Wikizine/2006-29

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                                    .org 
Year: 2006  Week: 29  Number: 34        

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An independent internal news bulletin 
for the members of the Wikimedia community

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=== Technical news ===

[550] The new blocking policy has now been implemented by Tim Starling, resolving bug 550. You can control the type of block by means of two tick boxes. The default settings result in the same behavior as before the change. These default settings are;

[ ] Block anonymous users only

[X] Prevent account creation

(To localize these options, edit [[MediaWiki:Ipbanononly]] and [[MediaWiki:Ipbcreateaccount]])

So if you do not change those setting registered users will still have no access from the school or from their ISP proxy, not have the option to make an account. The default settings give the most total block possible. 

Thanks to user [[w:en:User:Lupin]] there is a small Javascript that you can include in your monobook.js so that the default settings are for the "softest" block: only blocking anonymous users, account creation allowed. Or if there is local community approval for it you can include it in the [[MediaWiki:Monobook.js]]-page so it is active for all users.
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikizine/2006-29-javascript-Special-Blockip - Here is the code 

=== Request for help ===

[Update] - The translations of the "Board of Trustees" page need to be updated
http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/translators-l/2006-July/000173.html
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees

[Awareness Project] This is a WikiProject that aims to spread awareness of Wikipedia and the ability to edit it freely around real-life communities in order to try and attract more contributors from a variety of ages. We hope to gather and catalogue promotional material for members to make use of, and to provide a central point for meetings of this type. The are looking for people to help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Awareness

=== New project proposals ===

[Wikiversity] A new push to launch a separate wikiversity project is underway.  See the discussion at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikiversity/Modified_project_proposal

=== Community ===

[rm Angela Beesly] - The wp-article of board member Angela is listed for deletion on here request. The article in some other languages is already deleted. And also the the article of Anthere, the well known french wikipedian is removed from the french language Wikipedia. Jimbo's article is still there.
http://wikiangela.com/blog/delete-me/

[Sitenotice] It was brought to the attention of the Wikimedia Foundation on Foundation-l that the Urdu language Wikipedia was using the site notice function to display a verse from the Koran above every page to each visitor. This is considered a breach of the NPOV principle of Wikipedia and an incorrect use of the Sitenotice function. The Koran verse is reluctantly removed by the local community.
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/8556/focus=8556  - Tread on Foundation-l
http:// tinyurl.com/qkuj6 - Discussion about the sitenotice on the Urdu Wikipedia
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/8627 - the POV of the Urdu wikipedia about Israel

=== Awards ===

[Wikimania Awards] Media and Writing awards will be handed out at Wikimania in August; nominations for great writing and media are requested on the conference site.
http://wikimania2006.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Awards

=== Media ===

[Essay] "Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past" by professor of history and new Media Roy Rosenzweig. This article was originally published in the Journal of American History (Volume 93, Number 1 (June, 2006): 117-46), and was reprinted on the web at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. This is a long but very interesting article. It also includes a comparison of historical articles from the English language Wikipedia with other encyclopedias. 
http://chnm.gmu.edu/resources/essays/d/42

=== Stats ===

[ERRATUM] The report of last week that Wiktionary has reached the 1,000,000 definitions milestone is not confirmed. It is likely that Wiktionary is close to the one million mark but not yet there.

[fur.wiki] The Friulian Wikipedia have reached 1000 articles. Friulian is a language spoken by about 600.000 people mainly in North-East Italy
http://fur.wikipedia.org

[ja.wikinews] now exist for one year. Aphaia made an overview of one year ja.wikinews
http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikinews-l/2006-July/000497.html

=== Other news ===

[Wikia] has taken over the Uncyclopedia domain name and trademark. Uncyclopedia is a parody of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Wikia  has been hosting Uncyclopedia since May 2005. Now the Wikimedia projects and the parody Uncyclopedia fall under the wings of Jimbo and Angela. Wikia/Uncyclopedia and Wikipedia/Wikimedia are legally totally separate. The news of the transfer is not well received by some of the Uncyclopedia community.
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Forum:Announcement:_Wikia_%26_Uncyclopedia
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/UnNews:Uncyclopedia_bought_by_Wikia_for_2_Wooden_Nickels - This source is not very trustworthy

[Torrent] a CD-ROM containing a selection of articles from the English language is available for download via bittorrent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Torrent_Project

=== Did you know ... ===

... that you can use a telephone for calling people?

VoIP, Skype, OpenWengo, GoogleTalk, etc. With all those systems you can call from PC to PC for free. And most have also the option to call to fixt phones or mobile phones, normally not for free. But you still need to mess arround with software, a microphone, a headset, audio settings, allocate bandwidth. And the audio quality is not always very good and also you need to buy credit in advance. An alternative is the service of JaJah.com  The make only use of the traditional phones for the connection. No special software needed, no VOIP, no need to buy credit in advance; you pay later. Prices can be similar or even cheaper than SkypeOut. For many western country's it possible to call totally free of charge (possibly only temporary now). You can test there service for free without registration for a free call of 5 minutes from anyware to anyware. 

So if you are working on an article and you like to consult with someone who lives in a far away place, maybe it is not even so expensive to give him a call.

http://www.jajah.com/

=== Quote ===

"By contrast, when journalists make blunders, and we’ve been provided many an example in recent years, it requires a day or two to make the correction.  And, unlike a wiki, the article itself can never be corrected, because it’s printed and on its way to the birdcage."  - Larry Sanger

From http://www.dufoundation.org/blog/?p=68

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Number of subscribers: 456
Editor(s): Walter, 18.85.46.138, Gary Kirk
Corrector(s): Gary Kirk, Hector Corerro
Thanks to: Klenje
E-mail: ihavenews AT wikizine DOT org
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