Talk:Main Page/Archive 47

This is an archive of past discussions about Main Page. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 40

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Archive 45

Featured article

Why isn't todays article (November 6th) up on the front page yet?

Why is today's featured article ( Metrication ) not protected? It has been vandalized more than once.

Featured articles are (mostly) never protected, and are usually always vandalized. Only the image used on the main page, and the main page itself (and templates) are protected.

If the article were protected, it would prevent all the extra people reading it from being able to make fixes, improvements, expansions, etc... not a good thing! Bushytails 23:45, 29 October 2005 (UT

Yes I think so

-Hey, who picks the daily featured article? --84.47.52.197 01:43, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Some Italian. R e dwolf24 (talk) 01:47, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Wording in article on main page literally incorrect?

Just an observation, but I don't see how it's best to use the terminology "British Throne" as is used on the featured article, on the main page of the wikipedia, when the events taking place are pre-1600 and thusly before even the union of the crowns of Scotland and England, let alone the Act of Union 1707 which created an actual British state. Furthermore, it discusses an event of the English line of ascension which in 1470, was as seperate from the Scots throne as any two countries might be.

Might I suggest a change to highlight this? As a Scot myself I tend to pick up on what I percieve to be incorrect usage of "Britain" and "England" where the former is used almost as a replacement sometimes for the latter.

--Andrew.

No, that's just simply an error. Thanks for pointing it out; I'm sure it will be fixed soon. Doops | talk 05:47, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

modification?

I can't help but notice that the link on for example, the featured article on Wikipedia's main page I mentioned in my last comment was changed to English Throne, but still still links to British Monarchy.

Might I perhaps suggest that events pre-1600 and the union of the crowns thusly be discussed in for example in an English Monarchy article? Changing the word to "English" but retaining "British" as a link to me doesn't seem much of an improvement on my original point -- Andrew (Being a nag.)

Better now ? BTW, you may want to scroll down and read the English monarchy section on the British monarchy page. Happy editing, Andrew. How about setting up an account ? -- PFHLai 15:24, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Just for the record, the entry isn't in the "featured article" box but the "selected anniversaries" one. Also, another link which could possibly have been used in fixing the entry is Kingdom of England. Doops | talk 16:36, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Good idea - Got an account now; thanks for alterations.

The Iranian president's comments

Isn't it about time to remove the comments made by the Iranian president on Israel? The comments are a few days old and their signifance has been questioned in his discussion page. Aucaman 20:00, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

So you want his comment "wiped off the MainPage", eh ? :-) I've posted your request on Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates. -- PFHLai 21:59, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Hurricanes

"Hurricane Beta, the first hurricane named with a Greek letter, makes landfall on Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast."

Not true. Hurricane Alpha. Hurricane Beta is the second.

(preceding unsigned comment by Sam Pointon (talk · contribs) 18:36, 30 October 2005 (UTC))

Alpha was a tropical storm, not a hurricane. Gururvishnu 18:38, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

I also noticed this, and while I agree that Beta is the first Hurricane named after a Greek letter, the link Hurricane redirects to Tropical Cyclone. Anyone think the wording needs to be more specific, e.g. mentioning Tropical Storm Alpha, or is it fine as is? EWS23 | (Leave me a message!) 21:47, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

I've had a go at rewriting it to avoid this confusion. violet/riga (t) 21:52, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Somehow I like a little intrigue on the MainPage. I hope it gets more people to click and read the articles. -- PFHLai 22:07, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Navigation and Search

The navigation and search areas on the left of the main page have recently stopped loading completely for me. Other pages generally load them, but not the main page. I use firefox. Has this happened to anyone else? Gururvishnu 18:44, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

I've similar problem with various pages every now and then using IE6. I think things are just loading too slow. --64.229.205.237 19:11, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Andre Meyer Fragment

The DYK item on Andre Meyer is not a complete sentence. Perhaps insert commas after "Meyer" and "boy", and delete the word "and". --Tisco 00:22, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

I deleted "who" and added a comma after "boy" - better effect, IMHO. ~~ N (t/c) 00:36, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Notability of the Dresden church

I'm just wondering if someone could please give me a quick answer as to why this church re-opening is particularly notable? The article doesn't really make it sound a very famous church other than the fact it was bombed, although I'm sure it must be to be on In the News. Please respond here and also make the article sound a little more convinced that it has a warranted place here on Wikipedia. Thanks in advance. Harro5 01:25, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

You could follow the links from BBC News. Earlier in the day, it was among the headlines. -Splash^talk 01:33, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

In case something hides it before you get there: the Allies bombed it in WW2, and the Communist regimes purposefully did not restore it afterwards that it might serve as a standing reminder of the destruction war can bring. It has just recently, after about 60 years of deliberate ruination been restored and, today/yesterday, been reconsecrated. The bombing of Dresden was a pretty controversial move by the Allies, killing as it did 30,000 people in one night. -Splash^talk 01:37, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

It is a notable landmark, war-memorial, and a 'symbol of reconciliation' according to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and German President Horst Köhler (as quoted in various news-clips, see Current events.) Some 60k people from the UK and Germany attended the ceremonies..... seems like a big event. --199.71.174.100 02:37, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Try Kurt Vonnegut's witness of the Dresden firestorm in his novel Slaughterhouse Five. Ancheta Wis 10:38, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

It's one of the main elements of perhaps the most celebrated group of baroque buildings in northern Europe. 62.31.55.223 17:04, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Misspelling

The fourth (4th) line of the main page wolf article should say "a nearly" instead of "an nearly". (preceding unsigned comment by 206.180.134.37 (talk · contribs) 14:56, 31 October 2005)

Corrected. Thanks, --Cyberjunkie | Talk 05:32, 31 October 2005 (UTC)where is this picture?

Gray wolf as dog ancestor

The main-page blurb says, "The Gray Wolf is ... the ancestor of the domestic dog." This looks wrong on its face, and sure enough the Gray Wolf article doesn't say that at all. A "common ancestry" is not the same thing as "ancestor of". (preceding unsigned comment by Squib (talk · contribs) 18:26, 31 October 2005 (UTC))

Someone took care of this already. -- 64.229.227.250 04:51, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Alito nomination

Why is the Alito nomination not on the In The News? It won't let me edit the page.

Dont expect the admins to update 1 millisecond after the news comes out...--Zxcvbnm 00:39, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates is always open for non-admins. -- 64.229.227.250 04:46, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Main Page Makeover?

Is there any way we can make the English Main Page look as good as The Italian Wikipedia Main Page? That one is just gorgeous. Dante (Δαντε) 05:11, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Usability/Main Page.--Sean Black | Talk 05:19, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

It does have some nice features, but I think this top section just looks cluttered:

Portuguese Main Page top section: too congested. --JohnO 09:31, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

If we were to emulate this, we would do better to put that top part near to the bottom. Or at the side. Or just leave our beautiful page as it is! We are not kids and we don't need the main page to look like the wall of a kindergarten classroom do we? --JohnO 08:55, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Tom's main page looks superb [1]. I think that design would look great as a main page. Jw6aa 01:48, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Tom's Page looks colourful - and more congested than the current Main Page. Would everyone feel better if we simply added a bit of yellow? Is that what everyone is looking for? --JohnO 09:31, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Usability/Main Page for more discussions on the Makeover. -- PFHLai 15:09, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

I've seen it. I've talked about it. A lot of people are opposed to it. But we are all being ignored. What to do in the face of absurdity? --JohnO 23:18, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Although I would normally be fond of those kinds of icons, I actually do not think they fit the wikipedia style. I find the current main page fits the style perfectly, and should be left the way it is. - victorvp (talk)

Hallelujah! Another person who doesn't think we need to replace what we already have with Windows XP/Kindergarten style icons. This isn't the Junior Wikipedia, after all. --JohnO 09:50, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Eigenarticle

The eigenvalue featured article blurb currently ends with a run-on sentence. (The article itself is OK). Doops | talk 08:46, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Hauturu/Little Barrier Island

did anyone else notice that the title of the main page is Hauturu/Little Barrier Island? is this vandalism, a joke? i don't get it.--Alhutch 22:38, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

See User talk:Moriori#MAIN PAGE. Apparently Moriori (an admin, therefore having all sorts of crazy superpowers) was showing someone else how to do a page move, let them his account, and the rest is history.--Sean Black | Talk 01:09, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

David Blunkett photo

Can someone post an (as discrete as possible) © Crown copyright notice next to this image? Otherwise we are in breach of our conditions for using it. Physchim62 (talk·RfA) 11:25, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

The image page has the relevant tag. Is that enough? -Splash^talk 12:03, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Not really, we are reproducing it without indicating its copyright status, in direct violation of our "freeish" permission: worse, we are implying that it is GFDL, which it isn't. Physchim62 (talk·RfA) 12:44, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

There. I used a small wikitable to avoid disrupting the layout, and the <sub> tag compresses the caption spacing. I made the background of the cell containing the copyright the same colour as that imposed on the InTheNews div. Somebody won't like the use of a table, but I can't see a less unpleasant way, except for inline in small at the end of the text. -Splash^talk 13:09, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

We're not suggesting any images are GFDL by simply having them on the Main Page. Only the text of Wikipedia has to be released under the GFDL, not all images. Tom- 02:16, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks! I think you've done well to make it not too obtrusive. It is a good advert of the fact that we take copyright issues seriously! Physchim62 (talk·RfA) 13:16, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Image use policy: 9. Don't put photo credits in articles or on the images themselves, should this also be applied to the main page?--nixie 03:31, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the LAW trumps Wikipedia policy. Nelson Ricardo 11:42, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Alternate text on David Blunkett photo

The alternate text for the photo "David_blunkett.jpg" is "Paris, France". Someone should probably change it to "David Blunkett". Someone42 12:07, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Done. -Splash^talk 12:12, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Grammar errors on main page

Someone removed the "the" before "British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions" without removing the comma after it. It should be either "The British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, resigns..." or "British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions David Blunkett resigns..." I'd also both unbold and unlink the "rare" in "rare closed session", as the rarity is a description of the event to clarify that such things are unusual, not a part of the event's name. The rest looks good; only other thing I'd consider is whether to add a "the" before "Spruce Goose" in anniversaries. -Silence 16:14, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Fixed ITN. For "Spruce Goose", I think it's better to leave out "the", but italicise the name of the aircraft. I fixed that, too. Thanks for pointing out the errors. -- PFHLai 16:24, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Cool, cool. Thanks! And yeah, the last thing just depends on the style we're going for; article skipping is fine with newspaper headlines and so on. Comma use gotta stay consistent, though. -Silence 16:28, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

howbout "Ice is a highly addictive methamphetamine and the when it is smoked..." could someone fix that? --Someones life 03:03, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks! --Someones life 03:31, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

The wording in place now says that Blunket "resigns from UK cabinet." ITN is not written with headline syntax; should be "resigns from the UK cabinet." Doops | talk 07:18, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Montreal, Quebec

With all due respect, we always write the name of the city in its intended language preferably, thank you.--Imobius 03:12, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Neither Montreal nor Quebec is written with an accent in English. To write "Montréal, Québec" is like referring to the United States as Les États-Unis or to Great Britain as "La Grande Bretagne". Montreal, Quebec is where the Bank of Montreal (not "Bank of Montréal") was founded. At least in English. -- 65.94.21.121 22:13, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Neither Montréal nor Québec is English. Ditto for Franz Müntefering and Guantánamo. Old typewriters didn't allow the use of the accents, but we should type properly now that we can use the accents on screen digitally. --64.229.6.230 18:38, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Montreal is the city's English name. It is in a bilingual country. Montreal was around 50-50 French/English for several hundred years and has been majority English in the past. Currently, 25% of the Island of Montreal is English-speaking (English is a majority in several suburbs). The debate on whether to use French or English names when referring to Montreal has been resolved after lengthy discussions and compromises between the most constant editors of these articles. I am only asking that you follow standard English usage when referring to a place with an English name. You refer to Rome as Rome, not Roma. Montreal has an English name, like Rome, and, more than that, has a large, native English population and a long tradition of English. While touting Montreal as a "European" and "French" city is good for tourism, it isn't true to reality. --65.94.22.222 00:53, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

a clumsy sentence

1838 - The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper was founded.

Can this sentence be any more clumsy ? Please fix.--64.229.179.46 05:49, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

If you are holding a competition, how about "1838 - The founding of the world's largest circulated newspaper printed in the English language on a daily basis as a broadsheet, known as The Times of India."? He he. --JohnO 10:00, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I presume it is now the largest circulated english language broadsheet, it must have had a low circulation in 1838. How about 1838 - The Times of India founded. Today it has the largest daily circulation of a broadsheet in the English language. Is the "broadsheet" bit important? There has been a move away from broadsheet style in recent years in other countries. Is it only the largest now because the others are no-longer broadsheets? Seabhcán 10:21, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I would imagine 'broadsheet' is more important than 'newspaper.' (In fact, the original sentence has exactly the same meaning with the word 'newspaper' removed.) It is probably the largest circulating English langauge paper because India has a population of over one billion people [1,080,264,388] - and English "is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication," (according to the CIA World Factbook). --JohnO 10:49, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Did you know?

The "Did you know?" blurb on the Reps Theater has an apostrophed "it's" where it's really meant to be "its". Anyone?

Fixed. Thanks. Shanes 13:10, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Also, confused as DYK blurb on Reps theatre refers to Rhodesian government, whilst article refers to Zimbabwe. Am I just ignorant of some relevant facts, or is this weird?

The colony of British Rhodesia gained formal independence in 1980 as Zimbabwe. (It's actually a bit more complicated than that but I'll leave the article to describe it.) The event described took place in 1960, so the DYK blurb is correct, though the article lead could do with some clarification. - Banyan Tree 15:32, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. Wondered if it was something like that. Also, goverment should be government in same section.

"...that the Maritime Museum of San Diego has in its collection the world's oldest active ship, the Star of India, built in 1863?"

The steam ship Skipladner, built 1856, is still in operation on the lake of Mjøsa, Norway. Se Wikipedia article on "Skipladner"

In the news template

Blunkett is not pictured right now. There's a (pretty bad IMO) pic of the Paris riots instead. -- Rune Welsh | ταλκ | Esperanza 16:37, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Not just bad, but apparently a blatant copyright violation (See http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/103105parisyouthriot/im:/051031/photos_wl/2005_10_31t082909_450x316_us_france_riots;_ylt=AgNKrfO_RQnZ04QQ3gwcqBdgWscF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3dmhrOGVvBHNlYwNzc20-) What admin would commit such a fragrant foul ?!?!? Please take it off the Main Page now !!!!! (Hey, it rhymes!) --64.229.6.230 16:58, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I think we have a reasonable fair use claim, and have added a template to that effect. If we have a Wikipedian with a digicam in France who can provide a nice free version that'd be good. -Splash^talk 17:18, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Wouldn't this fair use claim be applicable to any newsphotos ? Come on. Where do we draw the line ? Reuters and Associated Press, etc. won't be happy with Wikipedia if we keep using their pictures without paying. --64.229.6.230 18:31, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Featured article

You know I got a good lauigh at seeing what the new featured article is! The Wookieepedian 00:44, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Nice username. Have you looked at Roquefort under a microscope? Don't. --Ancheta Wis 02:26, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

LOL! The Wookieepedian 02:32, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Priam's Treasure

Did you know says that the objects disappeared after World War II but the article says they're in the Pushkin museum in Russia. One or t'other needs to be fixed. Lisiate 03:19, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

The problem is, I think, that it was 'lost' for many years, and was only (relatively) recently found... so some updating needs to be done. - novium

Need fixing: Did you know - Peter Parker

"that Peter Parker, the first Protestant medical missionary to China, is best known for the introduction of anesthesia to China in the form of sulphuric ether in 1835?"

We Chinese had anesthesia ages before the Eurpoeans (see Hua Tuo), so how could he "introduce anesthesia" when we already have it (albeit in a different form)？ --antilived ^{T | C} 03:29, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I concur. Many herbs can be processed and used as anesthetics. Acupuncture can be used for anesthesia, too. The DYK should be changed -- should specifiy Western anesthesia. --64.229.177.249 04:39, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

fixed. Added the term Western to specify the type of anesthesia. --Madchester 06:28, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Anniversaries - Yitzchak Rabin

The Israeli prime minister Yitzchak Rabin, famously known for taking steps toward peace with the Palestinians, was assassinated on November 4th 10 years ago. Perhaps it would be fit to include him on the anniversaries on the front page.

miscounted number of nights

it appears the rioting in Paris went on for eight consecutive nights, not just seven as claimed in ITN. also "a seventh consecutive night" is not very good syntax. "eight consecutive nights" or "the eighth night in a row" or similar would be better. 80.219.217.252 08:13, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Paris riots

The picture from the paris riots is terrible - you have to know a bit about France to know that the highlighted area is Paris, and that is irrelevant because the rioting has spread beyond there now. What is more, it appears next to the Summit of the Americas story... implying that the summit is being held in Paris. What is going on?84.43.1.92 09:40, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

bbc says it's the 10th night now, just thought someone might wanna update it :) - random wiki user

Judging from all the news stories, the discussion pages, and various other sources...we really shouldn't be saying "Muslim teenagers" in the news header Sherurcij 08:33, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Yes, npov disputes shouldn't be prerjudiced in the protected ITN template. The BBC has "French youths of North African origin". 80.219.217.252 08:56, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Now it says "of Muslim extraction." I am not even sure what that means. Could it be better worded? Smmurphy 19:13, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree, "Of Muslim Extraction" isn't much better than "Muslim". My point wasn't whether they were ethnic or practising Muslims, it's that we don't mention their economic status (which is probably more relevant anyhow), sexual orientation, hair colour or whether they were overweight...their ethnic background shouldn't be part of Wikipedia's headlines about the subject. Sherurcij 06:01, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

But weren't the riots because the teenagers were Muslim? People weren't rioting because they had dark hair, or whatever colour it was.

From news reports they say that the young men were hiding in an electrical box. True or False?

True

sorry, "of Muslim extraction" was the best I could come up with. It is borrowed from the intro of Islam in France. The point is that there are 4-5 million French descended from "Muslim immigrants", but many of these are neither immigrants (having been born in France), nor are they Muslims (but without religious affiliation). I realize it is a bit clumsy. "of Muslim descent" would not be good, either, since it would imply "Muslim genes". But we cannot just say that they are "poor French", since the "of Muslim extraction" people are a distinct social group. I suppose the French term would be "Beur", but that's slang (see Beurger King Muslim). dab (ᛏ) 08:21, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Come to think of it, you are probably right, I can't think of a better way to say that the identities of many of the rioters as Muslim or North African is important to how the events are being framed and why they are spreading, at least for a short sumarry of what is going on. Smmurphy 19:34, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

it's "French Muslims" now. Thats ok, too, you can only put so much background on a square inch of screen real estate, and those interested will have to click on the link :) Baad 20:37, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Rabin

It is 10 years to the day peace was murdered in Israel. How can this be mentioned on the main page annivarsary dates ? Zeq 09:14, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

because it is notable? the term "anniversary" means that an integer number of years has passed, it makes no statement about whether the event commemorated was joyful or grievous. 80.219.217.252 09:17, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

He was killed 10 years ago today Zeq 09:51, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries for the specific guidelines in the choices. The anniversaries are suppose to show a varied selection of events. The guidelines state that "births and deaths can only be used when there are not enough qualifying events." --Madchester 10:52, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

This wasn't just a "death", it was a highly charged and very historical political assassination. Given all of the events in Israel commemorating the tenth anniversary, I think it's appropriate to put it on SA today.--Pharos 10:57, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

yes, this isn't about a death, it's about a political assassination. JFK's death could also feature under anniversaries, I presume? 130.60.142.65 11:01, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I added the Rabin reference, but the 5 original anniversaries are just as "notable" in their own right. User:PFHLai actually dropped the Rabin reference, b/c he felt that there were too many 20th century events. I had similar thoughts when I viewed todays anniversaries. Like I said before, they need to be varied.... So if it gets dropped again, you'll know why. --Madchester 11:14, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree very much with PHLai's general sentiment, but I think we should make special consideration when a historic event is being significantly commemorated and will be somewhat in the consciousness of our readers.--Pharos 15:04, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Given all of the events in Israel commemorating the tenth anniversary, I think it's more appropriate to put it on ITN instead. Someone has to update Rabin's page accordingly, though. --64.229.207.133 16:01, 4 November 2005 (UTC) Now the Yitzhak Rabin page is updated. --64.229.207.133 16:25, 4 November 2005 (UTC) Also posted at Current events & Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates. --64.229.207.133 16:35, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

vandalism of picture on main page...

someone changed the picture of the isreali prime minister, isnt the pictures supposed to be protected?

Yes, I can confirm this, somebody change it back quickly!! -- Gurch 12:14, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Why is there a dick picture? abelson 12:15, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

cos someone changed it, duh... 202.156.6.54 12:18, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

There is something very wrong with the main page. In place of the picture of Y. Rabin it shows a photograph of a penis. The page must have been disfigured.

It's been fixed - for now, at least -- Gurch 12:25, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I thought the main page and images linked on it were locked to prevent vandalism. How did this happen? - Sensor 12:36, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Noone protected that image (it isn't automatic), but it's been done now. -Splash^talk 12:40, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

HELP!

al0 ppl! i ave a gh0st in me h0use i saw it in ma bathr00m! i saw it, it w0z a little girl nd she luked cute... except she woz DEAD!!! i had just got out da bath so we had condensation on da tiles nd she rote HELP ME! nd i screamed nd ran nd slammed the door shut but she just went thru the wall followin me!!! shes behind me now! SHE SES HELP ME!! oh no help me ahhhhh...

You might find our article on ghosts useful. Sum0 23:20, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

If, in this case, there are ghosts located within the area in which you live, whom should you contact? :)--Sean|Bla ck 23:59, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Have the chavs discovered Wikipedia now? - Sensor 00:08, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Please take a photograph of the ghost to illustrate our Ghost article (be sure to ask her permission first). — Knowledge Seeker দ 03:28, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

You don't have to ask permission if she died in the USA prior to 1927, or if she was an employee of / murdered by an evil conspiracy involving the U.S. Government. — Johantheghost 16:55, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Monopoly predates 1935

The main page has under "on this day":

1935 - The board game Monopoly was first released.

Follow the link and you will see that the game is considerably older. 1935 is only the date of the Parker Brothers version. Since this was the first version to be a major commercial success, it's appopriate to have an entry for it, but not with this wording.

--Anonymous, 02:33 UTC, November 5, 2005

The article says that the game was patented in 1935, so it should say that, I suppose.--Sean|Bla ck 04:18, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

How many Wikipedia's are there?

First i find one Dedicated only to Homestar runner, then i found one for Star Wars and now i found one for Warcraft universe, how many are there?

Pece Kocovski 04:44, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

There is only one Wikipedia, but there are probably thousands of wikis. Evil Monkey∴Hello 05:35, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Technically, each language WP could be considered a seperate Wikipedia, so you could say that there are over 200.--Sean|Bla ck 07:00, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

All Saints' Day

It says "All Saints Day in Sweden", but the feast is observed at least in Finland as well. Also, I believe the day is correctly written with an apostrophe. - Quirk 11:28, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

"of Muslim extraction"

The media identifies the rioters as poor North African immigrants. Why are we changing the story?

lots of issues | leave me a message 11:56, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

because they are not exclusively of *North* African descent, and most are not immigrants, but descendants of immigrants (you need to migrate to be an immigrant. these kids grew up in the banlieue). One of the teenagers killed was of black (sub-Saharan) African origin, so "North African" is an unduly narrow description. It is true that *most* Muslims in France are of North African origin, but not all (estimates are in the 70% range). 83.79.177.187 12:30, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Featured picture

The Koala featured picture doesn't seem to be showing up for me. Anyone else have this problem? — Ambush Commander^(Talk) 15:36, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Ah... the image has /ad/ in its URL... hmph. — Ambush Commander^(Talk) 15:40, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Are you sure it's wise?

to list all the most controversial articles on one single page?--Ipo3 02:52, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

You mean WP:LCI? If so, you should ask on that talk page. But to answer your question, yes. I can't really imagine why it wouldn't be.--Sean|Bla ck 04:12, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

The Americas and the Western Hemisphere

The front page contains an "In the news" item on the Fourth Summit of the Americas which says all the countries in the Western Hemisphere but Cuba where in attendance. Of course, the Western Hemisphere includes several countries which are not part of the Americas and where thus absent from the summit, like Portugal, Morocco, Ireland, Iceland, and several others.

No, it's perfectly correct. Note the Western hemisphere article says:

Western Hemisphere (capitalised) is a geopolitical term for the Americas and nearby islands. It is derived from the geographical western hemisphere, which is the half of the Earth that lies west of the prime meridian, but usage has shifted so that the term refers only to North, Central and South America, and the islands of the Caribbean. It is also used in a more demographic sense, for the people (and governments and nations) inhabiting the continent. The main difference between the geographical and geopolitical meanings is the exclusion of parts of Africa, Europe and Antarctica (and the eastern tip of Asia) in the latter. Borisblue 13:52, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

WIKIPEDIA REVIEW ON CNET.COM

Hey all Wikipedia supporters.

Besure to checkout the CNET.com review of Wikipedia. Even consider writing a thing or two there if you agree or disagree with the piece.

From Cnet.com - Article: The Wikipedia Review

The same things people said about other open source programs. The answer: Create your own project. Want an encyclopedia for kids? Make one and you can use the wikipedia articles as a starting point. --Gbleem 15:35, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

"requires web access" is just silly. What do they suggest? telepathy? Also, "lack of kids resources", "uninspiring interface"? I would add to that, "lack of midi files playing and animated-gif unicorns prancing about as you open the mainpage. also, grievous lack of flash animation and popup ads. in fact, we found it almost impossible to be distracted from the content long enough to -- ooh shiny." 83.79.181.237 17:11, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Ok, I admit - I laughed at your comment. Well played :) →Raul654 06:28, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

CNET's rating of Wikipedia: 6.3 out of 10, where the range is in "6.0 to 6.9 (Good): This range represents a product that is above average. Its strengths slightly outweigh its weaknesses, making it good for most uses but not a standout.", but CNET readers give it a 7.9, currently, so it looks like some fans of Wikipedia are responding to the review. --Ancheta Wis 17:33, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

The CNET review is a load of old bollocks. They make one good point, though. It really is too easy to vadalise. If the signup step were compulsory before editing powers were available it would greatly reduce driveby vandalism to the main page. It would still be free to signup, therefore still free for anyone to edit... --JohnO 23:32, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I've just read the Wikipedia review on Cnet myself, and I have to say, it doesn't actually reveal much that nobody knew before. The fact that we "may need to verify.." is not only well-known amongst any serious Wikipedians, but is well-known amongst anyone else who has ever read or used any kind of fact-based literature.

To generalize our information as "arcane" is slightly cruel, particularly when it is presented with the corollary that I explained of the necessity to verify. People who will want to know something, will probably find it on Wikipedia, and the quotes about those wishing to "verify" the "arcane information" on an "enormous number of articles" is very off-putting. If our information is so arcane as to be unverifiable, it's no wonder they can't verify it, and if not, then they wonder why the information is available in the first place. Interesting, and completely inaccurate... Bobo192 05:03, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

lol. As I said, it's a load of old bollocks. (Though you do have a way with words.) --JohnO 16:52, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism of the main page has been greatly reduced by protecting the templates which it uses.--Dhartung | Talk 23:06, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Sure, but this talk page is vandalised almost every day. As are hundreds of other pages across the site. Should we not, therefore, make editing powers conditional upon sign-up? It is the simplest sign-up I've ever seen, but you don't know that until you try to sign-up. It could be enough to put off a good portion of potential vandals. --JohnO 02:07, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

a new pic for ITN ?

How about or ? Both came from WikiCommons. Hightlighting just Paris in the ITN picture is inadequate now. -- 64.229.206.243 23:42, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Can we use a less... cheerful picture of Mr. Chirac? It makes him look bad by making him look rather goofy and cheerful, which does not fit the news event. Kinda like the pics satirists use of GW Bush that make him look like he's happily grinning about war. Or perhaps Mr. Chirac really is happy that Paris is burning. There must be a more somber-looking official photo of him somewhere.--Identity0 11:23, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Somewhere ? Like where ? Chirac smiles a lot. ..... Should Fujimori be smiling after his arrest ? --64.229.226.20 15:45, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

how about this great image. Or if you insist on "not smiling", I guess we'll have to settle for this one. My favourite would be this, however (maybe crop to the face). You can almost hear him saying "your mother was a hamster" :p dab (ᛏ) 20:18, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Haha ! Great pics ! :-) ... too bad they are either {{fairuse}} or copyrighted images. Not good for the Main Page, so I heard. --64.229.228.83 06:18, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

==

Link

to 'International' main page wikipedia.org ==

There does not seem to be a link on this English main page to the 'parent International' main page wikipedia.org . If there is I did not find it in any reasonably obvious place.

In my opinion every language's main page should have such a link.

Thank you and success.

'Ben.'

Mikhail Shtalenkov at DYK

I repeat my proposal from Talk:Main_Page/Archive_46#Tom_Edur_at_DYK. The term "hockey" is interpreted as Field hockey and not Ice hockey by many non-North-Americans. I propose using "ice hockey" instead of "hockey". 212.114.211.6 09:34, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I'll second that. --JohnO 11:37, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Emilio Kosterlitzky at DYK

I think "Mexican Cossack" should be in quotation marks. -- Rune Welsh | ταλκ | Esperanza 13:15, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Problem with caption

It says that Jacques Chirac is pictured, but the former president of Peru is.

Not any more.

Did you know - Star Of India

This is slightly confusing. It says 'active' when to be clear it should say 'Seaworthy' as the oldest ship listed in active service is the permanently drydocked HMS Victory, flagship of the British Second Sea Lord (And therefore of the homefleet). And isn't the USS Constitution still going? (Oops, forgot to sign)--Narson 00:27, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Error in Did you know?

Per the above comment, USS Constitution is more than half a century older than the Star of India and is still sailing. I have removed the incorrect claim from the museum article, but I don't know how to remove it from the main page. CalJW 15:47, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Fixed, I think. - Banyan Tree 16:11, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Map at ITN

I wonder which red dots on the map currently on ITN (shown on the right), next to a headline on US elections, represent Virginia and New Jersey ??? :-) .... Maybe it's time to switch to another image, or move the US item down a bit. -- 64.229.228.83 05:53, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Never mind. The headline on local US Elections has just left the Main Page. -- 64.229.228.83 05:57, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

The Truth of Paganism

Paganism is basically a nature based religion. Such as the indians where Pagans. Ancient Romans and Greeks where Pagans. Also, people look down on Pagans as a "Devil Worship." Which is a false statement. Being Pagan myself I know this is not true, and from what I can gather, people who say that do not know what the religion is about. It is about seeing the beauty, soul, and life in all things. Although some things may be evil, that does not mean that they do not have a soul. You should respect all living things, and Mother Nature, because ultimatly without her, we wouldn't be here today.

Ok, that's all fine, but as far as I can see there's nothing about paganism on the main page at this time. Is there a specific point you want to communicate? — David Remahl 14:34, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Color me converted! Sherurcij 19:35, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Link request in FA blurb

Can someone change "Highway 7" in Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 10, 2005 to State Highway 7? Thanks. --SPUI (talk) 01:22, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks Raul654. --SPUI (talk) 03:08, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

You're welcome. →Raul654 04:12, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

in the news

shouldn't it also say about the terroists they found in australia?

Pece Kocovski 02:25, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

DYK

Bull Run Hydroelectric Project sentence. You conform to a law, and meet a standard. You don't meet a law, unless it's at a party. Might I suggest someone with god-like powers changes it?

Think you'll find you can indeed meet the requirements of the law. --JohnO 18:17, 10 November 2005 (UTC)