News
August 20, 2007
Wikipedia Scanner uncovers scandals
Poster: Logan King
Posted on August 20, 2007 at 9:04:57 PM
Quote
One American student sent major corporations, governments and even the Vatican on the defensive after coming up with Wikipedia Scanner, a software program that reveals who changed Wikipedia entries.
Wikipedia.com is an online encyclopedia edited by general users, who write articles on every imaginable subject. Since it is written by users, anyone can edit, delete and arrange the articles on Wikipedia.
What Virgil Griffith did was come up with a program that reveals who edits these articles, via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory.
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted.
Linky.
Most of the list is all to predictable, but one of particular comedy I found was this one:
Quote
- BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush”
Anyways, I guess that kind of implodes any credibility Wikipedia had as a reliable source of info.
August 23, 2006
Wikipedia Tries Moderator System
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on August 23, 2006 at 1:11:33 PM
I really don't see the big deal about Wikipedia trying moderation before edits show. And remember that Wikipedia should NOT be used as a source for any academic paper. Some teachers will let you slide, but others will fail you.
Quote
But now, Wales said, administrators of the German Wikipedia--the second-largest version after English--have come up with a system that could protect live articles, especially obscure ones that escape regular scrutiny from hawkeyed community members intent on maintaining accuracy. As always, anyone will be able to make article edits. But it would take someone who has been around Wikipedia for some yet-to-be-determined period of time--and who, therefore, has passed a threshold of trustworthiness--to make the edits live on the public site. If someone vandalizes an article, the edits would not be approved.
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