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NEWS ABOUT: Wikipedia

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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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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,... More »

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... More »

Vatican Lifts Bios for New Cardinals From ... Wikipedia

Spokesperson: We were in a hurry, official bios coming

(Newser) - Well, this is embarrassing: The Vatican was recently caught lifting biographical information for its own cardinals from Wikipedia. The biographies for 22 new cardinals appointed Friday were sent to journalists, who noticed that the information had been taken from the Italian-language version of Wikipedia with no attribution. The Guardian notes... More »

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,... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

15 Things You Didn't Know About Wikipedia

Some surprising, some less so

(Newser) - The fact that Wikipedia's name comes from merging "wiki" (shared website) and "pedia (short for encyclopedia) is no big surprise. But some of these other tidbits, gathered by Online MBA and packaged in a spunky infographic, are:
  • " Sex " is one of the site's most popular articles
... More »

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