User:Desmond Hobson

NAME: Desmond Hobson
BORN: March 13, 1972
RESIDENCE: Lakewood, California

I was introduced to Wikipedia by a blogger named Neil deMause, who wrote a book called Field of Schemes in 1998. That book is about the use of taxpayer money to build professional sports stadiums. Since then, deMause has expanded the book into a blog and he links some of the items to Wikipedia. I saw something that I wanted to expand, and I did. In short order, that was followed by opening an account so they I could start contributing to the site.

I enjoy being a Wikipedian, and my only wish is that I could be paid for it. I was terminated from SourceCorp in Carson, California in November 2005 in a dispute over pay and hours. Before that, I worked for South Bay Vocational Center in Long Beach, California, from 2000 to 2004. SBVC is a company that helps the developmental disabled get jobs.

I graduated with a degree in information technology from California State University, Long Beach, in 1999. I am considering a return to college to update my skills.

I also have an overactive imagination. Per request of some of my fellow Wikipedians, I have moved all my fakeout "Wikipedia entries" to this new page: User:Desmond Hobson/sandbox

Updates

In response to my anti-vandalism efforts, I was told that I have not clogged up the servers, but I was warned to stop using Wikipedia in order to prove a point, so I have done so.
The Chris Benoit case remains unsolved. (Or if it has, no one is saying who did it.)

Some of the pages I have created

October 2004 Martinsville plane crash (originally called Bull Mountain airplane crash)
Krista Voda
Wolfe+585, Senior (my first one)
NASCAR on television and radio
History of National Football League in Los Angeles
Kevin Kiley (sportscaster)
Bonnie Sloan and Kenny Walker (only two deaf NFL players)
The District (newspaper) (published in Long Beach)
Britt Barefoot (please take off your kicking shoe at least once!)
E/I
Carter Blackburn
Fox affiliate switches of 1994

Pages I created, only to see them removed later

Rich Hollenberg (former host on HSN)
Steve Beverly (college professor and game show expert)
Bottom Line (ESPN) (network ticker)

I feel lucky!

For your contributions to Wikipedia and humanity in general, you are hereby granted the coveted Random Smiley Award
originated by Pedia-I
(Explanation and Disclaimer)

I won the Random Smiley on August 24, 2007. I would like to think that my efforts to try to expose a hole in the system that is supposed to keep vandalized pages from staying on the Wikipedia server was the reason I was selected. Then again, luksuh may just like me, really really like me!

Anyway, here are the details of my efforts and two examples: ...there is a weakness in the anti-vandalism system at Wikipedia. As I wrote in my sandbox about three months ago, pages that are removed or blanked due to vandalism are treated differently on the Wikipedia server. If the article is an original namespace, and there is vandalism, its entire history is removed. (Example) But if the vandalism is from a redirect page, the page is then retained in the article history and anyone can click onto it.(Example) Although I stumbled onto this weakness by accident, I want to share my experiences in hopes of improving the product and upholding the reputation of Wikipedia content. Honestly, I think that vandalized redirect pages should be treated the same as the original namespace pages - not to be mentioned in page histories. Anything you can do to change this is appreciated.

Not to mention that hard-drive space is precious and the vandalized re-directs are taking it up. This could increase the chances of future hard-drive failures and hamper legitimate attempts to edit pages.

An urgent plea

I hate it when this entire website is defined by the actions of "users" like the one that was on the Chris Benoit website Monday morning.[1] He has now admitted to putting a rumor online. The unfortunate part is that it turned out to be true. What if it was a prank like that on the Sinbad site earlier this year?

I admit that I have done some vandalism in my time, but that was either because I didn't know better, wanted to see what the site was like (because it doesn't do WYSIWYG printing), or to illustrate a hole in the process (redirects stay on the page history, but entire vandalized pages do not). I would never, ever do anything like what happened with the Benoit site.

I call on the Wikimedia Foundation to work with the authorities in Connecticut to find the person associated with the IP address and shut access to him or her immediately.

More importantly, I call on all of you to edit with care, dignity and respect. Right now, all eyes are on us and we cannot any more of these media circuses. The next time such a thing happens, I see a day when Wikipedia itself has to shut down for a whole day and I would hate to see that happen.

Thank you. - Desmond Hobson 17:43, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

UPDATE: Wikipedia did work with the authorities to isolate the IP address, and the editor confessed to a "coincidence." However, the person's name was never publicly released. See also: Chris Benoit murder-suicide#Wikipedia controversy

Book is out!

On April 6, 2007, I became a published author when I published The Buddy Wayne Chronicles. The book is an extended version of the website I have maintained for the last four years (see below for link).

I used the Lulu.com software to help me publish the book.

It is about Buddy Wayne Barefoot, a beloved NASCAR driver and recording artist who faces a career crisis, because the world is not as good as it could be for him.

One day, he flies back from a NASCAR race when an accident causes him to fly into a cloud. On the cloud is Idealia, a Utopian land that resembles the set of his television variety show, My Ideal World. Once he is there, Buddy Wayne lives a new life of challenge and intrigue as he deals with a different way of life, but one in which he is curious. He uses his platform to advocate a return to the traditional values for all the residents.

One day, a friend of his, Ryan Bowling, invites him to compete on the land's short track in a race involving Legends cars. He accepts the invitation, but faces a new distraction; his first cousin, Bunky Crabtree, is in secret negotiations to buy Idealia and tear down the farmland and reduce the open space, and build condominiums, a hotel, and a casino.

In addition, Brittany Spears, the near-namesake of the pop diva, wins B.W.'s heart - while B.W. is still married to his childhood sweetheart. A loophole paves the way for a possible marriage, but he has to keep it secret due to family disdain (in the vein of Romeo and Juliet).

Can Buddy Wayne solve these dilemmas, and win the big race?

Page requests

Leslie MacMitchell: This track and field star won the Sullivan Award in 1940.