[Wikimediaindia-l] QRpedia @ Swaminarayan Temple Mumbai
Hiya, The newest establishment to adopt QRpedia: Swaminarayan Temple, Mumbai (Bhuleshwar - on a trial basis). I got the idea of approaching temples when Andy announced the collab with the Church in Birmingham. Thanks to Sarah/Lori/Roger for all their help with this. The QR Codes installed are of the Temple's own article, Swaminarayan, Lakshminarayan, Ganesha and Hanuman. We tried to innovate by including deity QR codes along with the actual temple ones (where there is an article). The reasoning being that there are millions of temples across India, a small percentage of which have Wikipedia articles or any coverage whatsoever in the media. In addition, Hinduism is not a monotheistic religion, I believe there are a few million deities worshiped, out of which most of those that are popular have some excellent Wikipedia articles. So, in effect, by using the deity articles we can aim to include millions of temples with QRpedia which we couldn't if we used just the Temple articles. I'm hoping that installation in this particular temple which coincidentally completes 144 years this week will help us convince other institutions to adopt QRpedia - infact I believe this is the first place in India to have QRpedia installed. I'm also hoping that the extra footfalls during anniversary celebrations this week will give us valuable feedback. Kind Regards, ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] QRpedia @ Swaminarayan Temple Mumbai
Congrats to you for your initiative. I'm hoping it catches media attention too as it will help us in other QRPedia implementations in India. --Re, On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 1:22 PM, wheredevelsd...@hotmail.com wrote: Hiya, The newest establishment to adopt QRpedia: Swaminarayan Temple, Mumbai (Bhuleshwar - on a trial basis). I got the idea of approaching temples when Andy announced the collab with the Church in Birmingham. Thanks to Sarah/Lori/Roger for all their help with this. The QR Codes installed are of the Temple's own article, Swaminarayan, Lakshminarayan, Ganesha and Hanuman. We tried to innovate by including deity QR codes along with the actual temple ones (where there is an article). The reasoning being that there are millions of temples across India, a small percentage of which have Wikipedia articles or any coverage whatsoever in the media. In addition, Hinduism is not a monotheistic religion, I believe there are a few million deities worshiped, out of which most of those that are popular have some excellent Wikipedia articles. So, in effect, by using the deity articles we can aim to include millions of temples with QRpedia which we couldn't if we used just the Temple articles. I'm hoping that installation in this particular temple which coincidentally completes 144 years this week will help us convince other institutions to adopt QRpedia - infact I believe this is the first place in India to have QRpedia installed. I'm also hoping that the extra footfalls during anniversary celebrations this week will give us valuable feedback. Kind Regards, ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Regards, Srikanth Ramakrishnan. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
[Wikimediaindia-l] [Press] Malayalm Wikipedia could be emulated
Malayalam Wikipedia could be emulated Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/malayalam-wikipedia-could-be-emulated/253196-60-116.html KOLLAM: From the seven-year-olds Achu Kulangara, Aswin and Sai Ram to the 70-year-old A J Johnson, all delegates were busy attending sessions. The Malayalam wikipedia community’s meet, ‘Wikisangamotsavam’, saw the gettogether of wikipedia enthusiasts cutting across age, educational and professional barriers. The man most excited about the meet was perhaps Barry Newstead, Chief Global Development Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, who flew down to attend the two-day programme which began at the District Panchayat Hall here on Saturday. Speaking to ‘Express’ on the sidelines of the meet, Barry Newstead was all praise for the Malayalam Wikipedia Community for sticking on to quality and education oriented content. “The good thing about Malayalam community members is that they don’t focus on politics or personal gains and instead are volunteers who engage productively. They build these projects with the prime motive to share knowledge with the next generation,” he said. Newstead said that the State Government support for wikipedia community’s activities and the active involvement of students and teachers would take the Malayalam wiki a long way. “The Malayalam Wikipedia is the most innovative and constructive among Indic languages and expectedly will grow as a model that can be emulated by other languages,” he said. Responding to questions on the errors made by editors and propaganda material in wikipedia, Newstead said that the increase in the number of contributors would make entries accurate and unbiased. “For example, if we have an article on Israel-Palestine issue, we would have two versions. Then a third group comes. We should not underestimate the third group. They will be the ones who can give us an accurate picture of the issue,” he said. According to Barry Newstead, the target of the Malayalam community should be to increase the editor base to around 500 in the next two to three years from the present figure of 100. Hisam Mundol, consultant of Wikimedia India Programme, too feels that an exponential growth is the need of the hour for Malayalam Wiki. “Think of just 100 editors contributing contents for the whole Global Malayali population. We need more editors who can actively contribute in Malayalam,” he said. About 23,429 articles (as on April 23) featured in the Malayalam Wikipedia and can be accessed at http://ml.wikipedia.org. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
[Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedians work for personal satisfaction, not politics or personal gain
(In response to a certain remark in ‘Malayalam Wikipedia could be emulated’) (url - http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/%E2%80%98malayalam-wikipedia-could-be-emulated%E2%80%99/386803.html) The Malayalam Wikimedian community definitely deserves kudos. A diverse bunch of people volunteered their effort and skills gratis for many years to build up what is already a major educational aid in Malayalam. This will play an actual positive role in community development and that is what the greatest reward to the participants. We are confident that they will go on with their exemplary work and prove to be sources of inspiration to us all in the years to come. That kind of satisfaction, at being part of something bigger than oneself and being able to make a difference in the world, motivates Wikimedians all over the world, as it does in India also. Human nature causes wikimedians to look to the statements of WMF officials for encouragement, advice and guidance (though imho they should not). In this context, Newstead's comment at the Wikisangamotsav in Kollam last weekend - they don’t focus on politics or personal gains - can be construed as mischievous in the worst case and mistaken in the best. Though the WMF does dole out some grants to individuals and communities, all Wikimedians are essentially unpaid volunteers, the vast majority of which do not have access to resources provided by the Foundation. Such a remark casts aspersions wrongly on the rest of the Indian wikipedian community, giving the casual reader the idea that the Malayalam Wikimedians are paragons of virtue while the remainder of the Indian Wikimedian community “focus on politics and personal gain”. The remark indicates a deep distrust of the WMF for the general community for reasons best known to them. Such a remark is hardly constructive in motivating the entire bunch of Indian Wikimedians who, as a collective whole, are making extremely valuable contributions to society despite being unpaid volunteers and at the cost of a large amount of personal time and often at their own expense. The question arises at what could be the reason for politics and what personal gains are to be found in doing Wikipedia editing or outreach? Satisfaction, learning, peer approval, interaction with intelligent fellow-believers, social service and fun are the personal gains for editors - all legitimate rewards which one can partake off with integrity and pride. Politics arises when scarce resources are pursued by many. It cannot be money, since all funds in Wikipedia are in the hands of the Foundation which directly receives donations. Nor is it power, as the community insists on it being a society of equals. The India Chapter with its few executive members and completely budgetted by the WMF and with its limited role mandate cannot be considered worthy target of Newstead’s remark either. So what politics are we talking about and who is it that Newstead is referring to? Perhaps the WMF feels offended by the criticism from Wikimedians worldwide at the failure of a flagship educational program in India last year or perhaps at local criticism in their mode of operation in India and the cost-benefit analysis of their country program where hundreds of thousands of dollars have been poured in with mediocre results. Newstead may feel unhappy about these issues but public statements like these do not add to the confidence of the community in the WMF either. In today's world, participants in citizen science or collaborative projects such as Wikipedia expect the highest levels of transparency, democracy and debate - in part, Wikipedia’s open ethos itself is responsible for the extremely democratic aspirations of participants. Wikipedians routinely engage in large debates on major and minute issues. They absorb from their experience in the Project the idea that all action is open for debate and that such criticism/dissent is not only constructive but vital. It would be a strange quirk of fate, should an office-bearer of WMF feel threatened by the values encouraged by their own projects. This distrust may also be seen as a clash of cultures - on one side, a corporate culture where actions are expected to be accepted at face value and not to be justified to those not in power, and on the other, an open culture where nothing is sancrosanct and responsible action and respectful response from all, including and especially Jimbo Wales, is expected as a matter of moral right by volunteers. The meaningful solution lies through engaging the community as equals and stakeholders, not with public remarks like these. Wikimedian volunteers understand and express their gratitude to the foundation for creating and operating a vehicle which enables their useful contribution to society. Reciprocally, it is time that WMF representatives realise that it is the Wikimedian community that is the living flesh and blood of Wikipedia, without whom the WMF cannot exist, and who need to be engaged
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedians work for personal satisfaction, not politics or personal gain
Can't we just consider the comment as applying to every Wikipedian in India, after all, for outsiders who don't know our diversity, we're just Indians. I'm quite sure he didn't mean what was interpreted :) On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 9:57 PM, Ashwin Baindur ashwin.bain...@gmail.comwrote: (In response to a certain remark in ‘Malayalam Wikipedia could be emulated’) (url - http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/%E2%80%98malayalam-wikipedia-could-be-emulated%E2%80%99/386803.html ) The Malayalam Wikimedian community definitely deserves kudos. A diverse bunch of people volunteered their effort and skills gratis for many years to build up what is already a major educational aid in Malayalam. This will play an actual positive role in community development and that is what the greatest reward to the participants. We are confident that they will go on with their exemplary work and prove to be sources of inspiration to us all in the years to come. That kind of satisfaction, at being part of something bigger than oneself and being able to make a difference in the world, motivates Wikimedians all over the world, as it does in India also. Human nature causes wikimedians to look to the statements of WMF officials for encouragement, advice and guidance (though imho they should not). In this context, Newstead's comment at the Wikisangamotsav in Kollam last weekend - they don’t focus on politics or personal gains - can be construed as mischievous in the worst case and mistaken in the best. Though the WMF does dole out some grants to individuals and communities, all Wikimedians are essentially unpaid volunteers, the vast majority of which do not have access to resources provided by the Foundation. Such a remark casts aspersions wrongly on the rest of the Indian wikipedian community, giving the casual reader the idea that the Malayalam Wikimedians are paragons of virtue while the remainder of the Indian Wikimedian community “focus on politics and personal gain”. The remark indicates a deep distrust of the WMF for the general community for reasons best known to them. Such a remark is hardly constructive in motivating the entire bunch of Indian Wikimedians who, as a collective whole, are making extremely valuable contributions to society despite being unpaid volunteers and at the cost of a large amount of personal time and often at their own expense. The question arises at what could be the reason for politics and what personal gains are to be found in doing Wikipedia editing or outreach? Satisfaction, learning, peer approval, interaction with intelligent fellow-believers, social service and fun are the personal gains for editors - all legitimate rewards which one can partake off with integrity and pride. Politics arises when scarce resources are pursued by many. It cannot be money, since all funds in Wikipedia are in the hands of the Foundation which directly receives donations. Nor is it power, as the community insists on it being a society of equals. The India Chapter with its few executive members and completely budgetted by the WMF and with its limited role mandate cannot be considered worthy target of Newstead’s remark either. So what politics are we talking about and who is it that Newstead is referring to? Perhaps the WMF feels offended by the criticism from Wikimedians worldwide at the failure of a flagship educational program in India last year or perhaps at local criticism in their mode of operation in India and the cost-benefit analysis of their country program where hundreds of thousands of dollars have been poured in with mediocre results. Newstead may feel unhappy about these issues but public statements like these do not add to the confidence of the community in the WMF either. In today's world, participants in citizen science or collaborative projects such as Wikipedia expect the highest levels of transparency, democracy and debate - in part, Wikipedia’s open ethos itself is responsible for the extremely democratic aspirations of participants. Wikipedians routinely engage in large debates on major and minute issues. They absorb from their experience in the Project the idea that all action is open for debate and that such criticism/dissent is not only constructive but vital. It would be a strange quirk of fate, should an office-bearer of WMF feel threatened by the values encouraged by their own projects. This distrust may also be seen as a clash of cultures - on one side, a corporate culture where actions are expected to be accepted at face value and not to be justified to those not in power, and on the other, an open culture where nothing is sancrosanct and responsible action and respectful response from all, including and especially Jimbo Wales, is expected as a matter of moral right by volunteers. The meaningful solution lies through engaging the community as equals and stakeholders, not with public remarks like these. Wikimedian
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedians work for personal satisfaction, not politics or personal gain
Seriously? I don't mean to be rude here but I'd really don't think that is the way it was meant to be interpreted. I mean, if I say Ashwin is kind-hearted, doesn't mean I'm calling every other community member heartless. My two paise. On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 10:59 PM, Arjun Mangol Kanoth arjun.man...@gmail.com wrote: Can't we just consider the comment as applying to every Wikipedian in India, after all, for outsiders who don't know our diversity, we're just Indians. I'm quite sure he didn't mean what was interpreted :) On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 9:57 PM, Ashwin Baindur ashwin.bain...@gmail.comwrote: (In response to a certain remark in ‘Malayalam Wikipedia could be emulated’) (url - http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/%E2%80%98malayalam-wikipedia-could-be-emulated%E2%80%99/386803.html ) The Malayalam Wikimedian community definitely deserves kudos. A diverse bunch of people volunteered their effort and skills gratis for many years to build up what is already a major educational aid in Malayalam. This will play an actual positive role in community development and that is what the greatest reward to the participants. We are confident that they will go on with their exemplary work and prove to be sources of inspiration to us all in the years to come. That kind of satisfaction, at being part of something bigger than oneself and being able to make a difference in the world, motivates Wikimedians all over the world, as it does in India also. Human nature causes wikimedians to look to the statements of WMF officials for encouragement, advice and guidance (though imho they should not). In this context, Newstead's comment at the Wikisangamotsav in Kollam last weekend - they don’t focus on politics or personal gains - can be construed as mischievous in the worst case and mistaken in the best. Though the WMF does dole out some grants to individuals and communities, all Wikimedians are essentially unpaid volunteers, the vast majority of which do not have access to resources provided by the Foundation. Such a remark casts aspersions wrongly on the rest of the Indian wikipedian community, giving the casual reader the idea that the Malayalam Wikimedians are paragons of virtue while the remainder of the Indian Wikimedian community “focus on politics and personal gain”. The remark indicates a deep distrust of the WMF for the general community for reasons best known to them. Such a remark is hardly constructive in motivating the entire bunch of Indian Wikimedians who, as a collective whole, are making extremely valuable contributions to society despite being unpaid volunteers and at the cost of a large amount of personal time and often at their own expense. The question arises at what could be the reason for politics and what personal gains are to be found in doing Wikipedia editing or outreach? Satisfaction, learning, peer approval, interaction with intelligent fellow-believers, social service and fun are the personal gains for editors - all legitimate rewards which one can partake off with integrity and pride. Politics arises when scarce resources are pursued by many. It cannot be money, since all funds in Wikipedia are in the hands of the Foundation which directly receives donations. Nor is it power, as the community insists on it being a society of equals. The India Chapter with its few executive members and completely budgetted by the WMF and with its limited role mandate cannot be considered worthy target of Newstead’s remark either. So what politics are we talking about and who is it that Newstead is referring to? Perhaps the WMF feels offended by the criticism from Wikimedians worldwide at the failure of a flagship educational program in India last year or perhaps at local criticism in their mode of operation in India and the cost-benefit analysis of their country program where hundreds of thousands of dollars have been poured in with mediocre results. Newstead may feel unhappy about these issues but public statements like these do not add to the confidence of the community in the WMF either. In today's world, participants in citizen science or collaborative projects such as Wikipedia expect the highest levels of transparency, democracy and debate - in part, Wikipedia’s open ethos itself is responsible for the extremely democratic aspirations of participants. Wikipedians routinely engage in large debates on major and minute issues. They absorb from their experience in the Project the idea that all action is open for debate and that such criticism/dissent is not only constructive but vital. It would be a strange quirk of fate, should an office-bearer of WMF feel threatened by the values encouraged by their own projects. This distrust may also be seen as a clash of cultures - on one side, a corporate culture where actions are expected to be accepted at face value and not to be justified to those not in power, and on the other, an
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedians work for personal satisfaction, not politics or personal gain
On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:43 AM, Debanjan Bandyopadhyay debast...@gmail.com wrote: Seriously? I don't mean to be rude here but I'd really don't think that is the way it was meant to be interpreted. I mean, if I say Ashwin is kind-hearted, doesn't mean I'm calling every other community member heartless. My two paise. For a proper interpretation, you will have to look at the statement in context and some of the discussion threads from the past few weeks. There is a difference between saying Debastein, you are amazing! and Debastein, you are not a wife-beater. The later naturally raises the presumption that you have a wife and casts doubt as to whether you really beat her? :) In any case, I would like to hear from Barry on this. Thanks. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedians work for personal satisfaction, not politics or personal gain
Whoa, whoa, guys, chill! No names!! The comment was perfectly normal, nothing hidden directed at anyone, and we need to stop making baseless assumptions. Man, the word 'politics' is seriously jinxed!. On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 3:02 AM, Anirudh Bhati anirudh...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:43 AM, Debanjan Bandyopadhyay debast...@gmail.com wrote: Seriously? I don't mean to be rude here but I'd really don't think that is the way it was meant to be interpreted. I mean, if I say Ashwin is kind-hearted, doesn't mean I'm calling every other community member heartless. My two paise. For a proper interpretation, you will have to look at the statement in context and some of the discussion threads from the past few weeks. There is a difference between saying Debastein, you are amazing! and Debastein, you are not a wife-beater. The later naturally raises the presumption that you have a wife and casts doubt as to whether you really beat her? :) In any case, I would like to hear from Barry on this. Thanks. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- - Arjun ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
