PhD supervisor, 0; Me, 1

I have had the most unproductive two weeks of my life. Faced with a fairly simple problem, I’ve fairly well sat here like a total muppet, staring at a screen, achieving nothing. It wasn’t even particularly complicated. Take some code that I wrote about a year ago, that didn’t work, and fix it, so it did work. Simple enough – the code was all there, it was all running, it just wasn’t doing what it should have been. All I had to do was work through the various functions and bits of theory in there and figure out what was wrong. And there’s not even that much code, maybe 1000 lines, split up across 5 or 6 functions.

After a week, I was still staring at results that weren’t right. Little tweaks here and there had optimised my last year’s quite immature approach to C++, and so I was seeing speed increases, but speed is irrelevant when the results you’re getting are a pile of shit. Heck, I even got the thing running on one of the distributed computing services (an 8 box Linux cluster) and I was seeing improvements all round. Just no good results.

Finally, I gave in, and approached my supervisor for help. I told him I was sure the code was technically sound, and that it was the theory behind it that was wrong and needed changing. No, he said, it must be the code, try a few things here and there and let me know. I wonder if it’s because he was in part responsible for the theory?

I went away, made the changes, tried his suggestions. No joy. A week and a half after I’d started on this, and I was no closer to a solution. Determined, I started tweaking the theory. Minor changes here and there. One fairly important change here. One that was, essentially, the opposite of what he had told me to do in the first instance.

And the result? Perfect results that exactly matched our expectations. After all his insinuations about my crappy coding, and it wasn’t me at fault.

Well. It’s not about blaming anyone. But put it this way; I’m looking forward to our meeting on Monday morning when he asks me how I got on.

Mesothelioma. Pleasure.

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer affecting the abdominal cavity, chest cavity, and the region surrounding the heart. Due to its uncommon nature, mesothelioma is typically difficult to diagnose and treat. It has been connected with exposure to asbestos, a material formerly present in many work environments. Only about 3,000 individuals are diagnosed annually.

Individuals with a history of extended asbestos exposure are at the highest risk for developing malignant mesothelioma. Even a small exposure to this cancer-causing material can result in malignant mesothelioma. However, mesothelioma has a latency of up to thirty-forty years, and many individuals previously exposed to asbestos are now displaying symptoms. This means the average age of mesothelioma patients is between 50 and 70 years. Men are typically affected more, due to the common presence of asbestos in industrial settings. There are three major types of malignant mesothelioma . epithelial, sarcomatoid, and mixed. Epithelial mesothelioma is most common. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to respiratory distress, a lasting cough, and pneumonia. In addition, symptoms are often mistaken for less serious ailments, and many patients do not show any signs at all.

Individuals with pleural mesothelioma may accumulate some fluid between the lung lining and chest cavity. This can be detected through a chest x-ray, as well as CT scans.

Diagnosis of Mesothelioma is based on a pathological exam, more commonly referred to as a biopsy. This exam will test a tissue sample for the presence of malignant and/or pleural mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Source is dedicated to providing victims and their families with the latest Mesothelioma news and information. Even though this is a relatively rare disease, it can affect thousands of families each year. If you or one of your loved ones would like more information, please don’t hesitate to request a free information packet.
Asbestos as the Primary Cause of Mesothelioma

Asbestos is a type of insulation material, which was used widely in the past in the following industries:

* Construction industry
* Ship building industry
* Automotive industry
* Other manufacturing industries

Mesothelioma occurred most often in persons who worked in the above industries and were exposed to asbestos in their workplace. The use of asbestos was very widespread after 1945. However, first symptoms of mesothelioma may not become apparent 10-40 years after the initial exposure, which makes it very hard to diagnose. The peak in mesothelioma cases is expected to be reached around 2010 according to some studies. There are three most commonly used types of asbestos: white, brown, and blue. Brown and blue asbestos are most commonly associated with mesothelioma. These types of asbestos have been banned by most countries in the 1990s.

Asbestos is a very dangerous substance and can cause a lot of damage to your health. It is made up of very small fibers, which can find their way to pleura (outside lining of the lung) and damage the cells pleura is made of. These fibers can also be carried on clothing, which makes them dangerous not only to the person exposed to asbestos, but to their family members as well.
Note of Urgency

Mesothelioma is a life-threatening disease and cannot be left untreated. The sooner it is diagnosed the better a patient’s chances are of fighting this deadly cancer. Please contact a qualified physician immediately if you or someone you know has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

from http://www.mesothelioma-source.org/.

Why have I posted this?

Dear all,

The planned building works for the Dept. due to the asbestos in the walls has been scheduled for this Summer [dates].

Yours,
[dept. administrator]

Always nice to know.

Good news

11-May-2005

Dear Mr. Thornton

It is a pleasure to accept your revised manuscript entitled “Sub-pixel mapping of rural land cover objects from fine spatial resolution satellite sensor imagery using super-resolution pixel-swapping” in its current form for publication in the International Journal of Remote Sensing.

Thank you for your fine contribution. On behalf of the Editors of the International Journal of Remote Sensing, we look forward to your continued contributions to our journal.

Yours sincerely

Prof. Arthur Roberts
Editor, International Journal of Remote Sensing

Go me!

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.

I’ve had my work stolen

CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE

By what should in theory be a respectable author. OK, here goes:

In August 2003 I published on my website a guide to the Da Vinci Code online quest (#1). In November 2003 I published a guide to the second one. Both are still there to this very day:

http://www.matt-thornton.net/topics.php?topic=13

http://www.matt-thornton.net/topics.php?topic=14

Since that time I’ve maintained the guides, updating them, cleaning them and so on.

Then recently (late last year) I put together a PDF version of both guides, as well as code guides to the Digital Fortress codes etc. That PDF is still available for download:

http://www.matt-thornton.net/ebook/

The point of this diatribe is that someone has stolen my work. And I don’t just mean copied my website and put it on their website (cos loads of people have done that, most of whom don’t even credit me as the author), but this guy has taken my PDF copy and my website copy and word for word copied it into a new one. He has altered it somewhat, my adding different pictures and in some places new text, but 95% of it is a direct copy of my own work.

That PDF is available for purchase from a publishing website online (I won’t reveal which one because it’d then be too easy to figure out who the person is, see below…).

What is remarkable about this whole situation is the thief who has done this. It is an author who claims to have written a book to rival the phenomenon of The Da Vinci Code (which has now sold millions of copies worldwide). His book is in print, and he is advertising it all over the place. This is not some schoolkid or blogger who has lifted my work – it is someone who uses the written word as an income. And in this instance he has copied nay stolen my words. Without even a mention or acknowledgement. He simply passes it off as his own.

I’m not sure how much I should reveal about the identity of the author. There is plenty out there on the web about him. I’ve located an email address for him (by cross referencing my Paypal records with the book’s website) and emailed him and I’ve contacted the website that is offering the PDF for download. For the timebeing I’ll let them remain anonymous.

I will let you know in due course what comes of it. But should the guy opt to ignore me, then I will be going hell for leather to expose this guy and make sure that any reputation he may have as a respected author goes straight down the crapper. I’ve got every bit of proof I’ll need to prove he has ripped me off.

Fingers crossed?

I’m the best. Seriously.

Comments back from one of the referees for a paper I submitted to a big and very well respected journal for the field I work in:

This paper presents a pixel-swapping algorithm to mapping rural land cover objects from fine spatial resolution images. It is a well organized and written paper. The research method is certainly innovative and the results are interpolated clearly. Overall this is a good piece of research work. Everything in the manuscript is perfect. I do not see any revision necessary.

I couldn’t agree more.

ASBO’s

It amuses me somewhat, about the hype and emphasis that the government is putting on its “revolutionary” ASBO’s (Antisocial Behaviour Orders) – the ability of local police and so on to issue on the spot fines and take into custody “yobs” who breach the peace. Lots of publicity and media coverage has been given to this new way of dealing with such people.

But when we were forced to call the police last night, after a group of individuals who we ejected from the club were not only causing trouble, using illegal substances and fighting with the doormen, but then returned a couple of hours later to bombard us with rocks and stones, no-one even showed up to find out what was going on or even take a statement. When we gave an explicit location for the offenders, did anyone go and apprehend the hooligans?

What do you think?