My name is Rilkas and I am fairly new to Wikipedia.
Mostly what I enjoy doing here is correcting grammatical and stylistic errors in articles written by contributors whose first language is not English. I am one of those odd people who enjoys copyediting. I also like to help translate articles into English.
Areas in which I am somewhat knowledgeable include: linguistics, music, literature and history.
Areas which interest me, but which I am not very knowledgeable about, include: typography, cartography and geography, stenography, anthropology, bridge (card game) and the history of science.
Feel free to contact me if you think I could help with an article you are writing.
Tip of the day...
How reliable is Wikipedia?
It is pretty good, and getting better. But...
...it is inappropriate to cite Wikipedia as a source, because it is updated in real time. So from the time you cite a Wikipedia page to the time another person looks up your citation, the page may have changed. Citations are usually only applicable to static publications that do not change once they are published. Wikipedia is not a static publication, it is dynamic!—it changes every minute. In this sense, Wikipedia is not a reliable citable source.
How reliable is Wikipedia as a general resource? Very reliable. Most of the content on Wikipedia is accurate, and many subjects are updated faster than the news. But, Wikipedia is subject to being edited by almost anyone and any time, and the edits may be biased, out of date, incorrect, or malicious (vandalism). Therefore, it is advisable to double-check what you learn in Wikipedia against other sources.
Keep in mind that many volunteers monitor Wikipedia for errors. Since there are so many people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, and using watchlists, incorrect information is usually spotted and corrected quickly.
Some argue that new errors are also introduced all the time, so that the overall accuracy rate is not really improving. Nevertheless, by encouraging people to help with correcting articles, validating content, and providing useful references, errors will eventually be greatly reduced.
The more accurate Wikipedia becomes, the more it attracts additional contributors. It is a self-reinforcing cycle!
Pour bien savoir les choses, il en faut savoir le détail; et comme il est presque infini, nos connaissances sont toujours superficielles et imparfaites.
Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixement.
Nous avons plus de force que de volonté; et c’est souvent pour nous excuser à nous-mêmes que nous nous imaginons que les choses sont impossibles.
La félicité est dans le goût et non pas dans les choses; et c’est par avoir ce qu’on aime qu’on est heureux, et non par avoir ce que les autres trouvent aimable.
Tout le monde se plaint de sa mémoire, et personne ne se plaint de son jugement.
La politesse de l’esprit consiste à penser des choses honnêtes et délicates.
Les hommes et les affaires ont leur point de perspective. Il y en a qu’il faut voir de près pour en bien juger, et d’autres dont on ne juge jamais si bien que quand on en est éloigné.
Nous sommes si accoutumés à nous déguiser aux autres qu’enfin nous nous déguisons à nous-mêmes.
La trop grande subtilité est une fausse délicatesse, et la véritable délicatesse est une solide subtilité.
Les seules bonnes copies sont celles qui nous font voir le ridicule des méchants originaux.
On est quelquefois aussi différent de soi-même que des autres.
Les vertus se perdent dans l’intérêt, comme les fleuves se perdent dans la mer.