Gawker
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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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the sum of all human knowledge
Kiddie-porn scandal lands Wikipedia a British ban
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia any unemployed Internet commenter can edit, has been banned by British Internet service providers over a display of child porn.
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By Owen ThomasComment by LaurenAethlius: I think this totally misses the point that THIS IS NOT CHILD PORNOGRAPHY! 2 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
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
Pedophile defender issues Wikipedia for children
When someone announces that they're doing something for the children, one is supposed to applaud dutifully and not ask questions. So it goes with the Wikimedia Foundation's latest announcement. The nonprofit parent of Jimmy Wales's Wikipedia has issued a new edition of the online encyclopedia, carefully screened and selected for children. The question Wikimedia doesn't want anyone to ask: Has the foundation's employees been screened and selected just as carefully. Erik Möller, Wikimedia's deputy director, has a troubling past history of defending pedophilia. He oversees the volunteer administrators who direct the editing of the site's content. Should this not give teachers pause, before they accept Wikipedia as part of the curriculum? (Photo by Schools Wikipedia)
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By Owen ThomasComment by Ltic: @foobarz Before you suggest slander, please read more about Erik and his opinions of children and sexual relations. Then maybe... 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
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
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
Wikipedia board vote eliminates longtime foe of site's commercialization
The nonprofit parent of Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, has dumped Florence Devouard as its chair and replaced her with board member Michael Snow, while also appointing Ting Chen, an editor of Wikipedia's German and Chinese editions. Venture capitalist Roger McNamee is surely grinning as he thrums his guitar: Devouard has long opposed efforts to profit off the volunteer-written encyclopedia, an idea advanced by McNamee, a cofounder of private-equity firm Elevation Partners. McNamee, whose partner Bono is a buddy of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who has helped broker large donations to the foundation, is believed to have given the board change his approval.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Tlogmer: Michael Snow and Ting Chen were not "appointed". They were elected in a public vote involving thousands of Wikipedians... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Need help getting to Wikipedia's desert get-together? Read the wiki
Andrew Lih, a respected authority on Wikipedia — oh, the irony — has flown to Egypt to attend Wikimania, an annual get-together for the editors of the world's most exacting online disquisition on foodborne illnesses. Arriving in Cairo airport, and seeking ground transportation to Alexandria, the site of the conference, Lih was met with nothing but third-world frustration, and he blogged about it. Erik Möller, deputy director of Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, popped up in the comments. Did he offer help? No. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by MikeTy: What's the wiki-problem? everyone know they need those wiki-pageviews, Lih. more » | Other threads
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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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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikimedia Foundation botches budget
There are lies, damn lies, and budgets. Wikipedia users donate money to the Wikimedia Foundation under the ruse that most of the cash goes to buy and run servers. Ha! As Danny Wool, a former administrator of the nonprofit, points out, that's hardly the case. In fact, out of a projected $4.6 million budget, nearly $1.7 million for tech over the last year never got spent. But executive director Sue Gardner, who was handpicked (and hand-who knows what else) by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, can't be blamed for that: She doesn't run the site's tech, which is overseen by the nonprofits' pro-pedophilia deputy director, Erik Möller. Was he too busy editing Wikipedia entries about child sexuality under secret accounts to stop and buy a few servers? Who knows. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Ltic: @damnedfool. I don't know exactly what danny was trying to say, but I do question Sue's spending in that... 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 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
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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the sum of all human knowledge
Why Sue Gardner hired a pedophilia supporter to run Wikipedia
Sue Gardner, the former pop-culture journalist now running Wikipedia, named Erik Möller as deputy director of the Wikimedia Foundation for a simple reason: to get him off the nonprofit's board. As a board member, Möller was her boss; now she is his. But the hire is coming back to haunt her. After Wikimedia COO Carolyn Doran was revealed to be a convicted felon last year, Gardner promised to conduct background checks on new employees. But one has to conclude she never bothered to Google Möller. If she had, wouldn't she have noticed his off-the-wall views on child sexuality? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Troll_2.0: @WilliamMarkFelt: Valley Wag is a blog run by 12 year olds? Begs the question: When is Erik cuming to work... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia's Erik Möller on the history of child sexual abuse: All Greek to him!
Pederasty in ancient Greece took on mystical significance, where semen from a noble man was believed to give arete to a young man through anal intercourse. This was part of a common practice in Greece where a noble man took on a young male as a student. This relationship was highly idealized in Greek culture and often involved sexual acts as mentioned. Since the practice was so widespread in ancient Greece, and there is no indication of any detractors at the time, many do not consider this an example of child sexual abuse (see moral relativism). Generally, people who hold this view believe that sexual acts can only be termed "abuse" if there is a victim who experiences negative effects as a result of the activities. Since there is no evidence of this occurring, many have concluded that this should not be considered abuse.
— Erik Möller, deputy director of the Wikimedia Foundation, editing a Wikipedia article on child sexual [Wikipedia]
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By Owen ThomasComment by EnricaWendy: I have read this kind of stuff a few times during my long career as a child care social... more » | Other threads
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erik moeller
Wikipedia's porn-loving No. 2 and his abiding concern for the children
A firestorm is now brewing over pornography on Wikipedia and its accessibility to children. The FBI is investigating the matter, right-wing news site WorldNetDaily reports. Jay Walsh, the spokesman for Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, has disclaimed all official responsibility for the contents of the world's greatest compendium of fictional balls. But who oversees the contents of Wikipedia for the foundation? Why, Erik Möller, its deputy director. And Möller is deeply, deeply concerned about the children. More » -
the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia leader Erik Möller: "Children are pornography"
Erik Möller, the deputy director of the nonprofit behind Wikipedia, sure likes to talk. Since our story yesterday about his defense of pedophilia, Möller has been going around explaining his views, at length, to Wikimedia Foundation's board members. One hopes they have a lot of time on their hands; Möller is famously verbose. While waiting for him to stop talking, they could pass the time reading a 2000 work by Möller. Its German title is "Kinder sind Pornos," which means "Children are pornography." Even in Google's rough translation, the gist is clear enough: Möller argues that nonviolent child pornography does no harm. He relates the frosty reception he received when he put forth this view at a conference in Nuremberg in 2000. Can Möller really claim to be surprised if his views on the sexuality of children prove just as unpopular today? (Photo by Bertram Korves)
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By Owen ThomasComment by swissdoctor: I know it's difficult to understand an article when You don't know either the language nor the cultural context. In... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Erik Möller, No. 2 at Wikipedia, a defender of pedophilia
Erik Möller is the deputy director at Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. As such, he oversees tech and editorial operations at the world's most comprehensive history of obscure British contemporary art movements. And as an editor on the site, he takes special interest in subjects such as "child abuse," "child sexuality," and "pedophilia." Wikipedians supposedly prize a "neutral point of view." But Möller's point of view on those subjects hardly seems neutral. Most would find it extreme. Möller once wrote: "What is my position on pedophilia, then? It's really simple. If the child doesn't want it, is neutral or ambiguous, it's inappropriate." More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by tyciol: I did not find any google archives image. Troll, I do not see how you can say they clearly support it.... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Wikipedia gerrymanders its board
Sue Gardner, the power-hungry executive director of Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, has carried out the first phase of her master plan. She's orchestrated a reorganization of Wikipedia's board. The chief changes to the rulers of the world's most complete list of people affected by bipolar disorder: Only 30 percent of the board is now elected. Two board members will be appointed by Wikipedia's "chapters," country-specific nonprofits which wield power far greater than their actual numbers would seem to warrant. Jimmy Wales has been granted an unelected "community founder" seat. The other five board seats, three of them currently empty, can be filled by board appointees with no connection to Wikipedia. Which would make it easy for Gardner to stack the board with wealthy venture capitalists interested in profiting from Wikipedia's highly-trafficked website. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Widget Economist: Jimmy Wales never worked by the book. You ALL know that. www.wikitruth.info T is not surprising news to wikipedia skeptics, just... more » | Other threads
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nerdspotting
Jimmy Wales takes his Wikipedia magic show to New York City
For a province of California, Silicon Valley can be strangely puritan at times. That made it an uncomfortable locale for libertine Libertarian Jimmy Wales, the less-than-saintly founder of Wikipedia. Wales told ex-lover Rachel Marsden, the Canadian controversialist, that he wanted to move to New York to be closer to her. Their affair is over — ended, fittingly, via a posting on Wikipedia — but Wales has relocated to New York all the same. The likely reason has to do with work, or the appearance of work. Although Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, is located in San Francisco, and his ostensible employer, for-profit wiki venture Wikia, has itsheadquarters in a suburb to the south of the city, Wales is charged with running a search-engine project for Wikia which is based in New York. More » -
the sum of all human knowledge
Ex-journalist Sue Gardner tries to silence Wikipedia board
Last year, Wikipedia hired an executive-search firm to find someone to run its nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. Thousands of dollars later, it concluded that Wikipedia was "too immature" as an organization to hire a boss. It nonetheless landed Sue Gardner, head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's website, as executive director. Her primary qualification, insiders say, was a lip-locking session with WIkipedia founder Jimmy Wales in Amsterdam. That's perhaps unkind. Gardner, after all, graduated from Ryerson with a degree in journalism, specializing in pop culture. With such a keen understanding of the ways of reporters, Gardner tried to get Wikipedia's restive board members to sign a nondisparagement and nondisclosure agreement. More » -
the sum of all human knowledge
Wales's ex-girlfriend on Wikipedia edits: "Game on, sweetheart"
There is no neutral point of view in a love affair gone bad. Jimmy Wales violated Wikipedia's rules in posting a note announcing his breakup with Canadian journalist Rachel Marsden on the world's most exacting collection of urban legends about McDonald's. Marsden has retaliated in kind, or attempted to. Her recent efforts to leave a note for Wales on Wikipedia — "the only way to have any sort of rational or caring discussion with him," she claims — resulted in her account being banned by administrators. More » -
failanthropy
Wikipedia receives $500,000 from another VC
Ordinarily, this would be good news: Vinod Khosla, the former Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist, and his wife Neeru Khosla, have donated $500,000 to Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. But founder Jimmy Wales's dalliances with other VCs — chiefly Roger McNamee and Marc Bodnick of Elevation Partners — have cast a shadow over every dollar the organization receives. Is this one of the $500,000 donations McNamee recently said he helped broker? And if so, what do he and Khosla expect to get in return? For starters, keep a close eye on Wikipedia's articles on ethanol, a major business interest of Khosla's. Wales, ordinarily Wikipedia's front man, makes no appearance in the press release, quoted below: More » -
the sum of all human knowledge
Sloan Foundation's $3 million grant to fund Wikipedia power struggle
Jimmy Wales remains frustrated that he hasn't profited from the creation of Wikipedia, former confidants tell me. And even though the world's most complete list of sexually active popes is now run by a nonprofit, the Wikimedia Foundation, Wales is still trying to figure out how to commercialize Wikipedia on the side, with the help of private-equity firm Elevation Partners. Now comes a spanner in the works: The foundation has won a $3 million donation from the Sloan Foundation. Wales does not appear anywhere in the press release announcing the deal. The grant will be doled out at the rate of $1 million a year, meaning Wales, for the first time, has a powerful outside watchdog. The Sloan Foundation won't look kindly on attempts to have their monies fund ways to line Wales's pockets — or put Elevation Partners investors like Roger McNamee or Marc Bodnick on the Wikimedia board. The full release: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by mediawhoremeow: I wonder what it feels like for JimbHO Wales to lose complete control? That day has come folks. Not even... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales secretly wants you to mock him
Confidantes of Jimmy Wales — like his close friend Sue Gardner, the executive director of his Wikipedia nonprofit — like to portray him as a sensitive soul, easily scarred by all the attention his misdeeds have generated. But the truth? Wales loves it when people talk trash about him. He couldn't wait for Valleywag to out him as Silicon Valley's Casanova. And he's even figured out a way to make money from it. Wikia, his for-profit startup, owns Uncyclopedia, a through-the-looking-glass parody of Wikipedia. The entry on Wales is scathing. It begins: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by CumaeanSibyl: Uncyclopedia couldn't be less funny if they hired the writers for SNL. more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Jimmy Wales's $1,300 dinner with the VC
Everyone's beating up on Wkipedia founder Jimmy Wales for his shady dealings. But evidence has now arisen that if he's a money-grubber, he's not a particularly skilled one. When Wales turned in receipts for $30,000 in expenses charged to the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, among them was a $1,300 dinner at a steakhouse in Tampa. In attendance: Marc Bodnick, another Elevation Partners cofounder. Bodnick later introduced Wales to Bono. (His sister-in-law Sheryl Sandberg, then a Google exec, now Facebook's COO, helped connect Bodnick and Bono, a contact from her Washington days.) The foundation's board ultimately turned down Wales's request to get paid back for the dinner. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by marcsiry: I expected that gentlemen with suitcases of cash would have picked up the bill. Seems odd that Jimmy got stuck... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Who's really running Wikipedia?
The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit which operates Wikipedia, says its mission is to give the world free access to the sum of all human knowledge. Behind the scenes, it's responsible for the mother of all power struggles. Jimmy Wales is supposedly a figurehead — just one of many board members. Sue Gardner, the executive director, supposedly runs Wikipedia day to day — though deputy director Erik Moeller, a former board member who has long schemed to take control of Wikipedia, actually runs the site's technology and content. Florence Nibart-Devouard, a French local official, replaced Wales as the nonprofit's chair in October 2006, and thinks she's in charge. Ah, but not according to Wikimedia's legal filings. More » -
sue gardner
Wikipedia boss, obsessed with preteen boys, changes her spin
Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, has been backed into a corner by the slew of charges against the nonprofit and its founder, Jimmy Wales. She's retreating from her initial line that it was all the fault of a disgruntled ex-employee, as she did with CNET. Now, in a recorded interview with Not the Wikipedia Weekly, she's switched to a new defense: What about the children? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Mariallena: @DonV: Excuse me? Worshipping Jimbo? Wow! You have either an overactive imagination or a lot of bottled up hatred. more » | Other threads
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loser-generated content
Where would you put the Wikipedia logo?
With ICQ lending its name to an Israeli toothpaste manufacturer and Google trucking branded ice cream bars to its Mountain View headquarters, no wonder Jimmy Wales is thinking about how Wikipedia can cash in on brand licensing. The only problem: Wales's marketing ideas are as dull as his sexual fantasies. Board games? Discovery Channel specials? Boring! More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Dweezil: The only condom that will actively block you from getting laid. more » | Other threads
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rumormonger
Did Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia boss make out in Amsterdam?
What is it about Jimmy Wales? The founder of Wikipedia has a thing for brainy women, and a penchant for mixing business and pleasure. But the latest rumor I've heard is mind-blowing: That Wales had a brief affair with Sue Gardner, the executive director of the nonprofit which runs Wikipedia. Gardner has always been swift to rush to Jimmy Wales's defense — oddly so, since he's just one of many board members she reports to. In a recent newspaper article on Wales, there was this line: "Ms. Gardner said there will always be a need for what Mr. Wales provides." Ah yes, what Mr. Wales provides. To Rachel Marsden, Elisabeth Bauer, and Barbara Cohen, among others, you mean? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by amorrow: Sue Gardner denies that there is anything to this story on NotTheWikipediaWeekly. more » | Other threads
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wikpedia
Jimmy Wales's bigger scandal: Elevation Partners
The New York Times has picked up Valleywag's extensive reporting on the ongoing Jimmy Wales scandal (How to decode the Times story: Whenever they say "a gossip Web site," they mean us.) While most of the story is a rehash, it does raise one interesting point: What's the relationship between Wikipedia and VC firm Elevation Partners? Roger McNamee of Elevation insists he's just acting as a donor and volunteer fundraiser in pulling in $1 million for Wales's Wikimedia Foundation nonprofit. But Wales admits in the article to proposing Wikipedia-branded business ventures like a trivia game or a TV documentary, with funding from Elevation Partners. Another plan we've heard: Changing the terms by which Wikipedia contributors add to the online encyclopedia to a more liberal Creative Commons license. That would make the site's content more readily reused in, say, printed works sold for profit. (Illustration by a newspaper)
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By Owen ThomasComment by Nathan: Jimbo's conduct of late shows the type of egotripper we're dealing with. Having made himself a public figure, he knows... more » | Other threads
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wikpedia
Donor, ex-girlfriend accuse Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia extortion
Jeff Merkey, a former Novell chief scientist, has issued a statement accusing Jimmy Wales of extortion. Merkey says that Wales offered him "special protection" for his Wikipedia entry in exchange for a "substantial" donation to Wales's Wikimedia Foundation. After Merkey withdrew his donation over concerns that the funds were being mismanaged, he was banned from the site for "frivolous and unsubstantiated claims." Merkey's not the only one: Rachel Marsden, Wales's ex-girlfriend, has privately threatened Wales with a lawsuit over what she claims are hostile revisions to her Wikipedia entry which began after they broke up. While they were together, Wales promised Marsden swift action on edits so he could "continue fucking [her] brains out." After the jump, Merkey's statement and Marsden's email. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by mediawhoremeow: It's like David Koresh just resurfaced and discovered the innernets. At least the feds won't be able to burn the... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
"Modest, frugal" Jimmy Wales flies first-class
In a simpering interview on CNET — "Let's just get this out of the way," the host actually says — Sue Gardner, executive director of the foundation which runs Wikipedia, used the classic disgruntled-employee line to dismiss charges that Wales had abused his position there. But that's not the only way she made a fool of herself. "He's a good guy, he's a really good guy, he's a modest guy, he's a frugal guy," says Gardner. Oh, really? Read this transcript of a chat between Wales and ex-girlfriend Marsden, as he debates whether to go first-class or business-class on a junket to Korea in February, and judge for yourself. His hosts, not the foundation, apparently paid for the tickets; Gardner says Wales has only charged $1,100 to the Wikimedia Foundation in the past six months. All the same, if there's any sign of modesty or frugality here, I'm missing it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by mediawhoremeow: Transcript looks completely legit to me. Wikipedia sure has been quick to deny anything that can't be proven as legit,... more » | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Charge: Wikipedia flew Wales girlfriend on donors' dime
Elisabeth Bauer was Jimmy Wales's first big perk as lord and master of Wikipedia. As with Rachel Marsden, the Canadian journalist at the root of Wales's recent woes, Wales and Bauer struck up a friendship online, over Wikipedia. And people are now saying Wikipedia paid for Bauer, known online as "Elian," to travel with Wales as an upaid Wikipedia press officer — a title he insisted on for her, though some argue she was unqualified for the job. More »
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Thu Jul 9
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