User:Chetvorno/Work9

Diffs of GLPeterson's disruptive editing on Wireless power since getting blocked. Not all of these are reverts, some are unsourced additions

I entirely agree with both the above editors. For years GLPeterson has WP:OWNed the Wireless power article, tenaciously WP:PUSHing his unsourced WP:OR, WP:FRINGE theories about wireless power transmission based on 110 year old ideas from Nikola Tesla, and reverting efforts to correct it. Although he does cite sources, the sources are not reliable; mainly primary sources consisting of Tesla's erroneous 19th century writings or modern pseudoscientific authors. He is the only editor supporting this material, against the consensus of at least 5 editors: Chetvorno, Fountains of Bryn Mawr, Wtshymanski, Roches, MrX and occasionally GliderMaven. He pushes the same material on World Wireless System, Wardenclyffe tower, and several other articles, as detailed in an earlier ANI. There is also a Fringe Theories Noticeboard complaint about his material. In general he seldom gives edit comments or discusses his edits on the Talk page unless he is facing administrative sanctions.

Below is the chronology of the Wireless power dispute, with a list of his reverts prior to being blocked 13 December 2014. The disputed material was originally a section called "Electrical conduction", and some material in "Timeline of wireless power". Beginning September 2014, Fountains of Bryn Mawr and I with help from Wtshymanski rewrote this into a properly sourced "History" section. GLPeterson continually reverted our edits, either without explanation or calling them "damage":

He is shrewd enough not to technically violate the 3RR, but has twice "run the clock out" by performing his 3rd revert just after 24 hrs has elapsed (diffdiffdiffdiff) and (diff, 18:59 Dec 11 is followed by four reverts, the last at diff, 19:05 Dec 12).
 * 19:49, January 16, 2011
 * 09:38, January 17, 2011
 * 05:06, July 29, 2012
 * 08:45, January 15, 2013
 * 11:21, January 15, 2013
 * 15:02, September 8, 2014
 * 08:23, September 20, 2014
 * 09:46, September 22, 2014
 * 14:35, September 22, 2014
 * 06:58, September 23, 2014
 * 13:31, October 9, 2014
 * 20:13, October 9, 2014
 * 06:41, October 11, 2014
 * 06:15, October 20, 2014
 * 07:49, October 20, 2014
 * 16:27, October 30, 2014
 * 20:21, October 30, 2014
 * 20:21, October 30, 2014
 * 20:09, November 17, 2014
 * 22:52, December 9, 2014
 * 06:12, December 11, 2014
 * 15:59, December 11, 2014
 * 06:19, December 12, 2014

These problems were thoroughly discussed on the Talk page (Talk:Wireless power, Talk:Wireless power, Talk:Wireless power) and GLPeterson was invited to participate. He did, but only to repeat unsourced material from the article. Three editors reached out to him on his personal Talk page to try to discuss his edits , , , but he either did not respond or answered with a cryptic quote from Neil Armstrong. I brought a ANI/3RR complaint against him 13 December 2014 and he received a 48hr block. Although his discussions with the administrator on his Talk page were polite (User_talk:GLPeterson), he mentioned legal action and did not indicate any understanding of WP consensus or an intention to drop the issue.

Since the block he has resumed the same disruptive editing. He vandalized the article Talk page,   inserting his comments and unsourced material in boldface between other editors comments. He then resumed reinserting his same unsourced material in the article, along with new dubious material as detailed by the diff list in Fountains of Bryn Mawr's complaint at top. In two wholesale rewrites he has added sections called "Terrestrial transmission line" 16:55, January 18, 2015 and "Bound-mode EM surface wave" 09:56, January 7, 2015  containing expanded versions of his unsourced "surface wave" content from his old section, in both edits also reinserting his old unsourced Tesla material into "Tesla's experiments" section along with much other unsourced material. Again these concerns were discussed on the Talk page (Talk:Wireless power and Talk:Wireless power), , , and GLPeterson was personally invited to respond. I asked him again 7 January 2015 on his personal Talk page to discuss his changes at the article Talk page, with no response.

Gary Peterson (GLPeterson) appears to own several websites, and a bookstore  specializing in Tesla information and uses material on his websites as sources in the article. As mentioned by Fountains of Bryn Mawr above, he maintains a complete alternate Wireless power article User:GLPeterson/Revised Draft diff in his personal pages, containing his unsourced WP:FRINGE material, indicating an intention to continue his edit-warring. Over the years this single editor's obstructive actions have wasted, and continue to waste, huge amounts of other editor's time and effort.


 * 07:31, January 6, 2015 Unsourced WP:SYNTH addition that Hertz's 1888 transmission of radio waves "experimentally confirmed Maxwell's prediction of wireless energy transfer". No one calls Hertz's reception of microwatt signals "wireless energy transfer"
 * 09:25, January 6, 2015‎ Replaced sourced material in table with cryptic unsourced dB figures
 * 10:50, January 6, 2015‎ Reinserted unsourced dB figures after revert
 * 09:56, January 7, 2015 Complete rewrite of article, adding new "Bound-mode EM surface wave" section for the unsourced surface wave material from his old "Electrical conduction" section, and inserting same old "Disturbed charge of ground and air" material into Tesla section, unsourced dB figures in table, many other bad edits.
 * 21:59, January 7, 2015 Restored unsourced rewrite after revert by Fountains
 * 18:15, January 8, 2015 Reinserted same old Tesla stuff, only non-Tesla source is Corum.
 * 05:42, January 15, 2015 Revert or rewrite of Gil Dawsons correction of his errors in "Capacitive coupling" section.
 * 20:07, January 15, 2015 Reinsertion of unsourced claim that Hertz's 1888 transmission of radio waves "experimentally confirmed Maxwell's prediction of wireless energy transfer".
 * 16:55, January 18, 2015 Another complete rewrite adding new section "Terrestrial transmission line" for his unsourced surface wave material and reinserting disturbed ground and air method into Tesla section, Hertz transmitting wireless power, many other errors

= GLPeterson =

This is to document what I see as a history of disruptive editing by GLPeterson (GPeterson).

Fountains of Bryn Mawr and I, with the help of Wtshymanski, recently (12/8) rewrote the Electrical conduction section of Wireless power, which consisted of unsourced WP:FRINGE WP:OR theories by editor GLPeterson dealing with Nikola Tesla's 110 year old wireless power transmission ideas. We replaced it with a properly sourced History section. We invited GLPeterson to participate,. All three editors left notes on his Talk page about our concerns for the section, but he declined to answer, ,    or left a strange Neil Armstrong quote. Instead during the editing he continually reverted any changes to the section: , , , , , , , , , , sometimes disparaging other editors efforts as DAMAGE ,, , , , , Since the rewrite, he has repeatedly tried to reinsert the unsourced material , , , , , against the consensus of four editors: Fountains of Bryn Mawr, Chetvorno, Wtshymanski, and Roches. GLPeterson is the sole editor WP:PUSHing this material. Since he added the section WP:OWN the section, reverting efforts to remove or change the unsourced material: , , , , , , .


 * (12/13/2014) He was given a 48 hour block for his actions on Wireless power.

Since the block he has not changed his behavior but has continued to attempt to reinsert his unsourced material against the consensus of 4 editors Fountains of Bryn Mawr, Chetvorno, Wtshymanski, and Roches:


 * 16:55, January 18, 2015 Another complete rewrite adding new section "Terrestrial transmission line" for his unsourced surface wave material and reinserting disturbed ground and air method into Tesla section, Hertz transmitting wireless power, many other errors
 * 20:07, January 15, 2015 Reinsertion of unsourced claim that Hertz's 1888 transmission of radio waves "experimentally confirmed Maxwell's prediction of wireless energy transfer".
 * 05:42, January 15, 2015 Revert or rewrite of Gil Dawsons correction of his errors in "Capacitive coupling" section.
 * 18:15, January 8, 2015 Reinserted same old Tesla stuff, only non-Tesla source is Corum.
 * 21:59, January 7, 2015 Restored unsourced rewrite after revert by Fountains
 * 09:56, January 7, 2015 Complete rewrite, adding new "Bound-mode EM surface wave" section for the unsourced surface wave material from his old "Electrical conduction" section, and inserting same old "Disturbed charge of ground and air" material into Tesla section, unsourced dB figures in table, many other bad edits.
 * 10:50, January 6, 2015‎ Reinserted unsourced dB figures after revert
 * 09:25, January 6, 2015‎ Replaced sourced material in table with cryptic unsourced dB figures
 * 07:31, January 6, 2015 Unsourced WP:SYNTH addition that Hertz's 1888 transmission of radio waves "experimentally confirmed Maxwell's prediction of wireless energy transfer". No one calls Hertz's reception of microwatt signals "wireless energy transfer"


 * 15:02, September 8, 2014 Reverted Wtshymanski's deletion of unsourced "Disturbed charge of ground and air" section

(12/14/2014) As noticed by administrator Bbb23, he has written a complete, alternate, polished, "Wireless power" article on his personal Talk page pushing the WP:FRINGE unsourced Tesla ideas that he hasn't been able to get into articles. As stated above by Fountains of Bryn Mawr, Gary Peterson (GLPeterson) apparently owns several websites, Twenty-First Century Books, TESLA RADIO, promoting his alternative Tesla material. He has used documents on his sites as sources in the articles Wireless power and World Wireless System. He is also apparently the owner of a bookstore which sells alternative books, promoted on his website. All of this raises serious WP:COI issues. It occurs to me that he may be linking to his personal Wikipedia page from his outside websites, possibly to give his material a false imprimateur of Wikipedia approval.

October 2015
Post on administrator Bbb23's Talk page:

GLPeterson, whom you blocked 13 December 2014 for edit-warring on Wireless power, has been resuming his previous activities. Those activities being repeatedly inserting unsourced fringe Nikola Tesla-related material into the articles Wireless power, World Wireless System against consensus. He twice, briefly inserted his old fringe content that he got blocked for into the Wireless power article again, and although he immediately reverted himself this seems to indicate that he is not done pushing his content. Here are earlier edits from January 2015 he made to the article since the block, inserting unsourced material against a consensus of 4 editors:, , , , , , , , , , indicating he apparently didn't learn anything from the block.

On World Wireless System he has repeatedly without discussion inserted the same unsourced fringe material, , , , which was reverted by three editors , , , ,. He has been asked on his Talk page to discuss his changes, without result. He has 3 times, ,   reverted the merger of  Terrestrial stationary waves into World Wireless System which was merged on consensus of 3 editors because it consisted entirely of GLPeterson's fringe content.

All these edits are pushing the same old unsourced fringe material which GLPeterson was blocked for and which he has been tenaciously pushing for years. This single-issue editor has quite a history of disruptive editing, as detailed in two ANIs:,     and a  Fringe Theories Noticeboard complaint. I'm wondering if you could give him a warning? Frankly, I'm getting tired from the huge amount of time I've spent dealing with this single obstructive editor over the years, and I'll bet Roches, Fountains of Bryn Mawr, Wtshymanski, GliderMaven and other editors who deal with him are too. -- Chetvorno TALK 23:43, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

= For User talk:Fountains of Bryn Mawr/sandbox =

Critique of War of Currents rewrite
Sorry I've been so late with this; my nephew got married last weekend, and I got involved in a silly conflict over on Electronic oscillator. You've already put your rewrite in the article, but since you asked for comments I thought I would go ahead and give them. Everybody writes differently; these are just my (humble) opinions.

Reading the lead paragraph of the introduction as an uninformed reader, I had a little trouble telling what the article was about. The lead sentence is pretty long and confusing. I understand that the intention is to explain that there were more issues than just Edison (DC) vs Westinghouse (AC), as the old introduction had it. Still, the core issue, the "war" of the title, was the competition between AC and DC power systems. My personal preference would be to state this simply in the lead sentence. The rest of the paragraph could explain the background and the other subsidiary issues that got involved. I thought the last sentence of that paragraph does a great job of explaining how the three different issues got mixed up in the public's mind.

The illustrations are great. The death of Feeks, the horse electrocution,

= For Talk:World Wireless System = I agree modern terminology must not be used in a way to imply that Tesla knew more than he did. For example, the idea that Tesla used Extremely low frequency (ELF) waves got started by a single nonspecific comment made by ELF scientist

However I would personally like to see the article provide translations of Tesla's archaic 19th century terms into modern electronics and physics terminology, wherever we can. General readers are going to be confused by Tesla's metaphors about "shaking the earth". More importantly, I think modern language would go a long way toward "demystifying" Tesla's work. I'm sure the reason many Tesla cultists think Tesla discovered some arcane secrets unknown to modern physics is because they don't hear terms like _________ in modern technology. "Cults" depend on mysterious jargon for their hold on people; when their "magical" ideas are cast in modern language they lose much of their power. The truth is that all the fields that Tesla explored have been thoroughly researched by modern science, and his ideas can be cast in modern engineering terms, provided that we are sure what they are.

One idea or two?
Fountains of Bryn Mawr, the part I'm not clear about yet is whether there was any connection between Tesla's "Earth resonance" and "atmospheric conduction" schemes. They seem to my 21st century perspecive to be completely unconnected ideas, two independent solutions to the problem of wireless power transmission (except that they both used his Tesla coils to generate the high voltage). His patents and articles that refer to "shaking the Earth" don't mention atmospheric conduction, and vice versa. Or did Tesla see them as parts of one method? Was the conducting channel between the transmitting and receiving "antennas" supposed to somehow strengthen the Earth resonance?

Is that the way you see it? Or did Tesla ever refer to somehow "combining" the two techniques?

For Wireless power transmission

 * But he didn't demonstrate it.    "What, if any, difference in principle was involved in the transmitting of such energy to a distant telephone, for instance, or for signaling, as compared with such transmission to any other form of translating device...?"  The difference, as this article and its supporting sources point out, is that outside the near field the energy propagates as radiation, radio waves.  Radiation not striking the receiving antenna is wasted.  The energy transmission falls as the inverse square of distance, so without high gain antennas long range transmission of practical amounts of power is impossible.    In the example of Tesla's Colorado Springs experiment above, even at a short distance of 1938 feet, 99.99% of the power was wasted (or 99.9% if Tesla was only transmitting at "20% power" as he bragged).  As Fountains of Bryn Mawr said, Tesla didn't accept this.  That was his tragedy.  He was a brilliant inventor, but not a scientist.  He believed that the 19th century


 * If all radio communication is considered "wireless power transfer", as the above quotes seem to urge, then why should Tesla deserve any credit? All of the radio pioneers before Tesla: Hertz, Troutman, Rutherford, Bose, Righi, Braun, Lodge, etc. understood that power (tiny amounts) was being transmitted wirelessly to their receivers.  Marconi certainly beat Tesla at "long range" transmission.  At the time Tesla was transmitting a few tens of miles, Marconi was transmitting across the Atlantic.  But of course radio communication which only requires the reception of nanowatts or picowatts of power, is not the same as practical wireless power transmission, as everyone but Tesla understood.