Monday, January 12, 2009

How To Tip Of The Day: How to win friends and influence people!

Wiki-How never ceases to amaze me. There is no shortage of odd, questionable or just flat out bizarre "how to" tips on that website. For example, there's How To Be Feminine. Turns out it doesn't involve wearing a lot of pink. Looks like I got that one wrong! Another personal favorite is How To Live A Double Life. You may now call me Rodolfo Weatherwax. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put on my fake moustache.

Certainly one of my biggest concerns about Wiki-Anything is its "For The People, By The People" spirit. As in, anyone with internet access can edit it or post an article. It is with a heavy heart that I announce to you today that The Internets are not as exclusive a club as they used to be. Alas. What are you going to do? Move to the Montana wilderness and type my blog on a manual typewriter, perhaps?

Another concern that I have with the wacky Wiki-How articles is that people take them so seriously. For example, we have How To Choose The Right Bottled Water. Jeez, I sure hope I don't get it wrong.

I thought you might be interested in this article I found this morning on my Google Homepage. How To Talk To Strangers is important stuff here, people. It'll help you get over those feelings of loneliness and loserdom.

9 comments:

Andrew said...

Pick no bottled water. Use your own high-quality reusable bottle (say no to BPA) and filter your own water. Eliminate plastic waste and all of the fuel used to transport bottles of water.

I don't like Wikis either. A crackpot could have too much of an effect on things.

Meg said...

I'm with ya on that one. Except the BPA thing. I've had this grey 32oz Nalgene bottle for as long as I can remember. I like it because it has a small opening so I don't pour water all over me everytime I take a drink. I can't find them anymore at REI. You'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. On second thought, I'd like to be buried with it.

Andrew said...

I haven't retired our BPA bottles, but am only buying BPA free now. We have a few Nalgenes and Camelbak bottles, and I really prefer the Camelbaks. One has a straw top on it like their bladder packs (my wife uses that for workout bottle) and the others have regular large-mouth tops. The thing I love is they have a caribinier loop on the lid, so they work great when hiking with a daypack. I've broken Nalgene lids using caribiniers, so this is a big plus for me when trout fishing.

Kristina P. said...

I won't get into the bottled water discussion. :)

And I've never added anything on Wikipedia. I do admit that I go there often for basic information.

Zelmarific said...

I love this, "Sit down and think back to times when you've felt especially feminine."

Well, to be honest, the only time I've ever felt truly feminine was when I was pregnant. So, uh, hm...

Meg said...

HA! The only thing overly feminine about me, well, might not be appropriate blog fodder. I thought all I had to do was put on something pink!

Anonymous said...

Ah - the wacky world of the Internet...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. Venus Flytraps are cool!

? said...

Thanks for the comment. It was good to see you.