Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-10-05/In the news

Wikipedia graph used in UN climate report
As first reported on the blog ClimateAudit.org, a graph in the United Nations report Climate Change Science Compendium 2009 originated on Wikipedia. The file, which shows atmospheric CO2 and mean global temperature during the past 1000 years, was drawn by Norwegian Wikipedian Hanno. Several other blogs picked up the story, including the blog talkingabouttheweather.com, which quotes an email from user:Hanno pointing out that he has no qualifications "to judge whether the underlying data are correct or erroneous, and have never pretended to be able to do so." Hanno further explained his point of view at commons:File talk:CO2-Temp.png.

The Telegraph on article deletion
A story in The Daily Telegraph on 1 October, "Wikipedia: 20 articles earmarked for deletion", highlighted some of the more unusual articles to go through AfD recently. Articles mentioned include Matrix (fictional universe), Raptor Jesus and exploding sheep, toads and donkeys.

Two iPhone apps use Wikipedia content for "augmented reality"
Two augmented reality apps for the iPhone were released this week that use Wikipedia content to provide information about a user's surroundings. ReadWriteWeb reviews Cyclopedia, a new app that costs US$2, and Wikitude, a free app that was previously available for Android phones. According to the ReadWriteWeb article, both applications require the newest iPhone, the 3GS: That's because the 3GS is the first iPhone with an internal compass—Augmented Reality (AR) apps use your phone's GPS to know where you are and the compass to know which direction you're looking at. Then these two apps can tell you what you're looking at that's written up in Wikipedia.

Among others, William Beutler of The Wikipedian also reviews Wikitude.