Hello,
WMUK's received a request for comment on this topic from http://www.itweb.co.za/ - I'm not sure why they send it to us rather than to WMZA... Who's the best person for us to pass it on to?
Thanks,
Mike Peel
On 24 Nov 2011, at 04:55, Achal Prabhala wrote:
> Forwarding a discussion from the South Africa mailing list.
>
> A quick recap: on Nov 22, the South African parliament passed the
> "secrecy" bill:
> http://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-22-passing-of-secrecy-bill-comes-as-no-surp…
> - a bill which has been criticised while in the making for imposing
> unreasonable restrictions on free speech and a free media. Immediately
> afterwards, the article pertaining to the ANC, the party in power in
> South Africa, was vandalised in protest, by blacking out certain
> portions of the text. (This blacking out happened in mainstream
> newspapers in South Africa as well, by design, in protest of the passing
> of the bill).
>
> While this wasn't a community decision (as David points out the article
> has since been fixed and protected), and while the page was on English
> Wikipedia and not a South African language Wikipedia, it does bear some
> connection to the blackout at Italian Wikipedia and the discussions
> around how to react to inhibiting media laws in the US - and whether
> Wikipedia itself can/should become a tool of protest. I thought it might
> be interesting to members of the list.
>
> Cheers,
> Achal
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia ZA] Wikipedia makes front page on IOL
> Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:24:44 +0100
> From: David Richfield <davidrichfield(a)gmail.com>
> To: wikimediaza <wikimediaza(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
>
>
> Good thinking! Also, the article doesn't mention the fact that the
> Wikipedia article has since been fixed and protected.
>
> On Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 10:05 PM, Ian Gilfillan
> <wikimediaza(a)greenman.co.za> wrote:
>> Wikipedia made the front page of IOL today, thanks to persistent
>> vandalism of the ANC article in protest at the secrecy bill:
>> http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-lashes-out-at-wikipedia-censorship-1…
>>
>> It may be a good time to contact them about doing an article with a more
>> positive angle, such as about the Northern Sotho and Afrikaans
>> milestones. I'll get in touch.
>>
>> --
>> Ian Gilfillan
>> www.greenman.co.za
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> WikimediaZA mailing list
>> WikimediaZA(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza
>>
>
>
>
> --
> David Richfield
> e^(πi)+1=0
>
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>
>
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Hoi,
The current situation is as follows: We have promised not to continue the
closure procedure for a month. This was agreed at Wikimania. When the month
is over and there has been no editing activity or localisation activity, a
closure procedure will start that takes some two months. When there is no
editing or localisation activity the content of the Sotho Wikipedia will be
moved to the Incubator awaiting editing and localisation activity.
In order to get out of the Incubator, a project has to comply with the
requirements of a new project. This includes activity by multiple people
over a couple of months. It also includes a minumum number of articles and a
minimal localisation of the user interface.
The requirements are designed to give a project a good chance to grow and
prosper. As you can read in my reply, what we are looking for is people
caring for their language, caring for their Wikipedia.
Thanks,
GerardM
2011/8/30 Achal Prabhala <aprabhala(a)gmail.com>
> Dear Gerard,
>
> Can this be true? Doesn't sound to me like it is. (Or at least I didn't
> know that LangCom even had a 'delete' policy). Would like to know more if
> possible.
>
> Thanks,
> Achal
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia ZA] Fwd: Sotho
> Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:50:27 +0200
> From: David Richfield <davidrichfield(a)gmail.com>
> To: Kerryn McKay <kerryn(a)africancommons.org>
> CC: wikimediaza(a)lists.wikimedia.**org<wikimediaza(a)lists.wikimedia.org>,
> Heather Ford <hford(a)ushahidi.com>
>
>
>
> What happens if it's deleted and we later get interest? Can we "undelete"?
>
> --
> David Richfield
> e^(πi)+1=0
>
> ______________________________**_________________
> WikimediaZA mailing list
> WikimediaZA(a)lists.wikimedia.**org <WikimediaZA(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza>
>
>
Dear friends,
At the beginning of 2011, a group of us began working on a project to
explore alternative methods of citation on Wikipedia. We were motivated
by the lack of published resources in much of the non-Anglo-European
world, and the very real difficulty of citing everyday aspects of lived
reality in India and South Africa.
We are now at a stage where the project is almost complete, and we'd
like to share our work with the broader movement, especially within
India and South Africa.
There are three languages we worked within: Malayalam, Hindi and Sepedi.
The project page documents the process and logistics employed, as well
as the findings and results:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Oral_Citations
A film made from the project is available here: http://vimeo.com/26469276
There have been discussions on oral citations for some time now within
the language communities we worked with for the duration of the project.
At this stage, we are really interested in *your* feedback, either on
this list, or on the Discussion section of the project page.
There are still some things to come, namely:
- Better (high resolution) versions of the film on Wikimedia Commons
with an open subtitle track for translation, in process
- Updates on events, meetings and discussions held around the project
(updated as they happen)
- Updates on articles created in Malayalam, Hindi and Sepedi as a result
of the project (updated as they happen)
We would be very grateful to hear your feedback, and begin a broader
discussion.
Best wishes,
Achal
Hi there
A group of us have been chatting about the opportunity of hosting an
African Regional Wiki Conference. The SA team were one of the teams who
put together an almost-successful bid to host Wikimania 2012 (and a couple
years previously too) so some of the legwork has already been done. As you
have prob seen, next week
India<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2011>is
hosting a regional conference which sounds immensely exciting and
really
something that could be a great meeting-up and learning opportunity for
Wikipedians. We're thinking that it is worthwhile to investigate the
interest and opportunity to host a regional meeting here in South Africa
where could invite African Wikipedians and international Wikipedians too.
I'd like to start a discussion about this. There's a page on the SA
meta<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_WikiAfrica_Conference>page
which we can contribute to or either talk initially here on list?
regards
kerryn (user: kaydee_68)
* * * *
Kerryn McKay
The African Commons Project
082 334 6165
skype: kerrynmac
twitter: kerrynmckay