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I recognize that this user page belongs to the Misplaced Pages project and not to me personally. As such, I recognize that I am expected to respectfully abide by community standards as to the presentation and content of this page, and that if I do not like these guidelines, I am welcome either to engage in reasonable discussion about it, to publish my material elsewhere, or to leave the project.
My real name is Larry Pieniazek and I like LEGO(r) Brand building elements. Feel free to mail me with comments or concerns if you don't want to post.
Here to leave me a message? Response time varies depending on where I'm active... Ping me if it's truly urgent, or find another admin.
Here about accountability? see my accountability page. Note: The apparent listification of the category (it's back but may go away again) does not change my commitment to my recallability in any way
Please read the two blue boxes :).
A Note on how things are done here:
Being a "grumpy old curmudgeon", I have certain principles governing this talk page which I expect you to adhere to if you post here. (This talk page is my "territory", (although I acknowledge it's not really mine, it's the community's) and I assume janitorial responsibility for it.)
I may, without notice, refactor comments to put like with like, correct indents, or retitle sections to reflect their contents more clearly. If I inadvertently change the meaning of anything, please let me know so I can fix it!
While I reserve the right to delete comments I find egregiously poor form, I am normally opposed to doing so and use monthly random archives instead. If you post here, your words will remain here and eventually in the archives, so please do not delete them, use strikeouts. In other words, think carefully about what you say rather than posting hastily or heatedly.
Edit warring here is particularly bad form. One of my WP:TPW's may well issue a short block, so don't do it.
Interpersonal communication does not work when messages are left on individual users' talk pages rather than threaded, especially when a third party wishes to read or reply.
Being a "bear of very little brain", I get easily confused when trying to follow conversations that bounce back and forth, so I've decided to try the convention that many others seem to use, aggregation of messages on either your talk page or my talk page. If the conversation is about an article I will try to aggregate on the article's talk page.
If the conversation is on your talk page or an article talk page, I will watch it.
If the conversation is on my talk page or an article talk page and I think that you may not be watching it, I will link to it in a note on your talk page, or in the edit summary of an empty edit. But if you start a thread here, please watch it.
I may mess up, don't worry, I'll find it eventually. Ping me if you really need to.
please note this is a personal preference rather than a matter of site policy
Odd. Normally when I get these I'm all like "ya ya, I got it, why'd ya ping me, I check my mail compulsively" but not this time. Did you send it using the "email this user" function? Hasn't arrived yet. Thx. ++Lar: t/c04:44, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
An Misplaced Pages:Uploaders usergroup was created some back in November 2008 so someone could shoot us a few pictures without waiting for autoconfirmed. Brion granted it to one person, Special:UserRights/Heathermtimm, who hasn't edited since then. I'd suggest removing it to keep the group tidy. Iff she returns to properly license the photos, we can undelete them and she'll have 10 edits and no longer need the userright anyway. I asked Brion but he declared talk page bankruptcy before noticing the thread =) –xeno20:14, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
You can ask him again, my understanding of email bankruptcy is that it's a fresh start, not a prohibition on older topics. But it certainly sounds reasonable to remove this user from the group. As for the uploads, I reviewed them, one is very poor quality, one has been replaced by a much better image (with an attached permission pointer to OTRS) and one is one that might be good to have back if the permission can be sorted. I think. So anyway I've removed it for now. One of us should leave a note at Brion's page (that would be you I suggest) and one at Heather's (that would be me) ++Lar: t/c22:20, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
Thanks! I dropped him a courtesy note. I'd guess he's not that concerned about how we structure our userrights over here, but for some reason only stewards can set the flag. cheers, –xeno02:15, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
I think Uploader would be a useful right to be able to grant for admins, just like Rollback, so perhaps a Bugzilla is in order, because having Stewards need to undo it makes it not very useful. ++Lar: t/c05:52, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
Not afraid, per se. More lazy. And also I bet someone more technically inclined could file a much more useful bugzilla, i.e. one that identifies the exact code lines needing changed, etc. –xeno03:15, 5 July 2009 (UTC)
Hmph! That's not me. (the "exact line of code" part, not the lazy part)... I have no idea where the code to change would be without doing the research... but... I'd just model the bug submission after one of the other ones for permissions changes. ++Lar: t/c03:25, 5 July 2009 (UTC)
You would just add uploaders to the sysop AddGroups, so: $wgAddGroups = array( 'rollbacker', 'abusefilter'...., 'Uploaders' );. Prodego03:29, 5 July 2009 (UTC)
the worst thing about someone noting that you're trying to be funny is that clearly you're failing... even if you weren't trying in the first place! I confess to being tempted to dropping a note in at the civility poll asking if an admin / steward / wiseman / guru calling a lowly peon a 'shit disturber' should be block worthy, but it depresses me no end to think that some might say 'yes' - now that's really not funny. Happy to chat more about why I genuinely believe my approach to have merit, equally happy to accept grumbles when they come ;-) Privatemusings (talk) 03:35, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
I'm thinking of giving him a fucking barnstar. We don't seem to have quite the right one, so I guess I'll have to roll my own.
Sometimes it is best to just walk around a bit of disturbing shit you find in your path — quite a common circumstance here as there is a serious problem with all the feral dogs roaming about. Other times is is best to just bury them with a spade to save the next person from an unpleasant experience. Some of the dogs are rabid — at least a half dozen people have been bitten and died here in the last six months — so they've begun putting the worst down and have castrated some tens of thousands to stem the surging population of toxic bitters. The dogs are hard to catch so they are using a lot of strychnine laced baits; the apparently rabid are swiftly shot.
Nod. I was pushing the envelope a bit to make a point, it's true. Still, all of those policies have been gradually softening over the last couple of years, as the panoply of things that stewards can do has broadened.
"don't decide", for example... stewards decide things routinely, in such areas as global permissions, global blocks/locks/hides, renames, and on and on and on. But ya... this is taking deciding a bit too close to the edge...
"home wiki", If the action is clear cut, there's not nearly the issue there was once. I routinely turn off admin/crat/CU/OV bits for users on en:wp, either because the request came into m:SRP from ArbCom (where other stewards actually have said they prefer en:wp familiar stewards to do it) or because it was a private request to me... but ya, this is a bit more home wiki centric than those things...
"no clear policy"... what we have is a precedent by Brion to do something. You could argue that either way, but ya...
So anyway, thanks for turning up. I don't think there's really an issue here with the one removal I did, but it's good to talk through stuff, and I probably should strike the remark you were replying to. ++Lar: t/c21:17, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
No worries. Thanks for explaining. Though sure, the policies are being relaxed. I'm seeing this also just as a "watcher". - Rjd0060 (talk) 22:19, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
You restored the opening comment and removed the main thrust of his argument, leaving a vague statement which has no bearing on his actual concerns. While poorly phrased, that was essentially a "vote of no confidence" in two of the editors named. IMO, this is a very serious concern, "NO confidence" views have always been allowed in democratic discussions, and I suggest you approach Eric about rephrasing, and allow it to stand. Valid concerns about divisive editors is not the same as incivility or personal attacks, and you know it. KillerChihuahuaAdvice15:21, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
I agree. I was torn here... I did not think that the initial reversion should stand, and yet the paragraphs I omitted, as written, were personal attacks. I believe it is possible to phrase the "vote of no confidence" in a way that does not violate our NPA policy and I have thought about the phrasing one would use to do so, but it's not my place to put words in Eric's mouth, so I didn't try. I've already sent Eric some urgings but will redouble my efforts. The thing that makes it messier now, of course, is that there are a couple of endorses there now which presumably would need to be removed once the new wording was put in place. I welcome suggestions on how to proceed. ++Lar: t/c16:37, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
IMO, leave the statement with the endorses, but allow and encourage Eric to phrase his "no confidence" in a way which manages to voice his concerns without insulting anyone personally, and then let both stand. I cannot imagine anyone being such a childish PITA as to complain "Eric got two! How come I only get one!" and if they do, explain there were confusing edits and this is the best solution. It might help to add a parenthetical to the first or second view, such as (edited) or (as intended). Or even rename the one currently there as Another View, or something similar, with no name at all. Any of these are quite workable. One puppy's opinion. KillerChihuahuaAdvice16:45, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
It looks like Eric's view is not going to be allowed to stand. He toned down his view and posted it but it was removed again... you may want to get further involved. ++Lar: t/c15:27, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
Discussion at Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_(infoboxes)#Dispute over single articles having multiple infoboxes - VOTE!!!
I've kind of lost the thread on that, I'm afraid. But maybe my TPW's could comment. I will try to take a look and see. ++Lar: t/c05:35, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
I saw ;) I'll check back tomorrow as I'm about to shut down for the day. Lots of progress on the portals on meta today. Cheers, Jack Merridew14:55, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
Yes, I was going to start the new MFD about 7 days after the restoration. But it could be started now as well, I think Drew is done with the cleanup. –xeno18:36, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
Whatever makes the most sense, I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget (but this all was before I saw that earlier, longer thread on your user talk. ++Lar: t/c18:37, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
Part of the bitterness among the factions in the date-linking dispute was due to various incidents of incivility. I won't bore you with all the details, but PMAnderson is complaining about Ohconfucius (and others) addressing him as "Mandy". It was a small but obviously annoying unpleasantry, and frankly I was hoping that such issues had been forgotten. However, in my very humble opinion, I'd advise against further comment as it seems to fan the flames of discord. Hope that helps. --RexxS (talk) 17:05, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
You're a scholar and a gentleman. I can assure you that I won't let you down, but you're more than welcome to "stalk" my edits for as long as it takes to assure yourself that I'm capable of civilized behaviour. Thanks also for your advice regarding community discussions which was well-taken. Doc Tropics17:11, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
You're welcome. I'm already sure you're capable, and confident there won't be any recurrence. Best. ++Lar: t/c17:16, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
Warning
Please do not attack other editors. If you continue, you will be blocked from editing Misplaced Pages.
Cease your personal attacks in relation to the RfC. Otherwise you will be blocked. As an expeienced Wikipedian you do not need any other warning. Slrubenstein | Talk08:54, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
I'd love to see anyone bring up an example of my attacking another editor during the RfC. Be that as it may, I will not be the one to block Lar. I will take it to AN. But my prefered outcome would simply be fore lar to withdraw his insulting remarks. Slrubenstein | Talk10:28, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
I think this is not a direction that can at all help the debate - it's one of those cases where people should be encouraged to speak their mind and contribute ideas fearlessly for the betterment of Misplaced Pages. We may disagree on what constitutes betterment (and I do think Lar should refactor his own comments, though if he doesn't, it is hardly a grave offence), but I believe we can do so in good faith. I'm personally not afraid of anything I say being challenged by others, as long as they steer clear of making suggestions about my parents, hamsters and elderberries. Orderinchaos10:43, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
Thanks for letting me know. It came out about how I expected it would. Also, thanks for the feedback, I will give it the appropriate level of consideration. ++Lar: t/c02:34, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
WQA
I marked it as resolved because it looked like you and Slr had worked everything out, but then you added another comment. Should I unresolve it, or was that just a grace note?--SarekOfVulcan (talk) 20:02, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
There appear to be ongoing unresolved issues, several people have expressed dissatisfaction with Slr's approach and general conduct, I think those need to be worked through (I'm noting the lack of any apology from Slr here in view of what's just above this thread, just as a data point) . So I would not close it yet? ++Lar: t/c21:43, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
I've just realised that there's a hell of a lot of spammers over at the forementioned Wiki. Do you mind making me an administrator on there so that I can take care of it and it won't disturb what you're doing over here?--Launchballer (talk) 08:18, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
I don't recognise you, contact me offline to discuss if you like, but I'm not a decision maker there, just an admin. As of the last time I checked all the spam had been dealt with but I've been away for a few days. I'll clean it all up tonite, I have some automation that makes it easier. Welcoming all those spammer strikes me as not very useful, though. ++Lar: t/c20:48, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Are you the bureaucrat there? Because if you are, do you mind making me an admin so that I can take care of things instead?--Launchballer (talk) 15:59, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
If this was about me, I assure you that I regularly watch WP:WQA and the dispute there between you SlimVirgin and Slr was not brought to my attention by canvassing by anybody and I certainy resent the implication. I firmly believe both sides need to drop this and move on. Neither side is innocent in that situation and both sides need to calm down and step away. Dreadstar†17:44, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
Wasn't saying YOU were canvassed. If you read the history you'd see a clear admission by someone else that they were, that's who I was referring to... Their comments pretty much missed the mark, so... As for the close, if Slr chooses to not respond to the clear questions and concerns raised, well, so be it. But I'll certainly keep it in mind going forward, because I don't think you get to play "I have a problem but I'm perfect" more than once... ++Lar: t/c20:44, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding then! I totally missed that last line in the post immediately preceeding my close...basically a case of TL;DR....so, let me apologize and change that to "excuse me" :) Dreadstar†03:11, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
How can I request arbitration for an editing dispute without a clear consensus?
Hello again, Lar. I was looking up how to start an arbitration request for an editing dispute concerning the article An American Carol. The dispute involves the commercial box office results for that film and another competing film released the same week, Religulous, which several media outlets compared because of their diametrically opposed political viewpoints. "An American Carol" and "Religulous" both made the top 10 for their opening weekend with the former #9 and the latter #10. But Religulous played at far fewer cinemas and had a much higher per-screen average. This led to debates as to which was the more successful film. The second weekend settled the matter in which "An American Carol" had a bigger box office drop than "Religulous" which ranked higher than "An American Carol" on the second weekend. I believe that is the extent that the comparison should end. Some editors, including those whose conservative beliefs may be affecting their impartiality, think there should be no comparison to "Religulous" at all despite all the bonafied journalistic citations in the article to back up the comparisons. Please advise. Steelbeard1 (talk) 16:44, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
Remember arbitration is for conduct, not content. As long as all the editors are being collegial, you should be able to work this out without resorting to arbitration... which in the end, even if some editors were sanctioned about how they conducted themselves, the content dispute would be unresolved. My suggestion is to try an RfC on the talk page of whichever article seems more likely to have larger viewership, asking for a consensus. You may want to notify various projects such as WP:FILMS. Make sure you word any notifications scrupulously neutral. Hope that helps. ++Lar: t/c16:59, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
another collaborative project you may be interested in...
tired of demanding flagged revisions to no avail? frustrated with the wiki gods, demi-gods (and demagogues ;-)? - here's a collaborative project you might be interested in joining with no such shenanigans! Privatemusings (talk) 04:19, 26 July 2009 (UTC)haven't been round the wiki much, hope you and all talk page stalkers are good :-)
The guy basically wants people to donate part of their collection so that he can later mock them (as he does everyone and everything). I'm not taking apart my MOCs in order to be mocked. :) ++Lar: t/c16:55, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
One to eyeball
Might need to keep an eye on Talk:Monty Roberts. Anon IP attacking an editor (not me). Doesn't happen fast, but this one has been a slow run and gun for months, but wasn't nasty until now. I tried to explain wiki policies, but may want to just watchlist. Montanabw22:41, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
Will try to watch. Please nudge me if needed... I have intermittent access right now, on holiday. Thanks! Hey TPWs, take a look! ++Lar: t/c08:17, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
Chuck Liddell's Records
I think you should add Chuck's UFC records to his profile. It reinforces why he is in the UFC Hall of Fame. Liddell is currently tied (with Matt Hughes) for most wins in the UFC with 16 and he holds the records for most fights, with 22, and most wins by knockout, with 10. Thanks.
Hi lar, I remember talking to you ages ago about cc licensing from flickr. I think this one is ok because its a cc-by-2.0 license without a non-commercial restriction free to make derivative works. Have I achieve the one-ness of being that is copyright understanding? --Joopercoopers (talk) 21:52, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
I am only an egg when it comes to copyright, but that one is licensed with what we would call "CC-BY-SA-2.0" on Commons, which is a fine license for our purposes. If you upload it I would be happy to Flickr review it, as I just checked the license and validated it, just nudge me. Use {{cc-by-sa-2.0}} as the license template. It is polite to notify the photographer that you have used their work, noting the link to Commons and the en:wp article you used it, and to offer to require attribution in the form they wish it. An example of such an upload is here: Commons:File:Moqui Cave 3648884941 12311b930e o.jpg ... note how it links back to the Flickr image and note the message I left the photographer on the photo page. This often results in additional images being made available. If you can geolocate the image that is also goodness. Best wishes and do let me know if I can be further help. ++Lar: t/c10:11, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
Well my enlightenment was short lived. I've just noticed someone's already uploaded it. I've messaged you on commons to delete my one. Cheers. --Joopercoopers (talk) 11:24, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
Thanks, dear anon for the reminder that CheckUser is not magic pixie dust ... considered judgement calls are sometimes wrong, and checkusers are not infallible. I'd have to dig into this further at this point but ya. ++Lar: t/c18:19, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
A little further digging... those IPs are not static, but get reassigned, and it is completely a consistent scenario that the IP was not him back in May but now is, and at some indeterminate time future, won't be. ++Lar: t/c18:42, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
That's complicated.... going to take some pondering... ping me in a few days if I haven't got back to you. First blush analysis: assuming good faith, as you did, is always the right thing to try first. But it's complicated. ++Lar: t/c18:49, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
Since you're an OTRS person, could you try to find a ticket for me? I uploaded File:Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church.jpg to Commons on 10 July and forwarded the email release to OTRS at 9:14 AM that day, but it's not yet been tagged for permission confirmed. The email's subject line is "Commons image File:Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church.jpg"; would you look for this email? Thanks! Nyttend (talk) 03:16, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
Thanks. It appears to be ticket 2009071010039483 ... let me do a bit of research and (if possible) I'll tag the file for you. If not, I'll let you know (via email I think! :) ) what the issue is. ++Lar: t/c03:25, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
I think you'll have a bit of trouble getting that allegation to stick. I came to your page to learn more about you, (as I expect people do all the time, I know my page is written to give more information about me, as intended) and in view of your somewhat strident stance about copyright and license in general, it piqued my curiosity when I saw that image, so I investigated it. I didn't expect a lecture from you about how licensing and the FlickrReviewer bot worked, but that's fine, you presumably don't know my background very well. As a note: I have a track record of concern about images in that area, feel free to review my nominations for deletion on Commons to see for yourself. ++Lar: t/c01:42, 9 August 2009 (UTC)
Uh, I promptly visited User:Erik9 when I first loaded the MfD, as Larry did, and for the same reason; and I also opened the image in question for the obvious reason. So, this juicy picture of a quite possibly underage girl is beneficial to the project just how? I've got the Commons discussion watchlisted and am still looking for just what "flickrwashed" means. Cheers, Jack Merridew07:22, 9 August 2009 (UTC)