WikiPedia:Village pump (assistance)

Postcard image in Public Domain

Is an image on a postcard, sent through the US mail, considered in the Public Domain? Does this have the same fair use exception as a book cover?

The person or entity that created the artwork and/or text on the card would retain copyright, unless they were an employee of the U.S. government, copyright has run out, or in some cases if the materials were originally public domain. Books and postcards are used for different purposes, so fair use might be construed differently. Fair use images seem to be discouraged on Wikipedia. -- Beland 03:52, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

New articles posted, blatanly copied word-for-word from a web site that comes up listed first in Google...options?

I was viewing the 500 newest articles, and I found that one anon user in particular, was posting new articles that were copied directly from a copyrighted web site, word-for-word, that was the first result in Google for the subject of the article.

I have watch-listed the ones that I could find, most of the articles have the notice of wikified and need of attention.

An example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr_Muhammad_bin_al-Husain_al-Aajurree_al-Baghdaadee

and if you search the name "Abu Bakr Muhammad bin al-Husain al-Aajurree al-Baghdaadee" in Google, and click on the first result, you will get the same thing from the Web site that is in the Wiki article.

My question is what are our/my options? Can I VFD this, since it is a word-for-word copyright violation?

Thank you,
Srcrowl 09:02, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC)

• see Template:copyvio and Wikipedia:Copyright problems <>Who?¿? 09:04, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Thank you...Srcrowl 09:15, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC)

Trollish / Vandalish / Sockpuppetish User. How to deal with this?

The user BrowardDon has been repeatedly posting nonsensical votes in the VFDs, adding nonsensical information to articles, and creating articles based on people with no notability whatsoever (though apparent personal connections). He may be a sockpuppet of BrowardPlaya.

I have no experience with things like this at all, and the Wikipedia:... pages are not being very helpful. What can be done, should I post his name somewhere, what? -- Consumed Crustacean | Talk | 02:41, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

BrowardPlaya is very obviously the same as User:Broward_something_else_again (sorry, I forget), who I noticed a week or so ago, amusing himself by writing nonsense and puerile threats about "bitches" etc. etc. Sorry, can't be of more help. -- Hoary 03:22, 2005 Jun 16 (UTC)

• The place to mention it is Vandalism in progress, as adding nonsensical information to articles is a form of vandalism. Since it's rather backlogged, you may want to try the admin noticeboard instead, or in this particular case you could notify me on my talk page since I've already permablocked two or three of his sockpuppets. Radiant_>|< 12:32, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

• In addition, if this is an urgent case, you could post it at WP:AIV. Flcelloguy Missing image
  Bass_clef2.gif
  Cello today?
  
  Give me a note! Missing image
  Eighth_note2.gif
  d.c. al fine?
  
  Desk 15:06, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Template assistance

When I searched for the accounting firm in the Enron scandal, I looked up Arthur Anderson. I quickly realized I was not where I wanted to be. What I actually needed was Arthur Andersen. "-En" as opposed to "-on". I thought that there'd be a template to add to the "-on" article which would direct me to what I was actually looking for. I haven't found one though (though I did add some text to redirect the next bad speller). Is there a template for homophones? Or are people just to be the victims of their own inability to spell? And yes, I checked the template page but didn't find anything. Thanks, Dismas 03:40, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You could try Template:For. A good place to find templates is Wikipedia:Template messages. Bovlb 04:58, 2005 Jun 17 (UTC)

Thanks! That's what I was looking for! Dismas 13:12, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How do I investigate sockpuppets?

I have noticed suspicious parallels between the conduct of two accounts. I have clear evidence that, if they are indeed the same person, they have been used to mislead other users and frustrate Wikipedia policy. Where do I go from here? Susvolans (pigs can fly) 12:33, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It depends. do you think it is an arbcom issue?Geni 00:42, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It may be. The two accounts cast a number of double votes, and there is further behaviour implying contempt for the Wiki process. Susvolans (pigs can fly) 12:02, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Too Much?

I've been working on the Stanley Park page a bit, as you can see in the history. I'm just wondering if I'm flooding the history a bit too much with multiple, minor-ish changes. Should I be doing more work in a word editing program and then entering it all at once or is my method OK? I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I like to fiddle until it looks just right. Zhatt 19:15, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The best solution is to use the preview button. Meelar (talk) 20:30, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC)

I do use the preview button (quite often in fact), but you will notice some of the edits are over half an hour apart. The edits are unrelated. The time in between is spent researching or time spent not on Wikipedia. Thanks for the tip anyways. Zhatt 21:28, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It's a bit much for my taste, but isn't a problem. Things get ugly when people apparently don't know how to use preview. They write a sentence, save. Correct their spelling, save. Write another sentence, save. You saved ten times in two hours where you doubled the length of the article. Don't worry about it. -- Cyrius|✎ 00:34, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

OK. Thank you very much for your reassurance. Zhatt 05:09, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I usually do my major editing in Microsoft Word because it has an auto-spellcheck (and I tend to type very fast, resulting in minor spelling errors). If you're doing research while writing (I do that too), I would suggest an outside editor, but be careful when you post your version that you don't accidentally undo unrelated changes that have been made in the meantime. (If you copy the text to your word processor to make changes, then copy the text back onto the website, any changes made while you were editing would be "covered up" by your copy.) Also, using an outside editor is less likely to cause the dreaded "edit conflict" screen. -- Essjay · Talk 11:48, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)

I urge you use a text editor rather than a word processor, as you could accidentally introduce bastard codes for special characters. I use Word Tab Pro, but there is a freebie version Word Tab Lite. Many of my contributions are new articles created from scratch, and take me several days or week to research and finish before posting, so arfe stored on my hard drive. Keep up the good work! Apwoolrich 12:00, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

If you add your code as you type (I don't, I wait until I paste it then use the toolbar buttons, with the exception of brackets) using an editor would be a good idea. I've never had to use special text characters (like Ð, Ç, or É), but if I did, I'd wait to do it with the box on the page. -- Essjay · Talk 13:13, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)

One thing I forgot is that if you use Firefox (Hint, Hint) as your browser, there are plugins for right clicking access to both a dictionary and coding panels for very slick use in editing. Also, there is a plug in for Note Tab with the basic Wiki formating markups. The ASCII special character codings are also avialable as standard in Note Tab. Hope this helps. Apwoolrich 14:39, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I just started using Firefox last week (because of Wikipedia, behold the power of the wiki!), and I downloaded one of those plugins yesterday, but I haven't really used it yet. (I'm stuck on the "old" way, I guess.) I'll go looking for others. Thanks! (And I hope between the two of us we answered the original question, because we seem to have taken over the thread... :-> ) -- Essjay · Talk 16:20, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)

Correction - My brains are addled. For Word Tab in my earlier post, please read Note Tab :( Apwoolrich 18:32, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes. You can consider my original question thoroughly answered. Zhatt 21:13, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Can I translate something from a copyrighted material and put the translation in Wikipedia as a part of an article?

I'm new and I don't know where to find the answer to that question. So please help.

No, this would be a copyrigt violation. -83.129.28.216 14:47, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Not even quoting while stating the reference clearly? sentausa 15:32, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

A very small section may be usable under fair use. Remember that giving credit is not a blank check to use any material you want in any way you like. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:53, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

As far as I know, we don't do fair use with text at all. You can quote a small passage and mark it as such (say, for a literal quotation of some famous person), but if all you need is the information contained in some source, put it in your own words and credit the source as a reference. Rl 07:15, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Sentusa, you can simply reword the paragraph, change the sentences around, summarize it. Short quotes (one to three sentences) are ok but rarely used in Wikipedia. And a word by word translation would be a copyvio. Which article are you trying to work on?--Fenice 09:47, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Fair use is how you can use those small quoted passages. -- Cyrius|✎ 09:51, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Log/2005 June 19

Why are there no edit links on the Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Log/2005 June 19 page? RickK 20:48, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)

Solved, see Wikipedia talk:Votes for deletion#Edit links and Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Votes for deletion problems. --cesarb 22:19, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How to remove a redirect

Someone has created a redirect from the surname (surname alone) of Federer which takes you immediately to Roger Federer who is apparently a tennis player, as if he is the only person with that surname. I was looking for someone else, entered Federer in the search box, and pressed Go, rather than Search, as I suspected that that would take me immediately to the Search mode, but I was wrong in this case. Can someone remove that redirect? There will be other significant people with that surname ... Eilthireach 00:02, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

If you want to remove the redirect, type in the name (Federer) and press go. It will redirect you to Roger Federer, and a blue link will appear at the top, under the heading, that says "redirected from Federer." Click on this link, which will take you to the Federer page, then delete the redirect. Make sure you replace the text with something (probably a disambig). If you don't have text to replace the redirect with, then don't remove the redirect; list the page on RfD instead. -- Essjay · Talk 00:41, Jun 20, 2005 (UTC)

With a redirect already in place, the only sensible thing is to either keep it or to make a disambig out of it. Why lose the link to Roger Federer just to kick in search mode? If you really are disappointed about the redirect (like in this case), you can just search again, pressing 'search'. — Sverdrup 10:43, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

identifying someone

I have heard. or read, that Juana D'Armagnac, Princess of Aragon, who married Matthieu de Foix did not, after all, die childless but that there was a son, nicknamed "Juan Franchos", who left for Scandinavia and produced two daughters there.

Is there any verifiation of this highly romantic event?

It is highly conceivable that an heir from the first marriage for political reasons may have been hidden, or other-wise disposed of, in favor of expected heirs from the second marriage with Violant de Bar.

The only information on this that I have found has come fom Finn Asbjorn Wang of Norway but I have lost contact with this source.

I really have no clue. I've copied this over to the Reference desk. Hopefully someone there has the resources or knowledge to answer this question. Hope that helps you! Master Thief Garrett^Talk 14:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Transwiki-ing

Going through articles that need to be Wikified, and I'm pretty sure Excel FAQ should be a prime Wikibooks candidate. I've never transwikied anything, so could someone do it, then explain what they did so I know in future? Couldn't find a 'How To Transwiki' guide anywhere. Thanks. Proto 13:07, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Try transwiki. -- Essjay · Talk 01:22, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)

Sock puppet notification

I've added a sockpuppet template to User:Bloghate because I suspect he's one (see his list of edits) but what else can I do to help deal with this user? He hasn't made any contributions beyond Votes for Deletion and is becoming a major nuisance. --TNLNYC 14:25, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You could mention him at Vandalism in Progress. -- Essjay · Talk 01:17, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)

Account Comprimised

My account was comprimised, along with someone elses I know, over the last two to three days. I would like to find IP logs related to my account. This is of the uptmost importance as extremely sensetive data may have been compromised. Diskadia 06:17, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• If you've got a fixed IP, you could try checking the contributions of that IP. You can find out what your IP is by editing something while not logged in and checking the history. Don't forget to change your password. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:08, Jun 22, 2005 (UTC)

Ethene Industry History

Ethene Industry History

Hi, im doing a chemistry assignment and im having trouble finding information on the history of ethene. I was wandering if anybody could drop me a link or point me in the right direction? Ive been trying different searches in various search engines for hours and everything ive got is off this page, which is only really to do with its naming. Jon tuesday june 21st 2005

try Wikipedia:Reference deskGeni 12:35, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For starters, you'll likely have better luck searching under the name ethylene. The name ethene is almost unused in industry, and trying to search using it is going to affect your results. -- Cyrius|✎ 18:51, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Images

• How do you edit a page to replace an image with another of your own images?

Just upload an image with the same filename as the one you want to replace -- however I wouldn't advise this unless you have a really compelling reason why the old image should be replaced. Evil Monkey∴Hello 08:43, Jun 22, 2005 (UTC)

• Alternatively, you could change the code in the article to point to another image. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:06, Jun 22, 2005 (UTC)

Image/editor dispute related problem

We, a few people using a common nickname Gabrichidze have uploaded the number of artworks to illustrate the articles about "Flying Dutchman", "Mermaid", "Limbo", "Geopolitics","Coffee shop", "Online journalism", and some others. The image was also offered to the Plato section, but rejected by some other wkipedians; currently thereis a poll about keeping the image at the Plato page.

In a same time the article "Caucasophobia" was created by one of our group, theme of this article was the prejudice against ethnic Caucasians in Russian Federation. For our surprise this article inspired an outrage from one of the wikipedia admins, User:Mikkalai:see the VfD and talk page of the article for details. Suddenly after aparticularly harsh discussion at the caucasophobia VfD and talk thread the whole graphic content which could be associated with the author of the article(both related and absolutely not related to it) was suddenly deleted by this admin with a small tag saying "Del copyrighted image", dispute he fact that each image had a fair use tag. Admin had not contacted uploaded about this, had not offered any other solution(like change of copyright status if fair use is no longer valid), had refused to communicate about the solution at the talk page so far. One of the images Chess revolution was also removed from Featured picture candidates without consent or warning.

Images are re-uploaded and returned to the sufficient articles, but of course there is a chance that the whole situation will repeat itself. Our question is what the solution might be to avoid the editors war and how can we stop this admin following the wikipedia rules?

Also the account of one of the new user user:elle20 who participated at the discussion against User:Mikkalai was blocked without explanation. What are the strategy to solve the conflict between usial user and admin? Gabrichidze 2 : 44, June 22 UTC

A number of statements above are false.

• The deleted images was tagged "allowed for use in wikipedia".
• And the user was warned at his talk page by at least two persons that this is inadmisible and suggested to read the corresponding policies carefully, which was evidently ignored.
• Only after deletion of images they re-uploaded and tagged them by "fair use".
• User:Elle20 has no contributions.
• The images were not deleted "suddenly". The user was warned well in advance, and not only by me.

I did the deletion after several editors expresset concern that Gabrichidze spams multiple articles with his paintings, which are neither of informative, nor historical value; see Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Gabrichidze.

Instead of following the rules of wikipedia the user prefers personal attacks, not the first time. mikka (t) 06:39, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Funny, isn't it, how a self-proclaimed newbie can know the intricacies of VfD, FPC and WP:SOCK, yet can be totally unaware of such basic principles as WP:CIV and WP:NPA. Radiant_>|< 14:52, Jun 22, 2005 (UTC)

suggestions for dealing with a revert war

I wonder if anyone can give any suggestions for dealing with a revert war that began on Apartheid, and now appears to have spilled over into Johannesburg and South Africa. I am not a party to the dispute, but it's having an indirect effect on the History of South Africa article, which I've done some work on. The situation has some unusual features that are new to me, at least, and I'm not sure what is the best mechanism for handling it. The problem began as a revert war on the Apartheid page, concerning an anonymous editor's addition of a statement that Jews were one of the groups that initially came to South Africa from Europe. Everyone agrees that the statement is factually correct, but the anon's opponents say that it is not notable, and is intended as a way of introducing a certain POV to the article. The Apartheid article is currently protected, but soon after it was protected, anonymous edits were done to the Johannesburg and South Africa articles, with some of the edits involving profanity and anti-semitism. Blocking IPs doesn't seem to be an option, since the anon or anons are coming in from a lot of different IPs; one of the anons insists that some of the other anonymous edits were not done by him, and believes they were a hoax by his opponents in an attempt to discredit him. It doesn't make sense to protect a large number of articles, and it's also getting in the way of attempts to improve the History of South Africa article, which has gotten too long, by splitting off parts of it into Apartheid. Any suggestions?--Bcrowell 15:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In my opinion, the vandalism is not related to the Apartheid discussion which has nothing to do with "Anti-Semitism". The vandalism is either being faked to generate emotional responses, or it is random.69.217.123.174 16:31, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

69.217.123.174, it's going to get confusing pretty fast if you post here anonymously, in the context of a debate about which anonymous editors are doing what using which dynamic IPs. Are you the anonymous editor who has been involved in the revert war on the Apartheid article? --Bcrowell 16:40, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Help with an article

What do I do with the article Creole English? Is this article not necessary? Should it be deleted? I'm not an expert on dialects of English but I noticed on List of dialects of the English language that there is a section on Pidgins and Creoles. Two articles link to Creole English: Trinidadian Creole English and Tobagonian Creole English. Both articles say that they are both dialects of Creole English. Should we include Creole English on List of dialects of the English language article? Please help. Thanks. ---User:Hottentot

The easiest way to find out is to list it at VfD. If you don't think it should be deleted, contact the Cleanup Taskforce. -- Essjay · Talk 07:34, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)