Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 May 16

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May 16

IP address

Why does my IP address change every day? 161.130.178.143 (talk) 02:15, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

This is caused by your ISP (internet service provider) using a dynamic ip system with your internet connection. To make sure that your edits are accounted for, you should consider making an account.  A p3rson ‽ 02:19, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

If your home router is configured to assign dynamic IP addresses via the built-in DHCP server you will get different IP addresses assigned. Monterey Bay (talk) 03:26, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

The_Saturday_Big_Tent_Wedding_Party

Can someone please improve The_Saturday_Big_Tent_Wedding_Party article? It's a book by Alexander_McCall_Smith and the article needs to be cleaned up. I wrote a short summary. Neptunekh2 (talk) 04:29, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I wrote a short lead citing to an inline citation, stub tagged it, added a sort key and so on. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:25, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

How do I view a version itself insted of the differences between it and another version?

One of the articles I care about has what I think is a wrong piece of info, but I would be willing to be convinced otherwise. How can I view a version itself instead of its diffs, so I can see what, if any, reasons the person had for the insertion? JumpDiscont (talk) 05:28, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

If I understand your question correctly: in the Revision history page, click on the respective time/date link (immediately left of the username). Moondyne (talk) 05:43, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Hi ALL

Can anybody tell me about BECKHAM ( Football player) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Palpankajkumar (talk • contribs) 08:28, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

The article is named David Beckham. I recommend you glance at Help:Searching too. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:47, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

How long do copyright cases take?

Resolved

A week ago someone highlighted that Gayatri was possibly completely copied from a book. I added the violation template and followed instructions for notification expecting that it would be investigated promptly and either shown as a false allegation and the notice removed or the article deleted so that it can be started afresh. So far nothing has happened and the article is still blanked. Is this normal? -- Q Chris (talk) 08:43, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Yes, this is normal. According to the first two paragraphs at Wikipedia:Copyright problems, the tag is left alone for seven days to see if any interested editor(s) can fix the issues; only then does the article join the queue for the copyright specialists to tackle. Remember that they are volunteers too. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:57, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks - I was worried that it had been overlooked -- Q Chris (talk) 08:59, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Biographical Entries

Dear Wikipedia,

Is there a way that, starting at the beginning of the alphabet, I can look at every biographical entry in Wikipedia? I realize that there are probably tens of thousands of them. I would like to go through every one of them in alphabetical order with just one push/click of one button. In other words, what I'm looking for is to be able to look at what would be just an encyclopedia of biographies. Hope you can help.

Ken Warren —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.217.147.246 (talk) 10:32, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

This category, Category:WikiProject Biography articles, will get you the closest to it. It is probably missing some and it has some articles that aren't necessarily about specific people but it will get you close. Hope this helps. ps, this category will take you to the talk page of the article. GB fan (talk) 10:55, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

"The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 905,722 total". At one a second, that's more than ten days. Get clicking! -- John of Reading (talk) 10:57, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Hmm that seems to include a lot of false-positives, bands and so forth. Category:Living people should contain just people, although it has the drawback of just including, well, living people. I think 523,588 entries would still be a good enough start, then you could move on to Category:1850 births, Category:1851 births or whichever year takes your fancy. doomgaze (talk) 11:37, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Citation template for online dictionaries

Is there a citation template to reference information from online dictionaries like this? bamse (talk) 11:36, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Since each word seems to have its own URL, I'd just use {{cite web}} -- John of Reading (talk) 11:43, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

{{Cite encyclopedia}} includes dictionaries. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:20, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. bamse (talk) 16:23, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

A few things to discuss

1. I wrote one sentence for Precious and the Puggies a childern's book by Alexander McCall Smith. Could someone please improve the article?
2. Would it be fair to place Eli Wallach under the category: American people of Jewish descent since the article says Wallach came from a Jewish family?
3. I think something needs to added to the Holly Marie Combs. It says in at Tv.com on Holly's mother, has worked as an actress and a singer and that her stepfather is a musician. It also says the Holly and her mother lived near the beach in San Diego until Holly was eight. Could that info be added in Holly's article?
4. These are 2 links talking about a novella More Than Weird which is by English author Martyn Godfrey: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/martyn-godfrey/more-than-weird.htm http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol16no4/morethanweird.html Would those links be enough reason to undelete it?
5. The Martyn Godfrey needs some improvement. Can someone improve it?
6. It says right here that Dorothy Dandridge is of mixed descent: http://ethnicelebs.com/dorothy-dandridge Should that info be added in?
7. Its says on this website that Halle Berry has some Russian German, and Irish heritage: http://ethnicelebs.com/halle-berry Should that be added in? Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 11:42, 16 May 2011 (UTC)
8. Should Transamerica (film) go under the category Category:Jewish LGBT-related films since the main character is half-Jewish? Please let me know your opinions on these subjects. Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 11:47, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

(Reformatted to use an ordered list by use of # markup)

1. Expand it at The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series until it gets big enough to split.
2. Discuss on the article talk page.
3. TV.com is not a reliable source.
4. Define "it."
5. Look at the article history and see who has edited it. Perhaps they can help.
6. Discuss on the article talk page. What makes EthniCelebs.com a reliable source?
7. ditto
8. Discuss on the article talk page.

You really need to read Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources— sites such as IMDb. NNDb, TV.com and the like are not considered reliable sources. The article tqalk page is the proper venue for a lot of these questions. Please open only one discussion in one place— see WP:MULTI. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 12:47, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Editing References within the Notes-Section

Resolved

Hi,

I want to edit a url mentioned in the Notes-Section of the following page: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen_and_the_%22Other_Band%22_Tour"

However all I get to see is the following code:

==Notes==
<references />

I think I need the edit the Reference-section, but how do I get there?

Note 1 needs to be changed "See "Brucebase 1992–94". brucebase.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-27." The website does not exsist anymore, and has been transferred to "http://brucebase.wikispaces.com/1992+list".

Regards, Danny — Preceding unsigned comment added by D vdlinden (talk • contribs) 12:05 (UTC), 16 May 2011

The details of the reference are in the section from which the reference is called up. One easy way of getting there is to click on the caret character (^) alongside the reference number. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:10, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

In this case, as the reference is called up from the lede, there isn't an edit button specifically for that section, so merely click on the edit tab at the top of the article. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:12, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 12:29, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Marked as 'resolved', see [1].  Chzz  ►  03:24, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Space Blanket

Regarding your article on the "Space Blanket," the term "Space Blanket" is a registered trademark of Grabber, Inc. and has not been properly cited in your article. I would suggest you contact Grabber's marketing director to insure accuracy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.129.122.250 (talk) 13:11, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

The article is about the generic "space blanket" and not about the trademarked product. – ukexpat (talk) 13:37, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

(beat me to it) The article is about the generic object, a space blanket, also known as a mylar blanket, an emergency blanket and so on. It is not about any one company's specific blanket and the company you cite appears to sell theirs under the name of "Grabber Space Emergency Blanket". CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 13:42, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Mylar® to be accurate... – ukexpat (talk) 13:48, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

To be more exact, their trade mark is just the one word 'SPACE'. --Aspro (talk) 14:04, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, just naively copying from the lead to the space blanket article. I take it this means that the m should be capitalized?

Thanks, Aspro. CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 14:58, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

In theory yes as it is a registered trademark, but in fact Mylar is often misused when the generic is appropriate. I guess it is less of a mouthful than Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate.  – ukexpat (talk) 15:11, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Wow, that was quick, good job ukexpat. CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 15:41, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

So can the OP please come back and say, if he is satisfied with our NPOV that this is just a Blanket term :-)--Aspro (talk) 20:35, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh no you didn't just do that... – ukexpat (talk) 15:55, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Defamation of character to Adrian Riglesford

Dear Wikipedia,

the listing detailed below is not a true accurate description and due what has been written has caused the individual loss of earnings.

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

He was acquitted, he never stole the figure suggested, in fact he never stole anything. It was theft by finding and this finding was in an old skip outside the Daily Mail. Legally, you are allowing your search engine data to defame Mr Riglesford. Can you take this data off to stop any further offence by the article.

If the information appears again by unsavoury individuals I would appreicate their IP details for my legal advisor.

Kind regards

Helen Solomon —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.82.229.195 (talk) 14:25, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but we're only quoting what was published here. If you have an issue, you may want to read this section for the best way to address it. If you have additional reliable sources that provide further information (acquittal, etc.), we can help you add them to the article. TNXMan 14:34, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

And please take a look at WP:No legal threats. – ukexpat (talk) 14:54, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

And reported not just by the BBC (link above), but also by the Guardian and by HM Courts Service. - David Biddulph (talk) 15:08, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

And curiously a google search using the words "adrian rigelsford acquitted" returns exactly 0 results. How odd! CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 15:36, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Heh. I tried the same thing earlier. I got a few hits, but nothing that seemed relevant.--SPhilbrickT 16:28, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Also, in the word 'appreciate' it is i before e except after c and we are Wikipedia!--Aspro (talk) 16:00, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Also, it's "Rigelsford", not "Riglesford". a_man_alone (talk) 16:36, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Valid points, to be sure, but let's not lose sight of the fact that the allegations in the article are quite serious, and should there be exculpatory material in a reliable source, we would endeavor to correct the article.--SPhilbrickT 18:29, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I have trimmed the article down some. TNXMan 18:39, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

True, but the point being not-so-subtly made by myself (and probably Aspro) was that the article (as far as reliable sources are concerned,) was correct - more correct in fact than the above statement concerning it. a_man_alone (talk) 18:43, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

@Sphilbrick, right, but as a man alone points out, and please see my google search above, there is nothing to corroborate the claims made by the OP anywhere on the web. I even searched the BBC website to check that the "acquitted" article wasn't lost somewhere in the Google search results, of which there where 0, using quotes for the three terms.

@Sphilbrick again, if you search without enclosing the terms in quotes you get aggregator sites that seem to steal the search results and point to their site, but when you get there, there is nothing about what you wish to read, just videos or viagra! My 2.5¢. CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 19:36, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Do we knead a knew template like this [2] and purhaps anothor won four those that can't spel?--Aspro (talk) 20:20, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Aspro, ewe must be board to post sumfink like dis (naa dis ain't a dis like, y'a'right!). CaptainScreebo ^Parley! 22:32, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I googled appreicate and got 215 million results.

Honk iphu liek mi spelinng. 217.254.167.126 (talk) 07:32, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Source for picture of Mary Lee actress/singer 1945/46

Your page that tells about the actress/singer Mary Lee does not have a picture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Lee_(actor) There is one on ebay auction if you are interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MARY-LEE-Original-Hand-Autographed-Photo-1945-6-/380338912689?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588df73db1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.8.49.71 (talk) 16:35, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, but it's hard to see how this is any use to Wikipedia: somebody would need to buy it, determine who had the copyright, and persuade them to release it under a suitable licence before it could be used on Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 18:45, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Actually, as the subject is now deceased, it may be useable under fair use rules. Mjroots (talk) 11:25, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Keeping template examples on user page

I would like to keep information about the templates I use most often on one of my user pages. Is it ok to have a small collection of templates there that call for improvements to problems (for example one asking for citations) even though my user page obviously does not need references? I've seen template collections on other user pages, but wasn't sure it was ok.

Also how do I show the coding for a template without displaying the template? I'd also like to bold the examples since I do most of my editing with a smaller screen. (I saw an example of showing simple template code in bold but now I can't find it to see how it was done.) I'm not trying to list anything more than simple ones like Template:non-existent template

Thanks Cloveapple (talk) 17:05, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

If you use <nowiki>{{template}}</nowiki> then the template should not display. Then like this to make it bold.. {{template}} --Aspro (talk) 17:18, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

If you use {{tp|cite web}} then you get a clickable link to the template documenation: {{cite web}}. Admittedly that's a blue link, not bold... -- John of Reading (talk) 17:44, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

For more general article-creation templates try something I made a while back: {{Quicktemplates}}. They're all arranged in a collapsible unobtrusive table. I have a more advanced version in my user page: {{User:Obsidian Soul/quicktemplates}}, but it's tailored to what I use the most. You can copy the code to a subpage of yours and edit it if you want to.

To use the template in your userpage, simply add {{Quicktemplates}} on it and it will show up as it does on Template:Quicktemplates.

As for the rest, in addition to {{tp|TEMPLATENAME}} you can also use {{tlx|TEMPLATENAME}} which has expanded characters for better readability (compare {{cite web}} with {{cite web}}). They provide you with the template code that can easily be copied unto pages as well as links to their documentations. Cheers.-- Obsidi♠n^Soul 18:11, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Talk Page email notification

Resolved

Now, I am getting an email every time someone edits my User talk page. How do I stop this?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 17:08, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Preferences - E-mail options - untick "Email me when talk page..." a_man_alone (talk) 17:13, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 17:45, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Autobiography

I just stumbled upon Wikipedia:Autobiography and it was stated there that I might consider visiting the help desk when there are some autobiography related problems with my article. I've just been told to stop writing my article Till Kraemer due to autobiography issues. I honestly tried to be as neutral as possible, sourced and cited everything but maybe it's still not neutral enough, I don't know. Can someone please be so kind and take a look at the article and if necessary "neutralize" it, and by neutralize I don't mean delete ;) Thanks + cheers, --Till Kraemer (talk) 20:17, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Maybe WP:PORNBIO will help. Astronaut (talk) 05:37, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Astronaut, thanks for the link, but it seems like the main problem isn't notability but neutrality. Cheers, --Till Kraemer (talk) 08:04, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

publication

I have rewriten my article a few times now and i do not understand why it sounds like an advertisement for one and two why are my sources not valid. I found all my source on the internet for primany sources that shows the envolvment of EnviroSupply in the Environmental community. I have made it clear of the importance of this company be that it has A.) been in business with in this industry for 20 years and has be operational with less than 20 employees that services the U.S. which is no easy task for a small businss. I have looked at other business that have been publish on wiki and i do not see any difference other than they are a fortune 500 company. Do you mean to tell me that small business that have been around for 20 years that have helped these fortune 500 companies are not valid to put into an encyclopedia? maybe i am using words that make this sound like and advertisement and would like an example. and if you could please tell my why my sourse are not valid it would appercite it. here is my article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Envirosupply_%26_Service,_Inc.

This is prob. the right link: Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Envirosupply_&_Service,_Inc.--Aspro (talk) 20:50, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

As this is your first attempt to create an article on Wikipedia, I suggest things may become clearer if you read COI, Wikipedia:Neutral point of view and Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources. "Do you mean to tell me... etc"' - This is an encyclopaedia not a trade mag.--Aspro (talk) 20:59, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

File:Buckie Harbour.jpg

Please restore this file which has been deleted from Commons - the permission is specific to en.wiki. Finavon (talk) 20:32, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

New Page Search/ Link on separate page going elsewhere

A page I recently created called "Trevor Clark (Author)", doesn't come up in a search. Also, when I click on the name "Trevor Clark" on the page "List of Fiction Set in Toronto", it goes to a previously-deleted page about someone else. How can I direct it to the one I created? (Perhaps there's just a waiting period before things fall into place.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lotus1029 (talk • contribs) 21:30, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I moved your article, Trevor Clark (Author), to Trevor Clark. There is no need for the disambiguation (Author) since there is no other Trevor Clark in the encyclopedia. Sometimes it takes a while for items to show up in the search and you created the article yesterday so it should be there in a day or so. GB fan (talk) 21:51, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lotus1029 (talk • contribs) 05:56, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

New categories

At the outset, I confess to finding categories to be a pain in the butt. However, that bias aside, I have a couple of questions that I'm too tired to figure out on my own. When a new category is created, is it automatically reviewed by anyone? If not, is there a way to have it reviewed, not proposes for deletion, just to open up a discussion on its usefulness? WP:CFD appears to be tilted towards deletion, merging, or renaming.

To put this in more concrete terms, take a look at Category:Showbiz TV shows, which was recently created and then added to The Dick Van Dyke Show article by the category's creator.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:58, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Help needed to restore file

Resolved

 – – Athaenara ✉ 06:49, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

• File:IMG 2002.JPG (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

This file, originally uploaded by BillyKwiki (talk · contribs), was replaced and then blanked in successive edits by Sjstoewe (talk · contribs). I tried to restore it after Velella (talk · contribs) tagged it {{db-g7}} but my edit restored only the image description, not the original image. I don't know enough about images to fix this, can someone please do it? Thanks. – Athaenara ✉ 22:02, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I can't fix it for you (assuming it should be fixed, which I haven't checked), but the original image was archived here. Sure is pretty.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:10, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Looks OK to me. Please tag it with {{rename media}} with a descriptive name instead of the generic. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 22:14, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I've reverted to the version uploaded in 2006. It is really advisable to have it renamed as Gadget850 has pointed out. Jarkeld (talk) 22:17, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Fast work, thank you! – Athaenara ✉ 22:21, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

After it was tagged for renaming to File:View of Cap Wabao, Maré Island.jpg and transfer to Commons, it was established there and the local copy deleted. – Athaenara ✉ 06:49, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Can't use my username for publishing articles

Hi, I use the username "SixSigmaGuy" as a pseudonym for all my online publishing and have used it for at least 10 years. I am pretty sure that I created an account on Wikipedia a long time ago using that username, but the email address I would have used is no longer available and I never published any articles on Wikipedia. I'm ready to publish one now, but I can't seem to log on using "SixSigmaGuy" as I don't remember the password. I can't reset the password because the email address is no longer valid. Finally, I can't create a new account using that username because I'm told that the name already exists; of course, I think the one that already exists is mine, but I can't access it. Actually, since your usernames are case sensitive, the name that already exists is "Sixsigmaguy" not "SixSigmaGuy", but still, it says they are too similar.

I have done a search in all areas of Wikipedia and cannot find a single thing published by "Sixsigmaguy," or any reference to any activity at all using that username. Is there some way I can continue using "SixSigmaGuy" under these circumstances.

Naturally, I realize there is a chance that someone else really did create a username of "Sixsigmaguy" and never used it. If that's the case, I won't contest it, although, I would like an opportunity to contact the person to see if they'd be willing to give it up since they've never done anything with it. But, I'm pretty sure it's me who created it.

Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.206.253.233 (talk) 22:51, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

User:SixSigmaGuy is not a registered name on wikipedia. You should be able to click here and create the username. GB fan (talk) 23:03, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

There is a User:SixSigma (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs). Is that you? —teb728 t c 00:15, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Note, usernames are case-sensitive. "SixSigmaGuy" does not exist, but trying to create it yourself would fail, as it is too similar to Sixsigmaguy (talk · contribs) - which was created in 2007, and has made 0 edits.

Perhaps you could log in as "Sixsigmaguy"?

Otherwise, you could request "SixSigmaGuy" via account creation, and it could be created (and a password emailed to you) despite the caps similarity, because the other account is old, and has not been used.  Chzz  ►  03:01, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Alternatively, even if you did not create 'Sixsigmaguy', because it has made no edits maybe you could successfully WP:USURP that username. Astronaut (talk) 05:21, 17 May 2011 (UTC)