Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia Signpost/2020-08-02/In the media

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"Summer"? In half of the planet, it's winter. Please remember that we are a global community. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:46, 2 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, but it's a very easy mistake to make when it's so hot outside. BTW while half of the earth's surface is in the Southern hemisphere, less than one-third of the land surface is there and 10-12% of the population, more than half of which is in Indonesia and Brazil. And, just guessing, that half or more of the 10-12% of the population is in the equatorial zone, were the different between summer and winter might not be a big deal. So for the 5-6% of our readers who may have been offended by my use of the word "summer", I apologize. I'll try not to do it again.

BTW, @Pigsonthewing:, you've given me an idea. Maybe next year in August we can have a special issue put together by people from the southern hemisphere. Is anybody up for it? It would certainly help those of us locked down for the pandemic, who would enjoy having some time off during the dog days. Smallbones_(smalltalk) 21:52, 2 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Same issue for the community around Animal Crossing: New Horizons after a diving update was rolled worldwide, including players in the southern hemisphere who have their island covered in snow. -Gouleg (Talk • Contribs) 13:28, 3 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"freedom fighter" vs "terrorist" - I fail to see why this has to be mutually exclusive, regardless POV. Over the history quite a few freedom fighters and revolutionaries resorted to terror. Staszek Lem (talk) 21:48, 2 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think we probably agree on this, though I was likely being a bit too sly. It's something of a reference to an old saying "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." It's more or less my view and it was funny seeing this in action on Wikipedia. "Terrorist" though is quite an extreme thing which I really disagree with, even more than I disagree with war in general. Terrorism is an attack on people's minds, not just their bodies. The idea as I understand it is to make people so afraid that they will follow your rule. Smallbones_(smalltalk) 23:13, 2 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College has not been removed yet. As our comprehensive article on the List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests makes clear, the college's governing body has voted to remove it, but they've convened a commission to take the final decision, and it does not report until January 2021. As the Rhodes Building is a Grade II* listed building, they'll need to apply for permission to remove it. More here and here. Theramin (talk) 01:29, 3 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Good catch! I stand corrected. Smallbones_(smalltalk) 20:50, 3 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks - but might I then prevail upon you to correct the mistake in this article, to say that college authorities have voted to remove it, rather than it having been removed already? Theramin (talk) 00:18, 6 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

No? OK, well, this is still part of the wiki, so I guess I should fix it myself. Theramin (talk) 00:57, 10 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

That 89 GB snapshot includes my Monster Truck Madness GA, my Neo Geo CD FP, and my List of Puella Magi Madoka Magica episodes FL! -ias postb□x+ 17:26, 3 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The medical encyclopedia anyone can plagiarize ... has me steamed. See User:SandyGeorgia/AlainFymat for three Featured articles used almost entirely by Alain L. Fymat for predatory journal publication without attribution. I have sent letters, but we will see if I have any recourse. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:26, 5 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

On Google's Knowledge Graph, it is interesting to note that that the sometimes Google may misinterpret articles from here. When the 2020 Singaporean general election was in full swing with the voting conducted on 10 July, a local online media publication shared a screenshot of a first-time candidate being named as a Member of Parliament in the Knowledge Graph even before the voting was closed. Google probably had misinterpreted a line in the lead before the article was revised: "In October 2016, Singaporean Member of Parliament Low Yen Ling announced in a speech to women rights organisations that Gan is "one notable example who smashed the 'brass ceiling' to become the first female general in the SAF"." I did some copyediting, shifting the line into the body as it was more suited there. The Knowledge Panel was then updated to show Gan as either as a "Politician" or a general as I continued to tweak the article. My immediate concern was that people misconstrue Wikipedia being the one feeding the wrong information to the Knowledge Graph, whereas what probably had happened was Google's algorithms screwing up. This also reinforces the need for the Lead section to be as concise as possible. – robertsky (talk) 03:37, 6 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]