Posted: 12/1/2015 10:23:35 PM EDT
| Every now and then when I am looking something up there is a donation request/message from wikipedia. Has anyone ever donated to wikepedia? |
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. Wikipedia is proof that once all information is held only in digital formats history, law, and societal values mean whatever the last person who edited those subjects wants them to mean. Just because the information is posted to Wikipedia doesn't make it accurate or unbiased. It's just like the everchanging barnside rules in Animal Farm. |
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I donated $5 once. I figured that they are providing me a service that I like and use nearly daily, so it's only fair I toss them a buck. This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. |
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This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. Quoted:
Quoted:
I donated $5 once. I figured that they are providing me a service that I like and use nearly daily, so it's only fair I toss them a buck. This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. I've given them a few hundred over the years. In fact, nra ila and wiki are the only things I've ever given money to. I like to shoot guns and read about random shit when I'm not working. Just yesterday I read about falconry, some random abandoned military bases, a few endangered species, and the corporate history of a few companies I was interested in, also a couple accounting scandals I was watching on American greed. |
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10 or 20 a month usually. They need it, deserve it. That site has helped launch many "non-college-degreed" candididates into a career position for about the same monthly obligation. I've learned about 50% of what I know about running a business from wiki. You can learn a lot from it. |
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Quoted:
. Wikipedia is proof that once all information is held only in digital formats history, law, and societal values mean whatever the last person who edited those subjects wants them to mean. Just because the information is posted to Wikipedia doesn't make it accurate or unbiased. It's just like the everchanging barnside rules in Animal Farm. But I think the majority of us don't use if for serious information purposes, like how to build a nuke, at least I don't. I use it for casual stuff like looking up sports info like team info, coaches records and backgrounds, and geography things about places I'm traveling to. |
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Been meaning to toss them a donation but don't want to get slammed with email requests for more.
Do they bother you after you donate? I've gotten way more than $20 worth of value from them so don't begrudge them the money at all. Not that they're some unassailable authority or anything; they just have lots of interesting articles on just about anything I want to look up. For those who don't know, the trick is to follow up by reading the references for articles you're interested in. Those can be a gold mine of info. |
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This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. Quoted:
Quoted:
I donated $5 once. I figured that they are providing me a service that I like and use nearly daily, so it's only fair I toss them a buck. This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. +1....I gave them $5 ....two years ago...and they've never sent another request until 2 weeks ago. They sent me an email about 2 weeks ago asking for another....this thread reminded me to go back again and donate... edit: Just did...$20 |
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/
I had a co-worker who was friends with someone on the board of the Wikipedia Foundation. He said they have enough money saved up to meet their expenses for 10 years, IIRC. |
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+1....I gave them $5 last year. They sent me an email about 2 weeks ago asking for another....this thread reminded me to go back again and pony up a 5 spot. Quoted:
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I donated $5 once. I figured that they are providing me a service that I like and use nearly daily, so it's only fair I toss them a buck. This is my line of thinking. I've never ever posted anything to the database but frequently access it to look up odds and ends. So I don't feel to bad giving them $10. They've earned it. +1....I gave them $5 last year. They sent me an email about 2 weeks ago asking for another....this thread reminded me to go back again and pony up a 5 spot. Ditto here $5 is cheaper than buying a set of encyclopedias (not that they still sell them) |
| It's amazing how many assholes guard the wiki articles they've posted in, even when they post ridiculously wrong info. In the history community its a known problem, knowledgeable posters edit an article, change a few parts, add more sources, and then within a day its edited again because the original poster got an alert and changed it back to what they had written. It turns into a war where two people just go back back and forth until a wiki employee gets involved and make a ruling, usually to the original person since they are more loyal contributors. Most knowledgeable people eventually say fuck it and stop bothering to fix it. A highly flawed source of info but capable of being a good one with a bit more scutiny. |