Wikipedia is the greatest thing ever

I totally had students do this.

I had seen the Wikipedia list of misconceptions floating around Twitter, and figured it would be an interesting exercise for my reading classes. We had previously investigated other sites' discussion pages in an activity I call "Wikipedia Behind the Scenes," and this seemed like a logical next step.

I made a preassessment, a true/false "quiz" with 12 misconceptions I thought my students might know. ("T/F: Bats are blind.") They took the quiz, we shared the results ("show of hands... how many thought #1 was true?"), and then I sent them into the computer lab to find out which of the answers were correct. (I was a little mean; all the answers were false.)

After a few minutes, in dismay and excitement, they brought back their findings. We talked about the sources of misinformation--friends, parents, teachers--and tried to figure out how wrong things get to be "common knowledge." I showed them the list, and we looked at the "discussion" page to see the disagreements over what ought to be listed. (Consider this a vote to keep it.)

In sum: Wikipedia is a marvelous teaching tool, and any educator who disagrees is a nincompoop.

Wikipedia is smarter than you

1. At least if you're one of an embarrassed batch of J-school grads:

When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.

His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.

The sociology major's made-up quote - which he added to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre hours after the French composer's death March 28 - flew straight on to dozens of U.S. blogs and newspaper Web sites in Britain, Australia and India.

They used the fabricated material, Fitzgerald said, even though administrators at the free online encyclopedia quickly caught the quote's lack of attribution and removed it, but not quickly enough to keep some journalists from cutting and pasting it first.

Read it all to find out what happened.

2. That Wikipedia has transformed from a hobbyhorse to an Encarta-toppling information powerhouse is a testament to its utility, as well as the power of wiki-addiction over its selfless editors. One of them is Ira Matetsky, who goes under Wikipedia's hood in what promises to be a fascinating series of blog posts.

3. I had three junior classes each create a wiki study guide for The Death of Artemio Cruz, a fantastically complex book. Overall, the experiment was a success, but I think I failed to adequately explain the nature and purpose of the wiki, by the number of students who, in their self-evaluations, noted that they wouldn't dare edit someone else's entry because "that would be rude."

poissoned

It took students until fifth period to decorate my door and windows with paper fish--poissons d'Avril--in bold colors and various shapes and sizes.

We were working in the computer lab. I was focused, in a zone, helping students craft a wiki on the novel we're reading, totally absorbed in the moment when a student said, "Hey Anderson, there's a tag on your back."

"A tag?"

"Yeah--"

"--or a... fish," someone else chimed in.

Yep. I got poissoned.

reaching wikivana

The way to achieve a meaningful life is not through finding love, cultivating friendship, building a corporation, founding a nation, or creating a masterpiece.

The only way to be sure you matter(ed) is to make it onto Wikipedia.

Of course, you can't write your own entry, so you'll have to do something wiki-friendly.

Once you get on there, you can track the progress of your life--at least, your life as Wikipedia knows it--secure in the knowledge that you've at least hurdled the bar.

Oh, and the title? Wikiheaven, wikitopia, and wikihalla were all taken.

unashamed

Today I gave students a Wikipedia reading assignment as homework.

have students join the Wiki revolution

I am so, so in favor of this:

Wikipedia has been vilified as a petri dish for misinformation, and the variable accuracy of its articles is a point Groom readily concedes. Since the advent of the Web, she said, the quality of sources students cite has deteriorated.

For her students, the Wikipedia experiment was "transformative," and students' writing online proved better than the average undergrad research paper.

Knowing their work was headed for the Web, not just one harried professor's eyes, helped students reach higher - as did the standards set by the volunteer "Wikipedians" who police entries for accuracy and neutral tone, Groom said.

If you want your students to experience the Wiki Way, but aren't sure they're ready for the rough-and-tumble world of Wikipedia, then, instead of having them take notes on a book, introduce a tool like pbwiki so they can create their own "SparkNotes." Just make sure you have adequate technology, clear expectations, and more than a little tech savvy.

young scientists bring the skepticism

Via NewScientist:

On 9 October, Sense about Science, a charitable trust based in London that works with 3000 young UK-based researchers, published a pamphlet detailing how its irked members had telephoned numerous companies to ask how their products actually worked. Some of the answers are simply amusing, but others - for example, herbal products that claim to clear the body of 100 parasite species - shocked those making the calls.

"The saddest part is that a lot of people who buy these things are desperately ill, perhaps with cancer or multiple sclerosis," says pamphlet author Frank Swain. Yet the firms "seemed completely unprepared for anyone to take issue with their products," says co-author Alice Tuff.

Read the full report here [pdf]. In one of the funnier (sadder?) exchanges, a company rep for a parasite-removing potion sends one of the skeptics a link to a Wikipedia page listing both real and fictitious parasites.

the cult of the blog hater

Andrew Keen:

By stealing away our eyeballs, the blogs and wikis are decimating the publishing, music and news-gathering industries that created the original content those Web sites ‘aggregate.’

Sorry.

You can have your eyeballs back.



[via ALDaily]

Wikipedia is just that good

Haters, temper thy scorn:

Some of the errata he inserted — like a claim that Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, had made Syracuse, N.Y., his home for four years — seemed entirely credible. Some — like an Oscar for film editing that Mr. Halavais awarded to The Rescuers Down Under, an animated Disney film — were more obviously false, and easier to fact-check. And others were downright odd: In an obscure article on a short-lived political party in New Brunswick, Canada, the professor wrote of a politician felled by "a very public scandal relating to an official Party event at which cocaine and prostitutes were made available."

Mr. Halavais expected some of his fabrications to languish online for some time. Like many academics, he was skeptical about a mob-edited publication that called itself an authoritative encyclopedia. But less than three hours after he posted them, all of his false facts had been deleted, thanks to the vigilance of Wikipedia editors who regularly check a page on the Web site that displays recently updated entries. On Dr. al-Halawi's "user talk" page, one Wikipedian pleaded with him to "refrain from writing nonsense articles and falsifying information."

Mr. Halavais realized that the jig was up.

Granted, Wikipedia ain't perfect. But its lay editors are pretty darn sharp, and its democratic nature is more a help than a hindrance. Oliver Wendell Holmes would be proud.

Napoleon did it. Wikipedia says it. That settles it.

My school email inbox just received a Saint Martin's professor's stern warning about an insidious trend:

In the last couple of years I have seen a noticeable increase in the use of Wikipedia by students. It is not, however, a legitimate source, b/c anyone can update/edit the online encyclopedia, regardless of expertise and without quoting sources. I tell my students that it may be a fine place to start your research (even this I distrust, but I try and throw them a bone), but all outside material must be sourced elsewhere and appropriately.

Tell that to The Olympian.

surf in your SUV

Sure, it's big news that Washington state rest stops will now allow wi-fi access, free for travel info, and with fees for broadband use.

The service went up Monday at 28 of the state's 42 rest stops, including the Maytown and Scatter Creek stops south of Tumwater along Interstate 5....

Travelers can get free access to the DOT Web site for traveler information, as well as to Amtrak, some bus and other transportation-related Web sites.

But for broader access, motorists will have to pay a fee: $1.99 for 20 minutes' access; $3.99 for a day; $7.99 for a week; and $29.99 for a month.

But the really big news is buried at the end. Keep scrolling, and you find:

What is wi-fi?

Wi-Fi is a brand originally licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks. ... A person with a Wi-Fi device, such as a computer, telephone or personal digital assistant can connect to the Internet when near an access point. The region covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot. Hotspots can range from a single room to many square miles of overlapping hotspots."

Source: Wikipedia

That's right. Wikipedia, despite the best efforts of creeps, malcontents, hackers, egotists, partisans, and vandals, is good enough to be gospel.

how old is Dave Niehaus?

To give you some idea...

Dave Niehaus signed the Declaration of Independence, just under John Hancock's famous autograph, in a nearly illegible scrawl.

Dave Niehaus invented the flugelhorn, the harpsichord, and the clarinet.

Dave Niehaus's first broadcasting experience was calling the lawn bowling matches between Genghis Khan and Ma Jianlong.

Dave Niehaus ghost-wrote Augustine's Confessions.

Dave Niehaus slept through most of the Iron Age, saying he preferred the action and excitement of the Bronze.

Dave Niehaus cut his teeth on pterodactyl.

The short answer: no one knows. Honestly. Not even Wikipedia.



[108th in a series]

where were Emeril Lagasse's parents born?

It's a fair question.

Out of all the Emeril biographies, which might mention this obscure trivium?

Well, he's of Portuguese and French Canadian heritage, born in Massachussetts, if StarChefs can be trusted.

Emeril's official bio lists his mom's name--Hilda--but not where she hails from. This bio is silent, too.

Even Wikipedia fails us.

Which brings me to the point: no one cares about their parents anymore. We're all selfish, self-absorbed, self-admiring egomaniacs with no regard for the folks who brought us kicking and screaming into the world, who nurtured us and coddled us and disciplined us when it counted. And no one cares for geography, either. We're so fluid, moving from place to place like mercury on a paper plate, no longer bound by convention or transportation. It's a spiritual loss, really. The local gods are dead, and the abstraction replacing them won't answer our calls.

So you'll never, ever know the answer, unless you can somehow catch Emeril's ear.

No, not even then. All he'll say is "BAM!" His bodyguards speak with their fists.



[104th in a series]

information on the 12 disciples

A one-stop resource for everything you need to know about Jesus's closest followers. (Like Wikipedia, a work in progress. Unlike Wikipedia, 100% facticity.)




Simon Peter a.k.a. Peter
Simon Peter, one of Jesus's favorite disciples, acquired his name from the Greek "Petra," meaning "long haired rocker." (Peter's hair ranged from a cubit to a cubit-and-a-half. Flowing locks are a sign of spiritual strength, if you recall the story of Samson.)

Before he met Jesus, Peter was a veterinarian in the Jerusalem area, treating camels, donkeys, dogs, and the occasional small child. His twenty-year-strong practice was booming when an unknown prophet came by on a Tuesday afternoon, asking what to do about a herd of deranged pigs loitering dangerously close to a cliff. Peter said, "Let 'em jump." The prophet, Jesus, laughed until he realized Peter was serious. The two became instant friends.

After Jesus's death, resurrection, and return to heaven, Peter spent the next decade or so wandering throughout the Jerusalem area, advocating dietary reform and preaching the gospel. In AD 67 he lanced a boil too deeply and bled to death. He was 72.


Andrew
Aramaic for "Hops." Benjamin Franklin once said that "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Andrew's parents--Jonah and Deanne Michaelson--must have had Ben in mind when they brewed up a name for their bouncy baby boy.

Sadly, Andrew's parents were captured enslaved by the Romans when he was six. He never saw them again. Raised by his older brother Louis, Andrew gained street smarts as a truffle vendor, eventually landing a job with Jerusalem Express. He was a well-known cab driver with a colorful vocabulary and a lead foot. He met Jesus while off duty outside the Jerusalem Hilton, was struck by the teacher's command of inoffensive expletives, and abandoned his busted up Chevy for a career as a disciple.

At the age of 56, battling a severe flu and depressed by Jesus's absence, Andrew died in his sleep. He left everything to Louis.


James Zebedee
James Zebedee was hands-down the baddest disciple. He smuggled heroin for the Haifa mob, hiding packets of dope in a false belly while disguised as a pregnant woman. He left his life of crime during Jesus's brief tenure, but soon returned when Jesus didn't. James met a bullet on his last day--not from cops, who were mostly too bribed to care, but from a football fan from Galilee who had heard one too many "Galilee sucks!" come from Zebedee's drunken lips.


John Zebedee
If there ever was a living argument against genetic determinism, it would be James Zebedee and his indentical twin brother John. The name "Zebedee" means "Son of Thunder," related to the family's struggles with Irritable Bowel. (As Paul counsels us, suffering leads to patience, patience to character, and character to hope.) If anything, his condition kept John from getting too serious with any of the blond waitresses at the local Denny's.

While James smuggled drugs for mobsters, John kept a low profile, helping his dad run a bicycle repair shop. One day a lanky Galilean came in with a flat tire. John, not realizing who his customer was, cracked a joke about healing it with prayer and fasting. When Jesus released him from his telekinetic gaze and let him down from the ceiling, John apologized and joined up.

John was often suspected to be a member of Roman intelligence, but this was never confirmed. (James once shot a small-timer who suggested it in public.) John's life came to a close at the grill of a '58 Edsel.


Philip
The Good Book says, "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Philip, whose name means "Git-er-done" in Aramaic, was a hard-working but altogether pleasant elementary school teacher. He was the only disciple to join the crew without first being asked by Jesus, standing outside the Galilean's apartment for five days in the rain until Jesus relented.

Because of his work ethic and personality, Philip was put in charge of public relations. He once got into a bit of trouble for claiming in the Jerusalem Tribune that Jesus was going to be "bigger than Moses."

In his postdiscipleship career, Philip returned to his teaching job, becoming addicted to Percocet because of a rowdy kindergarten class of belligerent Romans. He died of an overdose at the age of 46.



Bartholomew
Little is known about Bartholomew. He was an insurance salesman for Bethlehem Mutual, sticking with his job even during Jesus's time on earth. (Jesus kicked him off the team after he offered a disability policy to the healed blind man of Bethsaida, claiming "You never know, it could happen again.")

Bartholomew was last seen on the tarmac at Haifa International Airport clutching a suitcase stuffed with shekels, probably stolen from his company.

Bartholomew is Arabic for "tessellation." The spiritual significance of his name is a mystery.


Thomas
Thomas (Greek for "Entomologist") had a lazy disposition, a winning smile and a fierce nicotine habit. Employed from time to time as a butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, Thomas resented his corporate bosses, who just couldn't understand his easygoing approach to work. When Jesus stopped by one Saturday looking for enough pumpernickel for 5,000 people, Thomas didn't waste a second, snatching up as many loaves as he could stuff in his Vanagon before hitting the road as a piping fresh evangelist.

Thomas later acquired a reputation as a doubter for a regrettable incident recorded by an unsympathetic witness. Thomas also wrote his own gospel, "The Life and Times of a Journeyman Prophet."


James Alphaeus
James Alphaeus, a stay-at-home dad, was the only disciple without a "real" job, a fact that led to constant secret irritation. James's wife advanced up the ladder at a leading law firm, while James took time away from raising two sons to gad about the Jerusalem area with Jesus and the other disciples.

James Alphaeus, like so many others, did not expect the Spanish Inquisition and was burned at the stake for heresy after confessing to demon possession, witchery, and the Watergate break-in.

"Alphaeus" is Latin for "First in God's eyes." We are all first in God's eyes.



Thaddeus a.k.a. "Gomer"
Depending on which edition of the original Greek New Testament is consulted, Thaddeus was a machinist or an electrical engineer. Even the origin and meaning of his name is obscure.

Thaddeus was Mr. Fixit for the disciples, keeping their fleet of battered buses and minivans running in Israel's hot summers. He secretly gambled away membership dues on chariot races and was never caught, although Jesus probably knew and kept it a secret. Thaddeus's life ended abruptly when he broke his neck falling down stairs at 48.


Simon the Cananean a.k.a. Simon the Zealot a.k.a. Jude James
Simon the Cananean walked a tightrope--literally. Small-time gangster by day, Ringling Brothers funambulist by night, Simon C. ran into Jesus at the hospital while being treated for a concussion sustained in criminal circumstances. He joined Jesus's posse hoping to turn it into a militia capable of fighting the Romans, but was disappointed when his scheme didn't pan out.

After Jesus left, Simon C. returned to crime and funambulism. The former got him before the latter. He eventually took a bullet in the kidney when running away from a rumble in South Jerusalem. The streets don't have a safety net.

Simon the Cananean's name is Greek, meaning "Quick to Criticize." From Proverbs, "As iron sharpeneth iron, so one man sharpeneth another."


Judas Iscariot
Iscariot means "traitorous weasel" in Aramaic. No surprise, then, that Judas would turn out to betray Jesus to the authorities. What is surprising is Judas's line of work before becoming a disciple: he ran a men's apparel chain called "Judas's Fine Hats, Scarves, and Neckties," and joined the disciples only because of a bad business cycle. It was rumored that Judas made a deal with the Pharisees to hand Jesus over to the Romans in hopes of revitalizing his business prospects. After Jesus's death, Judas hanged himself out of guilt. As theologian Frosty Troy once put it, "Even Jesus didn't pick twelve winners."




Looking for more information on Jesus? See also...
Jesus's cryptic parables
what was Jesus's philosophy?
Jesus's real name
Jesus's birth certificate
Matthew 14:22-32--the Recently Revised Version


References:
what the 12 disciples' names mean
12 disciples' jobs before they joined Jesus
sins of the 12 disciples
why did Jesus choose 12 disciples?
a real list of Jesus's twelve disciples, and their putative demises







[one hundredth in a series]

save Wikipedia

This sort of crap makes me furious.

A cursory search today suggested that these procedures - which require contributors to register basic details before posting articles - were being defeated by a relentless wave of vandals, apparently co-ordinating their assaults from a series of chatrooms dedicated to its demise.

I love Wikipedia. It's a great initial resource, a quick and easy way to figure out what the heck someone means when they talk about the nomenklatura or Atmosphere or coordinate covalent bonds. Vandalizing Wikipedia is a crime against humanity's right to instant gratification.