This article appeared on Republic XL, October 2007 issue. " Just a few months ago I was in Paris on holiday with friends. We spent a whole day photographing every tombstone of Père Lachaise, there where they are buried Oscar Wilde, Modigliani, Jim Morrison. not craving for some tourism, but to update with a little 'image the Wikipedia page dedicated to the cemetery "says Frieda. We are in the Linux space of the Roman Club, September 1, and is in the process of gathering the Wikimedia Italy, the association non-profit organization that manages and holds up the Italian version of Wikipedia, one of the few fixed points in a universe that is constantly evolving Web 2.0, the most popular online encyclopedia on the face of the earth, established more than two hundred languages , with tens of millions of hits per day.
For many the cradle of knowledge free, for others a den of approximate information. That you belong to one camp or another, one thing is certain: there is Wikipedia. And it's still a revolution: the first free encyclopedia to which anyone can work entering content, correcting or modifying entries, and reporting any errors.
Of course, since that antihierarchical of the project and its permeability to other posts, the gathering is open, and anyone can join. A chance to meet live the so-called Wikipedians: boys and girls (but not missing the "elders") which is a bit 'all over the country, from north to south of the boot. They carry nicknames like Paginazero, Remulazz, Xaura. Belong to the most disparate categories: students, professionals, computer enthusiasts of every kind and degree. Have moved, say, by the conviction that "culture is a right and that this should remain." For them, this activity is something that is halfway between a hobby, the obsession and the mission itself. What they do, they do so without being in the pocket at all, or even better "for the simple love of knowledge."
are slogans that have always animated the people of the deep Web, wikipedians, and these people are one of the most complete expression. Frieda Brioschi, or the tourist photos of Paris cemeteries, is the only Italian in the international steering the Wikimedia Foundation and is also the outgoing president of its correspondent Italian, Italy usage. The association was created by us only two years ago, namely June 17, 2005, at the time and had no more than 18 members.
Today are 125, all involved in the dissemination of knowledge proudly against concepts such as copyright and private property. The question at this point is a spontaneous, "but who you do it? Nobody pays you, you lose a lot of time ...». The answer is cryptic: "42." So Frieda explains: "42 is the" answer to the fundamental question about life, the Universe and Everything "enunciated in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams's novel which was made into the film by Garth Jennings. In the world of Wikipedia, the Guide is a cult and a kind of absolute reference. Not surprisingly, there is always that is what is the slogan of the semi-official project: "Do not panic '." If you have this Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - book and film - you know that is based largely on the contents of an imaginary encyclopedia (the Guide to the Galaxy, in fact) from the contents surreal and bizarre. Everything is pervaded by a markedly playful, grotesque and dreamy, which is also the amount of any self-respecting Wikipedian. In short, Wikipedia is a game for them, which does not mean that something is terribly serious and that the issues with which the encyclopedia is forced to confront are anything but irrelevant. One example: so-called "vandalism", the infamous plug nel fianco che però, a quanto pare, non preoccupa più di tanto i wikipediani.
Spieghiamo: come detto, Wikipedia è aperta al contributo di tutti. Se si vuole collaborare non è nemmeno necessario registrarsi. Semplicemente si va alla voce che interessa, si clicca in alto sulla pagina, dove sta scritto “modifica”, e digitando a piacere sulla tastiera, così, dal nulla, si può partecipare all’aggiornamento e al miglioramento della voce in questione. «Il pericolo», spiega Jolly Roger, un altro tra i presenti alla riunione, «è che tali modifiche non siano affidabili, o peggio ancora siano mosse da intenti non proprio nobili». Atti vandalici, appunto, che possono andare dal semplice insulto alla manipolazione deliberata delle informazioni. Jolly Roger spiega però che «interventi del genere hanno di solito vita breve: basta che qualcuno scopra l’inganno e può a sua volta rimediare in tempo reale. Su e giù per l’enciclopedia, di atti vandalici se ne contano a migliaia ogni giorno, anche se tutti (o quasi) vengono infine scovati, corretti, o eliminati dal controllo incrociato dei visitatori».
Un meccanismo semplice e trasparente: a vagliare i contenuti, sono in primo luogo i frequentatori del sito. Se qualcosa non va, si può correggere. A volte gli errori rimangono per mesi. A volte per pochi minuti soltanto. Ma in media, assicura di nuovo Frieda, «la qualità delle voci, over the years, becoming better. " So here is that the alleged scandal rocks, pebbles show that nothing is on the sidelines, when it was discovered that on Wikipedia, certain topics "sensitive" were the subject of attention of bodies such as the CIA and the Vatican, the controversy raged for days. Yet, once again, showing off their peace of mind: "Anyone who changes the contents of the site if it does so with skill and fairness, is welcome. Indeed, the fact that the CIA, Vatican and other important institutions responsible for dealing with us, as almost flatters us. "
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