Risker's Suite of Arbitration Committee Essays
(Links posted here after several requests - in order of importance)
- What I learned while being an Arbitrator
- Thoughts for Arbitration Committee Candidates
- FAQ for Arbcom Candidates
Notes regarding mainstream media interviews
On occasion, I will participate in interviews with mainstream media sources at the request of the Wikimedia Foundation. At times, my full (real-world) name may appear. Should there be reason to link to such a published interview/report, I will not consider it "outing", and no editor should be sanctioned under outing policy for using that link. Risker (talk) 23:28, 23 December 2019 (UTC)
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on February 15, 2008. 
(Written in response to a comment referencing Wikipedia:There is no deadline at the RFC on Biographies of living people)
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the living people about whom we write. There is a deadline for them: it is the moment that Google puts our article about them in their top-5 results. That is something that was never contemplated at the time that Wikipedia was created. We must be responsive to changes in circumstances; this is about as big a change as can be. This is part of Wikipedia maturing and becoming a responsible citizen of the information world; when we were small and unnoticed, we had almost no impact on the life of an article subject. Now, what is published in our pages can (and sometimes does) cause long-lasting harm. Why do you think Google now crawls our articles incessantly to ensure it reflects the most current version of a page? We are no longer a little upstart in a distant corner of the Internet: we are now a top-10 website whose words, whether they should be or not, are taken as relatively accurate if not entirely authoritative. Not a day goes by that someone being interviewed on radio or television isn't confronted with a question that starts "I looked up your Wikipedia entry and it says..." The failure of individuals to recognise this collective responsibility to get things right about real people does more to harm the reputation and credibility of this project than any other error that is made.
—Risker (talk) 03:02, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
First off, I'm a copy editor at heart - though I've taken the occasional foray into article writing. Collaboration is, in my mind, the best feature of Wikipedia. Copy editing a wide variety of subjects, ranging from literature of Indian languages to Russian history and architecture, hockey, and popular culture, has allowed me the opportunity to work with a fantastic cross-section of our amazingly diverse Wikipedian editorship. They have one thing in common: they want to share well-researched and well-presented information freely with the world at large. Like me, they're hopeful hearts.
I spent the five years between 2009 and 2013 as a member of the Arbitration Committee, which pulled me increasingly away from article work. Following that, I was appointed to the first of two terms as a member of the Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee in July 2014; my current term ends following the May 2018 round of allocations.
Since becoming an administrator in 2008, I've done my share of anti-vandalism work and blocking of problem accounts; I continue this work as a checkuser and oversighter, permissions I gained when an arbitrator, and which I continue to use to the benefit of the project.
Michael Gomez - in preparation for and throughout (successful) FAC, recognised as co-nominator
Bezhin Meadow - during (successful) FAC
Hockey Hall of Fame - during (successful) FAC
Diorama (album) - during (successful) FAC
Homer Simpson - in preparation for (successful) FAC
Paranoid Android - in preparation for (successful) FAC
Kannada literature in the Vijayanagara Empire - in preparation for (successful) FAC
Prince's Palace of Monaco - light copy-edit and partial re-referencing in preparation for main page appearance
Treehouse of Horror (series) - light copy-edit in preparation for Hallowe'en TFA appearance
Adelaide Rams - during peer review
Winter Palace and its myriad daughter articles
Jeffrey Reodica - cleanup of old article including re-referencing
Robert Kardashian - cleanup of old article including re-referencing
Kannada literature - in preparation for a second FAC
William Wardell - for some reason it was on my watchlist, and obviously needed a cleanup
User:Risker is a unified account, and I have contributed to several projects including Meta and Commons. Risker on the road is an account I use when I am on insecure computers; it just has a watchlist, and I rarely use it to edit anything. I am also Risker checklist, which is an account specifically created to carry a separate watchlist of stable non-BLP articles unrelated to those I usually edit, to make vandalism patrol a little easier. I hope not to do too many edits on that account. I created Risker no privs to test the proposed flagged revisions. User:Anne Criske is a doppelganger account that will not be used for editing; I created it after a vandal misread my name and was sticking it in inappropriate edit summaries and usernames. I have two other doppelganger accounts (one in my full realworld name, and the other the nick I use on another website), which are created solely to prevent vandals from usurping those names. They are recorded on the Arbitration wiki.
There are an increasing number of days when I suspect that many people and possibly the WMF itself believe this is the appropriate definition of civility.
You'll find Risker's law and Avi's corollary on Raul's laws of Wikipedia. Thanks, Avi - March 25, 2008
The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar For your kind thoughts of me with regard to a new editor with a similar screen name, and the unexpected and thoughtful comments about me you made at the Request for Comment on that editor's user name. Smee 08:34, 18 April 2007 (UTC)The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar For your exceptional (and much needed) explanation of the Giano/!!/Durova issue to me. It's cast things in a new light. Thankyou. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry 04:48, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
The Copyeditor's Barnstar For all your excellent help with Hockey Hall of Fame. -- Scorpion0422 00:22, 18 February 2008 (UTC)The Copyeditor's Barnstar For your excellent contribution to Kannada literature article.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 03:19, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
The Minor Barnstar Copyediting is a laborious underrated part of Wikipedia and I award this for Risker's efforts in a request he didn't necessarily have to do. Thanks again. The Windler talk 05:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
The Medaglia Reale for all your help at Prince's Palace of Monaco and elsewhere. Giano (talk) 20:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
The Socratic Barnstar For your eloquent and collected arguments concerning the article assessment of William Melmoth, I award you the Socratic Barnstar. Contributions like yours are a pleasure to read. Kafka Liz (talk) 00:30, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
Cheezburgr! maxypoda tik-tik-tik! haz givn u Cheezburgr! Cheezburgrs promot WikiLovez and hoapfuly thiz one haz made yore day bettr. Spreadd teh WikiLovez by givin sumone else Cheezburgr, whethr it be sumeone youz hav had disagreementz with in teh past or a gud frend. Hapy munchins! Spredd teh goudnesz of Cheezburgerz to all lolcat buddiez by addin {{subst:Cheezburgr}} to their talk puj with friendly messuj to all. Kitteh and tikataliik have great much alike maxypoda tik-tik-tik! 00:51, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
The BLP Barnstar Your hard work on BLPs in general, and at User:Lar/Liberal Semi specifically, is much appreciated. That page has now been sunsetted (and I hope never to need to bring it back) but the work you did there (whether by bringing articles forward, reviewing them, or protecting them... or even by questioning or criticizing the process!) was of great help to the project. See you in the trenches! ++Lar: t/c 01:50, 7 September 2009 (UTC)- The Hive Mind Barnstar
The Guidance Barnstar This is just a small token of my appreciation to express my gratitude for your well considered advice and guidance. Thank you, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 02:39, 19 June 2010 (UTC)
The da Vinci Barnstar To Risker, for helping to increase the communication between the Arbitration Committee and the Functionaries, and for generally helping to make sure that the Functionaries get what they need to work effectively. I award you this da Vinci barnstar! --Deskana (talk) 16:28, 26 June 2010 (UTC)
The Tireless Contributor Barnstar For your tireless work last night (I'm sure you know what I'm referring to), I hereby award you with this long-overdue Tireless Contributor barnstar. I know you probably don't get this enough but I think I speak for everyone when I say "thanks" for all the work you do around here. Now go to sleep. Shirik (Questions or Comments?) 05:55, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence For your tireless work on Pending Changes and your excellent panel presentation at the Wiki-Conference NYC 2010 on Pending Changes, and all the work that went into that, I hereby award you this Barnstar of Diligence with much appreciation. This makes a difference to Wikipedia. You did so much more work on this project, but you were kind and gracious enough to let me share a few moments on the panel. And your company (and let's not forget the sangria and salsa/chips) was a welcome change from banging away at the computer for the most of the rest of the year. Thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for your note on the WikiConference. — Becksguy (talk) 00:20, 4 September 2010 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Integrity I wasn't sure which barnstar to choose, but this said "may be awarded to those editors who have shown to be a person of integrity and honor. Or, more simply, a stand-up guy/gal" - seems to fit the bill. You have helped me enormously over a long period of time, with my sporadic requests, and even my need to vent. You're an asset to Wiki?edia, and I suspect some of your behind the scenes actions, which are critical to the project, go unrecognized. Well - I wanted to show that some people notice. I am very grateful for your thoughtful advice, based on enormous experience. Common sense is all too rare, but you have it in abundance. Chzz ► 02:18, 3 October 2010 (UTC)The Tireless Contributor Barnstar For working way too hard at every hour of the night and never giving up. Shirik (Questions or Comments?) 04:38, 18 October 2010 (UTC)
Your Opinion is More Important than You Think Barnstar I think you know why I'm giving this to you without me having to say it. Thank you for convincing me that driving myself insane is not a prudent course of action. Sven Manguard Talk 04:50, 21 November 2010 (UTC)The Barnstar of Integrity I was unsure which award was the most appropriate here. The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar? The Resist Hivethink Award? The Optimist's Star? In the end, it comes down to integrity. Thanks for seeing the big picture, and saying what you did at the arbitration, even while inactive on the case. Your support meant more to me than you could have known. JN466 10:32, 15 September 2011 (UTC)
The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar For the nicely written SOPA RfC summary. ASCIIn2Bme (talk) 01:30, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar This barnstar is awarded to everyone who - whatever their opinion - contributed to the discussion about Wikipedia and SOPA. Thank you for being a part of the discussion. Presented by the Wikimedia Foundation.
The Real Life Barnstar For helping a Wikipedian in need offline, and calling in a couple of favors to do so. James of UR (talk) 07:54, 27 January 2012 (UTC)
The Admin's Barnstar You and I are on the same page when it comes to admins responsibilities on fully protected articles. Even though the blocks were reverted, your actions have at least brought this long standing admin abuse problem to the discussion board. Good job. JOJ Hutton 02:22, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
The Purple Barnstar "The Purple Barnstar is awarded to those who have endured undue hardship (e.g., incessant harassment) on Wikipedia but still remain resolute in their commitment to the project and its ideals." Yeah, that sounds like you right about now... Beeblebrox (talk) 06:09, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diplomacy For your success in changing a few others editors' opinion in a contentious BLP debate. Someone not using his real name (talk) 17:27, 28 November 2013 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Integrity Thank you for your service on the Arbitration Committee. Your comments and insight on the arbitration process itself (the good, the bad, and the ugly) are manifold and always of particular merit. The project has benefited from your efforts in ways uncountable. — ArtifexMayhem (talk) 21:53, 22 December 2013 (UTC)
The Golden Wiki On your retirement from ArbCom - With respect and affection, Roger Davies talk 05:09, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
The Special Barnstar Thank you for your sincere and insightful comments on the proposed changes to WMF's terms of use. WP is a utopian concept and project based on the innate wisdom of crowds. Unfortunately, over the years, WP's leadership and innovation has not grown in proportion to the size and real world influence of the project. As a consequence, changes are often reactionary rather than innovative and many decisions seem based more on fear and control rather than trust and freedom. Thank you for being an exception to that trend and for taking the time to communicate your vision to others, even those who refuse to see the wisdom in them. Best wishes, — Keithbob • Talk • 21:03, 5 March 2014 (UTC)The Barnstar of Diplomacy This comment is so good that a normal "thank" just wouldn't have done it justice. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 16:43, 11 July 2014 (UTC)The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar For Wikipedia:Long-term_abuse/Orangemoody. Keegan (talk) 23:18, 31 August 2015 (UTC)The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar At the risk of being tacky for using the same barnstar for the same thing, Orangemoody deserves at least two. Thanks. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 03:13, 1 September 2015 (UTC)
The Checkuser's Barnstar For taking part in the Orangemoody investigation. Thanks for defending Wikipedia from this evil paid editing ring. Vanjagenije (talk) 09:05, 1 September 2015 (UTC)
The Detective Barnstar For the incredible work you did on Orangemoody. If it wasn't for your perseverance, focus, and vision this project might have never happened.Kalliope (WMF) (talk) (granted 09:14, 28 October 2015)
The Technical Barnstar I just discussed your (now seminal) essay about content creation extensions at the mw:Wikimedia Technical Conference. Almost every technologist I work with knows about the essay. You've had a huge, positive impact on Wikimedia/WMDE Product work. Thank you for writing such a useful set of recommendations. EpochFail (talk • contribs) 22:20, 24 October 2018 (UTC)
