Opinion: Do I come off "trollish" in this thread?

Or am I being trolled? I'm actually new to NNTP and "troll" terminology in general. What are your opinions?

http://groups.google.com/group/comp....35463cc8d1752/

gg

Not at all - that guys' just being a wussy.

I would give a reasonable response to this... but I'd rather not feed the TROLL!

Here is my opinion. Anyone that throws the troll bit out after someone posts twice is an idiot and should be banned from the internet.

On most newsgroups there are two prerequisites.

A. You must believe you are inherently more intelligent than anyone else.

B. You must believe that anybody who disagrees with you is not just stupid, but is doing it deliberately just to tick you off -- you are personally targeted, since after all, you are the most important person on the planet.

Also, people seem to adhere mostly to the MIT methodology of "Do the Right Thing", where there is only one Right Thing, and that's YOUR way, and it doesn't matter if the Right Thing is inherently impractical or impossible for mere mortals to understand. (EDIT: I'm not implying that the MIT approach encompasses this obnoxious attitude, just that this is what I've typically seen on Usenet)

Most importantly, your method must handle all possible cases, including those which could never actually occur. Otherwise it's not the Right Thing.

Everytime I go to usenet, my impression of the regulars at the programming section worsens. They're so passive aggressive and mean. I mean, I don't think he insulted you directly but being repeatedly undermined and called an idiot grinds my gears. I'd say, ban me and get it over and done with.

NNTP has devolved over the past few decades into a small number of infrequent visitors honestly trying to help people fighting against massive hordes of drivelling idiots who will shout you down and justify their innane bull........ with self referencing proclomations of authority. a.k.a. trolls.

I actually had a guy supporting his own argument with multiple accounts claiming that I knew nothing about neural networks because he was a professor and I was a mere engineer. (ad hominem appeal to authority), when I pointed out that he was completely wrong by citing several references, he claimed that I was merely stating what he was trying to explain to me all along. These people arent on usenet to help, they just like to hear themselves talk and want to win every argument even if they are wrong and have to resort to hyperbole.

If trolling was not your intention, then you have been falsely accused. :)

It looks to me more like you hurt his feelings by pointing out the flaw in his "perfect solution" (i.e. the registry hack he proposed). From that point on, every post from him was a "his way vs. your wrong way".

While I can not comment on the technical aspect of either of your posts (as I am not that familiar with Unicode and how Windows uses it), I can say that you handled his rudeness with grace that he did not deserve.

Though you should be banned from the newsgroups for that since you'll never fit in. ;)

Thanks for all the replies.

Just make'n sure I'm not going crazy or anything.

gg

the term "troll" gets thrown around way too much in the newsgroups these days. most recently the definition has changed to

Quote:

---

troll (n):
1) anybody you personally dislike for any reason.
2) a person whom you believe to be wrong, but are too lazy or afraid to try correcting.

---

i don't even bother reading newsgroups anymore unless i want to laugh at the petty squabbling. the archives are usually enough to get real answers if i have a technical question.

Not too long before that, an "mvp" got all uppity about name decorations...

http://groups.google.com/group/micro...385ee00d577eb/

Some folks have a hard time with be'n wrong...

gg

Wait a second, I thought I was just being called a short fat ugly person with wispy hair that lives under a bridge.

No no, he was asking about acting like a "troll", not a "spammer" :rolleyes:

Something about this thread must attract spam bots. I'll better close it.