Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 October 6

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October 6

Box Characters

In Boolean_algebra_(structure), some of the characters (probably meet and join) only appear as squares, even within the edit page. Do I need some sort of patch to see them? Black Carrot (talk) 04:40, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Math, Wikipedia:Mathematical symbols, and Wikipedia:Browser notes. You could also search the Help desk archive for: math symbol; that finds a few previous reports of similar problems. I'm guessing the problem is browser-dependent. What Web browser are you using, and can you try or install some more? The Wikipedia:Mathematical symbols page shows a list of math symbols and their HTML codes. If you cannot see some of the symbols on that page, you could search with {{Google}} for the name of your browser and a symbol you cannot see, and maybe someone will have written about it on the Web. --Teratornis (talk) 19:57, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Update problem with SSP report

I have added a comment[1] to an SSP report. This appears at the sub-page, but not at Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets, even though I edited the sub-page from the link on the main page, and clicking this link now shows the amended report. Have I done something wrong, or is there a bug somewhere? RolandR (talk) 07:41, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

It shows now. Sometimes, transcluded pages will not show properly unless the page's server cache is purged. See here for information and instructions on purging. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 10:56, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

displaying eastern characters

How do i get wikipedia to display eastern characters (Chinese, Japanese, etc) on my pc?Pandoradude (talk) 09:01, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

You need to have multilingual support enabled on your computer. Please see Help:Multilingual support (East Asian) for instructions on installing and setup of multilingual support for your operating system. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 12:05, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Combining two categories

Is there any way to combine Category:2008 albums and Category:Debut albums so that I can get a list of debut albums released in 2008? Many thanks. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 10:40, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it can be a bit slow but use this link. --Stefan ^talk 14:45, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I Can't Make An Info box

when ever i make an info box none of the things i put in come up in the preview screen all i can see is an empty table what am i doing wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ja93de73 (talk • contribs) 10:51, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

What are you trying to make in the info box? I maybe able to do it for you. Vandalismterminator (talk) 11:57, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

slow growth of mutual fund industry in pakistan

203.175.99.102 (talk) 13:06, 6 October 2008 (UTC)i have to make questionnaire on the above topic and this will be fill by bank account holders. Hypothesis is lack of awareness in the people and preference towards banking sector. plz help me

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. You may be better served by asking at the reference desk. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 13:13, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

WRITTING AN ARTICLE ON WIKIPEDIA

I TRY TO CREATE SOME ITEMS ON WIKIPEDIA AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM CREATING A USERNAME, BUT WHEN I CREATE A PASSWORD I HAVE PROBLEMS.

VINCENT GIOVANNANTONIO —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.187.197.42 (talk) 14:27, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

What are the problems? We can't help you if you don't specify what the problem is. Maybe the article Password strength will help you with creating a good password. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 14:58, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Create an Account Problem

I just created an account and when I attempt to log in I am told I am using an incorrect password or name. I assumed my initial registration failed for some reason so I resubmitted a create an account request and then got a message to use another name or password because the combination I am attempting to use is already taken. So my first registration was successful but I can't seem to log in with it.

15:08, 6 October 2008 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.176.151.10 (talk)

If you provided an email address when you created the account than you can request that a new password be emailed to you. If you did not provide an email and you cannot remember the password you entered than the only solution is to create a different account. Also, to sign your posts you must type four tildes not two. (Perhaps a typo?) Scottydude _talk 16:27, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

un-sudo?

Assuming I am running some bash script as root, and I need to do some actions as a regular user, is it possible to "un-sudo" inside the script? Or do I have to make another script? one for root actions ans other to non-root actions? SF007 (talk) 15:11, 6 October 2008 (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._Gb^T/c 16:07, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Damn it! I posted on the wrong page because of a simple distraction. Thanks for the reminder. SF007 (talk) 16:35, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

peeweepeewee  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Apalmer360 (talk • contribs) 17:55, 6 October 2008 (UTC) 

Posting copy for Desperados beer

Hi There, I'm trying to post some copy for Desperados beer. See below. The page is getting automatically deleted & i'd be grateful if you can give me some tips on how I can create it. Please read the copy and let me know what I can do to post it. Thanks a lot

Desperados Beer is a 5.9% ABV tequila flavoured beer. Made from the finest ingredients of malt barley, hops, water and tequila. It’s best enjoyed when served chilled between 5-7 degrees Celsius. The addition of a wedge of lemon or lime, gives the beer an extra zingy kick.

The name ‘Desperados’ (meaning a vagabond and outlaw from the Texas and Mexico border areas) reflects the brands original, uncompromised character. The symbol of a lizard is often associated with Desperados, as it symbolised the wild, exotic and untamed nature of the brand.

Desperados was first brewed in 1995 and has enjoyed over ten years of success France, now holding the position of the fourth largest beer in this market. Desperados is owned by Heineken France and produced by Brasserie Fischer Breweries. Desperados is now sold in over 50 countries and continues year on year growth. In 2007, 9 million cases of Desperados were sold world-wide, the largest growth in sales coming from the UK market.

In June 2008, Heineken France instructed Tiger Beer UK Ltd. To drive the Desperados brand in terms of sales and marketing in the UK.

Wigwam1234 (talk) 15:44, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

i'm not sure what you mean by "getting automatically deleted" - possibly someone tagged it for speedy deletion because it's a piece of promotional writing. PR isn't in line with wikipedia policies. please have a look at these pages: WP:SPAM#Advertisements_masquerading_as_articles, WP:NPOV and at some of the related policies & guidelines you'll find links to there. hope that helps Sssoul (talk) 15:53, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

To quote the deletion log "blatant advertising". Wanderer57 (talk) 17:14, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yearbook pictures...public domain?

I found some pictures of Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) from his high school's yearbook (1970). My question is, are yearbooks published with a copyright notice?? because if they aren't the pictures would be in the public domain. They were also published on the St. Petersburg Times in 1985.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 17:10, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Nice try but copyright law can apply even if there is no copyright notice. Probably this varies by country but it is certainly true in the USA. Wanderer57 (talk) 17:20, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Wrong, it depends on the year. The yearbook is from 1970, so unless there was a copyright notice on the yearbook they are on the public domain per this. The newspaper printed the images crediting a staffer and the theatre where some of them were taken, no (c) note. Anyone has another point of view?--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 17:37, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Newspapers are copyrighted, and were back then as well. You'd have to copy the image straight from the original yearbook. If there was no copyright notice in the yearbook, then under the law prevailing at the time, the contents mostly went into public domain. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:42, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Can't get checkmate to load

I've been trying for about two hours to get checkmate to load, but it won't load. Other pages I've tried work. Does it work for other people? Bubba73 (talk), 17:40, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Won't load for me either. Probably best to report it over at the technical section of the Village Pump. – ukexpat (talk) 17:54, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Worked for me, but the page did hang while loading. I'd guess it's because of all the chessboard images aren't static images but are being created by loading images for each square on each chessboard using Template:Chess_diagram.Laenir (talk) 17:55, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

It loads for me now. – ukexpat (talk) 17:56, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

It is still not working for me. Yes, it has to load an image for each square of the board each time. Is there a way to have it generate a static image of the diagram and save that? We went away from using static images in favor of this system a few years ago. Bubba73 (talk), 18:08, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Moved to VP:technical. Bubba73 (talk), 22:23, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

creating a page

'Bold texthello my name is andrew palmer

i emailed you to ask how do you create a new page? , say about a football team such as man united

please email me back ASAP —Preceding unsigned comment added by Apalmer360 (talk • contribs) 17:48, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Please read WP:YFA -- and as you might expect there already is a Manchester United article. – ukexpat (talk) 17:53, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Trouble sending message to Bzuk

I want to send a messsage to Bzuk in connection with an error in article "The Ruptured Duck (B-25)" and the article "Ted W. Lawson" but the message window does not open when I get to that page. What can I do? Paa123 (talk) 18:02, 6 October 2008 (UTC).

This is the direct link to leave him a new message. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:10, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

User talk:Bzuk is semi-protected so you must have an autoconfirmed account to edit it. Your account should automatically become autoconfirmed when you make two more edits. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:32, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm sort of stymied here. I clicked on the direct link icon suggested by PeterSymonds and the page said it is semi-protected and can be accessed by registered users only. I am one, but still can't access Bzuk's message window. PrimeHunter's message says that I need to be autoconfirmed which will happen when I make two more edits. But what do I do until them? I don't want to edit anything; I just want to write a message to Bzuk. There is an error in the caption of one of the photos in one of his articles which lead to an error in another article. I wouldn't dream of trying to edit these two articles (I'm a novice here) but I'd like to inform him about these errors. Paa123 (talk) 15:36, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

I have left a note on Bzuk's talk page alerting him to this thread. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 15:41, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Bzuk has a message saying he's on a writing assignment and may not respond expeditiously. In the meantime, I've detected a serious problem with two articles which Bzuk monitors which has a "cascading" effect on other websites that quote Wikipedia. Shouldn't there be a backup for Bzuk while he's on "hiatus" or at least info to let us know how long he's going to be out of touch? Paa123 (talk) 16:49, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

advertising as part of an image

A chart has been added to an article I wrote. Nice chart but it includes a business name and website. Should I delete this? Ask that the chart be uploaded again without the advertising? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rsmcphail (talk • contribs) 18:05, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Just to check - you're talking about the chart on Tax_information_reporting, I take it? _Gb^T/c 18:39, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes - it was also added to Tax forms in the United States —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rsmcphail (talk • contribs) 18:46, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I looked at WP:EIW#Image for guidance, and at first glance I see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions where you might ask for opinions about this image and its appropriateness for various articles. WP:ADVERT doesn't seem to mention images explicitly. I agree that images could provide a sneaky way to advertise on Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 19:44, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Based on my understanding of the related policies and license used, I do not believe that we can use the image and have removed it from both articles.

I believe the relevant policy to be WP:IUP#User-created images, specifically the part that reads:

"Also, user-created images should not be watermarked, distorted, have any credits in the image itself or anything else that would hamper their free use, unless, of course, the image is intended to demonstrate watermarking, distortion etc. and is used in the related article. All photo credit should be in a summary on the image description page." (bolding added by me for emphasis of relevant text)

The credits in the image file shows that it was allegedly uploaded by the creator of the image, whose URL is displayed in the image. However, because the images are released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, I do not believe we can simply crop the image. That license stipulates that "You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor". As the author seems to want the URL in the image, and WikiPedia's image use policy says not to use such images - I do not believe the images can be used in the related articles unless the original contributor modifies the images him/herself to meet Wikipedia's policy requirements. The other option is to find an alternate source for a similar image - or to find a source for the data and to crete a table rather than using an image to display it. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 20:09, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Blocking a vandal's account

Where do you block vandals' accounts? User:Cabb driver doesn't seem to agree with Steamboat Springs and has added profanities and deleted some sections of the text. What's the protocol to block the account? As I'm about to log out, it'd be great if someone could just go forward and take the necessary action; feel free to do it "in my name" if you prefer to do that, with a link to this post. Thanks! --Ibn Battuta (talk) 18:21, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, only admins can block an account. If you would like to report a vandal, check out this noticeboard. However, Cabb Driver does not appear to have edited since yesterday and may have stopped. I have warned him and will watch for more problems. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 18:26, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

A report to WP:AIV at this point in time would most likely be rejected, as one of the requirements is that the vandal is active now, and as Tnxman points out, they haven't edited for 18 hours or so... 18:41, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, the user seems to have stopped. If they return, please try another warning, and if that doesn't work, report to WP:AIV. Good luck! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 19:46, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Meh. No sense giving an obvious troll another free edit or two. I've blocked indef as a vandalism only account. --barneca (talk) 19:58, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

About a tab

Some years ago, I remember there was a tab on the top of the Wikipedia interface. When clicked, the tab showed the difference from my last edit to the current for that article. Anyone knows what happened to that tab, and if I can re-enable it? =Nichalp «Talk»= 18:50, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I believe that tab is part of the Twinkle set of functions, which can be simply installed by adding importScript('User:AzaToth/twinkle.js'); to one's monobook.js file. Regards, EJF (talk) 19:19, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Registered users can also install Twinkle via the Gadgets tab of Special:Preferences. – ukexpat (talk) 20:10, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Its not Twinkle or any gadget. Twinkle is something new, just about a year old. The tab was present for a short while in 2005. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:36, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Then see the userscript library. It's likely in there, as a matter of fact, I think I saw it in there once. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 04:43, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Understanding Wikipedia

The majority of articles should be in simple english, and Wikipedia is too down-to-earth Uncyclopedia pwnz Wikipedia. Wikipedia' English is only understood by the people that write them. I swear it's a different language. So you click on the word for Wikitionary and you don't understand any of it. Why? Simple English is for normal people complicated english is for Wikipedia itself to read. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.30.226.74 (talk) 21:03, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

You may be interested in the Simple English Wikipedia if you find the writing on the English Wikipedia too complex. -Optigan13 (talk) 21:43, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Notable Figures

How do I post the bio and picture of the president of my company who is a notable motivational speaker? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sweetcmg1 (talk • contribs) 22:38, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Your first article. But since you work for him, you have a Wikipedia:Conflict of interest in writing about him which would make it very difficult to maintain the required neutral point of view; so you probably should not write about him yourself. Was he perhaps the subject of your deleted article, Wikipedia biographies? That article was deleted because you did not indicate now the subject was notable. —teb728 t c 00:11, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Also see Wikipedia's definition of notability. In order to be deemed notable enough for Wikipedia, you need to show that there exists extensive, independant coverage of your boss in reliable sources. Basically what we need to see is multiple articles or books written by people who have no connection to your boss, and which are published in reliable sources (major newspapers, magazines, trade journals, books published by major publishing houses or university publishing houses, accademic presses). If that sort of information is not out there, as cool and awesome as your boss is, he's not notable enough for a Wikipedia article. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:12, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Converting table types

Is there any way I can convert an older-style table to a kickass wikitable-sortable type without doing so manually? The article I want to revamp is the Ipecac Recordings discography. Thanks, Seegoon (talk) 22:51, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I converted it using this tool, removed all the nowikis it placed for reason unknown using a search and replace function, and then made the table sortable by adding class="sortable". Although the syntax is now much simpler, it converted it so that it looks almost identical to the prior HTML-based format. I'm not sure if that's what you wanted, but you can now play around with it. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:37, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

You rock. Hopefully this'll be hitting FLC at some point. Cheers! Seegoon (talk) 00:50, 10 October 2008 (UTC)