I was describing to someone how Wikipedia works:
"anyone can edit" etc.
He answered with this argument:
"Wikipedia is the triumph of the average person!
of the man in the street!)"
(average meaning: not good, not bad, just OK)
I asked "why?"
His explanation:
"Great brilliant works are built by individuals.
Groups of people can only create average works.
If someone writes something good in the wiki,
other average persons will intervene with his/her
work and turn it into an average work. If someone
writes something bad in the wiki, the others will
again turn it into something of average value.
with your system (meaning: Wikipedia's system)
you can be sure that you will never create
something too bad but also never something too
good. You can create only average articles."
The idea behind his argument was that Wikipedia
will be a good resource as long as it attracts
good cotnributors. but it will soon become an
average site/encyclopaedia because it allows
anyone to join the project and edit, and most
people are just average persons and not brilliant
writers.
Do you think it's true? and how can we answer
this argument?
--Optim
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!
http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/
On Sunday 28 July 2002 03:00 am, The Cunctator wrote:
> What are the articles this person has been changing?
For 66.108.155.126:
20:08 Jul 27, 2002 Computer
20:07 Jul 27, 2002 Exploit
20:07 Jul 27, 2002 AOL
20:05 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
20:05 Jul 27, 2002 Leet
20:03 Jul 27, 2002 Root
20:02 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:59 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:58 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:54 Jul 27, 2002 Principle of least astonishment
19:54 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:52 Jul 27, 2002 Trance music
19:51 Jul 27, 2002 Trance music
For 208.24.115.6:
20:20 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
For 141.157.232.26:
20:19 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
Most of these were complete replacements with discoherent statements.
Such as "TAP IS THE ABSOLUTE DEFINITION OF THE NOUN HACKER" for Hacker.
For the specifics follow http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Special:Ipblocklist
and look at the contribs.
--mav
Forwarding because this (ambitious!) proposal may be of interest to people
on other lists. I'm not endorsing the proposal at this time, but I'm
curious about it.
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Denny Vrandečić <vrandecic(a)gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 6:32 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Semantic Web languages allow to express ontologies and knowledge bases in a
way meant to be particularly amenable to the Web. Ontologies formalize the
shared understanding of a domain. But the most expressive and widespread
languages that we know of are human natural languages, and the largest
knowledge base we have is the wealth of text written in human languages.
We looks for a path to bridge the gap between knowledge representation
languages such as OWL and human natural languages such as English. We
propose a project to simultaneously expose that gap, allow to collaborate
on closing it, make progress widely visible, and is highly attractive and
valuable in its own right: a Wikipedia written in an abstract language to
be rendered into any natural language on request. This would make current
Wikipedia editors about 100x more productive, and increase the content of
Wikipedia by 10x. For billions of users this will unlock knowledge they
currently do not have access to.
My first talk on this topic will be on October 10, 2018, 16:45-17:00, at
the Asilomar in Monterey, CA during the Blue Sky track of ISWC. My second,
longer talk on the topic will be at the DL workshop in Tempe, AZ, October
27-29. Comments are very welcome as I prepare the slides and the talk.
Link to the paper: http://simia.net/download/abstractwikipedia.pdf
Cheers,
Denny
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Forwarding to some project email lists so that people know that this
feature change is coming.
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Johanna Strodt <johanna.strodt(a)wikimedia.de>
Date: Wed, Nov 21, 2018 at 12:14 PM
Subject: [Translators-l] Fwd: AdvancedSearch announcement: looking for
translation support
To: <translators-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear all,
the Advanced Search interface will soon become a default feature on
all wikis. Its deployment is planned for November 28.
The feature adds an advanced parameter form to the Special:Search page
in order to make already existing advanced search options such as
"intitle" or "subpageof" more visible and accessible for everyone. It
also changes the way namespaces can be selected.
We want to announce the upcoming deployment on village pumps with this
short message: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Johanna_Strodt_(WMDE)/Advanced_Search_…
The feature has already been deployed to deWP, arWP, faWP and huWP, so
we're now looking for translations in other languages.
We're planning to publish the message on Monday, Nov 26, around 11 am
UTC. Therefore it would be great to have the translations ready by
Monday November 26, 7 am UTC.
Thanks a lot. Any support is very appreciated!
Johanna
--
Johanna Strodt
Project Manager Community Communications Technical Wishlist
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0https://wikimedia.de
Imagine a world, in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge. That‘s our commitment.
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.
V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts
Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig
anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin,
Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
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Translators-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/translators-l
Cross-posting.
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Chris "Jethro" Schilling <cschilling(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 5, 2018 at 3:33 AM
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] November 30 deadline for new Project Grant
proposals
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hi folks,
The open call for Project Grants is officially underway! As you prepare
your proposals this month, please keep in mind that the final deadline is
November 30th, and that this will be only the only open call for Project
Grants during this fiscal year, which ends on June 30th, 2019. To learn
more about this grant program and how to prepare an application, please
visit our landing page on Meta. <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project>
In addition to the resources mentioned in the prior announcement, we have
scheduled some proposal clinics where applicants will be able to discuss
their proposals or ask questions with Wikimedia Foundation staff using
Google Meet or using IRC. Some of these will be themed toward specific
topics (such as proposals involving a GLAM-related project), and others
will be more general. For a list of scheduled proposal clinics, please
review the Project Grants landing page on Meta. <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project#Upcoming_events>. Additional
clinics may be added throughout the month.
Thanks,
Chris
Chris "Jethro" Schilling
I JethroBT (WMF) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:I_JethroBT_(WMF)>
He/His/Their
Program Officer, Wikimedia Foundation
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home>
On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 8:08 PM Chris "Jethro" Schilling <
cschilling(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> The open call for the Wikimedia Foundation Project Grants program will
> begin on November 1, when we begin public review of new proposals. The
> final deadline is November 30th for all submissions. <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project>. Importantly, this will
> be the only open call for Project Grants in the current fiscal year, which
> ends on June 30th 2019.
>
> We are also seeking additional volunteer candidates to expand the Project
> Grants Committee. More information is provided at the end of this email.
>
> Project Grant funds are available to support individuals, groups and
> organizations to implement new experiments and proven ideas, whether
> focused on building a new tool or gadget, organizing a better process on
> your wiki, researching an important issue, coordinating an editathon
series
> or providing other support for community building.
>
> We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and
> complete a grant proposal:
> * Tutorials for writing a strong application: <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Tutorial>
> * General planning page for Project Grants: <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Plan>
> * Program guidelines and criteria: <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Learn>
>
> Program officers are also available to offer individualized proposal
> support upon request. Contact us at projectgrants(a)wikimedia.org if you
> would like feedback or more information.
>
> We are excited to see your grant ideas that will support our community and
> make an impact on the future of Wikimedia projects. Put your idea into
> motion, and submit your proposal by November 30th! <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Apply>
>
> Volunteering for the Project Grants Committee
> We are also seeking candidates to participate in the Project Grants
> Committee, the volunteer decision-making body that reviews all Project
> Grant proposals and decides which projects to fund. Committee members
have
> diverse backgrounds with skill sets like:
> * On-wiki editing and experience
> * Experience leading, coordinating, or managing projects with an intended
> on-wiki or online impact.
> * Background in handling externally provided money and working within
> budgets, preferably in a non-profit context.
> * Any grants you've applied for or worked in grant programs (in the
> Wikimedia, academic, or wider non-profit world).
> * Expertise in areas like knowledge equity or knowledge as a service, that
> will help us move toward our movement strategic direction
> * Software or research expertise
> If you are interested in serving as a committee member, you cand find more
> information and submit your candidacy here by November 15th: <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Committee/Candidates>
>
> Please feel free to get in touch with questions about getting started with
> your grant application, or about serving on the Project Grants Committee.
> Contact us at projectgrants(a)wikimedia.org.
>
> Take care,
>
> Chris
>
> Chris "Jethro" Schilling
> I JethroBT (WMF) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:I_JethroBT_(WMF)>
> He/His/Their
> Program Officer, Wikimedia Foundation
> <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home>
>
_______________________________________________
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Perhaps of interest to others. The use cases for partial blocks with which
I'm most familiar are on ENWP, which is why I'm including the ENWP and
Wikipedia mailing lists in this forward.
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Alex Ezell <aezell(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 2, 2018 at 7:58 PM
Subject: [Wikitech-l] Changes to User Blocking
To: <wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hi all,
I'm Alex Ezell and I'm the Engineering Manager for the Anti-Harassment
Tools team at the WMF. I have some details about user blocking that I'd
like to share.
*tl:dr;*
On a wiki with the new Partial Blocks enabled (currently only testwiki), if
the code is checking User::isBlocked() to determine edit rights, it should
instead check User::isBlockedFrom( Title ). The code could also check
isBlocked()
&& $block->isSitewide(). If it doesn’t, the code may block users that
shouldn’t be blocked.
*More details:*
Recently, the Anti-Harassment Tools team merged code to enable a new
feature called Partial Blocks. This feature lets admins block users from
editing particular pages instead of only being able to block users from the
entire site. It is currently enabled on testwiki.
This means that there are now multiple types of blocks (and more to come in
the future, ie namespace blocks). The specific new types are “partial” as
opposed to “sitewide” and some non-editing types of blocks (send email,
edit talk page, etc.) Previously, a developer could assume that if a user
was “blocked” that meant the user couldn’t do much of anything because that
was a “sitewide” block and the only kind of block. Now, there are more
cases to be concerned about.
Specifically, we’ve seen some extensions using User::isBlocked() and then
assuming that a user can’t edit the particular page that the extension
might be concerned with. User::isBlockedFrom( Title ) with a Title object
will be the more correct way to check because of the possibility that a
user might not be blocked from that particular page. If the code isn’t
concerned with editing, it would be appropriate to use User::isAllowed()
which will determine blocked status by way of User::getRights().
There is also a new method Block::isSitewide() which can help a developer
determine if the block is “sitewide” or some other type. This is useful if
the code doesn’t care about anything but the “sitewide” block type.
We believe that keeping User::isBlocked() in its current state is the safer
way to proceed because in cases where it’s being used incorrectly it would
result in over-enforcing blocks rather than under-enforcing them. A user
who is partially blocked might be treated like a sitewide block by an
extension. That seems safer to us than potentially allowing a user more
freedom than an admin intended with a partial block.
We found at least one extension using User::getRights() in a way that would
over-enforce on a partially blocked user. We created a patch to change how
User::getRights() works
<https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/core/+/471210>. In addition to
checking that a block exists, it will also ensure that the block is a
sitewide block. This will spare the partially blocked user from being
blocked in these cases.
In summary, all MediaWiki code (especially extension code) that is
concerned with checking user blocks should be aware of the distinction
between User::isBlocked() and User::isBlockedFrom( Title ) and use the
appropriate method for the kind of blocking the code is concerned with.
Additionally, using the helper method Block::isSitewide() is handy for
certain usages.
Alex Ezell
Engineering Manager, Anti-Harassment Tools Team (WMF)
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