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I'm a software developer and Wikipedian currently studying computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. My work mostly focuses on text parsing and analysis; I'm also interested in programming language theory and algorithm design.

Email ben.kurtovic@gmail.com
kurtovc2@illinois.edu
GitHub earwig
IRC Earwig on irc.freenode.net
Wikipedia [[User:The Earwig]]
Twitter @the_earwig
LinkedIn benkurtovic
PGP Key E8DBB515

Projects

mwparserfromhell (Python + C // started May 2012)
MWParserFromHell is an easy-to-use and outrageously powerful Python parser for MediaWiki wikicode.
earwigbot (Python // started April 2009)
EarwigBot is a Python robot that edits Wikipedia and interacts with people over IRC. It has a separate repository for plugins.
bitshift (Python + SQL + Web // started March 2014)
Bitshift is a semantic search engine for source code.
copyvios (Python + Web // started July 2009)
Copyvios is a copyright violation detector running on Wikimedia Labs.

Other projects

goldfish (Java // started Jan 2013)
GoLdfish is a simple Game of Life implementation in Java.
starlorn (Java // started May 2013)
Starlorn is a shoot 'em up game with a sweet upgrade system and randomized levels.
cellar-strider (Python // started June 2012)
Cellar-Strider is a pseudo-roguelike game with a YAML-based level system.
oriadnos (C // started May 2014)
Oriadnos is a 3D maze exploration game written from scratch using matrix manipulation code, UV texture mapping, z-buffering, and simple lighting.
terminvaders (C // started Oct 2013)
Terminvaders is a terminal-based multiplayer arcade game inspired by Space Invaders.
databanks (C // started Nov 2013)
DataBanks is a simple database with a terminal-based interface for notekeeping.
omnithinker (Python + Web // started Nov 2013)
OmniThinker is an online brainstorming tool that displays relevant information from the web in a sidebar.
BAJA (Python + Web // started Jan 2014)
BAJA is a hacking game featuring multiple simulated websites, tied together by messages sent to the player from a mysterious individual using a fake email client.
earwig.github.io (Web // started June 2011)
earwig.github.io is the site you're viewing right now in source code form.
git-repo-updater (Python // started June 2011)
Gitup is a console script that allows you to easily pull to multiple git repositories at once.
music-quizzer (Python // started May 2011)
MusicQuizzer is a Tk-based program that can help you prepare for your music final with randomly-generated listening quizzes.
lobo (NetLogo // started Dec 2011)
Lobo is Logo Bolo: a re-envisioning of the classic tank game by Stuart Cheshire in NetLogo.
func-smash (Python // started April 2012)
FuncSmash, a small for-the-hell-of-it project, tries to generate random Python functions using Markov chains.

Posts

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