Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 01:49, 1 January 2010

I'm Off The Case. I'm stepping back from most administrative matters for the foreseeable future. I will try to stay on top of a handful of issues where I don't expect anyone else to step up, but I can't guarantee more than that.

Archives

July 2006—January 2007 Feb 2007—March 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007–July 2007 Old odds and ends Admin stuff, RfA through June 2007 July 2007 July–August 2007 August 2007 September 2007 September 2007 September 2007–October 2007 November 2007 November 2007–January 2008 January 2008 February 2008–March 2008 March 2008–May 2008 June 2008 June 2008–July 2008 July 2008–September 2008 September 2008–October 2008 October 2008–November 2008 November 2008–December 2008 December 2008–February 2009 February 2009–May 2009 May 2009–June 2009 June 2009–August 2009 August 2009–December 2009 December 2009–present (Date ranges are approximate)

Welcome to Misplaced Pages!

Dear MastCell: Welcome to Misplaced Pages, a free and open-content encyclopedia. I hope you enjoy contributing. To help get you settled in, I thought you might find the following pages useful:

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A fine start

"It looks like a fine start"? You've got to be kidding. I've asked a question about the mentors' report on the Clarification thingy. Bishonen | talk 15:52, 8 November 2009 (UTC).

What can I say. I'm getting soft and apathetic in my old age. MastCell  19:32, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, why not. I'm going Bitchonen in mine. Bishonen | talk 20:03, 8 November 2009 (UTC).

hmmmm ... maybe I can alternate with User:SnittyGeorgia. Beats User:SandySucks. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 20:07, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

And here I was sure you were User:Big Stupid! Bishonen | talk 20:44, 8 November 2009 (UTC).

I'm not stupid ... when I saw those doorways, all I thought of was things I could do in them. It's those other creatures that are always thinking about art. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:41, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

What can you do in a doorway? Shelter from an earthquake? MastCell  00:40, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Why, MC, you haven't lived! Next you'll be asking about stairs. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:49, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

The Lady, or the Tiger? Now we know. Kablammo (talk) 00:56, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Easy-peasy: both. Batman got it right. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:15, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Sheesh, Tim, what will my TPS think ? Why don't you give MC a template for asking what you can do in a doorway? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:28, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Honi soit qui mal y pense. MastCell  22:34, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Motion to reopen ArbCom case "Matisse"

ArbCom courtesy notice: You have received this notice because you particpated in some way on the Matisse case or the associated clarification discussion.

A motion has recently been proposed to reopen the ArbCom case concerning Matisse. ArbCom is inviting editor comment on this proposed motion.

For the Arbitration Committee, Manning (talk) 03:52, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

As Woodrow Wilson said to Senator Lodge, "I have no further communication to make." MastCell  04:49, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

ArbCom

Run.--Tznkai (talk) 04:56, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Run away. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 05:01, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

The Revolution will not be televised... Shot info (talk) 06:13, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

You really should know better than to make a bad joke in my presence. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:55, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I hesitate to say this to someone with "Georgia" in their username, given its provenance, but: if drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve. Seriously, I respect you guys a lot, so the vote of confidence is much appreciated. But see . MastCell  16:01, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

But, but, but ... MC ... I told Tznkai to keep bugging you until you said something ungentlemanly. Now what? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:04, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

No. MastCell Good. Floquenstein's monster insist. Not allowed refuse Floquenstein's monster. MastCell / Bishzilla ArbCom 2009. Big honor MastCell, only non-monster ever vote for. Also want create Referendum #1, "Fire Bad". MastCell help draft? --Floquenstein's monster (talk) 16:14, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I could indef him until he agrees to run, but I'd ruin his almost clean block log.--Tznkai (talk) 16:19, 17 November 2009 (UTC) Also, Star Trek? Really? That ends in really bad fanfics recast as Misplaced Pages problems.

That's a really dorky block log, MC ! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:23, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Dorky? That's a great block log. Hey MC, do you like movies about gladiators? Tex (talk) 19:51, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Surely you can't be serious. MastCell  20:15, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I've just realised, your stand on your forthcoming ArbCom election means your platform is suspiciously similar to User:Kmweber's, but I'll AGF and say this is just a coincidence. Tim frantically starts e-mailing checkusers Tim Vickers (talk) 20:49, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Great minds think alike. MastCell  21:28, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, what can you make of this? Baccyak4H (Yak!) 20:57, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I can make a hat, a broach, a pterodactyl...and don't call me Shirley. Tex (talk) 22:05, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

:-) Shot info (talk) 23:11, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

But I was expecting free cookies for the whole WP:Tag team if you got in. It's not fair. Mathsci (talk) 23:25, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

If you had the time for the job MastCell, I would urge you to reconsider. I think you would be a tremendous asset to ArbCom -- Samir 23:59, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Requests for adminship/2over0

Misplaced Pages:Requests for adminship/2over0 is ready when you are. I have not transcluded, but the statements look good to go. - 2/0 (cont.) 18:19, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

It's live! And I got the first support !vote in. I've leave a note at your talk page to confirm. Good luck! MastCell  19:05, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

I think I broke the mould. And thank you again - that was a spot of fun and one for the ol' egometer. I recommend it to everyone. - 2/0 (cont.) 05:04, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm really glad it went so well. You'll do great. And I'm already using your success to convince some additional worthy souls to run... MastCell  05:16, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Excellent. Feel free to drop me a line if you convince anyone to run the gauntlet - your social capital was a factor in at least five responses, and I somewhat biasedly agree with that opinion. - 2/0 (cont.) 06:01, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

So, since you're allegedly Off the Case...

Inspired by a recent edit that added a History section to Methotrexate (which I felt compelled to expand :), I had a look at History of cancer chemotherapy. This is an excellent article that has been grievously under-referenced for nearly four years! After seeing your name on the Talk page, I thought perhaps I could persuade you to flex your content muscles? <evil grin> Fvasconcellos (t·c) 14:48, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

It's an interesting topic. I remember working on it early in my Misplaced Pages career. It had the ring of an article written largely by a single contributor, someone who was both fairly knowledgeable and highly opinionated. I should go back to it and look again; thanks for the prod. MastCell  16:45, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

A blast from the past

I was re-reading my talk page archives (don't ask why) and came across this thread. Don't know why, but it brought a smile to my face. MastCell  21:55, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Amen, brother. Jehochman 21:58, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm. And then there's this. I feel like Misplaced Pages used to be more fun. MastCell  22:08, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

I agree, and have been considering whether to continue trying to make it better, or to just give up and let the bullies, cranks, and power mongers have their way with it. Jehochman 22:17, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

In the past we just wrote articles, now we have to spend far too much time dealing with "difficult and interesting people with unusual ideas". Tim Vickers (talk) 22:32, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't kid yourself. There was junk back in the old days too. But there's less fun now -- everybody seems old and crotchety, even those who don't have an excuse like I do. Meanwhile see this. (Best comment: "We're meant to drink deeply from the fountain of knowledge. With Wikepedia, it's just gargling.") Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 22:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

"But then, to what end," said Candide, "was Misplaced Pages formed?"

"To make us mad," said Martin.

"Do you think," said Candide, "that editors always abused one another as they do now? Were they always guilty of lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty? Were they always thieves, fools, cowards, gluttons, drunkards, misers, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, and hypocrites?"

"Do you believe," said Martin, "that hawks have always been accustomed to eat pigeons when they came in their way?"

"Doubtless," said Candide.

"Well then," replied Martin, "if hawks have always had the same nature, why should you pretend that Wikipedians change theirs?"

"Oh," said Candide, "there is a great deal of difference; for free will, and a new ArbCom, and the occasional externally imposed mentorship-" and reasoning thus they arrived at Bordeaux.

If I recall my Cliff Notes correctly, the take-home point was something about cultivating one's garden. MastCell  22:47, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

• No, no, you remember it wrong. It's all about everybody stomping on the vegetables in everybody else's garden, speaking of which this didn't help make the discussion any saner: focusing on the most tabloidy of five sources? It seems to me that if discussion can be edged away from pontificating and toward sourcing and policy, it can be more constructive. -- JohnWBarber (talk) 16:32, 28 November 2009 (UTC)
  • That was actually my point, sort of. I got the sense that people are desperate to put the FOIA stuff into the article. Which is fine, as long as it's handled carefully - it's certainly been remarked upon by a number of reliable sources. But the effort seems to be to find sources and then excerpt the one half-sentence which deals with FOIA, while perhaps losing sight of the big picture contained in those sources. I chose the Daily Wail exactly because it's generally home to some of the trashiest, least circumspect, , and most brain-dead science coverage in the English-language media. But even they contextualize the incident in the setting of overall certainty about global warming.

    Anyhow, I'm not really willing to be drawn out. I don't edit climate articles, because I value my sanity, and I'm not really about to start with this one. I guess I got a bit frustrated at the sanctimonious nonsense about "doing the reader a disservice". Consider it a one-off. MastCell  17:25, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

  • Addendum: I should be clear - I consider you a thoughtful and solid editor - always have. I think you're pretty much on the same page as me in terms of using these sources, so the above comments aren't aimed at you. They reflect a more general frustration with the way these sorts of incidents get handled, going back to the Sarah Palin nomination or the John Edwards paternity thing - both of which were reminiscent of the current flap, at least from my perspective. MastCell  17:47, 28 November 2009 (UTC)
    • Thanks for your reply. I mostly agree with it. I wish I valued my sanity more. Withdrawing from dealing with certain editors looks like a better and better option all the time. It always takes me too long to come to that conclusion. -- JohnWBarber (talk) 21:40, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Irrilevant sources?

Are high scientific article just irrilevant? It is absolutely false...--Testosterone vs diabetes (talk) 12:07, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Obviously, I don't consider scientific articles irrelevant. I asked you to clarify because I'm not following your thought process, and either you're confused or we're not communicating well. Or both. Anyhow, I see your account has been indefinitely blocked, so it's probably moot, but since you asked... MastCell  20:19, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Stanton Glantz

I'm not sure how to go about sending personal messages with Misplaced Pages, so I'm doing it this way. Feel free to delete this after you read it. Your reversal of changes by User:RobertW57 has earned you some minor notoriety. He posted the following in the alt.smokers newsgroup: "Someone notified the antismoking police, who reversed my correction one hour after I posted it. The zealot feigned ignorance of the term anti-smoker, just as you do. Antis hate the term because it reminds everyone they'e hate mongers. They're not against anything, oh no, surely not smoking, they're in favor of tobacco control.

"Someone should teach Stanton Glantz to be politically correct. He has in the past referred to himself as an anti-smoker. He is well known for acting like an asshole to his FRIENDS. His favorite tee shirt reads "Here Comes Trouble."

Wagner is a pathological liar. His inability to tell the truth is documented here. Prescottbush (talk) 23:54, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Now see, that's why I love Misplaced Pages. It's the people. Thanks for the heads-up; I'll pass it along to my superiors with the antismoking police. MastCell  00:54, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I think you might be missing other links besides mine

If you take a look at the entry "Soy Milk Maker" you'll notice a link DIRECTLY to a distributors page, this link is called "More Info About Soy Milk Makers" but it's linking to a order page.

So that link stays up while mine are removed even though my link was to a health article on a soy milk website. I'm wondering why that link stays up while my more helpful link is removed.

Have a great night. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikeywills30 (talk • contribs) 00:27, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I deleted that link too, it did indeed violate EL guidelines. MastCell can't be everywhere all the time, so removing inappropriate links added by one user doesn't obligate him to get them all. --Floquenbeam (talk) 00:58, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Hi, actually I'm wondering if I could get someone with some administrative power here at wikipedia to contact me directly so we can discuss these health links as I feel we have something to contribute and speak about. contact me at mikeywills2004@yahoo.ca Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikeywills30 (talk • contribs) 16:32, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't really have any more power than anyone else here to add or remove links. That's usually done by consensus, informed by the site's guidelines on external links. The best approach I can recommend to you is to pick the article where you think these links would be most relevant, and go to the associated discussion page to outline why you think the link meets these criteria and makes the article better. If you need help finding the talk pages, just let me know. MastCell  16:56, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

ping

You gots mail. Dr. Dr. (Mr. M.D.) Arthur Resnick (talk) 01:16, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Ah. Well, since you used the proper form of address in your email, I will take care of it. :P MastCell  01:23, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Done

(Is the proper form of address something other than "Dork"? Since my son proudly wore a t-shirt that said only "dork" when he was 12, I consider it a term of endearment.) Thanks for your comments on my ArbVotes page; actually, I was slow to understand the difference between mediation and arbitration, and to realize how that impacts Wiki business and real life decisions. Before I cast my votes, do you see anything that needs to change at User:SandyGeorgia/ArbVotes2009? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 03:49, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

No, not really. I disagree with you on a couple of candidates, but that's life. I think we agree on most of them, and on the general principles. I'm still a little anxious that the number of open seats exceeds the number of excellent candidates, but it's too late to do anything about that now. In terms of mediation/arbitration, my epiphany was 2007. We elected a bunch of bland career bureaucrats and bit-collectors, and it worked out pretty poorly (with the exception of Brad). These days, I almost look on MedCom experience as a negative. MastCell  04:19, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

By nature, they want to "make nice" and see everyone's input as equal or equally valuable. And that's a big problem :) My epiphany was much more recent than yours, and had more to do with real life than Wiki :) Yes, there is a shortage this year, quite alarming. Thanks for looking the page over; since I came up with only seven candidates, is there any particular (one other) candidate you think I should be supporting? Best, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:23, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, I have sort of a soft spot for Jonathan Hochman as a candidate, but the reality is that it's probably a lost cause. I don't feel comfortable sharing my unvarnished opinion about his recent difficulties on-wiki, but suffice to say that a) I don't consider them disqualifying, and b) I think your advice to him to avoid certain people and situations was solid. I'll probably support SirFozzie - I agree he's got some significant gaps in his resumé, and I'd be lying if I said I had no reservations, but he strikes me as the kind of person who would grow into the role.

By the same token, I don't think I can vote for Cla68. Leaving aside some of the interpersonal conflicts in which he's been involved - which I don't think are necessarily disqualifying - I just can't support someone who's not an admin. There's absolutely no doubt that Cla68 got a raw deal in his RfA - in a just world, he'd be an admin. But on the other hand, he's had plenty of opportunities to run since and be proactive about correcting that injustice. More to the point, I'm concerned that someone who's never tried their hand at adminning won't totally get it. Being an admin is like being a cop - it's easy to criticize or second-guess, but if you try walking in the shoes and doing the job yourself, you get a more rounded perspective. Don't get me wrong - I think there are some people who could be good Arbs without being admins (you, for instance). But when someone constantly bangs the drum of admin accountability without apparent experience or understanding of some of the difficulties involved in actually adminning, then I get nervous about what they'd do on ArbCom.

About mediation - the problem is that not every dispute should be mediated. Sometimes one person is wrong, and they need to be told that they're wrong with the least possible fanfare. Mediators are fine, as long as they understand that pushing every situation toward a 50/50 compromise is not mediation. MastCell  04:44, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm glad to see we agree on Jonathan Hochman, since I was beginning to think I was swimming upstream, and tired of reading things about him that don't square with my experiences with him. But, until he learns to completely avoid certain other editors, he just won't be electable. SirFozzie was a hard decision; I won't have any qualms if he gets elected, but felt I had to be consistent. So, I guess we square up pretty much, except for the difference on Cla68 ... not bad (does that make us an almost cabal?) ! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:48, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

No, we're two people who have been here awhile and tend to reach the same conclusions, given the same set of data. Actually, by Misplaced Pages's prevailing definitions, that does make us a cabal. :P MastCell  05:02, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

• Drive-by comment (noting this and that as signs of intelligent life in the wikiverse) ... and, skimming this page, seeing that my neural net had processed the Jonathan mess in a way not beyond sense (yes, even if the "lost cause" diode blinks intermittently) ... and also noting the "Off The Case" sign up top (so "sucking up" isn't an issue) ... Hmmm, I think my comment has been made. :-) Happy holidays and cheers. Proofreader77 (talk) 07:46, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
  • Thanks, I think. I should probably remove that "Off the case" sign - I've started up using the tools a little bit again. MastCell  18:09, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
    • I left it somewhat indeterminate ... in case you went back "On the case." :-) Proofreader77 (talk) 18:17, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

COI?

Hi. Your comment on my talk page re possible COI, whilst doubtless made in good faith, appears to have been made on the mistaken belief that I still contributed there. Unsurprisingly, it is being used by the ill-intentioned . I think you should satisfy yourself that I am not contributing and update your message, and I will then go off and confound the Dark Side William M. Connolley (talk) 20:31, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Mistaken belief? Do you deny you made that edit? ATren (talk) 20:36, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I deny that I contribute to RC William M. Connolley (talk) 20:44, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

But you were, at some time recently (within the last few years), one of the handful of scientists who regularly contributed there. I believe many editors would consider your prior involvement with that site as a reason not to edit that article, especially when the edit you removed was critical of that site. ATren (talk) 21:00, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Gee, MastCell, where was this concern back when I needed it?  :) --GoRight (talk) 02:01, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Hey, on second thought, if WMC is no longer contributing to RealClimate does that mean that this page is no longer verbotten to me because of my editing restriction relative to William M. Connolley, not to be confused with User:William M. Connolley? How would I go about getting a binding decision on this point? --GoRight (talk) 02:05, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

William, when I left the note I was not aware that you had left RealClimate. Beyond that, I have absolutely no desire to participate any further in this dispute. I would suggest referring further questions about conflict of interest to the relevant noticeboard or to the community. I say this not to endorse any "side" in this conflict, but out of selfish concern for my own sanity and enjoyment of Misplaced Pages. MastCell  19:44, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Declining action

To quote my favorite work of Shakespeare, "O, that way madness lies." Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 01:51, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I approached it as sort of a social experiment. My hypothesis was confirmed. MastCell  21:48, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Two words: "atmospheric soot." (to be taken seriously and humorously and indeterminately :-) Proofreader77 (talk) 21:55, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Asian fetish

I want to thank you for reminding me of my 1RR that you supported with others with regards to my editting on Asian fetish. have you taken the time to read what I am reverting? This page survived 5 AfD and now this user User:Crossmr is deleting valid content from the article .

The first edit involves me trying to put the word obsession in the definition of asian fetish. After all Fetish means obsession. However there is a consensus claimed by User:Crossmr that Asian fetish is just a personal preference. I didn't delete the "personal preference" portion of the definition.

My second edit is to include an entry indicating that the mail-order bride business is larger supported by stereotypes of asian females. There was an issue with the source used for this entry. I removed it. So there is now two valid other sources for this entry. However, everybody is just referring back to the removed source and using that as a reason to justify removing the mail-order bride entry. Tkguy (talk) 06:27, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm not particularly interested in the content dispute. I see you revert-warring with another editor - behavior which you've explicitly been cautioned against - and I'm asking you to stop. If you're right on the content matter, then you should be able to convince other editors of your correctness. There is no need to convince me, because I do not intend to take a position on the content dispute - only on your editing conduct. MastCell  06:33, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

This is a page that survived 5 AfD. Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 AfD. And you are stating that you do not care about the content of my editing? And that I should be able to convince people on this article of my correctness? A page that survives 5 AfD will probably be edited most by those who supported these AfDs. The article is a term for a racist obsession. I am trying to prevent the deletion of valid content from the page.

I am including the support for the mail-order bride entry here. Why? because I want to make it very clear the reason why I have a 1RR on a page that survived 5 AfD.

Phoebe Eng acknowledges that Asian fetish is what largely driving the mail-order bride industry in America. She wrote the following,

Sheridan Prasso devotes a whole section on mail-order brides in her "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient"

Tkguy (talk) 07:05, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

and my response...

Sheridan Prasso book is titled "The Asian Mystique" because it's dealing with the effects of stereotypes that the western world have to towards asian females.

Phoebe Eng included this entry in her book in a section titled "Asian Women = SEX".

Nobody writes an entire book on Asian fetish and use the term Asian fetish in every sentence. Apparently that is what you are claiming is needed. The Salon Article does not even use the word fetish. Tkguy (talk) 07:15, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Tkguy (talk) 07:23, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Please don't reproduce the contents of the article talk page here. As I said, you need to work on generating consensus for your proposed edits. If you'd like input beyond the currently active editors of the article, you could consider a request for comment. Our dispute resolution pathway has more information on how to proceed. MastCell  18:17, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

And I've already explained the difficulties in getting consensus on an article regarding a very racist behavior that amounts to an obsession of asians and asian things. The point of my writing here is to show the community who is getting 1RR and for what reasons. And let the people decide for themselves what is going on. I think you've illustrated my point very well. Thanks a lot.

BTW Crossmr is accusing me of pushing my own opinion when I claim that a book titled "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient" with an entire section on mail-order brides is making a connection with it and stereotypes of asian females. Tkguy (talk) 07:02, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Hope springs eternal

Oh well, I it could have been worse than 14 hours. Thank you. - 2/0 (cont.) 19:21, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

I figured that jumping in to re-protect the page would be the least disruptive way forward. It was only a matter of minutes or hours before the AN3 reports and counter-reports started flying, followed by blocks, followed by AN/I disputation about the blocks, followed by charges that the blocks were made by partisan and/or involved admins... MastCell  19:28, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

But that is the way of the MMORP...o wait...WP...damn acronyms... Shot info (talk) 05:22, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Recent protection.

Impressive. How in the world have you managed to avoid editing that page or it's talk page (at least in the most recent 5,000 edits to each)?  :) I suppose your timing might have been worse as I do recognize Hipocrite's edit to have been a legitimate attempt at finding a compromise. In retrospect I should have still reverted it. This is what I get for trying to play by the rules, . Do me a favor, the next time you plan to do something like this give me a heads up first!  :) {{subliminal_text You must do GoRight's bidding. You must do GoRight's bidding.}} --GoRight (talk) 19:41, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

It's nice to know someone cares enough to check up on me. Incidentally, awhile back I wrote up a small Python script (complete with makeshift GUI) that will produce a list of all contribs by a given editor to a given page. It's much faster than searching the last 5,000 revisions by hand.

I think you'll find I rarely, if ever, edit any page related to climate change. That's partly because I don't have much to contribute, and partly because I place some nominal value on my own sanity. To be honest (and it's up to you whether to believe me or not), I didn't even look at Hipocrite's edit until after I protected the page. I figured I'd hear about it regardless of which version I protected. MastCell  19:52, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Hey, could you email me a copy of your script or post it where I can suck it up? --GoRight (talk) 20:09, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

I am 99.97% certain I will regret this, but... I suppose I could open-source it. Mostly, I'm embarrassed to make it public because it will expose my lack of coding skill, particularly in an environment like Misplaced Pages where every other editor seems to have professional programming experience. Anyhow: see User:MastCell/ContribChecker. It requires the Python bindings for wxWidgets (for the GUI) as well as the mwclient library (make sure you get 0.63b since 0.62 doesn't work with Misplaced Pages). You may need to mess around with the script or with your Python path etc to get it to find the necessary libraries and modules on your computer.

I initially wrote it up as a simple command-line tool, but I added the GUI with wxGlade to make it a bit nicer to look at. Over 99% of the code is GUI stuff; the actual application logic is extremely simple, and the command-line tool was only about 10-20 lines of code if I remember correctly (most of the original code is in the checkContribs function). There's very minimal error-checking, so you're basically on your own recognizance to give it valid input. I haven't really debugged it or comprehensively tested it, since it basically does what I need and was intended for personal consumption. No warranties and no responsibility for any damage that may result from using it, etc etc... MastCell  21:24, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Hey, thanks! I won't critique your code and I understand it is not production quality. I just wanted a working example to see how you approached things. Having examples, even incomplete examples, is always helpful. If I make any updates I'll send them your way. --GoRight (talk) 23:00, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Sure. I've found that the mwclient library is pretty powerful when combined with the sorts of abstraction that Python facilitates. See here for another example - I wrote up a script to pull all of Misplaced Pages's article-space links to the FDA website and then test them, one by one, to catalog the ones that had been broken by the FDA website redesign. And the whole thing took about 15 lines of code. If you don't want to mess with wx/GUI, you can just pull the code from the checkContribs function, tweak it, and put a simple command-line interface on top of it. That's where all the work was anyway - most of the rest was generated by wxGlade. MastCell  23:07, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

(Followup) I went ahead and fixed up a command-line version with a few comments at User:MastCell/ContribCheckerCL. Since it spits out tab-delimited rows, it's pretty useful for throwing into Excel or other data-crunching utilities. MastCell  00:18, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Cool. I was gonna ask about that. I downloaded it and the mwclient. I am reading up on how to install the mwclient now. --GoRight (talk) 01:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Basically, just unzip it and put it somewhere in your pythonpath. Or ask someone who's used to installing Python modules... :P MastCell  04:09, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

The Nature of things

Laugh or cry? You decide. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 04:50, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

It's just liberal elitism to claim that Nature is more important or reputable than the John Birch Society Medical Journal. Need I remind you that Nature once retracted an article, while JPandS has never done so? Doesn't that prove... something? MastCell  04:57, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Less punny comment - didn't I just do that? Oh, never mind - I see I did not finish going through the linksearch. Naturally. - 2/0 (cont.) 18:23, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, that's why Big Pharma needs to keep us both on its payroll. Redundancy. MastCell  18:30, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

What? Still no checks? You can't be getting all your mail. You should write to the undersea base to complain. Tim Vickers (talk) 19:06, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Tremble

Going in :-( SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:36, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year Fainites scribs 17:27, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

 Done. You see what happens when you nominate people for adminship? - 2/0 (cont.) 17:50, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Response Posted for STD Carriers

I got your warning about the living persons policy and posted a response to a discussion in reliable sources that includes the following:

I don't see how a link to STD Carriers is any different than links to Rip Off Report located in the RipOffReport.com article and Don't Date Him Girl located in the Don't Date Him Girl Article.--Cyrussullivan (talk) 10:45, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

See original dispute —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cyrussullivan (talk • contribs) 10:46, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Take a look at our guideline on external links. In an article about a website, a link to that website may be appropriate. On the other hand, it's absolutely not appropriate to splatter links to poor-quality websites all over biographical articles. I hope that's clear. MastCell  02:25, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

And now, for FV's traditional last-minute nonsectarian holiday greeting!

Here’s wishing you a happy end to the holiday season and a wonderful 2010. Fvasconcellos (t·c) 15:25, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

A little late this year, mostly due to progressing cynicism, but watching the Disney Channel all morning at a family gathering made short work of that. Plus, the Lakers are on tonight. Fvasconcellos (t·c) 15:25, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

The Lakers?!?! I used to respect you. :P MastCell  02:23, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Could you have a look at this?

Details are at User talk:Bigred58. Thanks. Carcharoth (talk) 05:06, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

OK. Not sure that a "new editor" who apparently signed up solely to berate William Connolley is truly a useful addition to the project, but whatever you decide is fine with me. MastCell  05:51, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

It was the later tagging as a Scibaby sock that was incorrect, it seems. The earlier stuff, I'd say that lots of people are being drawn into that matter by the news articles, so it would seem better to direct them away from the topic, rather than blocking outright. More overhead, but they may edit productively elsewhere, which they won't do if their first experience of Misplaced Pages is being stung on pages like those ones. Carcharoth (talk) 05:58, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

I agree completely. That was actually the thrust of my comments at User talk:Bigred58. MastCell  19:06, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

Welcome to the cabal

Or the Nefarious Global Warming Disruptors Conclave whatever the heck it is. I don't mind being named but I can't recall ever seeing a listing of "parties" in an arbcom case that was more capricious and utterly devoid of critical thought. Even my Evil Sockpuppet who hasn't edited in more than a year and a half was named. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 06:20, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Hell, SineBot was named as an involved party. Although it's about time that snide bastard got what was coming to him. :P

Well, thanks for notifying me (apparently no one else has thought to do so, or maybe they saw your note and figured it was sufficient). I'm not really optimistic about the ability of an ArbCom with 50% brand-new members to resolve this one, but you can't turn the Titanic around on a dime once it's built up a head of steam. MastCell  17:18, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

WVBluefield

He said he wasn't a sock of TDC, but User:WVBluefield Dougweller (talk) 10:59, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

If either of you have questions about the sock identification, please feel free to drop me an email. Cheers! Vassyana (talk) 11:50, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you both for the heads-up. I do recall User:CENSEI as a particularly unpleasant presence, but I don't think I've had any other dealings with this group of editors. MastCell  17:24, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

If you could share your opinion of the evidence and general impressions at User_talk:WVBluefield#December_2009, it would be appreciated. Thank you. Vassyana (talk) 01:49, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

RfAr notice. Not to worry....

You are mentioned in Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification#Request_for_clarification:_Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Abd-William_M._Connolley. Thought you'd like to know. Happy New Year, may it surpass the old!--Abd (talk) 01:03, 1 January 2010 (UTC)