Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-11-20/Featured content

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 10 November 2013 through 16 November 2013.

Featured articles
Four featured articles were promoted last week.
 * This 2011 American documentary film about modern sexual slavery depicts cases of human trafficking, physical abuse and attempted murder of sex workers in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Nefarious was written, directed, produced and narrated by Benjamin Nolot, a leader in Mike Bickle's International House of Prayer. The film won the Honolulu Film Award for Best Screenplay, the Urban Mediamakers Film Festival Best Documentary Feature Award, and the Indie Fest Feature Documentary Award of Excellence.
 * This center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in 551 in the aftermath of a massive earthquake. It was moved to Sidon but did not survive the Arab conquest of 635. The school achieved such wide recognition throughout the empire that Beirut was known as the "Mother of Laws".
 * Tippett (1905–1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was considered to rank with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. Performances of his music have been infrequent in the 21st century, apart from his few best-known works, including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, the orchestral Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and the opera The Midsummer Marriage. He was a strong advocate of music education, and was active for much of his life as a radio broadcaster and writer on music.
 * First proposed by Juan Maldacena in late 1997, the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence is a conjectured relationship between some quantum field theories and theories of quantum gravity. It has been used to study many aspects of nuclear and condensed matter physics by translating problems in those subjects into more mathematically manageable problems in string theory. By 2010, Maldacena's article had over 7000 citations, becoming the most highly cited article in the field of high energy physics.

Featured lists
Five featured lists were promoted last week.


 * The best films of 1988 were selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 61st Academy Awards, held in Los Angeles, California. Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, tied for the most awards overall but swept the most important categories, including Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.
 * Part of a larger series of awards given to fantasy novels from around the world, the Best Novel category has honored authors like Gene Wolfe, Tim Powers, Jeffrey Ford, and James K. Morrow in its 38 years of operation.
 * This British magazine's listing of the 50 "coolest" musicians has spawned similar lists, despite criticism over some of its selections.
 * The storied hockey franchise from Detroit, Michigan has had eleven general managers in its 87-year history.
 * Described by the nominator as "among the best loved movie comedians of all time", this duo starred in over 100 features, mostly when they were both signed with the Hal Roach studio. Three of their films have been placed on the US Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

Featured pictures




Thirty-four featured pictures were promoted last week.
 * Row of taxis at the International Commerce Centre, Kowloon, Hong Kong (nom, related article) created by and nominated by .  This image of a small fraction of the more than 18,000 taxis serving Hong Kong triggered a fairly interesting philosophical discussion of what makes an image have "high" or "low" encyclopedic value.
 * Simon Neil (nom, related article) created by and nominated by .  This Scottish guitarist and vocalist has been a member of the bands Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Duke.  The nominator appreciated the singer's posture and the chromatic analogy between the background and the subject's guitar.
 * Iberian midwife toad (nom, related article) created by Benny Trapp and nominated by . This photo by the prolific Commons wildlife photographer depicts the Iberian midwife toad, a species of frog found in Portugal and Spain.  Despite several supporters commenting on the lack of depth in one portion of the photograph, the image was raised to featured status with unanimous support.
 * Burj Khalifa (nom, related article) created by Donaldytong and nominated by . Earth's tallest building, this image of the Burj Khalifa elicited an in-depth debate concerning the copyright status of an image that may depict a subject covered by copyright in its home country.  The result of that discussion was that the image was permitted under US copyright law, irrespective of any other nation's laws, and it was promoted thereafter.
 * Complete type reference set of U.S. Fractional currency (24 images) (related article) created by the United States Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and photographed and nominated by . An enormous undertaking by this prolific contributor, this set of images depicts a complete set of currency issued in values of less than $1.00 by the United States.  Issued between 1862 and 1876, these banknotes display a variety of papers, anti-counterfeiting measures, and imagery.
 * Joshua Tree National Park (nom, related article) created by and nominated by .  Don't go out to Joshua Tree National Park searching for the site of the famous U2 album image - others have perished in the attempt.  This image shows, however, what was (in the course of the nomination) determined to be a typical view in the park, including a jutting rock formation and one of the park's namesake trees.
 * Alatskivi Castle (nom, related article) created by Ivar Leidus and nominated by . This Estonian castle originally dates to the 16th century, but was reconstructed in the 19th.  The castle now serves as a conference center of sorts, and contains a museum to Estonian composer Eduard Tubin.
 * Beata Beatrix (nom, related article) created by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and nominated by . Rossetti completed this image of Dante's Beatrice Portinari from the author's La Vita Nuova in 1870.  Depicting Beatrice's death, Rossetti utilized the image of his deceased wife as a model.  The portrait is now on display at the Tate Britain.
 * View of Ein Avdat in the Negev Desert (nom, related article) created and nominated by . Ein Avdat, a canyon in the Negev Desert of Israel, contains the largest dry riverbed in the Negev.  Several springs are found in the canyon, which was inhabited from prehistoric times until the Muslim conquest of the region.
 * Stockwell Bus Garage 1, London, UK (nom, related article) created and nominated by . Nominated in part because it provided a panoramic view of what was, at the time of its construction, the largest unsupported roof in Europe, this image also shows several of London's signature double-decker buses.  The nomination triggered a debate concerning the image's use of panorama and the angle from which the shot was taken, which drew several opposes; the image passed, however, with 2/3 support.

Disclaimer: Summaries on this page borrow shamelessly from the articles cited; see the article histories for attribution.