tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post4506279527464379586..comments2024-03-17T12:02:12.410-04:00Comments on Love That Max : The mystery of the missing iPads—and unrest in the special needs communityEllen Seidmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01433429847255621203noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-61424567802040528532018-03-24T00:11:50.319-04:002018-03-24T00:11:50.319-04:00We're a gaggle of volunteers аnd opening a new...We're a gaggle of volunteers аnd opening a new <br />scheme in our community. Υour web site pгovided ᥙs wіth valuable information to work on. Y᧐u've performed ɑn impressive task <br />and our whоle community mіght be grateful to y᧐u.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-12793642787986298972015-01-14T10:14:15.153-05:002015-01-14T10:14:15.153-05:00This the first I have ever heard of this (from Dia...This the first I have ever heard of this (from Diary of a Mom) and am curious what happened? I searched it, and found Mike's twitter page, but it appears to be mostly business, with two pictures of kids, one a boy and one a girl, that look similar to the girl I saw, called Marissa, but neither looked disabled, and there was no mention of her. The blog itself was removed and restarted, both nothing between 2008-2012, and everything related to the blog is from July 2011. I'm just curious if this was ever resolved?Vivhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03826602020618471581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-28906911977882969122013-11-25T13:43:40.622-05:002013-11-25T13:43:40.622-05:00Most likely you or Google deleted it. I highly dou...Most likely you or Google deleted it. I highly doubt Ellen removed it, if she had it would say this comment was removed by a blog admin. <br />Sophianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-78929152706619765542011-10-02T21:31:35.772-04:002011-10-02T21:31:35.772-04:00Did anything ever happen with this??? It is severa...Did anything ever happen with this??? It is several months later...what are the consequences for this man?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-43976098706769744612011-07-20T14:47:23.918-04:002011-07-20T14:47:23.918-04:00Fark isn't a nice place full of nice people. W...Fark isn't a nice place full of nice people. We like it that way. The price of the freedom to do what I want is other people's freedom to do what they want, even if what they want happens to be being a dick. It's not for everyone, especially if you're not in practice with mentally filtering out the dicks, but it works for us. And when you compare it to 4chan or SomethingAwful, Fark is downright politically correct.<br /><br />But in the end, that's not what this blog is all about, so I should really not derail this thread. Sorry. The offer of whatever help I can give is the important part. (I think the Fark thread has died of age/disinterest, so getting the actual geniuses involved may be more difficult) If there's anything I can explain, look up, or whatever, I stand (well, sit) willing to do it for you. This kind of thing rubs me the wrong way.Worldwalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925987973990006570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-80802969206109766612011-07-20T14:23:30.190-04:002011-07-20T14:23:30.190-04:00Irreverence: Awesome. But some of the comments abo...Irreverence: Awesome. But some of the comments about kids with special needs that cropped up on Fark were crude, mean, hurtful and just plain ignorant.Ellen Seidmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01433429847255621203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-66645145075443762012011-07-20T12:38:42.442-04:002011-07-20T12:38:42.442-04:00By the way, with regard to the IP address of the s...By the way, with regard to the IP address of the server that hosts this guy's blog: That has nothing to do with where he is physically. For example, I have a website that is over a thousand miles away from where I am. A website is located wherever you've rented space for it, and that could be anywhere in the world. That's just how the Internet works.<br /><br />I'm not one of the Fark geniuses (I'm from there, yes, but no genius) but if anyone has any basic 'net questions, I'll try to answer them.Worldwalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925987973990006570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-1078772076066784722011-07-20T05:02:58.650-04:002011-07-20T05:02:58.650-04:00Sounds like a scam.Sounds like a scam.avictorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079333831005614500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-88821212891446560832011-07-20T04:43:52.124-04:002011-07-20T04:43:52.124-04:00I understand what you mean by "irreverent&quo...I understand what you mean by "irreverent" Worldwalker,and it's not that I have no sense of humor... it's just that some of those comments might be very hurtful to people who live with and love on people with special needs every day, ya know? I get what you're saying about some of the folks at Fark perhaps being able to help... I guess I just wanted folks HERE to know what they might have to wade through before they get to anything helpful... just in case they don't want to deal with it, given everything else that's been going on. That's all.J.C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05872783262247419217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-34648271975250314042011-07-20T01:30:45.356-04:002011-07-20T01:30:45.356-04:00Yes, we Farkers do tend to be, um, irreverent, and...Yes, we Farkers do tend to be, um, irreverent, and we've got our trolls too (and sometimes it's difficult to tell exactly which of us they are). We're not a huggy, cuddly bunch, even the best of us. But there are some very, very technically clueful people around Fark -- the exact kind of people who can research something like this and track down the facts, which seem to be in short supply here.<br /><br />This reminds me of the story of "Karyn" in LegendMUD -- a young woman who died tragically, or so people were convinced, until some research determined that her entire existence was made up (you can read the whole story on Salon, though I first heard it elsewhere). It also reminds me of several cases of deceptive identities in fan fiction communities. And, most of all, of the excuses (and sock puppets) presented by the owner of a small computer company I will not name (you can read the whole thing on MobileRead if you search a bit) who had innumerable reasons as to why customers had never gotten the products they paid for. There's too much vagueness, too many excuses, too many references to the mysterious "them" who keep the good person from fulfilling his promises. It feels wrong.Worldwalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925987973990006570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-75999421455982710582011-07-20T00:28:46.939-04:002011-07-20T00:28:46.939-04:00Regarding Fark: Guys, I just went and took a look ...Regarding Fark: Guys, I just went and took a look at some of the comments people are leaving regarding this story, and many are not respectful of those with special needs, to say the least. The very first comment invokes the "r-word" and it goes downhill from there. Feel free to read and comment if you want at Fark, but fair warning that you might not like everything you see there... it may hurt you more than it helps. Just FYI.J.C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05872783262247419217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-2737985628857395002011-07-19T20:48:10.433-04:002011-07-19T20:48:10.433-04:00All of you that gave any money to this person, &qu...All of you that gave any money to this person, "You have been had bad."<br />There are no ipads, there's been no threats, there's no on-going police investigations. Someone else needs to actually report this scam to the law. He's telling you just enough to keep you wondering. Wise up.keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03460160130185480647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-35304506068133793052011-07-19T18:10:45.111-04:002011-07-19T18:10:45.111-04:00You know this is a complete scam now. I vote for p...You know this is a complete scam now. I vote for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.T.L. McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04573556142524378059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-21130408710913691192011-07-19T17:19:40.307-04:002011-07-19T17:19:40.307-04:00Yes I am from fark.com as well. It's a site th...Yes I am from fark.com as well. It's a site that links to news articles submitted with alternative headlines by it's users. The headlines are often humorous or contain common meme's from the net. You will find that although some of the fark.com people have a bit of a dark sense of humor there are some things like this we all take seriously. I'd encourage you all to post on the forum for the article and raise more awareness, some of the farkers are very tech savvy and could possibly help out.<br /><br />http://www.fark.com/comments/6399736/-1-Blog-about-your-special-needs-daughter-2-Hold-raffle-w$5-processing-fee-to-give-away-iPads-3-Profit-to-tune-of-$30000-4-Oh-wait-people-actually-want-iPadsChristopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781312194569045869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-9928482177755828472011-07-19T15:03:36.842-04:002011-07-19T15:03:36.842-04:00For those interested, I'll share again. All t...For those interested, I'll share again. All the emails that were sent to "winners" are located in a post on my blog.<br /><br />http://fxsadayatatime.blogspot.com<br /><br />Unfortunately, this story has no resolution. We may never know what happened or why or even close to the truth. I was hoping some national news outlet may pick this up and do some investigating, but it seems after this long it isn't happening. Hopefully some of the police reports will be investigated though. Just an all around terrible situation.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10988617350867670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-7591707804988351422011-07-19T14:53:38.267-04:002011-07-19T14:53:38.267-04:00http://www.fark.com
Comment is about 7-8 down fro...http://www.fark.com<br /><br />Comment is about 7-8 down from top at last count; see above.<br /><br />QMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-48734573391701588552011-07-19T14:40:28.575-04:002011-07-19T14:40:28.575-04:00Many of the "sock puppets" who came here...Many of the "sock puppets" who came here (myself included) got the link from fark.com, a news aggregator. Doesn't mean we're Mike or anyone else. <br /><br />The link (minus URL due to the way it links)<br /><br />1: Blog about your special-needs daughter. 2: Hold raffle (w/$5 processing fee) to give away iPads. 3: Profit to the tune of $30,000. 4: Oh wait, people actually want the iPads?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-68889478784088158042011-07-19T14:09:24.815-04:002011-07-19T14:09:24.815-04:00Mike can easily post a copy of the police report a...Mike can easily post a copy of the police report and the name of the lawyer who advised not to send the iPads. That should confirm at least some of his story.Big Natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535280601177590216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-58659429985205378962011-07-19T14:08:08.894-04:002011-07-19T14:08:08.894-04:00I have no connection to the SN community but found...I have no connection to the SN community but found this story through Metafilter:<br /><br />http://www.metafilter.com/105658/iPadGate<br /><br />Two questions that have been brewing in my mind while reading the posts:<br /><br />1) has ANYONE actually met Mike? Can anyone confirm that he's even a real person?<br /><br />2) has anyone compiled a list of ALL 40 winners? SO MANY of the comments are from people who won or had children who won. I strongly suspect there were more than 40 people who were declared "winners" and who were strung along.<br /><br />Also, there is publicly available domain info for Marissasbunny.org including Mike's address, phone number, and email. Won't post them here, but has anyone tried to verify whether Mike is legit using this information?<br /><br />Very interested to see how this ends.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16006515850062149911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-21143319749281045912011-07-19T13:52:12.455-04:002011-07-19T13:52:12.455-04:00correction: "either = ether." Sorry!correction: "either = ether." Sorry!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-80490177528324524402011-07-19T13:50:29.186-04:002011-07-19T13:50:29.186-04:00I think my original post was lost in the either so...I think my original post was lost in the either so I'll sum it up again in fewer words.<br /><br />My guess is that Mike saw that ad on Sears.com where they incorrectly listed iPads for $69. Knowing that this price was "too good to be true," but believing the company would "honor" the $69 iPad order, he went ahead and purchased a number of iPads at the $69 price. When Sears refused to "honor" the $69 price, Mike had no iPads to give. And the money had already been donated. <br /><br />None of this is illegal, BTW but Mike is only compounding his trouble (and reputation with the community) by bringing in the "Black Hats" (bosses, police, deranged winner of iPad) because he is, at heart, a good person and thought he'd be able to come up with another idea before the SHTF.<br /><br />This is only my guess...but otherwise I have to believe that Mike and his child are a myth. I don't care to do that just yet.<br /><br />Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-66268757755713496612011-07-15T13:01:06.351-04:002011-07-15T13:01:06.351-04:00@Stephanie: The Mike Wuerthele on Facebook appears...@Stephanie: The Mike Wuerthele on Facebook appears to be a different guy, Michael D Wuerthele, based in Pittsburgh. He's also on Linkedin and seems to have a fairly public identity and not be connected to this situation, or at least I don't think he'd put his employer name on Linkedin if he was the same guy. I think Michael-no-initial-Wuerthele in VA is probably the MB Mike.<br /><br />Www.zabasearch.com is a fascinating yet scary site where you can look up everyone of the same name and see what towns they're in, by the way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-3529990484849406322011-07-14T22:32:22.432-04:002011-07-14T22:32:22.432-04:00Here's the part that doesn't ring true to ...Here's the part that doesn't ring true to me (taken from the first post on the blog about what happened to Marissa) <br /><br />"She made this odd jerking motion. Then again. Then ten more times. I started to freak out about it and called my wife at work, called anybody I could try to talk to. Nobody answered, everybody was busy with life’s mundane tasks. Frantically, with the teary baby still in my arms, I turned to Google, and researched epilepsy quickly, but didn’t find anything relevant or that looked like what she was doing. I was relieved- but only for the moment."<br /><br />I don't know of a parent that when their child was acting in the way described, would, "call everyone they knew AND google" but not call 911.Jackiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698364720372038332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-90438085461885921352011-07-14T21:23:47.075-04:002011-07-14T21:23:47.075-04:00http://www.facebook.com/people/Maria-Santos/150480...http://www.facebook.com/people/Maria-Santos/1504801541#!/people/Maria-Santos/1504801541?sk=info<br /><br />Here is Maria Santos' facebook page - the Maria Santos who I believe IS the mother of Marissa (doesn't that look like Marissa in the picture??) But it does NOT look like Mike W in the picture.Gina Pantshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14312846433920780895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-85520975049256431682011-07-14T18:33:11.805-04:002011-07-14T18:33:11.805-04:00LOL! Lacey - that doesn't surprize me at all....LOL! Lacey - that doesn't surprize me at all. His mea culpa message was almost verbatum an email that I had sent him hours earlier. THAT is why I have such a hard time believeing that Marissa is his. I personally think that Maria (malou) Santos is either the mother or a nanny, and he has maybe watched these kids grow up. But they aren't his, IMHO. Too much disconnect.....Ugh!<br /><br />StephStephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04445611514793769030noreply@blogger.com