Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2006-06-26
More featured speakers at Wikimania
Wikimania recap
28 August 2006
Wikimania recap
14 August 2006
Wikimania recap
7 August 2006
Wikimania last-minute information
31 July 2006
Events: Contests, parties, and the local area
24 July 2006
Wikimania updates
17 July 2006
Wikimania updates
10 July 2006
Meetups And Newsworthy International Assemblages
3 July 2006
More featured speakers at Wikimania
26 June 2006
Hacking Days
19 June 2006
Featured Speakers at Wikimania
12 June 2006
Other international meetups
5 June 2006
About Wikimania
29 May 2006
About Wikimania
22 May 2006
About Wikimania
15 May 2006
About Wikimania
8 May 2006
About Wikimania
1 May 2006
About Wikimania
24 April 2006
Three years of meetups : 2003-2006
17 April 2006
Introduction to a series: Looking forward to Wikimania 2006
10 April 2006
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Wikimania recap |
This week the Signpost takes a look at a few more of the great speakers and workshops coming to Wikimania 2006.
Jenny Preece is an online community researcher and dean of the College of Information Studies, University of Maryland. She is known for her work on what makes an online community successful, and how usability factors interact with socialibility in online communities. Among many other publications, she is co-author, with Rogers and Sharp (2002), of Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, and author of Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability (2000). Prior to joining the University of Maryland, she was a Research Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Research Center for People and Systems Interaction at South Bank University in London, and prior to this she was faculty at the Open University, where she also gained her Ph.D. She will be presenting Saturday, August 5th.
Clay Shirky is a well-known technologist and writer on the subjects of open communities and social software, who has been writing about the Internet since the early 1990s. He has written several articles and commentaries on Wikipedia, including recently a comment entitled "News of Wikipedia's Death Greatly Exaggerated", which is in response to an essay by Nicholas Carr; and "Reactions to 'Digital Maoism'", a comment on Jason Lanier's essay on "Digital Maoism", which discussed the dangers of Wikipedia and projects like it. He is also the author of the essay "A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy" as well as several books and many dozens of other essays. Shirky is currently faculty at New York University, in the Interactive Telecommunications Program, where he teaches New Media. Many of his writings are collected at shirky.com. He will be presenting on Saturday, August 5th, on the topic of wiki communities.
Fernanda Viégas is a researcher at the IBM Watson Research Center, where she investigates visualization of social data and visualizing social dynamics in open-source community. She is the creator, with Martin Wattenberg, of the IBM History Flow tool. Both Wattenberg and Viégas will be at Wikimania, where they will be demonstrating History Flow and presenting updates. They will be part of a general session on visualization techniques, along with Ben Shneiderman, a leader in the field of information visualization. They will be presenting on Sunday, August 6th.
There will be several workshops at Wikimania, including one on Wiktionary, led by Betsy Megas of the English Wiktionary. Megas will explore creating the elements of a good dictionary, including the basics of definition, pronunciation and etymology. She will also detail the many additional elements that Wiktionary can include that a print dictionary might not be able to: for instance, translations, audio, images, citations, anagrams, synonyms, antonyms, categories, regional variations, and even rhymes. Participants will get hands-on experience working with these different elements in entries and will be led to consider the purpose of each element.
More information on all the speakers at Wikimania 2006 can be found here.
Quicker deletion of non-compliant images proposed
The long-awaited arrival of image undeletion (see archived story) is already leading to new developments in Wikipedia policies. A proposed policy amendment is now up for discussion in an attempt to push for better compliance with image use policy, especially with respect to fair use.
The proposal was presented as an amendment to the fair use criteria by Ta bu shi da yu. Originally suggested back in February, it would shorten the time period for deletion of newly uploaded images if they claim fair use but fail to satisfy the criteria or provide a supporting rationale. After being dormant for some time, the idea got renewed momentum now that image undeletion is possible, so that erroneous deletions can easily be fixed.
Currently the proposed amendment would provide that non-compliant images can be deleted 48 hours after giving notice to the editor who uploaded the image (if the situation is not corrected in that time). At present the speedy deletion criteria call for a waiting period of seven days before deletion. The amendment would only apply to newly uploaded images; earlier images would still be subject to the current procedure.
A discussion about the proposal is being conducted at Wikipedia:Fair use criteria/Amendment/Consensus. A number of supporters cited the availability of image undeletion as a reason to step up removal of inappropriate images, with a few adding their distaste for relying on fair use images at all in a free content encyclopedia. Some concerns were raised about the time period, pointing out that an image might get deleted if the uploader was merely away for a weekend and didn't see the notice. Jamesday opposed the proposal and argued that virtually all uses on Wikipedia would legally qualify as fair use. In response, Carnildo disputed whether legality alone was the issue, pointing to a number of Wikipedia's criteria for fair use as creating additional restrictions based on policy considerations. Discussion of the amendment is scheduled to continue through 13 July.
News and notes
100 × 1,000
This week, Wikipedia reached 100 Wikipedias with 1,000 articles, approximately a year after the 100th Wikipedia reached 100 articles (see archived story). The most recent Wikipedia to reach 1,000 articles was the Wikipedia in Venetian.
Briefly
- The Turkish Wikipedia has reached 25,000 articles.
- The Marathi Wikipedia has reached 500 registered users.
- The Portuguese Wikipedia has reached 150,000 articles.
- The Indonesian Wikipedia has reached 27,000 articles.
- The Tagalog Wikipedia has reached 3,000 articles.
- The Tamil Wikipedia has reached 3,000 articles.
- The Belarusian Wikipedia has reached 3,000 articles.
- The Cantonese Wikipedia has reached 500 articles.
- The Turkish Wikiquote has reached 500 articles.
In the news
Notable academic paper
The article "Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past" was originally published in the Journal of American History (Volume 93, Number 1 (June, 2006): 117-46), and was reprinted on the web at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
New York Times issues correction
On 21 June, The New York Times issued a correction to last week's front page Wikipedia story (see archived story).
| “ | A front-page headline on Saturday with an article about the online reference work Wikipedia referred imprecisely to its "anyone can edit" guidelines, which have always restricted changes in a small percentage of articles. While Wikipedia has indeed added a category of articles that are "semi-protected" from editing, it has not "revised" its policy or otherwise put additional restrictions on editing; it says the change is intended to reduce the number of entries on which editing is banned altogether. | ” |
The change was reflected in the new headline, "Growing Wikipedia Refines Its 'Anyone Can Edit' Policy", with "refines" substituted for the previous version that read "revises".
Overview article
The Independent published "New Media: Who are the real winners now we've all gone Wiki-crazy?", saying:
| “ | The most widely known wiki project is Wikipedia - the online encyclopedia that now contains nearly 40 million articles. While the project is not without its controversies and critics, the sheer size, scope and pace of the documentation of knowledge have led some to the conclusion that what has been unleashed is "a repository of knowledge to rival the ancient library of Alexandria". | ” |
Search for Wikimedia CEO
In "Maybe they should look on Craigslist", the San Francisco Chronicle has noted the appointment of Brad Patrick as interim CEO for the Wikimedia Foundation while the search for a long-term candidate goes on (see archived story).
Internationalization
Corante's "Going Global" blog discusses "How Wikipedia Manages Multilingual Content Expectations", noting how the http://www.wikipedia.org portal specifies the number of articles per Wikipedia language.
Amusing mentions
- News.com writes, with some amusement, about the Wikipedia list of fictional expletives, in "Wikipedia presents: Alien insults for rookies".
- A Globe and Mail columnist writes about having his test edits corrected "by an 11-year-old with a bowl cut and spectacles", in "Here come the Wikipedia police". The edit, a whimsical addition to the Human article, was reverted the following minute by PHDrillSergeant. PHDrill Sergeant, who signs as Porphyric Hemophiliac and is in reality 18 years old, also left the {{behave}} template on the talk page for the columnist's IP address, prompting the columnist's discovery that "Wikipedia, like MySpace, has homepages for its denizens."
- Essayist Chuck Klosterman says, in an interview with Willamette Week
| “ | [Wikipedia is] something I'm kind of obsessed with at the moment. The thing that I want to find out is who's doing the entry for butter. There's an entry for butter! What would motivate someone to do that? There's an entry for waffles; I cannot fathom what that person's motive is. And it's good—it's got the history of waffles! It's amazing to me! | ” |
Features and admins
Administrators
Seven users were granted admin status last week: Pilotguy (nom), Sam Vimes (nom), Herostratus (nom), Mtz206 (nom), Kimchi.sg (nom), Tangotango (nom), and Joshbuddy (nom). An eighth user, moink (nom), voluntarily reapplied for adminship and was confirmed.
Featured content
Nine articles were promoted to featured status last week: Hurricane Katrina, O-Bahn Busway, Cape Town, Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), Elfin-woods Warbler, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Redwood National and State Parks, Albertosaurus, and Italian War of 1521.
One article was de-featured this week: Hinduism.
The following featured articles were displayed last week on the main page as Today's featured article: Western Front (World War I), Absinthe, Global warming, Ku Klux Klan, Canada, Binary star, and Uma Thurman.
One list reached featured list status last week: Nuclear power by country
One portal reached featured status this week: Portal:Medicine.
Three pictures reached featured picture status last week:
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Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
Last week in MediaWiki software
New functionality
- MIME detection of DjVu files enabled, allowing them to be uploaded. (Brion Vibber)
- Blocked users now able to view the source of a page in edit view, and view page modifications when attempting to edit. (Rob Church)
- Caption attributes now allowed in image galleries (example). (Rob Church)
- Customization of the submit button caption on Special:Export allowed via export-submit. (Rob Church)
Interface tweaks
- User tool links added on page histories. (Rob Church)
- User information shown in the "old revision" navigation area. (Rob Church)
- Optional language selector for user login/registration forms (not currently used on Wikipedia). (Rob Church)
- ipusuccess renamed to unblocked, now uses wikitext instead of HTML. (Rob Church)
Bug fixes
- Null edits no longer trigger the "new messages" bar. (Rob Church)
- Incorrect form action fixed in Special:Newimages. (Rob Church)
- Blank pages returned for non-existent MediaWiki pages requested with "action=raw". (Rob Church)
- Incorrect line break in Special:Preferences fixed. (Rob Church)
Last week in servers
The Report On Lengthy Litigation
The Arbitration Committee closed two cases this week.
Closed cases
- Cesar Tort and Ombudsman vs others: Closed on Wednesday, a case involving editors on biological psychiatry. Cesar Tort and Ombudsman believe the article has a pro-psychiatry point of view. Ombudsman was placed on probation indefinitely for tendentious editing on the article, and Cesar Tort was cautioned to "limit critical material to that supported by reliable scientific authority."
- PoolGuy: Closed on Friday, a case involving PoolGuy. PoolGuy was placed on probation indefinitely, and, in light of PoolGuy's multiple sockpuppets, was restricted to one user account, though he is not required to disclose the account's name.
New cases
Three cases were opened this week; all are in the evidence phase.
- Añoranza: A case involving Añoranza. Users asserted that Añoranza had been incivil, and had filed a retaliatory request for comment and request for checkuser. The dispute involves the usage of terms such as "Operation Iraqi Liberation" for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- 8bitJake: A case involving 8bitJake. badlydrawnjeff, the initiator of the arbitration request, has asserted that 8bitJake's editing on political articles was biased, and that 8bitJake was incivil to other editors on the articles.
- Dionyseus: A case involving Dionyseus and Danny Pi, and their actions on Veselin Topalov, an article on a Bulgarian chess player accused of cheating.
Evidence phase
- Iloveminun: A case brought against Iloveminun. Evidence presented asserted that Iloveminun violated fair use and image deletion policies by uploading copyrighted images and removing tags. A checkuser request confirmed that Iloveminun also was involved in sockpuppetry.
- Moby Dick: A case brought against Moby Dick. Administrators Tony Sidaway, Bishonen, and MONGO have alleged that Moby Dick is a sockpuppet of Davenbelle, violating previous arbitration rulings in his political edits and his relations with Cool Cat.
- Pudgenet: A case brought against Pudgenet, involving a dispute between Pudgenet and -Barry-. The dispute involves pages relating to Perl, as well as Wikipedia:Wikipedians with articles.
Voting phase
- Irishpunktom: A case involving Irishpunktom, Karl Meier, and Dbiv. Measures to ban Irishpunktom and Dbiv from editing Peter Tatchell for one year, place Irishpunktom and Karl Meier on probation for one year, place Irishpunktom on one revert per article per week parole, and desysop Dbiv have the support of two arbitrators.
- Saladin1970: A case involving an appeal of Saladin1970's indefinite block originally placed by Jayjg, and later by SlimVirgin. Arbitrator Fred Bauder has submitted remedies in the case, but none have been voted on by other arbitrators as of press time.
- Raphael1: A case brought against Raphael1, involving the display of images on Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. Measures to place Raphael1 on article probation for one year, as well as general probation, and to ban Raphael1 from Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy for one year, have the support of three arbitrators.
- Francis Schuckardt: A case involving editors on Francis Schuckardt. Remedies to place the article on probation are being debated.
- Highways: A case involving naming conventions on highway-related articles. Current remedies that will likely pass include a probation against move warriors in the case, a ban on moving pages between names until a policy on the names is adopted, and a warning for JohnnyBGood and SPUI to remain civil at all times.
- Election: A case involving editors on 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities. The dispute centers around edit-warring on the article, including the addition and removal of a "NPOV" tag. Seven arbitrators, with no dissent, have endorsed remedies placing the article on probation, but allowing all editors to continue editing.
- Infinity0: A case involving Infinity0 and RJII. Remedies likely to pass would ban RJII for one year, and place Infinity0 on one-revert-per-day parole for a year, requiring Infinity0 to discuss any reverts on talk pages. Another remedy cautions use of An Anarchist FAQ as a source.
Motion to close
- Blu Aardvark: A case involving the block status of Blu Aardvark. Blu Aardvark was unblocked to participate in the case, but a temporary injunction in the case bans Blu Aardvark to his talk page and pages relating to the case. Six arbitrators, with no dissent, have endorsed remedies banning Blu Aardvark for one year, and placing him on personal attack parole, probation, and general probation, as well as admonishing administrators for block-warring. Blu Aardvark has claimed that he has left Wikipedia for good. [1]
- Deathrocker: A case involving Deathrocker and Leyasu. Six arbitrators supported measures that would place both Deathrocker and Leyasu on revert parole, banning the user from reverting more than once per 24 hour period, more than twice in any 7 day period, or more than three times in any 30 day period. Deathrocker could be blocked for up to a week for violations of the ban; Leyasu could be blocked for up to a year.
- Locke Cole: A case involving Locke Cole and Netoholic. If closed, Locke Cole would be banned for a month for harassment, and placed on non-vandalism one revert per page per day parole, requiring all reverts to be explained on the article's talk page. Netoholic would be banned from editing in the template namespace and restricted to one revert per page per day, as was previously prescribed in a previous case. Netoholic would also be reminded of Wikipedia's fair use policy, and both Netoholic and Locke Cole would be banned from interacting with each other. Locke Cole has since left Wikipedia.