http://neelu.blogr.com/allComments/ XML Feed en Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:15:32 +0100 http://static.blogr.com/tenants/com/modSiteIcon/tdy-dummy-site-icon.icon.jpg http://neelu.blogr.com/allComments/ 48 48 http://neelu.blogr.com/stories/8192732/#8221076 The problem with Wikimedia-sponsored sites is more than just that it's (supposedly) a rule-based enterprise (rather than a more modern and evolved function-based system). The problem is that the character of Wikimedia's erratic rule-based system is not even as evolved as the Code of Hammurabi, the oldest surviving set of secular laws ever set into stone tablets. 3750 years ago, Hammurabi of Mesopotamia collected 282 laws and committed them to stone tablets. It's instructive to note the first three of Hammurabi's 282 laws: <blockquote> 1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death. 2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser. 3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death. </blockquote> The second law seems bizarre by modern standards. It appears to be the source of the dismissive phrase, "Go jump in the lake." But note that the subject of Hammurabi's first three laws deal with the practice of banning and the concept of proof and exculpation. I don't know that I'd credit Hammurabi for having a commendable concept of Due Process, but at least he had the notions of proof and exculpation built into his first three laws. Compare that to Jimbo's notion of summary banning without so much as a semblance of Due Process. No trial, no examination of the evidence or cross examination of any witnesses. Jimbo's practice is so anachronistic, so tribalistic, that it predates Hammurabi's Code. About all I can say is that the time has come to tell Jimbo Wales to go jump in the lake. http://neelu.blogr.com/stories/8192732/comments/8221076/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:15:34 +0100 Moulton (anonymous) http://neelu.blogr.com/stories/8192732/#8220943 Nice theft of GFDL content from a Wikiversity talk page. You seem to have credited "Knallgrau" and "helma" for this page, when I was the author of a significant portion of it. Remove this post. You did not properly attribute my creative capital, and therefore you're in violation of its licensing terms. http://neelu.blogr.com/stories/8192732/comments/8220943/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:48:47 +0100 Gregory Kohs (anonymous)