NotesWe're working to support Lua as a scripting language for MediaWiki end users, including Wikipedia editors. You can try out the prototype now at http://scribunto.wmflabs.org/ .FeedUnfurl
NotesOf course, the introduction of a programming language would bring with it a number of other problems, particularly with regards to privacy, security and memory footprint. As a result, the long term consensus was that the introduction of a programming language would be a major undertaking, including time for discussing which languages would work best in a heavily sanitised environment. The project as a whole has been discussed at regular intervals, but it was only this week that a consensus seemed to emerge in favour of Lua, a lightweight but relatively unheard-of language generally regarded as being "easy to learn" (wikitech-l mailing list).FeedUnfurl
Notes"A study making the rounds suggests that Wikipedians may feel at home online, in part because they're grumpy introverts. But the results need to be interpreted very cautiously, as they were based on only 69 contributors from a single nation, a tiny drop in the Wikipedian ocean."Unfurl
NotesWhat scifi show hasn't FOX screwed with? "The FOX Network aired the episodes in a different order to best capitalize on potential ratings-winning episodes, thus causing some continuity errors. For instance, the timer is first set to count down not in the pilot episode, but in "Summer of Love" — since FOX aired "Fever" after the pilot episode, though, many viewers were left confused as to why the Sliders suddenly had to leave within a very specific period of time. Similarly, the cliffhanger at the end of "Summer of Love" leads directly into the opening of "Prince of Wails" — which FOX had actually aired a week earlier"FeedUnfurl
Notes"The Extended Mind refers to an emerging concept within the philosophy of mind that addresses the question as to the division point between the mind and the environment by promoting the view of active externalism. This view proposes that some objects in the external environment are utilized by the mind in such a way that the objects can be seen as extensions of the mind itself. Specifically, the mind is seen to encompass every level of the cognitive process, which will often include the use of environmental aids."FeedUnfurl
Notes"Tsk! Status code "418 I'm a teapot" shouldn't be removed, it's from a real actual IETF blessed RFC. Albeit in the fine tradition of April 1st RFC"FeedUnfurl
Notes"wikinear.com shows Wikipedia pages near you, based on your location according to Yahoo! Fire Eagle. The site is optimised for use on a mobile phone."Unfurl
Notes"Spaceships in the science fiction massively multiplayer online game EVE Online are organized into a variety of size classes, with each class covering a wide variety of ships in their own categories."FeedUnfurl
Notes""Back and to the left" is a phrase originating from the 1991 Oliver Stone movie JFK about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States."Unfurl
Notes"progressive rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart."FeedUnfurl
Notes"The Tetris effect refers to the ability of any activity to which people devote sufficient time and attention to begin to dominate their thoughts, images, and dreams."Unfurl
Notes"This list of fictional expletives contains expletives invented by writers of fictionoften science fiction or fantasyto add nuance to the fictional cultures in their work, and sometimes as a form of censorship"Unfurl
Notes"In very broad terms, individuals with Asperger's have normal or above average intellectual capacity, and atypical or less well developed social skills, often with emotional/social development or integration happening later than usual as a result."Unfurl
Notes"these systems operate on the alien logic of probabilistic statistics, which sacrifices perfection at the microscale for optimization at the macroscale."Unfurl
Notes"We should be teaching our students how to interpret the materials they get on the web, not banning them from it. We should be correcting inaccuracies that we find rather than protesting the system."Unfurl
Notes"The video game crash of 1983 was the sudden crash of the video game business and the bankruptcy of a number of companies producing home computers and video game consoles in North America in late 1983 and early 1984."Unfurl
Notes"Wikipedia is so often considered authoritative. That must stop now, surely." Whomever assumed Wikipedia was ever authoritative or inherently correct is a moron who missed the point.Unfurl