From <http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/10/2211220>slashdot:
"Germany has a new minister of economic affairs.
Mr. von und zu Guttenberg is descended from an
old and noble lineage, so his official name is
very long: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann
Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von
und zu Guttenberg. When first there were rumors
that he would be appointed to the post, someone
changed his Wikipedia entry and added the name
'Wilhelm,' so Wikipedia stated his full name as:
Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp
Wilhelm Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und
zu Guttenberg. What resulted from this edit
<http://www.bildblog.de/5695/wie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte/>points
up a big problem for our information society (in
German;
<http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bildblog.de%2F5695%2Fwie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte%2F&sl=de&tl=en>Google
translation). The German and international press
picked up the wrong name from Wikipedia
including well-known newspapers, Internet sites,
andd TV news such as spiegel.de, Bild, heute.de,
TAZ, or Sueddeutsche Zeitung. In the meantime,
the change on Wikipedia was reverted, with a
request for proof of the name. The proof was
quickly found. On spiegel.de an article cites Mr.
von und zu Guttenberg using his 'full name';
however, while the quote might have been real,
the full name seems to have been looked up on
Wikipedia while the false edit was in place. So
the circle was closed: Wikipedia states a false
fact, a reputable media outlet copies the false
fact, and this outlet is then used as the source
to prove the false fact to Wikipedia."
Wikipedia has thus successfully created truth.
--
Posted By johl to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/02/wikipedia-echo-chamber-of-verifiability.htm>monochrom
at 2/11/2009 04:40:00 PM