User:BenBaker

Ben Baker is a Wikipedian interested in philosophy, science, and computers.

I've been working on wikipedia stuff since August 2001, I'm part of the second wave of the Slashdot crowd. I am a Christian and member of a Southern Baptist church, a citizen of the United States, and a computer programmer of many years, and an avowed intellectual. I mention those facts as for some people that puts everything I write under intense scrutiny. I'm not certain why this is true, but if these categories concern you, I am mentioning them so you can shape your opinion according to your predilections. My email is (benbkr at yahoo dot com) if you need to send a longer message to me. /Monitor

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Hi Ben -- why are you un-HTML-ing? I use HTML tags all the time, partially because I'm more familiar with them, and partially because the How to Edit page offers them as a viable alternative...is there a real problem, or do you just not like them? JHK

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Hm.. I guess it was reflexive. I see them as less accessible to the average person, but maybe I'm just being elitist. I will try to stop it. I am talking of the < b > < i > tags. I will still remove the 17 lines of tables just to put in the birth date and death date information of some people I've seen. I think that is excessive and hides the actual text in a lot of HTML.

Hi Ben - yes I'm another who replaces HTML code whenever I see it. I guess it's just a matter of taste, and I agree that reading the wiki code is a lot easier (usually) - cheers MMGB

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Ben, I guess you'd be another I neglected to welcome, though I know you've been around for a while. So, welcome! --LMS

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Welcome, Ben. Thanks for your input on Falsifiability. --Ed Poor

Also, to answer your question on sensitivity and mythology, I would indeed like to see more sensitivity when we all discuss articles on talk pages. As for the word myth, it is so often used in sentences like, "The idea that miracles occur is a myth." (meaning false, didn't happen) Or when gay rights activists discuss "myths" about homosexuality, they mean to list common beliefs that are false (and outrageously offensive, to them). It just seemed like such a loaded term . . . Ed Poor

--- Not that I think many people will read this, but I think the new PHP wiki is significantly slower than the UseMod wiki we used before. Does anyone know if the source for the old wiki is still available? I'm thinking of the code to handle web pages as sub-files under the /wiki/ directory in the URL etc.