Showing posts with label Wikipedia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wikipedia. Show all posts

Sunday, December 14, 2014

WARMEST SEASON'S GREETINGS, WIKIPEDIA! AND THANK YOU!

Posted: 14 Dec 14

WIKIPEDIA HAS CONTINUED TO BLESS HUMANKIND, 
FOR YEARS!
Society is still figuring out what to make of this Internet Thingy!
And Wikipedia has shown what brilliant, kind-hearted humans can and will do for the rest of us -- with their inspired and generous use of this vast, new, revolutionary human power!
To the people of Wikipedia -- sincere wishes for centuries full of happy holidays!
They have proven to be PRICELESS allies in the life-struggle!
It's hard to imagine losing, with them on our side.
They are just what fate's "doctor" ordered.

Friends,

Wikipedia is one of those non-profit organizations that is changing the world for the better -- IN HUGE WAYS -- BY THE SECOND.

In excellent company with the mighty Google, they have made life MUCH easier -- and easier life can mean fuller life -- precious life-force preserved to do many, if not most, other needful things.

We should, I believe, help insure that this organization prospers -- so they will continue to survive and flourish -- for their excellence deserves our highest approbation -- tangible and otherwise -- and because life would not be the same without it -- it would be MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.

Please consider donating -- commensurate with your ability and appreciation -- especially if they are playing a significant role in your growing successes.

Here is their answer
to my grateful 2014 well-being wish to them!


.

On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Lila Tretikov <donate@wikimedia.org> wrote:

Dear David,
​​

Thank you for your invaluable gift of bringing knowledge to every human around the world.

My name is Lila Tretikov, and I’m the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. Over the past year, gifts like yours powered our efforts to expand the encyclopedia in 287 languages and to make it more accessible all over the world.

We strive most to impact those who would not have access to education otherwise. We bring knowledge to people like Akshaya Iyengar from Solapur, India. Growing up in this small textile manufacturing town, she used Wikipedia as her primary learning source. For students in these areas, where books are scarce but mobile Internet access exists, Wikipedia is instrumental. Akshaya went on to graduate from college in India and now works as a software engineer in the United States. She credits Wikipedia with powering half of her knowledge.

This story is not unique. Our mission is lofty and presents great challenges. Most people who use Wikipedia are surprised to hear it is run by a non-profit organization and funded by your donations. Each year, just enough people donate to keep the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Thank you for making this mission possible.

On behalf of half a billion people who read Wikipedia, thousands of volunteer editors, and staff at the Foundation, I thank you for keeping Wikipedia online and ad-free this year.

Thank you,
Lila
Lila Tretikov
Executive Director,
Wikimedia Foundation

donate.wikimedia.org

Many employers will match employee contributions: please check with your company to see if they have a corporate matching gift program.

For your records: Your donation, number CNTCT-8534131, on 2014-12-04 was $ 100.00. [I will increase this as my capacity increases]

This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Our address is 149 New Montgomery, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105. U.S. tax-exempt number: 20-0049703



No.  Thank YOU (to the skies), Lila!

David Nelson



All Original Content © 2014, The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved. BUT, I hereby waive those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along -- and are urged to do so -- as long as it's all done free of charge, unchanged, you include this statement, AND you inform me as to how it is being used -- at YOUR convenience but, hopefully soonest.
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Saturday, November 22, 2014

CIVIC MENTOR RESEARCH TOOL: Knowledge & Wikipedia Organizing Framework (#2)

Posted: 22 Nov 14
Record of Changes

Change #1: 23 Nov -- Began expanding the investigation into the subject of "knowledge itself" inside paragraph 3, "The Interface" -- fully engaging in a process unlikely to EVER stop!  In other words, it is conceivable that this whole document will change before your very eyes -- even frequently (sometimes by the minute -- sometimes not).  Major changes will be signified by change number -- up in the title -- until a new notification scheme becomes necessary. Emergence and perfection of "The Civic Mentor" is a dynamic, perpetual, self-refining process -- until nothing is left to be done.
Change #2: 23 Nov -- Added para. 5, to explain the source of the interface-technology used here

"A logical skeleton for the great body of human knowledge"
THE UNDERLYING HYPER-LINKED STRUCTURE OF WIKIPEDIA
The powerful, free-of-charge, reliable, reputable, thorough, constantly-updated, on-line Encyclopedia
Providing FAST hyperlinks to every part of the Wikipedia -- like a "control panel"


1.  PURPOSES
We humans tend to crave order over chaos.

This bulletin presents a speedy navigational overlay on top of the complete WIKIPEDIA --> which is a generally comprehensive "organizing-filter" --> on a HUGE portion of --> the ENTIRE Human Knowledge and Experiential Base (HKEB) --> which is, in turn, an organizing-overlay on the realities of existence --> as perceived and documented by all humankind --> and brought in reach --> within the ever-expanding boundaries of this "living" encyclopedic resource.  (They welcome donations -- a very fair, helpful thing for us to do in return, when we can -- but they do not charge a single penny for this invaluable public service -- service from the very wise, gifted, and good-hearted)
a.  AN EXTRA "SET OF KEYS" FOR UNLOCKING THE COLLECTIVE HUMAN MIND:  This bulletin is intended to provide to readers AN ADDITIONAL, thorough, easy-to-navigate, full-access, and easy-to-grasp RESEARCH TOOL into the marvelous encyclopedic resource -- complete with links -- to help readers take FULLEST ADVANTAGE OF THE AWESOME POWER CONTAINED THEREIN -- with maximum efficiency. 
b.  This bulletin provides an external and internal view of  the total Wikipedia landscape.  Of course, you can always go directly to articles you require, simply by Googling your topics -- but sometimes, it can be extremely helpful to have another way to explore the entire landscape -- perhaps to shine light into corners you might not have even realized existed -- or had forgotten.  This tries to fill that "gap" for you.
c.   It is also intended as a Civic Mentor system-building tool, within the CM-project's reference system.
d.  It is further intended to test this form of interface for suitability in uniting the vast Civic Mentor landscape, itself, into a concentrated, convenient, self-explanatory, "point-of-contact-and-system-control" between system-users and every feature of the system, as these become operational.

2.  WE ARE ON A JOURNEY, YOU AND I.  

This bulletin started out as a THOROUGH exploration of one awesome resource, Wikipedia -- but it is opening doors -- already -- into the very concept of "KNOWLEDGE, ITSELF."  WE SHALL FOLLOW WHEREVER THE THREAD LEADS -- over the time remaining to us.

3.  THE INTERFACE
<< Instructions are at the bottom of this bulletin >>
IF ANYTHING BEHAVES UNEXPECTEDLY 
-- try refreshing the browser page.
If you have problems, leave a comment and I will see it and respond, promptly.



4.  INSTRUCTIONS

4.1.  DRILLING-DOWN:  Click the "words of topic" in the BLUE portion of the above interface to open any child-links attached to it -- continuing to "drill-down" until the desired link is found.

4.2.  INSTANT ACCESS TO ARTICLES:  You will note that the interface has TWO PARTS -- the upper (blue) is the navigational portion, the lower  (white) shows any actual Wikipedia article "attached" to the topic. [IF AN ICON APPEARS IN THE WHITE SPACE, instead of an article, click that icon to go where it leads]

4.3.  TO ENLARGE OR SHRINK THE ARTICLE-WINDOW -- "grab" the border between the upper and lower windows -- by pointing to it -- holding-down the left-mouse button -- and dragging the window up or down.
If you click the little "up and down-arrows" at the middle of the border, you can open or close the lower window with a single left-click -- on the arrow pointing in your desired direction.
4.4.  TO FULLY OPEN THE ARTICLE IN A SEPARATE BROWSER-TAB -- click its hyper-link in the UPPER-RIGHT CORNER of the WHITE section (lower-half of the window).

4.5.  FEEDBACK REQUESTED:  Please post any questions, suggestions, or other comments at the very bottom of this bulletin. (Kind feedback is most welcomed).


5.  ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THE INTERFACE.  

5.1  There are no "trade secrets," per se, in this Civic Mentor project -- which is about OPENLY and FREELY recognizing and celebrating the positive attributes and achievements of our magnificent species of life -- and working, hard, to overcome the negative aspects -- and making them fully accessible as building-blocks -- supporting and empowering our universal, driving, CRUCIAL need for our individual and collective well-being and betterment -- THE MOST MORAL THING WE CAN EVER ATTEND TO IN THIS LIFE.

5.2  I know some of you might be wondering about the wonderful tool used to produce the above interface.  This masterpiece of human creativity ("er... the interface") -- could well be of enormous importance to you in all or most of your efforts to better yourselves and our world.  You will be pleased to know that you can get much of its power, FREE of charge, without time-limit -- and the rest at incredibly fair pricing. AND, YOU CAN BEGIN USING IT, AT ONCE!  I have used it for years and would never wish to be without it.  CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE -- ALWAYS!

5.3  It's called "TheBrain," (perfect name for it) and they can tell you the rest -- a lot better than I can.  Click here -- and take your journey to the next levels.  I'm on your side, especially if you are on everybody else's side.

The greatest rewards in this life flow from giving our best service to others. 
The greatest happiness, from seeing to the happiness in others.


David Nelson

Have self-enriching fun exploring and "mining" 
the basic accumulation of human knowledge and experience 
as contained in this on-line portion of the HKEB.


All Original Content © 2014, The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved. BUT, I hereby waive those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along -- and are urged to do so -- as long as it's all done free of charge, unchanged, you include this statement, AND you inform me as to how it is being used -- at YOUR convenience but, hopefully soonest.
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Thursday, August 8, 2013

THE WIKI-SUITE -- Major Power Tools for the Human Species

Posted:  8 Aug 13
1.  Purpose

1.1  To share with readers a fuller perspective on the tremendous opportunity offered by the Wikipedia Foundation to help empower our world -- one person or grouping at a time.  Fifteen of their primary FREE tools are link-listed in this article, for your convenience.


The generous spirit displayed in all of this must surely increase our pride in our species and our optimism toward a most promising destiny, together.

1.2  In the Foundation's own words:

"The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. The Wikimedia Foundation operates some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia, a top-ten internet property."

2.  Overview

2.1  The Foundation freely offers a full and growing array of exceedingly practical intellectual tools which I have presumed to call, here, "The Wiki-Suite" and which array is link-listed below, in Section 5, with brief descriptions, in their own words.

2.2  First, for quick reference, in Section 4, I provide an "Outline of the Product-Service Mix -- FREELY Offered" -- as a convenient prelude to the more detailed descriptions that follow.

2.3  You might also be interested in previous blog articles designed to help build justified confidence in this brilliant endeavor to vastly improve the human condition -- and to help spread the word -- so that no one unknowingly loses the advantages at our very fingertips.
2.4  Also, along this line, is another priceless resource, blogged as "MAJOR BREAK-THROUGH: The Kahn Academy."

2.5  Here is another useful wiki (NOT affiliated with The Foundation, but worth mentioning here) which I have also found very, very useful:  "wikiHow - How to do anything."  In their own words, here's who they are.  wikiHow is a "for-profit business [freely serving users] that focuses on accomplishing a social mission" (a hybrid organization, unlike The Wikipedia Foundation, which is totally non-profit-seeking).

3.  A Public Appeal

3.1  Everyone!  Share your knowledge and wisdom, far and wide -- and exchange and enhance these awesome tools in mutually beneficial partnership with the rest of our world.

3.2  You do have much to offer -- we all do -- for there is genius inside of each of us.  Such potent mental force is one of the profoundest, most unique gifts that life has given to our species.

3.3  WE ARE ONE – and a great one at that -- sharing the same great journey in the same great boat -- on the way to becoming better and better -- in our inevitable pursuit of perfection -- as gifted, rational, self-fulfilling beings!

3.4  For those among the living, it's our turn to discover, develop, and use our gifts to help write the next glorious chapter of human history -- for ourselves and our posterity --  wisely using any tools that will help us do the job.  It's the only chance we're ever going to get.

4.  Outline of the Product-Service Mix --FREELY Offered

These are hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation and are covered in greater detail by Section 5, below.
  1. Wikipedia - Encyclopedia
  2. Wictionary - Dictionary and thesaurus
  3. Wikiquote -- Quotations
  4. Wikibooks -- Book Authoring
  5. Wikisource -- Documents
  6. Wikispecies -- Species Directory
  7. Wikinews -- News reports
  8. Wikiversity -- Community learning
  9. Wikivoyage -- Travel guide
  10. Wikimedia Commons -- Media repository
  11. Meta-Wiki -- Coordination 
  12. Wikidata -- Knowledge Base
  13. Mediawiki -- MediaWiki software (Did you know that this is a pathway to writing FREE wiki's for your groups, organizations, and selves?)
  14. Bugzilla -- MediaWiki bug tracker
  15. Wikimedia Labs -- MediaWiki development

There is much more, but above are the major ones – the rest will illuminate themselves on your own paths of discovery

5.  THE WIKI-SUITE
Selected excerpts from the websites

5.1  Wikipedia - Encyclopedia



5.2  Wictionary - Dictionary and thesaurus

  • Welcome to the English-language Wiktionary, a collaborative project to produce a free-content multilingual dictionary. 
  • It aims to describe all words of all languages using definitions and descriptions in English.


5.3  Wikiquote -- Quotations

  • Wikiquote is a free online compendium of sourced quotations from notable people and creative works in every language, translations of non-English quotes, and links to Wikipedia for further information. 
  • Visit the help page or experiment in the sandbox to learn how you can edit nearly any page right now; or go to the Log in to start contributing to Wikiquote.


5.4  Wikibooks -- Book Authoring

  • Wikibooks is a collaborative book authoring website, where users from all over the world work together to write textbooks and other types of instructional books on many topics. 
  • It is a Wikimedia project, operated by the same group of people who run Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation. 
  • You can edit this page, and almost all pages like it, at any time. 
  • That is the basic principle of Wikibooks. 
  • Anyone can edit it.


The Comprehensive Open Source Handbook for Learning Wikibooks

The purpose of [the handbook] is to guide you through your Wikibooks journey. From becoming a reader to becoming a writer and beyond, each chapter explores what you should know to make the most of your journey. (more)

Books by subject

5.5  Wikisource -- Documents

  • Wikisource is an online library of free-content texts. 
  • Wikisource is maintained by a community of 797,753 registered users—297 of them have made edits in the last thirty days. 
  • If you want to join our community, just create an account and start editing.
  • Wikisource is the free library that anyone can improve.


5.6  Wikispecies -- Species Directory

  • Wikispecies is intended to be a free taxonomic reference and directory, for both the scientist and the average reader. 
  • It exists as a database aggregating the classifications and genetic family tree of all species of life, from all six kingdoms. 
  • However, its content on life differs from the articles on Wikipedia in that actual discussion is omitted in Wikispecies and is instead strictly replaced by the taxonomic roots of the species at hand. 
  • As of August 2013, there are over 370,000 articles available at Wikispecies.
  • The free species directory that anyone can edit.
  • It covers Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, Protista and all other forms of life.
  • So far we have 372,673 articles

Wikispecies is free, because life is in the public domain!

5.7  Wikinews -- News reports

Wikinews has two main types of article:
  • The most common is the synthesis article. These draw on media reports from many other sources (always fully cited). It is rare for other media stories to contain all the available facts, so we provide a more rounded and detailed report. We can also strip out any bias and present a neutral point of view.
  • The other type of articles is original reporting. These are first-hand news reports written by Wikinews contributors on-the-spot of news events. You can read more about this type of reporting at Wikinews: Original reporting.
What exactly Wikinews covers is explained by the Content guide. Some really good examples are available at Wikinews: Featured articles.  Wikinews is written by people like you.

Find a current topic you'd like to see Wikinews cover, 

5.8  Wikiversity -- Community learning



5.9  Wikivoyage -- Travel guide

  • Wikivoyage (wikivoyage.org) is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide. 
  • It is built in collaboration by Wikivoyagers from around the globe. 
  • Wikivoyage started on 10 December 2006 and relaunched under Wikimedia on 15 January 2013.

Wikivoyage is built with the spirit of sharing knowledge that makes travel so enjoyable.

  • Whenever travellers meet each other on the road, they swap info about the places they came from and ask questions about places they're going. 
  • We want to make it easy to share that knowledge and let others share it; our copyleft license means that the facts you know can spread far and wide.


5.10  Wikimedia Commons -- Media repository
  • Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to all. 
  • It acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, but you do not need to belong to one of those projects to use media hosted here.

5.11  Meta-Wiki -- Coordination 

  • Meta-Wiki, the global community site for the Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia movement in general. 
  • Meta-Wiki's discussions range from coordination and documentation to planning and analysis of future Wikimedia activities.

5.12  Wikidata -- Knowledge Base

  • Wikidata is a free knowledge base that can be read and edited by humans and machines alike. 
  • It is for data what Wikimedia Commons is for media files: it centralizes access to and management of structured data, such as interwiki references and statistical information. 
  • Wikidata contains data in every language supported by the MediaWiki software.
  • You can read the introduction to learn more about Wikidata.
  • See Wikidata in action: View the item about Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  • If you'd like to test out the Wikidata software, please use the sandbox.


5.13  Mediawiki -- MediaWiki software




5.14  Bugzilla -- MediaWiki bug tracker

  • This is the bug tracker for MediaWiki and its extensions and site-specific problems on Wikimedia wikis.
  • If you would like to file a bug report, please read How to report a bug for some pointers.

5.15  Wikimedia Labs -- MediaWiki development

  • The production part of this wiki, also known as Wikitech, is for internal technical documentation for the Wikimedia Foundation. 
  • For technical documentation of MediaWiki software, see MediaWiki.org.



There is much more, but these are the major ones – the rest will illuminate themselves on your own paths of discovery



David Nelson





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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

WIKIPEDIA -- A Resource Well Worth Supporting

Posted:  2 Jul 13

Purpose

To spread the idea of materially supporting Wikipedia -- the free on-line encyclopedia.  And please see this separate article concerning the reliability of this superb knowledge resource.

Background

Last night I posted this on my Facebook page --

0701 2045 -- There are so many causes in need of voluntary funding. We get so much value from them that it is hard (impossible) to do them full justice in return.

I just saw a banner from Wikipedia reminding me that they are non-profit and need funds to do what they do. They give me so much value that I finally remembered to make a contribution -- not commensurate with the value they add to life, but significant, none-the-less. Feels good. Feels right. Feels a lot like justice.

Thought I'd mention it, in case these words might help advance one worthy cause among many. Their well-being sees to the well-being of the Human Knowledge Base -- and that reaches deeply into the human spirit and accelerates the progress of the entire species.

David Nelson

Kind Response from Wikipedia to My Donation

Dear David,

Thank you for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation. You are wonderful!

It's easy to ignore our fundraising banners, and I'm really glad you didn't. This is how Wikipedia pays its bills --- people like you giving us money, so we can keep the site freely available for everyone around the world.

People tell me they donate to Wikipedia because they find it useful, and they trust it because even though it's not perfect, they know it's written for them. Wikipedia isn’t meant to advance somebody's PR agenda or push a particular ideology, or to persuade you to believe something that's not true. We aim to tell the truth, and we can do that because of you. The fact that you fund the site keeps us independent and able to deliver what you need and want from Wikipedia. Exactly as it should be.

You should know: your donation isn’t just covering your own costs. The average donor is paying for his or her own use of Wikipedia, plus the costs of hundreds of other people. Your donation keeps Wikipedia available for an ambitious kid in Bangalore who’s teaching herself computer programming. A middle-aged homemaker in Vienna who’s just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A novelist researching 1850s Britain. A 10-year-old in San Salvador who’s just discovered Carl Sagan.

On behalf of those people, and the half-billion other readers of Wikipedia and its sister sites and projects, I thank you for joining us in our effort to make the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Your donation makes the world a better place. Thank you.

Most people don't know Wikipedia's run by a non-profit. Please consider sharing this e-mail with a few of your friends to encourage them to donate too. And if you're interested, you should try adding some new information to Wikipedia. If you see a typo or other small mistake, please fix it, and if you find something missing, please add it. There are resourceshere that can help you get started. Don't worry about making a mistake: that's normal when people first start editing and if it happens, other Wikipedians will be happy to fix it for you.

I appreciate your trust in us, and I promise you we'll use your money well.

Thanks,
Sue

Sue Gardner
Executive Director,
Wikimedia Foundation

For your records: Your donation on 2013-07-01 10:40:34 was $100.00. [they welcome donations as low as $3.00]

This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Our address is 149 New Montgomery, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105. U.S. tax-exempt number: 20-0049703

You can follow us on Twitter, identi.ca or Google+, like us on Facebook and read our blog. Here is the Wikimedia Foundation annual report for 2010-11, the Wikimedia Foundation annual plan for 2012-13 and the Wikimedia Foundation’s five-year strategic plan. You can also now buy Wikipedia merchandise at shop.wikimedia.org.

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All Original Content © 2013 , The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved -- BUT, I hereby waive those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along, if you think it will do some good -- as long as it's free of charge, unchanged, and you include this statement.
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Friday, June 21, 2013

GREAT AMERICAN WIKNIC 2013 -- Oakland: Lake Merritt - 6/23/13/Sun/ 12:34 pm

Posted:  21 Jun 13

Ref:

  1. The Great American Wiknic (Wikipedia discussion)
  2. Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco/Wiknic/2013 (at Oakland's Lake Merritt) (Wikipedia discussion)
  3. The Great American Wiknic 2013 (around the nation) (Google search)
  4. Oakland Wiki, 2013-06-23 Wiknic

1.  Introduction

a.  The purpose of this bulletin is to share this morning's chance discovery of possible interest to readers, particularly public officials, entrepreneurs, and private citizens who find themselves engaged in trying to cause favorable changes in the social environment.

c.  I just found this, by random fortuitous chance, during my daily excursion through Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia.  Many cities are involved, across the nation, and are easy to find through the provided links.  I was delighted to find that one is to be close by, in Oakland.

c.  In future, other cities may climb on board, including ours.  The start of something really big?  Time will tell.

2.  Here are excerpts from the above references:

d.  The Great American Wiknic is an annual wiki-picnic held in cities across the United States on or around a common day every summer.  The Wiknic is the picnic anyone can edit, with people bringing their own picnic food and perhaps other items to share.

e.  Wiknics are:
  • Easy to organize, even for old Wikipedians
  • Welcoming to everyone, even for new Wikipedians and Wikipedian-wannabes
  • Fun!
  • In short, a Wiknic can be a great easy-in to real life Wikipedia culture, and lead to greater wiki-community and outreach in your corner of the country!
f.  The first national Wiknic was held in June 2011, and 16 cities took part with Wiknics large and small. June 2012 was a success as well, and now third time's a charm with Wiknic 3.0 June 2013.

g.  The Wiknic concept was:

3.  Understanding What This is About

h.  I still have to digest this, but I wanted to bring this information forward without delay.   IT LOOKS LIKE A GRAND TIME FOR A SUMMER SUNDAY -- with possible future implications of significance.


DOES THIS APPLY TO US?


i.  One clue came from this 2011 Washington Post link -- "A Wiki-Picnic for online encyclopedia editors."  As I indicated in the recent PCJ (blog) article, "THE RELIABILITY OF WIKIPEDIA: A Closer Look," we are all potential on-line editors and, thus, stand to gain from this rare opportunity to interact with others who share our interests and sense of curiosity and community.

j.  Here is an excerpt from the Oakland Wiki page, which further clarifies things:
  • Join all kinds of wiki enthusiasts, Oakland Wikiers, Wikipedians and beyond, for this year's Wiknic 2013!
  • The Wiknic is a global annual tradition put on by Wikipedia volunteers to bring together volunteers who live near each other so that they can meet. 
  • This year, things are spicing up as Wikipedians and Oakland Wikiers will be co-organizing the event. 
  • Get ready for a cross-pollination of ideas and interests! 
  • We all have a lot in common, and this year's event will be the perfect start to getting acquainted and start collaborating!
k.  More to follow, I'm sure.


David Nelson



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Saturday, June 1, 2013

THE RELIABILITY OF WIKIPEDIA: A Closer Look

Posted:  1 Jun 13


WE ARE GROWING IN OUR DEPENDENCY 
ON WIKIPEDIA -- the online encyclopedia
Are we wise to allow ourselves this luxury? YES!

Purpose

To increase public perspective on the quality of this popular, crucial online informational resource -- so that it can be used more confidently and advantageously.


1.  OVERVIEW

More and more, we are consulting Wikipedia to find answers to many of the questions that pop up during the day. But, how can we be sure that the information is sound? The short answer is that, if the matter under investigation is critical, it is prudent to consult a number of references. But, if there is no opportunity for that, can we reasonably count on Wikipedia? I think the short answer is a resounding "yes."

Never before has our entire species been able to collaborate, so easily, on the maturation of the great Human Knowledge Base (HKB) -- and I think that's grand!

Here's what I've found, so far.

2.  A LAYMAN'S ANALYSIS

1.  THE POWER OF COLLECTIVE WISDOM:  It's pretty well known that Wikipedia can be modified by anyone -- and that is the beauty of it -- for there is a collective genius comprised of the fragments of wisdom each of us contain and are developing.

Everyone has something to bring to the table.  And, Wikipedia is proving this, convincingly.

2.  THE "PURITY" OF THE INFORMATION:  However, not everything we bring to the table is likely to be wholesome.  Knowing this truth can certainly shake our confidence.  What's to say that a vandal couldn't go in and corrupt the information?  And the answer, I think, is brilliant -- resting on the integrity of the human species, as a whole -- the quality of the Wikipedia sytem -- and the prompt intervention of the better informed.

3.  HOW IT'S DONE:  Wikipedia is being regularly consulted and supported by nearly a billion souls.  Virtually every topic is watched by people who are interested in the topic and who possess expertise there.  Much like Facebook, they can be (and usually are) alerted when anyone makes a change -- and a review process tends to begin at once (with amazing speed) -- and false or erroneous information tends to be intercepted before it ever reaches our eyes.

And, before the incoming information is even accepted, there is a review process.  In other words, the collective wisdom comes into play and does its work, without undue delay.

3.  CONCLUSION

THEREFORE:  Is it 100% reliable?  Few things achieve that distinction. One thing is certain -- the matter is treated seriously by these successful stewards of the HKB -- "the Wikipedians."  I have explored the question and, thus far, am content that this is a tool that we can rely on.  How much we should rely on it depends on our particular circumstances -- what we are trying to do and why.  I, for one, after this investigation, am even more content with this superb contribution to the common good.

4.  HERE IS THEIR OWN EXPLANATION

I think you will find the following to be reassuring. I certainly do. Pay special note to how Wikipedia stands in comparison with the mighty Encyclopedia Britannica:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia

5.  A FAVORITE PARABLE -- the story of the line

Talking about the power of collective wisdom -- or teamwork applied:

  • There was a professor who was expounding to her class on teamwork.
  • She drew a line on the chalkboard and asked each person to guess the exact length of the line.   
  • Some guessed too high, some too low -- no one hit it exactly.
  • Then she AVERAGED their answers and came out with the EXACT ANSWER.  
It took the combination of mental power, pulling this way and that, to produce the desirable result.

  • Can we repeat this experiment and get the same result?  
  • Try it.  
  • However, the main point is the main point.

David Nelson
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