Tag: pranks
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Braindead obituarists hoaxed by Wikipedia
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Andrew Orlowski
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The veteran BBC TV composer and arranger Ronnie Hazlehurst died on Monday night. His long career at the corporation produced some of the most (irritatingly) memorable theme tunes: including The Two Ronnies, Reggie Perrin, Last Of The Summer Wine, Blankety Blank and the Morse Code theme for Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. But when his…
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“The biggest attempt at recording theft ever attempted”
by
Andrew Orlowski
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The husband of the late classical pianist Joyce Hatto has apparently admitted to “doctoring” sound recordings issued on his own record label. William Barrington-Coupe issued over 100 CDs of his wife, who hadn’t performed in public for 30 years, on his label Concert Artists Recordings. Recently Hatto, who died last year, had been rediscovered to…
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‘Hoax’ stuns classical music world
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Andrew Orlowski
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Gramophone magazine has unearthed what one sound recording expert describes as “the biggest attempt at recording theft ever.” Thanks to the internet, the formerly obscure British classical pianist Joyce Hatto had become a critical favorite shortly before her death last year. In 2005, the Boston Globe described her as “the greatest living pianist that almost…
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Wikipedia defends reality against Stephen Colbert
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Andrew Orlowski
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TV wit Stephen Colbert has had more fun at the expense of Wikipedia with another deeply ironic prank. Last year Colbert satirized the project’s dependence on the consensus theory of truth – which for Wikipedians is a feature, not a bug. The project’s guideline “WP:V” states, “The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not…