Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 April 25

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April 25

Gary L. Keady

A writer had composed a biography of me which I approved and now it has been deleted. The reasons for deletion are not clear. I find your process very cumbersome and not user friendly at all I have found that some of the pints mentioned by those reviewing the article invalid. It seems there is a definite bias against information or the ability to source confirming detail from my country of Australia. Myrabelle Ilagan who research my biographical details did an exceptional job and I helped her. I think it very unfair that you're reviewer should delete this work with such frail reasoning. My email is <email removed> Wikipedia has many references to the feature film 'Sons of Steel' I wrote, directed, music directed. I fail to see why such detail should be deleted when it already exists in Wikipedia. I appeal for you to reconsider deletion of the biography of Gary L. Keady. With thanks, Gary L. Keady avl. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.217.107.16 (talk) 04:03, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

The article was deleted by Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gary L. Keady. —teb728 t c 04:13, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

The reason the article was deleted was that you don’t seem to have received yet the significant coverage in independent reliable sources, which Wikipedia’s notability guideline requires to be eligible for an article. (Wikipedia itself is not a reliable source.) If at some future time you receive such significant coverage, you will be eligible for an article.

BTW, an article about you does not need your approval. And if and when you do have an article, it will be subject to edits that you may not approve of. —teb728 t c 05:45, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

And please do read the following policies to gain a better understanding of why your article was deleted:

• WP:Conflict of Interest
• WP:Biographies of living persons
• WP:Autobiography
• WP:Ownership of articles
• And WP:Notability (people)

Thanks.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 09:04, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great

Alexander was born Macedonian in Macedonia from Macedonian father Filip, he fought against the greeks and no Macedonia was not a greek teritory why would he fight Greece if thats is a part of his fathers kingdom?is it a mutany whithin the kingdom? I dont think so! Please check your facts and write the truth not a greek propaganda sponsored by todays greece, do you know that Macedonia still exist today? Do you know its in that same place where your map is showing?Do you know that its still and forever will be called Macedonia? No mater how much pressure we have from greece and greek allies we will prevail! Please do a complete research before you post a untrue story.

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.248.52.195 (talk) 06:10, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

This has been discussed at great length within the Wikipedia community. The current consensus is laid out here. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:26, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Speedy delete

How do I request a sd for Category:Paranormal places in Italy? Kittybrewster ☎ 06:50, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Does WP:CSD#Categories answer your question? Dismas|^(talk) 07:02, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Buses

At Portal:Buses which I just created, none of the boxes are acting like boxes; they are going down in a vertical column. Rcsprinter^{Gimme a message} 08:37, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

I think the problem was that you had the wrong magic in Portal:Buses/box-footer. It's looking vaguely correct now. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:25, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Rcsprinter^{Gimme a message} 15:14, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Strange facebook page recording Wikipedia edits

Does anybody know what this is? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 11:48, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

We have no control over what appears on Facebook. CTJF83 11:52, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, I know, I just wonder if it has something to do with User:Tkgd2007/Userboxes/Facebook, which I have placed on my userpage. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 11:59, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Click "View original post" at the bottom to see it is this diff to a page which at the time was at User:Toshio Yamaguchi/Wolstenholme prime. I don't know why it was copied to Facebook. I thought they usually only copied articles but if you click "Hamster's notes" at the left then it shows many other copies of diffs. I haven't looked for a system. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:38, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

It appers from http://en-gb.facebook.com/notes.php?id=119717294740901&s=16580 that 16588 diffs have been copied since July 2010. In some cases I examined, consecutive or nearly consecutive Wikipedia edits (shown by having consecutive revision numbers) from all namespaces were copied. Your edit just happened to be at a time where edits were copied. It is currently seen at http://en-gb.facebook.com/notes.php?id=119717294740901&s=8250 but note numbering may change when notes are added. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:55, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

I think if it has something to do with the facebook userbox, this behaviour should be pointed out at WP:UBX/COMPUTING, because when I placed the userbox on my userpage, I wasn't aware of the fact that it records edits outside Wikipedia. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 13:38, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

I don't see any evidence of a connection to the facebook userbox. The page you linked is part of a series of currently 16588 diffs copied from Wikipedia for unknown reasons. In a brief examination I saw diffs from articles, talk pages, userspace, Wikipedia pages, a file and a category. All transclusions [1] of the userbox are in userspace except one at Wikipedia:Userboxes/Computing. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:15, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

How to delete account?

Hello,

how do i delete my account? I don't know how you do that.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BenjaminBelgium (talk • contribs) 12:41, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

You can't delete it per say like you could a Facebook account, but see Wikipedia:Right to vanish CTJF83 12:44, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Hello,

how accounts can not deleted..? I want delete it, if you can not delete it, how is that possible, on wikipedia you can not delete an account?

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by BenjaminBelgium (talk • contribs) 12:46, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Read Wikipedia:Right to vanish in general you can delete your user page and some talk pages edits due to conduct. But other types of edits can not be deleted. CTJF83 12:49, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)See the answer above, and the answer when you asked the same question 2 days ago. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:50, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

It is not possible to delete user accounts, as all contributions must be assigned to some identifier; either a username or an IP address.

All Wikipedia editors have the right to leave Wikipedia for good (ie, permanently). The usual way to leave the Wikipedia project is simply to stop editing. Your contributions remain in Wikipedia. If you wish to resume editing at a later date, you can simply start again by logging into the same account. Old accounts that have any significant edits are almost never deleted or recycled to new users.

If you decide to make a fresh start and do not wish to be connected to a previous account, you can simply discontinue the old account(s) and create a new one that becomes the only account you use. Discontinuing the old account means it will not be used again; it should note on its user page that it is inactive— for example, with the {{retired}} tag —to prevent the switch being seen as an attempt to sock puppet.

Editors seeking privacy per their right to vanish can have their accounts renamed and their user pages and (in some cases) user talk pages deleted. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 12:52, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Debt question

Intended Recipient,I have contacted a Millionaire about a debt that,that individual owes and this individual refuses to contact back what should i do about this this debt is up in the 40 thousand dollar range. Sincerely Anonymous —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.61.247.34 (talk) 14:13, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

You should consult a lawyer. We cannot give you legal advice. – ukexpat (talk) 14:16, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Seeing older watchlist items?

I normally check my watchlist several times a day and catch up on edits, vandalism revisions, etc. consistently. However, sometimes I'm away from my computer for days at a time. When I return, sometimes the visible watchlist items do not extend far enough back for me to see all the edits made since my last visit. Is there a way to see further back than what is presented when I initially go to my watchlist?

Yes. Near the top of the watchlist display there are options to go back a different number of days; the "all" option shows 30 days, which is the maximum. See Help:Watching_pages#Options. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:08, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Tried that, but it only showed me as far back as April 21--five days ago, not 30. Now what?Monkeyzpop (talk) 16:16, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

See the last bullet point from the link above (Help:Watching pages#Options). "The maximum possible number of changes to display is currently 1000. If this causes a later time cutoff than you desired, you can see earlier changes by filtering by type or namespace, as described above." - David Biddulph (talk) 16:25, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Citing opinions

In Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening#Themes and symbolism, the content states certain symbolic interpretations as fact and cites references that also state those interpretations as fact. It seems very un-encyclopedic to not say "according to X" in the article, but I can't put my finger on any specific policy it's at odds with (besides the source not seeming very reliable). Is there a specific policy that I could cite in similar cases? (I'd assume sometimes it's appropriate to state an uncontroversial majority opinion as fact if there are good sources, without saying "according to X".) —Mu Mind (talk) 16:45, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

I see what you mean, but that whole section is in need of cleaning up. On the other hand, I have seen phrases like "According to..." specifically removed as being unencyclopedic. Maybe there's something in the Wikipedia manual of Style that will help guide you. You might also find Aesthetic interpretation and Philosophy of art useful in picking a better wording. Astronaut (talk) 19:26, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Depends on what is being cited. "According to Albert Einstein, water is wet" is complete overkill. "Leonard Maltin called the film "a worthless piece of trash so bad I wouldn't wipe my ass with it" is exactly when we should cite the source directly. Opinions should be correctly attributed to the expert who is stating it, simple facts (even facts which are hard to understand) are fine to report as facts. If the opinion is not of a person or publication or organization generally viewed as giving worthwhile opinions on the subject at hand, we shouldn't cite it at all. For example, I wouldn't really care about Albert Einstein's opinion on a film, since he's not a recognized film critic. --Jayron32 19:59, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Broom icons appeared

There are two clean up icons on top of the Wikipedia page: Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. I added a "Lead section". So I am hoping an editor can remove the last icon please. I wish to resolve "This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards", but I feel it is organized. Can I obtain advice please? Thank you. Artisforme (talk) 17:23, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

What you added isn't quite a lead section, which have no headers, but it is pretty close (and I made it one). The credit for the image should go in the image information on wikicommons, not in the article and I shifted it to the right, which I think is what you were trying to do with the table. There is a template that should probably be added, but I don't remember the name, it is when you have good references, but readers don't know what references are for which facts.Naraht (talk) 17:40, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

{{more footnotes}}? DMacks (talk) 17:48, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the edits Naraht. I am trying to get the final broom icon removed and could still use some help. I am hoping another editor will respond. Artisforme (talk) 17:42, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

What links here (but not there)

How do I get a list of what links here, rather than what links "here and there" (the specific named page, plus redirects to that page)?

I want to see the list of pages that transclude Template:WikiProject Medicine itself, under exactly that name and not the pages that transclude the (many) redirects to that page. Special:WhatLinksHere (e.g., [2]) isn't working for this purpose; it includes, for example, Talk:Assistive technology and Talk:Assessment of suicide risk and more than ten thousand other pages that transclude one of the redirects. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:20, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

This appears to work [3], it is a google search. GB fan (talk) 19:09, 25 April 2011 (UTC) then again maybe not GB fan (talk) 19:19, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Not sure why you would need this information, but here's a list. I'm not sure if it's complete though; my script errored out and I don't know if it's because it was done or not. It's a start at any rate. — Bility (talk) 01:58, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Bility. I suspect that it's about 15% of the actual list, but a couple hundred is probably enough. I've dumped a copy in a handy sandbox and will start contemplating them. WhatamIdoing (talk) 22:55, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Trying to determine if photo is OK to upload

I apologize if this is not the place to ask this question, and would appreciate direction to another page if not. I am trying to find a photo for Red Bluff (Mississippi landmark). I found a pretty good one on Flickr that is listed in this way as far as copyrights: "Some rights reserved. You are free to Share-to copy, distribute and transmit the work under the following conditions: attribution— You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work)No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work."

I don't see anywhere that the author specifies an attribution method. There is some mention of "embedded data" used in the licensing so it can be linked back to the source. Anyway, I have no experience uploading photos other than my own, and would appreciate some help. (Is it permissible to link to the Flickr page in question here? I wasn't sure so I exercised caution. Thanks! Quinn ^{✩ STARRY NIGHT} 20:25, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

I suggest you ask at WP:MCQ if you don't get an answer here soon. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:29, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, but "No Derivative Works" is not an acceptable restriction. —teb728 t c 06:48, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

REF: Page of documentary American Radical the Trials of Norman Finkelstein

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Hello,

Please do not let User:Kmhkmh update our page "American Radical".

He keeps removing our updates for some strange reasons. He does not have the information we have to make informed changes.

Thank you!! Politika6969 - film producers of American Radical — Preceding unsigned comment added by Politika6969 (talk • contribs) 20:45, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Um, I think the above stepped on my question by accident. Could someone who knows what he/she is talking about perhaps move it to the right place for him/her? Nevermind, someone fixed it. Thanks. Quinn ^{✩ STARRY NIGHT} 21:48, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

The article is a collaboration for all editors to work on. It is not your article. Kmhkmh is working on the article and updating in good faith. You should try to discuss the edits on the article's talk page. I will let Kmhkmh know that their edits are being discussed here. GB fan (talk) 21:43, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Well the appropriate place to discuss editing disagreements/content disputes is the article's discussion page. For detail regarding the edits please see the version history. However since a discussion has started here now, I'll give a short summary from my perspective. I essentially reverted or removed edits from Politika6969 and some IP due to being unencyclopedic in style/language but more importantly being unsourced and/or misquoting sources. The only other thing I've changed was readding the link to a legal copy of the movie (being of obvious benefit to readers), which was removed without any explanation.

Since Politika6969 has not stated any reason why he wants the video link removed and he obviously cannot add unsourced claims, I' a bit at loss what to debate here. I had already told him on his talk page explicitly, that he can add the content in question as long as he's sourcing it properly.--Kmhkmh (talk) 22:19, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

@Politika6969, Perhaps you don't realize that Wikipedia has policy that content must be verifyable by references to published reliable sources. You apparently think that your personal knowledge should qualify as a source, but policy requires that sources must be published. You also seem to think that your position with the producers gives you a special right to edit the article, but on the contrary Wikipedia's conflict of interest guideline discourges you from editing the article at all. But if you have any suggestions or requests for content of the article, feel free to make them on the article's talk page. —teb728 t c 03:56, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Inuit authors

Hi! Does anyone know of any Inuit or Native Alaskan authors or non-fiction books with an Inuit or Native Alaskan as a main or supporting character? I've look at the Inuit authors on wikipedia and they seem to write children's' picture book and non fiction books. Please help! Neptunekh2 (talk)

This page is for questions about using and editing Wikipedia, not for general knowledge questions. I've responded to your post at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities#Inuit authors. Others may respond there as well.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:11, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

renditions of the photo of Iowa Jima

I am a batik artist wanting to do a batik painting of the raising of the flag by the 6 service men. Am I legally allowed to do so? Please let me know...I will be working from the low resolution photo from this page. Thank you, ES —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.81.78 (talk) 21:22, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Under United States copyright law it would be questionable. The holder of a copyrighted work has the right to control derivative works from it, and proper compensation for creation of those works. Under some circumstances, under a doctrine known as Transformativeness, the introduction of novel, creative, or transcendent ideas can render a derivative work excused from accusations of copyright infringement, however its a very fuzzy area. In otherwords, there's no "bright line" for what sorts of derivative works count as "illegal copying" and what sorts count as "transformative" in nature. In other words, you could be in the clear, and you could not be. It would be best to seek the advice of a copyright lawyer before publicly displaying or selling such a work of art (creating such a work for private study, with no intention of ever showing it publicly or selling it, would more likely contitute fair use, but its still not anything I would feel confident about taking advice from random strangers like me for). --Jayron32 21:41, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

However, if you can wait, and barring changes in U.S. law, the photograph will enter the public domain on February 24, 2040.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:23, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, Disney's works would enter in 2036. Accordingly, I expect an extension in plenty of time. That should settle it for my likely lifetime.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:01, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

blurry-printing

why is my wikkipedia blurry- printing only - pictures are clear - other sites are clear.184.151.63.213 (talk) 21:53, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Can you post a link to a screenshot?--Wehwalt (talk) 00:02, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

comic books.

Hello, To whom it may concern i have alot of old comic books in very good shape still i the original plastic. Most of them are Marvel Comics Group and Richie Rich(Harvey world). Please can someone let me know what the value of these are, they are old but in very good condition,still in covers. Please contact me at my email address (Redacted). Or call (Redacted). I live in Mansfield, Ohio. Thank You. David Caudell —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.179.6.50 (talk) 22:35, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Hello Mr. Caudell,

I removed your email address and phone number in the above - because, it isn't a good idea to post those here; you might get an awful lot of spam.

I'm sorry, we cannot help with pricing your comics here, because this is a helpdesk for questions about using Wikipedia.

You could enquire on our wonderful reference desk instead - but, please, don't put a phone/email. Cheers,  Chzz  ►  22:39, 25 April 2011 (UTC)