Bureaucrats, Check users, Interface administrators, Administrators (Semantic MediaWiki), Administrators, vuser
9,362
edits
Changes
MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Saturday April 27, 2024
Jump to navigationJump to search"the race turned out to be his last"
[[Image:Jimbo_sleepy.jpg|right|thumb|214px|The man, the legend, Jimmy Wales]][[Wikipedia]] co-founder '''Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales has often been criticized''' for his sometimes authoritarian, sometimes unaccountable, and sometimes inept style in his direction of the online encyclopedia community and for his mismanagement of the [[Directory:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] that is responsible for running it.
[[Image:Jimbo_sleepy.jpg|right|thumb|214px|The man, the legend, Jimmy Wales]][[Wikipedia]] co-founder '''Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales has often been criticized''' for his sometimes authoritarian, sometimes unaccountable, and sometimes inept style in his direction of the online encyclopedia community and for his mismanagement of the [[Directory:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] that is responsible for running it.
As a [http://toolserver.org/~soxred93/pcount/index.php?name=Everyking&lang=en&wiki=wikipedia Wikipedia administrator] with over 125,000 edits on the project has said:
As a [http://toolserver.org/~soxred93/pcount/index.php?name=Everyking&lang=en&wiki=wikipedia Wikipedia administrator] with over 125,000 edits on the project has said:
:''It is a sad, sad statement on the Wikipedia community that it has never gotten rid of Jimbo Wales. It's remarkable to me that now, in 2010, Jimbo is still around, while the project itself is stagnating quite badly. I thought at one time that such a vibrant project with so much potential would surely jettison Jimbo -- who is so obviously a useless and unprincipled opportunist -- in relatively short order, once it matured to a certain point. Instead I'm starting to wonder if the project will sink and Jimbo will still be sitting there when it does.'' <ref>{{cite web |url=http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=30616&view=findpost&p=250652 |title=User:Everyking |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120921/http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=30616&view=findpost&p=250652 |archivedate=2012-09-21}}, August 31, 2010.</ref>
:''It is a sad, sad statement on the Wikipedia community that it has never gotten rid of Jimbo Wales. It's remarkable to me that now, in 2010, Jimbo is still around, while the project itself is stagnating quite badly. I thought at one time that such a vibrant project with so much potential would surely jettison Jimbo -- who is so obviously a useless and unprincipled opportunist -- in relatively short order, once it matured to a certain point. Instead I'm starting to wonder if the project will sink and Jimbo will still be sitting there when it does.'' <ref>{{cite web |url=http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=30616&view=findpost&p=250652 |title=User:Everyking |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120921/http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=30616&view=findpost&p=250652 |archivedate=2012-09-21}}, August 31, 2010.</ref>
==Show him the money==
Jimmy Wales isn’t paid to actually figure things out. He’s paid approximately $10,000 to $40,000 per speech (by organizations like Alfresco Summit, IP Expo, and the government of the United Arab Emirates) to stand up in front of large audiences and utter things that he believes to be true. He often re-uses and re-purposes previous PowerPoint decks that he's presented before. Because he had a small role in co-founding Wikipedia (which he then aggrandized into a much larger role, after the fact), he earns a certain mystique as the idea-man behind "the sum of human knowledge". But when you get down to watching Jimmy Wales actually trying to figure things out, such as with a business, the landscape is littered with his failures. Bomis didn’t work out, even though it was an Internet leader in its time. Openserving failed. Wikia Search had the plug pulled on it without warning. CiviliNation was a failure, as was Impossible.com – two “do good” ventures that Wales backed, only to watch them run into the ground financially. As of late 2014, he’s doing the most serious business of his career, with a £20 million IPO on wireless phone company, The People’s Operator (now called TPO Mobile). He has already burned through most of that company’s IPO cash, and the firm is losing £7.22 for every £1.00 of revenue taken in. Its stock price has depreciated an astounding 87%.
It really is a wonder why any organization (or journalist) actually pays any attention to Jimmy Wales. He exudes altruism, but in the background, he’s just making sure he gets paid. (E.g., even as TPO is losing investors' money hand over fist, Wales' £250,000 annual salary is not at risk.)
==Not a pornographer?==
==Not a pornographer?==
*Sanger issued the first invitation for the public to come help build Wikipedia.
*Sanger issued the first invitation for the public to come help build Wikipedia.
*Sanger, not Wales, crafted most of the key guidelines and policies that still govern Wikipedia today.
*Sanger, not Wales, crafted most of the key guidelines and policies that still govern Wikipedia today.
*Data dumps of the earliest months of Wikipedia show that Sanger contributed content about 7 times more often than Wales did.
==Flip-flopping on paid editing of Wikipedia==
==Flip-flopping on paid editing of Wikipedia==
In August 2006, Wales [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-August/051897.html crafted a compromise] with a paid-editing firm to create and serve GFDL content on their own website about paying entities not currently featured in Wikipedia. Other unpaid, independent editors could determine whether the material was worth scraping into Wikipedia.
In August 2006, Wales [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-August/051897.html crafted a compromise] with a paid-editing firm to create and serve freely-licensed (GFDL) content on their own website about paying entities not currently featured in Wikipedia. Other unpaid, independent editors could determine whether the material was worth scraping into Wikipedia.
However, just a couple of months later in October 2006, Wales would renege on this agreement and, in fact, chastised anyone in the public relations industry as "[http://blog.bitepr.com/2006/08/jimmy_wales_on_.html deeply unethical]" if they attempt to create or influence GFDL content of an encyclopedic nature. Of course, the GFDL specifically bars licensees from restricting content to either commercial or non-commercial parties, so Wales really had no clue here.
However, just a couple of months later in October 2006, Wales would renege on this agreement and, in fact, chastised anyone in the public relations industry as "[http://blog.bitepr.com/2006/08/jimmy_wales_on_.html deeply unethical]" if they attempt to create or influence GFDL content of an encyclopedic nature. Of course, the GFDL specifically bars licensees from restricting content to either commercial or non-commercial parties, so Wales really had no clue here.
Then in 2009, Wales led the charge to replace Wikipedia's GFDL license with a Creative Commons license, despite the fact that 10% of GFDL contributors expressly forbade their content from being converted.
==Essjay scandal==
==Essjay scandal==
[[Image:Jimmy Wales shilling wristwatches.jpg|left|thumb|170px|Want to buy a watch?]]In January 2007, Wales hired Ryan Jordan (pseudonymously known as "Essjay" on Wikipedia) to work at Wikia, Inc. At that time, it is [http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/03/05/one-last-brief-comment-on-the-essjay-scandal/ known that Wikia's co-founders knew] that Jordan was not academically credentialed as a Theology professor holding a PhD, as described on his Wikipedia user page. In fact, he was a 24-year-old college dropout. Regardless of this fraud, later in February, Wales appointed Essjay to Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee, the highest authority on Wikipedia short of the Wikimedia Foundation's own board of directors and staff. When the ''[http://www.WikipediaReview.com Wikipedia Review]'' engaged the ''New Yorker'' magazine to expose Essjay's fraud, Wales' first reaction [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22I+don%27t+really+have+a+problem+with+it%22+Essjay&btnG=Search&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8 was to say] he "didn't really have a problem with it".
[[Image:Jimmy Wales shilling wristwatches.jpg|left|thumb|170px|Want to buy a watch?]]In January 2007, Wales hired Ryan Jordan (pseudonymously known as "Essjay" on Wikipedia) to work at Wikia, Inc. At that time, it is [http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/03/05/one-last-brief-comment-on-the-essjay-scandal/ known that Wikia's co-founders knew] that Jordan was not academically credentialed as a Theology professor holding a PhD, as described on his Wikipedia user page. In fact, he was a 24-year-old college dropout. Regardless of this fraud, later in February, Wales appointed Essjay to Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee, the highest authority on Wikipedia short of the Wikimedia Foundation's own board of directors and staff. When the ''[http://www.WikipediaReview.com Wikipedia Review]'' engaged the ''New Yorker'' magazine to expose Essjay's fraud, Wales' first reaction [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22I+don%27t+really+have+a+problem+with+it%22+Essjay&btnG=Search&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8 was to say] he "didn't really have a problem with it".
Well after [[Wikipedia_scandals#Essjay_is_not_a_professor|the scandal]] evolved into a serious public relations threat to Wikipedia's credibility, Wales sought to deflect responsibility for the whole affair by blaming the Arbitration Committee that he himself had created: "EssJay was appointed at the request of and unanimous support of the ArbCom." - Jimmy Wales [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083549.html 17 October 2007]. Perplexed members of the Arbitration Committee responded by saying it would be more accurate to describe their "unanimous support" as "nobody objected to Jimbo's nomination of Essjay".
Well after [[Wikipedia_scandals#Essjay_is_not_a_professor|the scandal]] evolved into a serious public relations threat to Wikipedia's credibility, Wales sought to deflect responsibility for the whole affair by blaming the Arbitration Committee that he himself had created: "EssJay was appointed at the request of and unanimous support of the ArbCom." - Jimmy Wales [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083549.html 17 October 2007]. Perplexed members of the Arbitration Committee responded by saying it would be more accurate to describe their "unanimous support" as "nobody objected to Jimbo's nomination of Essjay".
==Rachel Marsden affair==
==Rachel Marsden affair==
His alleged attempts to "clean up" a Wikipedia entry for a woman with whom he had a relationship has also [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22Rachel+Marsden%22+Wales&btnG=Search&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8 generated headlines]. Wales was accused of intervening to sanitize the Wikipedia article of a news commentator with whom he was having a romantic online relationship, which was about to culminate in a sexual romp in a [[Directory:Hilton_Hotels/Doubletree/Washington_DC|Doubletree Hotel in the nation's capital]].
His alleged attempts to "clean up" a Wikipedia entry for a woman with whom he had a relationship has also [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22Rachel+Marsden%22+Wales&btnG=Search&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8 generated headlines]. Wales was accused of intervening to sanitize the Wikipedia article of a news commentator with whom he was having a romantic online relationship, which was about to culminate in a sexual romp in a [[Directory:Hilton_Hotels/Doubletree/Washington_DC|Doubletree Hotel in the nation's capital]]. Were this romp to be likened to a race, the race turned out to be his last.
The Wikipedia article regarding controversial [[Directory:Canada|Canadian]] radio commentator [[Directory:Rachel Marsden|Rachel Marsden]] had been the subject of controversy on Wikipedia for some years. According to Marsden, she had asked [[Directory:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] to delete her [[biography]]. Her concerns led her to contact Wikipedia co-founder [[Directory:Jimmy Wales|Jimmy Wales]], claiming that it was incorrect and libelous. Wales reviewed her biography and, deeming that it was not up to standard, helped to clean up the entry by quietly requesting that a closely allied administrator [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rachel_Marsden&diff=189784135&oldid=185926385 do the work], literally hours before Wales would meet Marsden in person at the hotel.
The Wikipedia article regarding controversial [[Directory:Canada|Canadian]] radio commentator [[Directory:Rachel Marsden|Rachel Marsden]] had been the subject of controversy on Wikipedia for some years. According to Marsden, she had asked [[Directory:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] to delete her [[biography]]. Her concerns led her to contact Wikipedia co-founder [[Directory:Jimmy Wales|Jimmy Wales]], claiming that it was incorrect and libelous. Wales reviewed her biography and, deeming that it was not up to standard, helped to clean up the entry by quietly requesting that a closely allied administrator [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rachel_Marsden&diff=189784135&oldid=185926385 do the work], literally hours before Wales would meet Marsden in person at the hotel.
There is curiously only a brief mention of this episode in the anonymous-edit-protected Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales article about Jimmy Wales], even though it was the [http://www.google.com/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&tbm=nws&gl=us&as_epq=Rachel%20Marsden&as_oq=Wales&as_occt=any&as_drrb=a&tbs=ar%3A1&authuser=0 talk of mainstream media] for the better part of March 2008. Compare, there is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Gibson_DUI_incident an entire article] about Mel Gibson's DUI incident; an article which any anonymous IP address can edit and malign. Not so, Jimmy Wales' article. He merits special protective editorial favors, it would appear.
There is curiously only a brief mention of this episode in the anonymous-edit-protected Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales article about Jimmy Wales], even though it was the [http://www.google.com/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&tbm=nws&gl=us&as_epq=Rachel%20Marsden&as_oq=Wales&as_occt=any&as_drrb=a&tbs=ar%3A1&authuser=0 talk of mainstream media] for the better part of March 2008. Compare, there is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Gibson_DUI_incident an entire article] about Mel Gibson's DUI incident; an article which any anonymous IP address can edit and malign. Not so, Jimmy Wales' article. He merits special protective editorial favors, it would appear.
In filing for divorce from Jimmy, his second wife Christine A. Wales is being represented by attorney [http://zacurgrahm.com/Firm%20Info/Lawyers/2444756.aspx Sean A. Costis]. Mr. Wales is represented by [http://thackerlawgroup.com/profiles.htm#john John Thacker].
In filing for [http://mywikibiz.com/File:Wales_divorce_compressed.pdf divorce] from Jimmy, his second wife Christine A. Wales was represented by attorney [http://www.zacurgraham.com/sean-a-costis/ Sean A. Costis]. Mr. Wales was represented by [http://www.thackerlawgroup.com/profiles.html John Thacker]. The case brought before the court in Pinellas County, Florida in October 2010 was ruled on by Circuit Judge Jack Helinger in April 2011.
==Misspending Foundation funds==
==Misspending Foundation funds==
The original version of any wiki-formatted article about the Arch Coal company was authored in September 2006 by [[Directory:Gregory J. Kohs|Gregory Kohs]] and released under the terms of the GFDL on this website, [[Directory:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz.com]]. It was then scraped by an independent editor into Wikipedia. In October 2006, erroneously thinking that the article was paid for by Arch Coal, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales acted to delete the article from Wikipedia, but the Wikipedia community determined that Wales' action had been unjustified. The article was revised, largely by "User:JzG" (Guy Chapman), who would [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15321 later claim] that he wrote his version of the article ''ab initio'', "from the ground up". However, in January 2008, Kohs demonstrated to Chapman that the article as modified by User:JzG actually plagiarized many aspects of the original. Faced with that evidence, Chapman elected to cover up his misdeed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Arch_Coal deleting the original edits] on the Wikipedia site, thus making the provenance of the article appear to have come from Chapman, and not from MyWikiBiz. When Jimmy Wales was notified about this violation of professional ethics and proper GFDL attribution of the edit history, Wales '''very reluctantly''' restored the original edit history, with the childish edit summary, "''might as well restore all of it I suppose''".
The original version of any wiki-formatted article about the Arch Coal company was authored in September 2006 by [[Directory:Gregory J. Kohs|Gregory Kohs]] and released under the terms of the GFDL on this website, [[Directory:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz.com]]. It was then scraped by an independent editor into Wikipedia. In October 2006, erroneously thinking that the article was paid for by Arch Coal, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales acted to delete the article from Wikipedia, but the Wikipedia community determined that Wales' action had been unjustified. The article was revised, largely by "User:JzG" (Guy Chapman), who would [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15321 later claim] that he wrote his version of the article ''ab initio'', "from the ground up". However, in January 2008, Kohs demonstrated to Chapman that the article as modified by User:JzG actually plagiarized many aspects of the original. Faced with that evidence, Chapman elected to cover up his misdeed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Arch_Coal deleting the original edits] on the Wikipedia site, thus making the provenance of the article appear to have come from Chapman, and not from MyWikiBiz. When Jimmy Wales was notified about this violation of professional ethics and proper GFDL attribution of the edit history, Wales '''very reluctantly''' restored the original edit history, with the childish edit summary, "''might as well restore all of it I suppose''".
When in December 2008, Kohs [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=255480884&oldid=255154863 sought to improve] the article about Arch Coal on Wikipedia, his improvements were [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=next&oldid=255480884 reverted back] by a mindless administrator from Belgium. This underscores the true system of editorial control on Wikipedia -- it matters not the '''content''' of one's edits, but rather '''who''' authors the content. (Which, of course, directly contradicts Wikipedia's supposed credo that "anyone can edit".)
When in December 2008, Kohs [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=255480884&oldid=255154863 sought to improve] the article about Arch Coal on Wikipedia, his improvements were [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=next&oldid=255480884 reverted back] by a mindless administrator from Belgium. This underscores the true system of editorial control on Wikipedia -- it matters not the '''content''' of one's edits, but rather '''who''' authors the content. (Which, of course, directly contradicts Wikipedia's supposed credo that "anyone can edit".)
After about 26 months, Wales did ultimately [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AArch_Coal&diff=258731121&oldid=224255965 apologize in a round-about way] for his mistakes in handling this situation. Bravo! <nowiki><golf clap></nowiki>
After about 26 months, Wales did ultimately [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AArch_Coal&diff=258731121&oldid=224255965 apologize in a round-about way] for his mistakes in handling this situation. Bravo! <nowiki><golf clap></nowiki>
==Intolerant of criticism==
==Intolerant of criticism==
Nobody really enjoys personal criticism, but one could argue that the "spiritual leader" of a global project that touches hundreds of millions of people should be more tolerant and receptive to critique. Not so, Jimmy Wales. When faced with direct criticism from even the most prolific of Wikipedia volunteers, it takes super-sensitive Jimbo only a few minutes to [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=next&oldid=411584809 dismiss the concern] as "trolling and attacks".
Nobody really enjoys personal criticism, but one could argue that the "spiritual leader" of a global project that touches hundreds of millions of people should be more tolerant and receptive to critique. Not so, Jimmy Wales. When faced with direct criticism from even the most prolific of Wikipedia volunteers, it takes super-sensitive Jimbo only a few minutes to [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=next&oldid=411584809 dismiss the concern] as "trolling and attacks". He does it so often, there are [http://wikipediocracy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1582 pages kept] that track the many, many times he shows intolerance for critical points of view.
== See also ==
== See also ==
