Biographicon (YC Startup) Wants To Be Wikipedia For The Non-Notable Masses(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Biographicon (YC Startup) Wants To Be Wikipedia For The Non-Notable Masses
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/01/biographicon-wants-to-be-wikipedia-for-the-non-notable/
14 comments
it's safe to assume this will be more prone to vandalism, since each page will have less of an audience (and thus less chance of a vandalized page being fixed) than any given page on wikipedia
I agree. Despite the guidelines, I can see this potentially being used to spread rumors, gossip, lie, or just stuff that's plain unflattering on people. I doubt many people will be actively monitoring their Biographicon profile and this content could go undetected for a while, causing the subjects real harm.
i don't think it'll be particularly harmful. i think in the long term the wiki's reputation as a reliable source information may suffer. when something is well known not to be reliable, it doesn't have much of a way of inflicting harm.
http://biographicon.com/view/l966v
There's somebody named Hairy Beaver linked to from a home-page featured profile listing.
There's somebody named Hairy Beaver linked to from a home-page featured profile listing.
I'd like to see a graph of the number of times someone has commented on techcrunch that is the equivalent of "how did this get funding?! no value". I wonder if there are spikes for YC company launches.
Who do these people think they are? Nobody, clearly, as they are usually anonymous.
Remind me to stop reading the comments there.
Who do these people think they are? Nobody, clearly, as they are usually anonymous.
Remind me to stop reading the comments there.
Hey Ivan, stop reading the comments on TechCrunch (ValleyWag too)
Ohh wow, thanks! I totally needed that.
1) I'm not a big fan of the name, maybe it has subtle meanings that I'm not getting. It just doesn't flow. It sounds like a military term.
2) A lot of space is wasted in this site. The whole left column, which is about 40% of the site, is completely blank. I have mixed feelings about the little feedback bar, which, being a black log and over a yellow background, reminds me of ___.
3) Eventually you'll have to start making money, and thus putting up ads. The nice thing about wikipedia is it is non-profit and doesn't serve ads. If wikipedia did serve ads, I probably wouldn't bother contributing.
4) You should study the usage patterns of wikipedia, and what made it successful. I think there was an essay about that somewhere. The conclusion is that most of the edits come from a small minority of hyper-dedicated users, and the general high quality of writing on wikipedia can be attributed ot them. How are you planning to attract those types of people?
2) A lot of space is wasted in this site. The whole left column, which is about 40% of the site, is completely blank. I have mixed feelings about the little feedback bar, which, being a black log and over a yellow background, reminds me of ___.
3) Eventually you'll have to start making money, and thus putting up ads. The nice thing about wikipedia is it is non-profit and doesn't serve ads. If wikipedia did serve ads, I probably wouldn't bother contributing.
4) You should study the usage patterns of wikipedia, and what made it successful. I think there was an essay about that somewhere. The conclusion is that most of the edits come from a small minority of hyper-dedicated users, and the general high quality of writing on wikipedia can be attributed ot them. How are you planning to attract those types of people?
I agree--at minimum make the bio the width of the name header, and put the navigation links above the bio. The "Feedback" link could be made the same color as the backing oak leaf/acorn cluster, or green for more contrast and consistency with the organic theme.
I don't mind the name so much. It's almost like "Biographic Icon." Or perhaps "Biography Con" (just kidding).
I don't mind the name so much. It's almost like "Biographic Icon." Or perhaps "Biography Con" (just kidding).
I had this idea several years ago. I gave up on it due to the possible legal implications.
you thought up wikipedia several years ago? should have went for it. aaron swartz did. twice.
one of the simlplest and clearest web app interfaces i've seen so far. who did design? it's great!
The great Devin Hunt of Fuzzwich.com (with contributions from the also-great Laurence Honderick of Fuzzwich). It's amazing, isn't it?
Was it only the visual design that you liked or did you like the workflow/feel of it too?
Was it only the visual design that you liked or did you like the workflow/feel of it too?
To the founders (Ethan and Daniel?): will you reserve any editorial control? I guess the most obvious factor that could led to the entire site's corruption is bad data (e.g., Han Solo, God, etc.) or particular data that a party may not want public (e.g. Oprah's home phone number). Or has there been some clever thinking done to resolve that problem? I've read the guidelines and they seem quite cogent.
note to the developers: this initial prototype has some pretty severe client side glitches in Opera 9.26
Thanks, staticshock. We're aware of it. That's Opera in Windows, right? We've seen it work fine in Opera on the Mac.
correct
Nothing like Scheme with flat files to make a web app :) (Why use a db when you don't have too?)
Biographicon's interface is just plain slick.
I see the site being popular for people who care about celebrities.
I see the site being popular for people who care about celebrities.
[deleted]
Are there any editors? I wonder if an inner circle will develop like on Wikipedia to keep the peace.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/04/wikipedia_secret_mai...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/04/wikipedia_secret_mai...
well, there is no way that people who don't know you can monitor your profile and filter out the fiction from the truth, so a single unified "inner circle" is unlikely to be of much use
This has been done: wikiyou.com
Good luck guys!
"Who would most likely want to buy you?"
Hi comment feed readers. RIP Biographicon (WFP 08). http://blog.biographicon.com/2008/08/03/biographicon-closing...
I just don't feel like submitting it as a story.
I just don't feel like submitting it as a story.
congrats ethan & daniel!