Crap articles

[Hex]

So I presume the entire Plot section is someone's transgendered fantasy of how the film should have unfolded. The end section of the plot appears to be complete nonsense as other sites plot summaries end at the previous paragraph with the situation resolved instead.

Reverted to a more reasonable looking version from last year. Editor blocked.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

So I presume the entire Plot section is someone's transgendered fantasy of how the film should have unfolded. The end section of the plot appears to be complete nonsense as other sites plot summaries end at the previous paragraph with the situation resolved instead.

Reverted to a more reasonable looking version from last year. Editor blocked.

Thanks for that, honestly didn't know what was actually in the film and what had been made up by the succession of IPs and SPAs.

[Hex]

Thanks for that, honestly didn't know what was actually in the film and what had been made up by the succession of IPs and SPAs.

Me neither, I just went back to the point before the main culprit started editing the article. There were still other dubious bits I had to scrub out. I've opened a sockpuppet investigation as well, although I think some of the SPAs may have been editing too long ago to check.

[thekohser]

Clothed male, naked female (T-H-L)

Alf is a real party-pooper.

[lilburne]

Magnate (T-H-L). The England stuff seems to have been added by a Plantagenet 'expert', who seems to have found a previously unknown contemporary illustration of the 3rd Duke of York but doesn't say from where.

[Zoloft]

Jeb Corliss (T-H-L)

The article was gutted.

Now it covers very little of his career, and the emphasis is on notable mishaps.

Tell me this guy doesn't deserve better:

[EricBarbour]

Jeb Corliss (T-H-L)
The article was gutted.

Just a reminder: it used to look like this.

[Zoloft]

Jeb Corliss (T-H-L)
The article was gutted.

Just a reminder: it used to look like this.

Oh, I know. It was a great example of an idiosyncratic and promotional article transformed into meaninglessness.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

How about Acorn Electron (T-H-L)?
Like the whole article the Lede starts O.K. then descends into overly detailed fan-wank.
A quarter of the article is undue overly technical coverage of accessories you could buy for it (with only the occasional source to support it)
Then reasonable technical coverage (but poorly sourced)
Then another quarter of the article is un-sourced overly-technical rubbish about tricks and tip that games on the computer used to leverage the hardware.
Finally it ends with the unsourced facts about text hidden in the ROMS including

Additionally, the last bytes of both the BASIC ROM and 'Plus 3 Interface' ADFS v1.0 ROM include the word
Roger

Really? Who cares?

[Poetlister]

Magnate (T-H-L). The England stuff seems to have been added by a Plantagenet 'expert', who seems to have found a previously unknown contemporary illustration of the 3rd Duke of York but doesn't say from where.

The picture of Richard of York was fixed months ago.

[lilburne]

Magnate (T-H-L). The England stuff seems to have been added by a Plantagenet 'expert', who seems to have found a previously unknown contemporary illustration of the 3rd Duke of York but doesn't say from where.

The picture of Richard of York was fixed months ago.

Indeed, but the image is also on Duke of York (T-H-L), House of York (T-H-L), and List of Knights and Ladies of the Garter (T-H-L). It is also marked as being PD becuase it is a contemporary portrait, but there is no such evidence. Stylistically, it looks to be 19th century, but there is no guarantee that it wasn't drawn up in the late 20th century.

Anyway,the point being that a large section of the Magnate article was added by someone with demonstrable issues regarding credulity.

In England, the term magnate has often been applied to the extremely powerful nobles that Edward III created when he split his kingdom amongst his sons rather than choosing one son to inherit the entire kingdom.

[Sweet Revenge]

Maybe you guys know about this one already: Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L). Not only that, but it was a featured article in 2004. Then downhill slide to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L) and another AfD later. Christ, though, what are they thinking?

Imagery of nude celebrities are depictions of celebrities while in the nude in any form of media. There is widespread demand for such images and is a lucrative business exploited by vendors of pornography, as well as by websites and magazines. Types include authorized images, such as film screenshots, copies from previously published images, such as shots from magazines or stills or clips from movies, to unauthorised images such as celebrity sex tapes, and paparazzi photos capturing unintentional or private scenes, and faked or doctored images.

(OK, I cheated a little by linking to the old name through the redirect, but still...)

[Poetlister]

Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L)

Amazingly, there are no photos in the article!

[dogbiscuit]

Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L)

Amazingly, there are no photos in the article!

WP:SOFIXIT!

[dogbiscuit]

Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L)

Amazingly, there are no photos in the article!

WP:SOFIXIT!

Noted something else there: take a look at the references - a nice way to put some defamatory sounding statements into an article.

Lady Macca's porno past

[Sweet Revenge]

Clothed male, naked female (T-H-L)

Alf is a real party-pooper.

And look; now an IP is going to stop donating money because "bureaucrats" gutted the article. That's gonna hit em where it hurts.

[EricBarbour]

Look at Karakum Desert.

It's a vast place, and was very important in the history of Central Asia. It's the home of the notorious Darvaza "Gate to Hell" that nitwit
web denizens are forever posting on Reddit, 4chan, and other places. It contains "significant oil and gas deposits".

Yet the Wikipedia article is pathetic. And it has only two "Notes", one of which is the Britannica Online article. I thought it was
"bad form" to use Britannica Online for references?

This is the end result of almost twelve years of "crowdsourced editing". First created November 2001. Looks like there's
been almost as much vandalism as "content addition" in those twelve years.

[Zoloft]

Look at Karakum Desert.

It's a vast place, and was very important in the history of Central Asia. It's the home of the notorious Darvaza "Gate to Hell" that nitwit
web denizens are forever posting on Reddit, 4chan, and other places. It contains "significant oil and gas deposits".

Yet the Wikipedia article is pathetic. And it has only two "Notes", one of which is the Britannica Online article. I thought it was
"bad form" to use Britannica Online for references?

This is the end result of almost twelve years of "crowdsourced editing". First created November 2001. Looks like there's
been almost as much vandalism as "content addition" in those twelve years.

From the lede:

The population is sparse, with an average of one person per 6.5 km² (one person per 2.5 square miles). Rainfall is equally sparse, ranging from 70 to 150 mm.[1]

Arrrggh... Nice Segway.

[TungstenCarbide]

Look at Karakum Desert.

no map, of course. much less one with a scale.

[tarantino]

Arrrggh... Nice Segway.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

Nude celebrities on the Internet (T-H-L)

Amazingly, there are no photos in the article!

WP:SOFIXIT!

Conveniently it doesn't mention the individuals being current celebrities or even still alive, so a nice pic like File:Audrey_Munson_-_Heedless_Moths.jpg (T-H-L) of a celebrity from the 00's or 10's should do, yes?

Although I'm surprised Commons haven't located a Porn film published prior to '88 with no copyright notice and an appearance from an actress who went on to become a celebrity. There is the Marilyn Monroe one from 1949 with no renewal though....

[Jiro]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_Stepchildren

Normal encyclopedia: "This episode had an interracial kiss, the first Americans cared about, and thus represented a notable step in eroding racist taboos on TV."

I think Wikipedia is correct here. It wasn't anywhere near the first unless you follow that with a whole list of qualifiers that excludes the other ones, and there's really not much evidence that anyone who is not a Trekkie cares about it for any reason other than being told by Trekkies how important it is. Star Trek fandom looks big from the inside, but it's not so big from the outside, and "considered important mainly by Trekkies" is pretty much the same as "not considered important".

Of course, once the Trekkies went at it for long enough, it became self-sustaining--everyone thinks it's important because they hear everyone else say how important it is.

[Ming]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_Stepchildren

Normal encyclopedia: "This episode had an interracial kiss, the first Americans cared about, and thus represented a notable step in eroding racist taboos on TV."

I think Wikipedia is correct here. It wasn't anywhere near the first unless you follow that with a whole list of qualifiers that excludes the other ones, and there's really not much evidence that anyone who is not a Trekkie cares about it for any reason other than being told by Trekkies how important it is. Star Trek fandom looks big from the inside, but it's not so big from the outside, and "considered important mainly by Trekkies" is pretty much the same as "not considered important"

Ming suggests you go and see what Wikipedia is actually saying now...

[Poetlister]

Ming suggests you go and see what Wikipedia is actually saying now...

As to what Wikipedia is saying now, see the top cartoon in this link.

[Ming]

Ming suggests you go and see what Wikipedia is actually saying now...

As to what Wikipedia is saying now, see the top cartoon in this link.

Well, it is equally irrelevant what it said then, from that perspective.

[Poetlister]

Cecil Rhodes (T-H-L): what's this doing in the lead?

In 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia and Southern Rhodesia was thereafter known simply as Rhodesia. In 1980, Rhodesia, which had been de facto independent since 1965, became a recognised independent country, renamed Zimbabwe.

[EricBarbour]

yes, Diphemanil metilsulfate (T-H-L) is an obscure drug. But I think it could use some attention, if it's on Wikipedia.

[Jiro]

Ming suggests you go and see what Wikipedia is actually saying now...

Okay, I did. It's completely messed up at the moment. The article tries to give the impression that that was the first interracial kiss on TV, which isn't true, and that it was Really Important, which is something mainly believed by Star Trek fans. (Notice the wording... "often cited as". It doesn't claim the citation is correct.)

[EricBarbour]

I can practically predict that Grimm (TV series) (T-H-L) is going to be a Buffy-style nerd magnet, judging solely by the
affiliated article Creatures of Grimm (T-H-L). Watch it get longer, and longer.

[The Joy]

Box (torture) (T-H-L)

Mostly an "in popular culture" article. Nothing really about the history of the thing itself.

[gauss]

List_of_unusual_deaths

1) apparently the number of unusual deaths is increasing as we are getting closer and closer to our age
2) plenty of deaths in the decades after 1920 but in 1910 and 1900 people died normally
3) is the list pretending to be exhaustive? Some are historical, but some are ordinary people or mythological characters. I suggest to the authors to read tabloids like Sun-they will have updates every weak
4) what is criteria for being bizarre? Some are just work accidents.

[Hex]

Arbitrary selections in a Wikipedia list? Say it ain't so!

Welcome to the forum.

[Poetlister]

List_of_unusual_deaths

1) apparently the number of unusual deaths is increasing as we are getting closer and closer to our age

I think that's perfectly reasonable; recent events are better documented. It is however silly to put in mythological figures. I'd also suggest that only people notable enough to have their own articles should be included, though there are obvious problems with that rule.

[eppur si muove]

Misses my favourite which is the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully who died as a result of a conducting accident.

[EricBarbour]

Risky Business (House) (T-H-L)

Read the plot summary.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

I think that's perfectly reasonable; recent events are better documented. It is however silly to put in mythological figures. I'd also suggest that only people notable enough to have their own articles should be included, though there are obvious problems with that rule.

There's no BLP1E for inclusion so if the death itself is notable but the deceased isn't it's reasonable to include it as well.

That said the article is a multi-car pileup with no clear inclusion criteria - get rid of accidents that had a reasonable risk factor of occurring, get rid of deaths that are common (or reasonable risk) but might have set some record (it's not the Guinness article of Death Records), get rid of natural deaths (either disaster or medical) , get rid of deaths that are unusual only because facts are unknown or because they've formed their own mythology.

Once you've done that rework what's left - I can see some sources on the subject as a whole exist to fill it out might get it to a good status.

[Vigilant]

Louis_Ortiz (T-H-L)
One run on sentence from Little Green Rosetta.

[The Joy]

List of quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World (T-H-L)

[Peter Damian]

BlackLight_Power (T-H-L). I wrote that up for the book. The footnotes look like acne scars.

List of quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World (T-H-L)

Actually that one could have been made quite interesting with a bit more context (and by implication a bit less 'list').

[Versus]

Risky Business (House) (T-H-L)

Read the plot summary.

There should be a Wikipedia policy to limit plot summaries to no more than three paragraphs. There is no need to recount a whole episode in detail. That one above is wacky.

[EricBarbour]

BlackLight_Power (T-H-L). I wrote that up for the book. The footnotes look like acne scars.

And the history looks like a sock factory explosion. Last July this was 59k bytes long. Good choice for the book.

[Peter Damian]

BlackLight_Power (T-H-L). I wrote that up for the book. The footnotes look like acne scars.

And the history looks like a sock factory explosion. Last July this was 59k bytes long. Good choice for the book.

I'm revising the edit wars article now, and I'll add the 'sockfactory explosion' bit. It's odd when you write about Wikipedia in a detached and unemotive and colourless way and include quotes and stories like these. It makes Wikipedia seem quite surreal.

A bit like Louis Theroux, if anyone has seen his documentaries.

[Peter Damian]

In the context of the other thread about admin status I was Googling 'servant leadership', and the first return was Servant_leadership (T-H-L), which is really horrible.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

Came Across The Time Tunnel (T-H-L)
featuring highlights like:

Tic-Toc base was a futuristic series of complexes 800 floors deep and employing over 36,000 people ("12 thousand people in each of those complexes").

One might also assume that Althea Hall, whom Tony meets when he arrives on the Titanic, may have implied that Theodore Roosevelt was still U.S. President when William Howard Taft was President in April, 1912; however, asking Tony whether he was mimicking Roosevelt does not necessarily imply that Althea was saying Roosevelt was President in April, 1912.

Mostly unsourced and what is sourced is often to primary sources making most of the article Original Research. If possible it was even worse last year with cKatz removing sections of fancruft in December.

[Poetlister]

Mostly unsourced and what is sourced is often to primary sources making most of the article Original Research.

I don't think it meets the definition of original research. Citing primary sources is deprecated but to be original research, it has to draw conclusions that are not quite obvious from the source. That's not to say it's a good article, of course.

[Woden.Ragnarok]

Mostly unsourced and what is sourced is often to primary sources making most of the article Original Research.

I don't think it meets the definition of original research. Citing primary sources is deprecated but to be original research, it has to draw conclusions that are not quite obvious from the source. That's not to say it's a good article, of course.

That's why I quote original analysis about the primary source.

One might also assume that Althea Hall, whom Tony meets when he arrives on the Titanic, may have implied that Theodore Roosevelt was still U.S. President when William Howard Taft was President in April, 1912; however, asking Tony whether he was mimicking Roosevelt does not necessarily imply that Althea was saying Roosevelt was President in April, 1912.

On the basis of a throwaway line about Roosevelt, the article writers weight up the possibile connotations which aren't actually stated in the source.

[Volunteer Marek]

Eugenics in California (T-H-L)

Don't even know where to start. Ok, actually I do. The lede: "Eugenics in California is a notable part of eugenics in the United States". And then the next sentence: "As an early leading force in the field of Eugenic, California became the third state in the United states to enact a sterilization law." And then the one after that, etc.

[EricBarbour]

Eugenics in California (T-H-L)
Don't even know where to start. Ok, actually I do. The lede: "Eugenics in California is a notable part of eugenics in the United States". And then the next sentence: "As an early leading force in the field of Eugenic, California became the third state in the United states to enact a sterilization law." And then the one after that, etc.

Entirely written by Nicholas morrow (T-C-L). Yet another Berkeleyite. Someone go and flunk him.

[Vigilant]

Eugenics in California (T-H-L)
Don't even know where to start. Ok, actually I do. The lede: "Eugenics in California is a notable part of eugenics in the United States". And then the next sentence: "As an early leading force in the field of Eugenic, California became the third state in the United states to enact a sterilization law." And then the one after that, etc.

Entirely written by Nicholas morrow (T-C-L). Yet another Berkeleyite. Someone go and flunk him.

Any relation to Andrew Morrow?

https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Amorrow

[HRIP7]

2010 Guatemala City sinkhole (T-H-L)

Wikipedia:

The sinkhole is approximately 18 ft (5.5 m) and 100 ft (30 m) deep.[4]

Cited source (Christian Science Monitor):

CONRED estimates it is 100 feet deep and 65 feet across.

Wikipedia:

Mariela Castañón, a reporter for the daily newspaper La Hora, reported that that the ground collapsed suddenly, taking a three-story house that was used as factory and a security guard with it. Authorities said they could not confirm the security guard's death.

Cited source (Christian Science Monitor):

“I’ve been to the site and I think it must be bigger than that,” says Mariela Castañón, a reporter for the daily newspaper La Hora. Neighbors told Ms. Castañón that the ground collapsed suddenly, taking a three-story house that was used as factory, and a security guard with it. Authorities said they could not confirm the security guard’s death.

Ran as a DYK in April. At the time, the size of the hole was still correct, but the plagiarism was present at the time.