User talk:AlanE

Hello you ing. Pull up a .-- 16:07, 25 July 2008 (EDT)

Thanks. The last time I was welcomed to a wiki it was by TK. Should I be grateful this time? :-)AlanE 16:13, 25 July 2008 (EDT)

When was the last time you were made a sysop? Not "over there," I think...Best. Parthian. Ever. TheoryOfPractice 00:10, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Welcome to the Dollhouse! Did ToP already 'sop you?  F'ing whore.  Everyone has to be a hero!  ħ uman  00:14, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Guess he did. And, yeah, that PS was a really good one.  PS, I fixed the link to the handy guide to "now you are a RW sysop, no achievement will ever exceed this" manual.  ħ uman  00:23, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Aw shucks. (I think.) The trouble with Pee Esses is there's always something you think of later. I'd always planned that when the time came I would get in a "Don't come the raw prawn with me, Andy!" but I bloody forgot. Thanks for the welcome. AlanE 01:06, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Put it on talk WIGO CP, TK will relay it to Andy. You got blockxored and email killed, right?  If not, you can always email Andy his crustacean surprise.  I forget, did you get blocked forever, 5 years, or less?  ħ uman  01:39, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Only one year by Andy. A bit of an insult really. Maybe Terry will up it when he sees me here. Hopefully, I riled him by reverting his killing of Corry's invitation to aSK with a smartarse remark on the summary comment. AlanE 02:04, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Moribundity is, in fact, a great word. About as good as 'stubbification'.   02:12, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * I did a "disenstubbification" the other day. I was wondering what "categegory" to put it in. AlanE 02:33, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Another person who makes up long words! 02:54, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * If you had spent your time making up "facts" about Obama's religion and how evolution=evil you would probably be a sysop on CP by now. This is more proof that Andy doesn't really give a damn about having a factual encyclopedia- you were a good contributor.  Corryundefined 11:09, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * And if he didn't gain anything from your edits, then he is more closed-minded than the libruls he claims haven't opened their minds yet.  11:19, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * "If you open your mind too much, your brain will fall out". Welcome to sane side of the playground Alan. Crundy 10:53, 20 April 2009 (EDT)

(undent) Welcome to the Jungle Alan! ENorman 11:49, 19 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Yes, Alan, welcome to the  of  s!  JĀvąṢ₡ä₰   hi there  12:33, 19 April 2009 (EDT)

THANKS
They keep coming in, both here and by email - messages of welcome. I have also received mobs of support from denizens of the place across the road. Its a bit overwhelming. This edit is to thank all that have said nice things about me...and for the Sysopship. I've never had one of those before and I will have to learn how to drive it.

I have started going through the Random pages to get a feel, so to speak, so excuse any silly remarks as I get acquainted.

One thing I must tell people now, though some already know. I will be overseas travelling from 2nd May to 23rd June and will rarely be able to access RW, and then only fleetingly. I think that that will be the real break between the past and "present".

Thanks to all, and I hope to be of use. AlanE 20:02, 20 April 2009 (EDT)

"Insight Maketh the Wiki"
This phrase of Andy's from your last flame-out actually explains everything: his hatred of Wikipedia, his inability to understand the difference between an encyclopedia entry and a blog, his utter confusion of fact and opinion, probably even his problem with academia in general.

Of course links make the wiki. A wiki minus links equals an ink-and-paper encyclopedia (you know, Schläfrig, the kind which is found in that building people call a "library" - perhaps you walked past one a couple of times at Harvard). An encyclopedia plus "insight" equals an editorial. The sole advantage of a wiki over an encyclopedia is the ability to travel instantly, stream-of-consciousness style, through whatever twisted path your curiosity leads you.

But what can we expect from someone who sums up the best way to learn thusly: "don't read a book; write a book!" Junggai 04:13, 23 April 2009 (EDT)


 * Dead on J.- or to use an Australianism: "too bloody roight". (Although I hope you meant to say "the one he walked past...at Harvard". The closest I've got to Boston is reading Robert B. Parker.) I stand by the term, "willful ignorance" in his case. I have not yet worked out exactly what he means by "insight" but I am sure it doesn't mean what others think it to mean. To him it seems to mean a statement by another that reinforces his own already formed idea. All other information on that subject is ignored. AlanE 04:56, 23 April 2009 (EDT)


 * Just for clarification, the "you" was a rhetorical injunction to sleepy-head himself, or as the Germans would call him -- "an der Schläfrig." ;-) Junggai 05:45, 23 April 2009 (EDT)
 * Gotcha! As the Brits would say: as "one" would walk past.....(Gee! I have never had a rhetorical injunction at this hour of the night before.) Cheers. AlanE 06:05, 23 April 2009 (EDT)

Why??
Dear AlanE,

You were a good editor at CP. My question is: why?

After but a few days of familiarity with the site, you must surely have realized that the administration had little regard for truth or academic integrity. Did you really expect improvement?

Second, it appears reasonable to suggest that the medium of an open-source (forgive me if this is a technically incorrect description) encyclopedia generates a natural monopoly, which is manifestly held by Wikipedia. Whilst it is not perfect, unless a new paradigm offers something far better it seems futile to bother contributing to much else. Did CP genuinely attract you in ways WP did not?

My motivation for editing was purely that CP was a resource for teaching, and my hope was that my edits would genuinely benefit the students in question. However, given Schlafly only teaches (to my knowledge) one course, even for these few CPs influence is fairly minuscule.