Talk:Howard County, Maryland

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[edit] Howard County Times

How is the link to the newspaper of record in the county linkspam? It has news and information relevant to the county. Check out Philadelphia for example. Also, there is a presumption of relevancy. Please don't remove things unless clearly irrelevant. Taco325i 01:09, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a link farm. If you wish to specifically cite material from the newspaper in the article, that is great and I support that. In fact, I would like to demand you to do it. But that's just mean. Inserting a bare link without providing any evidence, within the article itself, that it should be linked to and is relevant, is linkspam. As an aside, it is on Philadelphia too, but it is not on my watchlist. If you want to create an web directory, there are plenty of projects for it. This is just not it. -James Howard (talk/web) 02:25, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
From WP:SPAM:
Contribute cited text, not bare links. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a link farm. If you have a source to contribute, first contribute some facts that you learned from that source, then cite the source. Don't simply direct readers to another site for the useful facts; add useful facts to the article, then cite the site where you found them. You're here to improve Wikipedia -- not just to funnel readers off of Wikipedia and onto some other site, right? (If not, see #1 above.)
-James Howard (talk/web) 02:27, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
Have you even read the definition for linkspam? Inserting informative and relevant external links is not spam. It is quite appropriate. The external link section is not meant to be a bibliography. I think you are confusing it for what the "references" section ought to be. Taco325i 02:32, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
Yes, I have read the definition of linkspam. The problem here is that policy is on WP:SPAM, which you apparently haven't read, and your link clearly violates it. Read the quote I copied above. By and large, the external links section has become a repository for those external links that fall under the blanket exception rules, mostly limited to official sites. The newspaper is not an official organ of the county. Now, go read the policy and come back here and have this discussion. -James Howard (talk/web) 02:39, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
"There are two types of wikispam: advertisements masquerading as articles, and wide-scale external link spamming. " Which one of these is it? What you are quoting is from the "guidelines", which means, tips to avoid spamming. Links that don't conform 100% to the 'guidelines' don't make them link spam. You are also losing sight of the purpose of this policy, which is to prevent the use of wikipedia as a mouthpiece of personal or commercial enterprise, not to prevent readers from accessing additional information. Edits made that do not clearly violate the terms of the policy or the underlying policy rationale should be given deference, out of mutual respect for wikipedians and in furtherance of concept that it's better to have more relevant information than less. See Wikipedia:External links Taco325i 03:37, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
I tend to agree with Taco325i. As with many other "guidelines" on Wikipedia, WP:SPAM is open to a small amount of interpretation. The link doesn't seem to be self-promotion, and in fact, the only consequence I can forsee of allowing it is simply to direct readers of the article to other relevent information. Amit 23:13, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] trivia?

How is the ice-cream factory trivia in any way related to the terrorist attacks of 9/11? I'm removing that one line. Also, I'm pretty sure it's a Nestle factory, since they have had a regional headquarters in the area for quite some time. Amit 15:35, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

It is a Dreyers plant. They make several other brands there, but the company is named Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. For confirmation see http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=DRYR&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=642616, or just do an internet search for Dreyers Howard County. And, respectfully, you should not change Wikipedia entries if you are just "pretty sure" of your facts.
You are both right, Dreyer's has been acquired by Nestle in Jan 2006 dml 23:19, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Baltimore CDP?

The following was added to the list of census designated places:

  1. Baltimore (a majority is located in Baltimore City, also, some parts are in Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.)

As far as I know, there's no such census-designated place as Baltimore; either you're in Baltimore city, or you aren't. It's possible that the anonymous editor was referring to the fact that portions of Howard County have Baltimore postal addresses -- I know that parts of Baltimore and A.A. County do, so it could be true in Howard County as well, although it's a little far from the city. However, the post office and census bureau are different agencies, and postal addresses do not define census-designated places. --Jfruh (talk) 20:41, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which Metropolitan Area?

“This county is a part of the Washington Metropolitan Area and the Baltimore Metropolitan Area, both of which comprise the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.”

As a matter of technicality, Howard County is not in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is officially designated as being part of the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area; and yes, these two metropolitan areas compose the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. Also, as we all know, yes, Howard County shares exceptionally strong economic and cultural ties to D.C., in some parts stronger so than its economic and cultural ties to Baltimore. But until this potential cultural and economic shift is reflected in the designations by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the quotation above is quite distinctly incorrect and depending heavily on a biased POV.

Whenever possible, it is important that Wikipedia reflects verifiable facts and official designations, not opinions. Might I suggest that this section be revised to state that Howard County is in the southwestern corner of the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, with strong economic and cultural ties to D.C., the nation’s Capital? Or perhaps, the article should simply state that Howard County is within the Baltimore-Washington Area, as does the article on Anne Arundel County, a county that similarly straddles the two metropolitan areas? --Dukiebiddle 17:38, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Maryland locked"

As a Maryland resident I have heard this before, but it is not technically true. The Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay lies within the state's boundaries. Anne Arundel, Calvert, and Talbot counties also do not touch a state line; nor does Baltimore City. EikwaR 18:09, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flag

Shouldn't there be an image of the Howard County flag in the article? 208.179.66.68 (talk) 07:07, 7 June 2008 (UTC)