Talk:Taos, New Mexico

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject New Mexico, an attempt to better organize and improve articles related to the U.S. state of New Mexico. Join us on our project talk page.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale. If you rate the article please leave a short summary here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

What can you tell me about the Toas "Humer?" Do people still "hear it?" Is there any web place that will tell me about it?

Ashley: The University of New Mexico wasted $100,000 years ago on the claims of a few eccentric members of the town to see if they could document/record the hum. They couldn't. No one I personally consider reliable was among those who claimed to hear it. Quite a few people in town have seen or heard various other strange things over the years, though, and the general agreement among some is that the weapons testing labs in the state (Los Alamos and Sandia) are the cause. Again, no proof. Just giving you some old local gossip.

[edit] Influential artists

I'm not going to pull Bill Rane a second time but he should go. While it's possible he'd make top 10 Taos artists (especially when excluding visisting artists like O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams), I wouldn't consider him top 5, even contemporary, and this isn't a survey of Taos artists anyway. Listing him leads me to wonder whether or not the editor is a friend or owns one of his paintings. --Ashley 06:30, 16 March 2007 (UTC) (Former art critic for "The Taos News")

Not involved in any way, just trying to keep w/ NPOV. The justification for removing and replacing that was not enough. Perhaps producing a list would make it more encompassing. Mikieminnow 14:17, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Agreement on not allowing purely commercial external links

Wikipedia is not the place to advertise commerical businesses. Please see WP:EL for more details.

Other editors should add their agreement NOT TO ALLOW COMMERCIAL LINKS ON THIS ARTICLE

Vivaverdi 18:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't really need a separate consensus on each page-- it is covered by the guidelines. But sure, I'll second it, just for emphasis. -- Mwanner | Talk 19:31, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

I'll also add agreement. The Taos page indulges in fringe speculation at the onset, whose purpose seems to be to make Taos more attractive to tourism. The page also appears to be "patrolled" by special interest groups who revert changes requesting citations, etc. 24.130.9.210 (talk) 22:26, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Considerations for Taos editors

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, so much of the information in this article is welcome, for example sections on History, Demographics and Geography.

What Wikipedia is not is a site where businesses and tourism get free Web space. There are many issues with this page, but they seem to stem from a conception on the part of some Taos editors that following the format of other Wiki pages also means that the content is appropriate.

Subjective, uncited statements such as "by all accounts he loved the ranch", "part of the appeal of this unique community" and "world class skiing" do not belong in an encyclopedia, and are contrary to Wiki guidelines described in WP:CONFLICT and WP:PEACOCK. I.e., you shouldn't write about yourself, and what you do write in Wiki should be objective, and preferably be accompanied by citations.

Adding many external links to self-serving Taos Web sites only emphasizes that aspect of the article that is for advertisement. Such links should be limited. Sometimes, even a single self-serving link is inappropriate.

Another Wiki policy is that information should be verifiable WP:V and should not represent fringe theories. Therefore extended commentary about the "Taos Hum" is unacceptable, and it probably shouldn't be mentioned whatever.

In sum, this article shows a broad disregard for Wiki's policies and rules in some areas, while other areas have exceptional content.

Many long-standing Wiki editors have references on their personal pages to help, guide and explain. And most will be glad to explain Wiki policy in an impartial way about other questions.

67.169.127.166 (talk) 17:02, 30 April 2008 (UTC)