The Coming Week: 3/29/15-3/31/15

Articles of the Week: Moon and Green Day

Article: Moon

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: Hot Chicks & Jesus (Team 2)
Pageviews in March 2014: 188,588

What's coming: As Fantasy Wikipedia 2015 draws to an end, it looks like it's 2nd-4th place that will be the most closely contested. Currently, Hot Chicks & Jesus is expected to be 2nd place. Moon is not a large contributor, but it could provide a last minute push to seal 2nd place. Looking ahead, some people may look up the details on the total lunar eclipse on April 4, 2015 or the blood moon on April 15.

Article: Green Day

Category: Arts, Entertainment, and Sports

Owner: The Google, The Veto, & The Mr. Mom (Team 6)

Pageviews in March 2014: 132,022

What's coming: Green Day has not been a major contributor yet for The Google, The Veto, & The Mr. Mom (currently expected to place in 4th). It may provide a last minute rally.

Green Day will have a good year in 2015 beyond Fantasy Wikipedia: they will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18. It was also recently announced that Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong will be releasing a new musical. 

Just a small boost from Green Day could mean the difference between 2nd and 4th place for The Google, The Veto, & The Mr. Mom. These last few days could be close!

Last Week: 3/22/15-3/28/15

Article: Apple, Inc.

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: The Google, the Veto, & the Mr. Mom (Team 6)

Pageviews in March 2014: 302,832

What happened: Apple was in the news a lot last week, so it's hard to tell exactly what brought up the pageviews for Apple, Inc. On the 24th, a patent for a new type of cameraphone was published. A leak reported that Apple will buy FoundationDB, a database company. The CEO announced he was giving away his fortune to charity. Apple is working with Beats to develop a new streaming music service. And last, Apple is being compared to Hitler in China.

All this is good news for The Google, the Veto, & the Mr. Mom, as Apple, Inc. currently has almost as many pageviews today as it did for the entire last month of March. This means that Apple, Inc. could be a big last-minute contributor for the team. 

The Coming Week: 3/22/15-3/28/15

Articles of the Week: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Walmart

Article: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

Category: Geography, Politics, Religion, and History

Owner: Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7)
Pageviews in March 2014: 101,346

What's coming: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, aka Kate Middleton, is expecting a baby. It's due in mid-April, but that won't stop the media coverage of the royal family. Expect to see more on the duchess over the next month.
Unfortunately for Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7), Fantasy Wikipedia ends on March 31. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will need more pageviews over this week and the first half of the next in order to qualify for points. This could happen; some magazines have already erroneously reported that the duchess has given birth, which could lead to people checking a more reliable source (like Wikipedia, I suppose) to see if there is another royal baby already.

Article: Walmart

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7)

Pageviews in March 2014: 123,531

What's coming: I'm focusing on Wiki Wiki What?! since his articles needs the most to catch up with the pack. Walmart is a possible contender for more points this week.

Walmart has been a fair performer so far. The company has recently been in the news for increasing wages after many protests about poor treatment of their workers. As other retailers, like Target and TJ Maxx, are raising their wages, it's possible that Walmart could do something else newsworthy. 

Last Week: 3/15/15-3/21/15

Article: Hydraulic Fracturing

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: E-Cigs in Space (Team 5)

Pageviews in March 2014: 133,124

What happened: On Friday, the Obama administration announced new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, the oil and gas drilling technique that has raised health and environmental concerns.

Throughout the week, the page Hydraulic Fracturing had been getting more pageviews. This is an increase for E-Cigs in Space, even without Friday's and Saturday's data, which are not yet available. This could lead to a big push for E-Cigs in Space, leaving Wiki Wiki What?! in the dust at 8th place.

The Coming Week: 3/15/15-3/21/15

Articles of the Week: Eclipse and Israel

Article: Eclipse

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: Hot Chicks and Jesus (Team 2)
Pageviews in March 2014: 38,278

What's coming: 2015's total eclipse of the Sun will occur on March 20. In previous year's, eclipses are associated with a spike in pageviews for Eclipse. Already, Eclipse is averaging 10% more daily pageviews than it received in March 2014. A big push here could move Hot Chicks and Jesus (Team 2), currently at 4th place, into a very tight race for second with 50 Shades of Wiki and The Google, the Veto, and the Mr. Mom.

Article: Israel

Category: Geography, Politics, Religion, and History

Owner: E-Cigs in Space (Team 5)

Pageviews in March 2014: 293,677

What's coming: Israel has been in the news this month; its pageviews are up 22% from this time last year, probably because of Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to U.S. Congress. This speech was fortunately (or, deliberately) well timed for the Prime Minister, just a couple weeks before Israel's Election Day. On March 17, Israel will vote in the Knesset (legislature) elections. It's not clear if Netanyahu will retain his role as Prime Minster; he has recently spoken of a "a tremendous effort, worldwide, to topple" him.

Sustained pageviews for Israel would keep E-Cigs in Space comfortably in 7th place, making 8th place Wiki Wiki What?! needing a March miracle to get out of last place. 

Last Week: 3/8/15-3/14/15

Articles: Giant Clam and Iran

Article: Giant Clam

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: Giant Clam (Team 1)

Pageviews in March 2014: 9,386

What happened: Giant Clam's pageviews increased more than tenfold, from 314 on March 4 to 3770 on March 5. It's hard to tell why this happened, but my best guess is it's from a recently published article in Nature. The article, published on March 4th, is entitled "Middle Holocene daily light cycle reconstructed from the strontium/calcium ratios of a fossil giant clam shell." Scientists at the University of Tokyo and Hokkaido University examined an old giant clam shell to learn about ancient light patterns.

Article: Iran

Category: Geography, Politics, Religion, and History

Owner: Hot Chicks and Jesus (Team 2)

Pageviews in March 2014: 212,660

What happened: It's been a good month so far for Iran. When Israel's Prime Minister spoke to the U.S. Congress, the subject was Iran. Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry continued negotiations with Iran regarding their nuclear program. This prompted a group of Republican Senators to send a letter to Iran independently, challenging what Kerry is attempting to negotiate. The supreme leader of Iran criticized the letter, citing it as evidence of American decline. All this has led to steady pageviews for Iran and more potential points for Hot Chicks and Jesus. 

The Coming Week: 3/8/15-3/14/15

Articles of the Week: Eiffel Tower and Snow

Article: Eiffel Tower

Category: Arts, Entertainment, and Sports

Owner: Giant Clam (Team 1)
Pageviews in March 2014: 217,978

What's coming: Eiffel Tower is in the "arts" category as one of the few works of architecture in Fantasy Wikipedia. This year, the Eiffel Tower joins other famous buildings such as the Empire State Building with a race to the top. On March 20, sixty runners will ascend the Eiffel Tower in the first such race in the Tower's history.
Whether this will lead to more pageviews is uncertain. Empire State Building did not get many more pageviews on the date of its race last year, February 5 2014. However, with the recent violence in Paris and the Tower's newly installed wind turbines, it's possible that Paris will do more to promote the race over the next couple weeks than New York did for the Empire State Building. That could provide a boost to Eiffel Tower which so far has not been a strong performer for Giant Clam (Team 1).

Article: Snow

Category: Business, Science, & Technology

Owner: Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7)

Pageviews in March 2014: 38,057

What's coming: Despite the heavy snows in the Northeast this year, Snow has not had significant pageviews for Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7). That may change in March. In January and February, Snow was up against a strong performance in 2014, with 73,000 pageviews in January and 60,000 in February. With fewer pageviews in March generally, it will take less for Snow to break out as a strong performer in March. Currently, it is just under the average for March last year. If a major snow comes this month, expect a big jump for Wiki Wiki What?!

Last Week: 3/1/15-3/7/15

Article: Hillary Rodham Clinton

Category: Geography, Politics, Religion, and History

Owner: E-Cigs in Space (Team 5)

Pageviews in March 2014: 147,893

What happened: Former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was criticized last week after it was revealed she did not use a government e-mail address in her role as Secretary of State. She used personal e-mails over this time, and it's possible she or her aides violated the Federal Records Act by failing to preserve the e-mails on State servers. The usual political reaction occurred: Rachel Maddow at MSNBC said the controversy was "stupid and hypocritical," and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush called the e-mail system "baffling." 

For Fantasy Wikipedia, it led to more pageviews for Hillary Rodham Clinton, doubling her daily pageviews from Monday to Tuesday and maintaining the higher level of pageviews at least through Thursday (Friday data are unavailable so far). If Hillary Rodham Clinton maintains a high level of pageviews, that will bring E-Cigs in Space from 8th place to 7th, pushing Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7) into last place.

Month in Review: February

Team Farticles

Congratulations to Farticles (Team 4), who has pulled ahead in February!

The current team ranks are as follows:

Farticles (Team 4): 149.5 points (+88.5 in February)
50 Shades of Wiki (Team 3): 133.5 points (+79.5 in February)
The Google, The Veto, and the Mr. Mom (Team 6): 113.5 points (+61.5 in February)
Hot Chicks & Jesus (Team 2): 108.5 points (+76.5 in February)
D's Asters (Team 8): 91.5 points (+25.5 in February)

Giant Clam (Team 1): 57.5 points (+25.5 in February)

Wiki Wiki What?! (Team 7): 29.5 points (+7.5 points in February)
E-Cigs in Space (Team 5): 21 points (+3 points in February)

Farticles has a good lead over second place 50 Shades of Wiki. It's not locked up yet for Farticles though; points scored in March are worth twice as much those awarded in January.

In the middle of the pack are three teams: The Google, The Veto, and The Mr. Mom, Hot Chicks & Jesus, and D's Asters. D's Asters was really the only team to change positions this month; last month's first place team is now in fifth place. D's Asters didn't get the strong Oscars performance that pushed up both Hot Chicks & Jesus and The Google, The Veto, and the Mr. Mom. Still, all these teams are still contenders for first place; a 50 point difference could be made up (look at the difference between the top 4 teams and the bottom 4 teams this month).

At the bottom are Giant Clam, who's comfortably in 6th place, and the two teams struggling to stay out of last place. E-Cigs in Space had the unfortunate placement of Beck on the bench, otherwise Wiki Wiki What?! would be at the bottom.

Articles in detail:

Oscars: Unlike last month, there weren't many major trends affecting multiple articles. The Academy Awards ceremony was the biggest one. The articles scoring big from the Oscars are Michael Keaton, Julianne Moore, and Stephen Hawking (all +22.5), and both Reese Witherspoon and Clint Eastwood (both +15). 

New movies: The film version of "Fifty Shades of Grey" brought the article Fifty Shades of Grey up to (+22.5 points), and anticipation of "Jurassic World" continued to bring Jurassic Park to the maximum of +22.5.

Musicians: Katy Perry's performance at the Super Bowl gave her a large bump early in the month, bringing the article Katy Perry to +12. Beck saw more pageviews due to Beck's Grammy win, but E-Cigs in Space was unable to capitalize, since Beck was on his bench this month.

International Crises: The terrorist group ISIS reminded people to check out Iraq and Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which are both up +12. Other pages for international leaders, including Kim Jong-Un (+22.5), Fidel Castro (+12) and Angela Merkel (+12), got more activity; Merkel in particular was involved in the continued Greek debt drama and the crisis in Ukraine.

Other news events: Ebola (+22.5) and OPEC (+15) continue to get more pageviews in 2015. Israel (+12) has started to flare up in advance of the upcoming elections and Prime Minister Netanyahu's imminent visit to Congress. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (+22.5) has become a sort of cult hero after drinking too much wine and falling asleep at the State of the Union earlier this year.

Unknown: We are all befuddled about Bank (+22.5), whose pageview history can be seen below. The other big movers were Taylor Swift (+22.5) and Google (+12). I'm not sure what Google has done recently that is newsworthy, and I wouldn't even know where to start figuring out the psychology that has driven more people to the Taylor Swift Wikipedia page this year. Here is the bizarre graph for Wikipedia pageviews for Bank: