User:LessHeard vanU

Look into my eyes! Deep into my eyes! You are starting to feel creepy... Very, very creepy...

My name is Mark James Slater. I was born 30th October 1959, in West London. I am married with two children. I now live in Cornwall, United Kingdom. I believe in taking the consequences of my actions, for good or bad (although my wife does not agree that this happens in practice!)

I realise that many Wikipedians use "their" page to indicate what fine, unique and intelligent individuals they are, how valuable they are to the WikiCommunity, and to generally make themselves appear interesting and amusing. I guess that this is my attempt...

Caveat

In the execution of my duties in role of Oversighter any information I may become privy to via WMF mailing lists or any other means of communication will be dealt with scrupulously as required by the WMF privacy policy. I would further ensure that such information I am privy to will only be released to other persons with as an equal or greater responsibility to discretion and non-disclosure, and again only in compliance with the WMF privacy policies. However, in my capacity as an editor and administrator only should I receive information by private means I shall consider that the sender has waived any claim of privacy or copyright on their part of the message and has obtained such permission on the part of any third parties whose post(s) form part of the message. By communicating with me outside of Wikipedia spaces you are giving me permission to disseminate the content of any message in the manner of my choosing, and you hold yourself liable for any violation of law, Wikipedia policies, service providers Terms of Service, and other consequence of my making public of such information. I would note that this is a reciprocal undertaking, in that I release all claim of confidentiality in relation to general (but expressly not that in respect of Oversight issues) Wikipedia related communications sent by me and only request that the recipient act with all due care and good faith.Mark James Slater 27th August 2010

A(n Amended) Short Statement of Intent

I am very pleased to be appointed an administrator and oversighter as I believed that I am more effective in those roles than as an editor only. Primarily, I am here to make this place more editor friendly. I will do what is asked of me, provided it is within my competence and the rules, policies and guidelines of Wikipedia, and will strive to act in a transparent and accountable manner. With the above in mind, I will respond to your emails and respect your privacy - but please see my caveat above as I do not care to conduct my day to day Wikilife outside of the scrutiny of my peers, where possible. I will not participate in IRC discussions, nor in the exchange of emails outside of that is necessary for me to function as an an oversighter or sysop. If I do partake in private conversations, as part of my editor or admin roles, and determine that there is a conflict of interest between the request for privacy and accountability I shall always opt for disclosure. I realise this may exclude me from certain aspects of the administrative remit but, to be frank, I consider this a benefit.

Regarding the above, now that I have the responsibility of access to the Oversight flags and the mailing lists and other sensitive information I will be scrupulous in conducting my self in strict compliance to the WMF privacy policy. I shall only divulge personal information obtained by any enhanced access that may be entrusted to me to persons with equal or greater responsibility to confidentiality.

Please feel free to let me try and help you.

Make of This What You Will

LHvU

This contributor is not a Mook!

I wish I had the t-shirt that proclaims

"Je suis Marxiste (tendance Groucho)!"

I am now the owner of one of these, and am relearning the joy of amplification, and my attendance here may be somewhat disrupted as a consequence...

We do not wish to deprecate the role of Jimbo Wales as regards directing the activities of Wikipedia because he is incapable, but because the community is capable of assuming that role

Is the project capable of running its own affairs, of conducting the business of producing an encyclopedia? Perhaps. Is it inclined to conduct the running of the business of producing an encyclopedia? Not presently. Should it be allowed to take over responsibility for conducting the business of producing the encyclopedia when those currently responsible deem fit? No. Should the community determine when it is capable of taking over the responsibility for conducting the business of producing the encyclopedia? Yes!
LessHeard vanU/Mark James Slater 15th July 2009

More Frippery than albums by David Bowie, King Crimson, Talking Heads and Eno Put Together

		The Original Barnstar
		for your hard work cleaning up the Penwith articles Reedgunner 16:41, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

		The Original Barnstar
		I gladly present Mark James Slater with this award for never failing to put arrogant nob'eds in their place. Vera, Chuck & Dave 19:31, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

		The Surreal Barnstar
		"The Surreal Barnstar may be awarded to any Wikipedian who adds a 'special flavour' to the community by acting as a sort of wildcard". I gladly award this Barnstar to LessHeard vanU, who has no fear of lesser beings, and who is a genuinely committed editor. I thank him profusely. andreasegde 20:18, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The Beatles Wikifish That's the way Cod planned it

For absolutely no reason at all, I, Kingboyk, hereby award you with a [[:Image:PeanutButterJellyStar.gif|Dancing peanut butter jelly bean thingie (since sadly deleted, sob)LessHeard vanU 12:59, 11 June 2007 (UTC)<]]. Enjoy! --kingboyk 18:58, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

A really neat "flower on a flag" image presented by MaxSem to me for following the herd.

		Recognition
		While browsing the discussion at ElinorD's RfA, i noticed your comment and just decided to award you this particular barnstar. Very well-deserved. I used my William Wallace's pic as i couldn' find an appropriate barnstar for in a recognition for your action. -- FayssalF - Wiki me up® 02:55, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		Thanks for your work on the InfoArt cleanup project. Tyrenius 21:52, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

		The TomStar81 Spelling Award
		Be it known to all members of Wikipedia that LessHeard vanU has corrected my god-awful spelling on the page Wikipedia:Request for adminship/TomStar81 2‎, and in doing so has made an important and very significant contribution to the Wikipedia community, thereby earning this TomStar81 Spelling Award and my deepest thanks. Keep up the good work! TomStar81 (Talk) 20:36, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		Thanks for the compliment ;) ACBestMy ContributionsAutograph Book 20:22, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence (Potato Salad of Congeniality cluster, 1st. Class) In Panis, Veritas.

I hereby award you, with all due solemnity (which is to say not very much at all) this highly prestigious and edible award "The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence". I award this to the editors who do good work in all the various places I bump into them, and also to editors who look a little bit hungry. Wear it with pride, noble wiki-warrior! Best regards, Hamster Sandwich 23:34, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Peace
		For giving peace to my mind in a time of great turmoil with your clear thinking and quick action , I can never thank you enough Mattisse 17:20, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

		The Socratic Barnstar
		For your ability to think against the flow, which led the Privatemusings case to an amicable solution. — Sebastian 19:13, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

		The Invisible Barnstar
		For being one of the folks who does the scut work without expecting plaudits or groveling, and with respect for those whose path you cross. Risker (talk) 01:44, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

		The Special Barnstar
		I see you alot on AIV, dealing with reports and blocking vandals. I've seen you on AIV quite a lot, and I want you to know your tireless work has not gone un-noticed. :) Steve Crossin (talk) (anon talk) 23:16, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

You have won the Edit Summary of the Day award for this contribution here[1]. Thank goodness someone is keeping on top of those new forms. Risker (talk) 22:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Were this admin to act in a foolish, trollish, or dickish way, he is open to being slapped with a large trout.

(I am placing this here, in the same way that I have included the Beatles Wikifish, the late and lamented "Dancing peanut butter jelly bean thingie" thingy, and the ""The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence" award, of examples in how a little personal act by an individual can make this place such a great place to participate in.)

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		I am always terrible at choosing the right barnstar, but your sage adminship and infinite patience deserve recognition! Cheers, CP 16:05, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

BlackPearl14 would like to give LessHeard vanU the following barnstar for helping her with preventing personal attacks :)

Thanks! BlackPearl14^{Pirate Lord-ess of the Caribbean} 21:19, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

		The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
		For your facing flak from dastardly IP editors after semiprotecting the Sarah Palin article. If it gets hot in that helmet, feel free to don one of these. And keep your head down, it's valuable around here! Noroton (talk) 17:17, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		For helping a Burba in the struggle against vandalism :) Muchas gracias, Less :) Beansandveggies (talk) 11:41, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		Dear LessHeard vanU, I present this barnstar to you, in personal recognition of the work you do behind the scenes, no doubt tedious, but needed. My support, thanks, and good luck wishes are with you! Judicatus | Talk | Contributions 09:17, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		To LessHeard vanU, because he is a fine and fair administrator. Period. Catgut (talk) 23:28, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

		The Resilient Barnstar
		For acknowledging an old mistake at Wikipedia:Requests_for_adminship/Orlady#Support. What a mensch ! Bearian (talk) 18:56, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

User:LessHeard vanU has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, and therefore, I've officially declared today as LessHeard vanU's day! For being such a beautiful person and great Wikipedian, enjoy being the Star of the day, dear LessHeard vanU! Peace, Rlevse ~ A record of your Day will always be kept here.

		The Barnstar of Integrity
		For your willingness to stand before the community when human frailties showed, I offer you the much deserved Barnstar of Integrity, and commend you for your braveness. In the King's proper English, I bestow this knightly honor upon thee. — Ched :  ?  15:19, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

I didn't wish to know this. Kindly leave the stage ;o) ➲ redvers ^{throwing my arms around Paris} 20:49, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

		The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
		For you unblocking O Fenian because the blocking administrator was in serious error I, Rascal the Peaceful award you this barnstar. You really made a good descion in joining Wikipedia. RtP (talk) 00:36, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		For your drafting of the "rough page," "advancing a reasoning on why and how a policy for removing administrator privileges might be proposed." And for submitting same to Jimbo Wales today. You have my 100% support, respect, and admiration!!! Ludvikus (talk) 23:26, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

		The "pasty of good humour"
		For obvious reasons   pablohablo. 12:30, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		I appreciate your administrative services to The Climate change probation, requests for enforcements. Your contributions, closes in particular, are helping the project. Zulu Papa 5 * (talk) 02:08, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

The Tightrope Award, representing the amazing Charles Blondin carrying Jimbo Wales safely across the Niagara Falls.

The Tightrope Award is bestowed on LessHeard vanU for his daring use of "brilliant" and "Tony Sidaway" in the same sentence.[2] Bishonen | talk 18:10, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

		The Podstar
		For all your efforts in cheering up Bishonen. --RexxS (talk) 18:04, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Glad you approve. Have a cupcake! :)

The spettekaka of effort (very dry, served with a hacksaw), decorated with the sugar icing squiggles of optimism, is awarded to LHVU by Bishonen.

		The Teamwork Barnstar
		For LessHeard. In appreciation of the excellent advice you give and kindness you've shown in being my mentor. Thanks. Malke 2010 (talk) 21:15, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Appropriate Civility
		Somewhat belatedly awarded to LessHeard vanU for his common-sense approach.  pablo 11:45, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

		The Userpage Shield
		Thanks for your assistance recently. Cheers! This lousy T-shirt (talk) 02:24, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		I, Mikhailov Kusserow, hereby award LessHeard vanU with The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar for outstanding achievement in countering vandalism. — Mikhailov Kusserow (talk) 03:46, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Dear Reader, I hope you have enjoyed contemplating the above frippery as much as I enjoyed receiving them...

Admin Stats and WP:RECALL

LessHeard vanU (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
Edit Count
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
My own block log; 1 x test, by self.

I am not in the category Admins open to recall. I do not believe in a process that enables individuals or groups with an agenda to pursue an action to desysop an administrator for reasons unconnected with the use of the tools. I also do not believe in any impediment that constrains an administrator from acting boldly, or otherwise limits the ability to act in what the individual believes is to the greater good of the project.

However, I consider that should my use of the sysop tools be so (word de joure) egregious as to lose the confidence of the community in my ability to use them impartially and in keeping with the office then a couple of people - or just one in a couple of instances - of good standing in the community and not involved in any current or recent dispute with me need only to come to my talkpage and request that I give up the mop. I will then consider my position, and if persuaded set down the tools.

The above is not a recall process, just an indication that I wish only to continue as an admin while I have the confidence of the majority of the community. As such it does not seek to limit any person from bringing an RfC, or RfAr, regarding my conduct should they so desire.

Administrator Reconfirmation

ThankSpam

My RfA Thank you for participating in my "RecFA", which passed with a final tally of 153/39/22. There were issues raised regarding my adminship that I intend to cogitate upon, but I am grateful for the very many supportive comments I received and for the efforts of certain editors (Ceoil, Noroton and Lar especially) in responding to some issues. I wish to note how humbled I was when I read Buster7's support comment, although a fair majority gave me great pleasure. I would also note those whose opposes or neutral were based in process concerns and who otherwise commented kindly in regard to my record. I recognise that the process itself was unusual, and the format was generally considered questionable - and I accept that I was mistaken in my perception of how it would be received - but I am particularly grateful for those whose opposes and neutrals were based in perceptions of how I was not performing to the standards expected of an administrator. As much as the support I received, those comments are hopefully going to allow me to be a better contributor to the project. Thank you. Very much. LessHeard vanU (talk) ~~~~~

Well, back to the office it is...

I do believe that there should be a method by which admins can be reviewed without there necessarily being instances or patterns of actions so poor as to trigger RfC/OAR/RfAR, but with more consequence than that which other venues of review currently offer. My preferred solution was to re-run a RFA but requesting commentators to concentrate on the admin activity. Although my RecFA was successful in that I retained access to the flags, and I gained some useful input in how some aspects of my sysop work was percieved, I cannot say that it served its other purpose in establishing a procedure to that end. There appears to be no momentum in promoting the RFA system as a singular method, and considerable antipathy generally otherwise. Perhaps it may be something that could be considered as an option in a RfC or OAR. Self servingly (an accusation made during the process, not without grounds), I can now say to anyone who complains that the admin "corp" remains largely unaccountable, "Well, I tried..."

"I'm In With the Out Crowd"

This user is a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Administrator; a group of editors seeking to address the role of administrators and their interaction with other editors.

However, this user heartily endorses the following comment, originally posted on Jimbo Wales' talkpage;

Well, it also rather begs the question of what behavior we want from admins. Is pressuring them to increase activity always best for the project? In terms of real world politics, I tend to think that politicians who behave a certain way in the hopes of securing reelection are not necessarily putting the attention to doing the job properly, which will sometimes anger people when done right. Too, while greater levels of participation are fabulous, we are dealing with volunteers here, and volunteerism tends to ebb and flow with interest, energy and time. To me, it seems that routine reconfirmations would siphon off time and attention from other activities by the admins up for reconfirmation as well as those who like/dislike them. And it would do nothing to address the immediate needs experienced by Editor A when Admin B is mistreating him (for up to one or two years, depending on length of reconfirmation). An efficient method would attend to those admins who do cause problems without generating unnecessary process around those who do not. An effective method would reform inappropriate admin behavior where possible and remove from adminship those who prove unable (or unwilling) to reform, with a goal of providing fair hearing to all parties. We don't want to lose or alienate any good volunteers, admin or otherwise. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 15:17, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

...now, all we need is to effect the detail!

Wikipedia vs. Stupidia

"This has to stop..." (JoshuaZ 01.09.09) I should not be permitted to delete items like this (since undeleted and expanded - although still not referenced) because... it exists! If anyone can show me where on the page is any indication it exists, then I concede the point - but don't bother looking at the parent article (I already have) because it is not noted. Is there a reference or source given? Nope. So the only thing available to a Wikipedia reader to prove its existence is... that article.
Likewise, try searching for Christian Democratic Party of Lebanon in Google - and exclude WP and its mirrors. Result? Nothing. You can find the Christian Democratic Union Party of Lebanon, who incidentally seems to share the same leader as the one in the WP article, but not the one in WP.Hey! It seems that the above has been moved to Christian Democratic Union (Lebanon) - so it only takes deleting factually incorrect former article to get it sorted. Result!
Or, you cannot remove a disambig page which links to only one subject (a baron, who was the only holder of the title since they died without issue) which is a redlink anyway... I am particularly perplexed by this; a disambig page for one subject, for whom no-one has yet created an entry...
"Something is better than nothing at all"? This purports to be an encyclopedia, where "If a job's worth doing, then it is worth doing well."

Other LHvU Pages

Sandbox 1

Sandbox 2

Admin log

Meta Userpage

Commons Userpage

"In Wikipedia, X is an Article, not Evil"
"Confirmation bias bias confirmed", or "WP:CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC"

Anon ip editors have edit hours on their side

If there really are 99 vandal ip editors for every good ip editor, then ip editing works. The vandal ip's create perhaps 1 hours work each on average to clean up. That is 99 hours work. The remaining good ip editor contributes perhaps 2 hours per day, for five days a week for 3 months. That equals 130 hours, or a gain of 31 hours to Wikipedia. Thus removing ip editing is to the detriment of WP.

Useful tools

How to edit a haggered page ; type http:(//)en.wikipedia.org(/)w(/)index.php?action=edit&title=(article name) (remove brackets!) in address bar, and go looking for an unprotected template. Disinfect and save template.

If you plug the IP into http://samspade.org/ and it shows "ASSIGNED PA", it's likely to be permanent over a term of months and can usually be safely blocked for such periods/

To compare two editors editing crossover - http://toolserver.org/~pietrodn/intersectContribs.php

My Individual Contributions To The Repository of Knowledge That is Wikipedia

Carleen, Arban Severin, Subconscious music

Adding the name of the Nation(ality) in pages lacking same - which I have termed "countering Hickism", the belief that all English speaking people will instinctively know the country of the city/State mentioned (and they may do, but encyclopedias require standards for all not assumptions).

Removing wuffle (personal detail that is irrelevant to the article - "When not designing processor architecture, s/he enjoys playing softball with their children and Softy the cat".)

Something to do - a review of some mini stubs of less than 250bytes which have not been edited in a year: User:LessHeard vanU/Mini stubs Only 1500, or a bit more... Didn't touch the dates - but have now finished a, b, c, d, e, f, g

Alternate Accounts

I have created the following accounts;

User:LHvU - anti impersonation, plus alternate editing account where there may be a security risk (cyber cafes, friends computers, London, etc.) in using this account.

User:Markjamesslater - anti impersonation, inactive.

User:MarkJSlater - anti impersonation, inactive.

Presence on Wikipedia Review

I am "LessHorrid vanU" on the above site. Not only do I log on to record any opinions that I may have on various topics, but I also log on when I only read the content. If anyone wishes to civilly discuss my participation on that site I am happy to oblige. I also respect the right of anyone to hold an opinion on my or anyone else's participation on that site, although I often wish those whose opinion regarding said participation does not concur with mine would extend me the same courtesy as I extend them.

A note for the unwary; The Wikipedia Review Kabal always speaks with one voice... admittedly, that voice appears to be saying various differing and often contrary things - and rather seems to be arguing with itself - but it is certainly "one voice": if only because someone at Wikipedia has said so, and anything you read on Wikipedia must be true.

In Memoriam

With apologies to Jim Carroll - "People Who Tried"
User:!!

... and to people who died

The Catholic Boy
The sanest fool of the 20th century
Jean Mackinnon (1925 - 2010)
"We think the drummer's alright..."
Zoe Dean, nee Slater (1960 - 2011)