News and notes

Wikimania, usability, picture contest, milestones

Wikimania 2009 Call for Participation

Wikimania 2009, this year's global event devoted to Wikimedia projects around the globe, is accepting submissions for presentations, workshops, panels, posters, open space discussions, and artistic works related to the Wikimedia projects or free content topics in general. The conference will be held from August 26–28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more information, see the official Call for Participation.

Wikimedia Usability Initiative wiki

Earlier this month, the Wikimedia Foundation launched usability.wikimedia.org, a wiki for testing extensions and configurations to improve the usability and user interface of Wikipedia and other projects, as part of the Wikipedia Usability Initiative funded by a recent grant (see earlier coverage).

Wikinews Picture of the Year contest underway

Wikinews is in the midst of its first Picture of the Year contest (not to be confused with the Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year competition that is also ongoing). The second (and likely final) round of voting is underway until February 28, with 11 possible candidates for Wikinews Picture of the Year 2008. Any Wikimedian from any project (including Wikipedia) with over 50 edits may vote.

Briefly

According to Shi Zhao of the Chinese Wikipedia, Wikimedia SSL access (https://secure.wikimedia.org) is blocked in China as of February 20.
The Wikipedia Loves Art photography scavenger hunt and free content photography contest is continuing through the end of February; upcoming public events include the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Honolulu Museum of Art on February 27. In total there are 15 museums and cultural institutions participating in the month-long event. (see earlier coverage).

Milestones

The Indonesian language Wikipedia reached 100,000 articles. The 100,000th article is Luck By Chance, an Indian film, by an anonymous user.
The Thai Wikipedia has 60,000 registered users, with 622 active users.
The Gan Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
The Latvian Wikipedia has reached 20,000 articles.
The Sakha Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.