Anonymous
Posts: 116
Registered: 14/4/2002
Status: Offline
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posted on 9/1/2003 at 05:43 PM |
For someone who doesn't use the site 204 posts is alot, but I digress. What
exactly is your point? Some inept tech guy (one of thousands in America)
tells you something and you suspect him of said disgrace? He must have been
rather suspicous for you to grab this thought out of no where. On top of
this you are some sort of gopher that posts his feelings for him. Why can't
he say it himself? Whatever. The bottom line is that its fun to have idle
threats directed at some idiotic coward who has nothing better to do than
jerk off and insult people. (I'm pretty sure a couple of you aren't exactly
"Idly" plotting his demise, but that guy was a douch bag anyway) And can
hundreds of hours playing War Craft 2 and downloading internet porn do bad
stuff to your brain. I was hoping to make a soup out the cowards grey
matter and was concerned.
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Monolycus
Fanatic   Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 9/1/2003 at 11:57 PM |
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for so roundly missing any point that I might have been making.
I have a limited number of points, but as long as we can maintain this
level of discussion all of them should remain in mint condition. I worry
that too many people will get what I am trying to say so I couch a great
deal of it in very thinly-veiled metaphors so that it remains in showroom
quality. By taking a lighthearted defense of your opinions wrapped inside
of a witch-hunt joke and interpreting that as a dare to show off your
coding skills, you have allowed me to sleep a great deal more easily
knowing that my points are in no danger of being roughly handled. Vielen
Dank. 
~Monolycus.
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Squire-of-Gothos
Fanatic  Posts: 206 Registered: 1/1/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 10/1/2003 at 12:03 PM |
I would add something, but um, I'm still looking up some of those words in
the dictionary. I think the important thing to remember is that the
anonymous suck because they are anonymous and that sucks. In all seriosness
why can't you just reply with an actual name or E-mail adress? You could
easily wip up a new dummy e-mail acount, and keep it as your personaly
flame box. It takes a sad but observant person to write an entire page
devoted to pointing out what you believe as flaws. It takes a piece or
proverbial and literal shit to do it anonymously.
We put out our information and spout opinions that are often disagreed
with, and this puts as at risk of being atacked for our views. The thought
that someone is running around insulting people for minor character flaws
and personality traits, without even giving us the common courtesy of
responding to an identity is disturbing. Instead we get anonymous. There is
no sadder thing than a person who can't even stand up for their opinions,
or even show themselves. I don't need to insult you "Anonymous" because the
grass fucking, punk-assed atitude you have shown is evidence enough of your
ignorance and depravity. ____________________
“The only thing that can alter the good writer is death.”
“You know that if I were reincarnated, I’d want to come back a buzzard.
Nothing hates him. He is never bothered or in danger, and he can eat
anything.”
Faulkner
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Monolycus
Fanatic Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 10/1/2003 at 06:49 PM |
Squire: Everyone is, of course, entitled to their own opinions about the
anonymity issue... however, since the vast majority have expressed their
negative opinions about this subject, I feel that in the interest of
balance my vocality won't drown anyone else out. It has probably already
been established that I support anonymity, even if I do not employ it
myself. The arguments that I have heard so far against anonymity have
centered primarily around the issue of someone not having the courage to
stand behind their convictions. I am not entirely certain how "courageous"
it is to post your opinions behind a screen name to a group of people that
you will, in all likelihood, never actually meet... but we all have our
standards. That is not what concerns me.
It makes no difference to me whether something is attributed to
"Anonymous_Coward" or any of the other names here (some of whom I might
meet, some of whom I already have, most of whom will never be any more than
a screen name to me). An idea is an idea, and a bad idea is bad no matter
who does or does not sign their name to it. Several years ago, a
psychologist conducted an experiment. He took a few passages from the
United State's Declaration of Independence and showed it to different
groups of people. One version was (correctly) credited to Thomas
Jefferson. One version was signed "Adolf Hitler". Another version was
unattributed. Naturally, the reaction to the passages that were attributed
to Thomas Jefferson was one of almost unanimous approval, the version
attributed to Adolf Hitler was unanimously disapproved of, and the
unattributed version drew mixed responses with a great deal more genuine
debate about its merits. While the results of this experiment do not
surprise me, they make absolutely no sense. Still, the same things happen
here. There are some who will see my name at the end of a post and agree
with any idiotic thing I might have said while others who see my name will
automatically disagree. That should never happen but it does all the time.
I am left to conclude that we care very little for the merits of ideas or
concepts until or unless they support the cult of personality that we
cherish. I have a great respect for nearly (!) everything that Devin has
said, but just because I am aware that it is his post does not mean that I
am not going to dissect what he is saying as objectively as I am able.
Further, "courage" issues aside, the right to anonymity is something that
is distinctly democratic. I would not call a voter who questions the
sanctity of their polling place a coward if they want to maintain a secret
ballot. When we want to reform corporations, the foremost concern is that
whistleblowers may maintain their anonymity... not because we think that
they are cowards, but because we are interested in positive results and not
intimidation. Do we jeer people in the FBI witness relocation program
because they do not have the balls to stand up and get shot as well as
doing the right thing? I don't. There are many political reasons to want
to know who is responsible for what ideas, but in a practical sense it
makes no difference. The only time it is handy to have this information at
hand is when referring to it later (ie; "I disagree with X because...")
The bottom line is that the overwhelming majority, consciously or
unconsciously, can not say something that is unbiased without guarding
their identity... and the overwhelmingly majority have become so dependent
upon forming their opinions based solely upon who they percieve is
speaking, that they, consciously or unconsciously, can not separate content
from personality. I have made peace with the idea that I will not be
universally approved of... and anyone who refuses to listen to me simply
because I am me is not someone that I want to try to relate to anyway. If
the worst criticism that can be made about a post is that people do not
know who put it out there, then I would say the post in question must be
fairly sound... but then, I am not in the habit of trying to win anyone
over with my sterling personality. I am, I was, I will be
~Monolycus.
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Schizo
Extreme Fanatic   Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 11/1/2003 at 06:37 AM |
Good point, Monolycus.
However, it DOES seem that a large proportion of trollish comments are
submitted by anonymous posters, and a large proportion of anonymous posts
are trollish. Not all, of course, but a significant number. And so, like
Pavlov's dog, our trained reaction is to drool anger when the anonymous
bell is rung. This doesn't mean that we aren't open to have our initial
reaction proven wrong, but, unfortunately, it is often proven right.
My main gripe with anonymous post is, it's far more fun to know who you're
talking to. Half the fun of Shmeng is the interesting personalities that
develop. So if Anonymous turns out to be intelligent, that's nice, but
there's no personality involved. And if Anonymous is a troll, we can flame
the post, but we can't keep an eye out for the poster later, who may be
somewhere else pretending to be someone nice and everything. So you end up
wondering, who the hell is lurking around here, pretending to participate,
but stabbing us in the back at will, cloaked in the invisibility of
anonymity.
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AloneSoul
Fanatic  Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 11/1/2003 at 01:46 PM |
| *hands M a fork* ____________________
 but at least you know, just how much pain there is in living
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Monolycus
Fanatic Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 11/1/2003 at 05:13 PM |
Schiz: I really had never thought about it that way, but you are right. I
can just never wrap my brain around trolling so I forget to add them to the
equations sometimes. I agree with you, if I could not see the same people
here or feel like I was one of them, I would not keep coming back... and I
do not understand the joy anyone would get from just stirring things up and
bolting. I also never understood why nine year old boys threw rocks at
hornet's nests either.
I guess that I think of the worst thing that could happen to a post is that
nobody responds to it at all. Trolls, anonymous or otherwise, are just as
attention-starved as anyone else (maybe more so). I always hesitate to
respond to things that I view as deliberately trollish because I know that
is what they were designed for. If an anonoymous person says something
that is not worth responding to, I get a kick out of thinking of them
logging on every day to find that nobody has bitten. Maybe that is why I
get a little irritated when the worst criticism that we could have about
something is that it is anonymous. A troll is looking for quantity and
doesn't care about the quality of the response. I just tend to ignore
them.
I also really like the getting to "know" the people behind the screen
names. *smile*
Alone: *takes the fork* I thought we said no gifts this year... I didn't
get you anything. Man, this is awkward.
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Anonymous
 Posts: 116 Registered: 14/4/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 11/1/2003 at 06:22 PM |
Boo.
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Schizo
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 12/1/2003 at 07:41 AM |
I always feel it too - the urge to ignore the troll. But by the time I see
the troll, it has usually already been flamed, so it really doesn't matter
if I ignore it. It's already gotten attention. And also, I kind of feel
that trolls were invented as vents for the anger that we can't in real
life. I've got a lot of pent up frustration with big restrictions on how I
can release it. So, at the same time that I want to deprive the troll of
it's one big desire - attention - I decide that the needs of the troll are
not as important to me as my own needs. So I joyfully flame away! And
manage to survive yet another frustration-filled day full of real-life
trolls that would cause real-life problems if I flamed them.
And it kind of gives me a kick to think of the oblivious troll, rejoicing
over the number of posts provoked by his trolldom, completely ignorant and
oblivious of the fact that he is merely a tool in my hand to relieve my
stress. (OK. That makes the troll sound like some kind of vibrator!)
That I really don't give a damn about HIM at all!
And if he's encouraged properly, who knows? He just might post another
atrocity, giving me yet another convenient venting hole. Ah, trolls. You
hate them, and yet you love them too. ____________________
"You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
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Starlight
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 618 Registered: 27/9/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 12/1/2003 at 11:25 PM |
| *shouts out* "WEENIE ROAST!!!" "WEENIE ROAST!!!" *and runs off giggling* ____________________
"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never
tried before." ~Mae West
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AloneSoul
Fanatic Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 14/1/2003 at 04:41 AM |
| It's the thought that counts... ____________________
SRC="http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/snes/ff6/images/characters/kefka.gi
f">
size=1> but at least you know, just how much pain there is in living
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Monolycus
Fanatic Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 15/1/2003 at 04:12 PM |
Schizo: Valids, all. I guess there is a lot to be said about the cathartic
value of going off on the anonymous trolls. Anyway, it is much safer to
launch on one of them than someone with name recognition. I might or might
not rise to an anonymous troll's baiting depending upon when you catch me,
but there are some regulars that I have made a blanket policy about never
responding to.
Incidentally, it will be a long, long time before I am able to shake that
"troll as vibrator" metaphor out of my head. Thanks. 
~M.
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Closetgothbabe
Member   Posts: 189 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 30/3/2003 at 10:47 PM |
Thats funny.......  ____________________
Guns are good, Guns are great...Kill the people that you hate!
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Abbadon
Fanatic  Posts: 499 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 19/4/2003 at 04:58 AM |
Identity is the creation of an idle mind.
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burn1311
Occasional Poster   Posts: 28 Registered: 16/1/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 19/4/2003 at 05:12 AM |
hell, i say that we sit them in a room and pplay wayne newton. they wont
die, but they will think twice before being anonymous again
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Tvileren
Occasional Poster Posts: 38 Registered: 26/4/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 27/4/2003 at 01:49 PM |
| ehh... I just want to say, hey, I am new here. Please don't kill me.. I am
problaby going to lurk around in the shadows and perhaps write a thing or
two.. ____________________
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Monolycus
Fanatic Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 27/4/2003 at 03:33 PM |
Hey back. Make yourself comfy.
~M.
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Dolorosa
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 856 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 28/4/2003 at 05:36 AM |
Comfy is good...make yourself comfy!! But if you say somethin'
stupid...we'll Kill ya' BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Just kiddin'...it's always to see fresh...BLOOD...heh
heh...ahahahahahahaha!!
::thunk thunk, wham::
Man..it's one of those days today... ____________________
In the valley of the Goats, the Goat Fucker is King
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gothicmorman
Fanatic Posts: 233 Registered: 11/7/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 30/4/2003 at 04:47 AM |
uh, back a while here but i could bring tape!! i got duct tape, scotch
tape, mefix tape, and double sided carpet tape can we stick them to the
ceiling then have a big inside bonfire (safely of course, so the house dont
burn down) and fry them that way??  ...
the ruthless
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Ironboots
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 893 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 30/4/2003 at 05:41 AM |
You know, Dolo... you remind me of someone from the Goodfellas...
Maybe its the delight in killing, I don't know. ____________________
Piggy's got the Conch!
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