George
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Post by George on Apr 1, 2009 11:23:49 GMT 10
We now have our very own wiki, which I hope we can progressively turn into the most credible and reliable micronational encyclopedia on the planet. Content standards similar to those of Wikipedia will be created (ie neutral tone, verifiability, no original research) - but they won't be as strictly applied as Wikipedia, so we'll be able to include information on a lot more micronations. I've made a start by adding a few articles and a whole pile of pictures. I encourage anyone interested to register a wiki account, and start writing articles today. Go to: listofmicronations.wikispaces.com/
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Post by sogoln on Apr 2, 2009 2:48:32 GMT 10
I have added several entries, but I've not been able to introduce tables.
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George
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Post by George on Apr 2, 2009 15:17:24 GMT 10
Your entries look good.
The capacity for including tables seems to be very limited at Wikispaces.
It's possible to create a table by clicking on the "insert table" icon on the visual editor - but so far I haven't found any way to adjust column sizes/colours/placement etc.
I've tried cutting and pasting tables from Wikipedia into Micro Wiki, but part of the formatting seems to get lost in the translation.
Might be worth exploring on the Wikispaces blog.
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George
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Post by George on Apr 7, 2009 1:24:06 GMT 10
Micro Wiki is rapidly expanding! Thanks to all those who have registered and contributed - particularly Sogoln, for his fascinating insights into the French micronational world. In order to maintain our position as the premier online micronational encyclopedia I've established a series of basic content policies, with which contributing editors should familiarise themselves. Please review them here: listofmicronations.wikispaces.com/Content+policiesI've tried to keep things as simple as possible, without sacrificing editorial standards or credibility. Comments and feedback are welcome.
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Peter
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Post by Peter on Apr 9, 2009 3:11:43 GMT 10
Thank you for adding the article about our flag.
I am currently researching social movements protesting against anti-missile system in central Europe. As a by-product, I will have substantial amount of information about Peaceland. I am going to transform it into the article.
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George
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Post by George on Apr 9, 2009 9:56:42 GMT 10
Sounds good.
You might also want to do some research on Wendland, which was created during an anti-nuclear protest in northern Germany.
There is a very rudimentary article about it in the English-language Wikipedia. I think there may be something more substantial in the German version.
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Post by D. N. Vercáriâ on Apr 9, 2009 18:03:46 GMT 10
The German Wikipedia article on the Free Republic of Wendland isn't very detailed as well.
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George
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Post by George on Apr 9, 2009 20:49:08 GMT 10
I feel another research project coming on...
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kvz
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Post by kvz on Apr 17, 2009 18:46:53 GMT 10
My only comment is can items be included that dont have verifiable sources?
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George
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Post by George on Apr 20, 2009 16:29:05 GMT 10
Can you give an example of what you mean?
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Post by Bokonton on Jun 15, 2009 5:03:54 GMT 10
Micro Wiki is rapidly expanding! Comments and feedback are welcome. I do not mean to put a spanner in the works, but there are several comprehensive Wikias and Wikispaces calling themselves 'MicroWiki', the most well-established one here www.micronations.wikia.com/ . Also, why was the LOM wiki created in a wikispace, and not a wikia? I am just wondering. By all means, disprove whatever I say, I am not trying to be rude, these are just things I thought I should point out.
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George
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Post by George on Jun 15, 2009 8:52:22 GMT 10
Aside from LOM's Micro Wiki, there are no existing micronation wikis that can be considered comprehensive or objective, or which come within a country mile of adhering to reliable academic standards. The majority of content in most of the ones I've been foolish enough to look at is barely recognisable as English, let alone something that might be considered vaguely reminiscent of a reliable information source; indeed, some of it reminds me of what a drunk, psychotic marmoset might produce if one were sat in front of a keyboard and jabbed with a sharp stick for a few hours. Shakespeare it ain't! ;D The content that is somewhat comprehensible in the micronation wikis that I've visited is mostly written "in universe" - which basically means that it's fiction presented as though it were fact. In-universe content is not objective, reliable, verifiable or - most importantly - true. Real encyclopedias do not include articles written "in-universe" for obvious reasons. This is an example of an article that is both largely incomprehensible and also written from an in-universe perspective. The article appears to be about a dog; it is written in a way which suggests the pooch in question is a respected head of state. While that may be true in the constructed reality inhabited by the micronation of St Charlie, it is obviously not so in the real world. Were the article to be re-written objectively, neutrally, in the third person and from a real world perspective, it would read something like: "[dog's name] is a 15 year-old [breed of dog] owned by [owner's name] , the founder of St Charlie, a micronation based in Italy. St Charlie's founder declared [the dog] to be his micronation's president in December 2008." THE END. As I outlined in my first message in this thread, the LOM Micro Wiki was conceived from the outset as a project aspiring to similar quality standards as Wikipedia - without becoming hamstrung by a plethora of policy guidelines and rules. I would also point out that LOM's Micro Wiki is not intended to be comprehensive; we are not intending to include articles on every micronation that has ever existed - the List of Micronations is intended to fulfill that function; it is intended to be credible, reliable and consistent. It is only intended to include articles about verifiable subjects, written objectively and in a neutral tone, in the third person, from a real world perspective. Controversial or questionable content must be supported by cited reference sources, or by links to photographic or other supporting evidence. Micro Wiki was created in wikispsaces and not wikia, because the latter's copyright licensing policy is objectionable - ie, all text uploaded to any wikia site is automatically licensed under GFDL.
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Post by Bokonton on Jun 20, 2009 4:13:25 GMT 10
Thank-you for the clarification of that point.
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Peter
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Post by Peter on Jun 24, 2009 23:34:49 GMT 10
To wiki admins:
I registered an account and I would love to write some articles about the lesser-known micronations but my registration to the LOM wiki has been either refused or not processed properly. Could you please look at it and tell me what to do? Thank you!
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George
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Post by George on Jun 29, 2009 14:50:23 GMT 10
Hi Peter. Your membership has been approved. Sorry for the delay; I have been travelling for the past week.
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Peter
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Post by Peter on Jun 30, 2009 5:24:49 GMT 10
Thank you, George!
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George
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Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
Posts: 2,997
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Post by George on Jun 30, 2009 17:11:40 GMT 10
We look forward to your contributions.
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Post by aericasillythings on Jul 7, 2009 21:57:45 GMT 10
I'm astonished there's no information about the Aerican Empire in the wiki. It's one of the most prominent micronations. I wouldn't be offended if you copied and pasted information from Aerica's wiki.
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George
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Post by George on Jul 8, 2009 6:35:31 GMT 10
Longstanding, certainly, but prominent? That's debatable. We have only been going since late March, and we're still working on articles for many more prominent and substantive micronations, so some patience is called for. That said, the Lord helps those who help themselves... Just follow the link from here, and make sure you follow the content policies here.
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Jul 28, 2009 13:54:48 GMT 10
A worthy project. The "in-world" wikis have their place, as resources for people "in-world", but there is a definite need for a resource that I could point a person to and say "this is a decent resource on micronations".
That said, the key question is, what is this projects definition of verifiable?
Corvinia's diplomatic policy shaped the face of micronational diplomacy, but I would struggle to find a reference to that fact that didn't come from a micronational forum or website. No chance at finding a New York Times article mentioning that fact.
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George
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Post by George on Jul 28, 2009 14:19:11 GMT 10
The LOM Micro Wiki's content policies and article style guide is detailed here: listofmicronations.wikispaces.com/Content+policiesVerifiability is not precisely defined - but the idea is that statements of a controversial nature should be supported by sources that most people would consider to be reliable. Ultimately, the nature of the statement being supported will determine the nature and level of reliability of the source. An online forum like this one could be considered a reliable source for statements "from the horse's mouth" - but not for very much more than that. A good example can be found in this article; the founder of that micronation is known by most micronationalists who have encountered him, to be an insufferably boorish, violent, hateful, delusional cretin - a fact which the many citations quoting the crazed rants and threats of violence he's posted on various forums proves beyond any shadow of doubt. However, those same forums could not be cited to "prove" that the many preposterous boastful claims he makes about his fantasy micronation are objectively true - but they could nonetheless be cited in support of statements such as "person X has publicly claimed Y about their micronation on various online forums".
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Bruno Cava
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"Only by living absurdly is it possible to break out of this infinite absurdity." Cortazar
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Post by Bruno Cava on Aug 4, 2009 11:21:54 GMT 10
Indeed very important initiative.
Does new wiki have a admin. comission?
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George
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Post by George on Aug 14, 2009 20:29:49 GMT 10
To (badly) paraphrase Louis XIV in something vaguely resembling mangled schoolboy French... "le dieu de wiki c'est moi!"
...but anyone is welcome to register and contribute content.
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Post by D. N. Vercáriâ on Aug 15, 2009 7:47:01 GMT 10
Watch your wandering apostrophes. You wouldn't write "The God of the Wiki th'ats me, would you?
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George
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Post by George on Aug 15, 2009 9:34:55 GMT 10
Evil Apostrophe-man has obviously been weaving his devil's magic again! His oversight has been duly corrected.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 10, 2010 21:35:35 GMT 10
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