WikiEN-l September 2008

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82 participants
90 discussions

Re: [WikiEN-l] Talking to Jimmy Wales about discussion
by WJhonson＠aol.com 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

I'm not sure I fully agree with this. It would depend on the question. The internet allows people to check and re-check what they've been told. In that sense, our article on digitalis should strive to represent the average knowledge of the medical community, not just be a source of entertainment for example. If our article on breast cancer could be improved in some way, that is a good thing. In a message dated 9/5/2008 2:51:44 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com writes: a question about your wife's breast cancer would be directed at a doctor, **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)

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Closed wikis
by White Cat 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

It has came to my attention that closed wikis can be the source of problems particularly for IW links. When a wiki is locked down (generally for inactivity) edits to the site are completely blocked. This is a problem because IW links can no longer be fixed meaning there is a permanent invalid IW linkage which may mislead bots and humans (visitors reading articles) alike. In addition it creates a backlog as the wikis in question will be unlocked eventualy. Admittedly the locked wikis are small so backlog isnt exactly too big of a deal. In adition locked wikis also need to be edited for SUL unifications, username renames (can relate to SUL), leftover spam deletions and etc. I really think certain usergroups and/or global usergroups should be allowed to edit such wikis. - White Cat

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Re: [WikiEN-l] Talking to Jimmy Wales about discussion
by WJhonson＠aol.com 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

How to frame a question so that it improves the article. Step 1 -- Always include a phrase like "this article" or "I don't see where" Step 2 -- Always include a phrase like "I'd like to see" or "it would improve this article if" Step 3 -- Slip your question in, sideways between these catchphrases. Example Anna Nicole Smith "I don't see where in this article they discuss how many men have been knocked unconscious when she suddenly turned sideways. I think it would improve this article to have those details. Also this article does not appear to address what exactly her bust size was prior to her implants. I'd like to see that added to this article. Thanks. -- Booboo kitty the Fourth" Will Johnson **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)

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vocabulary
by Florence Devouard 05 Sep '08

05 Sep '08

Hello, Not directly about Wikipedia, sorry :-) I have a vocabulary question... and Wikipedia was not able to help me !!! In French, we have a term "mécénat" which refers to the act for a person or a company to financially support a creator. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mécénat This word exist in other languages, but there is apparently no english article. In our definition, Foundation (such as the Ford or the Gates Foundation) are mécènes, but a commercial company can also be directly a mécène. We also use the term "sponsor" (or parrainage), which is a direct translation of the english term sponsor. The definition of a "mécène" is not so different from the definition of a sponsor, though the French article hints that the "mecène" does that for philanthropic reasons, whilst the sponsor does that for commercial reasons. Except that within the articles, in both cases, it notices that both mécène and sponsors get financial benefits (deductibility etc...) and that both mécène and sponsors get benefits in terms of image. So, I guess it is sometimes a bit tricky to know when a gift is a "mécenat" and when it is "sponsoring". But still, we try to make the differenciation. For WMF, the recent big donations would be "mécénat", whilst those giving money for Wikimania (with public recognition, thank yous, logo display etc...) are "sponsors". My question (yes, there is a question): do you really have no term to describe "mécénat" as the lack of Wikipedia article seem to suggest ? If there is no term, would "philanthropic activity" fit both the concept for an organisation OR a unique person ?

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Re: [WikiEN-l] Just how powerful is Wikipedia?
by Harry Willis 05 Sep '08

05 Sep '08

Wikipedia Scanner... indeed, that's the one! Many thanks, Chris. - H Chris Howie [cdhowie(a)gmail.com] wrote: > Is it this one? > > http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/

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Re: [WikiEN-l] vocabulary
by Fayssal F. 05 Sep '08

05 Sep '08

I've always believed that "mécénat" is patronage. But if you want to use it in a modern and financial context then sponsorship is the most appropriate term. Yes, "philanthropic activity" fit both the concept for an organization AND a unique person. You got individual (i.e. Florence Kelley) and the most common corporate or private philanthropic activities. P.S. both Florence Kelly, philanthropy and patronage are mentioned in the same page here<http://books.google.com/books?id=JG3ceLmdnbgC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=Kelley,+F…>:) Fayssal F. > On Thu, 4 Sep 2008 20:47:53 +1000 Angela <beesley(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] vocabulary > To: "English Wikipedia" <wikien-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Message-ID: > <8b722b800809040347u1473a8bdl85b81b53d7bed3a0(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 8:01 PM, Andrew Gray <shimgray(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > 2008/9/4 Florence Devouard <Anthere9(a)yahoo.com>: > > > > > >> The definition of a "m?c?ne" is not so different from the definition of > >> a sponsor, though the French article hints that the "mec?ne" does that > >> for philanthropic reasons, whilst the sponsor does that for commercial > >> reasons. > > > > The traditional distinction would be "patron" ... > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patronage has an interlanguage link to > M?c?nat. Not sure if the lack of a link the other way is deliberate or > not. > > Angela > >

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Re: [WikiEN-l] Just how powerful is Wikipedia?
by Harry Willis 04 Sep '08

04 Sep '08

Well, blunder of the day: typed a very similar reply, in all its glory, sent it off and then realised I'd sent it from the wrong account, it got bounced by Mailman, and I've lost the original. Bugger. Ah well, here goes for a second try... The actual results of the rankings analysis don't surprise me, if only from personal experience. It's logical that due to Wikipedia's wide article base and high site ranking, that there will be popular articles on the more popular search terms. However, on popular searches with many relevant site hits, Wikipedia often doesn't make it into the top 5, lingering around on the first page of results but not always having a top-3 or even top-5 ranking. I guess not even enwiki gets carte blanche... On the political bit of the article, to be honest (and again, I'm speaking from little more than experience), people researching current events and other currently relevant and rapidly changing information, they tend to reach for links to trusted online news sources rather than Wikipedia articles. Also, the Google News search feature knocks Wikipedia out of the equation altogether when it's used. The political COI edits are a perennial subject for journalists and technology commentators, but if people use Wikipedia as their sole source for current events, then they should probably be expecting a certain deal of information lag or the odd factual inaccuracy. Caveat lector, as always. If anyone could find me the link to the site which displays anon contributions by IPs in US gov't address pools, I'd be eternally grateful - I appear to have lost it without a trace! - H Usamah M. Ali [usamah1228(a)gmail.com] wrote: > Hello, > > SitePoint's lead blogger Josh Catone published a very interesting blog today about the powerfulness of Wikipedia entries in search result pages. You can read it here: > > http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/09/04/just-how-powerful-is-wikipedia > > Regards, > Usamah

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Just how powerful is Wikipedia?
by Usamah M. Ali 04 Sep '08

04 Sep '08

Hello, SitePoint's lead blogger Josh Catone published a very interesting blog today about the powerfulness of Wikipedia entries in search result pages. You can read it here: http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/09/04/just-how-powerful-is-wikipedia Regards, Usamah

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Article subpages
by Philip Sandifer 03 Sep '08

03 Sep '08

I'm working on a proposal to try to add some sanity to our notability procedures, and to better organize our coverage of areas where we have, essentially, multiple articles on a single topic. It uses a template-based system that duplicates much of the functionality of subpages. More about it later - I'm still working on some aspects of it. All I want to know for now is what the logic was on deprecating subpages in the article space, and what the technical decision to turn off MediaWiki's subpages means for content issues. That is, is the decision to turn off subpages just at technical decision because of the problem it causes for articles like [[OS/2]]? Is there a consensus on the content issues of subpages? What is this consensus, and where can I read its forming so that I can make my proposal adhere to it, or make it so that accepting my proposal definitely and clearly alters it? Thanks, Phil Sandifer

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Re: [WikiEN-l] NYT flattery
by Blech Nic 01 Sep '08

01 Sep '08

Or maybe both Dowd and Wikipedia simply got it from People, the source Wikipedia lists for the quote. B. "Where do your children's names come from? TODD: Sarah's parents were coaches and the whole family was involved in track and I was an athlete in high school, so with our first-born, I was, like, 'Track!' Bristol is named after Bristol Bay. That's where I grew up, that's where we commercial fish. Willow is a community there in Alaska. And then Piper, you know, there's just not too many Pipers out there and it's a cool name. And Trig is a Norse name for "strength." ----- Original Message ---- From: Steve Summit <scs(a)eskimo.com> To: wikien-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 6:54:04 AM Subject: [WikiEN-l] NYT flattery [If "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", I'm thinking close paraphrase is a pretty good second.] Liberal commentators are of course having a field day with the nomination of [[Sarah Palin]] for the U.S. vice-presidency. The NYT's dishy Maureen Dowd compared the situation to a deliciously hokey chick flick, including this description of the heroine's kids: Track (named after high school track meets), Bristol (after Bristol Bay where they did commercial fishing), Willow (after a community in Alaska), Piper (just a cool name) and Trig (Norse for "strength.") [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31dowd.html] Now, was this fantastic satire, or based on truth? A quick check of our article reveals not only that it's truth, but also where Dowd got her facts from. _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

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WikiEN-l September 2008