Evolution of Wikipedia Pages

Over the past semester, I have made edits on four different Wikipedia pages which have evolved over the last few months. The four different pages that I decided to edit were the following, with a brief description of the edits I made and how they changed.

Phil Ivey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: There was already a lot of information covered about Phil Ivey's career and earnings, so for this page I had to make edits in which most people didn't know about. Being an avid poker player on Full Tilt Poker (an online poker site) I have seen Phil Ivey play high stakes poker on multiple occasions. I have also seen Ivey play on the GSN channel, on the show called "High Stakes Poker." One of my posts was edited which frustrates me to see that something I took time to do was changed, but I realize that this is what Wikipedia is all about. I was glad to see that the majority of my posts have remained on the page, which shows that I added insightful and interesting information about Phil Ivey.

Nas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: This was an easy page for me to update, being that I grew up listening to Nas' music, and knew a lot about him. Instead of just making edits about his music, I tried to add information that dealt with his life outside of his musical career. I added information about his new TV show that is expected to air soon on MTV, called "Mr. and Mrs. Jones," as well as his new shoe line that is being released soon, called "The Disciples." Once again, my edits have remained on the page which shows that my contributions have been meaningful.

Hedge fund - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: For the Hedge Funds page, I was more curious to learn and read about Hedge Funds more than contribute to the page, but I did the best I could to add some information. Being that I was not very knowledgeable about this area, one of my edits simply cleaned up a grammatical error. I happened to know a lot about mutual funds, so when I saw that there was a section comparing the two, I added my $.02 about the similarities and differences. Finally, being that my Uncle is in the Hedge Fund business, I added information about the performance fees involved, being that this is an aspect that my Uncle often talks about. Overall, being that I did not know much about Hedge Funds, I still think I helped contribute to the page.

MIT Blackjack Team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: For my final page, I decided to edit a page which was about a book that I recently read, called "Bringing Down the House." Being that I had read the book, and knew more about the subject than most people do, it was easy for me to add information to the page. I knew that there was a movie coming out that was based on the book so I added that fact. I also made an addition to a section about Andy Bloch, who was a member of the MIT Blackjack Team, and a former poker player. Unfortunately my comment about his interview on ESPN was deleted.

Overall, I am very happy with the work that I accomplished with Wikipedia, as well as in my Info Tech. course at the U. of Delaware. The project really tied into the course material well, and has helped me build a foundation in Information Technology for Applications in Marketing.

Nas (Wikipedia Edit #12)

For my last Wikipedia edit of the year, I updated the page on "Nas," aka "Nasty Nas," aka "Nasir Jones." Nas has joined the fleet of big time rappers, coming out with his own TV reality show which will be on MTV. The show "Mr. and Mrs. Jones," is expected to air within the next year, and is about the lives of Nas and Kelis.

Hedge Funds (Wikipedia Edit #11)

Today I cleaned up a few grammatical errors that I came across on the Hedge Funds page for Wikipedia. My contribution can be found here, under "Hedge Fund Indices."

"The short lifetimes of many hedgefunds means that there are many new entrants and many departures each year, which raises the problem of “survivorship bias”."


On a side note about Hedge Funds, I'd like to share a little story that involved my Uncle's boss, Steven A. Cohen, the number two earner of hedge funds. The CEO of SAC Capital Advisers is a collector of rare and fine art. Last year he attempted to purchase a $150 million (yes...$150 million) painting from Stephen Wynn (the owner of Wynn hotels and casinos in Las Vegas). As they were discussing the shipment time of the painting, Wynn accidentally hit the painting with his elbow and destroyed the value of it. (Gauguin's "Bathers" painting seen above, circa 1902)

What's the moral of this story? Don't buy a piece of paper with paint on it for $150 million.

MIT Blackjack Team (Wikipedia edit #10)

For my final Wikipedia edit on the MIT Blackjack team, I made a small addition to the "Team History 1980-1990" section. Andy Bloch, who was a member of the team, is now a professional poker player, and recently won 2nd place in the $50,000 buy in H.O.R.S.E tournament, which is considered to be the most challenging and complex game in the WSOP. Check out the page, and my edit here.

Phil Ivey (Wikipedia Edit # 9)

The Wikipedia page on Phil Ivey, has certainly evolved over this past semester of my Junior year at the U. of Delaware. Alot more information has been entered, with a couple of these contributions coming from myself. For my final contribution to the page, I added a part under "other poker" found here.

<<<< ----the signature Phil Ivey stare down----

(Phil Ivey can also occasionally be found playing the high stakes cash games on the hit TV show, "High Stakes Poker" on the 'GSN' channel, which requires a minimum buy-in of $100,000.)

Digg.com (Class Discussion)

Today in class, (5/2/07) we discussed the up and coming website, digg.com. I have never heard of the site, but evidentally it has grown immensely popular over the last year. The popularity can be partly accredited to Paris Hilton and her cell phone being hacked; believe it or not. Digg.com posted the story on their website, and within the next day, both 'Yahoo' and 'Google' had indexed the website. The next day, digg.com was the number 1 result in both search engines, allowing the world to be introduced to the website.

The site is so eclectic, and unique, because it combines elements of Slashdot, MySpace, and Del.icio.us. It is especially interesting, because it allows the user to have complete control on what becomes popular. With enough popularity, or "diggs," the story can make the homepage of the website, for the world to see. I am certainly going to bookmark this site to my favorite places, and see what all the buzz is about.

Comment on Dan Sefrin's Wikipedia edit-'Entourage'

I am so lucky to have Dan Sefrin as one of my group members. He constantly keeps me entertained with fresh posts every few days, that always seem to relate to my interests. When I came across his blog about my favorite show, 'Entourage,' I decided that I had to make a follow up post about his blog.

Entourage has always been my favorite show on TV. As Dan put it so well, "it's every 18+ year old male fantasy rolled into a cleverly written half hour of television greatness." The first few seasons were simply amazing. Each character's persona slowly evolved making them into the character that they are today. My only complaint however, (and Dan seems to agree) is that this season just seems too exaggerated, and over the top. I wish the producers would create more episodes like the first few seasons; episodes that seem too good to be true, but in the back of you're mind, you realize that these kinds of things actually do happen in Hollywood. I realize that my wish will never come true, because after all this is entertainment, and the show must evolve in order to keep the audience wondering what is going to happen next. Despite my small dismay about the lavish adventures, and fairytale occurences, 'Entourage' still remains to be my favorite show on television, and I look forward to every Sunday at 10pm to catch the next episode.