Trekkie Sues Christie's for Fraudulent Props

Token_Internet_Girl passed us a link to an MSNBC article on a very disappointed Star Trek fan. Mr. Moustakis of NJ bought a poker visor he thought was worn by Data in Next Generation at a Christie's auction for some $6,000. When he brought it to a convention to have it signed, actor Brent Spiner explained that he'd already sold the well-known visor in a personal sale; like Senator Vreenak, Moustakis had been given a fake. "Christie's spokesman Rik Pike stood behind the authenticity of the auction and said the disgruntled buyer's case had no merit. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Manhattan, demands millions of dollars in punitive damages and a refund for the visor and two other items Moustakis bought at the 2006 auction."

Comments

Pasty white skin

[The Media Mechanic]

That is not a very flattering picture of Mr. Spiner. I have only seen paler skin on an albino vampire who lived in a cave and ate only monobenzylether of hydroquinone. Old Brent is actually starting to look like Data! Could someone be so kind to give him a nice tanning bed for Christmas ?

Wikipedia

[manekineko2]

Maybe this is a little redundant when discussing Wikipedia, but I'm a little surprised that apparently every episode of DS9 has its own entry on Wikipedia (for example, linked in article summary above), while entries on webcomics that have a number of fans "only" numbering in the thousands is considered not significant enough to merit an article.

Re:Wikipedia

[zerocool^]

There was a big stink a year or two back when they deleted the individual pages for Counter-Strike maps (de_dust, cs_office, etc). A bunch of people, like me, who play CS and/ore CS:S were like "Guys, this is literally the most popular first person shooter ever in existance; almost 25,000,000 copies have been sold, and at any given time, there are 75,000 people playing counter-strike source - SIX YEARS after it came out". A bunch of know-it-all editors swooped in and were all "BLARG ITS NOT NOTABLE ITS A VIDEOGAME YOU FANBOYS GET A LIFE" and axed the articles (which were in my opinion well written and informative).

So, the "I can't believe there's a wikipedia page for X" is a game almost anyone can play. There are individual pages for each pokemon in existence, there are pages for obscure tv show X's individual episodes, but it's really up to the editors what is notable. Wikipedia isn't a collaborative effort in the sense that each person's collaboration is treated equally, and expertise on a subject is not grounds for having any more weight on the subject than someone who is one of the "more equal" members of wikipedia.

~WX

I'm not sure what makes me more sad..

[StikyPad]

...the fact that there are entire Wikipedia articles on each episode of Star Trek, or the fact that the submitter not only knew this, but knew a relevant episode to link to as well.

Re:Morons deserve what they get

[Dunbal]

Yes because you have the exclusive right to tell people what to do with their money.

Re:Refund? Sure. Damages???

[Anonymous Coward]

Sir, I applaud you for attempting to keep the use of the subjunctive mood alive. Unfortunately, in this particular instance, you should not say "if this were" but rather "if this was". Let me explain.

The subjunctive mood in English is not simply a sentence-pattern; it is not simply a matter of using "were" rather than "was" any time a third-person clause is preceeded by "if". It actually encodes a particular meaning, which is why (in my opinion) its use is important. The subjunctive mood indicates that a particular statement makes a hypothesis contrary to fact.

See, when I say "if I were an asshole", the use of were implies that I am not, in fact, an asshole. I am hypothesizing about something that is not in fact true, and I'll probably follow it up with "I wouldn't pay for the abortion" or something similar. Now, here's a similar example, that is in the indicative mood: "If I was an asshole, I'm sorry." You can likely imagine the context: you've had a fight with your girlfriend, and she accuses you of being a dick, and you don't contest it. You admit as much, and so you are not talking about something that is not in fact the case, as you were in the first example.

Here's the problem with using the subjunctive mood in your statement: we do not know whether or not this was a scam. The subjunctive here implies that we know for a fact that it wasn't a scam, and that you're only hypothesizing about what would happen in the event that it were. It's like saying "if I were a woman, I imagine I'd like well-endowed men." You're not a woman, and the subjunctive makes that explicit.

Hope this helps!

Re:Refund? Sure. Damages???

[Antiocheian]

I am so happy to meet a fellow Shatnerologist in the hallowed grounds of Slashdot...

Moderators, be warned: by NOT modding parent as funny may cause you to:

1) Have nightmares of bald Kirks in your sleep (though these may be excorsiced by following the preaches and sermons of the FCOS)

2) Grow large soft pimply buttocks!

3) Be transformed to a ``Gdank,,

Heed my warnings, enlist the power of Prayer and when the temptation of the big ``M,, is strong, yell "Oh Yeah" and get at it! In the words of the Shapostle I depart:

Make way for the hairless and bloated one. For his ego is great and his talents few...

Re:Get a life

[UbuntuDupe]

Oh, look honey, more vengeful mods.

Let's take me back to 4, guys. Just because I've made a lot of enemies (and a lot of friends) doesn't mean I deserve this BS.