May 08, 2008

Great Rant From Police Commissioner

Okay, this is an ESPN Instant Classic rant from Police Commissioner Charles Ramsay after an Inquirer reporter asked an annoying question, and by that I mean one that referenced Wikipedia. Ha ha, silly journalist, you're supposed to hate Wikipedia. The video does confirm the "fricking" variant said by Ramsay.

Earlier today: Wikipedia Blasted For Its Accuracy

Posted by D-Mac at 05:59 PM | Comments (3)

Wikipedia Blasted For Its Accuracy

The always worthwhile Catherine Lucey chimes in with a little nugget from some anti-assault weapons press conference today:

The pols grew angry when an Inquirer reporter questioned whether the SKS Carbine was a true assault weapon, noting that the National Rifle Association disagreed with the classification and that a search on wikipedia.com would bring up information saying it was not.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey then got into the mix. "I don't care about wikipedia or any other kind of pedias," he said. "It it's not an assault weapon by definition, then add it to the freaking list."

Rendell added, "if there's any ambiguity, we will clear it up."

It's good to see the top police officer in Philadelphia has finally come out against the strong anti-'pedia lobby.

Nutter and Rendell rage about assault weapons [Clout]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:40 PM | Comments (2)

February 01, 2008

Beloved Soccer Fans Evicted From Wikipedia

Philadelphia -- well, Chester -- might be getting a state-funded soccer team in MLS, but not all is rosy for the team's fan club, the Sons of Ben.

Yes, someone has nominated their Wikipedia article for deletion, and it appears to be destined to be removed from Wikipedia. While the Sons of Ben have gotten a couple mentions in the news, it appears that these Wikipedia editors have been on the receiving end of the group's emails, which usually are sent five times in a row or so.

Or perhaps it's just this: "Not only not notable, but also totally lame. Linking to user pages from the article just shows what a joke it is." Oh, you showed them!

Posted by D-Mac at 12:49 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

January 07, 2008

Philly-Area Nerds Drop Ball

As of 5:17 p.m., Alycia Lane's Wikipedia page remains silent on her termination from CBS 3. Shocker!

Update: Ha ha, a Philadelphia Will Do reader edited the page! It now reads:

On January 7, 2008, Alycia Lane was fired from her job at CBS3. Lane responded by staging a hostage situation at the station, ultimately resulting in the shooting death of former co-anchor Larry Mendte. The situation is currently under investigation by area police.

Posted by D-Mac at 05:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

January 02, 2008

Happy New Year, Hungover Cube Drone!

Happy new year everyone! Screw you, 2007, and let's move on to what is sure to be the greatest year in human history. I realize it is my job today to help guide your still hung over self through the hardest three-day week since, uh, last week, but I'm a little slow myself today, so give me a few minutes. Plus, the hamster that runs our server got crushed by a common Internet joke generator.

In the meantime, check out Wikipedia's page about our new friend 2008! This is the International Year of Planet Earth! How can you be disappointed to start a work week when it is your first week honoring Earth. (The International Year of Planet Earth, you'll be happy to know, runs for three years. And Cyprus has already adopted the euro!

Plus, we only have four more years to enjoy earth before Darren Daulton says the world is going to end. Live a little!

Posted by D-Mac at 09:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

August 06, 2007

Bill Giles Book May Not Even Exist

Last week, I noted a discussion of Phillies owner Bill Giles' book, Pouring Six Beers at a Time, which itself noted that parts of the book may have been not so much accurate. But, whatever. It's a memoir. Do you know how many baseball memoirs have errors in them? Is there a portion higher than 100 percent?

An alert reader passed along this review by Jim McCaffrey of The Bulletin from earlier this year. It sums up the book pretty well: Entertaining, but lacking in detail about interesting characters Giles knew. One such man is Roy Hofheinz, who helped broker the deal for baseball in Houston. And here's what Giles' book says about Hofheinz:

Giles' one-paragraph biography of Hofheinz is quite literally lifted right out of Wikipedia.

Factual errors, Wikipedia thievery... looks like Giles' memoir explains the Phillies quite well.

Giles' Book Gives Insights On Phillies' Failures [The Bulletin]
Friday: Phillies Owner Just Like Every Other Memoirist

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July 16, 2007

'Punch-Out!' Has An Apocrypha

Now that I've realized that it's the drugs, stupid, I've decided to pander to the base a bit. And what's funnier to stoners than unintentionally hilarious Wikipedia articles? Well, unintentionally hilarious Wikipedia articles about Punch-Out!!.

Here's what I learned:

• "The Electronic Arts game, Fight Night: Round 2 for the Nintendo GameCube identifies this character as 'Little Mac', but his appearance and naming in Fight Night is not considered canonical due to the third-party nature of the product. [I didn't know Punch-Out!! had a canon. —dmac]
• Doc also utilizes his almost magical healing powers brought about by pushing 'select' one time per fight. [I already knew this, of course.—dmac]
• "However [Von] Kaiser can still attack with his flurry of left and right uppercuts, but with any skill at all his celebration will be short lived."

Continue reading "'Punch-Out!' Has An Apocrypha"

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June 05, 2007

Larry West Has A Wikipedia Page

In the "criticism" section:

On an article written by Daniel McQuade, a writer for Philadelphia Weekly for the Philadelphia Will Do blog, he wrote, "It's becoming more and more apparent Larry West is an art-school prank or perhaps the new host of Punk'd."

For the record, Philadelphia Will Do is 100 percent in favor of Larry West's candidacy. I will be sad when Larry's Wikipedia page is nominated for deletion.

Larry West [Wikipedia]

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March 13, 2007

Vandalism Of The Moment

Apropos of nothing, but check out Air Bud's Wikipedia page:

Come on: You know you'd see this movie, too.

Air Bud [Wikipedia]

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January 22, 2007

Send In The Clowns

The Inquirer's Marcia Gelbart writes today about, uh, about how someone edited John Street's Wikipedia page to say he once played Bozo the Clown.

No, really. That's the story. Here, read it for yourself:

Another reason not to trust Wikipedia, and this one's a doozy.

According to the online encyclopedia - which has a well-earned checkered reputation as both an everyman's Britannica and a site where bias, slander and outright untruths reign - Mayor Street once played Bozo the Clown.

Wikipedia's bio on the mayor included: "At the same time that Street practiced law, he also began a media career in Philadelphia. Street worked for television station WPSG-TV and, for a four-year period, he played the character Bozo the Clown on Philadelphia's Bozo the Clown children's television show. When Street ran for Philadelphia City Council, he ceased his media career."

"I'm sure that isn't true," said Joe Grace, Street's spokesman. "Wikipedia has had many problems with people sabotaging other people's Web sites."

Another reason not to read the Inquirer, and this one's a doozy.

Some clown breaks into Street's Wikipedia page [Inquirer]
John F. Street [Wikipedia]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:14 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

July 18, 2006

Leftovers: Keeping You Cool

• We'll note this again tomorrow, but for now a brief update on the Jim Gardner/Wikipedia snafu: The NYPD has no record of any arrests. So, uh, who the hell would do that? Like, Photoshop an image of Jim Gardner being arrested, then insert a fake line about an arrest on Wikipedia. And why would a local blog pick it up? (Oh, wait, I know the answer to that one.) It's kind of too strange. These Internets are dangerous things.

• Now that the Inquirer and Daily News are under local ownership, it's time to take a look at the tale of The Santa Barbara News-Press, which was acquired by a local owner in 2000. And, the results: "Staffers have been marching out the door, accusing her of interfering with their editorial independence. When she published her explanation of the departures as an expression of bias in the reporting staff on Thursday, even more quit. On Friday, her staff — or what remained of it — held a rally outside the newspaper building, where some 30 reporters and editors, dressed in black, put duct tape over their mouths, to represent the owner’s gag order issued last week." Oh. Brian Tierney suddenly looks awesome. [New York Times]

• The Philadelphia Business Journal has news of a tour of Philadelphia. Of course, by "Philadelphia" here, we mean "A Small Stretch Of The North End of the Boulevard." Here's the itinerary: Best Western Hotel (on the Boulevard), Palace Roller Skating Rink (right next to Best Western), Franklin Mills (off Woodhaven) and Dave and Buster's (at Franklin Mills). And, of course, no Liberty Bell. [Philebrity/PBJ]

• A Rehobeth man braved Jellyfish and cold water temperatures (?) and swam across the Delaware Bay today, claiming to be the first man to ever swim across the entire bay. [AP/Philly.com]

• And, finally, Bobby Abreu is hustling. This might be stranger than that Jim Gardner thing. [Daily News]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)