Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 September 9

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September 9

WikiMobiPedia

I created a WikiMobiPedia page 2 weeks ago. After I created this page, I did not find it when I typed in my pages name. Now that I am back to edit my page, my user name doesn't exist. And I know it is right because I went back to the email WikiMobiPedia sent me and made sure the user name was right. So I don't know why 1. My user name doesn't exist and 2. I can't look for it even though my page exists...any help would be appreciated!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.54.251.209 (talk) 00:04, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

We don't delete accounts or user names. There has never been a WikiMobiPedia article. Perhaps you are mistyping, or miscapitalising, both? -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:06, 9 September 2009 (UTC) Sorry, I misunderstood your question.

WikiMobiPedia is not affiliated with Wikipedia in any way. You'll have to complain to them. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:09, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Go to WikiMobiPedia. You may well find your account and you article there. —teb728 t c 00:55, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

information on chickenpox

'hiiiiiiya.

im doing a research topic on the chicken pox. i really need some vital information on this topic. right now i have the chicken pox and would like to know how to cure them

cause they are very itchhhhy

chowww and thankyaaaa. :)'Bold text'''Italic text —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chickenpox14 (talk • contribs) 00:40, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

We have an article about Chicken pox, but please note:

We cannot offer medical advice. Please see the medical disclaimer. Contact your General Practitioner. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 00:42, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Unfortunately, we cannot give medical advice. That said, you may find our article on chickenpox informative. If it's any consolation, getting chickenpox now means you probably won't get shingles when you're older. TNXMan 00:45, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

New User in need of some guidance...

Was bumbling around as I usually do, and came upon a rather interest recent edit to Comair Flight 191, specifically the revision of [6 September]. It looks like a probable family member of one of the Victims created a new account to edit the article, attempting to correct what he sees as a misattribution of his relative's nationality. The user in question is User:Darragh Ryan. As the edit in question contained some rather large problems(Unsourced, possibly OR claim; malformed table edit that screwed up the table; personal commentary...) I rather reluctantly reverted it and left a note on the talk page(a very LONG note).

I'm reasonably certain he's actually trying to correct what he feels is an inaccuracy, one that he feels very strongly about as it's very personal to him. He's clearly in need of some help and guidance, more than I can offer. As an occasional editor at best, I'm simply not knowledgeable enough of Wikipedia or its policies to help more than a very little. But I don't want him to be hurt, angry, or turned away because he knew less than I did. His intentions are fine, it's the execution that didn't come off right.

So if someone that knows more than I could help him along, I'd very much appreciate it. -Graptor 208.102.243.30 (talk) 01:00, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I think you explained the sourcing to him pretty well, so I think you did a good job of explaining the situation. ArcAngel (talk) 01:14, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks... problem is, that's basically my limit for what I can do. It doesn't feel like enough, but I don't know what else to do other than hope and pray it works out without making people hurt and angry. -Graptor 208.102.243.30 (talk) 01:26, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

You did enough by explaining that we require verifiable sources, so that's reallly all that was required. ArcAngel (talk) 01:33, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

What to do about an article that will not required in the future

There is a List of surviving veterans of World War I article. Obviously, in the not too far future, there will unfortunately not be any living veterans of the Great War left alive.

I have started a discussion on the article's talk page about what to do when this sad event occurs. I don't think it is right to delete the article, but obviously we can't have an empty article!

My question to the great Help Deskers is... is there a suitable place to discuss (officially, as it were) this issue, other than the article's talk page?

As deletion isn't the issue here, AfD isn't the right place. I have made a proposal for what to do with the page, but I think this needs to be decided upon before the sad event happens.

Where can I go to post the discussion where admins etc can readily see it and have a say? Any suggestions? -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 01:36, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Well, if you want admin discussion, then this page is the one to use. Personally, I think a redirect to the year in which the last veteran dies may be appropriate. TNXMan 01:47, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

My suggestion was a redirect to List of last surviving World War I veterans by country, and a message on that page should read similar to On 99 Month 2099, Name was the last veteran of World War I to die., then this would be followed by the list of the last surviving World War I veterans by country. Thanks for the link, I'll pop over there and do that now, before I go to bed! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 01:55, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

That's not really an admin issue. The discussion you started on the article talk page is the best place to decide this, not WP:AN. --Floquenbeam (talk) 02:22, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I think you got confused, Floquenbeam. This is the help desk, not WP:AN. This is actually a very appropriate place to ask how to proceed. --Jayron32 05:06, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Floquenbeam was reacting to Tnxman's suggestion that "[[WP:AN|this page]] is the one to use". ah the perils of aliased links ... Sssoul (talk) 05:44, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Unbelievable!!

(Once upon a time) I asked a question (actually a repost) on this help desk in this post on September 7. The next day I visited this page and was shocked, I did not see a trace of my post!! Diving into the history this is what I found:

"User:Siouxdax, added his own question (unsigned) to my post. Next (s)he changed the title to his own. As if this was not enough, as the final stroke, he removed my post altogether!! :-(."

What do I call it: Vandalism at its best or typical new user behavior/ignorance? Anyways, I am not angry and still my question remains unanswered. So this is the third time (Maybe the question is cursed ;-)) I am asking my question : "Why isn't the what links here page alphabetically sorted and how can it be made to be so?" --Siddhant (talk) 05:48, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The software that runs Wikipedia, MediaWiki, is not finished. Request a feature/file a bug and perhaps a developer will introduce the feature you desire.--Commander Keane (talk) 06:45, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

There is a request at bugzilla:2306. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:21, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Regarding the question being removed, I'm sure it was just an accident by a new user. I've seen similar situations happen with adding external links to articles, adding themselves to lists, or adding new sections to a page (such as they did here). hmwith☮ 14:48, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

INS Arihant

what is tha main purpose of INS arihant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.112.250 (talk) 06:21, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

If you can't find an answer at INS Arihant, perhaps someone at the Reference desk will know; they answer general knowledge question there. Here we only answer questions on how to use Wikipedia. —teb728 t c 06:46, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Nick Griffin

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:35, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The photograph used on the page about him, was given the okay but the author is no longer 'active' on Flickr. Does that impact the copyright on the picture? Bevo74 (talk) 11:09, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

No. Algebraist 11:25, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Bevo74 (talk) 11:32, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Formatting

 Done

Why have I got on this page Geoff_Hoon all the section edits in a messy group lower down the page? Off2riorob (talk) 11:51, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I've seen this before, but have never been able to fix it well. There instructions on how to fix the bunched up links here, but I've never managed to sort it out. Good luck! TNXMan 11:55, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, reading now..... Off2riorob (talk) 11:57, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The coding was a bit over my head. I ripped it out and put it slowly back, section by section and that has worked. Off2riorob (talk) 12:28, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

If you would like to see {{FixBunching}} in action, take a look at Pond in edit mode - it's pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. – ukexpat (talk) 18:23, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. I'll try that next time, as it was a bit long winded taking it out and replacing it. 18:50, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

What are the New types of Derivatives ?

If any one can explain about what are the new types of derivaties? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.160.59.3 (talk) 14:22, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried the Mathematics section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. TNXMan 14:28, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I imagine he's asking about financial derivatives, so in fact Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities. Rd232 ^talk 14:37, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

My guess is that OP is more interested in finance than math – if so, the Derivative (finance) article may help. SPhilbrickT 14:39, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Just one more reason that I went to school for words instead of numbers. :) TNXMan 14:43, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Image copyright

Hi.

I recived a image from a person and with his Authorization I could use it on wikipedia, but idk how add the image and say I added the picture whis his permission. I have looked everywhere and its still upp for speedy deletion —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sigge365 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Please send the authorisation to OTRS as described at WP:IOWN. It may take them a few days to respond and if the image is deleted in the meantime, they will undelete it once authorisation is confirmed. – ukexpat (talk) 17:27, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Basically, the person really needs to send the appropriate permission listed at WP:IOWN to the Wikimedia e-mail/physical address given, from an e-mail address that comes from the organisation that the image came from (i.e. the person's official e-mail address - hotmail and other free e-mail addresses would not be suitable, it needs to be from the domain which owns the copyright). As you can appreciate, we can't just have someone saying "I have permission" - we need some proof of this, for legal reasons. So as Ukexpat says, follow the instructions (or rather get the person to follow those instructions) at WP:IOWN. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:03, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Also, be sure that you and the other person understand that Wikipedia does not accept permission only for use on Wikipedia. Permission must allow reuse by anyone for anything. —teb728 t c 18:09, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Specifically, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and GNU Free Documentation License - those two links will lead to the respective licenses, so that both you and the other person are aware of the conditions under which permission is given to Wikipedia to use the image. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:13, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Those are the two licenses under which (most) Wikipedia text is released. Image copyright-holders can choose from a wide array of sufficiently free licenses. Algebraist 11:59, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

question about contents of an article

I would like to know where I go on Wikipedia to ask about questionable contents in an article? I am aware of the talk page procedure however this article is rarely edited and I would like an immediate answer as I do not visit Wikipedia often. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 19:17, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

There are various noticeboards to which you could bring the issue, but it depends on what the article and issue are. To which article were you referring? TNXMan 19:22, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Also the relevant Wikiproject (if any) may be able to help, but again, we need to know which article. – ukexpat (talk) 19:23, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The article I am refering to is this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MILF_(slang), Particularly the "MILFs in porn section" - the claim that Cathy Barry, Taylor Wane, Vicky Vette are possibly the most quintessential examples of a MILF is very vague example of a MILF and is pure speculation. Would it bother anyone if I ran a poll on Wikipedia where Wikipedia users can vote on their favourite MILF and I can add the poll as a reference. EXAMPLE: Currently as of 00/00/0000 A online poll conducted on Wikipedia with a totel XXXX votes concluded that XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX are the most quintessential examples of a MILF. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 19:39, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I would not use the section heading of "MILFS IN PORN", as the current sentence does not even tell the reader that they are even porn stars let alone how well they rate against other MILFS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 19:43, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Also when I click the MILF of the year link under section heading of See Also that lead me to a page with no information at all. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 19:49, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Sorry the MILF of the year link is also in the MILFs in Porn section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 19:52, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The poll idea to me sounds like putting in original research which probably shouldnt be done as a reference, see Wikipedia:No original research. My suggestion is to make a note about the changes you are making on the talk page, and be bold and change the text so it makes more sense. Ottawa4ever (talk) 19:57, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Thankyou for your responce, The first sentence of the No original Search link tells me that it is reffering to Unpublished material, this poll would be published on the internet. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 20:01, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Certainly not! You don't seem to understand what we mean when we say that Wikipedia is a collection of material from outsidereliable sources such as peer-reviewed journals and professionally-edited press reports. "Published on the internet" does not make a poll of random persons a reliable source; and we don't do that kind of research here. Scientific poll design is a difficult and complex process, and what you describe doesn't even begin to qualify; additionally, it has no place here in a reference work. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:12, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I think the poll would stand up well as a realiable source and it will add good information to the article. Additionally the reader should always be left up to mind what they deem as a good source particulary if one is ever writing a essay or doing a project. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 20:06, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

In the form your suggesting it would be wikipedia, citing original research in wikipedia, which would be a circular ref., Please see WP:CIRCULAR. To my knowledge using wikipedia to run the poll doesnt work, but i also welcome input from other editors here.Ottawa4ever (talk) 20:10, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

O.K I get it i'll drop the idea of that, Does anybody have any suggestions of how the MILFs in porn section can be inproved. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve2891 (talk • contribs) 20:28, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

"most quintessential examples" does seem vague. What I would suggest is find who has won industry awards in that category and replace the statement with a list of those specific actresses and the name of the award with a reference to your source. Yngvadottir (talk) 21:02, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Not only vague but completely subjective. Your idea of adding award winners instead is the best way to go. – ukexpat (talk) 21:27, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

You should connect with Wikipedia:WikiProject Pornography and check out their standards. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:49, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Redirect and DAB problem

I think this may be a bit large and complex for me, and I'm having trouble seeing relevant history to see whether there is an old change I can undo.

Numerous pages make reference to the Old Covenant (Gamli sáttmáli) that brought Iceland under Norwegian control. Some have a wiki link on the English term, some on the Old Norse/Icelandic. Unfortunately both redirect to Mosaic covenant, which is not correct for these articles. A disambiguation page needs to be created and links to the Norse/Icelandic and links to the English that are referring to it need to go to an article on the Norwegian-Icelandic agreement (or a paragraph in a longer article on the history of Iceland, but I see no such paragraph, just the links) while other uses of the term Old Covenant continue to redirect as they do now. I also wonder whether there was an article on the Gamli sáttmáli and it has been deleted? I'm not succeeding in seeing the actual redirect pages so that I can look at their history, I forget how one creates a DAB page, and I'm also thinking that without Twinkle I'm going to have trouble getting at all the relevant pages. So I think I need a bit of help with this one.

Let me know if I need to write an article or paragraph on the Gamli sáttmáli myself, because I am now off to is.wikipedia to find out its date, which was what I was looking for when I discovered this. Yngvadottir (talk) 19:55, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Aha, hold the presses, I found Old Covenant (Iceland). What a mess. Let me see what I can do. Yngvadottir (talk) 20:07, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

I added a disambiguation at the top of Mosaic covenant. —teb728 t c 01:08, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! Yngvadottir (talk) 04:15, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Help with Psychology Class

i need hepl with some sentences that is good for my psychology class like neural networks68.221.194.17 (talk) 20:29, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Please do your own homework. Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here to not do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems.
Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can search Wikipedia or search the Web.
If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 20:52, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Read our Neural network article. --Teratornis (talk) 21:21, 9 September 2009 (UTC)