Here’s an extended interview with Kevin Lim of Theory. Is The Reason that I gave last week.
The web page gives times and subtopics:
I really like the first paragraph discribing what fluwiki is all about.
It’s from our mission statement on the main page.
i was going to suggest putting it their(red face) : D
or there.
Dem sounds hot!
A 50-something Rick Moranis look alike. Glad I’m your type. ;-)
For those who are interested in the intersection of flu wiki and politics, the good stuff starts around 30 minutes in.
Great job! You sound so….friendly!
Not like i am here. ;-)
Hot AND friendly! We should start a DemFromCT fan club…. T-shirt ideas anyone? (just kidding.) :-)
You know we love ya Dem…
Take it from one who knows: he is friendly, and much nicer than I am:-)
17:19 --- Not at all! I find you to have a good sense of humor and fun to banter with.
We love ya too, Melanie!
the flu wiki metathreads
And he really is a sort of 50-something hot Rick Moraniss look alike.
anyway, any comments about the interview itself?? What should we include when talking about Flu Wiki about you, the participants? JoeW’s survey will give us more info. What else?
I haven’t posted previously. I’ve just read and read and read and appreciated every word everyone has contributed to the wiki and to the forum. I would be so bold as to suggest that the participants here are quite educated. I’m not refering to just formal education… but these are very curious and inquisitive people from all areas of work and life.
Lauralou
Welcome! We are a curious lot, and we do tend to question authority a tad. If you haven’t noticed. ;-)
That we care include that if nothing else. We come here to share learn and sometimes vent. BTW who is Rick Moranis anyway?
LOL.
Dem: “We are a curious lot…” Are you implying anything with that??? :)
(Ok. That guy. I guess I have seen him in a couple of things, even though I don’t see too many movies. -Ghostbusters and Spaceballs -Oops.)
Now I have to go look for the Science magazine tomorrow! (After I buttonhole a few unsuspecting “vote for me” politicians first, heh. Handy the feds made all those pandemic “plan to plan” checklists).
“Curiouser and curiouser”, Many Cats?
Heh.
I knew it! :)
Ever try to herd cats?
OMG Dem!!! You even sound like Rick Moranis!! LOL!! You’re a See-Lebb-Ruhty!!
the main thing IMO, why an internet forum is _superior_ to normal talking wasn’t mentioned …. It’s the links, which you can include to support your argument !
a bit hard for me to understand, when Dem is speaking quickly , but didn’t he say, there were lots of political bloggers over here at fluwiki ?
the whole importance of the pandemic subject was a bit lost in the interview. It seems like Dem could have made up a wiki about anything else - tsunamis,hurricans,politics,astronomy , the interview could have went the same course. But were talking about a much more important issue here with possible dramatic consequences. That somehow was lost in the interview IMO.
Dem talking about the “we don’t know”-ers as a reason to create fluwiki.
But he’s one of the greatest “we don’t know”ers here ! ;-)
Did you notice how they avoided to talk about probabilities and how they
artificially circumscribed statements about probabilities so to avoid
giving numbers , which somehow appears to be inappropriate in US-culture ?
Dem was very good to keep the conversation fluid and pleasant and to avoid
embarassing pauses. That’s another reason, why an internet forum is superior,
you can concentrate on the issue
You’re right, gs; it was more about the whole wiki concept than pandemic flu specifically. I think that was the goal of the interviewer, though.
What I found interesting was the discussion of establishing the wiki’s credibility. Hadn’t thought about it much, but it’s obvious Dem had. I’ve been a little skeptical about the wiki concept, but during the interview it occurred to me that it can have the effect of getting people in the habit of questioning what they are told (both in the wiki and elsewhere) because what they read on the wiki often doesn’t have an obvious “authority” writing it; that is, as Dem said, people have to evaluate arguments based on the quality of the argument rather than who it comes from. That’s a good habit to get into and I wish our school system was better at teaching it.
And, Dem, I hate to break it to you, but smart is sexy. You are doomed to be hot, whether you like it or not. Oh well, we all have our crosses to bear. ;)
The REAL Jacl Bauer to the woman who set up Audrey: “and that makes me…..upset”
OMG!! That had to be his biggest understatement in four years!!! I know, I know…has nothing to do with Flu, but Bird Flu makes me……..upset!
Jacl?!? I meant Jack!
Ah jeezzz…what did I do?????? I posted on the wrong thread! OMG!!! I can’t believe I did that! Oh jeezzz…I can never show my ugly Republican face here again….Oh gawd….what have I done??? (flagellates self with cat o’ nine tails hidden in personal dungeon)…
I don’t think it’s the wiki concept or the pmwiki software which made
the success. Editing the wiki pages is uncomfortable and many people
just don’t do it, because it’s hard to figure out how.
Posting to the forum is easy, but the posts are disorganized and there
are problems with interruption.No, I think it’s the subject. And the importance of the pandemic.
Also the engagement of the founders i.e.Dem and some contributors
like Monotreme who I think edits most of the wiki pages (?)
And of course the forum. Despite its poor format, but there are more
competent contributors here in average. Traffic is probably larger
at curevents but there are many superficial people over there
who primarily seek entertainment.
Okay…a real post here on this thread. I just finished listening to the interview. I found it quite thoughtful, and it was even entertaining.
gs – at 00:23 --- Did you notice how they avoided to talk about probabilities and how they artificially circumscribed statements about probabilities so to avoid giving numbers , which somehow appears to be inappropriate in US-culture?
gs—My take on that was that it was an opportunity to bring more people to the Wiki to contribute verbally. The stats have been run down peoples’ throats for the past 6 months or more, the numbers shown up in most newspapers (although lower than reality). People will listen to this and get the sense that BF really is important in their lives, and that they need to pay attention to more than FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, and the other so-called “Mainstream” news media. Getting away from mainstream news and listening to more than 10-second sound bites is part of what the Wiki is all about…making people aware and possibly to think for themselves without Big Govt telling them what to think. (hhmmm…this from a guy who voted for Reagan?)
the whole importance of the pandemic subject was a bit lost in the interview. It was, but I think the interviewer may have led the conversation away from any hard facts with the questions he was asking. Instead of talking directly about Avian Flu, he seemed more interested in the Wiki as a forum for people to express their interests, desires and fears. It could be about anything, just that BF is on the front page right now (sometimes not).
That’s another reason, why an internet forum is superior, you can concentrate on the issue Absolutely. I agree but it’s really late for me and I don’t have any other input. More tomorrow when the Red Wine wears off…
bumped for any new viewers.
Thanks DemFromCT. I just listened to the whole thing, you did a very professional job!! You sound like a very nice person :)
Commonground,
Oh, he is.
bump for BB.
bump
Closed to maintain Forum speed.