User:Thincat

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Well, I've been told that my user page is useless and not a credit to Wikipedia. So it was and, sadly, despite my efforts now, still is.

My kids were interested in dinosaurs being warm-blooded, so I once tried googling to find out whether any fish are warm-blooded too. I found Wikipedia saying that tuna are cold-blooded,[1] but at least mentioning "warm-blooded". So, in April 2004 I top-posted with no signature (diff) to Talk:Tuna including what is now a broken link (here is the page archived)

That is what I used to believe was my start in Wikipedia but I now see that from February 2004 I was editing under my IP address, presumably before I had registered.

Because the web is volatile in information and referencing, it bothers me that so many editors prefer referencing web pages rather than books. A web convenience link is obviously helpful although books and academic papers are a far more stable form of information. To underline this, Wikipedia consensus now (29 January 2008) seems to have it that some tuna are indeed warm-blooded![2] Despite that, then, as now, I find Wikipedia an enormously valuable resource. For me it is the best web site there is (and the web itself is the best single development in the fleeting history of information technology).

I seem to have averaged one edit a day[3] over my time here and for most folks, this will seem very slow. Simply, it is because I have other things to do. It also means that I often miss the chance to support people when they seem to be being badly treated in the bear pit that is Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents and similar. Often the discussion has been archived away before I have time to say anything. My apologies, especially to those indefinitely blocked editors with fine contribution records.

For me, the best thing has been just to use, and contribute to, Wikipedia without paying too much attention to its administration. Most organisations are rotten at the core once you get to know them. Here we have no exception, but it my (rather too lengthy) experience it is no worse than anywhere else. Maybe in this case the end justifies the means.