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A global input into a national decision.
Seldom is the topic of this column taken from a long list of planned topics that wait being unthawed. This time the unplanned stimulus comes from a video interview of foreign-born residents in New York. The question put to them was their view of Obama. How would they vote in November?
Inquiries reflecting the views of "the man in the street" often induce shudders that travel down the spine of your columnists. (The pronouncements of some politicians are not entirely exempt.) Sidewalk interviews from America confirm the worse prejudices about the country. Asking the passers-by is a popular art form practiced stateside. When done in Europe, the results reflecting unawareness and irrationality are equally discouraging. US-made ignorance's boldness has much to do with the courage by which imbecility and lack of knowledge are fearlessly exhibited for all to see. The support comes from a popular culture and from a school system programmed to produce not education but good feeling that ends in failure. Unawareness facilitates the unabashed voicing of unfounded judgments. The justification of these proclamations is "my view is as good as yours, because we are all created equal". Frequently, the upshot is sad hilarity.
The "resident aliens" stopped to inquire about the "President Alien" did not represent all immigrant categories. By the choice of the locale, legitimate and qualified professionals were missed. Given that built-in bias, the results were predictable. Regardless of their English, most respondents knew who Obama is and supported him because "he is for poor people". Presumably, this was not to insinuate that he is for the poor to the extent that he wants more of them. Furthermore, the consensus was that, due to his and the respondent's common ethnic background, the President deserves support. Yellow striped wasps support yellow striped wasps. Questioning that right is "racism". Indeed, supporting or rejecting somebody solely because of his pigmentation is racism. However, by Orwellian "newspeak", only in the case of the low-pigmented does voting by color meets the prerequisites for applying the racism curse.
The foregoing is in many ways also a European reaction. It tries to prove, involving race, ethnicity as the cause of the preferences of Obama's critics. This is being shared with you as an opener to depict Europe's position in the matter of America's election.
The United States, being Europe's major, that is only ally, explains the interest in the pending decision. The more so, since America is also Europe's preferred enemy. "Preferred," points here to an odd relationship. Globally, no country attracts more attention than does the USA. America is perceived here as the source of all good and bad trends. Conveniently, the "bad", which spreads because the locals love to indulge in it, furnishes an excuse that brings with it, free of charge, the coveted absolution for "sins". This happens by blaming the source of the temptation and not those that do something foolish "because it comes from America".
Take fast food. Modern life style creates a market for it since we travel more than our ancestors and because women have unlearned to cook to prove their emancipation. Modernity spreads from its pioneer. That makes eagerly consumed fast food -from hamburgers to tacos and kebab- in a condemning way, "American". Money and easy availability have made Americans fat. Thereafter, that ailment infected Europeans. Now then, let us return to reality. If you eat too much of anything –except unbuttered popcorn- you will get obese. Rotund persons are responsible for eating too much and for, politely put, becoming "horizontally challenged". Regardless of this, the "Americans" are blamed for their sinning by carpers that sit in extra-wide chairs in the eatery under the "arch".
America is also a favored enemy. Not for what she does, rather for what she is unlikely to do. Snapping at the calves of the Russians, the Chinese or even the smaller but combative fry, such as Arabs or Serbs, has consequences. Most scary is that they bite back and that they go for the throat. Moral posturers prefer immunity for loud professions. The USA does not retaliate and, if the accuser needs succor, she forgets bygones and hurries to help. The result is that, one can look good being a brave David and play the role risk-free against an always-amicable Goliath.
American elections are of interest in officially friendly and informally hostile countries. One often hears that the "world" should have a say about who will be the US' President. In a way, the wish is understandable. The President is the world most powerful person. At the same time, he is also the leader of several alliances. It is part of the picture that foreign opinion, or the impression of it, has an impact on American voters.
We must note that, America's decision is not always the choice of foreign crowds. The Kennedy mania –shared by this writer before he became a citizen- has been universal. As the originally suppressed facts emerge, it is clear that, we were self-drugged by our projected hopes and that we, therefore, ignored the facts. To the extent that the writer remembers, he understood how the winning votes from Chicago were "created" and, indicating a major weakness of his character, he did not care. The next "European" President was Carter. Reagan after him provoked loud dislike. The graffiti's were as colorful as was the Kremlin's opposition loud. Then Clinton got the nod as a clarinet player. Obama, being the certified anti-racist's choice, received approval because of a background that one was not supposed to notice. While admittedly not all Republicans were good presidents, a correlation emerges. To the extent that a candidate is to the left of whatever and that he is willing to "negotiate" about characteristically "American ways", he will gather endorsement from abroad.
Given a fashionable anti-American instinct that takes sides when America's chooses, it is evident that now as before, "Europe votes for Obama". This is an additional, even if minor reason, to cast one's ballot accordingly. This time, too, folks that have erred by adjusting to the standards set by outsiders, must be, at least in their own way, right in their choice.


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Fun and Angst With Google Glass
Apr 15, 2014 1:50 PM PT
Google Glass, which has been the focus of considerable controversy, went on sale Tuesday -- for one day only -- at US$1,500, with Android KitKat and new features that include improved battery life, photo bundles, photo replies and voice command sorting.
However, one feature -- video calling -- has been eliminated because fewer than 10 percent of Explorer beta users employed it.
"Today we hope to bring even more Explorers into the program to reflect an even more diverse group of people," Google spokesperson Chris Dale told LinuxInsider.
"This is the new generation of technology that will replace everything," enthused Mike Jude, Stratecast program manager at Frost & Sullivan. "You won't need a wall-sized TV, you won't need a PC, you won't need a browser. Restaurants won't need a menu, they'll just have a QR code that you can scan through your Google Glass to see what's available."
What KitKat Brings to Glass
New to Glass with the KitKat update are photo bundles. When users scroll through their timeline, they will see each day's Glass photos, videos and vignettes organized in bundles. Think of this as a filing system for Glass content.
The new photo reply feature lets users tap "reply" and send a photo in response to a greeting from a friend, or take and send a new photo.
Sending feedback has been made easier. Users just have to tap on the device info card in Settings and provide their feedback. Or they can send an email, call Google, or post in the Explorers Community.
Voice command sorting lets users tap Glass or say, "OK Glass," to sort voice commands by time and frequency. This makes it easier to see the most frequently used commands and speeds up accessing them from the touch menu.
Oh, and devs now can write Glassware using the latest Android software development kit now that the device runs KitKat.
"One goal of the Explorer program is to get Glass in the hands of developers so they can hack together features and discover security exploits," Google's Dale said.
The Glass Threat
Consumer Watchdog on Tuesday released a report describing Google Glass as "inappropriate for the broad consumer market."
The device threatens the privacy of both users and people whose images it captures; it can distract users at critical moments; it can pose health risks in some circumstances; and it can be used for improper or even criminal purposes, such as surreptitiously capturing people's PINs at ATMs, the organization maintained.
Google Glass is "a stalker's delight," Consumer Watchdog said, suggesting it might come in handy for pedophiles.
The group held a press conference at its Santa Monica, Calif., office on Tuesday to demonstrate the privacy issues raised by using the device.
"Google Glass can't do anything a smartphone can't," Frost's Jude pointed out. "You can have a smartphone on your table turned on to take a video surreptitiously; it's just a bit more obvious."
Much of Glass's functionality comes from a user's smartphone by tethering Glass to the phone, Google's Dale said.
The Glass Backlash
Not everyone is in love with the notion of Google Glass. Some bars, restaurants and cafes have banned people from wearing them on the premises, and in San Francisco, two people have been assaulted for wearing the device over the past few months.
The incidents have been cited as an indication of heightened tensions between techies and modern-day Luddites.
However, such reactions are common when new technology is introduced, Frost's Jude told LinuxInsider. "We will eventually figure out how to accommodate the good and how to take care of the bad things."
Google doesn't see any antipathy, Dale said, and "judging by the excitement we've seen around opening our site up for anyone to purchase Glass today, that perception is reaffirmed."

subset: commoncrawl


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SANFORD — Voters set Sanford on a new path on Tuesday night.
With a margin of slightly more than 11 percent, Sanford voters approved changes to the town's charter designed to make government more efficient and to encourage economic growth.
A majority of voters in every ward, as well as absentee voters, cast ballots in favor of the new charter recommended by the Charter Commission. The resulting tally was 4,018 votes (55.6 percent) for the new charter and 3,207 votes (44.4 percent) against, according to "unofficial election results" sent by the town clerk's office to the Sanford News at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
As a result of the charter's passage, Sanford will change from a town to a city, will elect a mayor and will eliminate the annual town meeting and put budgets in the hands of all voters.
The changes outlined in the new charter will take effect Jan. 1, 2013. For the first year, the mayor will be elected by the city council from among its members and will serve as interim mayor until the next regular election when a mayor will be elected by voters. The first elected mayor will serve a three-year term. After his or her term expires on Dec. 31, 2016, the term of office will be two years. No one may serve as mayor for more than three consecutive two-year terms.
The position of mayor will be equivalent to that of the current chair of the town council, except that voters will choose the mayor directly with their votes. The mayor will be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, but will not have regular administrative or executive duties (except as outlined in the charter). The mayor will preside at city council meetings, will be considered as a seventh member of the city council, and will vote as a member of the city council.
The city manager — currently the town manager — will continue to be the chief executive officer and the head of the administrative branch of the city government.
Sanford's representative town meeting will be eliminated and voters will vote on the municipal budget and the school budget each year, as they currently do with the school budget.
The new charter also replaces the current 11-member finance committee with a seven-member budget committee. Members will be appointed to one-year terms by the city council and will include four members at large and three members from the city council.
The charter also requires that two percent of Sanford's capital improvement program be designated specifically to infrastructure and that reserves set aside for capital improvements be increased from the current two percent of the previous year's city and school budgets (combined) to four percent over the next four years. The change will provide more funding for road maintenance and repairs as well as other long-term needs.
Welcome to the City of Sanford
SANFORD — Voters set Sanford on a new path on Tuesday night.


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Cabinet hinges are quietly servicing your home each and every day. Without all the attention and fanfare that other cabinet hardware receives, your cabinet hinges get the job done efficiently and discreetly. Among this valiant group of hard workers, few are as convenient as the demountable hinge. Loaded with extra perks, single and double demountable hinges can change the way you decorate forever. Come on in, and find out what all the hype is about.
Demountable hinges offer a variety of conveniences and opportunities that you might not have known even exist. For one, a demountable hinge will allow you to remove your cabinet door effortlessly. This might not sound like anything special initially, but think about the possibilities. Cleaning your cabinet frame and doors is made easier by so many degrees when you can just take the doors off and clean the surface directly and unobstructed. Painting is a great way to spruce up your kitchen on a budget. It can be a pain to remove each door and then reattach once they've dried. With a set of demountable hinges, though, this chore can be completed in seconds, so you can focus on the exciting revamp at hand.
Finally, storeowners and zealous designers can enjoy another perk with a demountable hinge set. When cabinet doors are removed and replaced with ease, changing up your décor periodically has never been easier. You can use single demountable hinges that detach from cabinet doors in a snap, or double demountable hinges that disconnect from both cabinet frame and doors easily. So do yourself the favor of installing demountable hinges. You'll thank us later.


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The Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn, now a part of the greater BoCoCa revitalization, is one of the most sought after neighborhoods in all of New York City.
And unsurprisingly, it's also one of the richest urban neighborhoods in all of America.
Read the true tale of how gentrification forever changed South Brooklyn >
It wasn't always this way: what was once an afterthought across the river from Manhattan, populated by large Italian families and low-income project-dwellers, has gone through an extensive gentrification process. The result is a combination of million dollar brownstones, inundated day cares, and disgruntled former residents.
From the restaurant row and bar crawl of Smith Street to the regal homes of some of New York's wealthiest citizens, one thing is undeniable about BoCoCa: it's a great place to spend the day, whether eating, drinking, or strolling along the Brooklyn Promenade.


text:
Some exciting news at C&H today is that our lovely friends at Shabby Apple are offering a $75 gift voucher to one lucky reader. Please leave a comment to be in the running and I will announce a winner on Thursday.
Be sure to sure you take a look and "like" the Shabby Apple facebook page.


text:
Cape Coral City Council will have a number of issues to consider during its regular city council meeting Monday at city hall.
At the forefront, will be the introduction of an ordinance that will approve a planned development project for a Sam's Club on Pine Island Road and Hancock Bridge Parkway.
Among the items to be discussed are the traffic impact study, which will say that both roads can handle the anticipated increase in traffic associated with a Sam's Club.
The ordinance will seek a rezoning of a portion of a property from Village to Corridor, a special exception to allow self-service fuel pumps, and a subdivision of the parcel.
The public hearing is set for Oct. 21.
For Councilmember Kevin McGrail, it could be the start of something big in Cape Coral.
"We're looking at 200 to 300 fulltime jobs. The long-range plan for that location is to have something like what they have near Page Field where you have HH Gregg and other big box stores," McGrail said. "It will be a great economic driver and it will give those people crossing the river the items they can't get at BJ's."
Ground is expected to be broken in the spring, with it opening in time for the Christmas holidays in late 2014, McGrail said.
The other introduction will be a request for council to either confirm or deny a decision by the Board of Zoning Adjustment and Appeals that denied a special exception to allow a self-service fuel pump in the South Cape Downtown zone on property located on 1531 S.E 46th Lane.
There will also be a quasi-judicial hearing on a resolution to affirm or reverse a decision made by DCD Director Paul Dickson to deny a request to allow a former model home to be utilized as a single-family home for property located in the Marketplace-Residential district.
Also on the agenda is a request for a performance evaluation on City Manager John Szerlag concerning his first 16 months in office.
Szerlag has presented council with a booklet on his metrics and what he is to be graded on. Those results should be discussed on Monday.
With the UEP and financial diversification, opinions may vary.
McGrail said the evidence is clear that he has done the job, even if they decisions he has made have come in an election year.
"There's no secret that I think he's doing a good job. In two years we would have burned through our reserves," McGrail said. "The city is in solid financial shape and the fact we are providing money for our infrastructure makes us that more stable."
Also, there will be an update on the Zucker Report recommendations from Dickson, where he will discuss the top 65 that will have the greatest impact on the departments' and divisions' best practices and that can be implemented immediately.
Many of the items, Dickson said, will require funding from the general fund.


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As Bob Bradley's roster deadline approaches, the speculation is rampant over who will join Jozy Altidore up front for the U.S. National Team.
Herculez Gomez? Edson Buddle? Conor Casey? Will Brian Ching be healthy?
Bradley has little more than two weeks to cement his 30-man preliminary roster, but while all eyes are on the team's strikers, perhaps they should be focused just as much on the squad's back line.
With Oguchi Onyewu barely having kicked a ball in recent months due to injury, there is a lack of depth at center back. And Bradley could do a lot worse than look at the performances so far this season of the Colorado Rapids' pairing of Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne.
Both acquired in controversial trades – Moor swapping the hoops of Dallas for Ugo Ihemelu last year and Wynne acquired just before the 2010 season for Nick LaBrocca – the two are now among the first players each week on coach Gary Smith's team sheet .
Wynne's speed complements Moor's smoothness and organization. And they are two of very few players on the Rapids who have played every minute on the MLS schedule so far in 2010.
"What do you want from your center backs?" Smith said. "You want players that are reliable and who can make life extremely difficult for their most creative players. They give everyone else a bit of a lift because the other players know that they have tigers behind them. It's great."
Both players have international experience. Moor has five caps, including a World Cup qualifier against Barbados. Wynne has played three times for his country, including a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.
And both offer options. When Julien Baudet has played in central defense for the Rapids, Moor has moved out to either right or left back. Wynne made his name in Toronto with speedy runs down the flank from a right back position.
Whether Smith opts on occasion to use them out wide, Moor and Wynne have cemented their places at center back with the consistency of their performances this season. The coach praised them again after the hard fought 2-1 victory on the road Saturday against New England.
"It is very difficult to come away from home," he said. "Teams want to take advantage of their own field and to limit teams to a few opportunities is very difficult. The guys have been absolutely wonderful, not only tonight, but in all the games so far."


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The internationally renowned Mexican dance group Ballet Folklorico "Quetzalli" de Veracruz will perform at Hope College on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
Founded in 1985, the group has crisscrossed the globe exciting audiences of all ages. The group's visual fiesta of culture and folklore features many regional dances of old Mexico, in particular its home state of Veracruz (birthplace of the world-famous "La Bamba"). The music, performed live on authentic stringed instruments, punctuates the meticulous movement, colorful clothing and perfect pulse established by the dancers. Earning standing ovations from Cuba to Malaysia, Quetzalli proves it is one of Mexico's most popular exports.
"A heady rush of tapping heels, dazzling costumes and insistent rhythms," said the "Kansas City Star."
Due to the quality of their work, the members of the group were selected to represent the Cultural Institute of Veracruz and Mexico during the Carnival of La Havana, Cuba, and the Independence Day Festival of Mexico in Ottawa, Canada, in 1997. During the summer of 2001 Ballet Folklorico successfully participated in several folk festivals in Spain, France and Italy. The Festival Folklorique Des Pyrénées called the company "the best Mexican group who has been invited."
Tickets for the performance are $14 for regular adult admission, $10 for senior citizens, and $6 for children 18 and under and are on sale at the ticket office in the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The ticket office is in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.


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User talk:Gboyers/archive9
| This is the talk page for User:Gboyers. Please leave a message.
Always sign off your messages using four tildes (~~~~ ) to automatically add your signature.
| This is the talk page of User:Gboyers, the founder & Executive Manager of Grand Theft Wiki.
For previous discussions, see: Archive #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9
- 1 Comments on LiquidThread plugin, among others
- 2 Combatting spambots
- 3 Vandals
- 4 Re: Problem?
- 5 Just to keep you updated
- 6 Copyright templates
- 7 Plagarism off Wikia
- 8 Outdated
- 9 Re-Assignment
- 10 Plagiarizer
- 11 Alumni
- 12 Uploading images
- 13 Patrolling
- 14 Re:Nomination for Promotion
- 15 Community Pages
- 16 blcked
- 17 My inactivity
- 18 Promotion
- 19 Re:Nomination for Promotion
- 20 Wrong top speeds in GTA IV
- 21 Infobox character template
- 22 Re:Bot replace tool
- 23 Gtw
- 24 skin
- 25 skin
- 26 Grand Theft Wiki Signatures
- 27 Patrolling
- 28 Re:Administration
- 29 Quality of Edits
- 30 Re: Things To Do
- 31 Your userpage
- 32 gtaIVgripes
- 33 RE: British VS American English
- 34 Mission scripts
- 35 Broken Link
- 36 Petit or Petty Larceny
- 38 Spammer
- 39 RE:Downloading
- 40 Spambots
- 41 "Infobox User"
- 42 Uncategorized files/deleting
- 43 Re:Nomination for Promotion
- 44 Sandbox
- 45 Regarding my block on Grand Theft Answers
- 46 Can't create pages
- 47 Can I Edit
- 48 Wikia Website
- 49 Small issue with the Bully page
- 50 auto confirmed
- 51 Not yet Autoconfirmed
- 52 RE: Copyright Breach
- 53 RE:Edit Wars
- 54 Talk page message
- 55 new page permission
- 56 Hi
- 57 My username
- 58 Facebook
- 59 Posting stuff on Facebook
- 60 Reply
- 61 Upload
- 62 Pedestrian Dialogue pages idea
- 63 Reply
- 64 Template:Location
- 65 Questions, the non-frequently asked kind
- 66 Password
- 67 Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Narcotics merge
- 68 Awesome
- 69 Picture from a free source?
- 70 Re: Character Infoboxes
- 71 Grand Theft Mod Status?
- 72 Page Loading
- 73 Mission special vehicle tables
- 74 Grand Theft Auto V Era (Changes to the Wiki)
- 75 Hi
- 76 Two questions
- 77 Plagiarism heads-up
Comments on LiquidThread plugin, among others
My two cents on the LiquidThread plugin: It's cumbersome, to me at least. The fact that I was unable to even reply on your talk page (the expanded interfaces never completes loading, and on one occasion it redirects me to your userpage instead), and had to create a new section on it instead, shows it's already a problematic feature to a user.
If you insist on implementing this fully on users' pages, make it an optional thing. I'm already thoroughly annoyed that I can't turn off that infernal overhead edit toolbar (the preferences don't work), and I'm pretty much fine organizing my discussions the old fashion way; it's actually more reliable.
I actually came to discuss something else, but I'll just leave that for later. - ZS (talk) 18:22, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
Combatting spambots
Hi. Do you think there can be an automated way to combat the spam pages from being created in the first place? All the spam pages have linked to the same website. Maybe have an automatic way to prevent users from posting that website link?--spaceeinstein 21:14, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
- We have a number of measures in place. I won't discuss them in public. Ask me on the forums. gboyers talk 21:20, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
Hi, not meaning to hijack someone elses discussion but I have a quick question about this. What am I as a normal member supposed or encouraged to do when I spot a spambot? I've noticed there seems to be an increasing amount of them coming here, and if no staff is online it could take a while to get removed and the Recent Edits could be covered up in other legit edits by that time. I don't know what other systems you have here but sometimes I think that a simple Report button would be a simple way to tackle it. Is adding the spam template appropriate or is it just "adding-fuel-to-the-fire" (i.e. adding edits to completely unnecessary pages)? Should I just do nothing and let the staff handle it when they come online? --Andreaz1 (talk) 21:39, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
- That's a good question, although actually our spam attacks aren't that common at all. The first thing you should do is notify a staff member calmly and factually, or email webmaster at grandtheftwiki. Please be aware of NSfV, so don't run around saying how good the spammers are, because that's what they want. Then you can help revert the damage silently, without making a fuss. For spam pages, remove all content and add {{delete}}. For spam edits, go to Page History, click on an old/clean version of the page, hit edit and re-save that version. Don't worry too much about a couple of spam edits, just make sure the staff know - everything can be reversed/fixed later. If there's a seriously major attack (which has never happened) then that's when you need to make sure I am contacted so I can stop it, but 100% of the attacks we've had can be fixed. gboyers talk 23:35, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
Please continue this discussion on the forum. gboyers talk 23:15, 2 December 2011 (UTC)
Re: Problem?
- In reply to Problem?
g'day govna. im here to reply to yor message about the Dillettante page. No problem there is but i just like mking funny edits and stuff that are funny and kinda is true.
Leave me a messsage
--Crazyman121 (talk) 03:25, 3 December 2011 (UTC)Crazyman121
Just to keep you updated
I stepped down as staff at the "other place". Thought you might like to hear it since you never agreed with my methodology of running that place. The main reason I stepped down was lack of interest in the series as a whole (I didn't like any of the GTA4 games or pre-GTA3 games) and that made me underqualified to deal with content disputes. Also lack of interest in vehicles in general, which made me unable to fix our sloppy and out of control Vehicles in GTAV page.
Anyway I'm completely done editing that wiki, and I guess that means The Tom is the guy to go to if you have any more concerns about it. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 22:24, 26 December 2011 (UTC)
- Thanks for letting me know. It was never anything personal, just a disagreement in methods - there'll always be someone who disagrees with someone! Good luck in whatever you do next! gboyers talk 22:38, 26 December 2011 (UTC)
Copyright templates
Hi, what exactly does the word "web-resolution" mean, which is in all the copyright screenshot templates? --Andreaz1 (talk) 14:30, 27 December 2011 (UTC)
Plagarism off Wikia
Hey Gboyers, I hate having to bring up this topic again, but I have noticed three articles on this wiki that I believe have been plagarised off Wikia's GTA Wiki. They are: 1412 Hotel, Rascalov Family and Bulgarin Family. I was wondering if you could help me confirm if they have been plagarised or not. Please forgive me if I am wrong.--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 00:31, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
Hey, Gboyers, I noticed that the Grand Theft Wiki: Staff page actually seems to be outdated. Back on Wikia, Inspectors (called moderators at the time) could protect talk pages, that right was never given to Inspectors after the move, yet the page still says that Inspectors can protect talk pages. Also, the Grand Theft Wiki: Move from Wikia page says that thre is only one single adbox, when there are now two adboxes (one on the left and one at the bottom of the page. Can you please help me update those two pages? As an Inspector, I cannot edit those pages.--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 10:14, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
- Hi Gerard, I would just like to point you back to the original discussion. I could have updated the staff page, but the reason that I directed him to you was for the option of having the right restored for inspectors. JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 10:24, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
Thanks for letting me know. We have changed the rights of Moderators/Inspectors a lot over the years - but we never have more than one staff member in that rank at a time. Looking at the protection log, not many pages are ever protected, so I'm not sure that Inspectors need this right. It's not an issue of trust, but we always follow the principle of least privilege, which means giving people the tools they need to do their job, and not giving everyone every possible permission/right (means less damage if accounts get compromised). If it would be useful, I'm happy to give it out, but I don't see any particular benefit? I'll re-evaluate this, but I'd like your comments on what rights you think inspectors should have, and why. gboyers talk 16:35, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
- To be honest, that right actually never did make much sense to me. It's very rare for a talk page to be protected, and unnecessarily protecting a talk page has the potential to cause more problems than unnecessarily protecting an article. I'm pretty happy with the Inspector rights as they are. JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 03:31, 29 December 2011 (UTC)
Hey Gboyers, why have I been demoted as Grand Theft Wiki staff?--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 00:45, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
- We're currently in the process of reorganising the staff & non-staff groups on this wiki. To start with, we've removed the Inspector rank completely, and given Trusted Users the ability to patrol. You've followed this change rather than be promoted to Administrator, as the original intention of you being an Inspector was for you to inspect (patrol) the wiki and help keep it clean, rather than to be an administrator.
- The reason for this change is that Inspectors were never meant to be staff - they were just trusted users who were meant to patrol the wiki, and were trusted with a couple of extra tools along the way. However, it became too much of a staff rank, and that was completely against the reason we had them. What's the point of having a member with admin tools who doesn't have the power to make the decisions to use them? There was no way to restrict their use to 'obvious' or spam situations, so I've removed the tools entirely from that level of member. Instead, Trusted Users now have the patrol right amongst a few others.
- The main difference now is that trusted users are definitely not staff, are not listed on the staff page, and do not have a badge/colour to distinguish them as staff. This is because we need to make sure users can easily identify staff (administrators) who can sort problems out and tell them what to do. It's now very clear that all staff are full administrators, which is better than the confusion we had before. Over time, we will decide whether Trusted Users should have some additional tools, or whether we need an additional rank in between. We will also be adding other features and groups into the system. One idea is a group of helpers who volunteer to help out new users.
- Additionally, I was not happy with the way you kept acting like a full staff member, and in some cases almost seeming to be an administrator. Your comment of: "I'll monitor his behaviour and take action against him at the moment he starts causing trouble" is not in-line what an Inspector/Patroller/Moderator should be doing. As I have explained to you before: "The role of an Inspector is to inspect wiki content, make sure the wiki is up-to scratch. The role does NOT include any 'power' or 'authority' over users." Whilst I appreciated your recent contribution to the staff forum, the staff and I still have our concerns, and I have not seen you performing much patrolling or contributing to any Community:Projects which is what I'd need to see before a promotion to administrator.
- I hope you will embrace the redefined patrolling & helping role of a Trusted User, and not be upset just because it's no longer listed on the staff page. If you genuinely believe you are right to be an administrator on this wiki, that you want that role for the right reasons, that you know the inner workings of the wiki well enough, and that I can trust you with the huge power our administrators have, then I can start the promotion discussion. Let me know if you have any questions. gboyers talk 01:27, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
So Gboyers, how come I am not listed on the "former staff members" section of the Grand Theft Wiki: Staff page, considering that I am a former staff member now and other inspectors (called patrollers at that time) are listed.--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 04:53, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
Also, the reason I said" I'll monitor his behaviour" means to check his edits closely on the "recent edits" page to check if they are vandalism and not, and then revert them as soon as I see what appears to be vandalism. Also, what I mean by "take action" is to revert any vandalism he causes (if he has caused any), and, in certain cases, inform higher ranking staff members about his vandalism and/or spamming if he did cause any. So basically, I was still sticking to my job while at the same time, showing the other users of this wiki that I had a low tolerance towards vandalism and spamming, and I would take action as soon as it happened.--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 04:58, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
A user who got banned from GTA Wikia has made his own grand theft auto wiki (http://gtw.wikia.com) and is not only plagiarizing your content but has stated that he will freely plagiarize your content because he is allowed to. See this The user is an out-and-out troll although much more subtle about his trolling than most, and Wikia Staff is being even less help than usual. I have four requests for help in with them from 2 days ago and no response. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 15:39, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
This actually seems like a very good idea. First of all let me do what I always do and apologies my inactivity, I will freely admit I've not been paying as much attention to this wiki as I should, mainly because I've noticed that, with the move from Wikia and the decreased activity, there's nothing that I can particularly do that the active staff aren't already doing :/. Nevertheless, I hope to become fully active again as soon as GTA V comes out, or even sooner as we get information.
I'm in favor of this "Alumni" group (pardon for asking, but what does that word even mean?). My main concern over the last few months was becoming an "Inactive" staff member, however this group makes it so that we can still edit when we please and keep some administrative power.
May I just ask, as I can't seem to find it, what are the differences between the new Alumni group and Administrators? (apart from the color changes and not being on the staff pages).
By the way, just asking, whats the latest news around the place? And is there any particular task you need assistance with? I'm still here to help after all :). Chimpso (Talk) 11:11, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
- To be honest with you, I kind of liked the Moderator/Inspector rank. When I put in a request for promotion to Moderator I considered the role to be one where you can show your competence as a staff member and prove that you can successfully work as part of the team and handle the new responsibilities that you're given. To me, it would have been something along the lines of "Training" to be an administrator, so you can develop the maturity and skills to be finally given the position, while still contributing to the wiki at the same time.
Of course, I've never been a moderator, so I can't really speak from experience. But I think we've seen how it can train users to become administrators while keeping their interest in the role (Yay! I'm a staff member!), instead of them having to be on for years before receiving official recognition for their work.
Just my 2 cents there, while I never looked at moderators having a big a role in the wiki's day-to-day activity, I always noted it as a way for them to experience the staff position and gain the maturity to become admins (Masterpogihaha for example). Personally, I think there's no huge harm in having a Moderator/Inspector role, It gives users something they can work towards that is more easily obtainable that Administrator, but that's just IMO really.Chimpso (Talk)
- I agree it's good for users to have some responsibility, but they can do this as a regular user (fixing problems & helping users) and as a Trusted User (by Patrolling). That's a better step-up than us giving them a badge and some fancy powerful tools, but without trusting them enough to use them as an admin. It's much more natural this way - we pick the best users who we trust, rather than giving lots of people a chance to be half a staff member for a while. We'll see how this goes! gboyers talk 00:45, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
Uploading images
I'm wondering if, to follow up with the new categories for images, the new screenshot templates should be added to the drop down box of choices when you upload a new image? A-Dust 18:14, 7 January 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for giving me the ability to Patrol edits, I appreciate it and I'm absolutely going to keep an eye on that. :) However, I do have a few questions:
- Here it says that red exclamation marks will appear on not-yet-patrolled edits however there are none of those appearing for me. I'm looking at edits that Jmbond007 made less than a minute ago so I doubt anyone has been able to patrol them already?
- There is also no "Mark as Patrolled" button when clicking diff like there is in your picture?
- Maybe just a forgotten permission but Staff still show up on Special:Patrol
Maybe you're still in the process of fixing things, but thanks for your help. --Andreaz1 (talk) 12:44, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
Re:Nomination for Promotion
Thanks for the nomination, I'm flattered! I've filled out answers to all the questions, let me know if there's anything else I need to do. :) It makes sense if you don't think about it... 03:18, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
Community Pages
Are users alowed to creat community pages in grand theft wiki? — Unsigned comment added by Nameless assasin (talk • contribs)
may i ask why was my username was blocked?
My inactivity
I am truly honored that I've earned the right to patrol, but I must apologise for my quite obvious inactivity. Things have moved on since 2010, I study at university, I'm part of a (somewhat) important internet community, and I don't play GTA games as much as I used to. But I won't leave this wiki now, not after all I've done, and everything I still have to do (completing articles about the radio stations for instance), and I am pretty sure I'll be much more active once there are more news around Grand Theft Auto V, which will be happening soon, hopefully. But I also have a huge project on Left 4 Dead Wiki that I need to complete as well (which won't be anytime soon, I'm afraid) but I'll try to contribute to this wiki as often as possible. I'm just being sorry for I won't be patrolling much in the next few months.--Loadingue (talk) 19:13, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Hi, I'm still shocked about this. Massive thank you for the nomination, which I didn't see coming at all, much less an actual promotion! Took a bit of digesting but I'm ready now.
I will take a look at the new rights, I'll come back to you if I have any questions about them. Also, I signed up at the forums - username Andreaz1, but maybe you already saw that. Now I will go explore the new rights I have, I hope I won't disappoint you. Again, thank you so much. Andreaz1 (talk) 19:57, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
Wow, thank you, I was actually thinking about it the other day when I realized my probationary period was over. I was thinking about two things:
- General feedback, have I done what you expected me to, is there something I've done that you did not agree with, or the other way around, do you feel there is something I haven't done that I should have?
- What exactly do you mean by my "progress"?
Thank you. :) Andreaz1 (talk) 18:35, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
Re:Nomination for Promotion
Sure thing. Just those two questions? It makes sense if you don't think about it... 03:01, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
Wrong top speeds in GTA IV
I'm seriously tired of this matter. Even after this discussion and after all my edits, displaying the true top speed of most vehicles, using a reliable speedometer, people still seem to trust those impossible and even stupid numbers displayed on GTA4.net. And GTW is the best GTA Wiki out there, totally wrong numbers is something we must avoid at all costs. I don't want to correct this mistake for every vehicle, all the time. Is there any way we could convince them not to trust GTA4.net? Like a small note on the Vehicles in GTA IV page, or a note in every vehicle article? What should I do?--Loadingue (talk) 00:48, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
Infobox character template
Just to let you know that the infobox character template is not working correctly on Sweet, but is fine on other articles I've checked. A-Dust 01:17, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
Seems fine to me? gboyers talk 07:17, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
- I've just [[:File:Infobox character problem.jpg|uploaded an image]] showing the problem. A-Dust 10:15, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
Re:Bot replace tool
- In reply to Bot replace tool
Thanks but I'd rather do it myself, especially as it's not only templates and categories that I'm changing. Just with the vehicles file names (from, for example, Picador 1.jpg to Picador-GTASA-PS2.jpg) and things like GTA: San Andreas to the full title. A-Dust 21:57, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
I want to ask how did you manage to make such a big website like gtw it must have been alot of work i just want to know how to create a wiki site without the suport of gta wikia because they would obiviously claim it as their so how?Nameless assasin (talk) 12:17, 27 January 2012 (UTC)
When I first came to gta wiki I have been using the defualt skin and I was happy with,but then some how my skin was changed into the touch skin I have been having lots of problems with it for instance if I want to go to a talk page I always have to edit the url.I have tryed going to my prefrences and change it into defualt but everything seems to be clashed what's the problem. Nameless assasin (talk) 19:12, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
When I first came to gta wiki I have been using the defualt skin and I was happy with,but then some how my skin was changed into the touch skin I have been having lots of problems with it for instance if I want to go to a talk page I always have to edit the url.I have tryed going to my prefrences and change it into defualt but everything seems to be clashed what's the problem.
Grand Theft Wiki Signatures
Hey Gboyers, how do you use the signatures in Community: Signatures?--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 00:29, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
- Depends where you want to use them. For a forum, you just need to use whatever code that forum allows, and link to the image's full direct URL (click on the image ON the file page to get to the image itself), so for most forums that would be:
[img]http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/images/Sig-evo-tlad.png[/img]. But you should also link it to GTW, so it would be
[url=http://www.grandtheftwiki.com][img]http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/images/Sig-evo-tlad.png[/img][/url]. Check with the individual site for the code and rules they allow. gboyers talk 00:32, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the info Gboyers.--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 00:38, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
Hi Gboyers, Thank you for the information, I have a particular question about patrolling, do I always have to go to the special:patrol page to see the full menu for patrolling (endorse, skip ect) or is there an alternative shortcut. I have found one but that only gives me the 'mark as patrolled" button. Thanks--Montario (talk) 17:26, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the promotion! I've registered the username "Silver_Infernus" on the forum. As for the email, it says I've been sent a confirmation code, but I didn't actually receive one. My email is listed there but I don't receive notifications like I do on Wikia's sites. It makes sense if you don't think about it... 21:25, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Quality of Edits
Hi again Gboyers - I have noticed that the majority of the help page I created was re-worded and simplified again, am I using complicated language again or is it something else. Just a concern!--Montario (talk) 21:26, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
- Oh ok! Thank you! I am not offended at all, I am learning as I go along :)--Montario (talk) 21:45, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
- One more question - Is this page actually needed- Atmosphere. I raised this concern though never got a reply from anyone. Thanks!--Montario (talk) 19:12, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
- Hi - I was trying to edit it in chunks as I was worried that if I do it all in one go, I might have made an error (such as missing a mission) and end up blindly adding pictures to the wrong missions which happened to me once yesterday, meaning that I would have to start from the beginning fixing it. However I will keep that in mind and try at most to make as little edit counts on it as possible. (maybe one edit for each chapter?) I'll try to do it all at once. Thanks!--Montario (talk) 07:20, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
Re: Things To Do
Well i guess i can help out here and there do whatever i can but the only reason I asked if theres nothing to edit anymore is because well to me every page already is all that it can be (in my opinion) but hopefully that will change my additude towards editing on GTW when GTA V is released getting me to edit as much as i used to.Also as long as im here what are the requirements to become a admin?--Gtajesus
It does help but what do you mean by knowning how wikitext/code and how complex templates work?--Gtajesus
Your userpage
Hey, on my screen it looks like your page is crushed(Some pictures are on top of others), I know for a fact that it wasn't like that for me. Just a heads up... Steahl (talk) 21:59, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Are you users still allowed to edit gtaiv comunity gripes?--Nameless assasin (talk) 20:29, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
- Yeah - I don't see why not. People will always find new stuff to complain about. But the wishlists should be closed-off when the game is released. gboyers talk 20:28, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
RE: British VS American English
I was only changing it because there was more American English on the page(at least I think there was). Like my summary said: For consistency. I am not trying to discriminate, I just found the page was inconsistent. Perhaps I am seeing things but on that page there was more American English than British English. Steahl (talk) 21:24, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
I understand what you mean. It would be bad if the only edit's were just spelling edits. I mainly correct spelling and grammar. I only add information if a game has just been released or text dump has been leaked(I did that for ZeldaWiki). Otherwise I would be kind of useless. Steahl (talk) 21:41, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
Mission scripts
Hey, I was wondering why some mission pages have scripts on subpages and some have it on the original page. Is there a rule that only allows for one, or are both okay? Silver Infernus talk 01:25, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
- Mission scripts should be on subpages, if they are longer than a couple of paragraphs. If they are short, and they can fit into the main article nicely, then it's simpler to leave them there. General rule of thumb is: any HUGE sections (other than the most important content) should go onto subpages (unless the article is a list that can't be broken up). Make sense? gboyers talk 01:35, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
- Yeah, thanks :) Silver Infernus talk 02:09, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
Broken Link
Hi- When I try to click on the link to let me upload multiple images, the page is missing. If this is the same for everyone, I think there might be syntax errors in the script. If that is the case, would you mind fixing it please? Just to let you know!--Montario (talk) 14:53, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
- Unfortunately we're reliant on a lot of interconnecting software and scripts, and it seems this one doesn't work with the current version of MW we're using, and it's no longer being maintained by the developer, so we're pretty much out of luck. Sorry. It's not anything as simple as a syntax error, it's that some core code that script relies on no longer exists. Multiple Uploads are only available to staff, anyway, so it doesn't affect anyone else. gboyers talk 16:09, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
Petit or Petty Larceny
On the Marnie Allen page, it says Petit Larceny, I know Petit Larceny and Petty Larceny are the same thing but, does it say this in-game? Not only that it's really confusing when your French(me). Steahl (talk) 21:07, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
- I have no idea which is used in game. My understanding was that Petit Larceny (opposite of Grand Larceny) was universally replaced with Petty Larceny these days. Best leaving a message on the talk page, or asking the person who made that edit (check the History). gboyers talk 21:14, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
If that person has no contributions at all, then that means they haven't edited since GTW left Wikia in October 2010. You can contact that person on Wikia, or you can find someone else who plays the game to check it for you. Maybe contact someone else who edits similar pages? gboyers talk 22:00, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
I was wondering if we should add a Red Dead: Redemption page? Red Dead: Redemption has some similarities but as of yet(sadly) there is no information if it takes place in the same world. But I find that the similarities between Red Dead: Redemption(I'll get Revolver out of the discussion), Bully and GTA are undeniable. What do you think? Steahl (talk) 23:09, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
- We used to have that page, but it was removed after many members of the community insisted this was a GTA wiki. You can still see the discussion at Talk:Red Dead Redemption. Whilst initially I thought it would be good to have comparison pages (NOT explaining the games, JUST explaining the similarities), it became clear this was impractical. If we did that, we'd have to include a page for almost ANY sandbox game that's similar to GTA - not just Bully and RDR because they're made by Rockstar. The RDR page was not linked to by any other page, which proved that it wasn't very useful to us. It's a good idea, but I don't think it would work. gboyers talk 23:16, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
Someone is spamming links to grandtheftwiki.com on the Wikia site. I'm not pointing a finger at anyone here - for all I know at this time it could be a troll-in-the-know - but I want to bring it to your attention. I have requested a Checkuser from Wikia Staff and will let you know the results when I get them. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 01:45, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
- Results came back. It wasn't anyone you need to worry about, just a serial vandal that wandered over from wikipedia. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 04:11, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
Oh sorry, I initially wanted to put the term 'Installing' however I wanted to be consistent with the terminology used as that term was also used on the PC page. It turns out however that I was accidentally looking at MrLanceVanceDances's revision of the PC page (which had 'downloading' at the time) before it was changed by you. My mistake--Montario (talk) 07:21, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
IDK, but would QuestyCaptcha work here on the wiki? I had a problem with bots on my own wiki, and so I decided to use a question-based system rather than a math or squiggly-letter CAPTCHA. Blakegripling ph (talk) 13:44, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
"Infobox User"
About this new user infobox thing, are users supposed to use this box, or is it just optional? The only concern I have about it is why can't I view my GTA vehicles on the user one instead of the character one. And If I just have to make a section of what cars I own on my userpage, I can.
I appreciate your help. Ujellybro? (talk) 02:03, 10 February 2012 (UTC)
- The {{infobox user}} template is completely optional. I made it because some users were using {{infobox character}} on their user pages, which is intended for in-game characters and wasn't completely appropriate for users (in terms of the questions it asked). Instead, the user infobox is much more appropriate. If you have a suggestion for options to add to that template (such as favourite games, favourite vehicles etc) then leave a message on Template talk:Infobox user - but bear in mind that an infobox is not the place for big lists, just quick one-line facts. I am currently working with the creators of MediaWiki (the software we run on) to make a new way of showing the user's avatar within this infobox, which will be good. Hope that answers your questions! gboyers talk 16:55, 10 February 2012 (UTC)
Uncategorized files/deleting
Hi, I have a few questions regarding Special:UncategorisedFiles which I've been working on.
- Would Category:Weapons (or a subcategory) be appropriate for images like these, or are they for in-game images only?
- Can I delete old pages of files which weren't transferred over in the move, and are only linked to on talk pages? I think almost all of them are on pages from before the move anyway.
- A bit unrelated but I came a across this page, is it really worth keeping? Most of the info there is covered on Modifications anyway. If you think we should keep it I can make it a subpage of the Modifications article but it would take a bit of cleaning and of course reuploading the images. Otherwise we can delete it and the images it links to that weren't transferred over in the move properly.
- Something strange has also appeared today when trying to delete old file pages. I get an error message that says Cannot delete page "XX". View or restore x deleted edit(s)? Then the digit 1 and nothing else. The page is still deleted though if I look at the Recent Edits, so that has me a bit puzzled.
Thank you for your time and help. Andreaz1 (talk) 20:26, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
- Some good questions there:
- A new subcategory would be best to keep things organised, such as Category:Weapon Photos which would be a member of Category:Weapons and Category:Photos. Might be worth having things like Category:People Photos and Category:City Photos etc too, to keep things super-organised.
- If you fine empty file pages (with no images), you should fetch the image (with the same name) from gta.wikia and upload it here. Unless you realise that it's useless, in which case just delete it.
- Users can put whatever they like (within reason) in their user pages. Often users (like Special:AllPages/User:A-Dust) will have lots of test pages, examples and fan-fiction stories in their user space. Only delete it if it's offensive or completely irrelevant to GTA. Also, if the user account doesn't exist (you can see this cos there's no 'contributions' link in the sidebar toolbox) and it was just some user pages copied over from the move, they're alright to delete if you really want. For this particular user subpage, it's about a mod, so you should direct the user to Grand Theft Mods rather than this site (if they're active), but don't just surprise-delete it and upset them.
- Yeah I've noticed that error once, probably just a bug. We'll update soon so that should fix it.
- Let me know if you have any other questions! gboyers talk 07:46, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
Re:Nomination for Promotion
No, I think I'm okay for now. Thanks for asking though :) Silver Infernus talk 04:09, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
- I've edited my sandbox with a suggestion for the business categories. The assets, currently a sub-category of businesses, could be broke down into game as well (such as Assets in GTA Vice City/GTA San Andreas) as well. A-Dust 12:58, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
Regarding my block on Grand Theft Answers
Hello, I am the person who posted a question on GTW saying "Why does white stuff come out of my pee pee when I tug on it?". I admit it was a silly thing to do and I can assure you I will never do it again. I just see so many troll questions on answers sites across Wikia and I should not have hopped on the retarded questions bandwagon. I have used GTW legitimately in the past and aside from the occasional stupid answer posted by someone, it is a helpful and useful resource. I am sorry for taking the piss out of the site by posting that question and I was wondering whether you could unblock me, as I will not do something like this again.
Oliver OCross (talk) 18:06, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Edit : I forgot to include the actual ban info.
Your user name or IP address has been blocked. The block was made by Gboyers. Reason given: no reason given Start of block: 19:48, March 11, 2012 Expiry of block: 19:48, March 11, 2013 Intended blockee: 188.8.131.52 Block ID: #79 Current IP address: 184.108.40.206
I need to ask,could you possible make this flag a user box [[File:Image.jpeg]] thanks
Can't create pages
Hey Gboyers, when I am logged in to Grand Theft Wiki, and I try to create a new article using that box on the main page, I get given a message saying "Permissions errors. You do not have permission to create pages, for the following reason: You do not have permission to create new pages." How come I cannot create new pages? Did I do anything wrong?--MrLanceVanceDance (talk) 03:36, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
- This has now been fixed, thanks for letting me know. This was a problem with permissions caused by a major behind-the-scenes recode we've been doing this weekend. gboyers talk 03:41, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
Can I Edit
Hello Gboyers, my name is Extremo and I'm a staff in GTA Wiki. I see that alot of you guys hate the GTA Wiki. Are there by any chances I can edit here though I hail in wikia? Please respond and thanks for your time. :) ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:49, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
- I feel bad of Wikia's aggressive response but I really do not have the plan to leave Wikia. I may edit here sometime trying to help you guys and bring new information. Also I'll be on updates if some user who had been block from GTA Wiki join here and disrespect the staff like. It's really nice to meet the old staff who created and grew the original wiki. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 13:11, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
Wikia Website
Hi you alreasy met me and I almost forgot to say that I' am a staff in GTA Wikia -- as patroller. I have one qustion that I need to clear, your site has the numerous number of articles right? But why does Wikia also continue's to beat you and now even GTA Wikia is now available in a number of languages encompassing more articles though they are no longer copying your content? ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 15:45, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for the heads-up Gerard. :) Now I have complete understanding of everything that happened. I'll look in to the future if any of you guys are always need me in help, just send me an e-mail. I'll give you more updates. Talk to you real soon mate. :) ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 00:47, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
Small issue with the Bully page
Hi. I noticed some incorrect coding on the Bully article, specifically a <b> tag that should have been <br>. However, when I tried to fix it, the edit tripped the spam blacklist filter. It says that the text below triggered the filter.
- http://akismet.com blacklist error
Thing is the text doesn't appear anywhere in the article and I certainly didn't add it. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 01:07, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
auto confirmed
Hi Gboyers,I have noticed that I have been demoted from this rank and seem to not have the ability to edit semi-protected pagesNameless assasin (talk) 15:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
I didn't get what was the problem with my autoconfirmed rank,but thanks for the help.Nameless assasin (talk) 16:38, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
Not yet Autoconfirmed
Hi Gboyers, I noticed for awhile that I cannot edit semi-protected pages. How do I earn the autoconfirmed rights? ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 01:50, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
- Yes thank you for the heads-up Gboyers. And regarding about that Preview-button, I'm very sorry but I have limitations in using preview button as I always use publish button but I'll try to use preview button. Sorry about that. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 13:32, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
RE: Copyright Breach
I'm very very sorry Gboyers, I'm just trying to find a way on how to improve our articles but I am not personally plagiarizing the Grand Theft Wiki. I will try to remove all of the copied content that I made, sorry for the major misunderstanding. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:06, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
- I have removed most of the content I copied from this site. Sorry for the big misunderstanding and the behavior I showed here. The reason why I joined this site is to improve the relations with GTA Wikia and Grand Theft Wiki. But it seems that my work of trying to improve relations went wrong when I try to plagiarize this wiki in a bad way.
- As a representative of GTA Wikia I have come to this to accept any circumstances that I'll made in the future. Whatever the cost of this. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:24, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
- Thank you for replying and for the trust that you gave me. I understand of the multiple breaches that you and the staff of this Grand Theft Wiki had received over the years after you moved. I will to see it in the future that I'll try to improve the relations between the two wikis. Also I will immediately create new rules that will remind all the users and the staff of GTA Wikia and to prevent this from happening again. Again thanks for the trust you gave me :). ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:41, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
- I do understand your feelings about Wikia and your strong desire for Wikia not to use any GrandTheftWiki content even with licensing provided, and as always I'm ready and willing to ensure that the plagiarism doesn't last and isn't tolerated.
- I see that ExtremoMania has cooperated and cleaned up the plagiarism as best he could. My thoughts on the matter is that he made the mistake once, didn't continue doing it, and has apologized and cleaned up. I won't forget that this happened, but unless it happens again I don't see any need to take disciplinary action or even personally reproach him.
- If there's any that he missed, or if there's anything you would prefer to be fully deleted, please let me know. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 05:33, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
- I saw you said the following on ExtremoMania's talk page: we have had several breaches of this in the past, even by multiple GTA Wikia staff members. I'm familiar with the WikisEditor incident (although, as I've mentioned before, he was de-staffed and had quit editing before I got there), but which other GTAWikia staff members plagiarized? Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 05:35, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
RE:Edit Wars
I apologize for the edit wars I was just a bit mad since uploading most of those photos took me hours to find and I always thought an edit war was back and forth undoing of edits on a single page and I will ask him for a reason behind removing the photos.User:Gtajesus
Talk page message
Just so you know, Gtajesus has edited my talk page as you know but I haven't received a notification for it when moving on to new pages. I'm not sure if it's something I've changed in the preferences or if it's something else. Just thought I'd let you know. A-Dust 19:01, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
new page permission
Hello Gboyers I tried to create a new page but when I tried I was told that I did not have permission to.Is this a bug? Also when I tried to upload a picture of the problem I was told the same thing. - Gtajesus
Hi Gboyers, I'm very sorry of the previous plagiarism that I made here in GTW. Also I wanted to make GTW much more affliated with GTA Wikia is because we have a shared history and although the history between the two is hampered by these events I know that we can get along if both wikis would become affliated. I know this is not the first time I'm asking questions but here goes: What does Monaco look like and how partly can you install it in GTW to become mandatory? I understand the reason why you moved it's because not just the changing of the Oasis skin but of course the new skin supports more adverts than the old Monaco.
Also if anything goes wrong like plagiarism just give me a call and I'll appropriately find a solution. Don't worry I can be trusted, just trust me I'll help you and the staff of this wiki. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 15:12, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
- What I mean affliation is that I don't want the two sites to become sworn enemies but rather help solve our problems and try to find a solution in the future even if this site is now separate and free and the old site is still under Wikia. And the old Monaco skin is much more "pretty amazing" the first time I see it. For partly I am having difficulty with the Oasis skin as it has very narrow content and the only thing I realize that when I logged out, the adverts appear. From what I feel I am also very upset of what Wikia had done and generally I have a sympathy for you guys so just wanted to say keep up the good work make this wiki the best GTA site. Also if you spot any plagiarism of contents from GTW to GTA Wikia without giving any certain attribution, just contact either me, Dan, or Jeff about this an we will formally solve any problems regards to copying content from here. :) ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 02:04, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
My username
Hi Gerard, could you change my username to Messi1983 please. Thanks. Dan the Man 1983 (talk) 13:34, 5 April 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks G. By the way if you see any copying from this site to the one on Wikia, do let me know and I'll deal with it straight away. Messi1983 (talk) 22:49, 5 April 2012 (UTC)
Gerard I'm not trying to ignite the war between GTA Wikia and Grand Theft Wiki about what I have seen before and I have briefly discuss this before I message you. As I have seen on your facebook community page [1] I don't know whose member of the staff post this but I have seen that you are insulting the GTA Wikia staff, especially The Tom. Don't you have morals or something? Why are you trying to advertise this and let everyone say that "I find it strange that people are all up in arms about the gender of a character. This is about crime, not being a sexist "stud"." For god sake man we are not sexist and homophobic. We allow all of you guys to denounce your hatred against us, but insulting us in social networking sites is not something that I could not bear. Parang pinapababa ninyo ang pagkatao at dangal naming mga staff ng GTA Wikia. We are not competing with each other okay, we are very different sites. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 04:15, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
- Okay I'm very sorry of what I have said G. You're right Gerard, I really don't understand of what happened years ago before I join. But in between in those years I have fully known the old site years before I join. You're right G, who am I to question what happened long time ago before I join. I never really expect of what I have said in my comments. Maybe I was just carried away of what I have said in those comments, so I'm sorry. Really really sorry man. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:33, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
- G I'm very sorry of the actions I have undertaken that day, maybe I was just to immature to understand such things as I am only 16 and especially I also encounter my own "personal problems". I'm not even a sexist and I certainly do not hate gay people or a female protagonist. I will (and will always) still buy the game even if he the game has a gay or female protagonist. I don't compliment that having a gay or female protagonist would "ruin the game" as always Rockstar made games will always still be the best even if it has a gay or a female protagonist in it and still I would really continue to buy it. That's all I'm saying. Still I'm saying very sorry man as this issue has to become even bigger and I hope I'm still welcome to contribute here. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 02:46, 17 April 2012 (UTC)
Posting stuff on Facebook
I've just seen that stuff that you posted about me on facebook, you twisted my words and completely took them out of context. I originally decided to leave it alone but thats only because I thought that you were.
"I don't know what they taught you at Heckmondwike, but just because someone is gay does not make them camp, promiscuous, AIDS-riddled sluts, which is what a lot of people assume." Firstly I don't go to Heckmondwike and did I ever say anything like that about gay people?
"In fact, the gay people I know are nicer, more romantic and more committed than half the straight people I know, and on the whole more masculine too." I don't know what kind of straight guys you know but the vast majority of the men I know are a lot more masculine than the gay men I know.
"I know and have worked with a number of gay people in the police and army, who are a hell of a lot more manly than the people you probably look up to, like the perfume-selling long-haired David Beckham." Why do you think I look up to David Beckham? I don't like football and can't stand the guy.
"Yes, I can understand straight males being weirded out by a female/gay character dating males, but I don't think dating should be included in a GTA game anyway. But why would controlling a female or gay character make any difference to *anything* else in the game? Seriously? Would the woman not be able to drive properly, or have to have a baby with her at all times? Or would the gay have to stop every 5 minutes to re-touch his makeup and put on his drag outfit? It's closed-minded attitudes like that which is what holds back so many things." I have never said anything like this, I said "playing as a woman wouldn't be as bad as a gay protagonist but It would lose fans", this was a reference to sales figures, you have taken this completely out of context to make me appear homophobic and sexist, I don't know why you did that, maybe to just make the GTA Wikia look bad?
"I actually think a female character would open up many other avenues, like how she could manipulate men to get them to do what she wanted. Likewise, a gay character would find it tougher to work his way up to the top (which 'yet another white male' would find easier). Remember how hard it was for Niko to find work and be accepted in IV? Imagine it being a thousand times harder, because of people like you underestimating and prejudging him, so he has to prove himself (no that doesn't mean sleep around)." People like me? Fuck you. I'm simply stating that there are a lot of gamers who wouldn't want to play as a gay man, I have no real hatred toward gay people.
I know this was a while back but after seeing what you did I can't just sit here and ignore it. The Tom (talk) 16:38, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
"GTA games are only for straight, white males, and everyone slightly different to you should be banned from even playing it". When did I ever say white? The Tom (talk) 16:48, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
- I do understand where you're coming from and I know I could of worded my comment a bit better but there was no need to bad mouth me over facebook, I thought that we had settled it on Wikia. Sorry about the swearing but I was pretty angry at the time. I hope you understand why I was so angry and that I don't hate gay people and that I'm not sexist. I would never say intentional homophobic and sexist things, but I stand by my point that many GTA fans wouldn't want to buy the game should there be a gay or female protagonist, honestly I'd still buy the game but there are a lot of people that wouldn't. Anyway I hope that we can well and truly put this behind us now. The Tom (talk) 17:51, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
Thanks a lot :) Messi1983 (talk) 14:25, 17 April 2012 (UTC)
Hi Gboyers, I'm asking if I could upload a GTA theme, for example "GTA IV - Main Theme.ogg". Um what are the available upload files is it Vorbis or MPEG3? And also what will be the licensing I should put to upload music? ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 13:05, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
- Okay then G, I'll have it up and running. Might take only minutes. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 01:49, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
- Okay so I have uploaded the theme song, more theme songs about GTA are coming. But there is something to tell, well I have been thinking of making a template for the music of GTA something like Template:Music, that is similar to Template:Listen of Wikipedia, although it will be modified. That way it can be used on all other game articles. I thought it could be a good idea. Your decision G. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 13:54, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
- They are really fine, having them on articles is very good idea. But I was thinking of a template that could have good information such as this one and I also have tons of ogg files but that is up to you G. That is up to you G, I really like the {{YoutubeAudio}}. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 12:36, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
- Well okay then, but maybe tomorrow as it is almost 10:00 PM here and I got to sleep. I'll work on that G, thanks. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 13:56, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
G I have a difficulty creating the {{audio}}. I still have a small knowledge about creating templates (as I only know how to create infobox templates). And also I don't seem to combine both the {{YoutubeAudio}} and ogg files at the same time.
- I'll try to make the template G I promise. I still have some difficulty about creating templates but that might take some time. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 02:21, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
- It's amazing G, I mean way to amazing! Such a very perfect template I've ever seen, even better than in Wikipedia. ExtremoMania Talk To Me This Way 02:37, 24 April 2012 (UTC)
Pedestrian Dialogue pages idea
Hi G, there is a user on youtube who has uploaded a ton of videos for nearly each pedestrian in most of the games. I'll send you a link to what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lj5C7plSR4
So rather then Pedestrian Dialogue pages being a wall full of quotes, do you think we can use these videos instead with the youtube user's permission of course. Messi1983 (talk) 14:38, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
- Your recent edit to the quotes page was the idea I had, but rather then keep the written quotes, shall we delete them? As it would save a lot of space, and we could get more pedestrian audio files on the page. Messi1983 (talk) 15:12, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
Hi G, when you're used to a stressful, drama filled wiki like I am, then a nice, relaxed, positive environment such as this wiki takes some getting used to. That is what I meant by it not being the same. I meant no disrespect or anything in that comment. I like this wiki, and it going to take some getting used to.
Anyways, I asked for my tools back, and partly the reason I became an Admin and B'crat in the first place was to help maintain what you guys created over there in the first place as it is never going to be deleted, and it would be vandalised mercilessly. Messi1983 (talk) 18:37, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
- Usually it takes me time to get used to something new anyways. I remember when I first started editing Wikia, it was cause I was sick of editing at Wikipedia. Took me time to get used to it, but I enjoyed it from the start. I enjoy it here and I am sure I will edit here, aswell as maintaining what you guys left behind. Sounds a bit selfish I know, but I'd rather that then have vandals destroy what you created. Messi1983 (talk) 19:13, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
Hi Gboyers,
I made a template a month or two ago which shows the neighbouring locations of places in the GTA world, with the intention that it would help people identify surrounding areas to travel around easier (and of course just in case people are curious at the 'geographical' positioning of places). I am struggling with plotting some of the cardinal points however as some places which appear to be south of the location can be passed as Southeast, East, West, Southwest ect. Also, rural areas I will need to do (such as Montgomery) are very much detached from other locations which makes it increasingly difficult to plot surrounding areas. I now come to question if this template is beneficial, good idea in the first place. I don't want to spend my time making something which is no real use. I personally think it can work but I need additional support and help to complete this for every location as i'm sure you know there are an awful lot. Any chance I could use some of your help to improve the idea or finish the current one? Thanks--Montario (talk) 19:37, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
Questions, the non-frequently asked kind
Hello Gboy. First, let me introduce you to me. *sigh* the wiki would not let me post my references here. I have posted the links on my user page. I'm a bureaucrat/admin of two wikis, an admin only of a third and have done some editing almost everywhere. I'm fairly fluent in creating templates and adjusting the user interface. I also have some familiarity with the semi-bot AWB (linked on my user page). Now that I have introduced myself a little, my questions.
- I've noticed that your User:Gboyers has a fancy rank icon next to it, how did you accomplish that?
Is it a simple JavaScript that appends the icon if name = user / rank, is it a css ":before {content: "icon code"}", or is it an extension / widget that you created/installed?
- What extension are you using that puts the little box on your talk page that tells if you are on-line or not?
I think just those two questions to start.. If you could please post your response on my home wiki talk page (linked below as "talk"), I would very much appreciate that -- Otherwise I will check back in 3-5 days for your response. :D ~-~ ShoeMaker ( home • talk ) on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 @ 12:02:12 (EDT)
Hey Gboyers, it's me GTAjaxoxo. I've been inactive for a while. When I decided to log in, I typed in my password. But it said wrong password. When I tried to recover my password, it said: Log in. So that's why I decided to create this account and try to contact you. Don't think I'm doing sockpuppetry. Since I'm trying to recover my password in my account GTAjaxoxo.
Hope you can help me.
I sent an email to your registered email address but didn't get a reply. Please make sure your email in Special:Preferences is up to date so you can reset your password in future. I'll look into the password reset functionality and hopefully fix the problem with it asking you to log in. Thanks - gboyers talk 13:18, 16 May 2012 (UTC)
But, I didn't get an email. Where did you send it to?--GTAjaxoxo (Discuss) 07:01, 17 May 2012 (UTC)
Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Narcotics merge
The discussion of merging these two pages has been going on for a while now, and I was wondering if you could merge the two, since according to Category:merge, a staff member must be asked to do it. Thanks. User:88FanNASCAR May 12, 2012, 12:40 EDT
Rockstar invited you to play Max Payne 3. Maximum Respect achieved — Unsigned comment added by Mancl692 (talk • contribs)
- As you can see from my review it's an awesome game, awesome for both single and multiplayer, which is unusual. Definitely worth the money if you like this sort of shooter at all. gboyers talk 18:24, 19 May 2012 (UTC)
Picture from a free source?
Hey Gboyers, I have a question about SanAndreas-GTASA-map-terrain.jpg. Is this file created by you or from a free source? If you're asking why, I'm gonna upload it in Wikipedia. --GTAjaxoxo (Discuss) 06:08, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
- That map was generated from a program called "Map Viewer" by Steve M. Even if the program is "free", the map itself isn't because it was created by Rockstar.--spaceeinstein 16:28, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
- Spaceeinstein is right - this is essentially one big screenshot (albeit taken using special software), and all the content of the image is created by Rockstar. I do not believe Wikipedia's policy on image licensing would allow you to use this, as it probably wouldn't fit under their 'fair use' guidelines as being necessary. gboyers talk 18:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
Re: Character Infoboxes
Hey! Thanks, yes, I regret having to say I haven't been very active lately. Real life commitments has taken up too much time for me to be able to do any real work here, things have calmed down in the last few days though. I've seen you work on these infoboxes for a few days now and I have to say the results look great. I think adding comments and such is easy to understand. Of course, I'll be glad to help now that I have got more free time! Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 23:01, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
Hi again! I really like the new character infoboxes and I know that this is a big ask, but could it be fixed so that they work for people who have "dual" nationalities, like Francis McReary, at least so that they allow you to enter more than country? Thanks! Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 17:20, 8 June 2012 (UTC)
I thought the same thing. I also think that "nationality" should mean where they were born, as you feel the same way I'll do that from now on. As I haven't played GTA IV some of them were a bit hard to judge for me and that's why I asked. Thanks! Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 18:04, 8 June 2012 (UTC)
Grand Theft Mod Status?
Hey There Gboyers,
Can you inform me what's the status of Grand Theft Mods? I see it's inactive, and no staff at all. --Byzantine95 (talk|edits) 17:22, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
I'd be willing to step up and help out as Staff. Are there any requirements that I need to meet? I was going to go in and creating pages and templates, etc to get things ready and what not. Is it possible to request Admin rights to help out or no? --Byzantine95 (talk|edits) 19:02, 14 June 2012 (UTC)
I understand perfectly where you coming from, and you hit the nail on the head regarding Wikia. I will renew my request once I get some solid contributions flowing on both wikis.
Am I able to create new templates as well?
Regards, --Byzantine95 (talk|edits) 02:42, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
As for Grand Theft Mods?--Byzantine95 (talk|edits) 06:55, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
Ahh I see. Alright, Expect some templates, etc set up. After I get things set up, I will see if I require any rights, and I'll let you know. --Byzantine95 (talk|edits) 07:00, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
Page Loading
Hey Gboyers, I've been having some trouble browsing this wiki. Nearly every page takes around one minute to load (some take forever), and it took me two minutes just to open the editor up (to add this message to your talk page). Other websites are fine, and it's only this site the issue has occurred on. I can't use the search bar (on this wiki) as it will load forever. I even did an experiment by typing in something in the search bar, left it, came back 30 minutes later to find it still loading. I can't even view my own profile, and I had to use Google to find your profile. But yeah, this has got annoying over the last few days. I've been re-playing GTA III, and some of the older GTA's, using this wiki as a guide, and it's been a daunting task to load a simple page. I hope to become more active on this wiki soon, but before that, I want to get rid of this issue. Also, it just took two minutes to preview this page. Thanks in advance for any help or support you can offer, --Fairnick68 (talk) 15:09, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
- What a coincidence, I could pretty much sum this up by saying "+1". I've been having the same problem for a few days. I didn't think about it as websites occasionally have hiccups like this but it's been going on for a few days now, and now that I see I'm not alone... Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 17:47, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Hey guys, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I have been aware that it's been running a little slow, particularly at night, but I didn't realise it was such a problem. I'm looking into it to see what the problem is and how we can fix it, and I'm in the process of trying some things right now. At the moment for me, it's alternating between loading very slow and loading okay. - gboyers talk 18:37, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Pages and user profiles load fast now, but it still took me one minute to open up the editor on this page. --Fairnick68 (talk) 19:15, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
- Still takes forever to load any page for me. I thought it was weird that it was just this site that seemed to be loading slow (over so many days)...JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 00:48, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
- You're right, still slow. Any improvement now? How long has this been happening for everyone? gboyers talk 05:33, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
Most pages seem to be working normally now, though edit pages are still slow. That being said, at some points it does seem to work as usual, and then randomly decides to go slow again. As for how long it's been happening: At least a few days, though I can't give a much better indication than that as I haven't really been paying attention to it (TBH, I was concerned about my own computer/network more than I thought it was the wiki's problem) JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 08:06, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
- To be honest, there's not much difference. I also have the odd moments of pages loading normally but I had that before too. I remember the first time I really reacted to the page loading so slow was after I made this edit, but it might have started a day or two before that. Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 17:45, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
He's right, it's back to being extremely slow. JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 02:25, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
- Actually, I may be wrong about this, but it seems to be related to the time of day (and therefore perhaps traffic). JFletcherTalk (formerly User:Biggest gta fan ever) 11:02, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
Time of day isn't just traffic, it's things like when the server does its backing-up and when the wiki regenerates its caches, that's why I'm asking you guys to let me know which times of day are slower than others (if that is the case) to help me trace the problem! Otherwise I'll have to disable everything and see what speeds it back up. gboyers talk 17:53, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
- It doesn't seem like time of day matters. I'm editing at a time that I'm guessing is at the lowest peak of visitors. Right now the entire site seems to only grind to a halt when the edit or view history links are clicked. After a while of loading, the site is back to reasonable speed until those links are clicked again.--spaceeinstein 10:55, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
Okay - how about now? Space was right, I hadn't realised that visiting the edit/history pages slowed down other pages visited afterwards, which was messing up the things I was testing. I narrowed it down to 1 dodgy extension which has been removed. gboyers talk 11:51, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
- It's running smoothly now. Thanks.--spaceeinstein 18:46, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
Mission special vehicle tables
I couldn't think of a better way to word the headline, sorry about that.
Anyhoo, I've had this idea for a while about making and adding tables to mission pages. These would include the special vehicles that appear in that mission. I think it would be an easy and quick way of summing up information on the page. If done right it would look stylish but subtle yet catch the eye of people who don't feel like reading the many lines of trivia where this information could have been included previously. It could also be a good way of sharing information that is maybe not as well known to everybody.
I have played around with two styles, let me use the mission Loose Ends in GTA Vice City as an example, where it would look something like this:
|Special vehicle appearances
|Special properties
|Special vehicle appearances
Black Admiral
Black Pony
I like the second one better, it's more compact but I also like having a separate row for the special properties like in the first one, maybe you know a way of merging the two? I'm not very good at tables so they could probably be done to look snazzier, but I would like your opinion on the idea. I think adding them in the Trivia section of the mission pages would probably be the best. So, what do you think? Is it the start of a good idea or should I just scrap it? Thanks Andreaz1 (talk|edits) 20:16, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
Grand Theft Auto V Era (Changes to the Wiki)
Hey Gboyers, excited for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V I assume? Haha I sure as hell am, impatiently waiting for a new trailer.
I was wondering how some of the Wiki pages regarding Eras would work if it turns out that GTA V is the same universe as Grand Theft Auto IV (which I'm assuming it is). Will any Wiki pages about the Era be changed to Grand Theft Auto IV, V Era? or would everything in the fifth game just be referenced under anything about the fourth era? I was just curious because pages like the timelines and Years will be taking an impact with the release of GTA V. Grand Theft AJ (talk|edits) 06:20, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
- Of course I'm very excited! This issue has already been discussed to death, so I'll summarise: GTA V will forever be treated as a new era, no matter what.
- This is because eras are not the same as universes - eras are OUR logical grouping of the games (based on the numbered games) to make everything easier to explain.
- For example. If we count GTA V as a new era, and something appears in both the IV and V eras (and if we need to explain that), then we simply have to say XYZ in the GTA IV and V Eras - which is easy. If we mashed GTA V (and subsequent games) into the GTA IV era, and we needed to show how something was different, we'd have to say XYZ in GTA IV, The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony and GTA Chinatown Wars - which is ridiculous.
- Firstly, there is no information (at all) to suggest that GTA V will continue from or bear any relation to GTA IV. A lot of people are hoping that CJ or Paddy will return, but there has been nothing to suggest this at all other than untrue rumours. Quite often eras make references to each other and feature the same city/vehicle/brand names, there might even be a cameo from a couple of overlapping characters, but there's nothing to suggest it'll be any different than the jump between the III and IV eras.
- Eras are based almost entirely on the numbered games. GTA III starts the III era; GTA IV starts the IV era; and GTA V starts the V era. Even if the games are similar, they still start a new era, because that's the simplest and most logical grouping that helps us to explain everything with ease.
- Eras are logical groupings of games based on the new numbered games. Doing that automatically groups games that are very very closely related (like III/VC/SA/LCS/VCS or IV/TLAD/TBOGT/CW) - with the same sorts of engine, graphics, and closely-related storylines. These games are almost impossible to divide down further. Don't forget that GTA 1 and 2 were grouped as being in the '2D universe' by Rockstar - but we still class them as separate eras because lots of things are different between them and it makes it simpler to organise (it's not very difficult to mention both eras).
- The reason we use eras is to make everything easy. If we did not have eras, we'd have to have enormous lists of which game everything appeared in. So instead of saying Vice City in GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA Vice City Stories, GTA Advance or Vice City between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories we group it all into the number of that group of games, into an era - Vice City in GTA III Era.
- So I hope it's clear that, even if the games turn out to be similar (which there is no evidence to suggest), we will still group them separately, which makes everything much much easier no matter what. That means we can easily mention both eras together, and we don't have to list the games separately. Yes, it's not an official way to group the games, but it's based on the official way they bring out a new numbered game whenever they change stuff. I hope that helps. gboyers talk 12:14, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
- Yeah I know how the Eras work and whatnot, it's just the Grand Theft Auto III Era and Grand Theft Auto IV Era are different universes, whereas Grand Theft Auto V (Introducing the fifth Era) can still be in the same universe as GTA IV. Like GTA III and GTA San Andreas are in the same universe, that was mainly what my comment was about, but now I understand all that info will be seperated with the Era category. Thanks for the information, and enjoy the wait haha. Grand Theft AJ (talk|edits) 03:59, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
Yeah Universes are the big over-arching dividers that Rockstar use (separating the 3 unrecognisably-different categories of games), Eras are a smaller division (where most features/vehicles etc are the same), and then you have can divide either by individual locations (which could have a couple of games within an era) or by platform (console/mobile). Don't forget that the GTA 1 Era and GTA 2 Era are both in the '2D Universe' but we group them into separate eras as everything is still different - only the style of gameplay and top-down view are related. See this table for an explanation, and I hope it makes sense! gboyers talk 04:33, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
hi,you can give me mail to spaceeinstain for he send me a mail please, this is me mail firstname.lastname@example.com Big Reyes (talk|edits) 15:26, 30 July 2012 (UTC)
Two questions
Hey Gboyers, how are you? I've got two things on my mind at the moment.
First, is it possible to get a name change on here?
Secondly, I joined here back in '10, but I can't find any of my edits from 2011 or before. Almost as if I never existed before 2012. To be honest, it's not a big deal. I'm embarrassed of my past on here anyway, I had terrible grammar and spelling. So the way I see it, it's like a fresh start. But I don't want it to seem as if I'm a newb on here. Maybe the move from Wikia to here had something to do with it, since I had to re-create an account, but I did it under the same name. But wasn't that back in 2010? Even after that, I remember my earlier edits being shown under 'contributions'.
If you could get back to me, it would be greatly appreciated. --Fairnick68 (talk) 15:20, 2 August 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for taking care of the edit history. I'll put a message on your Wikia account. I hope I still remember my password, it's been a couple years since I've edited there!
About the name change; I wouldn't want you to go through the trouble, and the technical issues. But here's my reason; It's that I want it to be the same as my name on forums, and accounts on other websites, that way users on those sites will recognize me here. If that's enough of a reason, then would it be possible for you to change it to Original Light? If you could, it would be greatly appreciated! And I'm not really the type of person to ask for name changes! This would be the first and last time I'd ever ask you to change it...
Edit: Do you want me to leave a message on your GTA Wikia account, or Wikia.com account? --Fairnick68 (talk) 19:06, 2 August 2012 (UTC)
Okay, I left you a message on your GTA Wikia account. --Fairnick68 (talk) 01:27, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
Thanks so much. I'll put my old username on my new userpage. Again, thank you!
Edit: My signature still shows my old username, what should I do to fix this? --Fairnick68 (talk) 13:54, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
Nevermind, I fixed it. I went to preferences and edited the signature. Thanks again for everything. --Original Light (talk) 15:05, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
Plagiarism heads-up
Hi again Gboyers. We've had another case of a user who got blocked, ran off to another wiki about Grand Theft Auto and started trying to build it up by plagiarism. The user's name is Joshualeverburg1 (and he has a sockpuppet named Big.boy111). He's already plagiarized one image from you guys, File:Serrano-GTAV-trailer.jpg (his plagiarism of it). Just letting you know so you can keep an eye on the situation. It probably wouldn't hurt to complain to Wikia either. Jeff (talk this way) / (stalk this way) 23:55, 2 August 2012 (UTC)