Gawker
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Wikia Search
Jimmy Wales Definitely Not Getting His Wikipedia Jet Now
Did you know the founder of Wikipedia had a search engine? By the numbers, it's unlikely, since Wikia Search, Jimmy Wales's would-be Google killer, only attracted 10,000 users a month. He's now closing it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by The Boulevard of Broken Queens: cashfan (can I say 'first to say cashfan'? is that meta enough not to be tacky?) 2 Responses | Other threads
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jimmy wales
Wikipedia Cofounder's Wiki Bailout Plan
Jimmy Wales, the scandal-prone cofounder of Wikipedia, thinks Barack Obama's first priority should be creating government websites anyone can edit. Translation: A bailout for makers of wikis. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by thekohser: If you're not put to sleep by it, Jimbo was part of a 2-hour testimony to a Senate subcommittee, regarding... 3 Responses | Other threads
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failanthropy
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Almost Out of a Job
Imagine an online encyclopedia anyone can edit — and no one can run. With the calendar running out on 2008, Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's sleaze-drenched cofounder, nearly lost his seat on the board. Who's in charge here?
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By Owen ThomasComment by At The Ivar: I didn't know Canada has Pop Culture. 10 Responses | Other threads
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failanthropy
Brother, Wikipedia Wants Your Dime
The children of the world will be deprived of knowledge unless you shell out money soon, says Jimmy Wales, the sleaze-drenched cofounder of Wikipedia. Is this what Wikipedia has come to — an online telethon?
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: The large banner on Wikipedia states: "Please Read: A Personal Appeal From Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales" Geez... Seriously, for how long... 3 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia volunteers reject dishonest donation drive
Wikipedia, to cofounder Jimmy Wales's eternal dismay, is a nonprofit project rather than a lucrative private enterprise. The online encyclopedia, home to volunteer-written disquisitions on subjects like the umlaut in names of heavy metal bands, hopes to raise $6 million this year in a fundraising drive now featured in prominent ads on the top of most pages on the otherwise ad-free site. How's it going? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Michael Bauser: The Wikipedia editors who complain about being asked for money when they're already volunteering are selfish idiots. Respectable non-profits (like... 2 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia running ads
What's that on the top of every page on Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales's nonprofit encyclopedia? Why, it's an ad! Wales had long promised that Wikipedia would not carry advertising, but he makes an exception for the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's nonprofit parent. What Wales doesn't mention: Wikipedia will soon have many new ways of making money available to it, thanks to a revision in its open-source license. Wikipedia is switching from an obscure, restrictive agreement with its roots in software documentation to a much looser Creative Commons copyright license — which means the Wikimedia Foundation will be able to profit from its volunteers' editorial work. While they're at it, why don't Wales and company just run banner ads, too? The donation drive seems like an excellent opportunity to show potential advertisers how effective Wikipedia's ads can be.
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: I've just had a terrible thought... Perhaps Owen's scoop was just too big, and Jimbo instructed the wikipidiots to perform a... 2 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales's dishonest campaign ad
In a YouTube video, Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales opines about foreign policy. We love how the video producer added in visuals for every "err." We wonder: Is Wales stumbling over his words because he doesn't really believe what he's saying? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by thekohser: I would like to know, when Jimbo is speaking in that video above, was he compensated to be sitting there... more » | Other threads
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mysteries
Why is VC Jeremy Levine lying for Jimmy Wales?
Money is a commodity. What venture capitalists really bank is their reputation. And Jeremy Levine of Bessemer Venture Partners has just signaled that he's willing to cash in his reputation to protect a piddling $4 million investment. Levine is not amused by our report of how Levine got Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales fired from his job as CEO of Wikia, calling it a lie. The report is accurate, Wikia insiders confirm; Levine's denial is the lie. The only mystery here: Why is Levine willing to dissemble for Wales? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: Great piece Owen. It sounds like Levine's made a big mistake: lying is so easy to do, but lying to try... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Why Jimmy Wales got booted from Wikia's top job
Why did Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia, an online compendium which includes the world's most detailed article on flim-flams, step down as CEO of Wikia, the for-profit website host which recently laid off some of its employees? The way Wales likes to tell the story, years later, he realized he was a free-flying entrepreneur, not an earthbound bureaucrat. So he hired Gil Penchina, a former eBay executive, to mind the shop. That's not what really happened. Wales was fired from his job as CEO by the company's investors. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by porterhouse125: This man is legend. He helped found the single most useful site on the Internet. And as a... 1 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
New York gossip bitches about Jimmy Wales
Cindy Adams, the endearingly batty New York Post gossipeuse, is mad at Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia. Her beef: She complained about her Wikipedia entry to him two months ago, and he has done nothing. She's so mad, she has found words that rhyme with wiki, like "sticky" and "icky." She has also done investigative reporting about Barack Obama's Wikipedia entry, discovering it that it is now "14 pages long." We think that means she had one of her assistants print it out. Cindy, Cindy, Cindy. That is not how you get your Wikipedia entry edited. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rachel Marsden: Who does she think she is? I wasn't even able to fuck my way to a decent bio on Wikipedia.... 2 Responses | Other threads
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layoffs
Wikia lays off 10 percent of staff
Bid goodnight to Jimmy Wales's dream of cashing out on Wikipedia, the world's largest collection of infrequently asked questions. The vehicle for his scheme, a derivative for-profit startup called Wikia, is imploding. A tipster tells us that the 43-person company has laid off 30 percent of its staff. (Update: The company now says it has only laid off 10 percent of its employees.) Wikia lets users build their own anyone-can-edit wiki pages. Unlike Wikipedia, Wikia sometimes runs advertising on the wikis; its most popular sites have to do with videogames. So why the layoffs? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by OletheaCadosneep: Didn't Wikia spin up just 2 or so years ago, not 1999....? 5 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales gets a German prize
On Friday, the cofounder of the world's most comprehensive directory of socialites, Jimmy Wales, was one of the recipients of the $138,000 Quadriga prize for philanthropy in Berlin. Wales is a committed follower of Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism and noted loather of altruism — but he got handsomely paid for his do-gooding, so it must be okay! And that's not the only way Wales was rewarded in Berlin. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rachel Marsden: @godospoons - The "racy pictures" are of Weckerle kissing some other chick full-on. They've made the rounds, and Weckerle is... 8 Responses | Other threads
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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]
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: Maybe they don't consider pages on Republicans "important". There is always a way to resolve these ethical dilemmas. 1 Responses | Other threads
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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.
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Comment by dogcat: Below is a video of Jetset Jimbo speaking at a UNESCO meeting only a few days ago, explicitly complaining about... more » | Other threads
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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 »
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Comment by WilliamMarkFelt: "The best way to approach it is to create a product that doesn't suck." I used to think that pundits became... 1 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
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]
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By Owen ThomasComment by madox: I read 39 pages of "Atlas Shrugged." Once I reached page 40 I promptly closed the book, stepped outside, and... 3 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales's green site littered with lies
People who know Jimmy Wales well can't stop snickering about the launch of Wikia Green, his new anyone-can-edit environmental site. In his private life, Wales is about as green as Dick Cheney, from what they say. He's been known to toss styrofoam coffee cups out the window as he drives — something we imagine might give his enviroprecious celebrity pals paroxysms. Even green-cheerleading site Earth2Tech is on to Wales's insincerity: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by WilliamMarkFelt: The unspoken premise of free culture is something like this - because we think things created like musics, books, articles,... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales to stop global warming with website
Eternal dilettante Jimmy Wales, the playboy founder of Wikipedia, has a new girlfriend-of-the-moment: Mother Nature. His for-profit offshoot wiki startup, Wikia, has launched Wikia Green, an edit-it-yourself guide to all things environmental. Like his past launched-and-abandoned efforts — anyone remember Campaigns Wikia, Wales's political supersite? — Wikia Green likely won't go far. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by WagCurious: He's just putting Wikia in front of every buzz word he can think of. Watch next for Wiki Flapjacks and... 2 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia boss hits Jimmy Wales where it hurts
Sue Gardner, the Canadian ex-journalist hired to run Wikipedia last year, has treated Jimmy Wales, the site's cofounder, with kid gloves. Until now. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Gardner vehemently defends the nonprofit status of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's owner: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: @Troll_2.0: One thing you can't accuse the French of is not smelling nice! 1 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Is Jimmy Wales stalking his ex-wife in Alabama?
From Jimmy Wales's Wikipedia entry, one learns that the online encyclopedia's founder grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and that his father, Jimmy, worked as a grocery-store manager, and his mother, Doris, ran a private school. From sources less public but more reliably accurate, I've heard that he's visiting his parents this weekend, with daughter Kira in tow. Ah, a touching family get-together. But a person familiar with Wales's plans believes that he is actually heading back to Alabama to bully his ex-wife Pam over statements she made to W magazine, which appeared in a profile that he found frustratingly unflattering. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rachel Marsden: @dogcat: Oh believe me, I do. :) I love being scary. :p 5 Responses | Other threads
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we read twitter so you don't have to
Jimmy Wales no longer contributing to world's knowledge
Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales is committed to bringing the sum of all human knowledge to everybody on the planet. Except, that is, his Twitter updates, which he has just made "protected," so that only his 2,862 "friends" on the microblogging service can read them. We're sure that among that crowd, there are some Valleywag readers who will want to keep Wales adding to the sum of all human knowledge. Do share some Wales updates, won't you? -
the sum of all human knowledge
Wacky Overstock.com CEO vindicated by SEC, not Wikipedia
Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com, has popularized the notion that "naked shorts" are ruining Wall Street. In the process, though, he also popularized the notion that he was a paranoid nutjob — a reputation that he's hardly shed since the SEC issued new regulations governing the shady stock-trading practice. Byrne may have won the battle on Capitol Hill, but he has yet to win the thoroughly bureaucratic, endlessly argumentative hearts and minds of Jimmy Wales's Wikipedia. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by sample032: @printdevil: Now where did I put my shopping list... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Mainstream media in edit war over Jimmy Wales's waistline
The world's most respected business newspaper and an elite fashion industry magazine disagree on this most basic of facts: Is Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales pudgy or not? James Gleick, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says that Wales is "a trim 42-year-old who favors black shirts and a slightly Mephistophelian beard." W Magazine described him as "a nondescript man with thinning brown hair and a slight paunch." Which is it? His Wikipedia entry is absolutely no use on the subject. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by thekohser: I posted my reply to Jimbo on his Campaigns Wikia carcass of a site. But, just in case he or... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales, the nobody everybody knows about
"A nondescript man with thinning brown hair and a slight paunch" is how W nondescribes Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia, the site where anybody can write history, and nobodies do. Wales, once known for sporting kimonos and Mao jackets, has reverted to wearing all black, which gives the fashion magazine rather thin material to work with. One would think the magazine would turn to probing his brains, not his looks — but there, too, they came up empty. More » -
the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales, "punk capitalist"?
In a new book, The Pirate's Dilemma, author Matt Mason holds up geek heroes like Linus Torvalds and Jimmy Wales as icons of "punk capitalism." Given Wales's abject failure to profit from Wikipedia or his follow-on venture, Wikia, I'd say Mason has that label half-right. -
clips
Jimmy Wales, cult leader
Later this week, Wikipedia is holding its annual, aptly named Wikimania conference in Alexandria, Egypt. Want a preview? Check out this video of Jimmy Wales, cofounder of the world's largest volunteer-run, sneeringly incompetent bureaucracy, playing games with attendees of Foo Camp, a nerdfest held over the weekend in a semirural spot north of San Francisco. Not everyone thinks Wikimania is the same kind of innocent fun: There's talk of a boycott over Egypt's horrid human-rights policies and Internet censorship. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: The video has now been reinstated! Note the assurance in the description that the video has been 'posted with his [Jimbo's]... more » | Other threads
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geek love
CNBC's Becky Quick joins long line of women emailing Jimmy Wales
Call it a strange attraction: Women whose Wikipedia entries aren't to their liking just can't seem to resist taking their case to the site's stubbly cofounder, Jimmy Wales. Even CNBC's Becky Quick struck up a correspondence, she admits in this clip. Unlike Canadian television commentator Rachel Marsden, whose call for help turned into a sexual fling, Quick is married. To a computer programmer. (I can hear you all eating your hearts out.) Why didn't she just ask her husband for help getting her entry edited? Given Wales's reputation, that seems easier.
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By Owen ThomasComment by dogcat: @Rachel Marsden: :) I see what you mean - a match made in heaven. Although I still think it would... more » | Other threads
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clips
How to piss off Jimmy Wales
Watch Jimmy Wales's face as he's introduced in a segment for this morning's episode of Squawk Box on CNBC. Wales has long claimed to be Wikipedia's sole founder — a fact disputed by Larry Sanger, Wikipedia's cofounder. As CNBC's Joe Kernen matter-of-factly describes Wales as the site's cofounder, Wales furrows his brows, starts to open his mouth, darts his eyes back and forth, and then swallows his pride. You can just see him writing a blog post about it in his head.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Troll_2.0: Jimmy Wales, loves hot tailsEverywhere he goes,he leaves slime trails. LOL more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales namedrops Richard Branson on CNBC
One of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's most charming personality traits is his relentless starfucking. It's a tendency that's exacerbated by his role as spiritual leader of the world's most comprehensive collection of inconsequentially inaccurate details about famous peoples' lives. On CNBC's Squawk Box this morning, note Wales's body language — the shoulder roll, the falsely modest talking-into-his-coffee-cup maneuver — as he chats up New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, making sure to remind viewers that he's totally BFF with Virgin founder Richard Branson.
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By Owen ThomasComment by dannyisme: I can only wonder: does Richard Branson ever namedrop Jimmy Wales's name? more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
How Jimmy Wales gets the ladies
We've always wondered how a schlubby guy like Jimmy Wales sees so much action. It can't be the I-founded-Wikipedia-can-I-edit-your-page pickup lines — for every Rachel Marsden he lands with those, one thinks Wales would get 10 drinks in the face. At last, we've gotten a scientific explanation: It's the stubble. A recent study found women prefer mates with stubbly cheeks to smooth faces or full beards. (Thank you, Don Johnson.) And according to Wales's comprehensive compendium of facial hair stylings, Wales himself is the iconic paragon of stubble. (Photo by EvgenyGenkin) -
the sum of all human knowledge
In which we learn Jimmy Wales doesn't really believe in anything
Is Jimmy Wales the sole founder of Wikipedia? Not really. Did he run a porn site in the 1990s? Pretty much. Does he believe Wikipedia should be restrictive or inclusive in its choice of subjects? Both or neither. Is he a follower of Ayn Rand? Not a particularly good one. These are the muddled truths we learn from a profile of Wales in the Economist. The one absolute verity in the article: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by RachelIsANutJob: @missrose: I'm sure JimbHO and her prior stalking victim(s) were suitably impressed. I'd wear latex if I were you. more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales reduced to couchsurfing across the globe
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's travel budget has tightened since the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit which pays Wikipedia's and Wales's bills, cracked down on his expense account. Last year, he told Reuters that he used a website, Extrabed.in, to secure a free crashpad with an Indian blogger on a trip to the subcontinent. "When I used ExtraBed to find a place to stay, I was excited to have the opportunity to meet a new family, a new friend," Wales emailed Reuters. That rings true enough; Wales is often excited to meet new friends, especially female ones, and he's too busy to pay much attention to his old family. (Still from Majestikx12)
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By Owen ThomasComment by Dror Poleg: @Rachel Marsden: "My bank account would argue that I'm indeed successful by any standards that matter." SAD more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales's grand economic plan for the Middle East
In inviting Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to chair a World Economic Forum on the Middle East, organizers no doubt thought they were getting a brilliant thinker. Instead, they got a run-of-the-mill Randian, a Libertarian lite who has no ideas beyond cutting "red tape." Watch Wales, in this clip from the Forum's session on "The Future of the Middle East", stumble through his answer to a question on how to get economic growth, and whether he plans to invest more in the region. Sure, Wikipedia's about advancing the sum of all human knowledge. Specifically, Wales getting other people to do so for him. Anyone who expects advancement from Wales personally is doomed to disappointment.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Troll_2.0: @RachelIsANutJob: Rachel, JimBHo is saying he has some sort of discharge..... Better get to a gyno quick, JimBHo might have given... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales and the Church of Latter-Day Wikipedians
A perpetual dilettante, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has a habit of flitting in and out of his many projects. It's hard to say whether they suffer more from his neglect or from his attention. Wikinews, a news site operated similarly to Wikipedia and run by the same nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, has seen Wales suddenly return asking for administrative privileges suspended in his absence to be restored. But why? Wales didn't specify which story he wanted to intervene in, but one tipster suggests that an article about a copyright-infringement claim by the Mormon Church — over a story posted on Wikinews itself — was the proximate cause. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rachel Marsden: @TuesdayCramer: Yep, believe it or not I'm a leading world expert in political analysis. :) more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales kicked off Wikipedia spinoff
At an offshoot of Wikipedia, the users are revolting. Administrators of Wikinews, a site where volunteers collaboratively write news articles have voted to strip Jimmy Wales of his administrative privileges. He has protested the decision: "Due to recent developments, I am here more often and anticipate being here more often." Wales is not just a Wikinews user, however; he is a board member of the site's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, with a guaranteed seat, thanks to a recent reshuffling of the board. As such, his participation on the site may put it at legal risk. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Jimmy the Saint: @MushiMushi: Jimbo's power on Wikipedia comes not from any formal designation by the Foundation, but from his god-king status within the... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales welcomes "ordinary" Arabs to the Internet
Jimmy Wales, the so-called founder of Wikipedia, is in Egypt's Red Sea resort hobnobbing with heads of state as chairman of the World Economic Forum's Middle East summit, popularly known as "Davos in the Desert." The message he delivered in a press event: "Too often when people around the world reflect on the situation in the Middle East they focus on extremism and the different problems." With Internet adoption exploding in the region, "we're going to start hearing from ordinary people," Wales added. What Wales did not get into: How those "ordinary" people will react when they encounter his online encylopedia for the first time, and find that articles on child sexuality are edited by ardent defenders of pedophilia. Perhaps sharia will prove more effective than current management at enforcing Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" standard.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Jimmy the Saint: @Rachel Marsden: "Not someone's front door." What's stopping you this time? more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Is Jimmy Wales getting Wikipedia in legal trouble?
Jimmy Wales's clandestine editing of a girlfriend's Wikipedia entry has done more than just bring the online encyclopedia into disrepute. It may well put the site's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, in legal jeopardy. Wikipedia has thrived in part thanks to a protection granted by the Communications Decency Act, which spares websites which merely host users' content from liability for what they say. But what if one of the website's officials moves to have that content edited? Then the protection vanishes. That is the legal argument advanced by Wales's ex, Rachel Marsden, in a series of emails with Mike Godwin, Wikimedia's general counsel, that she has posted to Valleywag. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by FiveStarEggRoll: Now who the heck is Ltic? People and your friends, take this offline already. Jesus. Harry "keeps his dirty laundry mostly... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales denies FBI investigation of underage photos on Wikipedia
Since a controversial record cover led to charges of Wikipedia hosting child porn, Jimmy Wales, the creator of the world's most democratically assembled list of anarcho-punk bands, has kept his silence. Until Sunday, that is, when Wales logged onto an IRC channel to discuss the issue. Wikipedia Review posted a transcript of the chat. The essential points: Wales denied that there was an FBI investigation, "as far as I am aware." (Note the hedge: As a board member of Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, Wales has no day-to-day role in the site's operations.) On the image in question, a cover of the 1976 Scorpions album Virgin Killer, Wales equivocated. "I think people should be able to debate it with mutual respect," said Wales. There you have Wales's position on child pornography, in a nutshell: Let's talk about it! Excerpts from the transcript below: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ColScott: This is what scares the Wikipediots the most... all we need is three people (I am not sure you work... more » | Other threads
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mike godwin
Wikipedia lawyer backs out of ethics talk
Mike Godwin does not practice what he preaches. The general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, once told the New York Times that "the best answer for bad speech is more speech." But in the face of a groundswell of criticism of Wikipedia — that its frontman, Jimmy Wales, is corrupt; that its executive director, Sue Gardner, is power-mad; and that its deputy director, Erik Möller, is dangerously out of touch with potential donors' views — Godwin has remained silent. That will not change anytime soon, it seems. Godwin was due to speak this Thursday at Santa Clara University on "The World that Wikipedia Made: The Ethics and Values of Public Knowledge." But Valleywag has learned that Godwin today backed out of the talk, with two days' notice, and that the foundation has refused to supply another Wikipedia official in his place. Could it be that in this case, the voluble Godwin really has nothing worth saying? So much for advancing the sum of all human knowledge. (Photo by Alice Lipowicz)
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By Owen ThomasComment by WilliamMarkFelt: @corva - dunno, cutting out on an engagement at the last minute makes for some possibly bad PR. just at... more » | Other threads
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caption contest
You mean this isn't the Facebook prom?
Despite not making the cut for this year's Time 100, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales showed up at the magazine's party anyway. (Past honorees are reinvited to the party automatically.) Even more surprising: On his arm was Andrea Weckerle, the freelance public-relations professional long rumored to have been smitten with Wales. If this photo is an indication, her affections are less unrequited than has been said. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by missrose: @Wikipedophile: I've met Weckerle. She's what some would call "special needs". Not too bright. more » | Other threads
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