Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions

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This page is for suggesting news to be covered in the next Signpost. For general discussion, comments or questions regarding The Signpost, please see our feedback page.

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?"

• WP:Navel-gazing

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’

• Ruth Steinhardt (28 March 2016). "How to Create 'Wikiplomacy' - U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom says future of diplomacy depends on human networks, not just digital ones". GW Today. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

"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

• Wael Ghonim (4 April 2016), "Quora Question: Why the Egyptian Revolution is Like Wikipedia", Newsweek, retrieved 7 April 2016

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

• Ian Lang (6 April 2016), "Wikipedia Removes 'Stump' Drinking Game Article - Trending News: Wikipedia Just Deleted The Best Drinking Game From The Internet", AskMen, retrieved 7 April 2016

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

• Timothy Geigner (6 April 2016), "Swedish Court: Wikipedia Hosting Photos Of Public Artwork Is Copyright Infringement For Some Reason", Techdirt, retrieved 7 April 2016

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

• Sheryl P. Denker (April 14, 2016), "Wikipedia Year of Science: An Open Opportunity for Participation", PLOS: Diverse ideas on science and medicine

"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

• Tom Abate-Stanford (April 15, 2016), "Tool tells Wikipedia editors which articles to translate", Futurity

"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

• Sailesh Patnaik (April 15, 2016), "A four year, action-packed experience with Wikipedia", Opensource.com

"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

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)

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)

Weighill publicly apologizes for Wikipedia page edit

• Charles Hamilton (21 April 2016), "Weighill publicly apologizes for Wikipedia page edit", Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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

• Clinton Nguyen (21 April 2016), "You Can Help Choose What Wikipedia Articles Aliens Get to Read on the Moon", Mic

and

• Devin Coldewey (21 April 2016), "To the Moon! Lunar XPRIZE team looks to send Wikipedia into space aboard homemade rover", TechCrunch

Sounds exciting !!

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

One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better

• Adrienne LaFrance (22 April 2016), "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", The Atlantic

"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)

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)

Short write-up on recently deceased administrator Dravecky

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)

GLAM Boot Camp 2016 announced

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)

to the moon, anybody?

• Wikipedia:to the Moon; m:Wikipedia to the Moon, ... :) --.js^[[M:D]] 23:57, 3 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)

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)

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 [5], [6]. 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...

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)

No one will miss you

Wikipedia Editor Says Site’s Toxic Community Has Him Contemplating Suicide from vice.com. Special snowflake 203.217.39.91, who claims to have been User:Ta bu shi da yu originally, was blocked as User:Letsbefiends for ongoing problematic editing at Salim Mehajer. (See this AEW post.) The story got picked up on slashdot which is how I found it. I don't know why Vice cares about this threat, but people who want attention will always scamper for attention. For that reason, maybe Signpost should ignore this. Chris Troutman (talk) 16:12, 18 May 2016 (UTC)