Talk:Main Page

From Steal This Wiki

OK now listen:

Here is how it goes:

If you'd like to rewrite a section of something, lets start on the "discussion" page for it.

That way, we can start to mull over some ideas.

If you have a new idea for a new page, simply link to it from the page that gave you the inspiration.

To do this, simply put the title of your page in double brackets. Those are the characters to the right of the P on your keyboard. Two open brackets, then the title, then two closed brackets.

That will create a new link with the title's name. Once you click on that link, you will be taken to the page with that name (you just made a page!) and then you can put text into it.

--firsty 07:18, 4 July 2006 (PDT)

Contents 1 Organisation 2 Get it going!! 3 Mark These Links, here... 4 External link frenzy 5 Movement Organizations 6 Fact Checking 7 PDF's 8 New Logo

Organisation

Maybe there should be some reconsideration of how this wiki is organised. A lot of the information from Steal this Book is now defunct, perhaps there ought to be some distinction between what is still valid and what is not. To take that idea a step further, I think that each original topic touched on by Hofmann should still include his original writings, but under a different heading. Current information could be presented in a more referenceable Wikipedia-style format. The style of the original writings was limited by the print format, and is no longer relevant. Torch 17:06, 6 July 2006 (PDT)

I'm open to suggestions. I'm definitely not technically geniused at this stuff. Should the table of contents lead to open pages that are to revise? At first I wanted to show the original in like a shaded field off to the right or something, but I have no idea if thats possible. --firsty 17:20, 6 July 2006 (PDT)

That would be possible, but it'd be a whole helluva lot easier to just throw it under a heading of 'Original Text' at the bottom of each page, or something like that. Maybe if we simply added the original text to the bottom of whats already there, and then begin the slow process of editing out all the now irrelevant infomration thats up there. Or maybe we should start from scratch? I don't have the answers.

One thing I'm all for is following Wikipedia's formatting. They have outlined an entire style of writing, creating articles, etc that seem to me to be very well thought out. Check it out and let me know what you think. Torch 17:52, 6 July 2006 (PDT)

See I'm learning all the time, now you showed me how to indent these comments. sweet. i like the idea of putting the original article on the bottom of the page. then, we can put real (new) headers above it, with empty content that we can fill, based on the original text. that way, the user can see the original text on the same page, providing quick copy and paste, and the new content is still featured as the first thing we see. i'm off to that wikipedia page to check it out. but, being a writer used to rules (save using caps in cases like this), i'm inclined to automatically defer to wikipedia's rules unless we run into something that doesnt work. --firsty 17:59, 6 July 2006 (PDT)

I have modified the Restaurants page based on this idea. If anyone has any suggestions from there, lets hear em. Otherwise, I can proceed with modifying the rest of the pages. Thanks! --firsty 06:21, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

I just had an idea... instead of the 'Go back to Free Food' and 'Return to original Table of Contents,' we should use a side box like the ones wikipedia uses. Take this page for example. It's done using templates and thus would be pretty easy to maintain. I'll see what I can work up over this weekend.

The format looks good otherwise, though I think theres a few redundancies. The header that read RESTAURANTS / What follows is the original text, I replaced with a header that simply reads Original Text. Maybe 'Original Restaurant Chapter Text' or something like that could be used, but I'd hope people would realize what page they're reading before they get to the bottom of it. Torch 11:20, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

What I'm doing right now to the page formatting is complete ass. So I'm stopping. I like the idea of the side box. And a simple original header. the design person in me wants to format the original text into a different font to make it look older, but thats not thinking wikily. hey instead of yippies we can be the wikkies. eh. --firsty 20:07, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

torch, were you able to apply any of those sidebar ideas into something we can use here? I dont like the way the pages i modified came out, with title then header then original text header, it's repetitive and dull. --firsty 09:16, 10 July 2006 (PDT)

What about simply having a template for "original book text"? Like, I dunno, a monospaced font + border, or something. I find the big headers with "original text" and "new text here" kind of ugly and... not good. On a related note: what about categories? I don't think any of the pages here have categories assigned to them, and that could probably help a lot in case someone's looking for a specific topic. Should I just go on a redesigning spree or something? I'm sure sure how much, heh, respect for the wiki authority we have here. --Xax 20:08, 8 April 2007 (MDT)

we talked briefly about other formats a few months ago, and i for one dont object to formatting. if it's something dramatic, tho, lets discuss first, just so the regular users are well-informed and can provide good feedback.firsty 19:46, 11 April 2007 (MDT)

Get it going!!

I suggest a chapter by chapter approach with article directory page arranged by the wiki admin.

flip the american falg upside down or get a better flag

Mark These Links, here...

ScatterChat. It may come in handy before you know it.

email encryption. Please use this Firefox extension for emails.

speaking of encrypted communication, skype offers full encryption with all communication (voice, text messaging, even file sharing), but rumor has it that the encryption has been broken by a chinese company.

dodgeit.com is free, RECEIVE-ONLY, passwordless email. so whenever you're asked for an email address where you need to receive email only, enter 09f23h0942hf9023hf0@dodgeit.com or something. again it's passwordless this is the height of insecurity, but it works if you need a throwaway, or dont want to give away your real email.

External link frenzy

I don't know what to do about this generally, but we might want to do something to encourage people to not just dump tons of external links everywhere. Since the goal is a printed book, I don't think these are very helpful. Some might contain information that could be used to create content for the book, but many are just lists of related sites, and that's not really helpful. I think the idea that this will be a printed book might be getting missed by some.

Discuss? ----Doctormatt 10:41, 5 September 2006 (PDT)

for now, maybe we put comments on those talk pages, requesting more info, clarifying the purpose? i agree with everything you said. we need more info, fewer links. --firsty 10:44, 5 September 2006 (PDT)

this is something that we also might benefit from some geeky stuff, like a way to send global emails to users or at least sign-up emails that outline some basic practices, or ways to add info to the talk page of each user globally. there are a lot of plug-ins for mediawiki, but i'm not experienced at managing them. --firsty 10:53, 5 September 2006 (PDT)

external links with copyrighted material? if we take copyrighted material, it will probably not even be noticed. and if it is, the worst we'll get is a cease and desist. then we could then copy the text/info from all external links to several free mirrors, and just keep jumping it around.. just an idea, i mean. --Anyname1 15:34, 25 October 2006 (PDT)

copyrighted materials, since when "how to get a free ride on a bus", or "do yourself anti-personal weapons" copyrighted materials ?! I agree with the link frenzy going on here, copyrights infringement shouldn't be a matter of fear as long as the material in subject is rewritten and not just copy-pasted (as if 85% of all the wiki material isn't obtained from another encyclopaedia like Britannica or Encarta and then just rewritten by the collaborators). So let's start adding context to this project by reducing the links, if images are needed and these are copyrighted lets try to illustrate them ourselves and up then upload them, I offer myself for this task.

The concern with copyrighted material and all web link pages was a problem in 2006 right after the launch, we had lots of writers just link to instructables, which was a problem since we wanted a stand alone book. Now most of our content is researched original work so that is not such a problem. Images is a problem, we dont yet have a good graphic artist on the team, we would welcome your work. ploney aug14, '08

Movement Organizations

I think it would be good to add a section of movement orginizations and how to get involved. im not sure where to add it or how it could be organized and updated.

I'm not sure this is the best idea. The phrase "movement organization" is vague, and we'd either end up with a gigantic list, or we'll have endless arguments over who should and should not be included. Instead, how about writing a section on (a) how to start your own organization, or (b) things to look for in an organization, how to find an organization that fits your skills/interests? How to get involved, though, that's a good one. I find that hard myself: organizations I approach often don't act like they have a need for me, just my donation (I hate it when, on a website, I click on "You can Help!" and all it gives me is a way to donate money). Doctormatt 18:51, 20 November 2006 (PST)

then again, some people can't offer anything but money.

Sure, anonymous user, that's true. That sucks, but it's true. But I'm sure, until the revolution, there will be places for people to contribute their money. -- Doctormatt 20:05, 25 November 2006 (PST)

Fact Checking

I've noticed some of the book contents are... uh, maybe 'misinformed' could be the best word for it. The page that recommends overdosing on caffeine as a way of getting high; that one page that recommends sugar in the gas tank (which doesn't work), etc. Information that's incorrect and potentially dangerous if some moron gets ahold of it and thinks it's the gospel truth. What, if any, fact-checking should we do in regards to the original book text? Footnotes? adding 'editor comments'? --Xax 20:08, 8 April 2007 (MDT)

Are we going to include material from the original STB at all? I had assumed this was a "sequel" type of project. Of course, there are things that deserve warnings. Zeerahks 20:49, 8 April 2007 (MDT)

Everything located under an "Original (topic)" header appears to be an excerpt from Steal This Book (or at least, originally an excerpt, as with the editing and all there have presumably been some changes), with any new content added above it, with fully original topics generally marked as such. ...As far as I'm aware. There doesn't seem to be a lot of content demarcation going around. --Xax 23:52, 8 April 2007 (MDT)

Yes, I know. But the impression I had was that the Original sections were for reference. There are, for instance, pages w/o original content (Free High School/College). I had assumed that we would publish as a separate book. Zeerahks 10:03, 9 April 2007 (MDT)

the original sections are only for reference, will not be reprinted. new sections are part of the new book.firsty 18:36, 11 April 2007 (MDT)

PDF's

I have the HTML scrapes and almost all of the linked books in a big fat TAR file or just the HTML. If anyone wants to grab a section like Free Cities, Survive or Fight, spell check it and make a PDF of it I will e-mail it to you. Root has told me he will host the PDF's here via coral cache once they are done but I have not heard from him in a while. Until I hear from Root again I am looking for a long term FTP storage and distribution site to aim the front page link at. Ploney oct 8 2007

a copy of the site scrapes can be found here. A copy of the books cab be found here

New Logo

I do agree that a cannabis leaf and the Red Star are symbols of counter-culture and yippie-culture of the 60's and 70's (the time the book was written), but since this is an "update" of the original, lets reconsider it under the light of the following:

1- The still common prejudice by many (un)-educated people against "in natura" THC consumption giving the project the stereotypical "pot-head" discrimination leading to what's written on it less valuable than having a cover art done by some major marketeer.
2- The Red Star, again although symbol of the Soviet Communism, and by default the "anti-American" sentiment prevalent of the yippie movement, but unfortunately we all know what was the Soviet control over its people and the paradox of a project like this being unimaginable under a Soviet Communist rule !!!

We need something at the same time intriguing, contemporary, subvert, and most of all intelligent, in order to captivate younger readers and those who would usually find themselves outside of the intellectual scope of a project like this. I am still coming up with a project which might be ready within a few days, for any ideas and suggestions please submit them to us.