Jimmy Wales

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Wikipedia Gets Its Own NFT
Wikipedia Gets Its 
Own NFT
Dec 5, 2021 9:30 AM CST

Wikipedia Gets Its Own NFT

First edit being auctioned

(Newser) - Non-fungible tokens couldn't exist without the internet, and the internet would be a very different place without Wikipedia. No surprise, then, that the ubiquitous free encyclopedia is getting the NFT treatment. Per The Verge , Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is placing his first ever edit to the site up for...

Wikipedia Founder Has 'Radical' Solution to Fight Fake News

Jimmy Wales' Wikitribune combines pro journalists with community volunteers

(Newser) - "The news is broken and we can fix it." That's the lofty promise of Wikitribune , a new "living, breathing tool" launched by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales that he hopes will combat "fake news" by teaming ace journalists with citizen volunteers. "I'm not sure...

Google Holds Debates on 'Right to Be Forgotten'

EU rule calls for removal of some links from search engines

(Newser) - Google is touring Europe to discuss a controversial new rule in the region: the "right to be forgotten," which allows individuals to seek the removal of unwanted search-engine links about them. While those on one side of the argument see a victory for privacy, others see censorship, the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Wikipedia Weighs Big Questions
Wikipedia Weighs Big Questions
Mar 11, 2008 11:10 AM CDT

Wikipedia Weighs Big Questions

Site struggles with funding, charges of impropriety

(Newser) - Forget dot-com excesses: A piece of printer paper taped to the door and cut-price desks and chairs from eBay and Craigslist are all that distinguish the new San Francisco office of the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia. "We are about as unsophisticated as we could possibly be," its executive...

Wiki's Wales Accused of Inappropriate Spending

Claims he abused his foundation's trust

(Newser) - Jimmy Wales has been hit with allegations that he abused his position as founder of Wikipedia, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A former Wikipedia employee, Danny Wool, has claimed on his blog that Wales used his Wikimedia Foundation credit card for personal expenses. Meanwhile, a former girlfriend released chat transcripts...

Wikipedia Founder to Debut Search Engine

'Wikia Search' will allow users to tweak results

(Newser) - Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will open his new project, Wikia Search, next week. Unlike top search giants such as Google and Yahoo, Wikia Search will use open algorithms instead of proprietary search methods. The new engine will also allow users to contribute to—and ideally improve the accuracy of—search...

Wiki Founder May Take on Facebook
Wiki Founder May Take on Facebook
Nov 17, 2007 9:13 AM CST

Wiki Founder May Take on Facebook

Jimmy Wales' new project combines networking, search

(Newser) - Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is apparently going after Facebook and Google in the social-networking arena, Wired reports. Wales showed slides of his upcoming project during a speech in South Africa, and a tech blogger on hand described it as a "search/social networking hybrid" that incorporates elements of both internet...

Wikimedia Begins '07 Fundraiser
Wikimedia Begins '07 Fundraiser
Oct 22, 2007 4:49 PM CDT

Wikimedia Begins '07 Fundraiser

(Newser) - The Wikimedia foundation, non-profit operator of Wikipedia and related sites, announced the start of its annual fundraiser today, News.com reports. The pledge drive, which will run through December 22, will finance general improvements to the online encyclopedia as well as a planned expansion of the site into geographic areas...

Wikipedia: Encyclopedia, Newspaper, or Cult?

All of the above, and an astonishing success

(Newser) - Novelist Jonathan Dee plumbs the phenomenon that is Wikipedia: First it was a populist encyclopedia, increasingly it's populist journalism, and all along it's been a religious cult, populated by cybermonks working in isolation, often putting in long hours in their bedrooms on school nights. The amazing twist, he notes, is...

Bloggers Urge More Civility
Bloggers Urge More Civility
Apr 9, 2007 7:53 AM CDT

Bloggers Urge More Civility

Epidemic of nastiness has techies mulling a Web 2.0 code of conduct

(Newser) - Prominent techies are calling for a code of conduct for the Web 2.0 blogosphere.  The group, which includes Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, urges that bloggers  purge their sites of anonymous comments and delete libelous or menacing ones. “If it’s a carefully constructed set of principles, it...

Google's Worst Nightmare
Google's Worst Nightmare
Mar 18, 2007 8:41 PM CDT

Google's Worst Nightmare

Can Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales take on Google in search and win?

(Newser) - Fast Company’s Alan Deutschman profiles Wikipedia founder Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales’ effort to take on Google in search. With 1000 initial volunteers, $4 million, and a commitment to mass collaboration Wales’ new for profit company, Wikia, mostly has idealism on its side as it takes on Google.

18 Stories