Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 September 26

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September 26

Copying Wikipedia text

Can I copy and paste content from Wikipedia for my homework and say I wrote it? Is this illegal? Will my teacher know? --Signpost Invert (talk) 00:27, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I gave your question a heading... And yes, it is illegal when you copy something without giving credit. It's called copyright infringement. And your teacher will likely know since it won't "sound" like something you wrote. Dismas|^(talk) 00:41, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

In addition, your school likely has an anti-plagiarism policy, and you will get in big trouble there, too. Many teachers won't accept Wikipedia information even with a citation. - Purplewowies (talk) 04:32, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Anybody may freely copy material from Wikipedia, for any purpose; but you must say where it came from. See WP:Reusing Wikipedia content. --ColinFine (talk) 08:33, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

The poster has been blocked as a sockpuppet. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:21, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Copyright waiving

The Guardian says that Psy has waived his right to the music video of "Gangnam Style" -- this means the video is in the public domain right? --Sp33dyphil ©^hat_ontributions 04:46, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

It may or may not. "Waiving copyright" is a bit vague, and may cover several legally different actions. --ColinFine (talk) 08:38, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

How do I edit the ADHD Wikipedia article?

Dear Wikipedia, How do I edit the ADHD Wikipedia article? It states that the causes of ADHD are unknown when they have been known for many years. Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and stimulants that increase the concentration of dopamine in the brain have been used for over a decade to treat ADHD. There is a severe genetic flaw in individuals that have ADHD that prevents their brains from producing enough norepinephrine or dopamine thus causing the symptoms that we all know and read about. Please help me change the ADHD article to reflect this. I have been held back my entire life as a result of having severe ADHD. I take Atomoxetine to increase the concentration of norepinephrine in my brain so that I can concentrate, sit still and complete simple daily tasks. It's so obvious to me where ADHD comes from - it's clearly a genetic defect that is 75% heritable; it's clear that said defect affects the production of two of the three key neurotransmitters in the brain. Not producing normal levels of norepinephrine or dopamine is what causes ADHD. The causes of ADHD thus are known. Sincerely, Adam — Preceding unsigned comment added by BostonBruins1924 (talk • contribs) 04:58, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Do you have access to reliable sources which discuss what you have said here? --Jayron32 05:53, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Unfortunately the ADHD article had to be semiprotected to protect it from vandalism. This means that you cannot edit it until you have ten edits to Wikipedia. Even then as Jayron says, to change the article you would need to cite published reliable sources; your personal experience does not count as a source. Have you read the Psychiatric Bulletin article cited as a source of the statement that the specific causes of ADHD are not known? —teb728 t c 06:06, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

You can discuss the article at Talk:Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. See Help:Using talk pages. Note it has 21 talk page archives linked at the top. An archive search of "cause" shows that causes have already been discussed a lot. Many disorders don't have a single cause for everybody. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:12, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Image question

If I were to create a work using the four squares/diamonds in this image and upload it to a Wikimedia site, would the work be public domain because of the fact that it's a geometric shape, or would it still be copyrighted? - Purplewowies (talk) 05:35, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Or, more accurately, my question is whether those squares alone are {{PD-shape}} - Purplewowies (talk) 05:38, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I would redirect that question to Wikipedia:Media copyright questions CTF83! 10:07, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Are you saying you will do it/have done it or are you suggesting to the OP to do so? "I would do.." is often an ambigious phrase. Roger (talk) 13:56, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I did it, and the issue is already resolved. - Purplewowies (talk) 16:12, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Resolved

About anonymous users

Hy to all.
I am an anonymous Italian user who doesn't intend to create an account. So why in en.wiki anonymous users cannot create pages? In it.wiki this is possible and, frankly, I see no reason to prevent this functionality to IPs. There are admins and you can easily undo vandalism and pages created just to vandalize can be erased in an instant. So why not give a chance to the anonymous users? Thank you. --91.81.249.144 (talk) 11:04, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I don't know the history of the Italian Wikipedia but the English Wikipedia had a lot of problems with articles created by IPs when it was possible. Creating an account is free, easy, doesn't require personal information, and has other benefits than being able to create articles directly. Unregistered users can use Wikipedia:Articles for creation. Each Wikpedia language decides its own rules. Some languages are more restrictive toward IP's than English. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:04, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

To answer your question directly, the specific reason IPs cannot create pages is here. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 12:59, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Anna Maryniak Wikipedia Page

Anna Maryniak has requested that the Wikipedia page with information about her be deleted. I have tried to do so as the creator of the page and am unable to do so. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DianaZbysia (talk • contribs) 11:10, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

That is not an acceptable reason to delete an article. Roger (talk) 11:31, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

If the article creator is the only substantial contributor then they can request deletion as author. It doesn't apply in this case because the page history [1] shows many other contributors since you created it. You or somebody else has to nominate it for deletion with one of the processes at Wikipedia:Deletion policy. The article subject cannot demand deletion but if they want deletion then it can be a factor in a case like this where it can be discussed whether they satisfy Wikipedia:Notability (people). PrimeHunter (talk) 11:48, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Master Aracon E'Kerion

http://www.wikigrain.org/?req=Master+Aracon+E%27Kerion please make this article available.  :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.111.230.35 (talk) 11:34, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Master Aracon E'Kerion was deleted from Wikipedia with a clear decision at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Master Aracon E'Kerion. See Wikipedia:Deletion policy. WikiGrain shows old copies of deleted Wikipedia articles but is an independant site not run by the Wikimedia Foundation which runs Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:54, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Pointing out an error.

Hello, let me point out a mistake in the wikipedia page: K. Natwar Singh under the "Oil for Food Scandal" section the hyperlink given for Jagat Singh actually takes you to a Saint Jagath Singhs wikipedia page. The actual person should have been Natwar Singh's son Jagat Singh.

I have never edited wikipedia page, so I don't know how, nor do I know where to contact, so I just pointed it out here. Sorry if this is the worng place to inform.

`````` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.174.202.255 (talk) 12:33, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for notifying us. I've removed the link. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 12:54, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

4+1 Architectural View Model

The article 4+1 Architectural View Model is not found searching for that exact phrase. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.115.143.200 (talk) 13:32, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

When I copy and paste 4+1 Architectural View Model into our internal search engine, or into Google, Yahoo! or Bing I am getting the article as the first result.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:52, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Stupid me and stupid wikipedia. Since I am using wikipedia from sweden, it defaults to only searching swedish pages apparantly. I did not think. ...that the language choice would limit my search that way. Still, if I choose the international site, I want the default to be english, if I chose the swedish site, I want the default to be swedish. Oh, well... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.115.143.200 (talk) 14:46, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I guess you mean that your search was made at http://www.wikipedia.org/ without changing the language in the drop-down box. The English Wikipedia is at http://en.wikipedia.org/. If you make a search here with the search box at the top of every page then it's always of the English Wikipedia. http://www.wikipedia.org/ has a search box but the page is mainly intended for users to go directly to a chosen Wikipedia language and continue from there. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:56, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Number of contributions changes.

Hi. Sorry to eat up your valuable time. I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I don't edit often, but each time I log in and edit something new I notice my contributions only lists the most recent edits. Older edits are no longer listed. I tried searching the site for an answer but I couldn't find one. Thank you for any help or advice with this :)

xombiekitty 14:05, 26 September 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Xombiekitty (talk • contribs)

This may sound patronising, but I just want to eliminate the obvious - have you always edited under the account User:Xombiekitty? That account has four edits listed: two to The Avengers in April, one to Winlaton Youth Training Centre from earlier today, and your message above. If you've been editing whilst logged out, those edits will have been assigned to your IP, rather than your named account. If you've edited under another username, the edits will be assigned there. Does any of this serve to explain what you're seeing, or is there something more insidious at work? Yunshui 雲‍水 14:13, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

You created your account back in 2008, but didn't make any edits with it until the April ones Yunshui notes above. I suspect you've either been editing as an IP or another username as suggested, or that in the past you've been clicking only the "Show preview" button, not the "Save page" button, so your older edits were never actually recorded. - Karenjc 19:13, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Aloys Sprenger

Your article about Aloys Sprenger say he worked with the Graf von Munster. Could this be the Earl of Munster, illegitimate son of William IV and president of the Royal Asiatic Society? You have an article about him as well. Aloys Sprenger, being German, may have used a German form of his name.

John Morris — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.145.139.64 (talk) 14:09, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, you are right. Thanks for pointing it out. I have fixed the article with a link to George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster.[2] There are more details in [3]. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:39, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Significant coverage

So even us old-timers need help every now and then... particularly when we haven't touched an article in a period of time much longer than I'd care to mention....

With the news stories about Google Maps now showing underwater images of the Great Barrier Reef and other neat locations (BTW, if you haven't seen it yet, stop reading this and go look, it's f--ing awesome), I started looking into how they did it and found some information about the camera they used, called the Seaview SVII. I'm planning to write an article about it (and possibly about the group that designed it, which is also redlinked), but unfortunately most of the sources I can find that mention the camera focus more on the Google Maps thing rather than on the camera itself. I'm looking for feedback as to whether the sources I've pulled together at User:Hersfold/Hersfold's Sandbox so far provide enough coverage of the camera to justify it as independently notable. Or, if they don't, if what I have is good enough to start an article on the Survey that happens to contain a section about the camera (being interested in photography, the camera's really what interests me the most, although the Survey does have a very interesting mission). Thanks, all! Hersfold non-admin<sup>(t/a/c)</sup> 15:16, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Italian blasphemy on a user page

Hi, I've found in the page User:Fusotheboss a strong blasphemy in Italian language (look at Italian profanity#Taxonomy). I think he used this word thinking that nobody would understand it. I know that this user is Italian and he was banned from the Italian wikipedia ([4]). I don't know how and where to report this. 95.248.80.123 (talk) 16:23, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Hi. Although a person by the same user name was blocked indefinitely at the Italian Wikipedia ([5]), so far none of the edits I've looked at here have been problematic. I would not delete a non-vandal's userpage if it contained "goddammit" so I wouldn't if this was just an equivalent expression in Italian and there were no extenuating circumstances. However, because the page is obviously a test, and you imply the use is far more offensive in Italian, coupled with the heightened scrutiny the block shows, I have deleted it under G2, as extended by WP:IAR to the userspace.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:38, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

SwissGMs

Something is wrong with my template.

Legolover26 (talk) 16:49, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

You transcluded the template onto the template, creating a template loop. I fixed it. - Purplewowies (talk) 16:52, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. Legolover26 (talk) 16:53, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Rename

For the upteenth time will someone on Wikipedia please tell me EXACTLY how to delete/change Florida Landlord to Thomas J. Lucier — Preceding unsigned comment added by Florida Landlord (talk • contribs) 17:56, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Assuming you're talking about changing your username, please see the instructions at WP:CHU. You cannot change your username yourself; it must be done by a bureaucrat through that page (although if you want, you could simply log out, create a new account, and only use that (new) account from now on). Hersfold non-admin<sup>(t/a/c)</sup> 18:00, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

If you mean that you want to change User:Florida Landlord/Thomas J. Lucier to simply Thomas J. Lucier, you would need to WP:MOVE the page. But I wouldn't right now as that page has absolutely no references and therefore could be deleted pretty quick. Dismas|<sup>(talk)</sup> 18:24, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Why say "For the upteenth time"? You have only made two contributions, the draft userspace article and the above question. Astronaut (talk) 18:41, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

No. He (or should I say, Thomas J. Lucier) also created Thomas J. Lucier and Talk:Thomas J. Lucier; but it was deleted as G11: Unambiguous advertising or promotion. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:47, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

As will the latest version be, should it be moved into article space. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:53, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Not to pick on anyone here but it's "umpteenth or umteenth. Not "upteenth". Dismas|<sup>(talk)</sup> 18:45, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

After I gave him a warning about promotional language and autobiography, I got a Wikipedia e-mail from User:Florida Landlord, alias tjlucier at floridalandlord dot com, consisting entirely of the following words, FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!!. I consider that confirmation that this is Lucier, and that even his username is a promotional one (though not eligible for a spamusername block). I have blocked him as a spam-only account, and disabled his ability to send abusive and unhelpful e-mails to anybody else. If other admins feel this should be handled differently, I will not complain about another set of eyes on the topic. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:19, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I believe you did right. He clearly has no intention of making any useful contribution to Wikipedia. Maproom (talk) 21:46, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Walter Jones, Jr. (R) NC

The essay on Walter Jones, Jr. (R) North Carolina, incorrectly lists him as a Democrat from 1982-1994 and a Republican from 1995-present. Walter Jones was elected in 1994; his father was the Democratic representative for 26 years (so the 1982-1994 doesn't make sense).

This information comes from Do Not Ask What Good We Do by Robert Draper (NY: Free Press, 2012). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.230.162.236 (talk) 21:29, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Walter B. Jones, Jr. (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

I think that's the article that the OP is referring to. Dismas|<sup>(talk)</sup> 21:53, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

How to add reference

how to add reference — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajeshmrl (talk • contribs) 22:53, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:34, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Computer Crashed After Clicking LInk in Beslan School Article

Hello! A friend of mine was just reading the article on the Beslan School massacre. She clicked on a link in the upper part of the article, one of the names associated with the Chechnyians or the Russian army commanders, and when she clicked on that link, her computer instantly shut down. It will now not reboot or restart or power up past the "Start Windows in Safe Mode" screen. That screen is saying that there is a recent software download that is preventing Windows from starting.

You need to pull that article and check those links, because it's probably happened to other people. It's one of the links in the right hand column, detailing the information about the two sides. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.66.42.50 (talk) 23:28, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

It wasn't to do with Wikipedia. I have checked all the links, and they all appear to be fine. What link was this exactly? Mdann52 (talk) 13:02, 27 September 2012 (UTC)