Tag Archive: Wikipedia


READING WOMEN AS A GENDER NOT A GENRE

Filed under: Books, Fiction, Gender — Leave a comment
May 24, 2013

You probably read about the recent controversy over gender specific pages on Wikipedia after it was discovered that the site had created a separate category of American Women Novelists.

Amanda Filipacchi was right to highlight this as an illustration  of sexist attitudes;  arguing that novels by women should not be viewed as a genre category.

It appears the Wikipedia  back- peddled quickly as a damage limitation exercise.

I have always been convinced that there was nothing to gain from distinguishing between male and female  contributions to the world of  music, films, art and literature.

My view is that these creative works should be judged on their own merits without reference to gender. Continue reading →

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THE GEEK STRIKES BACK

Filed under: Books, Music — 1 Comment
March 26, 2013

Jaron Lanier (photo:Jonathan Sprague)

YOU ARE NOT A GADGET : A MANIFESTO by Jaron Lanier (Knopf,2010)

With his dreadlocks and barrel-shape, Jaron Lanier looks like a cross between Peter Tosh and Jabba The Hut.

Eccentric, nerdy types like him were at the forefront of the first wave of the internet ‘revolution’ and are now being slowly marginalised by the suits with their business models.

This book could be subtitled ‘the geek strikes back’ as he rails against this new breed of web entrepreneurs, warning that these “Lords of the cloud” are taking the soul out of the net by monitoring and controlling how we lowly “peasants” interact online.

The hive mentality (“the hivey league”) which brought us Wikipedia and Facebook is seen as the chief reason why the intellectual potential of the net is being dumbed down, a process Lanier calls “digital flattening”. His central point is that “empowered trolls” and a collectivist mindset has come to supplant individualism with the effect that ideology replaces creative achievement. Continue reading →

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WIKIPEDIA vs ITALIAN GAGGING LAW

Filed under: Italy, Politics — Leave a comment
October 6, 2011

Megalomaniac Silvio Berlusconi is not content with a near monopoly of the Italian media but wants to extend his power into the heart of cyberspace.

In paragraph 29 of a law proposal, also known as “DDL intercettazioni” (Wiretapping Act) his corrupt and beleaguered government aim to stop publication of any material deemed detrimental.

It doesn’t matter if the details are true, the act merely gives the offended party the right to demand a ‘corrected’ version be published within 48 hours without further comment.

Wikipedia are correct to highlight the threat this poses to independent voices on the Internet.

As a protest all Wikopedia entries are currently hidden to anyone searching for information in Italian. Instead you will find a statement explaining why the entries they have requested cannot be shown. This is a translated version of the  Wikipedia statement .

As they rightly point out, every Italian citizen is already protected in this respect by Article 595 of the Criminal Code, which punishes the crime of defamation.

Berlusconi’s proposed legislation is nothing short of a gagging order in a desperate attempt to save a sinking ship. As such all journalists, bloggers and anyone who values free speech must do everything in their power to resist it.

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