# What the heck is the Wikipedia background image? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840 "2007-11-09T22:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![unlimitlessly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e95f7d/32.png) [@unlimitlessly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unlimitlessly)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/41 "2007-11-13T23:11:05Z")
Since you clearly didn’t bother to check the picture, I will feel free to ignore your “debunkal”. The reason so few thought the image in post #9 made any difference is that it doesn’t look like a book. Because it too is the Great Wall. If you want to bet money on it, we can ask the Wiki folks. When I win, I will donate your bet to them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/42 "2007-11-13T23:19:12Z")
It’s A Cookbook! ---
**Author:** ![unlimitlessly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e95f7d/32.png) [@unlimitlessly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unlimitlessly)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/43 "2007-11-13T23:27:40Z")
\*\*Eutychus SDSAB \*\* Did you look at my link? Does that look like a cookbook? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/44 "2007-11-13T23:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=unlimitlessly] \*\*Eutychus SDSAB \*\* Did you look at my link? Does that look like a cookbook? [/QUOTE] You just entered another dimension. Stay there. ---
**Author:** ![Chrismoody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Chrismoody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chrismoody)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/45 "2007-11-13T23:46:13Z")
When I was young I had MAJOR issues with the old U.S.P.S. logo. (google gave me an example [here](http://www.esveld.nl/alaska/pm/a/anchorage402.gif)). I always thought it was some strange picture of a head or something looking to the left. I’m not kidding you. Either a very odd hat or a big nose. Just thought it was one of those odd things, a weird logo chosen for no good reason… Or that I was just young and didn’t get the meaning of it (like many things when I was 7) and knew it was on the “meh, whatever” scale of things and would eventually figure out the guy with the weird hat logo. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/46 "2007-11-14T00:40:06Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] You just entered another dimension. Stay there. [/QUOTE] A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. ---
**Author:** ![Hint\_Kt\_x\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hint\_Kt\_x\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hint_Kt_x_P)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/47 "2007-11-14T00:43:05Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] You just entered another dimension. Stay there. [/QUOTE] I think that is the exact scene I was remembering. I don’t know why someone with “SDSAB” in their name should be so reluctant to compare that picture with the logo. Why turn a serious thread into yet another joke thread? Don’t we have separate forums for that? ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/48 "2007-11-14T00:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. [/QUOTE] A place of things… but not quite ideas; somewhat short of the summit of knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Hint\_Kt\_x\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hint\_Kt\_x\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hint_Kt_x_P)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/49 "2007-11-14T00:58:24Z")
Why are you clown not LOOKING at the pictures?? To simplify it, I’ve taken both their pictures and combined them. LOOK [http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9885/wikilogobz9.jpg](http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9885/wikilogobz9.jpg) What more proof do you need? And why all the spacey talk? This is supposed to be the adult forum. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/50 "2007-11-14T01:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=Hint: Kt x P] Why are you clown not LOOKING at the pictures?? To simplify it, I’ve taken both their pictures and combined them. LOOK [ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9885/wikilogobz9.jpg) What more proof do you need? And why all the spacey talk? This is supposed to be the adult forum. [/QUOTE] Well, we have your “proof,” which coincidentally look alike, or we have it right out of Wikipedia’s mouth, as they say. The style is called Mono **book** , not MonoGreatWallofChina. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/51 "2007-11-14T04:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=Hint: Kt x P] Why are you clown not LOOKING at the pictures?? [/QUOTE] [Moderating] **Hint: Kt x P** , insults are not permitted in General Questions. Please do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/52 "2007-11-14T04:28:58Z")
[QUOTE=Hint: Kt x P] Why are you clown not LOOKING at the pictures?? To simplify it, I’ve taken both their pictures and combined them. LOOK [ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9885/wikilogobz9.jpg) What more proof do you need? And why all the spacey talk? This is supposed to be the adult forum. [/QUOTE] [Non-moderating] There is only a very approximate resemblance in form between the Wiki background and the Great Wall. The two images differ a great deal in detail when compared side by side. Your own image itself demonstrates very clearly and obviously that the that Wiki image is NOT that of the Great Wall. ---
**Author:** ![Chrismoody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Chrismoody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chrismoody)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/53 "2007-11-14T04:41:12Z")
Hey… That’s pretty cool… It does kinda look like the great wall of china… I didn’t see it until you put the images side by side. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/54 "2007-11-14T06:56:54Z")
Yeah, the similarity is pretty cool. But it is still a book. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/55 "2007-11-14T09:59:06Z")
[QUOTE=J Cubed] I like the [Arabic](http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/) Wikipedia background better. [/QUOTE] [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ar/2/26/Arabisc1.png](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ar/2/26/Arabisc1.png) Yes. One of the classic Islamic geometrical designs. A contemporary artist’s work on the same design: [http://www.broug.com/sfax.html](http://www.broug.com/sfax.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shai\_tan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Shai\_tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shai_tan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/56 "2007-11-14T12:15:13Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] It’s a sailboat! [/QUOTE] “You dumb bastard… It’s not a sailboat. It’s a schooner!” Wait… I don’t think I told that one right. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/57 "2007-11-14T13:35:16Z")
Well, speaking for most of us clown, it’s a book. _about_ the Great Wall of China. happy? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/58 "2007-11-14T14:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=Hint: Kt x P] To simplify it, I’ve taken both their pictures and combined them. LOOK [ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9885/wikilogobz9.jpg) [/QUOTE] I’ll admit that this picture is impressive. But please allow me to point out some problems with it: First, you’re focusing on the left side, which is the part most people see, but it’s not the whole thing. Back in post #9, **yabob** gave us [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/headbg.jpg) link. Please click on it, and you will see the ENTIRE picture. Look towards the right side, and you’ll see that what appear to be rays of light are clearly edges of a page. Second, take another look at your own picture: Between the “mountaintop” and the “rays of light”, we have a sort of border. It is a totally blank area, but it also has an edge to it. It isn’t merely that the light rays begin some distance from the mountaintop, but that there is some sort of clearly delineated object there. You can say that it is a cloud, but in my opinion, the edges are much too jagged. To me, it is much more plausible to say that this object is the little piece of tubular cloth which is often placed at the top and bottom of the binding of a hard-cover book. And the “mountaintop” itself is the empty space between the internal spine (where all the pages are folded and sewn) and the external cover (where the title and author are stamped and embossed). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/59 "2007-11-14T14:46:35Z")
I thought it was a flower. Like a large sunflower. I know it’s a book, but I still think it’s a flower when it first comes up. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840/60 "2007-11-14T18:05:47Z")
I must be a clown, because I don’t see the great wall at all–not even close. I see the open spine of a book… I thought is was folds of linen before opening the thread. Just some generic background image. I think it’s cool it’s a book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-the-wikipedia-background-image/425840.md?page=4)