User talk:Zscout370

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Note: I have been busy IRL, and it will only get worse in the near future. If you are looking for time sensitive help, please seek someone else that could help you. If time is not of the escene, then I could still try and help you. Thanks for your understanding. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 13:47, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Current time: Saturday, December 16, 2006, 03:28 (UTC) Number of articles on English Wikipedia: 1,535,338
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[edit] WikiProject Awards News

There are several issues that the WikiProject needs to address.

  1. Do we need a coordinator (or more than one) to coordinate our efforts and act as an arbiter? Please place your thoughts here.
  2. Could someone work on archiving the talk page Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject Awards?
  3. Do we need to develop better guidelines for the Wikipedia:WikiProject awards?
  4. Finally, could you please weigh in on the following discussions so we can move them to conclusion:
    1. LGBT Barnstar
    2. Islamic Award
    3. Working Man’s Barnstar.

Sincerely, --evrik (talk) 02:13, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

In reply:
  1. I pass on the cordinator
  2. Page being archived by Werdnabot for discussions older than 2 weeks.
  3. I do not think any guidelines will help at all.
  4. I have no problems with the first 2 barnstars, but I would like the name to stay the same for the Working Man's Barnstar. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 02:25, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Your old buddy under attack

Check this out. I could use some kind words from an old Wiki-friend. -Husnock 17:05, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I looked at the situation and some suggested that I should mediate. I will. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 19:01, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the mediation, best of luck. I will be happy to provide info I have about images and try to update them when I can. Despite that others seem to have gone over to the other side about this, Durin really scares me. I feel he stalked me, hounded me, and made unreasonable demands. But, for the purpose of mediation, my main concerns are:

  1. Demanded an unrealistic level of personal contact information about the source of some images. The final straw was wanting to talk to my ex-finance and the former girlfriend of my late grandfather.
  2. Asking me for explanations about image sources and then, when I provided the information,declaring it wrong, false, or stating it was not good enough. The final point of this was when Durin stated that JAG officers attached to CNFK and CNFJ didnt know what they were talking about.
  3. Completing dismissing that I am on a military deployment, demadning answers to queries within 12-24 hours after posting and putting 7 day deletion notices on images when I could not possibly have the matter resolved in that time.

I have no proof that this person is attempting to contact people in the "real world" about me and my images but he did mention that an e-mail way sent to Corpus Christi city employees about this. An unrelated contact I have also stated they recieved an e-mail using my last name and asking if I worked for Wikipedia and how to find me. Very scary.

Thanks for mediating. I'll try to stay in touch. We kick up ops after Thanksgiving and my Wiki time might drop sharply. -Husnock 11:23, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Sure, I can work around that. I can see what else I can do, but my dad came homeon leave for 2 weeks, so a lot of time will be spent with him. I also intend on making some of the flag images myself or plan on getting them from Vector-Images.com. Happy Thanksgiving. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 17:50, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alexander Litvinenko

The photo of Alex is mine, taken by me three years ago at the book launch for AP. AP have the rights, but I am aloud to use with justification. Please revert the picture deletion. Furthermore I created an article on Bellerusian Jews, please can you contribute and wikify. Thanks! Chavatshimshon 20:17, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

The problem that if the AP has rights to the photo, then we could not use this photo now. The AP is using the photo and is selling them to other news organizations. If we upload the AP/your version to Wikipedia, people will be getting the free version for news reports instead of buying them from the AP. That violates the 4th tennant of the US Fair Use test. A couple months down the road, maybe we could add the picture in. As for the Belarusian Jews article, I'll take a peek at it as soon as I can. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 20:23, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Belarus peer review

Glad to help - let me know if you want me to take a second look after the changes. I did not look at the second half as carefully as the first. Take care, Ruhrfisch 15:15, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I mostly began to add sources and removed that "neighboring countries" template and put it in writing. Most of the issues at the last FAC were of grammar (which, according to those guys, I suck at) and some updating in the economy section. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 16:29, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Siberia Wiki

Siberian wikipedia thanks you for your vote in our support. Unfortunately, many votes in this voting http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_closing_projects/Closure_of_Siberian_Wikipedia are alleged to be falsified. We need you to verify your vote. There are two ways of doing it: you can confirm it right below this request or you can do this by adding to your user page a link to your meta account (like this:[1]") --Ottorahn 18:40, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
My Meta account is at m:User:Zscout370, which links to every account I hold on Wikimedia projects. And yes, I do authorize the vote I placed for the debate on the RU-SIB Wikipedia. To note, I also have an account on RU-SIB wiki. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 23:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] BRIMC

Hello Zach, would you please give your oppinion in this? Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/BRIMC, thank you. AlexCovarrubias ( Let's talk! ) 20:29, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Responded. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 01:01, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Problem with a vandal

Hey Zscout, I have discovered a repeat vandal and I am not sure how to handle the situation.

Dermo has done tons of vandalism and has recieved countless warnings (see his talk page) but has yet to be punished (as far as I know). I noticed him after he vandalized the Space Warfare page (see the history) and I reverted it. Considering his history with warnings, I don't know if they'll do much good.

I brought this to the attention of Nishkid64 earlier, but he thought that some who this user's vandalism is accidental. A good deal of his vandalism, however, is not accidental, so I thought it best to bring it to your attention.

Any help would be appreciated, Sharkface217 00:32, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

I am trying to see what this guy is doing, and from going through Special:Contributions/Dermo69, some of it was just not fixing redirects and all of that stuff. I see no cause for blocking, yet, so I suggest go to the WP:AN and see if they could help. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 00:39, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why?

Are you guys sure about the move? I'll make the move once yall give me the ok. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 20:12, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Uh... why? We are going to be setting a terrible precedent if we allow the results of move requests to be ignored just because one side decides to complain about them profusely. At no point did any of them go talk to Mets501 about what may have indeed been a miscount. Instead, the route they choose is to complain about the results of the first couple move requests behind his back, move war, set up another move request, engage in vote stacking, and then, after they're caught, complain that the accusations of vote stacking are "slander" and part of some sinister plan to ignore everything they say. That's not how we should allow move requests to be done. -- tariqabjotu 21:03, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
I just want to be sure this is what the articles writers decide. I should be able to make just one move and be done instead of trying to sort out three or four. Plus, given on how the discussion is going on, I am going to wait before I even do anything. I am trying to mediate the situation, but as you see, I suck at this. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 21:40, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User:Cocunuthead

I saw you blocked User:Cocunuthead, who at that moment had only 20 edits in Wikipedia, most of which were to his user page. His talk page does not contain any warnings. Can I know what this user did so bad he was blocked without an attemp to explain him he is doing a wrong thing. It seems to be very close to WP:BITE to me. Even very disruptive vandals who only add bad word to Wikipedia are not blocked that soon. Although this user used Wikipedia only as a chat room, I do not think his behaviour was disruptive enough to block him indefinitely that soon. --Jan.Smolik 23:31, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Jan, some of the things that did not show up in the edit history, such as his userboxes, because I deleted them. Concerns about sockpuppetry were confirmed, in private, to me. The discussion of the problems occured at Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#User_User:Ryulong_closing_unblock_requests_even_though_he_is_not_an_admin. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 23:34, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for explanation. I later on checked full text of his posts at the discussion mentioned above and he seemed to be to much knowledgeble about our processes to be new. So I thought it was something like that. However biting newbies is far to common so I wanted to be sure this is not the case. (Actually I understand to people being alergical to people doing their test edits in the article space, but some of these can become good editors). Anyway sorry if my tone seemed to be biting, it was not intended. --Jan.Smolik 11:17, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
No problem Jan; you had a legit concern about an admin action. Could what I done seen as WP:BITE, maybe. However, from what I been seeing, it has gone from WP:AGF to block first, ask questions later. Could it be with all of the stuff we deal with on a constant basis or people just refuse to leave Wikipedia, even after they were shown the door. I do not know what it is, but we both should expect blocks like this to be commonplace. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 14:47, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flag of Tripoli

From what I know, the city doesn't have a flag, so we are not able to draw one. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 18:17, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the help. Wikiacc (?) 21:23, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Your welcome. If anything has changed, I will let you know. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 02:16, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editor Review

Hey Zscout, I'm currently up for Editor Review. I would be most appreciative if you could comment on my Wikipedia habits there and offer some advice. Thanks in advance. Sharkface217 02:13, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Responded. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 03:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hey!

Good to see you. To quote McCoy: "My God Man!" Check out the deletion page on Starfleet alternate ranks and insignia -Husnock 18:24, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I should add Coolcat formally stated that he is quitting Wikipedia because of the info on the deletion nomination. -Husnock 18:37, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
As for the AFD, I voted keep (with possible preservation at MemoryAlpha). But as for CC leaving, this was mentioned to me earlier before in IRC. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 23:18, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Conspiracy theories on Vladimir Putin

If you have time, I'll appreciate your input on the article and other editors knowledgeable about Russia. Earlier today, I converted a new section of the Vladimir Putin aritlce, consisting of a long narrative of conspiracy theories, into a section on Putin's crime policies-- content I think actually helps make the article more encyclopedic. [2] But then I was reverted by editor accusing me of "suppressing documented information." [3] 172 | Talk 02:43, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

With the recent death of the former KGB/FSB spy, a lot of people would be adding to the list of "crimes" done by Putin, including the botched rescues in Beslan. I also think that WP:BLP is also screwing things up for us there, and also at the article on Lukashenko. I would personally wait for the spy death to calm down before trying to add that information again. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 07:55, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mel Gibson mugshot

To be honest, I know very little about the history of the mugshot photo. If your analysis is correct, then you should ask for the photo to be removed ASAP, I probably won't partake in the discussion. From memory, my only contribution to this discussion was to mention that quality is a variable thing. A free photo (free as in libre i.e. wikipedia free) would be better then a fair use photo quality wise to some users even if it doesn't look as good. It's unfortunate if the example I used wasn't in fact free but hopefully people will understand the point I was trying to make rather then the get detracted by the bad example. Nil Einne 06:38, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Nah, I do not blame you for bring it up. I'll probably write to the LASD using snail-mail and see if that will answer the question. As for the free vs. fair use, I would personally avoid using a fair use photo if I could. But, my personal preference should not be WP-standards. I am sure a lot of the things I write about could be added with a photo, and perhaps fit the fair use rules nicely. But, I understand the main goal of WP and try to avoid fair use as much as possible. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 07:53, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Please do not reveal user names

What about his stalking of me on the internet and creating a blog specifically attacking me on Wikipedia? I said I would respect his wish as long as he doesn't attempt to portray himself as a netural editor who does not have a POV to push and that he is somehow not connected to the Sai Controversy. He is. He chose to engage in debates with me first, which led to my discovery of his sockpuppet. That isn't stalking. SSS108 talk-email 18:56, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Discovering sock puppets is not a problem, but all I ask for now is just do not use the real name, ok? User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 19:07, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Okay. SSS108 talk-email 03:34, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 03:50, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Hello Zscout, as you kindly got involved in this complaint at WP:AN/I, I'd like to inform you that SSS108 still has not complied with the terms of his Pinfo4 warning, and I have pointed this out to him here (relevant diffs pointed out there). I strongly suspect that he is dragging his heels because he wishes to wait until my name is recorded in the Talk page archives of Sathya Sai Baba as has already happened with WP:AN/I. Please could you step in once again and help to enforce my right to privacy? Thanks. ekantiK talk 14:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Ekantik, ever since I talked to him, he did not post your name to Wikipedia again. Because this occured before I spoke to him, I am inclined not to block. It is true that whatever you do on Wikipedia, it is recorded and people can look at them and use the "changes" anytime they could need to. But, what I can suggest is that if you do not want the name to be used on Wikipedia by others, you should try checking WP:RFO out so the name can be wiped from Wikipedia's history. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 14:43, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you very much for being so helpful. Actually I was not after a block but would have just been satisfied with removal from the archives as Jossi did. But thank you very much anyway and I have filed an RFO. ekantiK talk 18:14, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
A related question, in case nothing is done am I authorised to remove the nonpublic personal information myself? Replacing them with 'x' or whatever as Jossi did? ekantiK talk 18:14, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
What Oversight does is that they make the edit "never happen" at all, so even if you and Jossi replace your name with XXXXXX, all someone has to do is go into the history and get the name. However, since you are in a dispute with this guy, I suggest asking someone else to remove them for you. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 22:02, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you very much for your clarifications, I appreciate it. Let's hope that the RFO is done. ekantiK talk 01:03, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Graphic Designer's Barnstar

The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
I know it's late but i award you the The Graphic Designer's Barnstar for your work on Image:Red copyright.svg. Cocoaguy (Talk)| (Edits) 22:06, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you anyways; better later than never. :) User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 22:14, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Order of Canada

Unfortunately, its not really a photo of someone being invested, rather just someone wearing it...although if you think it still its a good idea to change it to a free photo its your call. BTW: I have uploaded the images of the Order of Canada from the National Archives into the commons. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dowew (talk • contribs) 06:01, 10 December 2006 (UTC). Dowew 06:02, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

BTW, how can you tell the licence from photos on Flikr ? I found [4] this one of the Order of the British Empire Dowew 06:02, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
On the right side of the page, there is a header called Additional Information. Under that, the license is displayed. There is a search you can do for images under the Creative Commons license, so I just use that. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 16:21, 10 December 2006 (UTC)


[edit] VC Ribbon

No, no, you're quite right - I wasn't reverting back to the old image, only reverting back to the filename in order to upload a better, self created image. One of the things I've tried to do when working on decorations and medals articles is to standardise on infobox image filenames.

Xdamrtalk 17:01, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Ah. My main concern was not about the filename, but if the graphic is free content or not. I can draw more ribbons in the future for other articles, but I try to name them clearly. So, in the VC's case, if Australia came up with their own ribbon bar, it would be called Victoria Cross ribbon bar (Australia), so on. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 17:09, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
I'd be inclined to call it VictoriaCrossAusRibbon, but then that's just me - I hate spaces in filenames!
I just thought I'd let you know, given that you are interested in the field, that a WikiProject has recently (ie. today) been created to deal with the topic of Orders, Decorations, and Medals (WP:ODM). Hopefully, by collaboration, we can sort out the patchy coverage of this area. Quite frankly, things like categorisation are a thorough mess. If you are interested then it would be good to see you.
Best wishes, Xdamrtalk 19:39, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
I been waiting for that project to exist for a really long time. I written several ODM articles and I am glad there is a group that will like them now. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 01:39, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lithuania

Of course! :) And judging by its poor state, it is a perfect candidate. Renata 02:36, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flag of Lithuania

Hi Zach.

Have you seen this link [5]? It is not from an official website, but the Lithuanian Wikipedia links to it, so it seems a fair guess that the Pantone values are correct. Regards. Valentinian (talk) / (contribs) 22:57, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I dug up this link. It is a decision by the Commission of Heraldry dated April 1, 2005. Don't know if that means something to you, but it says:
    • national flag: yellow (15-0955 TP), green (19-6026 TP), and red/purplish (19-1664 TP)
    • presidential flag: red/purplish (19-1664 TP)
    • coat of arms: blue (17-4440 TP), red (18-1561 TP). The metals (gold and silver) can be replaced yellow (14-0955 TP) and white (11-0602 TP).
Same numbers for flag are repeatred here (page 6) - that's instructions how to make signs for some marketing campaign from Ministry of Finance. I will try to translate about the state flag next. Renata 05:57, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
The colors information is very useful, plus more information sounding. I got the RGB codes that I can use so I can make the correct flag images. Thanks again. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 19:04, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

The days when the flag needs to raised are listed here. That is a decision by the Government of Lithuania (and not the Seimas) because the flag law article 4.7 says "7. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall set the time for hoisting flags." So the needs to hoisted by gov institutions on:

  • Jan 1 - Day of flag of Lithuania
  • Jan 13 - Day of freedom fighters (January Events)
  • Feb 24 - Independence Day of Estonia
  • Mar 29 - day when Lithuania joined NATO
  • May 1 - day when Lithuania joined the European Union
  • May 9 - Day of Europe
  • June 14 - Day of mourning and hope (with mark of mourning; that's when mass deportations to Siberia started in 1941)
  • June 15 - Day of occupation and genocide (with mark of mourning; day when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Russia in 1940)
  • July 15 - Battle of Grunwald
  • Aug 23 - Day of balck ribbon (with mark of mourning; Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
  • Aug 31 - Day of Freedom (the last Russian soldier left Lithuania in 1993)
  • Sept 23 - Day of Genocide of Lithuanian Jews (liquidation of Vilnius ghetto in 1943)
  • Oct 25 - Constitution Day (referendum in 1992)
  • Nov 18 - Independence Day of Latvia
  • Nov 23 - Day of Lithuanian soldiers (in 1918, Ministry of Defense issued its first decision. It established the army)
  • Election days

On Feb 16, March 11, and June 6 the flag needs to raised by everyone (not sure, have to double check). Renata 09:35, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Here is the rough translation of [6].

Historical flag is back to political life.

[definition of national historical flag from the flag law]

On May 15, 2002 (on the day when Constituent Assembly of Lithuania first met in 1920), Vice-speaker of Seimas Česlovas Juršėnas and the chairman of Commission of Heraldry Edmundas Rimša presented the historical national flag and the grand COA. They were created by member of the commission, artist Arvydas Každailis.

The Commission of Heraldry drew attention that Lithuania, as one of the oldest states in Europe, could have a historical national flag. This symbol is known since the 15th century. It would be used together with the national flag (created at the beginning of the 20th century) and the president's flag. In such case Lithuania, as many other old states in Europe, would have 3 flags.

The commission also proposes that the grand coat of arms would be adopted.

Juršėnas said that the flag is still under construction and that the design of the old symbols is open to discussions. The work should be done by Seimas committees. The artist said he gifts Seimas with his draft of the historical flag.

[pictures]

In June 2002 Rimša send such letter to Juršėnas

"Lithuania has 600 years of heraldry traditions, some of them formed in the 14th century, some at the beginning of the 20th century. We have recreated a number of important symbols, banned and destroyed by occupations. Already in 1988 national flag (misleadingly named as state (valstybės) flag in the law) and national anthem were adopted. In 1990 the main symbol - the coat of arms (silver knight on red banner) - was adopted. Today all cities and most towns have their COA, flags, and seals. The situation with heraldry of Lithuanian army, police, and other institutions is not that bad either. However, to this day the major symbols were neglected - the historical flag (red with white knight) and the grand COA (with supporters, motto, etc.) They were often used to represent the country. It is true that they are not completely forgotten. The historical flag was used to create the flags of the president, the navy, divisions of the army. Kaunas, following its traditions, hoists a red flag with white knight on one side and Columns of Gediminas on the other on important holidays in the yard of the Museum of War. The grand COA, through the flag of the president, is slowly coming back to life. What's missing is the official decision by the Seimas. We understand that it is not an easy task to adopt the historical flag and the grand COA because it is related to the 1st article in the constitution. Therefore we suggest first to grant the red flag with white knight the status of "historical state flag" (valstybė istorinė vėliava) and to adopt the grand COA as an independent symbol of Lithuania. It can be done by Seimas only. Later, when there is a good opportunity, the constitution should be amended. We trust that Seimas under your leadership will find a way to solve the issue and that next year, when we celebrate the 750th anniversary of Mindaugas' coronation, the historical flag and the grand COA will be officially adopted."

This letter with attached historical analysis from the Commission of Heraldry was passed to the workgroups of the Seimas. On July 8, 2004 Seimas adopted a new law on flags where it was established the use of the historical flag.

The law establishes that the flag is permanently hoisted on the Royal Palace of Lithuania, Trakai Island Castle, and yard of the Museum of War in Kaunas. It is also hoisted on:

  • Feb 16 - next to the House of Signatories (on Pilies Street)
  • March 11 - next to Palace of Seimas
  • July 6 - next to the Presidential Palace, Vilnius
  • July 15 - next to the Ministry of Defense
  • Oct 25 - next to Seimas, Presidential Palace, and Government of Lithuania

Ok, hope it makes sense. If no, bug me again. Sorry for delays in replying - I am just extremely busy these days. And thank you for improving the article (it already looks so much better!) I might be able to send you an article about the flag (in English). Renata 10:36, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My chat with Metros232

Why did you put your big nose in where it wasn't welcome during my talk with Metros232? It was a PRIVATE conversation. Oh, and you weren't involved in the first place so why did you feel the urge to get involved? Bowsy 19:34, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Because I was privately asked to get involved. Plus, I am one of these, so I have every right to get involved when asked. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 19:36, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, sorry, but a word of advice: Have you ever thought that putting "Return Fire" after your signature may encourage some users to vandalise your talk page in response to something you may have said to them? Bowsy 19:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

No problem. I'm not concerned, I had this for a while. My talk page is supposed to be a place where people can "retrun fire," "sound off" and other stuff. I do not get much vandalism here, but if it does occur, I know, since I see an orange on my screen. :) User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) 20:36, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
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