Wikipedia

And his little dog, too...

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:24:24 -0400

Burley Mitchell has never gotten the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

But his wife — and his dog — have.

The former N.C. Supreme Court chief justice says his English bulldog, Bruno, received the award in the late 1970s from then Gov. Jim Hunt.

As secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, Mitchell had started a neighborhood watch program featuring Bruno that was an early predecessor to McGruff the Crime Dog. Bruno became something of a celebrity in local newspapers.

"It was sort of a spoof," Mitchell said.

He said the award was not taken as seriously in those days. It had started as a symbolic honor for visiting dignitaries, like being a Kentucky colonel, then became more of an honor for notable North Carolinians, such as Mitchell's wife, Lou, a longtime civic volunteer.

But he disputes the idea that it's the state's highest civilian award.

"Some deputy press secretary over there started the notion that its the highest award the state gives and that concept entered the world through Wikipedia," he said.

By statute, the state's highest award is the North Carolina Awards, selected annually by a committee of the Department of Cultural Resources.

McCrory looks a little green

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:48:59 -0500

Pat McCrory is looking a little green lately.

On his Wikipedia page, the Republican gubernatorial candidate has a long list of accomplishments, including the results of all of his mayoral campaigns.

But the picture is not healthy looking. We understand that he's of Irish extraction, but really, someone needs to find a Creative Commons-licensed image for this page that's not so green.

Unless the page's been hacked...

Teitleman takes on Gulley

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:29:23 -0400

Alan Teitleman is going to wage a no-holds-barred campaign.

The Mint Hill real estate broker has already set up a Web site for his 2008 bid for the legislature. He's added links to his site to incumbent Rep. Jim Gulley's Wikipedia entry. (And added them back after Gulley deleted them.)

The fight will be personal. Teitleman used to work as Gulley's legislative assistant, but he left in January to pursue his career, Laura Leslie writes on Hunter's Tavern. She says it's the first time in recent memory that an incumbent has faced a former assistant.

Meantime, Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill notes on his blog that Teitleman e-mailed some unflattering photos of the 68-year-old incumbent.

"I've been told that you may be missing some recent photos of Jim," he wrote Morrill. "Feel free to use at your pleasure."

The two Republicans won't face off until next May's primary.

Employment Security edits Wikipedia

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:37:18 -0400

The state Employment Security Commission edited Wikipedia entries on "Babylon 5," cookbook author Sandra Lee and the town of Wendell.

The most interesting change, however, was an October 2006 edit to the entry on UNC-Chapel Hill football coach Butch Davis, who was then under consideration for the job.

An ESC employee wrote that it was a "failed program."

If Davis takes the job he will be rebuilding a program that has bottomed and is on life support. The aluminum glare from the stands from the lack of fan interest is indicative of UNC's support of football.

On another occasion, someone at the same computer undid vandalism to N.C. State coach Chuck Amato's entry. Another ESC computer, meantime, was used to vandalize Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul's entry.

The previously anonymous changes were revealed using Wikiscanner.

Democratic edits to Wikipedia

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:56:01 -0400

The N.C. Democratic Party edited Wikipedia entries on Auditor Les Merritt, Sen. Katie Dorsett and UNC basketball coach Dean Smith.

A new software program called Wikiscanner revealed the edits, which previously were anonymous.

The changes to Merritt's are the most interesting. Someone using a computer at the state party's headquarters reworded criticism of Merritt's handling of a voter registration audit and added information about a controversial part-time job:

As of June 2007, Merritt has come under scrutiny because of an attempt to block a Senate Bill that would have authorized same day registration. Merritt's based his concern on a report his office produced which he quickly withdrew due to substantial inaccuracies.

The other revisions added information on Dorsett's background, noted Smith's role in Devout Democrats, a political action committee that ran ads about religious Democrats, and fixed a misspelling in former Kinston City Councilman Van Braxton's bio.

All of the changes can be viewed here.

Anti-Smithopedia

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:28:54 -0400

Sen. Fred Smith's Wikipedia entry has swung in the other direction.

After Dome noted this morning that it — literally — read like a campaign press release, a couple of local Democrats went to work on it.

The new version excised the glowing statements about Smith's values that would likely be targeted under the collaborative encyclopedia's "neutral point of view" standard.

In their place, it substituted a few vicious attacks. To wit:

With specialties in sprawling developments, upscale golf courses and large paving contracts with the state Department of Transportation, Fred is widely known as The Asphalt King among the progressive blogger community in North Carolina.

Somehow, we don't think those sentences will survive either.

Smithopedia?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 25 May 2007 11:47:50 -0400

State senators don't typically get very long Wikipedia entries.

Until two months ago, Sen. Fred Smith's bio on the collaborative encylopedia was a scant 50 or so words, listing his name, party and district.

But on March 28, it suddenly expanded to 300 words.

The new biography reads like a press release from the Smith campaign. In fact, a few sentences are lifted directly from a bio his campaign handed out at the kickoff of his gubernatorial campaign:

The principles that have guided Fred Smith are grounded in his parent's strong influence and his childhood experiences growing up at the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh, NC.

That observation and an epigrammatic quote about how he's "not a politician" will probably not survive under the encyclopedia's "neutral point of view" standard.

The revised entry will no doubt soon be edited to look more like campaign rival Bob Orr's page, and someone will no doubt take care of Bill Graham, whose page appears to have been deleted.