Talk:George Plimpton

Was he related to Martha Plimpton? Mswake 19:08, 27 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Please don't link to pages that don't work. Unless you register witn the NYT, you only ever get an error message and a spruik. Tannin 08:43, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

It works just fine if you register. So register. Use a fake address if you like, it won't reject it. - Someone else 08:49, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

It doesn't work if you don't have cookies enabled. I don't like it when articles link to sites that require registration. -User:64.105.208.150

Yet they provide information for those who don't mind. I imagine if you propose "no links to sites which require cookies or registration" as official Wikipedia policy, you'll find supporters, but it does seem an odd proposition to me. -- Someone else 08:57, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Oh give us a break. This ain't about cookies or paranoia, nor is it anything in the least "odd", it's about having links that actually work when you click on them. For the vast majority of net users, the NYT does not work. If there is something of value to be learned from the NYT article, then why not precis it and put that information in the article where it belongs - and where it is available to all web users, not just the few that are registered by the NYT. Tannin 09:55, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I believe that's essentially what happened on this article, and so the link really should remain as a reference, even for those who won't use it. Meanwhile, I've found the answer to "Are Martha Plimpton and George Plimpton related?: they are said to be very very distant cousins. -- Someone else 10:26, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Fair enough. In general, I think our policy is not to link to NYT and other sites that require registration, but to find open-to-the-general-public sites instead. (I recall others (Eloquence maybe? can't remember) taking the "don't link to NYT" line.

But now for the $64 question: who is George Plimpton anyway? I never heard of him. ;)

No need to answer that - I can always read the Wikipedia article if I want to. Hell - I could register for the 4th time with the NYT, and forget my password for the 4th time a little later - if you don't visit sites more than once every three months or something, you can never remember your password. And in my case, I regularly use about 12 different computers, so for most of my passwords I don't have them saved anywhere and have to rely on the old Mark One braincell. The long and the short of it is that the buggerising about I have to do to read the NYT just isn't worth it. I imagine that the same applies to most people.

(unrelated, but NYT can be accessed with the guest1/guest1 combo -- sugarfish 02:58, 30 Sep 2003 (UTC))

However, although it is conventional (and proper, I think) not to link to passworded web sites, we are perfectly happy to list references that are on paper. No-one can click on a ref to a book title and just read it right away! So maybe there is a case for the NYT-style places, but set off from ordinary, directly clickable links so as to abide by the "least surprise" rule. I'll make a little edit in a moment. See what you think. Tannin 11:01, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

fair warning is certainly fair. As to who is GP anyway? Nathaniel Gay and Rebcca Kingsbury begat Calvin Gay, who married Joanna Kingsbury, and begat Susanna Gay, who married Henry Plimpton, who begat Calvin Gay Plimpton, who married Priscilla Guild Lewis, and begat George Arthur Plimpton, who married Frances Taylor Pearsons, and begat Francis Taylor Pearson Plimpton, who married Pauline Ames, and begat, lo, George Ames Plimpton (in his turn marrying and begetting, but we have reached our endpoint, and there is nary a Martha among them....). -- Someone else 11:18, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)~

;)