Main Menu

Someone’s gone and wiped some of the characters pages off Wikipedia etc?

Started by metalmarc, 20 January, 2020, 10:26:43 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

gurnard

So as Wikipedia is not regarded as a reliable source is there a website you guys would recommend for showing my kid what a duck billed platypus is for instance. 

What are your preferred, online, encyclopedias?

Dandontdare

Quote from: gurnard on 22 January, 2020, 01:46:11 PM
So as Wikipedia is not regarded as a reliable source is there a website you guys would recommend for showing my kid what a duck billed platypus is for instance. 

What are your preferred, online, encyclopedias?

to show him what one looks like: https://www.google.com/search?q=duck+billed+platypus&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEV_en___GB873&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZvpjMuJfnAhW3QRUIHfXUBuwQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1415&bih=783

For more info, any one of many many sources such as https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/p/platypus/

At last you know a site like national Geographic is curated by experts not just any old twonk with a keyboard.

Funt Solo

I use Wikipedia lots: I just know it's not perfect. But you can expand that out to almost any online research.

There's a truth I've noticed through trying to find help when I'm stuck on a coding or technical computer issue and I search for a solution online:

- The first response is "you're doing it wrong altogether: do it this way instead". (But they're wrong.)
- The second response is a personal insult - like "What are you, a doofus? Nobody codes in Cobol!"
- The third response is gold.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Robin Low

Several years ago, one of our pathologists had a load of his students (can't remember if they were medical students or trainee pathologists) compare Wikipedia with textbooks on various medical subjects. Wikipedia turned out to be more accurate and perhaps most importantly more up to date.

Wikipedia is a fantastic resource and I use it routinely at work and at home. What you have to be wary of are popular subjects where people have agendas, such as politics, veganism and whether or not the Hulk is stronger than the Thing. Haematoxlin, immunoperoxidase and combinatorics are largely out of the way of vandals and shit-stirrers because they're oblivious of their existence.

Regards,

Robin

Professor Bear

Several years ago, "edit wars" weren't quite as big a problem.
I was talking to a not-very-online mate who mentioned trying to edit our hometown's Wikipedia page without success - it wasn't even anything contentious he was trying to add, just details about a local historical site, and he'd even attached some photos he'd taken, but some anonymous editor just wasn't having it.  What's funny is that the editor kept defaulting to copy that was mostly written by me circa 2004-ish when I was bored and didn't really know what the internet was for.  To be fair, I still don't.

sheridan

Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2020, 02:50:33 PM
Then, of course, you have to remember that there are Wikipedia editors who work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  One - Philip Cross - was noted as working for five straight years without a break, and after this was pointed out, it became a bannable offence on Wikipedia to try and make a page about him or the ensuing media controversy where people tried to "unmask" who he really was, which in retrospect was probably just a bunch of pundits calling Wikipedia's bluff that Cross is a real person and not a shared account taking advantage of the open-source nature of the site - something they've long been warned about.

I'm not sure what your point here is?  Philip Cross appears to be a normal editor - when you said 'without a break' I thought you were accusing him of being a bot, but a look at edit history reveals he makes edits as you'd expect a human would?  Apparently there were some right-wing commentators trying to generate a scandal in an attack on a journalist they didn't like, but the most well-known proponents deleted their tweets when they realised they were making libellous accusations which wouldn't stand up in a court of law. 

gurnard

Quote from: Funt Solo on 22 January, 2020, 04:30:52 PM
There's a truth I've noticed through trying to find help when I'm stuck on a coding or technical computer issue and I search for a solution online:

Best resource for coding issues is undoubtedly Stack Overflow most of the derogitory people are monitored out so you get reasonable thought out responses unless someone doesn't understand your question.

Professor Bear

Quote from: sheridan on 23 January, 2020, 10:27:49 AMI'm not sure what your point here is?

How framing works, and how editors - whether real people or astroturfing accounts - can abuse Wikipedia's rules.

QuotePhilip Cross appears to be a normal editor - when you said 'without a break' I thought you were accusing him of being a bot, but a look at edit history reveals he makes edits as you'd expect a human would?

I actually said that Cross was a shared account - as in: several different editors use it.  It could be a singular and very real person for all I know, though I thought it would be funny if someone had created an account once on a public terminal and was never logged out and Phillip Cross is actually just a string of angry pensioners on the computer in the Tunbridge Wells library.

repoman

Hi, all!

I would have answered sooner but it took a while to get approved here. 

I'm the chap who is making the Judge Death site referred to in the first post and just wanted to clear up a couple things that were mentioned in Marc's posts.  Sorry this is a bit of an epic post, it's just me getting the details out.  I'm not taking any of this personally, you all don't know me and the timing of the wiki thing looked bad so I get it.  We're all good.

Just to confirm, contrary to the first post I'm only doing a Judge Death site, I'm not going to be doing anything similar for other characters.  Although I do think I might do something similar based on the comic Scream! but I'm not sure yet.   

I'm not planning on doing any advertising as I imagine I'll be getting about ten visitors a year anyway.  :)
I am linking to the products on Amazon via affiliate linking but I'll be literally amazed if it makes 1p.

When it comes to the Wiki... bloody hell.  I noticed the Wiki had been redirected around Xmas.  I have no idea how Wikipedia works and so made an account on there on Dec 26th (I think) to basically moan about the Judge Death and Dark Judges wikis disappearing.  Because if ****ing Mick Hucknall gets a wiki then surely Judge Death should (although to be fair, Hucknall is more evil).

Anyway, trying to find out how to appeal the decision was basically impossible.  I ended up trying to remove the redirect at one point and found the guy who I thought was responsible (I think he was called Spartaz or something) and edited his own page with a message saying that they should reinstate the wiki.  None of that worked or helped in the slightest and it was all just a bit too baffling for me.

I actually had a link to the original wiki in my 'about' page as it was a good resource.  Mainly the bibliography which I was relying on quite a bit.  My page now has a link to the Wayback Machine archive of the page as well.  So it's definitely not wiki-vandalism on my part!
Also, see my tweet on the 28th of December before this all broke.  https://twitter.com/judgedeathfiles/status/1210933913079754752

As I've since said on my site, the site came about because I've been collecting the various appearances JD has made.  I've not got it all, but I must have over 70% of them either as progs, Megazines or collected volumes but I always found the timeline of these things a bit confusing and I realised that the wiki wasn't entirely complete and that Barney is just a bit messy.  So I just wanted it all in one place.  I barely ever look at the fan wiki stuff as that misses most of the stories.

My site does have spoilers on each story but that's because I want it to be like the Wiki but better.  The Wiki describes the story for the characters (to a point) but I wanted more info.  It's more for fans of the character to be able to keep up with all of his appearances.

I'm currently up to the late 90s about 25 out of 45 appearances logged.  Hopefully I'll get it finished before I die.

I hope that clears up any ambiguity about my motivations.  Happy to answer any questions and I hope to post on here a bit from now on.  Like I said, it's all good.  :)

Thanks, all!



Funt Solo

++ A-Z ++  coma ++

repoman

I'm so sorry if I brought the Hucknall to this forum.

Mods, forgive me.

Funt Solo

Actually, on topic: I appreciate anything that ties together characters in the Dreddverse.

With so many Dredd writers now, each with their own stable of minor characters, it's difficult to figure out when I last saw them or why they're important (and it's not like it would be easy to skim through the collection to find them). Sometimes the editor drops a "see prog xxx", but not always.

I know you're just doing it for Death, but every little (and it's not a little, really) helps.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Richard

Repoman, that's a great website. I encourage everyone here to visit it.

http://judgedeath.co.uk

I believe the list on Wikipedia was complete, so you won't miss anything.

repoman

Quote from: Richard on 24 January, 2020, 10:46:27 PM
Repoman, that's a great website. I encourage everyone here to visit it.

http://judgedeath.co.uk

Thanks, chap!

Quote from: Richard on 24 January, 2020, 10:46:27 PMI believe the list on Wikipedia was complete, so you won't miss anything.

It wasn't bad but it did miss a few stories.  Tea with Mrs Gunderson for example.  At least five from what I remember.  Although some are just ones where someone dresses up like Judge Death.

TordelBack

Quote from: repoman on 25 January, 2020, 05:05:24 PMAlthough some are just ones where someone dresses up like Judge Death.

And brother are there a lot of those!

Agree with Richard, very nice resource you have there.