User:Michael B. Trausch
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| Michael B. Trausch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Name | Michael B. Trausch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth date | February 9, 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace | Saint Charles Mercy Hospital, Toledo, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Decatur, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital status | Cohabitating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1: Ben, February 8, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Student | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Axia College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Western International University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Lake High School, Millbury, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Agnostic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Politics | Largely Libertarian, though technically unaffiliated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contact info | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blog | Trausch’s Little Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mail at Trausch.us | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AIM | MB Trausch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jabber | mike@trausch.us | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IRC | mbt on freenode | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Userboxes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents |
[edit] Hello!
Hello there! If you’re here, it’s either by accident or because you want to learn about me. You can find out most of my information on the right, and should anybody decide that they want more information on here, well, I can probably accommodate that. Additionally, there is a page on my site with (quite possibly) more information about me then anyone would care to read.
[edit] Wikipedia & Me
I found Wikipedia quite a while ago, as I recall. However, it wasn’t until sometime in 2006 I think that I started editing it. I was doing some research for a web application, and while I was going around searching for information, I noticed that there was some information rather blatantly (IMO) missing from an article. So, I went ahead edited it. Then I thought about how much I liked that, and I started sticking around more and editing more. :-)
[edit] Wikipedia templates
I have been doing some work on Wikipedia lately, though not as much as I would really like. Nonetheless, I have created some templates that people can use should they wish. I will most likely be adding more templates as I run into things that I need to type frequently, as well. Anyone is welcome to use them, though I ask that nobody change them, because they are my personal templates. I will happily make any requested changes, though. Most of them aren’t documented, but you can see what they do by viewing their source.
Mostly, I play around in the computer and technology related articles that I have read, though I have made changes to other articles as I’ve come across them. I started because I was doing some research and there was some information in an article that was missing, so I thought I would add it.
[edit] Article drafts
I recently have found a need to dedicate a portion of my user space to drafts, as some edits are rather intensive and cannot be done in one pass because of the complexities of life. As I don’t wish to take away from what is already present and doing any amount of damage to an article, I decided this was the other, best solution. As with the templates, I would appreciate the drafts being “left alone,” but of course, that is not an absolute requirement.
[edit] Vandals on Wikipedia
Like most of us, I cannot stand the vandals. I try to keep an eye on them, both on my watchlist and through the IRC channel. Sometimes, I catch them, and sometimes, I don’t. One thing is for sure: I am here to help make this a high-quality resource for tertiary research and information. It annoys me that people have this idea that Wikipedia is automatically crappy because everyone can edit it (in fact, I got dinged in one class for citing Wikipedia as a tertiary resource, showing how it led me to the primary source of information!). It seems that people have gotten to be on some anti-Wikipedia kick in the world of academia. I think that this should change.
[edit] Personal philosophy
Everyone has their own thoughts and beliefs about how the world works. Here are a few of mine:
- Principles are important. It is important not to back down from something—anything—when it is a matter of principle.
- Obeying the Law is important, even though there are many laws that simply do not make sense. When a law does not make sense, then it is important to act to change it, so that the law can be obeyed and by obeying the law, we do the right thing.
- Freedom is worth fighting for, in every way. Citizens in the United States have given up various freedoms, time and time again, “for the country,” which if you ask me, is too high a price.
- Helping others learn and grow is important, for I was once a young, ignorant, and small-minded individual. In some ways, I suppose I still am. But, just as those ahead of me on the path have helped me, those behind me on the path should be able to receive my help.
- Censorship is evil, for it is the beginning of oppression in other ways. As I stated above, freedom is worth fighting for; in many cases, freedom is paramount.
Given these tidbits, a few things can be reasonably guessed about me:
- While I am knowledgeable in what Windows is, and how to use it, I am not a user of it. I use a distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system. My preferred flavor at this point is Ubuntu, the Feisty Fawn release as of June 2007. In the past, I have used Linux Mint, Gentoo, and Slackware, though I have predominately used Slackware from 1996 to 2004, and Ubuntu since then.
- I do not like proprietary software in any capacity. I avoid it at (almost) all costs; one exception that I know of at this time is the binary blob for the HAL for the Atheros WiFi card on my Toshiba Satellite laptop computer. As of June 2007, I also use a binary driver for my NVIDIA graphics board. I use no other proprietary software.
- I am a college student, so I don’t have the money that I would like to have; however, I support projects I like in whatever ways I can. Usually, this means indirectly, but it is what I am capable of doing.
[edit] What am I currently doing?
Well, that varies. When I am not eating, sleeping, watching my son, or doing school work, I am usually on the computer working on Wikipedia or writing silly, stupid, or trivial software. :^) Seriously, though, I work on various projects, most of which never see the light of day, but some I hope will. I just am not all that excellent of a programmer of non-web application software. I also play the game Guild Wars with various characters, but mostly as Dorkus Flopus (negative points go to me for creativity on the creation of that name, obviously).
If you need to leave me a message, you can use my talk page, or see my contact information off to the right in the nifty little user infobox that I have. :-) Of course, I can be contacted through my blog/web site as well.
