May I Check Your Facts, Sir?

"One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head that only I can hear." Maurice Jarre never said that. Nor will he have a chance to say it, since he passed away on March 28. This quote was attributed to him by Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald. When I say that "attributed," I mean he made it up. Then he posted it on Wikipedia, and people around the globe believed it.
Why wouldn't they? Hooligans and pranksters don't just go putting things on Al Gore's Internet that aren't true, do they? Perhaps I should point at your inbox and tell you that the fellow from Nigeria isn't really going to send you half a million dollars for helping to expedite the estate of his recently deceased compatriot. And some of those hot guys and gals on those singles sites aren't using their own pictures. Some of them aren't even using their own genders.
I am sorry to be the one to shatter your belief system, but the cyber-world is a shifty place. As anyone who has bothered to click through on any of the links on this blog knows, I have often used Wikipedia as a source to confirm or reiterate my conjectures and opinions. But would any of this hold up in court? I sure hope not.
I make a practice of telling kids who come to my room to do research on the computers to find another source in addition to Wikipedia, since it is quite possible that it was another fifth grader who posted that expose on George Washington's wooden teeth. Wikipedia reminds me of the TV show my younger brother and I wanted to make once upon a time. It was going to feature all the people who weren't quite incredible enough to make it on "That's Incredible." Our show was going to be called "That's Kind Of Interesting." If you want to know who owns the world's largest ball of twine, check Wikipedia. Then you might just want to drive out there and check it out for yourself.