User talk:Pi zero/Archive 6

Please do not edit the contents of this page. It is for historical reference only.

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Keeping newsroom fresh

I have been going around and refreshing many pages and portals. It seems no one has clicked refresh on many of these pages for months. Anyway, what is the etiquette on abandoned articles. Can I move them to the major contributors user sub pages or should we let them sit in the development screen even though they are obviously abandon. Janweh64 (talk) 14:30, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Some specific articles have their own backstory; for example, I'd advise against even touching the 'good news' article, whose author appears to have transformed herself into something of a troll.

In general, when an article hasn't been edited for at least four days, it is tagged with {{subst:aband}} at the top. Then, assuming work does not resume, two days later it is subject to speedy-deletion. (Such articles are automatically added to the lists at the bottom of WN:DR, and usually one waits until the third calendar day after, as a simple way of making sure the abandoned article got a full 48 hours of notice.) --Pi zero (talk) 14:38, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I should point out: One of the developing articles is an interview; that would probably be okay, for a little while yet, if the transcription were completed and it were submitted for review. Interviews last longer than anything else. --Pi zero (talk) 17:09, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Basically, you are saying there is a process for removing these. And I should just let the process work it self. Just mark pages like you said if they qualify like above. And give interviews even more time. Janweh64 (talk) 01:58, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Pretty much. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 02:07, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Another outlier is the article published last week about "California judge disqualified from predatory lending case": It was begun on December 16 about a hearing scheduled to occur on December 24. It was rejected then for many reasons, one of which was that it was not sufficiently newsworthy. After the event on December 24, I dramatically revised the article based on the actual event. If the December 16 version had been deleted, I would have started a new article using what I had saved from what I did December 16. DavidMCEddy (talk) 07:07, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Problem with page view statistics

What's the process for reporting either a bug or a feature considered user hostile?

My concern pertains to "Page view statistics": At least for "California judge disqualified from predatory lending case" today sometime it lost everything before Jan. 1. I remember seeing over 2000 last year. Now it's 597, all of which are Jan. 1-3. This is hardly a major issue, but it might be nice to get a bug report (or feature request) to increase the chances of it being fixed for next year.

Thanks, DavidMCEddy (talk) 07:07, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

To see the past 30, 60, or 90 days instead of the current month (which is January), there are links to the upper right of the graph. For that article, 30 is sufficient atm: [1].

As for bugs, fwiw, the stats.grok.se home page says "This is very much a beta service and may disappear or change at any time." --Pi zero (talk) 12:28, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

OK. Thanks. DavidMCEddy (talk) 04:58, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Ted Williams interview request problem

Hi Pi zero, I'm trying to secure an interview with voiceover artist Ted Williams because it's been two years since I wrote a Wikinews article about how he became famous for this. Using the contact page of his website (Ted Williams | The Golden Voice | Contact) I sent an email to his webpage yesterday requesting an interview "because I would like to find out how your life has changed in the two years following this video's release and what you think the future may hold for you", I said. I got a reply later in the day from someone called Bret Adams of ABG Lawyers who asked me "Ryan do you have a number where Ted can reach you?" The email address I received the reply from matched the one provided on the aforementioned contact page, so I looked up his email address and found a webpage of him seems legitimate enough: ABG, LLC - Bret A. Adams The website also says they're based in Columbus, Ohio, which is where Ted Williams lives.

However, I'm still a bit sceptical about giving away my personal information to someone I don't know. Should I email my phone number to him?

Another thing: Bret Adams is based in the US and I'm in the UK so I'm concerned about international call charges should I try to call his number.

I'm not really sure what to do now. Also, I'm wondering if this article would be newsworthy enough for Wikinews to justify creating it. Any advice / suggestions? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 12:46, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Never mind, I've given him my home phone number anyway. I'll create the article assuming I can get the interview done. --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 10:28, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the review

Of my Shelley Chaplin interview. I will take careful note of the changes you have made, and will try to make it easier for you next time.

Why is there no wiki-love on news? Anyhow, thank you very much. Hawkeye7 (talk) 04:50, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

I thought it a good interview. And you're quite welcome.

(Btw, when wiki-love was proposed here, I opposed it vehemently. And brianmc opposed it. (BRS said he didn't care —actually he used stronger language than that— as he probably wouldn't use it even if it were available.) My basic position was, and is, that it trivializes expressions of appreciation, and is related to the poisonous philosophy of AGF, AGF being one of the slow toxins destroying Wikipedia.) --Pi zero (talk) 06:48, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Brevity

Perhaps overly-brief? --Brian McNeil / ^talk 15:44, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Church of England

"The Church of England is", not "the Church of England are", surely? Bencherlite (talk) 21:42, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Organizations may be treated as either singular or plural depending on whether the emphasis is on the whole or the parts. It occurred to me, looking at your edit, that in this case the emphasis is more on the parts than on the whole, that being a bone of contention for the conservatives; so I figured it would make sense to leave it as the writer had set it down. --Pi zero (talk) 21:48, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, it's just wrong, not a matter of stylistic preference. E.g. the opening words of en:Church of England, the CofE website, BBC news, New York Times, the Vatican website, Washington Post.... Conversely, a Google search for "Church of England are" shows (well, shows me at least, your results may differ and other search engines are available) the Wikinews story on the first page, never a good sign that the phrase is in common use... and all the other uses are for examples such as "members of the Church of England are", not ones that use the CofE as a plural. Bencherlite (talk) 21:52, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

And all the sources for the article use CoE as singular not plural. Bencherlite (talk) 21:53, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

There's a highfalutin' name for this type of construct. If the form isn't often used, its nuance of meaning isn't often called for. --Pi zero (talk) 22:05, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, but as a long-standing member of the CofE I find your suggestion that there isn't often a call for the usage of a form of words indicating that the parts of the CofE are under discussion is just so wrong as to be laughable. But as you are apparently unmoved by sources (either those directly used in the article, or those from a variety of leading sources), there is no apparent point in continuing to reason with you. Cheerio. Bencherlite (talk) 22:14, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

I'd be interested to hear if there's a case to be made for switching to "is" based on the general pattern, rather than the specific instance (there is, last I saw, an en.wp article that covers the general pattern rather well, though the elaborate name of the article is worth a laugh). Or a case to be made for why one should disregard the general pattern in favor of the specific instance. --Pi zero (talk) 22:33, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

I know.........

....I'm not ENTIRELY delusional here. About a year ago, I went through a little raving phase, wanting us to weave more audio/video into the regular format of articles.......sort of build the ENTIRE ARTICLE upon audio and/or video. You and/or Bryan fooled around with some pretend articles to that effect....some sort of sandbox-y thing. Was that you? Was that him? Where is that/was that? I just can't find it/them. One of you came up with some cool stuff. --Bddpaux (talk) 20:23, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

It rings a slight bell, but I don't recall it clearly so the response you're thinking of probably wasn't me. We have photo essays as a standard, if less common, format, of course. --Pi zero (talk) 20:47, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

User:Brian McNeil/Audio interview example That one is it. A good example. --Bddpaux (talk) 21:10, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Protesting in Belfast

I'am really not good at writing news articles since I have so little time on my hands. Should I continue and try to further make my edits? Or stop wikinews all together since i only have a certain ammount of time on my hands? Thank you. --Ncdj181 (talk) 19:08, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

With practice, basic Wikinews writing should get easier and therefore take less time and effort. Of course, only you can judge your particular circumstances, but there is that hope.

Re the particular article: It looks like you have at-least-nearly enough for a minimal article now; it's marginal. Another sentence or two would be good, of course. When you believe it's ready for review, submit it for review. There could be some lurking problem that I'd only notice in a rigorous review, but neither of us would know about that until and unless a rigorous review is actually done, and that won't happen until and unless you submit it for review. And you can't learn from your mistakes unless you submit them for review and thus get feedback from a review. Keep in mind, a not-ready review can be valuable to you as a learning experience; and even experienced Wikinewsies sometimes fail to get an article published, so if that happens, it's only frustrating (and perhaps a learning experience), not a disaster either. I can see some small details of style in the article that will want correcting during review, but of course we don't expect you to already know every little detail of style going in. --Pi zero (talk) 19:29, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Glasgow 2014 calls for 15,000 volunteers‎

''(er. {{embargo}} redirects to {{prepare}}, and either is not meant to be used in combination with {{review}}, but rather as an alternative)'' Um, okay. What I wanted to say was that there is an embargo until 0001 Zulu (about two hours away now). Is there a proper template for that?

It is good that Glasgow is sending us info to run like other news sites. I am hoping that this will be the first of a long series. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:19, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

We don't publish press releases, and we don't publish single-source synthesis. And, btw, that press release is already out on the internet where anyone on the planet can see it, so I don't understand what "embargo until 0001 Zulu" means in this context. --Pi zero (talk) 22:28, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Reuters and the helicopter crash

Not an exclusive to Reuters that it wasn't terrorism related - see "The Met told the BBC there was no suggestion the incident was linked to terrorism." (right at the end of the report). Bencherlite (talk) 20:09, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Interesting, will have to consider implications — the direct quote is attributed to a statement to Reuters, so if we're using the quote... hm. --Pi zero (talk) 20:14, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Unexplained revert

Hi. Can you please explain this revert? --MZMcBride (talk) 23:35, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

Either carries the intended meaning, and Wikinewsies see to avoid the word "that" whenever possible. --Pi zero (talk) 23:41, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

Seek, not see. And, no, plenty of Wikinews article titles use "that," as do the body contents of hundreds of articles.

It's generally considered pretty rude to use rollback on a non-vandalistic edit. --MZMcBride (talk) 23:49, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

Three trolls in three sentences. Entirely consistent with your behavior on Wikinews over the past month and change. --Pi zero (talk) 00:39, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Can this be a good news article?

I am trying to do this article with many edits of mine yet declined. So can this be good already??? Tropical Depression Auring (01W) formed over Mindanao, Philippines. January 3, 2013 Weathermaster (talk) 03:27, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

It's about something that happened two weeks ago. And that's one of two problems identified in the review comments on the article talk page; either of the two problems by itself, without the other problem, would make the article entirely unpublishable. Note our recommendation, at {{Howdy}} which is on your user talk page, that you should find multiple independent sources and read them before you start writing. Note also that the review comments say nothing about whether there are other really bad problems; they only say that those two problems exist.

See also WN:Pillars of Wikinews writing. --Pi zero (talk) 03:48, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

I replied to you

I replied to you about renaming that page FYI :) --Computron (talk) 19:02, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

My Sincere apologies my dear Pi Zero

This time is quiet more serious, can't say the details online. Take care of yourself, Best wishes, Danger^Mouse (talk) 19:46, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Should have posted this here instead of my talk page

I saw a link on the side under 'Wikinews' for 'Live Chat' - do I need to download some sort of software to get on to it? --Computron (talk) 18:33, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

The link is to page WN:IRC. Doesn't that page provide a way to access IRC via web browser without an IRC client? A clumsy way, iirc. A simple-to-install IRC client, when platform-compatible, is Chatzilla. --Pi zero (talk) 18:47, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

So I don't need to install any software??? I'm gonna try 'live connect' as that seems to have taken me to another link http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikinews. --Computron (talk) 18:56, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Bureaucratship

Hello, I closed your RFB as successful and gave you the bit. As per the last time anyone really fussed about it, RFPs are supposed to be decided on consensus with all votes considered (excluding obvious trolls and first edit users). Less weight can be given to people who are not members of the community and those with nonsensical concerns, but everyone should be considered entitled to express an opinion. Congratulations on your successful RFB --Cspurrier (talk) 00:10, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks.

It's long been my understanding (this goes back to info I got from more experienced folk at the time of brianmc's last de-cratship nom) that on en.wn folks who have no record of mainspace contribution are of course welcome to express an opinion but the "vote" doesn't count. It's typical of MZMcBride that he started by saying "I believe I'm entitled to a vote here" (emphasis added), which of course is presumably true even though he knows he doesn't get a vote, because he consistently maintains that he believes he's entitled. Not that it's anything but a moot point in this case (and I did lol at Computron's remark). --Pi zero (talk) 00:25, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

Re: User talk:Chrisc97#Review

{{Talkback|User talk:Chrisc97|Review}}

re: United States deportation policies challenged in Santa Clara County, California

What's happening with this?

Should I be doing something more?

You last reviewed it at 16:13, 3 February 2013 (UTC). I replied 17:29, 3 February 2013 (UTC) after already having rewritten the lede and submitted it for review.

It's not my place to push you, but nothing seems to be happening with this. I hope you are in good health and not otherwise seriously stressed.

I can't find the history of when I pressed changed "task" to "review". However, I've been checking this regularly since and responding with reasonable alacrity, I think, to new posts -- but evidently not in the ways that Wikinews reviewers want. Thanks. DavidMCEddy (talk) 16:07, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

I should be reviewing it. I should have reviewed it yesterday. If it isn't reviewed today (UTC — that's the next eight hours and counting), it's in danger of losing freshness despite its element of OR.

I hope I can induce myself to review it. I admit I'm stressed by Wikinews review atm. I figured out years ago that there is a deficit between demand for Wikinews review and supply, that is caused by the difficulty of review which makes it harder for qualified reviewers to afford the donation of time and effort. Having identified some things that can be done to aid reviewing and thus increase how much review reviewers are willing-and-able to do, it then became necessary to step up how much review I do myself in order to help make up the deficit while developing the means to alleviate it. I'm just a little burned out at the moment; hopefully it'll pass, and my biggest worry is whether I can work through it sufficiently to get your article reviewed in time. --Pi zero (talk) 16:26, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

What you do is valuable. What can you do to redefine the work so it gets done in a timely way? For example, what do you think about setting a limit like 1 minute (or 3 minutes) for a review -- something you can motivation yourself to do without delay? At the end of that time, you reevaluate: If you've found a question for the author, pitch it back to that person and go do something else. If you feel comfortable with the article, you let it go. If you think it needs further review, you think carefully about what's the most important thing that needs to be checked -- and how can that be done in minimum time? Then you either do that yourself or ask another reviewer if s/he can spare the time for it -- or you ask the author to clarify that point in the notes if not in the article. That way, things rarely get held very long waiting for you to find time for them, and the most important things get checked. Your reviews won't be as thorough, but they'll get done -- and budding reporters (like me) will be motivated to write more for Wikinews rather than look for some other outlet for our energies because we can't get an answer from a reviewer!

No matter what you do, whether you spend 1000 times as much time as you do now or 0.1% as much time, stupid things will get through. The trick is finding a way to get 80% of the benefit for 20% of the effort -- or (better) 90% of the benefit with 1% of the effort (the Pareto principle).

p.s. I'm an Industrial Engineer and a follower of W. Edwards Deming, among other things. By doing things like I suggested, people really can figure out how to do more with less -- often achieving higher quality in the process. We live longer and have more control of our lives because of all the work of this nature that has taken place over the years. If you are interested, I can talk with you about how to collect data on the review process to give you a more scientific basis for refining the review process to increase the quality of the review while simultaneously reducing the effort. However, I don't want to take your time with that unless you are interested. DavidMCEddy (talk) 18:34, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Time to fully review an article is generally measured in hours rather than minutes. Sometimes I've had simple reviews take less than an hour; I've also had reviews that took nine solid hours or more. Some people are faster than I — but I think the activity takes a lot out of them, even if it does so in less time.

The redefine-the-task approach was the way folks were trying to approach the problem for several years. It really does seem like a natural approach, but in practice it led to various kinds of dead ends. I didn't feel I was on to something until I gave up on it and looked for a different approach. I'm working on very thoughtfully designing a simple, versatile device that in effect extends the wiki software to enable development of assistant tools, for both writers and reviewers. Review labor gets much lower with better submissions, so helping writers saves review labor directly, as well as presumably increasing contributor retention and therefore hopefully increasing the labor pool in the long run. Review assistant tools can make a big difference, even if they can't readily handle with the bulk of review that requires human understanding of text, because what wears out a person intellectually is making decisions, so the more automatable or semi-automatable tasks can be eased, the more energy the reviewer will have left for the things that only a human reviewer can do. --Pi zero (talk) 20:23, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Excellent points. What can be done to make it easier for journalists to clearly connect specific background points to specific statements? I have two thoughts in that regard:

1. How difficult might it be to modify the Mediawiki software to allow footnotes for review but suppress them in publication? Then you can just ask people to put back up comments, links, etc., in <ref>...</ref>: Those comments would then be easily available for review.

2. What kind of system could be established to make it easier to link a specific statement to a specific email to scoop .a.t. wikinewsie.org? Example: <ref><email subject: notes on US deportation policies questioned ...></ref>. The software could be programmed to allow reviewers to click on <email subject:...> and it would take them to the email, which should be "from" an email account listed for that user. Also, the subject name should be unique.

Another point: Can you ask reporters to write shorter articles, so it takes less time in review?

• • • I just deleted 4 of the last 5 paragraphs to simplify the task for reviewers. [There were other questions there that we haven't discussed, and I decided those paragraphs could be deleted -- and it might even make the story better ;-) ] DavidMCEddy (talk) 20:29, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Shorter articles wouldn't actually help nearly as much as one might think, and most newbies already tend to write short articles anyway. Plus, it'd discourage the best articles Wikinews produces (we'd love to have both quality and quantity, but if we have to choose, we go for quality).

Footnotes, transformed into embedded html comments, are in fact a popular way to aid the reviewer, these days. There was once upon a time (so I hear) a gadget constructed along the general lines you describe, and it simply didn't get used — because it meant additional technical overhead, something else to deal with. This has been a problem with a number of alternatives considered to aid review: a major need is to reduce administrative overhead associated with the basic, necessary tasks of review, and you can't do that by means that add administrative overhead. Another example is shared review, where each of several reviewers contributes a small increment of effort toward a review; doesn't work, lots of redundant effort between the reviewers plus additional effort to coordinate. --Pi zero (talk) 20:41, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

I might add, that I see aiding the learning and conduct of tasks requiring expertise as the central challenge for the future of all wikis, not just Wikinews. We're way ahead of the curve in confronting the problem. Someday Wikipedia will... no, not "someday they will thank us", but someday I expect they will use solutions we've come up with without giving us any credit for them. --Pi zero (talk) 21:04, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Taking and using photographs?

Where can I find a guide to taking and publishing photographs?

In the US, I believe that actors own the copyright to any photograph taken of them. In some jurisdictions (especially in the UK but some places in the US), it's illegal to take a picture of a police officer. In Germany, Google lost a lawsuit because they published photographs that showed people's faces without getting consent. In many repressive countries, people are routinely killed or imprisoned for publishing unflattering stories and doubtless photos of high public officials. That also seems to be the de facto policy of the US military towards non-embedded journalists in places where the US decides to conduct military operations (drone strikes or otherwise).

Beyond that, it's my impression that any photo taken of any other public figure belongs to the photographer and can be published as such. Publishing photographs featuring individuals who are not celebrities or public officials may require releases signed by the individuals involved. However, photographs showing groups of people where the focus is on the scene not the people in it presumably can be published without getting a release.

Comments? Thanks, DavidMCEddy (talk) 17:29, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

comment Hope you don't mind me jumping in your discussion here. But let me correct you on one point. It is not against the law anywere in the U.S. to take a photograph of a Police Officer in the course of the official duties, unless you have to trespass to do it. Police officers do not have an expectation of privacy as they perform their duties. TucsonDavidU.S.A. 18:38, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

To be rather honest........

.....I'd appreciate your comments, in light of my comments Comments:Reports of at least fourteen dead this week due to gun-related suicides in the United States. I really did try to remain polite. --Bddpaux (talk) 23:31, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

I suspect the author and reviewer may feel bad about the article. Everyone having meant well, but... well, it's a case to try to learn from, going forward. And I feel bad too, wishing I hadn't been in the throes of a review brown-out (reviewer's block?) at the time (though it's by no means certain I would have been the one to review it even had I been in top form, and one can only conjecture how I would have handled it; but that's the nature of second-guessing).

If I get a chance at some point in things, I'll try to think of something useful to say on the comments page. --Pi zero (talk) 23:49, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you for the editing you did on the UNHCR story! It's been a while and I'm trying to keep my hand in the game. Crtew (talk) 20:43, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Glad to help. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 21:16, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Six Flags Over Texas introduces Texas SkyScreamer

is there a better way to create the page Six Flags Over Texas introduces Texas SkyScreamer? --Starship9000 (talk) 22:25, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Read WN:Pillars of Wikinews writing. Read the instructions for creating a first article on the {{Howdy}} template on your user talk page. There's also other good stuff on, and linked from, the template. And at the end of the template there's a form for creating an article, which automatically adds various required elements. --Pi zero (talk) 22:32, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

I was reading the Pillars of Wikinews writing. Should I write it on a piece of notebook paper then create it and write were I got my source? --Starship9000 (talk) 01:22, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

See my earlier reply. --Pi zero (talk) 01:28, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

I did! Should I write the article on a piece of notebook paper then type it and create it on wikinews and that article is about the new Texas SkyScreamer. --Starship9000 (talk) 00:54, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Enjoying the weather?

How are you doing? I hope you are well, safe, and enjoying the weather. I think I heard you mention the approaching storm that now "cripples US northeast", according to Al Jazeera. I was raised on a farm in Northwest Kansas, went to school in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and lived in other places. I got lectures from my Father about carrying a winter survival kit in the trunk at all times, because people who didn't sometimes didn't survive a winter storm. As a young man I remember consciously deciding that in bad weather I needed to set aside any other priority I had and focus on safety and enjoying life. I've since been caught out or lost electric power in more than one winter storm. As long as I was prepared for the weather, I permitted myself to enjoy it, and I did. DavidMCEddy (talk) 11:08, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Yesterday, after reviewing your article in the morning while the snow fell, I spent the afternoon blowing/shoveling snow. Did a back-of-the-envelope calculuation; if I got it right, 20 inches of snow on a driveway about 10 feet wide and maybe 250 feet long = around 12 metric tons; some of those numbers might be on the high side, so maybe only 10 metric tons. So far we haven't lost power; I gather the outages were a little east of us this time around. We got ourselves a backup generator after a week-long outage in the late '90s, and have used it for two comparable outages since; we have crank-charged flashlights we carry around at night in bad weather; and from my upbringing it seems odd to me that some people don't keep a snow shovel, tow strap, and container of sand or kitty litter in their car trunk.

It is pretty here right now. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 12:30, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Re:Welcome

Thanks for the welcome! :D Raystorm (talk) 13:33, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

No harm at all. ;) Thanks, Raystorm (talk) 15:06, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your info

Thanks for your suggestions and review. Also Hope you feel better soon. TucsonDavidU.S.A. 22:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

My article

Can you take a look at the article now? I think I fixed the second paragraph copyvio by just cutting out most of it, as there seems to be no other way to state that information without a claim of copyvio. I think maybe I should just dump this article, as it has to many problems. If you have any suggestions for replacement of the second paragraph feel free to let me know. TucsonDavidU.S.A. 18:27, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

Provided you understand what went wrong, and can avoid that happening if you start fresh with a new article, that is certainly one way to go. --Pi zero (talk) 18:59, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for taking the time out to review my Outer Hebrides article; it's much appreciated. :) --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 15:07, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Article count template

Hi Pi zero. I have a template for counting the number of articles I have written. I'm wondering if it's possible to update the formatting so the number in the template corresponds with that of my category. Do you have any idea how to do that? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 17:44, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

I believe there is atm no way to automatically generate the number of pages in an intersection of categories, which is what you'd want: the intersection of Category:Ryan Peteranna (Wikinewsie) with Category:Published. The number of pages in the single category would be {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Ryan Peteranna (Wikinewsie)}}, thus: 373. --Pi zero (talk) 18:03, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. I subsequently edited my template thus: '''[[:Category:Ryan Peteranna (Wikinewsie)|{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Ryan Peteranna (Wikinewsie)}}]]''' --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 19:38, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Tips needed

Hi Pi zero! Needing some help with Australian Governor-General's visit to Wagga Wagga, rather busy trying to get a few photos edited and uploaded as I've got a very busy few weeks ahead of me, I'm rather stuck on the article. I would normally ask Laura but she is currently away. Bidgee (talk) 12:38, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Partial reviews complete

I did two partial reviews: The article about the Australian Governor General and the death of the person at 82 years of age. Both just require the videos being watch to make sure they support the text. (The 82 year old one would be the second paragraph only.) Once done, they should be good for publishing. --LauraHale (talk) 05:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

IPC Alpine schedule change

Last night, they changed the schedule owing to weather. They will be running the Super-G today. (It was supposed to be the off day for skiers.) I have sent a copy of the schedule and start list to scoop. I put it in dropbox but I am unsure if it showed up. Just letting you know because I was expecting to give you a light reporting day. Ooops. (I met Sit Philip Craven yesterday. Check Raystorm's twitter account. Idiot of self kind of.) --LauraHale (talk) 08:39, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

Seriously, have you seen this??

http://news.yahoo.com/missing-journalists-syria-war-struggle-save-those-bear-180728427.html pay close attention to the 4th paragraph. That "citizen journalist" wasn't one of our guys, was it?? --Bddpaux (talk) 20:36, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Well, Rami al-Sayed is mentioned in Syrian citizen journalists risk death, targeted; city of Homs facing starvation. --Pi zero (talk) 21:11, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Apologies

I really did intend to review last night but things caught up with me and I lacked the time and ability. Massive apologies for leaving the major review burden on you. I really wanted to help but had one of those days. --LauraHale (talk) 05:10, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

Days like that happen. --Pi zero (talk) 05:33, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

LauraHale reviews

Laura Hale has just failed the review of two of my latest articles, Three die in Cornwall, UK caravan park of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning ['A'] and UK police arrest two over Glasgow apartment death ['B'], for issues I would consider too minor to justify a fail review. You can see Laura Hale's reviews and my replies here for A and here for B. I apologise if I'm sounding pedantic but I do think these issues could have been easily resolved without having the article fail review. I was looking to you to get a second opinion. Please let me know your thoughts as soon as you can. Thanks --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 13:51, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

Regarding those images.

Hi Pi zero, the person who has given permission for those photos to be used has tweeted "@wikinews" to give explicit permission publicly now. :-) --Computron (talk) 11:37, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

Media Reform Conference

I'm planning to attend the {http://freepress.net Media Reform Conference, April 4-7.}. I'm willing to contribute to (or write) articles about this conference. Suggestions -- beyond the obvious need for a neutral writing style? How could we search for other Wikinewsies & Wikimedians attending? What about starting with an article about pre-conference events introducing the conference? After that, I don't know how much time I'll have for Wikinews until after the conference. DavidMCEddy (talk) 11:19, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Template:documentation

Hi could I create a new look for template:documentation could I try the new look in template:documentation/sandbox please reason being it is only on a white background with edit button I would like to add green to it please 41.77.136.98 (talk) 12:38, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

I would like know if I am alowed to create template:documentation/sandbox because if i create and then someone delete it I get blocked and so I want to ask before it gets deleted 41.77.136.98 (talk) 12:43, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why it would be a problem. There's nothing malicious about it, presumably. --Pi zero (talk) 12:50, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

ok 41.77.136.98 (talk) 14:08, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

I will be creating links for it like start box and end box and other links for it if its ok 41.77.136.98 (talk) 14:08, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Will this affect the behavior of any of the templates already in place? --Pi zero (talk) 14:10, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

no it will give it a new look and better to use you can check it in the sandbox I have finished creating it 46.252.151.25 (talk) 14:35, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

hi could you put the codes into template:documentation please 46.252.151.25 (talk) 14:36, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

I'll take a look when I get a chance. --Pi zero (talk) 14:43, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

ok 46.252.151.25 (talk) 14:58, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Note to self

• Close Raystorm's accreditation request.
• Make a list of these local uploads, to go through and make sure each one gets its copyright situation tied up neatly.
• Reply to DavidMCEddy's question, above.
• Debug current draft action.

Done --Pi zero (talk) 14:46, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

• What else am I forgetting?

--Pi zero (talk) 12:39, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

• See User talk:Pi zero/Archive 6#Template:documentation. --Pi zero (talk) 14:46, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

new time code

Please go to Template:Main page header

Hi could you replace

{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}, {{#time:Hi|{{CURRENTTIME}}}} ([[w:Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]])</div> with <div style="margin-top: .5em; font-size: 90%;">{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}, {{CURRENTTIME}} ([[w:Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]])</div></div>

Please

109.144.246.247 (talk) 20:54, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

No colon in UTC time; that's in our style guide. WN:SG#Time. --Pi zero (talk) 21:44, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

More UoW students

As you too seem to have noticed, looks like David is sending another batch our way.

Work has eased-off a little for me. I'd a few months where I'd been putting in about 60 hours per week to keep our current major project on-track; not exactly a good combination with the handful of health issues I've been dealing with through the winter months.

I'm going to try and make an hour or so available each day to look at reviewing and so on. Even without the workload I've had recently, I needed a break anyway. I was glad to see WikiVoyage being made welcome here, but there were other inter-project issues at the time I had to walk away from. Nowadays I'm far less-likely to let wiki-trolling get to me, but there's a few of the journalists I know here in Edinburgh would love an inside track into the bizarre world of wiki politics; giving them the help needed to expose some of the real crap going on would've only provided very short-term satisfaction.

Unrelated to that, I've thrown out an invitation for bids to implement a near-automated Print Edition. --Brian McNeil / ^talk 13:17, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

I've invited several users with UOW in their usernames to put {{UoW student}} on their user page, and one of them has then done so. I think I've myself put the template on two user pages where the owner had already placed a notice that they're a UoW student. One of those said xe is a third-year student. --Pi zero (talk) 13:29, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

• All we can do is hope they've not got 'too cocky' as might be the best characterisation for one of the prior groups. --Brian McNeil / ^talk 14:54, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Incubator for testing Wikinews

Hi could I have some help I am developing a main page for incubator:Wn/sl/Glavna stran how do I get this template Template:Lead 2.0 to work on incubator:Template:Wn/sl/Svinec_2.0 without using a code which only allows it to use it to the side because it should let the picture to get next to the title instead of staying at the middle 217.39.14.110 (talk) 17:57, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

I'd like to help. I don't quite understand what is wanted. Is something not working the way you would like it to? An example, showing what doesn't work right, might be helpful. --Pi zero (talk) 18:54, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

• No looked too-closely, but have you duplicated the relevant CSS files?

ok here's the example I would like it to show

[[{{{title}}}| ]] SUMMARY MISSING

Lead 2.0

Please go to this link Template:Wn/af/lei 2.0 to see what it look like there it look the same buti have to add a code which only keeps it to the right of the image so the image carnt move up or down 109.144.216.234 (talk) 20:54, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

The way to write a wikilink like this is [[incubator:Template:Wn/af/lei 2.0]], which produces incubator:Template:Wn/af/lei 2.0.

I believe I understand what you're asking about. Here on en.wn, when the article summary is long enough, the image stays at the top and the text wraps around under it. On the incubator, the image is centered in a whole column of its own.

Note the suggestion above, by another IP, that there may be some CSS involved. This seems possible. I'll try to find time to study further myself, now that (I think) I understand the problem. --Pi zero (talk) 21:39, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

A few things

Hi Pi zero. My semi-retirement was caused by a few other things that are going on in my life and my Higher exams are coming up, so I will be off the website again for some time at some point in the foreseeable future. In any case, do you know if I can delete my page about my customised variation of the main page?

Also, you know my variation of the Wikinews logo at the top of my user page? Do you think it would be possible to add that logo to my 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 article list pages and my category page as well? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 21:44, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

If you want a page in your userspace deleted, just put {{delete}} on it — owner request in userspace is a recognized reason for speedy deletion unless there's an administrative reason for keeping it around.

I don't actually know what controls the Wikinews logo on specific pages like that. Is it page-specific CSS? --Pi zero (talk) 21:53, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Wikinews Writing contest 2013 is here. :) Please sign up to participate?

We've created the Wikinews:Writing contest 2013, which will start on April 1 and end on June 1. It is modeled on the successful 2010 contest. Unlike the previous version, points are available for people who conduct reviews. (With a University of Wollongong class currently contributing articles, extra assistance is appreciated at this time.) It presents a great incentive for you to renew your reviewing chops, contribute some original reporting not being done by the main stream media, and write some synthesis articles on topics that could use more attention. People should be around to review to prevent a backlog if you just want to write, and several reviewers have access to scoop to make it easier to review any original reporting you do. If you are interested in signing up, please do so on Wikinews:Writing contest 2013/entrants. There is at least one prize on offer for the winner along with the opportunity to earn some barn stars as a way of thanking you for your participation. :D --LauraHale (talk) 10:36, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Outer Hebrides collision kills postman

Hi Pi zero, could I please add some more details to this article before you review it? I've just found more a bit more detail to add to the story from a fresh source. --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 00:22, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Out from under review. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 00:26, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for your patience Pi zero, I'm really sorry to have sprung that upon you. The article is now back in the review category. --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 00:36, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Why did you revert my edits

Hi why did you revert my edits on on Portal:United States it was a better edit and shows mroe information I did it because on Portal:United Kingdom has it 217.39.7.254 (talk) 14:21, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

please could I bring it back to my edits 109.144.215.141 (talk) 14:32, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Discussion is in order before extensive tinkering with portals; I recommend the water cooler, where you may (or may not :-) get helpful suggestions, support, opposition, or who knows what. :-)

Portals are a very-long-standing contentious issue on Wikinews, going way back into the misty past. As I understand it (I wasn't here for the start of this), they were created early on in imitation of Wikipedia portals, and folks only learned the hard way, later, how news production takes up all one's time (no matter how much time one puts in, it takes all of it) leaving no time for things like maintaining portals. So the portals languished, and gradually ended up with "lead articles" on them that were months, then years, out of date. In recent times, we systematically send our redirects from mainspace to categories instead of the corresponding portals. Because we've managed to update our categories to a look-and-feel that's in some ways better than we've done with portals. Some folks were talking a few years ago about something they wanted to do with portals, but they apparently felt some sort of software upgrade would be needed. Someday perhaps we'll figure out how to either improve portals, or (at least equally likely) upgrade categories to the point where they're so good we can just redirect the portals to them and be done with it. --Pi zero (talk) 14:47, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

ok could discuss by making improvements to the continents and country using it to shows news please by improving it it will show news in that country and has lest edits to show latest news and by turning all country portals to the new template for portal news 109.144.215.141 (talk) 15:12, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Template:NewPortal

Hi could I undo your edit on Template:NewPortal and put it to mine I only added some more lead like weather science and technology I only added 2 rows 86.189.7.234 (talk) 18:27, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

NewPortal was an experiment, and not pursued since by the user who created it. In fact, I think the user who created it may since have suggested —maybe in jest or maybe not— that we simply delete all the portals. On the historical difficulty with portals on Wikinews, and my recommendation to discuss extensive portal work before doing it, see the discussion just above on this page. --Pi zero (talk) 18:32, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

ok I have ask could i help update the portals on water portal 86.189.7.234 (talk) 18:35, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Portal:United States and Portal:United Kingdom

Hi why doesent this Portal:United States Show like Portal:United Kingdom. If you revert to my edits on April 1 that what I mean and it doesent hide the portal title like United Kingdom please help 86.189.7.234 (talk) 19:50, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

how does the portal name portal:united states hide its name because portal United Kingdom does and it shows the portal correctly but the portal:united states shows its name and doesent show correctly please fixit 217.39.5.228 (talk) 21:43, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

North Korea getting ready to attact North America

Hi could you move North Korea getting ready to attact North America to North Korea getting ready to attack North America please and the talk page please Bluesky (talk) 13:44, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Done, fwiw. --Pi zero (talk) 13:48, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

thanks Bluesky (talk) 13:49, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

You have a message!

Hello, Pi zero/Archive 6. You have new messages at User talk:Jayadevp13. You can remove this notice by removing {{replied}} from your talk page.

Hello, Pi zero/Archive 6. You have new messages at User talk:Jayadevp13. You can remove this notice by removing {{replied}} from your talk page.

- Jayadevp13 (talk) 14:12, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Of possible interest...

meta:Requests for new languages/Wikinews Irish. --LauraHale (talk) 13:52, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Indeed. Thanks. --Pi zero (talk) 13:57, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

A misunderstanding?

Hi Pi zero, I've had no luck with forum thread having tried twice now to leave a clarification. I hope you don't mind me pasting it here.

Oh my goodness! I'm sorry you see it this way Pi zero. Please, pause a moment and 'assume good faith' while I explain what happened my side. I see that Laura Hale has jumped to a similar conclusion, so clearly I went wrong here, I hope my explanation goes someway to soothing both your concerns.

I saw Uowpjr's latest comment on it's own, not realising it was part of a longer discussion. I came to it via their Contributions log. I thought it was a message with no response, left my encouragement (not to the heckling but to keep trying to get an article up and that Wikinews is probably like any other news room). I then realised not only that I was not signed in, but that the comment was was part of a larger thread! Isn't Liquid Threads just glorious! When I saw that I wasn't signed in, I tried 3 times to correct my signature, but the software failed! You may notice via the Contributions on both my Username and the IP Address that the majority of my time around that comment was spent trying to capture all the student work thus far, into an up-to-date Category page.

I assure you, I have no beef with Wikinews. ANd when I said behind closed doors, I was referring to traditional news rooms - not Wikinews! That would be absurd. On rereading my comment, I can see how it mislead. My only excuse maybe that I had some heavy news about family land on me this morning, and my mind was partly elsewhere.

Like most of the other projects, I see them as having potentially significant value to formal education, and that the resources of formal education may be of use to the WM projects. You may be interested in looking at the work and the publication of the UoW project from 2011. Brian McNeil seems to be not available to support the UoW/Wikinews project this year, and a slightly concerning amount of discontent is coming from the student cohort this time around. On reviewing their work and reviews, I saw that a "UoW 2013 student work" category wasn't being used. I can see that you and Laura are doing the majority of the reviewing thus far, and that some of the comments (like mine here, and yours back) are too easily leading to conflict. Left unchecked, this may result in significant blow back on the all-too early stages of attempting to get UoW supporting Wikinews and other projects. I've asked David to communicate to his students to use the Category on their submissions, and to remind them of the volunteer nature of the reviewers work.

I hope my work to build a 2013 category is helpful, and that David's reminders will help ease some of the conflict. I hope my explanation here goes some way to reassuring you of my motives.

Leighblackall (talk) 06:23, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

I've replied on the comments page. Generally you want to be accessing the comments page, not the individual threads within it. LQT is *supposed* to create the illusion that the threads pages don't even exist, only the comments page does. The word kludge applies well to LQT, although as I remarked there, it's better for the purpose we use it for than was what preceded it. --Pi zero (talk) 13:02, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

MountaineerUOW

MountaineerUOW (talk) 12:54, 15 April 2013 (UTC) Cheers Pi zero. Thanks for your help. What do you think of the article? I'm new to this, so what further changes do I need to get published, do you think? Thank you again.

I'll take a look in a bit; honestly, I just got up (yeah, timezone differences between Australia and the US east coast are pretty bad) and am still trying to simultaneously wake up, and catch up with what's been going on on-wiki overnight. --Pi zero (talk) 12:57, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

MountaineerUOW (talk) 00:38, 16 April 2013 (UTC) Hi Pi zero, thanks for your further feedback. I've reviewed the article and feel I've removed the bias in the story - what do you think? The 'secret midnight mission' was actually coined by the media here, not the detractors (as you'd maybe think it would be!), so I haven't removed that, I've just clarified that it came from the media. I've also added in a paragraph at the end, about the Google Map - something I noticed this morning. I hope you'll stick with me and re-review it so we can look at publishing it, because I'm learning lots from you and appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

MountaineerUOW (talk) 08:08, 16 April 2013 (UTC) Hi Pi zero, (keeping in mind the time differences), I just thought I'd message you to put it on your radar - I was wondering if you would mind looking over the article again when you have a chance, to see whether it's ready to publish? I'm keen to hear your feedback. Thank you.

What did I do wrong to cause you to delete my page?

Please restore my page or tell me the correct way to do what I am trying to do with it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ideafarmcity (talk • contribs) 15:34, 16 April 2013‎

If you are referring to your user page, which was deleted the better part of a month ago, the deletion log invokes speedy deletion criterion 'advertising or spam'. Advertising/spam is a misuse of the project; there isn't a right way to do it. --Pi zero (talk) 15:55, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

BarkingFish FYI

Please see Wikinews:Admin_action_alerts#BarkingFish_and_sockpuppets. -- Cirt (talk) 23:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

mass nuking problem user names and contribs

Hi. I probably screwed up the log some as I had never done that before. Do not think it should be a problem given obvious problems with them, but was not my intent to hide admin actions on my part if I did that on accident. --LauraHale (talk) 03:20, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi. I helped her on IRC with this, and I'd consider the blocklog fixed. PiRSquared17 (talk) 03:44, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

not sure why this was created...

While renaming my article on the Roller Derby, I seem to have created an unnecessary redirect page. So that's why. I don't know how though. I've sent it in for speedy deletion. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hawkeye7 (talk • contribs) 23:11, 11 May 2013

Odd things pop up sometimes. Never heard of that particular one before, but am strangely unsurprised. --Pi zero (talk) 00:11, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

The Wikinewsie Group Newsletter - Edition 1, June 1, 2013

The Wikinewsie Group Newsletter Sharing news about the group's activities and things taking place on local Wikinews projects.

Shortcut: WM:WIKINEWSIE Key resources Home TWG Newsletter Template:IRClink - The Wikinewsie Group IRC Channel wikinewsiegooglegroups.com - Email discussion list - join here!

Issue 1 - June 1/2, 2013

The Wikinewsie Group News

Since mid-April, supporters of The Wikinewsie Group have been quite active, doing a number of activities in support of the organization. These include selecting a provisional board, engaging in research projects, working to support original reporting, discussing setting up off-line events, and promoting our efforts and the broader work being done by Wikinews reporters.

• On May 4, a meeting was held to select the provisional board. It was decided that the board would be composed of the following people: LauraHale (Chair), Pi zero, Brian McNeil, Bjarki, ProtoplasmaKid. The total number of people and roles was based on the draft bylaws. 18 people, a little under half of all people who were listed as supporters, attended the meeting. aff-comm has been advised of this, and that we are ready to discuss the group's bylaws with them. They have responded back to indicate their review will start shortly.
• Tentative steps are being taken to have a Wikimedia conference in Iceland with a Wikinews workshop as a component of it. This would likely be in December to coincide with the 10th birthday of Icelandic Wikipedia. Having some discussions about the possibility of having a small Wikinews conference somewhere in Europe sometime in the next year.
• Wikinews:GLAM was created after writing about previous experiences with GLAM projects on English Wikinews and content related to GLAMs across all projects. Hopefully, with groundwork underway, there should be two announcements about Wikinews and GLAM projects by the end of June that will build upon previous success.
• It does not look like there is a single presentation about Wikinews at Wikimania in Hong Kong has been approved. Given that, plans are to have some sort of Wikinews meetup while there independent of the official tracks.
• Efforts are underway to do a better job at translating articles from one language to another, and successfully guide them through any local review processes. This is not a one way street of material from English Wikinews to other languages: We have successfully had two articles start on Spanish Wikinews that were translated to English Wikinews, where they passed the local review process and were successfully published. Comments on this effort are welcome at The Wikinewsie Group/Project planning and User talk:LauraHale: WORTNET.
• Efforts are underway to develop a matrix to understand key policy, community and content requirement differences between different Wikinews projects. Once complete, this should ease cross Wikinews collaboration by having a starting point to discuss content related issues when translating for review, and trying to standardize any policies across projects.
• Four pieces of research have been completed. They include Blocks on English Wikinews, Wikinews:GLAM/Coverage, Research:Wikinews Review Analysis and English Wikinews and the Gender Gap. If you are doing any research, formally or informally, about any language Wikinews project, please share it with The Wikinewsie Group as it will help better inform our decisions.
• The development of a reviewing tool for English Wikinews continues. There are some concerns that the future roll out of Lua may hinder this. Once complete, this tool should make it easier for reviewers to leave feedback and check articles against all criteria.
• Migration of the wikinewsie.org server to Iceland should be complete by the end of June. Once funding is secure, one of the first upgrades to the server will be to create a secure server and a dedicated host in order to encourage more investigative reporting and reporting of embargoed news stories. The server could also be used for development of bots, and mobile reporting tools. The planning is being done to give The Wikinewsie Group cloud space to host reporting notes, video and audio to support journalism efforts.
• Icelandic Wikinews and Malayalam Wikinews are both hosted on incubator. The Icelandic Wikimedia mailing list and Indian editors have been contacted to encourage local editors to get the projects viable to move to the main space.
• On social media, a few The Wikinewsie Group supporters are answering questions about Wikinews on quora. This is part of an effort to expand awareness about the Wikinews in general.
• Follow @wikinewsie, The Wikinewsie Group on Twitter. Please tweet us any original reporting you are aware of on any project so we can tweet about it.

Original reporting

This list is May 1 to May 15.

Ukrainian

See also: Авторський репортаж.

• У російській Вікіпедії мільйон статей (created by Yakudza) 2013-05-11
• 100 шедеврів світової скульптури (created by Antanana) 2013-05-12

Spanish

See also: Wikinoticias:Reportajes originales sin notas, Artículos publicados.

• Deportivo Cali vence por la mínima diferencia al América en la octava fecha de Copa Postobón (created by Sahaquiel9102) 2013-05-09
• El movimiento YoSoy132 conmemora su primer aniversario con escasa asistencia (created by ProtoplasmaKid) 2013-05-13
• Barack Obama llega a Costa Rica para participar en la cumbre del SICA (created by MadriCR) 2013-05-12
• La presidenta de Costa Rica inicia el último año de su gobierno (created by MadriCR) 2013-05-09

Russian

See also: Оригинальные репортажи, Опубликовано.

• Центр компетенции Национальной программной платформы открыт в Переславле-Залесском (created by Competence Center) 2013-05-06
• Танец жизни (created by Schekinov Alexey Victorovich) 2013-05-11
• 15 мая «Викимедиа Украина» проводит концерт из серии «Мировая классика на украинском» (created by Dmitry Rozhkov) 2013-05-15
• Миллион статей в русской Википедии! (created by Амшель) 2013-05-11

Norwegian

See also: Førstehand, Publisert.

• Økende spenning rundt Nord Korea: Wikinews intervjuer Scott Snyder og Dr Robert Kelly (created by Computron) 2013-04-08
• Man drukner i Texas innsjø etter fall fra båt (created by Computron) 2013-04-28

French

See also: Reportage original, Article publié.

• France : 68ème commémoration de l'armistice du 8 mai 1945 (created by Grondin) 2013-05-08

Italian

See also: Notizia originale.

• Giro d'Italia: crono a squadre a Ischia (created by Simo495) 2013-05-05
• Assegnata a Napoli la prima maglia rosa del Giro 2013 (created by Simo495) 2013-05-05

Chinese

See also: 原创报导, 已发布.

• ChinaJoy西安预选赛落下帷幕 (created by Aoke1989) 2013-05-02

Catalan

See also: Reportatges originals.

• França: 68a. commemoració de l'armistici del 8 de maig del 1945 (created by Grondin)

Polish

See also: Materiały autorskie.

• Ogólnopolski Zjazd Rodzimowierczy 2013 (created by 194.41.12.2) 2013-05-15
• Łódź: Warsztaty z aktywności obywatelskiej dla seniorów (created by Ixtlilto) 2013-05-08
• Niemcy: Związek Polaków w Niemczech wybrał nowe władze (created by Macia11) 2013-05-06
• Koncert charytatywny "Stefan Fest" w Warszawie: fotoreportaż (created by CLI) 2013-05-05

English

See also: Original reporting, Published.

• 13th Annual Beverly Hills film festival opens (created by Bddpaux) 2013-05-07
• Caloundra defeat Nambour 24-10 in week seven of Sunshine Coast Rugby Union (created by RockerballAustralia) 2013-05-07
• Black and Blue Belles win in Canberra Roller Derby League blowout (created by Hawkeye7) 2013-05-07
• National Rugby League Women in League Round celebrates sons (created by LauraHale) 2013-05-14
• Fifth Expo Gastronomía finishes in Caracas (created by LauraHale) 2013-05-12

Checkuser

Would you consider going up for Checkuser candidacy?

I think we could use at least two more Checkusers locally at this site, what do you think?

-- Cirt (talk) 04:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I can think of several difficulties with this. At least some of them may be surmountable. I'll give it further thought. --Pi zero (talk) 12:13, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Okay, sounds great! And/or can you think of any other additional possible candidates? -- Cirt (talk) 17:39, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Given this any more thought? :) -- Cirt (talk) 17:55, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Considerations:

• It's my understanding CU is a pretty technically demanding function. I'm not savvy in that area. (Study up in my copious free time?)
• It's an open question whether my already-stretched Wikinews time can stretch further.
• I've been meaning for years to set myself up with a public key with which to recover my wikimedia identity should it ever be compromised; I'd certainly have to get around to that before approaching CU.
• I'd have to identify to the foundation. Not a big deal, though I've held off pending a need to do so; I was willing to if required when I joined ArbCom but it turned out not to be universally required for ArbComs.
• There is, of course, the question of how difficult it would be to collect the required number of votes for a new CU. I have a vague memory there isn't a hard time limit on CU votes. In any case, when planning one might as well assume this won't be a problem.

The other person whose name has come up re CU in reasonably modern times is Brian McNeil, who undoubtedly has the technical expertise, but who is also... quite busy lately. --Pi zero (talk) 18:16, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Okay, well, think about it and let me know if/when you're interested. -- Cirt (talk) 18:21, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

We're, currently, small enough that anyone going for CU will need a decent base of outside support. I'm, ... known for being curmudgeonly. And, for being somewhat outspoken.

What was going on in my personal life, which did not help otherwise with other frictions coming up here a couple years back, is nobody's business unless I choose to talk to them about it. Some of those involved, and I try to keep myself amongst them, have made apologies and moved on.

I won't snipe on the matter of others who've interpreted that series of incidents as "this is someone we should fight with"; but, there are a few "deep links" I've seen thrown around which don't seem to be turning up where I'd expect on a casual inspection. Maybe we should have a three-way Skype call with the NSA, Cirt. :P

On the other hand, Pi zero, I'd be delighted to introduce you to the tools and tricks to do a more in-depth checkuser. Without the right (I had it previously, chucked it in when asking what it might reveal about someone caused an 'explosion') and having done a variety of "network spelunking" in the past, had some access to boxes in telephone exchanges - and knowing in general terms how DHCP works - I've tried to 'pass hints' to Cirt on the sort of queries to run with tools like "w:nmap" (GUI version: w:Zenmap). Not had time recently; getting to play with a box that supports nearly 200,000 lines (POTS/SIP/VoIP/IP). I need a green-screen terminal again, I'm playing with kit Wikipedia doesn't have entries (or more than stubs) on. :D

Yes, the grammar/punctuation on the above is atrocious; sub-edit as-required. --Brian McNeil / ^talk 20:21, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

All those sound like good ideas. -- Cirt (talk) 21:17, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Scientists confirm 'supershear' earthquakes

Hi thanks, for checking up on the article, is there possibly a template , other additional headers or anything else I need to use on the article?--GoShow (talk) 18:40, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

There should be a {{Haveyoursay}} template after the end of the text and just before the Sources section. I see you removed it; don't, it should always be there unless you use the alternative template (whatever it's called) that puts the question on the side.

An infobox is usually desirable. Perhaps {{Science and technology}}, or you could consider others at Category:Infoboxes ({{Environment}} seems at least possible). The infobox typically goes just after the {{date}} template.

If you can find an appropriate picture — which I admit could be quite difficult in this case — that's good too. Generally one puts it on the left, as the infobox is occupying the right side. --Pi zero (talk) 18:53, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Mea culpa

Sorry about causing {{plainlinks|//en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=User:Njp466/Censoring_vivid_images&curid=750619&diff=1926981&oldid=1926696 for you. I won't make that mistake again. And thanks for the last two reviews. I appreciate it.--William S. Saturn (talk) 07:19, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Semi-automating the move-to-userspace and attendant decat-for-userspace was one of the things on the software wishlist we assembled a year ago. You'd done the logical selection of the articles and the actual moving, which accounts for a lot of the mental labor (decision making) in the currently-manual operation. The one out of those that was messy was the one I'd made the bad judgement call of depublishing (really, really, really should have issued a correction notice instead), which needed a stub in mainspace so it wouldn't create a memory hole. --Pi zero (talk) 11:50, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Wee W article response

Without meaning to sound pretentious, I would have thought the number of redundancies the closure of the store would create would be significant enough to warrant the article newsworthy. Indeed, as the article mentions, the fate of its current workforce appears uncertain; it is unclear whether or not they will be made redundant. Unfortunately, no sources mention the actual number of employees Wee W has, the potential impact on the economy of the Outer Hebrides this closure could have, or any comment from any council officials. I could try and contact some Comhairle nan Eilean Siar councillors for you if you like. --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 15:00, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I just feel the significance should be clearer. The lede should bring out the significance of the story; this is, for example, deftly done in the Hebrides News source. --Pi zero (talk) 15:24, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

When you say the significance should be clearer, do you mean the significance of the store itself or its significance to Outer Hebrides residents or something else? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 15:40, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

The significance that ultimately matters is the significance of the focal news event (the closure). The significance of the story, or its significance to the Outer Hebrides, could indeed communicate that. --Pi zero (talk) 15:53, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, OK...I'm not sure how I could convey that in the story, I'm afraid. Any ideas? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 15:55, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I'll try to suggest something when I finish this (very nasty) review... and, no doubt, eat lunch, which I suspect will be delayed by the review. --Pi zero (talk) 16:06, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

When I gave it the not-ready, I didn't mean this to be difficult; it just seemed to likely involve adding new material in a way I didn't feel I should be doing as an uninvolved reviewer.

As I noted, the Hebrides News source did a good job of making clear in the lede why the event is significant. They did it by clarifying the nature of the thing that's closing (you could call that "what" or "who", if trying to classify things by basic question). The current lede just doesn't indicate the nature of the thing that's closing; the only real clue in the article is way down in the third paragraph where one discovers this store replaced Woolworths. It probably doesn't require very many words; just say a bit in the lede that indicates this is a significant employer and/or a significant supplier in the area, or something of the sort — whatever you can verify with the sources. --Pi zero (talk) 18:17, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I've re-edited that article now. I just hope I've got the wording right. --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 20:39, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Tireless ...

I am not here often, but I can see you deserve (yet another) barnstar. Here is the Tireless Barnstar --SVTCobra 23:50, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Oh, it spins! :-D  --Pi zero (talk) 00:14, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Yes it does! Don't stare at it too long, or you might get hypnotized. Cheers, and happy editing! --SVTCobra 00:32, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Help with categories

Hey Pi zero, I saw your replies regarding the Stanley A. McChrystal category, is there anyway I could be allowed to add categories to archived articles? Or will I have to edit request every time? Thanks for hastily taking care of those requests and subsequent adding of the category to his en article. Cheers, Dainomite (talk) 00:08, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

If you have in mind a match request —such as a category to create and a set of articles to put in it— I recommend making the whole request a section at WN:Water cooler/assistance. Much neater than spreading the information across several article talk pages. --Pi zero (talk) 00:21, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Awesome, I'll do that in the future, thanks for that tidbit. When requesting a category for instance, should I also suggest relevant parent categories that the would-be category could go in? Cheers, Dainomite (talk) 00:24, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Sure. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 00:42, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Wikibooks

I'm not too familiar with Wikibooks, but do you think I may be able to combine the "On the campaign trail..." articles into some kind of book for that project?--William S. Saturn (talk) 05:11, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Канберра: день открытых дверей на плотине Коттер

Thanks once again for your help on my article on the Cotter dam open day. With each article I note the changes made, and hopefully I can get to the point where the articles will sail through without needing changes. What most surprised me was the article being translated into Russian. That has never happened to any of my Wikipedia articles. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:47, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I enjoyed it. Fun article, nice pictures. --Pi zero (talk) 01:32, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you very much for the barnstar you gave me; it is much appreciated. I felt obliged to return to Wikinews this month, if only to report on the Liam Aitchison murder case as he was in my primary school class. Now that the trial has ended, I intend to go on Wikibreak indefinitely but, as I'm sure you'll know by now, I'll probably end up coming back here again pretty soon. Thank you for all your help with my articles and bye for now :) --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 14:40, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

Could you review the article I wrote?

I wrote Nearly 500,000 people protest Mohammed Morsi in Egypt's cities and I don't want it to get too old before it gets published. Would you mind reviewing it? Surfer43 (talk) 12:12, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

I hope to do a review in perhaps a couple of hours; have some stuff to do irl that needs doing immediately. --Pi zero (talk) 12:26, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. Surfer43 (talk) 12:28, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Hello, Pi zero/Archive 6. You have new messages at User talk:Surfer43. You can remove this notice by removing {{replied}} from your talk page.

Hello, Pi zero/Archive 6. You have new messages at User talk:Surfer43. You can remove this notice by removing {{replied}} from your talk page.

Copyright status of File:Anti-Morsi Protesters outside of US Embasy in Egypt.webm

Hello, I also had concerns and was pretty surprised to see this video was CC-BY, especially since the English YouTube channel for Democracy Now had all their videos "all rights reserved". I cut and muted it because the original was CC-BY. I had made sure it was actually CC-BY, and have shown it on the Commons page for it since you removed the image. Unless Democracy Now is not credible or is stealing footage and wrongly releasing it, this video should be fine. Surfer43 (talk) 01:09, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

So you don't have to open up Commons, the reason is:"This file is definitely CC-BY verified because the publisher's website, Democracy Now, has linked to the YouTube Channel that uploaded this video at [2]. The video channel, DemocracyNowEs licensed this under CC-BY." Surfer43 (talk) 01:11, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

"Corrected" article shows up as "In development, undisputed" on the newsroom page

I don't know why, it doesn't have a {{developing}} tag. Surfer43 (talk) 17:20, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Not sure which article you mean. The Newsroom is meant to show every non-published article somewhere, so that articles can't fall through the cracks. The DPL for "In development, undisputed" has a long list of categories its articles are required to not belong to, but not a single category they are required to belong to. --Pi zero (talk) 17:27, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Rollback

Hi Pi zero, I think you rolled back Gryllida's comment by accident. Kudu ^~I/O~ 18:31, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm baffled how that happened. --Pi zero (talk) 19:29, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Re: Arbcom election committee

Thank for the poke, done. Kind regards, Raystorm (talk) 06:40, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Really?

I'm surprised and disappointed by this revert, even if it was more than 24 hours after publication. I'd think you would welcome additions and fixes to an article that had little context and did not use the italics that are customary for ship names... but, to each their own. Ed ^{[talk] [w:majestic titan]} 21:34, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

We are not an encyclopedia; although Wikipedia routinely tries to poach on our territory (and cannot do other than fail, with harm to its readers in the process), we do not poach on its territory. Nor would we want to. A news article is a snapshot in time, an historical record, and we do not revise history. There are two things we can do to an article once the edit restrictions of the archive policy cut in (24 hours after publication): We can make non-substantive changes, like a minor spelling/grammar fix that doesn't change the meaning, or (for example) adding a sister link — which I did as part of my follow-up to your edit. And if we have made a factual error, we can issue a correction (which appears as a big ugly banner on the article, so readers can't miss it, but the article text itself generally is not modified when adding the correction). --Pi zero (talk) 22:32, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm not trying to poach... I saw something in my area of interest and tried to help out, and was rejected. That seems like a silly policy to me (you're missing out on one of the key purposes of a wiki!), but I don't edit here, so I'm sure there's a good reason for it. On a completely different subject, you're going to have an email in a couple minutes about a possible Signpost op-ed, if you're interested. Ed ^{[talk] [w:majestic titan]} 22:49, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

If you mean collaborative editing, this isn't a good illustration of your claim since collaborative editing did in fact take place, as you may note from my edit immediately after revert. If you mean something broader, it's possible you're thinking of something that's key to Wikipedia, rather than to wikis in general. (If one wants perspective on the full breadth of the wiki experience, you could do well to study en.wn and en.wp. Which is also part of why I consider en.wn one of the most important projects in the sisterhood, for its unswerving confrontation of problems that other projects, including en.wp, will eventually need someone to have been confronting.) --Pi zero (talk) 00:54, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Referencing a newspaper

Hi Pi zero. For the story I cover in this article, The Press and Journal have published an article in which the newspaper acquired a comment from Liam Aitchison's father, Norrie, which I feel may be of significant interest for the story. However, the website indicates the quote is only available to view in the newspaper itself. With this in mind, is it possible to use a newspaper as a source. And if so, how? --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 18:48, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Re: small tag

Thanks. Missed that. I'll be more careful in the future with fixes like that. PiRSquared17 (talk) 22:30, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Heh. I can't take credit for that; I knew about it because somebody had make that correction to the post on en.wb. --Pi zero (talk) 00:19, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Hello

As one of the few admins on Wikinews, please have a look at Wikinews:Admin action alerts#Wikinews sockpuppets. You may also wish to see OTRS ticket 2013070410010677 (if you can). Attacks against editor's real names, who have zero edits on Wikinews, must not be allowed. Thank you,~ DanielTom (talk) 15:25, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Reply

It looks like multiple other local admins have weighed in there. (More info at en.wikipedia block log and at en.wikipedia sock investigation case page) I will respectfully defer to the judgment of other local admins with regards to any further action or inaction with regards to this particular matter. -- Cirt (talk) 15:54, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

What does Wikipedia have to do with Wikinews? And where is the evidence of sockpuppetry on Wikinews by these users with zero edits here? You know, Cirt, that SPI on Wikipedia only proved that my brother edits from the same house as me, which you knew before asking that SPI be open, without ever mentioning it. ~ DanielTom (talk) 16:47, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

@Pi zero, responded to you, at my user talk page. -- Cirt (talk) 23:11, 30 July 2013 (UTC)