Wikibooks:Reading room/Archives/2015/January

Extra period in the license text
There's an extra period in the license text in the footer (marked with yellow in the quote: "Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . ; additional terms may apply."), is it possible to remove it somehow or is it intended? --Cic (discuss • contribs) 22:56, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

Copyright concerns with Wikibooks' suicide instruction manual
I have started a discussion on Jimbo Wales Wikipedia talk page about some possible copyright issues here. Please see this item. Thanks. Nasal Ant Horn (discuss • contribs) 23:26, 20 December 2014 (UTC)


 * If you have concerns about one of the books here, the place to raise those concerns is here, not on Wikipedia. Wikibooks is not part of Wikipedia.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 00:51, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
 * You are absolutely right. I should have started the discussion here. Now that we're in agreement about that, what do you think we should do about the copyright issue? Nasal Ant Horn (discuss • contribs) 04:00, 21 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I have looked into the linked discussion and couldn't find any copyright issue at best there was a concern that some probable sources to the first repository may lead to copyright issues here (it didn't seem to have raided them so far) but even if we normally act pro-actively to protect the project, the alleged infringement is just that alleged...
 * Note also that usenet (1980) predates the 1989 adoption of the Berne Convention that requires copyright to be assumed (before it was assumed that if not stated so it was public domain) and even the content on usenet posts may came from other sources or after several iterations to the present state of the content any copyright claim would be null. As such I think there is no issue to be debated around the allegations until someone provides clear factual evidence...
 * Provide a direct link to plagiarized content that has an incompatible license and we can fix it, even by attempting to contact the copyrights owner. --Panic (discuss • contribs) 05:59, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your reply. I did provide one specific example with links to the likely source, did you miss it? For reference, SuicideWiki was not formed until 2013 and this example is from 2011. Nasal Ant Horn (discuss • contribs) 16:23, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Since SuicideWiki has a compatible license any possible infringement of another source copyright regarding their licensed content is their domain and liability. We could only act after they are established as infringing the law (pro-actively, by copyright owner's request or under a legal order from a court). Since your concerns involve their licensed content you should first act on that, there.
 * One thing that has become abundant clear and strange is that you are not claiming ownership over any content that was used and so I question the motivation why you are putting efforts in challenging or policing the licensed content, going beyond simple legal concern or curiosity. This "strangeness" is already pointed out on the first discussion. --Panic (discuss • contribs) 18:42, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Wikibooks only accepts freely licensed content. There's nothing "strange" about someone pointing out that the content appears to be a copyright violation. You entirely wrong in saying that SuicideWiki's terms somehow exempt Wikibooks from any responsibility or liability. You are also entirely wrong in saying that no action needs to be undertaken until SuicideWiki is found legally liable. Perhaps someone from teh Wikibooks community with more knowledge of copyright will speak up or act. Until then, I'll stick to asking the question on Wikipedia. Nasal Ant Horn (discuss • contribs) 22:48, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Per Panic2k4, it would be much easier to act on this if you link the page that uses the content and link the site you say it was taken from. It is certainly not implausible that SuicideWiki obtained proper permission for reuse of Usenet announcements that were previously distributed free to a large audience, and without a more specific allegation, I don't see why Wikibooks would need to second-guess their copyright decisions.  Every source from which content is licensed may or may not be lying about it, and it is impossible to pedigree every word of every one of them; however, it is possible to investigate a specific instance. Wnt (discuss • contribs) 00:15, 23 December 2014 (UTC)
 * It looks like some or all of the content came from SuicideWiki. SuicideWiki had a cc-by-sa license. Under the terms of that license, the original authors need to be properly credited. Right now, they aren't. There's the additional question of the sources used for the information in SuicdeWiki. I've given you one example which appears to show plagarism. The links are in the original message. This really isn't complicated. Nasal Ant Horn (discuss • contribs) 05:51, 23 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Again this is not the place to advance your views of any problem with the content at SuicideWiki. I have told you that I haven't seen any relevant issue to our project (or Wikipedia or Wikimedia for that matter) in the points you raised. More since this has been a discussion dear to me here on this project, authorship is not simply attributed (one does not add names to credit others), it must be claimed (one signs what one is responsible for and claims rights over). --Panic (discuss • contribs) 06:12, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

We should remove the questionable duplicate content, if someone is ever interested in developing this text they can recreate, or properly import the information with attribution. Thenub314 (talk) 20:07, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Hopi surnames
As I was doing housekeeping on the character name appendices to the Writing Adolescent Fiction wikibook, I discovered someone had deleted all the Hopi surnames on the Writing_Adolescent_Fiction/Character_names/Native_American page. Someone identified only as an ISP of 172.190.235.223 left the edit summary "(→‎Hopi surnames: I have deleted this list. Hopi last names are very specific to very small family units. It is not proper to list them in this manner for public use. )".

Is this a sufficient reason to leave an ethnic group's surnames out of this wikibook, especially when it leaves one ethnicity out of all the ethnicities in the world completely listless? I wanted to revert this edit and put the names back in, but I'd like the community's input first. Cilantrohead (discuss • contribs) 11:43, 11 January 2015 (UTC)


 * My advice is to be bold, but leave a discussion on the talk page as to your point of view. Hoepfully if someone disagrees that can start a discussion, and a consensus can be found. Thenub314 (talk) 20:03, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Translation from de.wikibooks
Hey guys, I noted there's currently no cookbook article on Spaghetti aglio e olio, however the German-language Wikibooks has one. How do you deal with translations from one language to another? AFAICS there's no way to import from other Wikibooks. Thank you, --The Evil IP address (discuss • contribs) 11:03, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
 * You can copy / paste it here as long as you add the permalink URL in the revision summary text, on the talk page or somewhere else where it is visible. It is possible to import from de.wikibooks, you just need to ask a Steward as they have the importupload right that enables this. QuiteUnusual (discuss • contribs) 11:11, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

How to install quizs in other wikibooks
Hi,

I come from ca.wikibooks (Catalan version) and I would like to know how to install a quiz system like yours in our project. Is there any Mediawiki code i could copy, or should I request something to Bugzilla? I am a little bit lost... Thank you very much! --Xavi Dengra  (MESSAGES)   12:24, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Hi, Xavi Dengra. Quizzes are an extension, so your project community would vote to install the extension and then file a phabricator request.  There's a link to the extension at the bottom of Help:Quizzes.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 14:42, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Regards! --Xavi Dengra  (MESSAGES)   15:49, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Wishing to somewhat depopulate Category:Annotated Republic of China Laws
As I am the primary editor of Annotated Republic of China Laws, please advise if any template will automatically categorize pages based on its subpages, like Annotated Republic of China Laws/Copyright Act. Template:BookCat is useful, but I prefer deeper categories rather than overpopulating Category:Annotated Republic of China Laws, so I ask. Thanks.--Jusjih (discuss • contribs) 03:08, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
 * BookCat has an option, which may be of interest to you.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 04:52, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much for your answer. I will reorganize the pages soon.--Jusjih (discuss • contribs) 04:45, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Looking for feedback on my funding proposal to work with UNESCO
Hi all

I’m looking for feedback and endorsement for my Wikimedia Foundation PEG grant to be Wikimedian in Residence at UNESCO. I’d very much appreciate if you would have a look, the most relevant objective to Wikibooks is:


 * 2. Make content from the archives of UNESCO and its partners available on Wikimedia projects: This project will facilitate the upload of 30,000 images, audio files, videos, data and other content to Wikimedia projects from UNESCO archives (24,000 images), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and other sources including 10 organisations changing their content license to be Wikimedia compatible.

I'm very much hoping that UNESCO and it's partners will contribute to Wikibooks as part of the project, possibly by contributing existing material they have developed, I think Wikipedia Zero will be an amazing opportunity for them to share their resources with underserved communities.

I ran a pilot project that resulted in the images found in Commons category Images from the archive of UNESCO, here are a few examples:  File:The Soda volcano, Oromia, Ethiopia.jpg|The Soda volcano, Oromia, Ethiopia. File:Rubbles of the cathedral after the earthquake that hit the Capital Port au Prince just before 5 pm on 12 January 2010.jpg|Rubble of the cathedral after the earthquake that hit the Capital Port au Prince just before 5 pm on 12 January 2010. File:Young monk, wearing a special costume, Desert road in China, July-August 1991, Sikkim, India.jpg|Young monk, wearing a special costume, July-August 1991, Sikkim, India. File:Sabha,6, getting ready to walk to school from her house on the borders eastern Gaza strip, where she and her family are still living in tents.jpg|Sabha, 6, getting ready to walk to school from her house on the borders eastern Gaza strip, where she and her family are still living in tents. File:Mohana fishermen hunters use lures from real birds to catch more birds.jpg|Not far from Mohenjo-Daro (or Mohenjodaro) - These Mohana fishermen/hunters use lures from real birds to catch more birds. They will either eat them or sell them. Mohenjodaro, Pakistan. File:Priest of rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilmigrage and devotion..jpg|Priest of rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilmigrage and devotion.

If you think this is a worthwhile project please click this link and click the endorse button.

Many thanks

Mrjohncummings (discuss • contribs) 23:50, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

What interests me
allixpeeke (discuss • contribs) 13:08, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Libertarianism
 * Agnosticism
 * Music


 * Hi, allixpeeke. Are you thinking agnosticism in the weak sense (haven't decided) or the strong sense (can't know)? :-)  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 14:07, 28 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I ultimately hold that it is impossible for any human to know whether there exists zero, one, or multiple gods. On the one hand, the ontological argument fails because it assumes that nonexistence is an imperfection, and thus conflates conception of existence with existence itself.  On the other hand, when Steven Hawking says that no god can exist because there was no time prior to the big bang in which a god could commit the action of creating anything, he completely ignores the possibility that there might exist a multiverse, and that a god can exist in that realm, or perhaps even be that realm.  Those who hold that this universe is too finely tuned for life for a god not to exist also ignore the possibility that there is a multiverse, for if there is a multiverse with an infinite number of universes, no god would be necessary for the mathematical certainty that some portion of these infinite universes would happen to be appropriately tuned for life.  Back when I was a young Christian, I came up with Pascal's wager independently of Pascal, but I now reject that as well on the grounds that it merely assumes God would have some sort of problem with a lack of theism, and that God, moreover, would be willing to punish a human for nonthheism.  This seems a much more reasonable alternative to me these days:  •  If no god exists, there is no harm in being agnostic.  •  If a god exists, and this god is perfect, then this god would be perfectly rational.  If God allowed us to have the capacity to be rational, to use reason, it stands to reason that a perfectly rational god would want us to utilise that capacity to reason.  A perfectly rational god would not want us to simply believe in it using blind faith; a perfect god would be disappointed in those who do not utilise the gift of rationality.  Thus, a perfectly rational god would tend to favour those who are-good-despite-lacking-faith over those who-are-only-good-for-fear-of-damnation.  In short, a perfect god would prefer we be agnostics.  •  If a god exists that does not want us to use reason, then this god is not itself a rational being, and thus this god is imperfect.  If this god is so irrational that this god would actually punish us for our lack of fideism, then this god is not only not perfect, but is actually malevolent (to the degree that this god chooses to punish those who have violated the rights of none, whose only "crime" is nontheism).  An imperfect god is not particularly worthy of worship, and a malevolent god is deontologically undeserving of worship. (Maybe I should call this Peak's wager.) In any event, although I am a hard agnostic, I am definitely not an apatheist; I do not, as you can see above, have any compunction about speculating on the possible natures of a god or gods, and I'll readily admit that certain conceptions of God seem more appealing to me than others (despite my utter unwillingness to commit to any).  For example, I do not entirely dislike the pantheist notion that the cosmos is god; under this conception, perhaps god has no singular 'mind,' but rather has a large number of disunited minds (i.e., our minds, and the minds of any other intelligent lifeforms that may or may not exist elsewhere in the universe) which it is slowly using to become self-aware (i.e., we are aware of the universe and are becoming increasingly aware of various aspects of physics and the cosmos, thus it could be said that various of the many disunited minds of the universe are becoming self-aware).  Perhaps that's an accurate description of reality, a mere artistic reflection of reality, or sheer poppycock, but either way, it's interesting to think about.  In any event, that is but one example of the many possible conceptions of god that might or might not be, and I find it fulfilling to think about these various conceptions, to consider their various merits and drawbacks critically.  But, in the end, I am a hard agnostic, and I don't really anticipate anything swaying me from that position. Yours truly, allixpeeke (discuss • contribs) 01:57, 29 January 2015 (UTC)