This node has been created for the purpose of open discussion regarding policy on the use of
FunWiki. As with the rest of Wiki, there are no strict guidlines here. Just opinions that should be kept in mind when using this
community-run resource.
Recently, the URL for
FunWiki was posted on the
PreFrosh board and MuddForums
?. This led to a few
PreFrosh coming to check it out, and I was curious as to what other
FunWiki users thought about this. Is Wiki something that should be spread by word of mouth/Schmack
?, or do you feel that Wiki should be openly advertised to the greater Mudd community?
- Funwiki is on the internet and can be googled, so in this since it is open. Funwiki, in addition, is a useful source of hear-say, and in fact pages from it (such as the *ding* page) have been posted to internet forums. However, since Funwiki is an easties tradition and because of the fragile nature of wiki, I think actively inviting other people to join funwiki would be a bad idea. I still think that posting links to specific wiki pages to give information should be allowed as long as it is kept in moderation and doesn't actively encourage people to use wiki. If someone stumbles onto wiki and thinks it's cool enough to use it, I think s/he's enough of an eastie to warrant him/her using it. -Victor
- Correction: The FunWiki index page can be googled, but the rest of funwiki cannot be googled, as is defined in its robots.txt file. --RichardGarfinkel
- Obviously my opinion doesn't count for much (since I'm part of the problem), but it seems to me that this is a great resource/diversion and it would be a shame for it to be kept "secret." I don't think advertising is by any means necessary, but there shouldn't be any problem with directing someone here when the information is relevant (e.g. JonathanBeall directed PreFrosh to the page on ProfessorEckert following questions by the PreFrosh about what ProfessorEckert is like). -MikeBuchanan (Note - if it sounds like I repeated Victor, that's because I wrote this at the same time he was writing his response)
- First off, nobody said that there was a problem, much less that you were part of it. While I don't believe that FunWiki should be kept secret, I do believe that it shouldn't be advertised to the greater Mudd community in the form of links on students-l or something like that. I think it's best to spread Wiki via word-of-mouth. Show your friends, etc. Don't just indiscriminately tell people, as that could lead to violations of Rule #1. --RichardGarfinkel
- Personally, I'm apt to say that links to wiki pages should not be posted in any public (or pseudo-public) forum. There are things that exist on the wiki that shouldn't become public knowledge, and once you've found a single page, you're capable of navigating damn near all of it. (Hell, there's a link to RecentChanges and another to the main page on every page, and that'll take you just about wherever you want; especially since the main page links to CategoryHomePage.) I'm not trying to advocate massive secrecy, but I appreciate the fact that I can write things here with little chance of it coming back to bite me in the ass from someone unexpected. At the very least, there are traditions mentioned in great detail that should not be read prematurely--*THAT'S* one of the main reasons for keeping it quiet for a while.--DanCicio
- Hmm... I guess I'm a bit divided. On one hand, I think Wiki could really use more users (I miss the days of early 2000 when you could hit "refresh" every ten minutes and see new changes being added), and more perspectives. While Wiki has traditionally been an East-specific undercurrent, I think it would be cool if we had more Mudder communities operating under it. On the other hand, as Dan said, we feel less inhibited because we know that it's unlikely that anyone other than our friends or friends by association would come here, and that adds to the fun and spirit of Wiki. Also, the frosh aren't supposed to find Wiki until they have big hum papers due the next day (EvilLaugh). --AlexBobbs
- As the one who let some frosh in, I should throw in my 2¢. I tossed out the links to FunWiki pages hoping that some intrepid frosh would not only follow them, but then continue on to explore FunWiki. I figured that those who stuck around would tend to be EastiePersons?. I hoped that this infusion of new blood would jump start FunWiki, as both FunWiki and EastDormSchmack seem to be in decline lately (examining the SchmackArchives? (which I'll put online once I get back to Mudd) I found that for the last few months Schmack volume has been at it's lowest since 1999). The flurry of Wiki modifications lately bode well for that. As for traditions, I'm sorry if I've revealed anything prematurely. But you can already find descriptions of them online if you pay attention to the hints revealed by upperclassmen and use google a bit (although I'd not recommend this to any frosh now on FunWiki---it's nicer to have things be more of a surprise). But I'll try not to go flinging around links to FunWiki for now. --JonathanBeall
- I'd advise against publicizing Wiki, because it might be troublesome if some members of the faculty or administration found out about certain things on the Wiki.--CurtisVinson
- There are good reasons why its existence has been spread by word of mouth after the first FroshChem final, reasons that have to do with preserving Mudd tradition. If you need clarification, feel free to ask me by email (see my home page), but it should be obvious if you consider some of the Wiki contents and Mudd tradition and Frosh for a moment. I believe, for similar reasons, Schmack has traditionally been kept secret until that time. As far as other posting of Wiki links, i have never posted a wiki link to someone who has not been an eastie at some point as a matter of courtesy to the people who use wiki, your feelings about the matter may vary, and i personally don't care if anyone sees anything *I* have posted. So long as any users treat the Wiki with respect, i hate it when pages i've loved get deleted. --NickJohnson
- I seem to remember Schmack being anounced during orientation. Could be that Tara made a mistake though.
- Schmack is always announced early. At least as long as I can remember. No reason not to have the frosh join in. --MichaelVrable
- Due to the odin replacement I, oddly, received a "who" request regarding schmack from 2 years ago, right when classes started. Lots of freshmans were already subscribed. So, pile them froshies on the schmack!
- mmm...interesting indeed...This edit is being written by a member of the HMC class of 2009, who has apparently stumbled upon something she is not supposed to know about. This stumbling came about by a series of various events. The first being that she attended the USA-Canada Mathcamp last summer and met an Eastie by the name of Lori Thomas. Upon returning home, thie student writing this post decided that HMC was among the few colleges she was seriously interested in and thus set about the business of applying, eventually deciding to apply via ED. This means that she received her acceptance letter back in December. At this point, the Frosh (or Pre-Frosh if you prefer) writing this decided to follow Lori Thomas's LJ(despite the fact that this student has yet to get one of her own) to get an idea of what she had gotten herself into. Lori, however, did not update very often, and so she began reading the entries that appeared on Lori's Friends page. At some point one of these entries provided a link to this here Wiki, and thus this Frosh has been poking around, reading various nodes, and being highly amused ever since. She just stumbled upon this particular node and thought that she ought to reveal that the FunWiki has already been found by at least one member of this particular generation of Frosh. She would also like to know how much trouble she would be in if she happened to leak its existence to other members of the class of 2009...--A member of the class of 2009 who could probably be easily identified by this post but feels like being at least vaguely mysterious anyway
- Welcome! Sometimes (i.e., if they think of it), upperclassfolk don't tell FreshMen about Wiki until the night before the first HumPaper, or around the time of the FroshChem test or something. But nobody really goes out of their way to conceal it. I found Wiki (I think) during my senior year of high school, for instance. While I'm guessing most people would prefer that you not go spreading around the location of Wiki (see above), it wouldn't be catastrophic. --JulieWortman (hey, I know Lori!)
- I for one find it very odd that I cannot immediately place this person, though I'm sure it is someone I know. Also, am startled that there is a wiki link readily available, as I try to avoid that in public spots. The way I look at it, Schmack is a dorm chat list, and frosh should be encouraged to join early and often. It is one of the major ways to know what is happening in a big segment of the dorm. As for wiki, there is something to be said for telling folk around the time of a paper or test, but once they're here, odds are high they'll stumble on it, and we can all cope. Traditions may be ruined, but honestly, that happens anyhow. Nothing for a given year should be planned on wiki regardless. I don't like posting wiki links on the web for random folk to stumble across, because of the nature of the community, as described above, as well as for the content which isn't usually written with the whole world in mind, also see above. Anyhow, I'll throw that on too. --LoriThomas (I lived in Julie's room!)
- One of your friends put a link in one of their LJ posts back a while (I have been lurking on LJ but not yet decided I need an account). I went to the Apples LIRP and was/am a major supporter of food-tongue. Does that help you place me? --the same member of the class of 2009 who posted previously :-)
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