User talk:Andrew Dalby

Welcome!!

For earlier discussions on this page see User talk:Andrew Dalby/Archive 2006 to 2008; User talk:Andrew Dalby/Archive 2009 to 2010.

for participating in discussion about relevance of Harry Hodgkinson's “Scanderbeg: From Ottoman Captive to Albanian Hero”, in Skanderbeg article. I admire your approach and would be honoured if I can be of any help in your activities on wikipedia (of course, whatever your opinion about relevance of this work will be).--Antidiskriminator (talk) 23:41, 1 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For pointing out the error of Lady Abergavenny on Eva Marshal. Another editor explained that de Braose only held the lordship in tenancy, not the title. I have therefore removed Lady Abergavenny from her article. Thanks again for noticing and drawing my attention to it.--Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 09:12, 15 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! From your edits, it looks like you might be interested in ancient Dacia. Would you like to join the WikiProject Dacia? It is a project aimed to better organize and improve the quality and accuracy of the articles related to these topics. We need help expanding and reviewing many articles, and we also need more images. Your input is welcomed! Thanks and best regards!

--Codrin.B (talk) 09:52, 31 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I found the following categories in Category:Underpopulated categories, and you might be able and willing to populate them.

• Category:Farming tools
• Category:Farms in Australia
• Category:Farms in Oregon
• Category:Food websites
• Category:Languages by occupation
• Category:Languages of the African diaspora
• Category:Latin medical phrases
• Category:Spanish grammar

(This talk page is on my watchlist, and I will watch here for a reply or replies.)
—Wavelength (talk) 20:33, 17 January 2011 (UTC) [I am correcting the heading.—Wavelength (talk) 20:34, 17 January 2011 (UTC)][reply]

Link to GLAM page

Hello Andrew, I think I'm looking for a wiki linguist. As I hope you may have heard, Derby Museums are planning to do a similar thing to the British Museum did with GLAM WIKI. They will have a backstage pass, but they plan not to offer a page for an FA written in Latin:) The proposal for the special challenge is to try and create a challenge that creates multi-lingual articles in (say Polish, Urdu and Tamil)... ok OK Latin too! I can speak English, Fortran, VBA and Javascript. I'm looking for someone who is a wiki linguist who might be interested in "being bold" in this area. What do you think? Can you advise, could you help? could you lead? I'm being bold, fancy the challenge? Victuallers (talk) 21:18, 20 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm certainly interested (never mind about Latin!) I'm strongly in favour of encouraging multilingual approaches. Many, many editors of English wikipedia are able to edit in other languages too, and a challenge that encouraged them to do this would be great for the museum, great for the other languages and great for outreach.

Are we limited to the museum collections (excellent, no doubt, but not as wide-ranging as the BM) or could it be also about Derby? Andrew Dalby 23:40, 20 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm thrilled. I'm obviously keen to gather help, (if you build it - they will come) but I particularly need your skills. The backstage tour is well within my area of expertise, but the idea for the challenge day (in mid May?) is based on the arguments you expound above and not on my own skillbase. Wikipedia is multi-lingual and Britain is too. I have an enthusiastic museum employeee who has found interest from local translators who have links too. I was hoping to use these links and the multiple projects on the English wikipedia that host the different language and culture based projects. As for spreading the focus away from the museum then my only worry is losing the focus. Derbyshire has 1500 articles or so and could represent too large a domain to influence quickly. Some of the articles created so far are not actually about a Derby museum artefact but they have some link (ie a type of mineral, a nearby bridge, a local naturalist) to the museum. One wider area is Derbyshire Museums and Galleries (there are about thirty of them). Do feel empowered to "be bold". do you live within travelling distance? Victuallers (talk) 10:24, 23 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Last question first: no I don't. I live in France. I gather excuses to come to England now and then, so probably I could get there on a day in May if that's a good idea.

"Some link to the museum" ought to work fine: it would be visible in one or more actual links to the museum page or website, which should satisfy the Museum. Competitors have to be strongly advised (as with the BM thing) to tell us their topics in advance, and the potential link with the museum would be clarified at that stage.

OK, I'm thinking. First off, the creating of a challenge. It could be for creating or improving relevant articles in two languages to a certain standard.

The BM challenge was great, and it was a splendid idea to open it to all languages, but Wittylama was evidently taken aback to get an entrant in Latin and two in Catalan out of his total of five. This happened because, obviously, we Latinists and the Catalanists both wanted to promote our minority wikis, and saw this as a good way to do so; and also because smaller languages are less bureaucratic about their FA process than English is. I always wanted to work on two languages for the BM thing -- I knew it wasn't fair to push Latin on its own -- and in fact I did finally improve the English article to FA standard too, but I could never have got an English FA in the necessary timescale. I am full of admiration for Johnbod who actually achieved this.

I say two languages because many people (including many people in Derby!) could easily do this on their own; anyway I think that permitting collaboration is a good idea, and there's no reason why two shouldn't collaborate on a topic, one writing in each language. So anyone could enter, finding a collaborator if necessary. But also, requiring "two languages" tends in practice to bring the focus back to major languages: it would be a very unusual Wikipedian who would submit an entry in two small minority languages.

Is the Museum going to offer prizes? Do we know that yet?

Second question: creating or improving? My suggestion is this: it must be shown that major work has been done in both languages. A possible rule is that the articles to be submitted must be either newly created, or improved from stubs. Articles already beyond the stub stage can't qualify: you choose another topic (or add another language). What do you think?

Third question: to what standard? A real problem is that standards differ so much across the Wikipedias; but, on the other hand, the Wikipedias have people who can judge articles in all relevant languages, and no one else does ... unless those local translators could help here.

Enough for a start. Feel free to email me if we need to get into more detail. Andrew Dalby 14:04, 23 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for time to reply. I agree "an association with the museum" is fine for an article. In fact if you are going to do an article on an obscure artefact in say Tamil then having the article on larger aspects like the museum itself etc might be thought as useful. I actually want to encourage the local and wiki linguists who know a non English language either by perspiration or heritage. Someone like yourself has the background to understand the multi language wikis and thats what I need. We have got a small fund for a prize, but we may be able to persuade some bodies to put up some additional monies. I'm guessing that the 100 pound book voucher was not your motive. Its the kudos and as you say making sure "your" language is seen to be competing. Are you any good at promoting events and making sure there is interest? Deciding where and when to leave invitations on the French wikiproject? Who can do it? Should it be in French on the "England" or "Museums" project of the French wikipedia? I can only guess .... I think your guess might be slightly better informed..... (I will keep asking until you say "no" :-) ) My email is at gmail and is victuallers. Do feel free to use it, but I'm trying to have few secrets and I'm guessing other readers of this conversation may be intrigued by whats being discussed and contact one of us ..... Cheers Roger aka Victuallers (talk) 11:32, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I took a while to reply as well.

No, I am not usually a promoter of events, I must admit ... The best way to advertise may well vary from language to language (bad luck). There is a Wikipedia:Community portal for most if not all Wikipedias; in some cases no one ever looks at it. There is also a Wikipedia:Village pump for most if not all Wikipedias; that seems to be sometimes very busy. Obviously we can't translate into every language but I don't think that will matter: we should post a short announcement in English on one or both of those pages in each language -- simultaneously, so far as we can manage it -- with a request for someone local to translate it and re-post it wherever it will be seen. Obviously the message should include a link to a page here which will give full details, and to our talk pages. (There may occasionally be a relevant project page -- you mention the French Museums project -- but most often, I suspect, there won't be!) I can certainly deal with the other-language wikis in this way. But just as important will be publicity to English speakers, because I think a lot of the people we want to reach will use English some of the time (and often already work on en:wiki). In some cases, we'll be persuading them to work on an other-language wiki which they haven't done before. So publicity on en:wiki and publicity in Derby in the real world will be crucial too. How do you feel about that?

True, the prize was not the motive! Still, offering some kind of prize does focus minds. We don't want top speed at all costs -- quality is the thing -- so I would say that a fair number of small prizes is better than a few bigger ones. In that case, people won't feel pressured to get finished first. Our "sponsor" no doubt would like to see as many good pages as possible by the final date in May; so we don't want people to lose interest because all of the few prizes have been claimed. Andrew Dalby 14:13, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations you passed the interview ( :-) ). I'm going to agree a date in May to host the challenge. It needs to be a Saturday ... are there any you cannot do or that would fit in with your plans? I'm going to tell Derby Museum that I have identified "the lead" for the challenge event. Please complain now as I'm hoping you will be bold and get things underway - there will be others who will help. Sound OK? I'm hoping we an use Skype etc if we need you at a planning meeting? Victuallers (talk) 11:07, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, some time when we're reminiscing over this in later years you'll have to tell me how many competitors I had! I was waiting till I knew the answer to the date question. It is this: I am unavailable for several days from 23 May onwards, so, better before. Yes, I can be skyped but it is best to fix a time in advance as Skype is on my wife's laptop, which isn't always on. If you email me you can tell me your Skype name; I'll tell you ours in reply, if we can remember it between us. I think we need to decide how many prizes there will be, and what exactly, and how they will be delivered (I'm thinking that sending small amounts of money worldwide may not be cost-effective). Once we know this and a couple of other details, we could work on publicity. Andrew Dalby 14:42, 15 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

My timetable is filling up: I've just been invited to a conference in Greece. That's from the 7th May for a week. So (as far as I'm concerned) available dates are limited to, roughly, 1-5, 15-22 and 30-31 May. Andrew Dalby 13:51, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Andrew, do poke my page ... I just spotted your addition. As it was I was going to talk. I met the museum yesterday and they are going ahead with April 9th but they are tearing apart the museum decorations and some major exhibits may be missing in May. they will be back in June/July so we intend to run the challenge day then. I have more to tell you, but I wonder if you might assist me. Could you create stubs for the Derby Museum page in a number of languages. There is no rush but it would indicate where our intersts were headed to an observer. Oh and Can add your name to the contributors list too ... must go but will tell you more when I get a chance. Roger aka Victuallers (talk) 17:25, 23 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No problem, I would have tried emailing you if necessary but I suspected you'd check in after a meeting. Excellent idea, I was thinking of having a go at what you suggest, I will now try it. Also Derby and Derbyshire where those pages are lacking, maybe. Andrew Dalby 18:19, 23 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew - Ive never mapped my internal view of the museum with the view from outside.... but I'll try. The picture you see on the main en:page is the old museum/library. That entrance is to the library. To the left is is an extention in roughly the same style and further to the left is the 1960s type building that is pictured futher down the en wiki aricle. That modern building has the entrance to the museum at its far end.

When you enter the museum it has three floors (including ground level). On the ground floor is porecelain. Next floor up is archaelogy, geology, natural science, the mummy, the log-boat and the Joseph Wright collection. The third floor normally contains more art and the Bonnie Prince Charlie Room..... but they have found asbestos. At the moment the top (3rd) floor is closed.

Where the museum ends and the library strarts is unclear. You cannot get from one to the other but at one point you can see over a balcony into the library.

Around the back is the entrance to "The Art Gallery" but its architecture only. That entrance goes nowhere. I hope that helps.... its a bit tricky as they are plasying musical chairs at the moment due to the building work. Impressed by your stubbing already. The AEnglish seems somehow appropriate. Cheers Victuallers (talk) 14:48, 24 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Just getting into practice ... Andrew Dalby 14:58, 24 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'll put a request in with the museum. All the ones Ive found are copyright and at the moment you cannot get a new picture. Do you want to add a request here? Victuallers (talk) 16:52, 24 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

When we have a GLAM barnstar then you get it ..... just for the Hindi article! I cannot explain why you needed to create a Derby page in Hindi - surely it should be there already? Victuallers (talk) 18:44, 28 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Здравствуйте. У меня к Вам вопрос, как к лингвисту, если будет возможность, ответьте: древнегреческое название города Бубастис (Ancient Greek: Βούβαστις, Βούβαστος) восходит к грецизированной форме — Бу-Бастет («Место Бастет»), от египетского названия Пер-Бастет («Дом или дворец Бастет»), хочу уточнить - «Бу» на древнегреческом означает «место»?--АААЙошкар-Ола (talk) 04:15, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry if I offended you. I wasn't trying to be smart or anything. It's just that your explanation seemed a little too nebulous/abstract and I wanted more detail in what sort of methodology you use in determining reliability. Your feedback is welcomed and appreciated. :) A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:24, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Of course, don't worry, no problem at all. It's that board: I think I'll leave it alone now :) Andrew Dalby 18:29, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I just wanted to make sure there are no hard feelings. BTW, if you think that thread was bad, check out the Star Wars and Joe Baugher threads! A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:41, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, there is a merge discussion going on at Talk:Gyros. Your sage input would be very welcome there. There are strong feelings on all sides and your perspective would be helpful.

PS Aglaia Kremezi pointed me to Sasha Grigorieva's Gasterea wiki, which looks like an interesting initiative, but also appears to be stalled at its first article. Do you know anything about it? --Macrakis (talk) 15:37, 28 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am sometimes in touch with Sasha but I hadn't looked at her site before. Looks as though ti was one of those things that took all the enthusiasm to start it, leaving none to continue it. If I hear more I'll tell you ...

The current on-line OED gives gyro (as the singular) defined as "(U.S.) A sandwich made with pitta bread and containing slices of cooked spiced meat (usu. lamb or beef), tomatoes, onions, etc. Cf. doner kebab". For doner kebab, it has " A Turkish dish which consists of slices of lamb or mutton, layered with herbs and spices on a vertical spit and roasted as it revolves against a tall narrow grill. As the surface is cooked the meat is sliced thinly downwards and served, often with pita." For shawarma, it says "In the cuisine of certain Arabic-speaking countries: meat cooked on a spit and served in thin slices, often rolled in pita bread and sold as a street snack; a doner kebab." Interestingly, it doesn't mention the (horrible) US variant using minced rather than sliced meat, which I think is usually sold as (ersatz, in my opinion) γύρος/ντόνερ.

Thanks very much for that, I will now consider a response. Still not easy ...

By the way, I see you have come out with a book on Venizelos -- then you may have come across my mother's Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος 1864-1910. Η διάπλαση ενός εθνικού ηγέτη about his early period. --Macrakis (talk) 17:21, 28 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, yes, very definitely. I had noticed that your surname was the same! Yes, hers is the most reliable work on that early period and I cited it often in my first chapter. My main focus was on 1919, his activities at the Peace Conference. I don't usually get commissioned to write modern history and I enjoyed this work a lot.

Your mother might be asked to do a review of my book. If that doesn't happen, and she would like a copy, I would be happy to send one. Andrew Dalby 18:30, 28 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On 9 March 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Richard Knill Freeman, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Richard Knill Freeman, who designed British churches, hospitals, municipal buildings, schools and museums, also designed a church in Moscow in the 1880s? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 10:43, 9 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello! Your submission of Samuel Rayner at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. I've reviewed the article, and while the length is ok and hook is interesting - the hook is not referenced in the article. Perhaps it is in one of the 3 references given, but they are not on-line so harder to check. In-line cite would be good. Tzu Zha Men (talk) 18:19, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Ive replied, but please add a bit if you like Victuallers (talk) 19:47, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On 19 March 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Romeo and Juliet: the tomb scene, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Wright of Derby's painting of Romeo and Juliet: the tomb scene depicts Juliet (pictured) saying her final line "... Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" in Shakespeare's play? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:02, 19 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On 22 March 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Samuel Rayner, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Samuel Rayner, who painted the Derby Exhibition in 1839 (pictured), had one of his paintings exhibited in the Royal Academy when he was only 15? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

NW (Talk) 08:02, 22 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On 25 March 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Indian Widow (Joseph Wright painting), which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Wright of Derby's Indian Widow (detail pictured) was exhibited in 1785 at what may have been the first one-person-show in England? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you would like further reading material I can point to you some texts that are free downloads. Regards. Wee Curry Monster talk 14:15, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your comments, I appreciate that you tried. Regards. Wee Curry Monster talk 16:47, 6 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well now you're no longer active, Richard has pretty much decided to ignore your suggested process. If you ever have an interest the offer of free resources is always there. Regards. Wee Curry Monster talk 09:42, 7 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I tried following your idea at user:Wee Curry Monster/Gibraltar Sandpit, I put the final results into the article. I would appreciate your thoughts, in private if you feel you don't wish to become embroiled in the mess on the talk page. Regards, Wee Curry Monster talk 23:37, 7 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Forget challenge 3.... I was only thinking that if the Albanian WP wanted to compete with the Welsh WP then they could have a barnstar for 100 points, but maybe too complex and we need to simplify if anything. Thanks for your help - Sorry if I seem to go but looking at other aspects too. Victuallers (talk) 12:48, 5 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Rushing around Andrew but very pleased with stuff so far. Continue being bold. Put some comments as edit summaries on pages. Do you twitter? See #GlamDerby Got to rush ... Roger Victuallers (talk) 08:05, 7 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Andrew, thank you so much for your steadfast support for this event. Do look me up when you return to the U.K. I owe you a beer or two. The links are to allow (http & //ow.ly/4w7Ey) to work. I expect we will need a cleverer solution, but I'm not sure what to do to make it correct. If English and Korean both have a Joseph Wright page then fine.... each painting in a Museum would be linked to Joseph Wright in every language available .... but if we create an article for a painting then where do the links go?

We worked this technology out as a result of the Derby work. Its not finished yet but I think its so cool. And per chance it aligns exactly with what you, me and Jimmy Wales are trying to do. Victuallers (talk) 16:00, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I knew there'd be a good reason! Andrew Dalby 17:14, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Just a note to say thanks for your efforts at Talk:Gibraltar. I've been reading the RFC and it looks like a huge mess. I'm glad that you've been able to provide some positive, sensible advice. Thanks for putting your time and energy into it. I hope that the dispute gets resolved. WhatamIdoing (talk) 19:13, 9 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I noticed your article about la:Bertha Schwarz on Vicipædia. I wonder if you would mind creating it here on the English Wikipedia as well? You'll find a ready-made reference to her ÖBL entry at Frühlingsstimmen. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 05:15, 24 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I'll start it later today. I couldn't for the life of me recall why I created that page: then I remembered I was working on the names of asteroids, and specifically 218 Bianca, which was named after her. Andrew Dalby 17:42, 24 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for Bertha Schwarz – much appreciated. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 04:39, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello,

Here's your translation requested from us, francophones. You just put us in turmoil, the French certainly will participate.

I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

--Morphypnos (talk) 15:02, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It isn't me. --Morphypnos (talk) 07:15, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well done - please choose your company car Victuallers (talk) 21:30, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

One of these days I'll take you seriously. Then you'll be sorry Andrew Dalby 07:06, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I said choose it! Not buy it Victuallers (talk) 15:56, 9 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Due to your challenge on Norwegian Wikipedia, and to please you, I gave it go and translated the article Derby Industrial Museum to Norwegian. Second half of the English article was not formated for Wikipedia, and with one name, Torrington, I made a guess that it could be George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, hopefully not totally wrong. --Finn Bjørklid (talk) 23:27, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I'm pasindu. I can help you with the translation on This message. Please wait...Pasindu Kavinda  ^Talk 11:06, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Done Go! Pasindu Kavinda  ^Talk 11:34, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I hope so, Sanko (talk) 00:56, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, footnote corrected. Right now completing all translation what I've done after the stub, and next more article translation too ... Sanko (talk) 12:00, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Translation of message done at Tagalog Wikipedia as requested. You can see it here.-AnakngAraw (talk) 01:09, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm away from Wikipedia from now until 19 May. Victuallers would be the best person to answer any questions about the Multilingual Challenge between now and then ... Andrew Dalby 18:17, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Andrew Dalby. You have new messages at Rock drum's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Regards, Rock drum _Ba-dum^Crash 18:20, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Andrew Dalby. You have new messages at ClemRutter's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

--ClemRutter (talk) 21:32, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good evening dear friend. As I have understood you can read and contribute in Greek language. I'm developing the article about Derby el:Ντέρμπι you have started. When it will be finished (after two or three days, most possibly), I would appreciate if you could take a look at it and make any possible corrections or suggestions. Thank you in advance! --Ttzavaras (talk) 20:48, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

• I'm afraid Andrew is away, but I'm sure he will check this (and six others???) when he returns. Maybe the Greeks can catch the Indonesians, Catalans and Russians. Best regards Victuallers (talk) 21:51, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for editing my version on Derby el:Ντέρμπι! --Ttzavaras (talk) 19:51, 30 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Then, just for exercising and, of course, if you wish, take a look on a new article about Midland Railways I'm preparing (you 're responsible for this, creating the respective link in the Derby article)... I' ll let you know as soon as it is ready. Thanks for everything! --Ttzavaras (talk) 20:37, 30 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew! I have already applied for the Challenge as an individual participant but I guess if we could form a team with other people speaking esperanto? At least another user is ready to form a team with me. Thanks. --89.224.174.28 (talk) 05:53, 9 May 2011 (UTC) (User talk: Dominik)[reply]

This is a great idea. The Catalan editors seem to be working together as they work through the available articles. You can apply for the prize as pairs of editors eventually. 15:51, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

An article that you have been involved in editing, Winterbourne, Gloucestershire , has been proposed for a merge with another article. If you are interested in the merge discussion, please participate by going here, and adding your comments on the discussion page. Thank you. Skinsmoke (talk) 10:18, 1 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sure I will, tomorrow I'll try to spread the word. And be aware of us - give us a couple of weeks to finish college exams and we will finish all articles ;)--Arnaugir (talk) 00:10, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

• sorry, i broke riht arm and am not efficient enough to take part any longer Bianchi-Bihan (talk) 00:24, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Like Arnaugir said, we'll resume our activity after college exams. Meanwhile, I'll do my best to spread the word. I've already talked about this once with my fellow WM-ES board members. Cheers, --Góngora (Talk) 00:28, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sure I will spread the word in local Indonesian languages and neighbour country. Thank you for the next new barnstar. Sanko (talk) 00:57, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the barnstar. I'll keep workin'. Greetings --Arnaugir (talk) 12:37, 8 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This seems to be working well Andrew. I was going to geotag the French parts of the world with our new "Rules" page in French, but I think I will need you or another fluent French speaker to checker what I'm doing. As I understand it we can run an ad in French that only hits wikipedian editors in France, Belguim. Montreal, Quebec and other French speaking areas. I'm guessing North Africa too? Oh and you seem to have deleted half of the stuff on Derby Exhibition (1839) ... I presume this was a mistake? Victuallers (talk) 12:35, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, thanks for noticing. Pure stupidity. I think I have corrected this now -- please verify.

Yes, tell me what to check and I'll check it. Or Fanfwah could perhaps. But yes, no problem.

Most of Africa in fact, also Madagascar. Andrew Dalby 12:44, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Andrew! I have some knowledge of Galician, Catalan and Spanish (apart from my native Portuguese, and English, of course), but I think that in these languages​​ the challenge has been released. However, there is no collaborations in Galician, and I think that I could get the message there, and maybe do one or two translations as an incentive. I intend to continue working with the project (mainly writing in English) and perhaps as early as this week-end we'll have news on that. Let's keep in touch! - Al Lemos (talk) 14:55, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The Challenge goes on at Galipedia :) - Al Lemos (talk) 01:44, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wonderful. I can read Portuguese, so now I shall practise reading Galician ... I ought to be able to manage it ... Let's see ... Andrew Dalby 06:55, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I have invited User talk:PamD to give some advice about article naming. --ClemRutter (talk) 20:50, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I understand you were instrumental in communicating with other-language Wikipedias for the GLAM/Derby Wright challenge. I have a similar need, to request translations of articles improved as part of GLAM/ARKive, for which I am the Wikipedia Outreach Ambassador. Can you help, please? You might like to know there's a Bristol connection ;-) Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 15:14, 22 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How's it going? Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:16, 1 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nudge ;-) Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 22:09, 16 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Andrew Dalby. You have new messages at Pigsonthewing's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Hmmm - I see you have a fan Andrew. The prize giving for work you set up is on 3rd September UK time at 10 a.m. It should be live on the net however I would love to find the money to bring you to Derby to see the changes we have made. If you want to come then I feel sure we can find travelling expenses. Victuallers (talk) 15:08, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

@Andy - there are several polyglots working on the Wright Challenge...

Thx 4 reply Andrew. re The Linguist - good news - give a mention for QRpedia and Derby Museums. I have this fantasy that the UK Catalan/ Esperanto/ Russian Society decide to have their monthly day out to Derby so that they can read a museum in their favourite language .... do quote me! If you get some minites to spare then do have an edit here and there and the prroject page to remind the contestants that you are still around. Hope to meet you again. Eitherway tweets will be @glamderby and the link will be on the project page for the video.Victuallers (talk) 14:25, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That's a timely offer. I'm busy at present with a board meeting this weekend, interviews for the new UK CEO and preparing for the award ceremony live on the net at 10 from the Wright room on Saturday. Jobs I can think of are

• Take a copy of the list of articles - sort people into points order and then using sampling check that we are probably giving the prizes to the right five. I suggest we are not interested if someone has a score of say 300 and the closest person is 250 and they have a couple of questionable claims then who cares? We just need to check that our contestants claims are reasonable. If we get two that we can't decide between (without nit picking) then we can make them joint 3rd place (or whatever). Any tweaking and little thank yous on comments would be good but requires a polyglot.
• Get QRpedia on the front page of French, Russian, English ..... wikipedias (as a stunt)
• Write a thank you template that we can distribute to all involved
• ... and the 3 things you need to work out :-)

I will be around on Monday, your "cunning plan" worked very well !! Victuallers (talk) 14:40, 28 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I'm at work on the sampling. Yes, I'll do the thanks template. I don't quite get it about the front pages, not sure how I can do that (don't want to vandalise!) Andrew Dalby 15:34, 28 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I put your information here Wikipedia:Warung Kopi (Lain-lain) or just like Wikipedia:Village pump in English version. Sanko (talk) 13:50, 1 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Sanko, and my personal congratulations for your hard work. Surely you are our most distant contributor! Andrew Dalby 14:03, 1 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The channel still off air right now. Sanko (talk) 10:02, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It was online at 10:00am by the London time. Lvova Anastasiya (talk) 10:11, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oops! I miss the time, I think London time same as UTC. Hopefully any YouTube record. Sanko (talk) 11:01, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm very sorry, Sanko, seems you missed it because of the time confusion. Surely it's on YouTube? Meanwhile I can tell you it happened! Roger Bamkin (Victuallers) spoke about the success of the challenge, you were listed among the prizewinners and your picture was shown, Indonesia (possibly even East Kalimantan!) was pointed out on the map, and the Mayor of Derby, with his mayoral pen, signed copies of the books which will be sent to all prizewinners :) Andrew Dalby 11:46, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much. Sanko (talk) 12:26, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Have a nice day and thank you again :) Lvova Anastasiya (talk) 09:39, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you and victuallers for organizing this, it's been a pleasure. Take care --Arnaugir (talk) 11:50, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I've enjoyed the challenge. You've done a wonderful job organizing this event. Cheers, --Góngora (Talk) 22:23, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The Mediation Committee has received a request for formal mediation of the dispute relating to "Falafel". As an editor concerned in this dispute, you are invited to participate in the mediation. Mediation is a voluntary process which resolves a dispute over article content by facilitation, consensus-building, and compromise among the involved editors. After reviewing the request page, the formal mediation policy, and the guide to formal mediation, please indicate in the "party agreement" section whether you agree to participate. Because requests must be responded to by the Mediation Committee within seven days, please respond to the request by June 23, 2011. 

Do send a copy if your bit on the challenge gets published in the Linguist Andrew Victuallers (talk) 11:51, 24 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The request for formal mediation concerning Falafel, to which you were listed as a party, has been declined. To read an explanation by the Mediation Committee for the rejection of this request, see the mediation request page, which will be deleted by an administrator after a reasonable time. Please direct questions relating to this request to the Chairman of the Committee, or to the mailing list. For more information on forms of dispute resolution, other than formal mediation, that are available, see Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. 

Thanks for your contributions to the falafel discussion. Your good sense would be welcome on the Aleppo soap article. In my opinion, many recent edits by the SPA User:Pdacortex have been puffery and otherwise not encyclopedic, and I have trimmed them quite heavily. He reverts. Can you help? Thanks, --Macrakis (talk) 19:16, 29 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! As someone who's edited the page The National Archives (United Kingdom), I thought you might be interested - if you haven't seen it already - in a recently started GLAM project to encourage cooperation between The National Archives and Wikipedia. Ideas & participation welcome! Dsp13 (talk) 20:18, 13 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Please can create this article from this.--Kardam (talk) 14:14, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

New page patrol – Survey Invitation Hello Andrew Dalby! The WMF is currently developing new tools to make new page patrolling much easier. Whether you have patrolled many pages or only a few, we now need to know about your experience. The survey takes only 6 minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist us in analyzing the results of the survey; the WMF will not use the information to identify you. If this invitation also appears on other accounts you may have, please complete the survey once only. If this has been sent to you in error and you have never patrolled new pages, please ignore it. Please click HERE to take part. Many thanks in advance for providing this essential feedback. You are receiving this invitation because you have patrolled new pages. For more information, please see NPP Survey

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of Wiki Media Foundation at 11:04, 25 October 2011 (UTC).[reply]

Your comment on the matter has been moved back to WP:RSN from the archives. Thanks for commenting. Zuggernaut (talk) 02:30, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This is my latest article. Feel free to make any improvements. --Doug Coldwell ^talk 19:18, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Expanded article. Any ideas for a DYK hook?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 11:22, 4 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I've made it more concise. Does it need more "fine tuning"? Good Article possibility?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 16:38, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How do I go about getting Otium reassessed to possible B-Class and getting a higher assessment of "importance"?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 15:14, 9 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, Doug. I don't have the slightest understanding of these classifications and assessments or the least involvement with them. Same with DYK. I was warned off these areas years ago and never touch them. Good luck. Andrew Dalby 15:55, 9 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think most of our fellow-editors will realize that you're pulling their legs on Talk:Falafel re pha-la-phel. --Macrakis (talk) 12:29, 3 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Just explained what you asked for (Goethe). Thank you for your consideration.--69.232.73.16 (talk) 13:29, 13 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I appreciated you taking the time to comment. The remark about the "stick" was well observed. Thanks -- Zac Δ ^talk! 14:52, 6 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Just letting you know I raised that plagiarism issue for discussion. -- Zac Δ ^talk! 19:02, 7 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm fed up with your righteous attitude! You don't need "sources", just common sense not to merge Eudokia, daughter of protosebastos & protovestiarios Alexios Komnenos, and wife of William VIII of Montpellier, with her aunt, Eudokia, daughter of sebastokrator Isaak Komnenos, and wife of Odone Frangipani and Paganello di Porcaria. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM%2010571204.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/gotha/byz1.html

http://www.friesian.com/history/rome-15m.gif

Steliokardam (talk) 16:04, 6 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Err ... you seem to have some sources. So that's OK then, isn't it? Cite them on the page(s) and separate the ladies. Andrew Dalby 17:23, 6 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, you got me now: When is a non-wikipedian website reliable as a source? Steliokardam (talk) 15:11, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good question :) And I'm sorry if I only seem to be carping on the sidelines: I am too busy on a completely different real-world issue right now to look back into my notes on the Komnenoi.

Wikipedia prefers "published" "peer-reviewed" sources. I believe that none of the ones you list above qualify. For medieval genealogy such sources can be difficult to find. But personally I consider one of those three sources -- Medlands -- streets ahead of the other two, because it cites and quotes its own sources, clearly, right there at the point of detail. The other two both appear to have been compiled by serious people, but they aren't telling us what sources they used (at least, not on the pages you show me, and from those I wasn't able to navigate to others). So, anyway, personally I trust Medlands, and if you develop the pages based on what Medlands says and citing Medlands I will raise no objection at all. In fact, I wish you good luck! Andrew Dalby 15:55, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Would you know by any chance to which noticeboard I should take that issue? Thanks in advance for your reply. Hearfourmewesique (talk) 14:08, 24 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See my answer on the file talk page at Commons. We'll see what happens next ... Andrew Dalby 10:52, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for all your help. Hearfourmewesique (talk) 19:40, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I still not receiving the books for GLAM Derby competition months ago. Can I have the delivery confirmation or I miss something? Thank you. Sanko (talk) 07:47, 28 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Very sorry about this, Sanko. Let's ask Victuallers -- I hope he will know the details of this arrangement. I'll copy this to his talk page. Andrew Dalby 19:26, 28 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You may participate in the discussion if you have interest with this topic. --George Ho (talk) 10:25, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew. Have you seen this? Do you think you can help? Regards, Paul August ☎ 16:05, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I saw. It distressed me. I'll add a comment. Andrew Dalby 16:26, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! From your edits, it looks like you might be interested in contributing to WikiProject Romania. It is a project aimed at organizing and improving the quality and accuracy of articles related to Romania. Thanks and best regards!

--Codrin.B (talk) 05:56, 21 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for introducing a much needed note of compromise to the Onward Muslim Soldiers issue. I take it you are Andrew "Dictionary of Languages" Dalby. Am I right? Tigerboy1966 (talk) 12:15, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Missed your post as it wasn't in chronological order. I probably missed it, but are you sure he says it was restored? I see where he says some publications restored 'Dr' to his name, but I don't actually see where he claims to have a PhD, and it isn't in his bio on his website. Could you reply to my post on this which is at the bottom of the thread? Thanks. Dougweller (talk) 18:30, 18 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew - see the bottom of my talk page. Trying to do that trick again. Any comments? Can you see the bug? This is a WHOLE town and they are installing WiFi just for us - This is a WIKI Town!!! Victuallers (talk) 12:59, 29 February 2012 (UTC) As usual I'm very grateful for any help I get. If you get a chance to start off the entrants page or to do a few thank yous when you have a bored moment then that would be great ! Oh and good look on the Oregon trail. btw. QRpedia was 2nd in best UK mobile idea as of 3 hours ago Victuallers (talk) 13:42, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You did very well at this last time! Victuallers (talk) 13:45, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew, If we get to choose then lets have you as an entrant. Maybe you could still do the occasional "Wow thats good" and "I see you are gaining on Jim now" to encourage the others. I think we found out that we can do Welsh language support using QRpedia - so that will be great. I see we already have a latin Monmouthshire! - there is a Roman town of Monmouth and Monmouth Archaelogical Society might be intrigued. The main "use" will be on the Grade 1 and II listed buildings as we will have plaques on the front that tourists can click on. Really great to have you on board - There is a party on April 21 (webstreamed) and the UK AGM might interest you in May at the Science museum - want to talk? Victuallers (talk) 16:14, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. As discussed in the wp:rsn, the two articles are almost identical: Bharatiya_Vidya_Bhavan's_Public_School,_BHEL and Bharatiya_Vidya_Bhavan_Public_School . Going by your suggestion "you can boldly replace the whole text of the non-preferred page with a redirect to the preferred title", I would like you to help me with the syntax. I've seen a similar thing in the WP articles education and teaching, but I could not get into the coding aspect. Regards, Hindustanilanguage (talk) 16:34, 17 March 2012 (UTC).[reply]

I'll tell you how to do it: if my explanation doesn't make sense, feel free to ask again and I'll do it for you! Here's the explanation.

1. Choose the page that you think is nearest to perfection (so far as we mortals can attain perfection!) let's call it page B
2. Copy any text that you think is useful out of the other page (page A) into your chosen page (page B)
3. Now, go back to page A, click "edit" and delete the whole text leaving an empty edit window. Don't save yet
4. In the empty edit window type this: #REDIRECT [[]] and inside those double brackets type the name of page B. Make sure you get the name exactly right: it's best to use copy-and-paste from the actual title of page B, if your browser will do this for you. Still don't save yet
5. In the edit summary type "Merging pages". It is important to do this because otherwise it will appear that you are deleting text
6. Now save. You have created a redirect page!

I hope that works for you. Andrew Dalby 17:00, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Merging of the two Wikipedia articles done. Thank for your advice, effort and guidance. There is one more thing: although politeness and patience is exhibited by many Wikipedia editors and admins, one rarely comes across the pleasant, supportive and welcoming approach as reflected in the words which you typed. Hindustanilanguage (talk) 21:41, 17 March 2012 (UTC).[reply]

Thanks a lot for your reply, I appreciate it. The source is used in several places: [1] [2] , but I was referring especially to this particular article: [3]. It is also an opened thread on the talk page: Talk:Origin_of_the_Romanians#Andr.C3.A9_Du_Nay. If you want, you can post a comment there. Your opinion, as a third party, would be welcomed.

P.S. I've just read your profile and I can say I am impressed, it is an honor to be a colleague in the wikipedia project with you 79.117.174.178 (talk) 11:10, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Banned user Iaaasi has been soliciting users by e-mail in an attempt to get people to edit on his behalf. Please do not act upon any instructions issued by this banned user.

Fakirbakir (talk) 15:01, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's OK, I never follow anyone's instructions :) I have received no emails on this subject. Andrew Dalby 16:06, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

User:Fakirbakir found a review of the book: [4] but unfortunately the view of the document is not free. Do you happen to have access to it? The opinion of the American historian Keith Hitchins, honorific Members of the Romanian Academy would be really interesting 79.117.167.76 (talk) 09:06, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nice find. I was able to look at this review (which says nothing about Du Nay's expertise or other work). According to Hitchins, Du Nay has argued one side of the case (well, as we know, that often happens on this issue!) and he has marshalled the linguistic arguments well. Du Nay has not dealt adequately with the archaeological evidence. No satisfactory conclusions could therefore be reached. Based on this review, my suggestion would be that Du Nay could be cited on our page for his linguistic approach and evidence, but, if citing him, we should give his name in the text. It would be better to find other sources for archaeological evidence and for general conclusions.

You're welcome to copy this opinion of mine if it's useful, but please copy all of it -- don't select words. Thanks! Andrew Dalby 09:45, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for your answer. Is your suggestion to remove this table that could be not very accurate because of his inadequate use of archaeological evidence?

PS Is is possible to copy-paste here or send me via e-mail at dangramescu[at]gmail[dot]com the pdf file containing the review? 79.117.217.224 (talk) 10:09, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew, thank you for your input at Protogenoi. I've joined you at Vicipaedia with Mulierum Catalogus, an article that will probably be written in dribs and drabs as I try to finish the Wikipedia version. Should you ever have a hankering for some Hesiodea, please drop by the page: my Latin comp professor considered me a mongrel, and I'm sure that you'd quickly catch any infelicities (and outright grammatical errors). Best, — cardiff | chestnut — 14:56, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew

Just wanted to thank you for all your work on Monmouth related articles, really great. Mrjohncummings (talk) 19:50, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's a pleasure! I'm rather focusing on Latin to begin with, but I intend to vary this ... Andrew Dalby 20:33, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Cheers Victuallers (talk) 23:22, 26 March 2012 (UTC)[reply] 

I'll try - but is there a link to Monmouth? Oh and the Domsday project is alive. We propose to write 12,000 Domesday refs in Latin and push to the Latin Wikipedia????? Victuallers (talk) 13:25, 29 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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On 7 April 2012, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Cradle of Henry V, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that George V gave the cradle (pictured) that was said to be that of Henry of Monmouth (later Henry V who was at Agincourt) to the London Museum? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Cradle of Henry V.You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and it will be added to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Panyd^{The muffin is not subtle} 00:01, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. Enjoy your research! Cheers, Ocaasi ^{t | c} 20:31, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Andrew,

For you information, on WP-fr I have blocked EtrapaNo6 as a sock puppy of Double Vigie. This kind of threat was indeed unacceptable. Best regards — S t a r u s – Talk – 16:55, 21 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Starus (talk • contribs) [reply]

Hello Andrew,

I will try to explain.

Firstly A few hard facts. The Le Gros and many other noble family lines have been written out of history to suit the likes of the Saxe-Coburgs (current monarchs), who took the name "le Windsor" as their title. Surely we all know that they are from the Hanoverian Line, House_of_Este. It's a fact that Windsor castle and many other castles in England, Wales, Eire, and elsewhere in Europe, were built by the Normans, who were the original European Masons.

Secondly the transliteration of French names into Welsh names and English names leads to much confusion, especially as the transliterators do so without consulting the factual historic records from the country of origin. They do not have all the information. or seek to render the separation of history to their liking, for example Guillaume_Le_Conquereur is the French name of the Norman Monarch, who in English is referred to as William the Conqueror.

Thirdly Barri or Barry is the title of a place, named by the Normans, so it makes sense to assume that people from Barri can not be the progenitors of Barri / Barry. Although they might, by rote, be a part of the families descended from the Normans.

In order to fully understand the history of the world we need to separate the fact from the fiction. In these cases, what has been anglicised existed in French first. BTW I am an English born descendent from the Le Gros & De Clare Ancestral lines, so it is my historical interest alone to put the record straight.

Peace and blessings to all those who are by whatever means descended from these great families. Marcus MarcusLeDain (talk) 15:48, 22 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'll reply on your talk page. Andrew Dalby 17:08, 22 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for giving me a chance to explain MarcusLeDain (talk) 15:51, 22 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andrew, I went about trying to move the associated pages in the wrong way. Could you please cast a !vote at Talk:Phineas#Requested move? Thank you — ^[dave] cardiff | _chestnut — 16:01, 23 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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The article The Children's Crusade (novel) has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

This novel now looks pretty obscure, it is not clear if it was ever translated into English, it does not have an entry on the French Wikipedia, and it is possible that Henry Treece's novel of the same name is now better known, at least in Britain. It can be dealt with briefly in the article on the author.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. PatGallacher (talk) 15:01, 29 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have recently left a "heads up" note at User talk:Fifelfoo#Menachery at RSN. You have also been involved in the RSN discussion to which the note relates. - Sitush (talk) 16:23, 3 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Charles Rolls Challenge, Silver Contributor

For your efforts in contributing articles to the Monmouthpedia project, you were one of the top 15 contributors in the Charles Rolls Challenge, Thank you! We're pretty sure Monmouth is the best documented town in Wales, in many languages probably the best in the world. We've started a new competition, The Geoffrey of Monmouth Challenge, please tell people about it and feel free to enter yourself :) Please email your address to john.cummings@monmouthpedia.org so I can send you your prizes Mrjohncummings (talk) 17:08, 3 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Brilliant to hear from you again - I suspect we will have to extend the finish date for the send challenge. We are being asked to extend the spread of words to nearby towns. I'm not sure if you are fluent in written French but any assistance of Monmouth Heritage Trail articles would be especially useful (maybe a posting? as we are esp. missing French German and Dutch). As you say that's the one that is most likely to be clicked on in the street. However these are only favours so any offerings are welcome. Would the Linguist magazine be interested in a follow up? I do fantacise that the Scottish Latin or Esperanto society might choose Monmouth or Derby for its annual trip ... but no evidence of this yet. Victuallers (talk) 15:40, 8 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Food and cookery journals, which you created, has been nominated for discussion. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. Guillaume2303 (talk) 16:29, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

		MonmouthpediA Barnstar
		Thank you for the almost superhuman effort you have put into Monmouth related articles, really appreciate it, hopefully most articles that have been written will get QRpedia codes, currently your article on the Cradle of Henry V has a code in Monmouth Museum. Thanks again Mrjohncummings (talk) 16:25, 11 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Good Morning Dr. Dalby,

I am disturbing you because at the moment there is a discussion about Baklava regarding the following sentence:

"But Claudia Roden (New Book of Middle Eastern Food, 2000, ISBN 0-375-40506-2) and Andrew Dalby Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, 1997, ISBN 0-415-15657-2) find no evidence for it in Arab, Greek, or Byzantine sources before the Ottoman period."

Another user removed your reference, since he suspects that you don't mention Baklava in your work. Yesterday evening I realized that I do have your book, although in the German Edition (I never understood why foreign publishers keep changing the original title :-)). I browsed it half an hour, and actually I did not find any mention of this cake there. I wonder if this reference got lost in the German translation, or I could not find it, or actually you never wrote about Baklava in your book (maybe the user who put this reference assumes this as a proof in Evidence of absence :-)). A last remark: Perry thinks that layered breads in Central Asia are the ancestors of Baklava. But we know for sure that in the Greek-Roman world layered cakes (as Plancenta) did exist. On account of this, could not be possible to assume a "western" (Greek-Roman) origin of this cake? Thanks, Alex2006 (talk) 08:10, 23 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Alex, I have now commented on that talk page. Andrew Dalby 11:58, 23 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hallo Andrew, thanks for your answer! I take also this occasion to thank you - with some delay - for your recipe of Placenta. For the MMDCCL Dies Natalis of my birthplace, I organized a roman dinner with other friends living like me along the "Obergermanisches Limes". The meal was modern roman, but the cake was a Placenta of Catonian :-) proportions, prepared according to your recipe. It was a great surprise for them, and a huge success for me! Thanks again, Alex2006 (talk) 15:19, 24 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

could you check one more time please? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard#Reliable_source_for_criticism --Kazemita1 (talk) 23:27, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

New question posted. Thanks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard#Homa_Katouzian --24.94.18.234 (talk) 06:22, 7 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, this is more of a general query than one relating to a specific article, which makes things awkward if I raise it at WP:RSN. Do you have any opinions on the use of Hobson-Jobson as a source for etymological statements? I'd also ask Itsmejudith if they were around because they have some familiarity with Indic stuff, but they've not edited for a couple of weeks. - Sitush (talk) 11:32, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Sitush, interesting question. I would consider Hobson-Jobson an excellent source. The authors were trained and expert philologists, the work has never been replaced by anything more up-to-date (as indicated by the fact that it is regularly reprinted and has been converted to database form at the University of Chicago). Indian linguistics "came of age" in their time, so their approach to word history is only superficially different from that of the scholars of today. Of course there will be cases where knowledge not available to Yule and Burnell affects their statement of a particular etymology: in such a case we'd cite a more recent source. But in general, I'd say, use them. Andrew Dalby 12:00, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

OK. That is a good analysis. Thanks very much. - Sitush (talk) 13:00, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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