Saturday, July 5, 2008

Thing 10

Honor is served. I have added a comment to our Reference Wiki, thereby observing the letter (if not the spirit) of Thing #10.
My chief difficulty with Wikis is the usual authoritative/egalitarian dilemma. Do I really trust the collective wisdom of the group, unmediated by the editorial voice?

I wonder what the origins of the word "wiki" are, by the way. Oh well, speak but the word, and google gives us the answer. According to computerworld.com, the genesis of "wiki" is just about as banal as you might expect. Somebody vacationing in Hawaii hears "wiki, wiki" (Hawaiian for 'quick') and thinks, "Hey, that's a good name for the software."
The only software name I've ever approved of, really, was the email program Eudora--for obvious literary reasons. (Eudora Welty's short story "Why I Live at the P.O." was the inspiration.)
Oh well, off-topic as usual. I am NOT a 21st century person.

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