Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-04-17/In the news

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In the news

By Catherine and Whouk, 17 April 2006.

Wikipedia criticism site makes Slashdot

San Francisco bureau chief for The Register and Wikipedia critic Andrew Orlowski discussed a Wikipedia criticism site, WikiTruth, in an article published in the The Guardian on April 13. WikiTruth includes versions of articles that were blanked or protected under the Office Actions policy. The article was linked to by Slashdot, and resulted in a continuing deletion debate on the WikiTruth article.

Jimbo Wales speaks to students

Jimbo Wales spoke to an audience of about three hundred students at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida on April 12. His presentation was reported the following day in The Gainesville Sun.

Jason Scott critiques Wikipedia

Jason Scott discussed "The Great Failure of Wikipedia" during a presentation at Notacon on April 8 (transcript).

The Gadget Show

Wikipedia was featured on Five's The Gadget Show on April 17 (repeated April 22). They gave an introduction to the concept, and attempted some bogus edits which, they reported, were quickly reverted (e.g., changing information on the Italy article, fixed by Everyking within a minute). The same IP address made edits to Jon Bentley and The Gadget Show. The show also made comparisons between Wikipedia and the online version of the Encyclopædia Britannica, and mentioned the controversy over Jimbo's edits to his biography.

The reporter decided that Wikipedia is better on pop culture than Britannica (citing Brad Pitt), that Britannica's Bill Gates article is clearer than Wikipedia's, and that political balance is an issue for Wikipedia, mentioning the semi-protection of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. Wikipedia was praised for being more up-to-date: Britannica's Blair article features information only up to last July, but Wikipedia's includes a parliamentary debate from March this year. The reporter concluded that Wikipedia - which, unlike Britannica Online, can be accessed free of charge - is excellent value for money.

The programme's website has a long summary of the feature ("WIKI!").

TripAdvisor adds wiki to site

According to The Boston Herald, high-profile travel website TripAdvisor has added a wiki to its site, allowing visitors to write articles about travel destinations and so forth ("TripAdvisor imitates Wikipedia"). It is still in beta testing, developing sections on the U.K. and California. It remains to be seen whether it will compete with Wikitravel, a Creative Commons-licensed spin-off of Wikipedia with over 10,000 articles and 5,000 users.