Water cooler

Welcome to the water cooler This is a place to find out what is happening and to discuss our external projects and activities. Feel free to suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission or ask questions about how you can help. To discuss the inner workings of the charity, head over to the engine room.

WMUK Grants programme - a piece of cake?

Applying for a grant is easy.

If Wikimedia UK can help you improve Wikimedia projects, check out our grants page.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Tools for identifying Wikimedians at press events, etc

Albin with Wikipedia microphone

Copied from a post I made to the UK mailing list at Michael Maggs's request:

Reading about the making of videos at Eurovison I was stuck by the positive response to the "Wikipedia representative", not least engendered by his use of a branded microphone windshield (see third picture in the above post; that windshield is far too big for use on the Zoom H1 which I use for the voice project, but something smaller would be useful).

Similarly, my local branch of OpenStreetMap issues mappers with branded high-viz vests; these often reassure the public (or at least facilitate the opening of a discussion), when someone is walking down their road noting house numbers and other features.

I suggest some thought is given to providing WMUK volunteers who are likely to attend press calls and related events with something to identify them in a crowd; this could include microphone windshields, tabards, baseball caps, or perhaps something else.

I strongly suggest that the primary brand used should be Wikipedia, with Wikimedia and WMUK (or WikiNews or whatever) beings secondary, as it is the former which the lay public recognise most readily; and which elicits the positive response referred to above.

On a related note, are we ever going to get the promised business cards?

Michael asked:

perhaps you could kick off a discussion there by summarising the sort of recognition and/or materials that you would find it helpful for the charity to supply?

I've mentioned some items above; I welcome suggestions from others. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 20:57, 15 May 2014 (BST)

I sent an email yesterday to the UK list and it has not been posted. If any one wishes to read my summary of the background, please email me for a copy. There seems little point in re-sending emails to the list as I have been given no explanation. Be aware that any emails I send may misleadingly appear in the list archives as if it was posted at the time I sent it. Thanks --Fæ (talk) 14:04, 16 May 2014 (BST)

Or maybe the list admins haven't got round to dealing with it yet. Probably best not to speculate on motives. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:30, 16 May 2014 (BST)

(edit conflict) I have removed anything from my comment here that was more than bald facts, to make sure it is now extremely hard to read bad faith into it. The email of concern was posted on 15 May 2014 @14:16. If it does get posted, it will appear as if it were posted before six other emails in that thread that in practice were written afterwards. --Fæ (talk) 15:20, 16 May 2014 (BST)

Thank you. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 15:23, 16 May 2014 (BST)

Business cards

I would hope that we can make the best possible use of this excellent suggestion to increase the range and scope of our charitable work.

If we were to supply business cards or other items implying accreditation, what should be on them? Something like "Volunteer Photographer, Wikimedia UK" or the equivalent, with the globe logo if we can persuade the WMF to allow us to use their trademark in that way? The wording "Wikipedia representative" may not be possible as we are not legally allowed to speak for the "Wikipedia community" as a whole, in the same way that we cannot control what goes into the encyclopedia. Just thinking aloud here; of course we will have to look into the legal issues of representation before we can be absolutely certain about what is safe. Ideally, it would be best if we can avoid having to print disclaimers, as any sort of legalise will tend to undermine the member and will scare people off.

What would members find useful, in practice?--MichaelMaggs (talk) 23:01, 15 May 2014 (BST)

Why the word "volunteer"? from comments on the mailing list there seems to be an assumption that it offers some form of legal indemnity to WMUK, or WMF; I remain to be convinced that that's the case. I've used my (voluntary) work with the RSPB as a yardstick before; when I appear in public alongside their paid staff, I have the same type of badge, and the same branded clothing, as they do. The voluntary nature of my participation is nowhere made apparent. [I've split this as a subsection of the above, lest that get bogged down]. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 00:04, 16 May 2014 (BST)

That was just my suggestion. I suspect that the term, or something equivalent, might be needed on a formal business card, but as you say would seem unnecessary on clothing, badges and so on.--MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:39, 16 May 2014 (BST)

as far as I'm aware Andy is right and defining someone as a volunteer does not limit the charity's liability. My view is that if we want to be a volunteer led organisation we should provide volunteers with cards. The charity would need to consider and take steps to limit any liability which might arise as a result. This would however possibly open up a distinction between 'officially-approved' volunteers and others doing the same kind of work on their own initiative. How would everyone feel about that? Any suggestions for the basis on which cards should/should not be issued? Mccapra (talk) 17:06, 17 May 2014 (BST)

As I understand the logic of the previous debate, it was essentially that if we gave volunteers business cards, they would be representing WMUK. The board, in their infinite wisdom, thought that was an inherently bad thing, but there was also the small risk that somebody "representing" WMUK might say something silly, that somebody might take them seriously, and that WMUK's reputation might suffer as a consequence. That's a lot of ifs buts and maybes if you ask me. Volunteers representing WMUK should be seen as a Good Thing™, and the advantages of business cards to people like Andy and me (who talk to a lot of people and often need to follow up, or give others a way of following up should they wish) far outweigh the hypothetical drawbacks based on an overly conservative approach to risk. On a list of most useful things the chapter could d for its volunteers, business cards would be pretty high up on my list. If it's really necessary, we can sign some sort of agreement. Harry Mitchell (talk) 10:58, 24 May 2014 (BST)

Bear in mind that the composition of the board was almost totally different during that 'previous debate'. I can't speak for past boards, but I can say that the current board is more than open to discussing ideas such as this which could help volunteers be more effective in the work they want to do in association with the charity.--MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:32, 24 May 2014 (BST)

I can speak with personal recall of board discussions (for goodness sake, it was hardly that long ago and plenty of discussion was publicly on this wiki), the issue was volunteers making up fantasy titles rather than being an "inherently bad thing", however the trustees wanted to care not to hurt anyone's feelings. Being open to discussing ideas with volunteers is not an invention of the "new" board of trustees, giving out that perception is unhelpful and truly smacks of damnatio memoriae, in most measurable ways past boards were far more engaged in discussion with volunteers than the current set. --Fæ (talk) 14:16, 24 May 2014 (BST)

Your last sentence is accurate, Fae, certainly. It wasn't the volunteers who made up the vanity titles, though (indeed, I Tip-Ex'd it out on my cards), but the phrase used for getting us replacements was "within a week"... Harry Mitchell (talk) 17:18, 24 May 2014 (BST)

This is now on the agenda for the next Board meetingMccapra (talk) 18:54, 24 May 2014 (BST)

Thanks Harry. I have no idea why anyone promised to get replacements within a week. I doubt it was me, based on my personal experience of it taking almost a year to be supplied with replacement business cards, and by the time I actually had them in my possession I was on my way out the door, so they became an extremely expensive notepad. I never found out how much they cost, but I think it would have been in the region of £140? Enough to provide lunch and travel for a modest edit-a-thon. It's been said before, but I hope the board actually ask about costs this time around, as it seems fair to make these costs a matter of public record. --Fæ (talk) 20:17, 24 May 2014 (BST)

I'm not sure I'd go along with the logic that the business cards would be a replacement for an editahon (nor, even, that the editathon would be the better investment, even if it has more tangible results), but I do take your point on costs. It seems reasonable for people to know how much they cost and weigh that up against the benefits for themselves, I agree. "Within a week" was the phrase used (just one of those things that sticks in the mind, I guess) but I guess recrimination for the events of yesteryear isn't really helpful, and I take Alistair's comment to mean that the board will consider the issue carefully, which is progress at least. Harry Mitchell (talk) 22:37, 24 May 2014 (BST)

Clothing

Anything visible, like t-shirts/hoodies (perhaps with writing on the back, rather than the front?), baseball caps, camera cases/straps, and other props that people would use anyway lends itself to being branded, which makes it visible. I do agree that the Wikipedia logo is the one that people recognise; if I have to spend ten minutes explaining the difference between Wikimedia and Wikipedia, we've defeated the point (which is to be recognisable, and to catch people's eye with something they immediately recognise and have positive thoughts about). Harry Mitchell (talk) 11:34, 24 May 2014 (BST)

Camera straps would be good idea, if the brand is very prominent. Clothing would need a logo (perhaps breast-pocket sized) on the front, if the purpose is to identify the wearer to someone facing them. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 19:49, 28 May 2014 (BST)

Can you help categorize 6,000 photographs (photochrome) taken in the 19th-century?

Can you name this Beefeater?
TIFF format, 2,736 × 3,680 pixels, 28.83 MB

I am just over half-way through uploading the Library of Congress' collection of photochrome prints and hope to complete the collection in about a week's time. These were taken between 1890 to 1900 and were created using an unusual process of putting a high quality black and white photograph as a base for colour lithograph printing. Colours were added by hand and several layers were used (more than six). The high quality cards were incredibly popular at the time as gifts to send by post, and are mostly of famous locations around the world, or of people in their national dress. Images are being uploaded in both tif and jpg versions, and I am sorting them by country.

These are high quality scans, the tifs being over 3,000 pixels on the longest side, and represent some of the best and most popular photographs of the 1890s. Please enjoy browsing the files, and consider helping with a bit of categorization or reuse to illustrate Wikipedia articles of these notable locations.

• UK collection: Category:19th century photochrome prints of the UK and Ireland
• Main category: Category:Photochrom prints collection

--Fæ (talk) 09:57, 7 June 2014 (BST)

Sir Francis Drake's House near Severn Bridge, Gatcombe, Glos - our most recent image of a grade II* listed building

Hi Fae, great photos, apart from the amount of ivy it is surprising how little the buildings have changed in the last hundred years. Though [Category:Camberley_Wellingtonia_Avenue trees] and landforms can be very different. I made a temporary category at Commons:Category:19th_century_photochrome_prints_of_the_UK_and_Ireland_(uncategorised) - there are still a few in there which have yet to be moved from there to better categories. Could you possibly add any that are currently only in the two categories 19th century photochrome prints of the UK and Ireland and Photochrom prints collection to that working category? If anyone else wants to join in, some of the ones that remain are ones I am struggling to locate. 176.221.192.97 10:54, 16 June 2014 (BST)

Will try adding to my LoC housekeeping script. Note that the uploads are still happening so more may appear. The total number of files should hit nearly 12,000, so more than 80% seems done. I have just started "upgrading" all jpegs to very high resolution, matching the tif sizes; this will probably take quite a while to complete (weeks probably) as it relies pumping everything through my (not great) home broadband connection. Hopefully the charity will pay the previously offered contribution to my broadband costs, even if the Chief Exec and the board of trustees leave me unable to pay to renew my membership and so have no status to make any more proposals to benefit the mission. --Fæ (talk) 12:27, 16 June 2014 (BST)

Umbrellas

On Saturday night I was on a party on Swansea beach. As the weather was showery there were a couple of people with umbrellas, one of which was a Wikipedia umbrella and this attracted the attention of a few people. One asking "Where does one get a Wikipedia umbrella?" the answer was Germany, as this umbrella was courtesy of WMDE, but it got me wondering why Wikimedia UK doesn't have umbrellas? Given the stereotype of both the British people and British weather, they seem like an obvious cultural fit to me. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 16:39, 10 June 2014 (BST)

Cost I think. Umbrellas are pretty expensive (and they have to be done well because we don't want tatty merchandise that falls apart). Worth looking into though. Richard Symonds (WMUK) (talk) 19:11, 10 June 2014 (BST)

3D printing?

Has anyone explored the possibilities of bringing 3D printing to Wikimedia? With prices of printers themselves tumbling, and the application of the technology expanding everyday perhaps it's something to explore. I've used it personally for making all kinds of tat, trophies, keyrings, little 3D trinkets, perhaps the kind of stuff that Wikimedia could use as promotional items?

The tech lends itself very well to the whole open source movement with models being easily wrapped up and uploaded to websites with accompanying CC licensing. Perhaps commons could be made to incorporate this kind of media with a view to making development and production of 3D models more accessible?

P.S this post came about from attending my first wikimeet event, which I'm posting from right now. Nonlineartom (talk) 15:01, 14 June 2014 (BST)

It has been discussed before. I propose that we organize borrowing one or hiring it to be on display and in use during Wikimania. I suspect that a manufacturer would probably loan one for the event for free. If we can set up an instruction page, Wikimedians might even try designing a few things to print out on it during the event (limited edition 3D Jimbo action figures would be worth a fortune on eBay ;-) ).

As there seem sufficient interest on email lists[1][2] in this as a project, could someone please raise a draft proposal at Project grants? Not currently being able to pay £5 to renew my membership, means I am not allowed to make this proposal myself. There is not much time before Wikimania, but there should be enough to either purchase a kit for the hackerthon, or arrange a loan of a demo printer. --Fæ (talk) 08:13, 15 June 2014 (BST)

All sounds interesting, personally I've used a reprap before and they can be absolutely infuriating at times to make them reliable with decent results that don't resemble a toddlers attempt to ice a cake (in 3D) The tech seems to have moved along a lot in the past 2 or 3 years and having been a regular attendee of a fab lab in the north I've had the luxury of using, and breaking most makes and types of 3D printers. The latest generation of Makerbots really bowled me over with their reliability and ease of use, on the old "Denford Up!" printers I was getting maybe a 30% success rates on prints, all sorts of problems with prints coming loose from the print beds, or going horribly wrong 4 hours into a 6 hour print job. I'm still in contact with a guy called James Kitson who used to manage the Fab Lab at Keighley and now works for Denford in a job to do with their 3D printers I think. I still don't think they make the best products but he might be someone to speak to about borrowing a printer for wikimania?

Also worth noting I *think* the makerbot is closed source with it's print software but the printer itself runs off an arduino board so loading g-code from an open source print application should be doable. Am I able to make this proposal as a total n00b? Nonlineartom (talk) 18:03, 15 June 2014 (BST)

Being new is not a barrier to making suggestions. Especially when you bring some new knowledge to the table. I may be on thin ice here, but I don't see how the printer being closed source is any worse than a PC being closed source, and lots of people read and even edit Wikimedia projects using closed source PCs. I'm assuming that the open side of this is in the designs themselves. As for relevance to our project, tat is one thing, it would be nice to be able to give attendees 3d printed flip flops, mousemats or umbrellas but that is a bit peripheral. More important is demonstrating usefulness in education. John Cummings has shown me software that creates a 3d model from multiple 2d images, I think it would be great if the Wikipedia article on the Broken Hill Skull not only included text, images and maybe a 3d image you could rotate, but also an openly licensed 3d model that you could download and print. Jonathan Cardy (WMUK) (talk) 18:49, 15 June 2014 (BST)

I think what you are referring to there is the 123D suite of tools from Autodesk, which are amazing. Specifically 123D catch which as you say, creates 3D models from a series of 2D images with astonishing accuracy. It's totally free for non commercial use and it's all server side, the software just uploads the images to autodesks servers where it does all the computation and spits out an .obj 3D model complete with full texture map. .obj's are an open format so you can use free software like meshlab or netfab to view and manipulate the mesh, clean it up and prepare it for printing, and here lies the tricky part, actually getting something prepared for printing.

I agree with your comment about it not being a deal breaker using closed source software and hardware in a workflow, but the more open the better simply because it gives us as a community greater opportunities to learn, develop and fundamentally improve the underlying technology.

It's also relatively simple to go from fully open source modelling software like Blender to 3D printers if you want to create from scratch. My personal favourite use of printers has been playing around in Google Sketchup which has a very fast learning curve, not for engineers used to engineering terms but for novices who just want to draw things, in 3D. Within minutes you can have an accurate model of a building, which you can submit to google for inclusion in google earth, but also print a scale model quite easily. I don't know much about Wiki loves monuments but could there be a potential tie in here? Just thinking out loud. Nonlineartom (talk) 19:09, 15 June 2014 (BST)

User:Nonlineartom I feel your pain about RepRaps, I've had a similar experience, one thing that I feel is missing from this discussion is that prints take hours and hours so not really suitable for things to give away. However it could be used to show the potential for schools to print their own educational models etc. Are there any particular models that would be of interest? Thingiverse.com is a useful place to look. I have a fairly reliable 3d printer that I could print a few 3d models from before hand, however I will be working during Wikimania (I'm working at WMUK at the moment organising it) and it's not the sort of thing you can just leave going on a stall. --Mrjohncummings (talk) 11:48, 17 June 2014 (BST)

I've been talking to the guy I know who used to run a fab lab, he's passed me information of someone who works at Denford who might be able to sort out providing gear for wikimania, who do I pass this information onto? He also said the latest gen of reprap's are comparable to Up and Makerbot printers but I'm yet to be convinced. Just looking on eBay there are dozens of makerbot clone kits out there based on arduino that should give decent results. Sadly none in kit form. I think the idea of building a 3D printer during Wikimania is actually really cool, especially with timelapse camera(s)

I know what you mean about prints taking hours, the way I saw it working was to leave the printer in wikimedia office, quietly chugging away day after day making a few dozen bits of merch a time so there is a stock built up for events as well as it working on the day, hopefully working predictably by this point and not spewing plastic spaghetti all over the desk. If a kit was used I'd be happy to use the laser cutter I have access to for manufacturing a new chassis (the cheap bit) appropriately adorned in wikimedia livery. The box like ones are probably a bit easier to transport which would make it great for taking to schools to demo and experiment with. I use thingiverse a lot, it's a great tool but an even more open wikicommons based hub for models would be brilliant in my mind. I'm not very familar with Wikimedias work with the wider community and I should probably read up on what the bigger goals are of the foundation. I just like the idea of more people using 3D printers as an everyday solution for fixing instead of replacing stuff. Nonlineartom (talk) 14:00, 17 June 2014 (BST)

SUGGESTION - some good ideas here (declaration - I do actually know Nonlineartom IRL!) Could John and Tom have a skype/hangout/mumble/meeting on the astral plane and look at ways to maybe use Wikimania to introduce/explore this with a view to longer term outcomes? I love the idea of using it to print buildings from Wiki loves monuments or museum exhibitions and donating or lending them to schools to make collections/heritage more accessible which is very much in line with our mission. Could use Wikimania to gauge interest from the community in delivering such a project if you had a printer running and a sign up sheet? :-) Katherine Bavage (WMUK) (talk) 14:24, 17 June 2014 (BST)

Will do, Nonlineartom I'll be in touch --Mrjohncummings (talk) 13:54, 18 June 2014 (BST)

Can we make a 3D wiki globe? Or half a globe for wall mounting? At least a meter in diameter, one piece at a time, as in the jigsaw? Could then be painted with symbols. One for Cymru, please! Robin Owain (WMUK) (talk) 08:47, 27 June 2014 (BST)

WMUK Governance Review Phase III

Dear All,

We are now tendering for the third and final stage of our governance review.

All details are on the page below.

Should you want to talk to me about any aspect of the work please get in touch.

https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Tender_for_Phase_Three_of_WMUK_Governance_Review

Jon Davies. 14:42, 20 June 2014 (BST)

UK Wikimedian of the Year 2014

It's that time of the year where we are looking for nominations for UK Wikimedian of the Year. The UK Wikimedian of the Year is an annual award given by Wikimedia UK to thank those in the UK or abroad who have helped the UK Wikimedia movement. These volunteers and institutions have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help bring open knowledge to all.

We would like to invite your nomination for this year winners on UK Wikimedian of the Year 2014/Nomination by end of Sunday 29 June.

Sorry for the short notice here. This went out on the UK mailing list on the 13th, but I've only just spotted (when Katie sent a reminder to the list today) that it doesn't appear to have been advertised on the Water Cooler before, an oversight for which I apologise. Chris McKenna (WMUK) (talk) 12:31, 26 June 2014 (BST)

Wikimedian in Residence - review of the programme

Hi All, over the last couple of months I've been working on reviewing the Wikimedian in Residence programme run by Wikimedia UK. I will be promoting it more widely later this week and further on in July, but it would be great to hear your early thoughts. Please see the report here. One possible space for comments could be here.

Many thanks! Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 17:14, 30 June 2014 (BST)

NB I would like to get the report printed, and to be able to do so for Wikimania I would need to introduce any changes to the content itself by Friday 4th July. Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 17:15, 30 June 2014 (BST)

WMUK sponsored project image on the front page of Wikipedia today

Airliners project image of a Canadair Challenger 604

The image on the right is one of the Airliners uploads that I have been running as a Commons project. The photograph is the primary image on the the main page of Wikipedia today, as it illustrates the Featured Article[3] No. 34 Squadron RAAF. I uploaded this image in July 2013, and WMUK started supporting uploads of this project in February 2014 after supplying me with a macmini (a more powerful version of my 7 years old one). You can read more about my active upload projects on my Commons user page. Over 82,000 images of aircraft have been uploaded using my tools as part of the project, though the total is larger as a variety of methods have been used by volunteers. --Fæ (talk) 12:27, 7 July 2014 (BST)