Why Wikipedia rocks

I was introduced to Wikipedia about four years ago by a guy I was studying with. Back then it was a relatively small site with lots of promise. Of course, the "lots of promise" part came after I got over the fact that any sucker in the world can modify any page at any time. I think my immediate reaction to that was the same as everybody else's: "That sucks! If any idiot can just change whatever he wants whenever he wants, the site is total bullshit and is useless as a reference." My friend then reminded me that this potential drawback is countered by a "perpetual proof-reading" phenomenon that could be strong enough to increase quality. Looking at the site in its current state convinces me that the perpetual proof-reading has taken over. In any case, there were systems in place from the get go to allow easy recovery in case some dickwad replaced the text in an article with "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

There is no doubt in my mind that the amount of positive contributors to Wikipedia has reached the "critical mass" necessary for it to become the kind of resource that people go to when they want to learn about anything. Wikipedia, Google, and Firefox are like the Holy Trinity of web research. Especially now that you can drag tabs around in Mozilla, all you have to do is middle-click on a link and drag the new tab right back so all your Wikipedia pages are together. That site has helped me alot in my work recently. What I like the most about it is that, by its very nature, it forces you to keep a critical eye when reading up on stuff.

I also like that the perpetual proof-reading factor puts an unspoken responsibility on everyone who consults the site. I don't take any bad-mouthing of Wikipedia seriously anymore. If you see something you don't think is right, you always have a choice. You can either edit the entry, make a new one where you think it's needed, or do nothing and bitch. You don't even need to be an expert to contribute. Afew weeks ago I was doing some personal research on the European Union when I noticed that some dates in parenthesis didn't correspond to the text that came before. I simply changed the dates accordingly, knowing that if the text is wrong, it'll eventually get corrected.

Wikipedia also pleases the idealist in me. I think this site is a good example of how, once you have a large enough talent pool (i.e. potentially the whole internet-capable world), you CAN produce a quality product for free. I can say with confidence that experts in many fields have contributed to Wikipedia. I don't know how much of their work has been undone by some benevolent newbies, but based on the technical, programming related entries that I've read, people who know their shit check up often enough to keep things useful.

I feel like I'm starting to drag on, so I'll cut this short now. I know it'll take a long time for me to run out of good things to say about Wikipedia. It really is the ultimate personal research resource. Just like Google has taken over the question "What websites are there about this?", I sincerely hope that Wikipedia takes over the question "What IS this?" It's the fist place I go to when I want to learn the broad lines of what something is, and I've done that alot over the last few weeks at work.

Rock Joe 2006

It's just after 3am on January 2nd and I'm writing this on my laptop that's over a week old while playing online poker with fake money. Holidays were great and so is life. I got the day off tomorrow and then it's back to work. 2005 was great and 2006 is looking good too. I hope everyone reading this can say the same.

Happy New Year everyone!