Gawker
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public relations
How Censorship Finally Helped Wikipedia's Co-Founder
Jimmy Wales had an image problem. After bending his online encyclopedia's rules for a lover and, allegedly, for a benefactor, the Wikipedia co-founder faced rebuke and embarrassment. Then the New York Times made him a hero. More »
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3
By Ryan TateComment by Charax: I don't think that Times link links to what you think it links to. 1 Responses | Other threads
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scandal
How the Crescent City Revealed Wired's Plagiarizing Editor
How did the Virginia Quarterly Review connect Chris Anderson's book to Wikipedia, thus unraveling a plagiarism scandal? A strange use of parentheses. More »
8,768
By Ryan TateComment by Tremonius: When I was a boy in the fifties, and listening to AM station WNOE from New Orleans a thousand miles... 2 Responses | Other threads
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books
Wired Editor Steals Content for Book About How Content Should be Free
Chris Anderson has been caught lifting huge chunks out of Wikipedia for his book Free. The irony speaks for itself. But it's worth noting that the Wired editor's excuses are disconcertingly clichéd. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Stefanie Kechayas: Actually, I'm doing my masters in new media communications and I regularly use Wikipedia as a reference to find primary... 4 Responses | Other threads
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censorship
The Case for Insane Scientology Cyborgs on Wikipedia
Wikipedia recently banned the Church of Scientology and its associates from contributing to the collaborative reference site. But maybe this is what the Scientologists wanted Wikipedia to do. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by rhys1882: I love law professors. They are so out of touch with reality it is hilarious. They want everything... 1 Responses | Other threads
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ejections
Wikipedia to Scientologists: 'Get the F#@% Out!'
In a rather extraordinary effort to crack down on the Church of Scientology's obsessive policing of its online public image, Wikipedia has banned all IP addresses owned or affiliated with Scientology from making edits to entries on its website. More »
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Comment by LeeroySpitzer: I can never quite pinpoint just how I feel about Ol' L. Ron Hubbard. Part of me knows he's a... 7 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Valleywag: An Instruction Manual
Dear Ryan:
As I head to NBC to run its Bay Area site, I'm leaving you one Silicon Valley gossip blog, used but in good condition. A few thoughts on how to keep it that way. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by RheaPollstry: Is that Owen? Mmmmmm, I do luv me some bears. And working in a bar, no less! My heart is... 4 Responses | Other threads
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wikipedia
Wikipedia is just like a big city — complete with sleazy guys ogling women.
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print is dead
Is the Los Angeles Times Cribbing from Wikipedia?
Whether they admit it or not, Wikipedia is every reporter's crutch for finding mundane details on deadline. Most know to cover up their laziness. But not this Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by jangregory: And of course, Owen didn't crib this story from anywhere. Clearly, he came across both of these articles on... 3 Responses | Other threads
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anniversaries
The Web at 20: Not Quite Old Enough to Drink, Yet Drives Us to It
Dear important scientist Tim Berners-Lee: Thank you for inventing the World Wide Web 20 years ago. It's really great and stuff! But were you aware of the crimes committed in your name? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by tetragami: Oh Christ, someday I will be explaining to kids that I am older than the internet. 11 Responses | Other threads
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snits
Update: Writer Used a Researcher to Invent an Obama Wikipedia Scandal
Aaron Klein, the WorldNetDaily writer who invented a scandal about Wikipedia censoring an article about Barack Obama, demanded we retract that claim because, in fact, he had someone else do the work for him. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Uncle_Billy_Slumming: This is intriguing. Anyone know of some authoritative articles or websites regarding the whole birth controversy? ""if there is not... 34 Responses | Other threads
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wikipedia
Right-Wing Writer Invents His Own Obama Wikipedia Scandal
Even Matt Drudge gave up on the faux Barack Obama birth-certificate story last fall. But out-there conservative website WorldNetDaily is keeping the fable alive — with a Wikipedia fiction of its own. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Mediahohoho: The title "Jerusalem bureau chief for WorldNetDaily" strikes me as more of clinical diagnosis than anything else. 6 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
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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commenter of the day
Troll 2.0
Will the real Jimmy Wales please stand up? Troll 2.0 nails the slippery Wikipedia cofounder: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Troll_2.0: I'm not just famous, I'm internet famous!! more » | 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
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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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 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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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.
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By Jackson WestComment by WilliamMarkFelt: @sample032 - A quick search shows how right you are. Quite a detailed article here on the inability to get wood,... 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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clips
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 »
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By Jackson WestComment by WilliamMarkFelt: Knocking on a writer's writing quality is like telling a soldier in the line of duty he or she lacks... 1 Responses | Other threads
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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 »
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By Owen ThomasComment by colonelpanic: I think the whole Jimmy Wales vibe is blowing over, folks. There are only so many times I can read 500... 3 Responses | Other threads
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immigration
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] -
Wikigenes
New wiki identifies author of every single word
What took so long? WikiGenes is the first implementation of a new wiki tool designed by psychologist Robert Hoffman. The software that powers Wikigenes enables users to look up the author of every single word in the wiki, rather than requiring them to compare versions and reverse-engineer attribution. Hoffman's scholarly paper in Nature Genetics describes the big value-add: More » -
loser-generated content
Google's willing to employ more human meatbags, just not pay them
If there's a successful business model in the whole "user-generated content" revolution, it's in compnies getting for free services they used to pay for. Google is planning to let users rerank search results for it. Digg's users already do something like this for news headlines — likely why Google was interested in buying the well-trafficked geek-popularity contest. So why pass on it? By applying similar techniques to search results instead of news, Google doesn't have to worry about charges of copying Digg. Rather than beg Digg to sell, better to borrow functionality — and steal free labor from users. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by gkanapathy: Google's original PageRank algorithm already used (and uses) other people to help with the ranking. Sure, "important pages are pages... 1 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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ina fried
Transgender journalist caught in Wikipedia edit war
Ina Fried, the veteran technology reporter and a regular source of good Microsoft dish, is very open about her status as a transgender woman — her CNET blog is titled "Beyond Binary." She knows she's female. But some users of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia any bigot can edit, aren't convinced. An anonymous Wikipedia user in Knoxville, Tenn. however, refuses to accept hers as the last word on the subject, and has been changing pronouns from "she" to "he" on Fried's listing with repeated edits in the last six weeks. The justification offered: More »
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By Jackson WestComment by imacademic: You've got the name down to a science - V.A.G. is Vaguely Assigned Gender, hence V.A.G/Ina. Whattup with Podiatry? She could end... more » | 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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commenter of the day
dogcat
Thanks to today's commenter, dogcat, having a penchant for keeping tabs on Wikipedia Jimmy Wales' waistline we all get to enjoy a peek at what kind of man it takes to head up the world's biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet: More »
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Comment by dogcat: If only he hadn't undone that black jacket... [flickr.com] more » | Other threads
valleywag
San Francisco, 3:24 PM
Fri Jul 10
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