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Revision as of 00:40, 18 April 2006 editCalair (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users3,687 edits Thanks to the antivandals← Previous edit Latest revision as of 12:05, 12 July 2007 edit undoCalair (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users3,687 editsNo edit summary 
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I'm a professional geek, of the maths/engineering variety. I work in the vision correction industry, but I don't post much on that subject - partly because a lot of my professional knowledge is commercial-in-confidence, but mostly because I come to Misplaced Pages for a break from work. I'm a professional geek, of the maths/engineering variety. 'Calair' is a handle of convenience, because there are just a few too many crazies out there for me to feel comfortable giving out my real name.


Things I like removing from Misplaced Pages (and I've been guilty of most of these myself at one time or another):
Due to occasional stalker problems (none current), I prefer not to use my real name in a searchable venue, so I pinched 'Calair' from a roleplaying character.


*].
I had more about myself and my Misplaced Pages contributions here, but let's face it, who actually wants to know that stuff? In the interests of disclosure, though, I'm a registered Democrat (US) and Green (Australian), both on a 'least worst of the available options' basis. Beyond that, ask a straight question on my Talk page and I'll give you a straight answer.
*].
*"Notably, ..." at the beginning of sentences. ''Every sentence in Misplaced Pages'' is there because some editor thought it was notable. If it really is notable, it'll speak for itself.
*"Controversial" as a descriptor of people - about 90% of interesting people in Misplaced Pages are controversial for one reason or another. Just cut to the 'one reason or another' part, please?
*"However, ..." - occasionally this helps the flow of ideas, but often it's just padding.


It seems to me that the Misplaced Pages process often generates a sort of point-counterpoint style of article - "his detractors say X, his supporters say Y". This isn't entirely a bad thing; it's one of the easier ways for people with widely differing opinions to agree on an article, and it provides a certain sort of balance. But I'm not convinced it's the ''best'' way to write an article; when everybody's concentrating on representing two separate extremes, there's little attempt to show how those extremes may meet in the truth, and other dimensions to the discussion are often missed.
BTW, a big thanks to the other editors who've been clearing the recent run of vandalism off my talk page (and, where defamatory, out of the edit history). My house might be a disaster area when I get back from a long weekend, but at least my userspace isn't :-)

One pet peeve: please do not 'correct' my signed comments. If you think I've made a mistake, you're welcome to let me know on my Talk page or suggest a correction below the comment where that mistake appears. But it's misleading to put things I didn't write into something that has my signature attached. (Also, a lot of these 'corrections' aren't, and adding ''mistakes'' to my comments is particularly irritating.) Obviously, this doesn't apply to article text, which isn't signed. --] 14:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Sadly, I'm spending less and less time on Misplaced Pages lately as the climate here gets more and more irritating. I can put up with anonymous vandalism, and systematic POV-pushing, but people are getting far too legalistic and bloody-minded about Misplaced Pages policies; they're important, but they're not a replacement for common sense. --] 12:05, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

The current time is '''{{CURRENTTIME}}, ], ]''' (]).


{{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}} {{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}}

Latest revision as of 12:05, 12 July 2007

I'm a professional geek, of the maths/engineering variety. 'Calair' is a handle of convenience, because there are just a few too many crazies out there for me to feel comfortable giving out my real name.

Things I like removing from Misplaced Pages (and I've been guilty of most of these myself at one time or another):

  • Scare quotes.
  • False precision.
  • "Notably, ..." at the beginning of sentences. Every sentence in Misplaced Pages is there because some editor thought it was notable. If it really is notable, it'll speak for itself.
  • "Controversial" as a descriptor of people - about 90% of interesting people in Misplaced Pages are controversial for one reason or another. Just cut to the 'one reason or another' part, please?
  • "However, ..." - occasionally this helps the flow of ideas, but often it's just padding.

It seems to me that the Misplaced Pages process often generates a sort of point-counterpoint style of article - "his detractors say X, his supporters say Y". This isn't entirely a bad thing; it's one of the easier ways for people with widely differing opinions to agree on an article, and it provides a certain sort of balance. But I'm not convinced it's the best way to write an article; when everybody's concentrating on representing two separate extremes, there's little attempt to show how those extremes may meet in the truth, and other dimensions to the discussion are often missed.

One pet peeve: please do not 'correct' my signed comments. If you think I've made a mistake, you're welcome to let me know on my Talk page or suggest a correction below the comment where that mistake appears. But it's misleading to put things I didn't write into something that has my signature attached. (Also, a lot of these 'corrections' aren't, and adding mistakes to my comments is particularly irritating.) Obviously, this doesn't apply to article text, which isn't signed. --Calair 14:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Sadly, I'm spending less and less time on Misplaced Pages lately as the climate here gets more and more irritating. I can put up with anonymous vandalism, and systematic POV-pushing, but people are getting far too legalistic and bloody-minded about Misplaced Pages policies; they're important, but they're not a replacement for common sense. --Calair 12:05, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

The current time is 06:15, December 28, 2024 (UTC).

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