Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 February 2

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February 2

Hughes Tool Company/Dickson Gun Plant - Houston, Texas

In your article about Hughes Tool Company you failed to mention that Hughes Tool Company opened and operated Dickson Gun Plant in Houston, Texas from 1942 to 1945 under the control of the U.S. Army to produce howitzers and other large tubular guns. They employed 1350 who were transferred back to Hughes Tool Company when the plant closed (this information obtained from "The Handbook of Texas Online"). Dickson Gun Plant reopened in 1951 but I do not how long it remained in operation...this information was obtained from a close relative who was Manufacturing Superintendant during the 40's and again in the 50's. Hopefully you will include the verified information in your article and investigate further some other facts about this plant.Jdhenley (talk) 00:06, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for wanting to improve Wikipedia; but this is not the best place to ask that question. Here you are addressing hundreds or thousands of people, some of whom might have some interest in Hughes Tool Company, but many of whom will not. One way to get a change made to an article is to edit it yourself! However, if you do not have a published source for the information you add, it is likely to be removed. If you do not feel confident of making the edit yourself, or you do not have published sources for the information, your best course is to open a discussion on the article's talk page: you are more likely to find people there who are motivated to work with you on that article. --ColinFine (talk) 08:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

nudity censorship

i really have a problem when i look up an actress or a simple subject to find out information about it and find nudity in the pictures. i am a Christian and don't like that when im looking for article information there are pictures with nudity without any censor on them. there are millions of people using wikipedia and a lot of them are most likely children. so therefore i believe there should be an overhaul in the area of getting rid of these pictures. but if only censoring them, censor them. or at least give the option to not show nudity for pages that have it.

please do something about this. i have long been a proponent of wikipedia and don't want to bash the site and have to turn to other resources due to this noncensorship. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.121.191.3 (talk) 01:28, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia contains objectionable content that is not censored, and that is not going to change. This issue has been brought up several times in the past - Muslims cannot view pictures of Muhammad, for example, and some people take issues with the graphic diagrams and pictures regarding such topics as fellatio and sexual intercourse. Time after time, though, Wikipedians have agreed that censoring our articles for the benefit of one group contradicts our policy requiring a neutral point of view - i.e., censoring an article or even providing warnings of objectionable material creates bias. The bottom line is: if you object to Wikipedia's content, the best option is to go elsewhere. Xenon54 / talk / 01:37, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

You might want to read Wikipedia:Options to not see an image to ensure that you do not see images. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 01:40, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

What actress pages contain nudity? Is this Christian user only checking on pornographic actresses? Even those pages here on Wikipedia do not contain nudity from what I've seen. -- kainaw™ 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Point of order: Some Muslim sects and lines of belief hold that images of the prophet (PBOH) are forbidden, many others have no such restriction at all and in fact are the very source of the supposedly forbidden images. Nothing more, carry on please. Franamax (talk) 05:15, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm going to expand on Kainaw's concern here. While we throw around WP:NOTCENSORED a lot, it only means that Wikipedia includes graphic images of nudity and/or sex where appropriate to the subject matter. For example, the article erotic art would be expected to have such pictures. However, where such images would be unexpected, for example including a nude picture of an actress in a biography of that actress, would probably NOT be an appropriate use of that image. So, I would request that 70.121.191.3 point to specific articles where nude images are being used inappropriately. It is entirely possible that there is a nude image which has been inserted into an article as a form of vandalism or is otherwise inappropriate to the specific article in question. --Jayron32 04:49, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Commons:Category:Nude women might be the end of civilization as we know it. If Wikipedia had been around when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure I would have found my way there in due course. Being able to see what women actually look like is just part of growing up now, I guess. Unless we want to outlaw computers. Cars cause a lot of problems too (traffic jams, fatalities, dependency on oil imports) but it seems most people in a country like the USA are willing to live with the problems. --Teratornis (talk) 00:01, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Also note that human cultures around the world have very different ideas about how much of a woman's body she can show the world. At one extreme there are cultures where nudity is no big deal, at the other extreme women must cover up entirely, and in the middle every variation exists. Every culture seems to manage no matter how much of women they can see. Now that computers and the Internet bring many distant cultures into instant contact, the result is sometimes disturbing for people whose thinking had generally been in terms of their own culture. --Teratornis (talk) 00:31, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

A lot of Rennaisance religious paintings have nudity. Wikicommons category Madonna lactans. You might also try Conservapedia or its less mean-spirited offshoot aSK. (MyPOV: Nudity, and even sexuality, is far less offensive than violence.)  :-D  192.30.202.11 (talk) 22:06, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Wrong Picture at "Salvador, Bahia" article.

There is a wrong picture displayed at "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador,_Bahia" page. It is named "Bahia de todos os Santos" and it is located right below "Economy" section. Although the file name is "Bahia.JPG" it shows somewhere in Asia, but not what it was supposed to be showing, a view of "All saints bay" (Baía de todos os santos)

189.115.241.51 (talk) 02:33, 2 February 2010 (UTC) Leo

Table background color

Resolved

 – Mysdaao ^talk 01:40, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Can A table have background color and if so how do I add it. I am new to Wikipedia and I am very confused about this. Thanks

Fly it 'till the last piece stops moving - somebody, User:Sumsum2010 02:49, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

A table can have a background color by adding options to a style field at the top. For example, this code:

{| class="wikitable" style="background:red"
|-
!  header 1
!  header 2
!  header 3
|-
|  row 1, cell 1
|  row 1, cell 2
|  row 1, cell 3
|-
|  row 2, cell 1
|  row 2, cell 2
|  row 2, cell 3
|}

creates this:

header 1	header 2	header 3
row 1, cell 1	row 1, cell 2	row 1, cell 3
row 2, cell 1	row 2, cell 2	row 2, cell 3

More description on how to do this can be found at Help:Table#Color; scope of parameters. --Mysdaao ^talk 03:04, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Never thought to put style infront of background. Thanks! Fly it 'till the last piece stops moving - somebody, User:Sumsum2010 23:45, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome! --Mysdaao ^talk 01:40, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Countries and quality of life

I am confused why I can find , for example the quality of life rating and other important value indexes for countries like Spain and France and yet none for countries like the UK or the USA. It's quite ominous don't you think ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.193.204.123 (talk) 03:50, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Quality-of-life index has Spain and France and the UK and the USA. And 107 other countries. --Jayron32 04:06, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

author needed

Who wrote this quote, "Those who dream by day are cognizant to those who dream only at night" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.143.191.9 (talk) 06:54, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

This page is for questions about editing Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. --ColinFine (talk) 08:35, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

FWIW, that quote is a mangling of Edgar Allen Poe's "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." Gonzonoir (talk) 09:26, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

White background instead of image

Somehow I started to see a white background here instead of picture, both in Opera and Mozilla, and when I click it there is just a grey chess pattern. The previews at file history however render properly. How to fix that? Brand[t] 07:45, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

The current revision of File:Privat-Livemont-Absinthe Robette-1896.jpg has a larger file size than the previous revision. Sometimes the Wikipedia or Commons servers have problems generating thumbnails for large images. From what I have seen of these problems, they are difficult to debug, since you get no clue about what the server didn't like. The original size appears to display properly. I tried purging the image page on Commons but that had no effect. --Teratornis (talk) 00:11, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Mobile version disabled

Hi there, I have accidently disabled the my beloved mobile wikipedia format whilst using wikipedia on my mobile. Despite trying for months and searching FAQ's at the help desk i can not fathom a way to turn this back on. Please can you help Val —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.39.8.228 (talk) 10:17, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Does Wikipedia:Enable mobile version help? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:33, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

No response

Hi,

My username is stuffingtechnologies. I submitted a contribution for an article keyword "bebo." But there wasn't any response from your end. I am not sure if you want to add it or not to. It has bee two months now. Please clarify?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stuffingtechnologies (talk • contribs) 10:19, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I assume you're referring to what you wrote at Talk:Bebo#CEOP Protection. It wasn't clear from what you wrote that you were asking a question or proposing new text to the article Bebo. You do not need to discuss new changes on the talk page unless you think they're controversial. If you wish to add information to the article, you may go ahead and do it. Your account is autoconfirmed, so you can edit the semi-protected page. Because Wikipedia has a policy of verifiablity, you should provide a reliable source for your information as well. --Mysdaao ^talk 13:33, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I need access to diesel automobiles

I need access to diesel automobiles.Wdl1961 (talk) 13:22, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. --Mysdaao ^talk 13:37, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

yeast

explain manufacturing process of yeast? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sankar rajmen (talk • contribs) 14:19, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Hello. Have you looked at the article for Yeast? If that doesn't help, you could try the Wikipedia:Reference desk, maybe Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science where someone may be able to help you. This page is for questions about Wikipedia. --BelovedFreak 14:27, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Bad link

I dont want to sign, just want to inform u have a bad link, under references #7. the link can be found when viewing information on AM3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM3) and the bad link I get is http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/WebPage/mb_081225_am3/tech_081225_am3bios.htm. Sorry If this is the incorrect way of reporting this. But I don not want to sign up... and I do not like editing other peoples 'stuff'. A comment box or suggestion box would be a good idea, instead of me having to do this.... Cheers... EH! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.71.8.251 (talk) 14:45, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you EH: I will try to replace the bad link with one that works. Instead of a comment box we have the talk page on each article, which is a good place to alert other editors when you spot a problem like this. Gonzonoir (talk) 14:49, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Training

Is there certificate tutorial training on Wikipedia?14:59, 2 February 2010 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.178.127.1 (talk)

Define "certificate tutorial". --Teratornis (talk) 00:14, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Is it allowed to use wikipedia as a reference for information when creating new wikipedia articles

Just wondering weather or not you can cite wikipedia as a reference,as I did here. Any help would be much appreciated. Immunize (talk) 15:03, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

You cannot. See WP:CIRCULAR. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:07, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

You can't,but, the article that you (tried to)referenced will have a list of references itself. It may be an idea to look at the references wikipedia article that you triedto reference you may find that those references hold the information that you need, and will be suitable references for a wikipedia article. Darigan (talk) 15:11, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Commons link logo displaying on help page?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 18:23, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Help:File page displays a Commons logo in its upper right corner. This logo works as it does in files from Commons that display it in the same corner: click on the image, and it takes you to the Commons file page. However, Commons:Help:File page doesn't exist, and I can't find a way to remove this logo from the page here. What's going on? Nyttend (talk) 16:50, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

That icon is in MediaWiki:Sharedupload-desc-here, which is transcluded onto Help:File page to show what the "this is a file from the Wikimedia Commons" message looks like. This could be fixed by hard-coding that transclusion. That would mean it wouldn't change when the MediaWiki page changes, but it doesn't seem to have ever been changed substantively. Algebraist 17:05, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict)It's because of the template {{MediaWiki:Sharedupload-desc-here}} (shown here with the tlx argument). If you can display the image without using the template, that would fix the problem. TNXMan 17:06, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Problem solved. The icon is now only included on pages in the File namespace. diff —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 17:19, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

account tied to old address

I tried to log in to create a page, and while I believe I have an account, I cannot remember the password, and it appears to be tied to an old email address. Is there anything I can do, other than create a new account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.190.174.202 (talk) 17:29, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

No, sorry, without access to the old e-mail account you are snookered. However, when you have created your new account you may be able to WP:USURP your old user name. – ukexpat (talk) 17:35, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Edits on archived talk pages

Sorry if I'm asking the obvious, but I want to make sure that I'm not acting improperly. Virtually all archived talk pages have a notice saying not to edit the page.

• If there are templates on an archived page which make it show up in todo-type lists, e.g. {{3O}} on archived pages where a Third Opinion has already been given, but still shows up here, or where the template's notice or request is still valid and you're going to answer it, e.g. a {{3O}} on an archived page which has never been answered and which you answer, is it acceptable to edit the archived page to, at least, remove the template that's causing an entry elsewhere (presuming that it would be right to remove it from the active/current talk page if it were there instead, of course)?
• If so, if you remove the template because you've done something which needs a comment on the article's talk page, is the correct protocol to:
  • remove the template and put that comment on the archived page or to
  • remove the template from the archived page and put the comment on the active/current talk page?

For example, here I converted the {{geodata-check}} into non–linked {{geodata-check}} text (which is what you're supposed to do when you remove a {{geodata-check}} template, q.v.) and inserted a {{failed}} template on the archive page to explain why I did it. Was that okay to do both those things there? Regards, TRANSPORTERMAN (TALK) 17:43, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Sounds OK to me, per WP:IAR if nothing else. – ukexpat (talk) 18:18, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I also see no problem with using {{tlc}} to remove a template like {{geodata-check}} from an archive page in order to remove it from categories and the what links here list. But please don't use {{Failed}} on the archive page like you did because that is intended for proposed policies and guidelines, and it automatically puts the page in Category:Wikipedia rejected proposals. Something like {{Not done}} or {{Stale}} would be more appropriate, but nothing is required besides an explanation in the edit summary. You should bring it up in a new section on the current talk page if you think the discussion is worth continuing. If not, then nothing more is required. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:29, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

So by using {{failed}} I caused exactly what I intended to cure? Please permit me a self-whack!. One further clarification: if I had needed to do more than could be put in a edit description, like offer a Third Opinion, should I copy the entire discussion over to the current talk page? Move it and delete it from the archive page? Just state my opinion and give a link back to the discussion? Thanks very much for the help. Regards, TRANSPORTERMAN (TALK) 20:04, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I'd rather see a new section on the current talk page with a link to the archived discussion. But I wouldn't object to the other methods either. --Mysdaao ^talk 21:07, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Citing a video reference

Here is a Youtube Video, It contains a interview with Jane Hall about her fictional character. It has casting Info a I want to use for information on her fictional character's page. The video contains all the info I need, it's there... but we can't use youtube as a source can we. So how do I go about it. Say for instance, if any of us watched a re-broadcast or a archive of this episode of Rove, the info is still there. So I'm trying to cite a TV show but I want it to lead back to this piece of media.Raintheone (talk) 18:08, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

There is a template for citing videos, {{Cite video}}, so it may be OK. The folks at the reliable sources noticeboard may be able to help further. – ukexpat (talk) 18:17, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Engineering portal

I was looking through the portals, and discovered that there is no engineering portal. The closest I could find were the Science and Technology portals, neither of which are engineering. As a clarification, while engineering is closely related to technology, it consists of the learning disciplines which use math, science, and art to essentially create technology. Technology is the product, engineering is the process. Anyways, did I miss the portal, or does it not exist? Do you think it would be a good idea to create one, and how could I go about doing that? Would it be better to have the engineering portal as a sub-portal of technology? It just seems to me like it is an incredibly broad topic and needs a portal to provide the centralization of articles that the main engineering page cannot. Thanks, Somedaypilot (talk) 19:12, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

The Engineering Portal is at Portal:Engineering. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:21, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

And the Engineering Wikiproject at Wikipedia:WikiProject Engineering. – ukexpat (talk) 19:25, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Question mark in a section title

I've looked a bit but can't find any guidance so far. Is there anything that discusses a question mark in a section title? I'm of the opinion that this makes it look like wikipedia is asking a question, which implies a POV - that a question needs to be asked. I also think it looks funny and is redundant to the superheading. In the case I'm thinking of, there is a "Controversies" level 2 heading, and a level three heading beneath says "Suitability for children?" - which for me says that wikipedia is asking "Is this material suitable for children" when the same heading without the question mark does not ask but rather points to a controversy - that the suitability for children has been discussed by someone else. Perhaps an odd question, but looks sufficiently odd that I'm interested seeing if there's any guidance I haven't seen yet. WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules:^simple/_complex 20:12, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I agree with you on style grounds alone that headings should never be questions, your POV point is an even better reason. I try to rephrase such headings when I see them. – ukexpat (talk) 20:20, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

But is there any guidance? And should there be? Perhaps a question for the village pump or another policy board? WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules:^simple/_complex 20:24, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I haven't found any specific style guidelines that apply, but there are technical reasons that question marks in article titles can be problematic, explained at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (technical restrictions)#Question marks and plus signs. --Mysdaao ^talk 20:36, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

It seems to me that such headings might come across as rhetorical questions. The section of Wikipedia:Writing better articles on style and tone says little explicitly about it, though there is an essay on avoiding Rhetoric. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:34, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Putting a pic on Commons so I can use it on en.wikipedia

I'm re-working Gundremmingen nuclear power plant. The de.wikipedia article includes a picture that I would like to add to the article, but it's not on Commons so I can't get it to show. I'm afraid I am clueless about how to put it on Commons, though the license seems ok for that. Datei:Modell_AKW_Gundremmingen.JPG. Yngvadottir (talk) 20:40, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure of the specifics, but this page has some good tips. TNXMan 20:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Try using CommonsHelper 2. Although it should work for any Wikimedia project the interface is nur auf Englisch at the moment. The file is CC-BY-SA-DE-2.0 (whew!) so there shouldn't be issues once it's uploaded to Commons, provided it's tagged correctly. Xenon54 / talk / 22:00, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure if he speaks german, but you may want to contact User:EVula, who is an admin at Commons and at en.wikipedia, and works a lot with cross-wiki moves like this. I'm not exactly sure if this is up his alley, or how active he is at de.wiki but I think he may be able to help.--Jayron32 22:15, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Userspace subst'ing

I made a subpage of mine to speed up some tedious citing I was working on at List of albums released in 2009, but when I go to subst it, it just shows up as raw text. Why is it not working as it should? I tested in my sandbox, and it worked there. The subpage is {{User:Akrabbim/AMGcite}}, and you can see it at this ref. —Akrabbim^talk 21:42, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

It would appear that you can't SUBST within <ref>...</ref>. I don't know why! However, it works if you do not SUBST it. I have removed the SUBST from the refs in the article, so they work visually - but I think you're going to have to do them all manually, I'm afraid! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:11, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, odd. I wanted to subst them so it wouldn't have my name plastered over all the refs, but I suppose that's alright for now. At some point I'll whip up some documentation and maybe move it to template space. Thanks. —Akrabbim^talk 22:14, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Contents box

How can I delete a contents box so I can put in a custom alphabetical order contents box? MC Steel (talk) 23:30, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you looked at Wikipedia:Template_messages/Compact_tables_of_contents? -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 23:35, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks!! I was looking around and couldn't find it. Thanks again. MC Steel (talk) 23:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Account

Is there anyway to merge (Mybodymyself) or just delete my previous account (Jessicaabruno)? Have no preference has the one that you choose. --Jessica A Bruno (talk) 23:36, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

• I am afraid that you cannot merge accounts. Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 23:42, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanx and interesting.--Jessica A Bruno (talk) 23:55, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

If you had not already created your new account, you could have requested your old account be renamed to it, at WP:CHU, but unfortunately that ship has sailed now. --Teratornis (talk) 00:34, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

But it may be possible to usurp the previous name. – ukexpat (talk) 15:35, 3 February 2010 (UTC)