LINK: “Facebook and Google must start supporting Wikipedia, or it will die”

The digital commons has become a common problem, clogged by disinformation, stripped of privacy and squeezed by insatiable shareholders. Online propagandists stoke violence, data brokers sway elections, and our most intimate personal information is for sale to the highest bidder. Faced with these difficulties, big tech is increasingly turning to Wikipedia for support. Original: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/wikipedia-google-youtube-facebook-support

LINK: “‘There Is No Public Internet, and [Wikipedia is] the Closest Thing to It’”

…we sort of are a legacy of the original spirit of the web, and that’s very much what the Wikimedia Foundation was created to do — to ensure that Wikipedia was preserved as a nonprofit entity, with respect for community governance, and in the public interest and in the public spirit. Original: https://medium.com/new-york-magazine/there-is-no-public-internet-and-we-are-the-closest-thing-to-it-54aa63adc2e2

Podcast episode 4 – Andy Mabbett

Here’s the fourth episode of the podcast, where I chat with Andy Mabbett, twitcher birder extraordinaire and Wikipedian par excellence. He’s also done a bit of web work in local government. Here’s a link to download the original mp3 file if you would like to do that. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast … Keep reading

Tools I use for learning

Recently, as part of a survey of members of the Social Learning Centre, I put together a list of ten sites or apps I use a lot in my own learning activity. Actually, I thought ten was rather a lot, so to share it here, I thought I’d whittle it down to half that number.
I think it’s useful to always remind yourself of the tools you use regularly in your own activity, particularly if you spend time designing sites, systems and platforms for others to use.

Anyway, hit ‘Read more’ to see the list.

Bookmarks for January 10th through January 24th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. #UKGC11: Flickr, Wikipedia and Open Streetmap for local authorities – Great write up of an interesting session from @abeeken Reworking the public sector | Public sector pm – Notes on a great topic at #ukgc11 Uk GovCamp 2011 | Partridgej’s Blog – Nice summary of … Keep reading