Thursday, December 4, 2003
I thought the following entry theft by Rafti was pretty funny… The one on the left is written by me, the one on the right is stolen by him:
| Xylocaine |
| Xylocaine (lidocaine) is one of the common kinds of anesthetic. In it's most popular form, it is a liquid injectable anesthetic, usually in a 2% or 1% strength solution. It is often combined with epinephrine.
It should be noted that xylocaine is, in most countries, by prescription only and may only be administered legally by doctors. Clients should be wary of any piercing studio that offers it in these countries. |
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| Xylocaine |
| Xylocaine Also known as Lidocaine; is one of the common kinds of anesthetic. In its most popular form, it is a liquid injectable anesthetic, usually in a 2% or 1% strength solution. It is often combined with epinephrine.
Lidocaine toxicity can occur when a very large amount of Lidocaine is injected. A common procedure requiring vast amounts of Lidocaine is Super-Wet Technique Liposuction. It should be noted that Xylocaine is, in most countries, by prescription only and may only be administered legally by doctors. |
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What's funny about this particular entry is what he didn't steal from me, he stole from rhinoplasty4you.com. Note the two sentences starting Rafti's second paragrah. Now note this text from the plastic surgery site:
“Lidocaine toxicity is something that can occur with way too many injections of Lidocaine. A common procedure requiring vast amounts of Lidocaine is Tumescent and Super-Wet Technique Liposuction.”
Sound familiar? It really gets me wondering whether Rafti wrote any of the text in this ebook.
I just can't figure out if Rafti's just got the biggest balls in the world and thinks he can get away with wholesale theft of other people's work, or if he's so self-deluded that he genuinely believes he wrote it… Sadly, I really do think it's the latter. The funny thing is that now he's threatening me for making false allegations about him.
Wednesday, December 3, 2003
This is from the kooky interview I'm doing right now… The entry on the left is written by me and is an old BME/Glossary entry, which would date to I think 1999 or so. The entry on the right is from “The Body Piercing Encyclopedia” (credited to William Rafti), which Unimax* started selling this summer. To me the two entries look a little too similar… can anyone say plagiarism?
| EPINEPHRINE (aka ADRENALIN)
Epinephrine is commonly combined with injectible anesthetics due to its vascular constrictive properties. That is, it causes blood vessels to shrink closed. This means first that the anesthetic will last longer (since it is not carried away in the blood), and second, the procedure will bleed less.
It should be noted that because of its vasoconstrictive properties should be avoided in extremities and digits since the small blood vessels can be permanently collapsed. It should be probably also be avoided by those with heart conditions — injecting 5cc's of Xylocaine with Epinephrine into your balls will make you feel like you've just run around the block.
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Epinephrine (Adrenalin)
Epinephrine is commonly combined with injectable anesthetics due to its vascular constrictive properties. That is, it causes blood vessels to shrink closed. This means first that the anesthetic will last longer (since it is not carried away in the blood), and second, the procedure will bleed less.
It should be noted that because of its vasoconstrictive properties should be avoided in extremities and digits since the small blood vessels can be permanently collapsed. It should probably also be avoided by those with heart conditions.
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This is only one of dozens and dozens of things I noticed were stolen from BME (including parts where he'd even copied typos!), to say nothing of the material stolen from other sites. I was interviewing Rafti, so I asked him about it.
BME: Why did you steal material from BME?
Rafti: “All mankind is of one author, and is one volume…” -John Donne.
BME: No, I'm serious, why did you steal my articles and say you wrote them?
Rafti: I had permission.
BME: No, you didn't. Why did you steal my articles?
Rafti: With over 6 billion people in the world thinking millions of thoughts each there is probably no thought that you can think that hasn't been thought before by someone else. I'd expect parallels.
BME: Look, you copied WORD FOR WORD. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?
Rafti: No one else has had a problem like this.
Oh.
My.
God.
Seriously, it's like banging my head against a brick wall.
The full interview will be published probably later this week or on Monday. By the way, before you get too bloodthirsty, my review isn't all bad — I do have some good things to say as well. This is just the one that's driving me bonkers… I can't figure out if Rafti is a total crook, and is stealing stuff on purpose, or if he's a total kook and doesn't even know that he's doing it (and really believes he wrote it all).
Well, it's funny either way.
I probably should call a lawyer, but I'd feel guilty bankrupting this dude if he's really just some pathetic guy who thinks he wrote everything he downloaded. It's kind of sad actually.
* Update: Unimax has suspended sales of this eBook pending confirmation of my allegations.
Not a real news entry… Just two stories I saw while I wait for this site map to build:
- United Nations Shooting - A security guard failed to check in. When the other guards checked on him, they found him dead from a bullet wound to the head. Other than the obvious there's nothing to indicate it was a suicide (not that I'm suggesting it's anything but, but committing suicide at the UN is a kind of asinine thing to do). Draw your own conclusions I guess as to what comes next.
- Bush's Drinking Daughter Goes 'Pansy' - I doubt this story is going to stay online long at that URL, so here's the excerpt that I got a kick out of:
Bush's daughter Barbara was spotted recently having a gay old time at a concert by all-gay punk band Pansy Division. Barbara and friends cozied up in the back room drinking, while out front the band screamed their queer hearts out. The band reportedly dedicated their rabid anti-Bush song, Political Asshole, to the first daughter during the show. Daddy's just got to love that.
