User:George Swan

Bio

personal

Among my interests are the history of science, nautical history, and social justice. In recent years I have been writing about the implications of the "global war on terror".

Project Xanadu

I was a student in an experimental program at the University of Waterloo in 1979. During this time I met Ted Nelson, when he was on a speaking tour, and volunteer to be an intern on his Project Xanadu. I will be writing more about my experiences there on TI:George Swan. It was an experience that shaped my ideas on how hypertexts, like the Citizendium, should be organized.

Unfinished degree

I did not complete that degree.

Work as a computer programmer

Most of my work, since then, has been in the fields of computer programming, or computer training.

Wiki work

In September of 2005 I came across unclassified dossiers from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals held for captives held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

On March 3 2006, in response to a court order, the Department of Defense released 60 large portable document format files containing several hundred transcripts from the CSR Tribunals, I set myself the goal of reading through them. Since then the DoD has released an additional 10,000 or so pages of documents. I plan to read them all.

Writing about this material, on a project like the Citizendium, can be difficult, because authors have to keep from inserting their own conclusions and interpretations. So, I try to make more of an effort to maintain neutrality.

I think anyone who has a concern that I have lapsed from neutrality will be satisfied that I take their concern seriously. I'll ask only that you be specific. George Swan 17:15, 18 October 2007 (CDT)

Work

The rest of this page will point at my rough work, and the tools I use.

Public Domain and free images I have uploaded

Maps

I have created one hundred or so maps, all using a free online map-making tool Other people make much better maps than mine. I'd be happy to get pointers. But for freely distributable maps that can be created very easily, this tool can't be beat.

I'll help others create similar crude maps, and I'll consider requests to create maps.

That wonderful online tool went dark unexpectedly. Wow, if I had anticipated this I would have rushed to complete a couple of hundred maps. Darn. The underlying tools that the online tool used are available in a package that can be downloaded. Those underlying tools are command line driven, not menu-driven, and seem to require a very considerable effort to learn how to use. A small handful of talented people seem to have figured out how to create some exceptional maps using those tools however. George Swan 20:04, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

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Images from US Federal agencies

The work of employees of US Federal agencies, in performance of their duties, is in the public domain. One can find cool images there if one does a google image search confined to the ".mil" or ".gov". Not all images this turns up will be public domain. Some State agencies are also under the .gov domain. Photos may be the product of an employee of a firm which works, on contract, for the US Federal government. Those aren't PD. And neither, of course, are images that have a credit to a third party.

<gallery> Image:Field Manual - Human Intelligence Collector Operations 529 x 352 - lo.jpg|Image:Field Manual - Human Intelligence Collector Operations 529 x 352 - lo.jpg Image:Guantanamo comfort items.jpg|Image:Guantanamo comfort items.jpg Image:Cuban Anoles.jpg|Image:Cuban Anoles.pg Image:Human daily ration leaflet as distributed in Afghanistan.jpg|Image:Human daily ration leaflet as distributed in Afghanistan.jpg Image:Salmon colored Humanitarian Daily Ration.jpg|Image:Salmon colored Humanitarian Daily Ration.jpg Image:Humanitarian daily rations and contents.jpg|Image:Humanitarian daily rations and contents.jpg Image:Casio F91W digital watch.jpg|Image:Casio F91W digital watch.jpg Image:Prototype Mobile Gun System firing its autocannon.jpg|Image:Prototype Mobile Gun System firing its autocannon.jpg Image:Air-dropping a Mobile Gun System from a C-17.jpg|Image:Air-dropping a Mobile Gun System from a C-17.jpg Image:Rappel training at Kandahar Airport.jpg|Image:Rappel training at Kandahar Airport.jpg Image:Inside Damaged Kandahar Airport Terminal.jpg|Image:Inside Damaged Kandahar Airport Terminal.jpg Image:Control Tower Kandahar Airport.jpg|Image:Control Tower Kandahar Airport.jpg Image:Roof of the Kandahar Airport.jpg|Image:Roof of the Kandahar Airport.jpg Image:Guantanamo operating room.jpg|Image:Guantanamo operating room.jpg Image:Administrative Review Board hearing room - Guantanamo.jpg|Image:Administrative Review Board hearing room - Guantanamo.jpg Image:Trailer were CSR Tribunaals were held - Guantanamo.jpg|Image:Trailer were CSR Tribunaals were held - Guantanamo.jpg Image:USS Shrike.jpg|Image:USS Shrike.jpg Image:USS Blackhawk.jpg|Image:USS Blackhawk.jpg Image:USS Shrike.jpg|Image:USS Shrike.jpg Image:Osprey class coastal mine hunter.gif|Image:Osprey class coastal mine hunter.gif Image:USS Kingfisher.jpg|Image:USS Kingfisher.jpg mage:RV Ron Brown Z drive 1.jpg|mage:RV Ron Brown Z drive 1.jpg Image:Lori Piestewa - 1st American First Nations female GI to die in combat.jpg|Image:Lori Piestewa - 1st American First Nations female GI to die in combat.jpg Image:Algerian Six.jpg|Image:Algerian Six.jpg Image:NOAA - Tiksi, Siberia.jpg|Image:NOAA - Tiksi, Siberia.jpg Image:Industrial cranes in Dudinka, Russia.jpg|Image:Industrial cranes in Dudinka, Russia.jpg Image:Aerial view of Dudinka.jpg|Image:Aerial view of Dudinka.jpg