Wikinews

Wikinews:Water cooler/assistance/Archive/9

< Wikinews:Water cooler | assistance | Archive

Interviewing the illustrious "Jimbo" Wales

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It has been brought to my attention that an interview of the Wikimedia founder, Jimbo Wales, is scheduled for the 5th of December. The topics suggested for the interview are the Wikinews project of the Wikimedia Foundation, and the upcoming Wikimedia Foundation fund drive. This will not just be of interest to Wikinewsies (where I would hope it can generate an article), but other news organisations will probably be interested in the material as they may not be so readily able to get material on Wiki projects as we can.

Of course, the thing is what sort of interesting — and thought-provoking — questions would people like to see put to the project founder? This is an open call for questions, which the interviewers (Kim Bruning and Mats Halldin) will comb through for material.

The one I'd like to propose as an opener is, "Do you believe that Wikinews, or any of the Wiki projects qualify as a meritocracy?" Brian McNeil / talk 21:20, 29 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Jimbo Interview: Technical

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I have noticed on Amgine's talk page that there is a discussion about how to get a conference call together and record this all for further processing. I suggest the service called freeconference.com -- it's free to use. If you want to do recording it can cost a bit of money (you have to do toll-free with that service to do recording), and if nobody wants to pay then there are probably other options that are cheaper. -- IlyaHaykinson 21:34, 30 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the welcome, The water cooler is cool. My first try using it. How do I get the cool box to stay on my page that was there before I started editing it but went away after the initial edit; it's the default for a blank; Can't find it, to determine what template it uses... Elvey 02:59, 2 February 2006 (UTC) DONE - it's there, in orange now.)[reply]

This comes from a MediaWiki: namespace article. It's used when pages are not found on Wikinews. I will get the name for the exact page in a minute. - Amgine | talk en.WN 03:12, 2 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The correct MediaWiki article is MediaWiki:Noarticletext - Amgine | talk en.WN 03:15, 2 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! - A happy camper.

Articles on Swaziland

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I think the articles on our country, Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati the 3rd are just PLAIN RIDICULOUS, you guys need to get your facts straight or dont write anything at all about our beautiful country and its citizens, which includes our King and of course our beautiful culture which you CLEARLY haven't the slightest idea what its all about. I dont necessarily think my King and or country is perfect but hey "which country or ruler is perfect?" GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT PLEASE, if u need assistance understanding us as a people i will gladly help explain certain things e.g our culture and cultural activities in general. Thank You Shilabantu

Thanks for your comments. Wikinews articles are written by people just like you! You might consider writing for Wikinews -- the community is always pleased to have local contributors. --Chiacomo (talk) 03:52, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Do you have any specific complaints about the article in question? (Category:Swaziland) Bawolff ☺☻  20:18, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

please take a look

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I have rewritten and retitled the article now called Presidential signing statements and the Bush white house (formerly titled Bush says oversight rules are not binding) it is currently in the development area. I have two questions: how to i get it reviewed? and two when i retitled it asked about double links i belive there could be some but was unsure of what to do about it. Thanks Isles 21:28, 2 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Question about merging

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Is there an instruction page concerning the processes/protocols for merging articles. I am new to Wikinews (though I am an active editor on Wikipedia). I created and published an article today that was later tagged with a {{merge}} to an existing article in development. I brought over information from the existing article and removed the merge tag from the article I created. What is the proper process? Is it different if both articles are under development versus the case when one is published and the other is under development?

Thanks in advance. —ERcheck @ 22:40, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

hmm, I'm not really sure. We do not however update published articles. If they're both in develop, combine details, and {{delete}} one. Just do what makes sense. Bawolff ☺☻  22:48, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • If I understand correctly, "breaking news" articles are the exception. Though unlike creating an article in Wikipedia, then in Wikinews, an article is not {{publish}}ed until it is complete and no further edits are required? —ERcheck @ 23:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Pretty much. Occasionally they are unpublished and edited some more, but this is only if there is major issues on it. Bawolff ☺☻  23:20, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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The link to the Wikinews style guide's gone missing from most of the pages where it used to be. Can anyone track just when it disappeared and roll back that change or edit a compromise that will keep the link available?

It's got deleted from Mediawiki:Sitenotice. see WN:SG. Bawolff ☺☻  00:36, 6 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for finding the page! I fixed it. Karen 19:23, 6 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Someone keeps breaking it. I fixed it again. Karen 21:53, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Dan100's been rverting you. You may wish to discuss it with him. Bawolff ☺☻  22:30, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I thought I was reverting his edits.

His objection to the link is that "Style guide just doesn't seem to fit in - other links are all community ones." He considered it to be a tidy, after Article collaboration was added - as if the links listed must have something in commom to be listed near each other. I'm not sure what that has to do with it - my concern is that the link to the Style guide should persist until relocated to appear on Editing Wikinews: pages only, or in the toolbox list on the lower left. In other words, my objection is that it shouldn't be removed until added elsewhere. If that's not practical, then I don't see any valid reason why it can't remain where it has been since I began reading Wikinews. I will agree that it's not the optimal place for it, but I disagree about removing it before a better place is found. Karen 15:42, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I kind of understand his point -- why dont' we link WN:CG as well? --Chiacomo (talk) 15:49, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've given it more thought and still don't understand why adding one and taking another away because it's not a feedback/discussion page even though it's been there for months is such a good idea. It took me awhile to find the style guide again because I was used to using the link. To help resolve this (as I said, I've given it a bit more thought), I'm not adverse to removing the Style guide link and replacing it with a link to the Content guide. After all, the Content guide has a link to the Style guide. Karen 18:20, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

However most people do know what a news article is, (or something similiar). Bawolff ☺☻  23:20, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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The current copyright footer of all Associated Press news items reads "© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed". The definition of 'rewritten' is very broad, and I wonder what people's interpretation of this copyright statement is.

Does this mean that by sourcing information from an Associated Press news item, and using this information as the basis for the creation of a wikinews item, that the author is in breach of Associated Press copyright ?

Can they legally stop people from re-writing it? Bawolff ☺☻  17:08, 16 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The notice is not entirely without merit. While facts like "Car bomb in Baghdad; 20 injured" are uncopyrightable information there is a doctrine called Misappropriation, established in a U.S. Supreme Court case of 1918, prohibiting news organsations from "stealing" news from their competitors. So while I don't think we're not breaching their copyright we might be engaging in unfair competition if we write our article to close to the source. So IMO we have to insert as much originality in our articles as possible, do own research, reach own conclusions (as far as permitted by WN:NPOV) etc. --Deprifry|+T+ 18:02, 16 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can I add an image to my signature?

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I want to add the image of a Flag of India (25 px size) to my signature.Can I do this or is the image a fair-use one?I'm a very new user here so I'm not too sure.Please clarify.PVJ59 08:39, 20 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Flag_of_India.svg is in the public domain. You can use it without problems. --Deprifry|+T+ 10:48, 20 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Where do I post a copy of copyright permission?

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I recently requested Indian news website ibnlive.com to allow Wikinews to publish copyrighted text belonging to ibnlive.com on the former.The permission was granted subject to the condition that we cite cnnibn.com.I have a copy of the e-mail indicating cnnibn's agreement to this request on my talkpage[1] (because I didn't know where else to put it).Which is the correct page to list copyright permissions.PVJ  12:37, 24 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Good question. You could create a page Wikinews:Agreement with ibnlive.com, and link every article that used stuff with it via:
This article was originally imported from ibnlive.com — Family SOS Australian expert, which is licensed under the with ibnlive.com agreement we have with ibnlive.com license and is compatible with Wikinews' license.

Or something similiar. See Category:Citation_templates for ideas. Bawolff ☺☻  22:43, 24 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nowhere, "with permission" is not compatible with the GFDL. Ed g2s 17:31, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  1. yes it sort of is, if its permission to use under the terms of GFDL (Or at least thats my impression as I see with permission notices throughout 'pedia, and don't understand why it shouldn't be)
  2. WE are CC-BY not GFDL. Bawolff ☺☻  02:39, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Advice requested

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I have started an article Wikinews interviews Ethan Zuckerman for the last IOTM we held last month, but I am not 100% sure how to go about writing the article from the interview :) And advice/help? Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 09:33, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to use source template

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I appreciate and applaud the need for sources to be referenced in a consistent way but what happens if the publisher doesn't have a Wikipedia entry? I'll tell you what happens (:-p), a link to a non existent page. For example, say one of my sources is an article from silicon.com, if I use do this:

*{{source|url=http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/idcards/0,3800010140,39158816,00.htm|title=ID cards will be 'cloned within six months'|author=Steve Ranger|pub=silicon.com|date=May 10, 2006}}

You get:

If you click on silicon.com you get a Wikipedia 'start this article' page. Is there any way to divert it somewhere else? This may be a stupid question, in which case I apologise. WillJenkins 19:01, 10 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's because Silicon.com isn't the publisher, CNET is (search for silicon.com on that page). With some sites you need to google within wikipedia to find out who the publisher is.

Source should be thus:

Or you could create silicon.com on Wikipedia and redirect it to the CNET article. --Brian McNeil / talk 19:16, 10 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Why is the lack of wikipedia article horrible. I don't like it, but I don't think it matters too much. Bawolff ☺☻  02:41, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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What's the process if we believe an image shouldn't be being used due to copyright? I refer to Image:IAFIL-76.jpg. I've put some comments on the Talk page but will anyone pick this up? (I took a look at whether to use a copyvio tag but this appeared to be more geared towards articles?) (And on a side note how do I make a link to an Image page?) R2b2 02:53, 31 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

TO link an image, put a leading :. I will look into the image, Generally, since we don't gwt to many image problems here, general thing to do is to tell admins, or list it on dr. If its at commons you're supposed to tag it. Bawolff ☺☻  03:44, 3 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks - will use that process if i come across anything again... R2b2 04:44, 4 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Review

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Could a few of you review "12 arrested in Canadian counter-terrorism operation"" and Comment/wikify it. Thanks MyName 16:01, 3 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You have new messages

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When viewing a user's page who has a message, the notice "You have new messages (last change)" appears. I don't recall ever seeing that behaviour before, but it's confusing. Please forward this bug report to someone who can fix such things. Karen 17:10, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bug? I think not! Someone decided to take the code for the box and impose it on their page. —THIS IS MESSED OCKER (TALK) 17:11, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is a prank, an old joke on en.wikipedia. The easiest way to see the difference is to check whether the "You have a new message" bar is above the page title. If so, it's real. If not, it is a prank placed inside the page you're viewing. - Amgine 17:13, 11 June 2006 (UTC)~ (editing not logged in)[reply]
Oh, like when you page someone over the intercom to have them call you at their own extension, which leads them to their own voice mail. I've another small issue that I'll post below. Karen 17:20, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh yeah, the new message thing is a great source of annoyance (: Bawolff ☺☻  18:04, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Slight vertical whitespace difference

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While trying to make each story appear in a consistent manner, I've seen a slight vertical whitespace difference in stories for no reason. Compare the distance between the date and the copy in Fernando Alonso wins British Grand Prix versus New Hawaii airline sparks fare war, free seat giveaway for an example. Karen 17:20, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

One starts with a link and one doesn't. If you look at the source, you see that one has an extra <p>. I don't know why this happens Bawolff ☺☻  17:57, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
adding before first link:
<span style="speak: none;display:none;"> </span>

or 

<span style="speak: none;display:none;"> </span>
Should do the trick. However this is a work around to a problem that shouldn't be there. Bawolff ☺☻  18:02, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A paragraph tag usually moves down 1 1/2 line spaces, while a line break tag just moves down 1. I think it looks better with the 1 1/2 spacing, but that would require an ending paragraph tag somewhere. The ending of a line break tag is within the same tag that begins it: <br /> Karen 19:01, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I was under the impression you shouldn't use p's if its not a paragraph. Shouldn't this be handaled in Mediawiki:common.css? The point is that if the story starts with a link, it doesn't insert a leading paragraph tag, but if it starts with plain text it does insert leading paragraph. To me this is something that should not happen, that is a problem with the way wikicode is phrased. Bawolff ☺☻  20:56, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If you place a space between the date template and the copy, the whitespace will be only one line, but if you place no space, but include a new line, the whitespace will be 1 1/2 spaces. It could be a problem with the wikicode - the interpretation is that a space is turned into a new line tag, but a new line with another new line in between is a new paragraph. Maybe there's a way to edit the story so that it's always consistent. I'll try to fix a few of the 1-line whitespace stories to see how it can be done. Karen 21:10, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I noticed your fix worked in the story Fernando Alonso wins British Grand Prix (even though it looks messy). That must be it - when a story with a date template is proceeded immediately by Wikipedia link, the vertical whitespace is only 1 line. From all my ramblings, it's probably clear that I'm not sure where the problem is at all. Thanks for the help - at least I know I'm not just seeing things. Karen 21:15, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The problem is with mediawiki I think, not with us. Yeah it looks messy, however its hidden by css. On a browser that doesn't support css ther'd be a slight indentation like this:

 blah blah foo bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..bar baz fred joe bob xxyz insert text here..

Bawolff ☺☻  21:58, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Absurd stories in development

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etc. Is this list going to continue to grow? Is there a better way to prevent stories of X found in Y from being created? Karen 23:37, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't think so. Wikipedia has the exact same type of issues. One of the pains of being an admin I suppose is dealing with these =) -- Ash Lux (talk | contribs) 02:27, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Why not just publish empty stories, so they won't show as being in perpetual development? Karen 02:40, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm.. yah, that's definately something that needs to be fixed. It is kind of embarassing to have such an obsured thing shown on the front page as being "in development". We might want a new cat for these type of stuff and modify our dynamic page lists to include notcategory=Protected, not to be recreated. Might be a better solution than marking them as published. -- Ash Lux (talk | contribs) 02:51, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Now that I look at it, these articles are in Category:No publish. Might want to add that to the dynamic page lists. Especially on the front page and on Wikinews:Workspace -- Ash Lux (talk | contribs) 02:52, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Let me follow up myself yet again and point out Category:Protected deletions too. -- Ash Lux (talk | contribs) 02:54, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

{{nopublish}} works to add the category... --Chiacomo (talk) 02:54, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think I'm cracking up! I'll get some sleep and try not to dream I saw these strange stories in development. Karen 03:06, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you also shouldn't dream about : "Canadians donating money to pay off government debt" and "Nude bicyclists in Mexico City". Nyarlathotep 13:55, 13 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

World cup stories

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I have to say I love these stories - great coverage overall, and all the games being hit. That being said, pretty much every one has a grammar issue in the title - normally an issue with a missing "s". How are these getting published with something so obvious getting through? It basically seems like no copyediting is being done on these articles at all. I've been gone for awhile. Have I missed something? Lyellin 02:15, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dedicating a week to writing news

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Hi all,

As you may have seen on my user space, I've taken a week off to spend on Wikinews, as a bit of an experiment to see what can be achived when you have some time on your hands. I'm working with BBC News online - they're giving me a desk to work from and access to stuff we don't normally get like news wires and other resources, whilst I'm doing a bit of writing for them about my experiences. There should be a bit of coverage of it on their site, which will be good for Wikinews.

I'd quite like some assistance in finding stories and figuring out what to cover. I'm willing to travel around London, phone people up, and generally see what I can do to help generate some good open-source news output. If you have any ideas - please leave them on my user space.

Cheers,

Frankie Roberto 21:43, 19 June 2006 (UTC) (Admin, accredited Wikinewsie)[reply]

Wow, that is very cool. I greatly admire the BBC and their news work, and it is very generous of them to give you their resources! I will look forward to your writing. I, personally, hope to some day work for a news organization like the BBC. ~ clearthought 17:50, 27 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is all finished now - you check what happened here here and here Frankie Roberto 18:10, 28 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Very well written and interesting! ~ clearthought 20:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Protected Special: edit request

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Can someone (I'm assuming an Administrator), edit Special:Captcha/help to include a note that it requires cookies to be enabled? For someone behind a firewall or other autoblocking system, repeatedly attempting to save a page with URIs in it could rapidly become infuriating. 68.39.174.238 20:22, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm an admin, I can't edit this, I think it is a more special than usual "special" page. :-) --Brian McNeil / talk 21:05, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It can probably be found on Special:Allmessages, if you can find the right one any admin can edit it. --Cspurrier 21:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hoax??

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143-year-old man turns 144 today - can someone look into this?? --Sozzaboy 22:52, 5 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It is undoubtedly a hoax. The oldest living man is 114 years old [2], which is thirty years younger than the 144 man in question. Additionally, the oldest man in the United Kingdom, where this "144 year old man" comes from, is Henry Allingham and not Tom Biddigan. Additionally, googling for "Tom Biddigan" returns zero results. Is that enough evidence? —this is messedr͏̈ocker (talk) 23:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Newsworthy?: MS ends XP SP1 support

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Hi there,

Yesterday, a news article about Microsoft ending support for Windows 98 and Me popped up here (and on BBC too), and I expanded and published it, as my first contribution to Wikinews.

I found this one newsworthy, but maybe that's because "70 million will be affected by the change"...

In October, Microsoft will end support for Windows XP SP1 (Service Pack 1) and SP1a. Is this as newsworthy as the Win98 story? I'm not sure. If yes, I'll make a prepared story for it. If not, I'll leave it.

What are your opinions? --Szajd 11:45, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(Note: The story is now under preparation. See User_talk:Szajd and Wikinews:Story preparation/Microsoft ends support for Windows XP's first service pack Tomos 10:27, 30 July 2006 (UTC)).[reply]

Portal:Prepared stories VS. Wikinews:Story preparation

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Hi,

I'm fairly new to Wikinews. I was trying to clean the things on Wikinews:Story preparation, and moved back to prepared obituaries to this namespace, when I realised, that there is a Portal:Prepared stories, which isn't linked from anywhere, but is used, and is not in sync with WN:SP.

This is totally-totally bad, unusable, unfriendly.

I'd suggest to merge the whole thing to the portal page, but this needs to be dealt with. --Szajd 12:44, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, good point. I'm not sure what the solution is right now, will think it over some more... Frankie Roberto 22:30, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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this map[3] might be useful in articles about the current israel-lebanon conflict. can someone verify its copyright status and whether we can use it (can we convert it to some image format and use it?).

the map does not appear to have any copyright tag. it is hosted on the UNIFIL website[4] which has a "© United Nations 2005" notice. Doldrums 11:56, 16 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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Can someone who knows CC-BY inside out check out Talk:Ohio's Nick & Jimmy's Bar and Grill investigated after dozens become ill. Given the copyright for the Food Safety Network, I don't believe it fits in with a CC-BY licence but I'm wanting confirmation from a "guru" --R2b2 22:36, 19 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(I responded on talk, and proceeded for request for deletion. Tomos 10:28, 30 July 2006 (UTC))[reply]

Some edits and some new pages...

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I've been making use of the fact that IPs can create pages here to import a favorite guideline/policy from WpA, WN:HOAX. I've tried to make it more Wikinews specific, and would like other people's input. Also, I did some work on Wikinews:Protected deletions. Before I progress, I'd appreciate other eyes checking this stuff and making sure that any future work wont have to be cleaned up (Although I hope it's not that bad ;D). Thanx. 68.39.174.238 20:27, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Only thing is, I don't think we do corrections - except to articles that have been published for a day or more.
In addition, if you are a Wikipedia user and create an account here with the same email address (not sure if the username needs to be the same but would be better to assume so) then the eventual change to a single-signon will merge the accounts. And there are some things IPs can't do - like renames. --Brian McNeil / talk 20:33, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Brainmc, 68.39.174.238 is not one for the creation of a username ;) MyName 20:39, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I saw that on his talk page after I'd made the comment. I remember pseudonyms better than numbers, so I'll just assume it is a tactic to avoid getting asked to mediate on anything. :) --Brian McNeil / talk 20:42, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have alot of reasons depending on the situation, however I'm not trying to shirk out of something. Anyway, I was unaware of {{correction}} when I wrote that, hence the initiall omission. 68.39.174.238 22:28, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Man confesses to 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey

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New information, as posted by Wikipedia contributor, seems to be new, sound lead. -- Zanimum 15:45, 17 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Total Newbie Questions

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1. For my first entry I received permission from a site to publish a re-written copy of a news item they carried on Google - When it was flagged for copyright suspicion, I had the copyright owner enter his permission on the talk page as instructed.

It is still in the copyright suspicion mode - is there something further that I need to do now?

For instance - publish again?

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Google_Ranked_First_in_e-Business_Customer_Satisfaction

Story link above

2. I wrote a complete news item from scratch for my second entry - It was put back into development becuase it "clearly needs more work". What exactly does that mean?

I just deleted the "offending" paragraph and re-published. Is this what is supposed to happen?

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Web.com_Announces_Second_Quarter_Results

Story link above

Answers:
  1. . wikinews needs to be certain that it is the original copyright holder who "gave permission" on the talk page. ways to do that are:
    1. change the copyright license on the original site to a wikinews news compatible one.
    2. if the original site content's author is identified, then the author can send a verifiable message to a wikinews administrator granting permission (for instance, send a mail from the author's e-mail address listed on the original site)
  2. the rewritten article still has large chunks of text taken verbatim from the original source, and therefore remains a copyright violation. (oops, my mistake! Doldrums 10:37, 19 August 2006 (UTC))[reply]
  3. No. what is supposed to happen, is for the article to be rewritten, preferably drawing information from a number of sources and written in the words of the wikinews editor (i.e. not being substantially identical to the text of the sources).
hope this helps. Doldrums 10:24, 19 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, emails can be faked, but I believe that an email is good enough. Preferablly sent to [wikinews-l] mailing list: mailto:wikinews-l@wikimedia.org (I believe) Sorry if this sounds suspicious, we just have to make sure. 04:39, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Now I am TOTALLY Confused

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So I am a NEW writer for Wikinews.

Trying to be a GOOD citizen and contribute a story in my area of expertise (web hosting/domains/webmaster). The piece is:

Totally orginal writing;

Well documented with orginal source material;

Covers a well-known company which is the ONLY publicly held web hosting company in the US;

Properly formatted and submitted for publication;

Has a neutral POV (as I understand it);

Submitted in the proper category.

So here is the opinion of the Wikinews editorial team (quoted from Talk page):


"Who the fuck is Web.com? I've never heard of them. If this is their second quarter results then they've been public for six months. Woopdee-doo. Over on Wikipedia we'd say this was "not notable". Lets just delete this attempt at using Wikinews for free publicity. --Imroy 13:54, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

I've never heard of Web.com either. FellowWikiNews (W) 14:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC) So it appears that they're patent trolls and spammers? Won't someone delete this drivel? Leif 18:05, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

This "news article" reads like a press release. It's also POV."

Retrieved from "http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Talk:Web.com_announces_second_quarter_results"


So in my opinion this looks like a TOTAL FLAME for someone who is honestly trying to report on a REAL news story. Here is what the above comments lead me to believe:

1. If you aren't born an expert in Wikinews and its policies, don't bother. We'll curse at you for trying.

2. If anyone at Wikinews editorial hasn't heard of the company (isn't that the case at some point for EVERY company) then it isn't newsworthy. So where exactly is the list of companies that qualify as "notable"?

3. Niche markets/companies are not newsworthy - only MAJOR events that get reported by dozens and dozens of new outlets. Wikinews is only a "me too" news organization.

4. Companies that license patents are considered "patent trolls" by Wikinews and should not be covered. If they are, we'll take a personal shot at the writer by labeling it "drivel".

Are the comments posted above merely "constructive criticism" and to be naturally expected - or am I really not welcome at Wikinews?

Should I continue to contribute the type of news item that I submitted or is Wikinews simply not interested in the web hosting/domain/webmaster news niche?

Please help me out with this. Thank you in advance for any insight.

u r right in that the comments are "flame"-like and do not help in improving the article (except the last one, which does try to point out possible problems with the article). note that the "Wikinews editorial team" is really anyone who came upon the site and decided to leave a comment - wikinews employs an open editing process.
now what is important is this the article itself has been published - it is the consensus opinion of wikinews contributors that the article is newsworthy and written well enough to be published. and i think u should pat urself on the back for publishing ur first article.
points 1 to 4 above do not represent wikinews guidelines, Wikinews:Content guide and Wikinews:What Wikinews is not do.
as u mentioned, NPOV is not easy to achieve, and another look at Wikinews:NPOV and Wikipedia:NPOV never hurts.
if u are troubled by such comments, u can ignore them, or attempt to engage the commentors in a discussion, point out that you find the comments offensive and importantly, refrain from acting in the same way urself. point out that such comments can fall foul of Qikinews:Etiquette guidelines (making sure that u follow them urself). if that does not help, u can bring it to the attention of administrators, who can intervene if necessary.
again, congrats on publishing the first article, i look forward to more from u. Doldrums 11:47, 21 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry that you had such a rough begining, I hope it will get better, and you are definitly welcome here. The important thing to remember is always to stay polite when things like that happen, which you did. Wikinews is sometimes used to increase the publicity of unknown companys, and sometimes that gets confused with actual articles. People are often suspicious of new users who publish articles on unknown topics because that is where the majority of spam comes from (which we really shouldn't be, but its hard to fight spam sometimes). the comments on that talk page are a little too much critisim and not enough constructive in my personal opinion, but remember there are many voices on wikinews, and they don't represent the majority, as well as the intent/emotion behind most comments on the internet are usually misinterpeted [5] . I really hope you decide to stay, as lots of people in your place would have been very rude and disruptive about it, where you calmly presented your complaints in a polite fashion, that is a very good trait. If you need any assitance, don't hessitate to ask me or anyone else (or post it here). Bawolff ☺☻  05:04, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Adding categories to archived articles

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Hi there. I don't post too much here but I thought about trying to recategorize some old articles and I realized that editing archived articles was not always possible. I was wondering if there was an easy way to do it that wouldn't require some admin going through and essentially just duplicating the work I was going to do in the first place? (The only solution I see at the moment is to double the effort, which seems silly.)

Basically I want to create a category for nuclear power (power plants, reactors, etc.), another for nuclear weapons (only for things explicitly relating to actual nuclear weapons, not alleged proliferation, which has its own category which could be a sub-category). It seems like a sensible arrangement since there are a few hundred articles that would fall under each category that are currently not categorized in any way that would lump them together.

Thoughts, suggestions? I sometimes enjoy categorizing things which I know about (i.e. I did all of the nuclear weapons categorization at Commons), because it is usually very easy for me to spot what goes into what category without any ambiguity. I'm willing to do the work, I just want to know if there's a way to do it without needing someone else to do it twice. --Fastfission 16:48, 23 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

hmm, Sorry but its our policy to protect archived articles (anti-spam mostly). If you list the articles on WN:ALERT or on my talk page I could make sure that they become categorized, but that is duplicating efforts :(. Another option maybe is make a bot that would give you (and possiblly others) the ability to categorize protected pages without giving other admin privlideges, but that is beyond my capabilities. (I don't have the technical knowladge to build bots). Sorry. Bawolff ☺☻  04:35, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

cats running wild on wikinews

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i think categories are need of an overhaul. there's a list of cats, which i think, need attention (or deletion). would appreciate any assistence with/suggestions on dealing with them. i hope to eventually have a comprehensive, if not complete, category tree so that editors can quickly see if suitable categories exist for articles they're writing. Doldrums 06:01, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Agh! not another war on categories!! its like the war on terror and drugs, you're not going to win :D (For people lacking a sense of humour, don't take that last sentence literally). I myself bvelieve that in general categories are a good thing. categories for deletions should be listed at WN:DR. Heres what I think of your list (Thats my personal opinion which is not backed by policy) (Me is in bold) (User:Doldrums has struck off items dealt with by that user)
It was deleted quite a while ago because it was considered an encyclopedic category and a breeding ground for POV problems. —this is messedrocker (talk) 08:28, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

possible CfDs

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anything I didn't comment on I agree with deleting

copyright/fair use question.

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would the images discussed at Commons:Commons:Deletion_requests/Archive/2006/06#Image:21july-london-bombings-suspect1.jpg be useable here under publicity/fair use in Metropolitan Police release photographs of July 21st suspects? Bawolff ☺☻  23:42, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i think we can use this image released by the met. police in a press release, as publicity image. Also, Wikinews:Fair use says Crown Copy. images can be used provided "it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context" and source and copyright status marked. a copy of the four photos together on cnn is tagged with "Met. Police" as source (google image search for " 21 july london bombing suspects cnn " to see it). Doldrums 05:56, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
actually, since the deleted pictures themselves are from the press release listed as a source in the article, we should be able to use them as publicity images, crediting the source (the Met.) properly. Doldrums 04:34, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

For anyone looking for a non-controversial contribution (or not as the case may be)

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I've spent today "stealing" dynamic templates from Wikipedia for navigating country portals. This has given us a more complete list of countries, and highlights cases where no portal has been set up for a country. (Look at all the redlinks created with {{North America}} on the North America Portal.

Can we fix the redlinks, but with some consistency that can be applied across pre-existing portals? If you're looking for a really interesting one, try Turkey, per what I lifted from Wikipedia it is in 3 of our regions and its inclusion in one is disputed. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:11, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i created some African portals y'day (as Brian will know - he had to go back and redo them) for countries with atleast 5 stories in their categories. so used only the Latest Headlines list (eg. Angola). was there ever something decided about the use of flag vrs. map images in country portals? this post is just a reminder of the alternative layout for countries not well covered on wikinews, in case someone is planning a portal creation spree. Doldrums 02:49, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Theres no real guidelines that I know of. Just don't overdo it. If the thing has five articles it doesn't need a main lead, and subdivded into 7 sections for crime & law, dissasters etc. There is template:geo-portal (as well as others) but theres mo common practice. Bawolff ☺☻  03:24, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
as noted above, template:geo-portal is unusable for such low-coverage countries. what are the others? i might have committed a boo-boo by copy-pasting content instead of using templates. Doldrums 03:52, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I did a few of the African ones today, sneaky use of {{PAGENAME}} meant it was just a paste, preview and save. The ones I had to do over was when I realised I couldn't include Template:Continents at the bottom of each region template. That was fixed using AutoWikiBrowser. I agree about geo-portal, it is overkill for all but a few cases, such as Portal:New Zealand - but that's been customised a lot. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:25, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What exactly is original?

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Obviously if you collect information yourself, in the real world, instead of from the media, that's original. But are articles based on press releases "original"? Are articles based on radio reports? -- Zanimum 16:54, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No. —this is messedrocker (talk) 09:52, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It should be noted that in the IWWC2 any thing not from a direct new source was considered original. (However personally I agree with MessedRocker). Bawolff ☺☻  01:52, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally I disagree, press releases are generally not put out by the media but instead put out by organisations about events/things of interest. Alot of journalists rely on press releases for information. I think the definition of original reporting was that so long as it has not been through another news agency the source is original - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 22:01, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Images question

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(wasnt answered in miisc section! and I really want an answer)I was wondering about the use of images under fair use. Messedrocker uploaded Image:Australia_Zoo_mourners.jpg today from the BBC, referenced it and tagged it as a publicity shot. My question is that can any images from the BBC be used with valid fair use rationale. The text for the image says This work is copyrighted, but released for use in news and editorials., does that mean the BBC releases its photos in this way. I just wanted to know because there is no specific mention on the BBC site orWIkinews policy pages.

Also do other news agancies release photos in this way? I would imagine it likely. If so is there any way of compiling a list of media agencies from whom images can be used under fair use in this way. --Errant 00:10, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NO, Never Ever Images from BBC or another news agncy are not fair use on Wikinews. Okay on wikipedia not wikinews. Bawolff ☺☻  00:44, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It wasn't from the BBC, it was from an image agency. Image agencies don't compete with news services, so it would qualify under fair use. —this is messedrocker (talk) 00:46, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah thats proablly okay. Directly from news sources is a big no-no though. Bawolff ☺☻  01:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm ok but the link provided with the image was from the BBC??? which is why I queried it! So really that image needs proper sourcing right? --Errant 01:53, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Newbie article

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Hi,

I am a new user on Wikinews, though a long-time reader. Anyway, I wanted to post a news story. Since this is my very first, I want to see if I can get some input, just in case I missed / messed up something that is rather obvious to regular contributors. The draft article is here. Thanks. --AlexS 23:12, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spoken articles - offer and request

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Hello everyone, you may have seen me before on the pages of this most worthy project...unfortunately I have yet to contribute anything of substance here, but in collaboration with another user, I think my contributions could make a positive impact. Specifically, I am interested in serving as a voice of Wikinews, reading articles or daily summaries or anything that the site would like to produce. Only problem is, I lack the time/knowledge to edit audio into something that sounds respectable, and thus I seek the audio-editing knowledge of another user. What I envision is that I could periodically read an article/summary and upload it, with another editor fixing it up and podcasting/RSSing/whatever-ing to the far corners of the world, where this website will fulfill its promise by bringing quality news and information to all. Anyway, if anyone wants to talk more about this, please email me (I don't check my user page here so frequently, thus email is the best bet.) Look forward to working with you and contributing...Paul 13:40, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pope comment reactions

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Muslim world condemns Pope's criticism of Islam is in the middle of a pov dispute. Doldrums 04:14, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi I need help

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I orginially had this on wikipedia and they deleted it so this table has links on it that do not work on wikinews. How can i get the links to work here on wikinews so they will go to the correct sites on wikipedia?? Please help. unsigned comment by User:Kevinprior

I have replied to the the request for assistance on the user's talk page. --Chiacomo (talk) 05:06, 22 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

question

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When i used the w: when i finished editing everything the w: was included in the word do you know how to fix that?? Can you w: the date?

Kevinprior 00:03, 23 September 2006 (UTC) Is this page ok, will it be deleted?? Please let me know.[reply]

Admin Alert Question

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Is there a warning or similar template message in relevance to be placed in pages of users that have their user pages made as a webhost or advertisement? Not really needed but just asking... Zer T 00:05, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikinews hasn't really gotten to the point where we have templates for every little thing, so you're best off making something. By the way, Kevinprior was indefinitely blocked because he continually disregarded warnings that Wikinews is not his personal web host. —this is messedrocker (talk) 00:07, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I noticed about kevinprior.. I was monitoring him lately using recent changes... I wished I had admin powers but that will be a long time till I get there... unless I contribute alot. Zer T 00:18, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, you've been on longer than me. Just go for it. Failing is learning. Thunderhead(talk) 03:57, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks.... I better start on Accreditation requests... Zer T 04:03, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'd like to point out to our new contributors that admin and accreditation issues do not prevent you from becoming a well-respected member of the community. In fact, if you work on the latter first (the respect) then the other two come easily. I took about a year and 1K edits before I felt I'd really learned and earned those privileges. If you try for them early then, yes you'll be disappointed, but no it doesn't mean you can't end up with those "perks". --Brian McNeil / talk 19:25, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

help with image

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i need help to check if Image:Safia Ahmed-jan.jpg is ok to use under fair use (publicity). it is needed in Afghan women's rights official shot dead. if not, an alternative image is very welcome.

While the image has been taken from Reuters image bank [6], the attribution information there states that it is originally from a Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs handout. it has been used here [7] with a somewhat unusual attribution. Doldrums 17:26, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It appears as if Reuters is only syndicating an image copyrighted by the Afghan Ministry. With the tags "NO SALES NO ARCHIVES" they seem to acknowledge that they themselves do not own the rights to this image. {{Publicity}} should be fine. --+Deprifry+ 17:38, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
going ahead and using it. Doldrums 17:40, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
qn is, should we be doing anything special with the attribution in the caption, or shld i leave it as it is? Doldrums 17:47, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The images caption on the websites clearly credits "Reuters" as the author. Reuters is a news agency, much like the Canadian Press is. Those websites paid to use photographs from Reuters, therefore this is a copyvio. FellowWikiNews (W) 01:06, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Images from Reuters are not acceptable, as they are images produced by competitors. Images produced by competitors are not acceptable. I will be deleting this image shortly. —this is messedrocker (talk) 01:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Straw urges "drop the veil" needs tidying up please

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Please would someone tidy up this article - I have messed up the category and sources and have no time at the moment to make the necessary changes. Fentonrobb 22:53, 6 October 2006 (UTC

Please check that I've sorted this out satisfactorily.Fentonrobb 23:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Lost article?

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I have 'published' an article "Blunket defines the main task for us all" and it seems to have got lost somewhere - I can find it in Recent Changes but nowhere in the news - what have I done wrong? I have askd this in Main Talk page also - sorry to be a pest - newbie! Fentonrobb 12:16, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

the article is here Blunkett defines the main task for us all. it wasnt listed in the main page because it wasn't dated with a {{date|October 7, 2006}} tag. i've added the date since. the article also needs some expanding - some explanation of why this quote is significant would be nice. wikinews articles are meant to be "full-fledged" news articles, such as u find in newspapers and online news sources, rather than "blog-like" briefs which lead to another source for the full story. see also Wikinews:Writing an article for more guidance. Doldrums 14:07, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you - I learn slowly! I shall add a note directly. Fentonrobb 14:43, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm having the same problem. I tried posting a date tag, but it didn't seem to help. I guess I'll wait awhile in case it takes time to refresh. Thanks, --75.46.88.163 03:00, 10 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for Poll/ survey

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Hey, I'm in Korea at the moment, and after reading the news a few days ago about North Korea wanting to do a nuclear weapons test, I got the Idea (partly inspired here) of interviewing a number of people on the street here, and summarizing theire opinions. I think this may be interesting, as in my experience Koreans (in particular my korean friend) have quite a different view of their situation than europeans. Now, my Korean is awful, but my friend has been so genourous to offer that he would translate/ interview for me, which I think is really greadt :D . Anyhow, what I could really do with is some input on how best to do the survey, in particular what conrete questions would be good to ask, and how do I avoid phrasing my questions, so that they're looking for a particular answer (other hlpful infos are welcome as well of course :D ). My current draft for the questions is thus:

Note that some of these questions lend themselves to five point scale opinion testing (i.e. "not at all", "not that much", "dunno", "yes, "YES") which may or may not be of advantage, depending on what I want to do with the Infos I get.

  • Do you think South Korea is threatened by the North?
  • Did you know/ did you hear the news that Northkorea announced on the 5? of october, that it would do a nuclear weapons test, reportedly because it felt under pressure by the US?
  • Where you/ are you interested in that piece of news? (These two last questions are meant for indirectly showing what place the "conflict" with North korea has in peoples everyday lives).
  • How do you view the stance of the government towards North Korea.
  • What should relations between the two countries be? and how should they work towards it?
  • What do u think of the role of the US in Korea?
  • ditto other "regional powers" - Japan, China
  • What concerns do you have about Korea's future?

Sean Heron 13:44, 8 October 2006 (UTC) P.S. I've flagged, as I'm pretty tight time wise (leaving on the 12 of October), so I need the feedback fast if its to be any help ;D.[reply]

hi! would be very nice if we can this kind of original reporting. i do think, though, that five point scale opinion testing (i.e. "not at all", "not that much", "dunno", "yes, "YES") will not be very interesting unless we get enough numbers to be able to claim some kind of representativeness of the poll. what i would like, is a small number of people, say < 10 or thereabouts, allowed a paragraph's worth of say each, or a sentence or two each on half dozen questions, to portray some Korean's views on the subject.
suggestions for possible questions, (overlap with those above?)
  • Do you think South Korea is threatened by the North?
  • What should relations between the two countries be? and how should they work towards it?
  • What do u think of the role of the US in Korea?
  • ditto other "regional powers" - Japan, China
What concerns do you have about Korea's future?
these questions are not particularly topical - don't address the talked about test. my reason for not talking about the test is it appears to be a non-event - no tests have happened, the announcement is possibly a diplomatic maneuver, and its significance is not all that clear.
what do u think? Doldrums 14:48, 8 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

First of all a big thank you for the feedback :D . An earlier draft of questions I had made (over at de.wikinews) had been more open questions, but since than I had been thinking that might give me difficulties (like evaluating loads of different answers that are not categorizable). Just letting people more or less have their say (instead of drawing conclusions/summarizing) would solve that of course :), but I had been leaning away from that, as I was thinking it might be too editorial/ opinionated. It certainly would be interesting :D.

I was thinking about the "role of US in Korea" question, but seeing as I've heard a few opinions on that here already (and they weren't positive), I was thinking it would seem to be asking questions in such a way as to get answers I want to hear (America --> bad). It hadn't come to me to ask about the role of Japan and China as well, thats a very good idea !

To be honest I hadn't really read up on North Koreas announcement myself (only read the headline). I was thinking it would give the survey a "current" feel, but I recon your right and I needn't concentrate so much on being "topical" which the questions.

I think I'll tidy up the top a bit, to reflect my thoughts, and make it look more appealing ( I'm glad you were'rt scared away :D ) . Regards Sean Heron 15:28, 8 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I've conducted the poll in Incheon Airport and on the Flight to Paris :D (due to time constrainst). 44 people have filled out the questionare, and I've put together the statisticics in an excel and openoffice spreadsheet. If anybody would like to start working with it, be my guest, I'll probably not get around to working it into an article till tommorow. Regards Sean Heron 14:56, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Good work, thats an absolutly great idea. Bawolff ☺☻  21:49, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Damn, I forgot to actually tell you the questions :/ . Well here are photos of the questionare (in Korean and an englisch translation I was planning to use as well). Here are the two questionares as openoffice documents as well . Regards Sean Heron 11:05, 14 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i intend to publish this long-overdue article - Wikinews interviews South Koreans about relations with North Korea. can people take a look at it please, comments and fixes welcome. thanks,  — Doldrums(talk) 02:15, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's good to go — I really don't want to hold this article over any longer, or it'll become totally stale. I published it. Thanks for doing the cleanup! -- IlyaHaykinson 02:57, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cross-wiki question.

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On eN Wikipedia, a user keeps posting to our long term vandal alert board about... a wikinews vandal (here). I've tried to remove it, but they keep re-adding it, claiming that "there's no place to put it on Wikinews". I'd like to ask people who are active around here:

  • Is there such a vandal around here?
  • Are they any more dangerious then normal vandals of that sort?
  • Does Wikinews want a place like eN's (LTA)?

Before letting off a revert war, I'd like to know exactly how much truth there is to the assertions that he's a "massive vandal", etc. (Note: Don't misread that sentence as my WANTING to let off a revert war) Thanx everyone. 68.39.174.238 01:02, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please have a look at this renaming request 82.224.88.52 04:36, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at the Ipblocklist, the blocking and some of the usernames seem to be true. I think it would be very interesting to have such a page on Wikinews, would be very helpful for newly created admins who have no knowledge of previous vandals.--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 13:07, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see what the renaming request has to do with this, and if the community wants such a page, I'd be happy to help set it up, etc. I'm going to try with User_talk:68.39.174.238/Repetition to see what people like. 68.39.174.238 20:05, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I like this idea. It will help many admins who would like to know more about previous vandals. FellowWikiNews (W) 20:10, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't like this idea. We are simply not big enough to need anything outside WN:ALERT. (perhaps with the exception on neut depending on which direction you're trying to deal with him, but thats not enough to warrent a new page. IMHO). Also I don't think giving vandals credit/recognition or giving potential vandals ideas is good. The long term vandal list here is short (Cross wikimedia vandals like Whilley on wheels, Ass Puss, Pelicon shit, etc. as well as cowicide, and potentially neutralizer if you consider him a vandal). WN:ALERT is fine. Bawolff ☺☻  22:20, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to use it for history, go for it. I know nothing about the past history of this place's vandals, other then the WMF wide ones like WoW, tCv, etc. You'll have to edit Historic so I can learn ;D! 68.39.174.238 04:06, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, it's in 68.39.174.238's userspace. Not in the main space. FellowWikiNews (W) 23:17, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
So? Edit it away, I'm not trying to restrict it. If you want to, move it to somewhere else more appropriate. 68.39.174.238 01:59, 16 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Bawolff does have a point I think.--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 15:32, 16 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Page for coordination

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Was there a co-ordination page on Wikinews for events? I recently found out that another Wikinewsie had already arranged admittance to the 2006 Canadian Liberal Party's leadership convention, after I seperately applied for admittance. -- Zanimum 17:59, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No there isn't. Sounds like a good idea to create such a page. FellowWikiNews (W) 19:47, 12 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Is there any existing page this could be added to, appropriately? I don't want to create too much further sprawl. -- Zanimum 15:10, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You could try Wikinews:Newsroom. That's all I can think of :( FellowWikiNews (W) 23:20, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Proablly something on meta somewhere as well. Bawolff ☺☻  00:13, 14 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes maybe Meta is the place to create such a page, because I can imagine there could be some inter-wiki overlap too, e.g. if there were an event in the Netherlands, someone from nl.wikinews arranging admittance... I think there is no page yet, but maybe it could be incorporated in meta:WORTNET? --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 00:30, 14 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The only problem is people seem to forget about thoose pages. If we are to create such a page, I think it should be its own seperate entity, not WORTNET or IoTM. (but place it in list of corordanation pages for wikinews). Bawolff ☺☻  00:43, 14 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
We could mention it in the page about accreditation and original reporting.--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 16:03, 16 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds like a good idea. You mean that we should set up a page like [[meta:Wikinews/events]] or [[meta:Events/coordination]]?Thunderhead(talk) 22:19, 16 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I'm creating meta:Scheduled attendance for Wikinews or Commons. -- Zanimum 14:18, 19 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Nice, I gave it a copy-edit. We should at some point inform other wikinews sites, 'cause overlap is likely to occur if your not reporting from an English-speaking country.--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 22:31, 19 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I sent a message to the wikinews-l and commons-l mailing list. Bawolff ☺☻  20:48, 20 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone please have a look at this.

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This article has been marked with {{finished}}. Please state on the talk page if it meets the NPOV requirements. Thanks. FellowWikiNews (W) 18:00, 14 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spero copies without credit

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Who here deals with syndication copyvios? Spero News copies our content on occasion, and claims it to be their own... [8], [9], [10]. The same goes for Elites TV. -- Zanimum 18:42, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i am sending a mail to elites TV and spero.Jacques Divol 20:34, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
ok, sent ! waiting for answer or corrections on the site. Jacques Divol 20:51, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

First spero news answer (quick answer, a good point)

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Thanks Jacques. Wikinews is always sourced on all of them.

Regards,

Clinton Gillespie Spero News

i answered him that we need more than Wiki News (with the space) as source because it's a copy/paste and the autor is not at all spero news. Jacques Divol 21:03, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Second spero news answer (quick answer, a good point)

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Jacques,

I'm forwarding this to the editor. I thought these may be rewrites.

Regards,

Clinton Gillespie Spero News

case closed i hope Jacques Divol 21:34, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
i don't see many changes, Jacques Divol 14:28, 25 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Elite TV answer

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Thank you, we have corrected the credits for the article.

J. Lon Thompson Elites TV

case closed Jacques Divol 21:43, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

TOC right

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Hmm.. no tocright template. Can a TOC be persuaded to float to the right of text? A 2006 election article with over 50 sections has sort of a long TOC. 207.195.192.45 03:14, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Making a template just to float a template, seem like a waste of a template to me. Just use the following
<div style="float:right;width:20em;" class="floatright" >
__TOC__
</div>

should do it. you may want to fine tune the width slightly. Bawolff ☺☻ 03:48, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually max-width is what this situation needs, but unfourtanatly internet explorer sucks. You could leave the width out, but then if you have a really long title, it expands to the width of the page. Anyways, experiment to see what works best. Bawolff ☺☻ 03:51, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Interview Alert


    
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I'm pleased to announce that Lawrence Douglas, Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst College has agreed to be interviewed by Wikinews. The interview will focus on the trial of Saddam Hussein and international humanitarian law trials (i.e., those concerning crimes against humanity, genocide, war-crimes and the like) in general. Questions for the interview are being compiled. I'd like the questions to be ready by say, 9:00 am New York Time tmrrw.  — Doldrums(talk) 11:05, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Interviews as newstories?


    
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I just wanted to throw this out and get opinions to make sure I'm on the same page with everyone else. As someone in the Ithaca, NY area I might have the opportunity to interview some interesting people such as Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan's wife, Drs. Steven W. Squyres and Jim Bell of the Mars Rover project, and even His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

My question is - does an interview make a news story, or does an interview simply create a source for a news story?  -Richard 'Doc' Kinne 02:19, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikinews does publish interviews about current events and issues.  — Doldrums(talk) 12:29, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I seem to be slowly getting the lay of the land around here. Based on your links I've seen interviews used in several ways. There seemed to be a movement afoot to create an "Interview of the Month," done by the Wikinews community via IRC, that seems to have slowed down. I get the impression that many interviews are done via IRC, which I didn't expect. Finally, based on your link to the Interviews Portal, I can see that it depends on the context - sometimes the interview is the story, and sometimes the interview supports the story. I can see how it could go both ways.
One of the reasons I'm asking this now is that on the 30th I may have an opportunity to speak to Dr. Jim Bell who designed the cameras (eyes) for both the Mars Rovers. Long term, due to my position within the local religious community, I might have an opportunity to speak to HH the Dalai Lama next year. I thought such conversations (obviously if I represented them as interviews) would be of interest.
Thanks again!  -Richard 'Doc' Kinne 20:08, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

For the examples you give, both are human interest interviews, admittedly with one having a decidely geeky bent. In both cases you'd do the interview and see what was possible with the material you had, after seeing what input you can get from the community to form a direction to your interview.  An interview with the Dalai Lama would be an interesting one.  I'd hope you would be able to tape it and have an audio transcript. --Brian McNeil / talk 20:40, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Kofi Annan: Iraq situation much worse than civil war


    
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I'm too dim to be able to copy the pict of Koffi Annan from the Commons or Wikipedia - please would someone help.
Fentonrobb 20:10, 4 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Don't be so hard on yourself, it's probably easier than you think... just go to commons.wikimedia.org and search the name, just like you were searching Wikipedia. Anyway, the category for Kofi is this... commons:category:Kofi Annan.  --  Zanimum 17:39, 8 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Prime MInister Blair flies to Washington


    
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Try as I may, I simply cannot get rid of all the }}} at the end of the last source. Please would someone kindly lend a hand?

Fixed. —FellowWikiNews (W) 20:07, 5 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Thank you very much Fentonrobb 19:10, 6 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]










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