Top Secret! Confidential!

Wikileaks is a wiki which allows whistleblowers, while remaining anonymous, to release government and corporate documents. It claims that postings are untraceable by anyone. Wikileaks was launched in December 2006 and has more than 1.2 million documents. Its primary interests are oppressive regions in Asia, the former Soviet block, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, but may be used by anyone to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations. You may have heard about it leaking documents related to prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.


You can usually quickly start a great debate about the value or danger of such a site. Some note the importance of being able to protect secret documents from leaking to the public, to protect national security. Others wonder if the documents are actually legitimate or fake documents posted as a joke. Many note that the documents could be easily misunderstood when read out of context with other documents that are unavailable. However, on Wikileaks, site visitors can discuss their interpretations and context.

Just recently it has become a little more difficult to get to the Wikileaks site. The main WikiLeaks.org DNS entry is currently unavailable, reportedly due to a restraining order related to some articles and documents released by Wikileaks about off-shore trust structures in the Cayman Islands. Therefore, the wiki is no longer available by entering its registered URL. An injunction granted by the California Northern District Court in San Francisco to Bank Julius Baer, a Swiss Bank, caused the domain to be taken offline in the US. Wikileaks had reportedly published documents from a whistleblower of the Swiss Bank purportedly showing offshore tax evasion and money laundering activities, perhaps by wealthy and politically sensitive clients.

You've always heard never put anything on the Internet and think you can just simply delete it later? Information spreads! This site is not an exception to that tail. It has mirror sites which can be used during outages. So, you can actually still view a mirror of the Wikileaks site and you can still reach the original Wikileaks site by using its direct link.

For more information about Wikileaks and its current access challenges:
Wikipedia article on Wikileaks
WikiNews article on Wikileaks

Post a comment telling us what you think about Wikileaks and the information it hosts.

wikiFido, The Dog Lover's Guide to Dogs

Ah-roo! Numero uno! Uno, the beagle rules.

Last week beagle lovers around the world celebrated the first win of the beagle breed at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. This year, Uno, nearly 3 years old and 15 inches tall lived up to his name and became the first beagle to win best in show at Westminster. The nation's new top dog was a clear crowd favorite at Madison Square Garden. There was a standing ovation from the sold-out audience when Uno was picked.

There's a lot of great press about this popular beagle. However, can you recognize these two other famous beagles?

Underdog from the popular tv series and Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip, of course.

Today in celebration of Uno's win last week, the numero uno wiki-of-the-day is wikiFido.


wikiFido was created to be a resource for all dog lovers. It's a user-created community for the dog lovin' crowd. On wikiFido, you can register and create a personal profile for your dog. You can brag about your dog, show off pictures and videos and connect with other dog lovers. You can read about celebrities and their dogs. You can participate in online polls. You can also read and share information about dog-friendly resources in your city, including best parks/walks, veterinarians, pet sitters, groomers, boarders/kennels, trainers, breeders, shelters, and other services. There are articles about pure bred and mixed breed dogs, dog rescue, dog training, dog sports, and dog parties. You can find links to dog blogs and information on dog care (diet and nutrition, grooming), health (first aid, cold weather care, common ailments, issues for older dogs), garden hazards, dog gift guides, and jobs performed by dogs. On wikiFido, you can find neat badges to use as artwork on your site to link back to wikiFido, spreading the tail of wikiFido around your pack as a place where you all can bark about your dogs. Contests have been sponsored by wikiFido and DogExplorer too, including the 2006 World's Best Flying Disc Dog Picture Contest.

wikiFido has over 2500 community members, with 25 administrators and moderators. There are many new and recently updated pages and discussion threads. However, it appears to me that the site could use a little help from additional dog lovers. The home page shows the top dog breeds for 2006 with a link to the 25 most popular breeds for 2005. I expected to at least see the top breeds for 2007. I was also hoping to see something about the Westminster Kennel Club dog show and an article about Uno, the top dog for 2008. Wikis rely on community members and this great Wetpaint site barks, but could use a little help for a fresh coat here and there. If you're a dog lover, drop by the site and check it out. Join the community and contribute to the site.

By the way, after seeing Uno take the top dog spot, you might be interested in more information about the beagle breed. The wikiFido site has a page describing the beagle's history, physical description, grooming and exercise needs, temperament, common health problems, AKC category, life expectancy, and other online community resources.


Image credits:
Underdog, from the Wikipedia article on the tv series
Uno, from The Washington Post
Buy the print of Snoopy, No Way Out by Tom Everhart at AllPosters.com

All About Racin' - a community for Nascar fans

Today, in celebration of the 50th running of the Daytona 500, the wiki-of-the-day is All About Racin' on Wetpaint. I was looking for a wiki site for the 2008 Nascar fans. This site has 371 members and about 100 pages. It offers links to Nascar blogs and information on champions and crew chiefs. It has about 40 driver profiles on the site. It even has a page about the gossip on the driver wives and girlfriends. It includes some promising pages for Nascar fans for posting favorite memories and fan photos. It has pages to post favorite Nascar photos and videos of crashes. I'm a little disappointed though with the site. It needs a "fresh coat" for the 2008 season. I don't even see the winner of the 2007 Nextel Cup Series on the site. I don't yet see the 2008 racing schedule and profiles of the newest Nascar racers who are moving from the open-wheel racing leagues. I was hoping to see a great page about today's historic 50th running of the Daytona 500. I was hoping that the Nascar chat would be active during the race, but I was the only one there when I tested it. Because some pages have been recently updated and there are several active threads, I believe that the community is still alive, but it just does not seem to be thriving on this site yet for the 2008 season. This site was once a very active site with a growing community but appears to need a little help. If you're a Nascar fan, drop by the wiki and lend it a hand.

Image credit: SportsTraveler

How-to-Date Wiki

In recognition of Valentine's Day, I had to find a special site for my wiki-a-day adventure. The How-to-Date wiki on Wetpaint offers dating tips, advice and stories for those who want to mix, mingle, and dish about dating! It's a wiki originally designed as a companion site for Diane Mapes' How to Date in a Post-Dating World book published by Sasquatch Publishing. On this site you'll find dating tips (like Who pays?), links to other interesting articles in the news about dating (5 things to never say on a date), links to those who blog about dating and relationships, links to >70 dating sites, tips on creating online dating profiles, online dating rules, plus many more articles. There are even tips on how to break up, if you find that necessary.

So, if you want to brush up and improve your dating skills before your Valentine date tonight or if you're still looking for love, check out this wiki. If you consider yourself a dating expert or want to post a question or topic for others, join the community! For those who have already found Mr. or Mrs. Right, the site could use some recommendations on how to create a special date night with your spouse.

Image credit: Diane Mapes' bookcover on www.barnesandnoble.com

Everyone's nuts about Jericho's return

Today's wiki-of-the-day is Jericho Wiki, the highly acclaimed wiki for CBS' tv show Jericho.

I've been a fan of the show Jericho from the beginning. Like most of the fans I thought that it was nuts to cancel the show. I just hate it when you invest your time in a show and then it is suddenly canceled. We were all left sitting at the edge of our chairs wondering what would happen next and how things would resolve. The fans took a stand to voice their disappointment. I also signed the online petition to bring it back. Many fans took an extra step. There was a coordinated effort where CBS executives were sent nuts in protest of their decision. Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment, described the fans' efforts as "an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion" in her note to the fans posted on the CBS wiki fan site. As a result of the fan response, CBS ordered seven more episodes that will begin to air tonight. Ms Tassler thanked the fans for their expression of support for Jericho in such an extraordinary manner. Further, she described the protest as "creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone." The fans made the difference in the decision by CBS.

Although it has been demonstrated that the show has a loyal and passionate community, it needs to grow. Here's my effort to recruit new viewers. Give the show a chance. Ater all, many of the other shows are still running re-runs due to the writer's strike. Plus, aren't you tired of all the reality and game shows on tv these days? Why watch all those re-runs when you can watch full episodes of Jericho's season one online. Now that season two has begun, why not visit the Jericho wiki on Wetpaint? The site is actually an Emmy finalist for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Interactive Television.

There are many Save Jericho Fan videos posted on YouTube. Several are featured on the Jericho wiki. Here's a neat video with 100 Reasons to watch Jericho:



As posted on YouTube by CBS

For more information:

A video about the Nuts!! campaign by Jericho Fans to CBS

CBS Video archive, with a video of the cast and crew saying "Thank You" to the fans and eating those nuts. Plus, there are several sneak peek videos for Season 2.
The official CBS Jericho site


Today, I hope that you will be joining me in watching the season two premiere on CBS. CBS has promised on its website "It's going to be nuts."