User talk:Maky/Archive 3

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Madagascar article - pre-GA-nom edits

Hi Alex, I've just finished revising the Madagascar article and think I have something like a complete first draft now. I'm still adding some details and cleaning up/adding references, but if you're willing to give it a look I'd value any comments, edits or suggestions you might like to contribute. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 08:26, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delayed reply. I will try to read over it sometime soon. I'm sure you have the cultural side, and as long as we provide an overview of its biological diversity and geographic history, I should be happy. We also need to make sure the human colonization part is up-to-date. In the past, you and I have had sources that give dates nearly 1,000 years apart. I do have sources if you need. – VisionHolder « talk » 00:51, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Portal Bar layout problem?

The formatting for portal bar lists bullet points at the far left of the box with the portals centered, which makes the bar more like a box. I liked it when it functioned as a bar. Is there an error occurring? I noticed that you have stated that you created the bar, so I figured I'd notify you about it. I appreciate your work to improve Wikipedia. Northamerica1000(talk) 08:58, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

I guess I'm not seeing what you're talking about. Looking at the example in the documentation, it seems to be acting correctly. Admittedly, I've moved on to using {{Subject bar}}, but it should essentially be the same for portal lists. I noticed a few edits have been made this month, but I don't see anything that would cause it to malfunction. Can you give some sample code that I could try in a sandbox? – VisionHolder « talk » 19:29, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
Never mind... looks like someone made a mistake in their edit of the template and reverted it after you had posted the message on my talk page. – VisionHolder « talk » 19:31, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

OA for our class

Hey Alex! Hope life is treating you well! So Wiki made me a campus ambassador for WCU this semester, and our class needs and Online Mentor, I was wondering if you would be willing to help me and my teacher this semester? I will be spear heading the in class stuff, but I want someone that knows the in's-and-outs with a lot of wiki knowledge backing me up! Let me know if your interested. You can shoot me a message, Skype call or hit me via facebook. I don't know if your still in the area, but I'm going to be in triangle on Wed-Thurs night for a conference this week and I would love to buy you a drink for all your help last semester!

Let me know, Kasey

To be honest, I was getting out of the online mentor thing. But for you, I might consider it. It will depend on the topic of the class and what exactly you guys hope to accomplish. As for Wed/Thurs, I should be free Wednesday night by 10pm, but I'm not sure about Thursday night. I've been joining meet-up groups lately to get out of the house, and I'm booked for attending a talk on climate change starting at 5:45... but I don't know when it will be over or what people will want to do after and for how long. I'll be carpooling, so I'll kind of be stuck with everyone else's plans. You can always call me—just ask for my phone number through email or on Facialbook/G+. – VisionHolder « talk » 04:29, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi VisionHolder, I've reviewed your article Sublingua at DYK. Everything checks out, but is it up to you to decide what to do with those images. I can wait with adding the DKY tick if you like to. jonkerz ♠talk 09:13, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Re your comments in your DYK review, I'm not sure what you are alluding to when you say you don't know the nominators but assume good faith. I was the nominator. Did I do something wrong? Could you explain? Thankyou. Sionk (talk) 10:40, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

I was referring to the quid pro quo requirement, since your nomination didn't say you reviewed someone else's nomination. (See the DYK rules, #5.) Nominators with fewer than 5 DYK credits are exempt from the rule, but I don't know how to look up your past experience with DYK. But on reviewing that guideline, apparently the rule only applies to self-nominations... although I'm not sure why. If that's the case, then I guess it doesn't matter. – VisionHolder « talk » 16:32, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Madagascar GA nom

Hi Alex, I went ahead and nominated Madagascar for GA. Let's look at our sources for the human colonization. I went with the general consensus in recent mainstream publications, which doesn't necessarily reflect the most recent academic research. Lemurbaby (talk) 07:33, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Well, once again someone beat me to it. I will try to look it over in the next 24 to 48 hours anyway. – VisionHolder « talk » 22:08, 28 January 2012 (UTC)\
Thanks for your comments on Madagascar - I will be working on it today. I've also just put Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony (a level 4 Vital article, the only Malagasy bio to be listed as Vital!) up for GAN. That one should be a cake walk - the refs are all perfect. If anything the tone might not be perfectly encyclopedic. Your comments are always welcome. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 04:26, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
Heya. Do you have a rough sense of when you may get to the Rainilaiarivony GA review? If you can give me a time frame I will stop checking back so frequently. :) Lemurbaby (talk) 03:51, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
  • Hi Visionholder! I notice that you've taken some interest in the Madagascar article which I'm reviewing for GAN. And that you expressed some concerns which were addressed. However, I continue to be concerned about the "Ecology" section. A number of specific statements on the number of endemic families, species etc. are cited to a travel book. I know Lemurbaby has worked hard on this article. What do you think about the travel book sources? Best wishes, MathewTownsend (talk) 19:06, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
To be honest, Bradt does her research... although it can be a bit dated. But again, the numbers vary even within Conservation Internationals paperwork on the island. So much is being identified so fast that it's hard to pin down exact numbers. You are probably right, though, to ask for a better ref for stuff like that—not because Bradt is unreliable, but because there is likely to be more up-to-date numbers out there. It can be very hard to tell what the "authoritative" species counts are without doing a ton of research, including reference and copyright date checking. And even then—as in the case of lemurs—you'll get radically different acceptable answers. If I have time tonight or tomorrow, I can try to help find better references. – VisionHolder « talk » 19:35, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
To clarify, there is only one reference cited to Bradt in the ecology section (about palm species). The other references are largely new and their validity really should be discussed on the GA review, not here where I can only find it by chance. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:51, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Pachylemur

The DYK project (nominate) 16:37, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Original Barnstar
For your work on Pachylemur. Great job!! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:16, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
Thank you! – VisionHolder « talk » 18:20, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Rainilaiarivony edits finished

Hi Alex,
First, CONGRATS on yet another GA! Well done!
I'm done revising Rainilaiarivony - it should be ready for you to look at again. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 06:24, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

I've responded to your last batch of suggestions. Have a look and see what you think. Lemurbaby (talk) 15:03, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Charles Lamberton

Hello! Your submission of Charles Lamberton at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 22:36, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Hi,

I've reviewed your nomination and left one comment at Talk:Sublingua/GA1. The article is a clear pass to GA. Best wishes, MathewTownsend (talk) 22:48, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Sublingua

The DYK project (nominate) 16:05, 22 February 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Charles Lamberton

Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:03, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Good Article Barnstar
Thanks Visionholder for helping to promote Sublingua to Good Article status. Please accept this little sign of appreciation and goodwill from me, because you deserve it. Keep it up, and give someone a pat on the back today. --Sp33dyphil ©hatontributions 05:28, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much! – VisionHolder « talk » 18:20, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Tiktaalik

Hey, VisionHolder. Have started the reconstruction of Tiktaalik here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology/Paleoart review#Tiktaalik. If the expert you know knows how to comment on Wikipedia, I'd encourage him/her to join the discussion there.

I don't really need that much detail though, just the external stuff. Like are the proportions correct, what shape would its tail be (protocercal? heterocercal? etc.), how would the teeth look like, and what environment would it be in (shallow murky water? shallow wooded floodplains? shallow fast moving water? deep murky water? etc.)

There's already a preliminary mesh posted, I'd appreciate it if he/she could offer some feedback. Thanks a lot in advance! -- OBSIDIANSOUL 07:08, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for his reply, and I will do my best to encourage him to reply on Wiki. However, if he prefers email, I will make sure he receives your questions. (It would be good to post them on the art review, since that's where I pointed him to.) If you want, you can email me and I can put you in direct contact with whoever I get a reply from. – VisionHolder « talk » 23:25, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Name change

To all those who follow me and/or my talk page, my username has changed to Maky, which means "ring-tailed lemur" in Malagasy. – Maky « talk » 20:14, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Mazeltov

Thank you for the warm message on my talkpage, and inviting me to work on the Subfossil lemurs (as well as reminding me about my to-do list). Would it be possible if I could get your opinion on my picture of Megaladapis, anyhow? [1]

To be honest, I'm not the person to talk to in order to critique an illustration of Megaladapis. The current illustration was drawn and critiqued in collaboration with Dr. Laurie Godfrey, one of the leading experts on subfossil lemurs. If you want to create additional illustrations, I strongly recommend that I put you in touch with Dr. Godfrey, assuming she is available. Is there a particular reason why you would like to create an additional illustration?
As for collaboration, I'm always willing to do it. I have a vast library of literature about subfossil lemurs at my home, plus I have established numerous professional relationships with subfossil lemur experts. There is a lot of out-dated information out there, and I want to insure that any major work on the articles will not create more work later when I launch into the process of re-writing them all. Again, it will probably be a few months before I will have time to get around to it. But I promise I will before the year is up. – Maky « talk » 18:03, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi,

When I saw they weren't interwiki from fr:Wikipédia:Demande de renommage de compte utilisateur/Usurpation, I followed the interwiki from Wikipedia:Changing username. --Dereckson (talk) 02:43, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Ah, thank you. Sorry for leaving, but I had to get back to the stove for dinner. Best, – Maky « talk » 03:24, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Image Potto.png

Hello Maky, would you mind having a look at the talk page of the Potto article, section Image Potto.png? The only reaction I've had so far is from UtherSRG and we can't agree. I would be interested to read your opinion, since you seem to be very knowledgeable about lemurs, which are relatively close cousins of pottos. Thanks. Dogo (talk) 22:14, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

No problem, although I'm certainly not an expert on the African prosimians. For what it's worth, I've weighed in. – Maky « talk » 04:29, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Ok, thanks a lot and much appreciated. As far as I am concerned, your contribution has helped. Dogo (talk) 22:26, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Toothcomb

Hello! Your submission of Toothcomb at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Simon Burchell (talk) 18:40, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Renaming in huwiki

Hi! Renaming in huwiki is done. Regards, RepliCarter (talk) 09:08, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! – Maky « talk » 17:17, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

it.wiki Maky

it.wiki username Maky is now available for your SUL account. Ciao, Ary29 (talk) 18:45, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! – Maky « talk » 19:22, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

AAH article

Be aware that there a number of recently created and long term WP:SPA accounts on that article. IRWolfie- (talk) 23:25, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I noticed. Hopefully we can keep an admin involved to monitor. Is there a new book coming out or something? Otherwise someone really needs to put some effort into cleaning up that article, and I just don't have time. I'd have to look and see if the Creationism article is that good, and if it is, it might prove to be a good model. But doing point/counterpoint is only going to lead to edit warring, neutrality issues, and original research. As it stands (and at a glance), the OR needs to be cut immediately and the lead needs to state in the opening sentence that it is not scientifically accepted. – Maky « talk » 02:34, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Lemur catta TFA

Not sure whether you saw this. Ucucha (talk) 20:58, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

No, I did not. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will look into it seriously when I get home tonight. Heading out the door now.... Thanks! – Maky « talk » 22:53, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
I'm really not sure if I'm ready for this. The article is not really in good shape, IMO. There is so much to clean up... – Maky « talk » 02:55, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Main page appearance: ring-tailed lemur

This is a note to let the main editors of ring-tailed lemur know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on March 22, 2012. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 22, 2012. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

Ring-tailed lemurs

The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. Like all lemurs, it is endemic to Madagascar, living in the gallery forests and spiny scrubland in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous, diurnal and highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. Communities are matriarchal, a trait common among lemurs. Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on its sense of smell and marks its territory with scent glands. As one of the most vocal primates, the ring-tailed lemur utilizes numerous vocalizations such as alarm calls. Experiments have shown that, despite the lack of a large brain, the ring-tailed lemur can organize sequences, understand basic arithmetic operations and preferentially select tools based on functional qualities. Despite being listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List and suffering from habitat destruction, the ring-tailed lemur reproduces readily in captivity and is the most populous lemur in zoos worldwide, numbering more than 2000 individuals. It typically lives 16 to 19 years in the wild and 27 years in captivity. (more...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:03, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Rainilaiarivony at FAC

Rainilaiarivony is at FAC here. Your comments would be helpful. I suspect the PM's name alone is going to put a lot of people off from looking at this and offering their supports or opposes! Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 04:33, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

I plan on weighing in, but was giving it a few days to see what others had to say. Yes, those long Malagasy names make it challenging if you're not used to it. Also, reviewers at FAC often stick to reviews for articles within the scopes of their own projects. Sadly, academic topics like science, history, etc. are niche topics and don't attract much attention, both at FAC and on Wiki in general. Anyway, you'll see my review within a couple of days. Hopefully I won't be the first. – VisionHolder « talk » 16:44, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
Hmm, the FA crew must be on Spring Break. :) There's been much less interest in this article than I was expecting, given that it's classified as Vital. Maybe you can break the ice over the weekend. I like your new name BTW. Lemurbaby (talk) 06:18, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
Misaotra. I will try to take a look soon. My calendar is booked solid from now until Sunday, plus I'm desperately trying to pump out re-writes of toothcomb and grooming claw before diving into a very important 6000-word essay that just got the green light from the editors of Animal Behaviour. (Those wiki articles will contain the gory details of what I will be brushing over in the essay, so I need to know it in and out.) Fortunately, the article hasn't change much since I reviewed it, so it should be fairly easy. The only problem is that I now have copies of some fairly good books that cover Malagasy culture in my personal library, so I need to review them to ensure comprehensiveness and consistency. – Maky « talk » 06:30, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
I hear you - I'm wrapped up in writing a book chapter on the education system in Madagascar (draft due in May) and that's biting into my WP time too. Thanks for finding the time to provide really meaningful feedback on my articles here, especially in light of the significant time you already commit to numerous other very valuable academic/WP contributions. I really appreciate it and enjoy working with you. Still wish I could have found a way to drop by Duke to say hi and visit the lemurs with you! Maybe the next time I come through DC (possibly in June) I can make a weekend trip down there. Best of luck on your essay - I'd love to read it when it's published! Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 05:18, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
No problem. June would be a good time to visit the center if you're in the area. If you decide to come down, just let me know a week in advance.  :-) As for the FAC review, just let me know when you're ready for me to revisit the review. – Maky « talk » 16:09, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Okay, I've made changes along the lines you suggested. Let me know what you think. Congrats on getting Toothcomb up to FAC as well. If I can look at it over the coming week, I will. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:59, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
Sorry for the delays. Your changes have been quite extensive, making it very hard to track what changed through the edit history. As a result, I may have to read the article from start to finish again. I'll try to have a reply by Sunday, if not this evening. – Maky « talk » 21:10, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
Btw, nice use of {{Sfn}}. It makes your references easy to get to. The only other suggestion I have is to use "Reference" for what are currently the "Notes" (because you might need "Notes" in case you ever use true footnotes, like I did in Toothcomb), and change "References" to a level 3 header called "Literature cited". This is just an opinion, but it will give you more flexibility in the long run. Otherwise I hope you enjoy those templates. – Maky « talk » 21:23, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
To be fair, someone else did the conversion to the new templates... but thanks, I'm starting to get used to them and will probably make the switch for future articles too. I've responded to your last comment and made some more additions which I think make the article a bit stronger. See what you think when you have the chance. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 08:46, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
Hi. That was me, and glad you like (and install User:Ucucha/HarvErrors; Maky did). I do a lot of work with {sfn} and believe most of our best articles should use this system (nice use in Lemur, btw). These are all interesting articles, guys; thanks. I'm reading Ranavalona III, now, and was thinking of switching it over. Alarbus (talk) 09:06, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Bit

Yes Maky, I was suggesting RfA. I know you've had some disagreements, and some of those you've disagreed with may well oppose you vocally. That said, you are an incredible content creator, which many voters value heavily, and I don't think any of your opponents can credibly claim you've ever edited in a manner that would indicate you would use the tools irresponsibly. On the other hand, RfA is an extremely painful process right now, so I can understand not wanting to undertake it, especially if you only expect to use the tools to a limited extent. Although I would note that just like editing, what you do with the tools is up to you; there may be impressive admins and unimpressive admins; if you had the tools I would think you would be one of the impressive ones. Rlendog (talk) 14:54, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Lately I've been retracting my range of activity due to an overwhelmingly combative, biased, and/or cliquish tone here on Wiki—a problem that no doubt comes from society at large. As for irresponsible editing, there could be only one claim that I know of... assuming that admin remembers the encounter from a few years ago. I tried to fix some neutrality issues on the article for Humane Society of the United States, and SlimVirgin stepped in started fighting me over the edits. The ensuing argument can probably still be found on the talk page or its archives. (Actually, I think I called you into it, asking you to be a neutral 3rd party...) Basically, SV was fighting to keep a review of the criticism out of the lead and insisting that my sources, which tied employees of the HSUS to PETA, were unreliable... even though they were widely used veterinary college textbooks. I think we tried to get arbitration, but the admins that got involved were either friends of SV or just saw it as "admin vs. user" and didn't even bother reading or responding to my arguments. Ultimately, I had to step out or face a potential ban. Anyway, I would mostly use the tools to a limited extent—something that I know gets held against RfA candidates. The arguments I've read usually run along the lines of: "We need more admins because we're backlogged in so many places, and if this person isn't going to help, then there's no point making them an admin." As you said, RfA is a painful process, and has been for years. To me, this is a sign of bad management and cliquish behavior. And given what I've seen throughout many areas of Wiki, that doesn't surprise me. It would be an honor to be nominated and pass RfA, but I don't see my no-nonsense, forthright demeanor making much headway on that front. Thanks, though. – Maky « talk » 15:21, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
Ah yes, that old HSUS debate. I did get involved in that but not very far. But that was more than 2 years ago, and I didn't see anything on the talk page that would be considered inappropriate; there was a dispute, you argued your point, provided sources but ultimately the page stayed as it was. I didn't see any admin vs. editor comments (though if you were an admin...) or a threat to ban you, but that may have been on a different page. The comment about "if this person isn't going to help, then there's no point making them an admin," is certainly valid - I got some of that, although I ultimately passed, and even though I don't use tools that much I certainly have been able to assist with some backlogs over time. Certainly Wikipedia has its share of bad management and cliquish behavior, which is unfortunate. But if you change your mind let me know. Rlendog (talk) 20:50, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, will do.  :-) – Maky « talk » 20:59, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Toothcomb

Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:03, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I noticed when editing red ruffed lemur that it has different sizes listed than those at the list article. Which is correct? - UtherSRG (talk) 22:42, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

Well, on the list I cite LoM3, which is generally reliable, being based on reliable sources and written by the top experts on the species. On the regular article, someone cited the Duke Lemur Center... but the page has changed, and it no longer provides such information. Fortunately this makes things easier, and therefore doesn't require me to weigh in on which expert to listen to.  ;-) Not that I'd have a reason to say anything... – Maky « talk » 02:46, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. I'll get that updated. Also, there's a ref for Vasey 1997. Vasey had two papers in 1997. Do you know which? - UtherSRG (talk) 03:10, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
No, unfortunately I've done practically nothing with that article. Originally, I wrote Ruffed lemur and planned to write the articles for both species, but because both species are nearly identical (except for range, color, and one vocalization), I couldn't figure out how to write unique articles for the species. Eventually I need to address it and get all three fixed up... – Maky « talk » 03:13, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Edit attention notice thingy

And how do you get that Attention: notice thingy?? - UtherSRG (talk) 22:45, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

User talk:Maky/Editnotice. See the small "Page notice" link just above the edit textfield. Ucucha (talk) 23:40, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
Tricky! So much I need to learn..... - UtherSRG (talk) 00:18, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
No worries. I forgot how I found it and figured it out. Anyway, thanks for answering, Ucucha.  :-) – Maky « talk » 02:35, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates

Hi Alex,

Great job with getting The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates up to featured list status! I have nominated the article to go up on the main page in the Today's Featured List section. Some concerns about the article have been raised here. If you are willing to help address these concerns, it would be greatly appreciated.

Neelix (talk) 21:36, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you!  :-) I can try to take a look at it later tonight or early next week. (I'm busy dealing with a GAN nomination before I rush out the door tonight.) It looks like I'm going to have to fix up the table code, and given how things have changed, I suspect I have a bit of reading to do, too, with that MOS page. If it's easy fixes (like repairing the sorting, which I know is broken), you are welcome to do it. I monitor the page, and if anything gets broken or changed in a negative way, I'll be sure to hop in soon. Again, I appreciate all of that. – Maky « talk » 21:44, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
I've made changes and reported it on the nomination page. Thanks for letting me know. – Maky « talk » 19:08, 11 March 2012 (UTC)
You're quite welcome! In case you aren't monitoring TFLS, TRM just responded to your comments there. Neelix (talk) 19:15, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Rock Climbing

Hey Maky. Was fun rock-climbing with THOG today and going off about Wikipedia (undoubtedly boring others at the table). Thought I would just drop by and say hi as promised. I see now just how much you're into lemurs! I also took a quick crack at some edits on the guitar article you mentioned, bringing the lead up to properly summarize the article and some general word-smithing and fact-checking on the controversy you mentioned. User:King4057 (COI Disclosure on User Page) 05:20, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. I like the changes to the article, and it's good to see the lead get some attention. I did add back the link to the article Illegal logging in Madagascar because it explains what makes the wood illegal. – Maky « talk » 14:30, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
Awesome. If you ever need a corporate lapdog to balance corporate controversy, you know where to find me. ;-) User:King4057 (COI Disclosure on User Page) 15:53, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
Excellent! Thanks! – Maky « talk » 18:01, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Orangutan GA

I fixed everything. It it ready now? LittleJerry (talk) 17:54, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

I apologize for the delay. There are problems with the evolution information, and it's mostly because the sources can't tell a consistent story. I was going to try to find a better source today to fix it, and after that give it a quick look-over before passing it. I've just been very busy lately. – Maky « talk » 18:01, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

WikiPrincess looking for WikiDragon to help!

Hi! I just discovered that I'm a WikiPrincess and I would love to give my opinion on your edits if you are still considered a WikiDragon. I'm friendly and just want to contribute my opinion on wikipedia. :) Thepoodlechef (talk) 04:25, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Sure. What can I help with? – Maky « talk » 05:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Another award

The Good Article Medal of Merit 
For all your excellent work in creating and reviewing so many good articles, I award you the Good Article Medal of Merit. Rlendog (talk) 16:35, 10 April 2012 (UTC)
Ahh... Thanks!  :-) Sorry I haven't been editing much. I'm writing an essay about primate evolution, cognition, and behavior for the journal Animal Behaviour, and once that's done, I hope to be back in full swing again. – Maky « talk » 16:43, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Your HighBeam account is ready!

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Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. Enjoy your research! Cheers, Ocaasi t | c 20:51, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Napier article revert

The changes I made to your Napier article on 4/27 are fact-based, not POV. I made only two points: 1) That Napier, on page 205 of his 1973 book, stated that he believed Sasquatch was a real animal. 2) That his take on the Patterson film was influenced by the state of the fossil record in 1973. He states that the creature in the film shows both human and pongid features (something unknown at the time), and that therefore he doubted the film. I didn't add to the reference section because, frankly, I hoped you'd actually look at the book and see for yourself.

I very, very rarely make an edit to Wikipedia. In the last analysis, it doesn't matter what this or any other Wikipedia article states, because in the global sense it's not a trustworthy source. I would never cite it in a article I was writing, for example. My real point in making the edit was to prompt you to actually look at Napier's book again (I assume you've read it). In particular, his coming down on the side of Sasquatch reality (again, page 205) is quite plain. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.138.150.242 (talk) 03:21, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

First of all, I don't want to discourage you from editing on Wikipedia. However, as you point out, much of the content here is unreliable—but that is no reason to add to the slop pile by not properly citing your sources. A proper reference will do exactly what you had aimed to do: point the reader to the source. If you need help forming references, please ask.
I labeled the edits as possibly being POV and/or OR because in the first paragraph sounded like you were trying to make your own points, independent of any references. Granted, the citation for that paragraph was dead and not reliable, but again, my point about adding to a slop pile still stands. The second paragraph you edited may have actually been appropriate... however, please make the fix and provide a proper citation. If you do that, I will do my best to find free access to the source, verify it, and likely leave the edit alone. As a suggestion, look into using the template {{cite book}}. – Maky « talk » 06:41, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Sugar glider

Still have your sights set on it? LittleJerry (talk) 05:12, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes.... but(!)... This summer is not good for me. I'm in the process of writing an essay for the journal Animal Behaviour, and it's very important. In combination with a new social life I'm trying to foster and a ton of volunteer work at the Duke Lemur Center, I simply can't do it... even in collaboration. Can we talk about it this fall? If not, feel free to coordinate a collaboration, and I will do my best to review your work objectively (and critically). – Maky « talk » 05:36, 29 April 2012 (UTC)
  • Hope your article is coming along well. I'm spending the weekend writing a book chapter myself. Good luck and have a productive weekend. Lemurbaby (talk) 09:49, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Ranavalona III at FAC

Hi Alex, I hope life's been treating you well. I'm trucking along through my Mada articles and now have Ranavalona III up for FAC here. Your comments are always welcome. Thank you again for providing feedback on the Rainilaiarivony FAC. Ironically it made TFA a few days ago when I spent the whole day flying and didn't have a chance to see it there myself. Keep up the great work on your primates articles, and please let me know if I can ever help return the favor by reviewing one of your FACs too. Lemurbaby (talk) 04:50, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delayed reply. I will try to take a look, but my life off Wikipedia is incredibly busy right now, and I'm not sure what time I'll have over the coming month or two. – Maky « talk » 19:06, 8 May 2012 (UTC)
I hear ya - best of luck working through your other projects. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 20:42, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Help moving a page

Hi Alex, I'd like to create a page on fady but that page currently directs to a disambiguation page. I'd like to move the disambig page to one more properly called "Fady (disambiguation)", especially since none of the linked articles on the page are actually for the word Fady alone but include the word as part of somebody's name for the most part. Can you help when you have a chance? Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 09:47, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

First, it would probably help to have an example of another article where the title is a word from another language, but isn't commonly used in English. There's obviously enough sources to make it notable, but I can't think off-hand of any rules that might come into play for naming an article after an uncommon foreign word. As long as it's okay, you can try moving the disambiguation page yourself, and if it won't let you, just follow the steps at Wikipedia:Requested moves. If it does come down to a move request, let me know so that I can comment on it. Hope this helps. – Maky « talk » 13:45, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Photo of JMS

Hi Alex

Sorry to see the removal of the photo of John Maynard Smith which I guess you must have triggered. The photo was taken as a still frame from the Web of Stories series of interviews on the life and work of JMS, the interviewer Richard Dawkins. I wanted to use it in my article on Evolution Game Theory, but I thought it more than appropriate to put a face on the man in his own biographical article on Wikipedia. I received permission from the copyright holder, Web of Stories, and they released usage with the complete understanding that the photo would fall under the free usage requirements of Wikimedia. I have sent a copy of the email correspondence to and from Web of Stories to Permissions-Commons and am hoping for a final clearance there. I must say this is not the only attempt I have made in obtaining a photo of JMS (for whom I hold the greatest respect -not just as a great theoretical biologist but as a human being - and as a teacher). I had contacted the University of Sussex and Maynard Smiths family for a photo - the family approach led to nothing but I received some brilliant unpublished photos from Sussex (a particularly charming one of him in his office at the university with his "home brew" beer percolating in the background.) The PR department with whom I was dealing asked me to hold off using the photos until they received final clearance from an administrative authority. Well, we both know the quagmire that exists in dealing with anyone in university administration when attempting to get them to take responsibility for a decision, so there the matter rests after six months of follow up.

In all I have spent about a quarter of my time as a Wikipedia author/editor chasing after the rights to a photo of Maynard Smith in line with a policy I must say, seems more structured to frustrate that to facilitate. It has been like swimming through treacle. I must say that this effort does little to encourage one to stick at any level of commitment to the project.

Regards --HowieKor (talk) 08:07, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

If the latest photo was released, when you uploaded it you should have added the template {{subst:OP}} on Commons. That would have told people that your have sent the permission to OTRS. Without it, there's no evidence that you had taken the necessary steps, and hence the image removal on the article and flagging on Commons. I have added the template for you and will restore the image. Hopefully nothing is wrong with the OTRS request, otherwise the image may still be removed.
I do understand the difficulties and frustrations in acquiring rights to images. I deal with it all the time, because I'm the type of editor who doesn't just re-write articles, but tries his hardest to illustrate them, even when no free images are available. I write to researchers, conservation organizations, media groups, professional photographers, family members, etc. Sometimes it just takes a lot of patience. Once you start talking about copyright, a lot of organizations take it to their lawyers and then never get back to you. It makes you wonder if the people in those departments do anything when they're at work. Anyway, good luck. OTRS is usually pretty fast at responding. – Maky « talk » 14:11, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Plesiopithecus

Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:03, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Algeripithecus

Hello! Your submission of Algeripithecus at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Quasihuman (talk • contribs) 13:42, 10 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Afrasia djijidae

Hello! Your submission of Afrasia djijidae at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 23:52, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Algeripithecus

Casliber (talk · contribs) 16:04, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Altiatlasius

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:04, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Afrasia djijidae

Yngvadottir (talk) 00:04, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Photo usage

Hi, I've been working on a small game built around animal quizzes and I wanted to let you know I've used one of the pictures by Erik Patel you uploaded.

I found the picture here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indri_indri_001.jpg

And I attributed the picture like this: Erik Patel and also added a link to the license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

I hope you're happy with it, please let me know if this is not the case. And could you thank Erik Patel for me please?

You can find the game here: http://apps.facebook.com/animalalbum Or through here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AnimalAlbum/156339584490672

Kind regards, Garfunkel Jansen (talk) 08:06, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for the notification, and sorry for the delay. I will pass the information along to Erik. – Maky « talk » 16:43, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Djebelemur

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:20, 4 July 2012 (UTC) 08:03, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Azibiidae

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:03, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Azibius

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:03, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Main page appearance: gray mouse lemur

This is a note to let the main editors of gray mouse lemur know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on August 13, 2012. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 13, 2012. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

A Gray Mouse Lemur

The gray mouse lemur is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate, found only on the island of Madagascar. Nearly indistinguishable from each other by appearance, the gray mouse lemur and all other mouse lemurs are considered cryptic species. For this reason, the gray mouse lemur was considered the only mouse lemur species for decades until more recent studies began to distinguish between the species. Like all mouse lemurs, this species is nocturnal and arboreal. It is very active, and although it forages alone, groups of males and females will form sleeping groups and share tree holes during the day. It exhibits a form of dormancy called torpor during the cool, dry winter months, and in some cases undergoes seasonal torpor (or hibernation), which is unusual for primates. Its diet consists primarily of fruit, insects, flowers, and nectar. In the wild, its natural predators include owls, snakes, and endemic mammalian predators. Predation pressure is higher for this species than among any other primate species, with one out of four individuals taken by a predator each year. This is counterbalanced by its high reproductive rate. Although threatened by deforestation, habitat degradation, and live capture for the pet trade, it is considered one of Madagascar's most abundant small native mammals. (more...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Precious

vision of lemurs
Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge on lemurs on the Main page, and for your determination to complete as much as you can of your full plate, - repeating: you are an awesome Wikipedian (21 May 2010)!
Thank you very much! That was very thoughtful.  :-) – Maky « talk » 19:14, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Replaceable fair use File:Archaeoindris skull - Lamberton 1934.jpg

Thanks for uploading File:Archaeoindris skull - Lamberton 1934.jpg. I noticed the description page specifies that the media is being used under a claim of fair use, but its use in Wikipedia articles fails the first non-free content criterion in that it illustrates a subject for which a freely licensed media could be found or created that provides substantially the same information or which could be adequately covered with text alone. If you believe this media is not replaceable, please:

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Disambiguation link notification for August 22

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DYK for Archaeoindris

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 08:02, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Domestic violence in Pakistan

I have tweaked the article per your suggestions on the DYK. Facts, not fiction (talk) 01:42, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll take a look. Please, next time reply on the DYK nomination. I keep them open in one of my browser's tabs until the nomination is closed. – Maky « talk » 01:52, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Orangutan article

I really didn't mean my comments to be directed at you, I was only thinking of the content and my own opinion of it. Just for the record I find your general editing of is excellent and so was your review of the article. I also know that conservation is of great importance to you. I did not mean to suggest in any way that you were responsible for painting orangutan's in a bad light. ·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 18:22, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Thank you, and I'm sorry that what I said came out in that tone. A lot of what's been said strikes me as non-neutral and slanted, primarily in favor of portraying the species in a ideal light. I understand that, coming from the conservation circles. But it's a slippery slope that even I have to struggle with. For example, there are challenges in portraying illegal actions (like illegal logging) as neutral... especially when the legality is more grey than black-and-white due to corrupt governments and law enforcement. Also, what was said in that orangutan article was similar to pointing out which ethnicity commits more crimes per capita in an article on demographics and crime. (People might take the latter as slant against racial minorities, whereas others view the information as encyclopedic.) It's a tough one. I certainly don't want orangutans portrayed in a way that might hinder their conservation, but I also don't want to give the extremists in the conservation and animal rights crowds full sway over the presentation of factual information. (I've had to deal with that at the Duke Lemur Center, where they have threatened me and told me take material off of Wiki.) Anyway, good job on the re-write. Thanks for taking care of it. – Maky « talk » 18:33, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
Ah, I didn't think of the fact that there might be an animal rights lobby pushing the other way as well.·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 18:38, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
The fact that the talk had a legal twist made me suspect that from the start. But I can't be certain. The truth is that when it comes to animals and conservation, people can carry a whole mix of views, from extreme to moderate. – Maky « talk » 18:50, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Hotarubi no Mori e

I am here to praise you and your contributions! Two or three months ago, there were only few sentences in the article. When the article is 100% complete, I will translate it into my language (Thai) without delay! --Aristitleism (talk) 03:24, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! However, it is not "100% complete" yet. There is still some material in Japanese that I'm having translated, and once I get all of that, I plan to finish the article. I'm hoping to add a section about the production at the very least. I appreciate you translating the article for another Wiki. – Maky « talk » 04:24, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

re your GAN Archaeoindris

Hi,

Sorry to take so long. I've made a few comments at Talk:Archaeoindris/GA1. It's a wonderful article, very well done. It's temporarily on hold while you respond. Best wishes, MathewTownsend (talk) 14:45, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

new national park in Mada

Did you see this news about the creation of Madagascar's largest national park on the Masoala Peninsula a few weeks ago? This means some updating to our articles... though I find it really strange that this park is being established even as logging continues in the existing ones. And what about the people living in that land? Too many questions. Lemurbaby (talk) 04:25, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know. Since my falling out with the Duke Lemur Center, I can only find new information about happenings in Madagascar through the BBC News, and I didn't see it there. I wonder if I can find better sources that discuss the park's formation. – Maky « talk » 23:32, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
I haven't seen anything about it in a reputable source yet either, but I'm keeping eyes peeled. Thank you for the barnstar, and for creating the Malagasy Academy article (a very important institution deserving of an article!). I'm just about to try to beef up the Rakoto Frah article now, a little piece of brain candy after that Mada article. I'm glad it's at FA too. Thank you for all your support and applying your high standards in your detailed reviews - you really help to make everything you touch that much better. Lemurbaby (talk) 19:02, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

TFAR

I have nominated Toothcomb at WP:TFAR PumpkinSky talk 11:49, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Of the many FAs I've written, it's one of my favorites. – Maky « talk » 17:52, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Holkham FAC

Are there still any issues here? I normally review biology type articles, but I'm reluctant to start reviewing yours until I'm sure you've finished, looks a bit too much like mutual grooming otherwise (: Jimfbleak - talk to me? 18:13, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the reminder. I must have missed your edits. I'll check now, and as long as nothing major has changed, I will add my support. Thanks for the "mutual grooming" offer. You're such a good primate. (Lol!) – Maky « talk » 18:28, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Hotarubi no Mori e

The DYK project (nominate) 00:06, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

FAC

I've done a review as requested - very good work (as always) not requiring much more for a pass in my view. Lemurbaby (talk) 01:46, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! I've just got so much needing to go through FAC right now that I can't have things sit for weeks, and the "tit for a 1 in 3 chance of a tat" review system on FAC gets to be a bit frustrating. Just let me know when you're next FAC is up. – Maky « talk » 04:12, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
Never hesitate to bring one of your FAC noms to my attention - I'll be happy to review. You've always been an enormous help on mine. I'm about to put one through GAN - Rakoto Frah - and think I'd like to put Jaojoby through FAC next, if you're willing to take a look at either of those musician articles. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. As I said below (in the next topic), I'm taking some personal time today and tomorrow. After that, if other personal events don't conspire against it, I will do the Jaojoby review. – Maky « talk » 18:32, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Do you think you might be willing to flesh out some of the Wildlife of Madagascar article? It's very underdeveloped but could be a great opportunity to increase links to the other articles you've worked on (lemurs, national parks etc). I'm sure doing it right would be a massive undertaking, but even putting *anything* in the fauna section beyond one sentence about lemurs would be a dramatic improvement. :) Lemurbaby (talk) 03:13, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the article is in need of extensive work... and multiple list articles (for other mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, etc.). I will see what I can do. However, I am taking some personal downtime today and tomorrow (after finishing a massive re-write of Strepsirrhini), and after that, I have another re-write in the works (Prosimian), a new article to write (Lemuriformes, which currently redirects to Lemur), a couple GAN reviews to do, and the possibility of a new (temporary) job... which will require me to move on very short notice. I will add it to my list of things to do, though. In the meantime, what I would recommend is keeping the sections relatively short, just reviewing the basic numbers, diversity, biogeography, etc. Then link to the appropriate list article at the top of the subsection. By creating the list article (if none exists), even if it's a very bare stub, you offload the responsibility and need for comprehensiveness elsewhere. As as I said, those list articles are needed, so you would be right in doing so. Otherwise, I can try to help with all of that soon... – Maky « talk » 18:29, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Strepsirrhini

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 08:35, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

A brownie for you!

Congrats on Archaeoindris, yet another beautifully written Featured Article on the wildlife of Mada! Lemurbaby (talk) 04:23, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Edit warring - how to block a user / protect a page??

Hey Alex. There is someone who is screwing around with the Andry Rajoelina article. Could you tell me what to do to block a user or protect a page so that s/he can't keep vandalising it under an anonymous IP address? Lemurbaby (talk) 14:08, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Without admin privileges, you can't. But what you can do is document what's going on by giving warnings after you revert, and if things continue, then put in a request. Use the warning templates {{uw-vandalism2}}, {{uw-vandalism3}}, and {{uw-vandalism4}} on their talk page (follow the links to read about their proper use), and after using uw-vandalism4, go to Wikipedia:Blocking policy#Requesting blocks and follow from there. Fortunately, I've never had to go that far, but it should walk you through it. – Maky « talk » 15:12, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for that. Jimofbleak has just put a temporary autoprotect on it that will expire around Oct 24. Hopefully the person(s) involved will get sick of waiting and find a new hobby. I suspect this kind of thing is going to pick up as we get closer to the May 2013 presidential elections, but we'll have to see. Lemurbaby (talk) 16:56, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Strepsirrhini

Hi Maky, I've just signed up to review Strepsirrhini. I'm assuming this is headed to FAC, and will review accordingly (unless you say otherwise); will have comments up in a few days. Was wondering if you might have the time or interest to review my FAC candidate, which has been languishing without commentary for a while. No problem if you can't or don't want to. Cheers, Sasata (talk) 20:18, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much. My life is insanely busy with preparations for a temporary move and new job, plus multiple open reviews (FAC and GAN) on Wiki, but I will try to do a review tonight.
As for Strepsirrhini, if you don't mind, I would appreciate a very careful review... more-so than normal. I wrote the article in order to clarify a bunch of confusing issues and establish a reason for why I am using a particular taxonomic nomenclature on Wikipedia. (See the following discussion.) In short, there are multiple taxonomies, as the sources and article admit. It's hard to say which is truly the most widespread, so I chose the one that seems to be the most popular, but also allows us to name the clade that consists of lemurs and lorisoids. If they are not clumped into "Lemuriformes" and instead are split into two infraorders, then the clade has no name, aside from "extant strepsirrhines" or "crown strepsirrhines", both of which are confusing to some readers and can be misleading in many ways, depending on how it's used. Because many people who study primates don't know much about fossil primates, many false generalizations exist in the literature about strepsirrhines, and many sources even contradict themselves. This made the article very hard to write. There are some statements in the article that I will admit are borderline WP:SYNTH cases. However, my personal opinion is that I have not crossed that line. I hope you agree. Anyway, once you read the article, and particularly if you check a few of the refs, you will probably understand what I mean by all of this. Needless to say, this is one of the most important articles I've ever written when viewed from the stance of public education. Hopefully it will help dispel a lot of myths, both in the public and academic circles. – Maky « talk » 19:35, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
Ok, I'll go over it with a fine toothcomb. Sasata (talk) 19:47, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
Lol! Love the joke. I've re-proofread the Strepsirrhini article and reviewed your article on FAC. Depending on how extensive the comments are on Strepsirrhini, it may take me a couple of weeks to get everything resolved. But I will try. – Maky « talk » 23:38, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

"Domesticated"

Please don't take my argument on the sugar glider page personally. I enjoy a good argument, and rarely enter into them unless I am confident of the outcome. -- Btw, the glider page has improved significantly lately. Once the kinks are ironed out (subspecies, etc.) and I find good sources for expanding the 'Social life' section, and a few minor things... perhaps it would be ready for a quality upgrade review. Thanks, cheers, etc... ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 04:59, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally. I was just confused by your word use. From my line of work, there is a fine line on word usage when discussing the exotic pet trade, and things tend to get painted as black or white. I'm sure we can work something out. Thanks for the hard work on the article. Several of us had considered a collaborative re-write of the article due to the exotic pet trade and how it affects the species, but we opted to write about slow lorises instead (for the same reason). We just haven't had time to do another collaboration since. I'm glad to see you working on it. Keep up the good work. – Maky « talk » 05:12, 12 October 2012 (UTC)


What's a word worth?
I hope you don't mind if I taint your page with the following pontificated musings. From my background, if the meaning of words were allowed to morph in response to the whims of "common usage", then we would have never made it to the moon, bridges would collapse, and there wouldn't be such niceties as computers, cell phones, or [insert noun, pl.]. Lately, whenever I need a good laugh, I'll read the article: Omnivore (beginning with 'Definition'). What the [expletive deleted] does all that [expletive deleted] have to do with omnivores? Guess who added "The specific problem is: Replace irrelevant material with encyclopedic content." to the tag. I originally phrased it "...meaningless drivel...", but decided to be polite. I more-or-less volunteered to work on it, however...

My motto is: Do it now, fix it later -- (an ethos which seems to have been profitable for Microsoft and Apple). Right now I'm tangled in a sticky web of "fix it later", and won't start a new project until recombobulation ensues. My apologies for straying off-topic. It seems my train of thought has derailed; so I'll leave you with a quote:

"It has not been for nothing that the word has remained man's principal toy and tool: without the meanings and values it sustains, all man's other tools would be worthless."
~Lewis Mumford

~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 09:01, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Every tool can be a perfectly good hammer. In other words, people use things however they want. This is what I both love and hate about language. Humans are nothing but over-glorified monkeys. – Maky « talk » 15:27, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
I chuckle as your comment reminds me of 'Primitive Pete' -- I'm guessing that you're too young to know who he is. For shame: there is no WP article for him! Oh well, looks like another item to put on my To do when I have nothing better to do; which means probably never list. Anyway, my point is: some WP editors remind me of the wordsmith equivalent of Primitive Pete. You might want to check out a description here [2] or his first video here [3]. ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 20:42, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
P.s.: Please don't get the impression that I'm implying that you are a "wordsmith equivalent of Primitive Pete". Assuming good faith, you seem to be a rational and balanced apex primate. ~Eric the Read Monkey 74.60.29.141 (talk) 18:07, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
Lol! I took it all in good humor. No offense taken. But to be honest, we are all a Primitive Pete at times, especially with words. In regards to where this discussion originated, there are just some words that are so easy to misuse (in particular contexts) that I'd rather keep them in a locked cabinet and pull them out only around the "shop students" that I trust. Unlike physical tools, a lot of times there are perfectly good substitute words or phrasing available. But anyway, thanks for the links. I never took shop class in high school, but my school did offer it to most guys (except the brainy ones). I don't know if they played Primitive Pete videos. I did watch them, and although I knew not to make most of those mistakes, there were a few helpful hints that I had never thought of. Very nice, and a perfect analogy. The scary thing, though, is that the people who are the worst at being Primitive Pete are people who have a mastery of words, but deliberately misuse them. I'm talking about lawyers and journalists. And, sadly, they often have their part to play in the exotic pet trade. – Maky « talk » 20:18, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Collapse

I should have asked you first, but I 'collapsed' the "extended content" of our discussion on the Sugar Glider page, for the sake of tidiness. -- Feel free to remove the template if you see fit. Btw, do you know how to archive [stuff] on that page which is obsolete and/or irrelevant, without removing currently useful stuff? ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 21:15, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Collapsing the discussion is fine. To archive old talk page material, I suggest reading Help:Archiving a talk page. – Maky « talk » 00:40, 19 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the links - I assumed that I couldn't create a new page without a user account; but it worked! Archive created (perhaps not to specs?). ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 04:15, 19 October 2012 (UTC)
Looks good enough to me. – Maky « talk » 21:48, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

GA review

I know you're very busy in real life, so no pressure to get back to the point I added in the GA. I want to be sure you did know that I responded with a request that you expand a bit on the reception of the manga itself, as currently the focus is only on the reception of the film. Take your time in getting back to it. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 21:43, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I did see the point. So far, the article is exhaustive for all the English sources and most of the Japanese sources. In the next week or so, I'm hoping to get a few more translations of the remaining Japanese sources, and if I'm lucky, there will be more information about the reception of the manga. But at this point, I'm guessing little if anything has been published about it. Each year, tons of manga and anime is produced, and very little gets thorough reviews from what I can tell. – Maky « talk » 21:48, 19 October 2012 (UTC)
Okay, if that's the case I'll go ahead and pass it as is, in the hopes that material will come available through translations etc that will allow a more balanced discussion in that section. Great work using what was available. Also, would you mind revisiting the FAC review of the article on Jaojoby? So far nobody has stated support, although it's been thoroughly reviewed. I imagine the FAC may be closed if support doesn't come soon. The last remaining issue seems to be one around attribution of certain statements. I'm really struggling with this because I'm stating near universal views, which the sources describe as such, and yet the reviewers want me to write that X critic or X publication holds the view Y about Jaojoby (namely that he was an originator of salegy and that he's called the King of Salegy - they want me to identify who calls him that...!). I've tried to explain in the reviews - do you have any ideas on how this should be handled? Should I comply even if it feels misleading and inaccurate to me? Or maybe if you see it the way I do, it could be helpful for you to confirm my assertions... Lemurbaby (talk) 06:58, 20 October 2012 (UTC)
I'll try to remember to look at it tonight after work. Ultimately, it boils down to what the sources say. If the sources say that he is popularly called the "King of Salegy", then you need to go by the source (as long as it's correct). However, if only one sources says something like "Jaojoby is the King of Salegy," then it might be best to attribute the claim to the author of the source. The former claims to be a common reference, while the latter sounds more like a personal opinion of the author. Let me know if that helps. – Maky « talk » 10:47, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

"New" discovery

Since you seem to be the local 'Animal Guy' (and/or 'Girl'?), and your tag appears on the related talk page, I thought I'd direct your attention to the following discussion: New!. At the moment, I don't have the time or inclination to deal with this. Thanks, ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 23:14, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

I'm a guy. See my user page. As for not having the time or inclination, now you know how I feel.  ;-) Too much work, too little time. It's even better when your hard work on Wiki bites you in the butt professionally. Anyway, I'll respond to the rest on the Colugo talk page. – Maky « talk » 23:41, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Etc.

Sorry for not checking your userpage sooner. Interesting coincidence that you mentioned "...and the academic community actually spent time studying them." Currently a nephew of mine is down in the South Seas somewhere (basecamp/luxury suite is in Bali). He is on some sort of scientific expedition, but I'm not sure exactly what he's doing; but he occasionally reports back from some island I've never heard of, sometimes deriding WP for being obsolete/wrong concerning various critters, etc. - So, of course, I feel obligated to "fix" WP (only about 7 million articles to go, at last count). ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 22:06, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

The Expert Barnstar

The Expert Barnstar
I hereby award you the Expert Barnstar for your outstanding contributions to primate-related topics. This award is given to a few people who are regarded experts in one or several particular fields. Congrats and keep up your excellent work :)!--Tomcat (7) 12:16, 25 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! :-) – Maky « talk » 00:21, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Help cite, pt. 2

Rather than more spam for the article talk page, I hope you don't mind it here instead:
I swear, yesterday the 'Kirk 2006' reference magically appeared when using the {{cite DOI | 10.1159/000089694}} template. — But now it's gone! — What happened? ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 00:59, 26 October 2012 (UTC)74.60.29.141 Corresponding to page 28 in the journal: Folia Primatol 2006;77:27-49 (DOI: 10.1159/000089694), — is p.2, ¶3 of Kirk's report, where one can find my referenced information — right here:[4]. Since I am confident in my source, I am tempted to use the manual edit function; but then I wouldn't be learning how to do 'DOI' referencing the automagic way. ~Sorry for wasting your time, I'm sure you have better things to do (so do I, for that matter), ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 21:10, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps we should chuck the whole thing? Apparently, the seasonal cathereriality is only observed in one species:

"Comparative assessment of lemur activitycycle data led Rasmussen (1999) and Curtis & Rasmussen (2002), to recognize three modes of cathemerality. Their “Pattern A” refers to the seasonal shifting from diurnal to nocturnal activity that has only been described in Eulemur mongoz. “Pattern B” involves a seasonal shift from diurnal activity to cathemerality, a pattern that has only been described in E. fulvus fulvus."[5] 7. Strategies of Cathemeral Primates; p. 149

. ~Eric F P.s.: I'm sure there are swarming throngs of people anxiously awaiting the outcome of the great seasonal cathemerality debate. ;)
Maybe change it to something like: Two other unique cathererial patterns have been identified for specific lemur species...? ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 22:02, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

What happened is that you commented out the citation and then the Citation bot deleted it. I would have just left the original citation in place and just stopped using {{cite doi}} in the article, and instead used the {{cite thesis}} I typed up for you on the talk page (assuming you wanted to really cite Rasmussen). Then to get {{Sfn}} to work with that new citation, just add "| ref = harv" to the thesis citation. Anyway, I've restored the Kirk citation just in case you want to use that.
Yes, it's hard to make general statements about cathemerality because of the variability between species. It's also not very well studied or understood. This is one of the major drawbacks of citing primary sources. It would be best if you could find a citation for the short statement about cathemeral patterns. Otherwise, just use it and cite one or both of the primary sources if they support it. Just be careful of WP:SYNTH. Hope that helps. – Maky « talk » 01:26, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
Oh - I messed with that template without realizing that it was something functional, that the doi-bot created, right? - now I get it. Sorry about that. - I'll review the "seasonal cathemerality" issue; for now it is accurate, but misleading as far as context. Why can't the scientists just come right out and admit that - lemurs eat, sleep, and run around whenever the darn well feel like it. If I had a bunch of folks following me around, they'd have to invent some new-fangled fancy name to describe my habits. Maybe: "Quazi-neocathemeral Ersatz-polymesmerchronality"? ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 05:04, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
Re: "synthesis" - although the article is about eye morphology, the part about seasonal cathemerality was discussing activity patterns in general; but it was specifically about lemurs, and one shouldn't make the assumption regarding all species; however, it is an extension of the defined term. As far as citing Rasmussen, I don't have that to review, but that was the primary source cited by Kirk, which is were I got the information from; and if I understand WP policy, secondary sources are preferable, especially from a peer-reviewed journal (?).~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 05:24, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
 Done ~Thanks again, ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 15:51, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Taxonomic history

Re: "...if you have sources, you can talk about the taxonomic history in detail."
Yes, I do have sources - which is why I definitely do not want to open this can-o'-worms. It would take a lengthy article of its own; and there is no happy ending. Just check out the Taxonomic names (18) and Taxonomic opinions (29) here:[6]. M. J. Smith 1973 managed to sort things out here:[7] ... But, Smith's classification didn't live happily ever after. See: these notes in the article for a hint of "the rest of the story". If you're interested, check out Smith's 1973 publication:[8], which starts with Petaurus Shaw, 1791; if you're not interested, then please don't.
Re: {{ taxobox | synonyms = ...
~That's no fun - its too easy! Anyway... thanks, ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 05:46, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

This is a problem in lemur articles, too... especially the one's described back in the 1700s and 1800s. You can always summarize, covering the highlights and also mentioning other names in a sentence or two. As for the taxonomy in the table, I don't think it's needed. I know of no other species article that reviews the higher level taxonomy in the body of the text. All of the basics are already in the taxobox classification. There's also no need to confuse people with alternative class names (legion, cohort, etc.), and if the other species need to be mentioned, I'm sure they could be mentioned in text, along with comparisons of their geography, anatomy, and possibly behavior. – Maky « talk » 13:32, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
If this were a much more expanded article, then a brief 'Taxonomic history' might be of interest; otherwise it might fall under "disproportional emphasis". I'll do some clean-up on the taxonomy section (someday); for now I just wanted to point out the current ambiguity. There is much outdated info floating around out there, even from "reliable sources"; and as I'm sure you've noticed, much of that information seems to originate from WP. ~Eric F

Duke Lemur Center

Hello neighbor! - I'm currently staying in 'The Triangle' (Raleigh) and noticed you are (currently?) in Durham. Do you have any association with the Duke Lemur Center? - seems like your kind of place. ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 23:18, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

It was my kind of place. However, they don't treat people very well and have attacked me professionally, mostly for following proper procedures for reporting minor concerns about animal welfare as well as writing Wikipedia articles about lemurs. I used to volunteer there... for about 3 years... until a couple months ago when they told me to leave... almost immediately after it became known that I was supporting Richard Branson's lemur project in the Virgin Islands. Anyway, I'm currently (and temporarily) living in Atlanta, working as a lemur keeper at Zoo Atlanta. I'll be back in Durham in January, unless I manage to nail down a permanent job somewhere. At the very least, I'll have to come back to move out of my apartment. If you want to grab a beer or something when I'm in town, we can try to arrange that. – Maky « talk » 23:36, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

TFA

Conservation coming soon --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:58, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Somewhere down the road

Okay, it probably won't happen anytime soon if I decide to do it, but would you be interested in collaborating to bring a simian species article to FA? LittleJerry (talk) 02:13, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I would... though I can easily see a war erupting over the name (simian vs. anthropoid). I'm also not sure if I have the best sources for that article, though I could write about the evolution and some behavior, anatomy, and conservation. Most of my books are on lemurs and other strepsirrhines/prosimians. But we can look into it. – Maky « talk » 02:18, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Main page appearance: conservation of slow lorises

This is a note to let the main editors of conservation of slow lorises know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on November 21, 2012. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 21, 2012. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

A Bengal slow loris, an endangered primate from Southeast Asia

The conservation of slow lorises, nocturnal primates in the rain forests of South and Southeast Asia, faces threats from deforestation, the exotic pet trade, traditional medicine, and the bushmeat trade. Five species of slow loris are listed as either "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their conservation status was originally listed as "Least Concern" in 2000 because of imprecise population surveys and the frequency in which these primates were found in animal markets. Because of their rapidly declining populations and local extinctions, their status was updated and in 2007 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) elevated them to Appendix I, which prohibits international commercial trade. Local laws also protect slow lorises, but enforcement is lacking in most areas. Slow lorises are regularly smuggled and sold as exotic pets in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Their popularity is largely due to their "cute" appearance and highly viewed pet videos on YouTube. (Full article...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 00:02, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

If you have time.....

See Wikipedia_talk:Good_article_nominations#Help among the nominees are some primates :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:40, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Looks like at least one of the people doing the nominations is a student in the Wiki Educational Program. In particular, s/he's part of a class that I tried to offer help to (since I used to be a mentor), but never got a response from the instructor. IMO, the program doesn't operate the way they claim, with students rarely consulting or being coached by mentors. In this case, it looks like the students are peer reviewing each other's materials, but that may be getting done offline, in the classroom. Anyway, given my previous interactions with this bunch, I'm not sure how responsive they'll be. If I did the GA review for the primate articles, I'm not sure if I should offer comments or simply pass/fail them. Also, given the lack of response to my previous offers to help, I may not be the best person for helping with these reviews. – Maky « talk » 12:46, 28 November 2012 (UTC)
And looking at these articles, I would have a lot of suggestions for cleanup. I'd be inclined to fail due to lead length issues, needed citations, illustration issues, trivia, etc. But, if I remember correctly, these articles do look like they contain significantly more content... so their contributions helped. – Maky « talk » 12:53, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Ron Blakey's maps

Hi Maky. I read this discussion thread on the OTRS noticeboard (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OTRS/Noticeboard#Files_from_cpgeosystems.com). You say managed to "talk" Ron Blakey into releasing his maps of the Earth under a free license that permits commercial exploitation. I've been in contact with Ron Blakey, and he still doesn't want his maps to be exploited commercially. AFAIK, Wiki Commons does not support a non-commercial license, and the license that the maps have be re-uploaded under (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported) does permit commercial exploitation. He says he's been talking to multiple people and has been getting confusing information. The legal text on Mr Blakey's website is pretty explicit:

All maps are copyright to me, Ron Blakey, and may bu used, with citation to Ron Blakey, NAU Geology, for educational, non-profit, non-commercial purposes. For commercial uses, please contact me.

If he were to release his maps under a free license, wouldn't he be contradicting that blurb on his very own website?

WTF is going on here? I'd like to know what went on between you two in your email correspondence.Kurzon (talk) 09:30, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

I can't say for certain as to what exactly is going on with all sides, and I want to assume with good faith that all parties are explaining things properly. In my emails (which I have forwarded to OTRS), I encountered the same confusion, and Dr. Blakey explicitly said that he didn't know what the licenses meant and that no one had ever explained them. I addressed his concerns about commercial licensing and then explained the licenses to his satisfaction. One of the things I have learned in working through OTRS so many times is that the free licenses don't nullify copyright, and that he can both copyright and release an image... as confusing as that sounds. One possibility that I put forth for him was to copyright the high-res images (which are not online, but sold on a DVD through his website) and release the lower-res copies. Dr. Blakey thanked me and released the lower-res images on his website. Later, I learned that another cook was in the kitchen, and either he was changing his mind or something was said that was making him consider taking it back. From what I understand, his release to me is legally binding. So I'm not sure where things are at this point, and I wish there had been just one person handling this. Admittedly, I jumped in before I managed to find the ongoing discussion on the matter, mostly because his maps were disappearing from the featured articles I had written, and one was being displayed on my current FAC. All I could find were the closed deletion discussions and comments that the release letter had been faked. Therefore I remedied it... or thought I had. Anyway, I hope this helps. Please keep me in the loop about what's going on. – Maky « talk » 13:42, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
Ron Blakey may be partially at fault here too. He's not the most conscientious person I've dealt with. I've bought his DVD, but the maps had technical flaws (they didn't wrap correctly at the edges). He sent me a second DVD which only fixed some of the flaws, then emailed me another collection of fixed maps. I think he deals with this Wikimedia affair the same way he deals with his products: he doesn't pay careful attention and does things half-assed.Kurzon (talk) 17:30, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
So... the hi-res DVD images are copyrighted, but the low-res ones on Wiki Commons are free? People will be exploiting the low-res ones commercially, and I think that when published in a book or on a website the difference will be meaningless, and Blakey will once again have problems with people exploiting his images for free.Kurzon (talk) 09:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
And that's why you don't put any images on the web unless you want people using them. Otherwise you have to put the effort into enforcing your own copyright. This is what I explained to Dr. Blakey. We'll see—he may change his mind and want even lower-res copies released instead. – Maky « talk » 11:53, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
There is a difference. When you put something on the Wikimedia Commons, people will assume that they can use it freely for whatever they like. When you put it on your own website next to copyright warnings, people recognize the copyright and are wary of violating it. Blakey is a generous man to make his maps freely available for non-commercial educational uses, and when he released his images to Wikimedia he assumed that his copyright would be protected and that he wouldn't find his maps in books and web publishings sold by other authors who didn't pay him a penny in royalties. These low-res images, after all, are pretty nice. I don't know what you told him to finagle an agreement out of him, but I'll bet this will leave him unsatisfied.
I've uploaded Blakey's maps to Wikipedia under a fair use argument. I think this is sufficient, as it emphasizes his copyright and the conditions under which it can be used. See here for an example File:Earth300Mya.jpg. Kurzon (talk) 13:10, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

FAC

I have made a comment on your Strepsirrhini FAC. I note that the most critical of those who have previously commented there has been Samsara and that this editor has not been active in Wikipedia since November 27th. He has also been critical in my Amphibian FAC. In both cases, I believe the points he raised have been addressed but in neither case has he reversed his original opposition (only vaguely voiced in my review). Amphibians may not be your main interest, but would you be able to have a look at the article? The way things are going at FAC I fear it may fail as there are a fair number of comments, no outright opposition but few supporters. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:22, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the support. I will try to do a review of your article tonight after work, but if I don't get a chance, I will try again after work on Sunday. I always love reading articles under the topic of biology. – Maky « talk » 11:48, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Did you know...

...that I have nominated Nycticebus kayan for Did You Know? Chris857 (talk) 03:13, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Good to see. Sorry for not contributing more, but the formal publication of the research article seems to have been delayed (possibly due to the leak to the press), and I promised Nekaris that I wouldn't write any more about these species until the formal publication. I don't feel comfortable writing articles based on news reports, given how poor most science writing is. Anyway, watch for expansion in the near future. – Maky « talk » 11:52, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

New message

Template:Did_you_know_nominations/Nycticebus_kayan --Tito Dutta (talk) 12:29, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Merry Xmas

Merry antipodean Xmas
hope yours is/was fun, and you had a good turkey :) Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 06:58, 25 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! Enjoy the holiday! – Maky « talk » 11:49, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

Archiving talk page :)

That sounds like a brilliant idea. I have no idea how to do it. Your help would be greatly appreciated! Hope you're having a great holiday season. - C Lemurbaby (talk) 17:53, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

Happy holidays to you, too. For archiving, probably the best thing you can do is start by reading Help:Archiving a talk page and also look at the code on mine. If mimicking mine doesn't work, let me know and I can try to fix it up. – Maky « talk » 18:51, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

can we meet you at the ATL Zoo?

Thanks for all your contributions about lemurs! Just read your ATL Zoo blog post about bringing Neal inside in the evenings. How long will you be at the ATL Zoo? I've been planning a trip to the zoo specifically to see the lemurs - is it possible to meet you while my husband and I are there? I live in Roswell, just north of ATL, and love lemurs and would like to meet you. Thanks!MargieDeeb (talk)Margie Deeb www.MargieDeeb.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by MargieDeeb (talkcontribs) 04:13, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Nice to meet you, Margie. I'm glad you liked the Wiki articles and the blog post! I will be at Zoo Atlanta until January 20, at which point my seasonal employment will come to an end. My "weekends" are Wednesday and Thursday, and the best days to visit are usually Sundays since I give a talk on lemurs at 1:30. The only catch is that it has been too cold to let the lemurs out, and the trend doesn't look like it's going to change for at least the next 5 days. Given that we're entering January, I simply can't make any promises. You are welcome to call the zoo, tell them your story, and see if they can arrange something special. I'm sure they would love to know that the Keeper Blogs and their writers are so influential. But again, I can't make any promises, especially since the indoor holdings are not open to the public, even for private tours. Therefore it may all come down to the weather. Regardless, feel free to keep in touch. You may email me by clicking the "E-mail this user" link on the left side of the page and we can keep in touch that way if you would like. Best, – Maky « talk » 12:07, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Source for new cladogram?

Please see Talk:Primate/Archive 1#Change to cladogram. Peter coxhead (talk) 21:23, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

GA review for Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr.

Hello, thanks for nominating Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. as a Good Article. Unfortunately, I have failed the GA review per item #6 of the GA quick fail criteria: The article contains significant close paraphrasing or copyright violations. I encourage you to resubmit this article for review when this issue has been addressed. If you feel this is an inaccurate assessment, you are free to seek the opinions of a second reviewer or submit for reassessment. Additionally I'd be happy to discuss the review with you if you require further explanation. Overall, I found it to be an interesting and thorough article on a lesser-known subject which could make a great GA when these issues have been addressed. The full review is available here Jebus989 18:39, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for jumping in so quickly to offer a review. Personally, I don't think that item #6 in the GA quick fail criteria was meant to catch an article with 6 or 7 sentences (out of many dozens) that may be too closely paraphrased. I see it as more of a way to catch the copy-and-paste articles that pop up all the time, including the ones where people change a few words in order to avoid being caught. Anyway, I'll fix it up tonight and resubmit since you already closed it. Just a suggestion: if someone has a long history of writing GA articles, I'd give them a chance to reply first. But again, thanks for jumping in and doing the review. – Maky « talk » 22:31, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
Just to be clear, they weren't the only examples I was able to find having investigated each sentence; I actually just looked at a few and reached the conclusion that this appeared to be a common theme throughout the article: that referenced sentences were too closely paraphrased from copyrighted works. Also, it's great that you have a significant history of article contributions but in this instance, to me at least, it clearly met one of the quick fail criteria, justifying a quick fail regardless of editor standing. Anyway, good luck with the next review, I'm sure it will pass with flying colours! Jebus989 22:48, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr.

Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:17, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Good Article Barnstar
Thanks for your contributions to bring Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr.--and many more!--to Good Article status. Keep up the good work! Khazar2 (talk) 02:46, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
Congratulations on the GA, the article looks great Jebus989 08:44, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks, both of you, for your time in reviewing the article. And sorry, Jebus989, for the trouble with the close paraphrasing. Normally I copy my sources into a text file, organize all the snippets to match my intended structure for the article, and then write my text, being very careful not to paraphrase too closely. This time, I couldn't copy the text to a file easily, and since it was only three sources, I tried to manage it all in my head. In the process, I must have inadvertently memorized the structure and wording of some of the sources and didn't check myself as closely as I normally do. I really do appreciate you catching these. And thanks for the barnstar and review, Khazar2! I am going to put the article on FAC next, so you both are welcome to comment further (and more critically) if you feel like it. – Maky « talk » 15:05, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
You're very welcome! Good luck with FAC. -- Khazar2 (talk) 15:15, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
No problem; good luck from me too, I have no experience of FAC but will watch with interest Jebus989 17:32, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Nycticebus kayan

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 16:02, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you saw this. I figured that since Yves Rumpler described several lemur species, if there are sources to support his biography you might be in the best position to find them. Rlendog (talk) 15:33, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Hmmm... with only a few exceptions, I usually don't find much on the lives of researchers until they die and obituaries are published in the journals. Sometimes I guess you could cite their department's webpage. I don't have anything on Rumpler off hand. Since he's retired, I'd stand about as good of a chance at finding something as anyone else... I think. Sorry. – Maky « talk » 00:34, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Hi Maky. Nice work with all the GA/FAs. A lot of my articles are in the B/C range and I'm working my way up to some of my first GAs. Just about finished with my third GA - wohoo! I edited the guitar article a long time ago after we met at a Meetup in North Carolina. (changed my username) Drmies brought up the article on his Talk page, mentioning that it needs a lot of work and I gave it a cull-through. I removed a lot of excessive detail and promotional sub-heads, as well as trimming the controversy and merging it with History per WP:CRITICISM and WP:UNDUE. I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you felt I cut too deep. CorporateM (Talk) 02:15, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

Good to hear from you again! No, I think you did fine with the trimming. It wasn't watered down to protect the company, but it also wasn't left one-sided in favor of conservation efforts. If the sources mentioned it, it might be worth noting that this case became quite popular among Tea Party members, who threatened the Lacey Act (as well as lots of other environmental legislation). This drew a lot of attention, particularly leading up to the 2012 election. But otherwise, I think it looks pretty good. Keep in mind that all I monitor on the page is the rosewood controversy, so I can't comment on the rest. Keep up the good work. – Maky « talk » 02:25, 3 February 2013 (UTC)
Sometimes it helps to have a "Corporate Minion" balance things out ;-)
I'll keep the Tea Party comments in mind next time I give it a run-through. It sounds like some of that may belong on articles about the environmental policies it influenced, but it should at least mention it in the guitar company piece. CorporateM (Talk) 02:42, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

Rakoto Frah FAC

I think I've responded to all your comments at the Rakoto Frah FAC. Will you take a look when you have the chance? Thank you. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:26, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

Sure. I'm a little busy with a careful copyedit of my own FAC and stuff IRL, but I'll try to revisit it in the next few days. – Maky « talk » 03:51, 1 February 2013 (UTC)
  • Any chance you can come back to this in the next few days? And which FAC is yours? I'll have a look over the weekend. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:29, 12 February 2013 (UTC)
Sorry for the delays. I'm going to try to take a look tonight. Mine is Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. Thanks! – Maky « talk » 03:41, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

FAC

Hi Maky! I was glad to see you've been doing some copyediting; it looks good so far. Would you mind giving me a heads up when you complete the revisions? I don't want to be laggard in responding once you've finished, even though I do have the FAC watchlisted. Thanks! ceranthor 18:54, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

I will certainly let you know. I'm really sorry for the delays, but I'm in the process of moving to Atlanta... twice. It's hard to explain, but things are really tying me up... though I hope to take a serious look on my weekend (Wed-Thurs). I will let you know when I'm done. – Maky « talk » 03:18, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
Awesome work. I returned and supported. Sorry it took me so long! ceranthor 19:50, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Pygmy slow loris for GAN

Hi Maky, could you take a look at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Primates#Pygmy slow loris for GAN please. I know you're busy moving so don't worry if you don't get round to it for a while, but if you have access to some of the references that'd be really helpful. Cheers, Jack (talk) 09:32, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

FAC

Hello sir, we would like your suggestions on the fac. Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Priyanka Chopra/archive1. Please , review it and represent your thoughts. Thank You.Prashant    18:41, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

At the moment, my computer at home isn't working, and I can only get online at work. I will see if I have time once things are back up and running. – Maky « talk » 18:54, 21 February 2013 (UTC)
Four Award
Congratulations! You have been awarded the Four Award for your work from beginning to end on Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr.. TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:22, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:22, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Congrats! Very glad to see this one promoted. -- Khazar2 (talk) 23:57, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. I appreciate the feedback from earlier. – Maky « talk » 04:14, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

White-faced Whistling Duck

I've scanned the relevant parts of Madge (species account and subfamily account) and added the relevant references at the end of the text. Just email me when you're ready. I have several field guides to African and S American birds, but these are largely descriptions. Probably simpler for me to see if there is anything relevant to add from those when you've written the bulk of the text Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:04, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

The Johnsgard 2010 paper is a free full-text download, looks very useful too Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:13, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
Let me know if you want full text of any of these, I think I can get most of them Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:16, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
Johnsgard 2010 will definitely be the centerpiece for the upcoming article. Thank you for finding that. None of the historical stuff looks very useful, unless I want to go into the long back-and-forth history of their classification and phylogeny (pre-molecular analysis). I'd like to do it (for FAC), but I may need help with that part. That kind of thing is confusing enough with the lemurs I know so well, but with birds... I'd be fighting to stay afloat. (Since we're talking about whistling ducks, no pun intended.) I will email you shortly for the Madge material. Thanks! I'm eager to see the finished product—but please expect to jump in and tidy up. I'm new to birds. – Maky « talk » 22:07, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
I quite like the taxonomy stuff, so I'll help out with that at some stage, but I've got an FAC and a GAN up at the moment, so it may be a little while Jimfbleak - talk to me? 07:01, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. I'll try to have a look at the FAC sometime, but right now I only have time to write or review, not both. Also, if you know anyone who's skilled at paraphrasing physical descriptions, let me know. That's the most painful part of any species/genus article for me. I can do it, but it slows me down. – Maky « talk » 11:32, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Marohita mouse lemur

PanydThe muffin is not subtle 16:17, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Anosy mouse lemur

PanydThe muffin is not subtle 16:17, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Maky, your review of this article has been responded to; would you be able to check to see whether all your concerns have been addressed? Thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 06:20, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks—I saw the reply, but have been very busy lately. I'll try to take a look tonight. – Maky « talk » 10:51, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Wiktionary:Lemur

Thanks for thinking of us when you found that article. It is more than we would normally have - hence, the reversion - but it is an unusually good research source and clarifies obsolete terms. It's still a bit wordy, so you can expect efforts to trim it. Most of what I did was just formatting. We can always use help on taxonomic names and their vernacular equivalents. DCDuring (talk) 21:55, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Thank you. Please, do trim the entries as needed. I want them to be top-notch. Just because I wrote it, it doesn't mean that I think it's top-notch; I'm experienced at writing for Wikipedia, not Wiktionary. I'm sure you guys can do better. I just wanted to dispel the popular myth about the etymology. The peer-reviewed article I cited addresses many lemur vernacular and scientific names, so feel free to use it. There will be a part 2... maybe in a year or so. Best, – Maky « talk » 22:03, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Lemur name etymology

Hi Alex, can't believe I've only just seen your piece in Lemur News on the etymology. It was a great read, really interesting, it's funny how their names come about! Jack (talk) 08:40, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

Ucucha is also a coauthor (along with Groves). It came about because of our Wiki work. Thanks to Ucucha's help tracking down and translating old, obscure sources, we were finding information that contradicted all the traditional sources, and since original research is forbidden on Wiki, we decided to write a peer-reviewed article. I'm glad you liked it!  :-) We're slowly working on part 2. Look for it in about a year. In the meantime, I will slowly be updating articles with the contents of the first paper. If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to change my approach to editing—starting at higher levels of classification and working my way down. I've been too busy lately to make much progress, and I'm a long ways from the family and genus articles... but I will get there. Maybe one of these days, I'll learn to make small edits instead of complete rewrites. Anyway, thanks for the comment and sorry for the early morning rambling... Best, – Maky « talk » 08:53, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
Look forward to that one too! Yeah I noticed you've been busy IRL recently, WP:PRIMATE feels a bit lonely without you. I think that is a great approach, starting at the top, but so much more work. At least with species articles you can pretty much include everything that is known, while higher taxa you have to read so much more and then choose what to include. I am thinking about getting monkey past Start class, but every time I try to tackle it, the scope really puts me off. I've only got about a month's editing left before I have to work full-time again and won't edit anything for months (full-time=working from when I wake up until I sleep). Just trying to get lots done before then, I want to concentrate on the most popular articles I think, just none of the human and human-ancestor stuff! Looking forward to getting you back editing more regularly, cheers, Jack (talk) 10:53, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
Nice work and congrats on the peer reviewed article! Would you share the citation here so I can track it down? I'd love to be able to read it. I hope life's treating you right. I'm getting ready to leave Rwanda in about three months and will be working in Pakistan for the next year or two, and then (if all goes as planned) Indonesia for four years. I'll have a vacation in Mada the first two weeks of July. Let me know if you'd like me to pick up anything for you. I can mail it to you once I get back to Seattle in early August. Lemurbaby (talk) 03:02, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
Thanks! The citation is already in use on the Lemur article—just look for the Dunkel, et al. citation. It should have a link, too. Your work sounds awesome. I would love to travel like that. Can't say life is treating me well—jobs are hard to come by, especially after the (illegal) crap the Duke Lemur Center pulled. I'm hoping to get a permanent job here at the zoo in Atlanta, but we'll see. I've been working as a seasonal keeper here, but my time is up and as of Friday, I'm unemployed. Anyway, the only thing I need in Madagascar is a permanent job in lemur conservation, particularly in the ring-tailed lemur range. Sorry that it's not something you can pick up for me or ship back. Enjoy your vacation! I hope to go back once I have a stable job. – Maky « talk » 03:18, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Well done at 50

The 50 DYK Creation and Expansion Medal
Hi Maky, what a cool subject to be concentrating on and you get to do this at work and at home. Mr Attenborough would be proud of you. All those fancy lemurs in startling colours and sizes. I'm guessing there are enough left to get you to a hundred lemurs. .... What is the group name for lemurs? Maybe a lemma of lemurs?? Anyway - brilliant, well done, keep it up! Thanks from us all. Victuallers (talk) 16:23, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
Lol! They're called troops. Thanks! – Maky « talk » 16:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Range map for the White-faced Whistling Duck

PS. I responded to your request and uploaded a range map. Let me known if it accurate enough. --Fama Clamosa (talk) 15:03, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I was about to start on the page, soon. Interestingly, Casliber also made a range map for the species recently. I'll have to look at them and see which one is most accurate based on my sources. – Maky « talk » 15:08, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Love history & culture? Get involved in WikiProject World Digital Library!

World Digital Library Wikipedia Partnership - We need you!
Hi Maky! I'm the Wikipedian In Residence at the World Digital Library, a project of the Library of Congress and UNESCO. I'm recruiting Wikipedians who are passionate about history & culture to participate in improving Wikipedia using the WDL's vast free online resources. Participants can earn our awesome WDL barnstar and help to disseminate free knowledge from over 100 libraries in 7 different languages. Please sign up to participate here. Thanks for editing Wikipedia and I look forward to working with you! SarahStierch (talk) 17:49, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

WikiProject Good Articles Recruitment Centre

Hello! Now, some of you might have already received a similar message a little while ago regarding the Recruitment Centre, so if you have, there is no need to read the rest of this. This message is directed to users who have reviewed over 15 Good article nominations and are not part of WikiProject Good articles (the first message I sent out went to only WikiProject members).

So for those who haven't heard about the Recruitment Centre yet, you may be wondering why there is a Good article icon with a bunch of stars around it (to the right). The answer? WikiProject Good articles will be launching a Recruitment Centre very soon! The centre will allow all users to be taught how to review Good article nominations by experts just like you! However, in order for the Recruitment Centre to open in the first place, we need some volunteers:

  • Recruiters: The main task of a recruiter is to teach users that have never reviewed a Good article nomination how to review one. To become a recruiter, all you have to do is meet this criteria. If we don't get at least 5-10 recruiters to start off with (at the time this message was sent out, 2 recruiters have volunteered), the Recruitment Centre will not open. If interested, make sure you meet the criteria, read the process and add your name to the list of recruiters. (One of the great things about being a recruiter is that there is no set requirement of what must be taught and when. Instead, all the content found in the process section is a guideline of the main points that should be addressed during a recruitment session...you can also take an entire different approach if you wish!) If you think you will not have the time to recruit any users at this time but are still interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still add your name to the list of recruiters but just fill in the "Status" parameter with "Not Available".
  • Co-Director: The current Director for the centre is me (Dom497). Another user that would be willing to help with some of the tasks would be helpful. Tasks include making sure recruiters are doing what they should be (teaching!), making sure all recruitments are archived correctly, updating pages as needed, answering any questions, and distributing the feedback form. If interested, please contact me (Dom497).
  • Nominators, please read this: If you are not interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still help. In some cases a nominator may have an issue with an "inexperienced" editor (the recruitee) reviewing one of their nominations. To minimize the chances of this happening, if you are fine with a recruitee reviewing one of your nominations under the supervision of the recruiter, please add your name to the list at the bottom of this page. By adding your name to this list, chances are that your nomination will be reviewed more quickly as the recruitee will be asked to choose a nomination from the list of nominators that are OK with them reviewing the article.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing this program bring new reviewers to the Good article community and all the positive things it will bring along.

A message will be sent out to all recruiters regarding the date when the Recruitment Centre will open when it is determined. The message will also contain some further details to clarify things that may be a bit confusing.--Dom497 (talk)

This message was sent out by --EdwardsBot (talk) 14:49, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

TFA nom

I suggested Golden-crowned sifaka for WP:TFAR, please trim the blurb, you know it best ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:28, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the nomination! If the blurb requires trimming, we could just take out some of the basic facts, like gestation, etc. Otherwise, it looks great! – Maky « talk » 23:07, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for amazing content

After seeing the TFAR nomination of the Golden-crowned sifaka (as per the post above) I looked around your user page a bit. That bit of time quickly turned into more than an hour after seeing what amazing content you have produced. I just wanted to say: please, keep up the good work! It is greatly appreciated. Crispulop (talk) 19:21, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the kind words. I'm trying to get back into writing for Wikipedia, but real life events have lowered my motivation a lot over the last couple of years. Hopefully comments like this will get me started up again. – Maky « talk » 23:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Gasteracantha cancriformis mating

Hello, I'm Surfer43. You might be able to help with the following because of your college degrees and knowledge of animals. The next indent is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research/Noticeboard#Gasteracantha_cancriformis_mating.

I have observed the species Gasteracantha cancriformis mating and have uploaded it to commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gasteracantha_cancriformis_mating_in_Summer.webm. I want to include it in the article Gasteracantha cancriformis, but doing so would probably require a new section with text sourced from http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gasteracantha_cancriformis/. However information from that page is contradictory to the video(For example, my video disproves that the species has only been observed mating in a labratory, disproves that the species only mates in Winter(I suppose it doesn't if you don't trust the datestamp on it), and generally adds more information about it.) I know information from this video is not from a verifiable, reliable, published source, but it seems ridiculous to write knowingly incorrect information that contradicts the video. I don't know how to get this new finding about the species "published". Surfer43 (talk) 22:49, 11 June 2013 (UTC)
If you know any way to get this "known" among the scientific community or "published" or have any advice, please let me know. I'm sorry for bothering you, its just that this adds a lot of information on the species. I'm only going into 9th grade this fall. Thanks, Surfer43 (talk) 22:49, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Reading Muma (1971) p348 (which seems to be one of the more recent articles), the mating was observed twice, in the laboratory, with the same two spiders, so it is far from comprehensive. Not sure if this more recent article has anything, it's behind a paywall. And hey, Semachrysa jade was discovered on Flickr. Chris857 (talk) 23:10, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

You guys would know better than I. I replied on his noticeboard post. Best to discuss it there. – Maky « talk » 23:12, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Loris

I do not see why you reverted this. Clearly, the article Loris is about the subfamily Lorisinae. If you have a look at the section Taxonomic classification of this article, there is a explicit term "Genus Loris" linking to Slender loris. Do not get confused that the common name of the genus Slender loris is loris, which is in turn the common name of the subfamiliy with the scientific name Lorisinae. If you still think that I'm wrong, then you should correct the taxoboxes and as well as the content of both articles to somehow reflect this. Your edit leaves the whole thing broken. FelixReimann (talk) 14:17, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

I see. I should have looked more closely. You were mostly right—you just needed to leave the genus name in for the taxobox. I'll fix it now. – Maky « talk » 14:21, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Main Page appearance: golden-crowned sifaka

This is a note to let the main editors of golden-crowned sifaka know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on June 30, 2013. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or one of his delegates (Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), Gimmetoo (talk · contribs), and Bencherlite (talk · contribs)), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 30, 2013. If it needs tweaking, or if it needs rewording to match improvements to the article between now and its main page appearance, please edit it, following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. The blurb as it stands now is below:

Golden-crowned sifaka

The golden-crowned sifaka is a medium-sized lemur characterized by mostly white fur, prominent furry ears and a golden-orange crown. It is one of the smallest sifakas, weighing around 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and measuring approximately 90 cm (35 in) from head to tail. Like all sifakas, it is a vertical clinger and leaper, and its diet includes mostly seeds and leaves. The golden-crowned sifaka lives in groups of around five to six individuals, with groups containing a balanced number of adult males and females. Its binomial name, Propithecus tattersalli, denotes its discoverer, Ian Tattersall, who first spotted it in 1974. Found in gallery, deciduous, and semi-evergreen forest, its restricted range includes forest fragments around the town of Daraina in northeast Madagascar. Its estimated population is between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals. Forest fragmentation, habitat destruction, poaching, slash-and-burn agriculture, and other human factors threaten its existence, and it is listed by the IUCN Red List as Endangered. Lawlessness resulting from the 2009 political coup in Madagascar led to increased poaching of this species, and many were sold to local restaurants as a delicacy. (Full article...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Louis Cyr

Maky
Please see Louis Cyr, talk:Louis Cyr#Units and User talk:Peter Horn#Louis Cyr. A certain user, one PlanCartesien is so rabidly pro metric system or SI that he would insist on putting metric measures first and not even give an imperial conversion Methinks that in the historical context imperial should come first and the metric conversion should follow in brackets. This chap is so pro metric that he feels that our American friends should not even be accommodated. Methinks he should be called to order and even be banned to the French Wikipedia. Now don't be mistaken, I personally prefer the metric system. Peter Horn User talk 17:52, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I can't do much. I'm not an admin (and don't want to experience the wrath of the Inquisition for it). Anyway, Wiki is ruled by consensus, so unless he start breaking rules like edit warring or WP:3RR, the most you can do is try to talk to him and doing what you just did—drawing in other experience Wiki editors for their opinions. I'll try to add my thoughts to the talk discussions you gave above. – Maky « talk » 18:13, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 2

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Lavasoa dwarf lemur

I see you started Lavasoa dwarf lemur with "will expand soon". I was considering writing the article, but don't want to edit conflict over it (or take away work you really want to do). Let me know your plans/desires so I can decide on my plan :). --ThaddeusB (talk) 04:10, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I have the original research article and was going to use the existing two articles mentioned on ITNC. I'm usually pretty thorough unless there are too many cooks in the kitchen. I probably won't make it as technical as I sometimes do, but I certainly will be putting in more than the typical "fun facts". What were you thinking? – Maky « talk » 04:21, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
I just noticed the Scientific American article is actually a blog... and reads like one. Unfortunately, whatever information is in it cannot be used because it is not a reliable source. The other article has far less information, so I may be pulling mostly from the research article. – Maky « talk » 04:40, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
Really nice work on the article. I'm glad you took care of it so I didn't have to. :) --ThaddeusB (talk) 16:34, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. I did send some material to you via email if you would like to contribute. I hate writing about physical descriptions (because my brain struggles to link visual information with verbal descriptions), and because it's very hard to paraphrase. If you're better at it than me and want a share of the credit, please feel free to work on it. Otherwise I'll try to get to it later today. – Maky « talk » 16:48, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
Sure, I will be happy to add the description. --ThaddeusB (talk) 18:29, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

WP:FOUR RFC

There are two WP:RFCs at WP:FOUR. The first is to conflate issues so as to keep people from expressing meaningful opinions. The second, by me, is claimed to be less than neutral by proponents of the first. Please look at the second one, which I think is much better.--TonyTheTiger (T / C / WP:FOUR / WP:CHICAGO / WP:WAWARD) 07:05, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

Ambohimanga FAC

Hi Maky, I've put the article on Ambohimanga up for FAC here and it's about to move into the "older nominations" section with only one review on it (which has now become one support). If you have time to take a look at it, I'd be thankful - your high standards are what the article needs to meet. Cheers, Lemurbaby (talk) 14:24, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

I am really sorry, Lemurbaby, but I have been very busy. I don't think I will have time to help with this one. Good luck! – Maky « talk » 21:04, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free media (File:Seacology_logo.gif)

Thanks for uploading File:Seacology_logo.gif. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'file' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. – Quadell (talk) 18:52, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

(It was just replaced by a newer logo, File:Seacology Logo.gif.) – Quadell (talk) 18:52, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

Strepsirrhini taxonomy

Hi Maky, I've noticed that the articles in this Wikipedia uses the nomenclature of Strepsirrhini that has two infraorders (Adaptiformes and Lemuriformes) and divides Lemuriformes into to superfamilies (Lemuroidea and Lorisoidea). Is that the most accepted nomenclature? Or the election of one over the other was random? --Andresisrael (talk) 20:15, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

It depends on which field you look at. Primatologists only concern themselves with living primates, and generally only bother to define Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes. There's also a little bit of distaste from the old-school "prosimian" crowd, who reluctantly used Strepsirrhini, and instead prefer to refer to the prosimians as "lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers"... hence the distinction. Conveniently, all living strepsirrhines belong to the clade of primates that consists of the lorisoids and lemurs, so when talking about toothcombed primates, primatologists get away with referring to the clade as Strepsirrhini, which wrong when you consider the fossil record and everything else that is considered strepsirrhine.
Paleoanthropologists cope with more variety, and as a result, they often need a formal clade name for toothcombed primates. Since Strepsirrhini won't work, they often favor clumping the clade under Lemuriformes (which would be truer to how Linneaus used the term "Lemur"), and then splitting into superfamilies Lemuroidea and Lorisoidea. This makes it significantly easier and clearer when discussing all strepsirrhines, living and extinct. Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that discusses both living and extinct strepsirrhines, as well as topics that require terminology that is not widely confused (e.g. toothcombed primates ≠ strepsirrhines), I have opted to go with a more broadly used and meaningful classification. This has been discussed at length on the the talk page for WP:Primates and at FAC.
I wish this wasn't so confusing, but please understand that using the popular primatology-centric taxonomy leads to the kinds of messes you see in the textbooks and academic literature, where over-generalized (false) statements are passed off as fact, then finding their way into the public through newspapers and educational material at zoos. As a result of this choice, the Wikipedia articles about strepsirrhines can be more clearly explained and linked. Furthermore, the alternative taxonomies are listed and discussed in multiple articles. Granted, there are many more articles that could stand to have these taxonomic discussions added in, but I simply haven't had the time. If this is a critical issue, I will write something up, cite it, and add it to the article you feel need it. – Maky « talk » 21:03, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
You are being perfectly clear and I'm not questioning the decision this Wikipedie made at all. I just nedeed to understand the reasons behind that decision. The thing is, I'm an editor in the Spanish Wikipedia, where we use the other nomenclature (the one with two infrorders). I noticed recently the diferences between the two of them so I came here to dicide which one is the best. I think your arguments are reasonable (I also read Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Primates/Archive 2012) so I'll see if I can change how articles are structured there. Thank you for your explanation. Andresisrael (talk) 00:07, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
Good luck making the change. If you end up translating or writing articles to correspond with Evolutionary history of lemurs, Taxonomy of lemurs, Toothcomb, Sublingua, Strepsirrhini, Lemur, or the ones I plan to write soon (Prosimian, Lemuriformes, Adapiformes and Lorisoidea), hopefully you will further appreciate the added flexibility this taxonomy offers. If you need any help convincing anyone on Spanish Wikipedia, don't hesitate to ask. You'll need to translate, of course.  ;-) – Maky « talk » 00:27, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

Seacology

Hello Alex. User:Seacology1 came in and did some edits to Seacology. One of them caused a citation error. I'd fix it myself, but I'm not familiar with the particular citation method used in the article. – S. Rich (talk)

Done. It looks like they deleted some dated material and added a few small updates. I'm not sure why they deleted the marine and terrestrial habitats saved. It probably should have been rephrased to better emphasize that the numbers were as of 2010. I saw that a message was left on their talk page, so hopefully we'll hear from them in the future. – Maky « talk » 00:02, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Primate

Hello, I started a new topic at Talk:Primate and would like to get your thoughts. LittleJerry (talk) 02:51, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Template:Portal bar has been nominated for merging with Template:Portal. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. Rezonansowy (talk • contribs) 14:50, 5 September 2013 (UTC)

Books and Bytes: The Wikipedia Library Newsletter

Books and Bytes

Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2013

by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

Greetings Wikipedia Library members! Welcome to the inaugural edition of Books and Bytes, TWL’s monthly newsletter. We're sending you the first edition of this opt-in newsletter, because you signed up, or applied for a free research account: HighBeam, Credo, Questia, JSTOR, or Cochrane. To receive future updates of Books and Bytes, please add your name to the subscriber's list. There's lots of news this month for the Wikipedia Library, including new accounts, upcoming events, and new ways to get involved...

New positions: Sign up to be a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar, or a Volunteer Wikipedia Librarian

Wikipedia Loves Libraries: Off to a roaring start this fall in the United States: 29 events are planned or have been hosted.

New subscription donations: Cochrane round 2; HighBeam round 8; Questia round 4... Can we partner with NY Times and Lexis-Nexis??

New ideas: OCLC innovations in the works; VisualEditor Reference Dialog Workshop; a photo contest idea emerges

News from the library world: Wikipedian joins the National Archives full time; the Getty Museum releases 4,500 images; CERN goes CC-BY

Announcing WikiProject Open: WikiProject Open kicked off in October, with several brainstorming and co-working sessions

New ways to get involved: Visiting scholar requirements; subject guides; room for library expansion and exploration

Read the full newsletter


Thanks for reading! All future newsletters will be opt-in only. Have an item for the next issue? Leave a note for the editor on the Suggestions page. --The Interior 20:22, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

More collaborations?

Hi, I just went through WT:ANIME's archive and found this: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Anime and manga/Archive 54#More collaborations?.

Personally I am interested in substantially improving Children Who Chase Lost Voices and 5 Centimeters Per Second as well as other Makoto Shinkai's works. Extremepro (talk) 05:02, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

That's cool. The one thing I need to work on The Garden of Words is help finding print sources (particularly reviews), and possibly translation help. In fact, I'm still trying to finish up Hotarubi no Mori e and need translation help there. If you can help with any of that, it would be greatly appreciated. I could start working on it all this week in my spare time. I'd also love to help with the other titles you mentioned, both of which are favorites of mine. – Maky « talk » 22:40, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
I won't be able to help with translations. But I can help with resource/review finding. I left a bunch of reviews here: Talk:The Garden of Words. Extremepro (talk) 00:04, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
Btw, I have not forgotten about this. I've been busy preparing to move and start a new job, and once I'm settled in, I hope to dedicate some time to this. Look for edits to start happening near the middle or the end of December. – Maky « talk » 04:29, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library Survey

As a subscriber to one of The Wikipedia Library's programs, we'd like to hear your thoughts about future donations and project activities in this brief survey. Thanks and cheers, Ocaasi t | c 15:01, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Loris

Hi Maky, you reverted me there. However, I still think my edit was right:

  • Slender loris 1st sentence: "The slender lorises (Loris) are a genus of loris" - also the taxobox show "genus Loris" (Loris italic as the scientific name of the genus, bold and not linked as the taxon described in the article)
  • Contrary, Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates of the 'subfamily Lorisinae. The taxobox also says in bold: "Subfamily Lorisinae" is the topic of the article.

This is a square case, where the common name of the subfamily (article Loris) is identical to the scientific name of the genus (article Slender loris). Could you recheck? -- FelixReimann (talk) 19:50, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

In the taxobox, you changed the genus to "Slender loris". The genus name is Loris, as its binomial name is Loris lydekkerianus (genus & species names). The "slender loris" encompasses a genus of lorises, and that genus is Loris. Technically the sentence you quoted is correct—I'm just clarifying. This edit shows how the genus link should have been fixed. I hope that helps. – Maky « talk » 03:22, 13 December 2013 (UTC)

Illegal logging in Madagascar

Hi Maky, long time no talk. I hope you've been well. Thanks for your ongoing edits to articles like Fauna of Madagascar. I wanted to propose that you nominate Illegal Forestry in Madagascar for GA. I will review and pass. All the differences of opinion about the scope don't change the topic's notability, and you did a brilliant job writing such a well researched article. Happy holidays and all the best in 2014! Lemurbaby (talk) 01:23, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, will do. However, please give me a couple of days. – Maky « talk » 04:13, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Lemurs of Madagascar 3rd ed.jpg

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Lemurs of Madagascar 3rd ed.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Stefan2 (talk) 15:18, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

It is used in an article but someone had made an edit which broke the link. I fixed the link and removed the tag. Rlendog (talk) 15:28, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for catching this! – Maky « talk » 16:11, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Genus categories for common names

I see you were involved in some edits around cateforizing genera under the common names. There is a discussion about the subject at WT:TOL#Categorizing taxa vs. common names if you are interested. Rlendog (talk) 19:14, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

Ugh... I hate these kinds of discussions. At least it's remained civil. It's unfortunate, though, that it ended in ambiguity. Anyway, I'm just going to work things out for the strepsirrhine articles with BDD by replying to him on the Ring-tailed lemur article. Thanks! – Maky « talk » 20:50, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

Translation

I know it is six months ago you posted your request on WP:PNT. I do not speak Japanese well but I studied it for a year and between us we could probably translate your articles quite well. So give me a ping when you want them to be tidied up. I learned it at university and my linguistics teacher, and Japanese teacher, said you always translate into your native language not out. my wife is Hungarian so she does the translation one way and I do the other, even though we both speak both. I am not familiar with anime particularly but that is your job but we can do the translation together, your knowledge and my English! Hajimemashite. Si Trew (talk) 21:23, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

@SimonTrew:: At this point, I don't have time to work on The Garden of Words, though if you can read Japanese, I may have time to finish up Hotarubi no Mori e. For that one, I need someone who can read kanji and translate a few remaining sources. Once I have them translated, I can put on the finishing touches and then submit the article for FAC. If you're up for that, let me know. – Maky « talk » 23:43, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
Unfortunately I can only read katakana and hiragana and a few tiny little bits of kanji. You do the rough and I'll do the blue pencil (editing). Si Trew (talk) 23:47, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
The problem is that I can't read Japanese at all. What I'm needing is someone who's fluent enough to translate Japanese to English. I can handle the rest. Thanks, though. – Maky « talk » 00:20, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

ruffed lemurs

Hello Maky, i'm a bit confused, because the description Nick Garbutt gives on the subspecies' habitat is also correct according to his map. I know that the subspecies of the b&w ruffed lemur is not recognized by all scientists, but this is very unusual. Is there some online source I can check? I'm working on lemur articles on the Dutch wikipedia and I don't want to copy mistakes... heinnlein'' 06:15, 16 July 2014 (UTC) (and sorry for my English)

There may be some information on the IUCN Red List for the species pertaining to the subspecies and their ranges. I did re-check Lemurs of Madagascar ("LoM"), and the description of its range is much more detailed than that given by Garbutt. I haven't heard many good things from lemur researchers about Garbutt's work, and given the names attached to LoM, I'm more inclined to trust it. The best places to get copies of LoM are here (for English) and here (for French). I hope this helps. – Maky « talk » 06:36, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
Thanks! I'll change it on the Dutch pages... heinnlein'' 07:14, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Precious again

vision of lemurs
Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge on lemurs on the Main page, and for your determination to complete as much as you can of your full plate, - repeating: you are an awesome Wikipedian (21 May 2010)!

Gerda Arendt (talk) 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Two years ago, you were the 212th recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, repeated in br'erly style, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again! Hopefully I'll get back into writing again soon. – Maky « talk » 05:44, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

Herbert F. Standing

Do you know what Herbert F. Standing's nationality was? I'm tidying categories, and trying to get all the paleontologists into their respective nationality categories. Thanks! — Gorthian (talk) 16:10, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, I put absolutely everything I could find on the guy in the article. There may be more out there about it, but it will probably be very hard to find. Sorry that I can't help. – Maky « talk » 00:02, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
So it goes. Thanks anyway! — Gorthian (talk) 05:41, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
He was almost certainly English, though I haven't been able to find positive biographical information. There is a U.S. patent attributed to a Herbert F. Standing or Bournemouth, England; a book by him referring to leave in England; a paper citing English degrees for him. This book may have more information on him but Google Books doesn't show it completely. Ucucha (talk) 00:34, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Kirindy Mitea National Park

Red lemur ?
Red lemur ?

Hi Alex, I noticed you are the lemur expert (well your name gives it away!). Perhaps you could check over the Kirindy Mitea National Park page I have just done a fairly major addition to. In particular please look at the Red-fronted (or Red) Lemur photo. Its not mine, but I'm not sure if this is a red or a red-fronted lemur. It looks to me like Kirindy forest has red lemurs. However, I suspect you may know more than me ... well about something maybe ;)
Thanks. John (a new contributor, so learning).
p.s. If you dont have time, just delete this post. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SurreyJohn (talkcontribs) 16:23, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Welcome, John. I don't call myself an expert—I just know what I know. Thanks for the edits, and please keep up the good work. However, even though most (bad) editors don't include references, please try to make it your policy to always include references for everything you add. It helps with verifiability and will distinguish you as a very constructive and helpful editor. (The one exception to the reference rule is the lead of fully developed articles, like Lemur. In this section, content is being summarized from cited material below.) I greatly appreciate your attempts to add references to many of your edits, but please try to do it for all of them. If you ever have questions, feel free to ask me.
In regards this photo, I have officially corrected it by renaming the file and removing any doubt about its identity. The only source I saw that gave any doubt about it being anything other than Eulemur rufifrons was the IUCN link that said, "[Eulemur rufus] may occur south of the Tsiribihina, but this is questionable." Given that other sources clearly state that E. rufus is considered to live north of the Tsiribihina and E. rufifrons lives to the south, there's no reason add such weight to slim possibilities. Kirindy is quite far south of the Tsiribihina. Unless solid evidence reveals E. rufus in Kirindy, I'd leave that minor note for a very well developed species article—adding that only after all the more weighty research has been addressed. Maybe someday I'll get to this... But anyway, keep up the good work and feel free to keep in touch. – Maky « talk » 19:42, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

OK. Thanks. I was confused by the photo, as I thought red-fronted lemurs were only reddish-grey body, and this was the red E. rufus. The facial features are very similar though! That's why I called on a true expert ;) — Preceding unsigned comment added by SurreyJohn (talkcontribs) 20:02, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

They are very difficult to tell apart, especially from a photo. What leads me to name it E. rufifrons is its location and the abundant (recent) sources that state only E. rufifrons is found at Kirindy while E. rufus is found north of the Tsiribihina. – Maky « talk » 20:33, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Lemurs Park

Hi Maky: I've replaced the sentence on Lemurs Park you removed, but this time with a reference to their website, so addressing your concern. You should also note this includes a link to the Lemurs Park page, so is self-referencing. You commented "nice information but ...", so I trust this is now acceptable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SurreyJohn (talkcontribs) 09:16, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for adding the reference this time. However, does the video explicitly state the information you wrote? The text on the website does not mention the things you wrote, and though I can read some French, I can't understand it very well when it's spoken... so I'm not 100% sure the video is an adequate source. I'll try to find someone to confirm it soon.
I'll have to fix it up a bit because you inserted your statement in the middle of an existing cited statement. Also, the page uses a different citation style, but I can easily fix that. – Maky « talk » 18:30, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
Update: I've found a couple sources that are superior to the website, so I have adjusted the material to reflect these sources. None of these sources mention the educational programs, however. If it's in the video on the website, please reply here, quote the part where the host states the information, and give the time (minutes:seconds) in the video where it can be found. If I know what I'm listening for and when, I'll hear and understand it. If I get a chance, I'll also add more material to the new Lemurs' Park article, too. – Maky « talk » 19:25, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

Hi Alex: You can ignore the introductory video (I cant speak French either). Click on "ENTER" and you enter the sites menu (and if you can translate the pages). There are lots of information, including "Presentation", "Environmental Education" and "Preservation" pages. Perhaps you need to refresh to get in. Hope this helps.
The site states (english translation)

  • "37,163 students and 1,270 teachers Public Primary Schools Tananarive have received free program output green class Lemurs'Park between December 2008 and May 2013, thanks to Colas Madagascar and TOTAL Madagasikara"
  • The week of September 10, 2012, a resident of Dabolava captured a sifaka in the forest of Besakay, located twenty kilometers from the village. After 48 hours, he gave the animal (a female) to the chief of patrol guides working with the GERP to Dabolava under Conservation Program in metapopulation crowned sifaka (PCMPC).
  • (and more)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by SurreyJohn (talkcontribs) 16:39, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

When I open the page in Firefox and Chrome, I only see the video and no link leading to further information. I've also fully enabled Javascript, but still nothing. If you want to reference this material, you should (if possible), reference the specific pages of the website and preferable archive them at WebCite (www.webcitation.org). But for the main "Lemur" article, I think we've got enough information. (The article is almost too long as is.) It was a good addition because we needed to document zoos and research facilities both locally and abroad. I had covered the biggest ones abroad, so mentioning Lemurs' Park as an example of local work helped balance that out. Thanks. – Maky « talk » 17:54, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Why cant you enter the site ... how odd. The Entrée link us just under the (red) Lemurs' Park text. Try these links instead:

This is an important source for the park, and one of the best local web sites I've seen for lemurs, so you should see it! — Preceding unsigned comment added by SurreyJohn (talkcontribs) 20:08, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

For some reason the link is now available, but before it only said something about language options not being available. Anyway, these look like good sources and should be used for the Lemurs' Park article. Again, it would also be good to archive them on WebCite and include them (archiveurl=, archivedate=) in the citation.

I'm glad you can now see the Lemurs' Park website. I will look into WebCite, if its not too complicated!
I should not need a citation for the location. It can be checked from the photo geotags if needed.
A popular tourist stop between Tana and the airport is important information (to tourists, not scientists maybe), and nearly 200 trip reports is not a biased report. It has better ratings and more reports than any other attraction. TripAdvisor is very much a relivable source and global resource for information (its not a bulletin board which I appreciate are not good). People come to Madagascar to see the lemurs so its important and relevant. SurreyJohn (talk) 23:41, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

You don't have to sweat the WebCite stuff too much if you don't want. I was planning to add a bunch of information and citations over the next day or two. Then you can see how to use WebCite on Wikipedia by looking at my Wiki syntax. As for archiving the pages on WebCite, you just click the link "Try it! Archive a URL here. It's free and takes only 30 seconds," fill out the info, and then submit. It will generate a link to use as well as a preview of how the page will look. (It doesn't have to be perfect—just good enough to read the text.) You then use that URL in your citation on Wikipedia along with the original.
As for TripAdvisor, it's not really a matter of opinion. Wikipedia has very strict rules for reliable sources, which I suggest that you read. I searched around on Wikipedia and saw over and over that people agreed that it was an unreliable source. Therefore it can't be used. However, I do have comparable information in a couple books, including the Bradt guide for Madagascar. Again, I'll add that soon. – Maky « talk » 23:55, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Lemurs' Park

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Lemurs' Park you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Lemurbaby -- Lemurbaby (talk) 01:02, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Lemurs' Park

The article Lemurs' Park you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Lemurs' Park for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Lemurbaby -- Lemurbaby (talk) 11:22, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Lemurs' Park

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:02, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Garden of Words info box

Hello Maky, You added this comment: "change infobox to allow for manga -- might need help filling this out properly", to a recent edit of the Garden of Words article and I've been wondering what kind of assistance you might be looking for? Verso.Sciolto (talk) 09:54, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

@Verso.Sciolto: Thanks for getting back to me. I think it may have been taken care of by recent edits, but I'm not sure. I was having a hard time ensuring that I was covering all the manga editions, and I wasn't certain if the publication dates should reflect Japanese or US release dates. For example, here is a copy that was published today on Amazon. Also, this Japanese news site and this page give publication dates for the novel that contradict the article. Lastly, even though it was originally written as an anime, is the manga listed first in the infobox because it was released first (by a few days, I think)? Anyway, please list the sources used for the existing infobox info and I'll try to include it when I work on the article over the next few days. – Maky « talk » 05:49, 29 October 2014 (UTC)
Also, it looks like we may need to make similar changes to Children Who Chase Lost Voices since it has it's own manga now. – Maky « talk » 20:02, 29 October 2014 (UTC)
I'm also assuming the order in the info box was changed by Wrath X because of the release date of the magazine with the first installment for serialization of the manga. The June 2013 issue of Afternoon magazine was released on April 25, 2013 - which accounts for the seeming discrepancy with the dates in the sources you observed. The same situation for the novel, the first installment was published in the September 2013 issue of Da Vinci, the Sept. issue of the magazine has a release date of August 6. The covers of the magazines themselves and the publisher's websites as well as sales sites such as Amazon Japan show the practice of early release dates of the respective monthly issues so there is no problem - both cover and actual release dates are accurate and easily referenced if challenged. Difference between cover date, release date, issue date still often a point of confusion and occasionally contention. I think current consensus is to use the actual release date in the info box so the info box currently conforms in that respect. The additional detail for the difference between the dates can be noted in the text body. However the publication date for the manga book and novel have now been omitted from the info box for some reason and only the dates for serialization have been retained there and the sources I provided have been moved to the -still hidden part of the- text body of the article. Verso.Sciolto (talk) 05:53, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Shinkai articles

Wow, I didn't know you were into anime too! I know somebody who is very interested in Shinkai and can read Japanese—ServanteDeFeu—so I've let her know about the article for Dareka no Manazashi, and I'd like to help out as well. Cheers, —innotata 16:06, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

Awesome! If you guys can help with translation, I have quite a few sources I need translated so I can complete several anime articles. (Some Japanese RS finding or source evaluations might also be nice.) In addition to the Shinkai articles I'm slowly working to rewrite (hopefully by next week), which includes The Garden of Words, I'm also wanting to finish Hotarubi no Mori e (a few translations needed there) and eventually I want to write an article for Mushishi... if you'd also be interested. Back to Shinkai, I'd also like to eventually write 5 Centimeters Per Second, and I *might* be up for a collaboration on his personal article... though I've never done a BLP, and I'm quite hesitant. – Maky « talk » 16:18, 1 November 2014 (UTC)
Yeah, I'd be very interested in working on the other Shinkai articles. I haven't seen (or heard much about) Mushishi, but expect Nina has and would be interested. I don't think the hardest part will be that Shinkai's a living person, but that he's a creative person with a bunch of different works, and a decent article has to talk about his themes, style, assessments of him, and so on. (Also, the paucity of sources in English for anime industry people, or online sources in Japanese for that matter, and the fact that they don't cover everything you'd want for a bio…) As for me, I have to learn as I go whenever I work on articles outside zoology and military history. —innotata 17:20, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
I'm glad you're not intimidated by a BLP. Hopefully we can find some great sources. As for his productions, I'm primarily focusing on Dareka no Manazashi and The Garden of Words at the moment. I hope to start writing the latter on Tuesday. I'm currently pulling a lot of English sources together and was going to spend all day on it. Do you have any print sources for any of his works? Also, are you good at copyediting? Or would you like to start on one of his other productions? Lastly (but most importantly), would you or your translator please email me (through the link on my user page)? I can send along a list of sources that I need translated. Most of the Dareka no Manazashi Japanese sources that I know of are listed on the talk page, but I'm sure there's more. I can also look around for Japanese sources for The Garden of Words. Not only that, but I still have a few sources left for Hotarubi no Mori e (not Shinkai, I know)—I would like to move that article along to FAC. It would help a lot if I could get the translations moving. Hopefully your translator is good at assessing source quality and finding new sources. Anyway, let's keep in touch and get these articles cleaned up! – Maky « talk » 07:26, 3 November 2014 (UTC)
@Innotata: Btw, I don't know if you saw some of my threads about sources on WikiProject:Anime and manga, particularly this one, but I'm constantly trying to evaluate sources because many "reviews sites" can also be seen as blogs. At this moment, I'm debating over The Infinite Zenith, which is clearly a blog... but given previous comments on the WikiProject, I'm inclined to say that it might be useable. If so, there's material for both The Garden of Words ([9] and [10]), and Dareka no Manazashi ([11]). I'd like to know your thoughts on these... and possibly this one as well. Also, there's also this list of reliable sources from the WikiProject we can work from. – Maky « talk » 20:19, 3 November 2014 (UTC)
I thought Nina would be back from a trip that she was on by now, but sounds like she isn't… funny how you call her my translator, but I suppose that's what I got her to start an account for ;) Yeah, I'd be interested in working on other Shinkai works, including creating articles on his films that don't have any. I can copyedit, but mostly I'm going into editing these since I think anime and manga articles leave at least some aspects out and to look for sources to address this, including Japanese ones to get Nina to translate. Not too interested in articles on Midorikawa's works, Nina probably is. As far as print sources I was mostly thinking of industry magazines, which only a very few editors actually make use of as sources. (As for English print and subscription sources, they exist now and then, and it's worth looking anyway.) The anime and manga project is making articles while having to leave out a big part of the sources, and…that's life. I see the Hotarubi no Mori e article is lacking in reviews cited, and I'm sure they exist. The same thing happens with more historical topics. I digress.
As far as reliability of sources, it's tricky. Y'know, we're not going to work with peer-reviewed articles, the media works through boss review. So, The Infinite Zenith looks like a nice site, but it's a one-person blog and all that. tay.kotaku.com, and any other Gawker Media sites with the "Kinja" icon prominent at top left are the user-submitted sections of the sites. I don't think there's much editorial review. So these look like clear cases of sources that don't meet our reliability criteria. By the way, there's a custom search engine for the listed reliable sources (although it's out of date). —innotata 11:14, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for pointing out that custom search engine. I'll give it a try! (I've been searching them all manually.) Regarding the sources, that discussion on the WikiProject made it sound like unreviewed sources can sometimes be alight. The tay.kotaku.com review probably won't cut it, but Infinite Zenith might... based on what was said there...
Any help you can provide with print sources would be huge! If you can cover what I (and others) miss, I'd be very grateful. The only print sources I have are the translated mangas for my favorite animes, and in the case of Hotarubi no Mori e, I have the Japanese mangas and DVD since they were never released in English. (For that, I can send Nina scans. If she's up for it, just email me.) I've had people mention amazing details sourced to Japanese print material and even websites, but it's all largely inaccessible to me. Even Google Translate fails miserably. So any help with Japanese sources (and generally checking my work) would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently gathering my material for The Garden of Words, and I hope to publish my initial re-write within a couple of days... next week at the latest.
I'm not sure which films articles you were referring to, but I know The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Children Who Chase Lost Voices are in terrible shape—bloated plot summaries and little else. Though I'd like to see them fixed up, I was initially just planning to do The Garden of Words and possibly 5 Centimeters Per Second. Anyway, I'm eager to see what you do. If you need any help, let me know. – Maky « talk » 17:58, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
Also, if you know of a way to track down the source for these images, please let me know. I'd like to use a low-res version of one of them under "fair use" to illustrate how closely the artwork matches the park. Alternatively I could use a screenshot of a scene at the park bench and pair that with the photo I've already added. However, I'd really like to use this comparison for that purpose. – Maky « talk » 20:21, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
I don't think so. Chris was just saying something I agree with but that we know other Wikipedians won't accept, that we can evaluate for ourselves how reliable bloggers are within a certain scope. If the blog was by somebody who worked in the industry or similarly established a name for himself, then yes I'd say we can use it and the anime/manga project agrees, if you look at the reliable source listing.
If you look at Shinkai's bio, you'll see his debut Tooi Sekai doesn't have an article, but it nearly certainly is notable, and some of his other short productions might be. Even an ad he did this year, Cross Road got a heckuva lot of coverage, so it likely is notable. His other works also have articles that could improved.
The images were first posted somewhere like 2ch, and Google Images and SauceNAO don't turn up much. Other people have posted unedited photos that nonetheless are at the same angles as the anime shots, so I could find some of those and use them in the article. —innotata 23:09, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
Hi! I was thinking myself before my trip, that it would be nice to do Garden of Words' Wikipedia article, I absoultely am interested in this idea! Let me tell you I just got back from amonthlong trip and I will be mostly busy with IRL stuff for the next week at least. I can try to translate scans of video booklets, but can't guarantee that there will be anything that we cann't get from websites or that I won't have problems. What exactly are the things you've got? ServanteDeFeu (talk) 04:00, 6 November 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for joining in! My current reference list is already published (hidden in the References section of the article). I'm working on organizing content and writing the article offline as we speak. The most helpful things at this point will be translations. For starters, a full word-for-word, page-by-page translation of the official website and Shinkai's website would be very helpful. I also have scans of an afterword from the novel that need translating, so you can email me for those. Also, finding and translating any addition Japanese reviews would be huge! Print sources, video booklets, you name it... Best way to collaborate with me would be email, so let's get in touch! Thanks! – Maky « talk » 06:03, 6 November 2014 (UTC)
I got access back to my email, so send the afterword and I can take a look. I will start working on Dareka no Manazashi first, and I'm going to be a little busy. ServanteDeFeu (talk) 08:17, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
@ServanteDeFeu: In order to send the afterword, I'll need you to email me. I don't have your email address, but you obviously shouldn't post it here. When I tried emailing you through Wikipedia, it failed to deliver. – Maky « talk » 08:20, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
Email (re)sent. ServanteDeFeu (talk) 08:33, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Dareka no Manazashi

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:12, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Today's Featured Article: Notification

This is to inform you that Slow loris, which you nominated at WP:FAC, will appear on the Wikipedia Main Page as Today's Featured Article on 10 December 2014. The proposed main page blurb is here; you may amend if necessary. Please check for dead links and other possible faults before the appearance date. Brianboulton (talk) 22:24, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Good to see it there, - coming with a hidden message to slow down ;) - I love to see four names in a nomination, precious again --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:46, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Overlink

Hi Maky. I see you've reverted my addition of a link here. Not a problem, since technically it does violate WP:OVERLINK. But when I read a long article it is annoying to have to search back through the article just to find a link, when it could also appear later in the article. WP:OVERLINK does sound a bit like a guideline, and not a rule, where it says "Generally, a link should appear only once in an article...". I just found a discussion here about this situation. Apparently it has been discussed before, I'll have to search the archives. As this is about to become a FA, I realize caution should be used when editing. Thanks for your work on Slow loris, and thanks for the 'thanks' earlier! CuriousEric 18:46, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

In all honesty, I completely agree with you. However, I have fought tooth and nail on this point on several FAC candidates (including this one, I think), and I've just been happy to walk away with multiple FAs that included links duplicated in three places (one time each): lead, body, image caption. The only reason I reverted was to maintain the "standards" set at FAC. If you want to be bold and apply your interpretation of that guideline, I won't revert again. Personally, I don't care for arguing for or against "guidelines", since it usually comes down to who's carrying the bigger stick or has the most friends. But anyway, thanks again for your work! I'm looking forward to seeing this as a TFA. – Maky « talk » 21:31, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
Thanks Maky. I've reverted with (hopefully) a sufficient edit summary, we'll see where the chips fall. CuriousEric 22:52, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
...And it didn't last very long. Nor did some of my other "excessive" links. – Maky « talk » 08:12, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
Sigh. Perhaps you could add your two cents here to show support. I haven't had time to search the archives yet, but perhaps the discussion should be revived. It appears to be one of those heated ones like "the Beatles" vs. "The Beatles" mid-sentence. CuriousEric 16:06, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
Truthfully, I'd rather stay out of it. Though you guys make good points, discussions over guidelines are almost never fruitful and more akin to walking through a minefield. – Maky « talk » 19:55, 10 December 2014 (UTC)