The web site Real Science has posted an announcement of the death of blogger and former WUWT contributor Steve Goddard. WUWT has not yet been able to verify any of the details but Anthony has asked that the link be posted.
UPDATE :
An alternate Steve Goddard site is claiming that Real Science was hacked and that the death announcement is fake. WUWT is still unable to verify the details.
UPDATE 2:
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the report of the death of Steve Goddard is somewhat premature. When I first e-mailed Anthony with this news, his first response was “I don’t know this might be a fake is real name is ….” a subsequent e-mail responding to a link to the Real Science site noted “some of it jibes with what I know it some does not I’d be cautious…” then he asked me to post the link to the notice with a notice that we could not confirm anything. Apparently his caution was justified and WUWT readers can be assured that Anthony keeps a close watch on his interns even when he takes a rare few hours off.
UPDATE # 3
Steve Goddard himself appears to have weighed in here at WUWT:
I’m fine. I was off at a soccer game when this happened. Basically, someone I trusted went insane and took control of the site. I still don’t have access, as my IP address has been blocked.
Anything is possible says:
April 21, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Thought it was a hoax all along.
I’m pretty sure Steve isn’t 81, and I know for certain he doesn’t live in Dallas.
A case for “Moshpit of the yard?”
Last Time Mosh and I saw Steve Goddard, he was dressed in Lycra and a smart pair of shades, straddling a mountain bike in downtown Lisbon.
He didn’t look 80 years old…
🙂
“Basically, someone I trusted went insane and took control of the site.” Bummer.
DirkH says:
April 21, 2012 at 4:42 pm
I’ll add to it… If you have an account, you have an escalated privelege level to an anonymous, non-logged in user, allowing greater access to the site, meaning you could find an exploit, allowing you access to the member database and the possibility of decrypting passwords. How many people use the same passwords for everything they log into (from work, to cloud based email through to bank accounts)?
Particularly when that someone is trusted, for them to turn around and do this sort of thing…..
that must hurt terribly.
Steven, I hope you can get control of the site back soon.
Sorry to keep harping on it (given that this case was more personal) however here is one example of a recently patched exploit: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Mac-Flashback-Attack-Started-With-Compromised-WordPress-Blogs-345275/
Steve Goddard may not be dead but Richard Harter of Richard Harters World just died last night. He was a friend of my husband and an active Science Fiction fan… AND a Marine (can not forget that)
Harter had a very sharp wit. For example he wrote a fictional biography of Jane Austin (sp) that managed to get used by some kid plagiarising her homework. A quick look at his website is worth the time while it is still up.
AndyG55,
Steve can regain control by going to his serverhost who can shut down the backstabber then restore Steve’s access.
@ur momisugly sunsettommy…
just hope he can do it quickly ..
there are some sick people (or one very, very sick person) on that Real-Science site at the moment.
sunsettommy says:
April 21, 2012 at 5:04 pm
AndyG55,
Steve can regain control by going to his serverhost who can shut down the backstabber then restore Steve’s access.
====================================
It takes time……especially on the weekend. This time next week, everything will be fine.
About exploits.
http://xkcd.com/327/
So if I said ‘Steve Goddard Denies Own Death,’ would it be in bad taste?
AW and Steve Goodard the below email was sent to me as soon as I hit the submit button when I commented on another post on WUWT. Not sure you care but just in case I posted in the comments here.
from: Real Science
Scientist Steven Goddard has died in Dallas, aged 81. Paramedics were called to the scientist’s home at about midnight after he stopped breathing.
Goddard was taken to the medical centre early in the morning, and paramedics administered CPR in the ambulance. He did not regain consciousness and was reported dead about two hours later.
His friend, Susan Moore, told us: “He was a hilarious man. He had an outlook on life that was very honest and made you laugh with all the facts he came out with all the time.”
Goddard’s Dallas funeral at the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church and cremation are scheduled for Wednesday. He is survived by his wife, activist Sarah Goddard, and their three children.
P.S. We will have a day of silence tomorrow where there will be no posts. On Monday 23rd April 2012 a new management team will take-over. If you are interested in writing for Real-Science.com, please contact us at info@real-science.com
This is identity theft. Right? And done with malicious intent.
But I suppose Stephen Schneider and Peter Gleick would approve.
“Basically, someone I trusted went insane and took control of the site.”
Well there you go, I did not even know that he was married 🙂
Glad to hear you’re hangin in there Steve.
Everyone… just look at the times, they make zero sense and someone else should have noticed it. They (whoever ‘they’ are) say death was last night at midnight but Steve has made post entries throughout the day on real-science. Besides, afaik Steve lives in Colorado.
The number 81 may hint of the ‘calling card’, much beloved by crime-writers, being played.
Simply put this is where the arch-criminal and ‘genius-mastermind’ puts up their signature as a challenge to the eventually successful detective that the former believe is far too subtle
for their ‘inferior’ protagonist to solve.
It’s a tactic, unsucessfully, utilised time after time by soon-to-be-humbled by the more worthy good guys. For example, the ill-doer may for reasons of conceit and as a mechanism to bathe in the approbation of their admirers will ACTUALLY introduce their own names on the ‘calling card’
This is an extreme example and for reasons, totally hidden from me, is called the PG tactic.
Proven Genius, Protector of Gaia, Parental Guidance, Psychopathic Gambler spring to mind- but all are just WAGS on my part.
Steve’s work often includes analysis of RDHMO (Rigified Di-Hydrogen Monoxide) extent and behaviour, with time, on the third planet from the Sun.
The number 81 occurs, at first goggle-glance, with glacial extent and North Pole location.
His findings (that may not always be received favourably by some) have frequently received responses from individuals whom have felt it appropriate to respond in a more lateral way than is traditional.
Once again just sheer conjecture on my part.
“If you are interested in writing for Real-Science.com, please contact us at info@real-science.com”
Pishing expedition…
“Basically, someone I trusted went insane and took control of the site.”
Wives, eh?
johanna says:
April 21, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Oh, for the return of Hunter! Unfortunately, God broke the mould after Hunter was made ….
James Sexton writes:
“It takes time……especially on the weekend. This time next week, everything will be fine.”
He could also enter his cPANEL right now and stop him.
Crossing the normal
Like crossing the equator.
God Neptune erupts.
==============
I’m glad Steven is still alive.
I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, the scrutiny this story will bring.
Steve–
Glad to hear you’re feeling better! Carry on.
Fantasing about the death of skeptics is the penultimate step. Given what Zwick wrote, this hacking is not to be taken lightly. Long before this or the 10:10 video I explained that this stage would come.
First stage: declare the end of debate.
Second stage: ignore the other side.
Third stage: dehumanize the other side ( crazy, criminal, ect)
Fourth stage: Fantasize violence.
5th stage: real violence.
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This bears repeating. The world is getting more and more polarized and as curiousgeorge linked above, we probably will see new growth in groups like EarthFirst! who have already committed terrorist acts in the name of “the planet”. Those who are prominent skeptics, like Mosh, Anthony, Steve, Steve M, and others need to take heed of this and to attend to your physical as well as virtual security.
This is going to get worse, especially if the solar theory is correct and we begin to go into a significant cooling period. The cognitive dissonance of the split between reality and worldview will be more than some can handle. I have posted skeptical articles on an MSNBC blog for five years now, and you can see this in the evolution of the writing some of my long term adversaries.
This is not a joke, and the other side is playing for keeps because they truly believe that they are saving the planet and that a group of people are standing in their way. I was in London last year and read a book in a bookstore by a group that was praising the bloodletting of the French Revolution as a good thing, a necessary thing, in order “to set things right”. Political efforts related to climate change was at the top of their list.
I think what happened is there was this graph by Michael Mann of Steven Goddard’s life and it was flat for years and then it spiked up at the end to such an extent it was just assumed runaway aging caused all hell to break loose.