Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 December 1

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December 1

Contributions by Companies

I am the Head of Corporate Affairs for a large company. I note our Wikipedia entry is reasonably sparse. Do you have any objection to us adding purely factual, unbiased information to that entry in the format that is followed for other large organisations? I appreciate you don't want an ad, or any Corporate `puff' type entries - just factual information. Thanks you. David Jamieson. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.120.18.132 (talk) 02:25, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Hi Mr. Jamieson, if I may suggest, it would be preferable to submit the content to the talk page of the article first, so that neutral editors can review the potential additions and add them (or reject them based on one of many reasons, such as : copyright violations, non neutral point of view, etc). You could also edit the article yourself, even though this could be considered a conflict of interest. May I ask which article you want to edit? «CharlieEchoTango» 02:36, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Sure - this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfield_Services. The talk page may be the best option. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.120.18.132 (talk) 02:38, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Good! Add your content here and I or another editor will add it, if it's properly sourced and within wikipedia's guidelines. Also, on talk pages, remember to sign your posts using four tildes ~~~~. Thanks! «CharlieEchoTango» 02:43, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Can I just add that anything you want to add should be sourced at reliable independent sources (so, for example, press releases would not be suitable, nor would your own website) - see here for guidelines about independent sources, and here for guidelines about reliable sources -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 03:37, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I'd just like to comment that this request may be suitable as an example on how a company *should* attempt to add information about itself to Wikipedia. Well done, Transfield Services employee.Naraht (talk) 13:25, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

How to EDIT a season of TV episodes to realign Episode Numbers with correct Episode Names.

I have recently registered so I can edit or contribute information to Wikipedia, but I have not made any contributions, - yet, till this one. After reading the How to Edit pointers and suggestions, I soon realized that I do not have the authorization level or even the skill set to do these editing changes anyway.

Can someone with the appropriate authorization and skill set please review this to see if the proposed changes can or should be made?

I discovered conflicts in the listing of TV episodes for House, M.D. - Season 6. Specifically, Fox aired a 2-hour season premiere and named it “Broken”. According to FOX, this episode is listed as one “2-hour Season Premiere”, not two separate episodes.

But according to Wikipedia, it is listed as 2 separate one-hour episodes.

I agree that this error alone is NO BIG DEAL, except that it has caused ALL of the episode descriptions to be INCORRECT (out of sync) with the TITLES of each episode, beginning with episode 2.

Here are three supporting sources: 1) FOX’s website,

2) I have House, M.D. - Season 6 DVDs right here in front of me, which also support or agree with Fox’s website. At Amazon,com, you can refer to the first sentence of the “Product Description” which reads, “Get ready for a full dose of medical mysteries with 21 episodes of the riveting drama series, House.”

3) tv.com

In addition, the most of the original footnotes relating to Episode 1 & 2 are not valid (the sited source published incorrect information) or the link has expired. Specifically, any reference pointing to DigiGuide is probably in error, because DigiGuide is promulgating this error. What better source is there than the broadcaster itself. I am sure most will agree that the creators of the show carry more validity weight than a third party.

NEED TO RE-ALIGN EPISODE NUMBERS WITH EPISODE NAMES

SPECIFICALLY: • According to the sources above, the 2-hour premiere is listed a one episode, not two. • Episode 1 – Broken • Episode 2 – Epic Fail • Episode 3 – The Tyrant • Etc, etc, etc. • And the last episode, - Episode 21 – Help Me

If someone can fix these errors, - merge the first two episodes as ONE, and then re-align the other episode numbers with the correct episode names, using the sited reference from the broadcaster as the credible source, then I am sure no one will be able to refute the original source.

Thanks Moviebuff-3884 (talk) 03:09, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

This has been discussed at great length here and here. If you wish to start a new discussion I suggest you do it here. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:19, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Help

I notice to many editors adding sentence fragments to articles. Is there a bot that can double check and correct the mistakes. --Monterey Bay (talk) 03:27, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

It might be possible for a 'bot to detect fragments added to an article (there are algorithms for that, I'm sure, such as that used in Microsoft Office) - but not to correct the mistake accurately - it requires a human to correct. To be honest, I've not seen this happening much apart from as vandalism, which is often picked up by Recent Changes patrollers -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 03:41, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Readable content in a WP article?

I remember once using a tool that would tell you how much of the content in an article was actually readable i.e. not part of references, hidden syntax, etc. Could someone give me the URL for such a thing, if it exists? Thanks. Shannon^talk _contribs 05:14, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I think you're referring to this script. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 05:21, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Admins pushing POV

Administrators User:AniMate and User:Dougweller are obviously abusing their privileges to push their POV on the article Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Despite 3 reliable sources affirming that the killers were black and this is an important issue. (Anyone who has read about this case knows the racial undertone and reaction is the only thing which makes it notable! Otherwise it would just be another murder.) They routinely prevent me from adding this information to the article.

--Expo776 (talk) 08:58, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

The place to discuss content disputes is on the talk page of the article. Reach a consensus there, or otherwise follow the processes at WP:DR. - David Biddulph (talk) 09:56, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

cappos

I might not have the correct spelling. Looking for precise word and its meaning similar to 'cappos.' Loosely meaning those Jews in the hollocaust who assisted the nazis. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.186.116.3 (talk) 13:28, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

You may be after the article Kapo (concentration camp). -- John of Reading (talk) 14:10, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Names of Large French Company CEOs?

Hello, how to I find out the names of large French company CEOs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.3.71.9 (talk) 16:09, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

You may be able to find the names in the articles for those companies. If you have a specific company in mind, we may be able to help you further. TNXMan 16:12, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

images

Suddenly (weeks ago) images stopped appearing on my pages. I am behind some filtering software here at work, but I wondered what changed? It is possible to modify our filter, but I would need to know how the images are being handled, and again, what changed. Thanks, Ned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.45.10.130 (talk) 16:09, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean all images on Wikipedia, specifically? As far as I know there's been no systematic change in how our image files are served, so I suspect the change would have been on your side: perhaps all images from Wikimedia are now being filtered out locally at your work. We have an instruction page on how to avoid seeing Wikipedia images at this page; perhaps you can reverse engineer some of the instructions there until images do show up for you? If you can tell us more about your filter we may be able to give more precise instructions. Gonzonoir (talk) 16:28, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Does this happen on all websites or just Wikipedia? If the former, then you may have accidentally changed your browser settings to not display images. – ukexpat (talk) 16:40, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Jimmy Wales

I use Wikipedia about ten times a day. I thank you for it. But I'm starting to get really creeped out by that picture of Jimmy Wales. At first he looked sort of ruggedly handsome. Now he looks creepy.

Couldn't you just replace the Jimmy Wales banner with an advertising banner, and solve all our problems at once?

Joe MacLeod Winnipeg, Canada —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.161.188.110 (talk) 17:10, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Click the X in the upper right corner to remove the banner. It may return for you. Registered users have the option "Suppress display of the fundraiser banner" under "Gadgets" at Special:Preferences. Wikipedia is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and doesn't allow advertising. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:36, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Thank you thank you thank you. I could not find where to turn it off until I looked it up here. The damned thing was coming back every time I went to a FL wikipedia but today it's coming back every time I go to the next diff in a history and the x was taking an age to work. Where to turn it off should be printed in big red letters. Gahhhhhh. Now back to actually editing here! Yngvadottir (talk) 19:04, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Help

Dear Jimmy,

I have a very interesting opportunity for you and Wikipedia. I have launched a new website which focuses on collecting qualified reviews and opinions about websites and articles. I believe there is a great opportunity to make the experience of wiki users even more enriching. I would love to discuss things over a cup of coffee if that is possible?

My background: I'm a graduate from Imperial College London (Information Systems Engineering,2008). I worked at Goldman Sachs London for one year.

Ravi Mittal <blanked> Ravikan2 (talk) 17:33, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but this page is not for contacting Jimbo Wales. You may be interested in leaving this message on his talk page. TNXMan 17:37, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Urgent Post on Talk:Live television

I have left a post at Talk:Live television, could someone reply to it ASAP. Paul2387chat 21:19, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

As it happens, I have replied; but there was nothing even remotely urgent about this in any way. We are a reference work; we don't operate under a deadline; and impatiently demanding responses from fellow volunteer editors is marginally incivil, and certainly seldom productive. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:41, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia fundraising ads worse than banner ads

IMHO, the Wikipedia double-height fundraiser ads at the top of pages are far more irritating and disruptive than an ordinary-height banner ad would be. Please consider that it might actually be BETTER for Wikipedia and for the public if Wikipedia would accept normal-height banner advertising (better-yet, targeted ads based on the topic being viewed).

(Yes, I realized there's "X" that can stop your fundraiser hammer slamming my face for a while, but my statement still stands.)

- Craig (NJ, USA) 12/1/2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.78.94 (talk) 23:28, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, we don't really have any say over this. Fundraising strategies are decided by the Wikimedia Foundation. If you're interested, then details on how to contact them can be found here. You may also be interested to see this, where the foundation makes it clear that they're not interested in advertisement as a means of raising money. You also may be interested to see Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#When a "personal appeal" is and is not advertising. Best, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 23:42, 1 December 2010 (UTC)