Dry humor from Wikipedia quotes

[Superfluous_Parentheses]

From the (excellent and frankly, as a programmer, terrifying) article on Unix time, the section on time_t, the data structure describing time in a Unix system as the number of seconds since or before midnight 1 Jan 1970 UTC (but only roughly; read the article in full), states:

In some newer operating systems, time_t has been widened to 64 bits. In the negative direction, this goes back more than twenty times the age of the universe, and so suffices. In the positive direction, whether the approximately 293 billion representable years is truly sufficient depends on the ultimate fate of the universe, but it is certainly adequate for most practical purposes.

[Ludovic]

I’ve been waiting for a thread to mention this, as direct humor in actual wikipedia articles is rare (as opposed to relaying a humorous anecdote or joke):

In the article on the Map-territory relation, there is a caption with an image of Magritte’s The Treachery of Images.

The caption reads:

This is not a pipe. It is a reproduction of “The Treachery of Images,” René Magritte’s 1928–29 painting, which is also not a pipe.

[Superfluous_Parentheses]

This is not a pipe. It is a reproduction of “The Treachery of Images,” René Magritte’s 1928–29 painting, which is also not a pipe.

That is excellent. I hope no sour-faced wiki Nazi removes it.

[Kozmik]

This is not a simulacrum. (Understanding Simulacra) :eek:

[The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun]

I always liked this quote from the Wikipedia article on the movie Damnation Alley:

Because of this last-minute decision, Damnation Alley was in post-production an inordinate amount of time (10 months) due to the difficult process of superimposing optical effects on the sky in eighty percent of the shots (to simulate the aftereffects of nuclear war). It was during this post-production period that 20th Century Fox released their “other” science fiction film. The studio had planned to release only two science fiction films in 1977, with Damnation Alley intended to be the blockbuster.

The other film — in which 20th Century Fox executives had very little confidence — was Star Wars.

[MilTan]

My favorite is not actually a joke, but its absurdist humor is really highlighted by the sheer matter-of-factness with which the information is conveyed. I give you, the opening sentence of the Wikipedia article on General Butt Naked:

Joshua Milton Blahyi (born September 30, 1971), better known by his nom de guerre of General Butt Naked, was originally a tribal priest before becoming a Liberian warlord-turned-preacher.

[Alka_Seltzer]

Wikipedia:lamest Edit Wars has many example.

An unidentified clerk (center) tries to bring to an end a great edit war involving dozens of respected editors. At her feet, three bewildered newcomers are seen caught in the middle of the dispute.

[appleciders]

@Alka_Seltzer

Wikipedia:lamest Edit Wars has many example.

I love it!