User:John Foley
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Lincoln's Inn 2004
My contributions tend to be eclectic although I have detected a pattern.
- I am beginning to contribute more on legal topics. I am especially interested in how members of the public can get access to justice given the cost of using lawyers, the restrictions in public funding of legal services and the complexity of the procedures. I would like to see an expansion of information and resources available to litigants-in-person.
- When I get the opportunity I like to improve the entries on matters relating to family law. I am also interested in fatherhood and the relationship between men and women. This is an enduring and controversial area but the democratic nature of Wikipedia eases the task.
- I have expanded the entry for Balliol College, Oxford in order to give a feel for the wonderful history of the place. I read Philosophy, Politics and Economics there in the 1970s and was not aware that it had been a crucible for British philosophy. I lectured adults in philosophy at London University (http://www.bbk.ac.uk) for a couple of years and I retain a lay interest in the subject but not as a contributor.
- A long-time interest of mine is chess and I am delighted in the rapid development of this section on Wikipedia. I would like to contribute to the history of chess tournaments but this would be too time-consuming to undertake and so I restrict myself to modest submissions. I quite liked my paragraph on chess notation which nobody has changed so far.
- I have family connections in County Kerry, Ireland and will continue to chip in local items of general interest. I would like to share my experiences of having walked the splendid Kerry Way. By the way, I can confirm that Nordic walking across mountains is less comfortable than using hiking poles. I will also explore the subject of whether there ever was such a thing as the recently "rediscovered" Kerry bog pony.
- I decided not to make any contributions about the area that perhaps I knew most about - namely the European media sector and digital television in particular. I was an international media analyst for a decade with clients such as JP Morgan (http://www.jpmorgan.com), European Commission (http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm), BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk), France Telecom (http://www.francetelecom.com), Deutsche Telekom (http://www.telekom3.de/en-p/home/cc-startseite.html), Retevision (http://www.retevision.es). Nor indeed do I want to communicate my formative experiences as a management consultant (PWC (http://www.pwc.com/)). I also decided not to make any contributions in two areas where I have academic qualifications : Master's in Operational Research (Lancaster University), Diploma in Psychology (London University).
News
- My mother unexpectedly died 22 August 2004. The doctors thought it was a pulmonary embolism. It turned out she had carcinoma of the bronchus leading to malignant pericarditis.
- Attended London Wikimeet on 5 June 2004. Suffused with the inspiring sense of community.