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Sj | 1 Dec 2004 06:08
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MediaWiki inspires a rave review

Wikimedia's new biggest fan is named Sean Michael Kerner, and he
published about it in yesterday's NewsForge:

http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/04/11/22/1750202.shtml?tid=137

Kerner is dutifully critical, calling the documentation "somwhat
'dispersed'," noting that tweaking skins "involves a bit of effort,"
and wishing for an interface for automatic backups of the database,
and for "more granular control of users and permissions in one master
dashboard".  But he ends with embarrassingly high praise:

"Downloading, installing, and running MediaWiki for my own purposes
has only enhanced my admiration for both the wiki and the WikiMedia
Foundation. It's not only easy to use, it's also easy to install and
deploy. In the true spirit of the open source community MediaWiki is a
shining example of what open content collaboration is all about."

Oh, and he actually suggested contributing to the documentation
effort.  I reckon he read [[m:Things we wish people would write about
us]] before sitting down at his keyboard.

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+sj+
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Sj | 1 Dec 2004 06:41
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Alexa: Reference sites: Maps > Wikipedia > Friend Finders

Classmate finders, that is.

Wikipedia is lately among the 5 most visited reference sites,
according to our favorite spotty public eyeball yardstick, and somehow
takes up two spots in the top ten. At least now we're linked from the
main Reference page.

http://www.alexa.com/browse/categories?catid=10

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+sj+
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Andre Engels | 1 Dec 2004 11:22
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Re: Problem in the Yiddish Wikipedia

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:51:32 -0700, Mark Williamson
<node.ue@...> wrote:

> I'm beginning to wonder if you hold a grudge against me personally,
> given the things you have said in private and public correspondence.

Well, I definitely react "Not again!" each time your name comes up.

Andre Engels
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Andy Rabagliati | 1 Dec 2004 12:01

In Chile, instant Web feedback creates the next day's paper

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1201/p01s04-woam.htm

SANTIAGO, CHILE - It was 102 years old, boring, unpopular, and
basically, as economist Marta Lagos puts it, "a middle-of-the-road piece
of nothing."

Now, it's a phenomenon. Las Ultimas Noticias (LUN) - The Latest News -
is Chile's most widely read newspaper today, setting tongues wagging,
talk-show hosts chatting, celebrities and politicians denying, serious
folks wailing, and advertisers calling.

No, it's not a tabloid, insist the employees at the slightly shabby
downtown newsroom. Rather, they say, it's a revolution in journalism, a
reader-driven product that reflects the changing values and interests of
a postdictatorship public that grew up on a diet of establishment news
and now wants more. Or, as some say - because of the often low-brow
content - less.

This revolution has occurred, says the paper's publisher Augustine
Edwards, thanks to his decision to listen to "the people." Three years
ago, under Mr. Edwards's guidance, LUN installed a system whereby all
clicks onto its website (www.lun.com) were recorded for all in the
newsroom to see. Those clicks - and the changing tastes and desires they
represent - drive the entire print content of LUN. If a certain story
gets a lot of clicks, for example, that is a signal to Edwards and his
team that the story should be followed up, and similar ones should be
sought for the next day. If a story gets only a few clicks, it is
killed. The system offers a direct barometer of public opinion, much
like the TV rating system - but unique to print media.
(Continue reading)

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Andre Engels | 1 Dec 2004 12:24
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Re: Alexa: Reference sites: Maps > Wikipedia > Friend Finders

As an aside, I have looked at the other wikimedia websites. Here are
the position of the various wikimedia sites on the _weekly average_
reach position. Weekly average reach per million and 3-months position
given between brackets.

177 wikipedia (4000, 280)
10.519 wikimedia (120, 15.000) (*)
20.835 wiktionary (44, 33.000)
28.709 wikibooks (39, 39.500)
46.666 wikiquote (24, 51.000)

(*): this includes meta, wikiCommons and upload.wikimedia.org, which
contains uploads to all wikis.

Some other URLs that have something to do with wikipedia:
5.805 bomis.com (195, 5.700)
28.630 blogdex.net (50, 31.000) (**)
242.259 mediawiki.org (5.5, 730.000) (***)
----- wikispecies.org (0, 5.000.000) (****)

(**): includes ca.wikipedia.org and wikipedia.com
(***): redirects to sourceforge.net
(****): redirects to wikipedia.org

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 00:41:00 -0500, Sj <2.718281828@...> wrote:
> Classmate finders, that is.
> 
> Wikipedia is lately among the 5 most visited reference sites,
> according to our favorite spotty public eyeball yardstick, and somehow
> takes up two spots in the top ten. At least now we're linked from the
(Continue reading)

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Craig Franklin | 1 Dec 2004 13:58
Gravatar

Re: Problem in the Yiddish Wikipedia

Scríobh Mark Williamson:

>If the Britney Spears article said "×'ר×TÖ´×~× ×TÖ´ ספּ×Tִרס ×T×-
אַ
>[[פּאָפּ×.×oערע ×-×T×'ער×T×Y|פּאָפּ×.×oערע
×-×T×'ער]]" ("Britney Spears is a
>[[popular singer]]") with an actual article of at least stub quality
>at the "Popular Singer" page, it could reasonably be considered a
>substub, but even if there was no article at "Popular Singer" I
>probably wouldn'tve touched it, had it been an actual sentence.

It's funny Mark, I don't seem to remember you being elevated to such a
position where you could make authoritative judgements on what is a stub, a
substub, or whatever.  Whatever would have been the problem with just
expanding the sub-sub-stub or whatever you believed it was to a good
article?  You know, like we do on other, non-minority Wikipedias.  Yet
again, both in your original infraction and your spamming of this list with
hostile defensive flames, you've totally overstepped the bounds of what is
commonly held to be acceptable behaviour here.

On another note, when the first post to this list informing of a problem on
a minority-language Wikipedia came up, was I the only one who thought
"Mark!", before I even opened it to have a read?

Regards,
- Craig Franklin
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Ray Saintonge | 2 Dec 2004 00:01

Afrikaans at Wikisource - vandalism?

The following has appeared in the Afrikaans section of the Wikisource 
main page, but we have had nothing else in Afrikaans.

> Dit is ook 'n demonstrasie van gemeenskapsekuriteit. (As jy "stront" 
> aanvang, gaan iemand dit uitvee en regmaak. Probeer eerder iets sinvol 
> skryf.)

Can anyone tell me whether this is something that belongs there.  
Afrikaans, as the first language alphabetically, seems especially prone 
to silliness.

Looks as though I'll need to keep this permanently protected.

Ec
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Ashar Voultoiz | 2 Dec 2004 01:39

Re: Alexa: Reference sites: Maps > Wikipedia > Friend Finders

Sj wrote:
> Classmate finders, that is.
> 
> Wikipedia is lately among the 5 most visited reference sites,
> according to our favorite spotty public eyeball yardstick, and somehow
> takes up two spots in the top ten. At least now we're linked from the
> main Reference page.
> 
> http://www.alexa.com/browse/categories?catid=10

Great !

One day dictionary.com will be replaced by wiktionary.org.

And once we have enough wiki addict using GPS devices around the world, 
we will drop mapquest and maps.yahoo.com with wikimaps.org ! :o)

cheers,

--

-- 
Ashar Voultoiz - WP++++
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hashar
Servers in trouble ? noc (at) wikimedia (dot) org
"This signature is a virus. Copy me in yours to spread it."
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Delirium | 2 Dec 2004 02:13

Re: Afrikaans at Wikisource - vandalism?

Ray Saintonge wrote:

> The following has appeared in the Afrikaans section of the Wikisource 
> main page, but we have had nothing else in Afrikaans.
>
>> Dit is ook 'n demonstrasie van gemeenskapsekuriteit. (As jy "stront" 
>> aanvang, gaan iemand dit uitvee en regmaak. Probeer eerder iets 
>> sinvol skryf.)
>
>
> Can anyone tell me whether this is something that belongs there.  
> Afrikaans, as the first language alphabetically, seems especially 
> prone to silliness.

Some procrastination-inspired use of Afrikaans and Dutch dictionaries, 
as well as some googling since they seem woefully incomplete, led to the 
following rough translation:

"This is a demonstration of computer security hacking. (As you start 
"shit", someone will delete and repair this.  Tried earlier to write 
something sinful.)"

Probably not entirely correct as a translation, but I suspect this isn't 
a legitimate contribution. =]

-Mark
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Andre Engels | 2 Dec 2004 02:35
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Re: Afrikaans at Wikisource - vandalism?

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 20:13:14 -0500, Delirium <delirium@...> wrote:

> Some procrastination-inspired use of Afrikaans and Dutch dictionaries,
> as well as some googling since they seem woefully incomplete, led to the
> following rough translation:
> 
> "This is a demonstration of computer security hacking. (As you start
> "shit", someone will delete and repair this.  Tried earlier to write
> something sinful.)"
> 
> Probably not entirely correct as a translation, but I suspect this isn't
> a legitimate contribution. =]

Having Dutch as my first language, I came up with a better translation:

A better translation:

"This is a demonstration of community security as well. (if you start
"shit", someone will wipe this and correct. Try to write something
useful first.)"

Which sounds more like a _reaction to_ vandalism by a bona fide user
than actual vandalism.

Andre Engels
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Gmane