User talk:MER-C/archives/24

Re: Wikipedia:Goings-on inversion

Wow, sounds pretty impressive. Inverting the Goings-on list for FPs won't upset the other Featured content projects that are doing it ascending by date the old way will it? How does it go with handling noms with edits and alts, and with distinguishing between Commons and Wikipedia hosted images? --jjron (talk) 07:47, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Re 2/3, where I saw the relevance was whether it will 'untag' all the {{FPC}} tagged edits & alts, and add the {{missing image}} tag to Commons images. Or are they still a manual thing? --jjron (talk) 08:43, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Well that explains that then. --jjron (talk) 08:17, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Saw your note on FP talk. Just thought I'd let you know I found a batch of FPs under Portals rather than Pictures on WP:GO - see here. Was that a bot bug or human error? If it was the scripting should be easy enough to tweak. I just closed a stack of FPs, but will leave what's there now for you if you're planning to run the script on Sunday. --jjron (talk) 10:04, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Not sure how you've got it working, but maybe someone added a subheading somewhere or something? Guess you'll just need to double check it works correctly, at least at first. OK, will leave it to you to close for a while and see how it all goes. --jjron (talk) 16:06, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

History Animated Links in Civil War Articles - Discussion Please

Hello Merc, I read your user page and have carefully read the Wiki rules about spamming links. And I agree with them.

I am asking your permission to reverse the undo on the links in several of the articles. Please let me explain.

I missed the history warning on the "removed spammed links". I am not a Wiki expert and did not know to look for them. I made the incorrect assumption that they were removed for some other purpose. If I had seen that, I would have initiated a discussion before doing anything. I know better now.

I asked for an opinion from the person who is the driving/guiding force behind the entire Civil War Project - Hal Jesperson. He states "I think your animations are well done and don't object to judicious inclusion as External links. My concept of judicious would be to select only the most important or relevant places to link. For instance, Gettysburg has dozens of articles about the campaign and battle and literally hundreds of articles about men, women, and units who fought there. I'd recommend linking only from Battle of Gettysburg and Gettysburg Campaign (assuming you also animate the campaign as a whole)."

The only warning I had ever known I had received was put into my talk and was an informal warning to which the author of the article responded and actually thanked me for adding the link saying it added to the the article.

So, the key author for the entire project does not believe they are spam and feels they are "well done" and would like to allow them.

The animations are free and take about 200-250 hours each to make. If I could just directly donate them to Wiki I would, but there is no vehicle for Wiki to have these on site. The website is merely a repository for the animations - nothing more. It promotes no commercial products (It has the smallest possible Google ad which, if you find it objectionable, I will remove - it is only there to ensure that Google takes a hard look at the site). I make no money off the site and have no intention of doing so.

There are no screaming banners enticing people to the site in the animations.

Please take a look and reconsider. http://civilwaranimated.com/

The SPAMMING rules say look at your intent: My intent is clear if you look at the material and the websites - I have created a unique way of displaying the article content and am making it available for free. (there is another site, TravelBrains.com which charges $29 per animation for very similar content). I am not promoting products nor myself. And the website is only there as a holder of the content.

Would it be acceptable to you if I followed Hal Jespersen's recommendation and undid your deletion of the links for: The Battle of Gettysburg The Overland Campaign The Battle of Perryville The Battle of Stones River The Battle of Leyte Gulf

Thank you for your consideration, James Cagney Jcagney (talk) 14:45, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't recommend reinserting the links yourself because you may find yourself being reverted again by someone else citing our conflict of interest guideline. If Hal (or some third party) feels the links are worthwhile then by all means he should add them himself. Our spam archives are full of examples of people spamming their own sites for money and/or ego, so we need to be wary of people adding links to their own sites in a systematic manner. MER-C 09:29, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Helpful links on AN

Hi MER-C, I just wanted to say that I appreciate the links you posted on WP:AN pertaining to cleanup of unfinished or mistaken edits. I've stolen it for myself on my user page, and I hope you don't mind. Hbent (talk) 05:11, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

I was hoping someone would do that, lest they end up in some obscure archive somewhere. MER-C 05:34, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

That Comcast IP

I softblocked it for one month--have the sites he's been spamming been added to the meta blacklist? He's been spamming since February, so it might be time to blacklist them both. Blueboy96 13:13, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

There's no cross-wiki spam so it's going to be very hard to argue for a global blacklisting. I requested local blacklisting instead. Unfortunately the local blacklist request page is backlogged rather badly... MER-C 13:20, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Tortilla FP

Hi, it's very flattering that you posted to my user page, but I really have to hand back these borrowed feathers. That was Shoemaker's nomination; I only placed the image at one article. Best, Durova^Charge! 05:47, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

That's what happens when you're distracted by the performance of a certain closing wizard... Fixed. MER-C 06:04, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

external links to www.book-academy.co.uk

I have not visited wikipedia in some time, but on a recent visit noticed that you have removed most of the external links from various articles to the website http://www.book-academy.co.uk. Having read your comments on your reason for doing so (User_talk:MER-C/archives/21#Removal of links to book-academy.co.uk added by User:88.107.126.110) , I admit that as a newbie I was not careful to read the guidelines for external links and that in my zeal in pointing to the resources available on my website I may have come across as merely interested in advertising my website. I can assure you that the links were only placed on the articles concerned because they were extremely relevant.

Another criticism was that the links pointed to a single page which had no anchors so that readers would have to find the works mentioned. We have now rectified this on our site and I am more than happy to supply links to the anchored sections.

May I please ask you to reconsider your decision to remove the links?

Thanking you in advance for your consideration.

SC80.42.167.134 (talk) 21:24, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

I don't oppose the addition of links to your site as long as they aren't spammed. That said, you shouldn't be the one adding them because of our conflict of interest guideline - you might get a sense of deja vu. MER-C 10:25, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks!

Thanks, for answering my question :]II MusLiM HyBRiD II 18:34, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Sensitive but unclassified

I struck your two year old unexplained Context template at the aforelinked article after expanding it somewhat and introducing sourced descriptions of the sorts of material that get flagged as sensitive. Does that cover it, or were you looking for something else? MrZaius^talk 11:52, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure you've got the right person or article? I haven't edited the article you link to. MER-C 14:27, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Sorry - I forgot that SBU was a disambig and not a redirect to Sensitive but unclassified. See your edits here. Again, my apologies for my lazy typin' - MrZaius^talk 15:23, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, that's what I was looking for. The original threw around acronyms with no indication as to who uses them and for what purpose. MER-C 12:42, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Great - thanks for the followup! MrZaius^talk 16:05, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Warning

You appear to have given me a warning though I accept this could be a mistake. You have said that i have been vandalizing Wikipedia but I checked all edits and they all appear to have been constructive. All the edits I have done on Wikipedia (of which none have currently happened in October the month you gave me the warning) appear to be fine.

Either a explanation or a apology would be fantastic 83.104.51.181 (talk) 19:15, 2 October 2008 (UTC).

I haven't edited the above talk page in two years. Please be more specific. MER-C 13:43, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism reversion

Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my user page [1] - much appreciated --Superflewis^(talk) 13:47, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

FPC Closing Wizard

Hi. Just saw this being used at WP:GO. With modifications, could this work for other featured content? Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 16:51, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I think so. Once I verify my solution to the ubiquitous (and really annoying) "Wikimedia errors" works, I'll push out a release and the source. Due to various IRL reasons, you're not going to see anything from me towards a "FLC closing wizard" until at least February next year. MER-C 07:15, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

An Umpteenth Award

		The Working Man's Barnstar
		You've likely got numerous such awards, but I feel the need to provide further appreciation. May your tireless anti-vandal, anti-spam and generally anti-nonsense efforts continue on for many years to come. —Anonymous DissidentTalk 04:22, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

"Anti-nonsense". I like it. Thanks. MER-C 10:21, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you for reverting the vandalism to my talk page. Keep up the good work!, Best wishes --Badgernet ^Talk 10:57, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

FCDW

Considering we just had two Dispatches on how to review Free and Non-free images, I assume you mean a general guide to reviewing images at WP:FPC relative to WP:WIAFP? [2] Can you clarify that entry at WP:FCDW? Would you interested in or able to write that? Would you be able to write it soon? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:43, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I'll take it. It'll take at least a month due to lack of free time and dodgy nominations (I need them so I can back my reviews with the actual outcomes). MER-C 08:14, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Award

		CVU Anti-Vandalism Award
		Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my user-talk page [3] --Flewis(talk) 10:45, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Hello

Have you seen the thread I spawned at WT:RFA about admin candidates? --Dweller (talk) 15:49, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes I have. There's too many things on the to-do list right now (e.g. the Signpost dispatch mentioned above) and applying to be an admin is way down the bottom. This FPC has me reconsidering all those declined noms, except I don't think I have a full week for answering stupid questions until... February 2009. MER-C 11:44, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

To add to the "you should be an admin": here's a log that makes you look like an admin: [4]. Happy protecting, Kusma (talk) 13:30, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

You just let me know when you think you might squeeze it into your schedule and I'll strongly considering nominating you. --Dweller (talk) 12:02, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Havana silk dog page edits

I apologize if this is the wrong place to address this but I've had an awful time trying to figure out how to communicate with anyone on this site. I just edited the Havana Silk Dog page to restore it to its original content, content which was placed in Wikipedia with permission from the HSDAA (Havana Silk Dog Association of America.) The page has been under attack by disgruntled members of the Havanese community who are angered over a split in the breed. According to the page history, in Aug 2008 original content was replaced with a malicious, defamatory article by Moorea1307 (Marie Cane, a Havanese breeder in New England who is well known for defamatory attacks on the Havana Silk Dog community.) Once this libelous action was discovered, we have regularly been checking the page to be sure it has not been corrupted again. This morning I found that it had, once again, been assaulted, this time by 'SmackBot' who reverted it to Marie's text so I undid it. You undid mine and I do not know why as my change served to restore the original content of the page and remove the defamatory garbage that Marie had placed there. There has been a long-term pattern of harassment since the split in June of 2007 which culminated in a lawsuit being filed against the Havanese Club of America and settled in favor of the Havana Silk Dog fanciers in Sept 2008. This illegal harassment simply has to stop and we should be able to protect our page by undoing the defamatory changes that have been made to it.

141.152.30.169 (talk) 12:04, 10 October 2008 (UTC)Havana Silk Dog Fancier.

Please read our copyright policy for the reason why your contributions are not acceptable. The onus is on you to prove that you have permission to use the text, the instructions for doing so are at Template:Copyviocore. That said, I have reviewed the text and redirected the article to Havanese. MER-C 12:17, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

I am one of two webmasters of the HSDAA and also a board member, from whose website theis material was taken and it is fine with us for it to be on Wikipedia as long as it is not sabotaged and corrupted as has been done (and is now restored.) Havana Silk Dog Fancier —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.152.30.169 (talk • contribs)

Have you followed the instructions at Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials (which is a better link than the one I gave above)? MER-C 05:10, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Pagemove vandalism

Better not use TWINKLE for that again... Hut 8.5 10:06, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Wow

Some nasty fight on my user page there, thanks for all the reverts! :) --RazorICE 10:38, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Lodging my complaint

Hi MER-C,
Just a quick message (to keep things time relevant) to say that I disagree with the closing on this (surprise surprise!) - but I'll discuss it when I have a bit more time (i.e after exams = nov 10). Regards, --Fir0002 10:40, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

• • Hey MER-C, well the uni year is over so I'm back here. My argument is simple and you probably already know what it is. FPC is not about votes but about consensus. Given that the claims of the image not illustrating the various articles were quite obviously false (note that after a full month the images are still in those article), I would submit that opposition on those grounds is fundamentally invalid. Therefore I believe that this should have been closed as a promote. Regards, --Fir0002 08:55, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

I was rather unsure what to do with that one - "no consensus without prejudice" felt like the correct result at the time. If the opposers were proved wrong (which seems to be the current situation) then you could renominate => it's featured or if they were right then the result sticks. It's way too late to sneak in a promotion through the back door (it screams "CABAL", which we don't necessarily want to draw attention to ) so renomination is the obvious route.

P.S. any news on Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/delist/Aust blue dragonfly02.jpg? MER-C 07:55, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough - I'll go with a renom then as I quite like that shot... With the dragonfly I won't be home in Swift's until next Monday so still can't get the originals, but given that it's probably not too like that a high res version will make too much of a difference I guess you may as well go through with the delist. Up to you - I'll be able to upload a higher res one next monday tho... --Fir0002 05:52, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Mistake

G'day, thanks for all the hard work at FPC. However i think you made a mistake with Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Brown Tree Frog (7 supports and no opposes or anything). Noodle snacks (talk) 08:15, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, wizard input error. Fixing now... done. MER-C 08:18, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Hello (2)

Good evening, sir, and I am here because of this edit you have made, as you mentioned a manually updating category. I was going to suggest run a bot account specifically for that page. Thank you.--79.73.127.99 (talk) 18:39, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

The reason why there is no tracking category is because I cannot populate it (Template:Notability is protected). I could write a bot to recreate the full functionality of the category tracker, but I'll let that one go through to the keeper. MER-C 10:50, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Sock city

See [[5]] — Rlevse • Talk • 21:05, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for rescuing my talk page. It seems grawp has found new people of interest :P   «l| Ψrometheăn ™|l»  (talk) 06:08, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

I guess you're popular, then. MER-C 07:59, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Hum

Might be worth keeping an eye on. Not quite G11 yet though I think? --Herby ^{talk thyme} 15:08, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.elginweather.com

This web site has been removed by the web hosting service that the person whom hosted it was using. -- IRP ☎ 21:20, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

It never was intended to be a functioning link, but rather one for tracking purposes. The real site is still there and is still blacklisted here. MER-C 03:15, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Wiki.java

Again me. :) Since today, bot is unable yet again to make an edit. It can login. The older version cannot read pages (your latest can), and both versions cannot edit a page. This older version I use has mark 0.10 14/11/2007, but I also modified it so that it can read utf-8 streams and did the login modification from the last time. That's it. I hope you fix it, cheers. Mihajlo ^{_[ talk _]} 06:40, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Works for me, though that's the development version which uses API edit exclusively. I was going to release it, until Brion gave a week's warning about changing the image namespace to "file" three weeks ago (might cause breakage in upload, imageUsage and getImage). MER-C 08:01, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, thanks. I will look into the issue. Mihajlo ^{_[ talk _]} 09:09, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Mailing list thread. MER-C 01:27, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Smile

Andy (talk) has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Cheers, and Happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

You and THEN WHO WAS THE PHONE keep beating me to the vandals. Ha ha! Andy (talk) 12:43, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Valued Image proposal

Thanks for your comment at the Village Pump. I have got in touch with the editor who previously proposed the idea. Much appreciated, Elucidate ^{(parlez à moi)} Ici pour humor 20:22, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		Thanks for defending my talkpage a few days ago, I thought a barnstar was in order   «l| Ψrometheăn ™|l»  (talk) 02:13, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Now you're really popular... Thanks. MER-C 09:29, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Rummikub

How is a link to the official site spam? Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 11:47, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

It was one of several domains added in a massive cross-wiki spam campaign, e.g. this very spammy edit. See WikiProject Spam report. I might spare this one from the blacklist. MER-C 11:55, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

That link was added at the article's creation Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 11:56, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Spammed sites tend have all links removed, especially when the spam is as bad as this. (I've also seen spammers claim their site is official). Bleh. I'll put this one back. MER-C 12:10, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Main page redesign proposal straw poll

Thank you for your support of my design in this poll. I just wanted to drop a note to inform you that the wrong version of my design was placed in the poll. The current version is here. The differences may or may not affect your decision. Regards, لennavecia 02:54, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Spam assertion

Hi there,

Why do you believe Namibia-1on1.com is spam? The information provided by the web site seems reliable and truthful. --Thomas.macmillan (talk) 16:15, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

The site isn't spam, it was spammed by its creator, who has not contributed in any other way. MER-C 03:07, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia announces launch of new Valued pictures project

The official VP seal

The project goes live for nominations on 10 November, 2008 at 0:00 UTC

This Wikipedia Valued pictures project sets out to identify and encourage users' efforts in providing valuable images of high encyclopedic value, and to build up a resource for editors from other Wikimedia projects seeking such educational images for use online. The project also provides recognition to contributors who have made an effort to contribute enyclopedic images of difficult subjects which are very hard or nigh on impossible to obtain. The project will run alongside the existing Wikipedia Featured pictures and Picture peer review projects.

Please visit Valued picture candidates to nominate an image, or to help review the nominations. Anyone with an account on Wikipedia is welcome to nominate images, and also to take part in the open review process.

The Wikipedia valued picture project has opened for nominations. Please feel free to nominate an image at WP:VPC today!

Elucidate ^{(parlez à moi)} Ici pour humor 16:59, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your edit to the valued picture criteria page. I hadn't noticed that problem with criterion 2 and 5. Looks like you've cleared it up perfectly, though. If you have any more suggestions or feedback, please don't hesitate. And if you have an idea that you think will benefit the VP project, be bold! We also need some editors to participate in any discussions at the candidate talk page: we've got a discussion ongoing at the moment, and your thoughts ojn the matter would be welcomed. Elucidate ^{(parlez à moi)} Ici pour humor 09:25, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/City of London skyline

Just noticed that a Commons admin has deleted my recent featured picture as a duplicate. This is true, as per the nomination, there was a higher res version that wasn't as nice to look at at 100% so I uploaded a downsampled version as well and this was the one that I nominated. I guess he didn't check which version was actually in use in the various projects though, and now that it is gone, I can't see where it was used to reinstate the version that does exist. Are you able to determine where it was previously used on En.wiki and replace the link where appropriate? I've changed it on the article where it was used. Diliff | (Talk) (Contribs) 14:16, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Done. For the record, here's the relevant contributions of CommonsDelinker, so you know where to look if it happens again in the future. MER-C 01:54, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Merci, MER-C! (or am I late to that particular party?) Diliff | (Talk) (Contribs) 14:18, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

---

• 10:12, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/City of London skyline ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.) (top) [rollback]
• 10:12, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Featured pictures thumbs 14 ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.) (top) [rollback]
• 10:12, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Places/Panorama ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.) (top) [rollback]
• 10:12, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m List of tallest buildings in Europe ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.) (top) [rollback]
• 10:11, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m User:Diliff ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.)
• 10:11, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m 30 St Mary Axe ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.) (top) [rollback]
• 10:11, 3 November 2008 (hist) (diff) m City of London ‎ (Removing "City_of_London_skyline_from_London_City_Hall_2_-_Oct_2008.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Ignis because: Duplicated file.)

Unblock

Thanks. MER-C 11:40, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that bad block, bro. The anti-Grawp toy I cooked up obviously needs a bit more work. :/ east718 // talk // email // 20:48, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Image:Dynamite-3.svg

Hi
I noticed that you tagged Image:Dynamite-3.svg as an I8 speedy, which I just undid since there is no picture here to be identical to one at commons: it only exists at commons. However, I then noticed that you also closed the featured picture nomination, so maybe you just wanted to delete the description page? I personally would keep it around, along with the FPC link, but I don't know what the process is there. If anything I suggest tagging it as a WP:CSD#G5 housekeeping with an explanatory comment or edit summary. But feel free to do what you think best. :)
Cheers, Amalthea^Talk 23:26, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Eh, and only now have I read the bottommost item in your infobox at the top ... well, as I said, feel free to tag it again, but I don't think I8 was the correct tag for it. :) --Amalthea^Talk 23:30, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

image:Solar prominence from STEREO spacecraft September 29, 2008.jpg

Hi, MER-C. I found this image taken by Stereo (SOHO). Once SOHO images I uploded were deleted for copyrights violation. May I please ask you, if the policy has changed? Thanks.--Mbz1 (talk) 21:09, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

STEREO != Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). This new image should be OK. MER-C 02:43, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks.--Mbz1 (talk) 03:04, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

User:Saleorder88

Hi, MER-C! I just reverted one of the massive spammings, and put a note on WP:ANB that the account should be blocked, nothing but spam. Can you do it, please? --Janke | Talk 11:04, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Not yet. Let's see if he responds to a warning. I'm investigating this now. MER-C 11:10, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Ok, but please note that even the username is indicative! --Janke | Talk 11:11, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Appears to be trying to use WP for marketing purposes, see Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Submissions/Boogietrainz. Definitely not notable, IMO... --Janke | Talk 11:20, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's spammy enough for a block. He's stopped and hasn't switched accounts (yet). If/when he comes back, it's one warning then block and blacklist permanently. MER-C 11:24, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

OK, I have Z scale on my watchlist, I'll let you know... --Janke | Talk 11:28, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Suggestion

You've been on here for 2 years with 130K edits. When you see edits like this absolutely no reason to give any warning. When your an admin you can decide to block or just ignore because as you can see in the page history, they seldom make more than that 1 particular edit. Ta 220.239.47.163 (talk) 06:30, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

ITN

On 17 November, 2008, In the news was updated with a news item involving the article Fomalhaut b, which you recently nominated. If you know of another interesting news item involving a recently updated or created article, then please suggest it on the In the news candidates page.

--Spencer^T♦C 23:25, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Sorry

Sorry Sir Mer-C

I juz now juz fooling around. I promise I will not do the same thing anymore. I cross my heart will love wikipedia with all the effort I can.

Can you forgive me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.54.20.208 (talk • contribs)

Yes, if you don't do it again. MER-C 09:24, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Hey...

I haven't seen your name in CSD nominations for some time... but then again I haven't been online as much as I used to, due to RL needs. Just wanted to say...

You're still not an admin?! If I could hand the bit to someone else, you're probably one of the first five persons I can think of passing it to. :D

(Note: This is not intended to culminate in any RfA nomination; I don't have the willpower to start one currently. Please do not quote this post in support for, or in the context of, any future RfA nomination. :^)) Pegasus «C¦T» 10:45, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Hello!

Could you please get rid of the spam links this guy added Special:Contributions/Maoyingying. Thank you! --Techfast50 (talk) 16:46, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Done. You can do this as well, all you need is some form of rollback. The user page was a copyvio. MER-C 01:45, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Hello, on this page here (Mount Huang) there is a red link in the external links section. But this "ChinaTravelGuide" wiki was deleted as a template to an external site. How do I find others? Another one is here Xiamen. Thank you. --Techfast50 (talk) 02:53, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

I don't think there is a straight forward and easy way (you might have to resort to database dumps). MER-C 10:00, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Einstein FP

Hi, just to let you know I opened a sockpuppet investigation against Karen Spain (talk · contribs) at Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Karen Spain. If you have a better idea, let me know and I'll close it. Wronkiew (talk) 02:26, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I don't think you're casting the net wide enough - it's more likely than not the nominator is the one wearing the sockpuppets (a similar incident). Bleh, looks like I'll be making a trip to WP:MFD later today. MER-C 03:16, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

You're right that I missed a puppet. However, I think it's more likely that the nominator and the puppeteer are different people in this case. Possibly using the same computer. Wronkiew (talk) 03:58, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

removed external links

Hi,

I don't believe the links you have removed are spam - they're press articles about specialist subjects, and report only on the given subject. Some pages have limited information, and these links surely provide visitors with up to date information about the developments of these companies.

Sorry, but I think these articles will give people the information they're obviously here for. Is there a particular way we can add allow people to find out more on the subjects they've searched for, without it being regarded as spam?

I've also noticed that the links just above mine, have mostly been added by other magazines. Why are they allowed to remain? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Coxt001 (talk • contribs)

You are a spammer and the links you have added are spam because:

1. Your contributions consist of nothing but adding mentions of renewableenergyfocus.com to Wikipedia:
2. You created two pages that do nothing but advertise the spammed site.
3. You systematically added links to the spammed site in violation of our external link and spam guidelines.
4. ... and persisted in doing so after not one but FIVE warnings and a friendly reminder to stop.

You've been here for three months - there's no excuse for not knowing that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and hence not a free advertising service. This goes without saying. MER-C 11:29, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Well you've removed edits to the page on ISES - which you have now made inaccurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Coxt001 (talk • contribs)

That doesn't excuse all your other edits. MER-C 12:06, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Actors listed interview links

Why have you removed the articles I've added as spam or the site as spam even though it's not. I believe these articles are relevent and add something to the actors already listed in Wikipedia. Have I done something wrong? I'm new so please let me know if I have violated a rule somewhereArchantlifelondon (talk) 11:24, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

You are a spammer and your link additions are spam because:

1. You have done nothing but systematically add links to angelmagazine.co.uk in violation of our spam, external link and conflict of interest guidelines.
2. ... and you persisted in doing so after being informed of these guidelines.
3. Your company owns the magazine in question.
4. You have an inappropriate commercial username.
5. You have deliberately drawn attention to your links by putting them in their own special section and moving them up.
6. Given the above, I strongly suspect your primary purpose here is to drive traffic to your website. (Be honest!)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and hence not a place to advertise your magazine. We do not need to tell you that. MER-C 11:45, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

I apologise. Should I delete the username? Even if I could contribute meaningfully to the articles by providing information not already present citing our interview page for that actor will be not be allowed I suspect as it would be seen a conflict of intrest?

There are other articles that are linking to the angelmagazine.co.uk by other contibutors should they also be deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Archantlifelondon (talk • contribs)

"Even if I could contribute [... by] citing our interview page" No, that would still be spamming and is considered even more reprehensible. With regards to existing links I do not object to established editors adding them because they choose links that suit the article for an encyclopedic reason, not a commercial one.

I suggest you cease using this username and start editing articles totally unrelated to your company. There's a whole pile of them here. MER-C 12:32, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you

I just wanted to thank you for what you did a few minutes ago. I think you deserve this!

		The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
		For reverting vandalism on my talk page and in articles. Thank you, and keep up the good work! Vernon (Versus22) (talk) 11:29, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. :) MER-C 12:31, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Derivative work?

Hi MER-C, I am relatively new to posting images on Wikipedia. Would you please explain why you indicated that a photo taken of Lego sets that I own within my own home is a copyright violation? The image I posted is not any official Lego image. Thanks for any advice. The image in question is here: Image:Exo-Force_Humans_2008.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by G.I.Zhou (talk • contribs)

Toys are copyrighted 3D objects. You might find a copyright notice somewhere on the toy itself, say, on the underside of a foot. (If you don't find one, it's still copyrighted!) See Commons:Derivative works for a more detailed explanation. MER-C 05:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, thanks for the link to the article. I will remove the image.—Preceding unsigned comment added by G.I.Zhou (talk • contribs)

Some of the images on Hot Wheels are correctly tagged as fair use, but most are not. I've tagged most for deletion. P.S. You should sign your posts on talk pages with four tildes (~), which produces: MER-C 06:27, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Cool, thanks for your help. How do you delete the image? Or does it automatically delete after a few days after it's tagged? G.I.Zhou (talk) 17:33, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

An admin will delete it in about three days time. MER-C 02:05, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

FPC Promotion

Let me know if I stuffed anything up with the promotion of Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Louis Armstrong. Thanks --Noodle snacks (talk) 03:19, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Looks good to me. MER-C 03:54, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Victory High School

Thanks for your help with my Victory High School page. I am just now starting to get really involved in working on the site making contributions so I am still learning. I will go back and re write the section you removed that I copied from that website, I thought I could get away with doing that because I reworded some items and referenced the site as the source of the information but I guess that is not good enough.

Thanks for your help

Garkeith (talk) 21:38, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Dispatches

Hi, I'm hoping you're online, since we'll be publishing soon. Are there any suitable examples to replace the Michele Merkin picture you included? It's a great example, but I'm not sure whether including a picture that's probably not safe for work is appropriate. Ral315 (talk) 06:27, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

This is my first news of this Dispatch, it hasn't been reviewed. MER-C, it would be helpful if you'd coordinate Dispatches through the Workshop at WP:FCDW; we could have ended up with two for this date if WP:FCDW/December hadn't just backed out. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 07:01, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I've left notes at WT:FCDW, and put this off til December 8, unless the DYK December contest goes forward. I've asked both Awadewit and Tony1 to help copyedit and left notes on the talk page there. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 08:33, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm against a hard deadline too - I am going on holiday and anticipate my last edit will be on the 10th. The Christmas one obviously isn't ready, for instance when I read it there wasn't and there still isn't the special Christmas section on T:DYKT. I considered these when I pushed it out.

As for Merkin, I know of no other FPs that illustrate potential copyright problems more effectively except possibly Image:Gotsiy3edit2.jpg. Unfortunately, none of these are featured yet. Perhaps some sort of advance warning is in order? (I note we've done worse on the Main Page - see Talk:Main Page/Archive 111 and Talk:Main Page/Archive 112.) MER-C 11:21, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Timeline

Thanks for answer me. I think the problem is that bug. Do you know what can I do to repair that. Sincerely I don´t understand if it is possible to repair it or not. Thanks again.--Eliasjorge4 (talk) 01:49, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Only developers can fix the bug as it requires fiddling around with the servers that run Wikipedia. MER-C 02:05, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Barnstar!

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		For all your help in reverting the grawp vandals :-) Chris 12:17, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. :) MER-C 12:49, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

WT:FPC

Are you sure you wanted to delete everything on the page? Wronkiew (talk) 06:38, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Seems like bug 1181 has resurfaced... MER-C 08:06, 10 December 2008 (UTC)