Another Place to Fall

A couple of days ago I received a very interesting message though my website from Paul Cacciottolo. Here's what he said:

I have been directed your way by Chalee, an esteemed friend of mine. We (some Maltese chaps) are trying hard to establish Strampop as the name of a music genre as yet unnamed. We were wondering if you would be interested in lending your support for our wikipage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Strampop

This is indeed a plausible way to promote the idea for a new word or term. However, I have a feeling that something like an encyclopedia (even wikipedia) should only list established words and phrases, since the role of such publications is to offer a document of the known world.

If and when the still-to-be-known finds its way into wikipedia, the nature of the encyclopedia is altered. Yet this is hardly the most problematic aspects of an open project like wikipedia.

My particular interest in all this is not so much the term Strampop itself -- as interesting as that may be -- as much as the idea of a wiki, which is something I've been interested in working on for a couple of years.

I hope to find the time to really get going on some serious wiki-work this summer. I know that a couple of people who read my blog are already active in the ever-growing community that created and maintains the Maltese version of Wikipedia. I'd like to know if you (that includes the Maltese wikipedia people and anybody else) are interested in getting involved in another wiki other than wikipedia and what other thoughts you may have on open projects like this.

Meanwhile, here's another message from my inbox. This comes from my friend Ricardo Dominguez of Electronic Disturbance Theatre:

Virtual Sit-In in Solidarity with the Striking Students of France! March 16th to the 18th, 2006

We invite people from all over the world who support the french students in resistance and oppose the precaritization of life to join the Electronic Disturbance Theatre and borderlands Hacklab on March 16th and 17th, 2006 to engage in a virtual sit-in on french government websites to demand that all of the students be released from prison and that the 'contrat première embauche' (CPE) be revoked.

While the CPE only effects people in France, people around the world are suffering from the system that the French students are protesting against. The neoliberal, corporate model of society increases the precarity of life for everyone through employment instability, war and environmental destruction. It must be stopped. Youth all over the world face bleak prospects under the current models. New economic and social models must be developed.

As students and workers continue to occupy the Sorbonne and march through the streets of France, we will join them with our virtual bodies from around the world.

Join the action here: http://sdhacklab.org/france_solidarity

SOLIDARITY WITH THE STUDENTS OF FRANCE! SOLIDARITÉ!