Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 September 11

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September 11

Defining "massacre"

I created w:Category:Massacres in Canada. I have not seen a clear definition to separates a massacre from a mass murder. They appear to amount to the same thing: Wiktionary defines massacre as: "The intentional killing of a considerable number of human beings, under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people.". Mass murder, it says, is: "The killing of a large number of people over a short period of time." The problem then for categorization purposes is what is a "considerable number" and what is a "large number" in the present context? In adding articles to the list for Canada, I have used as my criterion a minimum of 4 or more persons killed. This tends to reflect the discussion of the event as presented in the articles; for example, the article Mayerthorpe Incident, about the murder of 4 police officers, includes the quote: ""A by-product of the massacre was the halt to marijuana decriminalization legislation ...". Do others have any further insight, opinion or advice? Verne Equinox (talk) 00:14, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

There may be something useful at Category:Massacres and Talk:List of events named massacres. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:26, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Notability criteria for journalists

Could you please show me where I can find them? Thanks so much. --151.56.90.85 (talk) 04:05, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

See the general criteria at Wikipedia:Notability (people). There is a page called Wikipedia:Notability (journalists), but it is not policy (it failed to gain consensus, so you have to use the more general Wikipedia:Notability (people). Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 04:09, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks so much! --151.56.90.85 (talk) 04:23, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

NGO DONATION

we are an voluntary organization working for women and children since 1997 in RANGAREDDY DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA. OUR WEBSITE www.sperds.org. we have registered in foreign contribution regulation act(FCRA) & income tax also. IN our board all are women. please help in this matter. SUJATHA MAJETY mail me <contact information removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.246.235.171 (talk) 04:44, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:39, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Special:Log/newusers

"08:55, 11 September 2008 Mikakon (Talk | contribs) Account created automatically" - how can an account be created automatically? -- 194.75.236.69 (talk) 09:00, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

With Help:Unified login enabled, a new account is created whenever you visit a Wikimedia wiki for the first time. Algebraist 09:07, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. -- 194.75.236.69 (talk) 12:25, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

how do I get my article on Jumeau Dolls restored???

Not certain quite of how to get this done - so appologies for turning up in the wrong places

I only noticed yesterday that my page had been pulled for what appear to me to be flimsy reasons

can any one help me with why my article on Jumeau Dolls was deleted back in 25 July 2008

This was about one of the most significant global toy companies prior to the modern era

I am widely published in heritage and museum contexts and have a PhD in art history and work at a senior academic level

but my article was deleted because someone unnamed decided that it "does not show much significance"

since then a slightly related article seems to use some of my material

I only do some editing and creation of wikipedia pages - but this was a totally legitimate page with interest to an international audience from a cultural and design history perpective and wonder what were the qualifications to assess the article of those who thought to delete it - it seems an act of cowboys, nerds and jocks - how can a wide variety of readers use wikipedia if articles are deleted by people beyond the subject area

I would appreciate some genuine help from the community in restoring a page that had valid factual content and would be useful to anyone researching toys, dolls and childhood

Bebe Jumeau (talk) 09:11, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

• Articles tend to get deleted if they don't show sufficient evidence that they meet the notability requirements. However, from what I can tell there's enough on Jumeau Dolls that notability shouldn't be difficult to establish - and I imagine you have even better references than mine. :) You could try taking it to deletion review, but the best bet is probably to ask if an administrator can userfy the page, which involves making a copy of the deleted version that will exist in your userspace. Then it can be easily edited to meet the requirements and moved into Wikipedia proper once it is ready - I should be able to help a bit once it is available, all going well. - Bilby (talk) 09:29, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Bilby - in the meantime someone has kindly restored the article as a disputed PROD - and I noted that the person who made the original prod has expertises in such themes as warhammer and various games and musical references - again prompting the question as to how do we protect articles from people outside the areas of expertise making wrong judgements Bebe Jumeau (talk) 13:13, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

A few points:

• There is no way to check people are who they claim they are, so excluding people "outside the areas of expertise" is not even an option. It is also contrary to the very core idea behind Wikipedia.
• Articles must adhere to Wikipedia's various policies ("guidelines" may also apply). Inclusion criteria don't depend on expert knowledge. External references to reliable secondary sources (we love academic sources)go a long way to ensure an article's survival.
• Editors of Wikipedia are by and large, reasonable people who act in good faith, name calling is not useful.
• There are many safeguards. So called "speedy" (see WP:CSD) and "proposed" (WP:PROD) nominations for deletion can be contested by anyone, no questions asked, in which case deletion just won't apply (unless an extreme case). Watching the pages you create and checking your watchlist once in a while should ensure that those nominations don't go unnoticed by you. Nominations are reviewed by at least one administrator in any case. Deletions resulting from these two procedures can be contested even once the article has been deleted (see the deletion review) in which case they are automatically restored (as happened here). Articles can be nominated for deletion through a third procedure (WP:AfD), where a decision is seeked through concensus. Such a nomination cannot be contested (though anyone is free to argue in defense), appeal is possible (deletion review again, not automatic in this case).
• Bad calls and mistakes happen, use the safeguards (but note that the mistake may be yours, not everything is up for inclusion).

Editing Wikipedia can be frustrating at times, as well as time consuming, just keep a cool head :) Equendil Talk 16:29, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Waboba exploiting an old invention

Hi, I read the article on the subject of Willis Barnes Bouncing Bomb.

A nice article all in all, but with a kind of peculiar reference made (below). It is incorrect in implying that the Waboba Ball is not original. The waboba ball has a international patent application that has been deemed patentable by the swedish patent authority and thus made public by the international patent cooperation. What the published patent application is about is a solution to maximize bouncing capacity on a gel ball.

There is no reference whatsoever made by Waboba to be the only ball or object that bounces or skips on water. That would obviously not be true. The references cited are made by an australian web magazine. That article says a lot more, and more interesting, about the waboba ball and has therefore been linked to wabobas site www.waboba.com. There are also other newspapers (like the Guardian) that sites the ball as "the ball that can bounce on water". But this seems to be more of a way to express the novelty of a ball that bounces a lot better than other balls and objects, than an attempt by Waboba to exploit the idea of bouncing bombs. I guess the idea of throwing or shooting objects in an attempt to make them bounce on water for some reason is even a lot older than the idea to make bombs skip on water.

There is also, for those who really wants to penetrate this sunbject in depht. a slight difference in meaning between "skipping" and "bouncing" which is quite obvious for viewers of the film clips on the waboba site. And for people who has compared bouncing basket balls etc and bouncing a waboba ball. :-)

So all in all the article below is just incorrect. The problem for wikipedia is perhaps that it is a bit ridiculous too.

But I dont really mind if it stays on, I just want the wikipedia community to take some notice of it, and judge themselves.

Kind regards Jan von heland Managing Director waboba

Cultural adaptions The idea of spherical balls which can bounce on water has been commercialised by a sports company with a product known as the Waboba ball. It is a lycra covered product thrown by hand. Advertising and Magazine promotion claims the ball unique in the ability to bounce on water. A patent is referred to. In reality all spherical balls will skip on water when thrown with appropriate speed at a low angle and Stress balls, Tennis balls, Water Polo balls, Basket balls, soccer balls etc all will skip on water effectively. Barnes Wallis originally used small glass marbles to skip across a tub of water and was able to bounce balls of a variety of materials from balsa wood to lead. A golfball like dimpled surface was effective in increasing skipping ability. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.233.9.23 (talk) 09:50, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

I have deleted the "Cultural adaptations" section from Bouncing bomb as unsourced and irrelevant to that article. – ukexpat (talk) 18:40, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Edit Facts and Statistics

Hi,

How can i edit the facts and statistic of which currently is wrongly stated? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hcliang (talk • contribs) 10:18, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Usually, there will be a tab at the top of the article page which reads "edit this page". Just click there to edit. If you're trying to edit figures in a table then you need to find the figures in the edit window and change them. It will help if you specified which article you want to edit. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:36, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

HOW TO CREATE AN ARTICLE

Rjbrevilla (talk) 11:53, 11 September 2008 (UTC)How to create an Article?

I tried to create an article however it was deleted. I'm not sure why, but it said that A7. A7 Means the article is not valid. however i have proof, and reference to prove it. THE ARTICLE NAME IS RJ REVILLA

Whenever an article is tagged for speedy deletion, it usually means that the article does not indicate why the subject is notable. You may want to review this guide for more info. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 12:54, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

See WP:CSD. A7 means that the article was deleted because it was "...about a person, group, company, or web content that does not indicate the importance of the subject." You should show why the subject is notable and should have an article in Wikipedia. Chamal ^Talk ± 12:54, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

I saw your username and I have to ask; are you writing an article about yourself?--LAAFan^sign _review 14:31, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

hello

How can I find the shortest path or link between two pages of wikipedia. Like if i have to go from page A to page B what will be the shortest path i.e. on which I have to encounter least number of pages. I want an answer other than search option —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.181.12.112 (talk) 12:48, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

You may want to try the link labeled "What links here". You can find it on the left-hand side of the page in the toolbox. It lists all of the pages that link to the page you're currently viewing. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man 12:51, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you want to use the search feature? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:55, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps the questioner plans to take part in a Wikirace ? Gandalf61 (talk) 13:18, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Learn something new everyday. Thanks Gandalf! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:38, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

This online tool does what you want. I found it at Wikipedia:Six degrees of Wikipedia.--Commander Keane (talk) 09:19, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Create split cells in table

I tried looking around, but I can't find it anywhere. Can anyone teach me how to create split cells in a table in a wiki page? Or is that possible at all?

--218.111.31.233 (talk) 13:35, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

By "split cells", do you mean something like this:

top	right
bottom

Or, do you mean something like this:

top
left	right

Or, do you mean something completely different? -- kainaw™ 14:08, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at Help:Table. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:09, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

What I meant is something like the second table, but try to imagine two of the same table side by side ie become one. So you will form 2 cells in the 1st row, 4 cells in the 2nd row, with 2 cells under each heading.

--218.208.204.190 (talk) 23:11, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Tracking visits to Wiki page

Is it possible to track how many people have visited a Wikipedia page for any given topic? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.208.22.21 (talk) 13:45, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Try this. Lәo_(βǃʘʘɱ) 14:04, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

How to Upload a PDF file as a reference

I am trying to add a PDF as a reference in my article, but am not sure how to do so? How do you link the reference to open a PDF file?

ENAElsagna (talk) 15:42, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Depends. You can't upload a PDF file here, self published sources are not considered reliable anyway. Referencing a pdf file is possible (though check what constitutes a reliable source), people normally insert the following where they want the reference to appear:

<ref>http://www.blahblah.org/whatever label of the reference</ref>

You also need a "references" section with the following content at the bottom of the article : {{reflist}}. It is then automatically replaced with a list of all references within the article.

See WP:CITE for more detailed information. Equendil Talk 16:53, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

If the pdf file already exists online, you do exactly what Equendil says. UseTemplate:Cite web, and insert the URL of the pdf file into the "URL" field, and it will give you a nice tidy citation with a clickable link to the pdf file. If the pdf file doesn't exist online, you cannot cite it unless you get it uploaded and hosted on a site somewhere, in which case it may well not count as a credible independent citable source (depending what's in it, of course). If the pdf is just an image of a document that has been published in paper form, you can always cite the paper version. Citations of offline sources are not as immediately helpful as ones you can click and view, but they are just as valid here provided they meet the standards of WP:Reliable sources and WP:No original research. Karenjc 20:00, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Here is an example of a {{citation}} template containing a link to a PDF file:

*{{citation
 | title = Supplying Baseload Power and Reducing Transmission Requirements by Interconnecting Wind Farms
 |author1=Archer, C. L. |author2=Jacobson, M. Z. | year = 2007
 | journal = Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
 | volume = 46
 | issue = 11
 | pages = 1701–1717
 | url = http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/aj07_jamc.pdf
 | publisher = [[American Meteorological Society]]
}}

The template code renders as:

• Archer, C. L.; Jacobson, M. Z. (2007), "Supplying Baseload Power and Reducing Transmission Requirements by Interconnecting Wind Farms" (PDF), Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 46 (11), American Meteorological Society: 1701–1717

See WP:FOOT for instructions on how to put such references into footnotes. On Wikipedia, slogging through instructions is important, but sometimes the instructions are hard to understand if you read them before you have seen a personally relevant example. If you can tell us the article and PDF file you have in mind, someone can add it to the article as a footnote reference for you. Then when you slog through the instructions, they will make more sense because you will have seen an example. --Teratornis (talk) 20:54, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Is it possible to crop an image that has already been uploaded

I found an image previously uploaded which has been released into the public domain and which i would like to include in another article however the image would be improved if it was cropped so that the subject was in the centre of the picture. I was wondering therefore whether it is possible to crop images on wikipedia, or do I have to download it, crop it, and then re-upload it? If i did the latter what rationale would i provide when uploading? Many Thanks 79.75.223.132 (talk) 17:46, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

It will have to be edited and re-uploaded with a different name. Use the same rationale as the original and note that it is derviced from the original. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:24, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Submitting short bios of famous people not already in Wikipedia.

How does one go about submitting a short biography and picture to Wikipedia about a ballet teacher who was well known in Boston Senia Russakoff, 1893-1981. I am a member of Wikipedia, have written the piece but don't know how to submit it. Thanks for any help.18:26, 11 September 2008 (UTC)18:26, 11 September 2008 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heliobus (talk • contribs)

First of all, please read WP:BIO, if your article doesn't reference reliable sources, it is likely to be nominated for deletion, so be aware of that. Equendil Talk 19:32, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Second, please read WP:YFA for guidance in writing your first article. – ukexpat (talk) 19:46, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

How does one actually SEND a submission?

I've written a piece and now want to send it. I can find no SEND button. Can you please tell me how to do this? Thanx —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heliobus (talk • contribs) 18:30, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Your first article. Note that you will not be able to create a page in mainspace until you are autoconfirmed. I suggest you create the article in your own userspace for now and work on it there until you are autoconfirmed. SpinningSpark 18:44, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

To help you out a little, I have created a user sandbox for you at User:Heliobus/Sandbox and put a link to it on your user page so you can find it quickly. As suggested by Spinningspark, create your article there so you can work on it without fear of it being deleted while it's under construction. Click on the edit tab on the sandbox page and paste the text that you have written into the edit box, then save. If you need help with formatting or anything else, feel free to leave a message on my talk page.  – ukexpat (talk) 19:53, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Correction: You do not have to be autoconfirmed to create an article. This is a common misunderstanding. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:48, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

"What links" is broken? Or is my brain broken?

Why is the list here so long? None of the pages on the list actually seem to link to it. Is this a db delay, or something similar? Or did I break something during the move? Maury (talk) 19:59, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

There was another link in Template:Avro aircraft - the 646 - that was still pointing to the 621 Tutor page, apart from the ones you found and fixed, so the pages where it appeared were still pointing at the redirect. I've changed it to point at your new Avro Tutor page instead on the assumption that if it was pointing at it before, it probably should again, but it will be best to check with someone who knows the subject - and you doubtless know more than I do - to ensure that it is now correct, and doesn't need to be realigned again. Karenjc 20:39, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

After a quick Google it appears that the 646 was the Sea Tutor, so unless and until a separate article on that version comes along, it's probably OK to be redirected to the Tutor page. Karenjc 20:51, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Wrong date on Main Page

The Main Page shows September 9, 2008 information - the past two days have not appeared. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.159.173.165 (talk) 20:34, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

It shows September 11. Try to bypass your cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:37, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Problem with an English page on the Sinhalese version of Wikipedia

Resolved

I stumbled across the following page, which has been populated with nonsense. I can't speak Sinhalese, and in any case do not have the correct fonts installed, so I have no idea how to revert the entry.

http://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_%E0%B7%83%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%9A%E0%B6%A0%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%A1%E0%B7%8F%E0%B7%80:Sinhala_Font_Guide

Is there anyone that can type in Sinhalese and English who can fix this? Etimbo ( Talk) 21:21, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Well, you'd have to ask someone on that Wikipedia- this is just for the English Wikipedia. So I'm not sure if we could help you- of course, if someone else could speak Sinhalese...? --Alinnisawest,^{Dalek Empress} (extermination requests here) 23:15, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

You may find some other Sinhalese language speakers by following the links under Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory/Geographical/Asia#Sri Lanka. You can also search for users who have the word "Sinhalese" on their user pages:

• Search Wikipedia's User: namespace for: Sinhalese

--Teratornis (talk) 02:42, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Appears to be reverted: [1] x42bn6 Talk Mess 02:53, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Inline {{Advert}} template?

Is there an inline template to label a particular statement as promotional? A few sentences on Linear Tape-Open look like they were lifted verbatim from a press release, but I don't want to label the whole article that way, just certain phrases that I'm not currently certain what to replace them with. Just something like {{fact}} that produces, say, 128.187.0.164 (talk) 22:35, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

I don't know of an exact advert template. You could use {{POV-statement}} because technically an advert-like statement is not a neutral point of view. Hope this helps. « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 22:50, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

translate an article

Hi, I saw some of the article that was interesting to me and it was not translated to my language.Is there anyway that I can add a translation page to an article for my language.I just want to help my people to be able to read these article.

Thanks.Iman1981 (talk) 22:56, 11 September 2008 (UTC)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Iman1981 (talk • contributions) 22:54, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

• If you speak English well enough, you can translate it yourself. What article is it? Bart133 ^{t c @ How's my driving?} 23:41, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

And what is your language? If you speak one of the major languages, machine translation software may be able to generate a somewhat readable version of it. See Google Translation, {{Google translation}}, and search the Help desk archives for "translation" to see some examples in previous questions. --Teratornis (talk) 02:20, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for offering to help. It appears that you want to add an article to Wikipedia in a language other than english. this is the english-language wikipedia help desk, and you can get better advice about the mechanics of creating your proposed article by asking at the target Wikipedia's help desk instead. As for permission and attribution: The article here at the english-language Wikipedia is copyrighted, but it has a GFDL licence. That means that you or anyone else is free to translate it to another language and "publish" it in any way you wish, including in another language Wikipedia. You do not need to ask for specific permission to do this since the GFDL already grants you this permission. You will need to comply with the GFDL by referencing the english-language Wikipedia article in the reference section of your new article: please ask for help on that if you need it. Please do not get discouraged by the seeming complexities. Almost any good-gaith attempt to create your article is likely to inspire someone to help you if there is a problem. -Arch dude (talk) 17:17, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Making Infobox

Resolved

I really don't get this. I type this (without the k):

{k{Infobox Actor | name = Mamoru Oshii | image = | caption = | birthdate = (1951-08-08) August 8, 1951 | location = Tokyo, Japan | Field = Animation, manga | nationality = Japanese | othername = | occupation = Film director, screenwriter | | | }}

But nationality and field don't appear. At the same time, if I replace Infobox Actor with Infobox Artist, nationality and field do appear. However, I don't want to put "Artist" instead of "Actor" since most directors' infobox on this site have it as "Actor" not "Artist."

So, my question is, how can I include both Nationality and Field in the infobox without having to replace "Actor" with "Artist."

Thank you.

There are different infoboxes for different kinds of articles, and the actor one does not have spaces for nationality or field. --Alinnisawest,^{Dalek Empress} (extermination requests here) 23:14, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Each infobox has been developed by different groups, for specific purposes. This link to the {{Infobox Actor}} template contains documentation on the available fields. You can propose adding new fields on the talk page of the template; but it appears that the "nationality" field has already been proposed and rejected. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 23:18, 11 September 2008 (UTC)