Another Reason Why I Hate Wikipedia

Wikipedia stinks for many and various reasons, although it does have its uses for those who realize its limitations.

So I am wondering about Moldova (don't ask why I am wondering about Moldova during Holy Week when I have a zillion other things to do, but I was) so I decide to check out the Wikipedia page for Moldova.

In pretty much anything that has anything to do with a foreign country, there is always some joker who goes through and changes everything to the foreign way of spelling it, and justifies it by saying it's the "right" way.

For example, Chişinău is the capital. The CIA World Factbook, as well as the website of the Moldovan Embassy in the United States and the official English-language Moldovan government website, spell it Chisinau. But some jerkface has to go through and add all the little marks all over.

Note to foreigners: the English Wikipedia should be in English. I don't go through the Moldovan wikipedia's five or six pages and change every American place name to the English spelling, do I?

Some Polish dude did the same thing to the Casimir Pulaski page. We have a stinking holiday named after him! He's an important dude in our history! That is how we spell it in English! Leave us alone!

Why I Am a Facebook Luddite.

I had lunch with a friend of mine yesterday and he was talking about Facebook. Bah.

Facebook stinks.

The truth is, I have no real reason to be anti-Facebook. I have been a computer nerd from way back. Email, AIM, IRC; I was chatting on a BSS on dial-up 300 baud modems for crying out Pete. Why am I such a Facebook hater?

"But I have gotten in touch with so many people I went to (elementary/high school/college) with!"

If they are so great, why did you lose touch with them in the first place?

People used to call their friends or write letters. Then we got email. Email was awesome. Now, these people check Facebook to see if someone sent them a message. They can set it send an email to them when they have a message from someone. That's like having the post office send you a postcard to come pick up a letter that somebody sent you.

I will probably end up doing it. I realize this. This is probably one of the other reasons I am so opposed to it, because I know I will give in, just like I did with the mobile phone.

Bah.

No election in 2012.

They shouldn't even have a presidential election in 2012. Unless something goes horribly wrong, there's no way Barack will lose.

Whichever arrogant fool wants to self-delude into becoming the Republican Walter Mondale is welcome to, I guess, but we could all save a lot of time, money, and mental energy if the GOP just figured out by about July 2011 if they have any realistic shot at all or not. My guess is they won't.

Spare us.

Avoiding offending people at all costs.

From an article about getting rid of Latin phrases in local governments in England:

Linguistic controversies are nothing new in Britain, cradle of the English language, where people have strong opinions on what constitutes proper usage. In recent years officials have moved to avoid language that gives offense to ethnic minorities, disabled people and other groups.
Predictably, some feel the drive has gone too far. Many were bemused earlier this year when it was reported that a town council had banned the word "brainstorm" because it might offend people with epilepsy, a condition that involves periodic electrical storms inside the brain. Tunbridge Wells council advised using "thought showers" instead.

"Thought showers."

Sweet mother of pearl.