Wikipedia & Our Sex Life

Another really funny piece at McSweeney’s about a couple’s sex life that was documented on Wikipedia.

Volunteers Fleeing Wikipedia

I usually don’t like linking to articles at the Wall Street Journal, since they are hidden behind a paywall, but the old trick of googling the article title and clicking on it enabled me to read this article.

I stopped editing Wikipedia long ago. I’ll correct a typo or a minor mistake, but I won’t publish any new articles. Not everyone has that much free time available to write encyclopedic articles for free. Still, the WSJ reports that droves of editors are fleeing Wikipedia. Should we be worried?

Monoceros Ring

Monoceros Ring, image via NASA

The Monoceros Ring is a proposed ring of stars around the Milky Way which consists of a stellar stream torn from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy as it merges with the Milky Way over the course of billions of years. It is a complex ringlike structure which wraps around our galaxy three times, formed from the long filament of stars pulled from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy by tidal forces as it orbits the Milky Way. The ring has a mass of 100 million solar masses and is 200,000 light years long.

*

It’s come up a few times in the last few weeks.

Hanlon’s Razor

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

*

H1N1 Influenza Virus

H1N1 Virus via wikipedia

When I follow current events, I like to read Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s pages are usually updated pretty quickly on current news. For now, people and countries are taking precautionary measures. But everyone is worried about the fall, when the global pandemic could reach phase 6.

Fatal Familial Insomnia

Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a very rare autosomal dominant inherited prion disease of the brain. The dominant gene responsible has been found in just 50 families worldwide; if only one parent has the gene, the offspring have a 50% chance of inheriting it and developing the disease. The disease’s genesis and the patient’s progression into complete sleeplessness is untreatable, and ultimately fatal.

*

Herschel Walker and Dissociative Identity Disorder

In a 2008 autobiography entitled “Breaking Free”, Walker confesses that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder, or DID, formerly known as “multiple personality disorder.”^[14] He has claimed that due to his disorder, he cannot remember the season he won the Heisman Trophy, let alone the moment.

*

Origami Techniques

Cool article on Japanese origami techniques.

Wikipedia Sued For Nazi Sympathies

The German version of Wikipedia is being sued for its Nazi sympathies.

Wikipedia Is Not A Democracy

Wikipedia is not a democracy, says Jimbo Wales. This is about the Judd Bagley affair.