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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)
An easy-to-use and outrageously powerful Python parser for MediaWiki wikicode
earwigbot (Python // started April 2009)
A modular Python robot that edits Wikipedia and interacts with people over IRC, with a separate repository for plugins
bitshift (Python + SQL + Web // started March 2014)
A semantic search engine for source code
copyvios (Python + Web // started July 2009)
A copyright violation detector for Wikipedia articles running on Wikimedia Labs

Other projects

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

Posts

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