Showing posts with label Lei Pinter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lei Pinter. Show all posts

Friday, October 26, 2012

The Humanist Manifesto Project

This baby is all Lei Pinter's. Humanist Manifesto Category Page.

A couple months ago Lei came up with the idea to start a category called the Humanist Manifesto.  We got one volenteer, Terry from the UK.  Terry hadn't edited before but was game to learn how on this project.

I've been watching Terry and Lei's progress for the last couple weeks, and it looks like they have mostly finished.  I've been waiting to write this blog but keep thinking that it will be done any day now.  Finally I spent some time on Lei's Google spreadsheet tonight and decided that they won't be completely done for ages.  And not because they aren't working on the project, but because of the way that Lei organized it.  With each edit they make, the to-do list grows.

Lei and Terry have been visiting every name on the list of the three manifestos.  Some do not have Wikipedia pages which is noted on the spreadsheet.  If they do have a page, then the citation for the manifesto is added, and at the bottom of the page the category is left. 

Here is a good example of a page that now has a mention of the manifesto as well as at the bottom is a link to the category page.  Philip Warren Anderson

They are also looking over each page and making notes on the condition of the page, does it need a photo?  Is it a stub?  Does it need a rewrite?  And so on.

The Atlantic newsletter/blog announced yesterday that Wikipedia is almost complete, most of the big subjects like WWII, and most sports heroes are written and don't need revision.  In my opinion, Wikipedia has a lot of work left to do, just click though some of the names on this category list and you can see why I said that Lei and Terry have created a to-do list for the rest of us. 

On a sad note, the death this week of Paul Kurtz gave quite a boost of views to the manifesto's pages.  Kurtz was the writer of the Humanist Manifesto II (this page is in need of some work also by the way) and after his death was announced, his page received a few hits.  Over 18 thousand views in 5 days, when normally he would receive about 500 views in that same 5 days.  Someone else can figure out the math.

This brings on the ripple effect, we have been working on the Paul Kurtz page and thankfully we got it in shape in time for all the views. 

Humanist Manifesto had a 85% hit increase
Humanist Manifesto II experienced a 800% increase in views on one day (over the previous day) 
Humanism and Its Aspirations jumped 285% over normal





There is a lot of work remaining to be done.  Here is one that is similar to this project.  The Amsterdam Declaration from 2002,  great potential for a category page.

I would love to do the same thing Lei has done with the Manifesto, to the Project Steve list.  Maybe even contrast and compare it to the list of scientists that signed on to the creationist project.  Now that would be interesting.  All I need is you and you and you.  Contact me at susangerbic@yahoo.com if you are ready to get started.


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Putting People in Categories - Humanist Manifesto


The following message is from Lei Pinter...

So you’ve been following this blog for awhile and maybe you’ve even set up an account at Wikipedia but you haven’t found a way to get started? This is a great chance for you!

Have you ever noticed the categories at the very bottom of a Wikipedia page? That is a great way to the reader to learn about other pages of interest. For example on the Kendrick Frazier page you see links that will lead you to other Columbia alumni, fellows of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, or American Skeptics.

The newly created category “Signers of the Humanist Manifesto” needs to be added to the 200+ people who support that declaration. According to Wikipedia guidelines the fact that they signed needs to be included (and correctly cited) in the article before the category is added. So this assignment is a version of our Edit Backwards concept – given the fact that someone falls into this category we need you to add the citation and the category to their page.

The folks who signed the three versions of the manifesto (1933, 1973, and 2003) come from a wide cross section of society – philosophers, Nobel Prize winners, clergy, etc. As we touch all of these pages we can also catalog pages that need additional attention or a photo so that more experienced editors can make those changes. In fact as you get more confident and learn more about this distinguished list of people you may find a page that you want to work on more yourself.

Contact Susan if you want to help out on this interesting, easy project.

----------------------
Now from me...

Lei has done most of the work by creating the category and a spreadsheet that you will be entering simple data.  I was just messing around with this spreadsheet today and found that many people on this list do not have a Wikipedia page, and a lot of the others have horrible stub pages.  I don't think this project will require a lot of time.  That is unless you count the time that you will find yourself engrossed in reading the pages, and then following the hyperlinks to other pages until you remember you had a task. 

Please consider volunteering to help with this fun project.  Contact me and I will train you.  susangerbic@yahoo.com

Monday, July 30, 2012

We got your Wiki Back! - Mary Roach

I noticed a post in the Bay Area Skeptic's Facebook group months ago by someone named Chris Parker.  She was looking for someone to give her "must read" material for a college research assignment on psychics she had to present in class.  I contacted her and gave her some ideas, and linked her with Mark Edward who is an expert on the psychic business (see Psychic Blues on Amazon).

Chris did her essay and wrote to tell me all about the professor and the other students reactions.  I thought she was a terrific writer and felt that a blog would be in order.  She worked it up and Mark decided that he wanted to post the story on his blog, and did so in July.

In the mean time Chris shared that she was not taking college classes this summer and liked to keep busy, wondered about this Wikipedia project she kept seeing me yammer on about all over Facebook.   We exchanged emails for awhile and I asked her if she could pick a Wikipedia project what would it be?  So she spent a day and wrote me back with the suggestion that Mary Roach's current Wikipedia page was a stub and how sad that was.  She had been to one of Mary's lectures being that they both live in the Bay Area, and thought that if I showed her how, she would work on that page.

So, Chris and I went back and forth for a couple weeks, and then a few other editors from the project helped with ideas and how to cite some sources when I was at TAM.  Chris asked really great questions which helped me learn a lot about the gaps in my blog instructions and the reality of what I actually mean.  When you live and breathe this Wikipedia project daily, you tend to forget that others aren't as "connected" to the project and not reading and memorizing every word I write.

Want to point out that until this re-write I don't think Chris had ever edited Wikipedia.  I also don't suggest brand new people start with re-writes, but in Chris's case she was so excited and motivated that I thought "why not?".  She communicated with me clearly, asked lots of questions and we sent emails many times a day.  We started with the very basics, and once I pointed her in the right direction, she just took off.  I'm totally self taught, and Chris seemed to be learning the same way with only a bit of guidance.  One reason why I felt that Mary's page would be okay for a beginner was because her current page had a lot of external links to interviews and videos that only needed to be watched and quoted to expand into the article.  I knew Chris wasn't going to be searching for months trying to turn up secondary sources. 

We made a brand new user page for Chris's rewrite and made it "un-searchable", and on that page we had constant conversations about what should go where, and what to expand on and so forth.

Only after Chris was almost done did I approach Mary to get further citations we were missing, and had her upload some personal pictures (which warm my photographer's heart) they really make the page extra special,  I'm reminded of Lei Pinters's re-write of Kendrick Frazier's WP page a couple months ago. 

There was so much info on Mary Roach out there and Chris watched every video and read every link she could find.  (and yes, she even had a Google alert on her for incoming items) Now if Chris ever gets on Jeopardy and the category is Mary Roach, Chris will clean up.  One comment I remember from Chris, was she was surprised that interviewers always asked Mary the same questions over and over again. I suppose, now that if they start by reading Mary's new Wikipedia page they will be able to have a much well rounded interview. 

Okay, I know you have waited long enough.  Time to show you the before and after.  Hold your breath.

Mary Roach before

Mary Roach after

So wondering, Chris what's next?

As usual, if you would like to help with this project, I will keep you more than busy.  You don't even need to do as much work as Chris did, I have many tasks that await you, I will train.  Just please contact me at susangerbic@yahoo.com and lets get to work. 

Monday, July 9, 2012

Starting from Scratch

We have 3 new additions to Wikipedia all launched today.  They are all pages for skeptics and all were created from scratch.  Trust me, starting with nothing is a lot of work, at least when you rewrite a page you have a template. 

So here they are, just in time for TAM 2012.

Bryan & Baxter - written by Rick Duffy

Jennifer Ouellette - written by Lei Pinter

Tim Farley - written by Susan Gerbic

I asked  Lei if she had any insight or comments about writing new pages.  Lei answered that she realized the importance of the "what links here?" tab.  This is a blue link on the left side of every page.  It allows you to see what pages on Wikipedia have a hyperlink back to your page.  If you have seen a tag stating that the page is an "orphan" this is what they are talking about. 

One of the things I keep forgetting to do is to see if there is a family name page that needs to be added to.  In Tim Farley's case there is a page called Farley (family name).  I just edited his name into place and stated that he is a "blogger, podcaster and skeptic".  It seems that Baxter, Bonner and Ouellette needed to be added as well. 

Also just wanted to quickly mention that the Brian Dunning (skeptic) page is now the Brian Dunning (author) page. Also the Alan Melikdjanian page has new content available. 

If you like seeing the progress of Wikipedia improvements, please follow this blog or set as a part of your RSS feed.  Don't think just because many of us editors are off to TAM, Dragon*Con and the Skeptic's Toolbox doesn't mean we aren't still getting things done.

I know of many new improvements coming soon, so stay tuned!

Susan


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

We Got Your Wiki Back! - Kendrick Frazier

Make sure your sitting down.

I'm so proud of editor Lei Pinter I could shout.  This woman has Got It!  She totally understands what the We Got Your Wiki Back Project! is all about.

The whole goal is to improve the pages of our skeptical spokespeople in order to tell the world that our people are noteworthy, respected, intelligent and real people.  We aren't boring scientists working on the fringe of science.  When Mr. America asks his wife "who is this guy on TV and why should we care what he is saying?" we need to make sure that when the name is searched and they end up on Wikipedia (you know that is going to be the first place they go) they will discover quality.  Remember our spokespeople represent us too. 

The Wikipedia page that Lei started out with was bare bones.  Dull.  So vacant that I would expect a bum would be sleeping in one corner with a newspaper over his head, and not a clean newspaper either.

Here is what she found when she decided to re-write his page. Kendrick Frazier April 23, 2012.

The images she got Kendrick to upload tell a story all by themselves.  They are loving, intelligent and look like a man that any one of us would want to hang out with.

The text tells a rich story as well, this man has done so much in his life and is still more active than most of us.  Reading over the page I had no idea there was so much to this man.  How dare the old page say that he might not be notable enough to have his own Wikipedia page.  Shame on the skeptical community for allowing this to happen.  This flag went up November 2009! 

What kind of respect do we have for ourselves?

So I know your sitting down now.  Here is the brand new page.  Kendrick Frazier

Thank you Lei, you really came through in a big way.

If you are reading this and think that you would like to become involved.  There are hundreds of ways to do so.

First, open up an account on Wikipedia.
Second, read my entire blog
Third, contact me at susangerbic@yahoo.com

We will make it happen and you can be a hero like Kendrick and Lei.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Smithsonian Article on Women Wikipedia Editors

Just a quick note to catch you up on how busy we have been.  Several really exciting pages are going up or just went up.  Rick Duffy launched the brand new page for SkeptiCamp.  Looks wonderful and seems to be stalled while awaiting consideration for Did You Know? recognition. 

Lei Pinter has been working on Reason Rally as well as several other projects including Greta Christina. 

Dustin Phillips is about done with a complete re-write for Alison Gopnik.  It is going to be an amazing makeover just wait and see. 

Photographer Brian Engler has been uploading pictures like a mad man. And we are adding them to pages as fast as he uploads them.  I have a couple more photographers who are in the process of uploading images from Reason Rally, TAM and the Florida Humanist Convention. 

I've got multiple pages going at once, creating a page for Actress and skeptic Rachel Bloom and total re-writes for Secular Humanist Tom Flynn, Magician Paul Zenon and  Professor Sikivu Hutchinson.

I have more waiting in the wings to start, so if you want to help or have something to add I'm all ears. susangerbic@yahoo.com

The main reason for this blog post was to introduce you to this terrific article my friend Jarret from  The Odds Must Be Crazy website sent me.  Great title, "How Many Women Does it Take to Change Wikipedia".  Regular readers know I don't focus on one area, my blogs are all over the place with topic choices.  This author is correct there is a small percentage of female Wikipedia editors.  I don't know this for sure but would suppose this to be true, that female scientists pages are in bad need of attention.  Science = Skepticism so we need to keep an eye on this area as well.  You all know I don't want to assign people to specific pages, I want people to edit pages they enjoy.  Editing is fun, and I want it to stay that way.  But check out Sarah Stierch's article and comment.  We bloggers thrive on getting comments.

 


Monday, November 21, 2011

Skepticon Wikipedia Results

Wikipedia editor Lei Pinter has been working on the Skepticon page for the last couple weeks in anticipation of traffic from the event November 2011. Not only do we need to have the backs of our skeptical spokespeople, but also the backs of our skeptical events.  Lei totally understands the power of Wikipedia.

Lei got the page in great shape just in time.  Remember the ripple effect, other hyperlinks will be accessed.  The Flying spaghetti monster as well as PZ Meyer and Richard Carrier may see extra traffic.  

So how many hits did Skepticon get?


Awesome work Lei!