Every once and a while Wikipedia seems to get some odd editing's and phony entries. They get caught fast but are extremely annoying for people who rely on the tool for research. Virgil Griffith, a computing and neural systems graduate bas built the Wikipedia Scanner. A searchable database that users can tie millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where they originated. The system does this by cross referencing edits with data on who owns the specific block of IP addresses. Virgil built the tool to find scandals and expose anonymous edits.
The available Wikipedia Scanner lists out 5.3 million edits from individuals residing in the CIA, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and in Congressional offices. Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, is aware of this new service, but said that he needs more time to experiment before commenting.
[via wired]
