Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-09-18/News and notes

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News and notes

By Flcelloguy, Kpjas, and Sugarpine, September 18, 2006

Elections to conclude this week

Voting for the elections for the Board of Trustees will end this week at 23:59, Thursday, September 21. As of press time, over 2,000 Wikimedians had voted already to determine which one of the 17 candidates will fulfill the rest of current Board member Angela Beesley's term. The results of the election will be announced in the weeks following the election.

Bidding for Wikimania 2007 advances

Bidding for Wikimania 2007 advanced this week as the jury, comprised primarily of the Board of Trustees and members of Wikimania 2006's organization team, selected four cities for the "shortlist" of candidate cities. The cities - Alexandria, Taipei, London, and Torino - advanced from an initial stage of eight cities bidding. After a general meeting Saturday, September 23 in #wikimania, the winning city will be announced the following day.

Developer Tim Starling hospitalized

Tim Starling, a Wikimedia system administrator and developer, was hospitalized in St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne after undergoing surgery to clear a bowel obstruction (first misdiagnosed as gastroenteritis). Angela reports that Tim is expected to stay for another week, and might take up to six weeks before he's 100%. A get well card is available for those wishing to send a personal message to Tim.

Polish Wikipedia celebrates fifth anniversary

The Polish Wikipedia, which is the fourth largest language version, was created on September 26, 2001. It has always been in the lead of numerous language versions and now it boasts 300,000 articles. A DVD release is in the works and soon to be revealed are plans of enhanced credibility.

To mark the fifth anniversary Wikimedia Polska in cooperation with Creative Commons Poland are organizing an open event that will take place in Warsaw on September 23, 2006. Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales will be among the invited guests. After the main part of the event that will include a Creative Commons discussion panel the participants will celebrate the anniversary at the Wikipedia Birthday Party. Contact: Wikimedia Polska and PR/spokesman.

September 11 Wiki locked

This week, developer and Chief Technical Officer Brion Vibber locked the September 11 Wiki, a project designed to memorialize the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, to prevent editing. The move follows months of discussion, with most people urging that the site either be closed or locked due to inactivity and the potential for vandals and spammers.

Cybersquatting

A request for squatted Wikimedia domains continued this week. Cybersquatting is a practice of registering website domain names similar to exisiting sites for the purpose of profiteering with bad faith. It is unclear what actions, if any, the Wikimedia Foundation will take regarding those domains.

Briefly

• The Telugu Wikipedia has reached 6,000 articles.
• The Vietnamese Wiktionary has reached 250,000 edits.
• The Ilokano Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
• The Amharic Wikipedia has reached 500 articles.
• The Welsh Wikipedia has reached 5,000 articles.
• The Slovenian Wikipedia has reached 5,000 registered users.
• The Swahili Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
• The Sindhi Wikinews has been created.
• The Ladino Wikipedia has reached 1,000 articles.
• The Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia has reached 6,000 articles.
• The Occitan Wikipedia has reached 4,000 articles.
• The Vietnamese Wikipedia has reached 50,000 pages.
• The Banyumasan Wikipedia has reached 1,000 articles.

Also this week: — Citizendium — Simple English Wikipedia — News and notes — Press coverage — Features and admins — Technology — Arbitration