Wikimedia-l January 2008

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

162 participants
205 discussions

[Foundation-l] A fork of "Wikimedia-wide global blocking mechanism?"
by Milos Rancic 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

On 1/31/08, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote: > You do realise the head of the translator committee is banned from > ja:wp due to personal disagreements? Communities have attacks of > batshit insane, and that's too much power to hand to one project. Yes, and did you read my email a little bit more careful? :) Andres: - en.wp lifted ban under pressure of its own community. - If they didn't do that, they would have to do that after implementing SUL. - If they knew that their decision would affect all other wikis, they wouldn't be so crazy to do that. About en-wpization of the community: This is just an unreasonable fear. Some of very important en-Wikipedians didn't pass even voting for adminship on Meta. Policy like this would initiate much more participation of member of a lot of different Wikimedian projects into Meta issues. On 1/31/08, Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net> wrote: > A logical extension of Milos' proposal could arise if someone > persistently insisted on pushing a Serbian POV on hr:wp. The Croatians > would become very annoyed with this until that individual met one of the > criteria which Milos suggests. They would block him, and the logical > consequence would then be that he should also be blocked on sr:wp. > Somehow, I don't see that this would necessarily be an acceptable result. sr/hr is not the main issue (usually, the same vandals and trolls are blocked on both Wikipedias); the main issue are POV pushers on en.wp who are spreading their own POV on their own, smaller projects; and, consequently, building heavy POV community; as well as unacceptable behaviors of some other communities -- which are completely out of the scope of WM goals. Lodewijk: All great ideas were unacceptable at the beginning :)))

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Re: [Foundation-l] Our values
by daniwo59＠aol.com 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Florence, This is a very commendable email, and I admire its simplicity. The values you suggest are instinctive to anyone who has been involved in the projects for a while, but as Wikimedia grows, it is important to reiterate them again and again for new staff and new project members, who have not been raised on them. That said, I do have a couple of questions and hope that you can clarify. In a message dated 1/29/2008 5:06:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, anthere(a)anthere.org writes: Our community is our biggest asset We are a community-based organization. We must operate with a mix of staff members, and of volunteers, working together to achieve our mission. We support community-led collaborative projects, and must respect the work and the ideas of our community. We must listen and take into account our communities in any decisions taken to achieve our mission. Question: "Community" has always been a mantra of our projects. As such, I was a bit surprised by an email exchange with Jay Walsh last week, in which he said: "I'm hesitant to use the word 'community' as much as I'm hesitant to call people 'audience.' In reaching out to communicate, so far at least, I'm more inclined to speak of users, editors, stakeholders, casual readers etc - but this is my personal interpretation." I found his comment counter-intuitive, given the nature of the projects to date, and wonder if you might clarify your opinion on "community" and the terms used to describe it. of service is a priority We will try our best to give access to high quality Wikimedia project content 24 hours a day and 7 days, as well as provide access to regularly updated, user-friendly, and free dumps of Wikimedia project content. To insure world-wide, unrestricted, dissemination of knowledge, we do not enter into exclusive partnerships, with regards to access to our content or use of our trademarks. Freedom We make extra efforts to use only free software on our own servers, and to support open and patent-free media formats that are viewable and editable with free software. Question: This was the subject of some debate last week, also on this mailing list. Are we committed "exclusively" to open and patent-free media formats that are viewable and editable with free software? Transparency We must communicate Wikimedia Foundation information in a transparent, thorough and timely manner, to our communities and more generally, to the public. Independance As a non-profit, we mostly depend on gifts to operate (donations, grants, sponsorship etc...). It is very important to us to ensure our organization stays free of influence in the way it operates. For this reason, we strictly follow a donation policy, reserve the right to refuse donations from a limited number of sources, and try to multiply the number of sources. Question: As a charitable organization, it is easy to become dependent on the largesse of major donors, who could hold considerable sway over day-to-day operations. The answer is either to find an independent revenue stream or to create an endowment to ensure that basic costs are covered in perpetuity. Frankly, I am biased. I believe that "Independence" is the most important of these values--without it we will not be able to withstand challenges to all the other values. As such, what steps are being taken to ensure the Foundation's financial independence? I believe in the values as you expressed them, and I am confident that the Board will vote unanimously in support of them. I am just curious about some of the practical implications, and eager to hear your thoughts on them. Danny **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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Re: [Foundation-l] Report to the Board: December 23 to January 29
by daniwo59＠aol.com 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

In a message dated 1/31/2008 5:23:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, sgardner(a)wikimedia.org writes: The St Petersburg office will shut down Thursday, January 31, and at that point, we will say goodbye to Barbara Brown (office manager), Sandy Ordonez (head of communications) and Vishal Patel (business development). Since this was a very short good-bye, I just thought I would add to it. Although I haven't been staff for almost a year, I worked personally with Barbara, Sandy, and Vishal, and wanted to thank them personally. Many people do not know about the difficult work they did behind the scenes, but it really kept the gears greased and the Foundation running, in good times and in difficult times. Personally, I want to thank Barbara for keeping the office homey, making sure that it was stocked with food, and even ensuring that it was all neat and orderly. Despite my grumblings (I like eating at my desk ...), I appreciated that, and I know everyone else did too. Sandy arrived at an unusual time, but immediately began learning the ropes and jumped right in when we needed it most. It wasn't always easy, but she rose to the challenge. Vishal began as an intern, and by force of circumstances found himself taking a lot of my responsibilities. He rose to the challenge with a real sense of vision of what the Foundation could be. Thanks Danny **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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[Foundation-l] Hello and Goodbye to Sandy
by Brian McNeil 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

As Sue's report shows, Sandy Ordonez is leaving the Cabal^WFoundation. Sandy has expressed an interest in getting involved in Wikinews and has - with some help from Mike Halterman - lined up an interview for next week. Okay, it isn't highbrow, just one of the winners of "America's Next Top Model", however I hope everyone on the list would join me in wishing Sandy the best of luck in her future endeavors. Both on and off-wiki. Brian McNeil

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[Foundation-l] Fwd: [Wikitech-l] Crosswiki blocking
by David Gerard 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Another sensible suggestion. - d. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jesse Martin (Pathoschild) <pathoschild(a)gmail.com> Date: 31 Jan 2008 20:37 Subject: [Wikitech-l] Crosswiki blocking To: Wikimedia developers <wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Hello, A more feasible proposal (than global blocking) which I've put forth before is crosswiki blocking. A Special:BlockCrosswiki page on Meta could be used by stewards to block a user on any project, preferably updating the log on that project. The interface would work in precisely the same way as the current crosswiki Special:Userrights, with a steward blocking "Pathoschild's_proposal_sucks!@enwiki" from Meta. This doesn't have the problems of global blocking, and it would be extremely useful in stopping wiki-jumping vandals. Without crosswiki blocking, a steward needs to navigate to each project, register an account or log in, navigate to Special:Userrights and set admin access from Meta, navigate to Special:Blockip and block the vandal from the local project, and switch back to Special:Userrights on Meta to remove their admin access. By the time they're done, the vandal has hit six more wikis. Obviously, the current way we do things is ridiculous and not scalable in the least. -- Yours cordially, Jesse Martin (Pathoschild) _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

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Re: [Foundation-l] Wikipedia songs
by daniwo59＠aol.com 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

For the sake of international harmony: You have reached the Wikimedia Foundation. Our phone options have recently changed, so please listen to the entire menu before making your choice. To hear this message in English, press 1 To hear this message in German, press 2 To hear this message in French, press 3 ..... To hear this message in Kurdish, press 236 To hear this message in Ovimbundu, press 237 To hear this messag in Yanomami, press 238 ... To hear this message in Eyak, press 4,312 To hear this message in Labradorian Inuktitut, press 4,313 .... To hear this message in Ancient Egyptian of the Middle Kingdom Era press 12,747 To hear this message in Classical Moabite, press 12,748 etc. **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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[Foundation-l] New cloak requests system
by Sean Whitton 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Greetings all, Some time ago GeorgeMoney wrote me a nice script to do some basic checking on cloak requests (see [[m:IRC cloaks]]). This system stood the test of time, but it was observed that some improvements could be made by some coders. I am pleased to announce that a new system has now been put into production that should speed up requests by doing more automatic checking and thus eliminating many common requests. Additionally, translation of the interface is possible and thus we can make things easier for those who do not speak English or where it is not their first language - the old system did not have this. Translations are not really done at present, but the system in English is very much ready for use so go take a look: <http://stable.ts.wikimedia.org/wmfgcbot/> - hope you like the castle. At this point I would like to extent humble gratitude to [[m:User:Martinp23]] and [[m:User:Kalan]] (enhydra) for coding the IRC bot and web components of this service respectively. They have worked tirelessly to get this working while I just sat back and fired off suggestions for improvements in a naive fashion. We will be releasing the source when it has been cleaned up; a combination of C# and PHP. Thanks, Sean

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[Foundation-l] Wikipedia vs Linux
by David Gerard 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

http://www.apcmag.com/7924/the_future_of_the_linux_kernel_and_what_it_tells… Applying lesson #4 will doubtless be interesting. - d.

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[Foundation-l] A simple question on languages.
by Gregory Maxwell 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

What is the minimum number of languages must you write in to effectively communicate with 99.9999% of all the world's literate people? Note that I'm asking 'effectively communicate' not 'communicate in a language historically spoken by the ancestors of each person' or other interpretations. Well understood and comfortably used second and third languages are acceptable. I think I vaguely know an answer to this, but I'd like a good citation so that I will not be called a bigot by the sort of people who think we must support 25,000 'languages' in order to support the world. Ideally I'd like to know the number of people reached as a function of supporting the N top languages. This seems like a simple and important question which others should have asked and answered definitively long ago, yet I can't seem to find a good reference. It also seems to me to be the sort of question which should play an important role in the foundation's long term resource allocations.

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[Foundation-l] [Announcement] New CFOO: Veronique Kessler
by Sue Gardner 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hi folks, I’m delighted to announce that Veronique Kessler will be the Wikimedia Foundation’s new Chief Financial and Operating Officer (CFOO). Veronique will start with us February 4. Veronique has 15 years of very strong managerial and financial experience working with a wide range of organizations. She joins us from the non-profit Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, where she was Director of Finance and, before that, Controller. Prior to JCCSF, she did financial consulting for clients such as Stanford University, brokerage firm Charles Schwab, and the venture capital and investment firm Berkeley International Capital Corporation. And before that, she was Controller for the Walden International Investment Group, financial reporting manager for the private investment company The Fremont Group, a senior accountant with the Wells Fargo bank, and a senior auditor with Deloitte & Touche, one of the world’s “big four” audit firms. Veronique is a CPA (certified public accountant), with a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has a strong and varied international background including work with Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore, and she speaks fluent French. The role of the Wikimedia Foundation’s CFOO is to oversee our financial and operational activities. In general, Veronique will ensure that the Foundation operates smoothly, effectively, and in compliance with 501(c) standards and generally-accepted accounting principles. She will report to me. The heads of business development (Kul Wadhwa) and fundraising (hiring in progress) will report to her, as will our office manager (Erica Ortega), my assistant (Cheryl Owens, formerly Steffen), and our accountant (currently Oleta McHenry, in St. Petersburg). The Chief Financial and Operating Officer is a critical position for the Wikimedia Foundation, and I am thrilled we have found such a highly-qualified person to handle this important role. Veronique's delighted to be joining us – she’s excited by the importance and global impact of our work, and is looking forward to being part of the open-source and free culture movement. Please join me in welcoming her to the staff of the Wikimedia Foundation. Thanks, Sue Sue Gardner Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation

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Wikimedia-l January 2008