Equal goes it loose
For anybody non-German who has ever wondered about Germany's new Foreign Secretary,
here you go. :o)
here you go. :o)
Entry tags:
Take everything on the net with more than just a grain of salt.
Or at least know where to look and double-check, if possible.
It turns out that the new German minister for economy, Mr zu Guttenberg has a wagonload of first names, since he's from the nobility. Nearly every major newspaper in Germany hit on to that fact. Among the array of names given they always gave "Wilhelm", too. Which is about the only first name Mr zu Guttenberg doesn't have.
How did it come to this?
There was a guy who decided to have fun with wikipedia, and inserted the "Wilhelm" into Mr zu Guttenbergs wikipedia entry just after the announcement of his appointment had been made. It ended up across what is basically the entirety of German media. And because wikipedia takes media citation as proof of reliability, this created an interesting circle.
So, lessons learned?
Serious journalism isn't what it used to be. The hive-mind that is the internet is largely self-referential. And wikipedia is, after all, changeable by everyone. So don't be surprised if everyone does just that.
I'm sure there's something infinitely more philosophical about this little incident, but I can't really put it into words. It was just a thing I deem very worth noticing.
This is the German bildblog entry for this.
http://www.bildblog.de/5695/wie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte/
Plus a recap of how major news sites reacted:
http://www.bildblog.de/5731/wilhelm-ii/
It turns out that the new German minister for economy, Mr zu Guttenberg has a wagonload of first names, since he's from the nobility. Nearly every major newspaper in Germany hit on to that fact. Among the array of names given they always gave "Wilhelm", too. Which is about the only first name Mr zu Guttenberg doesn't have.
How did it come to this?
There was a guy who decided to have fun with wikipedia, and inserted the "Wilhelm" into Mr zu Guttenbergs wikipedia entry just after the announcement of his appointment had been made. It ended up across what is basically the entirety of German media. And because wikipedia takes media citation as proof of reliability, this created an interesting circle.
So, lessons learned?
Serious journalism isn't what it used to be. The hive-mind that is the internet is largely self-referential. And wikipedia is, after all, changeable by everyone. So don't be surprised if everyone does just that.
I'm sure there's something infinitely more philosophical about this little incident, but I can't really put it into words. It was just a thing I deem very worth noticing.
This is the German bildblog entry for this.
http://www.bildblog.de/5695/wie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte/
Plus a recap of how major news sites reacted:
http://www.bildblog.de/5731/wilhelm-ii/
This is just too good not to pass on.
Apparently, this Gentleman wasn't too impressed with his food on a Virgin transcontinental flight.
So he wrote a letter to Richard Branson.
http://www.popbitch.com/home/which-one-is-the-starter-which-one-is-the-desert/
Gotta love this.
So he wrote a letter to Richard Branson.
http://www.popbitch.com/home/which-one-is-the-starter-which-one-is-the-desert/
Gotta love this.
You know, ...
... personally I think it's rather funny that the biggest flight attendants' union is called UFO.
^^
^^
This has been on my mind every now and then for years
How can a ballot victory be like a landslide in any way? The winner buries the loser or what?
I always associate landslides with a downwards movement, which seems so inappropriate for what "a landslide victory" describes.
The funny thing is, it works in German as well. Whether this is just another of those literally translated anglicisms, I don't know.
I always associate landslides with a downwards movement, which seems so inappropriate for what "a landslide victory" describes.
The funny thing is, it works in German as well. Whether this is just another of those literally translated anglicisms, I don't know.
Yes, I will go back to posting.
And to more substantial things too. But in the meantime, I just had a chuckle at this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7702913.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7702913.stm
Das hätte man aber...
... auch besser formulieren können.
Oder?
sueddeutsche.de heute:
" Von der Wiesn auf die Spielwiese: Die frostigen Temperaturen während des Oktoberfests führten zu einem erhöhten Kuschelbedürfnis - und einem reißenden Kondom-Absatz."
Oder?
sueddeutsche.de heute:
" Von der Wiesn auf die Spielwiese: Die frostigen Temperaturen während des Oktoberfests führten zu einem erhöhten Kuschelbedürfnis - und einem reißenden Kondom-Absatz."
Funny randomness of yesterday's news
The head spokesperson of the Air Berlin airline is called Peter Hauptvogel. Which translates to "Main bird".
:o)
:o)