All The Tropes Wiki Project, Part XIX

[robkelk]

Go for it. I spearheaded the action on him last time, so let's start from a different angle in case it actually is him.

Done.

[robkelk]

Welp.  Remember how I said about 20 messages back there was something about InterestingPerson bugging me?  I thought he might be SmileyB?

I'm not sure about SmileyB now... but I'm thinking that he might actually be XanderMartin98.  Check out the four changes currently staged on the Moderation page -- suddenly he's all about XanderMartin98's stuff, even namechecking him in an edit reason.  I'd be very grateful if someone else with moderation rights looked over the relevant changes and gave me their opinion(s).

Just got a board-to-board message from another user suggesting the same thing...

EDIT: https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Stewards%..._Checkuser

[Bob Schroeck]

Thanks, Rob. I'm terribly curious to see how that turns out.

[robkelk]

Could somebody dig up some diffs by XM to compare to the at-question diffs by IP, please? The Stewards want more data.

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, I just posted links to the four edits which clued us in, and when I get the time I'm going to dig through Xm98's edit history for a few things that echo InterestingPerson's edits.

In the meantime, how do we want to approach IP and suggest he might be a ban evader?

[GethN7]

Okay, I just posted links to the four edits which clued us in, and when I get the time I'm going to dig through Xm98's edit history for a few things that echo InterestingPerson's edits.

In the meantime, how do we want to approach IP and suggest he might be a ban evader?

No idea, but I have it on good authority from my knowledge of the lolcow community this guy is AAA quality Angus, meaning he's utterly shameless, will not reform, and the only thing we can do is keep flinging him out on his ear when detected.

[Bob Schroeck]

I just realized that IP may have shown his hand already. In his edit to Shameless Self Promoter he potholed "Xandermartin98" to "Third-Person Person"... which was what Xm98 did in his self-glorifying edits.

EDIT: Check out the thread on his blog post. I think the mask is starting to slip.

[Bob Schroeck]

I've been watching the edits he's made tonight as they go through Moderation. He's either Xandermartin98 or a fan with so similar a set of obsessions as to be almost indistinguishable.

[robkelk]

Proposal: I post the following to Talk:InterestingPerson, then block the account indefinitely as per All The Tropes:How We Do Bans Around Here#Grounds for a permanent ban without warning on the first occurrence

Based on the pattern and content of edits made by User:InterestingPerson and the particular fetishistic bent of his writing, it is believed by at least one average Troper, at least one Moderator, and at least one Miraheze Steward that the edits made by User:InterestingPerson either are or might be evidence of ban evasion on the part of User:Xandermartin98.

As such, I am placing an indefinite block on the account of User:InterestingPerson, as per [[All The Tropes:How We Do Bans Around Here]].

The user is free to appeal this decision to any other moderator (although I would not suggest appealing the decision to the moderator who brought this issue to my attention).

I'll leave this proposal open for discussion here for at least 8 hours.

EDIT: No, I'm not planning on identifying the moderator who brought the issue to my attention. Feel free to think of that as an intelligence test - it should be obvious who the particular mod is even without looking at this thread.

[GethN7]

Proposal: I post the following to Talk:InterestingPerson, then block the account indefinitely as per All The Tropes:How We Do Bans Around Here#Grounds for a permanent ban without warning on the first occurrence

Based on the pattern and content of edits made by User:InterestingPerson and the particular fetishistic bent of his writing, it is believed by at least one average Troper, at least one Moderator, and at least one Miraheze Steward that the edits made by User:InterestingPerson either are or might be evidence of ban evasion on the part of User:Xandermartin98.

As such, I am placing an indefinite block on the account of User:InterestingPerson, as per [[All The Tropes:How We Do Bans Around Here]].

The user is free to appeal this decision to any other moderator (although I would not suggest appealing the decision to the moderator who brought this issue to my attention).

I'll leave this proposal open for discussion here for at least 8 hours.

EDIT: No, I'm not planning on identifying the moderator who brought the issue to my attention. Feel free to think of that as an intelligence test - it should be obvious who the particular mod is even without looking at this thread.

No objections from me. That guy is cancer and his BS needs no attention from us.

[robkelk]

Nine hours, no dissent. And I know that Labster's been online in those nine hours. Dropping the banhammer.

[Bob Schroeck]

God. Stop to sleep for a single night and everything changes around you. <grin>

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, and just as a heads-up, SmileyB's two-week ban ended yesterday. He has yet to manifest again, but it's been less than 24 hours.

[LulzKiller]

[GethN7]

Since this guy has proven rather thick, I sent this reply as regards the egotistical, arrogant nonsense above via the user email function:

[Labster]

Let me whine about other mods while I confess to ban evasion. That should definitely get me sympathy!

[robkelk]

Nice screencap. I have reported to the Stewards his confession of ban evasion.

And I see that he has the gall to say we aren't listening to him when he refused to speak to us.

[robkelk]

...
Just got a board-to-board message from another user suggesting the same thing...
...

And now I can say that the "another user" is Umbire the Phantom.

Who has been doing quite a bit of mod-level work on the wiki over the last few months, with nothing more than autopatrolled/automoderated rights.

I have no idea whether Umbire the Phantom would be interested in becoming an admin, or (now that we have Moderation in place) a moderator. Do the other admins think that we should make the offer?

[Bob Schroeck]

It's not a bad idea; I think the same thing has been percolating in the back of my mind for a while.

I've also been thinking about promoting a few of the new users to autopatrolled/automoderated. Batata is the only one who comes immediately to mind, but I'll draw up a list while I do my usual daily review of Recent Changes.

[robkelk]

Somebody else answer this question, please. There's too much politics in the background for me to feel comfortable answering it.

[GethN7]

Somebody else answer this question, please. There's too much politics in the background for me to feel comfortable answering it.

I tagged in for you, Rob.

[robkelk]

Thanks.

Changing topics... one would think an Omnipresent Trope would have more than four examples. One would be mistaken. (As of this typing, that is.)

[robkelk]

I just got a self-serving and frankly insulting email from InterestingPerson. Since we've all agreed that he's used up his three strikes, I'm rebanning him with no email access.

User:InterestingPerson has admitted to being User:Xandermartin98. Despite his admission of ban evasion, he continues to email users here - not to plead his case, but to insult other people. This is completely shameless behavior. It ends now.

[robkelk]

Anybody want to do a Work page for The Yellow Kid or The Katzenjammer Kids? That would give us something to list on Category:Newspaper Comics of the 1890s, which is the only Newspaper Comics category without any entries at the moment.

[GethN7]

I just got a self-serving and frankly insulting email from InterestingPerson. Since we've all agreed that he's used up his three strikes, I'm rebanning him with no email access.

User:InterestingPerson has admitted to being User:Xandermartin98. Despite his admission of ban evasion, he continues to email users here - not to plead his case, but to insult other people. This is completely shameless behavior. It ends now.

If you want to share it with others, I suggest doing so privately. Man is an absolute attention whore who wants people talking about the garbage he pulls, it gets him off. Unless he does something of imminent civil/criminal importance that it is legally advisable to share publicly so there is public proof that can't be disappeared behind closed doors, then I say we otherwise deny this guy the attention he desperately craves. Apparently, his M.O. on all other sites that have kicked him to the curb is to feed off any attention, no matter how negative. I have no intention myself of doing so, and I strongly advise we make it official policy here and on ATT, barring the above-mentioned exception, he is to be denied public acknowledgment of any sort, and his deviance/potential further ban evasion is to be removed with as little fanfare or notice as possible.