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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20Y
Focus Areas
 This user is interested in ancient Rome.
 This user is interested in the
Middle Ages
 
This user is interested in the Renaissance period.
 This user is an Anglophile.
 This user is a participant in WikiProject Italy.
 This user is a member of WikiProject European history.
 This user is a member of the Middle Ages WikiProject.
Languages
enThis user is a native speaker of the English language.
es-2Este usuario puede contribuir con un nivel intermedio de español.
it-2Quest'utente può contribuire con un livello intermedio di italiano.
fr-0Cet utilisateur ne comprend pas le français ou seulement avec des difficultés notables.
la-0Hic usor linguam latinam non intellegit aut eam intellegit aegre.
...This user would like to be able to speak more languages.
 
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This user is a translator and proofreader from Spanish to English on Wikipedia:Translation.
 
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This user is a translator and proofreader from Italian to English on Wikipedia:Translation.
Wiki-Relevant Skills
HTML-3This user is an advanced HTML user.
css-3This user is an advanced Cascading Style Sheets user.
 
-2
This user is an intermediate LaTeX user.
Other Wikis
 This user has a page on Wikinews.
 This user has a page at Wikiquote

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

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36 articles created, not counting Talk spaces:

7 articles translated:

Contributions

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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

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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

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

Credentials

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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

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Background

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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.

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Hobbies & Interests

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Perspective

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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

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