Wikipedia:WikipediaWeekly/Episode16

Introduction

• Opening music...
• Introduction of panelists (with small personalised comment)
• Index of what we will talk about - record at conclusion and edit in later

News

• Jimbo's letter to New Yorker published

  I am writing to apologize to "The New Yorker" and Stacy Schiff, and to give some follow-up concerning Ryan Jordan (Editors' Note, March 5). When I last spoke to "The New Yorker" about the fact that a prominent Wikipedia community member had lied about his credentials, I misjudged the issue. It was not O.K. for Mr. Jordan, or Essjay, to lie to a reporter, even to protect his identity. I later learned more about the deceptions involved and asked Mr. Jordan to resign from his positions of responsibility at Wikipedia. He has since resigned from his position at Wikia as well. Mr. Jordan is a wonderful and thoughtful young man who made a series of very bad judgments. I consider him a friend, and I hope that the world will allow to move forward in peace and dignity to regain his honor through a life well lived. Wikipedia is built on trust and love. Our trust has been broken, and only love can rebuild it. The community has begun discussing a proposal of mine that we adopt some verification measures for claimed credentials, so that Wikipedia may further improve from this painful experience.

  Jimmy Wales

  President of Wikia, Inc.; board member and chairman emeritus of the

  Wikimedia Foundation, St. Petersburg, Fla.

• Hiring of Bastique, Cary Bass
• Web 3.0 article gets attention , deleted 5 times, as recent as October 2006. Google "Web 3.0" and Web 3.0 does not even show up on first screen. Semantic Web is number 4.
• Alex Beam's column in the Boston Globe (reprinted in the International Herald Tribune 13/3/07) "My sticky Wiki" - in which he complains about libelous statements on his own WP page (that he is "anti-canada") to Lawrence Lessig. Mentions EssJay and compares us unfavourably to Britannica, Citizendium, Conservapedia, scholarpedia.

• requests Wikimania Lounge idea

• Live article creation, Vuguru

Wiki Industry

• Gaming Wikia and other sites launched
• Danny Hillis Freebase
• Citizendium update

The World According to Wikipedia

The Top 100 pages at Wikipedia.

• More 300 (film) popularity
  • Top results for Battle of Thermopylae, Sparta
  • 33. 300 (comic book)
  • 37. 300
  • 48. Xerxes I of Persia
  • 93. Persian Empire

• 18. Saint Patrick's Day
• 24. Sinbad (actor)

Cultural Moment

• Jabberwocky