Valleywag
the sum of all human knowledge
Posts Tagged “
Wikipedia
”
the sum of all human knowledge
the sum of all human knowledge
Senators' Wikipedia pages routinely vandalized
The Wikipedia entries of U.S. senators, after having false information or gibberish edited into them by users, typically remained uncorrected for a full 24 hours, according to a study. An assertion that Senator John McCain was born "in Florida in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone" was viewed by 93,000 people before it was removed. The study seems to contradict Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's claim that volunteer editors swiftly fix important pages. [The Wikipedia Review]
the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales hangs out with China's top censor
Jimmy Wales, cofounder of the world's most comprehensive history of C-Pop, recently sat for propaganda pictures with China's top censor Cai Mingzhao. The pair also spoke a little bit, but not about "the fact that a few politically sensitive pages are blocked," according to an interview Wales gave to Rebecca MacKinnon, an advisory board member at Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. "Since I wasn't sure of the exact details, and just due to the way the conversation went (more high level than about specific details), I didn't raise this question," Wales said. "But, I am not cool with any censorship of Wikipedia." Maybe he'll tell Mingzhao the next time they meet for pictures.
the sum of all human knowledge
Who invited Jimmy Wales to Advertising Week?
Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales sat for an interview with ad agency exec Liz Ross in front of an Advertising Week audience here in New York yesterday. Which is odd, because Wales's very popular Wikipedia is a nonprofit which doesn't carry advertising, and Wales's for-profit venture, Wikia, isn't very popular. So who cares what he has to say? More »
google
Knol a barren wasteland of content
"There are two articles about Sarah Palin on Google Knol, the search company's abysmal new Wikipedia-like reference guide," Farhad Manjoo writes. One is poorly written, the other copied-and-pasted from Wikipedia. Manjoo spent weeks reading through Knol articles (for which we offer our deepest sympathies) and found, unsurprisingly, lots of content from other sources and business promoters looking for a little Google juice. In other words, Knol has spawned lots of content meant to game Google's Search, just like the Web has filled with the same crap from SEOs and linkfarmers meant to generate AdSense revenue or Web site traffic with a minimum of effort. In fact, there's a Knol article on how to do just that. It does have lots of cute puppies.
Jimmy Wales quotes Ayn Rand at Boston event
A recent appearance by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was bookended by quotes from Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. And tech glitches: "You'd think that a threat to Google could easily menace a laptop into submission, but apparently Jimmy just doesn't do his own tech work." Much like his latest project, Wikia Search, a for-profit venture which relies on volunteer contributions to its algorithms. [Bostonist]
Professor Wikipedia
CollegeHumor's latest clip mocks the use of Wikipedia in academia. Worth sitting through for the brief appearance of Professor Britannica, and the fate of that popular girl who edits the yearbook.
MORE » 
stocks
Lehman Brothers sale psychically predicted by Wikipedia editor
Financial giant Lehman Brothers is in trouble thanks to large holdings in the market for subprime mortgage securities. The company's stock is dropping like a rock, and the company is looking at a total of $4 billion in writedowns on bad debt. Meanwhile, edits to the Wikipedia page have shown a volatile but largely inverse relationship with the share price. And before a Reuters report announcing that the firm is up for sale, an editor on Wikipedia briefly included the following factoid — from the future: More »
the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales and the art of the modern breakup
Another failed relationship, another awkward online parting of ways for Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia. Just a few months ago, he was squiring new-agey PR impresario Andrea Weckerle, a self-described "global nomad," around the world. Now, insiders say, Weckerle has dumped Wales — you can tell, because she no longer follows his Twitter updates. The puzzle here: How does he put so much energy into chasing women when he's supposedly leading the world's largest collection of unfactchecked assertions backed up by hyperlinks, and taking on Google with Wikia, his for-profit offshoot? More »
DHS warned not to use Wikipedia in immigration cases
The Department of Homeland Security used Wikipedia in its effort to reject an application for asylum by Ethiopian woman Lamilem Badasa. Badasa had presented a "laissez-passer" travel document as a form of identification, and the DHS used the Wikipedia page in its successful petition to deport the woman. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that "Wikipedia is not a sufficiently reliable source" to make such decisions, and handed the case back to the immigration appeals court. Too bad for Jimmy Wales — think of all the vulnerable hotties facing deportation from around the world he could have seduced in exchange for helpful edits. [Wired]
MORE » 