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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tfine80 (talk | contribs) at 21:52, 10 October 2005 (→‎Jamaica coalition.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Main Page and beyond

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Main page discussion

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Typo

Under the Did You Know section: ...that the town of Moronvilliers was totally destroyed in WWI and was also a dite for French dry-nuclear testing?
Someone with the right privledges ought to change "dite" to "site." --138.16.21.127 22:44, 3 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. Thanks. Shanes 22:51, 3 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

if you look at ITN/DYK on the de: Hauptseite, you'll note that they align images with the paragraph they actually refer to; why shouldn't en: imitate this, it would make for a much less confusing Main Page. 130.60.142.65 16:17, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Besides the obvious consequence that it'll make the layout look uneven, I think the basic idea behind this suggestion is a good one. And if the uneven layout is too big of a problem, maybe we could as a rule let the first item in ITN/DYK be the one matching the picture. --Codemonkey 00:11, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
DYK always has the image with the article it relates to on top, ITN is a pit more variable.--nixie 00:17, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Polish Names

Isn't the "that not all Polish names end in -ski?" rather ignorant or insulting ? Robmods 17:43, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I thought it was too. It seems inappropriate for Wikipedia, especially on the main page. --209.7.171.66 20:44, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Since both the article and the DYK entry were written by a Pole - they didn't seem to think so.--nixie 00:15, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


I thought they meant it was insulting to non-Poles, because it implies we would be amazed to know that. I agree. 207.168.210.39 02:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I was not insulted. I think that the intent was not to insult, but rather to sound inquisitvely enthusiastic. Call me naïve, but I believe that people do not set out to write insulting articles in Wikipedia. I try to give everyone the good ol' NPOV benefit of the doubt. I thought that it was a pretty cute lead in to morphology of Polish surnames. My $.02. CVS
In fairness, the anonymous editor didn't say the insult was intentional. — Pekinensis 19:27, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
DID YOU KNOW.... That not all black people are stupid? Descendall 01:33, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I thought it was harmless :). Thue | talk 17:01, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nobel Prizes

Shouldn't the news headline focus on all the Nobel Prizes rather than just the physics one?

but the physics one was today Broken S 21:19, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Only the medicine and physics winners have been announced so far. Chemistry is October 5, Peace Prize is October 7, Economics is October 10 and Literature prize will be announced at a later date. Evil Monkey∴Hello 23:07, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Spelling

Under "Tu’i Tonga Empire", "influencial" should be "influential". AnonMoos 23:26, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

F---ed Up Image

(Sorry, I had to tame the offensive language. The meaning won't be lost by using dashes. -- PFHLai 06:29, 5 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]

Some vandal has replaced the image of Miers with apparantly Teddy Roosevelt. --Boycottthecaf 00:34, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, it was a commons photo and someone uploaded that one to that location. Someone then uploaded it from commons and protected it. However no one purged the cache, which I promptly did, and it should be fixed now. Redwolf24 (talk) 00:36, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to know if Ramadan will be featured tomorrow, since Rosh Hashanah was not featured today. (SeanMcG 02:57, 5 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]

What do you mean by "featured"? Neither Ramadan nor Rosh Hashanah are featured articles and thus cannot be the featured article on the main page. →Raul654 03:38, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I meant to say if it will be in the "In the News" section (SeanMcG 04:04, 5 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]
Probably doesn't belong there either...best way would be to make provision for including certain "movable feasts" in "featured anniversaries." Doops | talk 05:11, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, Ramadan was on Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/October 4, as the festivities were supposed to start at sunset on October 4. Where the heck is the new moon ? -- PFHLai 06:09, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I thought about re-posting Ramadan on Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/October 5, and changed my mind after searching for Ramadan on Google news. Apparently, many other countries in the world indeed started the festivities in the evening of October 4. I plan to handle Laylat al-Qadr and Eid ul-Fitr the same way -- go by the astronomical calculations, instead of checking the sky myself. -- PFHLai 06:24, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

King of England

On the newset articvle section, King of England is mentioned. There was no 'King of England 'at this time: George III was king of Great Britain, as the act of Union had united England and Scotland in 1707.

I just changed this in the article, an admin will have to change it on the template. Ziggur 11:16, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Fixed in the template as well. Thanks. Shanes 11:21, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nobel Chemistry

Can a sysop update the front page with the Nobel Prize for Chemistry result. Batmanand 14:24, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Asthma

No, asthma is not a disease of the respiratory system, it is a whole-body genetic disorder manifest in the respiratory system. Asthma manifests as a hyperactivity of the muscles of the lungs causing difficulty in breathing. Other manifestation of the same disorder are hyperactivity in general; "Attention Deficit Disorder"; "Hyperactive Deficit Disorder", and other such symptoms.

The disorder is best treated not by drugs but by teaching affected children relaxation technique; muscle control; stress and anger management; and by no means last that they are not affected by disease but an inherited genetic anomaly.

It is important for such an influential jouranl to get this right. Were the matter posted on a normal editable page I would have simply edited it. That it is posted on an uneditable main page is unfortunate.

Asthma and its related disorders caused great suffering. We mifght rather seek to alleviate that suffering.

Gil

Asthma "is not a disease of the respiratory system"? I disagree. Gil, your claim that "asthma manifests as a hyperactivity of the muscles of the lungs" is too simplistic. Your comparison with attention deficit disorder is inappropriate. You think that asthma is best treated by teaching relaxation technique? There is no randomized controlled evidence to support your claim. On the other hand, there are many such studies that show beneficial outcomes with drug treatment. Asthma does indeed cause great suffering. Too many people die because of inadequately treated asthma. If only those people received appropriate drug treatment in good time, their deaths could be avoided. Axl 15:22, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Gil, "hyperactivity" can mean so many things. Don't equate them when you see the same word. .... sigh .... It's not "unfortunate" that "it is posted on an uneditable main page". "Whole-body genetic disorder manifest in the respiratory system" ? Excuse my ignorance. What is that ? -- PFHLai 16:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
What is a genetic disorder also called? Oh, right - a disease. As Axl says, your attempt to conflate ADHD with the actions of involuntary muscles in the respiratory tract is silly. I also encourage you to attempt to teach a six year old child relaxation techniques before so blithely advocating them here. — ceejayoz ★ .com 17:19, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

asthma= chronic REACTIVE airway DISORDER, it's exacerbated by many means ex: dust, chemicals in the air, excitability, smoke and etc. The bronchioles spasm out of control not allowing proper air exchange and they fill up with mucous causing edema (swelling) to the inner lining of the lung (thus treatment is necessary to relieve the spasm and dry the mucous to allow air passage)and can possibly cause suffocation and aventually death if not relieved. Yes it's concidered a disease. just my 0.02cnts and some experience.--Charle301 16:46, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Minor language use.

In the "Did you know..." section it says:
...that the British Army used the Gatling gun in the combat for the first time at the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War?

it should be this:
...that the British Army used the Gatling gun in ((the)) combat for the first time at the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War?

or, maybe, this:
...that the British Army used the Gatling gun for the first time in the combat at the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War?

(preceding unsigned comment by 80.58.9.44 (talk · contribs) 21:38, 2005 October 5)

I just took out the extra 'the'. Thanks for pointing this out. -- PFHLai 21:53, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Temporar faulty

According to the main page 67 people have died in Mexico, according to Current Events and it's source 66 people have died in Mexico. (But I can't find where to correct this.)

(preceding unsigned comment by 62.101.38.241 (talk · contribs) 09:33, 2005 October 6)

ITN on the MainPage reflects Wikipedia contents. Current events reflects content of newspapers. Both can be outdated. What is the death toll now ? By the way, it's not Mexico. -- PFHLai 09:58, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Mandinka link is to a disambiguation page

The Mandinka link in today's Did you know is actually to a disambiguation page. It should actually be to Mandinka people.

Fixed. Thanks! -- grm_wnr Esc 12:51, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

# of Articles

The main page uses the exact # of articles without apparently being updated all the time. Is there a way I can use the # in an article?

{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} puts this in. Please do NOT use it in an article, however (if you want to put it on your user page, that's fine. But it is NEVER relevant in an article (not even the article on Wikipedia uses it). Ral315 WS 21:09, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Commiepedia!!

OMG, Wikipedia's clear communist bias is apparent from today's main page, with with Che Gueverra, Sun Yat Sen, and Sochi, Russia all being highlghted on the main page! →Raul654 09:53, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Emmm..., I thought Dr. Sun, co-founder of the Kuomintang, would be on the Nationalists' side, with the Communists on the other side. No ?..... I think the commies are at the bottom only. Maybe Wikipedia is suppressing them ... :-) -- PFHLai 13:46, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Not quite - Sun is unique in that *BOTH* the communists AND the nationalists consider him one of theirs. →Raul654 16:27, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
This makes him, at the most, a semi-commie ! -- PFHLai 18:38, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Pffft...details... →Raul654 20:17, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Duh! Remember, the GPL and its derivatives are commie plots, and guess what license Wikipedia uses?! — ceejayoz ★ .com 01:26, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Arbcom is communism. Larry Sanger is Marx. RickK is Che. Raul654 is Castro. And word has it that I'm Stalin. Redwolf24 (talk) 01:44, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Can I be Trotskij? If so, please don't kill me. gkhan 10:46, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Raul654 I really thought you were WiC. These pranks are immature and frankly not funny and I think you'll lose your arbcom bid because of them ;-) before you call that an attack see [1]. Redwolf24 (talk) 01:50, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

hello? I am used to anon losers shouting Commiepedia!! here, but seasoned Heroes of Wikilabour with 25370 edits? I must say... 83.77.221.225 10:07, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I must say that frankly, I'm quite comforted to know that being in the higher echelons of Wikipedia does not take away your sense of humour. ;) --Codemonkey 12:20, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
(Reply to the Anon) As Codemonkey says, the above comments were made with tongue planted firmly in cheek (heck, I'm the one who scheduled Sun Yat Sen for the main page!). →Raul654 13:45, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

best 5 out of 8?

"5 games to 3"? --JWSchmidt 11:24, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

One would have to assume that they played a best-of-nine wins game, so when one of the teams got 5 games, they had won. (infact, I just checked the article 1919 World Series, and it appears to be just so) gkhan 11:51, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Odd, eh ? That's why it was posted on the MainPage, hoping people would click and read. :-) -- PFHLai 18:51, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Mac IE

On Macintosh Internet Explorer, the "In the news" section is stretched waaaay off the edge of the screen, with a big empty space in the bbox, with the "Featured article" squeezed over in the left side. It didn't use to look like that.67.34.202.170 17:29, 9 October 2005 (UTC) HI! sorry that you are having problems[reply]

WTF is Leif Erikson day

and why does it deserve a mention on the main page? --68.9.197.69 21:20, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

So people like you will learn about Leif Erikson? (SEWilco 21:53, 9 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]
I know about Leif Erikson, I meant since when does he have a holiday? I've certainly never heard of it. --200.118.2.214 23:12, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If the article doesn't say he has a holiday, it might just mean that someone such as the Governor of Minnesota issued a proclamation to honor him. But the Anniversaries on the Main Page should have proper links. (SEWilco 20:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]
  • Probably because you're not Scandinavian. But since it's an important historical figure, I think any holiday in his name would deserve mentioning on the main page even if some don't know him. All the better to learn about him and the holiday. - 131.211.51.34 11:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • gosh, imagine an encyclopedia with 750k articles telling you something that you didn't know, how neat is that!

CP

post info on cerebral palsy

Er... Cerebral Palsy--Sean Jelly Baby? 16:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Errors

had to work for a while to get to this page, but Is anyone else getting this message on any random page? Fatal error: Call to undefined function: linkprefix() in /usr/local/apache/common-local/php-1.5/includes/Parser.php on line 1232 Wikipedia's slow, and there must be some error...-- pmam21talkarticles 00:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Yup, me too. It happens all the time (i.e., refreshing gives the same error) on some pages (e.g. WP:VPT), and not at all on most. ~~ N (t/c) 00:50, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Admins.. please fix a grammatical error on dyk.

In today's entry, the phrase "which is currently spoken by less than 100 people," should read "which is currently spoken by fewer than 100 people." Please fix this problem; I would if I could. --Zantastik talk 09:56, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This is one of the tiredest pedantic contentions in English usage. Less means fewer. Languages evolve. Get over it. CalJW 10:09, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't hurt if we change it to "fewer". So changed it. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 10:37, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nobel Economics

I know it always seems to be me, but can a sysop put up the Nobel Economics result 2005 (http://nobelprize.org)? Thanks! Batmanand 12:55, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Sysop help needed

Someone please update the news section with Merkel becoming new Chancellor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:In_the_news_section_on_the_Main_Page/Candidates

It has been waiting for hours now. Someone need to frequent that page on a regular basis if the news template has to be protected.

I've updated the template with this now. Shanes 13:59, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The headline is misleading. She's now the leading candidate for chancellor, but she has yet to be confirmed by the Bundestag. Schroeder will remain chancellor through October 22. Ephemeral life 14:06, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Chenged it to "will become" to fix this. That she actually will become chancelor seems pretty certain, I've seen news reports on it all day, and CNN just aired a confirmation. Shanes 14:31, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not convinced that she is Chancellor yet. The latest news reports state that she is 'poised to become' Chancellor, but hasn't actually got the job yet. --Heron 14:04, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think there's any doubt that she will become Chancellor, but Wikipedia shouldn't really be written in the future, and things could change at the last minute (if SPD members rebel, maybe, or meteors start falling on Berlin - anything can happen in the next 12 days).

There is an error in the news. A coalition of SPD and CDU/CSU is not a "Jamaica Coalition" (this name applies to a coalition of CDU/CSU, FDP and Green Party, due to the three parties' colours black, yellow and green). A coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD is called a "Grand Coalition". --83.129.53.118 21:05, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

terrorist communication?

I've heard that wikipedia is being used by radical islamists to communicate, that they post from public computers onto the talk pages... is that true?

--83.118.141.133 20:03, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unlikely. An awful communication method it would be, with everything being edited to have different meanings or simply vanishing. There are plenty of less visible and more secure means of communication. (SEWilco 20:15, 10 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]
This is untrue. Any discussion not relevant to the article (note that's the article itself, not its subject) is removed immediately, and as SEWilco points out, it's a stupid way to carry on a private conversation. — Dan | Talk 20:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well, to be fair, it's not just talk pages; I understand that they've made some very useful contributions to the recent proposed move of Independent school (UK). And I'm hoping for their input on Hunt the Wumpus. Doops | talk 20:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Doops, I do not understand? On hunt the Wumpus or indepentent school there is nothing about terror?

terror is very scary, no jokes should be made.

everyone, apart from Doops: thank you for the answer, very much.

--83.118.141.133 20:30, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Jamaica coalition.

Angela Merkel will become Germany's new Chancellor, leading a "Jamaica coalition" between SPD and CDU/CSU.

this is wrong, surely? it should be a grand coalition. jamaica coalition would have to involve the FPD and the Greens.

YES, it is wrong! Jamaican coalition would be if the FDP (yellow) took part and the CDU (black) and the Greens (green), now it is only a black/red-coalition between CDU (black) and SPD (red). 212.144.10.67

wouldnt it be nice if people checked what they posted :rollseyes:

This is correct, a coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD is a grand coalition. Also, please note that Angela Merkel will not certainly become Germany's next chancellor, as the parties have only agreed to START coalition talks --- nothing more.

erm. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4325600.stm. as i said it would be nice if people checked....

This is not a Jamaica coalition.... Serious problem. Tfine80 21:52, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Slowikipedia?

Why is wikipedia running so slowly? Does it have anything to do with the formatting changes going on? --Bannus 21:49, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

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