Talk:Jimmy Wales

If you need to contact Jimbo about something, please do so at his talk page, not here. As Jimbo explains... "People who are trying to leave messages for me will likely be more satisfied if they leave messages on my user talk page than if they leave them here. This is the talk page for the article about me, not a place to talk to me. I rarely read this. --Jimbo Wales 06:05, 23 August 2005 (UTC)"

Setting up the Wikimedia Foundation

Skomorokh, regarding your question as to "an account of why (Wales) set up the Wikimedia Foundation and stepped aside as its chairman", this is covered to some extent in the profile done by Trader Monthly, which has

Wales, meanwhile, has gone on to fame, if not exactly the enormous fortune one typically associates with Internet moguls. But it's not as if he's opposed to rectifying that situation. Early in Wikipedia's life, Wales and his partners considered selling ads on the encyclopedia's pages. The site was showing signs of explosive growth, and they certainly could have used the extra money. Though ultimately they nixed the proposal (Internet ad rates had fallen off anyway, of course), they didn't exactly do so for idealistic reasons. "We've never said, 'Absolutely not, we don't want to sell ads,'" Wales says, explaining that the decision had more to do with preserving the Wikipedia brand.

And with the advent of his for-profit venture, Wikia Inc., it appears Wales is finally ready to monetize.

Also, though original research, you may find interesting this part of the historical record

With the resignation of Larry, there is a much less pressing need for funds. Therefore, all plans to put advertising of any kind on the wikipedia is called off for now.

We will move forward with plans for a nonprofit foundation to own wikipedia, and possibly to solicit donations and grants to help us carry out our mission. (Ironically, I think that grant money would come with many annoying strings attached, which we could not accept, comparted to advertising money, which is virtually 100% string-free.)

-- Seth Finkelstein (talk) 01:31, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

Ludwig von Mises Institute

• He received his bachelor's degree in finance from [[Auburn University]] (notable for its [[Ludwig von Mises Institute|free-market economists]]).

Is there any source that connects Wales to the LVMI? Auburn is notable for many things, so unless there is an actual connection I don't think it's necessary or even appropriate to mention an institute that occupied office space at the university.   Will Beback  talk  21:37, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

I removed this before seeing your note here. As far as I can see, mentioning LvMI is name dropping. However, the Reason article[1] says "B.A. in finance from Auburn University, a hotbed of free market economists", so they thought it relevant to mention the free-market economist bent. John Vandenberg ^(chat) 23:15, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

So maybe it should be something like "known for a free-market economist emphasis", cited to Reason as a source. -- Seth Finkelstein (talk) 23:59, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

House of Learning

We describe it as "a small private school"; Wired describes it as "a tiny private school"[2]; SMH describes it as "the school was run by his mother and grandmother"[3]. The majority of this section of the article is dependent on Wales' Q&A[4], which is not independent. In Q&A, Wales says it wasn't homeschooling, but it sounds like it had around 10 students in total, four of which were the Wales children. Was this a registered school? I can't find any records online about it, but that isnt surprising. What offline resources would be helpful to consult in order to confirm it's status and/or find more information ? John Vandenberg ^(chat) 23:11, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

You'd have to dig deep into Alabama state education licensing and business records, if they even still exist. Not worth it at all, IMHO. There's plenty of better stuff that could be researched if you want to volunteer the time. -- Seth Finkelstein (talk) 23:59, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

teaching position at two universities

Our article says he taught at University of Alabama and Indiana University without giving a clear timeline, which may give readers the wrong impression. The Reason article[5] says "He did coursework and taught at Indiana University". The other source attached to this fact is the Q&A piece, but I can't see where it says he taught at University of Alabama. Is this covered in any other sources? What subjects did he teach? How long did he teach these subjects? John Vandenberg ^(chat) 23:27, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

As a grad student, he'd likely have been a teaching assistant for some classes. That's probably what's meant by "taught" -- Seth Finkelstein (talk) 23:59, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Swiss award

Press Association reports that Wales has been granted an award by a Swiss organization called Im Grueene Foundation for "democratising the access to knowledge".

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gL1vjVz34Ub9v2upKCb4582PEUiQ?docId=N0174211286566478187A

--TS 20:38, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

That was inserted into the article (the last award in the list) with a different reference.--Bbb23 (talk) 20:46, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

History of russian Dissident and writer Valery Nikolayevsky, today

Dear creator of Wikipedia Mr. Wales. Please:

It is very strange and unintelligible that we have to make such a discussion about V. Nikolayevsky which is offered by the russian Romanenko. In front of this the image of V. Nikolayevsky in the russian Wikipedia was surrounded in a black frame - which is like a threat to a living person. Afterwards the article of V. Nikolayevsky was deleted in the russian Wikipedia. The stages of actions. Now it begins at the english Wikipedia. Remember from the english Wikipedia article: "...However, because of his criticisms of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, he was banished...", "...His Russian novel Me, Sinner, with the Words of Truth was censored in Russia for more than 22 years...", "...His book The Secrets of Kremlin — from the Secret Archives of the KGB remains unpublished in Russia due to political pressure..."

Valery Nikolayevsky - Russian dissident. A high respected writer who gets the best critics in many countries. His book "The Secrets of Kremlin" (german Kreml-Geheimnisse) which was published in german gets the highest marks from german critics. Many books of Valery Nikolayevsky were now selling in different countries: Sweden, Poland, Brazil, UK, USA, Russia... (see [6] )... Austria, Germany and others. V. Nikolayevsky is a member of the Israeli union of writers and the austrian PEN Club. How can such a discussion came at english Wikipedia? Lovely english Wikipedia... -- Yours faithfully Jahggy, 11:41, 10 October 2010 (CET)