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Which is better, OSS or Proprietary Software? This article poses both sides of the arguments, mainly that OSS is lauded for it's "community" support, while Proprietary Software is backed by professional, tried and true support. The main conclusions were that OSS and Proprietary Software essentially match in content quality until the codes become longer. In that case, Proprietary Software comes out on top.

Good article, Casey, thanks!

Fascinating article on grassroots alternatives to paying a company like Verizon for Internet access. If enough of these community-built networks come into being and link to each other, we'll have a brand-new Internet!

In response to the person who said in class that people who edit Wikipedia "have a lot of time on their hands" -- see this 2008 piece by Very Smart Guy and NYU professor Clay Shirky, who points out that editing Wikipedia is a more productive use of time than watching TV. Which, somehow, a lot of people also seem to have a lot of time to do. *** "I was being interviewed by a TV producer to see whether I should be on their show, and she asked me, "What are you seeing out there that's interesting?" I started telling her about the Wikipedia article on Pluto. You may remember that Pluto got kicked out of the planet club a couple of years ago, so all of a sudden there was all of this activity on Wikipedia. The talk pages light up, people are editing the article like mad, and the whole community is in an ruckus--"How should we characterize this change in Pluto's status?" And a little bit at a time they move the article--fighting offstage all the while--from, "Pluto is the ninth planet," to "Pluto is an odd-shaped rock with an odd-shaped orbit at the edge of the solar system." So I tell her all this stuff, and I think, "Okay, we're going to have a conversation about authority or social construction or whatever." That wasn't her question. She heard this story and she shook her head and said, "Where do people find the time?" That was her question. And I just kind of snapped. And I said, "No one who works in TV gets to ask that question. You know where the time comes from. It comes from the cognitive surplus you've been masking for 50 years.""

If you want to gain strong reputation points in the Wikipedia community and therefore gain more privileges, here's how -- this is a tutorial from Wired magazine.

An article from Technology Review discusses an important question many people bring up about the quality of articles on wikipedia. It also discusses the relatively small number of dedicated editors who play a fundamental role in the community. Due to the small number of editors and authoritative contributors to many of the articles on Wikipedia, the article also discusses that an algorithm that assesses the quality of Wikipedia articles could reassure visitors and help focus editors on entries that need improving. The computer scientists (Xiangju Qin and Pádraig Cunningham) have developed automated editorial tool that may reduce the workload that remains for the volunteer workforce.

The Wikipedia guy who came to speak told me about this article -- it's a big deal in the Wikipedia community.

These are just some tips that can help us all with our presentations. Some of them are for a lengthier presentation but overall the are pretty helpful!

I thought it was really interesting that Skype has become so incorporated in the business world. And that blunders, that may be funny or annoying during a normal Skype call (like never making eye contact with the camera), could be more costly when communicating with business intentions.

Just a news in how tumblr is being used to spread message about Russia's Anti-gay policies and how the company is being drawn into a fight. The company is trying to gain equal rights for everyone through tumblr, but it might causing more damage than it intends.

It can be a little bit of off-topic but this is a very interesting video that my communication professor showed class before. The video basically tells you how much the internet and the social media affect our lives these days. Even though we have already known that the internet is hugely influential, you'll probably be surprised while you watch this video.