Just recently there was an outburst of controversy on Wikipedia when it was reported that Microsoft asked an editor to make some edits and receive compensation. Microsoft was unsettled by some of the inaccuracies and over criticisms of their file types in their respective Wikipedia articles. Since anyone can edit Wikipedia, Microsoft could have easily edited these articles themselves, they instead attempted to hire a neutral 3rd party that would re-write the articles with a more balanced view.

This upset many a Wikipedian, including Jimbo Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. Jimbo calls this pratice "'antithetical' to Wikipedia's mission". I find this a bit bizzare. Wikipedia already has a defense mechanism to react to bad edits. If an edit is made, anyone else can do anything from as small as remove a sentence or two, or reverting the entire edit to its previous state. This defense should be enough to prevent the majority of such paid editors from making such bad edits, and keep their good edits in check.

Wikipedia already allows compensation via a special message board in which people request certain edits be made or criteria met in a particular article. Compensation for such edits can either be a monetary amount or they may be requested to be done for free.

Offers for barter or even cash are common on the forum, and the person making the offer can remain anonymous. Indeed, on Wednesday, someone was ponying up $55 for whoever could get an article about Lithuania to reach featured status.

I've found that while browsing Wikipedia some seemingly important topics are left with very short articles, or stubs, which leave you searching for information elsewhere on the internet. Paid editors point out the following:

"It is strange that a minor Pokemon character will get a 1,200-word article, but a Fortune 500 company will get ... maybe 100 words," he said.

I think Wikipedia is already set up to easily handle and bad edits made and these pratices should not be prevented or frowned upon.

I've recently made the comments on each post's page more prominent. Since the last six of my posts got some wonderful comments from my friends, I figure that I've done something right! I love getting comments and its a good way to indicate to me what you like to see. Its also good if you have any questions about the post I made, I'll be sure answer back in the comments. My next step is to get a link on the side of my page to let people sign up for email subscriptions.

Wow. This is amazing. I can't even beleive that a place like this actually exists. I found this in the "Big City Nights" group that I've posted my night time photos to.

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr

After years of finical trouble an analyst has raised Krispy Kreme's (KKD) price target. Although the company was is very popular in the south east US the company's franchises failed in the north east. After opening within the past 6 years, nearly all the locations outside of New York city and north of Maryland shut their doors.

Some people believe their problems lie in their rapid expansion. They've opened many stores across the globe, including locations with fierce, dominating, competition. Tim Horton's in Canada led to the bankruptcy of the operating company and closure of many of the stores in that area. When these locations closed, including when the North East locations closed, the company stated that they would like to re-open these stores at some point. With the filing of finical papers for the first time in three years and the improve analyst view, one might hope that these store do re-open (at least in my area!).

Hopefully the company will introduce a new business model that is free of their history of bad management and failed franchises. Hopefully we'll see them re-open and expand in the Philadelphia area, an area that I believe they can succed.

This photo is from the Milwaukee Art Museum. This hallway is absolutely fantastic. The guy in the picture kinds subtracts from the amazing clarity and reflections in this shot. I love the colors outside and at the end of the hall.

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr

As some of you may know, I love teh Wikipedia. Sometimes I'll find myself reading pages on subjects that I've never even heard of. One each page I find three to four more interesting links that I open up in a new tab and continue an infinite cycle of reading new articles.

Everyone has heard the meme "a picture is worth a thousand words". Since I'm not the most articulate person around, photographs happen to be my favorite way to contribute to Wikipedia. If you view my User page you can find all of my photos that are currently listed in an article.

The reason for this post, and my most recent contribution is the photo of the meeting room for the United Nations Trusteeship Council. It is a great improvement over the previous image, located here. This image unfortunately features a dimly lit room (due mainly to the use of a flash), in addition to a few large sections of the image featuring both the ceiling and the public seating area (where the flash was unfortunately effective). I must still thank the person who added that image, as accurate contributions to Wikipedia wither of high quality or of lower quality are absolutely necessary to improve and expand it's content.

I skipped flickr friday so here is a shot I took on my recent trip. This isn't the original, I "one step photo fixed" this with Paint Shop Pro. You can find an unedited version here at Flickr. Which one do you like better? Post in the comments!

I'm not going to go into great detail on this, but it looks like the MTA was able to strap together enough cash to build the envisioned Fulton Street Transit Hub. Previously they mentioned that an E train connection would cost too much when coupled together with the giant glass done they would install at the main entrance.

Over at the NY Times there is a neat interactive graphic display of what the hub will look like and how you can get around.

The hub is currently scheduled for a late 2008 opening and a 2009 opening of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) station. So we can probably expect this to over budget and behind schedule as early as 2010.

Labels: new york, subway

Somehow in my slumber I managed to remove my pillow case from my pillow. I have a difficult time removing my pillow case when I change my sheets while awake, so I don't know how I managed to do this. Just thought I'd share. I'll let you know if I ever cook breakfast before I wake up.

This is the last flickr friday before I head to NYC for the day on Thursday! I can't wait! I am going to make every effort to have this coming Friday be a photo from me and my new camera! The glow you see in the center is, of course, Times Square. You can get off the train at any hour of the day, head to street level, and just be amazed at how bright everything is. It is one of the few places in the US that require flashy signs, lights, and graphics as part of the zoning ordinances.

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr

There have been amazing stories these past few days of a man helping a seizure victim at the 137th St station in New York.

While waiting for an approaching train, 20 year old Cameron Hollopeter suffered a stroke and fell onto the tracks from the platform. Wesley Autrey, a bystander who was waiting for the train with his two daughters, jumped down to help Cameron. Autrey noticed the train was too close to remove the stunned victim from harms way and decided to cover the victim in between the rails. They managed to escape getting hit by the train by very very little. Autrey claims he felt the train brush up against his hat.

This absolute amazing act of heroism saved Cameron's life who thanked Autrey from his hospital bed. Autrey was awarded free rides on the subway for a year and was thanked by the mayor at city hall. Donald Trump also awarded him a check for $10,000.

Labels: new york, subway

I absolutely love it. I'm already wanting to get one or two additional lenses. Hopefully I'll use the HECK out of this camera when I re-visit New York City on the 11th. I'm still waiting for an additional battery from China and a CompactFlash card from some mystery place in the US. I am having trouble finding things around hope to photograph, everything is dreary and dead and cold. There isn't even any snow in sight. Sigh... hopefully January will get colder.