| Aubrey's Outlook |
| Winning Bets the Wiki Way |
| by Aubrey Zich |
| If it is on the internet it must be true! |
The problem with letting everyone participate is you never know what information you are going to get. Take the recent incident with Wikipedia, the open-source online encyclopedia. A random anonymous person submitted information that John Seigenthaler was linked to the assassinations of both John and Bobby Kennedy.
I know what some of you are thinking, who the hell is John Seigenthaler? Well, technically there are two John Seigenthalers. one is the father who was Robert Kennedy’s administrative assistant (also pallbearer at the funeral) and is the founder of the First Amendment Center. The second is his son who is a reporter for NBC News and found the false listing for his father’s biography while doing a search on their names in Wikipedia. And so uncovered the scandal. But why would anyone lie about someone that almost no one knows? Apparently, to appear smarter than the next guy. Chicago News reports: A man who posted false information on an online encyclopedia linking a prominent journalist to the Kennedy assassinations says he was tricking a co-worker. . . said he didn't know the free Internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool. If all else fails, create the facts. Hey, it works in politics. But like lies in office after a while everyone knows. Of course, like the lies politicians tell there are probably a few people out there that still believe that Seigenthaler shot the Kennedys, John Lennon and JR Ewing and Alexander Hamilton.
Can you imagine the conversation between the coworker and this poor sap that submitted wrong information to Wikipedia after this news broke? He’s not looking so smart now, that is for sure. |
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