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Magnolia
Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 1707
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:20 am Post subject: Wikipedia
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Companies and party aides cast censorious eye over Wikipedia
Wednesday August 15 2007
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Editing your own entry on Wikipedia is usually the province of vain celebrities keen for some good PR. But a new website has uncovered dozens of companies that have been editing the site in order to improve their public image.
The Wikipedia Scanner, which trawls the backwaters of the popular online encyclopaedia, has unearthed a catalogue of organisations massaging entries, including the CIA and the Labour party.
Workers operating on CIA computers have been spotted editing entries including the biography of former presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, while unnamed individuals inside the Vatican have worked on entries about Catholic saints - and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.
And somebody from a computer traced to Democrat HQ edited a page on conservative American radio host Rush Limbaugh, calling him "idiotic", "ridiculous" and labelling his 20 million listeners as "legally retarded". |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/15/wikipedia.corporateaccountability?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
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Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8380
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:07 am Post subject:
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But the biggest culprit that the Scanner claims to have discovered is Diebold, a supplier of voting machines, which it says has made huge alterations to entries about its involvement in the controversial "hanging chad" election in the US in 2000. The company was criticised in the wake of the disputed results, but edits made by its employees on Wikipedia have included the removal of 15 paragraphs detailing the allegations.
"In August 2003 Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, announced that he had been a top fundraiser for George W Bush ..." the deleted text read. "When assailed by critics for the conflict of interest ... he vowed to lower his political profile."
The change, made two years ago, was quickly reversed and the culprit warned off for "vandalism". A Diebold official was not available for comment. |
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USA#1
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 2110
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:30 am Post subject:
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Oh Mags, the item on Rush is way too funny. Thanks for the laugh. Needed it this morning.  
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Magnolia
Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 1707
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:38 am Post subject:
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| USA#1 wrote: |
| Oh Mags, the item on Rush is way too funny. Thanks for the laugh. Needed it this morning. |
Me too, USA. If the truth be known, I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants!
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Magnolia
Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 1707
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:46 am Post subject:
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Nofs, you bring a good point. (I noticed that, too, but couldn't temporarily couldn't get past the dittohead thingy.)
Looking up O'Dell today... this is all Wiki has about him:
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Walden "Wally" O'Dell was chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Diebold, a US-based security and financial products company.
He was an active fundraiser for George W. Bush's re-election campaign and wrote in a fund-raising letter dated August 13, 2003, that he was committed "to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President."[1] His involvement with the campaign raised concerns that, as the CEO of the largest manufacturer of electronic voting equipment, he would have been in a position to manipulate the results of the presidential election of 2004. Since the voting systems of Diebold Election Systems are closed source and do not provide an auditable paper record, it is impossible to establish the integrity of the counts.
In December 2005, O'Dell left the company "for personal reasons" following reports that the company was facing securities fraud litigation surrounding charges of insider trading[2]. |
It looks like he's true to his promise to deliver Ohio's votes to the president... especially now that an investigation has been hampered due to the fact that those voting records have been destroyed!
And of course... Florida's had no paper trail to begin with. Anybody that doesn't smell fish in this situation... must be a ....republican!
---------------
One has to wonder if O'Dell will end up having a heart attack, too.
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Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8380
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:18 am Post subject:
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FOX News Caught Re-Writing Wikipedia History
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Someone at Fox News has been spending a good amount of time on Wikipedia recently.
In fact, you can view all of their edits here.
The IP listed is 12.167.224.228. According to Whois,
Search results for: 12.167.224.228
AT&T WorldNet Services ATT (NET-12-0-0-0-1)
12.0.0.0 - 12.255.255.255
FOX NEWS CHANNEL FOX-NEWS73-224-224M (NET-12-167-224-224-1)
12.167.224.224 - 12.167.224.255 |
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