Wikipedia is the Bee’s Knees

In my PhD research, I’ve used Wikipedia a number of times, to provide definitions or background information on the object of study. Generally, I argued that, since my object of study (the webfilm) was located online, it was appropriate that my data be collected online:

Internet data is thus a crucial agent in the network under investigation, and its use represents a central methodological tool to follow and describe the various networks of the webfilm. The strategy of collecting and sampling Internet data will be deployed throughout all three case studies. The data itself will include news sites, dictionaries, search engines, online video, press releases, online documentation, articles, artist statements, forum topics, and others.

What I wanted to avoid at all costs was to not know my object of study. When reviewing literature, especially on new media and the Internet, I found that a lot of it was kind of talking about the Internet without being an experienced or heavy user of it. I.e., someone who uses the Internet just to check their emails 5 times a day, and their computer to do online shopping and print out letters or CVs or whatever can’t IMHO provide an authoritative account of an object of study located online.

Which brings me to the actual subject of this post, MB

My supervisor tended to be a bit critical towards my use of Wikipedia as he thought it wasn’t really an authoritative source in the eyes of academia. I think in the USA it’s actually forbidden to use Wikipedia in academic papers and essays etc. [can't find the bloody source but I read it somewhere the other day]. Because of my supervisor’s concerns, I made sure that I integrated the use of online sources such as Wikipedia into the methodology of my thesis, i.e. I argued that it’s necessary to use such data in order to understand and be authoritative on the object of study.

What also helps is this article that states that Experts rate Wikipedia’s accuracy higher than non-experts. Excellent . The original study is by Thomas Chesney, a lecturer in IT in Nottingham. I’ll read the article as preparation for my Viva, in case they bring up the whole Wikipedia or online-only thing. The thing is, if I had had any doubts regarding the authority of whatever I consulted, I would definitely have cross-checked it with ‘reputable’ (in the eyes of academia), i.e. offline sources. However in the majority of cases this wasn’t necessary.

Wikipedia is the Bee’s Knees.

/me indulges in silly headings before starting boring repetitive countdown-type headings from 1st December onwards

Hackney is the Bee’s Knees

I read today in The Guardian (it’s actually last Saturday’s edition but I hadn’t gotten round to reading it yet…) that the area my BF has just moved to is “London’s cooler-than-thou epicentre“:

Moorhens, coots and Canada geese. Ducklings in spring. Peace: rare in the East End. Artsy: Broadway Market and Vyner Street, London’s cooler-than-thou epicentre.

Well, his flat is just a couple of minutes from Broadway Market. When I helped him move the week-end before last, I met up with a friend in a French wine bar in the evening. It’s really very nice – alternative, a bit arty, with the rough edge that Hackney undoubtedly has (worst area of Britain to live in…). Nice.

Overall, I’m very pleased with it. Even if my own swap doesn’t work out I have a place to go to and to live. And it’s a lovely place!

Hackney is the Bee’s Knees. I can see it now.

Confessions of a Language Fetishist

Yes, I admit it: I am a language fetishist, more precisely: a fetishist of the written word. Language used correctly turns me on, while language used incorrectly turns me off. Simple as that. I first started noticing errors and mistakes when I was a teenager, at the age of 13 or 14. A German-run Italian restaurant had the following sign outside: PIZZARIA. Correct spelling is of course PIZZERIA.

Over the years, I’ve had to learn to ignore the ever-increasing number of spelling and grammar mistakes surrounding my everyday life, especially, since moving to the UK 6 years ago. Over here, spelling and grammar mistakes are rife and ever-increasing. People simply don’t seem to bother any more.

My particular pet-hate is incorrect apostrophe use. A lot of people, including my BF, don’t care to use apostrophes correctly. So, my BF always writes ‘theres’ and ‘its’, and, while the former is completely incorrect, the latter one can potentially be confusing, i.e. is it ‘it’s’ or ‘its’ (Genitive)? On numerous uncountable occasions on websites, I see ‘FAQ’s’ instead of ‘FAQs’.

What the fuck is FAQ’s supposed to mean? It’s a fucking Genitive – ’s’ for fuck’s sake (= for the sake of fuck).

The other really common mistake that – mostly native English speakers – make relates to the spelling of ‘their’. In English, phonetically, the following all sound more or less the same:

• their
• there
• they’re

A lot of English native speakers no longer seem to care about or know the difference between these forms, especially, the first two. Check out the real example out of an email I received today (and which, incidentally, was the trigger for my post):

Please could everybody get there student profiles for the web pages to me by the 15th December as we are hoping to get these pages up and running early on in the new year.

This is from an email by a PhD student. Surely they should know by now. When I was teaching at University, a newspaper article regarding this particular phenomenon amongst University students was given to me by another member of staff. The headline read:

They don’t know their ‘there’ from their ‘they’re’.

Maybe I should have forced all students to complete this exercise.

As part of my job, I have over the last 4 years read thousands upon thousands of message board postings and chat conversation by mostly English native speakers, so I have a fairly good idea of the way the written language is going in terms of common, daily usage. With regard to ‘they’re/their/there’, what I have observed is that people tend to simply use ‘there’ in all three instances.

So, prepare yourselves for the disappearance of ‘they’re’ and ‘their’. I don’t mind that the written language is changing – language is never static and has always been in flux. It doesn’t stop me from ranting and raging though – note though that I’m a language purist, not a language fascist. Its there own choice so if there happy with it then its not up to me to judge there English skills.

PS: automatthias has observed a similar phenomenon – mistakes and errors are also commonplace in a professional context, i.e. job ads.

PPS: I’m not a native speaker but always keen to learn. Any mistakes that I make I’m very keen to correct.

PPPS: I haven’t even talked about punctuation yet – apparently there’s a really good book out about punctuation – Eats, Shoots and Leaves:

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

 

“Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

 

“I’m a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.”

 

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

 

“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

 

 

Homeswap to a Posh Place – News

well, sorry to disappoint. There isn’t really any news.

There was supposed to be some news today, i.e. the decision of the guy who came to see my place last week (L.). The London woman with the posh place (C.) kept phoning me and him as she’s really desparate.

So, the other day he told her he thought my place was too small – which is bollocks as my place isn’t small. I could smell a rat!!

Today I found out that he’s got some kind of appeal going on at the moment (he’s a bit of a schemie) and he’s waiting to hear back with regard to the appeal. I really don’t know the details. The reason he told her my place was too small was because she was pushing him for a decision there and then, and so he said it so give himself some more time. The woman in the posh place is desparate and she keeps phoning everyone. She’s too pushy. If you really want something you have to not be bothered about it. Or at least try to make out you’re not bothered

In any case, I hope a decision can be reached this week. I’m sending my BF to the posh place tomorrow evening and he’s going to record footage using his mobile phone, which I’ll of course publish here (violating her privacy etc.). Check back here in the next few days for a video of the posh place – once my BF has BB (in about 3 days time).

I have to stop now and I can’t even edit anything – there’s a message at the top of the WP dashboard saying:

Maintenance notice: We’re doing some maintenance on your database and your dashboard will be temporarily unavailable in 8 mins.

obvioulsy time is ticking away as I’m typing! BTW I do like it that WP have reduced the buttons to ‘Save’ and ‘Publish’. After all, the third button was superfluous.

‘Diary of a Teleworker’

I’ve been thinking about what to do with my blog once the PhD stuff is finished. In theory, I can keep the title Life after PhD for the rest of my life since the rest of my life will be a Life after PhD

However I would like to change it to something relevant to all the other stuff that I do, particularly, the professional stuff. The Guardian has a monthly column called ‘Diary of a Homeworker‘ where a woman working from home writes about her experiences specifically related to working from home and a home office.

Maybe I could call my blog ‘Diary of a Teleworker’. I could even approach the Guardian and offer that I write a monthly column for them. After all, I think it would be very interesting (well that sounds a bit arrogant ) – in terms of ‘new models of work’ and they like to be at the forefront of this kind of thing. Only a few weeks ago they ran an article about patchwork professionals or some such – I can’t remember the precise term but I wish I could as I haven’t managed to find the article – anyhow it was about people (mostly freelancers) who have more than one occupation. That’s kind of the thing I’d like to head towards – ‘patch-work’ whereby I can work on a number of different projects, thus broadening my skills and also keeping life interesting!

PS: I think I’ll soon get rid of the ‘career’ category. I don’t think I want a ‘career’ in the traditional sense. I’m quite happy as things are now.

Facilitating Viva preparations – The Utube Blog

I’ve just come across (by pure chance – i.e. while surfing idly to get a break) a Utube blog which will undoubtedly make my Viva preps much easier. On my Timeplan of VIVA Preparations document, the entry for 11th Dec – 17th Dec reads:

Up-to-date knowledge on ‘webfilms’, i.e Google buying YouTube etc.; reread thesis; focus on Introduction, Discussion, and Conclusion.

That is, I had planned to devote a few days to YouTube – related news and films as undoubtedly this is one of the areas where my thesis is highly relevant. I kind of theoretically anticipated the whole thing! Well, not quite… as I’ve said elsewhere, I haven’t actually dealt much with YouTube in my thesis because for most of my time researching and writing about online video it didn’t exist!

The Utube blog is maintained by an academic -

Professor Edward Lee, a specialist in intellectual property, international intellectual property, and law, technology, and innovation.

Brilliant. This means I can pretty much rely on its accuracy and authority, plus the blog will have an interesting and highly relevant take on the whole online video thing, especially, in regard to intellectual property. Power in the ‘information age’ which is related not to material but intellectual property is one of the areas discussed in my thesis.

Overall, idling and surfing aimlessly sometimes has unexpectedly productive results! Though most of the time it’s a waste of time

Sneaking in a Post before Midnight

Luckily the posts of this blog don’t have a time stamp. It’s nearly midnight and I have to sneak in a post, thus indulging in my obsession for doing things properly.

I’ve very nearly finished the translation for the German web 2.0 start-up but boy, has it been hard work! Much more than what I’d originally anticipated.

I’ve been getting very panicky and stressed over the last few days because of this and also because, due to the extra projects I’ve taken on, I haven’t done anything for my Viva preparations. On top of that, another new project is starting on Monday to which I haven’t said no – I can’t say any more because I had to sign a NDA.

Due to all this, and due to the fact that my BF is in London, I haven’t been able to sleep very well. Thank god for Sleepeaze!

The money for the translation project all got swallowed up by my car MOT and repair, as well as its insurance. I’ve got my Renault 5 back! The pic below isn’t my car but looks the same – only mine is much shabbier…

Goodnight

Albums Leaked before their Official Release

I’m just listening to the new Bloc Party album (A Weekend in the City) which isn’t due for release until next year February (!) but which was leaked a couple of weeks ago. The other two albums coming to my mind regarding a leaked release were the second Franz Ferdinand album (You could have it so much better… with Franz Ferdinand) as well as the RHCP’s Stadium Arcadium. All of those were leaked before their original release date.

I think the Bloc Party one takes the crown though – the leak was first reported on the 13th November and it’s not due out for another 3 months! This must be a record. Apparently they’re not too happy about the leak as it’s a pre-master, i.e. not finished. I remember that RHCP, particularly their bassist, Flea, posted some angry comments on their website when their own album was leaked earlier this year. Stadium Arcadium was only leaked one week before its official release though, and I think it was the ‘real thing’ (i.e. master copy). You can find Flea’s comments here.

FF’s second album was leaked 3 weeks before release. So, for me, the Bloc Party one takes the crown. I can’t remember FF being upset about the leak adn they shouldn’t be – they are huge in the USA and all of them are millionaires.

The other thing is that bands make the most money through concerts anyway, and not album sales. I think music should be free and bands should tour continually. I would go to all their shows. Unfortunately, no band that I like ever plays in Edinburgh. They all go to Glesga.

BTW I just put ‘Glesga’ into Google and apparently there’s a Scots Wikipedia. C00l.

From the entry for ‘Glesga’:

Glesga (“Glasgow” in Inglis, or “Glaschù” in Gaelic) is Scotland’s maist muckle ceity, on the River Clyde in wast-central Scotland. It is kent as Glesga by folks frae the wast o Scotland an usually Glesca or Glesgae bi folks frae the aest.

Funny Comment

I’ve just had a really funny comment so I’m going to reproduce it here. This also saves me having to come up with a post for today

edit: my fucking tabs are gone so I can’t format anything! FFS!

edit: the tabs have changed. They are now called ‘Visual’ and ‘Code’.’

edit:

“A Viva Voce is a ‘live voice’ examination of your thesis, and your ability to argue. In line with the role of a PhD as ‘a training in research’, it assumes that at some point you will need the skills of verbally discussing your work (at a crit, workshop of conference, for example). The Viva also acts as a check that the thesis is your own work, by checking your live knowledge of the debates.” (from here)

What does VIVA stand for? I assume it is like :defending your thesis or something like that but pls do tell what it stands for a tried looking at your posts but could not see. Thanx.

Can you also tell me what you meant by a translation you spoke of?
do you speak another language? Also too did you work as a telemarketer full time during your phd? Why? could you not get a scholarship or something no offense but you could have done it in like two years? and was it worth it working as well? I mean at the end of it do have some savings ? How old were you when you graduated with your bachelors?

Homeswap to a Posh Place

yesterday I had a phone call out of the blue with regard to a potential 3-way-homeswap: Some guy living in a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh would move into my central(ish) flat, some woman living in a dead posh central area of London would move into this guy’s house, and I would move into a posh place in London.

Now, I’m not going to go into details about this stuff. Non-UK people won’t understand what it means to have a council flat over here, and particularly, a posh place in central London (near Hyde park). I’ll just tell you this: it’s GREAT NEWS

The bloke interested in my flat came to view it yesterday and he really liked it. The London woman is desparate to move back up here so she’s unlikely to pull out. I have in the meantime done some research on the area. First of all, here’s a multimap link. I’ve also compiled some pics of what the houses look like and one example of the interior (click on Flickr photostream on the right). Basically, these are Victorian terraced houses (conversions) with high ceilings, wooden floors, and period features. If you rented such a flat on the open market it would cost you at least £2000 each month. I’m not kidding, I’ve done my research! Remember London is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Anyhow, I’ve been getting far too excited about the prospect of living there so I thought I get it off my chest here so it’s over and done with! I can’t really afford getting excited about this kind of thing as I will only get disappointed in the end.

For now, I’ll keep my fingers crossed and wait. The guy who saw my flat will get in touch with me at the week-end I think. Otherwise I’ll phone the London woman myself – I’ve got her contact details.

Here’s the amazing front of one of the houses – the whole street looks like this.

and this is what the street itself looks like:

It would be a dream come true and I don’t think I’d ever move away from there… not for a long time anyway!