Tuesday, July 7, 2009

75,000 active volunteers, 684 million users, 10 million articles in 260 languages!


WIKIPEDIA!

Jimmy ‘Jimbo’ Wales the founder of Wikipedia is god’s very own gift for humanity.
The man has humility written all over him and is insanely humble. Wales helps zillions everyday and it’s people like him that make this world a beautiful place.
Wikipedia has just about two dozen people looking after the administration of this revolutionary website. All the content is written by the people and Wikipedia administrators certify these content editors based on their credibility.

IT HAS A MERE 6 MILLION DOLLARS BUDGET A YEAR!
Had Wales created Wikipedia like an entrepreneurial venture, he would have been worth billions today. So, why did Wales formulate this altruistic venture? What was the need?
Did he not want to earn millions when he had a vision?

In his recent visit to India to raise funds for Wikipedia he revealed a touching story in Nandan Nilekani’s residence that deeply impacted him. His daughter was suffering from a disease that could’ve killed her. However, a certain doctor in San Diego knew a cure that worked on some children. After taking the bait, Kira was safe.
The whole incident made Wales wonder how many people’s daughters would’ve died without the knowledge of the doctor’s cure.
And that is how Wikipedia was born.

IT took great will and belief that such an altruistic proposition would work. Wikipedia, previously started as Nupedia, failed. With continuous perseverance and diligence Wales founded the single most informative knowledge database that helps zillions and maybe saves millions of lives.
Here’s a man who lives not for the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns but broader concerns of humanity. Let us learn from such living legends who are unspoken of and do not want fame. I salute you Mr. Jimmy Wales.

(Re edited the video me and my friend made during a college competition)
(The story narrated by Mr. Wales is present in the Forbes magazine dated June 19th written by Subroto Bagchi)

12 comments:

Marianne de Nazareth said...

Interesting post. However when I was studying abroad, the lecturers banned Wikepedia saying it was not credible and could be factually incorrect.

Unknown said...

NIce article, and it is indeed a good source of info provided with detail.

Adi said...

True mam. However, wikipedia is the sole purveyor of content from all across the world. In terms of the number of people learning from Wikipedia it is such a revelutionary website. Though it's credibility is often questioned, it's just a matter of time before Wikipedia improvises and becomes a global hub for disseminating information. For a simple student like me it is such an important website to get a plethora of information required at regular times.

Anonymous said...

well done video Adi... i think it shud've bin a lil more longer...!!

And ur article.. very interestin... nice to know bout Mr. Wales...!!! and yes widout wiki, its really hard for all us...!!

Madsi said...

It was really interesting n quite an inspiraton :-)

Anonymous said...

Wiki is the best source for info.

I dint know about the founder. Good that you brought out an useful info.

Can you also tell us what is the size of data they is collated in wiki?

Anonymous said...

I would rate Wiki as the best Knowledge Management application available. The best place to search too.

- Saba

Adi said...

There are 2,924,607 English articles. 17,200,600 Total Wiki pages. You can check this link for further information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_comparisons

Nice question though. I learnt some more interesting facts. May i know who is the person who asked.

KALYAN said...

Coooooool One Dude . An amazing source of info . Keep Rocking. . . . . . . . .

Yulia D'Souza said...

adi......nice one...and loved the vidoe mostly because i couldnt stop laughing at the score, 'cant help falling in love wit you"!!!! ingenius. as for my blog well, need some time, you could say my coll prez is partly responsible for me not writing in;-) kidding....

siddarth said...

i am posting a comment :)
i am posting a comment :)


but seriously i like ur blog, its interesting :) love the ad :)

keep posting!
your loyal fan, SID!

Unknown said...

Well! I too salute Mr. Wales & also my friend who's writing all this to bring it as close as possible to us... :-)