Wikipedia:Barnstar and award proposals/Bot Barnstar

Bot Barnstar
I would like to propose the creation of a Bot Barnstar, to award an individual for creating or running bots that assist the Wikipedia in some matter, whether it is maintenance related, uploading information, etc. -- AllyUnion (talk) 05:11, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a great idea. Bots do a lot of behind-the-scenes work that has greatly helped Wikipedia. VFD Bot (thank you, AllyUnion), Mathbot (ditto Oleg Alexandrov), and Rambot (kudos Ram-Man) would probably qualify. I'd probably give it a shot when I have time, but I can see this one looking like a couple of circuit boards soldered together in the shape of a star, or maybe a stereotypical robot that looks like a star. --Deathphoenix 06:14, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I second this idea. The Sandbot is another good example of people who will get this award. Zscout370 (talk) 14:28, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I would also give this Barnstar to the people who created the bots, since without their efforts, the bots will not be here. Zscout370 (talk) 14:35, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
 * On the talk pages, we can either award the users, or perhaps we can award it to the bots with an explicit note allowing or encouraging them to place the barnstar in the owners' user pages, whichever you prefer. --Deathphoenix 17:16, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
 * It will be easier for the Barnstar to be placed on the owner's talk page, and describing to them which bot got the award and why. Zscout370 (talk) 17:51, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

Now the question is... what kind of image someone will make up... BTW, thanks Zscout for the note of appreciate for the Sandbot. -- AllyUnion (talk) 03:10, 12 May 2005 (UTC)


 * I worked on doing a logo that used text to shade different portions of the barnstar, like used to come out of old computers! But when I shrank it to a desirable size, but I'm not sure if it conveys that meaning.  But it's my first shot at these barnstar awards so maybe someone can use it somewhere! -- &#08492; astique &#09660; talk 21:27, 15 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I tried to come up with a circuit board type star, this is what I came up with. I know it can be better, but that gives us an idea. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 22:18, 15 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Ok, I came up with a better one. Though this is the second one in the circuit board idea, really, this should be called Intel is going to find me and sue me Barnstar. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 22:48, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

I like Zscout's Intel is going to find me and sue me Barnstar. ^_^ Here's a 3-D version without a background (see 4th image). (I moved the images to the top for convenience.) Sango  123  21:44, May 16, 2005 (UTC)


 * Number 4 &mdash; Xiong &#29066; talk * 10:52, 2005 May 18 (UTC)

I really dislike all of them... they don't seem to embody what a bot is...  It'd be cute if someone could make a BSD Daemon crossed with a barnstar. -- AllyUnion (talk) 03:44, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * All right, how's this? (5th image) Sango  123  00:23, Jun 12, 2005 (UTC)

6th image: How about a state diagram with some document flavoring? (SEWilco 05:47, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC))
 * I like the 6th image, but it really doesn't look like the normal barnstar, per se. Anyway you could reconcile it a bit with the original, standard image?  Bratsche talk  5 pillars 02:22, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC)
 * There's another flavor. Anyone, feel free to tinker. (SEWilco 03:34, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC))

I left a note on AllyUnion's talk page since he hasn't typed a response to his suggested BSD Daemon design (5th image). I think the 6th image has some potential, just make it a bit more 3-D and "Barnstarry". :) Sango  123  03:44, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC)


 * Actually, what I had in mind was that it would have the devil's horns, and the tail, with a full length trident being "held" by one of the star points. -- AllyUnion (talk) 04:58, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I added my two versions, but I think they can stand a lot of improvement. -- AllyUnion (talk) 11:15, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * The BSD Daemon barnstars are very clever, but I find myself favoring the Tux barnstar. Sango  123  14:12, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)


 * Those Daemon barnstars just look evil! Also, I think the TUX reference may be oblique for some people.  I have a feeling this is going to take a while...  &#08492; astique &#09660; talk 15:28, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * I don't particularly know how to rotate the barnstar at an angle... The BSD daemon's horns are on his head because he's facing at an angle.  If someone had more artistic skills than photo manipulation skills, we might have something better.  I'd perfer somehow to make the barnstar more... cartoony and draw in the horns, the trident, and the shoes.  And oh, the idea of using the BSD Daemon is on the concept of what a UNIX daemon is... more or less what bots do.  Bots on the Wikipedia are more or less Daemons themselves.  I wouldn't necessarily consider bots as angels... since some bots do cause harm.  Daemons are normally more neutral... -- AllyUnion (talk) 11:09, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Well, I think most of them look good, but we should decide on what angle to take: Daemon, Linux, Intel, or something else. Bratsche talk  5 pillars 15:57, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)
 * The thing is that we have to remember that a bot is a designed piece of code that is usually meant to be used unattended and automatic. It might be attended, but it is still automatic and geared toward some function.  Basing it off a circuit board, to me, seems not particularly accurate in the sense of the work of what bots do on the Wikipedia.  And neither does implying that Intel is the only type of processor which a bot runs off of.  One could take the view that the barnstar is to award the maintainer of the bot... and the image of a computer geek could apply in some sense...  However, it made sense to me that we try to use something that symbolic to something that is equal to an "errand boy."  Because that's what bots are really, they are our automatic "errand boys".  They take our grunt work off of normal users, and liberate us from doing them.  One of the reasons that I thought of a Daemon, particularly the character used as the BSD Daemon.  It's ashame I'm not an artist, but it'd be nice if someone could make a cartoonish looking barnstar with eyes, a smile and such that looks similar to the BSD Daemon. -- AllyUnion (talk) 06:31, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Now that you mentioned "errand boy", I immediately thought of Mr. ZIP and the logo here. It's too bad that the logo still belongs to the USPS, but maybe we can use that as inspiration. --Deathphoenix 18:09, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

11 & 12: I uploaded two barnstars I whipped up. The first is the binary barnstar. The second is the robot barnstar, which is trying to mimic an old wind-up robot toy. Suggestions? -- Norvy (talk) 28 June 2005 15:14 (UTC)
 * I like the Binary Barnstar. -- Riffsyphon1024 June 30, 2005 23:12 (UTC)
 * I find the robot barnstar you have created rather scary... It reminds me of Hal, and I'd do not want that as an idea for a barnstar... The Binary Barnstar is good, but some how it reminds me of the Matrix. --AllyUnion (talk) 1 July 2005 10:56 (UTC)

Hmm... SEWilco's barnstar gave me an interesting idea. What if you used the five star points to represent "computer nodes" and they all point to the middle to where the empty hole is for the barnstar? This is on the concept of a networking star configuration, and that bots are multiple systems connecting to the Wikipedia. --AllyUnion (talk) 1 July 2005 10:59 (UTC)
 * I like the Binary Barnstar and the Barnstar Robot best. - Mgm|(talk) 09:14, July 13, 2005 (UTC)
 * The Barnstar Robot was made from the Resilient Barnstar and shouldn't be used due to the close resemblance, but I agree with the Binary Barnstar. Sango  123  21:21, July 15, 2005 (UTC)