Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-09-13/Features and admins

"Magnificent" warthog not so cute, says featured picture judge

New administrator

The Signpost congratulates BigDom (nom) on his promotion to adminship. Hailing from Lancashire, UK, he has experience in copyright and fair use; the various deletion processes for articles, templates, categories and files; new-page patrolling; and speedy-deletion tags. He is a long-standing member of WikiProject Football.

Featured articles

Eighteen articles were promoted to featured status:

• Trafford Park (nom), the world's first industrial estate, and still the largest in Europe. This former deer park became one of the most important engineering complexes in Britain. (nominated by Parrot of Doom and Malleus Fatuorum).
• Mesopropithecus (nom), an extinct lemur from Madagascar (Visionholder).
• USS Massachusetts (BB-2) (nom), the second "real" American battleship (Yoenit).
• SMS Westfalen (nom), one of Germany's first dreadnought battleships (Parsecboy).
• Ian Meckiff (nom), a retired Australian cricketer from the 1950s and 1960s (YellowMonkey).
• Armero tragedy (nom), the second-deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, in 1985, which caught nearby towns in Colombia unaware, despite warnings to the government some three months before (ceranthor).
• Shield nickel (nom), the first actual "nickel" (five-cent coin), struck from the same copper-nickel alloy used today. The design had a troubled 17-year life before its replacement (Wehwalt).
• Fridtjof Nansen (nom), described by nominator Brianboulton as "one of the most significant European figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sportsman, scientist, explorer, diplomat, statesman, Nobel laureate – a giant of his times, a story well worth the telling." (Choice of the week, picture at right)
• Pig-faced women (nom). We leave readers to ponder this excerpt: "Once shaved, the drunken bear would be fitted with padded artificial breasts, and dressed in women's clothing and a wig" (iridescent) (picture at right).
• The Author's Farce (nom), the first theatrical success of English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding, in 1730 (NocturneNoir).
• Saxaul Sparrow (nom), a small bird from Central Asia (Innotata).
• Ambrose Rookwood (nom), somewhat showy individual, one of the conspirators in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. Nominator Parrot of Doom says the story deserves telling "if only to highlight how naive he was to have thought that it could ever have worked."
• Rivadavia class battleship (nom), two ships which were constantly entangled in drama before they were even put into service, but were quickly forgotten and made obsolete. (Ed).
• Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná (nom), a Brazilian statesman of the early 19th century (Lecen).
• Suillus brevipes (nom), a slimey yet edible mushroom (Sasata).
• Battle of Gonzales (nom). Readers might at first be puzzled that "one side took time out from firing their weapons to eat watermelon. The other side were under orders not to fight and went home", according to nominator Karanacs' teaser.
• Wood Siding railway station (nom), another in the Buckinghamshire collection of railway articles by (Iridescent).
• Kent, Ohio (nom), a small city in the US (JonRidinger).

Choice of the week. The Signpost asked FA nominator and reviewer Hamiltonstone to select the best of the week:

“

What a challenge! This week presented a great distillation of biological scholarship (Mesopropithecus and Suillus brevipes); an infobox that is comprehensively researched and almost as long as the article itself (USS Massachusetts (BB-2)); gripping accounts of a great conflict at sea (SMS Westfalen) and an amusingly inconsequential one on land (Battle of Gonzales). Some beautiful illustrations (Saxaul Sparrow, Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná); there's drama and sporting yarn (Ian Meckiff). It is good to see high-quality coverage of major topics that might not otherwise be well-known (Armero tragedy, a deadly volcanic eruption and Colombia's worst natural disaster). The surprisingly little text on the Kent State shootings in Kent, Ohio is an excellent example of ruthlessly applying summary style whilst ensuring comprehensive coverage of a geographical location. My three finalists were all great: one comparatively well-known (Fridtjof Nansen), one comparatively obscure (Trafford Park), and one probably almost unknown in the Anglophone world, (Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná). In the end, while I laud the fabulous work casting light on those lesser-known stories, I chose the gripping telling and excellent illustration of Nansen's remarkable life. Plus he has a smouldering sexy look in the lead photo.

”

Two featured articles were delisted:

• Silverpit crater (nom) (sourcing and lack of updating)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (nom) (sourcing and copyright)

Featured lists

Six lists were promoted:

• Lady Gaga discography (nom). As of August 2010, Lady Gaga has sold more than 51 million singles and 15 million albums worldwide (nominated by Chasewc91)
• Kesha discography (nom). Kesha's song "Tik Tok" topped music charts in 11 countries (L-l-CLK-l-l)
• Joan Gamper Trophy (nom) an annual Catalonian friendly football competition held in August. FC Barcelona has won 34 of the 45 competitions thus far (Sandman888 and Djln).
• List of Commando raids on the Atlantic wall (nom) conducted mostly by the armed forces of Britain and the Commonwealth. The largest raid involved 10,500 men (Jim Sweeney) (Choice of the week; picture at right).
• Plymouth Argyle F.C. Player of the Year (nom), voted for annually by the association football club's supporters. Carl Fletcher is the most recent recipient (Argyle 4 Life).
• List of Seattle Mariners first-round draft picks (nom). Of the 40 players selected in the first round by the Mariners, 16 have been pitchers, the most of any position (Courcelles).

Choice of the week. We asked FL nominator and reviewer Sandman888 for their choice of the best (disregarding their own, of course):

“

"I picked List of Commando raids on the Atlantic wall as my choice of the week. Not only does it tell an interesting story of World War II and how the British Commandos had a string of operations in France and Norway, but its gallery of live shots enhances the visual appeal.

”

One featured list was delisted:

• List of birds of Cuba (nom: referencing and lead section)

Featured pictures

Nineteen images were promoted. Medium-sized images can be viewed by clicking on "nom":

• Maggie Roswell (nom). Maggie Roswell is an American film and television actress and voice artist, best known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons (created by Tommy Collier of Empire).
• Les dernières cartouches (1873) (nom), one of the most famous paintings depicting the Franco–Prussian war; iconic in France (created by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville).
• Qianlong in ceremonial armour (nom), ink and colour on silk depicting Qianlong Emperor of China in ceremonial armour on horseback, 1739 or 1758 (created by Giuseppe Castiglione). (picture below)
• Siberian War: Blagoveshchensk (nom). Nominator Adam Cuerden said, "a fine illustration of a largely forgotten aspect of the Russian Revolution: the attempt to stop it. I also like seeing Japanese work of this period, [probably] period where their art is most affected by Western styles." He noted the dynamism of the slightly off-kilter angles, and its bright, luxuriant colours (created by Shobido & Co, Tokyo).
• Lycoperdon pyriforme (nom), a common saprobic species of fungus that grows on decomposing wood (created by Sasata).
• Rubber-tree seeds (nom), seeds of one of the few of more than 12,000 latex-yielding plant species that is suitable for commercial use (created by Luis Fernández García).
• General Colley just before he was killed (nom), an engraving based on on-the-spot reporting of the Boer War by the Illustrated London News, published in 1881 (created by Melton Prior, restored by Adam Cuerden).
• Round up on the Cimarron, Colorado 1898 (nom), an extremely high-resolution photochrom of a round-up, scanned from the original in the Library of Congress and restored by Adam Cuerden (created by Detroit Photographic Co).
• Ngorongoro Panorama (nom). The crater, the animals, safari vehicles and terrain, in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, East Africa (created by Muhammad Mahdi Karim).
• Ego Likeness (nom), a publicity shot of an American darkwave/industrial rock band, created by Kyle Cassidy who according to nominator J Milburn would "love for me to nominate it here. If you're interested to know what they sound like (and it may not be to everyone's taste) they have a a load of videos on YouTube".
• Intricate aerial naval exercise (nom), a spectacular aerial shot of an intricate naval manoeuvre (created by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Angel Contreras of the US Navy).
• Holbein's The Ambassadors (nom), which holds an important place in the history of portrait painting (created by Hans Holbein the Younger).
• Warthog in East Africa (nom), A wild Warthog in Tarangire National Park; reviewer Muhammad said, "I have never seen one this close" (created by Ikiwaner).
• The Arnolfini Portrait (nom). This famous portrait is much debated and discussed by art historians (created by Jan van Eyck).
• Hawaii: satellite image (nom), a quality demonstration of the macro climate patterns of the archipelago (created by NASA).
• Women in Gondi village, India (nom), Gondi people in the Umari district of India (created by Yann). (picture below)
• Nefertiti bust (nom), a bust of Nefertiti, notable for exemplifying the understanding Ancient Egyptians had regarding realistic facial proportions (created by Xenon77).
• Christy Mathewson, (nom). Christy Mathewson, photographed in 1910 while he was with the New York Giants, was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.
• Samurai with sword (nom), of a Japanese samurai with sword, ca. 1860, was praised by reviewers for its rarity and encyclopedica value (created by Felice Beato).

Choice of the week. Muhammad Mahdi Karim, whose specialty is digital photography—especially macro photography and panoramas—is a regular reviewer and nominator at featured picture candidates. We asked him to disregard his own promotion last week in this judgement. He told The Signpost:

“

When I watched the Lion King films, Pumbaa the warthog looked quite cute; but little did I know that in reality a warthog was so hairy and intimidating. I was surprised to learn that a female can inflict mortal wounds to a lion to defend her piglets. I had recently been to the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and I understand the difficulty of taking a picture like this one. Holding a 1.4 kg lens attached to a heavy SLR and taking a sharp, well-focused picture from the rooftop of a safari vehicle is a real feat. The sharply focused animal adds encyclopedic value by showing the typical surroundings of the animal. The slightly out-of-focus background and foreground elements also draw the reader's eyes to the magnificent beast. I have seen very few pictures of this kind, and so it is my choice of the week. [picture at top]

”