This editor is an Auspicious Looshpah and is entitled to display this Book of All Knowledge with Secret Appendix.

I'm Herostratus, I'm a Wikipedia editor and have been since 2005.

My user name was taken in ironic memorialization of the original Herostratus, the greatest vandal of all time, who destroyed the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

I created the Wikipedia Service Awards, which I conceived, wrote, made the images for, published, and shepherded thru deletion attempts. (Other talented editors and better artists have since expanded and improved the awards, of course.)

If I should ever abruptly stop editing, the explanation is probably related to this.

Editor

Areas of activity

I have no particular focus and perform a number of random tasks depending on fancy: translating articles from the Russian Wikipedia, writing articles, article cleanup, watching pages, participating in discussions, closing an occasional RfC, and other stuff. I have no areas of content expertise, and write, translate, and edit articles on a wide variety of subjects.

Articles

I've written or started about 330 articles.

List of articles written

People[edit]

Places[edit]

Things[edit]

Almost all of these are pretty short, but on the other hand I greatly expanded or effectively rewrote a few articles, too (Baby Huey (singer), Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, SpinnWebe, Battle of annihilation, Child sexuality, Ansel Franklin Hall, George Frazier, William Turnbull (artist), Kostroma River, Julia Pirie, 2 Rossi Street, List of Katy Perry songs, Bergen Davis, Gırgır, Trud (newspaper), Curtis Gans, Press-Telegram, Forest Tennant, American Pie Council, James Cox (labourer), Bob Emery (broadcaster), Bishops and archbishops of Bolnisi, Edward Aswell, Kennedy Report on the Reserve Army, Neo-American Church, Lafayette Place Mall, Karin Hübner, Charles Feltman, Battle of Volochayevka, Bouncy ball, Judy Valentine, Kekionga Ball Grounds, Ox Eckhardt, Sailor Song, Castlewood State Park, Loudest band, Steve Sesnick, Edward Whitehead, Wikipedia:Alphabetical order (article names), Aloe Plaza, Hugh James (RAF officer), Turkish coup d'état, others).

But then on the other hand, I've never contributed to any Good Articles or Featured Articles. (I think the GA/FA program is a fine thing, it just don't seem to grab my interest; I guess moving articles from "not really all that good" to "not so bad", and working on my own, suits me better. I have at least one Featured List though.) I have 12 DYKs: This user wrote Barbara Follett (novelist), which was included in Did You Know? This user wrote Gabriele von Lutzau, which was included in Did You Know? This user wrote Valerik (poem), which was included in Did You Know? This user co-wrote Julia Pirie, which was included in Did You Know? This user translated Malaya Sadovaya Street, which was included in Did You Know? This user translated Battle of the Valerik River, which was included in Did You Know? This user wrote Le Dernier Homme, which was included in Did You Know? This user translated Hotel Arctic (Murmansk), which was included in Did You Know?This user wrote The dog ate my homework, which was included in Did You Know?This user wrote Who's Bigger: Where Historical Figures Really Rank, which was included in Did You Know? This user 5x expanded American Pie Council, which was included in Did You Know? This user wrote Ninestane Rig, which was included in Did You Know? This user wrote Cobra King (tank), which was included in Did You Know?. Most of my stuff is serious, but I do have at least two articles at Wikipedia:Unusual articles.

Translations

I've translated 120 articles from the Russian Wikipedia.

List of articles translated
People
Places
Things

Graphics

I've drawn or patched together a few article graphics, and graphics for internal use such as vandal-warning templates. I mean I'm no artist (I have been informed) and some of them were made in PC-Paint, but still, I made them and I might as well own up to them I guess.

Some sample graphics
         
Small craft advisory. (Low to moderate level of vandalism)
4.6 RPM according to CpX41 via RedWarn21:21, 9 April 2024 (UTC) change


(In the last one, I only added the the "no" circle-slash to an existing graphic.)

AfD Stats

When I stopped keeping count, I had the following AfD contribution stats: of 607 AFD comments, 32% were "Keep" and 68% were "Delete"; but 25% of the articles on which I voted "Keep" were deleted, while only 16% of the articles on which I voted "Delete" were kept. These stats indicate that I'm slightly more inclusionist than the general population. UPDATE: found this cool tool which seems to show that I'm just about at the center of the deletionist–inclusionist bell curve.

Former administrator


This editor was a
Senior Administrator
and is entitled to display this
Silver Service Badge

I'm a former administrator on the English Wikipedia. I was made an admin in 2006 but I was recalled for cause in 2010, which is how it's supposed to work. My admin logs: block, deletion, protection. When I stopped keeping count, I had closed 257 AfD's with a result of 39% Keep or No Consensus to Delete, 38% Delete, and 23% all other outcomes including Merge etc.

Modo aliquid addere debebam ut insigne not tatam paginae format, sic hic accedit.

Solus editor sum, qui se sponte obtulit ad revocandum et processum usque ad finem secutus. Unicus. Sperabam fore ut haec praxis interdum regularus fieret et auxilium impediret vel saltem tardaret, ah processu cui omnes humanae consociationes subiciuntur.

Certe nigrum novum non fiebat, quod dissapointum sed non miror, et non est futurum etiam si vellemus. Vides ergo ubi sumus, aut fortasse non. Alioqui homines, et de eo nimium solliciti esse non potes.

Iuppiter, imple vacuum. Recte igitur hoc: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua... tristique senectus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames. Et malesuada fames ac turpis... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet... memento mori." -- Ethan Shredlew

Recognition

Barnstars

I've had the good fortune to have been awarded 45 barnstars.

Barnstar ribbons

Pre-WikiLove barnstars[edit]

Of these 8 (*) are arguably questionable as 1) logrolling (barnstars received from someone to whom one has given a barnstar), 2) barnstars from a Wikifriend, 3) barnstars in excess of one received from the same person, or 4) barnstars received from someone whom one has supported on some issue or in some situation.

Post-WikiLove barnstars[edit]

Of these 2 (*) are arguably questionable as 1) logrolling (barnstars received from someone to whom one has given a barnstar), 2) barnstars from a Wikifriend, 3) barnstars in excess of one received from the same person, or 4) barnstars received from someone whom one has supported on some issue or in some situation.

And this was nice: "Herostratus: you are doing great work here." -- Jimbo Wales, Nov 24 2010

Not Barnstars

But then, on the other hand...
  • This userpage or its subpages have been Visigothed by more than a dozen different mefandissimi Langobardi. Why should the Vandals get all the bad press? How would you like it?
  • I've been ripped to shreds on Something Awful. For background on this, see It's A Wonderful World.
  • I've been ripped to shreds on Wikipedia Review. For background on this, see Holy Jumping Catfish!.
  • I've been ripped to shreds on Encyclopaedia Dramatica. For backgr... never mind. But the link is https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Herostratus (you have to copy and paste it, as spambot doesn't allow an active link).
  • I haven't been ripped to shreds on Wikipediocracy, but I've been insulted in a kind of offhand and desultory way ("idiot" and so forth) a couple times, more just a function of their autonomic nervous system firing than over any particular matter I guess. I don't have the links because tedious. Ooh, "bloviator" 3/26/16... heh, somebody got a grownup to help with words!
  • I've been blocked twice.
  • I've been strongly admonished by the ArbCom.
  • I've had my administrator rights revoked by the Wikipedia community.

Useful Links

To clarify, this is stuff I find useful in my work. I'm not saying that these are necessarily useful to anyone else.

Quick templates

Images[edit]

[[File: | thumb | upright | right | alt= | caption ]]

Cite web[edit]

<ref>((cite web
 |url= 
 |title= 
 |author= 
 |date= 
 |website= 
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 
))</ref>

Cite journal[edit]

<ref>((cite journal
 |last1= 
 |first1= 
 |last2= 
 |first2= 
 |date= 
 |title= 
 |journal= 
 |volume= 
 |issue= 
 |pages= 
 |publisher= 
 |doi= 
 |url= 
 |access-date= 
))</ref>

Cite book (short)[edit]

<ref>((cite book
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |author-link= 
 |title= 
 |publisher= 
 |series= 
 |date=  
 |doi= 
 |isbn= 
))</ref>

Cite book (extended)[edit]

<ref>((cite book
 |last1        = 
 |first1       = 
 |last2        = 
 |first2       = 
 |author-link1 = 
 |author-link2 = 
 |editor       = 
 |title        = 
 |trans-title  = 
 |url          = 
 |access-date  = 
 |edition      = 
 |series       = 
 |volume       = 
 |date         = 
 |publisher    = 
 |location     = 
 |isbn         = 
 |doi          = 
 |page         = 
 |pages        = 
 |chapter      = 
))</ref>

Metric conversions[edit]

Single input:
((convert|original_value|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on))
Range of values:
((convert|orig_val1|range|orig_val2|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on))
Examples:
((convert|60|and|170|kg|lb|abbr=on))
((convert|18|°C|°F))
((convert|3.21|kg|lb))

Variables[edit]

Code Effect
((CURRENTWEEK)) 15
((CURRENTDOW)) 2
((CURRENTMONTH)) 04
((CURRENTMONTHNAME)) April
((CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN)) April
((CURRENTDAY)) 9
((CURRENTDAYNAME)) Tuesday
((CURRENTYEAR)) 2024
((CURRENTTIME)) 23:44
((NUMBEROFARTICLES)) 6,810,103
((NUMBEROFPAGES)) 60,387,436
((NUMBEROFUSERS)) 47,227,362
((PAGENAME)) Herostratus
((NAMESPACE)) User
((REVISIONID)) -
((REVISIONUSER)) Herostratus
((localurl:pagename)) /wiki/Pagename
((localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit)) /w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit
((fullurl:pagename)) //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagename
((fullurl:pagename|query_string)) //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string
((SERVER)) //en.wikipedia.org
((ns:index)) e.g. '((ns:1))' fullname of namespace e.g 'Talk'
((SITENAME)) Wikipedia

Recalling named reference[edit]

<ref name="NAMEOFREF" />

Quotes[edit]

((blockquote |text= |sign= ))

Blockquotes[edit]

<blockquote>
<p>QUOTED PARAGRAPH</p>
<p>NAME, SOURCE, REFERENCE</p>
</blockquote>

About[edit]

(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see About (disambiguation).)
((About|USE1))
(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see PAGE2.)
((About|USE1||PAGE2))
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.)
((About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2))
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For USE4, see PAGE4. For USE5, see PAGE5.)
((About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5))

Tables (borderless)[edit]

{|
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

Tables (wikitable)[edit]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

Collapsible tables (Default: collapsed)[edit]

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: left;margin:0px;"
|- 
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN1
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN2
|- 
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|-
|}

Columns[edit]

((col-begin|width=100%))
((col-break|width=)) 
((col-end))

Interwiki links[edit]

Wiki Shortcut
Wikimedia Commons [[commons:]]
Wikipedia [[w:]]
Wiktionary [[wikt:]]
Wikibooks [[b:]]
Wikisource [[s:]]
Wikispecies [[species:]]
Metawiki [[m:]]
MediaWiki [[mw:]]

Vandalism response templates[edit]

 * ((subst:uw-vandalism1|PageName)) ~~~~ (unintentional vandalism/test)
 * ((subst:uw-delete1|PageName)) ~~~~ (unintentional removal of content)
 * ((subst:uw-vandalism2|PageName)) ~~~~ (suitable for intentional nonsense or disruption)
 * ((subst:uw-delete2|PageName)) ~~~~ (variant for removal of content)
 * ((subst:uw-vandalism3|PageName)) ~~~~ ("please stop" for use after level 2 warning)
 * ((subst:uw-delete3|PageName)) ~~~~ (please stop removing content)
 * ((subst:uw-vandalism4|PageName)) ~~~~ (last warning for vandalism)
 * ((subst:uw-delete4|PageName)) ~~~~ (last warning for removing content)
 * ((subst:uw-vandalism4im|PageName)) ~~~~ (only warning; for severe or grotesque vandalism only)
 * ((subst:uw-delete4im|PageName)) ~~~~ (only warning; for many blankings in a short period of time)

Page citations[edit]

((rp|page=))

((sfn | Smith| 1924 | p=3)) or pp=3,7-13 additional names after Smith ((rp|37)) for lots of citations to 1 book

url-access=subscription

((xt|text)) give green text

''((interlanguage link|Hooglede town hall|nl|Gemeentehuis van Hooglede))'' gives "[[Hooglede town hall]] [nl]" which points to the Dutch Wikipedia article "Gemeentehuis van Hooglede"

Google Trends shows google searches for a term Google Ngram scrapes a plethora of books for a term

((WikiProject FOOBAR)) for new articles

((Do not move to Commons)), used when the file would violate Commons policy ((Keep local)), used when the file is probably eligible for Commons but you prefer that a local copy be kept too

((Annual readership|days=90|expanded=true)) editor interaction analyzer

This dashboard (talk)
Tools
Citing sources
  • ProveIt GT (Highly recommended!)
    • Enable ProveIt at your preferences under 'Gadgets'; it will then appear in in the edit box. Create references by filling in fields such as URL, page title, etc.
  • Citation Tool for Google Books (Highly recommended!)
    • Search database at https://books.google.com with desired keyword(s). Once you find a page containing what you need, copy and paste page URL into the Citation Tool, and it will instantly generate a ref you can add directly to Wikipedia
  • HathiTrust Digital Library similar to Google Books
  • Project Gutenberg
  • Google Newspaper Archive
    • The free Google Newspaper Archive is a searchable database of old newspapers. Once you find the article you need, copy/paste URL, date, author, etc. into ProveIt.

Etc.


Patrol

More Useful Links

Съ нами Богъ![edit]

editing, formatting, etc.[edit]

tools[edit]

pix[edit]

  • [[File:Wikipe-tan head.png|60px]]
  • [[File:Wikipe-tan do not.png|80px]]
  • fish

More Patrol[edit]

Categories[edit]

BLP[edit]

Discussions[edit]

Editing tips[edit]

Rules[edit]

Wikipedia[edit]

Dispute resolution[edit]

Admin stuff[edit]

Miscellaneous Essays Etc.[edit]

Essays

Herostratus writes essays.

Herostratus's essays

Mainspace essays[edit]

Userspace essays[edit]

Allegedly "humorous" essays[edit]

Holding pen[edit]

Quotes

Some quotes (by other people, not by me) that I find interesting or instructive.

Quotes
This list is incomplete. That is its nature.
  • From the crooked timber of mankind, no straight thing was ever made. Immanuel Kant. The Wikipedia is populated by human beings. If you were expecting to find a place that did not sometimes have politics, unfairness, nice guys and bastards, stars and outcasts, leaders and toadies, cliques and backbiting and all the rest, Nirvana is down the hall to the left. Look: talking monkeys is your basic bad idea. They should have started straight off with the robots. But we have to deal with what we have.
  • I am a man. Nothing human is alien to me. Terence. If I object to your editing, that does not mean that I belittle your circumstance. (Applies particularly to certain editors, you know who you are.)
  • To denounce moralizing out of hand is to pronounce a moral judgment. H. L. Mencken said that. You never cease being a moral player on this planet. Never, not for one instant. I said that. Sitting down at a keyboard does not remove you from the moral universe, and "I was only following orders" was ripped to shreds at Nuremburg. Remember that Great Darwin, who lives in the sky, will presently call you to account before His mighty seat of judgment.
  • It is incumbent on all ACM members to contribute to society and human well-being, and avoid harm to others. Association for Computing Machinery Code of Ethics.[1]
  • Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. National Society for Professional Engineers Code of Ethics, First Fundamental Canon.[2]
  • Pornographer: Noun. One who is involved in the creation or dissemination of pornography. Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary.[3] If this term applies to you, don't blame the dictionary or the person citing it.
  • No man can serve two masters [...] You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24. If you're editing the Wikipedia for pay, then either you are subverting the Wikipedia to your client's interest or you are not. If it's the former, you should not be here. If it's the latter, your client should fire you. There is no third path.
  • The graveyards are full of indispensable people. Charles de Gaulle. If you have 87 featured articles or whatever but are not willing to abide by the rules, we'll manage without you.
  • To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous. Voltaire.
  • I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. Ulysses S. Grant.
  • I don't know. Bob Dylan, on being asked by an interviewer "Are you being deliberately rude, or are you just bored?"
  • No. Elvis Presley, on being asked by an interviewer, "Elvis, have you learned anything from all this criticism of you?"
  • Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you do and I will tell you what you believe. Ha, great quote to sum up values clarification in one sentence. The only attribution I can find right off is to Alex Trebek and maybe that's right. What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. (Emerson) is a similar thought.
  1. ^ ACM Code of Ethics
  2. ^ NSPE Code of Ethics
  3. ^ Definition of "ponographer" at Wiktionary



Volume 20, Issue 5 — 2024-03-29


The Landfill

Old archives, garbage, &c. solely of interest to Herostratus and kept for his personal use.

Random clutter

And Flyer. Fucken world.



Category