While recently searching for an "evil" emoticon (don't ask), I stumbled on an unlikely resource. Or, rather, the resource is pretty popular, but I hadn't thought about it until now. Worth checking out: the emoticon Wikipedia page. With a full list of emoticons ranging from basic smiles to more complex faces like a backwards baseball cap — d:-) — the page is a great resource for creative Read more

The Polish foundation that runs user-supported knowledge site Wikipedia plans to increase its staff in preparation for an expansion. The company is planning to add 44 new positions — which doubles its current staff — and raise $20 million to support an enhanced vision for the site. The announcement came from Wikipedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner at the annual Wikimania Read more

Wikipedia drops Klingon character from logo, nerds outraged — Urlesque It has arrived: the solid gold iPad —Gizmodo Cute little animated lightboxes from Andrew O'Malley — BoingBoing Tivoli radios get revamped — Unplggd Google helped get him the interview, but creativity got this guy a job — Lifehacker Francis Ford Coppola hates 3D — Switched Is Fable III coming to the PC? — Read more

Now you can create an actual printed book from your favorite or most-read content on Wikipedia with PediaPress, an online service allowing you to create a printed book from any online wiki content. To get started, enable the Book Creator, a bar that will appear on any Wikipedia entry you're reading. To add that page to your book, simply click the button marked "add this page to your book." You Read more

Volunteers who edit Wikipedia each day are quickly teaching the online encyclopedia that freedom and fun are crucial to the democratization of information. Burdened by complicated restrictions and uninterested in the more mundane topics (the most popular entries have already been written), volunteer editors are leaving Wikipedia faster than new ones are joining. Wikipedia is under constant Read more

With over three million entries, Wikipedia is the ultimate online encyclopedia. Most of you said that you regularly use it, but that you don't ever contribute or edit articles. But what happens to all of the entries that are considered for deletion by the Wikipedia gods? A website called WikiDumper pools together some of the Wiki articles that get flagged as inappropriate submissions or ones that Read more

Although I reference Wiki on a regular basis for fun facts and trivia, I know that anyone can contribute information, which leaves me at a high risk of quoting inaccuracies. But yesterday, Wikipedia announced that they will be rounding up trusted users to create a pool of volunteer community managers, who will approve data before it's published. But Wiki won't be covering all its bases — the Read more

Here's a super useful Firefox extension to enhance your Google searches: Googlepedia. Just install the extension and each time you perform a Google search, your results will come up as usual, but the right half of the screen will be populated with the Wikipedia entry of whatever you just searched — not only is it better than ads, but it kills two birds with one stone more often than not. Read more