matt's debates
because matt's debating is not a crime
Archive for April, 2005
St. George’s Day
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call’d fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’
(thanks Ian.)
Speed Cameras
I finally got round to finding out more about the new range of speed cameras on the road, which look a bit like this:
So if you see one, here are the facts:
* Speed measurement is carried out using two independent pairs of sub-surface piezo sensors.
* Piezo-electric axle sensors allow speed measurement in tunnels, underpasses, close to bends and on bridges. No spurious speed readings possible.
* Piezo sensors are visible in the photograph thus showing where the photo was taken.
They are forward facing and have NO flash, so you don’t know if you’ve been had.
# Check lines are painted on the road 1.8metres after the last sensor.
# The tyre footprint will always fall within the 3 lines, giving a simple visual check for the VDU operator.
# Where 2 vehicles appear side by side the offending vehicle is the one whose tyres fall within the lines.
They still use film so you’ll not always get done – but because there is no flash, there’s little way of knowing if they’re live or not. The only good news about these new cameras? Since they’re mainly used forward facing, they’re entirely useless for motorcycles!
Sponsorship
My beautiful girlfriend is doing the Race For Life this year. So be a sport and lash her a few quid… it’s all in a good cause!
Sky News : Eight-Year-Old Delivers Baby Brother
Sky News : Eight-Year-Old Delivers Baby Brother
Officials said Melissa Farrelly, 34, of Heybridge, Essex, had been unaware that she was pregnant when her daughter Hope rang for help on April 4.
Huh? What? Exqweeze me? How can you be unaware that you’re pregnant?
Newsflash
The Old Bush Library has experienced a fire.
All three books were destroyed, and a White House spokesman said on George W. Bush’s behalf that he was deeply saddened because he hadn’t finished colouring in the 2nd one…
Richard D Weber is a plagiarising shitbag
Recently I reported that I’d had my work stolen. At the time I was unwilling to reveal full details to protect my own back. Now I’m not so fussed. Here’s the update:
After discovering the plagiarism of my work, I contacted the website that published the offending PDF. They promptly removed the work from their website and attempted to contact the author. I also emailed the author repeatedly.
We have had no reply whatsoever.
This sack of shit knows he’s done wrong and is choosing to ignore it by running and hiding. So here I am exposing the man for all he’s worth. He’s supposed to be an author, writing creative and imaginative work, yet he chose to plagiarise my website and make money in the process
The Proof
Download a copy for yourself of what he made available for sale and claimed as his own (putting his own copyright notice on!) and compare it with the text you can find here and here which are my original guides to the Da Vinci Code online challenges, which have been online on my website for nearly 2 years.
I also have a Paypal record of him purchasing my own PDF ebook on the Da Vinci Code challenges:
If you read his PDF and my website, you will see that in most places he has simply cut and pasted word for word (using many of my colloquialisms and vernacular specific to my dialect) in his. Yes, he has added some of his own imagery to it, but this does not justify what he has done.
So who is this joke?
Richard D Weber.
It’s not difficult to turn up information on this guy. He sounds like a real saddo too. Here’s what he says about himself in one of his author bio’s:
RICHARD D. WEBER was formerly a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Special Agent in Charge of Dignitary Protection with the U.S. Department of State?s (DSS) Diplomatic Security Service. He protected the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles, the Secretary of State, The Prime Minister of Israel, and Saudi Arabia?s and Jordan?s ambassadors to name but a few. He has traveled extensively and roamed the hallowed halls of Foggy Bottom, various embassies, and the Pentagon. His last position was Deputy Assistant Regional Director with the U.S. Department of Justice. During his tenure with the DSS, he was chief editor of the Foreign Service Newsletter. He?s a graduate of University of Wisconsin and a member of HWA and MWA. Richard currently resides in the Dallas, Texas Metro Plex area where he has just completed his new novel “Boyhood?s End,” and is putting the finishing touches on his euro-thriller screenplay/novel “The Sampson Project.” His current novel ?Protocol-17: A Conspiracy Thriller? is a Bram Stoker Award recommended work and has enjoyed top-seller ranking. He has interviewed such notables as Doug Clegg and Tom Piccirilli for publication. His latest works will appear in THE BLACK SPIRAL(edited by Mr. Weber)along with Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon, Tina L. Jens, Mort Castle, Sephera Giron, Nancy Kilpatrick, Robert Weinberg and others. His feature stories will appear in BLACKOCTOBER MAGAZINE and Cthulhu Issue 17 Vol.II.
Just look at the guy’s website: http://www.darkprotocols.com/. Nice animated gifs. His email address is: 200057@msn.com, which he selectively ignores.
He is pushing his latest book “Protocol-17″ as a rival to the Da Vinci Code. Whether it is or it isn’t remains to be seen, but who’s to say he actually wrote it himself? Why should this man think he’s able to plagiarise my work and get away with it? How can he hope to develop a reputation as an author when he steals other people’s work?
I’m relying on the blogosphere to get the message out there and expose this guy. If you’ve ever read any of his books, or bought anything of his, or even, dare I say it, heard of the guy, then please get in contact with me. If not, just trackmeback on your blog and let the web do the rest.
I’ve opened up comments for this post, or if you want to contact me about it, please use the contact form. Thanks.
Update: 19/04/2005
A P.I. friend of mine found out some very interesting info about this guy. I won’t say anything here about it, but it turns out that this guy is indeed a complete loser, probably a scam artist (he has multiple identities), and has had multiple lawsuits filed against him, usually for non-payment of taxes. What a tool.