[WikiEN-l] Usernames

Mark Gallagher m.g.gallagher at student.canberra.edu.au
Fri May 26 04:05:02 UTC 2006


G'day Prasad,

>>See whether anyone gets worked up about the name within the first two weeks,
>>if not, it's ok?
> 
> To test this theory, let someone create a username "Lynddie England"-
> after the infamous sadist of Abu-Ghraib. If nobody objects, then your
> plan will fail due to systemic bias.

If someone names themselves "Lynndie England" I'll block them myself, 
should someone bring it to my attention.  Now, please stop complaining 
about "bias".  There is only a Cabal if you want there to be one.  If 
you push conspiracy theories far enough, you'll find plenty of evidence: 
since the hoard of people you'll have annoyed and who are telling you to 
pull your head in will surely suffice as "proof" that we're really out 
to get you.

As I said before, Wikipedia's biases are what we call "systemic bias". 
This is because most of our editors are male, white, and American, in 
their early to mid-twenties.  There's two ways to combat this bias. 
Either: a) kick out all the Americans for no good reason, or b) get 
people who don't fit this category to join up and start making useful 
contributions.  Sitting around whingeing about how nobody understands 
how difficult it is to not be American is not only bloody stupid, it's 
also offensive to the rest of us who aren't American and don't 
appreciate being considered fellow travellers.


-- 
Mark Gallagher
"What?  I can't hear you, I've got a banana on my head!"
- Danger Mouse



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