User:Jkeiser

I'm new here, but finding it fascinating and fun to research totally new and random things. I have done a lot of edits on Wikipedia articles, too numerous to bother mentioning here, but the more substantial or interesting ones are below. I typically hit random link and see what shows up, what needs improvement and what is missing that is interesting.

My general philosophy is that:
 * Articles should be human. Articles are not for consumption by a computer digesting facts, but by a human which is capable of making judgements and very capable of losing interest in dry statements.  An article should contain human-interest facts (see the vegetable/fruit controversy in tomato), down-to-earth writing, and opinions (not my own) where possible without violating NPOV.  Saying that Monstera deliciosa is poisonous and delicious is not strictly NPOV, but it's a non-controversial opinion that gets the reader's attention.
 * Articles are jumping points -- you may not get all the information about the subject, but you will get a very good overview and get basic information on all the key players, so that you have a way to research further.
 * Links should be serendipitous, containing occasional links to things not specifically related to the article (done by linking words in the text that you probably wouldn't have linked if you were just concentrating on someone who was reading to find out about the particular subject at hand).

My Homepage

Articles

 * It all started with the billboard article, which I reached after looking for Burma-Shave. This has now reached featured article status!
 * I have done a lot of research into the development of the typhus vaccine, after a random link to typhus: Rudolf Weigl -> Charles Nicolle -> epidemic typhus -> Rickettsia prowazekii -> Buchenwald
 * Monstera deliciosa is an article I added recently after a random link to Araceae. I may do Philodendron next if the plant fancy strikes me.
 * Zond program - many of the satellites therein. This still needs mission boxes like the *Soyuz program missions.  I just think I want to learn about template programming first rather than pasting in tables like that.
 * I updated Burt Rutan significantly as well. Interesting guy.  I want to research his airplanes more.
 * Moses Blah just got a lot more information. Why did I add so much information on a 2-month temporary President?  Because It Was There.
 * Rasul v. Bush and, to a lesser extent, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
 * Bevin Boys. Oh random link, how I love ye!
 * Cave-In-Rock, Illinois. The first time a random Rambot page has ever turned up an interesting town.
 * Gustavo Cisneros and Venevisión.
 * Francisco Martin Duran. There was not as much info on the net as I expected here, but I was able to cobble together the story from various sources.  Still needs a picture of the guy though!  The only one I can find is from his prison personals page, and I bet we don't get to use that.
 * Steve Thorburn and the Metric Martyrs. I got here by a random link, making some small edits to greengrocers and greengrocer's apostrophe before I did a fateful search on "greengrocer politics".

Less Major Edits
I have added pictures to a number of articles. Additionally, some of the less major edits that still involved research (not all are included here, just stuff I'm happy with):


 * tomato - fruit vs. vegetable controversy and to-may-to to-mah-to
 * dead zone (ecology) - information from the UNEP report, pictures
 * R.A.F. Penrose, Jr. - my first bona fide stub. Still needs fleshing out but the research has pointed out much of the important stuff.

Things That Need Editing
Things not filled in enough: Adam Sedgwick * William F. Packer * circumterrestrial space * Ridge-push * Whirlpool * Geneva Convetions (see also Geneva Convention, what is up with that?) * William-Adolphe Bouguereau and individual picture pages * Jet lag (see this Nature Article for some info)

Rasul v. Bush needs information on the decision itself and the reasons behind it.

Things that need a little modernization and zest: Roderick Murchison

New topics to research: Marlboro Man * Cigarette advertising * butcherbird (linked from Australian Magpie) * Baths of Diocletian

I have begun researching the apparently unsung Laurance Spelman Rockefeller after a random link to one of the other Rockefeller brothers. This is proving to be a more elusive task than I had expected. As soon as the word Rockefeller gets into a search, conspiracy theorists graft themselves onto your Google search like a plague of addled locusts.

Sandbox
I have created an extension of the Monobook theme that makes it easier to see changes: User:jkeiser/monobook.css