Here are all my posts featuring the crowd-sourced encyclopaedia Wikipedia, founded in 2001 by Jimmy Wales. Since that first English-language edition, numerous other editions have been added.
These two graphs are taken from the statistics at stats.wikimedia.org, using data up until 31 July 2009. The trends for other languages not shown in the graphs varies considerably, but for the English version of Wikipedia there are clear – and long running – signs of stagnation and decline when it comes to the generation … Read the full post »
If your Wikipedia entry explains what your firm is about better than your own website, it’s time to get to work on the website. … Read the full post »
In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates. … Read the full post »
Labour councillor in Westminster David Boothroyd has had to resign from the “Wikipedia Supreme Court” after allegations of fake identities and vote rigging. … Read the full post »
The Guardian’s Readers’ Editor has highlighted how a fake quote in a Wikipedia entry got used by journalists: An obituary of French composer Maurice Jarre, which appeared in the Guardian on 31 March, began and ended with quotes. It opened with: “My life has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me … Read the full post »
Wikipedia’s dominance of search results (and the increasing degree to which people equate research to putting something into Google) means it often takes some effort to… … Read the full post »
If your party leader has got his facts wrong, editing Wikipedia to try to hide this isn’t likely to work. (Whisper it quietly, but, you know, there are other places people get information from.) Editing from a Conservative Party IP address is also likely to be spotted. … Read the full post »
We-Think, Charles Leadbeater book, is – as you would expect from him – an interesting and thoughtful study. … Read the full post »
The way has been cleared for millions of out-of-print books to appear on the internet with the news that Google has come to a $125 million settlement in two copyright lawsuits. … Read the full post »