I'm also sorta out of blog material right now. I enjoy keeping the posts regular, for those who are stuck in an office (or stuck anywhere) and are looking for something to pass 2 minutes of time in hopes of reaching the weekend. I like to think I can keep the excitement of birding alive and well, perhaps even spreading information that should bear little to no consequence on your general birding activities (storm moving through this Friday! Go birding and find rarities!)
My sob story - I'm busy, stressed and frustrated. I'm also happier than I've ever been in my entire life. Pretty tough place eh? First world problems.
So what am I writing about? Well I just donated $30.00 to wikipedia. I've spent 3 years now working on improving the OBRC for the birding community, and there may well be MORE angry people than ever before. Then the little message popped up on wikipedia (as I searched - Nunavut Bird Checklist).
"we are a litlte group of people - blah blah blah - if everyone reading this donated $3.00, our fund-raising would be over in an hour"
I look at wikipedia 5 days a week. They are essentially providing a service that is trying to fit the needs/hopes/wants/desires of the civilized world. I'm sitting on my balcony, drinking beer and watching Lake Ontario... First world life!
So I donated $30.00 to wikipedia. Hardly anything compared to the number of times I've looked at it. Maybe I can do a little good by posting this on the blog as well. Give it a whirl! Have you ever donated to wikipedia? Will you now? Leave a message if you decide to do so. Anything above $3.00 will help. Leave a comment if you decide to do so!
This is the email I received after sending - mabe you'll get the same? -
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Dear Brandon,
Thank you for your invaluable gift of bringing knowledge to every human around the world.
My name is Lila Tretikov, and I’m the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. Over the past year, gifts like yours powered our efforts to expand the encyclopedia in 287 languages and to make it more accessible all over the world. We strive most to impact those who would not have access to education otherwise. We bring knowledge to people like Akshaya Iyengar from Solapur, India. Growing up in this small textile manufacturing town, she used Wikipedia as her primary learning source. For students in these areas, where books are scarce but mobile Internet access exists, Wikipedia is instrumental. Akshaya went on to graduate from college in India and now works as a software engineer in the United States. She credits Wikipedia with powering half of her knowledge.
This story is not unique. Our mission is lofty and presents great challenges. Most people who use Wikipedia are surprised to hear it is run by a non-profit organization and funded by your donations. Each year, just enough people donate to keep the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Thank you for making this mission possible.
On behalf of half a billion people who read Wikipedia, thousands of volunteer editors, and staff at the Foundation, I thank you for keeping Wikipedia online and ad-free this year.
Thank you,
Lila
Lila Tretikov
Executive Director,
Wikimedia Foundation
donate.wikimedia.orgFor your records: Your donation, number CXXXXXX9, on 2014-09-27 was $ 30.00.
This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Our address is 149 New Montgomery, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105. U.S. tax-exempt number: 20-0049703
Learning! Can you age the RBGU photos in this post? Plumage?
