Wikipedia Weirdness

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Yep, someone’s taken up the task yet again. Seriously guys, didn’t we settle this, I don’t know, three times in the last 22 months?

The Atlantic, September 2006: Several months ago, I discovered that I was being “considered for deletion.” Or rather, the entry on me in the Internet behemoth that is Wikipedia was. For those of you who are (as uncharitableWikipedians sometimes say) “clueless newbies,” Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. But it is like no encyclopedia Diderot could have imagined. Instead of relying on experts to write articles according to their expertise, Wikipedia lets anyone write about anything. You, I, and any wired-up…

The bulk of Wikipedia’s content originates not in the stacks but on the Web, which offers up everything from breaking news, spin, and gossip to proof that the moon landings never took place. Glaring errors jostle quiet omissions. Wales, in his public speeches, cites the Google test: “If it isn’t on Google, it doesn’t exist.” This position poses another difficulty: on Wikipedia, the present takes precedent over the past. The (generally good) entry on St. Augustine is shorter than the…

Apparently, I’m not good enough for Wikipedia anymore. Round 1 (Concluded : April 14, 2005) Round 2 (Concluded : August 6, 2005)

Before I get to the fan mail, I find it even more amusing that Jimmy Wales himself has gotten involved. And if this further drives my “egomaniac” tendencies, so be it. Best article I’ve read in a while. Brilliant! The toothing hoax was so good that not only didn’t I know that it was a hoax, but CSI Miami Season 3 Episode 20 “Killer Date” was specifically about “toothing” and the consequences of it (in this case a cop loses…

Yipee! Cyrus Farivar (born April 20, 1982 in Santa Monica, California) is an assistant editor at Macworld magazine and is a freelance technology journalist living in the city of Compton, CA. He has a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Wired News, Slate, Mobile magazine, Playlist Magazine, Oakland City Magazine, Business 2.0, The San Mateo…

Check it: Cyrus Farivar * Journalist’s article is getting vandalized in a variety of ways by multiple users for exposing an Internet hoax (“greenlighting”). –Tysto 23:09, 2005 August 1 (UTC)

My Wikipedia entry now says that I’m Arnold Schoenberg.

So a new round of Wikipedia “Vote for Deletion” has been added to my entry: I’ve currently got support from Adrian Lamo and Jason Snell! Voting currently stands at 3 to keep and 2 to delete. This whole thing is really hilarious. For more on this, see the comments from the last entry. This pretty much sums up how I feel about this: I understand your concern, I just happen to disagree with it. If my entry were guilty of…