Archive for April, 2017

Wikipedia demands Burger King apologize after failed Google Home stunt – Fox News

Burger King's latest marketing stunt not only resulted in some less-than-flattering descriptions of its Whopper sandwich online but now Wikipedia is calling on the fast food chain to apologize.

On April 12, the chain unveiled a 15-second TV spot designed to trigger Google Home devices into reciting the definition of a Whopper, pulled from the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia.

Youre watching a 15-second Burger King ad, which is unfortunately not enough time to explain all the fresh ingredients in the Whopper sandwich, an actor playing a Burger King employee says directly into the camera. Any Google Home devices set to respond to voice commands were then set off when the actor said, OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?

BURGER KING'S GOOGLE HOME AD FAILS TO IMPRESS

At some point, public users changed the burger's definition and added "cyanide" as an ingredient in one version. Another user later changed the definition to say the Whopper is "the worst hamburger product" sold by the chain.

But now Burger King is being accused of tampering with the Whopper's page before the ad debuted.

In anopen letterposted Tuesday, several Wikipedia editors claim that it appears the burger giant was actually behind changes to the Whoppers official pagewhich is a clear violation of the sites rules since the edited version constitutes a hidden ad.

For years, the first sentence of the Whopper page read, The Whopper is the signature hamburger sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jacks. But a few days prior to the ads release, it was altered to include the burger's ingredients, reading, The Whopper is a burger, consisting of a flame-grilled patty made with 100% beef with no preservatives or fillers, topped with sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mayonnaise, served on a sesame-seed bun.

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The letter alleges that the new copy was inserted by two users (one namedFermachado123, which sounds strikingly similar tothe Whopper chain's senior vice-president of global-brand management Fernando Machado, and another user called Burger King Corporation.) The editors say the stunt broke several Wikipedia rules:"

No editor may insert advertising, marketing, or promotional material into any article. Our terms of use require all paid editors to prominently post the fact that they are paid, the person or company paying them, and any other relevant affiliations. Our conflict-of-interest guideline strongly discourages editors with a conflict-of-interest from directly editing an article, though they may propose suggestions on the talk page.

Now Wikipedia is demanding that Burger King apologize to our editors and readers as well as admit any wrongdoing and agree to comply with the sites rules going forward.

A representative for Burger King was not immediately available for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Wikipedia demands Burger King apologize after failed Google Home stunt - Fox News

Read This: A history of happiness on Wikipedia – A.V. Club

Over at Quartz, reporter Nikhil Sonnad has splayed out the history of Wikipedias page on happiness, the emotion one feels when watching Deadwood or telling visibly irritated people even more about the video game Bloodborne. Despite the ease with which some of us can explain this concept, it turns out to be very difficult for philosophers and editors to pin down, and the eagerness of random Wikipedians to define happiness as things like eggs eggs eggs eggs eggs has not helped. Thus the relatively unsexy subject (compared to most-edited all-stars like George W. Bush and The Undertaker) has birthed a 6,000-edit monster of an entry that reveals Wikipedias workings in fascinating detail.

As Sonnad tells it, theres something heroic about the happiness pages arduous ascent toward meaning, as it has been harried constantly by teen vandals, lunatics, and trolls. The journey began in 2003 with a humble introduction reading Happiness is the state of being happy, which over the course of three years expanded to Happiness is a prolonged or lasting emotional or affective state that feels good or pleasing. Progress was slow:

By 2006, around the 700th revision, Wikipedians monitoring the happiness page were battling near-daily vandalism to preserve a definition only slightly more developed than [the original]. The only meaningful additions at this point are a list of feelings associated with happiness, and a list of feelings not associated with it.

In 2007, this edit happened:

The introduction subsequently traveled through phases of Buddhism, homophobia, and pretension until a single intrepid user cleaned it up:

Outright vandalism is easily reverted in a matter of minutes, but it takes months and an expert Wikipedian like DoctorW to remove one not-great line. This is part of what makes defining a subjective concept like happiness on Wikipedia more like a Socratic dialogue, and less like one person writing it alone. Many of Socrates debates end with total confusionnobody really knows what to think about virtue or piety or whatever is being discussed. That is, the result may not be authoritative, but it does incorporate the views of everyone involved.

As the piece details, the page received many further refinements and passionate defacements before arriving at its anodyne but impeccably Wikipedian 2017 form. Check the whole story out over at Quartz, especially if youre a fan of Wiki Wormhole.

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Read This: A history of happiness on Wikipedia - A.V. Club

Al Sharpton doesn’t strut, he waddles like ‘a fat person’ – New York Daily News


New York Daily News
Al Sharpton doesn't strut, he waddles like 'a fat person'
New York Daily News
Reverend Al Sharpton has lost 175-lbs thanks to what he calls The Al Sharpton Diet, but that's not why the 62-year-old activist walks with a swagger. I still walk like a fat person so that's why they think I strut, he said at the SVA Theater ...

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Al Sharpton doesn't strut, he waddles like 'a fat person' - New York Daily News

Al Sharpton: O’Reilly was a spokesman for ‘white nationalism … – TheBlaze.com

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, says ousted Fox News host Bill OReilly acted asa spokesman for white nationalismduring his more than 20 years on the cable outlet.

During adiscussion with MSNBCs Chris Hayes, Sharpton, who also hasa weekly program on the liberal news outlet, talked about his past experiences with OReilly and President Donald Trump.

Hayes reminded Sharpton of a moment in 2013 when OReilly referred to him as a race hustler.

Talking Points believes the day of the race hustlers is coming to an end, the former Fox host said at the time.This we and them business gets the country nowhere. Fair-minded Americans well understand there are severe problems in the black community that have to be solved.

Hayesthen asked Sharpton if he believed OReilly was a race hustler.

The reverend said he didnt want to get into name-calling but asserted that the former broadcaster certainly promoted a very clear and in-no-way-nuanced white nationalism, and saying he said the white establishment, like he was a spokesman for it.

Sharpton was referring toelection night 2012, when OReilly claimed that white establishment is now the minority.

And whereby 20 years ago President Obama would have been roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney, OReilly explained at the time.The white establishment is now the minority. And the voters, many of them, feel that this economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff.

Sharpton said that comment was in its own essence race-based and he, I think, really felt that way in all that he expressed.

After that remark from Sharpton, Hayes said there is such a similarity between OReilly and Trump.

Theres a kind of continuity there of the cauldron of that kind of era of racial strife in [New York City] that I think defines the worldview of both those men, Hayes said.

Sharpton agreed with Hayes. We get called thehustlers, we get called the names, we get called all kinds of non-complimentary terms for fighting against people who say that they are trying to preserve something based on their race and based on their privilege, Sharpton said.

When you have an institution that seems to create an environment where thats allowed based on race or gender soon, that institution has to be corrected, hesaid.

Sharptons comments came just hours after21st Century Fox, Fox News parent company, announced it was cutting ties with OReilly, who was facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment.

After a thorough and careful review of allegations against him, the Company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Mr. OReilly will not return to the Fox News Channel, 21st Century Foxs statement read.

In addition to the accusations against OReilly, a mounting number of advertisers werepulling their commercials from The OReilly Factor time slot, a campaign apparently led by the progressive media watchdog group Media Matters,forcing the network to address the issue sooner rather than later.

OReilly joined Fox in 1996 and, according to Adweek, his program was the No. 1 cable news show on television in 2016.

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Al Sharpton: O'Reilly was a spokesman for 'white nationalism ... - TheBlaze.com

Al Sharpton: Bill O’Reilly acted like a spokesman for white nationalism – Washington Examiner

Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was a promoter of white nationalism says Rev. Al Sharpton, who was reacting O'Reilly's ouster from Fox News Wednesday amid a sexual harassment scandal.

During an interview on MSNBC, Sharpton, who has his own show on the network, discussed his contentious relationship with O'Reilly. Among the name calling and insults O'Reilly has flung at Sharpton over the years, the time he was called a "race hustler" was brought up, and host Chris Hayes asked if he though O'Reilly was a race hustler.

Sharpton said he wouldn't sink to name calling, but contended that O'Reilly "certainly promoted a very clear and in no way nuanced white nationalism, and saying he said the white establishment, like he was a spokesman for it."

He referred to one clip played moments earlier from Election Night 2012 in which O'Reilly said the "white establishment is now the minority." Sharpton said this statement was "in its own essence race-based. And he, I think, really felt that way in all that he expressed."

MSNBC played a number of clips showing O'Reilly's questionable comments about race, including one as recent as in the past few weeks, when he referred to Rep. Maxine Waters' hair as "James Brown wig."

Sharpton also talked about comments on racial stereotypes O'Reilly made in 2007 about a dinner he and Sharpton had together in Harlem, which came off as racist. Among the comments he made, O'Reilly spoke about the "primarily black patronship," and noted that there "wasn't any kind of craziness at all" during the dinner at the restaurant Sylvia's and that "there wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea.'" O'Reilly later shot back that his comments were not racist and taken out of context.

Still, Sharpton described those comments as being a "personal reflection of a night that he and I were arguing as you say he would often attack me."

He added that it showed O'Reilly perspective on race. "He became the spokesman for the right wing in this whole kind of going back to the pre-civil rights days in my judgment," Sharpton said.

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Al Sharpton: Bill O'Reilly acted like a spokesman for white nationalism - Washington Examiner