User:Thomas H. Larsen

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Recognise and respect competence.

Thomas H. Larsen

Hello. I'm Thomas H. Larsen (just call me Thomas), pleased to be here to help construct free information and proud to be a Wikimedian. If you're not doing so already, I invite you to help build the English Wikipedia or another Wikimedia Foundation project.

I'm an editor here, and have held an account on the English Wikipedia since October 26, 2006.

I sincerely aim to contribute and participate constructively and productively in a respectful and pleasant manner. If you feel that I am not complying with these personal standards, please contact me politely.

While I believe the English-language Wikipedia is a useful and worthwhile project, I am increasing feeling that the community is plagued by a number of problems. I would like to hear your constructive feedback in regards to these apparent issues.

Contents

[edit] Contacting me

If you wish to direct a comment, question, or concern my way, I would prefer that you do so on my discussion page, except in cases where you have a good reason for no third-party involvement, when you should e-mail me instead. If you do not have an account on the English Wikipedia, you can e-mail me directly at "thomasJhlarsen.wmUf@gmNail.Kcom" (remove the capitalised letters "JUNK" from the address).

I invite constructive input from anyone, whether or not they are an editor on the English Wikipedia. However, I do request that you be as concise as possible and as descriptive as necessary. In particular, I insist, regardless of the method you use to contact me, that you make all reasonable efforts to assume good faith, remain neutral, and stay civil. If you do not abide by this code of conduct, there is a significant chance that I will not respond to your message, and I may even delete or remove it so that I, and other community members, may contribute enjoyably and productively.

[edit] About me

I am a New Zealander by birth, and am currently living in Melbourne, Australia. An advocate of free content and copyleft, I encourage the usage of free content software and documentation, such as the GNU/Linux operating system, the VIM text editor, and, of course, the English Wikipedia and all other Wikimedia Foundation projects. I am a "hacker" (a programmer who enjoys finding clever ways of accomplishing programming tasks), and a writer. I am also a Christian.

My interests range very widely, mainly over topics related to information technology and astrophysics. Apart from these, I have many other interests and fascinations, especially in the area of computing.

I enjoy programming (traditionally I have always been familiar with the Yabasic programming language, but I have recently been gaining some experience with C).

I strongly support free content movement (sometimes called the open content movement), which is basically a principle of providing content to the public in such a way that it may be freely used, copied, modified, and distributed both in modified and unmodified form.

I believe that everybody should have a fair, equal, and good opportunity to be educated openly, honestly, and freely (not necessarily free of charge, but certainly free of restrictions on using knowledge gained through education).

I try to look at the big picture before painting even a small part of it, and tend to get slightly annoyed when others fail to see past the blur of involvement so that they can view everything as part of a much clearer, much bigger, much better picture. I strongly recommend that you read – before you write and that you recognise and respect competence.

I am a strong advocate of the usage of Wikimedia Foundation projects worldwide.

[edit] Our horizon

Personally, I think that our horizon as the Wikimedia community is to bring reliable informational resources to all people, all cultures, all nations, in their own language, free in the senses of both liberty and gratis. Reliability is defined as an inseparable combination of accuracy (both technical, the "how", and factual, the "what") and stability.

[edit] My personal noticeboard

  • April, 2008. I have bought a digital camera, which means that I may be able to become involved in taking photos for inclusion on Commons.
  • April, 2008. I am learning the German language! I know English to a fairly high level already, and I'd like to learn a second language. I look forward to participating on the German Wikipedia, hopefully before the end of the year.
  • February 21, 2008. I have proposed factual review, a system which I hope to have introduced to the English Wikipedia to check encyclopedic articles for factual accuracy and coverage.

[edit] Quotes

  • "... [W]e can either keep trying to triumph over each other and then contend with the hatreds that follow, or have the fun of working together toward more transcendent goals." – William K. Hartmann[1]
  • "The ideal Wikipedian in my mind is someone who is really smart and really kind." – Jimbo Wales[2]
  • "... [I]nformation just wants to be free. That's what we love about it." – Peter Wayner[3]
  • "Forgive and forget, the wiki way." – Deskana[4]
  • "... [T]echnology is an inseparable child of humanity ... for true progress to occur, the two must walk hand in hand, with neither one acting as servant to the other." – Michael L. Dertouzos[5]

[edit] Accounts on Wikimedia Foundation projects

I have accounts on the following Wikimedia Foundation projects (in decreasing order of usage):

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ William K. Hartmann (2003). A Traveller's Guide to Mars: the Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet. Workman Publishing.
  2. ^ Tim Adams (2007). The Knowledge. The Age: Good Weekend.
  3. ^ Peter Wayner (2000). Free for All: how Linux and the free software movement undercut the high-tech titans. HarperCollins Publishers.
  4. ^ I don't remember the exact reference, but this quote was interesting. Deskana made it sometime in 2006 or 2007 (2006, I think), and, months later, when commenting on another user's discussion page, we edit-conflicted, apparently posting the same quote at the virtually the same time to the same person.
  5. ^ Tim Berners-Lee with Mark Fischetti (2000). Weaving the Web. HarperCollins Publishers.