How about next year, we put an announcement on the main page stating Wikipedia is now removing all potentially offensive images, and then change the mediawiki code so that it will not render images! :)
On Apr 4, 2005 9:37 AM, Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
Ok, I think next year we should not tolerate what went on this year. But we should try to do something fun.
Of all the ideas that I saw proposed, I think that the absolute best compromise between those who love the holiday and those who are not great fans of it would be to have the main page be 100% real and accurate in every last respect, but *also* to have it be filled with stories that people would naturally suspect to be hoaxes.
[[Exploding whale]] is a nice example, as is [[Holy prepuce]] (which was a real featured article already).
Here's what I like about this compromise: first, it satisfies those of us who understand that Wikipedia is first and foremost a serious encyclopedia. Second, it satisfies those who want to have fun tricking people on April 1st.
And finally, and most important, it appeals to all of us on both sides of the debate who are intellectual snobs. :-) Any lame website can come up with fake stories *yawn* to trick people *yawn*. Only we ubergeeks of Wikipedia can come up with *real* stories to trick people.
--Jimbo
-- "Pianosa is een Italie" - first words of 50,000th article on nl.wikipedia.org
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If you make that kind of announcement a few days before April 1 it's bound to be counterproductive. Many who had not paid attention to the fact that April Fools Day was coming up will be reminded that it is time to do something silly.
Ec
mbecker ™ wrote:
How about next year, we put an announcement on the main page stating Wikipedia is now removing all potentially offensive images, and then change the mediawiki code so that it will not render images! :)
On Apr 4, 2005 9:37 AM, Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
Ok, I think next year we should not tolerate what went on this year. But we should try to do something fun.
Of all the ideas that I saw proposed, I think that the absolute best compromise between those who love the holiday and those who are not great fans of it would be to have the main page be 100% real and accurate in every last respect, but *also* to have it be filled with stories that people would naturally suspect to be hoaxes.
[[Exploding whale]] is a nice example, as is [[Holy prepuce]] (which was a real featured article already).
Here's what I like about this compromise: first, it satisfies those of us who understand that Wikipedia is first and foremost a serious encyclopedia. Second, it satisfies those who want to have fun tricking people on April 1st.
And finally, and most important, it appeals to all of us on both sides of the debate who are intellectual snobs. :-) Any lame website can come up with fake stories *yawn* to trick people *yawn*. Only we ubergeeks of Wikipedia can come up with *real* stories to trick people.
Well it would sure be funny, but it would indeed be counterproductive. What would people like Quadell be doing on such a day?
Mgm
On Apr 5, 2005 8:44 PM, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
If you make that kind of announcement a few days before April 1 it's bound to be counterproductive. Many who had not paid attention to the fact that April Fools Day was coming up will be reminded that it is time to do something silly.
Ec
mbecker ™ wrote:
How about next year, we put an announcement on the main page stating Wikipedia is now removing all potentially offensive images, and then change the mediawiki code so that it will not render images! :)
On Apr 4, 2005 9:37 AM, Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
Ok, I think next year we should not tolerate what went on this year. But we should try to do something fun.
Of all the ideas that I saw proposed, I think that the absolute best compromise between those who love the holiday and those who are not great fans of it would be to have the main page be 100% real and accurate in every last respect, but *also* to have it be filled with stories that people would naturally suspect to be hoaxes.
[[Exploding whale]] is a nice example, as is [[Holy prepuce]] (which was a real featured article already).
Here's what I like about this compromise: first, it satisfies those of us who understand that Wikipedia is first and foremost a serious encyclopedia. Second, it satisfies those who want to have fun tricking people on April 1st.
And finally, and most important, it appeals to all of us on both sides of the debate who are intellectual snobs. :-) Any lame website can come up with fake stories *yawn* to trick people *yawn*. Only we ubergeeks of Wikipedia can come up with *real* stories to trick people.
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