Brian,

I have read the following link:

http://orbittrap.blogspot.com/2009/08/has-2009-benoit-mandelbrot-fractal-art...

and consider it to be a well written, thoughtful and valid criticism. The fact that you chose to answer it with an unjustified virulent and spiteful attack rather than address the issues raised is further evidence of your ugly and despicable personality.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I doubt I'll change yours about me. However, Terry seems to have the mistaken belief that this contest is a community-driven project; it's not. The rules and procedures are set up by the contest organizers and sponsors, and if someone doesn't like them, they are not required to enter. And they're free to loudly proclaim why they think it's a travesty, but that means I'm equally free to explain why I think their complaints are lacking merit. As to my specific "unjustified virulent and spiteful attack", I see two main things that could be considered attacks in my post. The first is calling Maryetta Campbell a sock puppet for Paul Lee, which I will address below. The second is to indicate that the author of the article (Terry Wright) knows next to nothing about the contest and has a grudge against me. He knows "next to nothing" because he is not part of the planning process or the daily work of the contest; he only has guesses as to how it works on the inside. And me saying he "has a grudge" is a reasonable assessment of his behavior and commentary towards me over the past few years. It may have been a blunt way of stating it, but I don't think it's unreasonable. You are free to disagree. Terry's allegations of stacking the deck in favor of Ultra Fractal are nit-picking and sour grapes. They are only believable by those who buy into conspiracy theories. There is no UF-promoting conspiracy. "Maryetta", I refer to you as a "sock puppet" for Paul Lee because both of your email accounts were suspended from the Ultra Fractal mailing list, for forwarding messages from Paul Lee that I had already rejected from his account. One of them was subscribed scant minutes before posting its first message, a forward from Paul Lee. The other account lay dormant for months, but when it was finally used, it too was used for forwarding messages originating from exactly the same small IP block as the first suspended account. You are correct that I have never personally met you or Paul. Therefore I cannot conclusively say you do not exist. However, your messages originate from the same city as Paul (Dallas), you registered a Hotmail account to evade Paul's list message auditing, and your messages echo the tone and opinions of Paul Lee very closely. Whether you are a true sock puppet or merely a separate person who happens to act very much like Paul is to me a fairly thin distinction. Damien Jones