Wiki Reflection

I can honestly say that I really enjoyed doing the Wiki project. Although I am not much of a computer wiz, I felt like a computer programmer while doing this project. I had to learn Wiki code to create and edit the pages. I was really proud of myself when I figured out how to create a table that I used to show how much additional GBs costs for Picasa’s web albums. I also found it easy to write in a voice mimicking the voice of Wikipedia because I have read so much of Wikipedia. I was already familiar with that voice and writing style.

In our group everyone but one member created a brand new page for a new type of image editing. The person who did not create a new page edited the page that already existed for his technology and improved the lacking “Image Editing” page. We were all responsible for proofreading all the pages. I created the “Picasa” page as well as proof read other pages for spelling and grammar errors. I also added a section to the “Image Editing Page” that talks about the increased role image editing plays in online writing.


A task that I had difficulty with was uploading pictures. I spent a lot of time trying to figure this task out. I then sent an email to Scott and he alerted me of the upload file feature which solved my problem. That was really the only road bump I hit in this process. I found organizing my information into categories was very easy because there were so many sample pages to look at. I viewed other Wiki pages to help me organized my page in a similar way.

I ended up talked mostly about what Picasa offers to the user in my page. I also applied this to how it affects writing and how it can be helpful to a user. To be fair, I also mentioned its negative affects. I think my page gives a very detailed description of the program and how it can be useful.

The image editing portion of the Wiki still has a lot of room to improve. There are so many image editing programs and it only talks about 6 of them. However, this will improve through time as others contribute. Another area where we could improve is having more internal links on the article pages. Overall I feel like the pages in the Wikis are very strong, but they are not united with internal links.

Why I like Wikipedia

I know that many are against Wikipedia. A lot of my teachers have warned me not to use it and others would not accept it as a source. However I have found Wikipedia to be an extremely useful tool. Since anyone can post on Wikipedia, it has an amazing amount of entries. I have been able to find information on the topic of all my essays on Wikipedia. Since anyone can write and edit Wikipedia, I tend to verify the information I find with other sources. I find that almost all of the time, Wikipedia was a truthful source. I have also experimented with Wikipedia, entering some wrong information on the Madison, WI entry. It got changed back within 48 hours. Wikipedia might not be a good source on its own, but can be a really helpful starting source. By reading the Wikipedia article on a topic, a writer can get a solid overview of the topic and find out what else to specifically research.

The Power of Text Messaging

I really liked the articles we read about text messaging. I guess I've underestimated the power of text messaging. The capability to send messages to many people at once is very powerful, especially when organizing protests and rallies. As a freshman in Madison, I've gotten many texts to show up to different events. In class we discussed how text messages might improve the strength of the number of people that attend rallies and protests but damages the credibility of the protesters. Some hear of a rally via text and show up even if they do not support the cause. This has been made apparent by the media interviewing protesters that are clearly not knowledgeable on the subject matter. However we saw that these protests are powerful in Smart Mobs: The Power of the Mobile Many by Howard Rheingold. Rheingold calls organizing protests by text messaging "smart mobs." In 2001 Joseph Estrada lost his presidential power to a smart mob in a Filipino rebellion. Text messaging makes it so easy to communicate with huge amounts of people instantly it makes organizing rallies and mobs easy.

Like the majority of technological improvements, with the pros come the cons. One thing that really annoys me is when I receive text message spam. Think about it, the ability to send messages instantly to many people isn't just great for organizing rallies, but perfect for spammers. I can't stand text messaging spam. It really ticks me off when I check my phone to view the text I just got and it turns out its spam. According to this article text message spam is a growing phenomenon. There were 1.1 billion spam text messages sent in 2007 and unfortunately that number is only rising.

Wiki

I have spent this week working on my Wiki project. I am writing a Wiki entree for Picasa, a free image editing software owned by Google. I am mainly focusing on its functions, strengths and weaknesses. I have greatly emphasized it being simple and easy to use. The downside about Picasa is that with simplicity comes limitations. Picasa would not be a good fit for a serious image editor.