[Wikimania-l] Re: Wikimania-l Digest, Vol 176, Issue 1
I really look forward to being able to meet with people in person in the future. I am concerned, however, that requiring "full vaccination" may unintentionally restrict attendance. Huge parts of the world still do not have vaccine availability, and so many people aren't even able to get a first dose, let alone a complete series. As well, there is a big variance between countries on what vaccines they consider "acceptable" in order to enter that country; people who are considered fully vaccinated in their home country may not be considered vaccinated at all by the receiving country. In other cases, some countries require two vaccination doses, while others are quickly moving to require three. Many countries also have requirements for rapid covid tests within a certain number of hours before arrival; those tests aren't free (and in some countries aren't even available), and that will have an effect on the ability to travel. Some countries restrict visitors from other countries entirely. In just the last 24 hours, my country's government has issued a travel advisory strongly discouraging all international travel for at least the next month with the exception of emergencies, and has considerably increased restrictions on admission to our country. We're still in the middle of a pandemic, and the ability to (a) predict what the situation will be many months down the line and (b) ensure that we are able to provide equitable opportunities for our entire global community to participate are big question marks right now. Much as I want to see more of my colleagues in person as soon as it's safe to do so, I don't think we're anywhere near that point yet. I think planning for the next Wikimania to be virtual is the only sensible thing to do right now, since the planning needs to be done *now*. Risker/Anne On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 at 20:47, Betty Wills wrote: > It’s time to bring the live event back and restrict it to fully vaccinated > attendees only. Others can attend virtually. Perhaps we should have a > poll?? > > Happy Holidays! > > Betty Wills (Atsme on Wikipedia) > atsmethat...@gmail.com > > > > > On Dec 15, 2021, at 6:01 AM, wikimania-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org > wrote: > > > > Send Wikimania-l mailing list submissions to > > wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikimania-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ > > > > You can reach the person managing the list at > > wikimania-l-ow...@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > > than "Re: Contents of Wikimania-l digest..." > > > > Today's Topics: > > > > 1. volunteers needed for Wikimania 2022! (phoebe ayers) > > > > > > -- > > > > Message: 1 > > Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:15:25 -0500 > > From: phoebe ayers > > Subject: [Wikimania-l] volunteers needed for Wikimania 2022! > > To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" > > > > Message-ID: > > < > caai3vqengfgxcaz-8szn02yox2vhg-4ar1rre9olfg0hfbo...@mail.gmail.com> > > Content-Type: multipart/alternative; > > boundary="99ac6605d32003e8" > > > > Dear all, > > > > The Wikimania Foundation events team, the Wikimania steering committee, > and > > members of the 2021 Wikimania organizing team would like to invite you to > > help organize Wikimania 2022! Wikimania 2022 will again primarily be a > > virtual event, with distributed in-person events if local and global > > circumstances allow. > > > > We need volunteers to be a part of the core organizing team as well as > for > > other roles. You can find more information here: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2022/Volunteer > > > > The core team will help determine the structure and timeline of the > event, > > lead programming, scholarship, communication and other teams for the > event, > > and help ensure our global conference is a success. > > > > For the process to volunteer, see: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2022/Volunteer#How_to_volunteer > > > > There's a set of questions on the meta page linked above; you can email > > your answers to the events team or post on meta by January 9th, 2022. > > Events staff and Wikimania steering committee members will review > > applications, meet with shortlisted candidates the following week, and > > announce the core organizing team by January 21st. Please post any > > questio
Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2019 Early Bird Registration is Now Open!
I've been extremely lucky over the years to have attended several Wikimanias. I live in Canada (so almost never needed a visa) and had the financial flexibility to do so. I've paid my own way to some, been subsidized for others with clear expectations that I would carry out certain activities in exchange, and received one partial scholarship (which was supposed to be enough for my airfare - if I had booked it seven months in advance...). Even when I've been subsidized, I've had out-of-pocket expenses that I did not receive reimbursement for until months later (if at all), but I am blessed not to have to worry about whether there will be food on the table or a roof over my head. We in the Western world are used to having paid vacation time - often multiple weeks per year - and that is another barrier for people in other countries with different cultures and economies. And many people from Europe and North America don't need to go through the expense and challenge of obtaining visas to most of the Wikimania or other conference locations. But hundreds - no, thousands - of dedicated contributors aren't in my/our position. Even if they are lucky enough to get a full scholarship, they can't afford the time off work, or get the visa, or cover the upfront costs of the travel experience that may or may not be reimbursed. They tend to be in locations far from wherever Wikimania may be, so paying out of their own pocket is much more expensive than if they were living in Europe or North America. Their voices are the ones we miss the most at our conferences and Wikimanias - and their absence makes it that much more challenging to help grow new communities. There will be people who won't be at Wikimania this year because for non-Europeans it is very expensive to get to and stay in Sweden. If my trip this year was not being subsidized (and I have written responsibilities in exchange for that subsidy), I would not be going to Wikimania this year; even a "rich Westerner" finds it too costly. I don't think that the baseline conference fee is out of line with what real expenses will be for Wikimania. It's an expensive place and, even if the university is substantially cutting its fees for food and room rentals, it's still going to cost an awful lot of money. In an ideal world, everyone who wanted to attend would be subsidized, but I'm realistic enough to know that if we as a movement were to do that, the conference would be even more heavily weighted with voices from Europe and North America. Risker/Anne On Tue, 4 Jun 2019 at 00:29, Wilfredo Rodríguez wrote: > There must be a coherent explanation. It is possible that there is an > alliance that we can not see between WMF and the university so that WMF > receives the surplus in donations that will be cleanly used. > > On Mon, Jun 3, 2019, 22:01 Paulo Santos Perneta, > wrote: > >> We are talking about a very dramatic increase in the fee in the last few >> years, not about universities doing events for free. And it is quite hard >> to understand how come an event on campus as a fee similar to the ones >> organized at a five star hotels. >> >> Paulo >> >> A segunda, 3 de jun de 2019, 22:55, Kerry Raymond < >> kerry.raym...@gmail.com> escreveu: >> >>> Well, as someone who has worked at a number of universities and >>> organised events at others, I am well aware that many universities are >>> short of cash and expect to be paid by others to use their facilities so I >>> would not assume that being “on campus” is a free or low-cost venue for >>> Wikimania. A university *may *decide that an event is sufficiently in-line >>> with their own goals that they may reduce/waive the cost, but holding >>> events at a university does incur real additional costs to the university, >>> such as cleaning and security at a minimum, so it is not unfair to charge >>> for their use. >>> >>> >>> >>> Kerry >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Wikimania-l [mailto:wikimania-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] *On >>> Behalf Of *Paulo Santos Perneta >>> *Sent:* Monday, 3 June 2019 8:21 PM >>> *To:* Wikimania general list (open subscription) < >>> wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org> >>> *Subject:* Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2019 Early Bird Registration is >>> Now Open! >>> >>> >>> >>> Sorry, in the first sentence it should read "wikimania" , not >>> "Wikimedia" >>> >>> A segunda, 3 de jun de 2019, 11:19, Paulo Santos Perneta < >>> paulospern...@gmail.com> escreveu: >>> >>> For us in Portugal joining wikimedia, even in a relatively close city >>> like Stockholm, without a sc
Re: [Wikimania-l] Personal stories about Wikimedia / free portrait photos
Without distracting too much from the original invitation extended to Wikimedians to talk about their personal stories (these have always turned out to be pretty cool!)... Agree with Kudpung that phabricator is probably the wrong place to post anything that has to do with social issues on the site - which is largely what undisclosed paid editing is. I do, however, disagree with him about the number of individuals involved. Based on my own observations, including a few big sockpuppetry investigations - the number of people who are doing the really problematic undisclosed paid editing (including the coercive behaviours) is probably very small - less than 100, and possibly even less than 50. They just run an army of socks that are often very, very difficult to link together without an enormous investment of time, because they do take steps to keep accounts separate. We have found several sock rings with several hundred sock accounts, bur probably only 2-4 people actively editing. Risker/Anne On 2 August 2017 at 14:12, cs <c...@edubkk.org> wrote: > We are not statisticians - we leave that to the people who are paid to > make stats ;) > > However, a look at our en.Wiki SPI and COIN departments will make you fall > off your chair too - there are ‘editors’ even operating protection rackets > (proven). > I’m not sure Phab is the place to report it - despite some high level > conferences with the WMF we have been unable to convince of the need for > software solutions to help combat it. > > It should be the topic of a talk at Wikimania but my propsed presentation > has been blocked two years running. > > Kudp*U*ng > > On 3Aug, 2017, at 00:56, Leila Zia <le...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 10:45 AM, cs <c...@edubkk.org> wrote: > > > if you knew the extent of paid editing, blackmail, and extortion we are > discovering and trying to combat you’d fall off your chair or drop your > camera. > > > > If you have statistics (ideally across languages) and you can help us > understand this problem better, please provide them or a pointer to > them at https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T158476 > > > Best, > Leila > > -- > Leila Zia > Senior Research Scientist > Wikimedia Foundation > > > > > Kudpung > > On 3Aug, 2017, at 00:33, Victor Grigas <vgri...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > Hello Wikimedians! > > My name is Victor Grigas, I’m a storyteller and video producer at the > Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that supports Wikipedia. Many of you > may already know me or my work. I'll be in Montreal at Wikimania from > Thursday August 10th through Sunday August 13th and wanted to ask that if > you know someone or are someone who has an inspiring story to share about > how you use Wikimedia projects, then we'd like to hear it! > > If you are interested, please answer a few questions on this private > Google form or share it with someone you know who will be attending > Wikimania: > > https://goo.gl/forms/h6a9TWFyFMs4qgua2 > (All answers are confidential and we will not publish your story without > first getting your written permission.) > > We publish profiles of Wikimedians here regularly: > https://blog.wikimedia.org/c/communications/profiles/ > > Then, in Montreal I can take your portrait photo for free to publish on > Wikimedia Commons. I’ll be there from Thursday August 10th through Sunday > August 13th. I’ll only need a few minutes of your time to take your photo > and we can co-ordinate by email. Once I'm there, I'll have a better idea of > where I'll be for the best lighting setup. > > If you have any questions, feel free to email Victor Grigas - > vgri...@wikimedia.org > > Thank you! > > -- > > Victor Grigas > Video Production Manager > and Storyteller > Wikimedia Foundation > vgri...@wikimedia.org > https://donate.wikimedia.org/ > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Visa rejections
I'm sorry...but this one is a red flag. Canadian passports are only issued to Canadian citizens, and Canadian citizens do not require a visa to come to Canada, regardless of where in the world they are when they start their trip. They must enter Canada using their Canadian passport for any related travel information (i.e., using the Canadian passport for airline information), at the time of boarding and at the time of arrival in Canada. If ViswaPrabha is a dual citizen, then both passports should be carried at all times. If he applied for a visa, he received horrible advice. If he is a Canadian citizen, he can probably still travel, and should contact the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship directly. Risker/Anne On 30 July 2017 at 22:51, Ranjith S <ranjith.saj...@gmail.com> wrote: > On a conversation with ViswaPrabha he confirmed that he got visa rejection > from Canadian embessy so can't participate in this wikimania. > > He is holding a Canadian passport but got bad. > > Very sad to hear this. > > On 28-Jul-2017 3:50 AM, "Ellie Young" <eyo...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > >> We have a waitlist from the original pool of people who made it into >> Phase 2 consideration by the Scholarship committee. Those people were >> notified that they might be offered a scholarship as late as mid-July. We >> have filled the people who couldn't attend for whatever reason after they >> accepted the scholarship offer with names from there. >> >> Ellie >> WMF Event Manager >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 3:48 AM, Rehman Abubakr < >> rehman.wikime...@live.com> wrote: >> >>> Excuse me for the blunt question. But are there any shortlisted >>> candidates this time? >>> >>> >>> A fellow Wikimedian asked me this, and I though I might as well ask the >>> same on this thread. >>> >>> >>> I'm sure there would be a lot of genuinely interested Wikimedians who >>> would like to attend the conference, in lieu of the sheer number of >>> rejected applicants. (with respect to the successful applicants who would >>> not be able to make it, of course) >>> >>> >>> >>> Thanks and regards, >>> >>> User:Rehman <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Rehman> >>> >>> >>> >>> ___ >>> Wikimania-l mailing list >>> Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >>> >>> >> >> >> ___ >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> >> > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Visa rejections
Writing as a Canadian, I can only apologize for the difficulty so many of you are having in obtaining visas to this country. I am really looking forward to welcoming many of you to the beautiful city of Montreal, and I am devastated to read that so many people seem to be being turned down for visas. The decisions for locations for Wikimania are made about two years in advance - which is actually pretty late for large international conferences (most international organizations make these decisions 3-4 years in advance). But even during the course of two years, some circumstances can change significantly. I am aware that Canada has become more stringent in handing out visas, as have many other countries in the past 2 years - something that couldn't really be anticipated at the time the decision was made. I don't have any good advice for any of you on this - while I live in Canada, I'm not a member of either the Wikimania planning group or Wikimania Canada, and I have no contacts in the federal government that would be helpful in getting visas. I am hoping that some magic can happen for you that will enable you to come to Canada. We will all be losing the value of your company, and you will be missed. Risker/Anne On 23 June 2017 at 21:28, Kerry Raymond <kerry.raym...@gmail.com> wrote: > So an organisation P in country Q writes a letter of support to country R > to grant a visa to person S from country T on the basis that organization P > thinks that person S is actually the pseudonymous user U? > > I am not surprised immigration officials don't find this an entirely > compelling reason to grant a visa. WMF is not a Canadian organization, and > it is not clear to me that WMF is actually in a position to confirm the > real life identity of the user they want to attend in any case. > > Kerry > > Sent from my iPad > > On 24 Jun 2017, at 12:19 am, Jean-Philippe Béland <jpbel...@wikimedia.ca> > wrote: > > As per WMF directions, Wikimedia Canada was not involved in anything in > relations to visas. The WMF is taking care of that themselves. They did not > ask us to write anything to embassies. > > I am sorry that Canada has strict rules on visa requirements for a lot of > countries. > > Jean-Philippe Béland > Vice President, Wikimedia Canada > User:Amqui > > > On Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 11:03 PM, Ranjith S <ranjith.saj...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> My visa is also got rejected. So I am not coming to Canada this year. I >> think Canada is a bad place for Wikimania due to their strict rules. And >> thinking that is not a tourist friendly country. >> >> On 23-Jun-2017 12:52 AM, "Jayanta Nath" <jayanta...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I think Wikimedia Canada not send any intimation to their Embassy of >>> respective countries. >>> >>> Jayanta Nath >>> >>> ___ >>> Wikimania-l mailing list >>> Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >>> >>> >> ___ >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> >> > > > -- > > Jean-Philippe Béland > > [image: Wikimedia Canada] Vice-président — Wikimédia Canada > <https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?uselang=fr>, chapitre national > soutenant Wikipédia > Vice president — Wikimedia Canada > <https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?uselang=en>, national chapter > supporting Wikipedia > 535 avenue Viger Est, Montréal (Québec) H2L 2P3,jpbel...@wikimedia.ca > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Granting Scholarship to same persons every year
I'm sorry, Pine, but I see no way to have a "civil discussion" when the initiator makes it about one single other person. If the originator, after having been redirected, had stuck to general comments instead of continuing to complain about a single user receiving multiple scholarships, I'd have given it a pass. But the same user's name is mentioned repeatedly (a second user is also mentioned in one of the posts), and it is clear that at least some of the allegations being made about the user are not true. (The initiator of the thread conceded that after being corrected.) I am very sorry that you do not see this as bullying. I am very serious when I say that, because the fact that you and perhaps others aren't seeing this as a form of bullying, specifically naming and shaming, is exactly part of the problem that the Wikimedia communities are trying to address, often with little success. This entire conversation could have been held without the mention of a single user's name. Now, the more important point is whether or not anyone is putting their suggestions for improvement onwiki. Of course, part of the problem is that it's really unclear where these suggestions should go, or for that matter which wiki it should go on; the rules for this round of scholarships is on the Wikimania wiki, while the list of successful candidates is on Meta. So...Scholarship Committee, where do you want suggestions to go? Link to a particular page please. Risker/Anne On 22 May 2017 at 03:26, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Sun, May 21, 2017 at 5:22 PM, Risker <risker...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> >> On 21 May 2017 at 20:12, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> >>> On Sun, May 21, 2017 at 3:34 PM, Risker <risker...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm sorry, Pinebut no. It's naming and shaming. If Praveen had >>>> wanted to highlight the frequency of Wikimedians being granted Wikimania >>>> scholarsips, they could have done exactly what Mike Peel did - compare the >>>> relevant lists and highlight the frequency of users receiving one, two or >>>> three grants over the four years for which data is available. That would >>>> have been - and is - a reasonable point of discussion. It turns out that >>>> Praveen's information was incomplete at best, and incorrect at worst. >>>> >>> >>> It's possible that I misread something, but the question that I read in >>> Praveen's original email was, "Then, what is the advantage of selecting >>> same persons again and again for scholarship? Isn't it better to let more >>> different people to share and experience global community?" I don't see how >>> citing a specific example amounts to naming and shaming. Unless I'm >>> overlooking something, there was an honest question of whether current >>> system of selecting awardees should be modified and examples of the >>> outcomes of the current award system were provided. I think it is risky to >>> read negatively into others' motives, and at this point I don't see >>> evidence that would support a view that there was malicious intent in the >>> examples being provided. The examples may be uncomfortable, but that's a >>> very long way from being malicious. >>> >> >> I think you may have missed some comments from the later part of the >> thread. I found them highly disturbing. Frankly, they were disturbing >> enough that many other Wikimedians I know would have walked away from the >> projects entirely; we cannot afford to allow people to be browbeaten for >> being able to demonstrate on a repeated basis that they're productive and >> valuable members of our community. >> >> > > > I find it disturbing that there seemed to be an effort to shut down a > discussion when someone raised concerns about how WMF funds are being used. > > > >> >>> >>>> >>>> That one specific individual has received more than one of them, and >>>> someone is implying that the grantee failed to live up to their undertaken >>>> responsibilities, is not a reasonable way of discussing those points. >>>> >>> >>> I disagree. If there are examples of grantees not fulfilling their >>> obligations but being awarded subsequent grants, that would be a problem. I >>> don't want people to be fearful of being attacked for discussing situations >>> in which they reasonably think that there may be a problem. I think that an >>> underlying issue may be the lack of transparency in the awards >>> applications. If there was more trans
Re: [Wikimania-l] Granting Scholarship to same persons every year
On 21 May 2017 at 20:12, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Sun, May 21, 2017 at 3:34 PM, Risker <risker...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I'm sorry, Pinebut no. It's naming and shaming. If Praveen had >> wanted to highlight the frequency of Wikimedians being granted Wikimania >> scholarsips, they could have done exactly what Mike Peel did - compare the >> relevant lists and highlight the frequency of users receiving one, two or >> three grants over the four years for which data is available. That would >> have been - and is - a reasonable point of discussion. It turns out that >> Praveen's information was incomplete at best, and incorrect at worst. >> > > It's possible that I misread something, but the question that I read in > Praveen's original email was, "Then, what is the advantage of selecting > same persons again and again for scholarship? Isn't it better to let more > different people to share and experience global community?" I don't see how > citing a specific example amounts to naming and shaming. Unless I'm > overlooking something, there was an honest question of whether current > system of selecting awardees should be modified and examples of the > outcomes of the current award system were provided. I think it is risky to > read negatively into others' motives, and at this point I don't see > evidence that would support a view that there was malicious intent in the > examples being provided. The examples may be uncomfortable, but that's a > very long way from being malicious. > I think you may have missed some comments from the later part of the thread. I found them highly disturbing. Frankly, they were disturbing enough that many other Wikimedians I know would have walked away from the projects entirely; we cannot afford to allow people to be browbeaten for being able to demonstrate on a repeated basis that they're productive and valuable members of our community. > > >> >> That one specific individual has received more than one of them, and >> someone is implying that the grantee failed to live up to their undertaken >> responsibilities, is not a reasonable way of discussing those points. >> > > I disagree. If there are examples of grantees not fulfilling their > obligations but being awarded subsequent grants, that would be a problem. I > don't want people to be fearful of being attacked for discussing situations > in which they reasonably think that there may be a problem. I think that an > underlying issue may be the lack of transparency in the awards > applications. If there was more transparency then venerability would be > less of a challenge. I realize that this is a complex problem, and > hopefully there can be constructive discussions about how to address it. > It may be a reason to draw this to the attention of the Wikimania Scholarship Committee, or the WMF Travel and Supports grants staff. It is not appropriate to start a thread on a mailing list that has thousands of subscribers. As it turns out, there is good reason to doubt a significant amount of what was said anyway. We need to stop enabling behaviour like this. The Wikimania-L mailing list is not an appropriate place to rail against another Wikimedian. None of the Wikimedia-related mailing lists are. This is an excellent example of bullying, and it needs to stop. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Granting Scholarship to same persons every year
I'm sorry, Pinebut no. It's naming and shaming. If Praveen had wanted to highlight the frequency of Wikimedians being granted Wikimania scholarsips, they could have done exactly what Mike Peel did - compare the relevant lists and highlight the frequency of users receiving one, two or three grants over the four years for which data is available. That would have been - and is - a reasonable point of discussion. It turns out that Praveen's information was incomplete at best, and incorrect at worst. It is unfortunate that people have to say "don't trash someone else because they got something you didn't". But that's really what it comes down to. There are a lot of valid discussion points about Wikimania TPS grants. That one specific individual has received more than one of them, and someone is implying that the grantee failed to live up to their undertaken responsibilities, is not a reasonable way of discussing those points. I'm going to be honest - aside from the issue of multiple grant awards, I'm finding that this year's processes are a bit more clear than in previous years. The partial grants, which are worth around 850 USD depending on room rates, are a good idea, and allow the recipients to select the most suitable means of transportation for them - especially now that so many more people are avoiding travel through certain geographic locations.[1] It might be possible, given the number of applicants involved, to provide a bit more statistical information; for example, total applicants, number who passed Phase 1, number who passed Phase 2 and were ranked, percentage of total applicants who received a full or partial grant, etc. It *might* be possible to provide the general information about Global South/Global North applicant ratio, but there might be a risk of de-anonymising [unsuccessful] applicants when trying to identify number of applications and scholarships from each size wiki community. I think the WMF could probably also identify number of people who were awarded grants but could not accept them. Risker/Anne [1] Disclosure - I received a set-dollar partial grant in 2013 - Hong Kong - which was supposed to pay for my airfare. However, it took so long to confirm the grant that the airfares had doubled from the time they had been calculated five months before.I'm still glad I went. On 21 May 2017 at 17:09, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Perhaps I have overlooked something, but it seems to me that what has been > offered is a specific example, which I would distinguish from "being named > and shamed" in the sense that the example is used to illustrate a potential > problem -- in this case with the system rather than with an individual, > although it's not exactly harassment to report potential misconduct if > there was public evidence of such. Let's remember that transparency is > something that we value, and keep calm and civil while discussing the > situation. > > Pine > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Granting Scholarship to same persons every year
Gnangarra, you missed some possible reasons for repeated scholarships: - the successful repeat applicants are performing at a higher standard than others, year after year (I have seen people who make maybe 300 edits in a year complain that they weren't selected over someone who's made 10,000 on multiple projects during that same year) - the successful repeat applicants are identified with one or more specific demographics that otherwise have significant difficulty in attending (geographic, gender, sexual orientation, language group, etc.) - the successful repeat applicants are bringing something specific to Wikimania, such as excellent and well-attended presentations, knowledge of some specific area of interest (e.g., one or more sister projects, Wikidata), etc. Let's not assume that people who have received scholarships more than once have somehow gamed the system, or that there is a systemic error if someone gets a scholarship more than once. Risker/Anne (who received a partial scholarship once, long ago) On 19 May 2017 at 22:35, Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> wrote: > If there is a general opinion based on facts that the some individuals are > the recipients of a regular scholarship, then that is something that needs > to be discussed. Unfortunately to prove the hypothesis that this is > happening there does need to be some presentation of what the basis for > that theory is and that means actually naming individuals otherwise it gets > dismissed as nonsense but in naming, providing the basis the person gets > told *"**sending emails like this one would certainly in-and-of-itself > be a reason against." *ensures that no one ever questions the > processes. Well I really dont care anymore if I dont get to go to another > Wikimania I'm going to challenge the process because its seen as having > flaws and that to me needs to addressed. > > What I see as the potential reasons for repeated scholarships for the same > person is that > >- they are active, they apply every year >- they are good communicators and self promoters >- they have the time capacity to attend every year >- previous years application arent tested against current >applications for repetitions >- each year the applications are judged in isolation that year,... >- theres no validation of what was claimed in previous reporting to >actual outcomes >- the same core group of people put their hand up to make the >selections every year >- the criteria isnt sufficiently dynamic between each wikimania to >draw new applicants to the top > > > We can dismiss it as jealousy or sour grapes or some other type of gripe. > Alternatively we can ask the questions, is there a basis for the perception > can we do things better... > > On 20 May 2017 at 09:48, praveenp <me.prav...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> So it is incredibly appropriate to grant scholarship to same person again >> and again? Usually applicant do not complain about this disparity because >> it would immediately branded as their desperation. If we could not speak >> about this, how could we ensure diversity and equality? >> On Saturday 20 May 2017 01:53 AM, LFaraone wrote: >> >> It would be incredibly inappropriate to discuss a specific person's >> eligibility in public like this. >> >> Simply put: people who get scholarships do so according to the published >> selection criteria. People who do not, did not qualify. >> >> >> In my opinion, sending emails like this one would >> certainly in-and-of-itself be a reason against. >> >> >> As a community, if questioning a process leads to disqualification, is >> not a good tendency. I was the only one sent mails in 2015. Why none of >> the other applicant gets scholarship? >> >> While discussing this without any name, it immediately rebutted as false >> argument. If we use any names, it is inappropriate! >> >> >> On 19 May 2017 at 18:36, praveenp <me.prav...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> I have sent a similar email on 2015 [1] >>> <https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimania-l/2015-July/006921.html>, >>> but I haven't got a clear answer there yet. I simply asked why certain >>> people get Wikimania Scholarship each year, while other applicants rejected >>> repeatedly. I have used a comparison of User:Viswaprabha and myself >>> (User:Praveenp) there. >>> >>> Please note that this email is not about someone going to Wikimanias >>> again and again, it is about granting Wikimania scholarships to same >>> persons again and again. This is not perso
Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania
Grant applications are public. There is public discussion of them, in addition to non-public deliberations. And grant review committees (including the Funds Dissemination Committee of which I am a member) make recommendations, not final decisions. Wikimania scholarship applications are confidential, and are required to include information considered private under the WMF privacy policy. The Scholarship Committee does not publish any private information about its applicants, and does not name the unsuccessful applicants, many of whom may still receive a scholarship from another movement entity. Risker/Anne On 19 April 2017 at 01:04, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja <pavan...@vishvakannada.com> wrote: > > > I don't think that publishing a list of the committee's decisions is a > high-risk decision. Grants committees publish their decisions, and I don't > see why there should be a different standard for the Wikimania scholarship > committee. > > > > > > I fully agree. > > > > Regards, > > Pavanaja > > > > > > *From:* Wikimania-l [mailto:wikimania-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] *On > Behalf Of *Pine W > *Sent:* 19 April 2017 09:24 AM > *To:* Wikimania general list (open subscription) > *Subject:* Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania > > > > I agree that the committee is likely to consider many nonpublic factors in > making their decisions. > > > > "Whether we agree with the decisions of the committee or not the > individuals should not be subject to the vitriol that the community can and > does hand out regularly nor should they be put at > > excessive risk for what they have done." > > I don't think that publishing a list of the committee's decisions is a > high-risk decision. Grants committees publish their decisions, and I don't > see why there should be a different standard for the Wikimania scholarship > committee. > > > "Putting contributions how ever its defined increases the risk of harm > both from within the community and from outside, doing harm to satisfy > curiosity isnt acceptable" > > Transparency is one of Wikimedia's values, and people who make decisions > about Wikimedia resources should generally be transparent with those > decisions. The nature and degree of that transparency have some variations, > but I expect the default to be transparency rather than hiding information, > particularly when the primary justification for hiding information is > because it might be controversial or receive criticism. The default > position should be transparency. > > > Pine > > > > > > On Tue, Apr 18, 2017 at 8:42 PM, Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Contributions is such wide term are you talking about edits in projects or > work on the ground in assisting others, what about the unseen work like > supporting an affiliate to be successful or a GLAM to open up its resources > > > > When talking about edits is a photo uploaded to commons worth more because > its used in multiple projects than some one who starts an article in one > language, does an english wp edit have a greater weigh over a french wp > edit because it has more potential viewers or does a noongar wp edit in the > incubator which is opening access to a whole new culture and language to > the movement have greater value. > > > > Issue around the fair balance across communities of access to Wikimania > is also a question does a country with well financed chapter have less to > contribute compared to a country closer but limited finanaces, does a > counrty where it'll cost 5-10,000 US$ for each attendee deserve greater > numbers supported because its not possible for people to attend over a > country that the cost is less than US$1000, would 10 people attending be > better than 1 person attending. > > > > Does a country with 20 million people deserve to 1/10th the amount of > attendees of a country with 200million people. Every one contributes in the > way they feel most comfortable and safe. For some time is unlimited for > others time contributing is a constant risk there is no way we as community > can openly value these, the committee does the best it can with the > knowledge presented to them by the candidates Whether we agree with > the decisions of the committee or not the individuals should not be subject > to the vitriol that the community can and does hand out regularly nor > should they be put at excessive risk for what they have done. > > > > A list of everyone who accepts a scholarship enables transparency in > ensuring reporting from those people, but even that can carry a risk for > them. Putting contributions how ever its defined increas
Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania
Pavajana, it's the user names that are confidential in this case. Nothing stops unsuccessful candidates from publishing their own names, if they wish. How many do you think will do that? Risker/Anne On 18 April 2017 at 23:56, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja <pavan...@vishvakannada.com> wrote: > Wikimedia contributions are public numbers. If username is known, all > contributions can be found out. What is secrecy in that? Only thing not > disclosed is how the evaluations are done. This should be made public, > since the entire movement is run by public funding. > > > > Regards, > > Pavanaja > > > > > > *From:* Wikimania-l [mailto:wikimania-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] *On > Behalf Of *Gnangarra > *Sent:* 19 April 2017 09:12 AM > *To:* Wikimania general list (open subscription) > *Subject:* Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania > > > > Contributions is such wide term are you talking about edits in projects or > work on the ground in assisting others, what about the unseen work like > supporting an affiliate to be successful or a GLAM to open up its resources > > > > When talking about edits is a photo uploaded to commons worth more because > its used in multiple projects than some one who starts an article in one > language, does an english wp edit have a greater weigh over a french wp > edit because it has more potential viewers or does a noongar wp edit in the > incubator which is opening access to a whole new culture and language to > the movement have greater value. > > > > Issue around the fair balance across communities of access to Wikimania > is also a question does a country with well financed chapter have less to > contribute compared to a country closer but limited finanaces, does a > counrty where it'll cost 5-10,000 US$ for each attendee deserve greater > numbers supported because its not possible for people to attend over a > country that the cost is less than US$1000, would 10 people attending be > better than 1 person attending. > > > > Does a country with 20 million people deserve to 1/10th the amount of > attendees of a country with 200million people. Every one contributes in the > way they feel most comfortable and safe. For some time is unlimited for > others time contributing is a constant risk there is no way we as community > can openly value these, the committee does the best it can with the > knowledge presented to them by the candidates Whether we agree with > the decisions of the committee or not the individuals should not be subject > to the vitriol that the community can and does hand out regularly nor > should they be put at excessive risk for what they have done. > > > > A list of everyone who accepts a scholarship enables transparency in > ensuring reporting from those people, but even that can carry a risk for > them. Putting contributions how ever its defined increases the risk of harm > both from within the community and from outside, doing harm to satisfy > curiosity isnt acceptable > > > > > > > > On 19 April 2017 at 10:51, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja <pavan...@vishvakannada.com> > wrote: > > Hello, > > > > I would like WMF to make the list of applicants, their contributions, the > weightage used for each kind of contribution and the final list of > scholarship awardees in a table form. Since WMF is run by the contributions > of the volunteers, such a transparency is definitely needed from WMF. I > hope WMF will oblige. > > > > Regards, > > Pavanaja > > > > > > *From:* Wikimania-l [mailto:wikimania-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] *On > Behalf Of *Ellie Young > *Sent:* 19 April 2017 01:23 AM > *To:* Wikimania general list (open subscription) > *Subject:* [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania > > > > Everyone who applied for a scholarship to Wikimania '17 has been notified > about the status. If you have not heard, please check your spam filter, > or send email to ask about the status to: wikimaniascholarships@ > wikimedia.org > > > > April 18 is the deadline for people who were offered a scholarship to > respond. > > > > A final list of everyone who was awarded and able to accept will be posted > to on the wiki in early May. > > > > We expect registration for Wikimania '17 to go live on or before May 1st. > > > > > > > > -- > > Ellie Young > > Events Manager > > Wikimedia Foundation > > eyo...@wikimedia.org > > > > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > >
Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania
Pine, have you noticed how we're seeing fewer and fewer well-qualified community members actively seeking out the responsibility of various committee roles? (I'll point out that this is particularly noticeable amongst women within the community.) It's because they are being bombarded, more and more, by unreasonable levels of criticism. I can say this with a fair bit of authority because I've been involved inhigh-profile committees, task forces, steering groups and responsible roles for 8 years, and the level of criticism has definitely affected where I'm willing to invest my volunteer efforts. I turn down 10 attempts to recruit me for various tasks for every one I accept, and I'm not alone. The Wikimania Scholarship Committee does work that will never satisfy everyone, and all of their decisions will be found wanting by some segment of the community. It is a very difficult job - there are so many factors to weigh that, even though there are some basic minimal levels of activity expected, deciding between a candidate with a few thousand edits who is one of the most proliferate editors of a small wiki (e.g., the editor mainly translates high-value articles and posts them in a single edit) against one who specializes in high quality images (but only uploads 50 a year) against one who averages 15,000 edits but mainly works in anti-vandalism, against one who has few on-wiki contributions but has trained and educated dozens of very productive editorswell, you see the challenge. These are all valuable contributors - but their contribution to the movement is very different, and those who value some of those contributions over others will find personal justification in complaining about the decisions the committee makes. There may be some reasonable arguments about providing some aggregate information such as the number of applicants from different regions and the percentage that were successfulbut again, there are other routes to Wikimania including scholarships from large chapters, which often sponsor community members from other regions, and often select recipients from the pool of WMF-sponsored scholarship applicants. Of course, there is an easier way to affect the outcome of these discussions. Sign up in late 2017/early 2018 to become a member of the scholarship committee. Risker/Anne On 18 April 2017 at 23:32, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Risker: it seems to me that there are two two different issues. > > First, fear of criticism or controversy are not justifications for > withholding information. > > That said, I tend to agree you about the privacy issue for applicants. Any > information releases should be compliant with what applicants were told at > the time that they applied, and perhaps in future years there can be more > specific considerations of what kinds of information should be released. > Perhaps not much information will be released this year if users weren't > told that the fact that they applied would be published (and my guess is > that they weren't), but perhaps in future years this can be done along with > other information that is not particularly sensitive, e.g. public > contribution histories and public roles such as board or committee > memberships. > > (Note: I have not applied for a Wikimania scholarship and I don't plan to > do so in the foreseeable future.) > > Pine > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania
I would like the Wikimedia Foundation NOT to do that. Our user privacy is to be respected. People who applied for scholarships had every reason to expect that the WMF would not publish their names if they were not awarded one, for example. Nobody who applies is guaranteed a WMF scholarship; however, several other organizations actively provide scholarships to community members who did not receive a WMF scholarship. Transparency does not require putting users into embarrassing or awkward situations, and many users who applied for scholarships may not have done so if they were told that the names and details of their application would be published. The scholarship committee is made up largely of volunteers, and they don't deserve the inevitable brickbats that would be thrown their way if particularly vocal members of the community disagreed with their decisions. And it's a given that just about every member of the community will disagree with one or more decision made by the committee. So no, please don't publish any details of any application, or how any individual candidate was assessed. That's not transparency. Risker/Anne On 18 April 2017 at 22:51, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja <pavan...@vishvakannada.com> wrote: > Hello, > > > > I would like WMF to make the list of applicants, their contributions, the > weightage used for each kind of contribution and the final list of > scholarship awardees in a table form. Since WMF is run by the contributions > of the volunteers, such a transparency is definitely needed from WMF. I > hope WMF will oblige. > > > > Regards, > > Pavanaja > > > > > > *From:* Wikimania-l [mailto:wikimania-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] *On > Behalf Of *Ellie Young > *Sent:* 19 April 2017 01:23 AM > *To:* Wikimania general list (open subscription) > *Subject:* [Wikimania-l] WMF Scholarships to attend Wikimania > > > > Everyone who applied for a scholarship to Wikimania '17 has been notified > about the status. If you have not heard, please check your spam filter, > or send email to ask about the status to: wikimaniascholarships@ > wikimedia.org > > > > April 18 is the deadline for people who were offered a scholarship to > respond. > > > > A final list of everyone who was awarded and able to accept will be posted > to on the wiki in early May. > > > > We expect registration for Wikimania '17 to go live on or before May 1st. > > > > > > > > -- > > Ellie Young > > Events Manager > > Wikimedia Foundation > > eyo...@wikimedia.org > > > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania - annually, with South Africa in 2018?
Wikimania serves many purposes. Some of those purposes can be served by regional conferences, if they are properly broadcast or their information is similarly made available to the community at large. Other purposes are served better by having a global gathering. For example, one of my personal objectives at this year's Wikimania was to talk to peers and seek out candidates for the Board-appointed FDC seats; I was specifically looking for women and/or non-Western candidates. Being able to meet those candidates in person and talk to them about the work of the FDC means...well, at least one of them has posted a candidacy now. These sorts of connections are very difficult to make without the personal touch. I invariably learn more from people I'd meet nowhere else but Wikimania than I do in any other forum. Remember that it is much more difficult for people to justify attendance at a conference in another region or country, where the program is going to be geared to a local rather than international audience, than it is to justify attending the global conference. It's not just about money. It's about developing the roots that spread beyond the conference. Many Wikimedians who have brought a great deal to our broad community first made their connections with others at Wikimania. The Hackathon attached to Wikimania is often one of the most valuable aspects of the conference - hackathons tend to "get things done", actively develop skills in those creating tools and software that improves our projects, and assists in integrating the editing and developer communities. (The developer team usually makes up the largest part of the WMF staff contingent; I understand this year was an exception, and I will be interested to know whether Hackathon participants thought it was as effective.) It is also the only "global" conference that any Wikimedian can attend. Those who attend the Wikimedia Affiliates Conference, for example, are there by invitation only, and specifically excluded if they are not part of a formally recognized organization. Many local or national conferences will (quite reasonably) be conducted in the local language, which can exclude effective participation from anyone outside that region. I do entirely understand the point about costs to individuals, though: if not sponsored or provided with some form of assistance, it's not cheap to travel to another continent and pay for room and board on top of any conference fee. On the other hand, I'm not sure that it's any cheaper in the big picture to have a bunch of regional conferences where WMF staff have to keep traveling, or when we don't get the benefit that derives from the Hackathons or other pre-conference activities. Risker/Anne On 9 July 2016 at 21:50, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Andrew and Leila, > > There are quite a few ways of looking at the numbers (which is one reason > that I'm hoping for a thorough analysis.) Please note that I think that > conferences should happen; I am asking if this is the status quo is the > optimal way of spending these funds. There are other ways of using funds > for conferences that could be explored. > > For example, if a Wikimania costs $600,000 and there are 1,000 attendees, > that works out to a cost of $600 per attendee for 1000 people. Is that a > wiser investment than spreading out the same funds among (hypothetically) > 3,000 attendees at multiple national/regional conferences for an average > expense of $200 per attendee? At this point I don't think any of us can > answer that question. > > The Wikimania-going population, especially the people who go to many > WIkimanias, are a vanishingly small percentage of the overall WIkimedia > population. They tend to be active, but there are plenty of active > Wikimedians such as myself who have never been to Wikimania, although I'd > like to go next year. Does it make sense to spend so much money on such a > small percentage of our community? There are reasons to think that the > answer could be yes; for example, if Wikimania motivates highly active > contributors and leaders to keep up the good work. However, it's not clear > that similarly good effects couldn't be achieved on a broader scale by > spreading the funds among more numerous smaller conferences. > > There is a good argument to be made that having lots of highly active > contributors and project leaders from all over the world in the same place, > and having WMF staff mix with them, is a good idea for purposes of > improving communications and relationships. Generation of good PR press, > and cross-pollination of ideas, are also important and I think that we > should support those. However, similarly good outcomes might be achieved > through multiple smaller conferences. > > I'm in favor of continuing to spend funds on conferences; what I t
[Wikimania-l] The Weather in Esino Lario
I've been following the long-range forecasts and it appears that we can expect the following during the course of our visit to this little village in the Italian Alps: - Daytime high temperatures between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius (62-28 degrees Fahrenheit for our American colleagues). For many of us this is "hoodie" weather, and it appears this is a bit cooler than average for this time of the year. - Night time temperatures between 7-9 degrees Celsius (45-52 degrees Fahrenheit). - Short periods of rain, possibly including a thunderstorm, on many days. Most likely to occur in the later afternoon. The rest of the time, we're likely to see glorious sunshine. Whatever else we might want to grumble about, our convenors cannot be blamed for the weather. Looks like it will be a good idea to pack some layers, something that can handle a heavy downpour of rain, and maybe some sunscreen too. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of days. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] accommodation details
On 16 June 2016 at 19:19, Lodewijk <lodew...@effeietsanders.org> wrote: > Hi, > > As I am preparing to leave, I was checking a few basic things, which I > couldn't find in the documentation > <https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodation/Esino_Lario>. > Maybe it is obvious, or I overlooked it - apologies in that case. > > I was wondering what exactly is provided for in the accommodation. It's > shared and simple rooms, probably with shared bathrooms etc. Could you > confirm it's a cheap hotel-like setting, where bed sheets, towels etc are > provided for? It would save me luggage, so that would be great :) And am I > correct to assume that toiletries are available somewhere in the village if > need be? > > Thanks for confirming! > > Hmmm. According to the "Getting Ready" page[1], if you are assigned to a guesthouse or flat, they will provide bedding and towels. I think it would be safe to assume the same for hotel rooms (although it is not specified). However, there is specifically no mention of whether one needs to bring bedding/towels for the "specialty lodging" (dormitory). This was one of the reasons I wanted to know where I was staying, because I would have asked this very question myself if I'd been assigned to "specialty lodging". Risker/Anne [1] https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Getting_ready#Staying_in_Esino:_Hotel.2C_Guesthouse.2C_speciality_lodging_and_camping ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania women
Are we doing a Wiki-Women's lunch together this year? This has always been a highlight of Wikimania in my opinion. Risker/Anne On 16 June 2016 at 17:41, Matthew Flaschen <mflasc...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > On 06/16/2016 06:29 AM, Florence Devouard wrote: > >> Hello everyone >> >> As you prepare to travel to Esino, remember to also have a look at the >> program : https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programme >> Lots of cool things planned ! >> >> I have done an "extraction" of all the discussion/talks/training/events >> related to gender gap and summarized them on the Wikimania women facebook. >> > > I'm also leading a discussion of the Code of Conduct for technical spaces, > Thursday, 23 June, 13:00, during the Hackathon ( > https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T137760). > > Matt > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Accommodation
Iolanda, for those of us traveling from outside of Europe, we will normally have to provide a proper destination address as part of our customs and immigration process. "Esino Lario" won't normally be enough; in fact, it's my experience that at least half the time when traveling to Europe, I have had to show my reservation confirmation. We also need our destination address to include it in our luggage so that if it is misdirected, there is still some chance that it might find us before the conference is over. Having had my luggage go missing on more than one transatlantic flight - knowing that my destination address is well identified in association with my luggage is a Big Deal. Again, just "Esino Lario" isn't going to cut it. An actual address is required. Risker/Anne On 13 June 2016 at 08:24, Iolanda Pensa <iola...@pensa.it> wrote: > dear all > Everyone – who has got a ticket with accommodation in Esino Lario and > received a confirmation from eventbrite – has accommodation in Esino Lario. > Marta and Patrizia have assigned all the beds. > You will be given your address and keys in Piazza Italia in Esino Lario at > your arrival; we expect you to arrive the 21st or the 23rd according to to > the 5 or 3 days ticket you got. > Marta will send you today some further information about your travel and > arrival. > > Pleonastic, but > If you did not buy a ticket with accommodation in Esino Lario, you don’t > have accommodation in Esino Lario. > If you did not buy a ticket for your direct transport from and to the > airport, you do not have direct transport from and to the airport. > Eventually you can get worried if you don’t have an eventbrite > confirmation. > > I personally consider wikipedians and wikimedians the most intelligent > people I can spend time with. We certainly pretend you to get to Esino > Lario, to find the right bus, to take the train in the right direction > (please note that Tirano is not Torino), to sign up for events and to read > (and cite) all necessary sources. Certainly… it’s the beginning of a great > adventure. > iolanda > > > > Il giorno 13 giu 2016, alle ore 13:03, Harry Mitchell <hjmw...@gmail.com> > ha scritto: > > Nothing here, and with only a week to go before I start my travels. I > sympathise with the organisers who are being bombarded with all sorts of > questions and no doubt have many other things to worry about. I remember > how that felt in 2014. But these are not minor details for people > travelling long distances, especially for those of us who have taken time > off work and spent our own money to get there. > > Could we trouble the organisers at least for a date by which we'll have > some information on where we're staying? > > Thanks, > Harry > > Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/mobile/?.src=Android> > > On Mon, 13 Jun, 2016 at 11:47, Andy Mabbett > <a...@pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote: > On 6 June 2016 at 15:26, Mardetanha <mardetanha.w...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > as elllie put on her previous emails, you will receive details separately > > very soon > > A week has passed since the above reply; I'm concerned that I still > have no information about where I shall be staying, nor indeed whether > I have somewhere to stay. Does anyone else? > > > -- > Andy Mabbett > @pigsonthewing > http://pigsonthewing.org.uk > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] [SPAM] Re: Comitato Wikimania Esino Lario 2016
English, absolutely - it is a requirement of scholarships that applicants must demonstrate sufficient knowledge of English. I think a case could probably be made for German as well, as it is practically the "second language" of Wikimedia projects; no doubt a very significant number of attendees will have sufficient fluency in German. I still don't think we've received a good answer to the question of whether this is a membership in perpetuity or it is a time-limited membership (i.e., the membership only lasts until the end of June 2016 or some other specified date). Risker/Anne On 26 March 2016 at 17:37, Stephan Schulz <sch...@eprover.org> wrote: > > > On 26 Mar 2016, at 22:06, Bohdan Melnychuk <bas...@yandex.ru> wrote: > > > > Erm, Italian law you mean? Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, I am > unfamiliar with it, so it is wonderful that the Statute duplicates the > important parts of it. I would definitely be happier for having at least > something translated, but I still insist on everything being available in > English. This might be troublesome for you, but that's just what has to be > done. > > > > --Base > > Also in German, please. And Korean (North and South, separate > translations!) > > Stephan > > > -- > -- It can be done! > - >Please email me as sch...@eprover.org (Stephan Schulz) > > > > > > > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] [Wikimedia-l] Community consultation on the future of Wikimania
On 3 December 2015 at 14:21, Austin Hair <adh...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 5:11 PM, Ellie Young <eyo...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > A lot of work has gone into preparing for the consultation.It will > be going out December 14. We are looking forward to getting everyone's > feedback in the weeks after and into early January. > > Is there a particular reason it's being delayed until the 14th? > > Perhaps because that would be close to the end of the Harassment consultation, which is also being managed by other sections of the Community Engagement department? And also after the Community Tech Wishlist consultation? I'm thrilled to see so many attempts to reach out to the community, but on the other hand if the community is asked to consult on too many things at once, it can have a limiting effect on participation. Running three major community consultations all at the same time could turn out to be counterproductive, especially at a time of year when so many community members are also deeply involved in activities within their personal life. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Did you ever attend Wikimania with your money? Talk to us!
I think it might have been useful to ask questions about what might make people not attend a Wikimania (e.g., location, dollars, not interested in programming, poor cost to potential benefit ratio). Risker/Anne On 11 September 2015 at 10:35, Federico Leva (Nemo) <nemow...@gmail.com> wrote: > John Mark Vandenberg, 11/09/2015 11:51: > >> I found the last question a bit confusing, as it talks about "how much >> more...", but it isnt clear what 'more' is relative to. More than the >> 'actual cost to the organisation'? Or, if the survey participant >> self-funded their Wikimania, how much more should they spend to attend >> Wikimania? So I put '0'. >> > > Thanks for going through the questions. You are right, that question is > ambiguous; but it's intentionally so, to avoid forcing a single > interpretation of where the "more" starts. (I have my opinions, but there > is no rule; and past Wikimanias were very different.) > > We'll see how well it works; this is just the beginning of a conversation. > :) > > Nemo > > > ___ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] How to get a pre-paid SIM card for Wikimania in 15 easy steps
Of course, you can always do it the old-fashioned way: pre-pay a travel pack from your own service provider (either before or after leaving home), pay a little bit more, but have your smartphone working the whole time without having to give out a new number, be able to get right down to enjoying Wikimania without trying to find the shops and investing precious time on a transaction, worrying about whether you'll have problems, etc. I'm a simple person. My plan is already on my phone. Risker/Anne On 14 July 2015 at 20:27, Katie Chan k...@ktchan.info wrote: Or walk around hoping for and failing to find a shop with someone who speak English, and regretting not knowing Spanish. I ended up managing to buy a sim a bit further down the road in the same direction for $130 which comes with a bit of credit. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Original message From: Stuart Prior stuart.pr...@wikimedia.org.uk Date:14/07/2015 12:09 (GMT-06:00) To: Wikimania general list (open subscription) wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] How to get a pre-paid SIM card for Wikimania in 15 easy steps +1 Alternatively: Go to an internet cafe in Insurgentes. Buy simcard there. Have to go to another place to get it cut down to nano size for 25 pesos. Momentarily lose your original simcard. Give up on the actual credit thing and spend a load on roaming with your domestic plan. Go to another place a couple of days later but then realise you don't actually have your new Mexican number so you can't get a data plan. Go through a complicated transaction to find out and be immensely grateful for your Hispanophone friend. Eventually get it all sorted out. Or you can try Siebrand's way. S On 14 July 2015 at 17:00, Siebrand Mazeland siebr...@kitano.nl wrote: 1. Bring ID, and 210 peso cash or a credit card 2. Go to Telcel store Centro de Atencion a clientes Telcel on Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas. From the Hilton Reforma, right across the busy street, just before the Empire State building. 3. At reception, say that you want to buy a chip Telcel Amigo 4. You will get a ticket with a desk number to report to. Probably upstairs. 5. Go to that counter 6. Ask for Telcel Amigo 7 dias 200 mega 7. Costs 150 for sim, 59 for the data 8. Computer stuff is done, forms are filled out 9. You are taken to the payment area. Pay there. 150 for the sim 10. Back to the clerk's desk 11. You'll get the SIM card 12. Put it in the phone and wait until the network is discovered. Telcel 3G for me 13. Hand the phone to the clerk 14. They will call a number. Presumable to activate 15. The you have to pay a second sum for the data. 59 pesos. You'll get an activation code. The clerk entered it for me and showed me the text message that confirmed the 200MB of data. 16. All done. Phew. Enjoy your data. This took me about 45 minutes, including the walk to and from the Hilton. Feel free to publish this somewhere on Wikimania wiki, or tell your friends... Cheers! -- Siebrand Mazeland Kitano ICT M: +31 6 50 69 1239 Skype: siebrand ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- *Stuart Prior* *Project Coordinator* *Wikimedia UK* +44 20 7065 0990 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania Documentary Done
On 15 December 2014 at 18:06, Nkansah Rexford nkansahrexf...@gmail.com wrote: Hello everyone, The final version of the Wikimania Documentary can be found on YouTube. Will push to Commons by end of this week as it requires a bit of alteration to make it fully Wikimedia Commons License compliant. Wikimania 2014 Documentary: http:// http://youtu.be/1444m7vhhFoyoutu.be http://youtu.be/1444m7vhhFo/1444m7vhhFo http://youtu.be/1444m7vhhFo Interviews taken at the conference will be released to public soon. Currently awaiting the video's public-going approval from the interviewees. Subtitles will be added soon to the documentary video on YouTube. Editing the videos wasn't as difficult to me as adding the subtitles. Dang! Thanks for all your support and assistance. Will love to also hear from and get in touch with our friends in Kazakhstan. rexford | google.com/+Nkansahrexford Thank you for sharing this, Nkansah. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Call for Volunteers: Wikimania Jury to review bids for 2016
Bumping this because of questions about when the email was sent and the criteria for jury membership. Risker On 13 August 2014 11:13, Manuel Schneider manuel.schnei...@wikimedia.ch wrote: Dear all, soon we will starting the bidding process for Wikimania 2016. Soon the Wikimania Committee will be kicking off the selection process for deciding who should host Wikimania 2016. * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2016 Request for Proposals (RfP) is being published soon and we want to invite volunteers to serve on the selection jury. The jury will evaluate bids and make a recommendation to this committee and the WMF based on published criteria, reviewing the bids from November onwards until the final selection is made in December 2014. This is roughly 30-40 hours' work, and is key to us making Wikimania a strong, healthy community conference that we all can enjoy. The Wikimania Committee will select a jury that is a balanced representation of the community, from a diverse range of backgrounds, sexes, languages, cultures and regions of the world. What we are looking for: * seven members * geographical diversity * experience with events of this kind - either outside or inside the movement, as organiser or long-time Wikimaniac * members are required to read the Wikimania proposals on Meta Wiki * members are required to participate in six conference calls to discuss with each Wikimania proposal team and with the jury, approximate duration two hours, during the review phase (approx. one to two weeks around December) If you would like to serve on the jury, please e-mail Ellie Young (off-list) eyoung @ wikimedia.org August 24. We will announce the jury in two weeks' time. On behalf of the Wikimania Committee with regards, Manuel -- Manuel Schneider - Chief Information Officer Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 340 66 22 - www.wikimedia.ch ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Call for Volunteers: Wikimania Jury to review bids for 2016
No worries :D - so many of us have overflowing mailboxes it's easy to miss one or two. There was a follow-up email on August 23 specifying that the nominations would close in 24 hours. Risker On 29 September 2014 10:21, Béria Lima berial...@gmail.com wrote: Oh Thank you Risker for solving that question :D _ *Béria L. de Rodríguez* *Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. Ajude-nos a construir esse sonho.* 2014-09-29 11:19 GMT-03:00 Risker risker...@gmail.com: Bumping this because of questions about when the email was sent and the criteria for jury membership. Risker On 13 August 2014 11:13, Manuel Schneider manuel.schnei...@wikimedia.ch wrote: Dear all, soon we will starting the bidding process for Wikimania 2016. Soon the Wikimania Committee will be kicking off the selection process for deciding who should host Wikimania 2016. * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2016 Request for Proposals (RfP) is being published soon and we want to invite volunteers to serve on the selection jury. The jury will evaluate bids and make a recommendation to this committee and the WMF based on published criteria, reviewing the bids from November onwards until the final selection is made in December 2014. This is roughly 30-40 hours' work, and is key to us making Wikimania a strong, healthy community conference that we all can enjoy. The Wikimania Committee will select a jury that is a balanced representation of the community, from a diverse range of backgrounds, sexes, languages, cultures and regions of the world. What we are looking for: * seven members * geographical diversity * experience with events of this kind - either outside or inside the movement, as organiser or long-time Wikimaniac * members are required to read the Wikimania proposals on Meta Wiki * members are required to participate in six conference calls to discuss with each Wikimania proposal team and with the jury, approximate duration two hours, during the review phase (approx. one to two weeks around December) If you would like to serve on the jury, please e-mail Ellie Young (off-list) eyoung @ wikimedia.org August 24. We will announce the jury in two weeks' time. On behalf of the Wikimania Committee with regards, Manuel -- Manuel Schneider - Chief Information Officer Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 340 66 22 - www.wikimedia.ch ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Least expensive way to travel from Heathrow Airport
Hello Allan - You can check this page here: https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Transport Coming from Heathrow, the least expensive is the London Underground, at 5.70 GBP cash fare, lower if you purchase and use an Oyster card. Journey time is between 75-100 minutes depending on time of day and which terminal you start from. There is one change of underground lines. More expensive but faster is the Heathrow Connect train; total journey time would be about 40-50 mins and cost would be 9.90 for the train and another 4.70 for the underground (less if you purchase and use an Oyster card). More expensive still is the Heathrow Express, with a shorter total journey time, but a higher train fare. Risker/Anne On 29 July 2014 00:31, Allan Aguilar ral...@vmail.me wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Hello all. I will arrive in London on August 6. However, I am wondering: what would be the less expensive travel option reach the venue or the hotel? I am traveling alone and will carry no more than a couple of bags. Thank you in advance. - -- Allan Aguilar (Ralgis) Mail → ral...@vmail.me PGP → 4096/F5AA4DC7 3739 CEC7 E400 EBF1 593B 8CBF B3E1 CE78 F5AA 4DC7 Blog → https://editandowikimedia.wordpress.com/ Twitter → https://twitter.com/userralgis -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux) iJwEAQECAAYFAlPXI78ACgkQDJL8z7dPVmBFFgQA1wFC/xoFaqb6wlrx44NmLPKF 4HZbIyOzs9gwyqfSZzw5umtANyBSiKWMVWuNwqbPr4IoHIK/gaZGWhXMnFOKbAtu 2rylZ25kI2R+LFFbYGiieid338VaqmAU5kXbgdQxIe+6/myuRWAb0VwdVRFrN+eg JPNYeZuoOTtz/W8+Wec= =z+cV -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Registration to the hackathon
Well, I chose the hackathon option because I'm pretty sure I'll stick my nose in during the course of those two days - but I'm guaranteed not to write a line of code. Someone could pretend to be me... not that there are many people who could pass for me :) Risker On 1 July 2014 14:09, Christie Koehler c...@christi3k.net wrote: - Original Message - We are working on increasing capacity for the hackathon (which is the principle issue here) and hope to make an announcement soon. Any update on this? There is a hackathon option on the PayPal page, but unfortunately not the credit card version, which is what I just used. I'm bringing a small group of Mozilla contributors and we are really counting on being able to attend the hackathon. -Ck ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Registration to the hackathon
On 1 July 2014 14:31, Christie Koehler c...@christi3k.net wrote: - Original Message - Any update on this? There is a hackathon option on the PayPal page, but unfortunately not the credit card version, which is what I just used. I realized after sending this that I could register my team for the Hackathon only on the PayPal version of the page. It took a bit of work to re-enter all that info, but it is an otherwise okay workaround. Hopefully the duplicate registrations don't make things too confusing for conference staff! (And I noticed during this process that the set of questions on the forms is not quite identical. PayPal version doesn't ask for first line of the badge, for one thing.) I was asked for the first line of my badge using Paypal... Risker ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Registration payment options
If there is any way to include a Paypal option, I think it would be very helpful. Restriction to a credit card payment option may significantly impact younger or less wealthy attendees, particularly those not from the European/North American sphere. Even I would prefer to use Paypal because the currency conversion costs are significantly lower than that charged by credit card companies. Risker/Anne On 4 June 2014 10:33, Stuart Prior stuart.pr...@wikimedia.org.uk wrote: Hi Martijn, Yes, it is the only payment option. I appreciate that there are effective and commonly used bank transfer systems in some European countries, but our administrative capacity and the booking website meant we had to settle on one method of payment. We did consider all options and various currency payment options, but we settled on credit card payments as the being most accessible method internationally and the simplest for us to administrate at this scale. I hope this doesn't prevent you from attending. Best Stuart On 3 June 2014 11:26, Martijn Hoekstra martijnhoeks...@gmail.com wrote: Currently the only payment method for registration as far as I can find is by credit card. Are more payment options planned and/or considered? --Martijn ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- *Stuart Prior* *Wikimania Liaison* *Wikimedia UK* +44 20 7065 0990 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Registration payment options
From the Canadian perspective, people can have credit cards (16 digit chip PIN for Visa/Mastercard, others only 16 digits) and/or bank/interact debit cards (also 16 digit chipPIN). The former are able to be used online; debit cards are for in-person transactions with very, very few exceptions. Visa and Mastercard offer prepaid debit cards; however, their purchase fee is typically 10% of the value of the card (a $500 card costs $50) and the currency exchange rates and service charges associated with using a different currency is usually double or triple what banks or Paypal charge. The *real* cost of Wikimania registration using one of those debit cards would be approximately 40% higher than the face value of what Wikimania was actually charging. Unless I miss my guess, scholarships are being paid to people via Paypal. I think that really points to the necessity of accepting at least Paypal as an acceptable alternative payment. Risker On 4 June 2014 14:03, Richard Symonds richard.symo...@wikimedia.org.uk wrote: Roan, I don't mean to sound daft, but Chip PIN cards are (at least here) MasterCard/Visa cards with 16-digit numbers. The two are the same? The reason people are cautious about giving out bank details is because of things like this: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/clarksons_account_gets_hacked/ ... Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* On 4 June 2014 18:58, Roan Kattouw roan.katt...@gmail.com wrote: On Jun 4, 2014 10:37 AM, Michael Snow wikipe...@frontier.com wrote: On 6/4/2014 10:14 AM, Joseph Fox wrote: Pretty sure the difference is that in the US, “debit cards” as we Brits know them are rare. Not at all, debit cards are a routine feature for checking accounts in the US. But yes, if your debit card has a logo for one of the big payment processors, then most merchants displaying that logo should be able to accept it, even if their transactions use a credit function rather than the debit function. The problem is that in many continental European countries, MasterCard/Visa cards with 16-digit numbers etc are things that most people don't have. Payments are made using chipPIN cards or bank transfer. I've always been baffled by how hesitant UK-based individuals and companies are to give me their bank account information (so I can send them money), citing security concerns. Roan ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] List of scholarship attendees
Just as an aside, there is something wrong with the charts on that page. Risker/Anne On 2 May 2014 14:11, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com wrote: Ellie Young, 02/05/2014 19:29: This will go up when registration goes live next week. It is an opt-in list and we will encourage people as best we can to use it. Registration? That will take ages, too late. Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Notification about Wikimedia user account security issue
Please note that it is especially important to change your passwords on the Wikimania wikis where you have accounts. These are non-SUL wikis and changing your SUL password will not effect a change on the Wikimania 2013 and 2014 wikis. Even if you never intend to edit those wikis again, your password and account could still hypothetically be compromised. I agree with others that the risk is very, very small; nonetheless, it is not non-existent. Risker/Anne On 3 October 2013 05:36, Orsolya Gyenes gyenes.orso...@wiki.media.huwrote: Yeah, I already gotten my mail... great... :( *~Orsolya* 2013/10/3 Katie Chan katie.c...@wikimedia.org.uk FYI, especially since wikimania2013 wikimania2014 are two of the affected wikis. -- Forwarded message -- From: Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org Date: 3 October 2013 06:56 Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Notification about Wikimedia user account security issue To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org See also: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/October_2013_private_data_security_issue On October 1, 2013, we learned about an implementation error that made private user information (specifically, user email addresses, password hashes, session tokens, and last login timestamp) for approximately 37,000 Wikimedia project users accessible to volunteers with access to the Wikimedia LabsDB infrastructure. LabsDB, launched in May 2013, is designed to give volunteers the ability to write tools and generate reports that make use of data from our databases in real-time. This supports bottom-up innovation by the Wikimedia community. As part of this process, private data is automatically redacted before volunteers are given access to the data. Unfortunately, for some of Wikimedia’s wikis[1], the database triggers used to redact private data failed to take effect due to a schema incompatibility, and LabsDB users had access to private user data for some user accounts in these specific wiki databases. As of October 1, 228 users have access to LabsDB, and the window of availability of this data was May 29, 2013 to October 1, 2013. This issue was discovered and reported by a trusted volunteer, and access to the data in question was revoked within 15 minutes of the report. We have no evidence to suggest that the private data in question was exported in bulk or used for malicious purposes, but we cannot definitively exclude the possibility. As a precautionary measure, we have invalidated all affected user sessions, and are requiring affected users to change their password on their next login. We have also sent an email notification to affected users with a confirmed email address. We regret this mistake. LabsDB is still a new part of our infrastructure, and we will fully audit the redaction process, so as to minimize any risk of a future mistake of this nature. Sincerely, Erik Moeller Vice President of Engineering Product Development Contact information Should you have any questions, please contact us via email to: accountsecur...@wikimedia.org You can also reach the Wikimedia Foundation at: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 149 New Montgomery Street Floor 6 San Francisco, CA 94105 United States Phone: +1-415-839-6885 Fax: +1-415-882-0495 [1] List of affected databases: aswikisource bewikisource dewikivoyage elwikivoyage enwikivoyage eswikivoyage frwikivoyage guwikisource hewikivoyage itwikivoyage kowikiversity lezwiki loginwiki minwiki nlwikivoyage plwikivoyage ptwikivoyage rowikivoyage ruwikivoyage sawikiquote slwikiversity svwikivoyage testwikidatawiki tyvwiki ukwikivoyage vecwiktionary votewiki wikidatawiki wikimania2013wiki wikimania2014wiki -- Erik Möller VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list wikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Katie Chan Volunteer Support Organiser Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 20 7065 0990 +44 (0) 7885 980 534 Wikimedia UK is a Charitable Company registered in England and Wales. Registered Company No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office: 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents. ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https
Re: [Wikimania-l] a thought: break events
On 15 August 2013 00:03, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: Wikimania should have less parallel sessions, longer sessions with more time between the sessions and an open space as an additional track. We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon... I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania. Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time. I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely. Imagine a Wikimania where * the only talks or presentations are Plenary sessions * all other sessions ** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in advance, for others to read / comment / link ** have QA handled online in advance of the event (via comments and discussion) ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way presentations ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may not be the primary author of works being discussed) ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor) I dunno. That sounds fundamentally unwiki, and an awful lot like the professional annual meetings that everyone hates attending. It weighs heavily in favour of professional presenters and those who think that the powerpoint is more important than the presentation. I wouldn't spring for a plane ticket for something like this. As it is, I know for a fact that most of the sessions presented this year were finalized no more than a week before their presentation, and quite a few included up to the minute information and data. This is particularly important in an environment that is constantly changing. What I'd like to see is live-streaming of sessions with moderation that could include online questions for the sessions. Wikimania is primarily a social event - and that includes the developer days at the beginning. Some sessions are of professional quality, some others gain their energy from the presentation itself or the perceived importance of the topic, and others simply by being presented by sincere and caring community members. The best session I saw this year was one that would never meet the bars described above - it was about the Javanese Wikipedia, and it was the one that was so full of hope and joy at the prospect of sharing knowledge freely that the few of us who were in the room walked away with a refreshed sense of what our movement is all about. You can't capture that with slides or plenary sessions or expert moderation. You need to be in the room. Risker ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] [Wikimania 2013] Too many people accessing the website at this time. Please try later.
Just to return to the original subject, my application was accepted (I have the email confirming it), but for some reason my paypal account was not debited. I shall leave it to the Wikimania organizers to resolve this (I've written to them directly), but it might be an idea for others to check their paypal accounts to ensure that they were properly debited. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] No updates on Google+?
Having to manually update Google+ is a serious negative for its use: volunteer time is a very precious resource. Simply because other groups (most of which have paid employees) are doing it doesn't mean that every group ought to invest its limited resources in doing so. It's not a popular site, it's resource-intensive to maintain, and most of the target audience on Google+ is also present on at least one of the other locations that are regularly being maintained. I'd not consider it a priority. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] No updates on Google+?
It costs time, Nkansah, not money. Of the two, time is more valuable when we are talking about volunteers, who have to respond to questions posted (not to mention misinformation that will inevitably also be posted), not just copy and paste messages. Any social media presence needs to be assigned to a knowledgeable volunteer for moderation. Keep in mind that the WMF as an entity employs people who are specifically tasked to maintain and moderate their various social media presences; Wikimania HK is largely volunteer-driven, and those few volunteers are organizing a major conference, with this just being a tiny sample of the tasks being done. If it takes an hour a week (a very conservative estimate), that's an hour that isn't spent on reviewing programming, or negotiating special hotel rates, or providing information on visas. Should the Wikimania HK team decide that there's value in adding Google+ to their social media presence, I'll fully support their doing so: they're in the best position to understand their resources. If they don't, I'll fully support that too. Risker/Anne On 22 January 2013 16:51, Nkansah Rexford nkansahrexf...@gmail.com wrote: I wish to learn about how *much *(in $) it cost the managers of Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia page on Google+ submit a single post. The instance of time and resources chipped into the act of having a page on Google+, i think doesn't hold. How long will it cost the one posting onto the fb and twitter platforms (in terms of time and energy) to copy, paste and share that same post on Google+? I kind of feel surprised at how time and resources are raised as if its gonna cost WMF 10s of 1000s of dollars to implement that. @James Wikimania DC had no presence on G+. At least, i think Wikimania HK can break that record! The idea of api limitations etc, well, fine! how does that prevent cross-platform posting? There are so many handy and easy-to-use tools available to facilitate that, irrespective of Google not having one themselves. In fact, if *there's the will, there's a way* * * I guess, i kind of sense a bit of personal preference in these platforms selection other than seeing them as they should be seen. Critically looking, I can also say that cross posting onto twitter from fb is not necessary since all (if not almost) the users on twitter who follow Wikimania are on fb. i hope this issue is seen as it should, other than concentrating on google's api's, and other factors, that to me, are baseless. On Tuesday, January 22, 2013, John Vandenberg wrote: There is a $49 solution. http://www.nextscripts.com/google-plus-automated-posting/ And a free one http://code.google.com/p/socials-auto-poster/ John Vandenberg. sent from Galaxy Note On Jan 23, 2013 4:46 AM, Daniel Schwen li...@schwen.de wrote: Unfortunately at this point the Google+ API is ''read-only''. So it is not feasible to develop social media clients that automatically post to Google+. I guess that is what Andrew et al meant. On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 9:40 AM, Nkansah Rexford nkansahrexf...@gmail.com wrote: On Tuesday, January 22, 2013, Andrew Lih wrote: On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 4:25 AM, Jeromy-Yu Maximilian Chan y...@wikimedia.hk wrote: besides, I think the biggest problem is the Google + still didn't open its API for sync post so usually, WMHK's messages are sync on Twitter and Facebook, but google +... anyway we try to find a smart way to deal with that This is basically the reason -- G+ doesn't play nice with others like Facebook and Twitter. So besides being third to the race, they're also limiting their exposure by not providing an API. -Andrew Not this kind of API you're looking for on a platform like google+? What else you're looking for? https://developers.google.com/+/ So besides being third to the race, they're also limiting their exposure by not providing an API. Are we the one not using the API , or they don't provide the API? Its just a point of correction though. ;) Putting all things said above aside, at least, just as WMF/Wikipedia/some wiki chapters have got a g+ page, it will be nice for wikimania to have one too. Whether g+ is lagging behind or is a loser, at least, they deserve a wikimania page, at least. For an individual, i think its a personal preference to join g+. but for wikimania, i think there's no excuse about that. -- +Rexford | +Blender Academy ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- +Rexford https://plus.google.com/107174506890941499078 | +Blender Academyhttps://plus.google.com/b/103109918657638322478
Re: [Wikimania-l] Here Comes your Programme Committee Scholarship Committee
On 4 January 2013 23:35, Jeromy-Yu Maximilian Chan y...@wikimedia.hkwrote: James Forrester Perpetual Wikimaniac Perfect. :-) Thank you to all of the volunteers who have agreed to take on these responsibilities. Risker/Anne ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Thank you!!!
Indeed, thanks for all your work. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to meet so many Wikimedians from around the world, and find out about so many other projects. Risker/Anne On 15 July 2012 21:55, Claire clairel...@yahoo.com wrote: This is a shout out to all the planners and volunteers and speakers, etc who worked so hard to bring us Wikimania 2012 -- Thank you!! It was great! ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
