Re: Re: I broke the sum into pieces
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg105102] Re: [mg105089] Re: I broke the sum into pieces
- From: Daniel Lichtblau <danl at wolfram.com>
- Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:32:50 -0500 (EST)
- References: <4B0551F8.1050308@sbcglobal.net> <144987c90911190624s3f42b7e7g6545e37062631d1f@mail.gmail.com> <200911201140.GAA03538@smc.vnet.net>
Roger Bagula wrote: > Alexander Povolotsky wrote: >> Did you verify that with your friend - that guy who runs Mathematica group ? >> On 11/19/09, Roger Bagula <rlbagula at sbcglobal.net> wrote: >> >>> [...] >>> > Alexander Povolotsky, > > No I haven't reported this. > Since the Mathematica guys ( Trott and Wolfram himself) put up my Beta > cube fractal > without giving me any credit for it, they are on my list, ha, ha... > [...] I think this calls for a response. First, let me agree that it is unfortunate you were not given appropriate credit for your work. That said, I will point out both that there are ways in which the damage was self inflicted, and that there have been (and continue to be) efforts to rectify it. Here is the demonstration in question. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/BetaCube/ As you have found (and posted to MathGroup), it now cites "Based on work by: Roger Bagula". This came about on October 27 of this year. I had received a request to get your name added on October 25, a Sunday, added it Monday, and the automated update publication took place early on the 27th. So I'd say it was handled quickly, at least from the time it came to the attention of someone on the Demonstrations Team (myself, in this instance). We all agree the demonstration is based on work from a MathGroup post of yours: http://forums.wolfram.com/mathgroup/archive/2004/Jul/msg00509.html Your original version predates the arrival of Manipulate, and moreover would not run fast enough in the original form. So people here reworked it to fit the framework of the then-under-development Demonstrations project. This was in fact done at the request of Stephen Wolfram--who I gather had seen the MathGroup post--and I guess that's how the "Suggested by:" field came to bear his name. Here is where things start to come back to you. People in the Wolfram Demonstrations project are reluctant to get mixed in anything involving yourself. I expect you know why, and I'll not discuss that further. Suffice it to say, they have sound reasons, and hence made no comment regarding the authorship. I question my own judgement in responding now, but as I take responsibity for trouble-shooting such issues involving Demonstrations, I feel it is something of an obligation. I will also mention that there are ways to bring improper citation to our attention. Best at the time of your note (last month) was to fill out the "Give us your feedback" form at the bottom of the demonstration's web page. More recently the pages have been revised, and there is now also a button "Report an issue", which also brings up the comment box. The difference being, it is even more obvious that a comment can be in the form of reporting problems such as missing attribution. In any case, we have had issues raised with other demonstrations, both in terms of correctness and citation. And we have endeavored to address such issues. Back to the matter at hand. I've spent more time today than I care to recall in going over the original code in the MathGroup post, the various stages of development of the final product, who contributed what when, etc. My conclusion is that the authorship should change to give credit to you. Below that it will also state "Additional contributions by: The Wolfram Demonstrations Team". I will take the liberty of assuming this is a desirable outcome from your point of view. Daniel Lichtblau Wolfram Research
- References:
- Re: I broke the sum into pieces
- From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@sbcglobal.net>
- Re: I broke the sum into pieces