Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/Archive 1

This is an archive of past discussions on Wikipedia:Today's featured article. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

→

Archive 5

Prologue

Why rotate so fast? Give it at least 24 hours. --Jia ng

Could I add Periodic table, LSD, Origins of the American Civil War, Bob Dylan, and Psychosis? This seems to be a pretty interesting mix for the features page. 172 06:07, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

No, please only add one article at a time. →Raul654 06:09, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

How do you determine which articles to list? Is this entirely random or is there a pre-arranged order? --Jia ng 06:11, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Psuedo-random. I try to spread it around by category, and make sure that articles that have been featured before don't come up (for a while, at least - we've only been doing this for a little over a month). Also, since we made the switch over to the new format, I've been looking for ones with good pictures, but I think I'm going to abandon that criterion soon - only a small fraction of the featured articles have pics. →Raul654 07:13, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

We should definitely keep the pictures criterion as long as we can. This is a good incentive for people to look for pictures to add to "their" articles to get them on the frontpage!—Eloquence 07:15, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Are these supposed not to be edited, even for NPOV? The current text reads "The primary coding method is the Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS).", but to call "Bible Codes" a "coding method" is to assert that someone encoded them. It ought to read "The primary method used to find such words is the Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS)." Find, not decode<G>. -- Nunh-huh 07:23, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Please go ahead and edit the page for NPOV like you would do on any other article.—Eloquence 07:24, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Cool, I just don't want to break anything! I guess "cycling" <> "editing" :) - Nunh-huh 07:25, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Here's a thought - why not make having a picture a prerequisite to being a featured article? The current ones get grandfathered in, but all new ones must have pictures. That would end the problem and encourage better quality article. →Raul654 07:26, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

That would probably be very unfair to the mathematicians ..—Eloquence 07:27, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Why not keep charts and pictures in mind, but agree by consensus? I already proposed five different articles, and now others can chime in. 172 07:30, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Because getting a consensus every 24 hours is going to be logistically difficult, if not impossible. A better idea would be to have a queue of articles. Anyone can strike an item or add to the bottom. New articles are displayed every 24 hours. How does that sound? →Raul654 07:33, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Actually, I change my mind. Even that adds a lot of overhead. I'd rather just keep it the way it is, with one or two gatekeepers. I'll take any suggestions you want.→Raul654 07:35, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

I take it you like to be the gatekeeper ;-). I think that introduces too much of a risk of bias. We should be more machine-like in selecting articles from Wikipedia:Featured articles to avoid having any kind of bias other than the one that is intrinsic to Wikipedia.—Eloquence 07:37, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

It's unlikely that anything more than a handful of users will show an interest in this page from day to day, and the larger share of the ones who do will likely monitor the changes only occasionally. This might be workable by consensus. 172 07:39, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Ok, why don't we try it by consensus for 1 week, and then see how it works out? →Raul654 07:43, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

If consensus doesn't work, I would support creating a number of Mediawiki pages, one for each featured article that someone has bothered to create a box for (e.g. MediaWiki:Feature/Bible Code, MediaWiki:Feature/Bob Dylan), list them all on a page and code the computer to randomly select one every day. (I suppose it should be programmed to avoid putting the same article up twice in say, three weeks or whatever). Our wonderful developers are surely waiting with bated breath for more features to code... Tuf-Kat 07:51, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

As an engineer, I can safely say you're overthinking the problem ;) →Raul654 07:53, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Good thing I nixed using the power of the pyramids to write the boxes themselves... Tuf-Kat 07:57, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

See the bottom of Wikipedia talk:Main Page for a variant of this already supported by the software.—Eloquence 07:54, Feb 26, 2004 (UTC)

Would the next user updating the page be interested in drawing from Periodic table, LSD, Origins of the American Civil War, Bob Dylan, and Psychosis? 172 18:47, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Yes to LSD, Psychosis, and Origins...war. Bob Dylan and Periodic table do not have pictures, which (as per above) we have decided to make a requirement for listing. I'll start with psychosis tonight. →Raul654 01:42, Feb 27, 2004 (UTC)

Periodic table does have charts and a nice layout. We should be considering whether or not the articles have visuals in general. If we just consider whether or not the articles have pictures, we wouldn't be giving a fair representation of our good natural science and mathematics articles, which are low on photos, but high on charts, graphs, and tables. 172 06:25, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Where charts are concerned, I guess I could take a screenshot and photoshop it into something usable. That's a pain in the ass though (and wasteful of space), but it's one solution. →Raul654 06:35, Feb 27, 2004 (UTC)

Pictures seem to me to be a very odd requirement to feature an article. For example, I was just about to nominate Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, on which I have labored long and hard, and which I think stands up to anything about a work of speculative fiction in the Wikipedia. However, it is almost impossible to imagine a suitable illustration. In the unlikely event that anyone has ever produced an illustration related to the story, it would be under copyright. Are we really saying that scholarly articles will now only be featured if they have a visual element? -- Jmabel 02:00, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I'm not particularly fond of it myself. Right now, I'm in the "let's try it and see how it works out" category. If it doesn't, we'll drop it. →Raul654 02:05, Feb 27, 2004 (UTC)

Well, the first thing is that the article should be on Wikipedia:Featured articles, Jmabel. For that it has to undergo the review process at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates. This is not true for Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. So I suggest you nominate your article on the candidates page first.

As for the picture requirement, an alternative would be the creation of simple art specifically for the frontpage. There are plenty of artists on Wikipedia and I'm sure some would be able to do that. The primary authors of an article would make a suggestion for an image they think would best represent the article on the frontpage -- it doesn't have to be "encyclopedic", just visually appealing and representative. Basically like an icon. For example, for a mathematics article a cropped rendering of the formula would be sufficient.—Eloquence 03:51, Feb 27, 2004 (UTC)

Periodic table image

Here's a little icon I made for the Main Page listing of periodic table:

—Eloquence

Well I modified the image —Eloquence made but unlike other images that update as soon as you modify them this image took 5 minutes. I kept pressing refresh on the image's upload page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ptable-MainPage.png but it was the old image all the time. Does that mean that the images on main page are monitored for changes or was it my browser? Couldn't have been my browser because I've been using the same browser in the past (when images did change.)

AY 14:18, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Happens to me all the time. It's a caching problem on your browser, and hitting reload doesn't solve it. If you are using IE, hit control-F5 to force a clean reload. →Raul654 16:32, Feb 28, 2004 (UTC)

I think

is a better image. The one currently up doesn't look like anything. To an unknowing user, the current image might look more like a mistake. No offence. I realize people put lots of work into these things. Just voicing an opinion. Kingturtle 04:02, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for putting it back. Kingturtle 05:19, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Leap Year

I propose that we should make Leap year our featured article. I know it's not a featured article, but I think it really makes sense. The article is fair long and complete, and extremely appropriate. →Raul654 07:37, Feb 29, 2004 (UTC)

Object. We should not make any exceptions for Main Page f.a. - if it's not an article approved by community process it should not be a featured article.—Eloquence 07:38, Feb 29, 2004 (UTC)

OK, ITN then. →Raul654 07:39, Feb 29, 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, or DYK.—Eloquence

I tried writing a 3-4 sentence summary of Origins of the American Civil War and failed miserably. That article is in desperate need of an introduction, and probably won't be featured until it gets one. →Raul654 06:18, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)

I added a intro sentence separate from the overview. But add Frankfurt School next instead. IMHO, this might be the best featured article. 172 15:16, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Without such an intro, then why is it a featured article in the first place? --mav

Theirs was not to reason why... →Raul654 06:30, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)

PS: It should probably be nominated for de-featuring until it gets one.

Done. Please comment at Wikipedia:Featured_article_candidates#Articles_nominated_for_removal. --mav

11 M

I just read in a comment, that there are several wikipedians from Madrid and we really don't know the fate of at least one of the regulars since the day before these events. Another admin wrote that he usually takes the train to go to the university but he didn't yesterday because of a strike. As this tragedy has touched the wikipedia community deeply and closely, I suggest that we make the March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks the featured article and use the Spanish flag with the black ribbon (es:Imagen:Madrid_pesame.png), de:Benutzer:Triebtäter

If you want to nominate the article for Featured Articles, then please do so at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates. — Timwi 16:01, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Timwi is correct. "Featured articles" is only for featured articles. This request more properly belongs at In the News. →Raul654 17:17, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

I'm sure this is just coincidence - but must the recent FAs all be 'depressing'? End Times, Villains, Lovecraft, Nuclear Weapons - I'd appreciate something a bit more 'sunny', if that's possible. Radagast 15:04, Mar 17, 2004 (UTC)

I suggest Rock, Paper, Scissors for tomorrow.—Eloquence

Should a list of featured articles that have already been featured be drawn up? ⇒ whkoh [talk][[]] 05:12, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Goings on has been keeping a list by week. If you'd like to maintain it, that's fine, but to me, that's yet another thing to do. (Just look at what page protection/unprotection takes nowadays) →Raul654 05:18, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

Hehe...luckily I'm not a sysop. I think I'll keep it all in one page at Template:Feature/Archive. It'll be sorted by date and by category. ⇒ whkoh [talk][[]] 05:34, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

Done, archive is now at Template:Feature/Archive ⇒ whkoh [talk][[]] 05:58, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

The other thing is - I've been doing most of the featured article cycling since we started doing it in January, so I have a pretty good idea of what has been featured and what hasn't. A lot of the articles I'd like to feature have 0 pictures, or (at best) a picture of questionable copyright status. →Raul654 06:08, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

I know, but it's still good to keep a list for others. Also, it'd be easier if we need to start cycling from the beginning. However, I don't know what articles have been featured before Blackjack; if you don't mind, can you please fill them in? Thanks. ⇒ whkoh [talk][[]] 06:13, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

Well, the thing is, we started on featured them on the (old) main page on January 16 (give or take a day), usually in groups of 2-3. That's a LOT of articles. →Raul654 06:50, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

Okay, then. I'll start the archive from Mozart, which was the first to use MediaWiki:Featured. Pages featured before Mozart won't be listed. ⇒ whkoh [talk][[]] 07:03, Mar 19, 2004 (UTC)

We need a better illustration for Mandarin. I thought of some Chinese glyphs, but I don't know mandarin, so I'm not really the one to do it. Anything, like the name 'Mandarin' in mandarin would be much better. — Sverdrup 10:47, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Example: something like this:

File:Mandarin-glyph-sverdrup.png

Just struck me though; is there a copyright problem with images of glyphs? — Sverdrup 11:10, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)

At least in the US, typefaces are not copyrightable [1]. The actual font data itself is copyrightable, but a picture of a glyph is fine. DopefishJustin 15:33, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

I think in the Mandarin article, if we're going to claim that it's the most widely spoken language(which it most probably is), we should have a list somewhere of the most widely spoken languages. I don't know if such a list exists on wikipedia, but it would be really interestingChicago 17:39, Mar 27, 2004 (UTC)

Linking of images on Main page

I feel images in the featured article should not point to its respective image page but the featured article itself. In most websites if the image for an accompanying section is a link, it definitely points to the article. I clicked on the Mandarin image and was taken to the image page which I didn't expect. Jay 13:22, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Similarly the "More featured articles..." link should point to the Template:Feature/Archive and not Wikipedia:Featured articles. Visitors to the site are expecting a list of articles that have been featured previously, and not a page that has a mix of past and future articles and candidate articles. Jay 16:40, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Representative images on the Main Page

Raul removed the glyph image with the edit summary "picture should appear in featured article". I disagree with that statement. In many cases, a representative picture looks better, and does a good job of what the images on the Main Page are supposed to do - create an additional incentive for reading the article. An abstract icon is often better suited for that purpose than a scaled down complex diagram.—Eloquence 19:24, Mar 27, 2004 (UTC)

Which was what brought it up from the beginning on... — Sverdrup 01:57, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

When was Jet Engine featured? Yesterday was Yellowstone.

Jet engine was featured all Tuesday. The current article (Superman) is the Wednesday article. →Raul654 06:54, Mar 31, 2004 (UTC)

elephants' fools

"An Execution by an Eliphant", from "An Historical Relation Of the Island Ceylon" by Robert Knox (London, 1681)

The use of elephants in crushing those condemned to death was common throughout south and southeast Asia for over 4,000 years of recorded history, and occasionally by the Romans and Carthaginians as well. Accusers would be allowed to look beneath the elephant's foot to confirm the identity of the prisoner; then the mahout, or elephant driver, would give the command, and the elephant would press down with its immense weight.

(suggested by sj )

As this has been requested, I will be featuring it for tomorrow, but the suggested newscopy needs some work. →Raul654 01:02, Apr 2, 2004 (UTC)

Frankfurt School

First-generation Frankfurt School theorist Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)

The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory, social research, and philosophy. The grouping emerged at the Institute for Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung) of the University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany in 1930. Influenced by the rise of Nazism, they applied the theories of Marx to social conditions that Marx himself had never seen, drawing heavily on the work of Max Weber and Sigmund Freud to fill in Marx's perceived omissions. The Frankfurt School's Herbert Marcuse (left) was sometimes described as the intellectual progenitor of the New Left.

Recently featured: Chariot racing – Buddhism – Fountain pen

More featured articles...

(suggested by 172 07:06, 7 Apr 2004 (UTC))

I'll feature this tomorrow.→Raul654 07:08, Apr 7, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks! 172 07:09, 7 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Congo Free State

Here's another suggestion. However, as of right now, this article hasn't been formally moved from the candidates' page to the features' page. I'm pretty sure that this'll get done today, though. 172 22:30, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)

A Congolese farming village is expelled and levelled to make way for a rubber plantation.

The Congo Free State was a private colony owned by Léopold II of Belgium between about 1877 and 1908. It included the entire area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and was the scene of native heartbreak and European brutality, greed and genocide on a colossal scale. In 1908, after Léopold's activities had finally been exposed in the Western press, it became, at least in theory, an orthodox colony of Belgium, and known as the Belgian Congo.

Recently featured: Rock, Paper, Scissors – soap bubble – Origins of the American Civil War

More featured articles...

Not yet. Kingturtle still has a objection. Please get him to withdraw it before promoting. Once it is promoted, I'll feature it. →Raul654 03:04, Apr 14, 2004 (UTC)

Sorry about that. I'd thought that it was going to be resolved that night. He withdrew his objections, but the article hasn't been added to the features page yet. 172 01:00, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Today's featured article on James Bulger

I'm concerned about today's featured article for the following reasons. It is an extremely hurtful subject for the Bulger family and while it is a matter of public record and belongs in the Wikipedia for that reason, it's also a matter of relatively recent private grief and therefore inherently hurtful. We need to show sensitivity in an area like this. I don't think that it should have been made a Main Page featured article without asking the Bulger family how they felt about that. Did anyone do that ?

Many newspapers have used it (and continue to use it) as a sales boosting technique, trampling on the Bulger family's feeling without any thought for them, and I would hate people to think that Wikipedia is using it in the same manner. Subjects of this sort need more care than the average choice for Featured Article and even at this late stage, I would prefer that it was withdrawn until permission has been given for such a prominent use by the victim's family. -- Derek Ross 14:49, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Doom again?

Why? Thats just horrible. -Stevertigo 22:40, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Again? Huh? →Raul654 22:46, Apr 23, 2004 (UTC)

Hinduism

Hinduism is constituted by an overwhelmingly diverse array of belief systems, practices and scriptures. It has its origin in Vedic culture as far back as a conservative 2000 BCE. Could someone revise the language, please? Hinduism has a diverse array, for example; at least as far back as 2000 BCE. Thanks! Markalexander100 07:25, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad caverns

Can I suggest Carlsbad Caverns National Park as a cover article? The first paragraph would do almost unchanged, and the picture on the right would suit (or it could be cropped if necessary). Also it's cheerful. Here's a slightly shortened version of the intro:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a US National Park established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. Carlsbad Cavern, with one of the world's largest underground chambers and countless formations, is highly accessible, with both self-guided and a variety of ranger-guided tours offered year round.

--Andrew 01:34, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

I'll feature this tomorrow. →Raul654 02:04, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Neat-o! --Andrew 02:08, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Finding the archive

Would it be confusing to make "Recently featured" into a link to the archive of recently featured articles? Or perhaps add a link for less recent? What I mean:

Recently featured: postal system – 2004 Taiwanese presidential election – Assassin
Recently featured: postal system – 2004 Taiwanese presidential election – Assassin – less recent
Recently featured: postal system – 2004 Taiwanese presidential election – Assassin – older

I suggest this because I first clicked on "more featured articles" hoping for older front-page articles and was surprised. Also it took me a long time to find the actual archive (and this page). --Andrew 02:08, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

See also the second discussion in the "Linking of images on Main page" section above. I've made the changes. Jay 06:17, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I don't support the change that was actually made. I think that the featured articles pages should be directly accessible, preferably from the "more featured articles" link. It has more articles of exactly the sort that are featured on the front page; just not all of them have been, yet. It also has a more reasonable selection process - the front page is necessarily a little unilateral. That's okay, but I think we should encourage people to visit the full featured articles page. All I suggested was that if people wanted to answer the question "what was that article I saw last week?" they could without rummaging around for half an hour in the Wikipedia: namespace. That's why I made the suggestions above.

I'm going to change it to one of my suggestions as above on a trial basis; if people object, let's put it back the way it used to be before I spoke up and discuss it here until consensus emerges. --Andrew 10:52, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

I really didn't like it either - it's extremely unnecessary and just serves to dilute the usefulness of the current featured articles. I have removed it. →Raul654 13:01, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Hmm. How should users find out about Template:Feature/Archive? I really was looking for "what was the front-page article four days ago?" when I first clicked on "more featured articles..." Perhaps a link on Wikipedia:Featured articles, where it mentions the rationale for highlighting articles? --Andrew 13:16, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Never mind; it's there. I am content. --Andrew 13:54, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

SARS

How about the following for a front-page article sometime soon?

The coronavirus suggested as a causative agent

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China. It spread rapidly, reaching neighboring Hong Kong and Vietnam in late February 2003, and then to other countries via international travel of infected persons. The last case in this outbreak occurred in June, 2003. In the outbreak, SARS caused 8,069 cases of disease and 775 deaths.

The picture would be shrunk and uncaptioned, of course; there's another possible choice (a SARS hospital, with ambulance and gumby-suited worker, but it would be hard to see if smaller). This might not be a great idea if it appears in "Current events" too; on the other hand, it's a featured article and somewhat on people's minds. On the other other hand, it has no mention of the current outbreak of SARS. --Andrew 13:16, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

If there is a current outbreak, I'd like to avoid mentioning it on the main page for just that reason. The featured article should *NOT* be timely - that's exclusively the domain of In the News, especially if the SARS article has not been updated. →Raul654 15:00, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

European Union (please feature on 9 May, Europe Day)

We should feature EU now on May 1. Elizabeth A 22:09, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The European Union

The European Union is an international organisation of European states established by the Maastricht treaty in 1992. It origins from the Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1951 by Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. However, the French-German politician Robert Schuman presented his proposal of a united Europe, known as the Schuman declaration, already in 1950, which is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union. Between 1973 and 1995 nine further states became members of the union, and on May 1, 2004, the Union was further enlarged with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

I have reverted. European union is not a featured article. It won't be until (at least) May 2. Second, as someone said on the candidates page when this was asked there, May 9 is Europe day - that would make a good time to feature this. Third, it's not yet time to cycle the article. →Raul654 23:39, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

I tend to agree. Featured article is not In the news. We can't quick-push articles to be featured whenever something important happens.--Eloquence * 23:41, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

As I said above, this section should not be timely at all. In fact, if something is breaking news, I would tend to NOT feature it just because it should be on ITN instead of here. →Raul654 23:43, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

Exactly - I was rather annoyed when I saw that the EU was both featured and in the news. Diversity is key here. --mav 23:49, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Please now feature this on 9 May (Europe Day). -- Kaihsu 21:39, 2004 May 8 (UTC)

Peerage

Marquess of Bath

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom. Peers include Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts and Barons; such titles may be either hereditary or for life. Additionally, certain Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England are classified by some authorities as Spiritual Peers. Formerly, all peers meeting qualifications such as age could sit in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the British Parliament. Now, however, hereditary peers do not have the automatic right to sit in Parliament.

This article was supposedly featured, but I can find no account of its featuring in the page history. The article is actually a series now; I had to break it up because it was 92KB long. I hope there isn't a rule against featuring series on the main page. -- Emsworth 19:19, May 1, 2004 (UTC)

I'll feature this tonight. →Raul654 02:51, May 2, 2004 (UTC)

Thailand

Latest comment: 20 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

Bangkok is both the province with the highest population and the highest population density. A pedant writes: could you make that "Bangkok has both the greatest population and the highest population density"? Bangkok isn't the highest population density. Markalexander100 04:10, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

Done. →Raul654 04:24, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks! Markalexander100 04:28, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

Chess

I think we should feature Chess soon. It is one of the deepest topics covered as on date in English-pedia. The article has so many links that it will keep any enthusiast busy for hours.

How about the following ? Chancemill 18:22, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

Chess Set

Chess (the "Game of Kings") is a board game for two players, which requires 32 chesspieces (or chessmen), 16 for each player, marked by contrasting colors. The board is a great square overall consisting of eight rows (ranks) by eight columns (files) of individual squares which alternate in color orthogonally (traditionally as white and black). Hence, there are a total of 64 individual squares. The object of the game is to put the opponent's king in checkmate (i.e., rendering capture unavoidable).

Taiwanese (linguistics)

Kaihsu 22:10, 2004 May 8 (UTC) suggests:

Puppetry is part of the heritage in the Taiwanese language.

Taiwanese is the home language for about 60% of the population of Taiwan. Native speakers of Taiwanese are known as Hō-ló. The language, a tonal one with extremely extensive tone sandhi rules, is similar to the speech of the southern part of Fujian in China. There are special literary and art forms in Taiwanese such as Chhit-jī-á, a poetic meter where each verse has 7 syllables; and koa-a-hì, Taiwanese opera. Taiwanese puppetry (Pò·-tē-hì) is also unique and has been elaborated in the past two decades into impressive televised spectacles.

I'll do European Union (already requested), then Chess. Kaihsu - can you find/upload/suggest a better picture for Taiwanese? That's not a very good picture to use, in this case. →Raul654 23:37, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

Well, in the case of language articles, it is troublesome to find an attractive image. When Mandarin (linguistics) was featured, a genealogical/taxonomy map [2] was used -- not very attractive. I have attempted to find a Taiwanese puppet image; perhaps [3], [4], or something from [5] or [6]? I have replaced the image with one of them. Cheers. -- Kaihsu 10:35, 2004 May 10 (UTC)

By the way, maybe this should not be featured until a taxonomy box is added. -- Kaihsu 10:59, 2004 May 10 (UTC)

Added. -- Kaihsu 12:39, 2004 May 10 (UTC)

Buckinghamshire

Latest comment: 20 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

Minor grammar point: "It has an area of 1883 sq km, a population of 590,000, and its county town is Aylesbury. " should be "It has an area of 1883 sq km and a population of 590,000; its county town is Aylesbury." Markalexander100 04:52, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

Fixed. The page isn't protected by the way, so feel free to be bold and make the change yourself next time. :) Angela . 06:28, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

Doh! Markalexander100 07:45, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

Enclave

A suggestion from Radagast 15:46, May 22, 2004 (UTC):

C is A's enclave and B's exclave.

An enclave is, in human geography, a piece of land which is totally enclosed within a foreign territory. Enclaves may be created for a variety of historical, political or even geological reasons. Since living in an enclave can be very inconvenient and many agreements have to be found by both countries over mail addresses, power supply or passage rights, enclaves tend to be eliminated; many cases that existed in the past have now been resolved.

British East India Company

Latest comment: 20 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

A suggestion from 172 07:37, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive

The British East India Company was founded by a Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600. Over the next 250 years, it became one of the most powerful commercial enterprises of its time. The British East India Company's business was centred on India, where it also acquired auxiliary governmental and military functions which came to overshadow its commercial activities. India was often referred to as the "Jewel in the Crown."

Recently featured: Rembrandt van Rijn – Enclave – Star

More featured articles...

Transit of Venus

Latest comment: 20 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

I'd like to see this featured starting sometime June 7th, as the next transit after June 8th will be in 2012. anthony (see warning) 01:04, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

At cursory glance, it's a good article, but it's not a featured article. It can't be featured (put on the main page) until it is. →Raul654 02:43, May 26, 2004 (UTC)

What's wrong with it? anthony (see warning) 03:25, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

I didn't see anything wrong with it, but as I said - it's not a featured article; it is not listed at Wikipedia:Featured articles. Articles not listed there are not to be featured on the main page, period. →Raul654 03:30, May 26, 2004 (UTC)

Now it is :). anthony (see warning) 01:59, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Latest comment: 20 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Lord Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (September 29, 1758–October 21, 1805), British naval officer, won fame as a leading naval commander before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar made him one of Britain's greatest national heroes. His title in full was Vice Admiral of the White Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson of the Nile, Baron Nelson of the Nile, K.B.. In addition to these British titles he was also Duke of Bronte in the nobility of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit, and a Knight of the Ottoman Empire's Order of the Crescent.

Recently featured: Submarine – Single malt Scotch – British East India Company –

More featured articles...

In the last week, we've had articles on Scotch malt, British east india company, and Buckinghamshire. I think we'll hold off on any more British articles for the time being. →Raul654 03:54, May 28, 2004 (UTC)

I sat down to feature this for tomorrow, and the articles is unfeaturable. The introduction gives one sentence describing (in vague terms) what he did, and then spends 2 sentences talking about the titles he held. The introduction needs to be scrapped and rewritten before it can be featured. →Raul654 03:45, Jun 1, 2004 (UTC)

Simon and Garfunkel

Latest comment: 20 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

100px|right|Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel were a popular music duo comprising Paul Simon and Arthur "Art" Garfunkel. Simon and Garfunkel were among the most popular recording artists of the 1960s, and are best known for their songs, "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". They received several Grammies and are inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Recently featured: Helium – Chinatown – Vowel –

More featured articles...

Diabetes Mellitus [NOMINATION FOR FEATURED]

Well, I wasn't aware of the peer review process, sorry. Also, I would like to know, is Eloquence really that fast, or was that a script which reverted the changes. The diabetes article had only been displayed for about a minute. Was it ever really displayed?

Anyway, I nominate diabetes for the next featured article as it is one of the best articles written for a disease on Wikipedia and also rising phenomenally in popularity. Wikipedia also has not had many featured articles that are diseases, and some disease articles, like cancer are really lacking.

Finally, I already wrote everything necessary to make diabetes mellitus the featured article in my ignorance. Check it out, it's all done: [7] (User:Exigentsky)

Ask Erik (Eloquence) on his talk page - [[[8]]]
Diabetes is not a featured article - you can see the list at Wikipedia:Featured articles. To become a featured article, it has to go through a nomination process. You can nominate it at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates.
In the future, please sign your posts by putting ~~~~ at the end. →Raul654 21:24, May 31, 2004 (UTC)

Thank you. However, isn't the talk page link you gave me on the idea or word eloquence, rather than the user? Regardless, I left a message on Eloquence's user talk page. I also nominated diabetes for becoming a featured article in the right place. And I signed my name --Exigentsky 22:12, May 31, 2004 (UTC)

Whoops, yes, the link I gave you is wrong - it should have said User talk:Eloquence. My bad. →Raul654 22:27, May 31, 2004 (UTC)

Dubious sources

Latest comment: 3 months ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I just did some checking. Quite a few of the current sources fail verification, and there are quite a few errors which I have corrected, some being really careless such as advocating for promethium in batteries. This page needs extensive independent checking before it appears as another FA, more than just my dozen or so errors probably exist. Ldm1954 (talk) 22:35, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Article now replaced with an alternative. - SchroCat (talk) 05:59, 24 August 2024 (UTC)