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The Signpost: 14 May 2012

pi FA

Thanks for offering to help with the pi FA nomination. I'm appreciate the work you did getting the GA status. Please post any suggestions for the article in the FA review page (or even in the pi Talk page, if they are not a formal review) and I'll take care of them. --Noleander (talk) 04:27, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Advice for improving a research institute page?

Hi Disavian, I noticed your work on Georgia Tech Research Institute and SRI International. I'm looking for some advice/help on improving a research institute page, Digital Enterprise Research Institute where I'm worried about my own WP:COI. I've made only minimal edits to this page in the past, since I currently work there. However, a colleague wants to expand the page and they made some recent edits based on the structure of other articles. I can't tell if this is getting better or worse, though I think that the additional references are useful. What do you think? Any suggestions? Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 09:26, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

I have been editing a lot in this subject area, and if you have a positive change you'd like to make, just be BOLD and make it. Just remember to be mindful of staying neutral and sourcing everything you can; that can be difficult sometimes, and you have to have some language pointed out to you in order to realize that it's not neutral. That's why we have the review processes that we do, I suppose. I do like the structure of the two articles I've primarily worked on, but I've run into the same issue of wondering what material to include. I'm fortunate enough that those two organizations have (relatively) long histories, and several reliable written works that cover each of them. You're welcome to copy that format and contact me for advice on any specifics of doing so, on here or over email if you prefer that. Disavian (talk) 16:39, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
I went in and made a few changes, such as adding an infobox, which you can fill out with information at your leisure. The sources are nice, but they should really be integrated into the article of the body as inline references. Disavian (talk) 16:58, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the edits and the advice! Much appreciated. It's especially useful to point out what needs sourcing. And I'll try to move some of the "further reading" inline. :) Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 00:00, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of G. Wayne Clough

The article G. Wayne Clough you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needed to be addressed. If these are fixed within seven days, the article will pass, otherwise it will fail. See Talk:G. Wayne Clough for things which need to be addressed. GoPTCN 19:11, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of G. Wayne Clough

The article G. Wayne Clough you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:G. Wayne Clough for comments about the article. Well done! There is a backlog of articles waiting for review, why not help out and review a nominated article yourself? GoPTCN 09:31, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 May 2012

Talkback

Hello, Disavian. You have new messages at Rahulmothiya's talk page.
Message added 13:58, 29 May 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Rahul Mothiya ( Talk ) 13:58, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 May 2012

Great American Wiknic for Atlanta in June

Hi Disavian. I would like to invite you to help plan the Atlanta edition of the Great American Wiknic this June (you could update Wikipedia:Meetup/Atlanta) :) Also, please confirm any preliminary details at Wikipedia:Wiknic#2012 Wiknic.--Pharos (talk) 15:51, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 04 June 2012

The Signpost: 11 June 2012

Flying Spaghetti Monster Userbox

The image used in your Flying Spaghetti Monster Userbox isn't what it used to be. For some reason File:Flying Spaghetti Monster.jpg now redirects to File:Plate of Spaghetti.jpg. While I don't recall what exactly was there, I think replacing it with a more suitable image (File:FlyingSpaghettiMonster.JPG? File:FSM_Logo.svg or File:FSM_Logo_white.svg?) would be a good idea. 786b6364 (talk) 20:22, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Do whatever you think improves it. :) Disavian (talk) 23:12, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! I've gone with my first suggestion, seeing as how it's from Touched by His Noodly Appendage. 786b6364 (talk) 00:22, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

List of SRI International people

Hello.

Are you going to head back to WP:FLC to address the remaining comments on the above list or would you prefer to withdraw the nomination at this time? Cheers. The Rambling Man (talk) 11:00, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

I've been meaning to take care of the remaining issues, but real life has been rather intrusive on my wiki time. I'd be okay with withdrawing it for now. Disavian (talk) 15:00, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of SRI International

Hello, I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know I am glad to be reviewing the article SRI International you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Viriditas (talk) 08:25, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

GTRI prose review

Hey mate! In case you hadn't noticed, I've begun reviewing the GTRI article. My comments are listed here. Cheers! --Cryptic C62 · Talk 19:51, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! I'll see if I can get to some of that today. Disavian (talk) 19:57, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Stanford University libraries

Hello, and thanks for your recent improvements to the "Libraries" section at Stanford University. Big improvement! You also made a proposal to split off the libraries into a separate article. I have started a discussion about that proposal here. --MelanieN (talk) 16:34, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 June 2012

The Signpost: 25 June 2012

The Signpost: 02 July 2012


Your GA nomination of SRI International

The article SRI International you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needed to be addressed. If these are fixed within seven days, the article will pass, otherwise it will fail. See Talk:SRI International for things which need to be addressed. Viriditas (talk) 01:19, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll try to get to that sooner rather than later. Disavian (talk) 01:20, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 09 July 2012

Wikipedia has a long history of collaborating with educational institutions. The Schools and universities program — international and in many languages, but dominated by US institutions — started in 2003 and evolved case by case with little system. However, that changed in 2009 as Wikimedia embarked on its formal strategic process, and outreach in higher education came to be seen in terms of achieving explicit goals — especially that of increasing editor participation.
The Russian Wikipedia has been blacked out for 24 hours, ending 20:00 UTC Tuesday, as a protest against Russian State Duma Bill 89417-6, a bill currently before the Duma (the Russian parliament). Visitors to the Russian Wikipedia are confronted by the sign above in protest at a draconian internet censorship bill before the Duma. The Russian word for Wikipedia is crossed out in this banner, and the text says: "Imagine a world without free knowledge. The State Duma is currently conducting the second reading of a bill to amend the "Law on Information", which has the potential to lead to the creation of extra-judicial censorship of the Internet in Russia, including the closure of access to the Russian Wikipedia. Today, the Wikipedia community protests against censorship as a threat to free knowledge that is open to all mankind. We ask that you oppose this bill."
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Football, which focuses on the sport also known as association football or soccer. WikiProject Football is by far the largest sport project and one of the most active projects on Wikipedia in terms of the number of articles covered, edits to articles, and talk page watchers.
Eight featured articles were promoted this week: ... Aries (constellation) by Keilana. Aries the Ram (symbol ♈) is one of the constellations of the Zodiac and one of 88 currently recognised constellations. Its area is 441 square degrees (1.1% of the celestial sphere). Although fairly dim, with only three bright stars, it is home to several deep-sky objects.
No cases were closed or opened, leaving the number of open cases at three. ... The case concerns alleged misconduct with regards to aggressive responses and harassment by Fæ toward users who question his actions.
The results from last month's trial of the LastModified extension were published this week on the Wikimedia blog. The first analyses have indicated a significant positive impact, suggesting that the extension – which makes the time since a page's last edit much more prominent in the interface – could eventually find its way onto Wikimedia wikis.

The Signpost: 16 July 2012

User:Fæ was elected as the inaugural chair of the new Wikimedia Chapters Association, despite the controversies that have surrounded Fæ on the English Wikipedia and Commons, most recently aired in a live case before the Arbitration Committee. This is in marked contrast with unexciting movement, during the Wikimania meeting, on the most important issues facing the establishment of the association.
During Wikimania (July 12-15), the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) board finalized and enacted long-discussed reforms of the movement's financial structures, and considered procedures for creating new ways for Wikimedians to organize themselves into offline communities. The board moved on the controversial image filter issue, approved the 2012–13 annual plan, and issued a statement on the wikitravel proposal. It also appointed the two new chapter-selected trustees and elected the four office-bearers.
With the Tour de France in its final week, we traveled to the French Wikipedia for a chat with Projet Cyclisme (WikiProject Cycling). The French Wikipedia places a greater emphasis on portals than the English Wikipedia, which explains why WikiProject Cycling and its discussion page are actually extensions of the Cycling Portal. The project is home to two Article de Qualité (equivalent to Featured Articles) and eight Bon Article (Good Articles), primarily biographies of cyclists.
A brief overview of the current discussions on the English Wikipedia, including one regarding the purpose of the Community Portal. Started by Maryana, a Wikimedia Foundation employee, is this page for new users to be educated about the community, or is it for experienced users to find updates about the community?
Nearly 1400 Wikimedians and others from 87 countries descended on the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., for Wikimania 2012. Even with an unprecedented number (1400) of conference attendees — the previous two Wikimanias, held in Gdańsk (Poland) and Haifa (Israel), were attended by fewer than 1100 people combined – Wikimania 2012 was a complete success, with attendees' reaction to the conference coming out as ecstatic and laudatory.
Eight featured articles were promoted this week, including Paul McCartney by GabeMc. McCartney (born 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and his collaboration with John Lennon is highly celebrated. After the band's break-up he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings. McCartney has been described by Guinness World Records as the "most successful composer and recording artist of all time", and his song "Yesterday" has been covered more than any other song in history.
As Wikimania, the annual conference targeted at Wikimedians and often well attended by those with a technical slant, draws to a close, comments have already begun to come in from attendees regarding the many tech-related features of the conference.
No cases were closed or opened, leaving the number of open cases at three. A new remedy in the Fæ case calls for him to be indefinitely banned from the site after his attempts to solicit intervention from the Foundation, claiming that publicly listing all his accounts would be too onerous due to "ongoing security risks." He was further criticised for attempting to dodge good-faith concerns; the committee believes that if Fæ's claims are valid then he must be removed from the community.

Main page appearance: pi

This is a note to let the main editors of pi know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on July 22, 2012. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 22, 2012. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

Pi

π (or pi) is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It is approximately equal to 3.14159. π is an irrational number, which means that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers, although it is roughly approximated by 22/7. It is a transcendental number – a number that cannot be produced with a finite sequence of algebraic operations (sums, products, powers, and roots). The transcendence of π implies that it is impossible to solve the ancient challenge of squaring the circle with a compass and ruler. The digits in the decimal representation of π appear to be random. Because its definition relates to the circle, π is found in many formulae in trigonometry and geometry, such as Euler's identity, eiπ + 1 = 0. It is also found in formulae from other branches of science, such as cosmology, number theory, statistics, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism. (more...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of SRI International

The article SRI International you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:SRI International for comments about the article. Well done! There is a backlog of articles waiting for review, why not help out and review a nominated article yourself? Viriditas (talk) 01:29, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 July 2012

Does Wikipedia pay? is an ongoing Signpost series seeking to illuminate paid editing, paid advocacy, for-profit Wikipedia consultants, editing public relations professionals, conflict of interest guidelines in practice, and the Wikipedians who work on these issues... by speaking openly with the people involved.
The Signpost's goal is to provide readers with essential information about the Wikimedia movement and the English Wikipedia – both of which have become large and extremely complex institutions that require timely, balanced and in-depth coverage.
Two weeks ago the Signpost reported that the Russian Wikipedia had just begun a 24-hour blackout in protest at a bill that was before the Russian parliament that proposed mechanisms to block IP addresses and DNS records. The protest, implemented after on-wiki consensus was reached during the preceding days, concerned the potential of the amendment to the information law to allow extra-judicial censorship of the internet in Russia, including the closure of access to the Russian Wikipedia. Among the questions now are how effective the blackout was and where we go from here in terms of internet freedom in one of the world's biggest and most influential countries.
With the 2012 Summer Olympic Games beginning this weekend in London, we decided to catch up with the chaps at WikiProject Olympics. The last time we interviewed WikiProject Olympics was in February 2010 when the project was gearing up for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We wanted to know how the project has grown since then and whether preparing for a Summer Olympics was more grueling.
For the second time this year (and the third in the history of the committee), there are no open cases, as all three active cases were closed last week.
There has never been a better time to improve the behavior of marketing professionals on Wikipedia. For the first time we're seeing self-imposed statements of ethics. Professional PR bodies around the globe have supported the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) guidance for ethical Wikipedia engagement. Although their tone is different, CREWE and the PRSA have brought more attention to the issues. Awareness among PR professionals is rising. So are the number of paid editing operations sprouting up and the opportunity for dialogue.
One featured article was promoted this week, Melville Island. A small peninsula in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, it was discovered by Europeans in the 1600s and initially used for storehouses. The land was purchased by the British and used to hold prisoners of war, then to receive escaped slaves from the United States. After being used as a place of quarantine and later a recruitment centre, the land was granted to Canada in 1907 and used to house prisoners of war. It is now home to the clubhouse and marina of the Armdale Yacht Club.
In the first of a series looking at this year's eight ongoing Google Summer of Code projects, the Signpost caught up with developer Harry Burt.

The Signpost: 30 July 2012

From the modeling of social dynamics in a collaborative environment to why the number of Wikipedia readers rises while the number of editors doesn't.
Wikimedia Foundation published its Annual Plan, focusing on technical improvements, editor retention, and structural reforms over the coming year. The movement's total revenue, including almost all chapter funding, is slated to rise by 35%, from $34.2 million to $46.1 million, and global spending to more than $42.1 million. The foundation's own core spending will grow by 15% to $30.2 million in 2012–13.
We continue our Summer Sports Series this week with WikiProject Horse Racing. Started in November 2005, the project has grown to include nearly 8,000 articles maintained by 34 active members. There are 10 Featured Articles and 19 Good Articles included in the project's scope. In addition to preparing articles for GA and FA status, the project attempts to create requested articles and locate requested images. We interviewed Redrose64, Montanabw, Tigerboy1966, Ealdgyth, and Cuddy Wifter.
Eight new featured articles, five new featured lists, and eight new featured pictures. The highlights include a new featured picture of Frank Sinatra, created by William P. Gottlieb and nominated by Tomer T. Sinatra (1915–98) was a highly successful American singer and film actor whose career spanned 60 years. This image dates from around 1947.
In the light of recent questions over the long-term reliability of Wikimedia wikis, the Signpost caught up with CT Woo, the Wikimedia Foundation's director of technical operations.
Arbitrator Kirill Lokshin proposed a motion requiring the alteration of any instances of an editor's previous username in arbitration decisions to reflect their name changes. The Devil's Advocate has initiated an amendment request for the controversial Race and intelligence case.

The Signpost: 06 August 2012

At this year's Wikimania, I [Brandon Harris] gave a talk entitled The Athena Project: Wikipedia in 2015. The talk broadly outlined several ideas the foundation is exploring for planned features, user interface changes, and workflow improvements. We expect that many of these changes will be welcomed, while others will be controversial. During the question-and-answer period, I was asked whether people should think of Athena as a skin, a project, or something else. I responded, "You should think of Athena as a kick in the head" – because that's exactly what it's supposed to be: a radical and bold re-examination of some of our sacred cows when it comes to the interface.
On August 1, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) portal was launched on Meta. The FDC will implement the Wikimedia movement's new grant-orientated finance structure in accordance with the WMF board's recent resolutions. As a volunteer committee, the FDC will make recommendations to the WMF board on a $11.4 million budget for 2012–13.
Arbitrator Kirill Lokshin proposed a motion for a procedure on the alteration of an editor's previous username(s) in arbitration decisions to reflect their name change(s). ... The Devil's Advocate initiated an amendment request for the controversial Race and intelligence case.
This week the Signpost interviews Casliber, an editor who has written or contributed significantly to a startling 69 featured articles. We learn what makes him tick, why he edits, and why he can write on everything from vampires to dinosaurs, birds to plants. He also gives some advice to budding featured article writers.
The Wikimedia Foundation's engineering report for July 2012 was published this week on the Wikimedia Techblog and on the MediaWiki wiki, giving an overview of all Foundation-sponsored technical operations in that month (as well as brief coverage of progress on Wikimedia Deutschland's Wikidata project). ... At least one fibre-optic cable was damaged at the WMF's Tampa site on August 6, leading to a sharp downwards spike in traffic lasting over an hour and almost three hours of disruption for readers around the globe.
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Martial Arts. Since April 2004, the project has been the hub for discussion and improvement of martial arts articles, including all disciplines and national origins. The project maintains a variety of conventions for handling the names and descriptions of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Sikh, Filipino, Okinawan, and hybrid martial arts. WikiProject Martial Arts has spawned or absorbed several subprojects focusing on boxing, kickboxing, sumo, and mixed martial arts.

The Signpost: 13 August 2012

In a certain way, writing Wikipedia is the same everywhere, in every language or culture. You have to stick to the facts, aiming for the most objective way of describing them, including everything relevant and leaving out all the everyday trivia that is not really necessary to understand the context. You have to use critical thinking, trying to be independent of your own preferences and biases. To some effect, that's all there is to it. Naturally, Wikipedians have their biases, some of which can never be cured. Most Wikipedians tend to like encyclopedias; but millions of people in the world don't share that bias, and we represent them rather poorly. I'm also quite sure that an overwhelming majority of Wikipedia co-authors are literate. Again, that's not true for everyone in this world. Yet we have other, less noticeable but barely less fundamental biases.
The Bangla language, also known as Bengali, is spoken by some 200 million people in Bangladesh and India. The Bangla Wikipedia has a very small active community of about ten to fifteen very active editors, with another 35–40 as less active editors. The project faces particular challenges in being a small Wikipedia, and Dhaka-based WMF community fellow User:Tanvir Rahman is working to understand these challenges and to develop strategies that can improve small wikis that have strong potential to expand their editing communities.
A request for arbitration was filed late last week, ending the three-week long absence of pending cases.
Six featured articles were promoted this week, including Business US Highway 41, which was a state trunkline highway that served as a business loop in Marquette in the US state of Michigan.
Three weeks into a month-long evaluation of code review tool Gerrit, a serious alternative has finally gained traction in the review process: Facebook-developed but now independently operated Phabricator and its sister command-line tool Arcanist.
This week, we interviewed the lively bunch at WikiProject Dispute Resolution. Started in November 2011 to study and discuss improvements to Wikipedia's resources for resolving disputes between editors, the young project has supplemented dispute resolution efforts currently handled at the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard, Mediation Committee, and other venues. Over 40 editors have signed up to provide feedback, a variety of ideas have been proposed, and a manual for dispute resolution has been created.
Current proposals and requests for comments include a competition to redesign the main page ...

The Signpost: 20 August 2012

The Wikimedia Foundation sometimes proposes new features that receive substantive criticism from Wikimedians, yet those criticisms may be dismissed on the basis that people are resistant to change—there's an unjustified view that the wikis have been overrun by vested contributors who hate all change. That view misses a lot of key details and insight because there are good reasons that Wikimedians are suspicious of features development, given past and present development of bad software, growing ties with the problematic Wikia, and a growing belief that it is acceptable to experiment on users.
The Core Contest is a month-long competition among editors to improve Wikipedia's most important "core" articles—especially those that are in a relatively poor state. Core articles, such as Music, Computer, and Philosophy, tend to lie in the trunk of the tree of knowledge; by analogy, featured-and good-article processes generally attract more specialist topics out on the branches.
In the Utah Court of Appeals this week, the majority opinion in Fire Insurance Exchange v. Robert Allen Oltmanns and Brady Blackner relied on Wikipedia for the basic premise of their legal opinion, and included a concurring opinion devoted solely to the issue of citing Wikipedia in a legal opinion.
Thirteen featured articles were promoted this week, including pelicans, which are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae, characterised by a long beak and large throat-pouch. They have a fossil record dating back at least 30 million years and are most closely related to the Shoebill and Hammerkop. These fish-feeders have a patchy relationship with humans: the birds are sometimes persecuted and sometimes feature in mythology.
New embeddable scripting ("template replacement") language Lua received considerable scrutiny this week when it began its long road to widespread deployment, landing on the test2wiki test site on Wednesday (wikitech-l mailing list). ... the fourth in our series profiling participants in this year's Google Summer of Code (GSoC) programme.
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Korea. Started in September 2006, WikiProject Korea covers the history and culture of the Korean people, including both countries that currently occupy the Korean peninsula. This task has proven difficult with North Koreans notably absent from the Wikipedia community due to tight control over access to external media. The project is home to over 16,000 pages, including 15 pieces of Featured material and 66 Good and A-class Articles.

Stanford University

I got the impression that you intended to split this article. Do you still wish to? if not can we remove the tag? Op47 (talk) 20:36, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, I totally forgot about that. Yeah, I still think there needs to be a Stanford University Libraries article. Disavian (talk) 22:29, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
It has been implemented and the tag is gone. Disavian (talk) 08:04, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
Thankyou. Op47 (talk) 11:38, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
And then I added another splitsection tag to the article! Will my evil ever end?!?! :) Disavian (talk) 18:18, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Lane Medical Library

Hi, Disavian! I'd like your opinion. I have been thinking about doing an article on Lane Medical Library, the medical library at Stanford. But I'm not sure there's enough material, particularly enough independent material, to pass the notability hurdle. Also, I couldn't find any details about the size of the collection, and very little about the facilities in the library. I have a draft in my sandbox. Could you take a look and let me know if you think it would pass muster, or if it is too short or lacks sufficient Independent Reliable Sources? Thanks! (I've never had an article of mine deleted; don't want to start now!) --MelanieN (talk) 15:05, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

I went and made a few edits, and found you another source. I find that it's helpful to first write the associated biographies; for example, Levi Cooper Lane is definitely notable, and Elias Samuel Cooper probably is as well. Disavian (talk) 18:14, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the improvements, and the reference! Interesting idea about the biographies; I had assumed there would be less material available about the person than about the facility. I'll give that some thought. --MelanieN (talk) 20:26, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Sometimes you find references that way that you might have otherwise missed. And sometimes... well, it turns into James E. Boyd (scientist). Disavian (talk) 20:28, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Totally unrelated, but if you could spare some meatcycles to improve Arati Prabhakar, I'd appreciate it. Disavian (talk) 20:30, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
That new reference you found is very detailed (although it does contain a few internal contradictions; they can be resolved by other sources.). I could almost write the bio from it alone. I see what you mean about the Boyd article. (Looks like it got big enough to become a vandal magnet - lucky you!) Arati sounds like an interesting person; I'll take a look if I can ever dig myself out of Stanford messes. (Among other things, I discovered that the Stanford University School of Medicine article hadn't been updated in three years; it kept talking about facilities that "will" open in 2010!) --MelanieN (talk) 20:35, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Glad to help! And any article that goes on the main page gets vandalized, I've had... five so far? I'm used to it by now :) Disavian (talk) 20:39, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Well, sorry to say, my first input on her article will be a debunking. It turns out there are lots of candidates for "first woman to earn a PhD from CalTech." Prabhakar isn't even close. 1984? Not by decades! The actual first seems to have been Dorothy Ann Semenow, 1955, PhD in chemistry & biology [1]. Lorraine Foster was the first woman PhD in math - 1964 [2]. Sorry! I'll see if I can find some positive contributions! --MelanieN (talk) 20:55, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
I didn't really look closely into that fact. I appreciate you helping :) Disavian (talk) 20:57, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Always the first thing I check. I'm especially skeptical of claims of "summa cum laude", which it seems almost every biography here claims (without any evidence, ever). I especially love it when someone claims "summa cum laude" from Stanford, because Stanford does not award that distinction! --MelanieN (talk) 21:04, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Well, you were right - the biography wrote itself pretty quickly. I'll post it and see what happens. Any improvements appreciated! --MelanieN (talk) 23:19, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
Yeah, it's a pretty effective method. Are you currently editing it? I don't want to edit conflict with you. Disavian (talk) 00:10, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
No, go for it. --MelanieN (talk) 01:04, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Having written a few biographies, there are certain features you add to all of them, such as the persondata template, and you plaster their birth and death dates ALL OVER EVERYTHING. :p Also, I use citation templates quite a lot. Disavian (talk) 01:30, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Look who I found a picture of! [3] And it's published before 1923, so it's totally public domain. Disavian (talk) 01:47, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Nice find! And you found all kinds of missing details - thanks! I'm not very skilled with things like infoboxes and templates, and I don't know the first thing about pictures (except how to steal them from other articles). Funny, I have seen people go around ripping out the birth and death dates saying "once is enough!" I'm with you, put 'em in there. --MelanieN (talk) 02:20, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Hey - un-debunk! Prabhakar does have a claim to being first - the first woman to get a CalTech PhD in applied physics. Sometimes the devil is in the details! I put it in the article --MelanieN (talk) 02:31, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Oh, okay. Did you find a source that I can use for that, other than [8] in the article? Disavian (talk) 02:32, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Yes, the New York Times - the same article that you already had. I already cited it for that fact. Other than that I can't add a thing, you did a very thorough job! --MelanieN (talk) 02:49, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Oh, okay! Thanks. I just got annoyed when I saw this as the article of the head of DARPA, and sort of attribute it to Wikipedia's gender bias. I've made... a couple edits to it since then :) Disavian (talk) 02:57, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
At least there was an article. A stub is better than nothing. Nice job expanding it and giving her her due! Almost expanded enough for a DYK. --MelanieN (talk) 03:17, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
I actually did nominate it for DYK. I use the User:Shubinator/DYKcheck tool to verify if something is eligible for nomination, and I had expanded the article enough. Disavian (talk) 03:37, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
Kewl! Just one comment: I don't think most people know what NIST is, especially out of context like that. Do you have room in the hook to spell it out? --MelanieN (talk) 04:17, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
I spelled it out, if a reviewer wants to shorten it they can. :) Disavian (talk) 04:24, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
If they think it's too long, you might consider dropping "engineer and". It may detract a little from "DARPA director," as if the two titles were comparable. (There are lots of engineers, but there is only one DARPA director.) Listing her PhD makes it clear already that she is a smart and highly educated woman. --MelanieN (talk) 15:04, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

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Thanks, bot! You're a pal. Disavian (talk) 17:08, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 August 2012

Wikimedia editors have been debating a community proposal for the adoption of a new project to host free travel-guide content. The debate reached a new stage when a three-month request for comment on Meta came to an end, with a decision to set up the first new type of Wikimedia project in half a decade. The original proposal for the travel guide unfolded during April on Meta and the Wikimedia-l mailing lists, centring around the wish of volunteer contributors to the WikiTravel project to work in a non-commercial environment.
A monthly overview of recent academic research about Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, edited jointly with the Wikimedia Research Committee and republished as the Wikimedia Research Newsletter.
Developers were left one step closer to an understanding of the code review outlook this week after the creation of a graph plotting "number changesets awaiting review" over time. The chart, which also shows the number of new changesets created on a daily basis, reveals a peak in the number of unreviewed changesets in mid-July, followed by a short drop. The current figure stands at approximately 219 unreviewed changesets.
This week the Signpost interviews Mark Arsten, who has written or contributed significantly to ten featured articles; most have related to new religious movements, and some have touched on other controversial or quirky topics. Mark gives us a rundown on how he keeps neutral and what drives him to write featured content; he also gives some hints for aspiring writers.
This week, we hopped in a little blue box with a batch of companions from WikiProject Doctor Who. Started in April 2005, the project has grown to include about 4,000 pages about the world's longest-running science fiction television show, its spinoffs, and various related material. The project is the parent of the Torchwood Taskforce and a child of WikiProject British TV and WikiProject Science Fiction. With new Doctor Who episodes airing this week and a 50th anniversary celebration around the corner, we thought now would be a good time to inquire about the famed Time Lord.
Current discussions on the English Wikipedia.

Your free 1-year HighBeam Research account is approved!

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Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. Enjoy your research! Cheers, Ocaasi 15:27, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Arati Prabhakar

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:04, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

The Signpost: 03 September 2012

Some of Wikimedia's most valuable photographs have been shot and uploaded under free licenses as a direct result of the annual Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) event each September. Last year, the project was conducted on a European level, resulting in the submission of an extraordinary 168,208 free images of cultural heritage sites ("monuments") from 18 countries, making it the world's largest photographic competition. Organising the 2012 event—which has just opened and will run for the full month of September—has required input from chapters and volunteers in 35 countries.
Developers are currently discussing the possibility of a MediaWiki Foundation to oversee those aspects of MediaWiki development that relate to non-Wikimedia wikis. The proposal was generated after a discussion on the wikitech-l mailing list about generalising Wikimedia's CentralAuth system.
Five featured pictures were promoted this week, including a video explaining the recent landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. NASA called the final minutes of the complicated landing procedure "the seven minutes of terror".
Since May 2012 I've been a Wikimedia Foundation community fellow with the task of researching and improving dispute resolution on English Wikipedia. Surveying members of the community has revealed much about their thoughts on and experiences with dispute resolution. I've analysed processes to determine their use and effectiveness, and have presented ideas that I hope will improve the future of dispute resolution.

The Signpost: 10 September 2012

Thanks to the initiative of Yuvi Panda and Notnarayan, the Signpost now has an Android app, free for download on Google Play. ... but would readers be interested in an iOS app for Apple devices?
Much like article content, the English Wikipedia's help pages have grown organically over the years. Although this has produced a great deal of useful documentation, with time many of the pages have become poorly maintained or have grown overwhelmingly complicated.
Philip Roth, a widely known and acclaimed American author, wrote an open letter in the New Yorker addressed to Wikipedia this week, alleging severe inaccuracies in the article on his The Human Stain (2000).
Three hip hop discographies were promoted this week, alongside seven other lists.
After a week's hiatus, the WikiProject Report returns with an interview featuring WikiProject Fungi. Started in March 2006, the project has grown to include over 9,000 pages, including 47 Featured Articles and 176 Good Articles. The project maintains a list of high priority missing articles and stubs that need expansion.
In dramatic events that came to light last week, two English Wikipedia volunteers—Doc James (James Heilman) and Wrh2 (Ryan Holliday)—are being sued in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Internet Brands, the owner of Wikitravel.com. Both Wikipedians have also been volunteer Wikitravel editors (and in Holliday's case, a volunteer administrator). IB's complaints focus on both editors' encouragement of their fellow Wikitravel volunteers to migrate to a proposed non-commercial travel guidance site that would be under the umbrella of the WMF.
In its September issue, the peer-reviewed journal First Monday published The readability of Wikipedia, reporting research which shows that the English Wikipedia is struggling to meet Flesch reading ease test criteria, while the Simple English Wikipedia has "lost its focus".
The Wikimedia Foundation's engineering report for August 2012 was published this week on the Wikimedia Techblog and on the MediaWiki wiki, giving an overview of all Foundation-sponsored technical operations in that month (as well as brief coverage of progress on Wikimedia Deutschland's Wikidata project, phase 1 of which is edging its way towards its first deployment).
Current discussions on the English Wikipedia.

Discussion at "Did you know..?"

Hi, Disavian! Take a look at Template:Did you know nominations/Stanford University Libraries which you wrote and I nominated; there is some discussion about the hook. Thanks. --MelanieN (talk) 14:10, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

P.S. What happened to two of the pictures in the article??? Bing Wing and Bender Room have gone blank. --MelanieN (talk) 14:25, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
They were apparently deleted from Wikimedia Commons, discussion here: commons:Commons:Deletion requests/Files uploaded by Ninotwenty11. Disavian (talk) 14:35, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
Bummer. Do you want to move one of the other pix into the infobox? --MelanieN (talk) 15:10, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Greetings

Hey there. First of all, thanks for your many excellent contributions to Wikipedia! That's awesome you've helped produce so much quality content. I'll be going for my first FA soon with DVT. I'm contacting you because it looks like we'll both be helping out the 90+ students in the GT Introductory Neuroscience class. I'll email you. Best. Biosthmors (talk) 16:40, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Welcome to the Wikipedia Ambassador Program

Hi Disavian!

Congratulations! Your application to join the Wikipedia Education Program as an Online Ambassador has been accepted. We are honored to welcome you the Ambassador team.

The information below is provided to ensure that your new role as an Online Ambassador is a successful one. There are tasks listed, as well as reading material. Please make sure to complete the actions presented below, as quickly as possible.

The Wikipedia Education Program is a relatively new program that is continuing to experience change and transition. Our goal is to be better than we were yesterday. For this reason, please remember to check the information and talk pages of the United States Education Program and the Wikipedia Ambassador Program often. If you have any questions, please contact myself or one of your fellow Ambassadors.

Please complete the following, as soon as possible
  1. Add your username to the official list of Online Ambassadors;
  2. Add a profile for yourself here; and
  3. Read and review the Wikipedia Ambassadors Principles;
  4. Read the United States Education Program's Memorandum of Understanding (provides list of current courses); and
  5. Choose courses from the active lists (United States, Canada) and add yourself to the template and course page of the course you wish to assist.
  6. Sign up for the Wikipedia Ambassador Program announcements email list.

Support Structure

Online Ambassadors serve as a vital link in the Wikipedia Education Program, assisting new student editors transition into the Wikipedia editing community. They serve in a leadership role alongside the course instructor; local Campus Ambassador(s), who work with the class in person; and the Regional Ambassador, who checks in periodically with the pod to make sure everything is going well. Together, the instructor, Campus Ambassador, Regional Ambassador, and Online Ambassador encompass the course "pod".

The pod is the term we use to refer to the group of individuals that work together to help the students in a particular course successfully contribute to Wikipedia. A prototypical pod might look something like this:

  • A professor or course instructor who is fairly new to Wikipedia, leading a class of 20–30 students, who have been assigned to make significant contributions to new or existing articles related to the course subject.
  • Two Campus Ambassadors, one of whom is an experienced Wikipedian and one of whom is new to the encyclopedia. The Campus Ambassadors are provided with training to learn the basic policies and guidelines of Wikipedia and how to help students contribute effectively.
  • Two Online Ambassadors, one of whom is a moderately experienced Wikipedian, while the other is very experienced. Both have knowledge of community policies and guidelines and are available to provide editing guidance, answer questions, and assistance navigating the community. When needed, Online Ambassadors are also available for one-on-one mentorship.
  • One Regional Ambassador, a moderately experienced Wikipedian who coordinates assistance and support for universities and courses based on a large geographical region.

Role and Responsibilities

The list of the responsibilities of the Online Ambassador are presented in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In essence, the role of the Online Ambassador includes:

  1. Helping students in your class(es) when they ask for it and answer their questions;
  2. Serve as a liaison between the professor/student and the community;
  3. In general, keep an eye out for the students and professors and help them navigate the community;
  4. Helping students get feedback on their work (whether from you or other editors with an interest in or knowledge of the subject area)
  5. Be a good example for students, modeling good faith communication and editing practices; and
  6. Communicating regularly with the other members of your pod regarding the progress of the student, along with any issues that come up.

Online Ambassadors can also assist students that are outside of their pod. Generally, Online Ambassadors represent the Ambassador Program and provide assistance for students whenever encountered. While feedback on the style and formatting of student articles is essential, assistance may also be needed to review the articles substance and content. When needed, the Online Ambassador may request the assistance of WikiProjects that focus on technical issues presented in student articles.

Communication Channels

There are five main places for news, updates, and discussion about Wikipedia Ambassadors and the Wikipedia Education Program:

  1. Wikipedia talk:Ambassadors
  2. Wikipedia talk:United States Education Program
  3. Wikipedia:Education noticeboard
  4. The Wikipedia Ambassador Program announcements list. This is a low-traffic email list that is used for significant announcements that are relevant to the whole program. Please sign up as soon as you get a chance.
  5. Internet Relay Chat (IRC). If you use IRC, please consider adding #wikipedia-en-ambassadors and #wikipedia-en-classroom to your channel lineup. The latter is the main help channel for the program, where students and instructors seek live help.

Future communication tools are being developed. Newsletters about the program or messages for Online Ambassadors may occasionally be delivered to your talk page. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Again, welcome to the Ambassador team! We look forward to working with you. The Interior (Talk) 04:36, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

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