Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 28

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July 28

Reporting an Abusive (and Deranged) User

How do I report an abusive and deranged user (IP address, actually)? — Aldaron • T/C 01:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It depends on the type of abuse and in many cases it should only be reported if warnings have been given without effect. See for example Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism and the links at the top there. PrimeHunter 01:20, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Initially just repeated inaccurate edits that several people tired to correct, but which the user insisted on reverting. When the user finally gave in, he switched to long confrontational posts on the talk pages of the people who had been correcting him. His posts are also riddled with typos and poor English, making them seem a bit deranged. Is any of that covered by any Wikipedia policies, or is that just "the way the Internet is". — Aldaron • T/C 03:46, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

We do have the page on dispute resolution. If they have a valid issue, or a valid reason for an invalid issue, the general rule is to discuss it with them first, then try going for some of the procedures mentioned there. If they're ranting at other users, it might be worthwhile pointing them towards WP:CIVIL and WP:NPA. Confusing Manifestation 11:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Name changing history

I had my username changed 2 times for privacy reasons, but if it's still visible in the requests for username changes page, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Is there any way to get rid of that as well now that it's done?

Reply: Wikipedia:Changing username#Instructions says:

Your request will be moved to the archives and the change will appear in the user rename log in the interest of transparency. There is no provision for renaming accounts without logging the change.

PrimeHunter 01:30, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia talk:Changing username/Archive 2#Delete completed requests. PrimeHunter 01:40, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

BUD

My original log in name -(user name)- is BUD, all capital letters. my first password as sent to me by Wikipedia was 9zgvmqq. It did not work. Then came b1KXxz. It did not work either. Yesterday I received this: sehnq1y. It has not worked either. In each case I have been addressed as BUD which is supposed to be my user name and was apprroved by you in my original application. NOW nothing works and I have been unable to set up a new account. I want my user name to be BUD. I want my password to be n8gbnn. My email address is [EMAIL REMOVED]

I want an account to use Wikipedia. Tell me how to get one and I will follow your instructions. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.114.126 (talk)

User:BUD does not appear in our list of users. It appears that you did not create this user name. Perhaps you created User:Bud accidentally? Raven4x4x 05:02, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Also, I would advise you to not use any of those passwords on any site again...-Localzuk^(talk) 12:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Blanking of warnings in user talk pages

I've noticed in the past few weeks an editor or two who has removed warnings from their talk pages without archiving them. Am I confused, or is this considered vandalism? What would be the appropriate warning to give such users, if so? so sayeth Lucky Number 49 ^{Yell at me!} 01:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It is permissible. See this.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 02:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Okay, thanks! so sayeth Lucky Number 49 ^{Yell at me!} 02:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

References

How do you type in references so that they are clickable to the source, such as to a newspaper archived article? thanks

Well, generall you type <ref> TEXT </ref> around a link to the source where TEXT is. This will create a [#] tag, which, when clicked, will take you to the corresponding place at the bottom, which has the link you typed. To create the bottom part, under a References section, you can type {{reflist}}. There are other ways to do this, which can be seen at WP:CIT. i ^{(said) (did)} 02:56, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

posting article

how do i post any entry? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yoeddiespaghetti (talk • contribs) 05:54, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

To create an article, type the name of the article you'd like to create in the search box. If the article does not exist, you will be provided with a link to create it. Also, you can follow a red colored link from any page to create the linked article. Before you create an article on Wikipedia, make sure the topic is considered noteworthy under our notability guidelines. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask =). --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 05:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Correction

WHEN WILL YOU CORRECT YOUR MISTAKES IN YOUR LOGO INTHE TWO LANGUAGES SPECIFIED AS SANSKRIT AND JAPANESE?

Please do not type in all caps. It is rude and the equivalent of shouting.

The Help Desk does not manage the Logo, and thus we cannot tell you when it will be changed.

The Rhymesmith 07:47, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If I'm correctly guessing which "logo" you refer to, see: Wikipedia:Logos and slogans#The international contest which links to: m:International logo contest/Final logo variants/Nohat. If you have complaints about the logo, you may address them to the author on: User talk:Nohat. But read the instructions on Help:Talk page first. --Teratornis 11:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry that I can't provide direct links, but I'm pretty sure that this has already been put up for discussion on the village pump (Technical, I think), and on one of the mailing lists (either for the Foundation or Wikipedia), although I can't remember what the final comment was. The question has also already been asked here, about a week ago. What I can tell you is that the Wikimedia Foundation is aware of the errors, and as far as I know are looking into correcting it (given that the logo is a registered trademark of WMF, I suspect it involves a few legal processes). Confusing Manifestation 14:33, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You are not accessible

I can't sign in - I can't make changes to weblinks - and I don't know how to really contact you about that. As an English teacher, I thought I would visit to see what my students see. However, the enormous amount of changes which are impossible to make render this an exercise in futilty. For example, when searching The Wars by Timothy Findlay, the main character has a link to Robbie Ross - this is not an appriopiate link.

I'm done attempting to clean up the carnage that you have chosen to spew onto the Internet. The first reason is because it is carnage and the second is because it is not easy to make changes - which is YOUR claim to fame!!!!

I will continue to tell my students that I WILL NOT accept references from your site. After all, if I cannot easily edit your site then you have others (a PH.D who really wasn't????) who are in control.

A suggestion is that every page has an option for change or update. Truthfully, those of us who KNOW do not have time to search for your really poor communication structure upon which you claim this site is built.

Niki Cherniwchan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Well, I'm a little confused. First of all, you don't need to sign in to edit. Moreover, nearly every page is editable, except those with a "lock" sign, indicating they have been protected due to editing concerns. For instance, to fix that link, just click the "edit this page" above. --Haemo 06:54, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If you can say which part of the structure are hard to use, we can improve them. If you don't say what's wrong, we cannot do anything about it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 06:58, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, please elaborate. The Rhymesmith 07:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Response to idiots

Haema and Matt the F

Excellent smart-ass reponses which will preserve the low intellect of this site FOREVER. Well done you two. I tried again, at your suggestion, to edit the link but I cannot. I am not a ludite.

I will continue to tell my colleagues and the students over which we see, that this site is junk. Copied your reponses - more fuel to my quest that my school board make this bigger than just me. I will email them with copies that show that Wikipedia is not easy to edit without unhelpful remarks from god knows whom.

Ta —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Come on, they were trying to help. What you were complaining about in particular is NOT clear. Viridae^Talk 07:18, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Hey, I did my good faith best to help you with your technical problems. I don't know why your particular computer can't edit the page, but it seems to work fine over here. In fact, I even tried to edit the page in question, and saw that it worked for me. I didn't think there was anything incivil in my response to you and I don't appreciate being called a smart-ass or an idiot because I tried to help you. I've been helping new users for months on this, and other pages and never have I been treated so rudely because I offered my assistance to a user having technical difficulties. --Haemo 07:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried to click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of each article (to the right of "articles" "article" and "discussion", and to the left of "history")? This should open up a web page where you can edit the content of almost any article. You might want to read Wikipedia:Introduction to get a full introduction on how to update articles. I hope this helps, Lisatwo 07:42, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Oops, "article" is in singular form on each article page. Lisatwo 07:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I have left a message on the user's talk page. Her manner is not suitable for an unruly child, let alone an adult. And considering that she's a teacher...

The Rhymesmith 08:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Robert Balwin Ross

To the few who care, Robrt Baldwin Ross of The Wars by Timothy Findlay is not the same person as Robbie Ross - check the dates. You need to elimiate the link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Could you explain a little bit more? The Wars article says that the protagonist, Robbert Ross, was based off of Robbie Ross, the real person. Are you saying this is incorrect? i ^{(said) (did)} 07:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that Robert Baldwin Ross is most well known as "Robbie Ross"; so, the link points there. However, there are a number of other Robert Baldwins in the Wikipedia which have articles about them. Some editor, innocently, linked to the main name, thinking it would go to the one he wanted. I don't know enough about The Wars to know which one it's supposed to be, so I didn't fix it, but to fix the article one would replace [[Robert Baldwin Ross]] with the right name in [[ ]] brackets. --Haemo 07:31, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, at the Robert Baldwin Ross page, it says that he was the one the character was name after. i ^{(said) (did)} 07:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Communication is UNCLEAR

Hey Viridae

I understand your point of view. I cannot change a link that has been established on Wikiedia - a link that is erroneous. That is my beef. And...there are more than this one. Let's moniter this one to see if it changes in the next week. Next week Friday we will talk. I will probably again be not popular because things will not have changed.

niki —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Well, if you informed us better as to the problem, we might be able to help. i ^{(said) (did)} 07:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I will help you, if you tell me on what page, and what link. If you don't say that, I can't do anything. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 07:39, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Th problem is clear

Robert Baldwin Ross is not the same as Robbie Ross - a link you have established on Timothy Findlay's site "The Wars" (incorrect annotation).

I will try again to convince you that this needs to be changed - TIF was a friend and since he's gone, some need to look out for him. Because my students tend to use this site, I read too many essays last semester on Robbie Ross. Your links are wrong - the fact that my 16 year students used them is of issue. Again, I will not permit my students to submit ANYTHING from this site. Even though I try to change it (see first paragraph) repeatedly, all I get is grief and general qestions that are not seeking to update the material.

Far toooooooo much work on my part. You need to hire some experts to (oooohhh, that's right you did!!!) edit your material.

I am available for $200 000 a year (cheap) - 26 years teaching experience in high schools - bachelors in French - masters in English - and an understanding that you guys need a whole lot of help if you are going to establish a website that is welcomed and used by high school students.

So don't hire me - but at least get rid of the link I suggested in paragraph one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Give me a minute, ill change it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Done, I think that is what you wanted. If it wasn't, you can change it here, or ask me exactly what needs doing. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:12, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Once again, I must ask that you adopt a more civil tone, user. Sarcasm and rudeness are not necessary, and your behavior is more like a vengeful teenager than an adult, let alone a teacher.

Furthermore, should you wish to continue touting your academic credentials, I'd be happy to point out a few of the more eminent Wikipedian contributors, including myself. Professor Dawkins, anyone? There is a large community of academics whose qualifications far outstrip yours working to improve this encyclopedia. We appreciate criticism, but your tirades against Wikipedia are simply juvenile.

And I note a contradiction in your statement. You comment that '...if you are going to establish a website that is welcomed and used by high school students". And that "my students tend to use this site". What is it exactly that you wish?

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 08:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, please read the civility policy. You can't really go around calling people "idiots"... —Scott5114↗ 08:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

What's even more scary is that she lives in Canada [City: Vancouver, British Columbia] which would explane how she knows French. I'd hate to have her as my French teacher, I have enough trouble with my S+E teacher who doesn't like me handing in work that has wikipedia in the bibliography, but she seam to be ok with it as long as I've got a lot of info from other places. --Chris ^g 08:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comment. It took me a few moments to find the article in question, Timothy Findley not Timothy Findlay. Makes it hard for people to help when the article's title is being spelled incorrectly.CindyBo^talk 08:33, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Rhymesmith

Rhymesmith

I am a teacher of good standing who is tired of reading the excrement that students [essays that they pass as their own that have obvious Wikipdedia quotations and theses). In actuality, the fact that so much of it is wrong makes it really easy to spot.

Changing a "fact" on this site is not convenient and that should be of concern - I sent 5 emails - finally someone said they would look into my complaint.

Do not knock me for what I do - if you are a purveyor of this site, you should be grateful that (finally on my summer holidays) I have time to clean up this site for kids. After all, they are your primary clients - my offer still stands at 200 000.

I will wait until next week to go to anything Shakesperian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Its simple to change - click the "edit this page" button on whatever you want to change. No emails need to be sent. We are all volunteers, and cannot afford to pay anyone. Sorry! Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:39, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

As an English graduate, I must say you have not only attrocious spelling, but also grammar mistakes across the board. You couldn't even get Shakespeare correct!

However, there is nothing inherently wrong with this site, and your accursations are, no matter how many times they are repeated, false.

Also, Wikipedia does not have anyone on staff just for the purposes of editing. In fact I think the only people who are paid are those who run the software and hardware. The359 08:43, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

As far as anyone here can see- you are in rather poor standing at the moment. None of the editors here are responsible for the poor quality of your students' work. If anything, it reflects badly on you- considering that you are their teacher.

The fact that you are incapable of conducting yourself civilly is also interesting. Not behavior I would have thought acceptable for an adult. And that you are a teacher, who sees fit to refer to persons on the internet she's never met before (persons trying to help her, at that), as "idiots" and "smartasses"...

I am not grateful that you are trying to clean up this encyclopedia. I am grateful to anyone who tries to contribute in good faith. Your brandishing of academic qualifications is simply amusing. I do not choose to brag about my academic qualifications or reputation on Wikipedia, or my salary. I will say that your comments are laughable next to a number of Wikipedians' statuses in real life.

It is not difficult to edit Wikipedia. Tens of millions of users and IPs can attest to that. That you are having difficulty, and that you misunderstand the nature of a Wiki, is your problem, with which we are trying to help.

The Rhymesmith 08:46, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comment again. I have my serious doubts if this questioner is a teacher. I don't know if I was just lucky, but none of my English teachers, in high school or university, mispelt Shakespearean or called people idiots.CindyBo^talk 08:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Only one thing they have said I have found some evidence to back up and that is that they do live in Canada so they should be able to speak French. --Chris ^g 09:01, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

My "Accursations"

My "accursations", like yours, are typos - so get off my back!!!!! Are you people really trying to promote this website? You do need me but I don't volunteer and do charge 200 000.

Interesting how all judge me because they think I should act like a "teacher" and sound like one. I am acting like a teacher and am sounding like one (please note parallelism in sentence structure). No BS please. What you don't understand is that I am the primary advocate for kids - especially those who access your site. Why would you lead them astray by not ensuring that your site is relevant, up-to-date and factual? And as you are all volunteers, why would you speak against me when I refuse to let my students use your site and when I try to correct inaccuracies on your site? Can you cover all aspects of your site all the timed adequately?

My tone was garnered from your tome - as volunteers, you may want to consider that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

1. People expect English teachers to be able to spell

2. I, and a number of other volunteers, are far more qualified than you, and more highly paid, but volunteer our time for Wikipedia, rather than cash.

3. You are clearly a troll. There is no point to this discussion. This is the Help Desk. You do not need help. You do need spellcheck. Now please stop trolling.

The Rhymesmith 09:10, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I would like to point something out - With over 9.7 million pages, 153million edits, and 4.9 million users, I apologise for not reviewing each and every one. We do our best, but we are volunteers, and we are not paid. We can only do so much. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 09:12, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, we don't need you. Notice how our articles are mostly spelled correctly. Why would we want to make them worse?

If you do not want your kids to read Wikipedia, so be it, we cannot stop you. We will not change our policies, guidelines, and editing to suit your classroom. The359 09:15, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I can't type

So you don't really READ what's been written which is why it took me 5 emails to have you consider the change I suggested.

Too bad.

I have one hand - typing is not my forte. But I would out-spell you in any contest. You are of the Draconion age. That is not my mandate. I teach students to love text, think about text, manipulate text, make life connections to text and then to write about it. I don't know where you are are - I am in Alberta Canada where my grade 12 students write a 50% government exam. So when I say I have no time for BS, I mean it. Why am I surfing Wikipedia on my summer holidays? Because I'm mad at the site but, most importantly, because I want my students to do well.

I guess you can say what you want but you cannot eradicate the fact that I work for kids. They like your site - if your site was factual, I'd let them use it. But it's not always, so don't get on me for saying so or trying to change it.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

The change you requested has been implemented, I think. It was never really clear what you wanted. Would you just let it drop? If you have further suggestions, you can edit yourself, or post on the talk page of one of the several users who have offered to help. Funny enough, you have no trouble editing this page...i ^{(said) (did)} 09:37, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

We're not always factual in every way, but neither are most books, even encyclopedias and history books, academic journals etc. I'd like to see a book without a single error! But unlike a book or a paper encyclopedia, wikipedia can and is continually being corrected and improved. If you want your students to love text, manipulate it and think about it, this is a great place to learn. The millions of volunteer editors are here because they love writing and learning and teaching so much that they do it happily for free, which is a valuable lesson for any student to participate in.CindyBo^talk 09:52, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Drop it

So I've again been asked to drop my concern. And it wasn't put pleasantly. I have printed every screen and will be turning them over to the superintendent of my Board with a recommendation that this site not be used. No big deal, you say. The Calgary Board of Education leads in numerous ways on this contintent.

I suggest you get some voluteers that aren't so full of themselves and who can deal with emails (mine was difficult - tone, you know) without going sideways. I deal with students every day - your volunteers need to get a spine. Their main focus was typos - go figure.

I'll take a look at your Shakespeare sites next week - you will probably hear from me.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Your concern has been handled, You wanted the link changed, correct? It has. The request wasut pleasantly. And go right ahead and inform the board of our hubris and factual innaccuracy. If the Calgary Board of Education deems us unworthy to be used, well, then that's your students' loss, not ours. As for being full of ourselves, you might wish to look at your constant recitations of your alleged credentials and how much experience and knowlege you have. How did we go sideways ? We fixed your concern. And as for hearing from you again, I'm sure we will. i ^{(said) (did)} 10:08, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I am copying this here due to a bug in the software that may cause it to not appear for you, on your talk page. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 10:11, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

This is your only warning.
The next time you make a personal attack, you will be blocked for disruption. Comment on content, not on other contributors or people. Krimpet 10:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

replacing a photo

HI I was wondering how to put a different photo on one of your pages. Its on the "cavalier King Charles Spaniel" page. I would llike to delete the photo of the "Ruby" cav and put in a different one as that isn't a good example of the breed.

Amanda Dunne —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fasusq (talk • contribs)

See WP:Images --Silver Edge 09:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

sulphonation of Beta Naphthol

59.95.192.131 09:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

What is your question? If it deals with the sulphonation of Beta Maphthol it would probably be better at the Reference Desk.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 09:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Google search on Wikipedia for: sulfonation beta naphthol finds only the Naphthalene article. (Google seems to prefer "sulfonation" rather than "sulphonation" and far be it from me to question the great Google.) If that doesn't tell you what you need to know, try a broader search: Google:sulfonation beta naphthol. If your interest is professional, you could hire a consulting chemist or a chemical engineer to advise you, depending on the scale of your application (e.g., if you want to do this sulfonation on a laboratory bench, hire a chemist; if you want to do it on an industrial scale, hire a chemical engineer in addition to the chemist, or several of both). Before you actually go playing with chemicals, see: Wikipedia:General disclaimer and note that industrial chemicals can often be highly dangerous and are probably regulated by your local authorities. --Teratornis 10:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Disappearing text.

Anyway to find out what happened to this block of text? The block begins with the line:

; [[Bush administration]] : Examples of the Bush Administration's risks to civilization

the page is located at: [1]

The text deletion does not appear to have an edit date, or ownership.

If identification is not possible, are such edits common? - Steve3849 ^talk 10:15, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what it is that you don't understand. You added some text, someone else took it out. That's how Wikipedia works. The edit does have a date and time, and shows the IP of the anon user who made the edit. There is no mystery. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 10:23, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I assumed editted text is highlighted "red." The block is not highlighted. - Steve3849 ^talk 10:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

For (probably) everything you want to know about page histories, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#His. As to the edits themselves, the unregistered editor appears to have made a large number of random blankings and other subtle changes to content left in. The unregistered editor left no edit summary. Gee, could this be vandalism? Does that sort of thing happen on Wikipedia? (mild sarcasm) --Teratornis 10:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

So removed text does not always show highlighted red then on a comparison page? - Steve3849 ^talk 10:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Teratornis. I believe this is what happened:Wikipedia:Selective deletion. I'll not press further. - Steve3849 ^talk 10:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

No. The column on the left shows the page before the edit, the column on the right shows the page after. In this case the anon took out the text. It wasn't selective deletion. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

When a whole block of text is deleted, the text appears with a yellow background in the left-hand column and doesn't appear at all in the right-hand column. Text highlighted in red indicates where text has changed within a block. DH85868993 11:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. - Steve3849 ^talk 16:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't think your additions [2] satisfy WP:NPOV, and they seem out of place there. This was the only place in the article that somebody was attacked. And in case you wonder: I'm not American and I don't like Bush. PrimeHunter 12:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree with your statement about placement in hindsight and the importance of WP:NPOV, thank you. - Steve3849 ^talk 16:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

WIKIPEDIA FOR CHILDREN

how should one help children learn from wikipedia???—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.81.236.12

If they have a question, find the appropriate article. For example, a child who needs to learn about set theory or the koala can visit those articles. The Rhymesmith 10:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Or the simple english version might be good for kids. I'll find a link. Viridae^Talk 10:47, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

here we go: Simple english wikipedia. Viridae^Talk 10:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If by chance you are a teacher, you might find the following page of interest Wikipedia:School and university projects--Fuhghettaboutit 11:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

IPA

I was wondering if there's a {{NeedIPA}} template I can add to articles where English speakers wouldn't be sure how to pronounce the name. If not, I'm interested in creating one so is there some place I can find a lot of people who know how to use IPA and would know the pronunciation of many non-English names (WikiProject IPA or something? :P). Yonatan ^talk 11:21, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Not sure if this fits the bill but there is {{Cleanup-IPA}}. I know of no wikiproject.--Fuhghettaboutit 11:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I found {{Pronunciation needed}} in a search. It appears it's not used and it places the page in the so far non-existing Category:Articles needing pronunciation. Here{{Pronunciation needed}} is a use of the template, so it's meant to be inlined at a specific word. The author wrote Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (pronunciation)#Pronunciation needed. PrimeHunter 12:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Godfrey Mwakikagile

Can someone help with this article? There's a notice saying it needs some work to be done on section layout, links, etc.

I can't do that and am still learning.

Dave 12:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Blocking

why do u block out people trying to help u by listening to people who use u and will crap on u when theyre thru? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.47.102.149 (talk)

See Wikipedia:Blocking policy and Wikipedia:Appealing a block. PrimeHunter 13:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Deletion of article

Hello there Help Desk types, im wondering if my article on the Kingston upon Hull based radio station Soul City FM could be undeleted? I have worked for a long time on the article slowly improving it and although there are very few sources im working on retriving further information. Please help, many thanks! Video killed the radiostar xxx 13:10, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Your best bet is posting at Wikipedia:Deletion review#Content review, asking for it to be restored to a subpage of your userspace. Confusing Manifestation 14:26, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

At Wikipedia:Deletion review#Content review it says do not post requesting undeleation, sorry im a bit of a novice. Can you offer anymore advice?

As far as I can see, it says that it's ok to request undeletion of the article to have it userfied (i.e. moved to your userspace) so that you can work on it to fix the problems it had. The article was speedy deleted, so it shouldn't be controversial. Confusing Manifestation 23:03, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

New Article

Hi, I wish to upload a short biography and bibliography of my father's (Tony Parker)work. I've created the page, but am at a loss how to upload it. Can you advise please?

Kindest of Regards

Tim Parker ---- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Timkitten (talk • contribs).

I see you created it at User:Timkitten. Since this is about you father, see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. Here is a standard response about creating new articles:

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter 13:56, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

There is already an article at Tony Parker, so see also Wikipedia:disambiguation, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)#People and Anthony Parker (disambiguation) if you want to create the article which should probably be called "Tony Parker (author)" or "Tony Parker (writer)". PrimeHunter 14:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

pojects

13:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Im final year diploma student ...Ve Have To submit pojects ..my group consists of five members ..ve planned to do INTRANET concept..what all the possiblity techniques available to include in this projects..13:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Panchur16

I don't understand your question. If you're trying to research something, your best bet would be to ask at the Reference Desk or search for yourself. Alternatively, the Intranet article may have information you're looking for. Be aware, though, that we are not going to do your homework for you. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 16:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

question about administrators

Are administrators allowed to block themselves and then unblock themselves. Also are they allowed to block people with no warnings.86.141.240.234 15:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't see why an administrator would want to block themselves, but there is no policy which prevents this. As for unblocking, it is possible for them to do so, but if they were legitimately blocked it is frowned upon. As for blocking people without warnings, you need to be more specific about the reason for the block. We have lots of blocks here that don't require warnings such as open proxy IP addresses, also if it's obvious that an account was created for the sole purpose of vandalism, warnings aren't necessarily needed. Also, warnings are not given for blatant violations of the username policy. The accounts with the offending names are usually just blocked on sight. You may find Wikipedia:Blocking policy helpful. If you can be more specific about the last part of your question, I may be able to give you a better answer. --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 15:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If an administrator blocks themself and then unblocks themself soon after, it's probably just a test, for example if one wants to test a change made to part of the blocking interface, such as MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext. If an administrator is blocked for a good reason, though, they are expected to not unblock themselves despite their ability to do so. While blocking people with no warnings is frowned upon, it is allowed by the blocking policy. The spirit of the blocking policy is merely that blocks should be made only to protect Wikipedia, so if an obvious vandal is blocked without warning, it's still valid. Administrators often self-check in unclear situations using the Wikipedia:Administrator's noticeboard. Nihiltres^(t.l) 15:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If an administrator was blocked by another admin, then they would not be expected to unblock themselves - doing this tends to end up with them having their administrative rights removed. The only exception would be if they were testing something as Nihiltres said, or if it was obviously an admin who had gone mental and was running around blocking everyone (or their account had been compromised). Neil ╦ 12:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Please Edit & post this Article

Please add to the Light Machine Gun Category for Nazi German Small Arms This article also conflicts with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kg/1940_Light_machine_gun which contains serious omissions & errors.

I would do it myself, however I consider the Wikipedia interface to be unnecessarily complex & un-user friendly & Pedantic Wikipedians will just edit the whole thing anyway, wasting both your & my time.

Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 This Machine Gun originated in Sweden & was designed by Lauf & Przkalla in 1932-33. Known as the LH33 it was supplied to the Swedish Army in 6.5mm Caliber.

Lauf then sold the patents to a German company, Knorr-Bremse, A company who until then concerned itself solely with the Manufacture of Automobile Brake shoes & Brake Linings, Hence the word "Bremse" (Brake) in the company's name.

It seems likely that Knorr-Bremse was attracted by the prospect of large Military contracts to the rapidly expanding Wehrmacht & decided to enter the Arms Business & making some modifications produced the weapon as the MG35/36.

Modifications from the original Swedish LH33 design included a simplified Gas feed channel, Deletion of the Incremental Gas Feed Regulator, simplified Bi-pod including moving the Bi-pod approximately 100mm rearward from the muzzle end for stability, simplified Trigger Group & Housing, deleting the double Trigger & adding a simplified pistol grip.

As such the Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 is a conventional gas operated light Machine Gun using a tipping bolt & which fed rounds from a box magazine on the left hand side, A quick release nut on the Breech end facilitated quick barrel changes & for reasons never explained the last 75mm of the barrel at the muzzle end was smooth-bored.

Faults inherent in the design included a safety catch which if not properly applied could hold the operating Bolt three quarters cocked without the sear being engaged, subsequent release of the safety with a loaded Magazine in place would release the bolt, chamber a round of ammunition & fire. Firing vibrations & a weak mounting point for the butt often led to the butt coming loose & falling off. These design faults & a lack of features that would have set it apart from other contemporary Light Machine Guns forced the German Army to turn the weapon down, However numbers were sold to the emerging Waffen SS since procurement through a Hostile Wehrmacht control system limited the availability of the most modern weapons from Germany's ordinance industries.

Use even by the Waffen SS seems to have been limited to use in a training role until sufficient stocks of Czech ZB26 & MG34's were available, whereupon the MG35/36 was offloaded to the various Foreign Legions by then engaged in fighting on the Russian Front.

Despite an assumption made on this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kg/1940_Light_machine_gun that the weapon led to the development of the FG42 & H&K series there is absolutely no indication within the design of the MG35/36 in which one can draw this conclusion, quite simply there is not a single design feature which either weapon shares. In fact the Swedish LH33 (MG35/36 predecessor) used a tipping Double Trigger for semi or Full Automatic fire as used in Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG's MG30 & Mauserwerke's improved MG34. One could infer from this, that rather than the LH33 influencing the design of the FG42, Solothurn's MG30 influenced the Swedish LH33.

Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 Caliber 7.92mm Length 51.48in Weight 22lb Barrel 27.25in Long, 4 grooves, right hand twist Feed System 20 Round Detachable Box Magazine System of Operation Gas, tipping bolt Rate of Fire 500rpm Manufacturer Knorr-Bremse AG, Berlin-Lichtenberg User Nazi Germany

Reference Source used Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of WWII Ian V. Hogg, Bison Books

I'd suggest posting this at Articles for Creation, where new articles are reviewed by experienced editors and posted if they meet our guidelines. You'll probably get a better response there. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 16:05, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

User edits

Somewhere I stumbled on a page that showed useful stuff like total number of a user's edits, bar graphs of a user's monthly edits etc But now I can't find it. Does anyone know where? Raasgat 16:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Try one of the counters here. —« ANIMUM » 16:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you - just what I wanted! Raasgat 22:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Question on reading wikipedia

I am interested in reading wikipedia. Not every single page, but topics of interest to me in general. Considering that a browser only keeps information on visited links for a limited amount of time, is there any way I can keep track of read articles, track changes since they were read, and possible approach the entries from a tree-type hierarchy?DrFrost 19:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Replied on your talk page, with a list of links, and instructions on using the "watch" feature. Hope that helps! ^Ariel♥Gold 19:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I mean read wikipedia as in reading from beginning to end, not incidental articles. The watch page would quickly fill up in that context and become non-utilitarian at that point. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DrFrost (talk • contribs). + Actually, I mean read wikipedia as in reading from beginning to end, not incidental articles. The watch page would quickly fill up in that context and become non-utilitarian at that point.

Note that the English Wikipedia currently has around 6,912,178 articles and they are not organized for sequential reading. PrimeHunter 20:25, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, there is the quick index but as stated, Wikipedia isn't really set up to be read "cover to cover" so to speak. Dismas|^(talk) 21:11, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You could also try Category:Categories, Wikipedia:Contents, or find some WikiProjects you like. You could save links to articles on your user page to keep track of what you have read. (By an interesting coincidence, the current tip of the day is about making your very own bookmark page.) Of course it would be very difficult for an ordinary human to read all of Wikipedia "cover to cover" because Wikipedia increases in size by up to several thousand new articles per day, and new articles would appear under all letters and numbers. Just reading each day's new articles would be difficult. --Teratornis 21:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

how is wikipedia free

not even any ads?

Wikipedia (the website) is run my the Wikimedia Foundation, which is a charity; it receives charitable donations from foundations, corporations, and from many many individual donors. See this page for details, including info on how you might make a donation. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:25, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

And Wikipedia (the encyclopedia, which is hosted on the Wikipedia website) is written by volunteers. Similarly volunteers take most of the photos and draw most of the diagrams (the remainder are obtained from third party sources which release them under free licences) and a lot of the system administration and programming is also done by volunteers. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comet listings which give more than merely Name.

I am interested in ALL periodic comets for the YEARS of 1973 thru 1993, : AU, T=Perihelion date, prograde or retrograde ,& name. Can you be of help with this? I have created an account w/wiki & have email at (email removed to prevent spam)

very sincerely yours

frances blanton boulder colo. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 161.98.13.100 (talk • contribs).

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. AndrewJDTALK -- 20:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You might look through Category:Comets and the links there, especially the two "Lists of ..." links. Corvus cornix 20:57, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Dates and leading zeros

Why do people add leading zeros to dates around here? Is this a British/European thing? Should I continue to take them out as I have been or what? As an example of what I mean, see the caption for the image at Briana Banks. Dismas|^(talk) 21:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It is more a computer thing than anything else. It used to be that databases had fixed-width fields. A month and a day were each given two characters. So, a zero was appended to single-digit months and days to fill up the two characters. This also assisted in sorting as many of those early databases treated everything as text (as opposed to numbers), so it sorted like this: 1, 10, 11, 12, 2... which is fixed when you add a zero: 01, 02, 10, 11, 13. Since it is so commonplace in computers to append a zero before single-digit months and days, many people do it without even thinking about it. Keep in mind that some data formats sill require the extra zero, as in the YYYY-MM-DD date format. -- Kainaw^(what?) 21:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers). If the month is spelled out then I don't think the day should have a leading zero as it does in the image caption at Briana Banks. PrimeHunter 21:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Kainaw, I appreciate the response. I've worked with Unix long enough to know about that ordering scheme but thanks for answering! Both of you, thanks (again) for your responses, I think I'll continue to delete them on sight. Dismas|^(talk) 23:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, here are a lot of sightings: Jan 01, Jan 02, Jan 03, Jan 04, Jan 05, Jan 06, Jan 07, Jan 08, Jan 09, Feb 01, Feb 02, Feb 03, Feb 04, Feb 05, Feb 06, Feb 07, Feb 08, Feb 09, Mar 01, Mar 02, Mar 03, Mar 04, Mar 05, Mar 06, Mar 07, Mar 08, Mar 09, Apr 01, Apr 02, Apr 03, Apr 04, Apr 05, Apr 06, Apr 07, Apr 08, Apr 09, May 01, May 02, May 03, May 04, May 05, May 06, May 07, May 08, May 09, Jun 01, Jun 02, Jun 03, Jun 04, Jun 05, Jun 06, Jun 07, Jun 08, Jun 09, Jul 01, Jul 02, Jul 03, Jul 04, Jul 05, Jul 06, Jul 07, Jul 08, Jul 09, Aug 01, Aug 02, Aug 03, Aug 04, Aug 05, Aug 06, Aug 07, Aug 08, Aug 09, Sep 01, Sep 02, Sep 03, Sep 04, Sep 05, Sep 06, Sep 07, Sep 08, Sep 09, Oct 01, Oct 02, Oct 03, Oct 04, Oct 05, Oct 06, Oct 07, Oct 08, Oct 09, Nov 01, Nov 02, Nov 03, Nov 04, Nov 05, Nov 06, Nov 07, Nov 08, Nov 09, Dec 01, Dec 02, Dec 03, Dec 04, Dec 05, Dec 06, Dec 07, Dec 08, Dec 09.

But if you think that should be dealt with then it might be an idea to first ask if there are objections at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (dates and numbers), and then consider whether a bot can assist. Some things like Chinese Democracy Tour#2002 North American tour may be prettier aligned with leading zeros. PrimeHunter 00:28, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it really matters. Surely the OP has better things to than go on a witch-hunt to remove leading zeros from dates? Astronaut 14:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Loss of page entitled "Explosive Failure of Bottles Containing Carbonated Drinks"

Having just produced an A4 write-up on the above topic I needed to check on a fact on another web site. On reverting to the article page it had gone blank! Please advise on prevention of this happening again. Is it safer to produce an article in say WORD and then to copy and paste on to the Wikipedia page? Have been deterred from continuing until I hear from you. Or should I constantly SAVE PAGE whilst assembling article?

Dr Edward Willhoft

If you're writing a page; there are a number of ways you can prevent loss of your work. If you save it, then return to work on it in stages, you will limit the material that can be lost. Writing in Word or Notepad is also a good idea. It's up to you.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 21:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Edward, if you're working on a new article and you don't want to promote it to the main encyclopedia, you can write a test version in your own userspace, and only promote it when you're happy with it (so you'd edit a page with a name like user:Edward Willhoft/xplosive Failure of Bottles Containing Carbonated Drinks). But Wikipedia is all about cooperative editing (where no-one owns an article), so ideally articles should be in the main space as soon as possible (even in very incomplete conditions). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Can not insert image from wikimedia.org

I have tried repeatedly to insert an image that is at wikimedia.org. I wanted to append a microphotograph of a vickers hardness test done with rapidly quenched high carbon steel but no matter what I do the image will not appear in the Vickers Hardness Test article. I am able to upload the image to wikimedia.org thus : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Case_hardened_steel-vickers_hardness_test.png I can not seem to get the image to appear on the Wikipedia article for Vickers Hardness Test. At this point I have spent far too long on this. I can provide data but not fancy editing. The article is broken with the strange image problem.

I fixed it. When including images (whether from Wikimedia Commons or from the English Wikipedia's own image store) you refer to the image by its name, not the http:// URL. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry for the error. I have a collection of images taken with a scanning electron microscope and I will now upload those to the wikimedia and see if they are of some value to the section on silicon wafer and CMOS chip design.

Thank you for your help and I will continue to provide reasonable data where possible.

by the way .. I think that wikipedia is a gift to the world.

Dennis

William E. Dannemeyer not objective

The article on "William E. Dannemeyer" uses terms "infamously" and "notoriety." These do not seem to me to be objective. 152.132.9.129 23:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 01:22, 29 July 2007 (UTC)