(Note from Mike this is a resent, slightly revised version of the FAQ
that I circulated a few weeks ago. It's also posted at the Wikimania
website.)
--
Dear folks,
With the valuable assistance of Delphine and the local Wikimania team
in Alexandria, I have attempted to assemble a security FAQ for
Wikimania attendees at Wikimania 2008 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,.
In particular, what follows is an attempt to give general answers to
most of the security questions that were asked on foundation-l
regarding security issues at the site.
1) Will all Wikimania events take place inside the Library of
Alexandria?
The short answer to this question is no. There will be at least two
other events -- parties -- that will take place elsewhere. One party
will be held for regular attendees to gather the community and that
most probably will be in a private club in open air beside the
Alexandria airport on the highway. The other party will be for "VIP"
people and sponsors, and will be in one of two places -- one downtown
and one on the seaside. Both places are known to be safe for tourists
and receive such visitors all over the year. Note from Mike: The
message we consistently got from the Egyptian consulate is that
Alexandria is very tourist-friendly and that many local citizens will
seize the opportunity to come up and speak with Wikimanians to try out
their English (or other languages).
2) What percentage of events will take place elsewhere?
The local team estimates 20 to 30 percent of events will take place
elsewhere.
3) Where will attendees be staying?
Either in 3 hotels [Windsor, Metropol, Delta] in downtown Alexandria,
15 minutes walk from the Library, or in in Saint Marc dormitories, 5
minutes walking from BA (in the other direction). There useful map
available at <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/c/c3/Hotels-Alex.jpg
>. Attendees who do not wish to stay at one of the three conference
hotels or in the dorms will be able to book alternatives online.
4) Will there be transportation between housing and events?
No, walking around this area is pretty safe (walked every day by lots
of tourists) and they can shop, watch some attractions of Alexandria,
like Raml station, mosques, beautiful old buildings on the way.
5) How will security needs be addressed?
Our advice from the consulate was that, so long as an event has a
local sponsor (as we have with the Library), the sponsor and local
police will coordinate security needs. So it remains important to work
closely with the Library to inform them if special arrangements need
to be made (if, for example, there's an event with a large number of
VIPs attending).
6) What kind of security arrangements will be made with regard to
transportation to and from Wikimania events?
In cases where transportation is required, the local partner will
normally arrange with local police to have a police car accompanying
moving shuttles with tourists. If told in advance, police will provide
this for any buses at any time.
7) Are there kinds of public behavior, otherwise acceptable in many
other cultures, that ought to be avoided in Alexandria?
The short answer from the local team is this: "Kissing in public,
regardless of sex, is the only taboo around here."
8) Is there any need for attendees to travel in groups?
No, says the local team.
9) Are there religious issues or expressions that should be avoided?
One report from the local team: "wearing [a yarmulke] or a large [Star
of David], considering the current circumstances, will make Jews stand
out, which may not be very good. This said, Jews have been moving
safely and freely around Egypt. However, considering the current
escalation of the situation in Israel/Palestine, flaunting such
religious symbols may result (at worst) in harassment, I don't know if
this situation will continue till the conference or not."
10) Are there any issues with how members of religious minorities,
sexual-orientation minorities (e.g., lesbians, gays, bisexuals), or
racial minorities present themselves? Should female attendees be alert
to any issues of self-presentation that might disturb Egyptians?
From the local team: "For Females, Just to not be overly liberal in
dress code, shorts are ok, bikinis are not." Note from Mike: We got
essentially the same advice from the consulate. Typical Western
clothing is understood to be acceptable for women, just so long as it
is not overly revealing or provocative. The INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
HANDBOOK has lots of photos of students, men and women, in western
dress. There is also advice about what to pack (travel light or you'll
be spending time in the customs office). 11) Has there been contact
with the Egyptian government regarding security issues for an
international conference?
(There definitely has now! ;) The folks at the consulate in SF are big
Wikipedia fans, it turns out.
12) Apart from notifying one's own country's embassy about travel in
the region, what notifications should be made (in advance or
otherwise) to the Egyptian government regarding one's travel to the
conference?
Get a tourist visa. You can get one by mail, but it takes weeks -- you
should think about getting one now. If there is a Egyptian consulate
where you are, however, you may be able to get a tourist visa in as
little as a day. . 13) What am forgetting?
Lots of stuff, but it's mainly well-detailed in the INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS HANDBOOK (see link below). Read carefully the section on
getting health insurance for your travel -- that's pretty much a
standard requirement. I hope this short FAQ goes a long way in
answering basic security questions about upcoming Wikimania. Please
feel free to recirculate, repost, wikify, or whatever.
Final note from Mike: In the course of my research about Wikimania
2008 security concerns, I've found an excellent resource that I want
to share with all of you. When Kul Wadhwa and I met with the Egyptian
consulate in San Francisco, the consul recommended to us the American
University in Cairo website as an introduction for foreign travelers,
and it is in fact a great website <http://www.aucegypt.edu/intstudents/Pages/default.aspx
> . But of particular interest to Wikimanians (who presumably won't
be taking courses and worried about the class schedule) is a PDF
publication, INTERNATIONAL STUDENT HANDBOOK, which can be found and
downloaded here: <http://www.aucegypt.edu/StudentLife/StudentServices/isso/Pages/Internationa… Handbook.aspx
> .
Of course, Alexandria is a different city from Cairo, but the issues
for a foreign national trying to get a quick understanding of urban
Egyptian culture are the essentially the same. The handbook covers
most issues in detail, from what kind of clothing to bring to the
obtaining of health insurance and tourist visas. Even if you think you
know all you need to know about traveling in Egypt, a pass through
this relatively short handbook will likely answer some questions you
haven't thought to ask yet. I highly recommend it.
Chad writes:
> The IOC would have to answer if it chose a poor host city and
> things went horrifically wrong.
I am oddly pleased and impressed that Chad thinks the Foundation is an
operational equivalent of the International Olympic Committee.
--Mike
Florence writes:
> However, my initial comment still stand. According to Mike, the only
> role of the Foundation is "to pay for the Conference". And that is one
> view I fully disagree with.
I didn't say that was the *only* role of the Foundation. Florence is
misremembering my words here. If I had said what Florence thinks I
said, I would fully disagree with it as well.
What I said was, suggestions about organization of the conference
should go to the conference's actual organizers, not to the
Foundation, which, as Florence correctly states, is more of a
facilitator than anything else.
And, of course, the Foundation is spending plenty of money on the
conference -- e.g., on consulting security experts, and so on.
--Mike
Uh, this is going to sound weird if you start doing a miranda-ish warning
----- Original Message ----
From: Anthony <wikimail(a)inbox.org>
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:23:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Legal position of audio recordings of GFDL content?
On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 5:01 AM, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> One important question: how do you manage GFDL on spoken text?
>
Depends on how you intend to distribute the spoken text. The GFDL
does not state that the text of the license must be in the same format
as the rest of the document. Including the license in an online
distribution is easy. Including the license in a physical
distribution (of CDs or whatever) is easy. The only difficulty I can
see for this would be for an audio broadcast - but then again, the
GFDL doesn't even mention anything about the public performance right
(only the public display right), so by a strict reading of the license
you aren't permitted to make an audio broadcast of a GFDL work anyway.
And what radio station wants to broadcast GFDL documents anyway?
> Requiring a reading of the license on the end of all audios is
> onerous. Our many spoken articles on English Wikipedia are
> (presumably) not a violation as long as they're on Wikipedia, with the
> license text a link away - but aren't really unencumbered for use
> elsewhere.
>
> Is the GFDL fundamentally discriminatory against the blind?
>
If anything, requiring the license to be spoken when the rest of the
document is spoken would benefit the blind, as it would more easily
inform them of their rights. That's the whole point of requiring the
license to be included, right? To inform people of their rights?
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
Greg Maxwell writes:
> In the message I responded to you stated that the collection of
> emergency contact information would present considerable privacy
> concerns. Here you seem to be suggesting that the foundation would
> instead prefer to pass off the collection to a volunteer driven
> project. This seems like a completely inconsistent position, but
> perhaps I just do not understand.
I guess I'm both callous and inconsistent. Next thing you know I'll be
downright evil. (That's where you going, isn't it? Just admit it.)
It should be noted that the concerns that have been raised to me, both
publicly and privately, are themselves inconsistent. Some people are
concerned about their privacy. Some are concerned about security. Some
are concerned about both privacy and security. Some are concerned
about neither. Some are concerned about wholly separate matters. Some
feel that they can't post publicly to this list without themselves
being criticized.
So don't be surprised if you hear from me representations of
inconsistent concerns. This is not exactly a consistent crowd. (News
flash!)
> I'm at a bit of a loss as to what means could possibly be more
> efficient and effective than simply adding a single additional field
> to the official Wikimania registration form. Could you please
> elaborate?
I can elaborate by saying that I think you have spent more time
responding to me than it might have taken you to come up with a
solution that addresses the concerns you state here. This strikes me
as callous.
Is there a registration form somewhere that the Foundation has access
to, Greg, that you don't? I don't know of one. Have you considered
making your concerns known to those who are actually organizing the
conference, such as Delphine and the local team? (The Foundation is
only paying for it.)
> Some of the earliest concerns about safety were raised after the
> safety advice provided by the local team were found to be in direct
> contradiction with advice provided by professional travel agents (in,
> particular with respect to advisable dress for women).
I don't know what you are attempting to refer to here. (The issue of
"advisable dress for women" is also addressed in the INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS GUIDE -- see below.)
> It was the
> belief of some, myself included, that although the local team has the
> greatest access to information they may, understandably, not be the
> most objective parties available to assess the risks and mitigations
> specific to their region and its local cultures.
I love the passive voice.
I have twice forwarded to the list a link to resources for foreign
students attending the American University in Cairo. It addresses
many and perhaps most of the concerns raised by those who worry about
the local team's advice. Did you bother to read it? It's still here:
<http://www.aucegypt.edu/StudentLife/StudentServices/isso/Pages/Internationa…
>
> With that in mind I hope you can understand why some people are
> dissatisfied that the foundation's response to concerns about safety
> is to restate that those issues have been delegated to the local team.
That is not at all what I said. If you are going to attempt to
paraphrase me, please don't just make stuff up. I neither stated nor
restated that safety issues "have been delegated to the local team."
> Given the large volume of mail that has already been exchanged on this
> subject I do not expect that a uniformly agreeable fully solution will
> be found.
Thank you for your efforts in forging agreement. I feel much more
agreeable now.
I look forward to further interrogation. Uh, I mean, constructive
suggestions.
--Mike
Seriously, a extra field in registration is a good idea. What if someone has a heart attack during Wikimania? WMF would probably want to contact someone authorized to make medical decisions.
----- Original Message ----
From: Mike Godwin <mgodwin(a)wikimedia.org>
To: foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 2:20:09 PM
Subject: [Foundation-l] Contingency plans for Wikimania
Danny writes:
> As such, I ask, are there contingencies for
> unanticipated changes in the coming weeks/months? ...
<...>
> While something like this recurring is unlikely, it is probably best
> to have
> contingencies for just such an event. This could be as simple as
> plans in
> case the conference must be cancelled at the very last minute, or
> contact
> numbers for family members of participants in the event of an
> emergency
I think privacy concerns would prevent the Foundation's keeping
contact information for everyone's parents and families, extra
personally identifying information and the like (where they would
subject to legal process and perhaps abuse, depending on whether we
kept them privately or publicly). I also don't think the Foundation
is the logical place to focus on being able to contact your family in
the event of an emergency. WikiParenting is not exactly our strength.
See below.
We are considering other contingency planning, of course.
> --as simple
> as making sure someone is picking up phones in the SF office while
> the event
> is underway.
Certainly we will have people at the office to answer phones during
Wikimania. I don't think we're going to shoot for 24-hour staffing of
the office, though.
There is lots of standard advice for individuals engaging in foreign
travel, including contacting your local embassy before or after you
arrive and giving them your contact information and likely location.
I don't think the Foundation is in the position to do the work of
multiple embassies in this regard.
Anyone who wants to start up WikiEmbassies, however, has my
encouragement.
---Mike
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
What about Israel-Palestine, they are right next door ;)
----- Original Message ----
From: Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com>
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2008 6:20:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Contingency plans for Wikimania
Hoi,
For something more recent, what about the 1973 Yom Kippur war ?
Thanks,
GerardM
NB the notion that it is currently not a war zone is correct :)
On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 2:41 PM, White Cat <wikipedia.kawaii.neko(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> It hasn't been one since the Suez Crisis between 1956 1957...
>
> - White Cat
>
> On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 3:37 PM, Jimmy Wales <jwales(a)wikia.com> wrote:
>
> > Thomas Dalton wrote:
> > >> There is lots of standard advice for individuals engaging in foreign
> > >> travel, including contacting your local embassy before or after you
> > >> arrive and giving them your contact information and likely location.
> > >> I don't think the Foundation is in the position to do the work of
> > >> multiple embassies in this regard.
> > >
> > > Agreed. If the worst happens, people should rely on their country's
> > > embassy, not the WMF - last time I checked, the WMF was not equipped
> > > to evacuate people from a warzone...
> >
> > And last I checked, Egypt is not a warzone.
> >
> > --Jimbo
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
Hoi,
For the MediaWiki 1.12 stable release, Betawiki has issued a language pack.
This language pack includes all the localisations that were added after the
release of MediaWiki 1.12. Several languages have been substantially
improved in the month and a half since the original release of MediaWiki
1.12. We now have 6.9% more messages ...
The language pack is for the moment available
here<http://translatewiki.net/mediawiki/>.
We are looking how we can support your language better and make the best
MediaWiki localisation available in an optimal way.
As always, you are welcome to help support your language by localising at
Betawiki.
Thanks,
GerardM
i found a notice in the incubator test page of ancient
greek.
http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/grc
i ask: it is possible to the editors to continue
working in this test page? writing articles and
localize it? for a future request?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
>
Mark writes:
> Rather than being on the defensive and posting endlessly complaining
I looked up "endlessly" on Wiktionary, and I don't think the word
means quite what you think it does.
I certainly admit that I occasionally lose patience with the carping
and personal attacks on foundation-l -- sniping that I suspect is more
likely to seem "endless" than my occasional complaint, to anyone
applying NPOV.
I apologize for having lost patience in this instance. Obviously, when
one's well-meaning efforts get met with accusations of dishonesty and
anti-Semitism, it can try anyone's patience.
> about the hostile environment on Foundation-l, you could've just
> coughed up
Why did you use "coughed up" here? Generally, this locution is
applied when one assumes that the person being questioned is reluctant
to provide information. But this whole exchange began when I
*proffered* information a second time, without even being asked, in
order to get what I hoped would be constructive feedback. "Coughed
up" has connotations of interrogation -- I think it's safe to say you
know what rhetoric you are using here. Think about why you chose those
words and how I -- another human being, with normal human feelings --
might feel upon seeing them.
> this great progress report here when someone first
> questioned you, even if they were "rude" or "sniping", and we would've
> saved about 10 messages.
Thanks for the attempt at constructive criticism. I disagree with it,
however -- I think "this great progress report" (thanks!) couldn't
have been "coughed up" without first learning the extent to which some
of the interrogators here were misunderstanding the FAQ. And that
probably means that 10 messages (although maybe not these particular
10) were necessary regardless.
--Mike
