A first look at WikiCrowd
I have quite enjoyed the odd contribution to an app by Google called Crowdsource. You can find it either on the web, or also as an app. Crowdsource allows people to throw data at Google in controlled ways to add to the massive pile of data that Google uses to improve its services and at…
Wikidata user and project talk page connection graph
Talk pages are a pretty key part of how wikis have worked over the years. Realtime chat apps and services are probably changing this dynamic somewhat, but they are still used, and also most of the history of these pages is still recorded. I started up an IPython Notebook to try and take a look…
Most liked Wikidata tweets
Wikidata is 9, and Twitter has been around for the entire Wikidata lifespan. So let’s take a look back through time at some of the most liked Wikidata tweets (according to Twitter free search) since creation. Personally, I think it’s rather cool that half of the tweets are in languages other than English! Want this…
Wikidata Map in 2021
It’s been over a year since I last posted about the Wikidata Map, and my last blog only used coordinate data from the end of 2019. At WikidataCon 2021 we finally showed off the new map tool that we have been working on, and with that came some fresh 2021 data!
Tech Lead Digest – Q3/4 2021
It’s time for the 5th instalment of my tech lead digest posts. I switched to monthly for 2 months, but decided to back down to quarterlyish. You can find the other digests by checking out the series. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑Wikidata & Wikibase The biggest event of note in the past months was WikidataCon 2021 which took place…
Reflection on filling a new Wikidata item
A few days ago I watched a Twitch stream by Molly / GorillaWarfare where they created the Louis W. Roberts English Wikipedia page. I decided to follow along and populate the matching Wikidata item (Q109662645) with as much information as I could from the same references that were being found for the Wikipedia article. Along…
Tech Lead Digest – August 2021
Welcome to the 4th instalment of my Wikidata & Wikibase Tech lead Digest for August 2021. For previous instalments see Q1, Q2 & July. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑Wikidata & Wikibase The Wikidata Query Builder has been deployed. The Wikidata Query Builder provides a visual interface for building a simple Wikidata query. It is ideal for users with little…
Tech Lead Digest – July 2021
Welcome to the third installment of my tech lead digest digest. In order to allow myself some extra space to write, and also to provide these public updates and thoughts on a more regular basis, this is now becoming a monthly digest. I’m going to try to incorporate some of the ongoings from other Wikidata…
A first look at Wikidata through Github Copilot
I was added to the Github Copilot preview in the past days, and the first thing I tested out was code suggestions around Wikidata. Copilot allows you to start writing code, and have a model trained on public Github code suggest block of code that you might want to use. For example, if you start…
Tackling Technical Debt, big and small, in Wikidata and Wikibase
If you’re working with legacy code, chances are you’ve inherited some technical debt. Infact, if you’re working with code, chances you’re already surrounded by technical debt of varying sizes, at least by some measures. Some believe that technical debt is something to be avoided, and that technical debt that exists is a dirty secret that…