"csherlock-4JpCh0KsSjUQrrorzV6ljw@public" == csherlock(a)ljh.com.au &lt;csherlock-4JpCh0KsSjUQrrorzV6ljw(a)public.gmane.org&gt; writes: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper_holder> Why should that be deleted? -- /Wegge Min holdning til Usenet - <http://wiki.wegge.dk/Usenet> Min weblog - <http://blog.wegge.dk/>

Viajero said: I've been watching this conversation with mounting disbelief. Somebody please tell me that the seeming loss of sense of humor on the part of a number of Wikipedians is all part of a prolonged jape, to be brought to a hilarous conclusion this Friday. No? April fools jokes are traditional. People reading a joke article on April 1 will not feel unduly put out. Most of them. We can just laugh at those who are. That's the whole point of the exercise--to puncture pretensions, confound expectations and--dare I say it--have a laugh!

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:48:23 +0100 (BST), Tony Sidaway &lt;minorityreport(a)bluebottle.com&gt; wrote: Like many, I would not object to having an April fool's article on the main page this Friday. I am against the idea of a contest that involves inserting fake articles into the main article space. Even with all good intentions, the potential for mistakes is just too great. However, I would also suggest some very obvious indicator of some sort, such as a banner at the top of the article reading: "This is Wikipedia's Featured Article for April 1, 2005" -- something that inherently identifies the article as special for April Fool's day. Remember that this may find its way into mirrors or onto printed page. When I first saw the article, as a result of Viajero's original post, I was not thinking about April Fool's. I *glanced* at the article, and saw what appeared to be a very detailed, well-documented article about a very obscure subject -- just the sort of thing we want Wikipedia to have. Had I known someone with an interest in this arcane topic, I might have pointed them to the page, or printed a copy and handed it to them. Would they have immediately known this to be an April Fool's joke? On reading it, they would conclude that it was not a serious article, but would they know it was intentionally included in Wikipedia as a joke for all to see? Or would they assume that some knucklehead had added the article and no one had yet discovered it to remove it? Let's have some fun -- it helps to keep people motivated -- but let's do it wisely. -- Rich Holton en.wikipedia:User:Rholton

Richard Holton wrote: Agree with above. I think having a *very* obvious link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer (with a section "Anything you see on April 1st could be a joke", or similar") would be a good idea. -- Alphax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alphax There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' - C. S. Lewis

Tony Sidaway wrote: Good point. I'm late and it's tired. -- Alphax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alphax There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' - C. S. Lewis

Richard Holton (richholton(a)gmail.com) [050331 01:37]: Some say we have this problem with some of our [[Wikipedia:Unusual articles]] already. When [[Xenu]] was featured (Feb 19th), there were quite a few people who thought it was a particularly creative piece of vandalism, rather than the painstakingly referenced and fact-checked article on an ... unusual ... subject that it is. (For Xenuphiles: http://static.rocknerd.org/david/xenu-2pp.pdf - how's that for reuse of Wikipedia content. We handed out 500 of those in front of the Church of Scientology, Tottenham Court Road, London on Saturday, just before the London meetup. The police found it quite acceptable. After all it's a proper objective neutral encyclopedia article, with references!) - d.

Viajero wrote: Computer experts are very serious people. They often can't tell the difference between a picture of a hat and of an elephant hidden under a blanket. If you deviate from the literal Word of God to make a joke or to add a little irony you need to forewarn them so that they will know when it is appropriate to laugh. :-) Ec