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Posted by: Grep

National Portrait Gallery copyright conflicts and its associated http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/National_Portrait_Gallery_copyright_conflicts look set to be hilarious. Ottava Rima (T-C-L-K-R-D) has undertaken to refute everyone else's comments on a one-for-one basis. Let's just hope she doesn't inadvertently rebut one of her own comments and get into an endless loop (Tis! Tisnt! Tis!)

Posted by: Lifebaka

I toyed with the idea of closing the AfD, but it's pretty obvious it's no consensus anyways. No need to bring the drahmahz down on my head.

Posted by: Somey

Ottava (who is a "he" by the way) is actually right in this case, though as usual, his motives for pushing the issue are somewhat suspect. The appropriate thing to do with the article would probably be to extract the information out of it that isn't specific to the (ongoing) legal case, and add it to Criticism of Wikipedia (T-H-L-K-D) as an example of how WP negatively affects (and even circumvents) the efforts of education-focused entities to disseminate quality information and images, in ways that preserve their interests and/or whatever intellectual property rights they might have an need to protect.

Come to think of it, that article's section on "Threat to traditional publishers" actually should be expanded significantly - or rather it would be much larger, if the majority of Wikipedians weren't so cultishly convinced of their own boundless beneficence. Ottava is one of those people, unfortunately, and it seems more likely (IMO) that he wants the article deleted for "political" reasons, or for general whitewashing.

Posted by: Kato

Wikipedians have been shown to be incapable of fairly handling topics where Wikipedia itself is in conflict with another party in the real world. Especially in legal suits.

We've seen this time and time again. Most recently in the residue of the http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=25262 biography (now deleted after we spotted it here). Crookes was in a dispute with Wikipedia over his bio, and hence there was a negative pile-on to discredit him via his biography.

Posted by: Grep

I'll take your word for it, but then shouldn't he be Ottavo Rimo?

Posted by: Somey

Yes.

Posted by: Shalom

No.

Ottava rima (T-H-L-K-D)

Posted by: Somey

I'm aware of the reference, but the fact is, the "a" at the end of the first name causes confusion. He should have realized that when he registered - or else he did realize it, and did it deliberately, just possibly as a cynical and manipulative way to get more people to communicate with him because they would initially assume he was female.

Unfortunately, the username he should have chosen, Otto Partz (T-C-L-K-R-D) , has been taken.

Posted by: Malleus

Only to those without the benefit of a classical education.

Posted by: Somey

I disagree, personally... IMO even people with a fairly advanced knowledge of Italian poetry, and Italian culture in general, would tend to assume that someone choosing such a name would be female. If anything, the typical classically-educated male would be more interested in getting to know such a person, in the hopes of adding to his already-massive collection of "naughty pics" of female Italian poetry scholars.

Posted by: RMHED

About 96% of the global population then, you elitist bastard!

Posted by: Malleus

Only 96%? I'd have thought it would be more.

Posted by: RMHED

I was going to go for 97.5% but decided to give the minor public schools the benefit of the doubt.

Posted by: Grep

Floreat schola

Posted by: LaraLove

Ottava's back and forth with JoshuaZ is good times. Does Josh ever put himself on the right side of a BLP-related argument?

Posted by: RMHED

Define "right side", it is all too easy to take sides and label those who disagree as wrong.

If I had my way 75% of the current BLP's would be deleted. Some would therefore label me an extremist, I do understand this. I can see the POV of the 'other side', I disagree with it but I can at least respect it is sincerely held.

Posted by: Malleus

Sounds good to me. Most BLPs are a disgrace.

Posted by: Milton Roe

And for those that don't, you can always google the term. The first entry naturally is the Wikipedia article: Ottava rima. But Britannica is second.

Posted by: Lifebaka

And I have changed my mind, and closed it. When it blows up in my face, I'm gonna' enjoy watching the drahmahz.

Posted by: A Horse With No Name

Not much drama: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard#Premature_AfD_closers

Pretty much Ottava shitting bricks, Malley doing a "Here! Here!" echo to Ottava's moaning, and Tan trying (and failing) to say something vaguely intelligent. Pretty tepid in terms of drama.

Posted by: Lifebaka

Mm, pretty much. Might perk up within the next day, it hasn't been long yet. On the other hand, might not. Meh.

Posted by: A Horse With No Name

Only if Tan remembers his promise to take it to DRV, at which point the usual suspects -- DGG, Stifle, Ottava -- show up for a lite reprise. The fun is over, time to move on to another travesty...

Posted by: Somey

So far, in this thread at least, nobody seems all that interested in the core issue - and instead everyone is concentrating on the "drama" being generated by the situation. Why is that? Who really cares about the drama, other than... Wikipedia people?

Whatever his motives are, this article is completely self-serving, hopelessly slanted in Wikipedia's favor, and potentially damaging to Coetzee's life prospects - for no good reason, given that he certainly won't go to jail anyway, not to mention that he probably doesn't have any money to speak of. The fact that someone like Ottava, of all people, has to be the one advocating its deletion only shows how hopelessly far gone Wikipedia really is.

Posted by: Malleus

You may have bitten of more than you can chew young Lifebaka.


Quite. Which is one very good reason why Lifebaka is such a dick.

Posted by: Kato

Exactly.

I honestly think a cull might be necessary because interesting threads like this are being rendered unreadable by this crap.

Posted by: A Horse With No Name

You noticed that, too? I thought I was being harsh on the lad. Nice to know we are in agreement.

Posted by: Moulton

Shadenfreude Theatre

Notice how drama emerges as the salient feature of WikiCulture, dominating the surface issue of building an authentic and responsible encyclopedia.

Going forward, I expect that the dramaturgy will increasingly become apparent as the de factro evolved purpose of the project.

Ironically enough, that will still fall within the educational mission of WMF. But the scope of that educational mission will have shrunk to that of a drama workshop.

Posted by: A Horse With No Name

What drama? It is closer to Mack Sennett-style slapstick. When the likes of Roux, Tan and Ottava come rushing into ANI for their knockabout, it is like the Keystone Kops rushing to the rescue (and creating more chaos in the process).



This is what that "debate" reminded me of!

Posted by: Moulton

Well yeah, it's not always melodrama of the soap operatic variety.

I maintain that it would constitute a Dilbert and Sullivan style comic opera, if people would only be more accepting of the atrocious song parodies.

Posted by: Grep

I am the model of a modern business manager?