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RfA Policy: Approx 3-17-3 concensus says your policy is stupid?
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However, what has happened to me (and I have remained cool but firm in most of my replies and rebuttals) happens to MANY users, so this is a wiki-wide problem. Just like you want the site to be open-editing for anybody, you also want there to be a fair hearing of all complaints, concerns, right?
However, what has happened to me (and I have remained cool but firm in most of my replies and rebuttals) happens to MANY users, so this is a wiki-wide problem. Just like you want the site to be open-editing for anybody, you also want there to be a fair hearing of all complaints, concerns, right?


I admit that I don't have as many edits as some "veterans," but this should not be a big deal: [[Admins]] says, in salient part: "Current Wikipedia policy is to grant this access liberally to anyone who has been an active Wikipedia contributor for a while and is generally a known and trusted member of the community...."This should be no big deal," according to Jimmy Wales."--[[User:GordonWattsDotCom|GordonWattsDotCom]] 23:25, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
I admit that I don't have as many edits as some "veterans," but this should not be a big deal: [[Admins]] says, in salient part: "Current Wikipedia policy is to grant this access liberally to anyone who has been an active Wikipedia contributor for a while and is generally a known and trusted member of the community...."This should be no big deal," according to Jimmy Wales."


While I have walked into the middle of many contentious edit wars on divisive page (Schiavo, Jesus, Abortion, Christianity, etc.), I have never been disciplined, blocked, etc. See e.g.,
While I have walked into the middle of many contentious edit wars on divisive page (Schiavo, Jesus, Abortion, Christianity, etc.), I have never been disciplined, blocked, etc. See e.g.,

Revision as of 06:09, 15 September 2005

(Old stuff cleared out.)

Wikicities.com | My Website


Flag


Source

Hi Jimbo. I noticed this page was updated with The Devil's Reject having used the word the most times so I updated Nil by Mouth accordingly. So I guess my source was this page but whoever updated it, I don't know where they got the source from. Thanks Craigy File:Uk flag large.png (talk) 20:09, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

I have a feeling that the information is not valid at all.--Jimbo Wales 22:51, 3 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]


free tv listings (de)

Hi, I will test your german now... :-) Ich war positiv überrascht zu lesen, das Du auch freie TV-Listings als etwas wichtiges empfindest. Leider ist mein Vorschlag in den deutschen Wikinews auf wenig Gegenliebe gestoßen (s.a. http://de.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_Diskussion:Pl%C3%A4ne#Tv-Listings ). Ich würde da ggf. gerne bei dem Start von so einem Projekt mithelfen. Ich befasse mich ebenfalls seit Jahren mit Dingen wie Hypertext und Wikis. Mit den anderen 10 Punkten, die wichtig sind stimme ich auch überein, besonders was freie Datenformate und freie Bildung angeht.

Mediation, and who should be allowed to do it

As an important force in the creation of the ArbCom, I think you should take a look at this decision: Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Coolcat, Davenbelle and Stereotek/Proposed decision#Coolcat prohibited from mediating. While the intent of the ArbCom seems to prevent someone who has no support from holding himself out as a credible mediator, there are serious worries that this is actually precedent to bar anyone who's seen as not effective at resolving disputes from doing it at all! As Kim Bruning rightly points out on the talk page, informal mediation is not something we should be discouraging. The ArbCom ought to be our last resort, and any decision the ArbCom makes that seems to reinforce the illusion of them being the "only" source of Mediation needs at least a strong clarification. If you could keep an eye out? TIA. JRM · Talk 21:43, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

If you think about it from a psychological point of view, sometimes just getting anyone else to listen (i.e. post a few affirmations while to two parties try to work it out) can help to diffuse a situation. Sometimes the two sides just need to get it out of their systems (and reiterated it in front of that third party) before they will settle down and prepare to find a compromise. No special skills needs there: just the willingness to try and help. Anyone who has ever been to marriage counseling knows that. 69.181.82.221 15:09, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Please just tell me...

Please just tell me you didn't say the things attributed to you in the Yahoo article. Freezing "stable" pages in perpetuity?! Even freezing them for a few days is incredibly staling, even for articles generally considered good. I can only assume you were grossly misquoted. Else I'd be worried. — David Remahl 21:53, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

While few long-time editors are freaking out over this, we'd still like an official "my statements were misrepresented" (or similar) statement that we can point people at. -- Cyrius| 22:18, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's a bad thing, as long as there are a few assumptions about how it'd work: 1) there would be an alternate, editable version of the article available, and 2) new changes could be incorporated in the "stable" version after some deliberation, so it wouldn't really be "in perpetuity". This has been on the table for a long time, I think, and I think it would be a step forward that we need to take at some point. Everyking 22:29, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Forgive me if I've missed something (recent evidence would suggest I have), but isn't this called m:Wikipedia 1.0? [[smoddy]] 22:32, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

All I can say is "Finally." Anything that reduces some of the idiocy in a lot of these articles' history is most welcome. RADICALBENDER 00:11, August 6, 2005 (UTC)

I just posted this to Slashdot:

Wikipedia hereby formally announces tighter :editorial controls on Reuters and Slashdot... ;-)
I spoke in English to many journalists yesterday and :the day before (90 journalists registered to cover :Wikimania). I spoke to one journalist about our :longstanding discussions of how to create a "stable :version" or "Wikipedia 1.0". This would not involve :substantial changes to how we do our usual work, but :rather a new process for identifying our best work.
I spoke in English, and this was translated to :German. Then the German was translated back to :English, and then translated again into the Slashdot :story.
There was no "announcement". We are constantly :reviewing our policies and looking for ways to :improve, but we have not "announced" anything. We :don't even really work that way... if you know how :Wikipedia works, it's through a long process of :community discussion and consensus building, not :through a process of top-down announcements.
--Jimbo Wales 08:05, 6 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Rap

Jimbo,

I think that Wikipedia ought to have its own song. I wrote a "Wikipedia Rap" a while back, but nobody seemed to like it. I suggest that we have a contest to see who can write the best song for Wikipedia.

Sincerely, NapSpit2

  • There are some songs. Please check my user page; I didn't write them but I collect links. A rap would be a nice addition, though. Radiant_>|< 10:34, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

"Disambiguous" sentence

On your user page, it says "Please use that number only for press inquiries!"

Does this mean that the number may not be used for anything but press inquiries, or that all press inquiries should be to that number and no other number? Jon Harald Søby \ no na 15:35, 6 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed update of MediaWiki:Tagline

A change to the current Wikipedia tagline has been proposed for discussion and adoption at Wikipedia:Proposed update of MediaWiki:Tagline. Interested contributers please visit this page. WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT -- Sitearm | Talk 18:47, 2005 August 6 (UTC)

The proposal has been updated:

  • Leave current top-left text as is ("From WikiPedia the free encyclopedia.")
  • Add new top-right text ("All articles are user-contributed in a collaborative effort.")
Interested contributors please comment here. Thank you for your help! -- Sitearm | Talk 02:03, 2005 August 12 (UTC)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jimbo! You also have some birthday greetings. — Stevey7788 (talk) 20:45, 6 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Jimbo,
I will just say "Happy Birthday" to you at this way, because I was not long enough at the wikimania-party yesterday. I hope, you have enoy your birthday present :-). --DaB. 20:21, 7 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I just got blocked

I rolled back Vietnam War because User:Stevertigo reverted while it was locked. I sent him a quick note that it was poor form to do this. Then he blocked me!

This does appear to be an abuse of Admin priviledges. I am formally asking for you to desysop him... however if this is not the correct way of going about it just let me know. Please also note he has been edit warring on Vietnam War.

Here is the entry in the block log: 12:59, 8 August 2005, Stevertigo blocked Ta bu shi da yu (expires 14:59, 8 August 2005) (contribs) (unblock) ( 1. Do not edit a temporarily protected page except to add a protected page notice.)

Ta bu shi da yu 03:22, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. I am also noting this on WP:AN, WP:AN/I and User:Angela. - Ta bu shi da yu 03:22, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Desysoping for what could be a simple mistake or misunderstanding is a bit over the top, isn't it? — David Remahl 03:25, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Chmod007, you may not be aware that this isn't the first time: Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Stevertigo. A desysoping not only seems appropriate, it seems absolutely nessesary in this case. The misunderstanding here in on the part of Stevertigo; he seems to have lost all sense of what purpose the admin tools are for, and when it is appropriate to use them. Funct, c ) 03:30, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting. Yes, it really does look damning. :-( — David Remahl 03:32, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Doesn't seem like much of a misunderstanding, considering that Stevertigo blocked Ta bu shi da yu for doing exactly the same thing he did on the same page. If you ever need a clear example of hypocrisy in action, keep this one handy. --Calton | Talk 03:53, August 8, 2005 (UTC)
I just wanted to say I also support immediate removal of administrator privileges for User:Stevertigo, or at least a promise to refrain from using them until this is sorted out. His behavior has gone from bad to worse in the last couple days. Please see Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Stevertigo for more background. — Knowledge Seeker 03:55, August 8, 2005 (UTC)
For the record, he apologised. If we can make sure that he doesn't do this again, I'd like to take back my request for desysoping this editor. We all make mistakes. - Ta bu shi da yu 07:06, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Irate again

I looked at your block of User:Irate again, and the message you used to give your reason for it, and I noticed that as part of your reason you say that Irate promises to "continue "following" [our rules] as he always has". The obvious implication is that Irate is planning to circumvent the rules, or something to that effect, but I think another interpretation is possible, whereby Irate's comment (as I infer it based on your words) is simply a statement claiming that he has been following the rules, and that he means to follow the rules in the future as well. So by that interpretation, he did nothing more than claim he had done nothing wrong. Well, if we come at it from this direction, we have to wonder: since when do we block someone—indefinitely!—just for defending themselves? Of course this could be wrong, since I don't have much information to base it on. Everyking 04:00, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unified wiki namespace?

Hello Jimbo, I have been wondering why the different wiki sites are rather separate: wikipedia, wikibooks, wikisource, wikiquote etc? It seems to me it would be easier on multiple levels if there was one unified namespace for everything under one site with one login, call it the wikiuniverse perhaps. Doesn't the concept of "wiki" trump even the seemingly arbitrarily imposed distinctions of "encyclopedia" and "books" and "quotations" etc? zen master T 14:21, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

More rogue admin activity on CFD

User:Kbdank71 is trying to delete terrorism-related categories on the grounds that, "We've gotten rid of many other "terrorist" cats as POV, so this should probably go too." See for example: Categories_for_deletion#Category:Terrorism_in_India

This nomination was a typical "drive by shooting" with absolutely no discussion before the nomination or after.

It makes no sense to delete a subcategory of Category:Terrorism as long as the main category exists - as it should, because it's very useful.

Of course, if User:Kbdank71 can get a few friends to vote 'delete', he could probably get the whole Category:Terrorism deleted. It only takes a few people to form a phony "consensus" on Wikipedia which justifies any action, no matter how destructive. Mirror Vax 01:35, 9 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Question about IP blocks

What would it take to disallow anoymous editing for a particular subnet? See User:Ta bu shi da yu/Ozemail for info on why I would like this. - Ta bu shi da yu 07:40, 9 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

See also Blocks on Anonymous users only at Bugzilla. Thryduulf 19:52, 10 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Jimbo. Can I ask you what the rules are about closing, reopening and overriding closed VFD debates. Some weeks back I closed Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Religious persecution by Jews as a "no consensus" keep. A number of users complained about this, IZAK, Ambi, Jfdwolff for example (see my talkpage under "You make no sense"). I therefore decided to ask for the advice of two other regualar VFD closers, Rossami and SimonP and both of them agreed with me. The issue died down until Neutrality suddenly decided to delete the article (which had now moved to a new title)

  • 19:47, 7 August 2005 Neutrality deleted "Historical persecution by Jews" (VfD debate had an overwhelming vote to delete (at least 2:1).)

When I discovered this, I brought it to WP:VFU [1] and informed Tony Sidaway, who had been involved in the debate. He almost immediatly restored the article as an obvious out of process deletion.

  • 10:03, 8 August 2005 Tony Sidaway restored "Historical persecution by Jews"

I promised to undelete this next time I saw the article get deleted without a VFD debate to back it up. Neutrality then decided to delete it again, and was reversed by User:Kim Bruning.

  • 14:59, 8 August 2005 Neutrality deleted "Historical persecution by Jews" (Re-deleting. There was an obvious two-thirds consensus on VfD to delete. This is "broad consensus." A small minority of users will no be allowed to override the broad consensus. Take it to VfU if you must.)

and

  • 18:33, 8 August 2005 Kim Bruning restored "Historical persecution by Jews"

There is now a question on Wikipedia:Votes for undeletion on whether or not it is okay to "override" or "review" VFD debates which have been closed by an administrator. I would really appreciate your views on the matter, because my role as an administrator since I was promoted in June has mostly been closing VFD debates.

To finish off I will add some links to pages where this case has been discussed:

Sorry about bothering you, but I have almost had it with the discussion of this article. Yours, Sjakkalle (Check!) 10:45, 10 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

JWales Final Responsibility re:Auschwitz Testimony Against Pope Pius XII etc

I'm sorry Jimbo , but I see the responsibility to settle intractable disputes rests with you . I seem to run into intractable dispute on your WP , so I ask you to take responsibility . No one else can take this your place . I refer you to the articles Pope Pius XII and Hitler's Pope as the centre of this endless dispute and ask you to put yourself into the position of final arbiter now, OK ? I particularly think that the surviving Roman Jewess's words be taken as an issue : I wish you therefore to show or not show , that an Auschwitz survivor be called POV ( ,Pius in WWar 2) and removed on one page and insulted with neutrality on the other . . You will see that the difference between the two articles at this minute is simple : one (PPII) is the 'censored' or whatever version of the other (H's P).

Having been battling to and beyond the brink for 8 months on the one article , I say that only you can survey this with any authority to do anything about it . Let you be the judge of all the WP ( or whatever )requisites, knowing that your judgements are real , and that ultimately you yourself will equally be judged . Auschwitz survivors are definitely in a minority and this responsibility for arbitration I lay at you because you are the organ . I will consider myself in-active until you please let me know that I am required . As various users may find this disappearance odd , I post this letter to you , for them to see elsewhere . Famekeeper 09:36, 11 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Category madness: "broad" is now a reason to delete

As Sherool points out below, Category:People is pretty broad. I guess that will have to be deleted under the new thinking? Mirror Vax 12:47, 11 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Christian_people

More stuff...

We are going to talk about real some more. Earlier this year, I went for a checkup for the first time in 10 years. There were two suspicious moles on my back that needed to get removed. My mindset at the time was to try to make an appointment with Elizabeth Morgan and have her do them. She declined (we never talked in person). That is the level at which I play. With my whole being.

Now, we gonna start talking about the genuine stalkers in your organzation. We already covered Xaa and Nunh-huh. Now we deal with Antaeus Feldspar. Look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buddy_Ebsen&oldid=20592765 Now: How do I know about "At the Codfish Ball?". It is only the end of a videotape of "The Little Princess". I have sat through it several times with my daughter (in the times I do get to be with her). That is where I got the lines about her memorizing scripts at age 5 and doing all those dance steps on her page. I did not recognize Buddy Ebsen. He was young and wiry, black hair, suave and graceful. He was not Jeb Clempet. But they only show Jeb Clempet on TV anymore. That is all these kids in your organization know.

Of course, since I added the lines, Antaeus Feldspar me down and undid my work.

Sir, I ask you: How bad is the problem that you cannot get Wikipeida into grade school. I can tell already that it is really bad. You have people like Antaeus Feldspar.

And check up on Tregoweth also. He did come after me, removed some stuff I made, and then conceeded the point after a discussion.

And just tell Michael L. Kaufman to keep off the sexual stuff completely. That boy has no sense. How does it feel to be "banned" by all grade schools, or at least teachers with any sense? I tried to explain in the Linda Lovelace thing that I do not value my "Amorrow" handle. You should give these people pause by making them consider renaming their handles. Do not do it, but get them to think and shape up. They are a wolf pack. You need to address this problem, sir, if you are going to become relevant. You may still get there, but those guys are going to slow you down, but good.

The Gates of Hell

So I been sending Geni (or should I say Geni-username?) a LOT of email. Like I said, I am in Silicon Valley. I went to view, again, the Rodin Gates of Hell at the Cantor Art Museam at Stanford. Right now, I am at the Clocktower Cafe in Mountain View. Hell is simple: you made mistakes and you lost to someone smarter, better, more mature and maybe richer.

I have had a rich and deep experience with Wikipedia. I continue to process the information about psychology that I have gather. I continue to make analogies, because they help me in my analysis. Maybe a few times, I have applied the wrong template. But basically, conflict is conflict. Whether it is a pissing contest on a discussion tab, or Microsoft (or whoever) eating Wikipeida's lunch or the blood and gore of the Civil War or whatever.

I already know what is on my userpage. I WROTE it. Do not unblock my username. But make one concession. Unblock my user page, so that the World can see for itself it if I am a bad man or a good man. On the other hand, there is so much stuff there, maybe it will not help, but do it anyway. Oh sure, dummies will say "Gotcha!" on this or that. Let them look. I looked into the Gates of Hell yesterday. It ain't so bad. It simply defeat. But I will tell you: Victory is better. Now let the World look at my silly page and judge for themselves. You arleday know I can put a copy of it anywhere I want to. I can create a sock-puppet that you DO NOT recogonize, if I have no already done so. Mabye I got a freind in Japan to make one for me and just tell me the new username and password and hand it off to me. See how that works? Stop trying to squash me: you are wasting your time.

Let's work together on this. Huh? Microsoft (or somebody else) is coming after you even as you read this. When they finish you off, they will do it painlessly. You will never feel it coming. You will just go to sleep. Forever.


Better movie and media star review

Look at this site: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/ You want them on your side. If Microsfot buys thems, they have snatched away from you something valuable. Look at the list of great directors. I am doing this to you on the open channel on purpose, to give you a sense of urgency. Look at that http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/gilliam.html Beautiful. You want that. How you gonna get it? What if one day you have to use your MS Passport to read that? That would suck. Or even just a Paypal thingy.

Think about it.



I oppose this [tagline] change

I oppose this change on the grounds that all of the proposed alternatives are aesthetically awful. The tagline is short and sweet and should stay that way. We should not lack self-confidence and feel we have to put a disclaimer on everything.--Jimbo Wales 12:47, 7 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I replied on Tagline proposal, but rephrasing and reposting here:
We can't just stick our heads in the sand and pretend that our articles will be free from vandalism and inaccuracy when a first-timer visits from a google link. They see "free encyclopedia" at the top and trust everything they read as much as they would a traditional encyclopedia.
We don't trust everything we read on the Wikipedia. We're constantly looking out for bits that need updating or vandalism that needs to be removed. We shouldn't encourage an atmosphere in which newcomers trust the content more than we do.
I absolutely disagree with smacking a giant disclaimer or apology on every page, but I do think it's very important that we make the source of our content (ourselves) and basic principles of operation the first thing a google link follower sees.
My proposal was a condensed version of the main page greeting (which newcomers don't see):
"Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
Short, sweet, optimistic, and clues in newcomers as to the source of our information. - Omegatron 14:41, August 7, 2005 (UTC)


(Report Vandalism by ----Mel Etitis) and --Ragib

Dear Admin,

User --Ragib and --Mel Etitis are contionusly vandal the article rohingya. please see it in http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rohingya&action=history. Such Violaton shall be stop .please keep wiki standard updated .violations would not be accepted by any reader of wikipedia . go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vandalism. please advice. Thanks,--Bobjack 14:43, 12 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The dispute is mainly about two dashes (?!?). I responded to the user on his talk page, no need for you to respond. Happy editing -- Chris 73 Talk 15:45, August 12, 2005 (UTC)
The hitherto anonymous editor in question should seriously consider focusing his or her energy on imporving Rohingya villages, me thinks. El_C 12:49, 13 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

(This is already announced on Pump and Rfc but I'm adding it here because you contributed to the proposal talk page discussion.) Thanks! -- Sitearm | Talk 05:38, 2005 August 16 (UTC)

Request for clarification

I realize you're a busy man, so I understand if time prevents you from answering this in a prompt manner, or at all for that matter. A number of Wikipedians, myself included, have been trying to put together a draft for a standard on obscenity in images. Before we are ready to request comments we first would like to search the "case law" as it were of Wikipedia to find standards which may be suggested by history. In particular we have been looking at the following example of a comment by you:

Link to the diff where you commented in the summary

This image is completely unacceptable for wikipedia -- I don't even consider this borderline

We would like you to clarify why you felt the image was unacceptable so we can understand the case law here, and try to incorporate it into our suggestion. Do you remember the incident? Would you be able to share your insight into what you believe/believed make such images unacceptable? Thanks for your time. Agriculture 07:54, 16 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This was reported as a policy violation, which, technically, it is. It was reported at least once, to WP:AN/I. It is not uncommon for people to create discussion pages wholly unrelated to Wikipedia, and I had deleted and protected it before I figured out you were actually behind it. We routinely send such people to other, more general wikis.

It would be helpful if you would let the community know about these sorts of things in advance so that we can excercise the appropriate forebearance.

The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:37, 16 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I see Tony had done so earlier as well. I will put up notices to try to prevent it from happening again. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:39, 16 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia reading level

Hi

I was wondering if you or anyone has said anything about what reading level Wikipedia articles should be written? 3rd grade, 8th, 12th, college? Just wondering. I see a lot of articles written well above and/or well below what most people come across in newspapers and paper encyclopedias. Thanks! --JPotter 23:55, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

Well, to chime in here, I don't think there's any kind of standard; I think a lot of it depends on the subject matter (some things are so complex that dealing with it in simple language is too difficult and long-winded) and personal style. I don't know if you know it, but we have a Simple English wiki, which I think meets the needs of people who aren't so proficient, so we don't need to go too far out of our way to simplify the kind of language we use. Everyking 10:03, 17 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The reading level of some WP articles is pitched way too high - often at undergraduate or graduate level, which isn't generally appropriate. Why shouldn't a non-graduate be able to read the article on chromosomes, for example, and come away with an idea as to what they are and why they are important? Yet at the moment, I'd advise against anyone below undergraduate level reading it, as it'd just be a waste of time to do so, jguk 12:20, 17 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Your opinion on Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedians for Decency and the VfD debate on it would be welcome. Zoe 06:29, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

I heartily agree. Agriculture 06:29, 17 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I have changed my position on the VfD in question. It's obvious that discussion of certain kinds of topics are no longer welcome on Wikipedia. It's not your fault Jimbo, you had a great idea and I salute you. You are one of the few visionaries left in the world, and on Wikipedia. You may ignore my previous request for your comments as it will no longer be relevant. Agriculture 09:03, 17 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Oopsla in October

Hello Jimbo - I would like to schedule a San Diego meet-up to coincide with your trip to San Diego in October. Please let me know what would work best with your schedule and I will arrange accordingly. Thanks! Johntex 00:11, 18 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Jimbo, I know you are terribly busy, but I wonder if you will have time while in San Diego this October to attend an event if I put one together? Please let me know. Thanks! (PS - best of luck with the funding presentations) Johntex 02:05, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Log on scheme

Would Wiki be at all interested in principle in participating a federated identity scheme such as SAML? Assume for the sake of discussion that the federated identity scheme would be fully FOSS compliant and run as a carrier grade infrastructure. I note that at the moment separate log-ins are required for different wikiprojects. There is a big problem with the proliferation of log ins in the blogosphere, it is training people to be rather careless with access credentials and this in turn is causing problems for some very large banks. I am looking for parties that might be interested/able in facilitating a transition. Ideally everyone would have one (or more) portable internet identity and this could be expressed as a URL and used at multiple sites. --Gorgonzilla 21:07, 18 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Oldest Page

more of a trivia question... What is the oldest page still active here at wikipedia? I tried the main site, this one, some of the links provided on a picture of the main page soon after it started, but nothing I found goes beyong 2002. Pellaken 02:51, 19 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The problem, I think, is that we lost some (all?) of the records of our oldest edits in server crashes during the early days (I wasn't around then, so that's as much as I know). Everyking 11:31, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Wikipedia's oldest articles Thryduulf 15:11, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikistalking guideline proposal

Greetings - We're currently working on a wikistalking guideline proposal to reflect that the Arbitration Committee has deemed this to be a bannable offense when done for the purpose of harassment. I'm trying to get community input to help develop this article. If you have a moment please drop by Wikipedia:stalking and make any applicable changes to the article or post any suggestions you may have on the talk page. Thanks! Rangerdude 19:28, 19 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Your deletion of Wikipedia:Sending letters

I'm not sure why you deleted the page... although I was proposing a system for sending snail mail (for which step 3 was If it has consensus, letter is passed on to Wikimedia Foundation official for approval), the page had a separate section that was intended to be a guideline for sending independent, non-Wikimedia-approved mail. I'm going to restore the page and delete the offending section for now. Andre (talk) 04:48, August 20, 2005 (UTC)

And besides, rejected proposals go to Category:Wikipedia rejected policies. Andre (talk) 04:51, August 20, 2005 (UTC)

I'm sorry I deleted it. I shouldn't have done that.--Jimbo Wales 21:36, 20 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No problem, it was easily undone. Thank you for the apology. Andre (talk) 22:23, August 20, 2005 (UTC)

I'd like to point out Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedians against Jimbo's beard to you. --Phroziac (talk) 22:22, 20 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No!!! You must join Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedians who frankly don't care about Jimbo's beard! Remain apathetic! Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 01:11, 21 August 2005 (UTC) (or at least get a laugh from all three projects...)[reply]
I support moustache removal only, is there no room for a centrist like me!! Pellaken 10:02, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Of course, Jimbo's visage has starred as "man with short beard" in our beard article for some months now! jguk 10:54, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Election of a third buerocrat in German Wikipedia

Dear Jimbo

On 21. Aug 2005 I suggested Markus Schweiß (one of German Wikipedia's most active admins) to be elected as third buerocrat in German Wikipedia. The only active buerocrat Michael Diedrich is in fact not neutral. In this case he demanded others to change my statement in the nomination and manipulated my statement calling me a liar: X. A normal election was not possible any more. I am sorry that I have to complain and would like to ask you to discuss this with the foundation. Also, congratulations to all its members and good luck for the next period.

Gmoeller 18:33, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

En.Wikipedia is (temporarily) a democracy?

Apparently majority voting is on the rise, because of the influx of new people who do not realise that wikipedia is supposed to be run by consensus. I'm starting to understand why Ed felt he had to take drastic measures. I'm getting to that point myself. :-/ Kim Bruning 20:27, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Is this over the VFD I started? Zscout370 (Sound Off) 20:32, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Yup, that was a major back door. And there's also recent stuff on TFD. actually also to do with the VFD you started, now that you mention it. :-/ Kim Bruning 20:35, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Fsck and I thought Ed Poor was causing the death of VFD, I might have caused the death of the project. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 20:49, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Stay cool, it doesn't have to be that bad! Kim Bruning 20:59, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Has Wikipedia entered its own Eternal September? And it's still August! JRM · Talk 21:28, 21 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The thing is, and I've been making this point for a while now, is that majority voting necessarily increases as the community grows. Consensus becomes a less viable option as the number of people involved grows. My opinion is that consensus should be treated as an ideal, but that we should also reject bias against majority voting as an appropriate way of solving issues in cases that require it. Everyking 15:46, 23 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
You can't use majority voting to define encyclopedic content, Everyking!

An actual naked vote occurred on [[2]] . JamesF is on it. Kim Bruning 22:29, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

We've weathered similar stuff. There was a vote about naming of Gdansk a while back where someone contrived to declare a consensual suspension of 3RR on the basis of a limited majority vote. You just go in and wag your finger a few times and eventually people get the message. --Tony SidawayTalk 23:03, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ten things that will be free

On Wikimania you announced ten things that will be free, and blogged about two on Larry Lessig's blog. Then you wrote that the next will be announced on your blog, but there is no mention of it. I wonder, is this "project" dead or something? I am just curious. Samohyl Jan 17:50, 22 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Balkans

Something got me thinking. While millosh has been planning your whole stay in the Balkans (presumably somewhere between October 19 and 31), I've checked if you are really busy. And the thing that worried me was this - TENTATIVE Lithuania visit. The whole Sebian and other neighbouring wiki communities are really glad you're coming, since they've been told that you'll probably come and Millosh has planned the whole thing. Now, I know you've e-mailing each other over the time and I just want to know if this thing is for sure, i.e. will you really visit us again? Thanks in advance. :) --Dungo (talk) 18:05, 22 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Oh dear, I do plan to try to come to the Balkans but I really most likely can not come at that time. :-( --Jimbo Wales 06:33, 23 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism on Greenlandic language Wikipedia

a vulgar article has been created on the Greenlandic Wikipedia page. I attempted to delete it with the 'move' option but it didn't work. Could you have someone take care of it.

Admin?

(from WP:PE)

I blocked Boothy443 for having a very offensive link on one of his user pages. This caused me a fair amount of embarassment as I clicked on it in a work environment. I have no idea what the policy is, so I only blocked him for 17 seconds. But I think admins should hold themselves to a high standard of professionalism.--Jimbo Wales 19:59, 23 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This is strange. You are the second person I can see who talked as if Boothy443 were an admin. He's not, I checked on WP:LA and on the logs. Why did you come to that conclusion? --cesarb 23:27, 23 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I got an email asserting that admins should behave better, and showing me the link. I took it at face value on the bit about him being an admin, obviously a mistake. Boothy443 is lucky, then, becuase if he wasn't an admin, I would have blocked him for longer than 17 seconds. I did that on the assumption that he'd passed the community test and just had a little lapse of judgment there. Now I find that he's been blocked more than once, etc. Ah, well. He's still lucky I'm in a dandy mood today.  :-) --Jimbo Wales 04:58, 24 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
So I assume that meeting with the suits to try to get server equipment went well. Jtkiefer T | @ | C ----- 06:09, August 25, 2005 (UTC)

I don't understand why you didn't just remove the link. Symbolic blocks are worse than no block at all; at least a block of some length serves a functional purpose. A 17 second block is just an annoyance which is only likely to make him even more hostile. Everyking 06:19, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

He's lucky I only blocked him for the 17 seconds. It was my attempt to reach out to him in a friendly way. His response suggests that this was a little bit pointless on my part. --Jimbo Wales 16:20, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
And your thoughts on this?
just a note that there is a discussion here about the issues with Boothy. 06:43, August 25, 2005 (UTC)
There is a good deal of difference between goatse (clearly labeled no less) and Last Measure. The former is akin to having a link to our circumcision article. --SPUI (talk) 07:23, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
There is a difference between the two links, but I would not call it a 'good deal' of difference. Both are juvenile, annoying, and unprofessional. Neither has the character of wickedly clever wit, they are just blunt tools. I encourage you, and Boothy443 of course, to do better.--Jimbo Wales 16:20, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Can we change his name too?

While everyone's discussing changing his beard, and even glasses, why not change his name from Jimbo Wales to Jumbo Whales? His actual name is as offensive as his beard is. Can I have a poll of keeping his name, or changing it? Adamwankenobi 14:31, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

trouble

hi jim ive been editing as an anon user for a few months now and i believe that has hurt me.if you look into my history you will see most of my edits are to the special forces page on wiki for the U.S. and there are some registered users whi i will not name that are consistent on deleting my edits.i have even cited sources but they delete the source saying you need more than one,but, how can you have more than one if you delete the first?i was wondering if you would just please watch out for them,making sure they're not abusing their power. thank you.

Re:Your message at my talk page

I was actually astounded to see there wasn't a wave of supports after you voted at that VfD ;) The link is now fixed but for laziness sakes here it is again. Wikipedia:Votes_for_deletion/Jane_mcgonigal. Enjoy Redwolf24 (talk) 02:56, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The problem was at first the page was Jane mcgonigal with the lowercase M and thats how it was nominated for VfD. When I went to write {{Oldvfd}} on the page I saw the page was moved and I'd have to type {{subst:oldvfd}} and fix the link myself. But I made a typo "mcgonical" You then capitalized it I see and then JRM fixed it. Redwolf24 (talk) 02:58, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

How about a new tribunal committee for trial of misdemeanor cases?

Could you get behind the creation some sort of court, or tribunal comittee of some sort to relieve the arbitration committee of the burden of trying all these misdemeanor cases?

In the real world arbitration and tribunal are two entirely different things.

Arbitration is the process by which two parties to an unresolved dispute JOINTLY submit their differences to the judgment of an impartial person. [3]

A tribunal is a court of justice before which an accused is brought for justice after being provided with a summons citing precisely what sections of the code he is charged with violating, and specifically what particular actions of his are alleged to be violations of the code. [4]

There is a big difference, and I am sure that in the long run, Wikipedia will want to establish a separate tribunal where such misdemeanor (bad behavior) charges are brought. The capital of the arbitration committee should be spent arbitrating CONTENT DISPUTES submitted for arbitration, don't you think? --172.194.231.160 21:47, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty sure this is DotSix, as per WP:VPR#Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration_is_being_used_as_a_tribunal_-_that_ain.27t_right. ~~ N (t/c) 22:58, 25 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Aren't you interested in following policy and comment on the content of what was written, not on the contributor? You would prefer to go along with the obscurantist crowd and post argument _ad hominem_ instead of discussing the issues?--172.197.155.60 01:55, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't intend that as an ad hominem, I was just making an observation. I have no strong position on your proposal, except to note as I did on the VP that, although Wikipedia's arbitration process is actually closer to the dictionary definition of "tribunal", this does not in any way make it less valid. And I am not an obscurantist, unless the definition is "anyone who disagrees with DotSix", as it appears to be. Besides, aren't you prohibited from editing here? ~~ N (t/c) 02:01, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

1. An OBSERVATION?? I think you misspelled CONJECTURE, old boy, and an argument _ad hominem_ style conjecture at that, don't you think? 8^)

2. Are you going to assume from now on that every anonymous contributor is User:DotSix?

3. Are you in the habit of making a lot of assumptions with no basis in fact, sir?

4. Why are you still trying to make this a discussion about the contributor? Has there been a change in policy I haven't heard about? Have you forgotten already, comment on the content of what was written, not on the contributor? --172.192.16.159 06:20, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Please could you move this to User_talk:Jimbo Wales. Pcb21| Pete 09:25, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Crisis

Wikipedia is approaching a crisis. My thoughts on this situation are set forth at: User:Robert McClenon/Crisis. Robert McClenon 19:43, 27 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

When I first started to read the immediately above post, I thought that it might also be discussing the need for dispute resolution reform. It is not. It is only a silly dictionary argument about whether the existing Arbitration Committee is misnamed. I think that if he thinks that the Arbitration Committee exists to resolve content issues, then he misunderstands how Wikipedia is supposed to work. Robert McClenon 19:43, 27 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

A joint request by the two parties for arbitration of their content dispute is not the last resort for handling content disputes, sir? Doesn't the chart at right show the route content disputes are suposed to take?? If not, then will you please post the correct chart right below here, sir?

Human Rights Servey on Wikipedia (The final post of I_sterbinski)

Dear all,
Wikipedia was recently a subject of intensive research of an huge international human right organization. A team of people from different nationalities and ages were acting on Wikipedia for 20 days, investigating previously noted anomalities of Wikipedia free editing and forming a final report, which (between the others similar reports) will later be a guide to all future moves of the organization concerning Wikipedia. Acting under an account of a real person, their privacy is to be held private. Therefore, very few private information will be revealed.
Also, this is a result of the lack of final possition of the organization concerning Wikipedia and human rights, which was still not formed.
The team's final post on Wikipedia, where they explain their actions can be found on the following addresses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:I_sterbinski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Macedonia#Human_Rights_Servey_on_Wikipedia_.28The_final_post_of_I_sterbinski.29
The team would like to thank to all the persons who took part in the correspondence with us.
We also want to appologise for keeping our identity secret for a longer period.
Best regards,
Aleksandar, Biljana, Asparuh, Christos, Valjon, Michael and Ana Luiza
I sterbinski 00:32, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Could the User Page on which the summary statements are made please be protected and that protection monitored by at least one admin? Regardless of the veracity of the claims, the text is no doubt going to be a vandalism target. Please protect its content. Courtland 03:14, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Further issues on what Wikibooks is or should be

Hi Jimbo, I wanted to point you to Votes for deletion/The Manual of Crime. The book in question is similar to The Anarchist Cookbook in nature. Reading over the Wikicities policy, it seems like this book would not be allowed. So, it would seem to me that Wikibooks should at least have standards no lower than Wikicities. (In fact, the standards should be higher in the sense that no original research should be allowed.)

The discussion itself has turned somewhat into a discussion of where Wikibooks should draw the line. I think we all agree that textbooks, how-tos, and the cookbook have a place on Wikibooks; though there is no agrement whether video game walk-throughs should be included, or, indeed, the more significant point if there should be single books devoted to breaking laws. I don't think any of us have problems with chemistry books, in the proper context, describing explosives; but I think this has gone too far. If you could shed any wisdom on this discussion it would be greatly appreciated. MShonle 07:32, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The purpose of Wikibooks is to host works which constitute a curriculum of textbooks from Kindergarten through the university level. The cookbook, for example, qualifies, since such courses are taught. The manual of crime does not fit the definition of any course that I know of, and should be deleted. This is not a decree, since I haven't even looked at it, just a recommendation for now.--Jimbo Wales 14:19, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I appreciate the reply. MShonle 23:31, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Encarta/2004

I notice the Encarta/2004 lists have been deleted with great urgency, having been humming along happily for 6 months or so. I saw your mail on WikiEN-l, but there was little reasoning given there. Would you mind furnishing me with a little more detail behind the decision, privately if you prefer? I just have a feeling you wouldn't have written that mail from a plane apropos of nothing! Pcb21| Pete 15:48, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I had no idea these lists were around, or they would have been deleted immediately. While opinions seem to differ among the lawyers on juriwiki-l, it seems that this would likely be determined to be a copyright violation. As such, I feel an obligation to delete these pages and any like them immediately.--Jimbo Wales 16:10, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be non-trivial to subscribe to juriwiki-l. It would be useful for someone with access to those posts to post a precis of the discussions so that those who used the lists understand the reasons for their deletion.
On the other note, I guess I am quite sad that you had never heard of the lists, as it indicates my advertising campaign to get people involved failed! Pcb21| Pete 16:23, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Jimbo, could you clarify the meaning of "any like them"? There are a range of things that might fall under this edict. Should it be extended to cover lists compiled from the indices of books, dictionaries and other reference works, not just other encyclopedias? Does it make a difference if the list is single source or not (there are a couple lists that people have created by combining the contents of multiple works)? And lastly, does it matter if the sources are known (there is one list page which states that it was compiled by combining multiple reference works, but has never disclosed which ones)? Thank you for clarifying this matter. Dragons flight 17:43, August 28, 2005 (UTC)
I believe it is important to indicate what changes could have been made, or what other-formatted-list could have been used, that would not be in potential violation of copyright. An underlying sentiment among respondants is likely "what will next disappear?" In order to reassure editors as to the legality of their actions, or inform them of their illegality, some clarification is needed. Further, its important to clarify whether the deletions (and implied like ones coming in the future) were done as pre-emptions against potential legal issues or as clearcut purging of Wikipedia of surely illegal content. If we are now in a position where pre-emption by purging boundary-skirting content will be the rule, that will necessarily change the editing climate across all Wikimedia Projects, in my opinion, and necessitates a reduction in the openness of the editing environment. Thanks for the further comment. Courtland 20:53, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As a matter of procedure, I was under the belief that if a page qualified as copyright violation, then someone should put a copyvio tag on the page, to give people the opportunity to discuss the issue. Only last week, Bluemoose suggested that copyvios should be added to the criteria for speedy deletion, only to have the idea discounted (see [5] for details). Bluap 21:57, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The distinction is that this particular sort of list had been discussed many times over the years and thought to be a copyvio each time. This sort of list is an extraordinary risk to us, a special case, since it is a copyvio *of an organization with whom we directly compete in the market*. That's what makes it intolerable for me, because the specific legal risk is so high. As to the exact parameters of lists of this sort, I think this warrants a serious community discussion.--Jimbo Wales 03:29, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Was this an action as benevolent dictator, or do you consider an action like this appropriate for any administrator should the situation arise? Jarvik 03:45, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Considering the potential for this type of conflict between Wikipedia and other information resources, it might be prudent to establish something along the lines of Wikipedia:WikiProject CopyVio Monitor that has as its specific goal detection, consideration, and resolution of potential copyright (and related) violations with particular emphasis on other players in the Wikipedia activity space; similar activities could be established for each of the Sister Projects and coordinated at the Wikimedia level. Courtland 04:12, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Makes sense. Would it be possible for someone to put together a clear set of guidelines of what is permitted in Wikipedia, to prevent this from happening again... Bluap 09:49, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Re: "many times over the years..." It is true that your opinion has changed over time... see e.g. http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2004-March/011449.html. Pcb21| Pete 19:14, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Apparently so! Goodness.--Jimbo Wales 21:40, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
:). That wasn't meant as a criticism by the way, just that I felt it might help explain some of the confusion over these lists. Pcb21| Pete 07:41, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

In accordance with your statement that we should not use topic lists from "an organization with whom we directly compete in the market", I have now deleted 4 additional topic lists generated from copyrighted works that market themselves as "encyclopedias". This still leaves open certain other questions such as whether the list of topics in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology is acceptable? As it is specialized and does not describe itself as an "encyclopedia", I was not sure whether to include it under a direct competition standard. Dragons flight 19:30, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

I believe that lists of names of individuals generated from telephone books have been found by the courts to be copyright violations. So just about any list culled from a copyrighted source is probably copyrighted; this includes top-ten lists (!). I am not a lawyer. linas 05:28, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Curiously, you have this exactly wrong. Phone books are the famous example of lists which are not copyrighted as neither the selection nor arrangement of items in a phone book is a creative act. This is in contrast to encyclopedias/indices/cookbooks and most other lists where the selection of topics is clearly a creative act. Top ten lists are copyrighted if and only if editorial judgment was involved in their creation. For example, a list of the 10 largest cities in the world is a collection of facts, not subject to copyright. A list of the best resteraunts in Bombay or any late night talk show list is a matter of opinion, hence creative and protected. Dragons flight 07:12, September 1, 2005 (UTC)
Ony when those lists were generated by extracting them directly from the phone book, with no creative act in between. Going "The first name in the telephone book is…" etc wouldn't be a problem. I don't think there have been suits about having a computer do that step, but I doubt that would be allowed given current precedent (layman's opinion). --fvw* 05:53, September 1, 2005 (UTC)

Anti-Elitism page

[When I first posted this I stupidly omitted the heading, so it got buried in someone else's post. You may have overlooked it or just didn't consider that it needed a comment. For what it's worth, and for form's sake, here it is, properly headed. — J M Rice 21:28, 28 August 2005 (UTC)][reply]

Hi, Jimbo. I just wrote a piece on Wikipedia:Anti-elitism called, "The problem is not anti-elitism!". Since the page begins with

Anti-elitism at Wikipedia is at the root of both of its biggest problems.
1. lack of public perception of credibility, particularly in areas of detail
2. the dominance of difficult people, trolls, and their enablers
It must be jettisoned.

and since you were referred to a couple of times on the page, I was wondering if you'd like to comment on my comments. (Guess I'm asking for it.) — J M Rice 04:03, 26 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Question about banned user policies

Just wondering, Jimbo, if a user is banned for a certain timeframe, is there a set number of sockpuppet attacks beyond which the issue of a lengthening of a ban (as opposed to its rebegining on each occasion) arises? You no doubt remember the wonderful (sic) User:Skyring. Since his ban early in August at least 22 sockpuppets strongly suspected of being him have appeared and been blocked (same edits on the same pages, same abusive comments, same language used, one picking up as soon as another was blocked, etc.) Others are being found. There probably are many everyone missed. It may be an area where some form of policy might be worth adopting; namely that while everytime a sockpuppet appears the ban is restarted, if the number of sockpuppets hits a certain threshhold an extra ban (say 1 month, or 3 months, or one quarter of a ban for bans of less than 1 year, etc) is added on as punishment. And don't worry I'm not planning to round up a posse on Skyring (though the guy has now begun writing to Irish newspapers to seek evidence that supports one edit some of his sockpuppets wanted to add in to an article — he is that nutty!). But his conduct raises an interesting set of issues of the sort we faced with Michael and DW before. Slán FearÉIREANN\(caint) 03:48, 29 August 2005 (UTC) [reply]

Mediation

Hello, Jimbo! I recently expressed my interest in becoming a mediator with Uncle Ed, and he encouraged me to apply. Thus, I've done so at WP:MC. Also, he asked me to propose a new mediation format that would make the process go smoother; I have created such a page at Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Proposed, and thought I'd share it with you. Here are my ideas for mediation:

  1. Every mediator will have an office (similar to the desks used at the cleanup taskforce), at User:MEDIATOR/Office. This is where s/he will place all the current mediation.
  2. Every mediation case will be on a subpage, at Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/PARTY 1 and PARTY 2. Thus, we can just put {{Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/...}} on the WP:RfM page and in the mediator's office.
  3. Each case must first be approved by a mediator. Both parties MUST have agreed to mediation, as I beleive it's fruitless to mediate if one party is unwilling to settle their differences. Only a brief summary, without diffs or links to pages, will be accepted before the case is approved. The case may also be rejected or referred to the arbcom. In addition, both parties MUST agree to the goals of the mediation. (Again, I feel it's fruitless to mediate if both parties don't know what they are negotiating for)
  4. Once approved, the next mediator without a case will take the assignment. In other words, the task will automatically move to an open office. If there are several open offices, it will go to the one which has been open the longest. If there are no open offices, it will go to one with the least cases/longest time on a case (if this wording isn't clear, see the "Open Tasks" thing at the right of the proposed page). Thus, there will be no "picking and choosing" of cases, streamlining the process. (An exception will be made if a mediator is an involved party).
  5. Then the mediator will work with the parties... this is the actual mediation part.
  6. The case can then be closed by the mediator- if both parties have met the goals, then the case is successful. Otherwise, the mediator can dismiss the case or recommend it to the arbcom.

I hope that makes sense; let me know what you think (after all, you are the "benevolent dictator" of Wikipedia). Thanks a lot for your help. Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 23:58, 29 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

maybe you like this one

We had a very pleasant informal meeting at the Dutch/Belgian wikipedia last sunday. Maybe you like this picture. Ellywa 07:34, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hey...

Hey Jimbo...if you're ever in the Chicagoland area can you tell me? I live in a suburb and I would like to come out and meet the greak godking himself . Cheers. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 22:32, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ilyanep and Jimbo - a few Chicagoans (and temporary ones like myself) have expressed interest in a meetup (see User talk:Kelly Martin#Chicago meetup). I could probably secure a conference room or somesuch at the U of Chicago if the need arose. — Dan | Talk 23:16, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'd be interested! — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 00:17, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fair Use Images

Jimbo, I saw this in the deletion log: (Deletion log); 20:16 . . Jimbo Wales (Talk | block) (deleted "Image:Katrina Flood Overview.jpg": abuse of "fair use" -- it's about time we got really really strict about this). How do you wish to go about the issue of Fair Use images? Zscout370 (Sound Off) 03:18, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Well, mostly, they have to actually fit the definition of fair use. There is a 4 factor test for fair use, and this image used in this context violates 3 of of them.
1. What is the character of the use?
This one we get right: nonprofit, eductional, news reporting, non-commercial. We are not, however, criticizing or commenting on the photo itself (which would strengthen the fair use claim, because we would need to show the user what we are critiquing).
2. What is the nature of the work to be used?
This particular photo is imaginative and artistic, clearly a work of art.
3. How much of the work will you use?
We used all of it. We aren't quoting from the work, we are reproducing it wholesale.
4. What effect would this use have on the market for the original or for permissions if the use were widespread?
It would destroy it. Indeed, it could be argued (perhaps wrongly, but still...) that Wikipedia is in *direct competition* with the news service (we assume) from which it came. If Wikipedia started lifting wholesale commercially produced images from news services, there would be no images left.

Finally, it is worth noting that any legitimate claim of fair use is going to have to include a proper attribution and presumably a demonstration of thoughtfulness as to the use. Cavalierly saying "I found this picture, I don't know where it is from, so I'll wave my hands about fair use" is not consistent with our adamant attention to copyright laws.--Jimbo Wales 03:29, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I also think you should talk to User:Carnildo, since he seems to know a lot about Fair Use by his work at WP:FAC. He should be the one to tell you about fair use more than I can. While I will take your suggestion and look at case law, I think we should pull in more folks for this. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 03:35, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Requiring citation meta-data for images of all kinds is a good idea. I'll mention this at Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check. Courtland 04:05, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I think the main problem is that there is not really any reminder to users that if they are to add images under fair use, they also have to provide the rationale. Special:Upload is always only one click away, and there are lots of nice templates (like Template:Promotional and many many others) that give users the impression that adding such a template will be sufficient. We just had a discussion about this on our Wikiproject, and I got the impression that most users are simply not aware of this. After all, fair use is a rather complicated issue, and I don't think that having a law degree should be a requirement for contributing images. I propose that there should be clear reminders when users upload images under fair use that simply slapping a tag on is not enough. The ten point system from Wikipedia:Fair use is a good place to start. Jacoplane 12:18, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Just noticed the Wikipedia:WikiProject Fair use. While this is a good project that aims to solve a lot of the issues with fair use, I can't help but feel that they're always going to be trying to contain the problem, not solve it. The sheer volume of Category:Fair use images is quite intimidating. Jacoplane 12:21, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I've just added this to Category:WikiProjects and it appears on List of WikiProjects. Courtland 13:53, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use... or not?

Um, sorry, Jimbo, I couldn't find a way to express why I saw that the Katrina picture (Katrina Flood Overview.jpg) I tagged as {{fuus}} was fair use. As far as I know, Wikipedia is using it in a news report, which makes it fair use. If I'm mistaken, then I apologize. But thanks for bringing that up to my attention. --Titoxd 03:20, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No, using it in a news report absolutely does not make it fair use. I appreciate that you were mistaken; you are not in trouble. What we really need is a very firm change in the way the policy is written, to make inappropriate fair use be candidates for speedy deletion.--Jimbo Wales 03:22, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
While I do agree that many people use (and abuse) fair use, but I do not know under what guidelines could fair use apply. IANAL, but we need to see the Fair Use law and see what does the law say. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 03:25, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed, please do review the case law. It's quite important.--Jimbo Wales 03:30, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
What confused me was the article on fair use itself. I quote:
The fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
I known of several Wikipedians who use that article as an authoritative source on whether something is fair use or not. I agree, a change in policy is needed (I supported it to begin with, but now that I goofed and got yelled by the Big guy :), I advocate it even more). Tell me whenever there's discussions about this. --Titoxd 03:32, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I also wish to jump in on the discussion. I also know of a few people who could enjoy the discussion. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 03:41, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm. I see. The problem was that we had no idea where the picture came from. I tried to locate the source of the image. See these diffs: [6], [7], [8], [9]. --Titoxd 03:42, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It could have been renamed when it was uploaded (some people do not rename images, so that makes finding copyvios/sources easy). Zscout370 (Sound Off) 03:49, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
This is meaningless a posteriori thinking, but rename it how? --Titoxd 05:03, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
When you upload the file to Wikipedia, you are given three boxes. Thr first is the file you want to upload, the second one gives you the option to rename it and the third online allows you to state what it is and any copyright infomation. Zscout370 (Sound Off) 05:04, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, I get it now. Since I wasn't the one who uploaded the pic (and haven't gotten around to do that) I wouldn't have known. I stand corrected. By the way, I was saying that 'my a posteriori thinking was meaningless, not anyone else's. Rereading my previous comment, that looks a little bit unclear. --Titoxd 05:14, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Critics say Terri Schiavo is too long for a Fac ...eh?

Mr. Jimbo,

You remember me: I'm the Lakeland wiki contributer who went to court for Terri and almost won -actually doing better than Jeb Bush: (we both lost, as you well know, and this should be an interestimg topic, as you, like I, live nearby to where the Schiavo ordeal unfolded)

Raw Links here:

Anyhow, I hate to bother the top brass, but the Schiavo article is a Featured Article Candidate, and, while some of the critics have good points about image copyright concerns, most of the other criticisms are unfounded (e.g., length of article must be long to "do justice," etc.), I think the article is stable and very well-written.

Slightly over half of the "votes" are against it being a "Featured Article," but I've whipped the article in shape -with help from many other editors, including Mark (aka →Raul654), the Fac editor. Please honor our combined hard work & team-effort, and use your "god-like" powers, just once more, before you give them up. Thank you.--GordonWattsDotCom 10:13, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Robert McHenry, Potty Mouth

Jimmy,

I've really enjoyed digging more deeply into editing at Wikipedia, and learning its peculiar culture. It's a lot of fun.

This morning I came across McHenry's critique of WP, and wrote a reponse to it. That potty mouth. I think his bathroom analogy is all wrong, and came up with a better one. It's at the bottom of this page:

"Who Farted?" A Response to Robert McHenry

Thanks for putting this place together.

Regards,

-- Paul Klenk

Well said. --Titoxd 03:55, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Mediation #2

Hello, Jimbo. Would you mind giving us your opinion on the mediation proposal above (see User talk:Jimbo Wales#Mediation and the page, Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Proposed)? Thanks very much! Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 19:52, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

More images

Jimbo, more about fair use images. If we are going to use the four-point test you've given, then what purpose does {{fuus}} serve? Should all the images tagged with it be deleted? --Titoxd 03:07, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This group is between 100 and 250 members large, a pretty small number overall, just to clarify the scale of this proposal/question. Courtland 03:47, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I think all of those should be deleted. Don't consider this a policy pronouncement just yet. I want to carefully study this.--Jimbo Wales 12:47, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It seems to me that {{fuus}} serves the same purpose as {{noncommercial}} and {{permission}}: it provides an easy way to spot images that should be deleted. --Carnildo 03:20, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe qualify that by replacing "should" with "should be considered for"? Courtland 13:23, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Lists of articles from other encyclopedias

Hi Jimbo. Sorry to stick this down here rather than neatly with the other 2004/Encarta stuff, but I wanted to make sure that it didn't get missed. There's some discussion going on at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Missing encyclopedic articles that you should have a look over. We could do with your view as to whether you consider a new list that is currently being generated to be such a risk that you would want to "shoot it on sight" as with the Encarta list earlier. Most of us think it's safe, but I think you should have the final word. --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 16:28, September 1, 2005 (UTC)

Q. Is there a distinction between publishing the lists on (say) 'Pedia pages and using them "internally" to ensure full coverage? I'm sure dictionary makers use other dictionaries, and I suspect encyclopedists us other encyclopedias. Further if we remove the entries in the list which we already have articles for, the case being considerd copyvio/unfair use worsens. Rich Farmbrough 17:42, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Stalking?

Dear Jimbo:

I believe you should be aware of ICalledJimbo (talk · contribs) and two of his socks, Kaiser Wilheim II (talk · contribs) and User:I know what boys like....I know what guys want (talk · contribs) It started in IRC when a user named Ralph said 'I called Jimbo' a few times and other stuff. He was kicked, changed his screen name, came back, Rinse wash and repeat 4 times. So then he adds stuff to Jimmy Wales which we reverted, not based on content, but partly for his IRC behavior, as we often revert edits by trolls regardless of what they may say. If you believe it belongs in the article, feel free to add it. But also I think the user may keep coming back, and perhaps face a ban? A comment back would be appreciated. Redwolf24 (talk) 01:03, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Also note whether or not that whole thing is true, it counts as Original Research. Redwolf24 (talk) 01:09, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The user was, in my opinion, Lir, who has phoned me before. He did call me last night, in an apparently drunken or drugged state. I wrote more about this on my encyclopedia article talk page.--Jimbo Wales 12:38, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Jimmy :) Redwolf24 (talk) 22:18, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Vote to keep jimbo's beard debate

Due to recent disputes once again over Jimbo's beard, we'll vote whether or not to keep the section on his beard. Adamwankenobi 01:45, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fair Use

Do you believe the extensive fair use images in Wikipedia is wrong? In portuguese version of Wikipedia has polemic discussion about this, the adoption and the coexistence with GPL. Thanks. --200.167.78.3 12:33, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

There is no conflict between the GFDL and fair use images. I don't really know what relation is contemplated between fair use and the GPL, but perhaps you simply mistyped? Anyway, I think that we should begin to strongly restrict fair use in English Wikipedia, in the interest of broader re-use worldwide. It's a complex issue that I think causes more trouble than benefit overall. In terms of Portuguese Wikipedia, I would say that what should additionally be considered is Brazilian and Portuguese law. Even though we have no servers or assets of any kind in those two countries, we should follow the laws of those countries (as much as possible without censorship, but I don't know if those countries have such problems). The reason is that we want to make it easy for people to re-use our work. --Jimbo Wales 12:41, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
You do want to avoid gravitating to the lowest common denominator among laws of individual nations globally with respect to copyright matters, yes? Would it be appropriate to target the level of legal compliance to a) the countries in which servers reside and b) international legal precedents as set down in international agreements? Courtland 13:22, 3 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The solution is save the images under fair use license only in the servers of United States, then all Wikipedias will can adopt this resource. -- 201.3.251.137 15:54, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Famekeeper Shortest Possible History Summary ,to bring Jimbo up to date

Hi, I was sucked back in for a month , but now my disgust is relieving me ,Jimbo ,of strength to confront more strange behaviour in the usual articles, to do with the papal collaboration with Hitlerism during Weimar Germany . So I have by now potted the facts down to a few lines by way of truth-full micro-explanation:

Illegal the assembly that passed the Enabling Act for Adolf Hitler (constitutional protection of deputies transgressed) , Illegal the Government of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party contravention of section 2 of Enabling Act .Illegal the Government of Nazi Germany from 28 Febuary 1933 deputy detentions ( as found by the Nuremburg Trials, Illegal the Roman Catholic reichskonkordat per the versailles treaty , by internal catholic law Illegal the popes Pius XI and XII subjects excommunicated at offence Illegal present continuance by present German Government of vatican treaty .Guilty Contumacy charge against Holy See of 1933 proved by the existence of Secret Annexe : 'RESULT : WWII , HOLOCAUST Ends

Use it all, as it is digimmortal  ! Famekeeper 01:50, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

WikiJunior

Hey Jimbo!

I'm wondering if we should create a Junior Wiki (maybe junior.wikipedia.org) for children, not just a set of Wikibooks. What do you think? (Oh, and by the way, I'm not new. I used to be WikiFan04.) --WikiFanaticTalk 4:08, 4 Sep 2005 (CDT)

There will be a website set up to go with the books, but if you mean a wiki for kids I think it's a non starter. The trouble with wikis is that anyone can edit. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 09:24, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not an idiot, and I'm fully aware that anyone can edit a wiki. However, we could not feature WikiJunior prominently. We could put it under "other wikis" on the wikipedia.org main page. --WikiFanaticTalk 13:38, 4 Sep 2005 (CDT)
I never called you an idiot!I don't know what you mean by not featuring it promenantly, in what way would that make it kid safe? Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 20:43, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It could be policy to keep it kid-friendly. Wikiness doesn't have to interfere with that. ~~ N (t/c) 18:41, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The idea of a WikiJunior is an interesting one, but there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Just a few: What would a junior wiki look like? In what ways would it be different from Wikipedia? What would be the target age range? Who would edit it? --Canderson7 19:17, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
The "who would edit it" is the difficult question. How do we convince schools and parents that a wiki is a safe place for their kids to edit? How do we stop paedophilles talking to children? How do we stop sick bastards vandalising it with pornographic images? Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 20:43, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Make it a little less wiki, perhaps. All the same questions could be asked of WP, although WP doesn't have the issue of being designed expressly for kids. ~~ N (t/c) 20:55, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well exactly, Wikipedia is an adult encylopedia. Perhaps a wiki where all changes had to be vetted by an admin first would work, assuming you could find enough people willing to be admins. There would probably be issues of censorhip that would need to be addressed. If a "what do we censure for kids" policy isn't stated in the beginning there will a huge potential for argument as different people and different cultures have widely different opinions as to what is suitable for children to see. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 21:06, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
How do we make it "a little less wiki" and have it still function at all? And, although the same issues do apply to Wikipedia to some extent we're not trying to create a kid friendly environment here, nor are we advertising it as such. --Canderson7 21:05, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
Well, a junior Wikipedia could have more eye candy, and maybe Kiki or whatever that mascot is named as the logo instead of Wikipedia. We COULD have edits be moderated, and then possibly added after looked over. We would need a big staff of admins from different time zones so an eye could be kept on edits at all times. I'd say a target range of 7-11, maybe. (Maybe less articles, like Food, Africa, the Roman Alphabet and others?) And what I mean about "prominently" is this: The English, French, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, German, Italian, and Spanish wikis are all featured in bold on the wikipedia.org page. However, at the bottom with less edit counts are smaller ones- like the Afrikaans or Catalan ones. --WikiFanaticTalk 21:35, 4 Sep 2005 (CDT)
The Beck Foundation awarded us a $10,000 grant for the meta:Wikijunior project. --Alterego 23:35, September 5, 2005 (UTC)
I already knew that. How does that stop us from having a Junior Wikipedia? --WikiFanaticTalk 18:53, 5 Sep 2005 (CDT)

Katrina and userspace

Jimbo would you mind if I temporarily donated some of my user space to some of the Katirna refugees in Marshall, Texas. Some of them are still looking for people and others just need an outlet for their stories, the former could be deleted eventually and the latter moved to wikisource latter. I would transcribe everything, because most victims don't have internet access. This could be a low cost way wikipedia could help Katrina victims, without distracting ourselves from our primary goal. Please get back to me as soon as possible. Thanks. -JCarriker 11:36, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

Wikisource isn't appropriate for this but we have always been fairly open ended about what can go in your user space. Go ahead with this if you like, I don't think anyone will complain. You might talk to Angela about an ad-free wikicities site for this; I would totally support doing that.--Jimbo Wales 13:18, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As I wrote at User talk:JCarriker, there is already a wiki for this at katrinahelp.info/wiki, and I think it is best to consolidate efforts there rather than forking part of the content off into a Wikicity. Angela. 16:48, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

Today 05 September 2005

Without closing the above section (Explosive Secret Annexe to Reichskonkordat )I open this to explain , under wikipedia procedure quoted by me at my talk page .

I relate two separate items which were reported today , back to the subject of papal destabilisation . The first involves Ludwig Kaas himself, who as I wrote , Str1977 accepted and then subsequently cut , as involved personally in 1939-40 negotiations with the Brits , the bad brits [] or appeasers under Lord Halifax , Foreign Secretary . Kaas was in the papal mediation between these guys and the german "widerstand" , at this time an unlikely and confused internal german axis of interests between the disaffected within the Army, who were few, and individuals still persuaded as to the necessity of German territorial expansion, and conquest of Sovietism , but against Hitler. The pope , again secretly , is discussed in a chapter by [] Klemens von Klemperer, with Kaas floating in a new quid pro quo /stroke/ peace alignment not revealed to the Gestapo until 1943 .

Tonight apparently the BBC will divulge the true reason for the home -guard of that era as being designed for the secret attack upon these British appeasers, with their expulsion and liquidation by that home guard should such further appeasement arise . Halifax was to be killed . This was what was planned by those who did not trust the pope, nor the widerstand .

The other matter is that of the nomination by President Bush today of the newbie John Roberts to Chief-Justicse of the USA . The man , almost needless to say, would come with well known Ratzinger/BXVI attitude to abortion, and represents prsumably the fruits of the Bush/Ratzinger meeting prior to the G8 Summit . By their fruits ye shall know them . It is the same anti-Islamic posture pushed last night by the German CDU christian right leader last evening on TV there , all good old Ratzinger stuff.

I explain that these forces today are the same sort of forces that operated so murkily in the Reichskonkordat(secret annexe) in 1933, and it is revolting to behold a world so firmly in the grip of such political interference from supposedly divine agency . I repeat that they should be controlled, and Str1977 assumed I meant he should too . That's his choice . That's your world Robert McClenon, the war is plainly there for you to see and is the first fruit of this particular pope's interference in the American democratic process .As in the thirties we can see an axis of evil , a choice to wage war upon beliefs, Communism then , Islam now .The ancient Chinese knew that natural disaster comes from bad government . Well, elect a violent reformed coke-head who xxx-xx his president father, and that's what you get . Just watch out Ratzinger doesn't intervene in the US ,again ,at the next election , or you'll all end up a different people . Famekeeper 17:10, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Note: I've repaired a link to the disambiguation page for "British" above, to reduce crowding on the "What links here" page for that article. Cheers! -- BDAbramson talk 03:20, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, you're doing what here exactly? Warning me about papal influence over US supreme court nominations? I am not sure that Wikipedia is the right community for you. I wish you all the best, but please understand that I have zero interest in what you are saying. --Jimbo Wales 20:02, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think that the above user is warning you that there is a Catholic Church conspiracy to take over the United States, and is saying that Wikipedia is the last bastion of reason and truth, but that it too is under threat from the Catholic conspiracy. That may not be what he is saying, but I do not understand what he is saying. At your convenience, it might be worth following up on his claims, although not for the obvious reason. Robert McClenon 23:14, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
He's calling you to arrest me Jimbo! Keep disinterested and the WP and the history will take care of it . But the time will come when the Chicago futures markets enter the equations , both back in the 30's and in the present politics .Nothing to do with you-just co-incidence , that . Do you know then, or are you disinterested to know that this John Roger's nominee says that nowhere does the Constitution of the USA prohibit discrimination ? Never mind & Thanks for the words before, Famekeeper 23:42, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Famekeeper, may I please recommend to you that you leave the Wikipedia community with your head held high, dignity intact. You tried to warn us, we didn't listen. So be it. I really do not find your words to be particularly interesting nor persuasive and you seem to me to be quite destined to be banned from Wikipedia. A better thing to do is to quit before they can fire you, do you see what I mean? There are a great many other places on the Internet which will welcome you, and I encourage you to take advantage of those opportunities. There's little merit in trying to explain things to people (like me) who simply will not listen. Ok? --Jimbo Wales 02:44, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Just wondering if I'm the only one who didn't understand a single word of what he said. Titoxd 03:39, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
You're not alone. He reminds me of... hell, I don't know, every clinically paranoid person I've ever heard. It almost sounds like he's using Babelfish. ~~ N (t/c) 14:24, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
And it gets better. Keep reading below. Titoxd 20:50, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Legal action needed?

Jimbo, as the founder of Wikipedia you must certainly be familiar with the Willy on Wheels vandal. Recently, he has gone on another page-move spree, irritating enough Wikipedians to incite discussion about potential legal action. Over there, the consensus is to look past No legal threats and contact his ISP directly. What is the Board's opinion on this? Personally, I think he's refined his methods and has now gotten to the point where something more has to be done, besides indefinite userblocks. Titoxd 20:35, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Do we actually know his ISP? I am happy to take drastic action if it seems helpful.--Jimbo Wales 21:43, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty sure we have enough minds to figure it out. We just needed the authorization to do so. Titoxd 21:57, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Go for it. The only good Vandals go to the University of Idaho --fpo 21:45, September 5, 2005 (UTC)

I'll Accept your dis-invitation to edit the WP, Jimbo , but answer me this Please, Famekeeper

I am well aware ,Jimbo, that you pay for the digital soup (more noodles, please) and I thank you for allowing that there might be some dignity in with-drawal from your ability to influence the planet . I shall do so and leave the influence in your hands . I think it only fair that you should also recognise that the influence , whether it is of interest to you or not , is nevertheless influence . I came only to correct info that was largely entering from the more faith-positioned Deutsch WP and German users (lacks context). I would be very happy to join one of these wiki-others , and might agree with every one of their policies except that which requires loss of anonymity , for the obvious reason (obvious to you, you mean). I should be grateful I suppose that you recognise that some people do not want to hear some things , as the reason for your invitation is because of this . A question to you though for which I should be pleased to have explanation : is it that a majority of users over-rule a majority of sources ? (see Ayn Rand's May 1954 piece in the New Yorker and the Private Correspondence of Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx for insight on this point) I note that what could even be a typo extolls the absolute rule that majority rather than truth counts here on WP , which is the same question. My removal I claim proves the former, that users rule over sources . So,I will have to reserve the right to lift out of here whatever I have contributed , and reserve the right, if I see fit , to re-enter simply to call for the user(s) arbitration my enemies so desire . This I shall do if I, again, do not see the WP as a beneficial influence upon the world . If I see a continuation of the faith-based pollution actually sundering the WP back to where it was before I arrived , I shall call all the Rfc's and ArbCom's I see fit . I shall also hold you responsible , as I have earlier called for you to be, for everything that you hold the tiller to . I shall never open another userpage and adhere to my accedance for your request . You are responsible for this, in so far as you clearly rule , and clearly decide that certain people are not prepared to listen . You may all have to listen if I choose to return and call for that responsibility to accord with truth . I am proud to say that the true history of our world is better represented for my editing of the Wikipedia , as I have undone much mistruth and deflection of truth, and whitewash of historical wrong.The articles I repaired are now accepted as repaired by users , and I am , quite simply , un-justly shot as the messenger. I shall (ZOT!) have to thank you in advance for answering my remaining public question, Jimbo.. Byebye Str1977 , and thanks for your brain-power , what was murky is now crystal clear . And published . ("Have I told you about my fishnet stockings, Are we having fun yet?, fishnet, fishnet, fishnet, fishet) (Famekeeper (Some comments added by paul klenk 01:43, 7 September 2005 (UTC))[reply]

OMGWTFBBQGRASS. I have a vibe that this guy won't be much trouble - he's too insane (I mean that literally) to maintain severe disruption. Can I have some digital soup? ~~ N (t/c) 21:45, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Now now, be nice. :-) He's walking away with dignity. Let's let him have that, eh?--Jimbo Wales 21:48, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry. :-) ~~ N (t/c) 21:50, 6 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"Kidswiki"

Dear Jimbo!
I am User Abzt, mainly working at the German Wikipedia and a Ripuarian Test-Wiki.
But this is not the thing! Last night I mailed to you About "Kidswiki" and I would like an Answer! Do you think it's a good Idea or a bad one? Special greetings, Abzt 09 Sept 05 16:42 (CEST)

Hi Jimbo, I was just wondering if, when you get the chance, you could look over the mutual fund article for accuracy? ALso I'm wondering whether the "advice" section of the "United States" section would be better on WIkibooks? Thanks. Pakaran 17:15, 9 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

A suggested change to your statement of principles

Jimbo: Regarding your statement of principles, I think you know very well that #6 bit the dust a long time ago. (It is no longer open, nor is it the principle discussion forum). I think you should update it accordingly. →Raul654 19:06, September 9, 2005 (UTC)

May I direct you to observe the currently-locked article Barbara Schwarz (a conspiracy theorist and accused "FOIA abuser", well known in certain circles), and especially the accompanying talk page? When people start slinging libel accusations at the drop of a hat, you know there's a full-blown flamewar going on. I'd refactor the whole thing and have done with it, but they'd accuse me of censorship - and since I value my anonymity, I really have no way of defending myself. I would also advise you to not enter the conversation yourself, as you lack credibility with certain of the participants (it's related to Bomis, but I can't comprehend the reason for their hatred myself). I have NO idea which administrative channels we should take this through, and I need a true guru's advice... 206.114.20.121 19:30, 9 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It's actually just Barbara Schwarz, who posts from three public access IP Blocks in Salt Lake City. She does a lot of copy & paste, each libel by her is repeated for several days all around wikipedia. Tilman 16:12, 11 September 2005 (UTC)Tilman[reply]
Barbara Schwarz was one of the Scientologists in Germany who was prosecuted by the German government just for being a Scientologist, she was illegally admitted to a psychiatric institution and "treated" against her will with drugs and electric shock treatment. As a new user to Wikipedia, she only came here to correct the bias in the new article about her being composed by Tilman, Vivaldi and a couple other contributors. They have used biased sources and selectively extracted portions of Barbara's USENET postings to use against her. Barbara has vandalized the page several time out of anger, but even when she tried to follow correct format Tilman or Vivaldi reverts her changes. Basically she is up against a cabal composed of Scientology critics. --AI 04:20, 15 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

your web page

Just to let you know, there seem to be some broken images on http://www.jimmywales.com/. Main Page 20:02, 10 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Quote

Recently User:PigSwill (an Irate sock?) posted on your article an IRC conversation with User:Irate which led to Irate's ban. Of course I've complained vociferously about that ban before, since it was done 100% outside of process, but in the actual text I found this concluding exchange which I found extremely troubling:

Irate says, "I'll stick to the riles but I won;t like them is not enough for you?" To this you reply: "not at all", "not even close". This was a devastating thing for me to read because it is extremely important to me that a project I invest so much time in be founded on basically just principles, and what Irate was saying seems so obviously to be the just argument that I am astonished that any reasonable person would disagree. Irate, and presumably by extension all contributors, are required to like all of our rules, as opposed to simply following them? And for the founder of the project to say that? I'm hoping I misinterpreted or got something out of context, or maybe the text as given isn't even accurate, so I request clarification. Everyking 11:35, 12 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Everyking, I took a look at the diff in question (which was quickly reverted by SlimVirgin.) It is here. While I agree that this may be a little harsh, remember that intentions eventually lead to actions, and Jimbo probably thought that his attitude was bad. "Insubordination" can get a person fired -even from a "nonpaying" volunteer job, such as wiki-editor. Now, if you don't agree with the Bible, then my following arguments won't be valid, but even still, let me just share with you some things I have found on the web (and I'm guessing they are correct quotes, because I don't feel like looking in my Bible for ALL these quotes).
  • Proverbs 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
  • Leviticus 19:17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
  • Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
  • Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
  • 1st John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
  • Zechariah 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Remember, also, Everyking: Jimbo does have the all-powerful authority -at least for a time. (I hear there are plans to reduce his authority, but that is out of my hands.)
If you read all that I wrote -both my thoughts and those of the various Biblical writers, and combine that with your studied analysis of how you might act if someone starts tinkering with, say, your homepage -or home -or car, or whatever you own --then you might see a bigger picture. --Again, I am not saying Jimbo is right (assuming he was quoted correctly from some private chat or something) --I am just saying there are several sides to a story.--GordonWattsDotCom 12:09, 12 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It's fine if he got angry and went overboard. The question, to me, is whether he stands by it. It has to make anybody a little nervous when he's saying he'll judge people by what they think and not what they do. If what Irate's done is worth a ban, I don't have problem with a ban, although I strongly feel it should go through the ArbCom process...but here you had Irate saying he would obey the rules, even though he didn't like them, and that wasn't good enough for Jimbo. I think this is something worth bringing up for clarification. Everyking 12:36, 12 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If I'm reading it right, this user has created problems before, and Jimbo feels that any ArbCom would go in favor of booting the guy, so maybe, Jimbo's simply being "efficient" (and saving time/energy), but I could be missing something.--GordonWattsDotCom 12:45, 12 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The ban of Irate was not "out of process" in any way at all. The transcript that he posted was highly edited, and omitted significant parts of the discussion, including a discussion of his inability to spell. (I was prepared to cut him some slack if he's dyslexic, but he assured me that he isn't. Ok, well, then, he should learn to spell before trying to write an encyclopedia.)
The overall point is that his position was that he would not change anything, that he would continue to follow the rules as he saw fit, and as he always had. His defense of himself was grounded in "well, other people do bad things, so I will do bad things too". I found that attitude to be competely unacceptable, and that settled the issue for me.
Everyking, you appear to be willing to believe the worst of me, and the best of this illiterate troll. I urge you to reconsider this attitude.
But there is one core point of policy here which is worth repeating: our goal is to write a complete, comprehensive, free, high quality encyclopedia. An illiterate troublemaker is not helpful to that. Therefore, he is barred from participation. This is not a democracy. We do have policies and we do follow those policies, and we have an incredible amount of tolerance for bad behavior. But never mistake those rules and policies as being fundamental: what is fundmental is our shared goals and values. The rules are a means to that, not a suicide pact.
We don't allow administrators to ban people on the grounds of being illiterate. But that's not because we think illiterates are good candidates in writing the encyclopedia, but because banning people for illiteracy opens up a huge can of worms. The other rules are the same. --Jimbo Wales 15:56, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The point, which you didn't address, was the banning of someone based on whether he'll support the rules as opposed to merely following them. I have no interest in hearing this business about building an encyclopedia, because I assure you I am quite concerned with building an encyclopedia, but also quite unconvinced that banning Irate gets us any closer to that goal. Moreover I happen to feel that observing rules and processes (and changing them when necessary through community agreement) is a better way to build this encyclopedia than administrative fiat, so I have never had much patience for the "suicide pact" line. Everyking 18:48, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The point, which you didn't address, was the banning of someone based on whether he'll support the rules as opposed to merely following them - actually, you seem to be missing (or ignoring) the not-so-subtle point that Irate said (quite explicitely) that he had no intention of following our rules (the ones with which he disagreed). This is why Jimbo banned him. →Raul654 19:01, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As I read the conversation it said the exact opposite. Could you identify a quote? Everyking 19:11, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
He indicated to me that he would continue to follow our rules as he always had before, which means "not at all". He did not accept that he had broken the rules, and announced his intention to continue behaving as always. That was absolutely not enough.
Let me clarify something. People are not required to support all the rules in detail, of course. Polite dissent from the rules is welcome. But in this case, we have an illiterate contributor with a long history of rules breaking telling me point blank that he doesn't think he's done anything wrong, and has no intention of changing. I see no way to defend that sort of behavior.--Jimbo Wales 19:21, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Firstly, I disagree about your interpretation of the conversation. Since you were involved in it maybe you're more entitled to judge, but Irate's words seems pretty straightforward. Secondly, I'm happy to see you disavow the notion that contributors are not required to support the rules, although this leaves the question of why this was required of Irate in particular. Thirdly, I think your repeated assertion that Irate is "illiterate" is bordering on a personal attack, or is already one (not to mention calling him a troll earlier). You know what people would have said if Irate had gone around calling someone "illiterate". Everyking 00:22, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Everyking has a decent point on the last point on the last part anyway. User's edits seem odd though - filing RfAr against an arbitrator, "vandalizing" user pages (removing himself from a user's people to watch etc.). Some contributions seem good though. That edit on Jimbo's user page shows an unusually snappy Jimbo, eh? Reeks of being edited and cherry-picked though. Sounds like a year-old thing of mutual distrust going on here though. Ryan Norton T | @ | C 01:26, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'd be happy if Jimbo just deferred the matter to the ArbCom. They already banned him for a few months before, so the outcome is not in doubt, of course, but the important thing to me is that there's process. Also, the ArbCom can only ban for a year, whereas Jimbo banned him for life. RN has it right that Irate was a problematic user but also one who made some genuine contributions. Therefore he ought to get to go through the standard disciplinary process that any other user who had made valid contributions would be entitled to. The fact that Irate was also promising to "abide by" the rules in the future should also, in my opinion, be grounds for giving him another chance, perhaps under probation—certainly not a lifetime ban. Everyking 01:48, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Calling someone illiterate is probably not the sort of insult that we should be dishing out here. It is highly politically incorrect, and, I could be wrong, but it seems the aim of giving a free encyclopedia to every human being on the planet is in part to improve literacy - a basic right. Literacy:Figures of 1998 show that 16% of the world population is illiterate (by the UN definition). In the United States alone, 5% of the population is illiterate by the US Government definition, according to the 1990 Census. Seven million UK residents are functionally illiterate according to Government figures. Another problem in the developed countries is the rise of secondary and tertiary illiteracy in recent years, i.e. the complete or partial loss of previously existing reading and writing skills due to lack of practice. Among the Arab states, more than 25% of men and 50% of women were not literate as of 2000. [3] The most likely reason for low levels of literacy is lack of education. There are spell checkers, grammar checkers, and most importantly, lots of other editors on Wikipedia. If we are going to start displaying prejudice against the illiterate then probably we have lost sight of our vision here and are meandering down a slippery slope. I don't think that's the case, but I also don't think that Irate's ability to type his thoughts at the pace of an IRC chat is relevant to his case. He seemed to have a conceptually large vocabulary. --Alterego 03:17, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

2 Questions re.: How do we enforce concensus?

Question 1:

What if we had, just for a crazy example, a 4-2 concensus to have a certain intro a certain way?

Would that be binding on later editors?

Question 2:

What if, say, another editor later added his vote, and claimed it was then 4-3, and enough editors kept voting?

Would the "concensus" change?

Implications:

  • Q1 = "YES" - If we vote to make concensus binding, then the "wiki" nature would be limited to having to look at past resolutions (slash) laws to see if it's "permitted," possibly somewhat "un-wiki."
  • Q1 = "NO" - If we prohibit concensus from being binding, then Wikipedia is a "nation without laws" -a lawless place where agreements and laws and truces can be broken willy-nilly, rather unbecoming of a User:Jimbo.


  • Q2 = "YES" - This would be flexible to allow further input, but it could accommodate "vote buying" and instability of standards, especially if a user makes up sock puppets (and get to vote multiple times) before he/she can be caught.
  • Q2 = "NO" - This would be unnecessarily inflexible and freeze things in cases where mistakes clearly happened. After all, even Dred Scot was eventually overturned.


What saith the Great Jimbo -- and his wise counselors?--GordonWattsDotCom 04:38, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Long Now Foundation - Rosetta Disk Project

Hello Jimbo,

It has struck me that Wikipedia could be an absolute goldmine for future generations, as it is such a good record of current culture. It might be a good idea to investigate what it would take to have a snapshot of Wikipedia inscribed in the same way as the Rosetta Project Disks - see [12] and [13] - that way, Wikipedia could even survive the fall of civilisations and help future generations (I know it sounds a bit melodramatic - but it could be true). As each disk holds about 30,000 pages, you need (at a rough estimate) 30 disks for the English Wikipedia alone. They might be merchandisable to (rich) patrons. Perhaps a good respository for Version 1.0

Anyway - just an idea!

WLD 11:06, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Timshell admin account

Hi - I recently updated WP:LA to reflect administrator activity using a script and noticed an anomaly. user:Timshell is a sysop account, but has never edited. I assume this is intended to be user:TimShell. I left him a message about this a while ago that I presume he simply hasn't followed up on. If you could either simply straighten this out or contact him in some way I'd appreciate it (it looks distinctly peculiar to have a sysop account with no edits, seems to take anti-editcountitis a little far :) ). -- Rick Block (talk) 13:57, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Jimbo's beard debate

Just wanted to note the fact that I've moved the Jimbo's beard debate to a subpage at User:Jimbo Wales/beard since even though it's a funny discussion it isn't entirely appropriate for long term use on his main userpage. Jtkiefer T | @ | C ----- 23:14, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Concerning Jeff Merkey

If he had any comments about my actions with him, please see here - and especially here

to see that he is causing much more trouble than warranted.  Take care, Molotov  (talk)  21:36, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I had to do it!Molotov (talk)

Marsden etc

Sure, I haven't been paying much attention to those articles recently anyway. I don't think I've edited Canada Free Press or Judi McLeod at all for a few weeks and I've only edited Marsden once in the last ten days.

If you got a lawyer's letter on behalf of Rachel Marsden, I suggest you actually call the lawyer and see if he actually wrote the letter. Allegedly, there was an incident a while back where she sent a letter on a lawyer's letterhead to an online discussion board (I think it was Frank online) without her lawyer's permission. Homey 23:19, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

BTW, if you're at liberty to email me a copy of the complaint, I'd appreciate seeing it. Homey 23:31, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I've just emptied out my inbox (just realised it's been bouncing) so if you've already sent me the complaint, please resend. Thanks. Homey 23:38, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

RfA Policy: Approx 3-17-3 concensus says your policy is stupid?

Jimbo,

I have posted a few more than average questions of recent, but this one breaks the bank.

A lot of people have warned me not to "appeal to Jimbo" because you don't become involved in a dispute over one user, but I think you will want to look at this, because this attitude has been responsible for alienating and offending many users, who have left in disgust:

You see here my RfA. OK, no big deal.

However, what has happened to me (and I have remained cool but firm in most of my replies and rebuttals) happens to MANY users, so this is a wiki-wide problem. Just like you want the site to be open-editing for anybody, you also want there to be a fair hearing of all complaints, concerns, right?

I admit that I don't have as many edits as some "veterans," but this should not be a big deal: Admins says, in salient part: "Current Wikipedia policy is to grant this access liberally to anyone who has been an active Wikipedia contributor for a while and is generally a known and trusted member of the community...."This should be no big deal," according to Jimmy Wales."

While I have walked into the middle of many contentious edit wars on divisive page (Schiavo, Jesus, Abortion, Christianity, etc.), I have never been disciplined, blocked, etc. See e.g.,

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/block&page=User:GordonWattsDotCom (old)
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/block&page=User:GordonWatts (new)

So, while I am impressed an many who have more experience (and more time on their hands) to help Wikipedia, the policy you laid out above is apparently opposed by a 3-17-3 concensus (Uncle Ed is one of those who voted "for" me) -and they largely criticize my lack of experience and concentration on one small area of editing (in spite of the fact I have edited over 200 distinct pages).

Either you are right or you are wrong in your policy above:

  • If you are right, then I ask you to enforce the rules so any editor in good standing (who has acted responsibly with the great powers he/she has), to be granted adminship.
  • If you were wrong about that policy, then I simply ask you (or one of your bueaucrats, etc.) to change it to reflect the "changing standards.

I think you were initially right: The admin tools only confer slightly more "powers" to me, and granting them would not be any bigger deal than, say, letting me have a map, flashlight, and cell phone, for -say, a business trip, eh? "Adminship" as I understand it is not something with powers that a bureaucrat or steward has, so I think you were right on this policy. Am I right in all my assertions above and in the RfA in question? Seeing the apparently 3-17-3 concensus that says your policy is stupid: Is that true?

Thx.--GordonWatts 06:08, 15 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

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