[WikiEN-l] Greetings

[Geoffrey Burling]

On Fri, 28 May 2004 Steve.Parsons at inveresk.com wrote:

> Steve.Parsons at inveresk.com wrote:
>
> >Hi all, new user here.  I hope to get the lay of the land here soon and
> >contribute some articles and edits on Egyptology.  Particularly I'd like
> >to do write-ups on Sneferu and his pyramids, which often seem to get
> >overlooked in favor of the Giza group.  Any thoughts would be most
> >welcome.
> >
> Yeah.  Just go ahead and write.
>
> Well Ray, not to put too fine a point on it, but screw you.
>

This is a puzzling exchange.

New user asks for advice. Ray responds to ``just go ahead and write" --
which is how almost all of us here got started. New user replies with an
obscenity. Somewhere, there has been a failure to communicate.

First, we need help with Egyptian topics. Based on a figure I read a month
ago, there were something over 300 Egyptian kings, & last I counted, probably
not more than 10% of them had entries in Wikipedia. The Egyptian Mythology
article needs work. And there are probably other gaping holes in that
section.

Not knowing anything about you other than these two emails, Steve, I really
can't offer any advice than what Ray said: yes, there are some concerns about
fair use, copyright, NPOV, & so forth, but if you were able to read enough
of the Wikipedia website to understand how to subscribe to this list, is it
fair to assume you have at least looked at those sections? You probably
currently know more about Wikipedia than I did when I started about a year
& ahalf ago -- & I've made a few edits since then.

You will butt heads with other editors. You will have your writing changed,
sometimes not for the better. You will discover that someone knows things you
don't. You will sometimes feel that Wikipedia's not worth it, & want to abandon
it to the trolls, fools & wackos who keep appearing here.

And sometimes you will have an enjoyable exchange with someone, or learn
something you want to share. Or maybe you will find reward in the act of
sharing something you find important with strangers.

Again, I don't know anything about you, other than these two emails. And
the second one didn't show you at your best. Would you like to try again at
introducing yourself?

Geoff
itself.