If you find this page on any site other than the English Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated, and that I may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia itself. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard .
I don't need to introduce myself, do I? But for your information, I am asking here because you're one of the folks with root access to that server and can make a big change if need be. There's been a relentless wave of long-term abusers who have created sock after sock to continue their tenacious streak of trolling and harassment, mostly via VPNs and other open proxies. Wikipedia already has a no open proxies policy in place per WP:NOP, so what would it take to implement that policy over there as well? (Though I understand that here on Wikipedia, there's been some issues regarding managing open proxies, as there's a proposal regarding the abuse filter that is still in the works as of speaking but hasn't seen an update since last October. So no pressure.) TheEternalOutsider (talk) 20:58, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
RW already blocks at least some open proxies. I'll have a look what's up with that - David Gerard (talk) 21:53, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
Archived content
UPDATE. We're having an LTA issue over there right now. The offender is relentlessly IP hopping, indicating use of a proxy service to evade bans. Requesting exporting TorBlock from Wikipedia to there as well as possibly updating MediaWiki. TheEternalOutsider (talk) 21:59, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
I believe there is no presently available person to upgrade MW on RW, especially not me. This has been a problem since 2012 and especially since 2017 and extremely now - David Gerard (talk) 22:16, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
I understand that. Also, doing some checks on Tor showed that there is a blocker. But we either need stronger tools to catch all those VPN abusers (Or at the very least, exporting Wikipedia's powerful plugins to handle the work when nobody is online.). TheEternalOutsider (talk) 22:28, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
Or at the very least, importing a barometer for admins to gauge the traffic. (The barometer should only be editable by techs, but it should gauge the state of the other wiki to outsiders. I am sensitive because I don't want any outsiders to get a bad first impression of that wiki.) TheEternalOutsider (talk) 19:12, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
UPDATE. Best to archive this conversation. I realized that spending time on RW negatively affected my mental health, so it's best for me to leave. TheEternalOutsider (talk) 22:50, 16 March 2026 (UTC) Updated 00:31, 17 March 2026 (UTC)
Happy First Edit Day!
Happy First Edit Day! Hi David Gerard! On behalf of the Birthday Committee, I'd like to wish you a very happy anniversary of the day you made your first edit and became a Wikipedian! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 07:00, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
Happy First Edit Anniversary David Gerard ๐
Hey @David Gerard. Your wiki edit anniversary is today, marking 22 years of dedicated contributions to English Wikipedia. Your passion for sharing knowledge and your remarkable contributions have not only enriched the project, but also inspired countless others to contribute. Thank you for your amazing contributions. Wishing you many more wonderful years ahead in the Wiki journey and a blessed New Year.ย ๐ -โโโโโ GnOeee โโโโโโ 15:17, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
Pivot to AI
David, I love your podcast. How come you aren't making seven figures at some Square Mile short trading desk like at IG, XTB, or City Index? Econ Geek 876 (talk) 23:32, 3 March 2026 (UTC)
Writing about crypto firmly demonstrated just how irrational the market can be longer that you can remain solvent. Especially when it's not market forces but a scam, and those go on as long as they possibly can - David Gerard (talk) 00:03, 4 March 2026 (UTC)
Surely there must be commercial and consumer demand from investors who want to short the bubble? Can't those big City trading firms get in to it all? Econ Geek 876 (talk) 22:23, 4 March 2026 (UTC)
They're certainly trying! Hard part is finding a hedge that isn't just uncorrelated right up to the moment you need it to be, at which point it crashes in lockstep with the rest of the market. I'm thinking of pivoting to small rocks and twigs - David Gerard (talk) 23:50, 4 March 2026 (UTC)
I continue to feel like there is a huge opportunity here. The moment is indeterminate but hedging against its inevitability seems like something big brokers can do. Econ Geek 876 (talk) 23:08, 10 March 2026 (UTC)
How about LearnWorlds to create curated subsets of your entries with AI-generated comprehension questions (hear me out: which you can and of course should heavily edit!) which you can then sell as courses like "How to critique your portfolio position and investment strategy to help defend against the AI bubble", "Getting up to speed on AI controversies", and "Selected news about _____" and such? If you want to crank the irony up to 11, you could offer facsimile NFTs as course completion certificates. Econ Geek 876 (talk) 09:27, 26 March 2026 (UTC)
You are invited to participate in the Destubathon of the Americas, a contest/editathon which will run from May 1 to May 31. The goal is to destub as many of our 475,000+ stubs for the Americas (from Alaska down to Chile) as possible. A good chance to have fun in expanding many of our old stale stubs and win up to ยฃ2000 ($2680) in Amazon vouchers for expanding stub articles. Sign up in the Contestants/participants section on the contest page if interested. Even if not interested in prizes you are still warmly welcome to participate in it as an editathon! Hopefully we can achieve something significant in the month of May together! โฆ Dr. Blofeld 16:52, 15 April 2026 (UTC)