Wikipedia

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Wikipedia Blocks 'Disruptive' Edits From the Capitol

They're onto you, 143.231.249.138—cut it out

(Newser) - Last week, Gizmodo and other tech-obsessed sites reported on significant Wikipedia edits regarding Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that were apparently made from a Russian government IP address ... and now, it appears someone in the US government is taking that idea and running with it. The online encyclopedia has blocked an...

Analysis: Sinatra Is Planet&#39;s Most Important Person...
Analysis: Sinatra Is Planet's Most Important Person...
in case you missed it
Jun 15, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Analysis: Sinatra Is Planet's Most Important Person...

...at least according to Wikipedia ... and its English version

(Newser) - Using methods borrowed from Google, a group of researchers has analyzed all Wikipedia pages and determined that, at least on the English language version of the site, Frank Sinatra is the world's most important person. Second place goes to Michael Jackson, and third to Pope Pius XII. When factoring...

Wikipedia Accuses PR Firm of Slanting Entries

It orders 'Wiki-PR' to stop editing pages

(Newser) - The foundation that runs Wikipedia is calling out a PR firm that it believes is in the business of biasing Wikipedia entries for its clients. Its first hint? The firm is called "Wiki-PR." The Wikimedia Foundation sent a "cease and desist" letter to the firm, ordering it...

Rand Paul on Plagiarism: 'If Dueling Were Legal...'

Then presumably this wouldn't end well for 'haters'

(Newser) - Rand Paul has had quite enough of the "hacks and haters" stirred up about where his speeches come from , and Politico reports that he'd like to settle it like gentlemen of yore: "I take it as an insult, and I will not lie down and say people...

Rand Paul Doubles Down: I'll Block Yellen's Fed Nom

Until Senate votes on his Audit the Fed bill

(Newser) - Rand Paul says he plans to "delay" Janet Yellen's nomination for Federal Reserve chair, until there's a vote on his Audit the Fed bill, Politico reports. "I don’t think technically you can file a hold until she comes out of committee—but we’re putting...

Rand Paul Rips Off Wikipedia
 Rand Paul Rips Off Wikipedia 
Oct 29, 2013 10:52 AM CDT

Rand Paul Rips Off Wikipedia

Rachel Maddow catches the plagiarism

(Newser) - If you already thought it was weird that Rand Paul went on a rant about eugenics during a speech in Virginia yesterday, well, the story just got even weirder. Rachel Maddow pointed out last night that parts of the speech were lifted from Wikipedia, Mediaite reports. Specifically, the Wikipedia entry...

Wikipedia Science Entries: It's a Man's World

Volunteers aim to give female scientists their due in 'edit-a-thon'

(Newser) - Look up a female scientist or technologist on Wikipedia, and you might not find what you're looking for. Many don't have detailed pages or any page at all on the free online encyclopedia created by contributors, the vast majority of them men. It's a symptom of a...

Wikipedia's Most Fiercely Edited Topic: George W.

Oxford researchers study 'edit wars'

(Newser) - If you've ever wondered about the most controversial topics on Wikipedia then you have that in common with Oxford University researchers. They've turned their interest into a full-blown study , analyzing millions of articles from 10 language editions of the site, the BBC reports. Rather than look at subjects...

Wikipedia Jumps Into Travel Fray With Wikivoyage

But is there room for yet another travel site?

(Newser) - Next week, the "beta" label will come off of the Wikimedia Foundation's bold new project Wikivoyage, a travel-centric spin on its user-generated formula. It's been up since September, but as a project-in-development, Skift reports, and like Wikipedia, the site will be free and carry no ads. It...

Climate-Change Denier Vets Wikipedia's Sandy Page

'I don't believe that climate change bullcrap,' he says

(Newser) - Wikipedia's Superstorm Sandy page attracted more than 500,000 hits over three days, but most visitors saw no mention of global warming—because one of the most impassioned editors on the page is a climate-change denier, reports Popular Science . Ken Mampel, 56, an out-of-work media freelancer in Florida with...

Philip Roth Pens Open Letter to Wikipedia to Fix Error

... and it works, after he is first rejected as a 'credible source'

(Newser) - Philip Roth glanced at the Wikipedia entry for his novel The Human Stain and learned that his book was inspired by the life of the late writer and literary critic Anatole Broyard. The problem, writes Roth in an open letter to Wikipedia published in the New Yorker , is that the...

Colbert Causes Wikipedia VP Lockdown

He urged viewers to edit pages of Mitt's potential picks

(Newser) - Wikipedia banned new users from editing the pages of close to a dozen of Mitt Romney's potential running mates after Stephen Colbert urged his viewers to get edit-happy. Colbert was responding to a report that suggested edits could hint at Romney's choice, reports the Hill . A tech analyst...

Wikipedia's New Headache: Admin Problems

Barely anyone is being promoted to admin these days

(Newser) - While attending Wikimania last Friday in DC, the Atlantic's Robinson Meyer came across three charts that made him worry about Wikipedia's future. He acknowledges it's not new news that the number of Wikipedia editors has been on the decline for the last five years. Here's what...

First 'Wikipedia Town' Launches in Wales

Scan a bar code on a landmark, and read about its history

(Newser) - A small Welsh town where English King Henry V was born is about to make history again by becoming the world's first "Wikipedia town." Starting tomorrow, visitors will be able to use smartphones to scan bar codes at points of interest in Monmouth, instantly bringing up a...

What's It Take to Get a Wikipedia Page? Try $300

Two experts will create one for you (if you're 'Wiki worthy')

(Newser) - If you're important enough to warrant your own Wikipedia page, it should, in theory, just kind of appear on its own. But sometimes, giving it a $300 nudge doesn't hurt. Two Brooklyn entrepreneurs charge that much to craft an in-depth entry for you or your business on the...

Gingrich Aide Defends Edits in Wikipedia

Joe DeSantis says he stopped editing site months ago

(Newser) - Notice that Newt Gingrich's image on Wikipedia has gotten cleaner lately? The site's editors raised a fuss over it—and Gingrich's communications director, who made the changes, issued a statement defending them. "I stopped making direct edits in May 2011 because I was alerted to the...

SOPA Protest Hails Web's 'Coming of Age'

Protesting websites' message clicked with users

(Newser) - Yesterday, we witnessed the power of the Internet to influence policy, as countless websites went dark to protest SOPA and PIPA. It did the job: Congress faced an onslaught of complaints about the controversial online piracy measures—which were born of traditional lobbying and heavy corporate spending, writes James Temple...

Wikipedia Editors Blast Blackout

They prefer neutrality over advocacy

(Newser) - Switzerland: It's not just an entry on Wikipedia—it's what some volunteer editors would like to be in the SOPA ruckus. In a word, neutral. In light of today's SOPA/PIPA blackout , the AP speaks with editors who aren't too pleased with the site's foray into...

Websites Go Dark to Protest SOPA

Thousands of sites join strike

(Newser) - Even the LOLcats are going on strike. The "Cheezburger Network" is among an estimated 7,000 websites shutting down today to protest two Internet-regulation bills making their way through Congress, the Washington Post reports. Wikipedia went dark at midnight Eastern time and was soon joined by Reddit, Raw Story,...

Wikipedia to Go Dark in SOPA Protest

Make sure you don't need to look anything up Wednesday

(Newser) - "Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!" With that tweet, issued earlier today, Jimmy Wales revealed that Wikipedia will be joining up with Reddit, I Can Haz Cheezburger, and several other websites in their Jan. 18 protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act...

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