What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about Jimmy Wales, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales2 posts
Latest News view > Click for Biography view
5 Apr, 2015

60 Minutes: Wikimania

Interview0 Comments

The site is profiled on CBS’ 60 Minutes, in a segment called Wikimania, hosted by Safer. Safer asks about the origins of the site, the who the readers are:

In general I would say we’re a lot of geeks. A lot of tech geeks. A lot of people who are really passionate about information.

Gardner on Wikipedia’s Gender Gap:

Women are less likely to kinda geek out at their computer for 10, 20, 40 hours. I mean, there’s a reason that the stereotype of the hacker is a guy in a filthy T-shirt eating Doritos, right? Like, that’s hard. A woman is less likely to get social permission to be in a dirty T-shirt eating Doritos.

Wales, on running the site as a charity:

It just felt right that we should be a charity, free knowledge for everyone. So that’s always been our philosophy…If we were ad supported, we would always be thinking about, well, gee, look at all these people reading about Elizabethan poetry. There’s nothing to sell them. Let’s try to get them to read about hotels in Las Vegas, or something like this. And we don’t. We just don’t care.

25 Jun, 2014

Honorary Doctorate

0 Comments

Wales Graduation GCUWales receives an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University at a ceremony in the Clyde Auditorium. He receives the degree from GCU Chancellor Professor Muhammad Yunus. Other graduates included  Gavin Esler and Khalid Abdulrahim, founder and chairman of the KAR Group. GCU Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Pamela Gillies:

The university is privileged to welcome such distinguished Honorary Graduates into our ­extended academic community. Each Honorary Graduate brings a wealth of professional experience coupled with a strong commitment to serve the common good in public life.