Wikimedia-l January 2019

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[Wikimedia Announcements] This Month in GLAM: December 2018
by The 'This Month in GLAM' team 10 Jan '19

10 Jan '19

*This Month in GLAM* is a monthly newsletter documenting recent happenings within the GLAM project, such as content donations, residencies, events and more. GLAM is an acronym of *G*alleries, *L*ibraries, *A*rchives and *M*useums. You can find more information on the project at glamwiki.org. *This Month in GLAM – Issue XII, Volume VIII – December 2018* ------------------------------ Armenia report: Cooperation with Yerevan Drama Theatre Named After Hrachia Ghaplanian; Singing Wikipedia (continuation); Photographs by Vahan Kochar (continuation) http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/A… Australia report: 2019 Australia's Year of the Public Domain http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/A… Belgium report: Writing weeks German-speaking Community; End of year drink; Wiki Loves Heritage photo contest http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/B… Brazil report: Google Art and GLAM initiatives in Brazil http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/B… India report: Collaboration with RJVD Municipal Public Library http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/I… Italy report: Challenges and alliances with libraries, WLM and more http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/I… Macedonia report: Exhibition:"Poland through photographs" & Wikipedia lectures with children in social risk http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/M… Malaysia report: Technology Talk and Update on Wikipedia @ National Library of Malaysia http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/M… Portugal report: Glam Days '18 at the National Library of Portugal http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/P… Sweden report: Hats 🎩🧢👒🎓 http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/S… UK report: Oxford http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/U… USA report: Holiday gatherings and visit to Internet Archive http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/U… Wikidata report: Wikidata reports http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/W… WMF GLAM report: Structured Data on Wikimedia Commons: pilot projects and multilingual captions http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/W… Calendar: January's GLAM events http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/E… ------------------------------ About *This Month in GLAM* http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/About Single page view http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2018/Single Twitter http://twitter.com/ThisMonthinGLAM Add your story / Work on the next edition http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/Newsroom -- The *This Month in GLAM* team http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter _______________________________________________ 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

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Commons-l] Structured data - file captions coming this week (January 2019)
by Pine W 10 Jan '19

10 Jan '19

Thanks for the news, Keegan. I'm cross-posting the info to other lists with the date boldly corrected. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) --- Hi all, following up on last month's announcement... [0] Multilingual file captions will be released this week, on either Wednesday, 9 January or Thursday, 10 January 2019. Captions are a feature to add short, translatable descriptions to files. Here's some links you might want to look follow before the release, if you haven't already: * Read over the help page for using captions - I wrote the page on mediawiki.org because captions are available for any MediaWiki user, feel free to host/modify a copy of the page here on Commons. [1] * Test out using captions on Beta Commons. [2] * Leave feedback about the test on the captions test talk page, if you have anything you'd like to say prior to release. [3] Additionally, there will be an IRC office hour on Thursday, 10 January with the Structured Data team to talk about file captions, as well as anything else the community may be interested in. Date/time conversion, as well as a link to join, are on Meta. [4] Thanks for your time, I look forward to seeing those who can make it to the IRC office hour on Thursday. I'll reply to this post once I confirm exactly what day file captions will be released to Commons. 0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Village_pump&oldid=… 1. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:File_captions 2. https://commons.wikimedia.beta.wmflabs.org/ 3. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Structured_data/Beta_captio… 4. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours#Upcoming_office_hours

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[Google Summer of Code 2019 / Outreachy Round 18] Call for projects and mentors!
by Derick Alangi 10 Jan '19

10 Jan '19

Hello everyone, We are now recruiting projects to promote in Google Summer of Code 2019 and Outreachy Round 18! Both these programs have a similar timeline for the summer round. Accepted candidates will work with mentors from May to August 2019. Through both these programs, we bring new contributors to Wikimedia technical projects. Browse through Outreach programs <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreach_programs> to learn more. Earlier we promote the projects, better it works out for everyone. Students get enough time to prepare their application, organization administrators to do ample outreach and mentors to find a strong candidate for their project. If you are interested in mentoring a project, create a task on Phabricator and tag it with #outreach-programs-projects <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects/> and #Google-Summer-of-Code (2019) or #Outreachy (Round 18). You can also choose to mentor for projects already on outreach-program-projects <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects/> workboard. Remember, every project must have two mentors. Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of a mentor <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors>. To get some idea of the nature of projects, see the completed Google Summer of Code and Outreachy projects from last year <https://wikimediafoundation.org/2018/08/27/google-summer-of-code-outreachy-…>. Help us spread the word about Wikimedia's participation in these programs and looking forward to your participation! :) --- *Cheers,* *Derick, Pratyush and Srishti (Wikimedia org admins)*

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Invitation from Wiki Loves Love 2019
by Rupika Sharma 10 Jan '19

10 Jan '19

Love is an important subject for humanity and it is expressed in different cultures and regions in different ways across the world through different gestures, ceremonies, festivals and to document expression of this rich and beautiful emotion, we need your help so we can share and spread the depth of cultures that each region has, the best of how people of that region, celebrate love. Wiki Loves Love (WLL) is an international photography competition of Wikimedia Commons with the subject love testimonials happening in the month of February from 1th - 28th. The primary goal of the competition is to document love testimonials through human cultural diversity such as monuments, ceremonies, snapshot of tender gesture, and miscellaneous objects used as symbol of love; to illustrate articles in the worldwide free encyclopedia Wikipedia, and other Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) projects. The theme of 2019 WLL is Celebrations, Festivals, Ceremonies and rituals of love. Sign up your affiliate or individually at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Love_2019/Participants . To know more about the contest, check out our Commons Page <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Love_2019>and FAQs page <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Love_2019/FAQ>. There are several prizes to grab. Hope to see you spreading love this February with Wiki Loves Love! Imagine...The sum of all love! Wiki Loves Love team Rupika Sharma Co-ordinator Wiki Loves Love *https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Love_2019 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Love_2019>* *https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilover90 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilover90>*

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Participation in Celebrating Public Domain Day
by Shani Evenstein 10 Jan '19

10 Jan '19

Dear all, I'm forwarding a request from Natalia Mileszyk re participating in Public Domain Day. We hope you can spread the word in your local communities and join the celebrations around the world! Cheers, Shani. ---------------------------------------- *JOIN COMMUNIA FOR THE PUBLIC DOMAIN WEEK * On New Year’s Day, as every year, there is the Public Domain Day celebrated – works of many great artists and scientists will come into the public domain and will be available for access, use and re-distribute. You can check the list of them at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_in_public_domain. But 2019 is also a unique year (see below). Therefore, we want to invite all organizations working for openness and commons to celebrate with us Public Domain Week (January, 21-25). Some of our partners will organize events this week (including Creative Commons in the US, Centrum Cyfrowe in Poland), but we would love also to see other things happening - your imagination is the limit. Maybe you want to organise something? An event, a hackathon, a concert, a contest? Maybe you want to help with internet outreach on the public domain? Publish something on your blogs (Why public domain is important to you? How your readers can contribute from the public domain?), give some love to the topic on social media? *We are not planning to coordinate this action too much (there won’t be any new website etc., but cross-referencing is more than welcome!) nevertheless please let us know (nmileszyk(a)centrumcyfrowe.pl <nmileszyk(a)centrumcyfrowe.pl>) by January 16th if you’ll participate so we can put you in touch with other contributors to the Public Domain Week.* *Materials for the Public Domain Week:* - graphics - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mCHyDQ6MCgmmkW93690hoLwQBpHwox_A?us… - #publicdomain - relaunching of the webpage with Public Domain Manifesto by January 21st (we’re well aware that it looks really outdated) + all of the 24 translations of the manifesto (that are available at http://publicdomainmanifesto.org/translations.html) will also be published - check if your language is available! *Why 2019 is so special? * - We’ll celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Public Domain Manifesto ( http://www.publicdomainmanifesto.org/manifesto.html) endorsed by many international organizations; - In the US, ever since the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, no published works have entered the public domain (well, none due to copyright expiration). But for the first time in 20 years this January, tens of thousands of books, films, visual art, sheet music, and plays published in 1923 will be free of intellectual property restrictions ( https://creativecommons.org/2018/12/05/join-us-for-a-grand-re-opening-of-th… ) - There is a chance that the public domain will be granted legal protection in the new copyright directive, which is debated right now in the EU ( https://www.communia-association.org/2018/12/21/copyright-reform-still-stal… ). Best, Natalia Natalia Mileszyk Centrum Cyfrowe | centrumcyfrowe.pl/ public policy expert @nmileszyk (+48) 668440136 ALSO: Creative Commons Polska | creativecommons.pl Communia Association | communia-association. <http://communia-association.org/>

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM
by 80hnhtv4agou＠bk.ru 09 Jan '19

09 Jan '19

And yes I have done all that with no reply, 1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contact/Stewards 2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Steward_requests/Global 3. stewards wikimedia.org only meta stewards can grant global blocks and stewards can also request one, and they do for each other, with out regards of any evidence or due proses. and they look for people to block by trolling talk pages and forums. The system is put in place for me to put on my meta page the {{unblock| your reason for requesting an unblock here }} template. but clever abusive stewards know how to get around that by blocking meta and my meta talk page which cuts me off from appeal. From: Jeremy Lee-Jenkins Sent: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 10:15 AM To: 80hnhtv4agou(a)bk.ru ; Wikimedia Mailing List Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM You can contact a steward via their group email to request Global IP block exemption or unblocking of your IP address. Make sure to include exact details. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_IP_block_exemptions https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards Warm Regards Jeremy Lee-Jenkins J. On 1/8/19, 80hnhtv4agou--- via Wikimedia-l < wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > wrote: > > I have been IP globally blocked as an ip editor; > > based on a series of misunderstanding coming from uninvolved > > administrators reading what i have said on talk pages and in forums > > and the fact that anybody can go to the Steward, requests/Global > > block page and ask for a block on anybody with out any text what > > so ever and no notice to the ip user, and that one steward can come > > by without any evidence and grant all postings at once and yes I > > have filled out the form and sent to stewards@, also with this type > > of administrator abuse going on I have tried to contact trust and safety > > with no reply ever, on e-mail or there talk pages.

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] America may go bizarro, but Wikipedia has a choice to make
by WereSpielChequers 09 Jan '19

09 Jan '19

I would suggest Iceland. But there are several other possibilities, Ireland and New Zealand for starters. But Iceland is a nice green location for server farms. Cheap cooling, green electricity a small enough economy that they wouldn't want to upset the WMF if it located there, and a government that doesn't hesitate to defend its economic interests even if technically they don't have armed forces. As others have pointed out there are worse choices we could make than the US, but there are also much better choices. WSC > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2019 09:52:41 -0500 > From: Risker <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] America may go bizarro, but Wikipedia has a > choice to make > Message-ID: > <CAPXs8yTYzmCVLxaF4iH=9Ht1j4e5MeniHqBLe== > n6p1y9xSkSA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Without in any way suggesting that David's and Fae's question is > inappropriate....I suspect that the people most likely to have used/tested > the backups are not people who follow this list; they're much more likely > to participate on technical lists. > > It's actually a pretty good question, and Ariel Glenn of the WMF may be the > best person to ask since they seem to be managing the process of making the > files available. > > Risker/Anne > > On Wed, 9 Jan 2019 at 06:44, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Location: This is a tangent, one that has been raised before as a > > /non-answer/ to the issue of actually getting on with contingency > > planning. Realistically I would start by looking at the potential > > matches of Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands (where servers already > > are used for WMF operations), or lastly and for very different > > reasons, Peru. > > > > What I find weird, or bizarro, is that the responses so far are vague > > dismissals for non-good fantastic reasons, at the level of "let magic > > blockchain technology solve it for free", rather than taking on board > > that preparing a hot switch for Wikimedia operations in a welcoming > > host country, is a highly cost effective disaster contingency plan, > > whether due to natural disasters in San Fran / Florida / Amsterdam, or > > due to national government using its legal authority to freeze, switch > > off or tamper with content due to politically inflated "security" or > > "emergency" issues. The risks are real and predictable, and as a > > globally recognized charity with plenty of money in the bank, the WMF > > should have contingency plans to ensure its continued existence, as > > any professional business actuary would advise. > > > > As a past IT auditor, what also made the hairs prick up on the back of > > my neck, was David Gerard's sensible question "So ... when did someone > > last test putting up a copy of the sites from > > the backups" - Could someone give a real answer to that please? If > > it's never, then wow, we all have to ask some hard questions of the > > WMF Board of exactly how they hold senior management to account. > > > > Thanks, > > Fae > > -- > > faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > > > > On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 at 23:05, Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > Hi Fae, > > > > > > I'm curious what nation you have in mind for your stable Plan B. Is it > > > Brexit Britain? France of the Yellow Vests and Front National? Perhaps > > > Orban's Hungary, Putin's Russia, or Germany with its recent right-wing > > > resurgence? > > > > > > Maybe you'd prefer Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil? I suppose in Italy we'd > worry > > > about Beppe and criminal libel statutes, while BJP would hardly seem > > > welcoming in India and I can't imagine you'd suggest a home on the > other > > > side of the Great Firewall. > > > > > > Maybe you're hinting at Canada, but otherwise, I'd love to understand > > what > > > island of liberal stability and legal safeguards you think is safe from > > the > > > vagaries of electoral politics or rigid authoritarianism. > > > > > > The countries I list above have their own flaws (although in each > case, I > > > believe, many desirable traits as well) as does any other alternative. > > > Anyone could reasonably argue it's unfair to stigmatize any of them by > > > glaringly public flaws. > > > > > > To my mind Steve Walling has it right - the very nature of Wikipedia is > > > maybe the best protection there could be, even against the absurdly > > > unlikely circumstance of a United States government takeover of > > Wikipedia. > > > > > > Nathan > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 12:17 PM Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > Dear fellow Wikimedians, please sit back for a moment and ponder the > > > > following, > > > > > > > > For those of us not resident in the US, it has been genuinely > alarming > > > > to see highly respected US government archives vanish overnight, > > > > reference websites go down, and US legislation appear to drift to > > > > whatever commercial interests have the loudest current political > > > > voices. Sadly "populism" is happening now, and dominates American > > > > politics, driving changes of all sorts in response to politically > > > > inflated and vague rhetoric about "security" and "fakenews". It is > not > > > > inconceivable that a popularist current or future US Government could > > > > decide to introduce emergency controls over websites like Wikipedia, > > > > virtually overnight.[1][2][3][4] > > > > > > > > The question of whether the Wikimedia Foundation should have a hot > > > > switch option, so that if a "disaster" strikes in America, we could > > > > continue running Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons from other countries > > > > has been raised on this list several times over many years. The WMF > > > > and its employees are heavily invested in staying in Silicon Valley, > > > > and that will stay true unless external risks become extreme. > > > > > > > > However, there has never been a rationale to avoid investing in a > Plan > > > > B. A robust plan, where the WMF can switch operations over to a > > > > hosting country with a sufficiently welcoming with stable national > > > > government and legislation, that our projects could continue to meet > > > > our open knowledge goals virtually uninterrupted and without risk of > > > > political control. A Plan B would ensure that if the US Government > > > > started to discuss controlling Wikipedia, then at least that > published > > > > plan would be a realistic response. If they tried doing it, we could > > > > simply power off our servers in the USA, rather than compromise our > > > > content. > > > > > > > > If anyone knows of committed investment in a practical WMF Plan B, it > > > > would be reassuring to share it more widely at this time. If not, > more > > > > of us should be asking about it, politely, persistently but perhaps > > > > less patiently than indefinitely. :-) > > > > > > > > Links: > > > > 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46739180 > > > > 2. http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/research/updates/populism > > > > 3. > > > > > > > https://www.cnet.com/news/obama-signs-order-outlining-emergency-internet-co… > > > > "... this order was designed to empower certain governmental agencies > > > > with control over telecommunications and the Web during natural > > > > disasters and security emergencies." > > > > 4. > > > > > > > https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency… > > > > "The president could seize control of U.S. internet traffic, impeding > > > > access to certain websites and ensuring that internet searches return > > > > pro-Trump content as the top results." > > > > 5. Bizarro, as used in the title of this email: > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > Fae > > > > -- > > > > faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > > > > > > > > ________faewik(a)gmail.com > > > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae________________________________… > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > New messages to: 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 and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > > > -- > > faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > > Personal and confidential, please do not circulate or re-quote. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2019 17:00:18 +0200 > From: Ariel Glenn WMF <ariel(a)wikimedia.org> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] America may go bizarro, but Wikipedia has a > choice to make > Message-ID: > <CALCvg_4ALsMBSE_STWKo7-Dh1O41XAuDt09wByt_2f+-kx= > 8Yg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > The files made available as 'Wikimedia dumps' are not intended to be a full > backup. And indeed that is not their purpose. People do set up mirrors > using these dumps from time to time, though I have not done so recently. > > Actual honest-to-goodness backups (database snapshots) are another thing > altogether and one of the Wikimedia DBAs may want to talk about that. > > Ariel > > On Wed, Jan 9, 2019 at 4:52 PM Risker <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Without in any way suggesting that David's and Fae's question is > > inappropriate....I suspect that the people most likely to have > used/tested > > the backups are not people who follow this list; they're much more likely > > to participate on technical lists. > > > > It's actually a pretty good question, and Ariel Glenn of the WMF may be > the > > best person to ask since they seem to be managing the process of making > the > > files available. > > > > Risker/Anne > > > > On Wed, 9 Jan 2019 at 06:44, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Location: This is a tangent, one that has been raised before as a > > > /non-answer/ to the issue of actually getting on with contingency > > > planning. Realistically I would start by looking at the potential > > > matches of Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands (where servers already > > > are used for WMF operations), or lastly and for very different > > > reasons, Peru. > > > > > > What I find weird, or bizarro, is that the responses so far are vague > > > dismissals for non-good fantastic reasons, at the level of "let magic > > > blockchain technology solve it for free", rather than taking on board > > > that preparing a hot switch for Wikimedia operations in a welcoming > > > host country, is a highly cost effective disaster contingency plan, > > > whether due to natural disasters in San Fran / Florida / Amsterdam, or > > > due to national government using its legal authority to freeze, switch > > > off or tamper with content due to politically inflated "security" or > > > "emergency" issues. The risks are real and predictable, and as a > > > globally recognized charity with plenty of money in the bank, the WMF > > > should have contingency plans to ensure its continued existence, as > > > any professional business actuary would advise. > > > > > > As a past IT auditor, what also made the hairs prick up on the back of > > > my neck, was David Gerard's sensible question "So ... when did someone > > > last test putting up a copy of the sites from > > > the backups" - Could someone give a real answer to that please? If > > > it's never, then wow, we all have to ask some hard questions of the > > > WMF Board of exactly how they hold senior management to account. > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Fae > > > -- > > > faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > > > > > > On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 at 23:05, Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi Fae, > > > > > > > > I'm curious what nation you have in mind for your stable Plan B. Is > it > > > > Brexit Britain? France of the Yellow Vests and Front National? > Perhaps > > > > Orban's Hungary, Putin's Russia, or Germany with its recent > right-wing > > > > resurgence? > > > > > > > > Maybe you'd prefer Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil? I suppose in Italy we'd > > worry > > > > about Beppe and criminal libel statutes, while BJP would hardly seem > > > > welcoming in India and I can't imagine you'd suggest a home on the > > other > > > > side of the Great Firewall. > > > > > > > > Maybe you're hinting at Canada, but otherwise, I'd love to understand > > > what > > > > island of liberal stability and legal safeguards you think is safe > from > > > the > > > > vagaries of electoral politics or rigid authoritarianism. > > > > > > > > The countries I list above have their own flaws (although in each > > case, I > > > > believe, many desirable traits as well) as does any other > alternative. > > > > Anyone could reasonably argue it's unfair to stigmatize any of them > by > > > > glaringly public flaws. > > > > > > > > To my mind Steve Walling has it right - the very nature of Wikipedia > is > > > > maybe the best protection there could be, even against the absurdly > > > > unlikely circumstance of a United States government takeover of > > > Wikipedia. > > > > > > > > Nathan > > > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 12:17 PM Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Dear fellow Wikimedians, please sit back for a moment and ponder > the > > > > > following, > > > > > > > > > > For those of us not resident in the US, it has been genuinely > > alarming > > > > > to see highly respected US government archives vanish overnight, > > > > > reference websites go down, and US legislation appear to drift to > > > > > whatever commercial interests have the loudest current political > > > > > voices. Sadly "populism" is happening now, and dominates American > > > > > politics, driving changes of all sorts in response to politically > > > > > inflated and vague rhetoric about "security" and "fakenews". It is > > not > > > > > inconceivable that a popularist current or future US Government > could > > > > > decide to introduce emergency controls over websites like > Wikipedia, > > > > > virtually overnight.[1][2][3][4] > > > > > > > > > > The question of whether the Wikimedia Foundation should have a hot > > > > > switch option, so that if a "disaster" strikes in America, we could > > > > > continue running Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons from other > countries > > > > > has been raised on this list several times over many years. The WMF > > > > > and its employees are heavily invested in staying in Silicon > Valley, > > > > > and that will stay true unless external risks become extreme. > > > > > > > > > > However, there has never been a rationale to avoid investing in a > > Plan > > > > > B. A robust plan, where the WMF can switch operations over to a > > > > > hosting country with a sufficiently welcoming with stable national > > > > > government and legislation, that our projects could continue to > meet > > > > > our open knowledge goals virtually uninterrupted and without risk > of > > > > > political control. A Plan B would ensure that if the US Government > > > > > started to discuss controlling Wikipedia, then at least that > > published > > > > > plan would be a realistic response. If they tried doing it, we > could > > > > > simply power off our servers in the USA, rather than compromise our > > > > > content. > > > > > > > > > > If anyone knows of committed investment in a practical WMF Plan B, > it > > > > > would be reassuring to share it more widely at this time. If not, > > more > > > > > of us should be asking about it, politely, persistently but perhaps > > > > > less patiently than indefinitely. :-) > > > > > > > > > > Links: > > > > > 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46739180 > > > > > 2. http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/research/updates/populism > > > > > 3. > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.cnet.com/news/obama-signs-order-outlining-emergency-internet-co… > > > > > "... this order was designed to empower certain governmental > agencies > > > > > with control over telecommunications and the Web during natural > > > > > disasters and security emergencies." > > > > > 4. > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency… > > > > > "The president could seize control of U.S. internet traffic, > impeding > > > > > access to certain websites and ensuring that internet searches > return > > > > > pro-Trump content as the top results." > > > > > 5. Bizarro, as used in the title of this email: > > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > Fae > > > > > -- > > > > > faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > > > > > > >

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America may go bizarro, but Wikipedia has a choice to make
by Fæ 09 Jan '19

09 Jan '19

Dear fellow Wikimedians, please sit back for a moment and ponder the following, For those of us not resident in the US, it has been genuinely alarming to see highly respected US government archives vanish overnight, reference websites go down, and US legislation appear to drift to whatever commercial interests have the loudest current political voices. Sadly "populism" is happening now, and dominates American politics, driving changes of all sorts in response to politically inflated and vague rhetoric about "security" and "fakenews". It is not inconceivable that a popularist current or future US Government could decide to introduce emergency controls over websites like Wikipedia, virtually overnight.[1][2][3][4] The question of whether the Wikimedia Foundation should have a hot switch option, so that if a "disaster" strikes in America, we could continue running Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons from other countries has been raised on this list several times over many years. The WMF and its employees are heavily invested in staying in Silicon Valley, and that will stay true unless external risks become extreme. However, there has never been a rationale to avoid investing in a Plan B. A robust plan, where the WMF can switch operations over to a hosting country with a sufficiently welcoming with stable national government and legislation, that our projects could continue to meet our open knowledge goals virtually uninterrupted and without risk of political control. A Plan B would ensure that if the US Government started to discuss controlling Wikipedia, then at least that published plan would be a realistic response. If they tried doing it, we could simply power off our servers in the USA, rather than compromise our content. If anyone knows of committed investment in a practical WMF Plan B, it would be reassuring to share it more widely at this time. If not, more of us should be asking about it, politely, persistently but perhaps less patiently than indefinitely. :-) Links: 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46739180 2. http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/research/updates/populism 3. https://www.cnet.com/news/obama-signs-order-outlining-emergency-internet-co… "... this order was designed to empower certain governmental agencies with control over telecommunications and the Web during natural disasters and security emergencies." 4. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency… "The president could seize control of U.S. internet traffic, impeding access to certain websites and ensuring that internet searches return pro-Trump content as the top results." 5. Bizarro, as used in the title of this email: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World Thanks, Fae -- faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Blocks which appear to demonstrate prejudice against minorities
by Fæ 09 Jan '19

09 Jan '19

Do we have cross project policies to govern or limit local policies for the use of sysop tools? I would like to pass on policy advice, and any past cases folks here would like to highlight that set a precedent. The case below is illustrative, though based on my recall of several complaints which went nowhere over the years, on email lists, and Jimmy's talk page, about apparently arbitrary blocks on different non-English Wikipedias, it seems reasonable to believe those complaints are the tip of the iceberg, and there are likely to be many historical cases of blocks that could have been appealed... had the user been confident to complain in English, and have the energy to pursue generic WMF policies on terms of use, or harassment/discrimination, to establish a meta-level case. # Example case An account block on the Amharic Wikipedia (am.wp) was flagged up yesterday on the WM LGBT+ Telegram discussion group.[3] The rationale for blocking the account was because the account name includes the word "Queer"[1]. The incident raises questions about process and accountability, particularly as the block gives the impression that this is the norm or an agreed interpretation of policy for sysops on am.wp, and because the user is well established using this account name across Wikimedia projects and has never edited am.wp so the block cannot be based on any prior action or dispute. In this example there is no obvious process for appeal, if sysops on that project think that blocking any LGBT+ related account name represents local consensus. After off-wiki discussion, the WMF Trust and Safety team has been approached for advice,[2] as the rationale for the action appears hostile to any openly LGBT+ volunteers who might want to include something queer looking in their account name (such as my account name, should anyone want to read it as transgender related). # Links 1. https://am.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%88%8D%E1%8B%A9:Contributions/QueerEcofemi…; the block log states "Names calling attention to your sexual behavior have never been allowed here in 15 years and aren't suddenly allowed in 2018" 2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trust_and_Safety 3. https://telegram.me/wmlgbt Thanks Fae -- faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_LGBT+

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ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM
by 80hnhtv4agou＠bk.ru 08 Jan '19

08 Jan '19

I have just been IP globally blocked as an ip; based on a series of misunderstanding. coming from page stalking on talk pages and watching list edit tools. and the fact that anybody can go to the Steward requests/Global page and ask for a block with out any text what so ever and no notice to the ip user, and that one stewards can come by without any evidence and grant all postings at once. and yes i have filled out the form and sent the stewards e-mail. also with this abuse going on on individual wiki’s I have tried to contact trust and safety with no reply ever, on e-mail or there talk pages.

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