Summary of the Basset Hound Wikipedia Article

In my opinion, the Basset Hound breed is the most friendly and loyal type of dog on the face of Earth. Since I have a Basset Hound, I chose this particular aritcle to due my course edits too. I did not have much trouble finding information about the Basset Hound to post on the Wikipedia page. Also, the community based around this article was not as stringent as the other three I edited. The first edit I made to the article was in regards to the breeds increased possibility of being diagnosed with arthritis. The second Wikipedia edit I contributed to this article was about the average life expectancy for most Bassets falling between 8 and 12 years of age. The third Wikipedia edit I mustered up was the entire section relating to the necessary steps to training the Basset Hound breed. All the edits I made were untouched by the Wikipedia community, which made my day when I looked this afternoon. Below are links to the edits I made to the article and the article itself:

Basset Hound article
First Basset edit
Second Basset edit
Third Basset edit

Summary of the Nantucket, MA Wikipedia Article

Numerous people agree with me that Nantucket, Massachusetts is the best vacation spot in the United States. Since I believe this is as a fact, I figured it was only right that I edit the Nantucket Wikipedia article. The first edit I contributed to the page was about the average temperature on the island during the months of January and July. Also, since I was not signed into my Wikipedia account I added an excerpt into the trivia seciton of the article about tourism on the island. The community disliked my contributions and deleted both edits. The second edit I made was about "The Great Fire" that took place on the island in 1846. The community did not delete this edit, but they reworded my sentences. The third edit to the page I added to the two highest elevations on the island. Also, I added a small trivia fact about how Nantucket is an island, town, and county. Again, the Wikipedia community dislike the trivia fact, but actually left the highest points of elevation under the geography section. The Nantucket community did not feel that most of my edits were suitable for the Wikipedia site. Below are the edits I made to the article and the Nantucket article itself:

Nantucket article
First Nantucket edit
Second Nantucket edit
Third Nantucket edit

Summary of the Frank Sinatra Wikipedia Article

I am a huge Frank Sinatra fan, so I thoughtwhy not contribute to the Frank Sinatra article at Wikipedia. This was the most difficult of all the articles to contribute information to the already well established page. The first edit, I added a small excerpt about Sinatra referring to his song "My Way" as his National Anthem. I figured the Wikipedia community was not in agreement with my statement because they chose to delete my edition to the page. The second edit, I researched a considerable amount compared to the first and came up with interesting information about Sinatra's battered eardrum. This edit is under the Early Life section of the article and actually was able to survive the scrutiny within the community. The third edit was done to the Sinatra article about two weeks ago. It took me about two hours of surfing the web to find enough information about the infamous entertainer that was strong enough to withstand the critics at Wikipedia. I managed to contribute information about how Sinatra started in the music industry and it still exist under the article today. Below are the Wikipedia edits I did to the article and the Sinatra article itself:

Frank Sinatra article
First Sinatra edit
Second Sinatra edit
Third Sinatra edit

Summary of the Chicago Cubs Wikipedia Article

I chose to edit the Chicago Cubs Wikipedia article due to the fact I lived in Chicago ten years of my life and to this day remain a diehard Chicago sports fan. Over the past semester in Information Technology Applications in Marketing, I have been contributing to the Wikipedia community by posting edits to the Cubs page.

My first edit was a month or two ago and was done on "The Curse of the Billy Goat". I placed this edit under the Quick Facts section of the Wikipedia article. The second edit to the Cubs page was more difficult than the first. I had to research some facts on ESPN about the Cubs and managed to find some team history about the various no-hitters that have taken place throughout the franchise. The third edit I contributed was about CY Young Award Winners that wore the Cubs uniform when they received the honor. The community embraced the edits without corrections, which makes me believe that they are considered positive acquistion to the Wikipedia article. Below are all the edits to the Chicago Cubs Wikipedia article and the article itself:

Chicago Cubs article
First Cubs edit
Second Cubs edit
Third Cubs edit

Cutbacks at AOL

While on the Naked Conversation blog I came across an interesting post about a Washington Post article reporting on massive layoffs at AOL. The blog is titled AOL Lays Off Boiler Room and speaks about AOL laying off employees that were in the division of the corporation that discouraged existing customers from cutting of service. At first, I was astonished by the fact that AOL invested that much time and money into preventing customer turnover. Then I thought back to middle school and then high school when my family used AOL as our internet provider. My father in particular hated AOL's internet speed and customer service. We eventually switched to MSN and enjoyed our internet experience much more. If I think back to about ten years ago, just like in the blog post on Naked Conversations, my father had a difficult time terminating the AOL service. To this day, my family probably receives those annoying internet free trial CDs that AOL waste substantial amounts of money on.

I do undertand AOL's business decision to lay off the 7% of employees within the company because of the industry evolving toward customer support solely on the internet. It is not as convenient for customers to use customer service over the phone, so why shouldn't AOL cut back on employee phone support. First off, AOL should focus on satisfying customers rather than worrying about losing them. If they don't they will end up in the Jurassic Era, as stated in the blog.

Sinatra's Start

Originally uploaded by hptasch.

Trying to add information onto a Wikipedia page about one of America's most notorious entertainer is becoming more difficult with every edit. Again, I surfed the internet for what felt like two hours. I found some good information about Sinatra's start in the music business. The beginning of his career did not start extravagantly manner, just like any other musician. You have to start somewhere is what everyone always says. Anyways, I added two sentences about Sinatra joining the Three Flashes and forming the Hoboken Four. It isn't something that will wow the Wikipedia community, but it will continue to help the website grow. Below is exactly what I added to the Frank Sinatra Wikipedia page:

"Sinatra began his singing career after joining the Three Flashes following a radio talent show, Major Bowes Amateur Hour. The group acquired Sinatra and the Hoboken Four was formed."

I hope everyone enjoyed Sinatra.

Nantucket Trivia and Geography

Originally uploaded by hptasch.

Another Wikipedia edit to the Nantucket, Massachusetts page. I scanned the web via Google and came across a fun fact that fell into the Trivia section of the page. Also, I figured it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more to the island's geography facts. Both edits don't add substantial amounts to the page, but it will help the site and the page to continue to grow. First, I listed the edit that is located under the Trivia section below:

"Nantucket is the only place in America that is labeled and recognized as both a island, town, and county."

This I had no idea was true until tonight when I came across it on Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce's website. Lastly, I stated below the addition about the two highest points on Nantucket under the Geography section:

"Also, the highest point on the island is Folger Hill which stands 109 feet above sea level. Altar Rock stands at a height in close second at 108 feet above sea level."

Again, I found this on the same website I stated above. Enjoy the page and the new information on Nantucket.

Chicago Cubs CY Young Winners

What to add? That was the question I asked myself about 15 minutes ago, while looking at the Chicago Cubs page on Wikipedia. Eventually, I googled the franchise hoping to find some useful facts about the baseball team. The baseball almanac had a decent amount of information on not only the Cubs, but all major league baseball franchises. Again, I contributed more information under the Quick Facts section in the Chicago Cubs Wikipedia page. Instead of writing about Cubs no-hitters, I decided to mention all the CY Young Award winners that existed will playing with the Cubs. There were not as many CY Young winners as I hoped being a Cubs fan, but the pitchers on the Cubs that won the award were all future or existing Hall of Famers. Below is the list of CY Young winners:

CY Young Winners:
Fergie Jenkins - 1971
Bruce Sutter - 1979
Rick Sutcliffe - 1984
Greg Maddux - 1992

Training the Basset

Originally uploaded by hptasch.

The Basset is a difficult dog breed to train due to their stubborn temperments. I realized on the Basset Hound Wikipedia Page the temperment of the Basset was mentioned, but how to deal with this attitude was not touched upon. I took the liberty of doing a small amount of research and also digging into my own experiences with my Basset named Elvis to write about possible training methods. I added a small section dedicated to useful techniques and approaches to taming the Basset breed. The section I added was near the bottom of the Wikipedia page labeled Training. Below is the paragraph I added:

"Training is a touchy topic when deal with the Basset Hound breed. Gentle and patient training is the most effective form of training. Trainers must be persistant with the breed in order to achieve a well mannered dog. The Basset has the tendency to become stubborn by listening to their nose, rather than their master. Owners need to make the training process lively and entertaining to allow the Basset to learn more efficiently."

Enjoy and I'm out loocsixela.

Frank's Battered Eardrum

Originally uploaded by hptasch.

My second Wikipedia edit done to Frank Sinatra's page was difficult, but I managed to learn a bit more about Sinatra in the process. I decided to follow and edit Sinatra's Wikipedia page, for the simple reason he is one of America's finest entertainers. I enjoy almost all genres of music that have existed throughout American culture, excluding country. But once my father introduced me to Sinarta's music at a young age I knew I would enjoy his music for the rest of my life.

I knew all about Sinatra's career through Wikipedia and other websites, but I realized I was unfamiliar with his personal life. The class assignment to edit Wikipedia pages gave me the incentive to learn more about his early life. I found some useful facts about Sinatra at numerous websites on the internet, but found this one the most intriguing:

"Following his teen years in New Jersey, Sinatra was interested in serving his country during World War II. But, on December 9, 1941, close to his 26th birthday Sinatra was classified as "4-F" at Newark Induction Center. The Government classified Sinatra as "4-F", due to the punctured eardrum he suffered when getting hit in the head by a childhood friend swinging a bike chain during a fight. This allowed Sinatra to pursue entertainment, rather than being enlisted in the Air Force."

I added this paragraph to the wikipedia page under the Early Life section. Hope you all enjoy.

No-Hitters in Chicago

Milt Pappas
Originally uploaded by hptasch.

Thanks to ESPN's website I managed to muster up some useful information about the Chicago Cubs. It took me a good amount of time to figure out what I wanted to post on, but I managed to to find some Quick Facts that would be useful to any Cubs fan. The thing that made it so difficult to find relevant information about the beloved Chicago baseball team, a long with the Wikipedia community, was the substantial amount of content composed within the team's Wikipedia page. No need to fear though, I added a list of all the no-hitters that have taken place during the teams long luxurious life span. I listed the name of the pitcher and the date the no-hitter took place. It is under the Quick Facts section of the page and looks like this:

No-Hitters Throughout Team History:
Larry Corcoran - 8/19/1880
Larry Corcoran - 9/20/1882
Larry Corcoran - 6/27/1884
John Clarkson - 7/27/1885
George Vanhaltren - 6/21/1888
Walter Thornton - 8/21/1898
Bob Wicker - 6/11/1904
King Cole - 7/31/1910
Jimmy Lavender - 8/31/1915
Hippo Vaughn - 5/2/1917
Don Cardwell - 5/15/1960
Ken Holtzman - 8/19/1969
Ken Holtzman - 6/3/1971
Burt Hooton - 4/16/1972
Milt Pappas - 9/2/1972

Take a look at the page and learn more about the franchise.

Ryan's Wal-Mart Blog

I was venturing through my teammates blogs when I came across Ryan's post about protesting outside Wal-Mart sponsored by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The protest took place in front of multiple Wal-Marts across the nation in order to build awareness of unfair healthcare benefits toward the company's employees. The activists passed out literature related to the issue and sold candy to benefit the struggling employees.

I have heard rumors about prior complaints toward Wal-Mart and how they treat their employees in house. I realize that numerous competitors view Wal-Mart as the devil himself destroying everything in its path, but I never realized it existed this strongly within the company. In the business industry Wal-Mart has always been an innovator, whether it be with inventory management or growth in sales volume. This has led them to be seen both positively and negatively around the business community.

The article got me thinking about if there were any other recent articles about unfair benefits received by Wal-Mart employees. So, what else can you do except google the topic itself and see what pops up. It is not worth me mentioning any of the links about protests associated with Wal-Mart because the list is to extensive. Just try it yourself by typing in Wal-Mart protests into a google search and you will see what I mean. That company has some major issues dealing with their lower level employees if they ever want stronger publicity generated through any community (internet in particular).