back to article Review finds Wikipedia UK board needs major leadership overhaul

A Wikimedia UK board member who had only been in the role for four months resigned late last year after raising conflict-of-interest issues at the organisation, which is one of the 39 local chapters founded to support and promote the projects of the San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation*. But it was only weeks after the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chapters?

    I thought it was only Cardinals and Timelords who called themselves chapters?

    Bit pretentious, innit?

    1. Blofeld's Cat
      Devil

      Re: Chapters?

      A well known motorcycle club is also organised in chapters.

    2. RISC OS
      Devil

      Re: Chapters?

      And hell's angels... and Stonecutters.... and The Nohomers... basically anyone who wants to sound more intellectual then they actually are.

      Wikipedia is edited by nerds, most of whom haven't any more knowledge on the subject sthey edit then a 'tard.

      Their one goal in live seem to be to revert edits made by anypne who isn't an editor.... wikipedia should really redesign the interface if they want anyone to edit it... is there anyone on earth who understands what they see when they view the history for the page?

      1. h3

        Re: Chapters?

        Hells Angels have Charter's not chapters.

        1. Great Bu

          Re: Chapters?

          Also Space Marines (TM).....

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Chapters!

          You didn't even get the apostrophe right.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chapters, as in books in an encyclopaedia perhaps?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wikipedia not transparent

    Wikipedia has never been transparent. Tools such as Oversight, and IP checking can be run with no public log of who instigated them and why. Editors can chose to be anonymous, and at the same time criticise others who chose to use their real name. Arbitrators have no requirement to explain their decisions, who use an-offsite private discussion forum, and bad editors can chose to "vanish" and cover their action.

    No transparency, no accountability, no responsibility.

  4. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Ignoring Wales - no surprise

    Unfortunately for JImmy, he has set up an organisation which is not as beholden to him as it once was.

    It has a semi (quasi? pseudo?) -democratic system empowered to carry out its core activities. Wales may be a revered figure whose views are respected (or not) but he has no more power to direct the content of a given article than any other editor. (assuming the other editor is following the rules)

    1. Tim Starling

      Re: Ignoring Wales - no surprise

      He still has full access to the web interface

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:ListUsers?group=founder

      So he can ban users, demote admins, protect pages, etc. So, maybe he has slightly more power than the average editor. But unless he wanted to demote a thousand admins and install a few lackeys, he's constrained in what he can do by the limits of his influence.

  5. davefb
    Thumb Down

    It's not even subtle

    if you goto the archive of 'did you know'... I have to admit I didn't realise there were that many facts about Gibraltar.

    1. wheelybird

      Re: It's not even subtle

      Actually, it really is an interesting place. Worth a visit if you're on holiday in the south of Spain (don't forget your passport), but avoid the town centre as much as possible. Stick to the nature park which covers most of the side of the rock.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Trustworthy" and "Wikipedia" in the same sentence

    "Trustworthy" and "Wikipedia" only belong in the same sentence when there is an interposing negation.

    It's as though Congress (s/Congress/$YOURGOV/g as needed) were run by simply allowing anybody who gets off on that sort of thing to to wander in and do whatever they want to do. Guess what!? the first thing they do is lock the doors after themselves and insure they cannot be removed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      Wikipedia seems to be degrading back to the garbage it started from

      Anyone try clicking through on the links footnoted in entries recently? They used to be somewhat useful, but I've found in the past year that more often than not the links are broken, or the actual linked material has absolutely no mention of the "facts" attributed to it by Wikipedia. This giant quagmire was supposed to get better as it matured, but instead it seems to be sinking back to the filthy steaming mess it started from.

    2. phuzz Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: "Trustworthy" and "Wikipedia" in the same sentence

      "It's as though Congress (s/Congress/$YOURGOV/g as needed) were run by simply allowing anybody who gets off on that sort of thing to to wander in and do whatever they want to do. Guess what!? the first thing they do is lock the doors after themselves and insure they cannot be removed."

      You mean a system where all politicians come from the same schools and universities and nobody else gets a look in?

      Thank fuck that could never happen!

  7. John Lilburne

    This WMUK gravy train

    does it start out from Constantinople perchance? Cos it seems like Poirot would discover that they are all guilty.

    1. Psyx
      Pint

      Re: This WMUK gravy train

      "does it start out from Constantinople perchance?"

      Now it's Istanbul; Not Constantinople.

      Mnemomic aid: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsQrKZcYtqg

  8. RightPaddock
    Mushroom

    Is the UK is more corrupt than elsewhere

    Or is it that the UK corrupt are so stupid that they're more likely to get caught running their scams.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Now, now...

      As far as corruption in the UK is concerned, I think the operative principle is the Armstrong Defence:

      "It's not cheating if everybody does it".

      My whole life long (and that's a fair few years now) the UK has been a haven for log-rolling, back-scratching, conflict of interest, abuse of privilege, cronyism, nepotism - you name it.

      The structure supports, nay encourages such pastimes, for there are no barriers to entry and no meaningful consequences if discovered.

      Quangos, privatisations, PFI's, the Olympic accounting debacle that's now an Official Secret, LIBOR, the list goes on and on.

      I'm willing to bet that Mr Gibraltar Gold is aqgrieved that he was picked on. It's not corruption if everybody is doing it.

      AC because of the trollish nature of the post. But you can't say I'm wrong...

  9. asdf
    WTF?

    sigh

    Just another symptom of why the influence of the west is waning to the east these days. People in the west are all about taking care of #1 at the expense of everyone else including society and even their own grand kids. Pretty amazing we used to be able to do amazing large scale projects like the Manhattan project or the Apollo project. Nowadays we can't even build a new airline jet without the thing falling badly behind schedule and being unfit for purpose when delivered. Too many important managers with spreadsheets looking for a back to stab and too few people doing the actual work.

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