Off topic: Proz user named Oso Thread poster: Lavinia Pirlog
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Does anyone know what happened to Osito?
Thank you.
| | | | Andy Watkinson 
Spain
Local time: 11:12
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
| She (sic) was a fraud. | Sep 24, 2014 |
Lavinia Pirlog wrote:
Does anyone know what happened to Osito?
Thank you.
Not much else to say.
| | | | Clarisa Moraña
United States
Local time: 04:12
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Once upon a time there was an Oso | Sep 25, 2014 |
who helped a lot to the prozian community, mainly with kudoz questions, but it seems that Oso was using a fake profile, or in fact more than one profile. When that fact was discovered, she or he never came back.
Regards
Clarisa
| | | | Elías Sauza
Mexico
Local time: 04:12
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
I have always asked myself the same question. He was a great colleague years back, but it seems he was the last one of his species.
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Lavinia Pirlog
Romania
Local time: 12:12
Spanish to Romanian
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TOPIC STARTER | You mean Oso was a SHE? | Sep 25, 2014 |
Andy Watkinson wrote:
Lavinia Pirlog wrote:
Does anyone know what happened to Osito?
Thank you.
Not much else to say.
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 03:12
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam | Oso was a she | Sep 25, 2014 |
Apparently Oso, off the site for close to ten years now, was female and worked together with a daughter and perhaps others and used false registrations to accumulate fraudulent points in EnglishSpanish. How it worked was that her daughter and/or others (or she herself) would feed questions into Proz for which she had the answers already worked out, which she would then post within minutes or even seconds. The answers also appeared to be well-researched and I just wondered how a person could do a... See more Apparently Oso, off the site for close to ten years now, was female and worked together with a daughter and perhaps others and used false registrations to accumulate fraudulent points in EnglishSpanish. How it worked was that her daughter and/or others (or she herself) would feed questions into Proz for which she had the answers already worked out, which she would then post within minutes or even seconds. The answers also appeared to be well-researched and I just wondered how a person could do all that and be so fast. I knew that as long as Oso was there, I had no chance of beating him (or her as it turned out). Oso and I did have a cordial relationship on Proz and occasionally communicated. I pictured Oso as an affable man, a bit overweight, sitting in front of a computer all day long (at night too!) and right on top of everything that was happening at Proz in his language pair. He/she was always very courteous and helpful.
On an occasion I was going to be close to the area where Oso was supposedly based, San José, California, I invited him (or her as it turned out) to get together personally. His name was supposedly Nicolás Lomelín or Lomelino. He/she begged off using some sort of an excuse. Later, Oso supposedly was declared insane and was confined in some sort of mental hospital or institution against his will, but apparently had access to a computer. He/she informed translators registered on Proz of the situation and they became very alarmed and tried to do something for him/her to gain his release. I don't recall every detail, but it was then that some colleagues, I think mostly from Argentina, started looking into Oso's case, and they began to suspect that Oso was a fraud and they were later able to confirm it.
I recall having direct e-mail contact with one of the Argentine colleagues who explained things to me and told me that Oso was actually a woman masquerading as a man, and somehow she was even able to falsely confirm Oso's identity to Proz. In any case, with all this, Oso was dropped from the site never to return. But if you go back far enough, you can find questions that were answered by Oso. I think there is another Oso now, but surely no relation.
There's more, but that is what I recall, it's an interesting story. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:12
French to English
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Henry Hinds wrote:
...The answers also appeared to be well-researched and I just wondered how a person could do all that and be so fast. .... I pictured Oso as an affable man, a bit overweight, sitting in front of a computer all day long (at night too!) and right on top of everything that was happening at Proz in his language pair...
That's just how I imagined "him" too.
Thank you Henry!
[Edited at 2014-09-25 19:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2014-09-25 19:20 GMT]
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 03:12
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
It was a sad conclusion, because "Oso" actually had a fascinating and positive personality and contributed a lot to Proz and to those of us who are translators in the EnglishSpanish pair. I cannot but assume that the lady impersonating him was actually a very talented individual who did not have to resort to fraud to secure fame. She could have done it legitimately. Besides, what good are Kudoz points or Browniz anyway? I have tons of both and cannot buy so much as a beer or a cup of coffee with... See more It was a sad conclusion, because "Oso" actually had a fascinating and positive personality and contributed a lot to Proz and to those of us who are translators in the EnglishSpanish pair. I cannot but assume that the lady impersonating him was actually a very talented individual who did not have to resort to fraud to secure fame. She could have done it legitimately. Besides, what good are Kudoz points or Browniz anyway? I have tons of both and cannot buy so much as a beer or a cup of coffee with them. It was so sad, I just ask "why"? ▲ Collapse
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Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:12
French to English
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...you mean he existed but she took over his "persona"? But yes, why indeed.
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 03:12
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | He never existed | Sep 25, 2014 |
She invented his persona. I really should not have said "impersonating", because that might imply that he actually existed. I should have said "who created him". But until it was discovered that he was a fake, many of us really liked him. That's why I say it's so sad, his creator could have been appreciated for her own merits.
| | | | Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:12
French to English
+ ...
Thank you for clarifying. Yes; strange, too.
| | | | | Very old story | Sep 26, 2014 |
There was a profile with username "Oso" that received a red card in September 2006 (and was therefore excluded from ProZ.com) after breaking several site rules.
As far as staff knows, there is no currently active profile related to the original Oso.
Regards,
Enrique
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