User:GRuban

"Our work together here should be our armor, not some sharp, angry, burning sword. I would strongly recommend that everyone here find an article to work on for a while; not the cliche "random article", but something that gives you a nice tug at the heartstrings. It feels great to be out there doing work on something you genuinely care about, and I assure you it'll help you regain the sense of why you're here."

- User:The Blade of the Northern Lights, vectored by User:Keilana

Personal
My Wiki-bio, circa 2015, for an article about me by a journalist.

Professionally, I'm a software engineer. (That's a computer programmer that's more full of themselves.) My longest stint was for a company which knows everything except how to spell its name, then another few years for a small software company; I currently work for my uncle. I've written most of a few articles about each, see the box to the right. I've been a Wikipedian longest.

I got to do this neat thing for the earlier one, which helps lots of people find free (as-in-speech) images, including those usable for this project. Using it and other tools I've found over 4,000 images to illustrate articles and put them on Wikimedia Commons. Here is my images to-do list.

You'll notice the articles I've written have mostly gotten better over time. The little icons by the name of each article are the quality rating, assigned by other people. They are, in order: Stub: very short/incomplete (but most of the articles on the Wikipedia are in this category); Start: just the bare minimum; : C;  B;  Good article (1/200);  A (rarely used);  Featured Article: one of the best on the project (1/1000). My early articles, at the tops of the lists below, are mostly start and stub class, while my more recent ones, usually at the bottoms are mostly Bs. None of the last grades yet, but eventually! The numbers following are the average daily page views for each.

Barnstars
Informal awards, when editors liked something I did. Appreciated! Actual awarding thereof may generally be found in my talk page archives.



(That's referring to the study I did for WikiProject Countering systemic bias/Gender gap task force when someone asked whether it really mattered to Wikipedia article content that only 16% of us editors were female? I showed that at least for one reasonably sized subset of Featured Articles biographies, women wrote about women 2x as often as about men, and men and undeclared editors wrote about men 5x as often as about women.) (This is about https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Atmospheric_Refraction_Sunrise.jpg) (That's about my efforts in this conversation.)

Role-Playing Games
Besides minor edits, my early work was in Category:Role-playing games.
 * Worlds of Wonder (game) 6 (and stubbed Worlds of Wonder (toy company)  42 to avoid confusion)
 * Justice, Inc. (role-playing game) 4
 * Boot Hill (role-playing game) 25
 * Superworld 19 - Role-playing game. (expanded from stub)
 * Template:D&D-stub and Category:Dungeons & Dragons stubs (I called it Category:D&D stubs), to separate from Category: Role-playing game stubs which was overflowing
 * Category:Basic Role-Playing System
 * Ringworld (role-playing game) 11 (expanded from stub)
 * James Bond 007 (role-playing game) 27
 * Category:Role-playing games - strictly categorized; other WP:RPG participants have since cleaned up much more thoroughly
 * Cthulhu for President 34 - RPG supplement, Origins Award winner, and political parody. DYK was a lead for April 1, 2021, and got 24,992 page views, the second most for the month, though only up for half a day.
 * GURPS Steampunk 3 - RPG supplement series. Collaboration with User:Newimpartial and User:BOZ

Magic: The Gathering

 * Dana Fischer 35 - child Magic: The Gathering player
 * Jean-Emmanuel Depraz 16 - Magic: The Gathering champion One of  most viewed DYK April 2024.
 * Pascal Maynard - MTG player, game shop owner

Other Games

 * Down with the King (game) 2 - baroque age political card and counter game
 * Hitler's War (game) 3 - very large scale hex wargame
 * Laura McKinlay Robinson 8 - actress (Veronica Clare), author, game designer (Balderdash), singer, television producer... collaboration with User:Aoba47

Requested articles
I wrote or stubbed the following as part of fulfilling Requested articles (and the former Articles requested for more than two years):


 * Catherine McCord 46 model and TV host
 * Carolyn Lilipaly 8 Dutch news anchor
 * Lane McCotter 1 controversial prison administrator
 * Karl Josef Weinmair 1930s German artist
 * Kathy Lloyd 50 UK model and TV host
 * Beverley Turner 333 UK sports host - redirect, expand stub a bit
 * Minjung art 8 1980s South Korean protest art movement
 * Gugum Gumbira  3 Indonesian musician
 * Ezquioga/Ezkio 3 Basque Spanish town that saw visions of Mary in the 1930s
 * El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka 10 Algerian musician
 * Hugo von Seeliger 5 German astronomer
 * Josiah Edward Spurr 2 1900s geologist and explorer
 * Grant Wallace 4 WWI era journalist, screenwriter, artist, and occultist
 * Thomas Logie MacDonald mayor of Carlisle and lunar crater eponym
 * Melissa Bachman 41 TV huntress
 * Sophia Kianni 115 teen climate activist
 * Utah & Ether 25 graffiti artists (and international criminals!) The DYK got 19802 page views, among greatest for  February 2022.

WikiProject Countering systemic bias
This project tries to make up for the fact that most Wikipedia editors are technically savvy first world males.


 * Toni Frissell 25 American photographer; expanded by others five-fold after my start
 * Elizabeth Catlett 89 African-American sculptor and printmaker; expanded by others seven-fold after my start
 * Muhammad Awzal 1 Moroccan Berber poet
 * Marcelle Karp 8 3rd wave feminist writer & editor
 * The Feminists 7 short-lived New York City feminist group, stub
 * Shoshong 5 historical town in eastern Botswana.
 * Ganapatya 66 Hindu sect following Ganesh
 * Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson 6 American photojournalist and philanthropist
 * Esther Bubley 9 American photographer
 * Engaruka 14 Tanzanian ruins
 * Tsetserleg (city) 20 Mongolian city - stub
 * Tursunzade 11 Tajikistan city
 * Lisa Fugard 8 actress, writer, daughter of Sheila Meiring Fugard
 * Uganda National Rescue Front 13 armed rebel groups
 * Yoruba literature 11
 * Grémah Boucar 1 Nigerien journalist
 * Philip A. Payton Jr. 14 - the "Father of Harlem", rented properties to African-Americans

Collaborations
One of the best things about Wikipedia is the ability to work with the other dedicated editors. These are articles that I wrote based on starts or ideas by other Wikipedia editors.
 * The Chalk Circle 22 - Yuan Dynasty Chinese play. From a FAC review.
 * Modest Stein 7 - Pulp artist and former anarchist; collaboration with User:Newyorkbrad.
 * Brad Smith 207 - President and chief legal officer of Microsoft; collaboration with User:CarolAnnBrowne (WP:COI).
 * Kathleen Hogan 13 - Microsoft chief human resources officer, collaboration with User:Rnarula (WP:COI).
 * Mia Kang 67 - model, Muai Thai fighter, body positivity advocate. Expanded from start by User:Trillfendi.
 * Miss and Mister Supranational 262 - beauty pageant; restored and expanded after multiple deletions.
 * Belle Reve Farm 20 - horse farm owned by William Shatner - not much text, but lots of research; collaboration with User:Atsme
 * Exotic and Unusual Fishes of North America 2 - Television documentary series - not edited by User:Atsme!
 * Daniel Madzimbamuto 2 - Zimbabwean / Rhodesian activist; support for User:SusunW's Stella Madzimbamuto article.
 * Malika Louback 29 - Djiboutian / French model, engineer; from draft from User:Trillfendi.
 * Trilby, or the Fairy of Argyll 6 - 19th century French novella, from wish list by User:Ffranc.
 * Ruby Tandoh 175 - British chef/baker. Unusual collaboration with User:George Ho and User:The Drover's Wife in restoring article from redirect. The DYK got [//pageviews.toolforge.org/?start=2023-01-01&end=2023-01-21&project=en.wikipedia.org&pages=Ruby_Tandoh 19,804 page views], one of the most per hour for January 2023.
 * Grave with the Hands 27 - Dutch gravestones; with User:Polygnotus. One of most viewed DYK April 2024.

SusunW articles
User:SusunW is the real author of these articles about historical women, mostly Good articles, that she gave me joint DYK credit for, which I don't really deserve. For most of these I only uploaded an image or two (which Susun usually found herself), occasionally translated, consulted, helped with research ... in short, my contribution is under 10% of any of these, under 1% of most. But she gave me that credit, so I'm taking it!
 * Vera Gedroits 10 - Russian Princess (княжна; arguably Duchess), novelist, first Russian woman: military surgeon; professor of surgery; physician to the royal court.
 * Kateryna Skarzhynska 2 - Ukrainian noblewoman, philanthropist, collector of eggs
 * Unity Dow 23 - Motswana lawyer, activist, politician, writer
 * Miriam Soljak 25 - New Zealand activist
 * Stella Madzimbamuto 3 - Zimbabwean nurse, activist
 * Olena Shevchenko 13 - Ukrainian activist
 * Pat Gozemba 1 - American academic, activist
 * Eunice Newton Foote 126 - American scientist, inventor, activist
 * Elizabeth Wagner Reed 2 - American geneticist
 * Enriqueta Legorreta 1 - Mexican soprano, activist
 * Laura Bergt 5 - Iñupiaq athlete, model, politician, activist
 * Erna P. Harris 2 - African American journalist, businesswoman, activist
 * Kae Miller 2 - New Zealand activist
 * Helene Scheu-Riesz 1 - Austrian writer, activist
 * Cora Slocomb di Brazza 5 - American-Italian heiress, activist, philanthropist
 * Abby Day Slocomb 1 - American inventor, philanthropist, preservationist
 * Bertha McNeill 1 - American activist, educator
 * Addie Brown 3 - American manual laborer, epistolarian

Other

 * Lavastorm 6 - Internet boom company.
 * Barnaby Conrad III 4 - Author, artist. From a BLPN request from the subject about being confused with his father, also an author.
 * Jenni Barber 26 - Actress.
 * Marie Ragghianti 14 - Parole board administrator, subject of [[Marie (1985 film)|movie].
 * Kevin Michael Connolly 3 - photographer without legs who takes photos of people staring at him.
 * Cerrie Burnell 43 - one armed British children's TV show presenter.
 * New Man 4 - Christian magazine.
 * Sachs Electric 4 - Missouri electrical company. From a user page deletion review.
 * Somerville Journal 3 - Local newspaper.
 * TypeRacer 249 -  multiplayer online browser-based typing game. After interviewing creator!
 * Great Aragonese Encyclopedia 1 - Spanish language, Aragon-themed, encyclopedia
 * Braco 109 - Croatian alternative medicine practitioner who treats people with his gaze.
 * Robin Abrahams 3 - Boston Globe Magazine weekly ethics and etiquette column "Miss Conduct".
 * Fredrick Brennan 246 - developer with brittle bone disease who founded the imageboard website 8chan. Expanded by others, mostly User:Gorilla Warfare, from my start; he also became an excellent Wikipedia editor!
 * Rebecca Moore 7 - Computer scientist, founder of Google Earth Outreach and Google Earth Engine (thoroughly vetted for WP:COI).
 * Tina Machado 4 - Businesswoman, athlete, and beauty pageant winner; restored and expanded after deletion.
 * Becca Pizzi 12 - Local marathon runner.
 * Never Again pledge 6 - Commitment by IT workers to work against a US government database identifying people by race, religion, or national origin
 * Lyndsey Scott 27 - Fashion model and iOS mobile app developer.
 * Elly Mayday 17 - Canadian model and ovarian cancer advocate. She died the day after I started on her article; the DYK got 34,666 page views, the most in March 2019, and qualifying for All-time DYK page view leaders.
 * Raphaëlle Boitel 4 - French circus performer and director.
 * Summer Rayne Oakes 30 - World's first "eco-model". Rewritten after finding it had been deleted.
 * Alina Morse 33 - Child CEO of multi-million dollar healthy candy company. the DYK got 16,583 page views, second greatest for August 2019.
 * Honey Badger (men's rights) 55 - Female men's rights activists the DYK got 14,307 page views, among greatest for  October 2020, even without an image
 * Nabil Ahmad 41 - Malaysian entertainer. The DYK got [//pageviews.toolforge.org/?start=2020-12-08&end=2020-12-28&project=en.wikipedia.org&pages=Nabil_Ahmad 18,726 page views], among greatest for  December 2020
 * Matthias Hoene 11 - German filmmaker.
 * Karolína Huvarová 1 - Czech fitness trainer, model, hockey coach. the DYK got 13,430 page views, among greatest for  December 2021, even without an image
 * Chaz Stevens 10 - Satirical secular activist - Florida man! Restored after deletion; the DYK got [//pageviews.toolforge.org/?start=2022-08-12&end=2022-09-01&project=en.wikipedia.org&pages=Chaz_Stevens 14,261 page views], among greatest for  August 2022
 * Dasha Burns 39 - Television journalist.
 * Iszac Henig 211 - Transgender swimmer. Among most viewed DYKs in February 2023.
 * Maya and Yehuda Devir 80 - Israeli comic artists. DYK got 21,119 views,  second-highest hourly of April 2023
 * Ky Schevers 27 - transgender activist DYK got 15,530 views, among highest in May 2023, even without picture
 * Kessel Run 21 - first US Air Force software factory (WP:COI, denied DYK )
 * Sarah Jane Baker - transgender activist, author, violent felon DYK got 19,063 views, among highest in November 2023, even without picture

Creationist museums
From an Articles for deletion discussion where I was challenged to create some articles to prove it could be done.
 * 7 Wonders Museum
 * Akron Fossils & Science Center
 * Big Valley Creation Science Museum
 * Creation Evidence Museum
 * Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum
 * Category: Creationist museums

Not creationist museum

 * Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History - because after making those, I was accused of being a creationist, and counter-challenged to create an article about a "real" museum.

James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship authors
From another Articles for deletion discussion where the claim was made that winners of this award aren't notable. So far - well, as I look into it, some were, and some weren't. These are some that were. Also expanded article on the society and award. The article in question was deleted anyway, but restored eight years later.
 * Herta Feely - author, editor, and child safety activist (co-founder Safe Kids Worldwide).
 * Robin Oliveira - author, editor, nurse.
 * Greg Hrbek - author, educator.
 * Leslie Schwartz - author, writing teacher

Ukraine
I have the honor or misfortune of having been born in Russia, so the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War has been particularly poignant.


 * Yulia Tolopa - Russian female volunteer fighting for Ukraine. Collaboration with User:SusunW.
 * Maria Berlinska - Ukrainian military volunteer and women's rights advocate. Collaboration with User:Vami IV.
 * J.T. Blatty - Photojournalist (whom I tried to persuade to release an image of Yulia Tolopa. She didn't!)  Among most viewed DYKs in May 2022.
 * Inna Derusova - Ukrainian military medic. From stub by User:Sdkb. Among most viewed DYKs in May 2022.
 * Guide to the Free World - NGO helping people leave Russia after the invasion. Among most viewed DYKs in October 2022.