Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2016 scholarship applications open

2015-12-08 Thread DerHexer
Your client formatted them automatically, what many other clients don't. Have a 
look at the original 
mails:https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimania-l/2015-December/007113.html
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimania-l/2015-December/007114.html
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimania-l/2015-December/007115.html

Cheers,Martin
 
  Von: Mardetanha 
 An: Wikimania general list (open subscription) 
 
CC: Wikimedia Mailing List 
 Gesendet: 7:26 Mittwoch, 9.Dezember 2015
 Betreff: Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2016 scholarship applications open
   
​for me they are normal too 
Mardetanha 
On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 4:30 AM, Leon Liesener  
wrote:



May I ask what the issue is? All three mails look completely normal to me.
Regards,Leon
Op 8 dec. 2015 om 22:32 heeft Martin Rulsch  het 
volgende geschreven:


Third try … get mailman fixed please.

Hi all,

Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2016 which is being held in Esino Lario, 
Italy on June 22–27, 2016 are now being accepted. Applications are open until 
Saturday, January 09 2016 23:59 UTC.

Applicants will be able to apply for a partial or full scholarship. A full 
scholarship will cover the cost of an individual's round-trip travel, shared 
accommodation, and conference registration fees as arranged by the Wikimedia 
Foundation. A partial scholarship will cover conference registration fees and 
shared accommodation.

Applicants will be rated using a pre-determined selection process and selection 
criteria established by the Scholarship Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation, 
who will determine which applications are successful. To learn more about 
Wikimania 2016 scholarships, please visit:
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships

To apply for a scholarship, fill out the multi-language application form on:
https://scholarships.wikimedia.org/apply

It is highly recommended that applicants review all the material on the 
Scholarships page and the associated FAQ ( 
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ ) before submitting 
an application.

If you have any questions, please contact:
wikimania-scholarships at wikimedia.org
or leave a message at:
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Scholarships

Please help us spread the word!

Best regards,
for the Scholarship Committee
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_committee

___
Wikimania-l mailing list
wikimani...@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l


___
Wikimania-l mailing list
wikimani...@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l




___
Wikimania-l mailing list
wikimani...@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l


   
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread rupert THURNER
was it fun?

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 10:56 PM, Mardetanha  wrote:
> I also concur that best part of wikimania is get to know other wikimedians
> and fascinating stories , but nevertheless the workshops are also very
> useful. in each wikimania we enjoy both. I learnt a lot from them all.
>
> Mardetanha
>
> On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 12:51 AM, Chris Keating 
> wrote:
>
>> Most Wikimedians are very interesting people. However Milos has hit the
>> nail on the head when he says the most interesting things happening at
>> Wikimedia events are 1-1 conversations.
>>
>> In my view we don't have a "personality" problem (and if we did, we
>> couldn't fix it).
>>
>> What we have, at least in the offline space, is an *event management* and
>> *meeting skills" problem.
>>
>> We do not set up events to make anything *apart* from 1-1 conversations
>> effective. Events typically lack goals and focused programmes. Where issues
>> are being discussed, they lack common agreement about what problems are
>> trying to be solved and what voices need to be represented in the
>> solutions. Where skills are being shared, they lack a definition of what it
>> is people need to know and how to teach it to them effectively. And more or
>> less throughout, we have a low level of presentation and/or facilitation
>> skills as we don't actively train people in these.
>>
>> We are groping towards success in a couple of areas I'm familiar with, e.g.
>> the Wikimedia Conference is more clearly focused year on year. But there is
>> still a long way to go!
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Pine W  wrote:
>>
>> > I think the term that I would use is "serious". Of course we're serious
>> > about the quality of our product. However that can involve plenty of
>> stress
>> > and burn-out. We deal with a lot of serious issues: conflicts of
>> interest,
>> > harassment, finances, legal compliance, reliability, privacy, safety, and
>> > more. My personal experience is that there's little gratitude for good
>> > work, and lots of complaints when things go awry. I would like to see us
>> > foster an emotional environment that's a bit on the brighter side, and
>> > would be interested in others' thoughts about how we can do that.
>> >
>> > Pine
>> > ___
>> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> > 
>> >
>> ___
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> 
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 
> 

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2016 scholarship applications open

2015-12-08 Thread Mardetanha
​for me they are normal too

Mardetanha

On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 4:30 AM, Leon Liesener 
wrote:

> May I ask what the issue is? All three mails look completely normal to me.
>
> Regards,
> Leon
>
> Op 8 dec. 2015 om 22:32 heeft Martin Rulsch  het
> volgende geschreven:
>
> Third try … get mailman fixed please.
> 
> Hi all,
>
> Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2016 which is being held in Esino
> Lario, Italy on June 22–27, 2016 are now being accepted. Applications are
> open until Saturday, January 09 2016 23:59 UTC.
>
> Applicants will be able to apply for a partial or full scholarship. A full
> scholarship will cover the cost of an individual's round-trip travel,
> shared accommodation, and conference registration fees as arranged by the
> Wikimedia Foundation. A partial scholarship will cover conference
> registration fees and shared accommodation.
>
> Applicants will be rated using a pre-determined selection process and
> selection criteria established by the Scholarship Committee and the
> Wikimedia Foundation, who will determine which applications are successful.
> To learn more about Wikimania 2016 scholarships, please visit:
> https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships
>
> To apply for a scholarship, fill out the multi-language application form
> on:
> https://scholarships.wikimedia.org/apply
>
> It is highly recommended that applicants review all the material on the
> Scholarships page and the associated FAQ (
> https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ ) before
> submitting an application.
>
> If you have any questions, please contact:
> wikimania-scholarships at wikimedia.org
> 
> or leave a message at:
> https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Scholarships
>
> Please help us spread the word!
>
> Best regards,
> for the Scholarship Committee
> https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_committee
>
> ___
> Wikimania-l mailing list
> wikimani...@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>
>
> ___
> Wikimania-l mailing list
> wikimani...@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>
>
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Agenda for the December 9, 2015 Board Meeting

2015-12-08 Thread Alice Wiegand
Hi Lodewijk,

yes, it is. The Board is bridging the time between in-person-meetings since
2014 with monthly hangout meetings. We started with a bimonthly rhythm
after Wikimania in Mexico City and decided to have monthly meetings again
at our meeting in November in San Francisco.

Alice.

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 7:42 AM, Lodewijk 
wrote:

> Hi Zhou,
>
> Thank you. Just curious, as the previous board meeting is not too long ago
> and this agenda is very last minute: was this a scheduled board meeting?
>
> Best,
> Lodewijk
>
> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 12:29 AM, Zhou Zhou  wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > The agenda for the next Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees meeting is
> > now available on Meta Wiki:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Board_meetings/2015-12-09
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Zhou
> > --
> >
> > Zhou Zhou
> > Legal Counsel
> > Wikimedia Foundation
> > 149 New Montgomery Street, 6th Floor
> > San Francisco, CA 94105
> > zz...@wikimedia.org
> >
> > NOTICE: This message might have confidential or legally privileged
> > information in it. If you have received this message by accident, please
> > delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the
> > Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal
> advice
> > to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff
> > members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means, please
> see
> > our legal disclaimer
> > .
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Mardetanha
I also concur that best part of wikimania is get to know other wikimedians
and fascinating stories , but nevertheless the workshops are also very
useful. in each wikimania we enjoy both. I learnt a lot from them all.

Mardetanha

On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 12:51 AM, Chris Keating 
wrote:

> Most Wikimedians are very interesting people. However Milos has hit the
> nail on the head when he says the most interesting things happening at
> Wikimedia events are 1-1 conversations.
>
> In my view we don't have a "personality" problem (and if we did, we
> couldn't fix it).
>
> What we have, at least in the offline space, is an *event management* and
> *meeting skills" problem.
>
> We do not set up events to make anything *apart* from 1-1 conversations
> effective. Events typically lack goals and focused programmes. Where issues
> are being discussed, they lack common agreement about what problems are
> trying to be solved and what voices need to be represented in the
> solutions. Where skills are being shared, they lack a definition of what it
> is people need to know and how to teach it to them effectively. And more or
> less throughout, we have a low level of presentation and/or facilitation
> skills as we don't actively train people in these.
>
> We are groping towards success in a couple of areas I'm familiar with, e.g.
> the Wikimedia Conference is more clearly focused year on year. But there is
> still a long way to go!
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Pine W  wrote:
>
> > I think the term that I would use is "serious". Of course we're serious
> > about the quality of our product. However that can involve plenty of
> stress
> > and burn-out. We deal with a lot of serious issues: conflicts of
> interest,
> > harassment, finances, legal compliance, reliability, privacy, safety, and
> > more. My personal experience is that there's little gratitude for good
> > work, and lots of complaints when things go awry. I would like to see us
> > foster an emotional environment that's a bit on the brighter side, and
> > would be interested in others' thoughts about how we can do that.
> >
> > Pine
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> >
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


[Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2016 scholarship applications open

2015-12-08 Thread Martin Rulsch
Thanks again, Dan Garry, for pointing me on this again-ill formatted mail.

Cheers,
Martin

Hi all, Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2016 which is being held in
Esino Lario, Italy on June 22–27, 2016 are now being accepted. Applications
are open until Saturday, January 09 2016 23:59 UTC. Applicants will be able
to apply for a partial or full scholarship. A full scholarship will cover
the cost of an individual's round-trip travel, shared accommodation, and
conference registration fees as arranged by the Wikimedia Foundation. A
partial scholarship will cover conference registration fees and shared
accommodation. Applicants will be rated using a pre-determined selection
process and selection criteria established by the Scholarship Committee and
the Wikimedia Foundation, who will determine which applications are
successful. To learn more about Wikimania 2016 scholarships, please visit:
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships To apply for a
scholarship, fill out the multi-language application form on:
https://scholarships.wikimedia.org/apply It is highly recommended that
applicants review all the material on the Scholarships page and the
associated FAQ ( https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ
) before submitting an application. If you have any questions, please
contact: wikimania-scholarships at wikimedia.org
 or leave a message at:
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Scholarships Please help us
spread the word! Best regards, for the Scholarship Committee
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_committee
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Chris Keating
Most Wikimedians are very interesting people. However Milos has hit the
nail on the head when he says the most interesting things happening at
Wikimedia events are 1-1 conversations.

In my view we don't have a "personality" problem (and if we did, we
couldn't fix it).

What we have, at least in the offline space, is an *event management* and
*meeting skills" problem.

We do not set up events to make anything *apart* from 1-1 conversations
effective. Events typically lack goals and focused programmes. Where issues
are being discussed, they lack common agreement about what problems are
trying to be solved and what voices need to be represented in the
solutions. Where skills are being shared, they lack a definition of what it
is people need to know and how to teach it to them effectively. And more or
less throughout, we have a low level of presentation and/or facilitation
skills as we don't actively train people in these.

We are groping towards success in a couple of areas I'm familiar with, e.g.
the Wikimedia Conference is more clearly focused year on year. But there is
still a long way to go!

Regards,

Chris

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Pine W  wrote:

> I think the term that I would use is "serious". Of course we're serious
> about the quality of our product. However that can involve plenty of stress
> and burn-out. We deal with a lot of serious issues: conflicts of interest,
> harassment, finances, legal compliance, reliability, privacy, safety, and
> more. My personal experience is that there's little gratitude for good
> work, and lots of complaints when things go awry. I would like to see us
> foster an emotional environment that's a bit on the brighter side, and
> would be interested in others' thoughts about how we can do that.
>
> Pine
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


[Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2016 scholarship applications open

2015-12-08 Thread DerHexer
Hi all,Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2016 which is being held in Esino 
Lario, Italy on June 22–27, 2016 are now being accepted. Applications are open 
until Saturday, January 09 2016 23:59 UTC.Applicants will be able to apply for 
a partial or full scholarship. A full scholarship will cover the cost of an 
individual's round-trip travel, shared accommodation, and conference 
registration fees as arranged by the Wikimedia Foundation. A partial 
scholarship will cover conference registration fees and shared 
accommodation.Applicants will be rated using a pre-determined selection process 
and selection criteria established by the Scholarship Committee and the 
Wikimedia Foundation, who will determine which applications are successful. To 
learn more about Wikimania 2016 scholarships, please 
visit:https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/ScholarshipsTo apply for a 
scholarship, fill out the multi-language application form 
on:https://scholarships.wikimedia.org/applyIt is highly recommended that 
applicants review all the material on the Scholarships page and the associated 
FAQ ( https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ ) before 
submitting an application.If you have any questions, please 
contact:wikimania-scholarships at wikimedia.orgor leave a message 
at:https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:ScholarshipsPlease help us 
spread the word!Best regards,for the Scholarship 
Committeehttps://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_committee
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Pine W
I think the term that I would use is "serious". Of course we're serious
about the quality of our product. However that can involve plenty of stress
and burn-out. We deal with a lot of serious issues: conflicts of interest,
harassment, finances, legal compliance, reliability, privacy, safety, and
more. My personal experience is that there's little gratitude for good
work, and lots of complaints when things go awry. I would like to see us
foster an emotional environment that's a bit on the brighter side, and
would be interested in others' thoughts about how we can do that.

Pine
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Risker
I confess.  I have used many adjectives to describe Wikimedians over the
years, but "boring" has never been one of them.

Risker/Anne

On 8 December 2015 at 14:20, Carlos Colina (Maor_X) 
wrote:

> WellIberocoopians always have fun ;-)
>
> Sent from my HTC
>
> - Reply message -
> From: "Milos Rancic" 
> To: "Wikimedia Mailing List" 
> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?
> Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2015 3:36 PM
>
> We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
> existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
> responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
> nobody bothers about that.
>
> Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
> German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
> more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
> European country during the 80s.
>
> This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
> presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil merchants
> and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more end,
> thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
> specialized knowledge to participate.)
>
> The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
> met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.
>
> It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
> interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
> Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops and
> collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive, but
> it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only one
> goal: to drain the energy from the participants.
>
> On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
> Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.
>
> There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
> making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
> make our live interaction better.
>
> However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our culture.
> While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
> Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.
>
> This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
> magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
> start implementing various ideas to tackle it.
>
> I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
> from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
> the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> 
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> 
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Carlos Colina (Maor_X)
WellIberocoopians always have fun ;-)

Sent from my HTC

- Reply message -
From: "Milos Rancic" 
To: "Wikimedia Mailing List" 
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?
Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2015 3:36 PM

We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
nobody bothers about that.

Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
European country during the 80s.

This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil merchants
and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more end,
thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
specialized knowledge to participate.)

The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.

It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops and
collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive, but
it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only one
goal: to drain the energy from the participants.

On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.

There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
make our live interaction better.

However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our culture.
While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.

This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
start implementing various ideas to tackle it.

I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Ombudsman Committee - Call for Applications

2015-12-08 Thread Patrick Earley
Small correction - my email is pear...@wikimedia.org, not pearley@wikimedia
as posted.  Apologies,

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 10:52 AM, Patrick Earley 
wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> As the end of the year approaches, the Ombudsman Committee seeks new
> members. This commission works on all Wikimedia projects to investigate
> complaints about violations of the privacy policy, especially in use of 
> CheckUser
> tools [1], and to mediate between the complaining party and the
> individual whose work is being investigated. They may also assist the
> General Counsel, the Executive Director or the Board of Trustees in
> investigations of these issues. For more on their duties and roles, see:
> 
>
>
> 
>
>- http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman_commission
>
>
> This is a call for community members interested in volunteering for this
> commission. Commissioners should be experienced Wikimedians, active on any
> project, who have previously used the CheckUser tool OR who have the
> technical ability to understand the CheckUser tool and the willingness to
> learn it. They are expected to be able to engage neutrally in investigating
> these concerns and to know when to recuse when other roles and
> relationships may cause conflict. It is important that volunteers for this
> role commit to being active in their work on this commission, including
> participating in email discussions and, ideally, occasional virtual
> meetings.
>
> Commissioners are required to identify to the Wikimedia Foundation and
> must be willing to comply with the appropriate board policies (such as the 
> access
> to non-public data policy [2] and the privacy policy [3]). This is a
> position that requires a high degree of discretion and trust.
>
> If you are interested in serving on this commission, please drop me a note
> at pearley@wikimedia detailing your experience on the projects, your
> thoughts on the commission and what you hope to bring to the role. The
> commission is deliberately quite small, so slots are limited, but all
> applications are appreciated. The deadline for applications is January 1.
> Any timezone. :)
>
> Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any users who you think
> may be interested.  Best regards,
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser_policy
> [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Access_to_nonpublic_data_policy
> [3] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy
>
>
>
> --
> Patrick Earley
> Community Advocate
> Wikimedia Foundation
> pear...@wikimedia.org
>



-- 
Patrick Earley
Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation
pear...@wikimedia.org
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


[Wikimedia-l] Ombudsman Committee - Call for Applications

2015-12-08 Thread Patrick Earley
Hello all,

As the end of the year approaches, the Ombudsman Committee seeks new
members. This commission works on all Wikimedia projects to investigate
complaints about violations of the privacy policy, especially in use
of CheckUser
tools [1], and to mediate between the complaining party and the individual
whose work is being investigated. They may also assist the General Counsel,
the Executive Director or the Board of Trustees in investigations of these
issues. For more on their duties and roles, see:





   - http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman_commission


This is a call for community members interested in volunteering for this
commission. Commissioners should be experienced Wikimedians, active on any
project, who have previously used the CheckUser tool OR who have the
technical ability to understand the CheckUser tool and the willingness to
learn it. They are expected to be able to engage neutrally in investigating
these concerns and to know when to recuse when other roles and
relationships may cause conflict. It is important that volunteers for this
role commit to being active in their work on this commission, including
participating in email discussions and, ideally, occasional virtual
meetings.

Commissioners are required to identify to the Wikimedia Foundation and must
be willing to comply with the appropriate board policies (such as the access
to non-public data policy [2] and the privacy policy [3]). This is a
position that requires a high degree of discretion and trust.

If you are interested in serving on this commission, please drop me a note
at pearley@wikimedia detailing your experience on the projects, your
thoughts on the commission and what you hope to bring to the role. The
commission is deliberately quite small, so slots are limited, but all
applications are appreciated. The deadline for applications is January 1.
Any timezone. :)

Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any users who you think
may be interested.  Best regards,

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser_policy
[2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Access_to_nonpublic_data_policy
[3] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy



-- 
Patrick Earley
Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation
pear...@wikimedia.org
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread
On 8 December 2015 at 13:36, Milos Rancic  wrote:
...
> Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
> German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
> more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
> European country during the 80s.

Yes, comparing to the SDP is accurate. My experience in leading
meetings and making presentations to Wikimedians over many years, is
that if you make jokes and lighten things up by being creative, then
you run the risk of frequently being taken the wrong way. Sometimes
the harsh criticism every time you try something new, feels so
negative or obtuse and far outweighs the odd thanks that you get, that
it can really put you off volunteering your time.

From trying to make others happy and tick the boxes of the many
multiplying standards and recommendations for our meetings, I stopped
making jokes of any kind, frankly my presentations became dull to my
eyes. At the moment I have no plans to make any presentations or even
take part in meetings in the year ahead. The prospect of starting up
again and freely sharing knowledge or experience from my volunteer and
programming through planned presentations and workshops does not
excite me any more. Instead it now feels like the sort of painful hard
work that needs to be paid for.

We actually expect and plan for volunteer burn-outs. It's a shame that
the focus is always on attracting new people, and only a fraction of
that effort goes into ensuring that our most high impact unpaid
volunteers don't crash and burn after a couple of years of
flourishing.

Fae
-- 
fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Yaroslav M. Blanter

On 2015-12-08 17:57, Andreas Kolbe wrote:

I like that post, Milos. :)

The other day someone suggested to me in a chat Wikipedia should have a
function like Skype, or IM, so people could chat about stuff privately. 
I
think it's a great idea. (Obviously you would have to make it so people 
can

only instant-message you after you've accepted their contact request.)

At the same time, I have a feeling such a proposal made on wiki would 
sink

like a lead duck. On Wikipedia, having friends and talking to them
PRIVATELY on a Wikipedia feature where (shock! horror!) others are 
EXCLUDED

and can't see what you're saying elicits dire fears of "canvassing",
"cabal" and other such words (while people still generally accept that 
it
is okay for contributors to have email correspondence, or talk to 
someone

in the pub).

I am not even saying that such fears would be unjustified – the Eastern
European Mailing List arbitration case comes to mind – but it is 
somehow a
weird culture. And as Milos says, all of that tends to evaporate when 
you
are actually standing in a corridor at an event, or having your lunch 
and

chatting.

Andreas



I think as soon as there is no reference to this chat as a 
decision-making venue (like "We have chatted and I unblocked them", or, 
even worse, "blocked them"), it should be ok, and might be even accepted 
as an on-wiki suggestion (we have irc anyway, and many people are there 
24h/24), but then of course someone would need to lobby it, organize 
RfC, closing etc.


Cheers
Yaroslav

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Andreas Kolbe
I like that post, Milos. :)

Frankly I think this is also one of the main reasons why women are not
particularly attracted to Wikipedia. There would have to be much more
gregariousness and socialising for that to happen (the percentage of women
at the movement's social events is always considerably larger than it is
online). I guess it's one reason why edit-a-thons manage to attract women:
you can actually have a chat and a laugh and a coffee with someone in
between edits. It makes it *actually* communal; you interact face to face
on a first name basis, not with some screen pseudonym.

The other day someone suggested to me in a chat Wikipedia should have a
function like Skype, or IM, so people could chat about stuff privately. I
think it's a great idea. (Obviously you would have to make it so people can
only instant-message you after you've accepted their contact request.)

At the same time, I have a feeling such a proposal made on wiki would sink
like a lead duck. On Wikipedia, having friends and talking to them
PRIVATELY on a Wikipedia feature where (shock! horror!) others are EXCLUDED
and can't see what you're saying elicits dire fears of "canvassing",
"cabal" and other such words (while people still generally accept that it
is okay for contributors to have email correspondence, or talk to someone
in the pub).

I am not even saying that such fears would be unjustified – the Eastern
European Mailing List arbitration case comes to mind – but it is somehow a
weird culture. And as Milos says, all of that tends to evaporate when you
are actually standing in a corridor at an event, or having your lunch and
chatting.

Andreas

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 1:36 PM, Milos Rancic  wrote:

> We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
> existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
> responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
> nobody bothers about that.
>
> Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
> German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
> more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
> European country during the 80s.
>
> This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
> presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil merchants
> and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more end,
> thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
> specialized knowledge to participate.)
>
> The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
> met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.
>
> It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
> interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
> Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops and
> collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive, but
> it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only one
> goal: to drain the energy from the participants.
>
> On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
> Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.
>
> There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
> making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
> make our live interaction better.
>
> However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our culture.
> While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
> Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.
>
> This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
> magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
> start implementing various ideas to tackle it.
>
> I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
> from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
> the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Yaroslav M. Blanter

On 2015-12-08 17:39, Sebastian Moleski wrote:
On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Anders Wennersten 


wrote:

Indeed, I would agree with Milos here. I'd like for many of our events 
to
become more approachable by and relatable to the non-nerdy general 
public.
We've built something that hundreds of millions of people are using. 
Yet,
more often than not, we act more like an obscure/niche open source 
project

(nothing wrong with them - but they neither aim nor will every reach a
similar impact).

Cheers,



Actually, I think one can write a popular book about out movement which 
would be fun. Just everybody is lazy.


Cheers
Yaroslav

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Sebastian Moleski
On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Anders Wennersten 
wrote:

> Do you imply boring is a bad thing?
>
> In a world more and more focusing on show and 10 seconds fame, I am proud
> and glad to be part of another type of society, where truth, reflection and
> serious discussions are at focus
>
> Donald Trump is one of the least boring people just now, but I would be
> seriously unhappy if our movement was dominated with Donald Trump clones
>

Well, perhaps there's some room between the extremes of "regional branch of
German Social Democratic Party" and Donald Trump. Actually, I severely hope
so.

Indeed, I would agree with Milos here. I'd like for many of our events to
become more approachable by and relatable to the non-nerdy general public.
We've built something that hundreds of millions of people are using. Yet,
more often than not, we act more like an obscure/niche open source project
(nothing wrong with them - but they neither aim nor will every reach a
similar impact).

Cheers,

Sebastian Moleski
Schatzmeister / Treasurer
-
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24
10963 Berlin

Telefon 030 - 219 158 26-0
www.wikimedia.de

Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen
Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei!
http://spenden.wikimedia.de/

Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 Nz. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Jane Darnell
I wouldn't object to more Australians spread around the Wikiverse, and they
are always welcome in the Netherlands

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 3:11 PM, Gnangarra  wrote:

> maybe the movement needs to get a few more Australians around events to
> liven things up, as its never boring here... we'll even bring drop bears
>  and other furry creatures to
> keep
> people on their toes  😁
>
> On 8 December 2015 at 21:47, Anders Wennersten 
> wrote:
>
> > Do you imply boring is a bad thing?
> >
> > In a world more and more focusing on show and 10 seconds fame, I am proud
> > and glad to be part of another type of society, where truth, reflection
> and
> > serious discussions are at focus
> >
> > Donald Trump is one of the least boring people just now, but I would be
> > seriously unhappy if our movement was dominated with Donald Trump clones
> >
> > Anders
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Den 2015-12-08 kl. 14:36, skrev Milos Rancic:
> >
> >> We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
> >> existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
> >> responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
> >> nobody bothers about that.
> >>
> >> Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch
> >> of
> >> German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they
> are
> >> more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an
> East
> >> European country during the 80s.
> >>
> >> This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
> >> presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil
> >> merchants
> >> and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more
> >> end,
> >> thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
> >> specialized knowledge to participate.)
> >>
> >> The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
> >> met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.
> >>
> >> It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
> >> interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
> >> Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops
> >> and
> >> collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive,
> >> but
> >> it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only
> >> one
> >> goal: to drain the energy from the participants.
> >>
> >> On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
> >> Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.
> >>
> >> There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work
> on
> >> making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
> >> make our live interaction better.
> >>
> >> However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our
> >> culture.
> >> While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
> >> Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our
> activities.
> >>
> >> This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill
> to
> >> magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem
> and
> >> start implementing various ideas to tackle it.
> >>
> >> I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever
> somebody
> >> from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how
> trashy
> >> the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
> >> ___
> >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> >> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> >> 
> >>
> >
> >
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> >
>
>
>
> --
> GN.
> President Wikimedia Australia
> WMAU: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/User:Gnangarra
> Photo Gallery: http://gnangarra.redbubble.com
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Gnangarra
maybe the movement needs to get a few more Australians around events to
liven things up, as its never boring here... we'll even bring drop bears
 and other furry creatures to keep
people on their toes  😁

On 8 December 2015 at 21:47, Anders Wennersten 
wrote:

> Do you imply boring is a bad thing?
>
> In a world more and more focusing on show and 10 seconds fame, I am proud
> and glad to be part of another type of society, where truth, reflection and
> serious discussions are at focus
>
> Donald Trump is one of the least boring people just now, but I would be
> seriously unhappy if our movement was dominated with Donald Trump clones
>
> Anders
>
>
>
>
> Den 2015-12-08 kl. 14:36, skrev Milos Rancic:
>
>> We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
>> existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
>> responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
>> nobody bothers about that.
>>
>> Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch
>> of
>> German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
>> more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
>> European country during the 80s.
>>
>> This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
>> presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil
>> merchants
>> and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more
>> end,
>> thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
>> specialized knowledge to participate.)
>>
>> The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
>> met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.
>>
>> It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
>> interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
>> Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops
>> and
>> collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive,
>> but
>> it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only
>> one
>> goal: to drain the energy from the participants.
>>
>> On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
>> Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.
>>
>> There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
>> making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
>> make our live interaction better.
>>
>> However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our
>> culture.
>> While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
>> Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.
>>
>> This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
>> magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
>> start implementing various ideas to tackle it.
>>
>> I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
>> from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
>> the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
>> ___
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> 
>>
>
>
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>



-- 
GN.
President Wikimedia Australia
WMAU: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/User:Gnangarra
Photo Gallery: http://gnangarra.redbubble.com
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Anders Wennersten

Do you imply boring is a bad thing?

In a world more and more focusing on show and 10 seconds fame, I am 
proud and glad to be part of another type of society, where truth, 
reflection and serious discussions are at focus


Donald Trump is one of the least boring people just now, but I would be 
seriously unhappy if our movement was dominated with Donald Trump clones


Anders



Den 2015-12-08 kl. 14:36, skrev Milos Rancic:

We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
nobody bothers about that.

Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
European country during the 80s.

This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil merchants
and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more end,
thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
specialized knowledge to participate.)

The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.

It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops and
collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive, but
it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only one
goal: to drain the energy from the participants.

On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.

There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
make our live interaction better.

However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our culture.
While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.

This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
start implementing various ideas to tackle it.

I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 




___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


[Wikimedia-l] Why are we so boring?

2015-12-08 Thread Milos Rancic
We are. It's not about particular thread on this list, it's about our
existence. Initially I thought it's because the level of our
responsibility, but eventually I've realized we are simply boring and
nobody bothers about that.

Our meetings and conferences look like the meetings of a regional branch of
German Social Democratic Party at the best. In regular occasions they are
more like the meetings of a village cell of a communist party from an East
European country during the 80s.

This enormous distance between the value of our work and ideals and
presenting ourselves to *us* in the range between shiny snake oil merchants
and demagogues nobody trusts is quite striking. (OK, there is one more end,
thus making a triangle: highly specialized topics which require highly
specialized knowledge to participate.)

The distance is also quite striking because the most witty people I ever
met are from the Wikimedia movement itself.

It's endemic. From local Wikimedian meetings to Wikimania. The most
interesting part of such events is talking with other Wikimedians.
Listening talks, lectures and ceremonies is the worst option. Workshops and
collective decision making are like gambling: it could be constructive, but
it could also be not just wasting time but occult session with the only one
goal: to drain the energy from the participants.

On average, I would rather spend two times more time talking with a
Wikimedian than listening her or his lecture or talk.

There are some straight forward techniques. For example, we could work on
making our talks much better. We could also ask HR professionals how to
make our live interaction better.

However, being boring is somehow quite deeply rooted inside of our culture.
While trying to become "serious", we lost our ability to be playful.
Creativity is something we treat as the least important of our activities.

This is not something which could be fixed quickly. There is no a pill to
magically cure it. But we could start thinking about this as a problem and
start implementing various ideas to tackle it.

I wouldn't say that our revolution forbids us to dance. (Whenever somebody
from Bay Area is DJ-ing, we dance and it's beautiful, no matter how trashy
the music is.) But I am sure we can do better.
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


[Wikimedia-l] Agenda for the December 9, 2015 Board

2015-12-08 Thread James Heilman
Yes meeting was scheduled during our last board meeting.

-- 
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian

The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com

As of July 2015 I am a board member of the Wikimedia Foundation
My emails; however, do not represent the official position of the WMF
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikitech-l] Update from the Wikimedia Performance Team

2015-12-08 Thread Quim Gil
On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 11:27 PM, Gilles Dubuc  wrote:
> We now test one page using real 3G connections (from San Francisco and
> Bangalore) and test other pages using the following physical devices:
> iPhone 6, iPad mini 2 and Moto G.

Applause!

Still in desktop, what is the current status of testing with
not-last-generation-laptops-with-SF-office-broadband? When I went to
WikiCon in Germany, one of the most prolific editors of de.wiki told
me that she was trying hard to incorporate VisualEditor and
MediaViewer to her workflows, but that her "normal" laptop with her
"normal" connection at home would simply not follow with her demands
on speed, which was the reason why she wasn't compelled to use either.
"Normal" here means regular standards for a middle age hobbyist editor
in a small city of Germany, which is probably closer to the high end
spectrum for desktop users in a global scale.

-- 
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil

___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 


Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update from the Wikimedia Performance Team

2015-12-08 Thread rupert THURNER
I appreciate a ton what you guys achieve, many thanks!!

Rupert
On Dec 7, 2015 23:28, "Gilles Dubuc"  wrote:

> Hello,
>
> This is the monthly report from the Wikimedia Performance team.
>
> ## Our progress ##
>
> * Availability. We've done a major overhaul of the ObjectCache interfaces.
> Many
> factory methods were deprecated or removed, reducing it to just four simple
> entry points. New docs at
>
> https://doc.wikimedia.org/mediawiki-core/master/php/classObjectCache.html#details
>
> We've written a new IExpiringStore interface for convenient TTL constants,
> e.g. $cache::TTL_WEEK. See
>
> https://doc.wikimedia.org/mediawiki-core/master/php/interfaceIExpiringStore.html
>
> We've migrated most use of wfGetMainCache() to WANObjectCache. Work
> continued on the librarization of BagOStuff, Memcached, and other object
> cache classes.
>
> * Performance testing infrastructure. We've created dedicated dashboards
> for portals:
>
> https://grafana.wikimedia.org/dashboard/db/webpagetest-portals
>
> And for mobile:
>
> https://grafana.wikimedia.org/dashboard/db/mobile-webpagetest
>
> We now test one page using real 3G connections (from San Francisco and
> Bangalore) and test other pages using the following physical devices:
> iPhone 6, iPad mini 2 and Moto G.
>
> * Media stack. We've extended Thumbor with 12 small plugins to meet our
> needs and match our existing thumbnailing feature set. This includes
> support for all the file formats in use on Commons. The Thumbor Vagrant
> stack is now very close to having all the moving parts needed in
> production, with basic Vagrant roles for Varnish and Swift having been
> written to that end. Our objective is to finish the work on VM by the
> holidays and have it ready to be showcased and discussed collectively at
> the developer summit in a breakout session.
>
> * ResourceLoader. We've written a new mw.requestIdleCallback API for
> scheduling deferred tasks. We've removed usage of the  msg_resource_links
> DB table. We now use message config from the module registry directly.
> We've migrated MessageBlobStore msg_resource DB table to an object cache
> (to be deployed in January 2016):
> https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T113092
>
> ## How are we doing? ##
>
> Client-side performance has remained stable over the past month. Save
> Timing
> has also remained stable, around the 1s median mark.
>
> The job queue's health improved greatly after adding a new server to the
> pool, with the job queue size dropping drastically and the 99th percentile
> job processing time going from one day to one hour:
>
> * https://grafana.wikimedia.org/dashboard/db/job-queue-health
>
> There was a small scare about a sudden increase of the SpeedIndex value
> across the board:
>
> https://grafana.wikimedia.org/dashboard/db/webpagetest
>
> But it was entirely explained by the fundraising banner, which doesn't
> appear immediately on pageload. SpeedIndex measures the time it takes for
> the above-the-fold area to "settle" visually. The banner appears late and
> pushes the content down, which delays the time when visual changes stop
> happening for the above-the-fold area.
>
> Until next time,
> Aaron, Gilles, Peter, Timo, and Ori.
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,