Introducing Wikifunctions: first Wikimedia project to launch in a decade creates new forms of knowledge (Wikimedia Foundation)

Wikimedia Foundation: Introducing Wikifunctions: first Wikimedia project to launch in a decade creates new forms of knowledge. “The project will enable volunteer editors to collaboratively create and maintain a library of functions to answer questions and enhance knowledge on Wikimedia projects and beyond. A ‘function’ is a sequence of programming instructions that makes a calculation based on data provided. Internet users most commonly encounter functions when entering queries on search engines, such as the time difference between two cities, the distance between two locations, or the volume of an object.”

Wikipedia Gets a Fresh New Look: First Desktop Update in a Decade Puts Usability at the Forefront (Wikimedia Foundation)

Wikimedia Foundation: Wikipedia Gets a Fresh New Look: First Desktop Update in a Decade Puts Usability at the Forefront . “The updated interface, which comes on the heels of English Wikipedia’s 22nd birthday (January 15), prioritizes usability and modernizes the Wikipedia experience to make it easier for everyone to access, explore, and share knowledge. The update is rolling out today on English Wikipedia and is already live on 94% of the 318 active language versions of Wikipedia for all desktop users.”

The Verge: Wikimedia says it ‘will not back down’ after Russia threatens Wikipedia block

The Verge: Wikimedia says it ‘will not back down’ after Russia threatens Wikipedia block. “The Wikimedia Foundation has issued a statement supporting Russian Wikipedia volunteers after a censorship demand from internet regulators. On Tuesday, tech and communications regulator Roskomnadzor threatened to block Wikipedia over the Russian-language page covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming it contained ‘false messages’ about war casualties and the effects of economic sanctions, among other things.”

TechCrunch: Wikimedia Foundation expresses deep concerns about India’s proposed intermediary liability rules

TechCrunch: Wikimedia Foundation expresses deep concerns about India’s proposed intermediary liability rules. “Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit group that operates Wikipedia and a number of other projects, has urged the Indian government to rethink the proposed changes to the nation’s intermediary liability rules that would affect swathes of companies and the way more than half a billion people access information online.”

TechCrunch: The Wikimedia Foundation taps $2.5M from Craig Newmark to beef up its security

TechCrunch: The Wikimedia Foundation taps $2.5M from Craig Newmark to beef up its security. “Last week, users around the world found Wikipedia down after the online, crowdsourced encyclopedia became the target of a massive, sustained DDoS attack — one that it is still actively fighting several days later (even though the site is now back up). Now, in a coincidental twist of timing, Wikipedia’s parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, is announcing a donation aimed at helping the group better cope with situations just like this: Craig Newmark Philanthropies, a charity funded by the Craigslist founder, is giving $2.5 million to Wikimedia to help it improve its security.”

Columbia Journalism Review: Wikipedia’s co-founder wanted to let readers edit the news. What went wrong?

Columbia Journalism Review: Wikipedia’s co-founder wanted to let readers edit the news. What went wrong?. “IT’S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR since the launch of WikiTribune, the crowdsourced news site created by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia. If you haven’t heard of WikiTribune, you’re not alone—it hasn’t made a big splash outside hardcore digital-media circles. But it’s an ambitious project, one that was designed to democratize the news as a Wikipedia-style portal where anyone could contribute to and edit news stories.”

Haartez: Israeli Archivists Fume Over Wikimedia Israel’s Reposting of Historical Photos Trove

Haartez: Israeli Archivists Fume Over Wikimedia Israel’s Reposting of Historical Photos Trove. “The Association of Israeli Archivists has roundly condemned Wikimedia Israel, the local affiliate of the U.S. foundation that runs Wikipedia, for copying into its photo archive 28,000 photographs taken in pre-state Israel. In a statement Tuesday, the archivists accused Wikimedia Israel of being ‘thieves in the night’ and said the move may violate intellectual property rights and general ethical norms.”

TechCrunch: Amazon donates $1M to Wikimedia

TechCrunch: Amazon donates $1M to Wikimedia . “Back in March, we asked the question ‘Are corporations that use Wikipedia giving back?’ The answer was kind of, sort of, with one key exception, noting, ‘Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google all contributed around $50,000 by matching employee gifts. Amazon, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found on that list.’ Today, however, the online retail giant is looking to address that apparent oversight, announcing a $1 million donation to the Wikimedia Endowment, the fund behind Wikipedia.”

Why the world reads Wikipedia: What we learned about reader motivation from a recent research study (Wikimedia)

Wikimedia: Why the world reads Wikipedia: What we learned about reader motivation from a recent research study. “Wikimedia’s mission is to provide educational content and to effectively disseminate it. Doing so requires understanding the needs and motivations of the people who read Wikipedia. In this blog post, we discuss what we learned about Wikipedia reader motivations and needs across 14 languages from a recent research study.”

Wikimedia’s Transparency Report: Guys, We’re A Wiki, Don’t Demand We Take Stuff Down (Techdirt)

Techdirt: Wikimedia’s Transparency Report: Guys, We’re A Wiki, Don’t Demand We Take Stuff Down. “Wikimedia, like many other internet platform these days releases a transparency report that discusses various efforts to takedown content or identify users. We’re now all quite used to what such transparency reports look like. However, Wikimedia’s latest is worth reading as a reminder that Wikipedia is a different sort of beast. Not surprisingly, it gets a lot fewer demands, but it also abides by very few of those demands. My favorite is the fact that people demand Wikimedia edit or remove content. It’s a wiki. Anyone can edit it. But if your edits suck, you’re going to be in trouble. And yet, Wikimedia still receives hundreds of demands. And doesn’t comply with any of them. Including ones from governments. Instead, Wikimedia explains to them just how Wikipedia works.”

Engadget: Wikipedia explains how those late-night reading binges happen

Engadget: Wikipedia explains how those late-night reading binges happen. “Everybody’s prone to falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, clicking link after link until it’s been hours since you’ve started our journey. Now the foundation has begun releasing monthly data dumps for English, Russian, German, Spanish and Japanese Wikipedias that can give you a better understanding of how readers end up navigating from one article to the next. The Wikimedia Analytics team worked on being able to release datasets every month after seeing how the similar set of info released in 2015 led to a number of scholarly research studies.”