Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
 
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Hi all,
I'm doing a comedy-science talk on Wikipedia with the theme of 'histories' at a [[Bright Club]] Manchester early next month. My current plan (which is still subject to change) is that I'll talk about the histories of Wikipedia articles, and show some interesting/amusing changes made to articles. An example would be this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base&diff=14999825&oldid=14999213 which was a change purported to be made by the FBI back in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:64.165.110.114 If you know of any interesting diffs/article histories that could make people laugh, then please could you send me some pointers to them (preferably offlist)? Thanks, Mike _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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An interesting AfD I closed recently might be useful for a comedic, yet serious, take on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Public_restrooms_in_Bratislava
On 22 February 2012 15:00, Michael Peel <[hidden email]> wrote: Hi all, _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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In reply to this post by Michael Peel-4
I apparently banned Jimmy Wales, does that count? http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Jimbo_Wales&diff=384237056&oldid=prev&unhide=1 Harry From: Michael Peel <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email] Sent: Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 15:00 Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk? Hi all, I'm doing a comedy-science talk on Wikipedia with the theme of 'histories' at a [[Bright Club]] Manchester early next month. My current plan (which is still subject to change) is that I'll talk about the histories of Wikipedia articles, and show some interesting/amusing changes made to articles. An example would be this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base&diff=14999825&oldid=14999213 which was a change purported to be made by the FBI back in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:64.165.110.114 If you know of any interesting diffs/article histories that could make people laugh, then please could you send me some pointers to them (preferably offlist)? Thanks, Mike _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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In reply to this post by Michael Peel-4
I reverted this vandalism back in 2011:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikis_Theodorakis&diff=415810362&oldid=415808524 It's a huge Babylon 5 rewrite of a Greek opera singer, including: His symphonic works: a [[Piano concerto]], his first [[suite]], his first [[symphony]], and his scores for the [[ballet]]: ''Ode to Lyta, Corianna 6: Aftermath, Z'ha'dum: Been there,still alive (Hommage to Kosh)'', received intergalactic acclaim. In 1957, he won the Gold Medal in the [[Moscow]] Music Festival; President of the Jury was [[Susan Ivanova]]. In 1959, after the successful performances of Theodorakis's ballet ''[[Valen]]'' at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in [[Epsilon 3]], the French composer [[Darius Milhaud]] proposed him for the ''American Copley Music Prize'' - an award of the "William and Noma Copley Foundation",<ref>http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0n39q01q/</ref> which later changed its name to "The Shadow Foundation" - as the "Most vainglorious, self-applauding European Composer of the known Universe". His first intergalactic scores for the film ''[[Grey 17 is missing]]'' and ''[[Honeymoon (1959 film)|I married a Drakh]]'', directors: [[Michael Powell (director)|Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]], were also very successful: The ''Wishing on a White Star'' title song became part of the repertoire of the [[first ones]] although later characterized as a "Weapon of infinite aesthetic torment" and thus strictly forbidden over the rim. On 22/02/2012 15:00, Michael Peel wrote: Hi all, I'm doing a comedy-science talk on Wikipedia with the theme of 'histories' at a [[Bright Club]] Manchester early next month. My current plan (which is still subject to change) is that I'll talk about the histories of Wikipedia articles, and show some interesting/amusing changes made to articles. An example would be this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base&diff=14999825&oldid=14999213 which was a change purported to be made by the FBI back in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:64.165.110.114 If you know of any interesting diffs/article histories that could make people laugh, then please could you send me some pointers to them (preferably offlist)? Thanks, Mike _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org Richard Symonds Office & Development Manager Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 207 065 0991 -- Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited, a Charitable Company Registered in England and Wales, No: 6741827. Charity No:1144513 Office: 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. Wikimedia UK is the local chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). It is an independent non-profit organization with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents. _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
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In reply to this post by Michael Peel-4
Mike you might want to take a look at the article on Dan Norris
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Norris) who was my MP at the time. Look at the edit history from Oct 2007 - May 2008 when the article was edited by an editor with the username Dan Norris MP (many of which I reverted). More recent edits by IPs may also be significant It made me smile anyway:-) Rod > Hi all, > > I'm doing a comedy-science talk on Wikipedia with the theme of 'histories' > at a [[Bright Club]] Manchester early next month. My current plan (which > is still subject to change) is that I'll talk about the histories of > Wikipedia articles, and show some interesting/amusing changes made to > articles. > > An example would be this one: > http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base&diff=14999825&oldid=14999213 > which was a change purported to be made by the FBI back in 2005: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:64.165.110.114 > > If you know of any interesting diffs/article histories that could make > people laugh, then please could you send me some pointers to them > (preferably offlist)? > > Thanks, > Mike > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > [hidden email] > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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In reply to this post by Richard Symonds-3
If I got stuck for material and bearing in mind the date then I'd use articles that have featured as DYKs on April Fools days -
I'd also note your credentials as Financial Times Journalist - On 22 February 2012 15:13, Richard Symonds <[hidden email]> wrote:
-- Roger Bamkin
01332 702993
0758 2020815 Google+:Victuallers Skype:Victuallers1 Flickr:Victuallers2 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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On 23 Feb 2012, at 14:26, Roger Bamkin wrote: > I'd also note your credentials as Financial Times Journalist - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Peel Hmm; worst Wikipedia article ever? Every single fact is completely wrong, it's almost as if they're writing about someone else! ;-) Thanks, Mike _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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That works! You ought to do a few edits to show how peiople should not edit there own articles
On 23 February 2012 14:30, Michael Peel <[hidden email]> wrote:
-- Roger Bamkin
01332 702993
0758 2020815 Google+:Victuallers Skype:Victuallers1 Flickr:Victuallers2 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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Not quite addressing your request, Mike, but one way I've got a laugh
in an introductory presentation is to proclaim, "Wikipedia gives you what you *need*; the *essential* knowledge that *you* can put into practice in your daily life" while behind me is projected http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_unusual_articles#Death This leads into a serious point about knowledge for its own sake. On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 2:40 PM, Roger Bamkin <[hidden email]> wrote: > That works! You ought to do a few edits to show how peiople should not edit > there own articles > > > On 23 February 2012 14:30, Michael Peel <[hidden email]> > wrote: >> >> >> On 23 Feb 2012, at 14:26, Roger Bamkin wrote: >> >> > I'd also note your credentials as Financial Times Journalist - >> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Peel >> >> Hmm; worst Wikipedia article ever? Every single fact is completely wrong, >> it's almost as if they're writing about someone else! ;-) >> >> Thanks, >> Mike >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> [hidden email] >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > > > > > -- > Roger Bamkin > Chair WMUK > 01332 702993 > 0758 2020815 > Google+:Victuallers > Skype:Victuallers1 > Flickr:Victuallers2 > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > [hidden email] > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > -- Dr Martin L Poulter Board member/ Trustee, Wikimedia UK http://uk.wikimedia.org/ Wikipedia contributor http://enwp.org/User:MartinPoulter Musician http://myspace.com/comapilot Person http://infobomb.org/ _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
Re: Any suggestions of interesting article histories for a comedic talk?
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Hi all,
Many thanks for the suggestions. :-) In the end, I included mentions of the FBI removing Guantanamo Bay satellite shots [1], the CIA pointing out that Wikipedia's content wasn't very secure [2] (I gave them the verbal equivalent of a hug here), Dan Norris MP's 2008 edits to his own article [3] (including why this is a bad thing, but that it was good he was open and honest about it), as well as talking about what has become my favourite article, on [[Toilet paper orientation]] (most people at the event were 'over'). It all seemed to go down well, with plenty of laughs, and I hope that we gained some new editors as a result (the end of my talk included an appeal for those present to edit). Thanks, Mike [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base&diff=14999825&oldid=14999213 [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Welcome,_newcomers&diff=prev&oldid=6940846 [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dan_Norris&offset=20080618113513&action=history On 24 Feb 2012, at 14:44, Martin Poulter wrote: > Not quite addressing your request, Mike, but one way I've got a laugh > in an introductory presentation is to proclaim, "Wikipedia gives you > what you *need*; the *essential* knowledge that *you* can put into > practice in your daily life" while behind me is projected > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_unusual_articles#Death > > This leads into a serious point about knowledge for its own sake. > > On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 2:40 PM, Roger Bamkin <[hidden email]> wrote: >> That works! You ought to do a few edits to show how peiople should not edit >> there own articles >> >> >> On 23 February 2012 14:30, Michael Peel <[hidden email]> >> wrote: >>> >>> >>> On 23 Feb 2012, at 14:26, Roger Bamkin wrote: >>> >>>> I'd also note your credentials as Financial Times Journalist - >>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Peel >>> >>> Hmm; worst Wikipedia article ever? Every single fact is completely wrong, >>> it's almost as if they're writing about someone else! ;-) >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Mike >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>> [hidden email] >>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Roger Bamkin >> Chair WMUK >> 01332 702993 >> 0758 2020815 >> Google+:Victuallers >> Skype:Victuallers1 >> Flickr:Victuallers2 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> [hidden email] >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> > > > > -- > Dr Martin L Poulter > Board member/ Trustee, Wikimedia UK http://uk.wikimedia.org/ > Wikipedia contributor > http://enwp.org/User:MartinPoulter > Musician > http://myspace.com/comapilot > Person http://infobomb.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > [hidden email] > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [hidden email] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org |
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