Discussions about Wikipedia April 26, 2007

The question of reliability of Wikipedia is being discussed for a number of years. Some people claim that they find numerous mistakes while using the encyclopedia; the others say that the information is rather reliable. However, nobody can give a certain answer to it. 

Wikipedia was founded in 2001 as “an effort to create and distribute a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single person on the planet in their own language”  (Jimmy Wales, “Wikipedia is an encyclopedia“, March 8 2005, wikipedia-l@wikimedia.org).The system is based on software that allows anybody make changes in the articles. This aspect makes people doubt the reliability of the encyclopedia. 

The British journal “Nature” tested a range of different scientific entries in Wikipedia on both works and references. Surprisingly, only a couple of mistakes were found.

“We’re very pleased with the results and we’re hoping it will focus people’s attention on overall level of our wok, which is pretty good”, said Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm) 

A very well known scandal has occurred about Wikipedia recently. It turned out that one of the editors working on the site’s arbitration committee recruited by the Wikipedia staff was not who he claimed to be. This is how he used to describe himself:                                       “I am a tenured professor of theology at a private university in the eastern United States; I teach both undergraduate and graduate theology.

My Academic Degrees:
* Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (B.A.)
* Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.)
* Doctorate of Philosophy in Theology (Ph.D.)(http://www.metafilter.com/59052/On-Wikipedia-no-one-knows-youre-a-24yearold-with-no-credentials)

“In fact Essjay was actually Ryan Jordan, a 24-year-old from Kentucky with no advanced degrees who used texts such as Catholicism for Dummies to help him correct articles on the penitential rite or transubstantiation.“ (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/06/wwiki106.xml)

 

 In conclusion, I would like to use a quote:

“Be careful how you use Wikipedia. It really isn’t a trusted source. It really is edited real-time and it could be full of mistakes. That really isn’t the right role for an encyclopedia in the educational process. I think it basically should be fine in schools, it should be acceptable, to add a footnote saying I did a lot of my preliminary research in Wikipedia just to acknowledge where you got a lot of knowledge. But in terms of citing specific facts, you really should go to the sources and look it up there. Because that’s what you’re supposed to be doing. The encyclopedia is supposed to give you the broad overview not be a primary research tool.“http://technosavvy.org/2007/02/23/jimbo-on-wikipedia-reliability/

Surveillance April 15, 2007

Thinking of somebody watching me makes me…anxious.

I haven’t really thought about it in a very realistic way, it akways seemed to me like it’s somewhere in the future, just not now. But when you walk into somebody’s house, when you shop in a mall, when you use atm, when you just hang out with your friends, somebody might be taking pictures of you, or even filming what you are doing.

this is fine up to a certain extend. if the camera sees what you do not want other people to see, it gets freaky, you get afraid that somebody would see it and you’ll be somehow punished.

But, if the camera catches something that will later serve public interest, I think, that it is okay.

e.g. camera sees a politician takng a bribe in a mall. if this information gets into media, it will be a big scandal for the politician, but it will let people know that he/she isn’s the one they want to vote for.

Each case is different though…

sad notes… April 3, 2007

I have just realized that only a couple of people I know, who will stand up against the system, who are not afraid of being political about their choices. This thought is very disappointing.We all are products of our environment and society. However, it does not mean that we all need to be the same. We are not robots; all of us have different perception of life. 

I have classified friends and acquaints of mine into 3 categories:1. People who do not want to be different. (in most of the cases I would say that they are “afraid” to be different)2. People who pretend to be different but in fact are not. (I say that they are full of shit). I know quite a lot of people from the music, clubbing and art scene of Almaty. They are different from the society they grew up and live in (usually by the way they dress and their hobbies), they are different outside, it’s all about the way things look; but they still agree with the way things are.3. People who ARE different. (those, who have courage and enthusiasm to bring social changes) 

 

There were some people I had hope for that they will be supporting me, but surprisingly, they just do not care. And this is in a very small scale of things like paying 40 tenge for a bus when you are only supposed to pay 20 since you are a student. 

 

I’m not even talking about gay rights. This issue is of an EXTEME importance for me.Heterosexuals have a privilege to love who they want to. If they want to kiss their girlfriend/boyfriend on the street, they do not put their life in danger by doing that. And heterosexuals do not appreciate that privilege. It is hard to tell your parents or sometimes even your friends that you met somebody you like and you would like introduce him/her to them. A girl cannot come home and say: “Hey, mom, this is my girlfriend xxx, I love her very much and we are planning to marry this summer”, can she? 

You would think that gay people would be more courageous and open to changes if they could come out and say that they were gay, huh? But, they are not. In fact, I do not know any local gay person being political about their rights.  

Stop taking your rights for granted.  

The same shit happens with the elections. How can you not vote when so many people died fighting for this right? 

This stuff just pisses me off.

a bathroom memory April 3, 2007

Last Saturday when I went to the bathroom in a night club one girl came up to me and asked if I was in the “Vagina Monologues” performance. And after I said yes she got SO excited about that, she started thanking me for it saying how great it was. It just felt so nice and warm.  

Doing “The Vagina Monologues” was such a moving and empowering experience! Watching the way people react was an interesting thing. It was obvious that some of them were having problems even with the word VAGINA. A lot of monologues are very open about what women think of their bodies, their vaginas, and their role in the society.I did two big monologues. One was memories of a rape survivor during a war, the other one – about lesbians.I insisted on putting this particular monologue in the play because I really do not think that being a woman necessarily means having sex with men. I feel that talking about these issues makes public think and re-think their position towards the problem. 

I want to have a right to love whoever I want to.I want to have a right to be with whoever I want to.I appreciate my right to have sex with whoever I want to.I demand to have a right to marry whoever I want to. 

Why me wanting to marry a woman is considered to be insulting to the whole society and family institution?I am a person. I am a citizen. I deserve to have the same rights as everybody else.

KIMEP tuition fee increase protest or Kazakhstan’s biggest problem April 1, 2007

Last friday (mar 30) kimep students protested against the 20% tuition fee increase.
I did not expect so many people to come to the protest because many of the students i talked to said that we can’t change anything, that the administration will not listen to students,that it’s hopeless and pointless.
I think that this is just silly. This is one of the country’s biggest problems – lack of belief and hope that somehting COULD be changed, that even 1 person makes difference.
why did that happen? how come KAzakhstan became a country of no hope?
I know it takes courage to stand up for your rights, to fight against system. But if you don’t, then who will?

House Music March 28, 2007

C’mon, c’mon, put those hands together! I wanna welcome yall to the First Union Church of House. And we as children of this fine Church can join hands and pray for a funky day, for a better way to groove. You see, house is like a tree. And in the mist of the storm it WILL protect you; it will provide you with fruits of love, togetherness and happiness. So get up! Clap your hands; lift your voice and say: “I AM HOUSE! I AM THE CREATOR! AND WE ARE ONE.” 

Those people in the studio wanna give me 5 minutes to explain house music. 5 minutes?! When it took me all my life to feel it, I mean, it took me whole life to feel the funk.You don’t explain house music, you won’t explain house music, you CAN’T explain house music. You live house music. You sweat house music. You cry house music, you die house music, you smile. That’s house music. 5 minutes, 5 minutes! You got a lifetime to listen, to feel – that’s house music.House music. What IS house music? a collection of sounds with bassy rhythm. A bassy rhythm that penetrates the soul…I want you to check this out: As one, my brothers and sisters, rise up and shine because THAT is house music. Let it flow through your vanes, let it talk to your mind, let it talk to your body, let it talk to your soul, let it make YOU whole. Deep inside will lift you up when you’re feeling down. It will make you cry, take you on a ride, it will make you frown, it will lift you up, it will lift you out, it will let you fly.Expression is the essence, is the essence of our mission. Can I get a witness? House music is a survivor, a soul-messenger, a hate suppressor, a truth processor. Can I get a witness? Our sound is still alive and strong.House music is speaking our soul. House music is beautiful. I say: “House music is beautiful, my brothers and sisters.”  i forgot the name and the artist but this song is track #1 of Nariman Isenov’s “Funk” set (lyrics are a little bit changed)

I recommend everybody to watch two movies that will change your perception of the club music:

24 hour party people (круглосуточные тусовщики) – history of the beginning of club music and creation of one of the most famous club “The Hacienda”. The story is based on memories of Tony Wilson – one of the main figures in the club and in “Factory 51″ record company, that discovered Joy Division, Happy Mondays, New Order and other bands. 

Human traffic (в отрыв) – only those, who have ever been to a club and experienced becoming one with the music (not necessarily being high) will get an enormous amount of fun from this movie! )))

And read this book:Лоран Гарнье “Электрошок” (available in Meloman stores). Tells history of club music through the eyes of DJ Laurent Garnier. 

Listen to these sets (since it’s probably easier to get kazakhstani mixes here, I’ll list local djs too): DJ Nariman Isenov – “Funk”, “Four Play”DJ Rustam Ospanov – “Gravity 2^nd Anniversary”

DJ Timoffey – “Deep from the Zip”

DJ Olga Bohan – “Minimal Set”

DJ Gladkiy – “Summer Vibrations”

Layo & Bushwacka – “Live @ Suburbia Club” (or anything else by them)

Deep Dish – “Toronto Release Party” (or anything else by them too) 

and you absolutely HAVE to listen to this track: Stardust – Music sounds better with you (original version, not remixed) 

there you can find a brief history of house music:http://www.jahsonic.com/House.html

Of course, it’s always better to see a good dj playing live. so don’t sit at home and watch tv on friday and saturday night, come to the club )

то ли девушка, а то ли… March 27, 2007

она прошла как каравелла по зеленым волнам прохладным ливнем после жаркого дня.

я оглянулась посмотреть не оглянулась ли она, чтоб посмотреть, не оглянулась ли я.

wiki experience March 25, 2007

our group was creating wiki first, via email.
we were emailing each other and trying to get in touch because it was right during the break so we did not have a chance to meet every day.
however, that did not affect our final result.
the “Gay discrimination” article turned out to be a very interesting and challenging topic to write about. i am satisfied with the result

you can read the article here:
http://irresistible.wetpaint.com/

KIMEP TIMES March 15, 2007

I have always thought that Kimep Times was a one-sided, pro-Kimep, newspaper. It is just like Khabar channel. When you watch it, everything looks so good, calm, nice, quiet, polite, and peaceful. However, the reality is not that…?

Yesterday one of the Ktimes journalists asked me if I could draw comics for the April’s Fool Day special edition of the newspaper. I said okay. So I drew two pictures. Here they are: 

 

   

I sent them in. And guess what? yep, the editors denied the tuition increase comics. No wonder why… But from now on I am not going to co-operate with the newspaper again. This is ridiculous. I do realize that Kimep Times is a student newspaper. But am I not a student? do I not have a right to say what I think about the university? or is it just a wrong medium I chose?

love March 6, 2007

А не спеть ли мне песню О любви, А не выдумать ли новый жанр, Попсовей мотив и стихи, и всю жизнь получать гонорар…. Чиж и Ко

Все задолбали меня уже. фак ю, пипл