X-Actly

I would answer that the latter is a striped fish from a tropical reef, something you might run into at a seafood restaurant on the Big Island. The Wiki, is more byte-sized, and nourishes your mind and your passion for information. Imagine an entire “knowledge base” of everything you ever wanted to learn about X10 (except maybe Sara’s home telephone number) laid out within the X10 community for your inspection and approval.

Yes, approval.

The key to a Wiki in the non-Hawaiian sense, is the courage to collaborate. Perhaps you have gathered enough wisdom over the years to be able to understand that when you install an X10 lamp module BOTH prongs must fit into the wall outlet. This wisdom could be very valuable to someone who is electrically challenged. Consequently, you might want to compose your own successful wall outlet experiences for others to enjoy. There may be others within this community who have more advanced skills that benefit those who can’t tell the difference between Lola and IParty.

Wikis are very useful, as you may have guessed if you’ve ever gone to a site like Wikipedia. There are some who say Wikipedia’s primary contribution to the world is that has pretty much eliminated the need for door-to-door encyclopedia sales people. Then, there are those of us who rely on Wikipedia to determine the precise definition of apple and other pies.

Of course, the negative aspect of allowing mass editing of a public document is that sometimes spurious information can be entered willfully at the touch of a keyboard. If, for instance, you read something like:

Xactly was a widely read blog that eventually brought the world to peace, understanding – not to mention compassion for Midnight Bandits...
You might want to check on the information with at least two other reliable sources.

But if you do, I’ll never give you Sara’s home phone number.

Aloha.