Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 March 18

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March 18

WNCN (now WAXQ)

This is in reference to the article about WNCN (104.3 FM) in New York City. The station was owned by Starr Broadcasting and changed from classical music to rock and roll in 1974. I was an employee during that period, totaling almost 15 years.

The factual error is that William F. Buckley, Jr. did NOT lead the fight to return the station to classical music. He was Chairman of the Board of the owner, Starr Broadcasting, and although he personally preferred classical music, he was acting on behalf of shareholders to improve station financials. But the station lost money as a classical broadcaster.

The fight to restore classical music to 104.3 was centered at the WNCN Listener's Guild, of which I was one of three original founders. The group raised $600,000 and fought Starr Broadcasting at the FCC and in the courts.

As a settlement, Starr sold the station (at no profit) to GAF Broacasting in 1975. At that time I was rehired, as was most of the classical music staff.

Sincerely,

Matt Edwards <email removed> —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.189.127.111 (talk) 00:05, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

odd category

Can someone help me figure out why Büyük Menderes River is in Category:Dinar? The category is for currencies related to the dinar, so it does not belong. I want to remove it, but there's no direct category reference ([[Category:dinar]]). None of the templates used on the page add it to the category either. I realize this is not exactly a newbie question, but hope someone can help me anyway. Thanks, Ingrid 01:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The article is in the category, not because of the currency, but because of the river's location in Dinar. Per: It has its sources not far from Celaenae in Phrygia (now Dinar), where it gushed forth in a park of Cyrus. The category should stay as in place. Real96 01:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict)The problem is the infobox. It adds the page to Category:{{{Origin}}}, and the origin is Dinar. If you change the origin in the infobox (make it more specific), it should fix it. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 01:17, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Alphabetization help?

Is there a tool or bot or whatever available to alphabetize a bulleted list on an article page? I'm thinking particularly of lists of people, such as a teacher's students or a school's alumni, which can get long and hard to follow as editors add names to the bottom of the list. I've encountered a couple of examples, and fixing them manually seems rather daunting, and likely to end up in a pyrrhic victory as later edits defeat the purpose.

I don't know if this is even technically possible, but if it is possible, and no tool exists yet, who can I ask to tackle it?

Thanks. Turangalila (talk) 01:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Relisting?

Hi. I've been hanging around at AFD and TFD discussions lately, and I notice a tag that looks like this:

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so that consensus may be reached
 Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, ~~~~

Could someone please explain where and why this would be used? I've seen it used on discussions where only two people have voted. Thanks in advance- CattleGirl ^{talk | sign! | review me} 02:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It means that the AfD was unable to gain consensus because there were too few comments, and thus, it has been listed again, so that more editors can add their points-of-view. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 02:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

English styles

Is there a template to warn users that English styles shouldn't be changed? Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 02:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't believe so. Instead, just put a comment like <!-- Note to editors: This article is written in American English, please do not change it. --> at the top of the page. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 02:18, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I mean a user warning template. Its not listed on WP:UTM, but I think I've seen them before. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 02:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

There are actually templates for this: {{Lang0}}, {{Lang1}}, {{Lang2}}, {{Lang3}}, {{Lang4}}, {{Lang5}}. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 03:04, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

access to article introductions, problems with statistical articles

For some articles on statistical methods, there are problems in the introductions (see below), but the introductions are not accessible to editing. Can access be provided, to article introductions?

To edit an introductory paragraph of an article, click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of the page.--Vbd (talk) 04:22, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Common problems relate to a failure to a place a method in context. The practical significance of a method is not stated. The conceptual relationships of a method may not be correctly stated.Dfarrar 02:35, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Internet Explorer Menus

Can you make it possible to use the Internet Explorer pull-down menus just with keystrokes (Alt+E for the edit menu)? For somre reason, Wikipedia is the only website I have ever seen that does not allow this. Many people do not like to use the mouse and used keystrokes to access the menus. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.112.139.224 (talk • contribs)

Unfortunately, the shortcut keys are coded into the Wiki software. You'll need to disable them using the instructions found here. It is possible you will have to create an account in order to implement the code. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 03:39, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

P.S. - Please remember to sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~) so we know who we're talking to. Thanks! Hersfold ^(talk/work) 03:42, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I couldn't find this stuff in the 'About Wikipedia' section.

How many volunteers total are there? And is there anybody with Wikipedia (volunteer or otherwise) who actively goes through the pages and looks for vandalism, errors, etc.? Or is it entirely done by the users/people? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.227.137.126 (talk) 03:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

All the work concerning articles is done by the users. See Special:Statistics for current user numbers. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 04:17, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

How to avoid the orange bar "you have new message"

Are there any types of script I can use to prevent the "you have new message" bar? Given that I can check my talk page once in a while to see if there's anything new, the notice is both annoying and unnecessary. Please help, thank you S. Miyano 03:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, or you could change what it looks like. What do you want to do? Prodego ^talk 04:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it is a good idea, but you can add this to your personal CSS:

.usermessage {
    display: none;
}

If you still want to see it when you're on your own user page or talk page, you can do:

.usermessage {
    display: none;
}

.page-User_S_Miyano .usermessage,
.page-User_talk_S_Miyano .usermessage {
    display: block;
}

These should be added to User:S. Miyano/monobook.css. Mike Dillon 04:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the replies. Could you please check if I did it right [1]? S. Miyano 04:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Looks good, best way to tell if it works is to test it--VectorPotential^Talk 04:26, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Becoming A Member

How Do You Become A Member of A Project.Bernstein2291 04:21, 18 March 2007 (UTC)Bernstein2291

If you've got an account, you already are one! Now, just edit pages you fee like editing, and contribute constructively in any way you can. DoomsDay349 04:25, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

If you mean a WikiProject, all you normally have to do is add your name to the list of members and then start helping the project. The various projects will normally have lists of to-do items that you can help with. Dismas|^(talk) 05:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Copied text

I noticed that the plot for At Sachem Farm is copied word-for-word from IMDb. What should I do? Clarityfiend 05:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Replace it with a copyvio tag, making sure the URL of the page it's copied from is specified by using |url=sitehere. -Wooty Woot? contribs 05:04, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't want to delete the article; there's some legitimate info there. I think I'll just delete the offending material. Clarityfiend 06:46, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, just remove it. Copyvio tags are best used if the entire article is a violation. - Mgm|^(talk) 07:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I Can't Login - Account Name CognitIt -

This says I didn't enter an email address, but I have a confirmation in my box. This is a copy of it.

Someone from the IP address xxxxxxxxxxx has registered the account "CognitIt" with this e-mail address on the English Wikipedia.

To confirm that this user account really does belong to you and to activate e-mail features on Wikipedia, please open this URL in your browser:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Confirmemail/db2eef76e07ad5364e9a2c2eb6c92ebb

If you did not recently register for Wikipedia (or if you registered with a different e-mail address), please do *not* click on the link.

This confirmation e-mail will automatically expire at 15:50, 13 March 2007 (UTC).

~Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org

Please make sure it is in my account. I am 92% sure that I validated this; my hyperlink showed previous use. I really want to keep my login name. The email account is the same as the name I submitted, as you can see. I need to request a new password and am stumped. <email redacted>. 68.89.170.143 06:17, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks.

• Where does it say you didn't enter an email address? - Mgm|^(talk) 07:54, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

uploaded article missing

Dear Sir/Madam,

i have uploaded a new article about our church several weeks ago.. but i could not find it in wikipedia... The title is... "Tortugas United Methodist Church" When will you make the article public?

Thank you very much! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Prayerofjabez (talk • contribs) 07:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

From this edit [2] it seems like you only saved the page to the Introduction page. The area below the introduction page is only for test edits. All information there is deleted periodically. You could copy the text and create a new article for it but the other problem is that your church might not be notable enough to be on Wikipedia. There are thousands of churches around the world and unless your church is especially famous, the church might not be notable. See WP:NOTABLE for guidelines. -- Hdt83 | Talk 07:27, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The article was probably deleted Never mind--SUIT^양복 07:27, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Why is Don(REd )Goldstein All America for LOuisville 1959,not listed under Jewish basketball players?

High-res fair use images?

When you have a high-res copyrighted (by someone other than you) image that you'd like to use under the Fair Use principle, what's the maximum size that it should be uploaded as? I've been hearing things like 400px wide or high, and I'd like to know what the rule of thumb is. Thanks. -Malkinann 08:14, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The principle underlying this would be "not adequate to make a good reproduction of the original on paper", I think. Notinasnaid 08:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

That's right. The image doesn't need to be particularly small, just not large enough that it can be used for anything but identification on screen. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 08:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

New page

How do I create a new page in Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaberwock (talk • contribs)

Before you do, I'd recommend you spend some time learning the ropes, and editing existing articles. It's a sad fact that almost all the pages people make are deleted right away because they don't fit the way Wikipedia works, and you can only learn that with practice, perhaps a few hundred useful edits. When you are ready, see Wikipedia:Your first article. Happy editing! Notinasnaid 09:57, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Another useful page is Help:Starting a new page. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 11:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia has a peculiar characteristic, we might even consider it an ergonomic design flaw, in that it has a tendency to encourage (or at least not to discourage) new-article creation as a new editor's first attempt at editing. This is unfortunate because creating new articles has a much lower probability of success than editing existing articles. An unfortunate but all-too-common scenario is: a user has been using Wikipedia to look things up, but hasn't done any editing yet; then, upon trying to look up some topic of interest and finding no article in Wikipedia about it, decides to create the article. Because the new user has no prior experience editing existing articles, the article is likely to violate any number of Wikipedia's complex rules and get deleted. The problem seems to be that anyone can see when the article they want is missing, but only a comparatively small number of experienced editors can recognize the vast number of improvements that most existing articles need. And so the deletionists stay busy.

Over time, I expect this problem to work itself out, as Wikipedia's article count increases, reducing the perceived need to create so many new articles, and Wikipedia's search capability improves to include transwikied articles (so users find articles on other wikis instead of only seeing them as missing on Wikipedia). Eventually Wikipedia may develop something like an outplacement service for topics that belong on other wikis. Currently, Wikipedia too often behaves as if it is the only wiki that exists, merely deleting unsuitable articles without doing enough to find other wikis that want them. Since Wikipedia is the largest wiki target for search engines, it acts like a honeypot or red herring for new wiki users who aren't aware of other wikis more suitable for the kind of editing they want to do. Instead the software allows new users to go ahead and create articles, many of which later get summarily deleted by laborious human intervention. It would be better to somehow integrate outplacement recommendations with the new-article-creation process, especially for users with few edits. --Teratornis 16:49, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

pregnancy

I AM 43 YEARS OLD.I HAVE ONE SON 19 YEARS OLD . I HAD AMISSCARRIAGE LAST MONTH. I WANT TO HAVE A SECOND BABY. HOW TO TELL ABOUT MY PREGNANCY TO MY SON? HOW HE WILL REACT? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 122.167.190.42 (talk) 10:10, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

This is ridiclous, this is an encyclopedia. Not a doctors, or any kind of social care. Often when people come here saying things like that; we tend to think that they are making a joke of us. If this is a real problem. Please see Jerry Springer, Trisha, or Jeremy Kyle, or something to that extent. Reguards. Retiono Virginian 11:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Whether or not the anonymous questioner is joking, Sibling rivalry may be a place to start, although it says nothing about the case of 20-year age differences between siblings. Perhaps the anonymous questioner can help expand that article by looking up some reputable sources. Of course no encyclopedia article can definitively predict how one person will react to a given situation, because everyone is different. However, the encyclopedia might report how many other people have reacted in similar situations. Finally, in keeping with the instructions in Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer, here's the boilerplate Help desk response for any question not about how to edit on Wikipedia: Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. --Teratornis 15:32, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I do not see sibling rivalry in this non-Wikipedia-Help-desk question. One fact at hand is that of a 19 year old son being an adult. Another serious fact is that of a 43 year old mother being likely to have pregnancy complications. Should the pregnancy and birth be healthy, at the least the 43 year old mother "should" have an immediate, readily available babysister. The more pressing question should be that of - why not have this discussion / conversation with family or close individuals prior to conception? Marycontrary

I'm sorry for your miscarriage. You should see a doctor, both to check you out after the loss of your fetus, for advice v/v your son and possibly for a counselling referral for yourself. If you don't have a GP (general practitioner) or gynecologist, or if money is an issue, many communities have free women's health treatment and counselling. Free emergency helplines may help too. I was left wondering whether your question was about telling your son about your miscarriage or your planned pregnancy? Not that it matters, this isn't the venue. And to other respondents, please remember WP:CIVIL and WP:AGF. If we can't answer a question civilly, let's leave it for someone else to deal with. Anchoress 21:37, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Facts are facts and Wikipedia is about facts. Just as discussion pages on wikipedia are helpful for Wikipedians, so it is appropriate for me to have recommended to have the necessary discussion and conversations with family or close individuals PRIOR to trying to conceive. Anchoress, what was it about my response that upset you? Luckily for the woman with the question, her 19 year old son is old enough to deal with it and that she wants to to become pregnant. I pointed to some wikipedia articles particularly about having the discussion with her son and others. The 19 year old could become very helpful and assist the mother (like babysitting), but first talk about the plans, talk openingly and regularly. Marycontrary

Your response didn't upset me. I did not suggest that it was inappropriate. Anchoress 16:44, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Need help

I need help getting started. BigMacintosh. thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by BigMacintosh (talk • contribs) 22:13, 18 March 2007

Hi BigMacintosh, where are you stuck? What are you trying to do? Notinasnaid 11:27, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

If you want some basic information about contributing to Wikipedia, some good links include: Wikipedia:Introduction, Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia, and Wikipedia:Tutorial. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 12:16, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

godsgirls.com

hi,

my name is annaliese nielsen and i am the founder of the company seen at godsgirls.com. godsgirls.com is owned by godsgirls LLC not by offworld media group. ownership of godsgirls can be verified with a simple who is lookup.

the article about godsgirls can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godsgirls

it cites www.suicidegirlx.com as the source for it's claim that godsgirls is owned by offworld media group. suicidegirlx is hardly a reputable source. that website is full of gossip mongering and slander.

we appreciate wikipedia's efforts in providing factual material in it's articles and appreciate the corrections that should be made to this article.

thank you! -annaliese

Response is posted at Talk:GodsGirls#Ownership. I've made changes to the article. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 16:24, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Finding Pages Over One Week Old

I am entirely new to Wikipedia and a little puzzled. Some time before 14th March I posted a question about a song (about a king who ate somebody). I received a reply that did not answer the question. I then mistakenly breached etiquette by posting a new page and using upper-case letters (I was advised that this is 'shouting'). I posted an apology and explanation and invited anyone who knew how to delete the page (I meant the new page, not the original, though I may have been unclear about that). I have tried searching for my original page (with the original question), but I am unable to find it. I do not know how to find a page earlier than 14th March, since the list which comes up starts at 14th March and I can find no route to earlier pages. I am sure I must be missing something, but, as I said, I am totally new to all this and therefore somewhat at sea.

Perhaps somebody could confirm having seen the original page and let me know whether it still exists and, if so, how I can get to it, as I am still anxious to find the answer to my original question.

I am perfectly happy to start all over again if I need to but, as we are told not to post the same question twice, I am trying to be meticulous in my observation of the rules/etiquette, etc.

As nearly as I can recall, the heading to my original question was:

        "Song About A King Who Ate Somebody??"

Any help will be greatly appreciated, please.12:27, 18 March 2007 (UTC)Barrinald

• Ah, I think you lost track of what page you were on. Your original question was on Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment, and that's probably where you need to go to find old questions. (A tip, to help you find where you asked: click the "My contributions" link). Good luck, Notinasnaid

Suggested article

James Vaughn, Carterville Illinois Patriot

Why haven't you added this great man to Wikpedia? Just asking? www.jamesvaughn.org -- 12:38, 18 March 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.214.180.219 (talk • contribs)

That would be the person about whom a "radio and internet news magazine" said James Vaughn is another example of average Americans doing above average things to avert a fascist state and stop the push towards World War III.? [3]

WP:ATT and WP:BIO discuss Wikipedia's policies about who is notable enough to have an article in Wikipedia. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 15:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Please sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~) so we know who we're talking to.

There could be a few reasons why we don't have an article on him.

1. Nobody has requested an article be made about him at Wikipedia:Requested articles.
2. Nobody has thought to create the article of their own initiative.
3. He is not considered notable under Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion. See WP:NOTE.
4. By looking at the website you showed me, it might be difficult to have an article about this person written from a neutral point of view.

If you would like to create the article, then please create an account and do so. Please carefully review all of Wikipedia's policies beforehand. Thanks! Hersfold ^(talk/work) 15:22, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Image links ...

I am trying to perfect my Signature with a nice speech balloon, but I can't get the image NOT to jump line. (The image is a link to my talk!)
Besides remaking the template I use for this (Click) in a "<span>" in stead of a "<div>", do I have any options ?
See also My sandbox, but here it is:

[[User:R U Bn|R U Bn]] ({{Click | image = Speech_balloon.svg| link = User talk:R U Bn
| width = 10px| height= 10px}})

Result:
R U Bn () Thank you :-) R U Bn (Talk • contrib) 14:22, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It's better not to use any image in your signature. See also Wikipedia:Signatures#Images. Garion96 (talk) 14:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

You also shouldn't use templates either as the transclusion can slow down page loading. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 17:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Image name

Simply, how do you change the name of an image? Simply south 17:03, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

As you have probably seen, there is no Move tab. If there is no established policy, I would suggest re-uploading it with a new name; placing {{db-author}} on your old image (it is yours, I assume?); and changing any links as required. Adrian M. H. 17:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

• There's policy about renaming images, as there is with articles, but there's no move functionality because you can't redirect image links to display the proper image if it moves. If it's not yours, remember to include all the information from the previous uploader before adding a deletion tag to the old image. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Adding Infoboxes

I'm attempting to add infoboxes to a wiki page on a whole other site -- but the "how to" pages are completely baffling to me. I get incomplete boxes and stuff that looks nothing like what an infobox is supposed to look like.

18:34, 18 March 2007 (UTC)Kate

• What kind of infobox are you trying to add? Try thinking of a similar subject and try using how that is coded as an example for the one you want to make. - Mgm|^(talk) 19:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

By "whole other site" do you mean a MediaWiki wiki other than Wikipedia? If so, is the infobox template that you are trying to use actually on the other wiki? Wikipedia has tons of stuff that people have added to the basic MediaWiki software; other MediaWiki wikis may be missing things you use on Wikipedia. If something you need is missing on the other wiki, you may need help from a more advanced user to help you copy all the pieces from Wikipedia, or you may need help from the wiki's system administrator to install missing extensions (such as the m:ParserFunctions extension that some of the fancy infoboxes use).

If the infobox template you are trying to use is on your other wiki, browse to its page. It will have a name something like: Template:Infobox whatever, and click "What links here" in the toolbox. That will show you a list of pages on the wiki that use that infobox. To illustrate this on Wikipedia, Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Infobox Software shows all the pages that use the Infobox Software template (their entries say "transclusion" after the page name). Find a page that uses your infobox properly, and then copy the wikitext from that page and edit it with your infobox values. --Teratornis 04:22, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Messages

Yes, I'm new. How do I delete messages? By the way, I'm NOT registered user...

75.68.132.121 18:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)Thanks, M75.68.132.121 18:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean delete messages off your talk page? If you do then do not do this unless they are offensive, if a user talk page gets to full then archive it so they are viewable at later dates. Cheers!! Tellyaddict 19:01, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I suppose this refers to the bug where the new message bar does not disappear for anons, even after the message is viewed. You have to create an account right now, though it should be fixed soon. It is listed as bug 9213. Prodego ^talk 19:12, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

See WP:ARCHIVE Scottydude 16:23, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

It's a ornage-brown bar across the near-top of every page of Wikipedia I go on, and it says "You have a new message (last change)"

Go to User talk:75.68.132.121. This is the Talk page associated with anonymous account 75.68.132.121. Someone has sent you a message there. Once you have seen the messages on your Talk page, the notice will go away. Corvus cornix 17:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

ned zelic

now playing football for dinamo tbilisi in georgia since january 2007 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.72.139.230 (talk) 19:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

I've copied the above to Talk:Ned Zelic; hopefully editors who follow that article will update it. If not, feel free to edit Ned Zelic yourself. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 20:38, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

grand theft auto(series)

what ever happened to the timeline of grand theft auto? was it removed? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.198.212.219 (talk) 19:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

Possibly deleted--SUIT^양복 19:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It was deleted; see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Timeline of Grand Theft Auto III canon Dave6 ^talk 22:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

If you're looking for it, the above-referenced deletion discussion says someone transwikied it to GTA Wiki. In general, computer-game enthusiasts seem far along on setting up their own wikis to store content deemed unencyclopedic by Wikipedia. So when will Google give us a search on all public wikis while excluding all non-user-editable sites? That would make it easier to track down all the transwikied articles. That might also cut down on the number of articles for deletion on Wikipedia, as people who want to make unencyclopedic articles here might find those articles already under construction elsewhere, and go help to edit them there. --Teratornis 04:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Choose what OS to boot from

Hi there! When I bought Vista a month ago I also got a new harddrive to install it on. When the new HDD was plugged in I just put in the Vista DVD and the installation went perfect. Since many drivers won't do well in Vista I was clever enough to keep XP on the other drive, the problem is just that I can't get my PC to boot it without opening the case and switching the SATA wires. I just want to be able to choose what OS to boot from, every time I start the PC. I know it will make me choose if there are two on the same HDD, but how should I do if they are on different drives? Help... :/ 213.64.150.116 20:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Please ask this question at the Reference desk - you'll find a link at the top of this page to the computer section, where someone will be happy to help you. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 20:39, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Usage

When should this dotted box be used? Clarityfiend 21:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe the only time you generally use that box is when demonstrating Wikimarkup. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 21:38, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It's also handy for demonstrating source code and command line examples. Many Unix program articles have examples which use the space indent style. A good one is in: Pipeline (Unix)#Example. A system administrator who wants to document system adminstration procedures on a corporate wiki will use lots and lots of those dotted boxes (speaking from personal experience there). Articles on Wikipedia which aren't about MediaWiki markup or computer programming or DOS or Unix or markup languages in general (such as HTML, XML, XSL, DocBook, etc.) or configuration files or some other computer science-y topic probably won't have much use for the dotted box. --Teratornis 03:49, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Crop image, public domain?

I want to crop this image's vertical sides. It is released as public domian by the City of San Diego. Do I have the legal right to edit the picture by cropping off part of the picture? Thanks -ChristopherMannMcKay 23:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes you do, as long as you still credit the creators of the image. -- Chairman S. Talk ^Contribs 23:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The disclaimer page seems to contradict itself:

"Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the City of San Diego Web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used with the City of San Diego's permission."

But:

"Using or modifying this site's materials and information for commercial or profit making purposes is prohibited and may violate the copyrights and/or other proprietary rights of the City of San Diego or third parties."

You should probably email them for clarification. --NE2 23:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying. As for the public domain, it says "commercial or profit making purposes" and Wikipedia is a non-profit -ChristopherMannMcKay 23:40, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

"Public domain" means unrestricted use. The text on the San Diego website was not written by a lawyer, because they would know that "public domain" means that you explicitly don't need permission. You're going to need to ask them. Mike Dillon 23:44, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, Wikipedia cannot use photos with non-commercial restrictions, non-profit only, etc. It must be released for all usages, without fee (but with credit is OK). Notinasnaid 23:51, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Sadly, this is not quite the case. "Public domain" means multiple things - whilst it is a term of art with regards to copyright law, it is used to mean other things in different contexts, and some of those may crop up in "reuse permission" situations. It may, and in many contexts does, mean that it is simply comprised of public information - it is not secret information, it is not information that is a trade secret, it is something that is "public knowledge". (Detailed CIA intel reports are, for example, public domain in that they cannot assert copyright, but they are certainly not "public domain" in that the information is not publicly known or able to be publicly disseminated). As such, it's a bad idea to jump to the conclusion that "public domain" is always and invariably a Magic No Copyright Incantation, regardless of the apparent intention of the author - and, to me, the apparent intention of the author is clearly not "copyright-PD" here, as they give usage restrictions in the same page. Shimgray | talk | 23:59, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Sure it means different stuff in other contexts, but in copyright statements, it generally means "public domain" in the copyright sense, not the public knowledge sense. That being said, it looks like we're in agreement that the licensing statement is ambiguous as worded and likely does not amount to actually releasing the image into the public domain in the sense that is needed for it to be usable on WP. The original image is probably not usable either, not just modified versions. Mike Dillon 00:05, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Can you delete questions

Can you delete questions that you have typed???????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.4.101.237 (talk • contribs)

You should not delete questions. Other people may have similar questions, and seeing your answers, may learn what they need. In time, questions on this page will be archived, and removed from here, but still kept. Notinasnaid 23:32, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

If you feel that you would like to let others know that you think the question should be removed, you can bracket it with <s> and </s>. This will put a line through the entire question, meaning that it has been struck through, but is still readable. Corvus cornix 17:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Making Recommendations to Wikipedia for Site Changes, & A Few Actual Recommendations Due to Not Having Another Place to Propose Them

I've searched all over the "contact us" & "questions" pages for a place to merely make suggestions, and was at a loss.

1) I really think such a place and easy means to find it should exist.

That is, there should be a forum for users to recommend improvements to Wikipedia.

And here are 3 of these recommendations, for a lack of a more appropriate place to post them:

2) Wikipedia should offer its users the option to mark certain articles as a 'favorite,' so while logged in, users can easily return to - via a list - any number of articles they personally value.

3) Wikipedia should have a "did you mean" feature when users search for a misspelled term, such as the one dictionary.com offers. If one looks up a word in dictionary.com and it is misspelled, the site offers several suggestions of words that the user may have meant to write. This will not only help people find the articles they are seeking, in an age where spelling is worsening due to computer spell checks, but will also help people find articles they seek that may be worded just a little differently than how they wrote their search term.

For example, 'Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis' is a word in the english language. But if one replaces the last vowel with an 'o' to yield: 'Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosos', then Wikipedia falls short of suggesting any similar terms.

4) Finally, Wikipedia should have an FAQ which allows a user to literally ask a question, and the site will direct the user to possible FAQ's that may answer their inquiry, based upon keywords in their question. Friendster.com has such an FAQ (when contacting customer service, any inquiry will be filtered through such a system).

Thank you Sincerely,

Danfogel 23:52, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, you can list proposals at the Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals) page. In response to your ideas though:

1. The page I listed above
2. You can add a page to your watchlist. There is a check box when editing or you can click the watch tab on the top of a page. Then just click on my watchlist at the top of the screen to see all changes to watched pages. To see the full list, while looking at the Watchlist page, click "View and edit the complete list"
3. I believe we did have something like this, but it took up too much server power. You can search Wikipedia through Google though.
4. This could be a good idea. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 23:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

• (^{Edit conflict})We actually have a number of those things, for instance, if you'll go to Special:Preferences, and click on the Watchlist tab, you'll see a number of options, there should also be a tab in the top right corner of you page that says watch, clicking that will add the page you're viewing to your Special:Watchlist--VectorPotential^Talk 00:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
• There is a searchable FAQ called Nubio. Can't remember who created it. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC)