Warbird Philosophy

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== Webmaster ==
== Webmaster ==
=== Background ===
I owe much of my interest in military and aviation history to video games. Games like ''Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour'', [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert_2 ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2''], and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Combat ''Ace Combat'' series] were very influential on me while I was growing up. The television show [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfights_(TV_series) ''Dogfights''] on the History Channel also deserves a lot of credit. Even earlier, my first encounter with World War II came as a result of my interest in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic RMS ''Titanic'']. The man who discovered the Titanic, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ballard Robert Ballard], also discovered the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck German battleship ''Bismarck'']. It was his book on the search and exploration of the wreck that I first learned about the war.{{efn|A quick aside, the hunt for the Bismarck is a terrible starting point for learning about the war. You will be very confused by the fact that outdated biplanes were responsible for crippling the ship.}}
I owe much of my interest in military and aviation history to video games. Games like ''Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour'', [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert_2 ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2''], and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Combat ''Ace Combat'' series] were very influential on me while I was growing up. The television show [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfights_(TV_series) ''Dogfights''] on the History Channel also deserves a lot of credit. Even earlier, my first encounter with World War II came as a result of my interest in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic RMS ''Titanic'']. The man who discovered the Titanic, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ballard Robert Ballard], also discovered the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck German battleship ''Bismarck'']. It was his book on the search and exploration of the wreck that I first learned about the war.{{efn|A quick aside, the hunt for the Bismarck is a terrible starting point for learning about the war. You will be very confused by the fact that outdated biplanes were responsible for crippling the ship.}}


In the interest of full disclosure, I would like to point out that I am not a pilot or a mechanic – I am a historian. Any knowledge I have of practical aeronautics and aircraft maintenance comes from spending time around, and asking questions of, others who are professional practitioners of those arts.
In the interest of full disclosure, I would like to point out that I am not a pilot or a mechanic – I am a historian. Any knowledge I have of practical aeronautics and aircraft maintenance comes from spending time around, and asking questions of, others who are professional practitioners of those arts.
=== Philosophy ===
There are some portions of this website to which one or another person might object. To avoid any potential misunderstandings, I feel it may be informative to lay out some of my personal philosophies.
First, my goal is to be ''correct'', not ''right''. It does not matter to me, at the end of the day, whether or not I "win" an argument – simply that the most accurate description of the facts is achieved. So, if I push back against some point of an argument, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic it is only to more closely arrive at the truth of the matter].
Second, I subscribe to the maxim that "the world is not black and white". However, what often is forgotten is that there are two unwritten corollaries. First, the world is not fifty percent black and fifty percent white. Second, the world is not all the same shade of gray. In other words, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox there are no such things as absolutes].
Lastly, if you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to reach out! I enjoy the feedback and [http://www.xkcd.com/1053 there's always a good chance of learning something new]!
{{Side box
| text = –Noah Stegman Rechtin<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{small|(First&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Middle&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Last)}}
[[File:E-Mail Address.png]]
}}


=== Accounts ===
=== Accounts ===
* [http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Noha307 OpenStreetMap Profile]
* [http://www.reddit.com/user/Noha307 Reddit Profile]
* [http://www.sporcle.com/user/Noha307 Sporcle Profile]
* [http://www.sporcle.com/user/Noha307 Sporcle Profile]
* [http://www.reddit.com/user/Noha307 Reddit Profile]
* [http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=34171 Warbird Information Exchange Profile] (Sign-in Required)
* [http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=34171 WIX Profile] (Sign-in Required)
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Noha307 Wikipedia Profile]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Noha307 Wikipedia Profile]
* [http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1GDS5BvrBDGO6tvy15FRmw YouTube Channel]
* [http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1GDS5BvrBDGO6tvy15FRmw YouTube Channel]
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=== What tools were used to create this website? ===
=== What tools were used to create this website? ===
A number of tools were useful. These include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Export Wikipedia's export function], a corresponding [http://warbirdphilosophy.com/wiki/Special:Import import function on this website], a pair of [http://www.browserling.com/tools/bbcode-to-html BBCode to HTML] and [http://www.ebruni.it/en/software/os/i_love_wiki/index.mpl HTML to Wikitext] converters, and a similar [http://wang.wustl.edu/mediawiki/extensions/index.php Excel to Wikitext converter].
A number of tools were useful. These include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Export Wikipedia's export function] and a corresponding [http://warbirdphilosophy.com/wiki/Special:Import import function on this website] for transferring premade templates, a pair of [http://www.browserling.com/tools/bbcode-to-html BBCode to HTML] and [http://www.ebruni.it/en/software/os/i_love_wiki/index.mpl HTML to Wikitext] converters for copying existing forum threads, and a similar [http://excel2wiki.toolforge.org Excel to Wikitext converter].{{efn|Other tools unrelated to the creation of this website, but that are still both quite useful and free include:
* '''[http://www.audacityteam.org Audacity]''' – audio editor
* '''[http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk Bulk Rename Utility]''' – mass file renaming software
* '''[http://www.drawio.com Draw.io (on-premises)]''' – diagram editor
* '''[http://www.newocr.com Free Online OCR]''' – optical character recognition transcription website
* '''[http://www.gimp.org GIMP]''' – raster graphics editor
* '''[http://hugin.sourceforge.io Hugin]''' – panorama photo stitcher
* '''[http://www.inkscape.org Inkscape]''' – vector graphics editor
* '''[http://www.irfanview.com IrfanView]''' – image viewer, editor, organizer and converter
* '''[http://www.localsend.org LocalSend]''' – wireless file transferrer
* '''[http://www.qcad.org QCAD]''' – CAD software
* '''[http://www.videolan.org/vlc VLC Media Player]''' – media player
* '''[http://www.zotero.org Zotero]''' – citation management software}}{{efn|Similar to the template import/export process, a set of instructions on how to update/enable extensions and install gadgets is below:
{{Collapse begin}}
'''[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Extensions/Installation_and_upgrade#Upgrade_an_extension How to Update Extensions]'''
* Go to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:ExtensionDistributor Special:ExtensionDistributor] on MediaWiki.org
* Select extension and version
* Log in to cPanel file manager (via HostGator)
* Navigate to <code>public_html/w/extensions</code> folder
* Upload the file
* Move old version of extension to trash
* Extract the file
* Delete compressed file
* Delete old version
{{Collapse end}}
{{Collapse begin}}
'''[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Extensions/Installation_and_upgrade#Install_an_extension How to Enable Extensions]'''
* Log in to cPanel file manager (via HostGator)
* Navigate to <code>public_html/w/</code> folder
* Edit <code>LocalSettings.php</code>
* Add <code>#Enable [ExtensionName] extension</code><br />
::<code>wfLoadExtension( '[ExtensionName]' );</code><br />
:to end of file
* Click "Save Changes"
{{Collapse end}}
{{Collapse begin}}
'''How to Install Gadgets ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:RefToolbar/2.0#Porting_to_another_wiki RefToolbar], [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/Syntax_highlighter#For_administrators_of_non-Wikimedia_sites Syntax Highlighter])'''
* Navigate to [[MediaWiki:Common.js]]
* Edit page
* Add <code>//[Gadget Name]</code>
::<code>mw.loader.load('//www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title+MediaWiki:Gadget-[Gadget Name].js&action+raw&ctype+text/javascript');</code> With equals signs in place of the plusses
:to end of file
* Click "Save Changes"
{{Collapse end}}
}}


== References ==
== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
=== Footnotes ===
{{Notelist}}
{{Notelist}}
Retrieved from "https://warbirdphilosophy.com/wiki/About"