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partial revert - "copy-edit" introduced major factual error: psychological incapacity claim wasn't made by government (based on wp), but by the ex-wife / where does it say "English"? / wl not being a wiki and wl not being wp are different statements
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{{Wikipedia:Signpost/Template:Signpost-article-start|{{{1|In the news}}}|By [[User:Username|Username]]|30 August 2010}}
{{Wikipedia:Signpost/Template:Signpost-article-start|{{{1|In the news}}}|By [[User:Wackywace|Wackywace]], ... |30 August 2010}}


===Whodunnit? Christie's family asks Wikipedia not to reveal ending of world's longest running play===
[[File:St Martin's Theatre, Covent Garden, London-16March2010.jpg|thumb|220px|left|When she wrote ''[[The Mousetrap]]'', [[Agatha Christie]] gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. Outside of the West End, only one version of the play can be performed annually and under the contract terms of the play, no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months]]
The family of renowned author [[Agatha Christie]]&mdash;whose book sales are surpassed only by the Bible&mdash;have told a newspaper that they are dissapointed that the [[The Mousetrap|Wikipedia article on ''The Mousetrap'']], the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,000 performances so far, reveals the twist ending, which at the end of every performance the audience is asked not to reveal. ''[[The Independent On Sunday]]'' [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wikipedia-springs-mousetrap-ending-2064958.html wrote] that readers of the article are informed, "without warning, the identity of the murderer."

Christie's grandson, Matthew Prichard, who was given the rights to the play when he turned nine years old, described the situation as "unfortunate". ''The Independent On Sunday'' reported that "he intended to take the matter up with the play's producer for the past 23 of its 58 years in the West End, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen."

"My grandmother always got upset if the plots of her books or plays were revealed in reviews – and I don't think this is any different," Prichard said in an interview. "I think it is a pity if a publication, if I can call it that, potentially spoils the enjoyment for those people who go to see the play. It's not a question of money or anything like that. It's just a pity."

The subject of spoilers has caused much debate over previous years, and Wikipedia's policy on the matter, [[WP:SPOILERS]], states that "articles on the Internet sometimes feature a "spoiler warning" to alert readers to spoilers in the text, which they may then choose to avoid reading. Wikipedia has previously included such warnings in some articles on works of fiction. Since it is generally expected that the subjects of our articles will be covered in detail, such warnings are considered unnecessary. Therefore, Wikipedia no longer carries spoiler warnings, except for the content disclaimer and section headings (such as "Plot" or "Ending") which imply the presence of spoilers ... It is not acceptable to delete information from an article because you think it spoils the plot. Such concerns must not interfere with neutral point of view, encyclopedic tone, completeness, or any other element of article quality".

A Wikipedia spokesperson responded by saying that "our [Wikipedia's] purpose is to collect and report notable knowledge. It's exceedingly easy to avoid knowing the identity of the murderer: just don't read it. Asking Wikipedia not to reveal the identity of the murderer is like asking a library to remove copies of The Mousetrap book from shelves because someone could just go and read the end."

''The Independent On Sunday'' also included a quote from an unnamed Wikipedia editor, who agreed that Wikipedia's policy on spoilers was flawed. "I would argue that, however trivial it may appear, the revelation of the ending breaches an oral contract between the actors and the audience", they said. "Such is the fame of the secrecy that an audience member cannot reasonably attend without knowing their role to play in guarding it, and thus an oral contract, implied in fact, has taken place. Given the importance of Wikipedia on the internet, I believe that they have a duty to protect this contract, as its breach is completely disrespectful of an old and well-kept tradition."

Prichard concluded by saying that he didn't "pretend to be an expert on Wikipedia or modern technology." But, he stated, "from the point of view of the theatre-going public, I think it does spoil the enjoyment of those going to have an entertaining evening at the theatre – one part of which is to guess who the murderer is."


=== Controversial edits on Canadian legislature ===
=== Controversial edits on Canadian legislature ===

Revision as of 09:31, 29 August 2010

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By Wackywace, ...


Whodunnit? Christie's family asks Wikipedia not to reveal ending of world's longest running play

When she wrote The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. Outside of the West End, only one version of the play can be performed annually and under the contract terms of the play, no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months

The family of renowned author Agatha Christie—whose book sales are surpassed only by the Bible—have told a newspaper that they are dissapointed that the Wikipedia article on The Mousetrap, the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,000 performances so far, reveals the twist ending, which at the end of every performance the audience is asked not to reveal. The Independent On Sunday wrote that readers of the article are informed, "without warning, the identity of the murderer."

Christie's grandson, Matthew Prichard, who was given the rights to the play when he turned nine years old, described the situation as "unfortunate". The Independent On Sunday reported that "he intended to take the matter up with the play's producer for the past 23 of its 58 years in the West End, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen."

"My grandmother always got upset if the plots of her books or plays were revealed in reviews – and I don't think this is any different," Prichard said in an interview. "I think it is a pity if a publication, if I can call it that, potentially spoils the enjoyment for those people who go to see the play. It's not a question of money or anything like that. It's just a pity."

The subject of spoilers has caused much debate over previous years, and Wikipedia's policy on the matter, WP:SPOILERS, states that "articles on the Internet sometimes feature a "spoiler warning" to alert readers to spoilers in the text, which they may then choose to avoid reading. Wikipedia has previously included such warnings in some articles on works of fiction. Since it is generally expected that the subjects of our articles will be covered in detail, such warnings are considered unnecessary. Therefore, Wikipedia no longer carries spoiler warnings, except for the content disclaimer and section headings (such as "Plot" or "Ending") which imply the presence of spoilers ... It is not acceptable to delete information from an article because you think it spoils the plot. Such concerns must not interfere with neutral point of view, encyclopedic tone, completeness, or any other element of article quality".

A Wikipedia spokesperson responded by saying that "our [Wikipedia's] purpose is to collect and report notable knowledge. It's exceedingly easy to avoid knowing the identity of the murderer: just don't read it. Asking Wikipedia not to reveal the identity of the murderer is like asking a library to remove copies of The Mousetrap book from shelves because someone could just go and read the end."

The Independent On Sunday also included a quote from an unnamed Wikipedia editor, who agreed that Wikipedia's policy on spoilers was flawed. "I would argue that, however trivial it may appear, the revelation of the ending breaches an oral contract between the actors and the audience", they said. "Such is the fame of the secrecy that an audience member cannot reasonably attend without knowing their role to play in guarding it, and thus an oral contract, implied in fact, has taken place. Given the importance of Wikipedia on the internet, I believe that they have a duty to protect this contract, as its breach is completely disrespectful of an old and well-kept tradition."

Prichard concluded by saying that he didn't "pretend to be an expert on Wikipedia or modern technology." But, he stated, "from the point of view of the theatre-going public, I think it does spoil the enjoyment of those going to have an entertaining evening at the theatre – one part of which is to guess who the murderer is."

Controversial edits on Canadian legislature

Jimbo interviewed by Mediaweek

Jimbo Wales recently sat down for an interview with Mediaweek, a trade magazine based in New York City, focusing on his involvement with the Wikia venture. The video interview is available online here. Wales co-founded Wikia in 2004 with Angela Beesley. He discusses the popularity of Lostpedia, stating that "there's a symbiotic relationship between the fans and the writers", shares his favorite wikis, the "Canon Hacking Development Wiki (about the CHDK project), the Recipes Wiki, and the Runescape Wiki. In relation to Wikipedia, Jimbo Wales indicates that the Foundation is focused on helping smaller wikis grow, putting particular attention on the Indian, Russian, and Arabic sites. Lastly, Jimbo Wales talks about WikiLeaks, pointing out that they are not a true wiki, and saying "people, please don't send me secret documents."

Needs expansion, this is an overview.


Briefly

  • The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Philippine Office of the Solicitor General lost a case in a court of appeal "for relying on Wikipedia as an authority". The case concerned a 1988 marriage whose 2007 annulment on the grounds of psychological incapacity the office sought to overturn. To counter the expert testimony offered by the ex-wife, it appears to have cited the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders according to Wikipedia. The ex-wife cited Wikipedia's own disclaimers, and the justices said that the state should have consulted "qualified psychiatric experts" instead.
  • U.S. media theorist Douglas Rushkoff has announced that 10% of the proceeds from his new book (Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age) will go to the Wikimedia Foundation and Archive.org.
  • In a blog post, an intern at a U.S. publishing house described her experiences as a Wikipedia newbie while writing the article about the company's magazine Global Traveler. She noted that Wikipedia had "a ton of rules" and also found the user interface confusing:
Everyday tasks done on the word processor become difficult and bothersome. Pressing ctrl and “B” no longer makes something bold. The Wikipedia user has to use apostrophes (‘’’) to initiate the bold and then another set of three apostrophes to end it. Similar programming techniques are used to get italics, bullets, lists and headings.
She said that her experience had given her "a new-found respect for the articles that people put up."


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Just to save everyone from reading the article, the murderer is apparently John Seigenthaler. JK. Kaldari (talk) 17:46, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The murderer's name has now been hidden - you must click on "Show" on a bar there to see it. For non-tech-savvy people, shouldn't there be a quick instruction to click on "show" if you want to see the name? -- Ssilvers (talk) 22:40, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Everyday tasks done on the word processor become difficult and bothersome." I concur wholeheartedly! I have always found it difficult and bothersome to type apostrophes in rapid succession. My fingers hurt when I do this. I am glad to see that I am not alone. </sarcasm> --Cryptic C62 · Talk 18:40, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Myself, I have to agree with the intern. It's like going back to the days of Wordstar, with 5'25 floppies and green-over-black monochrome screens. In these days this formatting looks like rational because you only have to hit the "preview" button to check if you had forgotten to close a bold tag. In the old days you had to print the text in the printer. And those printers were sllloooowwww. --Enric Naval (talk) 18:58, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Markup has its disadvantages, of course, but the WYSIWYG systems to which everyone is accustomed these days require much more time and effort to code and produce less consistent results. Powers T 19:25, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I use a bit of javascript (code at the bottom of the post) to have these ctrl+b/i/etc. shortcuts work during editing. unfortunatly, it seems that won't work on IE :D DarkoNeko x 10:04, 1 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Wonderful javascript code. I wish I had this years ago. Thank you --Mahanga (Talk) 19:37, 1 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Mostly, I enjoy the fact that she's writing about our large pack of rules while posting an article she really shouldn't be creating in the first place :P --King Öomie 13:31, 7 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are plenty of formerly secret documents cited in Wikipedia, and there were before Wikileaks ever existed. Are we now trying to let everyone share in the sum of all merely politically comfortable knowledge? If leaders like Jimbo and Sue don't stand up for volunteer journalism, they may find Foundation volunteers on the wrong end of the shield law working its way through Congress. Why Other (talk) 19:21, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

We need to have a warning on the front page of Wikipedia. If you DO NOT want to know something please do not come to Wikipedia and look Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 02:47, 1 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
A noble suggestion, but it doesn't always work. For example, one doesn't know that The Moustrap has a surprise secret ending that one might not want spoiled until one is already reading the article. Powers T 20:32, 1 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Agatha Christie—whose book sales are surpassed by those of only the Bible". According to our own article List of best-selling fiction authors, and the relevant source[1] used in it, her book sales are also surpassed by William Shakespeare. Fram (talk) 15:01, 6 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost is looking for new talent.
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