| Top |  |
Phil Bachmann's Web SiteRecent observationsConventional thinking is not enoughSometimes our conventional thinking habits serve us adequately, but sometimes they leave us stranded. On Australian TV a panel of five supposedly wise people recently floundered when someone from the audience innocently asked:
If you've got high-speed internet you can watch their performance on: ABC TV 11 Jul, 2008 Wikipedia's co-founder starts rivalLarry Sanger, Wikipedia's co-founder, has started a rival encyclopedia called Citizendium. The misgivings he has expressed about Wikipedia are similar to my own, but I'm not sure that I agree with all his remedies. We seem to share the same major concern, being that thoughtful contributions by people who know what they're talking about get stomped on by faceless, self-important idiots. One way Mr Sanger's hopes to fix the problem is to insist that people use their full names before making a contribution. I think this is a sound idea. Another change is to have a layer of editors supervise and take responsibility for the work of authors - this I am not so sure about. Also if you want to help clean up or remove articles which are inappropriate, you need to be over 25 and have a bachelors degree. That idea I'm not sure about either. 17 May, 2008 See: Citizendium web site Wikipedia says Brendan Nelson going nowhereAs of today (16 May, 2008), Wikipedia's entry on Brendan Nelson quotes him as saying that with regard to his job he is "going nowhere". The trouble is, if you follow the links to the orginal article (bit of work, not everyone will do this), what Nelson meant was that he felt comfortable in his job and wouldn't be leaving it any time soon. Some anonymous person had put this sly reference on his page, someone else removed it, now the first person has just put it back again. The one who prevailed was the one with the most time and energy to monitor the site and click on buttons marked "Undo" and "Delete". This wouldn't matter if Wikipedia wasn't the most popular site on the internet, but right now it is. I suspect that its popularity stems from peoples' need for a central, unbiased reference point. That is a legitimate desire, but the lack of accountability is demeaning to everyone involved. Clearly, we need a better Wikipedia. 16 May, 2008 Tired politicians let their style showJust before he lost the recent election, Prime Minister John Howard was being interviewed and was fielding the usual set of inane and predictable questions, when he was asked something like, "Have you considered retirement?". The PM, who had been asked the question a hundred times before, sighed and replied that ".. you know, eventually everything must come to an end ... even this interview!" A few days later on election night, the soon-to-be new leader of the Liberal Party, Brendan Nelson, was part of a panel and was being asked whether in hindsight the Libs should have done this or that. Mr Nelson replied with something like, "Well you know I do not want to belittle hindsight, hindsight is a wonderful thing...my children have it!" Most of the time politicians avoid trying to be humorous because of the risk that the joke may misfire. However, every now and then they slip one out and remind us why they deserve our attention. 13 May, 2008 Riding the wave of fashionThe pastor at our local church often reminds us that before he was called into the ministry he was an electrician. Of course the marvellous thing about Jesus is that He lets anyone into heaven who believes in Him, not just those people who big-note themselves by being super smart or extra helpful. Not being an intellectual does not disqualify anyone from being a pastor. This week's sermon was a surprise, all about whether women were equal or not. Our pastor is clearly of the opinion that they are and as an example of a "wrong attitude" read to us some magazine article from the 1950's in which women were given tips on how they might be helpful to their husbands. The pastor seemed quite certain that today's fashion of (so called) equal rights was spot on and the 1950's ideas were not supported by any sensible reading of the Bible. He didn't like idea that women should look up to their husbands, and took particular issue with the magazine article's suggestion that women should understand their place. As I gazed at him pounding his chest and punching the air, I wondered whether there was ever a time when electricians understood their place? 12 May, 2008 StoriesStories for people who like unusual stories: Older WritingsFor those interested in my more strident essays from the past: Copyright (C) 1996 - 2008, Phil Bachmann |