Bits 'n' Bobs.

The most worrying thing about Wikipedia “shutting down” in protest for 24 hrs…

It’s not that they did it - fair play to them, plenty of other sites should have also done so.

Nor the idiots whining about how they can’t access it, and not knowing why [there’ll always be idiots.]

It’s the people posting up “Hurp de durp, fuck Wikipedia, here’s the workaround to access Wikipedia” posts.

I can’t help but think they’re missing the point. Yes, you can still access wikipedia pretty easily [pressing one damn key is pretty easy] - it’s more of a symbolic gesture than an actual blackout / shut down.

I’m not sure what’s worse sometime - ignorance or indifference.

[And I promise, this is the last SOPA / PIPA post. At least for a while]

Wikipedia to go dark on Wednesday!

Yay!

Don’t get me wrong - I like browsing Reddit - get past the meme and in-joke filled frontpage, and into the specific reddits - /r/kindle | /r/books | /r/sci_fi_books etc, etc, and you can find some interesting discussions - but it’s hardly the biggest, most influential site on t’internet. In short, ask 100 regular people who use the internet, what Reddit is, and most of ‘em won’t have a clue.

Now go ask them about Wikipedia. I’d be willing to bet, more people know about it. Which is why the decision to effectively “shut it down” on Wednesday, in response to SOPA / PIPA, is a big, big deal.

Even though SOPA looks like a damaged bill, following changes to the draft proposal, and the announcement the Whitehouse would be prepared to veto, if required, PIPA still enjoys a lot of support across both sides of the political spectrum, and, like SOPA, is a poorly drafted piece of legislation.

Hence the protest.

Now - to the people on tumblr who’re complaining - specifically asking what the fuck is going on? There’s a nice button that says “Learn more”.

How about clicking it, rather than asking “WTF Man, what’s all this about”. I mean, one assumes you’re on Wikipedia to learn something, right - now’s the ideal opportunity to do so!