Wikipedia

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Reddit's Next SOPA Target: Paul Ryan

Plus, looks like 'Dump GoDaddy Day' actually worked

(Newser) - Behold the power of Reddit: Users fuming over Paul Ryan's alleged support of a controversial online piracy bill have prompted a clarification from the congressman. "Contrary to false reports, Congressman Paul Ryan is not a cosponsor of HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act," said a rep,...

PR Firm Rewrites Clients' Wikipedia Entries

Wiki co-founder slams 'ethical blindness,' suspends writer access

(Newser) - So much for reliable Wikipedia content. A high-powered British PR firm routinely rewrites Wikipedia content relating to its clients, reports the Independent . Bell Pottinger made hundreds of changes in Wiki entries over the last year, either adding positive comments or deleting negative ones about clients. At least ten contributing writer...

Cuba Unveils Facebook-Like Social Network

'Red Social' launches a year after Cuban Wikipedia clone

(Newser) - Cuba has introduced its very own Facebook-style social network called Red Social. The website appears to be sponsored by the communist nation's Ministry of Education, reports USA Today . Red Social imitates both the look and feel of Facebook, and its homepage features the slogan "A virtual meeting point...

Wikipedia Italy Shuts to Protest Press Curbs

'Idiotic' law would require websites to publish corrections after any complaint

(Newser) - Wikipedia shut down its Italian-language version for two days this week to protest a law widely seen as an attempt to spare Silvio Berlusconi embarrassment by muzzling the press and online criticism. The law, currently being debated in Italy's parliament, would require websites to publish a correction within 48...

No One Wants to Edit Wikipedia These Days

Online encyclopedia struggling to find fresh blood, says Jimmy Wales

(Newser) - Wikipedia is in danger of wasting away as contributors jump ship and aren't replaced by new ones, founder Jimmy Wales says. "We are not replenishing our ranks," he tells the AP . "It is not a crisis, but I consider it to be important." Wales—who...

British Education Minister Plagiarizes Wikipedia

ePolitix points to a speech that appears to have been lifted from site

(Newser) - Plagiarizing Wikipedia: It's not just for high school students anymore! ePolitix busts John Hayes, Britain's further education minister, for apparently lifting a portion of a recent House of Commons speech from Wikipedia. Hayes was giving a history of bank holidays, and ePolitix offers up a detailed comparison of...

Vatican Praises 'Hackers' for 'Theological' Values

'Good hackers" are creative and communitarian, says article

(Newser) - The Vatican is known more for illuminated manuscripts and orthodoxy than LED screens and Web wizardry, but now a Vatican-approved publication is expressing support for computer hackers. The Vatican's definition of a hacker, however, is an old-school one that distinguishes hackers from "crackers," who use computers to wreak...

Congressman Deletes His Wikipedia 'Controversies'

Site quickly restores them about GOP's David Rivera

(Newser) - David Rivera’s been involved in a lot of controversies—so many that when Eric Cantor visited Miami last month, he refused to meet with him—but for a few minutes at a time, he’s had a clean slate on Wikipedia. Last month, Wikipedia editor “Lmveiga”—which...

Rabid Bieber Fans Attack Grammy Rival on Wikipedia

Vandals say her middle name 'Quesadilla,' 'go die in a hole'

(Newser) - Fear the Bieber! Or at least the wrath of Justin Bieber fans—especially if you had the misfortune of beating the young heartthrob at last night's Grammy Awards. Angry fans of the Bieb ran wild on Esperanza Spalding's Wikipedia page after the talented but less-well-known singer won the Best New...

Robots to Get Their Own Internet, Wikipedia

'RoboEarth' would streamline programming

(Newser) - Robots might be getting their own Internet, or something very much like it, reports the BBC . "RoboEarth" as it is being called, would allow robots to access a database, upload and download information, and generally get about their business more efficiently. "Most current robots see the world their...

Behind Wikipedia's Millions of Articles: Mostly Men

Just 13% of its contributors are woman; it wants to boost that to 25%

(Newser) - Wikipedia is one of the Internet's biggest success stories, with more than 3.5 million articles in English, and millions more in some 250 languages. The one thing it seems to be missing? Women. A study by the Wikimedia Foundation discovered that just 13% of the online encyclopedia's contributors are...

Skeptical Climate Report Plagiarized Wikipedia

...and other material, including text from scientist it was blasting

(Newser) - An influential 2006 congressional report questioning the validity of global warming research was heavily plagiarized, lifting sections from textbooks, Wikipedia, and even one of the scientists it criticized, according to experts contacted by the USA Today . A year-long analysis by one of the experts found that 35 of the report's...

Limbaugh Falls for Wikipedia Hoax

Even though, really, he should know better...

(Newser) - Even though Rush Limbaugh once said, "Everybody in the world knows you don't believe anything on Wikipedia," he managed to get himself fooled by, yep, a Wikipedia hoax. Limbaugh, speaking Tuesday about the judge who is presiding over a challenge to the president's health care reform, called him...

FBI Goes After Wikipedia Over Seal
 FBI Goes After Wikipedia 
 Over Seal 
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Aug 3, 2010 2:02 PM CDT

FBI Goes After Wikipedia Over Seal

Site won't back down, refuses to remove image

(Newser) - The FBI has sent a letter to Wikipedia complaining that it violated federal law by showing an image of the FBI seal on its page . “Whoever possess any insignia … or any colorable imitation thereof … shall be fined … or imprisoned … or both,” the Bureau wrote,...

Wikipedia Relaxes Editing Rules on Touchy Topics

Entries on George Bush, etc., more open

(Newser) - Wikipedia is set to open up its most controversial articles for anonymous editing, rolling back locks that have kept topics like "George W. Bush," "Britney Spears" and even "homework" closed off from newcomers for years. The new system, called "pending changes," will make proposed...

Porn Battle Rocks Wiki
 Porn Battle Rocks Wiki 
May 11, 2010 2:55 AM CDT

Porn Battle Rocks Wiki

Co-founder axes images, complaints erupt

(Newser) - Wikipedia's founders are battling against contributor objections to ax images they believe are pornographic from Wiki sites. Wikimedia Commons, a media file used by Wikipedia, last week deleted hundreds of images after co-founder Jimmy Wales said many of them appealed "solely to prurient interests." The action followed estranged...

Office Space Star Sues Over Wikipedia Edit

But Ron Livingston doesn't know which user called him gay

(Newser) - Ron Livingston, the actor probably best known for headlining Office Space, is suing…someone. Livingston is peeved that someone keeps editing his Wikipedia page to say that he’s gay, but since the user is anonymous, his suit simply names him as “John Doe.” The suit, however, will...

Contributors Flee Wikipedia's Stricter Rules

Effort to combat bias, vandalism has thinned ranks by 49K

(Newser) - In an attempt to rein in the lawlessness and veiled opinion running rampant among its volunteer editors, Wikipedia may have shot itself in the foot. In the first 3 months of this year, there's been something of a stampede of contributors exiting the crowdsourced online encyclopedia, leading to a net...

Wales: Wikipedia Changes Exaggerated

Only a few posts will be delayed for approval

(Newser) - Wikipedia's editorial changes aren't so sweeping after all, says co-founder Jimmy Wales. Reports that the open-source encyclopedia would restrict edits to entries on all living people are “just completely wrong," he tells Time. Instead, the site will adopt “flagged revision”—in which edits are checked by...

Wikipedia Labels Obama 'Harvard Puppet'

Days of user stunts like this are numbered

(Newser) - Oops. Wikipedia's new editorial oversight didn't start soon enough to block a statement in President Obama's Wiki profile that he's a "puppet" of Columbia and Harvard Law. Mystery writer "Mrjazzguitar" substituted the word in the kind of prank that Wikipedia hopes to curtail with its new policy to...

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