re the birth anomalies, we have been running a process for several years now that looks for people alive according to certain wikipedias and dead according to up to 80 others. The format works well and has been broadened to various other anomalies such as being dead but not born.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Death_anomalies_table
The key thing to remember is that when Wikipedias differ you need reliable source to settle the difference.
Wikidata may or may not make this sort of thing easier, but my suspicion is that resolving anomalies will improve Wikidata as well as Wikipedia.
Regards
Jonathan (WereSpielChequers)
> On 19 Aug 2014, at 22:05, wikimedia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org wrote
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:04:17 -0400
> From: MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Compare person data
> Message-ID: <D018C23A.422B5%z(a)mzmcbride.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Gerard Meijssen wrote:
>> What is needed is a report that looks good enough for now and a public ie
>> visible place to put it.
>
> Neat idea!
>
> There's <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Database_reports>, of
> course. In my experience, users don't really care what the report is
> titled or how it looks; they're much more concerned with accurate and
> up-to-date (read: actionable) report data.
>
> One of the benefits of using a wiki page is that wiki pages have pre-built
> notification structures (watchlists, RSS feeds, IRC feed, and e-mail).
>
> To this end, depending on who the relevant audience is of this report,
> updating multiple pages on local wikis may be a lot more fruitful.
>
> MZMcBride
Hi.
The German Wikipedia has evaluated and decided against the default use of
MediaViewer on its project (preferring opt-in, rather than opt-out). Erik
has made it his mission to impose MediaViewer on the German Wikipedia
using Wikimedia Foundation staff coercion (cf.
<https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/153302> and
<https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/153345>). Both changes have been pushed
through hastily and have had negative repercussions as a result (missing
translations, disrupted workflows, etc.). From a recent Bugzilla comment
about the latter change, "it's clear this change was a kneejerk reaction
without a lot of thought as to the effects."
The security of the entire MediaWiki infrastructure, which in turn is the
security of a large portion of Wikimedia wikis, heavily relies on the idea
that local administrators can be trusted. With his provocative actions,
Erik has declared war on the German Wikipedia.
Given this, there are options for the German Wikipedians. This is a
non-exhaustive list and may not reflect the latest waste of developer and
system administrator resources coerced by Erik.
* Local disruptive accounts (such as "User:Eloquence" and "User:JEissfeldt
(WMF)") can be locally blocked by German Wikipedia administrators for
conduct unbecoming.
* Global accounts can have their privileges removed by stewards, who are
intended to serve as the "root" users of Wikimedia wikis.
* While the German Wikipedia's "MediaWiki:Common.js" has been
super-protected, there are other pages such as "MediaWiki:Vector.js",
"MediaWiki:Monobook.js", and "MediaWiki:Group-user.js" that can probably
be used to achieve the same effect.
* Importing edits on top of an existing page should replace the content
and bypass any protection, though this theory needs additional testing.
* Certain pages in the MediaWiki namespace such as "MediaWiki:Copyright"
still allow raw HTML, which can be used for a direct "<script>" insertion.
* JavaScript gadgets can be enabled by default across a wiki.
* CentralNotice from Meta-Wiki can be used to deploy JavaScript to the
German Wikipedia.
There are also more extreme options available.
* Using per-user CSS or JavaScript to forcibly hijack Erik's or another
staff member's account. This can be done locally on any wiki, including
sites such as Meta-Wiki.
* Disabling editing and/or reading of the German Wikipedia, using a
variety of tools. Erik's declaration of war makes this option viable, but
it should likely be used only as a measure of last resort. If Erik is
truly hell-bent on damaging or destroying the wiki model, perhaps the wiki
should simply cease to be. Using the title blacklist, the AbuseFilter
extension, site-wide JavaScript and CSS, and other techniques, it's
possible to fully disable reading and/or editing of the German Wikipedia
until an amicable solution can be found.
* A Wikimedia-wide vote of no confidence for Erik. Again, this is an
extreme option, but given Erik's behavior over the past few weeks
(including his actions on the English Wikipedia, which resulted in an
arbitration case involving him), beginning a vote of no confidence is an
idea worthy of consideration.
There are also alternate options.
* Disabling the MediaViewer extension by default on the German Wikipedia,
as requested by the German Wikipedia community.
* Accepting Erik's authority over the technical infrastructure of
Wikimedia wikis and allowing him to rule as a technical autocrat.
I'm interested to read others' views about options and ways forward here.
MZMcBride
Who owns the @WikipediaZero Twitter account? It's only ever had one
post, and that seems a missed opportunity.
--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
Thanks for this.
You might want to filter it, though: For example
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85256 states "born in 1606" (no month or day
given), but your report at
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Ladsgroup/Birth_date_report2/26 gives it
as 1606-01-01, which then conflicts with the date given in Wikipedias
(1606-03-18).
Wikidata is less precise than Wikipedia here, but not actually wrong. Maybe
these cases should be treated separately from the potential errors.
Cheers,
Magnus
On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 3:54 PM, Amir Ladsgroup <ladsgroup(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> I started this report, you can find it here
> <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Ladsgroup/Birth_date_report2>.
>
> Best
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Amir Ladsgroup <ladsgroup(a)gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> It's possible and rather easy to add them .just several regexes and list
>> of months in that language are needed. but the issue is no major wikis
>> except these three are using a person data template (Almost all of them
>> have the template but almost none of them are using it widely) If any other
>> wiki is using a person data template widely, I would be happy to implement
>> it.
>>
>> Best
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 2:29 PM, Amir E. Aharoni <
>> amir.aharoni(a)mail.huji.ac.il> wrote:
>>
>>> Can we join more Wikipedias to the comparison?
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
>>> http://aharoni.wordpress.com
>>> “We're living in pieces,
>>> I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore
>>>
>>>
>>> 2014-08-19 10:38 GMT+03:00 Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>> Hoi,
>>>> Amir has created functionality that compares data from en.wp de.wp and
>>>> it.wp. It is data about "humans" and it only shows differences where
>>>> they
>>>> exist. It compares those four Wikipedias with information in Wikidata.
>>>>
>>>> The idea is that the report will be updated regularly.
>>>>
>>>> The problem we face is: what should it actually look like. Should it
>>>> just
>>>> splatter the info on a page or is more needed. At this time we just have
>>>> data [1].
>>>>
>>>> Please help us with something that works easily for now. Once we have
>>>> something, it can be prettified and more functional.
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> GerardM
>>>>
>>>> [1] http://paste.ubuntu.com/8079742/
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>>>> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/GuidelinesWikimedia-l@lists.w…>
>>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Amir
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Amir
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikidata-l mailing list
> Wikidata-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikidata-l
>
>
With 11 days remaining in August, I'd like to remind everyone that
Wikimedia-l's guidelines[0] ask that subscribers keep their post count
below at most 30 per month. This guideline exists to help curb the
temptation to weigh in on absolutely every point raised, turning what
could otherwise be a carefully considered debate into a rapid-fire
argument. (If that's what you're looking for, fear not—I'm sure IRC[1]
has you covered.)
I know that this month has seen a few contentious topics, but if you
see yourself nearing 30 posts (Erik Zachte's ScanMail tool[2] is very
helpful, here), perhaps it's worth sparing a moment for pause before
clicking "reply." In fact, that's probably worth doing even if you
aren't topping the charts. Less is sometimes more.
Thanks for your attention,
Austin
[0] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC/Channels
[2] http://www.infodisiac.com/Wikipedia/ScanMail/Wikimedia-l.html
Hi,
In collaboration with Chris Steipp, I am considering starting a monthly
security newsletter for Wikimedia, focused on common risks and mitigation
techniques. The target audience is the broad Wikimedia community including
developers, WMF and chapter employees, and volunteers with high risk
accounts.
Example topics:
Phishing
Coding best practices
Wifi security
Securing data stored on cell phones
Check fraud
Preventing insider theft of funds in Wikimedia organizations
If you are interested in contributing to the newsletter please email me off
list.
Thanks,
Pine
Hi Amir,
2014-08-19 10:38 GMT+02:00 Amir Ladsgroup <ladsgroup(a)gmail.com>:
> It's three now but the way I designed, it's very easy to extend.
Thanks for this report. I am amazed that over the hundreds of
thousands of Wikipedia biographies[*] it seems that we have only 38
inconsistencies.
Am I understanding your report correctly?
You may want to add some sort of "false positives" list. For example,
for Jimmy Wales in it.wp[1] there's a through explanation about the
uncertainty related to Jimbo's birth date. So I would consider that
being a false positive. A similar situation occurs for Beethoven.
That said I was able to find that Bob Marley's birth date in Wikidata
was incorrectly set to 6 April 1945, when in fact it is indeed 6
February 1945 as en.wp, de.wp, and it.wp where correctly reporting.
(Fixed[2] now!)
Thanks!
Cristian
[*] 265537 in it.wiki: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria:BioBot
[1] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales
[2] https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?title=Q409&diff=151644019&oldid=151167…
Hoi,
Amir has created functionality that compares data from en.wp de.wp and
it.wp. It is data about "humans" and it only shows differences where they
exist. It compares those four Wikipedias with information in Wikidata.
The idea is that the report will be updated regularly.
The problem we face is: what should it actually look like. Should it just
splatter the info on a page or is more needed. At this time we just have
data [1].
Please help us with something that works easily for now. Once we have
something, it can be prettified and more functional.
Thanks,
GerardM
[1] http://paste.ubuntu.com/8079742/
Dear community:
Below you will find the report of activities of the month of July 2014 done
by the volunteers of Wikimedia Mexico. Please don't hesitate to get in
touch with us if you require extra information about this activities or
only to make some suggestions.
The report is also available on Spanish and English in our wiki:
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Julio_2014/ (Spanish)
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Julio_2014/en
(English)
Kindly regards.
On behalf our chapter.
Carmen Alcázar (User:Wotancito)
WMMX Secretary.
==Highlights==
===Three simultaneous Wikipedia workshops in three different cities===
On July 26, three Wikipedia workshops were given in three cities of Mexico.
The venues was TelmexHub in Mexico City by Omar Sandoval, Carmen Alcázar,
Iván Martínez, y Gustavo Sandoval; HackerGarage in Guadalajara by Salvador
Alcántar and Capilla del Arte in Puebla by José Flores. It is the first
time in the history of Mexican chapter that we have three training
activities in three Mexican cities simultaneously and in the case of
Guadalajara, this workshop was the first to be taught in that city. [1]
===Volunteer's WikiPicnic for Wikimania 2015===
On July 20, a Volunteer's WikiPicnic for Wikimania 2015 was held in the
Second Section of Chapultepec, bound for Wikimania 2015. Carmen Alcázar
initially spoke about the event and solve some questions about the
Wikimedia projects, giving way to a soccer match among the attendees. At
the end, the picnic was held with everyone within a casual and fun time.
The last to leave the park did about 6 pm. [2]
Jul 5
* Moebius radio program 14/19: "''De Juan O'Gorman a Alberto Kalach''"
(From Juan O'Gorman to Alberto Kalach)
Jul 10
* Working meeting for Wikimania 2015
Jul 12
* Moebius radio program 14/20: "''De lambada a murciélagos''" (From lambada
to Chiroptera)
Jul 14
* Beginning of Wikipedian In Residence project in
Museo Soumaya [3]
Jul 20
* Picnic at the second section of Bosque de Chapultepec in order to meet
the team of volunteers who will participate in Wikimania 2015.
Jul 23
* Participation of Carmen Alcázar in "Participación de las mujeres en el
campo tecnológico" discussion table at Universidad del Claustro de Sor
Juana, Mexico City, among other female involved in tech initatives. [4]
* Interview to Carmen Alcázar for La Jornada newspaper with the title
"Demandan políticas tecnológicas con perspectiva de género" on July 24. [5]
Jul 26
* Workshop: Introduction to Wikipedia at Capilla del Arte, Puebla.
* Workshop: Introduction to Wikipedia at Hackergarage, Guadalajara.
* Wikipedia Monthly Workshop at Telmexhub, Mexico City. [6]
Jul 30
*Virtual meeting of the Wikimedia Mexico board.
Jul 31
*GLAM meeting with Centro de Cultura Digital staff. [7]
[1]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_workshop_at_Telmex_Hub
Photos in Wikimedia Commons
[2]
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Wikipicnic_Wikimania_2015_volunteers.…
[3] https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proyectos:Museo_Soumaya
[4]
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Participaci%C3%B3n_de_las_mujeres_en_…
[5] http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/07/24/sociedad/039n1soc
[6]
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Taller_Mensual_de_Wikipedia_Julio_06.…
[7] https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proyectos:Centro_de_Cultura_Digital
