User:David Straub
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I’m Dave Straub. As you can tell from my user name, I believe in openness and accountability on the Internet. If you make something, why not take credit for it? I do. I can’t find much respect for people who hide behind fake names and write insulting junk or enjoy vandalizing websites. The people I respect the most on the internet are those who create and contribute to websites that spread knowledge and preserve history. If you want to drop me a line you can contact me by e-mail at davestraub@yahoo.com.
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[edit] Things I know a little bit about
I enjoy writing articles about subjects I know something about: Minnesota, Central Asia, and China.
I’m a native of Edina, Minnesota. I graduated from Edina High School in 1992, but don’t call me a ‘’Cake Eater.” I know what a cold-ass winter feels like, and I can’t say I really miss them much either. I no longer live in Minnesota, but I still always follow the Minnesota Twins and try and listen to MPR online. Everyday I keep in touch with home by reading the Star Tribune.
I have a B.A. in History with a focus on Central Asia. I wrote an lengthy honors thesis on the civil war in Tajikistan. I’ve traveled to Xinjiang, China twice and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan once. In 1996 I created the website The Tajikistan Update which I maintained until I moved to China in 2001. From 2001-06 the Chinese government blocked access to the Angelfire.com server and I rarely have updated my website since then. In 2006 access to Angelifire.com has been restored, but I’m too busy doing other things now to continue to update the website. I hope to return to school and get a Masters in either Central Asian studies or get certified in teaching history. My ability
I’ve lived in Shanghai, China since 2001. I arrived here September 7th, 2001, four days before 9-11. The next few months were tiresome adjusting to China, but I’ve grown to like the place. I began teaching in December 2001, starting with ESL and in 2005 I began to teach history. It’s great to have a job you like! I’ve traveled through much of China, and one of my favorite places was Tashkurgan in southwestern China near the border with Afghanistan. I can speak and read Chinese, though not fluently. This helps me get around in Shanghai and I get the pleasure of making some wikipedia edits that few other laowai could.
[edit] Traveling
Gili Air! Xiahe Temple! Prague! I’ve been to these and many other places. They kick ass! My travels have included the following: Brunei (2003), Cambodia (2005), China (2000, 2001-present), Czech Republic (1999), East Timor (2005), India (2003), Indonesia (2005), Italy (1998), Japan (1996), Kyrgyzstan (2004), Laos (2004), Malaysia (2003), Mexico (1996), Norway (2000), Singapore (2003), Spain (1996), Sri Lanka (2003), Tajikistan (2004), Thailand (2003, 2004), Vietnam (2006).
If you're interested in traveling I strongly suggest you contribute to Wikitravel.
[edit] Wikipedia Articles I’ve worked on
I first heard about Wikipedia in 2005. I’ve had a hard time getting on the site because of internet censorship in China. I’ve found a way around this problem, but who knows how long it will take before I get blocked again. I like writing about stuff that I’m familiar with and that I don’t think other people would write about.
I’ve made a ton of minor edits but here’s what I put some effort into:
| Edits |
|---|
| Articles I’ve started from scratch or expanded from minor snippets = Yellow |
| Articles that I did not initiate but made substantial contributions to = Green |
| Articles that I have done extensive editing to one or more sections = Blue |
| DYK=Did You Know? |
[edit] Anti-Google Hit Rant
This is from a discussion I had over the Brian Glick article I wrote:
“I know the editors on wikipedia are trying to do their jobs and you are doing a great one from what I've seen, and on top of that you’re not even getting paid for what you do, but I do have one thing to say: …GOOGLE HITS ARE A COMPLETELY NON-ACADEMIC WAY OF DOING RESEARCH. The main reason for this is that the internet is primarily composed of CURRENT material. News articles are quickly purged and most material is sooner or later removed and stored in databases that require subscriptions. THERE FOR YOU CANNOT BASE THE NOTABILITY, SIGNIFICANCE OF A SUBJECT ON THE NUMBER OF GOOGLE HITS IT GETS!!!! That's just a fact. Do you guys think that's the way professors write articles?”
I was a little annoyed when I wrote this, but I still think it’s true. If wikipedia is going to be a professional website, then the standards for determining notability must be more than a 10-second Google search. I’m old enough to remember the pre-Internet days of having to go into to a library and trolling through the stacks for hours, trying to find one article. Luckily, we don’t have to do that anymore (well, at least in most cases). More and more information is available over the internet today, especially if you have a library card. You’re going to have a hard time finding much information in a google search for most events that occurred before the year 2000. But with your library card you can get free access at home to databases such as LexisNexis, Proquest, Ebsco and numerous others that literally house millions of articles from periodicals. If Wikipedia is going to compete with Encyclopedia Britannica then articles should be written using sound research methods from proven sources.
