Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 February 14

= February 14 =

Bin Laden
Hi, after asking on Humanities we decided to categorize Bin Laden as "Saudi anti-communists", the category has been created and I created an account because I hadn't one. But, why can't I edit his page?.. he's protected and I can't. Help, can somebody categorize him as "Saudi anti-communists"? --FromSouthAmerica (talk) 01:13, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Done. You can't edit the article because it is semi-protected so only user active for more than four days can edit it. Samuell Lift me up or put me down 01:52, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * That is, only autoconfirmed users can edit semi-protected pages. To be autoconfirmed, you need at least 10 edits and 4 days of activity.  C h a m a l  talk 01:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Article assessment gadget
Hi. I used to be able to view the article assessment ratings using a gadget in my preferences, but this no longer works and my browser says there are errors in the page. Instead of the assessment with a colour, it now just says "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". Anyone know how to fix this? Thanks. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 03:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * What browser are you using, and what is the precise error report? Algebraist 04:00, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm using Internet explorer, and this problem exists with more than one computer, and it just says there is an error in the page at the bottom-left corner. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 16:52, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm the current maintainer of that gadget. I made some changes earlier that caused it to stop working in Internet Explorer. It's fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience. Pyrospirit  ( talk  ·  contribs ) 01:52, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Vanishing InfoBox Information (displayed)
Suddenly a piece of information in an Infobox will not display (it has for months). I tried cutting and pasting that line and saving the page but with no luck. It's the "co-executive producers" line (Si Siman and John Mahaffey) in the Infobox for Ozark Jubilee, which can be seen in the edit mode, but again, will no longer display. Any help would be appreciated. RadioBroadcast (talk) 03:51, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Removed following this discussion. Algebraist 03:59, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Searching
How can I bring up the serach page for an article that exists?  Grsz 11  04:25, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * From the search bar at the left, hit "search" instead of "go". Calvin 1998 (t·c) 04:45, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Using a photograph
Hi. There's a photograph that I'd like to upload to an article. The person who took the photograph has given me permission to use it. I've been reading and re-reading the "upload image" information and am getting bogged down in all the complexities of copyright and atribution. I wonder if someone can tell me simply (and if possible step-by-step) what I need to do in this instance. Thank you --Readerwild (talk) 05:32, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * As you don't own the copyright, the easiest thing to do is have the copyright owner send an e-mail as described at WP:IOWN or have them upload it to Commons where it can be used by all the WP projects. – ukexpat (talk) 05:44, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * If you want to upload to Commons, see commons:Commons:OTRS. Figuring out what license to use can get complicated. I'm collecting all the relevant information I can find on that subject at commons:COM:EIC. The problem gets easier if the copyright holder agrees to release the photo under a free license like the GFDL or (preferably) CC-BY-SA (or better yet, both). A common problem is when someone permits Wikipedia to use the photo and no one else. We really need the copyright holder to release the photo for reuse by others, including possible commercial use. To understand why, see these illustrated explanations:
 * File:BD-propagande-2 (en).jpg
 * File:BD-propagande colour en.jpg
 * and read commons:Commons:Licensing. Wikipedia can use photos with restrictive licenses, but this creates problems when people want to translate Wikipedia articles to other languages, or when the Wikimedia Foundation wants to publish Wikipedia's content on low-cost commercially-produced CDs or DVDs, etc. The more freely you can license any photo you upload, the more value it can bring to more people. --Teratornis (talk) 06:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Accused of vandalism
Just a few minutes back, while I was surfing wikipedia without having logged in, in the user page for my IP address, I recieved a message that I had made an edit on the central processing unit page which constitutes vandalism (this was on my ip address user page and not on | my user page). I am sure that I haven't even visited the page, let alone having edited it. I also know what constitutes vandalism, being an active editor for the last two years. Also, I am sure that no one uses my computer for editing wikipedia other than me. What could have caused this? Could it be dynamic IP addresses (I guess my ISP uses dynamic addresses)? Can I prevent this?--Leif edling (talk) 07:50, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure IP warning can be avoided, and since you do have a login I wouldn't be too concerned. The IP doesn't really affect your standing in the sense that you have been warned.  The only possible time I could see this being an issue is if some checkuser item came to notice, and there you would have full ability to explain that you have Dynamic IP rather than a static one. — Ched (talk) 08:08, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Your ISP will almost certainly use dynamic IP addresses, so every time you reconnect your broadband your IP address will change, although it will only change within a specific range which is traceable to that ISP. The vandalism was therefore most likely carried out by someone who uses the same ISP as you, who was assigned that address at the time of the vandalism, was warned, and you then "inherited" that warning when you took on that IP address some time down the line.


 * I wouldn't worry about it at all - you can't "prevent" it, per se, but so long as you always edit whilst logged in it's not a problem...any block of an IP address within your ISP's range for vandalism would, almost certainly, only block anonymous users, and wouldn't affect people with accounts editing from the blocked IP. In some rare cases IPs are blocked in respect of both unregistered and registered users to prevent substantial abuse, but even in such an instance individual accounts can be set to be unaffected by that block by using the IP Block Exempt flag.


 * Personally, I don't know what my IP address is, and since I'm always logged in never see the talk page or any warning for it - conceivably some of the IP addresses I use (since I'm on a dynamic IP from my ISP) will have been blocked for vandalism at some stage, but since I'm logged in it never affects me. GbT/c 10:38, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Note that when you give this kind of information, other users can guess at which IP address you may have had at the time. I can confirm there is at least one IP address who recently vandalized the article and was warned. If you are not logged in and want to see which edits are registered to the IP address currently assigned to you then click here: Special:MyContributions. Another way is to sign a post, click "Show preview" (Save is not needed) and then click on the displayed IP address. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:48, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage about 7 years ago. I had to have surgery. Recently I was looking at my family history, and realised that my grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather died of brain hemorrhage. Is it hereditary? Do I have to warn my children to have tests? Joanwb (talk) 11:25, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi Joan. You can, of course, peruse our article on subarachnoid hemorrhage. I don't know that it will be of any help. Your question is really better placed at the reference desk. This page is for questions related to using Wikipedia, and thus not geared to answer general knowledge questions. However, even there your question, though not as directly as some, could be seen as a transgressing our policy against giving medical advice.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Please don't ask this question at the Reference Desk &mdash; while Fuhghettaboutit means well, the editors there will almost certainly not be able to offer you a prognosis. If you have questions about how your family's medical history is likely to affect your own health, it's an issue that you need to discuss with a qualified medical professional.  TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:19, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Please see WP:MEDICAL. – ukexpat (talk) 21:41, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Equipment used by Sir Edmund Hillary on his expedition.
I am doing a projecton Sir Edmund's expedition to mount Everest.In particular, i would like to know what equipment he used on this expedition? Were the equipment different to equipments used in other expeditions?

Thanks

41.208.48.176 (talk) 12:59, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * If you can fnd what you are looking for in our article on Edmund Hillary please try the miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * But they won't do your homework for you. – ukexpat (talk) 21:45, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Resplitting split list articles
Suppose I have a list article, such as List of foos, which gets so large that I have to split it into List of foos: A-M and List of foos: N-Z. But then suppose these too get so large that I have to reorganise the split, having instead List of foos: A-I, List of foos: J-Q and List of foos: R-Z. What am I supposed to do with the first two split articles? Turn them into redirects or delete them or what? J I P | Talk 13:16, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * IMHO from a computer related standpoint rather than Wiki.


 * move A-M over to A-I
 * create J-Q
 * move N-Z over to R-Z
 * copy second half of A-I (now J-M) and first half of R-Z (now N-Q) to the new J-Q

I'm still learning wiki from the ground up - but if I understand what I've read so far, that seems to me to be the easiest. — Ched (talk) 13:33, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * And make sure "foobar" doesn't become "fubar" .. LOL ... LMA... , sorry ... iggy that. — Ched (talk) 13:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Definitely don't delete. You need to keep the edit history of the existing pages somewhere. Moving them and creating them separately (while referring to the edit with the history) as suggested by Ched appears to be the best solution. - Mgm|(talk) 23:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That said, lists tend to look like categories when they're alphabetical. Make sure you give enough additional information or think of sorting the entries differently. - Mgm|(talk) 23:36, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Auto suggest
In Internet Explorer, when you type in the search box a drop down menu appears listing articles starting with the text you type. Why doesn't this work in Mozilla Firefox? God Emperor (talk) 14:44, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It does, at least for me (FF 3.0.6 on winXP). Algebraist 14:46, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The feature has been turned off and on a few times recently due to high cpu usage but I think the latest off was a couple of days ago. When did you try it in Firefox and was it working at the same time in Internet Explorer? In Special:Preferences under the "Search" tab, "Disable AJAX suggestions" should be unchecked if you want the feature. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:10, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

PNG resize glitch
When this image is resized with the |220px code it shows glitchy like this . It's not just my computer right? Habanero-tan (talk) 15:20, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * fixed initial link Xenon54 (talk) 15:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Looks like a corrupted upload. Xenon54 (talk) 15:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Golf / PGA tour question
On the PGA tour what is the pro-am tournament where at one of the tees some of the celebrities and golfers jump into the crowd? And when is the tournament? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.109.164.189 (talk) 15:20, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * This weekend's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am? If you have any other factual questions, please take them to the reference desk. Xenon54 (talk) 15:23, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

How do I get something to redirect?
A search for Cunovo automatically redirects to Čunovo. I have started a new article called Water Sports Centre Čunovo. How do I get Water Sports Centre Cunovo to redirect there? Thanks. HowardMorland (talk) 15:29, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Go to Water Sports Centre Cunovo and create the page with only the following code:


 * #REDIRECT Water Sports Centre Čunovo


 * Xenon54 (talk) 15:51, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks, done. HowardMorland (talk) 16:50, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

revert?
I came across this diff, and was going to revert - but thought I would ask first - do we not use only Wiki images? — Ched (talk) 15:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That is an automatic revert, but you don't have to worry as links to any sort of blogging site are automatically removed. Xenon54 (talk) 15:49, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks ;) — Ched (talk) 16:08, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Warning
I am frequently getting warnings whenever I open the computer and open a Wiki page. The warnings are against ID no 59.93.202.30. I have nothing to do with the edits and my PC is a personal one and so its misuse by others is out of question. I think there is some technical mix up somewhere. Please help. - Chandan Guha (talk) 15:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Looks like you're assigned to a shared ip address. If so, then I think it's better to have you automatically sign in to Wiki since its a personal computer. E Wing (talk) 16:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * How do i do that? - Chandan Guha (talk) 16:25, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I think E Wing means the sort of "Remember me" box on the login page, so that you're always logged in. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 16:30, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Unable to access my watchlist or preference page
Hello. I am unable for some reason to access my watchlist or preferences. When I click on them the only thing that comes up is this text: /*generated user stylesheet*/ a. new, #quickbar a.new {color: # CC2200;}. Thanks. Tumblin Tom (talk) 16:11, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Try to clear your entire cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:38, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks. That's done the trick. Tumblin Tom (talk) 18:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Personal attacks
Hi. I have reason to believe that one user using two different IPs of and. I have reason to believe they're the same editors as geolocate puts them in the same country, and they have similar, is not the same edits on Great Power and Middle Power. Anyway, I have warned him two times in the case of personal attacks of continually using (pardon my language) stupid fucking english....study. How many times can he make a personal attack before I can report and temporarily or permanently blocked if the administrator deems necessary? Deavenger (talk) 16:21, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * WP:AIV —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.80.240.66 (talk) 16:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that's for spammers and vandels, not for users who keep on making personal attacksDeavenger (talk) 16:36, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Generally, AIV is the best place to report something like that. You could also drop a note at the admin's noticeboard. Also, please note that IP addresses are only very rarely permanently banned, since they are often reassigned by the ISP. TN X Man  16:50, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks you Tinxman and IP 194.80.240.66. I'll drop a note at ANI. Deavenger (talk) 16:54, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Font
I am viewing wiki in a different font which i do not like. I dont know how I have done this or if I have done this at all, but could someone please tell me how to change it back to a readable font.

Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.108.222.203 (talk) 16:41, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia does not tell your browser what font to use. It tells your browser to use its default sanserif font. You'll have to change your browser preferences to change the font Wikipedia displays in. Algebraist 16:50, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Template placement
I know it is recommended to place stub tags at the bottom of an article, below categories -- hut where is the recommended placement for an expand template if the article is too long for a stub? Also at the bottom? Thanks. RadioBroadcast (talk) 16:58, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * At the top of the article is usual. I'd recommend against using expand, though, unless you leave a note on the talk page detailing what exactly you think is lacking. Almost all Wikipedia articles could do with being expanded, so that information on its one isn't very helpful. Algebraist 17:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! RadioBroadcast (talk) 17:03, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Link to an editing page
How am I able to place a link that takes you to an editing page of an article? Thank you!  Zoo Fari  17:16, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Add "&action=edit" (no quotations) to the end of the link. For example this link takes you my talk page with edit box open. TN X Man  17:19, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you, I needed that for my userpage.  Zoo Fari  17:45, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Template in infobox
Is it possible to include Millennium Park Map in the infobox at Millennium Park?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 18:21, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * A field could be added to Infobox Park to accommodate for that, but the Template:Millennium Park Map would stretch the Infobox way too much, anyways. The template cannot be resized; the code would have to be rewritten to change its size. Gary King  ( talk ) 22:07, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

focus field on page load
it would be awesome if you could make the search box the default focus field when you load a page.

thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.119.127.23 (talk) 18:30, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * This will not happen: see WP:FAQ/Main Page for why not and how to do it for yourself. Algebraist 18:34, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Plagiarism ?
In the Montgomery Clift article there are parts where the wording is outlandish. After performing a search to confirm some of the content I came across this site. In the death section is a paragraph taken almost word for word from the dubious site above. Such as; "At 1 a.m., Lorenzo went up to say goodnight. The Misfits was airing on TV that night, and Lorenzo asked Clift if he wanted to watch it. "Absolutely NOT!" was the reply. This turned out to be the last time Montgomery Clift spoke to anyone. At 6 a.m. the next morning, Lorenzo went to wake him, but found the bedroom door locked. Unable to break it down, he ran down to the garden and climbed a ladder to the bedroom window. When he got inside, he found Clift dead. He was undressed, lying on his back in bed, with glasses on and fists clenched."

This reads like an outlandish tabloid not fit for an encyclopedia. There are other issues in other sections that are not sourced, and I don't have the time nor the expertise. This should be done by a professional. Can someone help fix this?DHCpepper (talk) 18:46, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Is there any way to check if they didn't copy from us?- Mgm|(talk) 22:49, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * If you suspect a copyright violation in any article, feel free to re-word it yourself, or alternatively tag it with copyvio. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 17:28, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Wikitable
Hello I have a wikitable but it is currently aligned to the left of a page; how do I align it to the middle of the page L07ChLeo3 (talk) 19:02, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * See Help:Table. Algebraist 19:07, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok thank you it has been resolved L07ChLeo3 (talk) 19:14, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Hello I have a wikitable but it is currently aligned to the left of a page; how do I align it to the middle of the page L07ChLeo3 (talk) 19:02, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hello. You can insert the code in the table very simple. If the table reads {| class=wikitable, than you may insert align="center" after it. It would read {| class=wikitable align="center". If there is more description after {| class=wikitable,  for example {| class=wikitable style="background-color: #ff9, simply place the alignment after it, which would read {| class=wikitable style="background-color: #ff9 align="center". You may also decide other alignments such as "right".  Zoo  Fari  19:17, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That doesn't work:


 * Algebraist 19:21, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It looks aligned to the middle to me. What is the problem?  Zoo Fari  19:23, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It left-aligns in FF, Safari and Opera. I'm not sure why. The trick given in Help:Table works though. Algebraist 19:24, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. I'm not sure why; it works perfect on IE. I have changed by userpage alignments to the code you linked above, just to be sure.  Zoo Fari  19:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Film date question
I was reading WP:FilmRelease and it is rather confusing. Say a movie premiered in a non-English speaking country at a film festival in 2000 but it wasn't released in the UK until 2001. Should it be named Title (2000 film) or Title (2001 film)? Of course, I'm assuming there is already another film called Title. 74.176.152.183 (talk) 19:46, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * You're looking in the wrong place. For guidelines on naming film articles, you want Naming conventions (films). Algebraist 19:49, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Oh, ok thanks. 74.176.152.183 (talk) 20:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Preventing headlines from overlapping the text
There is a trick to make a headline begin only below the lowest previous layout element, but I can't find the description anymore. (For an example, see how letter overlaps with the See also and References sections in the W article.) I looked at Help:Editing, Help:Section, Cheatsheet, Manual of Style (text formatting), Help:Advanced editing, WP:MAGIC, and Help:Contents/Editing Wikipedia, but could find nothing about it. &mdash; Sebastian 20:44, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Do you mean like this ? DuncanHill (talk) 20:47, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Yup, that's it, thanks! &mdash; Sebastian 20:53, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Cool, the description is at WP:BUNCH. DuncanHill (talk) 20:54, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you; I added a link to Help:Advanced editing. &mdash; Sebastian 21:09, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I just use

-Arch dude (talk) 14:59, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Printing images-problem
When I print out a wikipedia page in printable version, the images will not appear printed, but only the empty box in which they are framed. I am particularly talking about a series of pages on the game of poker. Does anyone have any ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.2.182.241 (talk) 21:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps an obvious question, but do any images print for you? Gary King  ( talk ) 22:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Try the "printable version" in the toolbox at the top-left of the article, and see if that works. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 17:26, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Template question
Right now I am trying to make a meta-template that will be used to generate daughter templates that are similar to each other. The meta-template is Expand language, which will be used to standardize templates like Expand Spanish that go on article pages. I would like the meta-template to categorize the daughter templates into one category (Category:Expand by language Wikipedia templates), and automatically to categorize whatever page the daughter templates are on into the appropriate category (e.g. Category:Spanish language articles needing translation). The problem is, essentially how to I make something that isn't quite noinclude but is more like includeonlyonce. That is, right now articles like 1939 Chillán earthquake are being categorized into Category:Expand by language Wikipedia templates unnecessarily, and the templates are also being categorized into Category:Spanish language articles needing translation and related categorizes (though the latter miscategorization isn't really that much of a problem in the bigger scheme of things). Is it possible to do this automatically on the meta-template or do I have to manually include the categories on the daughter template pages using includeonly and noinclude? Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:34, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah actually I think I may have figured it out - just have the category depend on whether the page is in article or template space? Would this work? Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That should work (as long as your metatemplate doesn't get used for userspace templates or something), and it's definitely possible, which I don't think 'includeonlyonce' is. Algebraist 21:38, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Yay, I think it works now. Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:56, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Printing page 2
In the info on Kauai, I can't make page two print. Printer skips it and goes to page three. Perhaps you could fix that.71.217.155.25 (talk) 23:08, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Are you printing the "printable version" selected by clicking on the "printable version" link in the toolbox on the left-hand side of the page? – ukexpat (talk) 23:13, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

How to upload a film poster?
Hello. I am trying to upload the film poster for a movie onto the film's wikipedia page. Can someone direct me to a simple way to do this? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Captwizzy (talk • contribs) 23:48, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * There are two ways to go about it. You can upload the image on Wikipedia, but in order to do that, your account must be autoconfirmed, which simply means that it has been active for four days and made at least ten edits. Once those thresholds have been reached, head over to this page for details on how to proceed. Or, you can upload the poster on Wikimedia Commons. You do not have to be autoconfirmed, simply having an account will do. This page will help you get started there. TN X Man  01:39, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * However, if the movie poster is copyrighted (which is almost certainly is,) you cannot upload it to commons. Commons does not permit the "fair use" rationale for copying, because commons is intended for use on all wikipedias everywhere, and "fair use" is not acceptable in some legal systems. We do permit "fair use" on the english wikipedia, whose servers are in the United States. Therefore, you will need to upload the poster to the english WP and not to commons. You will also need to provide a "fair use rationale," otherwise we will delete it. We know that these rules cause extreme frustration, but these rules are needed to comply with the law. If you get frustrated, please come back and ask for help instead of giving up -Arch dude (talk) 14:55, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * If you find copyright law frustrating (and who wouldn't besides a Hollywood mogul and his legal dream team?), then one alternative is to just say no to copyrighted pop culture. A small but growing number of artists are licensing their works freely. Check them out at Creative Commons, and why not write about them instead of giving yet more free publicity to information hoarders? When you edit on Wikipedia, you are participating in the open source movement. Imagine if everybody who edits culture-related articles on Wikipedia focuses first on culture that is free of repressive intellectual property restrictions. Then we might collectively create a culture in which people are free to write about, depict, or share any aspect of their culture they find interesting. How silly is it that we can't even draw and publish a picture of Darth Vader without getting permission? (See commons:Commons:Fan art.) --Teratornis (talk) 01:50, 16 February 2009 (UTC)