This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Hey, Floquenbeam. I'd like to wish you a wonderful First Edit Day on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! Megan Barris (Lets talk📧) 07:22, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Megan! Hard to believe it's been 12 years. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:29, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day!

Have a very happy first edit anniversary!

From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU ^(T) 18:39, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

August

MP 24 August - one of "my places" pictured. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:40, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

Hi Gerda. Congrats (as usual) on your DYK. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:40, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

Rhythm Is It! - I expanded that stub on my dad's birthday because we saw the film together back then, and were impressed. As a ref said: every educator should see it. Don't miss the trailer, for a starter. - A welcome chance to present yet another article by Brian on the Main page, Le Sacre du printemps. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 13:19, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Article read? Y

Trailer watched? Y

Floq impressed? Y

Interesting how your ties to the subject intertwine. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:16, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Efficient review, thank you ;) - For further intertwinning: I was prompted to look into the subject by a remark by El C mentioning rhythm, - the rhythm of his phrase made me think of it. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:28, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

https://utrs-beta.wmflabs.org/appeal/33345 This has languished for a couple of weeks. No longer familiar with the many issues. Restore TPA? Carry to WP:AN? Cheers, -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 11:39, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

@ Deepfriedokra: WP:AN/ WP:ANI aren't really fit for purpose; I'd avoid that if there are other options. I don't do UTRS, so I don't know if this is a request to restore talk page access, or a request for unblock. If Hijiri explicitly and believably agrees to stop violating the iban, and Guerillero doesn't object, I'd suggest restoring talk page access, and any other unblock can be handled on-wiki. If they can't bring themselves to explicitly and believably agree to stop violating the iban, and argue that it was unfairly applied or it was a trap or it wasn't really an iban or the iban should never have been applied or ... then I'd decline. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 13:14, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2020).

Administrator changes

Eddie891

Angela • Jcw69 • Just Chilling • Philg88 • Viajero

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the minimum length for site ban discussions was increased to 72 hours, up from 24.
• A request for comment is ongoing to determine whether paid editors must or should use the articles for creation process.
• A request for comment is open to resolve inconsistencies between the draftification and alternative to deletion processes.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
• An open request for comment asks whether active Arbitrators may serve on the Trust and Safety Case Review Committee or Ombudsman commission.

September

Dahlias in Walsdorf

I like today's Main page, with the TFA on the anniversary day (of both dedication and our concert), a DYK, and a great photographer who didn't make it soon enough, Jürgen Schadeberg, - more on my talk, mostly about the tribute to Brian who shared his sources. - Enjoy! -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:04, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Congratulations, thank you, and well done. All as usual. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:08, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

Can you tell me what exactly is the message that you left on my talk page? Iitianeditor ( talk) 20:07, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

it's in pretty simple English. What in particular do you not understand? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:08, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

• Hoping that you get your mojo back! The project needs you. I hope you are well. Lightburst ( talk) 15:00, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
  • Thank you, kind of you to stop by lightburst. I imagine I'll get it back at some point. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:13, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Would be nice to stroll in a park and chat, - went yesterday to take a pic but the May one is better, - take care. Read Eugen Szenkar, perhaps. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 11:55, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

A walk in the park and a chat does sound nice. And that's a lovely picture. When I get a few minutes to myself I'll take a look at Eugen. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:52, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Nice, but I'd rather she go to the WHite House and rattle some chains and make some noise. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 19:48, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

It's our turn to rattle some fucking chains in the White House. But you're right, she'd probably enjoy it... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:55, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

When I saw the edit summary I was afraid it was in your family. - Agree, make noise. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:59, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Deepfriedokra unrelated but bloody hell DFO my heart really did drop reading that header!. Relieved it was for something completely different!, Think this place really will be the death of me one day lol. – Davey2010 ^Talk 20:02, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Ouch, yes. RBG will be very sadly missed, and the direction the supreme court's going seems quite worrying for the future. But at least Floq is still with us!  —  Amakuru ( talk) 21:11, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2020).

Administrator changes

Ajpolino • LuK3

Jackmcbarn

Ad Orientem • Harej • Lid • Lomn • Mentoz86 • Oliver Pereira • XJaM

There'sNoTime → TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment found consensus that incubation as an alternative to deletion should generally only be recommended when draftification is appropriate, namely 1) if the result of a deletion discussion is to draftify; or 2) if the article is newly created.

Technical news

• The filter log now provides links to view diffs of deleted revisions ( phab:T261630).

Arbitration

• The 2020 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place from September 27th to October 7th.
• Following a request for comment, sitting Committee members may not serve on either the Ombuds Commission or the WMF Case Review Committee. The Arbitration Committee passed a motion implementing those results into their procedures.

Miscellaneous

• The Universal Code of Conduct draft is open for community review and comment until October 6th, 2020.
• Office actions may now be appealed to the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee.

A good hat, but move it one comment down to allow BD2412 the right of reply to my accusation that they are involved. Mr rnddude ( talk) 00:35, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

Fair point. Moved. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:37, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

October

today's music is particularly charming, - enchanting, said a critic about the Mendelssohn that I heard on 3 October, - this video is older, and the YT in the article comes with a Bach encore as she played for us. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:42, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

Hey, I thought I stole those apples already! [Darwinbish steals Floquenbeam's apples as well. Getting fatter.] darwin  bish 14:51, 13 October 2020 (UTC).

I read in a picture on the internet that an apple wakes you up better in the morning than coffee. True fact. Drmies ( talk) 14:52, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

The "true fact" being that you really did read it in a picture on the internet? Or that apples actually do wake you up better than coffee? My newest brilliant plan to become a bazillionaire: genetically modified apples that splice in the gene of the coffee bean that makes ... wait for it ... caffeine! Do I call it a coffle? appee? coppee? affle? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:12, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

16 October memories if you want to see that in 2012, Darwinbish stole stroopwafels -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:28, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I think she's still stealing food off people's talk pages to this day. A one trick fish! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 02:14, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

no -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 08:20, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

I figured I'd bring this here first as I noticed you gave a warning for their harassment on my talk page (thanks by the way). PA from this ridiculously disruptive editor. I think a sterner word is in order. – ². O. ^Boxing 18:42, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

Did you really come here to cry like a child? No sterner word is in order because you tell an admin to do it. I'm tired of you. If you don't stop harassing me, I will act properly. Everyone can check your last week's history and see you always have come out of nowhere in every topic I'm involved and accuse me with something without stopping. Constant harassment. Enough is enough. I don't want you near me. Don't you fucking get it?

Floquenbeam, I told you I would never do what you told me not to do and I followed it perfectly. But this guy right here is a different story. I always wanted to report him for harassmentsince day 1 but I don't know which approach to take since I'm new. I'm lost at the moment and really tired. This guy has a personal vendetta against me to get blocked and he'll never ever stop. I don't care any more. Enough is enough. Perm 18:52, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

You're right, enough is enough. I've blocked you for a week. More on your talk page. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:15, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

I'm not trying to cause any issues but just thought I should point this out in regards to the whole "but I'm just a noob" approach. – ². O. ^Boxing 00:34, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

Holy moly, I used my admin glasses. That was disgusting. I hate men sometimes. Drmies ( talk) 22:35, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Hi Floq, hope you’re keeping well at this time. You probably remember me rather well, and I know we did not always see eye-to-eye all those years ago. But, I just saw your kind words over on Davey’s talk page and it reminded me of how you made me realise I needed to change for the better with regard to how I dealt with conflict on WP. I hope I’ve articulated that properly, but just wanted to say thank you, and I look forward to seeing you around on the wiki again. Best, Patient Zero ^talk 23:17, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

What a great thing to see right before signing off for the night. I'm glad you found my advice useful (my memory is fuzzy, it might not have been "advice" so much as "threats"?), and glad you stuck around. You're welcome, and thanks for the note. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:22, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

No worries! Honestly, thank you for stepping in when you did. A lot has changed in the past few years but it is very good to be back. Take care! Patient Zero ^talk 23:27, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

so much for Ponyo's AGF approach -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:31, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, I know, I hadn't seen that (or it hadn't been posted yet) when I blocked. Ponyo is too nice. Perhaps I value her time more than she does? :) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:33, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

I felt I had been overly snippy when I saw her response. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:36, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Nah, both of you were nice. But the uninvolved view from outside (i.e. my view) is that your good natures were being taken advantage of. No productive human would think that was a reasonable request, regardless of how complicated our rules seem. Ergo, they aren't productive. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:42, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

That was what I was thinking while I was snipping. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:44, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

It wasn't so much being nice, more a case of being curious as to where it would go. The Bon Cop, Bad Cop bit was fun though!-- Jezebel's Ponyo ^{bons mots} 20:53, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Oh, then I ruined the experiment, sorry. I'd guess that if you watchlist their talk page, an unblock request is imminent. You can watch to see where that goes. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:56, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

You have carte blanche to block anyone on my talk page at any time. Except me. -- Jezebel's Ponyo ^{bons mots} 21:02, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Since you're giving me the permission, does that mean I can call them CU blocks and they can never be undone? (recent posters to her talk page User:Drmies, and User:Deepfriedokra, your fates hinge on her reply....) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:06, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

<shakes magic 8-ball> "Reply hazy, try again".-- Jezebel's Ponyo ^{bons mots} 21:14, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

I can hazy checkuser? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:16, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Only if you iz ceiling cat -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 21:32, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

I hate it here. Drmies ( talk) 22:36, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

@ Drmies: Re this edit summary: It has been pointed out to me by my daughters many times that I am never talking like a young person. I am either talking like I (mistakenly) think young people talk, or talking like young people talked approx. 5-10 years ago (much longer that that for DFO and me above), but which no self-respecting young person would talk like now. I've been told by these same reliable sources that if any young person hears an adult use any actual current young person phrase, they all drop that phrase immediately. I am become death, destroyer of memes. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:53, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

• That last part, them dropping it, that's my favorite part. Unfortunately it involves grown-ups our age saying the words "wet ass pussy". Drmies ( talk) 23:34, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

You can read more about this in my upcoming documentary "From Whoomp to WAP: A Tale of Two Generations".-- Jezebel's Ponyo ^{bons mots} 19:37, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll just stay on this side of that particular generation gap. And gladly. 23-skidoo. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 02:41, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

Having said that, I'd like to say I quite enjoy Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy". Is that wrong of me? -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 04:03, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your protective actions on Payot. Debresser ( talk) 17:49, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

No problem. Let me know if it resumes when protection expires. I guess the files are on Commons, so nothing I can do about them from here. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:51, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Wait. I got confused somehow. Those on on en.wiki. I'll delete them in a sec. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:52, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

They registered a user: Special:Contributions/The_arabic_network, and uploaded the files again and repeated their edit. Debresser ( talk) 10:43, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Looks like FP@S was on the case. Since the page is semi'd, they had to use one of their old accounts; they couldn't just register a new account. I'll keep an eye out when I'm online, but that isn't very reliable, I'm afraid. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 13:26, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Hi Floq,

Thank you for your comments at Blue's talk page. The main reason for my delay was less in judging whether to unblock, but more on the status of an IBAN. Had both been at ANI or something, I'd have gone for a 2-way IBAN, but I felt that a 1-way IBAN was asking for trouble (and was unfair in one sense) and I couldn't just arbitrarily impose an IBAN on Blue from Wolf, so leaving off with warnings seems the best way to go. Nosebagbear ( talk) 15:02, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Exactly. If there was a way to impose a 2-way i-ban as a condition for an unblock, that would have been great. @ Nosebagbear: while you're here: I was about to leave a somewhat similar note on TWC's talk page. Bad cop to your good cop, kind of. But then it seemed like that would be piling on. Thoughts? What's more important, symmetry, or not being a dick? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:07, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

It's a little hard, we consider my warning on Wolf as a 2/5, and yours on Blue as a 5/5, then adding the same onto Wolf combined might seem OTT. That said, perhaps better a short-term feeling of being hard done by is better than doing something else problematic. That might be mitigated if you stress that you've given the same warning to Blue (while, you know, being suitably bad cop and all), which might calm some concerns Wolf might have. Nosebagbear ( talk) 15:17, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

TWC's behaviour. Look at my talk page archive. I replied on the British Army talk page because he's launched into a huge thesis that the Army Sergeant Major was never changed despite the change made with sources made agreed by established military user Dormskirk who created Gavin Paton. TWC is so picky about that and other changes amde by me and others [1]. The way you wrote on my talk page seem like a threat to me and not to him -- see his block log and behaviour to others to me. So the threat stands. I removed it from my talk page. I supported his unblock for not indefinite and his rudely removed it and with rude reply and this is what I get? He will most 110% get unblock due to his allies on Wikipedia and now I get this. So understand why I removed your comment on my talk page; I readily archive it even from TWC's mind-wrecking and aggressive and stalking behaviour. Thank you for your threat and end of story. Please do not add to my talk page anymore; my mental health in reality is declining every time I see such stalking and threats. BlueD954 ( talk) 16:04, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

@ BlueD954:, since you don't want me posting to your talk page, I'll do this here. The post above is an example of the problem. It is an example of the kind of thing that will get you blocked if you keep it up. If you talk about him one more time, anywhere on Wikipedia, I will block you for a week. Since you don't want to talk about it, I won't explain why I think 75% of your post above is wrong. If you change your mind and do want to talk about it, let me know. But it's important you understand that an admin does think you are wrong, does think you are trying to carry on a feud, and is going to block you from editing if you don't stop, whether you ask me to stay off your talk page or not. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:34, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

( talk page watcher)1) My long ago therapist told me to never let others should on me. 2) I'm always gobsmacked when someone indulges in problem behavior and then complains about the affect on their mental health when someone calls them on it. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 17:26, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2020).

Administrator changes John M Wolfson Bduke • Nilfanion • Philosopher • Rspeer • Yunshui Interface administrator changes Ragesoss TonyBallioni

CheckUser changes EdJohnston • Oshwah • Yamla Yunshui Oversight changes Anarchyte Yunshui

Guideline and policy news

• Community sanctions now authorize administrators to place under indefinite semiprotection any article on a beauty pageant, or biography of a person known as a beauty pageant contestant, which has been edited by a sockpuppet account or logged-out sockpuppet, to be logged at WP:GS/PAGEANT.

Technical news

• Sysops will once again be able to view the deleted history of JS/CSS pages; this was restricted to interface administrators when that group was introduced.
• Twinkle's block module now includes the ability to note the specific case when applying a discretionary sanctions block and/or template.
• Sysops will be able to use Special:CreateLocalAccount to create a local account for a global user that is prevented from auto-creation locally (such as by a filter or range block). Administrators that are not sure if such a creation is appropriate should contact a checkuser.

Arbitration

• The 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections process has begun. Eligible editors will be able to nominate themselves as candidates from November 8 through November 17. The voting period will run from November 23 through December 6.
• The Anti-harassment RfC has concluded with a summary of the feedback provided.

Miscellaneous

• A reminder that standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States and closely related people. ( American Politics 2 Arbitration case).

Have some cake! So sorry about my edit notice stiffing you! Bishonen | tålk 16:29, 17 November 2020 (UTC).

Thanks Bish! Now, when I post to your talk page from my phone, I can just look here first. Too kind. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:49, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Hehehe. These days, I don't think LOL often means "I actually laughed out loud", but I actually did, there. Mind you don't get indigestion. Bishonen | tålk 16:54, 17 November 2020 (UTC).

• Pretty sure some of those aren't even cake. —valereee ( talk) 17:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

  That's what's stopping you? -- Izno ( talk) 03:56, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

  They're cakes in spirit. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:51, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

  Every now and then also have simple Streuselkuchen -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 09:09, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

  Thank God these are virtual cakes. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:51, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

• A friend sent this pic last night and the sugar rush I got just looking at it hasn't dissipated yet :-P Cheers. MarnetteD| Talk 19:00, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

Please unblock me on Elcobbola's talk page because cause of this I can't write page, every of them is nominated to delete, please unblock me and I promise I willn't message him, If I will message him, you can block me, I promise I will not message to him-- ჯეო4WIKI ( talk) 19:39, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

( talk page watcher) If you don't want to message Elcobbola, why should you care if you can edit his talkpage or not? ‑  Iridescent 19:42, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

@ Iridescent: I don't care but my created article was nominated to delete because I was banned/blocked user-- ჯეო4WIKI ( talk) 20:22, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

Aha, I see, you're referring to this. Please add diffs, it saves me time having to figure out what you're talking about. Anyway, that was a mistake on the part of User:Northern Escapee, and it was not restored after you removed the {[tl|db-banned}} tag. An admin would not have deleted that, as they would have done more research. If they had accidentally deleted it, it would have been restored. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:46, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

Ok, thanks for response-- ჯეო4WIKI ( talk) 06:55, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

Hello! Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 7 December 2020. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2020 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{ NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery ( talk) 01:43, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

This must be my annual reminder that I have WAY too many user talk pages on my watchlist. — Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:54, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

I cleared my watchlist a year ago. Did wonders for my experience of Wikipedia. TonyBallioni ( talk) 01:55, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

I would not want to be deprived of the luxury that is Floq. -- Izno ( talk) 02:15, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

"Necessity", I think you mean. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:33, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Floque (Flock?), my socks were naturally concerned at the sentence about alternate accounts. Most of them don't have any alternate accounts, though, with Bishzilla the obvious exception, so they should mostly be all right. And Bishzilla got her own invite, so she's all right too, as far as I understand. Don't forget to encourage Floquenstein's monster to vote! Bishonen | tålk 14:45, 24 November 2020 (UTC).

( talk page stalker) I'm reminded of the old Chicago maxim: vote early and vote often. At least in olden days the candidates would ply the voters with beer, brandy, and other beverages as George Washington did. I've voted in nearly every US election since turning 18 and never once have I been offered anything fun! Jip Orlando ( talk) 15:19, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

If Floquenstein's monster runs for ArbCom next year, "fun" won't even begin to describe all the inducements he'll provide. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:26, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Hopefully:] Sex? bishzilla _ROARR!! pocket 16:21, 24 November 2020 (UTC).

Thud thud thud. -- Floquenstein's monster ( talk) 16:47, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

@ Bishonen:, what are we going to do with these two? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:49, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Bishonen | tålk 16:58, 24 November 2020 (UTC).

And now we have some crossover 'Zilla/'Quenstein zombie-monster ...thing. With an abundance of 'I voted!' stickers. And hopefully in unexpected places. Some whiskey will make watching this more palatable. Jip Orlando ( talk) 17:19, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

That's an interesting point, Bish; I can only vote once - because I have alt accounts - but all my alternate accounts can vote as often as they want, because they don't have alternate accounts. I'm trying to decide how many times Floquenstein's monster should vote; he's obviously worth at least 10 "normal votes", but if he votes 100 or 1000 times, that starts to look egotistical. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:21, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Beautiful Main page today, don't miss the pic by a blocked user (of a 2013 play critical of refugee politics), nor a related video, interviews mostly German, but music and scene. - Still some apples left over there. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 23:04, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Nice. We don't have many apples left - most orchards have been picked clean by now - and today is our first snow. I love autumn weather, and it should be my favorite season, except it isn't because I know it means winter is coming. I hate winter. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 13:45, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

understand - we could sit outside on the terrace you know two days ago, will go again today (but probably inside or with two blankets), but from Monday all closed again - will think of you -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 14:15, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Enjoy the view! Here's to Spring 2021. A shame humans can't hibernate. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:17, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

November

that view was splendid, repeated 1 Nov before they were forced to close again - I looked at this yesterday -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 08:27, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

Glad you were able to go twice. The beeches look lovely, thanks for sharing the pciture. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:34, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

look - I complained in the morning that in the DYK section, "glad thanksgiving" followed the election immediately, and a merciful soul separated the two hooks. The requests in the song, however, couldn't match any better, only who will look into that? - DYK No. 1499 btw. - Spent the day on bikes in that blessed area, happily, picknick with the tree in sight because restaurants closed again. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:32, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

I saw that my name came up on ANI but I won't get between the two Bach experts. I am happy Mathsci is editing again, - the last thing I knew was that he suffered a stroke, and then nothing for two years after this, - made me tremble a bit. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:23, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi Floquenbeam: thanks again for your help. Mathsci ( talk) 22:05, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

look! - ever so proud of a little article which is my DYK 1500 and relates to DYK 1 - by sheer coincidence. Look also for a composer, Faustas Latėnas, and the pic of Hillary Clinton. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:23, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

1500? 1500?! Congrats, Gerda, that is quite an accomplishment! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:08, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

thank you - (some probably still think I do nothing but infoboxes - today's TFA is without, and guess what: I don't care) - look for bright memories - #1504 is sad, though, "In loving memory" -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:57, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

Whoa, you're over 1500. That is quite a feat. Congratulations, and thank you for contributing all that quality content. Drmies ( talk) 15:26, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

thank you, - actually if you write an article a day just to have the say about layout features, it comes easily, - I guess I could slow down now after this invitation, though. - I gave a little sermon (my talk) about assuming good faith today, - we'll see ... -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:25, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

look today at BB music, a little crusade of mine ;) - his birthday on St Cecilia's day, patron saint of music. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 18:09, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the link to a cool article, Gerda. One of my favorite songs [ es starts out with a snippet of a poem by Bertolt Brecht. Barbarian that I am, I don't actually know much about their writing. Also, I learned {{ ill}} responding to this, so thanks for that too. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:58, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

try this which has German and English, - for example about the dog the children caught to eat, but didn't manage killing (And there was a dog, they’d caught him to eat him;) - and the final line mentions that the dog also perished. I think you might enjoy his dark dry humor. Mutter Courage. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 18:14, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

apropos of nothing, @ Drmies:, the WP:MUTE function has been really useful to me half a dozen times. — Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:52, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks--but I could only type in a name after I checked "Set a local exception for this global preference." All this global stuff is making my head spin. Haha, I guess I shouldn't ask to try if if works. Drmies ( talk) 15:57, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Well their thankspam function still notifies me. Drmies ( talk) 17:25, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

I can't believe I clicked here to look at cute dogs and discovered children eating them. —valereee ( talk) 18:25, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

did you get that they DIDN'T manage to kill the dog, - in German "brachten es nicht übers Herz", - what's that in English? ... when your heart prevents you from doing something? - The translator for Britten simply didn't translate the line, - well, he also attempted rhyme. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 18:37, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Today's DYK: to be sung "happily" -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:33, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2020).

Administrator changes

Andrwsc • Anetode • GoldenRing • JzG • LinguistAtLarge • Nehrams2020

Interface administrator changes

Izno

Guideline and policy news

• There is a request for comment in progress to either remove T3 (duplicated and hardcoded instances) as a speedy deletion criterion or eliminate its seven-day waiting period.

Technical news

• Voting for proposals in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey, which determines what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year, will take place from 8 December through 21 December. In particular, there are sections regarding administrators and anti-harassment.

Arbitration

• Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 7 December 2020 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Beethoven in 1803

The birthday display! -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:34, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Great job, Gerda. That LvB subpage is impressive. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:12, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

thank you, appreciated, especially as I was criticised for mass sending ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:50, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi. Regarding this, you actually can have free access to JSTOR. Go to https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/54/ and click on "Log in". Just agree to a few things, and you should have access. MANdARAX •  XAЯAbИAM 19:56, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

I always kind of assumed if I asked for access to anything at wikipedialibrary, it would mean one less person (who, I assume, would use it more than once every 3 months) could get access. If the supply of JSTOR access is essentially unlimited, I'll do that, but if there's a limited number I'll defer to actual productive people. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:48, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

duh, forgot the most important part: Thanks, Mandarax! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:48, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

( talk page watcher) Actually, Wikipedia Library recently opened a bunch of sources to all EC editors. Just go to your My Library page. No sign-up or approval needed; just click "access collection" for "instant access". Schazjmd  (talk) 21:25, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

(ec) You're welcome. This is not like the limited number of accounts one used to have to apply for and wait for approval. This is instant access which I believe is for an unlimited number of users who meet the minimum requirements (if I recall correctly, it's something like being registered for six months and having 500 edits). Oh, and I take strong exception to your self-exclusion from the "actual productive people" category. MANdARAX •  XAЯAbИAM 21:27, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks to you both. I signed up and used it. Now that I'm an admin and a heavy content creator, I assume I'm unblockable now? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:28, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Hello! Remember, I came to the forum on October 2 and asked about my rights? I came to you under the nickname Vova WIFI, but I have since changed it to the old. You then gave me the right to rollback, but then you had to take them away. I said I'd come back later when I got used to your Wikipedia. And so, I got used to it, accumulated a little experience and came here to ask you: give me the right to rollback, please. You will probably be interested in my contribution. I made ~90 edits, fixing broken links ( https://https://). Владимир Меланхолин ( обс) 12:19, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

@ Владимир Меланхолин: After a look at your user rights log and contributions, I realize you're slightly misremembering here; this was a discussion at WP:Help desk ( archived), and I didn't give you rollback and then take it away, I said I would do it if there were no objection, and then realized that it was against our (IMHO too strict) consensus and didn't do it after all. As I said then, the best thing to do is go to WP:RFP/R and follow the instructions there for what experience is needed for a successful request, and how to do it. I get the impression you still have too little experience to be granted rollback, which is kind of inexplicable, but I guess that's how we do things on en.wiki. Best of luck. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:59, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. Владимир Меланхолин ( обс) 05:29, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

I am very sorry that my comments at Sithjarjar's talkpage have offended you. I was defining prejudice, as I have seen it, and following a train of thought concerning the word. Prejudice is the act of pre-judging others, based on a superficial visual or word-related attribute. Although I disagree with your original comments, and their characterization of a username, it certainly was not my intention to insult you, nor to equate you with a racist. I am rather appalled that you chose to address four parenthetical words "(or their skin color)" of my two paragraph commentary. My definition of prejudice was a general definition, not a personal indictment of one person.

Floquenbeam, I followed your actions (and those of others) last year during the controversy regarding the WMF and Fram. The concerted actions of Admins like you, helped to turn the tide by asserting EN-WP independence from unfair actions by the WMF. You chose to make a sacrifice, based on principle, and I respected your stance.

Despite your statement: "I would encourage anyone equating my comments with prejudice based on ski color to fuck right off", [2], and your decision to "mute" my pings, I am posting a sincere apology, here on your talkpage. I must also support this link on your talk: User talk:Iridescent#Reply, having slept on it. We are all under unusual stress. I am truly sorry to have offended you. Sincerely, Tribe of Tiger ^{Let's Purrfect!} 03:16, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

I'll try to thread the needle here, and not let you completely off the hook, while also not needlessly prolonging a disagreement. I accept your apology. I believe you when you say you didn't mean to equate me with a racist. I still think that's what you did, I guess unintentionally, but I suppose you're allowed to be imperfect in how you word things, and/or I'm allowed to be imperfect in how I understand things. I found those 4 words jarring, because there are several orders of magnitude difference in judging someone for a username they explicitly and consciously chose to use, and judging someone on the color of their skin. To be honest I'm still annoyed, so I don't want to get into a whole discussion here. But I do accept the apology. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:05, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for accepting my apology, threading the needle, and for giving me the benefit of the doubt regarding my absolutely and unintentionally "imperfect" choice of words. You are absolutely entitled to still feel annoyed, based on the interpretation, and I am most truly sorry. Although we are "WP editors", we are also two human beings. I did not desire to injure or insult you. I do wish you the very best in 2021. God knows, we need a better year...Sincerely, Tribe of Tiger ^{Let's Purrfect!} 08:18, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

	Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!
	Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In this toughest of years, thank you for continuing to care about others - both in your editing, your words, and just in your being. Roll on 2021 and I'll see you there! Nosebagbear ( talk) 14:45, 24 December 2020 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{ subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Happy New Year, NBB. Thanks for the message. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:01, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

		Natalis soli invicto!
		Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday Season, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and distraction-free. Ealdgyth ( talk) 14:46, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Ealdgyth, thanks for the message. I'm kind of hoping for less productive and more pleasant distractions, but we'll see what happens. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

You donated $1,000 to that? Why didn't you just set ten 100 dollar bills on fire? Same end result and it can save a bit on heating bills. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:30, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

You are obviously Not Of The Body. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:33, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

If you've run out of Christmas movies, try this. I'd advise grabbing some popcorn first, though. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:35, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

I won't change your recent block to indef, but you're being really, really generous to someone who is, at this stage, guaranteed to never be a productive user. You must still be infused with the Christmas Spirit or something. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:38, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Well, a) I should have just kicked them off, but I warned them then spotted they went over 3RR on that page, and having zero edits between warning and blocking (or, in this case, indef blocking) is never good optics. b) If they stop adding the same thing again and again and say something, we might actually get a response out of them (even it's just "bugger this for a laugh, I'm off"). Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:44, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 22:02, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Ha! After I wrote that, I realized I should have included option c. both (and probably option d. indef block...) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:03, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

I'm afraid you've stumbled by accident into Option E: The arbitration clerks are pleased to welcome Floquenbeam ( talk · contribs) to the clerk team as a trainee! The arbitration clerk team is often in need of new members, and any editor who would like to join the clerk team is welcome to apply by email to clerks-llists.wikimedia.org. For the Arbitration Committee, KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 22:10, 30 December 2020 (UTC) Discuss this at: Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee/Noticeboard § Floquenbeam appointed trainee clerk (oops!) KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 22:10, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

That would be a disaster on so many levels... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:49, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

An unorthodox move, sure. But the vote was unanimous. KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 23:39, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The magic 8-ball says...

...Thanks! SQL ^{Query me!} 22:04, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

So far it's 3.5 thanks and 0.5 warnings. No block yet... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:07, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Timothy, you too! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:14, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for hiding the comments on User talk:123Peacock123. I didn't seeing them, and that's probably a good thing! BilCat ( talk) 23:27, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Just an idiot being an idiot. There was a pseudo-legal threat against you that, if I were you, I would spend 0.000000001 seconds worrying about, and then an email address that needed redacting. I don't know where these people come from. I never run into people like this in real life. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:29, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm not worrying about it, but I do expect them to return via IP or another username. I've met a few like that in real life, but most are to afraid to behave that way publicly. BilCat ( talk) 23:32, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).

Administrator changes Hammersoft Andres • Brion VIBBER • Rkitko • Thatcher

CheckUser changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek • Primefac Oversight changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek Joe Roe

Guideline and policy news

• Speedy deletion criterion T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment.

Technical news

• You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.

Arbitration

• By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes). The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason).
• Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.

Hi Floq. I've just read the unblock posts by Wilderwyck. It brings to mind words like utter rot, balderdash and codswollop. Of course, there is a simple two letter acronym that says it best but I don't get to use these other words very often :-) Best regards. MarnetteD| Talk 03:44, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

• Just echoing MarnetteD here. Thanks for putting a stop to the disruption. Jip Orlando ( talk) 14:29, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
  • I doubt I put a stop to it; probably just shifted it to another article. Everyone hang onto your hats; I'm toying with attempting my first ever range block later today to see if it helps. So if the entire state of California is suddenly blocked this afternoon, you'll know I tried (and failed) to figure out the appropriate range. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:16, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

I really appreciate your comments on JzG's talk page (though I am sad to see him in such distress) and am happy to see someone finally call out what needs to be called out. I hold a strong (probably personal) belief that people who believe in the alt-right (and now, apparently, right in general) conspiracy theories are fundamentally incompatible with editing Wikipedia and especially anything related to science or politics as a whole. And that's my unsolicited 2 cents. GRINCHIDICAE🎄 21:29, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, Prax, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and comment. My patience for this crap was already spread pretty thin. The personal belief you're expressing has a name; it's called "rational thought". It seems from my vantage point that the radical left is kind of crazy based on what they think we should and shouldn't do. The radical right is crazy based on just wholesale fabrication of what is and isn't true. And, as you say, the radical right just continues to expand to consume people who weren't crazy 5 years ago. Why we trust such people anywhere near a fact-based encyclopedia is beyond me. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:39, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

Because now is the time to unite with neo-nazis and white supremacists in the name of civility and kindness! So sayeth the people who spent the last four years denying science, calling everyone snowflakes and "fuck your feelings!" </sarcasm> GRINCHIDICAE🎄 23:23, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

You're lucky. My </sarcasm> button is broken, so I'm pretty much in full sarcasm mode all the time now. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:22, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Where is the magic ANI genie to grant his wish? CUPIDICAE💕 04:32, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

I don't know about you, but I'm more depressed about all the people soft-pedaling his racism than I am about some 21 year old idiot who is probably just parroting what most of the adults around him say. I'm too ashamed to describe my political opinions when I was 21. But I didn't change them because everyone was sweet to me, and just let me be me. I changed them because when I said something particularly stupid a professor called me on my shit, and I was humiliated when I started to think critically about what I was thinking and saying. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 04:55, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Yep, I have been having a meltdown about this all evening, actually. I don't usually let on-wiki stuff get to me IRL but it made me visibly angry. I cannot imagine what a person of color seeing that must feel. The fact that we softball bad behavior and blatant racism in the name of content is abhorrent. I don't really have words for it. But this is why we have such a wide gender and racial gap. CUPIDICAE💕 05:05, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

• Thank you to both of you for speaking up. Frankly, this sort of thing is one of the reasons I've pulled back from this site—the community's moral blind spots on these issues are increasingly hard to stomach. We haven't come far at all since a decade or so ago, when we had an editor who was a full-on member of the KKK (he helpfully uploaded photos of cross burnings from his personal collection) and the "community" was like: "YoU cAn'T baN hIm JuSt fOR hAvIng UnPopUlAr OpInIonS!!" One admin went so far as to say that KKK members were the ideal editors for articles on the Klan, because of their firsthand expertise. The idea that welcoming a KKK member to our ranks would make the community unwelcoming to others was incomprehensible to many Wikipedians. Fast forward to today and it's the same ignorant shit.

  I was interested in the idea that Display name 99 should be treated leniently because he'd contributed to 4 featured articles. In fact, I considered developing this idea more systematically, and quantifying how much bigotry one is allowed per FA. For instance, if you've written one FA, maybe you can make a plausibly-deniable racist joke. With 4 FA's, apparently, you can openly condone extremist white-supremacist violence. Et cetera... with 10 FA's, maybe you can just be an out-and-proud neo-Nazi and it's all good.

  Anyhow... given this community's obsession with superficial civility, and its huge blind spot when it comes to the ways in which bigotry itself is uncivil, I was reminded of something from John Stuart Mill:

  With regard to what is commonly meant by intemperate discussion, namely invective, sarcasm, personality, and the like, the denunciation of these weapons would deserve more sympathy if it were ever proposed to interdict them equally to both sides; but it is only desired to restrain the employment of them against the prevailing opinion: against the unprevailing they may not only be used without general disapproval, but will be likely to obtain for him who uses them the praise of honest zeal and righteous indignation. Yet whatever mischief arises from their use is greatest when they are employed against the comparatively defenceless.

  For some reason that came to mind recently, maybe when I was threatened with a block for complaining about an editor's incessant promotion of right-wing extremist talking points and QAnon-adjacent conspiracism. The lies aren't the problem; pointing them out is, around here. Anyhow, this is a long way of saying thank you for having the courage to say something, despite knowing that it's basically screaming into the void here. I see it and appreciate it. MastCell  ^Talk 20:11, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, MastCell, always glad to hear from you. Although they did eventually get blocked, so apparently the allowance for openly condoning extremist white-supremacist violence is five FA's, not four. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:48, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

My favorite response to the "but its just an opinion" crowd is to point out that Hitler didn't rise to power through a blitz. People sit idly by and then when atrocities happen, are surprised and "didn't see it coming." CUPIDICAE💕 20:24, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

And I didn't get the opportunity to say it on the thread before it was closed but holding views such as those espoused by DN99 is fundamentally incompatible with editing Wikipedia. It favors insane conspiracy theories over easily proven, tangible facts. An editor who believes such things has judgement that cannot be trusted. It does not matter if they're editing Purple or highly controversial ampol articles like Lauren Boebert. And I find it even more appalling that the block was such a soft ball, implying that it was a sudden lapse in judgement on DN99's part writes off the very real threat and harm that racism and violent ideologies pose to society and more importantly, people of color. The countless people that thought trouting the op was appropriate is equally disturbing. It demonstrates the very real lack of diversity and diverse voices this project has (and the pervasive whiteness and privilege many editors have in not being effected by such ideologies.) This is something that needs to be a focus of WMF and the English Wikipedia in 2021. CUPIDICAE💕 20:39, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

I am seriously concerned that previously productive conservative-leaning editors, like previously productive conservative-leaning citizens, have bought into the idea that the election was stolen, that the PB are patriots, that the mob invading the US capitol were somehow modern-day Boston Tea Partiers. I have seen multiple conservative-leaning editors, who were previously helpful contributors able to offer a productive balance of opinion to liberal-leaning editors, just blow gaskets. I think it's a sign we here on WP, like those of us in the US, in deep shit. —valereee ( talk) 21:31, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

valereee Precisely. And it's time we recognize the real world impact our editing and editors have. The war on facts is fucking terrifying. CUPIDICAE💕 21:35, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Indeed. I've been wondering if this must have been how people were feeling in the US in 1968 or 1862: can the country survive this? Is this what's going to finally put a period on the great experiment? I have multiple members of my extended family and friends who believe there was significant election fraud. Showing them that the US elections are way too decentralized to support massive fraud does nothing to convince them. One not-normally-at-all-crazy GA citizen told me she thinks GA governor Brian Kemp and Sec'y of State Brad Raffensberger, both Republicans, might be accepting money from China in exchange for certifying for Biden. I'm like...wtf...? I've been asking myself what evidence I'd need to see to convince me of a similar conspiracy. —valereee ( talk) 22:18, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

I know some people who think the government made up "coronavirus" to temporarily help with global warming and the factories etc. Compared to that, massive electoral fraud seems more plausible? Personally, I choose to carry these words with me :) -- I gave up long ago with thinking a discussion on such matters is a good use of time.

That said, knowing how bad the government is at keeping secrets, I find it amusing how people think the government could coordinate any mass conspiracy without a peep of evidence being leaked. People way overestimate government competence, tbh. ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 22:30, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

What should be more worrying is the amount of times people have tried to sneak conspiracy theories into Wikipedia, often by misrepresentation of sources. Or tried to whitewash the 'conspiracy' part. On some lower profile articles it sometimes goes on for longer than it should. ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 22:34, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Right? How many secrets known to more than 2 people actually remain secret for more than a short period of time? The whole Sandy Hook conspiracy...really, hundreds of people were in on this and are keeping the secret? —valereee ( talk) 22:55, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

@ Valereee: Even after 4 years to learn better, that's still the most shocking thing to me. Not that Trump's PB followers are what they are. That is unsurprising. It would be bizarre if Nazis, KKKers, and PB's didn't join his bandwagon. But I'm stunned how many conservatives it sucked in, so quickly and so completely, and how completely they dropped any deeply held political belief if it didn't match his, and especially stunned, even now, even today, just how far beyond the realm of reality the're willing to follow him. I deeply, deeply misjudged how much white anxiety there was here. It seems to have overwhelmed, and still overwhelms, any other thought or emotion for a pretty decent sized majority of white people in the US. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:48, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Ayup. —valereee ( talk) 22:55, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Have a very happy adminship anniversary on your special day!

Best wishes, CAPTAIN RAJU ^(T) 15:07, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

Why thank you, CAPTAIN RAJU! Do I also get one of these on the anniversary of my post-flounce resysoppings? That would keep you fairly busy.... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:19, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

I tried to give 2021 a good start by updating the QAI project topics. Please check and correct, please check especially if the infoboxes passage works (which dates back mostly to 2020). - For moar private "happy new year" see here. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:09, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, slightly preoccupied watching an attempted coup in my country. Do I understand correctly that I am still not allowed to point out on Wikipedia that Trump and anyone who still supports him are vile assholes? I guess I'll have to just think it. Wouldn't want to violate BLP, which is much more important than, you know, democracy. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:27, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

• I can’t tell you Floque, how this has enlivened our very dull, locked down lives here in Europe. Hopefully, it will have knocked Corona virus of the news bulletins, at least for an hour or two. I wonder if they’ll make a film like the one about the Storming of the Winter Palace. Lots of overweight, hairy men carrying off art treasures from the White House? Of corse, it will all come right in the end. The ghastly man is on the wane and just throwing his remains toys out of the pram. Pure attention seeking. Happy New Year! Giano (talk)
• Yes, I suppose it probably will. But as someone in another forum told me recently, this should (it won't, but it should) put to rest any lingering belief in American exceptionalism. "Shining City upon a Hill"? hahahahahahaha. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:28, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

• Years ago, Robin Williams said that Canada was the nice neighbour living upstairs from a meth lab. Well, it seems that there's gang warfare going on downstairs right now. I don't think it will be helpful if I bang on the floor and tell them to keep it down. Risker ( talk) 21:40, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

  Yeah, that probably wouldn't be productive. I miss Robin. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:24, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

it’s just a little rumpus in a tea cup. I’ve actually met Berlusconi and afterwards Mrs G was astounded (and quite cross) that I smiled while shaking his hand, but these people have charisma and can fool some of the people some of the time, but they are all five minute wonders. It’s probably harder for right thinking Americans because you’ve all had this “Land of the Free” and saluting the flag nonsense from childhood. At the end of the day, people are just people wherever they come from. But you can’t blame us Europeans for a little schadenfreude. Giano (talk) 22:03, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

No, I don't blame anyone for a little schadenfreude. Waiting, in vain, for a public figure to refer to us as a "shithole country". -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:24, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

• Fun parlor game: guess how many rioters would have been shot to death without a second thought - indeed, with a sense of joy - if they were Black or Muslim or Latino. Hint #1: more than one. Winner is the person who comes closest to my own guess, without going over. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:24, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I dare say you’re right, however, most of the ones I saw on TV seemed to be a little overweight and suffering from the world shortage of razor blades and electric shavers, it wouldn’t be very sporting to shoot such large, slow moving targets. What puzzles me is that in most countries of the world, the leader of a failed insurrection/coupe d’etat is incarcerated or worse. However, in the Land of the Free he is returned to the presidential palace to keep spouting venom and incitement. It now looks like Twitter and Facebook are the only people attempting to deal with the problem. Giano (talk) 09:31, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

• Back to just editing here: I loved the edit summary you just wrote "this is sourced, but... it can't possibly be true, right?". I don't know if I should remind people of that on Talk:Magnificat in A minor (Hoffmann) where I'm requested to accept a gender-changing grammar form for a German title, because the sources have it. (The change is only from neuter to female, so not quite as interesting as it sounds.) More than 10 ten years ago, the great Jerome Kohl told me (and it's still on Talk:Siegfried Palm, my article No. 2) that something a source said, and I had added to an article, wasn't true, and I removed it, of course. Teh sources are no holy scriptures. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:58, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

  (this response assumes you're correct on the German language issue, which of course I have no idea about) I had several advantages with that DYK that you don't have in the discussion you link. The biggest advantage is, I didn't have someone tenaciously opposing any change. A smaller one is I wasn't changing it to "post-WWII" or anything, I was just excising the questionable part completely. I do not know how you stomach editing in the same field as that person. It seems guaranteed to cause an ulcer. As someone who (see my user page) tries to avoid loud and aggressive persons as vexatious to the spirit, if it were me I'd throw up my hands and say, it's not worth the effort to correct; Wikipedia's policies want it to be wrong. If it really sticks in your craw, then there are RFC's and Wikiproject noticeboards and such. But God, just saying that out loud fills me with despair. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:01, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

  Sorry, before spending time thinking: which DYK? - Fear not - my motto for the year for reasons - I won't spend time on noticeboards and RfCs. - My issue is simply that I don't believe that one bad and misunderstood English translation (which others copied) should rule how a work was called (no problem with the present name) which is in German. A name is a name, no? (Kleines Magnificat. Rotes Rathaus. Gutes Neues Jahr!) What the article sells as a name (Kleine Magnificat) is plain wrong. For a while, it said "wrong name", also known as "correct name". When I reverted that, leaving only the wrong name (better than that order), I was reverted. Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:10, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

  The DYK that you liked the edit summary of :)
  I understand your issue; I just despair that so much effort has to be expended to correct such a simple mistake. And obviously not just that one, I can live with a certain amount of imperfection in the world. But how much energy has to be expended to correct the 10 billion similar micro-errors. I can't recall where I ran across this today... I was following a link from a link from a link from a link on a page I was reading that I think wasn't even on WP... But I'm reminded of Brandolini's law, and the excerpt from an essay by Sergey Lopatnikov in the second section of that article. Perhaps "Kleine Magnificat" is transcendentally true? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:38, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

  I like transcendentally true ;) - I wonder if you'd think it's a simple mistake if your name was given in a way that suggests a different gender, but that is not the issue (which is that we should not follow sources religiously). If you want a real RfC: here's where tenacious opposition (thanks for that phrase also!) was there 6 years ago (actually closer to 7, and much longer ago but commented then on that talk) and still is. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 08:19, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

  Happy Wikipedia 20, - proud of a little bit on the Main page today, and 5 years ago, and 10 years ago, look: create a new style - revive - complete! I sang in the revival mentioned. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:13, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

  Cool! I did my small part to help today. (emphasis on "small"...) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:15, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

  ... and today proud of a pic I took -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:35, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

Today see Vision pictured (not by me), with Arik Brauer in the news, so art in Vienna twice -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 14:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

WP has a well-known Viennese bias. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:45, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

pardon? -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 15:50, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

 —  Amakuru ( talk) 15:52, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

In various hard-to-tolerate-for-long places on WP, there are circular arguments about the American bias of the WP main page, the UK bias of the WP main page, the male bias, the European bias, the racial bias.... I was just trying to make a Main Page joke. Amakuru is one of like 4 people I thought might find it funny. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2021).

Administrator changes Hog Farm Mattflaschen • Nandesuka • Savidan • Wangi

CheckUser changes Berean Hunter • Xeno Oversight changes Someguy1221 • Xeno

Arbitration

• The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people, replacing the 1932 cutoff.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!

I know there's typically a sock puppetry investigation for situations like this but user User:Pohlkamp1125, who you blocked earlier today, seems to be back as User:Quebedeaux making the same exact disruptive edits to the WWE 24/7 Championship article. I'll go through the process of reporting if need be but thought I'd bring it to your attention first. Thanks. NJZombie ( talk) 03:58, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

No need, I saw this before turning in for the night. Thanks for letting me know. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 04:13, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Much appreciated! NJZombie ( talk) 04:25, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Who said I'm not? ;) CUPIDICAE💕 19:15, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

After you've gone thru about another 3 hours of dealing with this person (or someone similar), make sure you maintain extreme friendliness at all times, because one rude word and you'll be reported to ANI. A hat tip to you; I interacted with them once and I'm already fed up. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:18, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

That's why they make boxes of wine and large glasses ;) CUPIDICAE💕 19:25, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

How about "lifts off," then? (Or even "blasts off.") – Sca ( talk) 16:23, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

• Launched is a perfectly fine transitive or intransitive verb, and is used in that way all the time. We really need to reduce the amount of nit picking that's going on at WP:ERRORS, and focus on things that are actually wrong. If you really think this is actually an error, I won't revert further if you add it back, but I predict it will result in more ill will, and no productive result. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:30, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

  It sounded funny to me. Sorry to annoy you so egregiously. – Sca ( talk) 20:03, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

Innisfree Garden

Thank you. Did you know that I do my daily exercise now of converting refs for Stockhausen's works - today Adieu of all titles - in memory of Jerome Kohl? Another one who died on the Main page today, Vera Wülfing-Leckie, - a red link in the Deaths list, imagine. I went to the garden some great day in October 1996, remembered. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:45, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

edit summary "love that" ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:12, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

I got excited for a second, thinking that Spring was on it's way early. Alas, that picture is from last year. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:37, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Sorry about that, yes, that's the "rule" for my calendar: 12 months old. These plants from the Mediterranian grow also in the Rhine Valley. Today was the so far coldest day, but bright sunshine. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:48, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

This seems like a good place to let you know of a change I made, without drawing too much attention.... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:32, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello, you have blocked me on 22:26, 13 November 2020 from editing user page of Elcobbola, now I know that I haven't message to him about unblock, it is very uncomfortable when I am blocked without any reason because now I doesn't have any non-wikipedia reasons to message him on talk page, now I know where I can request unblock to Commons----ჯეო4WIKI ^{Message Me} _{Contributions} 19:27, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

It is untrue that you are blocked without any reason. As I've explained twice before, you were harassing him here on en.wiki, because you were blocked on Commons. If I understand your message correctly, you're saying you no longer want to contact him on his talk page here, because now you know how to request an unblock on Commons? Is that right? I'm not too concerned whether you are "uncomfortable" with this block or not, it is serving a purpose. If you have no need to contact him on en.wiki, how is this block affecting you? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:43, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

I don't need to contact this user, I just say that now this block doesn't has any reason, because I haven't any interests to message this user at enwiki, if you don't want unblock me, okay, but this block doesn't has any reason----ჯეო4WIKI ^{Message Me} _{Contributions} 05:32, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

@ ჯეო:. OK, I see. If you'd prefer to get rid of the ugly red tag at the top of your contributions page, I can undo the block, with the understanding you'll no longer post to their talk page. Is that fair? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:40, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

I will not post on his talk page, I promise----ჯეო4WIKI ^{Message Me} _{Contributions} 14:43, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

OK,  Done. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:45, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks <3----ჯეო4WIKI ^{Message Me} _{Contributions} 14:48, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello admin, User TARGEtER1776 goodies-2-B-gone whom you blocked recently is back with another account It's Targeter1776 saying sorry. Can you take a look? Thank you. -- Ashley yoursmile! 19:39, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, I've blocked that one too. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:49, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello admin, seems like they are back with another account Targeter1776 was not trollinG!. Ashley yoursmile! 17:18, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

They have been blocked indef., sorry to bother you. Ashley yoursmile! 17:22, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

@ Ashleyyoursmile: Looks like Drmies - who is a checkuser - is on the case. Thanks Drmies! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:56, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

That's great, thanks for letting me know. Ashley yoursmile! 17:58, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Sure thing, but that's not a fun case. I dropped a few blocks, and created a sock category. I hate that kind of stupid vandalism, and especially if it is targeted toward a certified hero: Desmond Tutu. But IM SURE IT WASNT RACIST. Drmies ( talk) 17:59, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Just a heads up, they are not done yet. Pinging Ashleyyoursmile and Drmies. S0091 ( talk) 15:17, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

S0091, thanks for the ping. I see admin zzuuzz has blocked them. I'll report them to the AIv if they return again. Ashley yoursmile! 15:22, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

I saw your comment in the ANI siteban thread. To clarify, blocking a user will prevent them from thanking edits made on pages they can't edit. So they can't thank anyone, like on the ANI thread, except for edits to their talk page (until you revoked their TP access). This makes more sense when you consider it from the POV of partial blocks, in which they're prevented from sending thanks on pages they're blocked from but not on others. HTH, Legoktm ( talk) 05:35, 18 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks very much, User:Legoktm, that eases my mind quite a bit. I thought I remembered that blocking prevents thanking, for obvious reasons, but this exception makes sense in light of partial blocking, and is easily remedied in this kind of edge case. I wonder if this should be documented better somewhere? I'll poke around and add something somewhere, and fix my post you're talking about (and the help desk). -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:53, 18 February 2021 (UTC)

How could you put that block notice? Lol. Shiny ^bonjour. 18:04, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Floq's never been one to "duck" the issues. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 18:15, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Why a duck? ...William, is the complaint department really on the roof? 20:03, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

@ WilliamJE: I love ducks. Besides, the "*" needed a vowel. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 00:01, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2021).

Administrator changes

TJMSmith

Boing! said Zebedee • Hiberniantears • Lear's Fool • Only • WGFinley

Interface administrator changes

AmandaNP

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is open that proposes a process for the community to revoke administrative permissions. This follows a 2019 RfC in favor of creating one such a policy.
• A request for comment is in progress to remove F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a, which covers immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• A request for comment seeks to grant page movers the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target. The full proposal is at Wikipedia:Page mover/delete-redirect.
• A request for comment asks if sysops may place the General sanctions/Coronavirus disease 2019 editnotice template on pages in scope that do not have page-specific sanctions?
• There is a discussion in progress concerning automatic protection of each day's featured article with Pending Changes protection.

Technical news

• When blocking an IPv6 address with Twinkle, there is now a checkbox with the option to just block the /64 range. When doing so, you can still leave a block template on the initial, single IP address' talkpage.
• When protecting a page with Twinkle, you can now add a note if doing so was in response to a request at WP:RfPP, and even link to the specific revision.
• There have been a number of reported issues with Pending Changes. Most problems setting protection appear to have been resolved ( phab:T273317) but other issues with autoaccepting edits persist ( phab:T275322).

Arbitration

• By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people. Sanctions issued under GamerGate are now considered Gender and sexuality sanctions.
• The Kurds and Kurdistan case was closed, authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for the topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2021 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AmandaNP, Operator873, Stanglavine, Teles, and Wiki13.

I'm going to have no idea what this is about in a few months, so for posterity, it's regarding the edit I refer to here: [3]. I thank-button thanked you, DFO, but while I'm here I'll text-thank you too. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:40, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

Ditto, Xeno; this is in addition to the thank-button thanks I sent earlier. But I suspect they meant one of these

. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:40, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

The Assam Barnstar I award this Assam Barnstar to Floquenbeam for their great efforts contributing to WikiProject Assam.

-- Fygib ( talk) 19:15, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Not sure what to make of this; I don't think I've done anything related to WP Assam, and I don't know if this is related to the Bihar stuff or not. And this is your only edit. I'm a little puzzled, but I'll assume the best, so thanks. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:44, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

all it's doing is making me depressed about WP in general yet again Beer may not cure depression, but it's always worth a try. Redeemable for a real one. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 01:41, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks Hawkeye7, that's kind of you. But I think I'm going to take a few days/weeks off and see if my perspective changes; right now the happy/sad ratio here is too low. I continue to fail to understand why there are so many mean/selfish/aggressive/unwilling to just say "sorry my bad"/non-self-aware people online, and in the news, but I run into almost none of them in real life. All my friends IRL are pretty chill. Wish I could just go out for a drink with them again. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:27, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

I second all of the above. Shearonink ( talk) 17:46, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Today, we have a DYK about Wilhelm Knabe, who stood up for future with the striking school children when he was in his 90s, - a model, - see here. - Further down on the page, there are conversations about the current arb case request - I feel I have to stay away - in a nutshell: "... will not improve kindness, nor any article". - Yesterday, I made sure on a hike that the flowers (that are already archived) are actually blooming, thinking of you ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:54, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the beer. Back in April 2011, you helped me. I still remember it. -- Anneyh ( talk) 15:28, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for visiting Shearonink, Gerda, and Anneyh. Logging out and turning off notifications does improve one's outlook, but I thought I'd sneak a peek and make sure no one was waiting for me to do something. Re-engaging cloaking device for now, but I'll see you all in a while; feeling somewhat better. Cheers. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:10, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

look at what Brian worded - from today's TFA - the project has great moments -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 18:20, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Indeed it does. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:35, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

like Bish's lead -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:05, 4 March 2021 (UTC) ... and Giano's -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 08:07, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

... seeing you busy on ITN: what do think about Bashkirov, 7 March? - DYK that I have a good news item in the DYK section, Peter Wollny? -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:23, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

I'll take a look at Bashkirov, but on the few occasions where I do something at ITNC, it's usually just to evaluate consensus. I don't like going out on a limb there, I don't think my thoughts on ITN-worthiness match everyone else's. I mostly did it now because we had 3 blurbs over 2 weeks old, and the page was getting stale. I don't think RD has that problem; if anything, the opposite. And yes, I did know about Wollny, I addressed an error report on that one.... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:35, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Worthyness depends on being well-sourced for a Recent death, nothing else - decades of piano teaching in Russia and Spain don't count. He sits there for a day with zero comment, and I'm afraid he'll go stale soon, because we go strictly by day of death, not day of being entered (which I think is not a good idea ...) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:45, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Well, he's one the Main page now, almost 4 days after he died, - that section should also be retitled. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 15:35, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm not sure it's just being well-sourced, I think they expect some comments that there's a consensus that it's well sourced - not just my opinion. Anyway I see someone else commented and El C handled it. If it was up to me, we'd have much less stringent standards for the Main Page, allowing us to be much more timely. But I'm in the minority. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:47, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

No, no-one's waiting for you to do anything - except take charge of AE due to the lack of admin participation there.-- P-K3 ( talk) 20:32, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Geez, what did I ever do to you lot? (scrambling password in progress...) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:33, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

If possible, seems indefinte protection (ie, autoconfirmed or confirmed access) on the " Earliest known life forms" page may be helpful - due to intermittent, but persistent vandalism, over time - thanking you in advance for your help with this if possible - in any case - Stay Safe and Healthy !! - Drbogdan ( talk) 02:06, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

@ Drbogdan: it appears I'm to slow; EdJohnston protected it a little while ago. Hope you're safe and healthy too. Mrs. Floquenbeam got her first shot yesterday, so we're making slow progress here. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:27, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

@ Floquenbeam: Thank you *very much* for your reply - and comments - no problem whatsoever - the newly added page protection should help a lot at the moment - Thanks again for your reply and all - Stay Safe and Healthy !! - Drbogdan ( talk) 15:49, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

Floquenbeam, you were kind enough to issue a three-month block to IP 82.28.161.139 after they returned back in early December to repeat adding false information to articles—the same reason they'd been blocked in the first place. I've just discovered that they're doing it again, three months to the day after your block, and has been doing so for four days without being reported. Can you please take a look? I reverted the edits on Strictly Come Dancing (series 18), which were done earlier this week, and will be looking into other edits, but it would be wonderful if further damage could be prevented. Thank you very much. BlueMoonset ( talk) 23:30, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

Many thanks for taking such quick action! BlueMoonset ( talk) 23:35, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

(e/c) That's ... persistent. I've reblocked for a year, but I'm afraid I'm about to go offline for the weekend and can't help review all their edits this month. I'll try to do a couple of pages before I go, working from their earliest March edits. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:36, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

I think you (and a few others) got all but 2 pages, which I've rolled back. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:41, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

...having all the knowledge in the world at your fingertips and still managing to be this fucking stupid. It's mind boggling. VAXIDICAE💉 19:44, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

Came here about the same MfD, just to say it's not every day that MfD gives me a belly laugh like "...if he didn't have one of those giant male brains". — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 19:56, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

I hold out some tiny hope that this person doesn't actually believe what he typed, but is just trolling. But I know in my heart he believes it. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:03, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

You have more faith in ^men people than I do. VAXIDICAE💉 20:05, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi, I saw what you said at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Template:User mgtow about JNoXK. What should be done about this edit and his overall editing at that page? With his replacement of a source and of material, I believe it represents further pushing of his male-supremacist POV. What should be done? I don't trust any of his edits there. Crossroads ^-talk- 04:39, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

In that case, the whole article should be labelled as male-supremacist ideology as it shows males having an overall advantage when it comes to most mammals and birds. I literally just added what was said in the white matter article. Wasn't it male-supremacist when that user added it there? JNoXK 07:51, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

@ Crossroads:, I'll take a further look later today, and if it looks like they're pushing their fringe belief, I'll block them. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:40, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Also, juggling a few things today. Feel free to poke me if it looks like I've forgotten. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:47, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Topic ban proposed here. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:15, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

THAT was priceless. Well played. — Ched ( talk) 23:55, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

It didn't shame them into realizing how horrible they were being, so not sure it was that well played. Always good to run into you again, Ched. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:52, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

There is currently a discussion at ANI regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. Neutralhomer • Talk • 02:17 on March 30, 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2021).

Administrator changes

Alexandria • Happyme22 • RexxS

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a has been deprecated; it covered immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• Following a request for comment, page movers were granted the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target.

Technical news

• When you move a page that many editors have on their watchlist the history can be split and it might also not be possible to move it again for a while. This is because of a job queue problem. ( T278350)
• Code to support some very old web browsers is being removed. This could cause issues in those browsers. ( T277803)

Arbitration

• A community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure is open until April 25.

I wanted a little time to pass but I did want to acknowledge your last message to me at ACN and to say that I hope I can regain the faith that you've lost me. Best, Barkeep49 ( talk) 21:03, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Hmmmm..... how to answer without looking like a jerk.... The point I was making is really important to me, and I don't want to minimize it, so I'm going to undercut my apology a little; it's not a non-apology apology, but it isn't a neat, clean apology either. I still really think the arbs/clerks handled Giano's insults and H's baseless accusation unfairly and wrongly, and I still think your comments there were really unfair and (in their own politely worded way) kind of insulting. And last I looked, H has never actually admitted they were making a false accusation, just that they couldn't prove it.

But I was angry and worded that too aggressively. Sorry for losing my temper. (....but you were still wrong....) -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:16, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

wild garlic

Memories on the Main page today, Psalm 115 thinking of Yoninah, Christa Ludwig and Milva, - voices that made the Earth a better place. Sad that the psalm hook didn't appear on Earth Day as planned, but better pictured and late than going unnoticed ;) - Congrats to vaxination-- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 13:22, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi Gerda, nice little article; don't think of it as missing Earth Day; think of it as extending Earth Day.

Yes, I'm officially all vaccinated now. I'm the only one in my family getting the J&J one; it isn't great at preventing all infections, but it is great at preventing hospitalization/death, so I'm quite relieved. My wife (school teacher) and youngest (essential worker) are already fully vaccinated with the Pfizer, and now that they've opened it up to everyone here, my oldest got her first shot last week. I hope you and yours are doing well and (have gotten)/(will soon get) yours too. It does ease the mind. Now the more challenging step is to convince everyone who doesn't want it that they really should get it. I want to be able to take this damn mask off.

Sorry, real life is crazy right now, I should get back to it. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:50, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, and I'm treated like your oldest. Doesn't help singing in choir, though. See my talk (further down) for what a Frankfurt church manages anyway in supplying live church music, see also Category:Interior of Dreikönigskirche (Frankfurt). -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:50, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

So, I understand you're the same guy who blocked me for being too disruptive early in my career.

For my diffs on Richard Hammond that were repeatedly reverted, I'll not put that in again. This is done to avoid edit warring.-- User:JTZegers Speak* Aura 15:50, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

You don't need to convince me; I'm afraid I'm already a lost cause and think you should be reblocked. This seems really, really, really unlikely to work out. You need to convince the admin who unblocked you that they didn't make a mistake in doing so. You're just bouncing from one disruption to another. You know you're under intense scrutiny, and yet the very first thing you do after being unblocked is yet another too-bold thing, and then edit warred when reverted. How long do you think that's going to be allowed to continue? This place doesn't work by repeatedly doing stuff, and when blocked, promising not to do it again. You have to show you have some small amount of judgement, and not do the disruptive thing in the first place. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:55, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

Also, "early in your career"?? You mean 3 days ago? Come on. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:56, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

Can you please revoke this idiot's tpa, clearly they're asking for it. ~ ~ 🌀 𝚂𝙲𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝚁𝙾𝙽𝙰 🌀 22:22, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Yep, did it 2 minutes before your post here, I was just lazy and didn't bother with yet another block notice. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 22:25, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

AustinRMD and MAustin35 have the same userpages and near identical edits (see K38HP and WDNP-LD), not to mention the decorative Super Mario logo. I want to call this "sockpuppetry" and AustinRMD's latest edits "unconstructive" since none of these should be PROD'd in the first place. Since my use of ANI and basically any templates are frowned upon, I am leaving this in your hands. Personally, I believe a Checkuser should be done to flush out any other sleeper accounts that might be lurking and, of course, these two be blocked for sockpuppetry....but that's just me. Again, I leave this up to you. Take Care and Stay Well. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 17:38 on May 6, 2021 (UTC)

Swamped today, but will try to look tonight. Regardless of whether they are so clever that they think that removing this thread again will be in their best interests. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:16, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Appreciate you taking a look at this one. :) Yeah, I can't understand where they thought that was going to get them, but OK. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 18:35 on May 6, 2021 (UTC)

Yes, this is obviously DiegoBot21. I've blocked both accounts, and will open an SPI to get a CU involved sometime this evening. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:59, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

@ NeutralHomer: for your viewing pleasure: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/DiegoBot21#07_May_2021. It's pretty slam dunk so I don't think you need to provide any further evidence. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:09, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

D'oh! fixing ping. @ Neutralhomer: -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:10, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Appreciated. :) If you do need me to provide evidence, just give me a holler. Thanks again for taking a look... Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:13 on May 7, 2021 (UTC)

Enjoy two ladies today, one played in an iconic film (picture a bit below, she plays with Die Fliege), the other sang in the premiere of a famous opera, with her husband-to-be ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:49, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Finally have a chance to breath a little in real life, so was able to look at these today, after the fact. Congrats on 2 main page items in a row; sorry one of them was due to a death. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:00, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2021).

Administrator changes

Enchanter • Carlossuarez46

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, consensus was found that third party appeals are allowed but discouraged.
• The 2021 Desysop Policy RfC was closed with no consensus. Consensus was found in a previous RfC for a community based desysop procedure, though the procedure proposed in the 2021 RfC did not gain consensus.

Technical news

• The user group oversight will be renamed to suppress. This is for technical reasons. You can comment at T112147 if you have objections.

Arbitration

• The community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure was closed, and an initial draft based on feedback from the now closed consultation is expected to be released in early June to early July for community review.

So sorry – replied at my talk. If you can hear a rhythmical thudding, that involves my head and my desk. Gah! Apologies and best wishes DBaK ( talk) 18:46, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

I replied on your talk page, but the short version is: no worries. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:47, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

If you are available, I would appreciate your guidance at this new ANI discussion about my conduct. To be clear, I am not requesting any specific action or support or outcome, just your attention as an editor who is familiar with the previous discussion. Thanks in advance. – Jonesey95 ( talk) 20:11, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

 Done, although with two caveats that will probably weaken the persuasive strength of my comment. People are hard to figure out sometimes. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:31, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. – Jonesey95 ( talk) 20:58, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

( talk page stalker) I noticed Jonesey95 saying in the ANI thread that "getting dragged to ANI, even when the accused editor is judged to be innocent, harms the reputation of the accused editor." I really don't agree, and I hope you don't worry about it, Jonesey. It can just as well enhance their reputation; it all depends. I'm thinking of one user in particular — better not name them — who I think a little better of every time they're the subject of an ANI thread. I wish I was dragged to ANI more often myself. (I'm probably more fond of drama than most people, but still.) Bishonen | tålk 21:17, 7 May 2021 (UTC).

Is it me?! Is it me?! probably not, but I hope so. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:20, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

I find drama very unpleasant. I get much more bothered than I should by editors who refuse to follow established, consensus processes; who refuse to read or cite guidelines; who refuse to come armed with facts, links, and diffs; who assume bad faith; or who do some combination of those things. It has been my unfortunate personal experience, present company excepted of course, that there are a significant number of administrators, XFD closers, and RFC closers who exhibit these traits. As such, I do my best to stay away from XFD, ANI, and most RFCs unless I have a compelling interest like having been dragged there by my hair. – Jonesey95 ( talk) 21:42, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

- would you have time to look at a thread with an eye towards closing? — Ched ( talk) 01:23, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

• this. — Ched ( talk) 01:27, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

I probably haven't actually said this anywhere, but I have long thought that FS caused more turmoil than benefit. Even though I wouldn't violate the letter of WP:INVOLVED, I'd violate the spirit. I'm sure there's a more neutral admin out there somewhere. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 02:18, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

I didn't know that you were that familiar with them - but absolutely no problem. I applaud your integrity! (although it is one of the things I've always admired). I'll check back tomorrow, hopefully it will still be there. (it's been archived and brought back before, which is why I asked.) Who knows, maybe one of your ( talk page watcher) will wander upon it. Anyway, thanks for looking, I appreciate your time. Cheers — Ched ( talk) 02:35, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

Not sure about "integrity", just don't like feeling guilty... anyway, cheers back at you. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:46, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

Poking? Maybe, a bit, but I am sick and tired of FA's martyr complex. He's under two separate restrictions due to his flood of often half-formed articles, he has never shown any sign of accepting that there is any validity to the criticism that led to these restrictions, and if he gets even the slightest pushback he reliably falls back on accusations of racism. Every single time he appears on Jimbotalk, the complaint is the same: his flood of AfCs is not being processed fast enough for his liking, and even in this case the thread title makes it crystal clear that he ascribes this to racism. The complaint generally seems to come when the ratio of rejected to accepted drafts starts to climb, but the problem is never FA, and always the reviewers, and it is impossible to escape the fact that - however careful he might be in opening discussions - FA clearly believes that this is down to racial bias.

I find his constant attacks on the AfC reviewing community to be offensive, especially since they are routinely made at one of the most-watched pages on Wikipedia. There are racists on Wikipedia, but they are not the people reviewing FA's endless flood of stubs. Sooner or later he needs to show at least some signs of accepting community consensus that he needs to put more work into these articles before submitting. Nudges, kindness and patient explanation, applied by many kind and lovely people, do not appear to be working. He also needs to drop the stick on the whole claims of racism thing. Guy ( help! - typo?) 07:32, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

For however much you value my advice, you're being a complete dick about this. I'm sure there are right wing loons out there who think this is in character, but I find it out of character and disheartening. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:45, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

Le sigh. I could say the same. The issue, for me, is pretty simple: the section title is deliberately inflammatory and is an implicit accusation of racism against the Wikipedians who patrol AfC. Taken in isolation, it might be acceptable, but it's not in isolation, is it? [4], [5], plenty more. Do you not think it's concerning that an editor who has repeatedly shown inability to accept that they are creating sub-standard articles, and are restricted as a result, routinely complains of racial bias on JIMBOTALK whenever some of his articles get rejected? I think it's a massive departure from WP:AGF and terribly disrespectful to people who do the dull and usually thankless work of reviewing drafts. Maybe it's just me being oversensitive, but it seems extremely rude, and I am disturbed that years of this drama has caused exactly no self-reflection or evident modification in FA's behaviour or sense of grievance. Guy ( help! - typo?) 14:58, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

re right wing loons?: O'Rly? — Ched ( talk) 18:48, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

See my talk today, - it's rare that a person is pictured when a dream comes true, and that the picture is shown on the Main page on a meaningful day. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 10:20, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Should have just let you handle it. I think I'll just go to bed and stop getting in your way all the time... Pawnkingthree ( talk) 01:15, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

I like it better this way, where it gets done by someone less likely to screw something up. An e/c is a small price to pay. Thanks for doing that. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:16, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

You previously unblocked User:Gexajutyr from an indefinite block for disruptive changing non-broken redirects on the condition that they refrain from touching a redirect, any redirect link or the like for a period of 6 months. I'm sorry to say they've gone back to making pointless redirect alteration edits again, so I've blocked them indefinitely as a result. As the original unblocking admin I thought you should know. Canterbury Tail talk 01:40, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know, no objection from me. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 13:11, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

I couldn't come up with a better idea until closer to the Solstice ;) PRAXIDICAE🌈 22:18, 8 June 2021 (UTC)

Very cool. Didn't know you were allowed to do more than one per month! I was expecting to see a MUCH longer wikimarkup in the edit box, that's actually fairly impressive how efficiently you can do that rainbow. you forgot yellow tho... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:35, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2021).

Administrator changes

Ashleyyoursmile • Less Unless

Husond • MattWade • MJCdetroit • Carioca • Vague Rant • Kingboyk • Thunderboltz • Gwen Gale • AniMate • SlimVirgin (deceased)

Guideline and policy news

• Consensus was reached to deprecate Wikipedia:Editor assistance.
• Following a Request for Comment the Book namespace was deprecated.

Technical news

• Wikimedia previously used the IRC network Freenode. However, due to changes over who controlled the network with reports of a forceful takeover by several ex-staff members, the Wikimedia IRC Group Contacts decided to move to the new Libera Chat network. It has been reported that Wikimedia related channels on Freenode have been forcibly taken over if they pointed members to Libera. There is a migration guide and Wikimedia discussions about this.

Arbitration

• After a Clarification request, the Arbitration Committee modified Remedy 5 of the Antisemitism in Poland case. This means sourcing expectations are a discretionary sanction instead of being present on all articles. It also details using the talk page or the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to discuss disputed sources.

Isn't editing a discussion after it has been closed against the rules? I don't want to deal with them any more, so I'll leave it up to you. Abbyjjjj96 ( talk) 18:11, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for leaving it up to me. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:25, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Sorry Floq. I shouldn't have "pinged" - It wasn't my intent to dump it back in your lap. Just wanted to note my agreement with your assessment. — Ched ( talk) 19:56, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Nah, It wasn't you, Ched. I would have checked back in on the thread anyway. I keep thinking "OK, now it's going to calm down", and then it keeps not doing so. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:00, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Spurred by your comment at WP:AN a few weeks ago, I've been digging into the backlog there, concentrating on the oldest ones. (It is nice that the tables are sortable.) I think I've made a bit of a dent; do you happen to recall what the population of CAT:UNBLOCK was when you brought it up? --jpgordon ^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 00:15, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

@ Jpgordon: I don't recall a number, but from the length of the page, I would guess that it's half the size (or maybe a third?) that it was when I posted to AN. I'm embarrassed to note that I started out well on my resolution to review one unblock request a day... for the first 3-4 days. I'll try to renew that resolution. It's frustrating work; it feels like it only ends well about 10% of the time. A hat tip from me for making it a regular part of your work here. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 12:54, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

Ha .. I remember that, it was exciting back then. Far cry from the DOS 3.1 that I started my studies with. (my first exposure was DOS 2.0, which interested me, but I didn't start researching and studying until 3.1) Did you ever happen upon the Norton Utilities back then? They had a shell (nDOS IIRC) that I swore by. Fixed many a problem with those tools. — Ched ( talk) 02:55, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

I remember using DOSs hell! HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 03:13, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

Hi Floq, As it was your block originally, I wanted to make you aware of this thread at AN. ^{!ɘM γɿɘυϘ} ⅃ϘƧ 18:34, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

@ SQL: Thanks for the heads up, I've commented there. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:46, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

Concerning [6]. See [7]. Headbomb { t · c · p · b} 18:37, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

After seeing that clip, I was kind of hoping Levivich would say he minded "big time", but instead he thanked me. Oh well. Also: Oh. my. God. That film is almost 30 years old?! Also: here's the way my brain works: I now have Bohemian Rhapsody stuck in my head (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:46, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Precious

Nine years!

... your day again, remembered with pleasure, missing RexxS though who made this easy by creating the template - don't miss my talk for flowers and music, 'tis the season for daisies -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 06:19, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

Wow. Nine years? It's kind of amazing I haven't been indef blocked by now. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:50, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Kind of unrelated

Please watch over user and talk of Vami IV. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:34, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

(pinged) User:Moneytrees has taken care of it. Thank you, Gerda, for reverting their edits. – ♠Vami _IV†♠ 22:12, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming, already in progress

some impressions of places, flowers and music for you, - remember Goldatzel? -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:08, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for that link, Gerda. I do remember Goldatzel, very fondly. Well, to be honest, i don't recall the food or the wine, but I do remember the view! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:51, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Thinking of you, I was there again, 3 hours hike to there, magnificent dramatic skies all along, - too tire to upload images, - perhaps tomorrow. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 22:46, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

special:contributions/2601:5C2:300:62E:B5C3:7F1C:394F:748C Drill it ( talk) 15:47, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

( talk page stalker) When I see "Urgent block needed" with a contributions list, I spot check three diffs expecting to see vandalism, harassment, personal attacks or a combination of all three. All I'm seeing here is an argument. Chill out and wait for your report to be looked out. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 15:53, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@ Drill it: I've blocked the IP /64 from your talk page, that's obviously unacceptable. If the block isn't enough, I'll semi-protect your talk page.

Separate issue: I'm confused why you're reverting them at the article, however. Isn't that adequately sourced info? Where have you explained to them what they're doing wrong? Why wouldn't I block both of you for really over-the-top edit warring? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:56, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Oh, I see Ritchie already did that. Yeah, the editing at that page by both of you is no good. Use the talk page. Explain what the problem is. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:57, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Also, I see that I actually fully-blocked the IP instead of a partial block from your page. The behavior was obnoxious enough that I won't try to fix this. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:02, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

I came here following Drill it's AIV report, and was about to block them myself for edit warring. The IP had been making sourced edits to the page, supported by a NY Times reference which seems to verify the added information, I'm not sure why it was necessary for Drill it to revert those. Ashley yoursmile! 16:05, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, I didn't get what the problem was either. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:07, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Let's do the Scooby Doo explanation. 1. Drill it edit-wars with the IP. 2. The IP loses patience and personally attacks Drill it. 3. Drill it reverts the attacks and broadcasts the issue on AN3 and ANI 4. Because Drill it hasn't explained the problem well, it takes admins a while to work out who to take action on and why, eventually uncovering the edit-warring and attacks by the IP leading to a block. 5. By causing issues 2-3, albeit indirectly, Drill it gets blocked too. Now, let's just find out who the mad edit warrior is .... *whump* Gosh, it's old Man Rivers who works at the market stall. And I've have got away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids! Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 16:16, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Bonus Scooby Doo content: User:Floquenbeam/Policy-violating_blog#A Story of Academic Dishonesty. For User:Ponyo. Who I can't help but notice didn't actually ask for details about this, even when I subtly prompted her, but who I'm sure really wanted to know and just got distracted and forgot to ask. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:25, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Yes, considering the resolution of this matter, Floquenbeam, how about unblocking the IP editor who was involved? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.12.60.144 ( talk) 16:29, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

( talk page stalker) Hardly necessary, as you can just use this IP. Favonian ( talk) 16:31, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

No, they were harassing Drill it on his talk page, and they were edit warring too. I'm comfortable with the block. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:32, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

The IP was'nt harassing anyone! There was one edit warrior only (Drill it) who refused any attempt to discuss the matter.

(for watchers:) See the history of Drill it's talk page. (for block-evading IP:) This is a time sink, I'm not going to discuss this with you anymore. I assume this is the same person I blocked, since literally no other rational human would think the IP wasn't edit warring too. Go away, you're being a timesink. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:41, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

73.12.60.144 is clearly the same person as the ipv6 [8] Drill it ( talk) 16:44, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Just a head's up, I've looked at Guy's unblock request, and suggested trading an unblock for an interaction ban. My thoughts are on his talk page. Notwithstanding your standard "Admins, if you want to undo something, just do it" clause, I would like a stronger consensus on this first. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:57, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Assuming for the moment that I haven't messed up and lost my work, I saw that, and am working on a reply in another window. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll reply there. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:02, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

@ Ritchie333:, I'm not going to participate further in the conversation on Guy's talk page if the entry fee is having to pretend he is being honest, which it looks like is the case. If you, or anyone else, want any further info from me about the block or any related thoughts, you/they should ask here. I'm OK with the replacement of the block with an iban, but you might want to have a quiet word with him, because even if he isn't going to interact with Fae anymore, he should know that if he pulls something similar with some other editor, I'm not just going to add that editor to an iban list, I am going to block him indefinitely with no further warning. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:19, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

↑↑This. If you, Ritchie, want to extend good faith, I trust your judgment, as I've said. And I'm sympathetic to Guy needing clear directions in general. But Guy clearly knows how to--and is willing to--use the singular "they"; he used it not twelve hours before posting on Fae's talk page. And between Fae's clearly-stated preferences and Floq's explicit instructions (that Guy linked to in the very edit where he ignored them), I don't know how this could possibly have been more clear. Writ Keeper  ⚇ ♔ 20:51, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

I am disappointed that despite assuming good faith, and doing something that addresses those not wanting Guy blocked as well as dealing with Floq's concerns to an extent, Guy chose to rage quit anyway, and felt like I just wasted my time. Hopefully in a week or so he'll have reconsidered - it's incredibly difficult to leave Wikipedia in a fit of anger; the encyclopedia is linked all over the place, and eventually you'll listen to the crowds of people wanting you back, thinking you need to fix that typo, and then you're back. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 08:34, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

It seems unlikely to me that this is forever. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:39, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

FYI, Guy posted on his talk page again and said that he won't return to constructive editing until you declare yourself WP:involved with regards to Guy and refer any actions you want to take against him in the future to another admin, cease to be an admin, or "give the other administrators at WP:AN permission to decide whether to give me a one-minute block with the summary "The community has decided that the summary of the previous block entry is vacated" or something similar." He also said that, for now, he will stay on Wikipedia but stop contributing to anything other than his talk page and essays. Jackattack1597 ( talk) 01:13, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:39, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

I still don't get why someone who shows up at Fae's talk page for no good reason, links to an ANI thread where they are told unequivocally that they will be blocked if they refer to that user with anything other than the singular they, is then shocked and outrage when they are blocked. What am I missing here? Pawnkingthree ( talk) 01:24, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

People are hard to figure. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 01:39, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

Guy seems to be one of the WP:UNBLOCKABLES. Jackattack1597 ( talk) 10:50, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2021).

Administrator changes Trialpears AGK • Eliz81 • Mulad • ThaddeusB • Vianello • Who Lacrimosus → Ikuzaf Interface administrator changes Ragesoss

CheckUser changes AGK • DGG Oversighter changes AGK

Guideline and policy news

• Consensus has been reached to delete all books in the book namespace. There was rough consensus that the deleted books should still be available on request at WP:REFUND even after the namespace is removed.
• An RfC is open to discuss the next steps following a trial which automatically applied pending changes to TFAs.

Technical news

• IP addresses of unregistered users are to be hidden from everyone. There is a rough draft of how IP addresses may be shown to users who need to see them. This currently details allowing administrators, checkusers, stewards and those with a new usergroup to view the full IP address of unregistered users. Editors with at least 500 edits and an account over a year old will be able to see all but the end of the IP address in the proposal. The ability to see the IP addresses hidden behind the mask would be dependent on agreeing to not share the parts of the IP address they can see with those who do not have access to the same information. Accessing part of or the full IP address of a masked editor would also be logged. Comments on the draft are being welcomed at the talk page.

Arbitration

• The community authorised COVID-19 general sanctions have been superseded by the COVID-19 discretionary sanctions following a motion at a case request. Alerts given and sanctions placed under the community authorised general sanctions are now considered alerts for and sanctions under the new discretionary sanctions.

Hi Floquenbeam. You may want to have a look at an SPI I just opened concerning User:Cyberllamamusic, to whom you gave a one-year block a couple of months ago. Many thanks, -- Viennese Waltz 14:37, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, that seems pretty obviously the same person, doesn't it. What a sap I was, to change an indef block to 1 year as a favor. I'm not sure a CU is going to comment (they don't like linking accounts to IPs), so I'll probably action it myself. Thanks for the note. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:56, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for taking action so promptly. -- Viennese Waltz 07:21, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

I hope you find this of interest.

Disclosures. Apparently using an IP address to contribute is a violation, so I have adopted the screen name of Aabcxyz. All my statements are supported by evidence, which I present at the said talk pages. In the comments that follow I provide additional evidence in parentheses. For the benefit of El C as well as for that of all who read this, a user has volunteered to review my comments before I post them to ensure that no further violation of wikipedia rules inadvertently occurs.

Issue #1. On June 19, El C put a stop of my editing resulting from allegations posted by Objective3000 using an ID other than Objective3000. The allegations were 1) vandalism, 2) use of multiple IP accounts, 3) a third allegation using Wikipedia jargon to which I am not familiar. This was a star chamber proceeding, not allowing a defense and not providing the identity of the plaintiff, here the accuser. Because I had removed citations to the self-published webpages of Objective3000, it was a direct conclusion that he had filed the complaint, verified by looking at his user log, in which Objective3000 used a different user ID. (Evidence: 19 June 2021 IP vandalism • Card counting (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) • Blackjack (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) Temp semi-protection: Persistent vandalism. 16 or so repeated deletions in the last week by multiple related IPs. Refusal to go to TP. O3000, Ret. (talk) 14:20, 19 June 2021 (UTC) /info/en/?search=File:Stop_x_nuvola_with_clock.svg User(s) blocked. El_C 16:23, 19 June 2021 (UTC) )

Concerning allegation 1, I removed multiple references put in place by Objective3000 (the evidence for this allegation appears at Blackjack and Card counter talk pages) as self-published web pages with commercial content. Only one other edit, to improve the quality of Blackjack was made. I considered the removal of citations one of cleansing rather than vandalism; no actual informative page content was removed. Concerning allegation 2 by Objective3000, the evidence (log of my edits at the two pages) not only does not support the allegation but DIRECTLY REFUTES IT. I can respectfully suggest that these weak and verifiably false allegations should not have passed muster for conviction.

I take note that Objection3000 uses at least two other ID’s, O3000 (Talk of Card counting, section 24, O3000 (talk) 20:34, 17 November 2017) and O3000, Ret. (User talk:Objective3000 ; O3000, Ret. (talk) 19:17, 10 January 2021 (UTC)) If an allegation of use of “multiple IP accounts” is grounds for being banned, then certainly use of three is grounds, unless there is something I don’t understand (highly likely) or the rules of Wikipedia are to be construed arbitrarily and capriciously.

I also take note that Rray had not worked on Wikipedia since May 30, 2021, when he quizzically, of the millions of articles on Wikipedia, decided to visit Blackjack and Card counting on June 14, 2021, to reverse my deletions of citations placed by Objective3000 to his self-published webpages, with the comment to “assume good faith.”

He also commented on Card counting, “These references have been here for years.” If there is a statute of limitations relevant to violations of WP:SOURCES and WP:SPS (see Issue #4 below), it might be put forth as an affirmative defense, but I have found nothing in Wikipedia rules to that effect.

Issue #2: One of my actions was to delete at Blackjack under Blackjack Literature a link placed by Objective3000 to his webpage “book.” That was reversed. On consideration, Rray validated my concern and removed the link based on “This doesn't really fit in with the rest of the books on this list for obvious reasons.” (22:15 15 June 2021). That justification was articulated by me on my act of removal: Blackjack literature: self-promotion of commercial website; not a peer-reviewed book like all the others cited; shameful abuse of WP for self-advertising (1:29 12 June 2021). In light of Rray’s deletion, which stands, that act does not constitute vandalism in the eyes of other users.

Issue #3. The evidence shows that before 8/31/2007, no citations to Objective3000’s self-published commercial webpages existed on Blackjack, Card counting, Hole carding, and Martingale (betting system), and Shuffle track. After that date, the evidence shows that Objective3000 inserted citations to his self-published webpages with commercial content, namely, qfit and blackjackincolor, more than once a month in the next six months. At the talk pages of Blackjack and Card counting the evidence that ten such insertions were made by Objective3000 is presented. Under the doctrine of argumentum ad ignorantiam, I cannot say whether others subsequently inserted such citations in these or other webpages, but the evidence is irrefutable that a) Objective3000 inserted such citations to the five articles in the six months after he became active, b) NO OTHER user had inserted citations in the five articles to either of these self-published webpages BEFORE he became active, and c) NO OTHER user inserted such citations to any of these articles during the six month period examined.

Issue #4. It was interesting to find that currently Hole carding lacks the two citations to Objective3000’s self-published websites that he had placed on 12/24/2007 (see Blackjack for evidence). A search through the log shows that from 23 December 2010 through 27 December 2010 two users tried to remove references that Objective3000 had placed to his websites. (See Issue #5 and Hole carding talk page for Evidence.) On 27 December 2010 user TransporterMan began a discussion with Objection3000 based on the merits of citations inserted by Objection3000 to qfit and blackjackincolor being in violation of both WP:SOURCES and WP:SPS.. TransporterMan noted the following on the talk page of Hole carding: “Let me note in passing, however, that the links being removed appear to me to be very iffy as reliable sources to support the assertions in the article. TransporterMan (TALK) 14:43, 27 December 2010.” The rest of the discussion appears on the talk page of Hole carding, including his opinion that WP:SOURCES and WP:SPS are being violated and that a referral to Reliable Sources Noticeboard about these sources would substantiate his opinion, stating “I'm fairly certain of my analysis and the probable outcome.” To summarize, TransporterMan finds fault lies in Objective3000 not being an expert according to the Wikipedia definition “Self-published expert sources may be considered reliable when produced by an established expert on the topic of the article whose work in the relevant field has previously been published by reliable third-party publications. None of Objective3000’s “work,” using his actual name as provided on his commercial webpages, has either been published as a peer-reviewed journal contribution, been accepted for presentation as a paper at a scholarly meeting (Evidence: google scholar, https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/authors.html), or has not been published in book form by reliable third-party publications (Evidence: amazon.com search).

One may conjecture, sine testimonio, that Objective3000’s not pursuing the matter with TransporterMan was a case of discretion over valor: The Hole carding article has about 50 daily visits, whereas Blackjack and Card counting together have about 2300 daily visits, 50 times more traffic. A determination that the citations to qfit and Blackjackincolor violated the doctrines of WP:SOURCES and WP:SPS would be global rather than local, meaning that such citations would necessitate removal from ALL wikipedia articles. Apparently, an appeal to the Reliable Sources Noticeboard committee suggested by TransporterMan was pursued by neither Meisner nor Objective3000. Such a determination for removal, the probable outcome according to TransporterMan, would have been dispositive.

Issue #5. The evidence shows that others have disputed the appropriateness of Objective3000’s citations to this self-published webpages. I was not the first. The evidence in the TransporterMan discussion indicates one such user. In Fred Bauder’s personal page, User_talk:Fred_Bauder#Conflict_of_Interest.2FAdvertising.2FContentiousness, there is evidence of two others, Mr. Bauder himself and a user referred to by Objective3000 (Objective3000 (talk) 14:22, 6 September 2011), wherein Objective3000 refers to the banning of the user. In Hole carding, two users removed the references placed by Objective3000. One got banned for life. (Evidence presented at Hole carding.) In four instances, including mine, the modus operandi of Objective3000 is to begin the process of getting those objectors banned from editing for vandalism or other causes. Under the doctrine of argumentum ad ignorantiam, I cannot say whether other users have found citations to qfit and blackjackincolor inappropriate and whether Objective3000 files claims of vandalism or other causes against them to get them banned, but the implication survives on its own merits. In such cases, judging from the editing histories of these four users, the objectors are new users on Wikipedia and fell prey to violation of its guidelines as alleged by Objection3000 to protect his citations. That was certainly the situation in my regard.

Issue #6. On June 19, 2021, Objective3000 posted a message asking that Blackjack and Card counting be given protected status. This action is taken to cease inappropriate editing on controversial articles, articles about celebrities and political figures, and the such, not to ensure that Objective3000’s citations to his self-published webpages with commercial content be preserved. Both Blackjack and Card counting have the lowest ranking of completed article, C-class, the editing needs of which are described as “Considerable editing is needed to close gaps in content and solve cleanup problems.” Yet, Objective3000 wanted both protected. In consideration of the above, I will respectfully continue to seek the following relief by any and all means appropriate and legal under Wikipedia guidelines: a) Removal of citations to Objective3000’s self-published webpages with commercial content globally and prohibition of additional citations being made by any user to the self-published webpages with commercial content, or, in the interests of a settlement, b) retention of the citations but under the condition that all commercial advertising be therein removed by Objective3000 or his agent, including but not restricted to banner ads and links to software sale sites complete with pricing, such a settlement requiring a published waiver of their policy from the Reliable Sources Noticeboard committee concerning establishment of expert standing and other relevant criteria for posting of references to self-published material.

Aabcxyz ( talk) 22:56, 12 July 2021 (UTC)Aabcxyz

I guess I deserved that. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 23:17, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

El_C 23:51, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

	Aardvark of Deservedness Award
	To the one and only Aardvark Floquenbeam. And to his alter ego. You're smashing. I hereby bestow upon you the Aardvark of Deservedness award. May your skin always be thick (and sparsely haired) and may your claws always be perfect for digging. Dweller ( talk) Old fashioned is the new thing! 23:42, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

I can't believe I forgot about Aardvark Floq. I should have commented at BN using that account; probably in the Crat section, right? Thanks Dweller. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 00:41, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Let's just hope .. He doesn't catch wind of this. He might get upset about being left out. — Ched ( talk) 02:17, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

He's been in hibernation it seems. Can't remember password and (as a measure of how lazy I am recently) it's just too much trouble to ask for an email to reset it. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:12, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

... On second thought, never mind. -- MelanieN ( talk) 04:10, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

You were right, of course. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:12, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

I get that I may have been overzealous. For what it was worth my goal was not to punish Suryakant Bhoi but rather to protect our other editors. I don't think Laplorfill or BrxBrx were acting in bad faith, rather they were repeating what the source said without fully understanding its meaning. It is very chilling when suddenly threatened with legal action and we lose a lot of good editors to Wikipedia because of the general toxicity that well intentioned editors often encounter.

I agree the content was not appropriate regardless of the source. I also defer to your judgement in this matter. Please don't think that I was trying to be pointed or strict for the sake of strictness. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 02:57, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

I don't know; it's also chilling to complain about a bigoted term (in an admittedly hyperbolic way), and get met with a block and 5-6 warnings on your talk page before you make another edit. I'll be surprised if Suryakant Bhoi comes back (I guess to be fair, I'd be surprised if they had come back without a block). It's not that you were too strict or overzealous; it's that we are too strict and overzealous. I just felt like Cullen had it competently under control, and (for once) ANI had handled a single silly isolated over-the-top legal threat correctly, except then hours later the block came and even that tiny victory was revoked. I'm not advocating for legal threats to be OK, I'm advocating for at least warning people first, particularly when they're obviously made in the heat of the moment and are pretty toothless. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:31, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

I understand why you reverted it. And you do have a point that it is their choice. However, in many of these cases, the user doesn't understand that the "|he/she" at the end of the the userbox link is in fact an option that they can manipulate. Some people do understand that, and made the change, and some clearly haven't made the connection. So, this is a way to help them... They could have reverted it themselves, if they didn't like it. Dhrm77 ( talk) 20:17, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

The odds are that in those 3 instances, the users wouldn't mind. But we don't know that. In general, I would really discourage editing other people's userpages like this. For all you know, they left it that way intentionally. Or maybe they didn't fully realize that setting their preferences that way gave this info to other editors. Or perhaps, like some, they just don't like people messing with their pages. The possibility of unintended bad feelings is not worth changing something that is not wrong to something else that is also not wrong, in a template that - frankly - no one is ever going to look at. If any of those 3 editors like the change, they'll revert me, but I would still hold onto that rule of thumb. Speaking of "unintended bad feelings", I was going to leave you a brief note about this on your talk page, but got distracted in real life and forgot. Didn't mean to revert with no message beyond the edit summary. Sorry. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:30, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Also, in case you check my recent contribs, it's OK if you know them and know they won't mind... -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:46, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks; I am not so fussed, but do wish ERRORS overall was a less ... aggressive ... place. Either works, not fussed ... it was just something that came up along the way from someone who felt autonomic was an unfamiliar word. I have a three-hour meeting, so if any fuss comes up before I am home, do not worry ... do whatever makes the most people happy :) Thanks for all you do. Best, SandyGeorgia ( Talk) 13:29, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Sure, no problem. To be fair, it did look like a typo, and I can easily imagine doing the same thing Amakuru did. Sometimes we get it wrong. If it had actually been a typo, people would have complained at how stupid and lazy the admins at ERRORS are for leaving an obvious typo on the main page for so long. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 13:34, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Yep, I understand and empathize. Just whining because Wikipedia has become so unbearable that I rarely log on anymore, but had to for TFA, and all the little stuff about TFA adds up and depletes enthusiasm. I accept that TFA vandalism happens, but today ... I am just not up for the stupid vandalistic edits to the article, so it's a good thing I have to push back for a meeting now! Bst, SandyGeorgia ( Talk) 13:37, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

QED. FWIW I've added DLB to my watchlist for the day. And you probably don't get told enough: thanks to you and the many co-noms for that article. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 14:10, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Oh, that is so very nice of you ... thanks again, and thanks for all you do! SandyGeorgia ( Talk) 00:11, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Another IP picked up where the other left off, possibly needs a rangeblock of some extent. Cards 84664 20:59, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

I have a feeling this will eventually need to be semi-protected, but i'd like to avoid that because of fairly recent useful IP edits. I've blocked the */64, let's see if that works. If nearby IPs return I'll get help doing a range block. If far away IPs return, I'll semi-protect. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 21:11, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

July

Music happens. On the Main page now: "my" school. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 15:47, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Hi Gerda! Cool; I just looked and my high school has a page too (but doesn't really deserve one). Certainly not DYK material. Hope all is well. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 17:39, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Keep the first link watched, and you'll know what's up. Lovely music, meetings, food all weekend, and imagine, a real choir rehearsal yesterday, first since March 2020: in the church, sitting where the congregation would be, first row (and other odds) 2 people at the ends of the row, second row (and other evens) 1 person in the middle of the row. It worked! Poor conductor has to speak VERY slowly. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 17:55, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

More music: 2 songs, the morning song - about rising from being down, in more than one sense - is a GA, - there should be more given my initials, but I also want to care for articles of those who recently died (now Esther Béjarano). -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 16:47, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Certainly keeping busy, I see! I’m assuming (more like hoping) that’s evidence that you’re not directly affected by all the flooding. — Floquenbeam ( talk) 18:15, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Yes, not directly affected. It helps to live in the upper part of a valley. However, family used to live in Erftstadt which looks horrible, again not exactly where they lived, but makes me tremble. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:40, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

last row here shows how I saw rainbows yesterday at the Rhine that flooded a pedestrian bridge -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 22:41, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Did you know that Vivaldi composed cello sonatas? I didn't until I took the pic. - Last row is no longer last. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:32, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Was afraid for a moment that you had a heart attack. - Guests from the U.S. tomorrow, will take them the Floq tour again ;) -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 18:59, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

I hope they enjoy it as much as I did. Fingers crossed for good weather. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:02, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

They enjoyed Idstein! -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 08:02, 29 July 2021 (UTC)

Yesterday the next (party of 3) enjoyed Idstein, and today is the anniversary of my parents' wedding in a peace church. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 07:11, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

Me too - that was an eyebrow-raising edit summary!-- Pawnkingthree ( talk) 19:19, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

@ Gerda Arendt and Pawnkingthree: I'm sorry, I didn't think about it like that. As you've deduced, I was just using hyperbole. I always spend the first half of a vacation recovering from preparing to leave, and the second half dreading the return. Usually get about 1-2 days of actual enjoyment somewhere in the middle. I need a new job. Maybe Wikimedia CEO? -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:02, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

It was only a moment, - then it dawned on me that someone with an actual heart attack wouldn't write that. Take care, spare us the trouble. Much to be enjoyed around here, even a concert with singing (last row)! -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:54, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Yeah no worries, like Gerda said it was only for a moment. I'm lucky in that my job is not that stressful, most of the vacation stress for me comes from looking after the kids... Pawnkingthree ( talk) 22:39, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2021).

Administrator changes BusterD Kees08 • Nickshanks • Protonk • Schissel • Ultraexactzz • Wknight94

CheckUser changes TheresNoTime Oversighter changes TheresNoTime ST47

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open to add a delay of one week from nomination to deletion for G13 speedy deletions.

Technical news

• Last week all wikis were very slow or not accessible for 30 minutes. This was due to server lag caused by regenerating dynamic lists on the Russian Wikinews after a large bulk import. ( T287380)

Arbitration

• Following an amendment request, the committee has clarified that the Talk page exception to the 500/30 rule in remedy 5 of the Palestine-Israel articles 4 case does not apply to requested move discussions.

Miscellaneous

• You can vote for candidates in the 2021 Board of Trustees elections from 4 August to 17 August. Four community elected seats are up for election.

		The Barnstar of Good Humor
		Thank you ◦ Trey Maturin 16:23, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Aw, thanks Trey, glad to brighten your day. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 20:00, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

• Addendum: [11]. TonyBallioni ( talk) 00:32, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
• another added after the above was closed (and only happy permitted below): User talk:DisillusionedBitterAndKnackered#August thanks -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 11:11, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Solid decisive admin action and excellent use of BLP/IAR. Thanks! ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 16:22, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

Thanks PR, I appreciate the note. I was unaware of the existence of Kiwi Farms until yesterday; I wish I could go back to that. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 15:35, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

August songs

My 12th today, DYK? I decorated, also for a birthday. Songs invite to more music, places, food and flowers. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 13:55, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Wait; I've been on here longer than you?? I always kind of subconsciously assumed you've been here forever (intended as compliment, on review I can see how it might look wrong, but I'm sure you wouldn't have taken it that way). I can't remember a WP without Gerda. Happy wiki-birthday. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 16:11, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Happy it is, walk outside. - Thank you, blushing a bit, but I'm sure those who blamed me for highly estimated FA writers leaving Wikipedia (look a bit above) will not feel the same, and might prefer the project without me. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 19:43, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

I understand. Unless you're attacking someone or behaving unethically or something (which you weren't), you are not responsible for whether other adults edit WP. You can regret their leaving, but don't feel responsible, and don't let anyone gaslight you into thinking you're responsible. If they want to edit, they should edit. If they don't want to, they shouldn't. Anything else is emotional blackmail. -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:56, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

OK, now, from now on only happy things in this thread! -- Floquenbeam ( talk) 19:56, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

That WAS happy, because - as I said - it still hurts, and comments like yours heal that, a bit at least. I never wished someone wasn't here, although I found some more difficult to deal with than you ;) - I tried to collaborate even with the toughest one, and when he was banned it was without me even commenting. Going to expand Alice Harnoncourt, promised, and then the wild Laja. -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 20:48, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Today: 2 interesting DYK (I think), sadly 2 who died (on top of 2 from Poland yesterday), and a concert in which Daniel Barenboim just played piano, - and afterwards he and the orchestra received last year's prize (pictured). -- Gerda Arendt ( talk) 21:01, 7 August 2021 (UTC)