Yep - with all due respect to "No 1 Son", computer people always seem to write "explanations" that are best understood by people who are computer literate. If in doubt try reading a "user manual" or talking to a "help desk". Or standing there as they solve the problem on your screen with flying fingers on the keyboard and then seem surprised that you can't replicate what they just did with ease...
It's a bit like asking that eagle off your wingtip how he locates thermals and getting the explanation back in simple Eaglease. That said, it is useful having a very computer literate person in the family. "Hi Dad, what's wrong with the computer now...?" normally leads to a better result than I've ever achieved from a "help desk". Allan Armistead ph (02) 6249 6470, fax (02) 6249 6555, mobile 0413 013 911 PO Box 908, Dickson ACT 2602, Australia "When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you always will be." Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Derek Ruddock Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 14:54 To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] Anyone interested in creating a gliding Wiki ? What you probably should explain Jason is what a Wiki actually is, why we should want to set one up, and, assuming one was set up, what to do with it. I don't think 'user editable web site' quite captures the essence and usefulness of wikis... > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:aus-soaring- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jason and Jemima Armistead > Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 2:12 PM > To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Anyone interested in creating a gliding Wiki ? > > Geoff > > LOL ! > > Let me give you a quick summary (as best as a dumb electrical and software > engineer can manage !) of some of the jargon I used. > > Wiki - supposedly the Hawaiian word for "quick". Wikis are user editable > web sites, which generally have a lot of features to make it easy to edit > and create cross-links between keywords and articles. > > Mediawiki - the software behind the Wikipedia freely editable encyclopaedia > (see http://en.wikipedia.org/ ). Mediawiki is one of many software suites > that implement Wikis. > > Dumps - backups, in this case, of the database of articles on a Wiki > site. The Mediawiki and Wikipedia sites do regular database dumps so that > they can be copied by others. This is useful when starting a new Wiki, > since there is no Help information or templates provided i.e. you get a > TOTALLY blank slate in every regard (not always helpful). > > Namespace - Mediawiki allows you to have several sub-sites. Each has a > specific name, and thus, its space within the Wiki is called a namespace. > > S/N ratio - signal to noise ratio. A term normally used in relation to > communications. The more signal, and the less noise, the better ! > > Don't worry Geoff - what you really need to know is that others on this > list are putting an Australian gliding Wiki together, and you and everyone > else will hopefully benefit and be able to contribute to it. In the > meantime, have a play around on the Wikipedia site (mentioned above) and > have a look at some topics you're familiar with. Then see if you can add > some further light and knowledge to some of the articles. > > Cheers > > Jason > > At 08:05 AM 24/01/2006, you wrote: > >Jason, > > > > As a dumb mechanical engineer that only (just) understands Levers & > > Fulcrums .......... and has only just mastered posting claims on the OLC. > > > > Do you know anyone who can translate that into my lingo? > > > >Regards Geoff > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Jason and Jemima Armistead > >To: <mailto:aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net>Discussion of issues > >relating to Soaring in Australia. > >Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 7:51 AM > >Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Anyone interested in creating a gliding Wiki ? > > > >Gus > > > >Already had a quick look at your new site. > > > >One thing that Mediawiki DOESN'T come with is the help, since it's built > >into the Wiki database itself. > > > >You can get a dump from Mediawiki's project "Meta" i.e. meta.wikimedia.org > >- and do a search for dumps and import this into your site. It is a bit > >tricky because you only want the English language Help namespace, not the > >entire Wiki (which would be a lot of excess fluff and a very low S/N ratio !) > > > >I did this for our work Wiki which is still V1.4.x series. I need to > >convert it to V1.5.x anyway, so I'll see if I can get this for you if > >required - it's not very big once it's ZIP-ed > > > >If you have any specific Mediawiki questions, feel free to contact me > >directly rather than via Aus-Soaring. > > > >Regards > > > >Jason Armistead > > > > > >At 11:45 PM 23/01/2006, Gus wrote: > > >I think wikis are a great idea. > > > > > >I've gone ahead and registered the name > > "<http://www.ausgliding.com>www.ausgliding.com" and in a > > >day or two once I have it set up will have a gliding wiki there that > > >can be contributed to by all. Feel free to put up wiring diagrams, > > >tost sizes, thermalling tips, pilot profiles, whatever you like. > > > > > >I'm also going to put up a bulletin board (using phpBB) that everyone > > >can use in a similar way to a mailing list, except everything is > > >grouped by topic and it reduces the chances of repeating topics all > > >the time. And great time wasters for work. > > > > > >I'm open to suggestions about other content we can put up there. It's > > >completely unofficial, and only useful if we contribute once it's up. > > > > > >Let me know your ideas. > > > > > > > > >Gus > > > > > > > > >On 1/22/06, Scott Penrose <<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > On 22/01/2006, at 19:05, Jason Armistead wrote: > > > > > But a lot of information, as it relates to Australian soaring, > > > > > where to get equipment, etc, (the kind of stuff that gets asked > > > > > from time to time here on Aus-Soaring) is really not what Wikipedia > > > > > is all about. > > > > > > > > There are no rules for what a wiki is used for. What you described > > > > above sounds like a perfect thing for an Australian Wiki. > > > > > > > > Someone mentioned that there is already heaps of information on > > > > WikiPedia - but that is Encyclopaedic in nature - it is not really > > > > the place for details information on wiring diagrams, what wax to > > > > use, how to connect a B50 to a Blah etc. They are really quite > > > > different. > > > > > > > > In the end though, some people only like lists, some like wikis and > > > > some only like read only web pages - you can't make it perfect for > > > > everyone. > > > > > > > > Scott > > > > -- > > > > * - * <http://www.osdc.com.au>http://www.osdc.com.au - Open Source > > Developers Conference * - * > > > > Scott Penrose > > > > Open source developer > > > > <http://linux.dd.com.au/>http://linux.dd.com.au/ > > > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > Dismaimer: Open sauce usually ends up never coming out (of the bottle). > > > > > > > > Please do not send me Word or PowerPoint attachments. > > > > See > > <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word- > attachments.html>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html > > > > > > > > Microsoft is not the answer. It's the question. And the answer is no. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Aus-soaring mailing list > > > > > > <mailto:Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net>[EMAIL PROTECTED] n.net > > > > To check or change subscription details, visit: > > > > > > <http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus- > soaring>http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > > >Aus-soaring mailing list > > >Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > > >To check or change subscription details, visit: > > >http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Aus-soaring mailing list > ><mailto:Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net>[EMAIL PROTECTED] on.net > >To check or change subscription details, visit: > ><http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus- > soaring>http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Aus-soaring mailing list > >Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > >To check or change subscription details, visit: > >http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
