General discussion

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #2192425

    Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

    Locked

    by stargazerr ·

    Looks Like Underage is back … He is Masquerading under the username donkey@ …

    Jay, Smorty … before all hell breaks loose … please get him out of here

    Proof??? Check this link out

    http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-11189-0.html?forumID=3&threadID=189247&start=0

    ]:)

All Comments

  • Author
    Replies
    • #3107035

      WOW

      by oz_media ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      And I thought I took the cake for inappropriate discussions.

      • #3106959

        Nopers

        by bfilmfan ·

        In reply to WOW

        You have to admit the kid has the tenacity of a termite in a lumber yard.

      • #3093343

        Oz

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to WOW

        Everyone gets a slice where underage is concerned 😀

        ]:)

        • #3091306

          Reply To: Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

          by cwise ·

          In reply to Oz

          can u sent me the url to this? the one which is posted, I get a page invalid message, since the complete url is not visable. This way I will be able to fully understand this dicussion. Thanks

        • #3091299

          post was pulled by admin

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Reply To: Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

          sorry, but you can’t get there from here.

          the discussion was pulled because it had no value and would be rather offensive to just about anyone with a brain, as it was intented.

          Nothing but flamebait.

          A copy-cat troll.

    • #3107034

      I was wondering

      by tink! ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      when someone was going to bring Donkey Man to attention. He threw in like half a dozen idiotic posts right in a row.

    • #3107019

      for smorty and jay to see this

      by jdclyde ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      you should one, post this under the “site feedback” heading, instead of the misc section.

      the next thing, put their name right in the heading so they know right off the bat that it is for them.

      As for this id10t, the ONLY way to get rid of him is to get everyone to not respond to him.

      I DID make the suggestion for them to notify his ISP of his behavior, and THEY would knock him right off the net, but if he is back already he either isn’t posting from home or they didn’t notify the ISP.

      Flaming him would be useless, as this sexually deprived dork is looking for the attention that he no longer gets from his mother sence she stopped breast feeding him a few months ago…… :O

      • #3107017

        Better suggestion

        by m_a_r_k ·

        In reply to for smorty and jay to see this

        email them immediately when you notice something like this. See my next post. I was going to email but the post was deleted already.

      • #3106960

        Sexually Deprived Dorks

        by bfilmfan ·

        In reply to for smorty and jay to see this

        Damn and I was hoping that was leading to some kind of seminar offer in Vegas with a red head…

        • #3106950

          This isn’t what MOST people think of

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Sexually Deprived Dorks

          when they think of MILF’s.

          It generally isn’t your OWN mother! :O

        • #3106892

          Grossly inappropriate response

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Sexually Deprived Dorks

          I’ve got your red head RIGHT here.

        • #3093589

          so

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Grossly inappropriate response

          he just missed by a few states? Not bad for being a world away! ;\

        • #3093569

          That is…

          by jellimonsta ·

          In reply to Grossly inappropriate response

          gross!! And inappropriate! :p

        • #3093556

          and

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Grossly inappropriate response

          I have one incredibly hot “punky” red hed here. ]:)

          22 years young.
          5’9″
          36C
          26
          34

          I nicknamed this neighbor Dessert. ~wiping drool from lips~

          cause she presents an excellent arguement for skipping dinner and diving right into dessert. ]:)

        • #3093305

          Where’s My Red Head?

          by bfilmfan ·

          In reply to Grossly inappropriate response

          You do?

          Is she headed to Vegas?

          Please have her in a short dress and those foo foo heels.

          Thank you.

      • #3093358

        He is a nut

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to for smorty and jay to see this

        I thought that donkey@ was just another one of those nutters until I saw his “other” post

        And yeah I should have posted this under the site feedback …

        ]:)

    • #3107018

      Already deleted

      by m_a_r_k ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      I was 2 seconds away from emailing Smorty. I went back to doublecheck the link and the discussion was gone. The TR staff has been on the ball lately.

      • #3107012

        Maybe and maybe not

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Already deleted

        I have been getting that dadburn site not found for a few daze now.

        Is it TR gimping again or was it removed?

        They usually respond to the tattle-tailers when they do that. 😀

    • #3107013

      We’re on it

      by Jay Garmon ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      We already suspected as much. His first batch of offensive posts have been deleted. If he goes at it again, we’ll lock down this new account. In my experience, the best way to get rid of these parasites is to ignore them. Of course, I have to say that as an official representative of TR, but it’s also probably true.

      • #3107010

        and what about

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to We’re on it

        the possiblity of reporting him to his ISP?

        Is that something that is concidered or possible, depending on where he is posting from?

        • #3106962

          Probably not

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to and what about

          He is doing nothing illegal. Just an extreme version of harassment that happens every day in the Wild Wild Web.

          And you’d need access to a cross-reference between IP addresses and ISPs. I don’t think TR or almost any other commercial or private operator of a web site has access to what IP addresses belong to each ISP.

        • #3106953

          Actually

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Probably not

          what he is doing IS grounds that an ISP can drop him. Doesn’t have to be just illegal.

          As for tracking him back, they can do it.

        • #3106922

          actually

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Probably not

          publicly searchable records for ip numbers are available.
          required by laws, you can trace which area he is from, go the the authority for that region of the planet and find out which company owns that ip number

          http://www.arin.net/whois/

          is one such site.

          the output from searching ip number from an email I received [ Government of Canada Body reply to inquiry }

          Search results for: 142.46.199.30

          Ontario Hydro – Telecom ONTARIO-HYDRO (NET-142-45-0-0-1)
          142.45.0.0 – 142.50.255.255
          Telecom Ottawa Inc. HOT-TELECOMOTTAWA-9 (NET-142-46-199-0-1)
          142.46.199.0 – 142.46.202.255
          Standards Council of Canada TOL-142-46-199-16-31 (NET-142-46-199-16-1)
          142.46.199.16 – 142.46.199.31

        • #3093582

          Cool

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to actually

          That’s interesting. I didn’t know it was so easy. Since domain name owners are publicly available, I should have figured that IP addresses are as well. Thanks!

        • #3092985

          mispost

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to actually

          Wrong portion of thread

      • #3093306

        Glad he is gone

        by rob mekel ·

        In reply to We’re on it

        tnx

        Rob


        @life
        is too short to not enjoy it 😡

      • #3090896
        Avatar photo

        I see Jay

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to We’re on it

        You just sicked Beth onto him didn’t you? 🙂

        She’s someone I wouldn’t want to cross at all, ever and she comes across as [b]So Nice[/b] 😡

        Col ]:)

        • #3100644

          Good radar

          by beth blakely ·

          In reply to I see Jay

          I’d say you have a good radar. Don’t cross me or I will make you sorry. 😉
          But nicely…

          And Jay didn’t sick me on Underage, btw. They save me for the really nasty rascals.

      • #3080737

        Darn…

        by padgettrea ·

        In reply to We’re on it

        you mean I missed all the fun? 🙁

    • #3106952

      A possible long-term solution

      by Jay Garmon ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Got this from the SIgnal Vs. Noise blog
      http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/introducing_the_troll_cap.php

      “We?ve been experimenting with various ways to keep abusive comments in check. We?ve tried simply deleting those comments, banning those commenters from SvN, and even turning off comments all together for a limited time. We?ve learned a few things from each experiment.

      “Here?s another one we?re going to try: The Troll Cap.

      “We?ve all seen the dunce cap. Now it?s time for some people to put on the Troll cap. Comments posted on SvN that are off-topic, blatantly inflammatory, or otherwise inappropriate or vapid may either be removed or be slapped with the Troll cap.”
      http://www.37signals.com/svn/images/37icon-troll-big.gif

      Do you guys think that would work, or would we simply be giving these individuals the attention they seek?

      • #3106945

        That is funny!

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Give it a shot! Not out anything, as he is already out of hand.

        Although I like “DORK” better than troll. ;\

        I would rather be called a troll anyday! 😀

        • #3091616

          But JD – to the Upers we ARE trolls

          by wojnar ·

          In reply to That is funny!

          Just a reminder about us who live under the bridge.

        • #3253290

          be we don’t talk about “them”

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to But JD – to the Upers we ARE trolls

          the youpers are a breed all of their own, and we seldom admit that they are there!

          To outsiders, we just tell them it is just a myth, like “nessie”. You see fuzzy pictures, but no real proof! 😀

          “your more likely to see BigFoot!”

        • #3254393

          May your snowmobile break a track every week…

          by nicknielsen ·

          In reply to be we don’t talk about “them”

          …while you spend the next 3 winters in Paradise!

        • #3254366

          Ever been there?

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to May your snowmobile break a track every week…

          Go to the taquamina (sp?) falls while your in the area.

          Took my boys camping there for a week a year ago, and it was the highlight of their summer.

          This November, they will be old enough to go out for firearms deer season, so we are going to spend a week up there to hunt. That will mean we have to get up there a few times this summer to scout out some areas.

          I can’t wait.

          Oh, no snowmobile! 😀

          Now, you go up to Escanaba and a snowmobile isn’t a luxury, it is a neccesity to survive! :O

      • #3106933

        How about hiding him?

        by alangeek ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Hide his replies from everybody except him. That way he thinks he’s still making himself heard, but effectively everybody’s ignoring him. I bet that’d work faster than anything.

        • #3106928

          or add

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          an ignore user feature so we don’t see thier posts at all.

        • #3106918

          I second

          by tink! ·

          In reply to or add

          Jaqui’s answer – add an ignore user feature

        • #3093577

          Ignore feature works best if…

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to or add

          the ignored users KNOWS he’s being ignored. That way he’ll know that he won’t be getting the response that his little mind craves and he’ll soon head for greener pastures.

        • #3093565

          Hax0r

          by jellimonsta ·

          In reply to Ignore feature works best if…

          Can’t someone give him a link to a kiddie script to hack the Microsoft website 127.0.0.1?

          Although we should warn him of the ‘Hack jamming’ abilities of that Microsoft system that may cause him to lose Internet connectivity. We can just inform him that persistence is key, and he should just keep trying!
          I think I can, I think I can!!
          🙂

        • #3254390

          If that fails…

          by nicknielsen ·

          In reply to Hax0r

          point him to the Mozilla.org website localhost.

        • #3093557

          about knowing

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Ignore feature works best if…

          then he will know to just create another account.

          If he isn’t getting the rise and doesn’t know why, it would be harsher as he would get dumber and louder and still get no notice.

        • #3093544

          Exellent idea

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to about knowing

          Very devious too. It’s better to kill him with with a thousand cuts than a single stab in the heart. ]:)

        • #3133645

          I don’t know…

          by keyguy13 ·

          In reply to Exellent idea

          I think it’s better to stab him in the heart. Then rip off his head. Then drag his lifeless corpse through broken glass. Then draw and quarter him. Then stick his head on a stick outside the city walls 🙂

        • #3090913

          Hey, why is everyone ignoring me?

          by richard ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          I don’t see the button…

        • #3077937

          because

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Hey, why is everyone ignoring me?

          we can’t see your posts when you have the hat on, of course! (silly boy!) ;\

        • #3077953

          hiding is a great idea but……….

          by harryaaa7 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          why not let the poster know what percentage of the members in the forum have hidden his replies. This way he’ll get the message that no one is interested in reading his comments.

        • #3077939

          any feedback though

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to hiding is a great idea but……….

          lets them just know how many people they got to and they can make it some kind of game.

          That, or they are able to KNOW why no one is answering them and create a new account.

          Leaving them to wonder is a much better punishment!

        • #3077910

          Sensorship

          by johneslary ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Filtering or Sensoring is not a good idea, unless his replies are Criminal.

        • #3077897

          It’s Not Sensorship

          by mach-one ·

          In reply to Sensorship

          I?m all for free speech, however there needs to be standards set for each forum. There could be a flamer?s forum out there some ware on the internet.

          It like your getting an invitation to her a speaker you like in a local auditorium and you go to the event and after all are in to auditorium the security guards lock all the doors so no one can leave the place and someone else (Flamer asshole) is the speaker and you, along with the others (how feel the same as you do about the person speaking) are forced to her him speak.

          I think the answer is just to conceal his postings. Even if he gets another account, we can just keep on concealing his postings as the show up. Evenly he will get a clue, as to what going on.

        • #3077831

          Revocation is simple solution

          by hostile17 ·

          In reply to It’s Not Sensorship

          I don’t believe censorship is the issue, as it is more that a user is violating a forum’s policies. If a user violates a forum’s rules then that user is subject to having his/her user ID revoked. Likewise, should they simply create a new profile that too would be subject to the same policies. Posting in a community forum is a privilege not a right. Just revoke their privileges.

        • #3077826

          .

          by e_caroline ·

          In reply to Revocation is simple solution

          .

        • #3077824

          Simplisitic solution, not simple

          by e_caroline ·

          In reply to Revocation is simple solution

          You say this as if it were clear who is “violating the policies of the forum”.

          It isn’t at all clear… I rarely bother with the forums here because there is so much IM/chatroom banter going on in every forum. You cannot find the information for the one-liners that clog the site.

          I’d guess that many “regulars” see the place as their private chatroom and simply want to eject as an intruder anyone who a)isn’t part of the in-crowd and who b)makes the same sort of smarmy, belittling commentary the regulars make toward intruders but who aims it at the regulars instead.

          We can see the camel’s nose in the tent elsewhere in this thread. There is mention of filtering nasty words too. Another proposed boondogle of wasted effort.

          Once you get in the business of trying to edit everyone’s words to suit others you end up with a mess.

          Every flimsy crybaby comes out of the woodwork demanding protection from their personal demon.

        • #3077683

          Crystal clear, if you will look

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Simplisitic solution, not simple

          I have only seen SPAMMERS get ejected up until the point of Underage getting booted in the last few years. There may have been others, but nothing I have heard about.

          This shows that TR is NOT having to spend a lot of time on this issue.

          If you go into the specific tech discussions, you will not find all the “IM/chatroom banter” that you dislike so much. If you CHOOSE to go into the Misc section then it is more of a free-for-all. Read what you want, join in where you want, and have as good of a day as you want.

          If you really take a look around, very few people are asking TR to do anything about anyone (accept make the pages load FASTER!!!!)

          If your around more often, you will see that in tech life you CAN be a person as well as a tech, and not have to be thinking and talking tech every minute of your day. The “chattier” people are not having closed conversations that you are not allowed to join in. Feel free to join in where ever you may, and even start a discussion about things that interest YOU.

          Adding a personal touch does not take away the very valid tech points of this board.

          “Come on in, the waters fine!” 😀

        • #3091671

          hmmm…

          by lordchance ·

          In reply to Simplisitic solution, not simple

          I have drifted in and out of chats and forums these past 20 years E_Caroline and I have found one thing to be true. That being you will always have to sift thru the chaff. In a good forum, if you ask a question you get help. I have been here several time under different accounts (got to remember to be more careful with my account info)and I have always got the information I came for. One liners I can stand. Abusive posts and flooding I can not. 🙂

        • #3133801

          No it’s censorship

          by ds4211a ·

          In reply to It’s Not Sensorship

          Glad I’m not the only poor speller about. I was wondering why I never got any replies to my posts. Just sign me The Invisible Man

        • #3077905

          Of limited value

          by ice czar ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Im an Admin for a forum with some 50,000 rowdy active members, we are using VBull 3, and while “coventry” as you discribe it is useful, they trip to it rather quickly.

          IP banning is also of limited use, since so many trolls are on a dynamic IP, or simply employ a proxy

          in short, there is nothing for it vigilance, detective work and reasoning with the little miscreants. That and a superior wit :p

        • #3077904

          Hiding flamers … temporary fix at best

          by lurk&learn ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Greetings,

          Not personally being an IT professional (I’m in healthcare and run a medical practice, act as my LAN admin though with IT support) I usually don’t comment on TR forums. But every industry, medical specialty and niche has its forums. We have flamers, including those that post too frequently, too voiciferously, or out of proportion to inherent value in forums I monitor. It’s a problem. These people seem to derive some odd (inflated?) pleasure from seeing their own words posted in cyberspace.

          But hiding posts by a flamer seems only a temporary fix. He or she will surely figure out sooner or later that nobody else is receiving those posts, and won’t know why so will accuse the forum admin of censorship or worse.

          If someone’s posts are perceived as inappropriately annoying, offensive, or unprofessional, I personally favor a single warning post from forum admin, followed (if necessary) by temporary suspension of forum list participation privileges. The “third strike” option would be a more protracted or permanent ban from participation (but of course a simple workaround is for the flamer to register with a different username/email address).

          Even in my medical specialty (laser refractive surgery) there are certain chat forums with flamers. We have to gently and periodically remind these folks to keep discussions professional rather than personal. Sometimes it helps to point out that others use the forums to teach and/or learn, but not to criticize or rant.

          Hope this helps.

        • #3077894

          I agree if…

          by liquidxit2 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Thats the best Idea Ive heard. The only issue is that how would the decision be made to do this? and how long would it take to put into action. I believe a squelch or ignore button seems easier so each individual can squelch them for that disscussion. kind like what these other people are saying.

        • #3077868

          I love the ignore button

          by secretsheart ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          I love when a forum or chat has the ignore button because you can rid yourself of annoying people, if only life was that simple.
          I think its an excellent idea to add the ignore button.

        • #3077851

          Play right into their hand’s

          by bigepants ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          This person is probobly a quiet little nobody hiding in his/her parent’s basement playing on the internet looking for a way to wind you up … AND YOU FELL FOR IT !!

          Don’t give them any more attention then you have already I relize that it may get frustrating having to put up with it but ignore them and don’t reply is the best response

          Like children you should only give attention to positive action’s … if you really can’t punish them with time out ,or grounding them(and you can’t) then ignore is your only recourse

        • #3133534

          cb radio anyone

          by vtassone ·

          In reply to Play right into their hand’s

          This remindes me of the old cb radio days. You get a@# holes in any crowd. Let me know your 20 good buddy and I’ll pin your coax!!!!!!!!

        • #3077843

          Reply To: Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

          by ehale2 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Great idea. Wish I could do the same with some of the trolls in several other forums

        • #3077806

          I agree with hiding his posts

          by slopok82259 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          I run two forums, of course very much smaller, but they are game forums. Game forums as many of you know have trolls everywhere and that is the only solution we could come up with. We used to just kick ban IP and delete the accounts, but they were always able to get back in and start all over. So we put each one into a user group of their own and then when they posted, only they could read their own posts, but they apparently are unaware, because they have never left or stopped the spamming. It surprises me though that they haven’t figured it out, for one good reason. No one ever replies back to them to shut up and go away. I guess some people are just too ignorant to believe that they could be suckered into thinking they are still a part of their community.

          Thanks Jim C.

        • #3077803

          points system

          by half9 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          I quite like the idea posted about the points system
          Sure this is an open forum, but if there are any techie questions come up then maybe the questioner could rate the answers, say 1-5.
          I,m sure we dont all know all the answers to all the probs we find, We could all pool are knowledge to help each other

        • #3077795

          “ignore this user” button is a good idea

          by maartje ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          that way you do not censor, and people can read the troll’s comments if they wish, (I do not know why they would want to tho) and leave it up to each individual to killfile those posters they do not like.
          It also prevents unneccessary flames, of which I have seen quite a few- and personally I find flamers more annoying then trolls. Why? Because flamers are sincere, and think they are doing us all a favor by ripping those people they do not like. In other words, they think they are God’s gift to forums, or the forum police.I cannot think of anyone more arrogant then a flamer.And people that flame trolls, well, what can I say, than they are doing exactly what the troll wants them to do.
          Personally , I find “underages” comments exactly that- immature and potentially annoying, I do not let him bother me. I have seen way better trolls then that. I have seen some outstanding trolls that had me riproaring with laughter bacause they would approach forum topics with a sense of humour-which very few people seem to have when they are discussing something that is dear to them or when they run into an opposite opinion.

        • #3077755

          Post his e-mail address so he can be flamed…

          by alisak20009 ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Hiya,

          I say post his e-mail address for everyone to see and e-mail him directly while also setting up his e-mail address to receive ALL POSTED REPLIES in essence slamming his e-mail box and letting him feel the “love”…..I have a personal HATE for spammers that invade either my e-mail box directly or repeatedly post to forums I participate in when they have been told by many members no one is interested in your stupid affiliate driven garbage website. I make it a personal mission in life to trace their e-mail address back to what ever company(ies) they might be using for e-mails either directly or covertly and I notify those companies of the spamming transgression and threaten to sue their company directly if they don’t bounce the person. I also fully trace back their actual website and notify that company (even all the way back to the original affiliation company) and notify them in the same manner. This usually gets the person’s account/membership terminated thus making every cent they spent and every minute too totally wasted and thrown in the trash. In other words I cyber stalk them and make them “feel my love”….This also causes them to have to recreate all of their original work with new hosting/affiliation companies and have to redo every bit of link posting they did.

          I am mean and I mean it.

          Alisa

        • #3077741

          Report him to his employer

          by alisak20009 ·

          In reply to Post his e-mail address so he can be flamed…

          Hiya,

          I have been reading over some of the other postings on this and it has been suggested that this idiot is doing his inappropriate postings on his employers time using his employers equipment and connections for inappropriate usage. I say trace back his e-mails to his companies and send them some of his inappropriate postings and his e-mail address that he uses (and even if possibl his IP address) so that they will be able to take appropriate action against him. That will teach him a valuable lesson. Idiots should suffer the consequences of their own stupidity. Either he will be put on notice by the company or fired outright (depending on their policies).

          That will teach him good!

          Alisa

        • #3077663

          A More Important Problem

          by jeff.muller ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Childish flamers are just an annoyance. What is much more difficult to handle are expert-level users that monitor beginner-level newsgroups and humiliate posters of basic questions.

        • #3133787

          or a step further

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to A More Important Problem

          intentionally give wrong answers, some that are potentially damaging.

        • #3133711

          YES!

          by marionuke ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Awsome idea i think every long standing forum could use a ignore this user button. Trolls can be so anoying. It seems that some of them have nothing better to do then make people feel bad about themselves. If you go on the WoW forums alot you would know what I’m ranting about

        • #3133697

          Classic Troll Solution

          by 2manycerts ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          The Troll Room
          This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls.
          A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room.

          Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
          The troll swings his azxe, but it misses.

          >swing sword
          Whoosh!
          The troll swings, you parry, but the force of his blow knocks your sword away.

          >get sword
          Taken.

          The troll hits you with a glancing blow, and you are momentarily stunned.

          >kill troll with sword
          The troll is staggered, and drops to his knees.
          The troll slowly regains his feet.

        • #3133636

          Hidin

          by 1ieengle ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Why not hide his replies from him so he thinks he is no longer getting through and he quits. However as this goes out over the net he may see what is being done either way?

        • #3091682

          Probably wouldn’t help

          by lordchance ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          Unfortunately these malcontents are watching to see just what you will do. They use bots thru proxies to do the posting. Then they use a valid account to watch the fun. In chats you could tell the most likely suspects by seeing who was chatting and who was just watching. This has been a problem since the early BBSes…

        • #3253059

          Rigmarol

          by djohnson in calif. ·

          In reply to How about hiding him?

          I vote for a “Hide replies from this user” button. I’ve seen it and used it on other forums and I love it.

          I don’t like the idea of Admins deciding if I should see replies or not though.

      • #3093528

        How do you judge fairly?

        by nz_justice ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        I wasn’t seeking attention when I started posting threads that pissed off the regulars on the site. I was just board and using your discussion function. I am happy to be ignored even if I get a message telling me I’m ignored. I don’t think I would deserve a troll-cap\banishment\whippings\public-execution just because some regulars took a disliking to me.

        What goes around comes around. And people have been harassing me about sheep, which I don’t really care about, I’m not offended because I choose to not take it personally or seriously. And if I can be bothered I would reply with some half ass-ed attempt at a dig back (but I usually can’t be bothered). I don’t see why you would need to take a side and put a troll cap on anyone.

        I probably would not of found what this donkey guy was saying as offensive, and you deleted the thread so I can’t judge for myself.

        I haven’t made any trolls here in the TR. People just choose of there own freewill to view it that way.

        Now say a regular took offence to something I posted and came squealing to saying this guy’s a problem do something about it, here is the thread link to prove it. And you read it thought it was reasonably offensive and then took action against it. I would get executed and that would then be the end of it. My defence would be I was just posting at the same level as the poster. If they name call I name call etc…

        Anyway I have just spouted of a load of crap. please don’t troll cap me, I have even forgotten the point I was going to make.

        Anyway. How do you judge? Is it majority rules? Is it kids would find this offensive? Is there a moaning\opinion poll? Is it survivor style, where the tribe votes who gets sent away? Is there a petition for “application of person to be reject” to be signed? Are there guide lines?

        How do you judge fairly?

        Do you guys have an EULA? Could you supply me with a link? Please.

        The End

        • #3093508

          Just use common sense

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          If most of your posts are seen as harrassment by a reasonable [u]adult[/u], then you are a troll. If most of your posts are offensive to a reasonable [u]adult[/u] (i.e., would be considered offensive in any ordinary conversation among adults), then you are a troll. If people don’t know you or don’t understand your sense of humor or sense of ill humor, then you are more likely to be branded a troll. After you have contributed maturely and professionally to a few discussions, people will get to know you and understand your e-personality. Then it will become more apparent when an occasional sharp remark or outright rant is just you letting off steam or is your honest opinion (controversial as it may be) rather than a deliberate attempt to to be an a$$ or a deliberate attempt to pi$$ people off. Even then, be prepared to back up any inflammatory comments with mature opinions or facts. If you simply say “All are a bunch of ” without backing up your remark with a reason other than “because I said so!”, then you’re on the edge of being considered a troll.

        • #3093502

          I would say (EDITED FOR CONTENT)

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Just use common sense

          it takes more than just being a troll as we get those all the time.

          When some dumb punk posts for people to suck his big $$$$, there is no question that this person needs to just go away.

          If they are just creating controversy (like the “windoze is best ever”) which was an obvious attempt at flamebait, it is still condoned. Even pissing people off and attacking them because of their non-anti-American views is still condoned (huh Oz? ;\ )

          It’s kind of like the definition of pornagraphy. You know it when you see it.

          AFTER ALL, NOT EVERYONE CAN BE A HAL 9000, (huh Col?)

        • #3090889
          Avatar photo

          Now you’ve offended me JD

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to I would say (EDITED FOR CONTENT)

          You forgot to mention me in that post. 🙁

          Col ]:)

        • #3077942

          There, I fixed it Col!

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Now you’ve offended me JD

          Do we feel the love now? 😀 (no MAE, not physical loving….)

          Besides, your not the one that comes to mind when I think of controversy? Some are very predictable and all it takes is saying that someone likes something about a certain country and it won’t take long for another certain someone :p to tell you why that certain country is actually hell on earth…. 😀

          Fat, dumb, stupid, lazy, evil, hech we got it ALL! :^O

          Got the She-Who-SHALL-Be-Obeyed’s car fixed YET, or are you still on the couch? :O

        • #3077900

          Fat, dumb, stupid, lazy, evil

          by neilb@uk ·

          In reply to There, I fixed it Col!

          Those are my [b]good[/b] points…

          Bwahahahahaha!

        • #3077798
          Avatar photo

          Actually I saw it last week

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to There, I fixed it Col!

          I think SHMBO car will be ready in a few weeks time as there is a lot of work to do fixing up the “Professional Repair.” 🙂

          Actually what is left of the outer shell looks quite nice now even if it’s bare metal. The bloke doing the work should have most of the panels replaced by now or new ones made up and tacked on in place just to make sure that things look perfect before he welds everything together and then paints it properly. :O

          But what’s worse is currently I don’t have a car here all my staff stole my Mercedes and left their company cars here [b]Mongrels![/b] They know that I just will not drive a new car as I don’t like them and as they are advertised here as [b]Recycled Pet Food Containers[/b] I prefer to walk. Actually they are attempting to give me the weekend off so I only have couple of things to do and it’s relatively quite. 🙁

          I’m just not sure how to discipline them all for this. 🙂

          Oh I forgot that’s much better now I forgive you. :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3077641

          e-personality

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to Just use common sense

          Mate, your e-personality is awesome . Every time I read this thread, that I am replying too, it makes me smile. 🙂

          I would like to buy your e-personality an e-drink. Do you know any good or bad e-pubs? :p

          But regarding what you have said about using common sense, I would have to ask, whose sense is most common?

        • #3133797
          Avatar photo

          Well I couldn’t resist this one

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to e-personality

          It sure as hell isn’t the AU Customs Service who Stripped Searched the New Zealand Prime Minister as she was Leaving AU a couple of years ago.

          When that one got out our beloved Prime Minister didn’t offer an apology but he certainly made sure that none of his inner cabinet visited NZ for quite some time until things had cooled down. I don’t think that he’s been there personally since that incident and he should be held responsible for everything that happened then.

          Please next time he visits NZ make sure that he gets a very close look at your Boiling Mud preferably naked and seeing it from 10 feet below the surface for at least 4 days. 😀

          Knowing how slimy he is though he would probably just pollute the mud pit and walk away unscathed. 🙁

          Col ]:)

        • #3093504

          oh come on

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          you didn’t see underage’s post as being completely out of place here?

          from the style of the writing of this brand new member it is clear that this is just him back under a new account because the last one got banned.

          you will rarely find people calling for TR to step in, and NO ONE asked that about you.

          Underage is the second person that someone asked to have TR step in about, but the FIRST person I have ever seen banned (not including spammers).

          Judge fairly? It is strictly at the descression of TR of if something or someone has no business being here and all the crying in the world won’t change that on anyones part.

          Underage has no place in this site, and has nothing to add to anything. Just because he has a new account doesn’t change anything, and the FACT that SEVERAL discussions were pulled is enough to show you that they were out of line.

          Smorty will be the FIRST to step up and tell people to back off about silencing anyone unless there is a VERY good reason to.

        • #3093456

          NZJ,

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          I’m sure you’ve noticed I post comments frequently that do get people riled up. 🙂

          or even quite explicit sexual comments.

          Why doesn’t anyone ask Smorty, Jay etc to ban me?
          [ amcol being an exception ]

          because I do also contribute in a constructive manner to a lot of discussions, even in a discussion where I’m ripping someone a new a**hole, I’ll also constructively answer reasonable comments from that same person.

          underage/donkey just posts things designed to create controversy, with out a single comment posted that is constructive.

          It’s a balance thing, if you show you have the skills and knowledge, or are willing to get them, people will treat you with more respect when you do go off on someone, or about something.

        • #3093423

          You should stay on topic

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to NZJ,

          Like ME! 😀

          A note about your posts that have “explicit sexual comments”. They are not crude and intending to offend. More of a public service announcement. ;\

          Underage on the other hand has no class at all, and seems like the kind of angry geek that got beat on by all the jocks in school and is enjoying having some power for a change.

          It is very clear why he was kicked out of his last discussion board before he came here. (see max’s post for link to underage’s first discussion here)

        • #3093407

          I did stay on topic,

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to You should stay on topic

          I answered NZJ’s question on how we judge if someone is a problem or not.

          and I saw underage’s first post here the day he posted it.

        • #3093237

          on topic

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to I did stay on topic,

          ALL the time, just like ME! B-)

        • #3093227

          Which just means

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to on topic

          That everyone else is off topic …. :p

          ]:)

        • #3093210

          EXACTLY!

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to on topic

          I have said it for years. I am perfectly normal. It is everyone else that is friggen nuts! B-) [i] At least that is what the voices say…..

        • #3090884
          Avatar photo

          Jacqui What makes you think no ones complained?

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to NZJ,

          I do it about you all the time and Beth in her calf length Black Leather high heals, Black Leather Dominatrix suit and whip is constantly checking out your postings just waiting to pounce when you put so much as put a toe out of place. :p

          Sorry I couldn’t resist that one, well I could actually but it’s so much fun typing it in and thinking of how Beth will react. 😀

          Pity that we can not see her face when she reads this. 🙁

          Yes Beth I’m a [b]Bad Bad Bad boy[/b] and deserve to be punished. But as your whip will not reach here you can demote me to a site rating of 666. :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3100645

          You will obey

          by beth blakely ·

          In reply to Jacqui What makes you think no ones complained?

          I don’t need a whip to punish you, HAL.

        • #3093337

          Why are you defending yourself NZ?

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          Nobody talked about you or suggested that you should be thrown out or that you should be troll capped. If you think that your earlier posts deserve being troll capped …. well, you know where to improve and thats a start ….

          And If you think that donkey’s posts were not worth being revoked ….. well, you are in dire need of growing up.

          ]:)

        • #3092914

          Never read donkey’s posts.

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to Why are you defending yourself NZ?

          so I have no idea of what you are talking about. I get an error page “not found” when I click on the link.

          I wasn’t being personal, just making an example myself.

          🙂

        • #3133038

          what thread

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Never read donkey’s posts.

          ain’t you mixing the different threads?

          If you are then probably it’s this one:
          http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=189216&start=0

          And … it’s working; y?re a fine example of your self. :d:d:d

          As am I.
          I’m freaking out here.

          Rob

        • #3090890
          Avatar photo

          Sheep? Now who would do that not me!

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          Come on you’re a New Zealander and you expect those comments all the time. I even got honored with an Honorary PHD in the [b]Erogenous Zones of Sheep[/b] by a Pommie Peer, [i] it took ages to clean up the mess that I made by laughing so hard that I chocked on what I was drinking at the time.[/i] 🙁

          But the thread that I was disappointed about being pulled was started by the Infamous [b]Guru of Dos GOD for short[/b] and it appears that at least one person took offense to the contents about the current Spam Problem and one particular word caused the entire discussion to just disappear. Seems that it’s perfectly acceptable to extol the virtues of female chest enlargement but not the enlargement of certain male parts. 😀

          Anyway I’ve been called just about everything over the time I’ve been visiting TR and it’s all water off a ducks back to me except that number 1 Site Rating as it a real pain in the rear end so many people think that all they need do is e-mail you and you’ll drop everything travel half way around the world to fix a 30 second problem. I’d settle for a site rating of 666 and never give it a second thought. :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3077756
          Avatar photo

          Totally OFF TOPIC NZ_J But

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Sheep? Now who would do that not me!

          I was instructed to make up a Web Page recently by a New Zealand Citizen living in AU. I was given a basic outline to work within but was allowed a free hand on the main content. While she loved it some of the people that she sent it to took offense so I was asked to tone it down quite a lot but retain the original for those that she wanted to send it to. :p

          The Censored one is here

          http://tinyurl.com/adrky

          I’m not going to post the RRRR one but if anyone wants to see a copy they can contact me through the Peer Mail and I’ll send then the Link. 😀

          And I didn’t say anything about [b]SHEEP![/b] :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3077742

          website

          by half9 ·

          In reply to Totally OFF TOPIC NZ_J But

          love the website, there are a heap of kiwis in aussie and that one is pretty clever

        • #3077700
          Avatar photo

          And thats the clean version.

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to website

          😀

          Unfortunately I couldn’t get a clear photo of the right hand rear quarter panel her son had a [b]Silver Fern Transfer[/b] placed there but it was just too close to the building for it to come out clearly. 🙁

          Needless to say the owner of this car supports the New Zealand Womens Net Ball Team. 🙂

          Col ]:)

        • #3133780

          The other version

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to And thats the clean version.

          Is seriously way better, It makes more sense and is way more funny. 😀 :^O

          Is it the correct English to say “way more funny”? Should it be “even funnier”? Or perhaps something else should be said? But what?

          Was it the animal rites group that found it offensive? They shouldn’t have, it sounds like she was treating the sheep very nice. :p

          Is it “rites or “rights”?

          Thanks for the great link Col.

        • #3133716
          Avatar photo

          Actually it was a Pom that tore into me about it

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to And thats the clean version.

          She was very upset by the wording and was horrified that I was making it Public when actually I only sent it to the recipient and she passed it on to everyone. 🙂

          Now the Infamous Mary M is quacking in her shoes too scared to post it to anyone at all. 😀

          I still didn’t say anything about sheep either as that was mostly all the original persons idea I just added a bit to it to make it funnier. :p

          But judging by the reaction that it got I’m not posting it anywhere where someone might take offense. :O

          Col ]:)

        • #3077922

          Yup, slippery slope there…

          by propellerheadus ·

          In reply to How do you judge fairly?

          My experience with this kind of forum is more on the internet gaming side than in the techie type forums, but I have to agree with NZ_Justice that censorship is a slippery slope. Yes, high temp flames are easy to spot and delete for the moderators, but there’s a line out there between that and valid opinions that don’t agree with someone else’s. Who is to say where that line is?

          I’m all for letting the moderators just delete the obvious stuff without fanfare (as long as they can handle the load). People posting flames and inappropriate stuff are looking for the thrill of attention and the community’s outrage.

          If you don’t give it to them, they’ll just find another board to bug. If you do give it to them they’ll keep it up.

          Go to any finance board (like on Yahoo!) and watch how the conservatives and liberals fight it out on boards like IBMS. They get a lot of attention, and they like it. And they keep doing it (no moderation until it becomes a court case, and yes I’ve seen that happen on at least one occasion).

      • #3093484

        I like the idea

        by mjwx ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        But NZ_justice has a point. IMO there should be an appeals process (if you’re given the cap by TR at least) where you can request the details on why you were capped. An appeals process IMO (again) will keep things fair because sometimes we all go off on a tangent and it is not necessarily offensive (or so we can atone for our mistakes, were human after all).

        • #3093428

          a safe bet

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to I like the idea

          that they guys at TR would not be quick to jump to anything rash.

          Donkey/underage has already had several of his new discussions yanked today, and you can believe it was done for a reason.

          Smorty is not quick to silence anyone or to play babysitter.

        • #3093353

          I am pretty sure

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to I like the idea

          that underage understands why He will be capped as a Troll … He is only here to be annoying and knows it.

          ]:)

        • #3254540

          Let he(or she) without sin cast the first stone.

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to I am pretty sure

          Ouch that hurt. (dam there is no pain smiley)

          So if you don’t know it and you are here to be annoying are you safe? :p

          What if it’s just your e-personality to be annoying, no matter what you type or how you reply people are always going to be annoyed by you, Is it fair to be capped a troll.

          What happens when the troll cap becomes trendy and every one wants one. People start posting misc offensive stuff very where. Then TR gets known as the TR troll site. Is anyone gonna want to visit then?

          😉

        • #3254367

          better duck!

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Let he(or she) without sin cast the first stone.

          I would bet if the troll cap didn’t have the desired affect, then it the nest step would be dismissal from the premisis.

          Like in real life, it doesn’t matter WHY your annoying, it just matters IF you are annoying. You will be treated accordingly either way as BEING annoying.

          That is why I like the idea of a squelch button. You would only have the ability to ignore people, not to block them from others seeing what they put.

      • #3093346

        Thanks a Million

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        for getting rid of that post

        Troll Cap sounds brilliant … But some people like being famous … even if it means capping them as Troll…. I suggest Cap them for a couple of days and then get rid of them …

        If you could get us an Ignore Button too … It would be Brilliant 😀

        ]:)

      • #3093283

        Troll Cap or other markings

        by rob mekel ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        I, for one, don’t see how capping or otherwise noticeable marking user(id)s for their bad behavior will help stopping them to behave badly.

        The most important argument for this is that as soon as they are capped they get a new id and continue their doings.

        In my opinion the only thing that could work is reporting them to their ISP. On how to do this I’m not sure but maybe via their email account is a possibility. As is trying to track back their ip-address to their ISP and warn them.

        If there is a fulproof solution to the problem I don’t know but as long as we do nothing they will continue offending and/or insulting people.

        Rob


        @life
        is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3093125

          That’s why TR should advise the address of his ISP!!!

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to Troll Cap or other markings

          If all of the offended at TR flame them, they’ll drop the account or cripple his ability to upload his type of garbage. If he is living at home with mommy and daddy and their connectivity to the web becomes impaired, how long do you think it will be before this punk gets the slap upside his head that he so richly deserves, especially if mom and pop are running some sort of home business. People need to take charge of their brats and if they can’t or won’t they have no one to blame but themselves when the rest of the world does it for them. Don’t control your brat; there will be consequences beyond what you can even imagine and it won’t necessarily all be oriented around technology. I have a suspicion that he is a screwup in the rest of his dealings with others.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3133060

          It?s like elitism in reverse.

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to Troll Cap or other markings

          Instead of putting him on a pedestal a troll cap will drag a person below the common man/woman. If we label him we let him know and more importantly let others know that his opinion is not worth as much as there own or someone else?s. Essentially it?s like the entire group saying all at once ?I?m better than you because you?re a troll? while childish it is supprisingly effective.

          This is a good psychological weapon that is most effective on opinion-orientated people. You may not think much of being labelled but you don?t seem to me at least, to be an opinion-oriented person (correct me if I am wrong). A troll or more specifically someone who gets off on name-calling and starting controversy like underage, will be adversely affected by an arbitrary label (an arbitrary label removes the delusion that he is special).

          I dont think his ISP is going to kick someone like underage off just because TR (just another website to an ISP) complains about them.

          IMO people normally fight with the weapons that would affect them the worst. Underage likes to belittle people, so should be belittled himself. I believe nothing will pain him more than to feel unimportant.

        • #3133035

          elitism contrareverse??

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to It?s like elitism in reverse.

          Mmm, see that you did read some (maybe all) of the threads about underage. And yes, y’re right it is a bit childish but effective to put a cap or marker to a person. For as long as he/she uses the userid that is capped. While, exaggerating 🙂 (but may be not :(), in the end there are a hundreds or so capped id’s. Mmm, not much fun there, let alone the work it gets to TR-people in capping all of them.

          Nope I don’t think either that an ISP will kick a customer out just because there are some (1,2,3,…., 4.999.999.999, 5.000.000.000) complaints about one user. But then it may be is gonna effect their advertisements (don’t know how yet) or other customers, well I don’t know what they’ll do.

          And right on the spot again, people like underage are screaming for attention and don’t like to be ignored. One the other hand who of us does like being ignored ??? There’s no need to be an opinion-orientated person to dislike ignoration (ahum, being ignored)

          Over all I do agree with you so: reverse, contrareverse, I don’t no.

          Rob

        • #3132961

          Agree with all of that … One question

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to elitism contrareverse??

          When you say … I dont no … you do mean .. I dont know, dont you? Bit confusing really 😀

          ]:)

        • #3253828

          Sorry, about that one.

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Agree with all of that … One question

          And you’re right. Did mean: … I don’t know.

          Rush, rush, rush, no excuse but … (should kick myself in the a$$) :D:D:D

          Rob

        • #3092351

          further clarificatoin

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to elitism contrareverse??

          I don?t agree or disagree with your first point. I think only time will tell if troll capping is overused.

          To an ISP underage is just another customer he pay?s fee?s like everyone else. I don?t believe that any ISP is going to view this as big enough threat. For example, in the news lately some US ISP?s have been saying that sites (Google, Amazon) should pay for the bandwidth users consume by using them. It may be different in the US but here in OZ, my ISP seeks to isolate customers from one another (for security mainly).

          I agree with your third point, no-one likes to be ignored. While some people can work well with little or no recognition (above social recognition) my point was that opinion-oriented people will be more adversely affected by being ignored (or belittled).

          I know that stargazer rased this but I would like to know as well.

          ?Over all I do agree with you so: reverse, contrareverse, I don’t no.?

          Do you mean ?I don?t know? or ?I don?t, no?. It?s a bit confusing after a double negative (I know I?m nitpicking).

        • #3253794

          sure

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to further clarificatoin

          Last thing first:
          http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=189260&messageID=1947766

          The second point goes directly to why in the USA there is much commotion about controlling communication and giving USA-government all the information they want to have. (check this thread: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=189368&start=0 )
          I’m not saying it, signaling an ISP, will help but it’s better then doing nothing, as it might do help.

          Do agree on that opinion-oriented people will take ignoration (is it suitable as short for being ignored) more the hard way.

          Rob

        • #3133750

          I’m trying to stay out of political discussions at the moment

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to sure

          but I still dont believe that an ISP will act on a complaint about a single customer.

        • #3132931

          “I’m better”

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to It?s like elitism in reverse.

          Saying a troll is not as good as the productive and contributing members is not childish, nor unfair but highly accurate.

          Not everyone is equal, and Underage had lots of issues.

          I AM better than him, and so are the vast majority of the members here. Heck, even YOU are better than he is! :O

          I think the biggest advantage of labeling with the dunce cap is a warning to others of what this person is about.

        • #3092357

          Glad to know you hold such a high opinion of me

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to “I’m better”

          “I AM better than him, and so are the vast majority of the members here. Heck, even YOU are better than he is!”

          thanks JD. 🙂

        • #3093803

          Are you sure

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Glad to know you hold such a high opinion of me

          I just didn’t have a VERY low opinion of Underage, so it wasn’t a high bar to reach? :O (j/k)

          Glad you took the “even” part as the fun poke it was intended to be.

          And your welcome! 😀

          There is NOTHING wrong with discrimination against someone based on the way they act, and it is perfectly legal, moral, and ethical to do so.

      • #3093259

        I like it, but…

        by jck ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        if you did it to the right person at the wrong time, you’d get accused of incurring on their 1st amendment right to freedom of speech.

        I support you, though.

        And, I’d like to volunteer myself to wear the “Troll Cap” first. :^O

        • #3093232

          well

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to I like it, but…

          that’s settled then.

          The first Troll Cap goes to….

          JCK lol hahaha

          But…. what for (hehehe ]:)) you ain’t that sick of mind.

          Rob


          @life
          is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3093228

          think

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to I like it, but…

          you don’t HAVE any more rights here than what the powers-that-be for TR SAY you have, because it is THEIR server, first of all. You have NO 1st amendment “rights” here unless they SAY you do.

          Second, the troll cap doesn’t STOP people from posting. It just identifies them to other members, so it doesn’t infringe on this alledged “right”.

          And third, not ALL speach is protected under the constitution. I would venture that “suck my big ####” is NOT covered. There have been decisions about such things about speech with NO value not being covered. This is to keep you from getting your political or religious views silenced, the right to decent.

          Fourth, do we know if the person is a US citizen? If not, then they don’t HAVE a 1st amendment right to ANYTHING as our constitution ONLY covers US citizens while they are in the US.

          So the only “butt” here is YOU!~ :^O

          And lastly. From the last few years, there has been NOTHING to give the impression of “Smorty and CO.” [i]( like that? ;\ )[/i] being quick to silence anyone or step into any disagreement.

          “Underage/donkey breath” was quite an annoyance, yet tolerated until he made that final post to try to get someone to pay attention to him. Well, someone paid attention to him alright.

        • #3093122

          If a troll cap is to be awarded, although it should be a dork cap……….

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to think

          It should appear next to the name of the poster in any and all threads. We shouldn’t have to open a thread to see the cap.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3132870

          Or try saying “BOMB” at an

          by rapell ·

          In reply to think

          airport or in a plane and see how far free speech covers you.

      • #3093140

        The Doofus Do Rag Award

        by bfilmfan ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Also lovingly known as the Daiper Upon One’s Head and Wearing the Depends to Warm the Ears award is a great idea.

        I would recommend that it be available for award for the merit of asking lots of technical questions and never bothering to rate them.

        An even better idea is to only allow ONE open technical question at a time. If they want to oepn another, then they have to close the old one.

        We’ve got some folks around here with 15 + open technical questions, which clearly identifies them as deserving potential award winners.

        Please note that it is impolite for the diaper to have been used previous to placing it upon the award winner’s noggin, no matter how divinely just that might be….

      • #3092339

        Triva Geek

        by nz_justice ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Your method of alienating seems rather negative. how about doing something positive.

        Rather than putting a dunce cap on the user (who ever they maybe) you could promote your good threads, with something like a shout out, have look below for example.

        http://www.shoutwire.com/comments/4463/My_God_is_Better_than_Your_God

        Here in this site if someone likes the post they can add a shout out. If you take this positive approach, people can still post there threads that offend regulars, but if it doesn’t get many shout outs they can visibly see that they are wasting there time, without feeling attacked or picked on or singaled out.

        • #3093793

          About your link

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Triva Geek

          (using FF1.51)

          ———————————————–
          Redirection limit for this url exceeded.
          Unable to laod the requested page.
          This may be caused by cookies that are blocked.
          ————————————————

          In general a good idea, but a better idea is to go with BOTH ideas.

          You get positive reinforcement for being a productive member and negative reinforcement for being a troll.

          Some people DO need to be singled out.

          Mind you, my understanding of the dunce cap is you can redeem yourself by straightening up.

          This would make three classes of members.

          outstanding with lots to say that is valid and respected.

          The causual user that stays in line, but doesn’t do a whole lot.

          The dunce, who is just out to get a rise out of people or disrupt things.

        • #3092073

          FF1.51?

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to About your link

          Not familiar with that browser, the link works in IE 6 SP2 and FireFox version 1.0.7 on a windows OS. It should also work in safari no problems.

          Your level of cookie blocking could be to high. If your firewall is blocking the cookie’s, that might be cause the problem. SBSD teatime could also be blocking cookies. Your virus software could also be blocking cookies.

          The site might require the latest java VM run-time environment to be installed, I’m not to sure cause I use the MS Java VM run-time dll that is not installed with the OS.

          Here is the root site.

          http://www.shoutwire.com/

          😉

        • #3092011

          A Class based e-society

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to About your link

          Three classes of member eh?

          1st class users

          Top e-personalities go here.

          2nd class users

          Average e-personalities go here.

          3rd class users

          Lower class e-personalities go here

          So how does it work? Like this?

          The lower class can achieve normal class by atoning for the 3rd classness, but to be one of the top or one of the best you have to be “well liked” and “popular” or just “popular”.

          And maybe, the top class of the e-society can coach the lower class of the e-society on correct e-interaction, maybe offer e-counselling services for “put out” e-personalities (for a small fee of course).

          Anyway, when is TR going to go multilingual? So the foreign e-personalities might be able t migrate to the e-society but can feel more comfortable here cause it’s in there own e-language.

          Are all the top class e-personality, white western european IT people?

          Are all the lower class e-citizens of the TR “newbies” or people you are individuals and don’t act or react like the e-majority?

          Would the class system be popularity based, i.e the person with the most contacts?

          What e-status to you have to achieve to make it to the top?

          Are the top class automatically exempt form have to have a dunce cap?

          Who do the lower classes have to model them selves on to make it to the first class?

          Man. I should do some work, It’s starting to stack up.

          😉

        • #3091920

          If society doesn’t have classes defined for it.

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to A Class based e-society

          In my experience if society doesn’t have classes defined for it, society will create them. I don?t believe that society has evolved to a point where all can be equal. Yes, I know it is a harsh judgement but one I believe to be fair.

        • #3253710

          but all people are NOT equal

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to If society doesn’t have classes defined for it.

          just equal under law.

          some people are better at athletics.
          Some are better at academics.
          some are lazy and watch tv all day.
          some work 12 to 14 hours a day.
          some are really smart
          some are really dumb

          nothing harsh about reality, unless you are the one that got bit by bad genetics.

        • #3090877
          Avatar photo

          Hey I’m working at watching TV all day and never getting up ever!

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to but all people are NOT equal

          But those [b]Terrible US Soaps[/b] make it impossible for me to watch the TV all day! I’ve even run out of DVDs to watch after all you can only watch the Complete Star Trek so many times before it starts becoming a TAD repetitive. 🙁

          I don’t want to work 14 + hours per day it’s just that Day Time TV forces me to, so that I can part way retain what little sanity I have left. :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3133749

          I was referring to being born into classes.

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to but all people are NOT equal

          Not to an individual’s attributes. Just thought I?d clarify myself a bit.

        • #3133665

          Social status

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to but all people are NOT equal

          Understood what you are saying, (now).

          I don’t look at status like that until it is pointed out, so that is not the way I took the discussion. I am a firm believer of people earning their keep, and being judged based on who and what they are.

          Do I judge people? Every day of my life.

          Do I exlcude people from my life because they are not worthy of being a part of my life? Every day of my life.

          Am I a snob? Only according to a few on here it seems…. ;\

          Have I told a few certian members here that they are mental? More than once! Will I do it again? More than once! 😀

          Life is too short to waste it on people that don’t measure up. Has nothing to do with what they look like, it DOES have everything to do with what they ARE like.

          The gene pool needs some chlorine!~ ;\

        • #3091709

          RE: Social status

          by mjwx ·

          In reply to but all people are NOT equal

          JD about your second point

          [i]”Do I judge people? Every day of my life.”[i]

          We all make judgements about the people we meet, whats important is a) that we don?t make judgements based on class (or race, religion, ETC?) b) that we don?t force our opinions on others (just to clarify this, sharing an opinion is OK, IMO).

        • #3253283

          Correct (for the most part)

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to but all people are NOT equal

          which is why I had said at the beginning of the post [i]”I don’t look at status like that until it is pointed out, so that is not the way I took the discussion.[b] I am a firm believer of people earning their keep, and being judged based on who and what they are.”[/b][/i]

          I would hope everything else I wrote also indicated that?

          Ending point is, discrimination is NOT illegal, nor is it bad provided it is based on WHO someone is, not WHAT someone is. What color someones skin is, is a real STUPID reason to hate them. The way they act around other people [b](like Fake James)[/b] IS a reason to dismiss them.

          –Added in–

          About FORCING your opinion on others. No, you can’t FORCE your opinions on others. But if you have ANY convictions about your own beliefs, you will not continue to associate with people who are in direct contridiction of your opinions.

          There is NOTHING wrong with chosing not to be around certain people. They have their “freedom” of choice and speech, and I have my freedom to not tolerate them in my daily life. Wacky “freedom” people forget that they have the right to say things, but people CAN and SHOULD hold them accountable for anything they say and do. I also have the right to not listen to their free speech.

        • #3091186

          Some are more equal than others………..

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to If society doesn’t have classes defined for it.

          People will always find a way to structure and statify society and its organizations; either politically or financialy. In either group, leaders will emerge and assume positions of leadership.Leadership of the political group is transitory and lasts only the lifetime rotem of office of the leader whereas leadership of the financial group is hereditory and/or acquired through the garnering of wealth. The leaders of the financial group can usually buy or bribe the influence of the political group but whether or not this is done the lower levels of both groups look upon these leaders as an elite.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3091915

          You have completely missed the point again

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to A Class based e-society

          In my post, the idea of a positive member is one that is helpful and is answering CORRECTLY TQ&A’a as a top priority.

          No one ever talked about this being a popularity contest. In the “number 1” discussion I had offered a few ideas on how to rank members to make it mean something. Right now it just means you spend more time, instead of quality time. Top class, figure anyone you see now that has 50K + tech points is a valuable member that has spent time sharing information.

          To wear a dunce cap. If you want an example of a dunce, go look at EVERYTHING Underage posted, followed by Donkey.

          You don’t have to agree with people, but being a complete id10t like they were is someone with nothing to add for anyone.

          Is that really so hard to understand?

          Look at yourself. Take a look at your first week here and point at anything of value. Off-topic is one thing, but admit it, you were posting just to be posting. Your posts (after my “ignore” discussion) have shown SOME thought being put into them. In this case, maybe you put TOO much thought into it. Or maybe your just a little too sensitive to the issue still because you were pushing that line yourself for a while? Relax. The way you are presenting yourself NOW is NOT worthy of a dunce cap.

          Definitions
          You will see this around here a lot:

          FF = FireFox
          IE = Internet Explorer (exploiter) ;\

          ff 1.07 is an old version. time to update. I use ff almost exclusively for work and home and have moved ALL of my users onto it as well. Has really made a big difference.

          NOW go do some work….. :p

        • #3133768

          Why didn’t you say it that way in the first place.

          by nz_justice ·

          In reply to You have completely missed the point again

          Then I would not have missed the point. 😉

          I am upside down you know. on the under side of the world. Gravity is different. Laws of physics are different, we are way too liberal about every thing.

          There is also a dense atmosphere that stops electrical signals of understanding from reaching the brain when one sees or hears or reads something. This dense atmosphere also affects spelling and grammar. People who are most affected are born in the South Island and Stewart Island.

          People in OZ aren’t as effected because they are closer to the equator the same goes for Argentines and boks.

          work? ?:| right… work? ?:| Oh yeah work. ;\

          Dam it. Home time, I’ll try do work tomorrow.;)

          Note to self. Do work. Do not pollute TR with dunce rating material. :p

        • #3133714
          Avatar photo

          But far more importantly

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Why didn’t you say it that way in the first place.

          Stop using that obscene 4 letter word W**K! :p

          Col ]:)

      • #3093786

        No, it would only filter out the “sort of” dorks.

        by maxx57 ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        The reason less intelligent users post such garbage is to get attention and/or slander others. If the post is not there for anyone to see or reply to, then there is no glory in posting such remarks since it cannot get any reply. However, if the post is deleted, then it infers that the admins/moderators ultimately have taken notice (which is many times the desire of these types of people). This translates to more attention = do it again, and again, and again… So there is no single real solution and a combination of all would be the best. Putting the Troll Cap on that user and then deleting the posts would be good, that way every body knows that that person is a complete and utter moron. And it also does not allow the person to revel in their pseudo spray painted message on the “wall”. They can no longer say, “Look [idiot] friend! I did that…”

        The best way is to ignor the person all together and remove the posts, as well as any further posts by similar users. Also, please please please… Do not have full blown discussions about it afterward!!!! That is even worse! And I suggest that this entire thread be destryed as well. Since now he/she can come back and say, “Look what havok I started… two months ago, and they are still talking about it!!! hahaha!”

        Unfortunately few people cannot “hold back” on the desire to reply to such posts in hopes to slander that person in return. The few return posts becomes the fuel to the fire.

        Imagine if you had a great discussion (such as, all the comments before and after mine), and the same complete idiot does his/her work again in this thread… If none were to reply at all. That person would begin to think that no one can see their posts or even care if they can, get no thrill from it, and simply go away.

      • #3090894
        Avatar photo

        Works for me

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Of course I would have to be the first one to get it and try it on. Also if you where to hard code my site rating to 666 of the top 100 that wouldn’t go astray either. 😡

        But since we are in the process of nominating total ID10T’s how about this one?

        http://techrepublic.com.com/5213-6341-0.html?id=4314182&redirectTo=%2f1320-22-20.html

        The questions that it asks are at best comparable to a 10 year old and the answers given by this one are downright wrong and misleading. Like one who asked a question about Media Center and this ones response was to buy new hardware. 🙁

        And I will not go into that ridiculous gelatinous mess that it is expounding as some form of Drive or storage media and asking for donations for his brilliant ideas. 😀

        Col ]:)

      • #3090887

        Feeding the beast

        by arjee63 ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        I think the latter – you’ll just be giving him the attention he seeks. I’d suggest some sort of policing mechanism as is suggested in other posts, where people seeing inflammatory messages can alert you, and the offender’s comments are hidden or deleted, as well as his account being inactivated. I realize that only stops him until he gets a new yahoo account from which to create his TR account…

        Aside from policing, which is already being done to some extent, is there a vulgarity filter built into the posts submission process? Again, I realize that it’s awfully easy just to misspell the words the filter would be looking for…but even the obvious misspellings could be included in the filter. We’ve all seen them.

      • #3077895

        I like your terms, just not your idea

        by mbaumli ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        Here is my addendum.

        The Troll Cap could serve as a limit to the amount of posts a troll can place per thread.

        Sort of like a cutoff valve or a restriction. You could make this automatic or just have this as a user submission. I think flagging the person as a troll is still a good idea, just make sure they know that their posts are about to be limited as well.

      • #3091617

        Whoa now – lets not get crazy

        by wojnar ·

        In reply to A possible long-term solution

        I know I wouldn’t want to be accused of being “off-topic, blatantly inflammatory, or otherwise inappropriate or vapid” – that would include my best stuff .

        I didn’t see the offensive posts but am concerned about how the decision would be made. I assume that the censors would have to publish an appropriate behaviour list ?

        What about a squelch feature where a user could create an ignore list. Everybody could choose to ignore anybody they wanted and wouldn’t see the posts from people they ‘squelch’. Wouldn’t take too much programming.

        • #3253278

          Lets get crazy

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Whoa now – lets not get crazy

          and have Guido and Louie show up on their door steps and make them an offer they can’t refuse! 😀

          From what I have seen, it takes a LOT to get censored here on TR. When it happens, rest assured that it is with good reason.

          As for actually seeing the posts, bathroom walls have better witt and are usually not as filty. ;\ You missed nothing of any value.

    • #3093538
      • #3093501

        that was his first post

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Interesting link

        and it was soon clear just WHY he got banned from that site.

        How did you like his reaction to my “google is your friend” comment, which wasn’t even an attack?

        Funny stuff.

      • #3093349

        Very interesting

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to Interesting link

        I read that when he posted it, but didnt think much of it at the time. Now that I read it again … it seems so funny that this guy can post such a humble sounding post.

        What an Idiot … Will we ever run out of adjectives for dear baby underage?

        ]:)

        • #3093270

          What does this say

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Very interesting

          about you (us??) idiot(s), who didn’t think. hehehe ]:)

          Can’t be always on guard, I, for one, sure ain’t. hahaha 😀

          Sometimes people are wrongly accused or abandoned from sites. That’s why we all deserve a second chance. But if we miss that one 2 …..

          Hell and damnation flows over us. Normally we retreat and try over again in an other manner.

          Hopefully they learn from all off this. (As should we, lol :D:D)

          Rob


          @life
          is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3093254

          Second chance

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to What does this say

          We gave NZ_Justice another one didnt we?? And it turned out that there is still hope for him .. Underage, on the otherhand didnt even want to take the second chance …

          ]:)

        • #3093110

          and worked out

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Second chance

          just fine. (BTW love workouts myself too, grin grin :))

          The fact that underages example is followed by an other freaking geek is that worries me. But have no clue on how to fix that, other then giving a good example like, ahum, myself (hear hear, oops this can be a risk, :D:D)

          Rob


          @life
          is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3093224

          Like I had said

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to What does this say

          to both Justice and Underage, you are will be judged based on YOUR actions.

          One repented, the other got worse.

          No loss to anyone, anywhere, if underage is not a member.

        • #3093107

          don’t argue

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Like I had said

          with that.

          Rob

          #life is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3090873
          Avatar photo

          But JD

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Like I had said

          I just loved the attack for your link to his question and then his praise [i]ur a real techy person.[/i] 🙂

          It seems that your damed if you do and dammed if you don’t. :p

          Col ]:)

        • #3077923

          WHICH ONE Col?

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to But JD

          There were a few people that decided that sweet lovable me was some kind of a SNOB just because I can afford to pick and choose who I talk to?

          That is the problem with me. I don’t fit in because I keep forgetting your not ALLOWED to have standards! 😀

          (more damned if you do it seems…)

          Looks like you were really making up for lost time there Col. You were EVERYWHERE last night (accept for the numa numa post)
          http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=189585&start=0

        • #3077792
          Avatar photo

          How did that happen?

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to WHICH ONE Col?

          http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=189260&messageID=1949172

          Somehow it ended up at the bottom of the page when I clicked on Post A Reply. 🙁

          Col [:(

        • #3093116

          “Hopefully they learn from all off this. (As should we)”. So will you if…

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to What does this say

          you keep signing off with, [b]@life is too short to not enjoy it :x[/b] That is becoming annoying now and appears to be condescending and patronizing. Can’t you vary it a bit? Just thought you should know how some might take it but then maybe it’s only me.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3093114

          Took the words right out of my mouth Dawg

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to “Hopefully they learn from all off this. (As should we)”. So will you if…

          One suggestion Rob … You could post a different quote once every 2 days or so … or know what?? Just do away with it …

          ]:)

        • #3093098

          it or IT

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Took the words right out of my mouth Dawg

          lol, I love them both. 😡

          But your right the trill is in the variation.
          So for the 2 of you, and maybe others……..

          Get the gripp of it, y’ll love it

          Rob

        • #3093094

          LOL, glad you weren’t offended.

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to it or IT

          If I were going to sign off with an expression, mine would have been [b]We’re here for a good time, not a long time. Enjoy!!![/b] However, even that would get old in a hurry if I signed off [b]all[/b] my posts with it. Another might be [b]If you can’t be famous, at least be notorious.[/b]

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3093089

          Shhhhh Dawg

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to it or IT

          Dont go on talking about being notorius ….. Underage or Donkey might be lurking around

          Thanks Rob 😀

          ]:)

        • #3093087

          re: LOL, glad you……..

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to it or IT

          Why should I, 2 of those meaningless evil dworts, hehehe, can’t. :d:d:d:d

          But then I have to hold gripp on myself, or better go home and …… (blush blush)

          Rob

        • #3092986

          Yeah, having a grip on yourself, is always………….

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to it or IT

          best done in the privacy of one’s own home, although some have been known to employ bathroom stalls at work. Right, Jd???? :^O

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3092949

          No stalls!

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to it or IT

          It is a single user room! ]:)

          “If you can’t love yourself, who can you love”? (frequently)

        • #3092994

          It is kind of creepy

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to “Hopefully they learn from all off this. (As should we)”. So will you if…

          to have a guy give you a :x, if you know what I mean….. :O

          [i]
          I LIKE girls! ]:)

        • #3092991

          I thought you like….

          by m_a_r_k ·

          In reply to It is kind of creepy

          sheep. Since you talk about them so much baaaaahhh!!! Or do you like cows better? Mooooo!! And you already admitted to having a thing for the boys when you admitted to wanting to do some unsavory things with Mambo. Yuck! I’m covering my eyes. B-)

    • #3093361

      Wow

      by stargazerr ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      I posted this and left last night … Now I will have to read through 40 posts….

      ]:)

      • #3093312

        Sigh…. explanation/apology

        by cbalness ·

        In reply to Wow

        My apologies to Tech Republic and any members that donkey may have offended. I feel I contributed to any ill-feelings generated here.

        As a background, I am a 40’s something employee of a Call Centre working corpse stealer (overnight) shift. My solace for being chained to the phone solving the worlds problems one call at a time has been the Tech Republic site where I linger between calls, read discussions and view questions which accounts for all my posts or replies occuring between 2 and 7 am.

        Unfortunately a fellow cubicle-rat noted my fascination with said site. It is apparent he logged on first as guest and noted the fuss underage was causing.

        He then went on to create his own account (so no, he is not underage under an assumed name)and proceeded with the same “let’s ruffle some feathers” attitude. His first few posts looked familiar, and he even admitted to me that it was himself and he was only posting because he was bored and wanted to see what reactions he could garner. As you can see I participated in a couple of his posts to try to keep him in rein and wasn’t initially concerned as he appeared to be posting mindless drivel in the miscellaneous topic. I assumed people would vote with their mouse (read topic, don’t like, move on)

        It now looks like he has overstepped the boundaries of good taste (I couldn’t confirm, the offending thread was yanked) and is getting bolder or sillier with each post. Please feel free to wax his account. He was not at work tonight, I have emailed his personal email to seek an explanation for his actions.

        Once more, apologies for any readers who he agitated. This however should make this online community aware of one very obvious issue.

        I read with interest somewhere (can’t remember where) some time ago a diatribe about the Internet turning into a soapbox for the unwashed masses. Now anyone with spellcheck and a keyboard can access a site and let their opinions be known. This has never been more evident by some of our recent newcomers, examples include etwanabi who posts long rambling discussions and the other poster with the computer viruses, underage and donkey who do their best to forment discorse and unrest, and who was the foreign poster asking for employment and for copies of Windows XP ??

        We now realize TechRepublic is the online equivilant of a family gathering and for the most part we know who was invited, but the occasional oddball still shows up, like that guy who eats over the salad bowl, or weird Uncle Otto who sits under the apple tree and watches the kids play…
        so we simply have to do our best and make sure we all play fair and nobody gets hurt in the sandbox and at the end of the picnic we can all have a laugh and say we met some new people and had a good time.

        Thanks for bearing with me if you’re still reading. Have a nice morning/day/evening.

        • #3093307

          What’s the world getting to??

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to Sigh…. explanation/apology

          Instead of reading offensive posts and feeling disgusted … This guy comes in and posts the same stuff because he was bored??

          Polluting our dear old TR??

          Thanks for the explanation setanta … At least it was not underage back again.

          ]:)

        • #3093302

          Thanks for the Explanation

          by bfilmfan ·

          In reply to Sigh…. explanation/apology

          I am sure that I am not alone in appreciating your explanation.

          As the Technical Director for a large government contractor, my advised punishment is making him sit in his cube and listen to William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Slim Withman and Zamphir “Master of the Pan Flute” until he drools and promises to behave.

          Note that in the United States, this would be banned by our Constitituion as “cruel and unusual punishment,” but you appear to be in Canada. Ha-ha.

        • #3093258

          Hey,

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Thanks for the Explanation

          The city where he’s from would be defined cruel and unusual punishment in the US.
          Winterpeg.. 20 below c, with a wind chill of 60 and wind speed of 80 km/h..

          [ and that is mild days. 😉 ]

          then, in the summer, you get par boiled by the heat and humidity, as well as eaten alive by the black flies. 😀

          ~note to self: quit spreading rumours knocking every place east of the rockies….some day ~

        • #3093247

          Been to Winterpeg then have we ??

          by cbalness ·

          In reply to Hey,

          This proud province is one of the few places where the temperature can be – 40 (and then add a wind chill) in winter and be +35 in the summer for a seasonal difference of 75 degrees.

          And the national bird is the mosquito….

          I think the Trek Crew Jam would be a fitting punishment…

          Thanks, hope nobody holds a grudge…

          Cheers.

        • #3093219

          are you nuts?

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Been to Winterpeg then have we ??

          I know people from there, they moved here to get seasonal differences of 20 degrees. 🙂

        • #3092932

          Yeah, but Jaqui, have you seen the mosquitoes. One landed at the ……….

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to are you nuts?

          airport and they pumped 500 LBs of JP6 into it before they discovered it wasn’t a plane.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3092044

          Sounds like the ‘skeeters

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to are you nuts?

          they have up at Shuswap here in BC.

          [ residents of shuswap area have to teach children to watch for the ‘skeeters, or they’ll get carried away impaled and never be seen again. 🙂 ]

          did you know that Shuswap Mosquitos are able to use the lake as a runway? These things can land on water or on dry land.

        • #3132858

          what does he look like,

          by rapell ·

          In reply to Been to Winterpeg then have we ??

          describe in nauseating detail.

        • #3093281

          Tnx,

          by rob mekel ·

          In reply to Sigh…. explanation/apology

          for the explanation.

          Rob


          @life
          is too short to not enjoy it 😡

        • #3093214

          Thanks for stepping up

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Sigh…. explanation/apology

          I feel sorry for you, to have to daily have to put up with anyone that finds this great sport. Sounds like a real twit. (did I use it right Neil? 😀 )

          Most were content to ignore the milder posts, and if underage wouldn’t have pushed it so far then maybe there would have been less of a reaction to donkeyboy.

          I will assume he picked that name purposely because he planned on being an a$$? ;\

        • #3093112

          It would be even nicer if he would give us …………………

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to Thanks for stepping up

          the asswipes personal e-mail address. Revenge would then be o so sweet.

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

        • #3092983

          Well done

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Sigh…. explanation/apology

          It takes a real human to step up to the plate in an Internet forum; you have no reason to, except being a straight up person.

          Kudos
          OM

    • #3093072

      The page you’ve requested cannot be found.

      by too old for it ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      • #3093071

        It has been revoked now

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to The page you’ve requested cannot be found.

        It was visible when I started this thread last night.

        ]:)

      • #3132843

        Not Sure

        by blackdiamond ·

        In reply to The page you’ve requested cannot be found.

        Hey,

        Not sure what all of the excitement was all about, but as usual I missed it.

        • #3132823

          Looong Story

          by stargazerr ·

          In reply to Not Sure

          There was an idiot called underage who was very rude and spent most of his time annoying everyone at TR. He was thrown out and his posts revoked after everyone protested.

          Then along came Donkey, who followed the same pattern.We thought, for a while that he was underage come back under another username. But as setanta explained, it was one of his colleugues wreaking havoc.

          My sentiments?? THE IDIOTS.

          ]:)

        • #3092352

          so tell me

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Not Sure

          is that as in “out on the streets for a living…..”?

    • #3090921

      Re:

      by rizwandean ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Ok. I am a member of many forums and in most cases, a member who flames another user or trolls is normally kicked out of the forum and the user is banned from entering the forum again. In this case, I think having an “Ignore User” button is a lovely idea. By having such a button, TR users get to choose whether they want to read a particular users posts or not. In the case of this troll, I’d say “bring it on” baby… put the button in…

    • #3090900

      A simple individual ignore feature is all you need

      by e_caroline ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Freaking out over so-called trolls is every bit as annoying as the trolls themselves.

      I’ve seen this in other places… the people worried about some “horrible troll” end up being ten times as disruptive as the troll themselves.

      A good case could be made that anti-trolling is a form of trolling itself given the disruptions it causes.

      Simply fix it up so that a given reader can ignore the messages of a given author.

      It is THAT simple. Trying to figure out what is “trolling” or not is a form of thought-policing that simply never works. There is no objective standard. It is all subjective fuzzy opinion as to what constitutes trolling.

      Anti-trolling campaigns lead to the end of the usefulness of the forum or chatroom or whatever since the label of “troll” soon is used to stifle dissenting ideas or ideas differing from the accepted dogma.

      A simple “ignore” feature, activated by the reader and not the administrator is the only sensible thing to do.

      An aside…

      Personally, I wonder if people these days have any visceral understanding of the ideals of freedom given the huge amount of effort people exert in arguing which form of police-state-type environment they are going to impose instead of resisting the police-state mentality entirely.

      • #3090886

        Fuzzy subjectivity… examples

        by e_caroline ·

        In reply to A simple individual ignore feature is all you need

        In this very thread we see an enormous number of postings off topic passing along jokes and jibes of the sort you might see in a chatroom or might share via IM.

        By some standards these comments would be trolling because they are off topic and make it real hard to find the comments that actually deal with the issue at hand.

        By other standards this would be seen as just some harmless banter among people who are introducing themselves to each other by sharing some quips and pleasantries.

        Both interpretations are true at the same time.

        I might like to see the personalities of the posters exposed sometimes as these quips and offhand comments do. Other times I want to skip the chit-chat and get to the meat of the discussion.

        Seeing the content of quips gives me an indication of the mind behind the more sterile techno-comments made by an individual.

        There are times that a seemingly sensible person outs themselves as immature and none-too-clever in their offhand comments. Or, they might demonstrate thoughtfulness and maturity the same way.

        In either case, I adjust my view of the author’s on-topic postings. I can make allowances for the author’s mentality in interpreting their posts.

        At any rate there is no way to objectively decide what is or is not trolling. By most standards the tired, overused, cliche’d mosquito/winter/trolls-are-jerks/etc quips would be considered off topic and their continued posting would be considered trolling.

        Most administrators who are firm anti-trollers would have booted the quipsters as disruptive simply for being so persistently off-topic.

        See how the police-state mentality could come back to bite you like a gigantic mosquito?

        • #3077963
          Avatar photo

          A this is a Miscellaneous discussion

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Fuzzy subjectivity… examples

          I must draw your attention to the TR Drink Cooler

          http://tinyurl.com/dzbvu

          Here we just stand around and talk over things generally not related to work to escape not to do more of the same that we are temporally trying to escape from. :O

          Col ]:)

        • #3077919

          next round

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to A this is a Miscellaneous discussion

          some people just take themselves way too seriously, which is often a sign of others not taking them seriously enough IRL?

          I would be easy on a poster after only making two posts. Let them learn the “lay of the land” before they judge.

          “police state”. Sounds like another CA resident to me, or maybe Seattle?

          It is just a fact, being “on-topic” in a misc section is not acceptable!

          Trolls are the obnoxious ones that have nothing to add and aren’t at least funny to watch.

        • #3077794

          The thread topic is troll-handling

          by e_caroline ·

          In reply to next round

          The topic is troll handling with a focus on some particular individual some small gang of regulars seem to think deserves a boosted ego by recognition like he was the avian flu or mad cow disease or BTK serial killer.

          As amusing as jokes about carnal knowledge of sheep, giant mosquitos, Winterpeg and a dozen other tired cliched one-liners might be in an IM conversation, they really are off topic unless they are supposed to be examples of trolling a discussion group.

          As I’ve noted in another post in this thread, the tech republic forums are almost useless for an IT professional who is actually trying to solve a problem because of the large number of posts that are just pointless banter between chat-buddies.

          Despite this, I still don’t see any need to boot them, though many moderators would, for clogging up the forums. I like them un-booted and their words not-deleted since I can read their offhand comments.

          Their offhand comments tell me a lot about them.

          I WANT to know who the dorks and trolls are but *I* want to make my own judgement.

          Letting them have their say and giving me an ignore button works great.

          I can read their stuff until I decide they need to be disregarded and then banish them from my sight.

          I don’t want the admins wasting their time on this rinky-dink issue… better they tend to ferreting out techno-info than squander time inventing some elaborate bureaucratic mechanism for “troll-handling”.

          Just put in the ignore button.
          It is called “technology”… use it.

        • #3077780

          A bit testy are we??? Would you want to………………………

          by sleepin’dawg ·

          In reply to The thread topic is troll-handling

          confine the use of your ignore button to apply to the specific thread you are in or is it to be applicable across all threads in some of which the troll/dork may actually post something of worth. Just asking???

          [b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

      • #3077870

        Ignore Button

        by djacobsen1 ·

        In reply to A simple individual ignore feature is all you need

        I like the idea. When the troll problem comes up as it always seems to, I suggest just ignoring the troll and they eventually go away. The ‘ignore button’ has an appeal to it.

    • #3077906

      TR’s right – and obligation?

      by afoshee ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      I haven’t seen the thread, but it’s certainly well within TR’s right – if not their obligation – to keep material that’s inappropriate to these discussions hidden. It’s just unfortunate that some individuals are pitiful enough to selfishly do something that’s offensive or off topic just because it gives them some sort of juvenile thrill.

      I think it’s a shame that organizations like TR try to provide a community, and then wind up spending resources trying to protect both their users and of course themselves from the rare but vocal individual who can’t control themselves. It’s unfortunate but to be expected given the ‘human animal’ and the anonymity of the internet.

      For my part I’m a quiet observer, rarely wading in on discussions here at TR. But I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the folks at TR for providing this community, and to thank them for all their hard work that has made this work so very well so far – and hopefully into the future as well.

      • #3133650

        Rights, Duties, and Obilgations

        by dr_zinj ·

        In reply to TR’s right – and obligation?

        TR has the right to basically do whatever they want with posts on their forums. They pay for the site, they pay for the right.

        TR also has assumed the obligation to police the forum posts to keep discussions appropriate to the topic being discussed. For instance, discussions about problems with IP settings for a company that has multiple router manufacturers shouldn’t have posts about conspiracy theories about the incidents of 911.

        On the other hand, hosting and editing a forum means that TR has joined the group that is comprised of the news media, and publication organizations. In the United States, that implies that you are assuming the duties and responsibilities to uphold the right to free speech. So if you have a forum about say, the Patriot Act, and problems with eavesdropping and secrecy of investigations, then any comments relevant to the discussion, no matter how distasteful, should remain as posted. Otherwise you drift into that area that has been referred to as “Yellow Journalism”.

    • #3077793
      Avatar photo

      God this is getting hard to Navigate

      by hal 9000 ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Somewhere there was a link to another Discussion about some one complaining that their IP was blocked and that they where not whoever.

      They then asked what something was and you replied with a URL and telling them [b]Goggle is your Friend.[/b] To which they took offense and then further down the page you offered some other help and you where thanked for it and told what a [b]Great Tech[/b] you where. [i] of course the rest of us here know better. :p[/i]

      But I can’t even find that link now. I’m actually at another computer as I killed my NB last night after reading one of Oz’s posts in the Friday Yuk apparently lemonade and keyboards don’t mix well together now I’ve got to replace the NB’s keyboard and maybe then I’ll be allowed back in the lounge room again instead of stuck in this horrible air conditioned room surrounded by computers with no TV. 😮

      I’ll have to do as I’ve been telling [b]SHMBO[/b] and run in an Aerial cable into this room and connect up the DVD, VCR to the tuner card in this Desktop so I can escape her SOAPS and still watch what’s worth watching and switch off when there is nothing worthwhile on. I only took 10 years to run some CAT5E cable through the place so you can’t rush these things. 😀

      Col ]:)

      • #3077659

        Who, Me??

        by stargazerr ·

        In reply to God this is getting hard to Navigate

        If not … Hard to navigate is right :D. If yes I will have to do some navigating

        ]:)

        • #3133796
          Avatar photo

          No not you

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Who, Me??

          This was a reply to a question from JD and somehow it ended up on the bottom of the page. 🙁

          I’m still trying to work out how it happened as it should be about half way up the page. 😀

          Col ]:)

    • #3077636

      Blocking addresses

      by c_igo ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Doesn’t the server have the capability to block certain e-mail addresses?

      • #3133760

        wouldn’t do any good

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Blocking addresses

        as all the techs already know to use a free account by yahoo, hotmail, or gmail for things like this. Just making another free account and re-sign up and they are back in and going.

        • #3133664

          Ignore Buttons, Kill Files, Trolls … Oh my! ….

          by errk’d guy ·

          In reply to wouldn’t do any good

          Personally, I like the idea of an “Ignore this User” button. Of
          course it would only work until the “Troll” created a new
          account. I have seen this countless times on various New Groups
          that I browse.

          Every public list or discussion group has them. They are like the
          dog that barks nightly at 2am. Just when you figure out what
          house it coming from the direction changes.

          In a newgroup I would simply create a ‘kill file” (an Outlook rule
          that looks for messages from a particular poster and simply
          moves them to another folder out of the newsgroup, or deletes
          them outright). On more than one occation I have even been
          tempted to “kill file” those posters who continue to respond,
          react and otherwise taunt the troll.

          Without attention trolls and their playmates more or less wither
          and die. IGNORE! IGNORE … IGNORE!

      • #3133639

        Have to block the IP address as well

        by beads ·

        In reply to Blocking addresses

        Since people are generally lazy enough to use the same IP address over and over. Of course this could possibly hurt another TR member behind a NAT firewall but in this case, I rather doubt it.

        – beads

        • #3091664

          IP blocking

          by lordchance ·

          In reply to Have to block the IP address as well

          Since most ISPs give out dynamic IPs you would have to do range blocking. Not a good idea. It often gets the good users. Besides…These troublemakers most likely are using proxies for their mischief…

    • #3254570

      Ignore this post – you won’t understand it

      by neilb@uk ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
      Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
      Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra m?d,
      Tros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed.

      You won’t be able to pronounce it, either.

      • #3254373

        Ignoring as I am too feeble to understand…..

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Ignore this post – you won’t understand it

        Hen Wlad fy Nhadau
        (Land of My Fathers)

        My hen wlahd vun hod’-eye un onn’-weel ee mee

        Gwlahd byerth* ah contor’-yon enwog’-yon oh vree

        Eye goo’-rol ruvel’-weer, gwlahdgarr’-weer trah mahd

        Tross ruth’-id* gothla-ssont’ eye gwide

        —————————————
        English Words

        (This is not a literal translation of the Welsh)

        The land of my fathers, the land of my choice,

        The land in which poets and minstrels rejoice;

        The land whose stern warriors were true to the core,

        While bleeding for freedom of yore.

    • #3089114

      Nobody left

      by bob g beechey ·

      In reply to Red Alert !! Red Alert !!

      If no-one responded to spam, spam would die. If no-one answered or flamed a troll, the troll would d… I mean go away. BTW what is a troll?
      I would ignore all postings from people who committed these sins:
      1. Used the names of non-existent operating systems and enterprises such as Windoze, Linsux, M$, Microsux etc etc etc
      2. Referred to other posters as fanboys, fanatics, or shills
      3. Implied that other posters had no brains, IT skills or knowledge, or sex appeal.
      4. Typed “you’re” when they meant “your”
      5. Used “hehehe” anywhere in their posting
      6. Accuse people of being underage when they are merely a) stupid or b) underage.
      7. Show they are full of prejudice (eg see 1 to 6 above)
      Oops .. there is no-one left in TR discussions. All ignored, including me.

      • #3085802
        Avatar photo

        Only one problem here Bob

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to Nobody left

        When I worked Medical we referred to MS as Multiple Serious and M$ as Microsoft. We needed the difference for shorthand e-mails and the like so that we where all understood after all we didn’t want a Multiple Serious Suffer being mistakenly thought of as a Microsoft user did we?

        Sometimes there is a reason for shorthand like this.

        But then again I’m ignored too. 😀

        Col ]:)

Viewing 15 reply threads