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Wikipedia Reaches 200,000 Articles

CanadaDave writes "The Wikipedia.org project to create a 'complete and accurate free content encyclopedia' has just surpassed 200,000 articles, an increase from 100,000 just 1 year ago. Join in on the celebrations. Some work has been done on predicting Wikipedia's growth and others are already planning for the 500,000 articles over all languages press release. In related news, the project has recently received $20,000 worth of Linux server equipment (9 machines) in hopes to improve performance of the site, which has been prone to downtime over the past year. The servers are being tested right now and will be up and running soon. The purchase was made possible by the many donations the Wikimedia project received in 2003."

14 of 405 comments (clear)

  1. 9 new servers, eh? by grub · · Score: 5, Funny

    *** I N V O I C E ***

    To: Wikipedia.org

    Qty _ _ Item _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Price _ SubTotal

    9 _ _ _ Linux Server Licenses _ $699.00 _ $6291.00

    Payable upon receipt.

    Thank you for doing business with SCO, we appreciate your
    continued support.
    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. More Downtime by DrEldarion · · Score: 4, Funny

    which has been prone to downtime over the past year.

    So we have:

    Servers that are prone to downtime.
    New servers not running yet.
    Linked to on Slashdot

    I don't see this turning out well.

    1. Re: More Downtime by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny
      So we have:

      Servers that are prone to downtime.
      New servers not running yet.
      Linked to on Slashdot

      I don't see this turning out well.
      For the ultimate in irony, here's a link to their article on the Slashdot effect.
      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Consequences by SummerMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    As the digitization of our encyclopedias continues, millions of unemployed encyclopedia salespeople lament their poor career choice.

  5. Re:Encyclopedia incomplete? by daeley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is this encyclopedia incomplete? I don't see a picture of cowboy neal under "handsome".

    I guess antonyms take up a lot of space. ;)

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  6. Toast by pizza_milkshake · · Score: 3, Funny
    wikipedia is toast atm. as a service to other readers, here is the first of many posts reproducing the currently unavailable content:

    Aardvark
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    Aardvark
    Scientific classification
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Class: Mammalia
    Order: Tubulidentata
    Family: Orycteropodidae
    Genus: Orycteropus
    Species: afer
    Binomial name
    Orycteropus afer
    The aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. The name comes from the Dutch for "earth pig", because early settlers from Europe thought it resembled a pig (although aardvarks are not closely related to pigs).

    The aardvark is the only surviving member of the family Orycteropodidae and of the order Tubulidentata. The aardvark was originally placed in the same genus as the South American anteaters because of superficial similarities which, it is now known, are the result of convergent evolution, not common ancestry. (For the same reason, aardvarks bear a striking first-glance resemblance to the marsupial bilbies and bandicoots of Australasia, which are not placental mammals at all.)

    ...

    yes, it's a joke.

  7. Wikipedia is great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The great thing about Wikipedia is that anyone can add, remove, or modify the content. This coupled with the fact that most people take information as fact without properly double checking can lead to some fun times.

    For instance, in a taxonomy class I recently took, each person in the class had to write a report on the mallard duck. Well, just as a little social exercise, I decided to replace the content on the mallard duck Wiki page with that the content on the rat page.

    When the reports were through being graded, the instructor gave us a rundown on the class performance. I just barely kept myself from bursting out in laughter as the instructor described his astonishment as he read a report that labeled the mallard as "a rodent commonly found dwelling in sewers and other vile areas."

    God, that was funny!

    1. Re:Wikipedia is great! by vidnet · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story :)

  8. Re:Hmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    What I have never understood is why some troll doesn't go to it and ruin everything? What prevents that?

    They can't reach wikipedia, because they are all sticking in the honeypot. Thank you slashdot, for enabling the internet to operate.

  9. Re:Encyclopedia incomplete? by Gyan · · Score: 2, Funny

    umm, Wikipedia intends to be "accurate".

  10. Re:Encyclopedia incomplete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I guess antonyms take up a lot of space.

    Not to mention Cowboy Neal :-)

  11. Re:Ah, wikipedia. by LordK3nn3th · · Score: 2, Funny

    I didn't post that, my brother did. I was taking a bath.

    Next time, I'm logging out.

    --

    ---
    Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
  12. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - First Printing? by 4ginandtonics · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy?

    For those of you that don't recall -

    I has many galactic treasures of information such as -

    The best way to get a drink out of a Vogon is to stick your finger down his throat

    Here is what to do if you want to get a lift from a Vogon: FORGET IT.

    or, perhaps the most relevant entry for us:

    Earth: Mostly Harmless.

    In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

    Perfect. ;-)