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March 23[edit]

quoting wikipedia stuff[edit]

Can I quote anything on a wikipedia article on my business website? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.19.109.173 (talk) 04:02, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

While it's not recommended, you certainly can. You must, however, comply with the license terms, which are actually quite good. All Wikipedia text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, this means you can use as much as you want if you attribute Wikipedia and release the text under the same license. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 05:47, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And see WP:REUSE. --Teratornis (talk) 06:15, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, Wikipedia isn't the most reliable source in the world. Kayau Voting IS evil 13:37, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on which part of Wikipedia you look at. With 6,818,520 articles, something in there would probably be good enough to quote, even if all the articles were written by chimpanzees. --Teratornis (talk) 02:21, 25 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In the right circumstances, those monkeys can write pretty well! – ukexpat (talk) 02:33, 25 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

DAYTIME ER[edit]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY ER WAS TAKEN OFF DAYTIME. IT IS A GREAT DRAMA, WHEN THE LAST EPISODE AIRED FRIDAY 3/19/10 IT LEFT ME HANGING, I WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL THIS PROGRAM. THANK YOU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.230.250.196 (talk) 10:03, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Um, do you mean WP:Editor review? Kayau Voting IS evil 11:21, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think they are concerned that some TV channel removed the series ER (TV series) from its daytime lineup. ~~ GB fan ~~ ^talk 11:27, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you saw one of our articles, probably about the TV station that had ER (TV series) on it. We are not associated with that TV station and have no control of their programming. Sorry. ~~ GB fan ~~ ^talk 11:27, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

E-mail address[edit]

I forgot to confirm my e-mail address on Wikipedia as I was not checking my e-mails. So I cannot see my page and cannot do other things. What must I do? Please help me! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zawan007 (talk • contribs) 13:08, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please use a descriptive title in future questions.

You aren't required to confirm an e-mail address in order to see and edit pages. You only need to confirm an e-mail address in order to allow other users to e-mail you and to have a new password sent to you if you can't remember it. Click my preferences at the top of the page, and the look at the bottom for your e-mail status. It will say whether you have an e-mail address on file, and whether it has been confirmed or not. If it isn't, you can enter it there. --Mysdaao ^talk 13:35, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The post here is the only edit by your account. I'm not sure what you refer to with "I cannot see my page" but if you want a user page at User:Zawan007 then you have to create it by saving something there. User pages are not created automatically. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:56, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

kathy reichs[edit]

Apparently kathy reichs doesn't appreciate criticism because her <blanked> address returns a mail delivery:failure notification. Wikipedia has no contact info for her, _only her website which has no contact link. Any suggestions ? 14:53, 23 March 2010 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.17.154.197 (talk)

I wouldn't make assumptions about somebody because an email bounced. Wikipedia has a policy against providing email addresses in articles: Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons#Privacy of personal information. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:02, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Help with reversion of apparent vandalism in Tarbosaurus (on the main page)[edit]

I just made some corrections to Tarbosaurus, which is currently on the main page and noticed the statement in the article

“

A new discovery has comfirmed that cats should now be classified as reptiles.

”

This appears to me to be vandalism but I don't yet know how to use the history very well to find out who did it and make sure it's not some bizarre fact that is actually true. Can someone help figure out whether to remove this, and who did it so they can be warned?--173.68.39.21 (talk) 16:57, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Main page articles are ripe targets for vandalism (see the history page of this one for example). It has been reverted. – ukexpat (talk) 17:16, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A seasoned Wikipedia user or editor who sees something like this will likely look at the article's edit history as a first reaction. Thus, it was by pure chance that I once noticed this as I went to check which picture was in a template, and quickly reverted the material. You are encouraged (though not required, obviously) to revert such changes. -- Blanchardb -^{Me•MyEars•MyMouth}- timed 20:21, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Change made to Scantron Article[edit]

Company was listed as based in Irvine, Calif. While this WAS true 2 years ago - Scantron (owned by Harland Clarke - through M&F Worldwide) was merged with the Data division of Pearson which was sold off in February 2008. At this time, the headquarters of Scantron was moved to Eagan Minnesota.

Confirmation of this can be found on www.scantron.com.

Also, there are many incorrect terminologies and an incomplete understanding of Scantron's products and scannable forms that should be edited, corrected, and/or expanded. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.32.130.2 (talk) 17:03, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The best place to raise these issues is the article's talk page. Please provide references for the changes that you believe should be made. – ukexpat (talk) 17:12, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Use of the Scantron web page to verify claims in the article is not permitted, as it is not consider an independent, reliable source. Please find an independent and neutral source to support any edits you make to this (or any) article. caknuck _° needs to be running more often 21:11, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Two images uploaded and appearing on page. After several days, one image still appears but the other does not; although link to image appears in red.[edit]

I uploaded an two image files as an Auto-Confirmed user. They both appeared for several days, but now one of them is not appearing. Why is the second image not showing?

Site: User:Lisbri02/SSSF

Images: 1. Image:Safe_Schools_SSSF_logo.jpg‎ -- this one no longer showing but showing File:Safe_schools_SSSF_Logo.jpg in red as a link. The link says I need autoconfirmed status to upload/view.

2. Image:Image:Sssf_crew.jpg‎ -- still appears and was uploaded at the same time as Image 1.

Lisbri01 (talk) 17:38, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The deletion log shows as follows: "File:Safe Schools SSSF logo.jpg ‎ (Speedy deleted per CSD F5, was an unfree file unused for more than seven days)." Unfree files must be used in articles. If they are orphaned for more than 7 days they are deleted. They cannot be used in userspace. – ukexpat (talk) 17:43, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:CSD#Files for a bit of information on the criteria the image was deleted under. (It's F5). Also, is there a reason you're using two accounts? Please read Wikipedia:Sock puppetry, which says that in general, it's best to only use one account, and if you're using more than one for some reason, you should state that explicitly on your userpage. It's best to chose one of the ones you have and just use that. The User:Lisbri01 account won't be autoconfirmed yet as you only appear to have one edit so far on that one.--Beloved Freak 19:22, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Expletives[edit]

Can you type expletive words on here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.166.33.92 (talk) 17:55, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For what purpose? We have articles where it's relevant, for example Profanity. If you mean here on the help desk or in discussions with other editors then it would be inappropriate and can in some cases lead to being blocked. See Wikipedia:Civility. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:08, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you're asking whether an edit will be blocked because of the presence of an expletive in the revision, the answer is no, although in some cases a bot may revert the edit. However, if you did use an expletive in a place where it wasn't warranted, then chances are your edit will be reverted by a human, and that's where you may find yourself in trouble. -- Blanchardb -^{Me•MyEars•MyMouth}- timed 20:27, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2010[edit]

I attempted to add (and apparently so did others) President Obama signing health care reform into law on the 2010 page. After I made the edit I went to the talk page and with Wikipedia:recent years in hand I laid out the criteria for adding HCR and why I felt its inclusion was warranted. An editor has told me that I was one of many to attempt to add HCR to no avail. I was told there was a consensus that it shouldn't be added. I cited the New Deal acts, Social Security Act, Civil Rights Act and Medicare Act being added to years pages as well as adding that many have referred to HCR as being as momentous as these previous pieces of legislation. This reeks of partisan politics; most Americans know this is a very touchy issue and this wouldn't be the first or last time politics has had a role on Wikipedia. I ask that a non-partisan administrator address this issue. GnarlyLikeWhoa (talk) 18:16, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There isn't much the help desk can do. You could open a Request for comment. For what it's worth I agree with the comments that it belongs on 2010 in the United States rather than on 2010. The passing of the bill may have received coverage outside the US, but that does not mean that it is of significance outside the US. There are for example plenty of Acts of Parliament in the UK that are reported in the US press, but that does not, of itself, make them significant world events. – ukexpat (talk) 18:48, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree in part, but all I want is consistency. All the other pieces of legislation were added to the years pages. It would only be fair if we deleted all those legislations and added them to the US site. I realize the law is American-centric, but it's huge. Controversial for many--but huge. GnarlyLikeWhoa (talk) 18:54, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am not doubting its importance in the US. Unless anyone else has any better ideas, I think an RFC is the way for you to proceed, but expect it to generate a lot of "discussion", as all things Obama related do on Wikipedia. – ukexpat (talk) 19:00, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's already in 2010 in the United States and March 2010. See Wikipedia:Recent years. Recent years can easily become bloated with eager editors adding current events from their home country with no international significance or uncertain long time significance. It seems a domestic US matter and maybe it will be reversed by courts or a coming congress with republican majority and end up a footnote in US history. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:26, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Problem with DYK sections in multiple portals[edit]

Resolved

– apparently, here. Beloved Freak 22:45, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Does anyone that knows anything about portals know what is up with the Did You Know sections of various portals? See Portal:Film and Portal:Tanzania for example. They are dynamic sections, using {{Random subpage}} and the "seed" parameter. For some reason, eg. Portal:Film/DYK is trying to display pages of huge numbers like 627, even though it's set to a maximum of 28. As a result, red linked sections are showing up on the portal page. This probably makes no sense if you've not used the template before, but I'm hoping someone has a clue what's going on. {{Random subpage}} hasn't been edited since January, and this is a very recent problem, so I can't work out what's changed.--Beloved Freak 19:44, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Suggest posting this on WP:VPT as well. Can confirm it's a recent thing and it's affecting all portals with stacked random DYK's, including featured ones. Nanonic (talk) 20:30, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good idea, done so here.--Beloved Freak 22:04, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Userpages and deletion[edit]

Can a legitimate users userpage be deleted "for routine, non-controversial cleanup"? Immunize (talk) 19:46, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You're gonna have to give us more info than that. --Floquenbeam (talk) 19:47, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Any non-controversial deletion of a user page should fall under U1, U2, or U3. Any other requested deletion of a user page should be taken to Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:52, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well no, G1 thru G12 (or whatever the highest number is) could also apply. In particular, he seems to be asking about WP:CSD#G6, which may or may not apply depending on the specific circumstances. --Floquenbeam (talk) 19:55, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I said "routine, non-controversial cleanup" because I have noticed that several users userpages have been deleted with that being the reason. Immunize (talk) 22:56, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have noticed sometimes admins delete user-requested pages with the summary "routine, non-controversial cleanup". The userpage of an indefinitely blocked user, if it has no useful purpose in continued existence, may also be deleted. Intelligentsium 23:05, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

proper sorting for category Category:Lines of longitude[edit]

I've been looking Category:Lines of longitude and there definitely needs to be a large number of changes to the sorts there. At minimum, the default sorts on the pages need to put the 19th meridian west between the 18th meridian west and the 20th, but I also think that a proper default sort would place them in order rather than alternating between east and west, so 180th, then 179th west, 178th east etc. I know, "Be bold!", but where would make sense to discuss this other than on the talk page for the category? (Is this an appropriate topic for Wikipedia:WikiProject_Geography?) The same issues apply to Category:Lines of latitude. (and I'd like to keep things like the meridians from Washington DC from intermingling) Also is there any sort of automated tool that would be of any use in this? Hotcat?Naraht (talk) 21:13, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'll contact WikiProject Geography and see if anyone there is willing to implement a simple but fastidious solution to this problem. -- Blanchardb -^{Me•MyEars•MyMouth}- timed 21:25, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've done this for one article. 199 to go. -- Blanchardb -^{Me•MyEars•MyMouth}- timed 21:51, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You're braver than I, sounds like the perfect job for a bot. – ukexpat (talk) 13:39, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Your addition of {{DEFAULTSORT:010th meridian east}} places 10th meridian east under the 0 heading (the first character of the sort key) in Category:Lines of longitude. Was that intended? Some articles use other sorting schemes. A19 road contains {{DEFAULTSORT:1-0019}} where the initial 1 places it under the 1 heading and the rest is intended to sort by number among other articles with sort keys of form 1-xxxx. A compromise may be that 1st to 9th are placed under 0 and others are placed under their leading digit like in Category:Integers. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:15, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Categories[edit]

I have been adding the Brain tumor related articles to the category Category:Nervous system neoplasms, but then realized that another category, Category:Neurooncology, also existed. Is having a page under both categories acceptable, or is it a duplication? Immunize (talk) 22:58, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I thought you were the expert on this :). You should decide whether it is redundant. I have no idea what these are. Kayau Voting IS evil 13:29, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As I have said before, you are much better off asking these subject matter related questions on the talk page of the relevant Wikiproject, in this case: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine. – ukexpat (talk) 13:44, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Interlanguage Wikipedia-ing[edit]

I have two questions about the interaction between the English Wikipedia and its other language counterparts: 1) Is there an official syntax or template for calling a Wikipedia article from a foreign language Wiki as the source of an English-language WP article? 2) Is there a way to put images which are uploaded to Wikipedia of other languages onto the English Wikipedia (without having to redundantly upload them again)? רח"ק | Talk | Contribs 23:24, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is a template {{Translated page}} for indicating a page is translated from another language. As to your second question, it is preferred in that case that an image is uploaded to Commons, from which it can be used on any Wikimedia Foundation wiki. If the image does not comply with Commons' prohibition of nonfree content, then it will have to be uploaded on every project individually. Intelligentsium 23:31, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]