This user has been on Wikipedia for20 years, 1 month and 21 days.

My thoughts on Wikipedia

This editor is aGrand Tutnumand is entitled to display thisBook of Knowledge with Coffee Cup Stain.
Wikipedia:Userboxes
Wikipedia:Babel
This user lives in the state ofNew Jersey.
USThis user usesAmerican English.
This user is a member of
WikiProject Judaism
This user is a member of theJewish History WikiProject.
nbDenne brukeren harnorsksommorsmål,og skriverbokmål.
nnDenne brukaren harnorsksommorsmål,og skrivnynorsk.
This user is a member of
WikiProject Norway.
Norwegian
-
English
This user is a translator and proofreader from Norwegian to English onWikipedia:Translation.
This user is a member of
WikiProject Military history.
da-2Denne brugers kendskab tildansker påmellemniveau.
This user participates in
WikiProject
History of Photography
.
sv-2Denna användare har kunskaper påmellannivåisvenska.
This user is a member ofWikiProject Finance & Investment.
id-1Pengguna ini mampu bersumbangsih denganbahasa Indonesiatingkatdasar.
This userhas written or expanded29 articlesfeatured in theDid You Knowsection on theMain Page.
he-1
משתמש זה יכול לתרום ברמהבסיסיתשלעברית.‏
inclThisuseris aninclusionist.
yi-1דער באַניצער רעדטאַ ביסלייִדיש.
CEThis user is in favor ofCommon Eraterminology
bar-1Dea Nutza redta wengBoarisch.
MBAThis user has aMaster of Business Administrationdegree.
This user is a shining member ofWikiProject Lighthouses.
SFSUThis user attends or attended
San Francisco State University
CThis userattends or attendedColumbia University.
This user attends or attended
Simon Fraser University.
This user rescues articles for theArticle Rescue Squadron.

The biggest threat to Wikipedia

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Ever since I started editing Wikipedia, I have noticed a tendency among a certain class of editors - and they are in a minority - to use this as a place to exercise as much authority as the place affords them. They are prone to obstructionist behavior while self-righteously hiding behind guidelines and policy, typically by picking nits in other people's work rather than doing any of their own. And whenever they are called on this, they demand that others assume good faith.

This behavior typically provokes a response in kind, and we get bogged down in endless posturing in various conflict resolution stages, all too often ending up in Arbcom cases that tend to focus on eliminating the conflict rather than improving behavior.

Good Wikipedia editors should be guided by the credo that theyfirst be helpful.If we see something that should be improved (and there is plenty of it), improve it rather than pointing out its limitations the way an armchair football fan would. And if you choose to be the kind of editor who criticizes other people's good efforts, you have to be prepared to be criticized for the way you do this.

Obstructionist behavior, no matter how well-founded it is in policy and guidelines, discourages editing. We should commit to each other's editorial skills, so editing becomes fun and rewarding rather than painful and frustrating.

Who I am

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I am the same person ascommons:User:Leifernandno:User:Leifern.--Leifern15:31, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

I am a management consultant, presently working with a niche firm that focuses on clients that participate in market-intermediated capital formation. In the past I've worked with clients in a wide range of industries on problems on the best use technology to solve business problems. I've helped pharmaceutical companies with medical research programs, banks with risk and compliance issues, media and entertainment companies with new business development, and a number of companies on topics related to intellectual capital formation. I've had my own firm from time to time, and also been part of the consulting staff atMcKinsey & Company,Accenture,and a now defunct but lovable firm known asViant.

My interests include cooking, photography, ethics, current events, and various religious issues.

A native ofNorway,I was raised there,Canada,andAustria.I have my university education fromSan Francisco State UniversityandColumbia Business School.I live in the suburbs ofNew Jerseyand commute toNew York City.

Now an inclusionist

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I got off the fence and joined theAssociation of Inclusionist Wikipedians,for all the reasons the association provides. The debacle over the article onSolveig Fiskefinally convinced me, as I realized that deletionists want articles deleted simply for reasons that simply don't make any sense to me.


If you're going here because you're irritated by my edits

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  • Slow down, take a deep breath, and relax.
  • No, Wikipedia is not a place for you to promote your version of the truth
  • A neutral point of view means, among other things, that a reader should walk away from an article with a clear sense of what the controversy is all about.
  • It is a true statement to say that "some people believe the earth is flat," even if the earth isn't flat.
  • Too many articles in Wikipedia are cluttered by editorial asides that belong in other articles.
  • I'm sorry - well not really - if facts don't fit your sense of reality.
  • Having said that, I appreciate that the same events look different depending on your point of view. This means that a neutral point of view should be recognizable to to both (or all) sides, even if there is much else they disagree about.
  • Looking to the majority to decide political issues makes sense; looking to the majority for the truth is foolish. Everything we hold to be true now was once only believed by a heretical minority.
  • The next question after someone says: "The majority of people/nations/experts believe X" should be "why?" not "why do you believe differently?"
  • I tend to strive forMECE structures.Look it up.
  • I am not above these standards myself, and I am far from infallible. But you still have to convince me that I'm wrong.
  • I do get annoyed sometimes. I shouldn't, but I care about the things I write about.

Places I've been and lived

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Lived for years:
Lived for Months:
Hours to days (Visited):
Idea and layout stolen fromviaUser:IngeviaUser:White CatviaUser:Guettarda
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Did you knowarticles

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  1. Louis Kaufman,whom I heard about on NPR - fascinating story about one of the most heard musicians of all time, yet until a Wikipedia entry until I wrote it.
  2. Alta controversy,a controversy that was way more interesting than I realized at the time
  3. Damsgård,a small architectural treasure in Norway that was a gaping red link in theArchitecture of Norwayarticle
  4. Trondheim prelature,a small Catholic jurisdiction that caught my interest on account of the controversy aboutSolveig Fiske's notability
  5. Siege of Lathom House,a fascinating bit of English history I learned about from theSteeleye SpansongThey Called Her Babylon
  6. Edwy Searles Brooks,aka Berkeley Grey and others, a prolific action adventure writer active in the 1930s through the 1960s
  7. Kunstnernes Hus,an interesting building in Oslo.
  8. Jewish Children's Home in Oslo,a compelling episode in Norwegian and Jewish history
  9. Svinøy fyrstasjon,one of a series of articles onNorwegian lighthouses
  10. Plateau Station,a research and support station inAntarctica
  11. Ruth Maier,an incredibly talented writer lost in theHolocaustat age 22.
  12. Odd Nansen,an architect and humanitarian who deserves more publicity and recognition than he's had
  13. The organization he founded,Nansenhjelpen,which worked tirelessly and bravely to rescue Jews from Czechoslovakia before it was too late
  14. Kjesäter,now a tiny little hamlet, but once the main center for refugees from Nazi-occupied Norway.
  15. Knut Rød,the subject of one of the strangest trials in Norwegian history
  16. Karl Marthinsen,a committed Norwegian Nazi during World War II, assassinated by the Norwegian resistance
  17. Wanda Hjort Heger,a Norwegian war hero(ine) who functioned like a one-woman Red Cross to Norwegian prisoners in German concentration camps
  18. Lysakerelven,a suburban river in my immediate neighborhood growing up.
  19. Nic Waal,a pioneering pediatric and adolescent psychiatrist who was also a war heroine
  20. Henry T. Waskow,an interesting story of leadership
  21. Carl Fredriksens Transport,a clandestine refugee operation during World War II
  22. Niels Christian Ditleff,the driving force behind theWhite Busesoperation
  23. Jørgine Boomer- a rags to riches story from a remote valley in Norway to the Waldorf-Astoria
  24. Anna Krefting- an accomplished Norwegian woman active in the last 17th, early 18th century
  25. Olav Selvaag- a Norwegian contractor who made a decisive difference on the housing crisis after World War II
  26. Otto Eisler- a Czech architect with nine lives and an important contribution to his home town of Brno
  27. Rats in New York City- more of them than humans, and at least as impressive
  28. Eiliv Austlid- war hero who posthumously got overdue recognition
  29. Kyriacos Demetriou- old-fashioned barber on Manhattan's Upper West Side who cut my hair, too. After interviewing me.

Awards

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The 25DYKCreation and Expansion Medal
Awarded to myself:-)Leifern(talk) 12:49, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Norwegian Barnstar of National Merit

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TheNorwegianBarnstar of National Merit
For your fine contributions to Norwegian articles, in particular the less lauded sides of Norwegian World War II history.Manxruler(talk) 17:29, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
this WikiAward was given to Leifern byManxruler(talk) on 17:29, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

User:Leifernhas been identified as anAwesome Wikipedian,
and therefore, I've officially declared today asLeifern's day!
For being such a beautiful person and great Wikipedian,
enjoy being the Star of the day, dear Leifern!

Peace,
Rlevse
00:04, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

A record of your Day will always be kepthere.

For a userbox you can add to your userbox page, seeUser:Rlevse/Today/Happy Me Day!and my own userpage for a sample of how to use it.RlevseTalk00:04, 1 June 2010 (UTC)