Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-06-12/In the news
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In the news
- By HereToHelp and Randy Johnston, 12 June 2006.
Seattle Times column
On 3 June 2006, Linda Knapp, a columnist for the Seattle Times, described her first encounter with Wikipedia. She states in the article that she has now gone from a skeptic to an uneasy believer. She describes her journey through the category system, listing specific articles, and also describes some of Wikipedia's processes and policies. Ultimately, she winds up liking the site, and asks her readers for their responses. The article is freely available online, without a subscription.
Discover analyzes evolution
The July issue of Discover (already done by the beginning of June) sports a map of "evolution evolving" on page 21. Indeed, it is a history chart produced by IBM's Watson Research Center of all the different versions of evolution up to October 2005. It looks like a bar graph, upside down, with hundreds of paper thin bars squashed together next to each other. There are black lines, breaking the flow of the graph, indicating emptiness where the page was vandalized. The magazine lists six important moments in the history of the page (omitting that the article became a Featured article on 30 January 2006, although the graph is older than that). The article gives special mention to Dmerrill, Graft, and Jlefler.
Discover does not have nearly as much sway as Science or Nature. Nevertheless, it correctly states that Wikipedia has over 1 million entries, about half of all vandalism is reverted in five minutes, and that Wikipedia is "the Internet encyclopedia that anyone can edit". It also touched on Neutral point of view, though did not clearly state that it was a policy.
Newsweek names Wikipedia as a way to "Recharge America"
An article titled "15 Ideas to Recharge America" by Paul Saffo (Wikipedia advocate and Director of Institute for the Future) appeared in the 12 June 2006 issue of Newsweek. Saffo named Wikipedia as one way to invigorate the United States by focusing on a "New Age of Creators."
Also this week: From the editor — 1,000 featured articles — NSLE desysopped — M.A.N.I.A. — News and notes — Press coverage — Features and admins — B.R.I.O.N. — T.R.O.L.L.
