Good morning! On this first Tuesday in February, you are all invited to read through Wikipedia’s List of common misconceptions (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_…) per ancient xkcd custom.
If you too feel uneasy about the state of the world, and you too worry about losing access to one of the greatest knowledge treasure of the internet,
Know that you can download an offline copy of Wikipedia!
Here's how 📚👇
1. Download the free and open source software Kiwix (this will be your reader): kiwix.org/en/applications/
2. If you want smaller versions of Wikipedia, you can download them within Kiwix.
Within the app, go to "Categories" in the menu on the left, then browse to a topic/version you want. Scroll to the bottom for Wikipedia mini, for example. Click on it then click "Download" on the right
3. Once you have downloaded a database, click on "Opened" on the left > database you want to search > "Open Main Page" on the right.
4. You can use the Search field on the upper-right to find topics like on online Wikipedia! 🔍
5. If you want the full English version of Wikipedia (110GB), you might want to download it from the torrent file instead. Install a torrent client of your choice (I use Transmission).
Then, go to this page, click on "Download - 109.89 GB" blue button on the first result (size may vary overtime), then select "Torrent file": library.kiwix.org/#lang=eng&ca…
6. Once you have the torrent file, open it with your torrent client to start the download. This is BIG! Be patient! 📦
7. Once the download is completed, open your Wikipedia `.zim` file with Kiwix!
8. Magic! 📖✨
Extra Tip: You can download many other awesome knowledge files from the Kiwix Library! Personally, I also got the iFixit knowledge base! ⚒️
Discover Kiwix applications that enable offline access to knowledge on different platforms. Explore the convenience of accessing information without an internet connection
The last 2 are not Free & Libre Open Source Software, but they are for the #OpenCommons and that's close enough for me. We can argue the finer points if you like : )
If you too feel uneasy about the state of the world, and you too worry about losing access to one of the greatest knowledge treasure of the internet,
Know that you can download an offline copy of Wikipedia!
Here's how 📚👇
1. Download the free and open source software Kiwix (this will be your reader): kiwix.org/en/applications/
2. If you want smaller versions of Wikipedia, you can download them within Kiwix.
Within the app, go to "Categories" in the menu on the left, then browse to a topic/version you want. Scroll to the bottom for Wikipedia mini, for example. Click on it then click "Download" on the right
3. Once you have downloaded a database, click on "Opened" on the left > database you want to search > "Open Main Page" on the right.
4. You can use the Search field on the upper-right to find topics like on online Wikipedia! 🔍
5. If you want the full English version of Wikipedia (110GB), you might want to download it from the torrent file instead. Install a torrent client of your choice (I use Transmission).
Then, go to this page, click on "Download - 109.89 GB" blue button on the first result (size may vary overtime), then select "Torrent file": library.kiwix.org/#lang=eng&ca…
6. Once you have the torrent file, open it with your torrent client to start the download. This is BIG! Be patient! 📦
7. Once the download is completed, open your Wikipedia `.zim` file with Kiwix!
8. Magic! 📖✨
Extra Tip: You can download many other awesome knowledge files from the Kiwix Library! Personally, I also got the iFixit knowledge base! ⚒️
Discover Kiwix applications that enable offline access to knowledge on different platforms. Explore the convenience of accessing information without an internet connection
In light of US tech oligarchy setting its sights on Wikimedia Foundation, a historical detail I did not know before: #Wikipedia became the non-profit it is today partly as the result of a labour strike of Spanish Wikipedia editors who disagreed with the proposed inclusion of advertisements. Initially, it was not clear what revenue model Wikipedia would get, and Wales moved towards a for-profit model already a year after launch. However, rather than working for free, so Jimmy Wales could profit from their labour via advertising, Spanish contributors forked Spanish Wikipedia as the Encyclopedia Libre Universal. Under the threat of losing the editorial community of such a large language, Wales conceded and set up the non-profit.
That is to say, however imperfect they are, all the digital commons we have are the result of ongoing struggle and hard work to keep them as commons.
Wow this struck a chord, it seems I was not the only one who was not aware of this story!
Some additional info:
@teclista@mas.to shared that the protagonists are on the fedi as well (of course they are!):
https://mas.
Save Social Media From Billionaire Capture: freeourfeeds.com?
"But it will take independent funding and governance to turn Bluesky’s underlying tech—the AT Protocol—into something more powerful than a single app."
I see the executive director and president of Mozilla Foundation as their technical advisors, no surprise. But it surprises me to have the executive director of the Social Web Foundation (@swf) there.
The world's richest man has joined a growing chorus of right-wing voices attacking Wikipedia as part of an intensifying campaign against free and open access information. Why do they hate it so much?
The world's richest man has joined a growing chorus of right-wing voices attacking Wikipedia as part of an intensifying campaign against free and open access information.
With help from a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, a project to Enhance Lace Content in Wikipedia is underway. This video is an overview of that project, ...
Wikipedia is a problem for Musk/Trump. Not, as Musk says, because it's "woke." Because it's one of our last reliable tethers to a consensus reality. Therefore, an antidote to disinformation.
It's not making anyone money. It's not enshittified. Of course it's not perfect—it's an endeavor of imperfect cooperating humans. But it needs protection and support.
People on the EN #Wikipedia keep editing the ill-fated communist leader Musso's name to be "Munawar Musso" or "Musso Munawar". (It's currently the latter.)
In any old newspapers from the 1920s-50s he was only ever Musso. The oldest appearance I can find online of "Munawar Musso" is from the World Marxist Review in English in the 1970s. In recent English and Indonesian books (2010s-2020s) he seems to be now referred to regularly as Munawar Musso.🤔 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musso
As with so many WP articles related to the fediverse, so much crucial information has been pruned out of the article covering StatusNet that it's arguably become misleading;
Articles seem to comes to the attention of... certain editors. Who know nothing about the subject, and worse, seem to consider accuracy irrelevant to the quality of WP articles. They add nothing, but prune anything not spelled out in the existing references.
Wikipedia mentions that it's Global Accessibility Awareness Day on the English version's main page, but to create an account on there and many of the Wikimedia Foundation's other projects you have to complete an inaccessible captcha. They offer an option for someone to create an account for you if you can't fill it in, but that's not good enough. There's been a ticket open about this since 2006 according to the date stamp and nothing's been done. phabricator.wikimedia.org/T684… #GAAD #Wikipedia #Wikimedia
Unser #OpenStreetMap Stand auf dem #37c3 ist fertig. Drucker ist angeschlossen, Display von unserem Nachbarstand #wikipedia ist auch bereit, Flyer liegen aus... wir freuen uns auf Tag 1
Integration of the #Fediverse and #Mastodon Identity standards into the software that powers #WikiPedia & other Wiki's is so important I find it hard to express.
It is the first big step of integration between the Wikipedian and Fediverse communities, and it has been massively under-noticed and not gotten nearly the attention this deserved.
I'm all for it, want to find ways to help & hope this is the beginning of much more integration to come. 🔥
The Akan #Wikipedia has been closed because...it's not an actual language, it's a language *family*. Instead, efforts have moved to Wikipedias in the #Twi and #Fante languages, the latter of which was just created today!
I need some help with #nvda & #wikipedia. I'm assisting a blind student in learning how to navigate the web using a laptop. NVDA reads out the title first, then properties about the document, then the summary box on the side. I can't find any way to skip that whole box and move straight to the main content. There is no main content landmark, nor is there a heading, not is it in the Contents section. Take en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood… as an example. How can I navigate to the first sentence of the main article? Thanks for any help. #blind #accessibility
![English Wikipedia screenshot of the first revision of the "SatanCon" article
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rhododendrites (talk | contribs | block) at 13:28, 9 June 2023 (Holy cow! It's article number 6,666,666! Hail, Wikipedia! :)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
SatanCon is the annual convention of the Satanic Temple, a non-theistic religious organization which uses Satanic imagery to advocate for egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state. The conventions combine traditional conference-style educational panels with social events, arts, and a marketplace.
Background
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization founded in 2013. It uses Satanic imagery, humor, and legal tactics to advocate for the separation of church and state, critical thinking, reproductive rights, abolishing corporal punishment in schools, and other causes.[1] It does not believe in a supernatural Satan, but uses the idea of Satan and the public's reaction to the concept as a metaphorical or satirical tool to challenge religious authority and advocate against what it views as injustice.[2][3]](https://fedi.ml/photo/preview/640/444242 "English Wikipedia screenshot of the first revision of the \"SatanCon\" article
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rhododendrites (talk | contribs | block) at 13:28, 9 June 2023 (Holy cow! It's article number 6,666,666! Hail, Wikipedia! :)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
SatanCon is the annual convention of the Satanic Temple, a non-theistic religious organization which uses Satanic imagery to advocate for egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state. The conventions combine traditional conference-style educational panels with social events, arts, and a marketplace.
Background
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization founded in 2013. It uses Satanic imagery, humor, and legal tactics to advocate for the separation of church and state, critical thinking, reproductive rights, abolishing corporal punishment in schools, and other causes.[1] It does not believe in a supernatural Satan, but uses the idea of Satan and the public's reaction to the concept as a metaphorical or satirical tool to challenge religious authority and advocate against what it views as injustice.[2][3]")
in other languages: w.wiki/6cJy)
