by Paula Neal MooneyThose Wikipedia editors got the net in a tizzy this week when some wise guy reported that comedian Sinbad had died.
As you can see from the below screenshot of Sinbad's current Wikipedia page, it has been locked down to prevent pranksters from spreading more death rumors about the funny "son of a preacher man."
But I've spent a good deal of time this morning looking for Sinbad's original Wikipedia page screenshot that falsely reported his death in the first place.
I'm sure some intrepid 12-year-old grabbed a screenshot of Sinbad's Wikipedia death page, just for giggles.
Does anyone have it?
Wikipedia is a great resource, but I always take it with a grain of salt and perform a lot of back-up research on what is reported therein because of stunts like this.
Remember when the Wikipedians created a whole detailed page about Halle Berry's impending music CD that turned out to be a hoax?
Birthdays are sometimes wrong on Wikipedia.
And then there was that whole scandal about Wikipedia editor "Essjay," actually Ryan Jordan, a 24 year-old from Kentucky.
Essjay claimed he had a ton of credentials and degrees that he didn't hold.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales fired Jordan when the truth emerged.
So there you go.
Sinbad is very much alive.
And Wikipedia is very much in need of an editorial overhaul.
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Tags: sinbad ,not ,dead ,wikipedia ,screenshot ,editor ,image ,original ,page ,death ,hoax ,comic
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Comments
This is exactly why when my students want to use wikipedia for research that I tell them no. It's too hard for students to tell what's credible and what's not. For that matter, it's difficult, sometimes, for adults to tell!
Thanks for helping to regain and maintain the sanity!
I love, love, love the picture in your header...awesome job!
Hey Bonnie and Laura - So glad you like the header! The Lord had me working on it a bit yesterday and I'm glad it turned out well.
I had to stand back and take an honest look at my own jumbled-up blog and make it look better.
Still working...
Take care all,
Paula
Funny, a friend asked me, I think it was yesterday, if I had heard anything about Sinbad's death. my first thought was that it was fake, like how a while ago everyone was saying Jaleel White was dead.
by the time I looked into it, of coarse it was it was indeed not true.
Wikipedia is a good source of information, but yea it does have its problems.
Life is so interesting, its stories like this that make me say wow, God really can turn anything around! Great Story Paula!
Funny how the internet can give false information.
It was sung to the tune of "Wade in the Water," but I didn't know that old spiritual back then.
Glad Sinbad is stil alive and kicking!