User talk:Boing! said Zebedee

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Username merge

Hi there! Just want to check with you... I know a user who has a unified global account, but has 1 non-English username on si-wiki. Is it technically possible to rename that non-English username on si-wiki, to the globally used English username, so that she has one unified account? Thanks in advance! Rehman 13:36, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi. The short answer is that I have no idea! But I'll ask at the global-renamers mailing list and see if I can get an answer for you - watch this space. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 14:46, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

@Rehman: Apparently something might be possible in some cases - can you tell me the two accounts so I can pass the information on to the experts? Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 15:01, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Thank you! @User:Sandaru, can you paste in the other (Sinhala) username here please? I cannot find it haha. Best regards, Rehman 15:15, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

It's සඳරූ. It's the same name for Sandaru in sinhala. Sandaru (talk) 09:33, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

I see both accounts have made edits on en.wiki and wikidata, so my guess is it won't be possible to merge them - but I've passed on the details to the experts, and I'll let you know what they say. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 09:47, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, Boing! :) Rehman 12:27, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Prevent archive. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 21:58, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

That ANI discussion

I've just been reading over the ANI discussion relating to Michael Hardy (the one that precipitated the arbitration case) and if you are willing I would like to discuss it with you (I was not following it in real time, so it is hard to get a handle on how it felt at the time).

I get the distinct impression that the only reason Michael Hardy's admin status was raised at all was because you looked it up and mentioned it. Would that be an accurate statement? Michael Hardy never mentioned his admin status. The 'I forbid anyone to disagree with me!!' section got closed by NeilN, and presumably things would have calmed down from that point (as happens many times at ANI), even with the section Michael Hardy opened later on. What caused things to carry on at ANI was you posting the 'This is an admin!' follow up where you say "Do we really have to put up with admins like this who give us all a bad name?" Following this, you then reviewed what he said about MjolnirPants at his (Michael Hardy's) talk page and blocked him. You did unblock later, but is it possible that your amazement that he was an admin at all clouded your judgement on whether a block was needed?

The other thing I am wondering is why an arbitration case was needed? Was this a massively important issue that needed resolving? Or did you file an arbitration case because you felt he gave admins a bad name and some sort of action was needed? I've read again what was said in the opening statements, and you said "this kind of aggressive overreaction can be significantly more intimidating when it comes from someone who is seen to be an admin". Is it possible that your block of Michael Hardy (with no warning) in itself escalated matters? I suspect a number of people were rather intimidated by your block, to the extent that they didn't dare speak up about it. One of the things that would be useful in this arbitration case, IMO, is a consideration of whether a warning should have been issued first.

Another thing is the reaction seen at the later ANI discussion (the boomerang one). Some of those comments really shocked me on reading them for the first time. What I see is a veteran editor (who happens to be an admin) very upset at what he perceives as the way he has been treated, and rather than being treated as an upset editor, he gets absolutely piled upon at ANI because he is an admin and isn't behaving the 'correct' way. In what way are the following comments justified to someone who is clearly upset?

Are you kidding me? WP:BOOMERANG. Quick and fast.

How you ever got the bit I will never know but I suggest you pack it in otherwise you're going to find yourself either blocked or desysopped, Stop trolling and improve the project like the rest of us.

Good for you, Would you like a medal ?

Speedy boomerang OH MY FKN GOD! I can't believe we have to go through this again? Does he not have any competence? Can someone explain to me why he constantly uses underscores?

Those are clearly instances of incivility that in other circumstances would warrant a warning of some kind (they contrast with some of those same users being civil earlier, but something seems to have made a number of people collectively snap and lose their cool, I suspect mainly because they saw an admin behaving like this). How would you feel if those comments had been directed at you? Would you accept others using that sort of language and tone at ANI or any other venue? If not, why was it acceptable then? Carcharoth (talk) 02:26, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

• Actually, if the above is too t;ldr, I'm trying to work out in what way this arbitration case will improve Wikipedia? Does making an example out of one admin really make a difference? And is it worth the potential collateral damage and loss? Carcharoth (talk) 02:38, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

That discussion and the tone looks like a Young and the Restless scene here haha. but was oboviously fine here. ;) KGirlTrucker81 ^{talk what I'm been doing} 02:49, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

• @Carcharoth: I hope you'll forgive me if I don't want to continue this case here on my heavily-watched talk page, as I don't want to spread the contagion - there are already too many people involved who don't know when to shut up. But in the spirit of WP:ADMINACCT, I'll answer the basics. I made the block because I was seeing repeated false (or at the very least, exaggerated) accusations (including "hard core bully") in response to a very minor (admittedly snappy) interaction, but I'm happy to accept the consensus that it was a bad decision and I reversed it with what I think is a suitable log entry. Why ArbCom? Because there is no other process available to address the question of whether an admin is fit for the role - I don't like it being that way, but ArbCom alone has that remit. You make a lot of other points and ask questions that are certainly pertinent, but there's nothing I can say in response that would be any help now and I would only be extending the discussion needlessly. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 09:02, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
  • Thank you. That is a very reasonable and level-headed response. My view is that this whole conflict and how and why it escalated in the way it did is a symptom of a wider problem, one that ArbCom can't really resolve and that the community needs to address at some point (if it can). But as you say, that is best discussed elsewhere. Carcharoth (talk) 11:49, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
    • Yes, I certainly agree with those comments. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 14:53, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Could you take a look at a possible legal threat?

Hi Boing, you seem to be active at the moment - could you have a look at User_talk:RogerGLewis#August_2016? This and this are the diffs in question, with an edit summary including "Notice of possible legal action!". The editor in question refutes this being a legal threat, but I still feel this is adding a chilling affect to the ongoing AN/I thread - I'm aware that a block per WP:NLT would probably escalate the situation, so I'm a little at a loss of what to do about it. Thanks for your time -- samtar ^{talk or stalk} 09:25, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Really sorry, but I'm just heading out the door... Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 09:29, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

No worries, thank you regardless -- samtar ^{talk or stalk} 09:30, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

To interested admin talk page watchers, the issue has been resolved -- samtar ^{talk or stalk} 09:38, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Four years ago ...

buying of beer and firm stance
... you were recipient no. 219 of Precious, a prize of QAI!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:29, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Carelessness

Hi, Boing! I've just seen your latest comment at User talk:Aheedar regarding the block that you didn't undo and I did. I confess that, although I looked at your unblock decline, I can't have read it very thoroughly, because I didn't notice it was you who declined the request. Not that that matters, but if I can overlook the admin's name because I'm not reading thoroughly, then I could probably equally have overlooked something more important. I therefore can't complain when you say that you "should have taken more care" in checking before declining the unblock request. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 16:38, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

I did make a bit of a mess of that one - really can't remember what I was thinking at the time. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 16:44, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

Silly question

Thanks for the unlock, but now i have an dumb question

In what way can i share data ( this means direct contact ) with others in my talk page if linking to private servers is prohibited???

Which of the below can i use

• Sharing in the top of the talk page User:Jackqbox my Linkedin [[File:Linkedinrebound.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]]
• Sharing in the top of the talk page my real Email [[File:Mail-send.png|50px|link=Special:Contact]]
• any other suggestion????????? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jackqbox (talk • contribs) 12:51, 31 August 2016 (UTC)