Hoi,
We are at the final phase for the request of a Wikisource for the Gujurati
language. This is when we asked Ting Chen, the chair of the WMF board for
approval and where we need technical information that enables the WMF ops
people to create the wiki.
Robin has made changes to the template we use for the request of new
projects and we implemented this for the Gujurati Wikisource. We hope to
get this information complete in record time so that we can inform you soon
about the creation of the Gujurati Wikisource.
Thanks,
Gerard
http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-templates-for-new-wikimedia…
> Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 20:59:15 +0530
> From: Nitika <ntandon(a)wikimedia.org>
> It is free and there's nothing to install. Do make sure you check your mic and speakers beforehand (and the screen also asks you to check your hair!) It allows everyone to see each other's video - making it a more human experience. Also, we'll be able to view each other's screens which will make it simpler to conduct this session. We can have a max of 10 people doing a hangout at any point in time. In case we have more than 10 interested participants, we will organize multiple sessions.
Thanks for initiating this, Nitika! Very interesting and full of potential.
I have recently run a set of Google+ Hangout sessions for a similar
training exercise ("Git, Gerrit, and You!" - training software
developers in using some new tools). My experiences were mostly
positive, and it was great to be able to screen-share and see others'
screens! Two things to watch out for:
* There is a plugin or two that one needs to install in order to
participate; in my version of Firefox it's "Google Talk Plugin" and
"Google Talk Plugin Video Accelerator" (in Addons), but I think it's
also called "GTalk Voice/Video Plugin" or something like that. I got
reports that it doesn't work with Chrome/Chromium.
* It's useful to tell people who haven't done Hangouts before to show up
on chat or IRC 15-30 minutes early in order to get Google+ accounts,
install the plugin, get invited to the Hangout (if you're running it
invite-only), test their voice and video connectivity, test
screensharing, iron out technical issues, etc. In my case, I also
wanted to get them set up with accounts ahead of time, but for you it
sounds like a great idea to do the account setup as part of the training.
Hope this is helpful! And if you think these tips should go somewhere
on the outreach wiki(s), please feel free to add it or point me to where
I should. :-)
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
we can use this to create videos in all languages to teach how to
contribute for wikipedia.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Shrinivasan T" <tshrinivasan(a)gmail.com>
Date: Mar 1, 2012 7:21 PM
Subject: eidete - a nice screencaster for gnu/linux
To: "ILUG-C" <ilugc(a)ae.iitm.ac.in>
Found a nice screencasting application for ubuntu - eidete
Though the gnome 3 has its inbuilt screen recording app using
crtl+alt+shift+r
it can record only video, not the audio.
I was looking for a decent screenrecorder with voice.
gtk-recordmydesktop is good. But, we have to configure the parameters to
get video without any scattering effects.
Tried eidete. It is so good. Video is stored as webm format. video/audio
quality is fine.
Check more about it here:
https://launchpad.net/eidetehttp://www.ubuntubuzz.com/2012/01/record-your-screen-activity-with-eidete.h…
Recorded a sample screencast - "intro to gnome 3" in Tamil.
check it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg5h1-YgoJI
Now, you can create screencasts easily with Eidete.
--
Regards,
T.Shrinivasan
My Life with GNU/Linux : http://goinggnu.wordpress.com
Free/Open Source Jobs : http://fossjobs.in
Get CollabNet Subversion Edge : http://www.collab.net/svnedge
Hey Everyone,
There are over 500 people on this mailing list - but I know quite a few folks who might not be too comfortable editing Wikipedia.
I'm organising something where we can try and solve that - all while you are sitting in your cozy home corners and sipping on a hot cup of chai. Simply put, it's a virtual outreach session.
Here's how it will work. It will run for 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon. It will be conducted as a Google+ Hangout. (If you are not familiar, this is a feature that allows for free video conferencing.) It will be a combination of a presentation, hands-on editing session and an open house to get queries solved.
Agenda of the event
1. Introduction to Wikipedia
2. Overview of Core Wikipedia Policies, etc. (Neutral Point of View, Referencing, Notability, Writing Style, Avoiding CopyVio, Courtesy, Controlling Vandalism, etc.)
3. Basic Editing (creating user accounts & user pages, understanding talk pages, adding content & references, inserting links, using Wiki markups, etc.)
4. Community Citizenship (Understanding how we communicate with each other on Wikipedia and the protocols for this.)
5. Q&A & Next Steps (Discuss what your first edits after the session might be: what kind of article? what kind of edit?)
Medium of the event: Google+ Hangout.
It is free and there's nothing to install. Do make sure you check your mic and speakers beforehand (and the screen also asks you to check your hair!) It allows everyone to see each other's video - making it a more human experience. Also, we'll be able to view each other's screens which will make it simpler to conduct this session. We can have a max of 10 people doing a hangout at any point in time. In case we have more than 10 interested participants, we will organize multiple sessions.
Proposed date and time: 11th March, 3pm to 6pm.
Participants/Volunteers/Facilitators: Do drop me an email at nitika(a)wikimedia.org. Also, if you are an experienced editor and interested in conducting the event, drop me an email. I'll then send you details of how this event wil be conducted.
Do share this with anyone you know who might not be on this list but might be interested (friends, family, whoever!)
Thanks
Nitika
Dear All,
I wanted to share interesting examples of what two Indic communities are
doing to reach out to speakers of respective language, record its editing
history, improve communication, increase motivation, and inspire
participation.
Tamil and Malayalam communities prepare an annual community report. The
2011 report of Tamil and Malayalam communities are available here:
- Tamil Community 2011 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Malayalam community 2011 annual
report<http://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%…>
(Malayalam community's report
includes report of all Malayalam wiki projects (Wikipedia, Wikisource,
Wiktionary, Wikiquotes, and Wikibooks)
Tamil community is maintaining the annual report from the year 2005.
Following are Tamil communiy's report of previous years
- Tamil Community 2005 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Tamil Community 2006 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Tamil Community 2007annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Tamil Community 2008 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Tamil Community 2009 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
- Tamil Community 2010 annual
report<http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%…>
Malayalam community published previous years report in its mailing list.
But from 2011 Malayalam community also started recording its annual editing
history in wiki itself.
(The above reports are not available in English since its aim was to
communicate to the respective language speakers. It will be good if some
volunteers translate it to English so that rest of the world can read and
understand what happened in the respective wikis)
Personally, I think these reports serve multiple purposes.
- It help the current active community to share with the larger
community (including retired or not current active editors) all the many
things that individual volunteers are doing - which gives a sense of
momentum to a community.
- It help the community to reach out to the rest of the language
speakers and tell them about what is happening in their respective language
wiki
- It allows other community members to learn from others' experiences -
and also provides a contact point for any queries they might have.
- It is very useful for media / PR - because it gives a tangible story
for the press which is newsworthy and uplifting
- it documents the editing history of community every year
My main objective behind sharing this is that I know most communities don't
do this. My guess is that many of them don't know that such a thing is
possible. Another concern that you might have is whether there is enough
to fill into an annual report. I think if you just step back and think of
all the many things that are happening in your communities, you would be
amazed by how much is actually taking place. Even if it has not happened
historically, the increased activity in India over the past few months
should reassure you that there is so much to write about. In this context,
I would specifically call out the wonderful activity levels of Assamese,
Marathi, Nepali, Odia and Sanskrit as just 5 illustrations of communities
which have load of stories to share.
If you are interested and need some help, please feel free to ask me and I
will help out.
Happy Reporting!
Shiju Alex