Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-12-01/From the editors
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The Halloween holiday (#12) inspires the entertainment industry to release scary products in October, and this is reflected by Netflix topping the list with a show about a haunted house (#1, #5), adding in a series starring a teenage witch (#14) — and in an unintended case, there's the equally disturbing subject of miscarriage of the law (#10, #17), along with a fictional assassin (#13) — while Hollywood brings back the Halloween slasher movies (#3, #20, #22), and is still making money out of a questionable comic book movie that evokes more terror than justice (#23). Scares are also provided by terrorism attempts (#11), urban legends (#21), life-threatening disease (#4) and life-ending (#9) manhunts (#6). On less spooky notes, there's movies about musicians (#2, #8, #18) and actors (#19), some sports (#15, #25), video games (#5), Google Doodles (#15) and boneheaded TV moments (#24).
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Haunting of Hill House (TV series) | 
|
1,057,068 |  |
It seems like Netflix scares will be a constant close to Halloween. Last year, our report was topped by Stranger Things, and 2018 goes from teen horror to adult one, in a series that simultaneously shows Carla Gugino (pictured) as the mother of a family that, in 1992, moves into an old house during renovations to their mansion, and present day events showing their stay there was traumatic. |
| 2 | Freddie Mercury | 
|
996,475 | .jpg) |
Wembley Stadium hosted iconic performances by Queen and The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, so it's only natural that Mercury's biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (which narrowly missed the list at #26) premiered at nearby Wembley Arena. Reviews have been mixed, deeming the movie too orthodox for such a groundbreaking artist, but it still topped the UK and Ireland box office. This week, Bohemian Rhapsody will Play the Game in most markets, including the U.S. |
| 3 | Halloween (2018 film) |
|
977,862 |  |
Taking a page from Superman Returns, the Halloween series decides to ignore most of its sequels (not the first time it's happened, as shown by this helpful graph) and instead make a movie where Michael Myers (#22) gets free after 40 years (#20) of imprisonment and again goes on a killing spree during October 31 (#12), with a deeply traumatized Laurie Strode (still played by Jamie Lee Curtis, pictured) deciding to take him down with her own hands. The back-to-basics approach results in a frightening movie approved by both audiences and reviewers. |
| 4 | Roman Reigns | 
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947,396 | .jpg)
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A few weeks before the next wrestling pantomime, one of the headliners had to back out due to real life drama: Roman Reigns revealed he has leukemia, which made a return even after it had entered remission during his 11-year private treatment. |
| 5 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | 
|
865,220 | Rockstar Games returns to their "Grand Theft Auto in the Wild West" series, which has already gotten great reviews. | |
| 6 | Jamal Khashoggi |
|
794,298 | .jpg) |
The brutal story which captivated the world this week revolves around Khashoggi, a journalist, famed in the West for his work with the Post, who disappeared in the Saudi embassy in |
| 7 | The Haunting of Hill House |
|
781,070 |  |
Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel, a seminal cornerstone of mid-twentieth century horror literature, alongside the corpus of literary royalty, has been adapted into a popular Netflix miniseries (#1). |
| 8 | A Star Is Born (2018 film) |
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754,756 | .jpg) |
Bradley Cooper does basically everything in the fourth iteration of this cinematic classic: he stars as the famous musician who discovers a fledgling one played by Lady Gaga (#18), directs, co-writes, co-produces, and even helps make the songs he performs. And it works out pretty well, with a well-done and touching movie that, after critical and commercial success, is certainly expected to be an awards contender. |
| 9 | Deaths in 2018 | 
|
684,074 |  |
In the immortal words of our #3:
"Too late, my time has come |
| 10 | Steven Avery |
|
545,655 |  |
An American prisoner whose sad story of being framed by the police — after serving 18 years in prison for a sexual assault he plainly did not commit, the subsequent civil lawsuit had him charged for a murder and convicted again, this time with his underage nephew (#17) being roped along — was told in the Netflix series Making a Murderer, which had a second season released on October 19 exploring the aftermath of the conviction. |
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"Here we are, born to be kings, we're the Princes of the Universe!" Or at least of Wikipedia, as the late, great Freddie Mercury (#1) and his band Queen (#14) gather lots of views with the release of Bohemian Rhapsody (#13), starring Rami Malek (#15), in a great performance that to borrow from another musical hit, might lead to people saying "A Star Is Born" (#17). Readers are also celebrating Halloween (#2) – and on a lesser level, the Day of the Dead (#8), them who never leave this list (#12) and have two high entries (#3, #5) – by watching slasher movies (#16) and binging on Netflix shows about haunted houses (#11, #21) and teenage witches (#6, #18). The other prevalent topics are a record-breaking Indian statue (#4, #10), Western-themed video games (#9, #22), wrestling events (#7, #20), and politics, with the results of the elections in my country (#23), to borrow from that man still blaming everything wrong in the U.S. on immigrants (#24, #25), can be summed in just one word: "Sad!"
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freddie Mercury |
|
2,090,170 |  |
It seems that he is the champion, indeed. The lead singer of the groundbreaking rock band Queen (#14) was played by Rami Malek (#15) in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (#13), which is currently outperforming most expectations at the box office. |
| 2 | Halloween |
|
1,745,391 |  |
It’s amazing how consistent this holiday’s view count has been over the years. Every October 31st, parents scramble for the last bag of candy, a trillion mouth bacteria have the best day of their lives, and roughly 1.7–2.0 million people check the Wikipedia page for some reason. I’m sure there’s some cool explanation for why this is, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what. |
| 3 | Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha |
|
1,529,577 | _(cropped).jpg) |
The 5th richest man in Thailand and the owner of Leicester City F.C. (pictured) unexpectedly passed on October 27th in a helicopter crash. Srivaddhanaprabha was the founder and CEO of a chain of duty-free shops in Thailand, King Power International Group. Srivaddhanaprabha leaves behind his wife and his four children. |
| 4 | Statue of Unity |
|
1,271,087 |  |
The world’s tallest statue has been unveiled in India, rising up to a height of 597 feet(182 m), about twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty. The monument honors the Indian statesman Vallabhbhai Patel (#10), who was crucial to the unification of the Indian state. |
| 5 | Whitey Bulger |
|
1,185,140 |  |
In a sequence of events seemingly straight from a gangster movie, the 89 year old mob boss was beaten to death by multiple inmates on Monday. The hit was apparently orchestrated by Mafia hit man Fotios "Freddy" Geas. Bulger was famously discovered living as a fugitive in Santa Monica in 2011. |
| 6 | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV series) |
|
1,131,510 |  |
The TV adaptation of the dark version of a comic book series spun off from a one-off in a humor anthology from a popular teenage comic series debuted to a very positive reception and strong ratings. Featuring Kiernan Shipka (pictured) as the titular character, the show explores questions of belonging, split identities, and sleep demons. In short, the perfect coming-of-age recipe. |
| 7 | WWE Crown Jewel | 
|
990,608 |  |
The timing was terrible for this WWE event, hosted by wrestling legend Hulk Hogan (pictured): returning to Saudi Arabia just after the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi led to calls for cancellation and boycotts by some wrestlers. |
| 8 | Day of the Dead |
|
939,479 |  |
Ever since last year, we can celebrate the Mexican carnival of the cadaverous with this beautiful song:
Remember me |
| 9 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
|
852,942 | Rockstar Games has outdone themselves once again, creating their most expansive and visually stunning title yet. The game has earned an equally staggering amount of money, claiming the largest opening weekend in the history of entertainment. | |
| 10 | Vallabhbhai Patel |
|
835,622 | .jpg) |
The Indian statesman memorialized in colossal form by #4. |
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This week on Wikipedia, the King of Queen (#1) meets the King of Scots (#11), opera rock (#7) meets political theater (#5), and Google heroes (#12, #15) meet Indian greatness (#23), while rising stars (#2, #9, #10, #17) keep on fighting till the end. In a nod to the simulation hypothesis winking at us, a movie focusing on election fraud in India (#21) was released in the midst of U.S. elections (#24, #25), where accusations of fraud have become routine.
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freddie Mercury |
|
3,495,059 | 
|
Thanks to the epic biopic released last week (#7), a younger generation discovers the flamboyant mores and music of Farrokh Bulsara, a native of colonial Zanzibar who so loved England that he decided Mercury would not only be a stage name but his legal one. According to a quote attributed to him in the movie, there was only space for one drama queen in the band. And drama he loved, he stirred, he moved us all to tears. The show must go on! |
| 2 | Beto O'Rourke |
|
1,282,137 |  |
In a week when American media were, for once, justified in being dominated by politics, Saint Beto was seen by one side as the redeeming knight in white armor who alone could defeat the Texas Rat today, and of course the Orange Monkey two years down the road. But inertia was stronger, and the former debate fiends endured the re-election challenge thanks to newfound love. |
| 3 | Diwali |
|
1,158,916 | .jpg) |
Annual splendors returned with the Hindu festival of lights, spreading blessings and good will over humanity. When Lakshmi calls, you need to answer. |
| 4 | Queen (band) |
|
1,129,559 |  |
Welcome back to the 70s, when rock-and-roll blends with opera to make your head spin. Galileo would be proud. |
| 5 | United States elections, 2018 |
|
1,070,138 |  |
The usually apathetic American voters turned up en masse to support their preferred candidates across the country. Turnout was yuge, but results were surprisingly predictable: a swing of the House and stability in the Senate. All eyes are already on the 2020 presidential campaign, with literally dozens of potential candidates ready to fight for the right to challenge the incumbent (#14). |
| 6 | Thugs of Hindostan |
|
920,854 |  |
This epic adventure drama film, set in the late 18th century, sports the highest budget for an Indian film ever, about ₹300 crore (US$35 million), including hefty premiums for superstar Amitabh Bachchan (up one spot on Twitter). Critical reception was tame, but crowds still rushed to be entertained and made the movie a box office success. Such is the magic of cinema… |
| 7 | Bohemian Rhapsody (film) |
|
899,168 | The young audience was mystified by the crazy analog tape recording equipment. Older fans marveled at the exact scenography of the Live Aid 1985 concert, down to the placement of a green sticker on Freddie's microphone. All in all, a chart topper. | |
| 8 | United States House of Representatives |
|
786,249 |  |
The House flipped. It does that sometimes. For more information, see #2, #5, #10, #14, #16, #18, #24 and #25. |
| 9 | Rami Malek |
|
753,131 |  |
Rami's stupendous portrayal of Freddie Mercury (#1) earns him worldwide fame, and certainly a spot on the short list for the next Oscars. A reminder to watch or re-watch the Mr. Robot series, for which Malek won a Critics' Choice Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. |
| 10 | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
|
738,237 | .jpg) |
The rising star of the Democratic party was comfortably elected in New York's 14th congressional district. In a strategy reminiscent of Trump's unbelievable campaign messages, she advocates free healthcare and free education for all, noting that many countries seem to manage this feat. Perhaps hospitals and universities are less greedy there? |
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A very upsetting week for comic fans, as one of the pioneering champions of the medium died. Stan Lee was a legend, a perennial figure of respect and renown for nerds and dorks worldwide. Lee will be greatly missed. Aside from the passing of a hero, the week was evidently the domain of cinephiles, with films, film subjects, and actors galore reaching the top 25. This week's iteration of the report is strange yet intriguing, and was a joy to compile. Hopefully it is as fantastic to read as it was incredible to pen.
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stan Lee |
|
5,841,113 | .jpg) |
With the ceaseless flood of celebrity deaths, it is easy to become desensitised to the demise of those we know and love, but the marvellous comic writer was an clear exception to the rule, and immensely impactful for many fans of the media, new and old. The heroic author was responsible for the creation of many seminal characters, from Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, to Doctor Strange and the X-Men, and helped lead the Silver Age. Lee saw himself seep further into the modern zeitgeist in recent times through his frequent cameos, and it is difficult to think of one which more perfectly encapsulates what he meant to his audience than this. He was beloved by many, and will be sorely missed by all purveyors of his fantastical escapism. While creating relatable heroes for us to admire, Lee himself became one. |
| 2 | Freddie Mercury |
|
2,359,538 |  |
Freddie Mercury, even by the time of his untimely demise, was widely recognised as one of the most influential and innovative forces in the history of music, responsible, along with his royal band (#8), for a vast number of unforgettable hits, including a very potent contender for the greatest song of all time. He has been a staple of recent iterations of the report as a consequence of the biopic about his life, which ranks at #10 this week. The film has been chastised for taking very strong liberties with Mercury's mercurial life story, to the detriment of his reputation, but thankfully it has driven droves to his article where they can find more trustworthy information about the lyrical legend. |
| 3 | Robert the Bruce |
|
1,284,385 |  |
Our third entry is another British monarch propelled to high view counts courtesy of the binge royals, albeit one who is slightly older. Robert the Bruce is a legendary king amongst the Scottish, as he delivered a famous victory over the old enemy at the Battle of Bannockburn, helping maintain the independence of the northern kingdom. Netflix made a film about the leader (#19), perhaps hoping to emulate the success of the flick about Bobby's lieutenant. |
| 4 | Arecibo message |
|
1,105,905 |  |
An indecipherable entry rockets into the top 5 courtesy of our supreme search leaders, who devoted a doodle to the Arecibo message, the interstellar note penned by Frank Drake and Carl Sagan back in the 1970's. The message was specifically designed to convey basic information regarding humanity and our existence on Earth, and hoping that aliens who intercept the message will be capable of decoding and comprehending it. As such, the message is a scientific and linguistic marvel, and the decisions taken are intriguing and great insight into how we as humans communicate and share a common comprehension. It is also significantly more helpful than our other try, as the barrier to comprehension is lower. |
| 5 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald |
|
1,007,718 |  |
The latest installment in Rowling's ever-expanding Wizarding World hit multiplexes worldwide, to a somewhat subdued response. Naturally, being the Potterhead that I am, I duly booked a seat in the local cinema to witness whatever heinous crimes Willy Wonka had planned. I was, quite frankly, underwhelmed. The special effects are impressive, the intricate plotting less so. The film goes for a dramatic Shyamalan-esque twist, that doesn't land at all, and leaves even the most devoted disciples of Hogwarts confounded. It makes it truly a hard film to recommend – nonsensical for the uninitiated, irritating for the interested. |
| 6 | Thugs of Hindostan |
|
860,204 |  |
On a list which is dominated by Hollywood, our sixth entry originates from the other major movie market, the latest in a long line of Bollywood smash hits to reach the report. Hardly a surprise, given India's status as the second largest English-speaking nation. Raking in the crore at present is this film, revolving around the efforts made in Hindustan for independence, which stars the enigmatic Aamir Khan. Despite the star power, the film is reportedly going down as somewhat of a bomb. |
| 7 | Queen (band) |
|
854,540 |  |
Another week, another entry for the phenomenal rock band, my personal favourite artists. For decades, they rocked audiences across the globe, truly being lethal and captivating, breaking from the shackles of all who came before them, and paving a new path for those to follow. Any self-proclaimed fan of rock and roll to not know the lyrics to a copious quantity of Queen songs is unworthy of the title, and the best consequence of the underwhelming film about the band (#10) is that it has introduced an entirely new generation to the crazy music of the magical quartet, guaranteeing that their legacy of being the greatest will persevere. |
| 8 | World War I |
|
811,974 |  |
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in, and watch the white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face, like a devil's, sick of sin. If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud, of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues – my friend, you would not tell with such high zest, to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie – Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori. |
| 9 | Deaths in 2018 |
|
730,213 |  |
As this week's report is topped by a prominent death, it is hardly surprising that the perusers of Wikipedia journeyed to the list of the fallen in their droves to see who else was felled by the Grim Reaper. |
| 10 | Bohemian Rhapsody (film) |
|
625,118 |  |
Once again, the biopic centred on #2 and #7 remains a firm fixture of the report, in spite of the tepid response of critics to the film. Having seen it, I can report that the critics have the right end of the stick – the soundtrack is simply the greatest, and the central performance is phenomenal, but the screenplay will leave viewers left wanting, and is more devoted to drama than historical accuracy, to the detriment of the central characters of the tale, and infuriating Queen fans worldwide. The Live Aid scene is engrossing though. |
Writing in Heise Online on 2 November, Torsten Kleinz reports that the State Court of Berlin (file reference 27 O 12/7) has ordered the German Wikipedia to remove a critical passage on language researcher Alexander Waibel. "Just how far can one go in making supposedly reputation-damaging claims without substantiating them?" Computer scientist Weibel had sued Wikipedia following a claim sourced to the MDR magazine Fakt, in which he was linked to surveillance programs of the US intelligence services. Weibel, a professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, sees the allegations of being connected with espionage programs as reputation-damaging. "One needs to be very careful before claiming a scientist has connections to the secret service", recommends the presiding judge. Whether the claims were justified or not was not taken into account by the court. The Wikimedia Foundation, which admitted to not being aware of any lack of veracity in the Fakt article, has not appealed the verdict. The corresponding text has since been removed from the encyclopedia's article.
Wikipedia 'Deaditors': The People Who Let The World Know When Famous People Die, says Antoinette Lattouf, senior reporter of 10 daily on 11 November. Revealing that Conor Crawford, a 30-year-old from Missouri who edits Wikipedia as Conman33 was the first to update the Wikipedia biography on the 2009 death of Michael Jackson, she continues by explaining that he was also involved in the reporting of the passing of Prince in 2016. According to Lattouf, "Wikipedia’s page view statistics show that the site is the first stop for many when actors and entertainers pass away". Crawford told 10 daily that "...in the 'era of fake news' Wikipedia needs to be more stringent".
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-12-01/Technology report
There are a great number of subjects about which no one cares on Wikipedia. With new bands this is especially important to keep in mind, given that a relatively high proportion of new pages are about a "garage band" (so-called because of their tendency to only ever play in their parents' garage) or "Yet Another Myspace (or Facebook or YouTube) Band", "YAMB" for short.
Editors, especially new page patrollers, can learn to spot garage or Myspace/Facebook/YouTube band pages; and creators of said pages can learn why their page was speedily deleted (normally due to a lack of a credible indication of importance or being blatant advertising.) Usually, the band is unsigned, has released no albums (or only a self-produced CD), and the article about them was written by them.
Although Wikipedia articles about unknown bands are created by editors all over the world, a garage band article is often written by the band itself. Garage band articles generally share several characteristics:
Many garage bands tend to name their articles with a precise title, such as My Rock Group (band) instead of just My Rock Group, even when there is no reason to disambiguate the article title. If a new article has "(band)"—especially the incorrect capitalization style "(Band)"—in the title, there's a good chance this is a garage band article. Bad grammar can be apparent in the body of the article, as well.
== MEMBERS =;
Bringers of darkness (Band)
Background information Genres hard core Years active now Labels BOD RECORDS Members Kinnie Kingsworth, Shayne Tracy, Barret Lee, Wade Wilson, Whizz Perez Website htttp:/facebook.com/page435983454 BRINGERS OF DARKNESS are revitalizing audiences with there legenday raw energy live show and undeniable chemistry of brotherhood. They transcend a world that is locked in genre and commercialism; though they know they can't do it alone, they are the seeds of a revolution. The band has pitched their newest CD to Sony executives,[b] played in front of the likes of Henry Rallins,[c] and the lead singer has sang onstage with Freddie Mircury[d] - they have the goods and they WILL deliver.
Members: Tim "Kinnie" kingsworth - guitarist born to rock, tim has written many of bringers of darkness's best songs including "my love for you is swimming through the rapids like a broken arow" (Tim only plays Bingleworth guitars. Onstage, he plays a Bingleworth J-9000 7-string with a neo-chromium Foo humbuckers. For recording he uses a K-9001 with two single-coli pickups. he also exclusively uses Krankle amplifiers and Czech-Tec guitar tubes)
Shayne tracy - vocals Stunning gutteral screams, as raw and wild and hardcore as the songs
barett "binnet" lee - bass player the best, all-star bass player in idaho is barett lee, his awsome riffs bring bringers of darkness's songs together --award-winning, has played with the pro's (barett exclusively uses Klaxor titanium picks, the greatest brand in the world)
wade Wilson - drummer played everyware (even opened for Metallica!!,[e] now the pumping heart of bringers of darkness beats
antonio 'whizz' perez - keyboards (antonio uses a Hammunk J-100, Farfasi Q-7a with extended keyboard, Cazia CTK-997 workstation, small Howard k-1600 keyboard, with a Peazey 100 watt amp with 15" speaker, Audio-pro Caroidid mic, Radio Shak mic stand)
Bringers of darkness record on B.O.D. Records (c/0 Shayne's parent's house 234 Anytown St. IDaho, US) - - ---- ... Exclusive representation is through DarkNess International Media Production Industries LLC (idaho branch office)
==UPCOMING SHOWS! Catch the "Bringers" live at one of the following venues:=
- Tuesday, Oct 9: opening for Raymond & the Wannabes at the Cracker Barrel Beer and Lobster House (in the basement room), 8 PM
- Mon. Dec. 12: Motzey's House of Pickles...we[f] are the headlingers at this show...come on time (9 PM for B.O.D.),w/ guest openers KAǾS-SOAK
- Sunday, Jan 15: Idaho Regional Real Estate Association picnic[g]
- Friday night, Feb 24: Cannister Causeway Go-Kart Racetrack - (stage area is near the big windmill hole at the mini-putt)(unconfirmed)
REFERENCES:
A good rule of thumb is: they don't. The fact that the only "sources" about your band are your webpage, your Myspace page, your brother's blog, and your mom's work newsletter, should be one indication that your band's "notability" only extends to your immediate family and friends.
However, if you must know, here are some ways to tell if your article is worth mentioning on Wikipedia. If one or more of the following apply, then no one cares. (More formal definitions can be found at the Wikipedia guidelines on notability in music, but you don't want to hurt your brain slogging through that, do you?)
Such articles often turn up or end up in userspace "while editors look for reliable independent sourcing". Frequently they are then left there indefinitely. However, they are often only written for promotional purposes, and are deleteable at WP:MFD, or per WP:CSD#G11—{{db-promo}}—if blatant.
This essay is sometimes criticized for being uncivil. However, it's important to remember that Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information and, if we relaxed standards, the encyclopedia's overall quality would deteriorate. You might think your garage band is important, but we need a significant level of the world at-large—notably music critics and music journalists published in reliable sources—to agree. Otherwise, why aren't those 250 unknown garage bands over there important, too? You should also be aware that an article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing; if Billboard someday writes "Bringers of Darkness are unquestionably the worst noise I have ever had the misfortune to inflict upon my ears", then it can go in the article, citing Billboard as its source. Although this kind of attention might contribute to a claim of notability, is that really what you want?
What was (in my opinion, but perhaps I'm old fashioned after 25 years of the Web) a nice, clean newsletter-style blog, has, like most of the other readily accessible and commentable – and sometimes commendable – stuff, been incorporated into one of those quick-build WordPress sites that are taking over the creative art of web design; those WordPress sites are all instantly recognisable, aren't they? Content management systems have their advantages of course though, but sometimes only for those with privileged access.
The news to come out of the Wikimedia Foundation's effort to the Word Wide Web this month is an eclectic mix of essays and reports, and certainly a worthwhile browse for whatever takes one's fancy, and this is just my quick pick:
...and much, much more than I had time to read. This will probably change the shape of The Signpost's WMF blog column in future issues. Anyway, it's all out there on Wikimedia Foundation News for anyone who wants to keep abreast.
The Wikimedia Summit 2019 will be in Berlin during 29–31 March 2019 and is accepting registration from Friday, 2 November 2018 to Monday, 17 December at midnight CET (UTC+1). While this is an exclusive conference which typically limits invitations to one person per Wikimedia movement affiliate, the conference broadly affects group Wikimedia engagement everywhere as this global conference seeks to include representation from most or all Wikimedia community organizations. This gathering, previously known as the Wikimedia Conference, and before that the Chapter's Conference, focuses on discussion of global Wikimedia strategy through near future planning at meta:Strategy/Wikimedia movement/2018-20 and longer term ambition of what Wikimedia should be in 2030. Anyone who is part of a Wikimedia community organization should choose and register your representative. Anyone not part of an organization can join one or start one. Anyone who does not want to be in an organization, but who wants to be part of strategic planning, can join a working group and participate online. Anyone else who does not want to join any group can say whatever they want on the talk pages of any of these projects and plans.
This year's award for the Reviewer of the Year goes to Onel5969. Around on Wikipedia since 2011, their staggering number of 26,554 reviews over the past 12 months makes them, together with an additional total of 275,285 edits, one of Wikipedia's most prolific users.
| Rank | Username | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Onel5969 | 26,554 |
| 2 | JTtheOG | 15,059 |
| 3 | Boleyn | 12,760 |
| 4 | Cwmhiraeth | 9,001 |
| 5 | Semmendinger | 8,440 |
| 6 | PRehse | 8,092 |
| 7 | Arthistorian1977 | 5,306 |
| 8 | Abishe | 4,153 |
| 9 | Barkeep49 | 4,016 |
| 10 | Elmidae | 3,615 |
This was the twelfth edition of the WikiCup, an editing competition which has been held annually since 2007. In its first year it had twelve competitors, the only entrant from that contest who still participates regularly at Wikipedia being The Rambling Man, who came third in the Cup's inaugural year. Two years later there were 60 entrants, and in the ensuing years, contestant numbers peaked at around 150 and stayed steady for several years, although there has been some tailing off of entrant numbers recently. Originally, points were awarded for the number of mainspace edits done as well as for working on articles that were promoted to GA and FA status during the competition. The former criterion has been dropped, and now points are awarded for creating or expanding articles and improving the quality of articles; featured articles, featured lists, featured topics, and featured pictures, good articles and good topics, in the news items, did you knows and good article reviews all qualify, and bonus points are awarded for articles on important topics.
This year's contest was won by 
Courcelles (submissions), largely on the back of good articles on nations competing in the Olympic Games. Second was 
Kosack (submissions), who focused on footballers particularly from Cardiff City. Third-placed 
Kees08 (submissions) mainly scored by improving content on astronauts and the space programme. In fourth place was 
SounderBruce (submissions), who concentrated on articles relating to the state of Washington, and fifth-placed 
Cas Liber (submissions) created a range of featured content encompassing astronomy, fungi, plants, and birds.
Altogether, during the course of the ten-month competition, contestants achieved 28 FAs, 18 FLs, 463 GAs, 72 GTs, 210 DYKs, 46 ITN items and 644 GA reviews. Participants who improved featured content helped by reviewing the nominations of others, and the number of good article reviews done greatly exceeded the number of good articles for which points were claimed, and this will have contributed towards reducing the backlog of articles awaiting GA review. The number of DYKs averaged fewer than one a day, so it did not clog up the DYK process as has sometimes been claimed. The next WikiCup will start on January 1st 2019, and anyone who wishes to join in can sign up here.
Dr. Raymond Ward Arritt, who we knew as Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (formerly Raymond arritt), a valued member of the community since 2006, died suddenly on November 14; his last edit was shortly before. Just a sampling of the comments left on his talkpage in the wake of his passing include:
Since his death, volunteer Wikipedians have created a new article, Raymond Arritt, where readers can find out more about him, including his involvement in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-12-01/Serendipity
With a global edit count reaching 3,000, and with 2,641 edits on Wikipedia, I still consider myself a newbie here. On my user page my first line still stays "I am still getting the hang of Wikipedia" and I think that’s gonna stay there now, forever, as a memory to remind myself what it was like to be a newer newbie with around just 50–60 edits ten months ago. (Yes yes edit counts matter, see Wikipedia:Edits Per Day & WP:EDITCOUNT [quality + quantity] hence all the numbers! :P) And I am also a noob since I joined after 2000AD according to Wikipedia:Please bite the newbies.
Wikipedia is an amazing example of collaborative human effort that everyone can be a part of. All Wikipedians know this, but hearing this from just one more person reaffirms the thought, always.
On a more serious note, this year I have been consistent on Wikipedia and have managed to create 43 new articles in main space, all which still need improvement, some closer than others to "GA" status such as Delhi War Cemetery. Just recently Cwmhiraeth accepted my first DYK submission for a page I initiated and expanded: National Police Memorial (India). (The day I found out that this memorial had just been revamped and was open to public again, I actually rushed out in the morning to take pictures with my mobile phone just so that I could put it onto Wikipedia! Newbies huh!) Then I voted like a diligent Wikipedian in the Arbitration Committee Elections December 2018 and learnt of Isarra's pie diplomacy. At another level I have got into arguments with users and sock puppets here and there, but now looking back, I was at fault most of the time (WP:CLUELESS, WP:FALLIBLE) and have learnt a lot from the encouragement and guidance of various experienced editors here such as DBigXray, Kautilya3, Vanamonde, Adamgerber80 and so many others.
My first burst of motivation to start editing Wikipedia was related to creating a new article which wasn't there on Wikipedia in 2013. I had noticed that Wikipedia always kept popping up in my Google search results, somehow always managing to appear right at the top of the search results and I felt that this organisation "deserved" to have a page of its own. After a gap of four years the next burst of motivation came when I realised that some of my teachers in college were blatantly picking up matter from the lead of Wikipedia articles word for word and using it as a class presentation without any reference to where that information came from; and just to rub in their laziness even more, the final nail was when a teacher came to me asking if I could collect some matter on interpretative journalism. I soon found that probably the only reason the teacher said that was because Wikipedia didn't have a page on it at the time, which I then created.
Over time my motivations to continue editing Wikipedia have changed, one of the grandest being wanting to learn the secrets that hold the Wikipedia universe together. I wanted to understand who made the gel that keeps the hair straight and sexy, I wanted to understand the hukana to the matata, to understand who is the wife here and who is the husband and who are just the angry neighbours next door. I wanted to understand why Wikipedia editors are volunteers when the joker has clearly told us not to work for free. But trying to understand the secrets of Wikipedia and how it works was in a way like Master Po's revelation in Kung Fu Panda, when he is told there is no secret, there are no secret ingredients.
Another burst of motivation spread from knowing that edits I was making and pages I was initiating on Wikipedia were being viewed by many many people. Just how many I wondered so I even checked once – over 1.2 million views at the time of counting in August 2018. This was mainly because of Satyameva Jayate which already has crossed 2 million page views in just a few months. Now pageviews do not give me the same motivation as it did before. Pageviews also aren't a good way to decide whether to contribute to a particular page or not in the long run. This hunger for pageviews and recognition also resulted in a classic example of 'Wikipedia:Most ideas are bad' as depicted in the picture.
Aims of mine in the future include:
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-12-01/In focus
One new arbitration case has been opened this month: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Fred Bauder. The case was opened after Maxim did an emergency IAR desysop of Fred Bauder after Bauder removed an edit-warring block of himself. Arbs voted 10/0/2 (accept/decline/recuse) to accept the case. A motion was introduced afterwards to accept the case while providing further clarification of Bauder's admin status in the interim, with an 8/0/1 result. – P
A new request was opened November 27 by administrator There'sNoTime, concerning an experienced editor contacting a new editor by telephone regarding their MEDRS-violating edits. For the Arbitration Committee, does this constitute help, or harassment? Should the case be handled privately? And what should sanctions be, if any, for the editor who has had ArbCom sanctions previously? –B
A major carrot-teristic of our favorite orange vegetable (sorry pumpkins) is their affectionate nature. Don't be fooled. Just like the smiling family pit bull, they will eventually turn on you. While this underground root can be oddly shaped, others are heralded for their amusing appearance for obvious reasons. Carrots can kill.[1]
Not all experience the dark side of this root vegetable. Indeed, carrots have aggressively begun a successful effort to change their image. See this website to see how their public relations team has revamped their image. Carrots have also developed their own version of AI – and they have targeted humans and our tendency to expand our waistlines.[2] Carrots are well adapted in handling stress. When their taproot is growing and the tip is damaged, it can split, forming multiple roots at odd angles. During its primordium (plant embryonic development) stage, damage to the growing vegetable can cause more bizarre and extreme mutations.[3]
Carrots will naturally grow around or avoid obstacles in the soil such as small stones and other foreign objects to prevent damage to the developing root, resulting in a wide variety of different shapes.[4]
Other vegetables and fruits have been made to suffer. In Japan, farmers around Zentsūji, Kagawa found a way to grow cubic watermelons by growing the fruits in glass boxes and letting them naturally assume the shape of the receptacle. The square-shaped watermelon was intended to make the melons easier to stack and store, but because the melons must be picked before they’re ripe they are inedible; the cubic watermelons are also often more than double the price of normal watermelons.[5]
In response to the real carrot danger, the European Union attempted to introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of misshapen fruit and vegetables was defeated. The proposed "uniform standardisation parameters" would have applied to straight bananas and curved cucumbers, as well as to more extreme cases such as carrots with multiple "legs", or fused fruit. The main concern for opponents of the proposed legislation was the ethical question of the wastage it would have generated if growers were forced to discard up to 20% of their crop, produce that was nutritionally identical to more regularly shaped specimens.[6] The Fruits et légumes moches (ugly fruit and vegetables) campaign aims to encourage the purchase of more unusually shaped vegetables and fruits in France, to combat food waste.[7]
It is common in some countries to celebrate the diversity of carrots, with particularly unusual items being entered into competitions. Many of these are judged by the ugliness of the vegetable.[8] Some organisations run contests in which gardeners enter the largest vegetables that they have grown, with pumpkins being particular favourites.[9]
The phrase, "Kau ni tahap carrot pun tak sampai!" which means "You don't even reach the level of a carrot," has recently been used as an insult.[10] The popular BBC television programme That's Life! mixed investigative journalism with more lighthearted sections, which included items on unusually shaped vegetables.[11]
The BBC comedy television programme Blackadder contains several jokes relating to the character Baldrick and his obsession with odd-shaped turnips. The most notable example occurs in the episode "Beer", in which Baldrick discovers a turnip shaped like a phallus, giving rise to several jokes throughout the episode.
Ben Elton's novel This Other Eden is set in a future in which most aspects of life are controlled to conformity, meaning the loss of 'amusingly shaped vegetables', much to the protagonist's annoyance.
A giant vegetable competition featured in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
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