The Assange mystique continues to unravel

A former ally, of which there are many, reckons Julian Assange is an attention-seeking, exaggerating control freak:

Inside WikiLeaks is billed as a warts-and-all account of Daniel Domscheit-Berg's time as chief programmer and media spokesman for what his tell-all book calls "the world's most dangerous website".

Set for release in 16 countries from Friday, it says "chaotic" WikiLeaks cannot protect its sources and accuses the "power-obsessed" Mr Assange of being uneconomical with the truth, according to leaked excerpts.

Assange himself admits that pending Wikileaks' revelations touted as "Earth-shattering" are anything but:

The bombshell that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said could "take down a bank or two" may in fact be something of a dud.

Assange has said privately he does not know if his cache of internal Bank of America (BAC.N) data, whose public release he has suggested might be imminent, contains any big news or scandal, according to three people familiar with the WikiLeaks leader's private discussions about the material.

They said that Assange said it consists of e-mails from the hard-drive of a Bank of America executive's computer and that the latest messages are dated sometime in 2006.

The sources said that Assange privately acknowledged the material was not self-explanatory and that he personally was unable to make much sense of it. Assange indicated it would require a substantial amount of effort by financial experts to determine whether any of the material was newsworthy, according to the sources.

Assange's private characterizations of the Bank of America material as being dated and difficult to interpret contrasts with inflammatory public statements he has made -- some as recently as last month -- touting the significance of bank-related materials WikiLeaks has been planning to publish.

Assange isn't the 21st century's Daniel Ellsberg. In reality he's a pathetic computer nerd with no claim to fame other than his unique ability to piss off one time Swedish female admirers.