Talk:UMD

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[edit] UMD is Sony

Ok give it a few weeks and 99% of people searching for "UMD" will want the disc. So how about redirecting UMD to the disc and creating a disambiguation page for the others?

Well I'm gonna do it anyway. Deano 17:41, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

There's no point directing UMD to the disambiguation page. There's a link to the disamb page from the disc article. 99% of people want the disc. Majority rules.

Deano 17:41, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

That's absurd. UMD has stood for these universities for decades and in one case ("umd.edu") is a domain name for one of these universities. Additionally, the Google-test shows UMD should not redirect to the disc:

umd "university of maryland" - 1,890,000 hits

umd "university of minnesota" - 114,000 hits

umd "university of michigan" - 105,000 hits

umd "universal media disc" - 50,600 hits

Fairly unscientific, but that doesn't change the fact universal media disc comes in dead last with less than half the next nearest number of references. There's your majority rule. -Howardjp 17:45, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

okay we'll wait 2 months once the PSP is launched in Europe. Or just wait and look at the Wiki stats - I guarentee the vast majority of people searching for "UMD" will want the disc. Or just wait until someone else does exactly what I did, because there is no reason not to. It is typical American arrogance that makes Yanks think that a global product that has sold more than 5 million times over in less than 6 months is going to be searched for less that some universities no one knows/cares about. But fine, have it your way.

Deano 19:39, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

It is typical youthful arrogance think that makes teenagers think a game specification that was obsolete half an hour before they were born has more relevance than cultural institutions that are older than their republican governments. Universal media disc will be dead before this year's entering class graduates. It should be a disamiguation page. -Howardjp 00:05, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Firstly, would you expect someone who searches for DVD or CD to have to go through a disambiguation page? No, because it is more than a shortform, it is the name of the format. The same applies for UMD. It is more than an abbreviation - it is the actual product. Look at a PSP - they don't say "Universal Media Disc" on them ANYWHERE. It says "UMD". The universities are ABBREVIATIONS. Someone searching for an abbreviation that has the same letters as an ACTUAL PRODUCT NAME should not be bothered about having to click ONE MORE TIME to get there.

Go to CD. Notice how it ends up at "Compact Disc". Strange... now correct me if I'm wrong (I realise American's don't appreciate the fact that other countries exist), but a COUNTRY is more important than some university. Right? So don't you think it's strange that the internationally recognised symbol for the Democratic Rep of Congo - one of the most important countries in the world, leave alone Africa, is trumped by a "specification that was obsolete half an hour before I was born"...

Could it be that something whose acronym name is equal to its long-form trumps a country? Surely on that basis, some university doesn't stand a chance? Oh no wait, America is all powerful and so an American university must be more important...

Deano 10:59, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

I know Eurotrash likes to think Americans are stupid, but at least we write in coherent sentences. Please read your posts back to yourself before submitting; it will save me time trying to figure out what you are saying. But back to the point, CD absolutely should go to a disambiguation page. More importantly than the Congo, CD is also an abbreviation for a certificate of deposit (time deposits for those of you in less civilized parts of the world). The CD move was controversial there. But that's not my high-horse today. Perhaps tomorrow. DVD is a more interesting case. There's no DVD disambiguation page. According to Wikipedia, DVD doesn't mean anything else, therefore I do not think that is important to disambiguate. -Howardjp 13:28, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

What part don't you understand? It makes perfect sense to me... and what is 'Eurotrash'? It's quite worrying that you can't understand English and yet claim to know what is best in terms of avoiding ambiguity. And get over your "long-term" solution - wiki is free to edit, when UMDs cease to exist then someone will change it back. When the disc is in its heyday, why not take advantage of the fact?

Deano 14:52, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Since your numbers are obviously falsified:

UMD "University of Maryland" - 2,140,000 hits

UMD "Universal Media Disc" - 52,400 hits

Wait, that's probably not what you mean. Let's do that with search only in Canada:

UMD "University of Maryland" - 7,150 hits

UMD "Universal Media Disc" - 785 hits

Wow, even in Canada, UMD means an American university. -Howardjp 15:10, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

You removed the numbers you posted while I was writing my post. Here they are, for posterity:

And also, just to prove it is Americanism taking the world for granted, do a home search on Google CANADA (as in the big country next to you) for UMD.

UMD "Universal Media Disc" - 58,300 hits

UMD "University of Maryland" - 8,670 hits

I dread to think what the others would be like if you claim Maryland is the most famous... that is 670% more hits for the global version of UMD.

Deano 14:52, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

hmm well try this http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=umd+universal+media+disc&meta=cr%3DcountryCA and this http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=umd+university+of+maryland&meta=cr%3DcountryCA. Falsified my arse.

Two links to the same place, showing 58,300 of which 139 pages are unique. -Howardjp 15:20, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

That Deano chap is right Howard. I don't appreciate you treating all Americans as though we're idiots Deano - true many are, but its is an unfair stereotype. However, I agree with what you have said and I think, as a 50 year old, I do not qualify as a 'teenager'. But UMD is the future and it is the disc. It is perfectly satisfactory to follow the redirect if you want the university.

192.193.245.11 11:26, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

He isn't. Wikipedia standards require most common use with respect to name. According to any reasonable interpretation of those standards, combined with the Google data above, this should redirect to University of Maryland, College Park. But over time, UMD will reference the media standard more and more. But that usage will peak and die within a few years. Linking this to a disambiguation page is the only long-term reasonable, and more importantly, sustainable approach to this. -Howardjp 13:28, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] UMD is not Sony

Another reason not to redirect to Universal Media Disc: Of the more than two million pages on Wikipedia, only two link to UMD. Of those, one is the list of TLAs, and the other is someone's talk page (and Wikipedia standards do not apply there). The most important reason to redirect an abbreviation is for other articles that linked indiscriminately. That is clearly not the case here. -Howardjp 15:25, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

The most important reason to redirect is for simplicity and practicality. And neither are lost for the majority if you redirect UMD to Universal Media Disc. I'm fedup with your petty arguments but believe me, plenty of people in the next few weeks will come and change it without posting on the discussion.

Oh yeah and I corrected that link. I don't know where you got that 139 figure from (falsified?), but the stats don't lie.

Deano 16:10, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Not falsified, go click out on page 20 provided by Google, this time I get 116 unique pages:

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 116 already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.[1]

But regardless, my arguments are not petty. Petty is throwing out racist comments about Americans. At that point, you lost any right to be taken seriously. And even if you should be taken seriously, it doesn't change the fact that you damage the value of the encyclopedia by hijacking a page providing useful information. -Howardjp 16:23, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

You think that's racist? Mate you should try being black and then see what racism is. Don't even think about talking to me about someone being racist toward you - you'd never understand. What I said is the view shared by the vast majority of the world. Why don't you leave the media fortress of the USA and see what other people think of its inhabitants. Its not racism, it is what we have seen of you.

And as for "damaging the value of the encyclopedia", I prefer to listen to what the encyclopedia itself has to say on the matter - see Be Bold - than listen to petty,, arrogant Americans. Bye bye. Deano 18:03, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Tell me, do you dish our anti-American hatred on all Wikipages, or am I just special? No wonder Americans hate you. I hate you. But you had to piss me off first. But if the vast majority of the world feels as you do, all you've done is say the vast majority of the world are a bunch of racist assholes. Given the history of the world, this is not surprising. Racism is, historically, Europe's most influential export. -Howardjp 22:34, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

"Historically" lots of things are true. I don't deal with what happened in the past, otherwise I would still hate Germans. I deal with the present, and America is the most racist country in the world. It is also the most bigotted. Seriously, I have been there, I know. If you leave your country and come to some proper civilisation, you will realise why. Deano 10:42, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Since you've now proven my point, I'm done with you. -Howardjp 12:30, 2 September 2005 (UTC)