Dear all,
As part of the continuing spate of good news, I'd like to congratulate Achal
Prabhala for becoming the latest Wikimedia Foundation Fellow.
For those of you who don't know him, Achal is a writer and researcher in
Bangalore who has participated as a volunteer in the Wikimedia movement in
India and globally for years, and as a member of the Foundation’s advisory
board.
Achal will be conducting field research in India and rural South Africa with
Wikipedians and non-Wikipedians across three languages to explore ways to
compensate for the gap in published/printed sources in many local languages.
More details at
http://blog.wikimedia.org/blog/2011/01/12/new-wikimedia-fellow/
Cheers
Bishakha
Hi Emmanuel and All,
I've re-christened the Wikipedia For Schools Offline Edition as WFSOE so I
can use a short form ;)
Updates:
I downloaded the 2.x GB pre-indexed kiwix+zim zip file from kiwix.org. It
had a problem on extracting - the .zim file was broken. Emmanuel or folks
from Kiwix, could you check? I hope the problem was only on my side.
Link: http://download.kiwix.org/portable/wikipedia_en_for_schools.zip(2718mb)
Fortunately I already had gotten the wikipedia for schools .zim file
separately, and put it here - and now it works perfectly. The pre-indexed
version is much better and I'll be going to the school and replacing what I
had previously installed with this version.
I'm uploading the repackaged and working version on my mirror site (this
time compressed in 7-zip .7z format and also split, by 7-zip only, into
27x100mb parts):
http://www.4shared.com/dir/cwqa0nnC/WFSOE_Full_pre-indexed_with_sc.html
(give it a day or two to upload fully)
...And also have put up just the kiwix software in that package, without the
.zim file.
http://www.4shared.com/file/_yQEKn2r/WFSOE_with_kiwix-09alpha7_with.html
(107mb)
So, people who already have the schools-wikipedia-full-20081023-rc5.zim file
can simply put it in and start using it.
This whole folder, downloaded by either of the above options, can then be
directly copied over to a DVD or USB drive and it will become an
auto-launching thing then.
I've made a detailed blog post of this whole process with screenshots,
including shots of the working encyclopedia.
http://nikhilsheth.blogspot.com/2011/01/troubleshooting-wikipedia-for-schoo…
I'll make these updates on the wiki page soon.
http://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition
It would be great if someone can download from the above links and let me
know if it's all working properly or not. Do let me know if I'm doing
anything wrong here.
Cheers,
Nikhil Sheth
+91-966-583-1250
Pune, India
Teach For India <http://www.teachforindia.org> Fellow, 2011-13
www.nikhilsheth.tk
Find me on: Twitter <http://twitter.com/nikhiljs> |
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On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 1:18 AM, Emmanuel Engelhart
<emmanuel(a)engelhart.org>wrote:
> On 01/20/2011 07:35 PM, Nikhil Sheth wrote:
> > Taking it to the logical next step, I've created a wiki page for this
> > campaign:
> >
> > http://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition
>
> I have sign up.
>
> > I will do my best to incorporate all your advice there; requesting you
> > to jump in as well!
> >
> > All are requested to gather here and collaborate! (including mumbai and
> > pune wikipedia lists here as well). Urging the volunteers who obtain the
> > wikipedia for schools dump to enlist themselves here, and we'll be
> > listing the schools that we empower - one by one!
> >
> > I'm proud to mention that a school I'm volunteering in Pune, where some
> > Teach For India fellows are teaching, is the first "empowered" school,
> > where I've installed Wikipedia for Schools in the computer lab and the
> > office! It's an under-resourced school but now the kids there have
> > access to a wealth of knowledge! And you should see them in action!
>
> I'm sure this was a great reward for your work. I never have had this
> chance!
>
> > Why I created the page in wikia : In Wikipedia, when I went to create a
> > new page, it clearly said the content ought to be encyclopedic in nature
> > - whereas THIS is more of a movement and recruitment page. So to be on
> > the safe side I went to the education wikia where things are a little
> > sparse ;). I've worked with wikia in toastmasters.wikia.com
> > <http://toastmasters.wikia.com> and am comfortable with it. If anyone
> > can establish a good location on wikipedia itself, which doesn't get
> > deleted later, and migrate everything there, it'll be great! There are
> > lots of external links on this so need to be careful.
> >
> > Further plans (if you guys can help!):
> > 1. A proliferation meetup where a lot of us can get together and copy
> > the dump to our laptop/netbook/USB drive. 1 goes to 20... and we can
> > scale up the project like crazy.
>
> Would be great, I'm interested in any simple Ideas/Solutions to build
> something like a small digital kiosk where people could easily choose
> what they want to get on their USB stick. The wireless version,
> something like a WIFI Spot with only one Web Site could also be
> interesting.
>
> > 2. To tie up with DVD distributors and bulk-produce, provided the costs
> > are as low as humanly possible. Maybe Wikimedia India could maintain a
> > stock?
>
> I see you have BIG projects, so just an idea: what about something like
> shipit.wikimedia.in with a similar principle as shipit.ubuntu.com. This
> would be certainly a logistical and financial challenge... but could be
> really efficient.
>
> An other good way to spread content fastly and for not too much money is
> to make a deal with a magazin which will be sell with the DVD... but
> someone has to take the publishing responsability.
>
> > (Seemingly Impossible) Requests:
> > 1. Can anybody add a link to versions of Kiwix that work on non-Windows
> > OS's like Linux, Apple, Android? My focus is on Android, for future
> > mobile perspective...
>
> Kiwix does not work on Android currently, but we should have soon an
> other ZIM reader which will be able to run on Android.
>
> It's also on the roadmap of Kiwix to be ported to Android, but this
> shouldn't happen this year.
>
> Otherwise Kiwix is available for MacOSX and GNU/Linux, all the necessary
> details are on the Kiwix Web site Welcome page.
>
> > 2. Can we get a version of this that doesn't have Image files? Then the
> > size will be much lesser. Of course, that's less attractive, but I'm
> > looking for an opportunity to take this to mobile devices. How can we
> > edit a .ZIM file?
>
> This should be possible with a little bit work.
>
> Regards
> Emmanuel
>
[Copying the announcement]
Starting Point: Brahmins' Coffee Bar, Shankarapuram
Ending Point: Gandhi Bazaar Circle.
Unlike previous photo walks, in this edition for a change we will start the
walk by having breakfast at Brahmins' Coffee Bar. Then we will criss cross
in Basavanagudi to cover various landmarks like Shankara Mutta, Ramakrishna
Ashrama, Bull Temple, Krishnarao park etc. ( mentioned in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basavanagudi )
Here's the approximate route map:
http://maps.google.co.in/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0
&msid=205763748212391757461.0004998bb705dbbeafcc1&ll
=12.949231%2C77.569656&spn=0.023505%2C0.038581&z=15
This walk will be second edition of Bangalore-loves-Wikipedia initiative.
Please tag your photographs wiith "bangaloreloveswiki".
In case of any queries feel free to call Sandeep at 9845753994.
More info on:
http://wikimedia.in/wiki/Bangalore_loves_Wikipedia/Feb-5-2011
Also, a note about the Wikipedia loves Bangalore #1:
We had an overwhelming response to the last edition with hundreds of photos
coming in. We're in the process of sorting out this huge number of photos to
upload the best ones to commons (as there are redundant ones of the same).
Volunteers are invited and are most welcome to take part in the selection
process as well. Please write back to me off-the-list for this.
--
Hari Prasad Nadig
http://hpnadig.net | http://twitter.com/hpnadighttp://flickr.com/hpnadig
Hello Everyone:
Just wanted to send an update of the next steps that are needed to get
the Chapter operational.
1. We have applied for certified copy of the Kannada version and it is
expected by this weekend.
2. We then need to get a notarized English translation and that should
be available soon.
3. We then need a PAN number before we can set up a bank account
because the bank will ask for PAN. So we will have to apply for PAN
soon after we get English version and this should normally take 2
weeks after applying. Further we need a TAN and will apply for this
with PAN.
4. We can then open a bank account and start accepting membership.
Sorry that this is all taking so long but we do hope to be up and
running very soon - please do bear with us till then.
Best,
Gautam
I found it very useful, so sharing - in case people want to use in
presentations.
Bishakha
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:13:44 -0800
From: Andrew Lih
Subject: [Internal-l] JESS3 visualization of Wikipedia
To: internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
FYI, today the JESS3 agency released a very cool animation/explanation of
Wikipedia.
Narrated by Jimmy Wales, executive produced by William Beutler (The
Wikipedian blog), with other WMF employees' and Wikipedians' help.
Here's the tweet: Awesome animation/explanation of Wikipedia by
@thewikipedian @jess3 agency, @jimmy_wales narrates
http://bit.ly/dIfozx
Hi Emmanuel,
Thanks for your detailed help!
Taking it to the logical next step, I've created a wiki page for this
campaign:
http://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition
I will do my best to incorporate all your advice there; requesting you to
jump in as well!
All are requested to gather here and collaborate! (including mumbai and pune
wikipedia lists here as well). Urging the volunteers who obtain the
wikipedia for schools dump to enlist themselves here, and we'll be listing
the schools that we empower - one by one!
I'm proud to mention that a school I'm volunteering in Pune, where some
Teach For India fellows are teaching, is the first "empowered" school, where
I've installed Wikipedia for Schools in the computer lab and the office!
It's an under-resourced school but now the kids there have access to a
wealth of knowledge! And you should see them in action!
Why I created the page in wikia : In Wikipedia, when I went to create a new
page, it clearly said the content ought to be encyclopedic in nature -
whereas THIS is more of a movement and recruitment page. So to be on the
safe side I went to the education wikia where things are a little sparse ;).
I've worked with wikia in toastmasters.wikia.com and am comfortable with it.
If anyone can establish a good location on wikipedia itself, which doesn't
get deleted later, and migrate everything there, it'll be great! There are
lots of external links on this so need to be careful.
Further plans (if you guys can help!):
1. A proliferation meetup where a lot of us can get together and copy the
dump to our laptop/netbook/USB drive. 1 goes to 20... and we can scale up
the project like crazy.
2. To tie up with DVD distributors and bulk-produce, provided the costs are
as low as humanly possible. Maybe Wikimedia India could maintain a stock?
(Seemingly Impossible) Requests:
1. Can anybody add a link to versions of Kiwix that work on non-Windows OS's
like Linux, Apple, Android? My focus is on Android, for future mobile
perspective...
2. Can we get a version of this that doesn't have Image files? Then the size
will be much lesser. Of course, that's less attractive, but I'm looking for
an opportunity to take this to mobile devices. How can we edit a .ZIM file?
Cheers,
Nikhil Sheth
+91-966-583-1250
Pune, India
www.nikhilsheth.tk
Find me on: Twitter <http://twitter.com/nikhiljs> |
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/nikjs>|
LinkedIn <http://in.linkedin.com/in/nikhiljs> | Google
<http://www.google.com/profiles/nikhil.js>|
RangDe<http://www.rangde.org/investor/nikhilsheth>
Join me on: Pune Documentary
Club<http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138497769525636>| Let's
Do it Pune <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-do-it-Pune/103857326346659> |
Toastmasters in
Pune<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toastmasters-in-Pune/148767611833746>
On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Emmanuel Engelhart <emmanuel(a)engelhart.org
> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hi.
>
> On 20/01/2011 03:29, Nikhil Sheth wrote:
> > I'm trying to spread wikipedia for schools offline edition in my
> > city/country. Got some interested people to join in the project at the
> > wikipedia
> > 10th anniversary meetup at Mumbai,
> > India.<
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Mumbai/WikipediaDay2011>,
> > i've included them in cc.
> >
> > I've set up a mirror website hosting the large file in parts because
> several
> > people had complained they couldn't download the original thing.
> > http://wikipediaforschools.4shared.com
> >
> > I wasn't aware of your webpage back then so used a .ZIM file that I found
> on
> > http://www.kiwix.org : schools-wikipedia-full-20081023-rc5.zim
> >
> > I hope I'm not hosting the wrong file??
>
> This is a great initiative.
>
> The Wikipedia for schools team did not prepare any ZIM file, but
> provides the collection of articles as a static set of HTML pages and
> media files directly usable by any browser.
>
> Kiwix (so I) prepared a ZIM file containing exactly these collection of
> HTML and media files to provide following advantages:
> * smaller
> * simpler to copy
> * Compatible with Kiwix and any ZIM compatbile reader and so provide
> additional features like the fulltext search engine for example.
> * ...
>
> To answer to your question, yes schools-wikipedia-full-20081023-rc5.zim
> is the last ZIM of the last Wikipedia for schools selection.
>
> > Could you please give me this info:
> > In the press releas<
> http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/archive/2008/10/2008-wi…
> >e,
> > a .Torrent file is linked :
> >
> http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/static/schools-wikipedia-full-200810…
> > I need to know what are the contents of this .tar.gz file.
> > Is it for windows or for linux? Is it the same .zim file only? Is it
> using
> > kiwix or something else? Is it pre-indexed?
>
> I think I have answered before to these questions.
>
> > On a blog post I created for this, someone posted a link to a large .zip
> > saying this is a pre-indexed packaged version:
> > http://download.kiwix.org/portable/wikipedia_en_for_schools.zip
>
> I was.
>
> > So is that the one I should be going with? The current one I'm hosting
> needs
> > a small first-run procedure that has to be done on every computer I put
> it
> > in, of opening the .zim file from kiwix and then indexing it. Also, I had
> > problems with some older computers - the indexing never took off and we
> are
> > limited to click-browsing on those computers.
>
> Your procedure is OK, but with the ZIP file I have proposed this is
> simpler: you just need to unzip and use Kiwix, install it if you want.
> No indexing process is needed any more, this is already done.
>
> We know, they are some weird behaviours related to some specific Win
> configurations which cause search engine related components failures.
> This is under investigation and we hope to be able to fix it before the
> final Kiwix 0.9 release.
>
> In any case, in the "install" directory of Kiwix, you should find this
> file:
> http://download.kiwix.org/dev/vcredist_x86.exe
>
> Please install it and it should fix the last problems.
>
> > Moving on from the downloading aspect, I want to set up a wiki page that
> > will track the proliferation of Wikipedia for Schools. But I can't figure
> > out where to create it, what name to give it and other things. So need a
> > little help there. (wikipedians, you can help?)
>
> I have no special idea about that, but a few remarks.
>
> Wikipedia for schools is the project of "SOS children village UK" and
> I'm sure they will be happy to get feedback directly from you.
>
> Kiwix also. We have already a map with involved people, developers and
> users. So feel free to add new points on it:
> http://www.kiwix.org/index.php/Map
>
> > And finally, could you connect me with more people in India who are
> > associated with this project or may be interested in networking on it? Is
> > there a facebook page on this? Mind if I set one up?
>
> Not a lot of people from India have contact us, but I will send you
> separately a few email addresses.
>
> I'm personally really interested to any project concerning the spreading
> of Kiwix and also to any feedback (feature request, bug reports, etc.)
>
> Regards
> Emmanuel
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