Want to Collaborate?: Wiki

A “wiki” is a type of document that is on the Internet where everyone and anyone can collaborate idea’s to work on a common project.

The most well known wiki online is an encyclopedia called Wikipedia.  Wikipedia is where millions of topics have been researched and collaborated on from scholars to the general population.  Anyone can create an account and edit any article they want.  The hope of creating Wikipedia was to gather information that would be free to anyone.  There are many people that criticize Wikipedia because they are wondering about the validity of the information.  Though, many studies have been done to show, that while we must be careful when looking at the information, it is almost as reliable as any print version of an encyclopedia.   

Danielle, in her Facebook blogpost, talks about the importance of social media in achieving our goals.  Like Facebook, Wikipedia is interconnected with the internet social community.  However, what may make Wikipedia more valuable for some, is the wealth of information that has been documented.  Both, however, are great example of how a website can take advantage of its Internet community.

As a class assignment we were to take a Wikipedia “stub” and edit it using sources to make the article valid and to increase the quality of that topic.  I researched the topic of synthetic and natural Glazing Agents.  Information on this topic was harder to find then I had imagined.  Trying to incorporate valid information by giving credit to the authors and demonstrating that knowledge without plagiarizing, is in my opinion, a fine art.  Multiple sources were used and cross-referenced to be sure that the information could be brought across to the reader in the most coherent way possible. 

Why is Nutrition such a Big Deal?

Science has proposed the theory that ones characteristics are affected by their pure biology, which is relatively stable, and ones environment.  Diet is one factor in someone’s environment that can be controlled and affect their state of health.  One example is the health concerns that come with being obese.  When an influx of food is thrust upon it, there is an unhealthy environment that is created with can lead to many health complications.  Some examples are when there is a high amount of sodium in the diet it can lead to things like hypertension in the blood and a high fat diet can lead to excess fat pushing on the lungs that can cause sleep apnea.  One fastest growing health concerns is diabetes that can be genetic or brought on by a high sugar diet.  Due to this growing health concern there have been many studies looking at sugar and its effects.  One article was but on the ALES 204 class blog at http://ales204-2012.blogspot.ca/2012/02/labs-module-5.html.

Due to the fact that the importance of our dietary environment has such great health effects, there has been a recent popularization of nutrition topics.  The game show on NBC called the Biggest Loser is a great example of this popularization.  It started airing on October 19, 2004 and grew quickly in popularity and it is still airing on TV eight years later (Wikipedia). 

 

The show encourages the contestants and others to go and change their lives by loosing weight to become healthier.  The drastic changes in the contestants from start to finish keeps viewer interested and inspires many by having this game show approach to nutrition and health.

Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels were the two original trainers on the Biggest Loser and they have greatly benefitted from this popularization.  They have both sold workout DVD’s, self-help and nutrition books.  Some may argue that this popularization is only benefitting a few but in reality health knowledge is getting out to the general public faster then it ever has before.  Learning about nutrition can be a key factor in creating a better living environment for the individual.

The Biggest Loser (U.S. TV series). n.d. Retrieved on March 17, 2012 from Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Loser_(U.S._TV_series).

Biggest Loser Logo. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from fitness tips for life at http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/biggest-loser-250x249.jpg.