Re: [Foundation-l] Vandalize wikipedia day on facebook
Vandalizing Wikipedia may actually get a few started on the project. It's usually easier to persuade people to do "evil" sounding things on the internet than real-life - some positive externalities may arise. Anirudh Bhati On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 5:07 AM, Amory Meltzer wrote: > On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 19:07, K. Peachey wrote: > > The more time you spend trying to shutdown the pages/groups/whatever > > else, the more it encourages users to do it, So just pay no attention > > to them. > > We have an article on that! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect > > ~A > > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Vandalize wikipedia day on facebook
Speaking from my own experience, I started off as a "vandal" got a couple of test warnings and then I started contributing meaningfully. As long as the vandalism is not subtle and experimenting users are not labelled as "vandals" as such, it can be easily managed by bots and users. ZOMG LET''S VANDALIZE WIKIPEDIA!!!11!! will inevitably get more attention than "Let us write an article day!". Yours sincerely, Anirudh Singh Bhati Student of Law, Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, India. Handphone: +919328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh Anyone who needs to be persuaded to be free, doesn’t deserve to be. —L. Neil Smith. On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 7:39 PM, Anthony wrote: > On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 8:31 AM, Kul Takanao Wadhwa >wrote: > > > James Alexander wrote: > > > On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 3:12 AM, Anirudh Bhati > > wrote: > > > > > > > > >> Vandalizing Wikipedia may actually get a few started on the project. > > It's > > >> usually easier to persuade people to do "evil" sounding things on the > > >> internet than real-life - some positive externalities may arise. > > >> > > >> I agree, I've actually met at least 3 people "out in the world" who > > >> > > > admitted to starting off vandalizing the Wikipedia and then ended up > > editing > > > it legitimately. Two of them do very random wikiGnome stuff when they > see > > it > > > and the third has actually done quite a few articles now. > > > > > > > > That's very interesting to know. Do you have any idea what made them > > convert from being vandals to positive contributors? > > > > Reading Template:Test, of course. > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: Building a new Legal and Community Advocacy Department & Promotion of Philippe Beaudette
Congratulations! I think this is a valuable effort in the right direction. anirudh On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:07 PM, Erik Moeller wrote: > On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 8:44 PM, Casey Brown wrote: > > "Advocacy" is a much more general term in this context than people > > seem to be taking it as. It does not mean lobbying or fighting for > > something controversial with outside organizations. As I understand > > it, it's the opposite: advocating to the Wikimedia Foundation on > > behalf of the community. > > Yeah, that's my understanding of the game plan here as well. I think > the announcement could have been clearer in that regard, but that's > pretty much what Philippe and Maggie have already been doing, and what > they'll continue to do in a structure that's set up for growth. > > Sometimes we have a tendency to speak in management lingo when we > should be choosing simple, crisp & clear terms. Honest feedback: Burn > the chart on > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal_and_Community_Advocacy/LCA_Announcement > and draft a super crisp mission statement to slap on the first page > for this group. I know, I've been guilty of this as well -- no > criticism of the team. When working in an organization this kind of > communication style is often expected from you in day-to-day work, but > it's not necessarily helpful when communicating with people who have > very little time and interest to parse it. > > I think the brainstorming page is a great start and hope it'll be > utilized and further advertised in coming days: > > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal/Community_Advocacy > > Congratulations to Philippe and Maggie for their new roles. I think > it's about time that we're creating this structure, and I think it'll > generate lots of tangible value for the community. > > -- > Erik Möller > VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation > > Support Free Knowledge: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Will Beback
The ban is not infinite. Will Beback is free to appeal the ban after six months. I recall having positive interactions with Will Beback in the past, however, the English Wikipedia community is more than capable of taking care of itself. Thanks. anirudh On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 3:45 PM, James Heilman wrote: > We appear to have a problem with Arbcom. We have an editor who has > contributed significantly to Wikipedia over the previous 7 years, making > more than 100,000 edits and generating a couple of featured articles. Than > in a vote of 8 to 4 he is block indefinitely for issues related to a > specific religious movement. > > The foundation is spending large sums in an attempt to attract productive > editors to the project. Arbcoms actions seem counterproductive to these > efforts. Is it time that we look at rearranging how arbcom works? Issues > that have a significant effect on Wikipedia should not be left to a group > of 12 but should go to the community for consensus. > > -- > James Heilman > MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
[Foundation-l] India Program - Fortnightly IRC: Thursday March 15th @ 9pm IST (Indic Languages) & Thursday March 29th @9pm IST (Outreach & Communication) (#wikimedia-office)
FYI. IRC Office Hours with Hisham Mundol, Consultant, Wikimedia
Foundation India Programs at 1530hrs UTC on
#wikimedia-office@freenode.
-- Forwarded message --
From: Hisham
Date: Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 7:03 AM
Subject: [Wikimedia-in-hyd] *cross-post* India Program - Fortnightly
IRC: Thursday March 15th @ 9pm IST (Indic Languages) & Thursday March
29th @9pm IST (Outreach & Communication) (#wikimedia-office)
To: wikimedia-in-...@lists.wikimedia.org, Assamese Wikipedia Mailing
list , India Mailing list for
Wikimedians / Wikipedians in & from Bangalore
,
wikipedia...@lists.wikimedia.org,
wikimedia-in-...@lists.wikimedia.org, "Wikimedians working on India
related content on English Wikipedia & related projects."
,
wikimedia-in-...@lists.wikimedia.org
cross-posting to reach pan-community; apologies if you received it
from other mailing lists already
Hi Folks,
One of the essential things that India Program needs to constantly
work out is keeping the community informed of the work that we are
doing - so that this work is clearer but also to help cross-pollinate
ideas amongst a wider set of community members who might not have been
engaged on specific village pump / talk page discussion or involved in
particular activities (e.g. outreach events) or wikiprojects.
We used to have a monthly IRC with the community and India Program.
(For those who are not familiar with IRC, it is an Internet messaging
system similar to a regular chat room. It's very simple to use and
you can join in by clicking on the following link:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-office.) I have been
remiss in conducting these for the past few months - and I'd like to
make amends by restarting, with a couple of modifications.
a) I'd like to propose fortnightly instead of monthly. (I was wary of
doing it any more frequently than monthly earlier because I didn't
know if there would be enough on the plate to discuss. I have changed
my mind now - because there is too much to discuss to cover in a
single monthly session.) I'd like to propose that we do it in the 1st
and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 9pm IST (which is GMT + 0530) -
THOUGH NOT THIS MONTH - BECAUSE I HAVE MISSED THE TIMELINE. Just for
March, we will do it on March 15th and March 29th (both at 9pm IST
which is GMT + 0530)
b) I'd like to propose that we do it focussed on specific work streams
instead of general. The reason I say this is that - as with many
community meet-ups, folks will give time to attend a meet-up or
participate in an IRC only if there is a topic of relevance to them.
To that extent, we could do one IRC on Indic languages and one on
Outreach & Communications. I'd start both the IRCs with a re-cap of
India Programs activities for the fortnight (or so) prior to the IRC
and forward from the IRC - and then we could talk about either Indic
langauges or Outreach & Communications.
The March 15th one will be focussed on Indic Languages and the one on
March 29th will be on Outreach & Communications.
Having said that, there is quite a bit of overlap on these topics - so
feel free to join both. The more the merrier! Please do also invite
anyone who is interested to know more about India Program or - even
more importantly - interact with fellow Wikimedians interested in a
particular activity to join in. (It's quite a lot of of fun {citation
required} - and i've heard a rumour {citation required} that there was
actually a romance that started on one of the IRCs...)
As always, the logs will be put up on meta for the benefit of those
who can't attend and for the record.
I'll send a reminder on the day of the session and one 30 minutes
before the session.
Thanks
hisham
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[Foundation-l] Fwd: India Program-Fortnightly IRC: Thursday March 29th @ 9pm IST (Outreach & Communication) (#wikimedia-office)
Posting to foundation-l. -- Forwarded message -- From: Hisham Date: Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 8:54 AM Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] India Program-Fortnightly IRC: Thursday March 29th @ 9pm IST (Outreach & Communication) (#wikimedia-office) To: Wikimedia India Community list Hi Folks Reminder about the IRC later today (9pm IST on March 29th.) Join in using this link: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-office. As I had indicated earlier, what we will do going forward is to publish an opening statement - which is below. We'd like to have a rich discussion around these topics for 45 minutes and then throw it open for 15 minutes for any other topics that anyone wants to discuss. There have been more than 22 outreach sesssions (English + some Indic languages) across India over the past 2 1/2 months. We have been working on constantly every component of outreach. * Pre-session work - building supporting material (documents, presentations, handouts etc), evaluating different ways of conducting an effective outreach, using different ways to reach out to organisations with the proposal to conduct a session etc. * Session work - adopting different techniques of doing outreach, how do we get participants more involved during the session, how to filter out the folks so that we do the editing session only with the genuinely interested participants, how to balance between practical and theoretical aspects of training, how much information to give out in one session etc. * Post-session work - how do we provide editing support to the participants, how do we collect their contact information, how do we keep in touch with them on regular basis, how do we invite them to join other Wiki projects, how do we track their edit count - soon after the session, after 1 and 3 months of conducting the session etc. We'd like to discuss these. In the IRC, the following will be covered: * Indic Outreach: How can we do more outreach session in Indic langauges in particular? / Can regional communities work to translate supporting material? / How do we provide more support to different language communities to conduct these sessions? * More Outreach: If we are doing 7 outreach session in one month right now is there a way of us doing 10 every month? / Can we find more community members who will be willing to conduct these session? / For community members who are interested to conduct outreach sessions but think they lack confidence - is there a way we can help them? * Better Outreach: Can we find some volunteers who will be willing to "adopt" these newbies and give them support? . *I'd strongly encourage all those folks who have been actively involved in conducting these sessions over the past 2 months to join this IRC. It will be great if you could share your first hand experience with the wider community on what worked, what didn't, what we could have done better etc. I especially do want to ask Indic Wikimedians to join because we desperately need more outreach sessions in Indic languages.* We will also briefly address the early stages of the communications work - which are the storytelling and Wikipatrika support that was announced yesterday. Given it's early days on communications, I'd prefer this IRC stay largely focussed on outreach since there is so much to work through there. See you all there! Apologies for sending this note this morning and not last night as I had promised. *hisham* p.s. There is a (tiny) possibility that I might be slightly late but you'll all be in Nitika's safe hands. I shall try and my level best to be on time. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list wikimediaindi...@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Consultant, Communications - India Programs and Compensation
Hi all, For all those who aren't aware, the Wikimedia Foundation is in the process of hiring a Communications Consultant for its India operations. More information is available here: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Communications_-_India_Programs The section on compensation says: "Compensation will be determined by level of expertise, experience and current remuneration." The Wikimedia Foundation's Non Discrimination Policy says: "The Wikimedia Foundation prohibits discrimination against current or prospective users and employees on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristics. The Wikimedia Foundation commits to the principle of equal opportunity, especially in all aspects of employee relations, including employment, salary administration, employee development, promotion and transfer." http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Non_discrimination_policy I would like to know if the Foundation compensates or is likely to compensate its Indian contractors at par with the contractors in the United States and elsewhere. Also, according to a rule issued last year by the Ministry of External Affairs, all foreign nationals employed in India must draw a salary of over $25000 per annum in order to be eligible for an employment visa. Considering this, would the Foundation be likely to hire foreign contractors to be employed in India? Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Fwd: Wikimedia India Program Trust
My personal opinion, and I only speak for myself and not the Chapter or the Foundation (I wouldn't dare!). On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Lodewijk wrote: > Hi, > > thanks a lot all for exmplaining the differences. I would be very much > interested to know more about the ''relationship'' between the trust and > Wikimedia India. You seem to suggest that trustees get appointed by (or on > the advice of - not sure of the legal wording) the WMF - but will Wikimedia > India be involved in that too? Since they are the chapter in that country I > could imagine them to have a say in it. > Nope. Up until now WMIN has not received any say either with the India Education Programs design and implementation or the structuring of the Wikimedia India Program Trust. And given that not many people are going to talk about it, I don't think much will change in the future. > > How closely will this trust and the chapter work together? You mention that > there is communication etc - but is cooperation likely to become the > default or the exception? >From my own experience and from what I have heard from a fellow Pune community member, the general community and the Chapter body have been excluded and ignored by WMF consultants from the very beginning. In fact, the Chapter representatives were only invited to attend meetings when Frank Schlenburg and Annie Lin were in town. > > And how will it work with regards of who will be the primary point of > contact in India for institutions who want to partner with Wikimedia? Will > they have to approach one of the two or whichever they like (and if they > dont get the answer they like, can they just approach the other?). Will the > chapter and the trust be competing with each other or collaborating? > I think there is already a lot of confusion with regard to the two entities operating out of India. Going by the media, news reporters are already very confused by the existence of two Wikimedia bodies and I personally get a lot of queries every week asking me to clarify on the location of Wikimedia offices. With its paid consultants, the local WMF consultants have done a good job of making their presence felt (especially in Western India), and more and more journalists are interested in hearing from WMF (the "international organization") than WMIN. The initial idea, if I understood it correctly, was to establish another non-profit body within India, for a period of three to five years to execute specific (and large-scale) programmes. As of now, the WIPT (Wikimedia India Program Office) can pretty much do anything it wants with the Wikimedia brand - partner with institutions, raise money locally, have paid employees and bypass community. This is what I foresee happening: WMIN will be involved in community-building and small-scale projects which support volunteers and the WIPT will partner with large institutions in India (who are understandably looking to club with international organizations), get a lot of media coverage and acquire the big grants (since WMIN is not a professional body). WMIN and WIPT will theoretically compete for funding within India, much of which will be allocated to WIPT, given that it is professionalized (and because we never had a chance) and in WMF's good graces. This is how WMIN has been made redundant (something that I have been saying for a long, long time). The most important difference, something many are uncomfortable talking about, is in the distribution of money. The WIPT in India will have access to *significantly *more WMF funding than WMIN (significant meaning *real significant*). Around the time when discussions about the India Office began, Barry came to India and assured us that the WIPT will only be here for a period of 3-5 years. I am hopeful that the Foundation will stick to its words, and with time we will all learn that small volunteer-driven projects have a larger impact than costly, ill-designed, large-scale programmes run by hired consultants who hire consultants with no relevant background (with a couple of exceptions). > > Thanks for helping me seeing the situation more clearly, > No, thank you for asking the right questions. > > Lodewijk > > anirudh ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Reminder: office hours this morning with WMF General Counsel
On Saturday, December 3, 2011, Steven Walling wrote: > Hi everyone, > > This is a reminder that in about 20 minutes Geoff Brigham, our General > Counsel, will be in #wikimedia-office to answer your questions. > > This is Geoff's first office hours, so please take a moment before we start > to read the introduction that he wrote: > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Geoffbrigham/Strategy Why was this page deleted? Anirudh ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > -- Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati +855 975 529 803 Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
[Foundation-l] Community Associates
Who are they and what do they do? Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Community Associates
On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 11:12 PM, Philippe Beaudette wrote: > > > On Oct 20, 2010, at 5:46 AM, Anirudh Bhati wrote: > >> Who are they and what do they do? >> >> Yours sincerely, >> >> Anirudh Bhati >> > > > Community Associate is a title that we've introduced primarily (though > not exclusively) for the fundraiser this year. They are temporary > employees, generally engaged in making sure that people know about the > fundraiser, trying to convince various language wikis to participate > in the creation of new banners, working on our social media plan, and > a few other things. They also help around the office with posting of > contributions to our various systems and general office-related help. Thanks for the response, Philippe. (1) Can you please introduce them to the list? (2) Can you please link me to the formal call for applications? Best, Anirudh > > Best, > Philippe > > Philippe Beaudette > Head of Reader Relations > Wikimedia Foundation > > phili...@wikimedia.org > > Imagine a world in which every human being can freely share in > the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! > > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Community Associates
Thanks Deniz and Keegan for your response. :) Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 8:19 AM, Keegan Peterzell wrote: > Hi there! > > I've been subscribed to this list for a long time on my volunteer > account, only posting once every blue moon. > > I'm Keegan, and my username is Keegan. I've been registered on the > English Wikipedia for five years come next week. I've been an > administrator on the project for four years. I'm a community elected > Oversighter on the English Wikipedia and I wrote the manual for it with > the help of others (currently I am not flagged as an oversighter while > I'm working for the Foundation), and I am an OTRS administrator as well > as a channel contact for #wikipedia-en-help. > > I'm working on outreach for the fundraiser part-time. Part of the > community department's plan is to pull in volunteer community members > and give the opportunity to work if the need matches the > application[1]. My job entails keeping in contact and following > interests of the communities and projects through this testing and > during the Fundraiser. We are making absolutely sure that we, the > Wikimedia community, can participate in this year's, and future years', > drives. You can find me on IRC almost always in the North American > evenings or by email at any time with comments, questions, concerns, or > anything that comes to mind. > > 1. http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Special:CommunityHiring > On 10/20/2010 2:02 PM, Abbas Mahmoud wrote: >> Hi Anirudh, >> >> Some of them are already on the foundation-| mailing list, like Deniz >> Gültekin and James Alexander -- both of whom have recently announced IRC >> Office Hours sometimes back. Other Community associates include Keegan >> Peterzell, Kelly Lyman& Salmaan Haroon. I think you can get the full list >> of community associates on the Fundraiser 2010 staff page on Wikimedia Meta. >> >> ~Abbas. > > -- > Keegan Peterzell > Associate Community Officer, Fundraising 2010 > Wikimedia Foundation > kpeterz...@wikimedia.org > > Imagine a world in which every human being can freely share in > the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! > > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > > > > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Ban and moderate
On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 12:49 PM, Yaroslav M. Blanter wrote: > > If you are counting votes, please count mine for moderation. +1. Although I am not privy to all of Mr. Koh's engagements with the community, he has certainly made himself notorious for polemical disruption over various Wikimedia projects and forums. Allegations of censorship are misplaced. He will, without a doubt, continue to blog about Wikimedia and interested members can relay anything worthy of being read without the kerfuffle. Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Attack pages at Encyc. Dramatica
On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 9:53 PM, Steven Walling wrote: > People on ED are exactly the same as 4chan: they are in it for the lulz.[1] > > They will probably always write these attack pages/satire/whatever term you > prefer. We're mostly pretty odd folk, so it's easy to make fun. But giving > them attention of any kind is what they want most, since it gives them an > opportunity for more mischief (and thus more lulz). > > In other words, don't feed. Unless they are exposing sensitive and private information (facts) about you or someone you know. Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Wikipedia quoted in Indian Supreme court case
On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Arun Ram wrote: > Dear all, > > The following media reports of wikipedia being quoted a recent Indian > Supreme court case may be of interest to some of you. > Hi, The judgment can be accessed here.[1] Please refer to para 33. There have been over 50 instances in the past where the courts of India (including the Supreme Court and High Courts) have cited Wikipedia in their judgments.[2] The Supreme Court of India has commented on Wikipedia as a source of information[3]: "Wikipedia, like all other external aids to construction, like dictionaries etc, is not an authentic source, although the same may be looked at for the purpose of gathering information. Where an express statutory definition of a word exists, a Wiki definition cannot be preferred. It cannot normally be used for the purpose of interpreting a taxing statute or classification of a product vis-a-vis an entry in statute. However, as a source of authority, Wikipedia is frequently cited by judges around the world. This is not restricted to India alone. The New York Times reports that beginning in 2004, more than 100 opinion in the States have cited Wikipedia, including 13 from federal appeals courts. Is this a good thing? There's a split of authority." As for the use of Wikipedia links and summaries in courts, this practice is not exclusive to India. US judges have been citing Wikipedia in their orders and judgements all over including up to the level of the Federal Circuit Courts.[4] Mention in liveMINT: Wikipedia Justice[5] Status on WORLD DOMINATION? Almost there. :) Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh [1] http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1521881/ [2] http://www.indiankanoon.org/search/?formInput=wikipedia%20doctypes:%20judgments&pagenum=1 [3] Supreme Court judgement in M/s Ponds India Ltd. vs Commissioner of Trade Tax (2008) http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1358324/ [4] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29wikipedia.html [5] http://www.livemint.com/2010/10/5322/Quick-Edit--Wikipedia-justice.html?h=B > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Should we offer to host citizendium?
>> On 12 November 2010 17:34, Anthony wrote: >> > > Oh, well what's the point of that? Might as well just give them > money, as the WMF would just be purchasing those ISP services from > someone else anyway. > > "Geni" mentioned "offering a level of support equivalent to our > smaller projects", which is most definitely *not* "just providing ISP > services". Yep, better offer them a short-term grant to cover hosting costs than deal with ethical and legal issues. Anirudh Bhati > > ___ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] A question for American Wikimedians
On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 4:13 AM, phoebe ayers wrote: > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:05 PM, Fred Bauder wrote: >>> For some time I am a bit puzzled by the fact that I don't know any >>> African American Wikimedian. For some time just because I am living in >>> a European country without African population, so everything seemed to >>> me quite normal for a long time. >>> >>> I tried to make a parallel between Roma people and African Americans, >>> but it is not a good one. It is very hard to find a Roma with >>> university degree. At the other side, two former State Secretaries are >>> African Americans and present US president is almost, too. >>> >>> What are the reasons? Why American Wikimedian community is exclusively >>> white? >>> >>> Maybe the answer to that question would give us an idea what should we >>> solve to get more contributors. >> >> The short answer: > > > this seems like a whole lot of unfounded (and fairly offensive) > generalizations? If you're really making a class-based argument, then > yes, I think the privileges of having free time, a decent education > and good internet access are all class-correlated to some extent and > are all likely prerequisites for becoming a Wikipedian -- and that's > applicable everywhere. But class cuts across ethnicity and gender; you > can make the same arguments about poor white people, or whoever. (For > what it's worth, I grew up in a rural area that was lily-white but > very poor, and very poorly educated; urban demographics aren't the > only part of the U.S. to consider). These generalizations would still apply had we been talking about the Na'vi People. :) What we are discussing is more of a social issue than an inherent systemic bias in the guiding philosophy of the project or the software. The barriers to becoming a long-term Wikipedia contributor are very low for a developed country like the United States viz. education, electricity, computer and an internet connection. On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 3:35 AM, Fred Bauder wrote: > > The short answer: Wikipedia editors are volunteers and African-Americans > rarely volunteer. Apart from the evidence Phoebe put up,* it could be that African-Americans do not formally register themselves for volunteering programmes. However, they probably have more pressing needs and priorities than contributing to Wikimedia projects. *http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/assets/resources/FactSheetFinal.pdf > > The medium answer: African-American editors often edit only articles > which relate to African-American and do that in a point of view way. I am quite convinced, that is what I have personally witnessed over the last few years. > > The long answer: large blocks of African-American are oppressed, > unemployed, poorly educated, and computer illiterate. Those that are > educated and prosperous tend to be too busy, and as said, are not in the > habit of volunteering. Absolutely, a large number of African-Americans are very poor and semi-literate; they make up 14% of the US population and receive 37% of its welfare payments. This has got nothing to do with race, first and second generation immigrants from Asia and even black immigrants from countries like Jamaica are relatively better off than African-American families that have been citizens for generations and feeding off welfare without any change in their social circumstances. The culprit is welfarism, not "black culture" (as some other commentators refer to). Cultures are often a symptom of the political systems they exist in. > > All that said, we need to be as welcoming as possible, create good > Wikipedia editing projects for them to plug into, and reach out when the > opportunity arises. Agreed. :) On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 12:14 AM, Milos Rancic wrote: > > Inside of the other private email I've got an interesting data related > to Twitter usage. American Twitter population consists 25% of African > Americans, which is more than twice more than their population [13]. Contributing to our projects requires more than a computer and lulz. Wikipedia is serious business. :) What I mean to say is that we will tend to attract serious contributors compared to any social networking website that is chiefly used for entertainment. anirudh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Re: [Foundation-l] Wikipedia Executive Director?
On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 5:46 AM, Zack Exley wrote:
> OK, everyone -- I learned my lesson! Thanks for teaching it.
>
> I was looking at it from the perspective of the reader who has never heard
> the word "Wikimedia". There are millions and millions of them. Luckily they
> simply think we are misspelling Wikipedia, and are donating anyways. We will
> continue to answer their emails alerting us to our error with patient
> explanations.
>
Let us add another line to the end of the appeal explaining that "the Wikimedia
Foundation is a non-profit organization that hosts {{{SITENAME}}} and
other sister-projects."
>>
> ___
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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>
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[Foundation-l] Tamil Wiki workshop in Eastern University, SriLanka
FYI. The first Wikipedia meetup / workshop in Sri Lanka is a milestone for the entire movement. :) Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh -- Forwarded message -- From: Ravishankar Date: Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 11:45 AM Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wiki workshop in Eastern University, SriLanka To: "Discussion list on Indian language projects of Wikimedia." Hi, Tamil Wikipedians from SriLanka conducted a Tamil Wikipedia Workshop at Eastern University of Srilanka on 28th December. Around 55 people including lecturers, employees, students, visitors from nearby institutions participated. This is the first organized Wiki meetup / workshop in SriLanka and we plan to conduct more such workshops in near future. Photos from the event: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=269877&id=647387355&l=b22c36a4a6 Ravi ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list wikimediaindi...@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
[Foundation-l] Deindividuation and Wikipedia.
A very interesting perspective from David McCraney who blogs at "You are not so smart" . http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/02/10/deindividuation/ "Deindividuation pervades virtual worlds, and the results are mixed. Download “Second Life” and take a stroll. Sooner or later you’ll end up in a sex dungeon. Play any game on Xbox Live, and someone will eventually claim to have carnal knowledge of your mother. You can thank anonymity and deindividuation for both. The comments under a Youtube video may make you weep for the species, but just click over to the entry on the humanzee in Wikipedia for restoration. It is consistent with the world outside the machine. The same force which built and maintained concentration camps also pushed soldiers onto Omaha Beach." Some good lessons for Wikimedia. :) "Deindividuation takes away your inhibitions as well as your sense of self and fear of accountability, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The same force which brings otherwise rational people to loot and vandalize and invade Poland can also lead to prosocial behaviors. If you are surrounded by positive cues, deindividuation could lead you to work harder in an exercise class, or pitch in at a homeless shelter, or help build a house. People who forget their sense of self and work together to save a life or search for a missing child show deindividuation is a neutral force of the human will. When 4Chan or Digg or Reddit assemble into an anonymous collective to exact revenge it often ends in actual justice. Once deindividuation kicks in, the cues from the environment shape the resulting behavior. The norms of the mob, good or evil, replace the norms of everyday life." Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
[Foundation-l] Guardian: US spy operation that manipulates social media
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks Can we expect a spillover on to the non-English Wikimedia projects? Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US." He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto. Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated Facebook messages, blogposts, tweets, retweets, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command. Yours sincerely, Anirudh Bhati 00 91 9328712208 Skype: anirudhsbh ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
[Foundation-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia ZA] Wikimedia ZA APPROVED!
-- Forwarded message -- From: Lourie Pieterse Date: Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 11:44 AM Subject: [Wikimedia ZA] Wikimedia ZA APPROVED! To: WikimediaZA The chapter just got approved by the WMF! http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Approval_of_Wikimedia_South_Africa ___ WikimediaZA mailing list wikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza ___ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
