Biography guideline upgraded to policy
The guideline to biographies of living persons was upgraded to policy after a short discussion period.
The page, created in December 2005 "due to the Daniel Brandt situation", had already become commonly accepted and cited; its use grew significantly
over the past few months as emphasis continued to be placed on making sure that articles on living people were accurate and did not contain
incorrect information following the John Seigenthaler controversy
(see archived story).
Following the upgrading of the page from guideline to policy, renewed attention was cast on the so-called "living people biographies", as
Danny Wool proposed on the mailing list a special
recent-changes patrol dedicated to living people biographies. Dubbed the "living people patrol",
Wool envisioned the group as one that could focus on keeping track of which articles pertained to living people and attempt to catch
any articles not complying with current policy. In addition, Wool also later suggested
that notability guidelines be made more stringent, citing the articles in the category
So You Think You Can Dance contestants. Each of the articles in there, he said, were of living people
who were unnotable. Wool, an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, however, did note that these were "only suggestion[s]."
Wikichildren proposed
Wikichildren, a place where content would be geared toward children in simple language and graphics, was
proposed this week. The proposal included different account levels — those for adults
and those for children — and also noted that the proposal was not the same as either the Wikijunior or Wikikids proposals.
Simple English Wikipedia
An Esperanza group has been formed on the Simple English Wikipedia, modeled after the same project on the English Wikipedia. Archer7 was chosen to serve as the group's leader until 4 October, 2006.
Briefly
- The Chinese Wikipedia has reached 250,000 pages.
- The Georgian Wikipedia has reached 8,000 articles.
- The Spanish Wiktionary has reached 10,000 entries.
- The Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia has reached 5,000 articles.
- The Vietnamese Wiktionary has reached 60,000 entries.
- The Estonian Wikipedia has reached 20,000 articles.
- The Albanian Wikipedia has reached 8,000 articles.
- The Korean Wiktionary has reached 9,500 entries.
- The Thai Wikipedia has reached 13,000 articles.
- The Georgian Wikipedia has reached 500 registered users.
- The Sinhalese Wikipedia has reached 100 articles.
- The Norman Wikipedia has reached 1,000 articles.
- The Thai Wikipedia has reached 8,000 registered users.
- The Turkish Wikipedia has reached 25,000 registered users.
- The Telugu Wikipedia has reached 500 registered users.
- The Low German / Low Saxon Wikipedia has reached 500 registered users.
- The Tajik Wikipedia has reached 100 articles.
- The Korean Wiktionary has reached 9,000 entries.
The Arbitration Committee opened two new cases this week, and closed two cases.
Closed cases
- Francis Schuckardt: A case involving editors on Francis Schuckardt. Remedies placed the article on a form of probation for three months, allowing the Arbitration Committee to extend the probation to editing restrictions on specific editors.
- Trey Stone Appeal: The case, an appeal of an August 2005 case, was closed without action. The previous case banned Trey Stone from articles relating to politics for one year. The Committee cited the fact that all remedies would be repealed on August 11, 2006, a date likely to be reached before the case was closed.
New cases
Two cases were opened this week; both are in the evidence phase.
- Ericsaindon2: A case involving the actions of Ericsaindon2. Coolcaesar claims that Ericsaindon2 has tried to insert original research, has disrupted Wikipedia, used sockpuppets, uploaded images violating copyright law, and failed to assume good faith.
Evidence phase
- His excellency: A case involving the actions of His excellency. The case involves the actions of His excellency on Islam-related talk pages.
- Eternal Equinox: A case involving Eternal Equinox. Several users complained that Eternal Equinox has been trying to claim ownership of articles with edit wars and abuse directed at those who try to edit them. Eternal Equinox claimed to have left Wikipedia, but the other parties argued that this was not credible because of a number of similar statements made previously. Eternal Equinox has since returned, editing anonymously from several related IP addresses while acknowledging his or her identity.
Voting phase
- Hunger: A case involving a dispute about articles related to The Hunger Project. One of the parties, Jcoonrod, identifies himself as John Coonrod, an executive with that organization. The dispute has been in mediation about how and whether to include unflattering material about the organization in the article. Fred Bauder has presented voting measures, but no remedies have yet been suggested, and no other arbitrators have yet voted.
- Alienus: A case involving Alienus. Users Tony Sidaway, Nandesuka, and Jossi have presented evidence in the case, noting that Alienus has been blocked 15 times, has assumed bad faith, and has been warned many times about making personal attacks, edit warring, and incivility. A measure to ban Alienus for a year for edit warring and personal attacks has the support of three arbitrators.
- Añoranza: A case involving Añoranza. Users asserted that Añoranza had been incivil, and had filed a retaliatory request for comment and request for checkuser. The dispute involves the usage of terms such as "Operation Iraqi Liberation" for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Remedies banning Añoranza for a week for the disruptive way in which he went about bringing the terms to light have the support of two arbitrators; other remedies are split.
- 8bitJake: A case involving 8bitJake. badlydrawnjeff, the initiator of the arbitration request, has asserted that 8bitJake's editing on political articles was biased, and that 8bitJake was incivil to other editors on the articles. Remedies brought by Fred Bauder, and not yet voted on by other members, would place 8bitJake and related editors on probation and ban them from articles relating to the politics of the State of Washington.
- Dionyseus: A case involving Dionyseus and Danny Pi, and their actions on Veselin Topalov, an article on a Bulgarian chess player accused of cheating. Remedies brought by Fred Bauder, and not yet voted on by other members, would ban Danielpi for a week for "discourtesy and personal attacks".
- Iloveminun: A case brought against Minun. Evidence presented asserted that Minun and various sockpuppets violated fair use and image deletion policies by uploading copyrighted images and removing tags. Remedies supported by four arbitrators would limit Minun to one account, ban Minun for a year for various actions (with all bans running consecutively), and place Minun on probation, personal attack parole, and revert parole.
- Irishpunktom: A case involving Irishpunktom, Karl Meier, and Dbiv. Measures to ban Irishpunktom and Dbiv from editing Peter Tatchell for one year, place Irishpunktom and Karl Meier on probation for one year, and place Irishpunktom on one revert per article per week parole have the support of five arbitrators. Debate is still ongoing on an appropriate remedy for the actions of Dbiv.
- Saladin1970: A case involving an appeal of Saladin1970's indefinite block originally placed by Jayjg, and later by SlimVirgin. Saladin1970 would be banned for at least 2 years, perhaps indefinitely, and placed on probation, general probation, and personal attack parole by the measures, supported by three arbitrators.
Motion to close