Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-01-11/In the news

American English tips British teachers off to Wikipedia plagiarists
In "Schoolchildren told to avoid Wikipedia", by Graeme Paton, The Daily Telegraph reports that British schoolteachers have been warned to watch students' written work for tell-tale differences between American and British English as signs that pupils may have copied material from Wikipedia and other online sources.

Despite the headline (and a similar one from The Daily Mail, "[Pupils should use Google and Yahoo! for coursework but not Wikipedia, says exams watchdog]"), the recent students' guide to plagiarism produced by England's Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator gives what Wikimedia UK president Mike Peel describes as "some really good advice on using Wikipedia as a starting point for research - essentially the same advice as Wikipedia gives."

Hitler's Downfall, FAC edition
A Wikipedia-themed Hitler's Downfall parody video, "World War Wiki" drew the attention of some Wikipedians recently. It is one of many similar videos in a relatively enduring meme that uses humorous subtitles for a pivotal scene in the German film Der Untergang. In this version, Hitler expresses frustration with his failed attempt to put an article through the Featured Article Candidates (FAC) process; Wikipedians have been discussing it on the FAC talk page.

Patent citations of Wikipedia still rising
On his blog The Patent Librarian's Notebook, Michael White reports that citations of Wikipedia in U.S. patents numbered 809 in 2009, a 59% increase over the previous year (see previous Signpost coverage). Patent examiners have been barred from citing Wikipedia since 2006.

WorldNetDaily founder criticizes Wales, Wikipedia
In response to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial about online civility by Jimmy Wales and Andrew Weckerle, Joseph Farah [ http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120926 criticizes Wales] for "[presiding] over what may be the biggest and most blatant example of systematic, carefree and reckless defamation in the history of the world": Wikipedia. Farah, editor-in-chief of conservative news website WorldNetDaily, has been subject to insulting vandalism on Wikipedia; WorldNetDaily has frequently been critical of Wikipedia as well.

Briefly

 * The Washington Post picks up the story of the growing problem of jurors consulting Wikipedia during trials. (The Signpost previously noted discussion of this trend in an article in St. John's Law Review.)
 * A post on BoingBoing describes "Wikibumps", the high hit counts on articles that are related to big news. According to a previous analysis of hit count data from stats.grok.se, the "In the news" section of the Main Page is a particularly powerful driver of traffic.