Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Other discussions not related to the Permanent Portfolio

Moderator: Global Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
vnatale
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 9423
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:56 pm
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by vnatale » Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:50 pm

https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedia-o ... -internet/


Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

People used to think the crowdsourced encyclopedia represented all that was wrong with the web. Now it's a beacon of so much that's right.

Richard Cooke02.17.2020 06:00 AM




The jokes will still be there. Consider Wikidata's numerical tag for the author Douglas Adams, Q42. In Adams' book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a group of hyperintelligent beings build a vast, powerful computer called Deep Thought, which they ask for the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” What comes out is the number 42. That wink of self-awareness�at the folly and joy of building ssomething as preposterous and powerful as a world brain��is why, with Wikipedia, you know you are getting the best possible information.
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:07 pm

I use it every day and I contribute now and then (both editing and funds).
It is amazing that it is still ad-free.
It’s gotten a bit political, which is annoying. The “deletionists” bug the shit out of me.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
Xan
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4393
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:51 pm

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by Xan » Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:10 pm

dualstow wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:07 pm
I use it every day and I contribute now and then (both editing and funds).
It is amazing that it is still ad-free.
It’s gotten a bit political, which is annoying. The “deletionists” bug the shit out of me.
They give the full birth name of anyone and everyone, except for people who've changed their names from a boy name to a girl name or vice versa. Why?

Ad O was (is, I suppose) a prominent deletionist, IIRC.
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:27 pm

No birth name of the gender reassigned - yeah that’s stupid. Oh well, no one’s perfect.
{ I wanted to add that Ricky Gervais bit to the youtube thread where he keeps saying “When Caitlyn Jenner was Bruce, I used to tell him, ‘What big balls you have, Bruce’.” but I couldn’t find it. The kids call that deadnaming. }

I will always appreciate Ad O as an individual. O0
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
Vil
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:16 am

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by Vil » Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:37 pm

Sometimes when I am too tired to read some serious stuff, I just browse random topics, its really relaxing. Wikipedia is one of the flagship reminders that the best things in our lives are free of charge ;D
PS. I put stackoverflow.com in this category too, even though it has different target group and content structure ...
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:30 pm

I no longer pay attention to the editor wars behind the scenes. I never did for very long. But hey, if you want to learn the situation of a greater sage grouse, there’s still no better place.

Technovelist mentioned Alchetron, but i just reflexively go to Wikipedia. It’s just good.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by Kriegsspiel » Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:44 pm

IMO, even if people were editing the articles in good faith, Wikipedia's format is doomed to fail (or, become more disconnected from reality, some might not consider that failure) because their sources are shit. That said, I suspect that articles about sage grouse or other innocuous subject are safe right now, though I've heard of an effort to insert nonsense into those articles so that they're compromised too. Fun times we live in.

Also, in a completely unrelated coincedence, the co-founder of Wikipedia recently wrote an article about how Wikipedia has become completely biased as leftists took it over.
You there, Ephialtes. May you live forever.
User avatar
vnatale
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 9423
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:56 pm
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by vnatale » Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:29 pm

Mike Lindell Says Over 20 Retailers Have Dropped MyPillow, Calls Wikipedia 'Corrupt'

https://www.newsweek.com/mike-lindell-m ... tt-1572778



Lindell went on to claim that Google isn't allowing him to "buy my own name" for his website, as well as attacking the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

"Wikipedia has taken over my Wikipedia, another terrible organization, corrupt," Lindell adds. "And I could say that right here at Wikipedia, very corrupt."
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:24 pm

Since you posted that without commentary, I don’t know what your take on it is, but f the my pillow guy. I can’t stand him, even though i acknowledge his success.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Tue Mar 02, 2021 4:22 pm

I mean, sometimes the deletionists delete a perfectly good article that has nothing to do with politics. It could be a plant or animal page. They're out of control.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
vnatale
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 9423
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:56 pm
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by vnatale » Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:24 pm

The Tensions Behind Wikipedia’s New Code of Conduct

For Wikipedia to fulfill its mission, it needs to be welcoming to all—which means tackling its harassment problem.

https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/wi ... ml?via=rss


Most of White’s harassment has taken place off Wikipedia and on other sites. But other types of harassment can take place on Wikipedia itself, such as the horror known as hounding. Consider this hypothetical: A Wikipedia editor from a minority group is adding content to the encyclopedia. The hounding editor, likely someone with a grudge, begins systemically removing all of the other editor’s contributions. For example, the hounding editor might delete a biographical Wikipedia article about a woman by arguing that the subject lacks notability. After that, the hound will remove a photograph, claiming the copyright cannot be verified. Next, they delete the other editor’s text contributions by suggesting they are not written in the proper encyclopedic style, that is, from a neutral point of view.

The hounding editor keeps deleting and deleting � taken individually, there is at least a colorable argument for each move. After all, two editors can reasonably disagree on what is proper. But by stepping back slightly, it becomes clearer what’s really happening. The hounding editor is tracking the other editor, following all of their moves, and disrupting them, often with the aim of causing frustration and distress. It’s the Wikipedia equivalent of stalking. In the past, Wacha told me that enforcers would consider most of these behavior issues in isolation, focusing on specific edit disputes rather than the entire picture. One positive of the new code, from Wacha’s perspective, is that there is new language relating to patterns of abuse. The new code explicitly states, “In some cases, behavior that would not rise to the level of harassment in a single case can become harassment through repetition.”




The messaging from the Wikimedia Foundation about the new code has been careful to make clear that Wikipedia is not intending to become more centralized or professionalized in the manner of Facebook and Twitter. Rather, the code is intended to “empower” communities themselves. This month the code entered Phase 2, which is dedicated to community approval and discussions about enforcement. “A code of conduct is only ever as good as its implementation, and the support it provides to the people who are subject to it,” Wacha said, adding that the implementation and enforcement are probably more important than the text of the code itself. Other Wikipedia editors told me that they expected the existing community governance would continue on established projects�like ArbCom on English Wikipedia.. At the same time, the new code might help smaller projects that have not previously had sufficient levels of safety and support.

To those outside the Wikipedia community, it might seem rather strange that Wikipedians are so passionate about the issue of governance by and for their decentralized group of volunteers. But that’s what arguably makes Wikipedia so special compared with other sites. “Wikipedia’s code is meant to ensure that a community of people behave in a certain way. The difference here is that we’re talking about a community,” York said. “Facebook is not a community, no matter what Mark Zuckerberg wants to believe.”
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
User avatar
Tyler
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by Tyler » Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:58 pm

In related news, one of the Wikipedia co-founders believes it is broken and is working on a new alternative.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -gone.html
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:30 pm

Tyler wrote:
Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:58 pm
In related news, one of the Wikipedia co-founders believes it is broken and is working on a new alternative.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -gone.html
From the article:
'The two main pages for "Socialism" and "Communism" span a massive 28,000 words, and yet they contain no discussion of the genocides committed by socialist and communist regimes, in which tens of millions of people were murdered and starved,' the Fox News analysis claims.
Wow, very telling!
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14232
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

Post by dualstow » Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:35 pm

I wonder what the story is in other languages. I might try running the German, etc wiki pages on the above topics through a translator.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
Post Reply