WARNING- please read:
Please see these admin pages, as they can verify I was impersonated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Marine_69-71
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:V._Molotov
I have reported the appearance of an imposter Iago Dali to them and on a help page. As far as I know there is only one. There may be more. I believe because some of my edits have ruffled feathers that one or more persons who disliked them have attempted to besmirch my name. Thus, I will have to waste a few weeks looking to check up on many old edits. If you have a complaint against something be warned I am in not the best of moods. I am tired of accusations that are baseless! I see this as just a ploy by some who have their own agendas to push on certain pages to keep me from applying some serious editing to them.
I am simply trying to improve articles. I have trimmed what I feel is POV writing, flowery melodrama, and many other non-factual things. I am not the puppet of any specific group pushing an agenda. I am not the puppet of this or that admin. I do not know any of you Wikipedians on a personal basis, and given the lengths some of you (or one) have gone to try and frame me for bad edits, I am glad for that fact. I am a single editor, whose goal is to improve articles. Please do not slander me, impersonate me, or lump me in with some group--be it Right Wing or Left Wing, this or that. We may disgree, and obviously I can be easily outnumbered, but if you ask for respect it should be returned. I will reciprocate. But I will also not be bowed by such threats, accusations, or criminal impersonation. So, if you leave a comment, be mindful of the above. Thank you. Iago Dali 20:04, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
UPDATE
This link contains the most information, to the best of my knowledge as to who and why I and other editors have been targeted by both smears and impostures. This is childish, sickening, and violates almost all of Wikiquette! Iago Dali 13:16, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
Report of Spamming, Harassment, and Fuck You viruses
Also posted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Marine_69-71#Report_of_Spamming.2C_Harassment.2C_and_Fuck_You_viruses
Tony,
I just got my pc back today after it spent several days in the repair shop due to some viruses and bots that attacked it when I last tried to log in to Wiki on Friday, not to mention having my email spammed by hundreds of emails to clog that up as well, all in reference to harassing me for my work on Wikipedia. I find this disgraceful. I spent several hundred dollars in repairs, all because certain editors are out to get me, for whatever reasons. This is disgraceful and disgusting, and worst off it is silently tolerated by you, other admins, and Wikipedia. After I did my Shakespeare edit, several editors emailed me to congratulate me on having the guts to do so, as well stating they hoped I followed through and trimmed that unprofessional entry on novels. However, they warned me that editing such a high profile entry as Shakespeare would make me a target of small-minded, petty, and deceitful editors with agendas because they had experienced the same thing—harassment, threats, reversions of good work, deceit, and lies told about them. Despite all the bravado and claims to the contrary Wikipedia is a far too conservative (informationally, not politically) institution, and editors that want to actually improve it to a professional level beyond being merely another lowest common denominator Internet thing like all the porno sites and spam and Nigerian ripoff scams are doomed. There is actually a good portion of editors that like the poor quality and undermine excellence at every turn.
In the last two weeks I have been wrongly banned, I have been the victim of an impersonation (at least one—maybe more), I have had my work undone, redone, plagiarized, reverted, I have been harassed, spammed, sent viruses and bots that screwed up my pc, and prevented log in to Wiki, and now I even see that there are further claims against my name. All of this is rubbish, and the work of spiteful editors who would rather harass those who seek change than actually effectuate it.
Last Friday I believe it had to be that Viriditas guy, who else?, who planted bots or spyware on my user home page, so that when I went to log in, where you usually see that yellow 'You have messages' stripe I got a message that said FUCK YOU. I did not click on it, but my log in failed. Then I froze up, and my paltry systems for firewalls and the like was screwed. All weekend I was helpless, so on Monday I brought my pc in to the shop, and today they told me that I had bots and spyware and viruses galore, all from that login attempt. I have since gotten better protection systems. Nonetheless, this F.U. executable file was deliberately planted so that it would infect my pc at login. Despite whatever edit wars may occur, or whatever arguments or claims people have against each other, this sort of act is wholly beyond the bounds. It is unconscionable. The bots would not let me log in, nor even move beyond the Wiki home page. Along with this virus or bot that got my computer I had hundreds of spam emails with attachments I did not open, but deleted immediately. Again, they said simply F.U.
Now, I see that Viriditas had amazingly ‘found’ some old conversation where Red Darwin and I have chatted, and tries to use this as ‘proof’, although I find it amazing that he finds this the same day that viruses appear in my account, just as it amazingly happens that the same day, last week, that I uncovered his initial plotting I mysteriously was impersonated by a fake Iago Dali. As he himself says, Occam’s Razor clearly points to him as the person behind the impersonations, the viruses, and I suspect the phony records of some attempts by Red Darwin to log in as ‘me’. After my pc was attacked I called several people I knew, some who had been Wikipedians but gave up after similar harassment, as well as a friend of my son’s who works with computer programming. They all agreed that the faking of records is something that has occurred before, along with impersonations, and they are standard tools of harassment. Imagine, two times in less than a week- what a coincidence, eh? My son’s friend also told me that of computer languages, like XML or HTML, and the like, Wiki language is by far the easiest to manipulate, fake, or delete. I was told both by him and the technician at the shop that any low level computer programmer can easily manipulate HTML and other languages, such as those on blogs, and Wiki language is child’s play. Again, isn’t it amazing? It would not shock me if Red Darwin and Viriditas were working together or that they were the same person, in some elaborate plot to discredit me. After going to the lengths of sending viruses, nothing would surprise me now!
What I suspect is that I, the real Iago Dali, was the real target of the impersonations. Note that all the users had Ls in their names: Cool Cat, Alabamaboy, Iago Dali, etc. But, the user Red Darwin didn’t. The other users were targeted by Viriditas merely to make it seem random, but I discovered the impersonator too quickly, before real damage could be done, and also uncovered Viriditas’s plot. So, without being able to make a fake Darwin account to set him up (assuming he and Viriditas are separate entities and not working against me) he did the next best thing, and tried to alter evidence that made Darwin look like me trying to be me! Also, note, that Darwin is targeted and accused of being or working with me, and then this ‘evidence’ turns up—and who knows what more with a week’s head start and me out of commission, and before that the Shakespeare bunch accused me and Alabamaboy of collusion, and look who was targeted- me and him! One does not have to be a genius to see the implications of who was behind it all.
Whether the impersonations and viruses were all the work of Viriditas, or just separate cabals is really irrelevant, though, for the point is he is one of dozens if not hundreds of editors with the agenda and skill to thwart real positive change in the project. As I stated, active, positive change is thwarted by underhanded, dirty tactics, even though the Wiki guidelines encourage editors to BE BOLD! What BS! Furthermore, as I showed last week, most editors do not even understand basic copyright law or infringement, and probably many other “guidelines” are similarly not understood, and used as tools or weapons of intimidation. I’m sure these other misconstruals also lead to ignorance and the dumbing down of entries. Aside from just poor grammar, there is the constant insertion of unproven facts, blatant wrong facts in science, history, and the like, conspiracy theories (big shock they are popular at Wiki, right?), pet projects, actual and blatant copyright and trademark violations with the appearance of movie posters and CD covers, as well as blatant violation of Wiki’s own NPOV policies—and coming from admins as well as editors. And what’s worse is the utter cowardice of most editors, not only in not standing up to and tolerating harassers like Viriditas, but even worse in not fixing entries they know are bad. I had several editors from the Shakespeare entry email me privately congratulating me on trimming it, that they wish they had the guts to do so, and urging me on, even as they warned me of the lies and harassment to come. Bad things happen when good people (or editors) do nothing. As far as I'm concerned, Wikipedia is filled with a bunch of idiots and phonies and cowards and children and hypocrites, but I have not the time, nor money to waste continuing this, especially if that Viriditas ass really sends something even nastier next time. The timing of all this was just far too coincidental- the fake Dali, the spamming, the FU viruses or bots, the altered Wiki texts to tie me and Darwin. But, these viruses were the final proof that Wiki's no better than Right Wing hate blogs. I’ve tried my best, but I’m just one editor against many who have agendas and far greater pc skills to harass me into silence. Unfortunately, some friends of mine- also ex-Wikipedians, warned me of this. Too bad they were right. The few messages in the last week since I was last able to log in is only further proof that people do not want to improve.
If you really care about Wikipedia, and not for my sake, but its, I would look into people like Viriditas, and other users whose sole purpose seems to be to intimidate others for hidden agandas. Despite our initial differences you seem to care. Many other admins never reply, but the use of viruses, bots, altering information, and impersonating people has got to end. Why was it people warned me I would be targeted after the Shakespeare edits? Because they knew this crap existed long before my first edit, and long after my last. It is sad, and indicates Wikipedia will have a long road to travel before it can be taken seriously intellectually. I hope you look into these things so that future editors will not be harassed, nor have their pcs attacked , as mine, and these folk who warned me have. Good luck and goodbye. PS- I even noticed I could not sign my name with 4 tildes as on any page save my own I am not registered- is this more work by Viriditas or others? What nonsense.