User:Metasquares
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I found out about Wikipedia in late August of 2003, and have been contributing since. I am a member of the Wikipedia:Office of Members' Advocates; feel free to request my help if you are involved in a dispute.
I am most knowledgable about computer-related topics, though I also know a good deal of general knowledge. I generally contribute when I see a page which I could add content to without being redundant, though I correct any page that I find a typo or Wiki syntax error. These corrections are flagged as minor edits.
You can reach me via email at wikipedia at metasquares dot com, ICQ at 55140931, or Jabber at metasquares at metasquares dot com.
I prefer to create entirely new articles than edit current ones. Generally, at least 50% of my edits are new pages. Once I edit one article in a category, I try to fill in all of that category's articles. See DVD-RW for an example.
I try to abstain from edit wars. While these are great for one's edit count (Which I now see is an indicator of status in an otherwise unstratified community), some spanning hundreds or even thousands of edits, they don't help anyone, and usually end up getting a page protected or a user banned. If there's a discrepancy that one or two edits will not fix, my policy is to take it up on a talk page.
I have a horrible time connecting to Wikipedia, and when I can't connect, I give up and come back again in a few hours, so if the time I spend here is a bit sporadic, blame it on the server :).
:Since the new equipment has been put into operation, my connection issues have been resolved!
- Spoke too soon.
I'm beginning to see Wikipedia as a utopia in decline. Flame wars are constant, sysops left and right are abusing their power, some getting desysopped, longstanding members are being banned and unbanned multiple times in a day, people are replacing the word "trust" with the word "edits" all over the place (though mainly on the mailing list, which floods my inbox rather rapidly), and no one seems to want to discuss any of this in a cohesive manner - everyone's running around dispensing vigilante justice; we cannot have this in a community of this size! I believe in the goals of Wikipedia and I, too, believe that "information wants to be free", but this cannot go on any longer if we are to remain an accurate source of information. We need some structure. Metasquares 01:45, 19 Feb 2004 (UTC)
I have decided to return to the Wikipedia after a few months' vacation. I was very disappointed at the direction I saw the site going, but somehow that crisis seems to have been averted. Metasquares 12:56, 7 Jul 2004 (UTC)