I don't have a term, but who doesn't love Sam Cooke? Isn't he the best?

Having a Party is my favorite song by Cooke. Followed closely by Twistin" the Night Away. How can you be unhappy when listening to Twistin'? We're now listening to Sam Cooke because of this thread. Cupid is playing now.

i've been on Wikipedia a lot lately and--
well, wow, some of the pages are in bad shape.
Sometimes i reflexively wanna correct something, like a typo or something obvious and simple, but from what i've heard of the hassle, i just don't wanna get involved. But, still, i've tripped over some stuff that is just flat out wrong or so poorly executed, it's got me wondering what is going on.

If it's something more hard science or a regurgitated compilation of facts, then it's fine, but the further it strays from the end of the spectrum--

i wonder how dependent it is on how familiar i am with the topic in that i'm aware of how badly done or erroneous it may be. They're flagged for need of an expert and verification and all sorts of questionable aspects, but how much do those warnings register with someone looking for information?

Hope i haven't taken your thread too far afield. i'll try a version of Cupid in penance.
KISS THE COOK.

Oh wonderful, beautiful Sam Cooke. "A Change is Gonna Come" is simply one of the finest songs in American history. Love Otis Redding's version, too -- just gut-wrenchingly gorgeous, I've never heard it without tears coming to my eyes. Pure soul. Call me sentimental, but god, how I wish Sam and Otis were here to see what I think's about to happen in a month (not to mention Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye and so many others)...

that for the and i dropped an e--

Look, i'm tired, it's been a taxing day and i'm really hoping its just PMT--

i don't know how familiar anyone is any more with how Sam died.

And then i forget to close a tag.

i wasn't all too clear about how Marvin Gaye's murder went down either until i saw a biography.

Call me sentimental, but god, how I wish Sam and Otis were here to see what I think's about to happen in a month (not to mention Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye and so many others)...

Now *I'M* getting sentimental. Very true, scody.

i've been on Wikipedia a lot lately and--
well, wow, some of the pages are in bad shape.

I think that the bold, beautiful experiment of Wikipedia may eventually suffer from the Broken Windows thing. It's too big and requires too much personal volunteer interest to self-maintain at a useful level of quality. I know that goes against the utopian vision of the thing, and it sure as hell has been useful, but I'm not sure the romance is going to last into perpetuity.

i don't know, i guess i assumed it had to do with the level of involvement. i don't want to fight over fixing a typo or citing an error. i don't have the wherewithal for the kind of personal investment you hear about, but i don't know how extreme it really is. With a glaring error or bias, i can see people wanting to debate it for ages depending on how invested they are in it.

ethylene, I was on a bus a few months ago and my busmate was this delightfully geeky guy, a robot engineer, who specializes in robots expressing emotions. So interesting. Anyway, he told me that if I saw an error on Wikipedia, even a tiny spelling error to change it. So I do.

It's no sweat. I don't log in or anything, just make the change. It takes a minute, max. So I encourage you. Just to test this out I went to a page I know something about, Manali, and added a comma. No big deal.

Having been a community organizer in my neighborhood for 22 years I can say that making an effort works. Even tiny efforts. Don't be disheartened.