Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-10-02/SPV

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Volume 2, Issue 40 2 October 2006 About the Signpost
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New speedy deletion criteria added News and notes
In the news Features and admins
The Report on Lengthy Litigation
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New speedy deletion criteria added

By Ral315, October 2, 2006

Two new speedy deletion criteria were added this week, and a third was expanded. The first, G10, which covers attack pages, is an expansion of former criteria A6 and I8, which covered attack articles and images, respectively. The second, G11, is a new criterion covering corporate and other spam, in response to a recent mailing list post from Interim Executive Director Brad Patrick, "issuing a call to arms to the community to act in a much more draconian fashion in response to corporate self-editing and vanity page creation." Also, criterion A7, which deals with asserting notability, was expanded to include "companies" and "web sites, blogs, online forums, webcomics, podcasts, or similar web content."

Patrick continued, "We are the #14 website in the world. We are a big target. If we are to remain true to our encyclopedic mission, this kind of nonsense cannot be tolerated. This means the administrators and new page patrol need to be clear when they see new usernames and page creation which are blatantly commercial - shoot on sight. There should be no question that someone who claims to have a "famous movie studio" and has exactly 2 Google hits - both their Myspace page - they get nuked. Ban users who promulgate such garbage for a significant period of time. They need to be encouraged to avoid the temptation to recreate their article, thereby raising the level of damage and wasted time they incur."

"Some of you might think regular policy and VfD is the way to go. I am here to tell you it is not enough. We are losing the battle for encyclopedic content in favor of people intent on hijacking Wikipedia for their own memes. This scourge is a serious waste of time and energy. We must put a stop to this now. Thank you for your help."

In response, G11 was drafted: "Pages that exist only to promote a company, person, product, service or group." The template {{Db-spam}} can be used on pages that fit the definition.

G10, meanwhile, was drafted by Radiant!, generalizing the attack page provisions that had previously applied to articles and images, to apply to all pages. It currently reads: "Pages that serve no purpose but to disparage their subject or some other entity (e.g., "John Q. Doe is an imbecile"). This includes a biography of a living person that is negative in tone and unsourced, where there is no NPOV version in the history to revert to." The template {{Db-attack}} can still be used on attack pages.

A7 simply had "companies" and "websites" appended to the definition, which also covers any article on real people, groups of people, bands, and clubs "that does not assert the importance or significance of its subject." {{Db-bio}} can be used for general notability cases, while {{Db-web}} can be used for articles on websites.


News and notes

By Flcelloguy, October 2, 2006

Board welcomes Möller; feedback on election wanted

Following the conclusion of the Board of Trustees elections last week, where Erik Möller received the most votes and was declared the winner (see archived story), the Board officially welcomed Möller with a resolution accepting the results of the elections and inviting him to officially replace Angela Beesley, who resigned earlier this year. He will serve the remainder of Beesley's term, which lasts until July 18, 2007.

In addition, this week the election officials also requested feedback from the community regarding the elections. The page, modelled after a "request for comments", asked users to provide their opinions on a variety of issues, ranging from the manner of voting used (approval) to the overall way the elections were run.

Assessment team reaches milestone

Last week, the Version 1.0 Editorial Team, a group of editors working together to evaluate the quality of articles in preparation to gather a list of articles suitable for release, assessed their 100,000th article. The assessments involve the grading of articles to place each page in one of six categories, ranging from featured articles to stubs. Multiple Wikiprojects are involved in making assessments, often utilizing collaborative "task forces" to streamline the process.

Danny's contest to conclude

Danny's third contest will conclude this week on Saturday, October 7. The contest promotes the sourcing and improvement of current articles either in the list of vital articles or in an article related to history; the winner will receive $100 in books and media. As of press time, there were 12 initial entries; the improvements will be judged by a panel of Wikipedians.

Logo proposals proceed into third phase

Proposals for new logos for Wikibooks, Wikiversity, and Wiktionary proceeded into the third phase this week. Following the close of the second phase, which allowed for minor changes and readjustments to some of the proposed logos, the current phase allows for approval voting to select one variant of each proposal to be voted on in the next and final phase. Voting for all three projects concludes on October 15.

Jimbo meets with Wikipedians in India

A meetup was held in Bangalore, India, on 29 September with Jimbo Wales and approximately 15 local Wikipedians. Wales, in India to participate in a conference, talked with the group for approximately three hours, discussing topics ranging from the need for more multilingual cooperation to the establishment of an Indian wiki-community.

Correction

Last week's article on the Board of Trustees elections erroneously implied that Wikimania 2005 and the publication of the book written by Erik Möller were following Möller's temporary departure from Wikimedia projects, when in fact they occured prior to his resignation as Chief Research Officer (and his subsequent hiatus in contributions to Wikimedia). Möller returned to major editing in January 2006. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Briefly


Wikipedia in the news

By Trödel, October 2, 2006

Wikipedia quality initiative tested on German Wikipedia

CIO magazine covered the flagging system that will be tested on the German Wikipedia (see also Deutsch Hauptseite) that has been called a "stable version" feature. Implementation is described as "users who have been registered for four days or more will be able to flag a recent entry as being correct and unvandalized... People will be able to update the entry with new material, but it won’t be visible as part of the main entry until another trusted contributor has flagged the updates as being correct." However, Wales is quoted as saying, "The exact details are still being worked out and the flagging system may be updated even after it goes live, depending on what works best."

International Wikipedia

At Red Hat's Knowledge Symposium in New Delhi, Computer Reseller News (CRN) India reported that Wikipedia was used as an example of what can be accomplished with the "open source model, based on collaboration and sharing of knowledge." New Wikipedias in Indian languages were also announced at the symposium.

CyberMedia News reported that Jimmy Wales, speaking at Infovison 2006 in Bangalore, India, reconfirmed Wikipedia's commitment to its "anyone can edit" tagline. Wales spoke about the flagging system (above) and lamented that content in Indian languages is minimal. Additionally, India eNews reported that the Bengali Wikipedia had crossed the 10,000 article milestone in September after having only "500 articles in March 2006."

Reputation of Wikipedia

American Chronicle reported on an interview with Encyclopædia Britannica's Director of Corporate Communications, Tom Panelas. "Britannica has indeed become an alternative - not just to Wikipedia but to all of the unreliable information ... on the Internet," Panalas said. He also defended EB's approach, "It's a myth that professionally edited reference works are limited or elitist. ...[Our] rigorous editorial method ... produces an excellent balance in perspective."

Arizona State University's online campus newspaper, the Web Devil carried an article and an editorial on Wikipedia's reliability. The article, titled Database a deceitful academic source discussed the pros and cons of using Wikipedia in doing research. Meanwhile, the editorial challenged not only Wikipedia's reliability but the validity of information available on the internet in general.

Local impact of Wikipedia

The Boston Globe reported on the impact Wikipedia articles have on local towns. The suburbs of Newton, Framingham and Medfield are mentioned, along with interviews of local politicians and their view of the content available on Wikipedia. Local residents, and Wikipedians, Tom Parmenter and Brian Corr were interviewed for the article, noting that a sentence Parmenter "wrote three years ago... has survived hundreds of cyber editors." Corr mentioned the addictive nature of Wikipedia, "It does tend to suck you in a bit."

Other articles

  • The New York Times, in an article on Fred Turner, reports that Turner feels that Wikipedia "can be traced to [the] idea" of a "peer-to-peer, collaborative society, interlinked by invisible currents of energy and information."
  • An article in The Guardian, by Seth Finkelstein, titled I'm on Wikipedia, get me out of here discussed the impact vandalism to the Seth Finkelstein article had on him. Finkelstein argues that the potential for vandalism should justify deletion because "any libel, defamation, or smear... will be made prominent about the person, and reputation-laundered with the institutional status of an encyclopedia."
  • The Shenandoah Valley Herald referenced Wikipedia's article on slacklining in its article on the activity.


Features and admins

By Ian Manka, 2 October 2006

Features and admins

Four users were granted admin status this week: Ligulem (nom), Pengo (nom), W.marsh (nom) and Nishkid64 (nom).

W.marsh joined the ranks of WP:100 this week (the 48th RfA to do so), with 111 users in unanimous support. His RfA is the 8th to have more than 100 supports and a unanimous vote.

Featured content

Eighteen articles were promoted to featured status last week: Old Dan Tucker (nom), Ziaur Rahman (nom), Daniel Boone (nom), Hydrogen (nom), Max Weber (nom) (the 8th article to be re-promoted after being de-featured), Ladakh (nom), Kengir uprising (nom), United States Marine Corps (nom), Slate industry in Wales (nom), Theramenes (nom), Photon (nom), City of Manchester Stadium (nom), Witchfinder General (film) (nom), Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of India (nom), "All You Need Is Love" (The JAMs song) (nom), Mormon handcart pioneers (nom), Fourth International (nom) and Third Servile War (nom).

Forty-eight articles were promoted to featured status during the month of September, tied for third-most articles promoted in a month, behind July 2006 and August 2006.

Eight articles were de-featured last week: Heavy metal umlaut, Prince-elector, "She Loves You", James Bulger, Soap bubble, Papal Tiara, Ford Mustang and Poetry of the United States. During the month of September, twenty-six articles were de-featured, while two articles were re-promoted to featured status.

No portals reached featured status last week.

One list was featured last week: Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Five lists were promoted during the month of September, the third-least promoted in a month, behind September 2005 and February 2006.

The following featured articles were displayed last week on the Main Page as Today's featured article: British House of Commons, Tahirih Justice Center, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Nepal, Hurricane Katrina, Aleksandr Vasilevsky and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

The following featured pictures were displayed last week on the Main Page as picture of the day: Common Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), Rime frost, Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), Poi, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Palace of Versailles and Dance fly (Empis livida).

Seven pictures were featured last week:

Mohammed Alim Khan

Dingle Peninsula

Matterhorn

Queen's House

Salmon

Crab Nebula

Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster



The Report On Lengthy Litigation

By David Mestel, 2 October 2006

The Arbitration Committee opened one case this week, and closed one case.

Closed case

  • Israel-Lebanon: A case involving the actions of AdamKesher, Tasc and others on 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. AdamKesher accuses Tasc of removing relevant external links which satisfy WP:EL, and he denies the allegation. In response, Denis Diderot accuses Kesher of "using Wikipedia as a tool to promote his POV". Remedies were enacted affirming the possibility of using blogs containing "contemporary opinion and observations" about current events, cautioning editors involved and sanctioning bans for users who edit war on the article.

New case

  • Jean-Thierry Boisseau: A case, accepted on Sunday, involving the actions of Jean-Thierry Boisseau on List of major opera composers. Various users accuse him of "a course of bullying, personal attacks, and generally making things awful for all contributors". He strenuously denies the allegations.

Evidence phase

  • Giano: A case involving the actions of Giano, Tony Sidaway and others, in which Sidaway blocked Giano for making "inflammatory" comments regarding the behaviour of the ArbCom and the Wikimedia Foundation. The block was subsequently overturned after discussion on WP:AN/I.
  • Rachel Marsden: A case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Rachel Marsden, Bucketsofg and others on the Rachel Marsden page. Marsden and Ellis allege that the page contains inaccurate and libellous material, and that this has been protected on the page by various admins. In response, others allege that Ellis has engaged in edit warring on the page.
  • Vivaldi: A case involving the actions of Vivaldi on Jack Hyles and related articles. Arbustoo alleges that Vivaldi has removed "cited criticism" from the article, as well as harassment, incivility and edit warring. However, an anon IP, 205.157.110.11 accuses Arbustoo of removing comments from AfDs.

Voting phase

  • Honda S2000: A case involving the actions of SpinyNorman on List of fastest cars by acceleration. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies placing SpinyNorman on probation, general probation, personal attack and revert parole, as well as limiting him to one account. However, no other arbitrators have yet commented on the proposals.
  • Kosovo: A case involving the actions of editors on Kosovo, particularly the political status of Kosovo. A temporary injunction has been passed allowing any uninvolved administrator to ban any of the named users from the page. Various remedies have been proposed, mostly with the support of three arbitrators, applying various bans, warnings, limits and paroles to a number of users.
  • Ackoz: A case involving the actions and community ban of Ackoz, and his later account, Azmoc. The user previously contributed to Wikipedia under the name Ackoz. He admits to "some trolling" after a three-day block, which led to his ban. However, he has stated that were he unbanned, he would cease his disruptive behaviour, and would be prepared to undergo mentorship. Fred Bauder has introduced remedies to unblock Ackoz and place him on probation for one year, leaving open the possibility for a renewed community ban should Ackoz "revert to his previous pattern of sustained trolling", which have been supported by Dmcdevit.
  • Marudubshinki: A case involving the actions of Marudubshinki. Snottygobble, I@n and others allege that Marudubshinki has operated an unauthorised bot, and misused his sysop powers by unblocking himself and allowing his bot to delete pages. A remedy to desysop Marudubshinki has the support of three arbitrators.
  • Ed Poor 2: A case involving Ed Poor. JoshuaZ and Consumed Crustacean have accused Poor of POV pushing and disruption; Poor has not introduced evidence in the case. Ed Poor was party to two prior cases; the first was closed after Poor resigned his status as a bureaucrat, and the second resulted in his desysopping. Fred Bauder has proposed a remedy placing him on probation, a modified version of which has attracted the support of four arbitrators.
  • Pat8722: A case involving the actions of Pat8722. BorgHunter has accused Pat8722 of edit-warring. Pat8722 has requested that the ArbCom stay the case while he pursues 6 pro se cases in the American courts, and has agreed not to edit Wikipedia in the interim. A motion establishing the principle of a "continuance", and a remedy extending this to Pat8722, are supported by two arbitrators, with two opposing; a separate motion to place Pat8722 on probation has also been raised by Dmcdevit, and supported by Charles Matthews, but opposed by Fred Bauder and SimonP.
  • Deir Yassin massacre: A case involving the actions of KimvdLinde and Guy Montag on Deir Yassin massacre. KimvdLinde alleges that Montag has violated his probation by rewriting the article, unilaterally moving it to "Battle of Deir Yassin", violating copyright and votestacking. In return, Montag refuses "to participate in any of these proceedings", and alleges that KimvdLinde has abused her admin tools by exercising them in a dispute in which she is involved. Proposed remedies banning Guy Montag from articles relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, extending his probation for another year, and encouraging users to enforce Montag's probation have the support of six to seven arbitrators.


The Report On Lengthy Litigation

By David Mestel, 2 October 2006

The Arbitration Committee opened one case this week, and closed one case.

Closed case

  • Israel-Lebanon: A case involving the actions of AdamKesher, Tasc and others on 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. AdamKesher accuses Tasc of removing relevant external links which satisfy WP:EL, and he denies the allegation. In response, Denis Diderot accuses Kesher of "using Wikipedia as a tool to promote his POV". Remedies were enacted affirming the possibility of using blogs containing "contemporary opinion and observations" about current events, cautioning editors involved and sanctioning bans for users who edit war on the article.

New case

  • Jean-Thierry Boisseau: A case, accepted on Sunday, involving the actions of Jean-Thierry Boisseau on List of major opera composers. Various users accuse him of "a course of bullying, personal attacks, and generally making things awful for all contributors". He strenuously denies the allegations.

Evidence phase

  • Giano: A case involving the actions of Giano, Tony Sidaway and others, in which Sidaway blocked Giano for making "inflammatory" comments regarding the behaviour of the ArbCom and the Wikimedia Foundation. The block was subsequently overturned after discussion on WP:AN/I.
  • Rachel Marsden: A case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Rachel Marsden, Bucketsofg and others on the Rachel Marsden page. Marsden and Ellis allege that the page contains inaccurate and libellous material, and that this has been protected on the page by various admins. In response, others allege that Ellis has engaged in edit warring on the page.
  • Vivaldi: A case involving the actions of Vivaldi on Jack Hyles and related articles. Arbustoo alleges that Vivaldi has removed "cited criticism" from the article, as well as harassment, incivility and edit warring. However, an anon IP, 205.157.110.11 accuses Arbustoo of removing comments from AfDs.

Voting phase

  • Honda S2000: A case involving the actions of SpinyNorman on List of fastest cars by acceleration. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies placing SpinyNorman on probation, general probation, personal attack and revert parole, as well as limiting him to one account. However, no other arbitrators have yet commented on the proposals.
  • Kosovo: A case involving the actions of editors on Kosovo, particularly the political status of Kosovo. A temporary injunction has been passed allowing any uninvolved administrator to ban any of the named users from the page. Various remedies have been proposed, mostly with the support of three arbitrators, applying various bans, warnings, limits and paroles to a number of users.
  • Ackoz: A case involving the actions and community ban of Ackoz, and his later account, Azmoc. The user previously contributed to Wikipedia under the name Ackoz. He admits to "some trolling" after a three-day block, which led to his ban. However, he has stated that were he unbanned, he would cease his disruptive behaviour, and would be prepared to undergo mentorship. Fred Bauder has introduced remedies to unblock Ackoz and place him on probation for one year, leaving open the possibility for a renewed community ban should Ackoz "revert to his previous pattern of sustained trolling", which have been supported by Dmcdevit.
  • Marudubshinki: A case involving the actions of Marudubshinki. Snottygobble, I@n and others allege that Marudubshinki has operated an unauthorised bot, and misused his sysop powers by unblocking himself and allowing his bot to delete pages. A remedy to desysop Marudubshinki has the support of three arbitrators.
  • Ed Poor 2: A case involving Ed Poor. JoshuaZ and Consumed Crustacean have accused Poor of POV pushing and disruption; Poor has not introduced evidence in the case. Ed Poor was party to two prior cases; the first was closed after Poor resigned his status as a bureaucrat, and the second resulted in his desysopping. Fred Bauder has proposed a remedy placing him on probation, a modified version of which has attracted the support of four arbitrators.
  • Pat8722: A case involving the actions of Pat8722. BorgHunter has accused Pat8722 of edit-warring. Pat8722 has requested that the ArbCom stay the case while he pursues 6 pro se cases in the American courts, and has agreed not to edit Wikipedia in the interim. A motion establishing the principle of a "continuance", and a remedy extending this to Pat8722, are supported by two arbitrators, with two opposing; a separate motion to place Pat8722 on probation has also been raised by Dmcdevit, and supported by Charles Matthews, but opposed by Fred Bauder and SimonP.
  • Deir Yassin massacre: A case involving the actions of KimvdLinde and Guy Montag on Deir Yassin massacre. KimvdLinde alleges that Montag has violated his probation by rewriting the article, unilaterally moving it to "Battle of Deir Yassin", violating copyright and votestacking. In return, Montag refuses "to participate in any of these proceedings", and alleges that KimvdLinde has abused her admin tools by exercising them in a dispute in which she is involved. Proposed remedies banning Guy Montag from articles relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, extending his probation for another year, and encouraging users to enforce Montag's probation have the support of six to seven arbitrators.
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