Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 December 28

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December 28[edit]

english grammar[edit]

Hello,
In this article Destroyer of Worlds, there is a part that says "I am become death, destroyer of worlds". How is this correct in english ?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.12.233.111 (talkcontribs) 01:43, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's not grammatically correct English. It's a famous quote from J. Robert Oppenheimer when helping to create the first nuclear weapon. He himself was quoting the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita. See Bhagavad Gita#Influence for more information. --Mysdaao talk 02:00, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why didn't Oppenheimer translate it correctly then ?

Correct translation is not always defined exactly and language changes. I found a discussion at [1]. Have you tried the Language section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:40, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It is not incorrect English, just rather archaic. There are many examples in the King James Bible of "am/are/is become" where modern usage would prefer "have/has become". --ColinFine (talk) 00:15, 29 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ok thanks.

citations[edit]

I've created a couple and help maintain several articles on Wikipedia. As with most contributors, I take this seriously. Although I cite often on my contributions, I was curious about Wikipedia's standard for citing on articles that are basically a blurb or summary of another main article.

For example, look at Major League Baseball scandals. There are very few citations. However, most of the categories are referencing main articles elsewhere on Wikipedia which do have citations. Does the Wikipedia standard require these articles have the same citations or does the reference to the main articles that have the citations suffice?

Thanks in advance for your time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wjb (talkcontribs) 02:57, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Verifiability is one of Wikipedia's main content policies and must be adhered to. All articles require sourcing, regardless of size. Jeffrey Mall (talkbe merry) - 03:26, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My take on this is that although the main articles have citations, the 'sub' article also needs to have the citations, even if they are repeated from the main article. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 08:53, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Me and Sockpuppetry[edit]

How do I delete a second account that has me listed by another name?

I do not wish to use the second account, and had completely forgotten about it.

Beaconmike —Preceding unsigned comment added by Beaconmike (talkcontribs) 05:44, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

We can't delete accounts due to attribution. You could change the userpage of the old username to include {{User_Alternate_Acct}} perhaps? — Deontalk 08:00, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

New User Help (merged)[edit]

I have translated an entry. I need assistance to upload the translation? The file is in WORD now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conefor4200 (talkcontribs) 06:56, 28 December 2009 (UTC) I have translated an entry. I need assistance to upload the translation? The file is in WORD now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conefor4200 (talkcontribs) 06:58, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Conefor4200, welcome to Wikipedia. Because you have not yet fulfilled the requirements for autoconfirmed (10 edits, 4 days); you can make a request for it to be included at Articles for Creation. Cheers, — Deontalk 08:24, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Only autoconfirmed users can upload files, for example images. Word files cannot be uploaded. An article is not a file. New users can create articles right away. See Wikipedia:Your first article#How to create a page. Articles must use wiki markup. If you have formatted the Word file then you can try Wikipedia:Tools#Importing (converting) content to Wikipedia (MediaWiki) format. If the Word file is basically just plain text then copy the text and add some wiki markup to it. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:33, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Image reversion[edit]

I tried reverting to the earlier version of File:Gottlieb.jpg, but it didn't work. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:42, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've reverted it for you, not sure what happened. FYI, in the future, you can link to (but not display) a picture, by including an extra colon, eg: [[:File:Gottlieb.jpg]] produces File:Gottlieb.jpg. Cheers, — Deontalk 07:57, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Why is the painting still showing up in the Sig Ruman article? Clarityfiend (talk) 05:12, 29 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It isn't for me. Try to bypass your cache if you still see it. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:49, 29 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That did it. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:56, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Protection[edit]

Why was "edit=sysop move=sysop" changed to "edit=sysop (indefinite) move=sysop (indefinite)"? "edit=sysop move=sysop (expires X)" to "edit=sysop (expires X) move=sysop (expires X)"? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 08:39, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's a reflection of a software change that now allows move-protection and edit-protection to have distinct expiration dates on the same page. Someguy1221 (talk) 08:43, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

search/go[edit]

What is the difference between SEARCH and GO?

[details removed] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.53.120.9 (talk) 16:38, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you click "Go" it will go directly to a page with the title you entered, if one exists. If it does not exist, it will load a list of pages with the search term entered. If you press "Search" it will load a list of pages with the search term, whether or not a page with that title exists. More information on this can be read at Wikipedia:Searching. --Mysdaao talk 16:46, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Favorite articles[edit]

Is there any way of storing a list of my favorite articles ? I would suggest this as an option.

Thanks and regards Maxi Moscardi M4RLO WIKI —Preceding unsigned comment added by M4RLO WIKI (talkcontribs) 16:58, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can add them to your watchlist if you'd like. Simple click on the "Watch" tab at the top of the article which you would like to monitor. Then click "my watchlist" at the very top of pages to view the list. TNXMan 17:04, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) There are two ways to do this:
  1. Just bookmark the page(s) in your browser as you would any other web page
  2. create links to them on your user page (here) by using the format [[article-name]] e.g. [[The Beatles]] or [[William Stanley (Victorian inventor)]] give The Beatles and William Stanley (Victorian inventor).
Just make sure that each link has at least one space after the ]]. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 17:09, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There are also user scripts that can store favorite articles in other ways, such as WikiMark. --Mysdaao talk 17:42, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rollback rights?[edit]

Is this something that has been made available to all users in the beta version? I just noticed that I appear to have rollback rights, but I don't recall getting any notification on this, and to the best of my knowledge I have not asked for them. My question, I suppose, is multifold - is this a mistake? does everyone have the rights? have I been given rollback rights? do I actually have rollback rights, or have my eyes, in some sort of strange collusion with the anti-delusional centers of my mind, conspiring to drive me further toward the edge? (Given their track records, I strongly suspect the latter). If I have been given the permission, cool. It would come in handy now and then during my recent edit patrols..... Thanks Vulture19 (talk) 17:07, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You don't appear to have rollback rights according to Special:ListUsers/Vulture19 -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 17:15, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Have you installed Twinkle by any chance? That would cause the term "rollback" to appear near recent edits. TNXMan 17:25, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
DING DING DING we have a winner. Forgot I did that a while back..... Thanks to all.Vulture19 (talk) 17:29, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Gadgets[edit]

I wish to install one or more of these. In the installation instructions it tells me to insert a line of code into monobook.js. How do I access monobook.js and where can I get detailed information on doing this so that so I can use the gadgets?

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Traralgon (talkcontribs) 17:23, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Your monobook is located at User:Traralgon/monobook.js. The gadgets you wish to install should have instructions on how to add the code to your monobook, for example, see WP:TWINKLE#Installation. TNXMan 17:27, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

guardian ad litem[edit]

I believe a guardian ad litem has additional functions in some cases not mentioned on Wikipedia.That is it can be to protect the interests of those not yet in being, and interests not yet ascertained. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.41.54.7 (talk) 18:21, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, i found it at [2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Huik01 (talkcontribs) 18:22, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Problem editor[edit]

Hello. Can someone please help me with Huik01, who is posting offensive messages on my talk page and on Talk:Northwest Airlines Flight 253? Thank you. -SusanLesch (talk) 18:39, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Already zapped. TNXMan 18:40, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. -SusanLesch (talk) 18:40, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How to correct bulk misspellings in Wiki Commons images[edit]

As a member of the Typo team, I have discovered (via an advanced google search for the word "relase" in wikipedia.org) a common misspelling in many images that appear on WikiCommons. The text in error "Orginal NASA relase" should be "Original NASA release", both Original and release should be corrected. One example is File:Delta II 7925 10C fairling is ready for installation oround THEMIS.jpg, there are many many others. Is there an easy/efficient way to correct these, perhaps a spell-check bot? My WikiGnome energy is rapidly depleted on edits of so many pages. Thanks. Truthanado (talk) 19:39, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See the links under Commons:COM:EIC#Bot in particular Commons:Commons:Bots/Work requests. --Teratornis (talk) 20:00, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the quick response. A work request has been added here Cheers. Truthanado (talk) 20:14, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

InfoBox and notability question[edit]

I created an infobox by copying and pasting infobox code from your infobox instructions. That worked except that the box isn't aligned to the right of the first line of the article such as a right column. How do I do that within userspace?

I would also appreciate it if you can review the test article I created on the Health Care Innovations Exchange program which involves a Web site to determine whether it meets your notability requirements.

HCIE.author (talk) 23:08, 28 December 2009 (UTC)IE Author[reply]

It will align if you remove the <noinclude>{{Documentation}}<!-- Please add categories and interwiki links to /doc subpage, not here! --></noinclude>. BtilmHappy Holidays! 23:22, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Note that the username HCIE.author may violate WP:ORGNAME. --Teratornis (talk) 23:35, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How to edit a title[edit]

I've created and edited an article about a director, but I accidentally left his last name all undercase. I was looking for a way to fix this and can't find one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.14.45.12 (talk) 23:22, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Autoconfirmed accounts can move pages. If your account is not autoconfirmed then you can post the article name here and somebody else can move it. You posted here without being logged in so I don't know the name or status of your account or article. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:30, 28 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]