Wikipedia, Friend or Foe?

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Is Wikipedia a useful information gathering tool?

No.
2
7%
Yes.
16
53%
Yes, when used in conjunction with other reference.
6
20%
Yes, when used in conjuntion with NON-web material.
3
10%
Wikipedia told me about this poll...
1
3%
Rutebegas.
2
7%
 
Total votes: 30
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Gecko
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Postby Gecko » Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:02 am

Geez! I'm the only person who voted no.
Would you care to give reasons as to your vote instead of being surprised that you're the only one who voted so?

If you explained your side, perhaps someone else would agree.
Anami and Anami are sitting around Anami says "GRR I AM ANGSTY LET'S EXPRESS ANGST" and so Anami says "ONE OF THE MODS ON DC IS A DICK I POSTED A PICTURE THAT WASN'T REALLY THAT INAPPROPRIATE AND THREE MODS SAW IT AND DID NOTHING THEN A FOURTH ONE SAW IT AND DELETED IT" and Anami says "OMG I HATE MODS >:("
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Doc Sigma
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Postby Doc Sigma » Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:49 pm

Of course Wikipedia is generally useful, anyone who says otherwise is objectively wrong. Again, like Jason says, it comes down to using common sense when deciding what's legit and what's not - but it's usually legit. Wikipedia has never, ever steered me wrong in all the times I've used it, whether academically or for recreational uses.

Of course you shouldn't cite it in your papers, that's an obvious no-no, but all you have to do is cite the sources it references (after checking that said source is legit, of course). Really, Wikipedia makes everything easy.
This, this, a thousand times THIS.

For casual purposes, Wikipedia is great. For serious business, Wikipedia is wonderful for pointing you towards information, as opposed to actually GIVING you information. Even if an article has citations, don't just blindly use them -- check them out! There was an article on Wikipedia about a COMPLETELY NON-EXISTENT Greek philosopher, complete with citations, for over a YEAR before somebody noticed.
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Segovia
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Postby Segovia » Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:59 pm

Geez! I'm the only person who voted no.
Would you care to give reasons as to your vote instead of being surprised that you're the only one who voted so?

If you explained your side, perhaps someone else would agree.
No because no matter what I say you all would say no to it.
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Doc Sigma
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Postby Doc Sigma » Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:23 pm

Geez! I'm the only person who voted no.
Would you care to give reasons as to your vote instead of being surprised that you're the only one who voted so?

If you explained your side, perhaps someone else would agree.
No because no matter what I say you all would say no to it.
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Trance
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Postby Trance » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:05 pm

I expected alot of choice three... I voted Rutebegas by the way. I wanted to stay non-biased :wink: .
Believe it or not there are no e's in rutabega.
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Dr. Sticks
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Postby Dr. Sticks » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:06 pm

There was an article on Wikipedia about a COMPLETELY NON-EXISTENT Greek philosopher, complete with citations, for over a YEAR before somebody noticed.
link?
http://www.spingain.com/?ref=146518
Well put doog. You never posted anything offensive whatsoever
we know she'll be back, like a good bitch should.
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Doc Sigma
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Postby Doc Sigma » Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:43 pm

There was an article on Wikipedia about a COMPLETELY NON-EXISTENT Greek philosopher, complete with citations, for over a YEAR before somebody noticed.
link?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia: ... Joci%C4%87

I was wrong -- he was a fake militia leader. But his page was up from August 2005 to July 2007.
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Archaemic
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Postby Archaemic » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:17 am

Complete with citations, right....
[dA] | [LJ]
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Dr. Sticks
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Postby Dr. Sticks » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:23 am

what, you're seriously complaining because there aren't any citations on a page that has been deleted twice, several years ago?
http://www.spingain.com/?ref=146518
Well put doog. You never posted anything offensive whatsoever
we know she'll be back, like a good bitch should.
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Doc Sigma
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Postby Doc Sigma » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:14 am

Complete with citations, right....
:roll:
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Muninn
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Postby Muninn » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:55 pm

i use it for general information gathering on things i am interested in, brief summaries of things i'm only slightly interested in and to double check things i already know, but don't really remember properly...
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osprey
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Postby osprey » Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:18 pm

i use it for general information gathering on things i am interested in, brief summaries of things i'm only slightly interested in and to double check things i already know, but don't really remember properly...
Image
OK. pants it. I lied. It's drum and bass. What you gonna do?
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likeafox
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Postby likeafox » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:00 pm

EVERYONE AGREES OR IS TOO AFRAID TO SPEAK. INTELLIGENT DISCUSSION OVER, LIKE DINNER WITH STALIN.
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Dr. Dos
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Postby Dr. Dos » Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:05 am

I went to wikipedia and had a MESSAGE

Image
Anami: Sex with a giant, black scorpion seems fun.

<SteveThePocket> Geez. I want more of this stuff now. Now I know how a horny guy on an imageboard feels.
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likeafox
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Postby likeafox » Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:22 am

Was this a change that you made or just someone else using your IP address?
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