racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

While the world is celebrating for the last day of 2010, Wikipedia is crossing its fingers to reach its $16 million fundraising target for the Wikimedia Foundation.

You may have noticed those large banners on top of the pages of Wikipedia that looks like usual advertisements. Matter-of-factly, those are not advertisements since Wikipedia is a non-profit organization and all it needs is a little helping hand from its visitors and supporters.

It was just around November 13 of this year when Wikipedia founder Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales started the contribution campaign. Since then, a total of $15 million is said to have been reached already according to the banner shown on top of articles.

$1 million left and the strategic plans for 2011 of Wikimedia Foundation will surely flourish. Let us just see what happens next.

[via Wikimedia Foundation]

David Rohde, a journalist, was kidnapped in Afghanistan, and his employer, the New York Times, has tried to keep this information from going public for the past nine months. Some Wikipedia editors had been persistent in adding the kidnap information to his profile, but this was thought to potentially endanger his life.

Would you withhold information to help save a life?

For the first Wikipedia entry I created from scratch: the profile of Erin J. Dean.

Actually I’ve been editing Wikipedia entries here and there (usually for the English stuff), but this is the first time I made one from scratch. I realized not all artists and art works (including TV shows, films, etc.) have their entries on Wikipedia. It sort of becomes a gauge of how well known one is, perhaps. The more popular artists have lengthier and more frequently-updated profiles.

As for Erin J. Dean, she is said to have retired from acting (at an early age) and pursued other interests, so it’s likely that not many remember her roles. You do know I’m a fan of children’s shows, and The Journey of Allen Strange is one of those series that I used to watch on Nickelodeon when I was younger (I think I was in college back then), right along with the Secret World of Alex Mack and other such shows (I think Spongebob Squarepants was just starting to gain popularit that time). Of course, these days, I’m more of a Disney fan (ask my kids!).

Feel free to edit.

Here’s my reaction to the whole DIGG.com gaming issue: along with blogs being the “realm of the elite,” the whole DIGG issue is indicative of the possibility that the community aspect of “Web 2.0″ (emphasis on the quotes) might be undermined by the presence of the elite few. And I post on ForeverGeek:

If we take into consideration our earlier premise, that “blogging is the realm of the elite,” then the very goals that “Web 2.0″ embodies might be in vain. In this case, I have reason to fear that “Web 2.0″ would just turn out to be just another “Web 1.0″ model in the making. It looks like we are but gradually moving into a state where the community aspect of the Web is losing out to dominance by a certain few.

If you do find my FG post interesting, then please do DIGG it. I know we run the risk of being banned (again), or my account being suspended, but in my opinion, my article is a critique (similar to Macgyver’s two posts on DIGG) and not necssarily a criticism of the DIGG model.

So in the end, we might not be evolving, but rather regressing into the same things as we had in the start. Web 2.0? Bah!

Check out the Tagalog Wikipedia entry for bayag (scrotum). If you could understand Filipino, you would be laughing out loud.

Same goes with Pagtatalik (sexual intercourse), and this one and this other one, which I’d rather not name.

I think we need serious quality control with the non-English areas of Wikipedia. It’s likely that there are only few Wikipedians catering to quality control in other languages.

Warning: NSFW!