Hi, first of all, this seems to be a great project. However, there are several issues I am concerned about and would like to address: >The basic idea (as > described in details on the Meta) is to call upon the Israeli public to > look in their family albums and private collections for pictures of > Israeli-related pictures of special historical, anthropological, > archeological, geographical, zoological and/or botanical value.
2009/1/13 Cary Bass <c...@wikimedia.org>: > Hi, Dror asked me to forward this message on. > > -------- Original Message -------- > > Hi, > > I sent this message to commons-l, but it is being halted because I > didn't subscribe. Could you please forward it, or release the original > message? > > Thanks, > > Dror > > > Pikiwiki - Israel free image collection project > > Starting engines > > Hello, > > The Israel free image collection project is about to take off > (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Picwik). We are currently testing the > system, a process which could take a while, because we've already found > some bugs and unfriendly features, to be repaired as soon as possible. > However, we started to upload images as part of the testing phase, so I > think it is time to inform the Commons' community about the project. > > This is a joint project of Wikimedia Israel (wm-il, > http://www.wikimedia.org.il) The Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) > and the Center for Educational Technology (CET). The basic idea (as > described in details on the Meta) is to call upon the Israeli public to > look in their family albums and private collections for pictures of > Israeli-related pictures of special historical, anthropological, > archeological, geographical, zoological and/or botanical value. These > pictures should be in good quality and depict historical events, > landscapes, archeological findings, cultural events, animals and plants > as long as they are related to the State of Israel or to the > geographical region commonly known as Palestine or Eretz Yisrael (we are > going to be flexible about these definitions). For this end, we created > a localized site in Hebrew (*http://www.pikiwiki.org.il* > <http://www.pikiwiki.org.il/>). Anyone who is willing to contribute his > images can open an account there and declare that the pictures are his > own and that he is willing to release them either to the public domain > or under cc-by-2.5 license (i.e. with attribution). We also initiate > calls to local archives and collectors. Some of them have already sent > us interesting images, which we will upload to the Commons soon. Images > donated through this localized site will be accessible through the site > itself or the Commons. We would like the localized site to serve not > only as an upload site but also as an attraction to pupils, students, > teacher and the general public, where they can look for images using > Hebrew interface. This means that the interfaces between the localized > site and the Commons is quite complicated and delicate. > > The localized site saves the images temporarily and eventually sends > them to the Commons. We have two main problems to overcome: > 1. Users will name the images and describe them in Hebrew. We will add > the prefix "Pikiwiki" to the name, and probably an ID which will enable > us to locate the image in our own catalog. So a typical name might look > something like "pikiwiki_123456_ציפורים_נודדות_מעל_מכתש_רמון.jpg". If > friendlier names are required, we will have to think of a better idea. > 2. As mentioned above, we would like to present the images on the > localized site too, according to localized categories. Therefore, we > would like to attach an ID to each image, so we could trace it easily on > the Commons. Currently, adding this ID to the image name seems the > easiest option. > > Here are some technical details about the way the upload process is > handled as provided by our programmer: > > A synchronization component handles all data synchronization with > WikiMedia Commons. It simulates user behavior and data posting via CURL. > The component rechecks the data of the images needed to handle, to > prevent un-needed execution > This operation has several steps: > 1. Login into WikiMedia Commons > 2. Uploading new images - the data is processed and posted with > appropriate tags and licensing. > 3. Updating images changed since last synchronization. > 4. Removal of requests for removed images, which were uploaded to > WikiMedia. A removed image is flagged in a watch list to allow future > tracking and verification of successful removal. Access to the component > is secured via hard-coded token, to prevent unwanted execution. > A Visual debugging function exists in the code, to allow fast problems > tracing Each synchronization step is rechecked based on existing data, > pulled from the output of WikiMedia, to attempt to verify successful > operations and marking of un-successful operations > 1. Uploading - WikiMedia Commons does not have an API or other > completely supported interface, to allow any operations in their system, > without manual intervention. (The perl script originally provided by one > of their users also attempts to utilize existing forms on the site). > This component simulates user behavior and heavily depends on existing > WikiMedia state - once WikiMedia decide to change or block some of the > current screens in their system, the code might need to be updated or > modified accordingly. > 2. Updating or editing existing user images on WikiMedia is not support > or publicized on their site. The component uses user simulation and > fetches WikiMedia security token to allow this behaviour. (The token is > originally there to prevent such operations.) Once WikiMedia create > other or additional security precautions, this operation will require > code modification and might become impossible. > 3. Removal of images - as WikiMedia Commons is a system designed for > common information sharing, it does not support direct image removal, > let alone image removal via external system. This synchronization > component simulates fake JS requests and image information updates to > notify WikiMedia Commons system regarding the fast image removal demand. > Currently this allows quick (although not on the spot) removal. If > WikiMedia change their system or implement further security precautions, > this operation will require code modification and might become impossible. > * The component uses hard-coded credentials for WikiMedia Commons, > required to use their system and all the operations in their system are > done in the name of the provided user > * All the images are uploaded one by one to prevent the user from > potentially getting blocked by WikiMedia Commons > > Thank you very much, > > Dror Kamir, > > Wikimedia Israel > > > _______________________________________________ > Commons-l mailing list > Commons-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l > _______________________________________________ Commons-l mailing list Commons-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l
