User talk:Rich Farmbrough/Archive/2006 October

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Useful edit summaries

Re: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yoshiki_Takaya&diff=73917952&oldid=71059180

If you'd have written "Wikipedia:As_of#Deprecated "As of" pages, also non-rendered whitespace changes" in the edit summary rather than "Ced" (copy edit? copy editing involves changing something that's actually visible, no?) it'd've saved me five minutes wondering what you were on and looking through the MoS. I guess maybe your time is more important than other people's. 'Depreciation' doesn't say *why* it's worth me typing 11 extra characters of course, or worth you going round making edits that don't change the rendered page. --zippedmartin 04:58, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Fair comment about the edit summary. The idea behind deprecating the pages is to enable simpler review of "as-of" pages for updating: the whole mechanism may soon be replaced with Template:Update after and others. Rich Farmbrough, 08:51 27 September 2006 (GMT).

Thanks for the reply, especially as it wasn't the most recent of your edits... As of is a bit of an ugly backlink hack, but does have the benefit of getting the date visible in the article (and in not too artificial a manner), which I think's important for readers in some circumstances. Something worth noting in any template debate, maybe. --zippedmartin 13:46, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Bot request

Your request for approval at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/SmackBot Task X was not completed fully or added to the Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval page. Are you planning on finishing this request or should it be archived and/or deleted? -- RM 04:27, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Edit count

I noticed here that you have the highest edit count for a non-bot account - congratulations! 0L1 17:26, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Cheers, Rich Farmbrough, 18:52 30 September 2006 (GMT).

Thanks for fixing the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania ISBN

Thanks for fixing the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania ISBN in Culbertson's Path. I had seen the tag that the ISBN was invalid, but it came off my personal copy of the book and I could not find a valid ISBN on line. I will replace the old ISBN with the working one on the six or seven other places I cite this book. Thanks again, I appreciate this very much, Ruhrfisch 01:13, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Admin intervention against vandalism

User:John254 had added a blatant vandalism tag, and the IP had vandalised twice more since than. The blatant vandal text says - 'without further warning'. Am I missing something? Catchpole 21:40, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

"Am I missing something" No, maybe I was. I'm reluctant to block when the user has been warned for their last act, so I missed the earlier "blatent". Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 21:54 1 October 2006 (GMT).

Wikipedians by number of edits

CC, you asked about gettign these data for another wiki, which one? Rich Farmbrough, 15:58 30 September 2006 (GMT).

Tr.wiki. :) --Cat out 16:24, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

tr:Kullanıcı mesaj:Rich Farmbrough Rich Farmbrough, 19:40 30 September 2006 (GMT).

Many thanks for putting this together again. Like most, I edit at a similar pace whether I'm being tallied or not, but IT is more fun this way. A low-tech guy, I haven't a clue how difficult this might be, but I imagine lots. Sfahey 13:39, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

British Royal Residences

Just to let you know, the link to the above on your talk page does not go anywhere. It links to a page that says no such category exists. Your list of dates don't link to anywhere either. Natalieduerinckx 19:50, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

The category has been moved. Which list of dates do you mean? Rich Farmbrough, 21:20 2 October 2006 (GMT).

I apolozise, I think I misunderstood your list of strange examples of dates on your user page, for real links. I tried to click on my birth date and it did not work, thats all. Silly of me to think that such an experienced user would make a mistake! Natalieduerinckx 22:22, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

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Internet Search Environment Number recently added to ISBN page

Rich, I'm writing about an apparent publicity campaign for a thing called the ISEN, or Internet Search Environment Number. An anonymous user just added a link to it on the ISBN page: [1]. In fact I see your name in the edit history of ISEN so you must have heard ot fit.

This led me to the ISEN page, that appears to me a candidate for deletion, due to WP:N and WP:SPAM. There is no international committee, no standards proposal here, no actual products tagged with the new proposed number, there is only a patent. There aren't even any white papers or full-length explanations. I'm thinking of starting a PROD or AfD on the ISEN article but probably wouldn't do so if I'm the only one who is bothered! Do you have an opinion?

I just saw this note by Rich Litwin [2] so I might write to him as well. I left a message on the talk page of the publicizer of the ISEN, at User_talk:24.166.27.241 but so far there is no response. EdJohnston 20:46, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Looking for advice on dealing with abusive & destructive editor

Hi, doesn't repeatedly blanking discussions from talk pages count as vandalism? The editor I have a complaint has done this many times on Talk:Hardcore punk. If it doesn't count as vandalism, what other options are there to stop an editor from repeatedly making destructive and innacurate edits to an article, posting personal attacks, deleting legitimate tags and citation requests, and has using several sock puppets instead of signing up for an account. The Wikipedia procedures and help pages are unjustifiably complicated, and not many people are willing to offer direct advice. Dealing with the offender directly does not seem like a viable option, since he is clearly out of control.Spylab 22:16, 3 October 2006 (UTC)Spylab

I would have no compunction about blocking this individual, in fact I've both welcomed and warned him on his user page, and left a warnings on at least one of his IP pages. However I don't like to block after the final warning unless vandalism recurs. If he vandalises again, let me know, or relist on the intervention page. You could list on 3RR now. Rich Farmbrough, 23:04 3 October 2006 (GMT).

The vandal referred to above has been adding innacurate vanity references to this article. Recently he has tampered with talk pages, reverted other edits, posted personal attacks, and used sock puppets.

I have never seen a more blatant case of abuse from an out-of-control user. It is difficult to understand why an admin would fail to act, given such clear evidence of abuse. Auto movil 22:51, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi the problem was presented as below:

Punknyc (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), 75.215.220.237 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) and his countless sock puppets have: 1) repeatedly inserted uncited content into the hardcore punk article, overemphasizing the role of Bob Sallese, 2) has deleted legitimate facts, tags, and discussions, and 3) has made several personal attacks in his edit comments and on the Talk:Hardcore punk page. I have posted the proper warnings on the User:Punknyc talk page.Spylab 20:45, 3 October 2006 (UTC)Spylab

As it says at the top of the page "This page is intended to get administrator attention quickly when dealing with obvious and persistent vandals. For other problems with user behaviour requiring administrator intervention please report to WP:AN/I."

No time for more now. Rich Farmbrough, 23:04 3 October 2006 (GMT).

This is an obvious and persistent vandal. Therefore, this page is the correct venue from which to get administrator attention quickly.

The speed and industry at which this vandal, under numerous IP addresses, has reverted and/or changed this page over a period of roughly two years, outstrips the ability of reasonable users to correct the page. Please refer this matter to another admin if there is an issue of insufficient time to address Wikipedia matters. Auto movil 23:13, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

The vandalism began again today, on schedule. I have used one revert so far. Please review the article hardcore punk for continued vandalism by the user described above, who continues to violate multiple Wikipedia guidelines without sanction. Auto movil 16:16, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for helping to resolve this issue fairly and promptly.

Best, Auto movil 17:15, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Offed ISCI

I asked Rlitwin, a librarian, to comment on the remaining external links on the ISBN page. He endorsed everything else, but said: "I don't know anything about ISCI. It seems to be an advertising industry standard? Not qualified to comment on that one."

Since it stands for *Industry* Standard Commercial Identifier, and since WP readers are unlikely to be looking up TV commercials by number, I decided we could probably do without it. EdJohnston 22:24, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

On to greater heights: the ESBN

Just now I was editing the ISBN page and noticed that ESBN is mentioned in the link section, and it points to esbn.org. That link isn't working! The numly.com site now has no mention of an ESBN. There is a surviving thing called ESN (Electronic Serial Number) but it only applies to things electronic. For instance, electronic books but not paper books. The ESN is the same as the Numly Number.

If the ESBN doesn't exist any more, does that make the ESBN article a candidate for speedy deletion? :-) EdJohnston 03:40, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

G11'd. Rich Farmbrough, 08:53 4 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks! While you're at it, there is also a redirect ESBN -> Electronic Standard Book Number. EdJohnston 13:41, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Glitch in SmackBot

SmackBot currently changes "External link" to "External links", which is a valid change, but the edit summary is incorrect: "External links is plural as there are more than one". This is not the reason that validates the change. The change is valid because "External links" is the correct name, whether there happens to be one link in the section for externals links, or whether there happens to be more than one link in the section for external links, is not important. Gronky 12:46, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Sadly even that is no consensus. Rich Farmbrough, 12:49 5 October 2006 (GMT).

Amazing. How absurd. I've requested a rethink. Thanks for the link. Gronky 13:17, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Reference to References

Hey, Smackbot just changed "Reference" to "References" when there was only one reference on Odigitrievsky Cathedral InvictaHOG 19:04, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

How very odd. Perhaps because it was the last section and was seen as including the "categories". Thanks. Rich Farmbrough, 19:51 5 October 2006 (GMT).

P.S. Easily fixed for the future. Rich Farmbrough, 19:51 5 October 2006 (GMT).

Afd

Hi. Would you mind having a look at my contribution to an Afd and let me know if I've overstated the case? It's Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/David_Eden. Not sure if you're a routine "Afd closer", I just want to know if I've gone over the top! Thanks --Dweller 22:40, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Not over the top, although I know what you mean. Looks like a stub worth saving. Rich Farmbrough, 22:47 5 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks. --Dweller 22:49, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

NYPUNK

Hi Richard, I took a look. Perhaps you could request a check user to see whether the IPs and accounts are related. I think you're probably right to proceed with semi-protection rather than blocking for the time being. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 07:22, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

ISBN, Source help.

Please review the format the ISBN source for Olympic Pool (Montreal). Thanks. Flibirigit 21:10, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Parc olympique : Montréal / réd. Anne Gardon

Ville LaSalle : Les Messageries de presse Benjamin, 1992 48 p. : ill. ; 29 cm CDU : 072.5 COTE : MA 8943

hre.

The format is (now) correct, can't confirm the content. Regards Rich Farmbrough, 21:44 7 October 2006 (GMT).

Monterey clipper

Thanks for your correction and fixes. This note is to let you know I reverted the numbering scheme for the notes. The wiki system of notes is not good, but my hope is someone will make it better. -- meatclerk 04:48, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

PopMatters not in italics

Could you make SmackBot deitalicize PopMatters? It has been pointed out that it shouldn't be italicized because it is not a magazine as the article said before. Cheers, Jogers (talk) 16:50, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

vote

Hi Fellow-WikiPedian, This thing came up: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Where Troy Once Stood. Would you like to vote? Antiphus 20:08, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Nice bot

The title says it all. ReverendG 03:08, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Bot problem

Your SmackBot just edited Louden Up Now, and in doing so it made a little problem. The band is !!!, and if the artist is listed like that, it breaks the table it's in. So, I had artist = [[!!!]] instead of [[!!!]]. However, your bot changed it back to [[!!!]] which broke the table. Is there anything you can do so that it doesn't do that again? Could you have it ignore [[!!!]]? Joltman 16:28, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the response. Just wanted to let you know there are two other articles with the same issue, !!! and Take Ecstasy With Me/Get Up, so you'll probably want to exclude them too. Joltman 17:07, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Problem with SmackBot

Please take a look at this. I guess that the bot needs some tweaking. Regards, Jogers (talk) 20:43, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, but it's pretty much manual from here on in. Rich Farmbrough, 21:02 9 October 2006 (GMT).

Don't want speedy deletion of Thomas Temple article

Hi Rich. Can you help on this ? User_talk:Mapetite526#Speedy_Deletion_of_Thomas_Temple_article_.3F. Thanks. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 22:04, 9 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

Many thanks, Rich, for your kind help as ever. Bests. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 12:39, 10 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

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Admin help needed

I have reason to believe that User:Alec - U.K. is a vandal in diguise, he has been doing a lot of edits that are questionable, mixed with other edits that appear on the surface to be ok. However, it's quite possible he is slowly inserting incorrect information. He has made a large number of changes to railway stations, some of then clearly messing things up, others making substantial changes to inforamtion I cannot verify, together with a lot of oddball changes that are not per se wrong. I got your name as listed making a recent change to Streatham Hill railway station. My gut feel is that all his edits for all articles should be reverted as a precaution. --ArmadilloFromHell 02:46, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

I've looked, these seem well intentioned edits. I'll keep an eye, two when I can spare them. Rich Farmbrough, 11:58 13 October 2006 (GMT).

Clare Nasir and the vandal

Hi Rich. Of course, User:195.93.21.33 continues to vandalise Clare Nasir's article ! Luckily someone else found it this time. (cf. User_talk:195.93.21.33#Vandalism_of_Clare_Nasir.27s_article_again) Is there nothing that can be reasonably done ? I know, I know ... Bests. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 19:58, 14 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

Extended block this time. Rich Farmbrough, 20:24 14 October 2006 (GMT).

I have less patience with AOL IPs now, there are so many ways for the innocent to avoid being caught. Rich Farmbrough, 20:25 14 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks, Rich, for your kind response and attention to the matter. I take your points on AOL now. Oddly enough, whilst editing other materials, I was just re-reading "Up the Organization" by Robert Townsend (1970) and especially (for a serious semi-demi-giggle) "The Peter Principle" by Dr. Laurence J. Peter (1969). Perhaps it was a synchronistic reading. ;) Bests. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 20:45, 14 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

Ernham RFC

Hi. I'm not here to argue with you, your contribution is very welcome and important (outside view). However I would like to give you my thoughts. Taking action like this is not something I do lightly. I have never had cause until now. Yes I have taken the personal attacks personally, including persistently being called a vandal. However I've ignored many instances of being called a vandal before raising the issue. In fact rather than getting more and more annoyed by it I have disengaged more and more; In the latest discussion:

• [3] Please stop calling me a vandal
• [4] After again being called a vandal and a stalker my response was "I'll ignore the last sentence. Please stop calling me a vandal. Vandalism is defined as "any addition, deletion, or change of content made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia." I object in the strongest possible terms to any suggestion that I have vandalised any page. Please consider withdrawing your many remarks (talk page and edit summaries) calling me a vandal. "
• [5] I told the user that due to the refusal to withdraw the vandal comment and continued abuse I saw no reason for continuing the discussion.

In a nutshell I'm concerned that after many warnings the user is continuing personal attacks and incivility rather than reconsidering their attitude. I don't want to drive this user away, I've helped where I can: help with ext. links and help with 3RR reporting. Thanks for your time, Mark83 21:17, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

I do understand - I read the user's talk page and a fair few diffs when I was looking at his "unblock" request. I think the other editors restraint was commendable. I wanted to share an approach that has got me out of flame wars before they started in the past. It is easy to see "our" point of view - i.e. that of an established, experienced editor, when looking at this type of dispute, harder to see that of a relative "newbie" we don't know. Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 21:29 14 October 2006 (GMT).

Re: Substed inforboxen

Yes, I was going to check how many articles were left in the category, and found only 58. Someone must have been working pretty hard there! I noticed it was subst'ed, and was thinking about replacing it with the infobox, but your suggestion does sense. I think it should not be too hard, I will base myself in existing ones like prod and afd. -- ReyBrujo 21:37, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

RfC, alas.

I submitted an RfC on the user PUNKNYC, whom you warned about adding vanity content into the Hardcore Punk article. The warning went unheeded; he's still at it with the same persistence.

See RfC here.

Could you certify that you issued a warning? Thanks! Auto movil 21:59, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

SmackBot finding new ISBN errors?

Rich, I notice in SmackBot's log that he is hyphenating some more ISBNs. Does that mean there will be some new invalids added to the list? And is there any news on whether ISBN-13's can be checked successfully? EdJohnston 04:15, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi Ed, this is one of SmackBot's standard tasks, although it is now more intelligent (i.e. fixes incorrect hyphenations) it is aimed at articles with "ISBN:". It may well have picked up invalid ISBNs, but not likely to be more than a few, I probably need to improve the regular scan. Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 10:46 15 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks for your reply.. On another matter, near the bottom of your user page, there is a cryptic error message about 'Allowed memory size'. Did you mean to have it there? EdJohnston 12:35, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Congratualtions on being first to spot. I had a lot of WP errors there, most were moved off to a subpage, I left that by accident, but rather liked it. Rich Farmbrough, 12:37 15 October 2006 (GMT).

Question

Hi there! Long time no see. Could you tell me what "Ced" in an edit summary means? --HappyCamper 15:50, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Oh, "copy edit". I don't remember where I've come across your edits on Wikipedia before. SmackBot? My memory is failing me too. I know you've been here longer than me, and I've been here for more than a year and a half now. "One of the good guys around" I recall. --HappyCamper 16:08, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

ISBN hyphenation

How do you determine the correct hyphenation for ISBNs? I use User:Diberri's PubMed tool sometimes to create book references, but it just leaves the ISBN as one long number. If Diberri knew how to calculate the correct hyphenation, and could incorporate it into his tool, that might reduce the number of ISBN hyphenations that need to be done by Smackbot. And it would make me feel better to know that I'm doing the citation right the first time, instead of waiting for Smackbot to fix it for me. Lyrl ^Talk _Contribs 00:13, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Forgive me for interjecting an idea, after seeing your question to Rich Farmbrough. I tried out Diberri's tool. It's very handy and I might use it myself. However, it does lack that final step of hyphenating the ISBN. At present www.isbn.org/converterpub.asp is what I use for hyphenating. Perhaps Diberri's tool could be modified to invoke this as well? The advantage of the isbn.org script is it also does a full validity check, so it protects you against inserting an invalid ISBN into Wikipedia. I don't know if the source code for converterpub.asp is available, but you can always invoke the program via their website. EdJohnston 03:07, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Hyphenation rules are here. Ed points out an online resource on my talk page. Rich Farmbrough, 09:23 16 October 2006 (GMT).

Update to Template:Update_after

Hi! I've made changes to Template:Update after (it now links to Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating and As of), and made significant changes to the documentation at Template:Update_after (including documenting the built-in ability to add a comment, and a changes in where it's allowable to be used); please review, and provide comments at Template talk:Update after if you think any are appropriate. Thanks! --Scott McNay 03:50, 16 October 2006 (UTC).

Date quibbles

Hi there.

I've just partially reverted some changes you made to Dependency of Ireland on Great Britain Act 1719; you'd changed 23/11/1719 to a conventional written date. However, this is part of the title of the cited work, not normal text, and as such should probably be left in the unusual form - could you keep an eye out for situations like this in future? Shimgray | talk | 18:11, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I followed the link, although I didn't see the "Cite", I was still happy to change it. But I am biased against xx/xx/xxxx dates... I'm happy to leave it as well. Rich Farmbrough, 21:22 16 October 2006 (GMT).

I'm not too fond of them either, I confess, but I do worry about changing the title of things - there's always the risk it'll confuse matters for someone following the cite later. Shimgray | talk | 22:58, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

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Quite odd...

Hi Rich, Could you step into Hardcore Punk for a moment? The same user as before is refusing to respond to the RfC on his actions, while still editing/reverting, etc. as usual. Even more oddly, his latest comeback is, "User:Auto movil should respond to the RfC concerning his persistent violations" -- when there is no such RfC. One is supposed to assume good faith, but it's honestly becoming hard to assume that this isn't some kind of weird practical joke -- or a psychological test of some sort... Auto movil 03:26, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

WPCD2

Richard, I am not sure if you are the right person to talk to. I am in the process of starting the second WP CD version which will run to about 4000 articles. At present the clean up of these articles is done by script and then volunteer (we have lots of physical volunteers here). I wondered if stealing some of smackbots ideas might help us increase the proportion of the clean up which could be done automatically or give us more flags. I can obviously write a script to detect say "hello mum" on pages but am really after some kind of list of changes needed. Feel like helping? --BozMo talk 08:21, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Article list is here, subject to screening by volunteers on suitability for children and possible late additions from 0.5. Dream is to release a 2007 CD selection just in time for Christmas and get a Sunday paper to distribute it for free with the supplement. Timing depends though on whether the clean up and CSS etc from last year still works (which basically depends on if the wikimedia software has changed since I clean up in HTML). There have been 27000 downloads of the first WPCD, some of which we know for certain we on copied over 100 times so we are probably going to put a bit more effort in generally this time.

Um,

He just keeps reverting the edits, won't respond to the RfC or abide by warnings. The new thing is to make up counter-accusations, accusing others of exactly what he's doing (e.g., my talk page).

This is the gentleman at Hardcore Punk, btw. What happens if someone just ignores an RfC, ignores final warnings, etc? Is there another process that can be put into effect? Auto movil 19:45, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for stepping in. Auto movil 03:20, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

NETZ Page

Thanks for your help and guiding me for article on NETZ.Shub_iitkgp

Roy Harper albums

Thanks for your help with the Roy Harper stuff I have been working on. However, a lot of the album colors, Live, Studio, Compilation etc... are now messed up. Can you put them back ??? Stephenjh

Hi, I have not intentionally changed any colours. Can you give me an example? Rich Farmbrough, 11:21 17 September 2006 (GMT).

HI this is due to changes in the colours generated by template:Infobox Album. Rich Farmbrough, 13:09 18 September 2006 (GMT).

I was quite careful to use the correct colours, but even though the colour is defined as e.g. Orange (Studio album) it shows as light blue. It is fairly straightforward to see the errors where they exist, it has affected a number of Roy Harper albums and I was asking for your assistance as you have had input into most of the 17 Harper album reviews I worked on, and also made changes to the Infobox coding. Stephenjh

Hello, the Infobox Album has changed recently, it takes the album type and generates the colour from that, so that the "background" parameter is now useless (and will be removed in time). The colour scheme has also changed, more details at template:Infobox Album and template talk:Infobox Album. Rich Farmbrough, 09:08 19 September 2006 (GMT).

• The colour scheme hadn't changed last time I looked! Ah well, I guess I'll have to allow others (or bots) to change everything as I simply don't have the time to create articles that need to be constantly updated due to colour and formatting fickleness \ updates. I thought they were fairly "solid" and informative articles too... Stephenjh

Please archive 08:26, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

question about a band whose page you edited

I noticed that you edited the entry for The Fray's Movement EP (2002). I was wondering if I could ask you a question or two about this CD (I thought since you edited the page, you might know the answer). I apologize if this area is the wrong place to ask. Is there any way I could email you? Thank you very much in advance for your help. Sincerely, Elizabeth Moore (elizabeth m moore at yale edu)

If you look just under the search box, you will see a number of links called the toolbox. One of them is "email this user". Unfortuantely I know nothing about The Fray or their albums, I have been making a number of stylistic and technical changes to many album pages. However the cover does look like a picture of the inside of a Metro Cammel underground train (or maybe not).

Rich Farmbrough, 09:06 21 September 2006 (GMT).

Please archive 08:26, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Note to self

Check User:Webmasters response. Rich Farmbrough, 21:32 7 October 2006 (GMT).

Please archive 08:26, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

1994 San Marino Grand Prix

Heya, just a quick point about the F1 race reports such as the above, the dates in the Infobox are automatically wikilinked, there's no need to add the brackets (and doing so simply causes the brackets to be visible in the article). Thanks, Alexj2002 19:21, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Please archive 08:26, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Date fragments

Hi, Rich! I've just spotted this edit of yours, and I thought I'd ask for a favor.

Linking single years is a habit I acquired in the past two years, and which is very hard to get rid of. I often catch myself linking single years without even thinking that I really shouldn't be doing it. One example is the dates of the Censuses, such as those you corrected in the diff above.

There are currently mighty many references to the 1989 Soviet Census and to the 2002 Russian Census. All of them are constructed as follows:

Population: xxx,xxx (2002 Census); yyy,yyy (1989 Census)

Since you are obviously not making all the changes by hand, would you consider adding an algorithm replacing the formatting above with this:

Population: xxx,xxxx (2002 Census); yyy,yyy (1989 Census)

I'll make an effort to switch, too; it's just that I really don't want to go back and change all existing formatting by hand.

This, of course, is by no means urgent, but I'd appreciate if you could let me know if it could be done. Thanks!—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 18:26, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi, this is fairly straightforward, I have started on the fixes. Rich Farmbrough, 22:06 20 October 2006 (GMT).

Can you look at Kemerovo pop 522,6 thousand - does tht mean 6,522? Rich Farmbrough, 22:34 20 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks for catching it and for your help with cleaning this up. Population of Kemerovo is around half a million; I corrected the numbers. The number has most likely been added by a Russian—in Russian, a comma is used as a decimal separator, and a space to separate thousands. Just a useless fact you might be interested in knowing :)—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 23:36, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Pleasure. Should all be done now. Rich Farmbrough, 21:29 22 October 2006 (GMT).

Thank you again for your time and efforts. While my three-day watchlist now stands at 1,500 items, that inconvenience is well-offset by the fact that I won't have to make all those changes manually :) Please let me know if there is anything I can help with.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 14:20, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

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Thank you for taking the time to do these. After spending a lot of hours changing the refs to {{cite}}, it's really gratifying to see you take up the torch and bring them to the next level. Thanks! Waitak 14:47, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

User:162.39.180.2 link-spammed a lot of Education related articles

Hi Rich. User:162.39.180.2 just put a spurious external link (under the guise of a link called "Education Software") into many many articles on education, etc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=162.39.180.2) Unfortunately, I just now don't have time to fix them. I just wanted to point it out. Bests. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 18:01, 27 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

User:Zuzz has reverted all except one, now fixed. Thanks for letting me know. Rich Farmbrough, 19:18 27 October 2006 (GMT).

Thanks, Rich, very much. Bests. --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 19:59, 27 October 2006 (UTC) (talk)

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Do you think I should run again? _→AzaToth 20:32, 31 October 2006 (UTC)