wikiwikiwikiwiki

I sometimes look at Wikipedia—the online, volunteer-produced encyclopedia—but when I'm writing an article for work, I don't know whether to trust the information there or not. It's much safer to ask an expert or look in a book by a renowned publishing house. Then if something's wrong, I can blame it on the supposed authorities.

But maybe Wikis are the thing of the future. A computer scientist I knew when I worked at CERN—who was instrumental in getting the Web started and who could be hyper-critical of certain ideas, like the hydrogen economy—thought highly of Wikipedia. He got on there and helped correct and add to the entry. So now, I suppose, it might reflect his take on things. But is that any worse than a regular encyclopedia?

Wikipedia's creator certainly thinks his work is a harbinger of things to come. Read Nature magazine interview him here.

If only I could find on Wikipedia the old techno song that's now stuck in my head with a sample saying "wikiwikiwikiwiki."