This!
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Engagement_(Product)/Product_Surv…
Thank you to the WMF Community Engagement team for trialling this new way
of prioritising improvements to tools - by asking the community for some
structured feedback.
As the page says:
"The *Product Roadmap survey* intends to offer a lightweight, data-informed
> way for communities across the entire Wikimedia movement to contribute
> ideas the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) product roadmap.
> The question we are currently wanting to answer is: If the communities
> were to collectively decide on a gadget or tool which could be expanded
> into an extension for use across all Wikimedia-supported projects, what
> would it be?"
I saw this today as a Watchlist notification.
The survey has just over 20 ideas which the user is asked to rank in a
series of paired comparisons. A simple, easy, and intuitive way to get some
genuine feedback from the editing community about the improvements that we
believe would be of most use to us. [it would be nice if there were more
options to compare in this survey]
As the FAQ section explains - this is an experimental process and not a
promise that the 'winner' will be built - and that's perfectly fair. One
reason I particularly like this is that I think that if the WMF would
regularly invest in building tools that were prioritised by the so-called
"power users", that would help ease the tension that can occur when the WMF
builds tools that focus on the needs of new editors (but which also change
the existing-editors' workflows).
The "Page Curation <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Page_Curation>" system
was a step in that direction - a genuine effort to make the work of
new-page-patrollers easier, in recognition that "tools for power-users"
help decrease their stress levels which indirectly helps to decrease the
likelihood of good-faith newbies being unintentionally "bitten". From what
I can see, the "product survey" idea is a more formalised approach in that
same general direction. So, thank you. I hope this pilot project is a
success.
-Liam
[x-posted announcement]
Hello,
Please save the date for the monthly IRC office hour of the Wikimedia
Language Engineering team on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 1700 UTC
on #wikimedia-office. Project updates will include information about
the new version of Content Translation[1] and plans for the next
release.
Please see below for event details and local time.
Thanks
Runa
[1] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Content_translation/Announcement-November2014
Monthly IRC Office Hour:
=======================
# Date: December 10, 2014 (Wednesday)
# Time: 1700 UTC (Check local time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20141210T1700)
# IRC channel: #wikimedia-office
# Agenda:
1. Updates from the Content Translation project
2. Q & A/Discussions
--
Language Engineering - Outreach and QA Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
Dear Wikimedia friends,
Wikimedia Deutschland held its General Assembly on Saturday, 29 November
2014. It is with great pleasure that I present to you our new board, for
the first time for a two-year term:
*
Tim Moritz Hector (Chair): Long-time Wikipedian and Wikimedian
(re-elected)
*
Kurt Jansson (Vice Chair): WMDE founder and former president 2004-2009
*
Lukas Mezger (Vice Chair): Former WMF legal intern, long time member
of the DE community, lawyer
*
Sebastian Moleski (Treasurer): Former president 2009-2012, highly
involved in the international movement, background in economics and IT
*
Jürgen Friedrich (At-large): Professor of computer science and
digital media, very well connected to the academic and institutional
world (re-elected)
*
Harald Krichel (At-large): Long-time Wikipedian
*
Nikolas Becker (At-large): Former president, highly involved in EU
advocacy
*
Sabria David (At-large): Wikipedia researcher and slow media advocate
*
Catrin Schoneville (At-large): Former WMDE spokeswoman (2008-2013),
well known to the national and international communities and
organisations.
Anja Ebersbach got re-elected as Vice Chair but decided to step down
immediately on the following day. The board has elected Lukas Mezger as
her successor.
I am very much looking forward to working with these outstanding board
members in the coming two years. The diversity in Wikimedia backgrounds
and professional experience in our board will provide the foundation for
reflection, determination, and the look ahead. I am looking forward to a
fruitful exchange with our colleagues from the Wikimedia Foundation and
the other Wikimedia Affiliates.
The new board would like to extend its thanks to the outgoing board
members, Jens Best, Ralf Bösch, Anja Ebersbach, Markus Glaser, Steffen
Prößdorf, and Sebastian Wallroth for their dedicated service to the
organisation.
The General Assembly also discussed our annual plan and the FDC
recommendations. They wisely decided to postpone the final decision
about the plan and have called for an extraordinary general assembly in
Q1 2015. That gives our Executive Director Jan Engelmann and our staff
time to reflect on the feedback from the FDC and WMF and to work out an
improved annual plan in cooperation with the new board.
I am looking forward to leading Wikimedia Deutschland through the next
two years that will undoubtedly provide new challenges to the
organisation. As we reconsider our strategic focus and our financial
underpinnings, I am confident that we will emerge as a stronger partner
within the Wikimedia movement.
Best regards,
Tim Moritz Hector
--
Tim Moritz Hector
Chair of the board
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | D-10963 Berlin
tel.: +49 (0)30 - 219 158 260
http://www.wikimedia.de
Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free
access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing. Help us make it reality!http://spenden.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B.
Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.
Tim Landscheidt writes:
> I think on the contrary Wikipedia Zero illustrates nicely
> why net neutrality is so important: Wikipedia Zero favours
> solely Wikipedia (und sister projects), while contradicting
> or simply other opinions and resources bite the dust.
I'm not following your reasoning here. I don't see any sense in which
Wikipedia Zero is contradicting other opinions or resulting in
resources that "bite the dust." Wikipedia Zero is not rivalrous in any
economic sense that I'm aware of.
> This mainstreaming, forming a monopolistic cabal on all
> things information is why I am a strong proponent of net
> neutrality. The ease with which information can be shared
> nowadays should be used so that more people provide their
> views, not more people consume one view.
So, you'd rather have users pay by the bit for Wikipedia on their
mobile devices? This does not serve Wikipedia or its users in the
developing world. The chart I use here shows you what the cost of
broadband access is in the developing world, which relies primarily on
mobile platforms.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141201000351-209165-wikipedia-zero…
> And I have severe doubts that Wikipedia Zero fulfils actual
> needs from the perspective of sustainable development.
But you haven't said what those severe doubts are. Having spent the
last couple of years working on access projects in the developing
world, I haven't encountered an alternative model that doesn't result
in higher prices for subscribers. As the chart I reproduce indicates,
in some places in the developing world, the annual cost of broadband
access exceeds the average per capita income. I do not see how it
serves Wikipedia's mission to require individual users to pay so much
for Wikipedia access.
--Mike
Hey All
I would like to share the following:
“Wikipedia has been the most widely used single source of information about
Ebola in the most affected countries, among people who searched for
information through Bing. The use of Wikipedia was greater than that of
either CNN, the World Health Organization, or the Center for Disease
Control during the time periods examined. The countries in question
include: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea."
I have been collaborating with a researcher from microsoft by the name of
Elad Yom-Tom who has provided this interesting data. We are looking at
submitting something to a peer reviewed journal soon. Journal will of
course need to be Open Access, PLoS Medicine or Open BMJ interested? :-)
I think this is a real accomplishment for all the amazing individuals and
organizations that have made Wikipedia what it is today including the many
dedicated Wikipedians, the Wikimedia Foundation, our collaborators at
Translators Without Borders, the Cochrane Collaboration, and the University
of California San Francisco College of Medicine among others. I hope this
is also encouragement for organizations such as the World Health
Organisation among others that are not currently engaging with Wikipedia as
a platform for knowledge sharing to do so.
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
Hello WMF
We agree with the previous posters RYAN about lack of transparency,
and COMPLETE INEFFICIENCY and arrogance in communications by/to/with
your communities and volunteers.
Please inform and educate why anonymous WMF communities are writing
false, concocted and fabricated articles about our organisation
replete with fabricated images, evidently to profit by donations to
WMF {Hosting provider} from Indian citizens to be given into SWISS
BANK ACCOUNTS in complete violation of Indian law by these HUGE SIZE
BANNERS which are highly intrusive.
See this image as evidence
http://www.imagesup.net/?di=014176874722
Please indicate when WMF will comply with Indian cyber law to appoint
a Grievance Officer
http://delhihighcourt.nic.in/dhcqrydisp_O.asp?pn=163416&yr=2013
and verifiably stop Indian children under 13 from registering accounts
and becoming admins.
HRA1924 {a jan andalonist}
India Against Corruption,
>What you should actually be upset about is the lack of transparency
>regarding fundraising statistics. Ryan very politely asked for these
>statistics and the response was essentially "we've got higher priorities
>right now," which of course is complete rubbish. Of course we're keeping
>detailed logs of incoming donations, there's no extra burden there. And of
>course people are e-mailing internally and creating internal reports. But
>this information isn't being shared and we really must address this.
>
>Nobody is suggesting that the fundraising team kills small furry animals
>and I think everyone involved in this discussion (including and perhaps
>especially those who are paid or were paid by donations) recognizes the
>thankless and stressful job that the fundraising team has. But in the face
>of active damage to Wikimedia's brand and reputation, after repeated and
>lengthy discussions about the issues with obnoxious, misleading, and
>obtrusive donation advertising, it's unsurprising that people are annoyed.
>
>MZMcBride
Hi,
I have a vague recollection that when I started editing the English
Wikipedia ten years ago, there was a notice near the Save button, which
said something like this: "Your changes will be edited mercilessly".
I remember similar notices in other languages as well, though even more
vaguely.
I don't see it now. I checked English, Hebrew and Russian.
Does anybody know why was it removed? Did the editors communities just
decide independently to remove it for whatever reason? If it was, I'd love
to see links to discussions if anybody has them. Or was it a design
decision by the Foundation?
Thanks!
--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore
Hey All
I have be trying to convince the World Health Organization to go to a CC BY
SA license for a few years now.
Najeeb Al-Shorbaji Director of Knowledge, Ethics and Research at WHO
states: https://dgroups.org/hifa2015/discussions/35152a41
We would welcome sharing with us some evidence-based research on how
licensing works under the Creative Commons attribution licence has made an
impact in the area of scientific, technical and medical publishing.
If people know of research articles on this topic please send them my way.
Best
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
Hello everybody,
It's with great pleasure that I announce Giuliana Mancini as the new
Executive Director of Wikimedia Italia.
It took us over 6 months to select her within a pool of 450 candidates: it
has been an incredibly hard work, and tough decisions were made.
I'd like to acknowledge that one of the most active members of the
selective committee was Alessio Guidetti aka Cotton, who recendly passed:
it saddens us to know that he won't have the chance to see her working with
us.
But this is a moment of joy, because the Wikimedia family just got a new
member.
Giuliana will help us become a more mature and structured association: her
deep experience and competence will be used to for make Wikimedia Italia
scale and increase its impact in the world of free and open knowledge.
Before being appointed Executive Director at Wikimedia Italia, in the last
12 years, she has covered several roles of increasing commitment in the
field of arts and culture. She spent 9 years in a grant making foundation
where she supervised the activities of a cello academy and the concerts of
an ensemble of classical musicians, assisting the board in setting
strategies and coordinating the comprehensive management.
She participated in the board of a company in the field of Fine Arts with a
mandate for promotion of a multimedia exhibition, creating strategic
relationship with Italian and foreigner museums.
She drafted several feasibility studies and business plans for theatres and
other cultural institutions as well as for start up companies.
She can speak English fluently and has a good understanding of Spanish and
French, and she graduated in Economics and in Law (her second degree was
completed while working).
She was officially introduced to the Wikimedia Italia assembly this
Saturday, and this is her second week of work.
Please welcome her in our incredible Wikimedia movement.
Best regards,
Andrea Zanni
--
Presidente
Wikimedia Italia