Jimbo's date of birth, Wants it kept secret Options

[Detective]

Hello. Don't know if anyone has spotted this before, but the Jimmy Wales article in Encyclopaedia Britannica says

Jimmy Donal Wales
born Aug. 7, 1966, Huntsville, Ala., U.S. [see Researcher's Note]

The note says

There is some confusion over the date of Jimmy Wales's birth. A number of sources—including Current Biography and Who's Who in America as well as a marriage license filed in Monroe county, Florida—give his birth date as Aug. 7, 1966. In June 2007 Mr. Wales notified Britannica that this date was incorrect. However, Mr. Wales would provide Britannica with the correct date and appropriate documentation only if it was agreed that his date of birth would not be published, which runs contrary to Britannica's policies. Given that the majority of sources report Aug. 7, 1966, and without documentation that disproves this date, Britannica has decided to give August 7.

So much for making information free. And why doesn't he have a birth certificate? Was he really born in Kenya?

[thekohser]

Was he really born in Kenya?

Worse. He was born in Alabama.


Welcome, Detective. Your topic was briefly discussed about a year ago, and also about 9 months before that.

[Detective]

Thanks for the welcome.

So it's been noted but hardly discussed before. I thought it was interesting, maybe even funny. Incidentally, I was quoting the 2010 edition so the matter is still unresolved at least three years after Britannica raised it.

[the fieryangel]

Thanks for the welcome.

So it's been noted but hardly discussed before. I thought it was interesting, maybe even funny. Incidentally, I was quoting the 2010 edition so the matter is still unresolved at least three years after Britannica raised it.

Google is your friend....

This burning question was resolved in 2007 in this article :

Wales declined to tell me what day he was actually born ("Nobody knows," he said mysteriously), but a public records search shows that his Florida driver's license lists his birthday as Aug. 8, 1966.

Jimbo even called this a "proper source" in his own blog....

So, where's the problem? You mean that they still haven't corrected this after three years? You find that surprising?

Mr. Detective, you need to meet Mr. Tarantino...

[anthony]

Thanks for the welcome.

So it's been noted but hardly discussed before. I thought it was interesting, maybe even funny. Incidentally, I was quoting the 2010 edition so the matter is still unresolved at least three years after Britannica raised it.

Google is your friend....

This burning question was resolved in 2007 in this article :

Wales declined to tell me what day he was actually born ("Nobody knows," he said mysteriously), but a public records search shows that his Florida driver's license lists his birthday as Aug. 8, 1966.

Jimbo even called this a "proper source" in his own blog....

So, where's the problem? You mean that they still haven't corrected this after three years? You find that surprising?

Mr. Detective, you need to meet Mr. Tarantino...

Haha, then in December 2010 he posts this:

I was born on the 7th of August, according to my mother. My legal paperwork all says 8th of August, due to an error on my birth certificate. I am of the firm opinion that the discussion in the Wikipedia entry on me should all be removed in favor of simply saying that my date of birth is the 7th.--[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] ([[User talk:Jimbo Wales#top|talk]]) 18:12, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

[Milton Roe]

Haha, then in December 2010 he posts this:

I was born on the 7th of August, according to my mother. My legal paperwork all says 8th of August, due to an error on my birth certificate. I am of the firm opinion that the discussion in the Wikipedia entry on me should all be removed in favor of simply saying that my date of birth is the 7th.--[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] ([[User talk:Jimbo Wales#top|talk]]) 18:12, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

This has the makings of a good one. For Jimbo himself is not a reliable source regarding when he was born. While he might have been present, I'm sure his memory for it is lacking. As for Jimbo's mother's memory, there's just no way to accept in on his BLP, since it's controversial, unpublished, and contradicted by official public records. Records that, I may add, Jimbo has had more than 20 years of opportunity to change after the age of majority. And from Jimbo, all we really have, is HEARSAY regarding his mother's memory, anyway. Even worse.

Sorry, Jimmy, but you've been pwned by your own encyclopedia standards. Or ought to be. How it actually works out to give you a personal hypocritical "pass" on your own rules, is something else again. Of course.

[Brutus]

This has the makings of a good one. For Jimbo himself is not a reliable source regarding when he was born. While he might have been present, I'm sure his memory for it is lacking. As for Jimbo's mother's memory, there's just no way to accept in on his BLP, since it's controversial, unpublished, and contradicted by official public records. Records that, I may add, Jimbo has had more than 20 years of opportunity to change after the age of majority. And from Jimbo, all we really have, is HEARSAY regarding his mother's memory, anyway. Even worse.

Wishing anyone the best of luck with that. There are other ways to make a good one,
I'm curious, has the Wales article ever been nominated for "Featured Article"?

[CharlotteWebb]

Wishing anyone the best of luck with that. There are other ways to make a good one,
I'm curious, has the Wales article ever been nominated for "Featured Article"?

Yes.

[Kelly Martin]

This has the makings of a good one. For Jimbo himself is not a reliable source regarding when he was born. While he might have been present, I'm sure his memory for it is lacking. As for Jimbo's mother's memory, there's just no way to accept in on his BLP, since it's controversial, unpublished, and contradicted by official public records. Records that, I may add, Jimbo has had more than 20 years of opportunity to change after the age of majority. And from Jimbo, all we really have, is HEARSAY regarding his mother's memory, anyway. Even worse.

The truly sad thing about all this is that when this came up about three or four years ago, Jimbo said almost exactly the same thing that you said above. (I wish I could cite to it, but while I remember reading him say it, I don't remember where it was.)

[anthony]

This has the makings of a good one. For Jimbo himself is not a reliable source regarding when he was born. While he might have been present, I'm sure his memory for it is lacking. As for Jimbo's mother's memory, there's just no way to accept in on his BLP, since it's controversial, unpublished, and contradicted by official public records. Records that, I may add, Jimbo has had more than 20 years of opportunity to change after the age of majority. And from Jimbo, all we really have, is HEARSAY regarding his mother's memory, anyway. Even worse.

The truly sad thing about all this is that when this came up about three or four years ago, Jimbo said almost exactly the same thing that you said above. (I wish I could cite to it, but while I remember reading him say it, I don't remember where it was.)

According to a comment made by Wales himself on 18 September 2004 to Wikipedia, "My actual birthday is August 7th, 1966. This is unverifiable information, I'm sorry to say, since my driver's license and passport say August 8. If we must revert on that basis, then I guess we must... Maybe I'll have to upload a signed note from my mom as documentary evidence; the only proof that I have is her sayso." Wales' comments have subsequently been deleted by an administrator with "oversight" privilege, to make it appear as though he never said these words. They are however available on early database dumps.

http://www.nndb.com/people/953/000114611/

[Jon Awbrey]

Was he really born in Kenya?

Worse. He was born in Alabama.

Welcome, Detective. Your topic was briefly discussed about a year ago, and also about 9 months before that.

Seriously, leave the dud alone. If his real DOB gets out, he'll have to change all his passwords, including his Wikipedia Autodestruct Login Electronic Signature.

Jon

[Detective]

Wishing anyone the best of luck with that. There are other ways to make a good one,
I'm curious, has the Wales article ever been nominated for "Featured Article"?

Don't featured articles have to be completely unprotected while they're featured? Would His Majeesty tolerate his bio being unprotected?

[CharlotteWebb]

Wishing anyone the best of luck with that. There are other ways to make a good one,
I'm curious, has the Wales article ever been nominated for "Featured Article"?

Don't featured articles have to be completely unprotected while they're featured? Would His Majeesty tolerate his bio being unprotected?

FlaggedRevs blah blah blah FlaggedRevs.

[melloden]

Wishing anyone the best of luck with that. There are other ways to make a good one,
I'm curious, has the Wales article ever been nominated for "Featured Article"?

Don't featured articles have to be completely unprotected while they're featured? Would His Majeesty tolerate his bio being unprotected?

No.

[Milton Roe]

This has the makings of a good one. For Jimbo himself is not a reliable source regarding when he was born. While he might have been present, I'm sure his memory for it is lacking. As for Jimbo's mother's memory, there's just no way to accept in on his BLP, since it's controversial, unpublished, and contradicted by official public records. Records that, I may add, Jimbo has had more than 20 years of opportunity to change after the age of majority. And from Jimbo, all we really have, is HEARSAY regarding his mother's memory, anyway. Even worse.

The truly sad thing about all this is that when this came up about three or four years ago, Jimbo said almost exactly the same thing that you said above. (I wish I could cite to it, but while I remember reading him say it, I don't remember where it was.)

According to a comment made by Wales himself on 18 September 2004 to Wikipedia, "My actual birthday is August 7th, 1966. This is unverifiable information, I'm sorry to say, since my driver's license and passport say August 8. If we must revert on that basis, then I guess we must... Maybe I'll have to upload a signed note from my mom as documentary evidence; the only proof that I have is her sayso." Wales' comments have subsequently been deleted by an administrator with "oversight" privilege, to make it appear as though he never said these words. They are however available on early database dumps.

http://www.nndb.com/people/953/000114611/

Insert facepalm pic.

It is indeed the fate of all people and places to finally become parodies of themselves. Here, Jimbo is all ready to face up to the implications of his own dumb policies, and yet in the end, and after not that many years, he just can't QUITE do it. It's fine for others, but not fine for His Royalness. And so, as usual, he ended up learning nothing from it.

It's very much like Sue Gardner missing the chance to learn something from the question of why SHE herself doesn't edit WP. Jimbo missed learning something from the experience of having his OWN private information about himself be true, yet unverifiable. And of course, we all know that this special protective squad has kept him from the squallor of having to protect his BLP from vandalism every few minutes.

Oh, well, back to my biography of Hemingway. I'm at the part late in his life where he's making fun of his late friend Scott Fitzgerald's alcoholism, while at the same time, drinking himself to death. So it goes.

[CharlotteWebb]

It's very much like Sue Gardner missing the chance to learn something from the question of why SHE herself doesn't edit WP.

Yeah she does. Who posed that question?

[Milton Roe]

It's very much like Sue Gardner missing the chance to learn something from the question of why SHE herself doesn't edit WP.

Yeah she does. Who posed that question?

So far as I can tell, nobody. Sue asks herself and answers herself.

Here it is, added by Sue. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=286778452

I think it got put into FAQ or QA format somehow later. Apparently by Sue. It's a self-interview.

She does have a bit of the WP experience, I see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=276700996