User:Lyrl

I am a Metallurgical Engineer by training (Bachelor of Science) and am currently employed at a heat treating company.

I'm enthusiastic about Wikipedia and I hope to spread that to others. If you're interested in helping, check out the to do list. Some tasks require actively editing articles, but in many places the most helpful thing to do is just to comment. Some of the tasks are quite complicated and require experience, but many of them are simple tasks that make a big difference!

Tools
Enter just PMID number (or ISBN number, or more!) into User:Diberri's PubMed tool for wiki journal/book/more reference markup. Diberri's tool is currently broken. Possible substitute: http://toolserver.org/~holek/cite-gen/index.php

Wiki citation markup tool for journals not indexed by PubMed: Geological reviews

Find an ISBN number at ISBNdb

WP article view counter: This tool allows you to tell how often your work is viewed.

Useful Pages

 * WP:BUNCH                                                      Wikipedia:How to fix bunched-up edit links
 * WP:CITE                                   Wikipedia:Citing sources
 * User:Lyrl/CiteT                                                              My modifications of cite templates
 * WP:ERP                                    Wikipedia:Example requests for permission
 * WP:HCT-E                                            Wikipedia:Harvard citation template examples
 * WP:IW                      Wikipedia:Interwikimedia link
 * WP:MOS                                    Wikipedia:Manual of Style
 * WP:N             Wikipedia:Notability
 * WP:NCI                          Wikipedia:Naming conventions (identity)
 * WP:SELF                                        Wikipedia:Avoid self-references
 * WP:SIG                               Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages
 * WP:STAR                                             Wikipedia:Barnstars
 * WP:STUBS                                                      Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types
 * WP:UTM                                    Wikipedia:Template messages/User talk namespace
 * WP:WT                           Wikipedia:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates
 * CAT:NCT        Category:Wikipedia files with the same name on Wikimedia Commons

Thoughts on Wikipedia
It is often intensely frustrating to work on an article with editors of opposing viewpoints. However, even editors I strongly disagree with make Wikipedia articles better. The conflict itself may motivate both parties to research the issue and add content in areas that would have otherwise languished. It is important to keep disputes civil: I have seen at least one editor make valuable important contributions to Wikipedia, but be so disruptive in confrontations with other editors, that a community ban was placed on the editor. Having seen both the positive outcomes of conflict, and the negative outcomes of poor conflict skills, makes disputes somewhat easier for me to approach with a good attitude. However, resisting being caught up in negative emotions is still a struggle I don't always win.

It is difficult to be in a position of a co-editor seemingly not understanding something so basic, so obvious, that one cannot even describe it for them. Having two people attempting to talk to each other, each in this situation, makes resolving a dispute difficult. Miscommunication is bound to ensue, resulting in hard feelings where perhaps none are warranted.

Assume good faith is a powerful tool in avoiding conflicts. When it fails, however, try Hanlon's razor.

In early May 2007, I got an email inviting me to work on the contraception-related articles on Citizendium. I looked into their editing policies, and two really turned me off. Firstly, they require a real name. While I have put enough of my personal details on the internet that I'm sure someone could find me if they really looked - I'm not comfortable just giving away my real name. Secondly, only people with paper credentials are allowed to approve stable versions of articles. While I certainly have strong paper credentials, they are in metallurgy. I haven't been interested in working on the metallurgy articles on Wikipedia - I do that at work all day! Contraception is my hobby, and I would like to believe I do a decent job with the articles I work on - but I have zero official credentials. So working on Citizendium would require me to have less privacy and less say in the final content. I'm flattered by the invitation, but, no thank you.

Topics of interest
My typical adolescent curiosity about sexual intercourse has grown into a fascination with related topics such as birth control, fertility, reproduction, and the moral questions associated with them. Most of my Wiki contributions - now several thousand - have been in topics related to these.

Below is a list of articles I feel I have made important contributions to. The extent of my contributions to these articles varies.

Other projects
I have also contributed to a WikiBook Sexual Health.