Someone out there "loves" me

[Bill Thompson]

If I ever get gunned down in the street in a John Hinkley / Cannot-Be-Two-John-Lennons style, don't be supprised.

I got an email just now thanking me for signing up for the bad astronomy web forum. The only problem is that I didn't do anything to make them think that I had. Someone simply used my email address.

Luckily it was someone who did not know I could go to the bad astronomy forum and simply tell them to email me a new password.

I do not know what the fake "BT_Washington" has posted, but here is my real post:

www.bautforum.com/about-baut/65045-bt_washington.html#post1074812

[BertL]

Apart from your post saying "This account is not mine", BT_Washington made only one other post. There is little a web forum can do to prevent users from signing up using any e-mail address. Most web forums use a "Confirmation e-mail" sent to the address, in which you have to click a link to confirm the username is really linked to your e-mail address. I don't know if the BAUT Forum uses this; many days have passed since I myself registered.

[Nowhere Man]

BT_Washington has been banned by the BA. Bill, if you want to join BAUT, go ahead. BAUT does not go trolling for members. Somebody outside signed you up, probably for yuks.

Fred

[Bill Thompson]

nowhereman said:

BT_Washington has been banned by the BA. Bill, if you want to join BAUT, go ahead. BAUT does not go trolling for members. Somebody outside signed you up, probably for yuks.

Fred

I would like to know who and why. I can only guess on the two.

For starters, did you?

[Nowhere Man]

billthompson said:

For starters, did you?

Did I what?

Did I sign up at the BAUT forum as BT_Washington using your e-mail address? Jesus H. Christ on a Styrofoam crutch, no. Don't be so paranoid. I have far better things to do with my time than play with the mind of a fellow follower of the Apollohoax board, whom I barely know. Like play with the minds of my co-workers .

I made my previous post as a courtesy to you, as you seemed so put out by the situation. The BAUT forum is one of the best-run chat places I've seen (although I admit I have not seen many).

Fred

[Ginnie]

For the record, neither did I, Bill.
That's two eliminated.

[Bill Thompson]

OK, Fred,

I am going to see what happens. It would be way easy for them to just look up the IP Address of whomever first signed up and compare it with existing members.

Let's see what happens.

The BAUT forum is one of the best-run chat places I've seen.

There is a down-side to fame. The bigger you get the more crazies you have to deal with.

I would like to get an email from them saying they know who did it, or an apology or something.

As far as being paranoid. You have to admit, this is pretty freaky and can you blame me?

It would be a disservice to just blow off this guy. And I mean a disservice to the perpetrator especially.

Also, as far as being a great website, it would be very easy for them to make sure noone abuses their service as someone here has.


If it was a joke, let me say this. Comedians pretend to be other people they want to make fun of all the time. Assuming their identity and expecting people will really think they are these people is going too far.

[Bill Thompson]

bertls said:

Apart from your post saying "This account is not mine", BT_Washington made only one other post. There is little a web forum can do to prevent users from signing up using any e-mail address.

This is untrue. They can have a confirmation sent to the person's email. In fact, most forums do this.

BAUT should close this loop-hole.

[PhantomWolf]

nowhereman said:

Bill, if you want to join BAUT, go ahead.

Actually he can't, he's already been banned from there at least twice before

[Bill Thompson]

phantomwolf said:

nowhereman said:

Bill, if you want to join BAUT, go ahead.

Actually he can't, he's already been banned from there at least twice before

And since you brought that up (I didn't) why was that? Are you a mod there?

You brought this up. So let's discuss this.

And by the way, my being banned is not why I would not want to join this forum.

I would like you to explain why I was banned. They did not bother to tell me why when they did.

I noticed from your website you are a fan of fantasy, phantomwolf. There seems to be a lot of simular people on the forum you are defending.

UFO and aliens are hot topics on BAUT. People are suddenly banned for critical thinking on GodLikeProductions too.


I was not going to take this conversation in this direction, but since you have, I am pushed to defend myself. Care to elaborate on why I was banned, phantomwolf. You must know what you are talking about, right? Otherwise, I doubt you would bring it up.

You might want to also explain how lots of people get banned and after some time they are allowed to return. You even suggest this by your comment "hey has been banned at least twice".

[Bill Thompson]

nowhereman said:

BT_Washington has been banned by the BA. Bill, if you want to join BAUT, go ahead. BAUT does not go trolling for members. ...

They just go trolling for ex-members. At least their members do.

[Nowhere Man]

First, let me apologize for suggesting that you join BAUT. I did not remember that you had been banned there. If I had, I would not have made the suggestion.

I would like to get an email from them saying they know who did it, or an apology or something.

Well, there's no harm in sending them an e-mail and asking if they have anything to tell you about it. Any apology you get would probably be along the lines of, "We're sorry this happened, but we can't control the actions of everyone who is on the web."

As far as being paranoid. You have to admit, this is pretty freaky and can you blame me?

Annoying, yes. But consider: "Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." Have there been other incidents of "you" (i.e., someone using your name & e-mail) signing up for web forums when you personally did not? (Note that I am not saying that this was an accident. Some person definitely did create the BT_Washington ID, probably for laughs. If it keeps happening, then a case for harassment might be made.)

Also, as far as being a great website, it would be very easy for them to make sure no one abuses their service as someone here has.

How, pray tell? The BAUT forum is a public message board, and like all such has very little capability in the way of verifying that you are who you say you are. It's not their job to police the Internet. They have enough to do with their own site -- the "Welcome" e-mail you got is almost the best that can be done. Better would be the confirmation message you describe. I don't know if the BB software supports this. When you write to them about for info about this BT_Washington poster, you can suggest it.

"As someone here has" implies that a ApolloHoax member did it. Or did you mean, "as someone has in this case"?

And since you (meaning phantom wolf) brought that up (I didn't) why was that? Are you a mod there?

If phantom wolf will forgive me for answering for him...

PW is not a BAUT mod, but I expect he did a bit of looking around, and he might have a better memory of the incident than I do. Also he was pointing out to me that you'd been banned, and that I was mistaken in my suggestion.

I would like [PW] to explain why I was banned. They did not bother to tell me why when they did.

Here is what I found: Message from the BA. Specific reasons given: Insults and sock puppetry. I don't know how one can identify sock puppets. Both were and are banning offenses. This happened on the old BABB, when the BA was doing the moderation by himself IIRC.

UFO and aliens are hot topics on BAUT. People are suddenly banned for critical thinking on GodLikeProductions too.

I don't go to GLP, but the impression I get of it is that being rational is a banning offense there. At BAUT, merely having opinions contrary to mainstream science is not a banning offense. Posting those opinions and not answering questions about them ("I don't know" is an acceptable answer), rudeness, post editing, politics & religion, etc., are all frowned upon at BAUT and can lead to being banned.

The BAUT mods are pretty civil about it now, with warnings and temporary bannings. Things were a little stricter in earlier times. BAUT has a whole list of rules for posting there. Most of them boil down to "Don't do stupid things" and "Play nice."

[PW] might want to also explain how lots of people get banned and after some time they are allowed to return. [PW] even suggest this by [PW's] comment "hey has been banned at least twice".

When the BABB merged with the UT forum, everyone who had been banned (from BABB, at least) was unbanned by the move. Rather than dig through the member list and re-ban them, it was decided to leave the Great Amnesty in place. Since then, some of the banned came back and repeated the behavior that got them banned, with similar results. Your old Bill Thmpson ID is not banned.

Anyone can create any number of IDs on a BB site. Some sites don't care about this, others do. BAUT specifically states (rule 11), "Users are allowed only one account per person." Having multiple accounts (sock puppetry) is a banning offense, as is creating a new account after you have been banned.

The second instance to which PW refers is probably this. Again, I do not know how it was decided that the Saint Louis Engineer ID was created by you. And if you include the Debbie Fox/Fire Fire/Fox IDs, that makes 4. It might not have been you.

They just go trolling for ex-members. At least their members do.

There is no evidence that it was a member of either board that created the ID. Certainly, it was someone who has some familiarity with you and BAUT. I can't see that it is a general policy for BAUT or most of the members to do so.

Fred

[PhantomWolf]

billthompson said:

phantomwolf said:

Actually he can't, he's already been banned from there at least twice before

And since you brought that up (I didn't) why was that? Are you a mod there?

No I'm not, I'm a member there

You brought this up. So let's discuss this.

I responded to a poster here saying you could join up, this is incorrect as since you have previously been banned, you are not able to do so again, it would be against the rules of the BAUT.

And by the way, my being banned is not why I would not want to join this forum.

What happens on rthe BAUT is nothing to do with what happens here. LO runs the ship is a quite different manner to BA.

I would like you to explain why I was banned. They did not bother to tell me why when they did.

Warned and suspended

Banned

Sock Puppets

These banning were a matter of public record, and since in your PM to me you correctly stated the reason for your banning, I can only only assume that you were not being entirely truthful when you claimed that you weren't told the reason.

I noticed from your website you are a fan of fantasy, phantomwolf.

And my enjoyment of the fantasy genre has what to do with what? Or are you merely attempting a some what poor Ad Hominem?

There seems to be a lot of simular people on the forum you are defending.

More ad homenim and poisoning the well. I'd also point out that a lot of the people on this forum are on that forum so I'd take care with such things least you find yourself on the wrong side of attacking people that are also forum members here.

UFO and aliens are hot topics on BAUT. People are suddenly banned for critical thinking on GodLikeProductions too.

Debunking UFO's may be, and there is very little in the way of threads dealing with Aliens other then conjecture.

I was not going to take this conversation in this direction, but since you have, I am pushed to defend myself. Care to elaborate on why I was banned, phantomwolf. You must know what you are talking about, right? Otherwise, I doubt you would bring it up.

Well since you correctly stated the reason in your PM which was timed at less than an hour after this post, I can only assume that you already knew the reason for it. I'll also point out once more that your banning was a matter of public record.

You might want to also explain how lots of people get banned and after some time they are allowed to return.

This is not correct. Only in the case of a suspension is a banned poster able to return. Posters banned permanently are banned permanently.

10. Sock Puppetry

Users are allowed only one account per person. Don't attempt to register a second or third forum username so you can have different personalities and have conversations with yourself. Sock puppets will not be tolerated. All such accounts (including the primary one) will be banned without warning.
....

15. Repeat/Chronic Offenders

Be warned: If you are banned and try to get back in by spoofing or changing your email, appropriate action will be taken -- not limited to but including contacting your ISP.

You even suggest this by your comment "hey has been banned at least twice".

No, I pointed out that you had been repeatedly banned, this is also true, you have previously had 4 usernames banned, the last 3 for sock puppetry. With Rule 15 in place attempting to do so futher could have resulted in your ISP being informed, so such was a warning to stay clear of the place to avoid it occuring.

[PhantomWolf]

The second instance to which PW refers is probably this. Again, I do not know how it was decided that the Saint Louis Engineer ID was created by you. And if you include the Debbie Fox/Fire Fire/Fox IDs, that makes 4. It might not have been you.

I had a feeling there were more, but didn't see them on my quick look through. With the original 4 bans, plus these four, that is 8 accounts he's had banned, though only 5 under the BAUT.

William_Thompson
Wîlliam_Thompson
Wîllîam_Thompson
nospmohT_mailliW
Saint Louis Engineer

[Bill Thompson]

Read your PM.

Lunar Orbit has expressed that I do not drag this out. But, you are bringing this up. I will post my response publically with his permission. But I responded to you privately.