Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:18, 30 December 2016

Jimbo welcomes your comments and updates. He holds the founder's seat on the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees. The current trustees occupying "community-selected" seats until Wikimania 2017 are Pundit and Raystorm. The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Support and Safety is Maggie Dennis.

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Wiki Ed

Hi!

As you are well aware the people behind wikiedu.org have been supporting the Misplaced Pages Education Program in the United States and Canada since 2010.

You wrote: "If you have some ideas about how the movement might better make use of resources, then the best place to start is by getting informed".

Someone explained to me that the WMF does not financially support Wiki Ed, which was a surprise to me.

What do you think about the idea to give Wiki Ed an one-time donation? Their funds are quite limited. Even a relatively small amount would be a big deal to them.

Of course money doesn't magically solve all problems, but I think it might give them a boost.

I think we can all agree that the basic idea behind wikiedu.org is pretty solid.

Maybe you'll think my idea is stupid, please tell me gently, I am here to learn stuff and fix typos.

I am not in any way affiliated with Wiki Ed or any other Wiki-related organization.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 22:43, 22 December 2016 (UTC)

Note: this message was copied by The Quixotic Potato on 08:56, 24 December 2016 (UTC) and again on 07:20, 25 December 2016 (UTC) Graham87 10:57, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

@Graham87: I do not want to have to post the same message every day. I've set the archiving period to 7 days now. I hope you'll find that more reasonable. The maxarchivesize parameter ensures that this page won't get too long. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 15:30, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

@The Quixotic Potato: Nope, that's far too long, especially when this page gets busy. Please use {{Do not archive until}} for threads you don't want archived. Or just respect the fact that as time goes on, this thread will become less and less relevant ... perhaps use email if you really want to get Jimmy's attention. The maxarchivesize parameter controls the size of the archives, not that of the main talk page. Graham87 15:53, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

@Graham87: Thank you, that is a far better solution. I was not aware of the existence of that template. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 16:50, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

Comparisons of Misplaced Pages to other organizations

I agree with NewYork Brad that the above discussion about Jehovah's Witnesses doesn't look like it will contribute much to do with Misplaced Pages's goals. But to get back to the original question of whether there are reasonable comparisons to be made of Misplaced Pages to other organizations (good done vs. amount spent), I should say something about the TED (conference) folks, supported by the Sapling Foundation.

The Sapling Foundation has about the same budget as WMF, $62 million in 2014 . They also rely heavily on volunteer labor, e.g. the presenters. They have 2,000+ of their shorter-than-18-minute videos on their website. But they have something like 20,000 videos on YouTube, plus another 80,000 or so on TEDx talks on YouTube (all this should be checked). Altogether it looks like an interesting comparison could be made, after carefully checking the facts.

So there are at least 3 comparisons that look pretty reasonable to make. edX, Khan Academy, and Ted (conference). Can anybody think of another? Somehow a group of 5 non-profits would make a more convincing group to compare among. The only other I can think of is a for-profit Quora. Not that the efficiency of non-profits and for-profits can't be compared, but ....

Smallbones_(smalltalk) 23:44, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

You might want to look for other websites or organizations in Category:Educational websites. Also, the group of websites or organizations being compared might be suitable for a new article in Category:Online services comparisons.

—Wavelength (talk) 16:11, 27 December 2016 (UTC)

You might want to consider these websites.

• VideoLectures.NET - VideoLectures.NET
• Educational Videos – The Best Educational Videos Online | Educational Videos Directory
• WatchKnowLearn - Free Educational Videos for K-12 Students
• EduTube Educational Videos | Learn something new every day
• Teach With Movies - Lesson Plans from movies for all subjects

—Wavelength (talk) 01:26, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Here are some other websites for consideration.

• Internet Archive Wayback Machine (https://archive.org)
• DMOZ (http://www.dmoz.org)
• Wolfram Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com)
• SciStarter (http://scistarter.com//)
• Unicode (http://www.unicode.org)
• World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org)
• Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com)
• OpenStreetMap (https://www.openstreetmap.org/)

—Wavelength (talk) 18:10, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

WebCite is quite similar to the Wayback Machine. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 19:28, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

A lot of these websites will generate a significant amount of revenues via advertisements, e.g. on YouTube where the videos start after a commercial, and there are typically always indirect links to other commercial activities for these so-called "non-profit organizations". Count Iblis (talk) 19:41, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Someone has compiled a list of the "top 100 nonprofit organizations" at https://topnonprofits.com/lists/best-nonprofits-on-the-web/.

—Wavelength (talk) 21:49, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Thanks to all of you. I'm slogging through looking at most of these websites and hadn't imagined there's so much stuff (good and bad) on the internet. Keep more suggestions coming, especially if they are about large websites that distribute educational material (broadly defined), are nonprofits, and reach a mass audience. Budgets between $10-$100 million wouldn't hurt either. Smallbones_(smalltalk) 17:17, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

Man goes mad from reading Misplaced Pages

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/When-too-much-of-Misplaced Pages-is-not-a-good-thing/article16956598.ece 103.6.159.89 (talk) 08:44, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Here is the link to industrialpsychiatry.org (although I prefer this article). (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 08:58, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

This paper is more useful for diagnosing a society than a patient. If someone spends his days learning, is that a disease? If he was editing for the public good, is that a problem? Let's be clear: if Misplaced Pages were paying him, this would not be a problem; this would be an easy and fun lifestyle for someone in India. If he had a check coming in from wherever, ditto. So what we see here is actually a projection of the once-rare and now universally unquestioned belief that the purpose of education is strictly to get a job and help the major corporations establish a totalitarian dystopia on Earth. The psychological measurement of the man is whether he serves them. Imagine if these psychologists had a chance to diagnose a nun! Now to be sure, I'm not suggesting that it is wrong for people to reevaluate their goals and look for different methods, or even that psychological exploration can't help them to do this, but the habitual smug tone of the psychiatric establishment whenever it has found a safe market niche to preach from can be annoying. Wnt (talk) 14:31, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps it's wrong to equate "reading Misplaced Pages" with "learning". But what a shame he never did any editing? The SHUT Clinic sure sounds like lots of fun though, doesn't it? Martinevans123 (talk) 14:51, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

The paper is not very specific on that topic. Honestly, I was assuming by now the local stalkers would have a candidate username. Wnt (talk) 15:21, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

• The argument that heavy Misplaced Pages editing is a manifestation of addictive behavior is an old one on Wikipediocracy. There is some truth to it, I am sure, I have no doubt that endorphins come into the equation at some level — but then again, about 50% of the population are smart phone junkies, so there would be nothing novel or worthy of condemnation about the related phenomenon of WP editing being addictive behavior... At least there is a social good being created by WP editing vs. your run-of-the-mill texting or web browsing... Carrite (talk) 20:39, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Ordinal numbers in dates: No

Template:Formerly

MOS:BADDATE admonishes us that we should not use ordinal numbers in dates on here. So February 5th is out, and February 5 is fine. So why then am I getting a watchlist notice saying: "The 2017 WikiCup begins on January 1, 2017. Signups are open until February 5th." ?? Not the first time I've seen stuff like this. Kinda hard to enforce an MOS when Misplaced Pages powers violate it, no? So what's it to be : cardinal numbers only or cardinal and ordinal numbers? Numerous wikignome pedants are eagerly awaiting your guidance in these dark and troubling post-Solstice times. Valenciano (talk) 01:49, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

I am revising the heading of this section from Consistency? to Ordinal numbers in dates: No, in harmony with WP:TPOC (point 11: Section headings). Please see Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines. The new heading facilitates recognition of the topic in links and watchlists and tables of contents. (Please see also the fifth point listed at WP:MOS#Article titles, headings, and sections.)

—Wavelength (talk) 03:22, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

At 00:47, 25 June 2014 (UTC), I posted these comments: "Also, I suggest that other editors copyedit pages in non-article namespaces. Those pages have a more official nature, and a mistake there can mislead editors to imitating the same mistake." (User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 166#Copyediting is tedious but lasts)

—Wavelength (talk) 03:23, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

I hope that no one misinterprets the word "No" in the new heading as indicating an imperious tone on my part. I added that word because I wanted to avoid the possibility of a half-attentive reader misinterpreting the heading as indicating that they were required. In retrospect, I wish that I had omitted it, but I do not wish to change the heading again. I was not trying to boss anyone around (which can be counterproductive).

—Wavelength (talk) 04:14, 30 December 2016 (UTC)