Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-12-26/In the news

Wikipedia mentioned in Time's Person of Year Award
Time named "You" the Person of the Year for 2006 and Wikipedia was prominently mentioned by Time in the article. Time defined "You" as the Internet users whose efforts in creating content is revolutionizing the dissemination and creation of information. The article also cited Wikipedia as the source for historical information on the World Wide Web. See also coverage of the honor in The Boston Globe and other outlets.

Wikipedia's Top 10 Cited Entries
A story in Yahoo!'s business section reported that Nielsen BuzzMetrics released a "Top 10 Cited Wikipedia Entries in 2006." Topping the list was Web 2.0, Steve Irwin, Mark Foley scandal, Blog, and Ajax. iTWire reported on the release by noting that technology related topics were the most popular entries on Wikipedia.

Female Wikipedians
San Francisco Bay Guardian reports on the formation of WikiChix. The article states that the group was formed in response to "how male-dominated Wikipedia has become." A related mailing list was briefly hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, but is now hosted by Wikia.

Scholarpedia
TechNewsWorld reports on the creation of Scholarpedia, tagged the first "free peer-reviewed encyclopedia." Although it reports that "initial response may be, not another Wikipedia wannabe!...Scholarpedia could be very different." The article claims Scholarpedia "is not as elitist as Citizendium," but each article has "a 'curator,' who approves all changes..."

Jimmy Wales and new projects
Jimmy Wales continued to get coverage in many news outlets. The Orlando Sentinel carried a story about Wales and the history of Wikipedia. Wales' new search engine, Wikiasari, was covered by The Times. The search engine will use Wiki-like technology to rank websites in the search results. The Times also carried an article on Wales' "next project - a free internet education for everyone."

Other news

 * BBC - "Wikipedia" was one of the top 10 Google searches.
 * Marketwatch.com - Wikipedia takes advantage of the "I-am-somebody" desire to be recognized in each of us.
 * The Sydney Morning Herald - Wikipediaholism makes it to a list of internet slang.
 * American Chronicle - Reports that rumors about Halle Berry's new CD appear to be a hoax which utilized Wikipedia to propagate.

Wikipedia as source

 * The Los Angeles Times - Wikipeda is cited as the source of the first use of "regifting."
 * The Ottawa Sun - Article on hockey attributes source as "AP and Wikipedia."

Continuing coverage

 * Many media outlets continued to cover the announcement of free web hosting from Wikia. as in Free beer; Wikipedia founder's next move: Free hosting; Wikipedia founders open community content site''; etc.
 * The Tyee - More coverage of Citizendium and Larry Sanger's efforts to create an online encyclopedia.