Wikimedia-l October 2009

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

94 participants
64 discussions

[Foundation-l] Office move completed
by Erik Moeller 30 Oct '09

30 Oct '09

This is just a quick update that we've completed our office move to 149 New Montgomery in San Francisco, which also means that the usability team is now integrated into the same location. This week we've had two days of tech meetings and two and a half days of all-staff meetings in the new space, which is very functional, thanks to the hard work of Daniel Phelps, James Owen, Steve Kent, Rob Halsell, Ariel Glenn, Fred Vassard, and many others who helped. It gives us some room to grow, breathe and meet, and more than a single bathroom :-). We'll post more details and photos to the blog and to Commons soon. -- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

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[Foundation-l] Sue Gardner nominated for HuffPost media game-changer of the year
by David Gerard 29 Oct '09

29 Oct '09

Nominated for having successfully taken the organisation to the next level of professionalism and the influence that gives us. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/huffpost-game-changers-wh_n_337129… (Do of course click through the others.) - d.

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[Foundation-l] Office hours in 30 minutes (2009-10-29)
by Cary Bass 29 Oct '09

29 Oct '09

Greetings! Just a reminder that today's office hours will feature Kul Wadhwa, Wikimedia Foundation's Head of Business Development. If you don't know Kul, you can read about him at <http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Kul_Wadhwa>. Office hours today are from 1600 to 1700 UTC (9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PDT). If you do not have an IRC client, there are two ways you can come chat using a web browser: First is using the Wikizine chat gateway at <http://chatwikizine.memebot.com/cgi-bin/cgiirc/irc.cgi>. Type a nickname, select irc.freenode.net from the top menu and #wikimedia-office from the following menu, then login to join. Also, you can access Freenode by going to http://webchat.freenode.net/, typing in the nickname of your choice and choosing wikimedia-office as the channel. You may be prompted to click through a security warning. It should be all right. Please feel free to forward (and translate!) this email to any other relevant email lists you happen to be on. (Kul is able to speak English, Japanese and Portuguese with some degree of competancy!) -- Cary Bass Volunteer Coordinator, Wikimedia Foundation Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

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[Foundation-l] Board Minutes, August 24-25
by Kat Walsh 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

Minutes from the August 2009 (Wikimania) board meeting -- approved October 2009. (We are still experimenting with the style, and the next set of minutes will likely be a bit less of a direct transcription and more of a summary; please feel free to comment on what would be useful.) Link to wiki version: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes/August_24-25,_2009 ---- The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 24-25, 2009 Buenos Aires, Argentina Prepared By: James Owen, PA to the ED Board Chair Michael Snow called the regular Board of Trustees meeting to order on August 24 at 15:10. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present * Michael Snow- Chair of the Board of Trustees * Jan-Bart de Vreede- Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees * Kat Walsh- Executive Secretary of the Board of Trustees * Stu West- Treasurer of the Board of Trustees (present via Skype) * Jimmy Wales- Founder/Trustee * Ting Chen- Trustee * Arne Klempert- Trustee * Matt Halprin- Trustee * Samuel Klein- Trustee * Absent: None Others Present For All or Part of the Meeting * Sue Gardner- Wikimedia Foundation; Executive Director * Domas Mituzas- Former Trustee (term ended August 24, 2009) * James Owen- Wikimedia Foundation; Personal Assistant to the Executive and Deputy Director * Eugene Kim- Wikimedia Foundation; Strategic Planning Project Manager * Philippe Beaudette- Wikimedia Foundation; Strategic Planning Facilitator * Barry Newstead- Bridgespan; Partner * Serita Cox- Bridgespan; Manager * Laura Lanzerotti- Bridgespan; Case Team Leader Contents [hide] * 1 Introduction/ Agenda Overview * 2 Approval of April and June Board Meeting Minutes * 3 Outstanding Issues * 4 Approval and Welcoming of New Members to the Board * 5 Background Check Process for Wikimedia Foundation Trustees * 6 Audit Committee Update * 7 Vacant Board Expertise Seat Update * 8 Chief Development Officer * 9 Executive Session * 10 Scheduling of the 2009-2010 Board Meeting Dates * 11 Strategy Development Introduction * 12 Strategic Planning Process Overview and Update (Handout) * 13 Strategy Development Plan(Handout) * 14 Strategy Plan: Highlights form Emerging Fact Base (Handout) Introduction/ Agenda Overview Michael Snow welcomed the Board and the attending Wikimedia Foundation staff. Jan-Bart de Vreede suggested the Board revise the agenda and approve the April and June Meeting Minutes before finalizing the appointment of new Board members. Michael Snow agreed with this change and motioned for the Board to proceed to the approval of the April and June Meeting Minutes. Approval of April and June Board Meeting Minutes Michael Snow asked Domas Mituzas if the April 2009 Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes were ready to be approved. Domas confirmed that the minutes were ready for review and approval. The Board reviewed the minutes, followed by a motion from Michael Snow to approve the April meeting minutes. The Board unanimously voted to approve the April 2009 Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes. Approved 8-0. In favor: Michael, Jan-Bart, Stu, Kat, Ting, Arne, Domas, Jimmy Michael Snow then asked Domas if the June 2009 IRC Board Meeting Minutes were ready to be approved. Domas confirmed that the June Minutes were ready for approval. The Board unanimously voted to approve the June 2009 IRC Meeting Minutes. Approved 8-0. In favor: Michael, Jan-Bart, Stu, Kat, Ting, Arne, Domas, Jimmy Outstanding Issues Michael Snow asked the Board to present any outstanding issues to be addressed before moving to approve the new members of the Board. Samuel Klein addressed the Board to enquire if there were any resolutions which had not be posted to the Wikimedia Foundation's Wiki, such as annual reappointment resolutions. Michael replied that he was not aware of any outstanding resolutions requiring posting. Domas followed with a brief descriptions of the current process for the publication of Board decisions and resolutions. Approval and Welcoming of New Members to the Board Michael Snow introduced Samuel Klein and Matt Halprin to the Board of Trustees,and opened the floor to the Board to ask questions of Samuel and Matt before proceeding to a vote. Jan-Bart began a brief discussion focusing on the August Community Election to determine three Board seats. During this discussion, Jan-Bart expressed his feeling that the election process did not function as smoothly as he would he preferred, but the efforts of Philippe Beaudette and Tim Starling enabled the Committee to stay on track. Sue noted that the election process hasn't changed much over the years, saying that the staff would be willing to play a more prominent role in facilitating the process, if desired. Samuel added that as a candidate running for election he would have liked to provide assistance to the Committee, however the Committee did not make it easy for non-Committee members to participate in the process; there was a sense of ownership of the schedule by that closed group. Kat expressed concern that several community members had complained about difficulty and barriers to voting. The Board discussed the voting requirements, the process of ranking candidates, and the use of third parties to tally the voting results. Sue added that she hopes the Election Committee will conduct a postmortem so future Committees can learn from this year's process. Sue asked Samuel, Matt, and Arne to give the Board a brief statement explaining what they would like to accomplish as a Wikimedia Foundation Trustee. Samuel began by describing his desire to participate in the Foundation's direction and the communities interpretation of the mission. He went on to explain that a strong Foundation presence can provide positive advancement for the long-term mission of the Foundation. However he added a strong Foundation can also discourage community participation. As a Trustee, Samuel hopes to help the Foundation find a way to create a better balance and communication between for the Foundation and Community to facilitation a strong Wikimedia. Samuel also briefly addressed his interest in multiple language versions of Wikimedia projects and his desire to strengthen the ability for people around the world to read and participate in their native languages. Next Matt addressed the Board, highlighting his background and the skills he will bring to the Foundation. Matt began by providing the Board with a brief review of his professional background and his interest in supporting technologies that promote transparency, accountability, and trust across media, markets, and government. Matt gave the Board a description of the Omidyar Network's commitment toward delivering media markets and transparency with technology platforms in the emerging markets of India and Africa. He went on to explain how the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation relates to his work, and how he hopes to utilize his knowledge and expertise of developing countries to help the Foundation remain focused on the big picture and toward the achievement of the organization's mission. Arne also addressed the Board briefly describing how he will support the Wikimedia Foundation to become a sustaining organization that provides free service for the world. He went on to explain his involvement with the Wikimedia Deutschland Chapter and expressed his commitment to the expansion of non-English language communities. He said that he does not consider himself to represent the views and desires of the Wikimedia chapters, but rather considers himself to represent the interests of the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Wikimedia movement overall. Matt and Samuel were excused as the Board voted on their appointments. The Board unanimously voted to appoint Samuel Klein to the Board of Trustees for a two year term ending July 2011. Approved 7-0. In favor: Michael, Jan-Bart, Stu, Kat, Ting, Arne, Jimmy. Abstained: Domas Board Appointment Resolution: Whereas, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees voted in April 2008 to increase the number of its members to ten, of which four positions are appointed directly by the Board, and two of these positions are currently vacant; It is hereby resolved that: The Board appoints Matt Halprin to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, beginning 24 August 2009. The initial term of this position shall be until 31 December 2009, to be renewed for additional one-year terms by vote of the Board prior to that date. Approved 7-0. In favor: Jan-Bart, Jimmy, Ting, Kat, Michael, Stu, Arne. Abstained: Domas. After the vote, Samuel and Matt returned to the meeting. With the Board appointments finalized Michael motioned to fill the 2009-2010 Board Officer positions for Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Executive Secretary. The Board put forward nominations and approved the following positions. * Michael Snow - Chair of the Board of Trustees * Jan-Bart de Vreede - Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees * Kat Walsh - Executive Secretary of the Board of Trustees * Stu West - Treasurer of the Board of Trustees Background Check Process for Wikimedia Foundation Trustees Sue Gardner addressed the Board providing a brief description of the background check process used by the Wikimedia Foundation to screen potential staff members and key volunteers, and recommended that the Board also agree to participate in the screening process. She then asked the Board if they had any concern providing the information for the background screening. The Board did not express concern. As with staff and volunteers, the Wikimedia Foundation's Office Manager Daniel Phelps will process the screenings. In the case of staff and volunteers, Daniel brings problematic results to Sue's attention. In the case of the Board, Daniel will bring problematic results to the Chair. The Board held a discussion about the on-Boarding process for new Board members. Audit Committee Update Stu provided an update on the Audit Committee, including its August 14, 2009 meeting and recent expansion (details at http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-July/053280.html). Stu explained that to meet the financial expertise requirements for the Audit Committee, it was necessary to look outside the existing Board of Trustees and as a result asked the Board to consider amending the Audit Committee Charter, which as originally drafted required that the majority of Audit Committee members come from the Board of Trustees. He agreed to work with Mike Godwin to get a draft revision to the Board for review, and to also make an agreement around confidentiality / conflicts of interest a part of the Audit Committee membership process. Vacant Board Expertise Seat Update Sue provided the Board with an update on the status of the search to fill the one remaining vacant expertise seat on the Board of Trustees. She explained that, as per the request of the Board at its previous meeting in April in Berlin, she has hired recruiter Eunice Azzani to assist with the process, and has provided Eunice with the Board's four criteria for the remaining vacant seat: that the new Trustee 1) have expertise in Asia, 2) have significant non-profit governance or managerial experience, 3) have some fundraising expertise and 4) be female. Eunice will interview key people in the organization, including staff, Board members, Advisory Board members, Nominating Committee members and key donors. From these interviews, Eunice will develop an understanding of the Wikimedia community and how the community interacts with the Board, as well as develop an understanding of the community's values and the skills and abilities most useful for a Trustee. Additionally, Sue instructed Eunice to try to find candidates who are comfortable with technology, willing to devote significant time to the Foundation, and who have a constructive and collaborative personal style and an orientation towards transparency. Sue expressed her hope the search will be concluded by winter, and that if the search is successful the new Trustee could be ready for Board approval by the beginning of 2010. The Board then discussed the Nominating Committee and factors contributing to its inability to find successful candidates. Various possibilities were discussed for handling the process in future, such as increasing the size of the Committee, providing access to search firms to work with the Committee in the future, using search firms alone, and appointing new members to the Committee. It was noted that background checking is a specialized art; something that a search firm could handle for the Committee. We discussed that we needed to reappoint the Nominating Committee and appoint new members soon, and that we want to preserve institutional memory among the Committee. Chief Development Officer Sue presented the Board with an update on the search process being used to find a Chief Development Officer. She informed the Board the Foundation had recently engaged Mark Oppenheim of m/Oppenheim & Associates to assist in the selection process. M/Oppenheim & Associates is an executive recruiting firm which specializes in the nonprofit and government sectors. She expressed that the Foundation is using Oppenheim because they are a good firm, well-connected, recommended by a variety of non-profit organizations and foundations, and with prior experience with the Wikimedia Foundation. Sue explained that Oppenheim's background with the Wikimedia Foundation will enable them to successfully explain Wikimedia's story to prospective CDOs, and to position the Wikimedia Foundation as a young, growing organization with great fundraising potential. Mark's team will conduct interviews with staff, Trustees, Advisory Board members and donors, to assist the Wikimedia Foundation in the creation of a focused job description for the position. The team was asked to focus on candidates with experience in fundraising for organizations that focus on many small online donations. Once Oppenheim creates a profile of possible candidates they will find and screen possible candidates before making final recommendations to Sue. Sue expressed her confidence in Mark and his team. Executive Session During each Board meeting, as a good general practice, the Board stages an executive session. The Executive Director and her assistant are excused from executive session, and minutes are not kept. Scheduling of the 2009-2010 Board Meeting Dates The Board finalized a calendar for the 2009-2010 Board of Trustee Meetings as the following: * November 13-16 (San Francisco, California, United States) * February 5-7 (New York, New York, United States) * April 23-25 (Berlin, Germany—at all-chapters meeting) * July 7-8 (Gdańsk, Poland—at Wikimania) Note - Dates and locations are subject to change. Sue agreed to convey to the German chapter the Board's April dates, and ask the German chapter to consult with the Wikimedia chapters regarding the dates and location of the all-chapters meeting. If the chapters are willing to meet on that date and in that location, we will finalize them for the Board meeting; if not, we may adjust to enable meeting with the chapters as we've done in the spring for the past two years. Strategy Development Introduction The Board welcomed Eugene Eric Kim, Philippe Beaudette, Barry Newstead, Serita Cox, and Laura Lanzerotti to the meeting. Sue provided introductions to the Board and gave a short recap of the Wikimedia Strategy Development Project. Sue described the strategy project as custom-crafted to fit the unusual needs of the Wikimedia movement. Sue then introduced Eugene Kim the Foundation's Strategy Project Manager. Eugene provided the Board with an overview of the meeting's agenda. Strategic Planning Process Overview and Update (Handout) Eugene explained strategic planning should answer three core questions, “Where are we now?”, “Where should we go?”, and “How do we get there?”. He said that in order for the resulting answers to be actionable and meaningful, all of the different Wikimedia participants and stakeholders must be aligned around these core questions. He added the Wikimedia Foundation is unlike other organizations in that it has a community of involved people who are dedicated to the mission and survival of the organization. This dedication and community will become the key force behind the strategy project. Next Eugene introduced the Board to the Strategy Wiki (http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). He explained that the wiki will be a core tool throughout the strategy project; it will allow the Foundation to keep the process open and accountable. In describing the work being done on the strategy wiki, Eugene covered the process used to collect strategy proposals. He explained that the proposals are a way to engage the community in the brainstorming process, and to encourage people to put forward ideas for how the Foundation should invest itself over the next five years. He stated the strategy wiki had collected over 300 proposals, and the community was beginning to assess and edit many of the proposals. For engaging with others outside of the wiki, Eugene explained that the strategy team hopes to achieve this by asking chapters and individuals to create meetings and discussion about strategy and then report on the wiki about their conversations. Another way the strategy team is creating engagement in the project is through holding weekly IRC office hours where they discuss strategy and reach out to motivate the community's involvement. Next Eugene reviewed his plan to keep the process and project moving within a stable timeline. He stated the importance for the strategy team to drive the process and make sure the project meets the completion deadlines. Eugene and the Board then discussed the importance of keeping the community engaged, the process of working on proposals, and how to encourage participation. Strategy Development Plan(Handout) Eugene presented the Board with a presentation focusing on the strategy development. He provided the Board with an overview of the strategic direction and business planning process, and roles of the Board in strategic planning. Eugene began his presentation providing the Board with a frame for creating the strategic direction business plan. He explained that the core of the strategic planning process is animated by three questions: 1.Reach- What are the highest potential opportunities for impact in pursuit of reaching “every single human being?” 2.Quality- What are the highest potential opportunities for impact towards “the sum of all knowledge?” 3.Participation- What opportunities enable the continued health, cultivation and growth of a vibrant community needed to achieve the vision? Next Eugene described the key activities and deliverables for the process. Level-Setting Phase (July 2009-October 2009) Eugene explained the work during this phase would design a framework for engaging with the community; launching an open community process; building fact base on reach, content, participate; developing guiding paper for strategic planning process; and chartering and selecting members of task-forces for the deep dives. Jan-Bart expressed a concern that a large number of the proposals are not particularly strategic in nature, and in some cases not even relevant to the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation. Jan-Bart went to on explain that the mission of the Foundation is a high level mission but that he found most of the participants are not engaged with the mission only with their individual role as editors or participants in a particular project or language-version. Barry suggested that the best way to help motivate the community is to engage people to think differently about strategy, and have the Board focus more energy on identifying and framing core work around large issues affecting the ability of the movement to advance the mission. Jan-Bart added that it would be beneficial for each proposal to include a brief statement answering how the average Wikimedia project user would benefit from the proposal. This Jan-Bart suggested, might refocus participants to think from a user's viewpoint. Sue suggested that as the task-forces are created, it could be beneficial to explicitly ask that at least one person on each tack-force be dedicated to advocating on behalf of the user and the users' experience. Arne asked who the primary stakeholders are that will be involved in the process. Eugene referenced to the stakeholders page on the strategy wiki, defining stakeholders as volunteers, former participants, Advisory Board, Board, specialists in subject matter areas, staff members, chapters, readers, developers, donors and other partners. Arne then asked how language diversity would be incorporated into the process. Eugene replied stating the task-forces will conduct most of their work in English but that participants can choose to participate in their native languages and send their work to a translation team. The Board then briefly held a discussion on how to engage developing countries and areas of the world where Wikipedia is not currently active. Eugene explained that the team is working on finding experts in the area to gain knowledge and data of developing countries. Deep Dives (October 2009-December 2009) Eugene explained the work for the Deep Dive phase as conducting in-depth research and analysis on growth opportunities for Wikimedia; diving into other strategic issues identified in the level-setting phase, developing prioritized strategic initiatives within growth opportunities, and having the strategy task-forces begin synthesis work. Synthesis Phase (November 2009-March 2010) In the Synthesis phase Eugene explained the process would develop outreach recommendations on strategic priorities for all of Wikimedia; and make recommended roles for different entities within the Wikimedia movement. WMF Business Planning Phase (January 2010-August 2010) Describing this last phase Eugene explained the team would develop a 2010-2015 business and implementation plan. Eugene asked the Board how they feel about the final phase. Stu expressed that the project is ambitions but makes sense to enable the development and growth of the organization, and to ensure the Foundation makes the decisions to minimize risk and increase community involvement. Jan-Bart asked Eugene to post the budget for the project on the wiki to ensure openness and transparency toward the community. Eugene agreed and said he would add the budget to the wiki. Kat expressed a concern that the task-forces will not have enough time to complete their work. She went on to explain that volunteers can not always make the time commitment at the exact time that is needed, especially when the window of participation is quite short. Sue agreed, and said the Wikimedia Foundation is considering offering stipends or honoraria to enable individuals to participate, where that seems potentially helpful. Matt shared his experience, that strategy projects often fail to sufficiently incorporate outsider views and fresh perspectives. He added that self-selection and time commitment removes a lot of people from participation. Eugene responded to Matt, explaining that the task-forces are mandated to talk to people and gain the outside perspective and report back using that knowledge. Matt would like the project to rebalance toward supporting external input. After reviewing the key deadline dates the Board reviewed the Metrics for Success by phase. Level-Setting Deep-Dives Synthesis Business Planning > 100 active wiki >100 applications >250 active wiki General consensus on highest contributors for task forces contributors priority opportunities > 100 active proposals Clear strat. synthesis Business plan adopted by WMF Board by November 2010 Several Board members expressed concerns regarding the lack of representation for the reader, non-reader, and other populations. After a long discussion, the Board voted unanimously to approve the current metrics of success with the following still required: 1. Measure of success for consultation for readers (e.g. survey concluded and results disseminated) 2. Measure of success for consultation of non-users (prospects) 3. Measure of success for diversity of participation (geography, languages, etc.) 4. Measure of success for quality of the task force work, and quality of the synthesis process Approved 9-0. In favor: Michael, Jan-Bart, Stu, Kat, Ting, Arne, Samuel, Matt, Jimmy Eugene next provided the Board with a description of their involvement in the strategy planning project. He explained that the Board will be involved to approve the project plan, metrics of success, key deliverables, timeline, and roles; review draft strategic priorities (developed by Strategy Task Forces); approve WMF Business and Implementation Plan; and participate (as individuals not as Board members) in the open community process. The group discussed the need for a Strategy Task Force and Selection Committeee, and went around the table suggesting potential participants to invite from the community, chapters, board, staff, and advisory board. Next, the Board reviewed the Deep Dive Task Forces. Eugene provided the Board with a detailed description of the selection team, application process, composition of strategy task-forces, task-force topics and mandates, task-force work processes, task-force outputs, and the forms of support available to the task-forces. Strategy Plan: Highlights form Emerging Fact Base (Handout) Barry presented the Board with a presentation to reviewing preliminary data collected by the Bridgespan Group. Barry reviewed the objectives of the strategy project before moving onto an executive summary for insights from the fact base. During the review of the executive summary, Barry highlighted the successes of Wikimedia, key opportunities, and areas of weakness (contribution plateau, early peaking of developing markets). Next, Serita Cox presented the Board with a statistical review. Serita began reviewing future opportunities for growth among global Internet users, with large emphasis surrounding growth of India, China, Brazil, and Africa. Serita showed that the highest penetration of Internet users using Wikimedia projects is in Canada (greater than 40% of Internet users), and the lowest penetration in China (less than 1% of Internet users). Next, Serita reviewed the growth in global reach. She explained that the 10 most common languages worldwide (by number of speakers) remain underrepresented in native language articles. This led to a brief discussion on the role Wikimedia should play in the preservation of native languages and at what cost and energy the Wikimedia Foundation should invest to create/grow native language Wikimedia projects. There was quite a bit of discussion about the data and the Board thanked Serita for her work. Laura Lanzerotti addressed the Board, reviewing the number of active contributions made to Wikipedia as it matured. Laura's data demonstrated as the number of active contributors leveled off, the pace of article creation slowed, and more maintenance activities began occurring as a proportion of all edits (for example edits on talk pages, which concern governance and rules). Laura went on to explain if the decrease in contributors continues, there may not be a large enough cohort to maintain Wikipedia. Jimmy stated that he is not as worried about the plateauing of the English Wikipedia as he would be with peaking of other language versions of Wikipedia that have the same growth potential, because higher numbers of active articles in English may make it difficult for contributors to write on topics which do not already exist. He expressed a need to energize the Wikimedia movement especially in developing countries. Jimmy also added a final concern that the policies and procedures of the English Wikipedia may be being applied to other language versions prematurely. Next, Laura reviewed a profile of the Wikimedia community, showing that the average Wikimedian is a single childless college-educated male between the ages of 18 and 30 (this demographic holds across all language versions). The Board discussed the small proportion of female contributors and expressed their hope that projects such as the Usability Initiative will help diversify the community. Laura then moved onto data demonstrating some barriers to participation. The data shows that new editors or editors with fewer monthly edits are more likely to have edits reverted. This sparked a discussion regarding the key drivers behind an increase in the rate of reversion since 2004. Serita finalized the presentation by providing the Board with data demonstrating the top 100 page hits by category and Wikipedia language. Her data demonstrated that Wikipedia is used for different purposes across different language. The Board was interested in the graph and had several discussions regarding possible reasons for the variance between the languages and most visited topics. ---- -Kat Walsh Secretary, Board of Trustees -- Your donations keep Wikipedia online: http://donate.wikimedia.org/en Wikimedia, Press: kat(a)wikimedia.org * Personal: kat(a)mindspillage.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mindspillage * (G)AIM:Mindspillage mindspillage or mind|wandering on irc.freenode.net * email for phone

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[Foundation-l] Free culture forum- Starting Oct 29: Join online!!!!
by Mayo FM 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

ENGLISH - CATALÀ - CASTELLANO First International Forum on free culture and knowledge accessibility (Barcelona October 29 to November 1 2009): Join online!!!!!!!!!! ENGLISH http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…> The International Forum on free culture and knowledge will take place from October 29 to November 1st 2009 in Barcelona. This event is a unique opportunity to bring together under the same roof the main organizations and active voices in the world of free culture and free knowledge; a meeting point to sit down and work together setting common agendas and strategies, and also to reflect, from a critical point of view, on the different views, dangers and contradictions of free culture. At the same time, the forum is an opportunity to give more visibility to alternative conceptions of knowledge, culture and creativity, different from the ones that the entertainment industry and universities insist on imposing. Why Barcelona In January 2010, Spain will take up the Presidency of the European Union. The Spanish Government has already announced that one of its flagships will be the reinforcement of the control over the Internet and the criminalization of the sharing culture in the digital environment. The consequences of those decisions will be noticed in the rest of the world. Furthermore, within this context Barcelona is closing agreements about access to culture that will serve as models to other institutions in Catalonia and Spain. In October 29 this year Barcelona will hold the Second Edition of the Oxcars Festival, an international event to honor the defense of culture and to show the existence of other creation channels, at least as good as the traditional ones. The last edition was a success with more than 2000 participants. It brought the attention both of an interested public and of media. You can find more information about last year's edition at http://exgae.net/exgae-multiply-and-share-forth/theoxcars<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fexgae.net%2F…> There are many active organizations, movements and persons related to free culture from different perspectives in Spain, offering a very rich sharing space and a source of new proposals from where an international process can bel aunched. In this regard, several worldwide voices, like during the last World Social Forum (Belem do Para, Brazil, 2009) recognize the necessity of creating international spaces for networking, coordination and building of a global framework for free culture and knowledge, analyze similarities and develop common agendas. The Free Culture Forum of Barcelona aims to create such a space. What The main objectives of the Forum are, on the one hand, building networks to optimize the efforts of the different groups and setting common demands against the proposals from industry and governments in their eagerness to control culture and information; and on the other hand reinforcing the self-organization of tools and infrastructures to support free culture. How The Forum will take place in 3 days that combine different methodologies: October 29: Celebration of the Oxcars Free Culture Awards Festival. October 30: Presentation of key experiences from around the globe and discussion on the key issues. October 31: Working groups around the key issues of the Forum November 1st: Bring together the results from the working groups. Define a common agenda and approve a manifesto for each topic. Key issues The working program is on: * Education and Acces to Knowledge * Organizational Logic and Political Implications of Free Culture * Free Software and Open Standards: Knowledge Sharing Hacker Philosophy and Action Technical Ware * Economies, New P2p Models and Sustainable Distribution * Legal Perspectives and User Access HOW TO JOIN THE FREE CULTURE FORUM ONLINE???? DURING THE FCFORUM: The Fcforum will take place from Oct 29th to Nov 1 2009 (Barcelona time zone). You can check out the program at http://fcforum.net/programa<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…>From the http// www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>you have access to the several ways to join online and in live the Fcforum listed below. Live streaming: The oXcars Awards Festival (Oct 29 from 21pm) at http://oxcars09.exgae.net/live/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Foxcars09.exg…> The Fcforum (Oct 30 to Nov 1) will be live streamed at http://fcforum.net/live<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…> The main conclusions and ideas will be transmitted though distributed microblogging services, too. The messages will be transmitted in English, Catalan and Spanish. Identi.ca': http://identi.ca/fcforum/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fidenti.ca%2F…> The Fcforum encourages you to use Identi.ca becouse is free, otherwise at Twitter go to http://twitter.com/fcforum_net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%…> In both cases, add '!fcf' to your messages so they will be received by the fcforum group. You can also join the Facebook event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179317651046&ref=mf<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook…> The collaborative wiki to support the Fcforum working groups is http://wiki.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.fcforum…> AFTER THE FCFORUM: The recordings will be availeble from the http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…> Furthermore, and importantly, the Fcforum has as a goal to end up with Manifestos on free culture and a common action agenda. After the fcforum at http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>you will be able to check the fcforum results and join and manifest your support if you wish. For other questions and doubts the contact e-mail is: info(at)fcforum.net CATALÀ Primer fòrum internacional de cultura lliure i accesibilitat al coneixement (Barcelona del 29 d'Octubre al 1 de November 2009): Participa online!!! http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…> Del 29 d'Octubre a l'1 de Novembre de 2009 se celebrarà a Barcelona el Fòrum internacional de la cultura i el coneixement lliures. El Fòrum constitueix una oportunitat única per a reunir sota el mateix sostre les principals organitzacions, iniciatives i veus actives en el món de la cultura i el coneixement lliures; un punt de trobada on treballar conjuntament, construir agendes i estratègies comunes, així com reflexionar, des d'un punt de vista crític, sobre les diverses visions, perills i contradiccions internes a la cultura lliure. El fòrum també és una oportunitat per a donar més visibilitat a concepcions alternatives del coneixement, la cultura i la creativitat, diferents de la que insisteixen a imposar la indústria de l'oci i les universitat neolliberalitzades. Per què Barcelona El gener de 2010 Espanya prendrà possessió de la Presidència de la Unió Europea. El Govern Espanyol ha anunciat que un dels seus cavalls de batalla serreforçar el control d'Internet i criminalitzar la cultura de la distribució en l'ambient digital. Aquestes decisions tindran conseqüències a la resta del món. A més, en aquest context, institucions culturals a Barcelona estan signant acords sobre l'accés a la cultura que serviran com models per a altres institucions a Catalunya, Espanya i Europa. El 29 d'Octubre d'enguany se celebrarà a Barcelona la segona edició del Festival dels Oxcars, un esdeveniment internacional en defensa de la cultura que demostra que existeixen altres canals de creació d'igual o major qualitat que els tradicionals. L'edició passada dels Oxcars van ser un èxit, comptant amb la participació de més de 2000 persones directament interessades i amb la cobertura dels principals mitjans de comunicació (la informació sobre els Oxcars de l'any passat està disponible a: http://exgae.net/exgae-multiply-and-share-forth/theoxcars<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fexgae.net%2F…> ). Finalment, a l'estat Espanyol hi ha organitzacions, moviments molt actius i persones relacionats amb la cultura lliure des de diferents perspectives, que ofereixen un espai molt ric des del qual llançar un procés internacional. En aquest sentit, des de diversos llocs del món, com durant la celebració de l'últim Fòrum Social Mundial a Belem do Per (Brasil, Gener de 2009) es reconeix la necessitat de crear espais internacionals per a l'establiment d'una xarxa de coordinació i per a la creació d'un marc global de la cultura i del coneixement lliures, des del qual analitzar similituds i diferències entre iniciatives a diferents continents i desenvolupar agendes comunes. El Fòrum de la cultura lliure de Barcelona vol crear aquest espai. Què? Els objectius principals del Fòrum són, d'una banda, construir xarxes per a optimitzar els esforços dels diferents grups i compartir objectius per a impedir que la indústria i els governs imposin la seva política de control i restricció de la cultura i la informació; i per altra banda, organitzar-nos per a construir infraestructures per a la cultura lliure. Com? El Fòrum tindrà lloc en tres dies que combinen diverses metododologies: 29 d'Octubre: Celebració del Festival de la cultura lliure – Oxcars 30 d'Octubre: Presentació d'experiències claus i inspiradores entorn 5 eixos de treball. 31 d'Octubre: Grups de treball al voltant de les qüestions clau del Fòrum. 1 de Novembre: Posada en comú dels resultats dels grups de treball. Definició d'una agenda comuna i aprovació de manifests per temes. Eixos: Perspectives Legals i Accés dels Usuaris Economies, Nous Models P2P i Sostenibilitat Distributiva Educació i Accés al Coneixement Lògica Organitzativa i Implicacions Polítiques de la Cultura Lliure Programari Lliure i Estàndards Oberts: Filosofia hacker de Coneixement Compartit i Eines d'Acció COM PARTICIPAR EN LÍNEA AL FCFORUM??????? DURANT EL FCFORUM: El Fcforum tindrà lloc del 29 d'Octubre al 1 de Novembre de 2009 (Barcelona fuso horari). Pots consultar el programa d'activitats en http://fcforum.net/programa<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…>Des de the http// www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>tens accés a totes les vies de participació en línia i en viu llistades baix. Retransmissió en viu (streaming): http://fcforum.net/live<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…> Festival dels oXcars (Oct 29 des de les 21h) http://oxcars09.exgae.net/live/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Foxcars09.exg…> Fcforum (del Oct 30 al Nov 1) http://fcforum.net/live<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…> Les conclusions principals i les idees que sorgisquen seran difoses a traves de "microblogging". Els missatges seran difosos en castellà, català i angles. Identi.ca: http://identi.ca/fcforum/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fidenti.ca%2F…> El Fcforum t'anima a usar Identi.ca perquè és un servei lliure però sinó pots unir-te per Twitter en http://twitter.com/fcforumnet<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%…> En ambdós casos inclou '!fcf' als teus missatges perquè els arribe als demas fcforumer@s . Pots unir-te també si vols al esdeveniment en Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179317651046&ref=mf<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook…> El wiki col.laboratiu de suport als grups de treball del fcforun es http://wiki.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.fcforum…> DESPRÉS DEL FCFORUM: Les gravacions estaran disponibles en http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…> A més a més, i importantment, el Fcforum té com objectiu definir Manifestos sobre cultura lliure i acordar una agenda d'acció comuna. Després del Fcforum en http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>podràs comentar els resultats del forum i expressar la teva adhesió si així ho desitges. Per a altres qüestions o consultar dubtes l'e-mail de contacte és: info(at) fcforum.net CASTELLANO Primer foro internacional de cultura libre y accesibilidad al conocimiento (Barcelona del 29 de Octubre al 1 de November 2009): Participa online!!! Del 29 de Octubre al 1 de Noviembre de 2009 se celebrará en Barcelona el Foro internacional de la cultura y el conocimiento libres. El Foro constituye una oportunidad única para reunir bajo el mismo techo las principales organizaciones, iniciativas y voces activas en el mundo de la cultura y el conocimeinto libres; un punto de encuentro donde trabajar conjuntamente, construir agendas y estrategias comunes, así como reflexionar, desde un punto de vista crítico, sobre las diversas visiones, peligros y contradicciones internas a la cultura libre. Así mismo el foro es una oportunidad para dar mayor visibilidad a concepciones alternativas del conocimiento, la cultura y la creatividad, diferentes a la que la industria del ocio y las universidades neoliberalizadas insisten en imponer. Por qué Barcelona En enero de 2010, España tomará posesión la Presidencia de la Unión Europea. El Gobierno Español ha anunciado que uno de sus buques insignia será reforzar el control de Internet y criminalizar la cultura de distribución en el ambiente digital. Estas decisiones tendrán consecuencias en el resto del mundo. Además, en este contexto, instituciones culturales de Barcelona están firmando acuerdos sobre el acceso a la cultura que servirán como modelo para otras instituciones en Cataluña, España y Europa. El 29 de Octubre de este año se celebrará en Barcelona la segunda edición del Festival de los Oxcars, un acontecimiento internacional en defensa de la cultura que demuestra que existen otros canales de creación de igual o mayor calidad que los tradicionales. La edición pasada de los Oxcars fue un éxito, contando con la participación de más de 2000 personas interesadas y la cobertura de los medios de comunicación (la información sobre los Oxcars del año pasado está disponible en: http://exgae.net/exgae-multiply-and-share-forth/theoxcars<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fexgae.net%2F…> ). Finalmente, en el Estado Español hay organizaciones, movimientos muy activos y personas relacionados con la cultura libre desde distintas perspectivas, que ofrecen un espacio muy rico desde el que lanzar un proceso internacional. En este sentido, desde varios lugares del mundo, como durante la celebración del último Foro Social Mundial en Belem do Para (Brasil, Enero de 2009) se reconoce la necesitad de crear espacios internacionales para el establecimiento de una red de coordinación y para la creación de un marco global de la cultura y del conocimiento libres desde el que analizar similitudes y diferencias entre iniciativas en diferentes continentes y desarrollar agendas comunes. El Foro de la cultura libre de Barcelona quiere crear tal espacio. Qué Los objetivos principales del Foro son, por una parte, construir redes para optimizar los esfuerzos de los diferentes grupos y compartir objetivos para impedir que la industria y los gobiernos impongan su politica de control y restricción de la cultura y la información; y por otra parte, organizarnos para construir infraestructuras para la cultura libre. Cómo El Foro tendrá lugar en tres días que combinan diversas metododologías: 29 de Octubre: Celebración del Festival de la cultura libre – Oxcars 30 de Octubre: Presentación de experiencias claves e inspiradoras en torno a 5 ejes de trabajo. 31 de Octubre: Grupos de trabajo alrededor de las cuestiones clave del Foro. 1 de Noviembre: Puesta en común de los resultados de los grupos de trabajo. Definición de una agenda común y aprobación de manifiestos por temas. Los Temas del Forum: - Perspectivas Legales y Acceso de los Usuarios - Economías, Nuevos Modelos P2P y Sostenibilidad Distributiva - Educación y Acceso al Conocimiento - Lógica Organizativa e Implicaciones Políticas de la Cultura Libre - Software Libre y Estándares Abiertos: Filosofía Hacker de Conocimiento Compartido y Herramientas de Acción ¿COMO PARTICIPAR ONLINE EN EL FCFORUM???? DURANTE EL FCFORUM: El Fcforum tendrá lugar del 29 de Octubre al 1 de Noviembre de 2009 (Barcelona fuso horario). Puedes consultar el programa de actividades en http://fcforum.net/programa<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…>Desde the http// www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>tienes acceso a todas las vias de participacion online y en vivo listadas mas abajo. Retransmisión en vivo (streaming): Festival de los oXcars (Oct 29 - 21h) http://oxcars09.exgae.net/live/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Foxcars09.exg…> Fcforum (del Oct 30 al Nov 1) http://fcforum.net/live<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ffcforum.net%…> Las conclusiones principales y las ideas que surjan seran difundidas a traves de "microblogging". Los mensajes seran difundidos en castellano, catalan e inglés. Identi.ca: http://identi.ca/fcforum/<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fidenti.ca%2F…> El Fcforum te anima a usar Identi.ca porque es un servicio libre pero sino puedes unirte por Twitter en http://twitter.com/fcforum_net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%…> En ambos casos añade '!fcf' a tus mensajes para que les llegue a los demas fcforumer@s Puedes unirte tambien si quieres alevento en Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179317651046&ref=mf<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook…> El wiki colaborativo de apoyo a los grupos de trabajo del fcforun está en http://wiki.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.fcforum…> DESPUES DEL FCFORUM: Las graaciones estaran disponibles en http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…> Ademas, e importantemente, el Fcforum tiene como objetivo definir Manifiestos sobre cultura libre y acordar una agenda de acción comun. Despues del Fcforum en http://www.fcforum.net<http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcforum.…>podras comentar los resultados del forom y expresar tu adhesion si asi lo deseas. Para otras cuestiones o consultar dudas el e-mail de contacto es: info(at) fcforum.net «·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·» «·´¨*·¸¸« Mayo Fuster Morell ».¸.·*¨`·» «·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·» Research Digital Commons Governance: http://www.onlinecreation.info European University Institute - Phd Candidate School of information Berkeley Visiting researcher Phone Italy: 0039-3345440747 or 0039-0558409982 Phone Spanish State: 0034-648877748 E-mail: mayo.fuster(a)eui.eu Skype: mayoneti Identi.ca: Mayo

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[Foundation-l] strategic planning office hours today
by Eugene Eric Kim 27 Oct '09

27 Oct '09

Hi everyone, Strategic Planning office hours are tonight, Wednesday, October 28, from 04:00-05:00 UTC, which is: 9-10pm PDT, 12am-1am EDT. We meet in #wikimedia-strategy on the freenode network. You can access the chat by going to https://webchat.freenode.net/ and filling in a username and the channel name (#wikimedia-strategy). You may be prompted to click through a security warning. It's fine. Another option is http://chat.wikizine.org. For more information about IRC clients, go to the Wikipedia entry on IRC or the Meta page on Wikimedia IRC. Hope to see you there! =Eugene -- ====================================================================== Eugene Eric Kim ................................ http://xri.net/=eekim Blue Oxen Associates ........................ http://www.blueoxen.com/ ======================================================================

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[Foundation-l] Fwd: Have you dealt with this Systemic Secretive Checkuser Abuse yet? If so, how?
by Ryan Lomonaco 27 Oct '09

27 Oct '09

Forwarded to the list per request. The message pertains to her initial inquiry of November 2008: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2008-November/047414.html -- Ral315 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: dee dee <strategicdesign2001(a)yahoo.com> Date: Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 12:25 PM Subject: Re: Have you dealt with this Systemic Secretive Checkuser Abuse yet? If so, how? To: Ryan Lomonaco <wiki.ral315(a)gmail.com> Cc: foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org Ryan, It is 2 simple but important issues: the supportive details are all included in this email. Here is the current and past practice in a nutshell as expressed by one of the former Regular contributors: "* The vast majority of checkuser requests are, and always have been, performed quietly and without a request at RFCU. Frivolous requests are routinely rejected through these back-channels, and no more information is given than would be given at RFCU. Why is this a problem? <b>[[User Talk:JzG|Guy]]</b> <small>([[User:JzG/help|Help!]])</small> 18:14, 1 December 2007 (UTC) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%… Issue 1: The official and public description of CheckUser lays out a transparent process for justifying when and how it may be used. In practice, it is often used in secret and quick "back door" process. First issue is the misrepresentation to the public and all contributors as to how and when Checkuser may be used. Issue 2: Whether it is ethical or democratic to be using this "back channel" process. I suppose another issue is why it has been so difficult to get the Foundation to address the matter. Dee Dee ** <http://www.flickr.com/gift/>

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[Foundation-l] Dumb survey about Commons
by Milos Rancic 27 Oct '09

27 Oct '09

When you make a dumb survey, answers will be dumb, as well as conclusions. I am really frustrated with that survey... I wanted to help with my responses, but it seems that I am inside of unknown percentage of Wikimedia Commons users and contributors which doesn't fit into the survey. So, let's start... 1. Yes, I am using Commons regularly. 2. There are many goals when I look for free media files on Commons and I can't say which one is primary. 3. I am participating in Wikimedia Commons sometimes. 4. * 100-1000 edits * 100-1000 uploads (actually I don't have a clue how to find that fact efficiently) * I don't have a clue which percentage are my own works, let's say 10-50% * And the winner: What is my reason to participate? And there is no *my* reason, even Commons is the free content project? No reason to answer. * Then, no possibility to say that I am definitely not working on "quality review, improvement & promotion of featured works"; just "rarely"; as well as that I didn't upload any animation. BTW, all types of my participation on Commons are rare. And, instead of doing that in a couple of minutes, I've spent 30 minutes in writing this email. I really don't know which answers such survey is able to give? How many Commons participants have less than 100 edits? SQL queries may be more helpful. If it is for making some decisions, it is better not to use the results because survey may give very wrong conclusions. If it is for some student work, it may be better. I don't want to say that it is possible to make a perfect survey. However, this one has ~50% of not so bright questions and/or options. Yes, there are options for "other" answers, but such answers will be not so informative (cf. my second answer) or they would be narrative and it won't be easy to categorize them. Those who don't want to bother themselves with "other" option will give wrong answers. Some brainstorming with other Wikimedians could help. It is better to have relevant than fast answers and conclusions.

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Re: [Foundation-l] Dumb survey about Commons
by Gregory Kohs 26 Oct '09

26 Oct '09

As I believe I have noted several times on this list and elsewhere in the Wikimediasphere, I'm a professional marketing research practitioner, with over 17 years of experience, currently at a Fortune 100 company, who has designed and executed upwards of 1,500 different survey questionnaires. I was not consulted on this project, though I would have made myself available on a gratis basis. However, Guillaume Paumier has spent considerable time honing his skills at dismissing my credibility, and this particular survey came out botched. The questionnaire does very little, perhaps nothing, to really "help us improve the usability of Commons and the upload process on Wikimedia projects" as its stated goal would indicate. Go figure. -- Gregory Kohs

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[Foundation-l] Year: 2009 Week: 41-42 Number: 120
by casey＠wikizine.org 23 Oct '09

23 Oct '09

****************************************** __ __ _ _ _ _ / / /\ \ (_) | _(_)___(_)_ __ ___ \ \/ \/ / | |/ / |_ / | '_ \ / _ \ \ /\ /| | <| |/ /| | | | | __/ \/ \/ |_|_|\_\_/___|_|_| |_|\___| .org Year: 2009 Week: 41-42 Number: 120 ****************************************** An independent internal news bulletin for the members of the Wikimedia community ////////////////////////////////////////// === Technical news === [Wikimedia data sets] - Wikimedia XML data sets have been released on Amazon Public Data Sets. This should help Wikimedians who do analysis on project data. http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/wikimedia-xml-data-sets-released-on-a… [Media Features Gadget] - there is a "New Media Features" gadget on Commons. When it is enabled, you can test out the new media developments from the Kaltura sponsorship. http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/new-media-features-gadget/ http://blog.wikimedia.org/2008/07/23/kaltura-sponsors-michael-dale-open-sou… [Click Tracking Deployed] - click tracking has been deployed for the edit toolbar. This collects information about which buttons are clicked on the toolbar during editing for the Usability Initiative. http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/click-tracking-on-edit-toolbar-deploy… [Babaco: Now ready] - preview of the second set of usability features, Babaco, is now available through user preferences. Be sure to try out the new tools. http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/babaco-is-ready-for-tasting/ [Book creator updated] - the new version of the Book creator interface has been deployed within the Wikimedia projects. The extension is now a lot more intuitive and useful. http://blog.pediapress.com/2009/10/create-books-easily-new-version-of-book.… [WP Mobile Update] - Hampton Catlin, the Wikipedia Mobile developer, posted a blog entry detailing the updates done to the Mobile interface this month. http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/october-mobile-update/ [en.wp: FlaggedRevs update] - two people, William Pietri and Howie Fung, have been signed on as contractors to help with the deployment of Flagged Revisions on the English Wikipedia. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2009-October/104938.html === Request for help === [Perspectives from other projects] - the Wikipedia Signpost is calling for editors active in one or more non-English Wikipedias to write accounts comparing governance, process and policy, and editing culture across languages. The key questions are: how is it different working on another Wikipedia?; and what could English Wikipedia learn from that project?and vice versa? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-10-12/From_t… === Foundation === [Bookshelf Project: Manager Announced] - Frank Schulenburg (Head of Public Outreach) announced that Wikimedia's Bookshelf Project will be led by Marlita Kahn. The Bookshelf project aims to develop a slate of basic educational materials -- print, online and video -- to attract new authors and editors to Wikipedia. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-October/055518.html [Office hours] - the log of the Office Hours with Mike Godwin, the Foundation's General Counsel, has been published. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-October/055517.html http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours/Office_hours_2009-10-09 [Job openings] - two job openings are now open: Chief Development Officer (a fundraising-related position) and Code Maintenance Engineer (a technical position). http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Chief_Development_Officer http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Code_Maintenance_Engineer [Wikimedia Report Card] - Erik Zachte has published the first Wikimedia "report card" that aims to help everyone get a quick overview of trends in the Wikimedia projects. http://infodisiac.com/blog/2009/10/the-wikimedia-report-card/ http://stats.wikimedia.org/reportcard/RC_2009_08_detailed.html [Multimedia Usability: Product Manager] - Guillaume Paumier ("guillom") has been announced as the Project Manager for the Ford Multimedia Project. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-October/055659.html [Report to the Board August 2009] - Sue Gardner, the Executive Director, has published her Report to the Board for October 2009. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-October/055639.html [OpenMoko Launches WikiReader] - OpenMoko, a company that previously created an open source smartphone, has just launched The WikiReader, a dedicated reader device with an offline copy of the entire English Wikipedia (without images) stored on a small chip. http://blog.wikimedia.org/2009/10/13/openmoko-launches-wikireader/ http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.handhelds.openmoko.community/51135/focus… === Community === [Nobel Prize] - when announcing the recipients of its Nobel Prize, the Nobel Prize committee used free photos from Wikimedia Commons to depict two of the prize winners. http://bit.ly/2BWN4Q [German ArbCom dissolves] - the German Wikipedia has dissolved its Arbitration Committee. On projects that have them, the Arbitration Committee (or "ArbCom") is the final step in on-site dispute resolution. http://bit.ly/3hg64n [Wikinews: new Main Page and skin] - in addition to selecting "Vector" (the Usability skin) as its default skin, Wikinews has also created a new Main Page design. There are even "copy us" and "social networking" links on the page, like other news sources. http://bawolff.blogspot.com/2009/10/wikinews-gets-new-main-page.html http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikizine/feedback#English_Wikinews_-_New_Mai… https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=19865 [Academy: Telugu wiki] - on October 6, the first Telugu Wikimedia Academy was held in Chirala, India. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2009-October/000209.h… [Wiktionary lookup gadget] - A new gadget is being developed on English Wikinews and slowly being spread to other wikis. The gadget looks up the wiktionary definition for the language of the wiki you are reading, but what it returns is the definition in your user-preferences language. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/WN:WiktLookup [Bing search] - Bing.com, the Microsoft search engine, is offering "Bing Reference", a way to search "enhanced Wikipedia articles". The Wikipedia Signpost has a detailed story on this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-10-12/Bing_s… [WikiTrust demo now live] - demos of WikiTrust are now up on some Wikipedias. WikiTrust is a Firefox add-on that changes the color of the text based on how reliable or unreliable it seems to be. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikiquality-l/2009-October/000560.html === Media === [Encyclopedias + China] - CNN published a very good article about the situation in China with regards to Wikipedia and other encyclopedia sites. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/14/wiki.china/ [Meet Jimmy Wales] - the newspaper of Yale, a prestigious university in the United States, recently interviewed Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia). http://www.yaledailynews.com/scene/interview/2009/10/09/meet-jimmy-wales-fo… [Real fight becomes Wikipedia War] - a rivalry fight on a college campus turned into a big edit war on the English Wikipedia. http://www.yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2009/10/10/war-over-bladderball-ex… [Wikipedia + Olympics Committee?] - Wikipedia seems to be at the center of a recent copyright battle between a photographer and the International Olympics Committee. http://ragesoss.com/blog/2009/10/09/wikipedia-and-olympics-committee-headin… === Did you know... === ...about the proposal for global sysops on Meta-wiki? http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_sysop === Quote === "I really have no idea what most of those languages are, but I?m also super happy to support them." - Hampton Catlin, Mobile Wikipedia developer, after reporting the localization status of the Mobile Wikipedia site. ////////////////////////////////////////// Editor(s): Casey, Alex Corrector(s): Thanks to: Frank, Cary, Daniel, Philippe, Rodrigo, Liam, Infodisiac, Signpost, Tomasz, Sage, Michael Dale, Nimish, Bawolff, ShakataGaNai, ErikZ, Naoko, Arjun, Brianmc, Sage, Phoebe, Hampton, Sue, Jay, Luca, Erik, Greg Contact: reply or http://report.wikizine.org Website: http://www.wikizine.org ////////////////////////////////////////// Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy, validity and especially but not limited to, correct grammar and spelling. Satisfaction is not guaranteed. Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]]. Wikizine is published as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html and also the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

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Wikimedia-l October 2009