notablog

Wikimedia logo highjacking

Where I am reassured that there are still people with imagination in the Wikimedia projects I am one of those tedious defenders of the integrity of the Wikimedia logo. It is not, in itself, the best logo ever, but well, the Wikimedia Foundation has enough problems as is trying to differentiate itself from Wikipedia, it deserves at least its own visual identity.

Jogging stick

Her eyes looked to see if she could find a way across. The buldozer was shovelling earth in front of her, stopping her in her mechanical movement.

Jetlag

I am constantly living between worlds, it's very strange.

Nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something

You just have to find out who knows what Well, the Nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something has been a long standing slogan for the construction of Wikipedia. However, I am not going to linger on the Wikipedia aspect of it, but rather on the applications I see in other areas, and especially on the organisational area of Wikimedia.

There are people behind nicknames

Where you learn that well...there are people behind nicknames. A very long time ago, when I started chatting on Yahoo!, I met a whole bunch of people. I was very naive, and the first time I entered a channel, with this notafish nickname, I actually said who I was, where I came from, in short, I did not hide behind the nickname, because I did not know to, and because I suppose I did not see any reason to.

What about the reader ?

Or how Wikipedia addresses its "customers" and how the form reflects the content N.B. I started this post more than a year ago and never put it on line, so some of the information is somewhat obsolete, but I decided today to take it up again and leave the first part as I had written it then.

Burger King - neither food, nor fast

Or politeness in the New World There is a funky drowl in the South, totally different from the one in Boston. Yesterday, Jean-Baptiste and I were reflecting upon the kind of people we had met during these few days. Bostonians, or at least people taking classes at Harvard law School, remind us of those parisiens branchés and bored, who don't really fit in the system but are its core at the same time. Here in Atlanta, where I have a 4 hour stopover before I go on to Frankfurt, people are nonchalant.

MIT, or the place where dreams happen

Reflexions on a lost career We went to MIT today, to visit the Media Lab (Media Laboratory) and see what we could do there for the next Wikimedia Conference. The place is huge. As we arrived in Boston, we went to the FSF official launch of the GPL 3.0. The only thing I recall at that point is thinking well, this is just like any other university in the world; imposing monuments, shabby insides and notice-boards that have been so used they just look like a giant pinhole.That was when I entered through the front door. Now, the Media-Lab is situated in a white building not too far from the banks of the Charles River

Wikipedia compared with Britannica by Nature

Where I hope that 0 mistake is what we're all striving for This is a post I sent to the Wikimedia foundation-l mailing list, when Nature published a study comparing a few entries of Wikipedia and Britannica. Full thread can be found here.

When it's quiet enough inside my mind

When it's quiet enough inside my mind When the devils have stopped playing the harp and drums When the chickens have grown their teeth and become crocodiles When angels light fires and fireworks play with the sun When every man speaks Truth to every other man Then, and only then, Maybe, I can rest. This text can also be found here.

There is not enough love, to go round...

Where we learn well...that there is not enough love. Having lived in different countries, namely the US and Austria, now living in Germany, and having experienced, or still experiencing international environments, I have had my share of culture shock I suppose.

Autobahn blues

Where one learns that signs are an unknown concept on the other side of the Rhein

Why the Wikimedia projects should not use GFDL as a stand alone license for images

Where we learn that free does not always mean easy

Fosdem

where one learns that celebrity is a relative thing Chemin and I went to spend the week-end in Brussels for the FOSDEM, where we were supposed to hold a booth for Wikipédia (yes, Wikipédia takes an accent in French :P ), which he did, while I ran around drinking iced tea and meeting celebrities. Yes, you read this well, celebrities.