FYI, I created this to help with jotting down ideas and recording any proposals submitted. I also provided pointers to things like WikiAfrica Hour Episode #42 about Offline Wikis, and other reference sites.
Please edit! https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikimania_2025_Offline_Wikipedia_proposals -Andrew On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 9:17 AM Andrew Lih <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote: > Great to hear that the Wikimania organizers are encouraging more of > this, especially since there may be great applications for the region. > > If that is the case, perhaps we could submit something related to > LoRa/Meshtastic now, get it in the system, and then combine or figure out > how we do a session on it. > > Some ideas: > 1. A group of folks are running the "Cyberpony Express" project in > conjunction with the Burning Man organizers, on how to create an offline > BBS and Wikipedia system using LoRa/Meshtastic in the desert (or in a > survival scenario), and are already using IIAB. They might be interested in > collaborating on something. See: > > https://highdesertinstitute.org/2025/03/19/initial-cyberpony-express-workshop-recap-and-next-steps/ > > 2. There don't seem to be any active Kenya groups (that I can see) using > LoRa/Meshtastic, so Wikimania could be a great training ground for testing > some services. Usually amateur/Ham radio groups are a good conduit for > getting folks interested in Meshtastic, so we might want to reach out to > them, or universities doing similar things. > > 3. We could experiment with setting up a Meshtastic network just for > Wikimania, so people can try it out themselves. Access devices are as low > as $30-40 USD. > > -Andrew > > > On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 4:59 AM Stephane Coillet-Matillon < > steph...@kiwix.org> wrote: > >> Well folks from the organizing committee told me offline access would be >> front and center this year so there’s definitely room for more offline >> sessions! >> >> > On 26 Mar 2025, at 22:35, Andrew Lih <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote: >> > >> > Hi all, while I'm not sure there is room for a third session about >> offline Wikipedia, there might be some interesting things to do during the >> Hackathon. >> > >> > Specifically, there is a lot more attention to "offline friendly" >> technologies like LoRa/Meshtastic, an inexpensive, long range wireless >> peer/mesh system of radios to communicate with text messaging at low >> bandwidth (1 kbps). This might be an interesting opportunity to see what >> types of offline Wikipedia services might be practical using these types of >> inexpensive devices. The good news is that LoRa uses unlicensed ISM bands >> depending on the locale, and does not requiring a license or any >> subscription fees. >> > >> > There are "international" devices that can use wireless spectrum >> appropriate for different countries, so this might be a good time to >> experiment or showcase these types of applications. >> > >> > Sample device: >> > >> https://www.seeedstudio.com/SenseCAP-Card-Tracker-T1000-E-for-Meshtastic-p-5913.html >> > >> > Example BBS/service on LoRa: >> > https://github.com/TheCommsChannel/TC2-BBS-mesh >> > >> > -Andrew >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Offline-l mailing list -- offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> > To unsubscribe send an email to offline-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Offline-l mailing list -- offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> To unsubscribe send an email to offline-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >> > > > -- > -Andrew Lih > Smithsonian Institution - Wikimedian at Large > Metropolitan Museum of Art - Wikimedia strategist > Previously: professor of journalism and communications, American > University, Columbia University, University of Southern California > --- > Email: andrew....@gmail.com, and...@andrewlih.com > WEB: https://muckrack.com/fuzheado > PROJECT: Wikipedia Space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPSPACE > > -- -Andrew Lih Smithsonian Institution - Wikimedian at Large Metropolitan Museum of Art - Wikimedia strategist Previously: professor of journalism and communications, American University, Columbia University, University of Southern California --- Email: andrew....@gmail.com, and...@andrewlih.com WEB: https://muckrack.com/fuzheado PROJECT: Wikipedia Space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPSPACE
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