Is Wikipedia even worthwhile?

[Dis]

yep. For example. I know someone who wants a medicine ball for christmas. I had no clue what one was (though the name was familiar). Wikipedia helped me out.

[MOBIUS]

It's got a great entry on dildos

There's even a town called Dildo in Newfoundland...

[MOBIUS]

Dildos in Texas

In 1973 the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas passed Section 43.21 (known as the obscenity statute) which, in part, prohibits the sale or promotion of ""Obscene device[s]" mean[ing] a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs."

Although Austin's 20-member police vice squad was broken up in 1998 and its task farmed out to various other police units, this has not, apparently, stopped police from prosecuting under the statute. In Burleson in 2004, for example, Joanne Webb, a mother of three and a former schoolteacher, faced up to a year in prison for selling a vibrator to two undercover police officers posing as a married couple at a private party.

Section 43.23 of the code deals with promotion ("A person commits an offense if he ... possesses with intent to wholesale promote any obscene material or obscene device. A person who possesses six or more obscene devices ... is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same.") This section carries higher penalties, and for this reason, those businesses that trade in items covered under the act usually market them as 'novelties' or 'educational items'.

Sloww had better be careful...

[MOBIUS]

Yep, ya gotta love Wiki for serious info...

[MOBIUS]

Or...

[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/****ing_austria_small.jpg[/IMG]



Damn, that famous Austria town of ****ing is apparently too rude for Poly - we'll have to make do with Intercourse instead...

[MOBIUS]

Here we are...

[MOBIUS]

Just wondering - does that translate as 'don't **** the children so fast'?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Winston
But I'm becoming increasingly aware of another weakness, which is that in a lot of cases it is immensely U.S.-centered. Not just in the selection of articles it covers, but more importantly by omitting information within articles that is outside the everyday scope of the life and interests of most Americans.

Well, duh, if you're reading the English version. Specifically, it's centered largely around America, Canada, and the United Kingdom... surprise surprise, the major English-speaking countries of the world!

[Lul Thyme]

I actually read an article about that town ****ing.
It seemed they were acutally considering changing their name cuz it was so much trouble.
Signs get stolen all the time etc...
(this was on a pretty good source, although its been maybe a year so my memory could be flaky)

[Saras]

well, it DOES have a decent american-english dictionary:

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/American-English_Dictionary

[Az]

Originally posted by Lul Thyme
I actually read an article about that town ****ing.
It seemed they were acutally considering changing their name cuz it was so much trouble.
Signs get stolen all the time etc...
(this was on a pretty good source, although its been maybe a year so my memory could be flaky)

That's stupid, they could be selling T-shirts, and these signs, and making some nice coin out of it...

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
Just wondering - does that translate as 'don't **** the children so fast'?

Yes, I think the german would be "please, not so fast."

[Az]

that's terrible, esp. since the sign looks so innocent and made of good intensions..

[Thue]

Originally posted by Winston
Not off-hand, no. It's not too often that I consult Wikipedia anymore on those subjects, precisely because of my reservations. Maybe I should have worded it 'I have in the past frequently found...'

You mean to say you've never encountered omissions of any relevant information on contested topics yourself?

Of course, Wikipedia is not yet complete. But I don't attach any deep significance to the omissions - they simply haven't been written yet. Once in a while I write in the missing bits myself.

For example, most of the articles on Danish Prime Ministers in teh Danish edition were started by me.

[-Jrabbit]

The Wiki's methodology for insertion and updating of material lends itself to possible abuse, but its breadth of scope and linkage to source material is extremely convenient. I use it in my professional life as a writer, primarily as a quick way to fact-check and occasionally as a starting point for serious research.