User: Pcb21

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Two roads diverged in the wood, and I, I took the one less likely to disappear up its own backside.

With apologies to Robert Frost.

So I am coming back a little earlier than the originally intended (I think the block was a month). But I still think my views about how to create Wikipedia were once mainstream and are now the wiki equivalent of whacky lefty liberal. Some thoughts among many:

1. Too many processes, bits of bureaucracy and arbitrary numerical guidelines.
2. Having stewards and bureaucrats and admins and arbitrators and board members and votes is too much.
3. Honest but ignorant people killing articles in the name of NPOV (but not the spirit).
4. Metadata; overbearing focus on the editor rather than the reader.
5. Lack of respect for the wiki-concept. The idea that a keep vote should carry as much weight as a delete. Or more frighteningly, the existence of a culture that means that people don't even think that that idea is peculiar.
6. A lack of a fun atmosphere. Lack of back-slapping for writing good articles, barnstars are given out for fighting trolls.

I think one of the most amusing examples of this disagreeable culture was my own blocking - "self-blocks are against policy". Have you read the talk page that gave rise to that policy? Should we laugh, should we cry?

Anyway the break is over. I've removed all non-main-namespace stuff from watchlist. I will try just writing and editing non-controversial articles again and see if it is enjoyable. If it is, great! - stuff the wider project I am having fun providing a free resource. If it is not, then I can leave again in good conscience.

Fact of the day: thefreedictionary.com, a semi-compliant user of wikipedia material, receives nine million unique visitors per month. Anecdotal evidence suggests it is by far the most successful clone. I wonder how much Nick Simonov who owns and runs the site makes from it, and whether he feels any guilt about the shoddy manner he treats copyright compliance. Current project: find out how much he donates to the wmf. Pcb21| Pete 16:12, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thefreedictionary to be more popular than Wikipedia? http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?&range=2y&size=large&compare_sites=wikipedia.org&y=t&url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Deletion today: I was truly amazed to see the debate at Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/La La. How on earth have we got ourselves into the situation where there is actually a reasonable number of people wanting to delete that?

If the links below here are red, the corresponding articles have been deleted, but probably shouldn't have been

• Full Nice Handbag Co
• Granny Goose
• La La

• Flagrante delicto
• Internal
• Homeboy
• Red-handed
• Polynya
• Qua
• City block
• Prone

Main page:

Hypergraph -- Minke Whale -- Ian Huntley -- Hutton Inquiry -- Whale song -- High North Alliance -- Stella McCartney -- Kimberley Process -- Aboriginal whaling

FAs:

• London Congestion Charge -- Sperm Whale -- Hutton Inquiry -- James Bulger -- Humpback Whale -- Orca

Wrote:

Atlantic Northern Right Whale -- Pacific Northern Right Whale -- Southern Right Whale -- Bowhead Whale -- Fin Whale -- Sei Whale -- Bryde's Whale -- Pygmy Bryde's Whale -- Blue Whale -- Northern Minke Whale -- Southern Minke Whale -- Balaenoptera omurai -- Humpback Whale -- Eobalaenoptera harrisoni -- Gray Whale, Eschrichtius robustus -- Pygmy Right Whale -- Amazon River Dolphin -- Chinese River Dolphin -- Ganges and Indus River Dolphin -- La Plata Dolphin -- Narwhal -- Beluga -- Finless Porpoise -- Harbour Porpoise -- Vaquita -- Spectacled Porpoise -- Burmeister's Porpoise -- Dall's Porpoise -- Sperm Whale -- Dwarf Sperm Whale -- Pygmy Sperm Whale -- Cuvier's Beaked Whale -- Arnoux's Beaked Whale -- Baird's Beaked Whale -- Tasman Beaked Whale -- Indo-Pacific Beaked Whale -- Northern Bottlenose Whale -- Southern Bottlenose Whale -- Hector's Beaked Whale -- True's Beaked Whale -- Gervais' Beaked Whale -- Sowerby's Beaked Whale -- Gray's Beaked Whale -- Pygmy Beaked Whale -- Andrew's Beaked Whale -- Bahamonde's Beaked Whale -- Hubb's Beaked Whale -- Ginko-toothed Beaked Whale -- Stejneger's Beaked Whale -- Layard's Beaked Whale -- Blainville's Beaked Whale -- Commerson's Dolphin -- Chilean Dolphin -- Heaviside's Dolphin -- Hector's Dolphin -- Rough-toothed Dolphin -- Atlantic Humpback Dolphin -- Indian Humpback Dolphin -- Pacific Humpback Dolphin -- Tucuxi -- Bottlenose Dolphin -- Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphin -- Pantropical Spotted Dolphin -- Atlantic Spotted Dolphin -- Spinner Dolphin -- Clymene Dolphin -- Striped Dolphin -- Short-beaked Common Dolphin -- Long-beaked Common Dolphin -- Arabian Common Dolphin -- Fraser's Dolphin -- White-beaked Dolphin -- Atlantic White-sided Dolphin -- Pacific White-sided Dolphin -- Dusky Dolphin -- Black-chinned Dolphin -- Hourglass Dolphin -- Northern Right Whale Dolphin -- Southern Right Whale Dolphin -- Risso's Dolphin -- Melon-headed Whale -- Pygmy Killer Whale -- False Killer Whale -- Orca -- Long-finned Pilot Whale -- Short-finned Pilot Whale -- Irrawaddy Dolphin -- Girsanov's theorem -- Radon-Nikodym derivative -- Cyril Stanley Smith -- World's busiest airport -- Kangerlussuaq -- Transportation in Greenland -- Love Actually -- Cyril Smith -- Ian Huntley -- Perverting the course of justice -- Continental shelf -- Her Majesty's Prison Service -- Executive Agency -- Virginia Water -- Gavyn Davies -- Greg Dyke -- Trevor Kavanagh -- I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! -- John Fashanu -- Rod Hull -- Kerry McFadden -- Katharine Gun -- Ant and Dec -- Richard and Judy -- Vic and Bob -- Danny Baker -- Keith Chegwin -- Ulrika Jonsson -- Jamie Bulger -- Child's Play -- Liverpool Daily Post & Echo -- Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith -- Parole Board -- Peter Murray Taylor -- Criminal Justice Act -- Manchester Evening News -- Press Complaints Commission -- 1985 World Snooker Championship final -- Clements Markham -- Ranulph Fiennes -- British referendum on EU constitution -- Sara Cox -- Ainsley Harriot -- Jeremy Spake -- Johnny Vaughan -- Gordon Ramsay -- Judith Chalmers -- Jo Moore -- Craig David -- Kate Adie -- Ian McShane -- Celebrity chef -- Human Rights Act -- Human Rights Act (UK) -- John O'Farrell -- Andrew Neil -- major chunks of Whaling -- Agreement on Cooperation in Research, Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals in the North Atlantic -- North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission -- The Big Breakfast -- Beluga -- Gaby Roslin -- Denise Van Outen -- Kelly Brook -- Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society -- highest snooker break -- Sharron Davies -- Rick Adams (television presenter) -- Fathers 4 Justice -- Fathers 4 Justice House of Commons protest -- Fathers 4 Justice Tower Bridge protest -- Contact centre -- The Company -- The Great Dictator -- British Film Institute -- Brian Moore (novelist) -- Brian Moore (commentator) -- David Blaine -- Whale -- British Board of Film Classification -- London Heathrow Airport -- Hutton Inquiry -- Referendum Party -- Steve Davis -- Dead cat bounce -- whale song -- Francesco Crispi -- Catherine Gore -- Francis Beaumont -- Charles Ruggles -- High North Alliance -- Category:Cetaceans -- Red Dragon -- Jason Lee -- Speak English Or Die -- Jason Lee (footballer) -- Orthogastropoda -- Sammy Fain -- La Grande Armée -- Easy -- Thoroughly Modern Millie -- Mack Gordon -- Whale behaviour -- Heather Langenkamp -- Baise-moi -- Ned Washington -- John Nott -- Robert Falcon Scott -- Robert S. Scott -- 2001 UK foot and mouth disease -- Thomas-Everard family -- Public inquiry -- LVMH -- FRED (jeweller) -- Luxury good -- Hennessy -- Moet and Chandon -- Stella McCartney -- Straits of Malacca -- Geoff Boycott -- Nguyen Dan Que -- Kimberley Process -- World Diamond Council -- Aboriginal whaling -- Whaling in Japan -- Whaling in the Faroe Islands -- Northern Fur Seal -- Antarctic Fur Seal -- Subantarctic Fur Seal -- Lancelet -- Protopterus -- Ilulissat -- Bob Kiley -- Guadalupe Fur Seal -- Juan Fernandez Fur Seal -- Galapagos Fur Seal -- Children in Need -- yield curve -- short rate model -- Hull-White model

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