Greetings from the recently more-or-less absent TUF-KAT (soon to be much more). Between dropping out of college and losing my Internet connection and tooling around the Pacific Northwest for two weeks (conclusion: Seattle has very clean homeless people), I am now quite out of the loop.
Unfortunately, I will soon be even farther out of the loop. Sometime in the next two weeks, I will be leaving civilization for a place with no computers (I'm not really trying to keep it a secret -- if it irks you, e-mail me privately; rest assured, no form of military activity is involved) and will not return until September at the earliest. I may have the chance to pop in and smoke a virtual J once or twice, but will not be a regular contributor. I do plan on returning, so fear not my fellow wikipedians! I know your lives will seem so much more hollow and meaningless without my wit and undeniable sexiness (don't tell anyone, but I think Jimbo has a crush on me, and I think he looks like Bruce Springsteen).
Early Virtual Christmas in July presents: JTDirl: a couple bottles of guiness Zoe: my patented Automated Michaelese-Remover Ultra-Deluxe Plus, and my undying gratitude for using it Mav: Your mom. BOO-YAH! Little Dan: my old history teacher, Fitz, who gave out hall passes like candy (if you haven't figured it out yet, one period a day to smoke whatever dried plant matter floats your boat, such as sage, may be the only thing keeping you from insanity) Michael: some taste in music DW et al and Lir et al: some subtlety (see below) Brion: a cure for your incessant laziness, you ne'er-do-well! Quit loafing about and make the pipe trick work for disambiguated titles with a question mark! Unless of course, you're too busy designing a better torture chamber for SADDAM HUSSEIN!!!!!!!!!! (yes, that's right, ten exclamation marks, just to let you know I mean business) Julie: I don't know you really, but having perused previous conversations and controversies, I bizarrely picture you as looking exactly like Charlize Theron. Will you marry me? Stevertigo and RK: a big fatty-bo-batty, and a date with Lil Kim Danny: A free trip to scenic Richmond, Virginia, home of... oh, lots of things, really, most of them intoxicating... provided you bring both Timothy and Denis Leary KQ: .5 points added to your Coolness Quotient, which makes you tied with the new dreadlocked guy from the utterly disappointing Matrix 2 (worst Matrix ever) Ed Poor: Have you even been around recently? How about a free internet connection? Does Sunday school last all week these days? Oliver: a second bowl of gruel (because I will always picture you as a dirty, hungry young boy)
And a hearty dose of Christmas joy to everyone I've forgotten/don't know.
Now, more on topic:
On DW's recent possible reincarnations, I have no idea whether or not Triton is DW, as I have not seen a single message from him. If DW is banned, then his contributions are not welcome and should be reverted on sight. We should be act without mercy on this subject (and Lir and Michael and Helga...). If any of these users want to be a valuable contributor, they have only to email Jimbo and I get the feeling he is looking for an excuse to reinstate them. In any case, as I have previously said, if one of them wants to be a trusted user under a different name, this should be easy -- they know exactly what the rules are and, with the possible exception of Michael, are utterly capable of following them. E.g. Lir is undoubtedly competent enough to adopt a user-name and never allow herself to be revealed as Lir. If she ever truly repents and is too proud or whatever to email Jimbo, we will have no way of knowing because she will seem like any other new contributor. For all we know, Lir has another identity and simply likes messing with us while using some respected name to make valuable contributions.
On the issue of the mailing list archives being publicly available or not, I support availability but am averse to my name showing up on a google search. My e-mail name is my real name, and I don't cotton to the idea of any old body knowing I used to go by the name "Tokerboy". I did choose the name knowing perfectly well that my name could be connected with it, and I chose to accept the responsibilities, so I can't be too outraged, but I think barring search engines would be nice without inhibiting transparency to any reasonable degree (assuming interested parties could still search the mailing list archives if they were truly interested). There is another sensitive issue (to non-American Wikipedians: the name "Tokerboy" revealed my proclivity for recreationally smoking cannabis and I am here discussing an entirely unrelated controversial issue which I will not name as long as the mailing list is google-archived), related to my iminent departure, which I will not allow to be related to my real name. I have successfuly avoided the connection by asking another user to act as a proxy when necessary (thanks you-know-who).
On to the specific subject of Michael. I don't know why he he has chosen Zoe to harass instead of me, because I was the first person to ban his original IP address and the first and originaly most vocal proponent of his outright permanent ban, but I support the deletion of all his supposed contributions. I have seen some people speak in support of checking his facts before deleting and must reiterate that this is a pointless waste of time. Most will be correct, but just enough will be wrong that any fact is suspect -- this makes virtually anything relating to his brand of pseudo-punkish/lite metal suspect and, by exension, the whole Wikipedia. In any case, the true facts are almost always a track listing and a description of the band's generic classification (which is usually questionable and often outright wrong). In any case, this information is hardly difficult to find for the bands he is interested in, so I feel no compunctions about deleting it. Even if he every fact he entered was correct, he would be an essentially useless contributor, filling links with gramatically incorrect stubs that provide no more information than a couple dozen fan sites that appear higher than Wikipedia on any search engine. I am also about 82% sure that he has some sort of mental malfunction, like autism, that impairs him -- I have no proof, just a terribly certain feeling -- and almost feel bad about reverting his perhaps well-meaning contributions. I have had reasonably extensive contact with mentally impaired persons (once more, email me if this intrigues you) and he strikes me as such, if not autistic then somehow mentally impaired. I bear him no ill-will and I have the utmost respect for those who wish to allow him increased latitude, but I don't think it is worth it to grant him the freedom. IIRC, he logs in from Alberta, unfortunately a different jurisdiction than myself, but I bet that Canada has plenty of opportunities for him to have an active and full life without detracting from our project. After all, they don't have an empire to pay for.
Anyway, adieu my friend! Cry not for me, Wikipedia, for the truth is, I never left you -- I will simply find myself without a computer with which to inform you of my contributions. You may find yourself wandering aimlessly through life during my departure. This is normal, and can be expected; simply smoke something that reminds you of me, and you shall feel rejuvenated and, perhaps, will discover a love for [[reggae]]. In any case, be strong and I shall return!!!!
Tokingly yours, TUF-KAT
P.S. reading this message, it may be terribly Americocentric. Feel free to e-mail me privately for explanations -- if I have the time before my departure, I will explain.
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