Feeds

Anthrax 'rogue scientist' also Wikipedia cult member

Jimbo Wales sleuths secret sorority obsession

Remote control for virtualized desktops

Bruce Ivins, the deceased US government bioscientist accused of perpetrating the infamous 2001 anthrax mailings, was also a closet member of the online cult known as Wikipedia.

Under the name Jimmyflathead, Ivins spent several years obsessively editing Wikipedia's article on the American college sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. A federal report exposing the rogue scientist's involvement with the Jimbo Wales-led online cult has turned up at The Smoking Gun.

Bruce Ivins killed himself last week as the US Justice Department prepared to indict him on capital murder charges.

According to US officials, Ivins's Kappa Kappa Gamma fixation dates back decades, and as The Associated Press reports, it could explain why anthrax-filled envelopes were mailed from Princeton, New Jersey - nearly 200 miles from Ivins' lab in Frederick, Maryland.

Apparently, Ivins' KKG obsession stems from his days as a student at the University of Cincinnati, where a member of the sorority may have snubbed his advances. The bioscientist once pilfered a sorority handbook from a Kappa Kappa Gamma house at the University of North Carolina, The Los Angeles Times reports, and the infamous anthrax mailbox is but 100 yards from where the Princeton KKG chapter stores its rush materials and initiation robes.

Wikipedia cult leader Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales likes to say he doesn't have the power to reveal the true identities of cult members. But when word of Ivins's Wikipedia involvement hit the web, Wales immediately gave himself "checkuser" rights and attempted to expose Jimmyflathead's IP address.

Wales was intent on staying one step ahead of investigators - even though he had no idea what they were investigating. "Just wanted to be ahead of the curve in case this turns into a story, but it seems that there really isn't much of a story here," the cult leader said. "At Wikipedia, he was focused almost exclusively on a women's sorority, and never edited anything about Anthrax." ®

Managing SSL certificates with ease

More from The Register

next story
Give nerds their own PRIVATE TRAIN CARRIAGES, say boffins
The Thinkfluencers' Express will depart from platform 94 5/4...
Nothing illegal to see here: Tribunal says TEMPORA spying is OK
Rules mass surveillance is legal, in principle at least
Oi, UK.gov. WHERE'S THE DETAIL on your Google Tax?
Beancounters ponder how headline-grabbing idea will work in reality
VCs say Uber is worth $41bn... but don't worry, we're not in a bubble
Car service valued higher than two years of space exploration
Wheels fall off bid to sue Apple over iTunes anti-piracy shenanigans
Turns out you can't file lawsuit on behalf of 'whoever'
Randall Munroe: The root nerd talks to The Register
XKCD creator on life, the universe and everything
DEAD STEVE JOBS accuses Real Networks of 'hacking' iPods
Fruity firm's co-founder testifies from BEYOND the GRAVE
prev story

Whitepapers

Three businesses share why they chose Citrix XenDesktop over VMware View
Delivering Windows apps and desktops as secure mobile services from a cloud-ready platform while simplifying management, reducing costs and enhancing security.
Focus on 5 SIEM requirements
In order for SIEM to help usher in more effective security and risk management strategies—particularly as they relate to threat mitigation, embracing trends, and aligning with business priorities—these five issues must be solved.
The Escalating Threat of DDoS Attacks
With increasing frequency and scale, some of the world’s largest data center and network operators are suffering from crippling Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
Reg Reader Research: SaaS based Email and Office Productivity Tools
Read this Reg reader report which provides advice and guidance for SMBs towards the use of SaaS based email and Office productivity tools.
Mobile, multilingual, and content authoring
The major changes in Drupal 8 for end users, site builders, designers and front-end developers, and for back-end developers - part 1.