Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2013-10-16

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16 October 2013

News and notes
Vice on Wiki-PR's paid advocacy; Featured list elections begin

Traffic report
Peaceful potpourri

WikiProject report
Heraldry and Vexillology

Featured content
That's a lot of pictures

Arbitration report
Manning naming dispute case closes

Discussion report
Ada Lovelace Day, paid advocacy on Wikipedia, sidebar update, and more

2013-10-16

Vice on Wiki-PR's paid advocacy; Featured list elections begin

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By The ed17 and Jayen466

Wiki-PR conducting "a concerted attack" on Wikipedia

Media coverage of Wiki-PR continued this week with a feature story by Martin Robbins in the British edition of Vice magazine. Wiki-PR is the multi-million-dollar US-based company that has broken several policies and guidelines on the English Wikipedia in its quest to create and maintain thousands of articles for paying clients. Robbins writes that in recent months:

Election of featured list delegates

This week, a vote to select two new delegates for the featured list candidates process has started. The nominations period of the elections closed on 14 October, and saw six Wikipedians, all familiar with the featured lists process, put their names on the table. Only two will be chosen to join the current team when elections end on 31 October.

Six candidates put forward their names:

Crisco 1492, an administrator and writer on Indonesian topics, who is very familiar with featured articles and lists. He has successfully taken 14 lists to featured status. Crisco, who currently lives in Indonesia, has been a Wikipedian for over eight years.
Status, a user from Canada and writer of music-related topics. A Wikipedian for over five years, he has taken 12 lists up to featured status, many in collaboration with other editors.
SchroCat, a user from the UK who mostly writes on articles about the arts. SchroCat, whose real name is Gavin, has collected thirteen featured lists, and is an active participant in the FLC process.
PresN, a 26-year-old software development engineer from Seattle who mostly edits video game-related topics. He has been an administrator for three years, and has collected 35 featured lists since he began editing in 2006.
Vensatry, an editor from India who has been a Wikipedian for more than three years. He has collected 17 featured lists, mostly on cricket and Indian cinema.
Vibhijain, a student from India and a Wikipedian for two years. He has collected eight featured lists, mostly about cricket.

Featured list candidates (commonly referred to as FLC) is a consensus-based process where users evaluate the quality of lists against the featured list criteria and thus support or oppose the list to reach featured status. Before supporting or opposing a list, reviewers usually hold a lengthy and detailed discussion with the nominator, usually the major contributor, to address all issues a list could have before becoming featured. The process was established in 2005 and has produced more than 3,000 featured lists since then.

The responsibility to evaluate consensus and, accordingly, promote nominations lies on the shoulders of the directors and the delegates. They are also tasked with keeping order and maintenance of all FLC pages and subpages, as well as taking care of the lists nominated to have their featured status removed (known as Featured list removal candidates, or FLRC), and to report new featured lists to the community, among others. The director also has the responsibility of scheduling Today's featured lists, which appear every Monday on the Main Page.

2013's elections mark the second time such an event has been held at FLC. Usually, new delegates are appointed individually after a short community consultation held on the FLC talk page, and after approval of current delegates and directors. However, after the recent resignations of Dabomb87 and The Rambling Man, and the unavailability of current delegate NapHit (who is on a long-term trip to Australia), the FLC team has experienced a need for new hands.

The first delegate elections were held in 2009, and resulted in Dabomb87 and Giants2008 being promoted to directors. At that time, Matthewedwards, The Rambling Man and iMatthew were the only editors serving as delegates/directors. As of today, Giants2008 and Hahc21 are covering the FLC duties, but a shortage might arise if either go inactive.

The main reason for the 2013 elections, according to Hahc21, is to avoid a shortage of delegates and guarantee that the FLC process is kept as smooth as possible.

In brief

Wikipedia Library newsletter: The first edition of Books and Bytes, the Wikipedia Library project's newsletter, has been published.
CERN releases photos: CERN, the organization that oversees the world's largest particle physics laboratory, has announced that it has released its first collection of photographs under a CC-by-SA license, meaning that they can be distributed freely as long as they attribute CERN and do not try to distribute the work under a different license. The release specifically mentions the benefits to Wikipedia, through the additions of director-general portraits and Higgs discovery plots from its ATLAS and CMS projects to Higgs boson.
Propose-a-Wikipedia-article Project: Institution members of the Metropolitan New York Library Council have been invited to choose several articles that are important to them, such as Margaret Fuller, The Raven, or Report of 1800, and submit them to the council's Wikipedian-in-Residence, Dorothy Howard. She will select several submissions and improve the related Wikipedia article with "references to appropriate sources, collection highlights, and public domain images".
Jay Walsh: The Wikimedia Foundation's senior director of communications has announced his departure from the position, though he will remain with the organization at least through the end of 2013. Walsh was originally hired in January 2008.
Open position: The National Library of Switzerland is looking for a German-speaker who can act as a liaison between the Wikipedia community and the institution.
In the media
- Praekelt to release free Wikipedia access interface: Humanipo ("Home to African Tech") reported that "mobile technology incubator Praekelt Foundation has partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation to offer a free Wikipedia access interface, to be released in Kenya next week."
- Columnist attacks med school’s homework to edit Wikipedia: The University of Richmond Collegian published a critical comment on the idea of medicine students editing Wikipedia for course credit.
- Ada Lovelace Day: The Ada Lovelace Day editing initiative to close the gender gap attracted widespread coverage in such publications as The Guardian, The Mary Sue, Mashable, The Atlantic, PBS, The New York Times and many others.
- "Wikipedia sued": Akron Legal News featured an update on the suit brought by lawyer Susan Burke, seeking to identify anonymous editors who she believes defamed her in Wikipedia.
- War of words on Wikipedia: CBC News reported on a Canadian soldier's desertion case that also involved a number of Wikipedia edits.
- Portland edit-a-thon: The Portland Mercury covered an edit-a-thon hosted by the Portland Art Museum's Crumpacker Library.
- Wikipedia in Indian languages on mobile phones: SciDev.net reported on initiatives to make Indian-language versions of Wikipedia more widely accessible to Indian mobile phone users.
- Where do Wikipedia donations go?: The Daily Dot followed the opinion piece previously published by Andrew Orlowski at The Register, in reporting on Sue Gardner's recent comments on funds usage. The piece was also featured on Mashable.
  
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2013-10-16

Peace-ful potpourri

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By Serendipodous

Summary: A slow week, with low overall views and the Top 10 dominated by longstanding pages. Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron's outer space-set action art film, not only held its position at the top of the US box office but climbed to the top of the Wikipedia chart as well, showing that it has become a major talking point. The only new entry into the top ten this week was youngest-ever Nobel nominee Malala Yousafzai, who, despite being hotly tipped for the Peace Prize, failed to win.

For the complete Top 25 report, including articles excluded from the list, see: WP:TOP25.

For the week of October 6 - 12, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Notes
1	Gravity (film)		638,019	Alfonso Cuaron's outer space opus is shaping into the critical/commercial blockbuster of the year, earning over $190 million worldwide in its first ten days.
2	Facebook		536,286	A perennially popular article
3	Breaking Bad		525,210	People still want to know about this show, even though it ended last week.
4	Lorde		449,871	The not-quite 17-year-old singer-songwriter from New Zealand released her modestly titled debut album, Pure Heroine, on 27 September.
5	List of Bollywood films of 2013	List	370,116	An established staple of the top 25.
6	World War II		363,648	Another perennially popular article. (The 16th most popular article from 2010–12, in fact, see Table 2 here.)
7	Malala Yousafzai		362,657	The 16-year-old (and youngest ever) Nobel Peace Prize nominee made the talk show rounds to promote her autobiography, I Am Malala, released on the 9th of October, the first anniversary of her shooting by a Taliban fighter for speaking out for women's education in her native Pakistan. Despite being the "star" of the 2013 Nobel Prizes, she didn't win, but then, neither did Gandhi.
8	Miley Cyrus		342,994	Another young woman of note, though for somewhat different reasons.
9	Deaths in 2013	List	341,523	The list of deaths in the current year is always quite a popular article.
10	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.		330,950	Joss Whedon's extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into television has been met with mixed reviews but (to date, anyway) fairly stellar ratings.

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2013-10-16

Heraldry and Vexillology

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By Mabeenot

Your source for

WikiProject News

WikiProject Jordan is seeking new members to grow the project
WikiProjects are needed to test the first release of Flow, a new discussion and collaboration system for all Wikimedia projects. If you'd like your project to be included in the Flow pilot this December, please contact Maryana.
The Backlog Elimination Drive held by WikiProject Articles for Creation is underway with barnstars and brownies up for grabs.

Submit your project's news and announcements for next week's WikiProject Report at the Signpost's WikiProject Desk.

This week, we studied coats of arms and flags with the folks at WikiProject Heraldry and Vexillology. Started in September 2006, the project has grown to include 20 Featured Articles and nearly 50 Good Articles. The project maintains a portal, a list of resources, and a variety of images and templates. We interviewed Wilhelm Meis.

What motivated you to join WikiProject Heraldry and Vexillology? Does your family have its own coat of arms or flag? Do you have any formal training in these fields?: I have always been interested in the Middle Ages, knights, castles, and the sport and pageantry of the joust. Heraldry is an important part of that world.; The question of my family (or any family) having its own coat of arms is a complex one to answer. A lot of vendors are quick to sell nice presentations of dubious armory based on a database of burgher arms by surname, without any evidence of descent beyond the coincidence of the customer having the same surname. Some of my ancestors may have been armigerous, but I have no solid evidence either way. I do have my own arms, though, registered with the Society for Creative Anachronism.; I do not have formal training in the field of heraldry, much less vexillology. Heraldry has been a subject of informal study for me for many years. One of my particular fields of heraldic interest has been the variation seen among different countries/regions, a very colorful subject which is seldom explored in published literature.

Have you contributed to any of the project's Featured or Good Articles? What are the greatest challenges to improving heraldry and vexillology articles up to Featured status?: Some of my greatest contributions on English Wikipedia have been at Swedish heraldry, which was listed as a Good Article in July 2009 and was a Featured Article candidate in February 2012. I made 260 of the 424 edits that have been made to that article to date.

One of the challenges I have found is that the H/V community is such a small group that our articles just don't get the volume of editor traffic seen at most featured articles. One of my frustrations in general is the lack of English-language literature on continental European heraldry, because most English-language writers focus on British heraldry. Fortunately for me, I can read German and Swedish too, so I have been able to read some of those sources as well.

Do seals and other emblems receive the same treatment as coats of arms and flags? How different are these from the logos and wordmarks of businesses and organizations? Has it been difficult to keep track of so many different types of symbols?: Seals played an important role in the development of the practice of heraldry in medieval Europe, and in some ways they are treated very similarly to coats of arms. While seals are not the same as coats of arms, I do consider them to be relevant to the study and practice of heraldry.; Many modern corporate logos represent a natural development of earlier seals. While many early seals incorporated a natural likeness of their bearer, the development of heraldry gave rise to medieval seals bearing totemic representations. Many corporate logos seen today also incorporate simple monochrome images of abstract symbols. Some modern corporate logos strongly resemble coats of arms (just look at the Porsche, Cadillac and Alfa Romeo logos, for instance), many Japanese companies sport logos resembling Japanese mon badges (see the Mitsubishi logo for a famous example), and some logos resemble seals (Starbucks is a famous example). Some countries, like Iceland, don't have a heraldic authority but do have civic heraldry, so coats of arms are registered as logos and are not held to heraldic standards.; Differentiating among coats of arms, seals, logos and other emblems has proven controversial at times, particularly in countries that had coats of arms during their colonial times but have moved away from European heraldic traditions with their post-independence national emblems.

Are the national and state symbols of some countries better represented than others on Wikipedia? What can be done to improve coverage of these neglected parts of the world?: Generally, European and North American state symbols are more dealt with in more detail than some others, particularly African and Asian ones. This has been especially true in past years, but the situation is gradually improving. Again, I think part of the problem here is the comparative lack of English-language sources treating these subjects. One way editors could help is for those who are able to find and read non-English sources to contribute information from these to Wikipedia's relevant heraldic articles.

Has the project ever received requests for help with personal genealogical matters? How does the project handle these questions? What other resources are available online and offline for people researching their family histories?: We do see these kind of requests come up from time to time on heraldic article talk pages. They are generally answered with a reference to WP:NOTFORUM, i.e., Wikipedia's article talk pages are not places to ask general questions about heraldry, but to discuss the improvement of the related article. There are lots of resources out there, more than ever before, for people to be able to trace their lineage. For reliability of resources, I would suggest avoiding any of the bucket shops, but instead start with a genealogy service (there are several well-known ones online and advertising on TV), review the primary source documents showing lineage, and then check the records of any relevant heraldic authorities for specific names, checking that dates are also consistent with the lifetimes of any armigerous individuals found in your family tree. Finally, do not presume that the presence of an armiger among your ancestors entitles you to assume their arms. In some cases, some heraldic elements may be assumed, but you should apply to the heraldic authority in question for specific guidance.

Does the project deal with any copyright and trademark issues in relation to heraldry and vexillology subjects? Are most of the project's images taken straight from their sources or are they recreated in a vector format?: We deal with copyright issues as well as some other legal restrictions. Not only are the images themselves subject to copyright law, but the underlying heraldic/vexillological designs are often subject to restrictions as well. Most of the h/v images I have worked with are user-generated vector graphics from WM Commons, usually redrawn from the blazon. One way interested graphic artists could help the project would be by creating or improving vector versions of flags and coats of arms. If these vector graphics are released under a Creative Commons license, it allows us to use them in ways that we can't use non-free graphics (like a .jpg or .gif image borrowed from a government web site under a Fair Use rationale).

The words and phrases used to describe coats of arms and flags almost seem like an entirely different language. Where can the average Wikipedia reader turn for help in deciphering these descriptions? Has the project found it difficult to make heraldry and vexillology articles accessible to all readers?: The jargon for English heraldic descriptions is called a blazon. It is based on the Anglo-Norman language that served as the language of law in England at the time of the development of heraldry during the Middle Ages. Many continental European heraldic authorities do not use a special jargon, a rigid grammatical structure, or a stilted register to describe coats of arms, though some do. I understand that Irish and French heraldic descriptions, for instance, use a formal register, but Danish and Swedish ones do not.; Some resources that can help English speakers learn to decipher Anglo-Norman blazon include Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry and A Heraldic Primer: Introduction and Table of Contents (Society for Creative Anachronism). A few other general guides that may be helpful to neophytes and continue to be useful references for experienced heraldic editors include A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909) by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies and The Oxford Guide to Heraldry (1988) by Thomas Woodcock. I also like Heraldry Sources, Symbols and Meaning by Ottfried Neubecker for its less Anglocentric coverage.; I don't think it's as difficult for the h/v project to make our articles accessible as it may be for some other projects. Mostly, it's just important to avoid presuming that the general reader understands Anglo-Norman blazons, but many of our articles cover non-English heraldry (which avoids the jargon but presents its own set of translation problems). To help guide our editors in how to handle blazons and informal heraldic descriptions, we developed a guideline (WP:BLAZON) to improve our articles' accessibility as well as verifiability.

What are the project's most urgent needs? How can a new contributor help today?: I have actually been trying to gauge the current temperature and direction of the project (see WT:HV#Current direction of the HV project). We have a lot of project members quietly working on their own to improve things that don't require much discussion, so it's hard to keep track of what everyone else is working on. One thing I would like to see is a taskforce approach to article improvement, so that a group of h/v project members could work together as a group to rapidly improve an article from B-class to GA or FA.

Next week, we'll revisit an elemental project. Until then, explore our table of periodic WikiProject Reports in the archive.

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2013-10-16

That's a lot of pictures

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By Cdtew

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from October 6, 2013 through October 12, 2013.

Featured articles

Six featured articles were promoted this week.

509th Composite Group (nom) by Reedmalloy and Hawkeye7. This United States Army Air Forces unit existed for less than two years during World War II, but was tasked with the "operational deployment of nuclear weapons". The planes that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki belonged to the 509th.
Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (nom) by WikiRedactor and Magiciandude. Colombian recording artist Shakira's sixth album is a latin pop work produced by Rick Rubin. Volume 1 holds the record for the highest debut for a full-length Spanish language album in the United States. Volume 2 was released five months later.
Mistle Thrush (nom) by Jimfbleak. Turdus viscivorus is a common, large thrush that feasts on invertebrates, seeds, and berries, including Mistletoe berries, whence the bird gets its name. Found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, the mistle thrush greatly expanded its habitat in the 18th and 19th centuries, and has adapted to living in suburban and urban green spaces.
Enrico Fermi (nom) by Hawkeye7. This Italian physicist was the father of the first nuclear reactor, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, and was the 1938 Nobel laureate in Physics. Everything from particles, equations, a fundamental force of nature, a particle accelerator, a telescope, and the United States Atomic Energy Commission's highest honor were named for Fermi.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (nom) by JDC808. The God of War series' sixth installment, Ghost of Sparta allows the player to once again take control of Kratos, the God of War, who in this episode is seeking vengeance against Thanatos, the God of Death. Released initially on the PSP, gameplay is based on the player achieving combos during combat. The game was later re-released in two different collections for the Playstation 3.
L'Arianna (nom) by Brianboulton. Composer Claudio Monteverdi's second opera, L'Arianna is one of the earliest operas, having been first performed in Mantua in 1608. Written between November 1607 and January 1608, Monteverdi would later complain that the pressure of composing the opera within that short period of time nearly killed him. The story follows Theseus' abandonment of the Minotaur's half-sister, Ariadne, on the island of Naxos, and her later marriage to the god Bacchus.

Featured lists

Two featured lists were promoted this week.

2009 Women's Cricket World Cup squads (nom) by Harrias. Eight national teams competed in this 2009 competition, held that year in Australia. England won its second title at the conclusion of the competition, with that nation's Claire Taylor accumulating a tournament-high 324 runs.
List of songs recorded by Ashley Tisdale (nom) by Decodet. This American actress, singer, and songwriter has recorded 75 songs, from 2009's "Acting Out" to 2011's "You're Going Down". Many of her recording efforts were part of the Phineas & Ferb and High School Musical series, although Tisdale has also recorded songs for two studio albums, as well as a promotional campaign for Degree anti-perspirant.

Featured pictures

Thirty–three featured pictures were promoted this week.

Frontispiece, Weland's Sword, Young Men at the Manor, Young Men at the Manor II, Young Men at the Manor III, The Knights of the Joyous Venture, The Knights of the Joyous Venture II, The Knights of the Joyous Venture III, Old Men at Pevensey, Old Men at Pevensey II, A Centurion of the Thirtieth, On the Great Wall, The Winged Hats, The Winged Hats II, The Winged Hats III, The Winged Hats IV, Hal o' the Draft, "Dimchurch Flit", The Treasure and the Law, The Treasure and the Law II (nom, related article) created by H. R. Millar and restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden. This set of twenty illustrations by H. R. Millar accompanied Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's HIll, published first in 1906.
Vatican City map (nom, related article) created by Thoroe and nominated by Crisco 1492. This map gives a detailed overview of the locations of the many sites of interest within the Catholic Church's enclave in Rome.
Prague astronomical clock face (nom, related article) created and nominated by Godot13. Prague's astronomical clock was crafted in 1410, and resides on the southern wall of the Old Town City Hall in the Czech Republic's capital.
Road Maker (nom, related article) created by Karl Bodmer, restored by Crisco 1492, and nominated by MatGTAM. This image of a Hidatsa chief, engraved in the 1840s, illustrates the article concerning that ethnic group.
Two scenes from Der Busant (nom, related article) created by an unknown 15th century textile artist, nominated by Crisco 1492. This tapestry from Alsace depicts two scenes from a Middle High German verse narrative that tells the tale of a love affair between the Princess of France and the Prince of England.
Bryce Canyon Amphitheatre (nom, related article) created by Tuxyso, nominated by Crisco 1492. Bryce Canyon National Park is located in the U.S. state of Utah, and this new featured image depicts its numerous red-colored hoodoos.
Indian chameleon (nom, related article) created by M. Arun Prasad, nominated by Nikhil. Chamaeleo zeylanicus is a chameleon found in India, Sri Lanka, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
The Taking of Lungtungpen I and The Taking of Lungtungpen II (nom, related article) created by Archibald Standish Hartrick, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden. Rudyard Kipling's The Taking of Lungtungpen was published in 1887, and was republished in 1896 with illustrations by Hatrick, which are now featured pictures.
Ada Lovelace (nom, related article) created by Alfred Edward Chalon and nominated by Pine. Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, and has been described as the world's first computer programmer because of an algorithm she developed for the Analytical Engine...in the 1840s.
Landsort Lighthouse (nom, related article) created by Arild Vågen and nominated by Tomer T. This Swedish lighthouse on the island of Öja was built in 1689, with a conical upper section added in 1870.
Whistlejacket (nom, related article) created by George Stubbs, restored by Crisco 1492, and nominated by Nikhil. George Stubbs' 1762 oil painting depicts a racehorse belonging to the Marquess of Rockingham; the fact that the portrait is set against a solid-colored background led to some controversy over whether or not the painting was complete.
Egyptian Vulture (nom, related article) created by Kadellar and nominated by Tomer T. The Egyptian Vulture is an endangered member of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. This vulture feeds mostly on carrion, but sometimes feasts on other birds' eggs by use of tools such as pebbles, a trait rare in birds.
Sleeping Venus (nom, related article) created by Giorgione and nominated by Armbrust. Italian master Giorgione painted this depiction of the Greco-Roman goddess of love in about 1510, but the painter Titian completed the painting's sky and landscape after Giorgione's death; Titian painted his own version of the reclining Venus in 1538.

Illustrations to the First Edition of Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill
Frontispiece: They saw a small, brown ... pointy-eared person ... step quietly into the Ring
Weland's Sword: Then he made a sword
Young Men at the Manor: 'At this she cried that I was a Norman thief'
Young Men at the Manor: Said he, 'I have it all from the child here'
Young Men at the Manor: 'Sir Richard, will it please you enter your Great Hall?'
The Knights of the Joyous Venture: 'And we two tumbled aboard the Dane'
The Knights of the Joyous Venture: Thorkild had given back before his Devil, till the bowmen on the ship could shoot it all full of arrows
The Knights of the Joyous Venture: 'So we called no more'
Old Men at Pevensey: 'A' God's Name write her free, before she deafens me!'
Old Men at Pevensey: He drew his dagger on Jehan, who threw him down the stairway
A Centurion of the Thirtieth: 'You put the bullet into that loop'
On the Great Wall: 'And that is the Wall!'
The Winged Hats: 'Hail, Caesar!'
The Winged Hats: 'We dealt with them thoroughly through a long day'
The Winged Hats: 'The Wall must be won at a price'
The Winged Hats: Where they had suffered most, there they charged in most hotly
Hal o' the Draft: 'I reckon you'll find her middlin' heavy,' he says
'Dymchurch Flit': 'I know what sort o' man you be,' old Hobden grunted, groping for the potatoes
The Treasure and the Law: Doors shut, candles lit
The Treasure and the Law: 'They drove me across the drawbridge'

Featured topic

John Edward Brownlee (nom) by Neelix and Steve Smith. This fifth Premier of the Canadian province of Alberta also served as that province's Attorney–General, Provincial Secretary, and a member of its Legislative Assembly. Featured articles in this topic include one discussing Brownlee's time as Attorney-General, one concerning his Premiership, and an article covering a 1934 sex scandal that ended Brownlee's time as Premier.

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2013-10-16

Manning naming dispute case closed

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By Neotarf

The Committee closed the Manning naming dispute case with a strong and unanimous statement against disparaging references to transgendered people. Sanctions were enacted against six editors.

The workshop phase of the Ebionites 3 case has finished, although the formal closing date of the workshop phase has been extended to October 19, and the date for the proposed decision to October 20.

Closed case

Manning naming dispute

A final decision has been posted in the Manning naming dispute case, which involves the move of the Bradley Manning article to Chelsea Manning, after Manning’s attorney announced his client's wish to be known as Chelsea. The article was moved back to Bradley Manning, then to Chelsea Manning again, after reaching consensus in a discussion that included a comprehensive survey of sources.

The committee has unanimously endorsed a statement that:

“

While a majority of the participating editors expressed their views reasonably and appropriately during the community discussion on the "Bradley/Chelsea Manning" page title, a number did not. Poor commentary included disparaging references to transgendered persons' life choices or anatomical changes. These comments, along with excessively generalized or blanket statements concerning motivations for wishing the page title to be "Bradley Manning", significantly degraded good-faith attempts to establish a consensus on the issue.

”

The following findings of fact were passed regarding individuals:

During the course of the dispute, Hitmonchan engaged in discriminatory speech on the basis of gender identity ("Only when his testicles are ripped out of his scrotum ... will I call Manning a 'she'").

During the course of the dispute, IFreedom1212 engaged in discriminatory speech on the basis of gender identity ("He is clearly mentally unstable and his ... desire to be called Chelsea should not be regarded with any merit", "I will continue to refer to him as a male as long as he has a dick").

During the course of the dispute, Tarc intentionally engaged in inflammatory and offensive speech ("Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make a heifer become Marilyn Monroe", "Bradley Manning simply doesn't become a woman just because he says so") in a self-admitted attempt to disrupt Wikipedia to make a point.

Josh Gorand has adopted a problematic battleground approach to the discussion

Phil Sandifer has exhibited signs of having a battleground mentality, feeling that all who oppose his position are transphobic.

During the course of the dispute, Baseball Bugs frequently accused other participants in the dispute of malice; engaged in discriminatory speech based on his personal view of the article subject's actions; and needlessly personalised the dispute.

During the course of the dispute, David Gerard used his tools to protect the article from being moved back to "Bradley Manning", mentioning "MOS:IDENTITY, WP:BLP" and, after another administrator moved the article back to its original title, he reversed that administrator's action. Finally, after getting involved in the content dispute on the article's talk page, he reversed the full edit protection imposed by another administrator. After acting in his capacity as an administrator, at first, David Gerard failed to provide a detailed explanation of why he thought the title "Bradley Manning" would have violated the biographies of living persons policy and, when questioned, replied in an uncivil manner, accusing his interlocutors of disruptive behaviour. David's actions violated the administrator policy sections on accountability, wheel war and involved administrators.

The committee passed remedies against six individuals. Editors Hitmonchan, IFreedom1212, Tarc, Josh Gorand, and Baseball Bugs were banned from pages relating to transgender topics. David Gerard was admonished and restricted from using administrator tools on topics pertaining to transgender. The discretionary sanctions adopted in the Sexology case are now to apply to articles dealing with transgender issues.

Open cases

Ebionites 3

The Ebionites 3 case, initiated by Ignocrates involves a long-running dispute between two editors over a 2nd century religious document. The workshop phase of Ebionites 3 has finished, but the closing date has been extended, since the drafting arbitrator wants to post parts of the proposed decision on the workshop page for comment. Participants have been requested not to add large amounts of additional material to the workshop page at this point, as it may be missed by the arbitrators.

Other requests and committee action

Clarification request:Infoboxes: A request was made by Anthonyhcole for clarification regarding the restriction on Gerda Arendt's restriction on adding infoboxes except on articles that they create; whether this applies to adding infoboxes to articles that are expanded significantly; or in cases where she is restricted from adding them, whether another editor, Neutralhomer might add them on her behalf.
Clarification request:Ayn Rand: An amendment request was initiated by TParis regarding an administrator editing through protection on an article with Arbcom sanctions.
Clarification request:Race and intelligence: A request made by Cla68 regarding the possible posting of personal non-public data in response to off-site provocation was closed with an indefinite site ban for Mathsci, which can be appealed after six months.
Arbitration Committee Elections RFC: The yearly Arbitration Committee Election request for comments is now open.
Morning277 sockpuppet investigation:There is a discussion on the Arbitration Committee talk page concerning the role of the committee in the Morning277 investigation (see previous Signpost coverage: "Extensive network of clandestine paid advocacy exposed") .

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2013-10-16

Ada Lovelace Day, paid advocacy on Wikipedia, sidebar update, and more

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By Pine

This is mostly a list of Non-article page requests for comment believed to be active on 15 October 2013 linked from subpages of Wikipedia:RfC, recent watchlist notices and SiteNotices. The latter two are in bold. Items that are new to this report are in italics even if they are not new discussions. If an item can be listed under more than one category it is usually listed once only in this report. Clarifications and corrections are appreciated; please leave them in this article's comment box at the bottom of the page.