Wikipedia

User:Anachronist

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This user has been on Wikipedia for 19 years and 21 days.

PMPThis user is a certified
Project Management Professional.

This user is a scientist.

This user plays Minecraft.


Go slowly insane as you sit and stare...


Hi, I'm Axl Matulić, A.K.A. Anachronist. My old username User:Amatulic redirects here. My Wiktionary account Wiktionary:User:Anachronist offers an explanation of the username.

I am an administrator here on the English Wikipedia and a member of the Volunteer Response Team (VRT). I'm also a bureaucrat and administrator with the same username on the Minecraft Wiki.

Background

Professionally, I've had roles as scientist and engineer in the military field of stealth technology, entrepreneur leading a startup through acquisition, and more recently as a program manager for Silicon Valley tech companies. Now I'm retired, doing occasional freelance 3D design work.

I enjoy anime, role-playing games, educational topics, and especially travel. I'm first-generation American, my mother is German, my father is Croatian, my spouse is Singaporean. I have traveled all over Europe and Eastern Europe, also Canada and Mexico, as well as Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia (particularly Singapore as well as Malaysia and Thailand). I must say Croatia is one of the more beautiful countries I have ever seen, and Stockholm and Dubrovnik are the most beautiful cities I have visited. Unfortunately I have never set foot south of the equator (Singapore is the closest I've come), and hope to do that someday.

I enjoy good wine. Read my profile on the Wikipedia wine project.

Also, I maintain a mathematics-related blog, NABLU (Numerical Analysis Better Left Unsaid), which I update sporadically every few months, mostly for educational purposes and for my own amusement.

Projects

 
This user is a participant in WikiProject Wine.
 This user is a participant in WikiProject Spam.
 This user is a member of WikiProject Skepticism.
 This user values third opinions and occasionally provides one.


Last dozen or so contributions

14 November 2024

13 November 2024

12 November 2024

11 November 2024


Articles I started

DYKs

Articles I wrote that appeared on the "Did you know" section of the Wikipedia home page:

Click on show to view the contents of this section
  On December 20, 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Steviol glycoside, which you created. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.
 

On 23 April 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Nobel Prize effect, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that according to Richard Hamming, Nobel Prize winners often discover they can no longer work on small problems? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Nobel Prize effect. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Nobel Prize effect), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Gatoclass (talk) 00:02, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
 

On 4 August 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Solid (web decentralization project), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee created the Solid Project to reclaim the Web from corporations and return control of data to users? You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Solid (web decentralization project)), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:02, 4 August 2018 (UTC)
 

On 30 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Assembly theory, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that assembly theory provides an experimentally verifiable way of detecting extraterrestrial life without needing to define what life is? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Assembly theory. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Assembly theory), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

Images I created

On Commons

On Wikipedia

Non-free images
Free images

Third opinions

I enjoy offering third opinions in disputes between two editors who have reached an impasse. There's something satisfying about coming to an article I have no opinion about, studying the edit history and talk page discussion, and offering a neutral disinterested viewpoint in an attempt to resolve the dispute. I think the Wikipedia:Third opinion page is a great vehicle for dispute resolution, and more people should use it and participate. My third opinions:

Click on show to view the contents of this section
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Post-2010

Since becoming an admin in 2010, I noticed the dynamic of a third opinion discussion seems a bit different if you're an admin giving one, and I don't like to seem like I'm any more authoritative than anyone else due to that status, so I stopped participating. Once in a while I'll jump in, though.

Appearances in off-Wiki media

  • Washington Monthly mentioned me in an article about Wikipedia's efforts to provide reliable information on controversial events: Grace Gedye (4 February 2021). "When the Capitol Was Attacked, Wikipedia Went to Work". Washington Monthly.
  • Journal of Documentation published an analysis of a talk page disagreement I had with another editor. This was brought to my attention at Talk:Gynostemma pentaphyllum#Meta: this Wikipedia page is the subject of an academic paper. I can't say I agree with their characterization, but there it is: Morris-O'Connor, D.A.; Strotmann, A; Zhao, D. (2023). "The colonization of Wikipedia: evidence from characteristic editing behaviors of warring camps". Journal of Documentation. 79 (3): 784-810. doi:10.1108/JD-04-2022-0090.

Miscellaneous accolades

Click on show to view the contents of this section
  The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
I salute you for doing the best you can :) Mrpotatohead 2 (talk) 21:35, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
  The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
Keep up the good work and keep smiling Mrpotatohead 2 (talk) 21:35, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
  The Third Opinion Award
For diligent and faithful service to the Wikipedia community through your work at WP:3O. — TRANSPORTERMAN (TALK) 17:57, 1 March 2010 (UTC)
  The Barnstar of Diplomacy
For contributing to the end of the edit warring on the Muhammad (PBUH) article. Thank you! Xact (talk) 15:11, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
  The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
I saw your post on another talk page for a blocked user and was happy to see that person took your advice The.thanker (talk) 01:49, 6 August 2011 (UTC)
  Hello Amatulic! I hope you enjoy this cookie as an amicable greeting from a fellow Wikipedian, SwisterTwister talk 03:44, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
  The Barnstar of Diligence
Thank you Martinkv (talk) 11:22, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
  The Civility Barnstar
For helping to prevent edit wars Misconceptions2 (talk) 13:12, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
  The Special Barnstar
Thanks for your contributions! SwisterTwister talk 23:03, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
  The Barnstar of Good Humor
thanks Kikililly01 (talk) 19:14, 25 January 2013 (UTC)
  The Barnstar of Diligence
Keep up the excellent Wikipedia work! Lubbad85 (☎) 02:53, 14 April 2019 (UTC)
  The Socratic Barnstar
Thanks for bringing level-headed reason to Wikipedia disputes. Pyrrho the Skeptic (talk) 15:51, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
  The Teamwork Barnstar
Thanks for your help with the RFC. Andrevan@ 18:00, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
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