Derek Smart's PhD a Fraud!!!!!!!!??
David Thompson
Why do you keep filling this newsgroup with your stupid little
flames? As if the guy had to prove his credentials to some petty
Usenet crank like yourself. Smart may sometimes act like a jerk, but
you come across as a raving asshole in every post you make. Your
constant attacks on DS were probably the only thing that could have
raised my sympathies for him and his game.
You really need to find a life. There's more to existence than
flaming game developers on the newsgroups, strange as that may sound.
On 27 Aug 1997 17:08:27 GMT, ft...@aol.com (Fthx) wrote:
<snip>
____________________________________________
'Give me back the Berlin Wall,
Give me Stalin or Saint Paul.
I've seen the future, baby,
It is murder.'
- Leonard Cohen, "The Future"
To email me, remove the capital letters from my address.
Derek Smart
On 27 Aug 1997 17:08:27 GMT, ft...@aol.com (Fthx) wrote:
<snip>
True to form, you _had_ to be the one to continue this
farce. Fair enough, let the facts speak for themselves.
Though I've been advised it's an invasion of privacy at best, my stance still
stands.
What this has to do with the game continues to ellude me but since it's my last
day here, we'll have to see what shakes. If anything, proving anything won't
make you or your kind go away. This has been proven time and time again as this
sordid saga continues. First it was the game, then the patches, then the
manual, etc. There is a pattern here which is why I started this history thread
in the first place. But, noooooo, you had to post this, _again_ when you could
have continued on the same thread. It just goes to show fthx. In fact, the same
method we used to find out someone's else's profile on AOL, is being used to
find yours because when we looked at hundreds of lines of the Agent database,
you were around since day one, didn't make a _single_ positive post and don't
even own the game. Considering that you followed me here once I left AOL, is
proof positive that there's something fishy going on. I would like nothing
better than to make you shut up by revealing what it is you crave the most.
But, it won't happen. Somehow, somewhere, there is a connection to 3000AD,
Take2 or this whole fiasco.
Also, the fact that you mention not having any academic access is by far the
closest to the truth I've heard about you. You come here day in and day out to
latch onto a complete fallacy with absolutely no hope of achieving anything.
It's easy to attack me but that's ok, I'm used to it. However, unlike you, I
have a purpose and a goal. I stand by everything I have said and done.
The bottomline is, I am who I am and there's nothing you can take away from
me.
You gain nothing and will achieve nothing. Deal with it.
Derek Smart, Ph.D.
Designer/Lead Developer
Battlecruiser:3000AD
UIN: 158435
"Some are born to win...others are born to lose
if you plan on losing here, you'll wish you were never born"
- Supreme Commander, Galactic Command
BC3K: Battle Zone, the internet multi-player environment for BC3K
coming soon to www.3000ad.com. Be there!
For more info on Battlecruiser:3000AD jack into www.bc3000ad.com
Media contact: John Stegenga, bc3000a...@mindspring.com
Derek Smart
On Wed, 27 Aug 1997 17:55:53 GMT, meph...@netcom.ca-NOSPAM (David Thompson)
wrote:
<snip>
This post is for the benefit of those strangers (my friends won't breathe a
word) to whom I have released this controversial (?) piece of information. Like
everything else in my personal life, it is personal and I would like to keep it
that way. I am not ashamed of my school (as someone pointed out) nor any other
aspect of my academic achievements. I expect you to be bound by the promise in
the mail, to keep this information confidential. Sure, it's not the best
school, but I have reaped the benefit of what I learned and it was enough for
me to stand by it and put my AI theories into my game.
Let Bill and Fthx rave and rant all they want, it changes nothing.
Thank you for understanding.
Christopher Holko
dsm...@pobox.com (Derek Smart) blithered:
>
>This post is for the benefit of those strangers (my friends won't breathe a
>word) to whom I have released this controversial (?) piece of information. Like
>everything else in my personal life, it is personal and I would like to keep it
>that way. I am not ashamed of my school (as someone pointed out) nor any other
>aspect of my academic achievements. I expect you to be bound by the promise in
>the mail, to keep this information confidential. Sure, it's not the best
>school, but I have reaped the benefit of what I learned and it was enough for
>me to stand by it and put my AI theories into my game.
>
>Let Bill and Fthx rave and rant all they want, it changes nothing.
>
>Thank you for understanding.
Sorry about quoting the whole message. However I do not usually post on
these threads even though I have the game, since the day it came out.
To Derek Smart, name the school, and the year. Otherwise I have no reason
to believe you. If you cannot do this simple task to back your claim then
you claim has no merit.
To the others, why bother?
Chris
Do you want to be happy?,
or do you want to be right?
Don C. Aldrich
On Wed, 27 Aug 1997 15:40:32 -0700, ska...@bigfoot.com (Skanky) wrote:
>
>Derek has no reason to answer to you Chris. He also has no reason to care
>what you believe. If he wants personal information to be private, so be it.
Except
1. He is still trying to sell a game, or future games/services, and
as such, it does behoove him to make a positive impression in public,
especially here, where a high percentage of the readers are his target
audience. He has shown signs lately of realizing this; we shall see.
2. Of course, there is nothing private about a degree. It is public
information. I can certainly understand why he would not wish to
pander to the lowest common denominator. This has nothing to do with
anything.
Unless, of course, he does not have such a degree. While I would
certainly expect he does--the programming involved certainly bespeaks
some acquaintence with the subject, and it would be foolhardy at best
to always bring it up when it was not true.
However, given his wont to respond to attacks rather than ignore them,
and given that failure to respond in this instance certainly seems to
give credence to the charges, one does begin to wonder, doesn't one?
Best,
==Dondo
B.A. Grinnell, '74
J.D. U of Minn., 77
Jessica Mulligan
On Wed, 27 Aug 1997 19:28:10 GMT, dsm...@pobox.com (Derek Smart)
wrote:
>On Wed, 27 Aug 1997 17:55:53 GMT, meph...@netcom.ca-NOSPAM (David Thompson)
>wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>This post is for the benefit of those strangers (my friends won't breathe a
>word) to whom I have released this controversial (?) piece of information. Like
>everything else in my personal life, it is personal and I would like to keep it
>that way. I am not ashamed of my school (as someone pointed out) nor any other
>aspect of my academic achievements. I expect you to be bound by the promise in
>the mail, to keep this information confidential. Sure, it's not the best
>school, but I have reaped the benefit of what I learned and it was enough for
>me to stand by it and put my AI theories into my game.
>
>Let Bill and Fthx rave and rant all they want, it changes nothing.
>
>Thank you for understanding.
>
Mr. Smart,
I've taken great pains to stay out of the flame-fest and to not take
sides; I don't know any of the people involved and it's just another
example of how people can be seperated byy a common language.
However, now I'm truly puzzIed by your attitude towards revealing the
institution that awarded your doctorate. The privacy argument makes
no sense; you give that up when your dissertation is accepted, the
doctorate awarded and the dissertation published. It's a requirement
of a PhD dissertation to advance the scope of human knowledge;
therefore they are published and routinely made available to all. It
becomes a matter of public record and is incorporated into the public
"brain trust."
This situation also goes to general trust. It's not like you're
being asked for your address or Social Security number; to my mind,
that would be unreasonable and reprehensible. I could care less if
you have a PhD, as I'm far more concerned with the quality of your
work. However, I'm going to be far less likely to take your claims
against Take2 seriously if I discover that you 'embellished' your
academic record. I venture to guess that other neutral parties feel
somewhat the same.
Unfortunately, your academic acheivements DON'T stand by themselves;
no one can seem to verify them, when such things are usually easily
verifiable. This should be a source of concern for you, not one of
glee at having foiled a flamer.
Again, I'm not taking sides in this. I urge you again to provide the
requisite information to allow your doctorate to be verified, silence
your detractors and move on.
My apologies for sticking my nose into this; this will be my last
missive on this particular subject.
Regards,
Jessica Mulligan
"Be ashamed to die until you do something for Mankind."
Jochen Heistermann
Fthx <ft...@aol.com> wrote:
: I would like to apologize for my failure to investigate
: the PhD story. I had been interested in getting
: a copy of the dissertation to laugh at, because I
: figured it didn't have any code in it, or was otherwise
: embarrassing.
Well, your purpose semmed to be clear from the beginning...
I did myself a dissertation in computer science and the
code I developed is (of course) NOT part of the thesis.
: I appeal to journalists to follow up this story. It
: isn't hard to research PhD credentials.
Hmmm - then find my thesis - I just give you my name:
Jochen Heistermann and my country - germany.
: >In case anyone was wondering, my Ph.D. is in Computer
: >Science and my thesis was on "Artificial Intelligence
: >& the art of computerized thinking"
Why not? My PhD is also in computer science and about
learning algorithms considering neural nets and genetic
algorithms (1993).
: Intelligence & the art of computerized thinking", published
: in the recent past, sounds bogus on its face.
?????
: >There is no dissertation by a Derek Smart in any technical
: >discipline, not in mathematics nor in any other science.
I am sure that there is no complete list. Again, find mine
and I would be astonished.
: >The inescapable conclusion is that Derek Smart is a habitual
: >liar and possibly even a pathological liar.
The same holds than true for me, because you won't find my
thesis on the net.
Jochen
--
Typhonus
>In fact, the same
>method we used to find out someone's else's profile on AOL, is being used to
>find yours because when we looked at hundreds of lines of the Agent database,
>you were around since day one, didn't make a _single_ positive post and don't
>even own the game. Considering that you followed me here once I left AOL, is
>proof positive that there's something fishy going on.
What arcane method is this? Having someone with an AOL account look him
up in the Member Directory. Once again, computing genius at work, folks.
Or are we discussing some more underhanded, illegal, hacking approach to
violating confidential information on AOL. Perhaps they would be
interested in it. Do tell?
Typhonus
PS. Didn't you just say you weren't going to post here anymore, Derek?
AOL's newsgroup reader is weak, so maybe things are out of sequence, but I
was sure you just said we wouldn't be hearing from you again until BC3K 2.0
is out. I checked the weather, and hell hadn't frozen over, so perhaps
you're confused.
By the way. Saying you're not going to post, and then immediately
posting, is a big, fat fib.
Also, what is this weird new last name information. Did I read this
right? Smart is not really it? It is K (some really long African-American
appellation) Smart? Hmmm...
Derek "KissMyAssGuysYou'reNotVery" Smart
Derek "KillThatPostBeforeSomebodyReadsIt" Smart
Derek "KurseAllWhoBoughtMyGame" Smart
Seems odd...oh well.
I'm still waiting to hear from the University on the PhD thing. The
listing people have done here only goes back to 1988. Syracuse has one
going back to 1861, believe it or not. Just in case you're the Highlander.
Of course, if the name differs, that would explain it. Whoops...no it
wouldn't. They are searching for any last name CONTAINING Smart. Which is
a pain...but hey, that's what they're there for.
It seems odd you're willing to post as private a thing as your Driver's
License Number, but not the simple fact of the school you attended, a
matter of public record which any employer could inquire into easily.
Still, since you did...
DMV records are public in most states, according to my handy "Be Your Own
Detective" handbook. Anybody in Florida want to run down to the DMV, say
they were hit by a BMW or Mercedes with 3000AD vanity plates, and see if
such an animal exists? Or run that Driver's license number?
Personally, I'm betting it's a 1972 Gremlin, maybe an El Dorado. It's
hard to accept that you've been working on this game for years, you have
not made a dime on it's release, it is a matter of public record that you
have made terrible financial sacrifices for it, but still somehow maintain
not one, but TWO expensive luxury cars. Unless you're one of those guys
with two great cars, a hot computer, a good stereo, and sitting on a
cardboard box while you type in a furnitureless apartment. (Hey, I've been
there!)
At this point, to be fair, even I grow weary of the whole thing. None of
it really has anything to do with this game, so I shouldn't give a rats's
ass, as Mark Asher points out. Still, it is hard to feel sorry for someone
who posts "I am smarter than any of you could ever imagine" in a public
forum. Frankly, had BC3000AD been 85% what it was claimed to be, Derek
could claim to be the Pope, and ask me to kiss his questionably-degreed,
odd-name having, irascible ass, and I would have done so with relish. I
love genius, even when it's hard to live with. But it ya wanna be a prima
donna, you've gotta dance "Swan Lake", and so far all I've seen is "Howard
the Duck".
Anyway, if you actually do go away for awhile, I hope things get better
for you. I hope you actually release a great version of the game, which I
will still cough up for (AFTER reading the reviews). I hope you get
friendlier, and your ego goes on the Slim-Fast plan, and you return a
gentler, kinder Derek
"Kan'tMakeFunOfMeAnyMoreCauseI'mRichAndIt'sABigCommercialSuccess" Smart.
I promise to give you due apology and just groveling should you:
A. Make it work well, and be a commercial success
B. Get to be a nicer guy
Good luck.
Tim Smothers
Rick Gridley wrote:
>
> ft...@aol.com (Fthx) wrote:
>
> Hell, you don't even have a name so how can you attack anyone you
> coward. Whats your name?
How do we know that Rick Gridley is your real name? This is
Usenet silly, a real-sounding name or a totally fake one can
both be just as easily not the real persons name. So if he
writes back that his name is John Smith, will you believe it?
Joel Adams
In article <skanky-ya02408000...@news.azstarnet.com>,
Skanky <ska...@bigfoot.com> writes
>In article <3404a77...@nntp3.mindspring.com>, cho...@mindspring.com wrote:
>
>>
>> Sorry about quoting the whole message. However I do not usually post on
>> these threads even though I have the game, since the day it came out.
>>
>> To Derek Smart, name the school, and the year. Otherwise I have no reason
>> to believe you. If you cannot do this simple task to back your claim then
>> you claim has no merit.
>>
>
>what you believe. If he wants personal information to be private, so be it.
>
If he wants his Phd kept private then why does he put it on his
signature?
--
Joel Adams
David Thielen (not real e-mail addr)
On 28 Aug 1997 12:50:58 GMT, Jochen Heistermann
<heis...@mchp.siemens.de> wrote:
...
>Well, your purpose semmed to be clear from the beginning...
>I did myself a dissertation in computer science and the
>code I developed is (of course) NOT part of the thesis.
>
>: I appeal to journalists to follow up this story. It
>: isn't hard to research PhD credentials.
>
>Hmmm - then find my thesis - I just give you my name:
>Jochen Heistermann and my country - germany.
...
Is this it (I don't read German):
nformatik - Forschung und Entwicklung, Band 3
Band 3, Heft 1, 1988
Jochen Heistermann, Martin Hulin, Petro Istavrinos, Narendra
Kumar Gupta: Partitionierung digitaler Schaltungen auf vorgegebene
physikalische Einheiten. 22-33
Found this in 2 seconds with Alta-Vista.
- dave
Jorge Diaz
In article <skanky-ya02408000...@news.azstarnet.com>,
Skanky <ska...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Derek has no reason to answer to you Chris. He also has no reason to care
>what you believe. If he wants personal information to be private, so be it.
Well, actually, he does have a reason.
Mr. Smart has been beating people over the head with his superior intelligence
for as long as this and other BC3K threads have been going on. While a PhD
does not necessarily equate with intelligence, the former is usually indicative
of the latter. *If* it turns out that he doesn't really have a PhD, or that he
just bought it (NOTE: I'm not saying it's true, I'm merely pointing out the
possibility of it), then every claim he's ever made along those lines rings
hollow. For Derek, it really is time to put up or shut up.
That said, I can certainly understand the fear that he would start seeing
'reviews' popping up if certain people got a hold of it. To that, all I can
say is that I doubt even one percent of the people on this newsgroup are
qualified to do that, so just don't. It's that simple.
As long as I'm actually diving in and replying to this thread, though, I wanted
to ask if anyone else has noticed Mr. Smart's habit of comparing himself or his
'belongings' favorably to those of others when he couldn't possibly know the
truth of the matter. Examples include referring to his fiancee who is so
amazingly beautiful that she'd make any woman we've ever dated look like a
witch. Or betting one's salary (even though ours would never be as huge as
his). Or the old fallback, 'I'm more intelligent than you could ever hope
to be.'
Does he know every woman I've ever dated? How much money I make? How
intelligent I am? Does he know these things for everyone else on this
newsgroup as well? Is he stalking all of us, hiring detectives to probe into
our personal lives? Or is this all just another example of his megalomania?
Don't answer, it was rhetorical.
--
Jorge Diaz | "I want you to remember, Clark... in all
Georgia Institute of Technology | the years to come, in your most private
Office of Information Technology | moments... my hand at your throat. I want
cco...@oit.gatech.edu | you to remember the one man who beat you."
Bemis Lovecraft
Being house-bound, with nothing better to do, I waded through all the
above crap. The only conclusion I can come to is: Derek Smart either
doesn't have a Ph.D. or he is ashamed of the school he got it from.
There is something fishy about someone who is pretentious enough to
consistently put a degree after his name but who refuses to divulge
where he got it from.
db High School Graduate
p.s. I won't tell you where I went to high school because that
information is too private.
I
Fthx wrote:
> I would like to apologize for my failure to investigate
> the PhD story. I had been interested in getting
> a copy of the dissertation to laugh at, because I
> figured it didn't have any code in it, or was otherwise
> embarrassing. But that's true of a lot of dissertations,
> so it didn't strike me as odd that Derek wouldn't
> encourage a study of his record. I'm not currently in
> an academic environment so I don't have access to a
> "free" dissertation search, so I never even looked for it.
>
> My real failure was that despite all my research, I did
> not see the signs, just like the folks who said the
> Berlin Wall would never come down (just days before it did).
> Bill Huffman did, and he's done fantastic work in exposing
> the [apparent] fraud. For all my belief that Derek is
> insane, and a pathological liar, I didn't put 2 and 2
> together. I blame myself. The current evasiveness is
> too much, and Derek has a pattern of ranting off-topic
> when confronted with embarrassing truths, so I am now
> fully convinced. But that won't convince everyone,
> so...
>
> I appeal to journalists to follow up this story. It
> isn't hard to research PhD credentials. While you're
> at it, you might look into http://www.acas.org (the only
> organization to "honor" Derek Smart). It is relevant
> to the story of Derek Smart and BC3K because the PhD
> has been used by Derek as a[n apparently] phony credential
> for as long as he has been hyping his game.
>
> Note, Derek Smart said this on March 16 in the "BC3K
> Appetizers" thread:
>
> >In case anyone was wondering, my Ph.D. is in Computer
> >Science and my thesis was on "Artificial Intelligence
> >& the art of computerized thinking" A subject which,
> >until a few years ago, was in it's infancy. Where
> >from? I'll let you do the research. The results will be
> >stunning at best. Trust me on this.
>
> Someone, please, step forward and say that Derek Smart
> really did write a thesis entitled "Artificial Intelligence
> & the art of computerized thinking" for an accredited
> university, and received a PhD in Computer Science.
> Let's see the proof, or end the "Derek Smart, Ph.D." charade
> once and for all. All I can add is that AI was in its
> infancy decades ago (though not really a boom topic until
> the 80's), and a Ph.D. dissertation titled "Artificial
> Intelligence & the art of computerized thinking", published
> in the recent past, sounds bogus on its face.
>
> The Bill Huffman expose:
>
> >Verifiable proof that Derek Smart author of BC3K does
> >NOT have a PhD has been gathered! This obnoxious jerk
> >has claimed to have a PhD in every one of his many posts to
> >this news group.
>
> >After many months and a number of queries into Derek's
> >PhD, it was strange to me that this loud mouth would
> >always remain curiously silent on this subject. When
> >I challenged him to name the college, subject and
> >year, he suspiciously declined. So, I went to our
> >technical library here at work and asked our librarian to
> >investigate. She searched for his dissertation. The
> >search covered the whole world and all technical disciplines.
> >Derek claims to have received his PhD at an unnamed polytechnic
> >school in the U.S.A. or England in Computer Science. It is a lie!
> >There is no dissertation by a Derek Smart in any technical
> >discipline, not in mathematics nor in any other science.
>
> >The inescapable conclusion is that Derek Smart is a habitual
> >liar and possibly even a pathological liar.
>
> >P.S. The librarian is doing an additional search to see
> >if his name comes up in ANY technical papers. I'll keep
> >you posted on the outcome.
>
> fthx
Jorge Diaz
In article <340B1500...@hooked.net>,
Bemis Lovecraft <eat...@hooked.net> wrote:
>Being house-bound, with nothing better to do, I waded through all the
>above crap. The only conclusion I can come to is: Derek Smart either
>doesn't have a Ph.D. or he is ashamed of the school he got it from.
>There is something fishy about someone who is pretentious enough to
>consistently put a degree after his name but who refuses to divulge
>where he got it from.
Why would someone who supposedly 'waded through all the above crap' post in
order to do nothing but say that which twenty others have already said before
him?
Please, people. That this thread is going to go on forever is a fact we've all
come to accept. But if you must post, at least try and say something new.
Posts with nothing but 'I think he should just name the school' or 'He has no
reason to name it' or 'There's definitely something fishy here' aren't even
interesting. At the very least, put a good knock-knock joke or something in
your post.