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πŸ”— Wikipedia cofounder Larry Sanger blocked from editing Wikipedia


Hi everyone,

I'm baaaaack!

I co-founded Wikipedia long ago. While I was gone for a long time, I did keep abreast what's been going on and how the system works, as a student and critic of Wikipedia and of the internet generally.

But as of fall 2025, I have returned, with the aim of helping Wikipedia in various ways to reform.

Most recently, I have been working on WikiProject Intellectual Diversity. This is not yet an approved WikiProject, but I am confident we will get enough supporters to make our application successful. If you too want Wikipedia to be reformed in ways that will make the project more open and welcoming to those of a more intellectually diverse body of contributors, please join!

For most of 2025, I developed Nine Theses on Wikipedia, which is partly an extended criticism and partly a reform proposal. Unlike much of my previous writing and speaking about Wikipedia over the past 20 years or so, this is not merely negative. It is a realistic plan to make Wikipedia better. I hope you will take it seriously.

All the best,

Larry Sanger (talk) 17:24, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

P.S. Here's what I posted when I left in 2002. Still good advice:

All the best to Wikipedia and Wikipedians. May you continue

  • to be open and warmly welcoming, not insular,
  • to be focused singlemindedly on writing an encyclopedia, not on Usenet-style debate,
  • to recognize and praise the best work, work that is detailed, factual, well-informed, and well-referenced,
  • to work to understand what neutrality requires and why it is so essential to and good for this project,
  • to treat your fellow productive, well-meaning members of Wikipedia with respect and good will,
  • to attract and honor good people who know a lot and can write about it well, and
  • to show the door to trolls, vandals, and wiki-anarchists, who if permitted would waste your time and create a poisonous atmosphere here.

Archive - Archive 2 - Policy talk pages

Discussed on

πŸ”— Wikipedia: Imminent Death of Wikipedia Predicted

...film at 11.

It's often said that Wikipedia is dying. This is the latest in a long line of technological deaths. Earlier, the WikiWikiWeb died. Before that, Usenet died.

Reasons why Wikipedia is dying include and may not be limited to:

  • most of the major editors are leaving
  • most edits are now made by robots
  • article syntax is too complicated for readers and new editors
  • pop culture articles are longer than science or history articles
  • power-hungry administrators are warring against content creators so they can delete everything and rule a perfect, empty wiki [Is this right? -- Ed.]
  • the people with the most time to edit are also those with the most time and inclination to argue in perpetuity
  • the Great Space Wombat said it is dying
  • bias is going to destroy the entire neutral point of view we uphold so much
  • vandalism. No elaboration required.
  • the WMF is more corrupt than governments
  • discussion here is more toxic than on Twitter
  • nobody is donating (why else do they keep asking for money?)
  • people will stop visiting the main site and just get blurbs from search engines or chatbots instead
  • insert additional reasons here

Wikipedia has been dying since at least 100 years ago.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Trout Tickling

πŸ”— Fisheries and Fishing

Trout tickling is the art of rubbing the underbelly of a trout with fingers. If done properly, the trout will go into a trance after a minute or so, and can then easily be thrown onto the nearest bit of dry land.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Jadi

πŸ”— Biography πŸ”— Iran πŸ”— Biography/science and academia πŸ”— Open Access

Amir Emad Mirmirani (Persian: Ψ§Ω…ΫŒΨ±ΨΉΩ…Ψ§Ψ― Ω…ΫŒΨ±Ω…ΫŒΨ±Ψ§Ω†ΫŒ) known by the nickname Jadi, is a programmer, blogger and internet activist in the field of Free and open-source software and Linux in Iran. He was arrested in October 2022 during the Iranian protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Discussed on

  • "Jadi" | 2022-11-01 | 11 Upvotes 1 Comments

πŸ”— Relativistic kill vehicle

πŸ”— Physics πŸ”— Firearms

A projectile is any object thrown into space (empty or not) by the exertion of a force. Although any object in motion through space (for example a thrown baseball) may be called a projectile, the term more commonly refers to a ranged weapon. Mathematical equations of motion are used to analyze projectile trajectory. An object projected at an angle to the horizontal has both the vertical and horizontal components of velocity. The vertical component of the velocity on the y-axis given as Vy=USin(teta) while the horizontal component of the velocity Vx=UCos(teta). There are various terms used in projectiles at specific angle teta 1. Time to reach maximum height. It is symbolized as (t), which is the time taken for the projectile to reach the maximum height from the plane of projection. Mathematically, it is given as t=USin(teta)/g Where g=acceleration due to gravity(app 9.81m/sΒ²) U= initial velocity (m/s) teta= angle made by the projectile with the horizontal axis.

2. Time of flight (T): this is the total time taken for the projectile to fall back to the same plane from which it was projected. Mathematically it is given as T=2USin(teta)/g

3. Maximum Height (H): this is the maximum height attained by the projectile OR the maximum displacement on the vertical axis(y-axis) covered by the projectile. It is given as H= UΒ²SinΒ²(teta)/2g

4. Range(R): The Range of a projectile is the horizontal distance covered (on the x-axis) by the projectile. Mathematically, R= UΒ²Sin2(teta)/g. The Range is maximum when angle teta= 45Β° I.e Sin2(teta)=1.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Belling the Cat

πŸ”— Literature

"Belling the Cat" is a fable also known under the titles "The Bell and the Cat" and "The Mice in Council". Although often attributed to Aesop, it was not recorded before the Middle Ages and has been confused with the quite different fable of Classical origin titled The Cat and the Mice. In the classificatory system established for the fables by B. E. Perry, it is numbered 613, which is reserved for Mediaeval attributions outside the Aesopic canon.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Marree Man

πŸ”— Australia πŸ”— Australia/South Australia

The Marree Man, or Stuart's Giant, is a modern geoglyph the circumstances of whose creation have not been ascertained. It appears to depict an indigenous Australian man hunting with a boomerang or stick. It lies on a plateau at Finnis Springs 60Β km (37Β mi) west of the township of Marree in central South Australia. It is just outside the 127,000-square-kilometre (49,000Β sqΒ mi) Woomera Prohibited Area. The figure is 2.7Β km (1.7Β mi) tall with a perimeter of 28Β km (17Β mi), extending over an area of about 2.5Β km2 (620 acres). Although it is one of the largest geoglyphs in the world (arguably second to the Sajama Lines), its origin remains a mystery, with no one claiming responsibility for its creation nor any eye-witness having been found, notwithstanding the scale of the operation required to form the outline on the plateau floor. The description "Stuart's Giant" was used in anonymous faxes sent to media as "Press Releases" in July 1998, in a reference to the explorer John McDouall Stuart. It was discovered fortuitously by a charter pilot in an overflight on 26 June 1998.

Shortly after its discovery, the site was closed by the South Australian government following legal action taken in late July by native title claimants, but flights over the site were not forbidden as native title fell under federal government jurisdiction.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Intentionally Blank Page

πŸ”— Literature πŸ”— Typography

An intentionally blank page or vacat page (from Latin: vacare for "being empty") is a page that is devoid of content and may be unexpected. Such pages may serve purposes ranging from place-holding to space-filling and content separation. Sometimes, these pages carry a notice such as "This page [is] intentionally left blank." Such notices typically appear in printed works, such as legal documents, manuals, and exam papers, in which the reader might otherwise suspect that the blank pages are due to a printing error and where missing pages might have serious consequences.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Don't Buy This

πŸ”— Video games

Don't Buy This (also known as Don't Buy This: Five of the Worst Games Ever) is a compilation of video games for the ZX Spectrum released on 1 April 1985. As described on the box, it contains five of the poorest games submitted to publisher Firebird. Instead of rejecting the submissions, they decided to mock the original developers by releasing them together and publicly brand it as "unoriginal" and "awful". Firebird even disowned all their copyright to the game and encouraged buyers to pirate it at will.

Reviews for the game were universally negative, with critics questioning how to critique the game due to its publicity being based on it being a collection of bad games. Despite the negative reception, the game was a commercial success.

πŸ”— Cognitive distortion

πŸ”— Psychology

A cognitive distortion is an exaggerated or irrational thought pattern involved in the onset and perpetuation of psychopathological states, especially those more influenced by psychosocial factors, such as depression and anxiety. Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck laid the groundwork for the study of these distortions, and his student David D. Burns continued research on the topic. Burns, in Feeling Good the new Mood Therapy , described personal and professional anecdotes related to cognitive distortions and their elimination.

Cognitive distortions are thoughts that cause individuals to perceive reality inaccurately. According to the cognitive model of Beck, a negative outlook on reality, sometimes called negative schemas (or schemata), is a factor in symptoms of emotional dysfunction and poorer subjective well-being. Specifically, negative thinking patterns reinforce negative emotions and thoughts. During difficult circumstances, these distorted thoughts can contribute to an overall negative outlook on the world and a depressive or anxious mental state.

Challenging and changing cognitive distortions is a key element of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).