User talk:A Wiser World

Modern Afghanistan
More coverage of Afghanistan would be great. I've corresponded with some GIs who were disappointed that they couldn't base their contributions directly on their personal experience -- because it would be considered "original research". Still there are lots of ways your personal experience could be a big help. Geo Swan (talk) 04:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Greetings. I got your note.


 * Feel free to email me if you have a question of comment you want to keep private. There is a link on the left hand side of everyone's talk page that reads "email this user".  And if that user has set up an email address in their personal settings, that link will mail them a note.  It is set up that way so contributors get to choose when they receive their first email from another contributor, whether they want to keep their email address obfuscated from them.


 * Or, alternatively, if you leave your message on my talk page, or your talk page, others interested in Afghanistan, may read it, and join in.


 * I looked up your record of uploads, and left messages on the talk pages of the administrators who deleted your images, . If they don't comply to my request they restore the images, I'll help initiate the more formal request for undeletion process.


 * I am looking forward to seeing more of your pictures. Geo Swan (talk) 15:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The two administrators replied here and here -- saying essentially the same thing.


 * One of them mentioned the OTRS -- the 'open ticket' system.


 * The ticket system is used for a variety of things. Outside individuals contact the committee that handles the ticket system to privately establish their real world identity.  I think the administrator who brought up the OTRS was suggesting you supply a verifiably official email address of someone in authority at the OTRS.  If an official from the PRT office writes, and states that:
 * you took those pictures as part of your official duties, and that the PRT office has authorized their publication in the public domain, or one of the other liscenses we use, then the images can remain on the commons.
 * you took those pictures unofficially, on your coffee break perhaps, or for some reason the PRT office does not consider that they were filmed as part of your official duties, then the intellectual property rights apply to you, after all, and they can remain on the commons.
 * you work for the PRT, but you took the pictures on your own time, and attributed the rights to the PRT merely to protect your privacy -- you didn't want to publish your real name.


 * There is a complicating factor neither administrator addressed. Afghanistan is not a signatory to any international property rights agreements.  And it has no domestic copyright laws.  We have discussed this issue before.  Some wire services and freelance photographers act as if images from Afghanistan were like gold mines -- that the intellectual property rights to them belong to the first person to publish them in a country that is a signatory to international copyright agreements.  Other people think this means all images from Afghanistan are in the public domain, without regard to who publishes them later, and what rights they think they can claim.


 * I hope this helps.


 * Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 19:52, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi. I'm one of the admins quoted by Geo Swan and he asked me to have a word here. I just want to ask a few details about OTRS. The procedure to follow is described here, and you have an example of authorization e-mail here. What I want to say is that the Wikimedia Foundation OTRS officers are deeply commited to the protection of the privacy of the e-mails sent to them. Personal or confidential information in them will never be disclosed, it is a key part of their mission (I understand it might be a sensitive issue for you). This is why the OTRS system is sometimes used by authors or copyright holders to give authorization while not revealing their identity: OTRS officers can tell Commons admins that such image is authorized by such ticket number, and we trust them, we don't need identities anymore. Personal information remains on a separate database of the Wikimedia Foundation. Another detail, more specific: the PRT press service was once stated as the author of the files. For this reason, if an OTRS e-mail is sent, I think it should tell something about it. I don't have a full understanding of who took the picture and who holds the rights, but for instance if you hold the rights and for some reason PRT doesn't, you should probably explain it in the e-mail. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me directly on Commons, or by e-mail if needed. --Eusebius (talk) 20:21, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Pictures
You can upload your public domain images to the commons, a companion project to the wikipedia. Images uploaded there are more easily availiable to be used on other wikipedia related projects. The English language wikipedia is the largest. But there are several dozen others wikipedia projects, in other languages. They can all use your pictures if you upload them to the commons.

Helmand is one of the more dangerous provinces?
Helmand is one of the more dangerous places in Afghanistan? Is where you work relatively safe? Do you get out in the field, where you can interact with regular Afghans?

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 04:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I have learned a bit about Afghan geography while working on articles about the Afghan captives in Guantanamo and Bagram. Are you anywhere near Lejay, Afghanistan?  Have you ever ridden on the highway that goes through this village?  The DoD states this is an opium growing area.  One of the curious things I found while reading the captives transcripts is that only two or three of the Afghan farmers who ended up in Guantanamo ever acknowledged that he grew opium.  I have been trying to figure out whether that is because it is grown a lot less frequently than presented to the public, or it is grown so widely that it not worthy of mention, or whether other farmers grew it, and chose not to mention it.


 * A Nobel prize winner up here in Canada was the first person I heard speak publicly about the idea of weakening the Taliban by replacing the official prohibition on the growing and export of opium with a policy of liscensing and regulating the growth and export of opium. I am old enough to remember when Thailand and Turkey were the big hubs for the illicit growth and export of opium products.  And, as I understand it, Turkey was able to legitimize, liscense and regulate, its opium industry.  Polyani stated that if opium was liscensed and regulated, a lot of those in the opium industry, who are currently allied to the Taliban, would change sides.  Polyani said that there was a real lack of affordable pain killers, in the third world, and that once regulated, Afghanistan's legitimately cultivated opium products could be sold there.


 * Does this idea get discussed among the foreign community where you are?


 * Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 15:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)