JoshuaZ, Stalker Extraordinaire, He's trying to resurrect that redirect Options

[Daniel Brandt]

JoshuaZ is trying to restore that redirect again. I've been waiting for this for almost three weeks. On April 3 he told User:Prodego that he was planning to do this. I have already expanded the hostmask database from 26,000 lines to 33,000 lines in anticipation of this, but now I'm dusting off the IRC logs for January through April.

If the redirect goes through I will reinstall that old IRC search engine. This is not because IRC is interesting — indeed, compared to 2006 the #wikipedia IRC channel is almost tame these days. But it does give me an excuse to add about 700 HTML pages to Wikipedia-Watch. Based on past experience, this will double the overall traffic to my Wikipedia-Watch homepage.

That's because anytime you add 700 pages to a site, and these pages are filled with a wide variety of keyword-rich content that's interesting to web surfers, you get a lot more clicks once that content is indexed by search engines. Moreover, the two links in the footer of each page will go back to my homepage and to hivemind. These links help direct traffic from those who landed on an IRC chat page, and who find themselves wondering what they're looking at. That's a very common question, as you can imagine if you've ever seen about 600 consecutive lines of chat from #wikipedia on IRC. (These 700 files will average about 600 lines of chat each.)

The links in the footer also tend to give more Google juice to the two target pages, although not a whole lot because they're internal links. Do you know why every few words in Wikipedia articles are linked to another Wikipedia article? It's for the Google juice. Same thing here. (A lot of sites do this sort of thing just so that they have pages that can carry their Google ads, but I've never had any ads on any of my sites. I wonder if other sites will scrape my IRC logs? Google sure encourages a lot of pollution on the web, but then Wikipedia has never done anything to stop scrapers either.)

I'm actually looking forward to doing this if that redirect goes through. Wikipedia-Watch in general, and hivemind in particular, deserve more traffic. It's a quid pro quo because if the redirect is reinstalled, the PIR page in Wikipedia — the one with my name on it in seven places — will be getting more traffic too.

[ColScott]

Look this is a nasally stunted retarded young man whose own Family doesn't even love him. He deserves whatever you bring him.

[dogbiscuit]

His logic is exactly based on that which he complains - he is quite open that he is using Wikipedia as an attack site.

However, it then became apparent that as I had predicted Brandt had no intention to stop his campaign on Wikipedia. [... ...] Therefore I am relisting this redirect.

He could have just left it alone - after all he is confused he is not an administrator, just an anorak.

[Kato]

Oddly enough, he links to a statement by Daniel Brandt about the BLP situation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=204794773

I happily accept responsibility for reporting the following comment;

"This wording makes this entire effort almost worthless: "An individual who has placed themselves at the forefront of public controversies in order to influence the issues involved." By that measure, I anticipate that if this becomes policy, someone will resurrect my bio based on the new policy, and another 2.5-year battle will ensue. Hivemind will end up twice as big. The proper way to deal with people who are active in specific causes (and no one is active in all causes), is to mention them in an article on that specific issue. It should not be an excuse to start a general bio on that person. I'm presently mentioned on pages about Google-Watch, Scroogle, etc. I have no quarrel with that. I'm mentioned too many times on Public_Information_Research and I have some quarrel with that, as it threatened to become a substitute for my bio once the redirect was in place. Since the redirect was deleted a few weeks ago, I have much less problem with that. By the way, I'm banned from Wikipedia. Does a banned person have any right to comment on issues concerning him, or does his input get summarily deleted regardless of the reasons for the ban or the nature of the comments? --Daniel Brandt

(later deleted by Ryan Postlethwaite because Brandt is a banned user)

JoshuaZ describes this statement as part of a continued campaign by Brandt.

Therefore, as noted by Dogbiscuit, JoshuaZ is placing himself in opposition to Daniel Brandt, and this redirect is a deliberate attempt to sustain a personal battle between himself and Brandt. Recall that JoshuaZ employed sockpuppets to conduct this feud and vote against Brandt in previous debates. Adopting different personas to gain the upper hand.

Why is this kid still allowed to demand polls and start debates on Brandt related matters? Surely a topic ban is in order by now?

[dogbiscuit]

Why is this kid still allowed to demand polls and start debates on Brandt related matters? Surely a topic ban is in order by now?

What would be sensible for JoshuaZ to consider is, if the powers that be saw this as an embarrassing nuisance, the sockpuppeteer might end up as a banned user himself. If he considered this possibility, he might have an enlightening change of perspective.

There are now some sane observations on the impropriety of this approach being recorded.

In the immortal words of the Simpsons: "Oooh! Let's poke it!"

[Somey]

There are now some sane observations on the impropriety of this approach being recorded.

Well, we can all be thankful for that, at least.

But quite frankly, I'm really, really tired of JoshuaZ's crap. He either has to go, or it's off with the gloves.

In particular, I'm thinking it may be time for someone to start releasing #wp-en-admins IRC logs to the public... Whoever does it will probably want to start pulling out the juiciest bits first though, rather than publish them all at once. They'll probably scream "copyright infringement," but as everyone knows, any real action in that regard will only bring vast amounts of additional attention to what's in those logs.

And of course, every page should carry the words "Courtesy of Joshua Zelinsky!" right at the top. At some point, people over there are going to have to wake up to the fact that we're serious about this shit.

[No one of consequence]

What would be sensible for JoshuaZ to consider is, if the powers that be saw this as an embarrassing nuisance, the sockpuppeteer might end up as a banned user himself. If he considered this possibility, he might have an enlightening change of perspective.

Did he sock on Brandt DRVs or AfDs? I don't remember the names of the accounts to check.

[dogbiscuit]

There are now some sane observations on the impropriety of this approach being recorded.

Well, we can all be thankful for that, at least.

But quite frankly, I'm really, really tired of JoshuaZ's crap. He either has to go, or it's off with the gloves.

In particular, I'm thinking it may be time for someone to start releasing #wp-en-admins IRC logs to the public... Whoever does it will probably want to start pulling out the juiciest bits first though, rather than publish them all at once. They'll probably scream "copyright infringement," but as everyone knows, any real action in that regard will only bring vast amounts of additional attention to what's in those logs.

And of course, every page should carry the words "Courtesy of Joshua Zelinsky!" right at the top. At some point, people over there are going to have to wake up to the fact that we're serious about this shit.

Yes, I am sure you could and would do that, but then you are just giving the Joshua's of this world a big "I told you so." Wikipedians know you have a big stick and are happy to use it. It strikes me that there are a growing body of Wikipedians that are acknowledging both the issue and that the treatment of you has not been of the highest standard.

I think you gained ground when you made conciliatory noises. Let's be realistic. If we think that there is some possibility that the BLP policy can be improved: there are quite a few people coming at it from different angles, then it is probably unwise to paint them into a corner with threats.

[Moulton]

I'm really, really tired of JoshuaZ's crap. He either has to go, or it's off with the gloves.

I'll offer a third alternative -- one that might actually appeal to Joshua if he does get topic-banned.

If Joshua deigns to come here, to WR, I'll engage him in the kind of dialogue that I am known (and taunted) for in these quarters -- a civil dialogue of inquiry designed to arrive at elusive insights, enroute to a more enlightened understanding of the problems that vex him and others with whom he has become increasingly ensnared and enmeshed in persistent adversarial and antagonistic relationships.

[Somey]

Yes, I am sure you could and would do that, but then you are just giving the Joshua's of this world a big "I told you so." Wikipedians know you have a big stick and are happy to use it. It strikes me that there are a growing body of Wikipedians that are acknowledging both the issue and that the treatment of you has not been of the highest standard.

Ehhh, this is coming from me, not Daniel... I'll admit, sometimes people get the two of us confused...

Btw, the two JoshuaZ socker accounts were User:Gothnic (contribs) and User:Miles_Naismith (contribs). Neither user page carries a sockpuppet tag, and the Gothnic account did vote with ol' Joshy on a Brandt DRV.

If Joshua deigns to come here, to WR, I'll engage him in the kind of dialogue that I am known (and taunted) for in these quarters -- a civil dialogue of inquiry designed to arrive at elusive insights, enroute to a more enlightened understanding of the problems that vex him and others with whom he has become increasingly ensnared and enmeshed in persistent adversarial and antagonistic relationships.

After which he'll probably post a biography of you, too.

[No one of consequence]

Ehhh, this is coming from me, not Daniel... I'll admit, sometimes people get the two of us confused...

Btw, the two JoshuaZ socker accounts were User:Gothnic (contribs) and User:Miles_Naismith (contribs). Neither user page carries a sockpuppet tag, and the Gothnic account did vote with ol' Joshy on a Brandt DRV.

Thanks, Somey.

[Alex]

Lawrence Cohen has proposed to ban Joshua from the article.

[Moulton]

If Joshua deigns to come here, to WR, I'll engage him in the kind of dialogue that I am known (and taunted) for in these quarters -- a civil dialogue of inquiry designed to arrive at elusive insights, enroute to a more enlightened understanding of the problems that vex him and others with whom he has become increasingly ensnared and enmeshed in persistent adversarial and antagonistic relationships.

After which he'll probably post a biography of you, too.

I'll take my chances. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/happy.gif)

[Daniel Brandt]

JoshuaZ expressed extreme contempt for me in August 2006, even though the first time he showed up on my radar was in February 2007:

While his [someone else, not Brandt] edits were disgusting and engendered in me a level of contempt I normally have for Daniel Brandt... JoshuaZ 16:39, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Months later JoshuaZ indef blocked me for off-Wiki activity:

14:25, 18 July 2007 JoshuaZ (Talk | contribs) blocked "Daniel Brandt (Talk | contribs)" (account creation blocked) with an expiry time of indefinite ‎ (it has come to my attention to Hivemind is back up, brandt is not going to be welcome here as long as he runs an outing website. period)

Now then, here's a report on his sockpuppetry.

Look at the contribution history of Gothnic. Just do a browser "Find" for "Brandt."

Naturally, the Cabal tried to handle this quietly. Wikileaker brought it to light.

I love Newyorkbrad's comment in that sooper-sekrit report:

Newyorkbrad - "Personally I am minded to believe that he's probably telling the truth here (because the conduct if it actually took place makes no sense) and let him continue as an administrator without any restrictions unless there are further incidents. The risk of actual harm to the project going forward is probably slight. (On the other hand, sometimes I think I'm the most credulous one here.)"

I agree, Newyorkbrad is the most credulous one!

[Somey]

I'll take my chances. ^_^

Hmm... this was probably your plan all along, eh? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

Who knows, maybe the best way for a person to get an article about himself (or herself) into WP, and keep it there, is to personally attack JoshuaZ on an ongoing basis! If we can get the word out to enough people who are trying to get articles about themselves included, which would be about 100,000 times as many people who are trying to do the opposite, we could turn ol' Josh into one of the world's most unpopular people ever!

Maybe we could lobby the Powers That Be, so as to make him the next James Bond villain, too?

[Jon Awbrey]

I love Newyorkbrad's comment in that sooper-sekrit report:

Newyorkbrad — "Personally I am minded to believe that he's probably telling the truth here (because the conduct if it actually took place makes no sense) and let him continue as an administrator without any restrictions unless there are further incidents. The risk of actual harm to the project going forward is probably slight. (On the other hand, sometimes I think I'm the most credulous one here.)"

I agree, Newyorkbrad is the most credulous one!

Don't be so credulous, Daniel. Newyuckbrad is merely pretending to be credulous.

Besides, it's only an exhibition of human credulositude — we don't want them competing for top honors.

But I'm torn in my diagnosis of JoshuassZ —

Is it Redirectile Dysfunction or Resurrectile Dysfunction?

Jon (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

[dogbiscuit]

Ehhh, this is coming from me, not Daniel... I'll admit, sometimes people get the two of us confused...

Bah! Humbug! Bother!

[Moulton]

Respect and Contempt

For a few years now, I've been studying an obscure piece of research known as FaceWork Theory. It addresses the issue that Asians call Face.

FaceWork Theory examines 5 or 6 axes:

1. The Respect-Contempt Axis

2. The Approval-Condemnation Axis

3. The Cooperation-Antagonism Axis

4. The Freedom-Taboo Axis

5. The Trust-Mistrust Axis

6. The Comfort-Anxiety Axis

In the Argument/Debate Culture, the participants tend to migrate to the right on each of the above axes, generating mutual and reciprocal disrespect, disapproval, antagonism, and mistrust.

In the Dialogue Model, the participants seek to create common ground, and seek to migrate themselves to jointly shared respect, and mutual approval and cooperation.

It saddens me to note that we are more adept at Negative FaceWork Dynamics than Positive FaceWork Dynamics. We are adept at criticising, shaming, and blaming the other side, and poor at building bridges and finding common ground.

We are gifted at conflict and poor at peacemaking.

[BobbyBombastic]

In particular, I'm thinking it may be time for someone to start releasing #wp-en-admins IRC logs to the public... Whoever does it will probably want to start pulling out the juiciest bits first though, rather than publish them all at once. They'll probably scream "copyright infringement," but as everyone knows, any real action in that regard will only bring vast amounts of additional attention to what's in those logs.

And of course, every page should carry the words "Courtesy of Joshua Zelinsky!" right at the top. At some point, people over there are going to have to wake up to the fact that we're serious about this shit.

It surprises me that this has not happened. The pseudo copyright lawyers will probably crucify me for saying this, but it's funny to me that anyone would claim copyright over an IRC log. Besides, one could easily avoid any possibility of being discovered by uploading to a free site and using proxies. In the event that the free web hosting finds that posting IRC logs is a copyright violation, the worst they can do is delete the site...then one just moves on to the next free host.

Let's face it though, there probably wouldn't be much damning information there, but it would piss off certain clique members, and I am all for that!

[dogbiscuit]

Respect and Contempt

For a few years now, I've been studying an obscure piece of research known as FaceWork Theory. It addresses the issue that Asians call Face.

I'm sure JoshuaZ has two issues:
1) he believes he is a gifted manipulator and leader online and should be able to manage getting his way. He is discovering that this is untrue.
2) he is publicly embarrassed, and therefore motivated to save face by continuing the battle, seeking new tactics to recover from his public embarrassment by eventually winning the battle (see (1)). (I would presume that he has not kept his identity secret and may have bragged about his influential position to his peers, so this is a real life issue for him).

My theory of mind, based on not much really, is that JoshuaZ has invested heavily in Wikipedia personally, and would find it difficult to withdraw gracefully, having been found out to be a bit of a chump. How does one allow him to withdraw gracefully without too much loss of face.

One sensible move would be to encourage the JoshuaZ persona to die a quiet death and resurrect himself anew quietly under a new name, sticking to doing editing or gnoming in an uncontroversial fashion. As he is not an admin, there should be no real issue about this. It would then be up to him to avoid the conflict with Daniel. As long as he was a well behaved Wikipedian, there would be no need to seek him out. In reality, I suspect he does not have the sense or ability not to attract attention, but that is what I'd suggest.