[Commons-l] [Fwd: Pikiwiki - Israel free image collection project - Starting engines]

[ChrisiPK]

Hi,

first of all, this seems to be a great project. However, there are
several issues I am concerned about and would like to address:
>The basic idea (as
> described in details on the Meta) is to call upon the Israeli public to
> look in their family albums and private collections for pictures of
> Israeli-related pictures of special historical, anthropological,
> archeological, geographical, zoological and/or botanical value.

2009/1/13 Cary Bass <cary at wikimedia.org>:
> Hi, Dror asked me to forward this message on.
>
> -------- Original Message --------
>
> Hi,
>
> I sent this message to commons-l, but it is being halted because I
> didn't subscribe. Could you please forward it, or release the original
> message?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dror
>
>
> Pikiwiki - Israel free image collection project
>
> Starting engines
>
> Hello,
>
> The Israel free image collection project is about to take off
> (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Picwik). We are currently testing the
> system, a process which could take a while, because we've already found
> some bugs and unfriendly features, to be repaired as soon as possible.
> However, we started to upload images as part of the testing phase, so I
> think it is time to inform the Commons' community about the project.
>
> This is a joint project of Wikimedia Israel (wm-il,
> http://www.wikimedia.org.il) The Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL)
> and the Center for Educational Technology (CET). The basic idea (as
> described in details on the Meta) is to call upon the Israeli public to
> look in their family albums and private collections for pictures of
> Israeli-related pictures of special historical, anthropological,
> archeological, geographical, zoological and/or botanical value. These
> pictures should be in good quality and depict historical events,
> landscapes, archeological findings, cultural events, animals and plants
> as long as they are related to the State of Israel or to the
> geographical region commonly known as Palestine or Eretz Yisrael (we are
> going to be flexible about these definitions). For this end, we created
> a localized site in Hebrew (*http://www.pikiwiki.org.il*
> <http://www.pikiwiki.org.il/>). Anyone who is willing to contribute his
> images can open an account there and declare that the pictures are his
> own and that he is willing to release them either to the public domain
> or under cc-by-2.5 license (i.e. with attribution). We also initiate
> calls to local archives and collectors. Some of them have already sent
> us interesting images, which we will upload to the Commons soon. Images
> donated through this localized site will be accessible through the site
> itself or the Commons. We would like the localized site to serve not
> only as an upload site but also as an attraction to pupils, students,
> teacher and the general public, where they can look for images using
> Hebrew interface. This means that the interfaces between the localized
> site and the Commons is quite complicated and delicate.
>
> The localized site saves the images temporarily and eventually sends
> them to the Commons. We have two main problems to overcome:
> 1. Users will name the images and describe them in Hebrew. We will add
> the prefix "Pikiwiki" to the name, and probably an ID which will enable
> us to locate the image in our own catalog. So a typical name might look
> something like "pikiwiki_123456_ציפורים_נודדות_מעל_מכתש_רמון.jpg". If
> friendlier names are required, we will have to think of a better idea.
> 2. As mentioned above, we would like to present the images on the
> localized site too, according to localized categories. Therefore, we
> would like to attach an ID to each image, so we could trace it easily on
> the Commons. Currently, adding this ID to the image name seems the
> easiest option.
>
> Here are some technical details about the way the upload process is
> handled as provided by our programmer:
>
> A synchronization component handles all data synchronization with
> WikiMedia Commons. It simulates user behavior and data posting via CURL.
> The component rechecks the data of the images needed to handle, to
> prevent un-needed execution
> This operation has several steps:
> 1. Login into WikiMedia Commons
> 2. Uploading new images - the data is processed and posted with
> appropriate tags and licensing.
> 3. Updating images changed since last synchronization.
> 4. Removal of requests for removed images, which were uploaded to
> WikiMedia. A removed image is flagged in a watch list to allow future
> tracking and verification of successful removal. Access to the component
> is secured via hard-coded token, to prevent unwanted execution.
> A Visual debugging function exists in the code, to allow fast problems
> tracing Each synchronization step is rechecked based on existing data,
> pulled from the output of WikiMedia, to attempt to verify successful
> operations and marking of un-successful operations
> 1. Uploading - WikiMedia Commons does not have an API or other
> completely supported interface, to allow any operations in their system,
> without manual intervention. (The perl script originally provided by one
> of their users also attempts to utilize existing forms on the site).
> This component simulates user behavior and heavily depends on existing
> WikiMedia state - once WikiMedia decide to change or block some of the
> current screens in their system, the code might need to be updated or
> modified accordingly.
> 2. Updating or editing existing user images on WikiMedia is not support
> or publicized on their site. The component uses user simulation and
> fetches WikiMedia security token to allow this behaviour. (The token is
> originally there to prevent such operations.) Once WikiMedia create
> other or additional security precautions, this operation will require
> code modification and might become impossible.
> 3. Removal of images - as WikiMedia Commons is a system designed for
> common information sharing, it does not support direct image removal,
> let alone image removal via external system. This synchronization
> component simulates fake JS requests and image information updates to
> notify WikiMedia Commons system regarding the fast image removal demand.
> Currently this allows quick (although not on the spot) removal. If
> WikiMedia change their system or implement further security precautions,
> this operation will require code modification and might become impossible.
> * The component uses hard-coded credentials for WikiMedia Commons,
> required to use their system and all the operations in their system are
> done in the name of the provided user
> * All the images are uploaded one by one to prevent the user from
> potentially getting blocked by WikiMedia Commons
>
> Thank you very much,
>
> Dror Kamir,
>
> Wikimedia Israel
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Commons-l mailing list
> Commons-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l
>