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Jibu Elias Feb 20, 2017, 12.51 PM IST For majority of people, Wikipedia is where they get detailed information from. Whether it is finding out about what caused the World Wars or how many ex-wives Donald Trump has- we just Google the phrase only to click on the Wikipedia link.

However, beyond factual information, Wikipedia is also a source for the advanced level of information, which many readers aren't seeking. That also means you will have a hard time understanding certain articles.

If you are someone who only needed the basic information, according to Redditor 3-3-16 there is a simple hack for those who only need the essential information. The hack is to change the "en" in the URL to "simple", which takes you to a separate Wikipedia for English language learners. You can see it yourself by checking both the links to Wikipedia page to the giant panda. This link " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda " will take you to the regular indexed page.

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Access Simplified Wikipedia Articles by Tweaking the URL - LifeHacker India

It's more important than ever to support quality journalism to challenge the "nonsense" of "alternative facts", Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales says.

But the chair of Wikia, Inc, said he remains fundamentally optimistic about the future of news consumption.

The Huffington Post Australia asked Wales what went through his head when he heard the term "alternative facts" on a U.S. news network a few weeks ago.

"It was ridiculous," Wales said.

The 50-year old entrepreneur, who is preparing to visit Australia in May for the World Business Forum, doesn't hold much stock in the "post-truth-world" argument being bandied about to explain why some facts don't seem to matter.

"This idea that we're in some kind of post truth, post-fact world is really not correct and I think a lot of people are very upset about this concept," he said.

That's not an entirely surprising view from a man that co-founded the largest open source encylopaedia in the world.

The encyclopaedia has recently taken a strong line on what it called unreliable sources, earlier this month announcing the Daily Mail has been removed as a "reliable source" on the crowd-sourced encyclopaedia after the news group was deemed "generally unreliable".

Some 12,000 links to the Mail, and its website MailOnline, will be gradually removed by volunteer editors on the encyclopedia.

Wales sees tremendous value in traditional and well established news agencies, but he said it's important that consumers demand quality from newspapers and magazines.

"We do see a lot on nonsense floating around and I think that it's more important than ever that we support quality institutions," he said.

But he said he remains fundamentally optimistic about the future of news consumption thanks in part to simplified payment methods via apps and e-readers.

As it becomes easier for people to pay for news though apps, more people will pay for it he said.

But the idea that media that can be 100 percent funded with advertising is a more problematic idea today than its ever been, he said. In the past, people were worried newspapers would be beholden or subservient to corporate money paying for the ads.

"The issues these days are programmatic and so forth, that it leads people down a path of clickbait headlines," said Wales.

"It makes more sense from a pure business point of view to post an outrageous headline and some hastily written crap than to really spend the money on a really thoughtful piece and so forth, because that costs more.

"People are willing to pay for that kind of quality, but if all you're doing is chasing clicks, it's hard to justify that kind of quality."

Jimmy Wales will be presenting at the World Business Forum Sydney 2017 alongside Ariana Huffington and Randi Zuckerberg. The Huffington Post Australia is proud to once again be a Media Partner and our readers are entitled to discounted rates by using promo code: HUFF10

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Wikipedia Founder Lambasts 'Alternative Facts' As Ridiculous - Huffington Post Australia

The vigilance of Wikipedia editors is well known across the internet. Any attempt to change a senators political affiliation to the Dipshit Party or inject editorial opinions into the article for Charles In Charge will get summarily smacked down and reedited within minutes. But, in a new piece on Boing Boing, Andrea James describes how the darker side of this vigilance is posing a threat to 40 percent of Wikipedias content.

James focuses on the plight of Wikipedia stubs. If you dont know, a stub is an article that is lacking in detail. Almost all articles begin as stubs and then hopefully continue to grow as self-appointed editors add more properly sourced information. However, if a stub sits for too long without update it runs the risk of being deleted.

Generally speaking, this isnt a terrible system. Wikipedia is already massive, and keeping the website clear of clutter is helpful for the user base. However, the problem comes when certain editorsor as James labels them deletionistsare too eager to delete stub articles, particularly those based on topics they personally have no interest in.

According to James, the articles that most frequently run the risk of being deleted are written by young people, about generational interests, or pop culture, or something outside the experience of the primarily older white male deletionists who consider themselves arbiters of acceptable encyclopedia content. To make matters worse, in addition to these articles being deleted en masse, all edit history of the article is being removed, which is a violation of Wikipedias transparency mandate.

While the deletion of a four-sentence article on a rare protein or an obscure rap song from the early 2000s may not seem like a big deal, it sets a dangerous precedent for the free, informative resource. Wikipedia is supposed to provide everyone with adequate information on anything and everything, but right now our information is being prioritized by lonely train enthusiasts with a lot of free time and possibly not our best interests at heart.

If you have any information or concerns about Wikipedia articles being destroyed, James encourages you to contact her directly.

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Wikipedia is eating itself alive - A.V. Club

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Samsungs problems just got even worse. The companys heir apparent Lee Jae-yong has been arrested for bribery, embezzlement and perjury in connection with a massive corruption scandal that has already resulted in the presidents impeachment. It could hinder the succession and restructuring plans for South Koreas biggest conglomerate, which is still reeling from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. (A Samsung factory catching fire last week demonstrates how the faulty batteries are still causing headaches for the company.)

Large, family-controlled companies such as Samsung, which dominate South Koreas economy, are perceived as enjoying lenient treatment from the judicial system a factor that has contributed to public anger over the widening corruption scandal. Prosecutors are focusing on roughly $37m in payments made by Samsung to entities allegedly linked to a friend of President Park Geun-hye. The payments, they allege, were to receive a nod for a contentious 2015 merger of two Samsung units. (FT, Guardian, WSJ, Reuters)

That press conference The American presidents 77-minute news conference has been described as combative, erratic, and unconventional. It was organised to announce a new nominee for labour secretary Alexander Acosta but the topics were wide-ranging. Meanwhile, Robert Harward, the ex-navy Seal chosen to succeed Michael Flynn as national security adviser, turned down the offer. Mr Trump also used the conference to say Mr Flynn did nothing wrong by discussing US sanctions with the Russian ambassador before the inauguration. (Bloomberg, WaPo, NYT, FT)

Former PM calls for Brexit fight Tony Blair will issue a rallying cry on Friday to opponents of Brexit, urging them to fight against Theresa Mays plans to take Britain out of the EU and warning that the country is on a cliff edge. It is his first major political intervention since last years referendum but his comments are being criticised as arrogant and utterly undemocratic. (FT, BBC)

Greek breakthrough hopes shelved The eurozone is set to miss the deadline for a Greek bailout deal, with EU officials still unable to reach an agreement with the IMF. It means the bailout fight will be pushed into the Dutch and French election season where diplomats fear it could become highly politicised. French bonds are being traded at volumes not seen since the eurozone crisis as investors become concerned the result will deliver the worlds next populist upset. (FT)

Shake-up for Norways $900bn fund Oslo has proposed the biggest changes to the worlds largest sovereign wealth fund in decades, cutting the amount of oil money the country can spend each year and tilting the fund towards higher risk by investing about $90bn more in stock markets. (FT)

Asia bucks trend of public distrust While public distrust of the government, business and the media appears to be growing in the west, some Asian countries are bucking the trend. Respondents to the survey by consultancy Edelman in Japan and South Korea had deep distrust of institutions but those in India, Indonesia, China and Singapore held broadly positive opinions. (NAR)

Test your knowledge with the week in news quiz. How many electric vehicles does South Korea want on the road by 2020?

Global security Mike Pence, US vice-president, is due to top the bill at the Munich Security Conference, Europes leading defence forum, amid uncertainty about transatlantic relations after Donald Trumps election.

Chinas North Korea headache The firing of a ballistic missile towards Japan and the murder in Malaysia of the North Korean leaders half-brother have exasperated Beijing just as it was seeking to improve relations with a troublesome neighbour that had angered the international community with two nuclear tests last year. Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with the assassination. (FT)

Cautious Kremlin The west looks fragile but here is why Vladimir Putins Russia may be unable to step up to a leading global role. (FT)

Wikipedias army of fact-checkers With newsroom budgets shrinking and the traditional authoritative institutions increasingly treated with scepticism, Wikipedias ever-changing verification structure has redeemed its credibility problem. Now, in unusual online collaboration, the company is cultivating an army to battle fake news. Separately, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has posted a manifesto to counter concerns about fake news. (Pacific Standard Magazine, FT)

Israels high hopes Israel has global ambitions to become a medical marijuana supplier and has taken the first steps to amend laws that will allow the export of medical marijuana products. (FT)

The graffiti kids who sparked the Syrian war They were giggling school boys with black spray paint. But their simple rebellion had an effect similar to the assassins bullet fired at the outbreak of the first world war. Without that act of teenage impetuousness and the Assad regimes violent reaction to it would the refugee crisis be on the scale it is now? Would the UK spurred by campaign posters of streams of refugees heading north have voted to leave the EU? Would the anti-immigrant message of Donald Trump have resonated quite so deeply? One reporter goes back to the beginning, in 2011, in an effort to understand the moment we are in. (Globe and Mail)

Vitamin D could help ward off flu Researchers have found people who take vitamin D regularly suffer fewer respiratory tract infections. Deficiency of the so-called sunshine vitamin is already known to cause rickets, but too much vitamin D can also lead to medical problems. (BMJ, BBC)

Murder reveals nature of North Korean dictator The assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the elder brother of Kim Jong Un, at a crowded airport demonstrates the power and paranoia of the North Korean leader. The FTs Jeevan Vasagar reports from Kuala Lumpur airport. (FT)

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Samsung heir arrested; Blair's Brexit rallying cry; Wikipedia's army - Financial Times

Susette Newberry/Provided

A participant in the 2016 Wikipedia Art + Feminism edit-a-thon.

Cornell is once again participating in the Wikipedia Art + Feminism edit-a-thon, designed to improve coverage of women and the arts on Wikipedia.

On Saturday, March 11, members of the Cornell and Ithaca communities are invited to drop in for communal updating of Wikipedias entries on art and feminism. Advanced workshops as well as same-day training will be provided.

As reliance on the internet grows, so do the ways in which it shapes thinking. This underscores the importance of ensuring that womens significant arts contributions are accurately represented on Wikipedia, organizers of this annual event say.

This project will make Wikipedia better, and help correct the severe underrepresentation of women artists from all cultures, said Susette Newberry, head of research and learning services at Olin Library.

The Wikimedia Foundation says that only around 10 percent of its editors are female.

Technology in particular is guilty of not documenting the accomplishments of many women (and a few men) who have worked at the intersections of art, feminism and technology, said Renate Ferro, visiting assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies in the College of Architecture, Art and Plannings Department of Art. With the guidance of visual resources librarian Marsha Taichman, students in Ferros Art 2701 class, Introduction to Digital Media, will learn how Wikipedia works, Ferro said.

Organized by Cornell University Library and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, the event is one of hundreds of edit-a-thons scheduled to take place around the world. In 2016, around 2,500 participants convened in 175 locations in 28 countries. At Cornell last year, 49 articles were improved and 10 new Wikipedia articles created, including pages for Ithaca artist Alison Mason Kingsbury, Cornell art historian Claire Holt and 13th-century Icelandic sculptor Margret the Adroit.

Editing will take place March 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Olin Library and the Fine Arts Library in Rand Hall. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops, but a limited number will be available for checkout by Cornell students and faculty at the libraries circulation desks.

The Johnson Museum of Art is thrilled to support Cornells Art + Feminism efforts to improve representation of women and the arts on Wikipedia, said Stephanie Wiles, the Richard J. Schwartz director. We invite museum friends and visitors to drop by and participate in this years Wikipedia edit-a-thon, hosted in the museums main lobby.

All gender identities and expressions are encouraged to participate.

Before the edit-a-thon, Cornell University Library will offer two Art + Feminism Wikipedia editing workshops, on Feb. 22 and March 3. This year, organizers hope to add a small number of articles to Wikipedia, including one on architect Olive Tjaden 25, who designed more than 400 homes, including grand mansions, in Garden City, Long Island, New York, and in whose honor a College of Architecture, Art and Planning building was named in 1981. Because entire articles are difficult and time-consuming to create, editors will focus on improving existing Wikipedia pages in need of greater detail.

Those who are already Wikipedians are encouraged to register here; updated information can also be found on the Facebook event page. Additional sponsorship for these events is provided by the Society for the Humanities and the Wikimedia Foundation.

Melanie Lefkowitz is a writer for Cornell University Library.

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Cornell to join edit-a-thon of women, arts on Wikipedia - Cornell Chronicle