User talk:Ral315/Archive 26

Signpost
Hello, I'm currently writing a submission for the Signpost as a follow-up to the WikiScanner article. Where should I post submissions? Thanks, Ne ra n e i   (talk) 21:58, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, thanks. I do hope it's good enough! Ne ra n e i   (talk) 14:23, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
 * OK, I will go cite it. Thanks for the heads-up! Ne ra n e i   (talk) 14:56, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Jimbo interview
Unfortunately, I can't be available for the Jimbo interview; I have a prior commitment that will keep me busy at least until 24:00 UTC.--ragesoss 20:55, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Will do.--ragesoss 20:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Hey, dude.
Hey there. What happened to your bot? How come your bot didn't send me a Signpost? PS. I added my name in the Spamlist. --  PNiddy  Go!  14:31, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Signpost Backup
/me wonders if Ral remembers that R said he would do the backup signpost delivery if needed, instead of going to someone else :(. Anyway....next time...just remember...you have me if needed :] -- (Review Me) R Parlate Contribs@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 01:07, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Wikihermit was having trouble so I resumed in the B's...so plenty left for me :]. It shouldn't, but if for some reason anything happens, I'll just continue it tomorrow when I wake up, so no need for another backup. -- (Review Me) R Parlate Contribs@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 03:21, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * The run went good, except in the AWB logs, 17 pages were skipped. Not all were for the reason "page is protected." So I readded all the skipped pages to the run list. And then the only ones not saved were the protected ones. So, job done. -- (Review Me) R Parlate Contribs@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 11:06, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Image source problem with Image:Aq logo.gif
This is an automated message from a robot. You have recently uploaded Image:Aq logo.gif. The file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

As well as adding the source, please add a proper copyright licensing tag if the file doesn't have one already. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the GFDL-self tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media meets the criteria at Non-free content, use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

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Blocking
Take a look - feel free to try to extend the block - indef's might work, but definite blocks stop then. Wily D 21:00, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Signpost Volunteer
''Hey! I'm a big fan of the Signpost, and would love to know if I can help out in any way. I'm an ex-journalism/communication studies major (switched to poly sci), but I've got a working understanding of news style. Do we write in AP style, or anything in particular? Just curious. Let me know how I can help out!''

Hey, maybe you didn't see this, but I guess if you could drop me a line back, or point me out the proper place to volunteer to write, that would be great. Thanks. GlassCobra (talk • contribs) 21:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Ral315, would you please comment on my editprotected request at Talk:Vanessa Anne Hudgens, a page you recently protected. Thank you, — xaosflux  Talk  15:42, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Signpost request
I have a request for a piece of news on next week's Signpost. I'll email it to you in a few minutes...  Jonathan   Fall down go boom. Light fireworks go BANG!®   18:39, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Bot stopped
Ralbot stopped soon after the signpost delivery started, so I'll continue it. -- (Review Me) R Parlate Contribs@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 19:56, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Could you clarify for me whether the block is because of general unsourced nonsense, or because of a campaign to insert some particular piece of information? The article is starting to get editprotected requests, and I don't feel comfortable fulfilling them without knowing why the article was protected. &mdash; Carl (CBM · talk) 02:49, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Signing the Signpost
If the Signpost dont want to sign you bot shouldnt do it for them,they are automated and you are following them equally automated. Sort it out with them, its not a pleasant sight on a watchlist, SqueakBox 04:02, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Features and admins
Good day Ral315, I have been writing the Features and admins section for a while now and just a few things that have recently come up in real life have brought me to the decision of retiring from the writing of this section of the Wikipedia Signpost. Kindly enough, The Placebo Effect has kindly offered to take on the role as the new weekly writer. I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion and wish to continue seeing your great articles when I receive the Signpost each week. Kind regards, &mdash; E  talkbots 02:28, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

My RfA
I owe you a big thank you for supporting me in My RfA, which was successful with 67 supports and 20 opposes. - Penwhale &#124; Blast him / Follow his steps 23:47, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Way to go!
As a regular reader of the Signpost, and an ex-editor of a similar project in a different universe, I recognize how difficult it must be to keep those issues coming out on time and in such high quality. Your work is appreciated, keep it up! --Zvika 08:44, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Re: Lack of coverage of other languages
Hello, I read your signpost article and I couldn't agree it more. I can use my knowledge in chinese to cover Chinese Wikipedia and Cantaonese Wikipedia to report major community issues, if you wish. Let me know if I can offer help to signpost. OhanaUnitedTalk page 01:53, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I found this at Chinese Wikipedia  and find it to be interesting. An admin using a Japanese name as username was being voted by the community if his admin power should be stripped after months of renaming Chinese page names regarding about Japan to Japanese names (as well as terminologies) and ignoring consensus. OhanaUnitedTalk page 02:15, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Signpost
I'll deliver the signpost this week. -- (Review Me) R Parlate Contribs@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 23:54, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
 * You didn't say in your article where you want responses to these questions, so I hope putting them here is a good place.


 * * Not enough coverage of editors. This is an interesting point that I think bears mentioning. A few people mentioned that people don't seem to get recognition in the Signpost unless they pass an RFA, are in an arbitration case, or do something else controversial that garners a story. What could we do to cover editors in detail, beyond mentioning featured articles weekly? Perhaps profiling WikiProjects? I had a few responses asking for that -- would anyone be interested in that?
 * Yes. I think there are great editors who have done some great things. Their interests and motivations are noteworthy. I don't exactly know what kinds of criteria you should use for what makes a great editor, but hopefully it will be reasonably obvious. It's just not obvious to me. :-)


 * * Non-coverage of meta-discussion from the mailing lists. As editor, I've tried to highlight important discussions on the mailing lists, and Michael Snow's always done a good job of picking those stories up. However, we don't often cover the discussions themselves if they don't bear fruit. Should we?
 * Yes. Just knowing that there are discussions and that there isn't a resolution is worthwhile. The Linux distribution Debian has a newsletter that sums up a lot of the discussions even though there's nothing more to it.
 * Hires an editor 18:14, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject profiling
Hey, Ral. I saw in your coverage of the Signpost survey that you were interested in profiling WikiProjects. I would gladly do this, using information from the project pages posted here. Cheers,  ARkY //  ¡HaBLaR!  02:05, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

You've got mail!
I sent you an email :) ( ar  ky  ) 01:58, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

A suggestion about Signpost
You might want to briefly point out in every week's "In the news" section that an additional list exists at Press coverage.--Mightyms 05:28, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

"Pilot article" created
Okay, Ral. I've made a "pilot article" of sorts for WikiProject profiling on WPP:BIO as you requested. It's a bit longer than I'd like it to be, but the biography project has been around for a while, so I figured I'd condensed it as much as I could. Your thoughts would be appreciated (  ar  ky  ) 21:01, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
 * P.S. It's located here. Cheers, ( ar  ky  ) 21:02, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Signpost
Reply on my talk page.  CO 2 01:03, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
 * ✅ Done  CO 2 03:25, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Re
Sure, I'd love to do the article every week :) Happy editing, ( ar  ky  ) 17:16, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Hello Ral315, according to the log for Vanessa Anne Hudgens, you fully-protected the page on September 7 without an expiration time, and then on September 8, Xaosflux set an expiry date. Just so you know, the page was requested on RFPP for reducing the protection level to semi-protection, and I have done so, as the page has been fully-protected for over a month. You may reverse my action if you wish. As you were the protecting admin for the most recent protection, I thought it was best that you knew. Acalamari 16:42, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Templates
I reverted your test on Wikipedia Signpost/2007-09-24, since it was interfering with the layout of the archives page. I left Wikipedia Signpost/2007-10-08 alone for now, since it's the current edition and not in the archives yet, but it will have the same issue. I do think keeping an issue relatively compact for the archives is valuable, but I wasn't sure how you were looking to integrate these subpages into the new template system. Which looks nice, by the way, and I'm glad you tackled it, since my mastery of templates is limited. --Michael Snow 05:32, 9 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, that looks better, good enough for the time being at any rate. If the spacing issue can be worked out at some point, that would be gravy. --Michael Snow 18:22, 9 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Can someone explain to me what problem this new template approach is trying to solve? Otherwise, it looks like it just makes things more complicated for no reason. - dcljr (talk) 06:01, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Report
I would like to write at least one of this column's editions. I was the one who suggested it, after all. Laleena 18:46, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Future licenses
If I wrote an article on the GSFDL and CC 3.01 would it be accepted?Geni 01:08, 12 October 2007 (UTC)


 * see User:Geni/post.Geni 13:57, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Signpost ready
The final story has now been completed. Signpost should be ready to go live any time now…  O 2 (息 • 吹) 00:49, 16 October 2007 (GMT)

The October 15th edition of the Signpost
Dude. Wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. I have been reading the signposts for quite some time now, but this edition was the best one so far! The separated articles, larger in size, were fun to read. Very informative! mceder (u t c) 19:22, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Signpost editing policy
Hi Ral, I am a regular reader of the Signpost, and I was just wondering if there are any guidelines about whether readers are allowed to make minor edits to published articles, for example to fix typos. Thanks, --Zvika 18:49, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Their is no policy if you see a mistake, please fix it. The Placebo Effect 18:51, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Question...
Can you please help me code a Python bot for newsletter deliveries? Thanks! Jona than  —  REVIEW ME  22:06, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

RfA
Would just like to say your question has been answered, and I would like to say thank you for the opportunity to express a better self-description. Regards, Rudget Contributions 15:48, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

ITN
Would you be able to find someone to help me cover this week's and next week's ITN please? I can't cover it due to RL commitments. Thanks. enochlau (talk) 02:58, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Possibly unfree Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg
An image that you uploaded or altered, Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg, has been listed at Possibly unfree images because its copyright status is disputed. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the image description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. NYScholar 15:37, 22 October 2007 (UTC) [I have worked hard on providing as much information on the image page (and talk page) as possible to give it a better shot at retention if that is possible, but I am not sure that it is; I've informed the original uploader User:David.Monniaux of the controversies as well. (I've listed it on related fair use and possible copyvio admin pages as well.) --NYScholar 15:37, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Kia Bongo edits
Hi, Could you explain your edits to Kia Bongo? I'm not sure why you made some of the changes that you did. Thanks. Phasmatisnox 10:20, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:The Missing Manual
Regarding your post on my user talk page, yes, I'd be happy to be interviewed for the Signpost, closer to the actual publishing date, which is mid-December (at the moment). And sure, I'll remind you if need be - you do a great job every week with the Signpost, so I know you have a lot of things to keep track of. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:25, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

RfA
Dearest Supporter, Thank you for your participation in my RFA, which closed unsuccessfully with 39 supports, 15 oppose, and 1 neutral. I would have liked to gain some experience of being an admin, but it wasn't to be. At least I gained some valuable time there and will use my knowledge picked up to my next candidacy. I would like to say once again, thank you for voting and I hope to see you at my next request be it a nomination or self-induced, I hope I don't get as many questions!

Rudget Contributions 09:25, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free media (Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media 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 media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot 15:13, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

The Signpost
Hi there,

It's good to see my favourite newsheet is still going! It is still an enjoyable read so please pass on my thanks to all concerned. If you need someone to do any 'grunt work' please let me know. Gormenghastly 21:11, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free media (Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media 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 media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot 13:46, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Successful RfA - Thank you!
Thank you for supporting my recent RfA. It was successful, and I was promoted to Administrator today. I appreciate the support! &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 23:10, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

My RfA
Thank you for participating in my RfA. As you may be aware, it was closed as "no consensus". Since your vote was one of the reasons why it did not succeed, I would like to personally address your concerns so that I can reapply successfully. Your concern was "Oppose per answer to questions 6 and 8, and especially to question 10. Seems to have no comprehension of IAR; in fact, the response indicated to me that RTD had never even heard of it."

I can assure you that I have been aware of WP:IAR for some time, and that I firmly believe that all policy should bring us towards our ultimate goal: to bring more knowledge to more people in the form of an encyclopedia. I am also aware that the rules can be bent when necessary, such as delaying a WP:PUI decision until the copyright holder of an image can be contacted.

I must admit that I do not know what exactly you didn't like about my responses to questions 6, 8, and 10. As far as question 6 at least, what I meant is that often replaceability is straightforward, such as photos of living people or existing buildings that are used solely for general identification of the subject. But, sometimes there are gray areas where a non-free image is higher-quality than any free replacement, but no new free image can be created. This is what happens in the case of living people who we never got a decent free photograph of while they were alive. Even if we have a terrible-quality free photograph that would serve the same purpose, we should not necessarily use it instead of, say, a non-free promotional photo. How good the non-free image is compared to the free image must be considered and weighed against how much using the non-free image will decrease the reusability of Wikipedia content. Evaluations must often be made on a case-by-case basis.

So anyway, could you please elaborate on your objections to questions 6, 8, and 10? —Remember the dot (talk) 01:33, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Signpost
The bot seems to be close on a fortnight behind on his paper round. BigHaz - Schreit mich an 02:34, 29 October 2007 (UTC)


 * It's been my experience that when things get done late, either the person doing them is overwhelmed or doesn't like doing that particular task (boring, whatever). If you'd be interested in getting someone else to deliver the Signpost, so you can concentrate on continuing your excellent work as editor-in-chief, I'd be happy to help with finding that someone. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 15:36, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Sub-pages
I have a question for you. I enjoy User:Suggestbot's results, but atm (unless something has changed) it can't place the suggestions on a user sub-page. User:ForteTuba has explained that he isn't sure how to do that. I note that the signpost does it just fine. Would you (or someone else in the know), please help? : ) - jc37 19:20, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Signpost innacuracy
Hi, the Signpost states, ''no goal for the fundraiser was set publicly. Further, instead of assessing the success of the fundraiser through amount of money, it is decided that the success be assessed by the number of people who donated.'' Seems that the goal is set, if one were to use the ominous progress bar, at getting 100,000 donors. Benjiboi 07:27, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Not receiving Signpost
Ral, I'm on the list but have not received the signpost for about a month (I did receive it previously). -- Flyguy649 talk 21:12, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Last minute signpost tip
Sorry for the irregularity, but since I see you haven't gone live with this week's Signpost yet, I thought I'd try to slip in a note about WP:AN. Briefly, we've been under attack from a proxy-using vandalbot; for a while I had a counterbot running to revert it, but Brion seems to have stopped the attack by configuring the ConfirmEdit extension to serve up CAPTCHAs on edits that match the bot's vandalism pattern. Anyway, feel free to include or ignore this as you wish. :) —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:20, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

My (KWSN's) RFA
Thank you for supporting my recent (and successful!) RfA. It passed at at 55/17/6. Kwsn  (Ni!)  01:16, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Thank you!
Thanks for your support in my recent request for adminship, which was successful. I'll do my best to justify the confidence you've placed in me! Dppowell 22:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)