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Statement from Sembee / Mestha

So it would seem that I have been spotted.

I would like to confirm to anyone who has suspected that Mestha and Sembee are the same person.  

I was hoping to get away with it for at least six weeks, unfortunately I am told I was spotted after four days. Apparently newcomers are simply not that good with the system that quickly! I just wanted the expert skin.

Although I didnt exactly make it hard. Mestha is another name for the Egyptian god Amset, which if anyone knows me is my formal trading name. (See the Sembee profile - https://www.experts-exchange.com/M_2289328.html)

So why did I start posting again under another name?
Number of reasons.
- I was bored after the new year.
- I saw lots of questions not being answered, which I could have covered very quickly, or where the answers were taking their time to get to a conclusion.
- I also felt that as the account Sembee I had nothing else to achieve. After not posting for the best part of 12 months I would be unable to catch AngelIII, so there was no point trying.

However the main reason was that I had expressed in the past the challenge of going from a standing start with zero points on 1st Jan 2008, no cleanup or previous year boost and see how far I could get in a single calendar year. In previous years my January points were always given a good start by questions being accepted from the previous year or cleanup. (Look at Sembee now  at the time of writing that account has 11,500 points  despite not posting in a new question since March.) I concluded that if I could finish in the top five for the year then that would be a tremendous achievement, as I would have the handicap of no cleanup. Therefore I decided to make that year long commitment.

What happens now? I dont know. Technically I broke the rules by having two accounts.
I am also aware I upset a few people, which I apologise for. In my defence I dislike seeing poor answers or poor behaviour in questions. Those that know my posting style will know I have high standards and will defend myself and my work.

Thats it, I have confessed. It was hard work not to sign with my usual name (I think I only did it once) and to try not to post in my usual way, but when you have been posting as long as I have on here and elsewhere, you have a style that is hard to shake off.

If you would like to comment, please do so, but remember that moderators are likely to see the thread as well, so behave. ;-)

Now you can continue with your usual schedule.

-M / Simon.

(If a passing moderator could zero the points out, that would be nice. )
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Mestha
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ASKER

Expecting me to remember? I don't have permissions to that sort of thing anyway... ;-)

-M or should it be Simon - I can't decide!
Avatar of Guy Hengel [angelIII / a3]
Good to have "you" back...

well, almost. honestly, I think you should get back to "Sembee" account.
and get that Elite level (both overall and Exchange zone) !
especially the Zone one would make you the first one, so that is an achievement, and you can turn it around as you like.

don't hide behind the cleanup, everyone get's points from cleanup!
yes, you got more, but that's for good reasons, right?

now, if you came and announced that you were also hielo, <lol> :)

final thought: as you "left" because of too much working on EE, why get into that "trap" again?
just limit your daily participation to just those questions that are getting neglected etc...

angel eyes
Hehehe, I had spotted you too....I am so happy
Cheers
Nitin
I agree...I learn a lot from your posts on here and elsewhere. Thanks Simon!

Regards.
~coolsport00
Vee,

  no, I did not know that ...
  anyhow, in that case:
  https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/24043758/Remove-Leading-Zeros-From-A-Variable.html

Simon,
  after a day of thought:
    I think it would be really unfair for the real Rookies in regards to the EE annual awards if you continued with this new account...

Best Regards,

a3
Avatar of Mestha

ASKER

I think someone has looked at the points table and decided to try and nobble the competition...

-M
Simon.
@Vee_Mod: thanks for the clarification ... I was suspicious about that statement, but missing the smiley ... <lol>

@Simon: ok, I first had to look up what "nobble" means ...
and assuming you meant it seriously, directed at me, I think you got me wrong!

if it's Sembee or Metha who get's more point this year (than myself), what matters is that you helped in tons of exchange questions, which is the main point. for me, all the rest is peanuts.

the thing is that you would take the "rookie award" from someone else who is really rookie.
would you really like to "win" that award ????
as you might know, there shall be a core conference 2010, with the top experts etc invited...
you would also take a Rookies place (I might be wrong, though, in reality).

a3
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ASKER

You don't have to worry about me taking any place at a conference, unless the conference is moved to the UK, as I don't fly.

-M
Simon.
hi mestha/sembee,

unless for this post i would have not realised that you are sembee. But was really amazed at the way "mestha" had achieved master status in exchange.

I had been a member on EE for over 5 years and my effective contribution has been in the last year and also those higher ranks are what drags me to EE to continously answer questions and achieve more points and certifications.

I happened to post answer to one of the questions you have answered and i got the points.

I have asked my freinds to start posting on EE as this is not only a great place to find answers but also great place to understand different environments and answer them.

I have put up a status message on my gmail stating that If "mestha" could score 150000 points in 7 days why cant you and they were really amazed at the number of points you garnered.

I would certainly agree with other experts that if you compete as a fresher you would deny the new Experts the Chance of becoming "rookie" of the year or "Expert" of the year awards.

But yes your new avatar whould certainly be a teaser to people who want to catch up with the top guys for the year.

goodluck.

bhanu
Hi Simon - Welcome back. Whichever account your using doesn't matter much as its the quality of the posts that counts.

Anyway I know this is not the place but can any of the Exchange Experts out there take a look here - I've stalled.

Thanks.

Message Tracking database on Exchange 2003 cluster
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/23966867/Message-Tracking-database.html
I agree. Good to have you back.
But rules are rules - and I know if I had done something like having two accounts, Nm and VeeMod would have kicked me into touch - one of the reasons why I took some time out from EE as well.
It isn't what you know, it is who you know, and in this case - who is liked more.
Avatar of Sean Stuber
Sean Stuber

I agree it's good to have you back but I think the Mestha account should be terminated and use the Sembee account.  
Not only is it following the rules, and as one time leader and former moderator it seems like you should be promoting them
But I also think it's very artificial to "rookie" status.  Also, the "single calendar year points" thing is really not that important.
As you already noted, the points you're getting from lingering open questions is trivial, but, if you "REALLY" wanted to do that, I'm sure some admin/moderator could pull that information for you.

In fact, why not make that a feature request?  How hard would it be to add an option to the Ranking/HOF lists to ignore points for questions NOT in the selected year.  As a database guy myself, I imagine it "should" be as simple as a conditional "where clause".  Seemsl like it should be a couple hours work tops.
i have to agree  it's great to have you back but I think the Mestha account should be terminated and use the Sembee account
@Simon:  As just another face in the crowd, I think it's a bit mischievous to have come back with another name.  However, I also think it's harmless and for an expert with your status, completely acceptable to want/need a challenge to keep yourself motivated.  So, speaking for myself, welcome back.
Well, maybe somebody could just backdate the mestha registration date. I'm guessing that would protect the rookies and have no impact on the start-from-scratch personal contest that all three of mestha entered.

Personally I think its good for all to have quality answers available. Of course, I have nothing to say about MS Exchange and I don't even know how I happened across this thread.

:)

Maybe personal challenges might be a nice feature to add to EE - i.e., track points earned in a certain period....
I'm glad that you're back, but rules are clear, no double accounts. You are putting moderators in awkward position. If you want to stick to new account then the old one should be deleted.
IMHO anyone who is here either for points, T-Shirts or ranks is in the wrong place. I always thougt this site was about helping people.

And now every accepted answer takes you one step further away from "Legend", which no doubt you are. ;)

No offense and good luck.


Obviosly, the site needs rules and we all need to adhere to them. I am a firm believer in acheivement and this site does raise one's self esteem, helping others.
Points and certifications should not be and end to themselves, but should represent only part of  a proud accomplishment of our efforts in helping the IT community.
Mestha, Sembee, or whatever your alias will be, keep up the good work helping the IT community solving its problems. I am new to this site (about 3 months) but I am impressed with the quantity and quality of the experts. I am learning quite a bit, especially in my chosen areas of firewalls and vpn's due to the fact there are so many complex questions. What I learn here not only makes my daily IT work easier, but the fact I can help others out of jams I myself spent many late night frustrating hours is gratifying.

Kudos to Mestha
The main thing I think would be an issue would be to those that are legitimately new to the site that would have earned top rookie awards that would instead go to a seasoned EE poster like yourself.  I'm not saying that I would be that person that you'd be taking away from - I'm sure I wouldn't be in any of the 'top zones'.  I wouldn't call for expulsion and such, as that would be a huge loss to EE, but you should be ineligible for any rookie awards as you are not one.

This is the only forum that I actively monitor and post within - it was annoying in itself to realize that by joining midsummer that I would be short a lot of points for rookie of the year for a number of zones, not to mention that my preferred zone (SSL) is not one of the hot topic areas.

It seems to me that this just goes to show that there should be additional metrics that people can view.  Points earned for questions posted in a given month/year, points received during month/year, etc.  Its fun to be anonymous - I get that, but at best you should have your points rolled to Sembee account, at worst just lose the Mestha account.  This is probably one of the more public accounts for this to happen to.  Not to sound inflamatory as it is not meant that way but rather matter-of-fact, but you are the type of user that this type of rule exists for.  Average users with multiple accounts aren't going to blow the curve - only the top posters really pose an issue to this type of scenario.  We're all only rookies once.

Personally beyond the rookie thing, I don't really care.  I figured it was a 2nd account, but took a few days to figure out exactly of whom's.  Whatever the EE rules are is exactly what should happen - however horrible or lenient they may be.  They were written prior to an incident to be fair, and were made public and agreed to - that's what it is and what it should be.
Sounds fair to me.  Thank you for clarification WackAMod.
Who cares what alias Simon uses, as long as we still get his input..
the only people that would get upset by this is point-chasers, anyway - and that's not the reason most of us are here.
Welcome back Simon/Sembee/Mestha!
(and thanks for helping when we get things a bit wrong..)
Good to have you back!!!
Dear Simon,

I have yet to experience your posts and by all accounts and the accolades received in this thread alone would seem to be my loss and a lesser person for it. However, it does afford me quite an objective point of view.

I was very impressed with this "newbie" and the amazing rise to fame in achieving nearly half a million points - certainly attracted a lot of attention, and you have nearly thirty followers already. When I first looked up your profile a little while back, it was a mystery, and then again today to find this link.

Not exactly sure why, but now I feel a little cheated to learn that you are sembee, and for the life of me cannot figure out why those few reasons you have given would warrant giving up the extraordinary greatness that is sembee for a personal challenge of "how many points in a year". It is denying bonafide rookies a chance to shine, but more importantly, be inspired by the greatness of sembee, angelIII and the other savants that us (less than a year in) rookies lookup to. I do not understand in having achieved so much, why you are prepared to have the sembee account suspended and appear to be so readily dismissive of being the top savant along with every reason to believe the only other Elite member before the year is out (is aspiring to be Elite so very overrated), and you can still achieve your goals of "how far in a single year".

Experts Exchange is truly a great site, and it is by your contributions as sembee that has helped make it so. While outstanding answers will (re)continue to be provided and Askers will continue to receive outstanding attention, advice and resolutions to their problems with mestha, I believe EE is somehow lesser served with mestha than with the longevity and accolades that sembee has been able to achieve. Whilst it might be too late given whackamod's comments, Please do not loose the sembee embodiment of greatness for this new guise. Sembee is someone to be held in absolute awe, it would be a travesty.

It is your prerogative entirely, and I have heard of experts wanting to reboot. While I am not one to judge the reasons, whys, or wherefores as to your motivation, I am a little saddened with the knowledge that sembee is no more and there is a new "rookie" pretender, albeit of great service to all those in need, and a huge asset to EE, and obviously with a great deal of respect, admiration and followers of those who once knew sembee. I am not sure I will be following mestha with quite the same excitement or enthusiasm, though, do wish you well and hope you get out of it what you are seeking. Goodbye sembee...

Regards,
Mark Wills
Sembee ... Welcome back seems out of place since apparently you were never gone  :)

The whole debate over Rookie status and awards is really a mute point.  Anyone can close an account or have it suspended and open a new account and it is perfectly acceptable, so why the big debate because Sembee did it?  It is their choice to give up the other points and status.  Is it fair to the real rookies ... no, not really, if points are what matters ... but that issue has come up here also ... so I'll let you all think on that and make your own decision.

In my opinion it all comes down to "at times rules suck".  They are there for the over all good of everyone; there will always be cases when they do not provide the best solution for everyone.  This just makes the enhancement requests all the more valuable ... if someone can figure out how to make an acceptable compromise.

As for the last post ... "Goodbye Sembee" ... no, not really.  You cannot erase all that history we just will not being seeing any more posts under that name.  But as pointed out, the benefit of the wisdom and experience are still with us.

Welcome Mestha!  :)

congrats on achieving 2M points today
Avatar of Mestha

ASKER

A little early. I am still 22,000 points from 2 million at the time of writing.

Simon/M
And to think at this rate in June, sembee could have been the very first ELITE in any one zone... Interesting to see Sembee has about 42K points this month.

Absolutely phenomenal effort all the same. And congrats on the pending 2 mill - which will probably be achieved by the time I finished typing !
it seems, that a lot askers stopped accepting,
and the night is not over ... yet
without the lag in accepting, i would probably say congrats for 3M
Who's this mestha guy running around kicking all of our buns? Oh, no wonder.

RIGHT ON, it's Simon. I am happy to see you back.
I know it's not related at all... but I've always asked myself :

How could you achieve this number of points ? 700000 in a month ~ 23000 pts / day
I personally achieve 12K or 15K last year (on per day basis). But I had to work the whole week on answering questions. Not doing anything else than this.

Are you superheroes ? Or you don't have to work ? Or what ?

I'm so curious.
He's probably using all 10 fingers
and maybe a second keyboard for his 10 toes ?
Avatar of Mestha

ASKER

I can type, rather quickly, yes using all ten fingers. Apparently it is unusual to find someone in IT who can actually type (self taught as well, and I don't have to look at the keyboard now).
I also work for myself as a consultant, and I am currently single. So have some time on my hands.
However to give you an idea, I have just reviewed just short of 200 questions in about three hours, posted in about a third of them.
I know my stuff and if I repeat myself more than two or three times, I blog the answer and point people there.

Oh and I just got my MVP for the 5th year in a row.

Simon.
When you know what you are doing then 23,000 pts/day really equates to answering about 15 questions and having full points assigned for those answers.  I gave a few more questions assuming SOMEBODY else will get some points even though they responded  ;)  Given a few minutes per question to read and respond then you are only talking about an hour a day to respond to questions.

It all depends on how much you know, how much you have to research before you type and how fast you type  :)

I'll never get there but I understand and respect the guys that do  :)
Mestha : Thank you very much for your answer.. I'm now convinced that you are a superhero.

I'm typing myself quiet fast.. but even though, I've to think before writing.. You probably already though about that before... lol..

cj_1969 : 15 questions.. OK.. but in programming.. 15 questions means 5-10 newbies.. which you will have to explain everything, and reexplain twice... 15 questions means following on all these at the same time... So you have to put yourself in context each time. A programming problem can be quiet easy and straight forward, but sometimes it could take a long time to just understand to problem (as the guy he is not able to explain the problem correctly, not necessarily his fault)... So without quitting everything, my job, my wife and my life... I don't know how to do this..

But let me stop you there. I got the answer I want and I doesn't want to inflame the discuss at this point.
Thank you guys for corresponding.
Just a last thing.. maybe my first language French could be a barrier.. or some kind of.. As doing an IQ test not in your born language.
djon2003 ... I understand.  I have 5 certs on this site and respond to a lot of newbie questions and ones that are not resolved with a single answer.

Based on Mestha's response, I quite understated what they (the people with the number of points that he and a select few others have/get) respond to and how quickly they do it.  And I'm sure that no small amount of those responses are to newbie ... probably not in the programming areas though, as you are correct, explaining programming logic as oppsed to providing a solution does take much more time   :)
So.. accepting this fact (some areas are usually longer to answer).. maybe points could be arranged in way that it is proportional to the area you are responding to.

I don't know how such a system could work correctly. But maybe it's an idea to pass upward.
Simon congrats on your 5th MVP, and also using all 10 fingers.

I personally prefer seven, and can't type for shite - for over thirty years now...
CONGRATS on the MVP (again) Simon! And thanks for sharing the knowledge!
~coolsport00
MANY CONGRATS on the MVP - looks like this post is well monitored


Thank you for not coming back last year as a Rookie.  :)
Tim
you made it in the TOP 101 list in 5 months minus 1 day ! see hall of fame
congratulations.
Even though in the end you chose to post as Mestha, I feel that this is a bit unfair on the MODs to allow you to do it.

For example, you cannot allow a legend like Diego Maradone to play using another alias
for Under 18 or Under 21 Soccer Tournaments just because he has come back from retirement.

You are no doubt a person who promptly responds to questions in a qualitative manner in different zones as I can see them from your Certifications defined.

But in the end I feel that you would have lead the Rookies in EE by example had you used your Sembee account and achieved whatever targets which you have fixed earlier.
So, I just have to ask....do you do anything besides work and answer questions on EE?  You've got to be here all the time to get that many points every day  ;-)
i have only been here for a week or so, but if you pull a stunt like this again could you please call yourself something like bul1monkey, so that at a first glance i would be seen to have millions of points instead of the sad 3500 points i have acrued ;-)
Hehhee.....but then don't all of us geeky engineering sorts have a bit of a god-complex to begin with ;-)  After all, most of us are smarter than at least 85% of the normal people....and we understand the hidden secrets of the mysterious computer realm!

Show me a good engineer who is not arrogant and I'll show you a rare specimine indeed!
Impressive score Mestha/Sembee ^.^ You must have quite a few years of Computer Science under your belt :) - I'm just a student at the moment but give it a few years.  I like to think going to uni and studying a Computer Science is your 'Black Belt' i.e. you've mastered the basics and now its time to learn and master the more technical techniques. :)
Anyways thats my idea of the geek world...

Alexei
Going to university is a good start but there's no price you can put on a real world education.  University can't teach you everything.  A lot you are just going to have to get from OJT/experience.
Very true tom, I'm currently on a placement for the summer, I've just finished my second year, which all the tutors say is the hardest, I guess its because your learning a lot about a lot  ^.^  I can't wait to go back again, my third year should be fun ^.^
>>if I could finish in the top five for the year then that would be a tremendous achievement
looks like you'll have to take a break from the day job to achieve that now

but you got my vote for achievement of the year !!!
Holy crap Simon, I thought you were a stud anyway as Mestha now knowing that the answers I found helpful last year from Sembee was you as well only makes me want to go hide, rocking in a corner murmurring your name. It's nice to see you still commenting and supplying great answers, thanks.
Avatar of Mestha

ASKER

I would prefer this to be kept open until the end of the year.
why? even if closed/paqed, comments can still be added :)
A3 because the whole reason for Mestha's being is to see what can be done in a year :)  And with only a few months left, then why not keep it open ?
Hrm.  I am in the middle of incognito greatness.  I never knew you as Simon as i am new here.  Yet, by happenstance, i was graced by one of your superbly worded comments.  And without even a second glance i KNEW you couldn't have been a newbie.  I know the names whakamod and angell but who was this mestha.  I see that you are a cloaked hero of old trying to save the city without the hero's welcome.  

Why would you have your fans not know its you?  Your achievements aren't garnishing anything else but exactly what you had before.  Countless followers thrilled at having met you and learning from you each day and building conversation....enriching conversation in a prismatic flurry of widely ranging topics.  I just cant help but picture Einstein packing his suit case and going away for a year only to come back and Mortimer P Jones who is brilliant in his field, yet, completely unknown.  

At the end of the day I hope to be like the upper ranks here at EE but I am realizing 17,000 points a month doesn't make that happen overnight.  So in comparison and awe....you threw away an equivalent of 5 years of my answering pace out the window and started over....whoa... I just cannot fully comprehend the rationale for the character assassination premise in that story arc.

Um.  Welcome back i think and I hope you achieve what you are going for here.  I hope to meet you in the trenches one day and maybe exchange back and forth on the knowledge front.
>> Hrm.  I am in the middle of incognito greatness.  I never knew you as Simon as i am new here.  Yet, by happenstance, i was graced by one of your superbly worded comments.  And without even a second glance i KNEW you couldn't have been a newbie.  I know the names whakamod and angell but who was this mestha.  I see that you are a cloaked hero of old trying to save the city without the hero's welcome.  

Why would you have your fans not know its you?  Your achievements aren't garnishing anything else but exactly what you had before.  Countless followers thrilled at having met you and learning from you each day and building conversation....enriching conversation in a prismatic flurry of widely ranging topics.  I just cant help but picture Einstein packing his suit case and going away for a year only to come back and Mortimer P Jones who is brilliant in his field, yet, completely unknown.  

At the end of the day I hope to be like the upper ranks here at EE but I am realizing 17,000 points a month doesn't make that happen overnight.  So in comparison and awe....you threw away an equivalent of 5 years of my answering pace out the window and started over....whoa... I just cannot fully comprehend the rationale for the character assassination premise in that story arc.

Um.  Welcome back i think and I hope you achieve what you are going for here.  I hope to meet you in the trenches one day and maybe exchange back and forth on the knowledge front.

Whoa, chill man, it's just Experts-Exchange, not Gotham City. Hate to shatter your illusion here, but I'm pretty sure this guy's human, just like you or I. Some people just don't share the same priorities as others; a few of us just like to know we've helped someone, though there are, of course, a few of us who like to post irrelevant links, crappy code examples and lame 3-word answers in an effort to get a T-Shirt.
Cheers to those that don't fit the latter description, I suppose.
Haha.  I meant my comment has an ode to greatness.  I only want to be like the "Gotham" Heros someday :D.  Are you sure he's human though?  I mean his brain must just ooze awesome answers.  I have been searching EE for his answers.  He's either already mentally connected via telepathy to all the askers or he IS the batman im sure of it :D...rofl just kidding.  I just wanted to greet Mestha with my own odd observation about how his old account AND his now new account show just how much he really changes the shape of EE.  Kudos again Mestha.
Avatar of Mestha

ASKER

I was going to clean the question up myself, once the year was out.
>>Deleted with a full refund
Points back to zero ?
lol, that wasn't what i ment ... all points for mestha ... back to zero
didn't reach the goal ... no bonus points ... grin :)
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Simon,
 
Truly a phenomenal effort.  Congratulations with your points chase for a year - a feat that might not ever be achieved again.

For me, my goal for the year was to break the 3million mark (overall, not just in one year) and whilst I am very chuffed, seems so very ordinary in comparison.

Apart form the personal challenge of Yearly Top 5 and HOF top 25 - Upon reflection do you think it was worth the effort and the sacrifice of Sembee ?

Have a very Happy New Year, and can well understand the desire for a well earned rest, and hope to see you back in action once again. It really has been a pleasure and privilege to watch a true master at work.

Regards,
Mark Wills