User:Nickj/Pages With Bad Titles

Something to consider: Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Also want to read the talk page for this article.

Dear John letter

Dear Pages With Bad Titles Project,

There's something I have to say: It's not you, it's me. Now, don't look so shocked - you must have sensed it was over between us.

The harsh fact of the matter is, you no longer interest me like you used to. At first, the idea of cleaning up the namespace of Wikipedia articles to remove bad redirects appealed to me. Things like "The Director" pointing to "Osama Bin Laden" clearly had to go. I mean, not a single link to "The Director", plus how often do you hear people say "The Director is planning another terrorist attack". Never? Me neither! A link to the movie "The Director", now that I would understand. A definition of a director would have been fine too. Surely it would be no problem to clean up the worst guff out of the namespace, right? Ah, those were our halcyon, idealistic, and carefree days.

But then the rot set in: Getting anything deleted is a political process, which can be extended over several months. Worst of all, it suffers from the bikeshed problem. Everyone throws in their 2 cents, and the result is a very dissatisfying process whereby almost nothing gets done. The fundamental fact of the matter is, it's very easy to create new pages, very easy to edit existing pages, (both are which are great), but very slow and painful and difficult to get anything deleted (even if it has very dubious merit) - which sucks.

What was supposed to be fun started to feel just like work. If I wanted a political nick-picking non-productive process, then I'd sit in a work meeting, where I can at least be paid for my efforts. Doing it on my own time just isn't fun. In short, I decided that it wasn't worth the effort, and that I didn't care any more.

So the spark died. The passion was gone. So you see, it's over between us. Now, go, and don't come back.

Sayonara, Nick.

P.s. Do not under any circumstances phone me at 4 in the morning when you're drunk and plead for me to take you back - I'm telling you now it won't work!

Redirects listed for deletion on 20th October 2004

List of suggested redirects for deletion (these were listed on 20th October 2004):

There exist redirects to Existential quantification - Too general; Not linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Still there - apparently this term has a well-defined mathematical meaning.
There are redirects to Existential quantification - Too general; Not linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Still there - apparently this term has a well-defined mathematical meaning.
Common practice redirects to Common practice period - Too general; Only linked to by 1 page; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Fixed - Been deleted.
The Director redirects to Osama Bin Laden - Too general; Not linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Fixed - A disambig page was added.
In Fact redirects to George Seldes - Too general; Not linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Fixed - A disambig page was added.
Australian Capital redirects to Australian Capital Territory - Too general (e.g. "Sydney is an Australian Capital city"); Not linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English (in Australia); Only a redirect.
- Update: Fixed - Changed to redirect to a better target.

List of Redirects to include in next batch of proposed deletions

The el redirects to Metro - Too general; Not linked to by anything; Used very occasionally in standard English with a different meaning ("the el nino effect"); Only a redirect.
- Update - actually, this one should probably be "The El", rather than "The el", in which case I would have no objection to it.
The stretch redirects to Pitching position - Too general; Only linked to by 1 page; Used occasionally in standard English with a different meaning ("The stretch of road between"); Only a redirect.
Dead wood redirects to Coarse woody debris ; Too general; no links; only a redirect; being used in a different meaning to everyday english ;
- I've changed this one too. Rich Farmbrough 12:55, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  - Thank you.
One and one redirects to Plus and minus signs ; no links; only a redirect; being used in a sometimes different meaning to everyday english (e.g. "All for one and one for all.").
- I've changed this. Rich Farmbrough 12:38, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  - Thank you again!
Earliest known use redirects to First day of issue (about postage stamps); Too general; only 1 link; only a redirect; being used in a different meaning to everyday english e.g. "The earliest known use of the name is..."
First to redirects to List of firsts ; Too general; has no links; only a redirect; being used in a different meaning to everyday english (e.g. "The Municipality was one of the first to declare ...");
Liverpool road : My fault, I added this, then moved it to Liverpool Road, so I request the original mis-capitalized page to be deleted.
- Update: Turns out different capitalizations are fine, so this one isn't actually a problem.

Too general, but will probably not be able to get votes needed for deletion

for all redirects to Universal quantification - vague; Very common in English; Only a redirect; Only linked to by 5 pages.
- Update: Changed my mind - I still don't think it's great, but I no longer object so much to this.
Sun sign redirects to Astrological sign - Only linked to by 2 pages; Used occasionally in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Changed my mind - no longer object to this.
less than redirects to inequality - Too general; Only linked to by 5 pages; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: Changed my mind - no longer object to this.
Andrew redirects to St Andrew - vague; proper noun; Very common in English; Only a redirect; link to by about 15 pages.
- Update: Fixed - has been made in a disambiguation page.

Require further investigation or confirmation

Therefore - Too general/vague; Does not appear to be linked to by anything; Used commonly in standard English; Only a redirect.
- Update: still there, could still be improved by being a disambig page (e.g. also link to Deductive reasoning, maybe I think therefore I am, etc.).
Bad content - the City - lists the City of London, which is silly because in any English-speaking city, "the city" will tend to refer to that city's CBD. As a result, another entry has been added for a canadian city. Taken to the logical extreme, does every city in the world need to add itself under "the city" ?
- Update: Tried to fix by adding a more generalised definition.

Things that need disambiguation pages

Redirects that I previously thought that should be deleted, but which I was wrong about because their capitalization means that they're OK (see explanation by Derrick Coetzee below). These pages probably need disambiguation pages instead though.

Skeleton Crew should probably have its title changed; is about a Stephen King book; not the defintion of skeleton crew as used in everyday English.

Right, that's what skeleton crew would be about, if it existed. If it existed, Skeleton Crew would probably also have a disambiguating link. Proper-noun style capitalization carries information. Derrick Coetzee 00:36, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The Foundation redirects to The Foundation Series - Too general; Only linked to by 1 page; Used occasionally in standard English ("The foundation of society is based on ..."); Only a redirect.
General Public is a music band, has a different meaning in everyday english (e.g. "open to the general public").
Department of Agriculture - assumes US Department of Agriculture, but could just as well be any country's (e.g. Australian Department of Agriculture)
Partially disambiguated.... Rich Farmbrough 13:57, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
War Time - example: "meet war time demand". Page defines US-style timekeeping during the war.
Young Offenders Act is specific to Canada, but Australia has one of these too.
Out of Control is a comedy series, but the sentence "the killer rampaged out of control, shooting innocent bystanders" indicates that this would usually not be an appropriate link.
Struck Down is a music album, but in English is either means kill (as in a person), or stopped / reversed (as in a legal ruling or piece of legislature).
Change of Heart is about a cartoon show, but in everyday English it means an alteration in feelings.