User talk:Billinghurst/Archives/2023

Latest comment: 1 year ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic The Signpost: 24 December 2023

The Signpost: 1 January 2023

Plus admin update and cool tools for the new year.
Sometimes you need to read more than just the headlines!
Interview of ComplexRational about their recent request for adminship.
Wikifunctions might drag it down.
Frustrations and successes.
Congratulations.
And other new research findings.
How Iranian press agencies help Wikipedia to reflect football in a better way.
You head into the featured content report. Amongst the features you see astronauts, both Gilbert and Sullivan, Ursula K. Le Guin's incredibly talented mother, and Billboard charts. It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue.
It is mostly about football!
In which a couple sentences of text recontextualises an image.
Photographers, Sandy Hook, the shocking use of Nazi symbols in articles about Nazis, and "You wouldn't recognise a fact if it bit you in the ass".

The Signpost: 16 January 2023

It's not just a phase! Well, maybe it is.
Long-time contributors imprisoned for 32 and 8 years after "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals".
UCoC draws nearer, alongside the rise of the machines, in mainspace this time.
Wikipedia's birthday, a cute dog, and nipplefruit.
The depths of Commons, at your fingertips. Or eyetips.
Debunking widely-told myths about New York's grandest and centralest railway station.
The economics of Wikipedia.
When notability conflicts with what it might be used for.
7,000,000-year Landmasses for Subduction discussions considered "too long".
Allow us to bring you back, back, back, to days of Wikifun rampant.
...and your ambigram. Also: Boring lava fields, birds of Tuvalu, and commelinid family names with etymologies.
War, sports, and all types of chaos.
The editor with five million edits, the death of Aaron Swartz, and rollback.

The Signpost: 4 February 2023

Last issue's vow for "something to show for these efforts" revisited.
As well as the continued rise of the machines, and Amanda Keton's WMF departure.
Section 230 before the Supreme Court in two cases, with broad implications for the web.
Or Santos on Wikipedia?
WMF issues salvo in latest battles of the Posting Wars
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Isamaa party sponsor Parvel Pruunsild files claim in Tartu County Court against WMEE head Ivo Kruusamägi and Reform Party politicians.
English Wikipedia among most "global" and Thai Wikipedia's among most "Western", but non-Western works neglected overall.
And other new research publications.
An interview with those who pitch in together
Letting you find out about yourself (and others).
An exceptionally good period for featured articles.
Can we have a chat?

The Signpost: 20 February 2023

UCoC Enforcement Guidelines pass, Wikimedia Enterprise financials, GPTs gone wild, and a speedy deletion criterion removed.
Also: Russ Baker's BLP, the digital commons, the NSA, and more on Pakistan.
Gautam Adani and his companies possibly behind scheme featuring scores of socks, infiltration of articles for creation process.
GPT: friend or foe?
Your one-stop hooker's handbook.
But much else to be found.
Lovey-dovey stuff for Valentine's.
And maybe a side of AI.
Also: let's delete images of Muhammed! Let's delete portals!
Yesterday's controversies, reported on today.
A musical interlude.

The Signpost: 9 March 2023

A lack of transparency.
Using failed AI Galactica's worst mistakes to test a new AI.
Probable answers: No, no, maybe?
Seriously, even the chef has a major military history connection.
And other new research publications.
Wikizine, Wikipedia Zero, Single User Login, and Wales allegedly editing his girlfriend's article.

The Signpost: 20 March 2023

Be part of the Wikimania 2023 program!
One year in: volunteering, science, art, and candlelight.
Everything is broken, again.
Seriously, it's only a fortnight's worth!
An interview with Wikipedia's newest admin.
All the pop culture that's fit to print, with a sprinkling of cocaine (bear).

The Signpost: 03 April 2023

Errata regretted.
Skynet believed to be in violation of the new Universal Code of Conduct.
Taking the phrase "gaming the system" to the next level.
Desysop case request still in accept/decline phase.
Thou gildest e'en the Signpost's trade.
And a dataset of article revisions to provide a corpus for promotional content.
A retrospective of the best and worst pranks.
Do important banks sock? Maybe – but don't grab your money and run just yet!

The Signpost: 26 April 2023

Plus: Wikipedians get own Mastodon account, and Wikiprojects move to uniform quality assessment.
Covering Russia, Poland, the Vatican, the U.S., and the "perilously thin" boundary between real life and Wikipedia.
The prolific editor, former Arbitration Committee member and co-founder of Wikimedia New York City died in April.
No news is good news, and this isn't no news.
The problem we haven't solved.
Can Wikipedia help keep AI agents honest?
In this article, we will look at The Signpost statistics. More precisely: Signpost article statistics by year, TOP 20 titles of Signpost articles, TOP 20 article authors, and the home wikis of article authors.
First of a two part series summarising the priorities for the Wikimedia Foundation's next fiscal year (July 2022–June 2023) including staffing, budget and other changes, and how to provide your feedback.
And somehow made it more readable than when it's not rhyming.
2011 and on.
The Selfish Hatnote, the Disambiguation Singularity, and other information-theoretic conundra of encyclopedic note.
Wrestling bumps world-changing technology from the #1 spot, imagine that.

The Signpost: 8 May 2023

... and at WP:Mastodon.
Fake fines, false alarms and faux headlines!
And other new research publications.
...Layout lovers will hate this featured content's title.
There will likely be more to say next issue.
The second article in a series describing the priorities and work of the Wikimedia Foundation. The article invites Wikimedians to collaborate with the Foundation.
First national-level conference in the Indian subcontinent in seven years.

The Signpost: 22 May 2023

... and a referendum on Jimmy Wales' traditional role as a final court of appeal in arbitration policy.
Opposing scholars on ArbCom case.
Includes stronger sourcing restriction, and a nod to the UCoC.
And other new research results.
Bird is the word for featured pictures.
Celebs and Bollywood film dominated reader interest, as usual, but with a new persistent presence on the lists of a certain AI.
An online conference with 12 distributed trans-local in-person meetup "Nodes" on 5 continents.

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

The Signpost: 5 June 2023

Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Building Committee Commences Command By Convening.
Also: Goog gets delist ask for en-wp yt-dl ar-ticle, wacky football fails.
Now is not this ridiculous, and is not this preposterous? A thorough-paced absurdity - explain it if you can.
Plus mortalities, and movies about mermaids.

The Signpost: 19 June 2023

Problems with emergency emails sent to WMF.
... and an AI writer explains why he just bought a paper encyc.
Poetry still present.
And other new research findings.

The Signpost: 3 July 2023

... and a new Elections Committee.
A few editors who fought many times to keep advertisements out.
Are you now, or have you ever been, a Wikipedia editor?
In which featured pictures have a pleasing orange/blue colour scheme for some reason.
Don't worry, they are mostly harmless.
Mission to ensure stability in conflict-ridden area.

The Signpost: 17 July 2023

Gitz666 unglocked, Wikimania scholarships given and a new admin anointed.
Ruwiki on the Ruinternet, Rauwerda on TEDx, and Jimbo on Fridman.
Philadelphians and Tanzanians say goodbye.
The collaboration process for the 2023 English fundraising campaign is kicking off now, right from the start of the fiscal year.
Wikidata queries investigate nepo babies.
A summary of various tools designed over the years.
And various other research on large language models and Wikipedia.
Bold move intended to "get some variety" into Wikipedia arguments.
The annual report that tries to understand the Signpost through data, written in 2020, which never saw the light of day until now.
In which choices have been made™.
Sex, drugs and violence, English, math and science.

Precious anniversary

Precious
 
Five years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:56, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 August 2023

And French gov't proposes legislation to slam Wikipedia, others.
Or just another brouhaha?
Hot damn, it's damned hot!
Three editors have departed.
You don't really want to do this stuff by yourself, do you?
A serious visual investigation.
A compilation of over 3M citations.
Possible solutions after being re-harassed.
Due to unfortunate events, this issue is published as is, in its unfinished state.
Oppenheimer, Barbie, and a couple other scandals.

The Signpost: 15 August 2023

Jimbo promises more transparency, Wikimania in Singapore, move away from Tides still planned, and Wikifunctions rolls out.
Harsh words from problematic fave Glenn Greenwald.
Rigorous Review of Content for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Wikipedia.
Damn kids need to get off our lawn and onto RfA.
Because one gets some secondary skills when one has 645 featured pictures.
The innards of the Signpost received a major overhaul in March/April 2019. Here's how we reduced behind-the-scenes busywork and improved writers resources.
For whom does the Creative Commons enforcement clause toll?
An announcement of 335,000 new images on Wikimedia Commons.
Some improvement on last week.
Case request cited misuse of tools by administrator who last used tools in 1661.
Barbenheimer, Pee-Wee Herman and the Women's World Cup.

Kittehs

Are we sure this is link spam and not a legit citation? I'm not Italian-fluent and don't really know much about the site.  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  08:25, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

@SMcCandlish: I am pretty sure that it is conflict of interest editing and we have no guarantee that a link to an Italian language site is relevant or pertinent (m:User:COIBot/XWiki/gattofili.net). I am more than happy to challenge that level of 1-to-1 editing to ___domain addition, esp. crosswiki. — billinghurst sDrewth 08:41, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
Fair enough. I like that tool; wasn't aware of it before.  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  08:47, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 August 2023

News for the editoriat. Stuff that matters.
Wikipedia really comes into its own, editorially and artistically.
"Poli", which means "many", and "tics", which means "under-the-table Wikipedia article whitewashing campaigns".
And other recent research publications.
The good, the bad, and the nonsense.
A message from the Counter-Fun Unit.
I just poured HOT GRITS down my pants ohh yeah

The Signpost: 16 September 2023

Plus: Africa news, funding report, U4C draft, roads fork and another ChatGPT block.
Plus a new judge, an "unimportant" record, and staying in the swim!
A Wikipedian and a friend.
Non-flammable, BPA-free, and really whips the llama's ass.
Covering all of August. Pretty much.
The Signpost brings you the latest from the source.
Sports, film and singers. We've got it all!

Wallace Heard Goldsmith

Hi, I wanted to thank you for your Category:Wallace Heard Goldsmith. Have you thought about writing a Wikipedia article on him? Greg Henderson (talk) 22:17, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

@Greghenderson2006: Less into writing articles these days. Happy to do the research and transcriptions at enWS, as interest exists. You can see I did a few basics at s:en:Author talk:Wallace Heard Goldsmith. I was establishing the basics of their life for the birth and deth information. — billinghurst sDrewth 09:52, 17 September 2023 (UTC)
As a further note, you would be welcome over at enWS for transcriptions, our difference is that if it is credibly published it is suitable notable, so all the articles that you cited for Charles O. Beebe would all be able to be reproduced. Identifying obscure writers, and collating basic details and pushing that data to WD is of value IMNSHO. — billinghurst sDrewth 10:04, 17 September 2023 (UTC)
Thanks! I appreciate your response and info for WP:WD and WP:Wikisource. That is where I found you when doing research for Delos Goldsmith the father of Wallace Heard Goldsmith. It is amazing how Wikipedia can tie these facts together to understand how the Goldsmiths, for the most part stayed east, whereas Delos Goldsmith and his niece Abbie Jane Hunter-Goldmsith came to the west looking for new opportunities. However, I am having some problems with WP:N issues and the high mark some editors the notability of some of my articles. Your suggestion to move items to WD and Wikisource is good. Wikimedia Commons is another way to preserve a lot of informatioin and images about someone. I hope you are doing well and moved on to other areas that interest you. Greg Henderson (talk) 15:59, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 3 October 2023

Finances during Tides Foundation management of the endowment are shown for the first time.
Plus Harvard, Yale, Lords and Commons, partners and trolls!
And other new research publications
The first issue to feature two poetry article
Material must be written with the greatest care and attention; the level of detail and commentary regarding the antlers of living persons is to be kept to a minimum.
Tamzin reflects on the hunt.
Taylor Swift with an NFL tight end and Lauren Boebert with a Democrat?

The Signpost: 23 October 2023

Long time passing
Also: High fives, Wikipedia as a guide for counterfeiters and crossword makers, and Iskander at the UN.
The benefits of research.
These titles never make much sense even at the best of times, so why not be random?
They are still fighting.
Sounds good!
"Cite altered state" to join the distinguished ranks of CS1 templates

Hello. A number of edits (often to the "Further reading" section) were just made to pages related to some major British poets of the Romantic era. The edits announced and linked to brand new original essays by major international scholars on those poets, which constitutes new and significant contributions to the important literary field and to these poets. We believe that these were very wrongly (and for unsupportably reasons) removed by--perhaps the moderator did not get what wa going on. We hope these can be restored as soon as possible. Thank you for your prompt attention. Gkblank (talk) 04:11, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

@Gkblank: Yes, indeed they were taken down. This is an wp:encyclopaedia not a WP:directory. Please read WP:External links to better understand the purpose of that section. I also think that you would do well to read WP:conflict of interest and how to manage it. It seems that you are here primarily to point to your work; and I should add that we especially do not need further links to EB1911 versions via your site, as the work which already exists within the WMF set of wikis. — billinghurst sDrewth 09:13, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
To repeat: these are brand new essays by leading international scholars, who are critically commenting on the respective entry in EB1911; so what is being pointed to with the links I made is to THEIR work, NOT to my work, as you say ("primarily to your work"--so that is wrong, if not not perhaps insulting). The point of the new site (did you look at it?) is to place the new commentary about these major poets beside the old commentary about these poets, and this is extremely valuable new knowledge. It if is the case that links to the respective essays by these scholars (NOT to my work) should not be in "External links," that is actually a useful comment.
There are NOT links to EB1911 versions via the site--the only links are to the "Then & Now" site itself!
Please advise: should I just remove those links that are in "External links" section and place them elsewhere on the respective Wikipedia pages on these poets? Gkblank (talk) 17:09, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
I read what you said, and I most certainly reviewed the linked pages before doing any link removals. Have you read the links to which you were pointed? Those written articles are simply not fitting the criteria of external links, as what was written by EB1911 is just one component for the basis of these articles, and the articles are written from the pantheon of available sources not directly EB1911. The only place that I can see relevance would be in a commentary about the EB1911 itself, though it would still have be in context that EB1911 is built on the 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th, ... editions and the articles in those may or may not have had any variation when published in the 11th ed.

You still have not directly addressed the component about an association with the site, in fact you avoided any such commentary.

If you are needing guidance on how to edit on enWP, then please use the Teahousebillinghurst sDrewth 10:28, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 6 November 2023

"Is this an ArbCom case request or an M. Night Shyamalan movie?"
Plus Gaza bias, Speaker Johnson, Maher, the music of websites, and antisemitism.
And three new admins!
You should learn some of our rules!
The winner is...
Do you ever wonder where Wikipedia articles come from?
And other new research findings.
Only literally.
A systematic approach.
Plus Kollywood, Killers of the Flower Moon, and ongoing war.

Block needed

User:Hasnainbv seems to be continuing to add irrelevant cites ([1]). -- Ssilvers (talk) 08:11, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

@Ssilvers: Yep, saw that. Blocked and globally blacklisted m:special:diff/25862626 He cannot say he wasn't told, and we didn't create monitoring bots for no reason at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — billinghurst sDrewth 08:16, 13 November 2023 (UTC)
Thanks. I can't imagine why someone would come here so determined to make a mess. -- Ssilvers (talk) 08:27, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 November 2023

Comic-con, Media summit, and a classic!
Plus: Sockpuppet investigators asking for help.
Or if it's Indian sport or cinema.
And other new research findings.
Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2024 are now open!

The Signpost: 4 December 2023

Just as his term was ending!
Plus Apple Pay, fiction, registration, expulsion, and elimination!
An analysis of a literary mystery.
Continuing years of efforts to improve free-to-read access.
"I think we ought to read only the kind of comics that wound or stab us. If the comic we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?" — Franz Kafka
And so are you.
Quite literally, and other fascinating featured articles, pictures and lists
If you don't fancy the sport that occupies over 25% of the slots in these lists, there's always movies, celebrities, and political follies to fall back on – or an unusual fired-for-the-weekend CEO.
This page in a nutshell: Whether or not someone has denied unsavory allegations — though such a denial may not merit being given equal weight in an article — a worthless shitpost should still be included.

LLaMA version

Thanks for your restoration. I believe unfortunately we have the wrong version of the page now. There has been an IP editor edit warring to blank a number of references on this page and we now have their preferred version again. This is the difference between the state of the page before the vandalism and now, in other words this revision of Nov 9 is the preferred one. Thank you. —DIYeditor (talk) 22:11, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

I went back to a version with the known references intact, and happy for the community work out whatever else needs to be done. That was the intent of my commentary. — billinghurst sDrewth 23:31, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
Your edit confirmed the vandal's version and removed links other than the 4channel link, which I still cannot restore. If you would, restore this version from before the vandalism. I am still waiting on a whitelist request here at en.wiki. —DIYeditor (talk) 14:13, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
I have recovered your specified version. — billinghurst sDrewth 23:14, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 December 2023

Wikipedia article histories are public records that can be easily examined, so unlike other websites, we can answer this question thoroughly.
Not the best of times for Wikipedians across the world, but there are still glimpses of hope...
Forky on forky on forky, plus a strange donation scheme and other interesting bits of news.
Wiki goes dark and adopts Palestine flag logo; intellectual property rumblings from the bowels of the law.
Wikimedia Russia closes after founder is declared a "foreign agent".
No more must Wikipedia always be a lightbulb in the dark — except metaphorically of course.
And other new research publications.
Peace on earth, goodwill to all!
the dilution makes it stronger.
The Signpost Crossword is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game that takes place in space-themed settings where players are colorful, armless cartoon astronauts.
Bollywood, Hollywood, and both kinds of football to close out December.
The debugging will continue until performance improves.
Heartwarming — MUST READ — You Won't BELIEVE #4!!!!!
Winner receives a special prize!
Edit summary: "Only need this page for about 30 minutes to demonstrate to a friend how easy it is to create a Wikipedia page. Then it will be deleted."