Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 June 6

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June 6[edit]

Patron Estates: speedy delete[edit]

My article about a corporation by the name of Patron Estates was "speedy deleted" and I would like to know why this is so, as well as how I can correct it so that I may place this article onto Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ppassword (talkcontribs) 00:41, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Patron estates was deleted because it didn't assert the importance or significance of its subject. The subject of Wikipedia articles must be notable. See WP:BUS and WP:BFAQ. —teb728 t c 00:55, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

RMS. LACONIA (1921) - found postard[edit]

My sister gave me a group of old postcards several years ago of various Cunard ships. Once of the postcards is of the RMS Laconia - an interior view of 4 scenes. (1921 ship that was also sunk by a torpedo). The postcard is a sepia tone. I would be thrilled to see it added to the article as the second postcard! There is no copyrighted information on the front or back. The back of the card has printed in England. I would be happy to email you jpegs of the the front and back. Can someone tell me how to submit it for posting? Thanks, Randy Lee Arnold —Preceding unsigned comment added by Randyleearnold (talkcontribs) 01:27, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Even if an image doesn't given copyright information, it's assumed to be copyrighted. You can't upload a postcard as public domain without the copyright holder's permission, which you would send to OTRS. For information about using an image as fair use, see WP:Non-free content. hmwithτ 04:29, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
However, it may be in the public domain soon, after the copyright expires. See WP:Public domain#When does copyright expire?. hmwithτ 04:32, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright violation[edit]

Hi, in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (novel), the section "Book cover" is a complete copy of the book's back cover summary. I believe this is a copyright violation? I'm not sure how to fix this, so I'm posting here. An encyclopedia is not supposed to give summaries of books but information about them. 202.129.232.142 (talk) 04:19, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're absolutely correct on what WP should include. I've removed the information. In the future, feel free to remove the information yourself (make sure to use an edit summary explaining that it was removed as a copyvio). hmwithτ 04:26, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Right. Thanks :) 202.129.232.142 (talk) 04:30, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How to alter image in Wikimedia Commons?[edit]

How do I replace an image in Wikimedia Commons with a new compressed one? Thanks. -- skylights76 (talk) 04:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Go to the picture, and in the "file history" there should be a link to 'Upload a new version of this file'.  Chzz  ►  08:35, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Why would you want to replace an image on Commons with a compressed version? Images on Commons should be the highest quality, uncompressed images available. – ukexpat (talk) 15:16, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It's not a jpg, it's a png, and I was able to reduce its filesize by more than a factor of three (311 KB -> 96 KB) with no loss in quality. I did this by using IrfanView and its RIOT and PNGOUT plugins to reduce the color palette and compress it. This worked very well because the image has only a handful of colors (it's a chart). Looking at the file history, someone had already compressed the image once, but I figured even better results could be achieved, given the nature of the image. Anyway, thanks Chzz.-- skylights76 (talk) 16:19, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Chzz, I don't see the link you mentioned. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unix_history-simple.png#filehistory -- skylights76 (talk) 16:29, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
You must be logged in at Commons to see the link.--Commander Keane (talk) 07:49, 8 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Can a blog be a reliable source?[edit]

Verifiability is one of the nutshells of Wikipedia. Each article should be sourced by several reliable sources for verification purpose. According to Wikipedia:SPS#Self-published_sources_.28online_and_paper.29:

"Anyone can create a website or pay to have a book published, then claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason self-published media, whether books, newsletters, personal websites, open wikis, blogs, Internet forum postings, tweets etc., are largely not acceptable."

Therefore, I have some question regarding to the above:

  1. Can an official blog of a company be a reliable source?
  2. How to identify whether a given website is a reliable source or not?

Thanks. - Justin545 (talk) 09:08, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does not have firm rules; policies and guidelines can and do change. There is little point in looking at the exact policy wording, as a degree of common sense is required - and that's where consensus comes in.
My own common sense tells me that it is very unlikely that a company blog would constitute a reliable source. Opinions, however, may vary. If you are ever in doubt, then ask on the Reliable sources/Noticeboard.  Chzz  ►  10:00, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
So if a teamblog of a company described a featured on the product that you would consider unreliable ? For instance Micrsoft IE team explaining what in IE8 webslices and/or acceleraters are or how InPrivate browsing in IE8 is implemented ? Is that unreliable information because it is provided trough a comnpany blog ??hAl (talk) 13:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I would use a company blog only to support facts (IE8 dispenses skittles or IE8 surfs the web at 10 terabits a second, etc.). I would not use it for any sort of review of the company's products. Those sort of statements need to be sourced to independent authors. TNXMan 14:52, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This also sounds a bit like predicting the future to me, in addition to it being a primary source.  Chzz  ►  09:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Primary sources have their uses, but it should probably only be used for facts or to state an official opinion. In most cases, third-party sources do a much better job of presenting this information but sometimes its necessary to use the primary source. --Kraftlos (Talk | Contrib) 09:54, 7 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Terri Schiavo case[edit]

I have tried your Help links and they go no place and other avenues to contact someone! I have a question for you, the Link for the person in charge of the Terri Schiavo reference does not work or I would have sent this to them! I found in reading the Terri Schiavo case in the information up linked for the history of the on-going circumstances was not complete as at the time Joseph Sadowski, filed with Governor Bush and served the Legislators in Florida to continue the feeding and her right to Life as in http://www.apfn.net/Messageboard/10-22-03/discussion.cgi.37.html, I ask why was this not included, After all it was Joseph Sadowski who sued President Bush the Brother of governor Bush before this case existed and President Bush and was familiar with Sadowski continued work in civil rights cases as in part seen at http://www.rense.com/general32/sude.htm and in the article Political correctness is killing America. http://www.apfn.net/Messageboard/09-05-05/discussion.cgi.29.html, where in fact Governor Bush did sign the order to feed Terri as seen in http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/oct/03102101.html, President Bush did finally sign into Law Terri’s Law! When he saw some Heavy weights start to come into Play! it appears when those who donate there time to defend civil rights for there country #1 they are not noted for there actions and #2 they are put under microscopes and declared to be terrorist for defending that constitution which belongs to all said citizens! Thank You for your time! If you have an e-mail address for the one responsible for the up-loading of this page I would like it! Respectfully Joseph A.F. Sadowski —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.130.77.129 (talk) 09:08, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to discuss the content of a page, you may leave a message on the article's Talk page, or on the Talk page of the users who created or edited it (which you can see in the article's History page).
If you have information to add, you may edit the article yourself. Please remember that you have to provide reliable sources for your information, and opinion comments (such as "Political correctness is killing America") are not considered suitable in an encylopedia.KoolerStill (talk) 09:54, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

images[edit]

I accidentally blocked images in Wikipedia .now i don't see images in it . i have to images by clicking on them.how can i able to see images in articles and unblock the imaes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.122.100 (talk) 09:36, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think you will find this is a browser setting. You will find it in Tools, Options, Content, "load images automatically" (for Firefox) and similar in other browsers.KoolerStill (talk) 09:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
See also Wikipedia:Troubleshooting#Firefox doesn't display images. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:48, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Clifford Brown, Trumpeteer. American.[edit]

I've looked for the above artist Clifford Brown's Vinyl album since 1960 (or CD)The name of the album/CD is "Tribute To Brownie" Has anyone got this album/CD or can provide me with information as to where I can purchase it? I had this album but it got lost when moving house. This album holds some sentimentle memories for me and if anyone can help me I would be very greatful.Afzalkhairafzal (talk) 14:25, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 15:12, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Tables in disambiguation pages[edit]

I decided to be bold and convert a couple lists in 850 AM into sortable tables. Thus is someone is wondering if there is a station with that frequency near them, then could sort by city or state to find it more easily.

If this violates some protocol, please let me know.--Sphilbrick (talk) 16:31, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The guideline is Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages); you might want to discuss this there. The big problem I see is that disambiguation pages are not lists— they are linked directories of articles with similar names. A quick check shows that some of the US stations have articles, but not the Mexican stations. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 17:09, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
oops, good point. Fixed.--Sphilbrick (talk) 17:56, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Problem removing extraneous text[edit]

Resolved
 –  – ukexpat (talk) 21:56, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Someone has added a large section of text about a performer named "Sledje" between the External links section and the stub tag of the article about Boyd Bennett. I cannot figure out how to remove the extraneous text; it doesn't appear in the edit mode. Thanks for any help. RadioBroadcast (talk) 20:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Someone erroneously moved the template to the mainspace and edited it to create an article. I have undone all that so I think it's fixed now. – ukexpat (talk) 21:17, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! RadioBroadcast (talk) 21:47, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Posting a Page[edit]

Resolved
 – Deleted as a copyvio and username blocked as a spamname. – ukexpat (talk) 21:55, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi ~

I created a page for posting in my contributions. I do not know how to publish it onto the actual wikipedia website so that it appears in an article search. Please help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Auilr (talkcontribs) 21:06, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Your draft is currently on your user page. To appear in the mainspace it has to be moved there, but until your accout is autoconfirmed (4 days old and 10 edits) you do not have move rights. However, at the moment I don't think the draft is ready for the mainspace - it does not indicate why the publication is notable nor does it have any references to reliable sources. I will post a welcome message on your talk page with some useful links, but to start with please read WP:YFA. – ukexpat (talk) 21:22, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It's also a copyright violation from http://www.wcl.american.edu/journal/ilr/, so it would be deleted if you were to post it as is. See WP:Copyvio for information about this subject. Sincerely, your friend, GeorgeLouis (talk) 21:33, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well it's now been moved by the creator and tagged by me for deletion per WP:CSD#G12 as a copyvio. I also reported the username to WP:UAA as a spamname. – ukexpat (talk) 21:42, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Deleted as a copyvio and username blocked as a spamname. – ukexpat (talk) 21:55, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Something wrong with the mobile interface?[edit]

I think there's something seriously wrong with some mobile redirection stuff that seems to be launched quite recently. On my Android phone, I want to visit en.wikipedia.org. However, I'm automatically redirected to en.m.wikipedia.org. It shows 502 Bad Gateway.

Another example: If I go to www.wikipedia.org, then search for something in English wikipedia, I get what I ask for, but on "en.m.wikipedia.org". I would actually prefer the non-"m" version so I click on "View this site on regular Wikipedia". Boom, "502 Bad Gateway".

Please have a look, I think there's something wrong. This started happening some half an hour ago. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.162.228.104 (talk) 22:25, 6 June 2009 (UTC) Ok, this is work in progress I think? Because now I can access "en.m.wikipedia.org" without 502. However, "View this site on regular Wikipedia" still auto-redirects back to mobile version. I'm assuming somebody is looking at this... 217.162.228.104 (talk) 22:36, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like someone was fiddling with the interface. See MediaWiki talk:Common.js#Mobile site redirecting. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 11:36, 7 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]