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User talk:Spencer/Archive 23

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DYK for Filipinos in Belgium

Orlady (talk) 08:22, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

RE Closure reverted

Hey,

just that generally closues are with overwhelming near-unanimous opposition. Consensus was a lot clower so with some more discussion it could have been posted. But discussion was needed. Many discussions go on for quite long (a la Alex Ferguson (which I believe was finally posted)(Lihaas (talk) 06:27, 15 January 2014 (UTC)).

The Signpost: 15 January 2014

  • Technology report: Architecture Summit schedule published
    The proposed schedule for the MediaWiki Archicture Summit has been published. The two main plenary sessions will be about HTML templating, and Service-oriented architecture.
  • Op-ed: Licensed for reuse? Citing open-access sources in Wikipedia articles
    It is heavily ironic that two decades after the World Wide Web was started — largely to make it easier to share scholarly research — most of our past and present research publications are still hidden behind paywalls for private profit. The bitter twist is that the vast majority of this research is publicly funded, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide each year.
  • Traffic report: The Hours are Ours
    We now can get a far more accurate picture of which short surges in popularity are likely natural and which are not.
  • WikiProject report: WikiProject Sociology
    This week, we studied human social behavior with the folks at WikiProject Sociology.

The Signpost: 22 January 2014

  • News and notes: Modification of WMF protection brought to Arbcom
    The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy's application of pending changes level two on the article Conventional PCI—an action taken under its rarely used office actions policy—has escalated to the Arbitration Committee after an editor upgraded it to full protection.
  • Featured content: Dr. Watson, I presume
    Fifteen articles, nine lists, twenty pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
  • Special report: The few who write Wikipedia
    On 15 January, Wikipedia turned thirteen years old. In that time, this site has grown from a small site that was known to only a select few to one of the most popular websites on the internet. At the same time, recent data suggests that there is a power curve among users, where the comparative few who are writing most of Wikipedia have most of the edits. The result of this is that there is going to be bias in what is created, and how we deal with it as Wikipedians is indicative of the future of the site. Furthermore, this brings up what we have to do in order to combat this bias, as there are many ideas, but the question is whether they will work or not.
  • Technology report: Architecting the future of MediaWiki
    This week we're interviewing Brion Vibber about the then-upcoming Architecture Summit. Brion is a long time Wikipedian, the first employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and currently the lead software architect working with the mobile team.
  • Traffic report: No show for the Globes
    While the 71st Golden Globe Awards, held on 12 January, had an impact on the top 25, their presence was largely absent from the Top 10. With the exception of Best Actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio, the only Golden Globe entrants in the Top 10 are films that would have been there anyway.

Heartbroken?

Well, Spencer, Guess what? You blocked me and you broke my heart! Well, um, let me get this straight... So what you're saying is that you, a user who was blocked me for six months and threatening me. Because, ya know, if that's what you're doing, Well... anywho, please don't do this sort of thing, okay. Thank you. (68.170.223.13 (talk) 15:11, 25 January 2014 (UTC)).

WikiCup 2014 January newsletter

The 2014 WikiCup is off to a flying start, with, at time of writing, 138 participants. The is the largest number of participants we have seen since 2010. If you are yet to join the competition, don't worry- the judges have agreed to keep the signups open for a few more days. By a wide margin, our current leader is newcomer Smithsonian Institution Godot13 (submissions), whose set of 14 featured pictures, the first FPs of the competition, was worth 490 points. Here are some more noteworthy scorers:

Featured articles, featured lists, featured topics and featured portals are yet to play a part in the competition. The judges have removed a number of submissions which were deemed ineligible. Typically, we aim to see work on a project, followed by a nomination, followed by promotion, this year. We apologise for any disappointment caused by our strict enforcement this year; we're aiming to keep the competition as fair as possible.

Wikipedians interested in friendly competition may be interested to take part in The Core Contest; unlike the WikiCup, The Core Contest is not about audited content, but, like the WikiCup, it is about article improvement; specifically, The Core Contest is about contribution to some of Wikipedia's most important article. Of course, any work done for The Core Contest, if it leads to a DYK, GA or FA, can earn WikiCup points.

If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 19:54, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 January 2014

  • Traffic report: Six strikes out
    There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
  • WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests
    Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
  • News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
    Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".

The Signpost: 29 January 2014

  • Traffic report: Six strikes out
    There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
  • WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests
    Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
  • News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
    Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".

Rankin

Hi. Rankin was listed for five and a half days at RD. Was there any reason for removing himnow,before he was bumped? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 21:27, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

For some reason I mixed up his birth and death dates, thinking he died on January 19th (and thus was super stale). Sorry about that; I've put him back on the template. SpencerT♦C 23:18, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 12 February 2014

  • In the media: WikiVIP; Art Feminism; Medical articles; PR manipulation; Azerbaijani Wikipedia
    As reported in various media outlets this week, including The Next Web and The Daily Dot, this past week, Wikimedia Commons and various language Wikipedias are working together to encourage subjects of Wikipedia articles to record a 10-second clip of their voice to be appended to their Wikipedia article.
  • Technology report: Left with no choice
    Software evolution does not always mean that features are being added. It also means that old fat is being trimmed. It is no different for MediaWiki.
  • News and notes: WMF bites the bullet on affiliation and FDC funding, elevates Wikimedia user groups
    In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
  • Featured content: Space selfie
    Thirteen articles, three lists, and twenty-five images were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia from 19 January to 1 February.
  • Traffic report: Sports Day
    Two great sporting events, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, collide in one week, transforming the top ten into a festival of flying feet, a carnival of colliding caraniums and a bacchanal of bouncing balls, combined to influence Wikipedia's most popular articles last week.
  • WikiProject report: Game Time in Russia
    In celebration of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we revisited the team at WikiProject Russia to learn how the project has changed since our first interview in 2011.

The Signpost: 19 February 2014

  • Technology report: ULS Comeback
    Runa Bhattacharjee has notified the community that the Foundation is ready to turn the Universal Language Selector back on.
  • WikiProject report: Countering Systemic Bias
    WikiProject Countering System Bias aims to combat imbalanced coverage while encouraging neglected cultural perspectives and points of view, both in articles and in the larger Wikipedia community. As you'll see from the varied experiences and motivations of our nine respondents, the biases that the folks at WP CSB tackle run the full gamut of human characteristics and dispositions. The interview that follows unveils many of Wikipedia's greatest shortcomings.
  • Featured content: Holotype
    Five articles, seven lists, forty-three pictures, and two portals were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
  • Traffic report: Chilly Valentines
    Valentines Day got a somewhat muted reception this week, overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the death of Shirley Temple.

86.180.189.43

Please be aware that 86.180.189.43 has resumed his/her vandalism right after the 31 hour block was lifted.

Thx, CapnZapp (talk) 12:46, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 February 2014

  • Forum: Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?
    About a week ago, the Wikimedia Foundation proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' terms of use to specifically ban paid editing, by adding a new clause titled "Paid contributions without disclosure". We have asked two users, one in favor of the measure (Smallbones) and one opposed (Pete Forsyth), to contribute their opinions on the matter.
  • Featured content: Odin salutes you
    Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • Special report: Diary of a protester: Wikimedian perishes in Ukrainian unrest
    Ukraine has been gripped by widespread protests over the past three months. Due to a decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych—at Russia's urging—to abandon integration with the European Union, the country was (and in many ways still is) split between the Europe-favoring Ukrainian-speaking western half and the Russian-speaking east and south. Hundreds have died during the unrest, leaving thousands of family members and friends to bury their loved ones. This week our Wikimedian colleagues in Ukraine are facing that challenge after the death of one of their own.
  • News and notes: Wikimedia chapters and communities challenge Commons' URAA policy
    Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
  • Traffic report: Snow big deal
    The 2014 Winter Olympics had more of an impact on the Top 25 than the Top 10, which had to shoulder old stalwarts like the death list, Reddit threads, TV shows and the eternal presence of Facebook; still, with four slots, it's the most searched topic on the list.

WikiCup 2014 February newsletter

And so ends the most competitive first round we have ever seen, with 38 points required to qualify for round 2. Last year, 19 points secured a place; before that, 11 (2012) or 8 (2011) were enough. This is both a blessing and a curse. While it shows the vigourous good health of the competition, it also means that we have already lost many worthy competitors. Our top three scorers were:

  1. Smithsonian Institution Godot13 (submissions), a WikiCup newcomer whose high-quality scans of rare banknotes represent an unusual, interesting and valuable contribution to Wikipedia. Most of Godot's points this round have come from a large set of pictures used in Treasury Note (1890–91).
  2. Oh, better far to live and die / Under the brave black flag I fly... Adam Cuerden (submissions), a WikiCup veteran and a finalist last year, Adam is also a featured picture specialist, focusing on the restoration of historical images. This month's promotions have included a carefully restored set of artist William Russell Flint's work.
  3. United States WikiRedactor (submissions), another WikiCup newcomer. WikiRedactor has claimed points for good article reviews and good articles relating to pop music, many of which were awarded bonus points. Articles include Sky Ferreira, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus and "Wrecking Ball" (Miley Cyrus song).

Other competitors of note include:

After such a competitive first round, expect the second round to also be fiercely fought. Remember that any content promoted after the end of round 1 but before the start of round 2 can be claimed in round 2, but please do not update your submission page until March (UTC). Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. Remember, if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally.

If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 00:01, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

(test) The Signpost: 05 March 2014

  • Traffic report: Brinksmen on the brink
    There's nothing like a good old bit of Cold War nostalgia, combined with a suitably scary international incident, to focus our attention on the real world. That said, nothing could stem our outpouring of affection for the beloved comedian Harold Ramis, whose death managed to top the week in the face of those international concerns.
  • News and notes: Wikipedia Library finding success in matching contributors with sources
    This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
  • Featured content: Full speed ahead for the WikiCup
    The WikiCup competition is ongoing, while six articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status of the English Wikipedia this week.
  • WikiProject report: Article Rescue Squadron
    This week, the Signpost delved into the English Wikipedia's Article Rescue Squadron.

The Signpost: 12 March 2014

  • News and notes: Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month
    Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
  • Traffic report: War and awards
    An intensely busy week, as a confluence of celebratory, curious and urgent topics pushed typical residents like Facebook and Deaths in 2014 out of the top ten entirely.
  • Featured content: Ukraine burns
    Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.

The Signpost: 19 March 2014

  • WikiProject report: We have history
    This week, we visited WikiProject History, an ancient project with roots dating back to 2001. The project is home to 196 pieces of Featured material and 483 Good and A-class articles independent of the vast accomplishments of its various child projects. WikiProject History maintains a lengthy list of tasks, oversees the history portal, and continues to build Wikipedia's outline of history.
  • Featured content: Spot the bulldozer
    Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • Traffic report: Into thin air
    The utterly mystifying events surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which has not fallen from the sky so much as vanished from it entirely, has left an information-starved public scrambling for precedents, some logical, some... not.
  • Technology report: Wikimedia engineering report
    The Wikimedia engineering report for February 2014 has been published. A summarized version is also available. Major news include

The Signpost: 26 March 2014

  • Comment: A foolish request
    April Fools' Day is rapidly approaching. Every year, members of the community pull pranks and make (or attempt to make) humorous edits to pages across the project. Every year, the community follows April Fools' Day with a contentious debate about whether or not it is necessary to impose limits on April Fools' Day jokes for future years. It is a polarizing issue.
  • Traffic report: Down to a simmer
    Topics like the 2014 Crimea crisis or the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 eased down the list, making way for such traditional topics as St Patrick's Day, Reddit threads and even Google Doodles, which have reappeared after a long absence.
  • Recent research: Wikipedians' "encyclopedic identity" dominates even in Kosovo debates
    Have you wondered about differences in the articles on Crimea in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English versions of Wikipedia? A newly published article entitled "Lost in Translation: Contexts, Computing, Disputing on Wikipedia" doesn't address Crimea, but nonetheless offers insight into the editing of contentious articles in multiple language editions through a heavy qualitative examination of Wikipedia articles about the Kosovo in the Serbian, Croatian, and English editions.
  • News and notes: Commons Picture of the Year—winners announced
    Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
  • Op-ed: Why we're updating the default typography for Wikipedia
    On 3 April, we will roll out some changes to the typography of Wikipedia's default Vector skin, to increase readability for users on all devices and platforms. After five months of testing, four major iterations, and through close collaboration with the global Wikimedia community, who provided more than 100 threads of feedback, we’ve arrived at a solution which improves the primary reading and editing experience for all users.
  • Technology report: Why will Wikipedia look like the Signpost?
    As you have probably read on this weeks op-ed, or via various other channels of announcement, 3 April will see the introduction of the Typography refresh (or update) for the Vector skin on all Wikipedias. Other projects like Commons will have this update rolled out a few days prior.
  • WikiProject report: From the peak
    This week, the Signpost interviewed the English Wikipedia's Mountains WikiProject.

WikiCup 2014 March newsletter

A quick update as we are half way through round two of this year's competition. WikiCup newcomer Smithsonian Institution Godot13 (submissions) (Pool E) leads, having produced a massive set of featured pictures for Silver certificate (United States), an article also brought to featured list status. Former finalist Oh, better far to live and die / Under the brave black flag I fly... Adam Cuerden (submissions) (Pool G) is in second, which he owes mostly to his work with historical images, including a number of images from Urania's Mirror, an article also brought to good status. 2010 champion (Pool C) is third overall, thanks to contributions relating to naval history, including the newly featured Japanese battleship Nagato. Rhodesia Cliftonian (submissions), who currently leads Pool A and is sixth overall, takes the title for the highest scoring individual article of the competition so far, with the top importance featured article Ian Smith.

With 26 people having already scored over 100 points, it is likely that well over 100 points will be needed to secure a place in round 3. Recent years have required 123 (2013), 65 (2012), 41 (2011) and 100 (2010). Remember that only 64 will progress to round 3 at the end of April. Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page; if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 22:55, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 02 April 2014

  • Special report: On the cusp of the Wikimedia Conference
    The annual Wikimedia Conference is about to start in Berlin, hosted by Wikimedia Germany, which won the bid to hold the event over three others. This will be the fifth time the chapter has hosted the Wikimedia Conference—it did so from 2009 to 2012, with attendance ranging from 100 to 180 Wikimedians. This year 160 people are expected at the four-day event, which is mainly for representatives of affiliated Wikimedia organisations. The conference has been built around two themes: Organisation, structures, and grants and Success and impact.
  • Featured content: April Fools
    The Signpost's "Featured content" writers had a bit of fun this week.
  • Traffic report: Regressing to the mean
    The mysterious fate of MH370 still tops the list, but in all other respects our readership has retreated from the real world into its pop-cultural happy place: TV, movies, music, Reddit and Google Doodles all made an appearance.

Recognising under construction and WIP articles in user namespace.

Retired though I may be, and though it is multiple months after the event, I don't appreciate it when people come along and randomly nominate clearly work-in-progress articles for deletion when they are within user namespace, as you did to me in July last year. Now, since I'm retired and as such am not going to be working on further drafts any time soon, I'm not going to bother restoring the page, but in future please have the decency to attempt to message the editor and explain your concerns about any given sandbox article within userspace before you callously plant spuriously reasoned deletion templates over it. Its not cool. -- Sabre (talk) 00:14, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 09 April 2014

  • News and notes: Round 2 of FDC funding open to public comments
    Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
  • WikiProject report: WikiProject Law
    This week, we interviewed the Law WikiProject.
  • Special report: Community mourns passing of Adrianne Wadewitz
    "I remember laughing and talking and laughing and talking at Wikimania 2012. I took this picture of her that she used for a long while as a profile pic. Someone on Facebook said it looked 'skepchickal', which she loved."
  • Traffic report: Conquest of the Couch Potatoes
    Television has always been a topic of choice on this site, but it exploded this week. Fully six slots were devoted to television shows, as the final episode of How I Met Your Mother, one of the most popular Wikipedia searches of the last few years, coincided with the season finale of The Walking Dead and the upcoming fourth season of Game of Thrones. The number rises to 8 if movies released on video and new TV tech are are included.
  • Featured content: Snow heater and Ash sweep
    Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.

Please adjudicate something for me.

I completed the framework of the Pulitzer prizes 2014 article. I posted an ITN nominee for it, as its of wide interest, and we have the article to support.

2014 Pulitzer Prize

I am getting stonewalled by the room for using a Snowden picture, in the ITN header.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:In_the_news/Candidates#NSA_Stories_take_Pulitzer_Prize

I am using a Snowden picture because 1 the NSA revelations won the main prize 2 Right now a list of news media leading with Snowdens picture goes - CNN, Fox News, ABC, Al Jazeera, Reuters. Thats 3 of the american big 4 and 2 of the global 3. MSNBC are going "Will papers win Pulitzer for Snowden stories?" and the BBC have the Guardian guy. Article is essentially ready to go.

The room is telling me they hate the sight of Snowden and that there's reasons why his picture cant be used despite the fact almost all other outlets are using it. Seems like irrational consensus.

Please adjudicate, and if Im wrong to use his picture in the ITN thing, then Ill lose it. The article is of course generic and without pictures outside of the prize itself. I have mentioned the main winner, only in short form, before moving on to the list.

Thank you. 77.101.41.108 (talk) 01:28, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

The purpose of admins on ITN/C is to read the consensus and make decisions based on that, not make the decisions on their own. If you have arguments to make about the image, please do that on the WP:ITN/C page, not here. SpencerT♦C 16:45, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 April 2014

  • Special report: 2014 Wikimedia Conference—what is the impact?
    The annual Wikimedia Conference wound up last Sunday, 13 April—a four-day meeting costing several hundred thousand dollars, hosted in Berlin by Wikimedia Germany and attended by more than 100 Wikimedians.
  • Op-ed: Five things a Wikipedian in residence can do
    Hey you—yeah you, the Wikipedian! Do you want to help a museum, a library, a university, or other organization explore ways to engage with Wikipedia? Great—you should offer your expertise as a Wikipedian in residence!
  • News and notes: Wikimedian passes away
    Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
  • Wikimania: Winning bid announced for 2015
    After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July.
  • Traffic report: Reflecting in Gethsemane
    If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk.
  • Featured content: There was I, waiting at the church
    Fourteen articles, four lists, seven pictures, and one topic attained "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.

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.
  • Featured content: Browsing behaviours
    Four articles and sixteen featured pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.

WikiCup 2014 April newsletter

Round 3 of the 2014 WikiCup has just begun; 32 competitors remain. Pool G's Oh, better far to live and die / Under the brave black flag I fly... Adam Cuerden (submissions) was Round 2's highest scorer, with a large number of featured picture credits. In March/April, he restored star charts from Urania's Mirror, lithographs of various warships (such as SMS Gefion) and assorted other historical media. Second overall was Pool E's Smithsonian Institution Godot13 (submissions), whose featured list Silver certificate (United States) contains dozens of scans of banknotes recently promoted to featured picture status. Third was Pool G's United States ChrisGualtieri (submissions) who has produced a large number of good articles, many, including Falkner Island, on Connecticut-related topics. Other successful participants included Rhodesia Cliftonian (submissions), who saw three articles (including the top-importance Ian Smith) through featured article candidacies, and Washington, D.C. Caponer (submissions), who saw three lists (including the beautifully-illustrated list of plantations in West Virginia) through featured list candidacies. High-importance good articles promoted this round include narwhal from Canada Reid,iain james (submissions), tiger from Wales Cwmhiraeth (submissions) and The Lion King from Minas Gerais Igordebraga (submissions). We also saw our first featured topic points of the competition, awarded to Nepal Czar (submissions) and Indiana Red Phoenix (submissions) for their work on the Sega Genesis topic. No points have been claimed so far for good topics or featured portals.

192 was our lowest qualifying score, again showing that this WikiCup is the most competitive ever. In previous years, 123 (2013), 65 (2012), 41 (2011) or 100 (2010) secured a place in Round 3. Pool H was the strongest performer, with all but one of its members advancing, while only the two highest scorers in Pools G and F advanced. At the end of June, 16 users will advance into the semi-finals. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 17:57, 4 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.
  • 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.

Sock

Hi. Could you take a look into [Economist1994 this obvious sock of Sudhir7777 (talk · contribs)? There seems to be a backlog in SPI and this user doesn't seem to stop. There is an SPI open. Thanks, — Abhishek  Talk 17:08, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Hi @Abhishek191288:, I don't have much prior experience with SPI, so I'm not really confident in my ability to handle this correctly. I will take a look, but no guarantees that I will end up doing anything if I'm not exactly sure how it should be handled. SpencerT♦C 17:12, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 May 2014

  • 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.

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.
  • 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.

Request for comment

Hello there, a proposal regarding pre-adminship review has been raised at Village pump by Anna Frodesiak. Your comments here is very much appreciated. Many thanks. Jim Carter through MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:46, 28 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.

99.46.117.133

IP Address 99.46.117.133 vandalized the April O'Neil page and looking at the person's talk page, this is something this user has done many times.TheHeronGuard (talk) 03:15, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

It wasn't right after the end of the block duration, so I gave the user a level 4 warning. I'll try to keep an eye on it, but let me know if vandalism continues. Thanks, SpencerT♦C 05:16, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

Well, IP address 99.46.117.133 vandalized the April O'Neil page again.TheHeronGuard (talk) 21:45, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

Noted, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Best, SpencerT♦C 04:00, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

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.
  • 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.

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.

June 2014

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