Might be of interest....
I blogged about a wikipedia / scientology vs anonymous related issue which caught my eye - and then I noticed this;
I hadn't really appreciated how Wikia search can be used by interest groups (perhaps some would say in the same manner as Wikipedia?) - but it raised an eyebrow (and a smile, ito be honest!) to see how a mischievous member of 'Anonymous' has made the picture background to Wikia Search results for 'Scientology' a picture of the word 'Cult'
I grabbed a pic, but can't figure out how to put it here.....
Full Version: Wikia search a new battleground?
God, there too? A good reason to NOT use it for search.
Hey, that image feature is kind of fun.
Still, I'm no more likely to use Search Wikia for a serious search than I am to use Lycos.com.
By the way, if you look up "Jimmy Wales" on Search Wikia, you may (or may not) see a page which criticizes Wales, perhaps even at the top of all results. I can tell you, I get maybe one or possibly two click-throughs per day from that particular site link... which tells me that Search Wikia is not getting much use at all.
Greg
Still, I'm no more likely to use Search Wikia for a serious search than I am to use Lycos.com.
By the way, if you look up "Jimmy Wales" on Search Wikia, you may (or may not) see a page which criticizes Wales, perhaps even at the top of all results. I can tell you, I get maybe one or possibly two click-throughs per day from that particular site link... which tells me that Search Wikia is not getting much use at all.
Greg
Oh no!
Greg, I just deleted the Wikipedia Review.com link from the search engine results. I thought when I hit delete, it wouldn't just do that.
What kind of search engine is this!?!
Edit: Nevermind. Apparently I didn't "delete" it for everyone, just me. That scared me half to death.
Greg, I just deleted the Wikipedia Review.com link from the search engine results. I thought when I hit delete, it wouldn't just do that.
What kind of search engine is this!?!
Edit: Nevermind. Apparently I didn't "delete" it for everyone, just me. That scared me half to death.
I still can't get anything but "The End - Loading..." on every search. It's always been like that, so it must be on my end (presumably they would have noticed it after two months). But I'm not exactly motivated to figure out what the problem is, I'm afraid.
QUOTE(Somey @ Fri 11th July 2008, 1:49am) 
I still can't get anything but "The End - Loading..." on every search. It's always been like that, so it must be on my end (presumably they would have noticed it after two months). But I'm not exactly motivated to figure out what the problem is, I'm afraid.
Searching "Somey" under Wikia Search has the first search item being a WP article about Belgian singer Lara Fabian.
Very weird, this Wikia Search. Apparently it is very loyal to just searching for words within WP articles for the most part.
QUOTE(The Joy @ Fri 11th July 2008, 12:53am)
Searching "Somey" under Wikia Search has the first search item being a WP article about Belgian singer Lara Fabian.
Damn... outed!
Anyway, just for the record this is what I see, every single time:
At the moment I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.15 on Windows XP (with all the service packs). You wouldn't think that should make any difference though, with an almost completely server-side application?
QUOTE(Somey @ Fri 11th July 2008, 2:00am)
At the moment I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.15 on Windows XP (with all the service packs). You wouldn't think that should make any difference though, with an almost completely server-side application?
I'm using the same thing and was seeing the same thing--but I'm using noscript as well and allowed the other domains to be able to see something besides Loading. :-/
Are ya using noscript?
QUOTE(BobbyBombastic @ Fri 11th July 2008, 1:11am)
Are ya using noscript?
No, no noscript... I've got JSView and DOM Inspector in there, and some other seemingly-unrelated stuff like Sage (for RSS) and Nitro's PDF Download thingy which never seems to work. I guess I do have a fair number of add-ons, but nothing AFAIK that should affect JavaScript execution on a particular page - and JS code works on other sites with no problems.
Rather curious! Maybe it's a form of range-blocking, directed at me because I'm persona non grata?
I get the same thing /shrug
Seems like it isn't quite bug free...
Seems like it isn't quite bug free...
Ha! I don't mean to pile on, but a few minutes ago I thought, maybe you have to register to get it to work. (I know, I know...) So I went to the registration page and got this (I added the question mark, etc.):
...But you only get this if you start from a search-result page - if you go straight to the registration page without the "return" parameter, the button just says "Submit" like it's supposed to.
I'm not sure which was funnier - that, or the bit about "values" at the top there.
...But you only get this if you start from a search-result page - if you go straight to the registration page without the "return" parameter, the button just says "Submit" like it's supposed to.
I'm not sure which was funnier - that, or the bit about "values" at the top there.
One which values Transparency, Community, Quality, and Privacy... not HTML!
QUOTE(Giggy @ Fri 11th July 2008, 2:07am)
One which values Transparency, Community, Quality, and Privacy... not HTML!
HA!
It may be that their efforts to look less like all the other MediaWiki sites haven't quite made it through a sufficiently rigorous QA process. I should also point out that I'm not predisposed to be anti-Wikia - after all, Uncyclopedia is a Wikia site (though it wasn't originally). I sometimes wonder if Wikia would be more successful if it were managed and/or promoted a little differently, or rather, at all. I mean, if Jimbo can make $100,000 in one night doing a speaking engagement, why should he care about a company that probably loses that much every month? Even if it's his?
I'm guessing about the losses, though... for all I know, Wikia is wildly successful, raking in the dough, and Jimbo's private jet is just a few more dollars away from reality. Heck, maybe he'll use the proceeds from two of those speaking engagements to buy a $200,000 ticket on Richard Branson's fancy new space plane, so he can "kill Google" from orbit!
QUOTE(Somey @ Fri 11th July 2008, 2:00am)
QUOTE(The Joy @ Fri 11th July 2008, 12:53am)
Searching "Somey" under Wikia Search has the first search item being a WP article about Belgian singer Lara Fabian.
Damn... outed!
Well yeah...
QUOTE(Wikipedia Article on Lara Fabian)
2003: Acoustic live sessions: "En Toute Intimité"
In 2003, Lara released the best-selling European DVD and CD, "En Toute Intimité", which was an intimate, acoustic piano-based collection showcasing Lara performing songs in English, Italian, and French. On the DVD recorded at the mythic Olympia theatre Lara made her homage to Celine Dion's biggest French classic "Pour Que tu M'aimes encore" making it clear how respectful was her appreciation for the Canadian singer despite years of media scrutiny against Lara in comparison to Celine Dion. Besides some of Fabian's most remarkable hits and album tracks, one could find classics such as Dalla's "Caruso" (so often performed by Lara before); Jevetta Stelle's "Calling You" from the Bagdad Café soundtrack; "Mistral Gagnant" of French singer Renauld and a medley from the worldwide known French musical "Starmania". Lara had the chance to not only interpret the songs but she also took advantage of the intimacy in the room and closeness with the audience to play a role and share her passion for acting. The result, according to many who attended the tour, was amazing. Somey may even consider that the highlight of this concert was Lara's new rendition of Lama's "Je Suis Malade". A song that has been so popularized by Lara herself ever since she released it on her "Carpe Diem" nine years before. This time around her performance was a beautiful mixture of a spoken monologue and theatrical singing accompanied by her pianist alongside. As the second verse comes in she begins singing it in a very smooth and hearfelt way opposite to the previous dramatic belting performances from the past. The unexpected happens towards the final secction of the song everything stops. Pierre Grimard, the pianist leaves the set, Lara looks down and grabs the micro and then with her arms down she moves further near the audience and begins belting out with no micro in pure accapella delivering what may be her best performance of this song so far. As she hits the final note the audiece rises and gives her a tremendous standing ovation as she finishes falling down on the floor.
In 2003, Lara released the best-selling European DVD and CD, "En Toute Intimité", which was an intimate, acoustic piano-based collection showcasing Lara performing songs in English, Italian, and French. On the DVD recorded at the mythic Olympia theatre Lara made her homage to Celine Dion's biggest French classic "Pour Que tu M'aimes encore" making it clear how respectful was her appreciation for the Canadian singer despite years of media scrutiny against Lara in comparison to Celine Dion. Besides some of Fabian's most remarkable hits and album tracks, one could find classics such as Dalla's "Caruso" (so often performed by Lara before); Jevetta Stelle's "Calling You" from the Bagdad Café soundtrack; "Mistral Gagnant" of French singer Renauld and a medley from the worldwide known French musical "Starmania". Lara had the chance to not only interpret the songs but she also took advantage of the intimacy in the room and closeness with the audience to play a role and share her passion for acting. The result, according to many who attended the tour, was amazing. Somey may even consider that the highlight of this concert was Lara's new rendition of Lama's "Je Suis Malade". A song that has been so popularized by Lara herself ever since she released it on her "Carpe Diem" nine years before. This time around her performance was a beautiful mixture of a spoken monologue and theatrical singing accompanied by her pianist alongside. As the second verse comes in she begins singing it in a very smooth and hearfelt way opposite to the previous dramatic belting performances from the past. The unexpected happens towards the final secction of the song everything stops. Pierre Grimard, the pianist leaves the set, Lara looks down and grabs the micro and then with her arms down she moves further near the audience and begins belting out with no micro in pure accapella delivering what may be her best performance of this song so far. As she hits the final note the audiece rises and gives her a tremendous standing ovation as she finishes falling down on the floor.
Somey, Enjoying Lara Fabian Performing Je Suis Malade by Serge Lama
QUOTE(Somey @ Fri 11th July 2008, 2:00am)
Anyway, just for the record this is what I see, every single time:
At the moment I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.15 on Windows XP (with all the service packs). You wouldn't think that should make any difference though, with an almost completely server-side application?
At the moment I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.15 on Windows XP (with all the service packs). You wouldn't think that should make any difference though, with an almost completely server-side application?
HTML
<div id="theend" style=""><script>document.write(gettext("The End"))</script></div>
<div id="loading" style=""><script>document.write(gettext("loading..."))</script></div>
<div id="search-side-container">
<div id="search-results-side">
<form id="add-site" method="post" action="java script:" onsubmit="return addSite()">
<h2><script>document.write(gettext("Add to this result"))</script></h2>
<div class="add-site-message"><script>document.write(gettext("Instantly add sites to the search results!"))</script></div>
<input id="addinput" type="text" value="http://" class="textbox" />
<script>document.write('<input id="search_add_btn" type="submit" value="'+gettext("add", {id:'search_add_btn', param:'value'})+'" />')</script>
</form>
<div id="page-history">
<h2><script>document.write(gettext("Result History"))</script>
<span id="history-rss"></span>
<span id="history-count"></span>
</h2>
</div>
<form id="history-filter" action="java script:"><script>document.write(gettext("Show only changes by"))</script>:<br>
<select name="byact" onchange="histBy('act',this)"><option>all</option></select>
<select name="byuser" onchange="histBy('user',this)"><option>all</option></select>
<select name="bylink" onchange="histBy('link',this)"><option>all</option></select>
</form>
<div id="histories">
</div>
</div>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="display:none;" id="ads" src="ads.html"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
<div id="loading" style=""><script>document.write(gettext("loading..."))</script></div>
<div id="search-side-container">
<div id="search-results-side">
<form id="add-site" method="post" action="java script:" onsubmit="return addSite()">
<h2><script>document.write(gettext("Add to this result"))</script></h2>
<div class="add-site-message"><script>document.write(gettext("Instantly add sites to the search results!"))</script></div>
<input id="addinput" type="text" value="http://" class="textbox" />
<script>document.write('<input id="search_add_btn" type="submit" value="'+gettext("add", {id:'search_add_btn', param:'value'})+'" />')</script>
</form>
<div id="page-history">
<h2><script>document.write(gettext("Result History"))</script>
<span id="history-rss"></span>
<span id="history-count"></span>
</h2>
</div>
<form id="history-filter" action="java script:"><script>document.write(gettext("Show only changes by"))</script>:<br>
<select name="byact" onchange="histBy('act',this)"><option>all</option></select>
<select name="byuser" onchange="histBy('user',this)"><option>all</option></select>
<select name="bylink" onchange="histBy('link',this)"><option>all</option></select>
</form>
<div id="histories">
</div>
</div>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="display:none;" id="ads" src="ads.html"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
QUOTE(Somey @ Fri 11th July 2008, 2:00am)
Anyway, just for the record this is what I see, every single time:
At the moment I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.15 on Windows XP (with all the service packs). You wouldn't think that should make any difference though, with an almost completely server-side application?
This is also the screen that I see for about the first 8 seconds that the page tries to load, then it finally renders the page results. Then, sometimes, the page comes to life and reorders the results -- perhaps based on my prior signed-in edits and ratings.
It's a really squirrelly site, and I doubt it is ever going to get even 10% of Microsoft's Live Search, much less 10% of Google's.
If you watch that video of Jimbo on Squawk Box, when they ask him how Wikia is doing financially, it is pretty funny to watch him dance and evade and feign ignorance, you just might believe that he really doesn't know. He might not! I've heard a rumor that the venture ownership of Wikia is not entirely thrilled with what Jimbo (doesn't) bring to the table.
Greg
Think I've fixed it. Scientology.org is the spotlight now.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.