This user has resigned from editing at Wikipedia after 1 year of service. This is due to being treated with complete and utter disrespect which is a common tactic of the majority of administrators at wikipedia and a practice which isn't even frowned upon by this organisation. I therefore cannot justify contributing any more time and effort to Wikipedia. Factoid Killer 10:42, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
To be checked regularly...
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| Factoid |
Description |
Date Squashed |
| Mt Isa, world's largest city |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mount_Isa%2C_Queensland. This isn't such a bad factoid. Afteral, Mt Isa is a very large city and the guinness book of records apparently have suggested it is the world's largest city in the past. However, it is a factoid just the same and i've fount two cities much larger. This factoid is a common belief throughout Queensland, Australia. See List of cities by size (area) |
18 Nov 2005 |
| Aussie Rules - Most popular sport in Australia where evidence is based on counting attendance or even states! |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Australian_rules_football#Attendance_Record_Cop-Outs_and_Factoids. While Australian Football is the most popular sport in Australia, the followers of this sport often use the argument that Australia's second most popular sport Rugby League is only popular in two states compared to Australian football which is popular in four states and one territory. The problem is that when you add up the populations of the two states you get a number in excess of half of the entire country's population. This Factoid leaves people thinking that the gap between popularity of Australian football and Rugby League is larger than it really is. Another tactic they'll use is to rely on game attendance records as opposed to televion viewership. Game attendance is always higher because Australian Football fans have a culture for attending games. |
21 Nov 2005 |
| The Brisbane Line did NOT pass south of Brisbane city! |
The Brisbane Line and History of Brisbane. The Brisbane line is supposedly a line drawn by the Menzies gov. during WWII depicting the area of Australia they would bother to protect, with Australia's limited millitary resources, should the Japanese invade. Nobody really knows if the Brisbane Line ever exitsted but it is a true allegation put to the Menzies government. The Factoid is in the idea that they bothered to extend this line far enough north to protect the sparcely populated areas south of Brisbane but then left out Brisbane, which is Australia's third largest city, altogether! Anecdotally i've heard this story from a number of Victorian born residents of Brisbane but I never expected to see it posted on wikipedia! |
10 Feb 2006 |
| Tropical and subtropical regions rarely receive hail??? |
A classic misconception of people who live in temperate regions. Temperate regions receive soft hail. These are small hail stones that fall from the sky during cold weather. Tropical and subtropical regions receive seasonal hail storms in which hail stones the size of golf balls or even tennis balls can fall. The hail stones are much larger than those you'd find in a temperate region. There's also usually more of it and these storms occur on a more regular basis than soft hail showers. To top it off, these storms are generally restricted to the warmest months of the year. This fact seriously puts a hole in the suggestion posted in the hail article that hail is rare in such regions due to the warm weather! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Hail#Tropical_and_Subtropical_Regions |
18 Feb 2006 |
| Australia and New Zealand are the Antipodes??? |
Firstly I want to state that AFAIK the wikipedia Antipodes article has never suggested this is the case. The term Antipodes is a mathematical and geographical term. It refers to two opposing points of a sphere. In the United Kingdom somebody has taken this and turned it into a slang term to refer to the countries of Australia and New Zealand (and sometimes the people of those nations). It's a little bit arrogant when you consider the the fact that NZ is larger than the UK and the UK could fit inside Australia something like 31 times! Not to mention the extreme POV factor. It's also very incorrect because the antipodal point of the UK is quite a long way off Australia and New Zealand. Nonetheless it is term used in the UK and from its use has come a common misconception, and factoid, that the antipodal point of the Uk somehow encompasses Australia and New Zealand. What I object to in the Wikipedia article on the subject is the fact that there was an explanation of the slang term without an accompanying explanation of the fact that using the term in this way is incorrect. There have also been efforts to remove or hide the explanation since my adjustment. I guess it makes some people feel a bit silly. |
07 Mar 2006 |
| Temperate regions have less rain than tropical or subtropical regions |
I've come across a number of city type articles where a vague, unqualified statement suggests to the reader that a temperate city has better weather than a tropical city based purely on rainfall measurements. The Melbourne article, which hs since been corrected, suggested something similar in a comparison to Sydney (which is sub-tropical) as did the London article. While it is true, that when you measure rainfall specifically, subtropical and tropical regions receive more rainfall than temperate regions. However, temperate regions experience far more rainy days. Tropical regions receive heavy rainfall over relatively short periods. Temperate regions are often overcast and receive light drizzle more often than heavy rain. This kind of argument is quite common and whilst technically correct it is also deliberately misleading and thus qualifies as a Factoid |
25 Mar 2006 |
| Oceania isn't a continent under any continental model. |
In europe there seems to be a common misconception that there is a continent called 'Oceania'. This is possibly because the geographical region of Oceania is used by sporting bodies for the olympic games commitee and regional Soccer coordination. Sporting bodies do this as a necessity due to the large number of south pacific islands that don't form part of any Continent not to mention the fact that the continent of 'Australia' contains only 1 country. While there are a number of continental models, claiming 5, 6 or 7 continents, Oceania is not a continent under any of those models. It should also be noted that Australasia is also a geographical/geopolitical region and NOT a continent. |
01 Apr 2006 |
| Q1 Spire is not the world's tallest spire |
Tis the world's tallest spire mounted on a building. The Spire of Dublin alone is over 20 metres taller. Lets just stick to it being the tallest residential building on earth. |
26 Apr 2006 |
