Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions/Archive 26

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Angola users are using Wikipedia Zero to share content from the wider Internet

Via Slashdot: Motherboard reports users are uploading content - often in violation of Commons copyright policies - so users in Angola, where data is extremely expensive, can access them through Wikipedia Zero and Facebook Free Basics. --Kakurady (talk) 18:45, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Also on Techdirt [1] shoy (reactions) 14:09, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
If I'm reading these correctly, it's not that they are uploading at Commons but at the Portuguese Wikipedia. (I would think that if they were being uploaded to Commons this would have been discovered a lot sooner). --MASEM (t) 15:28, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

Follow-up to "Is an interim WMF executive director inherently notable?"

I read the piece "Is an interim WMF executive director inherently notable?" by Josve05a.

We've had some other related types of deletion debates on Wikipedia over the years where users use the term "navel-gazing" as part of their argument.

I've created the essay, WP:Navel-gazing which so far brings together fifty (50) case studies of use of the term in deletion debates.

There's hundreds more results at search link for occurence of "navel-gazing".

Could be interesting to for someone to analyze those for The Signpost.

Good luck,

— Cirt (talk) 21:02, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

2015 rally continues

Would you like a paragraph or so on editor numbers? The 2015 rally in editors saving over 100 edits a month in mainspace that I broke on the signpost last year has continued for 14 months now. User:WereSpielChequers/100+_editors#as_per_Feb_16_stats On the flipside the number of new autoconfirmed editors may be down, but the figures there are unstable and possibly inaccurate. ϢereSpielChequers 14:38, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Exam by Wikipedia replaces ‘increasingly unappealing’ essays

  • Chris Havergal (31 March 2016). "Exam by Wikipedia replaces 'increasingly unappealing' essays". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

"Many academics spend their time telling students not to use Wikipedia in their coursework, but one university has taken a different approach.

Lecturers on some modules at the University of Sydney are setting students the task of editing and authoring entries for the online encyclopedia instead of getting them to sit exams or write essays."

— Cirt (talk) 02:58, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

How to Create ‘Wikiplomacy’

"In the early 2000s, Encarta briefly outsold the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica, historically the top seller in the field. But by 2009, despite being backed by the richest company in the world, Encarta had been discontinued. It was unable to compete with Jimmy Wales’ user-generated, user-audited Wikipedia, which had become and remains the predominant model for sharing knowledge.

...

Instead, he suggested, managing relationships between countries in the 21st century will be most successful when it focuses on “analog diplomacy in a networked world”—what Mr. Barzun jokingly called “Wikiplomacy.”"

— Cirt (talk) 03:02, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

Saskatoon police removed 'starlight tours' section from Wikipedia, student says

  • Dan Zakreski (31 March 2016). "Saskatoon police removed 'starlight tours' section from Wikipedia, student says". CBC News.

"A university student working on a project about police brutality says he uncovered how someone inside the Saskatoon police station deleted the section on "starlight tours" from the department's entry on Wikipedia.

The deleted section referred to cases of the Saskatoon police taking aboriginal men and women to the edge of the city in the winter and abandoning them, a practice known as "starlight tours.""

— Cirt (talk) 02:20, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The Best Articles Wikipedia Deleted This Week

  • Ashley Feinberg (March 30, 2016). "The Best Articles Wikipedia Deleted This Week". Gawker.

"When the faceless editors of Wikipedia decide an article is not fit for public consumption, it’s gone, only accessible to the site’s top editors—at least, it was. After a brief interlude, we’re back sucking up Wikipedia’s detritus to give you the best of what Wikipedia has deemed the worst. And this week’s set is very, very good."

I'd never happened upon this Gawker feature before.

It's really neat !

— Cirt (talk) 02:22, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

New Wikmedia Fundraising campaign

m:2016-2017_Virtual_Reality_Fundraising_campaign

Jseddon (WMF) (talk) 10:50, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

Must be the subject of a Wikipedia article before we consider you

See this thread at the Teahouse - Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions#User:Uchu_RRFisher_and_an_apparent_requirement_for_applicants_to_be_in_Wikipedia - is the position being approached where being the subject of a WP article is necessary to be considered for an appointment? In this case the AIAA (presumably the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) commented on the fact that the applicant for a place on an advisory committee does not have a WP page about him whereas the other applicants do. Nthep (talk) 12:24, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Extendedconfirmed user rights & 30/500 page protection

A short summary of the new extendedconfirmed user rights and the 30/500 page protection; with links to the relevant ArbCom decisions, RfCs etc. May possibly include: a very brief history; a couple of short quotes from the Arbs explaining the whys & wherefores. I may be able to draft something. - Ryk72 'c.s.n.s.' 14:25, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

@Ryk72:Where are there some helpful explanatory links about this new development ? — Cirt (talk) 14:30, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
Hi Cirt, I think at a minimum we would want to include reference to this [RfC] and the ArbCom [decision]. I'd also consider that we might call out the recent changes/additions at WP:Protection policy#Arbitration 30.2F500 protection, WP:Requests for page protection, WP:User access levels, WP:Requests for permissions, and any highlights in the discussions on the associated Talk pages. - Ryk72 'c.s.n.s.' 14:44, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
Okay, thank you, hopefully that is helpful information for The Signpost editors ! :) — Cirt (talk) 14:46, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
There are also some additional links in the Notes: section of Special:AbuseFilter/698, which explain some of the history; but I think it would be a little bit following the White Rabbit to include full details of all of them. - Ryk72 'c.s.n.s.' 15:08, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Server migration will prevent editing

I think it would be a good idea to follow up on Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-03-09/Technology report with a brief announcement of the new dates. There is information in m:Tech/Server switch 2016, and the official schedule is at wikitech:Switch Datacenter#Schedule for Q3 FY2015-2016 rollout. This will start at 14:00 UTC on Tuesday, 19 April and Thursday, 21 April, which is mid-afternoon for many of our European editors and morning for North American editors. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 17:32, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Senate candidate David Jolly's PR office edits article

...and admits it to Buzzfeed. Two news reports state that David Jolly's PR firm has been editing the article on him. He is a candidate for the US Senate in Florida. See Buzzfeed and The Hill. A staffer with a similar user name has said s/he made edits to Jolly's page. They have only 2 edits, which look quite POV. They have disclosed in the Buzzfeed story, but not yet on-Wiki, per WP:PAID. Smallbones(smalltalk) 18:28, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Why the Egyptian Revolution is Like Wikipedia

By the notable Wael Ghonim.

— Cirt (talk) 23:39, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Trending News: Wikipedia Just Deleted The Best Drinking Game From The Internet

Interesting passage:

"The entry for Stump was one of them, with Wikipedia's reason being that the game's not notable enough. But Jimmy Fallon and Elijah Wood played it on Late Night in 2010, so here's hoping more attention will raise its profile enough to keep the page alive."

— Cirt (talk) 23:44, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Swedish Court: Wikipedia Hosting Photos Of Public Artwork Is Copyright Infringement For Some Reason

Perhaps this one could use some more digging and investigative journalism as an in-depth story by the talented people at The Signpost ?

Just a suggestion,

— Cirt (talk) 23:47, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia Year of Science: An Open Opportunity for Participation

"The Wiki Education Foundation (Wiki Ed) has announced the 2016 Wikipedia Year of Science, an initiative to improve Wikipedia’s potential for communicating science to the public. Through its Classroom Program (where students write Wikipedia articles on class-related topics in place of a traditional research paper) and with collaborations from Wikipedia editors, Wiki Ed will engage scientists to improve the breadth and depth of scientific content on Wikipedia."

— Cirt (talk) 18:50, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Tool tells Wikipedia editors which articles to translate

"To help editors in different linguistic communities identify important missing articles, computer scientists at Stanford and the Wikimedia Foundation have created a recommendation tool that identifies the most important articles not yet available in a given language. Editors can use these recommendations and, if they are multilingual, find an article in a second language familiar to them and get other help in order to translate the article for local Wikipedia readers.

— Cirt (talk) 18:52, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

A four year, action-packed experience with Wikipedia

"I consider myself to be an Odia Wikimedian. I contribute Odia knowledge (the predominant language of the Indian state of Odisha) to many Wikimedia projects, like Wikipedia and Wikisource, by writing articles and correcting mistakes in articles. I also contribute to Hindi and English Wikipedia articles.

1st day at Odia Wikipedia meetupMy love for Wikimedia started while I was reading an article about the Bangladesh Liberation war on the English Wikipedia after my 10th board exam..."

— Cirt (talk) 18:55, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Reed Elsevier, Scholastic and other publishing houses target Wikipedia in "bizarre anti-piracy rampage"

See https://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-publisher-goes-on-a-bizarre-anti-piracy-rampage-160414/ (coverage of DMCA takedown notices received by Google). Some other media coverage: [2], [3] (in French), [4] (in German, observing that such "absurd" takedown notices against Wikipedia have only become frequent recently, since the end of 2015). Regards, HaeB (talk) 05:46, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

This does indeed seem odd. I can readily believe that major publishers could issue vast numbers of valid takedown notices for copyvio text that still lingers in WP articles, despite our considerable efforts to remove it - but this doesn't seem to be what's happening. Scolastic's request of 1 April (Request ID: 329507) 1lists many sites, but the only WP page listed is User:Robertson-Glasgow, which is just a huge bibliograpy of things he's read, some no doubt published by Scholastic. Johnbod (talk) 13:21, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better

Done, previously published

via User:Fuzheado: One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better - article in The Atlantic - mention how it would be difficult for a user to follow the citations for verification of WP articles, and proposes a verifiability meter which could serve as an indicator. - kosboot (talk) 16:12, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

We covered that study in the February edition of "Recent research"/the Wikimedia Research Newsletter (see also talk page there). Regards, Tbayer (WMF) (talk) 03:18, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Weighill publicly apologizes for Wikipedia page edit

Follow-up development to previously reported in The Signpost, at:

"Saskatoon police delete Wikipedia content about police brutality".

Cheers,

— Cirt (talk) 23:53, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

You Can Help Choose What Wikipedia Articles Aliens Get to Read on the Moon

and

Sounds exciting !!

— Cirt (talk) 23:55, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

WMF Global Ban - follow-up to prior coverage in The Signpost

  1. Prior coverage in The Signpost at Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-03-23/News and notes.
  2. Request for Comment that was started 6 days prior to the WMF action, at LINK.
  3. WMFOffice (talk · contribs) action at Meta DIFF and English Wikipedia DIFF.
  4. May be verified at LINK, and can also be seen at LINK.

Thank you,

— Cirt (talk) 01:01, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better

"Researchers say the online encyclopedia should have a source-o-meter on each page, reflecting the quality of citations"

...

— Cirt (talk) 00:50, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

  • Alas, "quality" has diverse interpretations. It's hard enough already to organize good Wikipedia:Assessments to put on the talk page. Imagine getting assessments good enough to put directly onto the article. Jim.henderson (talk) 18:51, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

GLAM Boot Camp 2016 announced

Done, thank you

I'd like to announce that we are now taking signups for GLAM Boot Camp 2016. GLAM Boot Camp is a skills-building workshop for established Wikipedians interested in GLAM-Wiki projects. It will take place in June in Washington, D.C., and travel will be funded for all participants from North America. The Signpost carried a piece on the first GLAM Boot Camp in 2013, and I'd love to have the 2016 event carried in the Signpost as well, to help get the word out to potentially interested editors. Thanks! Dominic·t 20:07, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Short write-up on recently deceased administrator Dravecky

Done, thank you

Long-time editor and administrator Ed Dravecky (talk · contribs) died on April 23, 2016. Comments are at his user talk page, Deceased Wikipedians, and the administrator's noticeboard (permalink).

Off-wiki memorial comments are in many places, some of which are mentioned on the links above. The local paper did a nice write up about him (archive). A Google search for "Ed Dravecky" filtered for only pages last updated since April 23 is probably the best way to find other public memorial-type comments. There are no doubt many more on social-media pages that aren't publicly indexed.

If nobody has the time to do a better write-up, here's a start. It's based on a condensed version of what is on the Deceased Wikipedians page, his user talk page, and his user page and sub-pages:

--cut here--

Long-time and still-active Wikipedia administrator Dravecky (talk · contribs) died unexpectedly on April 23, 2016 while attending WhoFest 3 in Dallas, Texas. He was 47. Dravecky was active in several WikiProjects, including WikiProject Alabama and WikiProject Radio Stations. He claimed at least 145 Did You Know? credits, and had numerous barnstars and other awards. He was also active on the Commons, with his most recent Commons upload (a crop of Turtle pin.jpg) was made less than a week before his death.

--cut here--

davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 20:59, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

I would add, "He co-founded FenCon and WhoFest and was well known in the science fiction and fantasy convention world. He was an Eagle Scout and one of the first graduates of United States Space Camp after its creation. Although he was Georgia Tech alum, his heart belonged to the University of Alabama's football team." I would also add that he was a native of Huntsville, Alabama, but lived in Dallas. I don't think WP:OUTING applies now. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:15, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
I was more concerned with WP:NOTTOOLONGNOTTOOSHORT - so I erred on the side of short. I agree, "outing" doesn't apply, especially since he already said most if not all of those things on-Wiki at one point or another. I wouldn't have any problem removing some of the content I suggested in favor of some of the content Neutralhomer proposed in order to keep the length appropriate. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 00:24, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Beautiful, in my view. "Well-known", hyphenated, and "a Georgia Tech alumnus" would be my only copy-edits to Neutralhomer's extremely thoughtful and otherwise unimpeachable contribution (the gender-differentiated Latin derivation of "alumnus" and "alumna" is a subject I am confident would have provoked at most an extremely friendly debate with Ed D., says this women's-college alumna who, as "Julie," suffered with "Edouard" through first-year high school French in 1982-1983, but I suspect he would have embraced the side of Romance-language geekery and consequent correct nomenclature). Julietdeltalima (talk) 00:56, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
@Julietdeltalima: I am having a hard time visualizing what you want. Can you write up your own draft for what you think should be in the Signpost? Thanks. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 01:51, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
How about this....
--cut here--
Long-time and still-active Wikipedia administrator Ed Dravecky (talk · contribs) III died unexpectedly on April 23, 2016, while attending WhoFest 3 near his home in Dallas, Texas. He was 47 years old.
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Dravecky was active in several WikiProjects, including WikiProject Alabama and WikiProject Radio Stations. He claimed at least 145 Did You Know? credits, and had numerous barnstars and other awards. He was also active on the Commons, with his most recent Commons upload (a crop of Turtle pin.jpg) was made less than a week before his death.
He was the co-founder of FenCon and WhoFest and was well-known in the science fiction and fantasy convention world. He was an Eagle Scout and one of the first graduates of United States Space Camp after its creation. Although he was Georgia Tech alum, his heart belonged to the University of Alabama's football team.
--cut here--
The last paragraph could be trimmed some or brought into the other sections by a much better writer than I. This way, it allows the best of what Davidwr has written about Dravecky on Wiki and what Julietdeltalima and I have written about him off-Wiki. I would be open to any trimming or editing that anyone feels needs to be done. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 02:25, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Thanks. I agree, some trimming/consolidation may be in order. Also, some things, such as Eagle Scout and United States Space Camp, should probably be Wikilinked. Are there any experienced Signpost contributors around who can help massage this into something that would "look good" on the Signpost? davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 03:42, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
It's up to you, and I'm no longer officially affiliated with the Signpost, but I think that if you all wanted to write a full obituary they'd run it. Otherwise I'd structure it like a brief note. Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 07:53, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and for providing the draft write-up above. We'll definitely include it in the next issue (as Ed says, either as a note in "News and notes" or as a full obituary if his wiki-friends would like to write one). Condolences.
(Thanks also for the news items in the preceding sections.) Andreas JN466 11:26, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
My apologies that I wasn't clear. My only change to what Neutralhomer wrote would be to substitute "a Georgia Tech alumnus" for "Georgia Tech alum". (And hyphenate "well-done".) Nicely done, Neutralhomer. Thanks to all. Julietdeltalima (talk) 15:47, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
  • Jayen466, davidwr and The ed17: I'm not up on SignPost rules, but what would a "full obit" on Wikipedia look like? Something like you'd see in a newspaper, or something a little less formal? I know there is 3 hours before "publication" according to the SignPost main page. I know we all would like to have something on there about Ed this week. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 07:24, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
    • His official obit was just released. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 07:35, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
    • (edit conflict) @Neutralhomer: I think anything his wiki-friends (and his family) would consider appropriate is fine. This might well be a little less formal than what you'd find in a newspaper, if people feel that's right. As for timing, the next Signpost issue will probably be published over the weekend, possibly Monday (we're a bit short-staffed at the moment), so you still have a day or two. Please ping me once you have a text and format (brief note for NAN or longer standalone piece) that everyone feels good about. Best, Andreas JN466 07:42, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
@Jayen466: I do have the text for a full write-up, but I'm waiting on approval from his family before including the final line. The text is below....
Long-time and still-active Wikipedia administrator Ed Dravecky (talk · contribs) III died unexpectedly on April 23, 2016 at the age of 47. He was attending WhoFest 3 near his home in Dallas, Texas.
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Dravecky was active in several WikiProjects, including WikiProject Alabama and WikiProject Radio Stations. He claimed at least 145 Did You Know? credits, and had numerous barnstars and other awards. He was also active on the Commons, with his most recent Commons upload (a crop of Turtle pin.jpg) was made less than a week before his death.
He was an Eagle Scout and was recognized as a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Ed was also one of the first graduates of United States Space Camp after its creation. Although he was Georgia Tech alumnus, his heart belonged to the University of Alabama's football team. He co-founded FenCon and WhoFest and was well-known in the science fiction and fantasy convention world. Ed worked many years in the radio industry, first as a disc jockey and later with broadcast automation systems. He was even in a polka band called "Brave Combo".

"He is survived by long-time girlfriend, his mother and father, his brother and sister-in-law, two nephews and 'a host of and relatives and friends he considered family'".

The final paragraph is a "He is survived by..." line which would typically include names, which is why I am waiting for approval. If they choose not to have their names included, which I would totally understand, it will probably be just who they are (ie: "mother", "father", "brother", etc.) without names. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 08:06, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
Do we want to leave the WhoFest reference muted, as you do here, or do we want to call out the fact that he co-founded that convention and was part of the team that ran it? That's another thing that should be up to the family. On one hand, he died while doing what he loved, on the other hand, he loved so much else that calling out one thing may give WP:Undue weight to it (he also took time out from running WhoFest to edit Wikipedia on the day he died). davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 21:24, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
I set that paragraph up as kind of a chronological paragraph. Starting with Scouts, going through to what he did in later life. This gives weight to what he did and WhoFest equally, I do believe. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:04, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
I haven't heard anything from his family (and honestly and understandably don't expect to) regarding the "survived by" paragraph, so I am writing it up this way:
"He is survived by long-time girlfriend, his mother and father, his brother and sister-in-law, two nephews and 'a host of and relatives and friends he considered family'".
I included the last line from his official obit in quotes because I really like how it was written. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:09, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
Any on-Wiki obituary should respect copyrights. If the obituary is largely based on something provided by the family, funeral home, or newspaper, it should cite the source, with quotation marks if necessary, to avoid both legal (copyright) and moral ("Wikipedia respects copyrights"). If the original source hasn't been released under a Wiki-Compatible license, I recommend minimizing the use of any direct or near-direct quotes. I'm saying this because the sentence "He was an Eagle Scout and a Vigil member of the Order of the Arrow." appears verbatim in both the official obituary and the text above. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 21:32, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
I wasn't up on SignPost rules, so I left out sources as I wasn't sure if those were typically put in or not. Should I include the references used within the obit (as I would with any article) or just at the bottom to be added later within the SignPost? - Neutralhomer • Talk • 00:04, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
I'm not up on the official rules either, but for now, if you could put the reference somewhere "very close" to the draft obit above (if not directly in-line with the quoted text) I'm sure a Signpost-savvy editor can fix it up before publication. The important thing is that it not get lost. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 16:52, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
I put the full text of the obit (along with the "survived by..." paragraph) in a subsection below this one. That way we can tinker with it there and it won't be as confusing as the multiple sections above. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 09:17, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

Text for Obit

Long-time and still-active Wikipedia administrator Ed Dravecky (talk · contribs) III died unexpectedly on April 23, 2016 at the age of 47. He was attending WhoFest 3 near his home in Dallas, Texas.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Dravecky was active in several WikiProjects, including WikiProject Alabama and WikiProject Radio Stations. He claimed at least 145 Did You Know? credits, and had numerous barnstars and other awards. He was also active on the Commons, with his most recent Commons upload (a crop of Turtle pin.jpg) was made less than a week before his death.

He was an Eagle Scout and was recognized as a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Ed was also one of the first graduates of United States Space Camp after its creation. Although he was Georgia Tech alumnus, his heart belonged to the University of Alabama's football team. He co-founded FenCon and WhoFest and was well-known in the science fiction and fantasy convention world. Ed worked many years in the radio industry, first as a disc jockey and later with broadcast automation systems. He was even in a polka band called "Brave Combo".

He is survived by long-time girlfriend, his mother and father, his brother and sister-in-law, two nephews and "a host of and relatives and friends he considered family".

@Neutralhomer: Tony1 has added an edited version of the above to this week's News and notes. Is that okay? We're due to publish shortly. --Andreas JN466 18:54, 1 May 2016 (UTC)
@Jayen466: Sorry, been under the weather, just woke up from a nap. Yeah, that works great. - Neutralhomer • Talk • 01:10, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

to the moon, anybody?

Books based on Wikipedia

On a Facebook group devoted to library catalogers, I asked what does one do when faced with a book that has been plagiarized from other sources. A number of people (more than I'd expect) spoke up to say they've cataloged books that are substantially compilations of Wikipedia articles. For the non-urgent department, perhaps someone can do a story on the numbers of books that reprint articles from Wikipedia (apparently many without appropriate attribution). - kosboot (talk) 18:14, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Using pageviews to judge reptilian appeal

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.03.037 Shyamal (talk) 09:26, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

According to one expert, nothing exists unless it has a Wikipedia entry

I was reading over this fascinating article up on NPR when I noticed this quote:

But there was nothing known about him at the time — no Wikipedia page (there is one now) or anything at all.

So, logically, this implies that lacking a Wiki page, you are nothing. Nice! Maury Markowitz (talk) 16:42, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

A new Rule 34W for Wikipedia? -- Ricky81682 (talk) 06:51, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Volunteerism

Scientific American's blog has What Makes Wikipedia's Volunteer Editors Volunteer?. I think the post fails to understand the drive by some to correct people who are wrong on the internet as the true drive behind Wikipedia, but ok. Chris Troutman (talk) 00:25, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

It more discusses persistence, than getting started. I figure those new editors who mainly want to right a wrong, soon either succeed or fail. Either way, that motive will seldom make them persist for years. Jim.henderson (talk) 13:44, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

In The Media - "benefits, and ... perils, of the brave new world of crowd-sourced online reference"

Article in the Times Literary Supplement:

The "problem with Wikipedia is not so much its reliability – which is, for most purposes, perfectly OK – as its increasing ubiquity as a source of information", and how the "indefatigable Farmbrough" intervened in a persistent example of circular reporting. Lelijg (talk) 09:56, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

ITM lead story in the issue due out later today. Andreas JN466 10:33, 28 May 2016 (UTC)
Looking forward to it. Lelijg (talk) 11:15, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

In the Media, Cracked.com

Cracked.com, a humorous site that has written about the 'Pedia before, mentioned Wikipedia at 5 Secretly Bizarre Sections Of Websites You Use Every Day. The article notes "Wikipedia Is A Mess Behind The Scenes" and takes a look at page view histories. Calidum ¤ 15:48, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Not just a mention, but the #1 spot. Not too shabby! InedibleHulk (talk) 02:46, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Community Wishlist Survey status report #2

A bit of news from the Wikimedia Foundation/Wikimedia Deutschland/volunteer developer work that has been done on wishes from the community, if that is of interest: Community Wishlist Survey status report #2. /Johan (WMF) (talk) 20:48, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

Search for new ED

The WMF Board is seeking input on desirable qualities for the next Executive Director in order to construct the job advert. This is fairly urgent, as the survey closes on the 8th of June. MER-C 06:07, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata hiring a community communications person

The fine people at Wikidata are hiring for a Community Communication project manager (full-time, either based in Berlin or remote) - this will work as a liaison between the contributors, the developers, and other users. Definitely an interesting post and it would be good to have a note in the Signpost about it if possible. Note that this would be employed by WMDE but does not require speaking German. Andrew Gray (talk) 12:01, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Andrew Gray: Thanks. Will be included in today's News and Notes. --Andreas JN466 16:21, 15 June 2016 (UTC)

Wikiversity Journal: A new user group

Done, thank you

Wikiversity Journal User Group was just recently approved by the Affiliations Committee as a user group. Therefore, me and two other board members of the project have prepared an article that summarizes its activity and future prospects:
Wikiversity:Wikiversity Journal of Medicine/Signpost draft
Mikael Häggström (talk) 13:48, 9 June 2016 (UTC)

@Mikael Häggström and Doc James: Thanks. Included as a special report in the issue due to be published later today: Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Next_issue/Special_report. Best, --Andreas JN466 16:20, 15 June 2016 (UTC)
Thanks! The page looks good. Mikael Häggström (talk) 19:00, 15 June 2016 (UTC)

Dutch minister starts article to open Writing week on Cultural Heritage

Minister Bussemaker posts her first article and opens the Writing Week Cultural Heritage.

On 29 June Dutch Minister Jet Bussemaker of Education, Culture and Science opened the Writing week on Cultural Heritage by posting the article Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels. Flemisch Minister Sven Gatz of Culture and Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort participate as well and will send a certificate of particpation to a Wikipedian who writes about Cultural Heritage in their respective regions.

Commons:Category:Writing weeks cultural heritage 2016

Sincerely, Taketa (talk) 13:10, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Wikistudies

Done, thank you

Announced on Wiki-Research-L: "Wiki Studies is an interdisciplinary, open access, peer-reviewed journal focusing on the intersection of Wikipedia and higher education. We are interested in most all of the same topics hosted on the research listserv and the newsletter, including articles about pedagogical practices, epistemology, bias, mission, and reliability. We will not charge for submission or publication, and will offer open access to readers. We will host on Open Journal Systems.

We are just getting started. We are recruiting editors, and plan to have a presence at the upcoming Wiki Conference North America in San Diego 7-10 October 2016. We hope to publish our first volume in March of 2017, consisting of submissions received by 31 December 2016." The website is: Wikistudies.org -- kosboot (talk) 23:51, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

Daily Nous

In case editors are interested, there's this article at the Daily Nous, a widely-read blog targeting professional philosophers. Josh Milburn (talk) 15:18, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

Launch of Project Grants program

Hey Signpost editors, a new grant program called Project Grants was launched last Friday for an Open Call that will last until August 2nd. It basically combines the prior Project and Event Grants and Individual Engagement Grants into a single program, and continues to fund events, projects, or initiatives that benefit Wikimedia project contributors or readers. Significant changes include:

  • a heightened limit on funding requests (from USD 30,000 to USD 100,000),
  • the working period for funded grants has been extended (from six months to twelve months), and
  • Open call periods for Project Grants will be held quarterly, instead of twice a year.

Information on eligibility criteria is available on Meta. Feel free to get in touch with myself, or the program officers, Mjohnson (WMF) or AWang (WMF) if you have any questions. Thanks! I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 01:00, 6 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks again, I JethroBT (WMF). Noted. --Andreas JN466 17:05, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

In the media, Cracked interview

Done, thank you

An interview with Crisco 1492 has been turned into a Cracked article. Surely worth mentioning in the next in the media report (even if the Daily Nous mention above isn't!). Josh Milburn (talk) 15:35, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

From Pariah to Partner: Wikipedia’s Growing Campus Presence

Nice article in Library Journal: From Pariah to Partner: Wikipedia’s Growing Campus Presence. Author/interviewer Steve Bell is an academic librarian and a regular columnist for Library Journal. He usually writes about new trends and things that predict library direction. Here he's interviewing Jami Mathewson of the Wiki Ed Fnd. Library Journal is a well-read periodical so this is a major signifier for libraries and WP. - kosboot (talk) 19:50, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Art

The Signpost isn't your typical Newspaper. Some papers still do, but in the past, beyond the informational value, Papers offered an entertainment value. The Raven by Poe was first published in New-York Mirror. It would be nice to see something like this. If not with each addition then perhaps as either a Quarterly or Yearly addition. Works that in someway encompass something of an encyclopedic benefit. Perhaps poetry that demonstrated dactylic or iambic pentameter. Perhaps some Haiku. My main example would poetry but that is not anything to limit it to as there are various forms of art to consider. I think this would certainly be an interesting addition to the sign post. Thanks for you consideration.-Serialjoepsycho- (talk) 11:00, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

I like this idea. You mean something serial-like? Or just some kind-of feature? It seems to me that The Signpost is suffering from lack-of writers/articles a little, but something engaging, even a puzzle?? --by encouraging readership, could bring more writers?TeeVeeed (talk) 17:11, 15 July 2016 (UTC) edit itl17:12, 15 July 2016 (UTC)

From the Atlantic

Here's something for "In the media": an article in The Atlantic examines editing patterns on the articles of Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, and others amid speculation that they may be chosen as Hillary Clinton's running mate. Is anyone else damn sick of politics? Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Complaints|Mistakes) 17:36, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Tiffany Trump Makes Wikipedia History

This week Tiffany Trump, written by celebrated WP editor LavaBaron, became the most viewed non-lead DYK hook in the history of Wikipedia. The story of how it scored this momentous achievement is a fascinating tale!

Interestingly, it was written all the way back in June but nominated for deletion three times, which created a long hold-up in the DYK queue as hooks can't be prepped while they're subject to AfD. The third AfD just happened to fail right at the start of the Republican National Convention meaning, through sheer accident, it went live on the same day Tiff gave her speech. In other words, had it not been for the repeated attempts to delete the article, it might have just languished in anonymity instead of becoming the most popular non-lead DYK hook in the history of the world!

Anyway, I thought that might make an interesting story. Here are some pull quotes you can use from me:

  • "I was fortunate to have a winning team working with me on this," explained LavaBaron. "SusanLesch, Jakob, Jo-Jo Eumerus, BlueMoonset, Cwmhiraeth and Vanamonde93 all toiled behind the scenes to review and prep Tiffany Trump for debut on the main page."
  • "After writing Organized horse fighting and Attempted theft of George Washington's head, Tiffany Trump was the natural choice for my next article," said LavaBaron. "She really is our Princess Di."
  • "This will be a hard act to follow but I'm not content to stop with the #1 non-lead hook," LavaBaron confidently exclaimed. "I've got my sites on displacing Infant swimming in the overall #1 place."

LavaBaron (talk) 04:10, 24 July 2016 (UTC)

Lawsuit Dismissed after Court Uses Wikipedia

Also this ... [5]


The page in question is Bonferroni correction.

LavaBaron (talk) 00:05, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

The general consensus of judges who cite Wikipedia is that it can be appropriate to cite one of our articles for background information, but not to resolve a disputed issue. For relevant discussion, see the Utah and New York cases I cited here. Newyorkbrad (talk) 15:15, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

Persian Wikipedia milestone: 500K articles

Not done, regrettably. Too stale now?
500K articles on FAWP
alt=500K articles on FAWP

Persian Wikipedia reached 500,000 articles with Wheelchair rugby league created by User:Ali Zifan on 27 July 2016 at 17:59 UTC. Started in December 2003, Persian Wikipedia is the largest version among the Middle Eastern versions of Wikipedia including Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew. There is a special page where messages of congratulations can be sent to. A celebration and conference will be held in Qalam Hall of National Library of Iran on 5 August 2016 to mark this achievement. 4nn1l2 (talk) 00:22, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Death of Kevin Gorman

Done, thank you

Prominent Wikipedian Kevin Gorman has died (Wikimedia community blog post, Feminist Philosophers blog post). Gorman was a Wikipedian-in-Residence and a critic of systemic bias on Wikipedia. Wikimedians are leaving tributes at User talk:Kevin Gorman. Sumana Harihareswara 15:59, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia, collective memory, and the Vietnam war.

Done, previously

"Wikipedia, collective memory, and the Vietnam war" is an article by Brendan Luyt in the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology. Aug 2016, Vol. 67 Issue 8, p. 1956-1961 (available online only in some institutions). Author's abstract: "Wikipedia is increasingly an important source of information for many. Hence, it is important to develop an understanding of how it is situated within society and the wider roles it is called onto perform. This article argues that one of these roles is as a depository of collective memory. Building on the work of Pentzold, I present a case study of the English Wikipedia article on the Vietnam War to demonstrate that the article, or more accurately, its talk pages, provide a forum for the contestation of collective memory. I further argue that this function is one that should be supported by libraries as they position themselves within a rapidly changing digital world." - kosboot (talk) 13:05, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, but this was already published online in May 2015 [6] (the issue date is a bit misleading), and reviewed in the "recent research" section back then. Regards, Tbayer (WMF) (talk) 16:53, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Research item

Not done, already covered

Tbayer (WMF), thought you might want to include this in this issue's Research section, if you're not already planning to: [7] -Pete (talk) 00:04, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

Oops, old item. -Pete (talk) 01:23, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

Affect of Help:Maintenance template removal

Done, thank you

We have – or now maybe had – a long standing problem with novice users not understanding the process of addressing and removing maintenance templates and because of that, not helping to fix the underlying problem flagged by whatever template they were confronted with. Targeting this, I created Help:Maintenance template removal in February. I proposed its implementation protocol in April. That is, linking that help page through our maintenance templates, piped to a note saying "Learn how and when to remove this template message" (the help page was designed with that implementation scheme in mind). See, e.g., {{unreferenced}} for it in action. See the proposal for more on why it appeared needed. The proposal was adopted in May with near unanimous consensus. The help page now gets about 3,900 views per day. The sheer number of views likely means its having some real affect, but that's opaque. This is one of those background processes that most regulars don’t even notice—and it's affect, if any, is similar: We tend not to notice negative evidence, such as a decrease in the number of people asking about template removal and how to address the issue they advertise. Nor would it be easy to notice that more problems templates flag are being addressed now, or that more templates are being removed. I thought a news story focused on the affect of this new process might be interesting (to boot, it's something I’d greatly like to know, but don't know how to target). That is, if someone has the ability to do that, with say statistical evidence from a database dump (or some such method), comparing the quantity of template removals from before, versus after, or by some other method. That’s all way outside my bailiwick.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:53, 13 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added a brief mention in News & Notes, Fuhghettaboutit -- good tip! -Pete (talk) 00:06, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Pete, much appreciated--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:55, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

New gadgets

Done, thank you

@Evad37: Two new gadgets were added to English Wikipedia recently (the only ones so far this year):

  • DisambiguationLinks - Displays links to disambiguation pages in orange
  • markblocked - Strikes out usernames that have been blocked

Kaldari (talk) 22:29, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Kaldari, I've added those to my next draft - Evad37 [talk] 01:26, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
Planning on a brief mention in News & Notes, unless one of you had a different idea (Kaldari or Evad37)? -Pete (talk) 00:06, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
@Peteforsyth: I included a brief mention in the tech report - Evad37 [talk] 00:28, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
Ah, looks good Evad37 -- sorry, I didn't read closely above. Perhaps a couple more words of context, for readers who don't know what a gadget is? If you like the language I used at N&N, feel free to poach it. Also (and I could implement this myself if it helps), it would be good if the link in prefs said "markblocked" if that's how we're going to announce it. Searching for the name in the prefs screen comes up empty. (Maybe just adding the text "(markblocked)" at the end of the prefs line.) -Pete (talk) 00:50, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
Replied at Special desk#User_script_report - Evad37 [talk] 00:38, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red/2016 Women in Philosophy Drive

If you have somewhere suitable for a quick mention, it would be appreciated. Also, depending on whether the project is a success, perhaps I could do a write-up at the end of the year/when we hit our target? That won't be for several months, though. Josh Milburn (talk) 20:13, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

Noted, thanks. And yes, please do consider a year-end writeup. I would be interested to see a writeup even if it's not a success -- often, that's an opportunity to reflect on what could have been done differently, and can be just as informative...if not more so...than a success story. (But, I'm confident you'll do well.) Thanks for the suggestion J Milburn. -Pete (talk) 20:16, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
Thanks! Josh Milburn (talk) 20:20, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

 Done

Article on the process of writing the FA on Irataba is out

I wrote a peer reviewed journal article about the process of writing of the wikipedia article on Irataba and it has now been published in American Anthropologist. If anyone thinks this would be interesting to write a signpost piece on then here is the link to the abstract [8].·maunus · snunɐɯ· 14:12, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

Would Tilman be interested in covering this in Research report? Tony (talk) 02:28, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Biographical Wikipedia article translated into 71 languages as a birthday gift

For his 60th birthday, students of Jost Gippert, a linguist at the University of Frankfurt, translated his German wikipedia article into 71 languages. There is some press coverage (in German), see [9], [10]. Some of the translations are in languages for which only a test wiki exists, such as the Svan language. Might make a nice signpost article... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.193.109.2 (talk • contribs) 11:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

ETH-Bibliothek commences mass uploading campaign for photographs from the Image Archive

Text by ETH Bibliothek Zurich

Walter Mittelholzer, Junkers F.13 (R-RECI) over Tehran at an altitude of 1,000 metres, 1925.

The uploading project of ETH-Bibliothek’s Image Archive conducted in collaboration with Wikimedia CH has got underway, starting with around 350 photographs documenting two flights by Swiss aviation pioneer Walter Mittelholzer (1894–1937):

The trained photographer captured sensational aerial images of landscapes that had never been photographed from a bird’s-eye view before. Used as illustrations in his popular travel guides, the images contributed a great deal to Mittelholzer‘s fame as an aviator, photographer, adventurer and entrepreneur. From today’s perspective, the photographs are also interesting as an image source for (post-)colonial research.
Around 134,000 images are scheduled to be uploaded, including additional Mittelholzer photographs and other collections from the ETH-Bibliothek Image Archive’s roughly 340,000 digitised photos:

  • Additional photographs by Walter Mittelholzer from his flights over Switzerland and abroad, including Abyssinia, Kilimanjaro and Lake Chad (approx. 18,000 images)
  • Portraits of formers members and students of ETH Zurich and famous scientists (approx. 800 images)
  • Historical photographs of buildings, institutes, lecture theatres and laboratories at ETH Zurich (approx. 5,000 images)
  • The photo archives of the former Swiss airline Swissair (approx. 40,000 images)
  • Extensive aerial photograph holdings (approx. 70,000 images)

In future, we will be listing completed uploads from collections on our user page in the german-speaking Wikipedia.
We look forward to you using the content provided. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Muriel Staub (WMCH) (talk • contribs) 08:07, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Prototype for new edit conflict page

There is a prototype for an improved edit conflict page. Improving the edit conflict page was wish #1 in the German-speaking communties' wishlist 2015. The prototype shows the solution Wikimedia Germany's software engineering department has come up with after discussions on-wiki and during the Wikimania 2016. Before implementing the solution, it would be great to get feedback from the international community. What do you think of the proposal?

@Evad37, @Pete would this (or a similar mention) fit in the signpost? It would be great to get an international perspective on this! -- Lea Voget (WMDE) (talk) 15:49, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Looks suitable for an in brief item in the next tech report - Evad37 [talk] 00:52, 20 August 2016 (UTC)
I took note of this, but forgot to mention here. Thanks for the suggestion, Lea Voget (WMDE). Could be news & notes, discussion report, or tech report...one way or another, I'm sure we'll include it. -Pete (talk) 18:50, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
Thank you! --Lea Voget (WMDE) (talk) 11:45, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

(Mis)use of Inspire Campaign against harassment

This month's Inspire Campaign on Meta asks: "What ideas do you have that can help prevent and generally address cases of harassment?" Some of the most popular ideas proposed to date have said those harassed should stop being so sensitive, just get some sleep and exercise, and that we should pay banned users to talk about how being banned has affected their lives. Funcrunch (talk) 02:28, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Funcrunch: Thanks. We don't have any writer free who can cover this in this issue. But it sounds like potential material for an op-ed (albeit one that would probably be fairly contentious); do contact us if you would like to write one. --Andreas JN466 16:25, 15 June 2016 (UTC)
Tempted to, but I fear it will expose me to even more harassment. I was hoping a more "neutral" (by Wikipedia's standards) writer could cover the campaign. Funcrunch (talk) 16:55, 15 June 2016 (UTC)
@Jayen466 and Funcrunch: Not sure how you would feel about a staff person writing about it (I also have to clear it with my own boss!), but I'd be willing to write an OP-ED as the person in charge of the campaign and handling these matters. Let me know what you think, and I totally understand if you'd prefer this be written from a non-staff perspective. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 00:51, 6 July 2016 (UTC)
@I JethroBT (WMF): I'd be more than happy for you to write the op-ed. You're even welcome to reference my comments on Meta and/or my post on the mailing list if that helps. (I'm fine with people knowing my full name, which is listed on my user page.) Funcrunch (talk) 01:51, 6 July 2016 (UTC)
@I JethroBT (WMF): I'd feel great about it if you get your clearance. The WMF is part of the movement, and staff voices are absolutely welcome in the Signpost. Andreas JN466 17:04, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
@I JethroBT (WMF):, any update on this? I concur with Jayen466, welcome topic. -Pete (talk) 22:14, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
@Peteforsyth and Jayen466: Thanks for the follow-up, Pete-- sorry, it's been a busy past month for me. I do have permission to write this, I just need to find some time this week to actually draft it out and have it reviewed before I submit it. I'll get cracking on it this week. Take care, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 20:59, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

A wave of image releases by Indian field biologists

There has been a major wave of image releases by several Indian naturalists. This has been partly influenced by Vinayaraj V.R. (Contributions) who gave an inspiring talk at WikiConference India 2016 at Chandigarh on how his weekend photography in the Western Ghats contributed to science including the re-discovery of Cynometra beddomei which was thought to be extinct until he spotted it, photographed it and discussed its identity via a Facebook group. Vinayaraj pointed out how contributing to Wikimedia Commons helps him learn and remember plant identification while also helping others including researchers needing images for their publications; and avoiding catastrophes from hard-disk failures. Many Facebook groups have amateur enthusiasts contributing high-quality and educationally valuable images and Vinayaraj has been pointing out the brief life-span and lost value of these images. Vinayaraj has been pointing out that contributing to Wikimedia Commons would be long-term and of value to all. Vinayaraj's own massive contributions (~18600 files) to Wikimedia Commons has prompted several other to contribute natural history images to Wikimedia Commons and two outstanding cases include:

A botanist is planning to donate 20,000 images of Indian flora which have been carefully identified to species. These new contributors are experts on the subject being photographed, cover different regions and join a growing band of editors who include Jeevan Jose (whose work has featured on the Wikimedia blog) (contributions), User:J.M.Garg (contributions), User:Uajith (contributions), User:Antony Grossy (contributions), User:Pkspks (contributions), User:Vijayakumarblathur (contributions), User:Sumeetmoghe (contributions), User:Vivekpuliyeri (contributions), User:Mymoon Moghul (contributions), User:Vengolis (contributions), User:Chinmayisk (contributions) and User:Yathin sk (contributions). There have also been smaller but equally valuable and targeted contributions by others from the region including herpetologists User:Seshadri.K.S (contributions) and Ramit Singal (contributions); and ornithologists like User:Sarusscape (contributions), T R Shankar Raman (commons:Special:Contributions/Shankar Raman) (with several species of common and rare birds), and User:PJeganathan (who contributed a call of the extremely rare and enigmatic Jerdon's courser). All these contributions will likely promote further contribution by their peers, demonstrate the value of free-licensing media and add value to existing and new articles across Wikipedias and beyond, including in peer-reviewed scientific journals as pointed out by Vinayaraj during his talk. Shyamal (talk) 16:14, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

The 20,000 images are now on their way Shyamal (talk) 16:34, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
Further to Shyamal's pulling Indian field biologist contributions together in this paragraph, some of us created a Wikiproject on nature and conservation in India on commons to try and motivate research institution held media to be brought out on WM Commons. Currently, a few individuals and 1 organisation have committed to this and a small collection is beginning to form here. prashanthns (talk) 07:39, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

 Done

Two project-wide RfCs launched this week

Two RfCs, each with a large scope, launched this week:

I JethroBT drop me a line 02:59, 1 September 2016 (UTC)  Done

Category sorting has been revamped on English Wikipedia

@Evad37: [This won't be in Tech News since it's specific to English Wikipedia.] Category sorting has been revamped on English Wikipedia. Titles are now sorted according to the Unicode collation algorithm (phabricator:T136150). The most noticeable change is that characters which differ only in diacritics are now sorted together. Also, numeric sorting is now supported, closing the 10 year old bug phabricator:T8948. This should alleviate the need for custom DEFAULTSORT keys in many cases. Kaldari (talk) 00:37, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Evad37: This is a pretty significant change and needs to be advertised so that editors will quit creating unneeded DEFAULTSORT keys. Can we put it in next week's Technology report (since we missed this week's)? Kaldari (talk) 02:02, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
Oops, I missed this post last week, sorry. Yes, I'll put it in the next tech report. - Evad37 [talk] 02:17, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
@Evad37: I added a bit more info to your draft. Hope that's OK. Feel free to edit it. Kaldari (talk) 21:15, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
Please inform Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Categories.—Wavelength (talk) 21:19, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

 Done

New tool - Template parameter usage viewer

A new tool is available to view template parameter usage. It works with TemplateData to show the validity of parameter names that are used in template transclusions. For a required parameter, it can display a list of pages where the template is missing the parameter. It also shows commonly used values for each parameter. The data is updated monthly. tool link, sample Math template link --Bamyers99 (talk) 18:09, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

@Bamyers99: The "page links" links aren't working for me. They just always give an empty list. Kaldari (talk) 21:22, 12 September 2016 (UTC)
Nevermind, now it's working! Kaldari (talk) 21:23, 12 September 2016 (UTC)
@Kaldari: The "page links" data is loaded into the database the very first time that someone clicks that link. I have bolded and expanded the progress message that is displayed. --Bamyers99 (talk) 22:20, 12 September 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Bamyers99, I've mentioned this in the next tech report - Evad37 [talk] 02:44, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

 Done

Remembrance of Ray Saintonge (User:eclecticology)

See here Ray was on of the first Wikimedians (this is the first edit of his that I can find) and operated wikilivres:. A memorial to him would be appreciated. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 14:04, 14 September 2016 (UTC)  Done

French Wiktionary Actualités

Hello,

Since a year and half, French Wiktionary have a monthly magazine on-line with fresh news about the project, Actualités. It is quite like a small sister of The Signpost! It is not targeting contributors but visitors and people interested into words and lexicography. After 17 editions, we installed Translate extension and decided to translate our last edition of August into English, to make this publication available for you. To my knowledge, French Wiktionary is the only Wiktionary with a monthly news page, and also the first one to translate the content to English. I am not sure it is of so much interest for Signpost readers, but if you think it can be interesting, Lyokoï and I are available to discuss about our work. We also are guilty of presenting Wiktionary for the first time in a Wikimania conference, and in English! Damned Noé (talk) 14:15, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

And we have good french cookies ! --Lyokoï (talk) 14:55, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

 Done

TWL "Research help" portal

I assume there will be coverage of The Wikipedia Library's pilot program to show new editors links to research resources? I was unaware of the program when it was running but apparently established editors rankle at having articles carrying advertisement of other content. Chris Troutman (talk) 15:26, 14 September 2016 (UTC)  Done

Paper on reverts by bots

See here for the original. Commentary here. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 01:30, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Koavf. I had caught the one on TechCrunch, but glad to have the Technology Review one as well. -Pete (talk) 02:17, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

 Done

Outputs of the NISO Alternative Assessment Metrics Project

NISO released a report, Outputs of the NISO Alternative Assessment Metrics Project] which functions as a "best recommendations" for collecting altmetrics (an alternative method of citation analysis for understanding the influence of scholarly publications). Of course, Wikipedia is considered an important data source, and the report notes that DOIs within WP's citations are a helpful method of verification. - kosboot (talk) 13:23, 23 September 2016 (UTC)  Done

In the media: Click here for more information. Come Together, Right Now

Come Together, Right Now: IFLA 2016 forum advocates for Wikipedia and library collaborations by Phil Morehart is a brief article in American Libraries, the online magazine of the American Library Association reporting on the session "Library Engagement and Wikipedia" at the recent International Federation of Library Associations’ 2016 World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, Ohio. - kosboot (talk) 13:48, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

New research access from Wikipedia Library

5 new publishers: Nomos, Emerald, APA, World Scientific, and Edinburgh Press

Announced: Wikipedia:Village_pump_(miscellaneous)#New_Wikipedia_Library_accounts_available_now_.28August_2016.29

Cheers! Jake Ocaasi (WMF) (talk) 18:58, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

Template for template error reports

Per this week's report and Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-09-29/Technology report#Template for error reports. I've also suggested that AWB fix the most common errors. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:30, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

WikiCite newsletter

I thought this might be of interest to the audience of the Signpost: m:WikiCite/Newsletter. It is the first major update we put together on the WikiCite project, which – combined with the short overview I gave at yesterday's Monthly Metrics Meeting – should give people a good sense of the rationale and early outcomes of the initiative. Let me know if you are interested in covering this, I'd be happy to provide more details, answer questions or bring in other participants.--Dario (WMF) (talk) 15:41, 30 September 2016 (UTC)  Done

For the next "in the media"...

BLP problems/hoaxes (or, it's a slow news day in Northern Ireland): "Wikipedia hoaxes: From Breakdancing to Bilcholim". The vandalism in question was quickly reverted after the article's publication, but it had sat for four months. I checked the user's contributions, and there were more issues outstanding: here and here. Despite the NI focus of the vandalism, it looks like a London IP. Josh Milburn (talk) 13:46, 3 October 2016 (UTC)  Done

File:Frans Hals - portrait of a man in a tassle collar.jpg

Hi this file might be deleted because it has been uncovered as part of a larger major art fraud. I proposed a special template on Commons for art forgeries, since presumably no court would uphold "artistic rights" for a known forgery that caused so much damage (upwards of 8 million was paid for this). This file, if deleted, could just be brought to enwiki for an article about the fraud, under the fair use policy. It is time Commons allowed such images as well. Another interesting thing about this case is how people turn to Wikipedia to learn about paintings (the case about the Hals painting broke in March in art history circles and in August in the press). See the two wikibumps here: Wikibumps for Frans_Hals|List_of_paintings_by_Frans_Hals and News articles about this fraud, which include at least three paintings so far, are here, here, and here. Jane (talk) 08:56, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Not sure if anyone uploaded the Gentileschi painting. Jane (talk) 06:18, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

California Law AB-1687

California Enacts Law Requiring IMDb to Remove Actor Ages on Request

See the discussion about this HERE. Thanks, wbm1058 (talk) 19:12, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

Investigation launched after public servants, staffers caught making offensive Wikipedia edits

Investigation launched after public servants, staffers caught making offensive Wikipedia edits] Hawkeye7 (talk) 06:38, 26 October 2016 (UTC)  Done

WaPo discusses how Wikipedia covers Presidential candidate bios

WaPo: The most challenging job of the 2016 race: Editing the candidates’ Wikipedia pages. At least one WMF employee and a couple Wikipedians were interviewed for the piece so I assume you're tracking it. Chris Troutman (talk) 03:39, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Yep, came here to post this as shameless promotion for WP:STiki. West.andrew.g (talk) 03:56, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

 Done

5 new partners and two expansions of free research access for the Wikipedia Library (November 2016)

Full details here: Wikipedia_talk:The_Wikipedia_Library#New_Wikipedia_Library_Accounts_Available_Now_.28November_2016.29

Cheers! Ocaasi (WMF) (talk) 19:09, 1 November 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia - Privacy, anonymity and perceived risk

There is an interesting study I got to know about titled Privacy, Anonymity, and Perceived Risk in Open Collaboration: A Study of Tor Users and Wikipedians. It talks about threats and harassment of Wikipedia editors. It would be an interesting topic to add to the next issue (in the media/research). There was also some secondary media coverage about this

There is more out there I guess. --Lemongirl942 (talk) 18:48, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Lemongirl942 - it's on the todo list for the next issue of "recent research". Regards, Tbayer (WMF) (talk) 01:36, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

 Done -- I assume, Tbayer (WMF), this will be in the mid-November edition? -Pete (talk) 19:13, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, it didn't work out for this issue of "recent research", but I'm confident we will have a review in the following one. Regards, Tbayer (WMF) (talk) 19:47, 3 November 2016 (UTC)
The graphic in the phys.org article shows an unencrypted connection from the last TOR node to the web host. This is incorrect for an HTTPS connection, as would be the case for accessing Wikipedia. This may be out of scope for Signpost but thought I'd point it out just in case. - Brianhe (talk) 19:54, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

WikiProject United States' "50,000 Challenge"

Has Signpost noted the launch of WikiProject United States' "50,000 Challenge"? Might be worth mentioning in brief. Thanks! ---Another Believer (Talk) 19:18, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Black Lives Matter in Wikipedia: Collaboration and Collective Memory around Online Social Movements

I don't think I've seen this here: Black Lives Matter in Wikipedia: Collaboration and Collective Memory around Online Social Movements. Academic study. Abstract reads in part: " Our results point to the use of Wikipedia to (1) intensively document and connect historical and contemporary events, (2) collaboratively migrate activity to support coverage of new events, and (3) dynamically re-appraise preexisting knowledge in the aftermath of new events. These findings reveal patterns of behavior that complement theories of collective memory and collective action and help explain how social computing systems can encode and retrieve knowledge about social movements as they unfold. - kosboot (talk) 19:16, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Pinging Tbayer (WMF) -Pete (talk) 20:50, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

ITM: Noongarpedia

ABC (Australia) coverage on m:Noongarpedia

- Evad37 [talk] 01:54, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. Maybe worth including, but FWIW we covered it in September ITM (The Guardian I believe). -Pete Forsyth (talk) 15:57, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Didactic story on password security

We've just had a rash of admin-account-compromises: Jimbo, Legoktm, and a Foundation staffer, and I don't suppose it's unreasonable to guess that more accounts will be targeted; I'd suggest that we run a story on this as a reminder to maintain good password security. Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-04-23/Robdurbar is precedent for this type of thing getting Signpost coverage: more damage was done by the rogue account, but only one account was involved, and it wasn't a password-security type of thing. Nyttend (talk) 13:26, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

Jo Cox murder trial

WP seems to be getting mentioned a lot at the trial of Thomas Mair, accused of the murder of Jo Cox. The Prosecution have had his browsing history checked out and are saying he use WP for some of his research, Link. Nthep (talk) 21:53, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

English Wiktionary reaches five million entries

This is a big milestone for Wiktionary, and an opportunity to remind Wikipedians about Wiktionary's existence. Here is a discussion about the five millionth entry. More statistics can be found here and past milestones can be found here. (By the way, technically this is the five millionth page of mainspace content; many pages have multiple entries (words in different languages that are spelled the same way.) —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 19:56, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

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