User talk:Sam 3982

December 2011
You are suspected of sockpuppetry, which means that someone suspects you of using multiple Wikipedia accounts for prohibited purposes. Please make yourself familiar with the notes for the suspect, then respond to the evidence at Sockpuppet investigations/Brandonfarris. Thank you.  S ven M anguard  Wha?  15:10, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

And I've responded more than sufficiently at that page, and tried to message "Sven" about these issues directly, only to see him ignore & delete the first message I sent him about this, no response to the email I sent him, and then he "collapsed" the next message I tried to send him about this on his talk page, and repeated this claim that somehow I am a "sock puppet".

To reiterate here, if anyone sees my talk page:

I am not Brandonfarris. I've scarcely used Wikipedia at all before until today. I was very surprised when I saw that 'Sven Manguard' was trying to accuse me of this.

I created this account because I wanted to be able to reply to 'Sven' and to 'Yunshui' about the issues to do with the behaviour of "Brandonfarris", whereas I figured I wouldn't have been able to do so if I'd continued to just use Wikipedia straight from my IP address.

The reason I took the action I took today was because I was angered when I heard about the political activities 'Brandonfarris' has been attempting to conduct on Wikipedia in recent days.

I found out about these activities through a blog on the 'Crikey' news outlet here in Australia called 'Pure Poison'. The link to the article about this issue is here - http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/12/11/whos-been-digging-into-melbourne-journalists-pasts-and-creating-odd-articles-about-them-on-wikipedia/

I don't like the fact that this guy is running around trying to insert his own political agenda into Wikipedia articles, and using Wikipedia as a way to attack the reputations of any people and organisations he doesn't like. That's why I've done what I've done today. I don't like astroturfing when I see it. There's far too much astroturfing happening around the Web in Australia as it is, without such people being able to compromise Wikipedia as well. Sam 3982 (talk) 16:13, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Tried again to talk about this with "Sven", only to have him "collapse" my message, and repeat this claim that somehow I am a "sock puppet". Would be nice if he were to read the substance of what I've said, and view the article linked, as it is linked here.

But instead of actually reading the substance of what was said, it seems that "Sven" is just going to keep on ignoring my comments and "collapsing" them. My next reply to him on his talk page was also "collapsed".

It's a shame that he is apparently now just disregarding anything that I have to say about these things. Even disregarding the fact that the issue of this "Brandonfarris" astroturfing has been reported publicly on a blog within a major Australian news outlet. Anyone who wants to, can easily check this through the article link I've already posted.

Also a shame that instead of properly dealing with what this guy has been doing, the dubious nature of sources, the party-political and otherwise transparent agenda being pursued - reported as such on the "Pure Poison" blog - "Sven" is just targeting me instead and trying to make out that I'm a "sock puppet" of this guy. Sam 3982 (talk) 18:14, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

And I note that someone else is also being unfairly targeted by "Sven" now - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:140.247.238.78

Seems like this guy is only trying to fix up some vandalism by someone else on another Wikipedia page, just like I was. But "Sven" has then accused him of "vandalism" instead. And apparently deleted the response back from this guy on his talk page which pleaded that he was trying to remedy vandalism, not cause it. Not good... Sam 3982 (talk) 18:16, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Your recent edits
Hello. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( &#126;&#126;&#126;&#126; ) at the end of your comment. You could also click on the signature button or  located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your username or IP address and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when they said it. Thank you. --SineBot (talk) 15:42, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The Brandonfarris affair
Hi Sam,

I'm sorry that your early experience of Wikipedia has been largely a negative one. In case you aren't already aware, User:Brandonfarris has now been blocked from editing, and the sockpuppet investigation in which you were mentioned has been closed with no foul play found. I've responded briefly to Nick-D, the blocking admin, on my talkpage; basically to say that I agree with the necessity of the block.

As regards repairing the damage, I'm in favour of retaining the sources Brandon added (they seem to me to meet WP:RS) but editing the articles to better reflect the source content, and introducing additional sources to create balance. However, I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to Australian politics, and don't want to cause more disruption by piling in and trying to fix the articles up myself. I'm therefore going to bow out of this debate at this point, although if you want my advice or input at any point (on this or any other issue) please feel free to drop me a line. Cheers, Yunshui 雲&zwj;水 10:24, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Blocked
You have been blocked from editing for a period of 72 hours. In this series of edits you stated that you were the same person as has been using the account. I've blocked that account for 72 hours for the massive amount of edit warring it engaged in today, and also blocking this account. As Yunshui notes above, I've blocked Brandon for the serious problems with his editing. However, edit warring wasn't the best way to fix this, and may have actually prolonged the problems. Once the block has expired, you are welcome to make useful contributions. If you would like to be unblocked, you may appeal this block by adding the text, but you should read the guide to appealing blocks first. Nick-D (talk) 10:35, 13 December 2011 (UTC)