View source for User:Ryanmcdaniel

{{userpage}}

__NOTOC__

[[Image:Ryanmcdaniel_1.jpg|right|thumb|241px|At the [[Golden Gate bridge]]]]
Hello!  My name, unsurprisingly, is Ryan McDaniel.  (Hmm, creative username, you think?)  My brother is Robert McDaniel (user [[User:NetherlandishYankee|NetherlandishYankee]]).

<div style="clear: both"></div>
==Interests on Wikipedia==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
|{{User Wiki age|day=21|month=10|year=2004}}
|-
|}

<!--Focus Table-->
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
!<span style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt;">Focus Areas</span>
|-
|{{User:UBX/Rome}}{{User:UBX/Medieval}}{{User:UBX/Renaissance}}{{User Anglophile}}{{User WikiProject Spain}}{{User WikiProject Italy}}{{User European history}}{{User WPMA}}
|-
|}

<!--Language Table-->
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
!<span style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt;">Languages</span>
|-
|{{User en}}{{User es-2}}{{User it-2}}{{User fr-0}}{{User la-0}}{{User ot}}{{Proofreader|es|Spanish}}{{Proofreader|it|Italian}}
|-
|}

<!--Music Table-->
<!--
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
!<span style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt;">Music</span>
|-
|{{User piano-1}}
|-
|}
-->
<!--Computer Language Table-->
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
!<span style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt;">Wiki-Relevant Skills</span>
|-
|{{User html-3}}{{User css-3}}{{User latex-2}}
|-
|}

<!--Wikiprojects-->
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 241px; float: right; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"
|-
!<span style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt;">Other Wikis</span>
|-
|{{User Wikinews}}{{User Wikiquote}}{{User wikila|Ryanmcdaniel}}
|-
|}

I first joined Wikipedia anonymously in 2003, and have had my account since mid-2004.  Among other things that drew me to Wikipedia are:
* [[:Category:Engineering|Engineering]]
* [[:Category:History|History]], particularly [[:Category:History_of_Europe|European history]]/[[:Category:Middle_Ages|medieval history]], [[:Category:Late_Antiquity|late Roman history]] and [[:Category:Military_history|military history]]

===Created Pages===
36 articles created, not counting Talk spaces:
* '''Engineering''': [[Eberhardt Rechtin]], [[Dean Wooldridge]]
* '''Military''': [[Program Executive Officer]]
* '''History''': [[Margaret Peverel]], [[William Peverel]], [[Tarr Steps]], [[Prehistoric sites in England]], [[:Category:Prehistoric sites in England|Category:Prehistoric sites in England]], [[:Category:Ancient trackways in Britain|Category:Ancient trackways in Britain]] (which is now [[:Category:Ancient trackways in England|Category:Ancient trackways in England]]), [[Herefordshire Beacon]], [[The Rumps]], [[Chang Qu]], [[Origin of the Basques]], [[Christian Topography]], [[Cadell ap Rhodri]], [[Llywarch ap Hyfaidd]], [[Rhodri ap Hyfaidd]], [[Rhain of Dyfed and Brycheiniog]], [[Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog]], [[Gens Ulpia]], [[Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica]], [[John Ernest Luther]], [[Coffee press]], [[Domenico Morosini]], [[Ager Gallicus]]
* '''Other''': [[Sampford Peverell]], [[Withypool]], [[Parson Drove]], [[River Barle]], [[Exebridge]], [[Gwalchmai, Anglesey]], [[Anacusis]], [[Domenico Morosini]]

7 articles translated:
* '''History''': [[Marcus Terentius Varro]] (partial; from Spanish), [[Treaties between Rome and Carthage]] (from Italian), [[Draft (hull)]] (partial; from Spanish), [[St Mark's Campanile]] (partial; from Italian), [[Domenico Morosini]] (from Italian), [[Gilded bronzes from Cartoceto di Pergola]] (partial; from Italian), [[Ager Gallicus]] (partial; from Italian)

===Contributions===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| 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:
* '''History''': [[Burgundians]], [[Medicine in Ancient Greece]], [[Origin of the Basques]], [[Roman client kingdoms in Britain]], [[Treaties between Rome and Carthage]], [[William Peverel]], [[:Category:Prehistoric sites in England|Category:Prehistoric sites in England]], [[St Mark's Campanile]], [[Domenico Morosini]], [[Gilded bronzes from Cartoceto di Pergola]]
* '''Other''': [[Dragon]], [[List of tombs and mausoleums]], [[Parson Drove]]

Other articles to which I've made major/significant edits&mdash;copyediting, wikification, content addition, etc.&mdash;include:
* '''Technical''': [[Clapper bridge]], [[Draft (hull)]], [[Eberhardt Rechtin]], [[Equirectangular projection]], [[Dean Wooldridge]], [[Isometric illusion]], [[John Dalton]], [[Lunar Surface Access Module]], [[Orrery]], [[Pulsar]], [[Riemann integral]], [[Rotation-powered pulsar]], [[Spin pumping]], [[Statistical Mechanics]], [[Titius-Bode law]], [[Triangular number]], [[Wagner's Law]], [[Zeller's congruence]], [[Zero Defects]]
* '''History''': [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]], [[Akhenaten]], [[Arnold J. Toynbee]], [[Basque people]], [[Bosnian pyramids]], [[Causewayed enclosure]], [[Chang Qu]], [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Circular ditches]], [[Confucius]], [[Edward VIII of the United Kingdom]], [[Eli Whitney]], [[John Lemprière]], [[Merton Thesis]], [[Names of China]], [[Nicholas II of Russia]], [[Otto von Bismarck]], [[Prepared-core technique]], [[Rossignols]]
** '''Antiquity'''
*** '''Greek History''': [[Medicine in Ancient Greece]]
*** '''Roman/Post-Roman History''': [[Antoninus Pius]], [[Ara Pacis]], [[Christian Topography]], [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]], [[Decline of the Roman Empire]], [[Lapis Niger]], [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]], [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], [[Roman Forum]], [[Saint Andrew]], [[Saint Patrick]], [[Sub-Roman Britain]]
** '''Medieval (esp. UK) History''': [[Château de Rochechouart]], [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Lorenzo de' Medici]], [[Medici]], [[Medievalist]], [[Middle Ages]], [[Morosini]], [[Sebastian of Portugal]]
*** '''English History''': [[Cathach of St. Columba]], [[Hengistbury Head]], [[Hereward the Wake]], [[Lady Jane Grey]], [[List of monarchs of Kent]] and related pages, [[Melor]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[The Rumps]], [[Tarr Steps]], [[Thomas Becket]], [[Warwick Castle]], [[West Port murders]], [[Witenagemot]], [[Yelland]], [[:Category:Prehistoric sites in England|Category:Prehistoric sites in England]] and related pages, [[:Category:Ancient trackways in England|Category:Ancient trackways in England]] and related pages
*** '''Welsh History''': [[Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog]], [[Hywel Dda]], [[List of rulers of Wales]] and related pages, [[Llywarch ap Hyfaidd]], [[Rhain of Dyfed and Brycheiniog]], [[Rhodri the Great]]
** '''Military History''': [[129th Rescue Wing]], [[Battle of Camlann]], [[Battle of Thermopylae]], [[Dolwyddelan Castle]], [[Hundred Years' War]], [[Mulberry harbour]], [[Tantallon Castle]]
* '''Other''': [[Abdomen]], [[Acre]], [[André Bloch]], [[Artistery]], [[Backpack]], [[Bertrand paradox (economics)]], [[Bias disorder]], [[Bonny Portmore]], [[Boat]], [[Cadet Airman]], [[Caradog]], [[Cat-eye syndrome]], [[Christmas carol]], [[Christmas cracker]], [[Clothing]], [[Coffee press]], [[Common raven]], [[Crispin]], [[Dvorkin]], [[Epithet]], [[Ficus]], [[Fiscal conservatism]], [[The Fountain (film)]], [[Gwalchmai]] and related pages, [[Haka in popular culture]], [[The Historian]], [[Ides]], [[If-by-whiskey]], [[James Newton Howard]], [[John Ogden]], [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Lady in the Water]], [[Language observatory]], [[Le Mans 1955 disaster]], [[List of California Institute of Technology people]], [[List of idioms in the English language]], [[List of indices of freedom]], [[Little green men]], [[Memento Mori]], [[PEO]], [[Philadelphia Experiment]], [[Robinson Crusoe]], [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Rowena]], [[Scullery]], [[Slaughterhouse Five]], [[The Soldier (poem)]], [[Spanish Arch]], [[Voltaire]], [[Woad]], [[The Woad Ode]], [[==]]
** '''Geography''': [[Amalfi]], [[Belgrave Square]], [[Carneddau]], [[Chew Valley Lake]], [[Dinas Emrys]], [[Exebridge]], [[Haast Pass]], [[Haast River]], [[Hamoaze]], [[Orvieto]], [[River Barle]], [[River Exe]], [[Sampford Peverell]], [[Santikhiri]], [[Schuylkill River]], [[Seisyllwg]], [[Thingwall]], [[Tidworth]], [[Two Moors Way]], [[Valley]], [[Withypool]], [[Zaragoza]]
** '''Harry Potter''': [[Azkaban]], [[Blood purity (Harry Potter)]], [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter]] and related pages, [[The Burrow]], [[The House of Gaunt]], [[Magic (Harry Potter)]], [[Mundungus Fletcher]], [[Non-canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter]] and related pages, [[Order of the Phoenix]], [[Patronus Charm]], [[The Riddle House]], [[:Template:Weasleyfamilytree]]
** '''Military''': [[F-86 Sabre]], [[Mikoyan MiG-29]], [[Program Executive Officer]]
* '''Images''': [[:Image:Bode's law comparison.png]], [[:Image:Warwick interior.jpg]]

===Views on Wikipedia===
'''Immediatism/Eventualism''': I try to strike a balance between [[m:immediatism|immediatism]] and [[m:eventualism|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 [[m:inclusionism|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===
Users I seem to run across over and over again in the articles I edit:
* [[User:Neddyseagoon]]
* [[User:Gaius Cornelius]]

<div style="clear: both"></div>

==Credentials==
I've been employed as a [[program management|program manager]] for [[military simulation|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===
* Certified [[Systems engineering|Systems Engineer]], 2006, [[AFIT]]
* B.S., Caltech, 2003, [[Aeronautical Engineering]]
* B.S., Caltech, 2003, [[Medieval History|History]]

===Background===
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]].

<div style="clear: both"></div>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em;"
|-
! style="text-align: right" | Ancestry<br>(newest first)
| style="text-align: left" | [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|40px|United States]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|40px|Canada]] [[Image:Flag_of_England.svg|40px|England]] [[Image:Flag of Ireland.svg|40px|Ireland]] [[Image:Flag of Scotland.svg|40px|Scotland]] [[Image:Flag of France.svg|40px|France]]
|-
! style="text-align: right" | Lived in<br>(years)
| style="text-align: left" | [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|40px|United States]] [[Image:Flag_of_Spain.svg|40px|Spain]] [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|40px|Germany]] [[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|40px|Italy]]
|-
! style="text-align: right" | Traveled in<br>(days-months)
| style="text-align: left" | [[Image:Flag_of_England.svg|40px|England]] [[Image:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg|40px|Wales]] [[Image:Flag of Scotland.svg|40px|Scotland]] [[Image:Flag of Denmark.svg|40px|Denmark]] [[Image:Flag of France.svg|40px|France]] [[Image:Flag of Belgium.svg|40px|Belgium]] [[Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|40px|The Netherlands]] [[Image:Flag of Austria.svg|40px|Austria]] [[Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg|40px|Switzerland]] [[Image:Flag of San Marino.svg|40px|San Marino]] [[Image:Flag of the Vatican City.svg|40px|The Vatican]] [[Image:Flag of Portugal.svg|40px|Portugal]]
|-
! style="text-align: right" | Briefly visited<br>(hours)
| style="text-align: left" | [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|40px|Canada]] [[Image:Flag of Luxembourg.svg|40px|Luxembourg]] [[Image:Flag of Liechtenstein.svg|40px|Liechtenstein]] [[Image:Flag of Monaco.svg|40px|Monaco]] [[Image:Flag of Andorra.svg|40px|Andorra]]
|-
|}
<div style="clear: both"></div>

==Hobbies & Interests==
* [[Computer programming]]
* [[Carpentry]]
* [[Blacksmith|Blacksmithing]]
* Reading
** Historical non-fiction
** [[Fantasy literature]] such as [[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Chronicles of Narnia]], or [[Harry Potter]]
** [[Science fiction]], notably [[Dune (novel)|Dune]] or anything by [[Isaac Asimov]] or [[Arthur C. Clarke]]
** British [[detective fiction]], e.g. [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Lord Peter Wimsey]], and [[Brother Cadfael]]

==Perspective==
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-[[Objectivism|Objectivist]] who believes strongly in integrity and personal responsibility.
* '''Politically''', I'm ''roughly'' [[fiscal conservatism|fiscally conservative]] and [[social liberalism|socially liberal]].  I don't support either party, and in fact don't believe there should be parties.
* '''Religiously''', I'm technically [[agnosticism|agnostic]], i.e. I hold the existence of anything supernatural to be ''[[wiktionary:prima facie|prima facie]]'' unprovable.  However, I'm essentially an [[atheism|atheist]] as I personally think there is no god, or anything else unexplainable by science or philosophy.

==Other Random Facts==
* I'm married
* I spend way too much time reading
* I'm a former [[Eagle Scout]]