Wikinews:Water cooler/miscellaneous/archives/2009/November

Millbot-VoA
I've finished the bot for VoA in general. It added articles from Africa and Americas... I am waiting for your comments until turning it on. Note that there will be always some errors. My parser is extremely cheap (in a couple of hours I've solved generically VoA for all languages) and thus it makes errors from time to time. However, I think that the level of errors (1 in 5 articles need manual garbage deletion). However, if you don't think so, please let me know. Other comments are welcome as well. --millosh (talk) 21:23, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Created articles are: --millosh (talk) 21:23, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Talks on Fate of Deposed Honduran President Stall
 * Meatpackers Agree on Amazon Deforestation Moratorium
 * IOM Launches New Campaign to End Human Trafficking
 * Hurricane Rick Strongest Pacific Storm Since 1997
 * Rio Drug War Erupts; Police Helicopter Shot Down
 * 'Dangerous' Hurricane Rick Reaches Category Five
 * Zelaya: Honduran Coup Talks Suspended
 * Hunger Casts Dark Cloud Over World Food Day
 * Honduran Businesses Suffer as Political Crisis Continues
 * Zelaya Sets Monday Deadline for Agreement
 * Paris AIDS Conference Confirms Modest Protection by Trial Vaccine
 * Zimbabwe Cabinet Meets Without MDC Ministers
 * Zimbabwe PM Begins Regional Tour
 * El Ni&ntilde;o Rains Begin in East Africa
 * Watchdog Says Media Freedom in Europe Plummeting
 * US, East African Nations Begin Major Military Exercise
 * Guinea Military Defends Chinese Mineral Deal
 * Africa to Adopt Refugee/IDP Convention At Kampala Summit
 * New Sudan Referendum Deal Raises Fresh Challenges
 * ECOWAS Suspends Niger in Dispute Over Constitution

Some of them are already fixed. --millosh (talk) 21:23, 20 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Looks good! I've already published one of the bot's articles. This is much easier than manually copy-and-pasting from VOA. One suggestion though, perhaps develop should be at the top of the page, not at the bottom. Also, i've noticed the bot adding continent templates such as Africa, which aren't generally used outside of portals - maybe that shouldn't be included. Tempodivalse [talk]  21:27, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, the dates are wrong on some of those; many are days old, while the bot imported them under October 20. – Juliancolton  &#124; Talk 21:44, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree that develop should be at the top, not at the bottom. Cirt (talk) 22:14, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Everything is fixed. (Juliancolton, I didn't realize that I fixed date during one phase of bot development. Dates for the most of already added the news should be manually checked; new news will have valid dates) In this moment sections "TopStories", "Africa", "Americas" and "Arts and Entertainment" are included in scheduled bot tasks (every 10 minutes). I'll be adding other categories during the next couple of days because avoiding instant pressure for editors who are working on developing articles. --millosh (talk) 09:29, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Per Tempo's comment, we could probably do with looking at where we're inconsistent with infobox template naming. I assume Millosh has some criteria to 'guess' the appropriate infobox, that just needs clarified, and then infoboxes reviewed to make sure the right ones pop up for these articles. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:37, 25 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Would it be feasible to have the bot automatically delete its articles if they haven't been edited by anyone after a week (or some other period of time)? That way, the newsroom wouldn't be overcrowded with hopelessly out-of-date VOA articles. I've been manually deleting the stale articles myself, but it's rather time-consuming, and I thought perhaps it would be more efficient to have a bot do it instead. Tempodivalse [talk]  17:17, 29 October 2009 (UTC)
 * This is why we have admins; to use human judgement in making decisions. And why the job's symbol is a mop; it's not a glorious position, it's work cleaning up. -  Amgine | t 18:43, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it is possible to make a bot which would delete stale articles. I am working now on a new engine, which should do a number of other things (like categorizing, adding some images, making wikilinks and so on) and when I finish it, I'll make a bot for deleting staled articles. However, if it is necessary to do it immediately, I may do it. --millosh (talk) 08:30, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

current Sitenotice
Am I the only one who cannot make any sense to the current "Are you Wikinewsie on Twitter?" notice? The "Twitter" wikilink doesn't expand on what is "The list", if all "wikinewsies" can join or only those reporting news there, etc... Is it possible to either only display such items in plain English or to keep them on the noticeboards where you can use more than 140 characters to explain what you mean exactly? Lucasbfr (talk) 11:12, 2 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It makes perfect sense. If you contribute in any way to Wikinews and are registered on Twitter, fire off an @reply on there. 'The list' is in inverted commas. I'd advise you to learn what these are. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 11:40, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

Wikinews being used at other news sites
I was looking around Google News earlier today, and found it interesting that at least one news source, Jackson NJ News, has been reproducing a lot of our content (this, this, and this, for instance). I know that blogs copy us fairly frequently, but this is the first time that i've seen a news agency cite and copy our stuff. Just thought someone would find that interesting. Is there any other news outlet that reproduces our content? Tempodivalse [talk]  19:56, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's a news agency. The list of contributors is interesting, I think the local police and fire people have access to what seems to be a WordPress install. I couldn't find a contact address, so I posted a comment on one of our articles they've copied saying thank you, and politely asking them to 'shape up' in terms of how they credit us. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:33, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Found a contact email. "Send your letters, comments, press releases and anything else Jackson related to news@jacksonnjonline.com." -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:17, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Emailed. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:07, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Back in black
Hi all, just wanted to drop by and say I'll have more time for Wikinews now. Over at en:wiki there was a thing called the WikiCup that ate up time for most of the year (more time than expected). It's over now, which is Wikinews's gain. Cheers all, Durova (talk) 15:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Welcome back! Nice to see you around and editing again. Cheers, Tempodivalse [talk]  16:00, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. Want a review that'll make you chuckle?  Olympic condoms auctioned: "faster, higher, stronger". :) Durova (talk) 18:28, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Interviews
* Copied from Tempodicalse's Talk Page*

I have been able to get an interview with the CDC regarding the swine flu pandemic, but now I am at a loss of which question to ask. Could you possibly help me? Thanks,  The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 00:43, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmm, let's see. Just a few ideas, off the top of my head: 1.) What measures are going to be taken to combat the swine flu? 2.) Are current anti-flu vaccines effective? How much supply of vaccine is there? 3.) What can you advise us to do to reduce our chance of being infected? 4.) Just how deadly is swine flu?


 * There are probably better questions, but that's the best i could come up with for the moment. Why don't you ask about this at the water cooler? You'd get a larger audience that way, perhaps someone will think up something. Tempodivalse [talk]  02:21, 4 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I'll copy this to the water cooler also. I'm hoping this interview with Mr. Dimond goes good. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:00, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

What I have as of now:

1. How does the CDC feel the media has handled the H1N1 flu pandemic? 2. What measures are the CDC taking to combat the swine flu? 3. What areas around the world are affected most by the swine flu? 4. Are the current anti-flu vaccines effective and how sufficient is the current supply? 5. How can one avoid infection and how deadly is this disease? 6. What efforts have the CDC made to insure vaccines are available for those with no or poor health-care? 7. If someone suspects they have swine flu what would the best course of action be? 8. When will the swine flu die down and cease being a pandemic? 9. Besides the CDC, what other entities, governmental and private, are involved in stopping this disease and how? 10.Is there a significant risk of H1N1 mutating with other viruses and becoming stronger?

-- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:09, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

My question:
 * 1) What efforts will the CDC make to provide A (H1N1) vaccines available to those who have little or no access to healthcare? I'm thinking of huge areas of Africa and Asia so this question probably needs to be formulated a little better. --Александр Дмитрий (Alexandr Dmitri) (talk) 11:09, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I added one and it sparked another. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 23:53, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * One suggestion, about question number three: since swine flu has spread to very many places in the world now, maybe a more specific question would be "what areas around the world have been affected the most by swine flu?" or something like that. Tempodivalse [talk]  00:05, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I think it is almost done, -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 00:11, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

My question: – Juliancolton  &#124; Talk 00:40, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Is there a significant risk of H1N1 mutating with other viruses and becoming stronger?
 * Thank you. That makes an even ten, so that should be good. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 00:52, 5 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, I love the good, in depth answers emailed to scoop!    Tris   20:14, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Happy 5th Birthday Wikinews
Today, November 8th, 2009 marks the 5th anniversary of the English Wikinews (the first and most awesome of all Wikinews). So happy birthday to us, and here's to 5 more years of pain and suffering Journalism! -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 07:22, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Unblock request from User:Poetlister
UNBLOCK REQUEST

Can you please reverse your block on Wikinews. I believe that the block is unjustified because I have done nothing whatsoever wrong on Wikinews. As you may know, I have no global ban. For example, I am not blocked on Wikisource. I have never heard of another case in which someone was blocked on a wiki solely because of a block elsewhere. Have you? On the contrary, there are cases in which someone is blocked on one wiki while holding high positions elsewhere; Aphaia is a good example.

In any case, can you please remove the block on my e-mail on Wikinews to make it easier to contact people rather than having to do it via other wikis.

Poetlister


 * I got the above email via Wikisource. -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 22:39, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Right. Ask around. This is a user with an &mdash; ahem &mdash; previous elsewhere. Realistically, they would be better starting off with a new username to avoid importing enemies or getting undue attention because of the issue. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:10, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Do we usually block users based only on negative actions elsewhere? Imho, barring another Grawp or JarlaxeArtemis, users should only be blocked on wikis they've abused. I agree with Brianmc though that this user might be better off creating a new account. Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  23:19, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Do we? Yes. If someone is a problem everywhere they show up, I see no problem with preemptively banning them, and I do, on occasion.  Not for little shit, but for big issue people.  I dont know anything about this user and I didn't ban them, hence the copy/pasta here. -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 23:37, 11 November 2009 (UTC)


 * The instant "case against". I have little interest in trawling through Wikipedia's dirty laundry. History of talk page prior to that was not unreasonable - but large gap up to the block. --Brian McNeil / talk 01:04, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Not appropriate to unblock at the moment, given their previous history of disruptive actions on other projects. – Juliancolton  &#124; Talk 01:50, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I'd tend to agree here with, but I'd rather simply defer to community consensus about this. Cirt (talk) 21:27, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The user should be unblocked, imho. I disagree with blocking users based solely on the fact that they have had a bad history elsewhere (unless it's someone like grawp). The blocking policy doesn't say we can block users just because of bad behaviour on other projects. Poetlister has, in the past, been a constructive and even helpful user: Special:Contributions/Poetlister. I think he should only be blocked here if/when he makes inappropriate/disruptive actions here. <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  23:00, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Not sure what the community thinks about it, but there was this, , . Cirt (talk) 23:02, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

I got a new email today:
 * Thanks. I note you say "I dont know anything about this user and I didn't ban them".  The reason I contacted you was because of this:


 * http://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&type=block&page=User%3AQuillercouch


 * 04:47, 24 September 2008 ShakataGaNai (Talk | contribs) blocked Quillercouch (Talk | contribs) with an expiry time of indefinite (account creation disabled, e-mail blocked) ? (Sockpuppetry: Cato/Poetlister - per User talk:Poetlister and http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Wikiquote:Requests_for_adminship&oldid=820302#Cato.2C_Poetlister_and_Yehudi)
 * If you are saying that the Quillercouch account is not connected to me, all the more reason for you to reverse the ban!


 * Cheers

I read that as "Yes, I'm an asshole, and that is my account but I'm not gonna cop to it". So, IMHO -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 23:19, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Just as a note, I received the following unblock request via Wikisource from Poetlister (I don't check that email account often, so I only noticed it today, but it was sent yesterday):


 * UNBLOCK REQUEST


 * I note your comment "I agree with Brianmc though that this user might be better off creating a new account." I can only say to you what I said to him. Were I to create a new account without being unblocked, that would be block evasion. I'm not going to do that.


 * Meanwhile, can you please allow me to e-mail on Wikinews. It's pretty pointless having a block since i can just use Wikisource but it is irritating.

Thoughts? <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  23:33, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Despite what Shaka rightly sees as assholishness, I think we can let the guy have a chance. It might be wise to run a quiet CU every few months, though. First sign of trouble and he ain't coming back. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 23:37, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I concur. He hasn't been disruptive here (yet, at least), so he shouldn't be blocked. A checkuser could be made at the first sign of suspicious activity. <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  23:42, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Comment by uninvolved FT2
I don't often post here, but do so as a WikiNews occasional editor, and the Wikimedian most familiar with the case.

One line version: Poetlister was, in his time on Wikipedia, one of the most unscrupulous of the serious sock-users we have had. I'm aware that is a damning verdict.

Poetlister edits profusely and indeed (often) positively. However his edits were often socked, stacked, often POV pushing, and on minor projects (after his ban on Wikipedia) often used as a bridge to facilitate a stepping stone somewhere else.

For example, when banned on one project he tried to return by positive editing via another minor project - in that case WikiQuote. He had previously gained adminship on Wikipedia, he has run a large number of sock-puppets on multiple sites; he knows how to play games "behind the scenes" and play people off against each other or manipulate the impressionable and unaware; he knew how to edit in a way that got him high approval at Wikiquote. Gaining sysophood and later cratship there, he leveraged those to a campaign that he was wrongly banned elsewhere, and (partly because there was no obvious misconduct recently) was given a second chance in May 2008.

It didn't last long. By August 2008 I was in contact with WMF, checkusers and stewards on 5 projects, and external persons Poetlister had impersonated on Wikipedia and elsewhere, ascertaining the extent of his sock ring.

Wikiquote, the smaller project he had used to return and that had trusted him, was by that time riddled with 3 admin-accounts and a checkuser-sock of his. And a new sock ring of almost a dozen socks on Wikipedia. The checkuser sock had been used to check his own sock run through selected proxies would be unlikely to be identified as a sock, at Wikiquote RFA. So much for trust.

Until conclusively challenged, Poetlister tried to use his stance on those projects to argue that anyone else was against him for no good reason and seek others to battle for him.

His stance right to the end (in email at that point) was completely unrepentant. He affected care and self-pity - where useful for his own benefit - and affected the attitudes and personas needed to convince others to enable and trust him, but so far as I could assess under the surface, he at no time showed any actual genuine care regarding harm done to any wiki-project, any users falsely accused, any third parties impersonated or potentially harmed, his own family who suffered as a result, or indeed anyone - except himself.

John Vandenberg (enwiki Arbcom) and Aphaia (wikiquote Checkuser) are worth speaking to if this last area needs discussion.

FT2 (Talk 01:44, 15 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Unblock Poetlister would be a very bad idea, and I think previous incidents indicate that. Tiptoety  talk 06:28, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Article published with massive factual accuracy problems
Please see this. Whoever reviewed - I've made a point of not looking - made a serious cockup on this one. The issues are serious enough to raise them here - are people taking reviewing seriously enough? Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 11:37, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I certainly take reviewing very seriously, and I'm sure most other reviewers feel the same way about it. I think inaccuracies like these are going to happen once in a while, as we're only humans, and even the most competent reviewer might forget to check for a key detail, due to distraction by other things, fatigue, etc. (e.g. I published an article with some VOA-POV problems recently and didn't notice it until later due to being tired.) One way we can help reduce the chance of this happening again is to have two people, not one, check the article and only publish it if they both think it's OK. (That would significantly increase already long waits in the review queue, though.) <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  15:07, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * We all screw things up, it was the amount of mistakes packed into such a short article that made me bring this up. I don't think I blame the reviewer as such - well, obviously the reviewer bears the blame, but there's more to it. This article should never have slipped through the net. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 23:46, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I reviewed it, and none of the teams ever made it to the top, as it states by NASA. Actuallyt to be honest, I thought I had fixed all that. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 00:53, 15 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The 2nd para from NASA states that the team managed it four times in the first two days. It was only on the third day that no-one managed. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 01:00, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Interview with Jimmy Wales on AP, Wikipedia and (briefly) Wikinews
This may be of interest to people: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=173537 the wub "?!"  19:41, 16 November 2009 (UTC)
 * FTA "Wales: Wikinews has struggled for years, and you identify one of the key reasons for it. Wikinews remains an experiment which has yet to fulfill its potential."
 * Well yea we've strugled because Wikipedia wont (As Per Usual) enforce its own rules. Oh, and because no one wants to even attempt to help us (Those that claim otherwise: Google News, nuff said) -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 20:02, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Infobox DPL issue
I created Football today from the corresponding sport infobox. It would appear many infoboxes haven't been updated to handle Flagged Revisions, or to restrict listed pages to the main namespace.

If you're using an infobox, please check the Wikicode to see the DPL uses stablepages. --Brian McNeil / talk 13:39, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm more suprised to hear that any of the infoboxes/portals use stable pages only. Bawolff ☺☻ 17:59, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Heh. Seriously, without it there is an avenue of abuse. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:04, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Task Force: Expanded Content - Thinks Wikinews is useless
"Topical information (Wikinews): Given that Wikipedia already provides topical content, does its presence precludes the need for Wikinews? If not why not? If so, what should be done with Wikinews?" FTFA. Sigh, I hate people. -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 22:20, 18 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Strategy:Thread:Talk:Task force/Expanding Content/Wikinews is useless, huh? - I rage
 * Strategy:Thread:Talk:Task force/Expanding Content/"Concerning" language in reference to Wikinews BrianMc rages -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 23:00, 18 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I was trying to be somewhat diplomatic while extremely pissed off. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:03, 18 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I've had my say too and I invite everyone else to post their views --Александр Дмитрий (Alexandr Dmitri) (talk) 23:22, 18 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Me too. I see now I wasn't the only person who read that as "Wikinews isn't useful". <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  23:24, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

(<--)I may not be the most active user, but Wikinews, useless!? That makes me sick. And here I am am planning on resurrecting Audio Wikinews in a new format, when the WMF says this project is useless... -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:41, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Rant #1

 * Really, what the hell is it with these people? "Policy wonks" is the polite label. I don't doubt the WMF staff are making a well-meaning contribution to the stratergy (sic) concept; but, every 'tard from Wikipedia who has been beaten about this crap before seems to have found a home where they can demonstrate why they're the slimy little *****bleeeeeeeeeps***** who used to be dropped in Usenet killfiles for wanking instead of moving things forward. I even saw the name River in some of the associated pages. Is that the bitch that stood for board on a platform of closing everything but Wikipedia? I tell ya, 'some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill them. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:14, 18 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Struck per request; N.B. Comment is a quote from a comedian whose name currently escapes me. This was intended as an expression of frustration and anger &mdash; not an intent to kill, or wish for others to do so. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:21, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
 * If i recall, she proposed closing only us (she's active with toolserver and dev side of things I think). It was someone else who wanted to close everything. Bawolff ☺☻ 23:25, 18 November 2009 (UTC)


 * See, it's not all the WMF staff, it's just a select few vocal screw ups. People like Jimbo (granted he isn't WMF any more) simply don't help our cause.  What they should be saying instead of "lets shut down Wikinews" is "Lets see if we can get the Wikipedia people to put the news in the CORRECT location" and get the WP Cabal to crack down on their own and send them over here.  I know our system isn't the same, but it isn't that fuckin difficult.  The reason why we struggle to gain momentum is that we have to KEEP WORKING and not slack off like the fucks on Wikipedia.  WP can boast about it's 3 million articles, because they are all "relevant" (Depending on what you're looking up).  WN, all people care about is how many articles we publish in the last 24 hours.  It's hard work people, but for the fact that we put out (on average) 1 article per day for every 3 active users, we don't do such a bad job.  -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 23:24, 18 November 2009 (UTC)


 * That (above comment) does seem about right... I mean Wikipedia is a great project, but so is Wikinews, so is Simple English, so is Wiktionary, and so are all the WMF projects, but all projects are volunteer work and do require effort to maintain. I’ve been doing some audio at Wiktionary for pronunciations, and that’s effort for the most backed up Category I’ve seen since Wikipedia’s Clean-up.  -- The New   Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:49, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

This is a disgrace. WMF should apologize to us IMO. Really I don't know what to say here, but I did reply to the thread above. What an insult to us. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 05:59, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Jason, please stop mixing up the Wikimedia Foundation with random plonkers from Wikipedia. Remember, even Jimmy isn't really WMF anymore; he's more focussed on Wikia and the 'rubber-chicken circuit'. Wikipedians do have a tendency to just see the one project; they are not expressing WMF policy in doing so, just ignorance, stupidity, selfishness, and any other grab-bag of adjectives you may care to append. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:13, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I think it important to point out that despite the presentation as "WMF should apologize to us..." or "Wikimedia says this project is useless", the WMF didn't say that.  It's a QUESTION.  The very idea of those questions is to stir discussion.  It appears to be working.  WMF has not said Wikinews is useless. I have tried over and over to get Wikinews folks to participate in strategic planning, with multiple posts here and personal approaches.  User:Tempodivalse is a valued contributor who has given countless hours to the strategy project and has represented you well there, but the only way to have a voice in the process is to show up.  I hope that those of you who have ranted will choose to remain engaged.  I really, truly do hope so.  Philippe (talk) 13:30, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
 * With less than 20 people active every day it really should be understandable why there is less Wikinews participation. Wikipedia has the luxury of being able to see contributors take a break long enough to give the strategy process the attention it deserves. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:23, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Obituaries - some thoughts
I'd been blissfully unaware a remake of The Prisoner had been done, but finding out prompted me to look up Patrick McGoohan. The one point that caught my attention was one of the sources Wikipedia uses - http://www.palisadespost.com/content/index.cfm?Story_ID=4587 - this is an obituary nine days after the man's death. Certainly, there are some elements within it which might not fit within Wikinews, but it is more what people expect when they read an obit.

How could Wikinews do similar? We do already get comments on noticeably older articles - this is an example where the subject's Wikipedia article needs the news story, and the news story stands distinct. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:59, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
 * What do you suggest? Cirt (talk) 16:00, 21 November 2009 (UTC)


 * An initial obit - "(Wo)man dies aged xy" - should show up within the standard timeframe. However, we can gather a week of comments together while putting in more background to report "Tributes paid to man" or "Woman remembered". That would end up as roughly the sort of thing you link to. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 16:08, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I like it! :) Cirt (talk) 20:22, 21 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Me too, this sounds like a good approach. <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  22:50, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Time for some Deops/Decrats?
I dont think we've got a solid policy on idle-ness, but I just happened to be looking through the list of 'Crats and noticed was still on there. I checked, he's had 4 edits in 2008 & 2009, I'd say that calls for decrating/admining. There is no point in us having a ton of admins/crats, who are never around (plus this will help with the argument of "we've already got enough 'crats" that we go through every time one is up for election). Anyone have any problem with putting admins & crats up for rights revocation who haven't been active in the last year? I could even be convinced to warn them first.... -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 21:27, 21 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I say just do it. Worst that happens is the community shoots you down, but I doubt it somehow. You should email them, though. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 21:31, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'd say send them an e-mail first. If they don't intend to become more active just deflag. – Juliancolton  &#124; Talk 21:49, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I disagree with desysoping inactive admins/bureaucrats and WN:IP. But if we're going to consider deflagging, it should go through WN:RFP. <font face="Georgia">Tempodivalse <font face="Georgia">[talk]  22:43, 21 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Sure, through RFP, but Eloquence does not need the rights on this project any more. Even having them could be seen as a conflict of interest for the Deputy-CEO. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:47, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes to the RFP. I guess I should have specified that specifically, I just thought it was worth feeling out here briefly first. Most projects have an inactive policy that is fairly well enforced.  Commons it is by actually admin actions, not just edits (though it is fairly easy to find 5 files to delete on Commons). -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 07:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Audio Wikinews
I have noticed the Audio Wikinews pages is extremely disorganized and since it it linked in the Main Page, I thought it would be best for a group of editors to fix up the mess that is Audio Wikinews. I'm willing to help also. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 04:31, 11 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It's new content is the issue. I'm looking at the Wikimedia Radio concept again; for that a really short brief put out regularly (like at least 2 times a day) would be ideal. I'm running a test on http://1radio.org on Monday (0200 - 0400 UTC). If you hate The Grateful Dead, then suggest some other music to play. I'm interested in using live stuff like bootlegs while I get some experience with this. Yes, anyone else interested in doing this can bug me for a how-to in setting up Ubuntu to do it. Windows/Mac? You're on your own. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:02, 19 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I am still working on a show idea. I am working on setting up my Windows for broadcasting. Maybe later this month I can produce my first test run. How did the broadcast go? Which software did you use to stream? I like the Wikimedia Radio idea and may use that as a template, but of course change it up a bit. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 03:17, 24 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The broadcast was a breeze. I'm using Ubuntu Linux with some "tweaks", I ran a two hour show, and I had zero dropouts. Given Wikinews' current contributor levels though, the thing is to look for content syndication. If Wikinews can have a 5-10 minute bulletin updated ever 12-24 hours then places like http://1Radio.org will 'syndicate' it. Part of the lead-up to establishing that sort of use is Wikinewsies running broadcasts on such freebie/trial stations with these news items as insets. --Brian McNeil / talk 04:01, 24 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Add adding these to iTunes and Archive.org work well too. I think I could use Wordpress also. Maybe that weekly news thing could also be revived. -- The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 04:52, 24 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately I didn't see this thread until too late-Brian, is the show going to be a regular? Do you have a recording of it-I'd quite like to have a listen.  1Radio sounds like a really cool idea-how long has it been going?  <i style="position:absolute;z-index:-1;bottom:0;width:2.8em;height:8px;background:#eee;"> </i>  Tris   08:22, 24 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Not sure how long 1Ragio has been running; it's the PRS registration that makes it interesting. You can play mainstream music. As long as the tags on the file are correct and sent when broadcasting, you're fine. --Brian McNeil / talk 10:54, 24 November 2009 (UTC)