03-07-2004 17:48									#1
	Does anyone else here like the Wikipedia? Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

I never thought that it would work, but it has been getting better and better. I reckon it will soon overtake all others as the premier non-specialist encyclopedia - which is not to say that the same model wouldn't work for these as well.

Love it or hate it

	03-07-2004 17:59									#2
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Yeah, I do have to agree. It's very useful nowadays when you want to get your hands on information quickly.

	03-07-2004 18:09									#3
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Some bits are better than others, but I just looked and it has links to online versions of all of Aristotle's works and not a bad summary of his ideas too.

So much for people who claim that co-operative enterprises can never compete with competitive ones.

	03-07-2004 18:48									#4
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It is excellent. A fascinating concept and leap forward I think. There is even an entry on me, hehe.

Except there are dangers involved, like people can go and **** with it. The revert option is nice though. Someone f.cked with the entry on me, but with the tools Wikipedia has I was able to figure out who he was and I saw that he also totally erased the entry on Palestine. Then he changed his mind and replaced it with several pages of hostile quotes saying there is no such thing as Palestine or Palestinians.

	03-07-2004 20:18									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

I'd never heard of it before, I searched it for some relatively obscure things and it came up trumps every time. Any significant 'cons' about it? How is it funded?

	03-07-2004 20:20									#6
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Rather fantastic. One of my favorite places for random reading. Great to use when I need something, for entertainment or for general education.

It's not funded really, unfortunately, so it needs donations. Don't know about cons really... though I'm not sure about how would people react if you put Wikipedia as a referrence in your scientific work. OTOH, Wikipedia does often in turn have references to good sources.

	03-07-2004 20:49									#7
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I love it. It's great because they link so many things in their pages. It's easy for me to click and read something I'm not familiar with. And they are really up-to-date also.

	03-07-2004 20:50									#8
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Yep, really useful.

	03-07-2004 21:15									#9
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It has some nice information

	03-07-2004 21:23									#10
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Cons? No real cons.

People can mess with the content, and it can be patchy here and there.

Otherwise, excellent idea

quote: So much for people who claim that co-operative enterprises can never compete with competitive ones.

The beauty of it is, everybody puts a little bit in, but gets a whole lot back.

It's pretty much the same idea behind the OSS (Open Source Software) movement. Look at www.sourceforge.net. It simply is staggering. Yes, a lot of the stuff isn't so hot, but a good number of projects are of commercial quality, and a few are just pure genius.

	03-07-2004 22:03									#11
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Wikipedia is the ultimate triumph of socialist democracy.

	03-07-2004 22:10									#12
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sorry, that's not quite it, st. leo.

wikipedia is the ulitmate triumph of open-source, information-free democracy. not socialist.

	03-07-2004 22:15									#13
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It's actually pretty good. I wonder, what safeguards are there for protecting articles from political biases? I looked that GW Bush one, and it was very balanced. I'd imagine if it was a free for all in editing, it would not be anywhere close to that.

	03-07-2004 22:17									#14
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Information wants to be libre and gratis.

Why isn't it socialist?^-^

	03-07-2004 23:59									#15
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it's no more socialist than the concept of open-source is socialist. information should be free not because of socialist ideals, but because information begets information, and only in a democratic environment--regardless of the economics--can open source truly thrive.

	04-07-2004 00:19									#16
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quote: Originally posted by Q Cubed it's no more socialist than the concept of open-source is socialist. information should be free not because of socialist ideals, but because information begets information, and only in a democratic environment--regardless of the economics--can open source truly thrive.

	04-07-2004 00:36									#17
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quote: Originally posted by Q Cubed wikipedia is the ulitmate triumph of open-source, information-free democracy.

In other words, socialism.

	04-07-2004 02:10									#18
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doesn't sound very credible

	04-07-2004 04:37									#19
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Two thumbs up from me.

One of the few online sources that doesn't buy into the 'Dresden just made Meissen pottery' in the Nazi period propaganda.

I like the Catholic Encyclopaedia too. But for different reasons.

	04-07-2004 04:48									#20
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I think it's great. You would think there would be a lot of bias, but from what I've seen, it's very balanced.

	04-07-2004 04:49									#21
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what is it? where can I find it? I want to try it out

	04-07-2004 05:02									#22
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wikipedia.org

	04-07-2004 06:21									#23
	Put an end to popups!

Part of the miracle is that it is so unbiased. Vandalism does occur, but there are enough people who care such that it is usually fixed very quickly.

I suppose one reason it has succeeded is that information does not entail a zero sum game like so many other goods - so there is little incentive to abuse the commons.

But can anyone explain the lack of bias?

	04-07-2004 07:12									#24
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Prehaps the lack of bias comes from trying to be factual wherever possible (facts can't really be biased) and if it's a matter of opinion or interpretation, as many viewpoints as possible (ie, as people care to submit in a well considered manner) are included.

	04-07-2004 08:19									#25
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident what is it? where can I find it? I want to try it out

Now thats lazy, Google too complicated Diss?

	04-07-2004 08:21									#26
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to Wikipedia. A great site.

	04-07-2004 08:50									#27
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Wikipedia socialist? Ha, not a chance. Its more libertarian than anything.

A top down model like a standard encyclopedia would parralell better with a planned economy. An economy where everything has to be approved by some central government bureaucracy is like a publication where everything has to be approved by a central editoral board.

Wikipedia is more libertarian in nature, a free for all. Individuals making the decisions, with no big bad authority looking over their shoulder. Individuals each doing what suits them, according to their interests. A free exchange of ideas, like the free market is a free exchange of goods and services.

Socialism is top down.
Free market/libertarianism is bottom up.

The Internet, be it eBay, Wikipedia, open source, you name it, is very libertarian in nature.

	04-07-2004 09:05									#28
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quote: Socialism is top down. Free market/libertarianism is bottom up.

One could make the same case for the opposite. However, the latter inevitably ends in top down authoritarianism.

	04-07-2004 09:10									#29
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The latter is as far from top down authoritarianism as one can get.

I am not blind to the dangers of corporations, I share your concern, however the dangers of government far exceed the dangers of corporations.

Assuming you don't buy the line that in a truly free market, businesses wouldn't be able to grow to the size of the mega-corporations we have now because of too much competition, which part of me believes and part of me doesn't. But even assuming that would happen, a huge corporation like McDonalds or Coca-Cola have less affect on one's life than the US Government.

A libertarian McDonalds would be far less powerful than a socialist US Government.

	04-07-2004 09:31									#30
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I like it. I was surprised by the quality of the Canadian political history.