Wiki web: New frontiers
THE WIKI technology is fast becoming popular among netizens and new applications based on this tool are being rolled out quite regularly. This edition of NetSpeak explores some of them.
A Wiki is a web site with real-time editable pages (refer The Hindu, November, 2002 — www.hindu.com/thehindu/biz/2002/11/04/stories/2002110400 150200.htm ). Though, generally, most of the Wikis allow anyone to freely revise/append/ alter/edit the pages through a web-based interface, the technology provides a Wiki owner with enough features for invoking sufficient security measures to prevent unruly elements from destabilising the system.
For example, modern Wiki's allow a user to have `protected' pages that cannot be edited by strangers. Also, most Wiki's have the rollback feature that enables the administrator to restore a page's content to its original state should she find some mischief is done to it.
One popular area in which the Wiki technology is being deployed effectively is in collaborative content creation projects. The on-line encyclopedia building project, Wikipedia, quoted in this column several times, is a glaring example of such projects.
The Wiki engine, MediaWiki (http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/), which powers the Wikipedia site, is also available for free. That is, if you want to build a Wiki-based application, it can be easily accomplished with this PHP-based software - provided you have access to a web server with PHP/MySQL support.
Take a look at the demo Wiki created by this author using MediaWiki, at: http://netspeak.freeserverhost.com/mediawiki/index.php.
As Wiki pages can be edited/modified by anyone on the Net with a little bit of typing skills, the technology is being embraced by organisations/people with varied requirements. In fact, a Wiki is something that can be deployed in any collaborative projects that need a continuous flow of inputs from multiple sources for its growth/sustainability.
You can have Wikis that explain `how to' do specific things, Wikis for creating new ideas/knowledge/wisdom and so on. The Wisdom project mentioned in an earlier edition of this column is an example of a Wiki created for producing wisdom.
ResumeWiki
In the current globalised atmosphere, lots of opportunities are available for a skilled person. Apart from one's skills/experience, a factor that makes a lot of difference in the employment market is the candidate's resume. Creating a good resume is an art that can be fostered by friends/peers and other professionals. One way to improve your resume is to seek the help of other experts in this field. To enlist the service of experts worldwide for generating an appropriate resume, a Wiki based service can be quite effective. The recently launched Wiki-based service `ResumeWiki' (http://resumewiki.com/pm wiki.php/Main/ResumeWiki) is an attempt in this direction.
ResumeWiki is a `community-driven resume editing service,' where you can post a draft of your resume, which will be edited by others `as they see fit.' Once the resume is posted on the server, over time, you may find several versions of your resume on the service. Of course you can accept the changes or go back to the old resume. As the service is only a few weeks old, it is too early to assess its progress.
A wiki page with a growing list of `Resume Blogs', and links to other resume building sources are some other highlights of this service.
If you are a biologist or have some interest in the theory of evolution, access the Wiki site `Evolution education wiki' or EvoWiki (http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Main_Page).
EvoWiki
This project is an attempt to create an on-line encyclopaedia of "Evolution and Origins, with a glossary of related biological and religious terms.''
Photoblog wiki (http://wiki.photoblogs.org/Main_Page), cr- eated for the photoblogging community and Stockepedia (http://www.stockepedia.com/in dex.php/Main_Page), the encyclopedia of Stockmarket, are some interesting Wikis worth a visit.
Check out this MediaWiki link (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sites_using_MediaWiki) that lists out several links to public Wikis created using the MediaWiki's Wiki engine. Links to a variety of Wikis such as NerdyPc (Computer hardware review Wiki- http://nerdypc.wikinerds.org/index.php/Main_ Page) and SocSci (Social Science Wiki-http://mads.warhead.org.uk/socsci/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) are included in the list.
World Wide Words
Interested to know the origin of common English words/phrases? If so, check out the site `World Wide Words' (http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm) that describes the meaning of common words, their origin and evolution in a searchable interface. The site also discusses issues of grammar and style. A free weekly newsletter, which describes "word histories, new words, the background to words in the news and problems of English usage,' is another highlight of this free service. If you are reluctant to give away your e-mail id for subscribing to the newsletter, you can use the news feed version of the newsletter.
J. Murali
Email the author at:murali27@satyam.net.in
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