Hey Guys, (and to be Politically correct, girls..) ;)
For those of you who don't know, I am flying out of NZ on Sunday, heading to
the UK for the year, taking one of those new fangled GAP Years, before
University next year (09).
Thus come this weekend, I can no longer guarantee my editing times. I hope
to be able to return to the project, hopefully sooner rather than later. It
might be 6 months, a year, who knows.
First of all, I would like to say that it is incredible; it is incredible
that nearly three wonderful years spent on Wikinews have sped away
irretrievably. I actually still remember my first time on Wikinews. A few
years back, I was reading Wikipedia's current event's section thus somehow
navigating a link to Wikinews in the process. Like Terinjokes said on this
mailing list a few months back. I found a link to CGI:IRC and said "hi" to
the channel, with Amgine responding with a cool "Welcome BrianNewZealand,
are you a Kiwi?".
I can never forget the community who are the driving forces behind the
functioning of any Wiki. I doubt there are many Wikis which can boast a
group of such dedicated and enthusiastic people with one main objective in
mind - Neutral News.. So many wikinewsies have influenced me in my nearly 3
years of Wikiing here. I express my deepest gratitude to all everyone. I
hope I have not been the cause of many headaches. I would especially like to
thank a few without whom I could never have had such a successful time:
Terinjokes; MrM, Cartman02au, Ironirids and Amgine from the old generation,
that is forgetting DF and Brianmc. I saw the end of the first generation of
Wikinewsies; the era of the second, and now the beginning of the third. For
the last while, I have had the pleasure of working with NZGabriel, who has
turned Wikinews New Zealand into the Official NZ News Source now, according
to the last April 1st article. ;)
Everyone one I have missed, you too, it is late at night while I am typing
this.And everyone else.
I have seen Wikinews, come from a sideproject of Wikipedia, to a project
that could really be something good even if Brian's quote sadly still rings
true we are still a "neglected step-child".
The present community we have is choice, to quote Terin again "Everyone
knows each other, we aren't too small to be boring, but not too large to be
confusing" For these are the people who realise that the future holds more
than the past ever could. That the dreams for our children and grandchildren
are worth more than the base ambitions of men. As with them, all these
things don't make me Left, Right or Liberal. They don't make me right, wrong
or better than you. They make me who I am. A human being with flaws like any
man. A human being who offers his hand and calls you friend. Thank you for a
few wonderful years. I shall always treasure our memories of just being a
part of this Wiki. Thank You.
We have always had the come the end of each Generation, some rouge has got
in, and caused disruption, causing mass quitting and etc, my sincere hope is
that, in the future, we no longer have, this pan-generational hysteria. It
is with some hope, that my term on Arbcom has been peaceful.
Most of you guys have my contact information, Brianmc has stated that he'll
be keeping my
wikinewsie.org address (this one) active; feel free to send me
the odd email (and others, who have my gmail address). If any bcart action
is needed doing in a hurry, just yell, might be able to pop in. :)
Now, I have two days left of solid editing left, <gets stuck into some OR>
:)
Brian Anderton
[[User:Brian]] (Formally Brian New Zealand)
Wikinews accredited Reporter, Adminstrator, Arbitrator, Checkuser, Oversight
and Bureaucrat. <--Oh gosh, that's like everything :S
The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in
a thousand things well. ~~Horace Walpole