India quiz - Wikimedia-in-en - lists.wikimedia.org

Ashwin Baindur

18 Feb 18 Feb

4:16 p.m.

2012/2/18 Naveen Francis <naveenpf@wikimedia.in>:wrote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz Crack the question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz#Q_43.08

I have mixed feelings about the Portal:India Quiz (in fact I argued that it should be terminated). There - you can now throw custard pies at me! The idea originally began that the quiz would be an instrument to article improvement. Sad to say, its mode, its exclusivity, the need to think up terribly difficult questions etc led to its becoming an abtruse form of entertainment and nothing more. The quiz simply did not fulfill its promise to any notable degree. The players, it appeared to me, spent too much time playing the game and their edit history showed little related development of articles to justify the original idea. Don't believe me? See the histories of edits of the quiz page & participants for the period of their quiz participation. So one should be under no apprehension that this quiz adds to community or to the encyclopedia. I stopped well short of doing anything more than arguing on talk page because I am at heart an inclusionist. I did not want to be a spoilsport but I did hope that my raining on their parade could lead to a re-evaluation. Sadly this did not happen. I would like to make a point here. Its interesting to play India Quiz and it is definitely a challenge. And I'm sure it is great fun too. But it is a greater challenge to take the questions and their answers and use them to build up any article in anything more than a trivial fashion. The opportunity here is to make India Portal Quiz achieve its purpose of developing articles while playing it. Are the players capable of succeeding in this challenge? AshLin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Ashwin Baindur

4:50 p.m.

Hmmm, touched a sensitive spot, have I? The record speaks for itself. 2005 & 2006 is a long time ago. How about justifying it and reforming it today? I firmly believe that all methods for community building should be used, but you have not made a case here other than that it was useful many years ago and I should not criticise people working on their own interests. My answer to you Srinivas is - prove my words false, make the Quiz relevant. I'll join you in the Quiz myself. Till then I remain the skeptic on this issue. My purpose for posting was only to prod people's minds. Accordingly, I will not be posting on this thread any more for that reason. Warm regards, Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------ 2012/2/18 Srinivas Gunta <srinivas.gunta(a)gmail.com>om>:

...

I for one can say that lot of new articles were created in 2005-06. By being in the nature of not well known, the subjects of these questions may not necessarily evolve into featured articles but several of them made to DYK. All efforts to build communities must be encouraged. I can also argue that INCOTW/ INCOTM has not lived to its promise, had become dormant for a long time and it is not clear as to where it will be going. However, it does not help in detracting someone from working on something of their interest. YMMV. Regards, Srinivas. On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 9:46 PM, Ashwin Baindur <ashwin.baindur(a)gmail.com> wrote:

2012/2/18 Naveen Francis <naveenpf@wikimedia.in>:wrote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz Crack the question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz#Q_43.08

I have mixed feelings about the Portal:India Quiz (in fact I argued that it should be terminated). There - you can now throw custard pies at me! The idea originally began that the quiz would be an instrument to article improvement. Sad to say, its mode, its exclusivity, the need to think up terribly difficult questions etc led to its becoming an abtruse form of entertainment and nothing more. The quiz simply did not fulfill its promise to any notable degree. The players, it appeared to me, spent too much time playing the game and their edit history showed little related development of articles to justify the original idea. Don't believe me? See the histories of edits of the quiz page & participants for the period of their quiz participation. So one should be under no apprehension that this quiz adds to community or to the encyclopedia. I stopped well short of doing anything more than arguing on talk page because I am at heart an inclusionist. I did not want to be a spoilsport but I did hope that my raining on their parade could lead to a re-evaluation. Sadly this did not happen. I would like to make a point here. Its interesting to play India Quiz and it is definitely a challenge. And I'm sure it is great fun too. But it is a greater challenge to take the questions and their answers and use them to build up any article in anything more than a trivial fashion. The opportunity here is to make India Portal Quiz achieve its purpose of developing articles while playing it. Are the players capable of succeeding in this challenge? AshLin --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en

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ViswaPrabha (വിശ്വപ്രഭ)

7:39 p.m.

BTW, I just answered the aforementioned question, probably right or probably wrong even! Any takers to develop the poor little stub http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milon_K._Banerji ? :D -Viswam 2012/2/19 ViswaPrabha (വിശ്വപ്രഭ) <viswaprabha(a)gmail.com>

...

Dear Ashwin, You may recall our talk regarding this topic during WCI2011 venue. It seems somehow you have got the notion that developement of Wikipedia is all about creation of new articles and edits on a day to day basis. I must completely disagree. Wikipedia as a tool of knowledgeware is only as good and effective as its readers would look upon it. The edits seldom offers a reflection of its USE. To that direction, what true devices have we got to measure and affect the passive readership of wikipedia? A lot of people are contributing to Wikipedia not just by editing but being constant pursuers and evangelists of the very cause and prospects of it. (You can count me as one, and probably an effective one at that.) But those very people may be doing very less editing activity. They would rather offer the means of fishing to others than just giving a fish for once. Some of them spend their time with a wider reach and result by getting all the more people into the arena of Wikipedia. Portal India Quiz is one simple humble little but nice page that lurks or languishes somewhere within the deep realms of English Wikipedia. I have been keenly observing (and at times participating) at that portal. It gives me enough Wikitainment as well as Wikdrinaline (a recently discovered hormone that is produced as a result of spending time in Wikipedia -either or both reading and editing) to stay on for hours and even overnight within the boundaries of Wikipedia. Where else would you find a reason to mangle through the great stacks of English (Indian) Wikipedia and elsewhere for a single question? That helps a lot Wikipedia too. While or after a mind-filling QA, I would have gone through at least a few pages within en.wiki. Besides adding the search scores of WP, my exploration would let me get enlightened on certain aspects about those pages. Some of them would require slight fine tuning. Some are not even being worth being there. Some are obnoxiously false or misguiding. Some so inevitable topics are non-existent to my surprise. The time, I may have not spent at all in Wikipedia would now be spent in such pages. Just a spelling mistake here, just a talk comment there, or a fresh stub or interwiki link somewhere. It even regularly occurs to me that a corresponding page in my home wiki gets created /edited or elaborated just after realizing the significance of the same after the insights obtained from such painstaking research on a particular (interesting or non-interesting) question at wp:pinq *WP:PINQ may not be doing its full potentials. But it IS doing some job that is helping build the great edifice that is Wikipedia, however negligible it may seem. * (At times, even I am frustrated that the questions are too tricky or illogical or that there are not many takers to participate. But that is our problem. Not the fault of the portal itself.) Additionally, drawing inspiration from the English version, we had started up a similar portal in Malayalam Wikipedia (Concentrating on Kerala and Malayalam language) a few months back. Like the English counterpart, It too was intended to run on a small pace. At times, its activity charts surge. And at times, it goes to a slumber. But the portal has been effective and successful to bring in fresh blood as well as increased activity in ml.wiki creation. With warm regards, Viswam user:viswaprabha homed @ ml.wikipedia.org On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 22:20, Ashwin Baindur <ashwin.baindur(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:

Hmmm, touched a sensitive spot, have I? The record speaks for itself. 2005 & 2006 is a long time ago. How about justifying it and reforming it today? I firmly believe that all methods for community building should be used, but you have not made a case here other than that it was useful many years ago and I should not criticise people working on their own interests. My answer to you Srinivas is - prove my words false, make the Quiz relevant. I'll join you in the Quiz myself. Till then I remain the skeptic on this issue. My purpose for posting was only to prod people's minds. Accordingly, I will not be posting on this thread any more for that reason. Warm regards, Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------ 2012/2/18 Srinivas Gunta <srinivas.gunta(a)gmail.com>om>:

I for one can say that lot of new articles were created in 2005-06. By

being

in the nature of not well known, the subjects of these questions may not necessarily evolve into featured articles but several of them made to

DYK.

All efforts to build communities must be encouraged. I can also argue

that

INCOTW/ INCOTM has not lived to its promise, had become dormant for a

long

time and it is not clear as to where it will be going. However, it does

not

help in detracting someone from working on something of their interest. YMMV. Regards, Srinivas. On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 9:46 PM, Ashwin Baindur <

ashwin.baindur(a)gmail.com>

wrote: > > > 2012/2/18 Naveen Francis <naveenpf@wikimedia.in>:wrote > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz > > > > Crack the question > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:India/Quiz#Q_43.08 > > I have mixed feelings about the Portal:India Quiz (in fact I argued > that it should be terminated). > > There - you can now throw custard pies at me! > > The idea originally began that the quiz would be an instrument to > article improvement. Sad to say, its mode, its exclusivity, the need > to think up terribly difficult questions etc led to its becoming an > abtruse form of entertainment and nothing more. The quiz simply did > not fulfill its promise to any notable degree. The players, it > appeared to me, spent too much time playing the game and their edit > history showed little related development of articles to justify the > original idea. > > Don't believe me? See the histories of edits of the quiz page & > participants for the period of their quiz participation. > > So one should be under no apprehension that this quiz adds to > community or to the encyclopedia. > > I stopped well short of doing anything more than arguing on talk page > because I am at heart an inclusionist. I did not want to be a > spoilsport but I did hope that my raining on their parade could lead > to a re-evaluation. Sadly this did not happen. > > I would like to make a point here. Its interesting to play India Quiz > and it is definitely a challenge. And I'm sure it is great fun too. > But it is a greater challenge to take the questions and their answers > and use them to build up any article in anything more than a trivial > fashion. > > The opportunity here is to make India Portal Quiz achieve its purpose > of developing articles while playing it. Are the players capable of > succeeding in this challenge? > > > AshLin > >

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CherianTinu Abraham

19 Feb 19 Feb

3:31 a.m.

In the most ideal world, Everyone in the world takes out his volunteer time, reads books and other supplementary information and then contribute to Wikipedia, in an unbiased, neutral and FA Class article quality. Ok Now, Welcome to the real world ! Different people have different motivations to contribute to Wikipedia & Wikimedia Pojects. Eg: Photo contests, article writing contests , education projects in which students contributing to WP as part of assignments. ... Regards Tinu Cherian 2012/2/19 Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh(a)gmail.com>

...

2012/2/19 ViswaPrabha (വിശ്വപ്രഭ) <viswaprabha(a)gmail.com>

Dear Ashwin, You may recall our talk regarding this topic during WCI2011 venue. It seems somehow you have got the notion that developement of Wikipedia is all about creation of new articles and edits on a day to day basis. I must completely disagree.

If you disagree, then you misunderstand the purpose of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a community of users that work to improve and expand upon the existing works on the project. The purpose of activity on Wikipedia is to generate well-written and researched articles, not to have people come over and play games as if it were an MMORPG. See [[Wikipedia:Esperanza]] and its deletion discussions for reference. PINQ no longer serves the purpose for which it was created, and it is nothing more than a gameboard.

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wheredevelsdare＠hotmail.com

8:55 a.m.

Oh, common - dont make rules on something creative and fun like a simple quiz! It is an outlet, for people to have a lighter moment, whiles contributing on wiki, getting acquainted with other users. If there are serious inhibitions on whether to have this as part of WP:India, it can easily be moved to userspace where it will not be challenged. I would be happy to provide my userpage for it. PS: Iv never taken part in the quiz myself, but I find it hard to understand why people are making a big thing about it. If you dont like it [1], stay away - there are others who do, which is why it exists. If you really have a reason good enough to shut the quiz - put it on the talk page or India noticeboard, discussing it on this list is of no use. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:I_DON%27T_LIKE_IT Kind Regards, From: raul.swaroop(a)gmail.com Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:56:43 +0530 To: wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-in-en] India quiz There might have been a time when PINQ was producing new articles, but that was some years ago. I used to like the questions, they used to really prod the mind, and there used to be a net positive to Wikipedia as well. But now, the questions aren't very good; most of the questions demand only googling skills. Coming from a quizzing background, I can say that quizzes like this aren't really considered very good. There is no tangible net positive to Wikipedia as well; many of the participants have no other contribs. I wouldn't suggest deletion, but would like to have some rules (which should be properly enforced); we could have something like: There should be at least 5 DYKs for each round of the quiz, or 10 new articles should come out per round, or something like that. This shouldn't be viewed as some kind of punishment or mandatory community service or anything, but this is just to get something positive out of the whole process. (Hey, when our quizzers are reading something new, they might as well write about it and enlighten everyone else. There were long subject related discussions in the recently concluded Mythology round; why not make it into articles?) We should be clear on one thing: WP is not a quiz blog or a free quiz hosting service. We want our Wikipedians to have fun, nothing against that, but we should try and eliminate the dead weight. Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch) 2012/2/19 CherianTinu Abraham <tinucherian(a)gmail.com> In the most ideal world, Everyone in the world takes out his volunteer time, reads books and other supplementary information and then contribute to Wikipedia, in an unbiased, neutral and FA Class article quality. Ok Now, Welcome to the real world ! Different people have different motivations to contribute to Wikipedia & Wikimedia Pojects. Eg: Photo contests, article writing contests , education projects in which students contributing to WP as part of assignments. ... Regards Tinu Cherian 2012/2/19 Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh(a)gmail.com> 2012/2/19 ViswaPrabha (വിശ്വപ്രഭ) <viswaprabha(a)gmail.com> Dear Ashwin, You may recall our talk regarding this topic during WCI2011 venue. It seems somehow you have got the notion that developement of Wikipedia is all about creation of new articles and edits on a day to day basis. I must completely disagree. If you disagree, then you misunderstand the purpose of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a community of users that work to improve and expand upon the existing works on the project. The purpose of activity on Wikipedia is to generate well-written and researched articles, not to have people come over and play games as if it were an MMORPG. See [[Wikipedia:Esperanza]] and its deletion discussions for reference. PINQ no longer serves the purpose for which it was created, and it is nothing more than a gameboard. _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en

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