User:Selevercin
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[edit] Introduction
Wikipedia is an incredible source for information, and I enjoy offering what ever I may to help it grow. My interests are vast and often obscure. My goal is to help out some of the more obscure articles on wikipedia so that it might be more complete.— Selevercin 02:09, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I have used wikipeidia now for several years. At first, I will admit that I resisted, but later I came to love it. I contribute to all sorts of random articles.
[edit] The 'Incident'
I am proud to have written 95% of the Greenbrier page as it still stands today. I went into my backyard, found thorny weed that seemed to grow everywhere, researched the hell out of it, and out plopped a beautiful Wikipedia article. Of course then came along someone else who moved the article, thus effectively removing my name from all of my work, but that was years ago and I am now [mostly] over it. Since this incident, though, I have significantly cut back on my contributions. I don't like doing work that I do not get my due recognition for.
[edit] Interests
My wide variety of interests would probably crash Wikipedia if I tried to write about them all. So I'll stick to my main interests.
[edit] Space Technologies
I was the dork who liked to build model (Estes) rockets. Then I grew older and had a brief entrance into the mid-powered rocketry scene. Now I study high performance rockets. Like the space shuttle.
I am hoping to be designing the next generation of satellite launching rockets in the next few years, but unless someone very clever finds a brilliant new way of launching satellites that costs pennies on the dollar, I don't think it could ever happen. I expect it will.
[edit] Mathematics
I am a real novice at mathematics. I can barely solve a linear differential equation. I often break down and right a C++ program to find a numerical solution. That being said, I love mathematics.
I spent many years through high school and much of college trying to devise my own factoring method by looking a modulus breakdown of multiplied primes for the purpose of "defeating" RSA encryption. It started with the movie "Sneakers". It ended as an obsession.
In the end, I did find my very own factoring method. Someday I should submit it to a mathematics magazine so that they can file it under Humor or (even better) Tragedy. I ended up with a method that is almost identical to the Sieve of Eratosthenes and very similar the Sieve of Atkin, with the odd caveat that it works somewhat backwards. Obviously, then, it is quite ineffective. Every so often, though, I still wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea to try.
[edit] Aviation
I like things that fly. A lot. Paper airplanes, balsawood planes, general aviation aircraft, light jets, C5s... you get the idea. If you ever see a guy throwing paper airplanes with different modifications out of a very high window--that's probably me.
Burt Rutan is my aviation hero.
[edit] Computers
I hate the rise of "gaming". Blah. But, undoubtably it has driven computers to be better than ever. Personally, I enjoy Unix operating systems, and think most Linux OS computers should have their harddrives formated. I will admit, my intense dislike for Linux stems from its popularity for being the "in thing". I have noticed that many Linux users do not even understand how to use the command prompt, which I honestly believe is shameful.
I am by no means a Unix guru. Quite far from fit, actually. However, I do make an effort to constantly learn to use it better and more effectively. Undoubtably there is a huge learning curve, but I am finally beginning to see the flat end of it. I use my own personal Unix computer for "high-end" computing, developing new programs, solving math problems that I shamefully don't want to attempt myself, and other odds and ends.
I don't have a problem with Microsoft. Or Bill Gates, for that matter. If you do, I suggest you create your own operating system that is so easy to use that your 90 year old grandmother can figure it out. I admit that I laugh at some of the jokes, though.
