Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 13:25, 24 May 2014

• dashboard
• Books Project | Unassessed books
• Novels Project | Unassessed novels
• Computing Project | Unassessed computing
• the link classifier

Userboxes This user is an administrator on the English Misplaced Pages. (verify) This editor is a Senior Editor and is entitled to display this Rhodium Editor Star. This user repairs links to disambiguation pages. This user tries to do the right thing. If they make a mistake, please let them know. prog-N This user thinks in bytecode and dreams of electric sheep. SQL This user uses SQL queries to locate his car keys. C++-N This user has written C++ compilers, or tweaked C++ runtime libraries in Assembly language. asm-N This user is a native assembly language programmer. c#-4 This user is an expert C# programmer. vb This user is a fluent Visual Basic user. ] 5 This user is a professional Java programmer. -3 This user is an advanced Mathematica programmer. Perl-3 This user is an advanced Perl programmer. This user has a dual monitor configuration This user contributes using Windows 7 x64. This user prefers the metric system. This user supports Formula One. This user tracks his money on Where's George? en This user is a native speaker of the English language. ja-1 この利用者は初級の日本語ができます。

Position

I wrote a letter letter to the editors that appeared in the April, 2007 issue of Business 2.0 about the magazine's overstatement of the size and accuracy of Misplaced Pages.

I wrote the letter because I'm tired of reading articles here that are wrong, unreferenced, or about meaningless subjects. I'm weary of people insisting that Misplaced Pages is useful. While it's a marvelous concept, the execution has left us with lots of problems. Are we concerned enough with fixing them to make it right before some damage is done?

We learn that Misplaced Pages is used by more and more people every day, and used as a primary reference, despite disclaimers that the information isn't accurate--or, is at least--fluid and unverified.

From media outlets to school children, people are relying on this information -- they're educating themselves and formulating opinions and learning. But because Misplaced Pages is so lax in assuring it is correct, and because people have been conditioned to "walk through" disclaimers and just get their work done, what they're learning and reading and thinking about is most likely incorrect.

If we let Misplaced Pages continue to publish and grow without fixing what it has, we're slowly poisoning the common knowledge of the people. An incorrect fact published here, gone unverified, given the credibility, replication, and reach the site has, means that bad information is spreading very fast. And it's lodging in people, where it's possibly the hardest to work out.

I hope you can help Misplaced Pages avoid becoming a bigger problem than it already is: either by working to correct and improve existing pages, having marginal information eradicated altogether, or by working to improve the policies that govern the site and cause these fundamental problems.

Position on Content

I'm disappointed at Misplaced Pages's focus on quantity rather than quality.

Numerous user pages boast about articles that have been created, but I've found few that describe how articles were improved or how crufty, non-notable, or directory-oriented articles were deleted.

While the number of articles continues to climb, Misplaced Pages's value doesn't. In fact, I'd argue that it drops as authors edit articles without citations, create new articles on obvious content without any value-added, and build lists out of thin air. While spending time cataloging frivolous but commonly appealing topics, articles with academic merit go unedited.

Citing

Misplaced Pages doesn't use itself as a source. Why would anyone else? The reasons for Misplaced Pages's restriction on itself are logically apparent: the encyclopedia could say anything it wants, so it can't use itself as a source because it, itself, isn't reliable. But even if it doesn't use itself as a source, it could still say anything it wants about any subject. Why would any other user or author assume that it is accurate?

Some instructors don't allow Misplaced Pages to be used as a source, either.

Interests

I like to race cars, drift around on my boat with my wife, dabble with electronics, and take pictures. I work as a software architect. I want to learn how to weld, and get better at flippin' wrenches.

Awards

Working Man's Barnstar

The Working Man's Barnstar For your work disambiguating links Dina 18:53, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Queues

This section helps me keep track of AfD, prods, copyvios, and other "Come back" work I've initiated. Too bad there isn't an automated way to do this in the Misplaced Pages UI, huh?

Problem articles

• Slimelight
• Malachy McCourt
• Leroy Jethro Gibbs
• Timothy McGee

AfD queue

• Trinity (novel series)
• Thanksgiving (novel)
• Makaan
• Memorabilia (novel)

Prod queue

empty

Speedy queue

empty

OR Problems

empty

Copyvio queue

• How Soon Is Never

Notability tags

Merege queue

• MSDE into SQL Server Express
• Soul Kitchen (novel) and Liquor (novel) into Liquor (novel series)
• Mag Force 7 into Star of the Guardians
• Dissident Gardens into Jonathan Lethem
• The Legacy (Forgotten Realms novel), ], Siege of Darkness, Passage to Dawn, into Legacy of the Drow

Tools

• X!'s Edit Counter
• another tool

Personal sites

This is a list of websites I maintain. Or, pay for -- maintain would imply that I work on them:

• Screwy Lizard Racing site
• Mike Blaszczak's Web Page
• Northwest Endurance Racing Series site
• YURT site: Folding at Home statistics
• Mooseboy site
• Blaszczak Family website
• ICSCC statistics and history page

Notes to self (and maybe you, too!)

• {{Redirect}} is a handy list of redirect templates
• {{tl}} is a neat way to link to templates without typing a bunch of punctuation
• Misplaced Pages:Administrators' reading list
• Category:Administrative backlog
• Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Disambiguation/Malplaced disambiguation pages

Frequently used Templates

• {{nofootnote}} for articles with references but not footnotes
• {{Nonspecific}} for unspecific claims that are too weaselly to verify
• {{refimprove}} improve references

My machines

These lists are a little ostentatious; you'll never catch me with something like this in my sig in a forum. But it turns out I actually find it helpful to remember what machines I have, and which are doing what with which parts. I hope you'll indulge me, then.

Active

Retired

• Wikipedians who fix disambiguation pages with links
• User sql
• User c++-4
• User Assembly Language
• User c sharp-4
• User vb
• User java-5
• User mathematica-3
• User perl-3
• User en-N
• User ja-1
• Misplaced Pages administrators