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)

Image:Breeze - Toronto, Rochester ferry.png
Image:Arctic Ocean Seaports.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over St Peter and St Paul Rocks.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over Pitcairn Island.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over Juan Fernandez.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over Ile Amsterdam.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over Fernando de Noronha.png
Image:Orthographic projection centred over Easter Island.pn
Image:Indian Ocean.png

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.

Image:Field Manual - Human Intelligence Collector Operations 529 x 352 - lo.jpg
Image:Guantanamo comfort items.jpg
Image:Cuban Anoles.pg
Image:Human daily ration leaflet as distributed in Afghanistan.jpg
Image:Salmon colored Humanitarian Daily Ration.jpg
Image:Humanitarian daily rations and contents.jpg
Image:Casio F91W digital watch.jpg
Image:Prototype Mobile Gun System firing its autocannon.jpg
Image:Air-dropping a Mobile Gun System from a C-17.jpg
Image:Rappel training at Kandahar Airport.jpg
Image:Inside Damaged Kandahar Airport Terminal.jpg
Image:Control Tower Kandahar Airport.jpg
Image:Roof of the Kandahar Airport.jpg
Image:Guantanamo operating room.jpg
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:USS Shrike.jpg
Image:USS Blackhawk.jpg
Image:USS Shrike.jpg
Image:Osprey class coastal mine hunter.gif
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:Algerian Six.jpg
Image:NOAA - Tiksi, Siberia.jpg
Image:Industrial cranes in Dudinka, Russia.jpg
Image:Aerial view of Dudinka.jpg
====All images I have uploaded, chronologically====
All images I have uploaded, chronologically:
File:Ithaca, aground near Churchill.JPG
File:John Allen Midgett was recognized by the UK government for saving UK seamen in 1918.jpg
File:St Joseph has a Coast Guard station built on the site of this Lifesaving Service station from 1874.jpg
File:Julian Assange.jpg
File:Cruise ship and lake freighter, eastern gap, toronto -a.jpg
File:USCGC Willow during Operation Nanook, 2011 -a.png
File:HMCS Summerside, USCGC Willow, HDMS Hvidbjoernen during Operation Nanook 2011.jpg
File:HMCS Summerside and USCGC Willow during Operation Nanook 2011.jpg
File:A 'man overboard' drill on the USCGC Willow during Operation Nanook 2011.jpg
File:USCGC Willow during Operation Nanook 2011 -a.jpg
File:HMCS Goose Bay moored at the future site of the Nanisivik Naval Facility, during Operation Nanook, 2010-08-20.jpg
File:Orthographic projection centered over the Baffinland Iron Mine.png
File:Lake freighter Quebecois, moored at the Toronto portlands -b.jpg
File:Lake freighter Quebecois, moored at the Toronto portlands -a.jpg
File:Atule in 1946 during arctic studies.jpg
File:Royal Danish Naval Vessel Knut Rasmussen participates in Operation Nanook 2010.jpg
File:One pounder gun on the USS De Kalb, 1918.jpg
File:USS Brooklyn bombards shore positions druing the Anzio invasion.jpg
File:Pilothouse of the USS Brooklyn, 1938-01.jpg
File:Enlisted crewman's storage locker, USS Brooklyn.jpg
File:Chief Petty Officer's Mess, USS Brooklyn.jpg
File:Off duty sailors relax in 1938.jpg
File:Supply officer's stateroom, USS Brooklyn.jpg
File:M-14 rifle.jpg
File:Beretta model 92FS double action pistol.jpg
File:Browining 1911A1 pistol -a.jpg
File:John M Browning and a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).jpg
File:Dual mounted Browning MG and 81mm Mortar, during the War in Vietnam -b.jpg
File:Dual mounted Browning MG and 81mm Mortar, during the War in Vietnam -a.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Engineer Squad Vehicle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Anti-tank-Guided-Missle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Medical-Evacuation-Vehicle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Reconnaissance-Vehicle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade mobile-gun-system.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade NBC-Reconnaissance.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Commander's-Vehicle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Fire-Support-Vehicle.jpg
File:Stryker Brigade Mortar-Carrier.jpg
File:Watercooled M2 Browning heavy machine gun on the USS Wyoming (AG-17) in 1941.jpg
File:5 inch anti aircraft gun on the USS Astoria (CA-34) in 1942.jpg
File:Unidentified Point Class 82-foot Coast Guard cutter underway, circa 1991.jpg
File:USCGC Point Steele 1968 1 sm.jpg
File:USCGC Point Highland 1965 1.jpg
File:USCGC Point Harris 1.jpg
File:Updated deepwater poster, circa 2006.jpg
File:The Lady B, formerly the USCGC Point Brown, in NYC -b.jpg
File:USCGC Diamondback, a Marine Protector cutter.jpg
File:The USCG's Richard Etheridge, under construction.jpg
File:Drawing of a sentinel class cutter using her stern launch ramp -a.jpg
File:Drawing of a sentinel class cutter using her stern launch ramp -b.jpg
File:USRC Louisiana (1819-1824).jpg
File:30 caliber MG on a patrol boat.jpg
File:XM153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station mounting an M2 machine gun and a variety of sensors.jpg
File:Coast Guard sailor points 50 caliber MG -- Guantanamo.JPG
File:The door to a Sentinel class cutter's stern launching ramp.jpg
File:Proposed modification to the Damen Stan patrol vessel for the USCG.jpg
File:US Revenue Cutter Windom at Houston Ship Channel.jpg
File:Revenue Cutter Tuscarora.jpg
File:Revenue Cutter Service cadets aboard their training vessel Itasco.jpg
File:Cadets drill on the parade ground at the Revenue Cutter School of Instruction, Fort Trumbull.jpg
File:Dredging off Duluth -a.jpg
File:Pine Point, Northwest Territories, Canada.png
File:Port Elgin, Lake Huron, Georgian Bay.jpg
File:Novy Port and Dikson -- Russian Arctic ports on the Kara Sea.png
File:Cities of Tierra del Fuego.png
File:Baffinland Iron Mine.png
File:CFAV Firebrand, a fireboat in Halifax.jpg
File:Canadian Forces fireboat in Halifax.jpg
File:19th century estimate of the boundaries of Lake Iroquois.jpg
File:Niagara falls, LOC.jpg
File:Alwac III computer, 1959.jpg
File:Looking for hanging chad, 2000 Presidential election.jpg
File:NOAA punch cards.jpg
File:Deep-water ports on North America's west coast, connected to the rail grid.png
File:Loading a container ship.jpg
File:CCGS Gordon Reid moored at Prince Rupert.jpg
File:Gordon Reid and seaplane moored at Prince Rupert.jpg
File:The Syun Akasfu International Arctic Research Center.jpg
File:Steamship Nenana.jpg
File:Ferry from Haines AK to Prince Rupert BCjg.jpg
File:Alaska-Yukon border.jpg
File:Bear cache.jpg
File:Prince Rupert harbour 1.jpg
File:Terminal, Prince Rupert.jpg
File:Kingston class vessels in Prince Rupert.jpg
File:Doug Engelbart.png
File:Prince Rupert harbour 3.jpg
File:Prince-rupert-grain-terminal.jpg
File:Freighter in Prince Rupert Harbour.jpg
File:Rhapsody of the Seas in Prince Rupert.jpg
File:Rainbow in Prince Rupert Harbour.jpg
File:Prince Rupert harbour 2.jpg
File:Downtown Prince Rupert.jpg
File:Orthographic projection centred over Prince Rupert.png
File:BC Coast.png
File:Orthographic projection centred over Tashkent, Uzbekistan.png
File:CIA Kyrgyzstan map.gif
File:Orthographic projection centred over Bishkek Kyrgyzstan.png
File:Orthographic projection centred over Astana Kazakhstan.png
File:Orthographic projection centred over Jordan.png
File:CIA Jordan map.gif
File:CIA Kazakhstan map.gif
File:NWFP FATA.png
File:CIA factbook map of Uzbekistan.gif
File:CIA factbook map of Tajikistan.gif
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 9.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 7.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 6.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 11.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 10.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 8.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 4.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 5.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 3.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 2.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 12.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 transcript Pg 1.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 memo Pg 2.png
File:ISN 320 CSRT 2004 memo Pg 1.png
File:Barge carrying shipping containers.jpg
File:Delaware river watershed.gif
File:Erie PA on Lake Erie 1.png
File:Container ship in Harwich.jpg
File:Container ship sunshine spirit.jpg
File:Shipping containers at clyde.jpg
File:Large colorful container ship.jpg
File:Train station, Yukon, Oklahoma.jpg
File:Bikes outside Central train station, Uppsala, Sweden.jpg
File:London blackfriars railway station.jpg
File:Busy Tokyo railway station.jpg
File:Platforms Lviv railway station.jpg
File:Repurposed railway station, Wakefield, Quebec.jpg
File:Yellow caboose.jpg
File:Military vehicles mounted on railway rail cars.jpg
File:Abandoned coal hopper cars.jpg
File:Intermodal shipping containers on a railway flat car.jpg
File:Hopper cars in a railyard.jpg
File:Skol hopper car.jpg
File:GP 10 diesel-electric locomotive.jpg
File:Deisel-electric locomotive 566.jpg
File:Alaska Railroad Locomotive.jpg
File:Steam locomotive.jpg
File:Canadian passenger rail cars 2.jpg
File:Canadian passenger rail cars.jpg
File:Port Angeles container port facilities.jpg
File:X-Ray truck examines shipping container.jpg
File:GI loads a shipping container.jpg
File:USMC Quad Refrigerated Container System.jpg
File:Rough-terrain container handler.gif
File:Shipping container being loaded on a USAF cargo plane.jpg
File:USNS ro-ro vessels.jpg
File:US Navy container.jpg
File:Intermodal container facility at Seagirt, Baltimore.jpg
File:Movable container crane.jpg
File:Truck and shipping container leaving Plum Brook Reactor.jpg
File:NASA transferring from box to intermodal.jpg
File:Diagram of truck loaded with paper rolls.jpg
File:18 wheel transport truck loaded with rolls of paper.jpg
File:Diagram of an intermodal shipping container, mounted on a truck bed.jpg
File:Transport truck and container.jpg
File:Stages of development of red imported fire ant.jpg
File:Red imported fire ant pupa.jpg
File:Red imported fire ant abdomen.jpg
File:Red Imported Fire Ant Mound in Mississippi pasture.jpg
File:Red imported fire ant -- agitated nest.jpg
File:Red imported fire ant -- close-up of head.jpg
File:RedImportedFireAnt1321080.jpg
File:Hay River connection to the Arctic Ocean.png
File:Aerosol OFF bug spray.jpg
File:Aerosols tips hdr.jpg
File:Dust fire and explosion Pentagon.gif
File:Grain dust explosion.gif
File:Dust explosion diagram.gif
File:Fire following a dust explosion in a pharma plant 1.gif
File:Mackenzie River drainage basin.PNG
File:CSRT notice read to a Guantanamo captive.jpg
File:Water torture in Antwerp, 1556.png
File:How Dilawar -- Bagram captive 421, was hung, prior to his death in custody.jpg