply because there were so many of them and because I was getting tired of being called a racist and antiziganist by him and his supporters/sockpuppets. You should be prepared for similar accusations against yourself. —Psychonaut (talk) 16:53, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for letting me know about this. MER-C 06:17, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Paid editing roundup
Per your post on WT:WPSPAM, is there any way to infiltrate this site and find out who these people are trying to promote?  Triplestop  x3  00:42, 5 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Find out who the buyer is by searching Elance for a characteristic string (example for ). Then google it, look for other jobs posted by the buyer, etc.


 * Or you could be evil, register, bid on the request (make sure you lose) and ask what the subject is. If you do this, then you should probably blank this discussion so they can't tell you're a spy. MER-C 02:55, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Another for your list...
, who has this as a gig (it's mentioned on his website, even). --Calton | Talk 14:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Am I truly advertising?
You have accused me of advertising on Wikipedia but you are wrong. I have nothing to gain. I Love Aerial Advertising, it's incredible and there are many different agencies that promote this but I never promote any of these. Is mentioning these the same as promoting them? If so, then why are there tons of articles for other companies and agencies? Video games and books? Movies and several other items? In my article I never once mention that someone should use the services of any Aerial Ad Agency. I was given permission by Arnold Aerial to write about them and use some of their information as a source for my writing. This is in no way advertising. Also with the whole "world wide" issue, I've read tons of articles on Wikipedia that had nothing to do with anything out of that country IE: Film companies, musician's, artist etc. I've been helping out with this article for a while I change what needs to be changed and add what needs to be added. I apologize if the aerial advertising page seems incomplete or as if it is "Advertising" but I'm still working on it. I can accept admins telling me that it is written in a form similar to an advertisement but I cannot accept being accused of advertising. I Love Wikipedia because of all the knowledge it has given me. I'm sorry if I sounded as if I was attacking you I just really want to be a part of Wikipedia. I've read thousands of articles of things I love and things that I have learned to love. Wikipedia has been a big part of my life since my high school days. Wikipedia and all of it's admins are fantastic. All of the information that you have here is absolutely amazing. Please just help me understand what I "should" so. I'm not sure why admin feels so strongly that I am indeed advertising a for of advertising, as funny as that sounds. Also I want to write about and reference a specific ad agency. I'm not sure how to do it. I looked at the Good Year Tire and Rubber Company article but I'm not exactly sure what to incorporate and what not to. I would really appreciate the help and advice. Keep up the great work.

Sincerely, Joey Narvaez —Preceding unsigned comment added by ThreeKingdomsLegend (talk • contribs)


 * The reasons for the accusation are given in the warning - namely I suspect you of accepting money from someone (probably Arnold Aerial) to rewrite aerial advertising because they didn't like the previous paid effort (the link between the article creator and that RentACoder request is obvious - look at the usernames). A spammy article whose editors were paid to create/rewrite that entry = almost certain attempt to abuse Wikipedia for the purposes of advertising, something we don't tolerate. Take, for instance WP:AN. Every single article coming out of the first four accounts is spam and all but one were deleted.


 * In the future, you should follow the conflict of interest guideline, i.e. you should put Wikipedia's interests (e.g. neutral point of view) ahead of any financial interest you may have in your edits. (Of course, I apologise if I am incorrect in this reasoning.) MER-C 04:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Problem accessing Wikiproject Spam archives
Hi - I posted this to the project discussion page last month (June 11) but got no reply, so have posted it there again; thought I'd also try you directly, as your name was prominent on the discussion page there and you look like a competent sort of person :) I'm trying to access the archived discussions page from July 2007 (Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam/2007_Archive_Jul). It keeps coming up a blank page. If I right click and save the page locally, it's all present, but when I try to just click on it and go to it, it comes up empty. June seems OK as does August and random other archived discussion pages. I want to refer someone to a discussion that's archived there but obviously I can't if they can't get to it.  Thanks for anything you can do. --Bookgrrl holler/ lookee here  15:13, 9 July 2009 (UTC)
 * That's because WT:WPSPAM is mainly a self-service venue. Anyway, the solution is to split the archives by entering the edit URL directly (probably won't do this myself because my combination of hardware and drivers causes Firefox to crash on large pages, taking X11 with it). MER-C 04:05, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
 * OK, am trying to split it. Have successfully removed the second half of the page and resaved.  Am now attempting to create new subpage for the second half but I keep getting errored out because of this: "The spam filter blocked your page save because it detected a blacklisted hyperlink. You will need to remove any instance of the blacklisted link in your text addition before you can save the page."  Well duh -- there are dozens of spamlinks because the page is all about spam.  What do I do to force a save so I can put the rest of the archive back?  Thanks. --Bookgrrl holler/ lookee here  03:33, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
 * It says what site was blacklisted, so what you do is find and remove all links to that site. Repeat until you can save the page. Pushing up to FC11 fixed the annoying large page bug, so I have completed the split after three "green screen of death" errors. MER-C 04:27, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your help :) Bookgrrl holler/ lookee here 11:16, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

WP:FP
Did some promotions, but some of the thumbnails aren't thumbnailing. If this persists, can you kick some stewards into fixing the problem? Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 20:22, 12 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Also, any chance of the scripts? I must be way over the number by now. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 20:30, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
 * There are problems with the image server, see WP:VPT. As for the wizard, I can has example closings plz? (I haven't been following the recently closed section on a consistent basis lately.) I won't get back to you until the 19th due to a short excursion. MER-C 04:48, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Bembix sp. Tanzania Featured picture candidates/Laothoe populi mating pair Featured picture candidates/Mount Rushmore, South Dakota Featured picture candidates/Charles IX of France, by François Clouet

Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 20:02, 13 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Sure. I will send you a yencoded file (most likely) tomorrow through Special:Emailuser (blame MW not handling attachments). MER-C 10:32, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

FPs
I've just did a review of most of the categories, reshuffling the images a bit to add a couple new ones (We should hopefully stop getting theatrical and literary images everywhere now that we have individual categories for them!), and re-evaluating things to fix silliness. I believe you have a tool to check whether all things labelled as FP are in the FP pages. Can you run it?

I have used all care, but it doesn't hurt to play it safe. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 04:46, 13 July 2009 (UTC)


 * The tool checks images in FPT that are not tagged as a FP, not whether they are used in FP galleries, so this will have to be done manually :(. Notes:

Diagrams: -2, theatre +1, aviation +1

Urban: -2 Other +2


 * Everything is accounted for. MER-C 08:47, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Excellent! Thanks! There's getting to be enough FPs that expanding the number of cats makes sense (particularly when it mkes it easier for closers), but having someone check your work helps, particularly when it's this far-reaching. =) Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 18:57, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam/Paid_editing
That paid editor spammer is trying to play the victim... just though that you might want to see that.  Triplestop  x3  21:15, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

FPC closings
Would you mind these? One I nom'ed and the other I feel I was too involved in to close. Many thanks,  wadester 16  05:54, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Some other people also appreciate your efforts

 * Just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the work you've done and do here. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:51, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Awesome, thanks. MER-C 10:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Spam Page Deletion
I'd like to ask you for advice as I'm still a junior member. I've been very active on the Miscellany for deletion for the past few days as I try to learn about Wikipedia and join new projects often. I've just taken a closer look at your templates and links and I have to admit your work is very impressive. You ideas for finding vandalism are very efficient. It's great we have people like you here. I've made a brief search using your engine and found hundreds of pages advertising stuff. What should I do now? In my opinion, taking it to the discussion page is totally inefficient as it will take years to discuss all this spam. However, I guess that's what is done here. Should I start putting several spam pages for discussion every day now? Should I leave it all alone - but in that case - why do we have those discussions anyway? Can't an Admin delete all those pages quickly? Thanks in advance and keep up the awesome work. OutOfTimer (talk) 14:41, 23 July 2009 (UTC)


 * We use both approaches you describe - certain pages can be deleted on sight, while others require discussion.


 * Recipe: Tag the obviously spammy ones with db-spam. Check to see whether the content is copied from somewhere else (google a sentence or two), and if it is, tag with db-copyvio. Look at the user's contributions - have they contributed positively to the encyclopedia, or are they an active user? If not, send it to MFD. Check their upload log for vanity pics and add them to the MFD nomination. If in doubt, send it to MFD.


 * In time, you will learn what, in practice, can and can't be deleted and what can be deleted without discussion. MER-C 04:52, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Battus philenor
Please see my update at Featured picture candidates/Battus philenor. Thanks! Kaldari (talk) 22:33, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

FP for Stockdale
I attempted to clean up the image a little so could you check this out File:420px-James Stockdale Formal Portait alt.jpg and tell me if its any better. I can't do much about the resolution (although I can change it to pcx or other format where it doesn't matter as much). I also can't do much about the other comment about the shoulders being cut off but maybe this one is ok. --Kumioko (talk)
 * Need full res picture to tell whether noise is fixed. There is nothing you can do about the lack of detail in the medals (which is what I meant by resolution), so the oppose stands. MER-C 08:26, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Got it thanks, for what its worth you probably won't see me much around the FP's for a while. I have already submitted all the pics that had a chance at making it regarding the Medal of Honor recipients. I have been working on getting the National Archives, Navy and USMC to get me some better ones or rescanning some of these and I may submit a couple to the photshop here in the hopes that someone will fix them up but other than that there isn't much I can do. I don't really have the skill set in image manipulation to restore them myself and most of these pictures where taken pre digial days so they will take a bit of work. --Kumioko (talk) 08:49, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Java file upload encoding issue
Just in case you haven't seen: User talk:MER-C/Wiki.java. --Magnus Manske (talk) 13:20, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

FPC Delist nom
Hi. Will you take a look at ? As you can see, I asked User:M.K about it and he's been unable to find the permission for it. I'm not too knowledgeable on all this permission stuff, and I think you are, so maybe you can figure out what happens now for that picture and the nom. Thanks. Makeemlighter (talk) 07:08, 10 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Tagged. The nomination will go away by itself when the image is deleted. MER-C 10:41, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Still not an admin?
I have been away for a while and am disappointed you have not seeked to get the mop in your hand. 137.154.16.31 (talk) 05:46, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

category namespace
Do you have the same bug with JWBF and the category namspace ? Thanks. --Pixeltoo (talk) 15:35, 18 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Which is...? Note that fetching pages in a category in a certain namespace is broken on Wikimedia because of r53052, and the fix r53304 isn't live yet. It should fix itself on the next scap (whenever that is). MER-C 08:41, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Possible copyright issue
If I remember right, you are involved with copyright-questionable images. I came across this, which shows a work done by the Toronto Zoo, and is a photograph just to show the work in its entirety. No licensing information is given about the sign itself. I assume this is infringement, but wasn't sure where to go (never reported a copyvio for an image before). What do you think and where should I report this in the future?  wadester 16  16:57, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Already on PU[IF]: Possibly unfree files/2009 August 20, where it should belong. MER-C 08:06, 20 August 2009 (UTC)
 * K, thanks.  wadester 16  01:32, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Closing request
Hi MER-C. If you get a chance in the next few days, will you close ? I think all of the people who have been closing noms lately are involved in it. Thanks. Makeemlighter (talk) 04:25, 6 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I was going to close that when I've got time (I haven't actually voted), but am happy for you to do so. --jjron (talk) 13:25, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Closing
Glad you got my 'subtle' hint. I don't mind doing it a bit, but tend to lose interest and aren't always available. And without someone 'overseeing' it on an ongoing basis things tend to go awry. --jjron (talk) 13:21, 6 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed.  upstate NYer  16:10, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Paid writer spam
Hello, I just came across this guy,, a user who was previously banned for paid spamming. Is there any way to find out what his current Wikipedia username is?  Triplestop  x3  19:45, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Wait and see if he wins anything. Then try to find out what articles were created as a result of that job. I don't think checkuser data lasts that long. MER-C 02:44, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Is there any way to determine what the subject is if it is not disclosed on the project info? Eg  Triplestop   x3  00:32, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Third result for "harding family law" is http://www.hardinglaw.com/AttorneyProfile.html, which matches with the user profile. The trick is knowing what to google, you may have to use key words in the job description too. MER-C 07:28, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. Anyways you may be interested in Sockpuppet_investigations/Desiphral. That Tayzen user is at it again, and I am having trouble uncovering who this user is right now. Help investigating is appreciated. thanks,  Triplestop  x3  20:16, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Richard Marx 2008 photo
Just wanted to let you know that you can take the speedy deletion tag off the photo. There was an issue that came up about a year ago when the photo was uploaded and the situation was taken care of between the uploader and one of the admins during that time. Jeremy (talk) 10:23, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
 * The problem is there is no proof Nels Israelson agreed to release the file under a free license or any indication of where the image actually came from. We need one of these to verify the copyright status of the file. MER-C 14:15, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Then email the webmaster of http://www.richardmarx.com and explain to her the problem so that she can get it fixed. Thank you. Jeremy (talk) 22:14, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

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Richard Marx photo
Did you email the webmaster with an explaination of the problem like I said you should? Jeremy (talk) 11:27, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject Java and Portal
I recently posted the following text on this sexy page regarding the creation of a new computing-related project in Wikipedia:

'WikiProject Java is a Wikipedian community that aims to better organize information in articles related to the Java programming language and its platform.
 * If I'm cor-rec-to, there are about 900 articles on Java technology in Wikipedia, which may be more than ALL other programming languages articles combined...
 * At least, it's more than for C++, and there IS a C++ WikiProject...
 * And it's MUCH more than the .NET WikiProject with 82 articles...
 * There is also a Python project and a Ruby project so...
 * Now you can also see a proposal for the Java Portal (temp location).'

Please support this initiative, <font color="#4590ff" size="3"> AlainR345 <font color="#ffb000" size="2"> TechnoWikiGeek 07:31, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

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I just got a message saying I was spamming, Someone must be using my I.P because i've never made any edit apart from a spelling edit.

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AfD nomination of Dragonfly Forest
An editor has nominated Dragonfly Forest, an article which you have created or worked on, for deletion. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe that the article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion and has explained why in his/her nomination (see also "What Wikipedia is not").

Your opinions on whether the article meets inclusion criteria and what should be done with the article are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes ( ~ ).

You may also edit the article during the discussion to address the nominator's concerns but should not remove the articles for deletion template from the top of the article; such removal will not end the deletion debate. Thank you. -- Eastmain (talk) 17:22, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

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AfD nomination of Hawaii Theological Seminary
An article that you have been involved in editing, Hawaii Theological Seminary, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Articles for deletion/. Thank you.Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. Ἀλήθεια 22:12, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Funny Comment
Thanks for letting me know that there is humor even in serious wiki discussions. For this I award you: