All The Tropes Wiki Project, Part XXXII

[robkelk]

Thanks, Geth.

[robkelk]

Ah, jeeze, I just noticed something we've all overlooked. A new user by the name of "TheCajunPhoenix" has been systematically miscorrecting the possessive form of nouns that end in "s", from s-apostrophe to s-apostrophe-s. <sigh> Something for me to track down and fix, along with giving him a warning.

EDIT: Okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought at first glance, maybe a half dozen such changes in all. And honestly, different references say different things (including one that has different rules for nouns that are plural vs singular nouns that just happen to end in "S"), so he's probably just following the way he was taught. However, a lot of our style descends from the AP Stylebook, and we've been handling this exactly as the AP lays it out. Anyway, I undid those half-dozen or so cases, and left him a friendly note about it.

User:TheCajunPhoenix is now On Notice for ignoring a mod (specifically, ignoring Bob.) They tried to make an edit that was nothing but adding an "S" to a possessive that ended with an s.

[GethN7]

Ah, jeeze, I just noticed something we've all overlooked.  A new user by the name of "TheCajunPhoenix" has been systematically miscorrecting the possessive form of nouns that end in "s", from s-apostrophe to s-apostrophe-s.  <sigh>  Something for me to track down and fix, along with giving him a warning.

EDIT:  Okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought at first glance, maybe a half dozen such changes in all.  And honestly, different references say different things (including one that has different rules for nouns that are plural vs singular nouns that just happen to end in "S"), so he's probably just following the way he was taught.  However, a lot of our style descends from the AP Stylebook, and we've been handling this exactly as the AP lays it out.  Anyway, I undid those half-dozen or so cases, and left him a friendly note about it.

User:TheCajunPhoenix is now On Notice for ignoring a mod (specifically, ignoring Bob.) They tried to make an edit that was nothing but adding an "S" to a possessive that ended with an s.

On that note, how do we respond to this proposal to modify our style rules:

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:Mo...odid=25632

Said user has also confirmed they want the rules changed here:

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:Mo...odid=25633

[robkelk]

Ah, jeeze, I just noticed something we've all overlooked.  A new user by the name of "TheCajunPhoenix" has been systematically miscorrecting the possessive form of nouns that end in "s", from s-apostrophe to s-apostrophe-s.  <sigh>  Something for me to track down and fix, along with giving him a warning.

EDIT:  Okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought at first glance, maybe a half dozen such changes in all.  And honestly, different references say different things (including one that has different rules for nouns that are plural vs singular nouns that just happen to end in "S"), so he's probably just following the way he was taught.  However, a lot of our style descends from the AP Stylebook, and we've been handling this exactly as the AP lays it out.  Anyway, I undid those half-dozen or so cases, and left him a friendly note about it.

User:TheCajunPhoenix is now On Notice for ignoring a mod (specifically, ignoring Bob.) They tried to make an edit that was nothing but adding an "S" to a possessive that ended with an s.

On that note, how do we respond to this proposal to modify our style rules:

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:Mo...odid=25632

Said user has also confirmed they want the rules changed here:

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:Mo...odid=25633

I approved the edits, and replied to the actual "proposal" fact-checking the claims and asking for a proposal.

[Bob Schroeck]

Exactly the right thing to do.

I need to hit the mod queue today at some point and help clean it up. It's back up to more than 50 again.

Does anyone know what Hyoroemon is talking about on #51 that he can't post anything unless he cuts it down to just two tropes?

[GethN7]

Exactly the right thing to do.

I need to hit the mod queue today at some point and help clean it up.  It's back up to more than 50 again. 

Does anyone know what Hyoroemon is talking about on #51 that he can't post anything unless he cuts it down to just two tropes?

I have no idea. Their grammar and edits have been consistently abysmal.

[robkelk]

Exactly the right thing to do.

I need to hit the mod queue today at some point and help clean it up.  It's back up to more than 50 again. 

Does anyone know what Hyoroemon is talking about on #51 that he can't post anything unless he cuts it down to just two tropes?

I think they're following up on a post you made to their user page, back before you had to take a couple of weeks off.

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, I've been thinking that Asch of Apokolips has proved himself sufficiently to get a promote to autopatrolled/automoderated. He's never submitted a copyright violation, he takes instruction well, and overall his edits over the past few weeks have been solid and on-target.

What do you guys think?

I think he needs to read the Style Guide again, but the content of his contributions is good.

<sigh> Now I want to approve him simply to get him to stop refilling the mod queue. I swear, he's got to be camping the wiki and as soon as he sees something of his approved he makes more edits. Last night I got the queue down to 2 entries from 51, and within a couple minutes he'd dumped another ten edits in. And then six or eight more once I cleared those. Does he ever sleep? Argh.

EDIT: I just went into the queue. Fourteen more edits from him since last night. Dammit.

[robkelk]

Okay, I've been thinking that Asch of Apokolips has proved himself sufficiently to get a promote to autopatrolled/automoderated.  He's never submitted a copyright violation, he takes instruction well, and overall his edits over the past few weeks have been solid and on-target.

What do you guys think?

I think he needs to read the Style Guide again, but the content of his contributions is good.

<sigh>  Now I want to approve him simply to get him to stop refilling the mod queue.  I swear, he's got to be camping the wiki and as soon as he sees something of his approved he makes more edits.  Last night I got the queue down to 2 entries from 51, and within a couple minutes he'd dumped another ten edits in.  And then six or eight more once I cleared those.  Does he ever sleep?  Argh.

EDIT:  I just went into the queue.  Fourteen more edits from him since last night.  Dammit.

Sorry, Bob, but I can't support automodding Asch of Apokolips until they start reading their Talk page and replying to admin messages.

I just gave them a warning because they did something that I had warned them about three months ago. They never replied to that post. I haven't put them On Notice... but I did tell them to reply to today's notice.

[GethN7]

Okay, I've been thinking that Asch of Apokolips has proved himself sufficiently to get a promote to autopatrolled/automoderated.  He's never submitted a copyright violation, he takes instruction well, and overall his edits over the past few weeks have been solid and on-target.

What do you guys think?

I think he needs to read the Style Guide again, but the content of his contributions is good.

<sigh>  Now I want to approve him simply to get him to stop refilling the mod queue.  I swear, he's got to be camping the wiki and as soon as he sees something of his approved he makes more edits.  Last night I got the queue down to 2 entries from 51, and within a couple minutes he'd dumped another ten edits in.  And then six or eight more once I cleared those.  Does he ever sleep?  Argh.

EDIT:  I just went into the queue.  Fourteen more edits from him since last night.  Dammit.

Sorry, Bob, but I can't support automodding Asch of Apokolips until they start reading their Talk page and replying to admin messages.

I just gave them a warning because they did something that I had warned them about three months ago. They never replied to that post. I haven't put them On Notice... but I did tell them to reply to today's notice.

Same as Rob. We need to know they acknowlege the mods and don't pretend we don't exist.

[Bob Schroeck]

No, I understand. Just a moment of tear-my-remaining-hair-out frustration.

[robkelk]

Do we already have this as a trope?

{{quote|''I don't want to rule the world, I simply want to own it. Let someone else run the place.''|The Hood, ''[[Thunderbirds Are Go]]'', "Ring of Fire" part 2}}

[Bob Schroeck]

It doesn't ring a bell, unfortunately... maybe a new candidate?

[robkelk]

If I had more than two examples (this one, and the mentions in the Drunkard's Walk backstory), sure.

[Bob Schroeck]

If I had more than two examples (this one, and the mentions in the Drunkard's Walk backstory), sure.

"I don't want the world, I just want your half" from "Ana Ng" by They Might Be Giants?

[robkelk]

Does this pending edt make the example easier to read, more difficult to read, or just read differently? (I've already looked at TV Tropes; it isn't an attempt to make the ATT entry look like the TVT entry.)

[GethN7]

Does this pending edt make the example easier to read, more difficult to read, or just read differently? (I've already looked at TV Tropes; it isn't an attempt to make the ATT entry look like the TVT entry.)

I'd say option 3, though I do think option 1 still applies.

[Bob Schroeck]

I agree with Geth; it's a mix of 1 and 3.

[GethN7]

I recently received this email:

Deepanshu From Cosmo Investors <deepanshu@cosmoinvestors.com>
12:56 PM 
to me

Hi there,

We’re very interested in your website allthetropes.org and would like to understand what price you have in mind for a potential sale. At the same time, we’re open to sharing our valuation once we learn a bit more about your site’s metrics.

Could you please provide a rough idea of your expected price?

Looking forward to your reply!

Cheers,

The CosmoInvestors Team

I had every intention of either telling them absolutely not or simply declining to answer. Before I did, I wanted to bring this to the attention of my fellow admins to prevent any possible imprudence. I did check them out, they are legitimate, but for a multitude of reasons I would be inclined to deny this offer and any future offers like it.

[Bob Schroeck]

I get this kind of message sent every few weeks to the att.j.bgcloon address (via a mail redirector) that I use on the wiki. Mostly they're just "please use our ad server" emails. I have in the past often sent responses telling them that we couldn't possibly do any kind of business with someone whose marketing research is so shoddy that they completely miss the prominent "We're proud of being ad-free" notices on our front page, and if they can't do that much due diligence before emailing us, they can't possibly be competent enough to actually provide any worthwhile service.

Interestingly, yesterday I got an email from someone who did read the front page and wanted to pitch something to us anyway:

Hi, I know All The Tropes takes pride in being ad-free, and I respect that.

curious, with donations as the main funding source, is that sustainable long term? A few wiki and community sites we work with found ways to generate revenue that didn't compromise the ad-free reading experience for their users.

if that's ever worth a conversation, happy to explain how it works.

The footer on the email says something about a "website testing platform". Honestly, I dumped it directly into my trash. But it's the first time one of these spammers has shown any indication they've even actually looked at the wiki. I did a little research because of that, and as far as I can determine from the reviews and whatnot, they are basically an adserver, however they want to dress it up. interestingly, the BBB thinks they're out of business, and I had trouble actually finding a building at the street address they give in the email and elsewhere using Google Streetview. So, yeah.

Regarding the one you got, do what you think best. It's not like we're actually going to sell the wiki, right?

[GethN7]

I get this kind of message sent every few weeks to the att.j.bgcloon address (via a mail redirector) that I use on the wiki.  Mostly they're just "please use our ad server" emails.  I have in the past often sent responses telling them that we couldn't possibly do any kind of business with someone whose marketing research is so shoddy that they completely miss the prominent "We're proud of being ad-free" notices on our front page, and if they can't do that much due diligence before emailing us, they can't possibly be competent enough to actually provide any worthwhile service.

Interestingly, yesterday I got an email from someone who did read the front page and wanted to pitch something to us anyway:

Hi, I know All The Tropes takes pride in being ad-free, and I respect that.

curious, with donations as the main funding source, is that sustainable long term? A few wiki and community sites we work with found ways to generate revenue that didn't compromise the ad-free reading experience for their users.

if that's ever worth a conversation, happy to explain how it works.

The footer on the email says something about a "website testing platform".  Honestly, I dumped it directly into my trash.  But it's the first time one of these spammers has shown any indication they've even actually looked at the wiki.  I did a little research because of that, and as far as I can determine from the reviews and whatnot, they are basically an adserver, however they want to dress it up.  interestingly, the BBB thinks they're out of business, and I had trouble actually finding a building at the street address they give in the email and elsewhere using Google Streetview.  So, yeah.

Regarding the one you got, do what you think best.  It's not like we're actually going to sell the wiki, right?

Yeah, I'll just send it to the spam folder.

[robkelk]

The email itself is an unsolicited commercial message, and the last time I looked, that was the definition of spam.

I agree that one should do with it what one does with other spam.

[Bob Schroeck]

In other news, I just flagged two out of three works by an author named "Micah E. F. Martin" for which we had pages for deletion on the grounds that they didn't exist. (The third is a blog-novel that does exist, but is annoyingly difficult to navigate through.) Yet another would-be writer with epic goals and no ability to follow through, Martin looks like he might have been a TVTroper in the last year or so before the fork; if his blog is any indication he stopped writing anything in 2012.

How many more bogus works like this are there still listed in the wiki? I only discovered this one by chance.

[Labster]

In other news, I just flagged two out of three works by an author named "Micah E. F. Martin" for which we had pages for deletion on the grounds that they didn't exist.  (The third is a blog-novel that does exist, but is annoying difficult to navigate through.)  Yet another would-be writer with epic goals and no ability follow through, Martin looks like he might have been a TVTroper in the last year or so before the fork; if his blog is any indication he stopped writing anything in 2012.

How many more bogus works like this are there still listed in the wiki?  I only discovered this one by chance.

A few, I'm sure.  This is a continual problem on Wikipedia.  Reality is created at 1 second per second, and it takes longer than that to verify things for a human -- and AI is not (yet?) trustworthy enough to verify things.

In regards to our spammer's proposal, it sounds like guerilla marketing aaS.  If we ever were interested in making money, the ethical host right now is Weird Gloop, which is a small business run by people I know.  Not that we will, but Lord knows I could use the income right now.

[robkelk]

It's not like I have time for this, but that one single-issue user isn't going to shut up about how our style regarding possessives isn't what they want the rule to be... and isn't willing to defend their own proposal to change the rule.

So... I've declared that user's proposal to be abandoned for lack of activity by the proponent despite the proponent being active elsewhere on the wiki, and written a counter-proposal.

Proposal: Update the Style Guide's rules about possessives to match the 2026 University of Waterloo Style Guide

tl;dr: Status quo ante, just spelled out specifically instead of being assumed.