Wikipedia

The 404 889: Where we feel an urge to back you up (podcast)

Our guest on the show today is Jason Scott, computer historian and adjunct archivist at the Internet Archives, a nonprofit founded in 1996 to save a copy of every Web page ever posted. He's also responsible for the Netscape GIF graveyard you see above. Also related: "under construction" GIFs!

We want to hear all about the 500,000 books scanned so far in the Archive warehouse, but we'll also talk to him about the Wayback Machine, a tool that lets you click through snapshots of Web sites along a timeline--check out CNET back in October 1996!

The Archive's book-scanning division is the company's foremost project with donated texts making up a big portion of the collection, but the Web site also preserves live music footage, original audio recordings, and various moving images clipped from history, like this compendium of news footage documenting various news organizations' coverage of the September 11 attacks over the course of seven days.

We have a lot of topics to discuss with Jason, including his personal project to rescue data saved on floppy discs (we'll explain what those are in the show, kids) and his personal vendetta against Wikipedia. But we only have 20 minutes for the interview, so expect to see him back on the show in the future.

The 404 Digest for Episode 889

Is this the end for books? Internet archivist seeks 1 of every book written. Rescuing floppy disks, by Jason Scott. The great failure of Wikipedia, by Jason Scott. Ticketmaster tells you where your Facebook Friends sit. CorporateTwits--Trolling goes corporate How a Tweet Led to a full steak dinner delivered to the airport. Netscape GIF Graveyard Under construction GIF Graveyard

Episode 889 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1525: Patent catfights and the hot rod plow (Podcast)

Google and Microsoft continue their highly public patent-related catfight, which is either raising awareness of the issue of overbroad software patents or just turning into an embarrassing public battle that's making us all uncomfortable. Also, facial recognition is a trap, and security researchers are rushing to unveil the real Shady Rat. Plus: Computer Love!

Wikipedia losing contributors, to streamline editing

Wikipedia is trying to simplify its editing procedures in response to declining numbers of contributors, founder Jimmy Wales said on the sidelines of an annual meeting today.

The user-generated online encyclopedia has been unable to attract new volunteer contributors after others stop helping out.

"We are not replenishing our ranks," the Associated Press quoted Wales as saying at the meeting in Haifa, Israel. "It is not a crisis, but I consider it to be important."

In March, the Web site had about 90,000 active contributors, and it's trying to recruit another 5,000 by June 2012, AP reported. It has more than 15 million registered users and 1,000 administrators, according to Wikipedia stats, and Google's DoubleClick Ad Planner indicates that it is one of the most popular sites on the Web.

Some contributors leave because Wikipedia has been around for 10 years and there is less demand for new articles. Others move on for personal reasons. Wales told the AP that the typical contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who may move on to other pursuits and leave the site. Flame wars over edits also drive volunteers away. … Read more

Study: Facebook at bottom on customer satisfaction

Facebook may be one of the most popular Web sites around, but it doesn't seem to be one of the most loved.

The social network scored dead last in a new study out today that tracked customer satisfaction among a variety of Web sites and companies. Produced in partnership with analytics firm ForeSee Results, the 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index E-Business Report analyzed how users feel about news sites, search engines, and social networks.

Although Facebook's reputation actually grew 3 percent from last year to reach 66 out of 100, the site was at the bottom of the … Read more

Wikidroid puts knowledge at your fingertips

Wikidroid gives you one-tap access to Wikipedia--the world's favorite online encyclopedia--allowing you to satiate your hunger for knowledge on the go and without delay. It's very simple, and it does exactly what you need it to do: pull up Wikipedia entries at will. Plus, it adds a few nice touches that make your researching experience just a little bit more pleasant. You can save pages to SD card, and share them via other applications. There's also a nice "Pin title bar" feature, which keeps the search field at the top of your screen as you … Read more

The 404 791: Where we're rolling with the homies (podcast)

Happy 404 Day! To celebrate the second most popular day in April, we've kicked Wilson off the show and replaced him with Mark Licea. Happy Monday! Today we're chatting about an immersive new take on Shakespeare's "Macbeth" story, nude therapists working in New York, an Android bootleg that publicly embarrasses pirates, and Web vigilantes Anonymous joining hackers GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo in their fight against Sony.

The 404 Digest for Episode 791

"Sleep No More" offers a modern take on classic theater. Pirates beware: a bootleg Android app punishes with public shaming. A therapist in NYC meets with clients with clothes on, then slowly takes them off. Speaking of nudes, a Web developer site is looking to recruit nude female Web coders. .01% of Wikipedia is equivalent to 952 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica...and it's for sale.

Episode 791 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

At 10, highlighting Wikipedia's past and future

With just 20 simple words and two entries, it began: "Hello, world." And "Humor me. Go there and add a little article. It will take all of five or ten minutes."

Written by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales on January 15, 2001, those four sentences ushered in one of the most widely used and important reference projects in history, let alone on the Internet: Wikipedia.

Tomorrow, Wikipedia turns 10 years old. It's hard to imagine that a tiny, user-created project founded by two unknowns behind the online expert-written encyclopedia Nupedia could have grown into a … Read more

Wikipedia's Happy New Year: $16 million in support

Wikipedia is ringing in the New Year with $16 million in donations collected this holiday season.

Founder Jimmy Wales said in a post today that the fundraiser was the most successful in the history of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, parent of Wikipedia.

"This year is a little more incredible than most because this year we celebrate Wikipedia's tenth anniversary," Wales wrote. "It's so important that we kick the year off just like this: by fully funding the Wikimedia Foundation's budget to support Wikipedia and all the sister projects as we head into the next … Read more

Michael Jackson on Ping

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Verizon gets ready to turn on its 4G network

YouTube lets you skip ads you don't care for

Microsoft launches an Xbox Live Rewards program to repay your loyalty

Amazon.com adds Wikipedia pages to its site to help you make more informed shopping choices

Dish Network lets you watch content from your cable box on your iPad via a Sling Media device

Netflix gets new indie films in its streaming video service from film studio FilmDistrict

Google updates its mute feature in Gmail

A new Michael Jackson song debuts exclusively on Ping, … Read more

Amazon adds Wikipedia to book-shopping pages

Last month, e-commerce marketplace Amazon.com launched a relatively unnoticed new feature that brings content from Wikipedia pages to its own servers in a shadowy new project that appears to be called "Shopping Enabled Wikipedia Pages." Hosted on the Amazon.com domain, they replicate Wikipedia's content but have added links to where a book can be purchased on Amazon.

"Shopping-enabled Wikipedia pages are a new introduction on Amazon.com," Amazon spokeswoman Anya Waring told CNET when asked via e-mail. "As of November, we have rolled [the feature] out in the books category; however, [it] … Read more