User talk:Jimbo Wales

Wikipedia:Wikipedia holidays

I noticed there's not been any new ones for a while. How about some more generic ones, like Featured content day, to celebrate all of our most outstanding content, or New editors day to annually welcome and thank those who've registered accounts in the last year? --Dweller (talk) 13:41, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

On the other hand, I vote for a Sue Gardner holiday, she definitely earned it the past 2 years. But i don't mind a Featured content day either. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 23:10, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

I also like the idea of a Featured content day. Ross Rhodes (T C) ^Sign! 21:19, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Something to do

Has anyone got something for me to do that's not that hard? I'm like a jobless deadbeat! Help me find something to do, somebody! Vandals, copyediting, expanding, ARBCOM, ANI, I don't care, as long as it is not challenging! Please, help - I'm so bored! *wipes tear* Rory (talk) 21:32, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Three letter acronnym dab page cleanup is your friend. MickMacNee (talk) 22:40, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Huh? Rory (talk) 23:59, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Almost anything here can be challenging, but you might want to take a look here for something of interest to you. If you want to improve existing articles, there's also plenty of scope for that here. Pitch in, and if you have any questions, please ask on my talk page (I'm here about 12 - 14 hours daily), or any other editor. Rodhullandemu 00:11, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

New Page Patrol always seems to have plenty of work and is rather varied. --Apoc2400 (talk) 19:16, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

E-mail

I have sent you an e-mail via the "E-mail this user" option in the toolbox a few days ago. It doesn't look like you saw it so I am notifying you here. -- IRP ☎ 23:04, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

What was the subject line? I can look for it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 14:38, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

It is "Wikipedia e-mail (regarding User:JarlaxleArtemis)". -- IRP ☎ 20:15, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Impersonator on Yahoo! Answers

On the Yahoo! Answers section for Wikipedia, there's a user calling him-or-herself "Jimmy Wales" and asking troll-ish questions like this. It's an obvious imposter, so I thought you might appreciate knowing. {{Nihiltres|talk|log}} 15:56, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Just to let you know Nihiltres, I clicked the link to the question and it came up with a page saying that the question was deleted. Ross Rhodes (T C) ^Sign! 21:15, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

No surprise there; looks like some Yahoo! staff did some moderation for once; Kohs is complaining that some of his questions and answers were deleted, too. I'll find a new link when back on my computer (on iPod now). {{Nihiltres|talk|log}} 00:01, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Question about Wikipedia for journalists and bloggers

Hi Jimbo. Myself, Pete Forsyth and some other Wikimedians from Oregon are working on a presentation for the upcoming Portland WikiWednesday. The subject will be something along the lines of "Wikipedia for Journalists and Bloggers", or perhaps just "Wikipedia for Research". We'll likely be taking the tack of "it should be the first place you look, but never the last" etc. My question is if I might get a quote from you on the subject. If you could say one thing to journalists and bloggers using Wikipedia, what would it be? Thanks for your time, Steven Walling (talk) 21:49, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

For journalists, Wikipedia can be a great place to go for background and context - to know what questions to ask. I agree completely with the sentiment that "it should be the first place you look, but never the last". I think it's important to be realistic about the quality of Wikipedia - it's really pretty good in parts, really pretty bad in parts, and always evolving. If you're looking for a nice soundbite: "Wikipedia will give you the questions you should ask, not the answers."--Jimbo Wales (talk) 01:08, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

That is a nice soundbite. -->David Shankbone 01:21, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

That's awesome Jimbo! Thank you so much, Steven Walling (talk) 01:29, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

User page rights versus maintaining a professional atmosphere- any opinions?

Hi.. this may seem like a small concern, but an issue came up which turned out to be surprisingly controversial. User:WebHamster has an image on his user page featuring nudity. People have asked him to remove it, and he's refused, saying there is no specific rule against it. People have also pointed out that his custom signature includes a link to his user page but not his user talk page, thus causing more people to visit the questionable page. He's refused to change this, again citing "this is not specifically against the rules". I don't think such a user page helps Wikipedia maintain a reasonably professional atmosphere, and I don't think users should simply brush off the idea that we should avoid bringing the project into disrepute.

The community has shown themselves unable to deal with this issue, mainly due to people not grasping the idea that an action can be within the letter of the rules, but still be a bad idea. I wondered if you had enough of an opinion on such things to weigh in. This may be a case where your intervention could solve an otherwise difficult problem. This is a situation where the community is, in my opinion, showing too much tolerance for juvenile antics. Friday (talk) 22:02, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

The signature is compliant with WP:SIG, unlike that of at least one active admin. DuncanHill (talk) 22:05, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Wikipedia holidays

I noticed there's not been any new ones for a while. How about some more generic ones, like Featured content day, to celebrate all of our most outstanding content, or New editors day to annually welcome and thank those who've registered accounts in the last year? --Dweller (talk) 13:41, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

On the other hand, I vote for a Sue Gardner holiday, she definitely earned it the past 2 years. But i don't mind a Featured content day either. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 23:10, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

I also like the idea of a Featured content day. Ross Rhodes (T C) ^Sign! 21:19, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Something to do

Has anyone got something for me to do that's not that hard? I'm like a jobless deadbeat! Help me find something to do, somebody! Vandals, copyediting, expanding, ARBCOM, ANI, I don't care, as long as it is not challenging! Please, help - I'm so bored! *wipes tear* Rory (talk) 21:32, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Three letter acronnym dab page cleanup is your friend. MickMacNee (talk) 22:40, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Huh? Rory (talk) 23:59, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Almost anything here can be challenging, but you might want to take a look here for something of interest to you. If you want to improve existing articles, there's also plenty of scope for that here. Pitch in, and if you have any questions, please ask on my talk page (I'm here about 12 - 14 hours daily), or any other editor. Rodhullandemu 00:11, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

New Page Patrol always seems to have plenty of work and is rather varied. --Apoc2400 (talk) 19:16, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

E-mail

I have sent you an e-mail via the "E-mail this user" option in the toolbox a few days ago. It doesn't look like you saw it so I am notifying you here. -- IRP ☎ 23:04, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

What was the subject line? I can look for it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 14:38, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

It is "Wikipedia e-mail (regarding User:JarlaxleArtemis)". -- IRP ☎ 20:15, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Impersonator on Yahoo! Answers

On the Yahoo! Answers section for Wikipedia, there's a user calling him-or-herself "Jimmy Wales" and asking troll-ish questions like this. It's an obvious imposter, so I thought you might appreciate knowing. {{Nihiltres|talk|log}} 15:56, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Just to let you know Nihiltres, I clicked the link to the question and it came up with a page saying that the question was deleted. Ross Rhodes (T C) ^Sign! 21:15, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

No surprise there; looks like some Yahoo! staff did some moderation for once; Kohs is complaining that some of his questions and answers were deleted, too. I'll find a new link when back on my computer (on iPod now). {{Nihiltres|talk|log}} 00:01, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Question about Wikipedia for journalists and bloggers

Hi Jimbo. Myself, Pete Forsyth and some other Wikimedians from Oregon are working on a presentation for the upcoming Portland WikiWednesday. The subject will be something along the lines of "Wikipedia for Journalists and Bloggers", or perhaps just "Wikipedia for Research". We'll likely be taking the tack of "it should be the first place you look, but never the last" etc. My question is if I might get a quote from you on the subject. If you could say one thing to journalists and bloggers using Wikipedia, what would it be? Thanks for your time, Steven Walling (talk) 21:49, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

For journalists, Wikipedia can be a great place to go for background and context - to know what questions to ask. I agree completely with the sentiment that "it should be the first place you look, but never the last". I think it's important to be realistic about the quality of Wikipedia - it's really pretty good in parts, really pretty bad in parts, and always evolving. If you're looking for a nice soundbite: "Wikipedia will give you the questions you should ask, not the answers."--Jimbo Wales (talk) 01:08, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

That is a nice soundbite. -->David Shankbone 01:21, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

That's awesome Jimbo! Thank you so much, Steven Walling (talk) 01:29, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

User page rights versus maintaining a professional atmosphere- any opinions?

Hi.. this may seem like a small concern, but an issue came up which turned out to be surprisingly controversial. User:WebHamster has an image on his user page featuring nudity. People have asked him to remove it, and he's refused, saying there is no specific rule against it. People have also pointed out that his custom signature includes a link to his user page but not his user talk page, thus causing more people to visit the questionable page. He's refused to change this, again citing "this is not specifically against the rules". I don't think such a user page helps Wikipedia maintain a reasonably professional atmosphere, and I don't think users should simply brush off the idea that we should avoid bringing the project into disrepute.

The community has shown themselves unable to deal with this issue, mainly due to people not grasping the idea that an action can be within the letter of the rules, but still be a bad idea. I wondered if you had enough of an opinion on such things to weigh in. This may be a case where your intervention could solve an otherwise difficult problem. This is a situation where the community is, in my opinion, showing too much tolerance for juvenile antics. Friday (talk) 22:02, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

The signature is compliant with WP:SIG, unlike that of at least one active admin. DuncanHill (talk) 22:05, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

There is a guideline that says you may link to your talk page instead of your userpage. But when the user page is one that has demonstrated ability to annoy other users, having a sig that links only to it does actually violate "Your signature should not blink, scroll, or otherwise inconvenience or annoy other editors." Regards, Ben Aveling 23:10, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

For further background, please read the live thread at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard#nudie pics on user pages. DuncanHill (talk) 22:07, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

There's nothing particularly difficult about this problem and the community has handled the issue just fine. It may not have resolved in the way you would prefer, but that's not quite the same thing, is it? -Chunky Rice (talk) 22:35, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Friday, why should you believe that Jimbo is going to act against consensus over such a matter? Avert your eyes, pray (or not, according to practice and inclination) for the other person, and get on with editing the encyclopedia. Please. LessHeard vanU (talk) 22:44, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

I would have thought that the community should be able to deal with this; it's hardly a major issue in objective terms, and although Jimbo's opinion may be valuable, it is not a deus ex machina to be invoked to attempt to swing the balance. If everything runs its normal course, this little spat should be over by Monday at the latest. Rodhullandemu 22:54, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Other than Friday forum shopping, I'd say it's over now. -Chunky Rice (talk) 23:02, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Friday, agreeing with the claim "The community has shown themselves unable to deal with this issue" is entirely contingent on agreeing that the image is a serious problem that must be fixed. If we don't agree that the image is a big deal, then the community has actually dealt with the issue pretty well, with only a little gratuitous drama. -GTBacchus^(talk) 22:56, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Sure, that's the crux. Jimbo has on previous occasions, said that Wikipedia's reputation is something we should not gratuitously damage. Whether this is a matter he cares about or not, I don't know. That's why I asked. Friday (talk) 22:59, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Sounds fair enough. Let's see what happens! -GTBacchus^(talk) 23:08, 17 April 2009 (UTC)