Wikimedia-l August 2014

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161 participants
121 discussions

Call for Volunteers: Wikimania Jury to review bids for 2016
by Manuel Schneider 13 Aug '14

13 Aug '14

Dear all, soon we will starting the bidding process for Wikimania 2016. Soon the Wikimania Committee will be kicking off the selection process for deciding who should host Wikimania 2016. * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2016 Request for Proposals (RfP) is being published soon and we want to invite volunteers to serve on the selection jury. The jury will evaluate bids and make a recommendation to this committee and the WMF based on published criteria, reviewing the bids from November onwards until the final selection is made in December 2014. This is roughly 30-40 hours' work, and is key to us making Wikimania a strong, healthy community conference that we all can enjoy. The Wikimania Committee will select a jury that is a balanced representation of the community, from a diverse range of backgrounds, sexes, languages, cultures and regions of the world. What we are looking for: * seven members * geographical diversity * experience with events of this kind - either outside or inside the movement, as organiser or long-time Wikimaniac * members are required to read the Wikimania proposals on Meta Wiki * members are required to participate in six conference calls to discuss with each Wikimania proposal team and with the jury, approximate duration two hours, during the review phase (approx. one to two weeks around December) If you would like to serve on the jury, please e-mail Ellie Young (off-list) eyoung @ wikimedia.org August 24. We will announce the jury in two weeks' time. On behalf of the Wikimania Committee with regards, Manuel -- Manuel Schneider - Chief Information Officer Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 340 66 22 - www.wikimedia.ch

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] is it possible to accept bitcoins without receiving stolen property?
by James Salsman 13 Aug '14

13 Aug '14

Andre Engels wrote: >... > When choosing between unwittingly accepting tainted money > and forcing people to give up their complete financial privacy, I > find the first option the least morally repugnant one. "forcing people to give up their complete financial privacy" happens when people donate with a charge card? I guess that depends on the definition of "complete." Todd Allen wrote: >... > You do, of course, realize that any currency anyone accepts > could at some point have been stolen? Someone with more legal knowledge than I have should probably correct me if I'm mistaken, but my understanding is that US courts have recently drawn a sharp distinction between Bitcoins as "property," which can be illegal to receive if it has been stolen whether the recipient is aware of its status or not, as opposed to currency which is assumed to be free from such encumbrances unless the recipient is explicitly aware that it is tainted. Frankly, bitcoin seems to be just another attempt to evade taxes, to me. Others may have a different impression. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that we should be encouraging unless there is evidence that taxes cause harm.

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Asking Google to output Wikipedia citation format in Scholar
by Andy Mabbett 13 Aug '14

13 Aug '14

Google Scholar search results each have a "cite" link, which generates citation text to copy-and-paste in three formats (MLA, APA, Chicago). Is there someone at Google we can talk to, to get Wikipedia's citation format included? For English-language users (or results), the {{Cite journal}} template is probably most appropriate. -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Board Meeting Update
by Jan-Bart de Vreede 13 Aug '14

13 Aug '14

Hello Everyone While the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting will arrive in due time I wanted to update you on some internal matters at this point because there have been some changes in the board composition. Ana Toni joined our board last year but unfortunately the time demands placed upon a Wikimedia Board member were not compatible with her other commitments. This has given the board something to think about. We aim to be a board that is able to incorporate outside expertise to increase our effectiveness and possible candidates are often not able to commit the time which we currently require.. In the coming period we want to have a look at the time which is demanded of a board member (especially our in person meetings which require a lot of travel) and look at which activities we need to perform as a board. We want to thank Ana for her contributions. The insights gained from her position as Chair of Greenpeace International were especially useful to us as a board. We are sad to see her go, but we hope to keep her in “our space”. Bishakha Datta joined our board in March 2010 and has indicated to us that she is not available for re-appointment after her term runs out in December of this year. We will take the time to properly thank her for her great contributions when her term formally ends in December. While these things are part of of the normal turnover of the composition of the board (and are also an opportunity to attract new fields of expertise as needed) there is a matter of board stability during the first year of the tenure of our new Executive Director. In response to Lila's request for stability the board has decided the following: 1) Alice Wiegand was appointed to finish out Ana's term ending December 2014. We also appointed Alice to carry out the subsequent term ending December 2016. 2) Last year at Wikimania I was appointed to the board for a two year period, but I tendered my resignation effective the end of this year. At the Board's request I reconsidered that resignation, and will serve out the rest of my original two year term ending December 2015. This does mean we will start the search process for a new board member for the appointed seat that Bishakha will vacate at the end of this year. And hopefully we will be able to also identify potential candidates to fill the seats of both Stuart West and me, which will become vacant at the end of 2015. Secondly we have appointed the two officer positions as follows for the coming fiscal year Chair - Jan-Bart de Vreede Vice-Chair - Patricio Lorente The foundation has a great opportunity to grow under the guidance of our new Executive Director and realize our ambitions. The board is looking forward to a year of supporting Lila and providing direction for our strategic goals. Jan-Bart de Vreede Chair Board of Trustees Wikimedia Foundation PS: All the relevant resolutions will be published on meta in the coming days

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is it possible to accept bitcoins without receiving stolen property?
by James Salsman 13 Aug '14

13 Aug '14

Given this news about BGP hijacking used to mine hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars worth of bitcoins per year, as a practical matter concerning donations, is there any way to accept bitcoin payments without risking accepting stolen property? http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/08/bgp_hijacking…

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Options for the German Wikipedia
by phoebe ayers 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 3:12 AM, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote: > Hi. > .... > I'm interested to read others' views about options and ways forward here. I think the most helpful thing would be to not attempt to start wars, and particularly not on behalf of anyone or against individuals. We are all on the same side here: trying to make the projects (and the project interfaces, as a part of that) better. That includes, for instance, trying out a new way of viewing photographs. I assume of course and as always that you send your message from a place of also wanting the projects to be better and more usable. But it is hard to see how anything you suggest above gets us there. best, -- phoebe

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Tech News & the communication gap (was Re: Options for the German Wikipedia)
by Quim Gil 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 8:44 AM, Dan Garry <dgarry(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: > On 12 August 2014 02:39, svetlana <svetlana(a)fastmail.com.au> wrote: > > > > There needs to be a central place, like the Wikimedia blog, but dedicated > > to tech things - actively announcing everything WM ENGINEERING are doing, > > both in products and in core. > > > There is. It's called the monthly report. See here for July's for > example: * > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Engineering/Report/2014/July > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Engineering/Report/2014/July>* > Lack of information is not the problem, most of the times. In addition to the WMF Engineering monthly reports, tech-curious wikimedians have: * Tech News, shipped on a weekly basis, to the point, and not limited to WMF-driven projects. A great team of volunteers lead by Odder and Guillaume work persistently to fix this communication gap. Everybody: please subscribe and help promoting this great resource. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech_News * WMF Engineering short & mid term goals. Follow the links for status reports, project plans, and direct feedback to the teams involved. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Engineering/2014-15_Goals These resources are far from perfect, but they exist today. Ideas and help to improve them are welcome. -- Quim Gil Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil

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Thank you for Wikimania!
by phoebe ayers 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

Thank you so much to the London Wikimania organizers for putting a wonderful Wikimania 2014. I want to recognize everyone who helped out: the core team who proposed the bid and worked for over a year organizing a vision and a team to carry it out; the staff at Wikimedia UK and WMF who worked on organization; the international volunteer teams who put together the program and multiple scholarship programs; the tech staff in-person and online; the on-the-ground volunteers who made the event go; all the speakers, and everyone who contributed. Thank you! Pulling off a major international conference isn't easy, and this one rocked. This was the tenth Wikimania (!), and we had a small session reflecting on each of the Wikimanias to date. They have all been different, but they have certainly all had commonalities too: each Wikimania is a chance to meet other people who are doing intriguing, wonderful things; to sit up late into the night brainstorming and arguing about ideas; to learn from each other about techniques for educating and talking about our projects; to hack together. More than anything, Wikimania is a way to recognize that we are part of a real community of passionate and dedicated people -- people who love to take pictures and write and code and learn new things and drink and dance and eat stroopwafels and talk and talk and talk. So, a huge thank you to the London team for holding a great event both for long-time Wikimaniacs and for a whole new group of people (this was the first Wikimania for hundreds of people, going by the opening session). I encourage you all to watch the videos of the talks, and to keep the "Wikimania spirit" alive this year by learning about new initiatives, reaching out to people you don't already know who are doing cool stuff, visiting a project that you're not familiar with and seeing what they're up to, and experimenting with new things. And I hope to see you all in Mexico next year! [[<3]], Phoebe -- * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at> gmail.com *

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Odder on moderation?!
by John Mark Vandenberg 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

Hi, Has Odder / Tomasz Kozłowski been put on moderation? I'm informed his emails sent to this list havent come through to the list for nearly 24 hrs, and he has not been notified of having been put on any moderation, and the moderators havent responded to queries sent directly, and havent actioned these moderated emails (deny or approve, doesnt matter) for almost a day. -- John Vandenberg

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikitech-l] Superprotect user right, Comming to a wiki near you
by Pine W 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

Straniu, Jimbo's comments in his keynote about forking concerned encouraging competent editors who can't work cooperatively with other people to fork in a way that would be better for everyone in the long run. I don't believe this disappointing confrontation between the WMF and volunteers were what Jimbo had in mind. Pine On Aug 12, 2014 1:44 AM, "Strainu" <strainu10(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Gerard, > > Some answers (in a random order). > > 2014-08-11 12:20 GMT+03:00 Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com>: > > You know our projects, you know our licenses. If you, the "community"do > not > > like what you have, you can fork. At Wikimania forking and leaving the > > community was very much discussed. Watch Jimbo's presentation for > instance, > > he may be aghast that I quote him here but in his state of the Wiki he > made > > it abundantly clear that it is your option to stay or go. > > I gave up watching Jimbo's keynotes a few years ago, as I would > invariably get pissed off. So, should we understand that the vast > ammounts of money and resources spent on editor retention are a waste > of our money? I sincerely hope this is a heat-of-the-moment argument, > just like the one about closing de.wp. > > > Hoi, > > Code review should be a strictly technical process surely. However the > > community CANNOT decide on everything. > > Agreed. How about letting the WMF decide for anonymous users and the > community decide for logged-in users? Presumably, the logged-in users > have access to a large panel of options and can make up their own mind > if they disagree with the consensus. Of course, discussions should not > disappear because of such a separation, but even become more active > and hopefully less aggressive. > > > > When you are in those conversations you realise that many > > complications are considered; it is not easy nor obvious. > > NB there is not one community, there are many with often completely > > diverging opinions. Technically it is not possible to always keep > backward > > compatibility / functionality. We are not backward we need to stay > > contemporary. > > As a software engineer in a publicly traded company, I understand the > reasoning behind more than 90% of the decisions made by the > Engineering staff - and this worries me terribly, because they *don't* > work for a company. Their objectives and approaches should be > different. > > There are three main wiki-use-cases that should receive similar levels > of attention: > * reading > * basic editing > * advanced editing > > The first two receive a lot of love, but the third one not so much, > it's even hindered by initiatives designed for the first two. I'm not > saying that we should keep backwards compatibility forever, but since > the WMF wants to deploy stuff early in order to get feedback, it > should begin by offering it as a beta (they do that now), then, when > reaching a decent level of stability, deploy it for anonymous users > and opt-in users and only when it reaches feature-parity with the > feature being replaced should it be pushed for everybody (keeping an > opt-out feature for some time - months or a couple of years). > > Take for instance the media viewer: the current version is useless for > editors, as it has basically no controls visible by default (without > scrolling). The future version, presented at Wikimania, has a lot more > stuff visible on the first screen, making it much easier to use for > editing. I believe that the media viewer should have been kept as > opt-in for logged in users until this future version arrives. > > Strainu > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

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Wikimedia-l August 2014