Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
There will be a memorial service in Michigan on Friday; contact me if you want that information. His userpages are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
For several years Ben wrote a blog about Wikipedia that was incisive and widely read. Older posts can be found here: http://wikip.blogspot.com/
He also designed the Wikimania logo with the two "w"s; originally designed for Wikimania 2006, we use it to this day: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_%28spacing%29.png
Ben was a skilled artist and designer and was responsible for all of the figures in "How Wikipedia Works." He also designed posters and graphic materials for Wikimania and proposed many other merchandise designs to promote Wikipedia.
He was funny, smart, and shy; I never had a bad interaction with him. I worked with him intensively for many months but never got a chance to meet him in person, but I counted him as a friend long after we finished the book. He will be missed.
If you have any comments that you would like to be given to his family or read at the service, please post them on Ben's talk page or send to me directly. Wikimedia was meaningful to Ben, and it would mean a lot to let his mom that people cared about her son as a colleague and friend.
thanks, -- Phoebe
Oh, wow. I actually just got a copy of that book (wonderful book, by the way) when I visited the office a couple weeks ago. I'm sorry to hear he died so young.
The tradition of Wikipedia is to remember the fallen editors at the "Deceased Wikipedians" page, if anyone has any appropriate biographical information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deceased_Wikipedians#Ben_Yates_.28Tlogmer.29
Sending my regards, Rob
On 3/14/2012 9:42 PM, phoebe ayers wrote:
Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
There will be a memorial service in Michigan on Friday; contact me if you want that information. His userpages are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
For several years Ben wrote a blog about Wikipedia that was incisive and widely read. Older posts can be found here: http://wikip.blogspot.com/
He also designed the Wikimania logo with the two "w"s; originally designed for Wikimania 2006, we use it to this day: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_%28spacing%29.png
Ben was a skilled artist and designer and was responsible for all of the figures in "How Wikipedia Works." He also designed posters and graphic materials for Wikimania and proposed many other merchandise designs to promote Wikipedia.
He was funny, smart, and shy; I never had a bad interaction with him. I worked with him intensively for many months but never got a chance to meet him in person, but I counted him as a friend long after we finished the book. He will be missed.
If you have any comments that you would like to be given to his family or read at the service, please post them on Ben's talk page or send to me directly. Wikimedia was meaningful to Ben, and it would mean a lot to let his mom that people cared about her son as a colleague and friend.
thanks, -- Phoebe
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:27 AM, Bob the Wikipedian bobthewikipedian@gmail.com wrote:
Oh dear. I see from reading that page that not only have we lost Ben Yates, but also Slrubenstein.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Rubenstein
The death of both these Wikipedians was mentioned briefly in the Signpost:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-03-12/News_an... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-03-19/News_an...
Very sad news in both cases. My condolences to those that knew them.
Carcharoth
On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 8:52 PM, Carcharoth carcharothwp@googlemail.com wrote:
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:27 AM, Bob the Wikipedian bobthewikipedian@gmail.com wrote:
Oh dear. I see from reading that page that not only have we lost Ben Yates, but also Slrubenstein.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Rubenstein
The death of both these Wikipedians was mentioned briefly in the Signpost:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-03-12/News_an... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-03-19/News_an...
Very sad news in both cases. My condolences to those that knew them.
Slrubenstein was a rock. Never could be trolled or drawn into a hostile exchange. He did have very strong disagreements with people. The one I remember him best by was over the proper expression of dates, and over whether or not Wikipedia should show religious preference between the the various candidates (my memory is hazy on what the various alternatives were, but that might be because it wasn't one of my battles, though I did read the arguments with interest and occasional amusement and may just have made very minor comments on issues of fact). He had a particular dry wit about him. Not of the emblematically British sort, but more of the "What are you going to do to me? I am not going to fall into the trap of hating you!" variety.
On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 8:44 AM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen cimonavaro@gmail.com wrote:
Slrubenstein was a rock. Never could be trolled or drawn into a hostile exchange. He did have very strong disagreements with people. The one I remember him best by was over the proper expression of dates, and over whether or not Wikipedia should show religious preference between the the various candidates (my memory is hazy on what the various alternatives were, but that might be because it wasn't one of my battles, though I did read the arguments with interest and occasional amusement and may just have made very minor comments on issues of fact). He had a particular dry wit about him. Not of the emblematically British sort, but more of the "What are you going to do to me? I am not going to fall into the trap of hating you!" variety.
One of Steve's academic colleagues wrote of him:
"The depth of his thinking and feeling made his comments, even on the vital yet bureaucratic matters of university life, not only profound but also profoundly political. Thinking about him now, I think it was his capacity to interweave these two elements – thought and emotion – which was for me the hallmark of his unique intellectual style." http://www.slas.org.uk/SteveRubenstein_Obituary.html
That perfectly describes the way he approached things on Wikipedia, whether articles or policy discussions, or relatively minor bureaucratic issues. He always tried to highlight the principles behind the arguments, and how ignoring those principles would change Wikipedia in ways we might not notice until it was too late to backtrack.
Sarah
Very sad, I met him and he seemed to be a very good guy.
Seems to be a bad week; a friend of mine from college passed on Sunday morning.
Focus on big things and have fun while you're here.
George William Herbert Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 14, 2012, at 19:42, phoebe ayers phoebe.wiki@gmail.com wrote:
Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
There will be a memorial service in Michigan on Friday; contact me if you want that information. His userpages are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
For several years Ben wrote a blog about Wikipedia that was incisive and widely read. Older posts can be found here: http://wikip.blogspot.com/
He also designed the Wikimania logo with the two "w"s; originally designed for Wikimania 2006, we use it to this day: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_%28spacing%29.png
Ben was a skilled artist and designer and was responsible for all of the figures in "How Wikipedia Works." He also designed posters and graphic materials for Wikimania and proposed many other merchandise designs to promote Wikipedia.
He was funny, smart, and shy; I never had a bad interaction with him. I worked with him intensively for many months but never got a chance to meet him in person, but I counted him as a friend long after we finished the book. He will be missed.
If you have any comments that you would like to be given to his family or read at the service, please post them on Ben's talk page or send to me directly. Wikimedia was meaningful to Ben, and it would mean a lot to let his mom that people cared about her son as a colleague and friend.
thanks, -- Phoebe
foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
I realize in my first note that I forgot to link Ben's meta page... http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
a quick look at his contributions will remind some of us about the old fundcom, Wikimania 2006 designs, Associations of Wikipedians and the old store... Ben was one of the strongest advocates of producing good Wikimedia merchandise!
cheers, phoebe
On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 7:42 PM, phoebe ayers phoebe.wiki@gmail.com wrote:
Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
There will be a memorial service in Michigan on Friday; contact me if you want that information. His userpages are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
For several years Ben wrote a blog about Wikipedia that was incisive and widely read. Older posts can be found here: http://wikip.blogspot.com/
He also designed the Wikimania logo with the two "w"s; originally designed for Wikimania 2006, we use it to this day: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_%28spacing%29.png
Ben was a skilled artist and designer and was responsible for all of the figures in "How Wikipedia Works." He also designed posters and graphic materials for Wikimania and proposed many other merchandise designs to promote Wikipedia.
He was funny, smart, and shy; I never had a bad interaction with him. I worked with him intensively for many months but never got a chance to meet him in person, but I counted him as a friend long after we finished the book. He will be missed.
If you have any comments that you would like to be given to his family or read at the service, please post them on Ben's talk page or send to me directly. Wikimedia was meaningful to Ben, and it would mean a lot to let his mom that people cared about her son as a colleague and friend.
thanks, -- Phoebe
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 12:12 PM, phoebe ayers phoebe.wiki@gmail.com wrote:
I realize in my first note that I forgot to link Ben's meta page... http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
a quick look at his contributions will remind some of us about the old fundcom, Wikimania 2006 designs, Associations of Wikipedians and the old store... Ben was one of the strongest advocates of producing good Wikimedia merchandise!
And he was very good at it. I am glad to have known him, and will dearly miss his thoughtful views.
Sam.
Hi,
On Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:42:05 -0700 phoebe ayers phoebe.wiki@gmail.com wrote:
Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
I have not known Mr. Yates (though the name rings a bell) but I am saddened to hear that. My condolences go to everyone who knew him.
Regards,
Shlomi Fish