Wikipedia Bashing
On August 16th, it was reported that Frank Zampino suffered intense bashing on his Wikipedia profile. The city of Montreal requested an internal inquiry since the bashing was made using Mayor Tremblay’s staff computers.

Since Wikipedia has even been compared with Encyclopedia Britannica, and is often featured in Google and Yahoo searches, some might question how this might happen. However the content is only as good as its editors. Who’s a Wikipedia editor? The answer is Anyone! (with internet access). Apparently that has included the BBC, the FBI, the CIA, and the White House among others.

What seems to be forgotten is that whenever you venture on the Internet you leave a trail. A new web tool is available to follow that trail. The WikiScanner allows users to track changes made to the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. By comparing those changes with blocks of IP addresses, the editors of Wikipedia entries may be identified according to their location and the organisation from which they post.

We all await further word from City Hall on this one.

They have found such treasures as aboriginal arrowheads made of European copper and stone, 17th-century French pottery and animal bones. The 40,000 artifacts catalogued each year reveal some of the networks and habits shared by those who lived around the settlement of Ville Marie. Last year, excavators began to uncover what they believe to be the oldest stonework in the city and, unexpectedly, a blast furnace used to extract iron from ore about 2.5 metres below the floor of the building. The little fort, established by a French religious society in 1642, was the first permanent European settlement on Montreal Island.

In addition, glass beads uncovered at the same depth as the walls predate the fort by at least a decade. The beads were made in France and brought to North America by seasonal traders who might have set up an outpost on the same site as Ville Marie.

For more details, check the article on page A8 of the Gazette.

‘A’ Is For Airports
‘B’ Is For Bells
‘C’ Is For Character
‘D’ Is For Door
‘E’ Is For Escarpment
‘F’ Is For Food
‘G’ Is For Garlic
‘H’ Is For Horse
‘I’ Is For Imagination
‘J’ Is For Jockey
‘K’ Is For Ketchup
‘L’ Is For Laundry
‘M’ Is For Mardis
‘N’ Is For Night
‘O’ Is For Ouch
‘P’ Is For Pigeons
‘Q’ Is For Query
‘R’ Is For Recording
‘S’ Is For Seeds
‘T’ Is For Trolleys
‘U’ Is For Under
‘V’ Is For Vanished
‘W’ Is For Water
‘X’ Is For … Kisses
‘Y’ Is For Yeast
‘Z’ Is For Zeitgeist

Does that list work for you? Which one do you think the Gazette got most right? .. and which one is the least appropriate? It’s only fair in that case to add what you think they should have chosen for the letter they got most wrong.

With a city with so many talented web designers, it’s a shame to see such a poor example of User Experience In Montreal.

Nevertheless a Happy Canada Day to all our readers.

They’re inviting us all to help:

Make your mark, by suggesting your ideas, slogans, logo designs and thoughts on an international brand image for the Montreal metropolitan region.

* What are Greater Montreal’s strengths?
* What features should Greater Montreal emphasize on the international scene?
* What sets us apart?
* What words or images best evoke Greater Montreal?

If you have any suggestions, then send them to suggestions@brandinggreatermontreal.com. That’s quite a challenge.

Related: Branding Greater Montreal – le défi

If you want to know more of what Union Montréal can do for you then you should visit their slick new website. It relies heavily on video clips to communicate party messages to users. Gérald Tremblay wants to make sure you get his message so you don’t even get the opportunity to switch off the sound. Nevertheless it’s a pretty effective production.

Related: Union Montréal – Brand New

Montreal design firms that have been recognized in the past two years in interior, industrial or graphic design, architecture, landscape architecture and urban design will open their doors to exhibit the work that won them these prestigious awards. The designers who received awards for Montreal projects, which visitors can tour (e.g. buildings, squares, parks, streets and interiors) or view (e.g. furniture, signs, etc.) will be on hand to discuss their achievements and answer visitors’ questions. For more details, check out Montréal, UNESCO City Of Design.

tornwordo wrote about it last year on this blog. Corran Addison has just written to me on this and mentions that there is a very large and developing scene here in Montreal. If you’d like to see some of the surfing action, here’s the link Corran sent me.

Related: Social Media Support Communities

It’s taking place again this year on Saturday May 5th from 8 a.m. – 12 noon. It starts at the Mount-Royal Stairs, on Pine Avenue, just east of McGill’s McIntyre Medical Building. It’s a marathon on stairs up on the jewel of our city, with no end in sight: 256 steps in all. This year’s climbing target is a total of 150 thousand steps, which should raise a minimum of $30,000.

So why not do your bit. You’ll find more details about this event here. Why not participate, every step will help. If you own a company, then become a sponsor. .. or if you work for a company, then persuade your colleagues and your company to get involved. For more details, call 514-346-3048.