Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 May 14

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May 14

I made changes to an article prior to having an account. Would someone please check that what I did was correct?

I was reading the article on Jimbo Mathus of The Squirrel Nut Zippers and came upon this paragraph (posted below). It seemed biases and angry. The writer made accusations that were not supported and might be considered libelous. I deleted the questionable content and attempted to make it less angry opinion and more plain fact- but as I have no citations I'm concerned that I may have made a mistake.

This is the original paragraph from Jimbo Mathus

The Squirrel Nut Zippers disbanded in 2000 amid disastrous lawsuits filed by ex-Zippers Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher. This is a lie, since there were no lawsuits at all. In fact, the only disaster is that the Zippers quit paying writers Maxwell and Mosher in 1999, contrary to the band's partnership agreement, which was signed in 1999. Left penniless by these events, Maxwell and Mosher pursued a contractually stipulated arbitration with the band in 2002. In 2003 ,Maxwell and Mosher were awarded $350000 in unpaid earnings. The band chose the easy way, and settled with Maxwell Mosher for a little over 100000 plus yearly installments. They then blamed the victims for their own stupidity and have continued to slander them.

This is how I left the paragraph:

The Squirrel Nut Zippers disbanded in 2000 amid lawsuits filed by ex-Zippers Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher. There is disagreement about this claim and it is alleged that there were no lawsuits at all. One writer claims that Zippers quit paying writers Maxwell and Mosher in 1999, contrary to the band's partnership agreement, which was signed in 1999. Maxwell and Mosher pursued a contractually stipulated arbitration with the band in 2002. In 2003 ,Maxwell and Mosher were awarded $350000 in unpaid earnings. The band settled with Maxwell Mosher for a little over 100000 plus yearly installments. Claims of ill feeling between the parties persist. (the information in the preceding paragraph needs citations and references for these assertions.)

I'm sorry to be such a noob, but I'm concerned that I may have messed up an article in my enthusiasm to correct a perceived mistake.

Thanks for looking into this, PyNovak — Preceding unsigned comment added by PyNovak (talk • contribs) 00:11, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Stop being concerned. The version that you found was throughly inappropriate — we should never say "This is a lie". Your version is much more neutral and far more appropriate for an encyclopedia. Thank you! Nyttend (talk) 03:59, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I agree with Nyttend, your edit was a big improvement. However I see that most of your work has now been removed by another editor. You should not regard this as a criticism, this is a contentious issue. Editors MathusPR and Kenmosher have both been involved in editing the article, even though their usernames imply that they have a conflict of interest and should not be editing the article at all. Maproom (talk) 11:09, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I also agree. You did a fine job of editing. More can be done but you have changed the acceptability of the paragraph. A very good beginning. ```Buster Seven Talk 07:15, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Help with submitting a page

Hello I am a new user with a great page: User:VictoriaRuta/Sustainable Fine Jewelry

I need some help/ suggestions before submitting to go to final publishing. I want to make sure it goes through. Every place I try to get feedback seems to be littered with bugs. I could not submit a question on teahouse. My "talk" section for my page does not allow me to put the indicated text that requests peer review. This is literally the only place I could find to try and get some progress going. Can anyone help/ review?

THANK you~! — Preceding unsigned comment added by VictoriaRuta (talk • contribs) 00:31, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Click the link that says "Submit the page!" in the box at the top of the draft.--ukexpat (talk) 01:52, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Given your ties to the industry (see http://www.sulusso.com/about-sulusso) you need to be very careful that you do not promote your business or interests. I have serious concerns about you authoring this article at all.—Kww(talk) 04:46, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I would also suggest that you find some independent sources which are reliable to verify the information there. All the references/sources listed are non-independent of the subject. PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:32, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Cast lists

I'm trying understand the MOS on casting in articles. I'm being told that MOS supports the practice of multiple sections regarding casting, regardless of redundancy. Yet, I'm not really seeing this in MOS. Am I missing something? Can somebody please explain those guidelines to me a little better? Sarujo (talk) 01:58, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Having looked at the MOS section, I did this.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:27, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

troy davis signed with ny jets

the parent information is old and dated. it should be just keisha davis — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.36.225.250 (talk) 03:33, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Troy_Davis_(American_football). If the source cited for his parents names is incorrect, please raise the issue on the article's talk page. If you have a source for the correct names, that will help. RudolfRed (talk) 03:51, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Problem with new account

I created my first account since yesterday, however tomorrow it wouldn't let me login saying "incorrect password" but that doesn't make any sense because I'm positive I got the password correct. I couldn't seem to find the solution on my own on how to get a temporary password for my account or something. And since I didn't leave an Email for further information or contact. I chose to create another account which I did. Now my "question" is how can you like combine your former account with your newest one, in a way you don't have to leave a duplicate account, and keep your edit history and all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nanashi II (talk • contribs) 05:46, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

You can request to reclaim your former username at WP:UNSURP, but Wikipedia is unable to merge accounts. Mdann52 (talk) 12:21, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Help me

I am trying to update my boss' page and always being blocked from doing so. I am being told that the text I am using is not neutral, but I dont use his name I dont use the name of the organisation who have honoured with an award and I put the organisations web site on the external links. what please am I doing wrong Sara Dawe (talk) 10:52, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

It's hard for us to give you any specific advice if you don't tell what article this is about. However the fact that the article is about your boss, is in itself problematic as you have a conflict of interest, please see WP:COI for guidance if you really insist on editing the article yourself. A far better option would be for you to post on the article's talk page about the changes you want, then neutral editors can decide what needs to be done. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:01, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Every edit Sara Dawe has made, except the posting of this question, has been to Mohamed Zairi. There is a clear conflict of interest here. Sara Dawe, you should not be editing the article at all. Maproom (talk) 11:20, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Why is there a conflict of interest, I work for him that is all. I am trying to post that he has just won a prestigious award but being blocked every time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sara Dawe (talk • contribs) 13:56, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

You work for him. That is the conflict of interest. Wikipedia strives for a neutral point of view. Please read the conflict of interest policy, which explains why employment creates a conflict of interest. If there is information that you think should be added to the article, put it on the article talk page, and an uninvolved editor will decide whether it should be added. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:04, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

To clarify even further. This is not "your boss's page"; it is an article about him in an encyclopaedia. Here is a link to the last reversion of your changes, complete with the edit summary of the editor who reverted them. Bear in mind that Wikipedia articles are not allowed to contain biased content, promotional language or an unencyclopaedic level of detail, and people with a conflict of interest are strongly discouraged from editing them. Unfortunately your edits appear to fall foul of all four of these conditions, which is why other editors have repeatedly reverted them. - Karenjc 16:47, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

A further thought for you to consider: If you came across negative information about a scandal involving your boss in a newspaper (one which met Wikipedia's reliable source criteria - e.g. The Times, The New York Times, etc) and put that in the article along with the citation, would your boss have any objections to you doing this? The answer almost certainly is "yes, he would". This shows that there is a conflict of interest - your boss would only want positive information added - I'm not saying that there is any negative information out there, but you wouldn't be able to add that, would you? As advised above, discuss the information (and reliable, independent sources to verify that information) on the talk page. If it is suitable for inclusion, then other editors with no conflict of interest can help you with it. PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:30, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I would also add that the article is not written in an encylopedic tone, it is written like a resume. The article on David Cameron (random example) doesn't bury information inside tedious jargon and language only people in his line of work would understand. "Played a unique contribution by studying the reasons for the slow uptake of the AMT Technological Innovation." What does that even mean? Cyphoidbomb (talk) 23:04, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

ads on left side

Good morning, I have just recently noticed that on the left side of the Wikipedia pages I am now seeing ads with women in suggestive poses, "A web site that gets you a love buddy instantly" I am hoping you can help me figure out how I can continue to use Wikipedia without these inappropriate photo ads. I have 3 sons and would prefer that they not see these ads. I would appreciate any help you could give me. Thank you, 173.75.235.235 (talk) 11:33, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not run these, or any, ads. The reason you are seeing these ads is most likely due to an issue with your computer. You should ensure that the URL bar indicates that you are visiting en.wikipedia.org. Run a virus scan on your PC using a tool such as Windows Security Essentials. Spitfire^Tally-ho! 11:38, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:FAQ/Readers#Why do I see commercial ads at Wikipedia? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:47, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

posting my first article

hey i am about to post my first article. I have the article on a word document and I am hoping to transfer it onto the cite. I do not know what I am supposed to do or if i should start referencing it on the world document before I place it on the cite. can you please help me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by AnnaR23 (talk • contribs) 13:11, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

You could try Wikipedia:Articles for creation but you may wish to read Wikipedia:Your first article first.--Canoe1967 (talk) 13:22, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

If you are concerned about referencing, read WP:Referencing for beginners. Don't waste time trying to put in pretty formatting of referencing in Word, as you'll still need to use the appropriate wiki code to get the referencing to work correctly in Wikipedia. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:53, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not understand any of the formatting in MS Word. If you have prepared the document in MS Word, the best you can do is to copy and paste the text into a Wikipedia edit window, but you'll have to add all the formatting again (bold, italic, section headings, everything) in Wikimarkup. For this reason, I would not advise preparing articles in Word at all. --ColinFine (talk) 13:58, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

There is nothing wrong with preparing an article in Word -- if one uses Word only if it were WordPad, an improved version of NotePad that wraps text, and if one doesn't use Word-style fonts, markup, formatting. The reminder that the formatting cannot be transferred into Wiki is on the mark. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:50, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I would recommend that you use the article creation wizard. Follow the step-by-step instructions, using copy and paste to import the raw text from your Word document as ColinFine describes. Then save your work as a userspace draft when offered the option to do so. Doing this will create a draft article you can work on at your leisure, allowing you to sort out the references and the Wikimarkup and perhaps seek help and feedback before you actually publish it in the encyclopaedia's main article space. - Karenjc 16:22, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

ISBN value error in citation

Resolved

In Cube (film), cite no. 4 displays an ISBN error. How can that be resolved? Do I need to eliminate the dashes? -- Toshio Yamaguchi 15:10, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Removing the dashes won't help. I have fixed the error by re-copying the ISBN from the scan at Google Books. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:39, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

D'oh! Somehow I mixed up the first and third ISBN. Thanks for fixing it, John. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 16:43, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Should a new page be created on the Decriminalization of Homosexuality?

Proposed Article: Decriminalisation/Decriminalization of homosexuality through legal challenges/Courts:

Decriminalisation of homosexuality Page does not exist. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=decriminalisation+of+homosexuality&redirs=1&profile=default

Decriminalization of homosexuality Page does exist but is a redirect to UN LGBT rights (which is a very narrow aspect of the issue) Decriminalization of homosexuality

By contrast, a page exists for decriminalization of non-medical marijuana in the US Decriminalization of non-medicinal marijuana in the United States This article deals with geography, arguments in favour and against and advocacy.

My proposal, a similar article to the maraijuana covering the legal challenges (as opposed to diplomatic or legislative) covering the following areas: 1. Introduction to decriminalisation of homosexuality (mainly references to other pages) 2. The international legal framework (the ICCPR, ECHR) 3. The domestic legal frameworks for criminalisation/recriminalisation (ie the 76 countries which currently have such laws banded by wording) 4. Legal arguments against decriminalisation of homosexuality (ones used in Courts and in general) 5. Legal arguments in favour of decriminalisation (ones used in Courts and in general) 6. Cases in International Courts (pages exist for some of these cases eg Norris, Toonan, Modinos, Dudgeon etc) 7. International political/diplomatic efforts (UN LGBT) 8. NGOs in various countries (eg Human Dignity Trust, Stonewall etc)

The material for this already exists and no original work is required, there any many pages already (eg the cases) but not a centralized one and because it is contentious there will be risk of bias (but that can be overcome). But a one-stop page would be of interest and use to many.

Many thanks.

Dublinborn (talk) 16:48, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

The problem is that homosexuality has been never criminalized, but same sex sexual activity has been. However we already have articles about sodomy and LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory, the latter with the the full list of existing laws criminalizing same sex sexual activity. Ruslik_Zero 18:58, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Is that strictly true? Perhaps in Western Europe/North America, but my gut is telling me that the state of homosexuality, even absent behavior is criminalized/punished in some of the stricter forms of Shaira etc. Those however would likely not be on topic for a "decriminalization" article (as no decriminalization has happened thus far)

Beyond that, "known gays" and gay hangouts have been persecuted/targeted where no actual sexual acts were occurring at that time (Stonewall riots) However, I think that making such a distinction is probably being overly pedantic/splitting hairs. The state of being homosexual is obviously intrinsically entwined with homosexual behavior and the terms are often used interchangeably in standard conversation and academic usage. Gaijin42 (talk) 21:21, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Ok, it would called the decriminalisation of certain homosexual acts (with a redirect from decriminalisation of homosexuality). The point of the page is that the universal move towards decriminalisation (Northern Cyprus being the latest and a legal challenge was just heard in Beleize) by legal challenges could be captured on the one page. Worth doing? Yes or no?

Dublinborn (talk) 14:04, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

In general, I think the best option is to be bold; nobody can really be sure how good an article it might be until you actually make it. Just understand that some of your work might then be reverted in due time by other editors seeking to improve the article - and the entire article might also be deleted if it fails certain basic criteria about notability, etc. But without that boldness, there wouldn't be much of an encyclopedia. Matt Deres (talk) 00:18, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Many thanks. Dublinborn (talk) 13:55, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Corrections?

How do I make a correction to a factual error in someone's page that incorrectly attributes my own achievements to a famous person's brother? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.28.123.91 (talk) 18:40, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Please post the information to the article's talk page. It appears that you have a conflict of interest and should not edit the article yourself. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:44, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Real Estate Flag Lot

When I search on the "Flag Lot" your reply was it doesn't exist. See below:

A parcel of land shaped like a flag,with a narrow strip providing access to a public street or waterway and the bulk of the property containing no frontage. When planned, it is a way to maximize property density without having to install additional streets. Some jurisdictions require subdivision platting and approval for any project that includes building additional streets.Flag lots are a way around the platting laws.

I got this out of the Dictionary ... FYI — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.51.71.34 (talk) 21:03, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a dictionary. The first search result on "Flag Lot" is Land lot which mentions flag lots. This seems sufficient to me. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:16, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

To add a little to PrimeHunter's explanation, the "doesn't exist" message is not telling you that there is no such thing as a Flag Lot, it's merely telling you that there is no Article in Wikipedia with that name (yet), and possibly that no article on Wikipedia contains that term (yet). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 13:29, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

New Article

Can you help me to get the article in my sandbox in Wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fred Bokker (talk • contribs) 22:06, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I see that you have the information on your user page and your /Sandbox, is this what you were referring to ? or do you still need help, if so please explain further. Mlpearc (powwow) 22:19, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

my name

i would like to know what my name would be in egyptian. my name is peter can u help — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.158.191 (talk) 22:09, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

You can try Google translate. Mlpearc (powwow) 22:11, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

This should have gone to our Reference Desk, but now you're here... I assume you mean Ancient Egyptian? You'll need an online translator for that, some of which are listed in our article. Bear in mind that there may not have been an equivalent of your name. Modern day Egyptians speak Arabic, for which Google Translate will give you some translations for the word 'peter', although not for the name. The Arabic version of the name is given in our Peter (given name) article as Butrus. Rojomoke (talk) 06:23, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Peter. I'm guessing that what you are really asking is "How can I write my name using Egyptian hieroglyphs?" If that is what you want, the full answer is that Egyptian hieroglyphics are a very complicated system of signs, only some of which represent sounds; and those that did represent sounds did not generally mark the vowels. But for a simple answer, look at Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian#Table of conventional transliteration schemes. --ColinFine (talk) 09:15, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Using wildcards in an intitle search

Hi, I want to search for living people with particular initials, for example for living people with the initials DP. However, I don't think asterisks are recognized as wildcards when they follow intitle. For example, I don't get any results when I search for intitle: (D* P*) incategory:"living people", even though there is a Wikipedia article on Douglas Preston, a living novelist who's categorized as a living person. Similarly, when I search intitle: (Taj Mahal), I get the article on the Taj Mahal, but I don't get any results when I search for intitle: (T* Mahal). Can someone help me figure out how I can run my search? Thanks for your help, Clark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clark x zhang (talk • contribs) 22:51, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Also being discussed at User talk:Clark x zhang; I've replied there. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:59, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Why was the page about the company Parature deleted?

Hi,

Would like to ask why the page about the Virginia company Parature was deleted (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parature) by Jo4n.

Thank you,

Tmorris250 (talk) 23:37, 14 May 2013 (UTC)Tmorris250

It was deleted due to lack of notability. You can see the comments at Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Parature. RudolfRed (talk) 23:44, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

How to contact a user

How do you contact a user? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robert E. Stokley (talk • contribs) 23:47, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Place a message on their talkpage; your talkpage is User_talk:Robert E. Stokley, the person you wish to talk to is similarly named. Tonywalton ^Talk 00:27, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

See more at Help:Using talk pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:50, 15 May 2013 (UTC)