User:Smkatz

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1 Bio
2 First, let me answer the questions that arise
3 Questions for fellow wikipedians and answers
4 questions for prospective employers, clients (non-profit, or b2b)

[edit] Bio

A relevant bio is coming. I had wikimania literally. I still have my virtual server, and could use some help setting up LAMPand exploring the integration of wikis, blogs, and DHTML (all sites need DHTML in order to be bandwidth efficient). But I am not actively running it like a business, and only view it as a sliver of what I want to do with my life. I now have faster ways of becoming financially independent, namely conflict resolution strategies. I am not a programmer but have to use GUIs or CLIs for everything that everyone else could simply handwrite or store in paper format. In the future, I am considering writing a book, tentatively named (by a friend) the Soul in Circuits will focus on my experiences with technology and how my unique background have allowed me to develop a significant ability to grok on many levels, both interpersonally and in various electronic media.

I am studying sociology, and particularly the sociology of psychiatric care, though that is by no means a permenant specialization.

Plug: Call the NMHIC (National Mental Health Information Center) if you, or a friend could benefit from psychiatric crisis intervention or a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-trained therapist. Do not use antipsychotics except as a last resort. See Peter Breggins essay on the newfangled neuroleptics to understand why.

As for career, I simply do not know. I am very much into spirituality, and may help to raise awareness about addiction to the Internet, as well as materialism and material ideations. But the reality is that I want to help people, whether that is through academia, a progressive non-denominational transreligious ministry, or something else entirely.

[edit] First, let me answer the questions that arise

Someone wrote for help explaining user pages.

What is a user page?

Wikimedia offers the following services: Information on wikis and the software that powers it, and some support standard in the underdeveloped and underutilized business industry-- IRC, and a standard contact page. Some open source organizations will use Jabber, or maybe even its proprietary vendor, Jabber.com.

A user page is a cross between a wiki and a blog. It does not provide subdomains like Scoop and Bloop do. (Much of that technology has been merged into Civic Space and similar "platforms". (their words not mine)

[edit] Questions for fellow wikipedians and answers

Who are you?

I am an Internet history buff, a supporter of open source, and of wikis, and I also have cerebral palsy and mild stuttering. I am also a fan of Sonic Youth, a lover of Ovid and William Shakespeare and a really good friend. (This sentence was added by a friend of mine.. who does not like me mentioning her in online forums so I won't go into detail.)

You said you had wikimania. What did you do during this time period?

Civil disobedience. I inserted my name and the name of my vaporware DNS alternative into the TCP/IP article and in its own article, Convalescence, (since deleted). Over the next day, I became dehydrated, and was hospitalized.

Quote from my userpage at that time: " I had to think of ways to get beyond my phobias and stirring up controversy was indeed a valid way to do it. Civil disobedience has a long history on the Internet, and the benefit for Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation from stirring up a little was negligible.

.. I trusted the power of wiki and wanted to see what would happen. In my opinion, the spirit of wiki allows for such unbridled creativity which as my anxious parents know is a source of worry. However, they will benefit too, by free use of my services which are quite essential."

What happened once you got to the hospital? **please read**

I was held against my will, and was put on Abilify. The doctor used coercive tactics to get me to take drugs, and holding me against my will was one of them. (He did not give me a diagnosis that indicated to me that drugs were necessary.) Abilify was not a bad drug nor was Depakote, the drug I switched to. Geodon was terrible and caused mania and psychosis in my opinion. It is my understanding that antipsychotics like Geodon and Abilify should not be used as maintenance drugs. I'm happy to talk more about my experience with anyone who wishes.

What experience do you have at Wikipedia and with encylopedias in general?

Numerous. I have looked for free encyclopedias ever since online and cd-rom encyclopedias for my Mac 68k quadra came into existence and was delighted to see that Apple was bundling Grolier's and later World Book with my new ibook (purchased in college by phone in 2005.)

[edit] questions for prospective employers, clients (non-profit, or b2b)

I wrote this during a hypomanic state. It is accurate, insofar as it reflects my values and dreams. Being an entreupreneur is [[[difficult]]. There are high barriers to entry. Yahoo is lowering the barrier in terms of buying domains.. and blogging and [[[wikis]] are making it easier to add content.

What's the baseline requirement for your clientel?

I do not want any hagglers or stragglers. They must have money set aside-- medium doesn't matter, but given my age I frequently have would-be clients do this to me. I do consulting, and may be able to recommend vendors who can implement solutions.

Do you resell? Be honest.

Not currently. For $300 (price negociable), you can have control over my virtual server, as long as you are willing to administer my small pages as well.

My current technology setup and alliances?

I own a domain name library at Yahoo. I have a Yahoo Plus package. Reselling violates their Small Business Domain name hosting AUP, so I switched to Godaddy rather than contact Yahoo, Inc. (Corporate) corporate because Godaddy is a small business, and gives me more personal attention. I do not currently have a vendor selected to do the wiki sales and support, though I will use Liveperson for referrals and additional technology support. Godaddy doesn't support Liveperson so I offered to resell Liveperson (Google it) for now until I can get the wiki hosting up and running on my virtual server.

I also make recommendations for competitors. Pobox is another small, socially responsible company that simply does e-mail without web hosting.

TDS and SBC provide cell phones, pagers, phone service, and web hosting. So does Verizon. They have multiple divisions, and consequently multiple brand names. Too complex to put here, so if you want more information, and you've read this far, call me or e-mail me.

Phone number: not currently available

(My tip: Have your tech support document put this in a Word 2003 document with Reading view, a PDF file, Flash using Pages from Apple (part of the iWorks package since wikis are an open format and require no file conversion.

Aren't you breaking rules of the spirit of wiki?

Check the wiki textbook by the time I write it :-) Rules about wiki are as flexible as the spirit of wiki allows. I also have lawyers, and contacts at US Bank, the American Legion (I was governor at Badger Boys State.)

Can I e-mail you instead of call?