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"remember karen, every post you make is out there forever. it becomes a matter of public record." --CMcK, Jan 2000 [GooJa]"it's funny how often i get called a liar here... though not one single lie has ever been proven. i simply don't post lies. never happened. never will." --CMcK, Jan 2000 [GooJa]
"It is difficult to swim with ski pants on." --GAC, Aug2000 [cite]
Way back in 1995, a fellow named Chris McKinstry posted some astonishing claims to comp.ai.nat-lang, regarding a chatbot he'd written called 'Jackie'. He invited people to email him questions to try out on her, so I sent him some, and the replies he claimed she gave set off my hoax-alarm. (I also debunked RACTER in 1993: article.) He offered to send me the program itself if I'd sign a non-disclosure agreement, but I said I wasn't interested... which for some reason set him off on a vendetta that he's still fighting. [eg Jan2002]
In 1996 he launched an audience-participation AI project [website], which I consider 100% bogus, but which has gotten absurd amounts of attention from professionals who should know better. Then in 1997 he made a huge splash with one of the first online soap operas, but it had crashed and burned within six months. Persistent rumors (which McK denies) claim he took the money and ran.
By 1999 he had landed on his feet in Chile, working in radioastronomy, where he continued to milk the publicity machine with a magical touch (Slashdot interview, etc).
I happened to see a BBC article this morning about the Chilean telescope [article 1] [article 2] and got to wondering if he'd self-destructed yet. His personal webpage [slow loading] seems to have fallen silent a year ago, so I started doing GooJa searches, and soon realised there were so many disconnected fragments of info that I needed to start a timeline to sort them out.
My usual strategy with net.celebrities is to start with their earliest posts, which in Chris's case went back to 1993. His first two years' worth of posts are eye-openers: many shady-sounding business-offers (see especially the infrared traffic-light controller in Dec1994) and absurd boasts (building efficient solar cells in basement, Jan1995).
Update 09Jul 2002: Chris takes it like a man [reply]
1967? Kenneth Christopher McKinstry born
claims family connection to mechanical contractors McKinstry Co. in Pacific Northwest [website] [claim]
1975: wild claims [cite]
"In 1975, when I was 8 years old, I read an article in the newspaper about two students in my home city of Winnipeg, Canada who wrote chess playing computer programs [verified!] ...For four years I filled notebooks with ideas to write my own chess playing program and finally managed to do it in 1979. I had to key in my software to a TRS-80 Model 1 in a Radio Shack store as my single mother could never afford one..."
age 17: claims invented copy-protection scheme [post] "throughout the 80's. it was used by aston-tate, visicorp, electronic arts, activision, and about twenty other companies" marketed as Oxylok, Prolock, and Mediaguard [unlikely]
1984: April: interview in Winnipeg Free Press [page image]
"...major computer firms, including IBM and Apple, are lining up at McKinstry's door to obtain the rights to his program... McKinstry uses a special machine to drop a pinpoint of acetate on one track of the master disc thereby 'doping' it.... 'It was only last Friday he unveiled it to the science fair authorities...' World copyright and patents are pending on Oxylok, McKinstry's lawyer, J.B. Fraser, said yesterday."
1984: claims received IBM technical excellence award for copy-protection scheme; got first Jaguar [post]
But where are the press clippings about all this, bedsides the highschool science fair coverage... hmmm?
1984: claims began investigating AI and indexing theory [1995 post]
late 1980s: claim [Slashdot]
"I concluded a very long time ago that either we had to write a "magic" program that was able to go out in the world and learn like a human child, or we just had to sit down and type in ALL the data. When I was studying psychology in the late 80's I wanted to begin to gnaw the bullet and start getting people to type in ALL the data. It was my plan then to get people to enter data as part of an intro psych course, or get the university to allow me ask people for data when they logged on to the university's computer system. I was never able to get permission for either and the idea sat on the shelf until I downloaded my first copy of NCSA's Mosaic in 1994. I saw in following my first hyperlink, a different path."
1990: 13Jun: suicide/standoff crisis in Toronto [articles] "hauled off to HSC [Hospital for Sick Children] for an overnight psych exam (which you barely passed over the objections of the officers that took you there)" [cite]
no-date: Toronto trial, supposedly admits pistol-whipping his (ex) wife? [cite]
1991? leaves Toronto [passim] "right after he got out of jail"? [cite]
1992: spring: U of Winnipeg [1995 memoir]
no-date: wild claims [cite]
While studying honors psychology at the University of Winnipeg, McKinstry was offered a job to develop software for classified military systems. He dropped out of school to take the position and started making more money than his professors. "Within four years I became an executive and returned to school part-time, but still didn't finish. I found it much easier to just buy the textbooks and study on my own. I have some 8,500 books in my library, all read and annotated. I spend six hours per day, every day, reading books." McKinstry cites statistics, neuropsychology and genetics, in addition to computer science, as the most important parts of his education for developing his career as a pioneer of AI. "Of these, statistics was the most important. The program I was in required graduate level statistics, which I took during my first years instead of my last," he explains.
1993: 21Jul: earliest GooJa post, to sci.physics from "chris mckinstry (mrbass@sys6626.bison.mb.ca)" [thread] incomprehensible theory
15-month posting-gap
1994: winter: week in Cuba? [1995 claim] (proposes teaching solar power there)
Oct 1994 to Feb 1995: GooJa posts from "Christopher McKinstry (cmckin@access.mbnet.mb.ca)" [17 posts]
1994: 19Oct: post to comp.infosystems about installing Netscape [message]
1994: 21Oct: post to sci.materials about building bike-frames [post] (no replies)
1994: 21Oct: post to comp.text.sgml looking for wysiwyg html-editor [message] (no replies)
1994: 21Oct: post to sci.math about scanning pi for messages from god [thread]
27Oct 1994 to 25Aug 1995: alternate email "cmckin@mbnet.mb.ca" [160 posts]
1994: 31Oct: fan of Neil Armstrong [seeks autograph]
1994: 01Nov: pot and LSD experiences [alt.drugs] more
1994: 19Nov: promoting "1995 indie music multimedia encyclopedia" [post] (no followups)
1994: 20Nov: poem in rec.arts.poems [etext] more
1994: 20Nov: offering Canadian lotto tickets via email [post]
1994: 21Nov: poem 'Omnipotence' [etext]
1994: 23Nov: seeking Sun workstation [post]
1994: 24Nov: starting ISP? [post]
1994: 13Dec: looking for animators for 'icona new media' [post]
1994: 13Dec: posts to several groups offering "infrared traffic-light controller" [thread]
1994: 23Dec: announces 'Jackie' entry for Loebner competition [comp.ai]
1994: 27Dec: lucid dream of trip thru lookingglass [post] links webpage: http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/~cmckin/ [no Wayback]
1994: 31Dec: seeks sample of aerogel [thread]
1994: 31Dec: semi-reasonable post to talk.rape [73 replies]
1994: 31Dec: interest in Linux [post]
1995: 02Jan: claims to be producing super-efficient solar cells in his basement [soc.culture.cuba]
1995: 12Jan: quotes self on art and science [alt.quotations]
1995: 06Feb: solicits email questions for 'Jackie' [comp.ai.nat-lang]
"at the time I was consulting for a large insurance company and brought Jackie to work everyday where she could talk to my colleagues" [Slashdot]
1995: 11Feb: wants to study classical piano in Russia [post]
1995: 11Feb: writing a novel [post]
1995: 12Feb: claims to be an experienced CD-ROM publisher doing a poetry CD [post]
1995: 14Feb: smoking ambisol [alt.drugs]
1995: Feb: claims to have tried nutmeg [followup only]
1995: 06Mar: account of acid trip [post]
1995: 29Mar: repeats offer for Jackie-questions [comp.ai.philosophy]
1995: 31Mar: offer $1M AI-prize [thread]
Apr 1995 to Oct 1996: posts to comp.sys.tandy [23 posts]
1995: 09Apr: solicits producer for 30-sec tv commercial [post]
1995: 21Apr: solicits investors for 'Jackie' [misc.invest]
1995: May-Jun: email address "Christopher McKinstry (Christopher_McKinstry@MBNET.MB.CA)" [2 posts]
1995: 16May: devotes homepage to LSD [annc]
1995: 21May: cgi-scripting for clickable (not yet .com) [post]
1995: 'early': Clickable Systems International, Ltd. founded in Winnipeg, Canada "to develop corporate information systems based on web technology" [1996 PR] Chris McKinstry, President and CEO
1995: 30May: mentions email to Jorn [comp.ai] claims 11 years of private correspondence on AI and indexing theory
1995: 07Jun: claims to be doing support for ToolBook training-app [post]
1995: Jun: gets reprimanded for personal flaming [comp.ai] more
1995: 08Jul: claims to be flying to Glasgow for summer-school program [post]
1995: 22Jul: claims to be making holograms [sci.optics]
1995: 06Aug: revised version of 'Omnipotence' poem [alt.drugs]
1995: 25Aug: wants to make integrated circuits in basement [post]
2.5-month posting-gap
Nov 1995 to Apr 1996: posts as "Christopher McKinstry (cmckin@clickable.com)" [22 posts]
1995: 11Nov: moderately scary post about mindpower [comp.ai]
1996: 03Feb: claims plays stockmarket [thread]
1996: 02Mar: announces $5000 prize for 'binary Turing test' [comp.ai] url: http://www.clickable.com/mist.html [no Wayback] (acronym: Minimum Intelligent Signal Test Item Corpus: cite)
1996: 28Mar: pretends expertise on compressing images of faces [thread]
1996: 15Apr: taking Java class at local community college [bug]
1996: Apr: passing involvement in fun flamewar about Loebner competition [comp.ai]
May 1996 to May 1997: posts as "Christopher McKinstry (chris@clickable.com)" [531 posts]
1996: 03Jun: Clickable.com is hosting free websites?? [annc] [Jul still] [Oct still]
1996: 22Jun: used-car database at Clickable.com [Wayback] (but this is car.html, not cars.html?) [annc] url: http://www.clickable.com/cars.html
1996: Jun-Aug: employee "Bogdan Fiedur (webmaster@clickable.com)" [23 posts] alternate email [escape.ca] Dec96-Oct99 [softfornet.com] Feb-Jul2001 [freebonanza.com]
1996: 05Jul: solicits data for MISTIC [comp.ai] [debate] url: http://www.clickable.com/mist_corpus.html [no Wayback]
"I managed to collect some 450,000 items." [Slashdot] (backdates to 1995)
1996: 09Jul: less than 20 logins/users at clickable.com [thread]
1996: Jul: used car database flamed for being slow [thread] [testing?]
1996: Jul: statistics flamewar [thread] dismisses netiquette [post] (contrast 02Dec)
1996: Sep: web-design flamewar [followup only]
Oct 1996 and Mar 1997: postings from "Corporate Information Services (info@clickable.com)" plus likely alias 'Ansel Morgan' at that address [5 posts]
1996: 04Oct: Bill Baker (alias?) appointed Director of Database Technology for Clickable [annc] Oct96-Jun97 [82 posts]
1996: 09Oct: help wanted [post]
1996: 22Oct: announcement of Java text editor 'WavePad' from Clickable [PR] [post]
1996: 29Oct: promotes Fork&Cork bistro [website annc] url: http://clickable.com/users/FCB/ [no Wayback]
1996: 30Oct: praises website of Cortney [sic] LaFortune-Welch [post]
1996: 01Nov? Clickable.com gets T-1 [passim]
1996: 01Nov: asks why Rosemary [Vodrey? politico] still has a job [???]
1996: 04Nov: announces newsgroup Xmas party [thread]
1996: 02Dec: moves personal homepage [thread] url: http://clickable.com/kcm.html [no Wayback] invites DejaNews research [followup only] gives lecture on netiquette! [post] 5' 10" 130 lbs? [passim] Roger Rempel claims harrassment from McK [post] claims to be honors psych student [passim] McK calls cops for email threat [post] claims new Jaguar, big client [post] politically liberal [passim]
1996: Dec: casting call for Internet soap opera [passim]
1996: 19Dec: alt.mckinstry.pencil-dick created [charter] [GooJa]
1996: 22Dec: Clickable.com homepage [Wayback] [more]
1997: 15Jan: parodied in Manitoba comic strip? [speculation]
Jan1997: posts briefly as "Captain Capitalism (chris@clickable.com)" [13 posts]
1997: 18Jan: annc for CR6 launch party on 14Feb [flamewar] url: http://www.cr6.com [Wayback] McK posts once as 'Bill Baker' [etext]
1997: 19Jan: pleads dyslexia [post]
1997: 23Jan: advertises for 'HTML Jocks' to join creative team of 40+ [followup only]
1997: Feb: real CR6 hitcounts? [source] [info] [threats] [more]
Feb: 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 hits: 7 473 335 245 181 160 142 153 87 142 242 132 100 22
1997: 30Mar: claims creative team launched legal 'coup' in January [self?-interview] [skeptic] favors Pepsi
"[Why does the story in CR6 stink so much?] ...In episode 13, Anna and Michele are going to have an affair, Alberto's going to a gay bar, Lilly going to have a drug experience and Wayne is going to shoot himself (or appear to anyway) and have a near death experience."
1997: 30Mar: McK accidentally posts to comp.ai from 'Ansel Morgan' account [etext] [coverup]
1997: 01Apr: oldest archived CR6 homepage [Wayback]
1997: 12Apr: Wavechat Java-applet for CR6-fans [Wayback]
1997: spring/summer: article "Minimum Intelligent Signal Test: An Objective Turing Test" in Canadian Artificial Intelligence Magazine [ToC] [etext] mirror
"Chris McKinstry is an Information Technology consultant with LGS Group, Inc., one of Canadašs largest information technology consulting firms. He has over ten years software development experience, primarily in large database environments. Some of his clients have included Litton Systems Canada, Atomic Energy of Canada, Manitoba Public Insurance, and CP Rail."
1997: 15Jun: CR6 'obit' [etext]
1997: Jun: McK sells CR6 to cast for $1, claims he was the only person to lose money ($1M!) [cite]
accusations about CR6 ripoffs (unpaid bills-- hotel, limo, photographer; inflated hitcounts, abandoned wife?) [thread]
1997: 18Aug: departs Canada [1999 post] claims 'retired'
Apr 1998 to Dec 1999: posts as "kcmckinstry@hotmail.com" [7 posts]
1998: 11Apr: "hello from south america" [thread]
1998: 05Dec: CR6.com domain advertises Winnipeg locksmith [Wayback] "Web Design By Weblife2000 - We Build Websites" (Mic and Trudy Paterson) [still going]
1999: Jan: claims spent two weeks doing 200Mb Mona-Lisa cover for book [grotesque] (actually Jan 2000: thread)
1999: May-Jun: (soon-to-converge parallel reality) 'Open Mind Initiative' described by David Stork [passim] [abstract] [4 GooJa posts]
1999: 28Jun: CBC radio interview from Chile [RealAud]
1999: 06Aug: starts mailinglist 'Artificial Consciousness Development' [archive]
1999: Aug-Sep: posts as "Christopher McKinstry (cmckinst@eso.org)" [3 posts]
1999: 15Sep: webhost problems [post]
1999: 21Sep: (soon-to-converge parallel reality) open-source speech project joins with Open Mind Initiative [cite] [more]
Sep 1999 to Jan 2000: posts as "chrismckinstry@my-deja.com" [10 posts]
1999: 28Sep: GeoCities homepage url: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/1795/
1999: 04Oct: first mention of Mindpixel: http://www.mindpixel.com/ [wpg.general]
1999: 15Oct: (soon-to-converge parallel reality) last update to Push Singh's MIT page (?) [page]
Oct 1999 to Apr 2000: posts as "Chris and Jessie McKinstry (mckinstry@entelchile.net)" [18 posts]
1999: 28Nov: oldest archived Mindpixel homepage [Wayback]
1999: 28Dec: claims doubled money in stock market four years running [post] (plans to keep it up until 2005, heh!)
1999: 29Dec: mysterious vague anonymous accusations from 'Francis' [post]
2000: 06Jan: claims never posts lies [post] job-title "telescope/instruments operator" [cite]
2000: 06Jan: anonymous accusation about police intervention [followup only]
2000: 11Feb: claims to be setting up biohacking lab [post]
2000: 17Feb: announces BioHacking mailinglist [post] url: http://www.onelist.com/community/biohacking
2000: 04Mar: Mindpixel website 'temporarily deactivated' [Wayback] (billing problem?)
2000: 28Apr: claims co-discovery of new supernova [homepage news]
2000: 08Jun: ?first mention of 'forthcoming book' "Hacking Consciousness" [list posting]
2000: 28Jun: Slashdot announces interview [138 comments]
2000: 06Jul: supposed 'birth' of GAC [Wayback PR]
2000: 10Jul: Slashdot interview posted (why no comments now???) [slow page]
2000: 14Jul: speaks at 2600 convention in NYC [blurb]
2000: 01Aug: registers AskGAC.com, anticipating search-engine [Wayback]
2000: 05Aug: McK clarifies to Slashdot that he doesn't speak for ESO (reprimanded at work?) [Slashdot]
2000: Aug-Sep: posts as "mindpixel@my-deja.com" [11 posts]
2000: 11Aug: posts Mindpixel stats and 'value' [Wayback]
2000: 15Aug: 1st archived homepage after Mindpixel site restored [Wayback]
2000: 24Aug: Cringely profiles McK [PBS]
"...Chris, who let's just allow is perhaps 20 times smarter than I am..."
2000: 01Sep: BBC article [no pix] and Wired article [no pix]
"Related Wired Links: Smart Methods to Spot Fraud: April 3, 2000"
2000: 07Sep: MIT imitates MISTIC/Mindpixel project? [thread]
[but:] "The MindPixel idea of 'training up a neural network' with the database is clearly ridiculous..."
Sept 2000 to present: posts as "chris@mindpixel.com" [30+ posts]
2000 12Sep: still flaming Jorn [rec.arts.books]
2000: 14Sep: MIT's Singh stops posting? [106 posts]
2000: 15Sep: (realities converge) Wired article on MIT and Mindpixel [article] [Slashdot comments]
"'[OpenMind] reminds me of where I was with this project six years ago,' he said a bit dismissively, explaining that OpenMind lacked any way to ensure the 'integrity' of the data users entered into the system."
2000: 18Sep: interesting thread about radiotelescope interference from US Navy [thread]
"i'm actually just a the operator of the telescope chasing down my own leads." (love that "a the"!)
2001: 08Mar: mention of Mindpixel in NY Times [reg req]
2001: 09Apr: profile in 'Graduating Engineer' [article]
"...every attempt prior to my 1994 project was comical... In 1994 when I first decided to collect this data, I asked people to enter binary items and their responses without any method of validation..." (actually July 1996)
2001: 15May: ports Mindpixel website to 'phpNuke' [annc]
2001: 19Jun: joins online art-criticism site [info&pix]
2001: 18Jul: mentioned on wpg.general after 18 month gap? [thread]
2001: 08Sep: Spanish interview [GooJa]
2001: 20Sep: starts Mindpixel weblog [article 2]
2001: 28Sep: last Wayback for CR6.com [squatter]
2002: 11Apr: promotes Mindpixel interfacing with Google [thread]
2002: 08Jul: claims Mindpixel has 1141 registered users [list] 47k registered for GAC, 750k mindpixels worth $189k [stats] 18 topics [fun]
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