Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 June 21

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June 21

When do birthdays start?

Suppose there is an edit which is timely as soon as a specific notable person has his 65th birthday. Presumably that birthday begins at midnight. But is that UTC, local time for the subject, or local time for the editor? Ma^t_chups 02:55, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

What type of edit do you have in mind? Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Precise language may be relevant. There will rarely be a demanding reason to update an article right after midnight. Wikipedia generally uses UTC, for example in {{Age}} which is used in many biographies to display the age. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:22, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. My immediate interest was moving Walter Breuning into tenth place at List of oldest men. Perhaps there is no "demanding" reason to do it right after midnight, but it does (IMHO) support the goals of the encyclopedia to enter facts as soon as they become true, and it's fun! Ma^t_chups 01:27, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps local time for the subject would be a little more logical but it doesn't seem important, so if it's fun to add it (before somebody else might beat you to it) then just go ahead at midnight UTC when it matches the calculation by {{Age in years and days}} and similar templates using UTC. Local time for the editor is irrelevant. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:11, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

While you are maintaining the list, it seems Stanley Lucas has died and should no longer be in the Oldest people#Verified oldest men currently living (over 110 years) section. May he rest in peace. --Teratornis (talk) 08:47, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

However, I'm not finding a news source documenting his death. A couple of IP users added that unsourced claim to the Stanley Lucas article. Hmmm. --Teratornis (talk) 08:57, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Anyone ever gotten 403 errors for all Wikipedia/Wikimedia images?

This is causing me to be unable to view images on Wikipedia. There were a few results on Google, but all the advice I could find was really unrelated to the problem at hand. Anyway, for some reason, whenever I look at any image such as:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Programming-republic-of-perl.png

Wikimedia is returning a 403 error. In particular:

"Error 403 bad bad, very bad request

We didn't feel like serving it"

Anyone had this before? Is this Wikimedia wrongly throttling my access to images or what? Minute Lake (talk) 03:44, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

My immediate reaction is that such language is so unlikely to come from us or the normal settings of most computers that I would bet it's a virus on your end. Anyway, I am not the right person to speak on such matters, but note this recent discussion; that someone uploaded this image (not in use anywhere) likely because they were getting the same strange error; and that this error has occurred for others in places unrelated to Wikipedia (see this thread) implying it's wholly external.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:01, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I think the issue has to do with Wikimedia, and that language must be the language that Wikimedia set somewhere in their server settings. It is not a virus, because I can reproduce this issue on all the machines in my house, all of which are running Ubuntu. While I know there is random advice throughout the Internet where people claim this is a virus, I am confident that it is not. Rather, what I think is happening is that Wikimedia's server is returning a 403 error when I try to view any image for some unknown reason. Furthermore, when I tunnel my connection through a VPN, I am able to see all images, further supporting the theory that Wikimedia's servers are causing this for some reason. Minute Lake (talk) 04:15, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I am incompetent on such matters. If no one else can help you here though, I think it would be a good idea to bring this up at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:23, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Have you/can you run a tracert to wikimedia.org and post the results? If you need some help, just poke me on my talk page or IRC (with this or this.) VPT would also be a good place for this, as Fuhghettaboutit suggested. :) ^Avicenna_sis @ 04:35, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Unfortunately, the problem has now gone away: all images are working fine (I say unfortunately, because I am pretty sure this will happen again, as it has happened before.) Next time it happens, I will definitely run a tracert and post the results. Minute Lake (talk) 04:39, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

No prob. I suspect the problem is with routing, as Wikipedia.org's servers are in San Francisco, whereas wikimedia.org's are in Bayern, Germany. :) I've dealt with a similar issue not too long ago where users of a certain Canadian ISP where unable to load Wikipedia at all, and sure enough it was a routing issue. ^Avicenna_sis @ 04:51, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

beta webs

please show me how to remove your web of my desktop which is showing on the left hand cornerand its getting inthe way of my icons —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.170.255.12 (talk) 04:08, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Your question is a little unclear: Wikipedia is a website and won't (by itself) install anything on your desktop. Can you give us any more information? Gonzonoir (talk) 10:03, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

We sent this info on nowsthetime.org two weeks ago and it has not

We sent the info below on nowsthetime.org two weeks ago and it has not been added. Please add this to your website.

Nowsthetime.org is a nonprofit evangelistic website that was founded in 2002 by Pastor D L Dunning. This website features streaming audio and video testimonies from people who say they have been eyewitnesses to Heaven and Hell. Many people today have questions about this life and also what come after life on earth. Nowsthetime.org features answers to these types of questions and scriptures from the Bible that talk about the reality of Heaven and Hell. This site is an informational tool by which people can hear for themselves and make their choice whether to believe.

Do you ever wonder why am I here on this planet? Do you sometimes question what will happen to after this life is over? There are many in the Christian faith that were former atheist, agnostics and sceptics. Some of these people have converted to the Christian faith after reporting to have had a glimpse of the Heaven or Hell. Others say that Jesus visited them and showed them parts of Heaven and Hell. In recent years, there have been a great number of these testimonies from people who say they have actually seen up close and personally the reality of Heaven and Hell.

Heaven and Hell are two places that have always been a mystery to many and the Bible does speak in depth about both. In today's fast pace society, many don't take the time to read or research these two places. The streaming audio and video files on this website makes it easier for anyone to hear for themselves what eyewitnesses have to say. Since eternity is a whole lot longer than 70 or even 80 years of life on earth, it would be wise for us think about our eternal destination.

The testimony of Dr. Azzacove and his recordings of the Sounds of Hell can be found on this website. Evangelist Mary K Baxter's books A Divine Revelation of Heaven and A Divine Revelation of Hell have audio files that are featured on this website. There are other eyewitnesses to the reality of Heaven and Hell that are also featured on nowsthetime.org.

Many report that their lives have been transformed for the better by the information on this website. Nowsthetime.org just provides you with the information and the decision to believe or not is up to you. Nowsthetime.org is and outreach of Gospel of Peace Christian Assembly in Birmingham AL.

This website doesn't ask for anything it just offers free information to it's visitors and that was refreshing. www.nowsthetime.org I must say that this was a great informational tool that was well worth the visit.

J Shaw —Preceding unsigned comment added by Coolingwater921 (talk • contribs) 06:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia! I've left a welcome message with some links on your talk page. For a topic to be listed as an article here it must be notable and the information must be backed up by reliable independent sources. To work out whether your web site counts as "notable", in this Wikipedia sense, please read through the notability guidelines for web sites. The next step would be to post your suggested content and the "reliable independent sources" at Wikipedia:Requested articles. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:30, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Also note that Wikipedia articles must present a neutral point of view rather than advocating for a particular point of view, especially on topics such as religion for which no conclusive evidence exists, and on which many people disagree, often violently. Prose that seeks to proselytize for a particular religion (or political party, etc.) is not acceptable on Wikipedia. You can, however, describe what various people (Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc.) believe. For example we have an article about the Flat Earth Society which describes what members of the society allegedly believe - but the article does not claim that the earth is flat. --Teratornis (talk) 09:36, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikibooks - awesome idea, but what about a "disable notes, references and external links"-function?

Hey!

I'm not sure this is the right way to pose my question, but:

I've discovered the book creator application which is a brilliant idea. I'm currently collecting a lot of articles in order to form a book, that I can buy. But I've noticed that around 50% of the pages will be composed of Notes, References and External Links - something I'm not very interested in speding half of the money on.

Can anyone tell me if there is a disable-opportunity for these parts? Or at least if there will be such a function in the future?

Best regards Mathias —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mathias Blicher (talk • contribs) 06:23, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

If you don't get an answer here, it means nobody among the possibly thousands of Wikipedia editors who watch this page know the answer. Just tracking down the people who might be able to give an answer could be difficult. You could start by looking at the history of whatever manual page you read to learn about the book creator application, and start asking the people who wrote the manual. Or ask on the manual's talk page. --Teratornis (talk) 08:37, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure that it is possible to remove the notes and references - they show the sources of the information in the article(s). I would agree that External links aren't necessary - and I can see that not having the notes and references would be desireable - but I'm not sure how easy it would be to implement that (it wouldn't be just a case of removing the notes and references list, but also the citation marks (e.g. ^[1]). You might want to ask about/suggest this at Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab) -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:22, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Image from wikitravel.org

Is there a simple way to use this in an article? http://wikitravel.org/shared/Image:Sign_NoWomen.JPG

This did not work: File:Sign NoWomen.JPG Noloop (talk) 06:30, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikitravel is not a Wikimedia Foundation wiki so you cannot display an image from there with Wikipedia's image syntax. However, the image on Wikitravel is available under the {{cc-by-sa}} license, so you could upload a copy to Wikipedia or to Wikimedia Commons. --Teratornis (talk) 09:23, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I will upload it to Commons in few moments. – ukexpat (talk) 15:17, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

 Done - now at File:Jeddah Marriott no women sign.jpg. – ukexpat (talk) 15:27, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Uploading photo

Stereo Mike - MTV EMA winner Dolbyex (talk) 09:28, 21 June 2010 (UTC)of Best Greek ActDolbyex (talk) 09:28, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

What is your question? -- John of Reading (talk) 12:05, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

jabber chat

I downloaded jabber chat source code written in jsp. I am using tomcat6.0 as my server. but i am not at all able to run the application because of some errors. is there any need of downloading and installing jabber client or jabber server? If yes, from where i will get those exe files for jabber client and jabber server? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.90.27.183 (talk) 11:13, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Computing reference desk. They specialize in answering computer questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:07, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Oracle

Hi! I'm an italian user and I would know if in your WP there is the "oracle", as in ours... Yours faithfully, --Phyemai (talk) 12:41, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

it:Wikipedia:Oracolo appears to be equivalent to WP:Reference desk. Algebraist 12:50, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Note that both of those pages have interlanguage links to each other. See the "Altre lingue" list box on the left column of it:Wikipedia:Oracolo which would lead you to the counterpart pages on other language Wikipedias. --Teratornis (talk) 20:54, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Suitability of picture

Is this picture suitable for addition to the sodium bicarbonate article?

Sheet of sodium bicarbonate crystals formed by slow crystallization

--Chemicalinterest (talk) 13:36, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I'd say no; it's not of any particular informative value for the article. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:47, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

So it would seem more of a curiosity than something notable enough to put in an encyclopedia? --Chemicalinterest (talk) 14:03, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Yup. Not exactly fascinating, aethetically speaking; and adds nothing to the educational content of the site. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:39, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

If you move the image to Commons, you can categorize it in Commons:Category:Sodium bicarbonate, and then people who read the sodium bicarbonate article can find it via the {{Commons category}} template which already appears at the bottom of the article. You can also make a gallery page on Commons for this fascinating chemical. --Teratornis (talk) 20:58, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Problems linking to a video

I recently tried linking a video to my wikipedia page and it got deleted. I saved it and tried to go back again and it was not there. I got a message saying it had been deleted due to "misuse of the policy." I have permission to use this video. Will you please explain to me how to be able to put this link onto my page and/or the policy for links? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gracecottage (talk • contribs) 14:05, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia! I'm afraid you have run into a number of policy issues here.

First, it is not "your" wikipedia page. Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. The page can and will be edited by all sorts of people. In fact, the conflict of interest policy strongly discourages editing by people who have a close connection with the subject of an article, since it is so difficult to write with a neutral point of view.

Second, the policy on external links is here; it is stricter than many editors realise. I see that you were trying to add a direct link to the video that is on the Grace Cottage Hospital's home page, so it won't be hard for Wikipedia readers to find and play the video.

Third, you will have to choose a new user name. A user name must belong to a person and not to a group or organisation. See this page. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Seconding what John says, and adding an explanation of the formatting problem you encountered. On both occasions you inserted the link to the YouTube video wrongly, linking first to a nonexistent Wikipedia page and second to a nonexistent template. The correct format for an external link of this type is [URL Caption]. Note the single square brackets for an external link, and the space, rather than a pipe, separating the URL and caption. So, for example, [http://www.vases.com/red Picture of a red vase at vases.com]. As for policy, many YouTube and similar links added to Wikipedia are unacceptable because the material has been uploaded to the host site in breach of copyright, and Wikipedia does not accept links to copyright violations. Brief guidance is at WP:YT. In your case, the copyright status of the video doesn't seem to be described on the YouTube site, and Wikipedia assumes that such material is protected by copyright unless its copyright or license status clearly says otherwise. Rather than struggle to get the YouTube version licensed (which the copyright holder may be reluctant to do), I would just stick with linking to the hospital's homepage - as John says, users can access the video from there. Good luck, and feel free to ask for more help if you need it. Karenjc 16:40, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Clarification

i was invited by a friend for a vacation to tel aviv and i will be staying inhis place and that he said that related expenses during my vacation will be up to him. Should i still prepare 2,000 USD show money upon arrival, How long does the processing of application for a vacation by invitation normally takes ? Is there a surety or bond required by my friend who invited me, and how much if there is? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.58.248.58 (talk) 15:06, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried the Miscellaneous 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. ^Avicenna_sis @ 15:17, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Greetings-Researcher Permission?

Hello, I am a researcher of new religious movements, and plan to publish on wikipedia and its frictional relationship with various NRMs. A colleage informed me that recently Wikipedia has been granting access to researchers to view information from deleted pages. I saw it listed here but no advice on how to go about obtaining such permission. I was wondering where i should go? A NRM Researcher (talk) 15:57, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

You need to contact the Wikimedia Foundation directly, as they are the ones granting the right. Their contact information is listed here. TNXMan 17:18, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you very much A NRM Researcher (talk) 17:24, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Interaction

Can Methandone and Xanax be taken together? Is this a deadly combination? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.109.107.253 (talk) 17:15, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but Wikipedia does not give medical advice. You should consult your general practitioner. TNXMan 17:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Replacing company logo

Hello, I'm hoping someone in the Wikipedia editing community can help with this. ... I work for Yamaha Motor Company in the U.S. and would like to replace the outdated blue corporate logo in the profile box on this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_Motor_Company

The red corporate logo (actually implemented in in the U.S. in 2008, and globally prior to that) is shown on the company's U.S. and global websites at:

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/lifestylehome/home.aspx

and

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/index.html

As additional background and clarification, Yamaha maintains a separate racing visual identity scheme that uses a white Yamaha logo on a blue background, always (officially) with the words "Factory Racing" or "Racing" underneath the logo, as shown here:

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/apparel/apscitemdetail/1/31/all/all/9826/detail.aspx

I'm a first-time editor to Wikipedia and have read a number of the relevant policies and FAQs, but it seems that I am restricted from changing the logo out myself becuase I have not previously posted any edits.

Is it possible for someone to help with this?

Thank you.

Afishism (talk) 17:59, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm working on it. – ukexpat (talk) 19:04, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Oops, spoke to soon. The blue image is a .svg file and converting the red form of the logo to SVG is beyond my capabilities. Any SVG experts willing to help out? – ukexpat (talk) 19:13, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, but I believe the shadowing, etc., on the new logo (in the tuning fork area) is different in the red version than the blue; therefore, I belive the logos would actually have to be swapped out (the blue one deleted, and the red one added). I tried to reach out to the person who initially posted the blue logo (back in 1995, I believe), and their talk page says they are no longer active as a Wikipedia editor. Hope that additional info helps in some way. Thanks again. 198.136.143.22 (talk) 23:18, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't suppose you know where an svg version of the logo could be found. It looks like the uploader of the logo we are displaying now got it from Yamaha. Additionally, is the global Yamaha (Corporation) logo purple now? Prodego ^talk 00:59, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

I replicated the logo as best I could, it is on the article now (may require a hard refresh). Prodego ^talk 01:39, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Not that it matters, but Wikipedia did not exist in 1995. --Teratornis (talk) 02:04, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Looks good to me. Some day you will have to explain to me how you did that. – ukexpat (talk) 14:29, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, Prodego and ukexpat, for your kind assistance! All the best. 198.136.143.22 (talk) 21:52, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Embeded video

The only policy I can find on embedded video is one from 2007. Have there been any updates since? Maybe include a link to the policy. I'll need to site it for a paper. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Glider23 (talk • contribs) 18:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

You may be looking for Video at Wikimedia Commons. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:45, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Infoboxes

Is there a way to use infoboxes and templates created here in other language wikipedias (without recreating them there?). --Sodabottle (talk) 19:12, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Sorry. Templates cannot be called globally, only locally (as far as I'm aware). I've seen this when users try to copy articles from foreign language wikis and end up with a bunch of gobbledygook when the templates won't call. TNXMan 19:19, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

See mw:Manual:$wgEnableScaryTranscluding. That feature would (possibly) do what you want, but the people who run the English Wikipedia have not enabled it here. Scary transcluding would probably create problems, such as what to do when a template requires a CSS class that is not in the local MediaWiki:Common.css. Templates may also depend on software running on the local server such as HTML Tidy. You probably wouldn't want to use an exact copy of a foreign-language template anyway, as it would probably have some foreign-language text hard-coded to disply, or used as field names. If you merely want to show how a particular instance of a foreign-language template looks on some other Wikipedia, you could upload a screen capture of it to the English Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 20:40, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the replies. I will recreate them (sigh!) :-)--Sodabottle (talk) 04:37, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Image problem

Take a look at the last image in Port of Long Beach. Looks normal (perhaps color balance is warmer than normal). Now go to the image page: File:Command and control center Port of Long Beach CA.jpg. It appears overexposed, all blown highlights. But the thumbnail is fine (and i it's the only upload for this image - so it's not a cache issue). What's up? East of Borschov (talk) 21:29, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Whilst I don't get how it could be the issue (for the reason you describe), have you tried bypassing your cache anyway just in case? I've viewed the picture on the page, the file description page and in full and they all look the same to me. AJCham 22:56, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

FWIW, I am having the same issue, only in Firefox, even after bypassing my cache. IE7 shows it fine. Windows XP Machine. ^Avicenna_sis @ 23:48, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Indeed it's a firefox something; I see it washed out on FF/Win7 and all normal on IE6/XP. But I suspect there's also something odd inside the file (I use FF for years and never saw such behaviour). East of Borschov (talk) 03:59, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Fixed. Apparently, there is something called a "Color Profile" for images, and Firefox is the only browser (As far as I found out) that reads color profiles. I used GIMP to remove the color profile and reupload it, and it seems fine on my end now. Before and after.

Credit where it's due: A big thanks to Cork from #firefox ^connect who told me what the problem was, and to User:Dcoetzee from #wikimedia-commons ^connect who told me how to remove the color profile using GIMP. Thanks! :) ^Avicenna_sis @ 06:48, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Disregard, still messed up on some of the PCs in my house after cache clearing. I've posted a request for help at Commons. ^Avicenna_sis @ 17:04, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Requesting a new infobox

Where do I request a new type of infobox? I want to get one for sniper scopes. Faceless Enemy (talk) 23:00, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

You can use Wikipedia:Requested templates. An infobox type is implemented as a template. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:54, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Firearms is another possible place to ask if you don't get a quick response to your first request. It's not too hard to create a new infobox template if you can find an existing template that is similar to what you want, to use as a starting point. --Teratornis (talk) 02:01, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks guys. Faceless Enemy (talk) 05:44, 22 June 2010 (UTC)