Thanks Stephane, how about I form a proposal in the Etherpad, and we can double check to make sure it works for everyone. I could submit, but it may be better for someone else to do so since I will be a co-submitter of at least three other submissions, so reviewers may get sick of me.:)
I was watching the Youtube WikiAfrica hour episode, and I really like your points about not being satisfied just serving up the same high-bandwidth content offline. Wiktionary is indeed an under-appreciated project that could have massive utility over low-bandwidth links like Meshtastic. The slower link speed also gets us to think about innovative ways to serve up knowledge in new forms and not just full Wikipedia articles. What knowledge formats should we consider when the links are 1 kbps – AI chat? AI summaries, or something else? I think it would be fascinating to assemble groups from the region, including the local UNHCR folks who I've worked with in the past, to brainstorm various uses. -Andrew On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM Stephane Coillet-Matillon < [email protected]> wrote: > Ok let’s pitch a Show-and-Tell where we can showcase different offline > techs (IIAB, KH, Wikifundi, Cyberpony, etc.) in meatspace. > > Andrew, can you take care of the placeholder submission? I think you can > add folks to the proposal so we can edit/correct stuff if need be. > > Ninja edit: was about to hit « send » when I saw you email Andrew. thanks! > > > On 27 Mar 2025, at 14:17, Andrew Lih <[email protected]> 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 < > [email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 -- [email protected] >> > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Offline-l mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> > > > -- > -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: [email protected], [email protected] > WEB: https://muckrack.com/fuzheado > PROJECT: Wikipedia Space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPSPACE > > _______________________________________________ > Offline-l mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > Offline-l mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- -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: [email protected], [email protected] WEB: https://muckrack.com/fuzheado PROJECT: Wikipedia Space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPSPACE
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