User:Harryeknight

Total Wikipedia Editing Newbie

I am a voracious user of Wikipedia but only recently decided to create an account, mainly to help track the little edits I make when I encounter vandalism. Also, I want to try to oblige the image requests, since I am very good with PhotoShop and am willing to release anything I make into the Public Domain.

I have no clue what I am doing yet, so I am treading lightly.

My Wikipedia Love

In 1980, my parents made the extreme financial sacrifice to buy the 15th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was a valuable resource for schoolwork and I loved the ability to get the answers to almost any question I could think of. However, we weren't exactly rich and I remember that its purchase set my parents back quite a bit. Bizarrely enough, this is still the current edition, but in order to read about any advances in computer technology, you must consult one of the yearly update books.

Flash-forward 16 years as the Web gained general use. How excited I was! It would be like having a free EB in every home. Sadly, this was not the case. A good deal of information out there was pretty crappy. If you wanted to put good information out yourself, you had to have the technical ability to get a web site online. This was pretty rare knowledge in 1996.

When I discovered Wikipedia, it was everything I had hoped the Web would be, all in on easy-to-use site. Better, in fact, because the information was continually reviewed and revised and inherently had a larger world-view than can be created in any given traditionally published encyclopedia.

These days, I frequently pass my lunch hour and breaks reading Wikipedia. This is largely thanks to a parser I wrote so that I can more easily view the articles on my cell phone's browser. Hyperlinks allow for a "stream of consciousness" experience and, on many occasions, I have simply drifted from topic to topic soaking up all manner of information because I am so easily able to satisfy my curiosity.

I don't know if I am a junkie yet, but I can't remember the last time I played Hot Death Uno. If I am messing with my phone for entertainment, I am probably reading Wikipedia.