User talk:Biomassbob

Archive of older messages

Amazon Image Links

Please remember when using Amazon images, the link needs to be edited to remove the underscores and everything between. The moderator screen will give a warning when these are present and they get added to a clean-up report that others than need to handle. A one-off I would just fix without notice, but you had quite a few in the last week. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 12:02, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Thank you for this information. I truly did not know how to edit the links. I've seen the warning, of course, but didn't know how to handle it. I really appreciate you letting me know. Bob 14:57, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

One thing to keep in mind is that yellow warnings generally mean "This is not an expected value. The submission should not be approved until the issue is resolved to the reviewing moderator's satisfaction." Sometimes it means putting the submission on hold and asking the submitting editor to clarify the intent of the submission. Other times it means asking the developer (me at the moment) to see if the ISFDB software needs to be changed in order to accommodate the submitted value, e.g. if Amazon's URLs have changed or if we have been given permission to link to a new Web site. Ahasuerus 18:00, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Bob, if you see a warning (or anything else) that makes no sense to you, just reach out and ask - I, for one, will be more than happy to help - and I am pretty sure most of the moderators will as well. And if you rather not do it on the site, my mail is set for receiving via the email link on the profile. :) Annie 15:04, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Annie, thank you for the offer, and I'll take you up on it. Right now I need help (again) archiving my user talk. Somehow, despite the instructions, I manage to mess this up when I try. Bob 16:36, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Do you want me to do it and the step by step or just the step by step? Annie 16:39, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Let's try the second. Bob 16:46, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

(unindent)

• Go to your archives page: here and click edit.
• Copy the last line to the bottom and edit the dates range - by adding for example "User_talk:Biomassbob/Archive/Sep2019-July2020". No spaces, dots and so on and make sure the format looks like the previous lines and save the page.
• Open a new tab in your browser and go to the archive page. Go to the address bar (it should read http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/User_talk:Biomassbob/Archive
• Add at the end of the address bar the date expression you added in a previous step (/Sep2019-July2020) in my example and press enter or load. It should open a page that has the following text on it: "There is currently no text in this page, you can search for this page title in other pages or edit this page.". Click on edit - the standard one on top or the one in the message.
• Open your Talk page for editing in a new tab and start moving messages (cut from the Talk page, paste in the new page).
• When done, save both your Talk page and this new page.
• If you reload the Archive page now, the link we left there in the second page is active and should lead to this new page.

If you mess up somewhere, do not worry, everything is fixable. Annie 17:09, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Wow, it actually worked! Thanks a bunch, Annie. Bob 17:36, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

Anytime! Annie 17:53, 30 July 2020 (EDT)

David Brin / The River of Time

I have compared my copy of The River of Time against the ISFDb pub record and would like to make some changes. You are the only active PV for this pub so I am running them past you first. Please advise whether you are happy for me to proceed with these changes.
1) Delete the statement "Signed by Brin on the title page". My copy is not signed so it seems that whichever editor wrote this statement has a copy that was signed post publication.
2) Add Locus1 as the source of the publication month.
3) There are two stories whose titles in the book (both on contents page and first page of story) differ from the pub record. "The Fourth Vocation of George Gustaf" should be "The 4th Vocation of George Gustaf". Also, "Toujours Voir" should be "Toujour Voir".
I am a new editor and am not sure how to go about changing these story titles. I presume variants need to be created but these stories also appear in other publications and I do not know how to determine which title should be the canonical one and which the variant. "Toujour" is a misspelling, so maybe the title should be left as "Toujours Voir" with a note added regarding the misspelling. I see that you are a moderator, so can you please advise me what to do? If you would prefer me to raise the question on the Help Desk, no problem, just let me know. Thanks. Teallach 16:34, 12 February 2022 (EST)

I didn't enter the original data, and when I PV someone else's entry, I sometimes don't check the data very carefully. Mea culpa. Delete the signature line, tell the moderator that neither your copy nor mine is signed. Add the source of the date. No explanation needed. Correct the spelling of "Toujour Voir", tell the monitor you corrected the spelling. Change the title of "The 4th Vocation of George Gustaf", explain to the moderator you corrected the title that is in the pub, and that you will variant the title to "The Fourth..." once the changes you have submitted are approved. Once the first set of changes have been approved, go to "The Fourth...", copy the number at the end of the source (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?40427) "40427" in this case, go to "The River of Time", then to "Make this title a variant" and enter the number in the first line. I don't know why the editor changed the title in the pub, but that sometimes happens.

Also note that the same mistakes in the spelling occur in the 400 copy fancy version of this pub. I suspect this is the version that was signed, which is suggested, but not clearly stated. You should also correct the spelling errors on that copy the same way you do the trade edition.

Good catches, by the way. Glad to have an editor like you join us. Bob 20:23, 12 February 2022 (EST)

I'll make all the changes to the trade ed. Think it will take 3 submissions. Will let you know when all done. I will then inform the PV of the limited ed and between us we will arrange for corresponding changes to be made to that pub record. Thank you for your kind final paragraph. Teallach 12:19, 13 February 2022 (EST)

Fane

For Fane, would you object if I added the following before I PV?
Change page count to [8]+311
Add "First Timescape Books printing August, 1981" and the printer's key
Add essay title "Racial/Political Groupings on the Planet Fane" for page [7]
Thanks! Phil 10:04, 13 February 2022 (EST)

Phil, I have no big objection to changing the page numbers, but think it's silly. You could add the title and put it on 'bp', before pagination. Adding the Timescape statement isn't really needed; the date of publication is already given. More information isn't necessarily helpful. Bob 10:50, 13 February 2022 (EST)

The War of the Ring

I'm attempting to PV my copy and came across the pub record you added [1] that has the same ISBN and cover (with more intense color values). The pub date on my copy is 2000-09-00, but the record has 2003-09-01 which you added on 2017-03-19. It seems a bit odd to be adding a record for 6 years in the future. Another complication is that my copy is Houghton Mifflin, while the record has Mariner.

I trying to figure out if I should just add a new record from scratch, or take this one over with much of the data replaced. Thoughts? --GlennMcG 00:36, 14 February 2022 (EST)

Apparently this was a pub automatically added from Amazon back in the days before Annie decided to input all such records. So the information for this pub was from Amazon in 2017, and I really have no idea how your copy could have the same ISBN. I don't understand your comment about adding a record for 6 years in the future. I wonder if your copy isn't the same as the first version of the pub based on the date you quote. I suggest you post your question on the Community Portal. Maybe one of the other moderators can provide some guidance. Bob 09:07, 14 February 2022 (EST)

Relic

Added some notes and exterior links to your PVd Relic.Jim 01:11, 14 February 2022 (EST)

Fine. Bob 09:09, 14 February 2022 (EST)

Pandora's Legions

For Pandora's Legions, do you mind if I add the notes "First printing: February 2002" and "Cover art by Patrick Turner"? Thanks! Phil 07:22, 16 February 2022 (EST)

Sounds fine to me. Bob 09:15, 16 February 2022 (EST)

Kennett

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2835479; Should this be Rick? --Username 09:56, 18 February 2022 (EST)

Yes, another typo. Fixed. Thanks! Bob 10:01, 18 February 2022 (EST)

Canby's Legion

Based on the title page for Canby's Legion, I think the publisher should be "Aspect / Warner Books" not just "Warner Books". What do you think? Phil 08:09, 20 February 2022 (EST)

Disagree. Notes indicate it is a Warner Books edition. Bob 10:24, 20 February 2022 (EST)

But the title page shows both Aspect and Warner Books on it. Aspect is also on the front cover and spine. The copyright page is the source of the "Warner Books Edition" note but there's also an "Aspect is a trademark of..." statement on the copyright page. Doesn't the title page override the note? Sorry I didn't state that earlier. Phil 12:12, 20 February 2022 (EST)

"I guess I really don't care. It seems like a trifling point. So go ahead. Bob 14:02, 20 February 2022 (EST)

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World cover credit

Hi, you've PVed the US tp of this, with "Shuttlecock" listed as the cover artist. Annoyingly the UK ebook doesn't have any art credits visible in the Amazom.co.uk preview, but I was able to get a preview of the US ebook from Kobo, which as I suspected credits "Shutterstock".

Is this a straightforward typo that we can fix in the database, or does the US tp actually have an incorrect credit? Thanks ErsatzCulture 11:29, 20 February 2022 (EST)

The clever pun of the name blew right by me. Fixed. Glad you found this. Bob 14:04, 20 February 2022 (EST)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?279225; I added month from Archive.org copy of 1965 edition's copyright page. --Username 20:53, 21 February 2022 (EST)

Space Relations title problem

My copy of Space Relations shows "a slightly gothic interplanetary tale" under "space relations" on the title page. Based on that, I think the title for the publication should really be "Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale". Does your copy match? If it does, beside changing this pub record, it looks like there's a problem with the cannonical title as well. Based on a title note in here and a WorldCat search, I think the cannonical title needs to be changed as well as at least that of the non-PVd Charterhouse edition (and possibly all of the pubs). Thoughts? Phil 07:50, 22 February 2022 (EST)

I have a mild preference to leave it as it is. Searching for the title would likely be easier if the subtitle was not included. But do as you will. Bob 09:00, 22 February 2022 (EST)

Virgil Finlay collection

This collection is verified by you. Will you share a picture of the title page? I beleive the title should be "Virgil Finlay 幻想画集" as that's what's on the cover. I suspect the same is on the title page. The publisher should probably be 青心社, and the author should be 大瀧啓裕. I can take care of all that if you can share the cover and the copyright page here. The copyright page is usually in the back of Japanese books. Thanks! ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 14:52, 23 February 2022 (EST)