http://blog.wikimedia.org/2009/01/21/a-not...ity-initiative/

In the latest Wikimedia blog post, Naoko Komura states that "Daniel [Phelps] collected a dozen bids for the
space in [South of Market area of San Francisco], and Wikia matched the best offer." Gregory Kohs takes "best offer" to mean "lowest offer" and asks for some answers.

Erik Moller says, among other things, "We've suggested to Wikia a fair market rate based on the average of the other options we obtained; After some negotiation, Wikia accepted." This prompts David Levy to ask, "To clarify, did Wikia match the lowest bid?" Erik says no. They used "averaging" to determine a number based on the cost and advantages of other spaces. And not only did the WMF not match the lowest bid, but they're actually a little higher than a comparable space.

Then Thomas Dalton starts asking questions, believing this does not look good for a non-profit and that it isn't something that would fly under UK law. Komura responds, saying "W[ikia's] asking price was more than X [the "best offer"], but we said our offer price would not be more than the price quoted by X. So, W evaluated if they can rent out space higher than our offer price. As there was no higher bidder than us, W had agreed to offer the space at our offer price."

So Erik says Wikia's offer was more than the comparable space, which is assumed to be "X", which contradicted the blog post by Komura, who then responds again stating that it was a match in price. David noticed this as well and again asked for clarification.

And then it degrades into name-calling and other middle school-like crap typical of the project.

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/found...ary/049340.html

Yup, that sounds very much like the sort of self-dealing that is flatly prohibited in the non-profit arena. Did Mike Godwin get his law degree out of a Crackerjack box?

I've updated the list:

50 Ways that connect Wikia and the WMF

That question had occurred to me as well. More than once.

Couple updates, as I read further through:

Sue Gardner says it was her decision.
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/found...ary/049393.html

And Gerard calls Kohs a troll. Shocker.
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/found...ary/049450.html

From the blog:



Then there is this wonderful bit of IT logic:


Everyone knows that if you embed one supplier in your company, you will not be evaluating the different solutions neutrally.

Jimbo crack porn.

Godwin jes pour on th corn syrup.

Ja³

And I'm wondering why wikipedia is promoting wikia over any other comparable service provider.

You are Greg Kohs and I claim my £10.

Oh, BTW Hi other Greg. Nice to see you lurking.

Feel free to create Template:Nn-wikipediareview

Ha.

I think that would constitute a WP:POINT

Someone with a bot should quickly convert all those Google-juicy Wikia links to regular links.

Anyone wanna bet about how much Wikia's Alexa ranking drops in the next month?

How about voting for / commenting on https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15801 ?

There's actually a lot of links to questionable commercial sites in project space, not just limited to Wikia - "WikiProject Pornography" (which makes me want to shower after clicking) is particularly stuffed with them.

More reason to shut down Wikipedia, sell the domain name and servers.

Good to see the University of Chicago performing such a valuable service to the community.

Well, the flagged revs bit made the front page of Slashdot. (yesterday)

Perhaps someone would like to tell the Slashdotters about this leasing business?

I still think flagged revs will be subverted and ultimately abandoned by the en-wiki.

It's because Jimbo seduced Angela.

I know Mike Godwin personally, and he is a jackassed idiot.

Obviously... but is he a decent lawyer?
Hah. Ha ha ha.

This is a great day to revisit Godwin's Greatest Hits.

Anyone remember all the suck-up he got from the "digerati" back in the 1990s,
when he worked for the EFF and wrote pontifications like this?

Jimbo probably likes Mikey, because he's an aggressive self-promoter
with "reality-based issues". Just like Jimbo.

This has been rejected.

https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15801
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8753

I'm happy to hear that, as it continues to lend us the high moral ground against vermin like Jimmy Wales. This will make for a nice footnote in my book.

Can anyone confirm that Interwiki links truly are "dofollow"?

I guess I'll just answer myself. This link is useful.

So what's the skinny on this, for those of us lost in the linkitudes?

NOFOLLOW, indeed …

Jon

I think -- though it is awfully confusing -- that adding Wikia links via the Interwiki (dofollow) is discouraged and perhaps even software-deprecated, so that only traditional hypertext URL links to Wikia (nofollow) are approved (or, as I said "perhaps" even allowed).

If I'm correct, it is the most ethical outcome for the Wikia cesspool of links, but that being the very reason why I don't trust my interpretation of what's happened. I've never seen anything done with an ethical outcome concerning the relationship between Wikimedia projects and Wikia, Inc.

Oh, well... Wikia Nswers has some administrator who went and deleted a question after I had formally and intelligently answered it:



Worthy of note, though, is that I received an automated e-mail alert when this question was deleted, and our predictions of a few months ago have come true. The e-mail was auto-signed:



It would appear that Beesley's gotten Jimbo's infamous "Sanger shiv" in the back!

Just when you thought the whole Wikia, Inc. renting office space to the Wikimedia Foundation thing was dead, you find a fresh new angle like this!

Predictions on what Wing's reply will be?

(1) No reply at all.

(2) Reply: In fact, Jimmy Wales did leave the room so that the board could freely discuss.

(3) Reply: Jimmy did not leave the room, but don't worry, we all spoke very freely despite his presence, so it is nothing at all to be concerned about.

(4) Reply: Jimmy did not leave the room, and you make a good point, as he really should have.

(5) Asking for you to be banned on de.wiki.

What?! And lose a productive contributor?

I wonder how Ting will explain why Domas didn't put a single thing in the official minutes about the office space rental agreement with Wikia, Inc.?

Maybe someone could add that question to my own, so that he doesn't feel like I'm harping on the issue. That is, if I have any support over in Germany, of course.

Ting "Wing" Chen responds.

I sense that the hole is getting deeper.

Looks like Option (3) was the winner, but I'm confident that Option (5) may be fast approaching.

Anybody else getting anything out of this, or am I just talking to myself?

Lemme see if I can get this strait —

You suspect that the Wiki-Petroleum Colon Management Service (WP:MS) is deeply embedded in beds-of-a-feather with the Wikimonetized Ick Agency (WIKIA) and you want us to get all excited about it?

Well, why don't we just do what we always just do — wait until the Wiki-Pelicans are drowning in Wiki-Pøøtrescence and then blame whatever Adminerstratum happens to inherit the mess that the previous 30 years of de-regulatory snake-oil-bliviscence caused?

That'll FixIt …

Jon

Oh, no he di'int!

I've been "punkt".

Just to wrap this up from a bottom-line perspective, the reputable company KPMG has accounted for this office space scam as follows:





So, the rental worked out to be about $4.49 per square foot per month, in a city where (in the Financial District) you can get 500 square feet of office space in a high-rise for $2.20 per square foot monthly, or for $3.00 per square foot, only three blocks from the former WMF headquarters at 39 Stillman Street.

Put in other terms, the Foundation overpaid for this rental across 10 months the same amount of money that comes in from 248 typical donors to the Foundation.

Way to go, Sue! Way to go, Jimbo! Way to go, Gil!

That's awesome. That's like Hemsky! (I often say something is "like Hemsky" if it's funny and embarrassing.)

"Hemsky! He scores!!!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI0CFWPxdss

But it's still wacky sniping unless you intend to do something more than math.