User:R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine)/Other


 * "[Wikipedia is] like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don't necessarily want to see how it's made,"--User:Jimbo Wales

Who was, of course, paraphrasing


 * Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.--Otto von Bismarck

The following are the words of an unenlightened, newbie fool, who had not yet discovered which parts are the lips and which are the assholes.


 * "Ah ignorance! You may not always be bliss but at least you are anesthesia."--R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine)

Who I R and why me am here?

For those who are curious (and most Wikipedians are):

My username comes from one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite films, Brazil. Except I replaced the J.H. with my own initials. Without initials Ghost In The Machine is also the title of one of my favorite albums by The Police.

I'm just a rotund nerd in early mid-life crisis with a love of knowledge. My mind is a vast Pack rat's maze of facts and information ranging from the truly profound to the trivial to the outright useless.

A major reason for this is my lifelong love of encyclopedias. These miniture libraries were fantastic mind expanding tools for me. Plus, not meaning to sound like some prehistoric geezer here, in the times before home computers became commonplace and long before the WWW, they were the closest thing we had to easy information avalable at the fingertips.

But early on I embraced computers, recognizing their vast potential as mind-expanding tools also. In fact it seems Iam one of few in my age cohort who did not manage to cash in on the computer revolution in some way. This is due partly to technical ineptitude but also to a firm belief that knowledge should be free and open.

This is why the Wikipedia strongly appeals to me on many levels. And why it is a pleasure and privilege for me to contribute in some small way to this noble project. Afterall, as Harry Tuttle in Brazil said, "We're all in it together kid..."

Other Trivia

I won 2nd place ($2000+$500 in prizes) playing History IQ online, under the screenname Mr. Plow. In the process I befriended the third place finisher, Belisarius, who later turns out to be none other than Robin Grover himself. He goes to New York to compete on the show itself and is victorious in the grand championship (he could've given Ken Jennings a run for the millions). Afterwards, I get praise from Caesar when he tells me "I'm glad you were'nt there, or I would have been just another furrow for Mr Plow!". My response: "Hey, I'm a SNOW plow, not a dirt plow ;)". I saved our friendship by quickly adding, how much easier it is playing at home, cozy than under the hot studio lights LIVE. He agrees and we both agree I should be his successor as the next $100,000 grand champ. Then word comes that the program has been put on "hiatus", which we, as reasonably bright individuals, know means CANCELLED. So Robin and I start a movement to spare this fun, educational and profitable show from the programmer's axe. We name it Save Our History IQ! in mild mockery of the History Channel's own Save Our History campaign. Through our names we gather support and through our tactics of electronic guerilla (Or E-Rilla if you will:) harassment we were making real progress towards our goal. The network's brain truss appeared to be buckling in our favor. Then Tuesday, September 11 2001 happens, the WTC Towers were not too far from the studio where HIQ was taped. Suddenly, saving a gameshow from cancellation became one of the last things on our minds.

I've met some other famous, and near famous, people too. "But enough talk about me, let's talk about YOU...what do you think of ME?"--Groucho Marx

Get Fuzzy

I have a Bombay cat named Max, After Max Weber, Max Planck, Maxwell Smart and Maxwell Edision (Majoring in Medicine) from the Beatles' song Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

I have a miniture Dobermann-Spaniel mix named Ein, after the cagey canine from Cowboy Bebop and of course Albert Einstein.

Wacky Captions & Joke edits