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User:Truthanado

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Wikimood
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My user name is a portmanteau of the words truth and aficianado,[1] meaning one who strives for the truth.

I started editing Wikipedia in March 9, 2007 (17 years ago) (2007-03-09). After eight (8) years of some serious editing and patrolling on Wikipedia, I got into a bit of a Wikifunk starting in April 2015. Other things going on in my life limited the amount of time I spent on Wikipedia. In October 2019, I tried to make a conscious effort to become more active in Wikipedia, probably not as active as before though. From 2020 to 2021, the shelter-in-place and work-from-home recommendations due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave me a renewed opportunity to be more involved in Wikipedia, which has really picked up in 2021 with my work retirement.

In November 2023, some other things have become more important in my life, and my involvement in Wikipedia, though still there, is not as active as in the recent past.

Multilicense -- see bottom of page. Today's UTC date is December 6, 2024 (mdy format) or 6 December 2024 (dmy format).

The English Wikipedia has 847 admins; 6,920,309 articles; 61,973,498 pages and 48,370,003 users ... and is still growing. In addition, there are 352 different language editions of Wikipedia: 339 active and 13 closed.

About me

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I am a retired Systems Engineer living in Atlanta, Georgia USA. I have an AAS in Engineering and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. I worked in Rail Transportation and Electric Power industries for 50 years before my retirement in 2021. My personal motto is "to make life easier for everyone, including me". To that end, I strive to help put the most complete, correct and easy to find information possible in Wikipedia.

Biometrics:

  • Height: 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm)
  • Weight: 210 pounds (95 kg)

Wikilosophy

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Wikipedia is the best source of information out there, and I do my part to make it (and keep it) free, vibrant and current. That includes making annual financial contributions.

In my opinion, the most important Wiki policy is WP:BOLD.

My Wikipedia Philosophy, or Wikilosophy, is not a set of hard and fast rules. I prefer shades of gray, making appropriate choices based on each situation. Having said that, I believe in processes, and my actions typically follow what's described below.

I tend towards Inclusionism. If someone has taken the time to do something, whether that be creating a new article or modifying an existing one, that is important. So long as the work falls within the clear guidelines as to what can be included in Wikipedia: verifiability, no original research, and neutral point of view, I accept the work as-is. If it falls outside the guidelines, I prefer to take action. I usually prefer discussion to resolve questions, although I do not hesitate to suggest speedy delete or PROD for articles that obviously violate Wikipolicy. Quick action is often the best course in the case of blatant vandalism.

This one is tough for me. I fully believe in the value of improving articles over time, and I see nothing wrong with a weak article that can and will be improved. After all, Wikipedia didn't suddenly become what it is today, it evolved over time. I am someone who desires consistency and professionalism, and I generally do not hesitate to make format changes and general copyedit so that articles on similar topics have a similar professional look-and-feel. For example, I routinely add or update an infobox to articles about schools so that most school articles look the same. And I often edit articles for consistent layout and format (especially dates) as described in the Wikipedia Manual of Style.

I tend to be an Exopedian. The encyclopedic value of Wikipedia (providing useful information to our readers) is why we are here, so that should be the most important. I edit mostly on my own, and also value interacting with others; it's the way I learn, and hopefully, the way I help others learn too.

I tend towards Inclusionism for information inside articles, and Exclusionism for the articles themselves. I have no problem including various facts about a topic in the article, so long as the article's topic is notable. Non-notable topics are candidates for deletion, using the clear deletion policy.

Notability is not an opinion, it is based on facts and a set of Wikipedia policies. A topic is notable if it has been the subject of multiple, non-trivial, reliable published works, whose sources are independent of the subject itself. Enforcing notability criteria for articles is important, and ensures that articles meet core criteria such as verifiability and no original research. It is less important for the specific content of articles ... that is more subjective and is usually resolved by the opinions of the community as a whole. I generally try to avoid notability discussions about music, especially bands and band members; my personal idea of notability in those areas does not agree with many others.

My contribution to Wikipedia

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I have been a Wikipedia user since March 2007; 17 years ago (2007-03), I became an active member of the Wikipedia community. In my spare time, I often cruise around various Wikipedia articles, educating myself, adding bits of information as appropriate, and helping to clean up and organize. Occasionally, I may create a new article about an interesting and informative topic. I often check New pages and Recent changes to see what's new, to make sure changes are appropriate and to perform general copyedit and article improvements. I am not afraid to tag an inappropriate article for speedy delete, PROD or AfD; or to seek the help of a Wiki admin. I also use Random article, which is an interesting way to see what's out there. I am often surprised by the breadth of information in Wikipedia, as well as recognizing that some of it could use updates and improvements.

I sometimes take part in notability and deletion discussions, as well as suggestions to modify Wikipolicy. It's an interesting part of the Wikipedia experience, and an important one as well. After all, Wikipedia's rules and guidelines have been developed by the members themselves. And it is important to review them from time to time.

Following the Wikipedia style guide, I believe in consistency (it makes things easier to understand), and I sometimes make minor edits to an article so that it is consistent within itself, with other similar articles and in agreement with Wiki guidelines. I copyedit and try to simplify text by removing peacock terms and unnecessary and over-used words like but, currently, however; and the over-used comma punctuation mark, as well as consistent usage of "which" versus "that"; and by using simplified and easier-to-understand verb tense where appropriate. I also edit articles for consistent usage of date format (dmy vs mdy) and British versus American English (depending on the article).

I spend quite a bit of time in the following areas:

  • Random articles
  • History (especially biographical articles)
  • Railways, Rail Suppliers and Equipment
  • Geography (especially towns and villages, goal is to standardize the format and content using geoboxes)

In June 2007, I scored 517 on the Wikipedia:Wikipediholism test, which rates me as a person with few edits. My retest in August 2007 scored 3784 points, which rates me "officially addicted". I took the automatic test in May 2008 and scored 4792 points, which makes me an official "Wikipediholic". In December 2011, I took the test again and scored 17174 points, which makes me (according to the test) "Only the world's best psychiatrist, physiologist and witch doctor combined can cure your Wikipediholism at this stage. Normally you would get off of Wikipedia and go find those people... Normally...". In June 2021, I scored 323 on the updated test, which classifies me as "You're a Pro." In June 2023, I scored 429 on the updated test, which classifies me as "You're a Pro."

Though not a Wikipedia admin (I believe I can be more helpful as an editor), I was an admin and key user of a separate Wiki where I work (my company decided in 2020 to retire its internal Wiki in a move to standardize on using Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive for collaboration)[2] My experiences on Wikipedia helped the work wiki and vice versa.

My edits

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I believe that quality of edits is more important than quantity. I have seen several editors with more edits than I have in the same (or less) amount of time. Having said that, keeping a record of edits can be interesting.[3]

Most active

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As of December 2010, a bot decided that I am one of the most active Wikipedians.

My place in WP:MOSTEDITS over time
Place Date Place Date Place Date
2517 July 11, 2012 2370 October 17, 2012 2340 January 20, 2013
2271 May 17, 2013 2230 September 1, 2013 2194 March 16, 2014
2204 November 3, 2014 2438 July 23, 2016 2664 September 23, 2017
2882 November 4, 2018 3076 October 21, 2019 3150 March 30, 2020
3067 July 3, 2021 2958 August 8, 2021 2881 September 17, 2021
2803 October 25, 2021 2737 January 2, 2022 2708 March 3, 2022
2644 April 16, 2022 2574 May 17, 2022 2483 July 6, 2022
2393 October 17, 2022 2336 December 2, 2022 2278 February 26, 2023
2275 June 27, 2023 2224 December 4, 2023 2244 April 27, 2024
2243 October 22, 2024

Edit milestones

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My edit milestones[4] are:

  • First Edit: Cobblestone School, March 9, 2007
  • 1000th Wiki page: RailAmerica, August 23, 2007, which is my 1836th edit
  • 2000th Wiki page: Ford Bond, December 30, 2007, which is my 3669th edit
  • One Year Anniversary (March 8, 2008): 2685 pages edited, 5000 total edits, 5000 edits in the past year
  • 3000th Wiki page: David Owen Dodd, April 5, 2008, which is my 5609th edit
  • 4000th Wiki page: Harry Coover, July 30, 2008, which is my 7285th edit
  • 5000th Wiki page: 1984 World Series, November 4, 2008, which is my 8968th edit
  • 10000th edit: Japanese Emperors family tree, December 14, 2008
  • Second Year Anniversary (March 8, 2009): 11717 total edits, 6717 edits in the past year
  • Third Year Anniversary (March 8, 2010): 14396 total edits, 2679 edits in the past year
  • 15000th edit: Battle of Uji, April 5, 2010
  • Fourth Year Anniversary (March 8, 2011): 16668 total edits, 2472 edits in the past year
  • Fifth Year Anniversary (March 8, 2012): 18678 total edits, 2010 edits in the past year
  • 20000th edit: List of rail accidents (2010–2019), July 8, 2012
  • Sixth Year Anniversary (March 8, 2013): 22571 total edits, 3933 edits in the past year
  • 25000th edit: RPO, October 28, 2013
  • Seventh Year Anniversary (March 8, 2014): 25645 total edits, 3074 edits in the past year
  • Eighth thru Eleventh Year Anniversaries - not celebrated
  • Twelfth Year Anniversary (March 8, 2019): 26655 total edits, 181 edits in the past year
  • Lucky Thirteenth Year Anniversary (March 8, 2020, celebrated late on April 10, 2020): 29046, ~391 edits in the past year
  • 30000th edit: M25, February 26, 2021
  • Fourteenth Anniversary (March 8, 2021): 30190, 1144 edits in the past year
  • 35000th edit: Marriage in the Isle of Man, October 20, 2021
  • Fifteenth Anniversary (March 8, 2022): 36624, 6434 edits in the past year
  • 40000th edit: Shimodate Station, June 16, 2022
  • 45000th edit: Raichberg Transmitter February 15, 2023
  • Sixteenth Anniversary (March 8, 2023): 45370, 8746 edits in the past year
  • Seventeenth Anniversary (March 8, 2024): 48279, 2909 edits in past year

Busiest months

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On November 22, 2021, the number of my edits for the calendar year surpassed my previous yearly high of 6146 in 2008, with more than a month to go. The COVID-19 pandemic (working from home) and my retirement contributed to making this possible. The year 2021 ended with a total of 6688 total edits. On October 26, 2022, my total calendar year edits passed the previous high set one year earlier, with more than two months to go; the year 2022 ended with a total of 7978 edits, more than a thousand more than the previous year.

My top-ten months of edits are:

  1. 1157 edits - September 2021 (38.5 edits/day)
  2. 1086 edits - May 2022 (35.0 edits/day)
  3. 1003 edits - April 2022 (34.4 edits/day)
  4. 973 edits - December 2008 (31.4 edits/day)
  5. 929 edits - October 2022 (29.9 edits/day)
  6. 915 edits - June 2022 (30.5 edits/day)
  7. 841 edits - July 2023 (27.1 edits/day)
  8. 832 edits - October 2021 (26.8 edits/day)
  9. 823 edits - July 2022 (26.5 edits/day)
  10. 747 edits - September 2021 (24.9 edits/day)

Did you know

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Some of my contributions have appeared on Did you know?:

Other

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I avoid editing musical group articles whenever I can. It's generally not an area that I'm familiar with, and much of the information in such articles has questionable notability and is there for political (not encyclopedic) reasons.

I have helped promote the following to good article status:

See my list of created articles. You can find a summary of my Wiki contributions here here or here or here or on mathbot's tool (some may not work).

I sometimes contribute to other versions of Wikipedia:

My To-Do list

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  • Copyedit articles in Category:All articles needing copy edit (added October 29, 2011, ongoing)
  • Add Persondata metadata and/or {{Lifetime}} template to biographical articles (started June 2007 / July 2008, ongoing)
  • Create Standard Code of Operating Rules article to fix broken link in North American railway signaling (added December 15, 2007)
  • Make dates consistent per WP:DATE and WP:MOSNUM (in progress, started January 2008)
  • Clean up and validate the CMM and CMMI articles; CMM, in particular, mixes elements of CMMI with the CMM model (added March 22, 2008)
  • Improve David Owen Dodd article; see Talk:David Owen Dodd#GA failure (in progress, started March 30, 2008); Wikipedia:Peer review/David Owen Dodd/archive1 (done April 19, 2008); Wikipedia:Peer review/Automated/April 2008#David Owen Dodd (in progress, started April 19, 2008).
  • Expand the Rochester Telephone article using info from the book This Great Contrivance, The First Hundred Years of the Telephone in Rochester (1979) (added September 7, 2008)
  • Create an article about the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), see [1] (added June 6, 2009)
  • Create an article about American Optical Company; seems to be important in the film industry and also has ties to Old Sturbridge Village (added July 4, 2009)
  • Create a Great Embankment article to describe the Erie Canal aqueduct near Bushnell's Basin over Irondequoit Creek; include the May 19, 1911 flood (see NY Times article) and the 1974(?) leak that flooded the area. (added December 26, 2009) Some references: [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
  • Resolve mis-spellings of "orginal->original" and "relase->release" in many articles and Wikicommons images, see [11] (added December 28, 2009, asked for help at the Wikipedia help desk)
  • Update the article for the Immaculate Conception Church in Atlanta GA; Georgia Historic Marker says it's the first Catholic Church and the oldest standing building in Atlanta, spared from destruction when Atlanta was burned in the Civil War. (added February 25, 2012; updated November 9, 2014)
  • Locate and/or create articles for the Niagara and St Lawrence power dams, see [12] (added February 26, 2012)
  • Create article for St. Mary's Church (Annapolis, Maryland) (added November 17, 2014)
  • Create Camilla Tominey article (added December 30, 2020) - no longer needed, article was created 1 May 2021 by Andysmith248
  • Create Blessed Sacrament Church (Rochester, New York)article, noting that there is a picture in Wikimedia Commans (added January 2, 2021)
  • Add {{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd}} and/or {{End date and age|yyyy|mm|dd}} template to dates in infoboxes for locations, structures (buildings,bridges), organizations and others to provide a historical perspective (added June 13, 2021)

Articles to check

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  • None at present

What others think

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The Resilient Barnstar
This Barnstar is awarded to Truthanado for his positive response to the Bowie State University, Department of Public Safety editorial comment. Sallicio (talk) 04:25, 5 January 2008 (UTC)Sallicio



Truthanado has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian,
so I've officially declared today as Truthanado's Day!
For being a great person and awesome Wikipedian,
enjoy being the star of the day, Truthanado!

Signed, Neutralhomer

A record of your Day will always be kept here.


The Editor's Barnstar
I'm guessing this is not the first time you've done this, and it may not be the first time anyone has thanked you, but no matter--such editing needs to be heralded. Too many people around here write in a conditional tense when they mean the past tense, though why that is, I've never understood. I'm glad to see someone else who understands this. HuskyHuskie (talk) 22:59, 31 August 2012 (UTC)


The Copyeditor's Barnstar
I think the volume of your c/e edits make this Copyeditor's Barnstar self-justified. Thank you for your hard work, Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 13:45, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

My travels

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For both business and pleasure, I have done a lot of traveling (more than one million miles (1.6 million km) in planes), and enjoy meeting people from different countries and cultures. I have completed three round-the-world trips by plane (all on business), two going East-to-West and one West-to-East:

  1. United States to Japan to Australia to Hong Kong to England to United States
  2. United States to Belgium to Netherlands to Hong Kong to United States
  3. United States to Australia to Hong Kong to Germany to England to United States

Countries and Independent Territories I have visited

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(*) indicates a country that I have lived in for at least one month.

USA states (and DC) I have visited

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(*) indicates a state that I have lived in for at least one month.

Canadian provinces I have visited

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Significant bodies of water that I have physically been in or on

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  1. Adriatic Sea - cruise ship
  2. Aegean Sea - cruise ship
  3. Atlantic Ocean - boat, swimming
  4. Baltic Sea - cruise ship
  5. Bay of Fundy - cruise ship
  6. Bosphorus - ferry
  7. Boston Harbor - tour boat
  8. Brisbane River - boat
  9. Caribbean Sea - cruise ship
  10. Dardanelles - cruise ship
  11. English Channel - cruise ship
  12. Grand Canal (Venice) - gondola
  13. Gulf of Mexico - boat
  14. Hong Kong Harbour - ferry
  15. Hudson River - tour boat
  16. Ionian Sea - cruise ship
  17. Irish Sea - ferry
  18. Lake Erie - swimming
  19. Lake Ontario - boat, swimming
  20. Loch Ness - boat
  21. Mediterranean Sea - cruise ship
  22. Mississippi River - ferry
  23. New York Harbor - ferry
  24. Niagara River - tour boat
  25. North Sea - cruise ship
  26. Pacific Ocean - swimming
  27. River Thames - warship
  28. Sea of Marmara - cruise ship
  29. St Lawrence River - tour boat, swimming
  30. South China Sea - ferry
  31. Strait of Messina - cruise ship
  32. Strait of Otranto - cruise ship
  33. Tyrrhenian Sea - cruise ship
  34. Venetian Lagoon - boat

My world vision

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My world vision changes a bit over time, although the basic stay the same. Over time, I've become slightly more Libertarian and less Leftist, putting me somewhere in the middle.

My results in The Political Compass test over time
Date Economic Left/Right Score Social Libertarian/Authoritarian Score Like
2008 Leftist -4.25 Libertarian -1.13 Nelson Mandela
2010 Leftist -3.62 Libertarian -0.97 N/A
2011 Leftist -1.88 Libertarian -1.90 Gandhi
2012 Leftist -1.33 Libertarian -1.75 Gandhi
2013 Leftist -2.38 Libertarian -1.33 Greek election candidate Alexis Tsipris
2017 Leftist -2.50 Libertarian -1.44 Gandhi
2020 Leftist -3.75 Libertarian -1.18 Gandhi
2023 Leftist -4.13 Libertarian -2.05 N/A
I took the questionnaire at Quizfarm,[dead link] which gave me these results.

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. .

Cultural Creative

69%

Existentialist

56%

Postmodernist

56%

Idealist

50%

Modernist

44%

Romanticist

44%

Fundamentalist

38%

Materialist

31%

In January 2022, I took the Personality Test at Free Personality Test, which rated me as a Logistician (ISTJ-A):

27% EXTRAVERTED ... 73% INTROVERTED
You’re mostly Observant. You’re likely highly practical, pragmatic and down-to-earth, focusing on what is actionable, tangible, and useful.
48% INTUITIVE ... 52% OBSERVANT
You’re mostly Thinking. You’re likely to prioritize logic over emotions, hide your feelings, and see objectivity as more important than cooperation.
53% THINKING ... 47% FEELING
You’re mostly Judging. You’re likely decisive, thorough and highly organized, with a focus on structure, planning, and closure.
68% JUDGING ... 32% PROSPECTING
You’re mostly Assertive. You’re likely self-assured, even-tempered and resistant to stress, refusing to worry too much or to push yourself too hard.

Logisticians don’t make many assumptions, preferring instead to analyze their surroundings, check their facts and arrive at practical courses of action. Logistician personalities are no-nonsense, and when they’ve made a decision, they will relay the facts necessary to achieve their goal, expecting others to grasp the situation immediately and take action. Logisticians have little tolerance for indecisiveness, but lose patience even more quickly if their chosen course is challenged with impractical theories, especially if they ignore key details – if challenges becomes time-consuming debates, Logisticians can become noticeably angry as deadlines tick nearer.

Some Logisticians are: Sting, Denzel Washington, Angela Merkel, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, George Washington, Condoleeza Rice, George H.W.Bush, Edward Stark (Game of Thrones), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Dana Scully (X-Files) and Jason Bourne.

Useful wiki stuff

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Tools

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Project news

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Image stuff

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Map stuff

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Other tools

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Random wiki stuff

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Interesting articles and categories

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Notes

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  1. ^ "It has been pointed out that the correct spelling is "aficionado". Oh well. Poetic license?
  2. ^ It's interesting that a simple-to-use Wiki (at its peak used by over 200 people) got replaced by a much-harder-to-use set of software tools.
  3. ^ Edit counts are primarily based on data as of the completion of each month; this data can change and be inaccurate because it may contain articles that are later deleted.
  4. ^ Edit statistics may not include deleted edits
Released into public domain
I agree to release my text and image contributions, unless otherwise stated, into the public domain. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under public domain terms, please check the multi-licensing guide.