[Wikireader] offline Wikipedia, Google Gears, & XO

[Samuel Klein]

Returning to this -- Ben, any recent progress?   a hint of offline editing
would be a hit.

SJ

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 12:29 AM, Ben Lisbakken <lisbakke at google.com> wrote:

> Hey guys -
>
> I've done some work on taking Wikipedia offline.  I made a
> Greasemonkey script to inject Google Gears code onto Wikipedia pages.
> Here's the script -- you need to install Gears and Greasemonkey first,
> though.
> http://gears-monkey.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/WikipediaOffline/
>
> Also, here's a screencast of me using it:
> http://www.lisbakken.com/GearsMonkey/wiki_offline/wiki_offline.mov
>
> It wouldn't be hard to give WikiMedia Gears support in a patch (it's
> just JavaScript), and there are a lot of cool features that could be
> put in beyond what I've done (offline wiki editing, auto-download 1
> link deep on each page browsed to, only download small resources, a
> better ui for browsing offline pages, auto-syncing of fresh content
> etc.).
>
> Benj. Mako Hill has already expressed some interest in this project,
> and I was wondering if anyone else would like to help.
>
> -Ben Lisbakken
>
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 12:21 PM, Samuel Klein <meta.sj at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hello Renaud, resources are certainly being wasted in duplicated effort.
> >
> >
> > > 1. Define clear needs.
> > > We are a bunch of people now, involved in this Offline Wiki thing
> > > (even if it's more than Wiki). What are the different needs ?
> >
> > See [[Wikislices#Needs]] (extracted from last weeks' discussion)
> >
> >
> > > 2. Define core tech-needs.
> > > We know we need so kind of library ; and tools for selection/import.
> > > But those have been expressed in too many different ways I don't know
> > which are still in.
> > >
> >
> > See above.
> >  - At least one protocol/format for defining a collection index
> >  - A tool for finding existing collections (scouring through a whitelist
> of
> > potential archives, to start with)
> >   - Tools for creating an index quickly
> >  - Tools for creating a downloadable zip/pdf/xol of a collection
> >
> > I don't think we need to /make a new library/ so much as we need to
> > categorize existing tools in these terms so that the different
> approaches
> > can be compared (in spirit and in code).
> >
> >
> > > 3. Choose a technology (for good).
> > > OK, not for good, but we need to choose a platform and stick with it
> > > for a specified milestone because all the technology switches are a
> > > waste of time and energy.
> >
> > For specific projects, by all means.  (for instance, OLPC could use a
> way to
> > name a hundred articles and generate an offline collection of those
> > articles.   Related to this, Pascal and Guillaume were discussing adding
> an
> > export feature to wikiwix.)
> >
> > In general, this list is not to "set a standard" or reach consensus on
> what
> > technology or platform to use for all of our diverse projects.  That may
> be
> > valuable eventually, but there is much more pressing work for us to do :
> for
> > instance, implementing a simple way to name and share collections (sets
> of
> > articles and revisions).
> >
> > Choosing "a technology"  without cause can just alienate people.
> >
> >
> >
> > > 4. Assign task to people.
> > > We are numerous people: companies, organizations, individuals. We have
> all
> > spent some time working on our direct needs so that we can use our
> > solutions. It's now time to work on a common solution which will benefit
> to
> > all of us. I am willing to work on it, but I need to know
> > > that I'm not alone and that you guys won't just switch to something
> > > else after I've put my work on it.
> > >
> >
> > The first task I see (for each project) is to separate information about
> > existing DVD-images and projects, and the scripts used to generate them,
> so
> > that they can be compared to one another... and so that the task of
> > reviewing and curating can be separated from questions of platform or
> > language or reader.  How would I find out, for instance, how to make my
> own
> > moulinwiki instance; or the list of articles included in each language?
> >
> >
> > > 5. Set up a real communication channel.
> > > SJ, you are used to IRC, it's a great tool but it's not perfect,
> > > especially when you're in Boston, Kelson and Linterweb are in Europe,
> > > I'm in Africa and Ksana people are in Asia.
> > > We should agree on some Wiki-space which we would _all_ be aware of
> and
> > set-up a mailing-list so that we can follow-up with updates.
> > >
> >
> > Indeed.  We're setting up a mailing list for this now through
> > lists.laptop.org.  (we have had some server reorganization recently,
> else it
> > would already be in place.)  For wikispace, I recommend finding a space
> on
> > the Metawiki itself to discuss this -- perhaps this one:
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Static_content_group
> >
> > It is an old page, but one that needs new life.  (I'm open to
> suggestions of
> > other wikis to host if meta seems a poor choice; but whatever we choose
> > should be a multilingual project)  I hope everyone on this list will
> sign up
> > to be participants.
> >
> >
> >
> > > Now, re-read all those 5 propositions: it's communication-centric. The
> > > first two points is mostly a matter of sharing what SJ know with
> > > everybody. I'm sure you, SJ, have worked on those stuff for OLPC ; we
> > > know need to share it together.
> > >
> >
> > Communication is key; which is why I began with a suggestion of forming
> a
> > list so that we will all have somewhere to share our efforts.   I
> certainly
> > have as much work to do as anyone to let you know about projects OLPC is
> > engaged with.  And I hope everyone else will share their own efforts,
> needs,
> > and projects -- not just with this group but on public wikipages for
> > everyone.  The ratio of interest-in-static-content to knowledge about
> the
> > state of the field is very large.
> >
> >
> > > Well, thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to read your feedback.
> > >
> >
> > Thanks for your feedback!  I'll write to you all again once a list is
> set
> > up.
> >
> > SJ
> >
> >  ps - Erik Z, thanks for the notes on scripts to compress images.
> > <math>-to-png sounds great.  is that active on any wikimedia project?
> >
>
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