User:GoodDamon/interests

Current Wikipedia interests

Scientology I have a story published in the Writers of the Future anthology, which came out in August. This contest, and its connections with Scientology, made me curious about the religion from a science fiction writer's perspective, so I've been watching the tug-o'-war going on in that project between Scientologists who seem to find the article biased, and other Wikipedia editors with an interest in the subject matter. I'm pleased with both sides, as they seem to be keeping it (mostly) friendly and civil, which speaks highly for Wikipedia itself.

As for myself, nothing offends me more than a typo, so I'm staying out of it unless someone abuses an apostrophe or plays fast and loose with spelling.

I couldn't help myself, and jumped into the fray. Ouch! There are a lot of very strong feelings on all sides. Hopefully, as a neutral party with no vested interests one way or the other, I'll be able to maintain a balanced tone. More likely, I'll just annoy everyone.

A question for the people who keep vandalizing the Scientology page Would you rather people be able to read up on factual information about it, or would you prefer to just see the word "cult" on the page? Assuming you actually do think it's a cult, which is more useful in your eyes: Information? Or a vandalized page? Grow up.

The Iroquois Nations Initially, I spotted some vandalism here and decided to revert it. But upon closer inspection of the article, I decided to contribute some effort to cleaning up the references. I've got some Native American blood on my mother's side, and it's a fascinating -- and tragic -- topic.

I've joined Wikiproject: Oregon I figure, I live here and know stuff about it, so why not? I've already added a page about the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, and did some work on the Eugene, Oregon article.

Alternative energy articles I'm interested in alternative sources of energy -- ethanol, fuel cells, and so on. And I've been following the new EEstor entry and their claims about a new supercapacitor they've invented that renders combustion engines obsolete. We'll see...

Vandalism I seem to get a kick out of fighting vandalism. Not sure why, maybe it's just the warm fuzzies of doing a good deed. Whatever it is, I've become a bona fide vandalism hunter, and thus a frequent reader of the recent changes page.

Writing workshops I've built a new template for speculative fiction workshops, and added it to a bunch of workshop articles. Next project: Fixing those articles!