Andrew Orlowski

Infobox_Person | name = Andrew Orlowski
other_names =


caption = Orlowski at a going-away party in San Francisco.
birth_date = 1966
birth_place =
occupation = Columnist for online IT newspaper "The Register".
spouse =
children =
relations =
website = [http://www.badpress.net Andrew Orlowski]

Andrew Orlowski (born 1966) is a British columnist for the online IT newspaper "The Register".

Early career

In 1992, Orlowski started an alternative newspaper in Manchester, England called "Badpress". Andrew Orlowski, [http://www.badpress.net/badpress/contents.html Badpress: Manchester 1992-93 contents] , Badpress] He has also written for "Private Eye" magazine. [http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=17458 Internet Porn: "Government report suppressed"] , PR Newswire, 6 September 1996] In the late 1990s, he worked at Dennis Publishing, on the magazine "PC Pro", and at Ziff Davis UK.Fact|date=February 2007

"The Register"

Orlowski became a columnist based in San Francisco, U.S. for "The Register" in 2000.

In April 2003, he coined the term googlewashing to describe the potential for well-linked weblogs to obscure the original meaning of a controversial expression (e.g., "the Second Superpower").Andrew Orlowski, [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/03/antiwar_slogan_coined_repurposed/ Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed… in 42 days] , "The Register", 3 April 2003]

Orlowski later classified this [http://www.badpress.net/stories/faq.html Andrew Orlowski's FAQ] ] along with "absurd intellectual property claims" as an example of an unwarranted assumption of power or authority to gain sociological advantage on behalf of a particular lobby group. This factor is the core of what makes a story "great", he argues.

In December 2004, he was invited to assemble a panel on techno-utopianism at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. [ [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2k4/session_descriptions#orlowski Mistakes Techno Utopians Make: Fantasy Politics and the Disappearing Social] December 2004] Orlowski argues that this form of utopianism distracts attention and diverts capital away from solving real infrastructure problems. Andrew Orlowski, [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/07/six_things_about_the_bubble/ Six Things you need to know about Bubble 2.0] , "The Register", 7 October 2005] "Technology can help us," he writes on his FAQ page. [http://www.badpress.net/stories/faq.html Andrew Orlowski's FAQ] ] "But we venerate the machines we have, which aren't very good, and worse, limit ourselves to seeing the world through this machine metaphor. Technology is useful when it makes something we already like to do easier. Technology can't tell us something we don't know. Technology cannot solve problems that don't exist."

Criticism of Wikipedia

After making passing references since Wikipedia was announced in 2001, Orlowski first criticized Wikipedia in "The Register" in mid-2004, Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/14/buckminster_fuller_stamp/ Buckminster Fuller on stamp duty] ", "The Register", July 14, 2004] and what began as incidental mockery — often involving responses to reader's emails and characterised by his coinage of the neologism "wiki-fiddler" Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/23/wiki_fiddlers_big_book/ Wiki-fiddlers defend Clever Big Book] ", "The Register", July 23, 2004] — soon became a regular subject of his journalism. To Orlowski, Wikipedia is "a hobby, a multiplayer game and a repository for fan trivia" Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/16/wikipedia_britannica_science_comparison/ Wikipedia science 31% more cronky than Britannica's] ", "The Register", December 16, 2005] with the accuracy of articles varying "from the occasionally passable to the frequently risible, while its all-important readability is even worse — and deteriorating."

By December 2005, several such articles were being published each week, with subject matter including the characterisation of Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales as a petty hypocrite and pornographer Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/wikipedia_bio/ Who owns your Wikipedia bio?] ", "The Register", December 6, 2005] and average Wikipedians as rebellious children ("He's 14, he's got acne, he's got a lot of problems with authority ... and he's got an encyclopedia on dar interweb." Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/wikipedia_no_responsibility/ There's no Wikipedia entry for 'moral responsibility'] ", "The Register", 12 December 2005] ), as well as a spoof article which announced that Wales had been shot. Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/17/jimmy_wales_shot_dead_says_wikipedia/ Wikipedia founder 'shot by friend of Siegenthaler'] ", "The Register", December 17, 2005]

Orlowski's comments indicate he believes Wikipedia is undergoverned (and thus of poor quality and morally hazardous) and unnecessary (in that "expensive databases" of information will become publicly accessible in the near future — "The good stuff will just come out of a computer network" — and well-capitalised enterprises will provide "much more attractive" alternatives Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/19/sanger_onlinepedia_with_experts/ $10m for a Wikipedia for grown-ups] ", "The Register", December 19, 2005] ). In April 2006, Orlowski expanded on these themes in an article for "The Guardian". Andrew Orlowski, " [http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1752257,00.html A thirst for knowledge] ", "The Guardian", April 13, 2006]

In a Guardian article [cite news|url=http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1752257,00.html|title=A thirst for knowledge|publisher=The Guardian|author=Andrew Orlowski|date=2006-04-13|accessdate=2006-04-17] of April 13, 2006, Orlowski was the first journalist to draw attention to a then-new web site, Wikitruth, which is critical of Wikipedia.

See also Criticism of Wikipedia.

Criticism of anthropogenic climate change

Orlowski has produced numerous articles that attempt to cast doubt over the reality of anthropogenic climate change, or global warming. Andrew Orlowski, " [http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=climate&advanced=1&psite=0&author=orlowski&date=&site=0&results_per_page=100 search for Orlowski+climate] ", "The Register"] His articles often favour non-scientific pundits over the expert scientific community, for example his defence of non-scientist Christopher Monckton against the American Physical Society. Andrew Orlowski, " [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/21/monckton_aps/ American physicists warned not to debate global warming] ", "The Register", July 21, 2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.theregister.com "The Register"]
** [http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=wikipedia&advanced=1&psite=0&author=Andrew+Orlowski&date=&site=&results_per_page=20 Search for Orlowski articles at The Register that mention Wikipedia]

Persondata
NAME= Orlowski, Andrew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Columnist for online IT newspaper "The Register".
DATE OF BIRTH= 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=