September 29, 2005
A Self-Correcting Community
What do wikis work well for? Where do they fail? Over at one of my other sites, etc3dot.com, we’ve been playing with the idea of implementing a wiki for collaboration.
Certain work, like encyclopedia entries, software engineering or news articles, seem to lend themselves to this sort of site. The more people become involved in the process of adding, editing and perfecting content to reach some sort of consensus.
Whether this translates to other spheres, say, a creative piece, remains to be seen. Recently I was sent a poem that was done using a wiki. Personally I found this particular example did not improve through the collaborative process. The focus is far too disparate, clearly the work of many people. Rather than an article which tends to become more refined (in the long run, I think, this is hypothetical and anecdotal rather than substantiated – let’s leave it for the moment), the poem lost cohesion. Also the poem has accrued some strained “poetic” language that sounds symbolic or meaningful but within the context of the poem from so many voices does not end up making sense. “Will he catch up with his soul?” made sense in the original as a pissed-off, askance comment. By the last version, it feels sophomoric.
I was also surprised that this poem tended towards a rather positive look at human nature. The narrator seems to be initially angry but finds some redemption (“Under the doormat in all of us there is some goodness”) or fundamental goodness (“This failed human gesture has not knocked the faith out of me /on this platform full of people.”) in the person who pushed him/her. A reflection of this group of poets? The original poem has a bit of this at the end, but overall, is more angry, I think.
I’d be interested to see if wikis might create some interesting creative results. It seems to me that the hardest thing to do would be create and maintain a throughline. Wikipedia works because there is some general agreement about the facts in question, at least among the authors who frequent it. There are some exceptions, take the George W. Bush article, but overall, as the Esquire article shows, it tends to an equilibrium.
A focused directive from on high seems like it would be necessary for something creative, but it seems like that may be needed for even wikipedia. From the article:
Kelly Martin, a Wikipedia user who helped edit Jacobs’ piece, said the experiment worked significantly better than an earlier trial in which a television station tried to get Wikipedians to co-edit an article.
“The directions and guidelines were far less clear (in the case of the TV station’s experiment) and the end result was confused,” Martin said. “This one seemed to do much better. I think the community was more aware of it this time, so we had more resources monitoring the article for inappropriate edits.”
To be continued…
September 27, 2005
Feeling Randy
With as much subtely as a 6’10” behemoth of a Hall Famer can, Randy Johnson has snuck to a 16 – 8 on the year. His efforts stand out with those of Robinson “Can-Do” Cano (396 OBP /685 SLG / 1081 OPS) , Jorge “P-Man” Posada (443 / 594 / 1039) and the always dominant A-Rod (443 / 586 / 1030) in pushing da Bombers to a sterling 17 – 6 record in September.
Following on a 19-9 August, a .705 winning clip is some kind of sexy, though it is buoyed by a fantastic record in one-run games. The Yanks had a mediocre and somewhat unlucky start the year. Now, they are coming on strong down the stretch helped by the kind spurs of Lady Luck – will it hold out?
Three factors:
1. Do two or three starters distinguish themselves as dependable?
2. Do Rivera and Gordon tire out after heavy usage?
3. Does the offense continue chugging at this clip?
September 26, 2005
A Beginning of Sorts
Call me Antonello. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. Whaling never held particular interest, but several other areas intrigued me.
Thus this work will beat on, a boat against the currents, borne ceaselessly into the past.
Meander 