(This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Commons_celeb…
)
Wikimedia Commons celebrates its 10th anniversary
- *22 million+ images make Wikimedia Commons world’s largest freely
licensed educational media repository.*
(San Francisco, USA) September 5, 2014 -- This Sunday marks the 10th
anniversary of Wikimedia Commons
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>. Its creation was officially
announced on September 7, 2004.
More than 22 million media files have been uploaded by the Wikimedia
volunteer community over the decade since Commons came into being. The
Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to have a dedicated community of
creators and institutions who continue to share their images and other
media so that the project has flourished and will continue to thrive.
Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Lila Tretikov said: “Many people
don’t know that the incredible, freely-licensed images that illustrate
Wikipedia are curated and maintained by the volunteer community of
Wikimedia Commons editors. Wikimedia Commons is the visual engine of the
Wikimedia projects, and we look forward to its next decade of
contributions, collaboration, and sharing.”
In the past ten years, creators have contributed to Commons in a variety of
ways, including the annual Wiki Loves Monuments contest, which is currently
inviting submissions through the end of September. The Guinness Book of
World Records named Wiki Loves Monuments the largest photo contest in the
world, and it has inspired more 900,000 image uploads since 2010.
On this occasion we also celebrate the partnerships with dozens of cultural
institutions (GLAM) from around the world that have donated portions of
their collections. Their contributions have allowed Wikimedia Commons to
become a vital resource for educational and historical content, and ensured
the increasing depth and richness of the illustrations for articles on
Wikipedia.
The Foundation recognizes the vibrant Wikimedia Commons community, which is
responsible for increasing the availability of freely licensed images and
information to the public. The Commons community takes its role as a
guardian of the rights of creators extremely seriously, working diligently
to confirm authorship and licensing status of the media uploaded to
Commons. This work is reflected in the low number of DMCA takedown requests
received by the Wikimedia Foundation every year.
Erik Moeller, then a volunteer Wikimedian, first proposed the Commons in
March 2004 as a common repository for the images that Wikipedians had begun
uploading to illustrate the free online encyclopedia’s growing collection
of articles. Today, Moeller is the Wikimedia Foundation’s Deputy Director
and VP of Engineering, and Commons is the world’s largest repository of
freely licensed educational media on the internet.
“The Wikimedia Commons community is the reason these freely-licensed images
exist for everyone to enjoy." said Moeller. “Our next steps are to prepare
Wikimedia Commons for the future, including support for rich, structured
metadata; a massively improved user experience for uploading media; better
tools for editing media content through the web; and better support for
video. The first decade was just the beginning.”
The Foundation is thrilled to be celebrating these and many more
achievements of the project’s first decade.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
https://wikimediafoundation.orghttps://blog.wikimedia.org/
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix,
Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation
receive 413 million unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most
popular web property world-wide (comScore, July 2014). Available in 287
languages, Wikipedia contains more than 32 million articles contributed by
a global volunteer community of roughly 80,000 people. Based in San
Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3)
charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
Wikimedia Foundation Press Contact:
Communications, Wikimedia Foundation
+1 415-839-6885 ext 6633kmaher[image: @]wikimedia.org
(To be unsubscribed from this press release distribution list, please reply with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the subject line)
_______________________________________________
Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
_______________________________________________
WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list
WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l
I really don't like the way that people are referring to Flow as a done
deal with an inevitable roll out. Nothing remotely close to workable
software has been produced, no case has been made that the purported
problems being addressed by this top-down software project are valid issues
in the community, the range of unintended effects that will be cause by the
mass archiving of talk pages and move to a new "flashy" system hasn't been
properly assessed.
With Visual Editor, there was a clear need for WYSIWYG capabilities —
although the software rolled out was grossly inadequate and the roll out
process hamhanded (not to say incompetent). With Media Viewer, at least
there is a clear benefit to a certain percentage of WP readers to offset
the inconveniences resulting from mildly inadequate software. With Flow we
are looking at the potential of grossly inadequate software with no
apparent "saving graces" other than the fact that the old software is old
and the new software will be new and that things will look nice.
If this is done wrong, it will be a catastrophe for WMF far bigger than
what happened with VE.
Wil Sinclair, an enthusiast for the LiquidThreads/Flow mechanism for talk
pages, is in an excellent position to give us some A/B numbers for
participation at his site, with in without LiquidThreads being imposed from
above.
How did that work out with participation levels at the OffWiki site, Mr.
Sinclair?
How many very active editors has the convenient LiquidThreads mechanism
generated for your site?
How many edits have taken place in the month after LiquidThreads was
installed over "community" objections versus the month before it was
installed?
Has the clean up process been easy reconverting to MediaWiki without the
LiquidThreads extension?
Bottom line: OffWiki site participation was blown up by a unilateral move
to LiquidThreads by the "tech department."
Observe and learn.
Tim Davenport
Carrite on WP /// Randy from Boise on WPO
Corvallis, OR
=======
Wil Sinclair wrote:
>>This somewhat circuitously brings us back to the subject. We have a
chance to rollout Flow the right way. There are some questions that
come to mind that might tell us if we're headed for a big win or a
bigger debacle:
>>1) Is the WMF working with the community as closely and substantially
as possible to make sure Flow is ready for primetime?
>>2) Is the community preparing itself for a major change, not only in
interface, but to some degree in wiki-philosophy about how discussions
are conducted- not to mention the notion that, while wiki software can
do almost anything involving asynchronous online communication, it
can't do everything as well as other interfaces?
>>I think Flow will be particularly challenging. I deployed Liquid
Threads on another site. I liked the threaded interface, as did
others. But overall it was roundly rejected because it was harder to
search (I only found out you have to add the namespace to the
searchable namespace in LocalSettings.php later), and it invasively
took over all discussion pages, among other headache. Problems like
these could easily be addressed before a rollout, but they should be
addressed as early as possible. It is notable, however, that the more
our users used it, the more they seemed to like it.
>>What can we do to make the Flow rollout as smooth as starting '''now'''?
,Wil
Dear all,
Please note that, due a technical issue, direct your emails to salvador1983(a)gmail.com instead.
Kindly apologize for the inconvenience.
Regards,
Carlos
Sent from Samsung Mobile
-------- Original message --------
From: "Carlos M. Colina" <maorx(a)wikimedia.org.ve>
Date: 03/09/2014 19:58 (GMT+02:00)
To: wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,Wikimedia Chapters general discussions <chapters(a)wikimedia.ch>
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] AffCom - Call for candidates 2015
(in the case you received it already, sorry for re-sending it, my Thunderbird crashed just as I clicked the "send" button :-( )
Dear all, The Affiliations Committee [1], the committee that is responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Chapters, User Groups
and Thematic Organizations and approving them when they are ready is looking for new members.
The main focus of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers in forming affiliates. We make sure that the groups are large enough to be viable (and advise them on how to get bigger), review bylaws for compliance
with the requirements and best practices, and advise the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation on issues connected to Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups.
This requires communication with volunteers all over the World, negotiating skills and cultural sensitivity and the ability to understand legal texts. We try to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members.
The key skills/experience that we are looking for in candidate members, are typically the following:
* Excitement by the challenge of helping to empower groups of
volunteers worldwide
* Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps
bureaucratic process
* Readiness to participate in (movement roles) political discussions
on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliations, and
similar questions
* 5 hours per week availability [2], and the time to participate in a
monthly ~2 hour voice/video meeting
* International orientation
* Very good communication skills in English
* Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures
* Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the
WMF
* Knowledge of different legal systems; experience in community
building and organising is a plus
* Effective communication skills in other languages are a major plus
* Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus
* Willingness to use full (real) name in committee activities
(including reaching out to potential affiliates) when appropriate
In 2012, new types of affiliations were introduced, and the role of the
Committee has increased in guiding through volunteers towards
affiliation models that empower them to further our mission, and making
sure these models meet both the needs of the volunteers and the
movement. We are looking for new people to help, who are not afraid of
the workload and are motivated by helping other volunteers to get
organized and form communities that further our mission around the world.
Members are usually selected every twelve months for staggered two-year
terms. The applications will be voted on by the current members not
seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the
committee's members, advisers, WMF staff and board liaisons based on the
above membership criteria. A final decision will be made by the end of
the year, with new members expected to join on or around 1 January 2015.
If you are interested, You can send your applications with your full
name, contact data (e-mail address, wiki username), relevant experience
and motivation letter to our treasurer Salvador Alcántar at salvador AT
gmail.com by 30 September 2014. You will get a confirmation that your
application came through.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me and/or the
committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with
anyone about our work, if this helps them decide to apply. Please
distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are
interested.
Best regards,
Carlos Colina
Chair, Affiliations Committee
[1]: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee (please
follow the links and familiarize yourself with our work)
[2]: Our member standards of participation are at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Standard_…
--
"*Jülüjain wane mmakat* ein kapülain tü alijunakalirua jee wayuukanairua
junain ekerolaa alümüin supüshuwayale etijaanaka. Ayatashi waya junain."
Carlos M. Colina
Vicepresidente, A.C. Wikimedia Venezuela | RIF J-40129321-2 |
www.wikimedia.org.ve <http://wikimedia.org.ve>
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Affiliations Committee
Phone: +972-52-4869915
Twitter: @maor_x
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
Dear all,
The next WMF metrics and activities meeting will take place on Thursday,
September 4, 2014 at 6 PM UTC (11 AM PDT). The IRC channel is
#wikimedia-office on irc.freenode.net and the meeting will be broadcast as
a live YouTube stream.
The current structure of the meeting is:
* Welcoming recent hires
* Update and Q&A with the Executive Director, if available
* Review of key metrics including the monthly report card, but also
specialized reports and analytic
* Review of financials
* Brief presentations on recent projects, with a focus on highest priority
initiatives
Please review
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Metrics_and_activities_meetings for further
information about how to participate.
We’ll post the video recording publicly after the meeting.
Thank you,
Praveena
--
Praveena Maharaj
Executive Assistant to the VP of Engineering & Product Development
Wikimedia Foundation
Is there a list somewhere of all currently active Foundation
initiatives for attracting and retaining active editors? I am only
aware of the one project, "Task Recommendations," to try to encourage
editors who have made a few edits to make more, described starting at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JbZ1uWoKEg&t=60m20s
I am not worried about pageviews at all, given that the trend is as
constant as it has ever been when mobile users are added in to the
total. Sadly, the greater number of mobile users appears to be harming
active editor numbers beyond their already dismal trend, so it would
be nice to have an idea of exactly how much effort the Foundation is
applying to its only strategic goal which it is not achieved, and has
not ever achieved. I am amazed that so much more effort continues to
be applied to the other goals, all of which have always been met
through to the present. What does this state of affairs say about the
Foundation leadership's ability to prioritize?
Is there any evidence at all that anyone in the Foundation is
interested in any kind of change which would make non-editors more
inclined to edit, or empower editors with social factors which might
provide more time, economic power, or other means to enable them to
edit more?
In the USA. I don't know of any, and don't think there is any, legal obligation for the WMF to comply with somebody who just says to them "please hand over any information regarding me." One could still formally ask, say a typed letter, certified mail it for effect, and maybe one would get an informative response. But I don't think the WMF is required to. Politeness and professionalism requires them at least to reply in one way or other, though not necessarily telling one anything.
The USA has the Freedom of Information Act, but I think that is only about information held by the government. One can send a query in accordance with the FOIA and the government is obligated to supply what it has, or say why not. But that wouldn't apply to a corporation, private individual, or charity that keeps a file on one.
The only other way I can think of is a lawsuit. One could bring a lawsuit and then subpoena the documents. But of course a lawsuit is costly to bring, and one gets in trouble if it is frivolous.
Trillium Corsage
> If you don't know of a policy which gives you the right to ask
> something, why ask that something?
> Instead, ask something you know you have the right to ask; for instance,
> EU citizens have the right, by privacy law, to ask what PII an entity
> has about them.
(in the case you received it already, sorry for re-sending it, my
Thunderbird crashed just as I clicked the "send" button :-( )
Dear all, The Affiliations Committee [1], the committee that is
responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Chapters, User Groups
and Thematic Organizations and approving them when they are ready is
looking for new members.
The main focus of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers in forming
affiliates. We make sure that the groups are large enough to be viable
(and advise them on how to get bigger), review bylaws for compliance
with the requirements and best practices, and advise the Board of the
Wikimedia Foundation on issues connected to Chapters, Thematic
Organizations and User Groups.
This requires communication with volunteers all over the World,
negotiating skills and cultural sensitivity and the ability to
understand legal texts. We try to get a healthy mix of different skill
sets in our members.
The key skills/experience that we are looking for in candidate members,
are typically the following:
* Excitement by the challenge of helping to empower groups of
volunteers worldwide
* Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps
bureaucratic process
* Readiness to participate in (movement roles) political discussions
on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliations, and
similar questions
* 5 hours per week availability [2], and the time to participate in a
monthly ~2 hour voice/video meeting
* International orientation
* Very good communication skills in English
* Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures
* Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the
WMF
* Knowledge of different legal systems; experience in community
building and organising is a plus
* Effective communication skills in other languages are a major plus
* Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus
* Willingness to use full (real) name in committee activities
(including reaching out to potential affiliates) when appropriate
In 2012, new types of affiliations were introduced, and the role of the
Committee has increased in guiding through volunteers towards
affiliation models that empower them to further our mission, and making
sure these models meet both the needs of the volunteers and the
movement. We are looking for new people to help, who are not afraid of
the workload and are motivated by helping other volunteers to get
organized and form communities that further our mission around the world.
Members are usually selected every twelve months for staggered two-year
terms. The applications will be voted on by the current members not
seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the
committee's members, advisers, WMF staff and board liaisons based on the
above membership criteria. A final decision will be made by the end of
the year, with new members expected to join on or around 1 January 2015.
If you are interested, You can send your applications with your full
name, contact data (e-mail address, wiki username), relevant experience
and motivation letter to our treasurer Salvador Alcántar at salvador AT
gmail.com by 30 September 2014. You will get a confirmation that your
application came through.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me and/or the
committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with
anyone about our work, if this helps them decide to apply. Please
distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are
interested.
Best regards,
Carlos Colina
Chair, Affiliations Committee
[1]: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee (please
follow the links and familiarize yourself with our work)
[2]: Our member standards of participation are at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Standard_…
--
"*Jülüjain wane mmakat* ein kapülain tü alijunakalirua jee wayuukanairua
junain ekerolaa alümüin supüshuwayale etijaanaka. Ayatashi waya junain."
Carlos M. Colina
Vicepresidente, A.C. Wikimedia Venezuela | RIF J-40129321-2 |
www.wikimedia.org.ve <http://wikimedia.org.ve>
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Affiliations Committee
Phone: +972-52-4869915
Twitter: @maor_x
Dear all, The Affiliations Committee [1], the committee that is
responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Chapters, User Groups
and Thematic Organizations and approving them when they are ready is
looking for new members. The main focus of the AffCom is to guide groups
of volunteers in forming affiliates. We make sure that the groups are
large enough to be viable (and advise them on how to get bigger), review
bylaws for compliance with the requirements and best practices, and
advise the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation on issues connected to
Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups. This requires
communication with volunteers all over the World, negotiating skills and
cultural sensitivity and the ability to understand legal texts. We try
to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members. The key
skills/experience that we are looking for in candidate members, are
typically the following: * Excitement by the challenge of helping to
empower groups of volunteers worldwide * Willingness to process
applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process * Readiness to
participate in (movement roles) political discussions on the role and
future of affiliates, models of affiliations, and similar questions * 5
hours per week availability [2], and the time to participate in a
monthly ~2 hour voice/video meeting * International orientation * Very
good communication skills in English * Ability to work and communicate
with other languages and cultures * Strong understanding of the
structure and work of affiliates and the WMF * Knowledge of different
legal systems; experience in community building and organising is a plus
* Effective communication skills in other languages are a major plus *
Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus * Willingness
to use full (real) name in committee activities (including reaching out
to potential affiliates) when appropriate In 2012, new types of
affiliations were introduced, and the role of the Committee has
increased in guiding through volunteers towards affiliation models that
empower them to further our mission, and making sure these models meet
both the needs of the volunteers and the movement. We are looking for
new people to help, who are not afraid of the workload and are motivated
by helping other volunteers to get organized and form communities that
further our mission around the world. Members are usually selected every
twelve months for staggered two-year terms. The applications will be
voted on by the current members not seeking re-election, taking into
account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisers, WMF
staff and board liaisons based on the above membership criteria. A final
decision will be made by the end of the year, with new members expected
to join on or around 1 January 2015. If you are interested, You can send
your applications with your full name, contact data (e-mail address,
wiki username), relevant experience and motivation letter to our
treasurer Salvador Alcántar at salvador AT gmail.com by 30 September
2014. You will get a confirmation that your application came through. If
you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me and/or the
committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with
anyone about our work, if this helps them decide to apply. Please
distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are
interested. Best regards, Carlos Colina Chair, Affiliations Committee
[1]: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee (please
follow the links and familiarize yourself with our work) [2]: Our member
standards of participation are at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Standard_…
--
"*Jülüjain wane mmakat* ein kapülain tü alijunakalirua jee wayuukanairua
junain ekerolaa alümüin supüshuwayale etijaanaka. Ayatashi waya junain."
Carlos M. Colina
Vicepresidente, A.C. Wikimedia Venezuela | RIF J-40129321-2 |
www.wikimedia.org.ve <http://wikimedia.org.ve>
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Affiliations Committee
Phone: +972-52-4869915
Twitter: @maor_x
Congratulations!
from Rover Wong, WMHK
2014/9/3 下午12:05 於 "Ichsan Mochtar" <ichsan.mochtar(a)wikimedia.or.id> 寫道：
> Congrats to Belgian team! Best wishes with the legalization process.
>
> Regards,
> Ichsan - Wikimedia Indonesia
> ------------------------------
> From: Romaine Wiki <romaine.wiki(a)gmail.com>
> Sent: 03/09/2014 6:14
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Cc: Wikimedia Chapters general discussions <chapters(a)wikimedia.ch>
> Subject: Re: [Chapters] [Wikimedia-l] Recognition of Wikimedia Belgium as
> aWikimedia chapter by the WMF Board
>
> Thanks all!
>
> The next step will be the actual founding. In two days we already have a
> meeting to talk about it.
>
> Anyone interested in the founding, you are welcome to sign up at
> https://be.wikimedia.org/wiki/Founding/Interested_people
>
> Romaine
>
>
>
>
> 2014-09-02 20:00 GMT+02:00 Nasir Khan <nasir8891(a)gmail.com>:
>
>> Congrats to all who were involved in this success :D
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Nasir Khan Saikat*
>> www.nasirkhn.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 11:46 PM, Carlos M. Colina <maorx(a)wikimedia.org.ve
>> >
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Dear all,
>> >
>> > It is an honour for me to announce that during Wikimania, the WMF
>> resolved
>> > [1] to recognise Wikimedia Belgium as a Wikimedia chapter. The
>> resolution
>> > was made public a few days ago.
>> >
>> > The first discussions towards the establishment of a Belgian chapter
>> > started many years ago, with the local community doing projects related
>> to
>> > freedom of knowledge since then, like organisation of WLM Belgium &
>> > Luxembourg in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Along with these and other
>> activities,
>> > the idea of a chapter grew and evolved to the moment when, the decision
>> was
>> > taken to start officially the chapter creation process.
>> >
>> > This process took longer than usual, due to many reasons, among those
>> the
>> > change in the chapter approval process by the WMF Board last year.
>> > Nevertheless, after months of intensive discussion and interaction
>> between
>> > all parties involved, a recommendation from the AffCom was sent to the
>> WMF
>> > regarding Wikimedia Belgium. And here we are :-)
>> >
>> > Please welcome the newest member of the family of Wikimedia affiliates!
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Carlos
>> >
>> >
>> > 1: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:
>> > Recognition_of_Wikimedia_Belgium
>> >
>> > --
>> > "*Jülüjain wane mmakat* ein kapülain tü alijunakalirua jee wayuukanairua
>> > junain ekerolaa alümüin supüshuwayale etijaanaka. Ayatashi waya junain."
>> > Carlos M. Colina
>> > Vicepresidente, A.C. Wikimedia Venezuela | RIF J-40129321-2 |
>> > www.wikimedia.org.ve <http://wikimedia.org.ve>
>> > Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Affiliations Committee
>> > Phone: +972-52-4869915
>> > Twitter: @maor_x
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chapters mailing list
> Chapters(a)wikimedia.ch
> https://intern.wikimedia.ch/lists/listinfo/chapters
>