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Jesux, Hoax Confirmed
[Dilbert] was the first of many to send us over to the self-evident reality that Jesux was a hoax. Check out the story we did about it for more details. *sigh* I'm glad this whole thing is done with. Note from Roblimo: Thanks to Alert Slashdot Reader Suraj Peiris, we know the true identity of the Jesux perpetrator, but as a courtesy, we're not publishing it - or his real e-mail address or the password he uses on his anonymous e-mail accounts. (Pudge, if you're reading this, you'd better change that password RAW!)
A previous poster noted roblimo's e-mails to the Jesux perpetrator as proof that slashdot tries to confirm stories, and using this as basis for a claim that they are better than zdnet in this regard.
That's absurd. slashdot -did- run the story... as soon as zdnet did. This proves that when it comes down to a choice between journalistic integrity and keeping up with the zdnets, slashdot chooses the latter.
Aside from the hypocritical game of catch-up played with zdnet, the e-mails reveal how rude and arrogant slashdot editors are.
The first letter begins innocently enough, and yet the flaws in roblimo's journalism are apparent immediately. Instead of objectively asking for facts, roblimo makes the immediate assumption that the project is a hoax, and demands proof that it is not. He also shows a complete lack of respect for anything anonymous, despite the fact that many slashdot submissions are anonymous, and this site has always upheld the right of its users and contributors to remain anonymous. (Given the backlash of random hate against Jesux, would -you- have revealed your identity, even if it were real?) He also assumes that an unknown voice giving an unknown name and assurance of the validity of the project will prove that it is for real. It wouldn't have; a phone call saying 'yes, it is real' is no more assuring than an e-mail saying 'yes, it is real.' So why did roblimo want it? He didn't; what he really wanted was contact information. Fortunately, the author wasn't playing his game.
The next letter is even more insulting in its blatant and unreasonable bias towards believing that the project is a hoax. He also hints at something that is expressed more clearly in his final letter.
roblimo closes the communication by inferring for a third time that the project is a hoax. He then proceeds to tell the author that, real or not, he would get nowhere without slashdot's help, and finally breaks down and outright insults him. His reference to 'the worldly attention our site would offer' is hysterical; I'm not sure, but I'm willing to bet that more people read zdnet than slashdot. With regard to his closing words ('Real Christians are proud of themselves and do not hide, Satanlike, behind lies'), I do not feel I need to add anything. The incredibly unprofessional and unnecessary insult stands on its own.
And then we have this article. Roblimo tells the world that he -has- dredged up contact information for the author, and that 'as a courtesy,' they are not posting it. 'As a courtesy'? What is 'Your Rights Online' and the continuing existance of Anonymous Cowards all about? So that we can be told that our privacy is a 'courtesy' that will be withdrawn when we don't respond the way a slashdot editor would like?
roblimo's thinly veiled threat to expose the author's contact information and personal passwords is nothing short of disgusting, especially coming on the heels of his insulting e-mails to said author. I don't think that anybody with his outrageous and inexcusable attitude should be the editor of a high school newspaper, much less a high-profile site such as slashdot.
I eagerly await the -1 moderation of roblimo's pals.