Should you trust Wiki for academic Research?

Wiki is a collaborative Web site that allow users to create, add to, modify or delete the Web site content via their web browsers.Many wikis are open to modification by the general public.The question is should you trust wiki as an academic research tool? As Wikis has grown in size, number and popularity .Some educators and librarians have shunned the sites as valid sources of research. While many Wikis are entirely controlled with a limited number of contributors and expert editors, they usually focus on narrowly defined specialised topics. Most large on-line Wikis such as Wikipedia, often involve thousands of editors, many of whom remain annonymous. Recently television reporters purposesly vandalised entries on Wikipedia for John Lenon and Elvis Presly in an attempt to discredit Wikipedia and to test how quickly corrections are made. Editors quickly corrected the information. In some situations rival political factions forcified Wiki entries in an attempt to give their own candidates a vantage point. To solve this problem some proposed that Wikis should be used as a starting point for research,but the information should be verified using traditional sources.
QUESTION: If a Wiki provided verification of the credentials of the author, would you trust the Wiki more?
Why or why not?

WHO SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR THE SAFETY OF SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE USERS?

SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES HAVE EXPLODED OVER THE YEARS AS THE MODERN WAY OF SOCIALISING AND COMMUNICATING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY ALL OVER THE WORLD.EVIDENTLY PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS HAVE REFLECTED INTO OUR SOCIETY.THESE PROBLEMS ARE:

• BULLYING
• SMEAR CAMPAIGNS(AGAINST PARTICULAR INDIVIDUALS)
• INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR BETWEEN ADULTS AND CHILDREN. EG PEDIFILIA

SOME BLAME THE GOVERNMENT ,AND THINK THAT THEY SHOULD TRY INTERVENE AND MONITOR WEBSITES FOR INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS.TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM SOME WEBSITE COMPANIES HAVE STEPPED UP THEIR MONITORING OR HAVE PUT DISCLAIMERS STATING THAT THEY WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BEHAVIOURS/ACTIONS OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS AND THAT PARENTS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN'S AND THEIR OWN BEHAVIOURS

THROUGH FOLLOWING THESE GOLDEN RULES ,YOU'LL ENSURE YOUR OWN SAFETY AND THE SAFETY OF YOUR LOVED ONES!!!

• DONT SAVE YOUR LOGIN DETAILS.
• DONT LEAVE YOUR COMPUTER WHEN YOU HAVE SENSITIVE INFORMATION ON THE SCREEN.
• ERASE YOUR TRACKS.
• WATCH FOR OVER THE SHOULDER SNOOPS.
• DONT ENTER SENSITIVE INFORMATION IN A PUBLIC COMPUTER.

STAY SAFE!

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT?

Violation of privacy in many instances occurrs because personal and confidential records are stored on computers which are not protected properly.Which result in identities being stolen.Scam artists use e-mails and other techniques on the internet such as phishing to try acquire personal information such as banking information,credit card numbers and passwords.Through requesting your online banking details so that they send vast amounts of money as a result of winning a BIG lottery. This information ends up in the scammers hands and uses these details for illegal deals such as credit card fraud.Overally it results in IDENTITY THEFT!
You can prevent identity theft in several ways.
1)Shred all your financial documents before discarding them
2)DO NOT click in unsolicited e-mail messages AND
enroll in a credit monitiring service.

Now that you know,wareness is an effective weapon against identity theft.Educate your friends ,family and members of the community.Be aware of how information is stolen and how you can protect and monitor your personal information to uncover any problems quickly and know what to do when you suspect your identity has been stolen

HOW DO PEOPLE BEST COPE WITH TECHNOLOGY OVERLOAD?

In the history of mankind ,technological innovations have helped improve the standard of living from the beginning of prehistoric times with bone tools to super computers that we have today.The benefits of using technology are endless and have improved our lives tremendously.Such as increased productivity,faster communication methods via messages and e-mails and easier storage of data(information).It has made life so much easier,better and quicker .we have become obsessed to the point were today in our modern society ,people can not see themselves without computers or cell phones.Technology is now more of a distraction and has become some what of a status symbol.eg having a superior gadget suddenly makes you a superior person.


Nowadays we have become so overwhelmed with technology which was supposed to be make us more productive ,but now we're on a technology overload. It has brought about a reverse effect.How do you know if you suffer from technology overload?
When you feel uncomfortable or nervous when you can not use the internet or cellphone for a short length of time or when you overuse technology to the point were it impacts all spects of your life;professional,personal,health and even academic.To support this, a survey was conducted by Lexis Nexis found that on average 15.9hours per day were spent on using email,web browsers,microsoft office and on websites such as facebook and twitter.Technology Experts suggest creating a balance and trying to deal with it, by maybe practising technology sabbath for one day a week from a computer.Either way its a treatable disorder.

QUESTIONS

1)WHAT STEPS CAN PEOPLE OR SOCIETY TAKE TO COPE WITH TECHNOLOGY OVERLOAD?

2)TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM SHOULD WE GO VINTAGE AND FORGET ABOUT TECHNOLOGY?

BLOGGING

Some may wonder what blogging is?Well its no different from a website .The objectives are very much the same in that it delivers content to you,the users.Blogging is more specific in topics.There are more frequent inserts and most of all it encourages reader interaction with others through feedback mechanisms.Also bloggers can manage the content on their sites through content management system software.These blog sites can be used by average internet users, business owners to sell products , journalists to publish their stories and seek the public's opinion or by celebrities to follow their day to day lives just to mention a few.My main aim is to educate and inform you about the issues that concern each and every one of us,from technology overload,to identity theft , to the safety of websites and the controversy surrounding Wikipedia.Through my blog we are going to explore the world of technology and the ethical issues accopmanied with them.These topics are as follows .How do people best cope with technology overload ?What should be done about identity theft?Who should look out for the safety of social networking web site users?And should you trust Wikipedia for academic research?Feel free to comment .SO LETS INTERACT!!!!!