Simon Pulsifer

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Simon Pulsifer

Simon Pulsifer in the stacks of the University of Ottawa library. Photo by Paul Couvrette
Born September 11, 1981 (1981-09-11) (age 26)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Residence Toronto, Ontario
Occupation Writer
Employers Quillsoft
Website
Wikipedia userpage

Simon Edward Pulsifer (born September 11, 1981 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a contributor to the English-language Wikipedia whose prolific participation made him a subject of many human interest stories in the media beginning in 2005.

Contents

[edit] Wikipedia

Pulsifer became an active contributor of Wikipedia on December 10, 2001[1] under the username SimonP, just after hearing about the site from The New York Times Magazine.[2] While studying for his bachelor's degree he said he spent over six hours a day on the Wikipedia website. As of September 2007, Pulsifer has made more than 94,000 edits and started more than 2,000 articles at Wikipedia.[3] He is an administrator.[4]

Pulsifer's level of quality productivity at Wikipedia has resulted in him becoming a subject for human interest stories in the local press.[5][6][7] Together with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Pulsifer made an appearance on the On Point show, on August 2, 2006.[8] In December 2006 TIME published its annual "Person of the Year" issue. In light of the rapid gains in user-generated content, TIME did not choose an actual person and instead named "You". The issue had a feature about Pulsifer.[9] The article mentioned that he was unemployed and this led to a reader extending a job offer to him. Pulsifer spoke at Wikimania 2006.[9][10]

In a 2007 National Post article, Pulsifer expressed concern that some of his earlier articles were being removed from the encyclopedia. "I always get annoyed when something I've written has been deleted," he said. "What makes Wikipedia strong is having wide coverage. More articles attract more users and it doesn't really matter how large it is, as long as all the information can be easily verified and accurate and ensured to be neutral."[11]

[edit] Personal

Pulsifer grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His father is Dr. Cameron Pulsifer, from the Canadian War Museum's Research and Exhibitions department, Special Projects. His mother, Diana Pepall, works at the Ottawa Public Library, acting as manager of collection development services. His younger brother Andrew was a member of the Ottawa area band, Place, before leaving for the Toronto scene.[12][13]

He attended the French immersion programme at Rockcliffe Park Public School from kindergarten to grade 6. He recalls he was never active in sports. In June 2000, he graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute, and went on to study History at the University of Toronto.

Now residing in Toronto, he lived in Ottawa for many years. He has worked for the political campaigns of politicians in both cities; Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre), Olivia Chow (Trinity Spadina), and most recently was the computer systems manager for Ottawa mayoral candidate Alex Munter.[10][14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Contributions summary for: SimonP. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
  2. ^ Amber MacArthur (12 March 2007). Video: King of Wikipedia. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
  3. ^ Gaudiano, Nicole. ""Inside the world of Wikipedians, there's drama, politics and love"", USA Today, February 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04. 
  4. ^ List of administrators
  5. ^ Alexandra Shimo. ""Prolific Canadian is king of Wikipedia"", Globe and Mail, 4 August 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.  Copy of full text here
  6. ^ Rundle, Lisa. ""Wikipedia Wonderboy"", University of Toronto Magazine, Winter 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04. 
  7. ^ The Ottawa Citizen August 11, 2005 p. A2 and The Ottawa Citizen December 13, 2005 p. A13
  8. ^ Ashbrook, Tom (August 2006). "Wikipedia: Open Intelligence". WBUR/NPR. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
  9. ^ a b Grossman, Lev. "Simon Pulsifer: The Duke of Data", TIME, 16 December 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  10. ^ a b Bray, Richard. "The Disciple and the prophet", The Ottawa Citizen, 2007-01-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. (English) 
  11. ^ Tibbets, Janice. "Wikipedia warriors hit delete", National Post, 2007-12-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-20. (English) 
  12. ^ Ottawa Buzz: My Dad Vs Yours Usher In Spring. Canada's Walk of Fame (May 8, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  13. ^ Canadian War Museum Staff Directory. Canadian War Museum. Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
  14. ^ Gulli, Cathy (August 15, 2006). "Meet Mr. Know-it-all: Simon Pulsifer". Maclean's. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Pulsifer, Simon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Wikipedian
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages