Wikipedia - Who has heard of it - Hands up?!

I thought that for this posting I would pass on a tip about a web feature that I use so often that I never give it any thought, but which I realise may have escaped some folk who look at my blog. The feature I'm talking about is Wikipedia.

To read the formal definition of what a Wiki is please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. In summary, it is a public encyclopaedia authored by, well, anyone! The idea is to capture the knowledge of individuals about subjects in which they have an interest. Yes, it allows people to post wrong or misleading information. Equally, these issues are simple to correct, and each subject tends to be 'guarded' by a small number of people who care about the integrity of the information in a particular domain.

There are also private wikis, and they are used by academia and major multi-nationals for collaborative research (as in pharmaceuticals) where scientists can be spread around the globe.

For our purposes, we are interested in public wikis. To try it out, all you have to do if using Firefox browser is to type 'wiki search item' into the address bar. If you are stuck on Internet Explorer, type the same term into the Google search box.

Still unsure about it? Try typing any of the following into your browser search box :

• wiki Formula 1
  
• wiki Dalwood
• wiki 'whatever your hobby or secret passion is'

This method of research is particularly useful for answering technology questions, and may help to explain why I appear to know so much about PC's!

If you feel you know enough about your subject matter to be able to contribute, go ahead! All you need to do is to create an account and follow the instructions provided, and you can be broadcasting your wisdom to the planet within minutes:-)

Health update

I may be wrong, but when I woke up this morning I thought I felt marginally better, for the first time since I had the radiotherapy. I've still been very tired during the day, and decisions such as 'what would you like for lunch?' still seem hard to answer, but I'm hopeful that the down swing has been halted.