Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2014-11-26/In the media

In Russia, Wikipedia edits you
Numerous media outlets are reporting on a November 14 statement on the website of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library announcing the formation of a Russian "alternative" to Wikipedia, a "regional electronic encyclopedia" dedicated to "Russian regions and the life of the country".

Western media outlets including Newsweek and the Washington Post have noted that this comes following efforts by the government of Vladimir Putin, who called the internet a "CIA project" earlier this year, to control online activities under the banner of "online sovereignty". The government gained the ability to block websites without a court order and immediately blocked the pages of several government opponents. Bloggers were required to register with the government. Russia has launched its own search engine, Sputnik, and even its own alternative internet called Cheburashka. It has also tried to have its say on Wikipedia, with numerous encyclopedia edits on topics like the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and Russia's conflict with the Ukraine traced to computers belonging to Russian government entities (See previous Signpost coverage). One person compiled a list of nearly 7000 such edits to the Russian Wikipedia.

"What Wikipedia Taught Me About My Grandfather"


The Atlantic features a story by particle physicist and science communicator Ben Lillie called "What Wikipedia Taught Me About My Grandfather" (November 18). Lillie's grandfather was Frederic M. Richards (1925–2009), Sterling Professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. Though a physicist himself, Lillie discovered that he had not known the extent of Richards' work and the importance of it to the field of biophysics. Lillie wrote that he had always scoffed at Richards' disappointment at not being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, thinking it "an example of how absurd academics' expectations of themselves are", but learned that scientists thought that he could have shared the 1972 Prize with Christian Anfinsen.

Lillie talked with User:Dcrjsr, who brought the article from little more than a paragraph up to Good Article status. Dcrjsr is Jane S. Richardson, Professor of biochemistry at Duke University, former president of the Biophysical Society and a driving force behind WikiProject Biophysics. Richards' article is the only biography of the six articles at GA status within the scope of WikiProject Biophysics. When deciding which biophysics articles to improve, Richardson and her husband, Duke Professor of biochemistry David C. Richardson, told Lillie “There were three people who had really influenced us very strongly. The other two had pretty decent Wikipedia pages, and Fred’s just seemed terrible.”

Lillie wrote "A sense I’ve had my whole life of who my grandfather is can be transformed by the addition of a single fact from a stranger writing on the Internet."

ArtAndFeminism organizers included on "Global Thinkers" list
Foreign Policy included Siân Evans (User:Siankevans), Jacqueline Mabey (User:Failedprojects), Michael Mandiberg (User:Theredproject), Richard Knipel (User:Pharos), Dorothy Howard (User:OR drohowa), and Laurel Ptak on its list of "The Leading Global Thinkers of 2014". The list includes 100 "remarkable individuals who smashed the world as we know it" and "showed that a better future demands tearing down foundations and building something entirely new."

The magazine honored the six for their work towards "correcting the Wikipedia gender gap", noting that "as of 2013, only 13 percent of Wikipedia's contributors were female." The group organized the February ArtAndFeminism campaign, which featured thirty one Edit-a-thons in six countries on three continents. About six hundred participants created over a hundred articles and edited over 90 more on articles "related to art, feminism, gender studies, and LGBTQ issues". Another campaign is planned for March 2015.

Creator of Wikipedia sex illustrations is an "anonymous legend"
Gawker profiled User:Seedfeeder, the celebrated and notorious creator of numerous illustrations for Wikipedia articles for sex acts, calling him an "anonymous legend" and "Wikipedia's Greatest Sex Illustrator" (November 12). Gawker also featured a not safe for work gallery of "The Best of Seedfeeder", taken from the 46 of his sexual images in the Wikimedia Commons category Sex drawings by User:Seedfeeder. These images illustrate 36 Wikipedia articles, including pegging, gokkun, deep throating, frot, and tribadism. Gawker calls Seedfeeder's work "unmistakable" and "striking": vector graphics, empty backgrounds, and a flat and almost clinical style that Seedfeeder said was inspired by "the simple illustrations in airline safety pamphlets". His work was popular with Wikipedia editors from his first upload in July 2008, with editors almost immediately inundating him with requests for images of specific sex acts for articles. He also gained him praise and attention off of Wikipedia, with his work being featured and discussed in B3ta, Cracked, Przegląd, and on Reddit. His work also has plenty of detractors, who have criticized him for what they perceive to be the reinforcement of racial stereotypes and depiction of non-consensual acts, criticism that has prompted alterations to or replacements of the images.

Seedfeeder's identity is unknown, and nothing is known about him outside of what information he's offered on Wikipedia, where he has identified himself as a heterosexual male and a mechanical engineer. After complaining about "the prejudices and concerns of the small-minded" for years, Seedfeeder left Wikipedia in June 2012. His final upload was an image of an Asian woman blowing a kiss he titled Wiki-so-long.png.

In brief

 * The Tumblr blog Shit My Reviewers Say features strange comments received by scientists during peer review. A November 22 submission reads "I understand that Wikipedia is not the best source for my information, however, I don’t have access to the [peer-reviewed] literature you cite, and based on the information from Wikipedia, your hypothesis breaks down."
 * The Boston Globe features a number of fan signs for the November 22 Harvard–Yale football game, including one reading "Yale Cites Wikipedia". Spoilers: Harvard won, 31–24.
 * Adapting the data and methodology used for the book Who’s Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really Rank, which took data from Wikipedia to rank world historical figures in order of significance, Smithsonian produced a list of "The 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time" (November 17).
 * British comedian Alan Davies complains (November 15) to the Watford Observer about his interactions with Wikipedia, including being mislabeled as a pescetarian.
 * BBC News talks with (November 15) a Welsh teenager who edited the Wikipedia article on the History of the Everton Football Club to identify himself as the 1865 founder of the club. The edit was made in 2005, when the teenager was ten years old, and the article credited him as the founder until the BBC published his confession.
 * In The Simpsons episode Blazed and Confused, a humorous "Wiccapedia" bio for the episode's antagonist Jack Lassen makes an appearance.