User talk:Mike Dillon/Archive 2007

Thank you
Thank you for helping me with the CSS for my page, where I wanted the personal message colour changed to that lighter tone. I wonder whether it works - do I have it accurate? Bobo. 07:00, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Mike Dillon said: The CSS at User:Bobo192/monobook.css looks fine for the background-color, but there is no attribute called "text-color"; it is simply "color". You may need to bypass your cache to see the changes.

I knew I had remembered to bypass my cache, that was one of the first things that crossed my mind, but changing the attribute may well have helped it. We'll see. I've just hard-refreshed it through and it should work now. Thank you. Bobo. 14:26, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Protection paranoia...
I read the conversation at User talk:Misza13. It looks like we may have to live with the protection of WikiProject California. If the template needs editing, we just have to add that edit request tag, or bug one of the SoCal admins like Will Beback. I'm pretty close to deciding that I'll run for admin as well, so that'll be one more person who can edit it.

I'm getting closer to what I think the final version of the template should be like. Then I'll talk things over with you to get your views. Then we can make all the changes at once. [Some of the other WikiProjects have templates that are soooo complicated, which I think should be avoided.]

I'm going to try to get a bot run to convert most of the Southern California articles from WikiProject California to WikiProject Southern California, which will make the template a less vandal-tempting target. That should drop the number of articles with the template by probably a third. BlankVerse 01:11, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

California flag
I put a response to my change of colors. Pretty much, I was following the Pantone colors the CA Guard gave out, but I used Adobe Photoshop as my guide. (I personally own California flags and the ones I have are pretty dark in color with the text in black). User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 23:05, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

re: NavFrame JavaScript
Increasing performance never (well, almost never) sounds like a bad idea. Is the new code finished, I couldn't find it quickly on the talk page? —Ruud 13:54, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Re this Village Pump (technical) query
Hi Mike, Thanks for your input and my apologies for not managing to respond there more quickly. I left a list of the Firefox add-ons I currently have installed and was about to start disabling them one by one to see if/when the diacritics problem disappeared – if, that is, you reckon it's likely to be an add-on problem...? Regards, David Kernow (talk) 15:06, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

...Just to let you know that the culprit was the Redirect Remover add-on; thankfully, its recent update has solved the problem (this Village Pump (technical) query]). Thanks for pointing me in its direction, David (talk) 10:42, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Arcata
Not so much because I think the link is very interesting, but I would like to know why you removed the link to humbolpedia on this page? Thanks!--al95521 20:29, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the response and the info. I think there is some merit to the site and will remain open minded to possible link in the future.  I agree, that with the sole aim of increasing search engine ranking, the site may have little specific relvence.--al95521 06:46, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Your opinion on a license - screenshot of a Library of Congress map circa 1854
Mike, I was doing some research on another matter and stumbled on the following Library of Congress URL:


 * Map showing the location of Sacramento Valley Railroad, Cal. Sacramento, Septr., 1854; T.D. Judah, Chief Engineer. - Library of Congress link showing historic photo of 1854 sketch; From Report of the Chief Engineer of the Preliminary Surveys and Future Business of the Sacramento Valley Railroad (Sacramento, Democratic State Journal, 1854).

If I read their page about rights correctly, this map sketch was drawn before 1922 with its rights expired. I clicked on the map and got a decent size picture that I did a screenshot of. I would like to upload the map to Wiki Commons for use in the Sacramento Valley Railroad article (and indicated on its talkpage, that URL as a source.

Do you know what the best licensing I should use? Every time I think I have this figured out, I get tripped up. Another editor deleted one screenshot I did and I want to get this right. Thanks, Ronbo76 16:10, 28 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Cool. I will upload it now into my Wiki commons account. I did just the map and it looks decent for being a sketch. Ronbo76 17:49, 28 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It's on the article Sacramento Valley Railroad now! Thanks for your help! It's Mickey D time - I'm loving it! Ronbo76 18:06, 28 January 2007 (UTC)


 * By the way, you are welcome to use it in any articles you think appropriate. Ronbo76 18:07, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Norwegian phonology
I've already suggested a split of "Sound system" from the Norwegian language article on the talk page. Hopefully it'll happen, so feel free to share your opinions on the matter. -- Wiki wøw  21:08, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

TfD nomination of Template:Manhattan Streets
Template:Manhattan Streets has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. --talk to Ytny 02:39, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

ParserFunctions
Re: Village_pump_(technical) Didn't know it was an extension, I had automatically assumed it came with the MediaWiki suite of tools. Thanks for all your help! The infobox works great now. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kareeser (talk • contribs) 18:54, 4 February 2007 (UTC).

Sure . . . sorry
Sure, Mike. . . not trying to be confusing. I figured that people would respond where they felt most comfortable, and then their thoughts could be collected. Trying to direct Wikipedians is a bit of an oxymoron! You know, like herding cats, etc. Thanks for pointing out a potential source of confusion! btw, you have any thoughts on the questions on the table?Spamreporter1 16:13, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks on another front
Thanks also for letting me know about WP:COUNCIL which I was unaware of - that seems like a useful place to know about. If you don't mind, I'm afraid I didn't quite follow your train of thought inyour comment about the potential role of WP:COUNCIL in an interesting question like this WikiProject tag issue? If you're interested, could you fill me in on a bit of the background of WP:COUNCIL and what's its role is? If you're too busy - I understand! Thanks again! Spamreporter1 16:35, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks
Thanks for notifying me of that little problem, I'm now fixing it, thanks. .ιΙ  I n hu man 14  Ιι. ( talk 15:12, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Acanthomintha duttonii
Sorry to mess up the references, but its hard to work around them and easer for me to add them back when I am done. They greatly add to the discontinuity of the information and I am easily thrown off by the odd text in a sentence. I do not have any more time to work on this page though there is a lot more that could be added, so you can clean it up, since I am genraly new at this and formatting the page is not my strong suit. Hardyplants 03:04, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Mike, from California Gold Rush
Thanks, Mike, for lending a hand on protecting this article from vandals! NorCalHistory 07:17, 14 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Mike, it's currently 08:15 UTC (or so), and I'm fading faster than I thought. You may be the last person up who's knowledgeable about the California Gold Rush FA on the Main page.  If you're still going to be up, perhaps you could keep an extra eye open for it.  I hope to be back on patrol in about 6-7 hours.  NorCalHistory 08:16, 14 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You were the second one I awarded. NorCalHistory got the first I awarded. He mentioned them on my talkpage and I got to thinking about you and your efforts. You indeed are welcomed, and I thank you sincerely for what you have taught me. Ronbo76 06:04, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Image:WPNC.svg
What did you use to make Image:WPNC.svg? - Patricknoddy 15:48, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I am doing a collection of maps of U.S. states totally blue, I started by erasing the words in the image, see here:

I am using The GIMP. - Patricknoddy 15:56, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

WP:CAL
Thanks for all of the help that you've done for WP:SOCAL, and Southern California articles in general.

As for my current state of mind and my opinion of the Wikipedia, see my user page, and some of my most recent contributions.  Blank Verse  15:58, 20 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Would you be kind enough to post of note of encouragement on the talk page of BlankVerse(and perhaps encourage others to do so)? He's a valuable contributor who's done a lot, who's energy and common sense are missed. Spamreporter1 16:29, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Script modification
Can you tell me how to modify the current "wgArticlePath.Replace" so that it will link to external sources? ~ St ep tr ip 02:44, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Link Script
Thank you so much, I don't know the first infinitesimal thing about JavaScript, however, I'm going to have to make a sub-subpage for all the times that I copied that code ; ). ~ <font family="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" color="#FF0000">St <font family="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" color="#FFD700">ep <font family="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" color="#7CFC00">tr <font family="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" color="#00FFFF">ip 02:33, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Forward -> Template help
Hey Mike, can you help User:KGV out with this request:

"I am currently working on another wikiproject banner in my sandbox here. I am having some trouble:
 * 1) I am doing a section about book classification (children's books, picture books etc). In one classification, picture books. The word pic outside of the banner as shown here:

You can see the word pic' on the top left corner.
 * 1) Also I am trying to make a ??? line for the classification when the type isn't type in yet as well but it don't work. Please help. You could edit the template here. Thanks a lot. KGV 09:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)"

- Thanks a bunch, Jh12 18:16, 24 February 2007 (UTC)


 * No problem, good luck with the move!! --Jh12 02:49, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes thank you KGV 05:42, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Lothlorien
Mike - thank you for rescuing the Lothlorien article from its AfD. Recently, Sherman Hall (University of California, Berkeley) was deleted, and the argument was raised that the other co-op house articles ought to be deleted. I actually kind of agree with that, and have been preparing a revised USCA page which has the relevant house information for all the houses, leaving out some of the unencyclopedic cruft which is present. Finding your Lothlorien page was useful.

Anyway, I was wondering which current or former house articles I should try to exclude from the big mass AfD, once I get the revised article completed. My thoughts are to save Cloyne and Barrington, as the most notable of the houses; most of the rest of them are doomed to be permastubs. Do you see any others which really ought to be left alone, considering that Loth and Sherman were deleted? Αργυριου (talk) 04:45, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

User:Mike Dillon/Lothlorien Hall
Do you still need the contents of User:Mike Dillon/Lothlorien Hall? It's been sitting there for several months without being edited. Hosting deleted content indefinitely in userspace violates the "Wikipedia is not a free web host" policy, so if you have no further need of it I can delete it. --Sam Blanning(talk) 11:10, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Please check if I have added the script properly
diff. Thank you for your time. S. Miyano 05:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

<div style="float:center;border-style:solid;border-color:blue;background-color:AliceBlue;border-width:1px;text-align:left;padding:8px;" class="plainlinks">

has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling to someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Bakersfield, California
Mike, you know anything about Bakersfield? It is taking some massive edits from an anon IP. Thanks, Ronbo76 02:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
 * BTW, I put some concerns on its talkpage but tonight's POV push on crime is sparking an edit war. Ronbo76 02:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately with some of the wikilinks and citation used, I cannot revert unless it is a direct POV push. I will look at the citation again. If you are sure about it not meeting WP:RS, please post on the talkpage as this will give me leeway. Ronbo76 03:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

thanks for your cat-0 work

 * You're quite welcome. --<font face="arial" color="#8652b9">Kyok <font face="arial" color="#BA55D3">o 04:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Level-0 usercats
Indeed, those five usercats you listed on my talk page are all being discussed for deletion right now on UCFD. en-0 is vehemently protested by some people, but there's definitely a general consensus to speedy the others. I think you got the templates spot on, except for Template:User iso15924/category-intro, which still needs to suppress the 0-level's. We definitely don't want to delete any userboxes. Thank you so much. Xiner (talk, email) 15:26, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Yippee! I think it's a job well done now. Thank you! Xiner (talk, email) 15:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Sure, take your time when replying to this...


 * If I understand you correctly, we have to wait a little bit for all the changes to show up on the affected pages? How do you propose taking care of the faulty language inclusions? It seems to me the only solution there would be to go through those templates one by one? Xiner (talk, email) 15:47, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Ah, ok. Well, I guess it was good that the bot didn't get to touch every category - somehow a lot of them were left out of the job that I'd posted on CFD/Working, and I ended up removing the code from many templates by hand. I could've missed some myself though.
 * Anyway, is there a place we can post this list and ask for outside help? I don't quite fancy going through it again, although it wouldn't be immediately apparent to others either. Xiner (talk, email) 02:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, you should know I'm very happy to hear that. And yes, substituting userboxes is evil. I'm always happy when closing UCFDs and finding templates as the originator. Xiner (talk, email) 14:48, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

thanks
Hey thanks. I understood the intent of PatPeter when he deleted nonexisting categories, but he completely messed up the formatting. As for that User:Sadjhds' vandalism, he wrote a page, several times, at Vicipaedia with the content:

Felix longus looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooongus est.

And for the record, I did warn him in Latin (03:25, 21 Martii 2007 (hist) (diss) Disputatio Usoris:75.27.150.231 (Nova pagina: 'Confiteor, risi... at nisi nugas correxeris, te obstruam. Intellegen?--~) (vertex) [reverti])

Thanks for your reversion of vandalism, and your post on his page. Thanks also for doing the (pardon the pun) thankless job of category sorting. Cheers!--Ioshus (talk) 17:22, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Re: Anaheim Hills protection
Hi there. I temporarily semiprotected the article for a week, which expired on April 9. I suggest to revert and warn users if necessary, and if things pick speed again, request a new protection. -- ReyBrujo 05:08, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Before seeing this or other protection requests I'd already started protecting the redirects. In this instance the user is long past the time for warnings. -Will Beback · † · 05:33, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

French Wikipedia skin
In an answer on my help desk question you said: "Those are done by the rules for .portlet h5 (minus the -moz-border-radius-topright part)." I copied over all the portlet code, but I still don't have the greyish tabs on the menu names. I wonder if we're looking at the same code, because the -moz bit you described is something I haven't come across. What page is the code on you're describing? - Mgm|(talk) 11:54, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks! That worked. Is there some place where I can read what all those codes mean so I can alter the right bit should I want to change the appearance further for myself? Also, do you know if it is possible to alter the text in the tabs on top of the page in my own monobook pages? - Mgm|(talk) 15:20, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Jewish Defense League
thank you for looking into this debate and deleteprotected. my problem is not about concensus but about libel - currently a group is being tagged as terrorist while that very designation is being discussed on the talk page. i'm sure it sounds reasonable to remove/slightly change the libeleous designation until a concensus is actually reached. would appreciate you giving it a second look. Jaakobou 06:11, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

WP:VPT and Whois
Oh! I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say you were wrong or anything. Actually what I was trying to do was post a "me too", and update that things were still broken with Whois. Would it have been clearer if I had matched indent levels? I suppose so. :( It's fixed now. I'm sorry I misspoke. Shenme 04:35, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

"un-wiki"
Your comment at Wikipedia talk:Bots/Approvals group struck me as ... distinctly odd. It's "un-wiki" to point out that hierarchy comes about naturally, and sometimes it's not what you expect?

(In this case: quite a lot of the rows on Wikipedia are due to missing software functions. So many bitter and tiring arguments about administration have been solved by one of our remarkably few developers writing the relevant software. And it's not that the devs are an insular priesthood, we're desperate for new devs - it's that database programming in an underpowered environment where performance must not be affected, in MySQL which is primitive and unhelpful and requires considerable hand-optimisation, in PHP which resembles TRS-80 BASIC, is rather difficult.)

Read The Tyranny Of Structurelessness, one of my favourite essays on emergent hierarchies. Precis: if you pretend there's no hierarchy, one will emerge out of your sight and bite you in the backside. A hierarchy will happen because humans are involved; politics starts with two or more people in a space. When there's 45,000 editors in any given month, it's sometimes amazing anything but politics happens.

Claiming that noticing this is "un-wiki" is not only burying your own head in the sand but insisting others do too. I am quite confident in saying that is a dangerously unhealthy way to work - David Gerard 11:09, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Template:Db-meta
I have reverted it. Oops sorry. I was chasing something which had made several other pages display as db-author when they had not been speedied. Anthony Appleyard 06:32, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks
Mike, thanks for removing the Florida user template cat from my user page. I'm embarrassed that I didn't detect that error long ago. Cheers,  JGHowes <sup style="color:darkblue;">talk  -  13:20, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

revert
Hey Mike, there has been another vandalism to my page. Can you please revert this? http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User%3AJosh_Rocchio&diff=125074937&oldid=117295232? Thanks.--Ioshus (talk) 13:56, 30 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks!--Ioshus (talk) 21:30, 30 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I really don't know what I did to piss this guy off... Thanks for helping out!--Ioshus (talk) 15:24, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar


Best regards Mads Angelbo Talk / Contribs 14:42, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

selective hit counting
Mike, I am a novice Wikipedian and I noticed that you posted on an issue which I have been trying to get info. Although Wikipedia does not have hit counters turned on by default, i have heard that one can easily get this feature to work by editing monobook.php or add it to your CSS stylesheet. This information seems to conflict with the Wiki policy. Also, if it is not at all possible to add the hit counter, could the feature be turned on for a selective time period instead?

The reason that hit counting is important for our set of pages is because many colleagues find it hard to justify investing their time contributing without knowing how many people are accessing the information.

Any feedback would be very appreciated. Best, Airezulian 19:48, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Red Link Removal
I appologize for removing he red link. I do not think that there is anything wrong with the Presidential Act that you mentioned, and I'm sorry for removing it. Happyme22 03:52, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Re: Script redirects
Hi there. Why did you change the redirects for User talk:Mike Dillon/Scripts/easydom.js et al to point to my user talk page? Was it just because User talk:Mike Dillon/Easy DOM didn't exist yet? Mike Dillon 01:04, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes. Redirects to non-existent pages can be speedy deleted, and while I can sort of see why they were pointing there, if I left them alone they would probably end up getting deleted. I figured it was best to point them to a page that did exist. I guess you can just create User talk:Mike Dillon/Easy DOM and point them there; I was considering that, but didn't want to create pages in someone else's userspace. Sorry about that – Gurch 01:08, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Beer styles navbox
Nice navbox ;)

I decided to be the one who would "be bold" and added it to a bunch of beer style pages, although I don't think I got them all. Anyway, there's some renewed discussion about the template, esp. on the subject of possibly reworking the layout, for instance as you had initially suggested by including groupings and listing the styles within those groupings.

Also, this is a very minor point, but I'm not sure if the capitalization of the template title is right, and if it's not, I'm not sure whether simply moving the page would wreak havoc with all sorts of pages that include the template.

Oh, and while I'm writing on this subject -- in case you haven't seen it, I also created a somewhat similar navbox that shows the beers of the world by country/region.

Cheers! --Daniel11 09:20, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Japanese era names
Salut. Qu'est-ce qu'on peut faire?

Your username links from Bendomo's talk page.

He offered a couple of comments about the grunt work I'm currently doing in the series of articles which expand on the Japanese nengō or Japanese era name. Fortuitously, your timely edits having to do with Chōroku led me from his talk page to this one.

Maybe you can help clarify my options in terms of what I might do next. For the past week or so, I've been massaging the articles which are linked to Japanese era name; and you can see Bendomo's comments for yourself by checking out my talk page. His comments have placed me in a happy position because he both under-estimates and over-estimates my sophistication and intentions. On the merely pedestrian level, I was simply massaging the text on each page to make the links work; and these trivial edits in an obscure area captured his curiosity and attention.

On one hand: I was simply trying to make certain that each individual nengō in the 15th-19st century conformed with the list in Japanese era names. And I wanted to do what I could to ensure that whenever anyone entered a plausible nengō without diacriticals, the internal Wikipedia search engine would produce a useable link to an appropriate page. This clearly is a 21st century concern ..., but my plans hope to mature in a direction moving towards the 16th century and further back in time.

On the other hand: I was trying to "fiddle" in advance with what I rather understood as being mere "pigeon holes" in preparation to uploading data from an 1834 French translation of a 1652 Japanese summary of significant events in the reigns of Japanese emperors.

From my perspective, Bendomo's questions about my use of tennō in the nengō-related articles is at once encouraging and on-point. His apparent analysis and perspective underestimates what may be the too-subtle thinking which I would have wanted to underly my long-term planning ... and, regrettably, I know of no other place to explain what I think I'm doing. Perhaps I was simply being too clever by half, but please give me the benefit of the doubt for a moment.

And so, this becomes my first attempt to ask questions in a Wikipedia talk page. I worry (of course) that my prose is too formal for Wikipedia, but there you have it .... Please cut me some slack.

You may not know much about Japanese history or language, but you can appreciate the special problems which arise from a 19th-century French translation of what was probably a Chinese text about a Japanese subject.

From my perspective, Bendomo's observations about "piping" to correct spelling errors in the transciption from Japanese to English is also off-the-mark, but only because he over-values the level of my Wikipedia-related sophistication.

So, I begin to respond to Bendomo by leaving this query for you: What is piping?

More to the point, I don't really care. I just want the links from Japanese era names to each of the "articles" in that longish list to be workable. And I want them to inter-link with each other. I offer no judgement about preferred or less-preferred transpositions or diacritical elaborations. I just want to conform with that presumed Wikipedia standard (which, of course, assumes that each English rendition of each Japanese era name has been standardized) ....

How can I simply go along to get along?

Having said all this: The easy-going flexibility of my stance changes when it comes to discussing my projected uploading of data from an authoritative 19th-century French text (which is itself a translation of Japanese and Chinese versions of an 1652 Japanese text). If you like, you can read for yourself the digitized text of Nipon o daï itsu ran which is today accessible online. At a minimum, even a quick glance at this text will suggest that my enquiries are not really simple or easy. My question for you is open-ended: What do I need to know?

My plan is to use what I learn from you as a foundation for answering the more difficult of the questions Bendomo poses. He suggests that adding -tennō and the Japanese kanjii for an Emperor's name is not a good thing in nengō articles. I think I understand his argument, of course; but I want to dispute it in the context that the Titsingh/Klaproth translation requires ... and in the process, I will learn how better to approach the process of multi-lingual metastasis.

In my view, the mere word "metastasis" converts my time in writing this (and your time in reading this) into something plausibly worthwhile.

In order to better understand what I'm asking, and to better understand why I'm wanting to do over the next six months or so, please consider what I've already done:

Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titisngh Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titsingh

desjima dejima dejima dejima dejima dejima dejima

In this context, I've just begun reading an unlikely Internet book:


 * Siyun-sai Rin-siyo. (1652). Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. [Isaac Titsingh]] avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M.J. Klaproth. Paris. 1834. [Two digitized examples of this rare book have now been made available for online study: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006.]

My current plan is to continue the grunt work of posting some of what I learn from the Annales des empereurs du Japon -- probably in nengō-related and in Tennō-related Wiki-stubs in English and French. I anticipate that this project is likely to take take many more months than I can guess.

At the same time, I'm well along in a slow process of selecting and posting relevant material from Timon Screech's, Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. This book is primarily an edited reprinting of another rare book:


 * Titsingh, Isaac. Mémoires et Anecdotes sur la Dynastie régnante des Djogouns, Souverains du Japon, avec la description des fêtes et cérémonies observées aux différentes époques de l'année à la Cour de ces Princes, et un appendice contenant des détails sur la poésie des Japonais, leur manière de diviser l'année, etc.; Ouvrage orné de Planches gravées et coloriées, tiré des Originaux Japonais par M. Titsingh; publié avec des Notes et Eclaircissemens Par M. Abel Rémusat. Paris (Nepveu), 1820.

A readable copy of this rare book is not yet freely available online; but I see that the copy held by the library of Stanford University was digitized May 22, 2006. In a month or so, I'll probably set aside Screech's book on Titsingh book aside; but I'll probably pick this thread up again when the digitized version of the 1820 original becomes accessible.

I haven't yet decided what to make of the edits I contributed to
 * Keian
 * Genroku
 * An'ei
 * Tenmei
 * Bunsei

I do know that I'm pleased with the Tenmei notes I added to the life of
 * Emperor Kōkaku

Now the question becomes: What next?

Je vous remerci?

[FYI: My username, Ooperhoofd, is a mis-spelling of the Dutch term for the chief of the Dutch East India Company trading post at Dejima island in Nagasaki bay between the years 1641 through 1860 ... which only suggests a part of the reasons I'm interested in Japan.]

Ooperhoofd 07:57, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Piping is using the pipe | character in a link to change the text displayed. For example, in your message you wrote Chōroku . I moved the page from Choroku to Chōroku so there is no need to write Chōroku anymore. You should avoid the pipe and use Chōroku directly. While piping the link text is a solution, it does not address the real problem. That is why I moved Choroku to Chōroku. There are other nengō that should be fixed as well. If my comments are not clear, please feel free to ask me to clarify. By the way, my user name is Bendono (弁殿) with an n, not an m. Bendono 13:46, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The length of your comment was pretty much overwhelming considering that I don't have much interest in this subject. My only interest is from the technical perspective of how Template:Japanese era and Template:Nengo are used and updated. For what it's worth, I think the Bendono's approach is the correct one according to the relevant guideline (Manual of Style (Japan-related articles)). Mike Dillon 02:12, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image (Image:AVBC logo.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:AVBC logo.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

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Great work!
Thanks for helping fix Dr. pda's prose size script!

MediaWiki talk:Standard.css
Hi. Could I ask that you clarify what you mean here. Thanks. Adambro 18:26, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

User:Mike Dillon/Scripts/username.js
FYI, all of the code in your username.js can be reduced down to "wgUserName". Also there are: var skin var stylepath var wgArticlePath var wgScriptPath var wgServer var wgCanonicalNamespace var wgCanonicalSpecialPageName var wgNamespaceNumber var wgPageName var wgTitle var wgAction var wgRestrictionEdit var wgRestrictionMove var wgArticleId var wgIsArticle var wgUserName * var wgUserGroups var wgUserLanguage var wgContentLanguage var wgBreakFrames var wgCurRevisionId

Prodego <sup style="color:darkgreen;">talk  04:13, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Mike, let me answer this one ;) There is a difference between wgUserName and getUsernameForCurrentPage. Mike's function gives you the name of the user depending on the page you're looking at ∴ Alex Smotrov 13:17, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


 * What he said. I've added a comment to username.js to clarify what the function does and to point out the availability of  for the purpose of getting the user who is viewing the page as opposed to the user whose page you're viewing. Mike Dillon 14:36, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Ah thanks, I just took a glancing look at the page, and didn't actually read the code. Prodego  <sup style="color:darkgreen;">talk  21:44, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Image tagging for Image:Mount Tai dot.png
Thanks for uploading Image:Mount Tai dot.png. The image has been identified as not specifying the source and creator of the image, which is required by Wikipedia's policy on images. If you don't indicate the source and creator of the image on the image's description page, it may be deleted some time in the next seven days. If you have uploaded other images, please verify that you have provided source information for them as well.

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This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. 06:11, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
 * What you need to do to make the preview show up is reduce the image size to 800x600 (the preview size), upload it, then re-upload the high res version. With extremely large images (the image is only 200 some odd kilobytes but the uncompressed image is almost 7 megs according to my image software) the thumbnailing function does not work. -N 15:45, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

tabs.js
I really don't understand the code...How do I get it to add the purge and the last without replicating the tabs in the toolbox area? -N 15:26, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Well if you've split it out I'll just go back to using your version :p Thanks. -N 15:56, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Ethiopian Scout graphic
Mike, thank you so much for your help, that's great! My computer won't let me download the font, I have tried at the library and it also shows up just as hollow squares there. Could you take a look at the characters in the lower, rounded scroll at the bottom of Image:EthiopiaScoutbadge.jpg and see if you could make them out? Thank you so much! Chris 18:39, 30 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank for your quick response. I will keep searching. You rock, and I have incorporated the earlier info into the article itself; that's great research! Thanks! Chris 18:54, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

willie brown
your argument does take into account that his "common known" name is in use. besides being his 'actual name', it really doesn't make sense to have a dis-ambiguated name for the article. particuarly since each article is piped through to the willie brown name anyway.


 * yes, but why would one name an article using "(politician)" when it's completely unnecessary. ...and yes, he is 'well known' as willie lewis Brown, jr. grant...'better known' as wb, but using the dab is doesn't make alotta sense when the alternative is so stark. --emerson7 | Talk 03:45, 5 July 2007 (UTC)


 * ref the san francisco city and county for the usage here --emerson7 | Talk 03:54, 5 July 2007 (UTC)


 * well i don't quite how to respond to that last bit, except to say (respectfully) that you're wrong on the spirit and letter of the policy...and you are interjecting your own point of view on 'common names' without regard to the facts. --emerson7 | Talk 04:33, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

thanks for the suggestion, but i've already done that where you are welcomed to add your comments --emerson7 | Talk 16:23, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Vandal User_talk:Kevin1243
After reviewing the history pages of the user with the screen name Kevin1243, the -repetative process of seeing text changed with small misspellings, then tags added, and finally a nomination of AfD tag added to topics by the user, and the users apparent lack of understanding of the subjects...SNEEKY VANDALISM is what it added up to. Seeking outside observation of user VANDALISM and the need for ZERO TOLERANCE, wondering if you could assist in evaluating vandalism done by User_talk:Kevin1243? The contributions to Wikipedia may be jeapordized if alleged vandalizing of topics isn't stopped. The method used is a serial process. The user is repeating this process on many different articles, including some of mine. StationNT5Bmedia 01:10, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Hello. Having also been contacted by StationNT5Bmedia I've responded to him with a rather lengthly observation of this conflict at his talk page.  You may be interested in reading it.  Cheers!  --EarthPerson 20:42, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the note. This is certainly a lot more than I would have done since, as you said, I have no idea why I was contacted and StationNT5Bmedia seemed to me like a bit of a crank. Mike Dillon 20:50, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You're welcome. I honestly don't know why I did it to such a degree.  There's time I'll never get back.  He contacted you because you quoted some categories he had in draft pages in his userspace.  His talk page documents his and my butting of heads.  If this is what dispute resolution or arbitration is like, I don't think I could do it.  :)  --EarthPerson 21:00, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Tables and Charts / Automatic Numbering of Items
Hello. I saw your post at the Village Pump / Technical page. Thanks. I initiated that discussion there. I was a little confused by your reply. Did you figure out a way to do what I was asking? ( ... that is, automatically have the items numbered in a Table/Chart ... much like they can be numbered in a List with the # symbol)? Please reply. Thanks a lot. (JosephASpadaro 15:33, 10 May 2007 (UTC))
 * Hi. I got your reply.  Thanks a lot.  I did not know that Village Pump / Technical was for people fluent in technical issues.  I thought it was for people like me, clueless in technical issues, who needed their questions answered.  In any event, thanks for replying.  Is that code change an easy matter for you to perform, regardless of whether or not there is site-wide interest?  Or is it possible to just include this new code in one chart (i.e., my chart)?  Please let me know.  Actually, I think that there would be interest in it, site-wide.  It is not being used now simply because it is not available to be used.  My project is this:  I am working on a list and the list will ultimately have hundreds upon hundreds of names in it (the names of every actor and actress who has ever won or been nominated for an Academy Award / Oscar).  The list will be in alphabetical order ... but I would like the list to have a running number counter, so that we know how many names are actually on the list.  That will involve typing the numbers #1 to (say) #1000 for every entry.  That's fine.  The problem is that the list will constantly change.  Next year, 100 new names will have to be added ... and they will be added in alphabetical order ... which, of course, will throw off the current numbers as they now stand.  Automatic renumbering would adjust the correct numbers when new actors are added into or subracted out of the list -- without someone (me) having to go in and edit all 1,000 entries one-by-one.  Do you see a way to incorporate your new code into this chart?  Or do you see any other alternative?  Or am I simply stuck with being resigned to having to type all 1,000 entries one-by-one ... even when I want to add or subtract one name to the entire list?  Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks for your expertise.  PS -- Even if there was NOT wide interest, what would be the harm in incorporationg the new code anyway?  It would be there -- and those who want to use it can use it ... and those who don't, don't.  Isn't it as simple as that?  Or am I missing something?  I have no technical expertise, so I have no idea what is involved to add new code site-wide or to my own single chart.  Please reply.  Thanks!  (JosephASpadaro 02:53, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * P.S. If you want to get a better idea of the project I am working on, please check this out:  User:JosephASpadaro/Sandbox.  Maybe that can give you a better idea of what I am asking.  That list is a work in progress and will eventually have over 1,000 names.  Can you imagine what a pain in the neck it would be to have to constantly re-number the entire 1,000 entries on the list ... every time I add or subtract one name?  On this chart at my User Page Sandbox, I would ideally add a new column to the left of the actor's names.  That new column would simply be the number/counter 1, 2, 3, 4, ... to 1,000. (JosephASpadaro 02:57, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Thanks again for your most recent reply. As I am somewhat new to Wikipedia, please pardon the naivete of my questions.  But: (1) How would I request that an Administrator add such code? ... and ... (2) Is what you typed in my Talk Page the entire "code" that achieves autonumbering in a Table -- or is there much more "code" involved in the whole process?  Thanks.  (JosephASpadaro 03:14, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Thanks, you have been so helpful. I will move forward on seeing if I can get that code added.  I will go through the channels that you mentioned.  Can I assume that your "code" is available to be added ... should the Administrators agree?  Also, if they do not agree to the addition, do you see any other solution(s) to my problem?  Thanks! (JosephASpadaro 03:53, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi. Thanks again -- I got your most recent reply.  Did you get a chance to take a look at my Table?  I want it numbered for several reasons.  The most obvious -- the reader knowing how many people are actually on the list, without having to count them one-by-one.  With a list that long, the only way to know the total count would be for the reader to sit there and count all 1,000 names one-by-one.  It is much better to have the list numbered (or, better yet, auto-numbered) so that the reader does not have to count all of the elements of the list.  It would be like listing all of the 535 members of Congress, with a designation of Democrat or Republican near each name.  The list is great, but one might also want to know HOW MANY Democrats and HOW MANY Republicans, without actually having to count one-by-one from the list of 535.  Do you see my objective?  Thanks.  Also -- you did not reply as to whether or not your code is available for use, should the Admins agree?  (JosephASpadaro 05:09, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Hello. Seems like we will have to agree to disagree then.  There are tables much bigger than that on Wikipedia and, yes, they are useful.  And determining the total number is a simple fact that, as such, has encyclopedic value.  Just as there is encyclopedic value to the fact that there are 535 members of the US Congress, whether or not that actual number is indicated when their 535 names are listed one-by-one.  I do not think that that is trivia, rather it is an enumerated fact.  Thanks for making your code available and thanks for letting me know how the process works with Admins.  I appreciate your help. (JosephASpadaro 05:40, 12 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi, again. It has been a over a week since I added my proposal about auto-numbering of Tables and Charts on that correct page that you referred me to.  However, no one has added any input, comments, or feedback at all during the entire week (just me and you, that's all).  What happens next?  Thanks.  Please advise.   Please see here if you do not recall our previous conversation: User talk: JosephASpadaro ... Thanks. (JosephASpadaro 17:54, 20 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi. I got your reply.  Thanks.  Yes, I will proceed to post my proposal (suggestion) at the new site you gave me, the Village Pump / Technical proposals, I believe you said.  Yes, while there has been no support -- there has been no opposition, either (other than you).  I am curious why you would oppose adding this feature?  I am not fluent in technical jargon, so please explain in lay terms.  But, I am not understanding why you oppose the addition?  Please let me know.  The way I see it is this.  There is a problem that needs a fix (tables cannot automatically number their own lists).  There exists a solution to that problem (you created code).  What am I missing?  Is there some technical aspect that I am not considering (e.g., adding this new code will utilize a lot of memory on Wiki; the costs outweight the benefits; adding new code somehow messes up old codes; etc.)?  Thanks.  And, as I said, I will post to the Village Pump, as you referred.  Also -- I just thought of another question.  Is there somewhere (on Wikipedia or some other site) that you can show me an example of a Chart / Table that was created using your new code?  (I would want to see the output, the Table ... not the Code that created it.)  The reason I ask is:  I am just wanting to see if we are on the same page here.  Perhaps the code you wrote does not have the effect I am looking for ... in which case, this whole suggestion / proposal / waiting for consensus procedure might simply be moot.  Thanks.  Please advise.  (JosephASpadaro 20:31, 20 May 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi.  Are you still out there?  I sent you the above message on May 20, but I have not heard back from you yet.  Please reply at your earliest convenience.  Thanks a lot.  (JosephASpadaro 13:08, 5 June 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi. I still have not heard back from you -- today is June 21.  I assume that you are very busy or that you have not been on Wikipedia much.  In any event, please reply back to me whenever you can.  I would appreciate your reply to my above posts.  Thanks.  I will wait to hear from you. (JosephASpadaro 23:14, 21 June 2007 (UTC))


 * Hi. Thanks for your reply and for providing me with an example of the "output" of the auto-numbered table/chart.  I appreciate that.  What you have created seems to be exactly what I was looking for.  I will proceed to propose this on the appropriate pages.  If consensus agrees to add this feature to Wikipedia, I will be in touch with you in search of your code.  Thanks for all of your help!   (JosephASpadaro 19:53, 28 June 2007 (UTC))

(Undent) Hello. I have put in a proposal at the appropriate place (bug tracker) to add your autonumber tables code to Wikipedia. They would like me to send them the code. Their exact words were: that I need to send them the code in an attachment as a plain text file. So, would you be so kind as to send that code to me, so that I can send it to them? Thanks. I am not sure how that works, so will you need my email address to do this? Please let me know. Many thanks for your help. (JosephASpadaro 21:10, 20 July 2007 (UTC))


 * I am following up on my July 20th email to you (above). Did you get a chance to read that yet?  Please advise.  Thanks.  (Joseph A. Spadaro 19:51, 4 August 2007 (UTC))


 * Thanks for the code / link. Don't fret -- I have no intention of misrepresenting your position.  Thanks.  (Joseph A. Spadaro 20:59, 4 August 2007 (UTC))


 * Hello again. Just wanted to inform you that I submitted the proposal along with the code / link to the Bugzilla site.  I guess I just sit back and wait at this point.  Thanks again for all your help.  I really appreciate it.  Thanks.  (Joseph A. Spadaro 02:45, 6 August 2007 (UTC))

Sorting of biography articles
I'm continuing the discussion here, if that's OK with you.

"I guess I was assuming that most biography articles are sorted right, with or without default sort" - I can't speak for defaultsort, but I know that listas (a parameter used at WPBiography) is not as widespread as it could be (though obviously DEFAULTSORT is the really important thing to have). Have a look at Category:Biography articles without listas parameter to see what I mean. I'd like to have an equivalent for DEFAULTSORT. The other problem with assuming that lack of DEFAULTSORT means sorting by article title is OK, is what I wrote at Categorization: "Explicitly stating a default sort key is preferable to having no default sort key, as this leaves a record of the decision that the title is the sort key. Leaving it blank means that later editors cannot tell which articles have been checked for default sort and which have not." As for whether biographical articles are sorted OK, it is difficult to check because there is no super-category for all biographical articles. There is one for living people at Category:Living people, but all the other people categories are subdivided so you can't scan through them checking to see which are sorted OK. The closest thing to super-categories for biographical articles are the subcategories of Category:Biography articles by quality, but those are all categorising the talk pages, hence it only shows the usage (or not) of listas, not DEFAULTSORT. I and someone else have been trying to lay the groundwork for standardising between DEFAULTSORT and listas. See User talk:Carcharoth/Polbot3 trial run. That's enough for now. If you have any advice, it would be much appreciated. Carcharoth 16:48, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Template:BeerAdvocate-brewery
Hello, this is a message from an automated bot. A tag has been placed on Template:BeerAdvocate-brewery, by another Wikipedia user, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. The tag claims that it should be speedily deleted because Template:BeerAdvocate-brewery fits the criteria for speedy deletion for the following reason: Was never deleted from Templates for deletion/Log/2007 April 4 To contest the tagging and request that administrators wait before possibly deleting Template:BeerAdvocate-brewery, please affix the template  to the page, and put a note on its talk page. If the article has already been deleted, see the advice and instructions at WP:WMD. Feel free to contact the bot operator if you have any questions about this or any problems with this bot, bearing in mind that this bot is only informing you of the nomination for speedy deletion; it does not perform any nominations or deletions itself. --Android Mouse Bot 2 08:09, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorting problem
Since you're involved with Wikiproject:User CSS, would you enjoy looking at Talk:List of countries by immigrant population and trying to sort out the problem described there? Matt 07:52, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Warning:Javascript security issue
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Warning:Javascript security issue
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category= at WikiProject Southern California
Thanks for the category= instead of subst. Can you explain to me when adding this parameter suppresses category information? Miss Mondegreen | Talk  15:10, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Re: Python wikibot at meta
Thanks for the link. (: <font color=#DE0000>Bl <font color=#FCD116>a <font color=#DE0000>st  [ improve me ] 23.06.07 2036 (UTC)