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Quick question...

Have you seen or tried these snorkel masks? Atsme📞📧 23:26, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Any mask with a large volume is going to be difficult to clear if flooded and it effectively increases the dead space to some extent. As that mask has "a top dry system that prevents water from getting-in while submerged in water", it therefore has one more point of failure. My normal advice is to avoid any gimmicks and stick with the simplest technology for equipment. If you want to use a normal low-volume mask without a snorkel (e.g. for wreck diving on scuba), you just don't attach the snorkel; with masks that have the snorkel built-in, you need to rely on a valve to seal the snorkel when it is removed. That's just my take, of course - perhaps Peter has more advice? --RexxS (talk) 00:04, 12 September 2017 (UTC)
Thanks, RexxS - I agree with you about clearing and gimmicks. I couldn't tell for sure by looking at the images but it appears there is a separate section (what you referred to as a "top dry system"?) which is closed-off from the full mask. I've used full-face communication masks for scuba, and loved being able to communicate with the surface station. I realize the full-face snorkel mask is not for that purpose, but after watching the video I couldn't tell if there was a way to purge if water gets sucked in through the snorkel. My main interest was the go-pro attachment which would be awesome for whale shark encounters and the like. Atsme📞📧 01:32, 12 September 2017 (UTC)
Atsme, RexxS, no, I have not. As far as I know they are not marketed in South Africa, at least in Cape Town, and I have never had a perceived need for one. RexxS lists the obvious drawbacks, and I have never had the opportunity to inspect one close-up to check if the expected problems are real. The video explains nothing, and is obvious clickbait for sales. It would probably work well enough for shallow breathhold diving like whale shark encounters, but the large internal volume would have to be equalised during a dive without getting any water in, and it is not clear how the water is kept out - probably by a float valve, so quite a bit of lung volume would have to go towards equalisation. The mask seems to have a double-barreled snorkel tube, one side would be intake and the other exhaust, to reduce dead space. This would only be really effective with an internal mouthpiece or oro-nasal mask, which seems to be the way they do it. The video will not allow you to stop it to look at details. I would definitely not buy one without at least inspecting a sample and trying it on for fit. A good all-round seal would be even more important than on other types of mask. Depending on air routing, there may also be problems with fogging in cold water. Go-pro make a fairly large range of accessories for mounting, but I don't know of one which is intended for attachment to a mask, and masks are very varied in the details of frame shape, but it should be possible to make a bracket out of one of them which could be epoxied or silicone bonded to a decent low-volume half-mask. I used to just use the elastic go-pro headband, with a safety lanyard, because it would occasionally be knocked off. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 06:14, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

Some baklava for you!

Thanks for allowing me to help on your work page "Gebruiker:Pbsouthwood/Woordelys vir onderwaterduik". We still have to buddy-translate those terms eh? Regards, Gert Aliwal2012 (talk) 17:38, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

You are very welcome Aliwal2012, and saved me a lot of the grunt-work. The real work still lies ahead - to find translations, or when necessary, make them up. I am trying to indicate which words are already used in dictionaries, which means they are legitimate, but doesn't guarantee that the application is appropriate. When the initial formatting is done we can look at how best to format the finished product. I will start a discussion on the talk page for planning, please join the discussion there. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 18:23, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Thanks Peter! Its hard to find such dedicated folks as you. I have an old "Technical Dictionary" (Eng-Afr) by Terblanche. I will scroll thru some diving terms tomorrow. Regards, --Aliwal2012 (talk) 19:28, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
Aliwal2012, I have the 3rd edition on my desk, Is yours more recent? I have been using Pharos online free trial because it is quick and easy and I don't need a magnifying glass to read it. I will resort to small print when Pharos dries up one way or another. Diving is tricky to get decent translations - everyone just seems to use English. However, I want an Afrikaans glossary, so this is a good way to start it. When I get stuck I will consult my contacts, who will probably also get stuck. So it goes.
Some of the English terms look like a familiar word, but this is not always the case. Often the word means something vaguely similar or obscurely different, so I will probably have to elaborate quite a bit on some of the explanations/definitions to make them clearer. If you find you need clarification, just make a note, I need to know what is not clear. Luckily I know what most of the terms mean well enough to explain to almost any level of detail. Some of the terms are also not very relevant to SA divers. I might discard a few of them. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 22:10, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2017).

Administrator changes

added Boing! said ZebedeeAnsh666Ad Orientem
removed TonywaltonAmiDanielSilenceBanyanTreeMagioladitisVanamonde93Mr.Z-manJdavidbJakecRam-ManYelyosKurt Shaped Box

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  • Community consultation on the 2017 candidates for CheckUser and Oversight has concluded. The Arbitration Committee will appoint successful candidates by October 11.
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Underwater diving scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the underwater diving article has been scheduled as today's featured article for 8 October 2017. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 8, 2017. Thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:30, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

Thank you, Peter, for the article on "the human practice of going underwater to interact with the underwater environment for professional or recreational reasons. It is in summary style throughout as it is intended as the top level introduction to the large number of Wikipedia articles on subsidiary topics relating to underwater diving."! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:20, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
You are welcome, Gerda, we each do what we can, and it all adds up slowly. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 12:55, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
I feel understood! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:05, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
This, too, shall pass. You do great work in your field. I occasionally read your articles on Bach's work and it is good to know that someone is doing it, though mostly I just listen to the music. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 18:01, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
Well done, Peter! Just a few hours left on the main page; all of the vandalism has been reverted, and three actual minor improvements made. I'll just note the current version Special:Permalink/804387962 as a "good" version in case you need to revert back to it later. Cheers --RexxS (talk) 18:38, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
Thanks RexxS, I am not used to that level of vandalism. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 19:14, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Solo diving

The article Solo diving you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Solo diving for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Hawkeye7 -- Hawkeye7 (talk) 19:41, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2017).

Administrator changes

added LonghairMegalibrarygirlTonyBallioniVanamonde93
removed Allen3Eluchil404Arthur RubinBencherlite

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  • The Wikipedia community has recently learned that Allen3 (William Allen Peckham) passed away on December 30, 2016, the same day as JohnCD. Allen began editing in 2005 and became an administrator that same year.

Purpose of these tags

Wondering the purpose of these tags?[1] Best Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 19:22, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Doc James, Proactive for when we have to provide short descriptions so they can stop forcing Wikidata stuff onto Wikipedia mobile view. I am getting a feel for how much work and how difficult it will be, so saving the results where they may be used later. At worst they do no harm, at best they will be useful to the readers. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 19:28, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
How about we put them in the disease infoboxes as a non shown parameter? This will be easier to handle latter. We could begin by doing a mass import from WD but hidden. And than once checked they could become unhidden.Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 19:31, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Doc James, That could also work. Most of the articles I have done don't have infoboxes, so it is not a universal solution. I take it you have not been following the dispute at Wikipedia_talk:Wikidata/2017_State_of_affairs?
I am not too sure that mass importing from Wikidata will be worth the effort. So far I have found about 10% useful, 10% useless and 80% previously non-existent. However my sample is small and may not be representative. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 20:07, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Yes I have been followed that some. I am wanting a solution that can be easily handed by bot down the road. Maybe we should create a new currently invisible info box? This info box could than be picked up by mobile and those who wish to see it live could turn on the option under preferences?Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:20, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Doc James, A simpler template may work just as well. It could be called {{short description}}, and by changing the template code later one could change the display to just about anything. It might even avoid the need for a bot later, and would make harvesting by bot for Wikidata quite easy. I am not skilled at fancy templates, but the fancy work could be done later. RexxS is skilled in that sort of thing. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 20:30, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Danny is proposing a magic word. This template would be a place holder for that than.
User:RexxS can you help build such a template? We also want something under preferences were editors can chose to see the short description on desktop. Else it remains invisible. That option will help with QA. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:33, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
I would like to see it displayed on desktop by default eventually - for QA more eyes are better. I think it should display right at the top of everything, maybe even as smaller text in line with the title, or just below it, but that is not urgent. With a template the display can easily be tweaked later. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 20:50, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Often best to introduce new changes like this as opt in for editors with accounts. Than if people like it, default for logged in with the ability to turn off / default for IP readers. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:58, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
Yes, less drama that way. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 21:13, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
@James: Coincidentally, as soon as I saw what Peter was doing, I thought of the mobile short description problem and worked out a template in concept. I've knocked up a simple sandbox template at User:RexxS/Short description – it's really a trivial job. But the class needs to be defined at MediaWiki:Common.css to make it work for desktop and mobile and I need an admin to do that (for some reason). The initial short description can either be added manually (quite a lengthy job) or perhaps imported by bot from Wikidata (and subsequently edited her as required). I could even make the template fetch the description from Wikidata unless a local description was supplied, but that is probably too contentious at present. HTH --RexxS (talk) 21:35, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Put the example live here[2] Does that work for you Pbs? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 22:05, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Pretty much exactly what I had in mind, barring the actual code, which was not a thing I could have done, trivial as it obviously is, and as I expected, and though it is obvious what it does. I shall change all the short descriptions I have done so far and use this template for new ones. Thanks RexxS, Doc James, I suggest some care in importing from Wikidata as there is so little I have found useful. I would recommend doing it in small batches and fixing each batch before going on to the next. If anyone thinks a task force to work on this would be a good idea, consider me in. I intend to do all items on my watchlist for a start, but there should probably be co-ordination with WikiProjects regarding style and content. BLP is one that I am going to be careful with. I don't doubt that it will be contentious at times. That's Wikipedia. I also intend to add all my improved and new descriptions to Wikidata, because I also do a bit of work there, and because I have no fight with Wikidata. It is the WMF action that I take exception to, particularly their resistance to fixing their mess, and their crappy attitude towards project autonomy and mores. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 04:47, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
Busy converting now. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 08:12, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

"Short description" tagging of articles

I'm sorry, I'm not wading through 300,000 bytes of Wikiwanking to see what the justification is for this wart. There's enough mystical propeller-head rubbish on the average Wikipedia page that at least has some function; this has no function yet and just seems to be someone's ego project. I do not want to see more articles cluttered with this and I urge you not to continue adding this template to articles until there's a very good, concise, function for such a template ( which may well be never). --Wtshymanski (talk) 22:05, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Wtshymanski: Nobody cares about what you want to see or don't want to see. Don't edit war against two other editors, and if you can't be bothered to find out why the {{short description}} template is a useful idea, then you should at learn not to poke your nose in things you don't understand. --RexxS (talk) 00:30, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
Can you explain, in less than 300,000 bytes, what the purpose of the tag is meant to be? Nothing I read suggested the idea is useful. --Wtshymanski (talk) 03:43, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
Yes I can. If requested civilly I will be happy to do so. In the interests of cutting down on drama, and because it is inherently a reasonable request, I will do so anyway. Give me a few minutes to find the relevant diffs. The rest of the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Wikidata/2017 State of affairs provides background, which some might consider relevant, even important. I think you will find that even the most concise explanation will not fit in an edit summary, hence my link and request to discuss. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 04:25, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
Wtshymanski, my explanation is below. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 05:46, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
  • In a nutshell: WMF have added code to the Mobile view and Visual editor which pulls short descriptions of Wikipedia articles from Wikidata, which is not displayed on desktop view or the wikicode source editor. Some of these short descriptions are useful as disambiguation for searches, and WMF basically refuse to withdraw the code on the grounds that it is more useful than harmful.
  • This claim is disputed by a number of Wikipedians, who find it unacceptable that potentially libelous or otherwise misleading information is anonymously associated with Wikipedia articles by non-Wikipedians, and that these descriptions are not directly editable from the Wikipedia edit interfaces (they are stored on Wikidata, which has a different community and different rules and policies)
  • There are about 5.5 million English Wikipedia articles. Almost all have an item on Wikidata. About 60% have a short description on Wikidata. An unknown fraction of these have a useful short description. Another unknown fraction have a harmless short description, another unknown fraction have a useless but not seriously harmful or simply incorrect short description, and some have a short description which may be in conflict with Wikipedia's policies, such as conflict of interest or BLP policies, and might attract litigation, which might be directed at Wikipedia as the apparent source of the short descriptions.
  • The short descriptions on Wikidata can only be edited through the Wikidata edit interface, not from Wikipedia, where the editors of the affected articles are often not even aware of their existance, cannot read them, do not know when they have been vandalised or are otherwise inappropriate.
  • WMF, fronted by DannyH (WMF), have proposed a software fix, which though currently poorly defined, is based on hosting a short description on Wikipedia which will be displayed when it exists, and they still want to use Wikidata where there is no Wikipedia short description. There are also alternative proposals, none of which seem to have gained much traction. At this stage the Wikipedia hosted short description is the most plausible and practicable solution, as it gives Wikipedians full control over the displayed description of Wikipedia articles, and can provide the functionality needed by WMF for their applications which are intended to make Wikipedia more accessible to readers, particularly those using mobile devices, which is generally accepted as a desirable function.
  • Until very recently, the timeline for this software was entirely unknown, so I proposed the {{short description}} as a placeholder. The proposal gained some support, the template was created and the experimental work was started putting in short descriptions of articles in WikiProject Scuba diving, which is ongoing.
  • When this software fix proposal is properly defined, the proposal will go to RfC as it must be accepted by the Wikipedia community in general, not just the interested parties involved in the current discussion. One of the fundamental components of the proposal is a short description on probably every Wikipedia article, to prevent Wikidata description from being used, so we will have some 5.5 million short descriptions to add. almost all of which will need the attention of a volunteer editor. The current template is a start on this, and a proof of concept experiment. If/when the functionality is written, and the software debugged enough to run live, the template will be expanded to provide whatever functionality we require on Wikipedia to allow us to maintain it in-house and to our policies and standards. WMF will be able to display it as Wikipedia content, and Wikidata can copy it if it suits their purposes, and use it as they see fit, without a conflict of interests with Wikipedia.
  • There will be a lot of work to provide every article that needs it with a short description, but it will be better to be able to do this in Wikipedia when necessary than to leave it accessible to vandalism through another project over which we have no control, and which does not have the facilities to monitor and fix vandalism as well as can be done on Wikipedia, apart from the possible conflicts with incompatible standards.
  • This is a brief summary, and is not necessarily accurate in all details, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of all involved parties. You are referred to the complete discussion at Wikipedia talk:Wikidata/2017 State of affairs for the full catastrophe.
  • You are welcome to comment here, but if you have anything useful or constructive to add to the dialogue, I suggest you join the actual discussion, where your views can be appreciated by the other interested parties.
  • I will add an edited version of this explanation to the talk page of the template for others who need the reasoning behind it and are not inclined to read the whole history. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 05:35, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

A Dobos torte for you!

7&6=thirteen () has given you a Dobos torte to enjoy! Seven layers of fun because you deserve it.


To give a Dobos torte and spread the WikiLove, just place {{subst:Dobos Torte}} on someone else's talkpage, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.

7&6=thirteen () 18:42, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Looks good! · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 19:11, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Diver communications

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Diver communications 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 Harrias -- Harrias (talk) 11:40, 21 November 2017 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Diver communications

The article Diver communications you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Diver communications for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Harrias -- Harrias (talk) 12:20, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

ArbCom 2017 election voter message

Hello, Pbsouthwood. Voting in the 2017 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2017 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

Hi Peter. Roughly speaking, your vote there needs to be reformatted; it currently has the appearance of 4 or 5 votes instead of just one. I think people could figure out what's going on if they read the whole thing, but not everyone reads what everyone else has to say. - Dank (push to talk) 14:10, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Hi Dank, The header gave the impression that it was not a vote yet, but a discussion. I will amend to make my point clearer and show that is is basically one point. Cheers · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 14:27, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
Dank, Your discussion/choice/!vote refers to other pages by links. I think it is even less likely that people will bother to go there and search through to read your reasoning. Perhaps you could briefly explain what issues Option 5 does not deal with for those people. I actually did search both those linked pages and I am still not sure what problems you foresee with option 5. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 14:58, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
I'll make a comment there. There's a limit on how much time I can invest in this, but I'll be happy to answer questions for anyone who has questions. - Dank (push to talk) 15:26, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
No worries, but I think people may miss a valid point if you don't explain it. If I didn't think you have one I would not have bothered to ask. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 15:44, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
I said a lot of different things, I'm not sure which part you're asking about. - Dank (push to talk) 16:01, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
Nor am I, that's the problem. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 17:33, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Many thanks

Many thanks for guiding me to Wikipedia:WikiProject assessment at Wikipedia: Village pump (proposals). I do not recall seeing this guide on Wikipedia before - it is good to know that, in all my years of editing Wikipedia, I am still learning!Vorbee (talk) 16:39, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

You are welcome. It is amazing how much goes on that most people miss. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 17:37, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2017).

Administrator changes

added Joe Roe
readded JzG
removed EricorbitPercevalThinggTristanbVioletriga

Guideline and policy news

  • Following a request for comment, a new section has been added to the username policy which disallows usernames containing emoji, emoticons or otherwise "decorative" usernames, and usernames that use any non-language symbols. Administrators should discuss issues related to these types of usernames before blocking.

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Miscellaneous

  • Over the last few months, several users have reported backlogs that require administrator attention at WP:ANI, with the most common backlogs showing up on WP:SPI, WP:AIV and WP:RFPP. It is requested that all administrators take some time during this month to help clear backlogs wherever possible. It should be noted that AIV reports are not always valid; however, they still need to be cleared, which may include needing to remind users on what qualifies as vandalism.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation Community health initiative is conducting a survey for English Wikipedia contributors on their experience and satisfaction level with Administrator’s Noticeboard/Incidents. This survey will be integral to gathering information about how this noticeboard works (i.e. which problems it deals with well and which problems it struggles with). If you would like to take this survey, please sign up on this page, and a link for the survey will be emailed to you via Special:EmailUser.

Merry Christmas!

Hello, Pbsouthwood! Thank you for your work to maintain and improve Wikipedia! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 19:01, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Spread the WikiLove and leave other users this message by adding {{subst:Multi-language Season's Greetings}}
Thanks, Ozzie. I am not a Christmas person, but I appreciate the goodwill, and wish you well too. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 19:46, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Yes...another year went WHOOOOSH!!!

Christmas tree worm, (Spirobranchus gigantic)

Atsme📞📧 13:00, 17 December 2017 (UTC)
Time To Spread A Little
Happy Holiday Cheer!!
I decorated a special kind of Christmas tree
in the spirit of the season.

What's especially nice about
this digitized version:
*it doesn't need water
*won't catch fire
*and batteries aren't required.
Enjoy the Holidays

and have a prosperous New Year!!

🍸🎁 🎉
Thanks, Atsme, each year seems to go a little faster. My best wishes to you too. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 05:36, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

HNY

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for 2018, —PaleoNeonate01:37, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
Thanks PaleoNeonate, and my best regards to you too. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 05:38, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2017).

Administrator changes

added Muboshgu
readded AnetodeLaser brainWorm That Turned
removed None

Bureaucrat changes

readded Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

  • A request for comment is in progress to determine whether the administrator policy should be amended to require disclosure of paid editing activity at WP:RFA and to prohibit the use of administrative tools as part of paid editing activity, with certain exceptions.

Technical news

Arbitration


Your GA nomination of Scuba diving

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Scuba diving 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 Mike Christie -- Mike Christie (talk) 15:40, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

Peter, I'm guessing you're planning to take this to FAC, so would you like me to review it as if it were at FAC? That is, should I try to find everything in it that I would comment on in a FAC review? The main extra comments are likely to be about the prose; in theory the sources need to be more consistent too but I'm not the world's best source reviewer. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 15:44, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
Mike, Anything that improves the article is good, and FA is the final target. Thanks for taking this up. I would prefer if GA is not unduly delayed by FA level problems, but go ahead and do it as you suggest. Also feel free to make uncontroversial improvements yourself like for FA if it is easier than explaining the problem. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 17:21, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
OK, I'll comment at a FAC level, but will promote when it gets to GA level. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 17:26, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
Perfect. Thanks · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 17:28, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

Afrikaans translation question

Hi Pbsouthwood. I have a translation question for you. What do the last two words mean here? I feel like it might be rude so apologies for that. From the context, it's obvious that it means something like "very end". Gtranslate gives me "hole side" which isn't very helpful.

I wanted it to be about four wars, ... because I'd known men from four imperial wars, you know – the Anglo-Zulu War, the Anglo-Boer War, World War 1, World War 2 – which I was in at the, at the gat kant.

Thanks for anything you can do. --John (talk) 14:49, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

John, Hole side would be accurate word for word, but misses the nuance. Colloquial translation would be "arse end", which expresses the feeling with some precision. Cheers · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 14:58, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
Thanks a lot, Pbsouthwood. I had a feeling you would be a good person to ask. I've glossed the quote at Way Up, Way Out. It's a very interesting read by the way; you might enjoy it. --John (talk) 21:08, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
That looks like Strachan's style all right. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 11:05, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
I love it, but it wouldn't be for everybody. What about astrant? He has often described himself as such. Do you prefer audacious; bold; brazen; cheeky; confident; cool; daring; devil‐may‐care; forward; fresh; overconfident; perky; pert; precocious; presumptuous; or something else? I've used "irreverent" which seems right for the context. --John (talk) 22:22, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
Irreverent seems right for Harold Strachan. I am not sure which context you refer to, but his articles in Noseweek are the very essence of irreverence. Of course that is my opinion, it is not necessarily what he meant when he used the word. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 06:33, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

diving watch bezel

Would using the {{see also|}} template {{see|}} at the top of the article satisfy you, as the "also" would indicate that the linked article is only tangentially linked to the section. Having a tacked on see such and such article, in the article should be avoided, if it is really pertinant to the article prose should be written around it to integrate it into the article, and if this can't be done it belongs in the see also sections. After reading your edit summary my first reaction is that the instruction to (see tachymeter) really doesn't belong there and should be removed, however I don't want to be seen as doing something pointy so I'm running this pass you first.--KTo288 (talk) 17:33, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

KTo288, I don't see any obvious reason to link to tachymeter at all for an article on diving watches, since as far as I know they are not used on any watch specifically designed for diving. I would have no objection to the link being removed entirely, unless someone can show evidence indicating why it should be kept. I will also admit that I make no claim to being an expert on diving watches, and currently don't use one myself. I prefer a dive computer, which is far more useful for my purposes. Cheers, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 18:17, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Hey, just a message that I've brought the Nodar Kumaritashvili article back to FAC: here. As you commented last time I was wondering if you'd like to take another look. Thanks. Kaiser matias (talk) 08:58, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2018).

Administrator changes

added None
removed BlurpeaceDana boomerDeltabeignetDenelson83GrandioseSalvidrim!Ymblanter

Guideline and policy news

  • An RfC has closed with a consensus that candidates at WP:RFA must disclose whether they have ever edited for pay and that administrators may never use administrative tools as part of any paid editing activity, except when they are acting as a Wikipedian-in-Residence or when the payment is made by the Wikimedia Foundation or an affiliate of the WMF.
  • Editors responding to threats of harm can now contact the Wikimedia Foundation's emergency address by using Special:EmailUser/Emergency. If you don't have email enabled on Wikipedia, directly contacting the emergency address using your own email client remains an option.

Technical news

  • A tag will now be automatically applied to edits that blank a page, turn a page into a redirect, remove/replace almost all content in a page, undo an edit, or rollback an edit. These edits were previously denoted solely by automatic edit summaries.

Arbitration


Your GA nomination of Scuba diving

The article Scuba diving you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Scuba diving 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 Mike Christie -- Mike Christie (talk) 10:02, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Mike, · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 12:13, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

Note

At Wikipedia talk:Wikidata/2018 State of affairs, I was quoting a statement made by Danny in the earlier-discussion.By we, Danny meant the WMF folks.~ Winged BladesGodric 04:17, 12 February 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Winged Blades of Godric, Perhaps I was being a little pointy. I often wonder whether DannyH (WMF) has the authority they appear to assume. (and here I use "they" as a genderless singular without prejudice). · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 05:30, 12 February 2018 (UTC)
No qualms:) And, their authority is one of the longest-standing tussle between the community and WMF.The same pseudo-super-vote/veto happened for years w.r.t to ACTRIAL/NPP, from WMF's side before Danny backed down last-year, after realizing that the community was hell-bent on moving with ACTRIAL, without any of their help.~ Winged BladesGodric 05:41, 12 February 2018 (UTC)
DannyH Does not seem to understand the workings of the Wikipedia community well enough to be a competent negotiator for WMF. I see the opening of the mouth to change feet. Sooner or later there will be the shooting of oneself in the foot, which is particularly deprecated when the foot is in the mouth... · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 06:52, 12 February 2018 (UTC)