Wikipedia talk:Meetup/Vancouver

Meetup/Vancouver
We'll see how it goes. I intend to send invitations for the first meetup in 2011 (the first in years) to all Wikipedians listed at Category:Wikipedians in Vancouver. Feedback much appreciated. Thanks. -- A. Kupicki (talk) 00:24, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for proposing! I invited all the users that weren't yet invited using AWB. Inverse Hypercube  03:10, 14 October 2011 (UTC)

October 16, 2011
Just to let you know. I sent an info package to VPL about Wikipedia Loves Libraries program to info@vpl.ca with an invitation to support or participate in our October 16 initiative. Hoping to hear from them soon. Please think of things you'd like to have addressed there. And thanks, Hypercube, for your invaluable help. -- A. Kupicki (talk) 03:39, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Great! Hopefully they respond before Sunday. See you then. Inverse Hypercube  03:44, 14 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm tentative (if weather is good I may be geocaching and/or show up in uber-casual clothes) and two questions: we're talking about the West Georgia branch, right? And they show closing at 5 PM and limited service, will there be staff available? I'd be interested in seeing and learning more about their archives (if any). Franamax (talk) 04:13, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is the West Georgia branch, and they have many materials and historical archives. The closing time is a problem. Could the meeting time be changed to, say, 12PM? Inverse Hypercube  04:17, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Also, keep in mind that the Occupy Vancouver protests are probably going to be happening. It might be hard to get there by car. Inverse Hypercube  04:42, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah, here we go. I have no time for a "let's do whatever the Americans do" protest (advertised just below, with a Twitter hash-tag no less) that has no actual desired outcomes, just protest for protest's sake. Enjoy yourself while you watch the hooligans grab the large-format TVs. I was planning to head up to Squamish on Saturday for some rough-country geocaching and I would normally use the Lion's Gate bridge from Kits. If I'm across before 10 AM and back by 6 PM or so, would I skip the traffic nightmares?
 * I would be fine with a change of time (12 or 2) though I'd still like to chat briefly with the staff, but the protest thing gives me serious reservations. Maybe the weekend after this one, on the Saturday? Isn't the purpose of this to hook up with the library, so as to forward our mutual goal of spreading knowledge? Franamax (talk) 06:02, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I would be in favour of moving it to the weekend after. Maybe more people would be able to attend, and there would be more time to prepare. What does everyone else think? Inverse Hypercube  06:13, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately I'll be away all day on the 16th. Might be able to join you all if it were the following Sunday.YellowPig (talk) 08:41, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I also must lobby for the next weekend. Can't make it for this Sunday. Boo.  The Interior  (Talk) 11:06, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * And Franamax, you're going to get an earful about that generational belly-aching above :) The Interior  (Talk) 12:06, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Why you young whippersnappers, I ouhgta... ;) The Facebook page is all about revolution and bring your gas mask. I hope it all works out, but I'm pretty sure there will be people showing up just to smash things. With luck it will all be peaveful. I just wish I could figure out what the protest is about... Franamax (talk) 06:45, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

#OccupyVancouver
Ugh why do you pull my heart like this... unfortunately I probably will not be attending because I work that Sunday and will be using my outside time to occupy the art gallery like a good hippie &#9760; Travis "TeamColtra" McCrea  &#9760; - (T)(C) 05:30, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I will be occupying on Saturday. Inverse Hypercube  05:37, 14 October 2011 (UTC)

Attention: date change proposal
I'm still waiting for the email from VPL about the invitation, but perhaps, I shall visit the the Information desk personally later on today. We'll see. According to website:

Let's meet on ''' Sunday, October 23, 2011. ''' Please note, I'm changing the date from 16th to 23rd on the Project page and the hour from 3PM to 2PM, tentatively (3 hours before closing time, that should do). Thanks. -- A. Kupicki (talk) 15:36, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Great, that sounds better. Inverse Hypercube  17:30, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
 * For people who were wondering about archives, the Special Collections have many interesting items. See http://www.vpl.ca/index.php/find/details/special_collections. Inverse Hypercube  17:52, 14 October 2011 (UTC)

I went to VPL-Central and spoke with couple of librarians there. I also got a few names and phone numbers to call weekdays during business hours. I will most certainly do that, because I'd like them to say hello, and also, I came up with the idea of $20 dollar cash prizes for all Wikipedians in attendance, which I would suggest VPL forks out from their deep pockets at our meetup. Now – like any good Wikipedian, please read the small print below. — A. Kupicki (talk) 22:57, 15 October 2011 (UTC) * Just kidding about the money. We'll see if they can sent someone to say a few words of welcome to us and answer questions.
 * Thank you for all the work you're doing in organizing this!
 * I did some cleanup and categorization of VPL images in anticipation; see Commons:Category:Collections of the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch. Inverse Hypercube  18:30, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The new cat looks excellent. Makes me think of the Commons:Category:Bundesarchiv deal with Wikipedia. Who knows, we could perhaps help broker a similar deal also? -- A. Kupicki (talk) 18:40, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * You mean to batch-transfer the database to Commons? I was thinking about that too. In its current state, the database at their website is limited in that URLs of images cannot be shared, since queries have time expiration (I looked around in the JavaScript code and couldn't figure out how to bypass it). I think it shouldn't be too hard to write a bot to do the transfer; I could even do it. Although we don't need their permission (since all we'd be uploading would be public domain images), they might give us higher-resolution images and better access to the database if we asked them to cooperate via Commons:Commons:Partnerships. Inverse Hypercube  20:36, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I was thinking about exact same thing. Please take a look at Commons:Commons:Guide to content partnerships. We can print that and share it with VPL staff. -- A. Kupicki (talk) 21:30, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Sure. Should we talk to them about it on Sunday? Inverse Hypercube  22:05, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * If VPL has any extra cash, I want them to restore/expand their reference-work subscriptions so I can research more primary and secondary sources. Or pay their librarians a bit more, are we allowed to tip? ') I had an experience on the phone with BC Archives about why they claimed copyright over high-quality scans of historical (ex-copyright) images and their reasoning was that they had to pay for doing the scans. Well, fair enough, but effort does not convey copyright ownership. I can't really make out from the VPL website whether or not they too are claiming such copyright, but I would love to discuss that point with staff, preferably decision-making or decision-influencing staff. My point would be that regardless of ongoing funding constraints, that cash has already been spent, and a vast resource could be made available to the public who paid for it already - and that this serves the entire goal of a library in the first place, to disseminate knowledge to the general public. An image transfer would be a huge coup, both for Wikipedia and for the library. It could be worth bringing up... Franamax (talk) 22:41, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Regardless, they can't claim copyright on any before 1949, and it does say "Public domain" on the ones that are. My concern is about crawling the database; that might be quite difficult, unless they provide us with their offline database, which should be much easier to query. Inverse Hypercube  22:48, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Actually, yes they can claim copyright on whatever they want to, and other Canadian public institutions do. Whether they can prove copyright infingement, that is of course an entirely different story. More importantly though, as you note, they can just decline to provide the necessary access to high-res scans unless they are paid for and subject to usage conditions. That is what needs discussing. Wikipedians in the past (at least one, in another country) have run into legal trouble with site-crawling to download high-res images. If you can show me how to get to one high-res image, I can easily enough get to all of them. But not from my home computer. Libraries and archives tend to have been given a mandate to recover costs from the individual users of certain items (esp, high-res scans of historical images), and this is what needs discussing. This is just my prediction though, I just think that if the topic will come up, we should be prepared to deal with that "library policy" problem. Franamax (talk) 23:19, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, we definitely need to ask permission for the high-quality scans; I just meant that the public domain images currently on their website can be uploaded without problem. Inverse Hypercube  01:42, 17 October 2011 (UTC)
 * We could discuss the value of positive press with the Library. They could make a big deal about donating some choice scans to the Commons, as the Smithsonian is.Signpost The Interior  (Talk) 21:38, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Update, re: October 23, 2011
I had the pleasure of talking with Ms Kate Russell, VPL Special Collections Manager today. We might be on the verge of striking something big, but we'll need all the help we can get to make it hapen, so be there or be square. I will tell you more at our Sunday meetup. — A. Kupicki (talk) 04:07, 20 October 2011 (UTC) Addendum: Can someone please bring a laptop? I work with a PC, but I'd like to show you what Kate showed me. Thanks. — A. Kupicki (talk) 14:32, 21 October 2011 (UTC)
 * My (mac)laptop will be in attendance. If you want to meet up a bit earlier, I think I'll be at the VPL from about noon working on a paper. Email me if you want my cell no.  The Interior  (Talk) 14:44, 21 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll bring my Linux one too. Inverse Hypercube  18:34, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Followup Meeting with VPL
Just feeling out availability for a followup meeting with VPL Special Collections. I believe Ms. Russell is only available until 5PM. My best days are Weds. and Fri., where I can be at the Library by 3:30. How about everyone else? The Interior (Talk) 22:55, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I can make it by 3:30, preferably on Friday. Inverse Hypercube  23:28, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Should we contact her, or is Kupicki? Inverse Hypercube  23:37, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Whichever you prefer. I can call and ask for a meeting on Friday, but so can The Interior, designated to represent us there. Why don't you guys introduce yourself to Ms Russell (604 331-3781) personally. — A. Kupicki (talk) 00:09, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'll send her an e-mail. Inverse Hypercube  00:27, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Update: Ms. Russell has asked for a bit more time to run this by other people at the library before having a follow-up meeting. She hopes to get back to me next week.  The Interior  (Talk) 22:54, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Review of event
It would be great if you could add a few more sentences to the front side of this page describing how the event went, and activity highlights etc. Also, any photos taken would be great.--Pharos (talk) 03:30, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Sure, I'll add some sentences, but we didn't take any pictures.
 * Is this for the GLAM newsletter? Inverse Hypercube  04:49, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, for the GLAM newsletter, and for general 'best practices' information-sharing as well :)--Pharos (talk) 05:57, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

September is back-to-school month
Just asking. Is the batch upload of the Vancouver Public Library Historical Photographs Collection to Wikimedia Commons dead in the water? I suppose it is, until something else happens. Poeticbent talk 17:52, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Hey poeticbent. That plan isn't really dead in the water, the Spec. Coll. librarian told me she would update me on internal discussions with the VPL's legal people, but did not.  I figure it could still happen if we continue a dialogue about it.  I could drop some hints next time I'm down there, or we could do another meetup and invite Spec. Coll. to participate.  The Interior  (Talk) 18:01, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The last time I looked at the code I think I found that there was a way I could do a batch download. So maybe if I figure that out it will be easier, since we wouldn't need help from them. Inverse Hypercube  (talk) 23:20, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I think it would be nice to have a meetup, but this time, we could plan it well ahead and give the Spec. Coll. advanced notice to join us for an informal chat. Poeticbent talk 04:27, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a bonne idee, PB. Meetup in mid-october sometime? Sept. is pretty busy for me.  The Interior  (Talk) 18:10, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

March 2020 Art+Feminism events in Vancouver
I come across these three March 2020 Art+Feminism events listed for Vancouver: Do one of you want to add these with more detail to your meetup page? I might be able to, but not before this weekend. Peaceray (talk) 00:37, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Emily Carr University, Fri, 3/6
 * Morris And Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Wed, 3/12
 * Surrey Art Gallery, Sat, 3/14


 * Sorry, I was too busy with other stuff at the time. These types of events usually seem to involve notebook computers, which I dislike in practice due to their monolithic hardware design.  I use stationary computer workstations with a full-size ATX tower computer on one end of the computer size scale and a handheld computer, currently an Android “smartphone”, on the other end of the scale, not something in between, such as a notebook computer.  I have an Asus UL30Vt model of Core 2 ULV 13-inch x86-64 notebook computer I can bring to events but the Windows installation, specifically Windows 10 Enterprise for x86-32 on a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, on this computer only boots in safe mode, not in normal mode, since around 2019 December.  I stopped trying to fix this Windows installation because the priority is too low because I usually do not need a notebook computer and, for the few times I do, I still have a Dell Latitude X1 model of Pentium M 12-inch 80686 notebook computer running Windows 8.1 Enterprise for x86-32 from a 1.8-inch PATA SSD that still boots in normal mode. Brolin Empey 09:27, 16 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Long story short, I finally fixed the Windows 10 installation on the UL30Vt so Windows boots and works in normal mode again but more work remains to be done if this computer is to be used for real work because some of my customisations/changes have been lost because the only solution I found was to reset the Windows installation, which keeps the user files but removes all installed applications that are not included with Windows, which was very few applications because this Windows installation had not really been used for real work. The integrated display on the UL30Vt is a low-resolution (1366×768 instead of at least 1920×1080 or even 3840×2160), crappy TN AMLCD, as is typical for notebook computers but at least I have a usable (as long as I do not need to use anything that requires an x86-64 OS) and modern notebook computer again. Brolin Empey 02:48, 19 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Long story short, in 2022 I switched to a Dell Latitude 7370 model of fanless x86-64 13.3-inch notebook computer with 1920×1080 IPS AMLCD, Intel Core m7 CPU, 16 GiB of main memory which is unfortunately soldered instead of socketed, and running the still current release of Windows 10 Pro for x86-64 from a 2-TB M.2 SATA SSD. This computer still has an overlaid numeric keypad and uses USB Power Delivery (USB Type C) for the power input with an AC adapter rated for only 45 watts. Brolin Empey 15:00, 26 February 2024 (UTC)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brolin Empey (talk • contribs)