User talk:Rich Farmbrough/Archive/2008 May

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SmackBot
In this edit, SmackBot updated a tag on a Talk page. The tag was being used to show the context of a disputed section as it was at the time of the dispute. Changing that tag has the potential to confuse the issue for future readers. I can't think of a case where a fact tag would be used on a Talk page except in that sort of context. Unless there's a reason that's not obvious to me why those tags should be updated, would you consider pointing the bot away from Talk pages? Thanks. Rossami (talk) 06:22, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Interesting. Thank you for the update.  Rossami (talk) 13:23, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Dating maintenance tags in talk pages
Sometimes an editor will say something like "why don't you add a tag?" in a Talk page without using nowiki. SmackBot comes along and dates the tag; even ones in Talk page archives. No biggie, of course, but something to think about fixing if you have some spare time burning a hole in your pocket. RedSpruce (talk) 11:07, 1 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, the example you gave SB will change to "why don't you add a Fact tag" (because the word "tag" follows).  From manual testing these types of tests catch most use-mention distinctions.  Also I am now using for this run Talkfact for the rest.  Rich Farmbrough, 14:36 1 May 2008 (GMT).

SmackBot and Lifetime template
Hi. I appears that SmackBot behaves strangely with Lifetime. Both Category:Living people and Category:Year of death unknown was added. Also DEFAULTSORT was omitted. . By the way, is it preferable to avoid this template? – Leo Laursen – ☏ ⌘ 14:31, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
 * This is an AWB fix, I noticed that earlier and assumed that it was OK. I'll look in more depth, presently. Rich Farmbrough, 14:36 1 May 2008 (GMT).
 * there is a bug logged, and fixed in the next release. Rich Farmbrough, 19:12 4 May 2008 (GMT).

Dennis Oliver
Dear Rich Farmbrough, I can see that you have visited Dennis Oliver article and because I do not know much the way around wikipedia, I am appealing to your help. An editor of name Ralicia has created an article about Dennis Oliver and an editor of name "Pigman" wants to delete it a any cost. An administrator of name "Tatcher" has restored after "Pigman" deleted it rareway. Then "Pigman" returned and placed the "deletion" tag. Because I placed my opinion to keep the article in the "articles for deletion page", Pigman is accusing me of "puppetry" which I understand it means of having more than one log in in wikipedia?, also accusing me of being another person of name Jorge M. Perez, who happens to be a multi-millonaire from Cuba!. I answered him that "I wish to be that person"!! .I do not understand why Pigman is so stubborn in to delete the article of Dennis Oliver. His excuse is that Dennis Oliver does not have notability as an actor. Because I am spanish and italian, I was reading all the links to spanish newspapers on Dennis article, and there are very good reports about him as an actor an as a assitant director, also in most of them is Dennis picture! which clearly shows his acting notability. Furthermore, not every actor is lucky enough to be famous as a Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, but that does not mean that cannot have an article in wikipedia, right?...        Wikipedia is not a printed book with limited space....and Dennis has a reputable career as an actor with important roles on theatrical pieces. Please, help me to prove to this person that it is wrong to delete Dennis article. Also, what really calls my attention is that always are the same three editors requesting the deletion of the article, everybody else seems to agree to the article stay but few are saying that. In Dennis article every single line is backed up by a link to prove it, including Dennis website and his listing in the actors database. Below I am attaching the link to Dennis-articles for deletion listed. Please help, Thank you for your help! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Dennis_Oliver justice all the way (talk) 18:52, 1 May 2008 (UTC)justice all the way


 * Hi, justicealltheway. You could also, as a safety measure, create (copy) that page to the Italian and Spanish versions of Wikipedia. Click on those links to take you to the right areas; you may like to add an   line at the top of the english-language article to make it clear it's there as a lingua franca useful stub.  At least then, no matter what English-only speakers think, your article will survive in an area that people who DO find him important will see. Saltation (talk) 22:07, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

New Project
Myself and several other editors have been compiling a list of very active editors who would likely be available to help new editors in the event they have questions or concerns. As the list grew and the table became more detailed, it was determined that the best way to complete the table was to ask each potential candidate to fill in their own information, if they so desire. This list is sorted geographically in order to provide a better estimate as to whether the listed editor is likely to be active.

If you consider yourself a very active Wikipedian who is willing to help newcomers, please either complete your information in the table or add your entry. If you do not want to be on the list, either remove your name or just disregard this message and your entry will be removed within 48 hours. The table can be found at User:Useight/Highly Active, as it has yet to have been moved into the Wikipedia namespace. Thank you for your help. Useight (talk) 17:52, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

SmackBot
I just wanted to leave a note of thanks for the good work that your bot is doing. :) --217.44.216.204 (talk) 10:36, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

In use
Can SmackBot be programmed not to edit articles that have the template displayed please? Mjroots (talk) 11:15, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It is... I just accidentally turned it off... Rich Farmbrough, 12:44 4 May 2008 (GMT).

Dead Links
It appears that SmackBot adds dates to tags. I noticed a  tag on 1980s oil glut, which did not have a date. Note no space in deadlink; I think there are a few other templates that redirect to. If you look in Category:Articles_with_dead_external_links there are a few more articles that apparently have undated dead links for various reasons. Could you get SmackBot to fix them? (Also, I noticed that SmackBot's user page doesn't mention dating of dead links as one of its tasks.) &mdash;AlanBarrett 18:12, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes. The reasons are varied, but in that case (which I was just looking at) it's because the dead link is in an Image descriptor. Rich Farmbrough, 19:16 4 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Thanks. &mdash;AlanBarrett 20:37, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

AWB
Since you run Smackbot using AWB, how do you run a script through it? I went through Tools -> External processing but I don't know what to put in "Working Directory" "input/output file" etc. Your help is appreciated.  Milk’s Favorite Cookie  (Talk)  14:00, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Oooh! I hadn't seen that feature.... Fantastic! Rich Farmbrough, 14:07 4 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Uhh... right. Can you answer my question on how you run a script through AWB?  Milk’s Favorite Cookie  (Talk)  15:34, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Template substitution
Thanks for your pointer. Cheers, ·:· Will Beback  ·:· 11:34, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

New Message
·Add§hore· T alk/C ont 12:11, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Chukwuma
Hi Rich. I'm puzzled by your edit http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_C._Soludo&diff=prev&oldid=210309567 Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 12:51, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
 * What does "Copyedit. BAh Humans." mean?
 * The "diff" shows lots of edits with no apparent differences. Given that the edits which do have apparent differences are generally the removal of spaces, are the others also removal of spaces?
 * Why are you removing the spaces?


 * Someone had put a date of May 2003 instead of May 2008 in the fact tag. Rich Farmbrough, 12:53 5 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Had they put no date at all, a bot would have put the correct one. As it is I have to trawl through and fix these errors. No big deal really. Rich Farmbrough, 12:54 5 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Actually, I did put no date at all, the bot did put the correct one, then some "helpful" person changed it.
 * And why is it that you "have to trawl through and fix these errors"?
 * Because after each User:SmackBot run there are always exceptions, and I need to constantly be improving the code to take into account new templates, new syntax and new redirects, among other things. If I let the exceptions build up, even with "oh yes I know what that is" type exceptions, then a.) the articles won't be correctly date categorised, and b.) I won't be able to see where I need to improve SB's code to allow for the changes in WP, and of course general improvement to deal with user errors, sytntax mangling etc. Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 13:26 5 May 2008 (GMT).
 * I see. Good luck with it all then. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 13:32, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
 * (P.S. I still don't know what "BAh Humans." means, nor why you're removing spaces ... Pdfpdf (talk) 13:32, 5 May 2008 (UTC))

Yes, but that's the one edit I wasn't asking about. :) Pdfpdf (talk) 12:57, 5 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes they are spaces, and just a general fix. Rich Farmbrough, 12:57 5 May 2008 (GMT).

And what does "BAh Humans." mean? Pdfpdf (talk) 13:01, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

And why remove the spaces? Pdfpdf (talk) 13:14, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Smackbot
I was just wondering. Is the bot meant to do this? . Changing one after another. I know they were a few days apart and i know there is a good reason if you added an extra thing for the bot to do. Also does your bot get the list of articles from recent changes or something, or is it a manually added list? If it is from recent changes how? :D ·Add§hore· T alk/C ont 16:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It gets them from categories. The particular template here is a new redirect, so it wasn't until I added it to the rules that it worked properly. Rich Farmbrough, 19:08 4 May 2008 (GMT).

Just a question - What the hell is going on with this? I actually started putting the date on the fact templates because i saw your bot do it to one of my edits. So why is it undoing this work? Strange non? Sillyfolkboy (talk) 02:46, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, just got it, i've been putting 2008-05-05 instead of May 2008 on the fact tags. Sillyfolkboy (talk) 14:46, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

First Partition
Please check the edits by the bot at First Partition. If is breaks the tag again, I'll shut it off.-- Matthead  Discuß  16:19, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
 * thanks for the note, fixed. Rich Farmbrough, 16:56 5 May 2008 (GMT).

SmackBot behavior
This edit doesn't seem quite right. Is it supposed to do this on archived pages? Foobaz·o&lt; 00:12, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, because the page is already in Category:Articles with unsourced statements - so it needs dealing with. Rich Farmbrough, 10:17 2 May 2008 (GMT).
 * I think that should have been changed to, or  .  It was clearly intended to talk about the template, not invoke the template, so adding nowiki tags or using  seems right.  Changing from "citation needed" to "Fact" seems wrong.  Similarly, in another part of the same edit, adding a date and changing the capitalisation seems wrong.  &mdash;AlanBarrett 07:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

ChatterBot
have you ever made a chatterbot? If so, what one?--I am a Wikipedian (talk) 01:27, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * No. Rich Farmbrough, 10:19 2 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Well yes... in about 1975 on a tele-type. Rich Farmbrough, 10:20 2 May 2008 (GMT).

Oh Ok thanks guess it wasn't you :)--I am a Wikipedian (talk) 22:35, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

BAh Humans?
Me again. What does "BAh Humans" mean please? Pdfpdf (talk) 12:16, 7 May 2008 (UTC)


 * "Bah Humans" was a joke at the way they (from SmackBot's point of view) keep getting the dates wrong or wrongly formatted.  In addition to the rump of errors that I correct manually, SB corrects a whole slew of standard errors, from mis-spellings of "date" to wrongly formatted dates. Rich Farmbrough, 15:48 8 May 2008 (GMT).

Clarke County
What did Smackbot do on the Clarke County page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Matteosartori (talk • contribs) 21:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Which Clarke County? Look at the history an you will see.  Rich Farmbrough, 15:50 8 May 2008 (GMT).

No content in Category:Accuracy disputes from December 2006
Hello, this is a message from an automated bot. A tag has been placed on Category:Accuracy disputes from December 2006, by another Wikipedia user, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. The tag claims that it should be speedily deleted because Category:Accuracy disputes from December 2006 has been empty for at least four days, and its only content has been links to parent categories. (CSD C1). To contest the tagging and request that administrators wait before possibly deleting Category:Accuracy disputes from December 2006, 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. To see the user who deleted the page, click here''' CSDWarnBot (talk) 16:00, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Speedied Rich Farmbrough, 17:03 9 May 2008 (GMT).

BLP problems continue
Howdy, could you take a look at DrDoRo again in the next few days? Her PR agent keeps removing tags and inserting nonsensical garbage along with its edits. Do you know anyone who specializes in such articles? It needs serious help, and the editor uses misleading edit summaries and does not respond to messages, making communication difficult. It seems easier in such situations if the "community" (at least more than one person) tries to talk sense into the editor. JackSchmidt (talk) 21:25, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

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Smackbot and lifetime
Hi - I noticed the bot was inappropriately removing lifetime to add in birth and date categories here - any particular reason for this? BencherliteTalk 08:13, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It's an AWB general fix, don't know why it's considered a Good Thing. Rich Farmbrough, 11:10 13 May 2008 (GMT).

SmackBot
Apparently this edit was before the bug was fixed that caused this bot to treat superscripts that way. I fixed it a few minutes ago. Is there some automated way to identify other such cases that may be left over from that time? Michael Hardy (talk) 21:45, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

SmackBot
That Big Red Button is so tempting :) (just fealt like saying)--I am a Wikipedian (talk) 02:59, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

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WP:HAU has a new format
Due to popular demand, HAU has a new look. Since the changes are so dramatic, I may have made some mistakes when translating the data. Please take a look at WP:HAU/EU and make sure your checkmarks are in the right place and feel free to add or remove some. There is a new feature, SoxBot V, a recently approved bot, automatically updates your online/offline status based on the length of time since your last edit. To allow SoxBot V to do this, you'll need to copy to your userpage. Obviously you are not required to add this to your userpage, however, without this, your status will always be "offline" at HAU. Thanks. Useight (talk) 17:20, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Smackbot on Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Smackbot reverted some minor copy edit and clarifications I made on Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Before I revert them, can you take a look and see what the problem was? Thanks. Daddy.twins (talk) 13:03, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Hm, no you reverted yourself. Rich Farmbrough, 13:08 20 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Well, now that I'm looking at 'my contribs', I can see that you're absolutely correct. Don't know how I fat-fingered that. My bad. Thanks for pointing that out. Daddy.twins (talk) 13:14, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Got it. I was recently granted rollback privs.  This edit was the first time I saw the rollback feature on a history page, and I must have clicked on it out of curiousity.  I understand now that it reverted all my sequential changes back to the last change made by a user other than myself.  Sometimes you have to learn the hard way (or knuckleheaded way).  Daddy.twins (talk) 13:19, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

SmackBot
your smackbot is screwing up scientific references, e.g. illudens or irofulven, keeps citing one of my older publications which is not pertinent. mkelner (at) ucsd.edu —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.85.186.139 (talk) 06:32, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh... where to start?
 * Who are you? How do I/we contact you to discuss this?
 * SB doesn't add references, merely makes those visible that are invisible.
 * YOur co-author doesn' t seem to agree (Kelner)
 * This was 8th April that's "was" not "is" a long time ago in WP years.

Rich Farmbrough, 09:41 23 May 2008 (GMT).
 * The reference in question was added by . Why do you feel it is not pertinent to the article? Would you like to have it removed? (copied to Talk page of above IP) Fvasconcellos (t·c) 14:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Requrements for Friendly AI
Hi Rich. I noticed it was you who added the requirements for friendly AI here. Would you please explain further how the first-mover advantage fits in the context? Thanks, Waldir talk 17:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You are now ranked the second in WP:EDITS: User:Bearcat has surpassed you!!!
Now you are the runner-up as the most-edited Wikipedian in the English Wikipedia! Any comments and piece of advice for your successor? 60.50.8.38 (talk) 14:15, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, hardly anyone notices. Rich Farmbrough, 19:08 28 May 2008 (GMT).

Kevin Kinsella
Just wondering; why did you do this? - CobaltBlueTony™ talk 19:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * And many MANY more reverts to Smackbot, most of which seem unhelpful? Paulbrock (talk) 20:12, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I think it was done because smack bot was putting in the wrong month,"February 2008".R00m c (talk) 20:25, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Bah, it's just the old "the bot has a bug, so I need to revert" trick to regain first place in edit count. JackSchmidt (talk) 20:43, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Laughs... 130 reverts... SB has a backlog of 17000 thank goodness I spotted it early or Jack would be right. And my Carpel Tunnel would get bad again. Rich Farmbrough, 21:20 28 May 2008 (GMT).
 * Due to (temporarily) reverting to an old version SB was dating tags Feb instead of May. I didn't spot this immediately becasue the first few (which I generally do manually) were fixups of bad capitalisation ("may" -> "May"). Rich Farmbrough, 21:20 28 May 2008 (GMT).
 * D'oh! TOTALLY missed that it was putting Feb rather than May! Keep up the good work! Paulbrock (talk) 00:54, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

PixelPoint
any reason you reverted the bot, I thought maintenance tags needed dating. TravellingCarithe Busy Bee 20:31, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Never mind, I see this above TravellingCarithe Busy Bee 20:32, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Smackbot down?
Smackbot hasn't been adding date tags to (well, making any edits at all) for a while. Is this temporary, or is a request for a new bot needed?

Thanks for all your past work. I see you'll be offline a lot -- hope all is well.--Fabrictramp | talk to me  19:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the reply. No hurry at all, real life always comes first. My thoughts are with you.--Fabrictramp | talk to me  19:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks again for getting Smackbot back up! The work it does is appreciated, wrong month and all. :)--Fabrictramp | talk to me  22:10, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Bot approved: dabbing help needed
Hi there. Fritz bot has been approved at Bots/Requests for approval/FritzpollBot for filling in a possible 1.8 million articles on settlements across the world. Now dabbing needs to be done for links which aren't sorted as the bot will bypass any blue links. and I need as many people as possible to help me with WikiProject Missing encyclopedic articles/Places to prepare for the bot. If you could tackle a page or two everything counts as it will be hard to do it alone. PLease also pass on the message to anybody else who you may think might be willing to help. Thankyou ♦Blofeld of SPECTRE♦      $1,000,000? 12:23, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

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