Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Malaysia Busts 80+ Lovers in Valentine's Day Raids Muslims face up to two years in jail »

NEWS ABOUT: Wikipedia

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,... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

Wikipedia Adds Editor Review for Some Articles

(Newser) - After riding its users to popularity, Wikipedia is now moving to rein them in, the New York Times reports, by mandating editorial review for articles about living people. The feature, called “flagged revisions,” means an experienced editor will check updates to the free, user-generated online encyclopedia. The change... More »

Army Launches Wiki Field Manuals

(Newser) - The US Army has borrowed an idea—and some software—from Wikipedia to introduce field manuals any soldier can edit, the New York Times reports. Seven manuals have been opened for editing by anybody from private to general in a trial program the military says is an effort to close... More »

Shrinks Fume Over Wiki's 'Rorschach Cheat Sheet'

(Newser) - Psychologists are seeing red in a row over Rorschach's famous inkblots, the New York Times reports. The original series of 10 inkblot images, whose interpretations are used to gain insight into a viewer's mind, have been posted on Wikipedia along with the most common responses. Psychologists fear that some people... More »

Wired Editor Plagiarizes Wikipedia in New Book

Ironically, Anderson's tome is on free content

(Newser) - The Virginia Quarterly Review has found almost a dozen plagiarized passages in Chris Anderson’s upcoming book Free, a book that, ironically, is all about free content. Most of the passages were cribbed verbatim from Wikipedia, while another was from a professor’s personal website, and yet another from another... More »

Wikipedia Bars Edits From Scientology Addresses

Move is site's first such action against major organization

(Newser) - In an unusually broad push against posting biased content, Wikipedia’s “supreme court” has banned edits from IP addresses associated with Scientology headquarters and its affiliates, the Register reports. The Wikipedia Arbitration Committee voted 10-0 for the ban. Individual “Wikifiddlers” have had their privileges revoked in the past,... More »

Obit Editors Fall for Fake Wikipedia Quote

Papers printed Maurice Jarre gem, but he didn't say it; Irish student did

(Newser) - An Irish college student managed to prank the world media in an attempt to illustrate lax fact-checking in today’s 24-hour news cycle, the AP reports. When French composer Maurice Jarre died March 28, Shane Fitzgerald fabricated a delicious quote and put it on the Jarre Wikipedia page. The citizen... More »

Spooks Use Wiki to Share Intel

Site enables rapid sharing of information, advocates say

(Newser) - The CIA has grown wise to the power of open-source collaboration, and Intellipedia—a classified version of Wikipedia—is humming with activity 3 years after its debut, Time reports. The site boasts 900,000 pages of content written by 100,000 identified intelligence professionals. Advocates cite the rapid treatment of... More »

In Classroom, Twitter Trumps the Queen

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

(Newser) - Why learn about World War II or Queen Victoria in elementary school when you can always look them up on Wikipedia? That seems to be the rationale behind a new proposed overhaul of the British school system. Because secondary schools teach plenty of history, the reasoning goes, early schooling should... More »

Fake Deaths May Force Changes in Wikipedia

Site considers blocking users from direct edits

(Newser) - The greatly exaggerated deaths of Sens. Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy last week on Wikipedia has sparked a push for a radical change in how the site's information is edited, Wired reports. The edits, traditionally open to all users, gave the false impression that both lawmakers had died. Founder Jimmy... More »

To Challenge Wiki, Britannica Will Let Users Edit

But edits still have to be vetted by encyclopedia's staff

(Newser) - The 241-year-old Encyclopedia Britannica is tired of being overshadowed on the web by Wikipedia, so it’s decided to start copying the competition’s defining feature: allowing users to edit and create content. Britannica will not be as laissez-faire as Wikipedia, the Sydney Morning Herald reports, as alterations to online... More »

Judge Tosses Wikipedia Defamation Suit

Judge says site isn't responsible for user-generated content

(Newser) - A judge has thrown out a defamation suit against Wikipedia, upholding the principle that a website isn't responsible for user-generated content, Ars Technica reports. In the lawsuit, a literary agent charged that her Wikipedia entry damaged her reputation because it included nasty comments from bloggers and from a website that... More »

Author Shares a Bit of 'Knol' on Google

Writers finds system 'intuitive,' but pages look 'dull'

(Newser) - Now that Google has launched its "Knol" option to Wikipedia that allows people to pen articles on topics, CNET writer Elinor Mills takes a stab at being one of the site's experts. Google's offering has a key difference to Wikipedia: the writer of a Knol entry has near total... More »

Google Unveils Wikipedia Rival

Experts replace anonymous writers in search king's online encylopedia

(Newser) - Could Wikipedia's assassin be lurking behind a Knol? Google opened up its online encyclopedia with articles—or "units of knowledge" Google calls "Knols"—to the public today, featuring major differences from its well-established rival. The  pieces are written by experts and their names are highlighted, in marked... More »

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne