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Wow! Wiki really is shut down!

dirtpoorchris said:
What if you got kicked and was paralyzed in a horse stall? Its been 2 and a half days. That horse turd is within tongues reach.
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The horse turd would introduce bacteria and gut flora native to horses into your system. Your body will react by vomiting and having diarrhea that will leave you dehydrated :peace
 
digsbe said:
The horse turd would introduce bacteria and gut flora native to horses into your system. Your body will react by vomiting and having diarrhea that will leave you dehydrated :peace
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Really? I was told by a horse trainer that horse poo is actually healthy for people to eat. (I still didnt do it). Hrm.. Come to think of it. Maybe he was just trolling me and seeing if I was dumb enough to eat horse crap. But, I think omnivores already have much crazier bacteria in their stomach than herbavores. I seen that one survival dude suck water out of an elephant turd. :shock:

/thread train back on the rails. Hey... Where is an chat icon of a train poppin off tracks and helicopters lifting it back onto the track? (I know.. helicopters cant lift trains. But it would suffice for /thread derailed /thread back on track with 1 button.)
 
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StillBallin75 said:
Maybe due to the fact that anyone can edit it an anytime? And that there's not a panel of experts available to monitor pages on every single topic?
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Perhaps, but that is an incorrect reason (even though there could be errors). Wikipedia, or any encyclopedia, is not a primary source. It contains no original research. Depending on what one is writing about, original research should be cited; not a distillation of that research published by a third party (e.g., an encyclopedia).

Any facts found on Wikipedia should be easily traceable to their source (via article footnotes), which is what should be read, understood, and cited in scholarly work.
 
StillBallin75 said:
Maybe due to the fact that anyone can edit it an anytime? And that there's not a panel of experts available to monitor pages on every single topic?
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And yet many of the more technology/internet literate professors do not take this stance. Like the congressmen who don't know how the internet actually works, a lot of older professors don't understand how Wikipedia works. They don't realize that Wiki articles are cited like any other professional work, or that malicious changes are removed within a few hours. Every single article has its sources in primary information, or else puts a big banner on top if such citation is missing. A wiki is more accurate than a printed encyclopedia, able to be revised and have errors fixed, and is far faster and easier to navigate than printed books. As a source of knowledge, it is superior. Get with the 21st century guys.
 
Antiderivative said:
Interesting study, but I don't understand the relevancy of how eating a mud pie might provide some nutritional value to the numerous studies conducted on the reliability of wiki. It is comparing apples to oranges.
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I'm invalidating your argument which focuses on a study - appeal to authority, in which I say you can find a study to say anything you want. Arguing with a study as the main point has become irrelevant for the reasons I've cited.

Antiderivative said:
Again, you won't find disagreement with me on this. Wiki is a great source, but it requires discretion and follow through.
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Agreed.
 
Karl said:
Perhaps, but that is an incorrect reason (even though there could be errors). Wikipedia, or any encyclopedia, is not a primary source. It contains no original research. Depending on what one is writing about, original research should be cited; not a distillation of that research published by a third party (e.g., an encyclopedia).

Any facts found on Wikipedia should be easily traceable to their source (via article footnotes), which is what should be read, understood, and cited in scholarly work.
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No encyclopedia is a primary source. They are tertiary sources.
 
Paschendale said:
And yet many of the more technology/internet literate professors do not take this stance. Like the congressmen who don't know how the internet actually works, a lot of older professors don't understand how Wikipedia works. They don't realize that Wiki articles are cited like any other professional work, or that malicious changes are removed within a few hours. Every single article has its sources in primary information, or else puts a big banner on top if such citation is missing. A wiki is more accurate than a printed encyclopedia, able to be revised and have errors fixed, and is far faster and easier to navigate than printed books. As a source of knowledge, it is superior. Get with the 21st century guys.
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No, they are not superior. Professors understand how it works well enough. They are only as good as their community, and until Wikipedia becomes more aristocratic with who makes entries, it is vastly inferior.
 
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Craigslist Joined.
 
Home - PubMed - NCBI

This is an online library that can link people to primary sources. I use Pubmed all the time. I wouldn't trust anything reported by any of the MSM outlets related to medicine or molecular biology without reading the primary publication. Most of them don't understand the science and drastically exaggerate things.
 
dirtpoorchris said:
Meh. Mods got the site on lock. ;) No danger of DP being SOPA'd.
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Actually, its hard to say and I wouldn't be surprised personally if Vauge ended up wanting to bring the site down.

There's no way we mods can check every link that gets posted to DP, let alone the links that may be linked in said links. I think any website owner would have to examine how much they want to risk the potential for some kind of legal problem if this passes.
 
Zyphlin said:
Actually, its hard to say and I wouldn't be surprised personally if Vauge ended up wanting to bring the site down.

There's no way we mods can check every link that gets posted to DP, let alone the links that may be linked in said links. I think any website owner would have to examine how much they want to risk the potential for some kind of legal problem if this passes.
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I cannot help but to think about the "what are you listening to" thread. Not just current posts would need to be policed, but past posts would need to be purged. One disgruntled poster and an email to a recording label, and bye bye DP!

edit: well perhaps not, most of the videos posted there are on youtube, and youtube would likely have closed shop before it came down on DP's head.. but the point still stands (I hope)
 
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VERY happy to see Paul Ryan and Rand Paul on the "no" list. Expected to see Ron Paul there as he is. I'll give credit to Bachmann as well being on the right side of this. Happy to see one of my senators in Virginia also opposed to it.
 
Zyphlin said:
Actually, its hard to say and I wouldn't be surprised personally if Vauge ended up wanting to bring the site down.

There's no way we mods can check every link that gets posted to DP, let alone the links that may be linked in said links. I think any website owner would have to examine how much they want to risk the potential for some kind of legal problem if this passes.
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I would seriously miss this site if it had to close because of SOPA. I <3 the site's premise, it's content, and (most) if it's posters. And who the heck else is going to "listen" to me rant about politics and other crap all the time?!
 
Zyphlin said:
VERY happy to see Paul Ryan and Rand Paul on the "no" list. Expected to see Ron Paul there as he is. I'll give credit to Bachmann as well being on the right side of this. Happy to see one of my senators in Virginia also opposed to it.
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My rep is "unknown", Cornyn supports it (and loses my vote if he votes for it) and Hutchison is "unknown". All of them received calls and letters from me.
 
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It appears both of my senators and my representative support SOPA :(
 
I am putting a letter together for my representative and senators. I haven't sent them yet, and I'm trying to keep it short since no one wants to read a lengthy discussion on the topic. Here's what I have so far:

Dear ---:


I am very concerned about my liberty as an American. The current legislation (SOPA), being considered by those who supposedly represent me, is a threat to the First Amendment. Please do not sign SOPA into law. It is a blatant threat to liberty and commerce. Those who support this legislation wish to control information and censor the internet. They wish to do this for their own personal gain. This is not in the interest of the people. Please do not support this law. I also plan to write my representative, Congressman ----, as well as my other senator Lemar Alexander. I truly hope that they will also understand the importance of liberty.


Thank you,


Michelle ---
 
I'm someone who, in my career, has attracted a certain amount of admiration as well as some seemingly disproportionate condemnation over what I do. If SOPA is passed, I can at least take comfort in the fact that I can use it to get some of the more vitriolic discussion threads or blogs shut down.
 
marduc said:
I cannot help but to think about the "what are you listening to" thread. Not just current posts would need to be policed, but past posts would need to be purged. One disgruntled poster and an email to a recording label, and bye bye DP!

edit: well perhaps not, most of the videos posted there are on youtube, and youtube would likely have closed shop before it came down on DP's head.. but the point still stands (I hope)
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Plenty of image attachments to posts here. It is guaranteed that there are copyrighted images on this forum. Or maybe the New York Times decides it doesn't like people pasting even one paragraph from their articles and instead wants people to visit the site and subscribe, so they send the notices about DP's Breaking News forums. DP then bears the burden of proving that every one of those posts falls under fair use. The law is so hilariously vague in its terminology that all you need is one judge with a wide interpretation and you can probably shut down anything you want. Guess which jurisdiction the suits will be filed in once the entertainment industry finds the "right" judge?
 
Wikipedia is currently Blacked Out

Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledge
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.

Contact your representatives.
Your ZIP code:
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Wikipedia Link

Apparently everyone's favorite "temple of the mind" is closed for a little while because something seemingly important is happening in Congress.

I have no idea what exactly is going on [looking into it, though].

EDIT:

Why is Wikipedia blacked-out? Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media.

What are SOPA and PIPA? SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and PIPA is an acronym for the "Protect IP Act." ("IP" stands for "intellectual property.") In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

Why is the blackout happening? Wikipedians have chosen to black out the English Wikipedia for the first time ever, because we are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people's access to online information. This is not a problem that will solely affect people in the United States: it will affect everyone around the world. Why? SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won't be effective at their stated goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
 
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