Comments for Akahele

Comment on Tilikum and Wikipedia by Timothy Usher

Timothy Usher — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:58:06 +0000

Thanks for this post, Greg. The prevailing view among “responsible” Wikipedians is that misinformation isn’t particularly harmful, so long as it doesn’t appear in a biography of a living person. This example illustrates that misinformation about any subject has the potential to harm readers in unforeseeable ways. Who knows if our deceased trainer consulted the Wikipedia article to determine whether she was at risk? We’d like to think that someone would know better, but the fact is that countless people who ought to know better rely upon Wikipedia anyhow, simply because it’s free and easily accessible. Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects should be shut down, by law if necessary, until the Wikimedia Foundation accepts that ensuring the accuracy of what it publishes isn’t just a good idea, but an ethical responsibility.

Comment on Tilikum and Wikipedia by Jon Awbrey

Jon Awbrey — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:13:13 +0000

Ya Really Gotta Watch Those Wales …

Comment on Omidyar venturing out by Gregory Kohs

Gregory Kohs — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:59:38 +0000

Nobody said it was “evil”. I’m just asking them to label it for what it is — a seat was purchased on the board of trustees. End of story.

That you’d find “hilarious” a desire to have a purportedly transparent organization be more honest about what is plain to the eye may say more about you than about me or any legion of banned Wikipedia editors.

Comment on Nobody’s watching by Gregory Kohs

Gregory Kohs — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:55:31 +0000

Sure, we’re still getting about 11 unique visitors a day to the domain. Admittedly, the publication schedule has dropped off; but then again, there are no external financial stakeholders or donors to our corporation, so it really is a case of “you get what you get”.

Comment on Omidyar venturing out by hilarious

hilarious — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:24:18 +0000

I love two things about this: first, that it is somehow evil for a major donor to place someone on the board of trustees of a charity (no, actually, that’s perfectly normal). Second, that as soon as it’s published the Legion of the Banned happen along to sing your praises. Funny stuff!

Comment on Omidyar venturing out by Prashanth

Prashanth — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:21:32 +0000

Hmm…well researched blog. I appreciate it. Wandered here from a discussion somewhere in the hinterland of wikipedia’s bureaucratic red tape.

One would always like to imagine that WP will not succumb to the same ills that plague most organisations committed to public good, but depending on private money. I was sure, it was bound to happen….naivete to expect otw.

That said, it is very disheartening for me as a WP editor of many years to learn this. Hmpf…

Comment on Nobody’s watching by Mark

Mark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:09:54 +0000

*tumbleweed*

Is there anyone watching this blog? I haven’t seen a post in over a month. I’m disappointed.

Comment on Ron Livingston battles phantom defendant by It’s the Casting Director Lee Dennison Story! at Wikipedia Review: Opinions and Editorials

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:47:39 +0000

[...] picked up by most of the entertainment media, none of whom made any initial attempts to investigate whether or not “Lee Dennison” actually existed. (Ironically, because it bore no copyright, [...]

Comment on Ron Livingston battles phantom defendant by Barry Kort

Barry Kort — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:47:43 +0000

Once upon a time, human beings invented the art of crafting make-believe stories. For many centuries, these make-believe stories were the primary means of transmitting cultural knowledge from one generation to the next.

In the 20th Century, the art of crafting make-believe stories evolved from the bardic arts to become high-tech multimedia presentations in radio dramas, motion pictures, and television.

Now the entertainment industry is learning how to exploit the Internet to raise make-believe to the next level. Just as Sasha Baron-Cohen has demonstrated how to blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality, so too have many erstwhile performers turned to the Internet to do the same.

Ron Livinsgton may be a real actor who appears in conventional entertainment media, wherein he portrays a fictional character in a fictional world. But through the artifice of Wikipedia and the Internet, the invisible hand of yet another mysterious author has produced a fantastic episode that bridges the misty divide between fact and fiction.

We would all be wise to heed these sage words of advice:

“Be ye not bamboozled.” –The Big Bamboozler

Comment on Ron Livingston battles phantom defendant by Anthony DiPierro

Anthony DiPierro — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:38:39 +0000

“People are bad. They lie. They don’t say who they are. And they spread falsehoods deliberately.”

Umm, a *few* people. We’re not all like that .