User:Viewfinder
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Viewfinder
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Hello World!
My name is Jonathan de Ferranti and my year of birth is 1957. My e-mail address, and more about me, can be found on my home page. My main interests are hiking and topographic research. My favorite quotes are "live and let live" and "the free flow of knowledge is strength". My main dislikes are elitocracy, misinformation, disinformation, copyright, patents, intellectual property and the general privatisation of knowledge. My number one dislike is political and commercial distortion of fact, particularly in the field of topography. Long live Wikipedia!
Economic theory tells us that the general interest is best served when price is based on cost of reproduction. It follows that what can be reproduced cheaply should be priced accordingly. Viewfinder 11:15, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
I make one reservation to the above comments - other people's research should not be reproduced without proper credit. Viewfinder 17:07, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Some thoughts about Wikipedia
Wikipedia has been criticised for being anti-elitist. Yes, I think it does have an anti-elitist streak, but I see that as good. I oppose the control of information by elitocracy.
Wikipedia has been criticised for being inaccurate. No, Wikipedia does not always get it right but then neither do the long established encyclopedias. See the claim in Encyclopedia Britannica that Ulugh Muztagh is over 7,700 metres, for example. See also the claim by Guinness World Records that Khardungla Pass as 5,682 metres high and the world's highest motorable road pass. Also note that Wikipedia has many more articles, and they are often kept right up to date by enthusiastic editors.
It is claimed that the fact that anyone can edit Wikipedia downgrades its professional quality. But, unlike other encyclopedias, anyone can correct it and revert incompetent edits! Vandalism almost invariably has a short life, although there has been the occasional unfortunate exception. The professional researchers should welcome good faith criticism from the general public. They are free to use Wikipedia to improve their own work.
[edit] Malicious editing and Vandalism
If a Google search is performed on almost any subject, the Wikipedia article on that subject will be top or near the top. This means that the Wikipedia biographies of famous people are likely to be among the most frequently read. Many critics are concerned that this gives malicious editors the power to damage reputations, often by adding improperly sourced or downmarket titillating material. I strive to assist those who are trying to counter these editors. Viewfinder 18:42, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
Further to the above, if a Google search on a celebrity is performed, or anyone else who is famous or controversial, and searchers are led to Wikipedia, there is a significant chance that four letter words will be encountered. Lol... until the article is about you, your friend or someone you admire. Wikipedia is a serious encyclopedia and offensive vandalism is a serious problem. Although I have accumulated more than 5000 edits I have no plans to apply for administration status because if I were to be given this, then frankly I would not be able to stop myself from applying what I think should be Wikipedia policy, as opposed to actual Wikipedia policy.
If it were up to me: three strikes and you're out.
- First strike: if it's mild, polite but single warning and, if it's funny, a link to Uncyclopedia; otherwise Template:uw-vandalism4im.
- Second strike: a 24 hour to 7 day block, depending on the severity of the edits.
- Third strike: an indefinite block, which can only be reverted on application.
Shared user IP's should be given equal treatment. Too often serial vandals are using these to vandalise anonymously. Ranking prominently among the IP's that vandalise are those belonging to English independent schools. Those who wish to edit can create their own accounts.
Wikipedia may not want to be tougher on vandals for fear of provocation and because of the possibility of them becoming good faith editors. But there is plenty of room for messages encouraging vandals to metamorphose, even if they have been blocked indefinitely. Allowing serial vandals to accumulate scores of vandalism warnings before being blocked indefinitely sends out signals of weakness. So does the failure of Wikipedia to block serial vandale who spread their vandalism over sufficient time periods to avoid blocks; I am very disappointed that (as of 3 April 2008) has not acquired a block log. Viewfinder 15:19, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
There is another type of editor that I do not like: the editor who removes good faith material without explanation (example which also breached WP:COI, reported in Scotland on Sunday, 26 August 2007, p.3). Even where the material should be removed, if it was added in good faith then an edit summary should be supplied, and if appropriate, an explanation should be given. Viewfinder 15:22, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Articles that I have started
- Timeline of climbing Mount Everest
- Monte Pissis
- Monte San Valentin
- Ritacuba Blanco
- Semo La
- Marsimik La
[edit] Articles to which I have substantially contributed
- Mount Everest
- Topographic prominence
- Khardung La
- List of worldwide peaks by prominence
- List of countries by highest point
- List of highest mountains
- Kabru
- Cordillera del Paine
- Ulugh Muztagh
- Cheekha Dar, highest point of Iraq
- Keokradong, incorrectly claimed to be highest point of Bangladesh
- Korvatunturi, claimed to be the home of Santa Claus
- Eton College
- Newburgh, Fife (home town)
Plus many minor contributions, mostly height and prominence related, to many other mountain sites. I also watch pages in many other categories, notably the biographies of leading British politicians and members of the Royal Family, but my contributions to these are mostly confined to reverting vandalism and other inappropriate material.
[edit] Ancestry
| Jonathan de Ferranti (b.1957) | Father: Basil de Ferranti (1930-1988) |
Paternal Grandfather: Sir Vincent de Ferranti (1892-1980) |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti (1864-1930) |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Gertrude Ince (1869-1959) |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Dorothy Wilson (1895-1993) |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Reginald Wilson |
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| Paternal Great-grandmother: Ada Campbell |
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| Mother: Sara Gore (b.1935) |
Maternal Grandfather: Christopher Gore (1903-1954) |
Maternal Great-grandfather: F.W.G.Gore (1855-1938) |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: The Lady Constance Grace Milles (d.1941) |
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| Maternal Grandmother: The Lady Barbara Montgomerie (1909-1992) |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Archibald Montgomerie, 16th Earl of Eglinton (1880-1945) |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: The Lady Beatrice Dalrymple (d.1961) |
Sources: Conqueror 106, Samantha Marshall
