IntenseDebate - Johnny

13 years ago @ Filibuster Cartoons - The trouble with Wikip... · 0 replies · +3 points

Three (hopefully) brief points:

1. The info graphic is amusing, but does the triviality of edit wars really matter if in the end the product is relatively good? I'm sure you've read the Nature study on Wikipedia's accuracy versus the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and similar studies. Wikipedia seems to generally converge towards a good end product. Pointing to a handful of edits of vandalism or instances of editor bias doesn't mean the whole process is fundamentally rotten.

2. People who deal with academic journals know that editors and referees have their own biases and agendas they push when peer reviewing submitted material. The edit wars you see on Wikipedia are mirrored by authoritative sources (although admittedly on much smaller scales). At least with Wikipedia one has a chance to review those editorial decisions.

3. I'm not particularly concerned about Wikipedia "smothering alternate information sources" as Wikipedia doesn't do original research (at least, the editors do their best to weed such edits out). Yes, sometimes you get weird feedback loops where a Reporter cities an erroneous fact from Wikipedia which is then cited to prove the erroneous fact "true". Those instances are relatively rare, and the openness of the process allows such errors to be caught.

13 years ago @ Filibuster Cartoons - Is Terry Fox a good hero? · 0 replies · +2 points

Well, they both ran, I suppose, but the similarities end there. In particular, Forrest Gump is a fictional character. :)

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Prime Minister Billy S... · 0 replies · +7 points

The PM plays Ringo while the others play checkers.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - 'Your personal ex... · 0 replies · 0 points

Feeding the trolls is a crime.

Why do you love taxes so much, Inkless?

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - 'Let me hit you w... · 0 replies · +2 points

Ujjal Dosanjh attempts, via satellite, to treat Rick Sanchez’s fevered confusion.

SPOILER: Ujjal recommends more cowbell.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - UPDATE: ListeriosisRep... · 2 replies · +2 points

On a completely unrelated note: I'm an ardent supporter of bilingualism in this country, but our government's tendency to mash English and French together into web site URLs is ugly and makes them inconvenient for people of either language.

http://www.listeriosis-listeriose.investigation-e... has got to be the worst offender I've seen yet.

I suppose you can argue that people tend to Google for URLs rather than type them in nowadays, but wouldn't it be much more sane to simply register two URLs, one in each official language?

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Memetracker: Please, p... · 2 replies · +1 points

You're correct that Wikipedia doesn't function like a database, but imagine if we had a database that anyone could edit, with changes that could be easily rolled back when vandalism occurs? That way, you could have readers help you clean up that data and add to it. Google is doing basically this with colaborative spreadsheets to the best of my knowledge.

One can even envision a time when pivot tables, such as the ones you can create in Excel, will be doable from a web interface. Imagine if your audience (such as keen reporters) could slice the data in an interesting way, save the report, and share it with the rest of your viewers?

The tech is not there yet, but that's the idea: one day, you can be Jimmy Wales that provides the infrastructure, guidance, and initial push for the project while your audience (universities, the media, keen citizens) helps manage the workload.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Memetracker: Please, p... · 2 replies · +1 points

I'm hopeful that as the tools get better than the amount of effort to maintain something like PunditsGuide.ca will decrease. Further, that tools will be developed to allow communities to maintain the data (like Wikipedia).

Have you tried finding a sympathetic ear from a University to help provide some funding? I suppose that might be difficult unless researchers at the university itself are contributing.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - UPDATED: Brad Trost sp... · 0 replies · +1 points

Yes, equality means you don't discriminate access to government programs on the basis of sexual orientation. I would sincerely hope everyone would share that opinion, even if they disagree with the aims of the program itself.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - UPDATED: Brad Trost sp... · 2 replies · +3 points

Politicians like Brad Trost are treating gays and lesbians as second class citizens by saying their communities aren't worthy of funding for cultural and tourism events.

If this wasn't a gay parade but, say, a Chinese New Year parade, you can bet that if Brad Trost would not have made such bigoted comments to LifeSiteNews.

Although I disagree with you, I can accept your argument that the Federal government shouldn't be funding cultural events, period. But that's not what Trost is upset about, and that's not why this is still making news.

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