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Robert Rabiah- Paid editors and sock puppets

It is very clear that there are some paid editors active on Robert Rabiah page. There are also some editors who came back only to edit this page User:Ultraexactzz, User:Aelderif and User:WillPeppers which indicates paid editing and socket puppet investigation. I do not know how to open a socket puppet investigation, Can you please check it? I am sure of a big paid editing farm connected to them, as two accounts are fairly old and used occasionally for a specific purpose and a period of time. Pinging User:Jytdog, User:Bbb23 157.37.135.229 (talk) 07:17, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Aelderif could perhaps be a paid editor. Ultraexactzz is a site admin who's been here for years and whose only interaction with the article related to its deletion discussion, and WillPeppers also appears to have stumbled over it while looking at AFDs. I see nothing to merit a sockpuppet investigation between these three accounts, though I will take a closer look at Aelderif. For information about opening an investigation, have a look at User:Yunshui/SPI for beginners. Yunshui  07:54, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
On review, I don't see any similarities between the edits by Aelderif and those by the previous sockfarm; Aelderif's edits actually made the page more neutral. Although their activity is somewhat suspect and they seem to know more about Wikipedia processes than would a completely new editor, I don't see anything that would obviously tie them to the previous accounts. Yunshui  08:03, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
Hey all! I'm not a paid editor and would love to contribute to the page in any way I can. Myself and a few other editors have thoroughly cleansed the article of the rampant promotional material that used to be there, which is my justification to removing the 'Undisclosed payments tag'. While there may have been paid editor traffic on the page, I don't think that their contributions either exist or need cleaning anymore. Let me know if you have any questions at all! WillPeppers (talk) 12:38, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for defending my honour, Yunshui. As you said, my only involvement on this article was procedural - but if y'all need eyes on this article, or whatever else, feel free to ping me. Best, UltraExactZZ Said ~ Did 15:17, 5 December 2018 (UTC)

One page not deleted

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/1980–81 United States network television schedule (Saturday morning) inadvertently missed 2002–03 United States network television schedule (Saturday morning) (seemingly due to a typo), but it's crystal clear consensus is to delete. Modernponderer (talk) 16:44, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

Whoops. Fixed that, thank! Yunshui  17:45, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

Michael Brunström

Please justify the decision to delete Michael Brunström's article. This link shows he won a prestigious award for creativity at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015 http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/award This link shows that I am not Michael https://mobile.twitter.com/regularuk/status/1068091437542252544 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Regularuk (talkcontribs) 12:56, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

The article lacked any pertinent sourcing, did not demonstrate notability, and was written in a promotional manner (examples of such promotional content include the attempted association with the genuinely notable Nina Conti and Richard Herring, despite that fact that there is no evidence either of them has ever even heard of Brunström; the emphasis on a non-notable award (you'll note that many other Malcolm Hardee recipients do not have articles, indicating that the award itself is not an arbiter of notability) and the use of a throwaway comment in an article on a completely different roster of comedians to suggest that he is "one of the best acts in comedy"). I do not care whether you are Mr Brunström himself, his agent, or simply a fan; it is very clear that you are not able to write a neutral article about him that meets Wikiepdia's requirements, and I would ask that you refrain from doing so in the future. Yunshui  13:06, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Creativity is more valuable than popularity, and if Wikipedia's requirements don't reflect that it's a shame.

As far as Wikipedia is concerned, notability is more important than either. Yunshui  13:12, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Bothiman

Hi Yunshui, you were the last CU to look at Bothiman. Though I guess the Bothiman data has gone stale, so there wasn't enough info to link him to Solomonyuu, the last suspected sock, I suspect Hjkl12345 to be a sock of the last suspected sock. I blocked Solomonyuu for copyright vios, promotion of Indian Tamil actor Vijay, and for suspected sockpuppetry. What's the best way to proceed here? Should I create a new SPI for Solomonyuu so we can check this new account against his info? Short story, the guy tends to disappear for a while, then make a big impression adding puffery to Vijay's articles. Here he restored a list of non-notable awards that I'd removed in mid-November. A new user would not typically know that content had been removed, unless they were personally involved in its upkeep. Anyway, your guidance is appreciated. Thanks and regards, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 15:41, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Don't really remember this case, but I'll have a look... Yunshui  15:51, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
Well, that was easy - there was still data from previous socks in the CU system, so it was simple enough to find a clear technical connection between Solomonyuu and Hjkl12345. Blocked Hjkl12345 as a confirmed sock and updated the SPI. Yunshui  15:55, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Deletion of article "Jonny Ferrari"

Hello Yunshui,

Please allow me permissions to access and edit a version of this article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Superstar_P1/Jonny_Ferrari .It was just deleted and I must make revisions and add references before posting it (perhaps through articles of creation process for more input). Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Superstar P1 (talkcontribs) 13:08, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

The last time it was deleted you requested exactly the same thing, then moved it back to mainspace with only the most minor changes. What do you plan to do differently this time? How will you address the issues raised at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jonny Ferrari? Yunshui  13:11, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
I've added many reference and citation changes which I was hoping would be reviewed as the basis of satisfying the notability guidelines, so that the page can be further improved by the community once up. Since it has been deleted now again, I question whether my new references were taken into account regarding that decision, and I must consider adding all possible references about the subject of the article, and then submit to articles for creation for a proper editing and "weeding out" of links deemed unsuitable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Superstar P1 (talkcontribs) 13:21, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
Very well; as long as you can promise that you will submit the article via AFC rather than unilaterally moving it yourself, I think that's reasonable. I've restored it at Draft:Jonny Ferrari. Yunshui  14:15, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Jonny_Ferrari has now been deleted. Is there a way to ensure other users cannot delete this page while it is being drafted? I do have more to add right away. Thank you for the assistance, and I will submit for review once I've compiled all relevant references. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Superstar P1 (talkcontribs) 15:26, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

I wouldn't normally undo another administrator's deletion, but I think in this case it's my fault for forgetting to remove the deletion tag after I restored the article - RHaworth wasn't to know this discussion was taking place. I've restored the draft and removed the CSD tag. Yunshui  15:49, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
Thank you. Superstar P1 (talk) 15:59, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

An urgent message about an IP from Portugal named User:93.108.241.222

Hi Yunshui, this is an urgent message in regards of another IP from Portugal goes by the name of User:93.108.241.222. I know you already block User:83.240.186.98 for two weeks for adding too much details, adding counties and overlinking. But the IP from Portugal has made a lock evasion for User:93.108.241.222. Could you block longer for User:93.108.241.222. It's the same IP related to User:83.240.186.98. Now I will revert User:93.108.241.222's edits to make a clean article. Could you block User:93.108.241.222 for even longer in related to same IP from Portugal User:83.240.186.98 has added the same too much detail. For a blocking request, please block User:93.108.241.222 for one month. I will be happy to assist you. Reply me back if you block User:93.108.241.222 for one month. Thanks for your consideration. 2001:569:7C07:2600:854F:7885:DACC:B5EE (talk) 00:29, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

What is with that guy? Seems like a really strange hill to choose to die on... anyway, I've blocked the new IP but his modus operandi seems to involve switching IPs fairly regularly, so page protection on the affected articles is probably a more sensible solution. Yunshui  08:23, 12 December 2018 (UTC)
I've also raised this at the BLP noticeboard, since this chap doesn't look as though he's going to give up any time soon... Yunshui  08:40, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

Drowningseagull

Literally just minutes ago, someone, clearly a drowningseagull alt, posted this on my talk page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Bomberswarm2#Now_THIS_is_EPIC After what just happened, I figure I should tell you before another administrator sees it and decides to baselessly ban me again because it is an 'admission'. Bomberswarm2 (talk) 11:29, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Blocked, clearly not you. Yunshui  11:34, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
Huh, turns out Drowningseagull is probably the globally-banned User:Loosmark... that's going to stymie any attempts to get unblocked... Yunshui  11:38, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
Just noticed that the account you blocked was not actually the account from which this all started; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Drowningseagall Bomberswarm2 (talk) 12:23, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
Seagull is the older account (now globally locked); I obviously missed Seagall when I was tagging, but they are a confirmed match. Looks from that SPI as though you've also drawn the attention of Knightrisers10 and his various socks (who are not related to Drowningseagull/Loosmark but are still something of a nuisance). Yunshui  14:24, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

United States network television schedule (Saturday morning) Deletions

I've never edited a Wiki article, and the ins and outs of Wikipedia are a mystery to me, but I used these pages fairly often for quick research and was pretty distressed to see them go. What was the rationale behind their deletion, and is there anywhere where the pages are archived by any chance? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ianissimo (talkcontribs) 14:25, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

The deletions were the result of the closure of Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/1980–81 United States network television schedule (Saturday morning), which was a pretty clear "delete" decision. The deleted pages aren't archived on Wikipedia (well, technically they are, but the content is only accessible to administrators) but other (non-Wikimedia) sites like Deletionpedia make a habit of copying over any articles nominated for deletion on Wikipedia, so you may well find the content has been preserved elsewhere. Yunshui  20:48, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

Sock block

Hi Yunshui, thanks for your block of Tedted17 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). Looks like Tedted170 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is a sock, maybe you can take a look? Thanks. --IamNotU (talk) 14:21, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

That is indeed what it looks like. Can't see any others on that IP range, but I'll watchlist his preferred target for a bit just in case. Thanks! Yunshui  14:26, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

Removal of unsuitable content

You recently removed some unacceptable content from a talk page where I had posted about it. I should have removed it myself, but thanks for cleaning it up. An editor suggested that you remove some more, but I have removed what I am sure must be the content he had in mind, so you probably don't need to do anything about it. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:00, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

Thanks JBW, appreciate it. Yunshui  12:01, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Hi Yunshui, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas
and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year,
Thanks for all your help and thanks for all your contributions to the 'pedia,

   –Davey2010 Merry Christmas / Happy New Year 14:55, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 December 2018

  Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2019!

Hello Yunshui, may you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you a heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New Year 2019.
Happy editing,

7&6=thirteen () 13:55, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Merry Christmas!

 
Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2019!

Hope you enjoy the Christmas eve with the ones you love and step into the new year with lots of happiness and good health. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! GSS (talk

  Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2019!

Hello Yunshui, may you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New Year 2019.
Happy editing,

Just Chilling (talk) 21:04, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Safe network

Why did you delete the page SAFE Network. It seems you had absolutely no reason for doing so and did so without any discussion.

Deletion criteria for deleting things are completely out of whack these days. I've lately for example seen many alexa top 10 000 websites have their articles deleted for not having enough news articles written about them. That's another discussion though and I don't have time to fight it,it just annoys me. Fuelbottle (talk) 10:16, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

As per the (long-established) speedy deletion criteria G5, pages created in violation of a block or ban, where there are no substantive edits by editors other than the page creator, can and should be deleted without discussion. This was the case here, as indicated in the deletion log for the page. Yunshui  22:33, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

Deletion review for SAFE Network

An editor has asked for a deletion review of SAFE Network. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. Fuelbottle (talk) 23:53, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year}} to user talk pages.


Administrators' newsletter – January 2019

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

  Guideline and policy news

  1. G14 (new): Disambiguation pages that disambiguate only zero or one existing pages are now covered under the new G14 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-disambig}}; the text is unchanged and candidates may be found in Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as unnecessary disambiguation pages.
  2. R4 (new): Redirects in the file namespace (and no file links) that have the same name as a file or redirect at Commons are now covered under the new R4 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-redircom}}; the text is unchanged.
  3. G13 (expanded): Userspace drafts containing only the default Article Wizard text are now covered under G13 along with other drafts (discussion). Such blank drafts are now eligible after six months rather than one year, and taggers continue to use {{db-blankdraft}}.

  Technical news

  • Starting on December 13, the Wikimedia Foundation security team implemented new password policy and requirements. Privileged accounts (administrators, bureaucrats, checkusers, oversighters, interface administrators, bots, edit filter managers/helpers, template editors, et al.) must have a password at least 10 characters in length. All accounts must have a password:
  1. At least 8 characters in length
  2. Not in the 100,000 most popular passwords (defined by the Password Blacklist library)
  3. Different from their username
User accounts not meeting these requirements will be prompted to update their password accordingly. More information is available on MediaWiki.org.
  • Blocked administrators may now block the administrator that blocked them. This was done to mitigate the possibility that a compromised administrator account would block all other active administrators, complementing the removal of the ability to unblock oneself outside of self-imposed blocks. A request for comment is currently in progress to determine whether the blocking policy should be updated regarding this change.
  • {{Copyvio-revdel}} now has a link to open the history with the RevDel checkboxes already filled in.

  Arbitration

  Miscellaneous

  • Accounts continue to be compromised on a regular basis. Evidence shows this is entirely due to the accounts having the same password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately.
  • Around 22% of admins have enabled two-factor authentication, up from 20% in June 2018. If you haven't already enabled it, please consider doing so. Regardless of whether you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.

New to Wikipedia page creation - was told to message you

Hi Yunshui,


I was told to message you about my first page creation, I read that someone already made a page but it got moved or deleted by you. It said to message you if I was using the same, or if I was unsure about the content being the same. It will be for this online marketing software I use called rankingCoach, and was wondering if you can answer a couple questions since this is a relatively new hobby of mine.


1. When it says if it will have similar content, would that mean the wording or the content itself? (wouldn't facts be the same)

2. I have a book that the company is in, but it is in Italian... Is this okay to use as a reference? (I want to write an article in English)


I will start writing it now and hopefully finish today, I think I have a fair understanding of the guidelines.

Up until now, I have only edited pages so if you have any insight/tips on writing pages please let me know, I am very eager to learn. :)

Best, SlurmM (talk) 09:48, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

The page at Draft:RankingCoach was deleted because it was written in a way that seemed intended to advertise the company (it didn't help that it was written by an employee). If your new version is written in a neutral tone, it should be fine. Italian sources are fine as long as they meet the usual requirements for reliability. For a bit more on how to write a new article, try WP:YFA or even my own take on the subject... Yunshui  10:11, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

Yunshui,

Okay, that is very helpful! Thank you for the insight on the matter, as well as the timely response!

SlurmM (talk) 13:10, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

Request for a Reality TV Personality/Model's Bio to be Changed

Once upon a time a world famous modeling family mainly of Armenian heritage debuted on E! Television several eons ago. Their names are the KarJenners one half compromising of the K's and other of consisting of J's.

The most famous of the K's Kimberley Noel had been famous since then. But there is one flaw after the professions she has: The sentence following them has her last name used in a redundant manner specifically when she became famous. So repetitive and tedious.

Luckily the elder of the J sisters Kendall has her page now unlocked after three years of being held hostage. But a change for last name isn't necessary. So a change would be great for the subject mentioned.

Night,

67.81.163.178 (talk) 22:46, 7 January 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.81.163.178 (talk)

I have no idea what you are on about; if you have a specific change that you would like made, please either make it yourself or, if you are unable to do so, propose it on the relevant article's talkpage - ideally in a more coherent manner. Yunshui  08:18, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

CU

Does a check of Nocturnal911 reveal anything? See these two threads. Probably, an effort in vain but ......... WBGconverse 08:25, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

I've encountered that paid editing farm in the past, I think - from memory alone, I seem to recall they made a habit of claiming the work of others as their own (resulting in some unjust blocks of innocent editors), but I'd have to do a bit or trawling to check. In any case, there's enough to warrant a CU here, I reckon; I'll let you know if anything obvious results. Yunshui  08:29, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Well, waddaya know... not a lot to connect to, but Nocturnal911 certainly looks remarkably like Deepak k Banerjee... blocked as a CU-confirmed sock. Yunshui  08:38, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Thanks a lot :-) WBGconverse 17:36, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

2019

 


Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht

Happy 2019

a time for thanks and praise

begin it with music and memories

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:26, 2 January 2019 (UTC)

Please check out "Happy" once more, for a smile, and sharing (a Nobel Peace Prize), and resolutions. I wanted that for 1 January, but then wasn't sad about having our music pictured instead. Not too late for resolutions, New Year or not. DYK that he probably kept me on Wikipedia, back in 2012? By the line (which brought him to my attention, and earned the first precious in br'erly style) that I added to my editnotice, in fond memory? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:00, 12 January 2019 (UTC)

Notice of noticeboard discussion

  There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. The specific link is Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Unban_request_for_Thepoliticsexpert. Yamla (talk) 22:44, 13 January 2019 (UTC)

You've got mail!

 
Hello, Yunshui. Please check your email; you've got mail!
Message added 00:59, 14 January 2019 (UTC). It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

TheSandDoctor Talk 00:59, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

But I hope check their use IP's.--MCC214#aut viam inveniam aut faciam 08:46, 15 January 2019 (UTC)

The IPs have been checked, that's why they're already blocked. Yunshui  09:14, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
Also,the IPs have been blocked?--MCC214#aut viam inveniam aut faciam 09:26, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
The majority, yes; that's standard procedure when implementing a checkuser block. Yunshui  09:41, 15 January 2019 (UTC)

Notice

  There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The thread is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard#Contentious_Deletion_Discussions_of_EverlyWell_and_Draft:EverlyWell_and_User:Mohamed_Ouda. Robert McClenon (talk) 06:49, 19 January 2019 (UTC)

Hello! Which template do you use to ask users to clarify their understanding of copyright, such as you did at User_talk:HasanK#January_2019? It's really useful and I'd like to use it myself. --Yamla (talk) 23:15, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

@Yamla: That's User:Yunshui/decline copyvio - feel free to use or steal and adapt to your own needs. Yunshui  11:08, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
Excellent! Thanks. --Yamla (talk) 11:22, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

You've got mail

 
Hello, Yunshui. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

--SR4 01:51, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

Michael Brunström

With regards to this bio and this discussion: User talk:Yunshui/Archive 59#Michael Brunström. I tried adding Template:Db-g4 but have twice had it removed (and been given a telling off), should I be adding something else? An AfD seems excessive for the re-creation of a near identical bio. See also: Talk:Michael Brunström#Contested deletion for what's 'different' about the new bio. --The Vintage Feminist (talk) 17:42, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

@The Vintage Feminist: I'm pleased to see the implied association with Conti and Herring has been removed (although not the statement about training with Campbell, which is not what the source says), but given that the Icetopia claim is yet another example of aggrandisement by association (Brunström is only mentioned, in passing, as having a part the show in one source, and isn't mentioned at all in the source about it winning a prize - another example of User:Regularuk using careful selection of content to make the subject look more impressive than the sources actually imply) I'm sorely tempted to re-delete it under G11 again. However, since Regularuk seems intent on recreating it regardless (apparently "Creativity is more valuable than popularity" and notability), AFD might be a more suitable approach. G4 only applies if an AFD (or similar) discussion has taken place; it can't be used in instances of speedy deletion like this - stands to reason, really, as if the content is similar it can be speedied under whatever criterion previously applied. AFD will either get the article firmly deleted with community backing or re-edited to fix the issues with it; either one is a win for Wikipedia. I'm heading offline now, but if you want to go ahead and post an ADF I will gladly comment on it next time I'm around. Yunshui  23:19, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Request on block issue

Dear Yunshui,

Hi, I am one of users to Wikipedia, using 'Yonsol' as my id. I work for Netmarble, a mobile game company based in South Korea. Recently, my coworkers (Wikipedia ids: FantasticArc, Jenkim0918) edited the Netmarble page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netmarble_Games. However, it seems like you blocked all of us and revert our edits. Is there any way to solve this issue? Most of our company info in the page are wrong and outdated, for example, the company changed name from Netmarble Games to Netmarble. We'd like to update our company info based on verifiable data. I know that you blocked our ids due to sharing IP issues. I'd appreciate if you let me know possible ways to solve this issue and update our page.

211.104.82.11 (talk) 06:54, 28 January 2019 (UTC) Thank you

I blocked your accounts for a variety of reasons, including abuse of multiple accounts, violations of Wikipedia's Terms of Use, and blatant advertising. Instructions on how to appeal have been left on the talkpages of your various accounts. Posting here constitutes block evasion, and makes it even less likely that you will be unblocked. Yunshui  09:24, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

Something strange at Real McCoy (band)

Hi Yunshui. A belated Happy 2019 to you! Would you mind taking a look at Real McCoy (band) because I think there might be some sock/meat puppetry going on? Hansgruber1967 has been uploading some questionable image files to Wikipedia and Commons, and they've been tagged with for OTRS verification or as copyvios; Dancemusicfan then edits the band's article to add the images or removing an image warning tags, etc. It seems to be more than just coincidental editing, but it might not be a policy/guideline violation per se. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:20, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

Both are CU-confirmed sockpuppets of Eurodanceguy, along with Rhythmaniac. All blocked and tagged; good spot. Yunshui  09:32, 28 January 2019 (UTC)
I didn't consider that there might be more accounts, only that the two mentioned above seemed to be connected. -- Marchjuly (talk) 12:55, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2019

Users Dopefornerds and Technofreeq1

Hi Yunshui. I'm not sure the reason for this edit by Dopefornerds unless he/she unintentionally messed up and revealed the account is connected in some way to Technofreeq1. The a random IP shows up and removes the post. It seems too unusual to just be a random coincidence. -- Marchjuly (talk) 08:17, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

There are quite a few users on their IP ranges, but Technofreeq1 and Dopefornerds are using the same device across multiple IPs; pretty clear they (and Anshjain2cool) are the same user. All blocked and tagged accordingly. Yunshui  08:25, 31 January 2019 (UTC)
Thanks for checking on these. The contributions of Dopefornerds on both Wikipdedia and Commons have an undisclosed paid editing feel to them, but I wouldn't have know about the other accounts if that unblocked request wasn't mistakenly added to their user talk. Looking at Technofreeq1's contributions also give the impression of the same kind of undisclosed paid editing. -- Marchjuly (talk) 11:15, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

Sockpuppet of Craft37by

It appears that Craft37by (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has created a new account and is thus block evading. Vicien (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is adding the very same information as the blocked user. Pages that are affected – Grand Duchy of Lithuania and History of Belarus – were edited by the blocked user in the past with the same information being re-added now. – Sabbatino (talk) 06:06, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

@Sabbatino: There's enough similarity in the CU data and area of interest for me to think them worth blocking as a sock, though the CU link is only   Possilikely (a mix between possible and likely) owing to the age of the other sock accounts. Yunshui  08:06, 31 January 2019 (UTC)
Thanks for reacting quickly. I thought he would not come back, but looks like I was wrong. At first I did not really suspect him, but when he re-added the content after the reversion, I decided to take a quick look at his area of interest and it became evident that both accounts are most likely the same person. Even the nickname implies that the same person is editing since his username is a direct translation of Vytenis's name. – Sabbatino (talk) 13:37, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2019).

 

  Administrator changes

  EnterpriseyJJMC89
  BorgQueen
  Harro5Jenks24GraftR. Baley

  Interface administrator changes

 Enterprisey

  Guideline and policy news

  • A request for comment is currently open to reevaluate the activity requirements for administrators.
  • Administrators who are blocked have the technical ability to block the administrator who blocked their own account. A recent request for comment has amended the blocking policy to clarify that this ability should only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as account compromises, where there is a clear and immediate need.
  • A request for comment closed with a consensus in favor of deprecating The Sun as a permissible reference, and creating an edit filter to warn users who attempt to cite it.

  Technical news

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re AN

Hey Yunshui. You're one of our best admins, and you're definitely trusted/entitled to make judgment calls like this, and if you're confident that you're doing what's best for the project, I will ultimately respect and defer to that every time. My feedback was meant in good faith, and I was not trying to give you a hard time. Blocked or unblocked, this isn't that big of a deal. I know I was sort of acting like I was making it a big deal, but that was more of a counter to the OP itself. I was trying to make the point that contrary to the complaint being made, the user deserved the block and that I would not have unblocked. I really have nothing but respect for you, and I really was just trying to offer my neutral assessment of the situation. I'm not trying to criticize you personally or make you feel bad. I don't know why you're being so self-deprecating at AN/I. I don't think anyone thinks you're "trigger happy" or "wishy washy", and I'm not sure why a Wikipedia god like yourself would even say those things. I hope all is well and you know that you're appreciated around here.  ~~Swarm~~  03:24, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

Hey Swarm, thanks for the note (and the vote of confidence; "Wikipedia god"? That's going on my CV...). No offence was taken; I don't mind justifying why I've taken a particular action (I just prefer to do so here rather than on AN) and I now see the intent behind your comment, which I totally misread at the time. Moral of the story is: Yunshui should avoid editing late at night when he's tired and cranky (although who am I kidding; I have children, I'm always tired and cranky...). Yunshui  08:49, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

re Genietown

Hi Yunshui,

Thank you for alerting me about the note. I completely forgot about Genietown - at the time it was a promising start-up in an interesting market - so when it was proposed for deletion because "not notable", I immediately agreed; and btw - I did not get paid for any entry. And regarding the Marc Lesser discussion- there was never a bad intent - there were mistakes and I tried to fix them (quotes too long, not enough relevant references etc.) a suggestion "move this to a sandbox and alert someone more knowledgeable to review if it is ready for posting before putting it out" would have avoided many exchanges, deletions etc. Marc's work is notable - we should get someone external to objectively evaluate this - and if you can suggest the appropriate way to resolve this without further discussions and deletions, I will be happy to support the Wikipedia effort. Please advise. Thank you for your support. Florian Brody (talk) 02:55, 3 February 2019 (UTC)

@Fbrody: You were GenieTown's Director of Marketing when you created the article; last I checked, that's usually a paid role. Even if you were engineering the "Strategy and Execution of the go-to-market plan" for them out of the kindness of your heart, it's still a conflict of interest that should have been declared. You seem to have a penchant for undeclared COI, looking at your created articles, and if it wasn't for the furore at AN on Friday (which leads me to consider myself involved) I would be blocking your account right now. Yunshui  08:52, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

Users Ovedc and ויקימנטור

Hi again Yunshui. I came across these two editors while checking on some non-free image use. I'm not sure why ויקימנטור would be basically copying-and pasting content from User:Ovedc/sandbox to create the new article Amnon Pazy. ויקימנטור has stated on their user page that they were paid by Pazy's family to create the article, but doesn't mention any connection to Ovedc. As far as I can tell, neither Ovedc nor ויקימנטור submitted the draft for review and ויקימנטור never edited the sandbox draft; so, it's not clear how ויקימנטור would know about the draft without there being some connection between the two accounts. -- Marchjuly (talk) 13:25, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

CU matches them up. Both blocked, thanks for the heads-up. Yunshui  13:29, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
I think my question about the connection between the accounts was answered at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Israel‎#Amnon Pazy by Icewhiz. It appears that the editor(s) might be mainly active on Hebrew Wikipedia and were working on a English translation of a Hebrew Wikipedia article. -- Marchjuly (talk) 13:45, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
Icewhiz emailed me about this a few minutes ago. As I said in my reply; there was no disclosure from User:Ovec, which is in itself a valid reason for blocking, and they ought to have disclosed their relationship per WP:COWORKER. Going on record here to say that I'm more than happy for any reviewing admin to unblock without discussion if they feel that doing so is appropriate, but I'm not planning to lift it myself. Yunshui  13:50, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
Fair enough. I'm not sure why Ovedc just didn't submit the draft for AfC review using the template at the top of their sandbox. If they are working together from the same office for the same people, then they both would be subject to WP:PAID; so, I'm not sure why they didn't realize that. Creating the article the way they did just made things just unnecessarily complicated matters. -- Marchjuly (talk) 14:07, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
As I said in my e-mail (just repeating here as an open comment) - I believe they are separate people (though cooperating). They are open on Hebrew Wikipedia regarding paid editing. Ovedc is a long-standing former sysop on Hebrew Wikipedia (some 140k edits) that turned to paid editing in 2018 (you can see this on his homepage on Hebrew Wikipedia). I think ויקימנטור did disclose here (though should have done AfC - but the rules on hewiki are different). Ovedc did not do mainspace edits on enwiki (since going PAID - I think!) - so they probably thought they did not have to disclose. They probably are acting in good faith - though quite obviously not aware of the specific rules on eniwki. Icewhiz (talk) 14:38, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

Thank you

For reconsidering your original decision at Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Too_harsh?_INDEF_for_doubius_MEAT and unblocking that editor. Re: admin-bashing - well, in my experience, too many admins are 'too busy, too important, and too righteous' to consider chaining their opinion. Likely only a minority act this way, but as we have no good way to correct such things (consider: was any admin ever desysoped for repeated WP:BITES...?), well, some humility needs to be bitten in. IMHO mop and bucket wielders are both not thanked enough (like, TBH, all regular editors) and not reminded enough they are here to facilitate a friendly editing environment, and not to lord over and smack bans upon non-admins peons... :> --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 15:03, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

I appreciate the thanks, but would add - even at the risk of requiring humblebiting - that you're thanking me for the wrong thing: I didn't reconsider my original decision to decline the unblock request; I in fact stand by it. I made a subsequent decision that their new unblock appeal was perfectly acceptable and acted accordingly. Refusing the first appeal was, IMHO, the right course of action, so I make no apologies for doing so.
Regardless, the reminder that we are here to facilitate collaborative editing is a timely one, so thank you for that. Yunshui  15:15, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

User:Wikimessangerreally

I want to advise you that User:Wikimessangerreally copied MAterialscientist's talkpage and userpage and used is using it as her own user page and talk page. CLCStudent (talk) 15:49, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

Technically that's sort of allowed under CC-BY-SA, although the lack of attribution means it's still a big fat no-no. Blocked as a sock, anyway. Yunshui  15:58, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

The Sustainability Initiative

 
The Sustainability Initiative

Hello Yunshui: An invitation for you to check out the Sustainability Initiative, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of the Wikimedia projects. If you're interested, please consider adding your name to the list of supporters, which serves to express and denote the community's support of the initiative. Thanks for your consideration! North America1000 10:37, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

Deletion review for 2000–01 United States network television schedule (Saturday morning)

An editor has asked for a deletion review of 2000–01 United States network television schedule (Saturday morning). Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:41, 12 February 2019 (UTC)

User:XxxBigDaddyLongKonchxxx

Oh god, he's dead in a matter of seconds, and he was juuust getting started with the super funny gas chamber joke that everyone certainly finds funny!

All jokes aside, thanks for that one. ;) Levvyowo? 16:12, 12 February 2019 (UTC)

I live to serve *doffs hat* Yunshui  16:18, 12 February 2019 (UTC)

HLP

Hi Yunshui, can you block this user for me ? atleast for my page ? here Shrikanthv (talk) 12:28, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Shrikanthv: I have protected your talk-page for 2 days. Lectonar (talk) 12:36, 13 February 2019 (UTC)
Cheers Lectonar, appreciate it. Good to see you're back around again! Yunshui  12:48, 13 February 2019 (UTC)
Thanks! Shrikanthv (talk) 13:00, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

Thank you

Thanks for undoing the series of vandalism attacks on West Park, Wolverhampton. I hope that you had access to tools to do it in a timely fashion. Keomike (talk) 21:45, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

No problem. Can't believe it sat like that for nearly two weeks... sometimes things slip through the cracks. Yunshui  08:15, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

Request for page contents and help to get back

Hi few days back i started the article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Open_Source_Social_Network_(Software) and then it was rejected because of the langauge problem. I asked friend to help me he helped me to publish article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Social_Network after few days i see the article is deleted. Can you please help to get it back or the contents please. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jackpanther1 (talkcontribs) 08:36, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

Gotta admire the chutzpah involved in creating a new account to ask the admin who blocked you for sockpuppetry and deleted your paid advertising to restore the page... Yunshui  08:41, 14 February 2019 (UTC)