This is a summary of recent technology and site configuration changes that affect the English Wikipedia. Note that not all changes described here are necessarily live as of press time; the English Wikipedia is currently running version 1.44.0-wmf.12 (8b8c762), and changes to the software with a version number higher than that will not yet be active. Configuration changes and changes to interface messages, however, become active immediately.

This week saw 34 bugs resolved across Wikimedia Foundation wikis. Some of the bugs fixed pertaining to the English language Wikipedia include:

• (bug 7046): Revisions not of page with given title cause inconsistencies in UI
• (bug 12340): Edit links are appearing below section header line instead of above
• (bug 11622): Provide extension for title blacklisting
• (bug 11854): Error in MonoBook.php creates invalid XML
• (bug 12350): MySQL error possible via negative offset and limit on Special:Newpages

Other bugs fixed include Bug 12309, allowing blocked users to edit their userspace on Swedish Wikipedia, Bug 12333 (Closure of several wikis), and Bug 12355 (Allow autoconfirmed users to patrol on English Wikisource).

• MediaWiki:Deletereason-dropdown has had reasons for deletion shortened, as well as the CSD being updated.
• MediaWiki:Blockedtext has been made more specific.

• Internationalisation has been continuing as normal; help is always appreciated! See mw:Localisation statistics for how complete the translations of languages you know are, and post any updates to bugzilla or use Betawiki.

After elections for new stewards ended last week, the Board of Trustees endorsed the results of the elections, and appointed all users who finished with at least 80% support, adding twelve new stewards:

1. Spacebirdy, 100.0%
2. Jusjih, 98.6%
3. .anaconda, 98.0%
4. Dungodung, 98.0%
5. Wpedzich, 96.6%
6. Thogo, 96.3%
7. Lar, 94.8%
8. Zirland, 94.6%
9. Millosh, 94.7%
10. Andre Engels, 93.8%
11. DerHexer, 81.2%
12. Nick1915, 80.2%

Meanwhile, confirmation of current stewards is complete, and discussion between stewards is ongoing as to whether some of the stewards should retain their status. As of press time, it appears that Ausir, Romihaitza, Snowdog, and Suisui will not be confirmed due to inactivity, and Datrio and Fantasy resigned their stewardship voluntarily prior to these discussions. Sj's reconfirmation is close, with stewards evenly split as to whether Sj should be reconfirmed. Sixteen of the remaining 23 stewards will definitely retain stewardship, with no objections from the community, and it appears that the other seven will be reconfirmed as well.

On December 11th, Jimbo Wales testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in a hearing titled "E-Government 2.0: Improving Innovation, Collaboration and Access". Wales' testimony (PDF) is available, and video of the hearing, including a question-and-answer session with Wales, is available.

The Wikimedia Foundation fundraiser continued this week. Nearly sixty-five days into the fundraiser, about 40,500 people have donated at least US$1, and the Foundation has raised about $1,310,000.

A new fundraising site was introduced this week; the design highlights a Wikipedian's story, what the money is used for, and simplifies the donation form significantly. The effects of such a site on donations have yet to be seen.

Donations on December 25 (Christmas) (228 donations, totaling $8,015.20) reached a fundraiser low; however, a series of large donations were received in the last week, including $4,000 from Brooke Burgess (with comment "Ubermind, Inc."), a €1,000 ($1,439.80) donation from an anonymous contributor, $1,024 from frequent contributor Jeff Moe, and $1,000 donations from Lawrence Lessig, Robert D. Hall and Ana F. Barreto, and two anonymous contributors.

A joke inserted into the German Wikipedia's article on the 1989 European Competition for Women's Football was unwittingly reported by multiple German newspapers and magazines, and subsequently mentioned by the President of Germany, Horst Köhler. The joke revolves around the gifts received by the German champions of the competition, who received a coffee set as part of their prizes. On September 10, the joke was embellished, with the addition of an ironing board to their "prizes". After the German team's victory in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the ironing board was subsequently reported in various German sources, including a syndicated article by Frank Hellmann, which was published on various German websites, including that of top periodical Der Spiegel ([1]). It was later referenced in a speech by Bundespräsident Köhler. The false information was removed on December 17.

Wikimania 2009 bidding continued this week; one more bid was submitted this week: Kathmandu, Nepal. This joins two other official bids: Bogotá and Toronto. New bids will be open until January 12, at which time the jury will be announced. Bids already created will be open until February 3, when bidding will end, and deliberations will begin. On or before February 20, the host city for Wikimania 2009 will be announced to the public.

• A poll is ongoing to find featured portal director(s). It is set to close on December 31.
• On Tuesday, January 8, editor and administrator Jonathan Hochman will give a lecture ("Wikipedia & Social Media") at the Tumblebrook Country Club in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The event will run from 6:30-9 p.m. The cost is $45 per person, but those who register before December 31st can save $10; the price includes dinner and cocktails.
• After ballooning to over 100,000 articles thanks to massive bot activity, the Lombard Wikipedia has shrunk to below 25,000 articles.
• The German Wikibooks has reached 10,000 modules. They now have 569 Books, 40 of which are "ready".
• The Japanese Wikipedia has reached 450,000 articles.
• The Bulgarian Wikipedia has reached 50,000 articles.
• The Tagalog Wikipedia has reached 15,000 articles.
• The Tahitian Wikipedia has reached 500 articles.
• The Aromanian Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
• The Cherokee Wikipedia has reached 200 articles.

The Arbitration Committee did not open any new cases this week, and closed one case, leaving five cases currently open.

• Physchim62: This case concerned administrator Physchim62's block of fellow administrator Hesperian. Other users asserted that Physchim62 had misused his administrative tools in the past. After Physchim62 resigned as an administrator while the case was pending, the arbitrators found that Physchim62 resigned "under controversial circumstances," so that he may not seek resysopping without a new RfA.

• John Buscema: A case involving editing of the John Buscema article by editors including Tenebrae and Skyelarke.

• Dbachmann: A case involving alleged misconduct on the part of administrator Dbachmann and editing by other users on several race-related articles. Arbitrator UninvitedCompany has moved to dismiss the case based on a lack of evidence, but the motion has been opposed by arbitrators Kirill Lokshin and FloNight.

• RodentofDeath: A case involving alleged personal attacks and policy violations by RodentofDeath on articles including Angeles City. Remedies banning RodentofDeath for one year, and reminding Susanbryce not to use Wikipedia for purposes of advocacy, have the support of two to five arbitrators.

• Matthew Hoffman: A case involving controversial blocks of MatthewHoffman by a vanished user. Various remedies were proposed including either desysopping or admonishing him and annotating Matthew Hoffman's block log to reflect the arbitrators' view that the blocks were unjustified. A motion has been passed suspending the case for 30 days (until approximately 20 January, 2008) to allow for community input at a request for comment.

• Episodes and characters: A case involving alleged misconduct with regard to the notability of episodes and characters from television series. In the proposed decision, the parties are urged to work collaboratively to seek consensus on the issue.