or On The Trail of the Ippfindroid
This
monograph, private and nonpublished, applies the methods of critical
literary investigation
to a very minor topic in literary scholarship. It makes no charges,
alleges no
illegalities. The presented evidence is suggestive but not probative.
But if
the chain of reasoning presented herein is valid, it contributes to the
field
of the study of contemporary juvenile literature and those who read and
discuss
it.
For
some years after 2000, internet discussion of the several " Tom Swift " series was dominated by
two discussion groups on Yahoo! (now defunct), one credited to Thomas R. Ippolito (“Tom
Ippolito”), also credited as author/publisher of a related fanzine
called "Blueprint,"
as moderator; the other to Robert W. Finnan (“Bob Finnan”), a
well-known
collector of juvenile series books and owner of many specialized
websites
addressing Stratemeyer Syndicate titles and other collectibles. A
volatile
rivalry was thought to obtain between them.
I
have reached the conclusion that Thomas R. Ippolito and Robert W.
Finnan are one and the same person. This person’s legal name is not
known.
Herein I term him The Subject.
The
evidence, not indefeasible, is
of four types. (1) Striking parallels in language, attitude, concern,
and
manner of participation in discussion groups, and as a lay "editor"
on Wikipedia, (2) apparent knowledge by "Finnan" of specific matters
in "Ippolito’s" private e-mail correspondence, (3) biographical
elements applying to "Ippolito" emerging as elements of the
"Finnan" biography, and (4) a striking matter of timing in the
fraudulent use of an internet moniker.
Emphasis, in red,
is added. My interjected notes and comments are in blue.
Italicization or bolding is my own unless otherwise
stated.
Paraphrased material, generally from documents or correspondence I am
not at
liberty to reproduce in full or to identify, is in fuschia
with italicization.
Part
One
PREFACE
TO THE DEMONSTRATION
I.
INTRODUCTORY: BASIC BELIEFS,
ATTITUDES, AND COMMUNICATIONS STYLE
Some
of the parallels between "Ippolito" and "Finnan" rest, to a
degree, upon apparent commonalities of attitude, style of expression,
word
choice, politics, social views, and other such matters. As will be
clear,
postings by "Ippolito" are comparatively rare and brief. They do
illustrate, among other things, an interest in pop music also asserted
by
"Finnan" (in his Wikipedia biographical entry under
"FWDixon").
I-A:
Openly attributed to character "Finnan":
4 I-A1:
Regarding "Political
Correctness". In the repressive,
politically-correct atmosphere which smothers
America today, I doubt a decent movie could be made about
either Tom
Sr or Jr.What producer would dare depict the Steppinfetchit-like
character,
Eradicate? Every black activist in the
country would
protest the film.Likewise, the feminists
would be howling at the patriarchal role structuring, even
in the
Jr. series. Let's face it, in both series women were relegated to
subservient,
stereotypical roles, rarely a part of the action. If a movie (or even a
new
series) would come out now, the chances are that Tom would be a
minority
member! At the very least, his sidekicks would have to include a woman
(preferably Asian, to kill 2 birds with 1 stone), an African-American -
hell
maybe even an Eskimo. No white bread
sidekicks like
Bud or Ned need apply! I'll stick to the old stories! [[ Ipp
group?
]] ...Then there's the political
correctness
inserted into the stories. I started reading Scott's "Flying Lab" and
on the 1st page there was a minority
character inserted
for apparently no other reason than political
correctness. Frankly, the original "Lab" was a great story
and hardly needed to be updated - if it ain't broke, don't fix it is my
motto!
I won't be reading any more of Scott's "revised" stories, simply
because I don't have the time and I don't
want to be
subjected to his politically correct revisionism. [[ "RWF"
on his Tom Swift discussion group, http://tomswift.bobfinnan.com,
9
August 2006 ]] ...I browsed thru a couple more of Scott's stories and
frankly,
PC or not, they just are not as well written as the better TS JR
stories.
Frankly I think the minority characters are inserted into them simply
to pander to those of a PC bent.
[[ by "Bob
Finnan" on his Tom Swift discussion group, 9 August 2006 ]] ...is
marred
somewhat...by the overly ''correct''
makeup
of Tom's team....[[ by "FWDixon", edit to Wikipedia Tom Swift
article, 20 August 2005 ]]
//NOTE:
The language in the preceding quote was repeatedly inserted
into Wikipedia after repeated removals. The sequence is viewable in the
edit-history
archive.//
4 1-A2:
"Militianist"
(militia-like) attitudes and issues. ...Please feel
free to
post anything the First Amendment allows in this newsgroup. Do not be
detered
by any self-appointed Nazi with a god
complex.
Exercise your rights as an American! Posting FS's etc. will show the right wing Facists that you
will not be
bullied by puerile threats. [[
by
Hardyboy01 on Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books, 31 October 1998
]] ...In
the early days of Tom Swift, gun ownership was common in America.
Unlike today,
the gun laws of that era were sensible (there were none!). Decent
law-abiding citizens could pack a gun
and be able to defend
themselves. How I long for those days!
[[
by "RWF" in his Tom Swift discussion group, circa 2 November 2006 ]]
//The
preceding followed his description of the Bud Barclay
character, in Atomic Earth Blaster, as a fascist. "He
should try
to join the NYPD where he would no doubt find plenty of
handcuffed
suspects to beat and torture with the rest of his fellow Nazis." In
response Fred Kiesche posted: "I think you owe several good friends of
mine an apology." Response by "Finnan"://
...Sure,
just as soon as the rank and file of the NYPD apologize to the public
for
sticking broomsticks up suspects asses, torturing them, beating them,
shooting
them, becoming hit men, taking bribes, looking the other way when
another cop
commits a crime, violating just about everybody's civil rights every
day and in
general acting like the trigger-happy,
corrupt Nazi
scum that they are. In other words, no, not now, not
ever. [[
by "Bob Finnan" ]] ...The more I read this story, the more disgusted
I become with Tom and Bud's high-handed, brutal tactics. They both
would have
felt right at home with the Gestapo.
Don't even get me started on that fascist
security
chief of theirs. I picture him as looking like the father on
"American Dad". [[ by "Bob Finnan" <fwdixon@...>, 7
November 2006 ]] ...Oh yeah, well WE also have Plum Island with samples
of
every known disease just offshore and waiting
for
some terrorist to blow it up! Fucking
government! [[ by "RWF" .... ]] ...your male bashing, anti-American attitude
make it clear
that you are a total and complete moron. ...[[ by "Bob Finnan" on
rec.collecting.books, 31 October 1998 ]]
//
NOTE: the following is a statement about
"Finnan"; extract stated below in full. "Bob Finnan's lack of
integrity is on public display... See the webboard he maintains on Tim
McCarver
at http://members2.boardhost.com/ihatetim/. I note that the poster's
link to a Ku
Klux Klan website
has finally been removed..." //
4 1-A3:
Sexual derogations;
homophobia. ...IMHO you possess a sick, perverted,
obsessive-compulsive, diseased mind.... [[ "Bob Finnan (Hardyboy)" on
Newsgroups: alt.books.nancy-drew, 31 March 2000 ]] "When
like
me, you've been accused by Bob Finnon... of sniffing
little boys bicycle seats... then perhaps then you'll have
something
to complain of." [[ Posted by "Michael Adams" in reference to
character "Finnan" on Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books, 23
September 2006. Cited earlier reference
not viewed
personally by SD. ]] ...I didn't wish to descend to your sick, disgusting level but it's clear
that ad
hominem attacks are all your feeble brain can understand and launch.
Now, go
muff-diving in your pervert
lovers twat,
you sick degenerate. [[ by
"Bob
Finnan" on Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.childrens, 29 August
2000 ]]
...open your faggot mouth
to me and
let me kick your half a faggot
ass.
You're a loud mouthed pussy -
let's see
ya back it up- asshole! [[ by
"Bob
Finnan" on alt.fan.doc-savage, 10 October 1998 ]] My, what a
clever
response! Very original! I suppose you love to be the town gossip. Most old ladies do. [[ by "Bob Finnan"
on rec.collecting.books, 31 October 1998 ]] ...I find YOU
exceedingly offensive! Grow up, you
prissy little
pantywaist! [[ by "Bob Finnan" on ????? , 19 June 2004 ]] ...I
don't need
your permission, crybaby. [[
by
"RWF" (hardyboy...) on alt.books.nancy-drew, 28 November 1999,
in response to "Steve Servello" ]] ...The owner of an alternate HB
site (68.170.173.12) has been posting insulting messages to this board,
in
addition to his advocacy of gay rights and his intolerance of people
who refuse
to see things his way. Just so he knows - his perverted
lifestyle is of no interest to anyone here and any further
such
posts will be reported to his ISP as the pure
harassment that they are. [[ by "RWF" on his "Hardy
Boys Blog", 23 November 2006, post titled Message Removal
]]
...Governor Corzine then put his arm around his sheep and announced
they would
wed "as soon as the bigots in the legislature stop their hatred of bestiality." [[ by "The Bobino"
(rwfemail...) on rec.collecting.books, 21 December 2006, in
response to "N.J.
governor signs gay civil unions law" topic. ]] ... Poor old
balmy
palmy - life's never been the same since you got rogered
by the milkman, eh palmjob? [[ by "RF"
<fwdi...@hotmail.com> on Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books,
9 March
2007, responding to "Will Palmer." ]] ...Avoid
this mailing list unless you wish to recieve
disgusting, perverted SPAM from NAMBLA,
a
group witch advocates adult males having sex with children. SICK SICK
SICK~~
Bob Finnan ~~ [[ From: hardybo...@aol.comnospam (HARDYBOY01) Date:
2000/05/08;
Subject: Re: Horatio Alger, Jr ]] ...Go back to jerking off over your homoerotic S&M stories. [[on rec.collecting
books, 1 June 2005 ]]...Shut the fuck up and go back to your NAMBLA meeting you pervert...
[[ on rec.collecting.books, 6 October 2005 ]]
4 I-A4:
Race, religion,
disability, and gender derogations: ...The Adams-Yamamoto
reparte is
what conversations at the Algonquin Rountable would've been like if
Dorothy
Parker and Alexander Woollcott had had Down's
Syndrome. [[ by "Bookman" (Fwdi...) on rec.collecting.books,
22 March 2004 ]] ...Yammy, you'd be mystified by a two piece jigsaw
puzzle.
What's your problem anyway - penis envy? [[
by "Bob Finnan" on rec.collecting.books.moderated, 14
December 2004, in response to a post by "John Yamamoto-Wilson" ]]
...I couldn't have said it better, mitzvah
boy! [[ by "The Bobino" (rwfemail...) on rec.collecting.books,
21 December 2006, in response to "..maybe I should see a shrink
about
my compulsions? :)" by "Sam". ]]... it's
clear that you are a stupid cunt
who is
incapable of engaging in a rational discussion. therefore I'll address
you in
the only way your pea-size brain seems to be able to comprehend. ... [[
by
"Bob Finnan" on rec.collecting.books, 31 October 1998 ]]
... sounds more like this Brooke Allen creature
is shilling ...He/she makes a few valid points... [[ by "Fwdi" on rec.collecting.books,
7 July 2001 ]] ...Every black
activist in
the country would protest the film... the feminists would be howling ...If a
movie (or even a new series)
would come out now, the chances are that Tom would be a minority member! At the very least,
his sidekicks
would have to include a woman (preferably
Asian, to
kill 2 birds with 1 stone), an African-American
- hell maybe even an Eskimo ...[[
Ipp
group? ]] ...there was a minority
character inserted
for apparently no other reason than... [[ RWF on
http://tomswift.bobfinnan.com,
9 August 2006 ]] ...I think the minority
characters
are inserted into them simply to pander...
[[ by "Bob Finnan" on tomswift.bobfinnan.com, 9 August 2006 ]]
4 I-A5:
Other abusive language and
terminology. ...Another rant of pure fantasy by the pariah of the Usenet...[[ by
"BobFinnan.com" on Groups: rec.arts.books.children , 30
September 2006 ]]
//
The preceding was in response to a posting that included: "Where
are the religious moderates... I'm hearing only a few cries in the
wilderness,
and zealots from all sides. I'm definitely not anti-Christian...
Now we
hear that there's 100,000,000 evangelicals in the US alone? That's 1/3
of the
population believing in "end times"?..." ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
For future reference, the remark by character "Finnan" appears to
express support for a conservative Christian-evangelical position. //
...You
are a great one for making rules for
others
to follow that you seem to feel free to
ignore.
[[ by "Bob" (Fwdi...) on rec.collecting.books, 22 March 2005,
in response to "John Yamamoto-Wilson" ]] ... I put Spamamoto on
my kill file so I won't be reading any more of his hypocritical
ravings. [[ by "Bob" (Fwdi...) on rec.collecting.books,
22 March 2005. The reference is to "John Yamamoto-Wilson". ]] ...Hey fucktard, try reading the FAQ before posting your spam here. [[ by "Bob
Finnan" on ????? ,
19
June 2004 ]] ...You really are a cretin,
stinky! How's that offensive
B.O.
problem going for you? Regular bathing may be helpful. [[ by ?? on ??, ?? in response to
"Seattle_Bookseller" ]] ... sounds more like this Brooke Allen creature is shilling ...He/she makes a
few valid
points but the shaky assumptions,
specious reasoning
and general disingenuousness of the article make the motives
of the
author extremely suspect. [[ by "Fwdi" on rec.collecting.books, 7
July 2001 ]] ...Here's a link for you Sammy-boy:
http://www.amishrakefight.org/gfy/ ...You admit you're full of shit and don't know what
the fuck you're talking about? Well, well, admitting you have a problem is the
first step to
recovery. [[ by "The Bobino" (rwfemail...) on rec.collecting.books,
21 December 2006, in response to "Sam". ]] announcement: Discussion
subject changed to "micheal adams child molester" by RWF [[ on rec.collecting.books,
28 December 2006 ]] ...You're a misanthropic
loner who NEEDS to try to inflate his lamentably
tiny ego with pompous posts
and near
psychotic attacks on all those who don't agree with you. [[
by
"RWF" (rwfemail...) on rec.collecting.books, 29 December 2006,
in response to "Michael Adams" ]] ... Ahhhh shut up, you big windbag! You're as useless
as a hemorrhoid. [[ by "RF" <fwdi...@hotmail.com>, 9
March 2007; responding to "...Walter J. Black did run a club-type
operation, with several series. At one time, they published the
complete
works of ESG in a nice uniform..." ]] ...Long time readers
...may recall that M- pulled this same stuff... It seems to fit a
pattern of total over-reaction, feelings
of inferiority, feelings of
persecution, distortion of truth and outright lying by M-.
Leafing
through my old Psych 101 book shows this collection of symptoms is
surprisingly
not unlike the textbook description of paranoia.
[[ by "Hardybo...@aol.com ????? ]] ...You ignorant
ass, A male witch is a WARLOCK! try alt.m-.is.a
dipshit You are a craven coward! [[ by "Hardyboy" on
?????????????, 12 December 1997 ]] ...Christ almighty - what a hack! ... lay off the
Scotch! You can't
spell, you can't write worth a shit.
Go see a
shrink, you're losing whatever miniscule talent you
had. The
only thing in the wind is that shriveled
little
useless pecker of yours! [[ by Hardyboy@aol.com
on alt.fan.doc-savage,
12 May 1998 ]] ... Hey brainiac, stamps are PRINTED - [[ by
"BobFinnan.com"
on Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books, 9 August 2006 ]] ...the big windbag blusters thusly-- (...)
...Oh my, the endomorph is
flexing his internet muscles again.
How frightening! I'm not hard to find either, you big
sissy but I doubt you'd have the balls to open your piehole
to me in
person. P- you're a pathetic juvenile jerk.
Nobody here wants you around. [[ on rec.collecting.books, 1
June 2005
]]...Don't you ever tire of being a braying,
elitist, empty-headed jackass? [[ on rec.collecting.books,
6
October 2005 ]]
I-B:
Openly attributed to character "Ippolito":
4 I-B1:
Regarding "Political
Correctness". ...I hope things never some to this. ...In my view,
this
would an example of "bad" political
correctness....[[
by "Thomas R. Ippolito" on his Tom Swift Discussion Group, post
929, circa 2004-5 ]] ...I see no
need for a TS
series to confront any social topics ... sex, drugs, racism,
teenage
pregnancy, abortion, AIDS, etc. [[ by Thomas R. Ippolito, "tippolit",
on his Tom Swift Discussion Group ]] ...Frankly, it would seem a bit
incongruous to retain an anachronistic character like Chow Winkler in a
new TS
series while writing out more conventional ones in favor a more culturally diverse and/or politically correct cast
(Benjamin Franklin Walking Eagle in the Wanderer Books series and
Police Chief
Robin Montague in the Archway Paperbacks series immediately come to
mind). [[ by Thomas R. Ippolito on his Tom Swift Discussion Group,
28
November 2004 ]]
4 I-B2:
Attitudes toward gays.
...There is no place in the TS
series for an emphasis on, or even
mention of, sexual orientation.
... [[ by "Thomas R. Ippolito" on his Tom Swift Discussion
Group, post 929 circa 2004-5, responding to my question on the
meaning of
"political correctness" and my statement "I don't suppose
we're quite to the point of introducing gay/lesbian characters in the
world of
Tom Swift." ]]
// Subsequent comment by "Ippolito" on this
subject: //
...Again,
I fail to see how sexual orientation is a
pertinent
unless... the story involves sex and/or sexual attraction. [[ by Thomas
R.
Ippolito, "tippolit" ]]
//
At about this time, I received an e-mail from Ippolito regarding
this discussion on his group, and noting "I find this topic
distasteful." //
4 I-B3:
Attitude regarding
Christianity. ...I rarely post anything and have only once before
felt
compelled to post a reply, but this is one of those exceptions. John
Lennon was
an extremely talented and remarkable individual, but his suggestion that the Beatles were more popular than
Jesus
was simply absurd and so is Tom Conlon's contention that it was merely
a
"statement of fact". John was wrong in what he said and wrong to say
it. Christ's disciples were anything but thick and ordinary. His gloom and doom prediction about Christianity was
ill-advised,
completely unnecessary and unconstructive. More importantly,
it was offensive to millions.
...to defend the
statement, IMO, is either bling idolization or equally bad judgement.
(No
offensive Tom). [[ by "Thomas Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles,
25 August 1996 ]] 'I was sitting
in the
park... and Psalm 59 came to mind. Perhaps just a prayer that I
do the right
thing and remain silent in the face of this.' [[ Paraphrased
from private correspondence by Thomas R. Ippolito, 2004, made available
to me for
my review ]]
//
NOTE: These may be construed as a parallel to the remark by
"Finnan" cited above, re: conservative Christianity. //
4 I-B4:
Abusive language and
terminology. ...how does it feel to be an asshole?
[[ by "Thomas Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles, 21 September
1996, responding to " does anyone know if Paul McCartney has
an
E-mail adress? If so, what is it? If you know George's or
Ringo's, please
post those too. ", posted by "Jeff Kelety" ]] ...I
don't want to be unkind to the individual who asked what has the world
missed
as a result of John Lennon's death/assassination, but my response is
simple
.... more than will be missed when you
pass on.
[[ by "Thomas Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles, 15 August 1996,
responding to "...I remember seeing my uncle in tears with the
paper in
front of him (headline: I Shot Lennon). Sorry to get all maudlin here,
but my
God, what has the world missed by losing him?..." posted by
"Mebberson Geological Services" ]]
//
I take this to illustrate both attitude and a weakness with
regard to careless, pejorative misinterpretation of another's intent. //
...Get
this shit off the newsgriup you friggin asshole. [[ by "Tom
Ippolito" <rave...@ix.netcom.com> on alt.binaries.sounds.midi,
alt.3d.misc, 12 October 1996 ]] ... Plagiarize? (btw you
spelled it
wrong Einstein)... [[ by "Tom
Ippolito" <rave... @ix.netcom.com> on Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books, 12 July 1997, responding to
"Hardyboy01" ]]
4 I-B5:
Particular sensitivity to issues
of content relevance in newsgroups. ...ENOUGH WITH OASIS ALREADY. TAKE YOUR POSTS TO AN OASIS NEWSGROUP
WOULD YOU
PLEASE???? [and in the succeeding post:]
I
think I've had to wade through more than a hundred posts
discussing/commenting
on Oasis in the past month or two. Enough already! Why
dignify the comparisons by constantly discussing it? [[ by
"Thomas Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles, 14 September 1996 ]]
...I notice there are only about 6-7 of John's songs covered by midis
on the
web but about 50 of Paul's. Kind of disappointed and surprised by this.
[[ by
"Thomas Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles, 3 October 1996 ]]
...Enough of the damn Bob Dole and
politics posts!!!
Post these to a related newsgroup
and
give us a break!!! [[ by "Thomas Ippolito" on alt.binaries.sounds.midi,
14 September 1996]
4 I-B6:
Pop music collecting and
interest. ...Many of Klaatu's songs
are remarkably like the Beatles in style and sound. They were an
excellent
band. Their material is no longer being issued (although I've heard
that a
reissue of their entire catalogue is being considered). Some of their
albums/CD's are still available on the shelves of many record stores
across the
country. I found Endangered Species, Sir Army Suit and Magentalane to
be
outstanding. I highly recommend Klaatu to all Beatles fans. [[ by
"Thomas
R. Ippolito" on rec.music.beatles, 27 September 1996 ]]
...Anyone
have and midis of Dean Martin tunes?
[[
by "Thomas R. Ippolito" on alt.music.midi, 3 October 1996 ]]
//
Note also his participation in the Beatles group cited in the
posts preceding. //
II.
PRELIMINARY CROSS-IDENTIFICATIONS:
FINNAN PSEUDONYMS ON WIKIPEDIA
Prior
to commencing the main discussion, it is necessary to establish the
credibility
of a supportive thesis: that The Subject has edited various
Wikipedia
articles in 2005-7 under numerous pseudonyms, all of whom are in fact
the
person known publicly as "Bob Finnan". Cited pseudonyms are
MookiesDad, Pak434, DocSimpson, Noumenes, SuperDuperMan, and FWDixon.
(A
further suggested pseudonym, Jesup, is less robustly evidenced.)
These
are not "innocent" pseudonyms, as is permitted on Wikipedia, but
rather appear to be deliberate efforts to deceive. The overall strategy
is to
define distinct "characters," exaggerate certain personal traits and,
as necessary, to exhibit the facade of mutual disagreement, and
thus to
give credibility to later denials of identity.
In
some cases the contribution is unsigned, but the continuity of theme
and
language lends support to the thesis of this section.
Most,
but not all, statements extracted refer to me; ie, Doxmyth/Dickerson.
The other
statements, and those from off-Wikipedia, are included to establish
parallel
use of terminology, and characteristic responses.
II-A.
Charge of "vandalism"
Regarding
use of the term "vandalism" in Wikipedia discussion, the referenced
application of the term by The Subject is not standard Wikipedia usage;
The
Subject persisted in this characteristic and idiosyncratic use after
correction
by others. I have included the similar misapplication of the term in
responding
to another editor of the same articles, "Antaeus Feldspar", to further
illustrate the parallel usage by the various pseudonyms. [See Appendix
IV
at the end of this monograph for Wikipedia definitions.]
4 II-A1:
Character
"MookiesDad" : I HATE ALL VANDALS!
(changed to DEATH TO ALL VANDALS!,
9
September 2006) [[ userpage, User: MookiesDad; first posted – by
MookiesDad ]]
...leave the article to those who have researched the topic and don't
just want
to make vandalizing wholesale cosmetic changes to it... Talk:
Tom
Swift [[ 19:20, 7 September 2006 ]] ...As far as I'm
concerned,
the sweeping deletions that you make to this page without any consensus
ARE vandalism. [?] ...I have
the "right" to
revert your vandalism and will
do so
every time you butcher up the article. Talk: Tom Swift [[
19:18, 7
September 2006 ]] ... I removed your vandalistic
"predecessors" paragraph AGAIN because if is completely irrelevant.
... Talk: Tom Swift [[ 11:12, 8 September 2006 ]]
... I do
NOT believe these are good faith efforts. I DO believe this is a subtle
form of
vandalism. Talk: Tom Swift [[
12:41, 9 September 2006 ]] ...when you vandalized
the list of TS Sr. books by deleting Tom Swift & His Motorcycle
in your
insane spree... [[ 19:00, 9 September 2006 ]] ...IMHO this
bad
faith editing is a subtle form of vandalism
and I ask Mr. Dickerson to cease and desist. Talk: Tom Swift [[
00:21,
10 September 2006 ]] ...(SD talk:) ...Hey genius - why
don't you be
more careful when you "edit" (read vandalize)?
User Talk: Doxmyth [[ 02:03, 9 September 2006 ]]
...As far
as I can see, you've vandalized
the list
of TS Sr. titles, presented uncited speculation as fact and promoted
your own
off-topic web site.... [[ 19:31, 9 September 2006 ]]
...(where? — )
//
Note: see also I-A5 for a parallel form, "Hey genius/Hey
brainiac". //
4 II-A2:
Character: "SuperDuperMan" from Edit
Summaries, History, Talk: Tom Swift ...23:58, 21 October 2006
SuperDuperMan
(Talk | contribs) m (rm unrelated "see also" section which has been
repeatedly (to the point of vandalism)
been inserted by the arrogant Feldspar.) ...12:28, 24 October 2006
SuperDuperMan (Talk | contribs) ... I view its insertion into that
article as vandalism.
...14:48, 24 October 2006 SuperDuperMan
(Talk | contribs) (rv vandalism by
Antaeus Feldspar yet again) 19:55, 25 October 2006 SuperDuperMan (Talk
|
contribs) (→Antaeus Feldspar - Feldspar proves himself to be a
hypocritical
bully and vandal, yet
again!)... 11:37,
26 October 2006 SuperDuperMan (Talk | contribs) (rv vandalism
by Antaeus Feldspar)...
4 II-A3:
Character: "Pak434" ...As you
can see, the vandal
is now engaging in retaliatory allegations that have absolutely no
basis in
fact... [[ 28 October 2006 ]]
II-B.
Attributions: arrogance, conceit, etc.
4 II-B1:
Character: Mookies Dad ...Why do I consider
your "site" off-topic - because it doesn't supply any information on
any of the various series, it's just your
monumental
ego trip... [[ 19:31, 9 September 2006 ]] ...
from Talk:Tom
Swift: ... You seem pretty eager for
other
people to do your work for you... [[ 18:31, 5 September
2006 ]] ... This isn't your
private site
where you would be free to do as you please. [?] ...if all you want
to do
is massage the article so that it looks
the way YOU
want it... [[ 22:35, 6 September 2006 ]] You
keep going
on about "flow", which I think is double-talk for "I want it to
look my way and screw everyone else!".
...[[ 19:18, 7 September 2006 ]] ...And for heaven's
sake,
stop presenting speculation and supposition as fact as in the
"predecessors" section you keep trying to
foist on the article! [[ 19:48, 7 September
2006 ]] ...
you come across as extremely arrogant and
condescending. You think you,
and only
you, know what's best. Get
off your high horse!
//
NOTE: see use of "high horse" by
"SuperDuperMan" below //
[[
21:49, 7 September 2006 ]] ... Why is it that you think
you're the only one whose opinion should
matter? [[ 21:07, 8
September 2006 ]] ...Your last post just proves my point on
how arrogant and conceited you
are. [?] Doxmyth ...has
contributed NOTHING other than to change
the
appearance of the article... to his liking... [[ 12:41, 9
September
2006 ]] ...spree of self-righteousness.
... the text you mention that you added was entirely
self-serving... [[ 01:45, 13 September 2006 ]]
4 II-B2:
from character SuperDuperMan ... your attempts
to force your version upon the Wiki
community. [[ 20:35, 18 October 2006 ]] ...He rejects any opinion against his edits
as personal
abuse, going so far as to harass users on the Wiki "pain" page,
rather than to accept the valid criticism that his edits engender. He seems to feel he is the only one to be allowed
to
follow the Wiki mandate of "be bold" [[ 02:05, 19 October
2006 ]]...Tom Swift is clearly NOT Edisonade nor related in
anyway
to Reade - Get off your high horse
and
get your facts straight Feldspar. You positively reek of arrogance... [[ edit summary (21 Oct
2006 in TS
ARTICLE-history) ]]
//
NOTE: see "high horse" parallel usage by MookiesDad above.
//
4 II-B3:
By character FWDixon:
Doxmyth appears to be incorrigible.
...[[
12:15, 19 October 2006 ]] ...Where do you get the audacity to question me as to what I do
with my
group? You aren't a member and it's absolutely none of your affair.
What a monumental ego you
have. [[ Lindholm Group,
September 27, 2006, 11:49:22 AM ]]
4 II-B4:
By character Pak434: I understand your difficulty
in holding a neutral point of view...
refrain from stubbornly
reinserting it
...you are instigating an edit war
by
doing so. [[ 01:22, 20 October 2006 ]]
II-C:
Accusations of self-promotion, link-spamming
4 II-C1:
By character MookiesDad: You repeatedly link
spam the Tom Swift pages with off-topic
links to your fan fiction site. [[ 12:46, 25 September 2006
]] ...
he continues to promote his
Tom Swift fan
fiction site in the External Links section... [[ 00:21, 10 September
2006 ]] ... He continually
links
to his site that has absolutely no information... Doxmyth's continual
reversions and link spamming.
[[ 01:59,
10 September 2006 ]] ... Wikipedia is not a place for you
to promote your
non-informational web site... ...the text you mention that you added
was entirely self-serving and
a clear attempt to validate a link
to your site... create
a Wiki "fan fiction" page and link to your site from that, if you
must promote your
site. [[ 01:45, 13 September 2006 ]] ...Your link spam here
is
just as inappropriate as it is on the main [[ Tom Swift ]] page. Don't
you EVER
give up? [[ 23:53, 23 September 2006 ]]
4 II-C2:
By Unsigned User: You
continue to add self-promoting text
in an
attempt to justify adding a link
to your
TS site. ...your continued attempts to
promote
it on WIKI... [[ User:71.125.234.14; 22:51, 15 October 2006
]]
4 II-C3:
By character
SuperDuperMan: ... The text [[ Doxmyth ]] inserts into the article
is a patently obvious blind used to
justify linking to his fan fiction site. ...the link doesn't
belong
here. [[ 02:00, 16 October 2006 ...your repeated attempts to promote your off-topic fan
fiction
site. Even if a link to your site
was
helpful ... it STILL wouldn't belong here ... your repeated attempts
are
inappropriate and self-promoting...
[[
20:35, 18 October 2006 ]] ... Scott Dickerson (aka Doxmyth)
continues to indulge in shameless self-promotion
of
his fan fiction... I suggest that he cease and desist from his
non-neutral promotion of his
site, or at least promote it
in the proper forum (e.g. the Wiki [[
fan fiction ]] page). [[ 02:05, 19 October 2006 ]] ...Whenever he
doesn't
get his way on this he resorts to whimpering,
self-pitying protestations of unfairness, censorship and
foul play
and seeks to elicit sympathy
from others.
<<by who??>>
4 II-C4:
By character Pak434: ...Mention of fan
fiction is more appropriate for the Wiki fan fiction article. I agree
with the
other editors that it appears to be an
excuse to
promote your fan fiction
web site...
[[ 19:31, 18 October 2006 ]] ... Doxmyth's repeated attempts to add a link to
his web site and the lead-in text about fandom and fan fiction...should
stop...
[[ 16:37, 19 October 2006 ]] ... garner support for his
cause,
namely promoting his fan fiction web site...
[[ 12:18, 30 September 2006 ]] ...Doxmyth recently compared
MookiesDad to Hitler and threatened him because he wasn't allowed to promote his fan fiction... on
MookiesDad's Tom
Swift Yahoo fan group. ... The fact that Doxmyth "resorts to
whimpering,
self-pitying protestations of unfairness, censorship and foul play and
seeks to
elicit sympathy from others" whenever he isn't allowed to promote his fan fiction site in various
forums...
and under another identity, nbfanc, that he uses to promote his
fan fiction... [[ September 2006 ]]
4 II-C5:
By character "FWDixon": ...Count me
among the editors who will keep a close eye on Mr. Dickerson's self-promoting edits. [[ 12:15, 19
October
2006 ]]
4 II-C6:
By character "Noumenes": ... 22:24,
13 October 2006 Noumenes (Talk | contribs) (remove extraneous
information and link to editor's fan
fiction
web site) ... 22:27, 13 October 2006 Noumenes (Talk | contribs) (remove
extraneous information designed to promote
the
editor's fan fiction web
site) ...
Doxmyth's shameless promotion of his fan
fiction
site even extends to article talk pages... [[ 01:39, 22
October
2006 ]]
//
inserted note: see parallel usage of term "shameless...
promotion" by SuperDuperMan, above, 3 days prior. //
II-D:
References to Doxmyth’s mental
state
4 II-D1: By
character MookiesDad: ... Cease
and desist from posting your bizarre
interpretation of Wiki guidelines... [[
12:46, 25 September 2006 ]] ... your insane
spree of self-righteousness... [[ 19:00, 9 September
2006 ]] ... Doxmyth is very confused. ...All-in-all, a very
disturbed individual. [[ 26 September 2006 ]]
4 II-D2:
By unsigned contributor:
... your continued attempts... despite numerous attempts
to reason with you is extremely puzzling. [[
User:71.125.234.14;
22:51, 15 October 2006 ]]
4 II-D3:
By character Pak434: ...he is an emotionally
immature person with narcissistic
tendencies and an overwhelming
need to be the centre of attention.
[[ 30 September 2006 ]]
//NOTE:
"Pak434" appears to be asserting knowledge of
Doxmyth/Dickerson's actions outside Wikipedia.//
4 II-D4:
By character DocSimpson:
... Another thing is that Doxmyth uses so many aliases that he
sometimes forgets who he is...
I have to concur with
MookiesDad and Pak434. This dude is a very
disturbed
individual. DocSimpson [time?]
//NOTE:
as above preceding//
4 II-D5:
By character SuperDuperMan: ... Here's a site
with some "detailed information" you really need: www.nmha.org [[ 21 October 2006
]]
//
NOTE: this website is described as— "Mental Health
America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is
the
country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live
mentally
healthier lives." See parallel insults in the form of references
to
websites, below. //
II-E: Recurrent
themes: "crybaby", statements of
antipathy
4 II-E1:
By character MookiesDad:
... Are you going to tell your mommy
too?
What a petulant little whining crybaby
you are! ...I'm really beginning to dislike
you
intensely! [[ 21:07, 8 September 2006 ]] ... I'm
retired
and have nothing but time on my hands and I
dislike
whining crybabies. [[ 19:31, 9 September 2006 ]]
...
Plus I don't like you! [[
19:00, 9
September 2006 ]] ... Please stop spamming my talk page
with your whining and illogic.
[[ 19:08, 11 September
2006 ]]
4 II-E2:
??: ...Whenever he doesn't get his way on
this he resorts to whimpering,
self-pitying
protestations of unfairness, censorship and foul play and
seeks to
elicit sympathy from others. [WikiPAIN]
4 II-E3:
By character Pak434: ... Doxmyth crying
about incivility when his victim gets fed
up with his harassment and cyber stalking and becomes angry is pathetic. ...[[ 28 September
2006 ]]
//
NOTE: The reference to "harassment and cyber stalking"
is obscure, but again suggests a claim to knowledge of off-Wikipedia
activities
by Doxmyth. //
...Doxmyth
whines about personal attacks
and urges
others to comment only on article content... Pathetic.
Doxmyth’s game is simple. He markets any
perceived mistreatment, read as any
time he doesn’t get his way, to anyone and everyone he can, trying to play on the sympathies of others... [[
September
2006 ]]
//
NOTE: as in preceding note. //
...
Oh pleeze. When all else fails, suck up
to an admin. Right? You have no shame Doxmyth. [[ 10:52, 6 October
2006 ]]
4 II-E4:
By character
SuperDuperMan: Boohoohoo, nobody
thinks my link is valid. I'll show 'em - I'll remove ALL the links! I'm
doing
this in good faith! I'm being bold! I'm a good Wikipedian! - There you
have
Doxmyth in a nutshell. [[ 02:18, 20 October 2006 ]]
4 II-E5:
By characters characters openly identified as
Robert Finnan: Dickerson, I'm not buying into your game... You know, the one where you whine and cry about what a poor
"victim"
you are and how nobody plays by the rules etc and so forth. [[
"FWDixon" on Lindholm Group, 28 September 2006 ]] Wah wah wah. poor widdle Scotty, nobody
plays by
the rules but him. Boo hoo hoo.
If
you aren't on Wiki crying
about the
rules, you're here crying about the rules. Wah
wah wah, everybody is so mean to poor widdle Scotty. Wah wah wah, nobody let's them in
their Tom
Swift groups. Wah wah wah,
everybody
thinks his stories suck ass. Wah Wah Wah!
[[ "FWDixon" on Lindholm Group, 30 September 2006 ]]
//
see
II-E3, preceding. //
... you
childishly pout and want to whine
about how I'm hurting your business. [[ by "Bob" on his Hardy Boys
Blog, 14 April 2006; copy of an e-mail to an individual seller on
Amazon
Marketplace ]] ...you whine and cry
about
it and insult me. ...These are precisely the type of antics that got
you kicked
off the list, you big crybaby.
[[ by
"Hardyboy (Mr. Nice Guy)" on alt.books.nancy-drew, 27 November
1999, to poster "Steveseg" ]] ...Don't start whining about it now. ...Yeah right crybaby. My
whole
world revolves around you... [[ by "Hardyboy (Mr. Nice Guy)" on alt.books.nancy-drew,
28 November 1999, to poster "Steveseg" ]] ...You piss & moan that you don't like the
way I run
the list... [[ by "RWF" on Series Book Central -date- to Steve Servello ]]
...Translation: Bob
keeps kicking my ass and I don't have enough intellegence to keep up
with him. Wah MOMMY! Make the bad man
stop picking on me. Wah, wah,
wha!!!! [[ from name-place-date
to "Seattle Bookseller" ]] ...No widdle
Sammy, why don't you tell all the people how easy it is to
get eBay
to remove negative feedback? You shot off your big bazoo and now whine about how you said it wasn't
easy! [[ from
"The Bobino" (<rwfemail2006...) on rec.collecting.books, 21
December 2006, to "Sam" <chainman6...> ]] ... let's
discuss what a hypocritical, pretentious
blowhard
you are. Constantly whining
about the
lack of civilized discussion and then using any attempt to flame me and
anyone
else who won't conform to your self-imposed "rules". [[ by
"Bob" (Fwdi...) on rec.collecting.books, 22 March 2005, in
response to "John Yamamoto-Wilson" ]] ...Not everyone is as feeble-minded as you. You seem to
believe that the only speech that should
be free is that with which you
happen to agree. [[
from
"HardyBoys.net" on rec.collecting.books, 9 June 2003,
responding to "Tom" (ref. racial epithet postings, cited below) ]]
II-F:
Characterizations of Doxmyth fan fiction, use of "pariah", "Tom
Swift community" status
4 II-F1:
By character MookiesDad: ...Why do I consider
your "site" off-topic - because it doesn't supply any information on
any of the various series, it's just your monumental ego trip. Every
reviewer
of your "fiction" has declared it poor
and
juvenile. Get it? NOBODY
LIKES IT!...
[[ 19:31, 9 September 2006 ]] ... how arrogant and
conceited you
are. No wonder Ippolito threw you out
of
his group! ...[[ 11:12, 8 September 2006 ]] ... Tom Swift
fan
fiction is non-canonical, usually bad,
possibly
illegal... Fan fiction is non-canonical
and irrelevant to this article... [[ 01:45, 13 September
2006 ]] ... It's no small wonder that you are a pariah in the Tom Swift community. [[
19:08, 11
September 2006 ]]
4 II-F2:
By character FWDixon: ...it's precisely
these kinds of statements and your paranoid behavior that makes you persona non grata on most Yahoo groups.
[[
Lindholm Group, 28 August, 2006, responding to "MDB" ]]
4 II-F3:
By characters openly identified as Robert Finnan:
Another rant of pure fantasy by the pariah
of the Usenet, K- "Fat Ass"... [[ by BobFinnan.com on Groups:rec.arts.books.
childrens, 30 September, 2006, to "Kris B-" ]] ...you continued
to lie repeatedly and made yourself a pariah
among the very people whom you wanted to impress...[[ who, where etc, 10 March, to
"seattle_bookseller" ]] ...Another rant of pure fantasy by the pariah of the Usenet...[[ by
"BobFinnan.com" on rec.arts.books.children , 30
September 2006; not directed at
Doxmyth/Dickerson.
]]
II-G:
Inter-referenced self-disclosures, accusations
4 II-G1:
By character Pak434:
...one editor appears to be using a number of sock puppets in an
attempt to
make this consensus seem even broader. The following Wiki user IDs all appear to be the same person: [[ User:71.125.234.14|71.125.234.14 ]], [[
User:SuperDuperMan
]], [[ User:MookiesDad ]], [[ User:Fwdixon ]]... [[ 16:37,
19
October 2006 ]] ... You also neglected to log in on 02:02,
19
October 2006 (→Discussion of further edit work by Scott Dickerson) when
you
added to previous comments made by [[
User:MookiesDad ]] on 01:52, 18 October 2006 (→Further edit
work by
Scott Dickerson). You changed the
signature to
[User:SuperDuperMan ]]. [[ 04:04, 26 October
2006 ]]
...Also on 6 October 2006 as [[
User:MookiesDad ]]
you removed text from a number of individual Hardy Boys pages that you claimed was copied from "your"
(FWDixon’s)
web site.... [[ 11:16, 26 October 2006 ]]
...Doxmyth/Scott Dickerson, he is actually an active member of Mookies’ Tom Swift discussion group...
[[ 30
September 2006 ]] ... The fact that Doxmyth made the
"Hitler"' remark about MookiesDad in another forum, MookiesDad's Tom Swift Yahoo fan group. [[
28
September 2006 ]]
//
NOTE: These latter references are to a contemporaneous
discussion group moderated by the ostensible "FWDixon", his posts
therein signed "Bob Finnan". IE, the claim by "Pak434" is
that "MookiesDad" is "FWDixon". The original
"Hitler" comment was made to "FWDixon" in a private and
nonposted e-mail by someone other than myself, made available to me,
evidencing
knowledge by "Pak434" of "FWDixon"'s private
correspondence. // ...
>>USER
TALK:NLU>>For the past month [[
User:SuperDuperMan ]], who also edits under [[ User:MookiesDad ]], [[
User:Fwdixon ]] and [[ User:71.125.234.14 ]], has engaged in
edit
warring, flagrant sockpuppetry...[[
17:14, 27 October 2006 ]] ... On 19 October 2006 I called
attention
to the fact that user IDs 71.125.234.14, SuperDuperMan, MookiesDad, and
Fwdixon
all appeared to be the same person
and
that this person appeared to be using
sockpuppets
to broaden a legitimate concensus... 22 October 2006
]] ...
[[ User:SuperDuperMan ]]’s claim that I also edit under [[
User:Noumenes ]] or
that I am a sock/meat puppet
of [[
User:Antaeus Feldspar ]] likewise has no basis in fact. ...this user
has
engaged in flagrant sockpuppetry...Evidence
of sockpuppetry has now been
provided by
[[ User:Antaeus Feldspar ]]. [[ 15:00, 28 October 2006 ]]
4 II-G2:
Related comments by
Wikipedia editor "Antaeus Feldspar": ... the claims of sockpuppetry against Fwdixon/
71.125.234.14/
MookiesDad/ SuperDuperMan are indeed backed up by evidence. By
contrast,
"SuperDuperMan" makes strong accusations about Pak434 and Noumenes
and I all being the same person
but has
provided no evidence whatsoever, neither on [[ Talk:Tom Swift ]] nor
here. The claim that Noumenes and I are
the same person
seems particularly ludicrous, given that to my knowledge Noumenes and I
have
never agreed on anything so far. [[ 00:49, 28 October 2006
]]
4II-G3: By
character
"SuperDuperMan": User:Pak434... also edits under the sockpuppet User:Noumenes...
I suspect both edit names are sock/meat puppets of
User:Antaeus_Feldspar [[
19:40, 27 October 2006 ]]
4II-G4: By
character
"FWDixon": It seems
Feldspar and his meat/sock puppet Pak234
are becoming drunk with
power. [[ 14:00, 2 November 2006 ]] ...Feldspar... is a
sockpuppeteer who operates the sockpuppet
Pak434
among others... [[ 20:38, 3 November 2006 ]] ...I submit
that
neither Antaeus Feldspar or his sock/meat
puppet
Pak434 can in any way be considered "impartial" or
"unbiased"... [[ 20:38, 3 November 2006 ]]
II-H: Irrelevance of Doxmyth "Predecessors" paragraph
4 II-H1: By
character
"MookiesDad": ...I
removed
your vandalistic "predecessors" paragraph
AGAIN because if is completely
irrelevant.
...[[ ]] ... you've... presented uncited
speculation as fact...I will remove your link and "Predecessors" paragraph any time you
post it. [[ 19:31, 9 September 2006 ]] ... leave the
article
to those who have researched the topic...
[[ 19:20, 7 September 2006 ]] ... for heaven's sake, stop
presenting speculation and supposition
as
fact as in the "predecessors" section
you keep trying to foist on the article! [[ 19:48, 7 September
2006
]] ... Doxmyth continues to insert a paragraph
that
is entirely speculative, without citations and, IMHO, is
based
entirely on personal opinion...
Doxmyth
has no knowledge of the series
and has
contributed NOTHING other than to... insert personal
opinion, speculation and supposition in place of fact. [[
12:41, 9
September 2006 ]] .. I consider your "Predecessors"
paragraph to be entirely conjectural
and therefore inappropriate
for Wiki...
[[ 19:00, 9 September 2006 ]] ...continues to insert his "predecessors" section despite the fact that there is a) no connection whatsoever to Tom Swift,
b) is
entirely made up of conjecture,
supposition, surmise
and opinion which is directly contraindicated by all
Wiki
guidelines and c) is irrelevant...
[[
00:21, 10 September 2006 ]] ... continues to insert his irrelevant "predecessors" section
despite all attempts to reason with him...[[ 01:59, 10 September
2006 ]] ....Predecessors - If you can find anything with a proven
connection
as an influence on Tom Swift otherwise the section is so pointless as to be completely useless.
...[[ 01:45, 13 September 2006 ]]
4II-H2: By
character Pak434: This text
has been inserted numerous times over the
objection of other editors. Stubbornly reinserting it again and again
invites
edit warring and flies in the face of an emerging consensus that none of it belongs in this article.
The... text
dealing with the so-called invention-story milieu is redundant...[[ 19:31, 18 October
2006 ]] ... please
refrain from stubbornly reinserting it, and the text dealing with the so-called invention-story milieu, as
you are
instigating an edit war by doing so... [[ 01:22, 20 October
2006 ]]
... This text has been inserted numerous times over the objection of
other
editors. ...it does not belong
in the
article... [[ 18 October 2006 ]]
4II-H3: By
character SuperDuperMan: Scott
Dickerson (aka Doxmyth)... makes anononymous edits
further promoting his site and POV about
Tom Swift.
[[ 02:05, 19 October 2006 ]] ... the information isn't useful; since it expresses
opinion, it is inapropriate,
and is irrelevant in the
context in which
you place it... [[ 02:04, 19 October 2006 ]] ... [TS hist
]]> ]]
12:28, 24 October 2006 SuperDuperMan (Talk | contribs) m (By Wiki's own
definition, TS is NOT Edisonade,
so I removed any reference to
it and will continue to
do so as I view its insertion into that article as vandalism.)//to
whom>//
... (from Edisonade: "Revision as of 22:52, 24 October 2006 (edit)
(→Examples - Tom Swift is clearly not
Edisonade.
Attempts to justify that theory on the Tom Swift page by including it
here is obvious bootstrapping.)
... Let me make myself clear - as long as I live I will remove the "See
Also" section that points to Edisonade or
Frank
Reade - neither topic having the slightest connection to
Tom Swift
except, of course, in your imagination. [[ 00:03, 22 October 2006 ]]
II-I:
Use of term "Consensus", pattern of misspelling (instances
underlined)
[Note:
see Appendix IV for Wikipedia definition
of "consensus"]
4II-I1: By
character
"Pak434": ...A consensus
has been reached that Doxmyth's repeated attempts... However one editor
appears
to be using a number of sock puppets in an attempt to make this consensus seem even broader... [[
16:37, 19
October 2006 ]] ...A consensus
has been reached that none of it belongs in the article. [[ 01:22, 20
October
2006 ]] ..The fact that sockpuppetry has been used to make
the consensus seem broader
does not mean there one
doesn't exist. ...Your argument... does not "dissolve" the consensus reached here. [[ 20 October
2006
]] ...A consensus has been
reached that
the Tom Swift adventures meet the general definition of the term
"Edisonade"...[[ 17:28, 25 October 2006 ]] ...using
sockpuppets to broaden a legitimate concensus...
a consensus has formed... [[
22 October
2006 ]] ...We are having a problem with the
definition of
"consensus". Consensus means a
general agreement... [[ 10:41, 31 October 2006 ]]
4II-I2: By
unsigned user 69.205.9.31 19:11: ...I won't
remove the link again unless there is a concensus
on this... [[ 31 August
2005 ]]
4II-I3: By
unsigned user 69.205.14.66: ...If a concensus
can't be reached that Finnan has spammed Wiki to sell books from his
web site,
this is obvious, then discussion is a waste of time. —The preceding
unsigned
comment was added by 69.205.14.66 (talk • contribs) on 22:21, 22 August
2005.
4II-I4: By
unsigned user 69.205.9.31 18:01: ...The link
to Hardy Boys memoribillia also falls under the
concensus of one link
per site on
main article pages because it is part of The Unofficial Hardy Boys Web
Site...
[[ from TALK:HARDY BOYS 31 August 2005 ]]
4II-I5: By
unsigned user 69.205.9.3119:40: ...No more
changes will be made by me without concensus.
Apologies to all... [[ from
TALK:PHILLIP O, 31 August 2005 ]]
//
NOTE: note pattern of misspelling "consensus"
as "concensus", bolded and underlined. The four unsigned
quotes refer to "Hardy Boys" article editing. Characters sharing
the misspelling purport to represent both sides of issue
involving
Finnan-FWDixon-Hardy Boys. //
4II-I6: By
character "SuperDuperMan": ... The consensus
here is that your repeated attempts are inappropriate and
self-promoting... [[
20:35, 18 October 2006 ]]
II-J:
Comparative timeframes of activities, editing interests
4II-J1:
Character "FWDixon": Ceased
posting on June 26, 2006; resumed October 19, 2006.
[Topics after October 19th are Hardy Boys, Stratemeyer, Billie Holliday
(etc.).]
4II-J2:
Character "Pak 434": First
posting October 6, 2006, continuing to date. [Topics:
Tom Swift, 38; Stratemeyer-related (primarily Hardy Boys), 14; Other,
13]
4II-J3:
Character "MookiesDad": First
posting June 27, 2006; last posting to date, October
24, 2006 [Topics: Tom Swift, 102; Stratemeyer-related, 35; Fan-Fiction,
etc,
15; Doxmyth, 11; Other, 20]
4II-J4:
Character "SuperDuperMan": First
posting October 16, 2006; last posting to date,
October 27, 2006 [Topics: Tom Swift, 65; Stratemeyer-related, 1;
Doxmyth, 9;
Other, 45 (many music, rock, etc.)]
4II-J5:
Character "Noumenes": First
posting October 11, 2006; Last posting to date
October 22, 2006. [Topics: Tom Swift, 10; Doxmyth, 2; Other (own user
page), 2]
4II-J6:
Character "DocSimpson": One posting
to date.
Note
added on WP:PAIN:
"— DocSimpson (talk • contribs) has made
few or no other edits outside this topic."
II-K:
Parallel research references
4II-K1: By
character
"FWDixon": ...I also spent hours at
the NY Public
Library poring over data in the Stratemeyer
archives... [[ 12:07, 22 August 2005 ]]
4II-K2: By
character "MookiesDad": ...as much
as I respect John's work, it was done in an era
when finding info on the Syndicate was neigh on impossible. Now
researchers
have access to the Stratemeyer archives
in the NYPL 5th Ave
branch, were I have spent many a pleasant
day researching the
Syndicate's boy stories like Rover Boys, Tom Swift and Hardy Boys...
[[
03:26, 10 September 2006 ]] ... As I mentioned earlier,
scholars
are reexamining Mr. Dizer's work
in light
of the torrent of new evidence
which
became available after he wrote his book and new
facts have turned up to dispute some of his suppositions...
[[
03:43, 10 September 2006 ]]
II-L: General summation
Presuming
that the thesis of this section has been proven, I hereinafter treat
comments
by any of these above-cited characters as comments by "Bob
Finnan" for purposes of comparison with those of "Tom Ippolito".
III:
THE 9-11 POSTS
The
following is quoted in narrative sequence. It illustrates the attitudes
and
beliefs of "Finnan", and also takes note of questions raised about
his use of prevarication and alias. In some cases I lack information as
to the
site of the original posts to which these responses refer.
III-A:
the original 9-11 post
Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books, alt.books.nancy-drew, alt.fan.doc-savage
From: fwdi...@yahoo.com
(fwdi...@yahoo.com)
Date: 12 Sep 2001 12:17:04 -0700
Local: Wed, Sep 12 2001 12:17 pm
Subject: OT: America Under Attack
Yesterday,
September 11, 2001, another day that will live in infamy, cowardly Arab
(a
redundancy?) terrorists killed and maimed thousands of innocent people
in four
coordinated plane hijackings ending in the demolition of three
buildings in the
World Trade center and a portion of the Pentagon. Finally the United
States
must wake up to the true nature of Islam. It is NOT a religion - it is
a
radical political movement with the aim of destroying all democratic
countries,
the United States in particular. The history of Islam is a history of
murder,
brutality and destruction. It is a cancer on the face of this planet.
The only
logical response is the destruction of Islam. Every Islamic country
must be
bombed into cinders. Not a living thing should be left, not a building
left
standing - a total and all out nuclear attack on every one of these
gangster
nations. Across the world, every Arab, every follower of Islam, must be
eliminated. No trial, no appeal, just the instant death they wish upon
others.
This is not murder any more than eliminating any other type of vermin
is
considered murder. This is self-preservation. Regardless of the
thoughts of our
pusillanimous "allies", America must take unilateral action. Right
now, we have the ability and we have the power - to NOT use it would be
a crime
against humanity. WAKE UP PRESIDENT BUSH, IT'S US OR THEM - DESTROY
ISLAM -
DESTROY ALL ARABS
III-B:
subsequent posts
13 September
2001
fwdixon@yahoo.com
j-yam...@sophia.ac.jp (John Wilson) wrote in message
<news:5d08e56f.0109121939.6ac6625a@posting.google.com...
> However, unlike you perhaps, I have Islamic and Arabic friends,
people
> who are as horrified by all of this as anyone.
Don't let
them fool you. Those filthy towelheads would just
as soon slit your throat as look at you. Every single one of those
stinking
pigs has to be eradicated and the sooner the better. Once again I call
for an
all out nuclear attack on every Islamic nation.
fwdixon@yahoo.com
paghatSPAMME...@netscape.net (paghat) wrote in message
> the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi which just might > help you grow
something
in that vacuum.
Paggie, you
old tampon, I suggest that you break out a
history book and study the horrors perpetrated by Muslims in the name
of their
gutter "religion". Nothing good has EVER come from Islam and nothing
ever will. Nitwit pantywaist "leaders" in our country have refused to
recognize the dangers inherent in Islam - perhaps out of stupidity or
cupidity.
It's unfortunate that we have chosen to close our eyes and pretend that
Islam
is just peachy - as long as we get our oil! Islam is and always was a
political
movement. It's history is that of destruction. It is a cancer on our
planet and
must be eliminated. Nuke 'em all - let God sort 'em out.
III-C: responses and questioning
4III-C1.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books, alt.books.nancy-drew,
alt.fan.doc-savage
From: kam...@dogeared.com (Scot Kamins)
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 15:03:50 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 13 2001 3:03 pm
Subject: Re: OT: America Under Attack
In
article
<9e0bb4d4.0109131147.254db...@posting.google.com>,
fwdi...@yahoo.com (fwdi...@yahoo.com) wrote:
> Don't
let them fool you. Those filthy towelheads
would just as soon slit your throat as look at you. Every single
one of
those stinking pigs has to be eradicated and the sooner the better.
Once again
I call for an all out nuclear attack on every Islamic nation.
I'm not
willing to believe that Bob wrote this. It has to be
a troll.
Bob is obstreperous an a pain in the butt, but he does read books.
—
Scot Kamins
Collecting The Modern Library 1917-1970
4III-C2:
Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books, alt.books.nancy-drew,
alt.fan.doc-savage
From: "Rich
Davis" <prda...@zoomnet.net>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 23:13:41 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 13 2001 11:13 pm
Subject: Re: OT: America Under Attack
HAIL
VICTORY! We should immediately declare war
against the United Arab Emirates and Taliban government.
4III-C3.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books, alt.books.nancy-drew,
alt.fan.doc-savage
From: "Rich Davis" <prda...@zoomnet.net>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 23:21:46 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 13 2001 11:21 pm
Subject: Re: America Under Attack
By moonlight
we ride
10,000 side by side
With swords drawn, held high
Our weapons and armor shine
Now is the day, into glory ride
Over the top of a vanquished pride
Sworn to eternal vows
The time to strike is NOW
KILL KILL!
4III-C4:
Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books, alt.books.nancy-drew,
alt.fan.doc-savage
From: paghatSPAMME...@netscape.net (paghat)
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 20:29:18 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 13 2001 8:29 pm
Okay, now
I'm with Scot, this has gotta be the work of a troll signing on as Bob & Rich
making them
sound like inbred Ku Klux Klan trailer trash. Rich has never been this
crazy
before anyway — & the armed forces don't want anyone quite
that crazy
either — so the other shtick about "going back in the military"
was crap — if it isn't crap then we're in even deeper doodoo
"defended" by goose-steppers & klansmen.
-paghat the ratgirl
4III-C5:
From: Ben Waggoner <b...@mail.uca.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 21:06:02 -0500
Local: Thurs, Sep 13 2001 7:06 pm
Subject: Re: OT: America Under Attack
The post's
Path originated at google.com, but the header
gives the NNTP-Posting-Host: 206.187.217.139. A quick trip to
http://samspade.org/ fingers this as a computer in the Nassau Library
System,
based in Uniondale, Nassau County, New York. Previous posts from both
"fwdi...@hardy-boys.net" and"fwdi...@yahoo.com", including
both the bigoted spews and more routine, unexceptional posts, show
posting
hosts such as 206.187.217.175, 206.187.217.157, and 206.187.217.164,
all in the
same block of addresses for the Nassau Library System. There's also one
from
24.188.186.157, which belongs to Cablevision Systems Corp. in
Hicksville, New
York. Both towns are in Nassau County, the western end of Long Island.
Bob
Finnan's got a PO Box in East Northport, just down the road and still
in Nassau
County. In other words, either it really is Bob Finnan, or Bob's got a
pressing
problem with identity theft — or at any rate needs to remember to
log off
the computers he uses in the library. For the sake of the tattered
shreds of my
remaining faith in humanity, I hope it's the latter. . . —
Ben
4III-C6:
Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books
From: kam...@dogeared.com (Scot Kamins)
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 12:47:41 -0700
Local: Fri, Sep 14 2001 12:47 pm
Subject: "Terrorist" comments did NOT come from Bob Finnan
Folks,
Here's a note I sent to Bob Finnan and his response:
— - Scot Kamins <kam...@dogeared.com> wrote:
> Hi Bob,
> Did this really come from you? Or is it another forgery?
Scot,
This post did not come from me nor did the other ones along this line
I've
spotted using "fwdi...@yahoo.com".
I use my
public library to go online and, unfortunately, the
browser didn't automatically log me out as it normally did, thus
causing this
problem. This has been an ongoing problem in this library and I'm not
the only
one who has been affected by this. Both my Google Usenet posting
account and my
Yahoo e-mail account were affected although both have now be reclaimed.
After this
date, any posts to the Usenet using my
"fwdi...@yahoo.com" address are bogus and I would appreciate an
e-mail head up if you spot one. Thanx,
Bob Finnan
The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page
4III-C7.
rec.collecting.books
From: "michael adams" <mjadam...@onetel.net.uk>
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 09:49:21 -0000
...Indeed
in another post he [[
"Bob Finnan" ]] claimed "I go online at my public
library and discovered that if I neglected to log out from
Google
Groups, that closing the browser window would not log me out as usual."
However according to the Google archive at least, he made no other
posts that
day. The point being you don't need to enter a password or anything
else in
order to read posts using Google Groups. Google Groups is simply
another
website. However in order to post through Google Groups, you need to
enter the
relevant email address and password for each session. And so how did
the
imposter, if imposter it was, know Mr Finnon's Google password in order
to post
a message? The point being that you're only prompted to enter your
password and
email address into Google when you attempt to post a message. And yet
according
to the archive Mt Finnon didn't post any other message on that day.
Please note
also that the above was crossposted to rec.collecting.books,
alt.books.nancy-drew,alt.fan.doc-savage. Which seems to imply that
the
impersonator has gone to a lot of trouble in starting a new thred in
Google and
crosspoting a new message in all those particular groups. Please not
this
wasn't simply a follow-up with the thread title changed and the
NewsGroups retained,
as it is possible to do in Google. There are no references, and so this
is a
new thread with those particular newsgroups deliberately chosen.
Presumably out
of habit.
4III-C8:
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books
From: "John R. Yamamoto- Wilson" <j...@rarebooksinjapan.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 08:46:43 +0900
Local: Sun, Jun 8 2003 4:46 pm
Subject: Re: troll with racist problem
Personally,
I find myself wondering who would target rec.collecting.books
so specifically with these messages. Similar messages do not appear to
have
been sent to other newsgroups. Perhaps the troll has some particular
interest
in this newsgroup? I hate to say it, but I get the horrible feeling
we've been
here before. Those who remember the "OT: America Under Attack"
thread, with its murderous exhortations, will know what I mean: ...
Those
messages purported to come from Bob Finnan, although he denied it,
claiming he
hadn't logged out of his account properly at the local library and
someone else
had posted under his name. We never did quite work out how it had
occurred to
that someone else that Bob posted here and how he or she had locked in
so
convincingly to such details of Bob's style as his bantering love-hate
relationship to Paghat, and quite a few people remained unconvinced by
Bob's
disclaimer.
//
NOTE: The stated explanation by
"Finnan" requires acceptance of the following: (1) that some
individual, immediately following Finnan's use of the public
library
computer, decided to use Finnan's account to send bogus, inflammatory
messages
to the same newsgroups as are frequented by Finnan; (2) that he/she was
again
in a position to do so on the day subsequent; (3) that he/she read the
responses to the preceding email and chose to respond as Finnan; (4)
that
he/she was willing and able to address other regular newsgroup posters
in a
personal manner, using terms of the same derogatory character as is
typical of
Finnan's acknowledged postings; and (5) that Finnan, who maintained a
home
collection of materials and dealt extensively with the public on a
commercial
basis via the Internet, elected to make frequent use of a local public
library
computer within a few miles of his ostensible residence in Sea
Cliff — a
system already known by him to be insecure, according to his own
statement, and
to have allowed prior fraudulent posting by way of his Internet account.
I
will add, as a matter of possible relevance,
that "Finnan" was implicitly accused by a group member of later
postings using racial epithets. The basic exchange is as follows: //
Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books, From: Willem
<wjtim...@worldonlineNOspam.nl> Date:
Sun, 08 Jun 2003 22:57:33 +0200: "i deleted 4 messages today from
this
newsgroup because they contained nasty statements. some of you might
have seen
them. they came from an anonymous mailer." Extracts
from several immediate responses by "Bob Finnan": ...Who
appointed you group censor? I don't know what messages you deleted but
you
really should mind your own business and let people decide for
themselves what
they want to read. ... What I support is the free exchange of ideas,
whether I
happen to agree with them or not. Causing messages to be deleted is
just plain
wrong, no matter what the messages contain. The last thing any group
needs is a
self-appointed censor. ... The issue is a self-appointed
censor who
thinks he has the right to determine which messages are acceptable and
which
are not. We are all adults here and fully able to determine for
ourselves which
messages have validity and which do not. ... I'll decide for
myself what
the issue is. The original poster claimed he had the message removed
from the
Usenet, not just for himself. Why do you Brits have such trouble
understanding
the concept of free speech? Speech that everyone agrees with does not
have to
be protected, it's the speech everyone seems to hate that needs the
most
protection. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. ... You would have been
right at
home in Nazi Germany.
//
"Finnan" did not respond to the implicit
suggestion that he was the author of the postings. The titles of the
referenced
postings were:
7 juni 2003 Kill A Nigger For Jesus (1 bijdrage) xganon
8 juni 2003 KILL THE NIGGER LOVERS (1 bijdrage) xganon. //
IV.
OTHER
PROBABLE ALIASES OR SUGGESTIVE PARALLELS
The following comments upon The Subject's perceived mode of utilizing
the
internet and interacting with newsgroups. His employment of various
internet monikers,
here considered apart from Wikipedia, tends to support the general
thesis that
both "Finnan" and "Ippolito" make extensive use of
aliases and thus may themselves "be" aliases of one another.
//
NOTE ALSO: "Rich Davis", III-C2,3,
above. //
IV-A:
Comments from others re
aliases:
//NOTE: See Appendix IV for
definitions/discussion of
"trolling".//
...Probably
most readers understand who the real troll is here. ...Many
groups
have "local trolls" who are really no different than trolls
who make their mischief net-wide, except that local trolls like
"RWF"
Bob Finnan generally confine their trolling activities
to one or two
groups. ...Like most trolls, Finnan
is a
Google near non-entity. A little research
indicates
there is little or substance to him at all, as far as Usenet
is
concerned. ...There are no
stand-alone posts
by people like Finnan, nothing at all that they can point Usenet
readers to
with pride. ...That is one sure sign of a troll: No substantial Usenet track record
of
stand-alone postings (essays, short stories, poems,
whatever). ...Now
you know what Bob Finnan is: A
Usenet
non-entity whose lust for attention takes him down a
mean,
low-down path through these electronic woods. [[ on Newsgroups:
rec.collecting.books by Bill Palmer, 22 August 2004 ]] ...Lately,
there has been quite a
bit of fuss over Bob Finnan, who has posted under the names
"Bookman", "Bob Finnan",
"Bob", and most recently under the name "For Duty and Humanity". Using the
Google Groups archive, I have done a quick analysis of Bob's posts
to this
newsgroup...There has been more than a few firestorms over Bob's
attacks on
other NG members, present company included. I count 36 such posts
over
the last two years. ...how many posts has Bob done that are
on-topic, and
not just a flame of another poster or an ad for his website? Of the 67 posts that Bob has done to
this NG in
the last two years, I count 3 posts that
could be
considered on-topic, non-ad and non-flaming... This analysis
shows
why Bob has been so controversial. For anyone who is interested in the
Stooges
and not in Bob's business or Bob's personal preferences, this
man's post
are simply not worth reading... [[ on alt.comedy.slapstick.three-stooges
by Frank J. Lhota, 9 July
2005 ]]
//
"Finnan" confirmed that he had adopted a new moniker: //
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.books 23 Sep 2006; John R.
Yamamoto-Wilson wrote: > ...I hadn't realised that you
were
now posting as "the Bobino",
though looking back I see you responded in a hostile way to
something
else I wrote a couple of weeks ago, and if I'd been reading
messages more
thoroughly I'd have put two and two together." Response
by
"Finnan": What?!?!
You go out of your way to annoy me?!?!?! Never!!!!! FYI: I'm now
posting
under the sobriquet of "Doo Wop Daddy-O"
- don't want you to get confused. Noteworthy
comment: Mar 22 2004:
...The posts are really
flying in from New York State there! First Dixon, sorry Hardy Boys,
sorry
Finnon, and now Fundoc from upstate
near Albany.
You guys really ought to get together, and have a party sometime !
michael
adams ...
//
Waterford, the ostensible home of "Tom Ippolito", is
about 10 mi from Albany //
...Bob
Finnan's lack of integrity is on public display...
with his totally unconvincing protestations
that he didn't post messages urging the murder of
billions of
people. (http://tinyurl.com/3dph4; scroll down to see my response
picking out
the obvious flaw in his account). The original posting has been removed from the Google
archives,
but go to http://tinyurl.com/27b46 to see it quoted in full by the
admirable Rich Davies. His toilet-level mentality is also on
public
record. See the webboard he maintains on Tim McCarver at
http://members2.boardhost.com/ihatetim/. I note that the poster's
link to
a Ku Klux Klan website has finally been removed from
the webboard, though it was there when I last took a look, at the
time of
the xganon "kill a nigger for Jesus" postings (June 2003). ...[[
"John Yamamoto-Wilson" <johndeletet.. .@rarebooksinjapan.com>,
27 March 2004 ]] ... "haven't you guys ever heard of a killfile?"
Yours predicts which email address he's going to use next?
He's had
more aliases than Jennifer Garner. [[ by "Sionnach"
<rhyfe...@msn.com> on rec.arts.books.childrens, 8 Sept
2004, in
reference to "FWDixon" ]] ...ABC For Book Collectors John Carter
p.203</quote>michael adams...here we have the sad sight of Bob
"The
Spammer" Finnon, spending the whole of Sunday evening having to
dream up names for sock puppets,
and change his posting account details, just so he can
post messages on
the NewsGroup in support of himself...
IV-B:
probable "Finnan" aliases per internal
evidence:
...Why don't
you settle down? Your whining is starting to
get to everybody. ...Geeeesh — enough all ready! Go play
with E-...
[[ by "Trollbust" on Newsgroups:
alt.books.nancy-drew, 6 December 1997 ]]
//
This moniker appears in a confusing context, but may represent
The Subject's willingness to appear to "feud with himself" under two
identities. Admittedly, the exchange is unclear. //
...Yo,
Bobby babe — and how many screen
names
do you have?? We are onto YOU! You keep posting here under other names, trying to mix it up and
draw
attention to yourself — -even going so far as to argue with
yourself! Nice tactic Bobby! [[
????? ]] ...two
phrases, e.g., "Kill A
Nigger For Jesus" crop up elsewhere, but these were not posted at the
same
time as "our" xganon's posting, and probably do not come from the
same source. No, there was something in there about being "fatassed"
and I did a Google search at groups.google.com on the phrase containing
that word.
Seven instances were displayed, all
coming from the
same (bleah!) and posted to
different
newsgroups within the past few days. It is, after all, a
catch-phrase among a certain category of charming people.
[[ ]] ...Sorry, I didn't realise that you
were an
advocate for mongolism sensitivity. Have you written your letter of
condemnation to the estate of Charles Schulz for continuining with its
ridicule
of hydrocephalic children? [[ "Rodins Balzac", 10 June 2003 ]]
//
parallel to "Finnan" suggests that
this may be a Finnan-alias //
V.
BIOGRAPHICAL
PARALLELS AND PURPORTED DISTINCTIONS
4V-A:
Retirement:
...I'm retired and have
nothing but time
on my hands and I dislike whining crybabies. [[ as MookiesDad, on
Wikipedia, 9
September 2006 ]] ... Now I'm retired
and have plenty of time to read the books... [????????] ... ...I worked for
the Department of Defense as a supervisory
financial programs analyst for 26 years before
taking
an early retirement. [[ by "Thomas R.
Ippolito" ]]
//
NOTE: I was told by "Ippolito" in a private email that
he had retired on disability to raise his children. //
4 V-B:
Computer skills and training
...I'm
retired from the data processing busiess
for several years. [[ Finnan details? ]] ... I
guess all that scientific fiction got to me as I wound up becoming
a computer systems analyst,
then VP of Data Processing for
a mid-size communication company. [????] ...I
have a
B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and a Masters in industrial technology management. [[ as preceding
]]
//
NOTE: The latter is, plausibly, a specialization in data
processing and computers. //
...Ippolito's
Virtual Administrative Solutions, Phone 518-
...Waterford, NY, "GinaVA...@aol.com" , http://www.ippvasoltions.com;
“Services: Providing
Services in Word Processing,
Desktop Publishing, Newsletters, Editing/Proofreading, File Conversion, Data Entry & Database
Management,
Information Processing, Internet Research, Photocopying,
Presentations, and Event Planning.” ... “Additional
Information:
Currently serving the Albany, NY Capital District in Word, Excel, and Access tutoring. Also
providing comprehensive training for prospective and veteran
administrative
assistants.” [[
Retrieved from cache of http:
//www.adminprof.com/virtual-assistant/VAbyLocation/New%20York.htm;
"This is free list of individuals who have submitted their
business." — "NOT MAINTAINED AS OF MAY 2005" ]]
//
Note that a first name is not indicated in connection with the
foregoing. //
// NOTE: both "Finnan" and "Ippolito" make considerable,
and parallel, use of computers and the Internet in support of both
their
business activites and their hobbies. "Ippolito's" articles in
BLUEPRINT and his group postings showed the use of the Internet to
supplement
research, and evidenced a likely use of stored book texts to search for
key
words and phrases, and to tablulate their overall use. As
of September
2005, various posts have been signed: Tom Ippolito, Newsgroup
System Administrator, SBC
Services, news-supp...@sbcglobal.net
. The
following is a biographical statement by "Ippolito" on his Tom Swift
discussion group: //
I'm Tom
Ippolito. In my younger,
more ambitious days, I obtained a BS degree in mechanical engineering
and an MS
degree in industrial technology management. I went on to work for DOD
(Department of Defense), first in the area of MIS (Management
Information
Systems)interfacing and later as a supervisory financial programs
analyst, for
26 years before taking an early retirement. At that point I agreed to
say
sayonara to the traditional role of family breadwinner and took on the
less
conventional role of househusband ... raising our two youngest children
(twin
daughters who were five years old at the time) so my wife could pursue
a career
of her own. I had no idea at the time that this would turn out to be
the most
challenging and, by far, the most rewarding experience of my life.
My
free time is devoted to a wide range of hobbies, which includes
researching the
Tom Swift series and publishing Blueprint, a related fanzine.
Thomas
R. Ippolito
4V-C:
illness, absence, family
issues: ...The
following is forwarded by
Meredith, concerning Bob : "As some of you may know, Bob was in
respiratory arrest following a serious
incident on
October 2nd. He came out of his coma three days later, and
is slowly
recovering. In maintaining his collection for him, I am learning an
awful lot
about boys series books ! Hopefully, he'll be back online having heated
debates
soon ! Meredith" [[ Posted by: steve...@aol.com (STEVESEG) on
alt.books.nancy-drew,
16 October 2000 ]] ...I was released from the hospital this morning and
I'm now
relaxing at Meredith's house. This evening I'll be going to a long term
rehab
center for the next 3 to 6 months
for the
nerve and brain damage I sustained. I won't be able to post frequently,
only
when I visit Meredith for the weekend. Bob Finnan [[ From:
hardybo...@aol.com
(HardyBoy01) on alt.books.nancy-drew, 20 November 2000 ]] ...I stopped
frequenting Bob's site and asked to be removed from his mailing list
the first
time he attacked Austin many years ago (and told him that was the
reason why).
A few people have tried to defend his actions by citing his health problems...[[ "Alaina" on Austin
Johnson website, 07-18-2005; following III-A below ]]
//
NOTE: I was told in a private communication that
"Finnan" was thought to have been involved in a serious motorcycle
accident; this may be the same incident. //
...'The October 2003 issue will follow next
weekend and the
December 2003 issue the weekend after that - at which point I will
finally be
caught up following my accident this
past July.' [[ by
"Thomas Ippolito"
paraphrased from private correspondence dated January 2004, made
available to
me ]] ...'I am not yet able to
drive or get around
quite well enough to do it myself'
[[ by
"Thomas Ippolito" paraphrased from
private correspondence dated February 2004, made available to me ]]
//
NOTE: The "Ippolito" references are not to the same
incident as the one referenced above by "Finnan", but despite the
offered accounts they may reflect the same unstated cause, possibly a
developing health problem. //
...Last May my
mother was diagonsed
with a very rare and particularly aggressive form of cancer. Since then
I have
devoted the vast majority of my time to helping my father care for her
at their
home and, as a result, this is the first opportunity that I've had in
several
months to turn my attention to the group. I am disappointed to see that
group
activity has fallen off dramatically during this period (from and
average of
more than 200 posts per month to less than a dozen) and hope this tend
does not
continue. Needless to say, my participation in group discussions will
be
sporadic during this difficult time, but I will try to weigh in when I
can. As
a matter of necessity, group mnagement functions (member
approval/disapproval,
etc.) were turned over to a close friend back in June. I will resume
these
responsibilities when I am able. [[ Post to Tom Swift Discussion Group
by Tom
Ippolito, August 2006, headlined Prolonged Absebce From The Group
]]
//
NOTE: The identity of the "close friend" was never
disclosed to the group, nor an explanation for why there had been no
mention of
these circumstances over a period of months. There is here a parallel
to
"Ippolito's" complete unresponsiveness to my e-mails to him in late
2003-early 2004, ultimately explained as due to a broken leg keeping
him away
from an upstairs computer (which he alludes to above). //
PART
TWO
THE
DEMONSTRATION
VI.
GENERAL AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
I regard the
following as supportive of the thesis and
consistent therewith, but not conclusive in and of itself. The intent
is to
establish substantive credibility. The quotes from "Ippolito"
are largely drawn from personal (emailed) correspondence, some sent to
me
directly, some made available to me by their original recipients. Some
such
extracts are paraphrased for purposes of discretion, as indicated.
Sources for
quotes from "Finnan" are: Wikipedia contributions and comments under
his various monikers, as above; comments in his Yahoo! Tom Swift
discussion
group; some personal correspondence (as described); and comments in the
Neil
Lindholm juvenile series discussion page (2006).
VI-A: The inciting incident, 4-17-05
The
first post by Scott Dickerson to new
discussion group on Tom Swift fan fiction, created by "Tom Ippolito"
and illustrated by the cover of SD "Quantum Telesphere", posted by
the group moderator without my (SD) permission. A brief post by
"Ippolito" describing the new group and complimenting SD's fan
fiction efforts preceded.
Tom
Ipp, thanks for the cred. And back atcha — all serious
Swiftonians surely
realize by now that Thomas Ippolito has, for the last several years,
carried
most of the burden of "interactive outreach," if I may so put it,
more or less singlehandedly. Yes, there is always plenty of activity in
the
world of collecting. And there are some very fine personal essays out
there
reflecting on that boy inventor of ours, and some great pages devoted
to
showing the covers and encapsuling the plots. But what Tom Ipp has put
forth is
very distinctive, actual back-and-forth discussion of the inner reality
of
Earth-Swift for those of us who dwelt there in our adolescence —
and who
still indulge the guilty pleasure of a trip back. Not to mention his
fine
fanzine, BLUEPRINT. I trust you all keep your subsciptions current?...
I love the idea of FanFic because I love
the idea of
Tom Swift. Given the, shall we say, unlikelihoods attendant upon any
"official" TS revival by S&S, FanFic is the only way to ensure
Tom's survival.
And let's be broadminded. There will be
"canonical" FanFic worlds reflecting (to some degree or other) the
Tom Senior/Tom Junior continuity. There will be new branches extended
from that
world: Where is Sandy today? What happened to Andy Foger? What was
Barton Swift
doing in 1892? What happened to Koku? And what about that shark attack
on the
yacht? There will be stories connected to TSIII and TSIV, crossover
stories,
Bud-Barclay-in-Scotland stories, "what if" stories —
everything.
And all that is OK by me. The canon is
wonderful. But
it isn't everything. "Violations" don't destroy it. It already
exists; it's eternal.
We'll have fun critiquing, comparing,
suggesting. But
let's not seek-and-destroy. I've seen it happen. It soils everyone.
The realm of Tom Swift FanFic is pretty
compact so
far. Here's what I'm aware of, not necessarily in any order:
— a sort of Tom Swift Jr. parody
playlet,
written by a guy in San Diego, California, and posted on his website;
— a guest appearance by TSIV in a
Hardy Boys
FanFic tale;
— a short story concerning Tom's
childhood,
set in San Francisco;
— the www.tomswiftlives.com
FanFic
continuity, based upon the TSJ world;
— "Sandra Swift and the Lost
Airship," a booklength adventure
I'm assuming this site will very broadly
define
"fiction" to encompass original artwork and illustration. I'm aware
of two sources of TS art: a picture I've seen called "Morning on
Nestria," and the Tom Swift Lives "cover" art. (There's also
some animated and semi-animated art based on TSJ.) Let's see more!
So — thanks for this discussion
group, where we
"science-minded boys" (and girls) get together and get creative.
— Scott Dickerson, age 53 and who's
counting?
VI-B: Parallels, character
"Ippolito" and character "Finnan" specifically
By
character "Ippolito" —
4VI-B1:
Preliminary: private E-mail
to "Wossan Kau", a discussion group poster and new member, made
available to me:
//
The following is used to establish parallel terminology and
attitudes with regard to my writing efforts and website. //
It is
clear from your initial posts to the discussion group that your primary
interest in joining was to discuss and promote
the tomswiftlives website. While I personally enjoy and support the fan
fiction
efforts that two of our members are engaged in, and comment on them
from time
to time, I am compelled to point out that this group was established to
discuss
topics related to the 99 published Tom Swift books. Accordingly, overt attempts to use this forum for
the sole purpose of directing
people's attention to
the tomswiftlives website will not be permitted.
Tom Ippolito
Owner and Moderator"
4VI-B2:
E-mail to SD by
"Ippolito", 4-17-05:
Please dispense
with this defensive crap.
There is no
need for it and, frankly, it is getting a bit tiresome. The unspoken
and specious assertion here is
that there have been
attacks on non-canonical works (yours)
and I will not sit still for this sort of misrepresentation.
Discussion about fan Fiction on Tom Swift discussion group invites
comparison
to the original stories (i.e. the canon). Suggesting that comments that
were
made along those lines were narrow-minded is insulting
and equating them to a "seek-and-destroy" mission is a gross exaggeration and patently
defamatory.
I have no intention of nitpicking or otherwise criticizing your
stories. To the
contrary, I establisjed a group exclusively devoted to fan fiction to
facilitate discussion about them. Keep in mind, the stated
purpose of the other group is to discuss topics
related to the published series.
Needless to say, this post, for all its initial flattery, pissed me off. Keep in mind that I am
the one who
encouraged you to upload your stories to the internet. I think I
deserve better
than this defensive bullshit.
Tom
4VI-B3:
Response to further comments
by SD, unpublished e-mail:
...If besmirching
my character in your most recent email was somehow
theraputic for
you, then I'm happy for you. I will
not
dignify it with a response of any kind
.4VI-B4:
Private e-mail by Ippolito to
another group member after revoking SD's group membership, circa
4-25-05:
It's simple,
really. Scott is
a whimpering, immature, highly
manipulative and
disingenuous drama queen. Despite this, I did my level
best to
work out our differences (which were not personal) in an amiable
manner. He chose to exacerbate the problem by making
things personal after I did everything that I reasonably
could to accommodate him.
Hence his removal.
By character
"Finnan" —
4VI-B5: Use
of "promote",
"self-promoting", etc:
...he continues to promote his
Tom Swift
fan fiction site...Wikipedia is not a place for you to promote your non-informational web
site,
regardless of how good your intentions are... if you must promote your site...You continue to add
self-promoting text...your
continued attempts to promote
it...an excuse to promote your
fan fiction web site...your repeated
attempts to promote your
off-topic fan
fiction site...your repeated attempts are inappropriate and self-promoting...shameless self-promotion of his fan fiction
site...edits
further promoting his site...I
suggest
that he cease and desist from his non-neutral promotion
of his site, or at least promote
it in
the proper forum...whether it is self-promotional...self-promoting edits...he should not be
permitted
to use these articles to promote
his web
site...Wikipedia is not supposed to be used as a vehicle to promote specific web sites...mention of
discussion
groups, fandom, etc. appears to be an excuse to promote
your fan fiction web site...cease your attempts at self-promotion...promoting his fan fiction web site...He
constantly
tries to promote his web
site...promoted your own
off-topic web site...he wasn't
allowed to promote his fan
fiction...he
uses to promote his fan
fiction...shameless promotion
of his fan
fiction site even extends to article talk pages
//
NOTE: the following are comments by "FW Dixon" posted
on the Lindholm group, not directed to Dickerson. //
...Oh BTW,
using other people's
boards to promote your own
similar own is
considered bad form ... A strictly promotional
post ("Hey visit my cool on-topic site") is frowned upon... A clever
poster can promote their
site...
4VI-B6:
References to
"canon", "no information", etc: ...the site
[ "Tom Swift
Lives!" ] contains absolutely NO
information on any of the various series...Tom Swift fan
fiction is non-canonical ...and...
immaterial... your non-informational
web site... Fan fiction is non-canonical
and irrelevant to this
article... your off-topic fan
fiction site... your site contains no
factual information... your site which DOES NOT contain one scintilla of information
about Tom Swift!...Why do I consider your "site" off-topic - because it doesn't supply any information on any of the various series...
4VI-B7: Other
parallel terminology: ...a patently obvious
blind... your specious
reasoning... would
be grossly misleading... Now
he is whimpering about
personal attacks and civility
violations? Pathetic.... he resorts to whimpering...
I dislike whining... your whining and illogic...he is an
emotionally immature person
with narcissistic tendencies and
an overwhelming need to be the centre of attention...a petulant little whining crybaby...whines
about personal attacks....merely bootstrapping and disingenuous...your
compaign to remove the links merely demonstrates the unwonted vendetta you are waging
against me...his vendetta
against MookiesDad..... the one where you
whine.
[
NOTE: this preceding comment by FWDixon on Lindholm group ] '...you whine
and cry about it and
insult me.' [ NOTE: this preceding comment by "Finnan"
paraphrased from a private nonpublished e-mail made available to me ] ...he
just doesn't want to deal with your dramatics
and acting out ...you whine
and cry about
it and insult me.
[ NOTE: these preceding comments by FWDixon on Lindholm group; not
directed at
Dickerson ]
4VI-B8:
"Cry",
"crybaby", attacks on "manliness": ...crying about
incivility...I dislike whining crybabies...you
whine and cry about what a
poor
"victim" you are and how nobody plays by the rules...If you aren't on
Wiki crying about the rules,
you're here crying about the
rules...
[
NOTE: the preceding two comments by FWDixon on Lindholm group ]
....I
politely tried to explain to you how I wanted my group
to be run and you whine and cry about it and insult me.
[
NOTE: this preceding comment by "Finnan" from a private
nonpublished e-mail made available to me ]
...Are
you going to tell your mommy
too? What a
petulant little whining crybaby
you
are!... Aren't you the same guy who sometimes goes under the id Scodiar
and
posted the review of a gay drama
that you
watched three times called Eban and Charley
[
preceding posted to User Talk: Doxmyth on Wikipedia by
"Noumenes"; the post, and a private email exchange, were about, and
directed to, an article by Bob Finnan; demonstrating the identity of
"Noumenes" and Finnan. ]
// NOTE: The foregoing parallels in attitude and general content the
deprecative manliness (eg, "whimpering") and homophobic (eg,
"drama queen") references in the "Ippolito" correspondence
at VI-B4. //
VII:
RECAPITULATION AND DISCUSSION
At
this point I will review what has been provisionally established by a
preponderence of general and circumstantial evidence, and proceed with
a
narrative interpretation of the results, as well as some further
points. The
evidence presented in this section is consistent with the main
thesis,
but in and of itself is insufficient to demonstrate the
proposed
conclusion.
VII-A:
use of pseudonyms in Wikipedia editing
The
Subject has participated in the Wkipedia editing process, particularly
with
regard to the two "Tom Swift" articles, by means of a range of
pseudonyms. Demonstrative evidence consists of correspondence between
the dates
of the initial and final postings of the various pseudonyms, common
topics of
interest, shared attitudes as to fanfiction, "predecessors,"
characterization of my activities, mutual support (with some mutual
disagreement and criticism per the effort to plausibly demonstrate a
distinction of identities), and in particular concurrence in
terminology and
phrasing. The Subject has himself linked the aliases into two groups,
each
putatively representing a single person. I have demonstrated the
manifest
commonalities crossing the line of division between these
groups,
thereby justifying the provisional conclusion that all the
pseudonyms
represent the efforts of the same single individual.
VII-B:
that the pseudonyms are attributable to character "Finnan"
4VII-B1: the
possibility of false
evidence. The
pseudonym "FWDixon,"
customary and acknowledged moniker for "Bob Finnan," appears least
often in terms of the editing of the two cited articles on Wikipedia.
However,
the commonalities of style and interest have been abundantly presented,
with
some of the key anchors of linkage being derived not from the Wikipedia
work of
"Finnan," but from participation in other venues, such as the Usenet
groups and the short-lived Neil Lindholm series-book discussion group
on Yahoo!.
The
use of the latter as a source of evidence presented a challenge and
potential
point of disputation. The appearance of the "FWDixon" moniker on
Wikipedia was of long duration, and it is implausible to suggest that
this was
a fraudulent use of which the standard "FWDixon"/"Bob
Finnan" of the "Tom Swift discussion group" was unaware. It
would have long-since been challenged and dealt with. But the Lindholm
group
was newly formed and had elicited only a handful of regular
participants. Might
the Lindholm "FWDixon" be someone using that moniker fraudulently,
without the knowledge of the Wikipedia editor, the standard
"FWDixon"? If so, evidence culled from the Lindholm group would
irrelevant to the thesis.
To
rebut this charge in advance, I adopted a technique designed to draw
out
the participation of "FWDixon/Lindholm" over several additional days,
posting in a manner that would almost certainly come to the attention
of the
"real" "Bob Finnan," who would then be expected to produce
a disavowal (as he did with respect to the aforementioned 9-11
postings). The
technique took the form of the following series of exchanges, and
produced a
significant and unexpected result.
VII-B2:
the "Identity Series," (edited for relevance).
//
The following paragraph is the first posting in its entirety. //
Scott
Dickerson
Question re: Bob Finnan's TS discussion group
« on: September 26, 2006, 10:23:17 AM »
I've noticed that Bob's group is now "members only" — ie, you
have to join to look over the postings. I'm not complaining, just
wondering
what led to this — something imposed by Yahoo? If it's a way
to
address a problem, it might be useful for me (as a website haver) to
understand
it. So, no offense intended. Bob?
fwdixon
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2006, 11:49:22 AM »
Where do you get the audacity to question me as to what I do with my
group? You aren't a member and it's absolutely none of your
affair.
What a monumental ego you have. No wonder Ipp kicked you out of
his
group!
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2006, 12:19:15 AM »
The above post by "fwdixon" purports to be by the moderator of the
group in question, Bob Finnan. But is it? The rest of us comply with
Neil's
policy and use our real names. So, let's clear it up a bit.
"fwdixon", please post one more time, stating your real name. Whether
he does, or whether he doesn't, I think we may all be about to learn
something.
Scott Dickerson
fwdixon
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2006, 06:41:40 AM »
Dickerson, you really are a sick idiot. Let's say I wasn't me, I
could
easily say I was. Likewise the reverse is true. If you have any doubts
as to
who I am, try joining my TS group and see how quickly you get banned!
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2006, 11:53:01 AM »
I repeat: will you actually state your real name as part of your next
post? Not
that hard. Or is it? It's done like this (with different
letters): Scott
Dickerson
fwdixon
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2006, 04:47:57 PM »
Dickerson, I'm not buying into your game and I'm certainly not about to
take
orders from such a disturbed individual as you. You know, the one where
you
whine and cry about what a poor "victim" you are and how nobody plays
by the rules etc and so forth. I reiterate: If you have any doubts as
to who I
am, just try joining my TS group. Your "scodiar" address has
already been blocked and any attempt you make to join under another
name will
be thwarted. You need psychiatric help, you're REALLY a sicko.
Futhermore, if you really did have a question about my TS group, why
post it
here instead of emailing me? You are just a trouble-maker and a
royal pain
in the ass. It's no wonder you are a pariah in the TS collecting
community and
that your "stories" are subjected to ridicule. (They really do "suck"
as you posted another commentator had claimed.)
Mike
DeBaptiste
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2006, 11:34:21 PM »
Ah.... the same old Bob. How nice to know that some thing's never
change.
...Bob is insanely jealous of anyone who can really write books and
does his
best to put them down, endlessly.... He never uses his real name. He's
forgotten it by now with all the aliases. But we haven't.
Mike
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2006, 05:19:54 PM »
And I repeat once more, fwdixon: Please state below, just once, for the
record,
your real name. The actual legal name of the person you see when you
look in
the mirror. If you'll look at the upper righthand corner of this page,
you'll
see these words: "Remember that real names are required in this forum."
Surely you don't intend to violate the moderator's rules? You won't do
this
little tiny task to placate a real idiot? Look at it this way: by
playing
along, you're keeping me from my lousy (much ridiculed) FanFic writing
and thus
doing a service to humanity. Incidentally, you asked "what will that
prove"? I'll ask you: where did you get the idea I was trying to prove
something?
— Scott Dickerson (pariah and author of sucky fiction)
fwdixon
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2006, 08:52:22 PM »
Wah wah wah. poor widdle Scotty, nobody plays by the rules but him. Boo
hoo
hoo. If you aren't on Wiki crying about the rules, you're here crying
about the
rules.
Wah wah wah, everybody is so mean to poor widdle Scotty.
Wah wah wah, nobody let's them in their Tom Swift groups.
Wah wah wah, everybody thinks his stories suck ass.
Wah Wah Wah!
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2006, 03:22:39 PM »
I'm not crying about the rules, fwdi. I'm noting your unaccountable
refusal to
abide by them. Please be so good as to state your real name. And if you
think
the readers of the group might be interested in something going on on
Wikipedia, let's supply them with a convenient link, shall we?
Scott Dickerson
fwdixon
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2006, 06:53:55 PM »
"Rule #1 - obey all rules." - Barney Fife.
Austin
Johnson
« Reply #12 on: October 02, 2006, 11:48:39 AM »
My God, do any of you ever STOP??? How old are you? I'm 18,
and
even I can see you're all a bunch of idiots! Go do SOMETHING
ELSE!!!
(Although, Scott, you seem to be more sensible - take my advice, just
stay away
from Bob... done more damage to the series book community than I could
have
ever thought possible.)
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2006, 04:38:55 PM »
Now that's the most sensible advice I've heard in a long time. And I'll
take
it, too. There's no reason to further respond to "fwdixon"
— Scott Dickerson
fwdixon
« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2006, 06:29:28 PM »
...more damage to the series book community than I could have ever
thought
possible...
Let's see - you stole my website, falsely claimed that you came up with
the
idea for a Hardy Boys webzine when I created mine when you were about
6. So
you're a liar AND a plagiarist (not to mention being a snot-nosed
little punk
who isn't even dry behind the ears yet!) Hardly one in a position to be
giving
advice and certainly not a person whose advice should be heeded. If
anyone has
"damaged" the series collecting community, it's you and your lying,
thieving ways!!!
Scott
Dickerson
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2006, 04:44:18 PM »
Contributor "fwdixon" has posted some information about himself on
Wikipedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Fwdixon. I
found it
unexpectedly interesting. Especially:
"...My name is Bob Finnan, I own a mansion and a yacht. ... When not
busy working on my web sites, I volunteer at the local animal shelter
and take
care of my ever-growing clowder of "special needs" cats!..."
Who knew? (Never have run across the word "clowder".)
-Scott Dickerson
"The Identity Project" & "Operation Permanent Record"
fwdixon
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2006, 06:19:05 PM »
Your obsession with FWDixon has grown to the point of psychotic
stalking. Get
some help Dickerson! (Some writing classes wouldn't hurt either!)
4VII-B3:
Results of the "Identity
Series".
The extension of the sequence of exchanges over a span of nine days
provided
ample time for the "real" "Bob Finnan" (the standard
"FWDixon") to post in protest of the use of his moniker. No such
denial appeared. (Admission to membership was not required on this
group for
reading and posting.) Furthermore, one notes the unsolicited allusions
to the
Wikipedia controversy, and of course to "Bob Finnan's" past
controversies with Austin Johnson; as well as numerous examples of
language and
attitude ("pariah in the TS collecting community",
"disturbed individual", "Boo hoo hoo", "obsession...to
the point of psychotic stalking") exactly paralleling the
characteristic
language of the Wikipedia group of pseudonyms. There
is no doubt that the "FWDixon" of the Lindholm group is the same
person as the Wikipedia editor using that moniker. Thus evidence from
the
Lindholm group is admissible.
Of special note: "FWDixon"
never complied with the request that he state his actual legal name; a resistance worth considering in light
of the
thesis of this monograph. He himself points out that such a statement
would
prove nothing. In light of the express rules of the moderator, for what
reason
would he refuse to engage in such a minor and harmless exercise?
4VII-B4: An
odd consequence. In
researching posts by character "Finnan" on the
Usenet, I discovered a series of exchanges with a Kris B- on newsgroups:
rec.marketplace circa November 2006 under various monikers ("Borked
Pseudo Mailed", "Goldenmike4393", as well as
"FWDixon") which led to his posting a photo labelled code pink fat
lady, copied from a website named "Targets of Opportunity"
(http://www.targetofopportunity.com/editorial.htm). This site featured
several
editorials that included characteristic "Finnan" language and
ideology. I then started a new thread on the Lindholm Group. The topic “What
are Tom Swift values?” is surely a legitimate and interesting one.
My
starting the thread served a double purpose. My chosen examples
included the
above-cited "Targets" site as an example of negative, hateful
material reflecting values contrary to "Tom Swift values." Nothing in
my posting referenced either “Ippolito” or “Finnan.” Yet the immediate
reaction posted openly by "FWDixon" (a thread entitled “Is Scott
Dickerson a Class One offender?”) was so strikingly excessive, and so
unwarranted given the bland content of my just-previous posting, that I
felt
sure my test had produced a confirmative result. In other words, I am
suggesting that "Finnan" was so provoked
by the "Identity Series" and my mention of "Targets of
Opportunity" that he reacted incautiously to the point of hysteria.
//
NOTE: This site, http://www.fbirecords.com/2006/03/targetofopportunitycom-update.htm
, states that "Targets of Opportunity" is owned by a New Jersey
resident named Meyer. He also owns a website about protection
dogs:
http://www.bigdogk9.com/ . I am not herein asserting that Mr. Meyer is
The
Subject. //
VII-C:
Parallels, "Finnan" and
"Ippolito"
An important
caveat: in all cases herein presented, there
are significant differences in vehemence of expression, degrees
of
evident commitment, and volume of postings. In all cases the
"Ippolito" character is portrayed as more reticent, controlled,
reserved, reasonable, and dignified. The import of this section is only
to set
forth nondispositive parallel elements consistent with the main
thesis.
4VII-C1:
Pop music of the 50's and 60's. "Finnan"
maintains a website on the singer Basia
and sells
recordings; Wikipedia history of edits by both "FWDixon"
and "SuperDuperMan" show repeated edits to music,
singer, and rock-'n-roll articles; the Wikipedia
UserPage for "MookiesDad" states, "Other interests include Doo Wop music and early rock & roll";
Finnan acknowledges the moniker "Doo Wop
Daddy-O". He has posted various comments about The Beatles.
"Ippolito" posted repeatedly to rec.music.beatles and
to alt.music.midi, discussing
not
only The Beatles but midi, Klaatu,
and Dean Martin; a possible
moniker of The Subject,
"Borked Pseudo Mailed", also posted to rec.music.beatles, in
April 2007. I believe classic-pop records and tapes, etc., were offered
for
sale or trade by "Ippolito's" Raven's Booknest.
4VII-C2:
Cultural-political conservatism. Both
characters address the phenomenon of
"Political Correctness" with a generally deprecatory stance,
including, specifically, in its application to attitudes toward series
books.
Both have expressed implicit support for conservative religious views
and
doctrine; both may be characterized as endorsing "traditional values"
and traditional cultural conceptions of "manliness" and heroism (in
the case of "Finnan," supplemented by militianist, nativist, and
radical-patriot sentiments).
4VII-C3:
Attitudes to social issues, gay rights. Both
characters are unsympathetic to, and in the case
of "Finnan" openly hostile to and scornful of, gays and related
social issues. Both deprecate their perceived adversaries by using a
range of
standard derogatory terms suggesting lack of manliness, willful
childishness (ie, "whimpering", "crybaby"), or sexual
deviance.
4VII-C4:
Parallel biographical elements.
Insofar as I have been able to determine, both
"Ippolito" and "Finnan" commenced their internet discussion
group participation at approximately the same time, 2002 and 2004
respectively;
both are retired from technical professions emphasizing computers and
data
management; both appear to have retired on disability; both claim
residence in
the State of New York; "Ippolito" asserts residence in the town of
Waterford, and "Finnan" (as "FunDoc") is stated to have
used an ISP in the area of Albany to post, Waterford being about 10
miles from
Albany and adjacent to the Albany city limits; both have a history of
reported
serious health incidents temporarily limiting their mobility and
internet
activities; both have provided similar services to book collectors and
series-book enthusiasts, based largely upon Internet orders and
advertising.
4VII-C5:
Temperament and social relations. Both
characters are stated to be approximately the
same age, mid-50's as of 2007; both demonstrate an extreme reaction to
even
mild and polite disagreement or dispute; both manifest a paranoid
suspiciousness of the motives of others, and are inclined toward a
pejorative
interpretation of comments that appear innocent or merely jocular when
considered in the more conventional manner. Both may be well described
as reclusive:
"Finnan" is said to have attended at least two conventions, but
evidences no circle of personal or social contacts in the community of
boys'
book collectors and enthusiasts (he acknowledges one personal
friend,
Meredith Jaffee, D.D.S., of Long Island); I can find no one who has
ever met
"Ippolito," although one person states that he has spoken to
him over the telephone on several occasions. Based upon my personal
experience,
and another person's private correspondence made available to me for my
review,
both manifest a characteristic pattern in addressing disagreement,
transitioning from the particular point of dispute to aggressive
hostility and ad
hominem attacks on the motives of the other. "Ippolito" presents
himself as more reserved and patient, particularly in his public
postings;
"Finnan" moves almost instantly to an insistently taunting, mocking
tone replete with vulgarities and "street language". Arguably, this
mild contrast is not inconsistent with the main thesis in the
sense that
The Subject has shown, on Wikipedia and elsewhere, considerable
facility in
presenting a degree of distinction between the characters to preserve
their
credibility.
4VII-C6:
Paradoxical responses to Fan Fiction.
"Finnan": The various "Finnan" aliases, over and
above "Ippolito", have persistently derogated, in strong and
insulting terms, the Tom Swift Lives! fan fiction, of which I
am the
author. He has stated: "Tom Swift fan fiction is non-canonical, usually
bad, possibly illegal."
//
Note: There is no "Tom Swift fan
fiction" available other than my own and two full-length stories about
the
Sandra Swift character written by Michael Wolff. //
Yet
paradoxically, he himself recently added a reference to
fan fiction to the "Hardy Boys" article on Wikipedia, ("The
stories have inspired some authors to create their own Hardy Boys fan
fiction") and the link, "Hardy Detective Agency Fanfiction-
fan site with series information and fan art " — this
despite his categorical proscription
of
both types of article content in edit discussions of the two "Tom
Swift" articles.
"Ippolito": The "Ippolito" character initially
encouraged and praised my own efforts [see
below]
and suggested making it available to other enthusiasts by posting it to
the
Internet. He created and moderated a short-lived website affiliated
with his
main discussion group which would have dealt with Tom Swift fan
fiction, and
which was introduced by the cover illustration for one of my original
stories;
and he permitted an entire fan fiction novel, Sandra Swift and the
Lost
Airship, to be serialized in the postings column of the main group,
with
consequent discussion. Yet he responded to a new member and enthusiast
who
wished to discuss Tom Swift Lives!, as well as various topics of
relevance to the canonical series, brusquely and dismissively (see VI-B1), aggressively framed his wish
to limit
fan fiction discussion in a personal communication to me (see VI-B2), and revoked the group
membership of
another individual, a long-time group member and regular participant,
when he
persisted in trying to post a review of one of my stories that he had
written
for the group (see VII-E3, below). As
a
final paradox, "Ippolito" himself may have written an anonymous "Tom
Swift" short story briefly linked to his
Tom Swift discussion group, circa 2004.
Some quotes from "Tom Ippolito" on the Tom
Swift Lives! fan fiction, from his Tom Swift discussion group:
Thus
far, the writing is very much in the style of ""Victor Appleton"
"....All I can say is ""bravo""....The author does a
good job in his portrayal of Chow.... Michael is taking great pains to
adhere
to and expand the canon in his story, while the author of the ones on
the
towswiftlives web site has opted to essentially rewrite the TSJ series,
using
the original stories as the framework. Comparing these two approaches
will make
for some interesting discussion and give us a better feel for what
would or wouldn't
work for us in a new, official, TS series. ...Speaking of this site,
the
updated ""Deep-Sea Hydrodome""...is well worth reading.
4VII-C7: A
parallel interest?:
Character "Ippolito" — if
this is indeed the "Tom Ippolito" of interest, likely in view of the
familiarly rude tenor of postings by other-named monikers in the same
discussion thread — has spoken of his involvement with motorcycles:
Tom
Ippolito
Newsgroups: alt.motorcycles
From: Tom Ippolito <ippoli...@prodigy.net>
Local: Fri, Aug 11 2006 12:05 pm
Subject:
Re: motorcycles between cars on interstate
...Anecdotally, my wife and I participated in the "Rolling
Thunder" rally in Washington DC this past Memorial Day. On the
way home
we were stuck in a massive traffic jam... I dropped it into first, put
my right
blinker on and idled up the road on the shoulder. Didn't get any
nasty
looks, and no one tried to cut us off. Anyway I was thinking that
a
gathering of some 350,000 bikes (call it ~half a million
riders/passengers)
should be able to exercise some "clout." ...Putting all
Americans in one "selfish and independent" bucket is faulty
thinking. What's wrong with being independent? As for
myself, and
yes I am an American, I wouldn't hesitate to pass a vehicle that, by
rights,
should be yielding to faster moving traffic. Tom
I have been
told, but thus far have
been unable to verify, that character "Finnan" was involved in a
serious motorcycle accident
that
endangered his life and health. It may have been the cause of, or be
connected
to, the incident related in V-C, above.
4VII-C7: A
specific parallel in
phrasing. "Ippolito":
"you spelled it wrong Einstein" ...compared
to: "Finnan": "Hey genius
- why don't you be
more careful..." and
"... Hey
brainiac, stamps are PRINTED -"
//
These taunts have a fairly similar form. The
"Ippolito" quote strikes me as an accidental "giveaway", a
blurring of the established line meant to distinguish the characters
stylistically. It is far more typical of "Finnan" than
"Ippolito". //
4VII-C8:
Assessment of Dickerson. "Ippolito":
"...Scott is a
whimpering, immature, highly manipulative and disingenuous drama
queen."
and "...He chose to exacerbate the problem by making things personal." "Finnan":
"...he resorts to whimpering, self-pitying protestations..." ;
"...you whine and cry about what a poor 'victim' you are and how nobody
plays by the rules..." ; "...If you aren't on Wiki crying about the
rules, you're here crying about the rules." ; "...he is an
emotionally immature person." ; "...a petulant little whining
crybaby." ; "...whines about personal attacks" ; "...merely
bootstrapping and disingenuous" ; "...He rejects any opinion against
his edits as personal
abuse..."
VII-D. Chronologies of their internet activities.
The various
discussion groups initiated and moderated by
characters "Ippolito" and "Finnan" have a suggestive
chronological relationship, which I here paraphrase from a private
communication I received, merely as an example of the plausibility
of the main thesis from the point of view of another person familiar
with the
two characters.
'...Tom
did have a huge website of his own at
one point, but it vanished just about the time that Bob started up his.
Tom’s
group died just as Bob’s group was started – as if Tom was purposely
shutting
it down and migrating everyone over. No one has heard from Tom Ippolito
since
that point; it’s as if Tom has just disappeared off the face of the
earth, and
Bob doesn’t want to talk about Tom anymore. Nothing comes from Tom
anymore; his
newsletter is gone, his website is gone, and his eGroup is gone. Bob
and Tom
did both have a website at one point but Bob’s website was dormant for
a long
time while Tom’s grew, and Bob’s website was only revised after Tom
stopped his
projects. It is all an odd coincidence: it was either Bob, or Tom, but
not both
at the same time, and now Tom is gone...'
//
Note, however, the posting by "Tom
Ippolito" (VII-C7, above) dated two days after the
discontinuation
of the Yahoo! group. I am unaware of any "Ippolito" internet activity
thereafter. //
Some
critical dates:
4"BLUEPRINT"
begins, as a website, October 1997
4Ippolito Tom
Swift group begins, February 2002
4Dickerson
begins posting on Ippolito group, January 2004
4Finnan Tom
Swift group begins, July 2004
4First
mention of TOM SWIFT LIVES! on Ippolito group,
November 2004
4FanFiction
group started by Ippolito, April 2005
4Dickerson
removed from both Ippolito groups, April 2005
4Ippolito Tom
Swift group discontinued, 9 August 2006
4Five-moderator
Tom Swift group begins, 20 December 2006
VII-E:
Issues involving group moderation and policies.
Both
characters have adopted similar attitudes and policies,
as moderators, that have proven controversial. The specifics obviously
are not
uncommon enough to be strongly evidentiary: again, I am only
highlighting the absence
of inconsistency with the main thesis..
4VII-E1:
personal control .
IPPOLITO: '...whether I should have "consulted with the
group" (I don't intend to run things
by
committee or polls) ..'.
'... a very frequent poster until
[- -] made such a fuss about the moderation issue.'... [[
Paraphrase
of private correspondence by "Ippolito", August 2004 ]] // NOTE: "Ippolito" also agreed, at the
suggestion of others, to poll his Tom Swift group on the question of
whether it
should be moderated. The results favored the negative. This group
decision was
informally disregarded and eventually abandoned. // FINNAN: ...a snide remark on the way
I run the group. ... Being friendly doesn't mean bending over and
taking
it up the ass from anyone with some axe to grind.' '...the
authors would
be highly insulted... and the 1st thing out of their mouths would be
"Well, you let so-and-so post his!" ... the fact is it is my
group and I'll run it as I see fit and as I have been for almost 3
years.' ...
'already you're complaining and telling me how to run things...
Maybe you
don't agree with the way I run things, that's OK but I'm going to do
things the
way I want. That's my perogative'...
'I
can do without your "friendly observations",
which I view as hostile and abusive. You're pissed off because I don't
want to
do things your way'...' I don't know who the fuck you think you
are but
you can take your threats and stick them right up your ass. I politely
tried to
explain to you how I wanted my group to be run and you whine and cry
about it
and insult me. Tell you what, if you're so miserable... maybe the best
thing
you can do is quit the group. I don't need my balls busted by some
know-it-all
with a god complex.' ...'it is a PRIVATE LIST, not a public
forum. I
created it and it is my vision of it that will guide it ...you started
insulting me for not IMMEDIATELY changing things to suit you!'
[[
Paraphrase of private correspondence by
"Finnan", August 2006; not to SD ]] ...out of place is group
members sending me condescending, arrogant, insulting emails comparing
me to
Hitler for not changing everything to suit them immediatly. [[ posted
by
"Finnan" on his Tom Swift group, August 2006 ]] ...You piss &
moan that you don't like the way I run the list... [[ posted by
"Finnan" on Newsgroups: alt.books.nancy-drew , 27 November
1999, in reference to Finnan's Hardy Boys group; see
fuller quote below.]
4VII-E2:
content relevance.
...Over the
past month we had a string
of posts dealing with the pending cancellation of Star Trek:
Enterprise, NASA
spinoff technology, educational films dealing with spaceflight and
exploration,
the Chinese space program, the upcoming Thunderbirds movie, etc. This
is a
problem that crops up periodically and typically results in a drop off
in group
membership. As group moderator, I am now screening posts prior to
distribution
to prevent this from continuing... [[ posted by
"Ippolito" on his Tom Swift group, (when?)
]] ...It is clear from your initial posts to the discussion group
that
your primary interest in joining was to discuss and promote the
tomswiftlives
website. ...I am compelled to point out that this group was established
to
discuss topics related to the 99 published Tom Swift books. [see VI-B1, above.] ...Keep in
mind, the
stated purpose of the [regular "Ippolito"]
group is to discuss topics related to the published series. [see VI-B2, above] ...This board is being
overwhelmed
with posts which have absolutely nothing to do with Tom Swift.The least
anyone
can do is put OT or OFF TOPIC in the header so those of us who aren't
interested in these topics can avoid them...[[ posted by "Finnan" on
the Ippolito Tom Swift group, April 2002 ]] ..What's this got to
do with
Tom Swift?...Highly scientific discussions about which most of the
members have
no clue are out of place here. Posts that have no real connection
to anything Swiftian are Off-Topic and
shouldn't be posted.
[[ posted by "Finnan" on his Tom Swift group, 15 August 2006 ]]
4VII-E3:
banning members / revoking membership.
RE
"Ippolito": 'I have been
unceremoniously deleted from the ["Ippolito"
Tom Swift group], despite being
one of
its most prolific correspondents...[the] review I sent out last night [re: Tom Swift Lives! fan fiction] was censored from the list. I sent it no less
than three
times... After the second non-reponse, I emailed Tom Ipp ...he didn't
respond
to 4 messages sent over the next few days... [I] am forced to speculate
that this is an outgrowth of his long feud with Scott Dickerson... ["Ippolito"] unceremoniously removed Scott from the list. I
was even
more surprised that ["K —
"] had also been removed.
After all,
he does publish scholarly works on series books in general and Tom
Swift in
particular. But years ago, Tom Ipp complained about his
interactions...(describing it something like a battle for Tom Swift
literary
supremacy) and I guess that gets you kicked off the list. ...as I
anticipated,
I was deleted from the list this morning.' [[ paraphrased from private correspondence made
available
to me and widely disseminated by its author, 10 August 2006 ]] '....saying
that I have banned countless people
who were deemed, as he puts it, "a threat to his ambition to be the
online
Tom Swift go to guy." ...two people have ever been banned from
the
group ...' [[ by
"Ippolito",
paraphrased from private correspondence made available to me, ?? ]] '...I had little indication until [then]
that Tom
was removing people in droves from his list until
yesterday. The
only cases i knew about were Scott Dickerson...The other
instance
...[re K- -'s membership] ...he informed me that he had been forcibly
removed.
...I was surprised to find he was removed.' [[
paraphrased
from private correspondence (not to or from the recipient of the
paraphrase
immediately preceding), August 2006 ]]
RE "Finnan": ... I'll
be joining other related lists and I'll tell 'em
how I got "banned" by ["Finnan"] , and no doubt will find
I'm in good company. ...I politely asked Bob to clarify his reason for
banning
me. Alas, to no avail. ...There simply was no reason, Bob simply
wanted to
ban me. [[ posted by ("S — ") on Newsgroups:
alt.books.nancy-drew , 27 November 1999, in reference to
"Finnan"'s Hardy Boys group ]] ...The crux of the matter is that you
continue to harass me. You piss & moan that you don't like the
way I
run the list yet you bug me about getting back on. I've told you
why you
were banned, I told you you'd never get back on... Deal with it. You're
out and you'll stay out. Case closed. ... [[ posted by "Finnan"
on Newsgroups: alt.books.nancy-drew , 27 November 1999, in
response to preceding
]] ...Dickerson, you
really are a sick idiot... try joining my TS group and see how quickly you get banned! [[
posted by
"FWDixon" on Lindholm Group, 28 September 2006; see VII-B2, above. ]]
// NOTE: On the Lindholm Page on 29
August 2006,
"Finnan" described his policy, excerpted as follows: "... If
no relationship in even the slimmest way
exists to the subject of the group (i.e. Tom Swift)...I consider it OT
and/or
spam, will delete it and keep an eye on the author. If he repeatedly
does the
same thing, I'll warn them and put them on moderated status. If they
persist, I
will delete them from the group. If they become abusive, I'll ban them
from the
group and block them from emailing me (hey, it's happened). ...A flame
or
otherwise insulting post is, of course, off topic and entirely
unacceptable and
will be deleted and cause the poster to be moderated until
he calms
down..."
The apparent inconsistencies between "Finnan's" postings
on the subject of banning may be taken to suggest an emotional,
impulsive
approach to the issue as it arises in "real world" situations. The
sequence of actions described here parallels almost perfectly
the
actual practices of "Ippolito" as they developed with regard to
blocking of posts and deletions. //
VIII:
THE SALIENT EVIDENCE: THREE ARGUMENTS
Having
established a general case for the plausibility of the
thesis
that character "Ippolito" and character "Finnan" are in
fact one and the same individual, I will now present the three
evidentiary
arguments that I regard , taken together, as conclusive
in the
sense in which this term is used in this monograph, as stated in its
introduction. The three arguments are presented in order of increasing salience;
that is, according to my assessment of their evidentiary force.
VIII-A: The
first argument: "Continuity"
The public
story of "Tom Ippolito" and "Bob
Finnan" includes a backstory: the two were portrayed, and portrayed
themselves, as amicable fellow collectors and enthusiasts who had had
an ugly
falling out, resulting in a persistent rivalry and mutual antipathy. // See Appendix 1 // In one of my
two or three
direct contacts with "Finnan," in 2006, he stated to me
(paraphrased): "...I don't know
what's
wrong with Tom...He's deranged..." This was in reply to my
question as to the original incitement of Ippolito's attitude toward
Finnan,
making specific reference to Ippolito's presumed harassing of Finnan,
and of me
(with respect to "Tom Swift Lives!"), in the editing of the "Tom
Swift" Wikipedia article. "Finnan's" reply does
not challenge, and suggests tacit
concurrence with, my assumption that
Tom Ippolito was in fact the independent source of the Wikipedia edits
and
submissions in question. Yet as described herein, my subsequent
assessment of a
fuller range of evidence suggests that this assumption of an independent
and
contentious identity was fallacious in the sense that the
material
appears to have originated with "Finnan". In other words, there is a
(possible, and debatable) implication in this exchange that "Finnan"
was himself attempting to
attribute to
"Ippolito" comments and edits that were in fact his own
Yet
paradoxically, the Bob Finnan character shows surprising
knowledge of private matters connected to Tom Ippolito and his
moderatorship, and an arresting concern for Tom Ippolito, long
after
their putative falling out, and even after
"Finnan" has posted remarks like this:
" ...From:
Bob Finnan
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2004
...It's very clear that Ippolito plans to use [his Tom Swift discussion
group]
to promote his various commercial TS enterprises and is unfit to be the
moderator of the group (which he didn't even start AFAIN!). I urge you
to
become active in my TS group, (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TomSwift)
where
messages won't be deleted and the atmosphere won't be so repressive.
I've run
my Hardy Boys group for more than 5 years and never had the problems
that
Ippolito is causing with his dictorial ways. Bob Finnan "
And this:
"...From:
Bob Finnan
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004
Re: Tom Ippolito is detroying the old Tom_Swift group
...Clearly Tom I. is seriously mentally ill and totally out of
control.
It's a shame he is being permitted to destroy the group. One by one he
is
eliminating everyone who he perceives as a "threat" to him
(e.g. anyone who is knowledgable about Tom Swift.) It is a sad day for
Swift
fans everywhere. Bob Finnan "
And
also:
"...Thursday,
June 08, 2006 8:42 AM
To: TomSwift@yahoogroups.com
...Ever since I became acquainted with Tom several years ago, I thought
he was unbalanced. He used to post semi-nude pictures of a woman
he
alleged was his wife on his web site. //
NOTE: I have not verified, and do not endorse,
the substance of this comment. // I didn't
like him then and I like him even less now.
He kicked me off "his" group for no reason. That was particularly
galling since I actively promoted the group on my TS site for a
long time.
I don't wish for anything to happen to him but that his karma catches
up to
him. RWF "
For some
months in 2006 the introductory page to the Finnan
group bore the statement: "For all
castoffs
and refugees from Tom I's discussion group". Yet within
hours of the demise of the Ippolito group, the statement was
gone, and
"Finnan" had had a sudden and surprising change of heart:
Sent:
Wednesday, August 09, 2006 7:31 AM
To: TomSwift@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [TomSwift] Re: Weirder and Weirder
Charlie Campbell <campbell@...> wrote: "..So I am seriously
beginning to think that Jennifer is Tom Ipp. She certainly reacted
like
she was. She was contrived at the beginning to spark discussion
of the
new series and is now his mouthpiece. Any thoughts?"
Yes, I think this topic shouldn't be discussed here. I'm guilty
of
bringing it up in the past and have learned my lesson. Let's talk about
Tom
Swift, not Tom I. OK? RWF
The
change of heart, tone, and sensitivity came in response to a group
member's
skepticism, quoted, regarding the following e-mail, sent to all those
who had
received the notice cited above [[ VII-E3;
first
paraphrase ]] which was originally promulgated 8 August
2006, and
an immediately subsequent communication to the same group of recipients
by me.
Most
of you know that I am a fairly new member to the Tom Swift discussion
group. I
discovered Tom Swift with my son when the new series was released. I
stumbled
upon this group and was delighted to ceive emails with an abundance of
knowledgeable information.
I did not join the Tom Swift group to receive emails about people’s
personal
problems with someone or to have my email address passed on to others
without
my permission, which is what happened.
I’m
not interested in hearing about anyone’s complaints about the group or
anyone
on it. I’ll judge for myself. So please take me off this stupid list! I
think
that sending a mass email to people to "bring my complaints to the
list,
by mounting a guerilla action" is childish
and vindictive. Especially from someone who says that
getting
himself kicked off the group was “somewhat intentional”. That’s not very mature, especially when
you then go and cry about it
to everyone you can find
an email address for.
This
email states that a former member, Scott, was "... using the list to
call
attention to himself". Now he is emailing everyone that got this email
about his web site. I do not want to receive emails from someone trying to promote stories that they
wrote, or
complaining about someone, or trying
to further
some personal agenda like trying to destroy a great
discussion
group because they are mad about something. I don’t know what really
happened
here and I don’t care.
What I do know is you should be ashamed of yourself!
Jennifer
//
I
have emphasized some familiar phrasing and themes. //
To be
remarked is this fact: The "Finnan" apology and admonition respond
not only to expressed attitudes toward "Ippolito," but also squelched
an e-mail group posting that raised
the issue of
"Ippolito's" use of public deception through aliases.
Finnan has
made a number of references that suggest
attention to, and knowledge of, issues in "Ippolito"'s personal
life, even where such matters have not
been
disclosed or discussed in any public forum.
4You've
been a member 2
days and already you're complaining and telling me how to run things - no
wonder Tom I. went around the bend!
[[ By "Bob Finnan", paraphrased from a private e-mail to a member of
his Tom Swift group, 10 August 2006 ]]
4Jeez,
no wonder Ipp popped
his cork! [[ By
"FWDixon", 31
August 2006; on his Tom Swift group, replying to "Dennis" ]]
4No
wonder Ippolito threw
you out of his group! [[
User:MookiesDad|MookiesDad ]]
11:12, 8 September 2006; "Tom Swift" Wikipedia article; to Doxmyth
(Dickerson) ]]
4No
wonder Ipp kicked you out of his group! [[ By
"FWDixon", 27
September 2006; on Lindholm Group; to Dickerson ]] //see VII-B2, above//
Solicitude
for "Ippolito" and reference to
his history with Dickerson are most thoroughly elaborated here,
from
the Wikipedia "PAIN" page, September 2006:
Pak434: Doxmyth’s
game is simple. He markets any perceived
mistreatment, read as any time he doesn’t get his way, to anyone and
everyone
he can, trying to play on the sympathies of others to garner support
for his
cause, namely promoting his fan fiction web site and generating
discussion
about his stories in any way he can. His alleged victimization is
invariably a
combination of distortion and fabrication that is used to defame anyone
he
deems to be his persecutor. Doc Simpson: ... Doxmyth recently
compared
MookiesDad to Hitler and threatened him because he wasn't allowed to
promote
his fan fiction on MookiesDad's Tom Swift Yahoo fan group. Whenever he
doesn't
get his way on this he resorts to whimpering, self-pitying
protestations of
unfairness, censorship and foul play and seeks to elicit sympathy from
others.
(BY doc simpson, ...Pak434: The fact that Doxmyth "resorts to
whimpering, self-pitying protestations of unfairness, censorship and
foul play
and seeks to elicit sympathy from others" whenever he isn't allowed to
promote his fan fiction site in various forums is relevant in that this
is
exactly what is now happening here. The fact that Doxmyth made the
"Hitler"'
remark about MookiesDad in another forum, MookiesDad's Tom Swift Yahoo
fan
group, and under another identity, nbfanc, that he uses to promote his
fan
fiction, is relevant because this clash prompted his vendetta against
MookiesDad here. Doxmyth crying about incivility when his victim gets
fed up
with his harassment and cyber stalking and becomes angry is pathetic. He has done this before with others under various
identities,
and over the same topic, and is at it again.
My only dispute with "Tom Ippolito" as Tom Ippolito has been
the matter of his revocation of my membership in his two Tom Swift
groups in
April 2005, which he addressed in VI-B4,
above.
No account of this matter was ever posted, by myself or anyone else, in
any
public forum or discussion group. It was never mentioned in any way by
"Ippolito" in his group. Any comments by myself that described this
dispute, or which might be taken to be whimpering,
self-pitying protestations of unfairness, censorship and foul play
by which I seek to elicit sympathy from
others
because I was not allowed to promote my
fan fiction
site in "various forums" were made in private
communications to "Ippolito", recapitulated to two or three others
(again via private e-mails), and were never made available to "Bob
Finnan". Yet, under three pseudonyms, he is clearly making reference to
the details of that situation, his very terms reminiscent of
"Ippolito's" — and his rush to defensiveness and hostility
toward an individual whom, putatively, he has barely interacted with,
implies
that an ongoing argument (which "Finnan" was never officially privy
to, or involved in) is being inexplicably extended and continued as if
he were
in fact the original participant.
Weaknesses of the first argument:
Any
argument from the fact of
noticeable continuities in the themes and actions of ostensibly two
individuals
raises the issue of ordinary commonalities among persons active in the
same
milieu. It is not impossible that "Finnan" made reasonable
assumptions of "Ippolito's" troubled relationship with certain
members of the group "Ippolito" moderated, and indeed these matters
are somewhat reviewed in the mass mailing of 8 August 2006, of which
"Finnan" is listed as an addressee. However:
(1) The first postings on Wikipedia by "MookiesDad" appeared in June 2006, and
the hostile tone and attitude with respect to Dickerson/Doxmyth was already evident, and
showed no particular alteration after the cited mailing (and postings
to the
"Finnan" group thereafter).
(2) Despite the apparent belief indicated above that the author
of the
"Hitler" remark was also "nbfanc" and was in fact
Dickerson, the emphasized final sentence of the citation from Wikipedia
"PAIN" clearly draws upon a broader history preceding the
"Hitler" exchanges and the first posting by "nbfanc". In
fact, the author of the August mass mailing described his relationship with
"Ippolito" as cordial prior to the situation of reference: '...I find that particularly upsetting because
Tom and I
have been e-friends for years. You can find my comments in
several
issues of Blueprint, even back when it was a web-only publication.
Several
times he contacted me for scientific advice when he was preparing an
article. I
even purchased NYPL materials which I donated to him for the
sake of
Blueprint. In fact, in 2002, when I was within 150 miles, he invited me
to his
home, but the timing didn't work out... The strange part of this whole
thing is
that I will miss my friendship with Tom Ippolito, whom I include in
this
email.' [[ comments paraphrased
]] The
statement by the pseudonymous Pak434, "Doxmyth
crying about incivility when his victim gets fed up with his harassment
and
cyber stalking and becomes angry is pathetic. He has done this before
with
others under various identities, and over the same topic, and is at it
again. ... ," makes little sense unless one assumes
that
"Finnan" is making reference to "Ippolito's" prior-year conflicts
with Dickerson — details to which "Finnan" would seem to have
no ready access, given his ostensible estrangement from "Ippolito."
Nevertheless, the bare possibility of loose wording, mere
assumption,
and a degree of reconciliative discussion between the putative two in
the
immediate aftermath (within hours) of the termination of the
Ippolito
discussion group, can not be conscientiously dismissed. My assessment
of the
first argument in and of itself : plausible, persuasive, supportive,
but not
conclusive.
VIII-B: The
second argument: "A Striking Phrase"
Character
"Finnan", as "himself", has
only very rarely alluded in his public postings to original research
with
reference to the Tom Swift series, including research at the
Stratemeyer
Archives at the New York Public Library. Despite the superior proximity
of Long
Island to New York City, as compared to Waterford, specific reference
by
"Finnan" to his own research with the New York Public Library
archival materials is nonexistent. Indeed, the putative "Ippolito"
was moved to mention this fact:
From:
Thomas R. Ippolito
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2001 2:33 PM
Subject: Re: NYPL research project
...anyone can order something from the NYPL. ...
I agree entirely. I'm surprised Bob Finnan doesn't camp out in the
NYPL. I
think he lives in NYC.
In addition
to reinforcing the notion that Bob Finnan lives
in the NYC area, a distinction
is being
asserted between the research practices of "Ippolito" and
"Finnan." It would obviously confer authority on a posting to make
reference to official archival documents, yet in his many newsgroup
postings, I
have found only this mention, by "Finnan," of some prospective
research:
"...I
guess I'll have to
head over to the NYPL and check the archives.... RWF..." [[ from the
Finnan Tom Swift
Discussion Group ]]
Character
"Ippolito," by contrast, makes numerous
references to his own researches in the Stratemeyer archival materials.
Few
issues of his "Tom Swift fanzine," BLUEPRINT, lacked quotes from
these documents; and others have supplied him with documents from the
NYPL (see
quote from the August mass mailing, above). Such research activity was
referenced
in postings by "Ippolito" to the group he moderated:
...There
is no evidence of this whatsoever in the
precis for the story or any accompanying materials.
James Lawrence had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot and did not
contribute any of the details concerning Nestria which we have been
discussing.
[[ xxx ]]
and
... We
no longer have to rely on "popular
understanding". Hundreds of pieces of correspondence that passed
between
your dad and the Syndicate (principally Harriet Adams) are archived in
the
Archives and Manuscripts Division of the NYPL. I
have all of it and have reviewed it extensively... [[ xxxx
]]
When I first
began to participate in what became a dispute
with "MookiesDad" on the discussion page for the "Tom
Swift" Wikipedia article, I presumed the other party was the person I
knew
as Thomas R. Ippolito. I felt confirmed in this as he began to make
what seemed
to be references to his own research. And then came this significant
exchange,
which I quote at length in pertinent part:
Doxmyth: The section
on
"predecessors" asserts three things: (1) That Jules Verne wrote
popular invention fiction in the 19th Century; (2) That Luis Senarens
wrote
such fiction, in the form of popular boys' series, in America in the
19th
Century; (3) That some titles of the Senarens books, and the
continuation of
his Frank Reade stories under the "Jr." rubric, foreshadowed the Tom
Swift series. To substantiate #1, see the Wikipedia article on Jules
Verne. For
#'s 2 and 3, please refer to: "Explorers of The Infinite" by Sam
Moskowitz (Meridian Books, 1963; LCCCN#63-8778), Chapter 7; see also
"Tom
Swift & Co." by John T. Dizer, Jr., Ph.D. (McFarland & Co.,
Inc.,
1982; ISBN 0-89950-024-2), in toto but specifically Chapter 10,
Stratemeyer and
Science Fiction, which references Senarens and the Frank Reade stories
(and
similar boys' series of the era).
As to the question of relevance, this will always be somewhat
subjective, of
course. In my opinion as an editor, the Tom Swift books and character
are
significant in their keeping alive the tradition of "invention
fiction" that originated in the 19th Century. As indicated by the
references to Wozniak and the TASER, this is a phenomenon that gives
the books
a certain distinction, as compared to, say, The Rover Boys or Frank
Merriwell
(or Harry Potter). The facts may be more aptly expressed — which
is what
Wiki editing strives to do — but I would argue that the section
is
truthful, noncontroversial, informative, pertinent to the article
— and
brief.
I await the counterargument to these justifications...
I yield the floor to MookiesDad. -Scott Dickerson [[
User:Doxmyth|Doxmyth ]]
02:40, 10 September 2006
"MookiesDad": Fact: You
have presented not one iota of evidence that Edward
Stratemeyer, his Syndicate or any of the ghostwriters hired by the
Syndicate to
write Swift books were ever in any way influenced by the predecessors
you cite.
Therefore the section is immaterial to the article. ... The body of the
article
exists to present the reader with fact, not opinion, conjecture,
speculation or
surmise (that oughta cover it) and your section is all that. Sure
Stratemeyer
may have been influenced by the people and things you mention but have
you done
any research into whether or not that actually is true? If so please
list your
citations. Quoting the venerable John
Dizer's
speculation does not a fact make. [[ User:MookiesDad|MookiesDad ]]
02:52, 10
September 2006
"Antaeus
Feldspar": [ NOTE: He
is an experienced Wikipedia editor; I do not know his real name. ] ...
No, the "venerable" John Dizer's opinion is an opinion, not a
fact. However, it is appears to be a ''published'' and thus
verifiable
opinion from John T. Dizer, Jr., ''Ph.D.'', published by McFarland
& Co.,
which I would say makes it a reliable source — and that
verifiable
opinion from a reliable source is better than MookiesDad's personal
opinion
that there is ''no'' connection and the section is "immaterial to the
article". — [[ User:Antaeus Feldspar|Antaeus Feldspar ]] 03:08,
10
September 2006
"MookiesDad": ... I have
the book in question and nowhere does it say
there is a direct link as Doxmyth seems to imply. Furthmore, as much as
I
respect John's work, it was done in an era when finding info on the
Syndicate
was neigh on impossible. Now researchers have access to the Stratemeyer
archives in the NYPL 5th Ave branch, were I
have
spent many a pleasant day researching the Syndicate's boy
stories
like Rover Boys, Tom Swift and Hardy Boys. While I haven't searched
every
document of course, I have yet to see any proof that the Syndicate was
influenced by either Verne or Reade. Anyhoooo, I feel very strongly
about
including the aforemention "predecessors" section until the writer
can provide some modern citations of the veracity. [[
User:MookiesDad|MookiesDad ]] 03:26, 10 September 2006
"Antaeus
Feldspar": ...I
don't think you
understand how this works. If Dizer is a respected authority on
the
field, which it sounds like ''no one'' disputes, and his opinion is
that there
is a connection worthy of mention, it is not appropriate for you to
surpress
any mention of that until you receive "proof". — [[
User:Antaeus Feldspar|Antaeus Feldspar ]] 03:34, 10 September
2006
"MookiesDad":
... As I
mentioned earlier, scholars are reexamining Mr.
Dizer's work in light of the torrent of new evidence which became
available
after he wrote his book and new facts have turned up to dispute some of
his
suppositions. If "rescpected authority" write "Black is white
and white is red" that simply doesn't make it so. I have no desire to
disparage Mr Dizer's wrok, which was fine for its time. But later
scholars are
far more cognizant of the workings of the Syndicate. And anyway, as I
stated
earlier - '''I have John's book and he makes no claim that Verne or
Reade had a
direct influence on Tom Swift'''. ANd that, after all, is the point. [[
User:MookiesDad|MookiesDad ]] 03:43, 10 September 2006
[[NOTE:
The following is quoted from TOM SWIFT
& COMPANY (John T. Dizer, Jr., McFarland, 1982): “What are the
blood
lines of juvenile science fiction? ...The form of popular juvenile
science
fiction in this country, particularly in its early days, will surprise
many.
The fact is that its origin was in the dime novels and the ‘story
papers’ of
the period. ...The mainstream of the popular boys’ scientific adventure
in this
country has been much more influenced by Ellis, Senarens [ie, the
‘Frank Reade’
author], and later Stratemeyer [‘Tom Swift’ publisher], than by Jules
Verne
(pp. 87-90) ... ‘Tom Swift, Jr.’... These books... can be classified as
the
offspring of ‘Tom Swift’ (literally) and the story papers of the
1890’s. (p.
90) ...The Stratemeyer influence in juvenile science and adventure
stories can
really be traced from ‘Jack, the Inventor’ in 1891 ...In popular
juvenile
science fiction it seems quite clear that the blood lines run from
Ellis to
Senarens to Stratemeyer (p. 107).” It is abundantly evidenced that
the
objection by “MookiesDad” is uninformed, specious, and false.]]
There is no
doubt whatever that the above postings by the
pseudonymous “MookiesDad" were written by the same person who
posted the following:
...It's
true that I used many reference books in gathering information for my
site but
so what? That's why they are called reference books! I also spent hours at the NY Public Library poring over data in
the
Stratemeyer archives. It seems that the fact that the
authors of
these books (with whom I've been in contact for many years) have no
problem
with my site make no difference... [[ Wikipedia; 12:07, 22 August
2005 ]]
The
author of this quote from Wikipedia identifies himself: FWDixon. This is the usual moniker used
openly by the person who
identifies himself as Robert W. Finnan.
And
there is this parallel terminology, part of "Finnan's" putative
conversation with "Ippolito" :
Nov
17 1997, 1:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.childrens
From: hardybo...@aol.com (Hardyboy01)
Date: 1997/11/17
Subject:
Another Ippolito Rip-off
He's
at it again - stealing from other authors. This time it's the venerable John Dizer who's the
victim of Tom
Ippolito's thieving ways. His latest "Blueprint" has an article
about the "Glen Curtis Connection" which was expounded by Mr.
Dizer several years ago. Have you no shame Ippolito?
So
far, then, we find character "Finnan" intruding upon character
"Ippolito's" research practices. Was my adversary, as I then
assumed, Tom Ippolito? I was absolutely convinced that it was
because of
the following quoted phrase, which is this section's main evidence for
the
thesis:
...
I have spent many a pleasant day researching the Syndicate's boy
stories ...
The
phrase I have emphasized is a striking one, and I recognized it
immediately as
something familiar — the very phrase used in a private
e-mailed
communication sent me by Thomas R.
Ippolito.
It
was at this point — prior to my beginning to consider the strange
notion
that Robert W. Finnan might in fact be Thomas R. Ippolito (and
prior to
my finding the quote cited above by "FWDixon" from August 2005,
n.b.) — that I concluded that
this person
was indeed, and obviously, "Tom Ippolito." And thus, given
what I have demonstrated regarding "MookiesDad," "Bob Finnan" as well.
Weaknesses
of the second argument: The
familiarity of the phrase was based upon my clear memory
of its use by Ippolito over the course of my year of e-mailed exchanges
with
him prior to my being apprised of the existence of his Tom Swift
discussion
group. Unfortunately, I neglected to preserve these exchanges. Memory
being
fallible however strong its subjective authority, I cannot produce this
document and, in the final analysis, cannot verify my recollection. For
this
reason the second argument, in and of itself, can not be taken as
conclusive in
the sense of general public scholarship; however conclusive I myself
may have
found it.
The
thesis has been supported. It lacks a stronger form of
demonstrative
proof.
VIII-C:
The third argument: "Noumenes."
It is
this, the third argument, that finally provides evidence of sufficient
strength
to justify provisional scholarly acceptance of the main thesis of this
monograph.
4VIII-C1: the
case of "Wossan
Kau"
In
the Yahoo! Tom Swift discussion group, I made mention of a
problem, and
my mention received a response, as follows. (My post included language
suggesting that the problem noted involved Yahoo! mechanics, not
the
group moderator, Tom Ippolito.)
— - In tom_swift@yahoogroups.com, Scodiar@a... wrote:
> Now and then I hear from Swiftizens who have an interest in
> joining our group but are not yet members. One of these good folk
> has told me that he has received the message of acceptance of his
> membership (some days back) but can't seem to access the actual
> discussion posts, either to read or contribute.
The only individual who appears to have had difficulty in joining
the group is a Malaysian visitor to the U.S. who has contacted me
directly. This does not appear to be a Yahoo glitch/problem, as
four new members have joined the group this month without any
difficulty. Offhand, it sounds as if the person does not have a
Yahoo ID.
Thomas R. Ippolito
I
then received, immediately, a private e-mail from "Tom Ippolito"
briefly inquiring how I knew of this matter and was involved in it. My
response
and explanation, reproduced in pertinent part :
I
have a pretty casually linked circle of friends here in the LA area who
know of
my TS interests (though not of my website connection) and to whom I've
mentioned the pleasures of the TS discussion group (and, of course,
BLUEPRINT!). One of these guys (Ed) has a co-worker (John) who has an
e-mail
correspondent in Malaysia (I guess) whose actual name I don't know, but
he
calls him "Wissi".
Now then. In watercooler conversation John mentioned to Ed that Wissi
has asked
about some books he had read about "Tom Swift", and wanted to know
whether this was a series available in US bookstores. John (who has no
interest
in TS) wondered if the answer was available on the internet, at which
point Ed
offered to put him in touch with me by email, as I could give him some
points.
Incidentally, this all was a few months back.
After some second-hand exchanges, I see I provided John with (a) the
info on
the title page of Blueprint, in case Mr. Malaysia was moved to
subscribe; and
(b) a few random-samples from the discussion group postings (mostly
those
putting me in a flattering light!), as the guy was interested but was
not
really clear on the tenor and substance of the group. (I thought of
this as
promoting the group, but if this is contrary to your policy, just let
me know.)
And I managed to work in a mention of TSL.
Now I have been again hearing from this guy John Noumen who is playing
host to
Wissy during his visit, and they both seem thoroughly confused about
getting
the membership thing processed through. Now they BOTH say they have
Yahoo ID's,
despite which... and thus my posting. I don't think either mean any
harm, but
(like all too many) they participate in bits and pieces of the Net
without
really getting the hang of how to interpret do-this-then-that
procedures. So I
treat 'em gently [...] I brought it up as I did because I was thinking
of it as
a possible Yahoo! problem, in no way a reflection on you
personally...and
maybe I'm dumb here, but I never have found a straightforward way to
send
inquiries directly to "Yahoo central". ...
He
replied as follows:
Scott.
I hope you didn't take my email the wrong way. I was just
confused as to
how you came to be aware of the problem this fellow was
experiencing. I
have to confess that I didn't take the matter very serious when
first
contacted (I've had a couple of emails from the guy), as I assumed it
was the
result of unfamiliarity with Yahoo Groups and would work itself out (in
truth,
there is little I can do other than approve the request for
membership).
When he applied for membership twice (approved on both occassions), I
began to
suspect that there may be a problem, but I went back to sleep on
the
problem when I saw that four new members have joined the group
this month,
presumably without difficulty. The only thing I can suggest is to
have Wissi
bypass the usual Yahoo Groups join process and send an email directly
to tom_swift-subscribe@
yahoogroups.com. I don't know if this will resolve the problem, but
it's
worth a shot. Another possibility, which occurs to me as I
write, is
that I can "invite" him to join the group by sending him an email
that provides a link that will automatically subscribe him. I've
attracted several members in this fashion. I'll do that as soon
as I
finish this email.
Thanks
for the info.
Tom
After a few
days the following was
posted to the Yahoo! group, giving Noumenes as the poster's
e-mail
address, which I here quote in its entirety.
To
the "Tom Swift" Group of Yahoo!,
Saltns;
I am new to this and this is my first posting! But I do see I have
already been made mention, as I am indeed the person of Malaysia who
endured some little difficulty, and should like here to thank Mr.
Ippolito for his patient assistance with me. I beg you excuse my
imperfection of English, as with respect it is hard to hear and
write, although more ease to be reading and speaking, for it is not
to be my language.
I am able to read from "w-w-w" at my work shoppe but can not send you
to directly by "e"-mail; as not allowed and here the "boss"
is king!!
Thusfor as I am visiting my corresponding friend in The United States
Of America, I have engaged to join your column and I shall yes read
of what is answered, by his generos access to his own computer.
Although I will state that of himself he does not read of your column.
In my country we do not have "Tom Swift" but I have found same in
shoppe of old books that is esspecial for the language "English" and
in it did find "The Flying Lab" and "The Diving Copter,"
and which
both bore blue color on back and side. The front of first did have a
picture of hero Tom and his airplane up high over earth, and of
latter, a picture of the red flying saucer under water, which I did
yes much admire. !! + these were read and owned long ago when I was
of late child years, and where are they?, I do not know.
In my viewing of recently, by help in certain printed form as I have
not the membership, I do find your group columns to read and have
enjoy though perhaps not all do I understand. I give salute to you
for these, and wish you to know that it is not only in your country
that it is to be read and ingratiated.
Into addition, I have also found this place site "TOM SWIFT ALIVE"
with thereupon entire stories to be read; which is given (w-w-w.
tomswiftlives. com). Some name titles hereon, I do yes remember from
back side of my two books. Now; I do read of them, and very much
enjoy!! And also art pictures to the side with of same; of which I
can make large to see, is by simple click upon. !!
I ask here, if I may be allowed at your kindness, some certain
questions in my best of English that I can be managed, and do pardon;
.1. Have you known of the "Tom Swift Books" to have been published in
my own language, that of Malay, or perhaps of English only. (We may
also have Francais, although with me it is of lessened degree.) ?
.2. And, I ask if all of those of the "Tom Swift Books" shall be put
on TOM SWIFT ALIVE in time, or only as now this few; as for I do
remember quite some more of name titles upon list, thereon backmore
side of my two books. (+ yes I do appreciate convenience for us to
read there of these old books, for inddeed;; here my country wherein
we can not purchase, but only can read of this place site manner on a
computer!!! +and when the "boss" does not watch!!) ?
.3. And, for most part over some selection as I have by help read in
your column of Yahoo!; I have find few mention of this TOM SWIFT
ALIVE and stories as given thereupon, and now yes I do inquire, if
perhaps it is not what you wish to be speaking of, in your column,
those stories and the art pictures; butfor I find them of quite
excellent in all respect, and it is well deserving of comment, and it
is all I and more of others country, can have for to comment. And
also I may say, you have discuss and comment of many other and divers
things; as "moon" and "disk angle" and another
"nuculeaer ion"
for "space rocket" and recent "gas" in such few selecteds I
have
read; yet but not of this TOM SWIFT ALIVE butfor a mentioning; and
thus why I so inquire you, with great respect and your indulgents.
(Indeed should I add that the discussions of those science topics are
most worthy and interesting yet beyongd my own understanding;;
thusfor my so saying, is no not of critical intent.) ?
.4. And, also may I inquire as whether this author at TOM SWIFT
ALIVES, who that is, "Victor Appleton ll"; has wrote other such books
not of "Tom Swift" but indeed "Riks Brant" and other such
yes; as
such is charactered in one such book of "The Racing Aquodisk" and is
described as a "None Other" suggests different books perhaps of his
own. ? +now I am informed (my thankfuld host!) that there is a Rick
Brand Scientist Adventure of several books many;; thusfor
perhaps "John Blaine" is also this "Victor Applton l l" I
do
inquire. ?
.5. And, also may I inquire there was, indeed also, some former books
of "Tom Swift" now gone, as indeed my corresponding friend, here, has
opined that he has known of them from even before The World War of
the years 1914 and etc.; and yet what I read is sures much less so
old. But I am only here curious of same. ?
.6. And, also of this tale "The Lost Airship", which I see you have
in chapters, is this one of those "Tom Swift" of 1900-s or of some
other. +though indeed it is most enjoyed, and I do honor; as far as I
have to now so far, read of it. ?
.7. And, also, in TOM SWIFT ALIVE I find much humor of which I do not
recall of my reading in old two books, but perhaps now I am older;
and indeed yes, I do laugh alloud at some antics and replies. (+ in a
bathing club and others such !!) But I am of quite sure that
the "cowboy" who is a cooker, Chow, has much of humor intended which
I indeed do not have grasp; as it is most "American"; and perhaps one
may in general explain this style to me if not an imposition to
inquire. ?
.8. And, also and in terminustion, I wish to know how to; and if;
these same stories upon TOM SWIFT ALIVE may be purchased as truly
books, and not indeed of "w-w-w" computer, and also with art pictures
as given. For indeed I would wish to own for books shelf in my here
of Malaysia, as in form of book. ?
Much of MANY questions, butfor I am EXCITED !!
It is unfortunately and indeed of disagreeable that my host here; and
of who's computer I can use; can not provide a better assistance in
this languiage to my benefit; as indeed he has not the time. +in fact
I have had some big quantity of difficulty in the procedure required
for this column to be able to participate which is surely of my own
infamiliarity.
I do apologies for imperfections of this language and such
impositions as may be emplaced upon those who read,
And do remain your faithful servent;;
Mister;; Wossan Kau
Of Malaysia Batanol.
I
responded to this post, as did one other group member.
I
was permitted to read this first submission before it was sent and
posted, due
to the relationship established, as noted above with respect to
assisting
Wossan Kau and his American host with Kau's membership problem. I was
also able
to review several nonpublished exchanges. The following produces in its
entirety the second submission to the group. It was not published.
Hello,
this is a first Reply from Wossan Kau, and it is hoped that I have done
so
correctly and it is acceptable to your column of "Tom Swift" .
I
have yes enjoyed to see my own words and inquiries there, and do hope
there has
been none offended.
Hello Scott Dickerson;; you have much been of help and I thank you for
the
answers; and now indeed do I grasp three distinct groups of books and
the
differing authors. +there are some further details with regarding the
subjects,
and I shall with your kind permission impose somewhat later herein.
Hello Michael Wolff;; I do appreciate your responsing comment and do
honor you
for the highest excellence of this tale which you provide here. As to
this, I
will add that I do recall "Sandra" or "Sandy" from my two
older books as by Msr. James Duncan Lawrence (a bad horse ride and a
bad date
!! "ahhahhah") and do find her also within Tom Swift Is Alive
stories of "w-w-w". But as to the madame Phillys, I am lessened
certain that she was also found in my older books, and do not find at
all in
"w-w-w" stories; and thusfor would be most greatfull if you would
explain to me, thereof.
I am most anxious; in indeed a pleasant sentse; to anticipate such
furthermore
answers and infomation as others are pleased to provide; upon those
aforesaid
inquiries, as do yet remain.
And now thus Msr Dickerson I shall comment some further on the
"legal" topic. I have understand much of what this is, as concerns
owning some certaine works created, as for it is in "the news" with
variable respects. In Malaysia, as it may interest you to know, the
"legal" is indeed different for cause our history and people and to
some degrees the religion predomine; though yes we did have the
experience of
colonialism which provided some law forms. In my country "For to own"
is rather different in the application to law and custom, may I say.
Yet I do incur this; that the same subjects with respect to the
copyings and
sales of things (DVD,CD, and thus) are now attended to by law in Malay,
and one
learns that some have been arrested and suchmore (in "the news"). Yet
the attention is in some degrees very "spread" and not serious
alltogether;; and for, many make money from this activities, for self
and
familiy and government tax;; thusfor is it more "said" than
"done" by those who would police.
And yet I ask; shall those who come to Tom Swift Alive to sit and read
these
stories by computer and to regard the pictures, be themself subject to
penalty
of law, and perhaps some risk? I ask; as I am a foreign visitor to The
U. S. A.
and my host, who same is "John", has not known this at all. Shall
some of this column know for me?
And it occurs: this falsed "Victor Applton l l " shall be subject to
some such penalties and perhaps, one shall hope not, imprisonement for
such
usefull activity?
And so to your conveniece and with respect I here give summarize my
inquiries ;;
. 1 . ;if there shall be any "Tom Swift" in this Malay language
. 2 . ;if divers humor and joking might be explained (to degrees only)
. 3 . ;if such "TWO" books as remain (or; the titles thereof) shall
also be emplaced at Tom Swift Alives ; thereby to completion
. 4 . ;a large inquiry on the subject, whether discussion and comment
respects
the Tom Swift Is Alives "w-w-w" tales, is well comported with this
column, as it is not offered ofttimes herein, yet I confess it is most
what I
can read
. 5 .;two inquiries preceding here; as to law and penalty
I am indeed in much gratistude for these many kindly comments and
advice; and
do remain your faithful servent
Mister;; Wossan Kau
visitor to The U. S. A.
of Malaysia Batanol
As
already quoted at [ ], the second submission elicited the
following
response by private e-mail.
Wossan,
It
is clear from your initial posts to the discussion group that your
primary
interest in joining was to discuss and promote the tomswiftlives web
site. While I personally enjoy and support the fan fiction
efforts that
two of our members are engaged in, and comment on them from time to
time, I am
compelled to point out that this group was established to discuss
topics
related to the 99 published Tom Swift books. Accordingly, overt
attempts
to use this forum for the sole purpose of directing people’s attention
to the
tomswiftlives web site will not be permitted.
Tom Ippolito
Owner
and Moderator
Tom
Swift Discussion Group
This
Ippolito response elicited the following reply.
My
Dear Sir;;
In
reply I thank you and do apologies for having in such way violated your
column
rules and purpose. I did not apprehend that those "w-w-w" tales, are
not indeed considered part of "Tom Swift" as they are of the same
name as those who are. It is regreted that but for the two books I have
read
some years formerly, I have not a capacity to acquire and read the true
books
as they were in origin; and do believe they are not in book shoppes.
I
did not indeed grasp that the "Victor Applton l l " that is of the
"w-w-w" is also one of the members who are in your own column;
thusfor perhaps I have ashamed my-self !!
I
have perhaps construed the column as for answering inquiries with
respect to
"Tom Swift" ;; and not in whole, for discussin by those already
having such information.
If
I may be so bold as to say, in truth I did make some mention of other
subjects
(Malay language, girl Phillys, oldest series of Tom, and "The Lost
Airship") and thusfor perhaps my inquiries for "w-w-w" was more
in degrees than as was permitted ;; for this reason did I inquire in my
"Reply" if it was acceptable.
Also,
it occured that I thougt some comparing of ownership "legal" might be
of interest in your column; as between our two countries.
I
would say that perhaps my imperfection of language and origin elsewhere
in
Malaysia has leaded to some difficulty ("hassel") at all points from
beginning; and it would be best for those not familiar (that is,
my-self) to
please remain aside. +as indeed my host John Noumen first urged !! ;
had I but
listened, ahhahhah
I
shall thusfor withdraw such further inquiry and comment; ; and thank
you your
time ; also to help of "Scodar" ; and your others , as
"Charlie" and "Michael" . +best wishes for "Tom
Swift" !!
In
respect your most faithfull serevent
Mister;;
Wossan Kau
of
Malaysia Batanol
I
believe Kau attempted one further posting with no mention of "Tom Swift
Lives!" but found that his group membership had been revoked by
the
moderator with no further explanation or comment. I maintained some
contact
with his American host, who used the internet moniker Noumenes,
a form
of his name, as indicated above. I received nothing directed to me
privately
written by Wossan Kau, nor did Wossan Kau have any further interaction
with
Ippolito.
Another
group member who maintained contact with Ippolito eventually mentioned
that
Ippolito had presumed that I was posting under "Wossan Kau" as an
alias, based upon Ippolito's apparent discovery that we both used a
local
Southern California server. (...Scott
Dickerson,
who he had a very public argument with and who may have been doing odd
things
like signing on with a different name to promote tomswiftlives... from
e-mail cited in pertinent part above, E2-VIII, circa August 8, 2006. (Note: the author has since indicated to me
by private
correspondence that the reference to "a very public argument" was a
mischaracterization of what was in fact a private matter out of public
view.)
Some
15 months after the appearance of the Wossan Kau public posting, the
name
Wossan Kau appeared again, as a commenter on the discussion page for
the main
Tom Swift article on Wikipedia. This followed some posts of mine, which
made
intemperate reference to the activities of a "Mr. I," whom I presumed
was involved in deleting a link to "Tom Swift Lives!" from the
Wikipedia article.
Hello to all
"Tom Swift". I offer apology as I do
not wish to aggrieve but comments not within applied channels on
personal
negative comments are deleted. Permit me to say that one should argue
facts and
not speak about personalities. This is very bad form. Matters
respecting
personal grievance with another are not for this column. Wossan Kau of
Malaysia
batanol [[ 19 June 2006 ]]
This
edit summary (available in Edit History for the discussion page) later
appeared
in connection with the removal of some of my postings from the edit
discussion
page.
Revision as
of 17:45, 23 J (undo)
71.245.141.15 (Talk)
(Diatribe not within rule and purpose of column deleted. Very, very
sad. -
Wossan Kau of Malaysia batanol)
On
the discussion page I stated some surprise at the tenor of these
comments, and
indicated that I would contact Mr. Kau privately. I immediately was
able to
verify that the Wikipedia postings were entirely
fraudulent and were not made by the Yahoo! Tom Swift discussion group
member so
identified, despite the attempt to imitate his peculiarities
of
expression.
To
review: (1) A foreign visitor expressing an interest in the subject of
the
Ippolito group attempts to gain membership, but finds himself unable to
do so.
(2) Moderator Ippolito fails to reply to more than one offgroup inquiry
and
request for assistance. (3) The applicant is only approved after a
public
mention of the problem; and then with a degree of suspiciousness
expressed to
me by Ippolito. (4) After one post was allowed, the new
member's second
attempted posting was blocked, and brought a sharp remonstrance by
Ippolito
concerning what was taken to constitute promotion of my website. (5)
The
visitor, Kau, was removed from group membership. (6) The name Wossan
Kau
is subsequently used fraudulently to criticize and block my own editing
participation on Wikipedia.
As
there was only one public posting by "Wossan Kau" prior to his false
emergence on Wikipedia — but some behind-the-scenes annoyance
with Kau
connected to me myself with regard to matters and exchanges known
only to
Tom Ippolito and not publicized — the indicated conclusion is
that
it was "Ippolito" himself who engaged in the cited Wikipedia activity,
perhaps in a spirit of mockery. [Compare to "Jennifer" at VIII-A, above.]
The
matter of "Wossan Kau" is not the main argument of this
section, but rather a preface to it.
4VIII-C2: the
appropriation of a moniker
Prior
to its appearance on Wikipedia on October 11, 2006, the striking and
unusual
name Noumenes had appeared to public view precisely once,
as the
e-mail address of the sole published posting to the Ippolito Yahoo!
group by
"Wossan Kau" in late 2004-early 2005. Of note: this public posting does
not indicate that "Noumenes" is the name of a person; it was only
in the final private e-mail to "Tom Ippolito," signed
"Wossan Kau," that a "John Noumen" was mentioned as his
American host. Yet on Wikipedia "Noumenes" is used as a signatory
name by an editor.
As in
the case of the "Wikipedia Wossan Kau," I was immediately able to
verify that the "Wikipedia Noumenes" was fraudulent, an unauthorized
use of the moniker applying to "John Noumen," who in fact was not
responsible
for any of the Wikipedia edit postings. In other words, this action
evidences
(1) a desire to make a further mocking "point" relevant to the
presumption that its target, Scott Dickerson, had himself made postings
(to the
Ippolito group) under an alias; (2) namely an alias using Noumenes
as
the posting's e-mail moniker; (3) by someone already knowing that
"Noumenes" is a personal name (in actuality, a form of his
name, which could easily be forgotten or overlooked); (4) all derived
from one
obscure detail in one sole posting of some months previous — or,
as is
more likely, from a series of private e-mail contacts between the
person
using the moniker (ie, "Kau") and one other person, Tom Ippolito.
In
and of itself, this evidences, all but conclusively, that the Wikipedia
editor
and commentor using the name "Noumenes" is in fact the person known
to the public as Thomas R. Ippolito.
And I
have provided, in Part One, above, a range of evidence demonstrating
that
"Wikipedia Noumenes" is also the person known to the public as
Robert W. Finnan.
Which
jointly demonstrate that Thomas R. Ippolito and Robert W. Finnan
are one and
the same individual.
And there is even stronger evidence.
4VIII-C3: the
outing of the false
"Noumenes"
On
October 3, 2006, the original and legitimate user of the
"Noumenes" moniker e-mailed two individuals, "S" and
"Dr. Hank Heyman". The brief message was addressed, internally, to
Ippolito, asking how back issues of his BLUEPRINT fanzine might be
purchased,
to be given as a gift to a friend — a reference to "Wossan Kau"
that would be grasped by anyone familiar with the relationship between
"Kau" and "Noumenes" (whom Kau had identified as a
"John Noumen"). In both notes the correspondent explained that he had
been told that these ("S" and "Heyman") were names and
e-addresses sometimes used by Tom Ippolito for legitimate internet
business
purposes: there was no suggestion of criticism or rebuke.
There
was no reply from "Dr. Hank Heyman," nor any indication that the
e-mail had been undeliverable. The other recipient, "S", clarified
that he was not himself Tom Ippolito, but would relay the message by
Noumenes
to Mr. Ippolito at the e-mail address he had for him. In a subsequent
exchange,
Noumenes apologized for his fallacious assumption, thanked "S", and
asked if the message had indeed been passed along, as Noumenes had
received no
response from Ippolito. "S" confirmed that it had been relayed,
apparently successfully though with no comment back to "S".
The
posts by the fraudulent "Noumenes" began appearing on October 11,
2006 — days after the contact
between the
legitimate Noumenes and an individual who passed along the message from
Noumenes to Tom Ippolito — who has expressed the
belief
that "Noumenes" is an alias used by Scott Dickerson.
There
was no reason whatsoever for my Wikipedia nemesis, known to be "Bob
Finnan", to commence posting under this moniker at this time
(months
after the bogus appearance on Wikipedia of "Wossan Kau") — unless
this person is the same person who had just received a message from
"Noumenes" which mentioned the intended addressee's public name
and which might well have been taken as a case of "taunting" by
Dickerson.
That
person was Tom Ippolito;
who
thus was also "Wikipedia Noumenes";
and
thus Bob Finnan as well.
With
the support of the other evidence herein presented, I regard this final
demonstration as conclusive. It is for scholars to now review,
consider, and if
possible refute the argument and its evidence. The thesis of this
monograph is
proven. The Mysterious Other is "Thomas R. Ippolito" and
"Robert W. Finnan," the perpetrator of a hoax, whose true legal name
and identity is unknown.
Appendices
I.
Words of interest and possible relevance
4 Eric S.
Raymond
4
Dr. Hank Heyman
4
Robert W. Milby, Sr.
4
Patrick Milby
4
Meredith Jaffee, DDS
4
The National Alliance / The National Vanguard
4
Kevin Alfred Strom
4
(Joseph) Cal Deal
4
"Targets of Opportunity" website
4
David Wayne Sims ("Jerry Abbot")
4
Michael Anthony Ippolito / Anthony M. Ippolito
II.
Books of interest and possible relevance
4 The
Night Listener by
Armistead Maupin (Harper paperback, for "The Electrifying Story Behind
'The Night Listener'," article by Tad Friend)
4
Autism and Asperger Syndrome (Uta Frith, Editor; Cambridge
University
Press
4
The Psychopath (James Blair, Derek Mitchell, and Katrina Blair;
Blackwell Publishing)
4
Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified (Robert O. Friedel,
MD;
Marlowe and Co.)
4
The Sociopath Next Door (Martha Stout, Ph.D.; Broadway books)
4
Surviving Schizophrenia (E.
Fuller Torrey, M.D.; Quill)
4
Anyone You Want Me To Be (John Douglas with Stephen Singular;
Pocket
Star / Simon & Schuster)
III. Two comments found by search
engine on the
Internet
By
quoting these comments I do not intend to imply that the authors
support or
endorse the thesis of this monograph. I have no information on the
context or
the validity of the content.
4III-A. RE: "Bob
Finnan"
Austin
Johnson
An Open and Public Letter to Hardy Boys Fans
Mon Jul 18, 2005
01:4568.170.172.196
Once again, it appears that I have been the target of an evil campaign!
Bob Finnan, the webmaster of The Unofficial Hardy Boys Homepage has
effectively
removed any mention of my website completely from Wikipedia, the free,
user-driven Internet encyclopedia supposedly dedicated to freedom of
information.
Only months ago, the Hardy Boys article* had been devised by various
informed
authors and had a listing of links that, if I remember correctly,
accurately
reflected the majority of Hardy Boys resources on the Internet.
Now, however, Bob Finnan has gained control of the article and, after
completely erasing existing information and replacing it with articles
from his
site, has "locked" the article via a dispute with Wikipedia staff (I
assume) -- effectively tying my hands to deal with the matter.
Not only has he included a line that directly emanates from my research
on
international translations WITHOUT crediting my website or myself, he
has also
removed my website and my and Sal's webzine from the list of external
links.
Yes, I believe that I am responsible for the research which spurred the
line,
"Hardy Boys books have been issued in over 25 languages, including
Spanish, Dutch, French, German, Sinhala, Japanese, Russian, and
Afrikaans," and thus should receive due credit.
For those not "in the know," Wikipedia is visited by an inordinate
amount (respective to other websites of a similar nature) of traffic
each day
-- in other words, it is a goldmine of promotion and trafficking, a
source
which Bob Finnan has once again miraculously gained complete dominion
of and is
attempting to influence the public on just exactly what's out there in
the
Hardy Boys world.
I have posted in the discussion thread for the Hardy Boys Wikipedia
article and
will be lodging a formal complaint later in the morning. I am tired of
this
continual battle which seems to be one sided -- I would be more than
happy to
equally share the limelight with the other three major Hardy Boys sites.
Rest assured, Bob Finnan, that my efforts to outrank you will
henceforth become
twofold. It is not that I am trying to repress visitors to your site; I
am
merely FORCED to assume this stance to attempt to keep up with your
efforts at
subduing Hardy-Boys.com.
With ill-deserved respect,
Austin Johnson
Webmaster, Hardy-Boys.Com, www.hardy-boys.com
Co-Editor, The Bayport Gazette, www.bayportgazette.com/bg
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardy_Boys
4III-B: RE: "Tom
Ippolito"
6/28/97
Tom Ippolito finally emailed me and, after a lengthy discusion, we
really
didn't get much accomplished. He apparently is unwilling to admit that
he has
ever, at any time, borrowed stuff from my page. He also threatened to
sue me
for slandering him. I asked him to, at the very least, apologize for
borrowing
my text. He refused. I actually feel sorry for him in a way. Since he
did
remove the text he borrowed from my page, I'm willing to let it go at
that. As
long as he doesn't borrow any more of my stuff, I think I'll just do my
best to
ignore him. People who are unwilling to admit their mistakes just
aren't worth
talking to.
CJ Pepin
IV.
Terms defined on Wikipedia
4IV-A: The
use of "puppets"
"A
sock puppet is an alternative account used deceptively. In particular,
using
two usernames to vote more than once in a poll or to circumvent
Wikipedia
policies is forbidden." ...
"Meatpuppet
is a Wikipedia term of art meaning one who edits on behalf of or as
proxy for
another editor. While Wikipedia assumes good faith especially for new
users,
the recruitment of new editors to Wikipedia for the purpose of
influencing a
survey, performing reverts, or otherwise attempting to give the
appearance of
consensus is strongly discouraged. A new user who engages in the same
behavior
as another user in the same context, and who appears to be editing
Wikipedia
solely for that purpose, shall be subject to the remedies applied to
the user
whose behavior they are joining. ... Do not recruit meatpuppets. It is
considered highly inappropriate to advertise Wikipedia articles to your
friends, family members, or communities of people who agree with you,
so that
they come to Wikipedia and support your side of a debate. If you feel
that a
debate is ignoring your voice, then the appropriate action is to avoid
personal
attacks, seek comments and involvement from other Wikipedians, or
pursue
dispute resolution. These are well tested processes, designed to avoid
the
problem of exchanging bias in one direction for bias in another.
... Wikipedia
has policies and processes to mitigate the disruption caused by
meatpuppetry.
For the purposes of dispute resolution, the Arbitration Committee has
ruled
that when there is uncertainty whether a party is one user with sock
puppets,
or several users acting as meatpuppets, they may be treated as one
entity."
4IV-B: The
nature of "consensus"
"Consensus
in many debates and discussions is not based upon number of votes, but
upon
policy-related points made by editors." Newcomers are unlikely to
understand
Wikipedia policies and practices , or to introduce any evidence that
other
users have not already mentioned. In votes or vote-like discussions,
new users
tend to be disregarded or given significantly less weight, especially
if there
are many of them expressing the same opinion. "
4IV-C:
"Trolls" and "Trolling"
"An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who
posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an
online
community, such as an online discussion forum, with the intention of
baiting
other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal
on-topic
discussion. ... In academic literature, the practice was first
documented by
Judith Donath (1999), who used several anecdotal examples from various
Usenet
newsgroups in her discussion. Donath's paper outlines the ambiguity of
identity
in a disembodied "virtual community". In the physical world there is
an inherent unity to the self, for the body provides a compelling and
convenient
definition of identity. The norm is: one body, one identity. ... The
virtual
world is different. It is composed of information rather than matter.
Donath
provides a concise overview of identity deception games which trade on
the
confusion between physical and epistemic community."
"Trolling
is a game about identity deception, albeit one that is played without
the
consent of most of the players. The troll attempts to pass as a
legitimate
participant, sharing the group's common interests and concerns; the
newsgroups members,
if they are cognizant of trolls and other identity deceptions, attempt
to both
distinguish real from trolling postings, and upon judging a poster a
troll,
make the offending poster leave the group. Their success at the former
depends
on how well they — and the troll — understand identity cues; their
success at
the latter depends on whether the troll's enjoyment is sufficiently
diminished
or outweighed by the costs imposed by the group."
"Trolls
can be costly in several ways. A troll can disrupt the discussion on a
newsgroup, disseminate bad advice, and damage the feeling of trust in
the
newsgroup community. Furthermore, in a group that has become sensitized
to
trolling — where the rate of deception is high — many honestly naïve
questions
may be quickly rejected as trollings."
"The term troll is highly subjective. Some readers may characterize a
post
as trolling, while others may regard the same post as a legitimate
contribution
to the discussion, even if controversial. The term is often erroneously
used to
discredit an opposing position, or its proponent, by argument fallacy
ad
hominem. ... Frequently, someone who has been labelled a troll by a
group may
seek to redeem their reputation by discrediting their opponents, for
example by
claiming that other members of the group are closed-minded,
conspirators, or
trolls themselves."
4IV-D:
Apparent self-opposing puppets and trolling
"A
concern troll is a pseudonym created by a user whose point of
view is
opposed to the one that the user's sockpuppet claims to hold. The
concern troll
posts in web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts
to sway
the group's actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals,
but with
professed 'concerns'. The goal is to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt
within the
group. "
4IV-E:
Trolling, as specific to Wikipedia participation
"Trolling refers to deliberate and intentional attempts to disrupt the
usability of Wikipedia for its editors, administrators, developers, and
other
people who work to create content for and help run Wikipedia. Trolling
is
deliberate violation of the implicit rules of Internet social spaces.
It
necessarily involves a value judgment made by one user about the value
of
another's contribution. (Because of this it is considered not to be any
more
useful than the judgment 'I don't agree with you' by many users, who
prefer to
focus on behaviors instead of on presumed intent.) ... The basic
mindset of a
troll is that they are far more interested in how others react to their
edits
than in the usual concerns of Wikipedians: accuracy, veracity,
comprehensiveness, and overall quality.
4IV-F:
Vandalism, as defined on
Wikipedia
"Trolling
is not necessarily the same as vandalism (although vandalism may be
used to
troll). A vandal may just enjoy defacing a webpage, insulting random
users, or
spreading some personal views in an inappropriate way. ... A troll
deliberately
exploits tendencies of human nature or of an online community to upset
people.
... [Trolls may] repeatedly undo the “vandalism” of others. ... Content
disputes are not vandalism. Wikipedia defines vandalism very carefully
to
exclude good-faith contributions. Accusing other editors of vandalism
is
uncivil unless there is genuine vandalism, that is, a deliberate
attempt to
degrade the encyclopaedia, not a simple difference of opinion. There
are
numerous dispute resolution processes and there is no deadline to meet
...
4IV-G: Forms
of inappropriate
Wikipedia editing
"The
nature of trolls is to slip from any definition intended to constrain
their
actions and to find new and innovative ways to be aggravating. What
follows are
some comments that point generally in the direction of what a troll is
and what
trolls do. ... Trolling is a deliberate, bad faith attempt to disrupt
the editing
of Wikipedia. Ignorance is not trolling. Genuine dissent is not
trolling.
Biased editing, even if defended aggressively, is in itself not
trolling. By
themselves, misguided nominations, votes, and proposed policy are not
trolling.
They are only trolling when they are motivated by a program of malice
rather
than ignorance or bias. This requires a judgment of the personal
motivation for
another's action. Such a judgment can never be made with anything
approaching
certainty. This fact should always be kept in mind when one is tempted
to label
someone a troll. ... "
Edit
warring: "The
archetypal example of
trolling is the deliberately inflammatory edit or post — saying
something
controversial specifically to cause a flame war. Inflammatory edits
usually come
from users who have a minority or controversial opinion and who
sincerely
believe that this view is inadequately represented by Wikipedia;
trolls,
however, will generally not seek consensus but will instead insist on a
position without any regard for compromise. ... Not all edit war
trolls
will choose subject matter that is obviously controversial. The
defining
characteristic of a troll in this case is not the content of the edit,
but the
behavior in discussing the edit, and the refusal to consider evidence
and
citations or to accept consensus or compromise."
Misuse of process: "Deliberate misuse of processes is a
favourite
troll game. Examples include ...giving repeated vandalism warnings to
innocent
users. When we say that something is 'obvious' or 'baseless', we mean
that
anyone acting in good faith would agree with that characteristic. ...
Characterizing someone as a troll who simply disagrees with you can
cause
disputes which can be very damaging both to Wikipedia and to your own
credibility."
Pestering: "Such
people are best avoided, as they can become VERY
offensive if confronted! ...In extreme cases, this can be a method of
trolling,
and it is not inappropriate to ask someone to leave you alone once you
have
made a reasonable attempt to answer their questions."
Deleting,
with the complaint that they did not discuss their edits first: "There is
no rule on Wikipedia that someone has to get
permission from you before they put cited information in an article.
Such a
rule would clearly contradict WP:BOLD. There is guidance from ArbCom
that
removal of statements that are pertinent, sourced reliably, and written
in a
neutral style constitutes disruption."
Creative
trolling: "The nature
of trolling is to
be disruptive, and one of the most disruptive things that can be done
is to
find new ways to cause trouble that are not quite against the rules. No
matter
how great your definition of trolling may be, a dedicated troll will
find
something you have not thought of yet. ... This, then, is something of
a
catch-all category — if a user is being continually disruptive, and no
amount
of politeness, consensus, mediation, or anything else is reining them
in, they
are trolling. When a user, in a conflict of any sort, insists on the
letter of
a rule while grossly violating its spirit, this is often a sign of
trolling."
V.
Pseudonyms and identities
4V-A: A
Coincidence of Names?
As
disclosed by search engine, an "Anthony Michael Ippolito" ("Tony
Ippolito") was a frequent newsgroup contributor in the early 2000's.
His
angry, reactive, and abusive style is similar to that of The Subject
illustrated in this monograph. The following also indicates a common
point of
biography (my emphasis added):
pmNewsgroups:
alt.building.construction
From:
structural_integr...@my-deja.com
Date:
Tue, 12 Dec 2000 01:53:41 GMT
Local:
Mon, Dec 11 2000 6:53 pm
Subject:
Re: Regarding Lyle B. Harwood
"Anthony
M. Ippolito" <amippol...@viperlink.net> wrote:> "This
person Harwood, aka Jammersix, is an ass. this is what he sends to
me. I am disabled! "
On
one such newsgroup there was a mention of "Tom Ippolito, Usenet
System Administrator, AT&T Services Inc." Another comment on "Tom
Ippolito" as newsgroup administrator :
Dec
13 2000, 3:21 pmNewsgroups: alt.building.construction
From:
"Lyle B. Harwood" <l...@invalid.phoenixhomesinc.com>
Date:
13 Dec 2000 22:21:22 GMT
...Haven't
seen a charter here.Tom Ippolito, whoever that is, just
posted the same piece he claimed was the charter here in
another
group. Since charters only apply to one group, at least one of these
post is in
error, and in the worst case, a lie.
[My
emphasis added. The followup:]
For
your info: Tom Ippolito was on 08/09/99 the newsgroups system
administrator for
prodigy communication corp, when he questioned a post of mine and then
I asked
for the Charter and he sent it to me. RHall
Anthony
M. Ippolito was a frequent poster to this group.
A
search shows a "Michael A. Ippolito" living in Waterford, New York,
putative home of "Tom Ippolito." The given age range is the same as
that indicated by "Tom Ippolito" (in private correspondence to me).
Internet search results refer to a "Thomas R. Ippolito", resident of
Waterford, and indicate a birthdate. I have not verified the dates of
residence. The two Ippolitos have different birthdates/years.
An
"Anthony M. Ippolito" is shown as having had, at some time, a
residence in Orchard Park, New York. One of the telephone numbers
provided also
indicates another person at the same address with the last name
"Ippolito". Initials are given which are not the same.
4V-B: List of
Monikers
I
have identified the following as acknowledged or probable internet
monikers
used by The Subject. Many list "fwdixon" or "fwdi" in the
return e-address. As always with respect to this monograph, these
appended
assertions are disputable. Warning:
inquirers should
have virus-protect on. I do not endorse the website purporting
to talk
about "Tom Shelly" and his background; it may be posted by The
Subject himself to collect data on inquirers.
THE
BOBSTER
BOBBO
VOLTRONICUS
(note: Google Groups profile gives
email addres as "fwdi...@hotmail.com")
MUTANT
BASHER
ÉVILDOER
TRÆPPER
LEFT-WÏNGER
TÉRMINATÓR
ADDICTDESTRUCTOR
PATRIOT
PATRIOT
GAMES
fwdixonspamkiller@yahoo.com (self-confirmed)
BOB F.
(note: identity confirmed by his posting
on rec.collecting.coins, July 13, 2009)
RWF
(frequently confirmed)
TOM
SHELLY [TOM FALATER]
JAMESRISKE
TOMDAVIS61
VIPERSPIT
FALSTAFF
DEATH
FROM ABOVE
CASEY73
MISS
ANN THROPE
HARDYBOYS10
(note:
The Subject presents himself as an 11-year old girl who has
"written and directed 3 plays"; at
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/hardyboys10/)
VI.
Further evidence by The Subject after monograph completion
4VI-A:
Wikipedia activity confirmed: The author
of
this monograph posted the following to a thread on Rec.Collecting.Coins
July
12, 2009.
>>
For a longstanding tribute to Bob F., RWF, FWDixon et al:
>>
http://www.tomswiftlives.com/who_is_the_mysterious_other
The
response:
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coinsFrom: "Bob
F." <ad...@invalid.invalid>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:19:02 -0400
Local: Mon, Jul 13 2009 1:19 pm
Subject:
Re: Can I get a lil ethics here?
The
"author" of that page is a little scumbag named Scott
Dickerson.
He's obsessed with me since I got links to his site taken off Wikipedia.
This indicates that one part of the analysis of the above evidence, supporting the main thesis of this monograph, is correct and confirmed: Despite his contemporaneous denial, the Subject was indeed behind the Wikipedia controversy, which involved postings by various pseudonyms not acknowledging that they were in fact the same person, The Subject. "FWDixon" expressly stated that he did not edit under other names.
4VI-B:
instance of parallel terminology:
Posted
to rec.collecting.books, December 29th 06, 06:24 PM:
Oh
and...
Web
Results 1 - 10 of about 99,000 for bud webster drama queen.
Emphasis
added. See use at VI-B4; circa 4-25-05.
4VI-C: a Long
Island location for the
Ippolitos?
Permalink
Reply by Kim Ippolito on December 11, 2009 at 4:59pm
Hi
Wayne,
Is
there any room left for 2 people, coming from out east long
island on the bus? Thanks, Kim
"Tom
Ippolito" has stated that his wife's name is Kim. Search engines
indicate
that this name is very uncommon.
A
Long Island connection for the Ippolitos may tie in to the email
posting
location of "Finnan". This "Kim Ippolito" states her
affiliation with a conservative group called Resist Net. On a
different
site, a "Kim Ippolito" seeks a discussion group for those interested
in Newt Gingrich. These interests comport well with the expressed views
of The
Subject.
A
"Kim Ippolito" now gives her place of residence as Yaphank, New York.
However, a Kimberlynne Ippolito is listed at the same address and phone
number
as Thomas Ippolito, in Waterford.
4VI-D: "MookiesDad"
identity confirmed.
Note
of thanks on the opening page of BobFinnan.com (3-24-2016):
A
special nod to my wonderful pets past & present: Spunky, Gus,
Casey, Zeb,
Kitty, Manny, Mookie, Wiggles, Lucky & Booboo
Note
"MookiesDad" Wikipedia editor and statement denying editing under
other names.
4VI-E:
"Jennifer".
A
"Jennifer" has been listed at the same address as Thomas Ippolito and
is apparently his daughter. She may have written the "Jennifer"
email, above.
4VI-F:
"Thomas G. Ippolito".
A
"Thomas G. Ippolito" is sometimes listed as a resident at the given
address.
4VI-G: Reiterating
a specific parallelism.
By
"Finnan":
...Whenever he
doesn't get his way on this he resorts to whimpering, self-pitying
protestations of unfairness, censorship and foul play and seeks to
elicit
sympathy from others. (BY doc simpson, ...Pak434: The fact that
Doxmyth
"resorts to whimpering, self-pitying protestations of unfairness,
censorship
and foul play and seeks to elicit sympathy from others" whenever he
isn't
allowed to promote his fan fiction site in various forums is relevant
in that
this is exactly what is now happening here.... Doxmyth crying about
incivility
when his victim gets fed up with his harassment and cyber stalking and
becomes
angry is pathetic. He has done this before with others under
various
identities, and over the same topic, and is at it again. [emphasis added--SD]
By
"Ippolito": ...Scott is
a
whimpering, immature, highly manipulative and disingenuous drama
queen.
4VI-H: In II-F above, character MookiesDad makes specific reference to Doxmyth being thrown off Ippolito's group. The comment appeared on 9-9-06. The incident of reference occured in 4-05. The matter was not publically discussed. It appears Ippolito never discussed in a public forum his reasons for excluding group members, including several of the more prominent ones. This suggests knowledge by Finnan of a private action by Ippolito.
4VI-I: Image at left: ostensibly "Bob Finnan" at a convention, early 2000's; at right, recent image of "Eric S. Raymond."
As of this date, January 14, 2022, the author has seen no denial or response to the stated thesis.
Per Google as of July 17, 2022, no address is shown for a "Robert W. Finnan" or "Bob Finnan" on Long Island.