Dear Wikimedians,
I'm writing to announce two thing of interest to the community:
1. "The Wikipedia Story" wiki invites Wikimedia community folks to
help write the "next chapter" for Wikipedia. The result will appear
in the hardback book "The Wikipedia Story: How a bunch of nobodies
created the world's greatest encyclopedia" a nonfiction work which
will be released in January 2009 by Hyperion
Many already know I have been writing this book for over a year, after
being a community member for over five years, attending three
Wikimanias and conducting countless interviews with Wikipedians around
the world. I am inviting the community to collaboratively write the
last chapter as a tribute to and demonstration of the extraordinary
users I've had the privilege of working with. Details can be found
here:
Link
http://wikipediastory.com/wiki/Main_Page
In prelaunch we've had a dozen contributors "kick the tires" and put
seed material in. Unlike other wiki experiments such as "A Million
Penguins" and "Wikitorials" which have had difficulties building the
right dynamic for generating quality content, this endeavor has
experienced Wikipedians at its core. You don't all have to agree, but
I'm confident the right dynamic will allow for thoughtful discourse. I
invite you to come take part and help chart out the future course of
Wikipedia. It would be incredibly helpful to register using your
familiar Wikipedia username. Please do feel free to pass this message
on or translate this for Wikimedians and non-Wikimedians alike.
As always, you are welcome to contact me directly on wiki or by email
if you have any questions. See you on the wiki!
2. Wikipedia Weekly audio podcast episode 48, "An interview with Jimmy
Wales," is now online for your listening pleasure. Wikipedia Weekly is
an independent "radio show" that has been produced for over a year
with volunteer effort from the community such as Liam Wyatt,
User:Tawker, User:The Placebo Effect, User:Daveydweeb and
myself. (Thanks to numerous others who have been guests and helpers.)
We have never stumped or spammed the podcast (until now), and hope you
find it a useful public service. You can subscribe to it as a podcast
from Apple's iTunes or listen to it in Ogg Vorbis format on the web
site. We always welcome comments and even your participation in our
"roundtable" show discussions.
Links
http://www.wikipediaweekly.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikipediaWeekly
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=201998397
Thanks.
-Andrew Lih (User:Fuzheado)
http://www.andrewlih.com/blog/