With the promotion to featured article (FA) of Grus (constellation) on 17 May, Casliber became Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion, following Wehwalt's groundbreaking achievement last December. Cas's first FA, Banksia integrifolia, a group effort, was promoted on 16 November 2006. His first solo project, Diplodocus, followed in January 2007; he has rarely been off the FAC page since. Quite apart from his regular and meticulous content work, Cas has contributed to many other aspects of the Wikipedia project – I'm always seeing his name, contributing, helping, leading. I caught up with him recently, and he graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions.
First, many congratulations on achieving the rare feat of 100 featured articles, an awesome accomplishment. Without wishing to breach your anonymity, can you reveal a little bit about yourself?
When did you begin editing WP, and what brought you here in the first place?
Yes, I've been studying your featured article log; a fascinating medley: the predominant subjects are flora, fauna and (more recently) constellations, but occasionally, oddities turn up – a dinosaur, a novel ( The Historian), a medical article. You clearly have a wide panorama of interests; do you have any specific method for choosing your subjects, or, like me, do you tend to follow your instincts?
I see you mentioned Wadewitz there, sadly no longer with us – I, too, enjoyed working with her in my early WP years. We never formally co-produced an article, though we talked of it from time to time. Are there other editors who particularly helped you in your early days, that you'd like to acknowledge now?
I started a year or so after you, and I think FAC has changed a lot since then. I think standards have risen considerably – it takes me far longer than it used to to put an FA together. What differences in the FAC procedure have you experienced? Do you agree that FA standards have risen?
Now, writing featured content is only a part of your overall WP contribution. You are an active reviewer, an admin, you've been an arbcom and, of course, you are the prime mover behind the annual core contest (which I've been happy to judge from time to time). Which of these various roles have you found most rewarding?
How do you see your contribution to WP over the next few years? More generally, how do you see Wikipedia developing? Are there any basic changes that you would like to see implemented?
Well, I see that you have plenty of ideas, and it is refreshing to see someone who has kept their enthusiasm and is still thinking ahead. It has been a pleasure to talk to you, Cas, and I'm sure all your fellow editors join me in hoping that we'll see and hear plenty more from you in the future.
100. Grus (constellation) |
Howard G. ("Ward") Cunningham, who turned 65 last week, has special distinction in these realms as the developer of the first wiki. An American computer programmer, his profound innovation was first installed on the Internet in March 1995. Cunningham remains a dynamic professional force: after a career in the corporate sector, since 2011 he has been "Co-Creation Czar" for CitizenGlobal, an innovative video and photo crowdsourcing platform that enables organizations to easily collect and analyze eyewitness media and data. He is also Nike's first Code for a Better World Fellow.
One of Cunningham's memorable quips is: "the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer," which has come to be known as Cunningham's law. Its author is reported to have said: "Wikipedia may be the most well-known demonstration of this law."
As part of his birthday celebrations, WMF's Victor Grigas published an interview with Cunningham originally recorded in 2011. The following quotes are drawn from the significant statements he makes in the video:
“ | There’s a couple of things that Wikipedia did right, that didn’t even occur to me – for example, getting the licensing right. I was careless about licensing and I think that saying: "this has to be the licensed this way, here’s the ownership, here’s the guarantees going forward” is important, and I just wasn't interested in that stuff, so I just didn’t do that right. … I was open, but there was no guarantee that [the licensing] was open. There was no agreement when somebody submitted – there was an expectation, but it wasn’t written down. And in fact I think when I finally did write it down, it said, "I own it, you have the right to use it, but you can’t keep it." – and that’s not really open. But I think Jimmy Wales’ relationship to [software freedom activist]
Richard Stallman got that right. The other thing ... I thought would be too hard [for a wiki] was being international. ... that international aspect is profound, in terms of having the opportunity of bringing the world together, Wikipedia is probably one of the strongest forces ... for creating peace in the world. That's fabulous, [that] it could be done in every language, when you find yourself reading an encyclopedia that is about the things you care about, because it was written by people just like you, talking about what they care about, and that caring becomes so important to you, you trust this. The fact that that same sort of interaction is happening in a lot of different cultures. ... it makes you part of one world – one world of ideas – and the idea that every language is important, just as every person is important.” |
” |
With the promotion to featured article (FA) of Grus (constellation) on 17 May, Casliber became Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion, following Wehwalt's groundbreaking achievement last December. Cas's first FA, Banksia integrifolia, a group effort, was promoted on 16 November 2006. His first solo project, Diplodocus, followed in January 2007; he has rarely been off the FAC page since. Quite apart from his regular and meticulous content work, Cas has contributed to many other aspects of the Wikipedia project – I'm always seeing his name, contributing, helping, leading. I caught up with him recently, and he graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions.
First, many congratulations on achieving the rare feat of 100 featured articles, an awesome accomplishment. Without wishing to breach your anonymity, can you reveal a little bit about yourself?
When did you begin editing WP, and what brought you here in the first place?
Yes, I've been studying your featured article log; a fascinating medley: the predominant subjects are flora, fauna and (more recently) constellations, but occasionally, oddities turn up – a dinosaur, a novel ( The Historian), a medical article. You clearly have a wide panorama of interests; do you have any specific method for choosing your subjects, or, like me, do you tend to follow your instincts?
I see you mentioned Wadewitz there, sadly no longer with us – I, too, enjoyed working with her in my early WP years. We never formally co-produced an article, though we talked of it from time to time. Are there other editors who particularly helped you in your early days, that you'd like to acknowledge now?
I started a year or so after you, and I think FAC has changed a lot since then. I think standards have risen considerably – it takes me far longer than it used to to put an FA together. What differences in the FAC procedure have you experienced? Do you agree that FA standards have risen?
Now, writing featured content is only a part of your overall WP contribution. You are an active reviewer, an admin, you've been an arbcom and, of course, you are the prime mover behind the annual core contest (which I've been happy to judge from time to time). Which of these various roles have you found most rewarding?
How do you see your contribution to WP over the next few years? More generally, how do you see Wikipedia developing? Are there any basic changes that you would like to see implemented?
Well, I see that you have plenty of ideas, and it is refreshing to see someone who has kept their enthusiasm and is still thinking ahead. It has been a pleasure to talk to you, Cas, and I'm sure all your fellow editors join me in hoping that we'll see and hear plenty more from you in the future.
100. Grus (constellation) |
Howard G. ("Ward") Cunningham, who turned 65 last week, has special distinction in these realms as the developer of the first wiki. An American computer programmer, his profound innovation was first installed on the Internet in March 1995. Cunningham remains a dynamic professional force: after a career in the corporate sector, since 2011 he has been "Co-Creation Czar" for CitizenGlobal, an innovative video and photo crowdsourcing platform that enables organizations to easily collect and analyze eyewitness media and data. He is also Nike's first Code for a Better World Fellow.
One of Cunningham's memorable quips is: "the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer," which has come to be known as Cunningham's law. Its author is reported to have said: "Wikipedia may be the most well-known demonstration of this law."
As part of his birthday celebrations, WMF's Victor Grigas published an interview with Cunningham originally recorded in 2011. The following quotes are drawn from the significant statements he makes in the video:
“ | There’s a couple of things that Wikipedia did right, that didn’t even occur to me – for example, getting the licensing right. I was careless about licensing and I think that saying: "this has to be the licensed this way, here’s the ownership, here’s the guarantees going forward” is important, and I just wasn't interested in that stuff, so I just didn’t do that right. … I was open, but there was no guarantee that [the licensing] was open. There was no agreement when somebody submitted – there was an expectation, but it wasn’t written down. And in fact I think when I finally did write it down, it said, "I own it, you have the right to use it, but you can’t keep it." – and that’s not really open. But I think Jimmy Wales’ relationship to [software freedom activist]
Richard Stallman got that right. The other thing ... I thought would be too hard [for a wiki] was being international. ... that international aspect is profound, in terms of having the opportunity of bringing the world together, Wikipedia is probably one of the strongest forces ... for creating peace in the world. That's fabulous, [that] it could be done in every language, when you find yourself reading an encyclopedia that is about the things you care about, because it was written by people just like you, talking about what they care about, and that caring becomes so important to you, you trust this. The fact that that same sort of interaction is happening in a lot of different cultures. ... it makes you part of one world – one world of ideas – and the idea that every language is important, just as every person is important.” |
” |
Discuss this story
}I Mr*| (60nna)I{20:11, 2 June 2014 (UTC) replyNet neutrality and Wikipedia Zero
What if the government makes a whitelist of non-profit websites? Every internet provider would be forced to give free access to those websites. -- NaBUru38 ( talk) 01:13, 5 June 2014 (UTC) reply