This is the last time i post about the subject of "Will " but word's have to be said.
When he joined the other site? thing's went smoothly, all his info. was taken as a person that knew what he was talking about.
It did not take long before the dark side of him appeared. Wough!! anybody that questioned what he stated, it was like poking a Pit Bull in the nose with a sharp stick.
He was the man, he had written many article's and started many a Bosai site. he cant be wrong.
He was banned a couple of times but, alway's managed to get back, but no change, his ego get's the better of him.
Since then he has tried to infltrate that site by using diff. log on names etc, etc. what does he hope to achieve?
Nothing !! R.I.P

Been thinking about the following statements for quite a while. I think both of them deserve an answer. Not just a flip remark but as best an answer as I can give.

Here goes

While I am connected with ABS I am certainty not an authorized spokesman for them. Best that I can say is the appropriate people know of it and I would assume that some action will be taken. I trust in their judgment and am sure that they will come up with the right solution to the problem. One that just about everyone can live with.



The only difference between a printed magazine article and an on line publication is that the online ones have a delete button.

The hard copy magazine has to handle the matter very carefully. No matter what they do the magazine is still going to be out there. Both the author’s and the magazines reputation are on the line. Ten years from now that magazine can still be there.

A reputable on line publication has the same problem but in a much smaller way. They only have to worry about what was actually downloaded and printed. What is on the screen is just a delete button away.

A reputable online publication would have already deleted the offending article and put an explanation in its place.

I would imagine that all the publications concerned will take actions that will be acceptable to its readership.

"Yawn,

I feel sorry for you. You guys just don't get it do you? There is no such thing as bad publicity, I don't care what you say, as long as you keep saying my name.
BonsaiTalk is like the tabloids, you know the tabloids. they talk #$%^&* about people, brad pitt lost 10 pounds, Madonna marries a space alien...it's all good, keep the name out there in front of everyone.

Even in the world of bonsai, keeping the name out there is a good thing!

But there is a problem that your pea brain can't comprehend, take all the regular posters at BT and maybe, figuring high, you have 100 people who post regular, 100 regulars reads. Forget the membership, it's 99% inactive.

Now lets just take Bonsai Today who has 4500 active subscribers and subtract the 100 regulars at BT, that still leaves 4400 people that I'm reaching, many of which never go on-line and certainly not the tabloid forums.

Now think about ABS journal, Bonsai Europe (soon) and all the newsletters I get published in...you do me no harm at all, the little bit you do just keeps my name alive, thank you."


Will

I would venture to say that here is indeed such a thing as bad publicity.
As for keeping the name alive. Well, there are many names that are still alive today but they still remain anathema! Turning a blind eye to ones deviate deeds does no one any good no matter how few may happen upon the "bad publicity" Ignorance to the facts can only lead to.........well, ignoring! Better a few should know than none. You cannot have the many until you first have the few.

Best, Phil

Wes, I've had similarly worded messages from him in the past. I wish I'd done what you have done, but I just dumped them. Thanks for posting.

Regards,

Chris Guise.

Yes, I know what you mean. This one in particular wasn't sent to me. I have only posted this on behalf of another BonsaiTalk forum member wanting it on the surface but has concearns.

I would be eager to hear Carl's take on this matter. He has been a proponet for scoundrels that plagiarize to be publicly stoned as well as those that use the abreviation for the word Japanese.

I would think that someone with Carl's integrity and founding name on a website would make a public apoligy and remove the plagierized article from the website. I know it is still there I looked at it lastnight. I think in light of the email as posted by Redpine, all articles should be scrutinized for authenticity and content.

I'm still waiting for this article:

"All there is to know about stealing someone elses work"

You know I used to be kind of hard on Will because he thought he knew it all and had no trees to back himself up. But...I gave him the benifit of the doubt because he wrote some good articles. Now he has neither. No trees and a lieing cheating author.

I'm still waiting for responses from the two emails I have sent him..nothing yet. Will I hope you read this because this is probably the most ignorant thing you have said to date:



You are right I hope everyone remembers you just the way you want them to, with this thread.

Best, Al

Hi Al,

I don't know quite why you are drawing me into this and I certainly don't know what more I could do to make my position clear. I told Will quite adamantly that he had indeed committed plagiarism, and I believe that I was instrumental in helping Will understand that the charges were well-founded. I wrote Matt to let him know that I agreed with his assessment. I posted Will's apology to this thread. I wrote elsewhere in this thread that the publications involved need to post a correction.

But in case there is any uncertainty remaining:

Will plagiarized. He should apologize publically to all involved (I believe that he has done so already). The involved publications should post a notice and apology.



First, the article is posted at the Knowledge of Bonsai project, over which I have no control -- not at the Art of Bonsai project, of which I am a founder. So you seem to have my role confused. I couldn't remove it from that site if I wanted to.

There is a second and more complicated issue at hand here with regard to how an on-line publication should handle any sort of impropriety. This is actually something I've spent a lot of time considering, given my interest in on-line scholarly publishing and my role in setting up and promoting journals of this type. Convenient as a "delete" function might seem, it's not at all clear to me that one wants to allow published content to be "disappeared" in Stalinesque fashion, even if it is plagiarized or (more of a concern for us in the sciences) based on fabricated data. Most publishers and librarians concerned with these issues feel that one should not "erase" an article unless it is causing active harm because it contains libel or similar (*) . I agree with them on this point; if articles can suddenly disappear, an on-line publication becomes that much more untrustworthy than a paper one. I consider it to be preferable to publish a correction/retraction and leave the original article available in the interest of full transparency.

With the appropriate regards,
Carl

(*) E.g. as in your post above, where you come dangerously close to accusing me of first publishing and second failing to publically apologize for an article that I had nothing to do with.

You know, I've had an idea - not an original idea mind you, but an idea nonetheless. I know some folks who have the power - and quite possibly the inclination - to remove that name from bonsaiTALK entirely, as though it's owner had never even existed here. I mean, do we really have the time to go through every single post by He-who-has-done-so-much-for-Bonsai to check whether it is merely a cut-and-paste job? I say we just assume that it's all plagiarism, delete it and be done with it.

I'm certain that it will be no loss to He-who-has-done-so-much-for-Bonsai, as bonsaiTALK is "99% inactive" anyway.

Any thoughts?

Fly.

PS: Still tossing up whether a is in order or not...