User talk:Jimbo Wales

Something insane for Halloween. It rocks, trust me.

If you are here to report abuse, or to request intervention in a dispute:

Please first read about resolving disputes, and try adding your request to the administrators' incident noticeboard instead.
Your grievance is much more likely to be investigated and acted upon in that forum.

If you are here with general questions about Wikipedia, or with 'reference desk' type questions:

Please redirect your Wikipedia questions to the Help desk and your reference questions to the appropriate section of the Reference desk.
Your questions are much more likely to be answered in those forums.

Jimbo Wales reads all this with great interest, but usually you'll want to work with others first.

Your questions are much more likely to be answered in those forums.
The best way to get a response from Jimbo is to say something funny. :)

This talk page is automatically archived by Werdnabot. Any sections older than 7 days are automatically archived to User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 13. Sections without timestamps are not archived

Something fun from Jimbo for the politically inclined

Archives
as of Jan. 16, 2003 Sept. – Dec. 2005 January 2006 Jan. – Feb. 2006 February 2006 Feb. 2006, cont. March 2006 April 2006 May24 - July 2006 July 2006 - August 2006 August 2006 Most of September 2006 Late September 2006 - Early November 2006 Early November 2006 -

Hello From Homestar Runner Wiki

Hello, Mr. Whales! My name is Brightstar Shiner and I would like to say hello on behalf of all of us at the Homestar Runner Wiki...for no particular reason at all, as it turns out. No I'm not a sysop or a beauracrat or anything, but I'm a nice plain user from over here. You should visit us sometime and talk to more important people like JoeyDay, the proprieter of our wiki. -216.255.63.167, a.k.a. Brightstar Shiner

Possible origin of Wikitruth

I only recently stumbled across "Wikitruth". Could it be that this anti-Wikipedia site has been created by multiple hardbanned User:Ted Wilkes alias User:DW alias User:NightCrawler and his many other sockpuppets? DW was under a hard ban since 2003 (see [1]) and "has been blocked indefinitely from editing Wikipedia, per ruling of administrators, Jimbo Wales", etc. in 2005. See [2], [3]. One of the criticisms against Wikipedia centers on you and the Wikipedia:Office Actions page which deals with certain legal issues. Ted Wilkes claimed to have much legal knowledge and used this knowledge in his mud-throwing campaign against arbcom member Fred Bauder. Wilkes, who plumed himself on being one of the best and most active contributors to Wikipedia, was blocked by arbcom ruling on 19 March 2006 for one year. See [4]. Is it just mere coincidence that Wikitruth was started shortly after that date, on 20 March 2006? His alias NightCrawler had much trouble with administrator Angela, ironically wishing Angie "WikiLove," etc. See [5], [6]. Significantly, Angela Beesley is attacked on the Wikitruth pages. Furthermore, administrator FCYTravis is one of Wikitruth's whipping boys, perhaps because Ted Wilkes had some trouble with this administrator on the Talk:Nick Adams page. See, for instance, [7]. Wikitruth also frequently claims that too many vandals and trolls "game the system" on Wikipedia. Is it just by chance that Wilkes and his supporter User:Wyss frequently accused user Onefortyone of gaming the system, being a troll, the "most dangerous vandal", etc., falsely claiming that this user's edits were fabricated, unfounded, or unwarranted and therefore must be removed. See [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Wyss even accused administrator Mel Etitis of being a troll. See [13]. For a summary of the facts, see also [14], [15]. Significantly, Wikitruth is recommended on Wyss's user page. See also [16]. So much for my suspicion concerning the origin of Wikitruth.

How do you pronounce "Wikipedia"?

Jimbo,

How do you yourself pronounce "Wikipedia", please? I'm asking particularly about the second syllable. In the word "wiki", I think most everyone would pronounce the second syllable similar to the English word "key". But I can imagine that in "wikipedia" the second "i" might get shortened, so that the whole thing sounds like it contains the word "kip" rather than the word "keep". What do you say?

(Note to anyone else reading this: I'm asking specifically how Jimbo pronounces it rather than how you or anyone else does, although if it's a FAQ then you could still be helpful by pointing me to an answer he has provided previously.)

Many thanks, Arbitrary username 15:46, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

This is an interesting question. I'd like to know to. If you've heard of the Wikipedia Weekly podcast, Jimmy, we're dealing with this issue on Episode 3 (due this week). Any input? – Chacor 15:48, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

I'd check this out. [17]. AniMate 06:00, 27 October 2006 (UTC) Thanks, that's interesting, but it doesn't specifically answer how Jimbo pronounces it. Arbitrary username 07:38, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I've heard him talk. The second syllable becomes a schwa just like as the overwhelming majority of American English speakers. "WICK-uh-peed-ee-uh" 75.35.216.37 22:23, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

To me it'd always be Wee-kee-pay-dee-uh. I think the wiki part should be pronounced wee-kee that sounds more like an ethnic language instead of sounding like wicca which could confuse folks who's been under a rock for the last few years and never heard of wikipedia. Also it's taken by Wiccapedia. LOL :D Feureau 19:48, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Weird, I always assumed it was Wick-ee-pee-dee-uh. —Chowbok ☠ 23:31, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Emeritus

Hello! Your Wikipedia article says, "Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is the founder, board member and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation."

Wikipedia's definition of Emeritus states, "Emeritus (IPA pronunciation: [əˈmɛrɪtəs] or [ɪˈmɛrɪtəs]) is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop or other professional. Emerita (IPA pronunciation: [ɪˈmɛrɪtə]) was used for women, but is rarely used today. The term is used when a person of importance in a given profession retires, so that his or her former rank can still be used in his or her title. This is particularly useful when establishing the authority a person might have to comment, lecture or write on a particular subject."

If possible, could you console me by letting me know that you're not actually retiring from the project, but are simply ditching some of your board duties to concentrate more on what you love (and do so well) -- public Wikipedia speaking? 152.163.100.69 03:44, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Right, I am retired from being board chair, not from the projects! I am still on the board, I am still doing my outreach work, and I am still devoting a ton of time to meeting and working with people from all the language communities worldwide. :)--Jimbo Wales 16:26, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I applaud this move. Will this mean the end of your powers at WP:OFFICE? I still see your name on the policy page. Will Florence Nibart-Devouard obtain WP:OFFICE power? What is it exactly that grants you WP:OFFICE power that's criticized as oftenly abused?Feureau 20:11, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

From what I've heard, Jimbo Wales has a special status as being the founder of Wikipedia. While the Board of Trustees can always intervene in matters, Jimbo's status is supported by the community. ★MESSEDROCKER★ 03:39, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Question: I'm sure you are used to this kind of input

Dear Mr. Wales, I'm fairly certain that you are used to negative input on this page. However, that said, I just spoke with the Assistant Dean at Linda Christas, and many of the students here are upset that Alison Jiear resigned from the Linda Christas Advisory Committee after receiving negative messages on her personal site from folks claiming to be Wikipedia Volunteers "just verifying information." I suppose you could take the view that Ms. Jiear's resignation from the Committee is expensive evidence of Linda Christas' existence, but that resignation is actionable. It has caused the school substantial loss of reputation. There are many administrators in the private sector who go out of their way to use every venue they can to discourage a student-first approach to education. Given your penchant for independence, Mr. Wales, I would think that you would want to support a school such as Linda Christas. From what I gather they have been through the entire process at Wikipedia, but have no chance of success on an appeal because of the uneven treatment being given to LC by people who are seemingly out to disadvantage the school. Could we at least make an attempt to give Linda Christas some good press through Wikipedia. By good press, I am simply asking for a listing.Warren Baines, Attorney (forwarded by Linda Christas Help Desk: Policy 23:342 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oppieangel2000 (talk • contribs)

A question about gathering in Korean wikipedia

Hi. My name is Ellif, I'm working on korean Wikipedia mainly, and I like and don't like Wikipedia.

The question What I have is, How many people can put a gathering be on Wikipedia: space. Because of I have a gathering. (I just proposed about some assertions some months ago, but as time passed by, Users are joined. and My gathering has 13 members at now. (For other gathering, You just can go to 한오백년 that means 'Solidarity of wikiPedia users who disagrees on Misjudgement of Korean wikipedia' :-) )) I think It can be on wikipedia: space, but operators in kowikipedia thinks Can't it be.

And, I also ask for your think on

• signature template on userpage (at present, a discussion about this brought up.)
• making page gather GUS-userbox in wikipedia: space (ex. ko:User:Airridi/유저박스 to ko:Wikipedia:사용자 유저박스 etc.)

Thanx for reading, and I love and bless you. Have a nice day!

- ko:사용자:Galadrien Ellif 14:53, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I think I know what the above user is saying but it might be helpful if a Korean-speaking wikipedian could help with translation so we know for sure...? Nil Einne 21:34, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

FYI, Han-O-Baek-Nyeon is a group of users who are against the policies of

1. WP:NPOV being applied to the User namespace, not just the (main) namespace
2. "No fair use" (AFAIK, fair use is not allowed under South Korean copyright laws)
3. Userboxes
4. Numerous rules, against one of the five pillars, Wikipedia does not have firm rules (IMHO, the English Wikipedia has more rules, and runs more smoothly)

IMHO this should be resolved by talking to the administrators of the Korean Wikipedia. --Kjoonlee 05:11, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

That's terrible! We don't have a mind insist of that kind of translation

our policy really insists

1. Against WP:NPOV Just ON USER PAGES (except some POV-cal thinks) - So, We Don't insist on NPOV Wholely.
2. recognition Fair use : for notion of 'quotation' on korean law can be.
3. Userboxes (e.g. We translated WP:GUS to korean, and we made some userboxes on User pages.)
4. Reduce Numerous rules, observe fifth pillars, and make more comunitical comunity.

I elucidate Wholely, Upper translation distorted our assertation. and I express My regret to kjoonlee, who is User of Korean Wikipedia. - Ellif 05:17, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

lol. do not bother Jimbo Wales. it shoule be discussed by korean wikipedia users. why did you ask Jimbo and why didn't you ask on Korean villege pump first? I disappointed.

anyway, in korean wikipedia there is no NPOV rule on User namespace, no Userbox restriction rule, and no unnecessary rules afaik (and han-o-baek-nyeon have never claimed whick rule is unnecessary). and Han-o-baek-nyeon claims to permit fair use but they have never confirmed any copyright law. so "no fair use" policy is right because there is no legal base of fair use. --Klutzy 08:14, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

I posted on Ellif's talk page that I am willing to sort out the fair use issue. Klutzy, I do not mind discussing this with you too. User:Zscout370 ^{(Return Fire)} 04:35, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

I looked at the various laws, but, since we go farther than US law, the Koreans go above and beyond the KO laws to make their encyclopedia free to the masses. I'll work with them to get rid of the fair use photos. Case closed. User:Zscout370 ^{(Return Fire)} 19:05, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Nash

Re our Mr Nash, whom we discussed off-WP, and his apparent use of CTs... when do you think it would be safe to explain this to them what are affected? Apparently, you neglected to notify MM of the reasoning, and he's somewhat distressed. Not overly emotionally so, at least, but distressed nonetheless (and not unreasonably so). DS 16:42, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Political userboxes

Is this userbox appropriate for Wikipedia? It was restored along with several others created by some sockpuppet and a couple about political parties of the more normal type, on the basis that the "Divisive and inflammatory" CSD does not apply to pages which happen to be in user-space despite their use only as templates in transclusion[18]. I don't see anyone changing opinions that Wikipedia is the place for political partisanship, despite neither "This user identifies as a Stalinist" nor "This user believes that the death penalty should be imposed and used more frequently!" being conducive to developing an encyclopedia. They did see fit to keep "Jews did WTC" deleted under section 14 paragraph 7 line 8 of the rule book, but we immediately run into the logical inconsistency of the whole matter: The user who created that userbox responds to ask whether "This user believes in Jewish involvement in the 9/11 attacks" would be acceptable, a natural conclusion; "This user considers Jews an inferior race" must be an attack, but "This user supports the Nazi party" would merely be an expression of personal opinion in the sacrosanct user-space. We are dealing only with matters of degree or viewpoint, which we can extend to less stereotypically fringe views that are interpretable as "This user supports the killing of children" or "This user supports the domination of women". I do not know the history of the userbox wars, but as new users join Wikipedia they should not be seeing these as standard—I frequently see users whose fifth edit is to post a {{helpme}} about how to make a userbox—this issue should be firmly and unequivocally resolved before 2008 (the nostalgiac days of 2004 had no such problem), but if the last year is an indication the problem is only increasing. —Centrx→talk • 18:46, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Troll? What troll?

They have a cave trollllllllll

Chris 18:48, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Eine Nachricht für Sie

Hallo Jimbo. Wie geht's? Ihr Benutzerseite sagt, dass Sie Nachrichten auf Deutsch mögen. Tschüs! -- ßottesiηi ^(talk) 21:14, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Blog?

I believe the largest problem opposing wikipedia at the current time is the public opinion of wikipedia. I recently heard a teacher telling a class full of students doing an assignment quote "Do not use Wikipedia because it is nothing but a giant blog" unquote. I have also heard a lot of important educators telling students not to use wikipedia as it is inaccurate and full of lies. They say that Its weakness is that anybody can edit. I believe that this is a clear example of the stigma that is being attached to our fair wiki. We as a whole need to combat this problem some how otherwise it threatens the survival of wikipedia its self. We some how have to prove that its supposed weakness is its strongest point, anybody can edit! I believe wikipedia deserves the recognition it deserves. I would like to hear on your thoughts Jimbo and anybody else who would like to comment. Thanks. Long live Jimbo. Culverin? ^Talk 10:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Jimboard!

People who think that anyone being able to edit is what makes Wikipedia unreliable are fools. If anyone can make an edit, then anyone can make a false or untruthful edit. But anyone also, can revert that edit change that edit and fix it. Dfrg.msc ^{1 . 2 . 3} 09:56, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Issue you might be interested in

You've participated in the case of Brandy Alexandre before and I know you're quite interested in BLP related issues so you might be interested in a question I have raised here Wikipedia talk:Biographies of living persons#Names - an interesting issue. This is a general issue which has occured to me based on some issues in the Brandy Alexandre case in particular. Cheers Nil Einne 13:21, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

German

Ah, sie lernen Deutsch? Warum dieses? Viele Grüße ~~ Phoe _talk 17:23, 6 November 2006 (UTC) ~~

Eine Anmerkung: Ich glaube, ihr könnt Jimbo auch mit "du" anreden. In der deutschen Wikipedia ist das üblich :) —da Pete (ばか) 17:51, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Die deutschen Anstandsformen ... lassen eh zu wünschen übrig ~~ Phoe _talk 19:08, 6 November 2006 (UTC) ~~ :-)

El Jigue

Hello, Mr. Wales. I was curious about something. An anon-user (El Jigue) continues to fill up 'talk pages' of Cuban related articles (Cuba, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Che Guevara) with gossip. As he has refused to register in, or respond (on his anon talk pages) to my complaints. Is it possible to erase his 'gossiping' from the respective 'talk pages'? GoodDay 01:36, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Sorry to have bothered you (with this question). I just notice the top of your 'talk page' (suggesting such questions, be directed to Administrators). Please ignore my 'pleas' on 1:36 Nov.7 ,2006 (UTC). GoodDay 04:50, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

There's an open investigation at WP:RFI about this. Durova^Charge! 05:52, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Nickname?

In an old issue of WIRED I saw you garnered the nickname "The God-King" (though you hated it) :-p Is this true? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.216.27.62 (talk • contribs)

The term has been used before in a generally joking fashion (I think I used it once in an email to Jimbo and he didn't seem to mind too much). If Jimbo is a God-King he is one of the most benevolent and hands-offish ones ever. JoshuaZ 17:11, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom elections

Over at Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2006 there is an active discussion about how to organize voting for the upcoming ArbCom elections. Several people have stated a strong preference for using Special:Boardvote but others have countered that you prefer to run them the way they were done last year. I would encourage you to either express yourself more fully on the issue or even, if you are so inclined, make a binding determination. I just figure that it is better to have you speak for yourself than have others arguing "Well Jimbo thinks..." Eluchil404 14:57, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Bribery and Blackmailing

You better look for bribery inside German Wikipedia There is more lerking in the German cupboards than you might think of. Kind Regards Olaf Klenke

Blackmailing is also a very popular Administrator job to avoid people who are no trolls but want to discuss differently because of too much POV. I am not innocent and I did provoke them quite often ( it provokes or it non provokes It provokes the desire but it take away the performance. ... ) Blaming others because of a different opinion is not scientific at all. And it is the Quality which counts not the Quantity. I do not know why but the German Administratos are responsible for the so called Vandals and Norwegian Trolls. They are not able to decide wether it is a Troll or someone who is worth to be propper integrated.

And after the last mysterious donation with no answers where the money has been gone nobody can really trust Wikimedia e.V. anymore.

This Privatisation for the sake of earning money with wikipedia is completely against what manny free users had generally in common when they started to write articles. Too many background consultants which are missusing the wikipedia to built up a good platform for there industrial clients. And many jobless Admins who do cover this actions. And it is a plain fact that nearly only the anonymous Administrators are responsible for 85% of the trouble.

A very good idea is going to be spoilt because of Germans typicall attitude to show arrogance even by not knowing anything about that matter.

All the best but I am fed up from blackmailing collecting evidences and the funny loss of any insaults from the German Wikipedia Admins.

By the way not all of them are bad Many good ones have left. And a very kind thank you to Admin Markus Schweiß who really tried hard to avoid all this hazzle and trouble. But one emotionless Admin is by far not enough.--80.142.238.228 11:23, 8 November 2006 (UTC) Olaf Klenke Germany--Ekkenekepen 11:40, 8 November 2006 (UTC) [19]

Jimbo Wales

Hi,

Could you make those countdowns of 5 seconds down to about 2 or so, or even nothing if possible... sot hat if someone goes to "www.wikipedia.org/dogs" it goes pretty much straight to www.wikpedia.org/wiki/dogs ? This would make linking really alot easier and save thousands of cumulative hours of time around the world!! :D What do you reckon? !!!?!? :D

sorry: signature Jimbob615 11:49, 8 November 2006 (UTC) and by the way, nice pumpkin, LOL!

Wikiholic Test

You know,

If you took the Wikiholic test, you'd be unstoppable. How come you didn't put your name up on the top 20 list?

KINGALEX56RULES!!!!!!!! 01:16, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC

Jimbo, I implore you to attend this meetup. I understand that you have a very busy schedule and you're constantly going all over the world, but this would be a great chance to bring your family to the great city of New York, plus you could meet other Wikipedians that perhaps won't have a chance to go tens of thousands of miles to Wikimania next August. Please think about it and get back to me (or that page) on it. ★MESSEDROCKER★ 03:15, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Need to know the reason

I am pretty new anti-vandalism member, and just came across User:RickK and his departure. Let me know the reason for his departure. I was shocked on seeing his statistics and it is not that great leting him out. I definitly need a reason for this... codetiger 09:04, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

What makes you think Jimbo would know? --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 10:36, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

If you can watch the history of User talk:RickK Jimbo has asked for appology for his work against RickK. So whats that has happened before. If you think this post of mine will affect Wikipedia in some way, I am really cool you can delete it. No problem. codetiger 13:06, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Ah, right. Well I doubt Jimbo will have time to explain but there's no harm in asking, I think. --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 15:00, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

RickK was a great vandalfighter who eventually burned out and left. His reasons for leaving did not have anything to do with any conflict with me. Once upon a time, I talked about RickK's work in a public lecture in a manner that was misunderstood by Rick... entirely my thought. I was expressing admiration for him as the daring cop who does what is right with courage, despite the flak, but my explanation of this (comparing him to a movie hero cop) was weak and hurt his feelings. I apologized and in the end all was right between us as far as I know. RickK was one of the great ones. :)--Jimbo Wales 17:01, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot Jimbo, for putting your time to reply. And I am starting back on anti-vandalism. codetiger 04:16, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

As for hurt feelings, some of us who were on the receiving end of his abuse might feel hurt that you'd praise him so glowingly. Everyking 08:30, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

"Jimbo Wales" on MySpace

I just came across this account on MySpace. Could you please confirm whether this is yours? Thanks. --Ixfd64 11:05, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes. It was a fake account pretending to be me, but I contacted myspace and they gave the account to me.--Jimbo Wales 16:58, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks for the confirmation. I certainly hope that the impersonator didn't cause too much trouble before MySpace deleted his original profile. :) --Ixfd64 19:41, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Wow they just gave it to you? Now you can use it to date--that's what MySpace is for, and not just have it deleted? I see an "Angela Beesley" [20] is your friend. That might be fake, too. Anomo 04:27, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

The impersonator didn't cause any trouble, as far as I know. It was a funny thing, the page was actually not so horrible, I figured it would be a hate page or something, but it was just a fake profile of me. The Angela account is real, too, I asked her. People use myspace to date? really? I am shocked. The whole thing makes my eyes hurt.--Jimbo Wales 16:22, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Myspace is a funny website for that. It's basically a giant social network. You find people based on their interests, you can blog there, you can also read your friends profiles/pictures. It's amazingly popular for people my age and younger (18), though it has a bit of a reputation for having a mainly emo fan-base. --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 16:52, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikia, conflict of interest, and pop culture articles

Remember how much trouble you got in for editing the Wikipedia article on you? Well, this can be perceived as a profit maximizing attempt to drive pop culture article efforts away from wikipedia to somewhere else. All I'm saying is when you create a conflict of interest perceptions count. Someone needs to bring greater quality, verification and neutrality to our pop culture articles, but it will in the end be counterproductive for someone with ownership in a for-profit pop culture containing wiki to be the one that does it. Just sayin'. 4.250.138.248 19:03, 9 November 2006 (UTC) (WAS 4.250)

It's interesting to read that post and think how much Jimbo's views have changed. He once had a great and oft-cited quote about how Wiki is not paper, and now here he is going on about "fancruft" like a deletionist. He starts off the post talking about how it isn't cited, the picture is a copyvio, those kind of problems, certainly valid, but then later on you see the real issue: he doesn't consider the subject "famous". Everyking 08:37, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

He also made some interesting comments about the 9-11 stuff that has now been moved off. Back before Wikipedia became famous, he added a comment about using interest in the non-encyclopedic (yet true) information enthusiasts were accumulating about 9-11 on his servers to drum up publicity and perhaps donations to keep the servers up. He apparently excells as a promoter. And its important for the rest of us to credit Jimbo where credit is due, but not to give his opinions undue weight. I wouldn't overly credit Einstein's sex advice or Hef's marriage advice. WAS 4.250 19:48, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikia has never made a profit. I think because their ads are not spammy enough. Anyway, I count several trolling threads on here not including this one, yet when someone has a real complaint, like this it gets shunned even though this trolly thread and others up right now are left. Anomo 09:32, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Quoting you

I'm quoting you in a proposed policy discussion, and it concerns your fundamental principles, so I thought you'd want to know in case you wanted to comment, either to affirm their relevance or to say I'm misinterpretting what you say. Sort of on that subject, I'm glad your talk page isn't semi-protected! 66.231.130.70 02:02, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

RfA Standards

Hey Mr. Wales, I'm a bit intimidated by the whole RfA process, and I think it would benefit a little clarification. Do you think you could add your two cents at Wikipedia:Requests_for_adminship/Standards? Thanks, Pcbene 02:21, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Umberto Eco - Baudolino

Lerne nicht deutsch.

Lerne türkisch ;)

Immerhin wird der nächste Kaiser von Europa ein Türke sein. ...Jedenfalls nachdem Ihr Eure Mini-Nukes alle verschossen habt :) (Und Hillary Clinton und Arnold Schwarzenegger werden zeitgleich zurücktreten, weil Sie mit dem selben minderjährigen Postboten-Praktikanten E-Mail-S hatten)

Best regards, --Foerdi 06:07, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Blackmailing

Dear Mr Wales My name is Olaf Klenke from Germnany ( yes I have got a reall name )

I am blackmailed by Administrator Bdk by linking a collection of comments which I made This comments are collected but how the discussion developped cannot be seen anymore because its part of there kind of funny "game". Because of this comments my name is listed over google in a way nobody really wants to. I cannot do anything against this blackmailing because all your administrators can work anonymous if they want to. Because I wanted to prosecute this people I rewarded a fine of 1000 $ each if I can get hold of the reall person behind all this norty business. It is miracousley always the same bunch of administrators which is alltimes blocking me. I tried to appologize for my mistakes but they dont listen. If this is the new method to avoid trolls inside the wikipedia it is a very bad way.

It is not funny at all if your name is mentioned over google search engine on the first position over that way. Administrator Markus Schweiß tried to persuade Bdk to erase this wikipedia entrance. She said only if he is not working here anymore. And all this happened because she wants to stay anonymous. If a person is doing something like this she has lost the right to keep her name private.

I am working in a position where some clients might google my name and that is no fun at all then. I told Bdk all this arguments but she is still convinced that everything she does is correct.

With all my humble respect I beg you to deal with that matter because it could destroy much more than only called by your own reall name.

Yours sincerely

Olaf Klenke --Ekkenekepen 13:55, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

someone should sue your ass for promoting propoganda! lol

Is that a legal threat? *Dan T.* 04:34, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Uncyclopedia

Hello Jimbo. What do iu think of the Uncyclopedia? --Walter Humala |wanna Talk? 02:29, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

I love it.--Jimbo Wales 06:35, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

W T F ? ? ? !

I don't understand this. Please restore the record of the discussion on the proposed deletion of Gary Weiss.--70.218.34.233 10:15, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Deleting old discussion which contained discourteous commentary is standard practice. Can you tell me what your objection in this particular case is?--Jimbo Wales 15:18, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

It's typically the discourteous comments themselves that are deleted, not the entire page. Please reconsider your decision and restore record of that discussion, purged of individual instances of discourtesy as you deem fitting.--70.218.34.233 19:01, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

It's very hard to permenently remove comments from talk pages, as they weave into the page history and people reply to them. To be honest, there is often little way to remove discourteous comments from discussion pages without nuking the whole page. I have a question for you too, why do you want the page restored? I genuinely can't think of a reason. --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 19:13, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Some people have a dislike for destroying history, as it goes against the usual style of openness in this site. If there should be further controversy surrounding the article, or another attempt to bring it up for deletion, then the original debate could be instructive. *Dan T.* 19:58, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

In this case, that is highly unlikely. If anyone ever needs to see it, they can just ask an admin to restore it at that time. There is such a thing as a reasonable dislike for destroying history (which deletion DOES NOT DO), and then there is just irrational paranoia from people who would rather see Wikipedia turned into a radical free speech zone for pushing their POVs and hatreds. I think it is not hard to steer a reasonable course here.--Jimbo Wales 00:33, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure either case applies here. What does apply is WP:GD, particularly:

The discussion is preserved for future reference in accordance with the deletion process (both for consultation as non-binding precedent and for determining when a previously deleted article has been re-created).[21]

Please reconsider your decision, or more fully explain your rationale.--70.218.34.233 01:08, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It's not deleted. You just can't see it. If there is enough discourtesy, then the page needs to be blocked from view. Cougar Draven 01:46, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Anon -- you're whining. As a living author (one unconnected with this dispute), I personally am glad to see such a page deleted. It's a million miles away from "destroying history." BYT 01:14, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Deletion does make accessing history more difficult. The idea of nuking a whole page just because it is "difficult" to do a proper isolation and deletion of any specific comments, seems to be taking the easy option. (Disclaimer: as I cannot view the discussion in question, I cannot comment on the specifics of this case. I am merely pointing out the general principle at stake here.) It may be an idea to clarify the caveat at WP:DRV that says a temporary undeletion may be requested to allow people to review a deletion, to not apply in cases like this. Carcharoth 01:26, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Either there's value in retaining these discussions or there is not. Either we keep them or we do not. If this "courtesy delete" stands, let it be so for any subject who objects to his or her on-wiki treatment. I may or may not agree with WP policy, but I do think it should be evenly applied.--70.218.34.233 04:07, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Jimbo says above that deletion does not destroy history, presumably because deleted articles can be viewed by some people, and even restored if necessary. However, WP:DRV has the following: "The archive of deleted page revisions may be periodically cleared. Pages deleted prior to the database crash on 8 June 2004[1] are not present in the current archive because the archive tables were not backed up. This means pages cannot be restored by a sysop. If there is great desire for them it may be possible to retrieve them from the old database files. Prior to this, the archive was cleared out on 3 December 2003." - the impression I get from this is that deleted material has been permanently lost. How can we be sure that deleted material won't similarly be lost in the future? Carcharoth 01:30, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

we can't the deletion table should not used for data storage.Geni 02:34, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. So surely people should stop saying that deletion does not destroy history. It looks to me like deletion starts the process of destroying the stuff permanently, and people (if they are aware of the deletion) have a few years to do something about it, before it is permanently lost. Carcharoth 02:56, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps a one-line "This discussion was deleted after complaints by the article's subject. ~~~~" (which is what I presume happened), so people don't get confused by the redlink? —Cryptic 03:00, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not an admin, nor do I play one on TV. I do feel, however, that living subjects of article debates like this one should have a minimal right to privacy. If the subject did request that the debate be deleted (or even if Jimbo simply thought it prudent to delete the debate) because of incivility or irresponsible statements therein, who, exactly, is harmed by deleting the material? BYT 03:04, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there ever value in retaining a record of debate? Why should one debate have more enduring value than another?

Here's the reason: accountability. The one thing that keeps Wikipedia from descending into pure thug rule is the knowledge that one's actions are recorded and may one day need to be answered for.

Would one "discourteous" statement on this page justify deleting the whole thing? Of course not.

Jimbo, please let the sunshine in and restore the discussion.--70.218.34.233 04:19, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Those pleas for accountability would be a little more persuasive if you adopted a username, anon. BYT 11:33, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

If you read the thread, you will see that there are accounts with usernames supporting the general principle of accountability. There is no need to be incivil to someone posting as an IP address (the incivil bit is the "anon" barb at the end - ending after "username" would make it just a statement; ending with the "anon" bit brings it closer to an attack on the person, rather than the person's arguments). This attitude does nothing to support your arguments at all, and merely brings down the level of the discourse. Carcharoth 17:14, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

This directed to the anonymous user: The deletion discussion is still there, just inaccessible to the vast majority of people. Your argument does little to convince Jimbo, or any other admins, to undelete the page. Why are you so desperate for it to be there? It really is just one little deletion discussion that Jimbo says was deleted for discourteous comments. I've read it and there really is nothing interesting on that page. Can't we just forget about this and move onto more imporant matters? --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 17:21, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It's about the principle involved, Deskana. Policy states debate is retained for future reference. Now I know how you feel and I appreciate your comments, but I'm not sure you're in a position to speak on behalf of Jimbo in terms of what he does or does not find convincing. And for the record, whereas the matter involves policy plain and simple, as opposed to content, please refrain from making this personal by questioning my motives, and I commit to doing you the same courtesy.--70.218.34.233 18:03, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It's hard not to question someone's motives when the ignore counter-arguments. The fact remains that your argument is unconvincing and that Jimbo will likely not undelete the page, but feel free to continue asking him to... --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 18:13, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Per Deskana's request: Jimbo, will you please, in accordance with WP:GD, restore the debate on the proposed deletion of Gary Weiss, and if not, please explicity state what Wikipedia policy is in terms of making records of debate accessible to the public.--70.218.34.233 18:32, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

That is not my request. I think the page should stay deleted. Trying to twist my words? --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 18:31, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

You suggested I continue asking Jimbo to comply with WP:GD and that's what I did. For now I'd ask you to remember that this is User:Jimbo Wales's talk page, and I have a policy disagreement with him based on his actions and not yours. If you'd like we can continue a philosophical thread on either of our talk pages, but for now, I'm awaiting Jimbo's response, thank you.--70.218.34.233 18:44, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Mr. Wales, I was the one who nominated that article for deletion, believing that it fell under the "conflict of interest" (CoI) criteria for AfD. However, it was pointed out during the discussion that the CoI criteria for AfD appears to conflict. The AfD main page lists CoI as a valid reason for nomination for AfD. However, the CoI page itself states that notability, not CoI, is the only grounds for article deletion. In addition to that useful discussion generated on the AfD criteria, the Gary Weiss AFD discussion also addressed the issues of possible sock-puppetry involved with that particular article, which hasn't been investigated further as of yet, as far as I know. Thus, that discussion would have served as important background material if there are any further problems with that particular article in the future. I respectfully believe it is to the benefit of the Wikipedia community to have that discussion available for whoever wants/needs to read it. Cla68 23:09, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Cla68, I very much disagree with you about this. The page contained wildly inappropriate speculation that a notable author was sockpuppeting. As I am sure you are aware, many authors have had their careers badly damaged by being caught sockpuppeting at Amazon, etc., and it is deeply wrong for people to ask me to restore a page with such speculations in Wikipedia after the claims have already been investigated and dismissed. If there are further problems in the future, there will be no problem restoring the article at that time. In the meantime, it is my position that MOST AfD pages for living persons or active companies should be courtesy blanked (at a minimum) as a standard process, and deleted in all cases where there was inappropriate commentary. This is not the current policy, but currenty policy does allow for deletions of material which is potentially hurtful to people.--Jimbo Wales 01:42, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Edit Reason

What is the most humourous edit reason you've seen that was purposely funny? What about one that was funny but was meant as totally serious? btg2290 07:10, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I have been laughing for days at something funny MessedRocker told me in irc the other day... the time he was doing some big project and copying/pasting an edit summary but accidentally messed up and closed a bunch of deletion debates by deleting articles with a reason of a random movie title. :) I may not have the story exactly right, but it was something like that.--Jimbo Wales 16:19, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

That wasn't so hard to find. Here it is! :). Cowman109^Talk 19:20, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

That's hilarious! Personally I quite like [22]. Proves that testing anti-vandalism tools can sometimes have totally unexpected consequences! I also quite like this, software bug! --Lord Deskana (swiftmend!) 20:11, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Michigan-Ohio State Game?

Hey Jimmy, I was wondering if you were going to go the game. It's a chance of a lifetime dude. Go Bucks!

A Site You Should Be Aware of

Dear Mr. Wales,

May God Bless You Always!

My name is Steve Gentry and I am an editor here on Wikipedia. I am 25 yeras old will be graduating in December with a BA in History and Certifcation to teacher Secondary Education in Missouri.

First, I wanted to tell you how grateful I am to be part of this project. Wikipedia is a wonderful place set asdie for Academia and I hope to contribute. This is a great opportunity and I am honored to be part of it.

Second, I find myself compelled to bring the following website to your attendion. The look and format of the site is exactly like Wikipedia except that it critisizes the project. The critical page is called Wikitruth and it contains article critiszing all aspects of Wikipedia. I Just thought that you should know.

http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Main_Page

Yours in Christ, (Steve 00:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC))

Wow, it truly doesn't get much more evil than that... —The Great Llama ^talk 00:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)