User talk:Dennis Brown/Archive 18

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.

Hello, Dennis Brown. You have new messages at Talk:1950s American automobile culture/GA1.
Message added 20:33, 3 January 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

• Only one question outstanding I think. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 21:43, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

		Best wishes for the New Year!
		Here's wishing you and yours a joyous, healthful, and productive 2013! Please accept a belated thank you for the well wishes upon my FA process, thanks to many dedicated Wikipedians! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 20:37, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

• I'm glad you are back. Sometimes, doing the good work can be a slog. I'm not smart enough to do reviews for FAs, but if there is some other way I can help, just ask. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:02, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

	AutomaticStrikeout's Hall of Fame Barnstar
	Congratulations, Dennis! You are the fourth editor to be inducted into my AutomaticStrikeout (T • C ) 17:39, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• I'm flattered and appreciate the wikilove that goes into it. We need to find a way to find the real, unsung heros around here, like we talked about at WER. I'm so booked up right now, I can't give it the time it deserves. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:16, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• I haven't been around for a lot of the discussion while that project is being set up, but I'll be happy to pitch in with clerking and such, if I can.
  AutomaticStrikeout (T • C
  ) 22:32, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• We just need to figure out a fancy way to thank those quiet heros. check out the discussion. I just popped in to work on my GA (my first, and about done!!) and now I have real world work to do. I'm about to be busy around the clock for three months, but that is the price I have to pay to goof off the rest of the year :) Staring my 20th year doing it, so I'm used to it. So if you don't see me around as much, understand it is just an occupational hazard. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:35, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• BoringHistoryGuy would certainly be one of those unsung heroes. Ryan Vesey 22:36, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

	Here's a toast to the host Of those who edit wiki near and far, To a friend we send a message, "keep the data up to par ". We drink to those who wrote a lot of prose , And then they whacked a vandal several dozen blows. A toast to the host of those who boast, the Wikipedians ! - From {{subst:TheGeneralUser}}

TheGeneralUser (talk) has bought you a whisky! Sharing a whisky is a great way to bond with other editors after a day of hard work. Spread the WikiLove by buying someone else a whisky, whether it be someone with whom you have collaborated or had disagreements. Enjoy!

Spread the good cheer and camaraderie by adding {{WikiScotch}} to their talk page with a friendly message. Message received at ~~~~~

TheGeneralUser (talk) — is wishing you a Happy New Year! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the New Year cheer by adding {{subst:New Year 1}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

A Very Happy (belated) New Year to you Dennis! Enjoy the Whisky ~ TheGeneralUser (talk) 23:02, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

The famous chauvinist Wiki-troll, Banned User:Iaasi returned alias User:Carpathians — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bingler (talk • contribs) 13:30, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Dennis, is there a way to figure out if the IPs editing Robert Agostinelli are doing so using open proxies? The information reported by geolocate was unusual (in my experience) and seemed suspicious to me. Because you're so busy off-wiki, is there someone else I can "bother" with these sorts of questions? Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 02:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• I have some time this morning with my coffee, and besides, I enjoy checking for proxies. I wrote a Perl script to help with proxy testing and working on some other automated tools to make it faster. The first one I just checked did look a bit odd, maybe a webhost proxy. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 12:32, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• Consider filing an SPI with a CU request for Ssentif (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) and one of the socks Petroskinov1294 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki), and list some or all of those IPs. Those are all VPN proxies, but not open proxies, with little exception. I would imagine they have some sleepers, but it might be hard to find them since they are using webhot/VPN proxies to hide their true identity and location. That isn't a bunch of people though, just one or two that is causing the problem. You might need to consider protecting Rhône Group, or at least keep an eye out on that one as well. I can't really block here and haven't, but a CU could do a few select range blocks, as they have access to more info than I do. But this was a good find, it does look like a nest of issues coming from one or two people, perhaps with a financial gain or personal grudge. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 12:56, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• Thanks, Dennis. I know what VPN stands for (virtual private network, I assume), but I don't know what a VPN proxy is; nor do I know what a webhost (I assume webhot is a typo) proxy is. Rhône Group just came off of semi-protection (imposed by me) and hasn't had any activity since. It's on my watchlist; if there's any unusual activity, I'll protect it again. I'll file the SPI report sometime today. Thanks again.--Bbb23 (talk) 14:56, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• You can VPN into a box securely, then use the box as a proxy to hide your real location, a closed proxy, which is normally ok. I have my own closed proxy I use for testing/education. The webhost is another type of close proxy, you have to have an account on that system. They are often blocked if they pose problems. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 15:02, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Hello Dennis, I thought you might be able to give some insight on something Leedezine posted on my talk. Leedezine has blanked Brandi Hawbaker twice, and done nothing else. Their claim might be legitimate, but I wanted someone else's input. Should this edit also be RevDel'd or Oversighted? When you can, input would be nice. Vacation^nine 22:01, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• Must have been bad, it was actually oversighted, not just revdeled. I can't even see it now. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 08:22, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Ah, yes, as it stood it contained personal info and was a BLP vio. Vacation^nine 12:56, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Belated happy New Year, hope all is good across the pond. Sad to see you've got a busy period coming up (I've been almost radio-silent for the last week or so myself). Just glanced at SPI and my heart sank...

• SPI is a bitch, no other way to put it. You have to be a glutton for punishment to work there as they make new socks as fast as you can wash the old ones. It is all about maintenance. I still like it. And happy new year to you as well, I hope you are adjusting to the new tools. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 13:00, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey Dennis. Can you kindly look over this case Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Postnoonnews and give your reviews/comments ? Regards. ~TheGeneralUser (talk) 01:14, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

I've endorsed the CU request. Let's see what it throws up.

_berate

01:21, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

The Admin's Barnstar

for your comments at Wikipedia_talk:Non-admin_closure#Non-admin_closures_should_be_discontinued. You have hit the nail on the head. I have been a Wikipedian for YEARS. I have privileges that some admins will never get...but I do not have the mop. Thank you for knocking one in for those of us who are made to feel like second class citizens everytime we close a discussion that sorely needs to be closed. Your words touched on the exact problem, and your attitude is pure gold...PURE GOLD...and wish you the very best from the bottom of my heart in spreading it around. Wikipedia needs more Admins like you. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 03:45, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

The Admin's Barnstar

Because...if it were not for you I would be just another angry voice shouting into the void. You changed my perception of Wikipedia, admin, other editors and myself. You guide a small group into a larger community. I am thankful I was lucky enough to gain your ear and your trust. If there is a model for admin editors people to follow...it is you. No one is perfect...but perfection is not the point or the goal.-- talk ) 07:30, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Three barnstars in one day, I'm floored! Thank you Sue, Gtwfan52 and Amadscientist, and of course Gerda Arendt for sharing the good news that my first GA was just passed. Kindness this great is valuable enough to be stored in my

Dennis you've worked very very hard to earn this kind of respect - so it is well deserved. — Ched :  ?  20:43, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

		The Good Article Barnstar
		Congrats on your first GA! *Wiping tear from eye* It's just so beautiful when an admin does content work. Welcome to the dark side. —Torchiest talkedits 14:49, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

• Thank you for the kindness. It feels good to have finally earned a GA. Of course, I had a lot of help along the way: Malleus, Ihardlythinkso, PamD and others really helped put the polish on it and deserve credit for taking it from "a good idea" to "a good article". Kiefer.Wolfowitz is still working on it, fixing my errors, not settling for "good enough". Of course, TBrandley gets some credit for doing the review as well. By any measure, it was a group effort. I'm just glad I could be a part of it. It was a fun article to build with all these people. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 15:30, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

  It's a great feeling, isn't it? Most of the GAs and FAs I've ever been a part of have been a team effort, a great collaboration is one of the best parts of working on wikipedia; I particularly enjoyed the process of getting Appaloosa and Yogo sapphire to FA. Often, you meet some terrific people, too! It is always great to remember that actually creating content is why we are all supposed to be here!  ;-) Montanabw^(talk) 19:41, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

  It is a good feeling. I have a companion article "American automobile manufacturing in the 1950s with the technical info, including the birth of

  Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin with another editor, and I need to get working on that one this week, already got a DYK out of it. Since that is why we are here, to create good articles, it does satisfy. Its like a drug, once you have one hit, you want another ;-) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER

  20:29, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of collaboration with another admin, moving his GA to German and make it a DYK there ;) - you get many hits because an article stays on their Main page for 48 hours, - right now and tomorrow "my" de:BWV 40 (bottom right, "Darzu ist erschienen ..."), --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:43, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Congratulations, Dennis! Is there anything here you can't do? Maybe you'll take over for Jimbo when he leaves whatever position he has.

AutomaticStrikeout (T • C

) 21:01, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

You are all much better writers than I am. Unquestionably. I truly believe in the

stone soup method of article creation. Most of my prose experience has been writing for radio ads and ecommerce sites, which made me a good living but really is terrible for encyclopedia articles, so I'm having to completely relearn writing. Besides, I'm better at raw prose, chasing sources and getting people cooperating together to polish it than I am at proper writing. And no, Mr. Strikeout, I'm not applying for Jimbo's job, no thanks. ;-) There is much I haven't done here, but I'm working on it. The key is having fun doing it. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER

21:12, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

What's this about fun? Back to work. The Yadkin Pee in Dee River article won't write itself. ```Buster Seven Talk 00:18, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

We can share this pie under that rock together ;) v/r - TP 02:28, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

• My favorite flavor, humble. Really it shouldn't matter, but I just felt bad and staying out is best. I would have had I known. I'm still floored and still not used to seeing others quotes me like that, so that caught me off guard. I was humbled in several ways. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 03:02, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

• That is almost comical. Someone complains that it is used in bad faith, yet the "what links here" clearly shows no such thing. This is a silly waste of time and resources, and I think nominating, by proxy for the IP or on your own, shows a poor understanding of policy. And odd choice for only your 25th edit to Wikipedia. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 03:21, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey Dennis. If you think this should go straight to ANI, particularly with the general sanctions on the MMA space, I have no problems doing so. A couple weeks back Willdawg111 (talk · contribs) started a discussion to change the format of results tables. There wasn't a lot discussion or input on the issue. However, this week Willdawg111 decided to 'close the discussion' stating that his preferred format was the one decided by consensus (with only his vote) and is changing the WikiProject page and a few articles as a result. A couple of us have reverted his edits (mostly me) stating one !vote is not a consensus. Since he made his changes there has been more input and !votes from others on the issue which have not been for his desired format. It appears to me that Willdawg111 is not going to relent in their 'closure of consensus' and will be willing to edit war over it if someone (likely me) keeps reverting his changes. Willdawg111 is a new editor (nothing to suggest a sock) and is still learning the Wikipedia ropes. What would you suggest the best course of action would be? Thanks and don't work too hard. --TreyGeek (talk) 14:14, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• If I wasn't working so many hours, I would go try to talk some sense into him, but I barely have time to pop in. I haven't looked at the situation but have no trouble taking you at your word. You may need to take it to ANI, but you need to point to diffs showing you have tried to work it out first. What is it about editors in general over there? MMA has the highest percentage of combative editors it seems. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 15:30, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Combative editors in the subject of "ultimate fighting"? Seems kinda appropriate to me. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 15:37, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
• Thanks Dennis. There's been more warnings to this person on the MMA WikiProject talk page from another person as well as myself. If they persist, I'll take it over to ANI. --TreyGeek (talk) 17:34, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Just to note on this, I posted a request at
    Ravensfire (talk
    ) 18:20, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• • • You guys do know that special sanctions are in effect for MMA? See the bottom of my user page. Any admin can topic ban him if he has been warned and will not stop. I will look at this other later, got a meeting to go to. It is that time of year when I actually have to work. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:23, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

• • • • Bleh - work. Know the feeling. To the main point, yup, know about the sanctions. I'm hoping, really hoping that he's not going to push it any farther because he's right on the edge. He's passionate about the subject and I'm hoping with someone neutral reviewing things he'll go with the decision even if it's not his preferred approach. Thanks!
        Ravensfire (talk
        ) 01:39, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

• I agree Dennis about you not worrying about it. If Willdawg persists (and it looks like they've decided to just argue the point on talk pages for now), there will be an ANI report filed (it's already written, ready for a copy/paste) and will be handled appropriately. Like I said when I started this section... don't work too hard.  ;) --TreyGeek (talk) 02:16, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Wilddawg is pushy because the lot of you less informed mma "fans" over at the wiki project stonewall whenever anyone wants to make progress, and cling to inherited notability rationale that starts at

talk

) 20:59, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Dennis, I'm going to slip this here rather than create a new section for potentially one comment. I have invoked your name at ANI at this thread here. Specifically it is regarding the "MMA notability Thunderdome" and your past attempts at being referee. --TreyGeek (talk) 01:04, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	You epitomize the saying on a plaque I saw once. "Tact is the ability to tell a man to go to hell, and have him happy to be on his way! talk ) 07:30, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

;) - I came to congratulate on the GA "1950s ...", great collaboration, well deserved, GA, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:04, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

I came here to give you a barnstar but you've already been spoiled. Congrats!♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 15:50, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Maybe a "Car-star" would be more appropriate: [1]? Well done on a great article. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:09, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Hello. I was wondering if you could

Dennis, FYI there is already existing existing SPI report about a possible link between Jadesnake and JonnyBonesJones. --TreyGeek (talk) 14:06, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

I found another possible sock and added it. I'm considering the links as we speak. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 14:18, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

When I first got referred here images of a famous

talk

) 19:59, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

It's time for something to be done about Ottawahitech's actions at

• I left a polite note on his talk page. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:08, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Very likely, I'm going to be very scarce (or completely absent) for a few days. Our entire database system barfed this afternoon, and I'm the closest thing we have to an IT dept. so it falls on me to make the problem go away. It is 10 year old software designed for 1/4 the load we give it, patched up with gum, duct tape and several Perl scripts. Be glad you aren't me this week. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 02:50, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Good luck .... do leave details of where the search party needs to be sent if you have not resurfaced by the weekend!

Mtking ✉

03:00, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Try gaffer's tape instead of duct tape - stronger and it comes in lots of pretty colors. Beyond My Ken (talk) 03:11, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Or you could do what I did several years ago when the company owner refused to spend the money on IT hardware. Dump a couple of well-placed boxes of steel needles in the mainframe and find the fire extinguisher.

talk

) 03:23, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Just walked in after running maintenance all night, no bueno. The hardware is actually pretty good, twin Dell servers, dual quad core with SAS drives, mirrored, CentOS 6/64bit and 16GB of ram, etc. The software uses a

Btreive database designed to run on Win9x, not Win7 with a Linux server. Back to work... Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER

13:07, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Ouch, that hurts hearing about it. I think it's time to face it: She's dead, Jim. Time to upgrade to a modern day database software.  ;) I know, convincing the pointy-haired bosses it's worth the time and money is the hard part. Good luck! --TreyGeek (talk) 13:54, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

It isn't even about money, he just doesn't want to learn new software. New software is less than $5000, but the lost productivity while learning the new package is 10x that. I'm in the middle of a final attempt to rebuild the entire database, for the 4th or 5th time. I literally have 30 working backups, trying all kinds of tweaks and tweaks on tweaks. My head hurts. I'm not a full time IT guy, and really a marketing guy, so it has been a challenge to remember all this stuff. Back to the grind... Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:27, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Ouch ... that's not pleasant. Been in the same situation and finally got the upgrade approval when the server crashed and we couldn't get the database software to load on any contemporary OS. Even duct tape can only go so far. Good luck!

Ravensfire (talk

) 22:40, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Btrieve? Wow, that's a blast from the past – I haven't used that since the 80s, back in the DOS days, but I can still picture the "UPS truck brown" manuals. Good luck Dennis. Mojoworker (talk) 00:05, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Per the results from the checkuser at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/BigzMMA/Archive#Clerk.2C_CheckUser.2C_and.2For_patrolling_admin_comments_8 I call for a block on Pound4Pound as a sockpuppeteer. Hasteur (talk) 13:50, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Looks like P4P is already blocked as a puppet of BigzMMA. Or am I missing something? --TreyGeek (talk) 13:54, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry for the dustup. it appears that the user was blocked but no Indef block notice is on their page. Hasteur (talk) 13:57, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

There is a notice on the user page, nothing is needed on the talk page. Just shows my initial block months ago was correct. I did notice DQ had to do a lot of research, and I certainly understand. I had done the same thing, it was one of the harder cases. I had to do it last time without CU data, so the fact that he would with CU data reinforces the findings. Bigz had changed a lot of his methods, but he didn't change who he was. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:23, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/JonnyBonesJones
There were 3 other accounts that appear to also be sockpuppets of JonnyBonesJones: TreyGeek, Poison Whiskey, and LlamaAl
Can you tell me if they were looked at also, confirmed as not being sockpuppets, or just not enough evidence either way. Willdawg111 (talk) 20:07, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

• They were not listed in the case, they were only mentioned. If the CU had found linkage, he would have listed them in the appropriate template. Very likely he didn't check since no evidence was presented. I know TreyGeek fairly well as I've seen his work at MMA for a long time and familiar, he isn't a sock. Can't speak for the others. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 23:11, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. That gives me a little more confidence in the project. Willdawg111 (talk) 01:13, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

• What about Jakejr? I also see him, LLamaal, and poison whiskey all behaving the same. Could one of them be the sock master or whatever the term is?

  talk

  ) 23:22, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

  • • The case wasn't filed on them and evidence wasn't shown. Claims aren't enough, you have to present a case. It isn't our job to do all the research, only to analyse what is presented. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 00:40, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
    • ¿Me sockpuppet of JBJ? Ha. I'm not a sock. Look at my contribs in the Spanish Wikipedia. I was blocked before, and I learned from that experience. --LlamaAl (talk) 00:10, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Dennis, I came within one click of filing this as a

• Claudia Caudill (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• Dnbr23 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• The Lemko Project (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) (already blocked as role account)
• 68.186.207.156 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

What would have been the SPI evidence if I'd clicked "Save page": Let me start by saying that I think that this is just clumsiness more than any attempt to deceive and that the best and proper remedy here is to advise the editor to only use one account, to sign in rather than edit from the IP address, and perhaps to help her

Best regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 17:16, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• I think you mean Corinna Caudill (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki), looking now. I didn't see any contribs for Claudia. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 17:33, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
• I've left a note on the IP and Dnbr23's talk page. Hopefully they will take the hint that they need to participate in a more collegiate fashion and not take such a warrior stance on the material. I have no opinion on the content, but I'm sure you agree, the solution lies with actual discussion of the merits. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 17:48, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Dennis. It now appears to be all fixed. She's started editing with her proper account and we've worked out some issues on the article talk page. Just for the record, she now claims that Dnbr23 wasn't her and having talked some, I think she's more than likely telling the truth, and that the edit in which she appears to be taking credit for Dnbr23's edits was based upon a false assumption on her part. I appreciate your help very much. Best regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 20:37, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I won't debate who is linked to who, all that matters is that discussion is taking place ;) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:47, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I thought that you deserved something a bit extra for all of the amazing work you've done for the project. I've nominated you for a gift from the Wikimedia Foundation!

Vacation^nine 19:35, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• I appreciate the kindness, but if you check here, I was already nominated, tried to refuse it, got talked into accepting the t-shirt and made a donation to cover the cost :) You guys are already too nice to me, but I am flattered by the thought. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 19:38, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm happy to have gotten a shirt as well. I've known about the existence of the program, but haven't endorsed anybody for the same reason I don't keep wikifriends lists. To add one person means to not add another, in this case to endorse one means not to endorse another. I don't like that idea, but also don't plan on endorsing all editors for the sake of endorsing them so I've stayed away. Ryan Vesey 19:50, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

It is tough. I've endorsed some, but I've stayed away from endorsing several that I think are deserving, but I feel a positive conflict of interest with, ie (wiki-buddies). I did endorse DGG, whom I consider a mentor, but jeez, that is DGG. His accomplishments aren't exactly a secret, and once I take away everything he has done for me, we are still left with enough reasons to provide his entire wardrobe. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 19:55, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Oh... maybe I should have checked first. I'm new to the Merchandise Giveaways program. Sorry about that. Vacation^nine 19:56, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

No apology necessary, it is the thought that counts, and I genuinely appreciate the thought. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 20:02, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I submitted the formabout a week-and-a-half ago, but it still hasn't gotten here yet . Oh well. I've nominated two people for shirts, but did so anonymously both times; I agree with Ryan, it's a really fine line. Go Phightins! 20:16, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Well, I spoke to soon. My shirt got here a half hour after I posted that it wasn't here. Go Phightins! 21:18, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

	The Original Barnstar
	Well, I can't get you a t-shirt, so here's a barnstar. Nothing Dennis does doesn't deserve a barnstar. Constantly helpful, always kind, gives advice in any situation, and all around helpful. Oh, and did I say helpful? Vacationnine 19:58, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• Thank you for the kindness. I've stored the original in my
  Ronco Barnstar Vault™ for safe keeping :) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER
  20:04, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Would you allow me to add the "Oh, and did I say helpful?" part in your vault? And is that a reference? If so, I don't get it. Vacation^nine 20:08, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Ronco is a reference to the company owned by Ron Popeil, and don't feel bad if you don't get it, many wouldn't. I'm an old guy and grew up with his products advertised on TV in the 1970s, like the Ginsu Knives, the Pocket Fisherman, spray on hair in a can and the current best seller Showtime Rotisserie[2]. He invested the phrase "But wait, there's more!!". You've probably seen him if you've ever watched any US TV, selling his stuff. To be even more obscure, the "Barnstar vault" is a references to the "Ronco Album Vault" from an episode of Futurama, "The Luck of the Fryish" I believe. I guess you have to be an old nerd to get some of my odd and convoluted humor :) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:31, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Ah, ok. I'll check it out. You didn't answer my question though; can I add the amended barnstar to your collection? Vacation^nine 22:33, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Sure, and thanks for asking. :) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:44, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I was brought into a rather complex RfC (multiple options) on my talk page. I'd like to find one or two people to do two things. First, close the RfC (in the future). Second, monitor the page and the talk page. I believe Ahnoneemoos is done edit warring his version of the article in, but he has repeatedly cited the fact that BRD is an essay as an excuse to do so. In any case, I'd like to have someone lined up beforehand. If you don't want to close it, can you pass it on to someone you think is able to? Ryan Vesey 20:19, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Ryan, he came to my talk page as well asking roughly the same thing. I also saw him on several watchlisted talks; he's bringing quite a few people into this. Go Phightins! 21:19, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, I noticed that. For what it's worth, I am under the impression that it is not canvassing as a) he didn't actually ask people to take part in the discussion and b) he doesn't appear to have been inviting others based on a thought that they would agree with him at the discussion. Ryan Vesey 21:21, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

As an aside, I'm not sure he would even be familiar with canvassing. He didn't even mention an RfC to me, I mentioned it to him on my talk. We shall see, I suppose. Go Phightins! 21:34, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

(Also messaged about this) It's not canvassing, he's just pinging people who are Teahouse hosts, asking for advice on what to do. I'm hoping Ahnoneemoos picks up on my subtle, hey, diplomatic hinting in the conversation on Ryan's talk page and realizes that he's edit warring. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 21:37, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

On that point, BRD needs to be rewritten. In practice it is used in cases where an edit is made with no previous discussion, reverted, then discussed. According to the essay, it is used during ongoing discussion if the discussion isn't going anywhere. Ryan Vesey 21:50, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• BRD is treated as "near law" because it encapsulates so many other policies and guidelines. It has been at a vote to become a guideline and has gotten a lot of support, but not enough to promote it yet. Ignoring it is always optional, but so is an admin deciding to block for edit warring without requiring 3rr being strictly violated. I'm more inclined to block an editor who is just reverting once a day for weeks than someone who violates 3RR in a single hour. Doing it over weeks shows a willingness to ignore the community, doing it over an hour just shows a temporary lack of judgement and getting caught up in the moment. As for closing, I would probably decline just because I'm so swamped at work most days, and I don't like closing something unless I can take the time to really study it adequately. It shouldn't require an admin to close anyway unless it is very, very contentious. (note: and I say that not because I think admin are smarter, but because admin are expected to deal with the backlash that comes with closing contentious issues). I might have the time, but I might not, so I would have to pass. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:42, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• Sounds good. Do you have a particular admin or non-admin in mind who would be ready to close it? I'm taking part in the discussion (and need to get back to clarify my statement) so I can't close it. Ryan Vesey 22:43, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• Writ Keeper just piped in above, he doesn't look too busy ;) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 22:46, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

	Hello, Dennis Brown. You're invited to join members. Happy editing! Northamerica1000(talk) 01:11, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

It has come to my attention via some off wki communication that there is a very good chance the two indef blocked accounts

From my experience, you should tack it on to the end of JBJ. A clerk will do the necessary moving. I think they'd need to confirm that JBJ was a sock of Glock17gen4 to move it around. Ryan Vesey 21:36, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

• Actually, I would ask a CU to look into it, to see what the odds of a link are. You can ask on the main
  WP:SPI page, and if they link it, one of the clerks (like me) will fix up the paperwork and do the history merge, which does require the admin bit to do since you are deleting/undeleting a lot of edits to merge. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER
  22:34, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Am about to post a SPI, is CU stale ?

Mtking ✉

23:48, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

see

Mtking ✉

23:51, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

I meant to ask at the bottom of WP:SPI, but since you started, someone will look. Sometimes, even when it is stale, one of the CUs will have a good enough memory or access to previous data that isn't generally available, and can make the connection. The key is, I don't like merging cases unless a CU says to do so, in case there is some reason they want to not merge them. They have access to info that clerks don't. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 00:27, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry I miss understood; I had drafted the SPI following Ryan's comments just got interrupted by real life before I could file it and came back here and did not fully understand your suggestion.

Mtking ✉

00:34, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

No biggie, it will get looked at one way or another. That is what we clerks do, just shuffle papers, so once a CU makes a call, that is what we will do :) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:33, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

An arbitration case in which you commented has been opened, and is located at

• Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Imperium Romanum Sacrum
• User talk:Salvio giuliano/Archive 59#Checkuser

Uncle G (talk) 19:46, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

• Damn, G, you make sure I have to read through a bunch of pages to get the issue ;) I've replied on Salvio's page, asking if he wants to merge or start a case to merge the accounts. I'm not familiar with the case enough at this time to make a determination, but will take the time if instructed by CU to do so. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 19:57, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
•  Done Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 15:05, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi Dennis. I know you are busy these days; so no hurry to reply. I also need some time to observe better a situation. I am evaluating the possibility of requesting the opening of an SPI concerning a couple of users in the very controversial (AA) area. I noticed that not everybody is a common editor like this scribe but some people have titles, say "sysop" or whatever. When you have some time can you please tell me if there is a special way for asking SPIs concerning users with titles like Bureaucrat, Admin, Sysop or whatsoever hierarchy or nobility we might have in WP.... Thanks a lot in advance. --E4024 (talk) 12:53, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• Typically, if you think that someone with advanced permissions is socking, you should contact a CU via email directly, or go and contact one of the Functionaries that are CUs at
  WP:FUNC. We typically do not initiate investigations publicly, although if there is a case, it will be handled publicly. User:DoRD, User:DeltaQuad, User:Deskana, User:Timotheus Canens or User:Salvio giuliano would be good choices to contact as they are active and have the CU bit. Tim and Salvio are Arbs, Deskana has held every bit you can have at enwp at one time or another, including Crat and he is a former Arb. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER
  15:05, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• There really isn't anything to histmerge, so I just redirected the main page (but not the talk page), explaining on the various pages as needed. If there is some history that needs merging, just tell me. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 14:43, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• Thanks for your help! Cdtew (talk) 15:23, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

You previously nominaed User:Enrico_Delves for deletion, so I wanted to draw your attention to the copy-paste subpage the user created to attempt to get around the deletion process. I've nominated the subpage for deletion. Hasteur (talk) 17:14, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• I've left a note. I explained to him, with "him" being the manager, not actually the artist. People just don't understand that we are an encyclopedia, not Facebook/MySpace.... Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:15, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Good to know we can count on you to be obnoxious! Jester of the court (sock) 23:05, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• It's always a better option than blocking, at least when it works. :) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 23:06, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi Dennis. I just came across this article, which appears to refer to a paid editor involved in this sockpuppet investigation. I noticed you were involved in the sock issue and thought you may want to know. Specifically he claims to have more socks and that some of those blocked were not socks. CorporateM (Talk) 18:26, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

• Yeah, I'm familiar with Mike. He's actually a nice guy to chat with, but has a bad taste in his mouth over some issues, and yes, he has done a great deal of socking here. In that article, he miss reads several points badly, makes a few good points, but as you know, paid editing is inevitable here: There is no way to stop it. I can accept that. What frustrates me is the Pollyanna attitude by some that we can stop it, when in fact we can not. As a community, we should be trying to manage it and setting acceptable standards for paid editors to participate in. I've seen Mike's work, which isn't bad, and could actually benefit us if people would stop treating paid writers like the enemy, and treat them like what they are: A mixed bag, that can add content but must be monitored. As it is now, the number of paid editors exceeds those actively looking for them, so they are winning the "game". They will continue to win until we change the rules, and stop making it a "win or lose" game, and just remember that we are here to build an encyclopedia, not to regulate whether or not someone is compensated for editing. Tolerance doesn't require agreeing with it, it only requires putting up with it within reasonable guidelines. The community simply is ready to face that reality, I fear. Thanks for pointing that article out to me. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 20:41, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Hrm. Well... whether a paid editor has more or less time than a volunteer I think is unique to the article.

Editors that disclose and use Talk pages can actually get editors more involved and potentially increase participation on articles that are ignored and/or have major problems.

On the other hand, those articles that are not closely monitored give paid editors a free reign if they do not disclose.

I think there is honorable work to be done doing PR with Wikipedians, rather than astroturfing through socks, that is very valuable to Wikipedia. It's like any journalist will say "good PR is helpful" but you never hear someone say astroturf is. CorporateM (Talk) 21:11, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

The problem is, if you treat every paid editor like a pariah, then they have no incentive to try to work within the policies. You reward those that are honest and disclose their COI (and don't hammer them unnecessarily), then you encourage engagement. The vast majority of these paid editors come in, create, leave and avoid engagement because it always ends badly for them. Forcing paid editing "underground" doesn't make it go away and certainly doesn't encourage ethical editing. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 21:19, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Amen. CorporateM (Talk) 22:40, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

It seems like you have a very balanced and calm approach to well... everything. A lot of my work literally takes a year to get approved by the client, so I'm usually a better editor by time I share it on the Talk page, but I have some stuff in the queue that I think is quite good and with a bit of elbow grease and help from experienced editors, I think I could standardize on GA-quality work.

Anyways, I went to read your comment on the post and also noticed the viewpoint of "The Guy" but there doesn't appear to be a user:The Guy. Do you have any idea who that is? CorporateM (Talk) 01:02, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

I wondered the same thing. Have a guess or two, but they would just be conjecture. Appreciate the compliment as well. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 01:06, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

A discussion is occurring at the talk page for WikiProject Brands at Proceeding with automatic project banner tagging using AnomieBOT regarding moving forward with automatic talk page tagging with the project's banner using AnomieBOT. All members of this project will be notified with neutrally-worded notifications about this discussion, and please feel free to contribute to it. Northamerica1000^(talk) 17:14, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Negative nominations should be added to pages. On the Jab Tak Hai Jaan talk page, after tons of arguments and whatnot, it was decided that they were needed in an article to maintain a neutral point of view. Bol Bachchan hasn't been nominated for any positive award that I know of but it has been nominated for a ton of negative awards as it is considered to be one of the "worst films ever made in Bollywood", according to critics in India (Raja Sen, Rediff). Zeku has a habit of stalking my contributions and reverting edits. Negative awards are important and they can't be ignored. Just like I added negative awards to the Jab Tak Hai Jaan page I wanted to add them to all the major films that came out from Bollywood in 2012. Zeku ignored the discussion on the talk page and went ahead and reverted the edit because of a personal vendetta I can go in more detail about. He basically made a comment on how Rotten Tomatoes was biased and was ridiculed. He's been angry ever since. Please advise me what to do next. Ashermadan (talk) 23:22, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

This user [3]send me some premature warnings without considering facts,you can see my talk page history.Thanks

You have a history of reverting edits. You have reverted many of my edits over the court of many weeks. The warnings were not premature as your history speaks otherwise. The warnings were the best way to make you stop and were in no way premature. Ashermadan (talk) 23:30, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Let me be perfectly clear: I don't care about the content to that article. I don't know the subject matter, and my actions were that of an admin, not an editor. You need to work it out on the talk page, get a

WP:DRN, like I said before. Not here, not on each other's talk pages. I will not offering an opinion on the content. I will offer guidance on behavior. Edit warring or templating people for "vandalism" when their edits are not vandalism are both grounds for blocks. That is why I gave you a polite but clear warning. Blocking for edit warring doesn't require you break 3RR, and again, I am not taking any sides on the content, I have no idea, didn't read it fully, I just noticed the behavior was a problem. And again, admin have ZERO authority on content, we don't decide content at all (thank god). We only act on policy issues, like civility, warring, etc. Both of you go work it out on the talk page. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER

23:43, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Noting your comment at the top of your talkpage and in your edit notice... A month has passed, and chili burger still has no

Chili burger is a difficult article to write about because there are very few academics willing to sit down and write a book about the history of chili burgers; however, it is an article that Wikipedia is able to have and expected to have. It is averaging over 60 views a day. I also don't understand your "leaving the article a stub" comment. The article is not a stub. Per WP:Stub, "A stub is an article deemed too short to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject". This is a short article, but it provides encyclopedic coverage. Ryan Vesey 15:22, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

(1) Whether the article has been the subject of scholarly research is beside the point as that is not required for notability. Besides the absence of scholarly research, there is also a general absence of coverage in, for example, news media (Google News gives 6 hits for the phrase "chili burger", most of which are irrelevant to the subject). (2) the number of watchers is not mentioned as a notability point in any policy about which I'm aware (in fact, I'm aware of other articles that had significantly more visits per day getting deleted at AfD), but, in any case, it's possible that a lot of that traffic is spider traffic due to the extra links added to the page, just judging from the statistics. (3) The lead is a dictionary definition, the history section is more relevant to Ptomaine Tommy's than the subject at hand - that's a stub. ˜danjel [ talk | contribs ] 15:33, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

I've not spent as much time as I would like, but I have tried and it is a hard topic to find research material on. True to my word, I will put it up for a merge discussion and not vote in in myself as it hasn't gotten to the "obvious" stage of improvement. Give me a couple of days, I'm swamped, but will put it up Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 17:31, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Take your time. I don't think the article will magically improve between now and whenever, and therefore my perspective won't change. ˜danjel [ talk | contribs ] 17:42, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

By the way, I genuinely appreciate your patience. This is one of the things I try to encourage here. About half the time, the article is improved, thus we are enriched as an encyclopedia. The other half of the time, the information is merged but was still improved at least a little. Patience, when combined with a reasonable deadline, is often the best solution to keep tempers from flying and giving us the best chance for improving the place, regardless of the outcome. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 19:39, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

• Template:WikiProject Editor Retention/Editor of the Week/Project main page
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Editor Retention/Collaboration

--

Oh..and for you:

		Project Editor Retention This editor was willing to lend a helping hand!
		For founding talk ) 10:21, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• Thank you! That looks very good. I've noticed a lot of activity on the pages, just haven't had time to really look. So swamped this time of year, but I do appreciate the fact that the show goes on when I'm tied up. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 13:30, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Whenever you get a chance, please look at the edit history of Outer Banks. It appears that it is continuing to be vandalized by some socks. Might be related to Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Daniel L. Barth. Some of the socks and IPs used have been blocked already, but user keeps editing on a few different articles. I haven't warned or done anything with the talk pages of the newest user yet, HowtoSwooosh (talk · contribs). Wasn't sure how to add to an SPI page (will look into that), but wanted to go ahead notify someone. Should this page be protected somehow? Thank you for your help. -- JoannaSerah (talk) 17:53, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

• I've semi-protected the page so IPs and really new users can't edit it, which should help. As for socking, I will look at that later when I have a few more minutes and take whatever action is needed. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 19:44, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
• CU blocked along with another account. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 16:21, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Can you take a look at the history on my talk page. IP address 194.14.179.5 and 141.0.175.197 admitted to being JonnyBonesJones, was personally attacking me, and posting personal information. He also addmitted to using multiple proxy servers. Is there anything that can be cone to put a stop to this person? Willdawg111 (talk) 15:53, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• Webproxies blocked. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 16:09, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Hi Dennis - I rangeblocked the entire 194.14.179.0/24 range as it was being used for nothing else - that's why it looked like they weren't blocked. Sorry for the confusion. Black Kite (talk) 17:04, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
    • Ah, I'm at work and didn't think to search the whole range[4], but I do see a few there. Sounds like you have it under control, so I will bow to your superior intellect here. ;) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 17:09, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Dennis. Could you please take a look at the above for socking? I find it highly suspicious that a brand new editor can find AfD on their first edit, especially since they directly echo another editor (who has been here a day and all edits have concerned the subject of the AfD). Thanks.

•  In progress Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 17:30, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
  • It is done with exactly the anticipated results.
    talk
    ) 04:32, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
    • I had dropped it off via IRC and wasn't able to follow up, but it looks like it might have gotten picked up and dealt with. I wasn't sure the master, but if I had known, probably would have just connected the dots myself. Ironically, I've been working on some of the photos at Commons with them. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 13:24, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Tell that to Malleus, Dennis! Drmies (talk) 18:24, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• My comment was based on the theory here. Yogi Berra said it best: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:27, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
• I did correct it a bit. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 18:29, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
• :) Drmies (talk) 18:32, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

We really do punish people though. The common practice of incremental block lengths, when applied to accounts, is really not what we would be doing if the goal was entirely to protect Wikipedia, and not to punish. Monty₈₄₅ 18:36, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

I don't entirely agree with that. The reason we have incremental blocks is to act as deterrents without jumping straight to indef. There has to be an incentive not to act disruptively, or we'll end up in the situation where troublemakers will happily call the community's bluff over sanctions for behaviour. It's all ultimately a protective strategy.

_berate

18:45, 14 January 2013 (UTC)�

I think it is really impossible to distinguish a sanction designed deter future conduct from a punishment, at least as commonly understood. I guess I'm just rehashing my position from this essay, but the only non-punitive reason to issue a timed block is if we had some reason to believe that the behavior necessitating a block would change on its own during the block duration, if the block is supposed to change the behavior, its a punishment. Monty₈₄₅ 18:53, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

I was just thinking about the human aspect, how it feels to be blocked. Drmies (talk) 20:16, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• Unquestionably, there is a punishment aspect to any block, but that shouldn't be the goal. Retribution isn't the goal, adding an incentive to future good behavior is. Obviously, in some cases, like vandals, it is purely to stop the behavior as well. We can't see inside the mind of the blocker, but if anyone that enjoys blocking is suspect. I get a lot of hell for being slow to block, but I really believe in it being the last resort, and I view blocking as a failure of communications on my own part, not a success of tools. It is amazing some of the negative feedback I get for having that perspective, but I'm not persuaded. I still count my successes by the number of blocks I can avoid giving out, not how many I log. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 20:31, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
  • That's cause you have alternate sources of income. My three kids depend on the $5 I get for every block, and $10 for every indef block. I still owe the WMF for having unblocked Neutralhomer, and I'm expecting a bill for Alan Liefting as well. Drmies (talk) 20:39, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• Also, yes. I haven't seen it yet, though it certainly is possible. What we need is some editors who can weigh the Romanian sources (I have faith in the reliability of some of them, like this one and others from that site) and who can turn this list of poorly written snippets into an article. I'll ask Biruitorul if he's busy. Drmies (talk) 20:44, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

• As you have found out today, sometimes it is easier to block than unblock. At least you have to answer fewer questions ;) Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 00:30, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

• Here's a conundrum very loosely based on a real incident: a defrocked admin with an impressive block log for incivility/disruption is warned by a non-admin for gross insalubrious language in edit summaries. The warning user is reported by the ex-admin to ANI for issuing an inappropriate warning. A friend of the former admin, another admin of possibly dubious integrity, closes the ANI with 'Either you apologise, or I will block you'. Comments please, Denis... Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:08, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
  • If people acted less like "admin" and more like fellow editors, half these problems would go away. I've already been branded for having my own opinions on things and not towing the line. Any admin that uses that tone to close causes problems for us all and needs to reexamine why they are here. There is potential for everyone in that scenario to have overacted, however. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 12:54, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey Dennis and his talk stalkers.

Perhaps Bigzmma but probably one from the ugliness 5-6 months ago that chased me off for a while. Even if not a sock, I've got serious issues with their attitude and wouldn't mind seeing an MMA general sanctions warning left for them.

Ravensfire (talk

) 01:44, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

• Looks like another admin already blocked them as a sock of "whoever", which I suspect is a very valid call. I have a lot of helpful stalkers here, so feel free to drop solid cases here, like this one. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 02:34, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

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Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. Enjoy your research! Cheers, Ocaasi 18:10, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi. IP editor at this address appears to be blocked; you might like to drop in at their registered account, here, which is currently blocked. FiachraByrne (talk) 09:20, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

User:TheOriginalSoni/Rolling Ball.

Do leave your feedback on the talk page.

Hey Dennis I just found out about DYK nominations and I wrote one for a page I've been working on recently and I was curious if you wouldn't mind giving me some feedback on how I did on it or feedback on the article. If not that's okay too, cheers —  dain- talk   05:58, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Dennis, I wanted to officially inform you that the project you suggested, an editor of the week, has been started largely due to the diligence of

• Excellent. I haven't even been able to look at Wikipedia in order a day, and currently hanging up aux. lighting at the house, so just dropped by to see what is going on. Like I said, this time of year, I'm swamped. I'm also very thankful that so many users have just jumped in and made it happen. I prefer it, actually. You guys don't need me, I'm just the cheerleader :) I think that if you advertise the program around a bit, you will find plenty of nominees. You might even drop a note at WP:AN, asking admin to nominate some every day users they run across that are extremely helpful and often overlooked. One of the village pump pages would also be good. Personally, I would suggest one place per week, stretch it out over several weeks, so you don't get a giant flood all at one time. I'm sincerely impressed with how you guys took a basic idea and ran with it. We worry a lot about the problems here, but this is one of those positive solutions that makes a difference, too. Thanks again. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 23:10, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

• • I had made a suggestion at one of the discussion pages for this that maybe you could put something out on an administrator email list, if such a thing exists.
    talk
    ) 23:19, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
    • No admin email list exists, that what WP:AN is for, for admin notices. Finished hanging the lights, time to cook dinner and get in at least two hours of research for work tonight. I have to remind myself that I get lots of time off in the summer and fall... Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 23:50, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
      • Time off is for whimps. ;)--
        talk
        ) 03:50, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
        • Dude, the wheels are coming off. Quit your day job, man. Drmies (talk) 18:42, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
          • What's all this twaddle about cooking dinner, hanging lights and doing research?? Isnt all that mundane common-man stuff why you have hired help? ```Buster Seven Talk 21:04, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
            • Yeah, I agree. Who needs dinner, electricity, and income when Wikipedia is falling apart at the seams? Go Phightins! 21:09, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
              • Actually, hanging lights is part of my job, at least the research and development part. Looking into selling horticultural supplies for the indoor market. Recent developments in American politics make me think it is going to be a rapidly expanding market. Of course, I don't live in one of those states, so I will stick to growing veggies. Alabama is expected to be the next state to legalize medicinal marijuana, btw. That is a tiny part of the indoor horticultural market is all, but an important one nonetheless. And I used to have "help", back when we owned a couple shops and the economy wasn't in the tank. We had to take them out back and shoot them, couldn't afford to feed them any more.[5] (that link is just for Drmies, since I know that is his favorite show) I miss 2002-2005. I would even take 8 more years of Bill Clinton if I had to. As for enwp falling apart, you flatter me. I'm sure there are number of people, some with more bits than others, that are celebrating the fact that I'm too busy to edit right now. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 13:50, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

I've been in bed all day, can't sleep a wink. Worst head cold I've had in two decades, face is so swollen that I literally can't focus to read the computer screen. I've had it for a few days, but it took a turn for the worse yesterday PM. Not as bad as having the flu, but Mrs. Brown is drowning me in Gatorade and chicken broth. Wikipedia is going to have to do without me for a few days, sorry. I just can't concentrate. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 01:24, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Get well soon! Ryan Vesey 01:26, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Get your rest and eat the soup. Hope you feel better soon.--

talk

) 01:38, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Finally got over something like that last week, though it wasn't nearly as bad as yours sounds. Feel better! Go Phightins! 03:52, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

I might take the cake on this one. I just had an ultrasound to find out what was wrong with me yesterday, it turned up nothing. Now they're checking for Helicobacter pylori and I'm on Omeprazole. Ryan Vesey 17:57, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

All right, Ryan. You win. Go Phightins! 20:08, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

All I have to say is, "Ryan, EWWW YUK!". This has been a rough winter for many. Personally had a monster sinus infection, followed by cellulitis in the leg, followed by a cold and finally another sinus infection. I am spending the rest of the winter under my bed! Get well soon, Dennis!

talk

) 20:20, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Do we have any healthy editors left? Get well soon Dennis, and the rest of you lot too. Yunshui 雲‍水 00:03, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Hope you feel better Dennis (and the rest of you) -- A tried and true remedy for anything that ails me is three shots of whiskey. Of course, if by chance that doesn't work, try four. Lettik (talk) 13:56, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

I wanna get in on the pity party! The skin on my hands is really dry and I'm kinda losing my voice! I know, doesn't exactly compete well with the above. In all seriousness, I hope you are better now (all of you).

AutomaticStrikeout (T • C

) 22:13, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

I know we don't communicate much, but I do hope you (and Ryan, and Gtw, and Automatic) feel better! :) Keilana|^{Parlez ici} 05:55, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Listen, Dennis, if you're around: I protected Charles Eisenstein due to socking concerns, filed a related SPI--and then jumped right in and started editing the article, having conveniently forgotten that I had protected it. That's probably not entirely kosher, so I unprotected it. I still think that semi-protection is warranted, but I will leave that up to the next admin. Thanks. On a brighter note, remember my human baby boy? He turned five months old a few days ago, and as of tonight he has his own Facebook page. Lots of goodlooking women flock to him. Drmies (talk) 03:34, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

This is ANI 3.0? Anyway, I did the semiprotection for two weeks, since I've no idea who this guy is and I haven't edited his article. The filing of an SPI (already done) should be enough justification for the semi. EdJohnston (talk) 03:44, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

I don't know if Dennis wants his page to be ANI 3.0....but it sorta is. :)--

talk

) 03:49, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey, if ANI 2.0 gets boring, I come over here. Thanks Ed. Drmies (talk) 04:06, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

Hey Drmies, when is this boy of yours gonna get an account? After all, we always need more flesh blood. If he can be on facebook, he can edit, right?

AutomaticStrikeout (T • C

) 02:47, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

*Fresh blood. Sorry to be the grammar nazi.

_berate

12:11, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Spelling Nazi. Sorry to be the terminology Nazi... Yunshui 雲‍水 12:25, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Spelling fascist. Sorry to be the sociopolitical Nazi (

BWilkins←✎

) 12:36, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Spelling errorist. Not sorry though.--

talk

) 12:46, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

ANI 3.0?!? If you are trying to talk me into spending more time here, it ain't workin' ;) But seriously, we are in the middle of both the busiest time of year for me (next 3 months, the only time of year I actually work) and I'm right in the middle of researching and developing a completely different product line, sourcing parts, etc. It would be much easier if I spoke Mandarin. Starting my 20th year here, and it never gets boring, literally working 16+ hours from the office and home right now. The joys of being a greedy, money grubbing marketing director. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 13:42, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

I prefer working metaphorically, Dennis. Wait--20 years? They stuck it out with you that long? Drmies (talk) 02:02, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

That is more ironic than you know. When I started, My hair was very long, I played guitar in a rockabilly band so had to leave to travel to gigs a lot (boss was very cool about that) and I came in as a temp employee to help for 3 months, that was 1994. Since I had a background in marketing, mad computer skills, a decade of marketing experience and could work on anything with wires, he decided to keep me year round. Since I could take off just about any time I needed to play with the band, I stuck around, created a real marketing dept. and within a few years, sales were up 10x and we had bought out a manufacturer. I accidentally grew up along the way. Probably about the time the tendinitis forced me to quit playing guitar. No one is more shocked that I stuck around than I am. Now I'm too lazy to go get a real job, preferring to work 3 months a year and fishing the rest. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © Join WER 11:28, 24 January 2013 (UTC)