#Wikipedia - Why the deletion of a George Polk Award winner?

There used to be an article for May Ying Welsh. She received the George Polk Award in 2011, wrote a script for a film she directed Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, a film that was well received.

The article is gone. But it is not because there was no notability. May Ying Welsh remains notable at Wikidata because she won the Polk award, wrote and directed a movie.. Structural need is why many people are added.

I could ask to see what the article looked like. But what is the point? My point is that Wikipedia fails itself and its audience because of a self imposed lack of information. A message that is not allowed to be raised on the Wikimedia mailing list.
Thanks,
      GerardM

Why #Wikibooks or #Wikisource

When classic literary works  like Khosrow and Shirin (Persian: خسرو و شیرین) are read from a library, when they are bought in a book store, you expect a faithful copy of the original. Sadly there are always people who insist for their own good reasons that the original classic is not appropriate.

The notion of a woman observed while bathing is timeless, there are many stories from many cultures. When people are intent to rewrite history, they cut of parts of classical statues, they blow up statues, they remove parts of a book.

Including classical works like Khosrow and Shirin in Wikibooks is an appropriate answer to the cultural destruction preached by some. Referring to the original text in our projects and including illustrations in the text should be our answer to a censor.
Thanks,
      GerardM

More on #censorship

So I downloaded a picture from #Commons... However I did not know that my blog can be read in Iran but the pictures can not be seen.

photo © 2008 dbking | more info(via: Wylio)

I got a comment making me a bit wiser.

Please don't upload and save pictures from commons.

First it's a lot of work. second, all image and video servers are censored in Iran including blogger's. third, Iranians can break through censorship whenever necessary.

So I looked for a picture illustrating "freedom of the press" and could not find something nice on Commons..

PS Yes, I want Commons to be a well stocked source of illustrations..
Thanks,
      GerardM

The real world intruding on the wiki world

Bangkok is in the news again. The agitation by some makes the thought of travelling to Bangkok uncomfortable. When a Wiki meet up has been planned for a considerable time, the real world can and does intrude. A trip to what is a favourite tourist attraction becomes an unwanted adventure.

Who is afraid of red, yellow and blue

Today was the scheduled date for the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit. It was postponed.  Today was the planned date for the meeting in Bangalore where the first Wikimedia India Community Newsletter  was officially presented. Without the postponement, the meeting would not have taken place.

I wish a Salamon will find a satisfactory solution

People travel to places all around the world to promote the ideals that are inherent in Wikipedia. Some wikipedians write their articles with a genuine personal risk. The information that we work so hard to be of a neutral point of view is not always considered acceptable by a censor and consequently we are prevented from achieving our goal.

What we aim with all of our Wikipedias, Wikisources, Wikinewses is to provide the basic information that people need in their life. We will spread the word and do what it takes for it to get there. Remember, in the Internet age, we are not the enemy.
Thanks,
      GerardM

Censoring #Wikipedia

The notion that Wikipedia is not censored is an illusion. The worst part is that it comes in different shapes, is practised by several different groups and, it is hard to observe. It may be found in how admins censure editors that write "problematic" texts. It may be that people representing one culture are refused their point of view because "everyone" knows that ... It may even be the difference in appreciating editorial control versus censorship.

Censorship is very much the kind of accusation that halts any further useful talk. The arguments for or against restrictions are often a fine line with important consequences in either direction. I was asked to write about possible censorship on the fa.wikipedia but all I can do is write that I was asked. I know all to well that the Wikimedia domain is blocked while all Wikipedias are still freely available in Iran.

The worst thing that can happen to our projects is when they are blocked. This defeats utterly what we aim to achieve; providing educational content. For me it is frustrating not to know that we have a good understanding of all the cases of censorship imposed by governments. When this is what motivates the restriction of the number of sexually specific images, I find the argument compelling.
Thanks,
      GerardM

A partial #wikipedia block in #Pakistan

On Twitter I learned from Kim that Wikipedia being blocked in Pakistan. He refers to Pakistan.Wikia.com, and it refers to the BBC website. In it there is one line about Wikipedia:

Some Wikipedia pages are also now being restricted, latest reports say.

I find it quite surprising that news of blocks like this are not discussed in the many platforms for discussion. There are several aspects to it; it may be that people are not interested, it may be that people are not interested in learning about the consequences or that people are not willing to consider what it takes to get those blocks removed. Last but not least, it may be possible that it is discussed in one of the many "internal" platforms.

As there is no mention of censorship, the arguments used for it, there is no discussion about the relative merits of those blocks. In the case of China and now Pakistan some articles are blocked. It would be good when these articles are known so that we could at least better understand this whole phenomena.

A partial block is much to be preferred over a complete block because in this way the students of those countries have access to the information that is not blocked. A proper understanding of those blocks and their extend are needed to engage in a dialogue with the censors and their political masters. Some Wikipedia pages are also now being restricted, latest reports say. We have a strong argument in our neutral point of view and our educational purpose but do we really know the opposing arguments?
Thanks,
        GerardM

#Commons is blocked in #Iran

Commons, the biggest resource of freely licensed educational media-files has been blocked in Iran. Commons as you may know is the shared media repository used by all the projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, most notably Wikipedia.

With 6,489,509 freely usable media files Commons is the premier source for illustrations of projects of students of all ages worldwide. The pictures at Commons have been contributed by volunteers from all over the world and they give an unequalled coverage of every country and every culture.

The flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran as seen in Iran

In order to improve on the educational qualities of Commons, representatives of the Wikimedia Foundation are in ongoing discussions with museums to open up the cultural heritage of our world, we have welcomed several important collections in order to strengthen the free and educational nature of Commons.

The flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran as seen in the rest of the world

We are saddened that the Iranian students are deprived of such an important educational resource and we hope that the decision to block Wikimedia Commons will soon be reverted.
Thanks,
      GerardM

Virgin Killer

Enough has been said about the fracas about British censorship. Virgin killer is an album by the Scorpions. It is also a track on this album.


Thanks,
GerardM