Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2009-07-06
Commons grant, license change, new chapters, usability and more
Ford Foundation grant for Commons
The Ford Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to the Wikimedia Foundation with the aim of "improving our [Wikimedia's] interfaces and workflows for multimedia uploading", particularly with respect to Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. According to a press release, the grant will "fund a project team to study challenges faced by new participants in Wikimedia Commons, as well as to identify best practices from other media sharing websites. Following a research phase, the team will design and implement a simple upload work-flow, enabling users to easily upload files, select licenses, and provide descriptions." Erik Moeller, the Deputy Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, notes in a blog post, that Wikimedia has "also been having initial discussions with some of the Wikimedia chapters about possible models for working together on the execution of this project". The grant proposal in full.
Licensing changes rolled out across projects
While the English Wikipedia's sitenotices were updated on June 15 to reflect the licensing change (see previous articles), the update was not made on all Wikimedia projects until June 30. Projects like WikiProject Citizendium Porting have sprung up after this development that allows material from CC-BY-SA sites to be imported. Editors on Wikimedia sites that now dual-license, such as on the English Wikipedia, are reminded that new content can no longer be imported from sites only licensing under the GFDL. Blog post.
New chapters
Three new chapters have been approved by the Wikimedia Board, according to a message from Michael Snow on Foundation-l. The new chapters are Wikimedia Danmark (Denmark), Wikimedia Portugal (Portugal) and Wikimedia Ukraine (Ukraine). Wikimedia Denmark and Wikimedia Ukraine were both founded this year, while Wikimedia Portugal has been in development since 2008.
New skin, redesigned search page available from Usability project
Parts of the first release from the Wikimedia Usability Project, codenamed Acai, have begun to appear on the English Wikipedia this week. The first of these changes was an improved search page, featuring a simplified layout for searching and creating pages where an appropriate result is not found. The new search page also features links for searching different namespaces.
A new skin, named "Vector", is also available to registered users via their preferences. The new skin features redesigned tabs, a search box in the right-hand corner, and a redesigned search page, among other changes. An enhanced editing toolbar is also available. Both of these aim to be less confusing to a new editor, but these are yet to be rolled out on a large scale. The short and long term plans for rolling out these changes were documented earlier this week on the Wikimedia Techblog.
Update: Following performance issues, some or all of the above may no longer be available. For the latest information, consult the technical village pump.
Briefly
- A Three-millionth topic pool has been started in anticipation that the three-millionth article will soon be reached. The page was originally created—and deleted—in 2006.
- A job for Project Manager for the "Bookshelf Project" has been posted by the Wikimedia Foundation. The job, which will be filled in July 2009 and has a duration of August 2009 – September 2010, will manage the bookshelf project to produce educational materials about Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. The job is located at the San Francisco office.
- As a leadup to the Wikimedia Australia conference "GLAM Wiki" on August 6–7, Wikimedia Australia is running the GLAM Challenge, an editing challenge open to all editors. According to the page, "the idea is to pick your own editing theme and submit it, along with the edits you make related to it." Prizes will be offered; see the Meta page for more.
- Liam Wyatt has posted a video of a presentation he gave at Australian history conference: "Wikipedia: The Endless Palimpsest".
- On his blog Infodisiac, Erik Zachte goes into more detail about the traffic surge following the death of Michael Jackson (see earlier coverage).
- Wikizine #110 came out this week, recapping Wikimedia-related goings-on.
- Wikipedians held a meetup in Bangalore, India, hosted by Tinu Cherian.
Milestones
- Includes milestones for the last two weeks
- The Arabic Wikipedia has reached 500,000 pages.
- The Bengali Wikipedia has reached 20,000 articles.
- The Polish Wikinews has reached 10,000 articles with 100,000 edits.
- The Kazakh Wikipedia has reached 5,000 articles.
- The Ladino Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
- The Central Bicolano Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
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Wikipedia and kidnapping. New comedy series
Continued reactions to suppression of kidnapping info
The media continued to react this week to the news that Wikipedia had assisted in the media blackout of the kidnapping of reporter David S. Rohde. The story broke last week in the New York Times (which had organized the blackout), and the Signpost covered Wikipedia's involvement and early responses.
Commentary this week has been largely critical of Wikipedia, with some journalists and bloggers suggesting that the ethics of suppressing news are different for Wikipedia than for newspapers. David Wasserman, a professor of journalism ethics, asks "Why did media keep news secret?". He notes that, given how sensitive the public usually is to reports of news suppression, there has been only limited criticism of The New York Times and other news organizations; "Wikipedia's collaboration seems touchier", he writes, "since it involved censorship and manipulation, but even in the fractious online world the argument that Rohde's life was at stake seems to prevail."
Blogger Michelle Malkin condemns "The NYTimes-Wikipedia whitewash", linking both to the idea of liberal media bias. Times Online blogger Murad Ahmed, by contrast, argues in "Why Wikipedia was right to stop the revelation of David Rohde's kidnapping" that "Wikipedia has grown up" and that "Wikipedia’s maturity should be applauded." Blogger Adam Reilly of the The Phoenix is more ambivalent, finding it "very hard to criticize either the Times Co. or Wikipedia's conduct here" given the potential stakes of raising Rohde's profile before he escaped.
Several technology news sites follow up on the story by exploring Jimmy Wales' role in Wikipedia's effort to assist in the media blackout. In "Wikipedia and the Kidnapped Reporter: Censor or Savior?", TechNewsWorld reports the reaction of journalism ethics authority Peter Sussman: "[Wales is] acting as an editor, and if you're going to assume that role, then you have a responsibility to disclose the grounds on which you're doing it". (Sussman appears to be using the term editor in the general publishing sense rather than the Wikipedia-specific sense; Wales himself took only one action on the Rohde entry, removing semi-protection after Rohde had escaped.) On eWeek.com, "Wales Denies Censoring Wikipedia over Journalist Rohde's Kidnapping" reports reactions and clarifications from Wales himself; Wales characterizes the removal of preliminary reports of Rohde's kidnapping as the exercise of "editorial judgment" rather than "censorship". One of the administrators involved, Rjd0060, responds similarly in one of several related threads on the wikien-l mailing list:
The NYT article does make it seem as if the entire reason that the actions were done were because Jimmy asked or requested it. This is not the case and I know this first-hand, of course being one of those administrators involved. I did what I did because I felt it was appropriate. I did not do it for any other reason. Of course I cannot speak for others but I would only assume that they have similar thoughts.
Wikipedian David Gerard lampoons media reactions to the story on his News of the News satire site with "Wikipedia keeps the truth from everyone".
Update on comedy series Bigipedia
More information has been released concerning the forthcoming BBC Radio 4 comedy series Bigipedia:
For half an hour, BBC Radio 4 takes part in a unique experiment in "broadwebcasting" as it hands over control of its output to Bigipedia – the all-round 360-degree information knowledge article-based conglomerate portal.
Inspired by Wikipedia, Bigipedia is Radio 4's The Sunday Format for the online age. It features multiple-overlapping voices to create information "pages", service announcements, discussion forums and endless upgrades...
Written and created by Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen (Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive), everything in Bigipedia is utterly untrue.
The first of four episodes of the series airs 11.00–11.30pm on 23 July on BBC Radio 4.
Briefly
- William Beutler of The Wikipedian blog examines recent news about Wikipedia entries playing roles in state-level politics: "Too Hot to Handel? Wikipedia’s Troubled Role in State Political Campaigns Continues"
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WikiProject Food and Drink
In this week's edition of the WikiProject Report, the spotlight falls on a project whose subject is essential for both Wikipedians and normal people alike: WikiProject Food and Drink! This project was created in 2003 as a response to the outbreak of recipe articles. The recipe content has since migrated to Wikibooks, but the original project is still alive and well: More than 17000 articles, 14 of which are featured. Here to tell us more about this project is Jerem43, arguably the most prolific editor of Burger King-related articles.
1. As is made evident by the amount and diversity of content in the list of recipes and the list of cuisines, Food and Drink is a subject that varies widely from culture to culture. To what extent does WikiProject Food and Drink receive international participation?
Not as much as I would like; while we do have many contributors from around the globe, a good portion are English speaking from the UK, Commonwealth nations and the US. I would like to see more international contributors with a food background toning in, it would help in the translation of recipes and reference materials, especially with those from non-Western languages. I would also like to see the food and drink articles from the various other Wikipedias brought over here.
2. Topics which do not receive international participation tend to suffer from systemic bias. Do you think this is the case for WikiProject Food and Drink? If so, how do the project's members attempt to counter this bias?
It is hard for me to answer - IMHO I do see instances of that happening, though others may disagree with me on the subject. I find that the best way that the Food and Drink members deal with such issues is by finding as many sources as possible and attempt to garner information that is as neutral as possible. When there are conflicting or biased sources, I think our contributors work their hardest to present both sides neutrally, which can be difficult.
3. Of the project's 14 featured articles, there is currently only one article on cuisine (Medieval cuisine) despite the fact that the List of cuisines links to more than 300 distinct cuisines. Is there something inherently difficult about writing cuisine articles?
Yes. I have found that there tends to be either geopolitical or cultural concerns that can derail a good article. Cuisine is a subset of national and ethnic culture; as history demonstrates there are those individuals who take their culture extremely seriously. When creating an article about a culture there are always those on the lookout for things they consider insulting or embarrassing and will go to great lengths to eliminate them. On the other end of the spectrum you will have those contributors who are actively pursuing the goal of denigrating those ethnic groups or cultures they see as inferior to their own by pumping up such things. On several occasions I have seen arguments over why two cuisines from a single geographic region are different when in fact they are essentially identical except for some minor variations, or where old cultural rivalries have reared their heads to the point of massive, uncontrollable edit warring. But with patience and hard work, these issues can be overcome and a well written, neutral article can emerge.
There are several cuisine articles on WP that I believe could be nominated for FA right now, but for one reason or another they have not been nominated.
4. The project does not currently have any organized monthly/weekly collaborations. Is this something you'd like to see change in the future, or do you think the project doesn't need such a feature?
The project is so broad, encompassing WP:F&D as well as WP:Beer, WP:Wine, WP:Spirits, WP:Mix, WP:Soft Drinks, WP:Desserts, and a half dozen task forces and work groups, that collaboration is hit or miss. The organized collaborations tend to peter out due to the broadness of the subject matter. What I see happening is best described as a flash collaboration, where several individuals with the same goal come together and end up working on a task until it's fixed.
5. To what extent does the project benefit from the participation of editors with expert knowledge on cooking or cuisine?
We do have some experts that contribute, Chef Tanner is a good example. He is a PhD candidate in gastronomy that has worked on and expanded several cuisine related articles. It helps a great deal having experts in the these fields when dealing with cuisine or other F&D articles, as well as any area of interest. Any time you have an expert in a particular field working on a subject, it improves the article, the project and WP as a whole.
6. How can non-experts and inexperienced editors help contribute to the project?
That's easy, find what you like and research it. Expanding an article is easy, and when you make a mistake you learn what you did wrong so you don't do it again. That is how I started.
7. Finally, do you think the project's articles would benefit from the implementation of Flagged or Sighted Revisions?
Yeah, all too often you get someone, whether it is a kid just screwing around or a disgruntled customer or employee, who is just looking to disrupt an article. I think it is the best solution to a thorny issue.
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Approved this week
Administrators
Two editors were granted admin status via the Requests for Adminship process this week: Mlaffs (nom) and decltype (nom).
Bots
2 bots or bot tasks were approved for operation this week. These were:
- JCbot 2: To deliver newsletters for Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge
- EarwigBot III: To update statistics related to articles for creation.
Featured pages
Five articles were promoted to featured status this week: Hurricane Kiko (1989) (nom), Oklahoma City bombing (nom), John Wark (nom), Chelsea Bridge (nom) and John the bookmaker controversy (nom).
Twelve lists were promoted to featured status this week: List of African American Medal of Honor recipients (nom), Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (nom), Poker Hall of Fame (nom), List of New York Yankees managers (nom), List of tallest buildings in Oklahoma City (nom), List of Luton Town F.C. statistics and records (nom), List of highways in Essex County, New York (nom), List of Maryland Terrapins football honorees (nom), List of convicted computer criminals (nom), List of national parks of Sweden (nom), List of Olympic medalists in snowboarding (nom) and List of Gold Glove Award winners at shortstop (nom).
Two topics were promoted to featured status this week: Canadian campaign of 1775 (nom) and Music of the Final Fantasy series (nom).
No portals were promoted to featured status this week.
The following featured articles were displayed on the Main Page this week as Today's featured article: Operation Epsom, The Hardy Boys, Bruce Castle, Anne of Denmark, Hispanic Americans in World War II, Portal and Fauna of Scotland.
Former featured pages
Four articles were delisted this week. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (nom), Link (The Legend of Zelda) (nom), Doctor Who (nom) and Kammerlader (nom).
Eight lists were delisted this week: List of universities in Canada (nom), List of cultural references in The Cantos (nom), List of awards and nominations received by Soundgarden (nom), List of awards and nominations received by The Strokes (nom), List of awards and nominations received by Wolfmother (nom), List of Metallica band members (nom), Lists of Michigan Wolverines football rushing leaders (nom) and Lists of Michigan Wolverines football receiving leaders (nom).
No topics were delisted this week.
Featured media
The following featured pictures were displayed on the Main Page this week as picture of the day: Constantinople, Manhattan, Canadian victory bond poster, Othello, Bridgewater Bridge and Causeway, Trumbell's Declaration of Independence, Dar es Salaam and Firebox.
No featured sounds were promoted this week.
No featured pictures were demoted this week.
Three pictures were promoted to featured status this week and are shown below.
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The Report on Lengthy Litigation
The Arbitration Committee opened no cases and closed two this week, leaving one open.
Voting
- ADHD: A case examining the dispute on the ADHD article and the conduct of the editors involved therein.
Closed
- A Man In Black: A case brought to examine the conduct of administrator A Man In Black. A Man In Black was desysopped, and subjected for one year to a one-revert restriction, and a topic ban from the Article Rescue Squadron. Ikip was warned not to edit in a manner that could be considered canvassing, and to not be rude.
- Mattisse: A case, brought when a recent Request for Comment failed to abate concerns regarding her behavior, examining the conduct of User:Mattisse. Mattisse is subject to conditions of editing she proposed here.
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