User talk:The ed17

I check meta only every once in a long while, so it would be a appreciated if messages intended for me could be left on my En user talk. Regards, Ed (talk) 02:27, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Personal appeal

How many of you know that you can edit almost any Wikipedia entry? How many of you know that you can do that at any time?

When I ask my friends questions similar to these, I receive incredulous looks. When I tell my friends that I am a registered editor of Wikipedia, their faces change to disbelief – yet it's true. I have authored numerous articles on long-gone warships from around the world which has literally changed my life. The quality of my writing has dramatically improved, an immense help for my college papers and a skill that will give me an advantage in applying for jobs. My choice of major, and why I want to teach high school history, was and is influenced by the interests kindled during my time here.

I am not the only one who this has happened to. Similar experiences can be had in the future – but only if Wikipedia is kept running. It is not widely known that the 273 Wikipedias, ranging from the Abkhazian to Zulu languages, are kept running by your donations. Be a part of the largest encyclopedia ever created. Keep "the free encyclopedia anyone can edit" running. Help us reach our ultimate goal: a world in which every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge.

Please donate today.

Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]}

Comments

• Hope this works for y'all. You may also be interested in adapting en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/Newsletter March 2010#Editorial. Regards, Ed (talk) 23:11, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks so much for taking a stab at this Ed! I have your appeal and am circulating it around our team for any feedback they may have. Get in touch if you have any questions about the process. --Deniz (WMF) 06:23, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

• That MilHist newsletter is 'really' good. Too bad you couldn't use it as a college admissions essay. If you want to adapt it, I think it makes a great piece. Ocaasi 20:23, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
  • Thanks! I'll take a stab at adapting it tonight if Parsec agrees. :-) Ed (talk) 16:19, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Personal appeal #2

I am a college student in the United States, and as part of attaining my desired degree, I chose to take a course in Arab-Islamic history. We began in the early 600s and spent some time on the origins of the Islamic conquering of the en:Sassanid Empire and a good portion of the en:Byzantine Empire (c. 634–750). From there, we moved through the various ages of history, and at one point we began discussing the en:Ottoman Empire and other Islamic regions of more recent times.

As we moved into the Ottoman Empire's role in the First World War, our professor mentioned that they were blockading the en:Bosphorus, using it as a chokepoint to cut off needed supplies traveling to Russia's only warm-water port, en:Sevastopol. An astute classmate, realizing this meant the use of warships, wondered what naval technology was like during the time. The professor turned and asked me to answer the question, as he knew I have been studying modern naval history through my writing on Wikipedia.

The point of this anecdote is not to boast, but to provoke some thought. By virtue of the research Wikipedia writers must do to write complete, referenced articles, many of us are acquiring knowledge in specialized topics that can surpass even learned scholars. Wikipedia might even provoke some of us into becoming learned scholars through the subjects we find here – see Parsecboy for one.

In May 2007, Parsecboy came across a few essentially empty stubs on German battleship classes and expanded them. 3^1/2 years later, he's written or collaborated on almost 80 articles rated as good or higher, including 20 featured articles, the majority related to German warships. The work Parsecboy has done for Wikipedia has had a tremendous impact on his academic career: to complete his undergraduate degree, he wrote a 50-page Honors Thesis that analyzed the British and German battlecruiser squadrons during the First World War. Parsecboy plans to attend graduate school and continue his research in the area, culminating in a dissertation. He comments that "without a doubt, I would not have had nearly as much knowledge and interest in the topic, nor would I have known where to begin researching if I had not become so involved with the topic here on Wikipedia."

However, without your help, Wikipedia will eventually run out of money, and people like Parsec or me will never have the chance to find a passion for a subject they did not know existed. You see, the site is powered entirely by donations from normal individuals – people just like you. If you want to be a part of the largest encyclopedia ever created, keep "the free encyclopedia anyone can edit" running, and help up reach our ultimate goal – a world in which every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge – please, donate today.

Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} and Parsecboy (talk), adapted from "Translating article writing to real life," The Bugle, March 2010.

Comments

We could get a shorter version by cutting the Parsec-focused paragraph, but imho that's the highlight of the story. Your call. Ed (talk) 23:48, 12 November 2010 (UTC)