User:Ryanmcdaniel

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File:Ryanmcdaniel 1.jpg
At the Golden Gate bridge

Hello! My name, unsurprisingly, is Ryan McDaniel. (Hmm, creative username, you think?) My brother is Robert McDaniel (user NetherlandishYankee).

Interests on Wikipedia

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Focus Areas
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Languages
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Wiki-Relevant Skills
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Other Wikis
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I first joined Wikipedia anonymously in 2003, and have had my account since mid-2004. Among other things that drew me to Wikipedia are:

Created Pages

36 articles created, not counting Talk spaces:

7 articles translated:

Contributions

500 edits 1000 edits 1500 edits
Mar 15, 2006 Jun 15, 2006 Jul 10, 2007

I've made 1595 total edits on 744 distinct articles as of July 12, 2007. Not counting User and Talk spaces, it's 1347 edits on 651 articles.

The ones I'm really proud of are:

Other articles to which I've made major/significant edits—copyediting, wikification, content addition, etc.—include:

Views on Wikipedia

Immediatism/Eventualism: I try to strike a balance between immediatism and eventualism: I believe that Wikipedia has some truly amazing potential, and am happy to work toward that goal. On the other hand, I think that at any point in time, the content of an article should be as polished and professional as possible. Thus, copyediting and wikification are big points with me. Sources should be cited. But if it's not perfect, please fix it, don't just remove it!

Inclusionism/Exclusionism: This also means that I am an inclusionist, preferring to keep and improve articles and information rather than delete them out of hand. My standard for "notable" is maybe a little low, leaning closer to "useful" or "informative". On the other hand, this doesn't mean I'm in favor of keeping everything, and unsubstantiated rumors, irrelevant facts, and truly unnotable articles detract from the purpose of the encyclopedia. Listcruft is particularly annoying.

Editor Overlaps

Users I seem to run across over and over again in the articles I edit:

Credentials

I've been employed as a program manager for modeling & simulation software for the the US Air Force, as well as a systems engineer and a test and evaluation engineer on an Air Force satellite communications program. I also have several years experience in spacecraft concept design working for Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Education

Background

I've lived in the United States for nineteen years, Spain for five and a half, Germany for two and a half, and Italy for a year. I currently live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ancestry
(newest first)
United States Canada England Ireland Scotland France
Lived in
(years)
United States Spain Germany Italy
Traveled in
(days-months)
England Wales Scotland Denmark France Belgium The Netherlands Austria Switzerland San Marino The Vatican Portugal
Briefly visited
(hours)
Canada Luxembourg Liechtenstein Monaco Andorra

Hobbies & Interests

Perspective

Provided in the interest of maintaining a neutral point-of-view (or at least helping others figure out where I'm coming from).

  • Philosophically, I'm a pseudo-Objectivist who believes strongly in integrity and personal responsibility.
  • Politically, I'm roughly fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I don't support either party, and in fact don't believe there should be parties.
  • Religiously, I'm technically agnostic, i.e. I hold the existence of anything supernatural to be prima facie unprovable. However, I'm essentially an atheist as I personally think there is no god, or anything else unexplainable by science or philosophy.

Other Random Facts

  • I'm married
  • I spend way too much time reading
  • I'm a former Eagle Scout