Wikipedia-l March 2007

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62 participants
47 discussions

Notability changes from Jimbo's view
by Ian Tresman 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

In the old days, Jimbo described "Verifiability" as the criteria for inclusion in Wikipedia, and this was endorsed by the description of "Notability". Not any more. "Notability" has been redefined as equating to: worthiness, "attracting attention", supported by secondary sources, popularity, consensus, or perceived truth. And articles that are not considered "note-worthy", or balderdash, are now deleted, rather than described as such. Is this what Jimbo wants? Regards, Ian Tresman

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dbpedia.org - community effort to extract structured information from Wikipedia
by Oldak Quill 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

A link to this project was posted on the Semantic MediaWiki developers mailing list. In the project's own words: "The dbpedia.org project approaches both problems by extracting structured information from Wikipedia and by making this information available on the Semantic Web. dbpedia.org allows you to ask sophisticated queries against Wikipedia and to link other datasets on the Web to dbpedia data. " The website has a demonstration of the kind of semantic information that can be extracted from the main infobox on English Wikipedia's Innsbruck article. "The dbpedia dataset currently consists of around 25 million RDF triples, which have been extracted from the English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, Dutch and Japanese version of Wikipedia." An example of reuse of Wikipedia data in a very useful way. -- Oldak Quill (oldakquill(a)gmail.com)

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Re: [Wikipedia-l] Notability changes from Jimbo's view
by Ian Tresman 11 Mar '07

11 Mar '07

At 16:17 11/03/2007, you wrote: >Hoi, >I am sure that Jimbo does not want to be considered as the yardstick whereby >everything is measured. Worthiness is this new word created by the American >television guy and it means whatever you make it. > >There are many facts that are verifiable. that do not attract attention, >with secondary sources providing a consensus that it is likely to be true >that are absolutely not enough to merit a mention in Wikipedia (I drank >coffee yesterday .. today's cup of coffee I drank alone so that one does not >count). If you call this balderdash than you will agree with me that it is >fine not to annotate every cup of coffee that has been drunk in pleasant >company. > >If you do not agree, you may request a new project called Wikicoffee. I'm sure that Jimbo had some basic criteria for Wikipedia, and while I'm sure he doesn't care whether we use yardsticks are meter sticks, he might care that we are measured in some form. I agree that we shouldn't document every cup of coffee. But I would like the opportunity, somewhere, to read a summary of someone's ideas. Regards, Ian Tresman

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Planet Wikimedia: Add your blog feeds
by Erik Moeller 11 Mar '07

11 Mar '07

We have just launched http://planet.wikimedia.org/ , which is an aggregator for all on-topic wiki-related weblog (blog) posts by participants in Wikimedia projects. The planet can be found at: http://planet.wikimedia.org/ To get added, please follow the instructions at: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Planet_Wikimedia This is a kind of beta test, and right now, the planet is in the English language; however, I have prepared a process for requesting new languages to be set up here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Planet_Wikimedia/New_language So please add your support if you wish to aggregate blog posts in another language. Again, this is for on-topic posts, not for diary entries. All feeds must either point to a blog which is almost exclusively about wikis, or filtered (WordPress, Blogger and other common blog engines all support filtered feeds by categorizing your posts, e.g., adding the "wiki" category to all posts which you want to be included in the planet). If this makes you feel uncomfortable, you can (in addition or in substitution) add your blog to http://wikiblogplanet.com/ , which does not filter posts for on-topicness. WikiBlogPlanet is run independently by Nick Jenkins. I hope that this new tool will allow us to share useful and interesting information, as well as opinions, more effectively across project boundaries. -- Peace & Love, Erik DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees. "An old, rigid civilization is reluctantly dying. Something new, open, free and exciting is waking up." -- Ming the Mechanic

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Wikipedia to seek proof of credentials (Sify.com, India)
by Frederick Noronha 11 Mar '07

11 Mar '07

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14405629 Wikipedia to seek proof of credentials Following revelations that a high-ranking member of Wikipedia's bureaucracy used his cloak of anonymity to lie about being a professor of religion, the free Internet encyclopedia plans to ask contributors who claim such credentials to identify themselves. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said in interviews by phone and instant message Wednesday from Japan that contributors still would be able to remain anonymous. But he said they should only be allowed to cite some professional expertise in a subject if those credentials have been verified. "We always prefer to give a positive incentive rather than absolute prohibition, so that people can contribute without a lot of hassle," Wales wrote. Wales suggested such a plan two years ago, but the idea suddenly gained currency after the recent discovery that a prolific Wikipedia contributor who wrote under the pen name "Essjay" and claimed to be a professor of theology turned out to be a 24-year-old college dropout, Ryan Jordan. Jordan's fraud came to light last week when The New Yorker published an editor's note stating that a 2006 Wikipedia profile in the magazine had erroneously described Essjay's purported academic resume. The New Yorker said a Wikipedia higher-up had vouched for Essjay to the author of the piece, Stacy Schiff, but that neither knew Essjay's real identity. In addition to contributing thousands of articles to the sprawling Web encyclopedia, Jordan had recently been promoted to arbitrator, a position for trusted members of the community. Arbitrators can overrule an edit made by another volunteer or block people who abuse the site. Jordan also was hired in January by Wikia Inc., a for-profit venture run by Wales. He has since been dismissed. Jordan has not returned an e-mail seeking comment from The Associated Press. But in a note on his Wikipedia "user page" before it was officially "retired," he apologized for any harm he caused Wikipedia. "It was, quite honestly, my impression that it was well known that I was not who I claimed to be, and that in the absence of any confirmation, no respectible (sic) publication would print it," he wrote. Wikipedia is full of anonymous contributors like Essjay, whose user page also once proclaimed: "My Wikipedia motto is `Lux et Veritas' (Light and Truth) and I believe more individuals should contribute with an intention to bring light to the community and truth to the encyclopedia." The anonymity of the site is a frequent cause of mischief - from juvenile vandalism of entries to the infamous case involving journalist John Seigenthaler Sr., who was incorrectly described as a suspect in the Kennedy assassinations. And that has raised concerns about the credibility of the site. But anonymity is also considered one of the main forces behind Wikipedia's astonishing growth, to nearly 1.7 million articles in English and millions more in dozens of other languages. Wales has said he is an "anti-credentialist" - because anonymity puts a reader's attention on the substance of what people have written rather than who they are. Wales said Wednesday that belief is unchanged. But, he said, if people want to claim expertise on Wikipedia, they ought to be prompted to prove it. If they don't want to give their real names, they shouldn't be allowed to tout credentials. Had that policy been in place, Wales said, Jordan probably would not have gotten away with claiming a Ph.D. in religion. "It's always inappropriate to try to win an argument by flashing your credentials," Wales said, "and even more so if those credentials are inaccurate." -- FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please) http://fn.goa-india.org http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com What bloggers are saying about Goa: http://planet.goa-india.org/

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Why have admins of unblock-en-l blocked me?
by Rocky 7 10 Mar '07

10 Mar '07

Hi, I am Rocky7. Admins of unblock-en-l have not delivered mails of unblock-en-l since May 4, 2007. Admins of unblock-en-l have not allowed me to enter unblock-en-l Archives. Q1. Why have admins of unblock-en-l blocked me with no explanation? Q2. Why do you cling to closed unfair trial? Q3. Why do you stick to Chinese or Korean facism trial? Re: unblock-en-l identification? (Reply to Prodego) You(at least Luna and Prodego) have been stalking, indeed, and I don't think you(all admins) would be subjected to non-admins' stalking. How can we(non-admins) do stalking? We can't know even your IP addresses, unless you email me(us) personally. On Sun, 4 Mar 2007, Prodego <prodego(a)gmail.com> wrote: >Errr, what? I don't think the idea of anonymity will go away soon, >a large majority of admins, myself included, would be subjected >to stalking, which has actually happened to quite a few people. > >Prodego He's a lying scoundrel...?! >On 3/4/07, Rocky7 <FreudianJungianP(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >> >>Now admins' real identifications are needed to be revealed. >>Stop such a nasty intrigue, or all admins would not be >>trusted because of your timidness and wickedness. >> _________________________________________________________________ ウィルス対策ソフト　ただ今、2,000円キャッシュバックキャンペーン中！ http://onecare.live.jp

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Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Survives Monkey Attack!!
by The Wikipedia Documentary 10 Mar '07

10 Mar '07

As our crew ventures deeper into India with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and his ongoing to quest to spread information about free digital knowledge, they encounter an ancient (but rapidly modernizing) culture in a beautiful setting-- only to come face to face with one of the oldest forms of social collaborative networking: a coordinated monkey attack! Check out the latest production podcast from Varanasi, India here: www.wikidocumentary.org Thanks! -WikiDoc _____________________________ Change address / Leave mailing list: http://ymlp.com/u.php?Ferrisito+wikipedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Hosting by YourMailingListProvider

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Reaching the next billion (Jimmy Wales, in Financial Express, India)
by Frederick Noronha 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=156753 Reaching the next billion Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales seems focused on taking his online 'free to edit encyclopedia' to everyone, as the world talks about his plans to take on Google S SHYAMALA Posted online: Monday, March 05, 2007 at 2301 hours IST He rewrote the rules of encyclopedia business. And online search engines seem to be the next on target. But Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales seems occupied with taking his 'free to edit' encyclopedia to everyone in the world. He is headed to Japan after mingling with Indian bloggers and wiki professionals at an unconference (where crowd participates in the discussion instead of just the speaker talking, just like his Wikipedia). "We have to think of how to take it to every corner of the world," he says. India and Indian languages, for instance, are already getting a bigger foothold on wikipedia, which ranks among the ten most visited sites globally. You could find detailed information in a small, relatively unknown town of India, thanks to the software created by IT professional, Ganesh Krishnamurthy for about 5,000 Indian towns and cities. "This wikibot is one of the examples of users making efficient use of the basic tool and platform to create their own wikis, says Jimmy. And expanding Wikipedia to the next billion people is on top of his mind, even as he continues to refuse advertisements. "Every time we turn down an advertisement offer, we remind ourselves that this money could have gone into taking the access to developing countries. This is one of the things I challenge people sitting in a wealthy country with a broadband connection, he recently confirmed in a podcast from Chennai. "We have to be clear that we are turning ads down for a good reason. And that's a stand for now. Project of a free wikipedia is a long-term project and that 's a decision we take every year; every month," he clarifies. Many in the industry believe that textlinks in Wikipedia could fetch a fortune. His not-for-profit online encyclopedia gets seven billion page views each month in more than five million multiple language entries. Here to attend India's first Wikicamp unconference, he also kick-started an open book on the subject. "The most special feature is that this book will be authored collaboratively by people worldwide. These are people who have helped organise or attended unconferences around the world. It will be written openly on a wiki," informs Wikicamp organiser, Kiruba Shankar. Within days of the launch, 59 people from eight different cities have joined in. Doesn't uncontrolled access to articles lead to vandalism and self-promotion? Jimmy agrees but says such acts are duly corrected by other users. Plagiarised copies can be easily found out because the style of writing, which is unlike the encyclopedia style, betrays the article, he adds. Moreover, users take pride in publishing their own work rather than copying material, Jimmy says. Apart from the encyclopedia, Jimmy has also spearheaded a for-profit organisation called Wikia, which is a repository of journals, magazines, opinions and a library. The team is also working on creating an open-source search engine to be called Wikiasearch, Jimmy says. Though there are a few proprietary players in the search space, they lack innovations in the search methodologies, he says. With open source, users will be able to create their own search engines from the basic tool, he adds. Wikipedia communities can also be involved to flag the best articles that will be given top priority while returning search results, he says. -- FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please) http://fn.goa-india.org http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com What bloggers are saying about Goa: http://planet.goa-india.org/

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Human eye
by Erik Moeller 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

A very nice recent example of what our top notch artists can do with Inkscape: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Eye-diagram.svg How do we reach out to more people with skills like this? -- Peace & Love, Erik DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees. "An old, rigid civilization is reluctantly dying. Something new, open, free and exciting is waking up." -- Ming the Mechanic

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Translating the Five pillars (Was: Important Issue to Hebrew Wikipedia and AdminAbuse)
by habj 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

2007/2/2, Berto 'd Sera <albertoserra(a)ukr.net>: > BTW, how many editions did even bother translating those damn pillars?? > How > many non-english wikipedians EVEN JUST KNOW that they exist? Should all Wikipedias translate the pillars? Why? Would it necessarily work, if they did? Most of the projects probably have lots to learn from enwiki, since it is the oldest project and with all its flaws still somehow works despite its size. Most projects have at one stage or another imported policy pages and similar from enwiki, or from another wiki that took it from enwiki. Today however, whatever rules that should be imposed on all projects should come from the WMF, not English Wikipedia. The five pillars [1] is, to my knowledge, a compilation of basic policy created on English Wikipedia. There are other enwiki policy compilations as well, but it seems the pillars is the one most commonly referred to. I once a board member ,what policy a Wikipedia has to follow, and got the answer that probably these are only three: that the content should be free (GFDL), encyclopaedic and neutral. You can compare the pillars with for instance the foundation issues page at meta [2] which, interestingly, mentions the "wiki process" - a badly defined concept that may or may not be identical to the basic consensus based process of a wiki [3] and that is not mentioned in the Pillars. The project that I have been most active at has a compilation of "basic principles" [4] very similar to the pillars with one exception. This wiki never imported or reinvented "Ignore all rules", which is the fifth of the enwiki pillars. I don't think there is anything that tries to make them, or tells them they should, import that concept from English Wikipedia. I personally believe they might gain from doing so, but that is another issue - and a process of much larger scope, and much more painful, than simply translating a page. Personally I believe the concensus process a.k.a. wiki process is equally important as Ignore all rules, and deserves a central place in whatever policy compilation you have. Others might disagree, of course. /habj [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Foundation_issues [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus [4] http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Grundprinciperna

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Wikipedia-l March 2007