In passing review of Wikipedia:
"For example, if you consult the world's most useless online text, the captive Wikipedia, you'll see Fuller's entry is a plug for Eric "AI" Drexler."
From:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/14/buckminster_fuller_stamp/
Guess Andy doesn't love us.
Bill
Bill wrote:
[...] "For example, if you consult the world's most useless online text, the captive Wikipedia, you'll see Fuller's entry is a plug for Eric "AI" Drexler."
From:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/14/buckminster_fuller_stamp/
Guess Andy doesn't love us.
Why does it not surprise me that the self-same paragraph mentions that other pet hate of theirs, Kevin Warwick - I mean, alright, the guy's a bit of a poser, but they don't half go *on*! I guess they find slagging people off an easier form of journalism than actual intelligent writing.
Out of interest, what do you suppose he means by "captive"? Captive to one PoV, perhaps - unlike, say, a "news" website having patronising nicknames for those they disapprove of. Erm...
"For example, if you consult the world's most useless online text, the captive Wikipedia, you'll see Fuller's entry is a plug for Eric "AI" Drexler."
From:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/14/buckminster_fuller_stamp/
Another weird thing about this is that there is no rational possibility of reading that entry as a "plug for Eric "AI" Drexler". Drexler is mentioned, in one sentence, but not favorably or unfavorably, just a simple fact.
Is the whole article just an inside joke or something? I'd hate to call the guy to discuss this only to find out I'm just lame for not getting the joke.
--Jimbo
I sent a (long rambling and somewhat annoyed) comment to the guy via the Register's web interface, and got a reply saying that he'd chat with me if we didn't use my Gmail account. More on this as it occurs.
On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 08:19:02 -0700, Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
"For example, if you consult the world's most useless online text, the captive Wikipedia, you'll see Fuller's entry is a plug for Eric "AI" Drexler."
The whole piece was a bit tongue-in-cheek, and this part too just seemed like a bit of dry humour... we are after all the world's most useful online text, the free! Wikipedia. How better to convey that to a British audience? I'm not sure if it was all an *inside* joke, though; it had the sweet sting of truth in places.
sj<, mail backlogged