More Wikipeida jokes: Now with substance!

A few days ago I posted a quick Wikipedia joke from 30 Rock with no particular purpose other than I thought it was funny. Over the weekend, I saw another Wikipedia reference, this time on The Simpsons:

I figure that if I keep posting everything I see on TV, I need to add some commentary to make it worthwhile for readers, so here goes.

What is interesting about these two jokes is that they are both reacting to the major criticism of Wikipedia: because anyone can change anything, the information on the site is inherently untrustworthy. In this case, a misinformed person like Homer can change whatever they want to fit their reality, and, in the case of the 30 Rock clip, individuals who don’t like how they are portrayed there can alter the facts to make themselves appear in a more favorable light.

Studies of Wikipedia have shown, however, that the site is fairly robust in that it recovers quickly from malicious edits. So, at least in this regard, the parody of the site on both shows is a little stale.

What I think the writers of The Simpsons joke get right, though, is the attitude of some Wikipedia vandals. In the clip above, when Homer mentions his desire to “change a lot of things” on the site, I believe the malice and sense of offense in his tone might be similar to what would prompt a person to do this.

Biologists create artifical life form, apply for patent

Biologists led by Dr. Craig Venter claim they have created an artifical chromosome. The Guardian reports that the process the scientists used was to inject novel DNA into an existing cell.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be “a very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before”.
. . .
Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organisation, ETC group, said the move was an enormous challenge to society to debate the risks involved. “Governments, and society in general, is way behind the ball. This is a wake-up call—what does it mean to create new life forms in a test-tube?”

He said Mr Venter was creating a “chassis on which you could build almost anything. It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons”.

via Fast Company