GCS Step 1

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Year: 2007 Week: 22 Number: 72

Technical news
  • [Autoblockedtext] - If you block a user you have the option to also block the ip address that this user is using. This appears in the blocklog as a number like "#47980". There is now a special message to be displayed to users who try to edit when the are blocked because of a hidden autoblock. The text of the page [[MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext]] is send to that user. The only way to know what the ip address is that is blocked is if the blocked user can give the block ID. This number is included in the default message so the blocked user needs to include this in his communication. A sysop can then look in the blocklist for that ID and unblock it.
  • [image border] - There is a new display instruction for images. The new one is "border". The result is a very small gray border. The idea is that some images because of there colors flow over in the background of a page when used. By putting a small border around it the border between the image and the page is more clear.
Usage: [[Image:Filename|border|100px|right]]
Foundation
  • [Wikimedia IT] -  Wikimedia Italia is working on an agreement to obtain part of the image archive of Società Geografica Italiana. SGI is one of the most important and respected geographical institutes of the world. Founded in 1867, the Society owns thousands of precious historic volumes, maps and a huge archive of photos related to colonialism and the XX century's explorations. On Friday May 18, some members of it.wiki met Franco Salvatori, president of Società Geografica Italiana. The meeting resulted in an exclusive interview for IT Wikinews.
  • [Legal] - The German Wikimedia chapter was sued by a powerful German lobby/public relations organisation. This because of a negative comment by an anonymous user on a archived talk page about them that did not amused them. The sued the German WMF chapter because in there opinion Wikimedia DE has control over the German language Wikipedia. The lost and also the appeal.
Community
Awards
  • [IT Wikipedia] -  was granted one of the nine Special Prizes of the Grand Prix di Pubblicità Italia (Advertising Grand Prix of Italy)  for "succeeding in exploiting the Internet potential at its best, directly involving users for a widespread growth of culture". Wikimedia Italia board member Ivan Vighetto attended the gala, and received the prize, a plaque. The event had great resonance on Italian media.
Media
Stats
  • [NL.wp & IT.wp] - The Dutch language Wikipedia has passed the 300,000 article mark almost exactly one year after the 200,000 mark.  The NL Wikipedia is the 7th largest Wikipedia. With only 22 million speakers the Dutch language Wikipedia is compared with the larger Wikipedias versus there number of speakers extremely large. Also the Italian language Wikipedia has now 300,000 articles. With 60 to 120 million speakers the are one step higher then the Dutch at the 6th place.
  • [FR.wp] - The French Wikipedia has reached 500,000 articles.
  • [The Wiki top 50] - An attempt to make a top 50 of the most popular wiki on the the internet according Alexa.com and Google PageRank.  Number one we know but on the second place is a surprize, we have "Adobe labs wiki" as the second most popular wiki.
Other news
  • [Clean School WP] - This week a website went live with a "2007 Wikipedia selection for schools". Created by SOS Children, a charity focust on orphan and abandoned children,  is aimed at British school children following the National Curriculum, and consists of all of the English Wikipedia's Good and Featured Articles, excluding content SOS Children deemed 'adult'. The site uses the Wikipedia logo, with permission. The content of there website is also available as a CD-rom or DVD that can be downloaded for free from there website.
  • [The perfect logo] - The Wikipedia logo appears to be very "Wikipedia" in the meaning that there are mistakes on it. Some of the characters on the globe are reported to be incorrect. Editing the logo seems to be from a technical and possibly also from a legal (trademark) POV difficult.
  • [Wikizine] - The last weeks the domain wikizine.org  has been down several times for longer periodes of time. This is a direct result of the hoster of Wikizine.org being down. When this is noticed the DNS-settings of the domain is changed to a back-up  hoster to be able to provide minimal service. Because of possible slow updating of DNS-servers it can take a long time before Wikizine resolves at your location. 
Users of the public DNS service of opendns.com will be one of the first to resolve Wikizine if it is online. The hoster reported to have find the source of the problems. Hopefully Wikizine will stay online now.

In the last weeks users of several communities have contacted Wikizine to setup a translated edition of Wikizine. Wikizine does now also exist in German, Spanish and Indonesian. And for the readers who read this as a translation, there is also an English version :-)

For now and in principle the translations will contain exactly the same content as EN Wikizine. Possibly and hopefully these editions will become eventually more then only a translation but also include there own original content directed directly to there local language community. The homepage at wikizine.org provides easy access to the different editions and subscription possibility.

As always the assistance of the readers for all levels and all languages versions of Wikizine to Wikizine is very welcome.
Weird ...
And now music ....
Quote

Encyclopedias are now suffering obsolescence (*), evolving from traditional publishing to a new form - I don't know what this form is [...] but we sure have a new horizon in front of us, related to the very bases of encyclopedicism, and '''you are the reality that matters now from this point of view'''. [...] Encyclopedia is not dead: its spirit is not dead, the Enlightenment spirit is not dead. -- F. Salvatori, SGI (La Società della Geografia)

(*) the state, process, or condition of being or becoming obsolete


Number of subscribers: 653 , Unique Visitors website last week: 295 , Editor(s): Walter, Garry Kirk , Corrector(s): ivanlanin , Thanks to: Jollyroger, ivanlanin  ,
Contact: reply or http://report.wikizine.org , Website: http://www.wikizine.org , New: Wikizine bahasa Indonesia , Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy,
validity and especially but not limited to, correct grammar and spelling. Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]], and is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikizine is a weekly publication as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Monday, May 21, 2007

Year: 2007 Week: 21 Number: 71

Technical news
Request for help
Foundation
  • [New Hire] - The WMF has hired Vishal Pattel as part-time business developer for the WMF. Mr. Pattel was already working as an intern for the WMF. To see what he will be doing and all the comments about it visit
Awards
Community
Media
Stats
Other news
Did you know ...
... we have a project in our family called "Wikispecies"?

Wikispecies is a Wikimedia project intended to be a directory of species. There are currently about a dozen active editors and over 60,000 listings. It is similar to Commons in that it is multilingual. They are working on the fine line between being a framework of species with links to information in all of the various Wikipedias, and containing that information there. Searching is always challenging when working in multiple languages. Wikispecies hopes to utilize wikidata when it becomes available to serve up the data. Check it out at http://species.wikimedia.org/ .
 
Quote

"Simplicity is not an end in art but we arrive at simplicity in spite of ourselves." - Constantin Brancusi.


Number of subscribers: 650 , Unique Visitors website last week: 401 , Editor(s): Brian, Walter , Corrector(s): Gabriel Pollard
Thanks to:  IvanLanin, Angela,  Contact: reply or
http://report.wikizine.org , Website: http://www.wikizine.org , New: Wikizine Auf Deutsch and en Español , Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy, validity and especially but not limited to,
correct grammar and spelling.  Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]], and is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikizine is a weekly publication as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Year: 2007 Week: 19 Number: 70

Technical news
  • [Password security]  - After several user accounts on EN Wikipedia where cracked password security has been increased. From now on if an incorrect password is entered you will need to pass a captcha test when trying again. The passwords of the sysops on EN Wikipedia and Commons has been checked against very weak passwords and some are locked. Those users can login again by requesting a new password, at least if the provided a valid email address in there preferences. The check could be expanded to other wikis also and it is possible that additional security measures will be taken. It is highly recommended to make sure you have good password and a valid email address for your account.
Request for help
  • [Board election] - WMF board member Jan-Bart de Vreede is looking for candidates for the "Election Committee" that will at least prepare and possibly also manage the upcoming board elections. Election committee members can not run as candidates for the board and are not allowed to vote. Applications can be send in until 13th of May. See lists posting for more information.
Foundation
Community
Awards
Stats
Other news
Did you know ...

No, nothing this week. Only a nice comic found by the Signpost.
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20070429/cx_nq_uc/nq20070429

Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

"Peace is good for business" - Rule 35
"More is good. All is better." - Rule 242
"After you've exploited someone, it never hurts to thank them. That way, it's easier to exploit them next time." - Rule 299 (Unofficial Rule)

Number of subscribers: 647 , Unique Visitors website last week: 290 , Editor(s): Walter, Mbimmler , Thanks to: IvanLanin, .anaconda , Contact: reply or http://report.wikizine.org , Website: http://www.wikizine.org , New: Wikizine Auf Deutsch and en Español , Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy, validity and especially but not limited to, correct grammar and spelling. Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]],  and is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikizine is a weekly publication as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Year: 2007 Week: 19 Tech flash

Technical news
  • [Cracked sysop accounts] - At least on the English language Wikipedia several user accounts of sysops have been hijacked and abused. This seems to be done by guessing the (weak) passwords of those accounts.
At present there is now a Captcha check live that asks you to enter a confirmation word if you enter an incorrect password.

In any case all users, especially sysops and higher, are requested urgently to make sure the have a serious password. Also verify that you have a valid email address in your preferences.

Editor(s): Walter , Contact: reply or http://report.wikizine.org , Website: http://www.wikizine.org ,  New: Wikizine Auf Deutsch and en Español , Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy,
validity and especially but not limited to,  correct grammar and spelling.  Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]], and is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Wikizine is a weekly publication as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html 

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Year: 2007 Week: 18 Number: 69

Technical news
  • [Login] - Passwords that are the same as the user name can no longer be used. Affected accounts can reset their password by e-mail to something more secure. If you do not have an email address provided in your account you have no access any more. The only hope to keep your account is to go to #wikimedia-tech and convince a developer that you are who you say you are. In general providing an email address for your account, and the same for all accounts, is a good idea.
  • [Special] - New special page [[Special:Fewestrevisions]] . It lists .... yes ....pages that have very few revisions, other versions. Because it also includes redirects its usefulness is limited. The results are cached.
Request for help
Policy
  • [Who Are You?] - The WMF approved a resolution making it required that people who have access to confidential information identify themselves to the Wikimedia Foundation. This seems only to apply to access toinformation that falls under the Wikimedia Privacy policy. This does notseem to include the private mailing lists and wikis.
People who do need to identify themselves and prove that they are at least 18 years old (or older if the legal age is higher in your country) are:
  1. All stewards
  2. All holders of the "checkuser" and "oversight" rights
  3. All OTRS volunteers
  4. And all developers with access to any electronic records which contains non-public information
Sysop and bureaucrats are excluded from this. All users who fall under this category need to comply with this resolution or their user rightscan be revoked. In the resolution 60 days are given to comply but it is not clear from what date you need to count.
Board member Kat Walsh writes in a posting to Foundation-l:
"Those affected by this resolution should contact Cary Bass, WMF volunteer coordinator, at <cbass AT wikimedia DOT org>.  We will also attempt to contact everyone individually who will need to do this; however, please spread this message to those in your communities."
Foundation
Community
Media
Stats
Other news
  • [Correction] -  In Wikizine 67 it was reported that 0.5 CD of the English-language Wikipedia is produced by the Wikimedia Foundation and LinterWeb. This is not correct. The CD was not produced by the Wikimedia Foundation, it has been produced by Linterweb.
Weird shit

According to various observers there are many parallels between communist ideology and practices, and the economic and political system in The Smurfs ....
Quote

"The problem with Wikipedia is that it only works in practice. In theory, it can never work." -- Unknown attribution
Editorial

In Wikizine 68, the English and German edition and in a posting to Foundation-l I have asked for assistance with Wikizine. The response was less than pathetic. It was non existent.

So it looks like I will remain the only one working on Wikizine. I have decided to give Wikimedia related things and Wikizine in particular a lower priority in my life. Wikizine will continue but in a even more erratic publication frequently then now. Also you can expect reduced editions who are more basic between normal editions. This depending of I feel like giving priority in going to the park or so or sitting in front of the computer.

Walter Vermeir, the editor

Number of subscribers: 648 , Unique Visitors website last week: 346 , Editor(s): Walter , Corrector(s): Gary Kirk , Thanks to: Klenje, Schiste  ,  Contact: reply or http://report.wikizine.org ,  Website: http://en.wikizine.org ,  Wikizine Auf Deutsch: http://de.wikizine.org ,
Wikizine.org makes no guarantee of accuracy, validity and especially but not limited to,  correct grammar and spelling.  Wikizine.org is published by [[meta:user:Walter]], and is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikizine is a weekly publication as long as there is noteworthy news (and time) Content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html