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Jack Sarfatti |
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blissyu2 |
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the wookie
Group: On Vacation
Posts: 4,596
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I thought to invite Jack Sarfatti to post here, and I've been trying to contact him. One problem though is that he has a lot of invalid e-mail addresses around the web. Most likely he gets a lot of harassment, especially since the Wikipedia smear campaign, which they call the "biography" about him, started. But I'd like to hear his side of the story. At least to say what his biography should say, and what Wikipedia got wrong. And also to see what precisely happened in his case, as opposed to just what Wikipedia says happened.
Whether he has in-depth criticism of Wikipedia, I don't know. He doesn't seem to have written any anywhere. But since he's permabanned now, I can't see why it would hurt to ask him if he does.
He is 66 years of age, and I think would probably know quite a bit about the inner workings of Wikipedia. He would especially be interested in Daniel Brandt's case, and vice versa, since they were basically identical. Sarfatti, however, unlike Brandt, is very definitely famous.
So can anyone try to contact him? Just to let him know that this exists. And also to notify him of Daniel Brandt's case. Thanks. I've tried 4 e-mail addresses so far, and no luck.
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blissyu2 |
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the wookie
Group: On Vacation
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Sarfatti was indefinitely banned from Wikipedia because he was editing the article that was made about him. The thing is that he didn't like the whole smear about him. He was happy enough for them to mention the criticisms of his work, but wanted more focus on the awards that he'd gotten, his influence on the scientific community, and science fiction culture, his work on black holes, and his continuation of Albert Einstein's theories, which had been lambasted in recent years.
All sound a bit familiar? This was an example almost identical to Daniel Brandt's, and yes, it is significant. Wikipedia people would have us believe that such things are anomalies, that they aren't the norm, and that this guy was banned because he was a whacko, because he made legal threats about the libellous content of his "biography". But when you consider how much Wikipedia damaged his reputation, its very notable.
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Donny |
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Member
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QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Wed 12th April 2006, 8:21pm) Sarfatti was indefinitely banned from Wikipedia because he was editing the article that was made about him. The thing is that he didn't like the whole smear about him. He was happy enough for them to mention the criticisms of his work, but wanted more focus on the awards that he'd gotten, his influence on the scientific community, and science fiction culture, his work on black holes, and his continuation of Albert Einstein's theories, which had been lambasted in recent years.
All sound a bit familiar? This was an example almost identical to Daniel Brandt's, and yes, it is significant.
I'm sorry, but Sarfatti is basically a crackpot. He's not as bad as fruitcakes like Archimedes Plutonium, but he's playing in the same league as that. I don't think the case is particularly similar to Daniel Brandt's one. Brandt's complaint seems perfectly rational to me. I know Sarfatti from "way back when", and I can guess what kind of nutty self-aggrandisement he was trying to put into Wikipedia. As you said about "Willy on Wheels", some people need to be blocked, and Sarfatti is probably a pretty clear-cut case of such. I don't see the point in trying to drag every single loser and blocked user onto this board.
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blissyu2 |
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the wookie
Group: On Vacation
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I have no idea who Archimedes Plutonium is, but he has a stupid name, so I am sure that he is dumb. I mean, naming yourself after some ancient greek and the name of an element? Come off it. But that's irrelevant really. We aren't talking about a list of kooks. We are talking about someone who was wronged by Wikipedia. Whether Sarfatti is a kook is irrelevant. He wasn't banned because he was a kook. He was banned because he tried to fix his bio. That's the issue here. And this is of course why he should write himself. Give some actual info on things. Right now we only know snippets. Of course, he doesn't have to post. Dschor didn't want to post, nor did SPUI, and others who did post didn't post much, like Skyring. Its up to him really. He isn't actually known as a Wikipedia critic, although I am sure he could be if he wanted to be. Okay, I had a look at Plutonium's Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_PlutoniumI think its a good candidate for deletion, quite frankly. I don't see how the guy is notable, because of a few pranks on usenet, when he didn't use his real name. The whole article is basically opinions and original research, and doesn't belong. I would AFD it for sure. However, Archimedes wasn't banned from Wikipedia, and hasn't even edited it, so its not really relevant as a comparison in that sense.
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kotepho |
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Member
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I think Archimedes Plutonium was notable enough. Just because people don't know about him now doesn't really change that. People AFD'd Kibo and Titor too though. Is there enough that is verifiable for wikipedia's standards? Probably not. Wikipedia has some dumb standards though. On the talk page someone says he has edited it though. QUOTE Apparently Mr. Plutonium himself has edited the article. Please see Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers and associated pages such as the Wikipedia:Manual of Style for tips on writing and editing here. Note that encyclopedia articles should not be written in the first person. Thanks, -- Infrogmation 16:15, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&oldid=36374528 this edit summary also alludes to it, along with many others.
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Somey |
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Can't actually moderate (or even post)
Group: Moderators
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Apparently there's a slight bug in the forum software, whereby if a thread is moved from the "Forum Information" subforum (which is visible to all but read-only for everyone but the staff), into the "Articles" subforum, it retains the permissions of the more restricted forum, so nobody can post to it.
In this case, the "Jack Sarfatti" thread seems to have been moved from "Articles" into "Forum Information" and then back again, probably by accident, but that has effectively locked it, though it doesn't show up as closed. So I'm going to try to merge its contents into this thread instead.
If I don't make it, tell my kids I love them very much...
(Five minutes later)
Did I ever mention that I don't have any kids?
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JackSarfatti |
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Mr. Sarfatti
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Member No.: 4,128
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My email is sarfatti@pacbell.net I have 3 degrees in physics (including PhD) from real universities (Ivy League Cornell, & University of California). I am not a janitor like Archimedes Plutonium who is probably dead by now. He was active in the 90's as I recall and it was an obvious spoof. People who cannot tell the difference between me and Archimedes P are in over their heads and should take Wittgenstein's advice. (IMG: smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)
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JackSarfatti |
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Mr. Sarfatti
Group: Members
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I am now on FACEBOOK also on http://www.youtube.com/user/lensman137There are still many false slanderous lies about me on Wikipedia mostly in discussion pages. Calton Bolick mainly prevents accurate information on my work from being presented on my page - mostly now sin of omission - some "editors" have cleaned it up a bit, but Bolick prevents truth about me and Uri Geller. I am on my way to Trinity College Cambridge for a week (in Faculty Housing). PS "Archimedes P" was clearly a spoof and only people without a sense of mirth would take it seriously. PS I see nothing wrong with people correcting lies about them posted anonymously on the Wickedpedio Filesl Compare what Calton Bolick allows about me and Uri Geller on my Wiki page with this http://www.peterblloyd.org/essays/sentientcutlery.htmThis post has been edited by JackSarfatti:
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