Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Author/The ed17
Articles by: The ed17[edit]
Obituary Kevin Gorman, who took on Wikipedia's gender gap and undisclosed paid advocacy, dies at 26
2016-08-04
Kevin Gorman, who took on Wikipedia's gender gap and undisclosed paid advocacy, dies at 24: Condolences are being left on his English Wikipedia talk page
Featured content Even mammoths get the Blues
2015-07-29
Five featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
Featured content One eye when begun, two when it's done
2015-06-24
Four articles and nine pictures were promoted to featured status this week.
Featured content It's not over till the fat man sings
2015-06-03
Two featured articles and ten featured pictures were promoted this week.
Featured content When music was confined to a ribbon of rust
2015-05-27
Fifteen featured articles, four featured lists, and six featured pictures were promoted this week.
News and notes A dark side of comedy: the Wikipedia volunteers cleaning up behind John Oliver's fowl jokes
2015-05-20
Wikipedia editors logging in on May 19 found themselves walking into an unexpected amount of anti-vandal work to keep the site in line with its extensive biographies of living persons policy. A plethora of Wikipedia articles related to the United States House Committee on Appropriations, and the fifty-one representatives serving on it, have been hit by a raft of anonymous editors making often vulgar edits referencing "chicken fucker," or more creative combinations: "sexual conduct", "sexual congress", "fornicator", "intimate relations", or "trysts with chickens."
From the editor Your voice is needed: strategic voting in the WMF election
2015-05-20
The Wikimedia Foundation's bi-annual Board of Trustees election is open for voting. Of the ten seats on the board, three are elected representatives of the global Wikimedia community—you.
Featured content Puppets, fungi, and waterfalls
2015-05-20
Three articles, seven lists, and seven pictures were featured on the English Wikipedia.
Featured content Four first-time featured article writers lead the way
2015-05-13
Eight articles, one list, and five pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia in a slow week.
Featured content The amorous android and the horsebreeder; WikiCup round two concludes
2015-05-06
Seven articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week. The second round of the WikiCup has ended.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments evaluation sees diminishing returns and increasing cost
2015-04-29
The evaluations reveal that in the last three years, WLM has possibly fallen victim to its own success and seen diminishing returns.
News and notes Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
2015-04-08
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.
News and notes New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
2015-04-01
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
In focus WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
2015-04-01
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.
In focus WMF to NSA: "stop spying on Wikipedia users"
2015-03-11
In an effort to protect and maintain the privacy of Wikipedia's thousands of editors, the Wikimedia Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the United States' National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and the Attorney General.
Interview Meet a paid editor
2015-03-04
Before being indefinitely blocked, User:FergusM1970 made more than 4600 edits on the English Wikipedia, spread over eight years. In the last two years, he was paid to edit several articles for clients that included the Venezuelan energy company Derwick Associates. We spoke with him about his experiences.
Featured content Ploughing fields and trading horses with Rosa Bonheur
2015-03-04
Two featured articles, four featured lists, and 38 featured pictures were promoted this week..
News and notes Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
2015-02-25
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.
Interview WWII veteran honors shipmates through Wikipedia editing
2015-01-21
Over seventy years ago, the US destroyer Mahan was patrolling off Ponson Island in the Philippines when eleven Japanese kamikaze aircraft appeared over the horizon and attacked. George Pendergast, who edits Wikipedia with the username Pendright, was eighteen years old when he joined Mahan 's crew in April 1944.
From the editor Introducing your new editors-in-chief
2015-01-21
A letter from departing Signpost editor-in-chief The ed17.
News and notes Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
2015-01-14
On the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the English Wikipedia, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has announced that its prestigious annual Erasmus Prize will be awarded to the worldwide community that has built Wikipedia.
From the editor Looking for new editors-in-chief
2014-12-24
Looking for two people to replace me, both as a safeguard against similar real life changes and to spread the overall workload.
From the editor The Signpost needs your help
2014-10-01
Contributing to the Signpost can be one of the most rewarding things an editor can do.
News and notes Wikipedia's traffic statistics are off by nearly one-third
2014-09-17
Wikipedia's traffic statistics are off by nearly one-third: A prominent Wikipedia researcher has discovered that the encyclopedia's widely used article traffic statistics are missing out on approximately one-third of total views.
Featured content Which is not like the others?
2014-09-17
Four articles, two lists, and 51 pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week on the English Wikipedia.
Featured content The louse and the fish's tongue
2014-09-10
The amazing and strange tongue-eating louse replacing a fish's tongue! Because isopods, the subject of a new featured article, are both awesome and really damn weird!
Featured content Cambridge got a lot of attention this week
2014-08-13
Cambridge got a lot of attention this week: Eight article, six lists, and two topics were promoted to featured status last week.
News and notes "History is a human right"—first-ever transparency report released as Europe begins hiding Wikipedia in search results
2014-08-06
The Wikimedia Foundation has published its first transparency report, covering from July 2012 to June 2014. The move comes on the same day the organization announced that Google, in order to comply with a recent court order upholding the "right to be forgotten", has removed a number of Wikipedia articles from their European search results.
News and notes How many more hoaxes will Wikipedia find?
2014-07-30
Another hoax on the English Wikipedia was uncovered this week—not by any thorough investigation, but through the self-disclosure of an anonymous change made when the editors were in their sophomore year of college. The deliberate misinformation had been in the article for over five years with plenty of individuals noticing, but not one suspected its authenticity. This leads to one obvious question: how many more are there?
Featured content Skeletons and Skeltons
2014-07-30
Two articles, four lists, and seven pictures attained featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes Institutional media uploads to Commons get a bit easier
2014-07-23
Galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) today are facing fewer barriers to uploading their content onto Wikimedia projects now that the new GLAM-Wiki Toolset Project has been launched. The tool, which is the fruit of a collaboration between Europeana and several Wikimedia chapters, relieves GLAMs from having to write their own automated scripts and gives them a standardized method of uploading large amounts of their digitized holdings.
Featured content Why, they're plum identical!
2014-07-23
Ten articles, five lists, and 25 pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Special report $10 million lawsuit against Wikipedia editors withdrawn, but plaintiff intends to refile
2014-07-16
On the same day the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) announced it would offer assistance to English Wikipedia editors embroiled in a legal dispute with Yank Barry, the lawsuit has been withdrawn without prejudice at the request of Barry's legal team—but this action is being described as "strategic" so that they can refile the lawsuit with a "new, more comprehensive complaint."
News and notes Bot-created Wikipedia articles covered in the Wall Street Journal, push Cebuano over one million articles
2014-07-16
The Swedish Wikipedia's prolific Lsjbot, which has created a significant proportion of the site's 1.7 million articles and has nearly single-handedly pushed it to being the fourth-largest Wikipedia, was covered in the Wall Street Journal this week. The newspaper reported that the bot has created 2.7 million articles, which is apparently a reference to the Waray-Waray and Cebuano Wikipedias, where Lsjbot is also active, and that "on a good day", it creates 10,000 articles.
Special report Wikimania 2014—what will it cost?
2014-07-09
Last May, James Forrester announced to the world that London had been awarded the 2014 Wikimania conference. Functioning as the Wikimedia movement's annual conference, it is separate from the chapter-focused Wikimedia Conference. The first, located in Frankfurt, took place in 2005 and had 380 attendees. London, the tenth, is now expected to attract 1500. With Wikimania ambition, attention, and attendance rising significantly over the last nine years, how have this year's monetary costs come to be?
News and notes Echoes of the past haunt new conflict over tech initiative
2014-07-09
As with the troubled release of the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) flagship VisualEditor project, the release of the new Media Viewer has also been met with opposition from the English Wikipedia community.
News and notes Wikimedia Israel receives Roaring Lion award
2014-07-02
Wikimedia Israel (WMIL) has won a Roaring Lion in the category of Internet and cellular for its public outreach during the tenth anniversary of the Hebrew Wikipedia in July 2013.
In the media Wiki Education; medical content; PR firms
2014-07-02
The Los Angeles Times highlighted a recent Wiki Education Foundation (WEF) course at Pomona College in their article "Wikipedia pops up in bibliographies, and even college curricula". We interviewed Char Booth, the campus ambassador for the course, for additional details.
News and notes US National Archives enshrines Wikipedia in Open Government Plan, plans to upload all holdings to Commons
2014-06-25
US National Archives enshrines Wikipedia in Open Government Plan: The US National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) have committed to engaging with Wikimedia projects in their newest Open Government Plan. The biannual effort is a roadmap for how the agency will accomplish its goals in the digital age.
News and notes With paid advocacy in its sights, the Wikimedia Foundation amends their terms of use
2014-06-18
The Wikimedia Foundation has amended its terms of use to ban editing for pay without disclosing an employer or affiliation on any of its websites. The broad scope of these changes will allow the WMF to selectively enforce their terms of use to avoid ensnaring well-meaning editors.
News and notes PR agencies commit to ethical interactions with Wikipedia
2014-06-11
Eleven public relations agencies have declared their intention to follow "ethical engagement practices" in Wikipedia editing. The results were published last Tuesday: a joint statement from the participating PR agencies—representing five of the top ten global agencies and all but one of the top ten in the United States—clarifying their views and practices with regards to the Wikimedia projects.
News and notes Two new affiliate-selected trustees
2014-06-04
New trustee Frieda Briosch from Italy: we face "a couple of headaches", she says: "how to boost editors, which includes the development of the next strategic plan, and how to keep our project always 'glamorous'."
Featured content Ye stately homes of England
2014-06-04
David Iliff, or Diliff, as he is known on here outside of the file pages for his many, many, excellent photographs, is one of Wikipedia's longest-standing professional-standard photographers. This week, the Signpost salutes him.
News and notes 'Ask a librarian'—connecting Wikimedians with the National Library of Australia; watch 'Cracking Wikipedia'
2014-05-14
'Ask a librarian'—connecting Wikimedians with the National Library of Australia: Editors of Australian-related topics on the English Wikipedia may have noticed an odd addition if they viewed the article's talk pages. For example, on Talk:Darwin, Northern Territory, they might be drawn in by the question mark, nested within what is often a sea of WikiProject templates: "Need help improving this article? Ask a librarian at the National Library of Australia, or the Northern Territory Library." Just what is this?
News and notes New system of discretionary sanctions; Buchenwald; is Pirelli 'Cracking Wikipedia'?
2014-05-07
The English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) introduced the first form of what are known as the "discretionary sanction" (DS) in 2009. A new DS regime, called Discretionary sanctions (2014), is the result of an elaborate review process involving both the community, since last September, and the committee, for more than a year.
In focus Foundation announces long-awaited new executive director
2014-05-07
In a live video stream on 1 May, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that Lila Tretikov will be replacing Sue Gardner, its executive director. Gardner, who has been in the position since 2007, declared her intention to leave more than a year ago.
News and notes WMF's draft annual plan turns indigestible as an FDC proposal
2014-04-30
Like hammering a square peg into a round hole, the Wikimedia Foundation has submitted a draft annual plan for 2014–15 to its own Funds Dissemination Committee. Unlike the WMF's submission to the FDC's inaugural round in October 2012, the "proposal" does not seek funding.
Breaking Wikimedia Foundation selects new executive director
2014-04-30
The Foundation's new executive director: The Wikimedia Foundation has announced that its new executive director will be Lila Tretikov, until now a chief product officer in Silicon Valley.
Wikimania Winning bid announced for 2015
2014-04-23
After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July.
News and notes Wikimedian passes away
2014-04-23
Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
Special report Community mourns passing of Adrianne Wadewitz
2014-04-09
"I remember laughing and talking and laughing and talking at Wikimania 2012. I took this picture of her that she used for a long while as a profile pic. Someone on Facebook said it looked 'skepchickal', which she loved."
News and notes Round 2 of FDC funding open to public comments
2014-04-09
Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
Featured content Snow heater and Ash sweep
2014-04-09
Snow heater and Ash sweep: Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes Wikimedia conferences—soul-searching about costs, attendance, and future
2014-04-02
The run-up to the conference has seen the unfolding of two fractious threads on the Wikimedia public mailing list, both of which may serve as background for the last session at Berlin: "Future of the Wikimedia Conference".
News and notes Commons Picture of the Year—winners announced
2014-03-26
Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
News and notes Foundation-supported Wikipedian in residence faces scrutiny
2014-03-19
One of the first university Wikipedian in residence positions, hosted at Harvard University in 2012, has jumped back into the spotlight amid questions about its ethical integrity.
Interview Nate Ott—the writer behind 71 articles in the largest-ever good topic
2014-03-19
In a record-breaker, the English Wikipedia has a new largest good topic: the 71-article Light cruisers of Germany, which concerns the light cruisers used by Germany during the 20th century.
Featured content Spot the bulldozer
2014-03-19
Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month
2014-03-12
Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month: Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
Featured content Ukraine burns
2014-03-12
Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
News and notes Wikipedia Library finding success in matching contributors with sources
2014-03-05
This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
Special report Diary of a protester—Wikimedian perishes in Ukrainian unrest
2014-02-26
Ukraine has been gripped by widespread protests over the past three months. Due to a decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych—at Russia's urging—to abandon integration with the European Union, the country was (and in many ways still is) split between the Europe-favoring Ukrainian-speaking western half and the Russian-speaking east and south. Hundreds have died during the unrest, leaving thousands of family members and friends to bury their loved ones. This week our Wikimedian colleagues in Ukraine are facing that challenge after the death of one of their own.
News and notes Wikimedia chapters and communities challenge Commons' URAA policy
2014-02-26
Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
Featured content Odin salutes you
2014-02-26
Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes Foundation takes aim at undisclosed paid editing; Greek Wikipedia editor faces down legal challenge
2014-02-19
The Wikimedia Foundation has proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' Terms of use to specifically ban undisclosed paid editing. ... Dimitris Liourdis, a lawyer in training who moonlights as an administrator on the Greek Wikipedia, is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Greek politician over alleged edits made to his Wikipedia article.
News and notes WMF bites the bullet on affiliation and FDC funding, elevates Wikimedia user groups
2014-02-12
In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
News and notes Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
2014-01-29
Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".
News and notes Modification of WMF protection brought to Arbcom
2014-01-22
The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy's application of pending changes level two on the article Conventional PCI—an action taken under its rarely used office actions policy—has escalated to the Arbitration Committee after an editor upgraded it to full protection.
News and notes Wikimedia Germany asks for "reworking" of Funds Dissemination Committee; should MP4 be allowed on Wikimedia sites?
2014-01-15
German chapter asks for "reworking" of Funds Dissemination Committee; should MP4 be allowed on Wikimedia sites?: Wikimedia Germany, the largest national affiliate, has authored an extensive critique of the Funds Dissemination Committee's process for issuing funding recommendations for the various large organizations in the movement.
News and notes WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"
2014-01-08
On 8 January, the Wikimedia Foundation notified the Wikimedia-l mailing list that Sarah Stierch, a popular Wikimedian and the Foundation's Program Evaluation Community Coordinator, was no longer an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, as a result of being paid to create articles on the English Wikipedia.
News and notes The year in review
2014-01-01
This was the year in which one journalist described the flagship site, Wikipedia, as "wickedly seductive". It was the year Wikipedia's replacement value was estimated at $6.6bn, its market value at "tens of billions of dollars", and its consumer benefit "hundreds of billions of dollars". But it was also the year in which one commentator forecast the decline of Wikipedia—that the project is in trouble from its shrinking volunteer workforce, skewed coverage, "crushing bureaucracy" and 90 percent male community.
News and notes IEG round 2 funding rewards diverse ambitions
2013-12-25
A significant move by the Wikimedia Foundation has been to broaden the types of activities it funds to develop several different programs for judging and allocating that funding, and to set up volunteer committees that initially assess applications for funding.
News and notes Nine new arbitrators announced
2013-12-18
A little more than six days after the close of voting, the results of the annual Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) elections have been announced. Of the 22 candidates, 13 managed to gain more supports than opposes, though only one gained the support of more than half of the voters. Eight were elected to two-year terms, and a ninth will serve for one year.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments—winners announced
2013-12-11
Amid great anticipation the international prize winners have just been announced for the fourth annual Wiki Loves Monuments, now the world's largest photographic competition and one of the biggest events on the Wikimedia movement's calendar. ... The first prize has gone to David Gubler's photograph of a Swiss train crossing a viaduct.
News and notes One decade of Wikisource; FDC recommendations raise serious questions
2013-12-04
The sister project Wikisource, the digital library that hosts free-content primary sources, is now a decade old. Wikisource, which now has versions in 63 languages, is the sixth type of project to reach ten-year milestone and will be the last until 2016. The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer Funds Dissemination Committee has published its recommendations to the Board of Trustees on 11 new applications for annual grants by 11 WMF-affiliated organisations. The maximum total budget for the current and upcoming March rounds is US$6M.
Featured content F*&!
2013-12-04
Seventeen articles, four lists, and twenty-eight pictures were promoted to "featured" status in the last two weeks.
News and notes Foundation to Wiki-PR: cease and desist; Arbitration Committee elections starting
2013-11-20
The Wikimedia Foundation has sent a formal cease and desist letter to Wiki-PR—the public relations agency accused of breaking Wikipedia policies and guidelines by creating, editing, and maintaining several thousand articles for paying clients through a sophisticated array of accounts. The Foundation's attorneys, Cooley LLP, have demanded that Wiki-PR's employees abide by the site's Terms of Use and the language of a community ban from the English Wikipedia.
From the editor The Signpost needs your help
2013-11-20
As I said in August, contributing to the Signpost can be one of the most rewarding things an editor can do. The genre is refreshingly different from that of Wikipedia articles, and can allow writers to use a different range of skills. The need for an independent, volunteer-run Signpost continues to grow, given the increasing complexity and financial expenditures of the global Wikimedia movement, not to mention the English Wikipedia.
News and notes Trademark at issue again with the Italian Wikipedia and wikipedia.it
2013-11-13
The Italian-language Wikipedia community has overwhelmingly voted to request the Wikimedia Foundation's assistance in recovering wikipedia.it, a website that has been frequently confused with the Italian Wikipedia.
Featured content 1244 Chinese handscroll leads nine-strong picture contingent
2013-11-13
Five articles, two lists, one topic, and nine pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes Alleged "outing" of editor's personal information leads to Wikipedia ban
2013-11-06
As part of the second major "outing" controversy to hit the English Wikipedia in less than a year, the Chelsea/Bradley Manning naming dispute was dragged into the spotlight yet again when the English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee ruled by motion to remove the administrator tools from and ban long-time Wikipedia contributor Phil Sandifer.
Featured content Five years of work leads to 63-article featured topic
2013-11-06
HMS Hood, one of the most famous warships of the Second World War, was a battlecruiser and therefore part of what is now the largest featured topic on Wikipedia: "Battlecruisers of the world". The topic was promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week alongside eleven articles, three lists, four pictures, and two other topics.
News and notes Grantmaking season—rumblings in the German-language community
2013-10-23
The next twice-yearly round of Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) grantmaking is soon to close for community questioning and commentary. Ten nation-based Wikimedia chapters and one thematic organisation are asking for a total of more than US$5M of donors’ money from the Foundation’s renamed annual plan grant process. Aside from Wikimedia UK ($708k), the three biggest asks are from the German-speaking chapters: Wikimedia Germany is asking for $2.4M and Wikimedia Austria $311k; and the German-language-related Swiss chapter is applying for $500k.
News and notes Vice on Wiki-PR's paid advocacy; Featured list elections begin
2013-10-16
Media coverage on Wiki-PR, the multi-million-dollar US-based company that has broken several policies and guidelines on the English Wikipedia in its quest to create and maintain thousands of articles for paying clients, continued this week with a feature story by Martin Robbins in the British edition of Vice magazine.
News and notes Wiki-PR's extensive network of clandestine paid advocacy exposed
2013-10-09
Extensive network of clandestine paid advocacy exposed: An investigation by the English Wikipedia community into suspicious edits and sockpuppet activity has led to astonishing revelations that Wiki-PR, a multi-million-dollar US-based company, has created, edited, or maintained several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients using a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts.
News and notes WMF signals new grantmaking priorities
2013-10-02
In what will be remembered as a game-changing week for Wikimedia grantmaking, the Foundation's executive director, Sue Gardner, published a forthright and in places highly critical statement, Reflections on the FDC process, and grantmaking staff revealed that the WMF will significantly strengthen its targeting of optimal impact in funding.
News and notes Last call for Wiki Loves Monuments; Community–WMF tension over VisualEditor
2013-09-25
On 30 September, Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), the Wikimedia community's global photo competition, will reach to the end of its submission period. The proceedings have been underway since the first of this month; national juries will start reviewing submissions for the first round of selections after it closes ... Community aggravation with one of the Wikimedia Foundation's signature initiatives, the VisualEditor, came to the fore again this week with the announcement and implementation of code blocking the tool.
News and notes Third time's the charm: the FDC's newest round of funding requests
2013-09-18
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC), the volunteer-led body that evaluates chapter and (for the first time) thematic organizational annual plan grant requests to the Wikimedia Foundation, is preparing for its third round of public proceedings to deliberate on the distribution of several million US dollars of Wikimedia movement funds.
News and notes As deadline approaches, Individual Engagement Grants looks for ideas
2013-09-11
The deadline for proposals to the Individual Engagement Grants (IEG) volunteer committee on Meta will pass on 30 September. The program is designed to fund projects that tackle long-term problem and have a significant editing community impact; it has previously supported solutions like The Wikipedia Library, which improves Wikipedian access to online reference sources like JSTOR (see Signpost coverage).
News and notes Privacy policy debate gears up
2013-09-04
On September 3, the Wikimedia Foundation launched the second stage of the process to improve the privacy policy implemented on most Wikimedia sites, including Wikipedia and its sister projects, by publishing a policy draft.
News and notes Looking ahead to Wiki Loves Monuments
2013-08-28
Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), Wikimedia's annual volunteer-driven and the world largest photo contest, is gearing up to be conducted throughout September 2013. The event, originally developed in the Netherlands in 2010, has gone global with 34 countries taking part last and 49 this year.
From the editor Call for contributors
2013-08-21
Contributing to the Signpost can be one of the most rewarding things an editor can do, and the need for an independent, volunteer-run Signpost continues to grow, given the increasing complexity and financial expenditures of the global Wikimedia movement.
Special report Jimmy Wales: media favors entertainment over raising public awareness
2013-08-14
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and its public face to most of the media, has declared that media organizations are missing out on the "opportunity of the century" by not conducting true investigative reporting into American surveillance practices, a debate kindled by information leaked by Edward Snowden.
News and notes "Beautifully smooth" Wikimania with few hitches
2013-08-14
About a thousand Wikimedians journeyed to Hong Kong this week for the annual Wikimania conference, the annual gathering of the Wikimedia movement. Wikimania, which has been held since 2005, serves as the principal physical meetup for Wikimedians around the world.
News and notes Chapters Association self-destructs
2013-08-07
The opening days of the annual Wikimania, referred to as the "pre-conference", are not typically newsworthy. This changed dramatically when the Chapters Association council met on Thursday.
News and notes Gearing up for Wikimania 2013
2013-07-31
The ninth annual Wikimania conference will open in just over a week at the Jockey Club Auditorium, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Wikimania is for people worldwide who have an interest in Wikimedia Foundation projects. It features presentations and discussions on those projects, on free knowledge and content, and on related social and technical issues.
News and notes Wikivoyage turns ten, but where to now?; Wikipedia Zero expands into India
2013-07-24
Contributors to Wikivoyage, the sister project adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation last year, are celebrating their 10th anniversary this week. ... The Wikimedia Foundation has announced via press release that it has partnered with Aircel to provide free mobile access to Wikipedia.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation's new plans announced
2013-07-17
Last week the Wikimedia Foundation released its annual plan for July 2013 to June 2014. It provides a surprisingly frank view—of past achievements and failures, and future goals and risks—that could be afforded only by a non-profit that is confident and beholden to no commercial or political interests.
Featured content Documents and sports
2013-07-17
Four articles, five lists, and sixteen pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation Board appoints world expert in women's issues, global south
2013-07-10
In apparent acknowledgment of the urgency of two issues facing the Wikimedia movement—the need to engage both women and the global south—the WMF Board has appointed Ana Toni as one of its four expert members. Toni will bring rare expertise to the movement, and the Signpost understands that her skills in advocacy and her key roles in international NGOs are likely to be a natural match with the WMF as the hub of disseminating free knowledge around the world.
News and notes Wikipedia's medical collaborations gathering pace
2013-07-03
Wikimania 2013 is to start in five weeks, and includes a presentation by James Heilman of Wiki Project Med and Lori Thicke, president of Translators Without Borders (TWB).
In the media Jimmy Wales is not an Internet billionaire; a mass shooter's alleged Wikipedia editing
2013-07-03
Amy Chozick's profile of Jimmy Wales in the New York Times sparked significant controversy in international news outlets this week, including from Wales, who responded to the piece as a whole with a lengthy talk page statement.
News and notes Election results released
2013-06-26
Less than three days after the close of voting, the volunteer election committee posted the results on Meta. The worldwide Wikimedia movement has elected three WMF trustees for two-year terms on the 10-seat Board: Samuel Klein (supported by 43.5% of voters), Phoebe Ayers (38.3%), and María Sefidari (35.6%). The new trustees will take their seats at a critical time for the movement: one of the first tasks in their terms will be to help the Board to find and approve the new executive director to take up the top job when Sue Gardner departs.
News and notes Swedish Wikipedia's millionth article leads to protests; WMF elections—where are all the voters?
2013-06-19
With erysichton elaborata, the Swedish Wikipedia passed the one million article Rubicon this week. While this is a mostly symbolic achievement, serving as a convenient benchmark with which to gain publicity and attention in an increasingly statistical world, the particular method by which the Swedish site has passed the mark has garnered significant attention—and controversy.
News and notes How Wikimedia affiliates are spending $8.4 million; PRISM scandal
2013-06-12
Late last year, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) awarded $8.4 million in donors' money to 11 Wikimedia entities, including the Wikimedia Foundation and 10 nationally defined chapters. Under this arrangement, these organisations are required to issue quarterly reports on how far they have progressed towards their declared programmatic and financial goals. The FDC has now announced that all 11 completed and submitted their reports by the 1 April deadline, and have responded to each.
News and notes "Cease and desist", World Trade Organization says to Wikivoyage; could WikiLang be the next WMF project?
2013-06-05
"Cease and desist", World Trade Organization says to Wikivoyage; Could WikiLang be the next WMF project?: On 31 May, the Wikimedia Foundation's Legal and Community Advocacy team announced that the Wikivoyage logo would have to be replaced, because it has become the subject of a cease-and-desist letter from the World Trade Organization (WTO).
From the editor Signpost developments
2013-06-05
I am excited to announce that a Portuguese-language journal, Correio da Wikipédia has been launched by Vitorvicentevalente. It has just published its third edition, and I encourage readers who speak the language to read and contribute to its already-expansive coverage of the Portuguese Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement.
News and notes First community election for FDC positions
2013-05-27
First-ever community election for FDC positions: Alongside the Signpost's interviews with WMF Board candidates, we asked the candidates for the Funds Dissemination Committee and its Ombudsperson position a series of questions relating to the positions they may be taking on.
Featured content Life of 2π
2013-05-27
Twelve articles, four lists, and twelve pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
News and notes Spanish Wikipedia leaps past one million articles
2013-05-20
On 16 May, the Spanish Wikipedia became the seventh Wikipedia to cross the million article Rubicon, a symbolic yet important achievement.
News and notes WMF–community ruckus on Wikimedia mailing list
2013-05-13
The removal of administrator rights from all volunteers on the Wikimedia Foundation's official website sparked a highly emotional reaction on the Wikimedia-l mailing list—one of the largest off-wiki methods of communication for the Wikimedia movement.
News and notes Candidates nominating for Foundation elections; Looking ahead to Wikimania 2014
2013-05-06
Although not yet in great numbers, candidates are coming forward for Wikimedia Foundation elections, which will be held from 1 to 15 June.
News and notes Chapter furore over FDC knockbacks; First DC GLAM boot-camp
2013-04-29
The Funds Dissemination Committee released its recommendations to the WMF board last Sunday. The news that the Hong Kong chapter's application for US$212K had failed was followed by a strongly worded resignation announcement by Deryck Chan on the public Wikimedia-l mailing-list.
News and notes Milan conference a mixed bag
2013-04-22
The Wikimedia Conference, for the first time, included groups that wish to be considered for WMF affiliation as thematic organisations.
News and notes Another admin reform attempt flops
2013-04-15
The most recent move to reform the requests for adminship process on the English Wikipedia has failed, after a complex and drawn-out three-step procedure for community input was subject to decreasing participation as time wore on and came up with no clear consensus.
News and notes French intelligence agents threaten Wikimedia volunteer
2013-04-08
Last Friday, the Wikimedia movement awoke to news that one of their number—Rémi Mathis, a French volunteer editor—had been summoned to the offices of the interior intelligence service DCRI and threatened with criminal charges and fines if he did not delete an article on the French Wikipedia about a radio station used by the French military.
News and notes Funding for the Wikipedia Library and six other projects; April Fool's Day ructions
2013-04-01
Grants given for Wikipedia Library, six others; April Fool's Day ructions: The first round of individual engagement grants (IEGs) have been awarded, disbursing about $55.6k (€42.7k) to seven applicants.
News and notes Sue Gardner to leave WMF; German-language Wikipedians spearhead another effort to close Wikinews
2013-03-25
Sue Gardner to leave WMF; German Wikipedians spearhead another effort to close Wikinews: Ranked as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes, Gardner is widely associated with the rise of the Wikimedia movement as a major custodian of human knowledge and cultural products.
News and notes Resigning arbitrator slams Committee
2013-03-18
Just two months into his second term as an arbitrator on the English Wikipedia, Coren resigned from the Committee with a blistering attack on his fellow arbitrators, saying "it can no longer do the job it was ostensibly elected for".
News and notes Finance committee updates
2013-03-11
During March, three of the Wikimedia Foundation's grantmaking schemes on Meta will reach important crossroads, which will shape how both the editing communities and Wikimedia institutions handle the distribution of donors' money across the movement.
From the editor Signpost–Wikizine merger; new writers
2013-03-11
Signpost–Wikizine merger: I am pleased to announce that the Signpost and Wikizine have reached an in-principle agreement that will see Wikizine published as a special Signpost section at the beginning of each month.
News and notes Outing of editor causes firestorm
2013-03-04
"WP:OUTING", the normally little-noticed policy corner of the English Wikipedia that governs the release of editors' personal information, has suddenly been brought to wider attention after long-term contributor and featured article writer Cla68 was indefinitely blocked last week. This snowballed into several other blocks, a desysopping by ArbCom, and a request for arbitration.
News and notes "Very lucky" Picture of the Year
2013-02-25
The Wikimedia Commons 2012 Picture of the Year contest has ended, with the winner being Pair of Merops apiaster feeding, taken by Pierre Dalous. The picture shows a pair of European Bee-eaters in a mating ritual—the male bird (right) has tossed the wasp into the air, and he will eventually offer it to the female (left).
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation declares "victory" in Wikivoyage lawsuit
2013-02-18
Wikimedia Foundation declares 'victory' in Wikivoyage lawsuit: On February 15, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) declared 'victory' in its counter-lawsuit against Internet Brands (IB), the owner of Wikitravel and the operator of several online media, community, and e-commerce sites in vertical markets. The lawsuit clears the last remaining hurdles for the WMF's new travel guide project, Wikivoyage.
News and notes UK chapter governance review marks the end of a controversial year
2013-02-11
Wikimedia UK, the non-profit organization devoted to furthering the goals of the Wikimedia movement in the United Kingdom, has published the findings of a governance review conducted by Compass Partnership.
News and notes Article Feedback tool faces community resistance
2013-02-04
Article Feedback Tool faces community resistance: Article feedback, at least through talk pages, has been a part of Wikipedia since its inception in 2001. The use of these pages, though, has typically been limited to experienced editors who know how to use them.
News and notes Khan Academy's Smarthistory and Wikipedia collaborate
2013-01-28
To many Wikimedians, the Khan Academy would seem like a close cousin: the academy is a non-profit educational website and a development of the massive open online course concept that has delivered over 227 million lessons in 22 different languages. Its mission is to give "a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere." This complements Wikipedia's stated goal to "imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge", then go and create that world. It should come as no surprise, then, that the highly successful GLAM-Wiki (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) initiative has partnered with the Khan Academy's Smarthistory project to further both its and Wikipedia's goals.
News and notes Requests for adminship reform moves forward
2013-01-21
Various proposals, ranging from as large as a transition to a representative democracy to as small as a required edit count and service length, have been debated on the RfA talk page in the last three weeks.
Special report Loss of an Internet genius
2013-01-14
Comforting those grieving after the loss of a loved one is an impossible task. How then, can an entire community be comforted? The Internet struggled to answer that question this week after the suicide of Aaron Swartz, a celebrated free-culture activist, programmer, and Wikipedian at the age of 26.
News and notes 2012—the big year
2013-01-07
The movement, now in its second decade, is growing apace in its international reach, cultural and linguistic diversity, technical development, and financial complexity.
In the media Is the Wikimedia movement too 'cash rich'?
2012-12-31
Is the Wikimedia movement too 'cash rich'?: The Telegraph and Daily Dot, among others, have alleged that there are multiple links between the WMF, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and Kazakhstan's government, which is, for all intents and purposes, a one-party non-democratic state.
From the editor Wikipedia, our Colosseum
2012-12-31
In the impersonal, detached Colosseum that is Wikipedia, people find it much easier to put their thumbs down. As such, many people active in the Wikimedia movement have witnessed a precipitous decline in civil discourse. This is far from a new trend, yet many people would agree that it all seemed somehow worse in 2012.
News and notes Arbitrator election: stewards release the results
2012-12-17
Of the 21 candidates, 13 managed to gain positive support-to-oppose ratios, and the top eight will be appointed to two-year terms on the committee by Jimbo.
News and notes Wobbly start to ArbCom election, but turnout beats last year's
2012-12-10
At the time of writing, this year's election has just closed after a two-week voting period. The eight seats were contested by 21 candidates. Of these, 15 have not been arbitrators (Beeblebrox, Count Iblis, Guerillero, Jc37, Keilana, Ks0stm, Kww, NuclearWarfare, Pgallert, RegentsPark, Richwales, Salvio giuliano, Timotheus Canens, Worm That Turned, and YOLO Swag); four candidates are sitting arbitrators (David Fuchs, Elen of the Roads, Jclemens, and Newyorkbrad); and two have previously served on the committee (Carcharoth and Coren). Four Wikimedia stewards from outside the English Wikipedia stepped forward as election scrutineers: Pundit, from the Polish Wikipedia; Teles, from the Portuguese Wikipedia; Quentinv57, from the French Wikipedia; and Mardetanha, from the Persian Wikipedia. The scrutineers' task is to ensure that the election is free of multiple votes from the same person, to tally the results, and to announce them. The full results are expected to be released within the next few days and will be reported in next week's edition of the Signpost.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments announces 2012 winner
2012-12-03
The global jury of Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), the world’s largest photo contest, announced its results on 3 December.
Technology report Wikidata reaches 100,000 entries
2012-11-26
Wikidata, the new "Wikimedia Commons for data" and the first new Wikimedia project since 2006, reached 100,000 entries this week. The project aims to be a single, human- and machine-readable database for common data, spanning across all Wikipedia projects, which will "lead to a higher consistency and quality within Wikipedia articles, as well as increased availability of information in the smaller language editions" while lowering the burden on Wikipedia's volunteer editors—whose numbers have stalled overall, and continue to dwindle on the English Wikipedia.
In the media Was climate change a factor in Hurricane Sandy?
2012-11-05
Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record and has caused millions of dollars in damage. Naturally, Wikipedia covered it. But was Wikipedia's coverage unbiased?
Arbitration report Malleus Fatuorum accused of circumventing topic ban; motion to change "net four votes" rule
2012-10-22
One clarification request concerns the civility enforcement case – specifically, Malleus Fatuorum's perceived circumvention of his topic ban. It has resulted in thousands of bytes spent in vitriolic discussions, multiple blocks, and "no confidence" motions against the Arbitration Committee and one arbitrator, among other ramifications.
News and notes Chapters ask for big bucks
2012-10-15
The volunteer-led Wikimedia Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and interested community members are looking at Wikimedia organization applications worth about US$10.4 million out of the committee's first full year's operation, in just the inaugural round one of two that have been planned for the year with a planned budget of US$11.4M.
News and notes Education Program faces community resistance
2012-10-08
Wikipedia in education is far from a new idea: years of news stories, op-eds, and editorials have focused on the topic; and on Wikipedia itself, the Schools and universities projects page has existed in various forms since 2003. Over the next six years, the page was rarely developed, and when it did advance there was no clear goal in mind.
In the media Editor's response to Roth draws internet attention
2012-09-24
Editor's response to Roth draws internet attention: Oliver Keyes' (User:Ironholds) defense of Wikipedia against the recent Philip Roth controversy has drawn a significant amount of attention over the last week — "[they took] Roth’s explanation as the truth and launched into a lengthy discussion of how we [Wikipedia] handle primary sourcing."
From the editor Signpost expands to Facebook
2012-09-17
We now have a Facebook page at facebook.com/wikisignpost. We invite you to "like" the page and join the discussion there.
Special report Lawsuit filed against two Wikipedians
2012-09-10
Two Wikipedians set to face jury trial : In dramatic events that came to light last week, two English Wikipedia volunteers—Doc James (James Heilman) and Wrh2 (Ryan Holliday)—are being sued in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Internet Brands, the owner of Wikitravel.com. Both Wikipedians have also been volunteer Wikitravel editors (and in Holliday's case, a volunteer administrator). IB's complaints focus on both editors' encouragement of their fellow Wikitravel volunteers to migrate to a proposed non-commercial travel guidance site that would be under the umbrella of the WMF.
In the media Author criticizes Wikipedia article; Wales attacks UK government proposal
2012-09-10
Philip Roth, a widely known and acclaimed American author, wrote an open letter in the New Yorker addressed to Wikipedia this week, alleging severe inaccuracies in the article on his The Human Stain (2000).
From the editor Signpost adapts as news consumption changes
2012-09-10
Thanks to the initiative of Yuvi Panda and Notnarayan, the Signpost now has an Android app, free for download on Google Play. ... but would readers be interested in an iOS app for Apple devices?
News and notes Core content competition in full swing; Wikinews fork taken offline
2012-08-20
The Core Contest is a month-long competition among editors to improve Wikipedia's most important "core" articles—especially those that are in a relatively poor state. Core articles, such as Music, Computer, and Philosophy, tend to lie in the trunk of the tree of knowledge; by analogy, featured-and good-article processes generally attract more specialist topics out on the branches.
In the news American judges on citing Wikipedia
2012-08-20
In the Utah Court of Appeals this week, the majority opinion in Fire Insurance Exchange v. Robert Allen Oltmanns and Brady Blackner relied on Wikipedia for the basic premise of their legal opinion, and included a concurring opinion devoted solely to the issue of citing Wikipedia in a legal opinion.
From the editor Signpost developments
2012-07-23
The Signpost{{'}}s goal is to provide readers with essential information about the Wikimedia movement and the English Wikipedia – both of which have become large and extremely complex institutions that require timely, balanced and in-depth coverage.
Wikimania Young chapter shows experience beyond its years
2012-07-16
Nearly 1400 Wikimedians and others from 87 countries descended on the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., for Wikimania 2012. Even with an unprecedented number (1400) of conference attendees — the previous two Wikimanias, held in Gdańsk (Poland) and Haifa (Israel), were attended by fewer than 1100 people combined – Wikimania 2012 was a complete success, with attendees' reaction to the conference coming out as ecstatic and laudatory.
News and notes Russian Wikipedia shuts down to fight censorship threat; E3 team and new tools; Wikitravel proposal bogged down
2012-07-09
Russian Wikipedia blackout; WMF tools; Wikitravel proposal revisited: A protest against Russian State Duma Bill 89417-6, a draconian internet censorship bill. "Today, the Wikipedia community protests against censorship as a threat to free knowledge that is open to all mankind. We ask that you oppose this bill."