CFdJ - Clusterfucque du jour

[rnu]

I'm generally a fan of Gerda. She makes an effort to be friendly to people she comes across. The example DYK hook given in the thread (that someone I hadn't heard of was the soprano in a recording of a Bach cantata by Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic) is uninteresting to me even as as a fan of classical music. But it does have the advantage over many other hooks discussed here of actually being true.

It's kind of hard on Wikipedia to tell if she's genuinely being friendly or it's a feint at being obsequious to curry favor and friends. I suppose the fact that she still cannot let the subject of infoboxes go and her thanking other users with the "precious" anniversary stuff tips me to assuming the worst.

Whether it is sincere or not, the habit of assigning “awesomeness” to bad writers is not a good thing.

According to her user page she is 14. So I guess that it is just the exuberance of youth.

That's the date of her first edit, not "real" birth date.

Hm, that's a very weird thing to list as "birth date". Maybe she has the mind of a 14 year old?

[rnu]

Apparently POTD screwed up by putting a 219MB picture up that the Main Page couldn't handle. Because obviously people are going to want to see the 24,943 × 23,842 pixels version on their phone screens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... ed_picture
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... re_picture

[Vigilant]

Apparently POTD screwed up by putting a 219MB picture up that the Main Page couldn't handle. Because obviously people are going to want to see the 24,943 × 23,842 pixels version on their phone screens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... ed_picture
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... re_picture

MediaViewer eats shit when asked to display this picture on a desktop system.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that the publication of A Field Guide to Otherkin (T-H-L) sparked scholarly interest in people who consider themselves animals or mythological creatures?

The article notes the "limited accessibility", "reduced accessibility", "difficulty to access", and "sheer inaccessibility" of the book since the author has withdrawn the book*. It has been freely available on archive.org since 2021.(*) Of course the quotes about the "inaccessibility" are from 2016-2019.
One of my favorite sentences from the article:

A Field Guide to Otherkin analyzes the impact of both mythology and recent popular culture on otherkin belief, discussing subjects including folkloric depictions of non-human creatures, such as elves; fictionkin, a subset of otherkin who consider themselves fictional characters or members of fictional species; and claims of otherkin identity the author considers questionable or spurious, such as possessing supernatural powers or claiming to be multiple species.

So people who think they are animals, mythological creatures or members of fictional species are fine, but supernatural powers or multiple species are spurious?

* The author no longer considers herself a Therian (T-H-L) and says "that she instead related to wolves in a totemistic sense".

[rnu]

OTD memorizes the birthday of Godscall Paleologue (T-H-L).
Why is she notable? She is the last recorded member of the Paleologus family and possibly the last member of the Palaiologos (T-H-L) dynasty.
What are the sources for her life? Her baptismal record.
What do we know about her? Next to nothing, not even whether she lived more than a few days. Even the meaning of her name is debated.
What is the status of the article? Good article.
How do you write a good article about someone when we only have her baptismal record? Repeat what little real information there is multiple times. Talk about the history of the family (important: do this in the biography section, otherwise the article would look as ridiculously unbalanced as it is). Liberally quote people saying that she is the last known member of the Paleologus family, that way you can repeat the little real information a few more times. Add a section of wild speculations about her first name including such gems as "Another explanation is that one or both of her parents were Puritans (though there is no evidence that they were), who in the 17th century often gave eccentric godly names to their children, such as Sorry for Sin or Fear the Lord." Only then reveal that there is a Greek name "Theocletiane" ("Θεοκλητιανή") that literally translates as "God's call". Add a section about how a Greek delegation did not find her and about how a researcher did find her baptismal record. Finish with some "in popular culture" stuff. Slap on a picture of the church where she was baptized. Done. You have made a "Good article" out of what should have been (and also is) a sentence in her father's article. (It's actually more than a sentence since some of the "in popular culture" stuff is in both articles.)

[Giraffe Stapler]

* The author no longer considers herself a Therian (T-H-L) and says "that she instead related to wolves in a totemistic sense".

I did an involuntary headshake when I saw that Wikipedia includes otherkin subcultures in disambiguation pages. I was going to take it out but I checked and it's been in there in some form since 2004 and using the word "otherkin" since 2006. Yikes.

[rnu]

* The author no longer considers herself a Therian (T-H-L) and says "that she instead related to wolves in a totemistic sense".

I did an involuntary headshake when I saw that Wikipedia includes otherkin subcultures in disambiguation pages. I was going to take it out but I checked and it's been in there in some form since 2004 and using the word "otherkin" since 2006. Yikes.

Really? I was surprised (and somewhat relieved) that the link on the disambiguation page just goes to Otherkin (T-H-L) and not a standalone article on Therians.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Gamze Durmuş (T-H-L) and her husband were the first referees to officiate a TFF First League match together?

What is that supposed to mean? The TFF First League (T-H-L) is a football (soccer) league. Normally a football game has one referee and several assistants. In professional football that is typically two assistant referees (formerly known as "linesmen"), a fourth official and depending on the competition sometimes video assistant referees or other additional assistants. So does this mean that this was the first game where two referees were used? Nope. From the article:

Gamze Durmuş and her husband Burak Pakkan were appointed to officiate the 2021–22 TFF First League derby match in Ankara on 12 September 2021 between MKE Ankaragücü and Gençlerbirliği S.K.[4] While Burak administered the match, she served as the fourth official.[14] That a married referee couple were together in charge in an official league match happened for the first time in the history of Turkish football.[4]

So it is the first time that two of the officials, in this case the referee and the fourth official, were married to each other. The hook doesn't even come close to expressing this rather simple fact. Calling her a referee in the hook is not wrong, but somewhat misleading. No-one calls the fourth official a referee, but in other games she has acted as referee.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Tragedy by the Sea (T-H-L) (pictured) shows a man and a woman standing beside the ocean a few minutes after the couple's young son went missing?

The boy later turned up dead. About the picture:

On the day of the boy's disappearance, John L. Gaunt, Jr. was at his Hermosa Beach home when he heard a neighbor shout, "Something's happening on the beach!" Gaunt retrieved his camera, a Rolleiflex, and went to the beach. When he approached, he saw the young couple standing by the water's edge holding each other and he captured the image[6][7] before the couple turned and walked away.[4]

So, arguably taking the picture was an asshole move. There's a decent chance that the couple are now dead, but in my opinion the article is questionable anyway. I know, I know WP:UNCENSORED. Unfortunately the BLP crowd, not to mention the DYK crowd have a strong tendency to mistake WP:UNCENSORED for the non-existent WP:UNETHICAL.

[rnu]

OTD ...

1884 – Welsh physician William Price (pictured) was arrested for attempting to cremate his deceased infant son; this eventually led to the United Kingdom cremation act becoming law.

The guy looks like the typical 19th century Welsh physician, right? From the article:

William Price (4 March 1800 – 23 January 1893) was a Welsh physician and political activist best known for his support of Welsh nationalism, Chartism and involvement with the Neo-Druidic religious movement. Historians have characterised Price as one of the most significant figures in Wales in the Victorian era.[1][2][3]

Maybe OTD characterizes him as a physician because the cremation was related to his medical practice and not his neo-druidism? Let's check the article:

Price proclaimed himself a 'High priest of the sun grown old' and via a 'druidic prophecy' and feeling dissatisfied that he had not produced a son that would succeed him, he sought out a virgin to copulate with, Gwenllian (or shortened to 'Gwen'), who was 18 at the time, was chosen as his new partner. Gwen and Price's first child was born on 8 August 1883,[29] a son whom Price named Iesu Grist (the Welsh for Jesus Christ) because he deemed him to be a young Esus or Hu Gadarn of Britain, he expected great things from his child, some believed that the chosen name was an act of provocation against the traditional religion of the time. The infant only lived for five months when on 10 January 1884 he died from an unknown cause.[29] Believing that it was wrong to bury a corpse, thereby polluting the earth, Price decided to cremate his son's body, an act which at the time was taboo, although across the country there were already several proponents of it as a form of corpse disposal. On the afternoon of Saturday, 12 January 1884, men who'd been employed by Price carted wood, coal and a cask of pitch to the top of the (Caerlan) hill east of Llantrisant which Price owned. In the evening of the following day, wearing white robes, he carried his son in his arms up towards the summit, placed his body down on the heap with his head facing the West, Price chanted 'a strange requiem' and then proceeded the funeral by setting the pile on fire. A number of local people who were on their way back home from church noticed the fire who then congregated around it, it was said that it was a moving sight, however upon discovering that Price was attempting to burn his infant son, Sergeant Tamblyn and his officers rushed through the crowd, snatched the baby from the fire, kicked the pile in the effort of extinguishing it and promptly arrested him for what they believed was the illegal disposal of a corpse. The body of his son, which had not yet been fully engulfed by the flames was removed from the pyre. The baby was placed in a hamper with straw in with his head facing downwards with his legs projecting upwards through the straw.[34]

That's a "no" then.
At least thanks to a report at WP:ERRORS they realized that 12 January 1884 was a Saturday and not a Sunday just in time for the Main Page appearance.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that a My Little Pony fan band wrote a song about a horror game, creating what has been considered to be a sub-genre of music?

The "My Little Pony fan band" in question is The Living Tombstone (T-H-L). Is it really a "My Little Pony fan band"? From their article's lead:

The Living Tombstone is an Israeli-American electronic rock band and YouTube channel formed in 2011 by producer Yoav Landau and singer Sam Haft. The group is notable for their songs and music videos based off video games and pop culture media, such as the Five Nights at Freddy's series, Overwatch, and My Little Pony, as well as original music.
Several of their songs have gone viral, and they have been credited with spawning various internet memes. In addition to these videos, they have developed music for the video game In Sound Mind and have created the video game AudioClash: Battle of the Bands. Music publication NME has referred to them as "the internet's biggest gaming band."[note 1]

Doesn't really sound like it, does it? Maybe the article's body makes it more obvious:

Background
The Living Tombstone was founded by musician Yoav Landau in 2011 as both a YouTube channel and musical project.[2][3] Landau, a native of Israel,[3] was involved in the online fan community of the media franchise My Little Pony, where he created a remix of one of the songs featured on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.[2][3] After the remix garnered several thousand views, Landau eventually shifted his focus to various video game communities, creating songs based on video games.[2][3]
Five years after forming The Living Tombstone, Landau moved to the United States where he met vocalist Sam Haft.[2][3] Haft had previously been involved with other musical projects in the past, such as the comedic music group Sam & Bill.[3] Landau and Haft sent each other their own songs before eventually collaborating together on music, with Haft becoming an official member of The Living Tombstone.[3] The pair wrote songs such as a remix of Super Mario Odyssey's "Jump Up Superstar" in which Haft contributed backing vocals, and the original track "My Ordinary Life" which was cited by LA Weekly as their most popular song.[3] Both Landau and Haft worked on the worldbuilding for The Living Tombstone, including the characters, story and lore surrounding the group's music and videos.[2][3] The attention their music received online caused Warner Music to notice the band, and the record label signed The Living Tombstone.[2]

So, that's a "no" then. Yes, they have made songs about My Little Pony and one of the members was involved in My Little Pony fandom before the band was founded.
OK, so what does the actual DYK article have to say on the matter?

The song was created by the Israeli-American band The Living Tombstone, who had previously been involved in creating songs based on the My Little Pony franchise. After previously being involved in that franchise's fandom, producer Yoav Landau learned about the release of the horror game Five Nights at Freddy's in 2014, and the popularity it gained. After Landau played the game for himself, he decided to create a song based on it. Landau primarily composed the song with synthesizers, which were described as being similar to those used by 100 gecs by CT Jones of Rolling Stone.[1] Commenting about the creation of the song, Landau said "the culture of the internet is about being there first, being the first one to make a meme about a thing. In the case of FNAF, when I started to see people talking about it, it was easy to make a post with a song and lyrics about the game, see this thing catch fire, and then it goes on YouTube."[2]

That's another "no", then. What does the source that allegedly supports the hook say?

Perhaps the most well-known band in the FNAF fandom is the Living Tombstone, an electronic rock band made up of producer Yoav Landau and singer Sam Haft, two fans of the game. Landau, who started the group in the early 2000s, was an active member of the My Little Pony fandom when he first heard about FNAF. After playing the game, he immediately knew he had to make a song about it. Drawing from the game’s aesthetic, Landau created a synth-based ode to the world of FNAF, similar to the exaggerated hyper-pop sound now blasted by left-of-center popstars like 100 gecs and Charli XCX. Three weeks after the game dropped, Landau’s song “Five Nights At Freddy’s” was available online, immediately garnering millions of YouTube views. A subgenre was born, one defined by synthetic sounds laced with both horror and genuine explorations of what man and machine can feel.

So that's another big fat "no".

[Zoloft]

DYK ...

... that a My Little Pony fan band wrote a song about a horror game, creating what has been considered to be a sub-genre of music?

...

You can make dozens of songs about games and memes, but you make *one* song about MLP and bam! You're a My Little Pony fan band!



*

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Olipop (T-H-L), with more than $100 million in revenue, has an all-remote workforce?

Olipop produces soft drinks. Am I the only one who wonders how you produce soft drinks with an all-remote workforce? I mean, are employees making it in their bathtubs and then bottling it in their kitchens?
The source actually supports the hook. I assume that Olipop leaves the actual production to another company (or other companies), but the article should include information like that. Apparently Olipop is not available outside of the US, but if I were you I'd not drink it until this is cleared up.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Line 51 of the Amsterdam Metro was called an express tram because the term "metro" was too controversial in the city?

The source supports this:

Het woord 'metro' is een tijd lang zo besmet dat de metro naar Amstelveen 'sneltram' wordt genoemd.
transl: The word 'metro' was so contaminated for a while that the metro to Amstelveen was called 'express tram'.

And yet it is misleading. From the article:

M51, also known as the Ring Line, is an Amsterdam Metro line running from Amsterdam Centraal station to Isolatorweg metro station, almost creating a full circle through Amsterdam. It was opened in December 1990 as a metro/tram hybrid line named sneltram (express tram) and served the suburb of Amstelveen. Using special rolling stock, the Amstelveen Line ran as a metro on 750 V DC third rail from Amsterdam Centraal to the Amsterdam Zuid station, where it would switch operation modes and utilize 600 V DC overhead lines and end at Poortwachter. An extension to Westwijk was completed in 2004. In Amstelveen, the line partially ran on the same track as tram line 5 and had many level crossings.
The express tram was the result of a compromise between the municipalities of Amsterdam and Amstelveen. A full metro line for the suburb was proposed in the original 1968 plan of the system along with three other lines throughout the city, but the majority of these lines were cancelled due to protests against the demolition of houses caused by the metro construction in the city centre of Amsterdam. Amstelveen still wished to continue with the plans for a metro as it would not require any demolition, but the topic was too controversial in Amsterdam. The Amstelveen Line had problems following its opening as it suffered from a lack of capacity due to the lack of trains. It was temporarily shortened from Centraal to Zuid for 7 months in February 1991. Many collisions occurred at the level crossings, leading to additional safety measures.
(Emphasis added)

So it was not a metro when it was built. (It is a "full" metro now on a different route.)

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst (T-H-L) (How Deserted Lies the City), a motet composed by Rudolf Mauersberger after the bombing of Dresden, was first performed in the destroyed Kreuzkirche (pictured)?

Hm, destroyed? Ehhhh. It was burned out. But when I hear destroyed church after the bombing of Dresden I think of the Frauenkirche, Dresden (T-H-L). Compare the picture of the Kreuzkirche above with this picture of the Frauenkirche:


What does the source say?

Die Motette wurde von Mauersberger am 4. August 1945 in der ausgebrannten Kreuzkirche in Dresden uraufgeführt.
transl: The motet was premiered by Mauersberger on 4 August 1945 in the burned out Kreuzkirche in Dresden.

Speaking of the source, it is an entry in the catalogue of a sheet music publisher.

[Dan of La Mancha]

DYK ...

... that Tragedy by the Sea (T-H-L) (pictured) shows a man and a woman standing beside the ocean a few minutes after the couple's young son went missing?

<snip>

Just saw that this was discussed after the fact at WT:DYK. RoySmith asked:

Was it necessary to run this photo on the front page? I know about WP:NOTCENSORED, etc, but do we really need to be trafficking in somebody else's personal misfortune?

To which Bruxton replied:

Tragedy sells as it got just shy of 42,000 views.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Tragedy by the Sea (T-H-L) (pictured) shows a man and a woman standing beside the ocean a few minutes after the couple's young son went missing?

<snip>

Just saw that this was discussed after the fact at WT:DYK. RoySmith asked:

Was it necessary to run this photo on the front page? I know about WP:NOTCENSORED, etc, but do we really need to be trafficking in somebody else's personal misfortune?

To which Bruxton replied:

Tragedy sells as it got just shy of 42,000 views.

Yep. That's WP:UNETHICAL at work.

[Tbackus]

I just checked and reading the whole discussion at DYK about "Tragedy by the Sea" is better than parsing it to support a thesis. It looks like RS did not know all the principals involved were dead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... by_the_Sea

By the way, I enjoyed the article.

[Tbackus]

I do not care for the opera hooks. Neither do the readers. Usually
....that someone, sang a song at a place.
The discussions go on and on and the hooks are always argued about
Here is a recent one with Gerda stomping her feet and in the thread AirshipJungleman29 said, "You have proposed hundreds of hooks saying nothing more than "opera singer does their job", probably doing most of your articles a massive disservice in terms of the attention they receive; you have been told this endlessly, and yet on and on and on and on you go, disrespecting everyone who tries to engage with you in good faith. Quoting above: "it cannot be said that [Gerda] operates in anything but total bad faith with every other person involved in the process until someone approves her hook."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... _Sim_(nom)

[rnu]

I do not care for the opera hooks. Neither do the readers. Usually
....that someone, sang a song at a place.
The discussions go on and on and the hooks are always argued about
Here is a recent one with Gerda stomping her feet and in the thread AirshipJungleman29 said, "You have proposed hundreds of hooks saying nothing more than "opera singer does their job", probably doing most of your articles a massive disservice in terms of the attention they receive; you have been told this endlessly, and yet on and on and on and on you go, disrespecting everyone who tries to engage with you in good faith. Quoting above: "it cannot be said that [Gerda] operates in anything but total bad faith with every other person involved in the process until someone approves her hook."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... _Sim_(nom)

You don't get 1928 DYK hooks by caring about quality.(*)

[Tbackus]

I do not care for the opera hooks. Neither do the readers. Usually
....that someone, sang a song at a place.
The discussions go on and on and the hooks are always argued about
Here is a recent one with Gerda stomping her feet and in the thread AirshipJungleman29 said, "You have proposed hundreds of hooks saying nothing more than "opera singer does their job", probably doing most of your articles a massive disservice in terms of the attention they receive; you have been told this endlessly, and yet on and on and on and on you go, disrespecting everyone who tries to engage with you in good faith. Quoting above: "it cannot be said that [Gerda] operates in anything but total bad faith with every other person involved in the process until someone approves her hook."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... _Sim_(nom)

You don't get 1928 DYK hooks by caring about quality.(*)

#truthbomb. But she is a kindly person.

[The Blue Newt]

DYK ...

... that a My Little Pony fan band wrote a song about a horror game, creating what has been considered to be a sub-genre of music?

...

You can make dozens of songs about games and memes, but you make *one* song about MLP and bam! You're a My Little Pony fan band!



*

Really Good Jokes vary from Merely Good Jokes in that the RGJ is also a parable.

No. wait, make that “Parable,” to ward off dicKly oN, Godling of Miscapitalization.

[Hemiauchenia]

Another CFdJ from a few days ago, this time from Wikimedia Commons.

Back in 2016 a supposed photo of the Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica de la Fuerza Armada Bolivariana (National Polytechnic Experimental University of the Armed Forces) in Caracas, Venezuela
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... ilding.jpg was made a Featured Picture
, and was selected as picture of the day for the 13 January 2024. However, Commons users quickly noticed upon it being made picture of the day that all of the normal windows are identical, which was the result of copy+pasting with photoshop, and that the aspect ratio of the building was wrong. Compare to the actual building:


leading to a Commons Village pump discussion:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Comm ... d_creation?.

When the creator of the file, Wilfredor, was confronted they claimed the VP discussion that it was made with panorama software, which doesn't seem that convincing to me, they later stated in the featured image delisting discussion https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Comm ... ilding.jpg that

I would like to apologize for having uploaded this image and not having warned that it was an unreal image. Back then I was a different person than I am today, I think people change over time. 8 years ago I was living in the most corrupt country in the world and I wanted to show the world my annoyance at the destruction of this country, unfortunately I was no longer living there but it was not the right medium to upload a heavily digitally altered photo. When I uploaded this photo I remember seeing the result and I liked it as a way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people. However, I assume my responsibility for this image that I consider false and I would like to clarify this very well

[Lyallpuri]

...I must really be missing something, because I genuinely don't see how someone can see that image and think it's an actual photograph -- it's quite obviously a flat two-dimensional drawing that would fit well in the Gen IV Pokémon games.

[rnu]

When the creator of the file, Wilfredor, was confronted they claimed the VP discussion that it was made with panorama software, which doesn't seem that convincing to me, they later stated in the featured image delisting discussion https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Comm ... ilding.jpg that

I would like to apologize for having uploaded this image and not having warned that it was an unreal image. Back then I was a different person than I am today, I think people change over time. 8 years ago I was living in the most corrupt country in the world and I wanted to show the world my annoyance at the destruction of this country, unfortunately I was no longer living there but it was not the right medium to upload a heavily digitally altered photo. When I uploaded this photo I remember seeing the result and I liked it as a way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people. However, I assume my responsibility for this image that I consider false and I would like to clarify this very well

How is that picture supposed to be a "way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people"?
And "the most corrupt country in the world"? In 2022 Bolivia was ranked 126th out of 180 in transparency's Corruption Perceptions Index, back in 2015 it ranked 98th. Apparently eight years ago Wilfredor lived in North Korea or Somalia.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite (T-H-L), compared a rival author to the subject of both their books, convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried?

The first hook proposal was

... that Michael Lewis accused the author of a competing book of "trying to torpedo" Going Infinite, comparing the rival author to convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried?

But there was some concern:

Given that "Hooks that unduly focus on negative aspects of living persons should be avoided", ALT0 should probably be struck, since it focuses on Lewis trash-talking another author. I'm not sure if if could be rephrased in a more acceptable way, possibly by moving the focus to Lewis rather than his target? What do people think of ALT0a ... that Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, compared a rival author to the subject of both their books, Sam Bankman-Fried? Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) 21:40, 4 January 2024 (UTC)

Which would you say is more problematic from a BLP point of view? Saying that an author accused a different author of "trying to torpedo his book" and comparing him to Bankman-Fried, or just saying that an author compared a different author to Bankman-Fried without giving the context? Obviously the one that omits the context, thereby implying that Michael Lewis (T-H-L) accused his competitor Zeke Faux (T-H-L) of being a fraudster himself.
(Worse) BLP violation by sheer stupidity -- standard operating procedure at DYK.

[Lyallpuri]

When the creator of the file, Wilfredor, was confronted they claimed the VP discussion that it was made with panorama software, which doesn't seem that convincing to me, they later stated in the featured image delisting discussion https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Comm ... ilding.jpg that

I would like to apologize for having uploaded this image and not having warned that it was an unreal image. Back then I was a different person than I am today, I think people change over time. 8 years ago I was living in the most corrupt country in the world and I wanted to show the world my annoyance at the destruction of this country, unfortunately I was no longer living there but it was not the right medium to upload a heavily digitally altered photo. When I uploaded this photo I remember seeing the result and I liked it as a way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people. However, I assume my responsibility for this image that I consider false and I would like to clarify this very well

How is that picture supposed to be a "way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people"?
And "the most corrupt country in the world"? In 2022 Bolivia was ranked 126th out of 180 in transparency's Corruption Perceptions Index, back in 2015 it ranked 98th. Apparently eight years ago Wilfredor lived in North Korea or Somalia.

The image is putatively from Venezuela, which is currently 177th out of 180 on the list that you linked; you are likely confused by the term Bolivariana, c.f. República Bolivariana de Venezuela; this should not be confused with boliviana, though of course both originate from the name of Simón Bolívar (T-H-L).

[rnu]

When the creator of the file, Wilfredor, was confronted they claimed the VP discussion that it was made with panorama software, which doesn't seem that convincing to me, they later stated in the featured image delisting discussion https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Comm ... ilding.jpg that

I would like to apologize for having uploaded this image and not having warned that it was an unreal image. Back then I was a different person than I am today, I think people change over time. 8 years ago I was living in the most corrupt country in the world and I wanted to show the world my annoyance at the destruction of this country, unfortunately I was no longer living there but it was not the right medium to upload a heavily digitally altered photo. When I uploaded this photo I remember seeing the result and I liked it as a way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people. However, I assume my responsibility for this image that I consider false and I would like to clarify this very well

How is that picture supposed to be a "way of expressing the dictatorial regime's obsession with controlling people"?
And "the most corrupt country in the world"? In 2022 Bolivia was ranked 126th out of 180 in transparency's Corruption Perceptions Index, back in 2015 it ranked 98th. Apparently eight years ago Wilfredor lived in North Korea or Somalia.

The image is putatively from Venezuela, which is currently 177th out of 180 on the list that you linked; you are likely confused by the term Bolivariana, c.f. República Bolivariana de Venezuela; this should not be confused with boliviana, though of course both originate from the name of Simón Bolívar (T-H-L).

Yep. That one's on me. Thanks for the correction!
Just for the sake of completion in 2015 Venezuela was 158th. So in both years significantly worse than Bolivia and closer to "the most corrupt country in the world".

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that French historian Patrice Gueniffey (T-H-L) called the 2023 film Napoleon a "very anti-French and very pro-British" rewrite of history?

Gueniffey is a respected academic historian and Napoleon biographer. Yet the hook for the article about him is about a comment he made about a Hollywood movie.
The biography section of the short article ends with:

Gueniffey, writing in Le Point magazine, criticized the 2023 film Napoleon as rewriting history in a "very anti-French and very pro-British" manner.[7]

The source supporting the hook and the sentence in the article is a bbc article called Napoleon's Ridley Scott on critics and cinema 'bum ache'.
The only sentence about Gueniffey in the article is

And a biographer of Napoleon, Patrice Gueniffey in Le Point magazine, attacked the film as a "very anti-French and very pro-British" rewrite of history.

The article does not use the original article, because DYK.
The "quote" comes from an interview in Le Point. The sentence for the "very anti-French and very pro-British" is:

Ce film très antifrançais et très pro-Anglais n'est pourtant pas très « anglais » par son esprit, car les Anglais n'ont jamais marchandé leur admiration pour leur ennemi, d'autant plus enclins à le considérer avec respect qu'ils avaient fini par le battre.
transl: This very anti-French and very pro-English film is however not very "English" in spirit, because the English have never compromised their admiration for their enemy, all the more inclined to consider him with respect as they had ended up beating him.

Except "film" and "rewrite of history" mean very different things. So ...
In the interview Gueniffey points out many shortcomings of the film including a number of historical inaccuracies. What he does not do, is call it a "rewrite of history".

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that children's book illustration (T-H-L) techniques include photography?

Yes, yes I did know that. But thanks to DYK for providing a free check for whether I'm braindead.
Although it occurs to me that this hook may be intended to find new DYK contributors. Because anyone who answers the question with "no" will fit right in with the DYK crowd.

[rnu]

OTK ...

1377 – Gregory XI (T-H-L), the last Avignon pope, entered Rome after a four-month journey from Avignon, returning the papacy to its original city.

Gregory XI was the last Avignon pope who is currently considered legitimate by the Catholic church. The Catholic church has a tendency to make these pope/anti-pope things look much clearer than they were in reality. This can be seen from the fact that the Western Schism (T-H-L) was resolved by setting all claimants* aside and elect a new pope, Pope Martin V (T-H-L).

* The Roman claimant Pope Gregory XII (T-H-L), the Avignonese claimant Antipope Benedict XIII (T-H-L) and the Pisan claimant Antipope John XXIII (T-H-L). Gregory resigned, the others were deposed.

[rnu]

OTD

1871 – A number of previously independent states united to form the German Empire, with Wilhelm I as emperor.

Looks like someone has fallen for Prussian/German propaganda.
After the Austro-Prussian War (T-H-L) of 1866 Prussia and the remaining independent northern German states created the North German Confederation (T-H-L). In 1870 Otto von Bismarck (T-H-L) provoked/engineered the French declaration of war against the North German Confederation in order to stoke German nationalism and get the southern German states to join the Confederation in the face of the joint enemy. This led to the Constitution of the German Confederation (1871) (T-H-L) which came into force on 1 January 1871. Despite its name the constitution was for the German Empire and uses the term "Deutsches Reich" and introduces the title of Kaiser. In December 1870 a deputation asked William I to accept the title of Kaiser, which he did. The name "Deutsches Reich" and the title "Kaiser" came into effect with the new constitution on 1 January 1871.
So what happened on 18 January 1871? The Proclamation of the German Empire (T-H-L). The day was chosen because it was the anniversary of the adoption of the title King in Prussia (T-H-L) by Frederick I of Prussia (T-H-L) on 18 January 1701. The Reich celebrated its foundation every year on 18 January. And apparently so does Wikipedia.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that St. Joseph, a 1909 Catholic church in the Romanesque Revival style in Berlin-Wedding, has served as an interim cathedral since 2018?

a) The correct term for an "interim cathedral" is Pro-cathedral (T-H-L).
b) No.
The source is a notice on the homepage of the Archdiocese of Berlin. It refers to St. Joseph as "Ersatzort" meaning "substitute location". As long as St. Hedwig's Cathedral (T-H-L) cannot be used due to ongoing renovations the Archbishop celebrates his masses in St. Joseph. That does not make St. Joseph a cathedral, a bishop has the right to celebrate mass in every church within his diocese. He doesn't even have to ask (although it is polite to do so and usually done). To make St. Joseph a cathedral the archbishop's Cathedra (T-H-L) would have to be moved there. I see no evidence whatsoever that that happened -- and no reason why it would happen.

Also, I don't think that the sources used for the article establish notability (not uncommon for articles by Gerda Arendt). Maybe the books mentioned under "Further reading" would.

[Ming]

DYK ...

... that St. Joseph, a 1909 Catholic church in the Romanesque Revival style in Berlin-Wedding, has served as an interim cathedral since 2018?

a) The correct term for an "interim cathedral" is Pro-cathedral (T-H-L).
b) No.

A pro-cathedral is a church which is serving as the bishop's seat when there isn't a cathedral yet. It's also something of an honorific rather than a true type of church, as you can see plenty of cases where the church remains called "pro-cathedral'" long after the actual cathedral got built (e.g. Ascension and St. Agnes in DC). There is even a case where a building is/was its own pro-cathedral, as the building that is now the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore wasn't intended to be the final building.

The only case of an "interim" cathedral Ming knows of is the Anglican cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, where the earthquake damaged the old building so badly that nobody really knows what's going to happen in the end.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that St. Joseph, a 1909 Catholic church in the Romanesque Revival style in Berlin-Wedding, has served as an interim cathedral since 2018?

a) The correct term for an "interim cathedral" is Pro-cathedral (T-H-L).
b) No.

A pro-cathedral is a church which is serving as the bishop's seat when there isn't a cathedral yet. It's also something of an honorific rather than a true type of church, as you can see plenty of cases where the church remains called "pro-cathedral'" long after the actual cathedral got built (e.g. Ascension and St. Agnes in DC). There is even a case where a building is/was its own pro-cathedral, as the building that is now the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore wasn't intended to be the final building.

The only case of an "interim" cathedral Ming knows of is the Anglican cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, where the earthquake damaged the old building so badly that nobody really knows what's going to happen in the end.

That's certainly the most common case, because there is rarely a reason to temporarily move a bishop's see. But there are other cases. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly Wikipedia doesn't give any sources for its definition. Here are a few I found.
On the one hand:
OED

A church used as a substitute for a cathedral.

Merriam-Webster

a parish church used as a cathedral

Collins

a church serving as a cathedral

On the other hand:
A Catholic dictionary (The Catholic encyclopædic dictionary), 1958

A church used by a bishop as his cathedral until a more worthy one can be built.

But take e.g. St Mary's Pro-Cathedral (T-H-L) in Dublin. Here the reason for the status as pro-cathedral is not that there is no proper cathedral yet. The reason is that the Catholic church with its known difficulty of acknowledging let alone accepting reality still considers Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (T-H-L) to be the official cathedral despite the fact that it has belonged to the Church of Ireland for almost five hundred years. So the Catholic church keeps up the legal fiction that St Mary's is only temporarily the seat of the Catholic bishop until they get Christ Church back.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that square pyramids (T-H-L) can have different shapes, and pyramidologists have put forward multiple theories on which of these shapes was used for the Egyptian pyramids?

This one falls into the category of "there is a viable interpretation of the hook under which it is true, but 99.9% of people will interpret it differently".
A report at ERRORS by Fram was dismissed:

... that square pyramids can have different shapes, and pyramidologists have put forward multiple theories on which of these shapes was used for the Egyptian pyramids?

@Dedhert.Jr, David Eppstein, Silver seren, Isabelle Belato, and AirshipJungleman29: I don't think this matches the actual article or facts. Square pyramids can have different shapes, yes, but there is little or no discussion about which shape was used for the Egyptian pyramids, as they still exist. What the discussion actually seems to be about is which mathematical method the Egyptians used to exactly construct the shape, or why they picked this base vs. height ratio and not another . (Plus, the article only discusses the pyramidologists in relation to one pyramid, not the pyramids, but the other objection is more fundamental). Fram (talk) 10:50, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

That is an incorrect reading of the article and its sources. The debate is entirely about the shape: more precisely, how tall is the pyramid relative to the size of its base? Often it concerns specific numbers: is this height-to-base ratio related to the golden ratio, or to pi, or does it use only integer ratios? While it might be possible to argue about the method (the system of calculations the Egyptians might have made in order to come up with the shape they used) that is secondary: that sort of argument has been used as a justification for why some shapes are more likely than others, but is not the main focus. —David Eppstein (talk) 21:09, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

@What 2001:44C8:44D8:A7F6:0:0:0:1 (talk) 02:00, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

[Dan of La Mancha]

DYK ...

... that square pyramids (T-H-L) can have different shapes, and pyramidologists have put forward multiple theories on which of these shapes was used for the Egyptian pyramids?

This one falls into the category of "there is a viable interpretation of the hook under which it is true, but 99.9% of people will interpret it differently".
A report at ERRORS by Fram was dismissed:

... that square pyramids can have different shapes, and pyramidologists have put forward multiple theories on which of these shapes was used for the Egyptian pyramids?

@Dedhert.Jr, David Eppstein, Silver seren, Isabelle Belato, and AirshipJungleman29: I don't think this matches the actual article or facts. Square pyramids can have different shapes, yes, but there is little or no discussion about which shape was used for the Egyptian pyramids, as they still exist. What the discussion actually seems to be about is which mathematical method the Egyptians used to exactly construct the shape, or why they picked this base vs. height ratio and not another . (Plus, the article only discusses the pyramidologists in relation to one pyramid, not the pyramids, but the other objection is more fundamental). Fram (talk) 10:50, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

That is an incorrect reading of the article and its sources. The debate is entirely about the shape: more precisely, how tall is the pyramid relative to the size of its base? Often it concerns specific numbers: is this height-to-base ratio related to the golden ratio, or to pi, or does it use only integer ratios? While it might be possible to argue about the method (the system of calculations the Egyptians might have made in order to come up with the shape they used) that is secondary: that sort of argument has been used as a justification for why some shapes are more likely than others, but is not the main focus. —David Eppstein (talk) 21:09, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

@What 2001:44C8:44D8:A7F6:0:0:0:1 (talk) 02:00, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

I'm with the IP here: what?

I saw this earlier today and couldn't make any sense of it. In the first place, Fram is right that the article talks about one specific pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza (T-H-L), rather than Egyptian pyramids in general, and just I don't understand how there can be multiple theories on what shape the Great Pyramid of Giza is. The Wikipedia article is pretty categorical:

The completed design dimensions are measured to have originally been 280 royal cubits (146.7 m; 481.4 ft) high by 440 cubits (230.6 m; 756.4 ft) long at each of the four sides of its base. Ancient Egyptians used seked – how much run for one cubit of rise – to describe slopes. For the Great Pyramid a seked of 5+1/2 palms was chosen, a ratio of 14 up to 11 in.

The main source provided for the hook fact is Roger Herz-Fischler (2000), The Shape of the Great Pyramid. On the first page of the book, the author writes:

The present work is devoted to what at first glance would appear to be a rather innocent question, "What was the geometrical basis, if any, that was used to determine the shape of the Great Pyramid?"

In other words, as Fram said, the question is which methods were used by the architects and why they chose one shape rather than another – not "what shape is the pyramid?" So I genuinely don't understand what David Eppstein is talking about, and I'd love to know the "viable interpretation of the hook under which it is true." Does the word "shape" mean something different to a mathematician?

[rnu]

[...]
In other words, as Fram said, the question is which methods were used by the architects and why they chose one shape rather than another – not "what shape is the pyramid?" So I genuinely don't understand what David Eppstein is talking about, and I'd love to know the "viable interpretation of the hook under which it is true." Does the word "shape" mean something different to a mathematician?

To be honest I considered adding "given certain non-trivial assumptions about the nature of mathematical objects", but thought it might be overkill.
I would answer the question

Does the word "shape" mean something different to a mathematician?

with "for many if not most, yes".
The tricky part is to differentiate between the abstract shape which is independent of whether there is anything that has this shape and the concrete shape which are the dimensions of an actual object and their relationships. When you make this distinction you can justifiably say that there are multiple theories on which abstract shape was used for the pyramid. Which is a very contrived, barely comprehensible, philosophically loaded, highly misleading way of saying that there are multiple theories on what mathematical methods were used to design the pyramids.

[Tbackus]

Matthew Turpin: Another one of ~~ AirshipJungleman29's DYK promotion screw ups
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... hew_Turpin
Now at AfD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... hew_Turpin

[Ryuichi]

Does the word "shape" mean something different to a mathematician?

Yes, but ... for square pyramids, I would not consider anisotropic scaling of height to produce a different "shape".

[rnu]

Does the word "shape" mean something different to a mathematician?

Yes, but ... for square pyramids, I would not consider anisotropic scaling of height to produce a different "shape".

I think it depends on how you define "sameness/difference of shape". There is certainly one meaning of the word according to which all square pyramids have the same shape, namely square pyramid. By this definition all rectangles (with the possible exception of squares) would have the same shape, namely rectangle.
But you can differentiate shapes further. And in that sense a 10x1 rectangle and a 10x8 rectangle have different shapes. And the same for square pyramids with different height-to-base ratios. In this usage "sameness" refers to Similarity (geometry) (T-H-L).

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that actress M'liss McClure (T-H-L)'s publicity agency promoted her "almost telescopic vision" as a selling point?

Apparently McClure had some very limited success in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The article takes her date death from imdb. Apart from imdb the newest source is from 1969. So it is no surprise that while McClure died in 2013 the career section ends in 1950, the filmography in 1954 and the personal life section in 1966.
Finding the hook somewhat weird? The source is a very short article from 1948 that mocks her attempts at getting roles.

[rnu]

Matthew Turpin: Another one of ~~ AirshipJungleman29's DYK promotion screw ups
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... hew_Turpin
Now at AfD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... hew_Turpin

There is another article by the same editor, W9793 (T-C-L), at DYK today:

.. that Thomas J. Wright (T-H-L)'s PhD dissertation focused on US–Soviet relations in the late 1940s?

The sources seem flimsy at best. Almost no independent sources. And of the independent ones only one looks in-depth.

[Giraffe Stapler]

DYK ...

... that actress M'liss McClure (T-H-L)'s publicity agency promoted her "almost telescopic vision" as a selling point?

Apparently McClure had some very limited success in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The article takes her date death from imdb. Apart from imdb the newest source is from 1969. So it is no surprise that while McClure died in 2013 the career section ends in 1950, the filmography in 1954 and the personal life section in 1966.
Finding the hook somewhat weird? The source is a very short article from 1948 that mocks her attempts at getting roles.

I almost said something about this very article the other day. Silver seren has created a biography out of nothing but PR. And 1940s PR at that. This is someone who had a 4 year career in movies and tv, with no starring roles. She has 6 credits on IMDB (including one where she played "cigarette girl").

Notice that the Wikipedia article says "she was noticed in 1948 by film producers and cast in productions including April Showers, For the Love of Mary, and Stage Struck". And the hokey PR source does imply that:

In case you don't know Pete was referring to Coutts’ daughter Helen who under the name M’Liss McClure has been seen in starlet parts on what Pete will dub the silverscreen in such epics as April Showers, or the Love of Mary, Stagestruck and similar opera.

Trouble is, no one else seems to know about it. Here is IMDB's listing of the cast of Stage Struck. Notice that they list actors who appeared in the film but were not credited. No M'liss McClure. Perhaps she was an extra? No matter, Silver seren will include it in the bio and not only that, he will then go to those articles and add M'liss McClure to the cast. He should probably read MOS:FILMCAST.

If this were a modern-day actor, the article would have been rejected based on notability.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that some people have asked whether they can pay for their Singapore hotel stay using a travel card?

The hotel in question is The Bus Collective (T-H-L) where the rooms are repurposed city buses. They charge S$300 to S$400 ($224 to $298) per night for a stay in what is essentially a trailer park. It was mocked accordingly. Including according to the source:

Riding on the bus theme, some Facebook users jokingly asked if they may use EZ-link stored-value fare cards or bus stamps to pay for their stay.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Sandra Elkin (T-H-L), discussing basic information on women's topics on Woman, "radicalized" women into supporting women's rights?

This appears to have been a really groundbreaking and important show. But did it "radicalize" women?
From the article:

The show's basic discussion of topics for women, such as contraception, menopause, and sexual health, also helped women understand things about themselves and what similar things other women were facing, causing them to write to Elkin about their own experiences, with the simple knowledge about topics previously undiscussed being acknowledged by her viewers as "radicalizing" them towards pushing for women's rights issues.[4]

Sounds like it. But just to be sure, let's check the source:

Many viewers are probably like Sandy, who says, "This show has radicaliced me. I was a closet feminist before."
Sandy's radicalism takes a constructive form. Information about things women want to know and need to know is what "Woman" is about.

Notice that "Sandy" refers to Sandra Elkin, the producer and moderator of the show. Also notice that it says nothing about women's rights. If it did the author probably wouldn't have approved so patronizingly of the "constructive form" of her radicalism.

[rnu]

Today's Featured List:

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an Armenian retired professional footballer scored 32 international goals between 2007 and 2022 in 95 appearances for the national team.

Small problem: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (T-H-L) is fully active and plays for Inter Milan (T-H-L) in the Serie A (T-H-L) (Italy's top league). He only retired from the Armenian national team.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that the Indian politician Diwan Chaman Lall failed to get rid of the painting Nude of Indira?

An Indian politician tried to get rid of a painting called "Nude of Indira". What do you think happened? He tried to get it removed from public display, get it banned? Nope.

In December 1936, the painting was displayed at the exhibition hall in the Public Gardens, Hyderabad.[5] There, the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung, requested that it be delivered to him, along with Three Girls (1935).[6] Hoping that he would purchase it, Sher-Gil also sent him the Villagers and extended her visit.[6][a] In January 1937, she wrote to Indira that "I may have sold your nude and the group of young girls to the Nawab Salar Jung, after the Nizam the richest man in Hyderabad, if I were a sycophant".[6] However, after keeping them for several days, the Nawab returned the paintings, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures".[6][7]
The painting was number 17 of 33 of Sher-Gil's works displayed at her solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937.[8] There, it was priced at ₹1,000 but did not sell.[8] Writing from Budapest on 8 October 1938, Sher-Gil told her parents that she had left the painting she called "Indu's Nude" with the Indian National Congressman and her friend Diwan Chaman Lall "to see if he could palm it off on someone but he wasn't successful".[9] In 1940, the painting was one of six of her works displayed at the Indian Academy of Fine Arts' Amritsar Exhibition, held from 31 October to 10 November, to raise money for the War Fund.[10]

He tried to sell it for the artist.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that because of New York City's Summer Streets (T-H-L) program, Park Avenue in Manhattan has no traffic in three mornings in August?

I did not. But I do know that just because a street is closed for motor vehicles that does not mean there is no traffic. And that's how I know that the hook is complete bullshit.

[rnu]

DYK at 2-sets-a-day

DYK has switched to two-sets-a-day to reduce the backlog of nominated hooks. Admin are encouraged to help promoted preps to queues. With PSHAW, many of the promotion steps are automated so you can complete the checks more quickly. Instructions on how to promote to queue are at WP:DYKAI. Questions can be answered on the DYK talk page. We appreciate any help you can give.

Non-admin: DYK also has a backlog of nominated hooks. Any help reviewing these would be apprecitated (and QPQs never expire, so you can review hooks now and use the review later). Instructions on how to review are located at WP:DYKRI. Thanks for your help. Z1720 (talk) 14:52, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

I'm sure doubling the amount of crap will be a big improvement.