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Aftereasilypassingananti-abortion amendment, Louisianagota new flag on its Wikipedia pageWednesday morning. Its redwith a sunbeam and a bird holding an olive branch. Its also the flag used to representGilead, theinfamousdystopianandpatriarchalsocietyon HulusThe Handmaids Tale.

The new state motto?Blessed be the fruit.State nicknamesincludedThe Bayou State, Pelican State and Gilead.While these additionsweretaken downquickly, the flag and seal, which also reads Blessed be the fruit,lasted on the page until a little after noon Wednesday.

Reddit userFwcaseyfirst posted a screenshot to the New Orleans subreddit Wednesday morningwhen the nicknames and mottos were changed. Since the user posted, the flag and the seal were added, a change that appeared a bitless obvious to Wikipedia administrators. After all, bothflagshave birds.

After some sleuthing, another Reddit user DrinkmorecodemoresaidaWikipedia userby the very serious name ofMaster 420 69 was responsible for the changes. Wikipedia has already temporarily suspended that account, whosepast edit historyappears tohave included the addition of this crucial piece of incorrect informationto theentry for skeleton:A skeleton is made up of 205 bones in case you did not know.(Its typically 206 bones.)

The trolling comes after 62% of Louisiana voters approvedan amendmentthat will add language to the state constitution stating it does not include a right to abortion or the funding of abortion. Before there was nospecificlanguage in the constitution about abortion, butthis was aimed at making surecourts do not interpret the state constitution as protecting abortion rightsin the future.

In Orleans Parish, 75%of voters, or127,213 people,voted against the amendment.The surrounding suburbs of Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes both approved the amendment, though by smaller margins than the whole state. InJefferson Parish, 54% of voters approved the amendmentcompared to56% of voters in St. Bernard Parish.

Louisianaalreadyhad whats known as a trigger law on the books since 2006. Thelawwill automatically ban almost all abortions in the state if the Supreme Court decides tooverturnRoe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing the right to legal abortion before an embryo or fetus can survive outside the womb.

Abortion rights activists fear the amendment could make it more difficult to challenge anti-abortion laws in the stateordare we say itpass any laws making itanyeasierfor womento access abortion in the future.

The Hulu series is an adaptation of Margaret Atwoods 1985 novel of the same name, and the shows fourth season is set to premiere next year.At Womens Marches in recent years, some have dressed in the signature long which red robes and white bonnets, which the handmaids are forced to wear every day. Its a reminder of whatsome fearcouldhappenif womensreproductiverights continue to be chipped awayat the state and federal levels.

The march brought around 200 people to City Hall Saturday afternoon, but it almost didnt happen when police didnt arrive to clear traffic for marchers.

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Blessed be the Wikipedia trolls: Louisiana's page gets dystopian makeover after election - NOLA.com

(Reuters) - Wikipedia has locked down its main election page ahead of the U.S. presidential election so that only certain editors can make changes, part of preparations to combat potential disinformation and abuses related to Tuesdays vote.

The online encyclopedias articles, written primarily by unpaid volunteers, are relied on by platforms from Alphabet Incs Google to Amazon Incs voice assistant Alexa to give their users information and context.

Were not worried about vandals who want to just mess up an article in order to cause a little trouble. The Wikipedia community deals with those issues for breakfast, Ryan Merkley, chief of staff at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization which hosts Wikipedia, said in a phone interview.

Were really worried about coordinated actors ... trying to find a way to disseminate information ... in a way that could cause people, for example, to choose not to vote or to influence the outcome of the election based on something that was not true.

Internet researchers say Wikipedia, which says it is committed to neutrality, has emerged as a relatively trusted site, while major social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have struggled to curb viral misinformation.

This year, Merkley said, the Wikimedia Foundation for the first time put together a disinformation task-force to run election exercises with staff and community members.

Last week, community members moved to add extra protections to the 2020 United States presidential election article so only users who have had a registered account for more than 30 days and have made 500 edits on the site can alter the page.

Merkley said Wikipedia has seen the creation of fake accounts, people making false edits to screenshot and share on social media and attempts to use content from unreliable sources or skew articles to a bias.

He said the Wikimedia Foundation had been meeting with industry partners and U.S. government officials, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security, but that it had not yet seen any state actors flagged by government officials operating on Wikipedia.

A Wikimedia spokeswoman said there are currently 72 English-Wikipedia articles related to the U.S. election and that there are about 2,600 editors watching those pages who get alerts for any edits.

Merkley said staff rarely make interventions but there could be instances around the election, such as direct calls for violence, where they would remove content or take action against a user.

Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Nick Zieminski

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Wikipedia buttons up key pages ahead of U.S. election - Reuters

Wikipedia has locked down its main election page ahead of the US presidential election so that only certain editors can make changes, part of preparations to combat potential disinformation and abuses related to Tuesday's vote.

The online encyclopedia's articles, written primarily by unpaid volunteers, are relied on by platforms from Alphabet's Google to Amazonvoice assistant Alexa to give their users information and context.

"We're not worried about vandals who want to just mess up an article in order to cause a little trouble. The Wikipedia community deals with those issues for breakfast," Ryan Merkley, chief of staff at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organisation which hosts Wikipedia, said in a phone interview.

"We're really worried about coordinated actors ... trying to find a way to disseminate information ... in a way that could cause people, for example, to choose not to vote or to influence the outcome of the election based on something that was not true."

Internet researchers say Wikipedia, which says it is committed to neutrality, has emerged as a relatively trusted site, while major social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have struggled to curb viral misinformation.

This year, Merkley said, the Wikimedia Foundation for the first time put together a disinformation task-force to run election exercises with staff and community members.

Last week, community members moved to add extra protections to the '2020 United States presidential election' article so only users who have had a registered account for more than 30 days and have made 500 edits on the site can alter the page.

Merkley said Wikipedia has seen the creation of fake accounts, people making false edits to screenshot and share on social media and attempts to use content from unreliable sources or skew articles to a bias.

He said the Wikimedia Foundation had been meeting with industry partners and US government officials, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security, but that it had not yet seen any state actors flagged by government officials operating on Wikipedia.

A Wikimedia spokeswoman said there are currently 72 English-Wikipedia articles related to the US election and that there are about 2,600 editors 'watching' those pages who get alerts for any edits.

Merkley said staff rarely make interventions but there could be instances around the election, such as direct calls for violence, where they would remove content or take action against a user.

Thomson Reuters 2020

Are iPhone 12 mini, HomePod mini the Perfect Apple Devices for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Originally posted here:
Wikipedia Locks Key Pages to Combat Disinformation Ahead of US Presidential Elections - Gadgets 360

While we still don't have a solid idea of what the amethyst crystals will be capable of, we do know where to look for ideas on what could be coming.

Minecraft's 1.17 Caves and Cliffs update may be months away, but it seems that we get more information about it every week. This time, we learned that a Minecraft developer read a Wikipedia article for inspiration on the new amethyst crystals being added in 1.17.

At the beginning of October, we learned that the next big update to Minecraft would be called Caves and Cliffs. This update will include new mobs, like the Glow Squid; new cave types, like the Mesh caves; and a new copper ore. Of course, the Minecraft Live event that introduced these elements didn't elaborate on much, leading many to wonder what the specifics of the new additions would be.

Related:Minecraft: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Hoglins

While we still don't have a solid idea of what the amethyst crystals will be capable of, we do know where to look for ideas on what could be coming. During a Q&A on October 30, a group of developers was asked if you would be able to craft binoculars, as well as a spyglass, with the new crystals. While developer Corey Scheviak said that, no, you will not be able to craft binoculars, he did tell ushow they thought to add the spyglass.

Apparently, Scheviak was sitting in bedthinking of what the team could do with crystalswhen he decided to google the word "crystal". That led him tothrough a Wikipediapage on everything that crystals can do. He explains that, "I gave her [Agnes Larsson] like 50 ideas, and she was like, 'That one! That one right there! The spyglass!'"

In our attempt to replicate that search (we went to Wikipedia and searched "uses for crystals") we found a lot of interesting potential usesincluding redstone and health applications. For example, crystals have been used to create radios and as healing remedies in the real-world. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that these uses would easily translate to your Minecraft world.

Scheviak said that there is "at least one" additional use for crystals coming in 1.17 and one that he is hoping will be added in. Although he did not elaborate on what those would be, he did reference the list of items (that he got from Wikipedia) before mentioning this. Time will tell what will be added, but the possibilities are fascinating, even if those possibilitieswon't include colored lights.

Go here to read the rest:
Minecraft Developer Read A Wikipedia Article For Inspiration On Crystals - TheGamer

Some people love horror stories and others dont, but probably at some point, all of us have experienced a terrifying twist in life.

This inspired the SE Ranking team to reach out to SEO and marketing experts from all over the world and ask them to share some nightmare-of-a-case stories they had in their careers.

Our assumption was that since SEO is so fickle and marketing success depends on so many factors, our fellow colleagues will surely have some enticing stories to share.

Luckily, they didnt mind dragging their skeletons out of the closet.

This article is all about mistakes that led to devastating consequences.

From lack of caution or vision to unexpected obstacles and bad luck the reasons behind their marketing failures vary.

But fortunately, most of the stories had a happy ending.

And they all once again prove that the road to success is paved with failure.

They teach us that every mistake we make will ultimately steer us in the right direction as long as we learn the lesson and retain the necessary vigor to keep going.

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A warning had been on the Wikipedia article for two years.

Then early July 2020, a new warning appeared.

Two weeks later, the Wikipedia article about me had been deleted by the administrators.

Within a week, my entity had disappeared from Googles Knowledge Graph and the knowledge panel on my personal Brand SERP had gone.

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A major nightmare for someone who calls himself The Brand SERP Guy.

Worse, a week later, the Wikipedia article about my folk-punk band from the 90s was gone.

Two days later, the article about my TV series from the 90s was gone, too.

Seems someone at Wikipedia had it in for me.

In fact, truth be told, it was my own fault.

In the interests of experimenting to see how much I could feed Googles Knowledge Graph and control the knowledge panel on my personal Brand SERP, and those of my music group and TV series, I had (over) edited all three Wikipedia articles.

Which is against the rules.

So what happened?

Read on, because this horror story actually has a redemptive ending.

I rebuilt it all, took control of the entities, learned a lot about knowledge panels, and got some amazing insights into how the Knowledge Graph functions.

I panicked when the Wikipedia page was deleted and moved the structured data about me on my site from the home page to a dedicated About Page.

That turned out to be a mistake.

As described, the knowledge panel disappeared and the entry in the Knowledge Graph got deleted.

Once again, my own fault.

This is the folk-punk group I mentioned earlier.

There had previously been a mix-up of information in the knowledge panel due to the ambiguity of the name, but last year I had sorted it out using:

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The deletion of the Wikipedia article brought back the mix-ups.

However, because of all the work I had done and the schema markup I had added, Google now saw my site as the main authority about the band.

That means I could now change things quite easily.

Including the description in the knowledge panel (updates take 10 minutes).

I had control.

This is the cartoon characters and TV series I mentioned earlier.

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Following the deletion of the Wikipedia article about the TV series, the Knowledge Graph entity remained in place, and the information in the knowledge panel remained as-was, except the description, which disappeared.

Three weeks later that was back, but this time from my site (it has since switched to the official site).

Once again, my site and the schema markup I provide was Googles fallback, the second-best source of information about the entity.

Once again, the deletion of the Wikipedia page gave me control.

Every entity needs a home.

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Preferably on your site.

For all the three entities, my site was the home the source of information Google uses as its point of reference in the absence of a Wikipedia article.

It appears that, when a substantial piece of information about an entity such as Wikipedia disappears, that is the fallback crutch Google uses to reassure itself that the Knowledge Graph is correct.

The schema markup on your site that describes you and related entities is vitally important to Google in its understanding of those entities and its confidence in its understanding of those entities.

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The good news is that by leveraging the (rather groovy) entity-based markup provided by WordLift, in just 6 weeks I created a completely new entity in the Knowledge Graph and rebuilt the entire knowledge panel better than ever.

Google now uses my site as the reference for information about me (rather than Wikipedia).

And that means what appears in the knowledge panel is now (semi) controlled by me and no longer affected by anonymous Wikipedia editors who know nothing about me, and what information is important about me.

Brilliant!

Nobody likes to see their organic traffic and rankings drop.

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When a drop happens, though, you can usually figure out the cause.

But the scariest moment for me was when a client faced a traffic and rankings drop with no apparent cause.

Overnight, this client lost half their organic traffic.

The terms they had ranked highly for were simply gone.

There was no algorithm update, no changes to the website, no alterations to the content there wasnt even a surge in server errors (or any error) in any tool we looked at.

Competitors hadnt changed anything either.

There was no growth in external backlinks.

Search Console wasnt reporting a manual action.

The content was highly authoritative within this clients industry and the company had (and still has) a strong brand reputation.

Mysteriously, overnight, this companys organic traffic was simply gone.

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Any traffic drop is scary enough but what made this a true nightmare scenario was that we couldnt find any cause no matter where we looked.

For some unknown reason, Google decided to kick this site out of the index.

Without a cause, there wasnt a clear place to begin recovering the traffic.

Do we start by fixing content?

Keep looking for a technical problem?

Maybe something happened with links?

Like any good mystery, the solution is only to be found via careful investigation.

So, we pushed through the nightmare and kept digging.

As we dug in, we started to find some hidden and underlying problems that had been lurking on this site for years.

The phrase legacy code has always worried me but this project made me realize that legacy code is one of the scarier parts of any website.

Given how scary legacy code can be, we maybe ought to rename it.

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Maybe zombie code would be more fitting?

Thankfully, this story ended well.

After months of digging, we figured out that Googles bots had stumbled across one of the nastier legacy areas of the site and deranked the website given what they had found there.

That one bad section of the site had caused Google to reevaluate the website in a negative light.

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7 Marketing Disasters That Turned Out to Be Precious Lessons - Search Engine Journal