SOPA

[Naesala]

Wikimedia is having a blackout in protest of SOPA. So if you need to get any research done, do it in the next 23 hours.

> implying Wiki's have any credibility
 
People should be doing their research properly and not taking "short cuts" ... In addition its only going to be dark for a day

1) Wiki's are more credible than the vast majority give them credit for thanks to many people who work to maintain its quality. 2) Using a wiki isnt "improper" research (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/research) and is only a shortcut in the sense of it is the quickest place to find general information on a subject. 3) A -real- reason for not using wikis is that wikipedia is an encyclopedia and encyclopedias should not be used for research papers because information in them is in most cases considered common knowledge. 4) Wikipedia often cites it's sources meaning that the information has backing and also meaning that 5) one can use wikipedia to locate scholarly sources.

As for only going dark for a day...yeah, thats not going to be much of a punch, but it's something and it keeps the momentum of the opposition of this bill going, which is importent

While there are people who maintain quality on the wiki sites there is also the problem of people maliciously changing pages as "graffiti" or to win bets on which they would otherwise be wrong.  While this problem is quickly fixed it still causes the problem of misinformation which has been caused by acts such as these on numerous occasions by people checking the wrong article at the wrong time. This has become prevalent enough to create several new terms such as collateral misinformation. As such the wiki's can be a decent place to start research (to find outside links verifying the information contained within the article, which may or may not be accurate)  it is by no means anything more than a bank of common knowledge as you yourself have pointed out.

True this happens, but so does people getting books with outdated information, interviews with misinformed people, or experiments with missed variables. Quality is on the up and up. And if you looked at the definition of research you saw that it means "the collecting of information about a particular subject" for which a wiki is useful (a bank of common knowledge). I do not suggest a wiki be your only source of information by any means and to only use it as an encyclopedia, so I suppose on those grounds at least we agree.

Regardless, if ou want to argue more I suggest starting a new thread and letting this one return to talk about SOPA (which I hear more and more people opposing, thankfully.)

[Neopergoss]

According to the radio today, SOPA might still show up again later but seems to have been avoided for the time being. Instead, something called the Protect IP Act, which is still very harmful but not quite as bad, is being pushed. I haven't had time to really research it.

[Naesala]

According to the radio today, SOPA might still show up again later but seems to have been avoided for the time being. Instead, something called the Protect IP Act, which is still very harmful but not quite as bad, is being pushed. I haven't had time to really research it.

Yeah PIPA is essentially SOPA. I think one was made by senate and the other by the house or soething like that, theyre both poorly written and need taken down.

[plastiqe]

When I saw this topic title in Unread Posts, I thought you were going to talk about Shard of Patience.

It's not Shard of patience?

When I saw this topic title in Unread Posts, I thought you were going to talk about Shard of Patience.

Me too, but then I Saw the "political section"

bucky1andonly 3
troll feeders 0

I like that the Wikipedians are protesting.  If TV protested too then the fat, lazy Americans might actually notice.

[Kamietsu]

When I saw this topic title in Unread Posts, I thought you were going to talk about Shard of Patience.

It's not Shard of patience?

When I saw this topic title in Unread Posts, I thought you were going to talk about Shard of Patience.

Me too, but then I Saw the "political section"

bucky1andonly 3
troll feeders 0

I like that the Wikipedians are protesting.  If TV protested too then the fat, lazy Americans might actually notice.

Shut down facebook for a single hour saying "This is what could happen if SOPA passes" and then we would have no more problems with SOPA.

[Nepycros]

These are the protestors:

[Schlonz]

Confirmed participants list is growing each minute:

    Google
    Wikipedia
    reddit
    Mozilla
    WordPress
    icanhazcheezburger network sites (FailBlog, theDailyWhat,Know Your Meme, etc)
    Tucows
    VanillaForums
    Flickr
    Michael Moore
    The RawStory
    Open Congress / PPF
    Internet Archive
    Miro
    Universal Subtitles
    Center for Technology and Democracy
    Electronic Frontier Foundation
    Politics1.com
    O'Reilly Media
    Namecheap
    TwitPic
    dotSUB
    MoveOn.org
    Gog.com
    MineCraft
    Tor Project
    webhostingbuzz.com
    RageMaker
    Destructiod
    theCHIVE
    theBERRY
    Red 5 studios
    A Softer World
    PostSecret
    Greenpeace International
    The LeakyWiki
    XDA-Developers
    Indenti.ca
    >Major League Gaming
    The ECA
    Game Politics
    Imgur
    Monticello Capitol
    Crypto Cat
    Colossal Mind
    TweetFail
    Errata Security
    FreakOutNation
    SlashTHREE
    Focus On the Facts
    City News
    Strategy Tune
    Progressive Congress News
    bitBucker
    WPS Security Lock
    openSUSE
    Smirking Chimp
    Bread Without Bullets
    iSchool at Syracuse University
    nomacs Image Lounge
    ComputerHope
    PhantomTS
    News2Map.com
    Safex.tk
    DatelineZero
    Liberty Confidential
    Victor Rix
    WJSimpson
    Spurs of The Moment
    peeje
    DigiBase
    Tomayko Peters
    GTA-NeXT
    Hertz Gaming
    Elegant Solutions Software and Publishing Company
    Short Travel Tips
    SoulFriends
    JammerDirec
    Free Internet Press
    youn00b.com
    Pop Culture Madness
    Celebrity Magnet
    Grand Magazine
    941 Media Project
    The Linux Geeks
    Occupy Birmingham (UK)
    LiveLocalCard.com
    Turkreno
    The Tao of Pooh
    James Wade Weaver
    lowson.ca
    Go Green Charleston!
    eliteMRP
    Antjepolis.com
    Stonewall Young Democrats
    AppBlitz
    Brown Cafe
    Crush Labs
    Antonamor
    RockAndWater.net
    Elder Scrolls Wikia
    Deadlock Site
    team-CTC
    Tommy Wierper
    Ron Bercume Design
    Jazz Sequence
    Plague Studio
    ViperZeroOne
    Motorcycle Street and Strip Magazine
    Blue Dragon Creations
    Briana Dragon
    The Vampire's Lair
    Elephant Talk Wiki
    TheComeAndGo
    katchabilek
    CPAarmy Central
    The Skate Rack
    whitehouse.gov1.info
    The Memphis Ghost Hunters
    Cerebralboinkfest

[Naesala]

+ That guy with the glasses
+ Explosm.net

[BluePriest]

Shut down facebook for a single hour saying "This is what could happen if SOPA passes" and then we would have no more problems with SOPA.

+1.


Sopa/pipa are just horrible bills period.

[Kakerlake]

Zanz should blackout Elements for a day as well... and then compensate everyone with a Nymph from the Oracle the following day :3

[Naesala]

Zanz should blackout Elements for a day as well... and then compensate everyone with a Nymph from the Oracle the following day :3

clever move, kaker

[Neopergoss]

Confirmed participants list is growing each minute:

*tons of ppl*

I'm actually kind of excited to be online right now amidst all of this. It's history!