An Encyclopedia of information on an iPod

This Encyclopodia project is hosted on sourceforge and provides a quick reference encyclopedia that can fit in your pocket. The software does not work on the most current version of the iPod (5th gen or Nano). The project is based on iPod Linux. If the Encyclopodia project doesn't seem worth checking out, iPod Linux is.

Founder's Self-Interested Wiki Edits

There have been several accusations of people posting false information to Wikipedia lately. To add to the controversy is the news that co-founder Jimmy Wales edited his own biography 18 times including several edits that removed mentions of co-founder Larry Sanger and his contributions to Wikipedia. Rojer Cadenhead, writer of WorkBench, uncovered this in an investigation of the site's activity. In an interview with Wired magazine admitted that he had edited his entry.

"People shouldn't do it, including me," he said. "I wish I hadn't done it. It's in poor taste.... People have a lot of information about themselves but staying objective is difficult. That's the trade-off in editing entries about yourself.... If you see a blatant error or misconception about yourself, you really want to set it straight." ("Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio," Wired)

Larry Sanger is justifiably angered by the removal of references to his work on creating Wikipedia and posted an entry to the Wikipedia talk forum.

"I must say I am amused. Having seen edits like this," referring to his name being removed as founder. "It does seem that Jimmy is attempting to rewrite history. But this is a futile process because in our brave new world of transparent activity and maximum communication, the truth will out." ("Wikipedia Credibility Under Fire Again," Beta News)

Wales' actions may be related to Sanger's current work on Digital Universe, which may act as a competitor to Wikipedia. Digital Universe is a start up that is using experts to review user content to create a knowledge base similar to Wikipedia. Obviously the ability to freely edit content can be abused but it looks like the transparency of Wikipedia has saved it even from its founder's biases.

(More information is available at Workbench)