Re: [Wikitech-l] A difficult goodbye

[Victoria Coleman]

Hi everyone,

thank you. I am not sure I deserve all your kind words but I sincerely 
appreciate them. As I appreciated your support and your partnership these past 
two years. Leaving is not easy - it really is not. I just feel relieved knowing 
that our community is wide, is open and, yes, it’s welcoming - so I take 
comfort in continuing to be part of it from a different perch. Technology is 
not an optional extra for the movement. It’s what makes everything else 
possible. Your work truly matters and I feel honored to have had the 
opportunity to make a small contribution. Go forward! Be passionate. Be open! 
Be you! I have you in my heart. 

Victoria

> On Jan 14, 2019, at 3:02 PM, Nuria Ruiz  wrote:
> 
> Many thanks for your work in these two years, Victoria.  You leave the
> Technology team in much better shape than you found it.
> 
> For those of you not in the know I think is worth mentioning that in her
> tenure here Victoria has created the Technical Engagement team to better
> attend technical contributors (already mentioned on this thread), hired a
> director of security that has, in turn, build a solid security team, given
> weight to MediaWiki as a platform and created a team that will steward
> MediaWiki's development . She has also overseen much of the technical work
> that has gone into our litigation against the NSA, has instituted a process
> to better do promotions and has hired support staff that has made the work
> of all of us in the department much (much!) easier.
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 10:17 AM Chico Venancio 
> wrote:
> 
>> Victoria,
>> 
>> I echo Isarra's comment here, it is the Wikimedia community loss to see you
>> part.
>> In particular, I was able to see your leadership in the formation of the
>> Technical Engagement team, consolidating initiatives around volunteer
>> developers and leveraging the work for the communities.
>> 
>> Wish you the best on this new challenge.
>> Chico Venancio
>> 
>> 
>> Em seg, 14 de jan de 2019 às 15:06, Isarra Yos 
>> escreveu:
>> 
>>> Sad to see you go - from what I saw as a volunteer, things only improved
>>> under your leadership here. We were lucky to have you.
>>> 
>>> All the best.
>>> 
>>> -I
>>> 
>>> On 11/01/2019 00:29, Victoria Coleman wrote:
 Dear all,
 
 I have some difficult news to share.
 
 A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up
>>> for me to exercise the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early
>>> stage mission oriented startup. It has been a mighty struggle between my
>>> commitment to my team, the Foundation and  the movement and this
>>> opportunity to bring all my skills to bear and build something from the
>>> ground up to do good in the world. I will not lie to you - it has not
>> been
>>> easy. But ultimately I decided that I have to give it a go and I accepted
>>> the offer. I plan on starting there on Feb 4th so my last day at the
>>> Foundation will be Feb 1st.
 
 These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my
>>> professional career. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the movement and what
>>> fuels it and I’ve been incredibly privileged to work with a Tech team
>> like
>>> no other. We have together strengthened the technical infrastructure of
>> the
>>> movement and while much work remains to be done we have a much stronger
>>> team in place to take the mission to the next level. And I have
>> personally
>>> made friendships that will last a lifetime.
 
 The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit
>>> corporation supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an
>>> exceptional team of AI and earth system science experts striving for
>>> improvements in human well being through data driven insights. Our focus
>>> areas are drawn from the UN’s sustainable development goals of no poverty
>>> and zero hunger with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa.
 
 I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the
>>> way to achieving our vision to create the infrastructure for the free
>>> knowledge movement. I am also pleased that during my tenure, we have
>> built
>>> leaders who are equipped to take on this challenge.
 
 Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little
>>> over two years ago and she has distinguished  herself as one of the
>> finest
>>> people leaders I have ever worked with. Both she and Katherine will have
>> my
>>> ongoing support — I will stay on in a consulting role to Erika on
>>> organizational matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead
>> of
>>> us in the remainder of the fiscal year.  I know that I am leaving the
>> Tech
>>> team in good hands until a permanent CTO is hired.
 
 I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all
>>> of you for letting me be part of this incredible movement. Being a
>>> Wikimedian is a great privilege. I wanted you to know that I’m not
>> 

Re: [Wikitech-l] A difficult goodbye

[Nuria Ruiz]

Many thanks for your work in these two years, Victoria.  You leave the
Technology team in much better shape than you found it.

For those of you not in the know I think is worth mentioning that in her
tenure here Victoria has created the Technical Engagement team to better
attend technical contributors (already mentioned on this thread), hired a
director of security that has, in turn, build a solid security team, given
weight to MediaWiki as a platform and created a team that will steward
MediaWiki's development . She has also overseen much of the technical work
that has gone into our litigation against the NSA, has instituted a process
to better do promotions and has hired support staff that has made the work
of all of us in the department much (much!) easier.



On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 10:17 AM Chico Venancio 
wrote:

> Victoria,
>
> I echo Isarra's comment here, it is the Wikimedia community loss to see you
> part.
> In particular, I was able to see your leadership in the formation of the
> Technical Engagement team, consolidating initiatives around volunteer
> developers and leveraging the work for the communities.
>
> Wish you the best on this new challenge.
> Chico Venancio
>
>
> Em seg, 14 de jan de 2019 às 15:06, Isarra Yos 
> escreveu:
>
> > Sad to see you go - from what I saw as a volunteer, things only improved
> > under your leadership here. We were lucky to have you.
> >
> > All the best.
> >
> > -I
> >
> > On 11/01/2019 00:29, Victoria Coleman wrote:
> > > Dear all,
> > >
> > > I have some difficult news to share.
> > >
> > > A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up
> > for me to exercise the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early
> > stage mission oriented startup. It has been a mighty struggle between my
> > commitment to my team, the Foundation and  the movement and this
> > opportunity to bring all my skills to bear and build something from the
> > ground up to do good in the world. I will not lie to you - it has not
> been
> > easy. But ultimately I decided that I have to give it a go and I accepted
> > the offer. I plan on starting there on Feb 4th so my last day at the
> > Foundation will be Feb 1st.
> > >
> > > These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my
> > professional career. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the movement and what
> > fuels it and I’ve been incredibly privileged to work with a Tech team
> like
> > no other. We have together strengthened the technical infrastructure of
> the
> > movement and while much work remains to be done we have a much stronger
> > team in place to take the mission to the next level. And I have
> personally
> > made friendships that will last a lifetime.
> > >
> > > The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit
> > corporation supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an
> > exceptional team of AI and earth system science experts striving for
> > improvements in human well being through data driven insights. Our focus
> > areas are drawn from the UN’s sustainable development goals of no poverty
> > and zero hunger with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa.
> > >
> > > I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the
> > way to achieving our vision to create the infrastructure for the free
> > knowledge movement. I am also pleased that during my tenure, we have
> built
> > leaders who are equipped to take on this challenge.
> > >
> > > Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little
> > over two years ago and she has distinguished  herself as one of the
> finest
> > people leaders I have ever worked with. Both she and Katherine will have
> my
> > ongoing support — I will stay on in a consulting role to Erika on
> > organizational matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead
> of
> > us in the remainder of the fiscal year.  I know that I am leaving the
> Tech
> > team in good hands until a permanent CTO is hired.
> > >
> > > I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all
> > of you for letting me be part of this incredible movement. Being a
> > Wikimedian is a great privilege. I wanted you to know that I’m not
> walking
> > away from something; I am walking towards  something that is very
> > important to me and the world. I will miss you all. Deeply. Truly. And a
> > lot!
> > >
> > >
> > > Victoria
> > >
> > > ___
> > > Wikitech-l mailing list
> > > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
> >
> >
> >
> > ___
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> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
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Re: [Wikitech-l] A difficult goodbye

[Chico Venancio]

Victoria,

I echo Isarra's comment here, it is the Wikimedia community loss to see you
part.
In particular, I was able to see your leadership in the formation of the
Technical Engagement team, consolidating initiatives around volunteer
developers and leveraging the work for the communities.

Wish you the best on this new challenge.
Chico Venancio


Em seg, 14 de jan de 2019 às 15:06, Isarra Yos 
escreveu:

> Sad to see you go - from what I saw as a volunteer, things only improved
> under your leadership here. We were lucky to have you.
>
> All the best.
>
> -I
>
> On 11/01/2019 00:29, Victoria Coleman wrote:
> > Dear all,
> >
> > I have some difficult news to share.
> >
> > A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up
> for me to exercise the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early
> stage mission oriented startup. It has been a mighty struggle between my
> commitment to my team, the Foundation and  the movement and this
> opportunity to bring all my skills to bear and build something from the
> ground up to do good in the world. I will not lie to you - it has not been
> easy. But ultimately I decided that I have to give it a go and I accepted
> the offer. I plan on starting there on Feb 4th so my last day at the
> Foundation will be Feb 1st.
> >
> > These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my
> professional career. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the movement and what
> fuels it and I’ve been incredibly privileged to work with a Tech team like
> no other. We have together strengthened the technical infrastructure of the
> movement and while much work remains to be done we have a much stronger
> team in place to take the mission to the next level. And I have personally
> made friendships that will last a lifetime.
> >
> > The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit
> corporation supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an
> exceptional team of AI and earth system science experts striving for
> improvements in human well being through data driven insights. Our focus
> areas are drawn from the UN’s sustainable development goals of no poverty
> and zero hunger with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa.
> >
> > I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the
> way to achieving our vision to create the infrastructure for the free
> knowledge movement. I am also pleased that during my tenure, we have built
> leaders who are equipped to take on this challenge.
> >
> > Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little
> over two years ago and she has distinguished  herself as one of the finest
> people leaders I have ever worked with. Both she and Katherine will have my
> ongoing support — I will stay on in a consulting role to Erika on
> organizational matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead of
> us in the remainder of the fiscal year.  I know that I am leaving the Tech
> team in good hands until a permanent CTO is hired.
> >
> > I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all
> of you for letting me be part of this incredible movement. Being a
> Wikimedian is a great privilege. I wanted you to know that I’m not walking
> away from something; I am walking towards  something that is very
> important to me and the world. I will miss you all. Deeply. Truly. And a
> lot!
> >
> >
> > Victoria
> >
> > ___
> > Wikitech-l mailing list
> > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
>
>
>
> ___
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Re: [Wikitech-l] A difficult goodbye

[Isarra Yos]

Sad to see you go - from what I saw as a volunteer, things only improved 
under your leadership here. We were lucky to have you.


All the best.

-I

On 11/01/2019 00:29, Victoria Coleman wrote:

Dear all,

I have some difficult news to share.

A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up for me 
to exercise the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early stage mission 
oriented startup. It has been a mighty struggle between my commitment to my 
team, the Foundation and  the movement and this opportunity to bring all my 
skills to bear and build something from the ground up to do good in the world. 
I will not lie to you - it has not been easy. But ultimately I decided that I 
have to give it a go and I accepted the offer. I plan on starting there on Feb 
4th so my last day at the Foundation will be Feb 1st.

These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my professional 
career. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the movement and what fuels it and I’ve 
been incredibly privileged to work with a Tech team like no other. We have 
together strengthened the technical infrastructure of the movement and while 
much work remains to be done we have a much stronger team in place to take the 
mission to the next level. And I have personally made friendships that will 
last a lifetime.

The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit corporation 
supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an exceptional team 
of AI and earth system science experts striving for improvements in human well 
being through data driven insights. Our focus areas are drawn from the UN’s 
sustainable development goals of no poverty and zero hunger with emphasis on 
Sub Saharan Africa.

I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the way to 
achieving our vision to create the infrastructure for the free knowledge 
movement. I am also pleased that during my tenure, we have built leaders who 
are equipped to take on this challenge.

Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little over two 
years ago and she has distinguished  herself as one of the finest people 
leaders I have ever worked with. Both she and Katherine will have my ongoing 
support — I will stay on in a consulting role to Erika on organizational 
matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead of us in the remainder 
of the fiscal year.  I know that I am leaving the Tech team in good hands until 
a permanent CTO is hired.

I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all of you 
for letting me be part of this incredible movement. Being a Wikimedian is a 
great privilege. I wanted you to know that I’m not walking away from something; 
I am walking towards  something that is very  important to me and the world. I 
will miss you all. Deeply. Truly. And a lot!


Victoria

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Re: [Wikitech-l] [Wikidata] [Wikipedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language

[Denny Vrandečić]

Felipe,

thanks for the kind words.

There are a few research projects that use Wikidata to generate parts of
Wikipedia articles - see for example https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.06235 which
is almost as good as human results and beats templates by far, but only for
the first sentence of biographies.

Lucie Kaffee has also quite a body of research on that topic, and has
worked very succesfully and tightly with some Wikipedia communities on
these questions. Here's her bibliography:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xiuGTq0J=de

Another project of hers is currently under review for a grant:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Scribe:_Supporting_Under-resourced_Wikipedia_Editors_in_Creating_New_Articles
- I would suggest to take a look and if you are so inclined to express
support. It is totally worth it!

My opinion is that these projects are great for starters, and should be
done (low-hanging fruits and all that), but won't get much further at least
for a while, mostly because Wikidata rarely offers more than a skeleton of
content. A decent Wikipedia article will include much, much more content
than what is represented in Wikidata. And if you only use that for input,
you're limiting yourself too much.

Here's a different approach based on summarization over input sources:
https://www.wired.com/story/using-artificial-intelligence-to-fix-wikipedias-gender-problem/
-
this has a more promising approach for the short- to mid-term.

I still maintain that the Abstract Wikipedia approach has certain
advantages over both learned approaches, and is most aligned with Lucie's
work. The machine learned approaches always fall short on the dimension of
editability, due to the black-boxness of their solutions.

Also, furthermore, agree to Jeblad.

Remains the question, why is there not more discussion? Maybe because there
is nothing substantial to discuss yet :) The two white papers are rather
high level and the idea is not concrete enough yet, so that I wouldn't
expect too much discussion yet going on on-wiki. That was similar to
Wikidata - the number who discussed Wikidata at this level of maturity was
tiny, it increased considerably once an actual design plan was suggested,
but still remained small - and then exploded once the system was deployed.
I would be surprised and delighted if we managed to avoid this pattern this
time, but I can't do more than publicly present the idea, announce plans
once they are there, and hope for a timely discussion :)

Cheers,
Denny


On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 2:54 AM John Erling Blad  wrote:

> An additional note; what Wikipedia urgently needs is a way to create
> and reuse canned text (aka "templates"), and a way to adapt that text
> to data from Wikidata. That is mostly just inflection rules, but in
> some cases it involves grammar rules. To create larger pieces of text
> is much harder, especially if the text is supposed to be readable.
> Jumbling sentences together as is commonly done by various botscripts
> does not work very well, or rather, it does not work at all.
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM John Erling Blad 
> wrote:
> >
> > Using an abstract language as an basis for translations have been
> > tried before, and is almost as hard as translating between two common
> > languages.
> >
> > There are two really hard problems, it is the implied references and
> > the cultural context. An artificial language can get rid of the
> > implied references, but it tend to create very weird and unnatural
> > expressions. If the cultural context is removed, then it can be
> > extremely hard to put it back in, and without any cultural context it
> > can be hard to explain anything.
> >
> > But yes, you can make an abstract language, but it won't give you any
> > high quality prose.
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 8:09 AM Felipe Schenone 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > This is quite an awesome idea. But thinking about it, wouldn't it be
> possible to use structured data in wikidata to generate articles? Can't we
> skip the need of learning an abstract language by using wikidata?
> > >
> > > Also, is there discussion about this idea anywhere in the Wikimedia
> wikis? I haven't found any...
> > >
> > > On Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 3:44 PM Pine W  wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Forwarding because this (ambitious!) proposal may be of interest to
> people
> > >> on other lists. I'm not endorsing the proposal at this time, but I'm
> > >> curious about it.
> > >>
> > >> Pine
> > >> ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> -- Forwarded message -
> > >> From: Denny Vrandečić 
> > >> Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 6:32 PM
> > >> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language
> > >> To: Wikimedia Mailing List 
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Semantic Web languages allow to express ontologies and knowledge
> bases in a
> > >> way meant to be particularly amenable to the Web. Ontologies
> formalize the
> > >> shared understanding of a domain. But the most expressive and
> 

[Wikitech-l] TechCom Radar

[Kate Chapman]

Hi All,

Here are the minutes from this week's TechCom meeting:

* Discussed New Service Request: Wikidata Termbox SSR
 the RFC proposes a new
service to perform server side rendering of the Wikidata termbox.

* Looking at extensions to see how they would interact with proposed
new extension interfaces: RFC: MediaWiki 2018 extension interfaces


* There was no IRC meeting last week (9 Jan)

* There is no IRC meeting this week (16 Jan)

You can also find our meeting minutes at


See also the TechCom RFC board
.

If you prefer you can subscribe to our newsletter here


Thanks,
Kate

--
Kate Chapman
Senior Program Manager, Core Platform
Wikimedia Foundation
kchap...@wikimedia.org

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[Wikitech-l] Coming soon to all wikis: beta feature FileExporter

[Johanna Strodt]

// sorry for cross-posting

The FileExporter will soon be released as a beta feature to all wikis. The
planned deployment date is January 16.

Some background: Files from local wikis should be transferred to Wikimedia
Commons if their license allows it. This way, they can be used by all
wikis. But if you wanted to import a local file to Commons in the past, you
couldn’t properly transfer its file and page history. It was a wish from a
survey of the German-speaking communities to find a solution to this
problem.

Now, the FileExporter makes it possible to import a file from a local wiki
to Wikimedia Commons, while keeping its history intact. A first version has
already been a beta feature on a few first wikis since June 2018. [1] Since
then, bugs were fixed and features were added.

If you’re interested in importing local files, please give the feature a
try. Even though it’s a beta feature, you can use it for real file
imports. Please
note that in order to get started, you need to

   1.

   activate the beta feature “FileExporter” on your wiki [2], and
   2.

   make sure your wiki has a proper configuration file. Configuration files
   are maintained by each wiki's community. They define, among other
   things, whether a file can be exported. Exports from wikis without a
   configuration file are blocked. Find more more information in the
   documentation. [3]


We’re looking forward to your feedback on the central feedback page! [4] A
big thanks to everyone who gave feedback so far.

If you wish to learn more about the project, have a look at the page of the
wish. [5]

For the Technical Wishes team,

Johanna

[1] deployment plan:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Move_files_to_Commons#Deployment_plan

[2] go to Preferences > Beta features, e.g.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures

[3] documentation on configuration files:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Move_files_to_Commons/Configuration_file_documentation

[4] central feedback page:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help_talk:Extension:FileImporter

[5] project page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Move_files_to_Commons

Johanna Strodt Project Manager Community Communications Technical Wishlist,
Wikimedia Deutschland
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Re: [Wikitech-l] [Wikidata] [Wikipedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language

[John Erling Blad]

An additional note; what Wikipedia urgently needs is a way to create
and reuse canned text (aka "templates"), and a way to adapt that text
to data from Wikidata. That is mostly just inflection rules, but in
some cases it involves grammar rules. To create larger pieces of text
is much harder, especially if the text is supposed to be readable.
Jumbling sentences together as is commonly done by various botscripts
does not work very well, or rather, it does not work at all.

On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM John Erling Blad  wrote:
>
> Using an abstract language as an basis for translations have been
> tried before, and is almost as hard as translating between two common
> languages.
>
> There are two really hard problems, it is the implied references and
> the cultural context. An artificial language can get rid of the
> implied references, but it tend to create very weird and unnatural
> expressions. If the cultural context is removed, then it can be
> extremely hard to put it back in, and without any cultural context it
> can be hard to explain anything.
>
> But yes, you can make an abstract language, but it won't give you any
> high quality prose.
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 8:09 AM Felipe Schenone  wrote:
> >
> > This is quite an awesome idea. But thinking about it, wouldn't it be 
> > possible to use structured data in wikidata to generate articles? Can't we 
> > skip the need of learning an abstract language by using wikidata?
> >
> > Also, is there discussion about this idea anywhere in the Wikimedia wikis? 
> > I haven't found any...
> >
> > On Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 3:44 PM Pine W  wrote:
> >>
> >> Forwarding because this (ambitious!) proposal may be of interest to people
> >> on other lists. I'm not endorsing the proposal at this time, but I'm
> >> curious about it.
> >>
> >> Pine
> >> ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
> >>
> >>
> >> -- Forwarded message -
> >> From: Denny Vrandečić 
> >> Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 6:32 PM
> >> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language
> >> To: Wikimedia Mailing List 
> >>
> >>
> >> Semantic Web languages allow to express ontologies and knowledge bases in a
> >> way meant to be particularly amenable to the Web. Ontologies formalize the
> >> shared understanding of a domain. But the most expressive and widespread
> >> languages that we know of are human natural languages, and the largest
> >> knowledge base we have is the wealth of text written in human languages.
> >>
> >> We looks for a path to bridge the gap between knowledge representation
> >> languages such as OWL and human natural languages such as English. We
> >> propose a project to simultaneously expose that gap, allow to collaborate
> >> on closing it, make progress widely visible, and is highly attractive and
> >> valuable in its own right: a Wikipedia written in an abstract language to
> >> be rendered into any natural language on request. This would make current
> >> Wikipedia editors about 100x more productive, and increase the content of
> >> Wikipedia by 10x. For billions of users this will unlock knowledge they
> >> currently do not have access to.
> >>
> >> My first talk on this topic will be on October 10, 2018, 16:45-17:00, at
> >> the Asilomar in Monterey, CA during the Blue Sky track of ISWC. My second,
> >> longer talk on the topic will be at the DL workshop in Tempe, AZ, October
> >> 27-29. Comments are very welcome as I prepare the slides and the talk.
> >>
> >> Link to the paper: http://simia.net/download/abstractwikipedia.pdf
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Denny
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Re: [Wikitech-l] [Wikidata] [Wikipedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language

[John Erling Blad]

Using an abstract language as an basis for translations have been
tried before, and is almost as hard as translating between two common
languages.

There are two really hard problems, it is the implied references and
the cultural context. An artificial language can get rid of the
implied references, but it tend to create very weird and unnatural
expressions. If the cultural context is removed, then it can be
extremely hard to put it back in, and without any cultural context it
can be hard to explain anything.

But yes, you can make an abstract language, but it won't give you any
high quality prose.

On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 8:09 AM Felipe Schenone  wrote:
>
> This is quite an awesome idea. But thinking about it, wouldn't it be possible 
> to use structured data in wikidata to generate articles? Can't we skip the 
> need of learning an abstract language by using wikidata?
>
> Also, is there discussion about this idea anywhere in the Wikimedia wikis? I 
> haven't found any...
>
> On Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 3:44 PM Pine W  wrote:
>>
>> Forwarding because this (ambitious!) proposal may be of interest to people
>> on other lists. I'm not endorsing the proposal at this time, but I'm
>> curious about it.
>>
>> Pine
>> ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
>>
>>
>> -- Forwarded message -
>> From: Denny Vrandečić 
>> Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 6:32 PM
>> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in an abstract language
>> To: Wikimedia Mailing List 
>>
>>
>> Semantic Web languages allow to express ontologies and knowledge bases in a
>> way meant to be particularly amenable to the Web. Ontologies formalize the
>> shared understanding of a domain. But the most expressive and widespread
>> languages that we know of are human natural languages, and the largest
>> knowledge base we have is the wealth of text written in human languages.
>>
>> We looks for a path to bridge the gap between knowledge representation
>> languages such as OWL and human natural languages such as English. We
>> propose a project to simultaneously expose that gap, allow to collaborate
>> on closing it, make progress widely visible, and is highly attractive and
>> valuable in its own right: a Wikipedia written in an abstract language to
>> be rendered into any natural language on request. This would make current
>> Wikipedia editors about 100x more productive, and increase the content of
>> Wikipedia by 10x. For billions of users this will unlock knowledge they
>> currently do not have access to.
>>
>> My first talk on this topic will be on October 10, 2018, 16:45-17:00, at
>> the Asilomar in Monterey, CA during the Blue Sky track of ISWC. My second,
>> longer talk on the topic will be at the DL workshop in Tempe, AZ, October
>> 27-29. Comments are very welcome as I prepare the slides and the talk.
>>
>> Link to the paper: http://simia.net/download/abstractwikipedia.pdf
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Denny
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