and thanks for making hyperlinks within post texts underlined.

w.

And while I’m at it, much appreciation for the countless hours of work that you have put into this marvelous site.

Let me test LaTex while I’m at it, by saying …

w.

I remain a profound skeptic of the whole “wisdom of crowds” idea.

Also R encourages people to make “packages” and many of my scripts would be well organized in an R package. From time to time, I try to figure out how to make an R package and every time, I get stumped. I’ve seen some sort of-manuals, but I need a template that someone else used to make an R package. If anyone can identify a good working template for me, I’ll make up an R package.

The other way of wading through the deluge is to use the Categories frame at the left. I use it quite a lot.

In admin mode, WordPress has excellent search functions which are unavailable to external readers. I use these all the time. We should probably suggest that Word Press implement these for third parties.

One area that a Wiki approach might make sense is for specific data retrieval issues.

I think that everyone who has encountered Wikipedia (and most internet users have encountered it without even knowing it) has had an idea that if they ran Wikipedia it would be better/faster/stronger/less sucky than it is. The problem is that Wikipedia has demonstrated that a million good intentions can end very, very badly.

Let me illustrate with the following diagram:

You see the problem is that for a wiki to work properly to produce an accurate and authoritative work there must be a strong and authoritative organization that oversees it, and an inexhaustible supply of cheap labour to write it. Articles would have to be reviewed before publication. And after. Sources would have to be checked and re-checked. Authors would have to be named and ready to stand by their scholarship. A chief editor and an editorial board would have to stand behind the authors. A sort of intellectual tyranny must be established.

There isn’t any such organization on the planet.

As far as Climate Audit is concerned, its mainly Steve McIntyre groping through literature trying to understand it. Everything is incomplete and unsatisfying.

I have pondered the idea of writing a book on the Hockey Stick which would attempt to tell the story so far. I’m not sure it would sell well.

As a matter of fact, I have setup a wiki for a customer as a cheap way to write and store documentation and procedures. It works very well like that.

I just don’t know that there is an infrastructure in software that would do a better job of recording stuff than WordPress.

Perhaps this is not the best time to make this suggestion considering your recent upgrade work, but have you considered setting up a Wiki? Not only would it overcome the censorship restrictions on Wikipedia but it would help structure the helpful yet increasingly chaotic resources produced on this site. Also contributions could be edited!

PS the Mediawiki software is free, open source and can be configured to have the same look and feel as Wikipedia.

This may be not the right place, but I want to send you this interesting link about treerings. I read your blog nearly every day an wonder, what will be your beliefs in 5 or 10 years. I wonder why the paleoclimatologists don’t work together with people like you. Maybe the people form the following link are interested in your work.

http://www.isonet-online.de/publications-Dateien/diplomatheses_weigl.pdf

Here is also a book I will probably buy. Unfortunately it is in german language, but it is about the weather of Middle-europe for the last 1000 Years.

Maybe the author can give you some explanations to the european climate.

Here is a site from a french glaciologist, who explains that only small glaciers retreat in the alps:

http://virtedit.free.fr/actu01.html

I hope it is ok to post these links here. I think they are very important for your work!

Her is also a sceptic french site:

http://www.climat-sceptique.com/

with some information you probably don’t know.

One more link and I wish you a nice weekend an hope that my links can help you to make the science what it ought to be.

Thank you very much for all this work!!!!!

Best regards

Eddy