On Wikipedia, "Web 2.0" and eventualism.

There's a long rant on Wikipedia (and the so-called Web 2.0) by Nicholas G. Carr called The amorality of Web 2.0. I wrote a lengthy response which Mr Carr has posted as his latest entry. (Goodness!) I've put the lengthy response below, as I posted it. (With links added for jargon. It's a Wikipedia post, I have to pepper it with links!)

Everything you've written here is a valid opinion, and commercial encyclopedias are doomed anyway because (as Microsoft is finding out with Linux) it's hard to compete with free. (I eagerly await EB putting out TCO studies on Wikipedia.)

Speaking as someone who's highly involved in it (I write stuff, I'm an administrator, I'm on the Arbitration Committee, I'm a mailing list moderator, I do media interviews), Wikipedia is of mediocre quality with some really good bits. If you hit the "Random page" link twenty times, you'll end up mostly with sketchy three-paragraph stub articles.

That said, the good bits are fantastic. Although articles good enough to make "Featured Article" status (which are indeed excellent) tend to be hideously esoteric; somehow getting more general articles up to that sort of quality is not facilitated at present.

Encyclopedia Britannica is an amazing work. It's of consistent high quality, it's one of the great books in the English language and it's doomed. Brilliant but pricey has difficulty competing economically with free and apparently adequate (see Worse is better — this story plays out over and over again in the computing field and is the essence of "disruptive technology"). They could release the entire EB under an open content license, but they have shareholders who might want a word about that.

So if we want a good encyclopedia in ten years, it's going to have to be a good Wikipedia. So those who care about getting a good encyclopedia are going to have to work out how to make Wikipedia better, or there won't be anything.

I've made some efforts in this direction — pushing toward a page-rating feature, a "Rate this page" tab at the top, which, unlike an editorial committee, will actually scale with the contributor base and will highlight areas in need of attention. (See Article validation feature and En validation topics — the feature is currently waiting on an implementation the lead developer thinks won't kill the database.) Recent discussion on the WikiEN-L mailing list has also included proposals for a scaleable article rating system.

Wikipedia is likely to be it by first-mover advantage and network effect. Think about what you can do to ensure there is a good encyclopedia in ten years.

I could rewrite that more clearly, to fix the obvious holes my dear nitpicking readers will now comment on — I dashed it off in about half an hour while making and eating dinner last night — but it'll do.

(Eventualism: "a tendency amongst Wikipedians, which focuses on the eventual value of Wikipedia, in the Long Now, rather than the immediate value. Contrast immediatism; the opposite viewpoint.")

(Web 2.0: a Wired/Negroponte-style dot-com wank phrase that means less the more closely you look.)

And strugglin to summony one of her looks!

No Dead'n'Buried for me tonight — arkady is exhausted and narky (which is partly my doing ... love you, darling!) and I have a really fun evening scheduled playing "Where's Catshit?" around the house. Asda didn't have citrus cleaner, citric acid or lemon juice, so I bought actual lemons. (When life hands you lemons, clean up kitten poo.) I might try the orange-smelling Flash.

I will be out at B-Movie next Friday, tomorrow night is Sam and Vexen's wedding reception party thing and Sunday afternoon Arkady and I are taking quiet000001 around Camden and probably finishing up at the Dev, if anyone's going.

And now, a poll about that last entry.

[Poll #585075]

Keira Knightley In A White Corset And Kate Beckinsale In A Black One.

Categories: Movies | Hot Babes You Don't Have A Chance With

Keira Knightley In A White Corset And Kate Beckinsale In A Black One is a 2006 film starring Keira Knightley in a white corset and Kate Beckinsale in a black one.

The film was titled according to the 2005 Hollywood Truth In Titling regulations. God only knows how, but it got a 12 rating.

Origins

The film was put together by director L. Ron Howard:

I picture a film, right? A chick flick about two gal pals of good moral upbringing who bond through their patriotic duty to Queen and country. A heartwarming emotional coming-of-age feel-good family summer spy action blockbuster. It'll star Keira Knightley and Kate Beckinsale, right? Keira should wear a white corset and Kate should wear a black one, right?

If only I could think of a catchy title ...

( Plot synopsis )