![](https://web.archive.org/web/20141005014420im_/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Editor_-_rhodium_star_II.jpg)
I'm Herostratus, I'm a Wikipedia editor and have been since 2005. If you're a new editor, or any editor, and have a question or seek guidance about any aspect of Wikipedia, I'll be glad to help you if I can.
If you email me, leave a note on my talk page here. I don't check my Wikipedia email inbox very often unless prompted.
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.
If I should ever suddenly disappear from the Wikipedia, 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 120 articles.
- People
- Places
|
|
|
- Things
Most of these were short and some were just stubs, 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), 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 twelve DYKs:
Translations
I've translated 89 articles from the Russian Wikipedia.
- People
|
|
|
- Places
|
|
|
- Things
|
|
|
Graphics
I've drawn or patched together a few article graphics, and graphics for internal use such as vandal-warning templates.
Service Awards
I created the Wikipedia Service Awards which I conceived, wrote, drew the pictures for, and published. (Other talented editors have since expanded and improved these awards.)
Pedophilia Watch
I watched and edited articles related to child sexuality and pedophilia for several years, but not anymore.
I founded the Pedophilia Article Watch Wikiproject in 2006 to help publicize problems in this sometimes-troublesome area, with a view to helping mobilize collective action to extirpate poorly sourced slanted material and quash over-emphasis on fringe points of view. The Wikiproject is no longer active, mainly because the need is no longer so pressing (thanks in part to the ArbCom becoming more aware of this issue) and I semi-retired from this work in 2010 (except for continuing to watch the WP:PAW itself).
It's important to note that many other more talented and erudite editors have been and remain much more active and effective in this important effort than I, who lack the intellectual candlepower to be any kind of an expert in this area.
For more on why I edited in this area (2005-2010), and my thoughts on the subject, see the essay Pedophilia and Me.
Integrity (Paid Advocacy Watch)
I don't know if this is ever going to amount to much, and I have limited interest in shepherding it right now, but another editor took it public, so there you are: Wikipedia:WikiProject Integrity (formerly named "Paid Advocacy Watch", which is probably more accurate, but that other project is named "Wikipedia:WikiProject Cooperation" and no reason to let them have the only sporty title).
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.
Former administrator
I'm a former administrator on the English Wikipedia. I was made an admin in 2006 but my performance was judged lacking and I was recalled in 2010. 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.
Recognition
Barnstars
I've had the good fortune to have been awarded 39 barnstars (33 before WikiLove, 6 since).
Pre-WikiLove barnstars
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
(Which is not including barnstars amounting to random trolling, which I suppose can be expected somewhat with WikiLove: ,
)
And this was nice: "Herostratus: you are doing great work here." -- Jimbo Wales, Nov 24 2010
Not Barnstars
- 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.se/Herostratus (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.
- 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.
- Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines
- Wikipedia:Backlog | Wikipedia:Contribution Team/Backlogs | Wikipedia:Page Curation
Quick Templates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
- <ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |accessdate=October 5, 2014}}</ref>
- <ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |trans_title= |author= |date= |work= |accessdate=October 5, 2014}} {{link language|ru}}</ref>
- <ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= |url= |accessdate=October 5, 2014 |year= |publisher= |isbn= |page= }}</ref>
- reference generatator | article link checker | webcite (request that a URL be archived)
- Category Tracker | Dashboard | Feedback requests | Open RfC's
- {{citation needed span|text=dubious text |reason= |date=October, 2014}}
- {{#tag:ref|inline text|group=notes}} {{reflist|group=notes}}
- Template:Sfn (for multiple page refs) | en dash (–) – em dash (—) —
Patrol
|
Съ нами Богъ!
|
|
|
editing, formatting, etc.
tools
pix
|
|
More Patrol
Categories
BLP
Discussions
Editing tips
|
Rules
Wikipedia
Dispute resolution
Admin stuff
Arbitration Enforcement Requests for Immediate Vandalism Intervention Requests for Page Protection |
Miscellaneous Essays Etc.
Essays
Herostratus writes essays.
Mainspace essays
Userspace essays
- WP:HURTS
- WP:NOT EVIL. I wrote this quite a long time ago, as a kind of attempt to deal with some of the issues that were eventually addressed by WP:BLP (which was being created around the same time). I actually proposed it as a policy (rejected), which is why it is bound about with weasely exceptions, in an attempt to be adopted. I wouldn't write it that way now.
- WP:AEO
Allegedly "humorous" essays
- WP:GUYINBAR
- Primogeniture
- Biographies of dead persons,
- Guidelines for uploading photographs
- Content Disclaimer Parody (I wouldn't have written this on Meta, which IMO is for Serious Business, but this page already existed there, and it wasn't funny, and they wouldn't delete it, so I had to do something.)
Quotes
Some quotes (by other people, not by me) that I find interesting or instructive.
- 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.
Volume 10, Issue 38 — 2014-10-01
- From the editor: The Signpost needs your help
- Dispatches: Let's get serious about plagiarism
- Featured content: Brothers at War
- Traffic report: Shanah Tovah
- WikiProject report: Animals, farms, forests, USDA? It must be WikiProject Agriculture
The Landfill
Old archives, garbage, &c. solely of interest to Herostratus and kept for his personal use.
- Template:Editnotices/Page/Wikipedia:Service awards
- WP:ENLIGHTENED (to be written someday)
- WP:UNC (to be written someday)
- User:Herostratus/He started it! (under construction)
- User:Herostratus/Understanding WP:NOTCENSORED (under construction)
- User:Herostratus/Wikipedia is enlightened (under construction)
- User:Herostratus/External Barnstars. I actually think this would be a good idea.
- User:Herostratus/Space Lady Sorry, Space Lady, you're probably not notable.
- User:Herostratus/List of non-notable spouses Old rather pointless mini-project, long abandoned.
- User:Herostratus/Gokkun incident Jan 2011 Oy.
- User:Herostratus/Cumfart incident Oy gevalt.
- User:Herostratus/wp child I have no idea what this is about.
- User:Herostratus/mints Right, the Periodic Table of the Breath Mints. Never got off the ground.
- User:Herostratus/Interview 3 Don't suppose I'll ever be nominated for admin (ya think?), but I have the interview ready anyway.
- User:Herostratus/List of The Angry Video Game Nerd episodes OMFG. For this I spent three months in college?
- User:Herostratus/ED page I'm famous, or at least infamous, I guess.
- User:Herostratus/Home My old user page.
- User:Herostratus/Closing censorship-split RfC This is actually a method for using a "jury" to make a difficult close. Not necessarily a bad idea.
- User:Herostratus/Administrator reconfirmation How to do it.
- User:Herostratus/My Back Pages My raw AFD vote data. Worthless.
- User:Herostratus/Ref vetting checklist (essay, now in Wikipedia space; have to keep this redirect for the edit history)
- User:Herostratus/sandbox