Tweeting & Facebooking

     The program on using Facebook and Twitter was postponed due to bad weather last month. Mike Vance will lead the program at our March meeting.

Can Wikipedia Be Trusted?

     If you enter a query into a search engine, odds are that one of the top hits will be from Wikipedia. That service has come under fire lately because of incorrect or questionable material.
     Some colleges have a policy that Wikipedia cannot be quoted in a thesis but can be used in locating other, more conventional sites.
     Some sources say Wikipedia is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica, the venerable standard-bearer of facts about the world around us, according to a study published in the journal Nature.
     Other sources say entries for famous people were found to be false. Why is there no clear answer?
     Wikipedia is different from traditional encyclopedias in one crucial respect. Instead of seeking out recognized authorities in hundreds or thousands of fields to write its articles, it lets anybody - everybody - write them. In addition, it lets anybody edit nearly all of the entries at will.

Other Sources

     There are a number of other sites that you can visit if you need information on serious topics for a speech or report. Using an encyclopedia-type site will provide the most reliable and detailed information. A search engine such as Bing or Google tends to return an overwhelming number of hits that you must scan before you can find the desired information.
     If you go to a search engine and enter "free encyclopedia", it will give you some reliable sites.
     Some sites, like Encyclopedia Britannica, require registration and subscription fees.
     See page 2 of this Data Byte for more information.

Birthdays for March

Dorothy Carsley, Inge Klaus, Libby Mize!, Diane Morrison, Ann Perry, Charles Rudisill, Wayne Stockdale, David Taylor, and Tammy Turner.

President's Notes

     Boy, did I ever get flustered last . . month! The weather had been bad, . so I checked with the library on their closing policy. They would not know until Saturday morning. The weather forecast at six o'clock said freezing rain and ice. I cancelled the meeting. The eleven o'clock weather was for just rain. I un-cancelled the meeting, and we did have a good session.
     In case of inclement weather, check your e-mails before leaving home. You can also call the library to see if it will be open.
     If your road is hazardous, just stay home and be safe.

The Data Byte is the official publication of CUGOL, the Computer Users Group of Lincolnton., Direct comments to:Charles F. Mize   4797 Asbury Church Rd. Lincolnton, NC 28092 Phone 704-735-6433 E-mail editor: charlesfrank2@gmail.com E-mail CUGOL: welcome2cugol@gmail.com Web page: www.cugol.org (CUGOL welcomes anyone with an interest in computers.)