Wikimedia-l February 2009

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

125 participants
73 discussions

[Foundation-l] Steward elections confirmed
by Cary Bass 27 Feb '09

27 Feb '09

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi all, After confirming with the board, I am pleased to congratulate the following contributors on passing their recent steward elections: Meno25 Erwin Kylu Laaknor Mike.lifeguard Leinad Dorgan Alexanderps Mardetanha Thanks to all who participated, including those that did not meet the 80% community standard. I encourage all candidates, both those who passed and those who failed, constructively take a look at any helpful comments left at their steward elections, and continue doing the wonderful jobs that you all have been doing helping us and the projects. Cary Bass Volunteer Coordinator Wikimedia Foundation -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFJqHIlyQg4JSymDYkRAn7fAJ9o4dzLfBIVfVwWsGnsvv4bUZvUtgCeM1rs REzmip6Vsx1wKSqc0ZRhIGA= =Pr13 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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[Foundation-l] dumps
by River Tarnell 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 hi, currently the dump process is a bit broken. what is the Foundation's position on this? why are developer resources allocated to put the server admin log on twitter, but no one has touched dumps in months? is there not enough money to fund this? how much more is needed? (for an example of a problem, there is *no* successful enwiki dump at all on download.wikimedia.org--the last 5 dumps, going back to 2008-03-12, all failed.) - river. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (HP-UX) iEYEARECAAYFAkmhSeMACgkQIXd7fCuc5vJXcwCfRvj2eqvM5f7awkvp3IS/vWFm dk8AoIiajhlsTsEMHOl/iu9Hj3HlQX/i =mTgb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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[Foundation-l] Free edition of Norways national encyklopedia Store Norske Leksikon
by John at Darkstar 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

Our "national lexicon" here in Norway, Store Norske Leksikon, went online with its new free edition today. The new edition has user contributed articles. The chief editor says some of the reason for the new edition is the harsh competition from Wikipedia, especially no.wikipedia.org which outnumbered their previous article count last year, now counting 209,079 articles. Also the alternate version nn.wikipedia.org (a variation in Nynorsk) is growing steadilly, now counting 46,466 articles. Store Norske Leksikon now claims they has 300,000 articles after inclusion of two other encyclopedias, a medical encyclopedia Store medisinske leksikon and a biographical encyclopedia Biografisk leksikon. Previously they had 155,000 articles. Wikipedia in bokmål should have 300K articles around February or March next year, it depends on how we will be influenced by the changes in SNL. John Erling Blad jeblad

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[Foundation-l] Dumps
by Klaus Graf 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

Making publicly available a dump without full information required by the GNU FDL is - at least according German law - a copyright violation. I am due a confidentiality obligation unable to give details on a conflict case in which my German lawyer got financial compensation for me. Klaus Graf

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[Foundation-l] Start an Epidemic
by Marc Riddell 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

Civility, like courtesy, is contagious - it begins with you. Marc Riddell

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[Foundation-l] Amazon Public Data includes Wikipedia
by Nathan 25 Feb '09

25 Feb '09

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/02/25/25readwriteweb-amaz… According to this, a new project by Amazon that makes a terabyte of public data available includes a full dump of Wikipedia. It also includes the complete dbpedia - so it seems like there are likely to be lots of duplicates. Given the other information it says it includes (the whole human genome, all other publicly available DNA sequences, census data, etc.) I'm not sure how it all fits in a single terabyte. Interesting concept, though. I wonder how old the dump is, since they've been unavailable for some time? Nathan -- Your donations keep Wikipedia running! Support the Wikimedia Foundation today: http://www.wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

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[Foundation-l] We are taking to long to switch over
by Gerard Meijssen 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hoi, There is a short period of time left before the switch over from the GFDL license is to happen. What I observe is that it will be likely at the last moment when the decision will be taken. The problem is that this is too late. It is too late because there are many websites who have selected the GFDL because Wikipedia has this license as well. Where the people in the know are aware that this magical deadline is approaching many of the people involved are not. It is for this reason that I urge us, the board to make a decision and publish it widely because the GFDL is a viral license and it will make cooperation with these people legally impossible. That would be the same tragedy as it is a tragedy that we currently cannot legaly cooperate with the websites that do use the CC-by-sa. Thanks, GerardM

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[Foundation-l] secure.wikimedia.org blocked on China
by shi zhao 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

since 20 February 2009, wikimedia SSL acess ( https://secure.wikimedia.org) can't acess on China. IP of secure.wikimedia.org is GFWed. see discuss (Chinese): http://www.douban.com/group/topic/5446738/ -- Chinese wikipedia: http://zh.wikipedia.org/ My blog: http://shizhao.org twitter: https://twitter.com/shizhao [[zh:User:Shizhao]]

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[Foundation-l] Wikimania 2009: Call for Participation
by Casey Brown 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Apologies in advanced for the cross-posting. :-) Please circulate this call among Wikimedia communities, researchers and other people that may be interested! This call is also online at http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Call_for_Participation == Call for Participation == Wikimania is an annual global event devoted to Wikimedia projects around the globe (including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikinews, Wiktionary, Wikiversity, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, and Wikimedia Commons). The conference is a community gathering, giving the editors and users of Wikimedia projects an opportunity to meet each other, exchange ideas, report on research and projects, and collaborate on the future of the projects. The conference is open to the public, and is a chance for educators, researchers, programmers and free culture activists who are interested in the Wikimedia projects to learn more and share ideas about the Wikimedia projects. This year's conference will be held from '''August 26-28''' in Buenos Aires, Argentina at '''San Martín Cultural Center'''. For more information, please visit the official Wikimania 2009 site at http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org. We are accepting submissions for presentations, workshops, panels, posters, open space discussions, and artistic works related to the Wikimedia projects or free content topics in general. Please carefully follow the submission guidelines below. === Important dates === * '''Submissions will open on:''' March 1 * '''Deadline for submitting workshop, panel, and presentation submissions:''' April 15 * '''Deadline for submitting posters, open space discussions, and artistic works:''' April 30 * '''Notification of acceptance of workshops, panels, presentations:''' May 15 * '''Notification of acceptance of posters, discussions, and artistic works:''' May 31 * '''Conference dates:''' August 26-28 === Themes and tracks === There are two tracks for submission: the '''Casual Track''', for members of wiki communities and interested observers to share their own experiences and thoughts and to present new ideas; and the '''Academic Track''', for research based on the methods of scientific studies exploring the social, content or technical aspects of Wikipedia, the other Wikimedia projects, or other massively collaborative works, as well as open and free content creation and community dynamics more generally. Submissions to either track should address one or more of the following themes: * '''"Wikimedia Communities,"''' including the topics of conflict resolution and community dynamics; reputation and identity; multi-lingualism and languages and cultures. * '''"Free Knowledge,"''' including open access to information; ways to gather and distribute free knowledge, use of the Wikimedia projects in education, journalism, research; ways to improve content quality and usability. * '''"Latin American challenges,"''' centering on efforts and limitations for expanding the reach of Wikimedia projects in Latin America; promotion of projects in Native American languages; specific problems of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Wikimedia communities. * '''"Technical infrastructure,"''' including issues related to MediaWiki development and extensions; Wikimedia's technical infrastructure; and new ideas for development. Papers should be of interest to members of the Wikimedia communities, and fit within one of the themes above. === Types of Submissions === We are seeking submissions for: * '''Presentations''' (10–30 minute talks with discussion afterwards) :* This type of submission is appropriate for presenting substantial research or community projects * '''Workshops''' (60–120 minute session with a discussion leader and more audience involvement) :* This type of submission is appropriate for sessions designed to teach a specific subject or explore it in depth * '''Panels''' (group of 2-5 speakers to discuss aspects of a topic with audience questions, 45-90 minute sessions) :* This type of submission is appropriate for discussions on a topic of wide interest among community members, with several participants who may be presenting their work. For less formal discussions of limited interest, consider an open space discussion instead. * '''Open space discussions''' (informal discussion on a specific topic; the discussion leader helps moderate the conversation but the session is open to anyone interested to join in) :* This type of submission is good for a topic that several participants want to discuss or brainstorm about in an informal setting * '''Posters''' (printed visual displays that can stand on their own, with no associated presentation) :* This type of submission is good for presenting research in progress, or smaller community projects * '''Artistic works''' (plays, competitions, comedy, visualizations, displays or other representations of some aspect of the projects) :* This type of submission is good for showing creativity or showcasing beautiful work about the projects. In addition there will be the chance to give lightning talks, which are 5-minute short presentations. Lightning talk sessions will be organized on the Wikimania 2009 wiki shortly before the conference begins, without any need to submit them via the submission system. These talks are best for those who want to quickly present an idea or project without giving a formal presentation. These are informal talks that are open to everyone to participate in. === Submission Guidelines === Wikimania is organized by volunteers, so please help us minimize wasted effort by submitting via the submission system and following these guidelines. All submissions MUST include the following: # '''Event title:''' an English or Spanish title. # '''Abstract:''' a short English or Spanish abstract of your event in 50 to 100 words. The abstract will be used for the public schedule. # '''Themes and track:''' list the track you wish to submit to (Casual or Academic) and the single theme you think your submission fits in best (Wikimedia Communities, Free Knowledge, Latin American challenges, Technical infrastructure). Note that posters and artistic works have their own track in the submission system. # '''Information about the speaker:''' full name, email, and a short biography. # '''Submission file:''' A plain text, PDF or OpenDocument file, in English or Spanish, containing: #* '''A long description of the submission''', in English or Spanish that can be used for reviewing, not to exceed 1000 words. Please give an overview of the areas to be covered or taught. State clearly the relevance to the Wikimedia projects and whether submission concerns a specific wiki project. You can also include links, Include graphics an diagrams if they do not exceed one page. #* '''Event type:''' please state if the event is a presentation, workshop, panel, open space discussion, poster, or artistic work; if a presentation or panel, whether the presentation is expected to be a certain length. #* '''For panel submissions only:''' name of a suggested moderator and short biographies of each suggested panelist #* '''Language:''' list the language you plan to present in. The conference will be bilingual in English and Spanish. #* '''Special requirements:''' list any special requirements, including any equipment. In the "Comments for conference director" field you should tell us whether you will attend to Wikimania (a) surely, (b) probably, (c) only if your submission is accepted, or (d) only if we provide travel and/or accommodation. You can also add yourself to the public list of attendees at the Wikimania 2009 wiki: http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Attendees Please note that all submissions must be dual licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.2 or later ''and'' the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 3.0! By submitting for Wikimania 2009 you agree to this condition. ===Submissions=== Once you are sure you have included all of the required information, please send your submission before the respective deadline through our '''submission system''': http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submission If you have further questions, email wikimania-program(a)wikimedia.org (in English or Spanish).

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[Foundation-l] Flagged Revisions, Report on german WP
by P. Birken 21 Feb '09

21 Feb '09

Hiho, there have been some significant developments on de-WP, which I would like to share with this list. On February, 4th, all articles of the german WP had at least one sighted revision. Since then, only pages newly created by noneditors have to be looked at. On average, around 1.000 pages were marked for the first time per day and these are now carried over to looking at edits that have to be flagged. This means that since February 4th, the number of pages with revisions awaiting review has dropped from almost 13.000 to 5.000 (see http://toolserver.org/~aka/cgi-bin/reviewcnt.cgi?lang=german&action=images&… last picture). More importantly, the maximal waiting time for edits to be reviewed has dropped from 16 days to less than 7 now, which means that finally, we are now in an acceptable regime. The goal is, to reduce this time until tuesday to 5 days (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Gesichtete_Versionen/Nachsichtung). The median waiting time for edits until review is still within hours. Still on the list of things to do is making the criterias for a sighted version more precise from "has been looked at by an experienced editor and is without vandalism." Best, Philipp

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Wikimedia-l February 2009