User talk:Raeky/Archives/2012/February

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WikiCup 2012 January newsletter

WikiCup 2012 is off to a flying start. At the time of writing, we have 112 contestants; comparable to last year, but slightly fewer than 2010. Signups will remain open for another week, after which time they will be closed for this year. Our currrent far-away leader is Grapple X (submissions), due mostly to his work on a slew of good articles about The X-Files; there remain many such articles waiting to be reviewed at good article candidates. Second place is currently held by Ruby2010 (submissions), whose points come mostly from good articles about television episodes, although good article reviews, did you knows and an article about a baroness round out the score. In third place is Jivesh boodhun (submissions), who has scored 200 points for his work on a single featured article, as well as points for work on others, mostly in the area of pop music. In all, nine users have 100 or more points. However, at the other end of the scale, there are still dozens of participants who are yet to score. Please remember to update your submission pages promptly!

The 64 highest scoring participants will advance to round 2 in a month's time. There, they will be split into eight random groups of eight. The score needed to reach the next round is not at all clear; last year, 8 points guaranteed a place. The year before, 20.

A few participants and their work warrant a mention for achieving "firsts" in this competition.

12george1 (submissions) was the first to score, with his good article review of Illinois v. McArthur.
12george1 (submissions) was also the first to score points for an article, thanks to his work on Hurricane Debby (1982)- now a good article. Tropical storms have featured heavily in the Cup, and good articles currently have a relatively fast turnaround time for reviews.
Sp33dyphil (submissions) was the first to score points for a did you know, with Russian submarine K-114 Tula. Military history is another subject which has seen a lot of Cup activity.
Sp33dyphil (submissions) is also the first person to successfully claim bonus points. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is now a good article, and was eligible for bonus points because the subject was covered on more than 20 other Wikipedias at the start of the competition. It is fantastic to see bonus points being claimed so early!
Speciate (submissions) was the first to score points for an In the News entry, with Paedophryne amauensis. The lead image from the article was also used on the main page for a time, and it's certainly eye-catching!
Jivesh boodhun (submissions) was the first to score points for a featured article, and is, at the moment, the only competitor to claim for one. The article, "Halo" (Beyoncé Knowles song), was also worth double points because of its wide coverage. While this is an article that Jivesh and others have worked on for some time, it is undeniable that he has put considerable work into it this year, pushing it over the edge.

We are yet to see any featured lists, featured topics or good topics, but this is unsurprising; firstly, the nomination processes with each of these can take some time, and, secondly, it can take a considerable amount of time to work content to this level. In a similar vein, we have seen only one featured article. The requirement that content must have been worked on this year to be eligible means that we did not expect to see these at the start of the competition. No points have been claimed for featured portals or pictures, but these are not content types which are often claimed; the former has never made a big impact on the WikiCup, while the latter has not done so since 2009's competition.

A quick rules clarification before the regular notices: If you are concerned that another user is claiming points inappropriately, please contact a judge to take a look at the article. Competitors policing one another can create a bad atmosphere, and may lead to inconsistencies and mistakes. Rest assured that we, the judges, are making an effort to check submissions, but it is possible that we will miss something. On a loosely related note: If you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 00:16, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 06 February 2012

News and notes: The Foundation visits Tunisia, analyzes donors

In the news: Leading scholar hails Wikipedia, historians urged to contribute while PR pros remain shunned

Discussion report: Discussion swarms around Templates for deletion and returning editors of colourful pasts

WikiProject report: The Eye of the Storm: WikiProject Tropical Cyclones

Featured content: Talking architecture with MrPanyGoff

Arbitration report: Four open cases, final decision in Muhammad images, Betacommand 3 near closure

Technology report: October's coding challenge: results now in; progress on 1.19 steady; and why for a while interwiki links were no more

The Signpost: 13 February 2012

Special report: Fundraising proposals spark a furore among the chapters

News and notes: Foundation launches Legal and Community Advocacy department

In the news: Scholars and spindoctors contend with the emergent wikiorder

In focus: Skirmishes in the 'great sectarian war of the Internet'

WikiProject report: WikiProject Stub Sorting

Featured content: The best of the week

Arbitration report: Betacommand 3 closed, proposed decision in Civility enforcement, AUSC candidates announced

Technology report: January sees prototype new geodata API; but February looks to be a testing time for top developers

POTD notification

Hi Raeky,

Just to let you know that the Featured Picture File:Morchella elata 83497.jpg is due to make an appearance as Picture of the Day on February 20, 2012. If you get a chance, you can check and improve the caption at Template:POTD/2012-02-20. —howcheng {chat} 21:13, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

"Creationist Arguments" section in Transitional Fossil article

I have recently removed the section from transitional fossils. I argued that there are other articles that discuss the controversy, and that this article should focus only on transitional fossils. I am working on expanding the examples in the article and improving it so it eventually gets GA or FA status. See these recent discussions for more information:

--Harizotoh9 (talk) 23:25, 20 February 2012 (UTC)