Frank Warren, the man behind PostSecret, has agreed to answer a view
questions in an email. If anyone has anything they would like to ask
Mr. Warren, please let me know.
See:
www.postsecret.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostSecret
-sfullenwider
Alright, Gentle beings, we have a week left. We ought to pick someone
who is on irc frequently, or is that someone is to physically able to
abduct and place on IRC to escape our high pressure deadline. None of
these, that I'm aware of, are on the list. As such I think the list
should be rolled over into next month (February).
Amgine has a medical oriented one, I believe, he may wish to comment
further.
Another way to turn this into effective use of procrastination is to
simply interview someone who is on freenode all the time like someone
from one of the projects that has a freenode channel. I offer two
suggestions:
Debian: a Linux distro, some free software questions are applicable
FreeMatrix: see http://www.freematrix.com is a group that produces
Internet radio, they also are looking for content for Internet TV.
They already use our news feeds and many of the members of this list
have already spoken to them on non interview topics.
I am aware that this gives us a computer bent for a January interview
but I do not see any way around this given our time constraints, we
really need to streamline the Interview of The Month selection process.
If no one makes any movement between now and Jan 1st, I will conduct an
informal interview with someone from FreeMatrix.
(I would appreciate it if someone could forward this to wikipedia-l,
since I am no longer subscribed there.)
You may have heard about the "class action lawsuit" against Wikipedia
(http://www.wikipediaclassaction.org - .com is a parody). You may also
have heard that this "lawsuit" is linked to [[QuakeAID]], an alleged
charity soliciting donations for earthquake victims. You may know that
Wikipedians have raised many doubts about the legitimacy of this
charity, and have linked it to a convicted fraudster, Greg Lloyd Smith.
Finally, you may be aware that "QuakeAID" is publishing, through its
associated BAOU.com / OfficialWire site (currently still indexed by
Google News), one article after the other against Wikipedia. A recent
one has described Wikipedia as a breeding ground for pedophiles, and is
linked to another recently created campaign website, Wikipedophilia.com.
(You probably do not know that the same news wire also publishes stories
endorsing Holocaust deniers Zündel and Faurisson.)
More is probably to come. BAOU.com, "QuakeAID"'s parent company, seems
to be trying to do everything possible to discredit Wikipedia, after
Wikipedia has discredited QuakeAID. I think it's time for them to learn
that wikis have teeth.
This is a very, very serious issue and not just some troll setting up
anti-wiki websites. QuakeAID has been, for some time, listed in major
charity directories, and people wanting to donate money for the 2004
tsunami victims were sent there. I don't know how much money they
received, but it must be substantial.
_If_ this charity is a fraud (and that part is _not_ certain at this
point), it's a large scale operation (registered with the IRS), and the
person running it should be put behind bars. So if you've ever fancied
yourself a private detective or investigative reporter, this is your chance:
Wikinews is conducting a full and thorough investigation into all
matters related to QuakeAID and BOAU.com. I have tried to accumulate all
the information in Wikipedia and elsewhere in one place, but I will not
have time to commit myself beyond this. So this will either sink or swim
with your involvement. If the evidence is solid, we can publish this
story, and send a nice dossier to the FBI. If we don't do anything,
BAOU.com will continue its anti-wiki campaign, or disappear quietly.
If you do want to join the effort of researching this, please visit:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_talk:Story_preparation/Wikipedia_class…
If this URL breaks, use:
http://tinyurl.com/bh9m2
This is a historic chance for the Wikinews, Wikipedia and blog
communities to work together. Let's not screw it up.
Erik
-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: Dariusz Siedlecki <datrio(a)gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
> <foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org>
> To: foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org
> Subject: [Foundation-l] Steward elections 2006
> Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 23:31:11 +0100
>
> Just wanted to announce we'll be starting the 2006 Stewards elections
> in a few days.
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/elections_2006
>
> Please forward this message to wikipedia-l, and every other list which
> might be interested in this announcement.
>
> --
> Pozdrawiam,
> Dariusz "Datrio" Siedlecki
--
Christopher Larberg <christopherlarberg(a)gmail.com>
I'm still not 100% on decoding licensing. What are the terms of the
University of Michigan's license (see blow)? Does this mean a
Wikinewsie cannot directly quote anything in their study?
http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/agreement.html
Agreement on Copyright and Limitations on Use
The data and other materials available through the Surveys of Consumers
Internet site are the property of the University of Michigan and are
protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The data
and materials obtained from the Internet site may be displayed,
reformatted, and printed for the use of the sponsoring company or
organization. You agree not to reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell,
publish or broadcast the data and materials from the Surveys of
Consumers Internet site to anyone outside your company or organization
without the express written consent of the University of Michigan.