User talk:Rsjaffe#ScifaxEditor block

File:Internet-group-chat.svgYour feedback is requested at Talk:Late talker on a "Maths, science, and technology" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:54, 12 April 2025 (UTC)

Hello, reaching out directly as you were involved in this discussion. Since then, I started an AN thread tracking the IP user's block evasion, which aged out until a recent SPI, and they have once again returned as an IP (see also assistance from Malcolmxl5).

As I see it, this user is committed to evading any block via proxies. Most likely, they will find ways to evade specific page protections, but if possible I would like to raise that request again - starting with the most recent evasion:

• Wikipedia:Requested articles/Social sciences/History
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Article requests
• Wikipedia:Requested articles/Business and economics/Economic theory and history/M-S
• Wikipedia:Requested articles/Social sciences/History

Rather than protecting all WP:RA subpages at once, I could continue to update this request list if you see this as an acceptable solution. Cheers, Tule-hog (talk) 18:04, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

:I've blocked that IP as a compromised proxy per https://proxycheck.io/ . I think we should wait a few days before deciding to protect the pages. The change to registered accounts, as seen in the sockpuppet investigation, is sort of encouraging, as that means that the ip blocks had an effect. I'd like to see if we can limit the ability of this person to cause disruption before we decide on a more blunt tool like page protection. OK? — rsjaffe 🗣️ 18:34, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

Today I uploaded a theoretical concept that I'm working on to prove a new method of English language assessment which is a new type of test system that can be used around the world by teachers of any school for free. Is there any violation of publishing something that no one else has done in the world and you are the creator of this concept, practice or theoretical framework. Synergism77 (talk) 06:02, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

:Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought. See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not for more about this. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 12:53, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:26, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Kautilya3&curid=43655675&diff=1287525700&oldid=1287521594 here]. --Kansas Bear (talk) 20:37, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

:I took care of it to the admin level, but it will need OS. DMacks (talk) 20:48, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

::Thanks. @Kansas Bear, have you reported this for oversight? — rsjaffe 🗣️ 21:39, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

:::No, since I'm not sure what that means. This is my first involvement with WP:OUTING. --Kansas Bear (talk) 23:24, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

::::Open Special:EmailUser/Oversight and contact them with the diff

and the reason it should be oversighted (which is a string method of hiding the info). — rsjaffe 🗣️ 00:20, 27 April 2025 (UTC)

Hello @Rsjaffe, I had a bit of a question. Isn't WP:CANVASSING and WP:NOTAVOTE contradictory to the essence of each other? If consensus is not determined by counting votes, then why does it canvassing affect it? Wouldn't more arguments benefit the discussion?

Also, how exactly is consensus determined? Is it determined by counting the number of arguments? Or the number of people supporting the argument (which would make it a vote)? PadFoot (talk) 13:42, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

:I'm not going to get into a debate about the policies. If you want to have a discussion about them, I suggest the Teahouse. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 21:29, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

Maybe it's worth soft-blocking them? They went so far as to use the mentorship module to ask a question, which, to me, says they're not a deliberate spammer (just someone misled on the nature of Wikipedia). JayCubby 20:10, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

:It was a pretty spammy page. No attempt to be anything other than an ad. There's a narrow difference between soft and hard block, mainly in that for the soft block the user can ignore the old account and set up a new one without addressing the block issue. I'd rather see them address the issue. The odds of someone who starts out this way becoming a useful contributor seem pretty low. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 21:28, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

Did I hear a quack from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Sumavasumathithottakkattukara Sumavasumathithottakkattukara]?   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 19:20, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

On your closure of this discussion - a WP:CBAN discussion was ongoing. I think either the close should be reverted or reclosed enacting the (unanimous per the "over 24 hours without any objections") ban? - The Bushranger _{One ping only} 05:43, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

:Well, the discussion was wandering all over the place, so I don’t think I can reclose as cban. I’ll reverse my close and let the discussion proceed. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 12:16, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

::Appreciated! - The Bushranger _{One ping only} 21:19, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi Rsjaffe, two more revisions need to be revdel-ed, I guess I didn’t tag them when I was requesting revdel. Happy admining :) Vanderwaalforces (talk) 16:40, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

:It looks good to me. I don't revdel the edit that deletes the copyvio as, after revdel of the preceding copyvio text, that edit won't show anything in the diff. Am I missing something? IF so, please give the diff so I can look at it again. Thanks. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 16:44, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

::Ahhhhh, this looks good to me too ;) Vanderwaalforces (talk) 18:21, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

FYI a bot has been used to remove the page protection you added to the JT Pettigrew page earlier today. Anxioustoavoid (talk) 22:11, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

:I checked. The bot removed the lock symbol, but didn't change the protection. It's move protected, but the bot is a little confused. No big deal, though I agree it's confusing. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 23:07, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello Rsjaffe. Could you unhide the edit Tzar's suspected sock made, so that everyone can see it? Thanks. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 06:16, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

:Are you talking about Special:Diff/1288879188? Admins can already view that if they need to. I’m not sure what good uncovering that would do. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 06:23, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

::Yes, that diff. Whoever is under that account, whether it's Tzar or not, should be shamed on, rather than being suppressed. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 06:34, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

:::Ok. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 06:39, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

::::There's a thought that the sock-fest is a joe-job. CU matched the recent ones to each other but could not definitively link to TzarN64. I think the close of WP:ANI#User:TzarN64 might need a little more nuance.

::::I also disagree with unhiding that edit (was my action), since WP is not in the business of shaming (instead DENY-like and making the situation worse). But I don't feel strongly enough for the rev-del issue to go any further than leaving this note here. DMacks (talk) 12:18, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

:::::I’ve reworded the close request now. Even when I closed it, the possibility that it was a Joe job was being entertained, which is why I worded it as I did, but I should have been clearer. I had quickly closed the discussion to hopefully stop the socking.

:::::As to the rev-del, I had interpreted the request as not active shaming but rather of leaving the attack in the history in case others wondered what happened. Lots of other attacks are just deleted without being revision deleted and I saw this as similar, keeping this in the history per the target’s request. However, I do see your point, and I should have inquired more about what @Freedoxm was going to do once it was back in the history. I’ve pinged @Freedoxm so they can see our concerns about that. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 13:12, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

::::::Thanks. DMacks (talk) 13:36, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2025).

File:ANEWSicon.png

File:Wikipedia Administrator.svg Administrator changes

:File:Gnome-colors-list-add.svg Rusalkii

:File:Gnome-colors-view-refresh.svg NaomiAmethyst (overlooked last month)

:File:Gnome-colors-list-remove.svg {{hlist|class=inline

|Master Jay

|Orderinchaos

|Roger Davies

|Tinucherian

}}

File:Wikipedia Interface administrator.svg Interface administrator changes

:File:Gnome-colors-list-remove.svg Galobtter

File:Green check.svg Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, administrator elections were permanently authorized on a five-month schedule. The next election will be scheduled soon; see Wikipedia talk:Administrator elections for more information. This is an alternate process to the RfA process and does not replace the latter.
• An RfC was closed with consensus to allow editors to opt-out of seeing "sticky decorative elements". Such elements should now be wrapped in {{t|sticky decoration wrapper}}. Editors who wish to opt out can follow the instructions at WP:STICKYDECO.
• An RfC has resulted in a broad prohibition on the use of AI-generated images in articles. A few common-sense exceptions are recognized.

File:Info Simple bw.svg Miscellaneous

• A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in May 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles in the new pages feed. Sign up here to participate!

----

{{center|{{flatlist|

• Discuss this newsletter
• Subscribe
• Archive

}}}}{{center|1=Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)}}

No offence I'm not trying to be rude, but how is it my fault? Your making it sound like I'm at fault too were all I was doing is preventing that IP user for making spam edits over and over countless times on the Strasburg Railroad and CN 7312 articles. I didn't even find myself for any wrongdoings in my part. What you said made absolutely no sense, because I have nothing to do with that IP's vandalism. So your saying I'm not allowed to stop and prevert an IP user for vandalizing an article? That makes no sense. But It still does need to be protect because he's been doing it countless times, you should at least put in the Wikipedia:Pending changes protection, it would definitely be a really big help so I wouldn't have to keep reverting his vandalism edits again. My apologies if my reply sound a little harsh, its just your response didn't make sense to me. I just wanted to understand what you mean?2601:188:C405:F440:4846:293E:8DCB:6085 (talk) 19:09, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

:I wasn't saying it was your fault. Only that the edits are very intermittent (two days this year, for example) so not requiring protection. I also commented that providing feedback to the editor can help. It is our responsibility (all of us) to communicate to another editor when there is an editing problem. That doesn't mean the user's edits are your fault, only that communication might help solve the problem. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 19:14, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

::Thank you for your response, I misunderstood where you were coming from. My apologies. 2601:188:C405:F440:3045:AF08:9F1A:852A (talk) 19:34, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi - you OK to revoke TPA on this one? Patient Zero^talk 01:30, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

:Well, that was an impressive amount of vandalism. Thank you for alerting me. TPA removed. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 01:34, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

::No worries! I thought the same, it was certainly a lot to scroll through...! Thank you for that, much appreciated. Patient Zero^talk 01:36, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

:::And now email access removed. Don't know if you received any. Rat sent me like 6 emails. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 01:40, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

::::Goodness me! Thankfully I avoided that, but they are now vandalising on frwiki, so I reported them on there too. Patient Zero^talk 01:53, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

This page is something I would imagine qualifies for speedy deletion, but I'm not sure if such cases are G2 or G10? For revdel I'd say its RD2. Also that account seems trivially nothere. I would post this at a noticeboard but given the content I'd rather not. fifteen thousand two hundred twenty four (talk) 00:28, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

:Clear intent to disparage ("an hero" being 4chan slang for someone who dies by suicide). Disgusting vandalism. I've G10'd it. Patient Zero^talk 03:08, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

::Sorry I wasn't around earlier to take care of it. Looks like it's all removed now. I'll double-check to make sure. Thanks for notifying me. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 03:21, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

:::No worries! I believe everything has been taken care of now. Hope you've had a good day! Patient Zero^talk 03:44, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi rsjaffe,

I hope you're doing well! I came across your wiki and really enjoyed your content about leather. It’s clear that you’re passionate about quality craftsmanship and materials.

I recently published two in-depth articles on leather that I believe would bring value to your readers:

1. [https://theodoros.biz/blogs/leather-crafting/full-grain-vegetable-tanned-leather-a-complete-guide Full-Grain Vegetable-Tanned Leather: A Complete Guide]
2. [https://theodoros.biz/blogs/leather-crafting/mastering-leather-embossing-create-custom-personalized-gifts Mastering Leather Embossing: Create Custom Personalized Gifts]

If you're open to it, I’d love for you to check them out and consider linking to one (or both) of them if you think they would be a helpful resource for your audience.

Let me know if you'd like more info or if there's a way we can collaborate further. I'm always open to partnerships and mutual support.

Thanks for your time and consideration!

Best regards,

Theodoros301

https://theodoros.biz/ Theodoros301 (talk) 09:20, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello @Rsjaffe

I saw that you once edited the article "Scouting in Kyrgyzstan."

So I wanted to ask if you have any contact with Scouts from Kyrgyzstan?

I'm a Scout from Germany and will be in Kyrgyzstan for four weeks in July with a group of eight other Scouts. We hope to meet Scouts from there. However, we don't have any contact details yet.

Could you help?

Best wishes,

David 2A00:FBC:E1EC:798C:F53B:F101:3468:73E7 (talk) 09:07, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

:Sorry, I don’t have any contact with them. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 13:50, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

::Ok. Thank you anyway. D2a0v0i5d (talk) 18:58, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Rsjaffe I'm responding to a comment you left on Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive371 (Mauriziok Creating Copies of Articles). Of the 24 drafts you posted, I only left the ones I'm working on recently. Once I'm done with them, I'll delete them. Mauriziok (talk) 13:18, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

You've blocked {{noping|Orion Gavin Douglass}} twice this month, but they're continuing to edit disruptively, making small changes then quickly reverting themselves, making the same change and reverting it again, as in the last hour at Lepidus (Special:Contributions/Orion_Gavin_Douglass). That came after I'd warned them[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Orion_Gavin_Douglass&diff=prev&oldid=1292151217] for similar behaviour at Julius Caesar, Pompey and Pixodarus today. Would you like to take further action or intervene in some way? I think they want to contribute but somehow can't. NebY (talk) 16:26, 25 May 2025 (UTC)

:Could you take this to WP:ANI? I think this requires more discussion, hopefully including the editor in question, before taking more drastic action. Primarily because, as you’ve said, it appears they mean well. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 04:56, 26 May 2025 (UTC)

::That's fair, thanks. Just now I started an ANI report, then abandoned it because diffs show their last few edits have been a bit less disruptive and a bit constructive. They might be working out how to help. (Or working towards EC status - I woke up cynical today.) I'll watch. NebY (talk) 12:04, 26 May 2025 (UTC)

::Ah, indeffed anyway after they made things clearer by inserting superfluous mid-sentence spaces in nearly 200 articles. Sigh. NebY (talk) 16:50, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

:::It’s worth trying to get them to be productive , even if it might eventually not work out. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 17:34, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

::::Yes. We have to hope - that's what this encylopedia was built on! NebY (talk) 17:53, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

Pertaining to this closed report, I believe that 2A02:C7C:E1BA:CE00:0:0:0:0/64 is the same actor. If I should open a different ANI report or report this at a different venue please let me know. fifteen thousand two hundred twenty four (talk) 20:42, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

:I'm not sure about the identity so another report may be needed. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 22:01, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

Wasn't sure if this [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_St._Clair&diff=prev&oldid=1292628800] neededrev/del. If so, this ip edit will need it too [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_St._Clair&diff=prev&oldid=1292620808]. Thanks, Knitsey (talk) 00:47, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

:I've been reading through that article and there is a large amount that is unreferenced. The contents of the edit are mentioned in another section (also unreferenced). I wish I had never seen it now. I need sleep so I will leave it with you but someone might need to message {{noping|Sshin02143}} who has added most of the information about referencing? Knitsey (talk) 00:59, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

::I revdel’d two ip edits and the Sshin edit. I’ll look at talking to Sshin. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 04:31, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

:::Thank you rsjaffe, sorry to have dumped it on you. You're a star. Knitsey (talk) 16:49, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello, Rsjaffe,

I believe that we had some mistaken tagging of User pages by editor Folkezoft. Many editors don't get the WP:G13 criteria correctly.

Please make sure the User pages fit the G13 criteria before deletion. Just because a User page is old, doesn't mean that it is eligible for CSD G13. It needs to have an AFC tag or only have the Article Wizard template on the page. The bots do a good job identifying pages so if you see several dozen editor-tagged CSD G13s, the editor probably has judged them incorrectly and they need to be untagged. Thank you. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 17:50, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

:Oh, so a {{tl|Draft}} template with something else on the page should be kept. OK. I'll undelete the ones I deleted. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 18:00, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

I see we've just started SPIs on Neogoodwriter. Note the edits to the Neo Hanzi article I linked. Someone getting their accounts mixed up by the look of it. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:31, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

:Yeah, I consolidated the two SPIs. It's probably clear enough for me to do the sock block, but since I initially blocked for disruption before I saw the sockpuppetry evidence, I'll leave it at SPI for someone else to manage. My duplicate report includes some more Neo Hanzi evidence. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 23:33, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

::Turns out they're part of a large UPE ring Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Hallowme. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 01:55, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

Per WP:ROLE, the User:ChenangoCountyHistoricalSociety account should be blocked, not just partially blocked. Thoughts? --Hammersoft (talk) 14:46, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:Since 1) they were also trying to edit logged out and 2) they were forthcoming as to who they were, I’m trying to get them to read and comply with the notice I gave them. I thought a full block might encourage logged-out editing. It is an experiment, but I figured the partial block would be enough to stop the disruption while we see what they do next.

:It’s probably a failed experiment by now, but at least the problematic editing is stopped — rsjaffe 🗣️ 15:20, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

::Yeah :( I've also changed the visibility on two edits on the article, as the content was copied from their website, albeit with minor modifications. --Hammersoft (talk) 15:22, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:This user has been adding unsourced information at Britain's Got Talent series 18. Feel free to block them, and also please answer my request for said article at WP:RFPP. --PawPatroler (talk) 17:45, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

There's a red link that is supposed to point to Gaddar Telangana Film Awards at the top of the discussion on ANI where it says "PBLOCK", maybe it would be better to find a way to fix it? » Gommeh (he/him) 20:20, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

:It's fixed, thanks. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 20:27, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi Rsjaffe, I didn't want to clog up the noticeboard, so I hope it's okay to reply to [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrator_intervention_against_vandalism&diff=prev&oldid=1294120409 this] on your talk page:
Okay, great and thanks for letting me know. I should've realised it was a soft block. I reported to AIV rather than SPI as I'd recently read WP:SPIEXPENSE, so I was trying to save time, but I clearly had the opposite effect. I'll bear all of this in mind for the future. Apologies and thanks, Referentis (talk) 18:43, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

:I believe a bit more in SPIs than the essayist does, partly because I’ve been helping with some of the simpler ones. SPIs really help in detecting future disruptions by the sock master, and so the expense is partly recouped through future savings. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 18:59, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

::That makes sense, thank you. Really appreciate your advice on this. Referentis (talk) 21:00, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi rsjaffe,

would you be kind enough to re-instate my post without making it live so I can make the required adjustments please.

Regards A46 Caistor Top (talk) 16:53, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

:I'm sending you an email with the text in it, as it is completely inappropriate for Wikipedia unfortunately. Wikipedia is not a social network nor a place to solicit signatures on a petition. In particular, Wikipedia is not a soapbox. See WP:SOAPBOX. If you want to start writing a suitable article, my suggestion is to use your sandbox as a less-visible location: User:A46_Caistor_Top/sandbox. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 20:03, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

Despite two reports (one to ANI and one to request for page protection increase), a blocking of the IP sock User: 212.95.5.25, and auto confirmed protection of the page, the vandalism (and almost certainly sockpuppetry) immediately returned to the Chechen genocide page, with a user by the name User:Hurycane with only 55 edits making the exact same kind of edit to the infobox; vandalizing it by removing sourced material with no explanation. Any help would be highly appreciated. Perhaps it would be best if you add the page to your watch page to patrol for any further vandalism incidents or increase protection to extended confirmed? 24.180.50.170 (talk) 17:01, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

:Looks like other admins have taken care of things, blocking the User:Katify sock and protecting the page for three months. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 20:09, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2025).

File:Green check.svg Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open to determine whether the English Wikipedia community should adopt a position on AI development by the WMF and its affiliates.

File:Octicons-tools.svg Technical news

• A new feature called Multiblocks will be deployed on English Wikipedia on the week of June 2. See the relevant announcement on the administrators' noticeboard.
• History merges performed using the mergehistory special page are now logged at both the source and destination, rather than just the source as previously, after this RFC and the resolution of T118132.

File:Scale of justice 2.svg Arbitration

• An arbitration case named Indian military history has been opened. Evidence submissions for this case close on 8 June.

File:Info Simple bw.svg Miscellaneous

• Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election is open until 17 June 2025. Read the voting page on Meta-Wiki and cast your vote here!
• An Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in June 2025, with over 1,600 drafts awaiting review from the past two months. In addition to AfC participants, all administrators and new page patrollers can help review using the Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
• The Unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in June 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{tl|Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!

----

{{center|{{flatlist|

• Discuss this newsletter
• Subscribe
• Archive

}}}}

{{center|1=Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:17, 6 June 2025 (UTC)}}

-- R3YBOl (🌲) 21:40, 8 June 2025 (UTC)