Author Archives: alistair

20 most frequently edited Wikipedia articles

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I was surprised by some of the articles which are most frequently revised in the Wikipedia. Very frequent revisions would be caused by:

  • Vandalism
  • Controversy
  • Current events

So, I can understand why Adolf Hitler is so high in the list, but “October 2003” really surprised me. I would also be interested to see just how many revisions these articles take. I took a look at the history of the Jesus article and it gets revisions every single day. Most days there are about 10 revisions to the article. So the Wikipedia entry on Jesus is updated several times a day, every day.

Top 20 Most Hotly Revised Articles

  • Jesus
  • Adolf Hitler
  • October 2003
  • Nintendo revolution
  • Hurricane Katrina
  • India
  • RuneScape
  • Anarchism
  • Britney Spears
  • PlayStation 3
  • Saddam Hussein
  • Japan
  • Albert Einstein
  • 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
  • New York City
  • Germany
  • Muhammid
  • Pope Benedict XVI
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Hinduism

Online presence lives on when real-world people die

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People are increasingly building personal presences online. For instance, I have this blog, a Picassa web album, a Facebook account, etc. I have an online life, people communicate with me online, I have stores, opinions and photos online. So do millions of other people around the world.

What hadn’t occurred to me until today is that thousands of those people die every year, and their web presences will just go on. This article is from a guy whose friend committed suicide. The guy’s MySpace page has actually been pretty active since his death – it’s become like a shrine to the guy. His online presence lives on after his death.

Apparently Facebook has profiles for the students killed in the Virginia Tech massacre which are also still active. Strange…

Body x-rays being used in Amsterdam’s Schiphol

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Body scanning x-ray at schipholSchiphol airport in Amsterdam has introduced a new x-ray based body scanner for added security. The scanner reveals body contours and is supposed to reveal any concealed dodgy items. Apparently people are actually going for it because it speeds up the whole security process -people will do almost anything for convenience.

I know I would have this scan if it would speed things up at the security check points.

Recovering deleted files is possible (with a little luck)

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I recently deleted some work files from my computer. I don’t really know how I did it, but I got quite a shock when I realized. I had held SHIFT down while deleting, so the files skipped the recycle bin. My most recent backup was 2 weeks before (something I have since changed) so the files were gone. Right?

Actually I was able to restore almost all of the lost data. A guide to recovering deleted data:

  1. Immediately stop using the computer the files were on (you will see why later).
  2. Download this program and put it on a flash drive.
  3. Use the program to back the files up onto the flash drive -it’s quite easy actually.

Amazingly this actually works really well. How does it work? When you delete a file, the operating system (Windows, etc) just marks that section of the hard-drive as free space – it doesn’t actually wipe the data. So even though the file has been ‘deleted’ the data is still there. This great little program digs through the free space and checks if there are any recoverable files sitting in there.

That is why you need to stop using the computer ASAP – otherwise the free space could be overwritten by new files.

More detailed instructions and explanations available here.

Where our computers go to die

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Moore’s law says that the power of computer processors doubles roughly every 2 years. Intel and AMD love that because it means that we have to replace our computers often. What happens to all those old PC’s that we throw away? It seems there is a good chance that they are shipped to China!

ForeignPolicy.com have a cool photo essay on the subject. From the article:

“Each year, between 20 and 50 million tons of electronic waste is generated globally. Most of it winds up in the developing world. It can be 10 times cheaper for a “recycler” to ship waste to China than to dispose of it properly at home.”

These guys don’t just dump the old hardware, they also scour it for valuable parts.

“Computers are much more than just wires and plastic; they are also a source of highly valuable metals, including gold, copper, and aluminum. One ton of computer scrap contains more gold than 17 tons of gold ore. Circuit boards can be 40 times richer in copper than typical copper ore.”

Hundreds of users choose to have their computer infected with a virus

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badad.pngWired has a story about a security researcher who paid for a Google ad saying “Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!”

The ad was loaded onto pages 260,000 times and 409 users actually clicked on the link! That means that out of every 1000 times a site was loaded showing the link, 1.6 users actually clicked to get their computer infected.

Youngest mother in history – 5 years old

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Today in 1939 Lina Medina a Peruvian 5 year old become the youngest mother in history. Wired has the story, but it seems that she had an extreme case of the extremely rare precocious puberty. The story was only accepted as true after a photo (on the Wikipedia story) and X-rays of the case were revealed.

The child lived until 40 (died of bone marrow disease) and Lina is still alive. Bizarre story.

Lessons from Pirates of the Caribbean

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Johnny Depp as the pirate Jack SparrowThere is a great line from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie – one of my favorite movie lines. A sneaky pirate (Johnny Depp) is having a mad sword fight when he pulls a sneaky move and is accused of cheating. His reply is:

“The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do”

A surprisingly good line for a movie like Pirates of the Caribbean. I like it because it reveals a truth about life that people don’t often think about. We live in a society of rules, laws and cultural norms. What Depp’s character is saying is that these rules mean nothing. There is nothing that makes it impossible to break the “rules”.

Unfortunately criminals teach us every day that our rules will be broken if the incentives are right. All of life is about people balancing incentives.

Incentive = Benefit – Cost
Or more accurately:
Incentive = Perceived benefit – (Risk of getting caught x Cost of getting caught)

The values in these equations change according to person and situation but if the incentive is right, the rules will be broken. For the pirate in the movie, the benefit was clear and the cost non-existent – easy choice…

People cheat all the time – it’s a fact of life even, if we like to ignore it.