Quoting David Cuenca dacuetu@gmail.com:
Is it going to be similar to Open Source Ecology? Will it be only for reviewing or will it provide tools for creation?
If so, what kind of tools do you think are needed? Something similar to Extension:WorkingWiki?
This is the first Wikimania-related email has caught my attention in (probably) years. I know Erik is - effectively - betting his career on the Visual Editor, and acting as de-facto PM on that.
Don't have the answer to the real old-school 64-million-dollar-question: Who is the WMF's lead systems analyst? Who tells you what the young enthusiasts do not want to hear? "This problem, more-effectively solved in The Real World." ,I don't want the job, Brion V comes close to that role as "Godfather of MediaWiki"; but, you seem to have no 'jack-of-all-trades' BOFH who shoots every attempt to repeat a well-known "failure path" for development.
I'm aware of others on Wikinews trying to articulate the potential the project has; aint beingcognised.
show-stoppers on the Visual Editor (VE), and - if that breaks our tools I will not keep quiet (as I'd like to do after this email). We took (read: I *begged* to get Vector on enWN first; we shook out a bunch of issues so they were not a problem on enWP.
We have unique use cases; use-cases that - with a functional VE - Wikipedia might ask about 3, 4 or 5-years down the line. Politics; Wikinewsies love that crap - unless it gets in our way. Happens too-often.
I'm now part of "tech support to the world's tier-one telecoms"; I want to keep the hell away from Wikipedia, I can do without the politics there; I've got a pile of media, and about 50-odd pages of notes to turn into a Wikinews article. From what, you might ask? Look out for photo and/or major video updates on the enWP pages of certain political players.
Erik, I really want to see the visual editor succeed; if I can help, and ask no-more than a footnote that "Brian is far-less-of-a-b'tard" than my enemies thing, it is all I ask. But, right now, I'm waiting on my invite to a 'certain hotel in Edinburgh' to obtain the first, comprehensive, "video self-introduction" but one of the icons of 20th-Century politics. Pages of notes to turn this into an enWN article? About 50-100. The trailer for Tony Benn's biog? Pending release under a libre license? Just a normal week's work for a Wikinewsie. Were you to take off your board/staff/whatever hat, approach what we've turned enWN into aince you helped get the ball rolling, and see where we're at? I think you'd have cause to be proud. Yeah, you can't take credit for much, but you gave us an opening that was needed.
Drop me a mail, or call me on my Genband number; it's long-past-due having WMF staff accept that (whilst I appreciated 'expressions of concern' when I ended up getting open-heart surgery), I am just writing this 'slightly ranty' email to say I would like asked for input on more stuff; I can't drop an issue hitting tens of thousands (which might-well include their access to WMF projects); But, the oda frailds are in-favour of me being part of the back-edn team fixing your issues.
I have 1hr audio to process, a provisional "promise" that the trailer for the in-the-works Tony Benn video will be available under a enWP-compatible license, and "good odds" on getting Tony Benn as the first major politician to have a video introduction of themselves on Wikipedia.
I love that the 2013 Wikimania has seen Jimmy admit that failing to put money into Wikinews was a - regrettable - mistake (and, I would put a shedload more nuance on that - we've had dozens of ideas put forward that "experience" says would have been an utter waste". We don't look at "value for money" on Wikinews; we look at "Value for effort"; I'm sitting with 1hr+ audio of Tony Benn's Fringe appearance, a who's-who of the people working on his film, and - let's not mince words - "The best Prime Minister the UK never had" as someone, albeit a frail octogenarian, who I'd dearly love to put Jimmy on-the-spot.
Wikinews is "the ideal" of news; our well-embedded critics need dealt with using "live ammo"; they've tried, multiple times, to have all Wikinews projects closed; projects where they know squat. Their goal is obvious, and I regret opting for derogatory shorthand - "The Signpost needs renamed to 'The Slimepost'". Its contributors tend to make Rupe Murdoch look acceptable, use their "publication as the 'most-greasy' source of hatchet-jobs' inside the Foundation and are sharp at "Death by Pi Chart".
For the 6-7 years I've funded wikinewsie.org, taught people "social engineering skikks, and vigourous;y debated what makes "quality journalism"; we've done some awesome work.
I'm going to be blunt, but curt, and close to my "notoriety". Topny1 needs banned. From wat? I don't know, but it likely incluedes a multitude of mailing lists. We have serouls problems with people who view the WMF as a "megalomaniac career ladder". It is not "The Elephant in the Room; but some of the people riding on that are."
He-who-is-not-to-be-mentioned [AKA Brianmc, Wikinews]