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Education minister's speech copied from Wikipedia; Jimmy Wales interviewed; brief news

Education minister's speech copied from Wikipedia

A speech given in the UK House of Commons by British further education minister John Henry Hayes was largely copied from Wikipedia, according to a detailed comparison by ePolitix.com. Hayes was responding on behalf of the government to a private member's bill to create an additional bank holiday, and numerous sentences in his speech correspond almost verbatim to parts of the article Bank holiday. ePolitix noted that the speech was given on a Friday, where attendance in parliament is usually very low, and mentioned the minister's remark that the particular section of the speech had been prepared for him to read out, but nevertheless called the incident "not exactly a glowing example for students", pointing out that Hayes "is an honorary member of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers".

Jimmy Wales profiled by USA Today and Chicago Sun-Times

Last week, Jimmy Wales was interviewed by USA Today ("Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales takes wiki work seriously"). Among other things, the paper noted his recent editing about current events, having been the Wikipedian who moved Catherine Middleton to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during the British royal wedding ("Yes, I am just that big a Wikipedia geek that I was waiting with my finger on the mouse button..."); however, another Wikipedian overtook Wales in updating Wikipedia with the death of Osama bin Laden.

The Chicago Sun-Times's profile of Jimmy Wales ("Wikipedia still ad-free at 10") focused on financial aspects: "Wales splits his time between London and Florida and says he earns a living by making speeches to industry groups and schools." The newspaper quoted an online marketing consultant who estimated that Wikipedia is foregoing at least "$1 billion" in advertising revenue but added "that's good. There should be some places online without ads."

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