The on-wiki version of this newsletter can be found here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Abstract_Wikipedia/Updates/2021-11-04

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This week we are very happy to welcome David Martin to the team. David has worked at SRI International, Apple, Nuance Communications, Samsung Research America, and UCSC, and he has extensive experience doing Research & Development in Artificial Intelligence and the Semantic Web. David will join us in developing Wikifunctions and Abstract Wikipedia.

*Hi everyone! I’m excited to join the Foundation, enjoy its wonderful culture, contribute to the greater good, and help to realize the ambitious, fascinating vision of the Abstract Wikipedia project!*

*In my career to date I’ve enjoyed software engineer, R&D scientist, and engineering manager roles, and have been fortunate to work at several large high-tech companies as well as a nonprofit research organization in Silicon Valley, in jobs oriented around AI technologies and challenges. I've also enjoyed teaching Computer Science courses on several occasions, at University of California, Santa Cruz. My work and publications at times have dealt with, and been enabled by, Wikipedia and Wikidata.*

*I look forward to embracing new challenges and new growth in the supportive environment of WMF. Although I grew up in North Carolina (Southeast US), I’ve spent most of my adult life in California, and most of my career in the Bay Area. I live in the South Bay with my wife and our three cats. Our wonderful son is studying nearby, in San Francisco, and we are grateful for that. I love playing the piano (mostly classical), going to concerts, hiking, bicycling, and traveling.*

Please join me in welcoming David on the team! ------------------------------

A note from Aishwarya, looking for help testing designs:

*Hi folks! For those who don’t know me, I’m Aishwarya Vardhana. I joined the Abstract Wikipedia team in April https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Abstract_Wikipedia/Updates/2021-04-21 of this year to lead product design.*

*I’ve been designing the function editor for Wikifunctions and am looking for volunteers to test some potential changes!*

*I would love to know what you think of the interface, and if it’s understandable, enjoyable, and inviting. I’ll need 20–30 minutes of your time, to screen-share what you are looking at and ask you some questions. I can meet with you in Zoom or Google Meet, at your schedule, anytime this or next week.*

*Please email me at avardhana@wikimedia.org aavardhana@wikimedia.org if you're able to help. Thank you!*

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Last weekend saw WikidataCon 2021 https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikidataCon_2021, celebrating Wikidata’s ninth birthday. A lot of the material is available now for online viewing. In particular:

- Houcemeddin Turki gave a talk introducing Wikifunctions and Abstract Wikipedia https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/talk/CLVZQE/ (slides https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikidataCon_2021_-_Wikifunctions_and_Abstract_Wikipedia.pdf ). - Tochi Precious and Denny Vrandečić had a conversation about Abstract Wikipedia and the Igbo community https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/talk/MP7QQ9/, moderated by Silvia Gutiérrez (Recording on YouTube: in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn2BrQomvFU&t=21930s and with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2-j_4YROmA). - Jan Ainali published an episode of the Wikipediapodden Podcast https://wikipediapodden.se/ on Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions https://wikipediapodden.se/episode-154-abstract-wikipedia-and-wikifunctions/ in time for WikidataCon.