Everything2 Hits One Million Nodes

Stavr0 noted that Everything 2 has now hit its 1 Millionth Node: [list collector] by [stepnwolf]. Long long long time readers of Slashdot remember Everything as The Mystery Project thought up and developed years ago by Nate & I, which has since taken on a life of its own. Congrats to Nate, Bones, Darrick, Tim, Ron, and the thousands of people who have contributed a million nodes, both priceless and worthless to this bizarre experiment in distributed collection and maintanence of information. Nostalgia rises up in me whenever I read the original nodes that Nate and I wrote when Everything was just a wierd drunken idea. If only we figured out a way for it to break even ;)

Re:Wikipedia hits 2000 articles

While I agree that Wikipedia is similar to Everything2 in design but its articles are of higher quality, if you really want a "GNU FDL encyclopedia," Nupedia [nupedia.com] is a better example.

Re:Everything2:Community yes, source of knowledge,

Oh, look, a blanket statement.

I will say quite openly that everything [everything2.com] in general does not have what you could call an *emphasis* on factual/informative writings [everything2.com], and i would say that that e2's psychological tendencies [everything2.com] to reward the poorly constructed sex jokes [everything2.com] written by 14-year-olds and vaguely neglect factual writings [everything2.com] *have* probably driven off some people who would have been beneficial to the site (although i would say there have been MINIMAL effects from this). However, i must say i completely completely disagree with what you are saying. What i suspect you are neglecting to realize is that whether e2 is deeply informative or not depends on the *kind* of information you are looking for. If you are looking for scientific [everything2.com] or mathematical [everything2.com] concepts, then e2 damn near achieves its ultimate goal of providing decent coverage for every single thing you could possibly think of to look for. If you are looking for information on technical things (i.e. computing [everything2.com], programming [everything2.com], UNIX [everything2.com]) then e2 is only about halfway there. If you look for serious historical material [everything2.com], you're going to find damn near nothing (a shame, because i think the web-of-definition-links [everything2.com] format of e2 would be perfect for history writeups.. but i digress.) E2 has certain places where it is strong and certain places where it is weak, and i for one see the weak places less as a deficiency than i see them as a CHALLENGE, to help e2 grow to encompass those things it neglects now.

I will say this-- if you compare e2 to the more facts-only wiki [everything2.com]-like endeavors such as h2g2 [everything2.com], you will find that while those site [everything2.com]'s writings are in general more *in-depth* than the corresponding e2 nodes, e2 has a *much* larger coverage of disparate [everything2.com] things. E2 contains general summaries for almost everything there is, but exhaustive coverage of few things. Whether this is a good or a bad thing i cannot say, although i DO know that there are a good number of pockets of extremely esoteric material [everything2.com] where e2 just SHINES. E2 may never be as consistent as the moderated [everything2.com] h2g2, but i think it's safe to say that you won't see people feeling quite as free to just ramble about pagan holidays [everything2.com] and canadian politics [everything2.com] and other quirky such things with as little abandon as they do on e2.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that not everyone on Everything has the same goals for the site [everything2.com]. The site has no one single use. If everything2 is good at anything, it is leaving people free to slowly mold the site to their own purposes; talk [everything2.com] to a bunch of e2 users and you'll find that each one probably has a different vision for where everything2 should go, and it is possible-- given time-- for every single one of those visions to be fulfilled, without interfering with any of the others. You [everything2.com] care about the informative aspects; some people on e2 ignore those aspects, and care only about searching for people's life stories [everything2.com]. There are people who really just want a community [everything2.com]. There are people [everything2.com] who just sit around and post collections of elizabethan poetry [everything2.com]. The strength of e2, in the end, really lies not in how much content is there *now* but in its flexibility.. because that flexibility in the end gives it the potential [everything2.com] to be more than its competitors [everything2.com] will ever be.

And one thing you have to give e2: The s/n [everything2.com] levels are EXPONENTIALLY higher than they are on slashdot [everything2.com]; i would perhaps say, although this varies from part of the site from part of the site, they are even higher than on kuro5hin [everything2.com]. And unlike slash [everything2.com] or really even kuro [everything2.com], the nature of the site means that you rarely have to wade through crap [everything2.com] to get to the good stuff [everything2.com]. If you get the hang of looking for things [everything2.com] the right way, you can just spend hours clicking through what seems like an endless supply of fascinating material, and learn the entire time, without having to look at a single sex joke.

Taco: fix the god-damn wandermeister [everything2.com]!

Thank you.

Check out the system BEHIND everything2..

Well, as long as so much attention is centered here.. no one seems to have mentioned it yet, so i'd like to point out (for those who may not be aware) that the Everything Engine, the software on which everything2 was built, is freely available and Open Source and nearing an official 1.0 release. Check out:
http://everydevel.com/ [everydevel.com]

The system is truly impressive as an abstract and astoundingly flexible architecture to let you VERY easily create collaboratively managed websites (assuming you are a relatively experienced perl programmer), and i would just like to suggest that those in the general Slashdot population to whom the system might be useful go take look at it and maybe play with it some. The chances of it being useful to you someday are not bad..

Re:Check out the system BEHIND everything2..

"the Everything Engine, the software on which everything2 was built, is freely available and Open Source and nearing an official 1.0 release."

No, it's not. Here's the license:
http://everydevel.com/index.pl?node=Everything%2 0P re-Release%20License&lastnode_id=211

Here's the Open Source Definition:
http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.html

E2's license violates points 1, 2, 3, and 6 - and, since it doesn't allow redistribution, many of the others don't make sense.

E2 is nothing like Open Source.

So charge or something...

"If only we figured out a way for it to break even ;)"

Give me a way to support it. I cannot tell you how many times I have needed to look up tech jargon at work and found an instant answer of E2. That site is a lifesaver.

Re:Buttholes

I also I think there are too many people deleting nodes according to what they think is right. It pisses me off too. I was disgusted with even trying to when most noding attempts I made were moderated down, or whatever it's called, by the uber-noder gods. I liked the original E. It was much more fun. Now it's just a place where we must bow before the noder-Gods, or your nodes get bashed.

Wikipedia hits 2000 articles

If you'd like to get in on the ground floor of something similar, but a lot more serious, Wikipedia [wikipedia.com] (the free GNU FDL encyclopedia based on wiki software) is always looking for good contributors.

Since opening in January, we already have over 2000 articles, many of very good quality.

Everything2 is awesome. But many of the entries are more humor than anything else. An encyclopedia is a different beast.

http://www.wikipedia.com/

It thinks, therefore...

The cool thing about Everything is that it eventually acquired its own culture (much as Slashdot has its own culture), and it became self-referential. It acquired self-awareness, and lost its dependency upon the outside world. Slashdot depends upon external ideas and information, but Everything is perfectly content writing about the things that it discovers about itself. It's a simple thought experiment that took off and became, if not a small movement, then at least something like one.

It exists on a purely conceptual level. It soon outgrew a limitation on existing ideas and began to create new ideas, such as "backwards compatibility of the toaster." Instead of describing what people thought, it made them think anew.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's cool. :)

Moderation Success of E2

When Everything started, I always assumed that it would meet the same fate as all internet discussion boards seem to - no meaningful signal-to-noise ratio. Slashdot and K5 do fairly well, but you have to read at a pretty high rating level to eliminate all of the crap that you normally find.

Everything, on the other hand, outright gets rid of the stupidest posts. The format also isn't conducive to stupid posts, as they'll never be referenced to.

A weblog site, like /., K5, or any of the many others, could be designed around the same rather decentralized hierarchy, allowing any user at all to post articles, similarly to K5's design (I'm going to get moderated down for criticizing /., I'm sure), but without even a real main page - users would just search for what they're interested in.

For example, one might search for most recent articles that're rated above x and have at least x responses, or something along those lines.

Just an idea, and one that I don't have time to implement. I just thought I'd throw it out there as a thought.

E2 has standards. Don't bitch.

If you write bullshit [everything2.com], your writeups will be deleted. If you don't node for the ages [everything2.com]; otherwise, your writeups will be deleted. The majority of former noders who bitch on /. about E2 never read the Everything FAQ [everything2.com] and Everything University [everything2.com]. For examples of what the E2 community likes, browse the Cool Archive [everything2.com].

What a community

Everything2 just goes to show you how truly special the online community is. People go out of their way to make a login, so they can write some funny stuff on a topic, bash some of their enemies, and give everyone a good laugh. Everything2 (In My Humble Opinion) is a fine example of how the Internet community truly is prosperous, and good-hearted.

Re:Node bloat?

Each writeup, and each node that contains them, receives a node_id. Apparently, this is the one millionth node_id, given to a writeup in node 999,998.

These opinions are my own and not necessarily

With a title like 'everything'

you need a LOT of nodes. How else do you keep up with 'everything'?

I'm impressed, but I don't see my ex-wife listed in the site.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page [cavalrypilot.com]

Editors go on nuke spree, E2 back to 999,997 nodes

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. :-)

Re:Everything2:Community yes, source of knowledge,

It has fun, but no utility.

I resent that remark. E2 has been immensely valuable to me since it's creation. Whenever I need to look up a pop culture reference, or need some advanced physics explained in layman's terms, or just want a definition of some thing beyond "Just the facts, ma'am", I head to the E2 search box. It's got its good people and bad people, just like any other community, but that's no reason to dis it.

And the moderation system is way better than Slashdot's. I can even have a say in what appears on the front page if I like, instead of just occasionally moderating people's comments.

Re:Get your facts straight

Many of my factual nodes were voted down very quickly. It's not the content, it's the name tagged above it.

Speaking only for myself, I upvoted DMan's well-written factual nodes whenever I found them. It was the prejudicial trolls which he may or may not be confusing with "factual nodes" that usually sank like rocks.

stran9er things in life

poking through the muck...

The simple fact about everything2 is that while it is an interesting place, and a fascinating community, the ecology of any online community ultimately destroys it as a source of reliable information.

I definitely would like to know where you obtained this (dis)information from. Could it be an out of date sociology book, or could it be that a new technology pushing its way into a new form of cultured life puzzles, disturbs, fascinates, upsets (take your pic) you. Or is this based on say... Fact like 1 + 1 = 2? I keep wondering why one drop of water plus one drop of water only gives me one drop of water anyways...

This means that anything said there must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Anything said in life must be taken with one grain of salt no matter where its coming from, and judging an entire community whether its an online one or physical one based upon bad experience is not good judgement. Thats like saying that 3 black people who robbed you account for all blacks being robbers, or 3 caucasian embezzlers make all whites embezzlers. You have a stran9e view on things for a sociology major.

Furthermore, it has its own 'Karma Whore' equivalents, people who are trying to gain 'experience' and status as a result. It is full of ultimately banal information.

Life is filled with Karma whores... Take your brown nosing co worker or classmate...

Secondly, the females there are pretty awful - the average female uses the internet to affirm real life relationships, not to make new relationships. Females who post to online communities are usually rather strange creatures, desperate for some sort of attention.

Maybe its pessimistic morons who make them dread asking things in public, maybe they want an opinion coming from someone in an entirely social status than they're accustomed to.

This is why the e2 females cluster around the sex topics.

Yes sire for you know everything in this world.

Having said all that, e2 definately is interesting. It is just not reputable or useful. It has fun, but no utility.

I would go on but you bore me.

Everything2:Community yes, source of knowledge, no

The simple fact about everything2 is that while it is an interesting place, and a fascinating community, the ecology of any online community ultimately destroys it as a source of reliable information.

Everything2 has its own fair share of trolls and freaks, intent on spreading disinformation and chaos. This means that anything said there must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Furthermore, it has its own 'Karma Whore' equivalents, people who are trying to gain 'experience' and status as a result. It is full of ultimately banal information.

Secondly, the females there are pretty awful - the average female uses the internet to affirm real life relationships, not to make new relationships. Females who post to online communities are usually rather strange creatures, desperate for some sort of attention.

This is why the e2 females cluster around the sex topics.

Having said all that, e2 definately is interesting. It is just not reputable or useful.

It has fun, but no utility.