Month: September 2007

from: http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2874112.ece

Now a website designed to monitor editorial changes made on Wikipedia has found thousands of self-serving edits and traced them to their original source. It has turned out to be hugely embarrassing for armies of political spin doctors and corproate revisionists who believed their censorial interventions had gone unnoticed.

The website, Wikiscanner, was designed by Virgil Griffith, a graduate student from the California Institute of Technology, who downloaded the entire encyclopaedia, isolating the internet-based records of anonymous changes and IP addresses.

He matched those IP addresses with public net-address services and helped uncover the world’s biggest spinning operation.

Mr Griffith says: “I came up with the idea when I heard about Congressmen getting caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages. ”

Wikipedia says Mr Griffith has found something they had long suspected. A Wikipedia spokes-man said: “Wikipedia is only a working draft of history, it is constantly changing and so relies on volunteers editing the pages. But deliberate attempts to remove facts or reasonable interpretation of facts is considered vandalism. We are dealing with this kind of thing all time, so that our volunteer workers are changing edits back when we think they should be changed. But it’s not perfect, it is just more transparent than some people realise.”

Wikiscanner has analysed a database of 34.4 million edits performed by 2.6 million organisations or individuals since 2002.

Exxon Mobil and the giant oil slick

An IP address that belongs to ExxonMobil, the oil giant, is linked to sweeping changes to an entry on the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. An allegation that the company “has not yet paid the $5 billion in spill damages it owes to the 32,000 Alaskan fishermen” was replaced with references to the funds the company has paid out.

The Republican Party and Iraq

The Republican Party edited Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party entry so it made it clear that the US-led invasion was not a “US-led occupation” but a “US-led liberation.”

Diebold and the dubious voting machines

Voting-machine company Diebold apparently excised long paragraphs detailing the US security industry’s concerns over the integrity of their voting machines, and information about the company’s chief executive’s fundraising for President Bush. The text, deleted in November 2005, was very rapidly restored by another Wikipedia contributor, who advised the anonymous editor, “Please stop removing content from Wikipedia. It is considered vandalism.”

The Israeli government and the West Bank wall

A computer linked to the Israeli government twice tried to delete an entire article about the West Bank wall that was critical of the policy. An edit from the same address also modified the entry for Hizbollah describing all its operations as being “mostly military in nature”.

The gun lobby and fatal shootings

The National Rifle Association of America doctored concerns about its role in the increase in gun fatalities by replacing the passage with a reference to the association’s conservation work in America.

MySpace and self-censorship

Someone working from an IP address linked to MySpace appears to have been so irritated by references to the social networking website’s over-censorial policy that they removed a paragraph accusing MySpace of censorship.

The church’s child abuse cover-up

Barbara Alton, assistant to Episcopal Bishop Charles Bennison, in America, deleted information concerning a cover-up of child sexual abuse, allegations that the Bishop misappropriated $11.6 million in trust funds, and evidence of other scandals. When challenged about this, Alton claims she was ordered to delete the information by Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori.

Nestle and corporate criticism

Someone from Nestle removed criticisms of some of the company’s controversial business practices, which have all subsequently been re-added.

The FBI and Guantánamo

The FBI has removed aerial images of the Guantánamo Bay Naval base in Cuba.

Scientologists and sensitivity

Computers with IP addresses traced to the Church of Scientology were used to expunge critical paragraphs about the cult’s world-wide operations.

I went to the old apartment a couple weeks ago to see if I could claim one piece of furniture that I thought I wouldn’t need, but I do. My key to the building worked fine, but the lock to my apartment had been changed. There were two tenants in the foyer having a conversation and I’m pretty sure they gave me a look when I went in and out. They probably heard (saw?) that my apartment was trashed and they probably thought it was my idea. Isn’t it ironic how I let the apartment unlocked so that the other tenants could take, gratis, whatever they thought useful out of it, and that it turns out someone took that opportunity to wreck the place and now I have, as the Japanese say, lost face. No good deed goes unpunished.

Except that Stewie gave me his Playstation 2 free and clear, as well as Guitar Hero + GH2. Today for no real reason I searched Craigslist for some of the games on IGN’s Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time (thanks Geisel) and picked up God of War and Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. Silly me, I forgot that I didn’t have any controllers! So that’s next on the list. Once that happens I’ll have to find some multiplayer games and have some video game parties.

Also, Mr Chris Woods gave me a brand spanking new bike, which I have been enjoying for the past couple of days! It was purchased for his dad a couple years ago but sadly he’s not well enough to enjoy it, so it was bestowed to me. It’s got a little problem with the gears not settling quietly into place but everything else is spiffy, and the seat has a shock absorber on it which makes my somewhat temerarious riding style much more comfortable. LUCKY ME!

And it looks like this:

Also, cartoon fans, Rocket Robin Hood is being released on DVD in October! WOAH! Both seasons, complete sets! This, but no full set of The Real Ghostbusters, where’s the justice?

Some things you can only do when you live on your own. Today I put on a new roll of toilet paper. I’ve always been interested in how much toilet paper I use, and now I’m going to find out. Stay tuned for exciting updates!

Let’s talk about poop.

Did you know that shit is brown because it’s loaded with dead blood cells?

I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this before, but now I’m going to tell EVERYONE: My dad taught me how to wipe my ass. That’s not very unusual of course…that’s a father’s duty (haha, I said ‘duty’) to his son. But I’m going to tell you the hallowed Atkinson tradition of wiping, which I believe I have maintained and honored, and surely must have been passed on to my father from my grandfather. Keeping in mind that my family was extremely budget-conscious while I was growing up (many a toy was created from fast food packaging, but that was also a function of some amount of creativity, I reckon), the prescribed squares of toilet paper to use was, I believe, three to four. I don’t recall if we had the 2-ply or the 1-ply, but one would fold the length of toilet paper over in half to prevent ripping. I think we’ve all had the experience of having the paper rip in mid-wipe and coming out of the experience with brown fingers. Ewwwwwwwwwww something that came out of my body! Anyway – proceed to step 2: wipe. Now, you may think that step 3 is to release the t.p. well outside your field of view, but no. Step 3 is to bring back the toilet paper and fold it again. Then, rewipe. Repeat until the t.p. is folded into a square that is too small to be of any use in and around the region in question. This has the benefit not only of conserving precious toilet paper, but also allowing you to get a good close look at what exactly is coming out of the very nadir of orifices. Fascinating! Now hopefully, if you’re an efficient wiper and you haven’t had too much chili con carnage that day, your job is done and you can move on with your life. But if not, you may have to grab another four squares of toilet paper. Just don’t tell dad.

Tonight when I should have been drawing I went to see the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival at the VanCity Theater. There was a lot of CG masturbation, including car ads and the like, but there was some good creative and thoughtful stuff hidden in-between the soulless eye candy, such as Fat Chance, Dynamo, Cafard, Video 3000, and to a lesser extent, Codehunters.

My ticket paid for both shows, but I didn’t stay for the 9:00. It seems that the luxurious chairs that they have are far less comfortable than they look. The back headrest is too big and pushes your head forward making your neck and shoulders hurt. These are the biggest theater chairs I’ve ever seen. I think if they made them a little smaller they’d probably be able to fit another 25-50 people in the theater!

The Rio is still the reigning champion of theaters in Vancouver. I only wish they were playing Stardust for another week. Now they’re playing 3:10 to Yuma.

So my new place is pretty much “gamer ready.” It seats 5 comfortably. It’s not as cramped as I thought it would be. I’ve combined my previously separate drawing and my computing areas into one and it seems to be working.

Cool things about the new place:

-Ground floor, meaning that Kodos can go outside, although so far he’s only gone about 10 feet out. I guess this means I’m going to need to take him to get his shots since hopefully he’ll be out there interacting with other creatures of the night. The day he’s weened from the litter box will be marked on the calendar in glittery orange gel pen.
-Being on the ground floor also means it’s slightly easier to get in and out with my bike.
-Laundry is included in the rent, and it’s just across the hall.
-The neighborhood is swanky and tree-filled.
-Lots of spiders.

Bad things about the new place:

-Hooking up cable, internet, phone has been a huge hassle. This is ironic because the reason I took this place is that it seemed like the least amount of hassle.
-The bathroom is separate from the suite, which means if I have to go pee in the middle of the night, I have to find my robe and the key to the bathroom.
-It’s about $200 more a month than my last place.
-No corner store. This is both a bad and a good thing. It means I have to get more exercise to get my junk food, as I’m now riding my bike to the Safeway on King Edward and Oak St. But getting across Granville anywhere south of 14th Ave is pretty stressful. The intersections at 16th and at 25th are not bike friendly, and while there is a crosswalk at Balfour, cars along Granville are not inclined to stop for anything except a deep scarlet light.
-I’m no longer 2 blocks from my work. See above.
-The landlord is senile. This may actually be a good thing if she forgets to collect the rent.
-Lots of spiders…near my bed.

I’ve never heard of the Guerrilla News Network but here are their picks for the 14 Most Evil Corporations.

Caterpillar sells bulldozers to the Israeli military
Chevron left 600 unlined oil pits in Amazon rainforest.
Coca-Cola privatizes India’s water resources.
Dow Chemical – Agent Orange
DynCorp – 12 year old sex slaves
Ford – worst fuel economy and emissions in the US.
KBR
Lockheed Martin
Monsanto
Nestle – child labour, contaminated infant formula.
Philip Morris
Pfizer
Suez – water privatization
WalMart: Wal-Mart is the biggest corporation in the world. It owns 5,100 stores worldwide and employs 1.3 million workers in the United States and 400,000 abroad, as well as millions more in the factories of its suppliers.

Many people have heard of the way that Wal-Mart steamrolls its way into every possible town, destroying local supermarkets and countless small businesses. We have also heard about Wal-Mart’s long track record of worker abuse, from forced overtime to sex discrimination to illegal child labor to relentless union busting. Wal-Mart also notoriously fails to provide health insurance to over half of its employees, who are then left to rely on themselves or taxpayers, who provide for a portion of their healthcare needs through government Medicaid.

Less well known is the fact that Wal-Mart maintains its low price level by allowing substandard labor conditions at the overseas factories producing most of its goods. The company continually demands lower prices from its suppliers, who, in turn, make more outrageous and abusive demands on their workers in order to meet Wal-Mart’s requirements.

In September 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of Wal-Mart supplier sweatshop workers in China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Swaziland. The workers were denied minimum wages, forced to work overtime without compensation, and were denied legally mandated health care. Other worker rights violations that have been found in foreign factories that produce goods for Wal-Mart include locked bathrooms, starvation wages, pregnancy tests, denial of access to health care, and workers being fired and blacklisted if they try to defend their rights.