Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 January 5

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January 5

How do I create an account

How can I create an account when my IP, hughes.net is not allowed to create an account? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.43.103 (talk) 04:15, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

You can either appeal the block, or you can request that an account be created for you. RudolfRed (talk) 04:20, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Pressurized Dew Point

If We Consider Atmospheric dew point as -40°C ,means 1 atm. pressure then What will be the Dew Point temperature at 7 atm.(bar) pressure??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by VipulParmar1511 (talk • contribs) 04:38, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Please do your own homework.
Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here not to do people's homework for them, but merely to aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems.
Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can search Wikipedia or search the Web.
If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 06:29, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

$1000.00 Walmart Gift Certificate

I got the message that I was winner of Walmart $1,000.00 gift certificate,an I responded within the allocated amount of time.While selecting the two completions I was to accept through signing up for such as monthly credit report,or auction discount merchandise;Google registration is emandatory,an Google won't allow signing up for a Google account to complete the certifying for the gift. (removed) .I seek help in claiming my gift.The announcement was that I was the winner of the day for 4th,Jan 2012.H.S.III — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.41.217.108 (talk) 06:51, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you want them to be permanently removed from the page history, please email this address..

You'll need to contact google to find out why the account creation isn't working. RudolfRed (talk) 06:58, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

We have no connections to either Walmart or Google and thus can not help you. But a personal advice: be very careful with emails claiming you have won something. See Lottery scam.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 07:03, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I would also note that all of these that I have seen include 'won todays...', instead of the correct 'won today's...', so I've never thought they were legitimate. Dru of Id (talk) 12:21, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Sirius radio

When did it come out for car and trucks ? The year ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.24.131.229 (talk) 09:13, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Miscellaneous reference desk. They specialize in knowledge 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.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 10:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

User page question

Everytime I search Parfums de Marly in google it always direct me to (User: Parfums de Marly),What should I do if I want to delete the word User everytime that I search for the word. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Parfums de Marly (talk • contribs) 10:15, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Ugh. User:Parfums de Marly is an incorrect use of userspace. I have noindexed the draft(?) so that it won't appear on Google searches, which is questionably promotional anyway, and added a userspace warning at the top of his/her page. Admins might want a look and decide if it needs to be deleted/moved to a subpage or not.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 11:36, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I think the user may be asking how to move the article to mainspace and my answer to that is "not a chance", it's basically advertising and has no independent sources, and I believe was previously deleted at User:Sprecher1715, probably the same user. Also tagged the images in Commons. Яehevkor ✉ 13:43, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Ah sorry. It was previously included in a different subsection and I assumed the OP was still User:CPGirlAJ.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 14:42, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

"Theft" of an article

Not sure if this belongs here or WP:ANI
I started an article in my user-space User:Arjayay/John Dummer Band but needed more information to finish it - the third paragraph under "formation" is just notes needing amplification - so I did not move it to main space.
User:Frank0051 copy pasted my draft into mainspace (diff = [1]) as a new article. He later deleted the third paragraph, leaving a large gap in the band history, and added the category "American blues musical groups" which shows how much he knows about the John Dummer Band since, as stated on the second line, they are a British blues band. (This category was later corrected).

I am well aware of the text below the edit box:-

"By clicking the "Save Page" button, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license."

Articles should be moved, to preserve their edit history, whereas this copy paste does not provide the "attribution required under the Creative Commons license". Could someone who understands WP:Merge please merge the edit histories to give the correct attribution.

At no time has User:Frank0051 ever contacted me.
I do not know if there is a specific Wikipedia policy about copying text from others user-spaces, and claiming it as ones own, but it is clearly rude, and does not encourage collaborative working. Assuming there is such a policy, could someone please inform User:Frank0051 and request he does not do this again. - Arjayay (talk) 10:49, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

My purely personal observation: It does seem bloody rude to effectively hijack an article in development. There is a note on the article's talk page that it was copied from your namespace. Hardly any compensation though. I know we don't own anything we add here, but I think most would admit to themselves if not out loud, that we'd like credit where it's due. Whether the rules or policies are on your side Arjayay, I am. Keep calm. fredgandt 11:15, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Copypaste moves are highly undesirable as it violates the Attribution stipulation of Wikipedia's licenses. It should be histmerged if done to preserve credit to the original contributor (details how to are in the link). Moving drafts written by another user, however, is not forbidden but it is very rude.

There was a spate of such draft moving last year reported in IRC. All originating from spammer accounts attempting to gain credibility in the community by stealing other people's drafts (they also gave themselves a lot of fake barnstars and claimed earlier account establishment dates than in reality). The user who wrote the drafts was understandably very upset. But User:Frank0051 seems to be reasonable enough, ask him why he did it and ask him not to do it again. If needed, you can request assistance at Wikipedia:Wikiquette assistance.

You can also simply request an admin to delete the article and continue working on your userspace draft until you're ready to move it to mainspace.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 11:19, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks - User:Fuhghettaboutit‎ deleted the main-space article (G12: Unambiguous copyright infringement: Draft taken from userspace without copyright attriibution to author as required by CC=By-SA) - Arjayay (talk) 11:51, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I have left a detailed message for the user here. I don't think there was any malicious intent and yes, a history merge could have been done to avoid the copyright problem, but it would have left the misplaced "Created page with..." edit summary and I don't think any userspace drafts should be forced into the mainspace in this manner.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:11, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Aust hiphop history

I read the history on aust hiphop and I'm devastated that no mention on 046 originally formed in 1989 and have been a major factor to sth west Sydney's pioneering path to the culture way before def wish cast ashame that the syndney scene has no idea of true raw hiphop with there life album in 1995 do ur home work fellas — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1.40.28.2 (talk) 12:01, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

We're a bunch of random volunteers from around the world, so there's no point telling us to do our homework. You can edit just as easily as we can. I presume you're referring to the article Australian hip hop, which currently mentions the band 046 once in the middle of the Style section. If you have a suggestion about how the article can be improved, you can raise it at the article's talk page, at Talk:Australian hip hop. You are more likely to convince other editors to help if you can name a reliable source that can support your assertions. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 13:08, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Vital records

why do some states have cut-offs for genealogical vs. non genealogical vital records and how do the states arrive at their number such as NJ, 50 for marriage, 40 for death and 80 for birth? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.139.72.41 (talk) 12:19, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Humanities reference desk. They specialize in knowledge 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, and please specify which country you're referring to as this is an international website. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 13:11, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

scaggdaddys, life lesson

any feedback? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Scaggdaddy (talk • contribs) 14:21, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

You wrote that in the sand; it's long since been washed away; nothing you wrote was suitable for Wikipedia anyway, since it was a personal essay and not encyclopedic information. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:29, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Need help with a title name change, incorrect spelling

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

Please change the title page to Jason Christophe White. In the title of the article, it should not have an (r) at the end of my middle name. Thanks!

208.102.19.15 (talk) 14:48, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Done. - David Biddulph (talk) 14:53, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Questions not in the public eye that candidates need to answer

<redacted questionaire apparently aimed at politicians in the United States, but irrelevant to Wikipedia>

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.8 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 16:04, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I was unable to give my contact information...

After submitting a list of questions for the candidates. How can I know if they create any discussion or results?

I just posed several questions that are not receiving the attention I feel they should have---however when I started to give my email address and contact information the page was full and I could not continue writing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.254.59.146 (talk) 15:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

This is the English Wikipedia, an international English-language online encyclopedia. It is not a political forum for U.S. presidential candidates. To put it simply: you are posting in the wrong place. Do not post emails or personal information here.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 16:07, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Stuck in Chineese.

I hit something that switched my default language to chineese. On the home page I hit the English language and then it goes and brings the data back in Chineese. I tried to uninstall the program so that I could reinstall, but I was unable to find it in the uninstall list under Control Panel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.30.213.242 (talk) 16:20, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Is this a question about Wikipedia, about your operating system, or another program? — Sebastian 17:16, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Looks like a general computer-related question. I suggest he take it to the Computing reference desk. We can only answer questions here related to editing Wikipedia.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 19:23, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

unkind comments

Hello, I am wondering if there is anything that can be done about an editor that often adds rude comments to their edits. This is a long time editor that edits far more than I do but so often adds what I view a hurtful comments to their edits. Also I have noticed that this person seems to act like they own a couple of pages. This person views everything as a personal attack on them yet never seems to think that their cruel words are a personal attack .I have talked about this before but there seems no changing this person so I guess I am asking for intervention. What are the steps that need to be taken? Soglad Tomeetyou (talk) 20:30, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Can you link to the contributions of the editor, by chance? Calabe1992 21:00, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Well this is the persons talk page (talk)

Soglad Tomeetyou (talk) 23:21, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

So the person's contributions would be Special:Contributions/Montanabw. - Purplewowies (talk) 03:44, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

You could try WP:WQA or WP:RFC. --Jayron32 05:42, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Discussing directly with the OP. Franamax (talk) 07:33, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

The Edit window task bar

When I open an Edit window — like the one I am using right now — a taskbar appears along the top:

B  I  Advanced  Special characters  Help  Cite

When this crappy DELL PC is running low on resources, that taskbar increases the time it takes for my Edit window to open by a factor of 4, 5, up to 10 times. I can make a cup of tea between the time the window opens and the taskbar condescends to appear, at which point the window goes live.
How do I get rid of this nuisance? It has no Close and never come back button, or it does and I can't see it.
Cheers, Varlaam (talk) 21:57, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

See "Usability features" > "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" on Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing, and uncheck it. fredgandt 22:07, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Fixing double redirects

Hi. Is there some automated way to fix a bunch of double redirects?

This is a list of pages linking to Membrane (selective barrier), now a redirect to Membrane. So all of these have double redirects. Is there some tool to fix all at once or do I have to go to each page, open it, find the wikilinks and fix manually, one by one?

TCO (Reviews needed) 23:02, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

See Special:DoubleRedirects: "It is usually not necessary to fix these by hand. Bots will go through the entire list periodically and fix all of the double redirects, except for protected pages." One bot that fixes double redirects is タチコマ robot (talk · contribs). Goodvac (talk) 23:07, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Cool. Thanks. I will just let it go!TCO (Reviews needed) 23:08, 5 January 2012 (UTC)