i'm in need of some help. there are a number of proposals which recommend the use of java and flash, and, unfortunately, the java applet advocates are alarmingly.... unreasonable and vocal. the deployment of any programming language as a means to express and/or extend wikimedia pages is so at odds with the principle of a universally editable encyclopedia that i am having great difficulty even comprehending why anyone would advocate them, in direct contravention of the key strategic goals of wikipedia. here's articles essentially calling for the same thing: a means to do interactive / animated wikipedia. the first three are great - the second three are incomprehensibe: http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Text_or_Syntax_driven_Char… http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Inline_SVG_preference http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Foundations_for_Interactiv… http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Add_OpenLaszlo/Java_suppor… http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Java_applet_support http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Allow_upload_of_flash_anim… the reason why i'm asking for help is because i have a tendency to shout and jump up and down when presented with things that are complex (multi-faceted) but blindingly obvious to me. i tend to find that things that are blindingly obvious to me aren't so blindingly obvious to others, and the "java applets" proposal is one such example. i'm finding that, like those kid's toys with the buttons on top, where you press one button and the others go down, the advocates of the "java applets" proposal cannot comprehend more than one idea at a time, cannot take on board the "overview", and keep picking "individual holes" whilst ignoring other negative aspects. every time i tackle one issue, in bite-size comprehensible chunks, they go "ahh, but!" and i can't deal with this kind of approach. so i would very much appreciate if other people could pitch in and provide their views on the subject. of course, if you think it's a _good_ idea to make contributing to wikipedia be _more_ elitist than it is already perceived to be, then i will simply be jumping up and down with a larger audience to entertain. overall: the goal is to open up wikipedia to a wider audience, and if that can be achieved whilst at the same time taking advantage of what technology has to offer (such as the new WikiReader), _great_. i trust that anyone reading this shares that same view and will help weed out wikipedia proposals that are contrary to that goal. l.