Comments for Harry Wood Blog http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:34:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 Comment on London Bloggers Meet-up by Mario Felix Ruckh http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/07/30/london-bloggers-meet-up/#comment-12108 Mario Felix Ruckh Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:12:23 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/07/30/london-bloggers-meet-up/#comment-12108 Hi Harry, was nice meeting you yesterday. Funny article ;-) Check out our family tree website kindo.com or our blog (in 13 languages)... Talk to you soon. Best Mario P.S.: My personal blog is at www.ruckh.org/blog Hi Harry,
was nice meeting you yesterday. Funny article ;-)
Check out our family tree website kindo.com or our blog (in 13 languages)…
Talk to you soon.
Best Mario
P.S.: My personal blog is at http://www.ruckh.org/blog

]]> Comment on Sunshine, BBQ, Monopoly and Wikipedia Meet-up by Harry Wood http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7879 Harry Wood Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:07:58 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7879 Oi! hmmm yeah. I think my blog is set to a U.S. timezone. Let me see now... Oi! hmmm yeah. I think my blog is set to a U.S. timezone. Let me see now…

]]> Comment on Sunshine, BBQ, Monopoly and Wikipedia Meet-up by Francine http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7874 Francine Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:01:13 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7874 ...and noticed that the time of my post is 9 hours behind... ...maybe you should spend sometime here to fix it! haha …and noticed that the time of my post is 9 hours behind…
…maybe you should spend sometime here to fix it! haha

]]> Comment on Sunshine, BBQ, Monopoly and Wikipedia Meet-up by Francine http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7873 Francine Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:59:38 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/sunshine-bbq-monopoly-and-wikipedia-meet-up/#comment-7873 ...I have noticed some changes in here...;D …I have noticed some changes in here…;D

]]> Comment on Babies and Eden Project by Harry Wood http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/31/eden-project/#comment-4246 Harry Wood Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:21:46 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/31/eden-project/#comment-4246 Yeah. You have to switch your giftaid donations to the Eden project, and then they give you free entry for a year, as a thankyou. And then there's some "activation" procedure involving giving your name and address. But the question is, does this stop you giving your free entry card to somebody else? (I mean I'm sure you're not allowed to do that, but would they know?) We're going to try it. We've activated our tickets and left them with my cousin, who is going to use them some time this year when she has visitors. Yeah. You have to switch your giftaid donations to the Eden project, and then they give you free entry for a year, as a thankyou. And then there’s some “activation” procedure involving giving your name and address. But the question is, does this stop you giving your free entry card to somebody else? (I mean I’m sure you’re not allowed to do that, but would they know?) We’re going to try it. We’ve activated our tickets and left them with my cousin, who is going to use them some time this year when she has visitors.

]]> Comment on Babies and Eden Project by Stuart W http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/31/eden-project/#comment-3810 Stuart W Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:34:06 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/31/eden-project/#comment-3810 Are they still trying to justify the prices at the Eden Project by giving you a ticket to go back for free within 12 months, knowing that holidaymakers go to Cornwall at most once a year? Are they still trying to justify the prices at the Eden Project by giving you a ticket to go back for free within 12 months, knowing that holidaymakers go to Cornwall at most once a year?

]]> Comment on Mapping the Three Mills Loop by Gordon Joly http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/12/mapping-the-three-mills-loop/#comment-1735 Gordon Joly Wed, 14 May 2008 15:56:48 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/05/12/mapping-the-three-mills-loop/#comment-1735 Nice work Harry! Nice work Harry!

]]> Comment on 8th London Wikipedia Meetup by Seth Finkelstein http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-300 Seth Finkelstein Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:44:11 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-300 Almost every organization, even the most brutal and repressive, tends to have some sort of formal policies and procedures. If the prevailing view of Wikipedia was that it's no better than any flawed clique-filled group of petty power-trippers, then I wouldn't be writing those columns. Instead, it's popularly held up as a very far-reaching revolutionary social model, and I believe that is quite wrong. Almost every organization, even the most brutal and repressive, tends to have some sort of formal policies and procedures. If the prevailing view of Wikipedia was that it’s no better than any flawed clique-filled group of petty power-trippers, then I wouldn’t be writing those columns. Instead, it’s popularly held up as a very far-reaching revolutionary social model, and I believe that is quite wrong.

]]> Comment on 8th London Wikipedia Meetup by Harry Wood http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-285 Harry Wood Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:00:16 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-285 There's a miriad of policies and guidelines in place to try to limit the "flaws" of social influence and favor-trading. These are nicely distilled in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars" rel="nofollow">5 pillars of wikipedia</a>. People easily deviate from these rules, because we're all flawed human beings. Jimmy Wales is a flawed human being, but when he deviates people tend to cry foul very loudly, and the press announces a "scandal". But the fact that people <i>do</i> cry foul <i>within</i> the wikipedia community is a positive thing. Content disputes get mediated. Edits are matched against the policies and guidelines. And across all 1.4 million articles, things carry on as normal (including thousands of simultaneous conficts) Does wikipedia always manage to patch up the flaws in human nature? No. Absolutely not. Cliques and factional conflicts are unavoidable. Whether the system <i>is</i> flawed or the system has <i>some</i> flaws, well that's a glass half full/half empty kind of discussion. If you choose to take a negative viewpoint then.... There’s a miriad of policies and guidelines in place to try to limit the “flaws” of social influence and favor-trading. These are nicely distilled in the 5 pillars of wikipedia. People easily deviate from these rules, because we’re all flawed human beings. Jimmy Wales is a flawed human being, but when he deviates people tend to cry foul very loudly, and the press announces a “scandal”. But the fact that people do cry foul within the wikipedia community is a positive thing. Content disputes get mediated. Edits are matched against the policies and guidelines. And across all 1.4 million articles, things carry on as normal (including thousands of simultaneous conficts)

Does wikipedia always manage to patch up the flaws in human nature? No. Absolutely not. Cliques and factional conflicts are unavoidable. Whether the system is flawed or the system has some flaws, well that’s a glass half full/half empty kind of discussion. If you choose to take a negative viewpoint then….

]]> Comment on 8th London Wikipedia Meetup by Seth Finkelstein http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-262 Seth Finkelstein Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:28:01 +0000 http://www.harrywood.co.uk/blog/2008/04/16/8th-london-wikipedia-meetup/#comment-262 I don't view my article as an "attack on wikipedia itself", but rather on the extensive mythologizing of it. Indeed, I'm saying very much what you state, in terms of "an online community, and very a large one, with all of the conflicts and cliques of the real world". But, if I can attempt to cut to the chase, I read you as meaning that as an excuse for its flaws, while I take it as proof the the hype cannot be true, and it IS very flawed. How many of those other articles have similar problems from cliques? Or other problems? ANY infamous example can be dismissive with a hand-wave towards all the other articles. Do you see the logical problem there? Wikipedia is a community - in my view, a highly exploitative, dysfunctional one (pre-emptive anti-strawman: What didn't I say? I didn't say that an exploitative dysfunctional community couldn't produce anything. Pretending I said that would be attacking a strawman. It's the costs and limits which concern me). I would say "cult" is far more accurate in summarizing it, in capturing the essence of what drives it, than the gushing press I'm writing against. I don’t view my article as an “attack on wikipedia itself”, but rather on the extensive mythologizing of it. Indeed, I’m saying very much what you state, in terms of “an online community, and very a large one, with all of the conflicts and cliques of the real world”. But, if I can attempt to cut to the chase, I read you as meaning that as an excuse for its flaws, while I take it as proof the the hype cannot be true, and it IS very flawed.

How many of those other articles have similar problems from cliques? Or other problems? ANY infamous example can be dismissive with a hand-wave towards all the other articles. Do you see the logical problem there?

Wikipedia is a community - in my view, a highly exploitative, dysfunctional one (pre-emptive anti-strawman: What didn’t I say? I didn’t say that an exploitative dysfunctional community couldn’t produce anything. Pretending I said that would be attacking a strawman. It’s the costs and limits which concern me). I would say “cult” is far more accurate in summarizing it, in capturing the essence of what drives it, than the gushing press I’m writing against.

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