User:Dbabbitt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


My Userboxes

Self-potrait

Firefox This user contributes using Mozilla Firefox.
CF-4 This user is an expert ColdFusion programmer.
xhtml This user can write XHTML.
js This user can program in JavaScript.
js This user browses with JavaScript disabled. Everyone should.
.css This user can write Cascading Style Sheets.
java-0 This user has some undisclosed problems with Java.
re This user writes regular expressions to find everything around the house.
sql This user uses SQL queries to locate car keys.
LE-0 This individual still maintains a shred of dignity in this insane world by adhering to correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalisation.
vn - This user page has been vandalized many, many, and many times.


This user strives to maintain a policy of neutrality on controversial issues.
This user reserves the right to completely screw up his or her edits.
This user has a page on MediaWiki.org.
Wikibooks has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikimedia Commons has a User Page for Dbabbitt
This user has a page on Wikitravel.
Meta has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikinews has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikiquote has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikispecies has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikisource has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wiktionary has a User Page for Dbabbitt
Wikiversity has a User Page for Dbabbitt
#1 This user is one in 7,269,969.
This user has been a member of Wikipedia since 2003.
{{Wiki}} This user can write in the MediaWiki language
700+
This user believes free images should be moved to the Commons.
This user is a member of the Wikipedia Department of Fun.
Kindness Campaign This user is a member of the Kindness Campaign.
This user is a WikiFairy.
Image:WikiGnome.png This editor is a WikiGnome.
This user is not a Wikipedia administrator, but might like to be one someday... (yawn...)
This User is a Member of the Association of Structurist Wikipedians

[edit] Why I Contribute

As of 2003, I am mildly concerned with the representation of the Reformed and Libertarian understanding of things here, but mostly like to just add a contrarion twist to whatever I find of interest. I have an intense curiosity about how things work here and I find it exhilarating to watch some POV "gem" I just added get edited into NPOV "smoky quartz".

[edit] My Observations about Wikipedia

According to the Guide to Writing Better Articles, if rules and guidance make you nervous and depressed, and not desirous of participating in the Wiki, then ignore them and go about your business. But I say if it makes you depressed, you are really looking for a contrarian set of rules, so here goes.

The "game" of Wikipedia is to get your crackpot theories and daring new analyses to survive page edits long enough to become established as part of the conventional wisdom. (This is a lot easier to do with text than it is with images. It takes real work and lots of political maneuvering to get creative images to stick.) Here are some tips:

  1. Camouflage the visible - replace your arcane terminology with terminology already used on the page.
  2. Cut and run - sometimes it's important to lose the content battle in order to win the war. If you move a whole section (that contains your stuff) off the main page and onto an auxillary page just before a major rewrite, for example, you will probably be able to expand your explanations and will for a time have saved your section from permanent obliteration.
  3. It is important to leave a comment in the Edit summary whenever you change the overall presentation (i.e., pedagogy, terminology, flow, spelling, and grammar), not just the content.


[edit] Unfinished Work

I am playing in my Sandbox right now.

[edit] Legal Stuff

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

Multi-licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License versions 1.0 and 2.0
I agree to multi-license my text contributions, unless otherwise stated, under the GFDL and the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license version 1.0 and version 2.0. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under the Creative Commons terms, please check the CC dual-license and Multi-licensing guides.