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Dystopos joined Wikipedia in November 2004 and founded BhamWiki.com, a parallel project for the Birmingham, Alabama area, in March 2006. As of January 19, 2007, Interiot's tool credits me with 6,907 edits, of which 4,306 (62.3%) were to main article content. My primary interest has been in topics relating to Birmingham, but I have also contributed to Wikipedia:Articles for creation and to policy discussions at WP:Schools.
[edit] Articles I started
[edit] Articles to which I've made significant contributions
[edit] Images I've added
[edit] Etcetera
- During the month of June, 2005 I attempted to help mediate a dispute on Talk:Slovenians about whether Slovene or Slovenian should be the preferred term on Wikipedia. The debate has greatly overshadowed the actual content of the pages involved and is approximately one iota closer to consensus. Maybe.
- In January, 2006 I began adding articles for the Translators of the King James Version of the Bible. I poked into a wasp's nest when I decided to give John Layfield (theologian) the honor of the John Layfield article, instead of the professional wrestler of the same name. In the future, I will not meddle in the affairs of Wikipedia:WikiProject Professional wrestling.
- In the summer of 2006 my edit history was analyzed and, through some sort of analytical möbius strip, I was found to be a raving conservative racist bent on undermining Wikipedia's neutrality. Needless to say I take exception to this characterization but I learned to be amused rather than riled. Others may be better able to say whether I helped to wrest the Condoleezza Rice article out of a bitter edit war or merely exacerbated the conflict. --Dystopos 23:27, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
- I have argued, at length, in various guideline proposals, that we would be wise to adhere to the core policies of WP:Verifiability, WP:Neutral point of view and WP:No original research in determining whether an particular subject merits an article. The prevailing alternative, which I consider to be unwise and needlessly complex, is to establish guidelines for particular categories of topics based on their notability within that category. This, I believe, gives rise to the curious phenomenon that a "significant" episode of Will & Grace is accorded more value than an "insignificant" high school. Similarly, I believe that the WP:Naming conventions used alone are more elegant and flexible than an endless parade of special conventions for special classes of articles. Disambiguate when necessary, not for "consistency". --Dystopos 23:25, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
- In late January 2007 some of my contributions were removed by bots. My attempts to revert the removals were met with unfounded automated accusations and then followed by misplaced arguments in defense of the bot which belong on the article and policy talk pages. This experience is symptomatic of a realization that has soured me on the prospects for the future of Wikipedia as a collaborative process. To wit: The project is increasingly dominated by minutely-detailed guidelines and a cadre of obsessive Wikipedians and their automated software agents. This comes at the expense of the collaborative atmosphere which attracts contributions from a wide user base. Perhaps it indicates something that is inevitable in any organization. Still, it is dispiriting to be ground in the wheels of mindless bureaucracy on the same ground that you feel like you once helped to cultivate. --Dystopos 23:07, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Licensing
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