Hard News by Russell Brown

Friday already? The week has gone fast :-)

Then here's the Muppets' cover of Bohemian Rhapsody:

Glorious in HD, I'm told (click through for the option).

That is glorious. Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem: possibly my favourite house band ever.

Speaking of muppets, Brenda did a lot of work adding relevant NZOnScreen links to appropriate Wikipedia articles. Highly relevant, highly encyclopedic multimedia stuff. Like the Chris Knox videos...

Then overzealous administrators decided that she was a spammer, blocked her account, threw a bunch of loosely applied rules at her, and removed the lot. I'll reinstate as much as I can, but it will take a while.

It's a shame, because there is some wonderful and valuable content there.

I am startled by how many people on my Twitter feed (and the blogs I read) have been passing that Muppet video around.

I am startled by how many people ... have been passing that Muppet video around.

I found it through TV Tattle who'd linked to it on Boingboing. Popular site, I'm told :-)

Then overzealous administrators decided that she was a spammer, blocked her account, threw a bunch of loosely applied rules at her, and removed the lot. I'll reinstate as much as I can, but it will take a while.

I was pissed off about that -- not least because links to IMDB (a commercial business owned by Amazon) not only stay up, but have their own WP: code. And yet links placed by a public-good site are deemed spam.

What happened looked to me like stupid arrogance from power-tripping people who knew nothing about NZOS, New Zealand or the article topics. I gather various local editors tried to help but couldn't in the end. Brenda venting her frustration on Twitter didn't help, but I can't blame her.

Much as we love it, the Wikipedia model really has some flaws. But it's difficult to complain without getting rapped for talking out of class.

And thanks, George: your help in restoring the excised material is much appreciated.

God, I love the Muppets. And that song. So perfect.

But are there really only two female muppets, one of them largely speechless? Sigh.

Material was excised from Wikipedia by Wikipedia administrators?

Or from NZOS by NZOS administrators?

I'm slow today.

But are there really only two female muppets, one of them largely speechless?

What about the chickens?

Dammit, I am trying to remember (without Googlefu, natch) the chicken leading lady in Gonzo's affections. Is her name... Clarissa? Something like that?

Janis speaks, Jolisa! She's just far too cool a cat to waste her words. But yes, the ladymuppets are a little thin on the ground. Erm... Wanda as part of the Wayne and Wanda duets... some of the joke-tellers in the ballroom scenes...

ETA: I cracked and Googled. Camilla! I was close.

That is splendid Brenda, I shall have to start fossicking for stuff to embed.

Then overzealous administrators decided that she was a spammer, blocked her account, threw a bunch of loosely applied rules at her, and removed the lot. I'll reinstate as much as I can, but it will take a while.

It's a shame, because there is some wonderful and valuable content there.

Thanks George - I do appreciate your support. I'm still smarting about my whole Wikipedia experience. I do feel that the NZ On Screen content adds value to Wikipedia articles, it is a shame that it has been disallowed. Actually was part of a very interesting discussion with people from various cultural institutions today - talking about the content we create and how it is made freely available, at the same time retaining some kind of ownership over it. Wikipedia's approach of 'put your content into our articles or you can't be here' really doesn't work for everyone.

Material was excised from Wikipedia by Wikipedia administrators?

Or from NZOS by NZOS administrators?

Material that had been added by NZOS was excised by Wikipedia administrators.

The part that grates mostly is that links to YouTube videos, many of which are illegal, are retained - and as Russell says, IMDB even has its own shortcode!

Anyway ... NZ On Screen and embeds - it is a growing list, starting small. Kowhai, the fossik will be relatively fruitless initially :) So far there are a few obscure things that can be embedded, but probably most relevant to this audience:

In A Land of Plenty
Someone Else's Country
1951
Heavenly Pop Hits - the Flying Nun Story

We know that there is a problem embedding into any wordpress.com -hosted site. That's a bit out of our control, but we're working on it.

We also know that you can't effectively resize the player - a decision we made deliberately, but we're open to feedback on whether that is appropriate - I can already see that it causes problems in the PA format!

So - enjoy!

What a wonderful video. My Beaker is sitting by the computer and seemed to enjoy it too. Well every scientist needs a lab tech.

True, Danielle - Janis doesn't say much but what she says is worth waiting for. La Piggy says a lot, but I just can't shake the feeling she's a guy pig in a dress. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

They may mostly be guys, but what a great range of guys they are. Beaker and that indomitable, fruity Gonzo (and his chickens) are tied in my heart for most heart-breaking muppet ever.

Also, I'm told there are more girl muppets on Sesame St these days, too. (Flashback to subversive graffiti on the wall of the UC creche back in the day: "Psst! Hairy MacLary is a girl!")

Cute video, Tony. Koko wa disco ja nain daya! I need that on a T-shirt.

Cheers Brenda, let us know when you get the Wordpress issues resolved, that is where I would want to embed.

Good news. I'd be also keen to embed in Wordpress.

Brenda was an impressive speaker at the National Digital Forum this week at a Fair Use Forum. She spoke about the dread people meters, and incidentally Hamish Keith has a similar stance.

There's a fascinating post and (more so) discussion about Wikipedia on the Guardian Technology blog.

It launches from a Wall Street Journal report that "in the first three months of 2009, the English-language Wikipedia suffered a net loss of more than 49,000 editors, compared to a net loss of 4,900 during the same period a year earlier."

The discussion is full of apparently rational people who used to edit Wikipedia but have been driven away by power-trippers, cranks, people with agendas and hyperactive deletionists.

Favourite Muppet: the Swedish Chef. No idea why, he just cracked me up.

This despite being nicknamed Kermit at High School, for reasons which were only recently explained to me.

Funny enough, David Slack, "arranged" for me to give a 30s slot on Wikipedia on Jim Mora's show. Dunno why me, maybe not too many other suckers to squeeze in between The Panel and The News.

Anyway, I think Wikipedia's imminent demise is grossly overstated and that is *not* what came out of the PhD research referred.

Editors have tightened up in a most officious and annoying way but who is to say that the current state of affairs will stay around for long if Wikipedia's leaders decide to change the instruction again. One thing I take from today's regime is that it pays to understand the rules of Wikipedia and no matter how well intentioned you are, to explain what you are doing.

In the end, if Wikipedia continues to attract a community of readers it will continue to attract a community of contributors, just like any free & open source project. Once it fails to do that it will fade away, which is also fine because that means something better will have taken its place.

hyperactive deletionists

Love that.

..power-tripping people who knew nothing about NZOS, New Zealand or the article topics

Yeah, I've had that over pages that cover things that are way more relevant in an NZ context than a lot of Wikipedia is in a US context.

personally, I think the only way to deal with them is to throw shit back and wear them down. Maybe we should all make a concerted effort to reinstate the NZOS links?