Science & Technology

Friday Procrastination Link: Wikigroaning

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Long summer Friday afternoon at work got you down? Have you tried Wikigroaning? Here's how it works:

First, find a useful Wikipedia article that normal people might read. For example, the article called "Knight." Then, find a somehow similar article that is longer, but at the same time, useless to a very large fraction of the population. In this case, we'll go with "Jedi Knight." Open both of the links and compare the lengths of the two articles. Compare not only that, but how well concepts are explored, and the greater professionalism with which the longer article was likely created….The next step is to find your own article pair and share it with your friends, who will usually look for their own pairs and you end up spending a good hour or two in a groaning arms race.

Some sample pairs to get your started:

Prime number
Optimus Prime

Raphael (archangel)
Raphael (ninja turtle)

Love
Masturbation

Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Girlfriend
Video games

Or–a slightly more educational option, but just slightly–your could pass the afternoon reading thousands of words about Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder, from reason's June issue.