Humans do no operate on hexadecimal symbols effectively […] there are exceptions.

– Dan Kaminsky

When SSH added ASCII art fingerprints (AKA, randomart), the author credited a talk by Dan Kaminsky.

As a refresher, randomart looks like this:

$ ssh-keygen -lv -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
256 SHA256:XrvNnhQuG1ObprgdtPiqIGXUAsHT71SKh9/WAcAKoS0 [email protected] (ED25519)
+--[ED25519 256]--+
| .++ ...         |
| o+.... o        |
|E .oo=.o .       |
| . .+.=   .      |
|    o= .S.o.o    |
|   o  o.o+.= +   |
|  . .  .o B *    |
|   . .   + & .   |
|      ..+o*.=    |
+----[SHA256]-----+

Ben Cox describes the algorithm for generating random art on his blog. Here’s a slo-mo version of the algorithm in action:

But in Dan’s talk, he never mentions anything about ASCII art.

Instead, his talk was about exploiting our brain’s hardware acceleration to make it easier for us to recognize SSH fingerprints.

The talk is worth watching, but I’ll attempt a summary.

                                                                64000000000000 # 64 trillion (what3words)
115792089237316195423570985008687907853269984665640564039457584007913129639936 # 116 (ish) quindecillion (sha256)

$ ssh foo.bar
The authenticity of host 'foo.bar' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:XrvNnhQuG1ObprgdtPiqIGXUAsHT71SKh9/WAcAKoS0.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting
(yes/no/[fingerprint])?

$ ssh foo.bar
The authenticity of host 'foo.bar' can't be established.
SHA256:XrvNnhQuG1ObprgdtPiqIGXUAsHT71SKh9/WAcAKoS0
Key Data:
    Svasse and Tainen Jesudasson from Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
    Illma and Sibeth Primack from Itārsi, Madhya Pradesh, India
    Maarja and Nisim Balyeat from Mukilteo, Washington, United States
    Hsu-Heng and Rasim Haozi from Manali, Tamil Nadu, India
Are you sure you want to continue connecting
(yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Today Wikimedia Ukraine, the nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia and free knowledge in Ukraine, turns 15. To celebrate the anniversary, let’s look back at some of our achievements over the years – and hear from some of the people who’ve made this possible.

Wikimedia Ukraine’s work in ten figures

1. Hundreds of volunteers, 74 NGO members, 7 staff members & contractors
2. Over 380,000 freely-licensed photos of Ukraine’s cultural heritage via Wiki Loves Monuments
3. Over 100,000 cultural heritage monuments in Ukraine’s first publicly available database, created by the Wiki Loves Monuments team
4. Almost 120,000 freely-licensed photos of Ukraine’s nature heritage via Wiki Loves Earth
5. 13 annual Wikiconferences for the Ukrainian community
6. 1000 workshops organized and supported over the years
7. A community of 100+ educators who regularly use Wikimedia projects in their work & exchange their experiences
8. Over 60,000 Wikipedia articles created or improved thanks to our campaigns
9. Over 8,000 articles about Ukrainian culture created or improved in other languages via Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy Month 
10. Around 35 wikiexpeditions supported

What Wikimedia Ukraine means for its volunteers – four perspectives

“For me, Wikimedia Ukraine is more than just an organization that supports volunteers, it’s like a second family. When Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine began in 2022, my life radically changed – as for any other Ukrainian. But Wikimedia Ukraine and my wiki activity is perhaps the thing that remained stable across my life ‘before’ and ‘after’”, – Daryna (user Rina.sl), Wikimedia Ukraine’s volunteer

“Thanks to Wikimedia Ukraine’s support I was able to organize Ukraine’s first wiki school for high school students. I also held a lot of training sessions for students, educators and librarians. This support also enabled me to organize a local meetup for the annual Wikiconference in 2023. I really appreciate all these experiences, and it would be much harder to acquire them but for Wikimedia Ukraine. For me Wikimedia Ukraine is about the opportunity to share success and problems, get advice, do your work better, and have an interesting way to spend my free time”,  – Mariana Senkiv, Wikimedia Ukraine member and university teacher. 

“I think that these 15 years have shown that the value of Wikimedia Ukraine is the ability to combine forces and resources, especially volunteer resources, and do something incredible. For example, for the first time in Ukraine’s history, we collected and published the most complete public lists of cultural heritage sites. A single database of monuments in Ukraine simply did not exist before 2012. This was done by a small NGO with the help of volunteers”, – Illia Korniko, chair of Wikimedia Ukraine’s board and member of the Wiki Loves Monuments organizing team.

“I joined Wikimedia Ukraine in 2009 as an active contributor to the Ukrainian Wikipedia. I was (and still am) fascinated with the values of Wikipedia: spreading free knowledge through volunteering and collaboration, openness of discussions and decision-making, and a strong desire to be independent of political or commercial influence. But at that time I had no idea how a Ukrainian NGO could operate. And now, 15 years later, I am happy that Wikimedia Ukraine is actually working based on the same values of Wikipedia. This, in my opinion, is what makes the organization successful: a few sentences on a discussion page, in a few years (and with several hundred or even thousands of hours of time of dozens of volunteers), can spark one of the organization’s leading, internationally recognized projects”, – Mykola Kozlenko, vice chair of Wikimedia Ukraine’s board.

Explore more:

• Wikimedia Ukraine’s work in 2023, in 10 projects (in English on Diff)
• A video showcasing Wikimedia volunteers in Ukraine (in Ukrainian, with English subtitles) 

After previously announcing the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 we have the pleasure to also present the winning pictures of the special awards of 2023!

In 2023 almost 220.000 images have been contributed by more than 4.700 photographers in 46 national contests. From this vast collection of pictures documenting monuments and world heritage around the globe the winners were chosen by the juries on national and international level. A warm thank-you from the international coordination team to all who took part als photographers, organizers and in the juries, and everyone that helped make this competition possible! For a complete overview of all nominees, winners and runners-up, please check out the Winners page on Wikimedia Commons!

Special prize for Previously Undocumented Monuments

The goal of Wiki Loves Monuments is the documentation of heritage sites. Many places have already been covered thanks to all the contributors since the first contest in 2011, but there are still monuments that are missing images. To reward photographers who dedicate their work to such sites special prizes are awarded in this category.

This is an English translation of my book entitled “A 70-year-old Wikipedian talks about the charm of libraries“. The text of the original book is in Japanese, so I will be translating it into English bit by bit. Chapter 1, The Road to Wikipedia.

Meet the Encyclopedia (Chapter 1-1)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, so my story starts with an encyclopedia. When I was a child, there was a Japanese encyclopedia in my brother’s room. My father was not a scientist, but he liked to read books and magazines. My house was full of books, magazines and newspapers. That is one of the reasons why I became a librarian.

I studied German literature at university, but I couldn’t get a job, so after graduating I went to library school. The professors all studied library science in the USA, so the curriculum was all American. I learnt about encyclopedia as one of the reference books. My teacher told us that “an encyclopedia is a barometer of all the knowledge of the age in which it was created”. I was deeply moved by these words.

For my graduation thesis I chose the Brockhaus, a German encyclopedia. Its first edition was published at the beginning of the 19th century and the 17th edition was published in the middle of the 20th century. So I extracted the word “library” from each edition and studied the evolution of its content. I then traced the image of the “library” in the minds of Germans. As a result, I was able to see the library through the encyclopedia and the encyclopedia through the library.

So I was familiar with the encyclopedia, but after graduation I did not get a job to edit encyclopedia. In those days, the encyclopedias were written by experts, and ordinary people just read them.

Original Book

門倉百合子『70歳のウィキペディアン：図書館の魅力を語る』東京：郵研社、2023年 (A 70-year-old Wikipedian talks about the charm of libraries / by Yuriko Kadokura. Tokyo: Yukensha, 2023)

About this book

• Japanese Wikipedian wrote a book titled “A 70-year-old Wikipedian talks about the charm of libraries”
• Japanese author of “A 70-Year-Old Wikipedian” to hold talk event

On May 28th, 2024, the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia was successfully launched after a long period of dormancy. Wikipedia, an open and free encyclopedia initiated in 2001, aims to liberate knowledge on various topics, accessible and editable by anyone worldwide in the form of articles. It is one of the projects of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). The Kadazandusun language Wikipedia is dedicated to include articles in the Kadazandusun language, using the standard dialect Dusun-Liwan, in an effort to expand online reading materials and information about this language

In March 2023, the Kent Wiki Club form the Kent Campus of the Malaysia Institute of Teacher Education (IPGM) in Tuaran was introduced to the Wikimedia Incubator, which serves as a test wiki before developers launch a Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Incubator project for the Kadazandusun language had been in existence since 2011 but had been inactive for over 10 years due to the lack of active editors or contributors contributing information in this language. Initially, only a few contributors edited on this platform, in about 1 to 5 people, who also became less active in editing over time until 2023 when it was introduced by Taufik Rosman to the members of the Kent Wiki Club at IPGM Kent Campus. The Kent Wiki Club is a student union in Malaysia that aims to expand the Wikimedia community in Malaysia with the support of the Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia (WCUGM) in the nationwide Wikimedia movement. These students are trainee teachers majoring in the Kadazandusun language, with the objective of elevating the Kadazandusun language, introducing Kadazandusun culture on a global scale, and digitizing Kadazandusun cultural and language knowledge through Wikimedia platforms.

The efforts to reactivate the Wikimedia Incubator specifically for the Kadazandusun language were further strengthened in September 2023 after several members of the Wiki Kent Club and lecturers from IPGM Kent Campus participated in the Wikimania 2023 conference held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Subsequently, a meeting to discuss the efforts for launching Wikipedia in the Kadazandusun and Bajau Sama languages was held via Zoom on December 15th, 2023. The meeting was attended by Wikimedians from WCUGM, members of the Wiki Kent Club, and several Wikimedians from the Bajau Sama community. Among the requirements discussed to facilitate the approval of the Wikipedia projects were having at least three active editors with a minimum of 11 edits each per month for 5 to 8 consecutive months on the incubator (dtp is the code for Kadazandusun on Wikimedia). Additionally, the translation of the interface (most important messages) on translatewiki must reach 100%, and the entries must include high-quality encyclopedic articles.

The proposal for the approval of the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia (BKD) was submitted on January 13th, 2024, by Farouk Azim (username: ultron90), a wikimedian from WCUGM. Then, on February 20th, 2024, a discussion was held with the language committee, but the challenge encountered was the lack of engagement from other committee members. This effort continued until March 3rd, 2024, when the Language Committee was contacted via email to expedite the approval of the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia. The identified issue remained the same, with only one committee member providing feedback and opinions on the launch. Finally, the pre-approval announcement for the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia was received on May 5, 2024, and it was officially approved for creation on May 17th, 2024.

The efforts to establish the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia were not easy due to various issues and challenges faced throughout its approval process. There were also issues during the creation phase, such as users questioning the terms used in Kadazandusun language articles. However, these issues were resolved through discussions within the Kadazandusun’s user community, where most agreed to retain terms that align with the commonly used standard dialect in Kadazandusun.

Throughout this effort, we found that the participation of other volunteers was crucial in facilitating the process by creating templates that made the articles resemble actual Wikipedia entries. Without these templates, the articles would have appeared incomplete. The major contributors to the creation of this Wikipedia included Rombituon, Ultron90, Jjurieee, Blusjai, and CorrelMoris38. Additionally, several volunteer members from the Wiki Kent Club also participated in the editing process.

The efforts of the Wiki Kent Club members can also be seen through their work in completing the translation of the interface texts (most important messages) to 100%, which expedited the approval of Wikipedia BKD. Additionally, having admin rights was very helpful in managing old articles and correcting incorrect titles.

“Interest in contributing and enthusiasm are key to being a volunteer or Wikimedian in liberating knowledge. For instance, Jilorisa John with the username: Rombituon, frequently asked for guidance on creating templates until she became an admin in the Kadazandusun incubator project, which greatly helped in correcting linguistic errors in the articles, considering I am not well-versed in the Kadazandusun language,” said Farouk Azim, who assisted in submitting the approval proposal for Wikipedia BKD to the language committee.

As for the Wiki Kent Club, they played a significant role by encouraging their members to remain active in editing the incubator project to expedite this effort. For example, they organized an editathon for the Kadazandusun incubator project on January 15th, 2024, in conjunction with Wikipedia’s 23rd birthday. During this event, they improved existing articles and created new ones.

On March 11th, 2024, the WikiGap 2024 program was held, where the Kent Wiki Club also edited the Kadazandusun incubator to include articles related to notable women in conjunction with International Women’s through the WikiGap program. This event was conducted simultaneously in Malaysia in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden.

To date, there are 858 Kadazandusun articles that have been created in the incubator project until the launch of the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia. In conclusion, the efforts to approve Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia were not easy, filled with ups and downs like a rollercoaster. Without the perseverance and efforts of the Kent Wiki Club, along with strong support from WCUGM, Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia would not exist as it does today.

“I would like to extend my deepest appreciation and heartfelt thanks to everyone involved, directly or indirectly, in the effort to create the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia despite the many challenges faced,” said Jurina Jonimin (username: Jjurieee), chairperson of the Kent Wiki Club.

Congratulations also to the champions of the Kadazandusun language, who are also members of the Wiki Kent Club, for their unwavering determination and high spirit in elevating and ensuring the existence of a platform that preserves, documents, digitizes, and globalizes this language and culture through Wikimedia platforms, especially the Kadazandusun Language Wikipedia as a public reference to address the challenges faced by this language, particularly the lack of reading materials or references in Kadazandusun. Additionally, this initiative provides an opportunity to elevate the Kadazandusun language and culture on a global scale, as Wikimedia is an international movement that can showcase this language and culture to the world.

Before that, from the Wiki Kent Club, we would like to wish everyone a happy Kaamatan festival. Our efforts have been successful this year, just in time for the Harvest Festival.

Find more on:

• https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kelab_Wiki_Kent/en

Whether in school or from your favorite true crime podcast, you’ve probably learned about the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits U.S. law enforcement officers from carrying out searches and seizures without warrants, and the related exclusionary rule, which states that if obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights, evidence collected cannot be used in a court of law. But have you heard of the “good-faith exception”, a critical limitation to this exclusionary rule?

Under the good-faith exception, evidence collected without valid warrants can be used in court if the officers were relying on the validity of the warrant in “good faith”.

Before Northeastern University School of Law student Charles Choi added nearly 3,500 words and 78 references to the good-faith exception article on Wikipedia, it provided very little explanation of what Choi knew to be a noteworthy legal exemption with real-life implications for ordinary people.

“I was somewhat surprised to see that the ‘good-faith exception’ article was labeled as Low-importance on WikiProject Law and was previously a stub, as it is a U.S. constitutional law doctrine that has been addressed many times by the Supreme Court and is an important consideration for criminal proceedings,” said Choi. “While I knew that I couldn’t discuss every single detail about the concept, I felt that I could flesh out the article with the current status of the doctrine with a description of the more important court cases.”

This significant lack of content on the legal topic is a prime example of how missing information can lead to misinformation among readers. Missing information in an article can often distort the context, leading readers to fill in the gaps with their own assumptions or guesswork. These assumptions might align with existing biases or preconceptions, further solidifying their false beliefs. Simply put, the incomplete article leaves room for interpretation that can diverge significantly from reality.

To fill in the gaps in the good-faith exception Wikipedia article, Choi first researched the related exclusionary rule. 

“The rationale that the courts have used to apply the exclusionary rule (deterring police misconduct) turned out to be critical for how the exception itself developed,” explained Choi. “I felt that returning to this rationale throughout the article was important for the readers who are doing their own legal analysis, as the rationale is just as important as the particular facts and outcomes of the court cases to predict how the courts will decide in future cases.”

Choi also explored his article’s Talk page to discover areas to research and expand, including case law and the interpretations of the doctrine by individual U.S. states. 

Underscoring the research and digital literacy skills refined during the process, Choi noted the connections between writing for Wikipedia and his career goals in intellectual property law.

“A lot of effort was put into synthesizing multiple primary and secondary sources and condensing down this large pool of information into a concise, non-technical overview that is appropriate for Wikipedia,” said Choi. “I feel that this directly translates to an important skill of legal professionals to be able to effectively explain concepts to their clients.” 

For Choi, the experience of writing for Wikipedia was gratifying and increased his respect for the volunteer editors and contributors.

“I am a huge fan of Wikipedia and it is inevitably one of the first websites that I go to learn about all aspects in my life,” said Choi.  “I love Wikipedia for its no-nonsense style of writing and the abundance of information that answers all but the most obscure questions.”

No stranger to academic assignments, Choi also holds a PhD in molecular biology and bachelor’s in chemical engineering. Reflecting on his Wikipedia assignment, he underscored the positive learning outcomes and vast audience for the work.

“A traditional law school assignment would be something like a 15-page paper with the same level of accompanying research and analysis,” noted Choi. “While a Wikipedia article would likely not go as in-depth as a paper, I feel that as the same analysis and citation needs to be done, the educational benefit is equally accomplished. The fact that the article will be read by more people beyond the professor makes it even more rewarding.”

Wiki Education thanks the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation for their support of important student work like Choi’s to enhance accuracy of information and promote digital citizenship on Wikipedia. 

Interested in incorporating a Wikipedia assignment into your course? Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn more about the free assignment templates and resources that Wiki Education offers to instructors in the United States and Canada.

We’re very pleased to introduce Wikimedia UK’s new Head of Development and Communications, Belvin Tawuya. Belvin will oversee the development, fundraising and communications functions for the charity, working in close collaboration with the CEO, staff and other stakeholders. He joined us two weeks ago and is already settling in well, getting to know the team and thinking about how to amplify our work and secure additional funds.

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in the UK, Belvin is a certified senior Digital, Marketing and Communications practitioner with over a decade of experience in the UK cultural and non-profit sectors.

Belvin’s most recent role was Chief Digital, Communications and Marketing Officer at the Africa Centre, and his career includes strategic communications and digital roles at organisations including the Financial Ombudsman Service as well as serving in the army. Has worked with both external fundraising consultants and internal teams, helping to draft bids and craft compelling cases for support for various non-profit organisations that he has worked with. He is strongly committed to Wikimedia UK’s vision and mission and has personally benefited significantly from open access to knowledge.

Belvin hopes to bring his track record of success in development and communication to Wikimedia UK. Confident that his strategic vision, leadership skills, and experience in driving growth and engagement will add value to the organisation. He is passionate about championing the cause for Africa and its diaspora in the UK and is actively involved in various initiatives that amplify African voices and promote the continent’s rich cultural and intellectual heritage. Outside of work, has interests in contemporary African art, collecting vinyl records and DJing, literature and travel.

Belvin is looking forward to getting to know the volunteer community in the UK, and welcomes input into how we can communicate to the world about our work and the Wikimedia projects more broadly. Looking forward to getting to know everyone well and working collaboratively with others to raise awareness about WMUK’s important work and ensuring its long-term sustainability through effective fundraising strategies.

The post Welcome Belvin Tawuya, our new Head of Development and Communications appeared first on WMUK.

The ESEAP Conference 2024 was successfully held in Kota Kinabalu from May 10th to 12th, 2024. The event was attended by nearly 150 Wikimedians from across the Asia Pacific. This year’s conference is special as it marked a starting point to strengthen the foundation of the ESEAP Hub, as well as opening the opportunity for movement partners to collaborate with ESEAP’s affiliates for the first time.

During the initial planning of the event, the ESEAP Conference Core Organizing Team believed that the involvement of movement-aligned organizations to support the event is crucial to open up the perspective of ESEAP Affiliates and to develop their capacity in engaging with partners to support their efforts in strengthening the presence of the Wikimedia movement in their respective countries. Based on this spirit, we started to engage potential partners who are interested in supporting this major event. We successfully engaged the participation of both local partners in Malaysia, as well as global organizations who sent their representatives as speakers for the event.

As the host country of the event, we gratefully received generous support from various public institutions in Malaysia. The Sabah Education Department, alongside Institute of Teacher Education, Kent Campus and boarding schools, actively participated in the conference, offering valuable insights into integrating Wikimedia content into the education curriculum.

We were particularly delighted that the Kent Wikiclub was recognized as an exemplary model for student involvement in enhancing Wikimedia content—a vital skill development initiative within the Malaysian curriculum framework. Moreover, the Sabah State Library generously provided us with the venue for conducting the pre-event Wiktionary Workshop on the Sabahan indigenous language. This workshop was further enriched by the participation of the Sabah Cultural Board, a prominent government body dedicated to preserving indigenous languages.

Given the diverse participants from across the Asia Pacific region, the Sabah Tourism Board graciously extended their support by organizing captivating cultural performances that mesmerized conference attendees. We extend our gratitude to the WMF Global Advocacy team for their support, which facilitated the presence of representatives from the Malaysia Ministry of Digital. Their participation enabled insightful discussions on how the Wikimedia movement could contribute to the drafting process of AI regulation

In addition to our local partners, we were fortunate to have support from various global organizations, which actively participated in lecture sessions throughout the conference. Jess Wade, representing the Mozilla Foundation, shared invaluable insights into how Wikimedians in ESEAP could contribute to their Common Voice project. Robert Lejon from the Swedish Embassy in Malaysia and Eric Luth from Wikimedia Sweden showcased successful collaborations between affiliates in ESEAP and their respective institutions. Esther Dina Sihombing from the UNESCO Jakarta field office utilized the session to announce their recent partnership with Wikimedia Indonesia, aimed at conducting anti-mis/disinformation training for Wikimedians and cultural activists in Indonesia. Alan Ang from Wikimedia Deutschland concluded the lineup of partners by presenting collaboration opportunities on the Wikidata Project.

Following their interactions with Wikimedians during the event, the partners who attended the ESEAP Conference expressed a strong interest in learning more about how they can support the remarkable efforts of Wikimedians in the ESEAP region. They felt warmly welcomed by the Wikimedians and expressed a genuine desire to collaborate with our communities. This event serves as a catalyst for broader collaboration with movement-aligned organizations in the region. As a global movement dedicated to freeing knowledge, it’s imperative that we unite forces with partners who share a similar vision. This collaboration knows no bounds and is indeed achievable beyond the horizon.

CC-BY-Salema Younus

On May 4, 2024, the Wikimedia Libya Community gathered for an insightful hybrid session in Benghazi and online to discuss the Movement Charter and its implications for the future governance of the Wikimedia Movement. The four-hour session, led by Salema (User:Salema younus), saw active participation from seven in-person attendees and four online participants, with additional online support from Nada (User:Nada.FA) and Nanour (User:NANöR).

The session marked a significant step for the emerging Wikimedia Libya Community, as it was their first encounter with the Movement Charter and their debut in the Movement Charter Ambassador Program. Prior to the in-person meeting, the community engaged in a series of preparatory activities through their WhatsApp group.

Pre-Session Engagement and Preparations

The groundwork for this session began in early April, as the community prepared through a series of structured activities and discussions facilitated via their WhatsApp group. Here’s a brief timeline of these preparatory steps:

• 1st – 9th April: Initial engagement, mindful of the three-day Eid break.
• 4th April: Invitation extended to the community for the upcoming global session. Six enthusiastic members (Abdelqayoum, Moataz, Ahmed, Faraj, Salema, Sundus, and Fajria) confirmed their participation.
• 5th April: Community members shared their expectations and queries about the session. Key questions included understanding the Movement Charter, the voting rights of emerging communities, and how the Charter supports newly established groups.

Strategy and Charter Explained in Daily Snippets

From April 5th, the “Strategy in a Minute” initiative provided daily one-minute voice messages explaining different aspects of the Wikimedia strategy, setting the stage for deeper engagement and understanding of the charter goals and objectives. Topics covered included:

• What is the Wikimedia Movement?
• Is the Wikimedia Movement dynamic and reinvigorated?
• What is the Movement Strategy?
• Components of the Movement Strategy?
• How does the strategy relate to the Libyan community?

Subsequently, from April 13th to 29th, the focus shifted to the “Charter in a Minute” series, breaking down the Movement Charter into digestible segments. These discussions emphasized chapters such as the introduction, ratification, amendments, and glossary of terms. This pre-session dialogue helped community members acclimate to the Charter’s structure and content, preparing them for a productive in-person session.

Wikimedia Libya community also participated in the global community consultation on 26 April.

CC-BY-Salema Younus

In-Person Session Highlights

The in-person session kicked off with a question aimed at understanding the future roles that community members envisioned for themselves, fostering a sense of belonging and aligning these roles with the Charter. This was followed by a detailed introduction to the Charter’s chapters and an engaging discussion on its relevance to emerging communities like Wikimedia Libya.

Key opinions on the Volunteer Chapter included:

• Concerns about the absence of volunteer rights alongside their responsibilities.
• Concerns were raised about the Charter placing the onus on volunteers to adhere to project policies without clarifying who sets these policies.
• Suggestions for adding transparency and neutrality provisions.
• It was noted that the Charter categorized communities and partner organizations under volunteers, which some members found problematic.

The session also delved into the position of emerging communities, which are not yet fully recognized as Wikimedia Movement Bodies according to the Charter. This discussion highlighted the need for better support and clear guidelines for such communities.

Moving Forward

This session marked the first time Wikimedia Libya engaged with the Movement Charter and participated in the Movement Charter Ambassador Program.They are eager to participate in the ratification process of the Movement Charter, viewing it as an essential step toward shaping their future and enhancing their contributions to the global Wikimedia ecosystem.

As we look ahead, we encourage everyone in the community to actively engage and share their perspectives. Together, we can ensure that the Movement Charter reflects the diverse needs and aspirations of all Wikimedia communities, especially those that are still emerging. Let’s continue this journey of growth and collaboration with enthusiasm and commitment!

On April 26, 2024, the vibrant community of Wikipedians gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the Wiki Loves Bangla Photography Contest and the Amar Ekushey Article Contest. Organized by Wikimedia Bangladesh, the prize-giving ceremony took place at the esteemed Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, located at 17 Mymensingh Road, Dhaka. This prestigious event was graced by approximately 26 Wikipedians and guests from both Bangladesh and India, marking a day of recognition and shared experiences.

The ceremony began with the felicitation of the top contributors from both competitions. These dedicated individuals were honored with crests, certificates, and vouchers in acknowledgment of their outstanding contributions. The award ceremony was a testament to the hard work and passion of the participants, who have significantly enriched the Bangla Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons with their entries.

The highlight of the event was the distribution of crests to the winners, each symbolizing their remarkable achievements. As the awards were handed out, the atmosphere was filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Winning contestants and members of the organizing team took the stage to share their experiences, providing inspiring insights into their journeys and the importance of such collaborative efforts in promoting Bangla language and culture.

A moment of appreciation as reviewers of the Amar Ekushey Article Contest 2024 receive their well-deserved mementos. Their dedication and expertise have played a viatal role in enriching Bangla Wikipedia. Photos by Gangulybiswarup, published under CC-BY SA 4.0.

Following the award ceremony, attendees enjoyed a well-deserved lunch break, which offered an opportunity for further networking and camaraderie. The break was a delightful interlude, filled with engaging conversations and a shared enthusiasm for the Wikimedia projects.

Post-lunch, the event resumed with an educational workshop on photography, conducted by Wikimedia Commons contributor Biswarup Ganguly. This workshop aimed to equip participants with advanced photography skills, enhancing their ability to contribute high-quality images to Wikimedia Commons. Biswarup’s expertise and engaging teaching style made the session both informative and enjoyable for all attendees.

The Amar Ekushey Article Contest 2024 saw an impressive submission of 330 articles, collectively amounting to 600,000 words. These contributions have significantly enriched the repository of Bangla content on Wikipedia, reflecting the participants’ dedication to preserving and promoting their language. Simultaneously, the Wiki Loves Bangla Photography Contest received an astounding 2107 image uploads, each capturing the rich culinary heritage of Bangla with tantalizing food photography.

The event at Bishwa Sahitya Kendra was not just a ceremony but a celebration of community spirit, collaborative achievements, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge and cultural preservation. It highlighted the power of collective effort in fostering a vibrant and diverse digital space for Bangla speakers worldwide.

As we look forward to future contests, the 2024 prize-giving ceremony stands as a reminder of the incredible impact that dedicated individuals can have on preserving and promoting their culture and language through digital platforms. Congratulations to all the winners and participants, and a heartfelt thank you to Wikimedia Bangladesh for organizing such an inspiring event.

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

• Several bugs related to the latest updates to the UploadWizard on Wikimedia Commons have been fixed. For more information, see T365107 and T365119.
• In March 2024 a new addPortlet API was added to allow gadgets to create new portlets (menus) in the skin. In certain skins this can be used to create dropdowns. Gadget developers are invited to try it and give feedback.
• Some CSS in the Minerva skin has been removed to enable easier community configuration. Interface editors should check the rendering on mobile devices for aspects related to the classes: .collapsible, .multicol, .reflist, .coordinates, .topicon. Further details are available on replacement CSS if it is needed.

Changes later this week

• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 28 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 29 May. It will be on all wikis from 30 May (calendar). [1][2]
• When you visit a wiki where you don’t yet have a local account, local rules such as edit filters can sometimes prevent your account from being created. Starting this week, MediaWiki takes your global rights into account when evaluating whether you can override such local rules. [3]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

 ‘In nature nothing exists alone’

 Raquel Carson

In the social studies of science (STS), the metaphor for the assembly that makes it possible for things to “work” is already classic. It states that airplanes do not fly, it is the airlines that fly. To this metaphor, we can add so many other things: artifacts, lines of code, methodologies, institutions, and people, that make the operation of an airplane make sense, that this technology is “social”, not because it is carried out only by people, but because it manages to link human and material entities to take advantage of their collective power to act in the world and transform it. 

What are we doing?

Implementing “Reading Wikipedia in The Classroom” (RWC) is similar. Arriving at rural schools in La Guajira, Colombia, has involved coordinating efforts with the Ministry of Education, the Secretary of Education of La Guajira, the Bank of the Republic, and school principals and teachers. It has also been necessary to design methodologies in collaboration with facilitators, experts, and the team behind the implementation of the program. Logistically, we have coordinated the production of materials, food management, travel arrangements for facilitators, and, last but not least, we have involved and enrolled the Wayuú Wikimedistas, among other aspects.

This deployment not only strengthens the Wikimedia Colombia (WMCO) teamwork but also allows us to relate and cooperate with others, joining forces to transform the territories from a situated perspective. In addition, it has reinforced the processes and projects that are already being implemented by the groups, Wikimedia chapters, and the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) in the region. Finally, although not initially planned, we identify that it contributes to the growth of the Wikimedia movement, in line with recommendation number 6 of the 2030 strategy: “Invest in the development of competencies and leadership“. RWC implementation empowers, strengthens, and leaves leadership tools in place in territorial processes.

What is the program in Colombia?

The Colombian version of the RWC program retains three modules from its initial version: access to information, evaluation of information, and creation of information. However, the deployment in Colombia, called Reading and Writing Wikipedia, has led to conceptual, methodological, and implementation innovations based on asking what the real needs of people, teachers, and schools are; we call this component Linking with the World.

Consequently, we proposed a training that not only contemplated spaces to impart and co-construct knowledge and tools, but also included interludes between meetings, spaces to go to schools, and accompany teachers in the classroom. For this, it was essential to include financing a person from the Wikimedistas Wayuú team to join the RWC implementation group in La Guajira. 

For whom and with whom do we do it?

In this context, it is worth mentioning that one of the most important lessons learned from this process is related to the strengthening of the group of Wikimedistas Wayuú. From the beginning, Wikimedia Colombia understood that to sustain the changes, it is essential to have a team in the territory capable of accompanying and enhancing the tools and methodologies deployed during the implementation of the RWC program. It is crucial to make this learning visible because we want to recognize not only what is happening today in La Guajira, but also the invisible and complex work behind Wikimedia in different parts of the world.

The twist proposed in the deployment of RWC in Colombia to reach two small towns, Manaure and Dibulla in La Guajira, to work with 24 teachers from 9 schools and reach about 1000 students, can be summarized in two aspects. On the one hand, to have as a basis a cultural exchange that gives value to the knowledge of the territory in opposition to re-productivism and capacitism. On the other hand, to recognize the existence of a collective subject, since the subjects are not isolated in the world and it is the collective of Wikimedians (in this case in Colombia) that should assume the co-responsibility of implementation, promoting the creation of value networks of mutual commitment.

What is to come

In short, at the end of the implementation of RWC in La Guajira, today we know that if we want a Wikimedia movement that promotes transformations, that is, one that is understood as a process of cultural updating and in which changes as a society are given on account of consensual objectives on what is done and for what, that movement incidentally can not take place amid individual competition and the Matthew effect.

By contrast, we need now more than ever to consolidate proposals that strengthen the processes of groups and places that historically have not been centers of interest and action, dismantling centralisms to transform not only the Wikimedia movement but also the world. We propose to collectively reimagine our future, strengthen ourselves as institutions, reinvent the ways we can serve society, and enact equity as a mechanism for justice and change within and outside the Wikimedia movement in our territories and places of agency.

Wikimedia Colombia has covered each of the sessions photographically, you can find the records on Wikimedia Commons under the category ‘Reading and Writing Wikipedia‘.

16/05/2024-22/05/2024

Mapping

• Comments were requested on the following:
  • The proposal to deprecate cycleway=opposite tags.
  • The proposal to introduce natural=wadi for broad, flat channel of an ephemeral stream with distinct banks.
  • The proposal to introduce the ordering: prefix for ordering-only phone numbers, SMS-only phone numbers, and related tags to enhance the specificity of contact details.

Community

• Terence Eden celebrated 1,000 changesets on OpenStreetMap. He reflected on his journey, his contributions, and the value of the OpenStreetMap community.
• A35K discussed the use of the class:bicycle tag in OpenStreetMap to rate cycling comfort on roads, explaining its implementation challenges and successes in different regions like Munich and Unterschleißheim. Further, he highlighted his personal experiences and strategies for tagging and mapping with this classification system.
• In the first post in the ‘Worst of OSM in Ghana’ series, Enock4seth detailed efforts to improve residential land use mapping in and around Kumasi, Ghana, by addressing outdated or inaccurately placed data using JOSM tools, collaborating with local mappers, and emphasising the importance for remote contributors of accurate, conflict-free contributions to OpenStreetMap.
• GrumpyGorilla detailed a method to find broken websites in OpenStreetMap data by using a Python script that queries nodes with websites and checks for errors. This allows users to identify and validate outdated or broken links both in-person and from the armchair.
• Juminet has updated ► the completion rate of residential addresses in Wallonia, Belgium, on OpenStreetMap, noting a significant improvement from 64.4% in September 2022 to 73.2% in May 2024, comparing data with the ICAR database and highlighting the most and least improved communes.
• Nadaraj Saranya shared her experience of being a volunteer ambassador for the 2024 OpenStreetMap Foundation membership campaign, emphasising the effort to increase and diversify membership globally, particularly in underrepresented regions. She also highlighted the learning and community engagement opportunities gained through the campaign.
• OSMChina announced the OSPP 2024 project to develop a user-friendly, cross-platform public transport relation editor for OpenStreetMap, leveraging modern frontend technologies to simplify route creation and management, aimed at reducing editing time and effort for mappers (we reported earlier).
• Andy Townsend suggested why using OpenStreetMap’s ‘Standard’ layer as an application background might not be ideal. There is no service level agreement with OSMF for the map tiles, its dual-purpose design is not optimised as a background map, and problematic edits will be immediately shown to everyone because of the way the CDN works. He recommended using alternatives or self-rendered maps instead.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

• Amanda McCann has created a tool to find potential recipients of a free active contributor OpenStreetMap Foundation membership. The tool scans OSM history files to count users’ editing days, and identifies those who qualify under the Active Contributor Programme by editing on at least 42 days in the past year. It shows that as many as 10,000 OSM contributors may qualify, significantly more than the current 2,300 OSMF members. The tool’s source code and instructions for use are available on GitHub.
• The OSMF Board Spring 2024 meeting focused on refining strategies, improving communication, and setting priorities for the year, with discussions facilitated by an external expert to enhance efficiency and engagement within the OpenStreetMap community. The board emphasised transparency and looks forward to future collaborations, including the upcoming State of the Map in Nairobi, Kenya.

Local chapter news

• OSM Belgium have moved their historical maps to the prettier URL historical.osm.be after some fixes and additions. The map has a bunch of Belgian maps dating from 1729 to the present day. Current OSM roads can be overlaid to easily compare the historical situation to the present day. The site also offers Belgian OSM tiles from 2019 to 2022, so you can see how OSM has evolved. On top of that, there are overlays including detailed hillshade and the NGI Mapindex, a map to easily share locations over the phone.

Events

• The FOSSGIS 2024 videos are now also available on YouTube as well as media.ccc.de (we reported earlier).
• Geofabrik is hosting another OpenStreetMap Hack Weekend on 19 and 20 October, in Karlsruhe, Germany. They are inviting mappers and developers to collaborate on OSM-related projects, share knowledge, and innovate.
• The programme for the tenth SotM France conference, to be held in Lyon from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June, has been published ► and registration is now open . Don’t delay in registering if you want a room in a university residence at a low price (quantities limited).
• Tasauf1980 announced that the State of the Map Bangladesh 2024 conference will be held on 28 and 29 September in Cox’s Bazar.

Humanitarian OSM

• The IVIDES is carrying out collaborative mapping of the Taquari-Antas River Basin, as a response to the current humanitarian crisis in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). The project is available on the HOT Tasking Manager and everyone is invited to participate. The OSM Wiki presents ► details of the general mapping campaign.

Maps

• FFWHol_Satoshi has created ► a pilot ► for the Holenbrunn volunteer fire brigade to display and maintain hydrant maps with OpenStreetMap. The result can be viewed here.

Software

• Mapilio has introduced an open-source solution for synchronising KartaView images to its platform, streamlining the process of contributing georeferenced images, enhancing map quality, and promoting community collaboration.
• Evidence, an open source framework for building data apps, has launched new interactive map features, including AreaMap, PointMap, BubbleMap, and BaseMap, offering customisable components like tooltips, colour palettes, and basemaps. These maps support cross-filtering, drill-down links, and user inputs, enhancing data visualisation and user interactivity across devices.
• Enhance your OSM data analysis with the new features of the ohsome Dashboard, which now includes dataset comparison and mapping saturation evaluation. Learn more through the detailed blog post and an explanatory video.

Programming

• In his seventh diary dedicated to his OpenStreetMap NextGen, a personal alternative to the OpenStreetMap codebase, Kamil Monicz discussed the project’s latest developments. Further, he highlighted significant improvements such as a new fast rendering engine, support for historical state views, improved relationship member icons, fixes for page timeouts, and a refreshed element sidebar user interface.
• Kamil’s eighth OpenStreetMap NextGen development diary highlighted faster loading for the notes layer, a new look for location links, taginfo integration for feature icons, and preparations for the project’s first development release in early June.

Releases

• The May 2024 Organic Maps update introduced bookmarks and track sorting by name, improved colour distinctions for paved and unpaved paths, fixes for GPX import issues, and numerous other enhancements across Android, iOS, and desktop platforms to improve map usability and user experience.

Did you know …

• … Marble? A versatile virtual globe and world atlas application that allows users to explore maps, measure distances, find points of interest, view Wikipedia articles and create routes, available for Linux, Mac, Windows, and Android.
• … WebGL Earth? A 3D digital globe platform for the web and mobile devices that allows users to explore satellite and street maps and customise views for different geographic locations using open source tools.
• … Lessy? A mobile app that compiles and provides information on discounts and offers from nearby grocery supermarkets in Brazil, Turkey, Peru, South Africa, Philippines, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. The app clearly shows that it uses OpenStreetMap data as its base map.
• … that Matt Daniels has created a 3D visualisation of the world’s population based on OSM?

OSM in the media

• [1] The SAI CHE PUOI? ► activists have conducted ► a survey to count illegally parked cars in Milan Italy, aiming to better enforce parking regulations and improve traffic flow. For this survey, around two thousand activists were divided into seven hundred small groups, which were then coordinated using an OpenStreetMap-based mobile application.
• CHIP described ► some advanced techniques for using OpenStreetMap to find places like a pro. The article highlighted features such as overpass turbo and creating Overpass queries using ChatGPT to improve user experience and the efficiency of finding and exploring places.
• MSPoweruser compared Maps.me and Google Maps, rating their strengths and weaknesses in several categories, including offline capabilities, user interface, search functionality, accuracy, and additional features, to help users decide which mapping application best suits their navigation and exploration needs.

Other “geo” things

• Columbus Verlag specialises ► in the production of handmade globes and wall maps in Germany, with a focus on precision, craftsmanship, and sustainability, making it the world’s oldest continuously operating globe manufacturer, renowned for integrating traditional techniques with modern technology.
• Google Maps is improving accessibility by expanding detailed voice guidance and screen reader capabilities for Lens worldwide, adding more wheelchair accessibility information for over 50 million locations, and introducing the Auracast attribute for businesses to support hearing devices, making it easier for users with disabilities to navigate and access information.
• Make Ways is a platform that helps users map and share walking routes, focusing on accessibility and user feedback to improve the quality and enjoyment of walking, with plans to expand to other forms of travel in the future.
• Kyle Walker has published a guide for accessing and visualising building data from Overture Maps using R.
• Blurring your home on Google Street View protects your privacy by making it harder for strangers to identify your home. You can do this by locating your home on Street View, selecting ‘Report a problem’, selecting the appropriate area to blur, and submitting the request to Google for review.

Upcoming Events

Where	What	Online	When	Country
Saint-Étienne	Rencontre Saint-Étienne et sud Loire		2024-05-28
San Jose	South Bay Map Night	✓	2024-05-29
Gent	OpenStreetMap-meetup + MapComplete birthday party		2024-05-28
논현2동	TomTom & OSM Korea 매핑 파티		2024-05-29
Düsseldorf	Düsseldorfer OpenStreetMap-Treffen (online)		2024-05-29
	[Online] OpenStreetMap Foundation board of Directors – public videomeeting		2024-05-30
Potsdam	Missing Maps Mapathon Potsdam		2024-05-30
Saarbrücken	Stammtisch OSM Saarland gemeinsam mit OpenSaar e. V.		2024-05-31
City of Vincent	Social Mapping Sunday: Hyde Park II		2024-06-02
臺北市	OpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #65		2024-06-03
	Missing Maps London Mapathon		2024-06-04
City of Westminster	London pub meet-up		2024-06-04
Berlin	OSM-Verkehrswende #59	✓	2024-06-04
	OSM Indoor Meetup		2024-06-05
Stuttgart	Stuttgarter OpenStreetMap-Treffen		2024-06-05
Dresden	OSM-Stammtisch Dresden		2024-06-06
Rio de Janeiro	Oficina de mapeamento de árvores e cobertura vegetal no OpenStreetMap – YouthMappers UFRJ		2024-06-07
København	OSMmapperCPH		2024-06-09

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

This weeklyOSM was produced by LuxuryCoop, MatthiasMatthias, PierZen, SeverinGeo, SomeoneElse, Strubbl, TheSwavu, barefootstache, derFred, mcliquid, rtnf.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.

On May, 10th 2024, Africa Wiki Women hosted the 5th Inspire Inclusion 2024 Campaign. The online session continued with an Office hour of Editing Wikidata.” The training session was led by Rhoda James, a community team member, and moderated by Linason Blessing.

The session attracted over 17 participants, including project leads and community members from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, and  Rwanda.

Linason Blessing, the moderator for the day, welcomed participants to the session. Following the welcome, each attendee introduced themselves during the introduction session.

Bukola James then provided background information on the day’s agenda, highlighting the partner to be spotlighted. She gave an overview of the project, detailing its goals, achievements to date and recapping past training sessions for the benefit of new participants and to motivate returning contributors. She shared the project’s meta page link for more information and introduced the partners spotlighted since the project’s inception. Additionally, she presented the project timeline, resources available for contributions, and explained the disbursement criteria for reimbursing active contributors. Ruby D Brown also added that an evaluation would be conducted after the campaign to gather participant feedback.

Rhoda James recapped the previous week’s Wikidata training session, covering:

• Activating the recoin tool on Wikidata.
• Creating a Wikidata item.
• Improving existing items on Wikidata.

The session then moved to the partner spotlight. Linason Blessing introduced Tolulope Ibiyeye, the program officer and state coordinator for Women Technology Empowerment Center (W.TEC). Tolulope, passionate about advocating for and empowering African women through digital literacy, began her presentation by outlining W.TEC and its projects. She addressed the gender gap in STEM, particularly in Nigeria, and discussed W.TEC’s mission to educate, connect, and empower Nigerian women through ICT. She highlighted their vision of a society where Nigerian women and girls effectively use information and communication technology for learning, activism, entrepreneurship, and professional activities.

Tolulope detailed their programs, which combine technology classes, mentoring opportunities, and research, aiming to bridge the gender gap in technology use, employment, invention, and innovation. The objectives include building the science and technology skills of 4000 girls and women in Nigeria annually and connecting them with STEM opportunities through competitions, hackathons, mentorship, scholarships, internships, and networking.

She showcased W.TEC’s programs such as She Created Camp, Early Innovation, W.TEC Academy, Inclusive Technology for All (IT4ALL), Makeher Space, Mentorher, She Can with ICT, Staying Safe Online, and She Talks Tech. Tolulope also presented their statistics and milestones, noting that W.TEC, in its 16 years of existence, has empowered 46,504 females. She concluded by explaining how participants could support and reach out to W.TEC and answered questions from attendees.

The session included a brief icebreaker where participants shared their comments on the project. Bukola James then addressed questions regarding Wikidata and contributing to the AWW IWD Inspire Inclusion 2024 project. She demonstrated how to link a Wikipedia article to a Wikidata item and merge duplicate items on Wikidata. The session concluded with a group photo, where some attendees turned on their video, and screenshots were taken.

For those who may have missed the session, the link to access it is available on the community meta page. Additionally, we encourage you to register for our upcoming sessions to ensure you receive timely email notifications one hour before each online session begins. We encourage you to visit our YouTube channel as well for previous sessions recordings. If you wish to become an active member of our community, please take a moment to complete the registration form. Let’s work together to bridge the gap on information about women on wikipedia and sister projects.

The Wikipedian community celebrated 23 years of Spanish Wikipedia, through an online meeting, where the actions, wikipedians and wikiprojects highlighted during the last year were nominated. This celebration brought together different Spanish-speaking countries, such as Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and Spain.

The nomination took place prior to the celebration. To do so, the community was encouraged to propose wikipedians or wikiprojects to be highlighted, and from these proposals, 1) three good wiki actions, 2) three wikipedians and 3) three wikiprojects were selected and congratulated during the celebration.

Thus, the nomination was as follows. Through a few words explaining the motivation for their nomination, the community expressed their gratitude.

At the level of three good actions

• Thank an edition

This is a thank you notification. This feature allows editors to send a ‘thank you’ notification to users who make useful edits.

• Mentoring a newcomer

This is a mentoring module, accessible from the home page for new users and novice editors on Wikipedia.

• Improving editing skills by testing in the sandbox

The sandbox space provides a place to start article development or testing. It is useful for learning how to edit Wikipedia articles and practising wiki code syntax, as well as creating an article for later publication in the encyclopaedia.

At Wikipedian level

• MiguelAlanCS

‘Because it’s incredible the amount of work he does and he’s always willing to share and teach other people.

‘Because he always helps me with what I need and motivates me to write articles on different topics, especially gastronomy and LGBT+ issues.

‘I want to celebrate the user for being a great technical and human support to all the members of the LGBT wikiproject in Spanish. His dedication and availability are an important pillar in the functioning and support of the project’.

• Madamebiblio

‘For her tireless will in the Wikimedia projects’.

‘For her ongoing contribution to Wikidata and the broadening of knowledge’.

• Superzerocool 

‘I want to celebrate the quiet, personal and friendly collaborative work that the user does for different people and projects. I find their personal support and their serenity to come up with new visions valuable, as well as their willingness to reconcile and their unselfish willingness to collaborate in the development of other ideas anywhere in the region’.

‘For creating serobot’.

• LuisAlvaz 

‘He is very dedicated and committed to the encyclopaedia and the people he collaborates with. He is always willing to help and give guidance.

‘Personally, he has supported me with doubts and cheers’.

‘He edits like a crazy person’.

At Wikiproject level

• Wikiproyecto LGBT+

‘Because currently, and without a doubt, it is the wikiproject with the most activity, the most organised and with a long-term commitment. After its inactivity, it was rescued from disappearance by a group of people who share common goals: free knowledge, visibility, activism, camaraderie and learning. Now the outlook is encouraging, and the figures support the project: every year the number of articles and annexes published by people belonging to the wikiproject increases, Featured and Good articles are postulated, contents are improved, the edition is focused with a gender perspective and a look at the Global South, and there are activities and constant dissemination. I want to celebrate this wikiproject because it helps to channel what in principle represents a hobby, into something that undoubtedly benefits the commons’.

‘For his great work to make visible the LGBT community and especially all genders other than male to close the gender gap that exists in Wikipedia’.

‘I think this project is important for two reasons: personal and circumstantial. The first is because I got to know the various figures and moments of the LGBT community, both in literature and culture, especially in Peru, and with the wikiproject I was able to update myself and get to know the importance of this community. Currently, I am creating articles focused on trans women in Peru. On the other hand, its dissemination is necessary due to the current events in Peru in the face of the pathologisation of trans people by the health authorities. I believe that the participants in the project will raise their voices in protest against what has been happening for a few weeks, whether in the writing of entries or in activism’.

• Wikiproyecto Cambio climático

‘It is a very active and therefore up-to-date wikiproject. Thanks to its aim to work on the coverage of articles linked to climate change, it improves the quality of the encyclopaedia, its neutrality and reliability. It is also a topic on the agenda and the consequences of climate change are felt most in the Global South so it is essential that everyone can be informed about it’.

• Wikiproyecto Wikipedia grabada

‘It is a great project to improve the accessibility of the information Wikipedia contains in a human and user-friendly way. I think this recognition can serve to give it renewed momentum.’

We would like to congratulate the outstanding wikiprojects and wikipedians during the 23 years of Spanish Wikipedia, for such a well-deserved recognition, and thank them for all the work they carry out helping or teaching other people; as well as, improving or expanding the quality of the content in Wikipedia through the wikiprojects.  

In addition, here are some phrases of thanks to the Wikipedia project from the Spanish-speaking community… Thank you for so much! 

From feeling overwhelmed, vulnerable, and nervous, to knocking her Wikipedia assignment out of the park – North Carolina Central University Master of Information Science student Felecia Casey-Hicks went above and beyond her task of creating one new article for Wikipedia by publishing three brand new biographies featuring diverse notable figures in STEM.

“As a Black woman in a male-dominated career, I know how disheartening it can be to be overlooked, or even disrespected, because of race, gender, social status, or other characteristics that are not considered mainstream,” said Casey-Hicks, a media professional with over 35 years of experience. “I think it’s important to recognize innovation and for people to see someone to whom they can relate, doing something they didn’t know was possible.”

The Wikipedia assignment brought Casey-Hicks together with classmates Janae Moore and Tanya Davis during her first semester of graduate school to create the Wikipedia article for Madison Maxey, an African American engineer, entrepreneur, and designer known for her work with electronic textiles and other advanced materials. 

“Contributing a biography of a diverse person in STEM, like Madison Maxey, to Wikipedia is a significant step towards addressing the underrepresentation of women and people of color on the platform,” said Moore, who also began graduate studies this spring. “As a STEM major and a black woman, I find it empowering to see individuals like Maxey recognized for their contributions, as it validates the importance of diversity in these fields and provides role models for future generations, including myself. This representation not only celebrates the achievements of underrepresented groups but also inspires others to pursue their passions in STEM, knowing that they, too, can make a significant impact.”

The trio divided the development of the article into sections, worked together to find reliable sources, and met often to ensure their collective progress toward finalizing and publishing the article on Wikipedia. 

The assignment enabled the students to develop and refine a wide range of skills, including research, critical thinking, and practical communications, explained Moore. Casey-Hicks echoed Moore’s reflection, also emphasizing the necessity of maintaining a neutral tone while writing for Wikipedia – a skill easily transferred to her career in visual media. 

For the entire group, the experience of filling in representation gaps on Wikipedia left a “profound impact” on the classmates, noted Moore.

“Contributing to the site and advocating for more diversity and inclusion was a deeply fulfilling experience for me, one that I am proud to have been a part of,” said Moore. “As a widely accessible platform, [Wikipedia] provides accurate and comprehensive information about individuals, helping to raise awareness of their achievements and influence. By offering a collaborative space for continuous updates, Wikipedia ensures that its coverage remains relevant and reflects the evolving narratives of these figures over time.”

Casey-Hicks, amazed by the process and initially concerned about potential scrutiny from Wikipedia editors, didn’t just stop with her group’s effort to create the new article for Madison Maxey. As an individual editor, she went on to develop new articles for Cordell Reed, an African American mechanical engineer and energy executive, and Arnold Stancell, an African American chemical engineer and scholar.

“The work [on the assignment] and experience were history-making and valuable,” explained Casey-Hicks. “It’s important to educate people about those who are doing extraordinary things to benefit society.” 

Led by course instructor Siobahn Grady, PhD, Casey-Hicks’ and Moore’s work on Wikipedia is part of a larger Wiki Education initiative sponsored by the Broadcom Foundation, which encourages the creation of new biographies of diverse people in STEM on Wikipedia.

Interested in incorporating a Wikipedia assignment into your course? Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn more about the free assignment templates and resources that Wiki Education offers to instructors in the United States and Canada.

While working with MetaPost for typeface design(Nupuram, Malini), I frequently felt the need for a quick and easy way to test code snippets. This mirrors the functionality of popular online sandboxes like CodeSandbox or JSBin, which many developers are already familiar with. These platforms provide a web-based environment where you can edit code, see the output instantly, and avoid the hassle of setting up a complete application or environment. Inspired by this concept, I’ve been developing a MetaPost sandbox, and I’m excited to share it with you in this blog post.

09/05/2024-15/05/2024

Mapping

• Salim has set up a new challenge on MapRoulette called ‘Portugal – Fix Spiky Buildings’, which aims to correct inaccurately mapped buildings identified on OpenStreetMap, some of which may be correct but many of which are likely errors.
• The proposal to set the tag shop=tortilla is in the voting phase until Sunday 26 May.

Mapping campaigns

• Tushar V recounted his experience of participating in an OpenStreetMap mapping party for the first time.

Community

• [1] Benedicta Banful Ohene-Amadi has provided an update on a survey on women’s participation in OpenStreetMap, revealing different perspectives on the issue from women and men, and highlighting the importance of understanding and addressing different viewpoints in mapping activities.
• Nikita Ushakov explained ► the basics of OpenStreetMap editing using MapComplete, EveryDoor, and Vespucci.

Events

• Włodzimierz Bartczak tooted that the State of the Map Europe 2024 event programme is now available and hints that more details will be coming soon. It’s also the final call for proposals for presentations and workshops, inviting those with solutions based on OpenStreetMap data or discussions about the project’s history to participate (open until Friday 31 May).
• FOSSGIS will host the 22nd OpenStreetMap Community Meeting this October in Essen, Germany.
• State of the Map Europe 2024 is fully embracing Mastodon for communication, with a monitored account run by @etua_en and @Cristoffs. They encourage anyone with questions about the conference to tag them with @sotmeu for support.
• The call for venues to host the State of the Map 2025 is now open until Sunday 21 July.

Education

• Alexandre Marques explained ► how to create interactive online maps using uMap, an open source tool that integrates OpenStreetMap layers, allowing users to add markers, lines, and polygons, import geospatial data, manage layers, and share maps through downloadable formats or embedded iframes on websites.
• Séverin Ménard was invited to lead a workshop on river mapping in OpenStreetMap, using documentation published on the UN Maps Learning Hub. The workshop was organised by an oceanographer and president of the IVIDES, Dr Raquel Dezidério Souto, who provided ► more details in her diary. The video is available.

OSM research

• The United States Census Bureau has developed a socioeconomic profile of the commuters affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, in Baltimore, based on OSM data and OSRM.

Maps

• Daniel J. H. explored in detail the evolution and mechanics of OpenStreetMap’s vector tiles, highlighting their advantages over raster maps, detailing the Mapbox vector tile specification, and discussing challenges such as data redundancy across tiles.
• Tino Dietel has created Freifunk Karte, a map that lists free wifi locations provided by the Freifunk movement.
• Kamil Monicz detailed the ongoing preparations for the first development release of their OpenStreetMap NextGen project, including improvements to the elements sidebar, a preliminary implementation of the API 0.7, and general code cleanup.
• The IVIDES has created a dynamic web map, using uMap, to support the actions being taken to combat the effects of the flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul that resulted in a significant humanitarian crisis. Official data on the hydrology of the affected region is available in the map documentation ►. Specifically, the polygons of flood areas were generalised from data from the National Institute for Space Research, which is also available from the ‘Flooding in Brazil’ activation on Disaster Charter. This initiative was blogged ► in Dr Raquel Dezidério Souto’s diary.

OSM in action

• Reddit user AtmosphericBeats has created a 1:1 scale map of Baltimore in Minecraft, using OpenStreetMap data to accurately represent real building heights, street networks, pavements, parks, and more. This detailed model allows users to explore Baltimore in a virtual environment that mirrors the real city.
• eMerzh tooted about an enjoyable cycling experience he had with his kids, highlighting a useful OpenStreetMap sign for cycling routes and appreciating its good attribution. Smveerman mentioned that you can order a free paper copy of this map from the Walloon government on their official site. Pieter Vander Vennet pointed out that MapComplete.org allows users to participate in creating their own maps.
• The KF Map provides a detailed digital map of Indonesia’s infrastructure, with a particular focus on Jakarta. It includes data on various property types, facilities, and key infrastructure elements such as toll roads, airports and seaports, facilitating comprehensive urban and regional planning and analysis.

Licenses

• Foxy found that the administrative boundary information in Overture Maps, which includes data from OpenStreetMap, is currently licensed under ODbL. Previously, this data was sourced from Esri and TomTom and was licensed under the CDLA Permissive 2.0 licence.

Software

• Marcus Jaschen announced ► several updates to the bikerouter.de website, an OpenStreetMap-based bicycle routing app derived from brouter-web. These updates include a migration of the web server from Nginx to Caddy, a migration of the server to an ARM64-based architecture, and a migration of the operating system to Ubuntu 24.04.
• Beakerboy has developed a 3D renderer web application allowing users to visualise an individual building object from OpenStreetMap.

Programming

• Andrii Holovin has proposed a solution to the impasse in transitioning the Switch2OSM project to a new platform. He suggested preserving the current version on Jekyll as a historical artefact and starting anew by transferring the materials to MkDocs, a step he took over a year ago.

Releases

• Garmin has released a new CycleMap and TopoActive map update, version 2024.10, for compatible wearable and handheld GPS devices. It improves navigation with updated map data while maintaining the same memory footprint. In case you didn’t know, these maps are based on OpenStreetMap data.
• Bryan Housel announced the release of Rapid v2.3 for OpenStreetMap, introducing features such as Esri Wayback imagery for historical views, map rotation, MapRoulette integration for task management, and GeoScribbles for field notes.

OSM in the media

• The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, a local newspaper in the Hokuriku region of Japan, reported ► the completion of a highway repair project using an OpenStreetMap road route illustration. The highway had previously been damaged in 30 locations by the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Other “geo” things

• Heise Online reported ► on several projects that aim to detect GNSS signal disruption globally: Flightradar24 GPS Jamming Map and GPSJAM.
• Researchers are developing a high-resolution, impact-based flood forecasting, and early warning system that will provide near-real-time flood forecasts with uncertainties to improve disaster preparedness and response.
• Google Maps has launched ► a live tracking feature for TransJakarta buses, much to the delight of many Jakarta citizens. Through its Google Transit Partner initiative, Google is open to collaborations with any public transportation agency that is interested in providing real-time updates to Google Maps.
• Amir Shoam, in TechSpot, explained the history of MapQuest, a web-based navigation service that was popular around 1999 and in 2010 became the first large online mapping service to embrace OSM.

Upcoming Events

Where	What	Online	When	Country
Salt Lake City	OSM Utah Monthly Map Night		2024-05-17
Bayonne	Rencontre Groupe local Pays Basque – Sud Landes		2024-05-17
Gambir	Monthly Mapping Talks		2024-05-17
Gandhi Nagar Tehsil	8th OSM Delhi Mapping Party – Day 1		2024-05-18
Durham	Mapping around University of New Hampshire		2024-05-19
Kalkaji Tehsil	8th OSM Delhi Mapping Party – Day 2		2024-05-19
England	OSM UK Online Chat		2024-05-20
Lyon	Réunion du groupe local de Lyon		2024-05-21
Bonn	175. OSM-Stammtisch Bonn		2024-05-21
	UN Mappers training – Validating OSM data – session #10		2024-05-22
	iD Community Chat		2024-05-22
Zürich	Missing Maps Zürich Mai Mapathon		2024-05-22
Rio de Janeiro	Oficina de mapeamento de feições importantes na redução de riscos de desastres (RRD) – YouthMappers UFRJ		2024-05-24
	OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting		2024-05-24
San Jose	South Bay Map Night	✓	2024-05-29
Gent	OpenStreetMap-meetup + MapComplete birthday party		2024-05-28
Düsseldorf	Düsseldorfer OpenStreetMap-Treffen (online)		2024-05-29
	[Online] OpenStreetMap Foundation board of Directors – public videomeeting		2024-05-30
Potsdam	Missing Maps Mapathon Potsdam		2024-05-30
Saarbrücken	Stammtisch OSM Saarland gemeinsam mit OpenSaar e. V.		2024-05-31
City of Vincent	Social Mapping Sunday: Hyde Park II		2024-06-02
臺北市	OpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #65		2024-06-03

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

This weeklyOSM was produced by MatthiasMatthias, SeverinGeo, Strubbl, TheSwavu, barefootstache, conradoos, mcliquid, miurahr, rtnf.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.

Africa is the birthplace of our species, and the place human civilization began, but outside of Egypt and the Nile Valley, how much do you know about ancient archaeological sites anywhere on the African continent? 

Over the past decade, Kate Grillo’s classes have worked to fix that problem, at least on Wikipedia. Initially at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and now at the University of Florida, Dr. Grillo’s classes, supported by Wiki Education’s Student Program, have added almost 200,000 words to Wikipedia’s coverage of African archaeology. Student editors in the latest iteration of her class, Introduction to African Archaeology, created four new articles about archaeological sites – Takarkori in Libya, al-Khiday in Sudan, the Jarigole pillar site in Kenya, and Old Oyo in Nigeria. In addition to creating these new articles, the class also made improvements to another 20 articles.

Takarkori is an archaeological site in southern Libya, near the border with Algeria. Evidence of human habitation dates back over 10,000 years to a period when this area, now deep in the Sahara, was much wetter and supported lakes, wetlands, and flowing streams. 

The article provides readers with a sense of the depth of history of the site and manages to meet a reader’s need for background information without delving too deeply into tangential topics. 

A good Wikipedia article needs to strike a careful balance between providing the reader with enough information to keep reading without adding so much background that it ends up duplicating information that should be in a separate article dedicated to the topic. When writing in an underdeveloped area of Wikipedia like this one, getting that balance right can sometimes be a challenge.

Al-Khiday is a group of five sites on the western bank of the Nile in Sudan that were discovered in 2004. The best-studied of these sites, al-Khiday 2, was occupied at least four separate times between the pre-Mesolithic and the Late Meroitic (a time period that relates to the city of Meroë, the capital of the Kingdom of Kush).

This article provides a glimpse at life in the Upper Nile Valley at various points in time over the course of thousands of years. It also lifts the curtain as to how archaeologists learn about life in ancient times through clues like charring in food remains, starch grain sizes, and the imprints of bacteria on prostate stones. 

Jarigole pillar site, a communal burial site in northern Kenya, and Old Oyo in Nigeria, the capital city of the Oyo Empire which was abandoned in 1835 after Fulani attacks, round out the set of articles created by student editors in this iteration of Dr. Grillo’s class. Together, these articles help fill gaps in an area of Wikipedia where significant absences abound.

Popular – and sometimes scholarly – knowledge is shaped by the information that’s available. Wikipedia’s existence has put an incredible amount of information at the fingertips of anyone with an internet connection (and a decent command of English or one of the other major language Wikipedias). But the information on Wikipedia tends to reflect the biases in popular content. By adding specific scholarly content in an area that’s less visible in the public imagining of the ancient world, student editors like those in Dr. Grillo’s classes can help chip away at systemic issues in the representation of human knowledge. 

Just by doing a class assignment, they can start to change the world.

Interested in learning more about teaching with Wikipedia and getting started in your own class? Visit teach.wikiedu.org or reach out with questions at [email protected].

Hero image by Luca Galuzzi, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Nick Sheppard, Open Research Advisor at Leeds University and winner of Wikimedian of the Year Award 2023, and Martin Poulter, Wikimedian in Residence at the Khalili Collections and Wikimedian of the Year in 2016, have teamed up with to create a primer for researchers on how and why to use Wikimedia projects as platforms for their work.

The new document is one of many Open Research primers published by the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) – a consortium that promotes best practice in research. The UKRN site hosts advice on open and reproducible research across all subjects; all freely available and openly licensed. The primer was reviewed by Daniel Mietchen (Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure, FIZ Karlsruhe) who is a contributor to multiple Wikimedia projects as well as a scientific researcher.

It may surprise people how much content on Wikipedia and its sister projects is drawn directly from scholarly publications. If you read about peat in any of eight languages, you see a global map of peat distribution from a research database at the University of Leeds. It’s one of many images that have come from open-access research. If you read about ant species, some of the text has been repurposed from research papers.

Concentrating mainly on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata, the new document describes how sharing open-access research helps to open up the process of research while reaching a public audience much larger than the typical readers of a research paper. Individual charts and diagrams can be shared on Wikimedia Commons, along with the code and data tables used to create them. Text from suitable research papers can be reused in Wikipedia articles. Large databases can build mutual links with Wikidata, using it as a hub to connect with other sources of information about a topic.

There are many reasons to make the process of research as open and transparent as possible, including rigour, reproducibility, and public trust. As part of the UKRN’s work promoting transparency, its readers now have concrete suggestions of how the Wikimedia projects help this goal.

“I think this will prompt researchers in many fields to consider how their work can be visible on the most popular reference websites,” says Poulter. “And maybe give helpful next steps to those who have thought about it but are still apprehensive.” Neil Jacobs from UKRN said “We hope that this primer will encourage more researchers to work with Wikimedia in conducting research that is rigorous and transparent. It sits alongside others on data sharing, open software / code, community engagement in research, open hardware and many more.”

Wikimedia projects are community-driven and mainly work “bottom-up” with individual scholars and experts. There is also a place for working “top-down”: shaping the advice that respected organisations give to their communities. This work with UKRN is one example of work that Wikimedia UK and its community are doing with organisations in the scientific, scholarly, cultural, and volunteering sectors.

Find the primer on UKRN.

The post New guidance for researchers on Wikimedia and open research appeared first on WMUK.

Discover the improvements to MediaWiki hosting over the last two years.

Admin Panel

Customize your wiki via our MediaWiki admin panel.

Effortlessly configure settings, customize themes, activate extensions, and manage user permissions. Sidestep PHP configuration by using our user-friendly interface for seamless wiki customization.

We added over 100 new settings to the Admin Panel and recently redesigned it from the group up to make it even more intuitive. Learn more.

Single Sign-On

We're thrilled to announce that ProWiki now supports Single Sign-On (SSO), enabling you to authenticate seamlessly using various identity providers such as Google, Microsoft, Okta and Slack. You can also authenticate via Generic OpenID Connect or authentication services like Auth0.

SSO streamlines your workflow by reducing the need to manage multiple passwords and enhances security. Additionally, with our new OAuth Server support, you can use your wiki as an identity provider, allowing login to other applications with your ProWiki accounts.

As a cherry on top, we recently improved support for Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Administrators can now mandate 2FA, enhancing the security of your wiki.

Wikibase

Get started quickly with Wikibase via ProWiki. You configure Wikibase via the admin panel and enable various Wikibase extensions. Our most recent additions include Wikibase Client and a configuration UI for formatter URLs.

Create your own Wikibase today.

Slash Commands

Improve your editing productivity with Slash Commands, our new Visual Editor plugin.

“Slash commands” are an intuitive way to add content to your wiki pages. You are probably already familiar with slash commands from tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Notion.

Slash Commands for MediaWiki are available exclusively on ProWiki and our other MediaWiki hosting options. They are part of our ongoing efforts to make MediaWiki as user-friendly as it can be.

Learn more about Slash Commands.

100 MediaWiki Extensions

We are continuously making additional MediaWiki extensions available on ProWiki. Over the last two years, we have added over 50 extensions.

Some of the extensions we added recently are ApprovedRevs for approval workflows, External Data for integration with external systems, Wikibase Client for access to Wikibase data, Moderation for vandalism protection, and Import Users.

To ensure your wiki remains secure and performant, we only make high-quality and sustainable extensions available on ProWiki. Even so, there are many options to choose from. Find out our picks for the best MediaWiki extensions.

Jessica Hernandez challenges the norms of traditional Western scholarship in her work as an environmental scientist, author, and activist. Hernandez, who is Maya Ch’orti and Binnizá-Zapotec, brings her lived experience as an Indigenous scholar into her research, building a bridge between activism and academia.

Like many notable women of color in STEM, Hernandez’s work was missing on Wikipedia – until just two months ago, when four undergraduates living across the country from Hernandez came together to add her story.

“Jessica Hernandez is an Indigenous scientist who gets very little exposure and advocates for communities and groups that are also underrepresented,” said Dayanara Mendez, a first-year English student at Lone Star College-Kingwood, a community college in Houston, Texas. “To get the chance to write an article about a woman of color in STEM, especially since I’m Hispanic and I always love the chance to learn more about other Latinos, made this a great opportunity.”

Classmates Natalie Ramirez, Alexandria Ravina, and McKenna Sealy joined Mendez to create the new Wikipedia article for Hernandez, working collaboratively to outline sections, find high quality sources for citations, and review each other’s research and writing. For Sealy, the Wikipedia assignment was a chance to share an inspiring and important perspective.

“Jessica Hernandez has a lot to offer our world from her Indigenous perspective and research as an environmental scientist, activist, author, and researcher,” said Sealy. “She’s learned a lot through her family heritage about the environment, and that, combined with her formal education, can be very powerful in helping us to better understand the world around us and how to take care of it.”

Sealy noted the power of Wikipedia in shaping awareness and understanding of notable figures like Hernandez, emphasizing its accessibility.

“Because of Wikipedia, no one needs a database that costs money to learn more about people making a great impact on the world,” Sealy explained. “The assignment helped me realize that we can all contribute to big and important things even if we feel small and don’t think we can have an impact.”

At first, Mendez dreaded the research for the project, but once she began, quickly changed her mind.

“When I actually started, I found that it was pretty fun,” Mendez shared. “It was kind of challenging and I’m grateful for it because it was something new. It helped kill the boredom that I normally get from writing the same kind of essay consistently.” 

While she was a little nervous for the Wikipedia page to go live for the world’s eyes, Mendez received positive feedback from friends and would look forward to another Wikipedia assignment in the future.

Sealy agreed, noting the feeling of accomplishment when they finalized and published the article.

“This was a great assignment compared to a traditional assignment because rather than turning in a paper no one will ever see again, I’m actually making a difference and my work will be seen,” said Sealy.

Guided by course instructor Dr. Brian Shmaefsky, the group’s Wikipedia assignment is part of a larger Wiki Education initiative sponsored by the Broadcom Foundation, which encourages the creation of new biographies of diverse people in STEM on Wikipedia.

Interested in incorporating a Wikipedia assignment into your course? Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn more about the free assignment templates and resources that Wiki Education offers to instructors in the United States and Canada.

Explore other related stories:

• Adding Claibourne Smith’s Wikipedia article: “like it was a piece of art that I kept looking at”
• Telling the story of an African American chemist
• Clovis students add biographies of diverse people in STEM

As an organisation deeply committed to the principles of open knowledge and free information, Wikimedia UK has always sought innovative ways to engage with our community and promote our cause. Today, we’re thrilled to announce a new chapter in our outreach efforts: the launch of our new animations, designed to illuminate our work and bring about a greater understanding of our mission.

Since November 2023, we have been collaborating with a fantastic animation studio called Ritzy Animation who have helped us to bring our ideas to life, using images from Wiki Commons, which they’ve beautifully animated. 

There are four animations in total, providing an overview of us as an organisation and our three strategic themes. We have also created Welsh language versions, to support our projects and programmes across Wales.

Why animation?

In a world inundated with information, we recognise the importance of finding creative ways to communicate our message effectively. As a result, we have identified a need for a more dynamic and accessible approach to engage with diverse audiences. Animation offers a unique medium to communicate new, and at times complex, concepts into digestible and visually appealing narratives, making our work more relatable and engaging to everyone.

What do our animations cover?

Our animations cover both Wikimedia UK’s mission and objectives, offering insights into the wide-ranging impact of our work. From highlighting the significance and impact of open knowledge, to showcasing our three strategic themes of knowledge equity, information literacy and climate & environment, each episode offers a glimpse into our work and our mission.

Through captivating storytelling, and vibrant visuals, our aim is to demystify the concept of open knowledge and inspire viewers to become active participants in the creation and dissemination of knowledge through Wikimedia- these animations serve as an invitation to join us on our mission to empower individuals and communities through knowledge sharing.

What we hope to achieve

At Wikimedia UK, our ultimate goal is to help build a world where every person has access to the sum of all human knowledge. With these animations, we hope to reach new audiences, ignite curiosity, and spark meaningful conversations about the importance of open knowledge in today’s society. 

By showcasing the breadth and depth of our work, we aim to raise awareness about the Wikimedia movement and the vital role it plays in promoting access to knowledge for all. We also hope to inspire individuals to actively contribute to Wikimedia projects, whether through editing articles, participating in community discussions, or supporting our initiatives in other ways.

Join us on our animated journey!

We hope that these animations help to convey to you what working with Wikimedia can do for you, your organisation or your community. Whether you’re a seasoned editor or someone new to our movement, there’s a place for you in the world of Wikimedia. Together, let’s harness the power of open knowledge to build a brighter, more informed future for generations to come.

The post Bringing our mission to life through animation appeared first on WMUK.

This year's Wikimedia Hackathon was held in early May in Tallinn, Estonia. Like last year, it was a great opportunity to both see people I work with regularly, including people in my own team that I had not seen in person before, and to work with and help people that I have had very limited interactions with before.

I presented a session about Puppet (slides), the configuration management tool used on Wikimedia infrastructure (and some other projects I've been involved on) which I think went quite well. I also organized (read: picked a spot for in the schedule) the cuteness meetup.

In addition to the sessions, the main focus of the event was, of course, hacking. As usual, I didn't make any major plans beforehand, and instead ended up working on several smaller projects as they popped up.

Here is a list of things I can remember working on:

• I fixed several small issues in LibUp that makes it pass on more MediaWiki repositories (including core.git). James and I also migrated the LibUp configuration to GitLab.
• I finished up an MR to grunt-banana-checker to add support for automatically fixing some common issues that were causing LibUp failures and to fix some minor bugs.
• I worked with Piotr to get some of my patches to the OATHAuth and WebAuthn MediaWiki extensions merged. This is a part of my project to add support for more than one two-factor authentication device at a time that I was also working on during the Wikimania 2023 hackathon. Next up on this project is writing some UI code.
• I fixed Wikimedia Gerrit twice after it had some issues that needed SRE intervention.
• I sent a patch to Wikimedia's Phabricator/Phorge fork to add a new fox token. This ended up being deployed on Sunday and I got to showcase this during the hackathon showcase.
• Reedy and I implemented support for foxes in WikiLove. I also wrote a bot to spam foxes to Sammy's talk pages on the beta cluster.¹ (This also involved a fun side quest to get a working thumbnail for the fox image we used to show up on Beta since the thumbnailing there is broken.)
• I removed some deprecated code from core to earn the MediaWiki track T-shirt. I also reviewed a bunch of patches by others trying to earn that T-shirt.²
• I found and reported some bugs relating to Parsoid read views on Commons.
• I processed some Toolforge account approval requests and Cloud VPS project requests. I also helped some people debug some Cloud VPS issues.
• I helped Bryan debug and fix an issue with HTTP/1.1 streams through the Toolforge front proxy.
• I made some queries on the Wiki Replicas accidentally very slow and then fixed them to be fast again on the next day.
• Got a 100% helpful, harmless, useful, etc. patch merged to something. I will provide no more details on this one.

Finally, a conversation I had at the hackathon resulted in me nominating Novem Linguae for mediawiki/* +2 access a few days after the hackathon.

I had a great time, and the ferry trip to Tallinn was much nicer than the very early flight I had last year. I can't wait to see you all again :-)

Disclosure: I am currently a Wikimedia Foundation contractor, and the Foundation did pay for my travel to Tallinn. This is my personal blog and these are my own opinions.

Wikimedia Europe has signed an open letter, penned by the Wikimedia Foundaiton, that calls on UN Member States to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the forthcoming Global Digital Compact.

The Global Digital Compact initiative is a unique and pivotal opportunity to shape our digital world in a manner that advances the public interest and supports sustainable development for everyone, everywhere. 

UN Member States have the chance to embrace a positive vision for the internet’s future that supports and empowers diverse communities everywhere to build and operate free and open knowledge projects. The Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, provide the world with the largest free and open, multilingual, intercultural, universally accessible repository of educational materials ever created. The volunteer-run Wikimedia projects have formed a community-led ecosystem that champions information integrity. They serve as digital public infrastructure for openly licensed, neutral, encyclopedic content in over 300 languages.

Wikipedia’s experience of over two decades has taught us that the internet needs to be open, global, interoperable, and inclusive in order to serve all of humanity. To that end, three essential commitments should be included in the text of the Global Digital Compact:

1. Protect and empower communities to govern online public interest projects.  Free knowledge projects such as Wikipedia should not be rare. UN Member States should—through regulation, public policy, funding, and other resources—support a world where diverse online communities can build and govern their own public interest projects, designing them to be equitable and contributing to a healthier online information ecosystem. 
2. Promote and protect digital public goods by supporting a robust digital commons from which everyone, everywhere can benefit. Digital public goods such as Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects aim to make multilingual and intercultural information freely accessible to everyone. A thriving public domain that enables the sharing of free and openly licensed content for everyone to use and reuse is key to advancing many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
3. Build and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to support and empower, not replace, people who create content and make decisions in the public interest. AI and machine learning tools should support, and not replace, the work of humans. They should be designed and deployed in a manner consistent with international human rights standards, ensuring clear and consistent attribution. Such tools should also ensure participation and control by affected communities through transparent, accountable, and open processes.