Val42

Languages

enThis user is a native speaker of the English language.

eo-1Ĉi tiu uzanto povas komuniki per baza nivelo de Esperanto.

es-2Este usuario puede contribuir con un nivel intermedio de español.

pig-2Isthay userway ancay ontributecay ithway anway intermediateway evellay ofway Igpay Atinlay.

...This user would like to be able to speak more languages.

tlh-0tlhIngan Hol jatlhbe' lo'wI'vam.

Religion

LDSThis user is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I've taken an extended vacation from Wikipedia for a while. I will be checking in occasionally still.

I'm a forty-something computer programmer, living approximately six miles west of downtown Ogden, Utah, three miles east of the Great Salt Lake and 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.. I graduated from Weber State College (now a university) with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science in 1989. I had enough credits that I could have chosen a Bachelor of Arts degree, but I figured that the science degree would work better with my chosen career path. (I still lean more to the artistic side than others in my field.)

I accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I am an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I served a mission in the Argentina, Buenos Aires South Mission, in the cities of Los Hornos, Chivilcoy and La Plata (in that order). I spoke Castilian Spanish fluently, but with an accent. I can still speak passable Spanish, and still with an accent.

Politically, I am both a fiscal and social conservative. There should be as little government as necessary and no more. On the World's Smallest Political Quiz, I score in the libertarian region, close to the conservative region. But I do not affiliate with any political party, especially not the two major political parties in the United States.

No human can be truly unbiased. However, I do truly strive for the Wikipedia NPOV. Other useful Wikipedia knowledge is found here.

Avocations

Grammar

en-us
-NThis user is a native speaker of American English.

USThis user uses American English.

LE-0This individual still maintains a shred of dignity in this insane world by adhering to correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalisation.

they?This user has no opinion about singular they.

snkThis user says either sneaked or snuck.

to¦goThis user chooses to sometimes use split infinitives.

man-
kindRegarding gender, this user prefers the vernacular, not what is politically correct.

to
too
twoThis user thinks that too many people have no idea how to use words that they should have learned in grade two.

who(m)This user uses either who or whom in the object case.

“,;:’This user is a punctuation stickler.

.  TheThis user puts two spaces after a period.

A, B, and
A and BThis user prefers to use the serial comma only when its omission can be confusing.

its & it'sThis user understands the difference between its and it's. So should you.

’sThi's user know's that not every word that end's with s need's an apostrophe and will remove misused apostrophe's from Wikipedia with extreme prejudice.

AIM-0This user does not understand or have any interest in AOLer.

Programming

This user is a software engineer.

prog-NThis user thinks in bytecode and dreams of electric sheep.

asm: 6502-2This user is an intermediate asm: 6502 programmer.

asm: 68k-2This user is an intermediate asm: 68k programmer.

asm: PIC-1This user is a beginner asm: PIC programmer.

asm: VAX-2This user is an intermediate asm: VAX programmer.

Ada-4This user is an expert Ada programmer.

BASIC-2This user is an intermediate BASIC programmer.

C-4This user is an expert C programmer.

C++-4This user is an expert C++ programmer.

c#-1This user is a beginning C# programmer.

for-1This user is a beginning Fortran programmer.

HTML-2This user is an intermediate HTML user.

Java-1This user is a beginning Java programmer.

SQL-2This user is an intermediate SQL programmer.

Wikipedia

This user is proud
to be a Wikipedian.

This user recently discovered how to use userboxes.

$\sum$This user is greater than the sum of their userboxes.

POV	This user supports userboxes that display points of view.

:-]This user is polite.

This user is a participant in WikiProject Board and table games.

This user is a participant in
WikiProject Utah.

Avocations

This user enjoys cooking.

This user enjoys do-it-yourself projects.

This user enjoys photography.

This user enjoys quilting.

This user has an amateur radio license.

This user enjoys geocaching.

This user is a member of the worldwide family of Scouts.

This user is an Eagle Scout.

This user tracks their money on Where's George?

This user contributes to OpenStreetMap.

This user is a Board Game Geek.

This user has a thing for meeple.

This user settled Catan.

cvg-1This user is a n00b gamer.

Television

This user is a Doctor Who fan.

LOST4…8…15…16…23…42…

This user is LOST…

RDThis user is full of smeg.

{{user seinfeldshite}} 

SGThis user activates the Stargate to explore other planets.

This user activates the Stargate to explore other planets in the Pegasus Galaxy.

trekThis user is a Trekker and knows that any real fan is not a Trekkie.

Music

This user enjoys jazz music.

This user enjoys electronic music.

Computers

This user contributes using Firefox.

This user loves using Google Earth.

This user thinks Apple Inc. products are cool.

This user believes the best use of a PC is as a doorstop.

This user contributes using Linux.

This user uses Google as a primary search engine.

This user contributes using GIMP.

Self-description

This user's favorite color is green.

C₂H₅OH-0This user is a non-drinker.

This user drinks water regularly.

This user is an omnivore.

This user is pretty sure that he is an outlier compared to everybody else.

ASThis user has Asperger syndrome.

This user is straight.

This user is male.

heThis user prefers to be referred to using masculine gender pronouns.

This user is single.

This user is old enough to remember what a typewriter is, and that's all you need to know.

This user remembers using
a rotary dial telephone.

...	This user may get around to being a professional procrastinator. Someday. Maybe.

This user is of English ancestry.

This user is of German ancestry.

This user is of Swedish ancestry.

BSThis user has a Bachelor of Science degree.

This user supports the troops.

vrwc

This user is a member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

INTJThis user's MBTI type is INTJ.

This user's time zone is UTC-6.

This user lives in the United States of America.

This user lives in the U.S. State of Utah.

gkThis user is a geek.

Miscellaneous

This user prefers the metric system.

ft-lbThis user uses American Measurements.

This user enjoys classical music.

This user knows Who's on First.

$0.{\bar {9}}=1$This user knows that 0.999... is exactly 1.

I'm an active geocacher with 545 caches found as of October 8, 2007.

I enjoy playing board games. I used to go to the monthly meeting of a board game group in West Valley City, Utah (next to Salt Lake City about four to six times a year. I'd go more often, but it is about an hour away from my house. There is now a board game group forming in Ogden, Utah. Join us.

I hold an active Amateur radio license, technician class.

Major Wikipedia Edits

I've made some major edits to some topics of which I have personal knowledge. Most have been rewording while adding some additional information. I worry more about editing than keeping this list up to date, so I've missed some major edits. Rather than try to maintain chronology, I have grouped them by topic.

Religion

• Anti-Mormonism: Addressed false Mormon "doctrine".
  • Opposition to Mormonism: Above category renamed to this. (Major contributor)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Minor contributor. (It was already pretty good.)
  • Agency (Mormonism): Major restructuring
  • Blacks and Mormonism
    • Curse and mark of Cain
    • Curse of Ham
  • Book of Mormon
    • Jaredite: Relatively minor edits, but I expect to do more
    • Mahonri Moriancumer: Major expansion (from Ether 1-6) with scriptural references
    • Moroni
    • Mormon (prophet)
    • Omer (Book of Mormon): Greatly-expanded article
    • Plates of Nephi: Re-organized then added the Caretakers section
    • Three Nephites: Rewrote from a stub article to a full article
    • Zarahemla
  • Extermination Order: Added date and governer (Kit Bond) when it was rescinded, and other links to this article.
  • Fireside (Mormonism): Created article (as a stub)
  • LDS movies: Created this article. I've been meaning to do it for a few months, but the article in the Deseret News today about Man's Search for Happiness spurred me on.
    • Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration: Added story that was presented in the movie. (It was stilted, but now present.)
    • Legacy: A Mormon Journey: Created this article stub and the Legacy (movie) redirect.
  • People who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
    • Neleh Dennis: Created a stub (which was soon deleted). But someone else created a better article later.
    • Henry Eyring: (m) Corrected category listing
    • Jon Heder: (m) Corrected category listing
    • Glen A. Larson: Producer of Battlestar Galactica
    • Hugh Nibley: (m) Added him to Category:Latter Day Saints
  • Quorum: Created the article
  • Stake: Revised a lot
  • Ward: Revised a lot
  • WikiProject: Latter Day Saint Movement: Self-added participant
  • Word of Wisdom: Minor edits now, but I expect to do more later
  • Zion
    • City of Zion (Mormonism)

• Creationism and Creation belief: Tried to help without getting stuck in the muck, but was chased off by those who made it into an anti-creationism article.
• Presiding Bishop: Though the article is mostly about Latter Day Saint Presiding Bishops, Alai and I have added some to the Episcopalian section of the article.
• Restorationism: Various edits to make it read better

Geography

• Salt Lake City, Utah: I live about thirty miles north of this city.
• Ogden, Utah: I live about six miles west of this city.
  • Fort Buenaventura: Created this article.
• Great Salt Lake: I live about three miles east of this lake.
• Extremes on Earth: Created this page because I'm interested in this type of information.
  • Extremos en la Tierra: Translated my page to Spanish. It was corrected with the comment (translated), "This translation appears to be a mix of frightful Spanish and Esperanto to Spanish."
• WikiProject: Utah: Self-added participant

Politics and History

• Legacy Highway: I'm for the Legacy Highway. As a computer programmer and former ISP worker, I recognize the logic of redundancy in network paths. But I stuck to a NPOV.
• Eddie Aikau: Created this entry because a guy at work has a T-shirt with the phrase "Eddie would go" and some vague recollection of Eddie's story. I decided to look it up and create a Wikipedia stub.

Technology

• Amiga Corporation: Created article for the company that created the Amiga computer.
• Geocaching: This is a hobby of mine.

Entertainment

• Cinema
  • Back to the Future trilogy: links to and from
  • Clockstoppers: Started article
  • Down and Derby: Wrote article the same day after watching the DVD.
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy: Several minor changes that look like more because of the way differences are generated.
  • Grand Tour: Disaster in Time: Created a stub article, hoping to fill in more later.
  • The Philadelphia Experiment: Added infobox.
  • LDS cinema
    • The Best Two Years: Wrote a complete (new) article
    • Brigham City: Started article stub
    • Mobsters and Mormons: Wrote a complete (new) article
    • Out of Step (film): Wrote a complete (new) article
    • Saints and Soldiers: Significantly expanded article with "Plot Summary" and "Commentary" sections, and added categories.
  • Motion Picture Association of America: A minor edit, but adding an external link was my first Wikipedia edit.
  • Small Soldiers: Added story.
  • Take A Chance''Take A Chance'' (2006): Created article. (It has since been merged into another article about the movie.)
  • Time Machine (2002): Started article.
  • The Time Tunnel: Created episode table, placed existing episode names in it and populated the rest of the table (February 19 through March 1 2007).

• Games
  • Bridges (puzzle): Created article.
  • Crayon Rails: Recreated article.
  • Category:Rail Games: Created category that is now named Category:Railroad games.
  • Reversi diagram template: Created the template by modifying the Chess diagram template.
  • Rivers, Roads & Rails: Created article.
  • Square Mile: Created article, disambiguation page and a new board game category to put it in.
  • Tracks to Telluride: Created article.
  • TransAmerica (board game): Created article.

• Television
  • Battlestar Galactica: Some rework (understatement)
    • Triad (Battlestar Galactica): Started article
    • Viper (disambiguation): Worked on page
  • Bordertown: Created article
  • The Muppet Show: I like this show so much. It is intelligent humor in a silly way.
  • The Prisoner: Added episode of The Invisible Man that bears a striking resemblance to The Village, and re-arranged References section.
  • Quark: Added infobox. (Also, some prior and following edits.)
  • Salvage 1: Added episode list (w/air dates) and restructured article.
  • Star Trek
    • Cyrano Jones: Started article (Lasted a while before it was deleted on the second attempt to delete it.)
  • Teen Angel: Added infobox and episode list.

• Music
  • Convoy: Added a lot more detail to the article about this song by C.W. McCall.
  • Robert Lund: Created this article complete with discography. It was speedily deleted the next day.
  • The Royal Guardsmen: Created this because I like their music, even the ones not about Snoopy and the Red Baron.

• Category:Fictional technology: Combined Category:Fictional devices and Category:Science fiction technology in to this category.

Miscellaneous

• Continuous flow intersection: Created article.
• Template:Infobox RareCurrencies: Created template for use on Inverted Jenny article, etc.

To Do

This is my own personal list of things to do, when I get time:

• Add pictures of internal workings of
  • Pocket Cube (2x2x2) (Can this be disassembled?)
  • Rubik's Cube (3x3x3) Done (by someone else)!
  • Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4)
  • Professor's Cube (5x5x5)

Bookmarks

Articles I want to bookmark for future reference:

• Ray tracing:
  • POV-Ray
  • YafRay
  • Kerkythea
  • Sunflow
• Wikipedia:Errors in the Encyclopædia Britannica that have been corrected in Wikipedia
• Computing
  • Portal:Free software
  • Haiku (web site), the current open-source successor to BeOS
  • D which was deleted.
  • Stratagus, open source game engine.
• Miscellaneous
  • Agloe, New York, a paper town that became real.
    • The Ciphers of the Monks, describes a numeral system that was used by the Cistercian order of monks.

Opinions to be considered

• Don't Destroy
• Constructive Criticism on current Wiki Deletion Policy
• After an article was nominated for the third time for deletion within a few months, I developed a personal policy to automatically vote against deletion unless it had been at least six months since the previous nomination. This went over like a lead balloon when I used it in a recent deletion review, so much so that those desiring deletion didn't read the other reasons I'd given to keep the article. However, in a recent discussion, someone brought up the Wikipedia policy on renominations, so I will now use this with a "six month" limit for "reasonable amount of time".

Problem editors/edits

• Avoid Three revert rule electric fence
• Administrator intervention against vandalism
• For other problem

These are the voyages...

...of the user Val42...

Colors	of the kingdom of this world
Born and raised:	United States	Utah
Lived in:	United States	Utah	Argentina	Buenos Aires
Countries set foot in:	United States	Canada	Argentina
... but only in airport:	Mexico	Peru	Brazil
States set foot in:	Arizona	California	Colorado	Florida	Idaho	Maine
	Massachusetts	Michigan	Montana	Nevada	New Hampshire	New Mexico
	New York	Oregon	Utah	Washington	Wyoming
... and provinces:	British Columbia	Ontario	Buenos Aires
... but only in airport:	Texas	Illinois	Ohio
Summarized on this map