User talk:SpacemanSpiff/Archives/2015/January

Latest comment: 10 years ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic The Signpost: 28 January 2015


The Signpost: 31 December 2014

  • News and notes: The next big step for Wikidata—forming a hub for researchers
    Wikidata, Wikimedia's free linked database that supplies Wikipedia and its sister projects, is gearing up to submit a grant application to the EU that would expand Wikidata's scope by developing it as a science hub. The proposal, supported by more than 25 volunteers and half a dozen European institutions as project partners, aims to create a virtual research environment (VRE) that will enhance the project's capacity for freely sharing scientific data.
  • In the media: Study tour controversy; class tackles the gender gap
    A "study tour" by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for the purpose of researching development projects has been the subject of much controversy and criticism in the Indian press... The Indian Express described a government report about the trip as having copied extensively from the Wikipedia articles for Port Blair and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
  • Traffic report: Surfin' the Yuletide
    Unlike last year, Wikipedia viewers seem to have embraced the Christmas spirit, with three topics in the top 10 (and eight in the top 25) focused on the holiday season.
  • Op-ed: My issues with the Wiki Education Foundation
    Chris Troutman has been a campus ambassador for six classes in the Los Angeles area over the past four consecutive semesters. He is currently a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at University of California, Riverside.
  • Featured content: A bit fruity
    Three articles, three lists, fifteen pictures, and one topic were promoted.

The Signpost: 07 January 2015

  • In the media: ISIL propaganda video; AirAsia complaints
    ISIL hostage quotes Wikipedia in propaganda video; AirAsia articles draw complaints regarding Flight 8501; Article errors reveal US political approaches to Wikipedia editing; Rhode Island Governor numbering debate
  • Featured content: Kock up
    Two lists and twelve pictures were promoted.
  • Traffic report: Auld Lang Syne
    We end 2014 and and start 2015 with the normal array of year-end activities, including movie watching with Bollywood film PK (#1) topping the list, followed by The Interview (#2), 2014 in film (#10), and five other films in the rest of the Top 25, plus a number of articles about the subjects of these films. We celebrated the New Year by singing "Auld Lang Syne" (#11), or perhaps watching Adam Lambert (#9) perform with Queen. But we could not avoid a final tragedy with the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (#4) on December 28.

The Signpost: 14 January 2015

  • Op-ed: Articles for creation needs you
    Ever since the Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident in 2005 triggered the restriction against un-registered editors creating new pages, WikiProject Articles for creation (AfC) has stood in the breach. The WikiProject's purpose is to review draft submissions from IPs (and frequently new registered editors) to sort the wheat from the chaff.
  • WikiProject report: Articles for creation: the inside story
    This anniversary issue, the WikiProject report is returning to WikiProject Articles for creation for one of our largest interviews ever. Last looked at in 2011, AfC is the method used by unregistered or new users to create articles, and provides an effective filtering system to remove all unsuitable or unsourced submissions to save them needing to be found and deleted later.
  • News and notes: Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
    On the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the English Wikipedia, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has announced that its prestigious annual Erasmus Prize will be awarded to the worldwide community that has built Wikipedia.
  • Featured content: Citations are needed
    Six featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Traffic report: Wikipédia sommes Charlie
    It's a grim certainty what topic most interested Wikipedia viewers this week. The horrific attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine have drawn anger and resolve from around the world, and also the attention of an English-speaking world that had previously never heard of it.

The Signpost: 21 January 2015

  • Interview: WWII veteran honors shipmates through Wikipedia editing
    Over seventy years ago, the US destroyer Mahan was patrolling off Ponson Island in the Philippines when eleven Japanese kamikaze aircraft appeared over the horizon and attacked. George Pendergast, who edits Wikipedia with the username Pendright, was eighteen years old when he joined Mahan '​s crew in April 1944.
  • Op-ed: Let's make WikiProjects better
    Our contributor opines that WikiProjects are failing to live up to their potential. WikiProject X is a new project funded by a Wikimedia Foundation Individual Engagement Grant that focuses on figuring out what makes some WikiProjects work and not others.
  • In the media: Johann Hari; bandishes and delicate flowers
    Quotes from Jimbo on Wikipedia in education; net neutrality; preserving musical heritage; Wikipedia in audio; a cheerful vandal credits high school with papal visitations.

The Signpost: 28 January 2015

  • Traffic report: A sea of faces
    It is pretty clear what the theme is this week: people.