Amir E. Aharoni

Music, languages, Wikipedia.
Life is good. 🩷💛💙♾️🌻🎧🎹
Most people don’t know English.
ਸਹੀ ਰਸਤਾ ਵਖਰੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਵਖਰਾ ਹੈ। ਆਪਾਂ ਏਕਤਾ ਵਿਚ ਰਹਿਏ, ਜੈ ਜੈ।
Peep. "Yes?" "Mmmmorrre coookiesss......."

Wikimedia: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Amire80
WordPress.com: https://aharoni.wordpress.com/
文А: русский, עברית, English, català, άλλες γλώσσες
🏠: Москва 🚇, حيفا 🚡, Providence 🚲, ירושלים 🚈

Public Key

npub1zx9vpw2zl6vcsyyvmj90pz2f0fs53kwamgzkad9fww43u8xa62nst9splg

NIP-05 Address

aharoni_at_wikis.world@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsprzkqh9p0axvgzzxdezhs39yh5c2gm8wa5ptwkj5h82c7rnwa9fcprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntzjren5

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1zx9vpw2zl6vcsyyvmj90pz2f0fs53kwamgzkad9fww43u8xa62nst9splg

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Last Notes

2026-08-08 13:58:43 UTC

English #Wiktionary is quite underappreciated.
https://cdn.masto.host/wikisworld/media_attachments/files/117/060/238/984/062/345/original/ea9139aa7a5f4038.png

2026-08-05 01:31:17 UTC

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When animated films like this one were listed in Soviet newspapers, they were labeled as "animated film for adults" (мультфильм для взрослых). It didn't mean porn, of course; it meant that it was not a cute story about animals or magic, but something more somber and philosophical. I often watched them anyway. Sometimes I understood them, sometimes not. Nowadays, I often re-watch them on YouTube and understand them better.

2026-08-05 01:26:23 UTC

August 2026 is the date that appears on the 1950 edition of the chapter "There Will Come Soft Rains" of Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles".
Here's a very beautiful 10-minute animated adaptation of that story produced in 1985 in Soviet Uzbekistan. You don't need to know Russian to understand what's going on.
I warn you that it's even more depressing than the original story! But really worth it. Soviet animation deserves more recognition around the world.
https://youtu.be/quyaaszg6jc?si=oYtoRCu073X3vx7f

2026-07-21 08:26:57 UTC

So, it has come to this: #Wikimania2026 is the first event I attend that explicitly bans the use of Meta Ray-Ban glasses.

2026-07-05 15:38:35 UTC

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I started writing that article in 2009, when Wikipedia was already well-known, but much younger, and my experience with it was even smaller. Since then, at least one book Hebrew on the Internet was published, and it has a chapter about Wikipedia, for which the author, who happens to be a friend in real life, consulted with me :)
There were also numerous other academic articles about it.
Maybe I should do something more serious about it myself someday...

2026-07-05 15:26:29 UTC

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"Vocalization of Modern Hebrew"
https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhe0003unse/page/946/mode/2up
(You should be able to "borrow" it from the Internet Archive.)
I also presented a talk about it at Wikimania 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et4bFmql7dw&t=493s

2026-07-05 15:08:20 UTC

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I don't disagree, as long as it actually tells something verifiable and not totally trivial. Although in some cases, a red link would perhaps be better. In this specific case, it's not just a matter of how deep or verifiable the article is, but a bit of responsibility towards the rest of the web: some websites, most notably ISO 639-3 own website, rely on the English Wikipedia to have *some* valid page for every ISO 639-3 language code. Just deleting it would break that unofficial promise.

2026-07-05 14:42:44 UTC

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So far, I'm alive, not blocked and not desysopped, and the article is not speedily deleted. It is, however, marked with the "one source" issue template, which is a tad ugly, but totally correct.
And hey, I wanted to delete the redirect and another experienced user said that it's better to make a stub, so why would I argue.
(Also, there are articles about it in three other languages, but they don't add a lot of information.)

2026-07-05 14:39:48 UTC

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I am one of the 400 or so people who contributed an article to that encyclopedia, so there's a tiny COI there, but honestly, the publisher didn't even pay me (unless you count the discount coupon, which I never used), and they certainly didn't ask me to do PR for them. Besides, it was published more than ten years ago. It just kind of surprised me that there was no article about this rather important work.

2026-07-05 14:37:29 UTC

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The other article I created today is about the "Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics", which I mentioned here in this microblog a few days ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_of_Hebrew_Language_and_Linguistics

2026-07-05 14:36:02 UTC

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I wanted to just delete the redirect, but after a little discussion with a user who has been maintaining a huge number of articles about languages for many years, we agreed that it's better to write a stub than to have a red link.
I really hope that someone improves it, and more than it is a question of how good Wikipedia is, it's a question of how well is the deaf community in Moldova researched. Every deaf community deserves attention from researchers.

2026-07-05 14:33:37 UTC

1: "Moldova Sign Language"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova_Sign_Language
I didn't really want to create it, actually. I don't know this language, and I know almost nothing about it. I created it because this name redirected to the article "Russian Sign Language", which have the (possibly) wrong impression that they are the same language. There are barely any sources about it, but the few that I did find say that this may *or may not* be true.

2026-06-09 20:03:46 UTC

The school where
My child is in
Sixth grade
Had a pride parade
For kids
This morning,
And I'm quite
Sure that it didn't
Make my child gay or
Trans, and even
If my child turns
Out to be gay
Or trans for any
Reason, it's o
Kay.

2026-06-03 19:56:03 UTC

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If I didn't use ChatGPT, I would... probably be able to find an answer. But it would take longer, and maybe I'd just give up at some point.
So you know... I very much respect the camp that says that all use of LLMs is completely wrong for ethical reasons, but when they say that it's completely impractical, it's an exaggeration.

2026-06-03 19:42:14 UTC

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If I just did what ChatGPT suggested without digging deeper, it would be a bad, unhelpful edit.

2026-06-03 19:41:41 UTC

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A usual search didn't help me find what I needed, so I asked #ChatGPT. It gave an answer that was not entirely wrong, but somewhat confused, because it included links to websites that are kind of related, but don't give the definitive answer.
I used these websites to run more searches and found the specific FDA *guidance*, which is not exactly a *requirement*, although the manufacturers appear to treat it as a requirement.
I rewrote that part of the Wikipedia article and added a citation.

2026-06-03 19:38:35 UTC

Some dairy products manufactured or sold in the United States carry this fine print: "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows". I've seen it for years and wondered where does it come from. The English @npub1enq…ycu8 article about rBST carried said that the FDA requires it, and it was marked "citation needed".
If it's an FDA requirement, it should be easy to find a citation, right? Well, it's a bit more complicated.

2026-04-21 15:42:30 UTC

The eleven-year-old asked why LLMs almost never say "I don't know".
Yes, he used the word "LLMs", not "chat" or "AI".
I explained.
He understood.
There is hope.

2026-04-17 15:17:02 UTC

I don't follow chess much, but I've run into a news article that there's a new star in that world, Uzbek 21-year-old Javohir Sindarov. The article about him in the Uzbek Wikipedia was translated from English. I wanted to thank user Salazarov, who did it in 2022, but was sad to discover that he died in 2024.
When you meet anyone who writes for @npub1enq…ycu8 or any related project in any language, please, before anything else, tell them "thank you", like, immediately.

2026-02-01 20:04:06 UTC

RE: https://mementomori.social/@rolle/115996787376805198
Sarcastic: Yes to all this.
Not sarcastic: Please do write alt text. I don't need it, but many people do. Don't _attack_ people who don't write alt text, but do consider nicely telling them that they should.
#note19d7…c65w

2026-01-08 19:36:09 UTC

It will never, ever stop annoying me that #SQL has "LEFT" and "RIGHT" joins.
These keywords' names are horribly inaccessible for those with Left–right confusion, which is A REAL THING that affects MANY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
Including, yes, myself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_confusion

2025-10-21 23:47:37 UTC

So um I am on a Fediverse server related to the Wikimedia world and all that, and I guess I should mention here that I've worked in the Wikimedia Foundation from October 2011 until October 2025, and I no longer work there.
To alleviate any doubt, I had been a Wikimedian before 2011, and I am still a Wikimedian, and I don't plan to change this.

2025-07-16 03:14:18 UTC

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not likely, but not impossible either. I never quite understood what "flirting" even is, to be honest.

2025-07-16 02:52:59 UTC

Many years ago, when I was twenty or so, a young woman I knew asked me if I want a kiss. I was kind of confused—she was cute, but I had no plans about her, and I was quite sure that she had no plans about me. Then she gave me a little Hershey's. It took me some time to understand this joke because I hadn't known that they are called "kisses". I'm still not sure what to think about it.

2025-06-26 02:40:16 UTC

Am I a horrible person if I am not a big fan of Christopher Nolan? Batman Begins, Inception, Dunkirk, and Memento are okay, but not incredible. Tenet is okayish, but too complicated for its own good. Interstellar has okayish parts, but is mostly dull. I saw some of them in IMAX, and it did not make them much better.

2025-03-09 23:44:15 UTC

I've just heard a Real Scientist saying: "The ethical way we found to use a language model is not to use a language model."

2025-02-06 11:42:31 UTC

I sometimes see a wrong translation of a @npub1t3e…pt4k / @npub1enq…ycu8 user interface string into Hebrew, I check who made it, and I see that it's myself, nine years ago.
Nine.

2024-11-05 14:43:36 UTC

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yes!

2024-11-05 00:54:26 UTC

Hear me out.
Americans!
Read this message from your neighbor.
Read this message from your friend.
I live in your country now, and pay taxes here.
Still, I'm not a citizen and I can't vote or donate.
Will you please do me and yourself a favor and vote?
Appreciate this amazing right you have to influence your government.
Life here is mostly okay, but don't take it for granted.
Zany people will take over if you don't vote for normal ones.
Thank you for your attention.

2024-08-29 15:02:21 UTC

The expressions of the Duolingo characters' happiness about my correct answers are somewhat incongruous with the exercises' content.
https://cdn.masto.host/wikisworld/media_attachments/files/113/045/893/692/013/324/original/bb0057b759af45ee.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/wikisworld/media_attachments/files/113/045/895/347/070/591/original/63e9280efc64ba8f.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/wikisworld/media_attachments/files/113/045/896/399/775/910/original/3a533c5d379033f5.jpg