Wikipedia Needs Money

[DaneO'Roo]

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Letter/en?utm_source=2008_jimmy_letter_r&utm_medium=sitenotice&utm_campaign=fundraiser2008#appeal

An appeal from Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/thumb/3/3e/Jimmy_Appeal.JPG/160px-Jimmy_Appeal.JPG (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Jimmy_Appeal.JPG)
Dear Reader,
Today I am going to ask you to support Wikipedia with a donation. This might sound unusual: Why does one of the world's five most popular web properties ask for financial support from its users?
Wikipedia is built differently from almost every other top 50 website. We have a small number of paid staff, just twenty-three. Wikipedia content is free to use by anyone for any purpose. Our annual expenses are less than six million dollars. Wikipedia is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, which I founded in 2003.
At its core, Wikipedia is driven by a global community of more than 150,000 volunteers - all dedicated to sharing knowledge freely. Over almost eight years, these volunteers have contributed more than 11 million articles in 265 languages. More than 275 million people come to our website every month to access information, free of charge and free of advertising.
But Wikipedia is more than a website. We share a common cause: Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's our commitment.
Your donation helps us in several ways. Most importantly, you will help us cover the increasing cost of managing global traffic to one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Funds also help us improve the software that runs Wikipedia -- making it easier to search, easier to read, and easier to write for. We are committed to growing the free knowledge movement world-wide, by recruiting new volunteers, and building strategic partnerships with institutions of culture and learning.
Wikipedia is different. It's the largest encyclopedia in history, written by volunteers. Like a national park or a school, we don't believe advertising should have a place in Wikipedia. We want to keep it free and strong, but we need the support of thousands of people like you.
I invite you to join us: Your donation will help keep Wikipedia free for the whole world.
Thank you,
Jimmy Wales





This might actually be something I'll donate money for. Freedom of information is vital to us. We have to protect it at all costs.

[Snowy]

I donated two bucks about a week ago.

If you ever use wikipedia, thank me.

:P

[Needles]

I would donate if I could.

It's a REALLY useful site.

[thehoodedsmack]

Sorry 'bout your hair, Jimmy Wales...

I've only got a few cents left in my paypal account, but this is something I think we all should contribute towards. Time to go refill.

[Sel]

but guys

people can change it so it is not reliable!!!!!~!!~!!!~!!~!~!~!~!

school banned us from using it as a source for reports.

cool

[Needles]

but guys

people can change it so it is not reliable!!!!!~!!~!!!~!!~!~!~!~!

school banned us from using it as a source for reports.

cool
That's stupid. A lot of things are accurate, and most things changed not to be accurate are changed back very quick, or are so ridiculous that you can tell.

A few of my teachers don't let us use it, most do, and the ones who won't let us use it let us use external links and the sources listed from Wikipedia.

[Heathen]

I know, schools are stupid. Anyone who distrusts wikipedia is instantly a fucking idiot in my mind.

[L0d3x]

I find wikipedia very handy if I need to quickly refreshen certain knowledge.
But as a place to learn stuff from scratch, the quality of articles varies.

Though I do promote freedom of all human knowledge, it's honestly ridiculous that alot of things are limited only to those who have enough money.

I also hate it when schoolbooks suck, and you can't find anything about the part that sucks online.

/rant

I might donate.

[nooBBooze]

Guys, stop helping to propagate the site that will initiate mankinds extinction. Be warned, the day Wikipedia edits itself, the machines shall take over.

But seriously, i too want to show wikipedia my appreciation as still remember the sweet sweet days procrastrination it allowed me to have i n highschool as i more or less copypasta'd my assignments.
:)

[Jelly]

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/ThankYou/en?utm_source=2008_jimmy_thank_you&utm_medium=sitenotice&utm_campaign=fundraiser2008#appeal

Hooray, Wikipedia got money!

Also: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Template:2008/Donate-letter

[Hotrod]

I would donate, if I had the ability to do so. I'm glad they got to their goal though.

[FRain]

I know, schools are stupid. Anyone who distrusts wikipedia is instantly a fucking idiot in my mind.
This. If I ever had a question about something, and I ask around and not a lot of people know, my first instinct is: Wikipedia. Second: Google.

If you hate wikipedia because you can change it, fuck off. 99% of their articles are accurate.

I'd donate if I could, but I can't.

[Dwood]

If you hate wikipedia because you can change it, off. 99% of their articles are accurate.

I'd donate if I could, but I can't.

1. same.

2. And if the school has a problem with it they should make it accurate!

[FluffyDucky™]

Yeah, my school always bitches and tells everyone not to use it, or trust it. But personally, I love the site! Haha. :)

[n00b1n8R]

I take everything on wikipedia with a grain of salt.
That being said, if I want to find out about anything, wikipedia is always my first port of call.

But I'm broke as hell D:

ps. That appeal has been at the top of every wikipedia page for the better part of a month.

[Limited]

I'm not donating shit as Wikipedia isnt a credible source, why spend money on something I cant use in essays?

Britannica's upcoming free credible source ftw.

[n00b1n8R]

Thank you from Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/thumb/3/3e/Jimmy_Appeal.JPG/160px-Jimmy_Appeal.JPG (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Jimmy_Appeal.JPG)
Dear Reader,
Since July 1, more than 125,000 of you have donated $4 million. In addition, we've received major gifts and foundation support totaling $2 million. This combined revenue will cover our operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009.
Your donation makes you a key supporter of the free culture movement, and pays for:


Day-to-day operations: servers, hosting, bandwidth, our staff of just 23 people.
Continued development & improvements of open source software that powers all Wikimedia projects.
Outreach events like Wikipedia Academies: in-person workshops where you can learn more about how to use and edit Wikipedia.
Volunteer support: helping our international volunteer community to grow and to continue to do amazing work.

You can still get involved:
Any donations beyond our $6 million goal are put in a reserve fund, which will help us to offset operating costs beyond the current fiscal year. Your continued support will also serve as a much-needed financial safety net if economic conditions continue to worsen globally.
You have proven that Wikipedia matters to you, and that you support our mission: to bring free knowledge to the planet, free of charge and free of advertising. You've helped make and keep Wikipedia available for the whole world.
I deeply appreciate your support.
Thank you,
Jimmy Wales

:awesome:

[DarkHalo003]

but guys

people can change it so it is not reliable!!!!!~!!~!!!~!!~!~!~!~!

school banned us from using it as a source for reports.

cool
This. However, it's probably one of the best way to beat boredom at school during a class with no work.

[Ifafudafi]

School policy bans Wikipeda usage here, too, but whenever we (rarely) do projects involving research, I go ahead and allow them. I don't really see the harm in it; hell, these assholes won't remember a thing they're researching anyway. </cynic>

Donated $30 last week.

[Xetsuei]

I'm not donating shit as Wikipedia isnt a credible source

Oh wow, Lol. Wikipedia just takes information from other credible sources, look at the references at the bottom of the page.

[n00b1n8R]

How do you know they're credible?
How often do you check the references out?

And how often do you see "[citation needed]" in articles?

[Donut]

im just speculating here, but i think the reason schools dont allow wikipedia as a source of information is because people can edit the articles. i mean, thats obvious, but as some of you have said, 99% of the stuff is factual information. i dont know where that number came from, but im inclined to believe it. somebody could change a date from 1924 to 1934 and i dont think anyone would notice. subtle things like that are why schools dont allow wikipedia
/obvious

[Bodzilla]

or because Big (http://www.destructoid.com/sony-is-a-dirty-wikipedia-troll-edits-halo-3-article-loves-online-vandalism-42312.phtml) bad (http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/09/04/sony-busted-editing-halo-3-wikipedia-entry) company's (http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/09/04/sony-edits-wikipedia-downplaying-halo-3s-graphics) can do things like this.

for the lulz (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2198069/sony-editing-halo-wikipedia) of course.
http://media.arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.media/cbg.jpg

[DaneO'Roo]

I'm not donating shit as Wikipedia isnt a credible source, why spend money on something I cant use in essays?

Britannica's upcoming free credible source ftw.

POSTS MAY CONTAIN PATRIOTISM

[Xetsuei]

How do you know they're credible?
How often do you check the references out?

And how often do you see "[citation needed]" in articles?

How do you know anything is credible?

[n00b1n8R]

How do you know anything is credible?
Checking references for credibility and cross-checking information across several independent sources. vOv

[Xetsuei]

Checking references for credibility and cross-checking information across several independent sources. vOv

How do you know they're credible?

It never ends unless you want it to.

[Dwood]

How do you know they're credible?

It never ends unless you want it to.


Exactly. I would rather have Wikipedia where if there's something which is untrue and I know it I can change it instead of a textbook which is basically set in stone and given a slant on the views of the company that wrote it.

For several reasons:

1. A textbook once claimed that Pontius Pilate killed Jesus. (Which, is for those of you with rudimentary Bible knowledge, is obviously false)

2. Another Textbook once claimed that when Columbus arrived birds didn't live in trees and because of him they live in trees now.

And a few others i'm too lazy to note.

[Hotrod]

That just proves that Wikipedia could use sources that are false, therefore not being credible.

In all honesty though, I always use Wikipedia when I want to learn more about something on my own time, and from what I've seen, it's been pretty damn accurate so far.

[DarkHalo003]

That just proves that Wikipedia could use sources that are false, therefore not being credible.

In all honesty though, I always use Wikipedia when I want to learn more about something on my own time, and from what I've seen, it's been pretty damn accurate so far.
Same here. Never use Wikipedia for serious school assignments, but it sure is one of the best ways to find info on stuff that doesn't matter or you want to find out on your own.

[Corndogman]

i only use Wikipedia for school stuff when i leave an assignment to the last minute and need to find the information quickly.

[FRain]

How do you know they're credible? I look for other sources

How often do you check the references out? Whenever what im looking up is important.

And how often do you see "[citation needed]" in articles? about every 20 pages or so.

k

[Limited]

Oh wow, Lol. Wikipedia just takes information from other credible sources, look at the references at the bottom of the page.
Um, I dont think you understand how Wikipedia works.


How do you know anything is credible?
I use all forms of references, textbooks, journals (100% credible) web sites, newspapers. How can I be sure its credible? I cross reference, I use credible sources, I follow all leads, I listen to experts, etc.

If we use Wikipedia in anything at my university, we get kicked off the course.

[Terry]

but guys

people can change it so it is not reliable!!!!!~!!~!!!~!!~!~!~!~!

school banned us from using it as a source for reports.

cool

That's never really been a problem for me. I've always just used the references they link to at the bottom of the page in my bibliographies instead. Teachers never really question it. You can also use these very same references to determine whether or not the information is reliable, hence them being there.

But it is true that wikipedia articles are prone to inaccuracy and vandalization, so it's always a good idea to confirm with other sources. What I like about wikipedia is that it can be pretty concise and saves alot of time.

[Xetsuei]

Um, I dont think you understand how Wikipedia works.


I use all forms of references, textbooks, journals (100% credible) web sites, newspapers. How can I be sure its credible? I cross reference, I use credible sources, I follow all leads, I listen to experts, etc.

If we use Wikipedia in anything at my university, we get kicked off the course.

How do you know they're all credible? Once again, it never ends unless you want it to.

[t3h m00kz]

Wikipedia can't be in poverty. They rule the internet, right up there with Youtube and UrbanDictionary.

[n00b1n8R]

And have 0 adds while supporting philanthropic programs around the world.

btw, urban dictionary is ranked 844 (http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/urbandictionary.com) out of the internet, so it hardly rules it. :P

[t3h m00kz]

who needs numbers

[Xetsuei]

And have 0 adds while supporting philanthropic programs around the world.

btw, urban dictionary is ranked 844 (http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/urbandictionary.com) out of the internet, so it hardly rules it. :P

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/youporn.com

lmfao...

[jngrow]

Oh wow, Lol. Wikipedia just takes information from other credible sources, look at the references at the bottom of the page.
THIS. FUCKING THIS. FUCKING MOTHER FUCKING THIS.

[DEElekgolo]

My school donated about $4,000 before the winter break.

[Pooky]

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/youporn.com

lmfao...


I'm actually surprised the porn doesn't start until rank 50