Pretty sure that contacting the owner of this user box would be a TOP priority for some kids. Mostly roving groups of bored, thrill seekers. But also some troubled kids. Regards, Sydney aka FloNight MacGyverMagic/Mgm wrote:

I know alot of kids would like to contact him with a boot, or other blunt object. Something tells me that if he made his name, address and other contact info available, it isn't sexy circumstances he'd be procuring. Sam Spade On 2/7/06, Jay Converse <supermo0(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On 2/7/06, Sam Spade <samspade.thomasjefferson(a)googlemail.com> wrote: By quite a number of people includeing Jimbo. -- geni

Intentionally or not, it looks like this kid started a very, very ugly debate with some poor judgment. A week's block isn't the end of the world... Steve On 2/7/06, Sam Fentress (Asbestos) <asbestos999(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I've been blocked twice, both controversially, both unblocked ahead of time (one of which resulting in a wheel-war-esque re-block by the blocking admin). They both made me re-evaluate why I take part in a project with such a disgusting imbalance of power. I guess I like encyclopedia's enough not to let a little thing like self-respect get in the way of my volunteership... for now. Sam Spade

Not my theory! I'm here because '''I''' love encyclopedias. Reading them, writing them, and sharing them with others. With ordinary users bullied alternately by raving lunatics and any one of nearly 1,000 wheel waring perma-blocking popularity contest winners (admins), the Wikipedia reminds me of being in the Wild West without a gun. The power imbalance on the wikipedia is poisonous. Frankly it reminds me of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment I'd prefer a library where I respectfully interact with others who enjoy books of reference. Sam Spade On 2/9/06, Steve Bennett <stevage(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Feb 8, 2006, at 3:31 PM, Sam Spade wrote: Not my experience. Either as a janitor, or a logged in user, or a non-logged in user. I have edited the 'pedia for a number of years, and have not had such problems. I don't disbelieve you, but it needs to be stressed, again, that your experience is not common, AFAIK. And, just as a courtesy, if you are going to describe me (one of the "nearly 1,000") as a "wheel waring perma-blocking popularity contest winner", please provide some evidence... (in my personal case, not in general.) Thanks. Jesse Weinstein

On 2/8/06, Steve Bennett <stevage(a)gmail.com> wrote: You have not been blocked. I suggest you don't make statements about what it feels like. Wikipedia has not been labled a "haven for pedophiles" by anyone. -- geni

Sam Fentress (Asbestos) wrote: I know I'm a little late in responding to this, but I don't want this to turn into a widely accepted urban legend. Of course I did not, and would not, block anyone just for voting "Keep" on a TFD. Please. Joeyramoney put a userbox on his page saying "This user is a pedophile". He was blocked for it, then unblocked, and well, you can go read the whole sordid tale, but a wheel war ensued which ended only when I, in careful consultation with as many members of the arbcom as I could find that sad evening, attempted to restore "status quo" to some reasonable state and temporarily desysopped several admins. In the case of Joeyramoney his block was for trolling, in particular for trolling by putting a "This user is a pedophile" userbox on his page. I unblocked him myself a couple of days later when it was determined that he was more or less just a 16 year old kid with about a week of experience at Wikipedia who likely had no idea that he was stumbling into the middle of the Great Userbox War of 2006. A 24 hour block would have been perfectly appropriate, though. As to my actions in putting a very very very firm foot down that night, I would do it again if necessary. Not everything went perfectly that night, and for that I am sorry. But let us absolutely not let this go down in history as "Jimbo blocked someone for voting on a TFD". --Jimbo -- ####################################################################### # Office: 1-727-231-0101 | Free Culture and Free Knowledge # # http://www.wikipedia.org | Building a free world # #######################################################################