User talk:Hadger/Archive 7
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Motto of the Day Help Request April 2014
Motto of the Day (WP:MOTD) is in a state of emergency and really needs your help! There are not enough editors who are reviewing or nominating mottos at Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/In review, and this probably means that you will notice a red link or “This space for rent” as our mottos for the next weeks and months.
Please take a moment to review the nominations and nominate your own new mottos at Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/In review and Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/Specials. Any help would be appreciated! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:13, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
- This message has been sent by pjoef on behalf of Motto of the Day to all editors of the English Wikipedia who are showing MOTD's templates on their pages, and to all the participants to MOTD: (page, template, and category).
The Signpost: 30 April 2014
- News and notes: WMF's draft annual plan turns indigestible as an FDC proposal
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.
- Traffic report: Going to the Doggs
Not much to report this week. The same post-Easter celebrations (4/20, Earth Day) were popular again this year, except last year we were still reeling from the Boston Marathon bombing.
- Breaking: 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.
- WikiProject report: Genetics
This week, we unraveled the mysteries of WikiProject Genetics.
- Interview: Wikipedia in the Peabody Essex Museum
Ed Roley, Associate Director of Integrated Media at the Peabody Essex Museum, talks about GLAM engagement with Wikipedia.
- Featured content: Browsing behaviours
Four articles and sixteen featured pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
- Recent research: Wikipedia predicts flu more accurately than Google
Can you predict the number of seasonal influenza-like illness in the U.S. using data from Wikipedia?
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:24, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 07 May 2014
- News and notes: New system of discretionary sanctions; Buchenwald; is Pirelli 'Cracking Wikipedia'?
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.
- Traffic report: TMZedia
For all the claims of Wikipedia bringing the world's knowledge to all who want it, it seems the human race most wants is a tabloid newspaper; a quick source for TV listings, pop culture facts, celebrity gossip and, above all, scandal—with some nice juicy racism thrown in too.
- In focus: Foundation announces long-awaited new executive director
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.
- WikiCup: 2014 WikiCup enters round three
Round 3 of the 2014 WikiCup has just begun; 32 competitors remain.
- In the media: Google and the flu; Adrianne
Boston Children's Hospital postdoctoral fellow David McIver and a team have determined that using page view statistics from Wikipedia, they can track flu progression better than the Center for Disease Control can using Google searches.
- WikiProject report: Singing with Eurovision
Formed in 2003, the Eurovision WikiProject boasts four featured articles and 22 good articles. The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 is currently taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, so we went to the stage to talk with one of the project's members.
- Featured content: Wikipedia at the Rijksmuseum
Four articles, two lists, and five pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:56, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 14 May 2014
- Investigative report: Hong Kong's Wikimania 2013—failure to produce financial statement raises questions of probity
On 2 May 2012, the Wikimania jury announced that Hong Kong's bid to hold the 2013 event had beaten four other proposals. Moderator James Forrester wrote: "The Jury has confidence that the Hong Kong bidding team will pull off a magnificent Wikimania,"—and indeed there were positive comments about the event from most attendees.
- WikiProject report: Relaxing in Puerto Rico
This week, the Signpost jumped over the ocean to chat with the Puerto Rico WikiProject.
- News and notes: '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?
- Featured content: On the rocks
Six articles, seven lists, and four pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia this week.
- Traffic report: Eurovision, Google Doodles, Mothers, and 5 May
Eurovision is known for being political, and it was a doozy this week.
- Technology report: Technology report needs editor, Media Viewer offers a new look
The Media Viewer is scheduled to launch on the English Wikipedia next week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:44, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 21 May 2014
- News and notes: "Crisis" over Wikimedia Germany's palace revolution
Last Sunday the board of Wikimedia Germany passed 9–1 a vote of no confidence in the chapter's executive director, Pavel Richter, who has held the position since 2009. With more than 50 employees, an annual budget approaching $10 million, and the right to conduct its own fundraising through the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) site banners, Wikimedia Germany is the second-largest organisation in the movement after the WMF itself. The decision was announced on the Wikimedia mailing list by the chapter chair, Nikolas Becker.
- Featured content: Staggering number of featured articles
Thirteen articles, sixteen pictures, and one topic were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
- Traffic report: Doodles' dawn
It's a relief to see Google Doodles having an impact again; their wide coverage means that they inspire curiosity on many subjects which, for reasons of nationality, ethnicity or gender, might not be known in the English-speaking world. It's a shame then, that Wikipedia so often fails to keep up; articles on Google Doodles are almost invariably C-class, and seldom do justice to their subjects. Still, interest in Google Doodles has been waning in recent months—Audrey Hepburn last week was the first to top the list since December—so any rise in popularity is worth celebrating.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:03, 24 May 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 28 May 2014
- News and notes: The English Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion; wiki inventor interviewed on video
With the promotion to featured article of Grus (constellation) on 17 May, Casliber became Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion, following Wehwalt's groundbreaking achievement last December. Cas's first FA, Banksia integrifolia, a group effort, was promoted on 16 November 2006. His first solo project, Diplodocus, followed in January 2007; he has rarely been off the FAC since. In a second story, Ward Cunningham, an American computer programmer who invented the wiki, was interviewed by the WMF.
- Featured content: Zombie fight in the saloon
Wikipedia editor Sven Manguard's work is quite underappreciated a lot of the time, most likely because people haven't heard of it yet: He's developed good relationships with game companies, and is thus able to get full-resolution screenshots released under a Creative Commons license for use on Wikipedia and elsewhere. This week's trove of new featured items on the English Wikipedia comprises seven articles, three lists, and four pictures.
- Traffic report: Get fitted for flipflops and floppy hats
In the US, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer, and summer is definitely on people's minds this week, with summer films Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past, the apparently designated summer song "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea, and summer TV show, Game of Thrones.
- Recent research: Predicting which article you will edit next
Wikipedia in the eyes of its beholders; "Chinese-language time zones" favor Asian pop and IT topics on Wikipedia; and bipartite editing prediction in Wikipedia.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:52, 1 June 2014 (UTC)
GOCE June 2014 newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors May 2014 backlog elimination drive wrap-up
Participation: Thanks to all who participated! Out of 51 people who signed up this drive, 33 copy edited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: We reduced our article backlog from 2,987 articles to 2,236 articles in May, the lowest backlog total since we began keeping records in 2009! Since at least 300 new articles were tagged during May, that means we copy edited over 1,000 articles in a single month. Amazing work, everyone! Blitz: The June blitz will run from June 15–21. This blitz's theme is Politics. Sign up here. Election: You can nominate yourself or others for the role of Coordinator for the second half of 2014 here. Nominations will be accepted until June 14. Voting will begin on June 15 and will conclude on June 28. Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:27, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
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The Signpost: 04 June 2014
- Special report: IEG funding for women's stories: a new approach to the gender gap
Individual engagement grants (IEGs) are announced twice yearly by a volunteer WMF committee, the most recent of which we covered last December. The scheme, launched at the start of last year, awards funds to individuals or teams of up to four to produce high-impact outcomes for the WMF's online projects. It favours innovative approaches to solving critical issues in the movement.
- News and notes: Two new affiliate-selected trustees
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'."
- Op-ed: "Hospitality, jerks, and what I learned"—the amazing keynote at WikiConference USA
I never feel quite adequate trying to paraphrase Sumana's words: she is so articulate. I highly encourage every person who reads this article to directly watch her keynote—it directly speaks to a lot of Wikimedia's most significant issues, made with great eloquence. We have a serious issue with retaining editors, and parts of her speech could serve as a pretty good partial blueprint towards how we could begin to fix that problem.
- Featured content: Ye stately homes of England
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.
- In the media: Reliable or not, doctors use Wikipedia
The month of May saw significant coverage concerning the reliability of Wikipedia's medical articles.
- Traffic report: Autumn in summer
The northern summer is a time when one is meant to celebrate the exuberance of life; instead, commemoration of the dead was a significant theme this week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:01, 8 June 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 11 June 2014
- News and notes: PR agencies commit to ethical interactions with Wikipedia
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.
- Traffic report: The week the wired went weird
It seems that, more than commemorating the great moments in our history, more than even anticipating great sporting events, what our audience wants is the weird.
- Paid editing: Does Wikipedia Pay? The Moderator: William Beutler
William Beutler (WWB), author of the blog The Wikipedian, is a long-time editor and community-watcher. He is also a paid editor (WWB Too). Well—not anymore—because he gave up direct editing of articles in 2011. Instead, for the past three years he has followed Jimmy Wales' Bright Line rule in acting as a researcher and consultant for companies and clients that want to suggest changes to Wikipedia articles and engage on the Talk page.
- Special report: Questions raised over secret voting for WMF trustees
Last week we reported the announcement of two new affiliate-selected WMF trustees. The board of trustees is the most powerful and influential body in the movement, and chapters have been permitted to select two of the 10 seats since 2008, for two-year terms that start in even-numbered years.
- Featured content: Politics, ships, art, and cyclones
Five articles, one list, twelve pictures, and one topic were promoted to 'featured' status last week on the English Wikipedia.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:27, 14 June 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 18 June 2014
- News and notes: With paid advocacy in its sights, the Wikimedia Foundation amends their terms of use
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.
- Featured content: Worming our way to featured picture
Five articles, five lists, 22 pictures, and one portal were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
- Special report: Wikimedia Bangladesh: a chapter's five-year journey
The Bangladesh chapter of the Wikimedia movement was formed in 2009. They received official local registration from the national authorities on 10 June 2014. The long road in between was subject to much persistence, patience, and luck—along with a good deal of worry.
- Traffic report: You can't dethrone Thrones
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the 2014 FIFA World Cup was the main draw this week, taking four slots. People appeared desperate to bone up on their trivia; checking not only this year's World Cup, but the last one. Even so, they still couldn't push Game of Thrones from the top ten. It will be interesting to see what happens come next week's season finale.
- WikiProject report: Visiting the city
This week, the Signpost came in from the hinterland to interview members of the Cities WikiProject.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:57, 22 June 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 25 June 2014
- News and notes: 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.
- Traffic report: Fake war, or real sport?
Despite the interest generated by its season finale, Game of Thrones still couldn't top the World Cup, which still dominated interest, as evidenced by the fact that this top 10 is virtually identical to last week's, just with a different dead celebrity.
- Exclusive: "We need to be true to who we are": Foundation's new executive director speaks to the Signpost
In her first interview since taking office, Lila Tretikov, the Wikimedia Foundation's new executive director, speaks about grantmaking, the global south, and the gender gap.
- Discussion report: Media Viewer, old HTML tags
Discussions on the English Wikipedia this week include...
- Featured content: Showing our Wörth
Ten articles and eleven pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
- WikiProject report: The world where dreams come true
This week, the Signpost visited the land of Disney, blockbusters, explosions, dream sequences, and cultural masterpieces: film.
- Recent research: Power users and diversity in WikiProjects
In a recent paper, Jacob Solomon and Rick Wash investigate the question of sustainability in online communities by analysing trends in the growth of WikiProjects.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:51, 29 June 2014 (UTC)
GOCE July 2014 newsletter
Guild of Copy Editors July 2014 newsletter is now ready for review. Highlights:
– Your project coordinators: Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978 and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:27, 29 June 2014 (UTC)
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The Signpost: 02 July 2014
- In the media: Wiki Education; medical content; PR firms
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.
- Traffic report: The Cup runneth over... and over.
With Game of Thrones over for another year, the World Cup dominated yet again. And that is pretty much that. This list isn't likely to be particularly eventful until the Cup is won.
- News and notes: Wikimedia Israel receives Roaring Lion award
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.
- Featured content: Ship-shape
Six articles, five lists, seventeen pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
- WikiProject report: Indigenous Peoples of North America
This week, the Signpost visited the Indigenous peoples of North America WikiProject.
- Technology report: In memoriam: the Toolserver (2005–14)
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Wikimedia Deutschland's Toolserver project was switched off, marking the end of one of the Wikimedia movement's longest running Chapter-led projects. The Toolserver, which was in fact a collection of servers, first came online in 2005, hosting hundreds of webpages and scripts ("tools") made available for use by Wikimedia readers, editors and administrators.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:23, 6 July 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 09 July 2014
- Special report: Wikimania 2014—what will it cost?
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?
- Wikicup: Wikicup's third round sees money, space, battleships and more
After an extremely close race, round three is over. 244 points secured a place in Round 4, which is comparable to previous years—321 was required in 2013, and 243 points in 2012.
- Wikimedia in education: Exploring the United States and Canada with LiAnna Davis
The Wikimedia Education Program currently spans 60 programs around the world; students and instructors participate at almost every level of education. The Education program Signpost series presents a snapshot of the Wikimedia Global Education Program as it exists in 2014.
- Featured content: Three cheers for featured pictures!
Five articles, six lists, and nine pictures were promoted to 'featured' status last week on the English Wikipedia.
- News and notes: Echoes of the past haunt new conflict over tech initiative
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.
- Traffic report: World Cup, Tim Howard rule the week
Unsurprisingly, the World Cup continued to dominate the English Wikipedia's viewing statistics. In particular, the record-breaking performance of US goalkeeper Tim Howard and the tournament-ending injury to Brazil's Neymar drove large amount of views to their articles.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:53, 13 July 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 16 July 2014
- Special report: $10 million lawsuit against Wikipedia editors withdrawn, but plaintiff intends to refile
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."
- Traffic report: World Cup dominates for another week
This week it's still more and more World Cup, with five entries out of the top ten (and 14 out of the Top 25).
- Wikimedia in education: Serbia takes the stage with Filip Maljkovic
It all started in late 2005, when we first held lectures about Wikipedia in two educational institutions (universities) ...
- Featured content: The Island with the Golden Gun
Eight articles, three lists, and 28 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
- News and notes: Bot-created Wikipedia articles covered in the Wall Street Journal, push Cebuano over one million articles
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.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:25, 18 July 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 23 July 2014
- Wikimedia in education: Education program gaining momentum in Israel
"Great success" in Israel universities is leading to collaboration and editing in high schools.
- Traffic report: The World Cup hangs on, though tragedies seek to replace it
Last week I predicted that the World Cup dominance on the report would be over—but I was wrong. The World Cup Final fell on the 13th of July, which was actually the first day of the week covered by this report, not the last day of the last report. Hence, five of the Top 10 this week are again World Cup related-topics.
- News and notes: Institutional media uploads to Commons get a bit easier
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.
- Forum: Did you know?—good idea, needs reform
The English Wikipedia's did you know (DYK) section has been a feature of the site's main page since February 2004. From the beginning, the section has served as a place to highlight Wikipedia's newest articles. But over the last few years, the did you know section has gotten steadily larger and more complex, and non-notable or plagiarized articles have occasionally slipped through the reviewing process, leading numerous editors to call for reforms to the system. We asked two editors to share their views.
- Featured content: Why, they're plum identical!
Ten articles, five lists, and 25 pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:30, 26 July 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 30 July 2014
- Book review: Knowledge or unreality?
In Common Knowledge: An Ethnography of Wikipedia, Dariusz Jemielniak discusses Wikipedia from the standpoint of an experienced editor and administrator who is also a university professor specializing in management and organizations. In Virtual Reality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It's True?, Charles Seife presents a more broadly themed work reminding us to question the reliability of information found throughout the Internet.
- Recent research: Shifting values in the paid content debate
Kim Osman has performed a fascinating study on the three 2013 failed proposals to ban paid advocacy editing in the English language Wikipedia. Using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, Osman analyzed 573 posts from the three main votes on paid editing conducted in the community in November 2013.
- News and notes: How many more hoaxes will Wikipedia find?
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?
- Wikimedia in education: Success in Egypt and the Arab World
A "program of heroes" is leading the charge in Egypt.
- Traffic report: Doom and gloom vs. the power of Reddit
We indeed moved far away from football this week, and further into much more serious issues of war and death. The Israel-Palestinian conflict continues to dominate the news, and the top 10, with Gaza Strip, Israel, and Hamas. The top 25 also includes Palestine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Death also lies behind the popularity of James Garner, the American actor who died on July 19th, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and deaths in 2014.
- Featured content: Skeletons and Skeltons
Two articles, four lists, and seven pictures attained featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:06, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 06 August 2014
- Technology report: A technologist's Wikimania preview
As the start of Wikimania proper on 8 August approaches, the Signpost looks ahead to what its dozens of presentations might offer the technologically-inclined, whether attending in person or taking advantage of what promises to be a strong digital offering.
- Traffic report: Ebola
Serious news continues to dominate the most popular articles chart on Wikipedia this week, with the Ebola virus disease far and away in the top spot. In the top 25, we see the related articles Ebola virus, which talks about biological aspects, at #18 and 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak at #19.
- Featured content: Bottoms, asses, and the fairies that love them
Eight articles, fifteen pictures, and two topics were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.
- Wikimedia in education: Leading universities educate with Wikipedia in Mexico
"Major growth" expected in Mexican university after a Wikipedia program is formally accepted by the school's administration.
- News and notes: "History is a human right"—first-ever transparency report released as Europe begins hiding Wikipedia in search results
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.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:51, 9 August 2014 (UTC)
WikiProject Good articles Future GAN Backlog Drive
Hello everyone! Hope you've all been having a great summer!
TheQ Editor recently proposed the idea of having another Backlog Drive in either September/October or November/December of this year. For those of you who have participated in the past two drives you know I was the one who organized them, however, come September, this will be my most important year in school so I will not be able to coordinate this drive (if it happens). TheQ Editor has volunteered to be a coordinator for the drive. If any of you would like to co-coordinator, please notify TheQ Editor on his talk page.
If you would be interested in participating in a Backlog Drive sometime before the end of this year, please notify TheQ Editor. Also, make sure to specify what month(s) work best for you.
At the time this message was sent out, the backlog was at 520 nominations. Since May, the backlog has been steadily increasing and we are currently near an all time high. Even though the backlog will not disappear over one drive, this drive can lead to several others which will (hopefully) lead to the day where there is no longer a backlog.
As always, the more participants, the better, and everyone is encouraged to participate!
Sent by Dom497--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:52, 16 August 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 13 August 2014
- Special report: Twitter bots catalogue government edits to Wikipedia
Slate reports that Tom Scott, co-creator of the emoji social network Emojli, created a Twitter bot called Parliament WikiEdits to automatically tweet a link to any Wikipedia edits made from an IP address belonging to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Scott's bot initially did not tweet any links to edits made from Parliament and, according to Scott, an "insider" reports that their IP addresses changed. Despite this, Scott's Twitter bot has inspired similar creations in numerous other countries.
- Traffic report: Disease, decimation and distraction
It's been a grim few weeks. It says something that formerly arresting crises like the war in Ukraine, Boko Haram and the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, despite still being ongoing, have fallen out of the top 10 to make way for the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak and the equally if not more intense conflict against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
- Wikimedia in education: Global Education: WMF's Perspective
"Education is at the core of the Wikimedia Foundation’s mission."
- Wikimania: Promised the moon, settled for the stars
Wikimania 2014 was held last week in the Barbican Centre in London. Below, the Signpost's former "Technology report" writer Harry Burt (User:Jarry1250) shares his thoughts on a bustling conference.
- News and notes: Media Viewer controversy spreads to German Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation staff members have now been granted superpowers that would allow them to override community consensus. The new protection level came as a response to attempts of German Wikipedia administrators to implement a community consensus on the new Media Viewer. "Superprotect" is a level above full protection, and prevents edits by administrators.
- Op-ed: Red links, blue links, and erythrophobia
Erythrophobia is the fear of, or sensitivity to, the colour red. Recently, I have seen more and more erythrophobic Wikipedians; specifically, Wikipedians who are scared of red links. In Wikipedia's early days, red links were encouraged and well-loved, and when I started editing in 2006, this was still mostly the case. Jump forward to 2014, and many editors now have an aversion to red links.
- In the media: Monkey selfie, net neutrality, and hoaxes
The Observer reported (August 2) that Google would "restrict search terms to a link to a Wikipedia article, in the first request under Europe's controversial new 'right to be forgotten' legislation to affect the 110m-page encyclopaedia."
- Featured content: Cambridge got a lot of attention this week
Eight article, six lists, and two topics were promoted to featured status last week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:56, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
GOCE July drive and August blitz
| Guild of Copy Editors July 2014 backlog elimination drive wrap-up
Participation: Thanks to everyone who participated in the July drive. Of the 40 people who signed up this drive, 22 copy edited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: We reduced our article backlog from 2400 articles to 2199 articles in July. This is a new month-end record low for the backlog. Nice work, everyone! Blitz: The August blitz will run from August 24–30. The blitz will focus on articles from the GOCE's Requests page. Awards will be given out to everyone who copy edits at least one of the target articles. The blitz will run from August 24–30. Sign up here! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:10, 19 August 2014 (UTC)
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The Signpost: 20 August 2014
- Interview: Improving the visibility of digital archival assets using Wikipedia
Dorothy Howard interviews Michael Szajewski, archivist for digital development and university records at Ball State University.
- Traffic report: Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
Comedian Robin Williams' untimely death takes the top spot.
- WikiProject report: Bats and gloves
At the plate with WikiProject Baseball!
- Op-ed: A new metric for Wikimedia
Denny Vrandečić argues that "We should focus on measuring how much knowledge we allow every human to share in, instead of number of articles or active editors."
- Featured content: English Wikipedia departs for Japan
Ten articles and three pictures were promoted to featured status last week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:09, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
GA Cup
Hello everyone! We hope you have all been having a great summer!
As we all know, the recent GAN Backlog Drives have not had any big impact on the backlog. Because of that, me (Dom497), Figureskatingfan, and TheQ Editor have worked on an idea that could possibly finally put a dent into the massive backlog. Now, I will admit, the idea isn't entirely ours as we have took the general idea of the WikiCup and brought it over to WikiProject Good Articles. But anyways, here's what we have in mind:
For all of you that do not know what the WikiCup is, it is an annual competition between several editors to see who can get the most Good Articles, Featured Article's, Did You Know's, etc. Based of this, we propose to you the GA Cup. This competition will only focus on reviewing Good articles.
For more info on the proposal, click here. As a FYI, the proposal page is not what the final product will look like (if you do go ahead with this idea). It will look very similar to WikiCup's page(s).
The discussion for the proposal will take place here. Please let us know if you are interested, have any concerns, things to consider, etc.
--Dom497, Figureskatingfan, and TheQ Editor
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:28, 31 August 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 27 August 2014
- In the media: Plagiarism and vandalism dominate Wikipedia news
Journalistic integrity, Congressional edits, and other news.
- News and notes: Media Viewer—Wikimedia's emotional roller-coaster
More discussions about Media Viewer, Superprotect, and software development
- Traffic report: Viral
"This was a week when an actual virus, Ebola, competed for attention with several viral social phenomena; most notably the Ice Bucket Challenge..."
- Featured content: Cheats at Featured Pictures!
Sixteen articles, five lists, five pictures, and one topic were promoted.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:37, 31 August 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 03 September 2014
- Arbitration report: Media viewer case is suspended
"On 1 September, the Arbitrators voted to suspend the Media Viewer case for 60 days. After the suspension period is up, the case is to be closed unless the committee votes otherwise. The case suspension comes in response to several new initiatives and policies announced by the Wikimedia Foundation that may make the case moot. In the same motion, the committee declared that Eloquence's resignation of the administrator right was "under the cloud" and that he can only regain the right through another RfA."
- Featured content: 1882 × 5 in gold, and thruppence more
Two articles, one list, and ten pictures were promoted
- Op-ed: Automated copy-and-paste detection under trial
Doc James and some collaborators are working on quick detection of copyright violations
- Traffic report: Holding Pattern
"This week we saw three of the top ten articles remain in place, with the Ice Bucket Challenge at #1, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at #2, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant at #5, all for a second straight week..."
- WikiProject report: Gray's Anatomy (v. 2)
"This week, the Signpost went out to meet WikiProject Anatomy, dedicated to improving the articles about all our bones, brains, bladders and biceps, and getting them to the high standard expected of a comprehensive encyclopaedia."
- Recent research: A Wikipedia-based Pantheon; new Wikipedia analysis tool suite; how AfC hamstrings newbies
The latest roundup of research about Wikimedia
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:03, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 10 September 2014
- Op-ed: Media Viewer software is not ready
Last month, I wrote an open letter to the Wikimedia Foundation, inviting others to join me in a simple but important request: roll back the recent actions—both technical and social—by which the Wikimedia Foundation has overruled legitimate decisions of several Wikimedia projects.
- Traffic report: Refuge in celebrity
Even though it's not quite 3/4 over, it's safe to say that 2014 will go down as a year of war, mass murder, plane crashes and terrible diseases. While certainly paying it some heed, it's not surprising that Wikipedia viewers tried this week to find any alternative to that litany of tragedy and pain, and their chosen method of escape was, as usual, celebrity.
- Featured content: The louse and the fish's tongue
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!
- WikiProject report: Checking that everything's all right
This week, the Signpost decided to have a look around with WikiProject Check Wikipedia a maintenance project not concerned so much with articles' content, but in all the tiny errors that are to be found scattered within them. Their front page gives a list of things they mainly focus on ...
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:55, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
WikiProject Good Articles - GA Cup
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WikiProject Good articles is holding a new competition, the GA Cup, from October 1, 2014 - March 28, 2015. The Cup will be based on reviewing Good article nominations; for each review, points will be awarded with bonuses for older nominations, longer articles and comprehensive reviews. All participants will start off in one group and the highest scoring participants will go through to the second round. At the moment six rounds are planned, but this may change based on participant numbers. Some of you may ask: what is the purpose for a competition of this type? Currently, there is a backlog of about 500 unreviewed Good article nominations, almost an all time high. It is our hope that we can decrease the backlog in a fun way, through friendly competition. Everyone is welcome to join; new and old editors! Sign-ups will be open until October 15, 2014 so sign-up now! If you have any questions, take a look at the FAQ page and/or contact one of the four judges. Cheers from NickGibson3900, Dom497, TheQ Editor and Figureskatingfan. --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:04, 15 September 2014 (UTC) To receive future GA Cup newsletter, please add your name to our mailing list.
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The Signpost: 17 September 2014
- In the media: Turkish Twitter outrage, medical translation, audience metrics
The Hürriyet Daily News reports on a series of posts on Twitter from Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Ömer Çelik.
- WikiProject report: A trip up north to Scotland
As Scotland is deciding its future this week, we thought it might be a good idea to get to know the editors of WikiProject Scotland and talk to them about the project.
- News and notes: 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.
- Traffic report: Tolstoy leads a varied pack
There is no unifying theme we can slap on top article popularity this week.
- Featured content: Which is not like the others?
Four articles, two lists, and 51 pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week on the English Wikipedia.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:36, 18 September 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 September 2014
- Featured content: Oil paintings galore
Six articles, four lists, one topic, and 17 pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week on the English Wikipedia.
- In the media: Indian political editing, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Congressional chelonii
The Hindustan Times speculates (September 18) that politicians and their supporters are "sanitizing" their articles in advance of the 2014 Maharashtra State Assembly election. The Times notes the absence of significant controversies in the articles of particular politicians and the presence of heavily promotional language.
- Recent research: 99.25% of Wikipedia birthdates accurate; focused Wikipedians live longer; merging WordNet, Wikipedia and Wiktionary
0.75% of Wikipedia birthdates are inaccurate, reported Robert Viseur at WikiSym 2014. Those inaccuracies are "low, although higher than the 0.21% observed for the baseline reference sources". Given that biographies represent 15% of English Wikipedia, the third largest category after "arts" and "culture", their accuracy is important.
- Traffic report: Wikipedia watches the referendum in Scotland
This could be the beginning of a new era for this list. Until now, decisions to remove suspicious content have been largely educated guesswork. This week though, we have a new collaborator who can shine a light on the origins and patterns, sorting once and for all the webwheat from the cyberchaff.
- WikiProject report: GAN reviewers take note: competition time
A year and a week later, we're with some of the members of WikiProject Good Articles, who wanted to share the news of their upcoming contest within the project, the GA Cup. The aim of this friendly competition, which is held in the same light friendly manner of the WikiCup and the Core Contest, is to reduce the backlog of unreviewed articles at Good article nominations which has been a constant problem for quite a few years for those running the GA process.
- Arbitration report: Banning Policy, Gender Gap, and Waldorf education
Banning Policy finishes the workshop phase on 23 September. Parties have proposed findings of fact on the topics of the 3RR, the role of Jimbo Wales, and proxying for banned users. A request for arbitration was posted on 20 September about Landmark Worldwide.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:49, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 01 October 2014
- From the editor: The Signpost needs your help
Contributing to the Signpost can be one of the most rewarding things an editor can do.
- Dispatches: Let's get serious about plagiarism
This article was first published in the Signpost in 2009. Written by several long-standing editors, including the late Adrianne Wadewitz, the article was subjected to extensive commentary and ultimately influenced the English Wikipedia's plagiarism guideline. With recent debates about close paraphrasing vis-à-vis plagiarism, we feel that this dispatch retains its relevance and deserves a second airing.
- News and notes: Wikipedia article published in peer-reviewed journal; Wikipedia in education
The argument on Wikipedia over the benefits of crowdsourcing versus the primacy of "expert" contributors stretches back to co-founder Larry Sanger's break with the project to start the alternative Citizendium.
- WikiProject report: Animals, farms, forests, USDA? It must be WikiProject Agriculture
This week, the Signpost went down to the farm to have a look at the work of WikiProject Agriculture, which has been in existence since 2007 and has a scope covering crop production, livestock management, aquaculture, dairy farming and forest management.
- Traffic report: Shanah Tovah
Jews wished each other Shanah Tovah ("Good year") this week as Rosh Hashanah was our most popular article. It was also a week not dominated by heavy news and tragedies, so aside from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (#2, sixth week in the Top 10), our popular article list runs the gamut of current events including new television series Gotham (#3), the 2014 Asian Games (#4), and Reddit-fueled popularity for German director Uwe Boll (#7).
- Featured content: Brothers at War
As the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the American Civil War draws to a close, the race to improve content continues. The Battle of Franklin, fought on November 30, 1864, will, quite appropriately, be Picture of the Day for November 30, 2014, its 150th anniversary. If you want to help commemorate the American Civil War, why not help out at the Military History WikiProject's Operation Brothers at War. Or help out with the World War I centennial, just starting up, Operation Great War Centennial.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:25, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 08 October 2014
- In the media: Opposition research firm blocked; Australian bushfires
Also, Wikimedia Norge and Nobel Peace Center edit-a-thon
- Featured content: From a wordless novel to a coat of arms via New York City
2 Featured articles, 4 Featured lists, 62 Featured pictures, and 2 Featured portals were promoted.
- Traffic report: Panic and denial
The first case of the Ebola virus on US shores sent people into a tizzy, rushing to their keyboards to try and learn what they could.
- Technology report: HHVM is the greatest thing since sliced bread
No seriously, it is.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:42, 11 October 2014 (UTC)
GOCE October 2014 newsletter
Guild of Copy Editors October 2014 newsletter is now ready for review. Highlights:
– Your project coordinators: Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978 and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:16, 16 October 2014 (UTC)
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The Signpost: 15 October 2014
- Op-ed: Ships—sexist or sexy?
Why does Wikipedia still use the gendered pronouns "she" and "her" for ships?
- In the media: College player falsely linked to sports scandal by Wikipedia; the Nobel Prizes
Ben Koo of the sports blog Awful Announcing investigated how player Joe Streater's name became involved in recent years with a historic sports scandal.
- Arbitration report: One case closed and two opened
The Banning Policy case was closed on 12 October. Arbcom affirmed that users have "considerable leeway" in terms of how their talk pages are managed.
- Featured content: Bells ring out at the Temple of the Dragon at Peace
Nine articles and twenty-six pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia.
- Technology report: Attempting to parse wikitext
This week we sat down with The Earwig to learn about his wikitext parser.
- Traffic report: Now introducing ... mobile data
We are pleased to report that the WP:5000 has now been updated to include mobile views, including a column reflecting the percentage of views coming from mobile devices.
- WikiProject report: Signpost reaches the Midwest
Today, it's the turn of WikiProject Ohio to give us an interview probing deep into of how they manage to run a project covering one fiftieth of the United States, and the workings of how they manufacture their successes and other articles.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:48, 17 October 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 October 2014
- Featured content: Admiral on deck: a modern Ada Lovelace
Four articles, four lists, and fifty-three pictures were promoted to featured status.
- Op-ed: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution—a wiki-protest
Our op-ed writer this week opines that the organization of Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution" resembles how Wikipedia is organized.
- In the media: The story of Wikipedia; Wikipedia reanimated and republished; New UK government social media rules; death of Italian Wikipedia administrator
Among many newsworthy stories this week, the Signpost notes the passing of Italian Wikipedia administrator and former Wikimedia Italia treasurer [Cotton
- Traffic report: Death, War, Pestilence... Movies and TV
Ebola, movies and television articles appear in this week's top ten.
- WikiProject report: De-orphanning articles—a huge task but with a huge team of volunteers to help
PaintedCarpet explains that "WikiProject Orphanage aims to connect all Wikipedia pages, so that pages can be found and read more easily."
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:21, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 29 October 2014
- Featured content: Go West, young man
By the way, there is a monster at the end of this article
- In the media: Wikipedia a trusted source on Ebola; Wikipedia study labeled government waste; football biography goes viral
Noam Cohen reports in The New York Times (October 26) that Wikipedia's "Ebola Virus Disease article has had 17 million page views in the last month," an indication of the public's reliance on the online encyclopedia.
- Maps tagathon: Find 10,000 digitised maps this weekend
Rather than the usual WikiProject Report, this week our guest author Jheald is telling us about a campaign to identify thousands of old maps which have been digitised, to make them available for georeferencing and upload
- Traffic report: Ebola, Ultron, and Creepy Articles
Ebola virus disease leads the Report for the fourth straight week. The rest of the list is primarily a mix of pop culture topics, including movie Avengers: Age of Ultron (#4) whose trailer was leaked early, and the death of Oscar de la Renta (#7). A BuzzFeed article on creepy Wikipedia articles, no doubt well-timed with Halloween (#9) around the corner, was responsible for three articles in the Top 25, including June and Jennifer Gibbons (#10), Taman Shud Case (#17), Joyce Vincent (#25). And the internet-run-amok controversy of Gamergate cracked the Top 25 for the first time at #19.
- Recent research: Informed consent and privacy; newsmaking on Wikipedia; Wikipedia and organizational theories
In new research conducted in light of proposed changes to data protection legislation in the European Union (EU), authors Bart Custers, Simone van der Hof, and Bart Schermer conducted a comparative analysis of social media and user-generated content websites’ privacy policies along with a user survey (N=8,621 in 26 countries) and interviews in 13 different EU countries on awareness, values, and attitudes toward privacy online.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:30, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 05 November 2014
- In the media: Predicting the flu, MH17 conspiracy theories
"Rachel Feltman, in The Washington Post (November 4), examined research in which a team, mostly from Los Alamos National Laboratory, headed by Kyle Hickman developed a model that enabled them "to successfully predict the 2013-2014 flu season in real time" by employing "an algorithm to link flu-related Wikipedia searches with CDC data from the same time." Apparently when individuals search for information about the flu and its symptoms in Wikipedia when they feel ill, this generates data useful in forecasting the the flu season."
- Traffic report: Sweet dreams on Halloween
"It is, perhaps, ironic that humanity chose the week of Halloween to finally put its fears to bed. Let's face it: 2014 has been a year of tragedies, conflicts, plagues and pain, and eventually something had to break... Whether we at last came to terms with our limited ability to affect events, shoved those events under the carpet, or just decided to let go and move on, we turned our eye to more positive things, such as sports heroes, hotly anticipated movies, and lifelong learning; two Google doodles appeared in the top 25 for the first time since the beginning of August."
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:01, 6 November 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 12 November 2014
- In the media: Amazon Echo; EU freedom of panorama; Bluebeard's Castle
"Technology media outlets are abuzz after the November 6 unveiling of the Amazon Echo, an Internet-connected voice command device"; "The EUobserver talks (November 4) with Dimitar Dimitrov (User:Dimi z) about the lack of freedom of panorama in some European Union countries and its implications for Wikimedia projects"; "Scott Cantrell, classical music critic for the Dallas Morning News, recounts efforts to verify an uncited claim in the Wikipedia article for the Béla Bartók opera Bluebeard's Castle."
- Traffic report: Holidays, anyone?
This was very much a week dominated by holidays and pop culture over current events, with new film Interstellar taking the top spot followed by holidays Day of the Dead (#2), Guy Fawkes and his Night (#4 and #5), and Halloween (#8, and its third week on the list). And a foursome of television shows, all return visitors, appear to setting up residence on the greater Top 25: The Walking Dead (#11), American Horror Story: Freak Show (#14), Gotham (#16), and The Flash (#18).
- Featured content: Wikipedia goes to church in Lithuania
Nine articles, two lists, and 55 featured pictures were promoted during the week of 26 October.
- WikiProject report: Talking hospitals
We return to our interview format this week, speaking with the participants of WikiProject Hospitals. This project, formed in 2010, has no Featured content and only three Good articles, yet aided by around 30 hard-working Wikipedians covers a topic that is essential to life.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:46, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 26 November 2014
- Featured content: Orbital Science: Now you're thinking with explosions
Four articles, four lists, eleven pictures, and one topic were promoted.
- In the media: A Russian alternative Wikipedia; Who's your grandfather?; ArtAndFeminism
Numerous media outlets are reporting on a November 14 statement on the website of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library announcing the formation of a Russian "alternative" to Wikipedia, a "regional electronic encyclopedia" dedicated to "Russian regions and the life of the country".
- Recent research: Gender gap and skills gap; academic citations on the rise; European food cultures
The monthly roundup of research related to Wikimedia.
- WikiProject report: Back with the military historians
It's time for this year's edition of the Report looking at possibly our largest wikiproject: Military history. Since our last interview in June 2013, the project has had no break in its huge quest to document everything in their scope, that is, militaries and conflicts of the past. As usual, its participants were eager to answer the questions posed by The Signpost and update us on how they are doing.
- Traffic report: Big in Japan
Often times in popular culture, a subject will be quite popular among a distinct niche of people or region of the world, but little-known elsewhere -- like a musical artist that is boasted to be "big in Japan". The Traffic Report provides a bevy of examples this week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:22, 28 November 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 03 December 2014
- In the media: Embroidery and cheese
- Featured content: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance!
- Traffic report: Turkey and a movie
- WikiProject report: Today on the island
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:30, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
GOCE coordinator elections
| Greetings from the Guild of Copy Editors
Candidate nominations for Guild coordinators to serve from January 1 to June 30, 2015, are currently underway. The nomination period will close at 23:59 on December 15 (UTC), after which voting will commence until 23:59 on December 31, 2014. Self-nominations are welcomed. Please consider getting involved; it's your Guild and it won't coordinate itself, so if you'd like to help coordinate Guild activities we'd love to hear from you. Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, and Miniapolis. Message sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:17, 10 December 2014 (UTC) |
The Signpost: 10 December 2014
- Op-ed: It's GLAM up North!
- Traffic report: Dead Black Men and Science Fiction
- Featured content: Honour him, love and obey? Good idea with military leaders.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:51, 13 December 2014 (UTC)
December 2014 GOCE newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors December 2014 Newsletter
Drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in November's Backlog Elimination Drive. Of the 43 people who signed up for this drive, 26 copy edited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: The November Drive removed 26 requests from the Requests page and 509 articles from the {{copy edit}} backlog. We copy edited 83 articles tagged in the target months; July, August, and September 2013. Together with tag removals from articles unsuitable for copy editing, we eliminated July 2013 from the backlog and reduced August and September's tags to 61 and 70 respectively. As of 01:01, 1 December 2014 (UTC), the backlog stood at 1,974 articles, dipping below 2,000 for the first time in the Guild's history (see graph at right). Well done everyone! Blitz: The December Blitz will run from December 14–20 and will focus on articles related to Religion, in recognition of this month's religious holidays in much of the English-speaking world. Awards will be given out to everyone who copy edits at least one of the target articles. Sign up here! Election time again: The election of coordinators to serve from 1 January to 30 June 2015 is now underway. Candidates can nominate themselves or others from December 01, 00:01 (UTC), until December 15, 23:59. The voting period will run from December 16, 00:01 (UTC), until December 31, 23:59. You can read about coordinators' duties here. Please consider getting involved and remember to cast you vote—it's your Guild and it doesn't organize itself! Thank you all once again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve anything without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:15, 14 December 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 17 December 2014
- Arbitration report: Arbitration Committee election results
- Featured content: Tripping hither, tripping thither, Nobody knows why or whither; We must dance and we must sing, Round about our fairy ring!
- Traffic report: A December Lull
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:08, 19 December 2014 (UTC)
GOCE holiday 2014 newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors Late December 2014 Newsletter
Blitz: Thanks to everyone who participated in the December Blitz. Of the 14 editors who signed up for the blitz, 11 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. January drive: The January backlog-reduction drive is just around the corner; sign up here! Election time again: The election of coordinators to serve from January 1 to June 30, 2015 is now underway. The voting period runs from December 16, 00:01 (UTC), until December 31, 23:59. Please cast your vote—it's your Guild, and it doesn't run itself! Happy holidays from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978 and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:44, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 December 2014
- From the editor: Looking for new editors-in-chief
- In the media: Wales on GamerGate
- Featured content: Still quoting Iolanthe, apparently.
- WikiProject report: Microsoft does The Signpost
- Traffic report: North Korea is not pleased
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:25, 25 December 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 31 December 2014
- News and notes: The next big step for Wikidata—forming a hub for researchers
Wikidata, Wikimedia's free linked database that supplies Wikipedia and its sister projects, is gearing up to submit a grant application to the EU that would expand Wikidata's scope by developing it as a science hub. The proposal, supported by more than 25 volunteers and half a dozen European institutions as project partners, aims to create a virtual research environment (VRE) that will enhance the project's capacity for freely sharing scientific data.
- In the media: Study tour controversy; class tackles the gender gap
A "study tour" by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for the purpose of researching development projects has been the subject of much controversy and criticism in the Indian press... The Indian Express described a government report about the trip as having copied extensively from the Wikipedia articles for Port Blair and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
- Traffic report: Surfin' the Yuletide
Unlike last year, Wikipedia viewers seem to have embraced the Christmas spirit, with three topics in the top 10 (and eight in the top 25) focused on the holiday season.
- Op-ed: My issues with the Wiki Education Foundation
Chris Troutman has been a campus ambassador for six classes in the Los Angeles area over the past four consecutive semesters. He is currently a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at University of California, Riverside.
- Featured content: A bit fruity
Three articles, three lists, fifteen pictures, and one topic were promoted.
- Recent research: Wikipedia in higher education; gender-driven talk page conflicts; disease forecasting
A paper titled "Factors that influence the teaching use of Wikipedia in Higher Education" uses the technology acceptance model to shed light on faculty's (of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) views of Wikipedia as a teaching tool.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:11, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
GOCE 2014 report
| Guild of Copy Editors 2014 Annual Report
Our 2014 Annual Report is now ready for review.
Highlights:
– Your project coordinators: Jonesey95, Miniapolis and Baffle gab1978.
To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:55, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 07 January 2015
- In the media: ISIL propaganda video; AirAsia complaints
ISIL hostage quotes Wikipedia in propaganda video; AirAsia articles draw complaints regarding Flight 8501; Article errors reveal US political approaches to Wikipedia editing; Rhode Island Governor numbering debate
- Interview: Interview with Jakob, one of Wikipedia's more prolific waterway contributors
User:Jakec has been a Wikipedia editor for over two years and has been a writer of many recent Did you know articles on Wikipedia, including multiple articles on rivers and streams in the state of Pennsylvania.
- Featured content: Kock up
Two lists and twelve pictures were promoted.
- Traffic report: Auld Lang Syne
We end 2014 and and start 2015 with the normal array of year-end activities, including movie watching with Bollywood film PK (#1) topping the list, followed by The Interview (#2), 2014 in film (#10), and five other films in the rest of the Top 25, plus a number of articles about the subjects of these films. We celebrated the New Year by singing "Auld Lang Syne" (#11), or perhaps watching Adam Lambert (#9) perform with Queen. But we could not avoid a final tragedy with the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (#4) on December 28.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:38, 9 January 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 14 January 2015
- Op-ed: Articles for creation needs you
Ever since the Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident in 2005 triggered the restriction against un-registered editors creating new pages, WikiProject Articles for creation (AfC) has stood in the breach. The WikiProject's purpose is to review draft submissions from IPs (and frequently new registered editors) to sort the wheat from the chaff.
- WikiProject report: Articles for creation: the inside story
This anniversary issue, the WikiProject report is returning to WikiProject Articles for creation for one of our largest interviews ever. Last looked at in 2011, AfC is the method used by unregistered or new users to create articles, and provides an effective filtering system to remove all unsuitable or unsourced submissions to save them needing to be found and deleted later.
- News and notes: Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
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.
- In the media: Wikipedia's birthday brings tributes, app, award; Castro death rumors
Wikipedia turned 14 on January 15. A few media outlets took note of the anniversary.
- Featured content: Citations are needed
Six featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: Wikipédia sommes Charlie
It's a grim certainty what topic most interested Wikipedia viewers this week. The horrific attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine have drawn anger and resolve from around the world, and also the attention of an English-speaking world that had previously never heard of it.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:26, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 21 January 2015
- From the editor: Introducing your new editors-in-chief
A letter from departing Signpost editor-in-chief The ed17.
- Anniversary: A decade of the Signpost
Celebrating and remembering ten years of community journalism.
- Interview: WWII veteran honors shipmates through Wikipedia editing
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.
- News and notes: Annual report released; Wikimania; steward elections
The municipality of Esino Lario in Italy will host Wikimania 2016.
- Op-ed: Let's make WikiProjects better
Our contributor opines that WikiProjects are failing to live up to their potential. WikiProject X is a new project funded by a Wikimedia Foundation Individual Engagement Grant that focuses on figuring out what makes some WikiProjects work and not others.
- In the media: Johann Hari; bandishes and delicate flowers
Quotes from Jimbo on Wikipedia in education; net neutrality; preserving musical heritage; Wikipedia in audio; a cheerful vandal credits high school with papal visitations.
- Featured content: Yachts, marmots, boat races, and a rocket engineer who attempted to birth a goddess
Nine articles, one list, and ten pictures were promoted.
- Arbitration report: As one door closes, a (Gamer)Gate opens
ArbCom's three open cases are GamerGate, Wifione, and Christianity and sexuality.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:13, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 28 January 2015
- From the editor: An editorial board that includes you
The editorial board is not complete without you. We are looking for Wikipedians with all kinds of experience levels.
- In focus: Thirteen editors sanctioned in mammoth GamerGate arbitration case
The English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee has closed the colossal GamerGate arbitration case, whose size—involving 27 named parties—recalls large and complex cases of the past.
- In the media: A murderous week for Wikipedia
A murder suspect edits Wikipedia, Russia is kidding when it says it wants to censor Wikipedia.
- Forum: Evaluating the Arbitration Committee's handling of GamerGate
Does the committee facilitate stability... or is it a circus. Two users, two perspectives.
- Traffic report: A sea of faces
It is pretty clear what the theme is this week: people.
- Recent research: Bot writes about theatre plays; "Renaissance editors" create better content
A paper presented at the International Conference on Pattern Recognition last year presents an automated method to improve Wikipedia's coverage of theatre plays.
- Special report: Traffic in the fog—most-viewed articles of 2014 include death, Facebook, and Ebola
As with last year, music stars were the majority of celebrities on the list, as their frequent concerts and media appearances keep their flames alight longer than others of their stripe.
- Featured content: Like Jack Kerouac's On The Road, this week's issue was written on amphetamines
Ten featured articles, three featured lists, and 22 featured images were promoted this week.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:15, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
February 2015 GOCE newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors February 2015 Newsletter
Drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in January's Backlog Elimination Drive. Of the 38 people who signed up for this drive, 21 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: We were able to remove August 2013 from the general copyediting backlog and November 2014 from the request-page backlog. Many thanks, everyone! Blitz: The February Blitz will run from February 15–21 and again focuses on the requests page. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one request article. Sign up here! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:52, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
GOCE March newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors March 2015 Newsletter
Blitz: Thanks to everyone who participated in the February Blitz. Of the 21 people who signed up, eight copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: The blitz removed 16 articles from the requests list, and we're almost done with December 2014. Many thanks, everyone! Drive: The month-long March drive begins in about a week. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the backlog. Sign up here! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:41, 22 February 2015 (UTC)
April 2015 GOCE newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors April 2015 Newsletter
March drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 38 people who signed up, 18 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. April blitz: The one-week April blitz, again targeting our long requests list, will run from April 19–25. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the requests page. Sign up here! May drive: The month-long May backlog-reduction drive, with extra credit for articles tagged in December 2013, January and February 2014 and all request articles, begins soon. Sign up now! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:28, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
Quixotic plea
You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Wikipediholism test. Thanks. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 06:24, 23 May 2015 (UTC)
GOCE June 2015 newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors June 2015 News
May drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 38 people who signed up, 29 copyedited at least one article, and we got within 50 articles of our all-time low in the backlog. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Coordinator elections: Nominations are open through June 15 for GOCE coordinators, with voting from June 16–30. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged. Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:08, 5 June 2015 (UTC)
GOCE August 2015 newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors August 2015 Newsletter
July drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 24 people who signed up, 17 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. August blitz: The one-week April blitz, targeting biographical articles that have been tagged for copy editing for over a year, will run from August 16–22. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the article list on the blitz page. Sign up here! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators, Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, KieranTribe, Miniapolis, and Pax85. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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- sent by Jonesey95 via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:43, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

