User talk:Ostrichyearning3

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Hello, Ostrichyearning3, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:


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Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or, and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! JarrahTree 23:25, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

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 Hello ! Thank you for your contributions to military history-related articles.

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Disambiguation link notification for November 18
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nope
it is not a one size fits all - the project as it is an amalgam of pipebands/bagpipes/ and across a range of cultural contexs, and having had been present during some rather bitter banter in the badlands of arguments over things in the last 14 years, one size fits all is in my opinion not a particularly good idea. There are a range of issues that need to be explored. JarrahTree 12:05, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

And I fully disagree with putting up pipebands for AFD without adequate discussion at the project page. The tenuous nature of the project(s) over time is made the more precarious by such actions, when lack of coverage on any particular search engine gets used as an excuse - in a lot of cases, some imagination and sideways thinking is required ... JarrahTree 12:15, 27 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your reply - I appreciate what you're saying. However, I think there might be some use in having very loose guidelines, as players and bands do seem to fall into categories of notability, which is very heavily tied to competitive success and coverage in piping media. However, it is possible that notability extends to a lot more bands and players and I'm conflating notability with the standard of the band. I think there is some merit in looking for pipe band articles that don't meet notability guidelines and nominating them at AfD, but possibly only if there are other issues, and after discussing elsewhere. Where an article has returned from AfD having been deemed notable, I'm then more than happy to clean it up, like at Aughintober Pipe Band. I do suspect though that almost every lower grade band is not notable, and often these articles have been written by a band member - although am happy to not make this explicit. best, Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 15:41, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
 * You make good points - I think that all pipe bands however slight or un-notable should be in wikidata - thats where the strength of that project could help - so that there is a good catch. My material about obscure Australian bands can be caught from Trove and I do think it is worth pursuing, and in turn it could have positive effect in that wikidata items can carry info that might not make them notable for wikipedia, but nevertheless do get a chance of being recorded adequately. JarrahTree 07:10, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

Thank You!
Apologies for being so harsh. Were it not for the current situation around the world, I was just about ready to march down to my local library for more microfiche. I totally understand what you're trying to do. By the standards absent today, it wouldn't be difficult for a few folks to create their own pipe band, get on 1 or 2 local news stories and make an article. I do empathize with that. For me, I personally am not a bagpipe fan, or the least bit Scottish, I was just worried about the precedent that might set. Regards --Simtropolitan (talk) 22:09, 27 March 2020 (UTC)


 * No worries - I appreciate it - I'm a bit of a piping snob on a mission to make sure that deserving articles at least get created, and ones that definitely shouldn't exist are removed. There's a lot of grey areas, as like many things piping is a global activity that has been going on for centuries, but pre-digital media is a so much harder to access. For what it's worth, I'd like to put some info (not necessarily guidelines, maybe just pointers to where sources exist) together at WikiProject_Bagpipes to make this kind of thing clearer in the future. cheers, Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 22:27, 27 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Understandable. The one thing I would add though is, while it certainly is seen as a badge of honor within the piping community, I'm not sure to what degree "grading" ought to factor into notability. While it certainly is important within the context of competition, at least in my experience, most people on the outside looking in know nothing of it and regard pipe bands as cultural fixtures, rarer and rarer in this day and age. In the process of my research for the Holyoke Caledonian article I had come across them being funded by the state cultural commission, as well as a handful of others which had, to the best of my knowledge never played in a competition but remain fixtures of sorts in their home Boston, Worcester, other areas. My two cents as a plebe anyway. Cheers --Simtropolitan (talk) 20:57, 28 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks again - it's definitely not an easy issue. I think the main issue is that pipe bands are capable of generating non-substantive news articles in a wide range of media very easily by playing in public, in a way that other groups don't seem able to. Coverage due to competitive success, even if in piping publications only, is enough to demonstrate notability, and piping media aren't so concerned about lower grade players and bands, so competitive success becomes a very good proxy for notability. But it's not so straightforward to assess band that are a local cultural fixture - there are many more of these, and potentially a large number are notable, although they might require more individual treatment. Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 11:53, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

"University group" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect University group. Since you had some involvement with the University group redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Utopes (talk / cont) 19:33, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

"School group" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect School group. Since you had some involvement with the School group redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Utopes (talk / cont) 19:33, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of The Iron Bridge
Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article The Iron Bridge you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of The Rambling Man -- The Rambling Man (talk) 13:40, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Angus MacDonald
Hi there, nice to see your creation of the Brìghde Chaimbeul article. You may have noticed that as a consequence of your red-linking Allan MacDonald (piper) I created a redirect to MacDonald Brothers, for the time being. I notice that you also have Dr Angus and Iain on your user page to-do list. Can I suggest that, when the time comes to create the article for Angus, a name that gives a disambiguation be applied, to distinguish him from Pipe Major Angus MacDonald (1938-1999, Scots Guards)? He's often referred to pre-fixed by "Dr", so that would probably be the most suitable disambiguator. For what it's worth, there is also another significant Iain Macdonald, former pipe major of Neilston (and father of Finlay MacDonald (musician)) so dab may be worth considering there too, possibly by date of birth? Come to think of it, Angus's son is also Allan, who plays with Niteworks so dabs there might be worth considering. There must be so many notable MacDonald pipers that there may well be others to take into account! All the best. Mutt Lunker (talk) 10:48, 8 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Haha thanks! And thanks for your additions as well to the article! Agreed about naming of pipers - think it's probably wise to make the article Dr. Angus Macdonald, as most people probably know him by that name. As more articles get created there'll be a few other potentially ambiguous names to resolve. One think I'm not sure about is how to title articles that need to be disambiguated - for example should it be Donald MacLeod (piper), Donald MacLeod (bagpiper), or Pipe Major Donald Macleod. Suspect if you met any of them in person it would be Pipe Major! Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 11:13, 8 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Aye, on reflection I'm highlighting problems rather than solutions and I'm not overly familiar with policy or best paractice on the matter. I know the d.o.b solution is often used for the plethora of similarly-named footballers but that is a slightly different situation; for pipers, a wider range of disambiguators may be available but also more potential for arbitrary choices and inconsistencies. I'll investigate when I get the chance. Mutt Lunker (talk) 11:22, 8 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Cheers! Think the naming policy Article titles gives a fair bit of discretion on using common names, but it would be sensible to not get too creative! The articles on my user page are transcluded from WikiProject Bagpipes/open tasks, if you want to add anything there - either future articles to create, or anything you've worked on, please do. There's also a lot of work to be done on high-level articles like pipe band and Great Highland bagpipe, but I'm not quite sure where to start with them! best, Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 11:44, 8 April 2020 (UTC)


 * By the way, this is one of the tools I use to fix bare urls in references. Very simple to use: just enter the article name, "fix bare references", check the results, show preview then "save" if you're happy with the results. (There's also Citation bot and reFill. though the latter seems to be non-fuctional half the time currently.) Mutt Lunker (talk) 14:02, 8 April 2020 (UTC)

I just came across a redirect I'd made 10 years ago for Dr. Angus MacDonald, so it's already there (btw your mention above gives a red link as there's a typo with the small "d"). I was also about to go ahead with Iain MacDonald (piper, MacDonald Brothers) as a redirect - bit of a mouthful I know. Mutt Lunker (talk) 18:14, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of The Iron Bridge
The article The Iron Bridge you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold. The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:The Iron Bridge for issues which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of The Rambling Man -- The Rambling Man (talk) 16:00, 8 April 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of The Iron Bridge
The article The Iron Bridge you nominated as a good article has failed ; see Talk:The Iron Bridge for reasons why the nomination failed. If or when these points have been taken care of, you may apply for a new nomination of the article. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of The Rambling Man -- The Rambling Man (talk) 10:41, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Sockpuppets
Hi there, I notice with gratitude your reporting of User:81.170.40.71 as a sockpuppet, with your suspicion that their association is with User:Cassandrathesceptic's tiresome campaign. Later them same day I reported User:81etc as being linked to User:92.14.216.40 and the association between the latter and User:CtS had been advanced by others in the past. For various reasons, summarised today in this thread with the admin who blocked 81etc, I am as yet unconvinced that they are the same user. I'm interested to know though if you have any further substance to work on regarding the suspicion, other than the broad similarities of persistent talk page POV-pushing on race/ethnicity/nationality topics and their mutual admiration. If you do have any leads, it may be best to centralise the discussion at the thread. Yours aye, Mutt Lunker (talk) 12:02, 13 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi! Afraid I don't have any evidence to offer - when you see a new IP immediately start to push something, it's easy to bracket them as something you've seen before. Unfortunately it's quite likely that there's a large number of different individuals behind an even larger pool of identities, and policing is never going to be straightforward! best, Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 21:52, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

AfD comment
Hey just making sure you realized the comment I made at the AfD here about you having a unhealthy obsession with pipe bands was completely made in jest. I re-read that just now and realized it could come across as a bit rude. Cheers Sulfurboy (talk) 03:08, 14 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Haha no worries! I took it as a complement, it's nice when something you're working on is recognised. Thought it was for the best not to reply on that page, hopefully it settles down. best, Ostrichyearning3 (talk) 22:07, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

50,000 Destubbing Challenge Focus of the Week
Hello there. This is an invitation to join the 50,000 Destubbing Challenge Focus of the Week. £250 (c. $310) up for grabs in May, June and July with £20 worth of prizes to give away every week for most articles destubbed. Each week there is a different region of focus, though half the prize will still be rewarded for articles on any subject. Sign up if you want to contribute at least one of the weeks or support the idea! † Encyclopædius  19:18, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

"Creating List of winners of the Gold Medal, Senior Piobaireachd and Former Winners' MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Creating List of winners of the Gold Medal, Senior Piobaireachd and Former Winners&. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 March 6 until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. 𝟙𝟤𝟯𝟺𝐪𝑤𝒆𝓇𝟷𝟮𝟥𝟜𝓺𝔴𝕖𝖗𝟰 (𝗍𝗮𝘭𝙠) 12:15, 6 March 2021 (UTC)