Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2015 September 19

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September 19[edit]

Resolved

I have added a web-site ref (number 6) on this page. Is this the correct format? please helpSrbernadette (talk) 01:22, 19 September 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Srbernadette (talkcontribs) 01:12, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The citation you added in this edit (which looks to be number 4, not no 6) seems almost correct, but "Daily Telegraph" should be listed as work= or newspaper=, rather than publisher. A minor point, the essential metadata are there. I will fix it. DES (talk) 02:09, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

How long does it take to change age[edit]

I recently just changed the age for Sam Sarong as it was at 39 for the past 2 weeks when before it was at 34 so I changed it back to 34 since its his correct age and I know him personally, how long does it take for google to recognize 34 is the correct age as I have changed it to 34 last night.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sarpong — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 02:33, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • @Caliboyx70: Wikipedia really doesn't have control over what Google displays. It will update when it next crawls the page. However, there is a slight problem with you editing that page as you just admitted a close relationship with the article's topic. This is in direct conflict with Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines. In addition, we would need a reliable source that says his birth date is 1980. We can't just take your word on it. The references that are currently on that article place his birth year in 1975. The source of this is the Los Angeles Time article written in 1995 that describes Sarpong as 20 years old (which would make his birth year 1975). --Stabila711 (talk) 03:05, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Alright, so I looked at everything I could find and I could not find any source that puts his birth year as 1980. I found multiple references to 1975 and two references to 1979 but none for 1980. Since there are discrepancies I have removed the birth date from the article. Wikipedia not only requires reliable sources but also verifiability. --Stabila711 (talk) 03:31, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Stabila711, I would think it better to list both years rather than neither when sources conflict, making it clear which sources support which date. Otherwise someone may find one of those sources and re-add one of the years, not realizing that there is a conflict of sources. DES (talk) 16:33, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      • DESiegel Ah I see your point. I am not quite sure how to do that in an infobox though. Would another option be to use {{circa}}? --Stabila711 (talk) 17:23, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
        • Stabila711, I didn't realize we were talking about an infobox. In that case I would either use circa, or leave it out of the infobox altogether, but would in either case include the full facts and cites to the relevant sources in the article body. An infobox is only supposed to summarize what is in the article body in any case. DES (talk) 17:36, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sam sarpong age[edit]

Hello I had recently sent you a post about the age of Sam sarpong and his actual age and you said you needed reliable sources of his age and I have a couple sites that say his actual age and I just wanted to know if I post the links would you be able to post his actual age and birthday on his Wikipedia. I have some link that show his actual age. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 22:51, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The problem was that some links show different ages. How do we know which is correct? Dbfirs 23:01, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I have 3 sources. to prove his age — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 23:34, 19 September 2015 (UTC) I work as part of hi PR and I have three sources saying 1979. Would those be able to work for the info box. Caliboyx70 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 23:44, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • @Caliboyx70: Alright, stop for a minute. You work for his PR? So you are being paid to edit his page? According to the Terms of Use agreement you must publicly disclose any paid editing. You should also refrain from editing that page directly. For all future edit requests you should use the article's talk page. By placing the template {{request edit}} followed by your request another editor can place the request for you. Following these guidelines, I have reverted your attempt to remake the infobox with the birth date. Please do not put it back yourself. Use the talk page, use the template, and give us the sources you are using to verify the age. --Stabila711 (talk) 00:04, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Stabila711 when I first contacted you i let you know the correct age is 34, which would make him born in 1979 the source that says 75 is incorrect and i just sent you three sources that say 79,which is the correct year he was born, if you can please change it back to 34 i would truly appreciate it as the miss correct information is not a very good source this is very important because many people look up Sam and it is important that the information which has been up for a very long time that always said 1979 are still up, Somone changed his age on wikipedia two weeks ago, and that information is not accurate. If you can please change it back to what it was as soon as possible. It would greatly be appreciated. here are the names of the sites to show Sams age. the websites are hotbirthdays, famousbirthdays, and howold.co — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 00:13, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Dear stabilla711 No i am not a paid PR. This is an intern sitatuion for free and he is one of the talents that I help. The request has been submitted the way you asked it to be done. If you can please have it changed as soon as possible. Thank you, appreciate your time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 01:26, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Just confirming that you got my last message with the correct way to submit like you told me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caliboyx70 (talkcontribs) 03:46, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It is not unusual for people to arrange for incorrect ages to be recorded on websites. I've no idea whether this is happening here (I'd never heard of the subject of the article, and I'm not making any accusation about you, Caliboyx70, but are you claiming that he is not a year older than his younger sister June, or that he was only 17 when the Los Angeles Daily News wrote about him?). We need some reliable sources if we are being asked to record a definite age in Wikipedia. Dbfirs 06:07, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the extra articles. I didn't want to be too hard on our persistent intern who might possibly believe the publicity, but I hope this is the end of the attempted deception. Dbfirs 11:22, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Caliboyx70, you should be aware that an intern who is not paid directly, but who expects to recieve future professional benefits for the work s/he is doing, and who is working for a PR firm that is receiving payment for its representation of the subject, even if it is not specifically paid for the Wikipedia article, is still considered a paid editor and must disclose in accordance with the terms of use. DES (talk) 12:35, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

sourcing vs. accuracy[edit]

I want to make sure I've exhausted every option before I throw my hands up and drop a brick on my head: How do I balance factual accuracy of information in an article against using inappropriate sourcing of updated information? Specifically, I want to update an article that is currently out of date (okay, by four months, but still...) The source that has correct/current information is questionable -- at best -- under the guidelines for biographies of living people. However, in not updating the information, the detail in the article is rendered factually inaccurate. Not to get into too much detail, but the subject of the article has perhaps unintentionally obfuscated by being existentially metaphoric about himself in public assertions (which is to say, his article is headed with a stage name that he has publicly retired, using the preface "R.I.P.") before relocating. All of the subject's personal public websites reflect his new data, which is neither here nor there (as it amounts to original research on my part), and at the same time, the base information is verified by what may be deemed an inappropriate source: that fact that the guy has information traceable through open and public court documentation that are required every time he relocates.

Perhaps this is answering my own question, but: would the best course of action be to simply remove the outdated information completely and not replace it with anything, since the only reliable sourcing for the current information does not come from either the primary subject directly or an otherwise "neutral" source? Absurdist1968 (talk) 03:32, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

While general answers are possible, it would probably be a better idea to tell us which article you're referring to. Rwessel (talk) 04:58, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
This is about Big Poppa E. "the subject of the article has perhaps unintentionally obfuscated by being existentially metaphoric about himself" – right, that's why we prefer reliable independent sources. Maproom (talk) 08:50, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing errors on Employment website[edit]

Reference help requested. HELLO I am new in Wikipedia and I perform some edit on the page of Employment website but it shows reference error and I am confuse to correct the errors so i would like to request to help me correct this error Thanks, Bullus (talk) 04:40, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Done - Hello @Bullus:, fixed 1 problem in ref #16. The parameter name "date=" was missing for the date value. If you are new to such templates, you can also check their documentations (in this case at Template:Cite web) or see Help:Referencing for beginners for a more general introduction. GermanJoe (talk) 05:01, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
On second thought, I had to revert your edit. An article about employment websites can't possibly include every website of that type, and needs to focus on the most notable sites and developments (see also WP:WEIGHT). The website's main article was rejected, lacking evidence for a notable topic. GermanJoe (talk) 17:20, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed, Wikipedia is not just a directory of websites. Check out the policy on External Links before adding links to other website.Tiggerjay (talk) 15:58, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

PyWikibot trainer required[edit]

Hello,
I want someone who'll teach me using PyWikibot (I am using Firefox and Ubuntu). The way we discuss during WP:Adopt, WP:CVU, a sub-page on-wiki will be more than enough. --Tito Dutta (talk) 09:05, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

We have a Wikiversity learning project for Pywikipediabot --Aspro (talk) 16:09, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

username[edit]

I have forgotten my username. Can I recover it? 89.243.112.20 (talk) 17:06, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If you remember any articles you edited, you can look in the history to see if you recognize any usernames. -- GB fan 17:17, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) AFAIK we cannot/will not recover usernames using an IP address
Can you remember some of the articles you edited? and roughly when? If so, look at the article's history, (tab at the top) and look for your edit, or just scan down the names - which may remind you.
Alternatively if you can remember part of your username - e.g. if it is a name followed by some numbers - you can search for it at Special:ListUsers. - Arjayay (talk) 17:21, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref[edit]

— Preceding unsigned comment added by GhDM1928 (talkcontribs) 18:37, September 19, 2015 (UTC)

Article: Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy --Stabila711 (talk) 18:45, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright[edit]

I'm so confused. The content is owned by the same website it's referencing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oracle33 (talkcontribs) 19:32, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • Assuming OP is talking about The Willis Brothers - World Champion Giant Wave Surfers
  • @Oracle33: If my assumption is correct you just described the very problem with having that information on Wikipedia. The content is owned by someone else. Therefore, we cannot use it. If my assumption is not correct please provide a little bit more information on what exactly your question is. --Stabila711 (talk) 19:48, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ex. This page here: Leo Howard Is this the type of page I need to create instead? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oracle33 (talkcontribs) 20:01, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Every article is going to be different. What you need to do is find what third party reliable sources have written about the subject and then present it in your own words in a neutral manner that appropriately reflects the sources. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:10, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
To add to TRPoD, you can use the article wizard feature once you have read the article guidelines. This will walk you through the creation of an article. --Stabila711 (talk) 20:19, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Unable to Establish Secure Connection from Kindle[edit]

I have regularly accessed Wikipedia from my first generation Kindle for years without a problem. Starting about 3 months ago I get an error message "Unable to Establish Secure Connection". I only get this for Wikipedia and I always get it for Wikipedia. My Kindle still works in all other ways including accessing other internet sites. I reset my Kindle but it didn't help. Would appreciate any info. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.109.238.244 (talk) 22:45, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I would imagine that this is due to Wikipedia changing to HTTPS connections in June (the url you are accessing is HTTPS://en.wikipedia.org instead of HTTP://en.wikipedia.org ). Older devices (and those with old firmware) that cannot access HTTPS websites will most likely receive an error of some sort. From a quick google, a lot of owners of old Kindle devices have also been having trouble accessing sites such as Facebook and Twitter (both of which use HTTPS) since November last year and Amazon/Kindle haven't been too helpful with a solution. Nanonic (talk) 23:10, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Makes sense, although I didn't know that until now. Thanks for the great answer.--S Philbrick(Talk) 13:51, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect information about my great, great, great, great, great grandmother[edit]

The information regarding my great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Mary Campbell Willford is not correct. It has her marrying John Willford in the beginning of the information regarding her life and finally in the very end of the information he is correctly identified as Joseph. She did in fact marry Joseph Willford, not John Willford. Not sure how or who to contact to get this information corrected. Would just like the information regarding my ancestors to be correct if it's going to be on this site. Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.133.234.222 (talk) 23:17, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • Done. Even the references listed had him as Joseph. --Stabila711 (talk) 00:14, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]