Help desk
< October 5	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	October 7 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

October 6

Propaganda disguised as information

I am seriously concerned with the level of false and inflammatory propaganda exhibited in articles on the Middle East.

One featured article, "Wrath of God," was based on a discredited hoax. Others -- such as a featured story on Morcecai Vununu -- are entirely dominated by raging, anti-Israel, pro-Arab, propagandists. (My favorite wikigandist is "Zero")

Last year, I began an article on the Siege of Jerusalem (1948), but gave up because I realized that the propandists would never allow it to be maintained -- Arab propaganda opposes mention of the siege because it embarrasses their cause.

My questions -- Why doesn't Wikipedia doublecheck factually challenged articles? If Wikipedia can't maintain the quality of its Middle East articles, why not spin the topics off into a separate wiki? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.5.64.178 (talk) 00:05, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is based on the idea of shared responsibility and continual upkeep of articles. Mordechai Vanunu is not featured. It was, but it was subsequently defeatured because it did not meet the criteria, mainly because there were not enough citations. Operation Wrath of God is featured because it meets all the criteria in the eyes of the reviewers. Looking through that article, it is a balanced account of what happened and it cites published, reliable sources. It seems to me to be neutral. What exactly do you have a problem with on these articles. Make specific points on the talk pages of the article concerned if you feel there is a problem. Woodym555 00:18, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

notoriety requirements

I have searched everywhere for Wiki's guidelines to notoriety requirements or notability requirements. This is in regards to Famous Business - of a particular city. Can someone point me to the correct article or information regarding these requirements. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.63.105.152 (talk) 00:13, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

~~WP:BUSINESS.~~ Mistake, try WP:CORP instead. -Icewedge 00:14, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Script error/lost connection while trying to view Wikipedia

Over the last three weeks or so, most everytime I have tried to view a Wikipedia entry, the screen freezes and I have recieved a script error message from Internet Explorer. I have never had these problems before with this site.

Sometimes I would automatically lose my internet connection.

Over the past few days I have not recieved the script error message, but it is still freezing and I am still losing my connection.

This only happens when I use wikipedia.

My ISP is AOL. Thank you very much for any help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.247.22.199 (talk) 02:56, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

AOL is a proxy (I think), it may have been blocked. Try https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Special:Userlogin. —Ignatzmice ^talk _contribs 03:00, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, AOL is a proxy when it's used as an ISP (I, for instance, have AOL, but use a local cable provider as my ISP). Could be blocked. Probably best to create an account, in any event. I strongly suggest against using AOL's internal browser. For Wikipedia, Firefox is my browser of choice, but Internet Explorer works well (outside of AOL) too. If you use IE and you still get script errors, you might consider disabling scripts in it. Into The Fray ^T/C 04:55, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how to change "in other languages box" ?

there is a misstake in the page http://eng.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adage —Preceding unsigned comment added by Otij (talk • contribs) 03:32, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adage -- it's fine, technologically speaking. If there's something wrong with the article... Be bold. Fix it. Into The Fray ^T/C 04:50, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The French link is right. See [1] and Help:Interwiki linking#Interlanguage link. PrimeHunter 09:06, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have a question about notability

I just got a Wiki account and I'd like to create a page, but I have a question about notability. I'd like to begin an article on my high school. It is Gilmer County High School, a division A high school in West Virginia. I know enough about it to start an article, but I'm not sure if it's notable enough, I need some guidelines on notabliity. Christianmetalcore 04:40, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that all high schools are considered notable, but am sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that. I seem to remember reading where primary schools were perhaps not notable. Certainly, Wikipedia has a lot of high school pages. I would suggest you start by creating the page User:Christianmetalcore/sandbox there first, bring it up to snuff, then putting it in the article space. Cheers. Into The Fray ^T/C 04:43, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

THANK YOU for asking here instead of just creating it and getting mad if someone does somthing to it. For that I think you should be "allowed" to create it. —Ignatzmice ^talk _contribs 04:47, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) You might want to look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools for information about how to format a school article. WODUP 04:49, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Although the Proposed Policy is now defunct, you may want to take a look at this old school policy proposal. Perfect Proposal ^{Speak out loud!} 16:31, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Elephant Intelligence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_intelligence This page seems to contain very suspicious information with no reference to credible sources. How do I flag it/report for check?

Quote: "In the 1970’s at Marine World Africa, U.S.A, there lived an Asian elephant named Bandula"

Senya —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.98.200.2 (talk) 07:00, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First, check the history of the article to make sure that the article hasn't been vandalized recently. If it doesn't seem to be vandalism, and you want to mark that there are no references in the entire article, put {{Unreferenced}} at the top and explain your concerns on the article discussion page. If you wish to challenge particular assertions, add {{fact}} after each assertion. If no one has sourced or otherwise addressed challenged assertions after a reasonable amount of time (a week would be more than sufficient), they may simply be removed. - Banyan Tree 10:53, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article has some references although they are not formatted as they should be. Suspicious information with no reference can be tagged with {{fact}} or another template in Category:Citation and verifiability maintenance templates. In some cases it should be removed right away. PrimeHunter 14:20, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In my time at Wikipedia I've seen a lot of suspicious looking info turn out to be true. Have you tried to find a source yourself? - Mgm|^(talk) 11:08, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A suggestion for re-titling an entry

There's an entry for 'The British School' on Wikipedia. I don't want to undo any good work that people have been doing on this particular page but I've written the following in the 'talk' section of the above page suggesting the entry might be better titled.

"I suggest that editors take a look at the titling, 'The British School', of this entry. There is no umbrella organisation that I'm aware of that links the schools listed under this entry together, nor have they a common policy or common examination system. There are various associations of international schools in existence but they are commercial rather than governmental in nature.

As this entry stands it implies that there is semi-official or even official British government recognition of any institution with 'The British School...' somewhere in its name and accordingly that it enjoys some kind of special government-approved status. This is simply not the case.

A better title might be 'British Schools Abroad' and qualification for listing might be that any school listed teaches the National Curriculum of England and Wales but outside the UK, AND is registered with the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) in the UK.''

I'd like to know what moderators think about the suggestion.

Artdesigns2006 08:10, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can go to Wikipedia:Requested moves to get more input on the requested renaming of an article from people experienced with article renames. (Note that wikipedia doesn't have 'moderators', by the way; anyone can edit anything with only a few exceptions. There are 'administrators' who can do things like delete articles, but it's a different sort of role.) --ais523 17:23, 6 October 2007 (U T C)

Thanks, ais523, for your help.

Artdesigns2006 04:27, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

query

how to make a search —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.190.148.3 (talk) 08:20, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To search Wikipedia, write something in the search box to the left and click Search. See more at Wikipedia:Searching. PrimeHunter 08:58, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

log in

wikipedia tells me that I have an account but I cannot log in. What do I do ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.213.142.245 (talk) 09:36, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What is your user name? And see Help:Logging in. PrimeHunter 09:50, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Moving the references

Has there been a proposal about moving references (which takes up more than half of the page in some articles) into their own place or module, much like any comment or question about the article is located in the "discussion" module? Could someone point me to a discussion of this sort? Thank you. CG 11:31, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not that I'm aware of. You could always hide them in a collapsible box, but I don't know whether that would conform to the MoS. Recommend that you ask your question here: Wikipedia talk:Citing sources. Into The Fray ^T/C 14:04, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That would make linking to the correct sentence to the correct source a pain, and accidentally deleting sources without people noticing too easy. What is wrong with putting them near the bottom? - Mgm|^(talk) 11:05, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Spamming user

User:EmmaPJs is a new accout that has created a spam article and added spam links as the user's only edits. I do not wish to deal with this myself right now. Where is the correct place to ask for someone to engage this user in a dialogue? -Arch dude 11:54, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can probably start at WP:ANI. Dismas|^(talk) 12:06, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Nevermind, I've put a deletion tag on the one article that they created and reverted the rest of their changes. Dismas|^(talk) 12:13, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Who is this boy?

I need to know who this boy is.

File:Color good- enhanced.jpg

--Rooedstuurdel 13:21, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Help Desk is for questions about editing Wikipedia, not for identification of random photos that you upload. Into The Fray ^T/C 13:31, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So much for your help desk, not very helpful indeed. Sod ya then! --Rooedstuurdel 13:43, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In accordance with Wikipedia's policy of protecting living people, I have deleted this photograph of an underage person you uploaded but don't know the identity of and which you now, here, have displayed on a public forum for identification for unknown purposes.--Fuhghettaboutit 13:45, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yeh whatever fuck off --Rooedstuurdel 13:54, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think you applied this policy entirely correctly. It is a copyright issue. If this kid was likely to be famous, he could've uploaded the picture temporarily to ask a refdesk question despite BLP. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:02, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wow are you not not contextualizing. When you find a mysterious package in a sensitive area, you remove it assuming it is a bomb. Under different circumstances where such concerns aren't raised it might just be a litter law issue. Must I spell it out?--Fuhghettaboutit 15:41, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

tamadum islam

bincangkan maksud politik menurut perspektif islam —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.26.136.5 (talk) 15:28, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

please speak english on the english wikipedia.--Kerotan ^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 15:41, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

We're always happy to help, but it can take quite some time for someone to come by who understands the language. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:57, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

One or more people who purported to speak (possibly) fictitious languages have trolled the Help desk recently. --Teratornis 17:04, 8 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Meningitis

Is Menengitis a reoccuring disease? Can a person contact this more than one time ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.2.66.212 (talk) 18:04, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Meningitis. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that does not solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They will be glad to try and answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. --Moonriddengirl 18:05, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Note however that Wikipedia does not give medical advice. PrimeHunter 21:29, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Meningitis can have many underlying causes, including a variety of viruses. So I would expect it to be possible for someone to contract two different bacteria that cause meningitis on different occasions. Your immune system would be no good because it would recognize the virus, not the disease. In short: yes, quite possible. P.S. THis is a reference desk question. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:55, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Red links

sometimes when am using wikipedia books i find some lines written by red colour .how could i reach those texts and read them ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Damnedchou (talk • contribs) 18:07, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When a link to a page is red, it means that the page has not been created yet, or it has been deleted; in short, red-linked pages don't exist. However, if you wish to create it, you can make that red link turn blue :) Happy editing, ( ar ky ) 19:51, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See more at Wikipedia:Red link. PrimeHunter 21:27, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Coloured Tables

hi,

basically: how do make the various 'bits' of a (wiki)table coloured eg like here? i tried to go and pretend edit the table but its something stupid that i dont understand so i cant find out that way

thanks, --Plague of Death 19:21, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Table#Color; scope of parameters. PrimeHunter 21:25, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Transistor History

There is an error (an understandable one) in the Wikipedia Transistor History. It states there that Gordon Teal made the first silicon transistor. I first came across this error in "Crystal Fire" (Riordan and Hoddeson). I contacted Riordan and provided him evidence that the first silicon transistor was made BY Tanenbaum et al at Bell Labs. (This work was published in the Journal of Applied Physics but overlooked.) Riordan corrected that error in his article "The Lost History of the Tansistor" (Spectrum, 41, pp. 48-49 2004) but it has found its way into Wikipedia.

While these two events were significant, the event that started the Silicon Age was the invention of the diffused base silicon transistor by Tanenbaum and Fuller in 1955. The use of diffusion technology greatly simplified manufacture and was the technology later used by Noyce and Little in their invention of integrated circuitry

How can I contact the person repsonsible for the Transistor History artcle and clarify these matter.

Morris Tanenbaum —Preceding unsigned comment added by Morristanenbaum (talk • contribs) 21:24, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your suggestion. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). Dismas|^(talk) 21:31, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Linking an article with the one in the other language

How can I link an article with the one in other language? The article about the same thing, that while reading the article, down there in the languages menu on the left would be the link to the same article in another language. Thanx —Preceding unsigned comment added by BohaVasho (talk • contribs) 22:26, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just use the language prefix, e.g. [[de:article name]] for the German Wikipedia. Which article do you want to link? Richard001 23:42, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Beatmen - with the one in Slovak wikipedia. But I was probably misunderstood, I mean, when an article is available in more languages, there is a menu on the left, where the other languages are possible - espanol, deutch, cesky.... I mean that by my article "The Beatmen", there would be a link "Slovak" (Slovensky). - and as well on the slovak one there would be a link "English".

See: Help:Interlanguage links. --Teratornis 14:22, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name clashes at Commons

The category Category:Images with another image under the same name on Wikimedia Commons doesn't explain what one should do if one can't link to the picture wanted. Is there some additional code I can add to, e.g. thumb, to link to the Commons version? Richard001 23:42, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It does actually tell you what to do, but it's a rather complicated and annoying process. Basically, you need to save the local version to your computer, upload it to the Commons with the same copyright information under a different name, then tag the local one with {{ShadowsCommons}} so it can be deleted, thus finally freeing up the image you want to use. Unfortunately, that whole process is likely going to take several hours at best, up to a week or so at worst. Sorry, there's really no easy way about it. Using commons:Image:Secale cereale.jpg just produces a link. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 02:48, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, thanks. Richard001 03:00, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

art

I am a venezuelan artist,how can I be on the list of venezuelan artist?

eugenio espinoza —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.251.229.161 (talk) 23:55, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you meet our notability standards as defined WP:BIO, you can request that someone else write an article about you. It is strongly discouraged to make edits or create pages in reference to yourself, as this creates a conflict of interest that usually isn't very neutral. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 02:40, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. You may give me what you want on the article, and I will tweak it if necessary, if you would like. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonathan (talk • contribs) 03:50, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]