Monday, November 20, 2006

A Few Quick Notes 20

-The destruction project is going strong next door. This morning I was somewhat disturbed to hear, what sounded like, glass being shattered by hammers. In addition to this tinkling we had the normal array of destruction related sounds. The only good news is that it seems that they have gutted the top floor, which is just outside my window, and have moved down a floor.

-Last night’s lack of car horns and burning trash bins can be explained by the loss suffered by the Als in their attempt for Grey Cup glory. Once again, it is only the Gazette that seems to really care.

-The temperature has finally started to drop in Montreal. I am not exactly sure what it is but it is now on the chilly side. The scarves, mitts, gloves, and hats that the McGillites have been wearing for the past several weeks are finally justified, though oddly not that many more people are now wearing them.

-This new temperature is perfect for walking. Two times yesterday I took very pleasant walks around my neighbourhood. Hopefully over the coming days I will be able to explore the surrounding area a bit more.

-I did a quick count yesterday and we seemed to have posted many more words in October than we are on track to post in November. This difference will likely be a few thousand, though maybe we can make it up in the dying days of this month.

-Because of our discussion about the ability of the IMDB top 250 to be influenced by the movie industry I have started to think about other user-community influenced sources. The one that came to my mind first was Wikipedia. How much are entries on corporations edited by corporations to ensure that the views and opinions presented are in line with the official stance. Are unflattering comments deleted? Are flattering or explanatory comments added? I guess we could check some of this out by looking at the page history. Once again, I have a hard time believing that at least an element of this does not occur. Wiki is even easier to manipulate than IMDB and we know that millions rest on the public opinion of major corporations. It might be worth looking into. My other thought is that even it is not happening now, give it time, it will eventually start.

2 comments:

Neil said...

The difference is that it seems you can trust IMdB, whereas you "know" that you can't trust Wikipedia because everyone can edit it. Also, it's easier for people to fix things like that because all the Wikigeeks keep their eyes open for it.

Cameron said...

I contend that you also have to take IMDB witha grain of salt.

It is clear that all Wiki content should be indpendently evaluated before being acted upon.

Your faith in wikigeeks is stronger than mine. In part because what I am suggest might be or will be happening would not be the distrubtion of in correct facts, just facts that are favourable or beneficial to a particular company.

If a fast food chain puts its menu and prices up in its article that is not wrong or misleading, but basically free advertising for the company.

Companies might also try to make sure that all the charitable work that they do is mentioned.

The question is whether this is a problem or not.